In this episode:
00:46 A virtual chemical library uncovers potential antidepressants
Certain psychedelic drugs are of interest to researchers due to their promising antidepressant effects. To help speed up the discovery of molecules with useful properties, researchers have built a virtual library of 75 million compounds related to these drugs. This approach yielded two molecules that showed antidepressant properties in mice, but without the hallucinogenic activity of psychedelic drugs.
Research article: Kaplan et al.
Research Briefing: Bespoke library docking for 5-HT2A receptor agonists with antidepressant activity
08:25 Research Highlights
Research suggests that ancient artificial island settlements were hubs of activity for society’s elite, and astronomers spot possibly the most luminous star ever observed.
Research Highlight: Ancient DNA suggests that artificial islands were party spots for the elite
Research Highlight: Scientists face down ‘Godzilla’, the most luminous star known
10:42 Nobel News
Flora Graham from the Nature Briefing joins us to talk about the winners of this year’s Nobel Prizes.
Nature News: Geneticist who unmasked lives of ancient humans wins medicine Nobel
Nature News: ‘Spooky’ quantum-entanglement experiments win physics Nobel
Nature News: Chemists who invented revolutionary 'click' reactions win Nobel
Enter Nature’s ‘Scientist at Work’ photo competition, full details here
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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Alphafold 3.0: the AI protein predictor gets an upgrade
Talking about sex and gender doesn't need to be toxic
Dad's microbiome can affect offsprings' health — in mice
Audio long read: Why loneliness is bad for your health
How gliding marsupials got their 'wings'
Living on Mars would probably suck — here's why
Keys, wallet, phone: the neuroscience behind working memory
The 'ghost roads' driving tropical deforestation
Audio long read: Why are so many young people getting cancer? What the data say
Pregnancy's effect on 'biological' age, polite birds, and the carbon cost of home-grown veg
How climate change is affecting global timekeeping
AI hears hidden X factor in zebra finch love songs
Killer whales have menopause. Now scientists think they know why
These tiny fish combine electric pulses to probe the environment
Could this one-time ‘epigenetic’ treatment control cholesterol?
Audio long read: Chimpanzees are dying from our colds — these scientists are trying to save them
How whales sing without drowning, an anatomical mystery solved
Why are we nice? Altruism's origins are put to the test
Smoking changes your immune system, even years after quitting
Why we need to rethink how we talk about cancer
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