The world, the universe and us

New Scientist

From the evolution of intelligent life, to the mysteries of consciousness; from the threat of the climate crisis to the search for dark matter, The world, the universe and us is your essential weekly dose of science and wonder in an uncertain world. Hosted by journalists Dr Rowan Hooper and Dr Penny Sarchet and joined each week by expert scientists in the field, the show draws on New Scientist’s unparalleled depth of reporting to put the stories that matter into context. Feed your curiosity with the podcast that will restore your sense of optimism and nourish your brain. For more visit newscientist.com/podcasts

  1. 4 DAYS AGO

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

    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 itself is a fuzzy state of being.  A breakthrough method of treating previously untreatable chronic pain is showing promise. An intuitive form of deep brain stimulation, guided by machine learning, has provided targeted relief to patients in a small trial. The method also improved various other conditions and may even help with weight loss. Find out how it works. Throughout history, dramatic changes in the climate often coincide with major revolutions and rebellions. Rapid warming or cooling often have a cascading effect on food production, leading to shortages and rising prices. As the effect of climate change increase today, will we see a repeat of history? Chapters: (00:00) Intro (00:22) 100,000-year-old organism (10:37) Brain implant treats chronic pain (18:02) How climate change leads to revolutions Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet, with guests Alexandra Thompson, James Dinneen and Karen Lloyd. To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    26 min

  2. 22 AUG

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

    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 kind of viral infection, perhaps in the form of an asthma-like inhaler. But there is a catch… New life has been breathed into one of the most controversial ideas in science. In 1989, a surprising way to generate nuclear fusion at room temperature gained worldwide attention - but the initial experiment couldn’t be replicated. Dead in the water for many years, the idea of ‘cold fusion’ is now being revisited - and it could help us create futuristic electronics. Ever wondered what makes chocolate taste so good? As with many things, it turns out we have microbes to thank. Chocolate, like kimchi and cheese, is a fermented food product - and scientists are beginning to discover which microbes give chocolate its many flavours. These findings could help us create more delicious chocolate, or even create new flavours we’ve never tasted before. Chapters: (00:00) Intro (00:29) Could we end winter illness? (08:27) Cold fusion’s comeback (15:23) The delicious microbiome of chocolate Hosted by Penny Sarchet and Chelsea Whyte, with guests Michael Le Page, Alex Wilkins and Sam Wong. To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    21 min

  3. 14 AUG

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

    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 we think about the issue. Kate’s book Human Nature grapples with the complicated emotions that the climate crisis evokes, from anger to hope and love – and explores how we can harness each of them to fight for a better future. Tim’s book Positive Tipping Points looks at the possibility that we may cause irreversible damage to the Earth’s climate system, from Amazon dieback to ice sheet collapse. But as the name suggests, he also examines the opportunities in leveraging global action against climate change to create “positive tipping points”. Chapters: (0:00) Intro (01:26) Why Tim and Kate have dedicated their lives to climate science (3:53) Exploring Kate’s book Human Nature - starting with anger (6:33) How Tim channels his climate anger (10:16) Processing the 9 emotions of Kate’s book (13:10) What are negative tipping points? (15:33) How to use positive tipping points (21:13) Where can we find hope for change right now? (23:16) The positive emotions that inspire climate action (26:50) Kate’s process of writing (29:52) Why non-violent campaigns are so effective (35:19) Have we seen any of these positive tipping points yet? (39:31) How Americans really feel about climate change (40:46) Kate and Tim’s dream outcomes for their books Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Madeleine Cuff, with guests Kate Marvel and Tim Lenton. To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    44 min

  4. 5 AUG

    80 years since Hiroshima: Forgotten victims of the atomic bomb

    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. Tens of thousands of people were killed. Since then, many nuclear tests have been carried out. Despite efforts to clean up the fallout, a big threat looms… climate change. Not only does the changing climate risk dredging up old nuclear waste, worsening extreme weather events could even damage current nuclear facilities too. There’s also a lasting legacy felt by those who survived the bombs and their descendants, not just in Japan, but South Korea, too. The human cost doesn’t stop there. We hear about the communities who first mined the uranium needed for the bombs in the 1920s and 30s - as well as the health consequences for those living near nuclear test sites. Annie Jacobsen, author of Nuclear War: A Scenario, adds her thoughts on the current threat of nuclear war - and how nuclear technology has become even more destructive.  It wasn’t just people who survived the bombs - there are trees that made it through too.   Seeds have been gathered from these survivor trees and we learn how one of them is being  grown in the Wakehurst botanical garden.  Chapters: (01:32) Nuclear waste and the threat of rising seas (11:31) Atomic bomb survivors (24:35) Annie Jacobsen on the knife-edge of danger (27:40) The trees that survived the bombs Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Madeleine Cuff, with guests Jeremy Hsu, Michael Gerrard, MG Sheftall, Annie Jacobsen and Elinor Breman. To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    34 min

  5. 1 AUG

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

    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 anti-ageing drugs on the market. So how are they doing it? Scientists have very nearly created a new lifeform. A synthetic bacterium has been created with 101,000 changes to its genome - clearing up redundant code in its DNA. By freeing up codons in its genetic code, this bacteria could make new kinds of proteins unlike anything that exists naturally - and pave the way for creating virus resistance bacteria. The recent earthquake off the coast of east Russia was the sixth biggest ever recorded. Thankfully the ensuing tsunami has been manageable - unlike previous record-setting quakes. With two large “foreshocks” before the big one, we ask a professor of tectonics about the geology of the region.  Chapters: (00:34) Weight-loss drugs slow down ageing (10:59) Creation of a new synthetic bacterium (21:52) Geology of the Russian earthquake Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Sam Wong, with guests Alexandra Thompson, Michael Le Page, Andrew Steele, Wes Robertson and Lisa Mcneill. To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    28 min

  6. 25 JUL

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

    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 artificial general intelligence? Mitochondria - famously the powerhouses of our cells - are linked to sleep in ways we never realised. In a study on fruit flies, researchers discovered that the longer they stay awake, the more damage is caused to their mitochondria. This pressure increasingly pushes the flies to go to sleep - to begin the repair cycle. They also showed ways of engineering and altering fruit fly mitochondria that could impact their sleep duration. Given how mitochondria is essential in all complex life forms - like us - could it one day lead to sleep treatments? An iconic psychology experiment has been used to trick octopuses. The rubber hand illusion has been used on people - and some other mammals - to fool them into thinking a fake hand is their own. And now it turns out octopuses are fooled just as easily. Researchers used a fake tentacle to recreate the trick - giving us a deeper insight into how octopus brains work. Chapters: (00:33) AI wins gold at maths Olympics (12:24) How mitochondria are linked to sleep (22:13) Octopus rubber hand illusion Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet, with guests Alex Wilkins and Alexandra Thompson. To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    29 min

  7. 18 JUL

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

    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 engineered microbes be used to treat more conditions in the future? Is 1.5C dead? It’s looking increasingly likely that we’re going to breach 1.5C of global warming - the goal set out in the Paris agreement. So do we need to set a new goal now? As scientists come up with alternative numbers to aim for, many are worried that moving the goalposts will kill climate ambition. But is there a middle ground that keeps everyone happy? Where are all the aliens? We may now have a solution to the famous Fermi paradox, which questions why we’ve never met anyone else in the universe, despite the existence of many Earth-like planets. And it’s all to do with tectonic plates - a geological phenomenon that may be rare outside of Earth, helping complex life to emerge on our planet.  Chapters: (00:39) Genetically modified gut microbes (07:03) Setting a new goal for global warming (17:20) Solving the Fermi paradox Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet, with guests Grace Wade, Madeleine Cuff, Alex Wilkins, Ilana Seid, Robert Stern and Taras Gerya. To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    30 min

  8. 11 JUL

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

    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. With the window of action rapidly closing, one climate model suggests geoengineering is the fastest way to stop this from happening. But without global consensus, the team explains how geoengineering could also damage the climate further or even lead to a new kind of warfare. We’re brushing up against the edge of mathematics with the uncovering of a number so large it’s hard to even describe. Busy Beaver numbers are used to describe the longest possible run-times of ‘Turing machines’ - a theoretical model of computation conceived by Alan Turing. These numbers are surprisingly hard to figure out. But after uncovering the fifth Busy Beaver number in 2021, an online community of mathematicians now thinks they’ve figured out the sixth number - and it’s beyond massive. What does this mean for the nature of mathematics? We’ve known for a long time that exercise is a great way of reducing cancer risk - and now we finally know why. A new study suggests changes in the microbiome caused by exercise can reduce tumour growth - and there appears to be one particular molecule that’s doing this good work. Does this mean we could one day use poop transplants as a cancer treatment? Chapters: (00:22) Can geoengineering save us from climate disaster? (16:59) Have we broken mathematics? (25:42) Why exercise reduces cancer risk Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet, with guests Michael Le Page, Jacob Aron, Claudia Wieners and Marlies Meisel. To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    33 min
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From the evolution of intelligent life, to the mysteries of consciousness; from the threat of the climate crisis to the search for dark matter, The world, the universe and us is your essential weekly dose of science and wonder in an uncertain world. Hosted by journalists Dr Rowan Hooper and Dr Penny Sarchet and joined each week by expert scientists in the field, the show draws on New Scientist’s unparalleled depth of reporting to put the stories that matter into context. Feed your curiosity with the podcast that will restore your sense of optimism and nourish your brain. For more visit newscientist.com/podcasts

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