The incredible pace of development of vaccines during the pandemic carries echoes of how the jet engine was born of wartime research. That invention went on to revolutionise travel, and the world, in the second half of the 20th century. Can we expect mRNA technology to have a transformative effect on post-pandemic societies?

How vaccines might be used going forward, and how they might develop, are among the questions put to Deborah Fuller, a professor of microbiology at the University of Washington, in the first edition of The Conversation Weekly of 2022. It a remarkable insight into the incredible potential that is being unleashed now. The podcast also looks at big developments in space exploration and robotics that can be expected this year.

The relationship between science, politicians and the public has been a key aspect of the pandemic. And it is the central theme of the film Don’t Look Up, an allegory for climate change. Here, academics consider the myths that fuel doubts about science and look at what can be done about them.

And as France takes on the rotating presidency of council of the European Union (with Emmanuel Macron’s first term in office coming to a close) our colleagues in Paris have published a series of articles this week looking at the country’s global role.