New Scientist
426 episodes listed below
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From the evolution of intelligent life, to the mysteries of consciousness; from the threat of the climate crisis to the search for dark matter, The world, the universe and us is your essential weekly dose of science and wonder in an uncertain world. Hosted by journalists Dr Rowan Hooper and Dr Penny Sarchet and joined each week by expert scientists in the field, the show draws on New Scientist’s unparalleled depth of reporting to put the stories that matter into context. Feed your curiosity with the podcast that will restore your sense of optimism and nourish your brain.For more...
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
A wide-ranging science briefing that tests striking claims against evidence, competing explanations and real-world consequences.
The World, the Universe and Us follows scientific claims into the arguments around them. Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet move between physics, biology, climate, technology and animal behavior, pairing explanation with questions about evidence, uncertainty and consequence.
A dolphin answers to its name, and you get to ask what that actually proves.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Thorin's isolated genome gives the Neanderthal extinction story a vivid, human-scale focus.
The episode traces the decline and eventual extinction of the Neanderthals through DNA from 10 individuals, using ancient genetics to pull extinct human relatives into sharper scientific view.
A sober look at how conflict, biofuels and fragile food systems feed through to rising prices.
Food prices can feel like they rise all at once, but this episode follows the chain behind them: Middle East conflict pushing up fuel, fertilizer and pesticide costs, then pressure moving through to supermarket bills and political instability.
A clear route from AI's extraordinary funding to the language patterns behind its fluent output.
The World, the Universe and Us sets AI's vast financial momentum against a useful primer on why language models can appear to understand. Rowan Hooper and Sophie Bushwick move from OpenAI's Stargate project, its proposed $500 billion investment, and Hooper's estimate that $100…
A measured science episode weighs smartphone fears, disputed alien-life evidence, and a playful turn toward digital oak trees.
Teen smartphone fears frame the episode's opening question: after Adolescence, what does the evidence actually show? News editor Jacob Aron joins Timothy Revel and Madeleine Cuff for a measured setup that favors tension over a quick verdict.
A brisk science round-up balances climate hope, a possible norovirus vaccine and an unlikely cosmic disaster.
China's falling carbon emissions give this weekly science episode its strongest opening: a rare climate shift with room to register why it matters.
Rotating StarTalk scientist-hosts and a comedian co-host tackle listener-submitted cosmic questions.
Patient space coverage with real mission context.
This episode explores how prehistoric humans crossed oceans without modern technology, discusses brain training's effectiveness in reducing dementia risk, and features an interview with space scientist Maggie Aderin about her memoir and career.
This special episode marks the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bombing, exploring the wider implications of the Manhattan Project, including ongoing human and environmental impacts, climate change connections, and interviews with survivors and experts.
This episode features an interview with historian Rutger Bregman discussing his book on moral ambition, along with segments on evolutionary explanations for same-sex behavior in primates, lifestyle changes for longevity, and unconventional climate change solutions.
This episode explores a radical theory suggesting Alzheimer's disease may originate outside the brain in areas like the skin, lungs, or gut, challenging the century-old belief that it starts solely in the brain.
This episode explores how the Iran war is accelerating the end of the fossil fuel era by disrupting oil supplies and making renewable energy more economically attractive.
This episode features an interview with writer and activist Rebecca Solnit discussing her book about finding hope and interconnectedness in a changing world, challenging pessimistic narratives about the future.
Musician Steve Pretty discusses the origin and evolution of music, focusing on his obsession with playing conch shells as a trumpet player.
This episode explores how exercise may slow cancer growth by outcompeting tumors for nutrients, discusses the discovery of molecules on comet 3I/ATLAS and their implications for life's origins, and revisits a quantum experiment that settled a debate between Einstein and Bohr.
This episode explores three scientific topics: water scarcity and cloud seeding solutions, prolonged grief disorder as a psychiatric condition, and the possibility that the center of our galaxy contains dark matter instead of a black hole.
This episode explores how Ukraine has become a major drone producer, using AI and drones to change modern warfare tactics against Russia.
This episode discusses the discovery of two mammal species in New Guinea previously thought extinct for 6,000 years, featuring an interview with team leader Tim Flannery about the research origins and findings.
This episode explores a new mRNA-based approach to combat winter viral illnesses, revisits the controversial cold fusion experiments of the 1980s, and delves into the microbiome secrets behind premium chocolate's flavor.
This episode features New Scientist editors discussing their most thought-provoking science stories of 2025, covering topics from quantum physics to human longevity.
This episode of The World, The Universe and Us covers three groundbreaking scientific firsts: the sequencing of an ancient Egyptian genome, reports of wild killer whales giving gifts to humans, and the first demonstration of interstellar navigation.
This episode discusses genetically engineered microbes to treat diseases like kidney stones, the debate over abandoning the 1.5°C global warming target, and new theories on plate tectonics and the search for extraterrestrial life.
This episode covers groundbreaking science news including how Ozempic and Wegovy may slow biological ageing, the creation of a highly modified synthetic bacterium, and a geological analysis of a major Russian earthquake.
This episode features an interview with climate scientists Tim Lenton and Kate Marvel, discussing their books and research on positive solutions to the climate crisis.
This New Scientist holiday special episode reviews the best science-related TV, film, and books of 2025, featuring discussions with culture editor Alison Flood and TV/film reviewer Bethan Ackley, starting with an analysis of David Attenborough's documentary 'Ocean'.
This episode explores Jane Goodall's groundbreaking work with chimpanzees and her conservation legacy, discusses the end of the universe with physicist Katie Mack, and examines new research on how older men pass on disease-causing mutations to their children.
This episode discusses a documentary about sequencing Adolf Hitler's genome, exploring the scientific and ethical implications with a geneticist and a historian.
This episode features a geologist discussing her new book that blends Western scientific knowledge with indigenous stories to explain geological phenomena like the formation of the Hawaiian Islands through magma hotspots.
This episode explores how mRNA vaccines may help fight cancer, discusses the grim findings of the State of Climate Action 2025 report, and explains the mystery behind birds' dawn chorus.
This episode explores a groundbreaking ancient skull discovery in China that challenges the 'out of Africa' human evolution narrative, discusses misleading claims about autism and Tylenol, and reports on cosmic wind escaping from a black hole.
This episode covers AI winning gold at the International Maths Olympiad, explores the link between mitochondria and sleep, and discusses a psychology experiment replicated with octopuses to understand their cognition.
This episode explores geoengineering as a potential solution to prevent climate tipping points like AMOC collapse, while also touching on mathematical paradoxes and exercise's link to cancer outcomes.
This science podcast episode discusses groundbreaking research on mice born with two fathers through androgenesis, explores how lizards survived the dinosaur-killing asteroid, and touches on perfecting sleep with scientific methods.
This episode explores three science stories: orcas and dolphins cooperating to hunt salmon, genetic research redefining psychiatric conditions into five groups, and the concept of cosmic ecology linking supernovae to planetary formation.
This episode explores a 100,000-year-old microbe found in Siberian permafrost, a brain implant using AI to treat pain, and how climate change historically links to revolutions.
This episode discusses a groundbreaking study that created the first complete map of brain activity in a mouse, revealing insights into distributed decision-making processes and potential implications for understanding intuition and artificial consciousness.
This episode explores new evidence for past life on Mars from the Perseverance rover, examines the Romans' impact on the British economy, and discusses how exercise influences the human microbiome.
This episode explores the evolutionary trade-off of longer human lives leading to inflammation-related aging, while also touching on an approaching asteroid and dinosaurs' ecological impact.
This science podcast episode discusses an emergency in Antarctica with rising temperatures, explores why women live longer than men, and examines how movement affects brain function.
This live podcast episode at the Royal Society explores future space exploration, featuring discussions with an astronaut, a biomedical engineer working on inclusive space travel, and a pharmaceuticals CEO planning drug manufacturing in space.
This episode covers the irreversible climate tipping point of coral bleaching, a breakthrough in brain implant technology for paralysis, and health concerns for sumo wrestlers, while promoting the New Scientist Live festival.
This episode explores the impact of US government cuts on health data systems, how sleep affects brain function, and the potential for liquid water veins on Mars to support life.
This episode discusses COP30, the upcoming UN climate conference in Brazil, exploring its significance amid political challenges, climate tipping points, and the need for adaptation.
This episode explores a new Denisovan genome sequence, Formula E cars potentially outperforming Formula One, the widespread Epstein-Barr virus, and features an interview with science writer Bill Bryson about his revised book.
This episode explores the evolutionary origin of sperm, brain development stages extending into early adulthood, and urgent climate crisis threats discussed at a National Emergency Briefing.
This episode from New Scientist discusses major science predictions for 2026, including human spaceflight to the Moon and Mars, cheaper weight loss drugs, medical LSD trials, and carbon border taxes.
This episode explores why the U.S.
This episode critiques the worst science and technology ideas of the 21st century, including social media, Bitcoin, alternative fuels, and effective altruism, examining how they went wrong despite initial promise.
This episode discusses recent scientific breakthroughs including lab-grown mini human brains with blood vessels, the risks of solar geoengineering for climate change, and the discovery of ancient fossils revealing post-extinction life.
This episode discusses Elon Musk's plan to launch a million satellites for space exploration, the trend of parents giving melatonin to children for sleep, and the ongoing global increase in pesticide toxicity.
This episode discusses a new scientific paper about an early warning signal for the potential collapse of the AMOC ocean current system and its implications for climate change.
This episode explores how artificial intelligence is causing the biggest change in the history of mathematics, with mathematicians viewing AI as an existential threat to their profession.
This episode discusses gender bias in AI and science, featuring insights from a Royal Society conference on women in science and historical examples like Herta Ayrton.
This episode explores a scientific technique that preserves pig brains after death, with potential applications for humans and ethical implications about reviving consciousness.
An analysis of 10 Neanderthal mitochondrial genomes, compared with 49 existing genomes, shows that late Neanderthals between 60,000 and 40,000 years ago belonged to one lineage that began about 65,000 years ago.
This episode explores a new scientific study that mapped sensory nerves in the penis, identifying the male G-spot.
Michael LePage says even if the war eases, 5% to 8% extra food price inflation this year could still land and echo the Ukraine shocks.
CERN drove 92 antiprotons around a four-kilometre campus route for 20 minutes in its first antimatter-transport test.
This episode discusses the groundbreaking discovery of the first Denisovan skull, an ancient human ancestor previously known only from DNA in a finger bone.
This episode explores the emerging field of cyborg technology, including neural implants and brain prosthetics, with examples like cyborg tadpoles from Harvard.
This episode explores the discovery of platinum group metals on the moon, delivered by asteroids, with insights from researcher Jayanth Chenamangalam on modeling lunar craters and the implications for space resources.
The World, the Universe and Us frames this AI special around OpenAI's Stargate plan, a 500 billion dollar data-center buildout with SoftBank and Oracle, and the question of whether the boom is already cooling.
Jacob Aron says a 100-researcher paper found around 90% agreement that adolescent mental health is declining and that smartphones can cause sleep problems, but not that phone bans would help.
China’s CO2 emissions fell 1% over 12 months, and 2025’s first quarter was down 1.6% year on year.
Dustin Mulvaney says deep-sea mining is "incredibly misplaced" because battery makers are already moving away from nickel and cobalt.
Chelsea White unpacks a new reading of the double-slit experiment, where Cell Vila Boas describes 'bright states' and 'dark states' instead of waves.
This episode covers the latest science news including microbiome research, COP16 Biodiversity Summit, and the US election's impact on climate.
This episode covers a SpaceX Starship test, a study on bullying's brain effects, the 2024 State of the Climate Report, and efforts to resurrect the thylacine.
A weekly science news podcast covering topics from ancient human discoveries to exoplanets and climate change.
This episode covers science news including coma awareness, opioid crisis tools, ocean cooling, the Wow signal, and AI for coding.
This episode explores the science of anxiety, including its physiological and psychological mechanisms, and how to manage it.