So many of us dread the winter months, but why do some people develop seasonal depression while others don't?

So the theory is that some individuals are just more sensitive to those lower light levels.

It's Friday, December 15th, and we made it.

Today is Science Friday.

Thank you. Friday, December 15th, and we made it. Today is Science Friday. I'm sci-fi producer Shoshana Buxbaum. I can't stand when the days get shorter and shorter,

but for some people, winter can be a serious mental health challenge, triggering seasonal

effective disorder or sad. In a bit,

Ira talks with a psychologist who's working to better understand why some people are more susceptible

to seasonal depression than others. But first, a roundup of the top science news of the week.

The United Nations Climate Conference, known as COP28, ended this week in Dubai. And after

a lot of arguing over wording, not everyone came away happy. Joining me now to talk about the

conference and other stories from The Week in Science is Casey Crownheart, Climate Reporter at

MIT Technology Review. Welcome back, Casey.

Thanks so much for having me back, Ira. So what's the good news and bad news about the COP 28?

Yeah, definitely a mixed bag from this year's conference. There were some really kind of exciting pledges.

You know, a lot of countries signed on to triple renewable energy by 2030 and reduce methane emissions.

That's a really powerful greenhouse gas.

But like you said, not everybody came away happy.

A lot of the fights kind of centered around how to talk about fossil fuels and what role fossil fuels should play in the future.

This was the first cop that ever mentioned fossil fuels should play in the future. This was the first cop that ever

mentioned fossil fuels by name in the agreement. But the final kind of text was a little bit

wishy-washy. Yeah, I heard all week about people praising the agreement, hey, we got fossil fuels in it,

...