Magnetar mysteries, and when humans got big brains

Science Magazine Podcast

Science Podcast

News, News Commentary, Science

4.3 • 842 Ratings

🗓️ 8 April 2021

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Host Sarah Crespi talks with Contributing Correspondent Joshua Sokol about magnetars—highly magnetized neutron stars. A recent intense outburst of gamma rays from a nearby galaxy has given astronomers a whole new view on these mysterious magnetic monsters. Also on this week’s show, Christoph Zollikofer, a professor of anthropology at the University of Zurich, talks about the evolution of humanlike brains. His team’s work with brain-case fossils suggests the complex brains we carry around today were not present in the early hominins to leave Africa, but later developed in the cousins they left behind. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy. Listen to previous podcasts. About the Science Podcast Download a transcript (PDF). [Image: (Text) Sculptor galaxy; (Image) ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA; Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit; Music: Jeffrey Cook] Authors: Joshua Sokol; Sarah Crespi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:36.6	Visit peak scientific.com and quote science podcast to receive special offers.
0:37.5	This episode is brought to you by Shopify.
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1:01.7	slash special offer. Welcome to the science podcast for April 9th, 2021.
1:13.1	I'm Sarah Crespi.
1:14.4	Each week, we feature the most interesting news and research published in science and the sister journals.
1:20.0	First up, contributing correspondent Josh Sokol discusses what's new with magnetars.
1:25.3	These are incredibly magnetic neutron stars that sometimes shoot out
1:30.2	insanely fast bursts of gamma rays. Then I talk with researcher Christophila Kaffir about the origins
1:37.2	of our elaborate brains. When and where did humans get such complex thinking machinery?
1:51.8	First up this week, we have contributing correspondent Josh Sokol.
	...

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