TED Talks
David Biello is the science curator for TED Talks and the author of The Unnatural World: The Race to Remake Civilization in Earth's Newest Age. He is a former editor at Scientific American magazine, where he covered energy and the environment.
Just don't call it 'climate change' Donald Trump's election has been a profound shock to scientists, environmentalists and the clean-energy industry. He's promised to pull out of the Paris Agreement, rescind the Obama Clean Power Plan, get rid of EPA regulations and bring back coal. That's despite indisputable evidence that humanity’s warming the Earth to the point that ours in only one of the species headed for certain extinction. We hear there is hope — from technology — and from talking morality to Christian evangelicals and economic to doubting Republicans.
How Will China and the US Accomplish Historic Carbon Reductions? For the first time Beijing has agreed to cap emissions by 2030. President Obama has pledged to cut the country’s emissions by about 27 percent by 2025. The joint agreement between President Obama and China’s President Xi Jinping took some for policy experts by surprise, but it comes after months and months of talks between Beijing and Washington. We look at why China and the US agreed to these goals. Thanks to Sasa Woodruff for production assistance.
Is China's 'War on Pollution' for Real? As China's annual session of parliament began today, Premier Li Keqiang delivered a wide-ranging speech on what's become a hot-button social issue: air pollution that often reaches hazardous levels. China's "war on pollution" will include reducing hazardous particulate matters and eliminating outdated energy producers and industrial plants. Will hydraulic fracturing in China be a way of cutting back on coal? David Biello an editor at Scientific American , covering energy and the environment, was recently in China, where he's toured power plants.
Climate Change and the 'War on Coal' Power plants are by far the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the US, and now the Obama EPA has issued regulations that Democrats in some regions are calling the first battle in a "war against coal." It could be extended and bitter. The President wants to get around Congress, with other countries looking for US leadership in reducing greenhouse emissions. We hear about national and international politics as climate scientists are about to release their latest findings.
Are Scientists Closer to Creating Life in a Laboratory? J. Craig Venter is being compared to Galileo, Darwin and Einstein — at the same time he's denounced for trying to "play God." In the 1990's, he beat a team of international scientists in deciphering the human genome. Last week, he announced a breakthrough in creating life in a laboratory , which he called "the first self-replicating species… whose parent is a computer."
Synthetic Cells: Momentous Breakthrough or Ethical Morass? In the 1990's, J. Craig Venter beat a team of international scientists in deciphering the human genome. Last week, he announced a breakthrough in creating life in a laboratory , what he called "the first self-replicating species… whose parent is a computer." Has he really created new life or just modified existing life? In either case, there's already debate over the pros and cons of man-made organisms. Venter envisions vaccines, bio-fuels, even reversing global warming. Skeptics warn of medical accidents and biological weapons getting into the wrong hands. Does "synthetic biology" mean playing God? Would the benefits outweigh the risk of unintended consequences?
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?
