In Texas the power is back after several days for most of the population, but now they have to worry about whether the water is safe after treatment plants were temporarily offline.
Also, President Biden gives his first speech to world leaders. He wants to move beyond his predecessor’s “America First” policies. And, Native American tribes have been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. But tribes are quickly and efficiently vaccinating their communities.
Science Staff Writer Jon Cohen joins host Sarah Crespi to take on some of big questions about the COVID-19 vaccines, such as: Do they stop transmission? Will we need boosters? When will life get back to “normal.”
Sarah also talks with Anders Johansen, professor of planetary sciences and planet formation at the University of Copenhagen, about his Science Advances paper on a new theory for the formation of rocky planets in our Solar System. Instead of emerging out of ever-larger collisions of protoplanets, the new idea is that terrestrial planets like Earth and Mars formed from the buildup of many small pebbles.
New winter storm threatens fragile power grids in Texas, Trump and McConnell wrestle for the future of the Republican party, and why you shouldn’t store your food outside if you lose power.
Researchers sequence the oldest DNA ever recovered, and the people bringing art and science together.
In this episode:
00:46 Million-year-old mammoth DNA
This week, researchers have smashed a long-standing record by sequencing a genome that’s over a million years old. They achieved this feat by extracting DNA from permafrost-preserved mammoth teeth, using it to build-up a more detailed family tree for these ancient animals.
Research Article: van der Valk et al.
News: Million-year-old mammoth genomes shatter record for oldest ancient DNA
News and Views: Million-year-old DNA provides a glimpse of mammoth evolution
10:00 Research Highlights
A spacecraft catches a rare glimpse of a rock smashing into Jupiter, and the perilous state of sawfish populations.
Research Highlight: Robotic eyes spy the flash of a meteor on Jupiter
Research Highlight: Humans push a hulking fish with a chainsaw nose towards oblivion
12:18 Putting art into science (and science into art)
Art and science are sometimes considered disparate, but when brought together the results can be greater than the sum of their parts. This week we hear from an artist and a scientist on the benefits they found when crossing the divide.
Career Feature: How to shape a productive scientist–artist collaboration
Career Feature: How the arts can help you to craft a successful research career
Where I work: ‘All my art is curiosity-driven’: the garden studio where art and physics collide
21:43 Briefing Chat
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, a neanderthal gene makes brain-like organoids bumpy, and uncovering the original location of Stonehenge’s stone circle.
Deadly winter storm stretches across 25 states, Nancy Pelosi outlines steps to create 9/11-style commission to investigate Capitol riot, and Tennessee man leaves $5 million to dog in his will.
With impeachment finished, Congress now returns to focusing on President Biden’s economic stimulus plan. But why do some economists say it could be too much?
Also, daily coronavirus cases are falling across the U.S. and the pace of vaccinations is increasing. And, in a change from the massive demonstrations last month, Russians in multiple cities used their cellphone flashlights to show their support for jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Interview with Dr. William Feldman on a new federal price-transparency rule and legal challenges to efforts to increase access to pricing information.
William Feldman is a physician and researcher in the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Stephen Morrissey, the interviewer, is the Executive Managing Editor of the Journal.
Monocle’s editorial director Tyler Brûlé, Eemeli Isoaho, Florian Egli and Chandra Kurt on the weekend’s defining discussion topics, with insights from our editors in London and Ljubljana.
Plus: the bestsellers in Amsterdam’s literature market.
The weekend’s biggest discussion topics: Andrew Mueller on the day’s newspapers; Monocle editor in chief Andrew Tuck’s column; and how the Nextdoor app tries to bring communities together.
Democratic House impeachment managers wrapped up their arguments Thursday night in the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump for his actions leading up to and on the day of the Capitol insurrection.
Also, now that he is out of office Trump is also facing investigations in several states related to potential financial crimes and election fraud. And, President Biden is releasing his plan to begin phasing in a new asylum process that will reverse his predecessor’s highly-criticized “Remain in Mexico” policy.
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