Science Weekly podcast

Science Weekly

Twice a week, the Guardian brings you the latest science and environment news

Twice a week, the Guardian brings you the latest science and environment news

 

#299

Crude appeal: why Trump wants Venezuela’s oil

The US capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on Saturday left many people ... more

Yesterday

14 MINS

14:14

Yesterday


#298

Revisited: the real science of weight loss

Kevin Hall spent 21 years at the US National Institutes of Health and became known globall... more

01 Jan 2026

21 MINS

21:48

01 Jan 2026


#297

Revisited: do medicinal mushroom products actually work?

More of us are turning to products containing mushroom extracts, with the medicinal fungi ... more

30 Dec 2025

19 MINS

19:06

30 Dec 2025


#296

Revisited: is curiosity the key to ageing well?

Psychologists have typically believed that we become less curious as we age, but recent re... more

25 Dec 2025

16 MINS

16:57

25 Dec 2025


#295

Revisited: why do we age in dramatic bursts, and what can we do about it?

Scientists are beginning to understand that ageing is not simply a linear process and we a... more

23 Dec 2025

14 MINS

14:21

23 Dec 2025


#294

Life beyond Earth? Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock on the mysteries of space

Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock is a space scientist and science educator who has worked on a nu... more

18 Dec 2025

15 MINS

15:05

18 Dec 2025


#293

What’s worse for us, sugar or sweeteners?

We all know eating too much sugar is bad for our health – but would we be better off repla... more

16 Dec 2025

20 MINS

20:13

16 Dec 2025


#292

The Birth Keepers: I choose this, episode one

The Free Birth Society was selling pregnant women a simple message: they could exit the me... more

13 Dec 2025

36 MINS

36:59

13 Dec 2025


#291

Social media and ADHD diagnosis, new mpox strain in England and early firestarters

The Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample, sits down with co-host Madeleine Finlay to disc... more

11 Dec 2025

19 MINS

19:36

11 Dec 2025


#290

Rage room or yoga class? How to beat anger

At this time of year when stress levels are high, we can find ourselves being sent over th... more

09 Dec 2025

16 MINS

16:09

09 Dec 2025


#289

The brain’s 5 eras, the vaccine that protects against dementia, altruistic ants

Science editor Ian Sample sits down with co-host Madeleine Finlay and science corresponden... more

04 Dec 2025

18 MINS

18:11

04 Dec 2025


#288

Is AI making us stupid?

Artificial intelligence can execute tasks in seconds that once took humans hours, if not d... more

02 Dec 2025

20 MINS

20:35

02 Dec 2025


#287

Is it the beginning of the end for animal testing?

Patrick Vallance, the minister for science, research and innovation, recently unveiled a p... more

27 Nov 2025

17 MINS

17:31

27 Nov 2025


#286

Bitter rows and overnight talks: how a fragile Cop30 deal was agreed

After bitter arguments, threatened walkouts and heated all-night negotiations, delegates e... more

24 Nov 2025

15 MINS

15:52

24 Nov 2025


#285

‘Chunks of earth just disappear’: life on a collapsing island

As the Cop30 climate talks continue in Brazil, Madeleine Finlay hears about a landscape at... more

20 Nov 2025

16 MINS

16:02

20 Nov 2025


#284

Should the UK brace for a brutal flu season?

This year’s flu season has begun more than a month earlier than usual, with a mutated stra... more

18 Nov 2025

16 MINS

16:14

18 Nov 2025


#283

Why everyone’s talking about 3I/Atlas, a lupus breakthrough, James Watson’s legacy

Ian Sample joins Madeleine Finlay to discuss some of the most intriguing science stories f... more

13 Nov 2025

20 MINS

20:43

13 Nov 2025


#282

Never forget a face? You could be a super recogniser

Do you have an uncanny recall for faces? Have you ever recognised the same extra in TV sho... more

11 Nov 2025

15 MINS

15:45

11 Nov 2025


#281

Revisited: How to save the Amazon episode three: ask the people that know

Global environment editor Jon Watts goes in search of answers to the question the journali... more

07 Nov 2025

25 MINS

25:00

07 Nov 2025