COVID deaths: three times the official toll
In this episode:00:47 Estimating pandemic-associated mortalityThis week, a team of researchers working with the World Health Organization have used statistical modelling to estimate the number of exce...
14 Dec 202229min
Oldest DNA reveals two-million-year-old ecosystem
In this episode:00:45 World’s oldest DNA shows that mastodons roamed ancient GreenlandDNA recovered from ancient permafrost has been used to reconstruct what an ecosystem might have looked like two mi...
7 Dec 202217min
Gaia Vince on how climate change will shape where people live
In the second episode of Nature hits the books, science writer and broadcaster Gaia Vince joins us to talk about her new book Nomad Century, which looks at how climate change could render large parts ...
2 Dec 202225min
Mysterious fluid from ant pupae helps feed colony
00:45 Inert ant pupae produce a previously unobserved fluidAnt larvae metamorphose into adults by pupating. It was assumed that these inert pupae don’t play a role in the wider ant colony, but a team ...
30 Nov 202220min
Audio long read: Science and the World Cup — how big data is transforming football
Big data is playing an increasingly important role in football, with technologies capturing huge amounts of information about players' positions and actions during a match.To make sense of all this in...
25 Nov 202216min
The satellite-free alternative to GPS
00:45 Precision positioning without satellitesSatellite navigation has revolutionized how humans find their way. However, these systems often struggle in urban areas, where buildings can interfere wit...
23 Nov 202223min
How a key Alzheimer's gene wreaks havoc in the brain
00:46 Artemis 1 is go!NASA’s Artemis 1 mission has successfully reached Earth orbit. After weeks of delays and issues, and a nail biting launch, the rocket marks the first step in a new era of moon ex...
16 Nov 202227min
Audio long read: She was convicted of killing her four children. Could a gene mutation set her free?
Kathleen Folbigg has spent nearly 20 years in prison after being convicted of killing her four children. But in 2018, a group of scientists began gathering evidence that suggested another possibility ...
14 Nov 202231min
