The U.S. tested nuclear weapons until the early 1990s. Since then, scientists have been using supercomputers and experiments to simulate nuclear test detonations, without detonating any nukes. But there are signs the world's nuclear powers may be readying to test again: Russia, China and the U.S. are all upgrading their nuclear test sites.
NPR science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel was among a small group of journalists allowed to tour an underground laboratory where this research happens.
Read more of science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel's reporting here.
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Consider This from NPR - What DOGE could mean for Medicare and Medicaid?
Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is quickly expanding its reach through the federal government.
It recently accessed systems at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Musk and his team now are looking at key payment and contracting systems for Medicare and Medicaid.
That was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
On X, Musk said he believes quote "big money fraud is happening."
Medicare insures older people. Medicaid offers insurance to low income people and those with disabilities.
These two health insurance programs serve tens of millions of people, and they consume a huge part of federal and state budgets. So how could DOGE impact these services?
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It recently accessed systems at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Musk and his team now are looking at key payment and contracting systems for Medicare and Medicaid.
That was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
On X, Musk said he believes quote "big money fraud is happening."
Medicare insures older people. Medicaid offers insurance to low income people and those with disabilities.
These two health insurance programs serve tens of millions of people, and they consume a huge part of federal and state budgets. So how could DOGE impact these services?
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org
Email us at considerthis@npr.org
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State of the World from NPR - What USAID Cuts Look Like Overseas
The Trump administration is dismantling the United States Agency for International Development, USAID. They had been doing humanitarian work in more than 100 countries. We hear from NPR correspondents around the world about what the agency had been doing on the ground and what it's elimination could mean.
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1A - ‘If You Can Keep It’: Where Is The Resistance?
President Donald Trump has dominated the news cycle in the earliest days of office, firing off rounds of executive orders, turning billionaire Elon Musk loose on the federal workforce, and blitzing the press.
But where is the opposition? Democrats lost big in 2024, ceding control of the Senate, House, and the presidency to the GOP. But as Trump continues to swing big at our governing apparatus, they've been more passive than some Americans would like.
Where does the party go from here? And what sort of plan do they have to respond to Trump's plans for the next four years?
Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
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But where is the opposition? Democrats lost big in 2024, ceding control of the Senate, House, and the presidency to the GOP. But as Trump continues to swing big at our governing apparatus, they've been more passive than some Americans would like.
Where does the party go from here? And what sort of plan do they have to respond to Trump's plans for the next four years?
Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
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Up First from NPR - Trump At The Superbowl, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Turmoil, Air Aid To Gaza
In a pre-Superbowl interview on Fox News, President Trump talked about his plans for the Department of Education and Gaza, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been targeted for closure, and details from an NPR reporter's flight into Gaza with one of Jordan's humanitarian flights into the territory.
Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.
Today's episode of Up First was edited by Roberta Rampton, Emily Kopp, Nishant Dahiya, Janaya Williams and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Mansee Khurana, Kaity Kline and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent. And our technical director is David Greenburg.
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Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.
Today's episode of Up First was edited by Roberta Rampton, Emily Kopp, Nishant Dahiya, Janaya Williams and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Mansee Khurana, Kaity Kline and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent. And our technical director is David Greenburg.
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NPR's Book of the Day - In a new book, Chris Hayes argues that attention is our most endangered resource
As a cable news host, MSNBC's Chris Hayes is in the attention business. But in today's interview, he says that he often feels like he's chasing rather than directing his audience's focus. In his new book, The Sirens' Call, Hayes argues that attention has become the information age's most finite resource, with damaging consequences for our politics, lives and collective alienation. In today's episode, Hayes joins NPR's Steve Inskeep for a conversation about the difference between attention and information, President Trump as a symbol of the attention economy, and whether MSNBC is struggling to maintain its audience.
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The Indicator from Planet Money - How the memecoin game is played
Memecoins are having a moment, but who's making money off them? On today's show, how a dearly beloved internet squirrel found an afterlife as a cryptocurrency and how others, including President Trump, are trying to capitalize on online fame.
Related episodes:
Is government crypto a good idea? (Apple / Spotify)
WTF is a bitcoin ETF? (Apple / Spotify)
Who let the Doge(coin) out?
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Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
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Related episodes:
Is government crypto a good idea? (Apple / Spotify)
WTF is a bitcoin ETF? (Apple / Spotify)
Who let the Doge(coin) out?
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
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Short Wave - The Dangers Of Mirror Cell Research
For people with two hands, one is usually dominant. On a molecular level, life takes this to the extreme. All of the DNA in earthly living things twists to the right, whereas the protein building blocks favor a kind of left-handed chemistry. But in recent years, scientists have worked toward a kind of mirror version of life. The technology to make mirror life likely won't exist for at least a decade. Still, a group of concerned scientists published a 299-page technical report calling for a stop to the science. New York Times science columnist Carl Zimmer explains how a mirror microbe could wreak havoc on life on Earth in the future.
Check out the full technical report and Carl's full article.
Curious about other controversial research? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
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Check out the full technical report and Carl's full article.
Curious about other controversial research? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
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Consider This from NPR - Trump 2.0 or Project 2025?
Project 2025, is a 900-plus page blueprint for a conservative President. It was unveiled in the spring of 2023, well before Donald Trump had won the republican presidential nomination.
It outlined a suite of very conservative policies that would, for example, outlaw the mailing of abortion pills and abolish the department of education. It even suggests a return to the gold standard.
It became a democratic talking point, so much so that Trump repeatedly distanced himself from the plan and the authors.
But now that Trump is in office, releasing his own detailed plans. A lot of them are strikingly similar to the ones laid out in Project 2025. And one of its chief architects is now the head of the critical Office of Management and Budget.
Trump disavowed Project 2025 during the campaign. Now, as President, is he using it as a playbook?
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It outlined a suite of very conservative policies that would, for example, outlaw the mailing of abortion pills and abolish the department of education. It even suggests a return to the gold standard.
It became a democratic talking point, so much so that Trump repeatedly distanced himself from the plan and the authors.
But now that Trump is in office, releasing his own detailed plans. A lot of them are strikingly similar to the ones laid out in Project 2025. And one of its chief architects is now the head of the critical Office of Management and Budget.
Trump disavowed Project 2025 during the campaign. Now, as President, is he using it as a playbook?
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org
Email us at considerthis@npr.org
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
Consider This from NPR - Trump 2.0 or Project 2025?
Project 2025, is a 900-plus page blueprint for a conservative President. It was unveiled in the spring of 2023, well before Donald Trump had won the republican presidential nomination.
It outlined a suite of very conservative policies that would, for example, outlaw the mailing of abortion pills and abolish the department of education. It even suggests a return to the gold standard.
It became a democratic talking point, so much so that Trump repeatedly distanced himself from the plan and the authors.
But now that Trump is in office, releasing his own detailed plans. A lot of them are strikingly similar to the ones laid out in Project 2025. And one of its chief architects is now the head of the critical Office of Management and Budget.
Trump disavowed Project 2025 during the campaign. Now, as President, is he using it as a playbook?
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org
Email us at considerthis@npr.org
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
It outlined a suite of very conservative policies that would, for example, outlaw the mailing of abortion pills and abolish the department of education. It even suggests a return to the gold standard.
It became a democratic talking point, so much so that Trump repeatedly distanced himself from the plan and the authors.
But now that Trump is in office, releasing his own detailed plans. A lot of them are strikingly similar to the ones laid out in Project 2025. And one of its chief architects is now the head of the critical Office of Management and Budget.
Trump disavowed Project 2025 during the campaign. Now, as President, is he using it as a playbook?
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org
Email us at considerthis@npr.org
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy