Science Weekly

For more than a decade, scientists have been puzzling over what was causing billions of starfish to dissolve into piles of white goo. Sea star wasting disease has ravaged starfish populations, wiping out 90% of the once common sunflower sea star. Now, researchers have finally identified the culprit. Madeleine Finlay speaks to Dr Melanie Prentice, one of the team to crack the case. She explains the...

Scientists have found the first robust evidence that people’s genes affect their chances of developing myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), a mysterious and debilitating illness that has been neglected and dismissed for decades by many in the medical community. To find out more, Madeleine Finlay speaks to science editor Ian Sample and to Nicky Proctor, who has ME and too...

After three years of negotiating, talks over a global plastics treaty came to an end in Geneva last week with no agreement in place. So why has it been so difficult to get countries to agree to cut plastic production? Madeleine Finlay hears from Karen McVeigh, a senior reporter for Guardian Seascapes, about a particularly damaging form of plastic pollution causing devastation off the coast of Kera...

Europe is suffering from another heatwave as deadly temperatures of up to 44C hit the continent and wildfires blazed across the Mediterranean. To find out why Europe is heating faster than anywhere else, Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian’s Europe environment correspondent, Ajit Niranjan, and to Adam Taylor, professor of anatomy at Lancaster University, to find out how we can try to stay cool...

For many of us, slathering on sunscreen to protect our skin in the summer months is a no-brainer. But recently social media has been awash with influencers airing their concerns about the potential dangers of this seemingly innocuous product. So is there anything to the claims that sunscreen is toxic? To find out, Madeleine Finlay is joined by the Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample. He explains...

It’s a mystery that has long puzzled researchers. Freud called the phenomenon infantile amnesia, and for many years scientists have wondered whether it’s a result of failure to create memories or just a failure to retrieve them. In this episode from March 2025, Ian Sample speaks to Nick Turk-Browne, a professor of psychology at Yale University, whose research appears to point to an answer. Help su...

Recently, a group of world-leading scientists called for a halt on research to create ‘mirror life’ microbes amid concerns that the synthetic organisms would present an ‘unprecedented risk’ to life on Earth. Ian Sample tells Madeleine Finlay about why this work initially seemed exciting for scientists and what the risks of it continuing could be. Kate Adamala, assistant professor of genetics, cell...

In this episode from January 2025, Ian Sample speaks to Keon West, a professor of social psychology at the University of London, whose new book explores what science can reveal about racism, the inventive methods scientists have used to study it and the scientifically proven ways of tackling racism and discrimination. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

In 2024, the Oxford English Dictionary announced its word of the year was ‘brain rot’. The term relates to the supposedly negative effects of consuming social media content, but it struck a chord more widely with many who feel they don’t have the mental capacity they once had. Gloria Mark, a professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, has been studying our waning attention sp...

Scientists are beginning to understand that ageing is not a simply linear process. Instead, recent research appears to show that we age in three accelerated bursts; at about 40, 60 and 80 years old. To find out what might be going on, Ian Sample hears from Prof Michael Snyder, the director of the Center for Genomics and Personalised Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, who explains...

Doctors in the UK have announced the birth of eight healthy babies after performing a groundbreaking procedure that creates IVF embryos with DNA from three people. Ian Sample tells Madeleine Finlay about the life-threatening genetic disorders that the technique appears to prevent, and Prof Sir Doug Turnbull describes the 25-year journey to achieving the breakthrough. Help support our independent j...

Madeleine Finlay is joined by Ian Sample to discuss three intriguing science and environment stories. From a breakthrough in the quest to create organs in the lab to a world-first climate visa that will see citizens relocate from the island of Tuvalu to Australia, plus what happens when two massive black holes collide. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Guardian feature writer Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett recently wrote about the growing cohort of parents whose children are on the waiting list for an autism or ADHD diagnosis, and are turning to the internet to buy melatonin to help them sleep. She tells Madeleine Finlay about their experiences and what is driving them to the hidden market. Paul Gringras, a consultant in paediatric sleep medicine and ne...

In the days since the deadly floods in the Texas Hill Country, speculation has grown about whether cuts to US weather agencies may have contributed to the the number of casualties. Ian Sample talks to the meteorologist and climate journalist Eric Holthaus to find out whether this narrative stacks up and what the consequences could be for extreme weather prediction in the future. Help support our i...

The actor Orlando Bloom recently posted a photo of himself undergoing a £10,000 procedure at a London clinic that claims to remove microplastics, forever chemicals and herbicides from the blood. But how settled is the science around the health risks of microplastics? To find out, Ian Sample speaks to Dr Stephanie Wright, associate professor of environmental toxicology at Imperial College London’s...

The number of women choosing to freeze their eggs has increased sharply, according to figures from the UK’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). The number deciding to embark on the process abroad also appears to be rising. Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian journalist Lucy Hough, who recently travelled to Brussels to freeze her eggs. She explains what prompted her decision an...

In an interview last weekend, Iran’s ambassador to the UN said his country’s nuclear enrichment ‘will never stop’ because it is permitted for ‘peaceful energy’ purposes. It is the latest development in an escalation of tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme, which erupted when Israel targeted the country’s nuclear facilities in June. To understand why enrichment is so important, Madeleine Finlay t...

It has been 25 years since Bill Clinton announced one of humanity’s most important scientific achievements: the first draft of the human genome. At the time, there was a great deal of excitement about the benefits that this new knowledge would bring, with predictions about curing genetic diseases and even cancer. To find out which of them came to pass, and what could be in store over the next two-...

Ever since Pluto was demoted from planet to dwarf planet in 2006, astronomers have been wondering whether Neptune really is the most distant planet from the sun. Now, a new telescope could uncover what lies in the farthest reaches of the solar system. The Vera C Rubin Observatory released its first images this week, and soon the world’s most powerful digital camera will be pointing across the whol...

More of us are turning to products containing mushroom extracts, with the medicinal fungi market now worth billions of pounds. Promises of benefits to mental and physical health have seen its popularity spill over from wellness influencers to the shelves of Marks & Spencer – but is there any scientific evidence behind these claims? Ian Sample chats to Madeleine Finlay about the appeal of mushroom...

The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has promised £14bn of investment to build the Sizewell C nuclear power plant, kicking off what the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, says will be a ‘golden age for clean energy abundance’. But for critics, the technology’s high costs and lengthy construction times have always eclipsed the benefits of abundant low-carbon electricity. Ian Sample is joined by the Guardian...

As a companion to the Guardian’s Missing in the Amazon podcast, global environment editor Jon Watts goes in search of answers to the question Dom Phillips was investigating when he was murdered: how can we save the Amazon? In the final episode of a three-part series, Jon encounters a radical new view of the Amazon’s history being uncovered by archaeologists. Far from an uninhabited wilderness, the...

As a companion to the Guardian’s Missing in the Amazon, Jon Watts, global environment editor, goes in search of answers to the question Dom Phillips was investigating when he was murdered: how can we save the Amazon? In episode two, Jon meets the people trying to make sure the rainforest is worth more standing than cut down – from a government minister attempting to establish Brazil’s ‘bioeconomy’...

As a companion to the Guardian’s Missing in the Amazon, the global environment editor Jon Watts goes in search of answers to the question Dom Phillips was investigating when he was murdered: how can we save the Amazon? In episode one of a three-part series, Watts explores what’s at stake if we fail to act in time. He hears about the crucial role of the rainforest for South America and the global c...

The British journalist Dom Phillips and the Brazilian indigenous defender Bruno Pereira vanished three years ago while on a reporting trip near Brazil’s remote Javari valley. The Guardian’s Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, investigates what happened to them in a six-part podcast series. Find episode 2 and all future episodes by searching for Missing in the Amazon. Help support our indepe...