Hot Prospects for Geothermal Energy, Do Aliens Speak Physics? Global Health Under Trump and more.

As geothermal heating and cooling slowly spreads in the U.S., some communities and utilities are looking to grow small pilot projects into much larger networks of pipes and heat pumps that extract and store heat in the earth to warm and cool homes and businesses as needed. We hear about a large geothermal HVAC system that demonstrates the possibilities and benefits of scaling up. Also, classic science fiction tends to assume that if aliens visit Earth, they will have done so thanks to using math and science that’s like our own. But physicist Daniel Whiteson and cartoonist Andy Warner aren’t so sure. They’re the authors of the book Do Aliens Speak Physics? And Other Questions About Science and the Nature of Reality. And the current Trump administration has in its first year cut off the World Health Organization, dismantled the United States Agency for International Development or USAID, and overhauled vaccination recommendations, just to name a few decisions impacting health and claiming lives across the globe. --- Save the date for the next Living on Earth Book Club event! On Thursday, Feb. 26th at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, Terry Tempest Williams will join us live on Zoom to discuss her new book The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary. Go to loe.org/events to learn more and register for this free conversation about finding glimmers of hope in the natural world.