A mysterious ancient fingerprint and a lemon-shaped planet — the stories you’ve missed

00:54 Turning an undersea cable into a seismic detector

Researchers have shown that they can piggyback a signal on a 4,400-kilometer-long telecom cable that runs from California to Hawaii, allowing it to act like 44,000 separate seismic-activity detectors. Their method takes advantage of impurities found in glass fibre-optic cables, which reflect light differently when they are stretched and distorted by the pressure of seismic waves.

Science: Seafloor telecom cable transformed into giant earthquake detector

04:17 The origin of an ancient boat

Chemical analysis of the caulking found on the wood an ancient boat has helped researchers identify the origins of the vessel, that sank off the coast of Denmark 2,400 years ago. The team’s analysis suggests it voyaged from much farther away that had been thought — perhaps coming from the Baltic Sea region. The team also found a fingerprint left in the caulk, although who it belonged to is unknown.

LiveScience: Fingerprint of ancient seaborne raider found on Scandinavia's oldest plank boat

08:29 How heating up helps some plants pollinate

Some plants called cycads (Zamia spp.) heat up to attract the beetles that pollinate them. These beetles have heat-seeking sensors in their antennae, which they use locate the plants. Male cycads warm up around 3 hours before females, meaning that beetles head to them before first carrying pollen over to the females.

Science: Heat-seeking beetles drawn to plants that glow in infrared

13:08 The exoplanet shaped like a lemon

The discovery of exoplanet PSR J2322-2650b reveals how unusual other worlds can be. This exoplanet takes just 7.8 hours to orbit an ultra-dense pulsar whose intense gravity pulls PSR J2322-2650b into a lemon shape.

New Scientist: Strange lemon-shaped exoplanet defies the rules of planet formation

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Newly-discovered whale graveyard dates back millions of years

In this episode:00:46 A giant, ancient whale necropolisResearch article: Peng et al.News & Views: A vast whale necropolis has been found08:52 Research HighlightsNature: Babies’ birth weight improves w...

10 Kesä 21min

Briefing chat: Spinosaurs with salt glands could have lived in marine environments

In this episode:00:23 Fossil evidence that spinosaurs had an aquatic lifestyleScience: Some spinosaurs cried salty tears to thrive in brackish waters04:57 The explosive immune cells that kill in minut...

5 Kesä 11min

Your phone can use tiny skin-colour changes to measure your heart rate

In this episode:00:57 How your smartphone’s camera could measure your heart rateResearch article: Liao et al.08:55 Research HighlightsNature: A star gone rogue tears through the GalaxyNature: Gold kee...

3 Kesä 18min

Briefing Chat: When to trust eyewitness memory – according to science

In this episode:00:21 When witnesses identify suspects from police line-ups, confidence mattersNature: Memory on trial: the new science of when to trust eyewitness testimony07:15 Registered Reports: h...

29 Touko 17min

Major Ebola outbreak is escalating: what happens next

On 17 May the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an ongoing Ebola outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. Centred on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, the out...

22 Touko 12min

AI ‘scientists’ promise to accelerate research — how do they work?

In this episode:00:46 Meet the AI scientists designed to accelerate researchResearch article: Ghareeb et al.Research article: Gottweis et al.Nature: Teams of AI agents boost speed of researchEditorial...

20 Touko 27min

Briefing Chat: Hantavirus — what this outbreak reveals about the disease

In this episode:00:34 What questions remain about the hantavirus outbreak?Nature: Hantavirus outbreak exposes uncertainty about how disease spreadsNature: There is no vaccine for deadly hantavirus: wh...

15 Touko 9min

Red-light therapy is all the rage — does it work?

In this episode:00:42 Is red-light therapy all hype?Disclaimer: The opinions and assertions expressed herein by Juanita Anders are those of the speaker and do not reflect the official policy or positi...

13 Touko 21min