Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
Are you tired of hearing about coronavirus? Has lockdown left you worn out? Then perhaps it’s time to escape. Join Rowan Hooper and the team at New Scientist in this covid-free space, as they discuss all that’s right with the world - the stories that remind us of how wonderful this planet really is. Find out more at newscientist.com/podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Uplifting science and nature stories • physics and astronomy (neutrinos, dark matter, moons, escape velocity, speed of light) • sound/music/perception • animal biology/behavior • chemistry/elements • psychology/flow/metacognition • scientific history, unsung researchersThis podcast is a covid-free science and nature escape hosted by New Scientist writers, built around short, themed conversations that highlight surprising or uplifting aspects of the world. Across episodes, the hosts use a single broad topic—such as sound, warmth, speed, mass, scales, flow, perception, alliances, or the “unseen”—as a springboard to explore several distinct stories from different areas of science.
A recurring emphasis is on how humans sense and interpret reality. The show returns often to audio as both a subject and a storytelling tool, featuring animal communication, psychoacoustics, auditory illusions, ASMR, binaural effects, and examples of turning scientific data into sound. Alongside this are discussions of cognition and performance, including how expertise develops, what happens in the brain during peak focus, and how metacognition shapes what we think we know.
The podcast also ranges widely across the natural world and physical sciences. Listeners can expect examples drawn from animal behavior and evolution (from insects and birds to marine mammals and bats), as well as accessible explanations of core scientific ideas—quantum-scale phenomena, subatomic particles, and big-picture concepts like infinity, dark matter, and the speed of light. Space and planetary science appear through explorations of notable bodies in the solar system and what they reveal about geology and the search for life.
Historical and human stories are woven in, including overlooked contributors to major scientific advances and the places and collaborations that have shaped discovery, from elemental chemistry to mathematics and spaceflight. Overall, the show presents science through curiosity-driven vignettes that mix explanation, sound-rich examples, and context about the people and ideas behind research.
