Science, Spoken

When Nathan Copeland got into a car accident in 2004, he suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed in both arms and both legs. Eventually, Copeland got a prosthetic-but one that is very different from most anyone else's out there. Copeland is the first person in the world to use a system created by DARPA and the National Science Foundation, which allows him to "experience" the sensation of touch via a special robotic prosthesis. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan's announcement in September that they will pour $3 billion into research, mainly at elite universities in California, with expressed interest to "cure all disease" within a century, was an endearing move from new money billionaires who have pledged to devote their phenomenal wealth to supporting biomedical research. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Everyone knows MacGyver. He's the guy who gets out of sticky situations by cobbling stuff together. Here he is in the reboot, maybe four floors up, with a sudden need to jump from a window. Solution? Use a fire extinguisher and body bag to create an impromptu cushion. Could that really work? First, a disclosure. I'm the technical consultant for MacGyver, which means I check if MacGyver's hacks are legit. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

At their core, data tell stories. They reveal patterns, show changes over time, and confirm or challenge our theories. And in cities across the country, mayors, police chiefs, and other local leaders are turning to data to help them understand and address gun violence, one of the most persistent crises they face. Innovative, data-driven programs are showing encouraging results. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The odds are stacked against Haiti. Geologically, it's wedged between tectonic plates, where earthquakes happen. Meteorologically, it's in the center of hurricane alley, where massive storms roil. And historically, the country is forever fighting a colonial legacy that left it largely incapable of recovering from natural disasters. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It's been a busy week or so in the world of volcanoes. Japan's Mount Aso had its largest eruption in recent memory. Canada's Mount Meager might be rumbling to life. And the USGS and Global Volcanism Program released a great animation of 50 years of earthquakes and eruptions. Japan Mount Aso in Japan had a large explosive eruption last week (10/8), sending ash over 11 kilometers (36,000 feet) upwards. Although eruptions aren't rare at Aso, the scale of this one was larger than usual. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

People aren't doodling sea monsters over blank spots on the map anymore, but that doesn't mean scientists have Earth all figured out. Plenty of geological features have yet to be discovered and understood-especially where things get watery, or subterranean, or both. Case in point: a team of seismologists recently discovered what they believe is a fault line running along the the eastern shore of the Salton Sea in southern California. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Hurricane Matthew is already a tragedy. It killed hundreds battering through the Caribbean, and knocked out power, forced evacuations, and flooded beaches as it scoured the Florida coastline. But thinking long-term, the storm is a punctuation mark in the creeping erosion narrative playing out on many southeastern shorelines. Erosion is nothing new. Shorelines experience seasonal ebbing from winter, and typically regrow in the summer. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In the back of Indigo's Boston headquarters-past the gleaming new desks, past empty rooms awaiting new employees after a $100 million fundraising round-is a giant elevator. The elevator has one main purpose: to haul dirt up by the pallet load. Indigo is an agriculture company. But it doesn't sell seeds or fertilizer or pesticides or any of the typical products agriculture companies have made billions selling in the past century. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This morning, Jeff Bezos had predicted an explosion: His hard working little rocket, the New Shepard, would go up in flames during its fifth-and final-launch. That's because this launch, unlike previous ones testing the rocket's ability to land, was an experiment of its escape system. The New Shepard is, like all rockets, a carefully contained catastrophe. It is also topped by a crew capsule, which needs a way to get clear of the booster should anything go wrong. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices