Incest in the elite of Neolithic Ireland
Nature Podcast
podcast@nature.com
4.5 • 893 Ratings
🗓️ 17 June 2020
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, researchers make diamonds tough, and evidence of incest in a 5,000 year old tomb.
In this episode:
00:51 Tough versus hard
Diamonds are famed for their hardness, but they are not so resistant to fracture. Now, researchers have toughened up diamonds, which could open up new industrial applications. Research Article: Yue et al.
06:07 Research Highlights
A spacecraft helps physicists work out the lifespan of a neutron, and the icy hideaway of an endangered whale. Research Highlight: The vanishing-neutron mystery might be cracked by a robot in outer space; Research Highlight: A secluded icy fortress shelters rare whales
08:33 Ancient inbreeding
Analysis of the genomes of humans buried in an ancient Irish tomb has uncovered many surprises, including evidence of incest amongst the elite. Research Article: Cassidy et al.; News and Views: Incest uncovered at the elite prehistoric Newgrange monument in Ireland
21:13 #ShutdownSTEM
Nature reporter Nidhi Subbaraman joins us to talk about the #ShutdownSTEM movement, and anti-black racism in academia. Editorial: Note from the editors: Nature joins #ShutDownSTEM; News: Grieving and frustrated: Black scientists call out racism in the wake of police killings; News: Thousands of scientists worldwide to go on strike for Black lives; News: How #BlackInTheIvory put a spotlight on racism in academia
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Imagine you, you in a nice comfy seat, with your hands behind your head, taking in the views, |
| 0:09.7 | instead of taking on the road, maybe even taking a nap. That's the bliss of getting where you need to go |
| 0:16.3 | without worrying about driving. Book your train journey via AvantiWestcoast.coast.com. |
| 0:23.1 | And we'll take you there. |
| 0:24.6 | Avanti West Coast. |
| 0:26.5 | Feel good travel. |
| 0:31.5 | Nature. |
| 0:36.7 | In an experiment, |
| 0:38.3 | why is it it so far? |
| 0:40.3 | Like, it sounds so simple. |
| 0:41.3 | They had no idea. |
| 0:43.3 | But now the data's... |
| 0:44.3 | I find this not only refreshing, but at some level astounding. |
| 0:52.3 | Nature. |
| 0:53.3 | Nature. Welcome back to the Nature podcast. |
| 0:58.6 | This week, How to Make Diamonds Not Just Hard, but Tough, |
| 1:03.0 | evidence of incest within the Neolithic Irish elite, |
| 1:06.6 | and a discussion of shutdown stem and racism in academia. |
| 1:11.5 | I'm Benjamin Thompson. |
| 1:12.9 | And I'm Nick Al. |
| 1:28.5 | First up, reporter, Adam Levy has been finding out a new way to toughen up diamonds. |
| 1:35.1 | I have an important characteristic in common with diamonds. No, not my radiant appearance. |
... |
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