How close are quantum computers to being really useful?
Quantum computers have the potential to solve big scientific problems that are beyond the reach of today’s most powerful supercomputers, such as discovering new antibiotics or developing new materials...
30 Jan 202530min
A wildfire warning from California's Ice Age past
Firefighters in Los Angeles continue to battle devastating wildfires that have killed at least 27 people and left thousands of homes destroyed. Today, we’re revisiting an interview we ran in late 2023...
23 Jan 202523min
Silicon Valley’s bet on a future of AI-enabled warfare
From Gaza to Ukraine, today’s war zones are being used as testing grounds for new systems driven by artificial intelligence. Billions of dollars are now being pumped into AI weapons technology, much o...
16 Jan 202532min
How the world fell in love with plastic without thinking through the consequences
Every year, 400 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide, and every year, approximately 57 million tons of plastic waste is created. And yet in November, the latest round of negotiations to agre...
9 Jan 202529min
Brain implants, agentic AI and answers on dark matter: what to expect from science in 2025
In a special episode to start 2025, we’ve brought together three science editors from The Conversation’s editions around the world to discuss what to look out for in the world of science and technolog...
2 Jan 202537min
How Zimbabwe reached the point of abolishing the death penalty
Zimbabwe is on the cusp of abolishing the death penalty after its Death Penalty Abolition Bill was approved by the senate on December 12. The bill is now sitting on the desk of Zimbabwe’s president, E...
19 Dec 202426min
Why distrust in powerful politicians is part of a functioning democracy
Surveys suggest that in many western democracies, political trust is at rock bottom. But is it really such a bad thing for people living in a democracy to distrust their government?In this episode, we...
12 Dec 202427min
How do animals understand death?
An orca that pulled along the corpse of its baby for 17 days. An opposum that plays dead to fool predators. And a chimpanzee that cleaned the teeth of its dead baby. Observations of behaviours like th...
5 Dec 202426min
