How intelligence experts prepare for threats we can’t predict
Former CIA senior executive Steve Hirsch discusses how intelligence professionals assess emerging threats, from biological risks and food se...
Radio and PodcastLive Radio & Podcasts
Science & Medicine
KPCW Cool Science Radio
From the discovery of new dinosaurs to the science of an avalanche. From the secret technology behind Facebook, to nanotechnology. Deciphering science and technology in an entertaining, amus...
Episodes
20 of 63 episodes
What massive stars reveal about the early universe
University of Utah astrophysicist Grace Telford discusses new Hubble Space Telescope findings that reveal unexpectedly weak stellar winds in...
When should new medical technology change patient care?
Orthopedic spine surgeon Dr. Stefano Sinicropi explores how physicians weigh new evidence, medical imaging and emerging technologies when ma...
Are we ready for humans to travel to Mars?
Mark Shelhamer, former chief scientist of NASA's Human Research Program, explores the physical, psychological and engineering challenges of...
How autonomous mowers are making dangerous jobs safer
RC Mowers co-founder and CEO Michael Brandt discusses how remote-operated and autonomous mowing technology is helping workers tackle dangero...
Award-winning science that makes you laugh, then think
Marc Abrahams, founder and editor of the Annals of Improbable Research, discusses the 2026 Ig Nobel Prizes, which celebrate scientific resea...
How technology transforms society and disrupts industries
Jeffrey Cole, founding director of the Center for the Digital Future at USC Annenberg, explores how technological change reshapes society, w...
Research suggests pollutants may affect diabetes risk
Carleton University biologists Jennifer Bruin and Myriam Hoyeck discuss new research finding persistent environmental pollutants in the huma...
Technology is changing the fight to protect endangered wildlife
Dr. Alexander Mossbrucker discusses how bioacoustics, artificial intelligence and digital monitoring tools are helping conservationists trac...
Gravitational waves are revealing a hidden universe
Caltech physicist and engineer Gabriele Vajente explains how LIGO detects the faint ripples in spacetime known as gravitational waves. He ex...
The strange science behind 'tiny people' hallucinations
University of Utah doctoral student Colin Domnauer discusses new research linking reports of vivid “tiny people” hallucinations to a single...
Designing innovations that work around the world
MIT engineer Amos Winter discusses how to design affordable, high-performance products that can succeed in different global markets. Drawing...
Gene editing could change the fight against cancer
Gene-editing researcher Raj Chari discusses how CRISPR technology is being used to study cancer, develop potential new treatments, and explo...
How gambling pioneers helped shape modern computing
Bloomberg investigative journalist Kit Chellel explores the surprising history of gamblers who used mathematics, early computers, and engine...
Bringing the stars down to Earth
Kalpana Pot, a self-proclaimed Space Nerd, mixes her unique brand of storytelling and humor to make complicated astrophysics topics entertai...
Why some pain treatments work in mice but not in people
Carleton University neuroscientist Michael Hildebrand discusses new research revealing important differences in how mice, rats and humans pr...
The science of opera: Sound, resonance and the human voice
What happens when physics, physiology, and music collide? Opera turns the human body into an extraordinary acoustic instrument, and there’s...
Why science needs uncertainty
Stuart Firestein, Professor of Neuroscience at Columbia University, explores why uncertainty is essential to science and how embracing what...
Using virtual reality to prove people are job-ready
Nick Day of Roundtable Learning discusses how virtual reality is transforming workforce training by measuring real skills, helping employers...
AI may shift healthcare from reactive to predictive
AI entrepreneur Anmol Madan, founder and CEO of RadiantGraph, explores how artificial intelligence is helping healthcare move beyond treatin...