Ranked #1
Machine Learning Confronts the Elephant in the Room
Machine Learning Confronts the Elephant in the Room
A visual prank exposes an Achilles’ heel of computer vision systems: Unlike humans, they can’t do a double take. ... Read more
15 Aug 2019
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12mins
Ranked #2
In the Nucleus, Genes’ Activity Might Depend on Their Location
In the Nucleus, Genes’ Activity Might Depend on Their Location
Using a new CRISPR-based technique, researchers are examining how the position of DNA within the nucleus affects gene ex... Read more
29 Aug 2019
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15mins
Similar Podcasts
Ranked #3
What No New Particles Means for Physics
What No New Particles Means for Physics
Physicists are confronting their “nightmare scenario.” What does the absence of new particles suggest about how nature w... Read more
15 Sep 2016
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13mins
Ranked #4
Biologists Search for New Model Organisms
Biologists Search for New Model Organisms
The bulk of biological research is centered on a handful of species. Are we missing a huge chunk of interesting biology?... Read more
18 Aug 2016
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15mins
Ranked #5
How Mutant Viral Swarms Spread Disease
How Mutant Viral Swarms Spread Disease
A new understanding of viral swarms is helping researchers predict how viruses will evolve and where disease is likely t... Read more
3 Sep 2015
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28mins
Ranked #6
The Peculiar Math That Could Underlie the Laws of Nature
The Peculiar Math That Could Underlie the Laws of Nature
New findings are fueling an old suspicion that fundamental particles and forces spring from strange eight-part numbers c... Read more
23 May 2019
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26mins
Ranked #7
Strange Dark Galaxy Puzzles Astrophysicists
Strange Dark Galaxy Puzzles Astrophysicists
The surprising discovery of a massive, Milky Way–size galaxy that is made of 99.99 percent dark matter has astronomers d... Read more
27 Oct 2016
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16mins
Ranked #8
Scientists Debate the Origin of Cell Types in the First Animals
Scientists Debate the Origin of Cell Types in the First Animals
Theories about how animals became multicellular are shifting as researchers find greater complexity in our single-celled... Read more
16 Jul 2020
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18mins
Ranked #9
The Neuroscience Behind Bad Decisions
The Neuroscience Behind Bad Decisions
Irrationality may be a consequence of the brain’s ravenous energy needs. The post The Neuroscience Behind Bad... Read more
22 Sep 2016
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13mins
Ranked #10
Colliding Black Holes Tell New Story of Stars
Colliding Black Holes Tell New Story of Stars
Just months after their discovery, gravitational waves coming from the mergers of black holes are shaking up astrophysic... Read more
13 Oct 2016
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13mins
Ranked #11
A Puzzle of Clever Connections Nears a Happy End
A Puzzle of Clever Connections Nears a Happy End
The three young friends who devised the “happy ending” problem would become some of the most influential mathematicians ... Read more
20 Jul 2017
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11mins
Ranked #12
Closed Loophole Confirms the Unreality of the Quantum World
Closed Loophole Confirms the Unreality of the Quantum World
A quickly closed loophole has proved that the “great smoky dragon” of quantum mechanics may forever elude capture. ... Read more
20 Jun 2019
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18mins
Ranked #13
Pentagon Tiling Proof Solves Century-Old Math Problem
Pentagon Tiling Proof Solves Century-Old Math Problem
A French mathematician has completed the classification of all convex pentagons, and therefore all convex polygons, that... Read more
21 Sep 2017
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10mins
Ranked #14
Why Earth’s Cracked Crust May Be Essential for Life
Why Earth’s Cracked Crust May Be Essential for Life
Life needs more than water alone. Recent discoveries suggest that plate tectonics has played a critical role in nourishi... Read more
11 Apr 2019
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26mins
Ranked #15
Can Microbes Encourage Altruism?
Can Microbes Encourage Altruism?
If gut bacteria can sway their hosts to be selfless, it could answer a riddle that goes back to Darwin. The p... Read more
31 Aug 2017
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15mins
Ranked #16
Giant Genetic Map Shows Life’s Hidden Links
Giant Genetic Map Shows Life’s Hidden Links
In a monumental set of experiments, spread out over nearly two decades, biologists removed genes two at a time to uncove... Read more
17 Nov 2016
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9mins
Ranked #17
A Math Theory for Why People Hallucinate
A Math Theory for Why People Hallucinate
Psychedelic drugs can trigger characteristic hallucinations, which have long been thought to hold clues about the brain’... Read more
5 Jul 2019
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23mins
Ranked #18
Amateur Mathematician Finds Smallest Universal Cover
Amateur Mathematician Finds Smallest Universal Cover
Through exacting geometric calculations, Philip Gibbs has found the smallest known cover for any possible shape. ... Read more
6 Sep 2019
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11mins
Ranked #19
Neutrinos Hint of Matter-Antimatter Rift
Neutrinos Hint of Matter-Antimatter Rift
A hint that neutrinos behave differently than antineutrinos suggests an answer to one the biggest questions in physics. ... Read more
11 Aug 2016
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11mins