What if a climate change solution is as easy as burning up your old yard scraps?

It starts out as wood and as you can see when we come over, you can see what comes out the other end is

biochar, which is very high carbon, very porous.

It's Friday, March 1st, and just like every day,

today is Science Friday.

I'm Scifry producer Kathleen Davis.

Biochar has been used by indigenous communities

for centuries as a soil additive that can help crops grow, but has

gotten attention recently for its carbon holding properties. We'll talk about that story in just a few minutes, but first Ira talks to science

journalist Tim Revel about the biggest science stories of the week, including

the wildfires in Texas and a weird new plant discovered in Japan. the mathematical argument for what music sounds best to the ear.

According to legend,

Pythagoras had listeners preferred music played in certain perfect

mathematical ratios.

This concept has persisted in modern Western music, specifically for

building harmonies. But it turns out that Pythagoras was wrong. Joining me to break this down and other science stories of the week is Tim Revel,

executive editor for New Scientist and host of the New Scientist Weekly Podcast. He comes to us from New York City.

Welcome back to him.

Hi, thanks for having me.

Well, before we go disputing what Pythagoras said,

explain to me what he meant by saying music sounds best

when notes are in certain mathematical ratios.

...