Nature Podcast

Benjamin Thompson and Shamini Bundell discuss two scientific stories from the Nature Briefing. The first concerns a technique for detecting lead that may help researchers read damaged Roman scrolls from Herculaneum without unrolling the fragile, charred material. The second examines a biodegradable, paper-inspired edible battery and its potential use in medical devices inside the body. The publisher’s episode page and official podcast feed both identify this 25 September 2026 episode; the discussion lasts 11 minutes 32 seconds.

This Nature Podcast explores how anonymized banking records can reveal patterns of financial abuse and inform support for victim-survivors. A second segment examines how opposing forces within Earth’s core can change the planet’s rotation and the length of a day. Research highlights cover Mercury’s contraction and cognitive resilience in predicting Alzheimer’s dementia.

Nature staff discuss geophysical evidence that could indicate hidden chambers beyond Tutankhamun's tomb and what the findings might imply for the search for Nefertiti's burial place. The episode also examines a multifunctional brain-computer interface that translates neural activity into both speech and gestures, highlighting how one implant can support several forms of communication.

This Nature Podcast episode examines human brain organoids transplanted into mice lacking a cerebral cortex, where extensive cellular integration could create an in-vivo platform for testing therapies and studying human neurobiology. It also covers research highlights and Paper2Agent, an AI system that turns research papers into interactive virtual corresponding authors able to answer questions and support complex scientific tasks.

Nature staff discuss an AI tool for assessing the effects of nine billion human genetic mutations, followed by research challenging assumptions about Bunsen burners and contamination near laboratory work areas. This episode is part of Nature Podcast’s Briefing Chat series and is available from the publisher on Acast.

This Nature Podcast episode discusses telephone tutoring during school shutdowns and what changing world-map projections could mean for atlases. Research highlights cover synchronized optical clocks and greenhouse-gas emissions from pigs. The publisher provides the episode audio on Acast.

Nature's Benjamin Thompson and Maren Hunsberger discuss research recognised by the 2026 Ig Nobel prizes, including a soil-health experiment, and examine an intriguing signal from a xenon-based dark-matter experiment. Published on 4 September 2026, this episode connects environmental measurement with particle-physics news.

An audio feature examining research on DNA damage, repair and ageing. The episode explores evidence that inadequate repair contributes to age-related biological changes, and scientific efforts to test whether improving repair can extend healthy life. Nature published this episode on 2 September 2026.

Nature reporters discuss Dolly Parton's advocacy for vaccines and public health alongside promising phase III results for a personalised mRNA cancer vaccine for melanoma.

Nature reporters explain why record ocean temperatures associated with an intensifying El Niño could weaken marine carbon sinks. The episode also covers radiation protection for astronauts, thunder-based underground geology and experimental mitochondrial injections for vision loss.

Nature staff discuss how a newly approved orexin-targeting narcolepsy drug could enable therapies for other neurological conditions, and examine human brain organoids that have remained viable for more than five years. The episode connects sleep medicine, therapeutic neuroscience, and long-term models of human brain development.

This Nature Podcast episode reports on a high-speed star whose orbit could enable measurement of the spin of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. The programme also examines how exoskeletons influence human movement and covers other current science stories.

Nature staff examine what an invisible watermark for AI-generated text could mean for research integrity and the detection of synthetic content, then discuss cross-cultural research showing that ticklishness is a distinct and specialized body sensation with common anatomical patterns.

Nature's podcast explores genetically engineered probiotic bacteria that sense elevated glucose and release therapeutic factors, lowering blood sugar in animal studies. The episode also covers ecological research on pumas, geological erosion, and how a solar eclipse can help researchers probe the Sun's magnetic corona.

Nature staff discuss evidence from whales and mole rats suggesting that DNA repair may contribute to longevity, and how COVID-19 can reactivate dormant viruses.

Nature journalists discuss a chemical route that converts PVC waste into motor lubricant and engineered yeast that produces a potential cancer drug.

Nature staff discuss a large survey of insect diversity in the Amazon and unusual orca behavior captured on video involving a sunfish.

Nature editors discuss nearly 400 structures that reveal the scale of the Aquiry civilization and tiny fossils of an early squid ancestor.

Nature staff discuss evidence that young tyrannosaurs hunted from birth, the weapons used by ancient Egyptian princesses and London’s emerging role in artificial-intelligence safety.

Nature reporters discuss evidence for a distant Jupiter-mass exosatellite and the discovery of a rare transmissible cancer in wild catfish.