Nature Podcast

Springer Nature Limited

The Nature Podcast brings you the best stories from the world of science each week. We cover everything from astronomy to zoology, highlighting the most exciting research from each issue of the Nature journal. We meet the scientists behind the results and provide in-depth analysis from Nature's journalists and editors.

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Categories: Science & Medicine

Listen to the last episode:

00:46 The role of skull bone marrow in ageing

During ageing, bone marrow in the skull becomes an increasingly important site of blood-cell production. This is in stark contrast to most bones where the ability of marrow to make blood and immune cells declines. Studies in mice and humans showed that ageing results in skull bone-marrow expanding, and in mice this marrow was more resistant to inflammation and other hallmarks of ageing. The team behind the work hope by understanding this process better it may be possible to help organs become more resistant to ageing.

Research Article: Koh et al.

08:56 Research Highlights

Elderly big brown bats show remarkable resistance to age-related hearing loss, and why search-engine algorithms may not be the main driver steering people towards misinformation.

Research Highlight: No hearing aids needed: bats’ ears stay keen well into old age

Research Highlight: Don’t blame search engines for sending users to unreliable sites

11:38 How to make lead a useful material to date the Solar System

Researchers have overcome a major hurdle preventing the radioactive isotope lead-205 from being used as a ‘clock’ to date the age of the Solar System. 205Pb is made in some stars and thanks to its half life of around 17 million years has been proposed as a potential way to date ancient astronomical processes. However, exactly how much 205Pb can escape a star were unclear, limiting its dating potential. Now, researchers have mimicked the conditions seen in stars to pin down how much 205Pb can escape into space, paving the way for its use as a clock.

Research Article: Leckenby et al.