New monkeypox virus strain, and Chernobyl's dome damaged

The Naked Scientists Podcast

Dr Chris Smith

Science Radio, Engineering, Naked Scientists, Natural Sciences, Technology, Life Sciences, Health & Fitness, Medicine, Science

4.6 • 957 Ratings

🗓️ 12 December 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On this week's news podcast, Emory University's Boghuma Titanji on the discovery of a new strain of monkeypox in the UK, and efforts to curb the virus with a breakthrough vaccine. Plus, the drone damage to the shield preventing radiation leaking from the Chernobyl nuclear site, evidence from southern England that Neanderthals deliberately made fire 400,000 years ago, and we ask how we can overcome the so-called winter blues... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Transcript

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0:00.0	All engine running.
0:03.4	That's a genius.
0:04.2	Welcome.
0:05.0	Welcome.
0:06.0	This is the show where we bring you science.
0:07.8	What that essentially means is...
0:09.3	Discovery is advanced.
0:10.4	Research.
0:11.6	Technology.
0:12.5	Unbelievable.
0:13.5	Without further ado, this is the Naked Scientists.
0:16.5	Hello, welcome to the Naked Scientist podcast, the program that brings you the biggest breakthroughs and talks to the major movers and shakers in the worlds of science, technology and medicine.
0:26.2	I'm Chris Smith, and coming up, new strains of the monkeypox virus are emerging, but could
0:31.6	a breakthrough vaccine help to tackle them? Also, drone damage to the dome over Chernobyl's nuclear site and how those of us
0:40.1	in the northern hemisphere beat the winter blues on those dark, wintry nights.
0:52.0	Health officials have confirmed that a new strain of the monkeypox virus has arrived in the UK.
0:58.9	It's in fact a mix of the two main circulating types of the agent,
1:03.1	and it was found in someone who'd recently returned from Asia.
1:06.7	Luckily, scientists announced this week that they have also developed a new way to engineer
1:11.1	broadly acting vaccines for infections like monkeypox virus.
1:15.4	So how does that work?
1:17.0	And why are we seeing so much monkeypox virus activity all of a sudden in the first place?
	...

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