The eLife Podcast: outstanding research in life science and biomedicine.
Latest episodes
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40 min
Individuality, and non-monogamy boosts chickadee cognition
In this episode, the origins of our individuality, how synaesthetes' pupil size changes just by thinking of a colour, female chickadees expand the spectrum of cognitive abilities t…
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34 min
Gorilla sperm, and subversive gambling machines
This time, macho male gorillas trade stature for sperm count, how gambling machines use sound and light to take the sting out of losing, whether babies are born hard-wired to dance…
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38 min
Genetic cancer sensors, and why crabs walk sideways
This month, a genetic sensor to self-destruct cancer cells, what fish with a gene mutation are revealing about brain blood vessel disease, evidence that hallucinogens like psilocyb…
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38 min
Moths hear plants, and what fingerprints do for touch
In this episode, how kangaroos alter their postures to store more energy in their Achilles tendons and boost movement efficiency, the moths that make a beeline when they hear plant…
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40 min
Nocebos, and why the eyes of some species stay shut at birth
This month, compelling evidence for why some species keep their eyes closed for sometimes several weeks after birth, scientists prove that the "nocebo" effect is more potent than a…
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43 min
Ants doing gene therapy, and tadpole microbiomes
This month, as the eLife Podcast hits its century, we hear how getting frog dads to cross-foster tadpoles has revealed the way in which some frogs come by their microbiomes, the an…
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39 min
Finland's giant virus, and monkeys take care of their teeth
In the eLife podcast, a university compost heap has turned up Finland's first documented "giant virus". Also, why monkeys de-sand their supper, and how learning more languages actu…
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35 min
Frog toxicity, and what a year's schooling does to the brain
What is the impact of an extra year at school on the brain? Also, how poison dart frogs come by their toxins, using movies to track the developing infant nervous system, the insect…
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41 min
Hollywood helps brain scientists probe thoughts
This month, how films are helping neuroscientists link brain activity patterns to specific thought processes, a breakthrough in managing opiate overdose, a technique to study anima…
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31 min
Evolving flu, and the desert decomposition conundrum
Predicting how influenza viruses will evolve, how deserts decompose matter despite the dry, what worms are revealing about a gene linked to autism, and what makes mice fearful of c…
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33 min
Cancer mood control, and birth products blocking pain
This month, signs that cancers communicate with the brain to alter mood, why antibodies are unreliable in research, evidence that social training can cut stress and boost brain vol…
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31 min
Vampire bacteria, "hangry" males, and ants using moonlight
This month, Chris Smith hears how blood-thirsty bacteria sniff out wounds to trigger infections, how ants navigate at night, how male and female brains respond differently to starv…
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34 min
How termites build their nests, and drivers of new diseases
This month, how human encroachment and conflict on nature drives emerging diseases, the role of "stigmergy" in guiding the nest-building feats of termites, a project to track infec…
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38 min
Hibernation, Ketamine and Aphantasia
This month, how animals hibernate and evidence that muscle myosin makes its own heat in the cold, brain scans to reveal how ketamine relieves resistant depression, the way the brai…
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36 min
Apes reveal language origins, and being dyslexic in science
This month we hear what orangutans can tell us about the origins of human speech, we ask if science making life even harder for dyslexics, where do the scientists we train end up a…
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35 min
Bees can't taste pesticides, and how albatrosses get aloft
In the eLife Podcast this month, signs that bees are oblivious to pesticides in nectar, sea anemone stinging strategies, a new means of cell-cell communication to share growth fact…
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36 min
Cold haemoglobin, and teaching old dogs new ethics
This month, how an extinct marine mammal made its haemoglobin work in the cold, how does learning compassion change the shape of the human brain, women publishing cautiously, how p…
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31 min
How many friends for best brain health?
This month join host Dr Chris Smith to hear how a nuclear power station provides the opportunity to test theories of the effects of global warming on how fish grow, evidence that p…
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37 min
Social media and febrile fish
This month we look at a method to raise the bar on the quality and trustworthiness of information shared over social media networks, how fish running a fever heal from infection fa…
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39 min
Ancient Genes and Trust in New Tech
This month, the genetic variants inherited from millions of years back that protect from disease but can cause illnesses; also, signs that we trust human-sourced information more t…