The Nature Podcast highlights of 2023
In this episode:00:54 Franklin’s real roleWhen it comes to the structure of DNA, everyone thinks they know Rosalind Franklin’s role in its discovery. The story goes that her crucial data was taken by ...
27 Dec 202345min
How AI works is often a mystery — that's a problem
Many AIs are 'black box' in nature, meaning that part of all of the underlying structure is obfuscated, either intentionally to protect proprietary information, due to the sheer complexity of the mode...
22 Dec 202337min
The Nature Podcast Festive Spectacular 2023
In this episode:01:55 “Oh GPT”In the first of our festive songs, we pay homage to LLMs, the generative AI chat bots which have taken 2023 by storm. 05:32 Twenty questionsIn this year’s festive game, o...
20 Dec 202345min
Navigating planets, plays and prejudice — a conversation with Aomawa Shields
In the latest episode of Nature hits the books, astronomer Aomawa Shields discusses her memoir Life on Other Planets: A Memoir of Finding My Place in the Universe.The book tracks her career path as a ...
15 Dec 202335min
Inhaled vaccine prevents COVID in monkeys
Current COVID-19 vaccines offer great protection from serious illness, but they don't prevent people from becoming infected in the first place. Because of this, researchers have been searching for way...
14 Dec 20237min
Cat parasite Toxoplasma tricked to grow in a dish
In this episode:00:48 A new way to grow a tricky parasite in the labToxoplasma gondii, the parasite that causes the zoonotic disease toxoplasmosis, has a complex, multi-stage life cycle. Some of these...
13 Dec 202325min
The world’s smallest light-trapping silicon cavity
In this episode:00:48 A gap for trapping lightConfining photons within materials opens up potential applications in quantum computing and telecommunications. But capturing light requires nanoscale cav...
6 Dec 202331min
Sanitary products made from plants could help tackle period poverty
Around 500 million people are estimated to be in period poverty, lacking adequate access to sanitary products. Many of these people rely on donations, but this is far from a long-term solution. To tac...
30 Nov 20239min
