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Weekly: Ultra-processed foods not so bad?; Another milestone toward fusion power; Mapping the genes we know nothing about

Weekly: Ultra-processed foods not so bad?; Another milestone toward fusion power; Mapping the genes we know nothing about

FromNew Scientist Podcasts


Weekly: Ultra-processed foods not so bad?; Another milestone toward fusion power; Mapping the genes we know nothing about

FromNew Scientist Podcasts

ratings:
Length:
26 minutes
Released:
Aug 11, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

#210Ultra-processed foods are bad for us and we should avoid them at all costs – right? Well, it’s actually not as clear cut as that.The foods may actually form a much more important part of healthy diets than we release.  Nuclear fusion, which could some day offer a low-waste source of clean power, is one step closer to becoming viable. Last year scientists managed to get more power out of a fusion reactor than they put in – a huge breakthrough for the technology. And this year they’ve done one better, squeezing even more power out of it.There’s a lot that’s “unknome” about the human genome. More than 20 years since we discovered humans have just 20,000 different genes, we still don’t have a clue what thousands of them even do. A project is now finally looking at the proteins that science forgot.We’re getting 70s space race vibes. Russia has launched its first mission to the moon in nearly 50 years – just behind India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which entered lunar orbit earlier this week. With both heading to the moon’s south pole, who’s going to get there first?Plus: a potential vaccine for the virus that causes mononucleosis – often called “the kissing disease” – and is linked to multiple sclerosis; whether robots are better than humans at the very CAPTCHA tests designed to block robots; and the slightly gross treasure hiding in 200-million-year-old fossilised poop.Hosts Timothy Revell and Chelsea Whyte discuss all of this with guests Grace Wade, Matt Sparkes, Michael Le Page and Leah Crane. To read about these subjects and much more, you can subscribe to New Scientist at newscientist.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Released:
Aug 11, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Keep up with the latest scientific developments and breakthroughs in this award winning weekly podcast from the team at New Scientist, the world’s most popular weekly science and technology magazine. Each discussion centers around three of the most fascinating stories to hit the headlines each week. From technology, to space, health and the environment, we share all the information you need to keep pace. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.