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Madeleine Finlay sits down with science editor Ian Sample to hear about some of the winners of the Breakthrough Prize, which held its ceremony in LA last weekend. Each prize is worth $3m and they’re awarded in physics, maths and life sciences. Madeleine and Ian hear from molecular biologist Jean Bennett, who shared a life sciences prize for her work developing the world’s first FDA-approved gene augmented therapy for sight loss. She explains how a chance encounter while dissecting a brain in medical school led her on a 25-year journey to develop the treatment.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Earlier this month the AI company Anthropic said it had created a model so powerful that, out of a sense of responsibility, it was not going to release it to the public. Anthropic says the model, Mythos Preview, excels at spotting and exploiting vulnerabilities in software, and could pose a severe risk to economies, public safety and national security. But is this the whole story? Some experts have expressed scepticism about the extent of the model’s capabilities. Ian Sample hears from Aisha Down, a reporter covering artificial intelligence for the Guardian, to find what the decision to limit access to Mythos reveals about Anthropic’s strategy, and whether the model might finally spur more regulation of the industry.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Madeleine Finlay sits down with co-host and science editor Ian Sample to discuss three eye-catching stories from the week, including a review into the effectiveness of a new class of Alzheimer’s drug that was once hailed as a game-changer in slowing the progress of the disease. Also on the agenda is the news that the world could be heading for a ‘super El Niño’ this summer and a study exploring whether conversations about dull topics really are as boring as we expect them to be. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Alongside the oil and gas stranded in the strait of Hormuz is another commodity vital to today’s economy: helium. It is a critical element in all kinds of areas from MRI machines to the Large Hadron Collider, and even deep-sea diving. It is also integral to the AI boom. And this isn’t the first time its fragile global supply chain has been threatened. So why is helium so useful, and what will happen if the shortage continues? Ian Sample hears from co-host Madeleine Finlay, and from Sophia Hayes, professor of chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

This week Artemis II’s four-astronaut crew broke Apollo 13’s distance record, becoming the humans to travel the farthest from Earth. Now on their way home, the team has experienced tech malfunctions, views like no other and moments of intense emotion, all in under 10 days. To find out about all the highs and lows of the mission, Madeleine Finlay hears from the Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

The number of human cases of guinea worm, a painful and debilitating tropical illness, fell to a record low of just 10 last year, according to the Carter Centre, the foundation set up by the late former US president Jimmy Carter. But despite years-long declines, it remains almost impossible to completely eradicate the parasite. Only one human illness has been entirely eradicated: smallpox. Why is it so difficult, and could guinea worm one day be the second? Ian Sample hears from co-host Madeleine Finlay, and David Molyneux, emeritus professor of tropical disease microbiology at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Saunas and cold plunge pools are popping up everywhere in the UK, bringing fiery heat and icy cold to a beach, city farm or park near you. Their users will be ready with all the reasons why it’s good for both the mind and the body. But what’s the evidence for the benefits of sauna and cold plunge? Madeleine Finlay hears from Ian Sample and from Dr Heather Massey, associate professor at the University of Portsmouth’s extreme environments laboratory.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

If all goes to plan, Artemis II, Nasa’s mission to return humans to the moon, will launch this week. The mission will mark the farthest that humans have travelled from Earth, and the first return to the moon in more than 50 years. It will also pave the way for landing on the moon again as soon as 2028. But given the Apollo missions have already achieved that feat, does going back to the moon still matter today? To find out, Madeleine Finlay hears from the Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample, the Atlantic journalist Ross Andersen, and Jan Wörner, a former director general of the European Space Agency. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

A box the size of a filing cabinet was lifted by crane, slowly moved and placed very carefully in the back of an unassuming lorry earlier this week. What looked like a casual drive around the Cern campus was actually a world-first experiment in transporting antimatter, the most expensive and volatile substance on Earth. To find out why scientists wanted to achieve this milestone, and what happened on the journey, Madeleine Finlay hears from the Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample, and the Cern physicist Dr Christian Smorra.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Why is it like something to be ourselves and how do physical processes create our subjective experience? These questions get to the heart of the knotty problem of consciousness, and they provided the spark for the latest book from award-winning author and journalist Michael Pollan. In A World Appears, Pollan goes in search of answers about what we do and don’t know about consciousness, and why it has proven such an elusive phenomenon. He tells Ian Sample how thoughts and feelings shape our conscious experience, whether we can learn anything about human consciousness from AI, and why he thinks our minds need to be defended in today’s technology saturated world. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

On the evening of 29 December 2011, police officer Clifton Lewis was moonlighting as a security guard at a Chicago minimart when two men walked in. They shot Lewis several times, then took off with his gun and police star. A week later, police had their suspects: four men affiliated with a gang called the Spanish Cobras. For hours, under intense police questioning, they all said they did not do it. But that did not seem to matter. This is episode one of Off Duty, an investigation by the Guardian’s Melissa Segura. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Over the weekend, news emerged of an outbreak of meningitis among university and school students in Kent in south-east England. The outbreak has killed two young people and left several others seriously ill. Health officials confirmed that the meningitis B strain has been identified in some of the cases. To find out what we know about the outbreak, who is most at risk and why questions are being asked about who has access to the meningitis B vaccine, Madeleine Finlay speaks to Eliza Gil, a clinical lecturer specialising in infectious disease at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Grey-market injectable peptides – a category of substances with obscure, alphanumeric names such as BPC-157, GHK-Cu, or TB-500 – have developed a devoted following among biohackers and health optimisers. To understand how these unregulated substances have become mainstream and what they could be doing in our bodies, Madeleine Finlay hears from journalist Adrienne Matei and from Dr Anna Barnard, an associate professor at Imperial College London who researches peptides. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

The Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample, talks to Madeleine Finlay about three eye-catching science stories from the week, including a study that explores the link between exercise and brain health. Also on the agenda: the discovery that hedgehogs can hear high-frequency ultrasound and what this could mean for their conservation, and new research examining how biased AI autocomplete tools can influence the beliefs of users.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Among the many justifications Donald Trump has presented for the US and Israel attacking Iran has been the supposedly imminent threat posed by its nuclear weapons programme. But how close was the country really to developing an atomic weapon? Ian Sample hears from Kelsey Davenport, the director of non-proliferation policy at the Arms Control Association. She sets out why many experts don’t believe the country even had a structured nuclear weapons programme, and explains what she thinks the impact of the war could be on nuclear proliferation around the world.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod