Share
Babbage from The Economist
Babbage: The race to the Moon’s South Pole
•
In the coming days, both Russia and India hope to land robotic probes near the South Pole of the Moon. Conquering the South Pole remains one of the grandest challenges in lunar science, but it’s a potentially rewarding endeavour. If evidence of water is found it will make human settlements much more likely.
But the significance of the missions racing for the Moon, Luna-25 and Chandrayaan-3, go beyond science. Russia’s space agency has become isolated after the country’s invasion of Ukraine, while India’s space agency seeks to raise its profile. In an increasingly polarised world, is there any hope for an international agreement on humanity’s use of the Moon?
Sam Dayala, a former director at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology and India’s space agency, explains the aims of Chandrayaan-3. Simeon Barber, a planetary scientist at the Open University who works with the European Space Agency, discusses Russia’s Luna missions and why his drilling package has been removed from the Luna-27 probe. Natan Eismont of the Russian Academy of Sciences explains his desire for renewed global collaboration, despite the political backdrop. Plus, Asif Siddiqi of Fordham University and Raji Rajagopalan of the Observer Research Foundation, reflect on the stakes if a consensus on the use of the Moon isn’t agreed internationally. Gilead Amit, The Economist’s science correspondent, hosts, with Oliver Morton, a senior editor at The Economist.
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.
More episodes
View all episodes
Surviving Christmas: your evidence-based guide
39:26|It’s the season of mince pies, endless chocolate and mulled wine. How bad is all the sugary food we’re eating, really? And why do hangovers seem to get worse with age? This week, our correspondents provide an evidence-based guide on how to survive—and thrive—over the holidays.Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Guests: The Economist’s Slavea Chankova, Benjamin Sutherland and Tim Cross.Listen to our previous episodes on alcohol alternatives, with Professor David Nutt and how to understand the nature of risk, with Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter. 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.
Unfinished business (part 2): fixing the “biggest problem” in physics
41:17|How is it that quantum physics governs the very smallest things in the universe, yet classical, Newtonian rules describe the movements of everything else, from people to planets? In the second of two episodes to mark the centenary of quantum physics, we hear how the boundary between the quantum and classical worlds causes huge inconsistencies—and a debate about the nature of reality itself. Our guest today explains his radical vision for fixing those problems and building a consistent understanding of the universe.Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Guest: Vlatko Vedral of the University of Oxford and the author of “Portals to a New Reality”. If you can’t get enough of quantum physics, listen to our 2022 interview with Nobel laureate Anton Zeilinger, one of the scientists who proved that entanglement is a real phenomenon.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.
Unfinished business (part 1): quantum physics turns 100
45:53|At the turn of the 20th century, physicists realised their understanding of the subatomic world was wrong. A new theory was born: quantum mechanics. Despite defying everyday notions of the nature of reality, quantum physics has had a profound impact on both basic science and modern technology. In the first of two episodes to mark the centenary of the birth of quantum physics, our guest this week explains what this science has done for humanity already and what it will do next. Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Guest: Paul Davies of Arizona State University and the author of “Quantum 2.0”. 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.
Blaise Agüera y Arcas: why AI really is intelligent
44:25|Whether or not AI models really are “intelligent” is a philosophical and scientific question with profound consequences for how people use and develop the technology. But what does “intelligence” really mean? Blaise Agüera y Arcas has a provocative answer: what if intelligence—and all of life—is just a product of computation?Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Guest: Blaise Agüera y Arcas, CTO of technology & society at Google and the author of “What is Intelligence?”If you enjoyed this episode, scroll back to our two-part series, which asked: what is artificial general intelligence? Or, to learn how biology inspired the AI systems of today, find our series on the science that built the AI revolution. 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.
Hotting up: the geothermal revolution
40:19|Geothermal energy has long been neglected—it currently provides less than 1% of the world’s electricity. That’s because very few places on Earth have the right conditions to enable geothermal plants to work. But that’s changing, thanks to a new suite of technologies. Could geothermal soon rival nuclear power?Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Guests: The Economist’s Vijay Vaitheeswaran; Jack Norbeck of Fervo Energy; James Benetatos of Quaise Energy; and Cindy Taff of Sage Geosystems. 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.
Live from Web Summit: how to build a genuinely useful robot
26:41|For decades, futurists have promised that robots will transform society, yet that still feels like a distant prospect. In this episode, recorded live at the “Web Summit” technology conference in Lisbon, our guests explain why a robotic revolution is closer than you think—and what they’re doing to make it a reality.Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Guests: Robert Playter, the boss of Boston Dynamics; and Tye Brady, the chief technologist at Amazon Robotics. 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.
Part man, part pig: how animal organs could save human lives
39:24|Only 10% of people around the world who need organ transplants actually end up receiving them, due to a shortage of suitable donors and extremely complicated logistics. Some scientists have therefore been looking for more radical solutions: transplanting genetically-modified pig organs into humans. The field has seen rapid progress in recent years—will such procedures become mainstream?Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Guests: The Economist’s Emilie Steinmark; Leonardo Riella of Massachusetts General Hospital; and Tim Andrews, one of Dr Riella’s patients. 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.
Protecting the jungle: on the road with Madagascar’s seed hunters
43:24|Between 2001 and 2024, a quarter of Madagascar’s native rainforest has vanished. At this rate of destruction, those ecosystems will be entirely wiped out by the end of the century. Could collecting and preserving the seeds of the endangered plants help repair the country’s ancient forests?Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Guests: The Economist’s Ainslie Johnstone; Henintsoa Razanajatovo and Nomentsoa Randriamamonj of Kew Madagascar; Sharon Balding and Charlotte Lusty of Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst.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.
Neil Shubin: defender of American science
36:28|Two decades ago, Neil Shubin discovered a fish-like fossil which transformed scientists’ understanding of how animals transitioned out of the sea. In this episode, Prof Shubin tells us about hunting for fossils at Earth’s extremes and how he is gearing up for another big challenge: taking the reins of America’s National Academy of Sciences. In his telling, American science is in a “dark age”. Why, then, is he so optimistic?Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Guest: Professor Neil Shubin of the University of Chicago and the author of “Ends of the Earth”.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.