In this episode:
00:53 How virtual meetings can limit creative ideas
In April, we heard how a team investigated whether switching from face-to-face to virtual meetings came at a cost to creativity. They showed that people meeting virtually produced fewer creative ideas than those working face-to-face, and suggest that when it comes to idea generation maybe it’s time to turn the camera off.
Nature Podcast: 27 April 2022
Research article: Brucks & Levav
News and Views: Virtual collaboration hinders idea generation
Video: Why video calls are bad for brainstorming
08:29 How the Black Death got its start
The Black Death is estimated to have caused the deaths of up to 60% of the population of Europe. However, despite extensive research, the origin of this wave of disease has remained unclear. In June, we heard from a team who used a combination of techniques to identify a potential starting point in modern-day Kyrgyzstan.
Nature Podcast: 15 June 2022
Research article: Spyrou et al.
15:24 Research Highlights
Hippos’ habit of aggressively spraying dung when they hear a stranger, and why being far from humans helps trees live a long life.
Research Highlight: Hippos know strangers’ voices — and make a filthy reply
Research Highlight: Where are Earth’s oldest trees? Far from prying eyes
18:36 Higgs boson turns ten: the mysteries physicists are still trying to solve
Ten years ago, scientists announced that they’d found evidence of the existence of the Higgs boson, a fundamental particle first theorised to exist nearly sixty years earlier.
To celebrate this anniversary, we reminisced about what the discovery meant at the time, and what questions are left to be answered about this mysterious particle.
Nature Podcast: 06 July 2022
Nature News: Happy birthday, Higgs boson! What we do and don’t know about the particle
Nature Editorial: Particle physics isn’t going to die — even if the LHC finds no new particles
28:28 Coronapod: the open-science plan to unseat big Pharma and tackle vaccine inequity
In this episode of Coronapod we investigated a radical new collaboration between 15 countries — co-led by the WHO, and modelled on open-science — that aims to create independent vaccine hubs that could supply the global south. This project was supported by the Pulitzer Center.
Coronapod: 29 July 2022
News Feature: The radical plan for vaccine equity
40:10 Missing foot reveals world’s oldest amputation
In September we heard about the discovery in Borneo of a skeleton with an amputated foot, dated to 31,000 years ago. The person whose foot was removed survived the procedure, which the researchers behind the find say shows the ‘surgeon’ must have had detailed knowledge of anatomy, and likely had access to antiseptic compounds.
Nature Podcast: 07 September 2022
Research article: Maloney et al.
News and Views: Earliest known surgery was of a child in Borneo 31,000 years ago
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Why video calls are bad for brainstorming
Happy birthday, Higgs boson! What we do and don’t know about the particle
Read the paper: Surgical amputation of a limb 31,000 years ago in Borneo
