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Science Weekly

Science Weekly

By: The Guardian
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Twice a week, the Guardian brings you the latest science and environment news© 2025 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Science
Episodes
  • What’s worse for us, sugar or sweeteners?
    Dec 16 2025
    We all know eating too much sugar is bad for our health – but would we be better off replacing it with artificial sweetener? It’s a question Science Weekly listener Marion posed recently and, as Madeleine Finlay tells Ian Sample, the answer is complicated. She explains what the science says about sugar v sweeteners with the help of Prof Havovi Chichger, from Anglia Ruskin University, and Prof Jim Krieger, from the University of Washington’s school of public health. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    20 mins
  • The Birth Keepers: I choose this, episode one
    Dec 13 2025
    The Free Birth Society was selling pregnant women a simple message: they could exit the medical system and take back their power by free birthing. But Nicole Garrison believes FBS ideology nearly cost her her life. This is episode one of a year-long investigation by the Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne Listen to the full series from The Guardian Investigates podcast. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    37 mins
  • Social media and ADHD diagnosis, new mpox strain in England and early firestarters
    Dec 11 2025
    The Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample, sits down with co-host Madeleine Finlay to discuss three eye-catching stories from the week, including a study investigating the link between social media use in children and rising rates of ADHD diagnosis. Also on the agenda is groundbreaking evidence that humans were starting fires 350,000 years earlier than previously known, and the discovery of a new strain of the mpox virus in England. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    20 mins
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