Dark oxygen could rewrite Earth’s history

This global weather phenomenon could help make 2027 the hottest year on record. Our friends at The Gray Area explore what the upcoming El Niño season could reveal about the future of our climate. Guests: Sean Illing, host of The Gray Area; David Wallace-Wells, New York Times clim ...  Show more

It can be hard to know how to interact with the sun. Some people have swung to opposite ends of the spectrum — either over-tanning or avoiding the sun entirely. But what would a middle ground look like? Guest: Rowan Jacobsen, author of In Defense of Sunlight For show transcripts, ...  Show more

Two miles below the Pacific Ocean, scientists have discovered something impossible: rocks that generate electricity and produce oxygen without sunlight. These ancient metallic "batteries" could be the original source of Earth's oxygen - before plants or algae existed.The CIA has ...  Show more

Polymetallic nodules litter a stretch of ocean between Mexico and Hawaii. They contain metals, such as manganese and cobalt, that mining companies want to use for battery production. Researchers recently found that these seafloor blobs might make their own oxygen—and no one knows ...  Show more

Oxygen appeared on Earth over two billion years ago and life took off. Now it makes up just over a fifth of the air. Trevor Cox, professor of acoustic engineering at the University of Salford, England, tells the story of oxygen on Earth and in space. Without oxygen, there would b ...  Show more

This week Fergus, Carys and Joe discuss oxygen, the third most abundant element in the universe by mass. Listen to find out about oxygen bars, fire and the ozone layer! Plus a look at science "In The News", the return of "Science Fact or Science Fiction?" and a new game called "S ...  Show more