100 episodes
That‘s Cool News | A weekly breakdown of positive Science & Tech news. Adam Buckingham
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- Science
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4.8 • 25 Ratings
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Bringing you the positive STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) news every Monday and explains why these new futuristic innovations are meaningful. The goal is to leave you feeling optimistic and say "That's Cool!"
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172. Neuralink Human Trials, Cancer Spotting AI-Microscopes, Low Power Desalination Tech
Headlines:
Neuralink is recruiting subjects for the first human trial of its brain-computer interface | The Verge (00:54)
RoboFab is ready to build 10,000 humanoid robots per year | TechCrunch (09:26)
Google and the Department of Defense are building an AI-powered microscope to help doctors spot cancer | CNBC (15:58)
Europa’s underground ocean seems to have the carbon necessary for life | New Scientist (20:50)
Low-power desalination tech may provide drinking water at disaster sites | New Atlas (24:20)
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171. Tesla’s Car-Building Breakthrough, Ancient Wound Treatments Work, Single Blade Floating Wind Turbine
Headlines:
Tesla's new car-building process could be a huge industrial breakthrough | The Verge (01:12)
A NASA astronaut will finally spend a full year in space | Ars Technica (07:42)
Reviving Ancient Wisdom: Historical Recipes Inspire Modern Medical Innovations | SciTechDaily (12:59)
Moon's ice not as old as believed, study finds | Interesting Engineering (17:23)
Single-bladed floating wind turbine promises half the cost, more power | New Atlas (20:40) -
170. Robotaxi Mass Production, The “Perfect Motor”, Dialysis Freeing Artificial Kidneys
Headlines:
Cruise ‘just days away’ from approval to mass-produce Origin robotaxis without steering wheels | The Verge (01:12)
Apple spending “millions of dollars a day” on developing conversational AI | Supercharged (10:35)
Mahle combines two innovative concepts to field the "perfect motor" | New Atlas (16:49)
Scientists grow whole model of human embryo, without sperm or egg | BBC News (22:42)
Can an Artificial Kidney Finally Free Patients from Dialysis? | UC San Francisco (27:45) -
169. Pocket-Sized Infection Detection, Exoskeleton Suit for Health Workers, Robot Speeds up Solar Cell Development
Headlines:
New pocket-sized device for clinicians could spot infected wounds faster | Frontiers (01:09)
New blood test could make preeclampsia easier to predict, early study suggests | Live Science (07:12)
Powered exoskeleton designed to take the strain out of senior care | New Atlas (15:42)
Tesla wins permit approval for Diner and Drive-in Movie Supercharger in LA | Teslarati (21:51)
New robot searches for solar cell materials 14 times faster | Ars Technica (25:50) -
168. Uncovering the Y-Chromosome, Multilingual Translation AI, Speaking Through a Digital Avatar
Headlines:
Scientists finally uncover complete Y-chromosome sequence | Interesting Engineering (01:25)
Breakthrough creates stem cells without any “memories” | Free Think (07:33)
Meta’s “massively multilingual” AI model translates up to 100 languages, speech or text | Ars Technica (13:25)
Naked mole-rat's 'longevity' gene extends lifespan and health of mice | New Atlas (18:14)
How artificial intelligence gave a paralyzed woman her voice back | ScienceDaily (23:02) -
167. Positive Net Fusion Energy, Liquid Metal Batteries In The Grid, Musk vs Zuckerberg…Literally
Headlines:
Physicists achieve fusion with net energy gain for second time | Ars Technica (01:08)
Nvidia reveals new A.I. chip, says costs of running LLMs will 'drop significantly' | CNBC (04:39)
Liquid-Metal Battery Will Be on the Grid Next Year | IEEE Spectrum (07:44)
Could TENS pads replace CPAP masks for treating sleep apnea? | New Atlas (13:10)
Musk vs Zuckerberg fight to take place at Roman Colosseum | Interesting Engineering (16:27)
Customer Reviews
Wonderful
This podcast is such a gift-I recently discovered it and listen to it as I get ready in the mornings, and it really affects my mood and outlook for the better. Learning about all the ways that the world is innovating, and therefore getting better, makes me a better human in all domains of my life. Thanks, Adam, for putting this out there and shining a light on all the things that are going right. :)
Cool STEM news but uninformed on some topics
Love that this podcast it looking to spread positivity in the news cycle by focusing on stories to be celebrated. I think we often take STEM advances for granted and it’s lovely that the host takes this on.
I’ve noticed sometimes the host shared uninformed commentary on certain items including climate and environmental topics.
For example, in the most recent episode (August 2023), he warns against putting too much renewables on the grid without an adequate amount of battery storage. He fails to acknowledge that holistic grid resiliency is a macro system characteristic and not something specific to individual generation sources like a wind or solar plant. In discussing load balancing he fails to acknowledge the role of energy storage systems that are not chemical battery compositions, demand response, or peaker plant flexibility. He even spread fear of energy system failures and unscientifically associated this with renewable energy, as if no other energy source or technology is prone to challenges. He ultimately failed to acknowledge the fundamental driver of renewable energy’s value, mitigating GHG emissions to combat climate change.
Like any most news sources, it’s worth listening to with a grain of salt.
Not news; a blog
Re: artificial meat advancements—I eat meat, too, but your conspiracy theories on what environmental harm will happen if we (you) stop eating meat, aren’t interesting or newsworthy.