A smarter way to melt down plastics?
In this episode:00:45 A new method to break down plastic polymersPlastic waste is an enormous problem, with much of it being incinerated or ending up in landfill. One way to give plastics another life is to break them down into their individual components using heat, but this method yields low amounts of usable product. Now, a team demonstrates a proof-of-concept method of heating that wicks the plastic like a candle through a layer of carbon material. They show that this method is more efficient and could be an additional way of breaking down waste plastics.Research article: Dong et al.08:48 Research HighlightsPhysicists ...
Source: Nature Podcast - April 19, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Springer Nature Limited Source Type: podcasts
Shrinking MRI machines, and the smell of tsetse fly love
On this week’s show: Portable MRI scanners could revolutionize medical imaging, and pheromones offer a way to control flies that spread disease
First up this week: shrinking MRI machines. Staff Writer Adrian Cho talks with host Sarah Crespi about how engineers and physicists are teaming up to make MRI machines smaller and cheaper.
Next up on the show, the smell of tsetse fly love. Producer Kevin McLean talks with Shimaa Ebrahim, a postdoctoral researcher in the department of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology at Yale University, about understanding how tsetse flies use odors to attract one another and how t...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - February 23, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
Earth ’s hidden hydrogen, and a trip to Uranus
On this week’s show: The hunt for natural hydrogen deposits heats up, and why we need a space mission to an ice giant
First up this week: a gold rush for naturally occurring hydrogen. Deputy Editor Eric Hand joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss drilling for hidden pockets of hydrogen, which companies are just now starting to explore as a clean energy option.
Next up, big plans for a mission to Uranus. Kathleen Mandt, a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, shares what a mission to Uranus could tell us about the formation of our Solar System and all these exoplanets we keep findin...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - February 16, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
TWiV 960: Getting funky with Dan Wilson
Dan Wilson of Debunk the Funk joins TWiV to explain why he decided to take on science misinformation and how he critiques people who promulgate incorrect information. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Rich Condit, and Brianne Barker Guest: Dan Wilson Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Support MicrobeTV with a Spike t-shirt (Vaccinated.us) with promo code MicrobeTV International Scientific Coordinator Position (agajewski at icsnicaragua.org for more info) Debunk the Funk (YouTube) Letters read on TWiV 960 Timestamps by Jolene. Th...
Source: This Week in Virology - MP3 Edition - December 4, 2022 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Source Type: podcasts
Mammoth ivory trade may be bad for elephants, and making green electronics with fungus
On this week’s show: The potentially harmful effects of prehistoric ivory on present-day elephants, and replacing polymers in electronics with fungal tissue
First up this week on the podcast, we hear about the effect of mammoth and mastodon ivory on the illegal elephant ivory trade. Online News Editor Michael Price joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss how as melting permafrost has uncovered fossilized ivory from these extinct creatures, more has entered the ivory trade. The question is: Does the availability of this type of ivory reduce the demand for ivory from elephants, or does it endanger them more?
Next, making elec...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - November 17, 2022 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
Ancient DNA reveals family of Neanderthals living in Siberian cave
In this episode:00:54 Siberian cave offers first-ever glimpse into Neanderthal familyBy analysing ancient DNA recovered from bone fragments found in two Siberian caves, researchers have identified a set of closely related Neanderthals: a father and daughter, as well as several other more-distant relatives. The work suggests that Neanderthal communities were small, and that females may have left their families to join other groups.Research article: Skov et al.News and Views: The first genomic portrait of a Neanderthal family09:14 Research HighlightsThe robotic falcon that frightens nuisance flocks, and how climate change co...
Source: Nature Podcast - October 26, 2022 Category: Science Authors: Springer Nature Limited Source Type: podcasts
Virtual library of LSD-like drugs could reveal new antidepressants
In this episode:00:46 A virtual chemical library uncovers potential antidepressantsCertain psychedelic drugs are of interest to researchers due to their promising antidepressant effects. To help speed up the discovery of molecules with useful properties, researchers have built a virtual library of 75 million compounds related to these drugs. This approach yielded two molecules that showed antidepressant properties in mice, but without the hallucinogenic activity of psychedelic drugs.Research article: Kaplan et al.Research Briefing: Bespoke library docking for 5-HT2A receptor agonists with antidepressant activity08:25 ...
Source: Nature Podcast - October 5, 2022 Category: Science Authors: Springer Nature Limited Source Type: podcasts
TWiV 933: Island-hopping bats
TWiV discusses a new henipavirus from fruit bats in Madagascar, and attenuation of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron disease in mice caused by genome mutations outside of the spike protein coding region. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode Research assistant position at FDA (pdf) Beijerinck virology prize (KNAW) Nipah virus vaccine (TWiV 618) Novel henipavirus from Madagascar (J Viral) Spike-independent Omicron attenuation in mice (Cell Rep) Letters read on TWiV 933 Timestamps...
Source: This Week in Virology - MP3 Edition - September 4, 2022 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Source Type: podcasts
Do protons have intrinsic charm? New evidence suggests yes
00:47 Evidence of a proton’s charmFor decades, scientists have debated whether protons have ‘intrinsic charm’, meaning they contain elementary particles known as charm quarks. Now, using machine learning to comb through huge amounts of experimental data, a team have shown evidence that the charm quark can be found within a proton, which may have important ramifications in the search for new physics.Research article: The NNPDF CollaborationNews and Views: Evidence at last that the proton has intrinsic charm11:26 Research HighlightsHow sea sponges ‘sneeze’ to clean their filters, and why bonobos’ infantile behavi...
Source: Nature Podcast - August 17, 2022 Category: Science Authors: Springer Nature Limited Source Type: podcasts
Higgs boson at 10: a deep dive into the mysterious, mass-giving particle
In this Podcast Extra, Nature's Lizzie Gibney and Federico Levi take a deep-dive into the Higgs boson, describing their experiences of its discovery, what the latest run of the Large Hadron Collider might reveal about the particle's properties, and what role it could play in potential physics beyond the standard model.Nature News: Happy birthday, Higgs boson! What we do and don’t know about the particleNature Editorial: Particle physics isn’t going to die — even if the LHC finds no new particles See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. (Source: Nature Podcast)
Source: Nature Podcast - July 11, 2022 Category: Science Authors: Springer Nature Limited Source Type: podcasts
Higgs boson turns ten: the mysteries physicists are still trying to solve
00:46 Happy birthday, Higgs boson - looking back at a momentous milestone for physicsTen years ago this week, scientists announced that they’d found evidence of the existence of the Higgs boson, a fundamental particle first theorised to exist nearly sixty years earlier.To celebrate this anniversary, we reminisce about what the discovery meant at the time, and what questions are left to be answered about this mysterious particle.Nature News: Happy birthday, Higgs boson! What we do and don’t know about the particleNature Editorial: Particle physics isn’t going to die — even if the LHC finds no new particles11:09 Rese...
Source: Nature Podcast - July 6, 2022 Category: Science Authors: Springer Nature Limited Source Type: podcasts
Former pirates help study the seas, and waves in the atmosphere can drive global tsunamis
On this week’s show: A boost in research ships from an unlikely source, and how the 2022 Tonga eruption shook earth, water, and air around the world
For decades, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society caused controversy on the high seas; now it’s turning its patrolling ships into research vessels. Online News Editor David Grimm discusses how this change of heart came about with host Sarah Crespi.
Also this week, how atmospheric waves can push tsunamis around the globe. Producer Meagan Cantwell talks with Emily Brodsky, an earthquake physicist at University of California, Santa Cruz, about data from a multitude of sens...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - June 30, 2022 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
Using quantum tools to track dark matter, why rabies remains, and a book series on science and food
On this week’s show: How physicists are using quantum sensors to suss out dark matter, how rabies thwarts canine vaccination campaigns, and a kickoff for our new series with authors of books on food, land management, and nutrition science
Dark matter hunters have turned to quantum sensors to find elusive subatomic particles that may exist outside physicists’ standard model. Adrian Cho, a staff writer for Science, joins host Sarah Crespi to give a tour of the latest dark matter particle candidates—and the traps that physicists are setting for them.
Next, we hear from Katie Hampson, a professor in the Ins...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - April 28, 2022 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
Why do naked mole rats live as long as giraffes?
00:54 How Mammals’ mutation rates affects their lifespanFor biologists, a long-standing question has been why some animals live longer than others. This week a team have attempted to answer this, by measuring the rates that different animal species accumulate mutations. They show that longer-lived animals acquire mutations at a slower rate, which helps to explain why cancer risk does not scale with lifespan.Research article: Cagan et al.News and Views: Mutational clocks tick differently across species07:56 Research HighlightsA clinical trial suggests a change to the treatment of a pregnancy ailment, and astronomers ident...
Source: Nature Podcast - April 13, 2022 Category: Science Authors: Springer Nature Limited Source Type: podcasts
A surprisingly weighty fundamental particle, and surveying the seas for RNA viruses
On this week’s show: A new measurement of the W boson could challenge physicists’ standard model, and an abundance of marine RNA viruses
Staff Writer Adrian Cho joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss a new threat to the standard model of particle physics—a heavier than expected measurement of a fundamental particle called the W boson. They chat about how this measurement was taken, and what it means if it is right.
Next, Sarah talks about the microscopic denizens of Earth’s oceans with Ahmed Zayed, a research scientist in the department of microbiology at Ohio State University, Columbus. They talk abo...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - April 7, 2022 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
