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
May 20, 2022 • 8min
Researchers Grew Tiny Plants in Moon Dirt Collected Decades Ago
The seedlings sprouted in the regolith scooped up in the 1960s and ’70s, but astronauts won’t be harvesting lunar spuds anytime soon.
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May 19, 2022 • 8min
An Elusive Gravity Signal Could Mean Faster Earthquake Warnings
Tiny wobbles in Earth’s gravitational field could help detect big tremors faster, but they’re hard to tease out from the planet’s seismic noise.
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May 18, 2022 • 10min
These Nanobots Can Swim Around a Wound and Kill Bacteria
Researchers have created autonomous particles covered with patches of protein “motors.” They hope these bots will tote lifesaving drugs through bodily fluids.
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May 17, 2022 • 11min
Ticks Are Spreading in the US—and Taking New Diseases With Them
The vast majority of tick-borne disease goes unrecorded, meaning life-threatening pathogens are traveling under the radar to new locations.
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May 16, 2022 • 8min
Delegates at the United Nations Have Begun Forging New Rules for Space
International experts are using earthly policies as models to hash out regulations for orbiting spacecraft, from preventing conflict to limiting trash.
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May 13, 2022 • 10min
Burning Crops to Capture Carbon? Good Luck Finding Water
The technique uses plants as fuel and sequesters the emitted CO2, removing it from the atmosphere. But scaling up would use gobs of water and land.
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May 12, 2022 • 9min
The Desert’s Fragile Skin Can’t Take Much More Heat
Climate change and human activity are destroying the layers of fungi, lichen, and bacteria that protect deserts from erosion.
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May 11, 2022 • 8min
A Vast Underground Water System Helps Drive Antarctica’s Glaciers
Scientists have finally found Antarctica’s missing groundwater, which will help them predict ice flows on the continent.
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May 10, 2022 • 5min
You Don’t Have to Quit Meat to Save the Planet—Just Eat Less
If everyone ate just 20 percent less beef, deforestation rates by 2050 could be half as bad.
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May 9, 2022 • 9min
Australia Moves Ahead Cautiously With '3-Parent IVF'
The nation follows the UK in permitting mitochondrial donation, which aims to prevent the transmission of rare but often fatal conditions.
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