Artificial Pancreas for Type 2 Diabetes, Spaceport Cornwall Setback, Sunlight Driven Recycling, Dolphin Cooperation under Noise, Ape Gambling

Podcast overview

The Naked Scientists explore several recent science stories in this episode, including a Cambridge led artificial pancreas for people with type 2 diabetes, a setback in the UKs first space launch from Spaceport Cornwall, a solar powered approach to converting plastic waste and CO2 into fuels, and behavioural experiments with dolphins and apes that illuminate how noise and risk framing shape animal decision making.

Key insights

• Automated closed loop diabetes management can significantly improve glucose control in people with type 2 diabetes using insulin.
• Spaceport Cornwall faced an anomaly with a satellite launch, highlighting the complexities of developing national space capabilities and timelines for future launches.
• A solar driven reactor concept demonstrates a proof of principle for converting PET plastics and CO2 into fuels using abundant sunlight, with challenges around scale and integration.
• Dolphins show compensatory vocal strategies under noise, but overall cooperative task success declines, with implications for wild cetaceans in busy shipping lanes.
• Gambling like decision making in apes reveals context dependent risk taking, with biases depending on reward framing and task structure.

Introduction

The podcast presents a collection of science stories that span biomedicine, spaceflight, chemistry, and animal behaviour. The host describes these items as discoveries and advances across disciplines, and the discussion foregrounds how researchers test ideas, measure outcomes, and think about applications. The episodes showcase how science communication connects lab bench work to real world consequences and public policy, from health to environment and beyond.

Artificial Pancreas for type 2 diabetes

In Cambridge, researchers led by Charlotte Boughton report progress on an artificial pancreas, a closed loop system designed to automatically regulate blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes who use insulin therapy. The system comprises a continuous glucose monitor, a smartphone based controller algorithm, and an insulin pump. Unlike hybrid systems used for type 1 diabetes, this fully automated closed loop does not require users to announce meals or snacks. The study compared eight weeks of conventional insulin therapy with eight weeks using the closed loop technology. The key finding was that participants spent roughly twice as much time in the target glucose range when using the closed loop system, indicating improved glucose control and potential for reduced long term complications. The researchers emphasize accessibility and safety, and note that NICE had recently issued guidance related to access for type 1 diabetes patients, illustrating a broader policy context and potential for wider adoption in type 2 diabetes. The findings, published in Nature Medicine, are positioned as a step toward greater patient access and better outcomes for people living with type 2 diabetes who require insulin support.

Spaceport Cornwall launch setback

The programme then turns to the Spaceport Cornwall launch, a UK first strategy focused on launching small satellites. Virgin Orbit attempted a mission using a modified 747 aircraft to air launch a rocket carrying multiple small demonstration satellites. The mission did not reach Earth orbit; the cargo was said to have burned up at sea following a deployment anomaly. Space journalist Richard Hollingham provides context, detailing the sequence of events and the ongoing uncertainty about the exact failure mode. Despite the setback, experts remain optimistic about the UKs growing space capabilities, pointing to alternative UK spaceports in the coming 18 months and arguing for a measured recovery that could lead to a more robust national space infrastructure. The discussion highlights how even high profile failures can be productive by sharpening testing, regulatory, and industrial learnings as the UK seeks to become a more independent space actor.

Solar powered recycling of PET and CO2

Next, Cambridge chemist Erwin Reisner describes a solar powered reactor that can convert PET plastic waste and carbon dioxide into fuels and other valuable products. The system uses sunlight as the energy input and features a two chamber configuration: plastics in one chamber and CO2 in the other, with the products of the first stage feeding into subsequent catalytic steps that produce syngas and other intermediates. The energy is provided directly by solar radiation, avoiding intermediate electricity generation. The catalysts are based on abundant materials such as copper or cobalt, aligning with aims for scalability and avoidance of precious metals. The researchers stress that the technology is in a proof of principle stage, and they are exploring integration with existing waste handling facilities and carbon capture, including potential CO2 capture from air. They envisage a future where solar powered recycling plants could operate on large scales, but acknowledge the necessity of substantial investments and careful consideration of the carbon economics and life cycle impacts in context of a circular economy.

Dolphins, noise and cooperative communication

The podcast moves to a study at Florida’s Dolphin Research Centre where pairs of dolphins in a pool were tasked with coordinating button presses to obtain rewards. The dolphins had to communicate underwater to synchronize their actions. The team introduced noise and observed compensatory responses including louder calls and longer call durations. Even with these compensatory strategies, the dolphins’ success in the cooperative task declined as noise levels rose, with the most significant impairment under very high noise conditions. The findings imply that real world, noisy marine environments could hamper cooperative behaviours such as foraging or communication dependent group tasks. The results are relevant to conservation and policy discussions about marine traffic, shipping lanes, and noise pollution affecting marine mammal populations. The study is published in Current Biology and is contextualized by the broader literature on animal communication and social behaviour in both marine mammals and birds, illustrating cross species parallels in response to anthropogenic noise.

Ape gambling and decision making

Penelope Lacombe and colleagues report on experiments with gorillas and orangutans to explore whether non human primates exhibit risk aversion or risk seeking and how the framing of choices influences their decisions. In some experiments, apes preferred the safer option in a straightforward choice, mirroring human risk aversion. However, when presented with a scenario where there was a known reward, the apes displayed greater willingness to take a risk. Researchers discuss hypotheses such as exploration bias and impulsivity driven by the knowledge of a definite reward and discuss observed behaviours in terms of like humans in situations of uncertainty and reward. The work highlights how context and framing shape decision making across species and raises questions about the evolution of risk preferences as well as the emotional and cognitive consequences of success and loss in gambling like tasks. The paper is published in PLOS One and adds to the comparative literature on decision making in primates.

Conclusion

The episode closes with reflections on how a broad range of scientific topics—from medicine to space to environmental chemistry and animal cognition—illustrate the diversity of modern science and the value of cross disciplinary dialogue in understanding complex systems and informing policy and public understanding. The Naked Scientists emphasize that these stories show how fundamental research can translate into practical benefits and policy considerations, and how public engagement remains a crucial element of science in society.