Science, Spoken
Get in-depth coverage of current and future trends in technology, and how they are shaping business, entertainment, communications, science, politics, and society.
Latest episodes
Jan 30, 2023 • 8min
This Seriously Hipster Bean Is Coffee’s Best Hope for Survival
Climate change is straining the world’s two favorite coffee species. Could a resilient 19th-century alternative solve the brew’s existential crisis?
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Jan 27, 2023 • 8min
The Key to California's Survival Is Hidden Underground
The state is ping-ponging between severe drought and catastrophic flooding. The solution to both? Making the landscape spongier.
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Jan 26, 2023 • 8min
Why the Search for Life in Space Starts With Ancient Earth
Need to estimate, from trillions of miles away, how likely another world is to host life? There’s a flowchart for that.
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Jan 25, 2023 • 10min
The US Just Greenlit High-Tech Alternatives to Animal Testing
Lab animals have long borne the brunt of drug safety trials. A new law allows drugmakers to use miniature tissue models or "organs on chips" instead.
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Jan 24, 2023 • 9min
What This Fearsome Weapon Reveals About Early Americans
The hottest West Coast tech 16,000 years ago was a “projectile point” for hunting game. Though tiny, the artifact tells an outsize tale.
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Jan 23, 2023 • 11min
Meet the Earth’s Lawyers
ClientEarth helps shape new laws and enforce old ones to protect the planet and its most vulnerable inhabitants.
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Jan 20, 2023 • 11min
Climate Enforcers Need Hard Evidence. Friederike Otto Has It
World Weather Attribution ties disasters and extreme conditions to climate change—providing crucial leverage for legal and policy battles.
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Jan 19, 2023 • 8min
Why Do You Get Sick in the Winter? Blame Your Nose
A new study shows that as temperatures drop, nasal cells release fewer of the tiny protectors that bind and neutralize invading germs.
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Jan 18, 2023 • 8min
Drug Shortages Aren’t New. The Tripledemic Just Made You Look
Flu meds and prescription drugs have been in short supply all winter—but the problem goes back over a decade.
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Jan 17, 2023 • 8min
In the Next Pandemic, Let’s Pay People to Get Vaccinated
Data from Sweden and the US suggests cash incentives increase uptake without denting people’s trust in vaccines or future willingness to get them.
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