In 1978, in an attempt to make sense of these features of avian magnetoreception, the late Klaus Schulten, then at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany, put forth a remarkable idea: that the compass relies on magnetically sensitive chemical transformations. At first glance, this proposal seems preposterous because the energy available from Earth’s magnetic field is millions of times too small to break, or even significantly weaken, the bonds between atoms in molecules. But Schulten was inspired by the discovery 10 years previously that short-lived chemical intermediates known as radical pairs have unique properties that make their chemistry sensitive to feeble magnetic interactions. Over the past 40 years researchers have conducted hundreds of lab studies of radical-pair reactions that are affected by the application of magnetic fields.
Consider yourself a juvenile Bar-tailed Godwit, a large, lanky shorebird that hatched on Alaska’s tundra and has a long, probing bill. You have the urge to undertake one of the most amazing migrations on Earth as the days grow shorter and the chilly winter approaches: a nonstop transequatorial flight across the Pacific Ocean that will take at least seven days and nights to reach New Zealand, which is 12,000 kilometers away. It’s do or die. Tens of thousands of Bar-tailed Godwits successfully complete this journey each year. Every spring, billions of other young birds, such as terns, sandpipers, flycatchers, and warblers, embark on similarly daring and spectacular migrations, expertly navigating the night skies without assistance from more seasoned avians.
The primary senses used by migratory birds for navigation are sight, smell, and magnetoreception. Before they set out on their first migration, the birds learn to find north by watching the apparent nighttime rotation of the stars around the North Star. They can also calibrate their sun compass thanks to an internal 24-hour clock. Certain scents can aid birds in identifying locations they have previously visited. About the intricate biophysical workings of the birds’ senses of smell and sight, scientists know a great deal. However, it has proven more difficult to comprehend how their magnetic compass functions internally.
Understanding migratory birds’ internal navigation systems completely is not just a theoretical endeavor. Because migratory birds travel such great distances, they are more vulnerable to threatening conditions than most species that breed and overwinter in the same location. It is more challenging to shield them from the negative consequences of climate change, habitat destruction, and human activity. It is rarely successful to relocate migratory birds away from damaged habitats because the birds have an innate tendency to return to those uninhabitable areas. We anticipate that conservationists will have a better chance of “tricking” migrants into thinking that a safer area is actually their new home by offering fresh and more mechanistic insights into the ways in which these remarkable navigators find their way.
According to Schulten’s theory, the retina must contain sensory molecules called magnetoreceptors that allow the creation of magnetically sensitive radical pairs using the wavelengths that birds require for their compass to function. These wavelengths have been identified by another research line as being light with a blue center of the spectrum. In 2000, he proposed that a protein known as cryptochrome, which had only recently been found, could be the site of the required photochemistry.
Hear the latest science news, with Benjamin Thompson and Nick Petrić Howe. Your browser does not support the audio element.
In this episode:
00:45 Homing in on the molecule that helps birds find their way
In sensory biology, the mechanism by which migratory birds perceive magnetic fields has long been a mystery. Using quantum mechanics, scientists have now identified a molecule in these birds’ eyes that may serve as a compass.
How time on land increases amphibian fish’s cognitive function and how the neural pathway responsible for sneezing has been identified
Nearly 2,000 stars have been identified by astronomers from which Earth can be seen passing in front of the Sun. The group suggests that these stars would make excellent targets for planet searches in the hopes of finding life.
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, the non-fungible token (NFT) world is being embraced by science, as evidenced by the unexpected science raised by the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars.
Nature News: How scientists are embracing NFTs
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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-01715-3
Host: Benjamin Thompson
Welcome back to the Nature Podcast. This week, homing in on migratory birds’ magnetic compass….
Host: Nick Petrić Howe
I’m Nick Petrič Howe, and would extraterrestrial astronomers be able to see Earth?
Host: Benjamin Thompson
And I’m Benjamin Thompson.
Host: Nick Petrić Howe
This week’s first guest on the program is reporter Adam Levy, who has been delving into a fascinating mystery in sensory biology.
Interviewer: Adam Levy
For many years, scientists have attempted to provide a straightforward explanation for a surprisingly intricate question: how do birds find their way?
Interviewee: Eric Warrant
Our eyes and ears allow us to see and hear, but as far as we are aware, no organ in the body is used for magneto reception. It’s a complete mystery.
Interviewer: Adam Levy
I’m Eric Warrant, a Swedish zoologist from Lund University.
Interviewee: Eric Warrant
In sensory biology, one of the biggest mysteries is how animals perceive and utilize the Earth’s magnetic field for navigation.
Interviewer: Adam Levy
And a surprising field of study called quantum physics may hold the key to unlocking this magnetic mystery.
Interviewee: Henrik Mouritsen
I never imagined that I would arrive at a point where we would begin to comprehend the internal quantum mechanical processes of the bird.
Interviewer: Adam Levy
This is German biologist Henrik Mouritsen from the University of Oldenburg. It has been demonstrated by researchers that certain animals can detect the Earth’s magnetic field and use it to guide them. However, scientists have long been perplexed as to how birds like the European robin identify such a weak field.
Interviewee: Eric Warrant
It’s the final sense about which we essentially know nothing, and the answer to this issue represents the ultimate challenge in sensory biology, in my opinion.
Interviewer: Adam Levy
Researchers have also proposed theories that they believe could help to explain this mystery, even though the solution has remained elusive.
Interviewee: Eric Warrant
The concept that animals could sense the Earth’s magnetic field through the use of a light-sensitive molecule was first proposed by a physicist more than 40 years ago, in the late 1970s.
Interviewer: Adam Levy
According to this theory, radical pairs, a quantum mechanical phenomenon, could be used by animals to sense magnetic fields. Here’s Henrik again.
Interviewee: Henrik Mouritsen
According to the radical pair hypothesis, a light-sensitive molecule absorbs light, resulting in the formation of a radical pair, or two unpaired electrons.
Interviewer: Adam Levy
This radical pair’s magnetic spins can assume two different states: a triplet state, where both spins point in the same direction, or a singlet state, where both spins point in opposite directions. A magnetic field tips the balance between these two states, increasing the likelihood of one or the other.
Interviewee: Eric Warrant
Furthermore, it is believed that magneto reception is based on this shift in the balance between the lifetimes of the triplet and singlet states.
Interviewee: Henrik Mouritsen
Additionally, until recently, only one class of molecules—known as cryptochromes—was understood to be able to use light to produce radical pairs in plants.
Interviewer: Adam Levy
Henrik and his associates specifically looked for these cryptochrome molecules in bird eyes because cryptochromes require light to function.
Interviewee: Henrik Mouritsen
After discovering cryptochromes in bird eyes, along with other researchers, the main problem became determining how to determine whether quantum mechanics-based electron spin mechanisms were operating within the eyes of birds.
Interviewer: Adam Levy
Henrik and associates from quantum chemistry, physics, and biology have been working to clarify the cryptochrome hypothesis this week in Nature.
Interviewee: Henrik Mouritsen
Because it is extremely challenging to measure things inside a bird’s eye, we had to have the molecule isolated in order to perform any actual measurements on it. Since 2004, when we first attempted to create cryptochromes, we have 2021 We could demonstrate not only that the electrons enter the molecule precisely as theorized by quantum chemists, but also that the radical’s photochemistry was in fact magnetically sensitive. Now, the idea that this molecule is magnetically sensitive is not conjectured. We can see that it’s magnetically sensitive.
Interviewer: Adam Levy
The researchers were also interested in the differences in cryptochrome proteins between migrating and non-migrating birds.
Interviewee: Henrik Mouritsen
The migratory birds’ cryptochrome 4 appears to be substantially more magnetically sensitive than the same molecule from a chicken, despite the fact that we also created cryptochromes from an extreme non-migratory bird, essentially the chicken.
Interviewer: Adam Levy
Henrik and his colleagues believe that birds may be able to see the Earth’s magnetic field because previous research has demonstrated that birds process information about the magnetic field in the visual region of their brains.
Interviewee: Henrik Mouritsen
Therefore, it could be a shadow overlaying whatever else a bird would see, but we are unable to ask the bird what it specifically sees, so we are unable to find out.
Interviewer: Adam Levy
But the puzzle isn’t solved. Although the researchers have demonstrated that cryptochromes are magnetically sensitive, they have not yet established that these proteins are a necessary component of bird magnetosensing. Here’s Eric again.
Interviewee: Eric Warrant
Having studied quantum mechanics for a long time, I don’t think I would have realized or even thought it was possible that quantum mechanical effects could be contained within a bird’s eye. That is really unexpected, and it goes against everything I was taught in my early quantum mechanics classes. The progress made by the authors in this study has greatly advanced our comprehension of the operation of magneto reception. Without a doubt, the study was an amazing work of science. However, since this research is being conducted in a lab rather than on live animals, there is still no concrete evidence that cryptochromes in general are utilized in magnetosensing.
Interviewer: Adam Levy
But Henrik is hopeful that the group will eventually overcome these obstacles and make it clear how certain birds are able to detect the Earth’s magnetic field and navigate.
Interviewee: Henrik Mouritsen
Of course, we’re going to make an effort to approach the actual state of affairs inside the bird’s eye. Before it was possible to create the molecule in isolation, things like that would have only been possible in a dream world, so we are very excited about the possibilities there.
Host: Nick Petrić Howe
That was German scholar Henrik Mouritsen from the University of Oldenburg. Additionally, Eric Warrant from Sweden’s Lund University spoke with you. A link to Henrik’s paper is available in the show notes.
Host: Benjamin Thompson
Next on the podcast is a discussion about whether or not extraterrestrial astronomers could see Earth. But first, Shamini Bundell reads the Research Highlights.
Host: Shamini Bundell
According to recent experiments, some amphibious fish benefit from spending some time in both water and air. They become smarter than fish that only live in water. Mangrove killifish are a species that can survive both in and out of water. A group of researchers exposed some of the fish to sporadic drops in water levels by placing the fish in tiny containers. Every few days, other killifish were put in a terrarium and given three minutes to jump around on land, while control fish were allowed to swim around unhindered. In comparison to the control fish, the trained jumpers and those exposed to air subsequently found the meal at the end of a maze more quickly and in a shorter amount of time. In a part of the brain connected to spatial learning, they also exhibited increased cell proliferation. The study, according to the authors, is a step toward demonstrating how prehistoric fish changed and adapted as they moved from water onto land. Seeking new insights from research? Read on in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Host: Shamini Bundell
Many of us will be experiencing our typical seasonal allergies as a result of the weather heating up both here in the UK and elsewhere. Researchers made mice sneeze by having them inhale droplets of substances that cause sneezing, but even though it can be annoying, you can find solace in the knowledge that they have identified the exact group of neurons that are making you go “Achoo!” After screening the signaling molecules released by the nose’s sensory neurons, the researchers focused on neuromedin B, which is crucial for sneezing. The researchers discovered that in response to neuromedin B, specific neurons in a known sneeze-inducing area of the brain stem sneezed. However, they also discovered a few important neurons in a different area of the brain that regulates exhalation. The mice began sneezing when they injected neuromedin B into this new region, exposing the entire nose-to-brain pathway. Sniff out that research in full in Cell.
Interviewer: Benjamin Thompson
A seminal astronomy paper that Nature published back in 1992 verified for the first time that planets outside of our Solar System exist and are orbiting other stars. Since then, scientists have kept pointing their telescopes toward the sky and have found thousands more of these so-called exoplanets. This process is known as the transit method, and it involves looking for the slight dimming of a star as a planet passes in front of it. This week in Nature, researchers have turned the telescope back on us and pondered who might be peering back at Earth using a plethora of information on the motion of stars in our galactic neighborhood. One of the authors is Lisa Kaltenegger from Cornell University in the United States. Could alien astronomers somewhere be recording the blink of the Sun as the Earth orbits? And if so, what might they be seeing? When I called her to ask questions, she informed me about the dataset that was utilized for the computations.
Interviewee: Lisa Kaltenegger
So, there’s this amazing mission up right now. This European Space Agency project is known as Gaia, and it offers us a wealth of data since it essentially maps every star in our galaxy. Additionally, because it spans a few years, it indicates both the direction and origin of the stars. This gave rise to the notion that, given that this particular viewpoint is unique for briefly observing Earth as a transiting planet, we should consider the possibility that civilizations have existed on Earth for at least 5,000 years at this point. Who could have seen us since then?’.
Interviewer: Benjamin Thompson
Yes, so you limited the data to stars that, from that position, could view Earth between 5,000 years ago and 5,000 years in the future.
Interviewee: Lisa Kaltenegger
Yes, and the problem is that, when you think about it, it’s really just geometry. Given the Sun’s size and Earth’s location, you can determine which region of the sky has the Earth passing in front of the stellar disc by extending your view beyond it. Thus, we discovered roughly 2,000 stars that are able to witness the planet pass in front of the Sun over a 10,000-year period.
Interviewer: Benjamin Thompson
That is a relatively small number when considering all the stars in the sky.
Interviewee: Lisa Kaltenegger
Absolutely. Of course, compared to the total number of stars in the sky, it’s a very small number. However, since light takes time to travel, what we really wanted was the closest stars; the closer a star is to us when it perceives us as a transiting planet, the more recently it has seen us. Thus, we focused on the nearest stars, everything within an astronomer’s scale of about 100 parsecs, or roughly 326 lightyears. Additionally, 117 of these stars are located within 100 light-years of one another. When we discuss how light takes time to travel and how radio transmission began approximately a century ago, that is the distance at which radio waves essentially wash over again.
Interviewer: Benjamin Thompson
Of course, Lisa, you and I are discussing stars here, but in order for someone to view us through a hypothetical telescope, they would need to be on a planet, and I suspect that there are far fewer possible planets orbiting these 2,000 stars. Which stars hosted planets that, in your opinion, offered the best odds of witnessing Earth pass in front of the Sun?
Interviewee: Lisa Kaltenegger
We are aware of seven exoplanet hosts among our sample of 2,000 stars. Of course, though, now that this sample has been described, many more people are focusing on it and looking for planets to orbit it. However, even among the systems that we are aware of, a few have planets in the so-called habitable or “Goldilocks” zone. One of these systems, Ross128 b, for instance, is only roughly 12 lightyears away from Earth, which is essentially nothing on a cosmological scale. That one began tracking us when we were transiting the Sun 3,000 years ago. It lost this perspective 900 years ago, so it continued to track us for over a millennium. In addition, there are a few other stars, like Teegarden’s Star, which is located roughly 12 light-years away. That hasn’t seen us yet, but it will begin to see us very soon. And Trappist-1, that incredibly well-known system that is roughly 40 lightyears away and has seven planets the size of Earth That one will begin to observe us in roughly a millennium, and it has four planets within this “Goldilocks” habitable zone. Therefore, I find it rather exciting to consider that some of the planets that are in the Goldilocks zone and at the proper distance may see us now, while other planets may have already seen us. Consequently, it’s not like this that I see you and you see me. The dynamic of the cosmos is brought into question by a really intriguing interaction.
Interviewer: Benjamin Thompson
Thus, searching for disequilibrium between gas levels in the atmosphere of exoplanets—which may be brought on by life of some kind—is one of the methods you mentioned for looking for indications of possible life. Therefore, in this kind of window, which spans roughly 5,000 years from the present to 5,000 years from the future, it seems to me that the Industrial Revolution marked the beginning of most human activity that has altered the atmosphere. However, you’re really looking at the Cambrian explosion, which occurred millions of years ago when oxygen flooded the atmosphere. Could it be that, if you weren’t looking back that far, there is a very small band where you could see these kinds of changes to determine what, if any, intelligent life is?
Interviewee: Lisa Kaltenegger
That was one of the really fascinating questions we were able to ask, though. We know that life existed 2 billion years ago due to oxygen, the Cambrian explosion, and other factors, but what about the Anthropocene? What about the time when we began modifying the climate? There is debate about when there will be enough artificial or technologically produced chemicals to detect life, and I agree that in 100 years or so. Thinking about these timescales raises two questions: first, what is it that you could observe in an intelligent civilization? Secondly, what is it that a technological civilization that modifies the atmosphere is capable of? It really won’t do that once it hopefully gains a little bit of intelligence, right? Instead of continuing to alter the atmosphere in a snowball effect until this planet is no longer habitable, it will actually begin to protect it. But for this paper we were very conservative. Our main points were that we are interested in the motion of these stars, who might be able to see us, and the size of their telescopes if they were being observed by extraterrestrial astronomers. We therefore limited ourselves to the technology available to us today because, you know, you can imagine anything. For example, let’s say they had a massive, perhaps 1,000-meter telescope in space from which they could see flamingos dancing on Earth. Then finding intelligent life shouldn’t be too difficult, right? However, if someone had telescopes similar to ours, who could locate us and consequently discover evidence of life in the atmosphere?
Interviewer: Benjamin Thompson
It appears to me that you have examined a type of Venn diagram of stars that are able to see us and are probably home to exoplanets. These planets may be close enough to detect radio waves and may also be able to observe the effects that humans are having on the atmosphere, or they may be actions taken in the future to lessen the effects that humans have had on the atmosphere. This does seem to be somewhat of a thought experiment. In light of this, is there anything more you can learn from this work, or is it essentially just a cataloging exercise at this point?
Interviewee: Lisa Kaltenegger
This was done with the intention of providing you with the best targets because, in the event that another civilization evolves and, one hopes, reaches further than we do, which are the stars that would genuinely observe and where should we direct our attention? Many of the stars that we identified have not actually been examined at all because they are located in a region of the galaxy where a large number of other stars are behind them, making it extremely difficult to see small planets. However, this essentially serves as a reason to put in extra effort, and that is essentially how this thought experiment connects to the work that astronomers do on a global scale today—that is, searching for planets and hoping that someone is observing us.
Interviewer: Benjamin Thompson
That was Lisa Kaltenegger from Cornell University. Navigate to the show notes to access a link to her paper.
Host: Nick Petrić Howe
Now that the Briefing chat has begun, let’s discuss a few of our favorite stories from the Nature Briefing. Ben, since you’ve already brought up the subject, I’ll speak first this week since I have another space story to share, albeit one that comes from a slightly closer place. It’s coming to us from Mars.
Host: Benjamin Thompson
Well, Nick, a lot of science is being conducted both on and, I suppose, around Mars. We took a look at It a few weeks back. What’s the latest?.
Host: Nick Petrić Howe
This Nature article centers on NASA’s Mars mission, which consists of the rover Perseverance and the helicopter Ingenuity. The theme of the article is actually Ingenuity. I don’t know if you’ve seen, but you may have; a lot of images and videos showing the helicopter circling the Martian surface have been making the rounds, and many people have noticed that there is an absurd amount of dust.
Host: Benjamin Thompson
This is a positive development, you say, because when we last checked in on this helicopter, it was just going up and then down again. Now that it’s zooming around, that is. I mean, I can’t say I’m surprised that there is dust on Mars and a helicopter kicking it up, so why is the presence of dust exciting?
Host: Nick Petrić Howe
No, it’s not shocking at all that there is dust on Mars; in fact, the helicopter was designed to handle the abundance of dust on the planet. However, typically, when a helicopter lands or takes off on Earth, a lot of dust is kicked up. Take, for example, helicopter landings in deserts. But it appears that as the helicopter flies around, it is taking up the dust and moving along the Martian surface with it.
Host: Benjamin Thompson
That’s right, so this kind of particulate matter sphere surrounds it.
Host: Nick Petrić Howe
Yes, exactly. What makes that so intriguing is that it may help us understand how these dust whirlwinds—called “dust devils” in the US, I believe—form on the Martian surface. This has long been a mystery because of how thin the atmosphere is on Mars, making it difficult to figure out how the wind manages to gather enough energy to actually gather a lot of dust. However, if the helicopter can accomplish that on its own, we may be able to figure out how that’s occurring on the surface of Mars.
Host: Benjamin Thompson
Okay, Nick, so aside from being able to learn a little bit more about the weather on Mars, what are scientists sort of saying about all of this?
Host: Nick Petrić Howe
The problem with inventiveness, though, is that it was essentially just a proof of concept. Everything else is kind of like the icing on the cake, according to one of the researchers who was interviewed for the article. It was only meant to say, “Hey,” “We can fly on other planets.” Thus, it’s just fascinating to gather any additional scientific data from this mission, and this may provide a useful glimpse into the functioning of Mars’ atmosphere and the formation of dust storms and other phenomena of that sort. However, it’s really just a pleasant little perk that this mission gave us that we weren’t expecting.
Host: Benjamin Thompson
Awesome, well, it’s a very intrepid little helicopter then. What comes next for this mission now that we’ve shown it can fly, zoom around, and provide some meteorological data for the planet? What’s next for the little helicopter that could?.
Host: Nick Petrić Howe
The helicopter itself will only operate once every two weeks, but we might experience other unforeseen events like this. The mission’s primary goal is for Perseverance, the rover, to explore the Jezero crater in search of signs of life. However, given the success of this helicopter, it’s possible that we’ll see more flying vehicles travel to Mars because it’s a pretty efficient way to get around. You don’t get your wheels stuck. That suggests that we may see more of it in the future. Ben, though, what have you discovered for this week’s Briefing discussion?
Host: Benjamin Thompson
It was just a matter of time, Nick, until we had to discuss this topic. A story published in Nature describes how the weird world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and science have somewhat collided.
Host: Nick Petrić Howe
Ben, it looks like we might need to take a step back for my benefit alone. I don’t really know much about these NFTs other than what I’ve seen in memes, so let me start by asking you what an NFT is.
Host: Benjamin Thompson
Well, I will do my very, very best. The idea behind NFTs was developed in the early 2010s, but this year has seen a huge surge in its popularity. And what it is—let me try to give you an example—is essentially a digital certificate of ownership. Assume I created a computer drawing of a house. I’m quite old school so I’d probably use MS Paint. So, I draw a nice picture of a house, right. I stick it online. You can look at it. Anyone else can look at it as well. However, I can use some very clever computer software to create an NFT and a token that certifies that I am the owner of the original version of that image. This ownership token is then placed on the blockchain in a database of ownership, so anybody can view, copy, and share this image with others knowing that I am the owner. I can then sell this ownership to you or to anyone else, just like I might sell a piece of traditional, painted artwork.
Host: Nick Petrić Howe
Okay, that makes sense. So how is this NFT thing making its way into the scientific community?
Host: Benjamin Thompson
Thus far, JPEGs, songs, and animated GIFS have been sold using this technique; however, science is now becoming involved as well, and here are some instances of what has been happening. One is that Tim Berners-Lee, who is credited with creating the World Wide Web, will be bidding on an NFT that includes the original web browser’s source code and a silent video of the code being typed out. Of course, we can watch that video, but the ownership-proving token is for sale. But there’s other examples too. So, the University of California, Berkeley is attempting to use NFTs to raise money for the school. One method they are doing this is by holding an auction of an NFT that was based on records pertaining to the research of James Allison, a Nobel Prize-winning cancer scientist. And in this instance, a group of university designers scanned court documents that were submitted to the institution, along with some handwritten notes, faxes, and other materials, and they utilized that information to create an artwork known as The Fourth Pillar. And once more, that is accessible to everyone online. However, they created this ownership token and put it up for auction, raising roughly $54,000, which will be divided between the NFT auction site, a Berkeley research facility, and carbon offsetting.
Host: Nick Petrić Howe
Alright, so this is a means by which universities and research could raise funds for research and other purposes, and perhaps even make a little bit more money?
Host: Benjamin Thompson
Yes, that’s right, Nick. That’s one possible way that this could be used. Additionally, there has been discussion about the potential use of these auctions to present science to the general public and, in the case of genomics, to enable individuals to benefit when a pharmaceutical company purchases access to their genomic data for use in a study.
Host: Nick Petrić Howe
Well, that all sounds quite positive, right?
Host: Benjamin Thompson
This one is particularly intriguing since, as I mentioned earlier, technology has really taken off this year. The numbers are staggering: $325 billion in sales in the United States in May. A lot of discussion surrounds the energy needed to create these tokens and write the blockchain, so I believe the real question is: Is this a bubble? Of course, is that really the best course of action moving forward when considering climate change and other related issues? And in our piece, there’s a commenter who suggests that instead of using a JPEG of the papers and putting them through all of this, it might be preferable to just auction the papers. Furthermore, while genomes are an intriguing concept, there are many ethical questions surrounding their ownership, the degree to which a family member’s genome resembles your own, the amount of it that can be sold, and other related matters. It is therefore extremely difficult to determine at this point whether this is a passing fad that sort of fades away next week or whether it is something that will persist for a very long time.
Host: Nick Petrić Howe
Speaking of vanishing, Ben, I believe that’s all the time we have left for the Briefing this week. However, I really appreciate you talking with me. And to everyone listening, please check out the Nature Briefing if you would like to read more stories like this one via email. There will be a link to sign up in the show notes.
Host: Benjamin Thompson
And that’s all for this week’s podcast. It would be wonderful if you could take a moment to write a review for us. It would greatly aid others in finding the show. Naturally, you can reach us at any time by email at podcast@nature. com – or on Twitter – we’re @NaturePodcast. I’m Benjamin Thompson.
Host: Nick Petrić Howe
And I’m Nick Petrić Howe. Thanks for listening.
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