The search for intelligence beyond Earth has long entranced humans. According to Jon Gertner, a regular contributor to The New York Times Magazine, this search has been defined “by an assumption that extraterrestrials would have developed radio technologies akin to what humans have created.”
However, Mr. Gertner writes, “rather than looking for direct calls ... Show More
Nov 24
The Autism Diagnosis Problem
<p>Once primarily limited to severely disabled people, autism began to be viewed as a spectrum that included children and adults far less impaired. Along the way, the disorder also became an identity, embraced by college graduates and even by some of the world’s most successful p ... Show More
32m 40s
Nov 23
Sunday Special: Wicked, Good?
<p>“Wicked” was one of the biggest movies of 2024. It was culturally ubiquitous, a box office smash and an Oscar nominee for Best Picture. Now, a year later, “Wicked: For Good” arrives in theaters to finish the tale of the complicated friendship between Glinda the Good Witch and ... Show More
51m 44s
Aug 2023
Congress, aliens and the search for E.T.
Crashed crafts, non-human biologics, and the Pentagon in possession of UFOs. Last week, former military and intelligence figures appeared as whistleblowers at a U.S. congressional hearing, testifying about the government’s apparent secrecy around UAPs: unidentified anomalous phen ... Show More
22m 31s
Jan 2024
Odd Radio Circles Are glowing Around Some Galaxies. Now We Know Why
Since they were discovered in 2019, strange, glowing circles of light in space have mystified researchers. Now called odd radio circles, or ORCs, these rings of light sit in the radio portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. They pulse out of the centers of some galaxies – and un ... Show More
9m 20s
Apr 2023
The News Roundup Goes Intergalactic
It's our latest roundup of science news! This time, with Ailsa Chang of NPR's All Things Considered, who joins us to discuss three stories that take us on a journey through space — from the sounds of Earth's magnetosphere, to the moons of Jupiter, to a distant phenomenon NASA cal ... Show More
12m 2s
Jun 2019
Messages From The Deep: The Mystery of Fast Radio Bursts
<p>For years, fast radio bursts have mystified astronomers across the planet. These millisecond-long blips of intense, unexplained radio signals pop up all over the sky, temporarily outshining radio pulsars despite being perhaps a million times farther away. Before 2013, many ast ... Show More
47m 24s