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Creating the Second Atomic Age
Season 1 Episode 100
As demand for clean energy grows, engineers around the U.S. are working on a new generation of nuclear reactors. These designs reflect how nuclear energy could fit into the power grid – and our lives…
Published on 1 year, 5 months ago
Lifetime Terms, Lifetime Bans, and the Return of Roaring Kitty from Risky Business
Season 1
This week on Risky Business, Nate and Maria discuss whether Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor should retire, the perils of sports betting among professional athletes, and what the return of Roari…
Published on 1 year, 6 months ago
When the Robots Take Over… from Cautionary Tales
Season 1 Episode 99
Tim Harford is joined by Jacob Goldstein to answer your questions. Does winning the lottery make you unhappy? Is Bitcoin bad for the economy? When does correlation imply causation? And what will Tim …
Published on 1 year, 6 months ago
Making Palm Oil Without Palm Trees
Season 1 Episode 98
Palm oil is a cheap and remarkably versatile vegetable oil. It’s in a ton of products, from food to cosmetics, detergent, and chewing gum. But producing so much palm oil is really bad for the planet.…
Published on 1 year, 6 months ago
Fighting Cancer with CRISPR
Season 1 Episode 97
Last year, the FDA approved a treatment for sickle cell disease using a revolutionary new gene editing technology called CRISPR. Rachel Haurwitz conducted pioneering research on CRISPR as a graduate …
Published on 1 year, 6 months ago
How to Start 40 Companies (and Counting)
Season 1 Episode 96
Robert Langer has co-founded dozens of companies, holds over a thousand patents, and is a pioneering figure in drug delivery and tissue engineering. Robert has solved a lot of problems, and is workin…
Published on 1 year, 7 months ago
The Cutting Edge of Energy Storage: Rust
Season 1 Episode 95
Mateo Jaramillo is the co-founder and CEO of Form Energy. Mateo’s problem is this: How do you build batteries that can provide affordable backup power to the grid for days at a time? As it turns out,…
Published on 1 year, 7 months ago
The First Pig to Human Kidney Transplant
Season 1 Episode 94
This March, doctors successfully transplanted a pig kidney into a person for the first time in history. Mike Curtis is the CEO of eGenesis, the company that raised the pig whose kidney was used for t…
Published on 1 year, 7 months ago
Designing a Drone That Delivers
Season 1 Episode 93
Imagine picking up your phone and ordering something from Walmart. Fifteen minutes later, a drone hovers over your yard, lowers your order down to you, and zips away. Adam Woodworth wants this to be …
Published on 1 year, 7 months ago
How Do Psychedelics Work?
Season 1 Episode 92
Psychedelics are going mainstream. The FDA has approved ketamine for certain patients with depression, and may soon approve MDMA for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But a fundamental question …
Published on 1 year, 7 months ago