On this week’s show: After years of steep declines, researchers are investigating why malaria deaths have plateaued, and testing the stability of biosignatures in space
First up on the podcast this week, freelance science journalist Leslie Roberts joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss why malaria deaths have plateaued in southern Africa, despite years of declines in deaths and billions of dollars spent. Leslie visited Mozambique on a global reporting grant from the Pulitzer Center where researchers are investigating the cause of the pause.
Also this week, producer Kevin McLean talks with astrobiologists Mickael Baqué and Jean-Pierre de Vera of the German Aerospace Center. They discuss their Science Advances paper about an experiment on the International Space Station looking at the stability of biosignatures in space and what that means for our search for life on Mars.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
[Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
[alt: enhanced-color image of Mars’ Jezero crater was taken by NASA’s Perseverance with podcast overlay symbol]
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Leslie Roberts; Kevin McLean
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade7839
About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Why the fight against malaria has stalled in southern Africa, and how to look for signs of life on Mars | Science Magazine Podcast - Listen or read transcript on Metacast
