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
Dec 30, 2022 • 9min
Bio-Based Plastics Aim to Capture Carbon. But at What Cost?
Growing crops to make plastic could theoretically reduce reliance on fossil fuels and even pull carbon out of the atmosphere, but at an enormous environmental cost.
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Dec 29, 2022 • 13min
How Far Can You Fly a Battery-Powered Jumbo Jet?
The answer explains why electric cars are everywhere, but electric aircraft are still a novelty.
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Dec 28, 2022 • 12min
How the UN’s ‘Sex Agency’ Uses Tech to Save Mothers’ Lives
Big Data, drones, diagnostics—the United Nations and other groups hope to innovate the world out of a maternal and reproductive health crisis.
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Dec 23, 2022 • 8min
The Grim Origins of an Ominous Methane Surge
During the coronavirus lockdowns, emissions of the potent greenhouse gas somehow soared. The culprit wasn't humans—but the Earth itself.
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Dec 22, 2022 • 8min
Antihelium Offers Hope in the Search for Dark Matter
An experiment at the Large Hadron Collider suggests there’s a chance of catching this elusive evidence as it floats through our galactic neighborhood.
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Dec 21, 2022 • 9min
A Smart Way to Get Ahead of the Next Flu Surge
Internet-connected thermometers can quickly show how influenza is spreading—so measures to control the disease can be targeted more effectively.
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Dec 20, 2022 • 9min
The Real Fusion Energy Breakthrough Is Still Decades Away
US nuclear scientists have achieved the long-sought goal of a fusion ignition—but don't expect this clean technology to power the grid yet.
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Dec 19, 2022 • 6min
How Do You Prove There’s Ice on the Moon? With a Lunar Flashlight
A briefcase-sized satellite will ping lasers at the lunar South Pole to locate ice and map it for future human explorers.
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Dec 16, 2022 • 7min
The Orion Moon Capsule Is Back. What Happens Next?
The craft survived a 26-day voyage and a scorching descent. Now it’s time for NASA engineers to learn what went wrong—and what went right.
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Dec 15, 2022 • 9min
‘Solar Twins’ Reveal the Consistency of the Universe
Physicists study starlight to find whether the fine structure constant, whose value makes our universe possible, really is the same everywhere.
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