In this episode:
T cell based immunotherapies have revolutionised the treatment of certain types of cancer. However these therapies — which involved taking someone’s own T cells and reprogramming them to kill cancer cells — have struggled to treat solid tumours, which put up multiple defences. To overcome these, a team has taken mutations found in cancer cells that help them thrive and put them into therapeutic T cells. Their results show these powered-up cells are more efficient at targeting solid tumours, but don’t turn cancerous themselves.
Research article: Garcia et al.
How researchers solved a submerged-sprinkler problem named after Richard Feynman, and what climate change is doing to high-altitude environmental records in Switzerland.
Research Highlight: The mystery of Feynman’s sprinkler is solved at last
Research Highlight: A glacier’s ‘memory’ is fading because of climate change
As electric cars become ever more popular around the world, manufacturers are looking to improve the batteries that power them. While conventional lithium-ion batteries have dominated the electric vehicle market for decades, researchers are developing alternatives that have better performance and safety — we run though some of these options and discuss their pros and cons.
News Feature: The new car batteries that could power the electric vehicle revolution
How a baby’s-eye view of the world helps an AI learn language, and how the recovery of sea otter populations in California slowed rates of coastal erosion.
Nature News:This AI learnt language by seeing the world through a baby’s eyes
News: How do otters protect salt marshes from erosion? Shellfishly
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Dust: the tiny substance with enormous power
How to 3D print fully-formed robots
How to tame a toxic yet life-saving antifungal
Nature's Take: How will ChatGPT and generative AI transform research?
A new hydrogel can be directly injected into muscle to help it regenerate
Audio long read: Why BMI is flawed — and how to redefine obesity
Martian sounds reveal the secrets of the red planet's core
Sounds of recovery: AI helps monitor wildlife during forest restoration
An anti-CRISPR system that helps save viruses from destruction
Gene edits move pig organs closer to human transplantation
'This doesn't just fall on women': computer scientists reflect on gender biases in STEM
Astronomers are worried by a satellite brighter than most stars
Audio long read: These animals are racing towards extinction. A new home might be their last chance
This isn't the Nature Podcast — how deepfakes are distorting reality
Why does cancer spread to the spine? Newly discovered stem cells might be the key
A mussel-inspired glue for more sustainable sticking
Our ancestors lost nearly 99% of their population, 900,000 years ago
Physicists finally observe strange isotope Oxygen 28 – raising fundamental questions
Audio long read: Medicine is plagued by untrustworthy clinical trials. How many studies are faked or flawed?
Brain-reading implants turn thoughts into speech
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