The evolution of sperm and the enduring mystery of the s*****m; How our brain rewires itself 4 times in life; The (real) disaster scenarios of imminent climate breakdown

精子的演变与精子之谜的持久神秘;我们的大脑在一生中如何自我重组四次;即将到来的气候崩溃的(真实)灾难情景

New Scientist Podcasts

2025-11-29

39 分钟
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Episode 334 Which sperm is the oldest sperm - the ancestor sperm that came before all others? Well, you might think it links back to an ancient animal that came before us, but the oldest sperm may actually predate animals altogether. We explore this plus the enduring mystery of the scrotum - and why a male’s most important body part is so delicate and…exposed. The team hears about the variation in s*****m morphology across mammals, and the evolution of “non-scrotality”. Our brains undergo four major turning points throughout our lives. New research suggests the way our brains are wired shifts at key stages as we get older - and your adolescent years may last longer than you realised. We explore what is happening at each brain stage, how long they last and why this research could prove useful in figuring out conditions like depression or dementia. Politicians, scientists, celebrities and climate activists gathered at the National Emergency Briefing in London this week and the message was clear: environmental breakdown is escalating faster than expected. One report highlighted that the biggest health risk of the 21st century is climate change, and other scientists described scenarios of starvation, wars and ungovernable societies. But there were messages of empowerment and hope too. Hear from some of the scientists - and a British army general - at the event. Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet, with guests Sam Wong, Carissa Wong, Michael Le Page, Lt General Richard Nugee, Paul Behrens and Kevin Anderson. To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ Sign the National Emergency Briefing open letter here: https://www.nebriefing.org/open-letter-keir Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  • I'm Sameer Patel, Editor-in-Chief at Quanta Magazine.

  • Our mission at Quanta is to cover what we call basic or fundamental research in science and math.

  • That means the kind of work that's driven by curiosity and discovery and the search for knowledge.

  • We're interested in how and why everything around us works the way that it does.

  • On our brand new show, The Quanta Podcast, you'll meet the writers and editors behind the magazine,

  • and together we'll explore the biggest ideas and the tiniest details.

  • Join me for the quantum podcast, your weekly dispatch from the frontiers of science and math.

  • On the show this week,

  • the evolution of sperm and the finding that sperm actually originated before animal life

  • as we know it.

  • Could say that we are all sperm that have evolved an extra life stage.

  • where we have a multicellular body.

  • You could say that.

  • Probably no one else will ever say that.

  • We're also revealing that the brain ages in five distinct stages.

  • Nice.

  • This was a really intriguing study,

  • especially because it suggests that adolescents may actually extend into our early 30s,

  • which could explain why some days I do feel like a teenager.

  • We're also reporting from the National Emergency Briefing in London I've just come from that's set up to alert people to the escalating threats to society and to the world.