Case numbers are on the rise—at a more worrying rate even than the first wave. We ask why, and what is being done to slow the spread. As revenues at wildlife-tourism spots have dried up, so has security—and now poaching is even more rampant than before.
And scientists’ increasingly audacious bids to see around corners. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer
Laser-cooled antimatter opens up new physics experiments, and the staggering economic cost of invasive species.
In this episode:
00:44 Cooling antimatter with a laser focus
Antimatter is annihilated whenever it interacts with regular matter, which makes it tough for physicists to investigate. Now though, a team at CERN have developed a way to trap and cool antihydrogen atoms using lasers, allowing them to better study its properties.
Research Article: Baker et al.
News and Views: Antimatter cooled by laser light
09:27 Research Highlights
A dramatic increase in Arctic lightning strikes, and an acrobatic bunny helps researchers understand hopping.
Research Highlight: Rising temperatures spark boom in Arctic lightning
Research Highlight: Rabbits that do ‘handstands’ help to find a gene for hopping
11:53 Cost of invasion
Invasive alien species are organisms that end up in places where they don’t really belong, usually as a result of human activity. These species can cause loss of biodiversity and a host of damage to their new environments. This week, researchers estimate that the economic impact of invasive species to be over US $1 trillion.
Research Article: Diagne et al.
19:04 Briefing Chat
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, the physics that might explain how a ship blocked the Suez Canal, and a new insight into octopuses’ sleep patterns.
The Financial Times: The bank effect and the big boat blocking the Suez
The dream of mRNA persevered in part because its core principle was tantalizingly simple, even beautiful: The world’s most powerful drug factory might be inside all of us.
Like so many breakthroughs, this apparent overnight success was many decades in the making. More than 40 years had passed between the 1970s, when a Hungarian scientist pioneered early mRNA research, and the day the first authorized mRNA vaccine was administered in the United States, on December 14, 2020. In the interim, the idea’s long road to viability nearly destroyed several careers and almost bankrupted several companies.
A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week: science after the pandemic, Rwanda: paragon or prison? (9:10) And Herbie goes electric (33:55)
Most research on aging has been done on model organisms with limited life spans, such as flies and worms. Host Meagan Cantwell talks to science writer Yao-Hua Law about how long-living social insects—some of which survive for up to 30 years—can provide new insights into aging.
Also in this episode, host Sarah Crespi talks with Noshir Contractor, the Jane S. & William J. White Professor of Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University, about his AAAS session on keeping humans in harmony during long space missions and how mock missions on Earth are being applied to plans for a crewed mission to Mars.
A web of three optical atomic clocks show incredibly accurate measurements of time, and the trailblazing astronomer who found hints of dark matter.
In this episode:
00:44 Optical clock network
Optical atomic clocks have the potential to reach new levels of accuracy and redefine how scientists measure time. However, this would require a worldwide system of connected clocks. Now researchers have shown that a network of three optical clocks is possible and confirm high levels of accuracy.
Research Article: BACON collaboration
News and Views: Atomic clocks compared with astounding accuracy
08:55 Research Highlights
The possible downside of high-intensity workouts, and the robot with adaptable legs for rough terrain.
Research Highlight: Can people get too much exercise? Mitochondria hint that the answer is yes
Research Highlight: A motorized leg up: this robot changes its limb length to suit the terrain
11:26 Vera Rubin
Vera Rubin was an astronomer whose observations were among the first to show evidence of dark matter. At the time, female astronomers were a rarity, but Vera blazed the trial for future women in science.
Books Review: Vera Rubin, astronomer extraordinaire — a new biography
18:35 Briefing Chat
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, carbon cost of bottom trawling, and the fictional French researcher confounding metrics.
The Guardian: Bottom trawling releases as much carbon as air travel, landmark study finds
Science: Who is Camille Noûs, the fictitious French researcher with nearly 200 papers?
The Lawrence Lab? The Berkeley Lab? Lawrence Livermore Berkeley Lab? Luther Burbank Laboratory? Berkeley Countrywide Laboratory? Nope. Not quite. We’re Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, or Berkeley Lab for short. But we do understand the confusion — it’s hard to remember names, especially when so many sound alike! So we jammed 90 years of history into less than 3 minutes to help you get it right.
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, commonly referred to as Berkeley Lab, is a United States national laboratory that conducts scientific research on behalf of the Department of Energy. Located in the hills of Berkeley, California, the lab overlooks the campus of the University of California, Berkeley.
How Cade got access to the stories behind some of the biggest advancements in AI, and the dynamic playing out between leaders at companies like Google, Microsoft, and Facebook.
Cade Metz is a New York Times reporter covering artificial intelligence, driverless cars, robotics, virtual reality, and other emerging areas. Previously, he was a senior staff writer with Wired magazine and the U.S. editor of The Register, one of Britain’s leading science and technology news sites. His first book, “Genius Makers”, tells the stories of the pioneers behind AI.
Topics discussed: 0:00 Sneak peek, intro 3:25 Who is “Genius Makers” for and about? 7:18 *Spoiler alert!* Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) 11:01 How the story continues after the book ends 17:31 Overinflated claims in AGI 23:12 Deep Mind, OpenAI, and AGI 29:02 Outsider perspectives 34:35 Early adopters of ML 38:34 Who gets credit for what? 42:45 Dealing with bias 46:38 Aligning technology with nee
Science Staff Writer Kelly Servick discusses how physicians have sifted through torrents of scientific results to arrive at treatments for SARS-CoV-2.
Sarah also talks with Wesley Reinhart, of Pennsylvania State University’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Institute for Computational and Data Science, about why we should be building smart cities from smart materials, such as metamaterials that help solar panels chase the Sun, and living materials like self-healing concrete that keep buildings in good shape.
Boomers Daily 