Healthy forests help combat climate change, provide humans with drinking water and even improve mental and physical health. But it’s hard to imagine an entire forest in the middle of a big city. That’s where micro-forests come into play — public forests on a smaller scale, filled with native plants. They exist around the world, and producer Rachel Carlson went to visit the largest micro-forest in California. She joins host Emily Kwong to chat about what she saw.
Interested in more of the science behind urban nature? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.
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Ologies with Alie Ward - Venusology (VENUS) with Vicki Hansen
Gassy veils! Orange sunlight! Alien life? It’s the sole goddess of our solar system: Venus. And to tour us through her beauty is the charming and enthusiastic planetary geologist and Venusian expert Dr. Vickie Hansen, a Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute. In what is sure to become an instant classic, Vickie will delight you with tales of space probes past and future, dazzling terrain, myths, melting machinery, “noodle data,” analogues to Earth, tectonic misconceptions, and reactions to self-help books that capitalize on our solar geography. Also: what does Venus smell like?
Donations went to the Planetary Science Institute and the Nature Conservancy
More episode sources and links: alieward.com/ologies/venusology
Other episodes you may enjoy: Heliology (THE SUN/ECLIPSES), Areology (MARS), Astrobiology (ALIENS), Cosmology (THE UNIVERSE), Selenology (THE MOON), Mythology (STORYTELLING), Astrobromatology (SPACE FOOD), Black Hole Theory Cosmology (WHAT ARE BLACK HOLES?!), Scotohylology (DARK MATTER), UFOlogy (UNEXPLAINED AERIAL PHENOMENA), Space Archaeology (SPACE JUNK), Quantum Ontology (WHAT IS REAL?)
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Engines of Our Ingenuity - The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2566: Champagne
Episode: 2566 Taking Champagne to the Masses. Today, we pop the cork.
The Stack Overflow Podcast - You need quality engineers to turn AI into ROI
SPONSORED BY MONGODB
Pete Johnson, Field CTO, Artificial Intelligence at MongoDB, joins the podcast to talk about a recent OpenAI paper on the impact that AI will have on jobs and overall GDP. Pete, who reads the papers (and datasets) so you don’t have to, says that looking at AI’s impact as a job killer is a flawed metric. Instead, he and Ryan talk about how AI will be a collaborator for actual human workers, how embeddings and vectorization will move the productivity needle, and the five decisions you need to make to realize ROI on AI.
Episode notes:
If you’re curious, read the OpenAI blog post and paper yourself.
For those of you looking for inspiration, check out Werner Vogel’s keynote from re:Invent 2025.
MongoDB provides a flexible and dynamic database that excels with AI data.
Connect with Pete on LinkedIn.
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Global News Podcast - President Trump again threatens to annex Greenland
The US claims that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority to deter threats from Russia and China in the Arctic. Washington hasn't ruled out the use of military force. Also: Ukraine and allies say they've made progress in talks to ensure the country's security in the event of a ceasefire with Russia; the Venezuelan military and government crack down on dissent; the anti-government protests that have engulfed Iran; an inside look at one of the world's first quantum computers; and Lego's high-tech upgrade.
The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight.
Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment.
Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk
Amarica's Constitution - Venezuelan Frisbie
The military capture of the Venezuelan leader, Maduro, is an event with giant international strategic, moral, economic, political, and other considerations. It also raises fascinating constitutional questions, and Professor Amar is ready to discuss some matters that probably did not come to your mind right away. Much of this stems from the fact that Maduro will be tried in a U.S. civilian, not a military court, so constitutional protections are implicated. Whatever your thoughts about the policy matters, it behooves you to join us in this exploration of how this escapade reveals a strain in constitutional doctrine that remains unresolved. Meanwhile, you will learn of cases with names like “Frisbie,” hence our title. CLE credit is available for lawyers and judges at podcast.njsba.com.
Risky Business with Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova - Nate and Maria’s 2026 Predictions
In the final episode of Risky Business, Nate and Maria check in on the predictions they made back in January for 2025, and then talk about what they think might be in store in 2026.
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The Leap from Maria Konnikova
Silver Bulletin from Nate Silver
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Robert, Mia, and James discuss the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. Forces, and what it means for the USA and the world.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The White House said it was considering “a range of options” to acquire Greenland and that using military force is “always an option”.
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The Source - U.S. raid captures Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, igniting legal and political fight over war powers
Venezuela’s government and several international voices have denounced the U.S. strike as an unlawful act of aggression and a dangerous precedent for unilateral regime changing operations.array(3) {
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