The Economist: Babbage
Summary: Named after Charles Babbage a 19th-century polymath and grandfather of computing, Babbage is a weekly podcast on science and technology. Host Kenneth Cukier talks to our correspondents about the innovations, discoveries and gadgetry making the news. Published every Wednesday on Economist Radio.
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- Copyright: Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2016. All rights reserved.
Podcasts:
An efficient, low-cost way to detect explosives, and our US technology editor analyses Facebook’s future after an interview with its boss, Mark Zuckerberg
New yeasts could open up new flavours for clever chocolate and coffee producers, and sonic booms may become less loud, unleashing faster private air travel
The FBI claims it may be able to bypass the privacy protections on a terrorist's Apple phone. But the broader dispute over balancing user privacy and national security remains.
Scientists find ways of analysing data sonically, not visually, and a new study suggests how memory problems in Alzheimer's disease aren't with storage, but with retrieval
In a milestone for artificial intelligence, a program designed to play the ancient Asian game of Go has won the first of its five games against a human champion. It's an example of how smarter software, not just more powerful hardware, will drive progress in the computer industry in future
Brain scans of American footballers reveal the darker side of contact sports and a new study on social media uncovers why we take selfies
Apple clashes with the FBI over accessing iPhone data and scientists finally prove why we keep having sex
The fifth generation of mobile network promises to take us one step closer to wireless paradise and researchers infect patients with modified viruses to fight cancer
This week we look at how selectively bred coral-dwelling algae might survive warmer waters and at how bacteria bend light to direct their tiny bodies toward the sun
A charity in America rallies transplant-organ preservation scientists, and researchers in Hong Kong think they've found a way to detect doping in racehorses
Scientists identify the genes that are driving schizophrenia and as touchscreens become more responsive, imaginative new uses may emerge
A mosquito-borne virus is linked to a worrying number of birth defects in Brazil and has social media expanded the number of friendships we can maintain?
How big data can help tackle air pollution and a bright idea makes for a better light bulb
Scientists are learning more than ever about black holes as astronomical objects and an American firm brings a real McFly hoverboard to market
In our second holiday special, our hosts look back from 2115. Pluto’s portraits may be humdrum by then, but AI, gene editing and quantum computing may have changed the world
