Space-based solar power gets serious, AI helps optimize chemistry, and a book on food extinction

Science Magazine Podcast

Science Podcast

News, News Commentary, Science

4.3 • 842 Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2022

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On this week’s show: Cheaper launches could make solar power satellites a reality, machine learning helps chemists make small organic molecules, and a book on the extinction of foods First up on the podcast, space-based solar power gets closer to launch. Staff Writer Daniel Clery talks with host Sarah Crespi about how reusable rockets bring the possibility of giant solar array satellites that beam down gigawatts of uninterrupted power from space. After that, we hear about small organic molecule synthesis. Making large organic molecules such as proteins and DNA can be a cinch for chemists, but making new smaller organic molecules is tough—partially because optimized general reaction conditions are hard to come by. Nicholas Angello, a graduate research assistant and Department of Defense National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate fellow in the Burke group at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, talks about an approach that uses robots and machine learning to better optimize these reaction conditions. Also in the episode: the last in our series of books on food and agriculture. This month, host Angela Saini talks with author Dan Saladino about his book Eating to Extinction: The World’s Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy. [Image: NASA; Music: Jeffrey Cook] [alt: drawing of satellite solar panels with podcast overlay symbol] Authors: Sarah Crespi; Dan Clery; Angela Saini Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adf4939 About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Morgan State University, a Baltimore, Maryland Carnegie R2 doctoral research institution,
0:05.0	offers more than 100 academic programs and awards degrees at the Baccliorate, Masters, and Doctoral Levels,
0:12.0	is furthering their mission of growing the future leading the world.
0:16.0	Morgan continues to address the needs and challenges of the modern urban environment.
0:20.0	With a four-year quadrupling of research, more than a dozen new doctoral programs,
0:25.7	and eight new National Centers of Excellence, Morgan is positioned to achieve Carnegie R1 designation in the next five years.
0:33.7	To learn more about Morgan and their ascension to R1, visit morgan.edu slash research.
0:40.5	This podcast is supported by the Icon School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, one of America's leading research medical schools.
0:48.1	Icon Mount Sinai is the academic arm of the eight hospital Mount Sinai health system in New York City.
0:55.7	It's consistently among the top recipients of NIH funding. Researchers at ICONMount Sinai have made breakthrough discoveries in
1:02.0	many fields vital to advancing the health of patients, including cancer, COVID and long COVID,
1:08.8	cardiology, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence.
1:12.6	The Icon School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, we find a way.
1:22.3	This is the science podcast for October 28, 2022. I'm Sarah Crespi. Each week we talk with journalists
1:29.8	and scientists about news and research from science and the sister journals. First up this week,
1:36.2	space-based solar power gets closer to launch. Staff writer Daniel Cleary is here to talk about
1:41.6	how reusable rockets can bring the possibility of giant
1:45.7	solar array satellites that beam down gigawatts of uninterrupted power. After that, we hear
1:51.6	about organic small molecule synthesis. It turns out making proteins in DNA, which are big organic
1:58.1	molecules, can be pretty easy these days, but making new stuff that's small
2:02.9	is actually tough. And this is partially because it's so difficult to optimize reaction conditions.
2:08.6	Nicholas Angelo talks about an approach that uses robots and machine learning to optimize
	...

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