x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

Nature Podcast

Springer Nature Limited

The Nature Podcast brings you the best stories from the world of science each week. We cover everything from astronomy to zoology, highlighting the most exciting research from each issue of the Nature journal. We meet the scientists behind the results and provide in-depth analysis from Nature"s journalists and editors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

science

All Episodes

20:41

Coronapod: Waiving vaccine patents and coronavirus...

Nature Podcast ·

2021/05/07

In surprise news this week, the US government announced its support for waiving patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines, in an effort to boost supplies around the world.As fewer than 1% of people living in low-income countries have received COVID-19 vaccines, it is hoped that this move is a major step towards addressing this inequity by allowing manufacturers to legally produce generic versions of vaccines. We discuss the next steps that need to be taken to make this a reality, and why there is

en

19:41

Oldest African burial site uncovers Stone Age...

Nature Podcast ·

2021/05/05

The earliest evidence of deliberate human burial in Africa, and a metal-free rechargeable battery.Listen to our mini-series ‘Stick to the Science’: when science gets political and vote for the show in this year’s Webby Awards.In this episode:00:44 Human burial practices in Stone Age AfricaThe discovery of the burial site of a young child in a Kenyan cave dated to around 78 thousand years ago sheds new light on how Stone Age populations treated their dead.Research Article: Martinón-Torres et al.News

en

26:47

Coronapod special: The inequality at the heart of the...

Nature Podcast ·

2021/04/30

For more than a century, public health researchers have demonstrated how poverty and discrimination drive disease and the coronavirus pandemic has only reinforced this.In aCoronapodspecial,Naturereporter Amy Maxmen takes us with her through eight months of reporting in the San Joaquin valley, a part of rural California where COVID's unequal toll has proven deadly.News:Inequality's deadly tollThis piece was supported by grants from the Pulitzer Center and the MIT Knight Science Journalism

en

17:50

What fruit flies could teach scientists about brain...

Nature Podcast ·

2021/04/28

Ultra-precise measurements connect brain activity and energy use in individual fruit-fly neurons.Vote for our mini-series ‘Stick to the Science’: when science gets political in this year’s Webby Awards.In this episode:00:45 How brain cells use energyA team of researchers have looked in individual fruit-fly neurons to better understand how energy use and information processing are linked – which may have important implications for future fMRI studies in humans.Research Article: Mann et al.07:04

en

18:53

Audio long-read: How drugmakers can be better...

Nature Podcast ·

2021/04/26

Despite warnings, and a number of close calls, drugmakers failed to develop and stockpile drugs to fight a viral pandemic. Now, in the wake of SARS-CoV-2, they are pledging not to make the same mistake again.Around the world, researchers are racing to develop drugs to target COVID-19, but also broad-spectrum antivirals that could be used to treat future viral threats.This is an audio version of our feature: The race for antiviral drugs to beat COVID — and the next pandemic Hosted on Acast. See

en

16:18

Coronapod: Kids and COVID vaccines

Nature Podcast ·

2021/04/23

As COVID-19 vaccine roll-outs continue, attentions are turning to one group: children. While research suggests that children rarely develop severe forms of COVID-19, scientists still believe they could play a key role in transmission and a plan needs to be in place for the longer term. But clinical trials in children are more complicated than those in adults as different ethical and practical concerns need to be taken into account.In this episode of Coronapod, we discuss the ongoing clinical trials

en

26:12

Meet the inflatable, origami-inspired structures

Nature Podcast ·

2021/04/21

The self-supporting structures that snap into place, and how a ban on fossil-fuel funding could entrench poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.In this episode:00:45 Self-supporting, foldable structuresDrawing inspiration from the art of origami, a team of researchers have demonstrated a way to design self-supporting structures that lock into place after being inflated. The team hope that this technique could be used to create arches and emergency shelters that can be quickly unfolded from flat with minimal

en

18:19

Coronapod: could COVID vaccines cause blood clots?...

Nature Podcast ·

2021/04/16

Reports of rare and unusual blood clots have resulted in several vaccine roll outs being paused while scientists scramble to work out if the vaccines are responsible and if so how.The unusual combination of symptoms, including a low platelet count and clots focussed in the abdomen or brain, seems similar to a rare side effect from treatment with the drug blood thinning drug Heparin - however it is not clear how the vaccines could cause the syndrome.In this episode of Coronapod we discuss the latest

en

18:42

The sanitation crisis making rural America ill

Nature Podcast ·

2021/04/14

The lack of adequate sanitation in parts of the rural US, and physicists reassess muons’ magnetism.In this episode:00:45 How failing sanitation infrastructure is causing a US public health crisisIn the US, huge numbers of people live without access to adequate sanitation. Environmental-health advocate Catherine Coleman Flowers tells us about her new book looking at the roots and consequences of this crisis, focusing on Lowndes County, Alabama, an area inhabited largely by poor Black people, where an

en

21:51

Coronapod: A whistle-blower’s quest to take politics...

Nature Podcast ·

2021/04/09

Rick Bright exposed former president Trump's political meddling in the US COVID response. Now he is championing a new privately funded initiative to track viral spread and combat new variants.We discuss the challenges of collecting data on a rapidly spreading virus, from transmission dynamics to genomic surveillance. We also ask why a veteran government scientist like Bright, the ex-director of the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, would take a new path in the private

en

23:47

Audio long-read: Rise of the robo-writers

Nature Podcast ·

2021/04/06

In 2020, the artificial intelligence (AI) GPT-3 wowed the world with its ability to write fluent streams of text. Trained on billions of words from books, articles and websites, GPT-3 was the latest in a series of ‘large language model’ AIs that are used by companies around the world to improve search results, answer questions, or propose computer code.However, these large language model are not without their issues. Their training is based on the statistical relationships between the words and

en

12:57

Coronapod: How to define rare COVID vaccine side effects

Nature Podcast ·

2021/04/02

From a sore arm to anaphylaxis, a wide range of adverse events have been reported after people have received a COVID-19 vaccine. And yet it is unclear how many of these events are actually caused by the vaccine. In the vast majority of cases, reactions are mild and can be explained by the body's own immune response. But monitoring systems designed to track adverse events are catching much rarer but more serious events. Now scientists need to work out if they are causally liked to the vaccine, or are

en

28:53

Antimatter cooled with lasers for the first time

Nature Podcast ·

2021/03/31

Laser-cooled antimatter opens up new physics experiments, and the staggering economic cost of invasive species.In this episode:00:44 Cooling antimatter with a laser focusAntimatter is annihilated whenever it interacts with regular matter, which makes it tough for physicists to investigate. Now though, a team at CERN have developed a way to trap and cool antihydrogen atoms using lasers, allowing them to better study its properties.Research Article: Baker et al.News and Views: Antimatter cooled by

en

19:07

Coronapod: the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID vaccine -...

Nature Podcast ·

2021/03/26

Since the beginning of the pandemic the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been plagued by confusion and controversy. The vaccine has been authorised in over 100 countries, tens of millions of doses have been administered, and it has been demonstrated to be safe and effective. However, over the past few weeks the vaccine has again been in the headlines.In this episode of Coronapod, we discuss all of these controversies and ask how they may the reputation of the vaccine, and what that could mean for

en

28:00

Network of world's most accurate clocks paves way to...

Nature Podcast ·

2021/03/24

A web of three optical atomic clocks show incredibly accurate measurements of time, and the trailblazing astronomer who found hints of dark matter.In this episode:00:44 Optical clock networkOptical atomic clocks have the potential to reach new levels of accuracy and redefine how scientists measure time. However, this would require a worldwide system of connected clocks. Now researchers have shown that a network of three optical clocks is possible and confirm high levels of accuracy.Research Article:

en

14:39

Coronapod: Why COVID antibody treatments may not be...

Nature Podcast ·

2021/03/19

In the early days of the pandemic, researchers raced to identify the most potent antibodies produced by the immune system in response to SAR-COV-2 infection and produce them in bulk. The resulting ‘monoclonal antibodies’ have since been tested in a variety of settings as treatments for COVID-19.But despite promising clinical trial results and several therapies having already been approved, antibody therapies have not yet played a large role in the fight against COVID-19. In this episode of

en

22:45

The AI that argues back

Nature Podcast ·

2021/03/17

A computer that can participate in live debates against human opponents.In this episode:00:43 AI DebaterAfter thousands of years of human practise, it’s still not clear what makes a good argument. Despite this, researchers have been developing computer programs that can find and process arguments. And this week, researchers at IBM are publishing details of an artificial intelligence that is capable of debating with humans.Research Article: Slonim et al.News and Views: Argument technology for

en

13:07

Coronapod: COVID and pregnancy - what do we know?

Nature Podcast ·

2021/03/12

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been many open questions about how COVID-19 could impact pregnant people and their babies – confounded by a lack of data.But now, studies are finally starting to provide some answers. While it does seem that pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of hospitalisation, babies appear to be spared from severe illness in most cases.In this week’s Coronapod we talk about these findings, and the questions that remain – including whether vaccines are

en

29:59

The smallest measurement of gravity ever recorded

Nature Podcast ·

2021/03/10

Physicists examine the gravitational pull between two tiny masses, and how fossil lampreys could shake-up the field of vertebrate evolution.In this episode:00:47 Gravity, on the small scaleThis week, researchers have captured the smallest measurement of gravity on record, by measuring the pull between two tiny gold spheres. This experiment opens the door for future experiments to investigate the fundamental forces of nature and the quantum nature of gravity.Research Article: Westphal et al.News and

en

18:14

Coronapod: COVID's origins and the 'lab leak' theory

Nature Podcast ·

2021/03/05

Where did the SARS-CoV-2 virus come from? As a team of researchers from the WHO prepares to report on its investigation into the origins of the virus, we discuss the leading theories, including the controversial ‘lab leak' hypothesis.Although thereis no evidence to support it, the lab-leak idea remainspopular among certain groups. Similar hypotheses were even touted about the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.We discuss why theories like this seem to gain traction.News: ‘Major stones unturned’: COVID

en

886 results

Similar Podcasts

Classic Radio Science Fiction

solgoodmedia.com

Mission to Mars

Inception Point Ai

The 365 Days of Astronomy

365DaysOfAstronomy.org

Creek Devil

william Jevning

UFO Chronicles Podcast

Nik Hunter