#141 Energy threat to international security; a new form of multiplication

The climate crisis is as great a threat to energy security as Russia’s war on Ukraine, warns the World Meteorological Organization. The team finds out what sort of threats we’re talking about, and discusses potential solutions.

Imagine looking up at the skyline, ready to take in a beautiful sunset, and there it is - a massive, Moon-sized advert, stretched out across the skyline. The team explains how it might be possible (and practical) to do it soon.

The erect-crested penguin is the least studied penguin in the world - largely because it lives on remote islands off the coast of New Zealand. But Rowan and Alice find out more - as well as discovering about the surprising sex lives of penguins.

DeepMind’s newest artificial intelligence has discovered a new way to multiply numbers - the first improvement in over 50 years. It’s an algorithm for something called matrix multiplication, and the team finds out how it could speed up computers by as much as 20 per cent.

To mark World Mental Health Day (Monday 10th October), Rowan speaks to ‘Losing Eden’ author Lucy Jones, and energy and climate scientist Gesche Huebner, to find out how the climate and nature crises are impacting our mental health - and what to do about it.

On the pod are Rowan Hooper, Penny Sarchet, Madeleine Cuff and Matt Sparkes. To read about these subjects and much more, you can subscribe to New Scientist magazine at newscientist.com.

Events and discount codes:

Dow: newscientist.com/dow

New Scientist Autumn campaign: www.newscientist.com/pod13

Big Thinker: newscientist.com/spaceandmotion

Mental health resources: UK Samaritans; US National Institute for Mental Health; help with climate anxiety

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