In this episode:
Brain organoids — lab-grown, self-organizing structures made of stem cells — are used in research to better understand brain development and disease progression. However, these structures lack connections seen in real brains, limiting their usefulness. To overcome this, a team has now transplanted human organoids into the brains of newborn rats, showing that these implanted organoids respond to stimuli and could influence the animals’ behaviour.
Research article: Revah et al.
News and Views: Human brain organoids influence rat behaviour
The subtle timing shift that gives jazz music its ‘swing’, and why hydrogen power could be a cost-effective way to reduce heavy industry emissions in China.
Research Highlight: What gives jazz its swing? A delay makes the difference
Research Highlight: Hydrogen could help China’s heavy industry to get greener
Wearable robotic exoskeletons that aid or enhance movement are fast becoming a reality, but there are challenges to overcome — to work best these devices frequently require careful calibration for their user using specialist equipment and time in a lab. Now, a team have created exoskeleton boots that can help people walk faster and more efficiently by learning and adapting to the wearer’s gait as they walk. They hope that this approach could be used to develop personalised assistive devices in the future.
Research article: Slade et al.
Nature Video: The robot boot that learns as you walk
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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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