Three incredible tales of scientific progress

<p>Extraordinary scientific advances have taken place over the past year both because of Covid and despite it.</p><p>Today we bring you three tales of human ingenuity you might have missed – and, for a change, nothing but good news.</p><p><em>This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: </em><a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/subscribe/?utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_medium=audio&amp;utm_campaign=podcastsubs&amp;utm_content=storiesofourtimes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes</em></a><em>. </em></p><p><strong>Guests: </strong></p><ul><li><a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/profile/tom-whipple?page=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tom Whipple</a>, science editor, The Times.</li><li>Lindley Johnson, planetary defence officer, Nasa.</li><li>Dr Elena Adams, DART systems engineer, Johns Hopkins University.</li></ul><p><strong>Host:</strong> <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/profile/david-aaronovitch?page=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">David Aaronovitch</a>.</p><p><strong>Further reading from The Times: </strong></p><ul><li>'<a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/deepminds-ai-could-help-save-the-planet-as-well-as-the-human-race-t0gnmrqzc" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Science is fast‑forwarding into the future</a>', David Aaronovitch, December 2nd, 2020.</li><li>'<a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/deepmind-finds-biology-s-holy-grail-with-answer-to-protein-problem-htg6s7qlq" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Deepmind finds biology’s ‘holy grail’ with answer to protein problem</a>', Tom Whipple, December 1st, 2020.</li><li>'<a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/more-medical-breakthroughs-on-the-way-thanks-to-biontech-coronavirus-vaccine-xpn7ksdzs" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">More medical breakthroughs on the way thanks to BioNTech coronavirus vaccine</a>', Tom Whipple, February 8th, 2021.</li><li>'<a hr