The World, the Universe and Us

Episode 378 A prototype Stonehenge has been discovered - an even older structure that may have been a first attempt at building the famous megalithic calendar.  A team led by archaeologist Phil Harding, best-known for the TV series ‘Time Team’, discovered a range of artefacts at a site near Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire.  Excavations at Bulford uncovered pottery, animal bones, fli...

Episode 377 Considered too dangerous and unreliable a few years ago, the technology for gene editing babies is advancing fast. Improved methods of using CRISPR gene editing are making the technique safer and more targeted. But does that mean we should be creating designer babies? A new, more powerful version of CRISPR has already saved lives by correcting cells in children linked to leukaemia. But...

Episode 376 For the first time, scientists have mapped Earth’s vast underground fungal network - and it’s bigger than anyone imagined. Beneath our feet, plants and fungi have a hidden symbiotic relationship, sharing nutrients through fine fungal threads called hyphae. With these new global maps, we’re now starting to understand just how important the mycorrhizal network is in keeping the Earth’s c...

Episode 375 The world’s deepest known whale graveyard has been discovered in the southern Indian Ocean. Located at a depth of seven kilometres, it contains millions of whale bones and has been described as a “deep-sea fossil megasite” and a whale necropolis. Chinese researchers, diving in the crewed Fendouzhe submersible, undertook 32 dives along 1200 kilometres of the seafloor in an area known as...

Episode 374 Google DeepMind is simulating entire worlds using AI - that can be interacted with in real time. “World models” simulate the environment and physics of the real world. And DeepMind’s Genie 3 model allows people to create these worlds with basic image and text prompts. The idea is not just to allow people to explore these worlds, but to serve as a testbed for AI agents to learn how to i...

Episode 373 Despite being 5,300-years-old, the gut microbiome of the famous Ötzi the Ice Man appears to be still alive. A mix of ancient and modern bacteria have been found on Ötzi’s mummified remains - which are preserved in icy conditions. Found in 1991 by hikers on a glacier in the Alps, Ötzi has already taught us an incredible amount about the life of humans living in Europe during the Copper...

Episode 372 Part of the world’s widest glacier is about to collapse – one of the dramatic changes underway that could ultimately trigger a 3 metre rise in sea levels, threatening coastal cities around the world.  Thwaites is a massive glacier in Antarctica – the size of Florida. A key part of the glacier could break away any day now -– an ice shelf that helps protect the main glacier from warm oce...

Episode 371 The moa was a giant flightless bird from New Zealand that died out around 500 years ago. Are we about to see it brought back from extinction? Colossal Biosciences say they have made an artificial egg shell that is a step towards recreating the massive eggs of moas (and dodos). This is huge news… if it works. Is this really enough to bring them back to life - and should we even be tryin...

Episode 370 The melting ice caps are accelerating global warming and contributing to sea level rise, but could also contribute to a different kind of climate catastrophe. The melting may cause massive amounts of frozen methane to bubble up into the atmosphere. It happened thousands of years ago - and scientists are concerned it’s about to happen again. Methane is a greenhouse gas which is 86 times...

Episode 369 A strange tooth found in a Siberian cave has pushed back the earliest evidence of dentistry by 45,000 years. The weird thing is, the evidence comes from a Neanderthal tooth - upending what we thought these ancient humans were capable of. Markings on the 60,000-year-old molar show Neanderthals may have used stone tools to “drill” the tooth to treat dental decay. A team of scientists has...

Episode 368 Scientists are concerned by a sudden increase in the rate of sea level rise. In 2012 it suddenly accelerated and has remained high ever since. From melting glaciers to oceans expanding as they warm, global sea levels have risen by more than 0.2 metres over the past 15 years. Places like Venice and New Orleans are already under threat - and this fast pace of change is only set to make t...

Episode 367 Some people are genetically destined to develop Alzheimer’s disease. But one man who carried the devastating mutation seems to have escaped it entirely - and scientists think it may be because of his job.  Doug Whitney inherited the rare variant of a gene that should have caused early-onset Alzheimer’s in his mid-40s. Many of his family members died from it. Instead, he is now 76 years...

Episode 366 A Pluto-sized object in the outer solar system has shocked scientists. It’s so tiny that it shouldn’t have an atmosphere - but it does. Object 2002 XV93, known as a plutino, is a small rock floating about in the Kuiper belt - a doughnut-shaped region of icy objects out near Pluto. What’s surprising is that many dwarf planets bigger than this object can’t hold an atmosphere, so it’s a m...

Episode 365 Craig Venter, one of the world’s most influential geneticists, has died aged 79. He leaves behind an incredible - and complicated - legacy. Venter is primarily known for playing a leading role in the sequencing of the human genome. Later he pioneered the field of synthetic biology, creating what was described as the first synthetic life form - a feat that was not without controversy. S...

Episode 364 Global temperatures are rising faster than ever - and with a strong El Niño on the way, scientists are warning we could temporarily breach 2°C of warming above pre-industrial levels. While other models suggest it may only hit 1.75°C, either option is bad news for the climate. The European state of the climate report has just been released, painting a picture of a rapidly warming world....

Episode 363 Suzanne Simard is a world-renowned forest ecologist who shot to stardom with her first book Finding the Mother Tree. It tells the story of her life’s work, showing trees and plants are connected through fungal networks, demonstrating a kind of wisdom and intelligence. Now, with the release of her latest book When the Forest Breathes, she’s keen to highlight the destructive and extracti...

Episode 362 It’s been 40 years since the world’s worst nuclear disaster unfolded. Since the explosion at Chernobyl in 1986, the world has feared nuclear power - and the widespread damage it can do. But are we right to fear it? Though it’s left a lasting scar on the region, nuclear power is still safer than fossil fuels - which kill millions of people each year. So what will it take to change publi...

Episode 361 The Earth is about to enter an extremely strong climate phase that could cause major disruption on a planet-wide scale. This “super El Niño” - or “Godzilla El Niño” - threatens to make 2027 the hottest year on record. If it’s as strong as scientists fear, the weather event will bring droughts to some areas of the world and floods to others, causing food shortages and billions of pounds...

Episode 360 A new era of space travel is finally upon us. NASA’s Artemis II rocket successfully launched 4 astronauts around the moon and back. Reacting to the historic news is Britain’s first astronaut, Helen Sharman. The high tech space race sees countries, once again, scrambling to be the first to land people on the lunar surface - but this time to set up a permanent base of operations. Artemis...

The Lyrid meteor shower hits its peak on the evening of the 22nd April, but you can look for them any time between the 16th and 25th. Listen along with New Scientist's Abby Beall as she guides you through what a meteor shower is, when to see the Lyrids and how to look for them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 359 DNA analysis of 10 Neanderthal people is shedding light on why their populations declined 75,000 years ago - eventually leading to their extinction. After being hit by a cold spell, we can see Neanderthals lost a lot of genetic diversity as their numbers dwindled. Living in small, isolated groups, we see evidence in both genetic and archaeological evidence that this pushed the human sp...

Episode 358 The male G-spot exists - and scientists have found it. The most comprehensive study of the human penis has identified one specific location most involved in sexual pleasure - and it’s not what science thought. 14 penis slices from deceased donors were inspected under the microscope - and one region in particular was packed with nerve endings. Medical literature has long thought a diffe...

Episode 357 A global food shock is on the way because of the ongoing war in Iran. Your food bill is expected to rise significantly. The conflict is showing just how fragile our food system is, as spikes in fuel, fertiliser and pesticide prices begin to have knock-on effects around the world. With food availability in jeopardy, should we be stocking supplies at home? Coupled with the worsening clim...

Episode 356 A truck carrying antimatter has been driving around the campus at CERN, home of the Large Hadron Collider. But why are scientists transporting this delicate and extremely expensive substance? Antimatter is regular matter’s counterpart, first theorised in the 1920s. Producing and storing it has proved difficult, as it’s prone to annihilating the moment it meets its opposite half. But CE...

Episode 355 An entire pig’s brain has been preserved after death, using a technique that will keep the structure of the brain intact - potentially for hundreds of years. Scientists say they will offer the treatment to terminally ill humans, in the hopes that one day, in the distant future, we’ll be able to reconstruct their minds and bring them back to life. Because of the speed at which scientist...