Science Magazine Podcast Folgen

On this week’s show: Climate change is killing critical soil organisms in arid regions, and early evidence for the Maya calendar from a site in Guatemala Staff Writer Elizabeth Pennisi joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss how climate change is affecting “biocrust,” a thin layer of fungi, lichens, and other microbes that sits on top of desert soil, helping retain water and create nutrients for rest of the ecosystem. Recent measurements in Utah suggest the warming climate is causing a decline in the lichen component of biocrust, which is important for adding nitrogen into soils. Next, Sarah talks with Skidmore College anthropologist Heather Hurst, who directs Guatemala’s San Bartolo-Xultun Regional Archaeological Project, and David Stuart, a professor of art history and director of the Mesoamerica Center at the University of Texas, Austin, about their new Science Advances paper. The study used radiocarbon dating to pin down the age of one of the earliest pieces of the Maya calendar. Found in an archaeological dig in San Bartolo, Guatemala, the character known as “seven deer” (which represents a day in the Maya calendar), was dated to 300 B.C.E. That early appearance challenges what researchers know about the age and origins of the Maya dating system. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy. [Image: Heather Hurst; Music: Jeffrey Cook] [alt: Ixbalamque painting from San Barolo, Guatemala, with podcast symbol overlay] Authors: Sarah Crespi; Liz Pennisi Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq4848 About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s show: A new measurement of the W boson could challenge physicists’ standard model, and an abundance of marine RNA viruses Staff Writer Adrian Cho joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss a new threat to the standard model of particle physics—a heavier than expected measurement of a fundamental particle called the W boson. They chat about how this measurement was taken, and what it means if it is right. Next, Sarah talks about the microscopic denizens of Earth’s oceans with Ahmed Zayed, a research scientist in the department of microbiology at Ohio State University, Columbus. They talk about findings from a global survey of marine RNA viruses. The results double the number of known RNA viruses, suggesting new classifications will be needed to categorize all this viral diversity. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy. [Image: A. Mastin/Science; Music: Jeffrey Cook] [alt: illustration of three RNA viruses with podcast symbol overlay] Authors: Sarah Crespi; Adrian Cho Episode page:  https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq3391 About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s show: A journey to the center of the center of the Earth, and what was missing from the first human genome project Staff Writer Paul Voosen talks with host Sarah Crespi about the many mysteries surrounding the innermost part of our planet—from its surprisingly recent birth to whether it spins faster or slower than the rest of the planet. Next, Sarah chats with Adam Phillippy about the results from the Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) Consortium, an effort to create a complete and detailed read of the human genome. Phillippy, a senior investigator and head of the Genome Informatics Section at the National Human Genome Research Institute, explains what we can learn by topping up the human genome with roughly 200 more megabases of genetic information—practically a whole chromosome’s worth of additional sequencing. See all the T2T papers. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy. [Image: V. Altounian/Science; Music: Jeffrey Cook] [alt: An array of the human chromosomes showing newly sequenced parts from the Telomere-to-Telomere Consortium with podcast symbol overlay] Authors: Sarah Crespi; Paul Voosen Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq1885 About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices