Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio.

I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

When a rover drops onto Mars today, humanity's efforts to spot extraterrestrial life will get a little boost.

The technology to go looking for it, to see evidence of it through a telescope, or even to listen from messages from it are all improving and fast.

And music that tells heart-wrenching stories that reveals the soul of the artist, music with an edge.

These probably aren't the words you'd use to describe soft rock, and in recent decades, you'd have been right.

But the genre is changing again.

First up, though.

Brutal winter storms swept through America this week, killing more than 30 people. More snow is expected in the south and east in the coming days. Electric grids were overwhelmed by

surges in demand, leaving millions without power and shivering amid dangerously low temperatures.

Officials have warned people not to bring grills or propane heaters indoors after carbon monoxide

poisoning killed at least two people and hospitalized several others.

The grid failures were most severe in Texas, which experienced widespread blackouts.

Governor Greg Abbott spoke at a press conference yesterday.

The fact is, every source of power the state of Texas has access to, has been compromised.

Finger pointing and blame placing have already begun.

Some Republicans claimed the state's reliance on renewable energy was the source of the problem,

a charge shot down by White House Press Secretary Jen Saki yesterday.

Numerous reports have actually shown the contrary,

that it was failures in coal and natural gas that contributed to the state's power shortages.

And officials at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state's power grid, have gone so far as to say that failures in wind and solar were the least significant factors.

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