Nature Podcast

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

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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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

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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

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In this episode, we speak with Hernan Diaz whose most recent novel Ply blends a vision of a dystopian future with questions about selfhood and asks whether advanced physics could be used to unravel the fabric of spacetime itself.

Ply Hernan Diaz Picador (2026)

Music supplied by SPD/Triple Scoop Music/Getty Images

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High-speed footage of takeoffs reveal that the butterfly markings mislead the eye, making them harder to catch.

00:45 Butterflies in flight create confusing motion cues that baffle birds

Research Article: Hancock et al.

14:09 Research Highlights

Research Article: Menezes and Podos

Research Highlight: Huge hoard of metal bars hints at vast Iron Age trade

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In this episode

00:23 How detecting lead could help researchers read damaged Roman scrolls

Nature: Watch scientists decipher burned scrolls without unrolling them

06:42 A biodegradeable, paper-inspired battery

Nature: Edible batteries power medical devices in the body

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

Never miss an episode. Subscribe to the Nature Podcast onApple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music or your favourite podcast app. An RSS feed for the Nature Podcast is available too.

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00:45 Investigating the day-to-day impacts of Financial Abuse

Nature: Trendl et al.

Support organizations

UK: Surviving Economic Abuse

US: National Domestic Violence Helpline

12:14 Research Highlights

Nature: Mercury is shrinking with age — faster than thought

Nature: Cognitive resilience helps to predict Alzheimer’s dementia

14:55 How opposing forces in the Earth's core alter how the planet spins

Nature: Gravitational tug-of-war inside Earth is changing the length of our days

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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In this episode:

00:22 Could secret rooms lie beyond Tutankhamun's tomb?

Nature: Exclusive: New evidence for hidden chambers beyond Tutankhamun’s tomb

05:55 A multifunctional brain–computer interface

Nature: ‘Multifunctional’ brain implant translates speech and gestures in real time

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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In this episode:

00:46 Human brain-organoids transplanted into mice missing their cortex

Nature: Human brain cells transplanted into mice in ‘most extensive’ integration ever

13:51 Research Highlights

Nature: Ruins of ancient Asian city show engineering prowess and organization

Nature: Distant sensors announced a fearsome tsunami’s birth

16:16 Paper2Agent: the AI tool that lets researchers talk to papers

Nature: AI tool turns any paper into an ‘agent’ that can collaborate and answer complex queries

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Nature staff discuss an AI tool that can assess the impact of nine billion mutations — plus, how the Bunsen burner’s reputation for sterilization may be based on tradition alone.

00:21 Deepmind’s new tool helps scientists find the impact of mutations

Nature: DeepMind’s new genome ‘atlas’ charts effects of all nine billion human gene mutations

07:10 Bacteria can still contaminate plates near to active Bunsen burners

Nature: Bunsen burners’ reputation for sterilizing workplaces flames out

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In this episode:

00:46 How telephone teaching could boost education during school shutdowns

Nature: Pick up the phone! Phone calls with tutors keep kids learning when schools shut down

11:42 Research Highlights

Nature: Super-precise optical clocks in four nations tick in harmony

Nature: These greenhouse-gas sources have trotters and snouts

14:15 Why atlases might need an update

Nature: Hello Equal Earth: what the UN’s new world map will change

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In this episode:

00:21 Our picks of this year’s Ig Nobel prizes

Nature: Buried underpants and a new definition of kissing win 2026 Ig Nobel prizes

07:47 Massive xenon experiment detects tantalizing hint of dark matter

Nature: Is this the first glimpse of dark matter? Data point excites physicists

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Scientists are amassing evidence that unrepaired or poorly repaired DNA damage underlies many of the hallmarks of ageing. This has led to research into whether boosting DNA repair can keep people healthy for longer.

This is an audio version of our Feature: Could mending damaged DNA prolong life?

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In this episode:

00:18 Researchers celebrate Dolly Parton's contributions to science

Nature: Dolly Parton dies aged 80 — researchers celebrate her contributions to science

08:40 Phase III trial of melanoma vaccine shows promise

Nature: Moderna cancer vaccine stops melanoma returning: what’s next for personalized treatments?

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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