Laser-cooled antimatter opens up new physics experiments, and the staggering economic cost of invasive species.
In this episode:
00:44 Cooling antimatter with a laser focus
Antimatter is annihilated whenever it interacts with regular matter, which makes it tough for physicists to investigate. Now though, a team at CERN have developed a way to trap and cool antihydrogen atoms using lasers, allowing them to better study its properties.
Research Article: Baker et al.
News and Views: Antimatter cooled by laser light
09:27 Research Highlights
A dramatic increase in Arctic lightning strikes, and an acrobatic bunny helps researchers understand hopping.
Research Highlight: Rising temperatures spark boom in Arctic lightning
Research Highlight: Rabbits that do ‘handstands’ help to find a gene for hopping
11:53 Cost of invasion
Invasive alien species are organisms that end up in places where they don’t really belong, usually as a result of human activity. These species can cause loss of biodiversity and a host of damage to their new environments. This week, researchers estimate that the economic impact of invasive species to be over US $1 trillion.
Research Article: Diagne et al.
19:04 Briefing Chat
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, the physics that might explain how a ship blocked the Suez Canal, and a new insight into octopuses’ sleep patterns.
The Financial Times: The bank effect and the big boat blocking the Suez
Science: Octopuses, like humans, sleep in two stages
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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
Fruit flies' ability to sense magnetic fields thrown into doubt
Racism in health: the roots of the US Black maternal mortality crisis
How welcome are refugees in Europe? A giant study has some answers
How to get more women in science, with Athene Donald
Audio long read: Lab mice go wild — making experiments more natural in order to decode the brain
Facebook ‘echo chamber’ has little impact on polarized views, according to study
AI-enhanced night-vision lets users see in the dark
Disrupting snail food-chain curbs parasitic disease in Senegal
ChatGPT can write a paper in an hour — but there are downsides
Even a 'minimal cell' can grow stronger, thanks to evolution
Audio long read: ‘Almost magical’ — chemists can now move single atoms in and out of a molecule’s core
Do octopuses dream? Neural activity resembles human sleep stages
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