For many people in the US, the threat of nuclear weapons is out of sight and out of mind. But the nuclear complex is alive and well. In fact, the state of nuclear weapons is evolving in the US. The United States, among other countries, is giving its nuclear arsenal—which contains about 5,000 weapons—a makeover. This modernization costs around $50 billion a year, which will amount to more than $1.5 trillion over the next few decades.
With the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in place, countries should be stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and technology. That raises the question: If nearly all countries have agreed not to nuke each other, why are nuclear arsenals being updated? And what does that signal to the world?
In her new book Countdown: The Blinding Future of Nuclear Weapons, science journalist and author Sarah Scoles analyzes the current nuclear age, speaks with the scientists in charge of nuclear weapons, and asks, do more nukes keep us safer?
Scoles talks with Ira about why the US is modernizing its nuclear arsenal, the role of science in nuclear deterrence, and why this moment in nuclear history is so important.
Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.
Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.
758: Flint’s Water Crisis, 10 Years Later | Underwater Cables Could Help Detect Tsunamis
757: Fighting Banana Blight | Do Birds Sing In Their Dreams?
756: Why Is Solving The Plastic Problem So Hard?
755: What Worsening Floods Mean For Superfund Sites
754: The Global Mental Health Toll Of Climate Change | Capturing DNA From 800 Lakes In One Day
753: Clean Energy Transition Progress | Avian Flu In Cattle And Humans Has Scientists Concerned
752: A Cheer For The Physics Of Baseball
752: Carbon Cost Of Urban Gardens And Commercial Farms | Why There's No Superbloom This Year
751: Inside The Race To Save Honeybees From Parasitic Mites
750: The Brain’s Glial Cells Might Be As Important As Neurons
749: Limits On ‘Forever Chemicals’ In Drinking Water | An Important Winter Home For Bugs | Eclipse Drumroll
748: Investigating Animal Deaths At The National Zoo
745: Eating More Oysters Helps Us—And The Chesapeake Bay
747: How Trees Keep D.C. And Baltimore Cool
744: Predicting Heart Disease From Chest X-Rays With AI | Storing New Memories During Sleep
746: Recipient Of Pig Kidney Transplant Recovering | Answering Your Questions About April 8 Eclipse
743: Our Inevitable Cosmic Apocalypse
742: The Complicated Truths About Offshore Wind And Right Whales
741: The Bumpy Road To Approving New Alzheimer’s Drugs
740: ‘3 Body Problem’ And The Laws Of Physics | In Defense Of ‘Out Of Place’ Plants
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Voices of Misery Podcast
House of Whimsical Terror
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL