Nature Podcast

On 17 May the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an ongoing Ebola outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. Centred on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, the outbreak has seen mounting numbers of suspected cases and deaths linked to the rare Bundibugyo species of Ebola virus.

In this podcast we hear what's currently known about the outbreak and the efforts of clinicians, researchers and public health officials to halt its progress.

Nature: Ebola outbreak is a global health emergency: what happens next
Nature: Race begins to trial Ebola drugs amid current outbreak
Nature: Ebola outbreak spirals out of control: how might it have started?
Nature: Will this Ebola outbreak be the biggest yet?
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In this episode:

00:46 Meet the AI scientists designed to accelerate research
Research article: Ghareeb et al.
Research article: Gottweis et al.
Nature: Teams of AI agents boost speed of research
Editorial: Why AI cannot do good science without humans
Nature: Do you hate or love AI? Take Nature’s poll

13:25 Research Highlights
Nature: Dried to survive: desiccated tardigrades tolerate high heat
Nature: Pristine Antarctic ice records the Solar System’s travels

15:35 Using LiDAR to look around corners
Research article: Somasundaram et al.

Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
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In this episode:

00:34 What questions remain about the hantavirus outbreak?
Nature: Hantavirus outbreak exposes uncertainty about how disease spreads
Nature: There is no vaccine for deadly hantavirus: what that means for future outbreaks

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:

00:42 Is red-light therapy all hype?
Disclaimer: The opinions and assertions expressed herein by Juanita Anders are those of the speaker and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences or the Department of War.
Nature: The surprising science behind red-light therapy — and how it really works

10:52 Research Highlights
Nature: Trafficked pangolins can be traced to their source by DNA — even to a specific forest
Nature: A wispy wrapper for a chilly, Pluto-like world

13:11 The complex story of global obesity rates
Research article: NCD Risk Factor Collaboration

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.

Although scientists have long been able to gather DNA from water and soil, it's only recently that they've started to see the air as a source of genetic information.
Airborne DNA is already being used to monitor individual species, but researchers hope its abundance could have multiple uses, including judging the success of conservation efforts or attacks with biological weapons.

However, there remains much to understand, such as how far DNA travels in the air, and the ethics involved in the potential identification of a person's genetic information.

This is an audio version of our Feature: The air is full of DNA — here’s what scientists are using it for
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