Category Archives: News
New Science Podcast: New Artificial Eyes, Elephant Seals And Disk-Galaxies
This week, crafting an artificial eye with the benefits of a human’s, and understanding how disk-galaxies formed by peering back in time.
In this episode:
00:45 Biomimetic eye
Researchers fabricate an artificial eye complete with a human-like retina. Research Article: Gu et al.; News and Views: Artificial eye boosted by hemispherical retina
09:27 Research Highlights
Dazzling elephant seals to avoid predation, and helping blind people ‘see’ through brain stimulation. Research Highlight: Mighty seals humbled by prey that flickers and flashes; Research Highlight: Blind people ‘read’ letters traced on their brains with electricity
11:36 Early disk-galaxy
There’s an open question about how disk-galaxies form, but now new observations are pointing to an answer, from the very early Universe. Research Article: Neeleman et al.; News and Views: Galaxy disk observed to have formed shortly after the Big Bang
17:47 Pick of the Briefing
We pick our highlights from the Nature Briefing, including a HIV ‘vaccine’, and incredibly hardy bacteria. Science: Long-acting injectable drug prevents HIV infections; Quanta Magazine: Inside Deep Undersea Rocks, Life Thrives Without the Sun
Politics Monday: Tamara Keith And Amy Walter On Latest In Washington (PBS)
NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join Judy Woodruff to discuss the latest political news, including the escalating rhetorical war between President Trump and former President Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign strategy and polarization and conspiracy theories related to the coronavirus pandemic.
New Infographic: “Types Of Coronavirus Testing”
International: Has Covid Killed Globalization, European Disunion & Mike Pompeo (The Economist)
A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, has covid-19 killed globalisation? Why the European Union is having a bad crisis (10:55) and how Mike Pompeo is confusing leadership with bashing his opponents (19:20). Zanny Minton Beddoes hosts.
Top New Podcasts: “The World Reopens” From Pandemic (Monocle 24)
Monocle’s editor in chief, Tyler Brûlé, discusses the weekend’s top stories with his guests. Topics include how the coronavirus outbreak is being felt in Switzerland, the UK and Japan.
From Milan: Salone highlights, interviews and a daily running guide.
Political News: “Shields & Brooks” On The Latest In Washington (PBS Video)
Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s political news, including former Vice President Joe Biden’s response to an allegation of sexual assault, which U.S. officials Americans trust during the pandemic, a new proposal for more coronavirus relief and an insider trading investigation of prominent senators.
Top New Science Podcasts: Inequality In Pandemics, Hawaii’s Mauna Kea Volcano Earthquakes
Contributing Correspondent Lizzie Wade talks with host Sarah Crespi about the role of inequality in past pandemics. Evidence from medical records and cemeteries suggests diseases like the 1918 flu, smallpox, and even the Black Death weren’t indiscriminately killing people—instead these infections caused more deaths in those with less money or status.
Also this week, Aaron Wech, a research geophysicist for the U.S. Geological Survey at the Alaska Volcano Observatory, joins Sarah to talk about recordings of more than 1 million earthquakes from deep under Hawaii’s Mauna Kea volcano, which hasn’t erupted in 4500 years. They discuss how these earthquakes, which have repeated every 7 to 12 minutes for at least 20 years, went undetected for so long.
Top New Science Podcasts: Image Manipulation, Tully Monster & Air Pollution
This week, Elisabeth Bik tells us about her work uncovering potential image manipulation, and a new route for particulate pollution formation.
In this episode:
00:45 Seeing double
Elisabeth Bik spends her days identifying duplicated images in science papers. She tells us about her efforts, and why they’re important. Feature: Meet this super-spotter of duplicated images in science papers; News: Publishers launch joint effort to tackle altered images in research papers
08:11 Research Highlights
New insights on the mysterious Tully Monster, and how football fans can stoke air pollution. Research Highlight: Unmasking the Tully Monster: fossils help to tackle a decades-old mystery; Research Highlight: The meaty link between a city’s football matches and its foul air
10:29 Understanding air pollution
Particulate pollution is a serious threat to human health, but the way that new particles form is poorly understood. This week, new research suggests a new mechanism for it to happen. Research article: Wang et al.; News and Views: Airborne particles might grow fast in cities
15:09 Pick of the Briefing
We pick some highlights from the Nature Briefing, including the closest discovered black hole to Earth, and how wriggly worms are helping physicists model microscopic processes. National Geographic: Closest black hole to Earth found ‘hiding in plain sight’; Physics: Worm Viscosity
Economy: “The U.S. Is Racking Up Debt. Will It Be a Problem?” (WSJ Podcast)
The federal government is spending big to combat the economic damage of the coronavirus crisis, and federal debt has climbed to record levels.
WSJ’s Jon Hilsenrath explains the debate over the impact of all that debt.
