Babbage from The Economist

Most of the universe is missing. Only 5% of it is normal matter, which makes up all the people, planets and stars we can see; the other 95% consists of mysterious dark matter and dark energy. Scientists have some hypotheses of what these enigmatic substances might be but recent astronomical observations have posed challenges to their ideas. Even worse, it could mean that there are cracks in the standard model of cosmology, the best scientific description of the universe’s evolution. It’s a nerve-wracking time for cosmologists—is everything they thought they knew about to come crashing down?This is the first of two episodes that explore a looming crisis in cosmology. We examine what scientists understand about the evolution of the universe, and why their best model might be under pressure.Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Mark Mcculloch, Michael Brown, Rebecca Bowler and Erik Rosenberg of the University of Manchester; Nathalie Palanque-Delabrouille of DESI and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.To learn more about how physicists are searching for dark matter, listen to our episode “Babbage: The hunt for dark matter”.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

At the Olympics, athletes strive for victory, compete for medals and try to smash records. Behind those Olympic champions are teams of scientists who study every aspect of a sport, looking for anything that can provide an edge over an opponent. What’s the best lane in which to run a 400m race? What’s the best angle to throw a shot put? What’s the fastest object in sport? In this episode, we uncover the hidden mathematics behind sporting success.Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor, interviews Amandine Aftalion, a professor of applied mathematics at the French National Centre of Scientific Research in Paris and the author of “Be a Champion: 40 Facts You Didn't Know About Sports and Science”.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

In 2010, scientists achieved what had once seemed impossible: they sequenced the genome of a Neanderthal, based on tiny fragments of DNA from ancient bones. It was an astonishing feat that kicked off a new scientific discipline—palaeogenetics—and opened a new window onto the history of life on Earth. In this episode, we explore how scientists are now shedding light not only on ancient people and animals, but on some modern diseases, too. Plus: how the study of ancient DNA could be revolutionised by the recent discovery of “fossil chromosomes”, which allow scientists to peer even further into the past.Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Rory Galloway, senior podcast producer and science writer for The Economist; Pontus Skoglund, Frankie Tait, Sarah Johnston and Jérôme Nicod of the Francis Crick Institute in London; and Cynthia Perez Estrada and Erez Aiden of the Baylor College of Medicine.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

In an era of deepfakes and social media, technology is often seen as a threat to democracy. Not everywhere, though. In Taiwan, a more positive relationship between citizens and technology has paved the way for a digital democracy, which aims to encourage greater participation on how the island is run. Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s inaugural digital affairs minister, argues that the island’s system of government offers lessons for liberal democracies everywhere. Can technology and democracy be allies?Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor, interviews Audrey Tang, author of “Plurality: The Future of Collaborative Technology and Democracy”.Want to learn more about how disinformation works? Listen to our episode of Babbage “Why disinformation is more dangerous than ever”.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Approximately 150 million children around the world are malnourished to the point of stunting. This has a serious impact not only on their height, but also on the development of their brains. Researchers have found that a poor diet and a lack of stimulation can lead to a loss of around 15 IQ points later in life. But a few cheap and simple things could easily prevent this enormous loss of global brain power.Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Tahmeed Ahmed and Tafsir Hasan of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh; Sarah Cusick of the University of Minnesota; Rasa Izadnegahdar of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; The Economist’s Robert Guest and Sondre Solstad. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Spies have always relied on technology to stay one step ahead of their adversaries. In the age of ubiquitous camera surveillance, smartphones and the internet, they now have access to more data and information than ever before. But all that technology is also making other parts of their job harder—staying undercover has become more difficult. How are the tools of the spy trade—and the role of intelligence officers themselves—evolving in the digital age?Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Shashank Joshi, The Economist's defence editor; General Sir Jim Hockenhull of Britain’s Strategic Command; Vice Admiral Frank “Trey” Whitworth of America’s National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; Tanja Lange of Eindhoven University of Technology. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Milk is a baby’s first source of water and nutrients, providing everything that’s needed to grow for the first six months of life. Mothers can provide this milk themselves, through breastfeeding, or by giving their babies carefully-curated formula milk. But it’s only recently that scientists have started to discover that human breast milk is way more complex than previously thought. And that’s prompted researchers to find ways to improve formula milk too.Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Emilie Steinmark, science correspondent at The Economist; Cat Bohannon, author of “Eve”; Sharon Donovan, a professor of paediatric nutrition at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign; Laura Katz, founder and CEO of the company Helaina; Victoria Slaughter of the company BIOMILQ; Shyam Sharan of the National Cancer Institute in Maryland; Emily Winup, midwife and mother of Alex; Esme, mother of Tallulah.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Solar power is the world’s fastest-growing source of energy. It currently provides 6% of the world’s electricity but, by the mid-2030s, solar cells will probably be the planet’s single biggest source of electricity. A decade later they may be the world's largest source of energy. Access to this cheap, abundant power will make nearly everything else cheaper, too. How did solar energy get to this point and what will its rise mean for the future of the world? Plus, where does solar power technology go next—could unlimited energy from the Sun be collected from space?Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Jenny Chase of BloombergNEF; Ali Hajimiri of Caltech; Sam Adlen of Space Solar; and The Economist’s Hal Hodson and John McDermott.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

A new economy is emerging in space. Elon Musk’s SpaceX has driven down launch costs, helping to revolutionise space travel. As the cost of reaching Earth orbit falls, ideas for new businesses that could operate there are gathering steam—from manufacturing drugs to hotels and tourism. At the more exhilarating end of the spectrum is asteroid mining. Once a staple of science fiction, could it soon become reality?Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Peter Diamandis, founder of the XPRIZE Foundation; Sara Russell of Britain’s Natural History Museum; Lindy Elkins-Tanton of Arizona State University; Mitch Hunter-Scullion of the Asteroid Mining Corporation; The Economist’s Geoff Carr and Laurence Knight.For more on this topic, listen to our podcast on Starship.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.