The World, the Universe and Us

Episode 403 A new species of feathered dinosaur has been discovered - and it looks like a supercharged magpie with teeth. Fossil evidence and an artist’s reconstruction show the dinosaur looks remarkably like a bird - yet it’s not actually an ancestor of modern birds. Over 100 million years old, Norellraptor barsboldi is named after two famous palaeontologists - one of whom taught palaeontologist...

Episode 402 The current El Niño is shaping up to cause catastrophe on a global scale. Global temperatures are being pushed up, unleashing extreme weather which could devastate ecosystems. The heat alone is expected to kill half a million people over the next five months. Sea-surface temperatures are expected to climb 4°C above average in parts of the Pacific - and it’s becoming clear this is an is...

Episode 401 Anxiety is everywhere. Climate change, political turmoil and a constant stream of alarming headlines can make optimism feel impossible. But to be hopeful you don’t need to ignore reality. What if it’s about paying attention to the breakthroughs that are already changing the world? In this special episode Penny Sarchet and Rowan Hooper are joined by bestselling author Caitlin Moran, who...

Episode 400 Should we really be afraid of AI? Many headline statements from the likes of Anthrophic, OpenAI and even the King are raising alarm bells over the threat of AI to humanity. AI companies are even calling to be more highly regulated. But does that mean the threats are worth considering - or are there ulterior motives? Among the apocalyptic or disastrous ways it could go wrong, there are...

Episode 399 Some aspects of childbirth have remained surprisingly mysterious - and scientists haven’t been able to agree on what actually kicks off the labour process. But they’ve finally worked out what’s going on - and the discovery could turn birth into a much more predictable occasion. The labour process in humans is much more complex than in other mammals. But researchers have now worked out...

Episode 398 OpenAI says it has just solved one of the hardest problems in mathematics. The Navier-Stokes existence and smoothness problem has been unsolved for more than 200 years. Now AI has cracked it, some claim we’ve finally reached “AGI” - artificial general intelligence. Navier-Stokes is one of the Millennium Prize Problems, chosen for being famously challenging. And as OpenAI sets its sight...

Episode 397 The first evidence has been discovered that Denisovans lived in south-west China. This ancient species of human spent over 100,000 years in the region and left behind incredible artefacts that tell us how they lived. 64,000 fragments of bone have been discovered from Bianfu Cave in Yunnan province. And the site tells us a lot about the food they ate and the animals they hunted - includ...

Episode 396 A devastating climate disaster has killed at least 1,200 people in Nepal. A mass of ice and rock came crashing down off the Langtang mountain into the valley below. The climate crisis has made events like this much more likely. This is just one of many retreating glaciers. We’re also on track for a record year of ice-loss in the European alps. As the world is reshaped before our eyes,...

Episode 395 Dark matter particles may have finally been spotted for the first time. LUX-ZEPLIN is the most sensitive dark matter detector on Earth - and what it’s discovered has the potential, if confirmed, to shake up all of physics. Despite making up about 85 per cent of the universe, dark matter has been notoriously difficult to spot. WIMPs, or weakly-interacting massive particles, are the lead...

Episode 394 A new technique using a woman’s own fat cells has been used to reconstruct her breast without silicone implants. By injecting her own tissue into a dissolving scaffold, it’s hoped this technique will make breast augmentation safer. Traditional plastic surgery involves silicone or saline, which can cause health issues like breast implant illness and even cancer. And they typically only...

Episode 393 A controversial TV show has suggested ADHD is a myth - a largely made up condition that is really just a “social construct”. But the science just doesn’t back this up. Decades of research prove ADHD is a real condition that impacts lives - and often needs treatment, which saves lives. But at a time when diagnoses are rising, people are wondering what’s causing the increase. Are we over...

Episode 392 Ancient wildfires may have shaped the course of human evolution. A reconstruction of the environment in East Africa 1.75 million years ago suggests a particularly volatile period of climate change made our species adapt rapidly. Climate swings may have led our species to develop sophisticated tools. Ancient hominins may have also learnt to control fire thanks to frequent wildfires duri...

Episode 391 Brain tumours are the most common and most deadly form of solid tumours in children. But a brand new kind of immunotherapy has shown incredible promise, saving four terminally ill children. By using a child’s own immune cells, this new treatment seems to work better than existing immunotherapies and causes fewer adverse side effects. Although it saved just 4 out of 33 participants, it’...

Episode 390 In a special episode recorded live at Latitude Festival in England, we open with the finding that orcas in the Gulf of California have been making fish explode like piñatas. Sunfish are too large for orcas to get their teeth around, but they’ve been seen working together to tackle them - another amazing display of their ability to coordinate.  We also discuss a surprising new way...

Episode 389 Europe is burning through another summer of extreme heat. Temperatures are soaring across the continent, wildfires are forcing mass evacuations in France and Spain, and scientists warn that heatwaves are becoming more frequent, more intense and longer-lasting as the climate warms.  The fires are changing too. Hotter, drier conditions are creating larger and more destructive wildfi...

Episode 388 Two extraordinary breakthroughs have been made in transplant surgery. First, scientists have found a way of keeping human eyes alive for up to 10 hours after death, opening up the possibility of eye transplants in the future.  And in a second controversial surgery, another team has managed to restore severed spinal cords in pigs, allowing them to walk again after being paralysed....

Episode 387 Two big interstellar discoveries have hit the headlines. One is the discovery of the first atmosphere ever found on a small, rocky exoplanet that could host alien life. The planet LHS 1140b is about 50 light years from Earth and sits in the “Goldlocks” zone, meaning it’s close enough to its star to be habitable. So what do we know about its atmosphere – and could it be just like Earth?...

Episode 386 The climate crisis is having a significant impact on yields of crucial food crops. Losses of maize, wheat and soybeans alone are costing $20 billion a year due to heat and drought. New estimates expect this to rise to $160 billion per year by 2100 - although that could be an underestimate. While this means food prices will keep on rising in developed countries, the majority of the popu...

Episode 385 What can Homer’s Odyssey teach us about psychology and human nature? Locked up in this 2,500-year-old text are a host of profound lessons and ancient wisdom.  In her new book The Odyssey Mindset, Oxford classicist and clinical psychologist Sam Akbar draws on seven essential lessons from this classic piece of Greek literature. She showcases what it teaches us about issues like grie...

Episode 384 The story of evolution is being brought to life in a new way. BBC series Evolution tells the story of 5 iconic animals, from elephants to ostriches, using CGI to reimagine ancient fossils. And this isn’t just about the animals that came before them, but also explores the intricacies of how locomotion, intelligence, feeding, and reproduction emerged. The series is hosted by broadcaster,...

Episode 383 As another heatwave takes hold, figures are now showing just how deadly the last one was. With one early estimate suggesting as many as 25,000 people may have died in Europe as a result of June’s extreme heat. Heatwaves across Europe, Asia, Australia and the US hit record highs last month and wildfires are now spreading across southern Europe. And as the effects of climate change incre...

Episode 382 Scientists have created a synthetic cell with just 36 genes that can copy DNA and replicate. In an attempt to create a “minimal cell”, a team led by professor Kate Adamala have built “SpudCell” from the ground up, using non-living components. But is it alive - and is it dangerous? Despite being able to carry out some of the tasks of a normal cell, it’s not clear that it’s capable of ev...

Episode 381 Advances in sports science, data analysis and AI are having a huge impact on the way football is played. With England rated highly in this year’s World Cup, and teams such as Paraguay causing upsets - how will science help give teams an edge? In the past there was very little data available to help assess player performance - and diet and training were much more rudimentary. But now we...

Episode 380 The DNA of ancient humans has been found preserved in cave art that’s more than 40,000 years old. This discovery could open an entirely new avenue for finding out about the lives of our ancient ancestors. Researchers from the First Art project found these unexpected samples while examining 11 different caves decorated with rock art. Although it’s unclear if the DNA belongs to the origi...

Episode 379 El Niño has officially arrived – a natural climate event that raises global temperatures. The difference this time is it looks very likely to become a “Super” El Niño. This is a more extreme warming phase which could lead to record high temperatures. Coupled with the ongoing impacts of climate change, weather agencies are predicting an increase in extreme weather events around the worl...