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
Jun 25, 2020 • 13min
The Trouble With Counting Aliens
A new study estimates that there might only be 36 communicating extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy. But that number doesn’t tell the whole story.
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Jun 24, 2020 • 13min
The Design and Science of Patio Dining During a Pandemic
Public health experts think Covid-19 risk is lower outside, and restaurateurs want to fill tables. It’s an easy solution—except for all the hard parts.
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Jun 23, 2020 • 11min
Covid-19 Is Bad. But It May Not Be the ‘Big One’
Health experts want a 9/11 Commission-style report on the US pandemic response. They say we must forecast and prepare for outbreaks as we do for wars or weather.
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Jun 22, 2020 • 9min
The FDA Revokes Its Emergency Use Authorization for Hydroxychloroquine
So far, no studies have shown that the anti-malarial drug can fight Covid-19, and agency officials say its potential benefits do not outweigh its risks.
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Jun 19, 2020 • 8min
You Can Now Buy Spot the Robot Dog—If You’ve Got $74,500
Boston Dynamics is finally making its mechanical canine available for businesses and developers. But know that this puppy ain't for everyone.
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Jun 18, 2020 • 9min
In Alaska, Summer's Getting Too Hot for the Salmon Run
Bristol Bay is heating up, killing fish as they try to swim upriver to spawn. It's a harbinger of climate change and hard times for fisheries.
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Jun 17, 2020 • 11min
Astronomers Track a Fast Radio Burst to Its Source—a Magnetar
The origin of these explosions of radio waves has long been an astrophysics mystery. Now one has been traced to an ultra-dense spinning magnetized stellar core.
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Jun 16, 2020 • 10min
The Covid-19 Economic Slump Is Closing Down Coal Plants
This year, coal usage has dropped in the US, and renewables now generate more electricity. To some experts, the financial crisis is a clean energy opportunity.
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Jun 15, 2020 • 9min
These Bacteria Ate Their Way Through a Really Tricky Maze
Microbes are well known for working together in stressful environments. Scientists wanted to see how they would fare at a labyrinthine brain teaser.
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Jun 12, 2020 • 9min
What's Confusing About Calling Covid-19 Cases ‘Asymptomatic’
There’s a difference between people who never develop symptoms and people who just don’t have them yet. And that matters when calculating public health risk.
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