Nature Podcast

An explanation for giant ice structures on Pluto, and dismantling the mestizo myth in Latin American genetics.In this episode:00:46 The frozen root of Pluto’s polygonal patternsIn 2015, NASA’s New Horizons probe sent back some intriguing images of Pluto. Huge polygonal patterns could be seen on the surface of a nitrogen-ice ice filled basin known as Sputnik Planitia. This week, a team put forward a new theory to explain these perplexing patterns.Research article: Morison et al.06:15 Research HighlightsHow Pamplona’s bull-running defies the dynamics of crowd motion, and self-healing microbial bio-bricks.Research Highlight: Running of the bulls tramples the laws of crowd dynamicsResearch Highlight: It’s alive! Bio-bricks can signal to others of their kind09:06 How the mixed-race ‘mestizo’ myth has fostered discriminationThe term 'mestizo' emerged during the colonial period in Latin America to describe a blend of ethnicities – especially between Indigenous peoples and the Spanish colonizers. But this label is a