This year’s rankings of universities around the world has fewer U.S. universities ranking in the top 100 and China stepping up with more high impact research.  A higher percentage of China’s research is being cited globally and is focused on materials science, chemistry, and engineering while the U.S. is focusing on clinical medicine and physics.  Doug Belkin, higher education reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how China’s universities are on the rise.
 
Next, Mark Zuckerberg has unveiled Meta’s new virtual reality headset called the Quest Pro saying it’s the next major step for VR and a milestone to building the Metaverse.  The only problem is that it’s going to cost you.  The new headset is about $1,500, which puts it out of reach for casual users and most gamers.  Shirin Ghaffary, tech reporter at Recode by Vox, joins us for what to know.
 
Finally, robotic engineers have been taking cues from the insect world to create machines that could aid in search and rescue ops, sniff out gas leaks and more.  As sensors and battery tech keeps getting better and smaller, they are outfitting Madagascar hissing cockroaches with 3D-printed sensors or creating fully robotic machines inspired by how insects move and fly.  Pranshu Verma, tech reporter at The Washington Post, joins us for the cyborg cockroaches.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.