The New Math of Wrinkling Patterns
A comprehensive mathematical framework treats these crinkles as elegant solutions to geometric problems. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Nov 01, 2022•12 min
Science, Spoken
Get in-depth coverage of current and future trends in technology, and how they are shaping business, entertainment, communications, science, politics, and society.
Last refreshed: ⓘ
Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.
Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more
Episodes
Rats Are Invasive Menaces. These Cameras Spy on Them
Keeping rodents off Santa Cruz Island is an exhausting task. But now, conservationists are getting an assist from an AI-powered surveillance system. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 31, 2022•7 min
A New Tool for Eruption Forecasting: Carbon-Catching Drones
In the future, remote-controlled quadcopters might mean that researchers won’t have to crawl inside volcanoes to collect carbon dioxide anymore. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 28, 2022•7 min
The US Is Finally Considering Protections Against Salmonella
The bacteria, which contaminate poultry meat, sicken 1.35 million Americans every year. But there’s very little the federal government can do to stop it. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 27, 2022•10 min
How Iodine Pills Can—and Can’t—Help Against Radiation
East European governments are starting to distribute the tablets as a precaution, but there are limits to the protection they offer, and who might need them. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 26, 2022•6 min
Big Pharma Says Drug Prices Reflect R&D Cost. Researchers Call BS
A new study finds no correlation between research and development spending and outlandish drug prices. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 25, 2022•7 min
Lab-Grown Human Brain Tissue Works in Rats
Scientists integrated tiny cell clusters called organoids with the animals’ own tissue, a step toward developing sophisticated mini-models of the brain. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 24, 2022•8 min
Gas Drilling Is Disrupting Animal Migration
Scientists are investigating why large animals like the mule deer of Wyoming go where they go—and how humans can get out of their way. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 21, 2022•8 min
Robots Are Helping Immunocompromised Kids ‘Go to School’
Sure, my telepresence robot had some issues—but for students like me who can’t make it to campus because of disability or illness, these tools open new doors. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 20, 2022•8 min
Cities Need More Native Bees—Lots and Lots of Adorable Bees
These pollinators can help urban gardens grow. That will be critical for cooling cities as the planet warms. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 19, 2022•7 min
Wildfire Smoke May Carry Deadly Fungi Long Distances
Pathogens in soil are a danger to firefighters, but smoke may transport spores that cause valley fever and other infections into cities too. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 18, 2022•10 min
It’s Time to Treat Housing Insecurity as a Health Risk
A new study shows that cancer patients in precarious living situations are twice as likely to die from their illness, underscoring the harms of unstable housing. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 17, 2022•7 min
The FCC's Rules on Space Junk Just Got Stricter
A new and contentious five-year limit for getting rid of dead satellites could slow the growing orbital litter problem—if people actually abide by it. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 14, 2022•7 min
A Bold Effort to Cure HIV—Using Crispr
An experiment tests whether the gene-editing technology can stop the virus from replicating, which would ultimately wipe out the infection. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 13, 2022•8 min
Scientists Have Discovered a New Set of Blood Groups
The ‘Er’ grouping could help doctors identify and treat some rare cases of blood incompatibility, including between pregnant mothers and fetuses. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 12, 2022•8 min
A Huge New Data Set Pushes the Limits of Neuroscience
The Allen Institute’s release includes recordings from a whopping 300,000 mouse neurons. Now the challenge is figuring out what to do with all that data. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 11, 2022•9 min
The Problem With Mental Health Bots
With human therapists in short supply, AI chatbots are trying to plug the gap—but it’s not clear how well they work. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 10, 2022•8 min
Sofia, the Historic Airplane-Borne Telescope, Lands for the Last Time
Astronomers mourn the end of an infrared observatory that flew aboard a jumbo jet. It was expensive, but it saw what Earth-based telescopes can’t. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 07, 2022•12 min
The Era of Fast, Cheap Genome Sequencing Is Here
Illumina just announced a machine that can crack genomes twice as fast as its current version—and drive the cost down to $200 a pop. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 06, 2022•9 min
Climate Change Is Burying Archaeological Sites Under Tons of Sand
Desertification can wear down ancient ruins or hide them under dunes—leaving researchers scrambling to keep track of where they’re buried. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 05, 2022•8 min
What Is a Wetland Worth?
As the Supreme Court considers the fate of American wetlands, Annie Proulx’s Fen, Bog, and Swamp offers an elegiac love letter to overlooked ecosystems. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 04, 2022•14 min
How to Find Your Vaccine History—and Store It Safely
Worries about polio, monkeypox, and Covid-19 are rising. Here’s how to gather your health information, even if you’ve lost the paper records. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 03, 2022•9 min
There’s New Proof Crispr Can Edit Genes Inside Human Bodies
The technique had largely been limited to editing patients’ cells in the lab. New research shows promise for treating diseases more directly. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Sep 30, 2022•7 min
Lawns Are Dumb. But Ripping Them Out May Come With a Catch
Meticulous turf is environmentally terrible. Yet grass does have one charm: It “sweats,” helping cool the local area. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Sep 29, 2022•8 min
The Fungus That Killed Frogs—and Led to a Surge in Malaria
A global fungal pandemic wiped out amphibians, destroyed biodiversity, and ultimately increased human illness. Now a second similar pathogen is on the way. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Sep 28, 2022•9 min
The US Is Measuring Extreme Heat Wrong
Recent studies have revealed flaws in the heat index. With rising temperatures and humidity, maybe it’s time for a more holistic approach. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Sep 27, 2022•9 min
To Understand Brain Disorders, Consider the Astrocyte
Neurons get a lot of attention—but researchers think this star-shaped brain cell type could hold the key to treating some disorders. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Sep 26, 2022•9 min
How to Design the Perfect Queue, According to Crowd Science
The line to see Queen Elizabeth II lying in state is snaking across central London. Could it have been done better? Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Sep 23, 2022•7 min
Teaching ‘Selfish’ Wind Turbines to Share Can Boost Productivity
A software update can help turbines become less disruptive to their neighbors and distribute the wind more efficiently. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Sep 22, 2022•8 min
New Reservoirs Could Help Battle Droughts, but at What Cost?
Storing more water to deal with climate change seems like a no-brainer, but such reservoirs are complex undertakings with environmental issues of their own. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Sep 21, 2022•9 min
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android