Babbage from The Economist

For Chinese users, WeChat does far more than just messaging. What are the implications of America’s proposed ban on the Chinese “super app”? Also, Canada’s last full Arctic shelf has collapsed, and climate change is to blame. And a sizzling solution to indoor barbeque pollution. Tom Standage hosts 

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A shortage of covid-19 tests around the world has hampered efforts to contain it. Could "pool sampling" be a solution? Also, the promise of million-mile electric car batteries? And, Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, a developmental biologist at the University of Cambridge and Caltech, on the mysteries of life after conception. Kenneth Cukier hosts 

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Three nations set out on separate missions to shed light on a question that astronomers have been asking for centuries—is there life on Mars? Alok Jha asks leading scientists about how their missions will search for signs of life on the red planet. And, why those investigating it should avoid irreversible damage to a potentially pristine ecosystem.

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Oxford University is ahead in the race to develop a covid-19 vaccine that could halt the pandemic. Yet lead researcher, Professor Sarah Gilbert, says some trial results may be delayed owing to changing virus transmissions in different countries. Also, navigating the sky with diamonds. And, why sewage can help census-takers. Kenneth Cukier hosts.

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As governments consider loosening lockdowns, troubling evidence suggests that the virus behind covid-19 lingers in the air, making it more communicable than previously thought. Lidia Morawska, of the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health in Queensland, argues for better indoor ventilation. Also, Dr Vivian Lee from Verily, on how she would fix the American healthcare system. And, the “illuminating” technology revealing archaeological secrets. Kenneth Cukier hosts 

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With attention diverted to covid-19, access to HIV medications has been disrupted. Host Kenneth Cukier talks to Meg Doherty, director of HIV programmes at the World Health Organisation, about the fight against the other pandemic. Also, hydrogen power has had many false starts. Could it be about to take off? And, scientist Ainissa Ramirez on the ways technology changes how people live, act, and think. 

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As covid-19 continues to devastate the world and scientists race to develop therapeutics and vaccines, Alok Jha investigates how to get ahead of the curve and prevent the next pandemic. Scientists explain how studying the relationship between animals and humans, and finding and genetically sequencing the millions of as-yet-undiscovered animal viruses in the wild, could stop future disease outbreaks becoming global health catastrophes. 

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Contact tracing is one of the tools being used against covid-19, but in the age of the smartphone, technology presents a new way to improve the process. Kenneth Cukier explores why contact-tracing apps have not yet delivered on their promise, how they can preserve privacy and what today’s decisions mean for the future of technology in society.  

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A year-long, $160m expedition to the Arctic has passed its halfway mark and is amassing sobering data about the effects of climate change there. One of the scientists on board explains the discoveries so far. Also, Peter Schwartz, who imagined the future in Minority Report, shares his advice for forward planning in the age of covid-19. And, what next for facial recognition technology?

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Slavea Chankova and Kenneth Cukier investigate the ways in which SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes covid-19, wears the body down. Apart from pneumonia, there are other facets to the disease that are less understood such as damage to the kidneys, blood vessels and heart. And, how does covid-19 continue to harm the body—and patients' mental health— in the long term?

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