27 February 2020: Mapping fruit flies’ neural circuitry, and perfecting the properties of metallic glass
Nature Podcast
podcast@nature.com
4.5 • 893 Ratings
🗓️ 26 February 2020
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, the brain pathways of egg laying in fruit flies, and preventing fractures in metallic glass.
In this episode:
00:46 Working out the wiring behind fruit fly behaviour
Researchers have identified a neural circuit linking mating and egg laying in female fruit flies. Research Article: Wang et al.
06:01 Research Highlights
Ancient, cave-dwelling cockroaches, and hairy moths dampen sound. Research Highlight: Cockroaches preserved in amber are the world’s oldest cave dwellers; Research Highlight: Stealth flyers: moths’ fuzz is superior acoustic camouflage
07:57 Making better metallic glass
Metallic glasses have many desirable properties, but these materials are prone to fracturing. Now, a new manufacturing process may have overcome this issue. Research article: Pan et al.; News and Views: Metallic glasses rejuvenated to harden under strain
13:47 News Chat
Coronavirus outbreak updates, a survey shows Indian bird numbers are in decline, and the genomes of New York rats. News: Coronavirus: latest news on spreading infection; News: Hundreds of bird species in India are declining; News: Genomes reveal how New York City’s rats thrive in the urban jungle
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Nature. |
| 0:04.3 | In a experiment, I don't know yet. |
| 0:06.2 | Why is it like so far? |
| 0:08.1 | Like, it sounds so simple. |
| 0:09.3 | They had no idea. |
| 0:10.8 | But now the data's... |
| 0:12.0 | I find this not only refreshing, but at some level astounding. |
| 0:19.9 | Nature. |
| 0:21.6 | Welcome back to the nature. Nature. Nature. |
| 0:23.5 | Welcome back to the Nature podcast. |
| 0:26.3 | This week, the neural circuits of fruit flies... |
| 0:29.5 | And improving the properties of metallic glass. |
| 0:33.2 | I'm Nick Hal. |
| 0:34.2 | And I'm Benjamin Thompson. |
| 0:46.7 | Okay. Nick Hal And I'm Benjamin Thompson. Insect eggs come in a dizzying array of shapes and sizes, |
| 0:51.7 | and insects lay them in an equally diverse range of environments. |
| 0:56.0 | Buried underground, glued underneath leaves, laid inside of other creatures. You name it. |
| 1:03.2 | Egg laying is a tightly controlled process in insects, and it's something that Barry Dixon, |
| 1:08.3 | from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the US is investigating. |
| 1:11.8 | There are two really fascinating things about it. |
| 1:13.8 | One is how they decide where to lay eggs, right? |
| 1:16.7 | They clearly choose out certain sites. |
... |
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