Big Picture Science for 03/26/12 - Found in Space

Big Picture Science - Found in Space

ENCORE If someone asks where you get off, you can now respond with precision. Satellites and computers spit out coordinates accurate to a few paces. And digital maps stand the Copernican principle on its head – putting you at the center of everything (how does it feel?).

Find out how today’s maps are shuffling our world view. Also, how does a rat navigate a maze without GPS? Hear of the plotting that goes on in that tiny rodent brain.

Plus, mapping the universe and pinpointing just where we are in cosmic time – lucky for us, human evolution is right on schedule.

Guests:

• Josh Winn – Astronomer, MIT
• David Redish – Neuroscientist, University of Minnesota
• Mario Livio – Astrophysicist, Space Telescope Science Institute and author of Is God a Mathematician?
• Mike Goodchild – Professor of Geography, Center for Spatial Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Found_in_Space

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.