Nature Middle East Podcast

Sedeer El-Showk unpacks workplace skills and discusses with MIT researcher Ahmad Alabdulkareem a skill ecosystem that could help individuals plan better career paths. Sarah Hiddleston looks at a Syrian artist's thought-provoking exhibition at the confluence of science and art. Correction: An earlier version of this podcast incorrectly said that research led by Ahmad Alabdulkareem was funded by KAUST. It was funded by KACST. This version has been corrected.

Who sparked the first flame? In this episode, we look at the latest study linking Neanderthals to starting fires, and separately, at Africa’s two million record of changing climate and water.

A roundup of some of Nature Middle East's most exciting stories and the latest research in the region.

We chat with a top Arab scientist about how she scrutinizes ancient human genomes to reconstruct history and sift the evidence for a catalogue of diseases.

A single human finger bone fossil and some animal remains give insights ancient into Arabia and puts the peninsula on the human evolution map.

Straddling fantasy and reality, art and science, the Arab films at this year's Imagine Science film festival of Abu Dhabi continue to meditate on the issues at the intersection of science, technology, art and life.

We look back at some of this month's most exciting stories.

In this episode, we talk astronauts, observatories and nationalism in the Arab Middle East.

In this episode, we look at coastal mangroves – trees and shrubs that trap carbon and are highly adapted to salt water – and the people protecting them.

In this episode, we talk about how artificial city lights and rapidly increasing sky glow are robbing us of night time and disturbing the Earth's natural cycles.

This new study gives us a glimpse into how sub-Saharan Africans lived and moved across the continent some 8,000 years ago.

The militant group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and those who fight against it have something in common: they're both willing to die in battle. In this episode, a new study that looks into what motivates both groups to fight.

How scientists are using satellites to track connections and communication between Red Sea reefs -- some of the most complex marine ecosystems on the planet.

Nature Middle East interviews renowned space archaeologist Sarah Parcak.

Nature Middle East talks to one of the scientists behind a new research into underwater "fairy circles" found in meadows of sea grass; these can provide a doorway to understanding clonal plants anywhere, including those on land.

Two stories from our blog: the origins of domestic cats and the peculiar mudding behavior of Egyptian vultures.

Nature Middle East talks to the scientists behind a new 'hybrid' drug system that can, one day, control epilepsy, among other brain disorders.

A discovery, a hundred kilometres west of Marakkech, holds the secrets of how our oldest ancestors lived.

Nature Middle East takes a look at the many secrets of ancient Egypt that archaeology has unlocked recently, from insights into pharaonic funerary and mummification rituals in Luxor to 'shamanic' rock art in Aswan.

Inspired by the chemical dynamic resulting from volcanic eruptions in deep oceans, scientists get creative clustering nano particles - with great potential for cancer therapy.

Ancient Arabia is under-excavated, and archaeologists know little about the peninsula's iron era. Nature Middle East talks to two scientists who're trying to change this.

In Jordan, engineers are mapping droughts for better management and to predict future episodes in a country that is famously water scarce. Listen to know more about the new technology they're using to make it happen.

Besides dust, storms can transport microbial communities and antibiotic resistance genes. But how dangerous are they really?

A full picture of a new species of an ancient animal that was near the top of the African food chain is revealed. Nature Middle East talks to the paleontologist behind the research.

Nature Middle East sits with KAUST alumni and environmental scientist Luisa Javier to chat about her water-saving start-up, whose idea was born in Saudi Arabia and saw the light in Mexico.

The dialogue between your genome and the environment, which epigeneticists study, affects which genes are switched on and off, and influences many aspects of your health and life. But is gene expression heritable?

In this new episode, how international trade transports not just goods, but pollution, and sometimes even death. We also talk about science communication through art and film, and about the unveiling of a 37 million year old catfish in Egypt’s Whale Valley protectorate.

During Imagine Science Film festival in Abu Dhabi, a showcase of films at the intersection of art and science, Nature Middle East sits down with New-York-based scientist, artist, and filmmaker Eliza McNitt to talk about her latest creation 'A Fistful of Stars', a multidimensional view into space in virtual reality using simulations of iconic imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope.

In this new episode: seven potentially habitable planets in a nearby star system. Plus, a look inside the DNA of a super food.

In this episode, the shamal sand storm of 2015 was down to climate change, not war. And the hidden dangers in e-cigarettes tobacco flavours.

Armchair archaeology, introducing the first Nature Middle East masterclass, plus an interview with Her Royal Highness Princess Sumaya bint al Hassan of Jordan, the president of the country's Royal Scientific Society.

In this new episode, we discuss the points of confluence between arts and science, and a new non-invasive way to track and study whale sharks in the Arabian Gulf.