Science Magazine Podcast

Looking for continents on exoplanets, and math is hard for mathematicians, too

First up on the podcast, the best images of exoplanets right now are basically bright dots. We can’t see possible continents, potential oceans, or even varying colors. To improve our view, scientists are proposing a faraway fleet of telescopes that would use light bent by the Sun’s gravity to magnify a distant exoplanet [/content/article/sun-s-gravitational-lens-could-reveal-alien-planets-surfaces]. Staff Writer Daniel Clery joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss where to aim such a magnificent telescope and all the technological pieces needed to put it together. Next on the show, expert voices columnist and Johns Hopkins University mathematician Emily Riehl [/doi/10.1126/science.aec9014] discusses her recent essay on communication woes in the math community [/doi/10.1126/science.aec9014]. The complex concepts, jargon, and the slow pace of understanding a proof all add up to siloed subdisciplines and potentially more errors in the literature. Alex Kontorovich [https://sites.math.rutgers.edu/~alexk/], a professor in the math department at Rutgers University, also joins to discuss how proof assistant computer programs and machine learning could help get mathematicians all on the same page. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy [https://podigy.co/]. About the Science Podcast [/content/page/about-science-podcast] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

This year’s biggest breakthrough and top news stories

First up on the podcast, Online News Editor David Grimm joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about this year’s best online news stories [/doi/10.1126/science.zzsmwcz]—top performers and staff picks alike. Together they journey the scientific gamut, from bird feeders’ influence on hummingbird beak evolution to the use of “artificial spacetimes” to guide tiny robots through their environments. Next on the show, a discussion of this year’s pick for Breakthrough of the Year [/doi/10.1126/science.20z57oqnf] with producer Meagan Cantwell and News editor Greg Miller. They also touch on some other top finds from this year, including the first confirmed Denisovan skull, rice that can beat the heat, custom gene editing, and progress on xenotransplantation. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy [https://podigy.co/]. About the Science Podcast [/content/page/about-science-podcast] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Hunting asteroids from space, and talking to pollinators with heat

First up on the podcast, we’ve likely only found about half the so-called city-killer asteroids (objects more than 140 meters in diameter). Freelance science journalist Robin George Andrews [https://robingeorgeandrews.com/] joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss the upcoming launch of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Surveyor, an asteroid hunter that will improve our ability to look for large objects [/doi/10.1126/science.zolm8st] that might crash into Earth, particularly those hiding in the Sun’s glare. Next on the show, freelancer producer Elah Feder talks with Wendy Valencia-Montoya [https://www.bellonolab.com/wendyvalenciamontoya], an organismic and evolutionary biology Ph.D. candidate at Harvard University, about heated conversations between plants and their pollinators. Her work suggests infrared radiation might be the oldest cue [/doi/10.1126/science.adz1728] for animals to come hither, more ancient than color. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy [https://podigy.co/]. About the Science Podcast [/content/page/about-science-podcast] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Grappling with declining populations, and the future of quantum mechanics

First up on the podcast, Science celebrates 100 years of quantum mechanics with a special issue covering the past, present, and future of the field. News Contributing Correspondent Zack Savitsky [https://www.zacksavitsky.com/] joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about a more philosophical approach [/doi/10.1126/science.z2b9w8u] to quantum physics and the mysterious measurement problem. Next on the show we have Anne Goujon [https://iiasa.ac.at/staff/anne-goujon], program director at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Laxenburg, Austria. She talks about her Expert Voices column on the uncertain future of demography [/doi/10.1126/science.aed1652] and how the field is grappling with new theories on what happens after the global population peaks. How will different countries deal with falling populations? Will they try to reverse the trend? What are the goals going into the next century? This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy [https://podigy.co/]. About the Science Podcast [/content/page/about-science-podcast] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

When we’ll hit peak carbon emissions, and macaques that keep the beat

First up on the podcast, when will the world hit peak carbon emissions [/doi/10.1126/science.zxnumht]? It’s not an easy question to answer because emissions cannot be directly measured in real time. Instead, there are proxies, satellite measures, and many, many calculations. Staff Writer Paul Voosen joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss how close we are to the top of carbon mountain and the tough road to come after the peak passes. Vani Rajendran, senior researcher in the cognitive neuroscience department at the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s Institute of Cellular Physiology, talks about macaques that can keep the beat [/doi/10.1126/science.adp5220]. She explains how this intriguing ability challenges a long-standing view that animals with complex vocalizations and rhythm are inextricably linked. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy [https://podigy.co/]. About the Science Podcast [/content/page/about-science-podcast] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]