Nature Podcast

In this episode, we speak with science journalist Rowan Hooper, whose book Togetherness: Symbiosis and the Hidden Story of Life's Greatest Collaborations takes a deep-dive into the world of co-operation between organisms.

In the book, he argues that collaboration in nature has often been overlooked in favour of competition, and that organisms working together have played a vital role in making the world the way it is.

Togetherness: Symbiosis and the Hidden Story of Life's Greatest Collaborations Rowan Hooper Fern Press (2026)
Music supplied by SPD/Triple Scoop Music/Getty Images
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peptides — short chains of amino acids — have become huge online. The popularity of these molecules has skyrocketed and they are now the latest cure-all trend on social media.

But what does the science say about their effectiveness? Animal research suggests that that some of these experimental peptides hold promise, but evidence they work in people is lacking.

This is an audio version of our Feature: Is the peptide craze backed by science? The promise behind the hype
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nature staff discuss how apes share a rhythm of laughter, and how AI use may degrade skills in medicine and computer science.

00:32 Early evidence suggests that AI use causes skills to atrophy
Nature: Is AI ruining our skills? Early results are in — and they’re not good

06:42 Humans and chimps share a laugh
Nature: Oo oo, ha ha: why humans and great apes giggle alike when tickled

Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode:

00:46 How sensitive information can be gleaned from medical AIs
Research article: Knolle et al.

Correction: The story about medical AI-data privacy incorrectly stated that the number of individuals at high risk of a membership inference attack increases as training-dataset size grows. It should have stated that the increase in risk occurs when the AI model increases in capacity and size.

11:31 Research Highlights
Nature: A long-lived butterfly’s secret to graceful ageing
Nature: It slices! It dices! Sashimi-Bot handles seafood with ease

13:57 Across the Universe, galaxies clump together more than physicists thought they should
Research article: Labini & Galoppo

Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nature staff discuss preliminary data on the effects of GLP-1 drugs on male fertility plus a two-year trial of a brain-computer interface.

00:18 Brain-computer interface makes a life-changing impact
Nature: At-home brain implant gives man with motor neuron disease his daily life back

05:39 The possible benefits of obesity drugs on testosterone
Nature: The latest benefit of obesity drugs: boosting testosterone and sperm quality

Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.