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
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Dec 31, 2020 • 10min
Wildfire Smoke Is Loaded With Microbes. Is That Dangerous?
Researchers are putting out a call to study the potential effects of bacteria- and fungi-filled haze on human health.
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Dec 30, 2020 • 13min
Super Slow Computer Programs Reveal Math's Fundamental Limits
The goal of the “busy beaver” game is to find the longest-running computer program. Its pursuit has surprising connections to profound questions in math.
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Dec 29, 2020 • 9min
All the Stuff Humans Make Now Outweighs Earth’s Organisms
Anthropogenic mass—concrete, metal, and other human creations—has grown to be heavier than plants, animals, and microbes combined. Planet Earth is not happy.
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Dec 28, 2020 • 16min
Vaccines Are Here. We Have to Talk About Side Effects
Disinformation could thwart distribution before government messages have a chance to push back. Debunking might turn out to be everyone’s job.
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Dec 24, 2020 • 8min
A Rocket From 1966 Has Found Its Way Back to Earth’s Orbit
More than 50 years after its course correction failure, Surveyor 2’s rocket booster seems to have reappeared.Â
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Dec 23, 2020 • 8min
An Atlas Reveals Climate Change Is Pushing Birds Further North
Data from 120,000 birdwatchers in 48 countries shows forest birds have expanded their range while area occupied by farmland birds has shrunk.
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Dec 22, 2020 • 6min
Physicists Are Closer to Knowing the Size of a Proton … Sort of
A new and potentially improved measurement of a proton’s charge radius brings scientists closer to an answer. But the issue is still unresolved.Â
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Dec 21, 2020 • 11min
Bees Paint Animal Poo on Their Homes to Repel Giant Hornets
What at first seems like terrible housekeeping turns out to be a clever ploy to fend off huge predators, which can otherwise easily destroy a hive.
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Dec 18, 2020 • 10min
Who Will We Be When This Is All Over?
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought incalculable suffering and trauma. But it also offers ways for people—and even societies—to change for the better.
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Dec 17, 2020 • 11min
For the Second Time Ever, an Asteroid Sample Returns to Earth
The Japanese Hayabusa2 mission to asteroid Ryugu marks a major milestone this weekend with the return of pristine space rock.
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