30 Animals That Made Us Smarter - Termite and ventilation system

A building which heats and cools itself? How was that possible? Termites had the answer. The insects circulate air around their homes or mounds and regulate the temperature inside. They inspired an architect called Mick Pearce, who was designing the heating and ventilation system for a large office and retail building in Harare. With Patrick Aryee. www.bbcworldservice.com/30animals #30Animals

The Gist - A Very Grumpy Death

On The Gist, Grumpy Cat is dead. So are Bill de Blasio’s chances at winning the White House.

In the interview, 1999 might be the greatest year in film—think The Matrix, The Sixth Sense, and Fight Club. But does Magnolia belong in the great movie pantheon, and should we really have been as impressed with American Beauty as we were? Brian Raftery, author of Best. Movie. Year. Ever.: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen, takes us through the last year of the ’90s and explains why there hasn’t been one like it since. 

In the Spiel, there’s no place for centrism as far as abortion rights go.

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Motley Fool Money - The Algebra of Happiness

Walmart delivers. Pinterest plummets. Baidu reports a rare loss. And Taco Bell gets into the hotel business. Analysts Andy Cross, Ron Gross, and Jason Moser tackle these stories and weigh in on earnings from Alibaba, NVIDIA, and Wix. Plus, NYU professor and best-selling author Scott Galloway talks about his new book, The Algebra of Happiness: Notes on the Pursuit of Success, Love, and Meaning. 

Get $50 off your first job post at www.LinkedIn.com/Fool.

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CrowdScience - Could dark matter harbour dark life?

Where the conditions are right, life can arise. But what might the ‘right’ conditions be? Could the dark sector of our Universe be inhabited? That’s what Gautam from Delhi, India has been wondering. He points out that dark matter and dark energy make up around 95% of the Universe and the remaining segment is normal matter - the stuff we’re all made up of. Given that there’s so much of this dark material, could dark life have evolved? Marnie Chesterton investigates with Dr Matt Middleton, Dr Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil and Dr Renato Costa. Together, they unpick what dark matter and dark energy are and test out some listener theories as to what these mysterious mediums might be. For instance, Yoseph from Ogden, USA questions whether black holes could account for the missing matter and it turns out, he might just be on to something… Presented by Marnie Chesterton. Produced by Graihagh Jackson for BBC World Service.

(Photo: Arrangement of Nebula, Stars and a colourful galaxy. Credit: Getty Images)

More or Less: Behind the Stats - Heart deaths, Organised crime and Gender data gaps

Are deaths from heart disease on the rise?

This week the British Heart Foundation had us all stopping mid-biscuit with the news that the number of under 75s dying from cardiovascular disease is going up for the first time in half a century. It sounds like bad news ? but is it?

Does Huawei contribute ?1.7billion to the UK economy?

People were sceptical that the Chinese telecom company could contribute such a large amount to the UK economy. We take a deeper look at the number and discuss whether it is reasonable to include such a broad range of activities connected to the company to reach that figure.

Deaths from organised crime

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said this week that organised crime kills more people in the UK than terrorism, war and natural disasters combined. But what does the evidence say? The NCA also said that there are 181,000 offenders in the UK fueling serious and organised crime. That?s more than twice the strength of the British Army. We try to find out where those figures came from.

The absence of women?s lives in data

Do government and economic statistics capture the lives of women fairly? If not, does it matter? How could things be changed? Tim Harford speaks to Caroline Criado-Perez about her new book ?Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men.?

Image: Human heart attack, illustration Credit: Science Photo Library

Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - Does Russia have a new Rasputin?

If you live in the global west, odds are you haven't heard of Aleksandr Dugin. The author of "Foundations of Geopolitics" doesn't have a global profile, and he holds no official position in the Russian government. However, despite his lack of official government credentials, western officials are increasingly worried that this author may be at the helm of Russia's global chess game, from the annexation of Crimea to proven interference in election systems and more. So who is the mysterious Aleksandr Dugin -- a quack? A genius? Listen in to learn why some believe he may be a new Rasputin.

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