🎧 Episode 265

⚡️ The latest mpox variant has infected a record number of people in central Africa, has been found in travellers in Sweden and Thailand, and the World Health Organization has now declared it a public health emergency of international concern – just 15 months after the previous such declaration for mpox expired in 2023. But is this virus likely to become another covid? And as health authorities in the most affected countries struggle to keep it under control, will we be able to avoid further global outbreaks of the disease?

⚡️ New rogue worlds have been discovered in our galaxy that resemble both planets and stars but are neither. Thought to be brown dwarfs, the sheer number of them calls into question our understanding of how planet-sized objects form. This, plus another failed – but also successful – attempt to find dark matter’s hypothesised WIMPs.

⚡️ As a piece of music builds up to its crescendo, our brains know exactly when the beat is about to drop. Researchers have discovered the parts of our brains that are responsible for making sense of musical changes or “boundaries” – and this is true whether you’re listening to Mozart or Metallica.

⚡ Clothes made from…potatoes? An idea to turn fibres from potato stems into fabric has turned from concept to reality. If we can use potato fibres instead of other more energy intensive materials, the designers say, we could reduce the environmental footprint of clothing production.

🎙️ Hosts Timothy Revell and Christie Taylor discuss with guests Alexandra Thompson, Leah Crane, Grace Wade and Madeleine Cuff.

📕 To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.

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Ever wondered how your teenage years shaped the person you are today? Or why certain rebellious behaviours, like underage drinking, seem almost inevitable, no matter which generation you look at? Adolescence is a crucial, yet often misunderstood, phase of life.

Adolescent psychologist Lucy Foulkes’s new book ‘Coming of Age: How Adolescence Shapes Us’ will leave you reflecting on your own formative years in a whole new light – and offers insights that may help settle your anxieties as a parent of teens.

In this episode, Foulkes explains to New Scientist editor Catherine de Lange why adolescence is often such a challenging period, explains how these struggles are essential for self-discovery and shares tips on how adults can help the young people in their lives navigate this tricky period.

To read about subjects like this and much more, visit newscientist.com.

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#264

Some people in comas can understand what’s happening around them. Previously estimated to be 1 in 10, that figure has now shot up to 1 in 5 – meaning this hidden awareness is much more common than we realised.

Another new drug has been approved to reverse opioid overdoses. Zurnai is more powerful than previous medications, which may be useful as the supply of illicit drugs becomes increasingly toxic. But with the opioid epidemic having killed more than 80,000 people in the US last year alone, are there ways to abate this crisis so fewer people overdose in the first place?

The mysterious Wow! signal, detected by the Big Ear radio telescope in the 70s, was an unusual burst of radio waves that astronomers couldn’t explain – except, for some, the answer was aliens. Alien hunters have clung to this as the best potential evidence of extraterrestrial life, as the signal's origins have remained unexplained for 50 years. But we may have just figured out the answer to where it came from.

Many mainframe computers in big organisations like banks, airlines and government departments still rely on ancient computer code dating back to the 60s. The trouble is, as mainframe computers have gone out of use in most other contexts, the programming language COBOL is no longer taught to up-and-coming coders. Could AI help, as our understanding of COBOL dies out?

Record fast cooling in part of the Atlantic Ocean is baffling scientists. This cooling isn’t linked to the normal La Niña wind patterns, so what else is at play? And how could it affect our global weather in the coming season?

Hosts Rowan Hooper and Christie Taylor discuss with guests Alexandra Thompson, Grace Wade and Alex Wilkins.

To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.

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#263

Anxiety. We’ve all felt it – some worse than others. But what exactly causes anxiety and why are some of us more likely to be hit by it? Science is finally unpacking the ins and outs of this evolutionary response.

Whether you experience anxiety getting on a plane or when doing something out of your comfort zone, understanding why it happens is the best way to take control of it.

In this special episode, New Scientist journalists and expert guests look at the phenomenon of anxiety. What is happening inside the brain when anxiety kicks in? Why do we need to better understand our own internal, bodily processes to fight anxiety? How much of our tendency towards anxiety is down to genetics?

And they bring actionable advice too, including simple, science-backed lifestyle changes you can make to become less anxious, plus the surprising reasons anxiety can actually be a good thing – and how to make it work for you

Host Christie Taylor discusses with guests Alexis Wnuk, Eleanor Parsons, Sahib Khalsa, David Robson, Caroline Hickman and Todd Kashdan, with additional reporting from Helen Thomson, Graham Lawton and Bethan Ackerley.

This episode is part of a special issue of New Scientist magazine. Find all the articles at https://www.newscientist.com/issue/3485/

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With so many new TV series and documentaries available, it can be tough to decide what's truly worth your time. That’s where our TV columnist Bethan Ackerley comes in. From the genetically-gifted superheroes of Supacell…to a sobering documentary about the ethics of assisted dying, she has a wealth of options for your next night in.

Bethan and host Christie Taylor share a rundown of the top science TV shows from 2024 so far. They also get excited for what’s still to come this year and next, with recommendations on what to keep an eye out for.

Explore all of Bethan’s TV columns at newscientist.com/author/bethan-ackerley.

In this episode Christie and Bethan discuss the following series:

Science fiction:

Dr. Who (BBC/Disney+)

Time Bandits (Apple TV+)

Supacell (Netflix)

The 3-Body Problem (Netflix)

Fallout (Amazon Prime Video)

Scavengers Reign (Netflix)

Historical fiction:

The Decameron (Netflix)

Documentary:

Our Living World (Netflix)

Better Off Dead? (BBC - UK-only at this time)

The Space Shuttle that Fell to Earth / Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight (BBC/Max/Hulu/Others)

Yet to come:

Secret Lives of Orangutans (Netflix, August)

Dune: Prophecy (Max/Sky/NOW, November)

Silo, season 2 (Apple TV+, November)

Squid Game, season 2 (Netflix, December)

Severence, season 2 (Apple TV+, January 2025)

Andor, season 2 (Disney+, early 2025)

The Last of Us, season 2 (Max/Hulu/Others, 2025)

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#262

Geologists have just drilled deeper into Earth’s mantle than ever before. The hole is in an area of the ocean called Atlantis Massif, where the upper mantle is exposed. Reaching 1268 metres deep, this incredible sample core could help uncover secrets to the very origins of life.

Ancient human ancestors called Homo floresiensis and known as the “hobbits” may have evolved their short stature much faster than expected. Remains found on the Indonesian island of Flores suggest a much older group of hominins may have been slightly smaller, averaging just 1 metre tall, and possibly the ancestors of Homo floresiensis. How could this change the story of our mysterious cousins?

Quantum telepathy may allow stock market traders to act faster and get richer. Using quantum entanglement, coordinating transactions in distant stock exchanges could happen faster than the speed of light. And surprisingly, this type of technology wouldn’t be hard to get up and running – so what happens if someone tries it?

If we want to move to Mars one day, we have to make it a bit more enticing to live on. Ideas to terraform the Red Planet, or make it more Earth-like, have mostly been too expensive and unworkable. A method involving glittery clouds could be the answer to coaxing better conditions for human life.

Plus: The microbes and bacteria that can survive the harsh heat of your microwave; how the microbiome of a baby horse impacts its racing performance in adulthood; and the special trick leeches use to hunt the ultrafast blackworm.

Hosts Christie Taylor and Timothy Revell discuss with guests Chen Ly, Sam Wong, Karmela Padavic-Callaghan and Alex Wilkins.

To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.

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Earth and all the other planets in our solar system are being dragged on a joyride through the universe, as the Dead Planeteers attempt to move the sun.

How slowly would you have to move the sun for its gravity to hold onto the planets? Would any planets end up flinging out of orbit? And which planets can we afford to lose along the way?

To answer their many questions, Leah and Chelsea are joined by Jay Farihi, an astrophysicist at University College London.

A big hurdle they first have to overcome is how exactly to move the sun in the first place. Luckily, the team has a variety of whacky ideas, including black holes. From sun sails to graviton generators to popping the sun like a balloon, hear the team’s unconventional methods for getting the job done and discover where in the universe their final destination is. Pillars of creation anyone?

Dead Planets Society is a podcast that takes outlandish ideas about how to tinker with the cosmos – from punching a hole in a planet to unifying the asteroid belt – and subjects them to the laws of physics to see how they fare.

Your hosts are Leah Crane and Chelsea Whyte.

If you have a cosmic object you’d like to figure out how to destroy, email the team at deadplanets@newscientist.com. It may just feature in a later episode.

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#261

What was the first life on Earth like? Ancient fossils hint it could be a primitive kind of bacteria – but these 3.5 billion-year-old fossilised cells are controversial since they’re vastly bigger than any modern bacteria. But there’s now reason to believe that maybe, just maybe, they really are what they seem.

Three game-changing drugs approved by the US for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease may be less impressive than we first hoped. These are the first drugs to actually slow the progression of the condition – but they also come with risky side effects. Is the benefit worth the risk?

Galaxies usually come in spiral or blob form, but it turns out there may be some that are shaped like… bananas. First spotted by the Hubble Space Telescope, we initially thought their shape was a trick of light. But the much more powerful James Webb Space Telescope is seeing them too. The problem is this doesn’t fit with our understanding of how galaxies form – it may be time for a rewrite.

Do you ever feel addicted to your smartphone? Well, there’s a term for that – problematic smartphone use. The question is, what constitutes addiction and is your smartphone habit impacting you enough to be considered problematic? One group of researchers are working to find out, starting by looking at the link between problematic use and mental health in teenagers.

The diversity of life on Earth may be best safeguarded on the moon. Parts of the lunar landscape are colder than anywhere on Earth, so it may be the best place to cryogenically freeze cells for things like fish, cows and even useful bacteria like those used in cheesemaking. But, as you might expect with the moon, such a biorepository faces some logistical challenges.

Hosts Christie Taylor and Timothy Revell discuss with guests Michael Le Page, Alexandra Thompson, Alex Wilkins, Carissa Wong and James Woodford.

To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.

Find Dr Karan Explores here: https://www.drkaranrajan.com/podcast

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