Using a laser system to activate specific eye cells, a team has allowed five study participants to perceive a vibrant blue-greenish hue well outside the natural range of colours seen by humans. Although the setup required to accomplish this feat is currently complicated, this finding could provide more understanding about how the brain perceives colour and could one day help boost the vision of people with colour blindness.

Nature News: Brand-new colour created by tricking human eyes with laser

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the first trial to test whether genetically modified pig livers can be used safely to treat people with organ failure. In the initial phase of the trial, four people with severe liver failure will be temporarily connected to an external pig liver that will filter their blood. Participants will then be monitored for a year for safety and changes in liver function. The organs have been genetically modified to make them more compatible with humans.

Nature News: Pig livers for people: US regulator greenlights first safety trial

Using a designer ‘circulatory system’, a team of researchers have created what they think is the largest piece of meat grown in the laboratory yet. One of the challenges to producing larger pieces of lab-grown meat has been providing cells with sufficient oxygen and nutrients, something the team’s new setup helps overcome. They used it to grow a chunk of chicken muscle about the size of a nugget, but multiple challenges remain before meat produced in this way could make it to market.

Nature News: Winner, winner, lab-made dinner! Team grows nugget-sized chicken chunk

Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Categorizing things is central to science. And there are dozens of systems scientists have created to name everything from the trenches on the sea bed to the stars in the sky.

But names have consequences. What’s in a name is a series exploring naming in science and how names impact the world. We look at whether the system of naming species remains in step with society, how the names of diseases can create stigma, and how the names chosen by scientists can help, or hinder, communication with the public.

In episode three, we're looking at how the names chosen for concepts in physics can inadvertently send researchers down very specific research avenues while distracting them from others. In this podcast we hear five stories about the importance of names and how much can be lost in translation when physicists try and label the unknown.

For a list of sources and music used, please visit the podcast show notes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode:

Researchers have created a ‘pangenome’ containing the genomes of multiple potato types, something they believe can help make it easier to breed and sequence new varieties. The potato's complicated genetics has made it difficult to sequence the plant's genome, but improvements in technology have allowed the team to combine sequences, allowing then to look for subtle differences in between varieties.

Research Article: Sun et al.

How ancient DNA analysis revealed that unusually bound medieval books are covered in sealskin, and top quarks and their antimatter counterparts are detected after nuclear smash-ups at the Large Hadron Collider.

Research Highlight: Mystery of medieval manuscripts revealed by ancient DNA

Research Highlight: Top quarks spotted at mega-detector could reveal clues to early Universe

Analysis from Nature reveals the 25 highest-cited papers published this century and explores why they are breaking records. We hear about the field that got the highest number of papers on the list, and whether any feature in the all-time top citation list.

News Feature: Exclusive: the most-cited papers of the twenty-first century

News Feature: These are the most-cited research papers of all time

News Feature: Science’s golden oldies: the decades-old research papers still heavily cited today

Re-analysis of a cosmic collision shows evidence of a planet spiralling into its host star, and how shrugging off lighting strikes gives tonka bean trees an evolutionary edge.

Science: Astronomers spot a planetary ‘suicide’

Live Science: Tropical tree in Panama has evolved to kill its 'enemies' with lightning

Vote for How whales sing without drowning, an anatomical mystery solved

Vote for What’s in a name: Should offensive species names be changed? The organisms that honour dictators, racists and criminals

Vote for Cancer-busting vaccines are coming: here's how they work

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.