Nature Podcast Nature

Benjamin Thompson, Noah Baker and Elie Dolgin discuss RNA vaccines.
 
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DNA clues point to how dire wolves went extinct, and a round-up of the main impacts of Brexit on science.


In this episode:
00:45 Dire wolf DNA
Dire wolves were huge predators that commonly roamed across North America before disappearing around 13,000 years ago. Despite the existence of a large number of dire wolf fossils, questions remain about why this species went extinct and how they relate to other wolf species. Now, using DNA and protein analysis, researchers are getting a better understanding of what happened to these extinct predators.


Research Article: Perri et al.


11:43 Research Highlights
The secret to Pluto’s blue haze, and the neural circuitry underlying mice empathy.


Research Highlight: Ice bathes Pluto in a blue haze
Research Highlight: Brain maps show how empathetic mice feel each other's pain


13:31 Post-Brexit science
In December, a last minute trade-deal between the UK and EU clarified what the future relationship between the two regions would look like, after Brexit. We discuss the implications of this trade-deal for science funding, the movement of researchers, and data sharing.


News Explainer: What the landmark Brexit deal means for science


23:18 Briefing Chat
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, concerns about contaminating water on the moon, and the spy satellites that spied out environmental change.


Nature News: Will increasing traffic to the Moon contaminate its precious ice?
The New York Times: Inside the C.I.A., She Became a Spy for Planet Earth


Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
 
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Lessons from Iceland, which utilised huge scientific resources to contain COVID-19.
 
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The Nature Podcast team select some of their favourite stories from the past 12 months.
 
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Benjamin Thompson, Noah Baker and Traci Watson discuss some of 2020's most significant coronavirus research papers.


In the final Coronapod of 2020, we dive into the scientific literature to reflect on the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers have discovered so much about SARS-CoV-2 – information that has been vital for public health responses and the rapid development of effective vaccines. But we also look forward to 2021, and the critical questions that remain to be answered about the pandemic.


Papers discussed
A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019 - New England Journal of Medicine, 24 January
Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China - The Lancet, 24 January
A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin - Nature, 3 February
A new coronavirus associated with human respiratory disease in China - Nature, 3 February
Temporal dynamics in viral shedding and transmissibility of COVID-19 - Nature Medicine, 15 April
Spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the Icelandic Population - New England Journal of Medicine, 11 June
High SARS-CoV-2 Attack Rate Following Exposure at a Choir Practice — Skagit County, Washington, March 2020 - Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, 15 August
Respiratory virus shedding in exhaled breath and efficacy of face masks - Nature Medicine, 3 April
Aerosol and Surface Stability of SARS-CoV-2 as Compared with SARS-CoV-1 - New England Journal of Medicine, 13 April
Projecting the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 through the postpandemic period - Science, 22 May
Estimating the effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions on COVID-19 in Europe - Nature, 8 June
The effect of large-scale anti-contagion policies on the COVID-19 pandemic - Nature, 8 June
Retraction—Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with or without a macrolide for treatment of COVID-19: a multinational registry analysis - The Lancet, 20 June
A Randomized Trial of Hydroxychloroquine as Postexposure Prophylaxis for Covid-19 - New England Journal of Medicine, 3 June
Association Between Administration of Systemic Corticosteroids and Mortality Among Critically Ill Patients With COVID-19 - JAMA, 2 September
Immunological memory to SARS-CoV-2 assessed for greater than six months after infection - bioRxiv, 16 November
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Re-infection by a Phylogenetically Distinct Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Strain Confirmed by Whole Genome Sequencing - Clinical Infectious Diseases, 25 August
Nature’s COVID research updates – summarising key coronavirus papers as they appear
 
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A video game provides players with insights into pandemic responses, and our annual festive fun.
 
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