In this episode, we speak with science journalist Rowan Hooper, whose book Togetherness: Symbiosis and the Hidden Story of Life's Greatest Collaborations takes a deep-dive into the world of co-operation between organisms.

In the book, he argues that collaboration in nature has often been overlooked in favour of competition, and that organisms working together have played a vital role in making the world the way it is.

Togetherness: Symbiosis and the Hidden Story of Life's Greatest Collaborations Rowan Hooper Fern Press (2026)

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Peptides ? short chains of amino acids ? have become huge online. The popularity of these molecules has skyrocketed and they are now the latest cure-all trend on social media.

But what does the science say about their effectiveness? Animal research suggests that that some of these experimental peptides hold promise, but evidence they work in people is lacking.

This is an audio version of our Feature: Is the peptide craze backed by science? The promise behind the hype

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Nature staff discuss how apes share a rhythm of laughter, and how AI use may degrade skills in medicine and computer science.

Nature: Is AI ruining our skills? Early results are in ? and they?re not good

Nature: Oo oo, ha ha: why humans and great apes giggle alike when tickled

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In this episode:

Research article: Knolle et al.

Correction: The story about medical AI-data privacy incorrectly stated that the number of individuals at high risk of a membership inference attack increases as training-dataset size grows. It should have stated that the increase in risk occurs when the AI model increases in capacity and size.

Nature: A long-lived butterfly?s secret to graceful ageing

Nature: It slices! It dices! Sashimi-Bot handles seafood with ease

Research article: Labini & Galoppo

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Nature staff discuss preliminary data on the effects of GLP-1 drugs on male fertility plus a two-year trial of a brain-computer interface.

Nature: At-home brain implant gives man with motor neuron disease his daily life back

Nature: The latest benefit of obesity drugs: boosting testosterone and sperm quality

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In this episode:

Research article: Macleod et al.

Nature: Bones of Iron Age skeleton were whittled into tools

Nature: Giant crustacean of the deep sea steals a trick from bacteria

Research article: Baynham et al.

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In this episode:

BBC Science Focus: We may have just cracked one of Stonehenge's greatest mysteries

Nature: Ancient ground squirrels feasted on carcasses like ?zombies of the Pleistocene?

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In this episode:

Research article: Peng et al.

News & Views: A vast whale necropolis has been found

Nature: Babies? birth weight improves with help of payments to parents

Nature: Earliest signs of vision recorded in ancient sea-floor tracks

Research article: Mains et al.

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In this episode:

Science: Some spinosaurs cried salty tears to thrive in brackish waters

Nature: Bang! Exploding immune cells splatter potent toxins everywhere

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In this episode:

Research article: Liao et al.

Nature: A star gone rogue tears through the Galaxy

Nature: Gold keeps glittering courtesy of surface chemistry

Nature: Feynman solved the ?restaurant dilemma? 50 years ago ? now a study confirms his mathematics

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In this episode:

Nature: Memory on trial: the new science of when to trust eyewitness testimony

Nature: Nature is expanding Registered Reports to all the fields in which we publish

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On 17 May the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an ongoing Ebola outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. Centred on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, the outbreak has seen mounting numbers of suspected cases and deaths linked to the rare Bundibugyo species of Ebola virus.

In this podcast we hear what's currently known about the outbreak and the efforts of clinicians, researchers and public health officials to halt its progress.

Nature: Ebola outbreak is a global health emergency: what happens next

Nature: Race begins to trial Ebola drugs amid current outbreak

Nature: Ebola outbreak spirals out of control: how might it have started?

Nature: Will this Ebola outbreak be the biggest yet?

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In this episode:

Research article: Ghareeb et al.

Research article: Gottweis et al.

Nature: Teams of AI agents boost speed of research

Editorial: Why AI cannot do good science without humans

Nature: Do you hate or love AI? Take Nature?s poll

Nature: Dried to survive: desiccated tardigrades tolerate high heat

Nature: Pristine Antarctic ice records the Solar System?s travels

Research article: Somasundaram et al.

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In this episode:

Nature: Hantavirus outbreak exposes uncertainty about how disease spreads

Nature: There is no vaccine for deadly hantavirus: what that means for future outbreaks

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In this episode:

Disclaimer: The opinions and assertions expressed herein by Juanita Anders are those of the speaker and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences or the Department of War.

Nature: The surprising science behind red-light therapy ? and how it really works

Nature: Trafficked pangolins can be traced to their source by DNA ? even to a specific forest

Nature: A wispy wrapper for a chilly, Pluto-like world

Research article: NCD Risk Factor Collaboration

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Although scientists have long been able to gather DNA from water and soil, it's only recently that they've started to see the air as a source of genetic information.

Airborne DNA is already being used to monitor individual species, but researchers hope its abundance could have multiple uses, including judging the success of conservation efforts or attacks with biological weapons.

However, there remains much to understand, such as how far DNA travels in the air, and the ethics involved in the potential identification of a person's genetic information.

This is an audio version of our Feature: The air is full of DNA ? here?s what scientists are using it for

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Nature Feature: Are attention spans really shrinking? What the science says

Nature News Explainer: AI data hubs in space: when will they take flight?

Nature Comment: Space diplomacy: bridging the operating gaps between myriad missions

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In this episode:

Research Article: Katlowitz et al.

Nature: Even the unconscious brain can learn ? and predict what you?ll say next

Nature: An electrifying test to find a good coffee

Nature: ???????Forest pests hit trees hard as temperatures rise

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In this episode:

Nature: Mitochondria can spawn new ?organelles? ? hinting at how modern cells evolved

Nature: Did kraken-like octopuses rule Cretaceous seas? Massive jaw fossils offer clues

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In this episode:

Research Article: Kumar et al.

Nature: Cosmic-ray detection heralds era of mega-observatories for neutrinos

Nature: Little ants groom big ones in a desert spa

World View: Forty years after Chornobyl, more nuclear disasters are inevitable ? plan for them

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In this episode of Nature hits the books, we speak with Nature's Helen Pearson whose book Beyond Belief: How Evidence Shows What Really Works looks at the history of using evidence, rather than opinion, in decision making.

The book traces the course of the movement in various disciplines, such as the rise of evidence-based medicine in the 90s, looking at the rebels who led the charge, the barriers they faced, and why the use of evidence is crucial at a time when misinformation is rife.

Beyond Belief: How Evidence Shows What Really Works Helen Pearson Princeton University Press (in the press)

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In this episode:

Research Article: Dürr et al.

News and Views: Robot can beat elite players at table tennis

Video: This robot can beat you at table tennis

Nature: Venus?s impenetrable haze could be made of cosmic dust

Nature: Graves reveal plague?s inequitable toll

Nature: How big is Big G? Mystery deepens after ten-year effort to measure gravity?s strength

Research Article: Schlamminger et al.

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In this episode:

Science: Penguins become marine detectives, thanks to pollutant-detecting anklets

Nature: One woman, three autoimmune diseases: CAR-T therapy vanquishes ultra-rare disease trio

Science: Why do anglerfish have glowing lures? It might be sex

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In this episode:

Research Article: Verkerk et al.

Nature: Microbial hockey: bacteria can spin a ?puck? just by swimming

Nature: Regular physical activity in midlife cuts risk of early death

Nature: Landmark ancient-genome study shows surprise acceleration of human evolution

Research Article: Akbari et al.

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Never miss an episode. Subscribe to the Nature Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music or your favourite podcast app. An RSS feed for the Nature Podcast is available too.

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In this episode:

On Monday, reporter Alexandra Witze was in the heart of the Artemis II mission?s science operations. She tells us about the experience and what NASA?s researchers have learnt from the mission so far.

Nature: I was with Artemis II?s scientists during the Moon fly-by. Here?s what I saw

Nature: First photos from Artemis II: see stunning ?Earthset? and more

Nature: Historic Artemis II Moon fly-by ? Nature?s live coverage as it happened

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In this episode:

Nature: Eye drops made from pig semen deliver cancer treatment to mice

Nature: Motherhood derails women?s academic careers ? these data reveal how and why

Science: These birds suck?literally

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In this podcast we'll talk about NASA's Artemis II launch, which has ushered in a new era of lunar exploration.

Nature: Lift off! Artemis II mission sends humans to the Moon ? opening a new era of exploration

Nature: Artemis II mission is about to fly humans to the Moon ? here?s the science they?ll do

Nature: Humanity is heading back to the Moon ? why aren?t more scientists thrilled?

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In this episode:

Research Article: Voigt et al.

Nature: Sunken Soviet nuclear submarine?s radioactive release

Nature: History of ?forever? chemicals is written in Antarctic snow

April Fakes Day

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Nature staff discuss some of the week's top science news.

Nature: ?Zombie cells? return from the dead ? after a genome transplant

Nature: Can a mouse be cloned indefinitely? Decades-long experiment has answers

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Research Article : Snelling et al.

Nature: Faster ticking of ?biological clock? predicts shorter lifespan

Nature: Mighty mini-magnet is low in cost and light on energy use

Research Article: Nyberg et al.

News & Views: A gene-editing method generates immunotherapeutic CAR T cells in the body

Nature: CRISPR makes enhanced cancer-fighting immune cells inside mice

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In this episode:

Nature: Memory loss is fuelled by gut microbes in ageing mice

Nature: Knock knock, no one?s there. Study finds scientists? jokes mostly fall flat

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In this episode:

Research Article : Lombe et al.

Nature: Electric-vehicle batteries toughen up to beat the heat

Nature: Live parrots were carried across the Andes before the Incas? rise

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Nature: How the classic computer game Doom became a tool for science

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A study reveals how the asexual Amazon molly defies evolutionary expectations ? plus, evidence of what may be powering superluminous supernovae.

In this episode:

Research Article: Ricemeyer et al.

News and Views: How an all-female fish species defies evolutionary expectations

Nature: ???????Jam-packed star system is most compact of its kind ever found

Nature: ???????Peanut-processing microbes ward off dangerous allergic shock

Research Article : ???????Farah et al.

News and Views: ???????Ultra-bright supernova wobbles like a spinning top

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In this episode:

New Scientist: Paediatricians? blood used to make new treatments for RSV and colds

Science: Galileo?s handwritten notes found in ancient astronomy text

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Injectable fluid safely fills area in which blood clots can form, in animal trials ? plus, strong evidence that an elusive form of diamond has been made in the lab.

Research Article : Wang et al.

News and Views: Magnetic fluid offers better seal in heart-plugging medical procedure

Video: Magnetic gel injected into the heart could stop strokes

Nature: Sewage systems secretly waft pollution into the air

Nature: This ant species is composed of only queens ? no workers or males

Research Article: Lai et al.

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This is an audio version of our Feature: Many people have no mental imagery. What?s going on in their brains?

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In this episode:

00:15 How Pokémon inspired fields as diverse as evolution, biodiversity and research integrity

Nature: Pokémon turns 30 ? how the fictional pocket monsters shaped science

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High-speed footage reveals shoe squeaks can start with a tiny bolt of lightning ? plus, evidence that a debated brain phenomenon exists in humans.

Research Article : Djellouli et al.

Basketball sound effects via Bradley Kanaris/Getty.

Nature: Runaway black hole leaves a trail of stars

Nature: Super-sticky feet help a robot to climb the walls

Research Article: Disouky et al.

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Nature: Brain differences between sexes get more pronounced from puberty

Science: How do busy bees avoid overheating from flying?

Video: Birds gliding through bubbles reveal aerodynamic trick

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Nature: Microsoft Research Project Silica Team

Nature: Microsoft team creates 'revolutionary' data storage system that lasts for millennia

Nature: Parasitic wasps use tamed virus to castrate caterpillars

Nature: Flexible joints: robot morphs into a range of cyborg species

Nature: Sahin et al.

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In this episode:

Nature: Coffee linked to slower brain ageing in study of 130,000 people

Scientific American: Rules of mysterious ancient Roman board game decoded by AI

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In this episode:

Nature: Cho et al.

Nature: Beetle is locked into an eternal dance ? with an ant

Nature: Super-sniffer aeroplane finds oil fields? hidden emissions

Nature: Olalde et al.

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In this episode:

Nature: 48 hours without lungs: artificial organ kept man alive until transplant

Nature: How tumours trick the brain into shutting down cancer-fighting cells

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Nature: Thompson et al.

Nature: Genetically engineered ?stinkweed? comes up roses for making seed oil

Nature: Largest galaxy survey yet confirms that the Universe is not clumpy enough

Nature: Asai et al.

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In this episode:

Nature: Still working at 107: supercentenarian study probes genetics of extreme longevity

Nature: ?Remote controlled? proteins illuminate living cells

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Nature: Touponse et al.

Nature: Disappearing ?planet? reveals a solar system?s turbulent times

Nature: Getting to the (square) root of stock-market swings

Nature: Symons et? al.

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In this episode:

Nature: Sending babies to nursery completely reshapes their microbiome

Science: No bull: This Austrian cow has learned to use tools

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Nature: Pedalino et al.

News: Schrödinger's cat just got bigger: quantum physicists create largest ever 'superposition'

Nature: Ancient pottery reveals early evidence of mathematical thinking

Nature: Gifted dogs learn new words by overhearing humans

Nature: US science after a year of Trump

Nature: US science in 2026: five themes that will dominate Trump?s second year

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