Weekly: What India elections mean for climate change; why animals talk; “tree of life” for plants

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What does India’s election season mean for climate change? Last year India overtook the European Union as the third largest annual emitter of greenhouse gases. And as voters head to the polls in the middle of an intense heat wave, it’s critical whichever party wins continues to push towards the goal of net zero emissions by 2070. But as the country continues to invest in expanding coal power, is that target achievable?

Animals of all kinds communicate in so many different ways, but what are they saying to each other? Arik Kershenbaum is the author of Why Animals Talk, and has been studying everything from wolves to gibbons in their natural habitats. He explains what he’s learnt about animal communication and shares some of the sounds he’s captured during his travels. Hear the haunting howl of a lone wolf, the crescendo of a gibbon chorus and more.

There’s no such thing as empty space. Quantum theory says where there looks to be nothing, there is always something – namely a soup of particles and antiparticles flickering in and out of existence. And researchers have, for the first time, used these quantum fluctuations to create tiny, self-assembling devices that can manipulate light.

Botanists at Kew Gardens have mapped what’s known as a “tree of life” for over 9500 species of flowering plants. This work gives us the most detailed look at the origins and evolutionary history of these plants to date – and could tell us about their future too.

After 5 months of radio silence, NASA has made contact with its Voyager 1 spacecraft again. We recap the epic story of the Voyager mission, which launched 46 years ago, and find out how engineers managed to fix a spacecraft that’s currently 15 billion miles away in interstellar space.

Hosts Christie Taylor and Rowan Hooper discuss with guests James Dinneen, Karmela Padavic-Callaghan and Chen Ly. To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.

Consciousness event: newscientist.com/newyorkmind

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