Science Magazine Podcast Folgen

First up on the podcast, freelance science journalist Robin George Andrews describes Japan’s upcoming Martian Moons eXploration mission that will nab a sample from the surface of Mars’s moon Phobos. The material, due back to Earth in 2031, could reveal the origins of this mysterious moon, the past habitability of Mars, or even hints of life itself. Next on the show, Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano started to periodically spew tall fountains of lava in December 2024. Researchers and the public tuned in to watch more than 50 fountaining events steaming live online. Ashton Flinders, a research geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about how observations from the cameras plus geochemical, geophysical, and geologic monitoring revealed a predictable pattern in these usually rare events. Last up this week, Javier Birchenall, professor of economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, discusses predictions of world-ending crises—starting with a prediction published in a Science paper in 1960 that suggested Earth’s population would reach a singularity on 13 November 2026. We are still here and the global population is headed for a decline. What happened to the singularity and what else are we not predicting very well? Heinz von Foerster et al., Science 1960 Doomsday: Friday, 13 November, A.D. 2026 “At this date human population will approach infinity if it grows as it has grown in the last two millenia[sic].” Image: ESA Mars Express/Andrea Luck This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First up on the podcast, Staff Writer Jennie Erin Smith joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about new research on how noninvasive technologies such as transcranial magnetic stimulation are being used in the context of women’s health to tackle everything from postpartum depression to menstrual pain and fertility issues. Next on the show, we talk with Liisa Galea, Treliving family chair in women’s mental health and professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Toronto. In a review in this week’s special issue on women’s health, Galea discusses the state of research on hormone therapy during perimenopause and the links between menopausal symptoms and long-term concerns such as dementia and cardiovascular disease. See the whole women’s health special issue here. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy. Image credit: Chiara Vercesi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First up on the podcast, Staff Reporter Tom Howarth joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about the language artificial intelligence agents evolve inside their swarms. Next on the show, producer Elah Feder talks with Revathe Thillaikumar,  a behavioral ecologist and postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. The two discuss the value of social learning as baby orangutans learn to find their own food over the longest dependency period of any animal, except humans. Finally, from our series on scientific autobiographies, books host Angela Saini talks with astrophysicist Sara Seager about the moving account of life after losing her husband in her book, The Smallest Lights in the Universe. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy. About the Science Podcast Image: inkoly/istock Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices