In this edition: A better test for diagnosing childhood illness, improving planetary protection and financing sustainability.

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News: Diagnosing childhood illnesses – We learn about a new blood test that can determine what’s causing fevers in children in only an hour, by analysing the distinctive pattern of genes being ‘switched on or off’ by the body in response to specific illnesses.

Improving planetary protection – How do we make sure we don’t contaminate other worlds with our space missions, or contaminate Earth with samples returned from elsewhere in the Solar System? We speak to Professor Mark Sephton about a new project to make better risk assessments and improve planetary protection.

Sustainable finance – We tap into the Green Minds podcast to hear from Bloomberg’s Nadia Humphreys about how ‘taxonomies’ can lay out how business can be greener. Listen to the full interview on IB Podcasts.

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The podcast is presented by Gareth Mitchell, a lecturer on Imperial's MSc Science Communication course. He’s also a longstanding BBC presenter and reporter. Gareth is joined each month by our roving reporters in the Communications Division.