Why Elon Musk plans to put 1 million satellites in orbit; Should we be giving sleep drugs to kids?; Why global pesticide risk is not improving

为什么埃隆·马斯克计划发射一百万颗卫星进入轨道;我们应该给孩子们服用安眠药吗?;为什么全球农药风险没有改善?

New Scientist Podcasts

2026-02-06

37 分钟
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Episode 344 Elon Musk has announced he wants to merge SpaceX with another of his companies, xAI, and launch one million satellites into space. One reason - according to Musk - is to eventually harness the entire power of the sun, a sci-fi sounding idea that would make us a Kardashev Type II civilisation. But he also wants the satellites to help power AI and move data centres off Earth. Is his goal realistic… and what would be the consequences? Parents desperate to get their children to sleep are resorting to melatonin gummies - and it’s proving very effective. Melatonin is a sleep hormone which is only available on prescription in many countries. So some parents are importing them from America - where they can be bought over-the-counter. The trouble is the long-term side effects are not really known - and cases of melatonin overdose in children are on the rise. Despite global agreement to cut the "overall risk" from pesticides by at least half by 2030 - new data shows we’re not even close. Countries made this commitment at a UN biodiversity meeting in 2022, but so far it’s been almost impossible to measure success. Thanks to a researcher in Germany, we now have a way to track our progress - and it’s not looking good. Could an increase in organic farming be the solution, or CRISPR gene editing? Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet, with guests Jonathan O’Callaghan, Alice Klein and Michael Le Page. To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  • Welcome to True Spies,

  • the podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.

  • You'll meet the people who live life undercover.

  • What do they know?

  • What are their skills?

  • And what would you do in their position?

  • Vengeance felt good.

  • Seeing these people pay for what they've done felt righteous.

  • True Spies from Spyscape Studios, wherever you get your podcasts.

  • Elon Musk has announced plans to make Earth a Kardchev type 2 civilization,

  • which is when a species is able to directly harness all the power of its star.

  • Right, so he doesn't just want to make us multi-planetary as a species.

  • We now have to harness the entire power of the sun.

  • Just that small thing, yeah.

  • It's about plans for SpaceX to put a million satellites into orbit.

  • A million is, like, such a stupid number that, like, it's probably a bit of a joke.

  • You might launch 50,000.

  • A little bit of a land grab.

  • in that sense.

  • Also this week we hear that half of American parents have given their kids melatonin hormone to get them to go to sleep.