WIRED

Science, Spoken

Science EN ↓ 2375 episodes

Get in-depth coverage of current and future trends in technology, and how they are shaping business, entertainment, communications, science, politics, and society.

Be sure to visit the podcast's website and support the creator: play.prx.org

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WIRED

Episodes

In Alaska, Beavers Are Engineering a New Tundra 08.03.2022 7:26

Once nonexistent in the northwest part of the state, beavers are both benefiting from and changing a warming landscape. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What Neurodivergence Teaches Us About How to Live 07.03.2022 12:00

Scientist and writer Camilla Pang explains what the rationality of science showed her about making better decisions, processing feedback, and feeling like an outlier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Air Pollution May Keep Insects From Stopping to Smell the Flowers 04.03.2022 10:36

Researchers ran an outdoor experiment to see if diesel exhaust and ozone would interfere with pollinators’ search for floral scents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What It Would Take to Bring the ISS Back to Earth in One Piece 03.03.2022 12:06

NASA plans to deorbit the International Space Station in 2031 by crashing it into the ocean. But is there another way? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This Plastic Dot Sniffs Out Infections Doctors Can’t See 02.03.2022 11:29

Keeping wounds covered can help them stay clean. But if bacteria grow beneath the bandages, things can get dangerous. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gene-Edited Brain Organoids Are Unlocking the Secrets of Autism 01.03.2022 9:32

Harvard researchers used lab-grown clumps of neurons called organoids to reveal how three genes linked to autism affect the timing of brain development. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Any Single Galaxy Reveals the Composition of an Entire Universe 28.02.2022 9:59

In computer simulations, researchers have discovered that a neural network can infer the amount of matter in a whole universe by studying just one galaxy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

DeepMind Has Trained an AI to Control Nuclear Fusion 25.02.2022 9:39

The Google-backed firm taught a reinforcement learning algorithm to control the fiery plasma inside a tokamak nuclear fusion reactor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Serious, Salty Trouble Is Brewing Under Antarctic Glaciers 24.02.2022 11:41

Alarming new research suggests warm seawater is rushing under the ice, perhaps doubling the rate of melting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Huge Sponges Are Eating an Extinct Arctic Ecosystem 23.02.2022 9:14

Thousands of years ago, hydrothermal vents fed worms deep below the ice. Scientists have found 300-year-old sponges feeding on the worms’ fossilized remains. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

They Lived in a Pandemic Bubble. Now Covid Has Arrived 22.02.2022 11:12

Some remote Pacific island nations haven't had a single case of Covid-19 for the past two years. Now they're reopening to the world, but can they handle an outbreak? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Astronomers Want to Save Dark Skies from Satellite Swarms 21.02.2022 10:06

The International Astronomical Union launched a new organization tasked with limiting reflected light and radio interference from big satellite networks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Brutal Reason Some Primates Are Born a Weird Color 18.02.2022 11:19

When species have babies with conspicuous fur, it can attract good attention—or bad. A new theory could explain why. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How the Physics of Resonance Shapes Reality 17.02.2022 10:31

The same phenomenon by which an opera singer can shatter a wineglass also underlies the very existence of subatomic particles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A New Database Reveals How Much Humans Are Messing With Evolution 16.02.2022 10:29

Some animals and plants are rapidly adapting to our warming, polluted world. How alarming that is depends on your perspective. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Extreme Heat in the Oceans Is Out of Control 15.02.2022 10:36

More than half of the sea now logs temperatures once considered extreme, threatening countless species, livelihoods, and the air we breathe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Maybe Green Energy Needs ‘Information Batteries' Too 14.02.2022 10:37

Researchers are exploring whether tech giants can precompute certain data when the grid is humming with solar or wind power, then stash it away for later use. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How to Deal With Rocket Boosters and Other Giant Space Garbage 11.02.2022 11:49

As an errant SpaceX rocket booster careens toward the moon, here are some of the ways space agencies and companies are trying to deal with huge pieces of debris. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kombucha Cultures Could Be the Key to Better Water Filters 10.02.2022 8:48

A study found that filtration membranes formed from SCOBYs are more effective at preventing bacterial growth than commercial equivalents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Inside the International Effort to Save One Tiny Mexican Fish 09.02.2022 9:23

Scientists and schoolchildren worked together to bring the tequila fish back from extinction in the wild. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What It's Like to Give Up Air Travel to Curb Climate Change 08.02.2022 8:55

These three families gave up flying to reduce their emissions. Here's how it's shaping their relationship to people and places. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Politicians Say It’s Time to Live With Covid. Are You Ready? 07.02.2022 9:51

As countries declare endemicity and drop restrictions, how does a battered and bruised society embrace a sudden return to normality? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NASA’s Newest Spinoff Tech Comes Back to Earth 04.02.2022 9:54

While the space agency didn't actually develop Tang, its R&D includes everything from robot gloves to vertical farming—with commercial benefits back home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bird Flu Is Back in the US. No One Knows What Comes Next 03.02.2022 15:55

The fast-moving pathogen, which has already invaded Europe, was found in East Coast ducks. The last outbreak that tore through the US killed 50 million birds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Got an Invasive Army of Crayfish Clones? Try Eating Them 02.02.2022 10:57

The marbled crayfish is a threat to the native species, but the “Berlin lobster” may also offer a sustainable food source and help stop the spread of parasites. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices