Science Weekly

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth’s plan to livestream the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan has incurred condemnation from human rights groups and politicians on all sides. But according to Coltan Scrivner, an author and psychologist at Arizona State University and expert on morbid curiosity, people are still likely to watch in large numbers. He explains why we are drawn to dark and disturbing content, and Madeleine Finlay tells Ian Sample how consuming this kind of material can harm observers’ mental health. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

This year’s Nobel prizes in chemistry, physics and physiology or medicine have celebrated work that has been used to develop countless drugs and transform modern medicine, allowed physicists to observe one of the most mysterious particles, and provided a tool that could act as an on/off switch for brain cells. To find out more, Madeleine Finlay talks to our science editor, Ian Sample, and correspondents Nicola Davis and Linda Geddes. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Several hospitals in eastern Russia are under quarantine after a lab worker fell ill at a plague research centre following a reported accident and died. Russia’s health watchdog has said Darya Shipilova, 28, died of ‘pneumonia of unknown aetiology’, but there is speculation about a possible plague infection. Science Weekly co-host Madeleine Finlay tells Lucy Hough, the host of Today in Focus: The Latest, how concerned we should be. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

The sleep disorder has been the butt of jokes and a comedic plot point, but the reality of living with narcolepsy is anything but funny. Things could be about to change for people with the condition though, after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first ever drug to treat narcolepsy itself, rather than just its symptoms. Madeleine Finlay tells Ian Sample how the scientific breakthrough came about, and Julie Flygare, who has narcolepsy and founded the non-profit Project Sleep, explains what it is like to live with the condition and how the drug could be gamechanger. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Madeleine Finlay hears from Steve Ramirez, an associate professor of psychological and brain sciences at Boston University, whose book How to Change a Memory was shortlisted for this year’s Royal Society Trivedi science book prize. He explains how scientists have been able to locate memories in the brains of rodents, trigger them artificially and even remove them, and reveals what the practical applications of this science could one day be for humans.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod