The aviation industry is under pressure to curb carbon-dioxide emissions—hydrogen fuel could offer a greener way to fly. Also, host Kenneth Cukier unravels the inner workings of the human mind with psychologist Howard Gardner and neuroscientist David Eagleman. If there are multiple intelligences, what happens when they work together? And, how technology can tap into the abilities of the ever-changing brain.

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Britain has become the first country to license a fully tested covid-19 vaccine—the Economist’s health policy editor explains why this a historic milestone. Until vaccines become widespread, mass testing can be used to curb contagion. And, is it possible to detect covid-19 from the sound of a cough? Kenneth Cukier hosts 

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Following promising results from Pfizer and Moderna, why is a third vaccine, from Oxford University and AstraZeneca, so important in the fight against covid-19? Host Kenneth Cukier and The Economist’s health policy editor Natasha Loder investigate the different approaches to this immense challenge. And Nicholas Christakis, a doctor and network scientist at Yale University, explains how despite a vaccine the pandemic could change humanity for good.

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Is it time for a new, global politics of technology? Democratic countries need to establish a robust alternative to China’s autocratic technosphere. The news about potential covid-19 vaccines keeps getting better; we assess how the leading candidates differ. And, is there really phosphine on Venus? Kenneth Cukier hosts 

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The arrival of vaccines to tame covid-19 now seems within reach, but the disease will continue to shape lives long after the pandemic. The Economist’s health policy editor Natasha Loder speaks to patients, doctors and researchers about the symptoms that make up “long covid”, the latest findings about its causes—and how to treat it.

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Social media platforms face one of the most testing weeks in their history as they try to filter the real election news from the fake—host Kenneth Cukier asks whether they are up to the task. In the data economy, does privacy equal power? And, how to harness the sound of the deep sea to power underwater devices.

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From precious moonwater to a handful of asteroid that could provide clues to the origins of life, recent discoveries in our solar system lead host Alok Jha to investigate fundamental questions about the universe. How did life on Earth begin? Could earthly evolution provide a guide to what life elsewhere might be like? And what about the end of everything—the death of the universe itself?

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As new waves of covid-19 sweep around the world, scientists are clashing over the concept of herd immunity. Host Kenneth Cukier asks scientists on both sides of the debate whether covid-19 should be left to spread freely among the young and healthy? Also, the Department of Justice's federal antitrust lawsuit against Google—we search what this means for big tech.

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We explore computer-generated virtual worlds and their use in everything from film-making to architecture. What will it take to build a real Metaverse, a persistent virtual world that anyone can plug into? This vision, though born in the minds of science fiction writers, is shaping the real-world ambitions of much of the tech world. Host Alok Jha talks to author Neal Stephenson, VR pioneer Jaron Lanier and the VFX team behind The Mandalorian. 

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Host Kenneth Cukier explores the science honoured in this year’s Nobel prizes. Our correspondents assess the life-saving impact of the identification of hepatitis C, speak to one of this year’s winners for physics, Andrea Ghez, about her work unveiling the mysteries of the cosmos, and hear from Jennifer Doudna, co-developer of CRISPR-Cas9, on the potential of genome editing. Plus, can the awards adapt to modern science?

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