42 - Die Antwort auf fast alles: Season 1

Seasons

• Season: 1
• Season: 2

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  This report explores the challenges and insights gained from deep drilling into the Earth. Researchers from Germany, France, and Italy emphasize the technical complexity and costs of these undertakings. The drill cores, made of rock or ice, serve as archives of Earth's history and enable the study of phenomena such as climate change.

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  A new lunar cycle begins with 95 planned missions over the next ten years, including contributions from smaller nations. Scientists want to know how humans can carve out a life on the moon. Could humans live there permanently? And who does the moon belong to? Salem Al Marri of the United Arab Emirates Space Agency explains the motivations and goals of this intensified lunar exploration.

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  The ancient Greeks practiced sortition as a cost-effective method to prevent corruption and abuse of power and to establish political equality. Although this idea resurfaced in the 19th century, modern societies have opted for elections as the means of selecting representatives.

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  A research team led by Israeli biologist Ron Milo has attempted to calculate the total mass of all living things on Earth by combining data from various fields of research. The challenges range from accurately estimating the fish population in the ocean to discovering previously unknown species on land.

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  Climate change could cause sea levels to rise by up to 20 millimeters per year by the end of the century, threatening island nations and major cities. Urban planner Heiner Haaß and architect Bjarke Ingels propose building on the water, with concepts like Oceanix City or floating structures in the Maldives.

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  Bodily data, from genes to the microbiome, could indicate diseases early if analyzed precisely. Computers and algorithms are needed to recognize patterns. In the US, skin cancer has been detected early using algorithms. The vision is a medical avatar that monitors our bodily data and warns us of health problems.

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  Mucus, a versatile substance in nature, fulfills various functions: It can glide, stick, select, and even serve as a protective or defensive weapon. The unique state of matter of mucus enables its diverse applications. Microbiologist Hans-Curt Flemming emphasizes the central role of mucus in the evolution of microorganisms.

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  Long considered clean and inexpensive, nuclear energy raises a major problem: ultimate radioactive waste. This waste must be buried underground for at least a million years—an eternity! How can we warn our descendants of the risk it represents? What pictograms could alert them to the toxic gift we are leaving them?

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  Life would be fantastic if we were never scared. We could cross deep ravines on tightropes, ski down the steepest mountainsides and feel fine. Unfortunately, fear runs deep inside us.

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  With global warming, the melting of the ice is accelerating. The Arctic is warming two to three times faster than the rest of the world. Having remained stable until recently, the Antarctic sea ice is now melting dramatically. What will be the consequences of this phenomenon for the environment and for human beings?

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  From birth we are surrounded by sounds which, often without our knowledge, influence our view of the world. But are our reactions to these sounds the same?

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  Although we are mostly optimistic about our own lives, we tend to be rather pessimistic when we consider the future of the world and the future of our society. How can we explain this apparent contradiction?

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  What's the recipe for making a song a global hit? Musicologists, brain scientists and professionals in the music industry are actively researching the 'magic formula' for the mega hit.

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  The universe is vast. So vast that it defies the imagination. To the point that we find it strange that we "Earthlings" are the only living beings to inhabit it. What, then, is the probability that extraterrestrials exist? What might they look like? Finally, wouldn't their existence force us to rethink our place in the cosmos?

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  Tea of coffee? Fish or meat? Every day human beings make around 200 decisions about what to eat. But what drivess these choices? Why do we eat what we eat?

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  Light, as both a wave and a particle, travels at a constant speed. A beam of light originating in the sun's interior reaches Earth after eight minutes and drives the life cycle through photosynthesis.

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  Drought and insects threaten forests. What can be done to save them? In northern France, researchers are trying to introduce plants native to the south. Across the Rhine, the Thünen Institute cultivates oak trees that are particularly resistant to insects, drought, and fungi.

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  Nobody likes dust. Attempts to get rid of it are futile; it always comes back. And that's a good thing! Because without dust and its superpowers, life on Earth would hardly be possible. Dust contributes to the formation of rain, it provides nutrients to the sea and the jungle, and it's our personal calling card. Come to think of it, dust might even be able to save the world.

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  To tackle climate change, one option is to artificially cool the Earth or capture CO2. The field of geoengineering is full of seemingly outlandish ways of manipulating the planet's climate.

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  The fact that we have a breathable atmosphere on Earth is largely down to algae. Could these aquatic plants be the secret of solving climate change and saving ourselves and the planet?

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  The sharpest weapon of the pandemic has given us a vaccination technique that almost no one knew about before the coronavirus—messenger RNA. It has been studied for over 20 years. The grand goal of mRNA pioneers: a cancer vaccine. After the success of coronavirus vaccines, will we also defeat this old sworn enemy of humanity? A small community of researchers from around the world has always believed in the revolutionary potential of mRNA vaccination. The rest of the scientific world considered the biomolecule a mere unstable diva until recently. "No one read our papers, and we didn't receive any research funding either," says Steve Pascolo, who likes to compare mRNA to the transcription of a recipe from the great cookbook of DNA. A transcription that can be delivered to the kitchens of cells, which then do everything indicated in the recipe. The human body becomes a pharmacy.

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  Giving up flying overnight would cause global logistical problems, as many delivery chains would be interrupted. But planes are climate killers. So what should be done?

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  It is estimated that there are now more than 1.7 million robots with social capabilities in the world. They feed us, educate us, help us, and entertain us. Highly technical sex robots have existed for a long time. But can these machines actually develop feelings—or even experience love? "We have developed digital artificial hormones for our robot. And we are using artificial intelligence to simulate the changes in hormonal balance in a person who falls in love," explains Hooman Samani, a robotics developer at the University of Plymouth. Conversely, we are also moving closer to a human-machine relationship: For cognitive psychologist Martin Fischer of the University of Potsdam, certain psychological effects indicate that our attitude toward robots will become increasingly positive in the future.

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  Parasites get a bad rap: they can make us sick or even kill us. For centuries, we have been trying to protect ourselves against them, in particular through hygiene measures. Yet half of the living beings on Earth are parasites. If they are really everywhere, maybe they are not fundamentally useless?

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  We spend a third of our lives sleeping. Is it possible for us to sleep less and enjoy extra waking years for leisure and work? Can we optimise our sleep patterns to get more out of life?

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  In September 2021, El Salvador became the first country in the world to introduce Bitcoin as legal tender. From now on, all companies accept the cryptocurrency from their customers, as well as the US dollar. "A crazy idea," says former economist Peter Bofinger. The price of bitcoin is far too volatile, and it's a dangerous bet - one that the president thinks he can pull off.

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  Black holes can tell us a lot about the universe. But could they hold the key to understanding our world? Astrophysicist Nikodem Poplawski proposes that our universe may not have been born after a Big Bang after all. Perhaps our whole world is inside a black hole…

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  Humans spend up to six years dreaming over the course of their lifetime. What if dreams were more than unreal visions? Could we take the brilliant ideas that appear in dreams and make them a reality? Dreams hold a largely untapped creative potential.

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  Researchers are searching for patterns and models to predict migration. Factors such as technological developments, demographic changes, economic crises, and climate change influence migration.

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  The mystery of animal communication stands in contrast to human language: Elephants use infrasound, cats vocalize, and whales communicate through flipper movements. The question is, what would change if these sounds could be translated? Humans have the ability to understand each other using dictionaries or translation apps.