In this episode:
Cancer cells can spread to bones in the late stages of disease and in many cancers, cells actually preferentially metastasise to the spine. The reason for this has been a puzzle to researchers for years, but now a team has found a new kind of stem cell that may be involved in this process. The stem cell is found in mice and humans and could represent a clinical target in the treatment of cancer.
Research article: Sun et al.
News and Views: Stem cells provide clues to why vertebrae attract tumour cells
A preference for certain percussion instruments among palm cockatoos, and modelling where people wait on train platforms.
Research Highlight: This parrot taps out beats — and it custom-builds its instruments
Research Highlight: The maths of how we wait in crowded places
This time, a second trial shows the effectiveness of using MDMA to help treat post-traumatic stress disorder, and how an upgrade to an X-ray laser will let researchers make ultra-crisp ‘molecular movies’.
Nature News: Psychedelic drug MDMA moves closer to US approval following success in PTSD trial
Nature News: World’s most powerful X-ray laser will ‘film’ chemical reactions in unprecedented detail
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Audio long read: How does ChatGPT ‘think’? Psychology and neuroscience crack open AI large language models
Fentanyl addiction: the brain pathways behind the opioid crisis
Lizard-inspired building design could save lives
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
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