Babbage from The Economist

The age of quantum computing is coming closer, presenting both an opportunity and a risk for individuals, companies and governments. Host Alok Jha explores why quantum computers threaten to crack the codes that keep data and communications secure over the internet. We also investigate how encryption techniques can be improved for a post-quantum age, and why it is urgent that they be deployed as soon as possible. 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. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The evolutionary journey that created modern humans was once thought to be relatively linear. But new technology is revealing a far more complex picture. The Economist’s Dylan Barry travels to South Africa to trace the story of our evolution, and explains how interbreeding with other species provided the genes possessed by many people today. To uncover our origins, scientists are nowadays not only hunting for clues in the bones of our ancestors—but in the genomes of living people, too. We speak to the researchers who are helping to rewrite the human story. Alok Jha hosts. 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. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, the Large Hadron Collider returned to life after a three-year upgrade. By recreating conditions as close as possible to the Big Bang, it might provide answers to some of physics’s greatest mysteries. Recent findings have shown chinks in the armour of the Standard Model of particle physics, currently scientists’ best understanding of the universe at its smallest scales. Through the lens of an intriguing anomalous result, host Alok Jha investigates the new theories that might supersede the Standard Model. How could such ideas impact our comprehension of the universe and what it contains? This episode follows our two-part series about the reopening of the Large Hadron Collider. Listen at economist.com/LHC-pod. 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. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The energy shock threatens to derail action on climate change. Which technologies will enable the green transition, while ensuring energy security, too? Vijay Vaitheeswaran, The Economist's global energy & climate innovation editor, describes the pathway to a decarbonised future. How can electrical grids be made smarter and more resilient as they are fed by cleaner, more renewable sources of energy? And how soon will the technology that’s needed for the energy transition be ready for widespread deployment? Alok Jha hosts. 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. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Short-sightedness, known as myopia, was once a rare condition. But in East Asia, it is becoming ubiquitous, with rates increasing in the rest of the world, too. For decades, researchers thought the condition was mostly genetic. But the scientific consensus has changed. Host Alok Jha and Tim Cross, The Economist’s technology editor, wade through the latest evidence and explore how to prevent or slow the onset of myopia. And, how can the condition’s public-health burden be reduced? 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. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In America and Europe, a growing number of clinics are offering ketamine to treat depression. The anaesthetic—also used illegally as a party drug—can provide rapid relief from the condition where traditional treatments, such as antidepressant drugs, have failed. We investigate how the therapy works, and ask what role it will play in the future of mental-health care. And, as ketamine treatments spread, is enough known about the drug’s long-term safety? Alok Jha hosts with Natasha Loder, The Economist’s health policy editor. 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. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A new type of artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly emerging as a candidate to become the next major general-purpose technology. "Foundational AI" will inject itself into many human endeavours—from writing to coding to drug discovery. We explore why foundation models could end up having an economic impact similar to that of electricity, and why the emerging technology is also proving so controversial. Alok Jha hosts. 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. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Coral reefs are increasingly under threat from global heating, but some species appear to be resistant to warmer sea temperatures. How can scientists harness these findings and revive these important pieces of marine life? Alok Jha hosts. 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. Additional audio courtesy of the Acoustical Society of America and the U.S. Naval Undersea Warfare Center Newport. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In part two of our visit to the Large Hadron Collider on the Franco-Swiss border, Alok Jha asks whether the machine’s next iteration can take the field of particle physics beyond the Standard Model. We also investigate the long-term future of particle colliders. Will scientists ever build the instruments required to reveal the true building blocks of the universe? Listen to both episodes of the series at economist.com/LHC-pod. 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. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is restarting after a three-year break for maintenance and upgrades. In the first of two episodes, host Alok Jha travels to the Franco-Swiss border to find out what the particle accelerator could reveal about the fundamental building blocks of the universe. In 2012, the LHC discovered the Higgs boson, the final piece of the Standard Model of particle physics. But physicists know that that theory is incomplete—it does not account for gravity, dark energy or dark matter, and cannot explain why there seems to be more matter than antimatter. In its third run of experiments, we investigate how the LHC might change our understanding of physics at its most fundamental scales. 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. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.