An explanation for giant ice structures on Pluto, and dismantling the mestizo myth in Latin American genetics.
In this episode:
00:46 The frozen root of Pluto’s polygonal patterns
In 2015, NASA’s New Horizons probe sent back some intriguing images of Pluto. Huge polygonal patterns could be seen on the surface of a nitrogen-ice ice filled basin known as Sputnik Planitia. This week, a team put forward a new theory to explain these perplexing patterns.
Research article: Morison et al.
06:15 Research Highlights
How Pamplona’s bull-running defies the dynamics of crowd motion, and self-healing microbial bio-bricks.
Research Highlight: Running of the bulls tramples the laws of crowd dynamics
Research Highlight: It’s alive! Bio-bricks can signal to others of their kind
09:06 How the mixed-race ‘mestizo’ myth has fostered discrimination
The term 'mestizo' emerged during the colonial period in Latin America to describe a blend of ethnicities – especially between Indigenous peoples and the Spanish colonizers. But this label is a social construct not a well-defined scientific category. Now researchers are challenging the mestizo myth, which they say is harmful and has a troubling influence on science.
Feature: How the mixed-race mestizo myth warped science in Latin America
17:22 Briefing Chat
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, how interrupted sleep could be a route to creativity, and the development of vaccines to target respiratory syncytial virus.
New Scientist: Interrupting sleep after a few minutes can boost creativity
Nature News: The race to make vaccines for a dangerous respiratory virus
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01 November 2018: Mood forecasting technology, and where are the WIMPs?
18 October 2018: Cannabis horticulture and the Sun's place in history
11 October 2018: The life of a new Nobel laureate and organised ants
04 October 2018: Latent HIV, bird personalities and the Hyabusa2 mission
27 September 2018: A wearable biosensor and a mechanical metamaterial.
20 September 2018: Negative emissions and swarms under strain
13 September 2018: The oldest drawing and the energy of data
6 September 2018: Space junk, and a physicist’s perspective on life
30 August 2018: Gravity’s big G and the evolution of babies
Backchat August 2018: Audio reporting, audience feedback, and Brexit
23 August 2018: Quantum computers and labour division in ants
16 August 2018: Bumblebees, opioids, and ocean weather
8 August 2018: Fox aggression, microbiota and geoengineering
02 August 2018: Zebra finch colour perception, terraforming Mars, and attributing extreme weather
26 July 2018: Conservation, automata, and pet DNA tests
19 July 2018: DNA scaffolds, climate-altering microbes, and a robot chemist
12 July 2018: Rats, reefs, and career streaks
05 July 2018: A DNA computer, the koala genome, and the invisibility of LGBTQ+ researchers
Backchat June 2018: Lab health, email briefings, and CRISPR
27 June 2018: Air pollution, sick plants, and stress
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