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How measles wipes out immune memory, and detecting small black holes

How measles wipes out immune memory, and detecting small black holes

FromScience Magazine Podcast


How measles wipes out immune memory, and detecting small black holes

FromScience Magazine Podcast

ratings:
Length:
22 minutes
Released:
Oct 31, 2019
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

Measles is a dangerous infection that can kill. As many as 100,000 people die from the disease each year. For those who survive infection, the virus leaves a lasting mark—it appears to wipe out the immune system’s memory. News Intern Eva Fredrick joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about a pair of studies that looked at how this happens in children’s immune systems.

Read the related studies in Science and Science Immunology.

In our second segment this week, Sarah talks with Todd Thompson, of Ohio State University in Columbus, about his effort to find a small black hole in a binary pair with a red giant star. Usually black holes are detected because they are accruing matter and as the matter interacts with the black hole, x-rays are released. Without this flashy signal, black hole detection gets much harder. Astronomers must look for the gravitational influence of the black holes on nearby stars—which is easier to spot when the black hole is massive. Thompson talks with Sarah about a new approach to finding small, noninteracting black holes.

This week’s episode was edited by Podigy.

Ads on this week’s show: Bayer

Listen to previous podcasts.

About the Science Podcast

[Image: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Alissa Eckert; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
Released:
Oct 31, 2019
Format:
Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Weekly podcasts from Science Magazine, the world's leading journal of original scientific research, global news, and commentary.