Sugar, seed oils, and avoiding sickness: your health questions answered

The genetic testing firm 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy, another twist in the story of a company that promised a pioneering approach to precision health. Now users are scrambling to delete their personal data, with the future ownership of the firm uncertain. To understand the highs and lows of 23andMe’s journey, Madeleine Finlay hears from the Guardian US tech reporter and editor Johana Bhuiyan, and from Timothy Caulfield, a professor of law at the University of Alberta, who has a special interest in health and biotechnology. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

It’s a mystery that has long puzzled researchers. Why can’t we remember our early childhood experiences? Freud called the phenomenon infantile amnesia, and for many years scientists have wondered whether it’s a result of failure to create memories or just a failure to retrieve them. Now new research appears to point to an answer. To find out more, Ian Sample talks to Nick Turk-Browne, a professor of psychology at Yale University.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Dark energy, the mysterious force powering the expansion of the universe, appears to be weakening over time, according to a major cosmological survey that has thrown the laws of modern physics into doubt. Ian Sample tells Madeleine Finlay how this new finding could shed light on the ultimate fate of the cosmos, and Saul Perlmutter, who won a Nobel prize for his work proving the universe is expanding, describes how the new development could upend assumptions about how this mysterious force operates. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Before billionaires dreamed of setting up communities on Mars, the ocean was seen as the next frontier in human habitation. Reviving this dream is Deep, a project backed by an anonymous millionaire to the tune of more than £100m that aims to establish a ‘permanent human presence’ under the sea from 2027. Guardian Seascape editor Lisa Bachelor visited the project just outside Chepstow on the Welsh border, and tells Madeleine Finlay what scientists hope to learn about the ocean by spending extended periods living underwater. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Many of us believe that cognitive decline is an inevitable part of ageing, but a new study looking at how our skills change with age challenges that idea. Ian Sample talks to Ludger Wößmann, a professor of economics at the University of Munich and one of the study’s authors, to find out how the team delved into the data to come to their conclusions, and what they discovered about how we can all maintain our faculties for as long as possible. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod