President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden met for their second and final debate heading into the final sprint to Election Day. NPR’s Asma Khalid has more from the event, where new debate rules kept the conversation focused on policy issues.
• Read “Trump And Biden Had A Real Debate, And 4 Other Takeaways” at https://www.npr.org/2020/10/23/926844…
• Listen to: “Surprise: There Was A Lot Of Policy Talk At The Final Presidential Debate” at https://www.npr.org/2020/10/23/926979…
First up, host Sarah Crespi talks with Staff Writer Jon Cohen about some tricky ethical questions that may arise after the first coronavirus vaccine is authorized for use in the United States. Will people continue to participate in clinical trials of other vaccines? Will it still be OK to give participants placebo vaccines?
Next, producer Meagan Cantwell talks with Bert Weckhuysen, a professor at Utrecht University, about a process for taking low-value plastic like polyethylene (often used for packaging and grocery bags) and “upcycling” it into biodegradable materials that can be used for new purposes.
U.S. intelligence agencies say Iran, Russia have tried to interfere in 2020 election, Purdue Pharma reaches $8.34 billion settlement over opioid probes, and keeping it civil in the cul-de-sac.
The structure of a beetle’s super-strong exoskeleton could open up new engineering applications, and efforts to address diversity and equality imbalances in academia.
In this episode:
01:17 Insights into an armoured insect
The diabolical ironclad beetle has an exoskeleton so strong, it can survive being run over by a car. Researchers have identified how the structure of the exoskeleton provides this strength, and show that mimicking it may lead to improved aerospace components.
Research Article: Rivera et al.; News and Views: Diabolical ironclad beetles inspire tougher joints for engineering applications
10:42 Coronapod
This week, the UK government announced plans to run a ‘human challenge trial’, where healthy volunteers are deliberately infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We talk about the process, the ethical and procedural hurdles, and whether such an approach will provide any useful data.
News: Dozens to be deliberately infected with coronavirus in UK ‘human challenge’ trials
22:46 Research Highlights
A method to assess the age of RNA, and how southern elephant seals helped to identify supercooled seawater.
Research article: Rodriques et al.; Research article: Haumann et al.
25:20 Efforts to address equity in science
Julie Posselt has been investigating the efforts of academic institutions to assess ingrained imbalances in diversity and equality. We talk to her about these efforts and her new book on the subject.
Book review: How to get more women and people of colour into graduate school — and keep them there
31:43 Briefing Chat
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, back pay for female professors at Princeton, and a newly uncovered superpower for the tiny tardigrade.
NPR News Now reports: President Trump and Joe Biden on the campaign trail, coronavirus relief aid bill stalemate, high levels of stress from Covid-19, and other top news.
Presidential candidates’ microphones to be muted in parts of final debate, Pelosi, Mnuchin work to reach deal before Tuesday deadline, and this 14-year-old girl won a $25K prize for a discovery that could lead to a cure for Covid-19.
NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join Amna Nawaz to discuss the latest political news, including campaign messages from President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden in the presidential race’s final weeks and what early voting patterns suggest about when we might have election results.
The election has record breaking fundraising and huge early voting totals. That adds up to lots of voter enthusiasm, mostly among Democrats.
Guests: Axios’ Hans Nichols, Courtenay Brown and Bryan Walsh.
Monocle on Sunday: Monocle’s editor in chief Tyler Brûle and panelists cover the weekend’s biggest news.
NPR News Now reports: President Trump campaigns in Wisconsin, Joe Biden in Detroit, New Zealand elections and more top news.
