In this Podcast Extra, we examine President Donald Trump's calls for NASA to land humans on Mars. Although the White House has proposed spending some US$1 billion in 2026 on Mars plans, critics say the final cost will likely be hundreds of billions of dollars spread over a number of years.

This call comes amidst plans to drastically reduce NASA's funding, and the proposed cancelling of dozens of the space agency's missions, including projects to study Earth, Mars and Venus.

News: Trump wants to put humans on Mars — here’s what scientists think

News: Five key climate and space projects on Trump’s chopping block

News: Are the Trump team’s actions affecting your research? How to contact Nature

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Iron deficiency in mice mothers can sometimes result in their offspring developing female sex organs despite having male sex genes, according to new research. While genetics has been thought to be the primary factor in determining offspring sex in mammals, the new work shows that a lack of iron disrupts an enzyme involved in the development of testes, leading to some mice with male sex-determining genes being born with female genitalia and ovaries. This suggests that sex determination is controlled by more than genetics, but more work will need to be done to understand the precise mechanisms involved.

News: Male mice can grow ovaries if their pregnant mums are iron deficient

Research article: Okashita et al.

How climate change is making dust storms more likely, and understanding the genetics of a boy who couldn’t feel pain.

Research Highlight: The perfect storm for dust storms, thanks to global warming

Research Highlight: CRISPR helps to show why a boy felt no pain

The contributions that small-scale fishers make to sustainable fishing have been described as ‘invisible’, but now a huge research project has revealed the role this community plays in feeding populations and protecting oceans. Looking at data from 58 countries, researchers have shown that small-scale fishers account for around 40% of the global catch and feed approximately 25% of the world’s population. The people behind the initiative hope that these data can help give a voice to small-scale fishers as people look for ways to feed the world sustainably.

Immersive : Small-scale fisheries

The discovery of an ‘ambidextrous’ protein; and why humpback whales, despite their enormous eyes, appear to be shortsighted.

Nature: Rare ‘ambidextrous’ protein breaks rules of handedness

Discover Magazine: Big Eyes, Blurry Vision: Why Humpback Whales Struggle to See Clearly

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With the world looking likely to blow past the temperature targets laid out in the 2015 Paris climate agreement, a growing number of voices are saying that carbon removal technologies will be necessary if humanity is to achieve its long-term climate goals. If these approaches succeed, they could help nations and corporations to meet their climate commitments — and help the world to halt global warming.

However, questions remain about the financial viability of these technologies, and whether they can live up to the hype.

This is an audio version of our Feature: Three ways to cool Earth by pulling carbon from the sky

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