Episode

A chimpanzee ‘civil war,’ and NASA plans for nuclear propulsion

Podcast
Science Magazine Podcast
Published
Apr 9, 2026
Duration seconds
2535
Processing state
not_requested
Canonical source
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.zi2cekx
Audio
https://traffic.megaphone.fm/AAAS5785709606.mp3?updated=1775749157
JSON
/v1/public/podcasts/science-magazine-podcast-925602/episodes/a-chimpanzee-civil-war-and-nasa-plans-for-nuclear-propulsion
Markdown
/podcast/science-magazine-podcast-925602/a-chimpanzee-civil-war-and-nasa-plans-for-nuclear-propulsion.md

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Summary

First up on the podcast, freelance science journalist Hannah Richter joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss NASA’s plans to send a nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars in less than 3 years. Having not launched a fission reactor to space in more than 60 years, the organization faces many technical and bureaucratic hurdles to make that deadline. Next on the show, Aaron Sandel, associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin and co-director of the Ngogo Chimpanzee Project, reports this week in Science on what looks like a chimpanzee civil war. The unprecedented violent split occurred in a large chimp colony that has been tracked by researchers for decades. Now, scientists are asking: What can the lethal division of a chimp community teach us about human conflict? This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy. About the Science Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices