Nobel Prizes 2026: brain switches, ‘ghost’ particle hunter, and 'the chemistry of life'
Nature Podcast

Nobel Prizes 2026: brain switches, ‘ghost’ particle hunter, and 'the chemistry of life'

B2Upper-intermediateOctober 7, 202623 min
  • Science

In this episode: 00:45 The Nobel Prizes 2026 Nature: Medicine Nobel awarded for brain ‘switch’ that controls neurons with light Nature: ‘What took them so long?’ This year’s medicine Nobel winner is overdue Nature: Nobel physics prize awarded for detection of cosmic neutrinos Nature: Astronomy’s ‘adrenaline junkies’: Nobel prize captures the thrill of neutrino physics Nature: Chemistry Nobel for solving mystery of how ‘handed’ organic molecules can emerge 11:53 Research Highlights Nature: Youthful fans of YouTube sports videos stick to the sofa Na...

Play episode

Opens the player: the full transcript, every word clickable, with translation and flashcards.

Try it: tap any word

Real sentences from the start of this episode. Every word is marked with its level.

Sentence 1 of 12 · 0:00

, . ?

Like, it sounds so simple. They had no idea. But now the data is peaking. I find this not

Tap a word to see its meaning in your language.

Do you know these words?

8 harder words from this episode. Tap one to see what it means, then mark it.

Mark a few words and we'll tell you how this episode fits your level.

Is this episode right for you?

B2

B2 · Upper-intermediate

Comfortable if you already follow TV news

A1 29%A2 30%B1 22%B2 15%C1 4%
  • 81% of the words are B1 or easier.
  • 170 words a minute: natural, fairly fast speech.
  • 142 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

Transcript

The opening of the episode. The whole transcript is in the player.

0:00

In experiment, I didn't know yet. Why is life so far? Like, it sounds so simple. They had no idea. But now the data is peaking. I find this not only refreshing, but at some level astounding. Nature. Nature. Welcome back to the Nature Podcast. This week, rounding up the 2026 Nobel Science winners

0:30

and hints of the ancient human gut microbiome. I'm Nick Perchachow and I'm Benjamin Thompson. The start of October is always a big moment in the science calendar, as it's the announcement of the Nobel Prizes. I caught up with one of my colleagues each day this week to learn

0:54

more about the winners. It is Monday and Monday is of course the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and here to talk to me about it today is Miriam Nadaf. Miriam, thank you so much for being here. Thank you, Ben.

That was the opening. The rest of the episode (22 min) is in the player: every word clickable, with translation, saved words and flashcards.

Continue in the player

Automatically generated from the audio. May contain errors. Audio belongs to its publisher and is played from their feed. Rights holders can request removal — copyright & takedown policy