Nature Podcast20 Marras 2024

Squid-inspired pills squirt drugs straight into your gut

00:45 A squid-inspired device for needle-free drug delivery

Inspired by squids’ ability to shoot ink, a team of researchers have developed swallowable devices that can deliver tiny jets of drugs directly into the gut lining, circumventing the need for needles. Previous studies have shown that most people prefer to take medication in pill form, rather than as an injection, but many drugs are degraded as they pass through the digestive system. The team’s new swallowable devices overcome this issue, and deliver drugs directly to where they need to be. So far, this approach has shown efficacy in animal models, but more work needs to be done to ensure their safety in humans.

Research Article: Arrick et al.

10:50 Research Highlights

The largest ‘terror bird’ fossil ever found, and a simple solution to help prevent premature births.

Research Highlight: Huge carnivorous ‘terror bird’ rivalled the giant panda in size

Research Highlight: Reducing pregnancy risk could be as easy as chewing gum

12:52 A milder way to break down ‘forever chemicals’.

Two papers describe how light-activated catalysts could be used to break down toxic ‘forever chemicals’, hinting at a new way to clean up pollution caused by these persistent compounds. Forever chemicals contain multiple carbon-fluorine bonds that give them useful physical properties, but these bonds are some of the strongest in organic chemistry, making these compounds energetically difficult to break down. The new, light-based methods demonstrate low-energy ways to sever these bonds, a milestone that could make forever chemicals less permanent.

Research Article: Zhang et al.

Research Article: Liu et al.

News and Views: Catalysts degrade forever chemicals with visible light

21:04 Briefing Chat

Analysis of far-side soil highlights the Moon’s turbulent past, and how CRISPR can help make sweeter tomatoes.

Nature: First rocks returned from Moon’s far side reveal ancient volcanic activity

CNN: Findings from the first lunar far side samples raise new questions about the moon’s history

Nature: CRISPR builds a big tomato that’s actually sweet

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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

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