In this episode, we speak with science journalist Rowan Hooper, whose book Togetherness: Symbiosis and the Hidden Story of Life's Greatest Collaborations takes a deep-dive into the world of co-operation between organisms.

In the book, he argues that collaboration in nature has often been overlooked in favour of competition, and that organisms working together have played a vital role in making the world the way it is.

Togetherness: Symbiosis and the Hidden Story of Life's Greatest Collaborations Rowan Hooper Fern Press (2026)

Music supplied by SPD/Triple Scoop Music/Getty Images

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Peptides — short chains of amino acids — have become huge online. The popularity of these molecules has skyrocketed and they are now the latest cure-all trend on social media.

But what does the science say about their effectiveness? Animal research suggests that that some of these experimental peptides hold promise, but evidence they work in people is lacking.

This is an audio version of our Feature: Is the peptide craze backed by science? The promise behind the hype

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Nature staff discuss how apes share a rhythm of laughter, and how AI use may degrade skills in medicine and computer science.

Nature: Is AI ruining our skills? Early results are in — and they’re not good

Nature: Oo oo, ha ha: why humans and great apes giggle alike when tickled

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In this episode:

Research article: Knolle et al.

Correction: The story about medical AI-data privacy incorrectly stated that the number of individuals at high risk of a membership inference attack increases as training-dataset size grows. It should have stated that the increase in risk occurs when the AI model increases in capacity and size.

Nature: A long-lived butterfly’s secret to graceful ageing

Nature: It slices! It dices! Sashimi-Bot handles seafood with ease

Research article: Labini & Galoppo

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Nature staff discuss preliminary data on the effects of GLP-1 drugs on male fertility plus a two-year trial of a brain-computer interface.

Nature: At-home brain implant gives man with motor neuron disease his daily life back

Nature: The latest benefit of obesity drugs: boosting testosterone and sperm quality

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In this episode:

Research article: Macleod et al.

Nature: Bones of Iron Age skeleton were whittled into tools

Nature: Giant crustacean of the deep sea steals a trick from bacteria

Research article: Baynham et al.

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In this episode:

BBC Science Focus: We may have just cracked one of Stonehenge's greatest mysteries

Nature: Ancient ground squirrels feasted on carcasses like ‘zombies of the Pleistocene’

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In this episode:

Research article: Peng et al.

News & Views: A vast whale necropolis has been found

Nature: Babies’ birth weight improves with help of payments to parents

Nature: Earliest signs of vision recorded in ancient sea-floor tracks

Research article: Mains et al.

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