Samantha Harvey's Booker Prize shortlisted novel Orbital is set inside an International Space Station-like vessel circling 250 miles above Earth. It looks at a day-in-the-life of the crew, investigating the contrasts they experience during the 16 orbits they make around the planet, crossing continents, oceans and the line separating night and day.

On the latest episode of Nature hits the books, Samantha joins us to discuss why the ISS is a rich setting for fiction, the challenges of putting yourself in the shoes of an astronaut, and how distance can give new perspectives on global issues like climate change.

Orbital Samantha Harvey Vintage (2024)

Music supplied by Airae/Epidemic Sound

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Researchers have uncovered that mitochondria divide into two distinct forms when cells are starved, a finding that could help explain how some cancers thrive in hostile conditions. Mitochondria are cellular powerhouses, creating energy and vital metabolic molecules, but how they are able to do this when resources are limited has been a mystery. It turns out that in nutrient-poor situations, mitochondria split into two separate types, one which concentrates on energy production, the other on producing essential cellular building blocks. Together these allow cells to make everything they need. The team showed that this also happens in certain cancer cells, which may help them survive and grow under hostile conditions in the body.

Research Article: Ryu et al.

News and Views: Division of labour: mitochondria split to meet energy demands

Video: A new kind of mitochondrion

A tidy genome may explain naked mole rats’ long lifespans, and why the midlife crisis may not be as ubiquitous as previously thought.

Research Highlight: Naked mole rats vanquish genetic ghosts — and achieve long life

Research Highlight: The midlife crisis is not universal

Physicists have revealed a new technique to image the shape of atomic nuclei — by smashing them together. The nucleus of an atom doesn’t really resemble what is shown in textbooks — they actually come in a variety of shapes, which drive an element’s behaviour. Current methods essentially take a long-exposure photo of an atom’s nucleus, which doesn’t capture the subtle variations in how the protons and neutrons arrange themselves. The new method overcomes this by colliding nuclei together and then using information on the resulting debris to reconstruct the shape of the nucleus. The researchers hope that this technique can help physicists resolve many more mysteries about atomic nuclei.

Research Article: STAR Collaboration

News: Scientists worked out the shapes of atomic nuclei — by exploding them

Analysing the genome of an ancient clone forest has revealed it could be up to 80,000 years old, and how putting limits on the famous infinite monkey theorem means they probably wouldn’t churn out Shakespeare before the end of the Universe.

Nature: The world’s oldest tree? Genetic analysis traces evolution of iconic Pando forest

The Guardian: Universe would die before monkey with keyboard writes Shakespeare, study finds

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This series was originally broadcast in 2020.

Science and politics are not easy bedfellows - "Stick to the science" is a three part series which aims to find out why.

In the third and final episode we try to get to the bottom of how journalists, communicators and policymakers influence how science is perceived. We discuss the danger of politicization and ask the question - can science be part of the political narrative without compromising its values?

This episode was produced by Nick Petrić Howe, with editing from Noah Baker and Benjamin Thompson. It featured: Deborah Blum, Bruce Lewenstein, Dan Sarewitz, Hannah Schmid-Petri, Shobita Parthasarathy, and Beth Simone Noveck.

Further Reading

The great fish pain debate

Politicization of mask wearing

Masks work

Donald Trump used a quote from Anthony Fauci to falsely suggest Fauci approved of his actions in the pandemic

Comparing Norway and Sweden in their coronavirus combating actions

Beth Simone Noveck argues for more open and transparent governance

Solving Public Problems, by Beth Simone Noveck

Smart Citizens, Smarter State: The Technologies of Expertise and the Future of Governing, by Beth Simone Noveck

The Received Wisdom Podcast, with Shobita Parthasarathy

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