Best Teaming With Microbes Podcasts (2025)

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Scientists discovered a 100,000-year-old organism; Breakthrough brain implant uses AI to treat pain; How climate change leads to revolutions 25:50

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1d ago25:50

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Episode 318 An ancient organism has been discovered that has been alive for at least 100,000 years. Found in the Siberian permafrost, this lifeform doesn’t appear to have just remained dormant - but instead has actually been growing extremely slowly. Our understanding of life is already quite fuzzy, and this finding adds to the idea that life itsel…

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Artifacts of Collapse: Touring the Crazy Town Museum 1:02:50

1d ago1:02:50

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In this episode we travel in time to the year 2125, to visit the Crazy Town museum, which showcases today’s world of wanton consumption and profligate waste. How will humans in 2125 – if there are any of us left – judge the things everyone sees as normal today? Jason, Rob, and Asher take turns serving as expert curators of this future museum, nomin…

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Could we end winter illness?; Cold fusion’s comeback; The delicious microbiome of chocolate 20:41

8d ago20:41

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Episode 317 Winter bugs are notoriously hard to vaccinate against. But as cold, flu and covid season is about to descend on us once more, one group researchers are working on an entirely new solution to the misery. A team out of Columbia University has been testing an mRNA-based treatment that could prime our immune systems to fight against any kin…

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Climate special: How to fix the climate crisis with Tim Lenton and Kate Marvel 44:25

16d ago44:25

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Episode 316 “All of the other planets out there are just complete garbage. The Earth is the only good place.” – Kate Marvel The climate crisis can leave many of us feeling hopeless and overwhelmed. But, as climate scientists Kate Marvel and Tim Lenton say, there are many reasons to be optimistic.Both have new books out that hope to reframe the way …

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Crazy Town Classics - Net Energy and Sustainability, or… the Story of the Overstuffed Strongman 1:26:55

15d ago1:26:55

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All of humanity’s feats, whether a record-setting deadlift by the world’s strongest man or the construction of a gleaming city by a technologically advanced economy, originate from a single hidden source: positive net energy. Having surplus energy in the form of thirteen pounds of food per day enables a very big man, Hafthor Bjornsson, to lift very…

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80 years since Hiroshima: Forgotten victims of the atomic bomb 34:06

25d ago34:06

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Episode 315 It’s been 80 years since the first and only use of nuclear weapons in war - events that altered the course of history. The consequences of the widespread destruction, deaths and nuclear fallout are still being dealt with today. On 6th August 1945, a bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in Japan, and three days later Nagasaki was also bombed. T…

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Ozempic and Wegovy slow down biological ageing; creation of synthetic bacterium; geology of the Russian earthquake 28:24

29d ago28:24

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Episode 314 Weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy have been shown to slow down - or even reverse - the ageing process. In a trial of 84 people taking semaglutide, their biological age dropped by 3.1 years on average, with some organs becoming almost 5 years younger. Based on this new research, this finding could make these some of the most impactful…

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Just One Word: Microplastics, with Matt Simon 53:16

29d ago53:16

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Put on your best polyester pants, grab a bunch of gleaming mylar balloons, and crack open a case of bottled water. In today's episode, we're entering the plastic world of plastic pollution in all its glorious plasticity. We're on the hunt for microplastics – and we won’t have to go very far, as they're present everywhere – in the soil, in the water…

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AI wins first gold at maths Olympic games; How mitochondria are linked to sleep; Famous psychology trick works on octopuses too 28:48

1M ago28:48

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Episode 313 AI has won gold at the world’s hardest maths event. For the first time, AI programs that use entirely natural language like ChatGPT, have used general reasoning to solve incredibly difficult tests at the International Maths Olympiad in Australia. Humans are still in the lead…for now. But could this be a big leap forward in the quest for…

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Scientists test engineered microbes to fight disease; Has 1.5 degrees failed?; New theory why we’ve not found aliens 30:23

1M ago30:23

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Episode 312 People have been given genetically engineered microbes to prevent a common health condition - and it worked. The gut microbiome is now known to be associated with many health conditions - and in this case, the team managed to treat 9 people who get recurring kidney stones. With the gut’s links to mental health, cancer and more, could en…

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Crazy Town Classics - Lord of the Swans: The Tragedy of the Enclosure of the Commons 57:02

1M ago57:02

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The “tragedy of the commons” is an idea that has so thoroughly seeped into culture and law that it seems normal for people and corporations to own land, water, and even whole ecosystems. But there’s a BIG problem: the “tragedy” part of it has been debunked – it really should be the triumph of the commons. Learn the origin story of privatization and…

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How geoengineering could save us from climate disaster; Have we broken mathematics?; Why exercise reduces cancer risk 33:02

2M ago33:02

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Episode 311 Geoengineering could be the best way to avoid catastrophic climate disaster - but there’s a big catch. In the recent Global Tipping Points Conference in the UK, scientists discussed growing concerns that the AMOC may be on the verge of collapsing. This is a system of ocean currents that plays a crucial role in regulating global climate.…

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First full genome of Ancient Egyptian sequenced; Wild killer whales offer gifts to humans; First demonstration of interstellar navigation 29:31

2M ago29:31

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Episode 310 An ancient Egyptian's complete genome has been read for the first time. The DNA of a man who lived in Egypt over 4500 years ago offers a new window into the ancient society and hints at surprising genetic connections with Mesopotamia. Based on forensic analysis of the man's skeleton and preserved images of different Egyptian occupations…

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Will Trump's Tariffs Fuel or Foil the Degrowth Movement? 47:52

2M ago47:52

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As Trump’s tariffs kick in, the Republican party is suddenly spouting anti-consumerist rhetoric that would make the Lorax smile. Should we cheer on this accidental experiment in economic shrinkage, or will this ham-fisted set of trade policies cause a backlash against the proponents of degrowth? As political confusion reigns, we offer eco-localism …

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Mice with two dads; perfect your sleep with science; how lizards survived dinosaur-killing asteroid 30:17

2M ago30:17

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Ep 309 A groundbreaking experiment in reproductive biology has resulted in mice being born from two biological fathers. By fusing sperm and putting them into an emptied egg cell, researchers in China have produced healthy and fertile offspring from two male mice. While it’s early days and the technique requires hundreds of embryos to get results, i…

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First skull of mysterious human ancestor; Decoding whale language; Heatwaves 20x more likely to happen 36:18

2M ago36:18

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Episode 308 An ancient skull discovered in China has been confirmed to belong to a Denisovan. It’s been tough to study this mysterious human ancestor, as we’ve only ever found a finger and jaw bone - so this new discovery could reshape our understanding of them. After being kept secret for decades, the “dragon man” skull is opening up a new window …

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Blinded by the Light - Facing Reality with Renewable Energy 56:39

2M ago56:39

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Solar panels and other modern energy technologies can be really useful, but the belief that we can technologize our way to a bigger and better society powered by clean energy is tragically flawed. Asher, Rob, and Jason dig into the up-and-down story of the Ivanpah concentrated solar power plant, review the Harry Potteresque thinking behind complex,…

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Is this the first step to cyborg brains? How drones are reshaping warfare forever; New Vera Rubin observatory goes live 31:23

3M ago31:23

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Episode 307 Using new “ultrasoft” electronics, researchers at Harvard have effectively created tadpole cyborgs. A soft bioelectronic device has been implanted into their brains - one which grows with them as they develop into frogs. This neural implant is a first step in helping us better understand the inner workings of the brain. But could this w…

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$1 trillion of platinum on the moon; how your brain distinguishes between reality and imagination; rise of the hyperworm 25:37

3M ago25:37

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Episode 306 It’s been discovered that the moon is probably home to $1 trillion worth of platinum. Researchers suggest nearly 6500 of the Moon’s craters were made by asteroids containing commercial quantities of platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium. Does that mean space companies are going to head out on mining missions immine…

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Who Can Fix the Housing Crisis - NYT Pundits, German Shepherds, or Bilbo Baggins? 51:46

3M ago51:46

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Jason, Rob, and Asher are taking out a huge, unaffordable mortgage on the housing crisis. What’s behind the shortage in housing? Why is it that no one, except canine Tik Tok influencers with billion-dollar bank accounts, can afford to own a home? While mainstream pundits press for an energy-blind buildout of desert sprawl and gleaming towers of gla…

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The real threat of AI - ethics, exploitation and the erosion of truth 34:43

3M ago34:43

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Episode 305 As artificial intelligence grows into more and more aspects of our lives, it seems we’re just at the beginning of the boom. Hundreds of billions of dollars are being pumped into advancing AI capabilities, making it the best funded area in science. But, just like the dot-com revolution, is it a bubble waiting to burst? In this special ep…

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Are smartphones really causing mental illness in teens?; More evidence of alien life; Digital oak trees 23:24

3M ago23:24

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Episode 304 It seems the world is on heightened alert about the impact smartphones are having on our children’s brains. But are we right to be worried? Jonathan Haidt’s book the Anxious Generation has played a big role in this debate, with many researchers agreeing smartphones cause harm and action needs to be taken. But is there actually any scien…

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Bunkers, Bazookas, and Bespoke Moats: How to Be Safe in an Unsafe World 42:13

3M ago42:13

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The world has gone bunking mad. The bespoke security industry is burying bunkers stocked with arsenals of automatic rifles and surrounded by flaming moats. Is there a better way to prepare for the polycrisis, the zombie apocalypse, or whatever hard times are on the horizon? Jason, Rob, and Asher have some fun at the expense of the bunker builders b…

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China’s carbon emissions fall; norovirus vaccine; chaotic breakup of the solar system 27:55

4M ago27:55

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Episode 303 China is becoming a de facto leader in the fight against climate change. Right now it’s the world’s biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, but after years of keeping its emissions steady, they have finally begun to fall. And this is all while China’s power demands have increased - suggesting its efforts to build clean energy are paying off.…

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Ocean wonders and the new arguments against deep-sea mining; biophotons emitted from living things; drumming chimps and the origin of religion 28:02

4M ago28:02

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We dive into the mysterious world of the deep sea, sparked by a recent executive order aiming to ramp up offshore mineral extraction, as well as new research revealing that 99.999 per cent of the seabed remains unexplored. Experts discuss the surprising lack of deep-sea exploration, the ecological wonders already discovered, like hydrothermal vents…

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It Was Never Your Democracy Anyway: Thomas Linzey on Rethinking the Constitution 51:18

4M ago51:18

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Democracy and environmental protection have two things in common: (1) they’re both supposed to be enshrined in the laws of the United States and (2) they’re both under severe attack right now. Asher speaks with Thomas Linzey of the Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights to uncover how the source code of the U.S. Constitution and the body of…

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Is our understanding of light completely wrong? Two consciousness theories go head-to-head; decoding dolphin whistles 28:45

4M ago28:45

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Episode 301 Our understanding of the nature of light might be completely wrong. The double-slit experiment is one of the most famous experiments in physics and is how we’ve understood light for over 200 years. But a team is now suggesting we’ve got the interpretation all wrong - that light is in fact not a wave and is only made up of particles. If …

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Weekly: Why the climate crisis is an issue of injustice and inequality 41:50

4M ago41:50

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Episode 299 In a climate justice special episode of the podcast, the biggest issue of the century is up for discussion. Find out the true impact of climate change on our planet and who should be paying to fix the crisis. Rowan Hooper and Madeleine Cuff are joined by two climate experts - Friederike Otto and Joyce Kimutai from the World Weather Attr…

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Weekly: First brain engineering in a mammal; landmark in fossil fuel lawsuits, the legacy of Pope Francis 29:03

4M ago29:03

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Episode 300 The first genetically engineered synapses have been implanted in a mammal’s brain. Chemical brain signals have been bypassed in the brains of mice and replaced with electrical signals, changing their behaviour in incredible ways. Not only did they become more sociable, they were also less anxious and exhibited fewer OCD-like symptoms. T…

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Going #2: The Dueling Rules of Nature That Every Good Earthling Needs to Know 50:31

4M ago50:31

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Happy Earth Day! There are two concepts that every person should understand to be a better Earthling: entropy and self-organization. It seems like a paradox, but systems on Earth are simultaneously breaking down into disorder and arranging themselves into complex superorganisms. Everything on Earth (well, really in the whole universe) is subject to…

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Weekly: Have we really just found the strongest evidence for alien life yet? 17:59

5M ago17:59

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Episode 298 Big news has just broken - astronomers claim they’ve detected the strongest evidence for alien life yet. The news has got the world’s media fired up with excitement - but is this really a “revolutionary moment”? Astronomers studying the atmosphere of a distant planet called K2-18b say they have detected a molecule called DMS that is onl…

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Weekly: Dire wolves (not) brought back from extinction; US science in existential crisis; how to pour the perfect coffee 21:53

5M ago21:53

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Episode 297 The “de-extinction company” Colossal Biosciences claims to have brought dire wolves back from extinction. This is an ancient animal that roamed Earth 10,000 years ago and famously is depicted in Game of Thrones. After gene editing grey wolves, three pups have been born. But is it right to call them dire wolves, or are these just grey wo…

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Weekly: How plant skin transplants could supercharge crops; China’s pollution win spikes global temperatures; the oldest ivory tools ever found 27:10

5M ago27:10

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Episode 296 There’s a strange phenomenon in the plant world that we’ve known about for ages - but have only just figured out how to make use of it. Thanks to a process that sometimes happens during plant grafting, we can give plants skin transplants. This process produces ‘graft chimeras’, which have been seen as mere curiosities for many years. Bu…

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Even AI Chatbots Hate Us: The Rise of the New Luddites, with Brian Merchant 1:09:46

5M ago1:09:46

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Who knew that the breakthrough moment of AI sentience would come from interacting with an annoying neo-Luddite? After failing to raise a single dollar for PCI’s newest initiative — the $350 billion Transdisciplinary Institute for Phalse Prophet Studies and Education (TIPPSE) — Jason, Rob, and Asher devise the only profitable pitch for raising capit…

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Weekly: A remarkable view of pregnancy; how to waste less time on your smartphone; superacid diamond rain 22:45

5M ago22:45

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Episode 295 The changes the body goes through during and after pregnancy have been examined in more detail than ever before. A landmark study is finally helping us to piece together some of the mysteries and myths surrounding this time – from how long it takes the body to go back to “normal” after birth to the extended periods of nutrient deficienc…

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Weekly: Life on Mars; biggest dark energy discovery in decades; the mystery of dark oxygen 20:17

5M ago20:17

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Episode 294 Markings discovered on rocks from Mars look to be good evidence that microbial life once existed on the Red Planet. NASA’s Perseverance rover spotted little speckles on rocks in part of Jezero crater, and minerals usually formed in the presence of water. New analysis suggests these markings also contain signs of organic compounds. Prese…

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A Temporary Techno Stunt: Tom Murphy on Falling out of Love with Modernity 54:21

5M ago54:21

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Recovering technology booster Tom Murphy visits Crazy Town to discuss his journey from shooting lasers at the moon, to trying to "solve" the energy predicament, to falling out of love with modernity itself. Asher, Jason, Rob, and Tom discuss the roots and short-lived nature of modernity, which has not only shaped the world we inhabit but conquered …

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Weekly: America is turning its back on science and the cosmos; photosynthesis limits; mysterious memory illusion 27:43

6M ago27:43

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Episode 293 The future of NASA and of US science is under threat, following cuts made by the Trump administration. Johns Hopkins University lost $800 million in grants this week which will impact the health of people all over the world. At the same time, there’s chaos at NASA where the budget is set to be cut in half, with multiple people losing th…

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Weekly: Chimps, bonobos and humans have more in common than you might think 27:56

6M ago27:56

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Episode 292 Chimps are often seen as our hyper-aggressive ancestral cousins, while bonobos are famously more peaceful and caring. But studies of their sexual habits and practices show they are much more alike than we realised. Both apes appear to use sex and genital contact not just to reproduce, but also to smooth tensions in the group, deal with …

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Eating the Future: The NY Times Goes Full Ecomodernist on Food and Farming 47:00

6M ago47:00

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How will we feed people living in the megacities of the 21st century, especially while confronting climate chaos and the depletion of fossil fuels and fossil water? According to the mainstream media: ecomodernism! Massive deployment of technology on factory farms and an extreme ramp-up of industrialization will save the day – right? RIGHT?!? If you…

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Weekly: How to finally get a good night’s sleep - with science 36:59

6M ago36:59

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Episode 291 Who got better sleep - hunter-gatherers or modern-day humans? We’re constantly being told we’re in the midst of an epidemic of poor sleep, but were our ancestors spending any longer in bed than we are? The answer may well surprise you. We weigh up the pros and cons of sleeping in industrialised societies and explore the real reasons why…

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Weekly: Life-saving mice perform first aid; tiny lab-grown human brains; making skyscrapers and hair condition from wood 25:48

6M ago25:48

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Episode 290 Mice have been found saving the lives of their cagemates by performing a resuscitation technique similar to CPR. After opening the mouth of an unconscious mouse, the “attending mouse” yanks up its tongue to clear the airways and dislodges anything that’s stuck. This remarkable discovery shows that empathy and consolation behaviour is mo…

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Weekly: Resurrecting frozen brains; giant asteroid heads to Earth; you really do have a ‘dessert stomach’ 31:53

7M ago31:53

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Episode 289 Slices of mouse brains have been revived after being in deep freeze, hinting at the future possibility of reanimating humans who have been cryogenically preserved. While this is just a first step, researchers say the technique could one day be adapted to bring frozen human brains out of stasis. This may be good news for the more than 20…

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Bargaining With Collapse: A Superabundance of Lab Grown Meat and Dryer Balls 37:32

7M ago37:32

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Do you contemplate topics like climate change, biodiversity loss, and the risk of civilizational collapse? If so, then you probably understand something about bargaining – a psychological defense mechanism that’s one of the five stages of grief. With just a wee bit of embarrassment, Asher, Jason, and Rob reveal damning episodes of bargaining from t…

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Weekly: Trump’s war on science; How whale song resembles human language; How to boil the perfect egg with science 23:46

7M ago23:46

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Episode 288 President Trump has launched what’s being described as an all-out assault on science and medicine. Given America’s impact on global science, this affects the entire world. Web pages referencing climate change and global warming are being deleted, words like “transgender” are being banned from medical publications and USAID has been labe…

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The House Is Quite Literally on Fire: Peter Kalmus on the Climate Emergency Hitting Home 53:48

7M ago53:48

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Peter Kalmus, climate scientist and returning friend of Crazy Town, used to live in Altadena, California, where one of the disastrous Los Angeles wildfires struck on January 7th. Having learned that his former house had burned, Peter penned an emotional article for the New York Times about his family's decision to leave LA two years prior, out of s…

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Weekly: Is DeepSeek really the ChatGPT killer?; alarming scale of ocean warming; dolphin peeing contests 29:15

7M ago29:15

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Episode 287 Chinese AI company DeepSeek unexpectedly stormed onto the scene just a few days ago - a move that has shaken the big US AI companies. The new large language model is similar to ChatGPT, but was developed for a fraction of the cost. How have they achieved this? We dig into the key technological innovations behind DeepSeek. We also discus…

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Weekly: The Trump impact on climate and global health; the placebo effect’s evil twin; the mystery of dark oxygen 28:14

7M ago28:14

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Episode 286 President Trump has signed executive orders pulling the US out of the Paris climate agreement, and out of the World Health Organization. Although he claims that withdrawing from Paris will save the US $1trillion a year, the reality is much less clear. As the world’s second largest emitter and amid bans on renewable energy permits, just …

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Weekly: The truth about Iron Age women; Climate whiplash and the LA wildfires; Rebooting the world’s first chatbot 30:20

8M ago30:20

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Episode 285 New archaeological evidence from Iron Age Britain has shaken up long-held beliefs about the role of women in ancient civilisations. By studying the genes of the Durotriges tribe, who lived in Dorset 2000 years ago, researchers have discovered women were the centrepiece of Celtic society - supporting evidence that they had high status ac…

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The Frequent Flyer Tree: Losing the Last Bit of Sense in the Climate Emergency 30:28

8M ago30:28

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In the world of college sports, money talks and the volleyball team walks, er, flies 33,000 miles to play games. The NCAA, like almost everyone else, is playing games with Mother Nature. What do we expect student-athletes to gain from ignoring the climate emergency (not to mention putting their health at risk)? Who cares, as long as we can wring a …