Psychedelics for depression, dart frog poison and why do we have chins?
Science Weekly
The Guardian
4.2 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 19 February 2026
⏱️ 20 minutes
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| 0:00.0 | This is The Guardian. |
| 0:10.2 | Two years ago, the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in a remote Arctic penal colony. |
| 0:17.4 | Now, the UK and several of its European allies say blame lies at the feet of the Russian state, |
| 0:23.6 | alleging to have uncovered the lethal poison used. |
| 0:26.6 | In a joint statement, the governments of the UK, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden said |
| 0:31.6 | they had analysed samples from Mr Navalny following his death and found traces of a toxin found in poison dart frocks from South America. |
| 0:42.3 | Incredibly, this was not the only chemical originating from South America in the headlines this week. |
| 0:50.3 | A psychedelic drug called DMT, which is also found in ayahuasca, has been shown in a small |
| 0:57.2 | clinical trial to swiftly and significantly improve symptoms in people with treatment-resistant |
| 1:02.9 | depression. The fact that a mystical, hallucinogenic trip where you might need an otherworldly |
| 1:10.0 | being can transform and reorganise the |
| 1:13.2 | brain state speaks to the many complex mysteries of the mind but there's a more strange and |
| 1:21.9 | obvious enigma just five or six inches further down. The chin. |
| 1:28.1 | Yes? |
| 1:29.2 | The chin. |
| 1:34.3 | Scientists this week appear to have finally answered the burning question. |
| 1:37.0 | Why do humans have chins? |
| 1:41.7 | Because, believe it or not, we're the only animals that do. |
| 1:50.0 | So today I'm sitting down with science correspondent Nicola Davis and my co-host science editor Ian Sampal |
| 1:53.2 | to discuss the stories of the week. |
| 1:56.9 | From The Guardian, I'm Madeline Finley, and this is Science Weekly. |
| 2:05.5 | Ian, we're starting today with a trial that's had some exciting early results in developing new treatments for depression. |
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