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

17 April 2025

Episode 298Big 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...


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

11 April 2025

Episode 297The “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,...


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

4 April 2025

Episode 296There’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....


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

28 March 2025

Episode 295The 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...


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26 March 2025

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Testing a gif article 1 headline

26 March 2025

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

21 March 2025

Episode 294Markings 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...


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

14 March 2025

Episode 293The 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,...


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

7 March 2025

Episode 292Chimps 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...


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

28 February 2025

Episode 291Who 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...


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