Ellie Sans

The podcast examines Moltbook, a social media site designed for AI assistants to chat, compare experiences and discuss their human users. It explores whether reports of bots badmouthing humans and plotting an uprising indicate genuine artificial intelligence developments or merely reflect exaggerated interpretations of bot interactions, while considering what the phenomenon reveals about AI and human behavior.

Madeleine Finlay and Guardian science editor Ian Sample discuss research identifying four distinct types of thinker, an unprecedented US cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to two deaths, and funding cuts threatening Jodrell Bank Observatory and its Lovell Telescope. Artists, writers and scientists are urging the UK government to protect the world heritage site.

Madeleine Finlay and Guardian science editor Ian Sample discuss research identifying four distinct types of thinker, an unprecedented cyclosporiasis outbreak in the United States linked to two fatalities, and funding cuts threatening Jodrell Bank and its iconic Lovell Telescope.

The first person has received an experimental gene therapy designed to make ageing retinal cells behave more like young cells and potentially improve vision. The treatment is part of an early trial focused on safety; if successful, it could support wider development of cellular-rejuvenation therapies. Madeleine Finlay discusses the research with Guardian science editor Ian Sample and cell biology professor Paul Knoepfler.

Britain has lost around 73 million wild birds over the past 50 years because of habitat loss, pesticides, disease, cats and the climate crisis. The resulting decline may go unnoticed through shifting baseline syndrome, as each generation accepts a more degraded environment as normal. The podcast explores how Gen Z is challenging that trend, with social media and the Merlin Bird ID app helping to make birdwatching popular, and features writer Robert Macfarlane and RSPB youth council member Jess Painter.

A clinical trial suggests that the daily pill daraxonrasib can double survival time for patients with the world’s deadliest cancer. The podcast examines how the drug targets a protein long considered “undruggable,” and Madeleine Finlay discusses its potential impact with consultant medical oncologist Naureen Starling of the Royal Marsden. Experts describe the results as a major breakthrough in cancer treatment, though the findings come from a clinical trial and the treatment’s broader implications for patients remain to be established.

The podcast examines why humans sleep and how scientific understanding has expanded beyond rest and memory consolidation. It focuses on Maiken Nedergaard’s 2012 discovery of the glymphatic system, a brain-cleaning process that becomes active during sleep and removes proteins and metabolic waste. Subsequent research is exploring how deep sleep and glymphatic function may influence dementia, challenging the idea that the sleeping brain is inactive.

The podcast examines whether home red-light therapy devices, including masks, body wraps and mittens, can reduce wrinkles, redness or acne. Ian Sample, Madeleine Finlay and dermatologist Jonathan Kentley discuss how the potential benefits of red light were discovered, how it may interact with collagen, and what scientific evidence exists regarding its effects on appearance and ageing.

Madeleine Finlay and Ian Sample discuss three science stories: an update on hantavirus and warnings about possible additional cases, the Pentagon’s release of previously secret documents concerning UFO reports, and research linking participation in cultural activities with a slower pace of biological ageing.

Madeleine Finlay speaks with natural-history writer Patrick Barkham to mark David Attenborough’s centenary. They discuss how the natural world has changed during Attenborough’s lifetime and how his television work has increasingly emphasized the damaging effects of the climate crisis on nature and biodiversity.

Madeleine Finlay and Ian Sample discuss three science stories: the decline in the number of years people in the UK spend in good health compared with a decade ago, the science, technology and nutrition behind runners attempting to break the two-hour marathon barrier at the London Marathon, and research suggesting that boiler sounds and other low-frequency noises may explain why some old houses feel spooky.

Madeleine Finlay and Ian Sample discuss research on whether people enjoy supposedly boring conversations more than expected, the possibility of a powerful ‘super El Niño’ developing during the summer, and evidence reviewing the effectiveness of a new class of Alzheimer’s drugs once regarded as a breakthrough for slowing disease progression.

Guinea worm disease cases fell to a record low of 10, but completely eradicating the parasite remains difficult. Ian Sample, Madeleine Finlay and tropical disease expert David Molyneux examine why guinea worm has resisted eradication efforts and whether it could become only the second human disease eliminated worldwide after smallpox.

Madeleine Finlay examines the evidence behind the growing popularity of saunas and cold plunge pools in the UK. Drawing on Ian Sample and Dr Heather Massey of the University of Portsmouth’s extreme environments laboratory, the episode considers claims that alternating intense heat and cold benefits mental and physical health. The episode was amended on 13 July 2026 to correct a reference to Finnish fjords.

Scientists at CERN conducted a world-first experiment to transport antimatter in a filing-cabinet-sized box loaded onto a lorry. Madeleine Finlay speaks with Guardian science editor Ian Sample and CERN physicist Christian Smorra about why antimatter must be moved, the risks involved, and what the journey demonstrated.

An outbreak of meningitis among university and school students in Kent has killed two young people and left others seriously ill. Health officials identified meningitis B in some cases. Madeleine Finlay speaks with infectious-disease specialist Eliza Gil about the outbreak, symptoms, transmission, those most at risk and questions surrounding access to the meningitis B vaccine.

Ian Sample and Madeleine Finlay discuss research linking exercise with brain health, the discovery that hedgehogs can hear high-frequency ultrasound and the potential use of ultrasound repellers to keep them away from roads, and evidence that biased AI autocomplete tools may influence users’ beliefs.

The podcast examines the changing scientific understanding of body fat, which was once viewed as inert tissue but is now recognized as a dynamic system that communicates with the rest of the body and may function as an organ. Ian Sample discusses the subject with Madeleine Finlay and Declan O’Regan, a professor of cardiovascular AI at Imperial College London, focusing on fat’s complex role in health and obesity.

Ian Sample and Madeleine Finlay examine whether widespread claims about magnesium supplements—such as benefits for anxiety, sleep and brain fog—are supported by scientific evidence. Katherine Tucker of the University of Massachusetts Lowell explains magnesium’s role in the body and outlines the best ways to ensure adequate intake.

Ian Sample and Madeleine Finlay discuss three science stories: research suggesting that positive thinking may improve the immune response to vaccines, the unexplained rise in scabies cases in the UK, and evidence that cows can use tools to scratch themselves, prompting a reassessment of bovine intelligence.