Science Weekly
The Guardian
296 episodes
Twice a week, the Guardian brings you the latest science and environment news
Episodes page 2 of 6
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Stateside with Kai and Carter: why the fight over abortion pills is only just beginning
The US supreme court has preserved nationwide access to mail-order abortion pills – for now. As Carter Sherman explains, the fight to protect this medication is far from over, as a nationwide, near-total abortion ban…
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Can a name change transform PCOS outcomes for women?
After more than a decade of global consultation, polycystic ovary syndrome – which affects as many as one in eight women – has been renamed. The condition is caused by high levels of androgens, which can lead to…
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Ebola: how does it spread and can the outbreak be contained?
An outbreak of Ebola has emerged in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, leading to nearly 400 confirmed cases and more than 100 deaths. To find out how the outbreak might have begun, what authorities can do to…
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Stateside with Kai and Carter: Stacey Abrams on why gutting of the US Voting Rights Act is ‘evil’
The US supreme court dealt a devastating blow to the 1965 Voting Rights Act when it ruled in Louisiana v Callais in April that states cannot consider race in redistricting. Southern states from Tennessee to Alabama…
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Hantavirus update, Pentagon’s UFO files, can art slow biological ageing?
Madeleine Finlay sits down with co-host and science editor Ian Sample to discuss three eyecatching stories from the week, including an update on hantavirus. Also on the agenda is the Pentagon’s release of a tranche of…
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Strange trip: why Trump is backing psychedelics
Last month President Trump signed an executive order designed to fast track both research and access to psychedelic drugs as treatments for mental health illnesses. The most prominent in the order was ibogaine, a drug…
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100 years on Earth: celebrating David Attenborough’s birthday
To celebrate Sir David Attenborough’s centenary, Madeleine Finlay catches up with natural history writer Patrick Barkham, who has met the celebrated presenter. They explore how the natural world has changed in the…
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Hantavirus explained: how does it spread and who is most at risk?
Three people have died after an outbreak of hantavirus onboard a cruise ship travelling from Argentina to Cape Verde. The World Health Organization says a total of seven cases – two confirmed by laboratory testing and…
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‘Historic breakthrough’: could the fossil fuel era be coming to an end?
The transition towards renewable energy received a boost last week when representatives from 57 countries met in Santa Marta, Colombia, for a world-first climate meeting aimed at bringing the fossil fuels era to an…
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Sub-two-hour marathon, spooky houses explained and why is UK health in decline?
Madeleine Finlay sits down with co-host and Guardian science editor Ian Sample to talk through three eye-catching stories from the week, including the news that the number of years people in the UK are spending in good…
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Food intolerances: how do you know if you have one?
Social media is awash with content about food intolerances and the symptoms to look out for. But figuring out whether you actually have one, and what’s triggering it, is surprisingly difficult. One avenue people are…
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Muons, massive waves and restored sight: the winners at the ‘Oscars of science’
Madeleine Finlay sits down with science editor Ian Sample to hear about some of the winners of the Breakthrough Prize, which held its ceremony in LA last weekend. Each prize is worth $3m and they’re awarded in physics,…
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Mythos: are fears over new AI model panic or PR?
Earlier this month the AI company Anthropic said it had created a model so powerful that, out of a sense of responsibility, it was not going to release it to the public. Anthropic says the model, Mythos Preview, excels…
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The surprising value of boring chats, ‘super El Niño’ and Alzheimer’s evidence reviewed
Madeleine Finlay sits down with co-host and science editor Ian Sample to discuss three eye-catching stories from the week, including a review into the effectiveness of a new class of Alzheimer’s drug that was once…
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Helium: the invisible gas that powers AI, and why it’s in short supply
Alongside the oil and gas stranded in the strait of Hormuz is another commodity vital to today’s economy: helium. It is a critical element in all kinds of areas from MRI machines to the Large Hadron Collider, and even…
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Everything you need to know about Artemis II so far
This week Artemis II’s four-astronaut crew broke Apollo 13’s distance record, becoming the humans to travel the farthest from Earth. Now on their way home, the team has experienced tech malfunctions, views like no…
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Can we eradicate a second human disease?
The number of human cases of guinea worm, a painful and debilitating tropical illness, fell to a record low of just 10 last year, according to the Carter Centre, the foundation set up by the late former US president…
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Sauna and cold plunge: where does the evidence stand?
Saunas and cold plunge pools are popping up everywhere in the UK, bringing fiery heat and icy cold to a beach, city farm or park near you. Their users will be ready with all the reasons why it’s good for both the mind…
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Does going to the moon still matter?
If all goes to plan, Artemis II, Nasa’s mission to return humans to the moon, will launch this week. The mission will mark the farthest that humans have travelled from Earth, and the first return to the moon in more…
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Transporting the most expensive and volatile substance on Earth
A box the size of a filing cabinet was lifted by crane, slowly moved and placed very carefully in the back of an unassuming lorry earlier this week. What looked like a casual drive around the Cern campus was actually a…
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What sets human consciousness apart from AI?
Why is it like something to be ourselves and how do physical processes create our subjective experience? These questions get to the heart of the knotty problem of consciousness, and they provided the spark for the…
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Off Duty: The Crime
On the evening of 29 December 2011, police officer Clifton Lewis was moonlighting as a security guard at a Chicago minimart when two men walked in. They shot Lewis several times, then took off with his gun and police…
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Meningitis explained: who is most at risk?
Over the weekend, news emerged of an outbreak of meningitis among university and school students in Kent in south-east England. The outbreak has killed two young people and left several others seriously ill. Health…
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Peptides: are they worth the hype?
Grey-market injectable peptides – a category of substances with obscure, alphanumeric names such as BPC-157, GHK-Cu, or TB-500 – have developed a devoted following among biohackers and health optimisers. To understand…
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Exercise and brain function, hedgehog hearing, and can AI change our minds? – podcast
The Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample, talks to Madeleine Finlay about three eye-catching science stories from the week, including a study that explores the link between exercise and brain health. Also on the…
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Was Iran really building a nuclear weapon?
Among the many justifications Donald Trump has presented for the US and Israel attacking Iran has been the supposedly imminent threat posed by its nuclear weapons programme. But how close was the country really to…
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Will China own the green energy future?
The conflict in the Middle East has sent energy prices soaring, and for countries that import a high proportion of their fuel, it’s a reminder of the perils of energy dependence. As the recipient of almost 90% of…
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Does Trump want to wage an AI-powered war?
In the past three months, Donald Trump’s White House has reportedly used AI twice to effect regime change – once in its capture of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and more recently to help plan the strikes that…
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Can degrowth save the climate?
Since the 1960s, global GDP has been rapidly rising and living standards have reached record highs. But something else has been rocketing up too – carbon emissions. For years, scientists and economists have been…
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The truth about fat, and its complex role in our health
For a long time fat was seen simply as an inert yellow substance wrapping around our bodies, but now that’s changing. Scientists are beginning to understand that our fat is actually intricate and dynamic, constantly in…
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Psychedelics for depression, dart frog poison and why do we have chins?
Madeleine Finlay sits down with science editor Ian Sample and science correspondent Nicola Davis to discuss three eye-catching stories, including the impact of a powerful psychedelic on depression, answers on the death…
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Should we really all be taking magnesium supplements?
Testimonials about the beneficial health effects of magnesium supplements abound online, with influencers claiming that a daily pill can help with everything from anxiety to sleep and brain fog. But do any of these…
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What bots talk about when they think humans aren’t listening
In late January a new social media site took a certain corner of the internet by storm. Moltbook was conceived as a space where AI assistants could let off steam, chat and compare notes on their bosses, but it quickly…
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Jeffrey Epstein and the scientists
The release of the latest batch of documents relating to the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has shed further light on his close relationship with the world of science. To find out why he cultivated scientists…
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‘Everything is quagga mussel now’: can invasive species be stopped?
On a recent trip to Lake Geneva in Switzerland, biodiversity reporter Phoebe Weston witnessed the impact of one of the planet’s most potent invasive species, the quagga mussel. In just a decade the mollusc, originally…
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Why are women turning to testosterone?
Just like men, women are increasingly being told by online influencers that the classic symptoms of middle age could be down to low testosterone. In the second part of this miniseries exploring the hormone, Madeleine…
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Are men being misled over testosterone?
If TikTok influencers are to be believed, testosterone, or T, is the answer to everything from fitness frustrations and fatigue to low libido. But doctors are warning that social media misinformation is driving men to…
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Has the world entered an era of ‘water bankruptcy’?
Last week, a UN report declared that the world has entered an era of ‘global water bankruptcy’ with many human water systems past the point at which they can be restored to former levels. To find out what this could…
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How positivity affects health, the rise of scabies and bovine intelligence
The Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample, talks to Madeleine Finlay about three eye-catching science stories from the week, including a study that suggests positive thinking can boost immune response. Also on the…
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Is your body really full of microplastics?
Studies detecting microplastics throughout human bodies have made for alarming reading in recent years. But last week, the Guardian’s environment editor, Damian Carrington, reported on major doubts among a group of…
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The surprising science of dreams and nightmares
Ian Sample puts listeners’ questions on dreams and nightmares to Dr Michelle Carr, director of the Dream Engineering Laboratory in Montreal’s Centre for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, and author of the new book…
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How to sleep well in 2026
Ian Sample puts listeners’ questions on sleep to Dr Allie Hare, consultant physician in respiratory and sleep medicine at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals and president of the British Sleep Society. They cover why women…
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Our science predictions for 2026
Last year was full of unexpected science news, from the discovery of a new colour, to the interstellar visitor 3I/Atlas passing by our solar system, and a world-first treatment with a personalised gene editing therapy.…
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Crude appeal: why Trump wants Venezuela’s oil
The US capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on Saturday left many people wondering why? Donald Trump hinted at an answer when he claimed the Venezuelan regime had stolen US oil rights and that American…
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Revisited: the real science of weight loss
Kevin Hall spent 21 years at the US National Institutes of Health and became known globally for his pioneering work on ultra-processed foods. In April he unexpectedly took early retirement, citing censorship under the…
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Revisited: do medicinal mushroom products actually work?
More of us are turning to products containing mushroom extracts, with the medicinal fungi market worth billions of pounds. Promises of mental and physical health benefits have seen its popularity spill over from…
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Revisited: is curiosity the key to ageing well?
Psychologists have typically believed that we become less curious as we age, but recent research has shown curiosity actually becomes more targeted and specific in our later years. In this episode from September,…
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Revisited: why do we age in dramatic bursts, and what can we do about it?
Scientists are beginning to understand that ageing is not simply a linear process and we age, according to recent research, in three accelerated bursts: at about 40, 60 and 80 years old. In this episode from July, Ian…
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Life beyond Earth? Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock on the mysteries of space
Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock is a space scientist and science educator who has worked on a number of instruments that are revolutionising our view of the cosmos, including the James Webb Space Telescope. This year she…
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What’s worse for us, sugar or sweeteners?
We all know eating too much sugar is bad for our health – but would we be better off replacing it with artificial sweetener? It’s a question Science Weekly listener Marion posed recently and, as Madeleine Finlay tells…
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