2021
The search for ET hots up
https://www.economist.com/briefing/2021/02/13/the-search-for-et-hots-up
The search for ET may soon yield an answer (leader)
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/02/13/the-search-for-et-may-soon-yield-an-answer
Black sky thinking
https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2021/02/13/a-distinguished-astronomer-sees-evidence-of-extraterrestrial-life
2020
Finding new physics will require a new particle collider
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/01/02/finding-new-physics-will-require-a-new-particle-collider
Might there soon be a supernova near Earth?
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/01/11/might-there-soon-be-a-supernova-near-earth
🎤 Fly Atlas (The Intelligence)
https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2020/02/06/republicans-are-far-more-critical-in-private-than-they-ever-would-be-in-public-impeachment-concludes
🎤 Betelgeuse (Babbage podcast)
https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2020/01/15/starlight-star-bright-is-a-dimming-star-about-to-become-a-supernova
There is more to butterfly wings than meets the eye
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/02/01/there-is-more-to-a-butterflys-wing-than-meets-the-eye
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence moves up a gear
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/02/20/the-search-for-extraterrestrial-intelligence-moves-up-a-gear
🎤 Is there anybody out there? The search for SETI (Babbage)
https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2020/05/13/is-there-anybody-out-there-the-search-for-extraterrestrial-intelligence
Do not rely on facial expressions for how people are feeling
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/02/20/do-not-rely-on-facial-expressions-for-how-people-are-feeling
🎤 The future of food (Babbage)
https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2020/02/19/can-the-world-feed-10bn-people-by-2050
How to test for SARS-CoV-2
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/03/19/developing-and-deploying-tests-for-sars-cov-2-is-crucial
🎬 Covid-19: your questions about coronavirus answered (part 1)
http://films.economist.com/video/Lf1TNwWDQNk
🎬 Covid-19: your questions about coronavirus, answered (part 2) http://films.economist.com/video/4oQ4ayKrIHk
🎤 America’s slow response to coronavirus (Checks and Balance)
https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2020/03/20/the-invisible-enemy-is-america-prepared-for-covid-19
🎤 Coronavirus—your questions answered (Babbage)
https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2020/03/18/coronavirus-our-correspondents-answer-your-questions
Coronavirus - how to use an antibody test
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/04/02/an-antibody-test-for-the-novel-coronavirus-will-soon-be-available
🎬 How to treat covid-19
http://films.economist.com/video/jDCnaN9PXBE
Coronavirus—should people wear masks to slow the spread of the virus?
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/04/11/should-the-public-wear-masks-to-slow-the-spread-of-sars-cov-2
How to ramp up testing for coronavirus
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/04/23/how-to-build-and-deploy-testing-systems-at-unprecedented-scale
Coronavirus reading list
https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2020/04/03/five-books-of-science-and-history-that-cast-light-on-covid-19
What do we know about immunity to coronavirus?
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/05/02/leaving-lockdown-means-understanding-immune-responses-to-the-virus
🎤 What do we know about immunity to coronavirus? (Babbage)
https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2020/04/29/beyond-immunity-what-can-help-the-body-fight-the-coronavirus
🎤 Beyond immunity (Babbage)
https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2020/04/29/beyond-immunity-what-can-help-the-body-fight-the-coronavirus
Scientific research on the coronavirus is being released in a torrent
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/05/06/scientific-research-on-the-coronavirus-is-being-released-in-a-torrent
High-speed science (leader)
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/05/09/speeding-up-science-during-the-pandemic
🎤 High-speed science (The Intelligence)
https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2020/05/14/they-both-really-want-to-get-beyond-this-period-of-political-deadlock-israels-rivals-join-forces
🎤 Mathematics, the language of the universe (Babbage) https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2020/05/27/mathematics-understanding-the-language-of-the-universe
Pandemic-proofing the planet
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/06/25/pandemic-proofing-the-planet
🎤 How to predict—and prevent—the next pandemic (Babbage)
https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2020/07/01/how-to-predict-and-prevent-the-next-pandemic}
🎤 Catastrophic risks (The Intelligence)
https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2020/06/30/there-are-plenty-of-risks-which-threaten-to-wipe-out-human-life-on-earth-how-to-confront-them
Is there life on Mars?
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/07/21/is-there-life-on-mars
🎤 Is there life on Mars? (Babbage special)
https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2020/07/29/tread-carefully-is-there-life-on-mars
Technology Quarterly: Virtual Realities
https://www.economist.com/technology-quarterly/2020-10-03
🎤 The metaverse is coming (Babbage special)
https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2020/10/14/the-metaverse-is-coming-computer-generated-virtual-worlds-are-going-mainstream
Nobel prizes in physics
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/10/08/who-won-this-years-nobel-science-prizes
Water on the moon
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/10/26/there-is-now-cast-iron-evidence-for-water-on-the-moon
Is there really phosphine on venus?
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/11/14/is-there-really-phosphine-on-venus
2003—2014
I spent 11 years as science correspondent at the Guardian, starting in 2003 and leaving in May 2014. In addition to writing news and comment, I made videos and presented the Science Weekly podcast.
In more than a decade of written journalism, I broke dozens of front-page science news stories, reported live from Antarctica, floated aboard a zero-gravity flight with the European Space Agency, had my genes sequenced, was a scientific guinea-pig to test the effects of the Atkins diet, learned how to Lindy-Hop, hung out with daredevil botanists in the mountains of Lebanon, and reported from location in Cape Canaveral as the space shuttle took off on its final mission.
I interviewed hundreds of the world's leading scientists, thinkers and authors, including Richard Dawkins, Brian Greene, David Nutt, Rebecca Skloot, Steven Pinker, E.O Wilson, Ian McEwan, Dava Sobel, Andre Geim, Susie Orbach, John Sulston, Paul Nurse and David Eagleman. I also hosted live podcast shows, in front of audiences, at the Royal Institution, Natural History Museum and the Science Museum in London.