In this episode:
00:45 A bright satellite is concerning researchersSatellites reflect sunlight down to Earth, and some do so with such intensity it risks obscuring astronomers' observations from ground-based telescopes. A paper in Nature suggests that the telecommunications satellite called BlueWalker 3 at times outshines most stars visible from Earth. Astronomers worry about the increasing number of such bright satellites making astronomy more difficult, and so the team suggest that future launches should undergo impact assessments.
Research article: Nandakumar et al.
Nature News: Huge new satellite outshines nearly every star in the sky
Analysis of carrot genomes reveals how the vegetable got its orange hue, and the self-healing diamond that can fix microscopic fractures.
Research article: Coe et al.
Research Highlight: Crack this kind of diamond, and it heals itself
Trilobites are a group of extinct marine arthropods distantly related to animals like crabs and spiders. Although found throughout the fossil record, little is known about the lives of this diverse group of animals. Now, a team has used powerful x-rays to peer inside a trilobite fossil and uncovered the contents of its last meal, over 400-million-years ago. This animal appears to have been an unfussy scavenger, gorging itself on a variety of small, shelled animals.
Research article: Kraft et al.
Flora Graham from the Nature Briefing joins us to talk about the winners of this year’s science Nobel Prizes.
Nature News: Pioneers of mRNA COVID vaccines win medicine Nobel
Nature News: Physicists who built ultrafast ‘attosecond’ lasers win Nobel Prize
Nature News: Tiny ‘quantum dot’ particles win chemistry Nobel
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‘Tree islands’ give oil-palm plantation a biodiversity boost
JWST shows an ancient galaxy in stunning spectroscopic detail
Nature's Take: Can Registered Reports help tackle publication bias?
‘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
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