Babbage from The Economist

Recent years have seen a boom in biometric security systems—identification measures based on a person’s individual biology—from unlocking smartphones, to automating border controls. As this technology becomes more prevalent, some cybersecurity researchers are worried about how secure biometric data is—and the risk of spoofs. If generative AI becomes so powerful and easy-to-use that deepfake audio and video could hack into our security systems, what can be done? Bruce Schneier, a security technologist at Harvard University and the author of “A Hacker’s Mind”, explores the cybersecurity risks associated with biometrics, and Matthias Marx, a security researcher, discusses the consequences of bad actors obtaining personal data. If artificial intelligence could overcome security systems, human implants may be used as authentication, according to Katina Michael, a professor at Arizona State University. Plus, Joseph Lindley, a design academic at Lancaster University, proposes how security systems can be better designed to avoid vulnerabilities. To think about practical solutions, Scott Shapiro, professor at Yale Law School and author of “Fancy Bear Goes Phishing”, puts generative AI into the wider context of cybersecurity. Finally, Tim Cross, The Economist’s deputy science editor, weighs up the real-world implications of our thought experiment. Kenneth Cukier hosts.Learn more about detecting deepfakes at economist.com/detecting-deepfakes-pod, or listen to all of our generative AI coverage at economist.com/AI-pods.For full access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe at economist.com/podcastoffer and sign up for our weekly science newsletter at economist.com/simplyscience.

Clinical trials are the gold standard for testing the safety and efficacy of a treatment or drug, and a keystone in modern medicine. But their grinding timelines and skyrocketing price tags are hindering development and, ultimately, costing lives.Natasha Loder, The Economist’s health editor, asks Sir Martin Landray, the boss of Protas, a clinical-trial organisation, what can be learned from his pioneering RECOVERY covid-19 trial. Euan Ashley, a cardiologist at Stanford University, explains how to use wearable technology to conduct wholly digital clinical trials. Plus, Alejandro Frangi of the University of Leeds says virtual clinical trials that use computers to model medical interventions can save time and money. Alok Jha, The Economist's science and technology editor, hosts.We would love to hear from you. Please fill out our listener survey at economist.com/babbagesurvey.For full access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe at economist.com/podcastoffer and sign up for our weekly science newsletter at economist.com/simplyscience.

The use of drones in the war in Ukraine has been increasing. Unmanned vehicles capture battlefield images, relay co-ordinates, and strike targets in Ukraine and even Russia. Whether purpose-built military devices or off-the-shelf civilian technology, the drones are having an outsized impact. How are they influencing battles? And what do they mean for the future of warfare?Oliver Carroll, our correspondent in Ukraine, explores the purpose and effectiveness of drones in the war. Ulrike Franke of the European Council on Foreign Relations explains the potential that drone technology offers to armies. Plus, The Economist’s Benjamin Sutherland travels to Kyiv, to investigate how engineers in underground workshops are tinkering with consumer drones and turning them into military machines. Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor, hosts.  If you love Babbage, why not work with us? We’re hiring for an Assistant Audio Producer to work on the show. Apply by May 15th.The Economist is also seeking applications for the 2023 Richard Casement internship. The successful candidate will spend three months with us in London writing about science and technology. More details here: economist.com/casement2023.For full access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe at economist.com/podcastoffer and sign up for our weekly science newsletter at economist.com/simplyscience.

The vast majority of the energy used on Earth comes from fossil fuels. But as governments enact climate-friendly policies, electric grids need to be decarbonised, by using renewable-energy sources. And much more electricity needs to be generated too—to power transport, homes and heavy industry. Despite its urgency, redesigning electric grids is both a political and technological challenge. How can such a revolution happen?Host Kenneth Cukier explores the mechanics of how electric grids work and how to upgrade them with The Economist’s Hal Hodson. Hal travels to Drax, a power station in the north of England, to visualise this supersized circuit with Bruce Heppenstall, the plant’s director. Plus, Hal asks Gerhard Salge, the chief technology officer of Hitachi Energy, how the latest generation of high voltage direct current cables will transform energy systems.If you love Babbage, why not work with us? We’re hiring for an Assistant Audio Producer to work on the show. Apply by May 15th.For full access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe at economist.com/podcastoffer and sign up for our weekly science newsletter at economist.com/simplyscience.

Since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT almost six months ago, little else has occupied the minds of technologists. Generative artificial intelligence—capable of producing media like text, images and audio in response to prompts—seems to be improving every day, with many technology companies developing and releasing their own competing systems.As the AI revolution accelerates, the technology is being used in ever more creative ways, companies are discovering its potential, causing unease among many content-creators and white-collar professionals, whose jobs seem to be at risk. The story of automation changing the world of work is not a new one. But the speed, the visibility and the hype surrounding generative AI can seem alarming. How worrying is it?The Economist’s Abby Bertics and Arjun Ramani explain how large language models work, the risk posed by the technology—and what to do about it. Callum Williams, our senior economics writer, ponders the potential for economic disruption as generative AI enters the workplace. Plus, Tom Standage, The Economist’s deputy editor explores the question of regulating this emerging technology without hindering innovation. Kenneth Cukier hosts.Listen to all of our coverage of the artificial intelligence revolution at economist.com/AI-pods. If you love Babbage, why not work with us? We’re hiring for an Assistant Audio Producer to work on the show. Apply by May 15th.

Twenty years ago, the Human Genome Project was completed. It unveiled a mostly complete sequence of the 3 billion pairs of building blocks that make up the code within every set of human chromosomes. These are the instructions that create humans. Almost all of human biology research uses the Human Genome Project’s findings in some way, from understanding why some people are more likely to develop diseases than others, to uncovering the secrets of our ancestors and evolution. But for genomics to become a part of everyday medicine, paving the way for personalised medicines, the hard work is still ahead.Natasha Loder, The Economist’s health editor and Geoff Carr, our senior editor for science and technology, reflect on the completion of the Human Genome Project in the early 2000s and the gaps that still remain. Natasha also visits the Wellcome Sanger Institute, to explore the next frontiers for genomics in medicine—she meets the outgoing director, Mike Stratton; the incoming director, Matt Hurles; and the boss of the European Bioinformatics Institute, Ewan Birney. Plus, Mathew Davies, an engineer at the Sanger Institute, and his team, discuss the challenges with storing and processing vast amounts of sequencing data. Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor, hosts.To dive deeper on genomics, find our recent episode from the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing, or explore the power of gene therapies, and also an explainer on how genomic sequencing works.If you love Babbage, why not work with us? We’re hiring for an Assistant Audio Producer to work on the show. Apply by May 15th.For full access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe at economist.com/podcastoffer and sign up for our weekly science newsletter at economist.com/simplyscience.

This week, the European Space Agency is expected to launch a spacecraft towards Jupiter and three of its icy moons—Ganymede, Europa and Callisto. The JUICE mission will carry ten instruments to the outer solar system and will hunt for water, a heat source and organic material—the ingredients that scientists think are needed for life. It is hoped the results that come from JUICE, and a similar NASA mission, Europa Clipper, will give us scientists a clearer view of whether life exists beyond planet Earth. Tim Cross, The Economist’s deputy science editor, explains why missions to the Jovian system represent a shift away from Mars, to hunt for extraterrestrial life. Plus, Jason Hosken, our producer, visits Imperial College London to find out how the JUICE magnetometer works, with engineers Patrick Brown and Richard Baughen. He also asks Michele Dougherty, the instrument’s principal investigator, about the mission’s scientific aims. Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor, hosts.This is the second episode on the grand scientific quest to search for life beyond Earth. Last week, we asked exoplanet hunter and Nobel laureate, Didier Queloz, how to start answering one of the universe’s most intriguing questions. Listen at economist.com/queloz-pod or on your podcast app.For full access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe at economist.com/podcastoffer and sign up for our weekly science newsletter at economist.com/simplyscience.

As they stare up into the night sky, astronomers have long wondered whether life exists elsewhere in the universe. For decades, the hunt for extraterrestrial life has focused on Mars, Venus and even on the various moons of our solar system. But in 1995, that search entered a new phase, when Didier Queloz and Michel Mayor found the first clear evidence of a planet orbiting another star: 51 Pegasi b. Since then, more than 5,000 exoplanets have been found. This week, Alok Jha asks Nobel laureate Dider Queloz, how the “exoplanet revolution” has influenced the search for life elsewhere.Dider Queloz is the founding director of the Center for the Origin and Prevalence of Life at ETH Zurich and the director of the Leverhulme Centre for Life in the Universe at the University of Cambridge. We also hear from Emily Mitchell, the co-director of the Leverhulme Centre, on what an international collaboration of scientists called the “Origins Federation” has set out to study. Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor, hosts.This is the first of two episodes on the grand scientific quest to search for life beyond Earth. Next time, we’ll explore the European Space Agency’s mission to Jupiter’s icy moons: JUICE.For full access to The Economist’s print, digital and audio editions subscribe at economist.com/podcastoffer and sign up for our weekly science newsletter at economist.com/simplyscience.