

Babbage from The Economist (subscriber edition)
The Economist
Babbage is our weekly podcast on science and technology, named after Charles Babbage—a 19th-century polymath and grandfather of computing. Host Alok Jha talks to our correspondents about the innovations, discoveries and gadgetry shaping the world. Published every Wednesday.If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you’ll have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription.For more information about Economist Podcasts+, including how to get access, please visit our FAQs page here https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 23, 2015 • 13min
Babbage: Zoning drones
The rise in drone hobbyism raises questions about how best to control the skies, and scientists hope to catch sight of Einstein's gravitational wave

Sep 16, 2015 • 13min
Babbage: Hybrid fliers
The hybrid and electric plane industry takes off and advanced artificial intelligence is used to diagnose disease

Sep 9, 2015 • 11min
Babbage: What lies beneath
Radar scans reveal an enormous site of underground stone monoliths near Stonehenge and subterranean plant seed banks could save harvests and lives in the face of climate change

Sep 2, 2015 • 12min
Babbage: Inspectors' gadgets
New technology used by nuclear weapons inspectors and 3D printing buildings on Earth and in outer space

Aug 26, 2015 • 11min
Babbage: The microbes in our midst
Scientists say a universal flu vaccine is on the horizon and a new study unearths the thousands of bacteria and fungi in our homes

Aug 19, 2015 • 14min
Babbage: Climate's wild child
A new technique makes editing the human genome much easier and this year's El Niño, a disrupting climate phenomenon, could be the strongest ever

Aug 12, 2015 • 11min
Babbage: Thinking with your tentacles
The secret to the intelligence of the octopus lies in its genome and scientists explore how big data disrupts the principle of anonymity

Aug 5, 2015 • 11min
Babbage: Notes from the oeno files
Fine wine is priced by using artificial intelligence and President Obama announces new rules to reduce carbon emissions

Jul 29, 2015 • 12min
Babbage: Sunset and sunrise in the Kuiper belt
Scientists fit living cells with lasers to track what they get up to and New Horizons gets a stunning final look back at Pluto

Jul 22, 2015 • 13min
Babbage: The Jodie Foster moment
Clinical trials for drugs are not as closely scrutinised as they should be and a Russian billionaire is on the hunt for extraterrestrials