New Scientist World: Radical quantum ideas, fat as an organ, longevity quests, and AI decoded ancient scrolls

The World: The Universe and Us episode surveys a spectrum of science stories from New Scientist’s 2025 features. It opens with radical quantum ideas that push the boundaries of reality, moves through the surprising role of body fat as a communication organ, profiles a tech entrepreneur pursuing dramatic longevity, and explores how AI is enabling the readout of ancient carbonized scrolls. The conversation also covers autism in girls, historic human migrations into Europe, and practical tools for emotional regulation during Christmas. Hosted by Penny Sache with guests Claudia Canavan and Josh Newell, the discussion ties diverse threads of physics, biology, archaeology, and psychology into a shared quest to understand the world we inhabit.

Quantum foundations and observer-less explanations

The episode begins with a discussion of Vlatko Vedral’s radical quantum vision, exploring how reality might be described by quantum numbers and how experiments could probe beyond conventional notions of space, time, and particles. The host and Josh Newell unpack how this perspective challenges the role of the observer in quantum mechanics and how entanglement could reveal the influence of ghostly particles predicted by theory. The segment highlights why these ideas matter for our understanding of physics and what kinds of experiments could shed light on the deepest layers of reality.

Fat as an organ, signals to the brain and health implications

Linda Geddes’ feature on fat reframes body fat as an organ with a nervous system, immune signaling, and hormonal communication. The discussion covers visceral fat’s links to metabolism, mood, memory, and bone health, and explains why obesity is not simply a moral failure but a complex physiological state. The piece also discusses metabolic flexibility and the risks associated with visceral fat, offering a holistic view of fat’s role in health and disease.

Longevity, routines, and the ethics of life extension

Claudia Canavan shares an interview with Brian Johnson, the longevity entrepreneur who dedicates long mornings to health optimization. The conversation assesses which practices are evidence-based and which are fringe, including cardio, nutrition, sauna use, altitude training, and experimental therapies. The interview raises questions about realism, personal risk, and the broader scientific value of Johnson’s approach for aging research, while acknowledging the limits of drawing broad conclusions from a single individual’s regimen.

Ancient scrolls and AI-assisted decipherment

Josh Newell covers the breakthrough in reading carbonized papyrus scrolls from Herculaneum. Brent Seales and collaborators digitally unwrap and read scroll fragments using AI and computer vision, revealing early titles like Philodemus on Vices. The piece illustrates how modern data science and imaging open windows into lost literature and ancient thought, reshaping our view of classical scholarship.

Autism in girls and diagnostic biases

Gina Rippon’s feature on the lost women and girls of autism is discussed with emphasis on how classic studies focused on males and how masking, sensory differences, and brain activity diverge in autistic girls. The segment emphasizes the consequences for diagnosis, mental health, and social understanding, noting the urgent need to revise tests and recruitment practices to better reflect female presentations.

Ancient human migrations and the European picture

The conversation revisits the recent ancient DNA work on LRJ people and the waves of modern humans into Europe. It highlights how small migrating groups, climatic shifts, and networks of exchange shaped early European populations, with a reminder of the biases in preserving DNA and the value of a broader, global archaeological perspective.

Space, information, and the future of physics

A separate segment discusses a proposal that spacetime itself could remember or store information, tested via quantum simulations in a quantum computer. The discussion connects this speculative idea to larger questions about dark matter and the role of information in physics, illustrating the interplay between theory, computation, and experiment.

Emotions and everyday cognitive strategies for the holidays

The episode closes with practical techniques for regulating emotions during Christmas, summarizing research on implicit theories, cognitive reappraisal, music, environmental changes, and self distancing. The discussion foregrounds how everyday psychology can empower listeners to feel more in control of their emotional states during stressful family gatherings.

Overall, the keynote threads link physics, biology, archaeology, and psychology to illuminate how humans seek understanding across scales and disciplines, while New Scientist editors and hosts provide context on what’s credible, what’s experimental, and what’s practically useful for readers and listeners.