32 min

Saving the Spix’s macaw, and protecting the energy grid Science Magazine Podcast

    • Science

Two decades after it disappeared in nature, the stunning blue Spix’s macaw will be reintroduced to its forest home, and lessons learned from Texas’s major power crisis in 2021

The Spix’s macaw was first described in scientific literature in 1819—200 years later it was basically poached to extinction in the wild. Now, collectors and conservationists are working together to reintroduce captive-bred birds into their natural habitat in northeastern Brazil. Contributing Correspondent Kai Kupferschmidt discusses the recovery of this highly coveted and endangered parrot with host Sarah Crespi.

Also this week, in an interview from the AAAS annual meeting, Meagan Cantwell talks with Varun Rai, Walt and Elspth Rostow professor in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin, about how to prepare energy grids to weather extreme events and climate change.

This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.

[Image: PATRICK PLEUL/PICTURE ALLIANCE VIA GETTY IMAGES; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

[alt: two blue Spix’s macaws with podcast symbol overlay]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Kai Kupferschmidt; Meagan Cantwell

Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.add3733

About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast

 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two decades after it disappeared in nature, the stunning blue Spix’s macaw will be reintroduced to its forest home, and lessons learned from Texas’s major power crisis in 2021

The Spix’s macaw was first described in scientific literature in 1819—200 years later it was basically poached to extinction in the wild. Now, collectors and conservationists are working together to reintroduce captive-bred birds into their natural habitat in northeastern Brazil. Contributing Correspondent Kai Kupferschmidt discusses the recovery of this highly coveted and endangered parrot with host Sarah Crespi.

Also this week, in an interview from the AAAS annual meeting, Meagan Cantwell talks with Varun Rai, Walt and Elspth Rostow professor in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin, about how to prepare energy grids to weather extreme events and climate change.

This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.

[Image: PATRICK PLEUL/PICTURE ALLIANCE VIA GETTY IMAGES; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

[alt: two blue Spix’s macaws with podcast symbol overlay]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Kai Kupferschmidt; Meagan Cantwell

Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.add3733

About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast

 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

32 min

Top Podcasts In Science

Hidden Brain
Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam
Something You Should Know
Mike Carruthers | OmniCast Media | Cumulus Podcast Network
Radiolab
WNYC Studios
Reinvent Yourself with Dr. Tara
Dr. Tara Swart Bieber
Ologies with Alie Ward
Alie Ward
StarTalk Radio
Neil deGrasse Tyson