How long can ancient DNA survive, and how much stuff do we need to escape poverty?
Pushing ancient DNA past the Pleistocene, and linking agriculture to biodiversity and infectious disease First up on this week’s show, Staff Writer Erik Stokstad brings a host of fascinating stories,...
5 Okt 202335min
Visiting utopias, fighting heat death, and making mysterious ‘dark earth’
A book on utopias and gender roles, India looks to beat climate-induced heat in cities, and how ancient Amazonians improved the soil First up on this week’s show: the latest in our series of books on...
28 Sep 202351min
Reducing cartel violence in Mexico, and what to read and see this fall
The key to shrinking cartels is cutting recruitment, and a roundup of books, video games, movies, and more First up on this week’s show: modeling Mexico’s cartels. Rafael Prieto-Curiel, a postdoct...
21 Sep 202336min
Why cats love tuna, and powering robots with tiny explosions
Receptors that give our feline friends a craving for meat, and using combustion to propel insect-size robots First up on this week’s episode, Online News Editor David Grimm joins host Sarah Crespi...
14 Sep 202333min
Extreme ocean currents from a volcano, and why it’s taking so long to wire green energy into the U.S. grid
How the Tonga eruption caused some of the fastest underwater flows in history, and why many U.S. renewable energy projects are on hold First up on this week’s show, we hear about extremely fast...
7 Sep 202333min
Reducing calculus trauma, and teaching AI to smell
How active learning improves calculus teaching, and using machine learning to map odors in the smell space First up on this week’s show, Laird Kramer, a professor of physics and faculty in the STE...
31 Aug 202337min
The source of solar wind, hackers and salt halt research, and a book on how institutions decide gender
A close look at a coronal hole, how salt and hackers can affect science, and the latest book in our series on science, sex, and gender First up on this week’s show, determining the origin of solar wi...
24 Aug 202352min
What killed off North American megafauna, and making languages less complicated
Ancient wildfires may have doomed Southern California’s big mammals, and do insular societies have more complex languages? First up on this week’s show, what killed off North America’s megafauna, ...
17 Aug 202348min
