Nature Podcast8 Sep 2021

The billion years missing from Earth’s history

A new theory to explain missing geological time, the end of leaded petrol, and the ancient humans of Arabia.

In this episode:

00:29 Unpicking the Great Unconformity

For more than 150 years, geologists have been aware of ‘missing’ layers of rock from the Earth’s geological record. Up to one billion years appear to have been erased in what’s known as the Great Unconformity. Many theories to explain this have been proposed, and now a new one suggests that the Great Unconformity may have in fact been a series of smaller events.

BBC Future: The strange race to track down a missing billion years

05:23 The era of leaded petrol is over

In July, Algeria became the final country to ban the sale of leaded petrol, meaning that the fuel is unavailable to buy legally anywhere on Earth. However despite this milestone, the toxic effects of lead petrol pollution will linger for many years to come.

Chemistry World: Leaded petrol is finally phased out worldwide

08:26 The ancient humans who lived in a wetter Arabia

While much of modern day Arabia is covered by deserts, new research suggests that hundreds of thousands of years ago conditions were much wetter for periods on the peninsula. These lusher periods may have made the area a key migratory crossroads for ancient humans.

Research Article: Groucutt et al.

News and Views: Traces of a series of human dispersals through Arabia

Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(912)

Briefing Chat: Baby T. rex were killers from birth, suggest new fossils

Nature staff discuss the young but deadly dinosaur kings, the prowess of ancient Egyptian princesses, and how London is becoming the world’s AI safety capital.00:34 London is transforming into an AI-s...

24 Jul 0s

What counts as a moon? Huge ‘exosatellite’ sparks debate

00:45 The discovery of a moon-like object in a distant star systemResearch article: Hoy et al.10:34 Research HighlightsNature: Moving floors keep buildings from swaying with the windNature: Wearable s...

22 Jul 0s

Briefing Chat: Sweet! Elusive sugar molecules found in space

In this episode:00:24 A sweet discovery near the Milky Way’s centreNature: First ‘true sugar’ molecule found in space — offering hints to life’s origins05:05 Mathematical texts give insights into Maya...

17 Jul 9min

‘Holy grail’ of naked mole-rat research reveals how queens rule

00:45 The secret scent behind a naked mole-rat's ruleResearch article: Khallaf et al.08:34 Research HighlightsNature: Pair of ‘super-puff’ planets are lighter than candyflossNature: Alpine crossing to...

15 Jul 22min

Briefing Chat: The 30 year-legacy of a science icon – Dolly the sheep

In this episode:00:29 Dolly the sheep’s 30-year legacyMetro: Dolly the sheep at 30: The clone that changed science (and celebrity petdom)Nature: From cloning to gene-editing: the enduring legacy of Do...

10 Jul 10min

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 Jul 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 Jul 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 Jun 16min