Nature Podcast9 Apr 2025

Long-awaited ape genomes give new insights into their evolution — and ours

00:46 Complete sequencing of ape genomes

Researchers have sequenced the complete genomes of six ape species, helping uncover the evolutionary history of our closest relatives and offering insights into what makes humans human. The genomes of chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, Bornean orangutan, Sumatran orangutan and siamang have been sequenced end-to-end, filling in gaps that have long eluded researchers.

Research Article: Yoo et al.

News and Views: Complete ape genomes offer a close-up view of human evolution

News: What makes us human? Milestone ape genomes promise clues

08:47 Research Highlights

How sunflower stars are evading a mysterious epidemic, and how solar panels made of moon dust could power lunar bases.

Research Highlight: Revealed: where rare and giant starfish hide from an enigmatic killer

Research Highlight: Solar cells made of Moon dust could power up a lunar base

11:36 How to make a competitive laser-plasma accelerator

After decades of research, physicists have demonstrated that, in principle, an alternative kind of particle accelerator can work just as well as more conventional designs. Many particle accelerators that power huge experiments like the Large Hadron Collider at CERN are radio-frequency accelerators, but they are large and limited in how strong their magnetic fields can be. The new work shows that accelerators that instead use plasma to accelerate particles could be a viable alternative and could be built at much smaller scales.

Research article: Winkler et al.

19:55 Briefing Chat

A drug that makes blood poisonous to mosquitoes, and how an AI worked out how to solve key challenges in Minecraft by ‘imagining’ solutions.

Science Alert: Drug For Rare Disease Turns Human Blood Into Mosquito Poison

Nature: AI masters Minecraft: DeepMind program finds diamonds without being taught

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Episoder(906)

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

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29 Jun 16min

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

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26 Jun 11min

Medical records could be revealed by AI training-data vulnerability

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24 Jun 19min

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

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19 Jun 12min

DNA from hunter-gatherer teeth reveals secrets of ancient plague

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17 Jun 26min

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

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12 Jun 11min

Newly-discovered whale graveyard dates back millions of years

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10 Jun 21min