Babbage from The Economist (subscriber edition)

Kim Budil, Director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Brad Wallin, Deputy Director, delve into modern nuclear weapons maintenance and design without explosive tests. They discuss the innovative National Ignition Facility, where sophisticated laser systems simulate nuclear fusion conditions. The conversation highlights how advanced simulations are replacing traditional tests, the evolution of compact warheads, and groundbreaking developments in materials science and 3D printing technologies, all crucial for a safer nuclear stockpile.

How did the atom bombs of the Manhattan Project become the nuclear stockpile of today? At the heart of America’s nuclear security enterprise lies a town: Los Alamos. It is where the first nuclear bomb was created. Today its national lab is tasked with designing and building America’s first new warhead in decades.This four-part series traces the scientific story of nuclear weapons. We go behind the scenes at America's nuclear-weapons laboratories to find out how the country is pushing the frontiers of extreme physics, materials science and computing to modernise its stockpile.In episode two, we look at the town that built the first nuclear bomb—and how the race to build better, more powerful nuclear weapons ended up building the town. Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Kristen Hollis and Todd Nickols of the Los Alamos Historical Society; Nic Lewis and Thom Mason of the Los Alamos National Laboratory; Ellen Bradbury Reid and Jim Bradbury, who grew up in Los Alamos.Listen to episode three here. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Frank Close, a physicist and author of "Destroyer of Worlds," dives into the origins of nuclear weapons, tracing their birth from early 20th-century scientific breakthroughs. He discusses pivotal discoveries in atomic theory, including the roles of Marie Curie and Ernest Rutherford. The conversation highlights the collaborative efforts behind the atomic bomb during World War II and the ethical concerns surrounding its development. Close also touches on modern implications for nuclear deterrence and the evolution of facilities like Los Alamos.

Proteins are the molecular machines that make life work. Each one in your body has a specific task—some become muscles, bones and skin. Others carry oxygen in the blood or get used as hormones or antibodies. Yet more become enzymes, helping to catalyse chemical reactions inside our bodies. Given proteins can do so many things, what if scientists could design bespoke versions to order? Novel proteins, never seen before in nature, could make biofuels, say, or clean up pollution or create new ways to harvest power from sunlight. David Baker, a biochemist and recent Nobel laureate in chemistry, has been working on that challenge since the 1980s. Now, powered by artificial intelligence and inspired by living cells, he is leading scientists around the world in inventing a whole new molecular world. Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: David Baker of the University of Washington; and The Economist’s Geoff Carr and Emilie Steinmark. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Join Yusra AlSayyad, a data scientist focusing on image processing, and William O’Mullane, the data management lead, as they delve into the fascinating world of the Vera Rubin Observatory. They discuss how this state-of-the-art facility will analyze hundreds of petabytes of data, unlocking secrets about dark matter and energy. Discover the groundbreaking imaging technology and innovative data processing methods that revolutionize astronomy, including an exciting shift towards automation that enhances our understanding of the cosmos.

This week, the first images were released from the world’s most powerful digital camera, nestled in the heart of a brand new telescope at the Vera Rubin Observatory. From October, the 3,200 megapixel camera will begin to create a decade-long film of the entire night sky, and promise to unlock some of the deepest mysteries of our universe—from how galaxies form and evolve to the nature of dark matter and dark energy. In the first of two episodes, we visit the Rubin Observatory, 2,700m high in the Chilean Andes to hear what this new facility can do and learn about the monumental engineering required to build it.Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Victor Krabbendam, Stephanie Deppe and Leanne Guy of the Vera Rubin Observatory. Listen to our second episode from the Vera Rubin Observatory—uncovering how the telescope’s data get from the summit to astronomers’ desks around the world—here, or by searching for “astronomy enters its digital age” on your podcast app. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

The evolution of drone technology in warzones, such as Ukraine, is showing no signs of slowing. But as drones have become more capable, the traditional ways to bring them down—such as electronic jamming or physically firing shots at them—are becoming less effective. Engineers have therefore had to get creative. Several companies are dreaming up devices that emit microwave radiation with the aim of disabling the electronics of drones. Could they really protect people from the threats swarming in the skies above?Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Thomas Withington of RUSI; Andy Lowery of Epirus; The Economist’s Benjamin Sutherland. For more on Ukraine’s drone war, listen to “The Weekend Intelligence: Inside Operation Spider Web”.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Supermarkets and social-media feeds are bursting with “immune-boosting” products that promise to make you better able to fend off infections. But can orange juice really fight a cold? And will a fancy yoghurt help your microbiome prevent illness? Enter a myth-busting immunologist who helps you to ignore the noise and to think critically about your immune health. Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor, speaks with Daniel Davis, a professor at Imperial College London and the author of a new guide to immune health, “Self Defence”.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

The large language models underpinning generative AI have tremendous potential to wrangle messy medical data, chat with patients about their personal health, make diagnoses, and even suggest medications and make appointments. But how to ensure that data are kept private and the advice is trustworthy? We meet some of the researchers trying to develop the long-touted doctor in your pocket.Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor, with Natasha Loder, our health editor. Contributors: Claire Novorol of ADA Health; Adam Rodman and Jason Gusdorf of Harvard Medical School and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre.For more on this topic, listen to our two-part series on AI in health care, published in May 2024. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Across America scientists are reeling as they are hit with wave after wave of grant terminations and funding freezes. Federal science agencies have fired thousands of staff. And President Trump has declared war on the country’s leading universities. The administration says it seeks to usher in a “Golden Age” of science and innovation. Our reporting suggests that it will do the opposite.Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor, with science correspondent Emilie Steinmark. Contributors: Don Ingber of Harvard University; Amy Nunn of Brown University; Hannah Cooper of Emory University; Brigitte Seim of the University of Minnesota; Jane Carlton of Johns Hopkins University.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.