Science, Spoken
WIRED
Get in-depth coverage of current and future trends in technology, and how they are shaping business, entertainment, communications, science, politics, and society.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 21, 2022 • 9min
The FAA Says SpaceX Can't Expand Its Texas Launch Site—Yet
SpaceX must address dozens of environmental issues before it can upgrade Starbase in Boca Chica. The launch license needed for the Starship program remains pending.
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Jun 20, 2022 • 9min
Monkeypox Can Be Contained—but Time Is Running Out
Testing, vaccinating, and contact tracing can control the virus in Europe and North America—unless complacency allows it to take hold.
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Jun 16, 2022 • 8min
The Secret to Tastier Fake Meat? Breeding Better Beans
Scientists are using genomics to create high-protein soybeans and peas. Their aim? To make meat and milk substitutes that can rival the real thing.
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Jun 15, 2022 • 9min
A New Kind of Genome Editing Is Here to Fine-Tune DNA
Instead of deleting genes, epigenetic editing modulates their activity. A new paper tests if it’s able to undo a genetic effect of early alcohol exposure.
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Jun 14, 2022 • 8min
The First Privately Funded Killer Asteroid Spotter Is Here
Researchers at the B612 Foundation’s Asteroid Institute developed a new tool for tracking space-rock trajectories—even with limited data.
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Jun 13, 2022 • 8min
Welcome to the Great Reinfection
A repeat encounter with Covid used to be a rarity. But now that Omicron has changed the game, expect reinfections to be the new normal.
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Jun 10, 2022 • 8min
Rising Food Prices Will Make Obesity Rates Worse, Not Better
When faced with food insecurity, studies show that people opt for cheap, energy-dense meals that are bad for their health.
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Jun 9, 2022 • 5min
How Ants Inspired a New Way to Measure Snow With Space Lasers
Photons wander through snow like ants through a nest. That inspired a clever new NASA technique for measuring the fluffy stuff from orbit.
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Jun 8, 2022 • 7min
This Startup Wants You to Eat Ground-Up Chicken Bones
A Finnish company says it has found a way to incorporate bone into ground chicken, lowering the production cost and environmental impact of the meat. But will anyone eat it?
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Jun 7, 2022 • 8min
Nuclear Fusion Is Already Facing a Fuel Crisis
It doesn’t even work yet, but nuclear fusion has encountered a shortage of tritium, the key fuel source for the most prominent experimental reactors.
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