Science, Spoken
WIRED
Get in-depth coverage of current and future trends in technology, and how they are shaping business, entertainment, communications, science, politics, and society.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Aug 21, 2020 • 10min
Wait, How Much Microplastic Is Swirling in the Atlantic?
Scientists calculate that the top 200 meters of ocean alone contains up to 21 million metric tons of plastic. And that wasn't even counting microfibers.
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Aug 20, 2020 • 7min
The Iconic Arecibo Telescope Goes Quiet After Major Damage
A cable cut a large gash into the radio telescope this week and it’s uncertain when it will be back in working order.
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Aug 19, 2020 • 8min
Why Do Solar Farms Kill Birds? Call in the AI Bird Watcher
Solar facilities kill tens of thousands of birds every year, and no one is quite sure why. An artificial-intelligence-powered birder is on the case.
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Aug 18, 2020 • 7min
Should We Conserve Parasites? Apparently, Yes
A group of ecologists and biologists say the world's ticks, leeches, and tapeworms need love and conservation, too. Now they've got a 12-point plan.
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Aug 17, 2020 • 8min
What If the Big Bang Was Actually a Big Bounce?
New computer simulations model an alternate way of thinking about the cosmos: as a cyclic universe that has no beginning or end.
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Aug 14, 2020 • 11min
Should Governments Slap a Tax on Plastic?
More than a billion tons of it could enter the environment in the next 20 years. It's time, advocates say, to put a sin tax on single-use plastic.
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Aug 13, 2020 • 8min
Why Are Plants Green? The Answer Might Work on Any Planet
A new model of photosynthesis points to an evolutionary principle governing light-harvesting organisms that might apply throughout the universe.
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Aug 12, 2020 • 5min
Frog Eats Beetle. Beetle Crawls Through Guts to Escape
Regimbartia attenuata doesn’t take too kindly to being eaten. Once locked inside a frog’s maw, it turns around and starts heading for the exit.
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Aug 11, 2020 • 8min
Archaeologists Have Found the Source of Stonehenge's Boulders
Modern scholars have only been able to speculate about where the huge stones came from—until now.
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Aug 10, 2020 • 9min
What Poetry Means for Doctors and Patients During a Pandemic
The poetry editor of The Journal of the American Medical Association talks about medicine, metaphor, and how literature can even improve patient outcomes.
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