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
Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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
21 June 2018: Pancreatic cancer, silica cages, and AI bias
14 June 2018: Baobab tree death, zebrafish stem cells, and ice in Antarctica
07 June 2018: Magnetic animal migration, cold enzymes, and mouse memory
31 May 2018: Boosting diversity in physics, and life after an asteroid impact
24 May 2018: Climate costs, cleverer cab journeys, and peering through matter with muons
17 May 2018: Probing the proton, research misconduct, and making sense of mystery genes
10 May 2018: AI neuroscience, liquid crystals, and depression in academia
03 May 2018: Building early embryos, the fear response in mice, and ancient rhino remains
26 April 2018: Mini brains, and an updated enzyme image
Backchat April 2018: Sexual harassment, social media, and celebrity scientists
19 April 2018: Synchronised shrimp, supernova science, and spring books.
12 April 2018: The power of remote sensing, and watching a neutron star glitch
05 April 2018: Human's influence on the Mississippi and 'dirty' mice
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free