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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‘Pangenome’ aims to capture the breadth of human diversity
Menopause and women’s health: why science needs to catch up
Audio long read: Conquering Alzheimer’s — a look at the therapies of the future
How Rosalind Franklin’s story was rewritten
A smarter way to melt down plastics?
How to battle misinformation with Sander van der Linden
Octopuses hunt by 'tasting' with their suckers
Giant black-hole pair from the early Universe gives clues to how galaxies form
Audio long read: What Turkey’s earthquake tells us about the science of seismic forecasting
Bacterial ‘syringes’ could inject drugs directly into human cells
How to make driverless cars safer — expose them to lots of dangerous drivers
How to build a virus-proof cell
How the Australian wildfires devastated the ozone layer
How an increased heart rate could induce anxiety in mice
Nature's Take: How Twitter's changes could affect science
Audio long read: How your first brush with COVID warps your immunity
A twisting microscope that could unlock the secrets of 2D materials
How 'metadevices' could make electronics faster
This mysterious space rock shouldn’t have a ring — but it does
How mummies were prepared: Ancient Egyptian pots spill secrets
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