The top online news from 2023, and using cough sounds to diagnose disease
Best of online news, and screening for tuberculosis using sound This week’s episode starts out with a look back at the top 10 online news stories with Online News Editor David Grimm. There will be cat expressions and mad scientists, but also electric cement and mind reading. Read all top 10 here. Next on the show, can a machine distinguish a tuberculosis cough from other kinds of coughs? Manuja Sharma, who was a Ph.D. student in the department of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Washington at the time of the work, joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about her project collecting a cough data set to p...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - January 4, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
The hunt for a quantum phantom, and making bitcoin legal tender
Seeking the Majorana fermion particle, and a look at El Salvador’s adoption of cryptocurrency First up on the show this week, freelance science journalist Zack Savitsky and host Sarah Crespi discuss the hunt for the elusive Majorana fermion particle, and why so many think it might be the best bet for a functional quantum computer. We also hear the mysterious tale of the disappearance of the particle’s namesake, Italian physicist Ettore Majorana. Next in the episode, what happens when you make a cryptocurrency legal tender? Diana Van Patten, professor of economics in the Yale University School of Management, discusses...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - December 22, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
Science ’s Breakthrough of the Year, and tracing poached pangolins
Top science from 2023, and a genetic tool for pangolin conservation First up this week, it’s Science’s Breakthrough of the Year with producer Meagan Cantwell and News Editor Greg Miller. But before they get to the tippy-top science find, a few of this year’s runners-up. See all our end-of-year coverage here. Next, Jen Tinsman, a forensic wildlife biologist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss using genetics to track the illegal pangolin trade. These scaly little guys are the most trafficked mammals in the world, and researchers can now use DNA from their scales to find poaching ...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - December 14, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
Farm animals show their smarts, and how honeyguide birds lead humans to hives
A look at cognition in livestock, and the coevolution of wild bird–human cooperation This week we have two stories on thinking and learning in animals. First, Online News Editor David Grimm talks with host Sarah Crespi about a reporting trip to the Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology in northern Germany, where scientists are studying cognition in farm animals, including goats, cows, and pigs. And because freelance audio producer Kevin Caners went along, we have lots of sound from the trip—so prepare yourself for moos and more. Voices in this story:Christian NawrothAnnkatrin PahlJan Langbein Next, audio produc...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - December 7, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
Basic geoengineering, and autonomous construction robots
Raising the pH of the ocean to reduce carbon in the air, and robots that can landscape First up on this week’s show, Contributing Correspondent Warren Cornwall discusses research into making oceans more alkaline as a way to increase carbon capture and slow climate change. But there are a few open questions with this strategy: Could enough material be dumped in the ocean to slow climate change? Would mining that material release a lot of carbon? And, would either the mining or ocean changes have big impacts on ecosystems or human health? Next, we hear from Ryan Luke Johns, a recent Ph.D. graduate from ETH Zürich, about...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - November 30, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
Exascale supercomputers amp up science, finally growing dolomite in the lab, and origins of patriarchy
A leap in supercomputing is a leap for science, cracking the dolomite problem, and a book on where patriarchy came from First up on this week’s show, bigger supercomputers help make superscience. Staff Writer Robert F. Service joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss how the first exascale computer is enabling big leaps in scientists’ models of the world. Next, producer Meagan Cantwell talks with the University of Michigan’s Wenhao Sun, professor of materials science and engineering, and graduate student Joonsoo Kim. They discuss solving the centuries-old problem of growing the common mineral dolomite in the lab. Finall...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - November 23, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
AI improves weather prediction, and cutting emissions from landfills
What it means that artificial intelligence can now forecast the weather like a supercomputer, and measuring methane emissions from municipal waste First up on this week’s show, Staff Writer Paul Voosen joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about how artificial intelligence has become shockingly good at forecasting the weather while using way fewer resources than other modeling systems. Read a related Science paper. Next, focusing on municipal solid waste—landfills, compost centers, garbage dumps—may offer a potentially straightforward path to lower carbon emissions. Zheng Xuan Hoy, a recent graduate from the new energy s...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - November 16, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
The state of Russian science, and improving implantable bioelectronics
First up on this week’s show: the future of science in Russia. We hear about how the country’s scientists are split into two big groups: those that left Russia after the invasion of Ukraine and those that stayed behind. Freelance journalist Olga Dobrovidova talks with host Sarah Crespi about why so many have left, and the situation for those who remain. Next on the show: miniature, battery-free bioelectronics. Jacob Robinson, a professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering at Rice University, discusses how medical implants could go battery-free by harvesting energy from the human body and many oth...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - November 9, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
Turning anemones into coral, and the future of psychiatric drugs
Why scientists are trying to make anemones act like corals, and why it’s so hard to make pharmaceuticals for brain diseases First up on this week’s show, coaxing anemones to make rocks. Newsletter Editor Christie Wilcox joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss the difficulties of raising coral in the lab and a research group that’s instead trying to pin down the process of biomineralization by inserting coral genes into easy-to-maintain anemones. Next on the show, a look at why therapeutics for both neurodegenerative disease and psychiatric illness are lagging behind other kinds of medicines. Steve Hyman, director of the...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - November 2, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
Making corn shorter, and a book on finding India ’s women in science
First up on this week’s show, Staff Writer Erik Stokstad joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about why it might make sense to grow shorter corn. It turns out the towering corn typically grown today is more likely to blow over in strong winds and can’t be planted very densely. Now, seedmakers are testing out new ways to make corn short through conventional breeding and transgenic techniques in the hopes of increasing yields. Next up on the show, the last in our series of books on sex and gender with Books Host Angela Saini. In this installment, Angela speaks with Nandita Jayaraj and Aashima Dogra about their book Lab Hoppi...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - October 26, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
Making corn shorter, and a book on finding India ’s women in science
Why farmers might want shorter corn, and the latest in our series on books on sex, gender, and science
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First up on this week’s show, Staff Writer Erik Stokstad joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about why it might make sense to grow shorter corn. It turns out the towering corn typically grown today is more likely to blow over in strong winds and can’t be planted very densely. Now, seedmakers are testing out new ways to make corn short through conventional breeding and transgenic techniques in the hopes of increasing yields.
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Next up on the show, the last in our series of books on sex and gender with Books Host An...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - October 26, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
The consequences of the world's largest dam removal, and building a quantum computer using sound waves
Restoring land after dam removal, and phonons as a basis for quantum computing  First up on this week’s show, planting in the silty soil left behind after a dam is removed and reservoirs recede. Contributing Correspondent Warren Cornwall joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about the world's largest dam removal project and what ecologists are doing to revegetate 36 kilometers of new river edge. Next up on the show, freelance producer and former guest Tanya Roussy. She talks with Andrew Cleland, a professor at the University of Chicago, about a Science paper from this summer on using the phonon—a quantum of sound energyâ€...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - October 19, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
The consequences of removing the world largest dam, and building a quantum computer using sound waves
Restoring land after dam removal, and phonons as a basis for quantum computing  First up on this week’s show, planting in the silty soil left behind after a dam is removed and reservoirs recede. Contributing Correspondent Warren Cornwall joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about the world's largest dam removal project and what ecologists are doing to revegetate 36 kilometers of new river edge. Next up on the show, freelance producer and former guest Tanya Roussy. She talks with Andrew Cleland, a professor at the University of Chicago, about a Science paper from this summer on using the phonon—a quantum of sound energyâ€...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - October 19, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
Dealing with the consequences of removing the world largest dam, and building a quantum computer using sound waves
Restoring land after dam removal, and phonons as a basis for quantum computing
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First up on this week’s show, planting in the silty soil left behind after a dam is removed and reservoirs recede. Contributing Correspondent Warren Cornwall joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about the world's largest dam removal project and what ecologists are doing to revegetate 36 kilometers of new river edge.
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Next up on the show, freelance producer and former guest Tanya Roussy. She talks with Andrew Cleland, a professor at the University of Chicago, about a Science paper from this summer on using the phonon—a quantum of sound en...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - October 19, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
Mysterious objects beyond Neptune, and how wildfire pollution behaves indoors
The Kuiper belt might be bigger than we thought, and managing the effects of wildfires on indoor pollution First up on this week’s show, the Kuiper belt—the circular field of icy bodies, including Pluto, that surrounds our Solar System—might be bigger than we thought. Staff Writer Paul Voosen joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss the distant Kuiper belt objects out past Neptune, and how they were identified by telescopes looking for new targets for a visit by the New Horizons spacecraft. Next up on the show, the impact of wildfire smoke indoors. Producer Kevin McLean talks with Delphine Farmer, a chemist at Colorado S...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - October 13, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts
