Weekly: Have we really just found the strongest evidence for alien life yet?
Episode 298
Big news has just broken - astronomers claim they’ve detected the strongest evidence for alien life yet. The news has got the world’s media fired up with excitement - but is this really a “revolutionary moment”?
Astronomers studying the atmosphere of a distant planet called K2-18b say they have detected a molecule called DMS that is only produced on Earth by living organisms, so it’s thought life might be producing it there too. Hear from the lead researcher on this project, Nikku Madhusudhan of the University of Cambridge, who says “these are the first hints of an alien world that is possibly inhabited”.
But even if this biosignature detection is confirmed, would it be the slam dunk everyone thinks it is? In this episode, Alex Wilkins and Rowan Hooper offer a bit of balance to the discussion and explore how far this is from definitive evidence of alien life. We also hear the views of Laura Kreidberg, managing director of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy.
To read more about stories like this, visit https://www.newscientist.com/
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17:59
Weekly: Dire wolves (not) brought back from extinction; US science in existential crisis; how to pour the perfect coffee
Episode 297
The “de-extinction company” Colossal Biosciences claims to have brought dire wolves back from extinction. This is an ancient animal that roamed Earth 10,000 years ago and famously is depicted in Game of Thrones. After gene editing grey wolves, three pups have been born. But is it right to call them dire wolves, or are these just grey wolves in dire wolf clothing?
It’s a turbulent time for US science, with massive and sweeping cuts being made to jobs and budgets. Departments like the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration have been affected – raising major concerns about the future of public health in the country and beyond.
Physicists have discovered the perfect way to pour a cup of coffee. Hot on the heels of the perfect cacio e pepe recipe and how to make the perfect boiled egg, this discovery is yet another hilarious hack that works in principle but is a massive faff.
Chapters:
(00:31) Return of the dire wolf
(08:58) Turbulent time for US science
(16:36) Perfect way to brew a cuppa coffee
Hosted by Penny Sarchet and Timothy Revell, with guests Michael Le Page and Chelsea Whyte.
To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/
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21:53
Weekly: How plant skin transplants could supercharge crops; China’s pollution win spikes global temperatures; the oldest ivory tools ever found
Episode 296
There’s a strange phenomenon in the plant world that we’ve known about for ages - but have only just figured out how to make use of it. Thanks to a process that sometimes happens during plant grafting, we can give plants skin transplants. This process produces ‘graft chimeras’, which have been seen as mere curiosities for many years. But now one company in the Netherlands is now planning to do something more with them, creating a whole new world of plant combinations that could produce more pest resistant crops or more delicious fruits.
Air pollution in China has been a hot topic for many years, especially since the 2008 Beijing Olympics. But China has been successful in bringing emissions from aerosols down drastically - a massive win for the health of people in the country. However, there’s been an unintended consequence, as their efforts to clean the air have caused a spike in the rate of global warming. What’s going on? Find out how this all links to the subject of geoengineering.
The oldest ivory tools ever found have been discovered in Ukraine. Thought to be created by our ancient ancestor, Homo heidelbergensis, these tools made from mammoth tusks are 400,000 years old. They give a surprising window into the lives of ancient humans - who may have been more intelligent than we realised.
Chapters:
(00:31) Giving plants skin transplants
(07:16) How China’s pollution win has spiked global temperatures
(16:34) The oldest ivory tools ever found
Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet, with guests Michael Le Page, Madeleine Cuff, Jeroen Stuurman and Vadim Stepanchuk.
To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/
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27:10
Weekly: A remarkable view of pregnancy; how to waste less time on your smartphone; superacid diamond rain
Episode 295
The changes the body goes through during and after pregnancy have been examined in more detail than ever before. A landmark study is finally helping us to piece together some of the mysteries and myths surrounding this time – from how long it takes the body to go back to “normal” after birth to the extended periods of nutrient deficiency. This comes after a flurry of studies have given us the clearest picture yet of how the brain changes – and is dramatically remodelled – throughout pregnancy.
Are you worried about your smartphone habit? Science is upending our understanding of phone use and just how damaging the urge to doom-scroll can be. Are smartphones really killing our sleep and distracting us more than ever? And is it really impacting the mental health of children? The answers are not what many people assume.
One of the weirdest substances in our universe is one we very much take for granted – water. Not only does it perform impressive feats that we see every day, but water can also transform into a superacid, potentially resulting in diamond rain falling on planets in our solar system. Find out how it could be doing this somewhere in the cosmos right now.
Chapters:
(00:28) The effects of pregnancy
(07:16) How bad is smartphone use?
(16:34) Surprising facts about water
Hosted by Penny Sarchet and Timothy Revell, with guests Carissa Wong and Alexandra Thompson.
To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/
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22:45
Weekly: Life on Mars; biggest dark energy discovery in decades; the mystery of dark oxygen
Episode 294
Markings discovered on rocks from Mars look to be good evidence that microbial life once existed on the Red Planet. NASA’s Perseverance rover spotted little speckles on rocks in part of Jezero crater, and minerals usually formed in the presence of water. New analysis suggests these markings also contain signs of organic compounds. Presented with the possibility of microbial Martians, can we now say Mars really did once have life?
Dark energy, the mysterious force thought to be driving the expansion of the universe, might be getting weaker. If it is, that completely upends our understanding of the universe - from one that’s getting bigger and bigger, to one that could eventually collapse in a “big crunch”. Results from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) in Arizona may be the biggest discovery about dark energy we’ve had in 25 years.
Last year we had the controversial discovery that “dark” oxygen may be produced by metallic nodules on the seafloor. But it was widely contested and the exact mechanism unknown. But researchers in China now think they’ve figured out what’s going on - dark oxygen could be key to keeping deep sea creatures alive, with implications for life beyond Earth.
Chapters:
(00:31) Suggestions of past life on Mars
(7:42) Dark energy and how the universe might end
(11:56) Solving the mystery of dark oxygen
Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet, with guests Jacob Aron and Michael Le Page.
To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/
Video credit: Perseverance Explores the Jezero Crater Delta
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Podcasts for the insatiably curious by the world’s most popular weekly science magazine. Everything from the latest science and technology news to the big-picture questions about life, the universe and what it means to be human.
For more visit newscientist.com/podcasts
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