Nature Podcast23 Loka 2024

Massive lost mountain cities revealed by lasers

00:48 The hidden cities of Uzbekistan

Researchers have uncovered the scale of two ancient cities buried high in the mountains of Uzbekistan. The cities were thought to be there, but their extent was unknown, so the team used drone-mounted LiDAR equipment to reveal what was hidden beneath the ground. The survey surprised researchers by showing one of the cities was six times bigger than expected. The two cities, called Tashbulak and Tugunbulak, were nestled in the heart of Central Asia’s medieval Silk Road, suggesting that highland areas played an important role in trade of the era.

Research Article: Frachetti et al.

Video: Uncovering a lost mountain metropolis

09:32 Research Highlights

How children's’ movements resemble water vapour, and why coastal waters may be a lot dirtier than we thought.

Research Highlight: Kids in the classroom flow like water vapour

Research Highlight: Sewage lurks in coastal waters — often unnoticed by widely used test

12:06 Watermarking AI-generated text

A team at Google Deepmind has demonstrated a way to add a digital watermark to AI-generated text that can be detected by computers. As AI-generated content becomes more pervasive, there are fears that it will be impossible to tell it apart from content made by humans. To tackle this, the new method subtly biases the word choices made by a Large Language Model in a statistically detectable pattern. Despite the changes to word choice, a test of 20 million live chat interactions revealed that users did not notice a drop in quality compared to unwatermarked text.

Research Article: Dathathri et al.

News: DeepMind deploys invisible ‘watermark’ on AI-written text

22:38 Briefing Chat

What one researcher found after repeatedly scanning her own brain to see how it responded to birth-control pills, and how high-altitude tree planting could offer refuge to an imperilled butterfly species.

Nature: How does the brain react to birth control? A researcher scanned herself 75 times to find out

Nature: Mexican forest ‘relocated’ in attempt to save iconic monarch butterflies

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Nukes in space? Orbital detector could sniff out warheads

In this episode:00:45 A neutron detector could sniff out a secret space nukeResearch article: Danagoulian11:52 Research HighlightsNature: Volcanic magma sculpts eerie domes on the sea floorNature: Clu...

8 Heinä 25min

Togetherness: How co-operation built the world

In this episode, we speak with science journalist Rowan Hooper, whose book Togetherness: Symbiosis and the Hidden Story of Life's Greatest Collaborations takes a deep-dive into the world of co-operati...

1 Heinä 31min

Audio long read: Is the peptide craze backed by science? The promise behind the hype

Peptides — short chains of amino acids — have become huge online. The popularity of these molecules has skyrocketed and they are now the latest cure-all trend on social media.But what does the science...

29 Kesä 16min

Briefing Chat: What tickling a chimpanzee can tell us about the evolution of speech

Nature staff discuss how apes share a rhythm of laughter, and how AI use may degrade skills in medicine and computer science.00:32 Early evidence suggests that AI use causes skills to atrophyNature: I...

26 Kesä 11min

Medical records could be revealed by AI training-data vulnerability

In this episode:00:46 How sensitive information can be gleaned from medical AIsResearch article: Knolle et al.Correction: The story about medical AI-data privacy incorrectly stated that the number of ...

24 Kesä 19min

Briefing Chat: Testosterone and sperm may get a boost from obesity drugs

Nature staff discuss preliminary data on the effects of GLP-1 drugs on male fertility plus a two-year trial of a brain-computer interface.00:18 Brain-computer interface makes a life-changing impactNat...

19 Kesä 12min

DNA from hunter-gatherer teeth reveals secrets of ancient plague

In this episode:00:45 Ancient evidence of deadly plague outbreaksResearch article: Macleod et al.12:33 Research HighlightsNature: Bones of Iron Age skeleton were whittled into toolsNature: Giant crust...

17 Kesä 26min

Briefing Chat: The epic journey of Stonehenge’s central stone

In this episode:00:37 Evidence that Stonehenge's Altar Stone travelled by glacierBBC Science Focus: We may have just cracked one of Stonehenge's greatest mysteries05:44 Fossilized faeces reveal DNA fr...

12 Kesä 11min