Nature Podcast22 Loka 2025

Honey, I ate the kids: how hunger and hormones make mice aggressive

00:48 How hunger, hormones and aggression interact in mouse brains

Researchers have uncovered the neural mechanisms that underlie an aggressive behaviour in mice prompted by hunger and hormonal state. Virgin female mice can become aggressive towards mouse pups when they are food deprived, but it seems that the relevant amounts of pregnancy hormones, oestrogen and progesterone, also played a role. By investigating the neurons involved, neuroscientists showed how hunger and hormones are integrated by the brain to lead to aggressive behaviour. This could help researchers understand more about how multiple stimuli are interpreted by the brain, something much harder to study than single stimulus effects.

Research Article: Cao et al.

09:35 Research Highlights

The overlooked environmental costs of wastewater treatment facilities — plus, an ancient communal hunting system that lasted well into the eighteenth century.

Research Highlight: Wastewater treatment produces surprising amounts of greenhouse gases

Research Highlight: Andean peoples hunted and gathered long after they embraced farming

11:53 What generative AI could mean for higher education

Around the world, universities and students are scrambling to adapt to the use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT. And while there is optimism that these tools could improve education, there are also concerns about the ways they could stifle independent, critical thought. We hear about the studies trying to unpick the potential impact of this new technology.

News Feature: Universities are embracing AI: will students get smarter or stop thinking?

21:26 Briefing Chat

A blood test for Alzheimer’s, and what should be the next ‘test’ for AI after the Turing test?

Nature: Blood tests are now approved for Alzheimer’s: how accurate are they?

Nature: AI language models killed the Turing test: do we even need a replacement?

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Briefing Chat: An invisible tattoo that appears under UV light – and then disappears

In this episode:00:15 An appearing, disappearing tattoo inkNature: Watch this invisible tattoo appear under UV light04:13 How the epigenome could help explain why big dogs age fasterNature: Big dogs a...

16 Loka 9min

The world is closer to a major conservation target than scientists thought

Analysis suggests number of protected areas is hugely underestimated but biodiversity is still in peril — plus, a huge study looking at the health effects of brown fat.00:45 The world may have more co...

14 Loka 21min

Briefing Chat: Top researchers are being misled by sham academic societies

In this episode we discuss a recent Nature exclusive investigating an international constellation of sham academies and societies that have successfully misled some of the world’s leading scientists a...

9 Loka 12min

Nobel Prizes 2026: ‘ghost’ particles, mirror molecules and light switches in the brain

In this episode:00:45 The Nobel Prizes 2026Nature: Medicine Nobel awarded for brain ‘switch’ that controls neurons with lightNature: ‘What took them so long?’ This year’s medicine Nobel winner is over...

7 Loka 23min

‘Learning about physics changed my life’: author Hernan Diaz on his new novel Ply

In this episode, we speak with Hernan Diaz whose most recent novel Ply blends a vision of a dystopian future with questions about selfhood and asks whether advanced physics could be used to unravel th...

2 Loka 32min

These optical illusions are why butterflies are so hard to catch

High-speed footage of takeoffs reveal that the butterfly markings mislead the eye, making them harder to catch.00:45 Butterflies in flight create confusing motion cues that baffle birdsResearch Articl...

30 Syys 18min

Briefing Chat: Why scientists made papyrus scrolls, then burnt them

In this episode00:23 How detecting lead could help researchers read damaged Roman scrollsNature: Watch scientists decipher burned scrolls without unrolling them06:42 A biodegradeable, paper-inspired b...

25 Syys 11min

Bank accounts reveal the fingerprints of abusive financial control

00:45 Investigating the day-to-day impacts of Financial AbuseNature: Trendl et al.Support organizationsUK: Surviving Economic AbuseUS: National Domestic Violence Helpline12:14 Research HighlightsNatur...

23 Syys 24min