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This is Science Friday. I'm Ira Plato.

Today on the podcast, could Uranus and Neptune have deep, multi-layered oceans?

But first, we'll dive into the science behind the first new kind of pain medicine in over two decades.

The difference between the drug and placebo was, ah, mild.

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new pain medicine the first time it's

done so in 25 years.

It's called Jernavics, made by vertex pharmaceuticals.

And the big headline here is that it's not an opioid and it's non-addictive.

So how does it work?

Who should take it?

Does it signal a new era for pain medication?

Here to help break down, this new pain killer is Dr. Sharn Mackie.

He's a professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine at Stanford and chief of the division

of pain medicine at the university.

Dr. Mackey, welcome to Science Friday.

Hey, thanks for having me on board. You're welcome. Okay, in a nutshell, how does this drug work?

Well, in a nutshell, we need to first understand that pain all comes about from signals that are

transmitted on nerves. And we have specific types of nerves that will ultimately transmit those pain signals.

Now, those signals are generated by an electrical impulse.

So when you get an injury, when you undergo surgery, those nerves are stimulated.

That stimulation is caused by, in part, sodium channels. So what this

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