Guardian Science Weekly

Jaws made us scared of sharks but is a lack of sharks scarier?

Loading player...
Last week, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) world conservation congress took place in Marseille. Guardian biodiversity reporter Phoebe Weston was there and heard about the latest updated ‘red list’ of threatened species, which included a warning that over a third of all shark and ray species now face extinction. To find out more, Anand Jagatia spoke to Phoebe about the findings and what they mean for the fate of sharks, rays and the ecosystems they inhabit. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
16 Sep 2021 English United Kingdom Science · Nature

Other recent episodes

Live episode: how AI is reshaping our minds

In this episode of Science Weekly, recorded in front of an audience at the London podcast festival on 3 September, Ian Sample hears from Michael Safi, the host of the Guardian’s chart-topping podcast about artificial intelligence, Black Box. In series two, Black Box: the chatbots, Michael meets people who have…
13 Sep 1 hr 22 min

Are rich people really worse behaved? Here’s the science

Who’s more likely to steal sweets from a child? According to science, it’s the rich. A study seemingly confirming our suspicions about the moral behaviour of the wealthy was one of the winners of the 2026 Ig Nobel prizes, which honour research that makes you laugh and then think. Science…
8 Sep 18 min

Introducing Black Box: The Chatbots

From the Guardian Investigates team: Across the world, hundreds of people have come to believe they have made extraordinary scientific discoveries with AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. Others say their AI has ‘awakened’ or is leading them to a higher spiritual realm. The Guardian journalist Michael Safi…
6 Sep 39 min

There’s a quick way to slow climate change. Why isn’t everyone doing it?

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that traps more than 80 times as much heat than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period and causes 25% of global heating today. We definitely don’t want this gas spewing needlessly into the atmosphere, but in 2023 that’s exactly what environment editor Damian Carrington…
3 Sep 13 min
All episodes