In this episode:

00:27 The snake that rolls at the first sign of danger

Tiktok: This snake does cartwheels

Research article: Kojima et al.

05:10 Evidence of ancient blood cells in a dinosaur fossil

Science: Did scientists just find 115-million-year-old dinosaur blood?

Nature: Patrick Stewart dies: how Captain Picard inspired today’s science leaders

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Ancient genomes from thousands of individuals show how migrations helped shape Celtic and Germanic languages — plus, how the brain may regulate emotions differently than we thought.

00:49 How Celtic and Germanic languages spread across Europe

Research Article: McColl et al.

Research Article: McColl et al.

13:00 Research Highlights

Nature: Barn owls’ ancestors made a transatlantic flight

Nature: Even stupendous black holes can’t explain dark matter

15:34 Why part of the brain may not be controlling emotions in the way researchers thought

Research Article: Sicorello et al.

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Correction: This article originally stated Simon Rodway’s name incorrectly. The podcast has now been updated to correct this.

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Nature staff discuss the emerging field of pet longevity — plus, a researcher decides not to care about their student reviews. Are they wrong?

00:24 Could research help boost your dog’s lifespan?

Nature: Can science make your dog live longer? Longevity craze comes to pets

05:16 Is it wrong to not care about student reviews?

Nature: What students think about my teaching doesn’t matter. Am I wrong?

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Expedition revealed that water wasn’t enough for human settlement — plus, proposals to block sunlight get serious.

00:49 A failed desert expedition to find human tools reveals what humans needed to thrive

Research Article: Dellmour et al.

12:33 Research Highlights

Nature: Sleep declines in rural communities after electricity arrives

Nature: AI doctors’ orders come with a sky-high bill

15:14 Could satellites help cool the Earth?

Nature: Could a giant sunshade in space 'solve global warming'? Scientists are taking the idea seriously

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In this episode:

00:21 New experiment looking for mismatch between matter and antimatter

Nature: A single antimatter particle in a cage opens door to ‘revolutionary’ physics

08:32 JAXA's mission to Phobos

Aerospace America: JAXA’s MMX mission will include the first wheeled rover to drive in ultra-low gravity

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In this episode:

00:46 How salt marshes could protect coastal regions from super-storms

Research Article: Willemsen et al.

10:56 Research Highlights

Nature: Orangutan mothers arrange play dates for their babies

Nature: Lead-tainted teeth reveal medieval mines’ unequal toll

13:30 Putting a face to the Denisovans

Research Article: Xing et al.

Nature: This is what the mysterious Denisovans looked like

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Critical thinking is a skill that is under threat from the AI revolution in large language models. But all is not lost. Specialists in education and cognition have long been studying critical thinking, and some have useful tips on how to stay cognitively sharp in the age of AI.

This is an audio version of our Feature: How to stay smart in the age of AI: the science of critical thinking

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In this episode:

00:15 An appearing, disappearing tattoo ink

Nature: Watch this invisible tattoo appear under UV light

04:13 How the epigenome could help explain why big dogs age faster

Nature: Big dogs age faster than little ones — rogue ‘jumping genes’ might be to blame

Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.

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Analysis suggests number of protected areas is hugely underestimated but biodiversity is still in peril — plus, a huge study looking at the health effects of brown fat.

00:45 The world may have more conservation areas than previously thought

Research Article: O’Neill et al.

08:38 Research Highlights

Nature: The Solar System could die one billion times earlier than thought

Nature: Chimp and gorilla brains resist weight loss with age — unlike human brains

11:19 Giant study expands list of brown fat’s health benefits

Research Article: Gómez-Banoy et al.

Nature: Overlooked 'brown' body fat linked to wide range of health benefits

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In this episode we discuss a recent Nature exclusive investigating an international constellation of sham academies and societies that have successfully misled some of the world’s leading scientists and universities.

Nature: Exclusive: Sham scientific societies are misleading star researchers

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In this episode:

00:45 The Nobel Prizes 2026

Nature: Medicine Nobel awarded for brain ‘switch’ that controls neurons with light

Nature: ‘What took them so long?’ This year’s medicine Nobel winner is overdue

Nature: Nobel physics prize awarded for detection of cosmic neutrinos

Nature: Astronomy’s ‘adrenaline junkies’: Nobel prize captures the thrill of neutrino physics

Nature: Chemistry Nobel for solving mystery of how ‘handed’ organic molecules can emerge

11:53 Research Highlights

Nature: Youthful fans of YouTube sports videos stick to the sofa

Nature: A black hole’s jets have a halo effect

14:11 The ancient human gut microbiome

Research Article: Carter et al.

News and Views: Gut microbes that trace ancient human journeys

Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.

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