In this Plutopia News Network episode, science and technology journalist Tereza Pultarova discusses her path from covering space exploration to reporting on defense technology after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, explaining how her Eastern European background shaped her understanding of the war’s stakes. She describes Ukraine as a fast-moving laboratory for military innovation, especially in drones, autonomous targeting, swarming systems, ground robots, and anti-drone defenses, while warning that these technologies could eventually make drone attacks common in Western cities and deepen a broader climate of fear and insecurity. The conversation also explores Starlink’s importance in modern warfare, the militarization and commercialization of space, the growing crisis of space junk, the possibility of conflict extending to the moon or orbit, and the dangers posed by authoritarian leaders, nuclear escalation, and information control. Throughout, Pultarova stresses the human cost of war, including trauma carried across generations, while arguing that journalists must keep these realities visible even when the public wants to look away.
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Tereza Pultarova:
Apart from the nuclear threat, there is this concern that these drone wars and these drone attacks may become really very common in Western cities. And I don’t know whether you’ve read that piece I recently had published in IEEE Spectrum, but one of the analysts was saying that in the future we may need to have nets above city centers to protect against these possible incoming attacks and — you know, I love outdoors, I love nature, and you can imagine a world where we all would be very anxious and nervous to go out and enjoy time outside in the park with friends, having children, playing football or whatever, because you may never know when something suddenly appears and explodes.
