Ancient Microbes Found in Antarctic Lake

Source - NASA Science News for Nov. 29, 2012

Nearly 65 feet beneath the icy surface of a remote Antarctic lake, scientists have uncovered a community of bacteria existing in one of Earth's darkest, saltiest and coldest habitats. The finding could have implications for the possibility of life in extreme environments on other planets.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/30nov_lakevida/

New Evidence for Ice on Mercury

Source - NASA Science News for Nov. 29, 2012

The planet closest to the Sun would seem an unlikely place to find ice.

Nevertheless, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft has found evidence for abundant deposits of frozen water on Mercury.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/29nov_iceonmercury/

Big Picture Science for 11/26/12 - Doomsday Live, Part I

Big Picture Science - Doomsday Live, Part I

If there is only one show you hear about the end of the world, let it be this one. Recorded before a live audience at the Computer History Museum on October 27^th, 2012, this two-part special broadcast of Big Picture Science separates fact from fiction in doomsday prediction. In this episode: Maya prophesy for December 21, 2012 … asteroid impact and cosmic threats …. and alien invasion.

Presented as part of the Bay Area Science Festival.

Find out more about our guests and their work.

Guests:

• Guy P. Harrison – Science writer and author of 50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True
• Andrew Fraknoi – Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, California

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

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.

The Strange Appeal of a Cloudy Eclipse

Source - NASA Science News for Nov. 23, 2012

Eclipse chasers always hope for clear skies, but observers of last week's total solar eclipse in Australia discovered that clouds can add a surprisingly beautiful twist to the brief minutes of totality.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/23nov_cloudyeclipse/

Thanksgiving Dinner at the Center of the Galaxy

Source - NASA Science News for Nov. 22, 2012

NASA's NuSTAR spacecraft has detected X-ray flares coming from the center of the galaxy--a signal that the Milky Way's supermassive black hole is having dinner. Astronomers are not sure, however, what's on the menu.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/22nov_backholesnacks/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP7ig8Gxftw





License: Standard YouTube License

Solar Activity Alert: New Sunspot Crackles with M-flares

Source - Space Weather News for Nov. 21, 2012: http://spaceweather.com

SOLAR ACTIVITY: A big new sunspot (AR1618) has emerged near the center of the solar disk, and it is crackling with strong M-class solar flares.  NOAA forecasters estimate a 70% chance of more M-flares today, and a 15% chance of powerful X-flares.  If the rapid growth of AR1618 continues apace, the Thanksgiving holiday (USA) could be filled with stormy space weather.  Check http://spaceweather.com for updates.

SOLAR FLARE ALERTS: Would you like a call when solar flares are underway? X-flare alerts are available from http://spaceweathertext.com (text) and http://spaceweatherphone.com (voice).

Big Picture Science for 11/19/12 - No Expiration Date

Big Picture Science - No Expiration Date

ENCORE: We all have to go sometime, and that final hour is the mother of all deadlines. But scientists are working to file an extension. Discover how far we can push the human expiration date.

Plus, the animal with the shortest lifespan and the chemistry that causes your pot-roast to eventually clothe itself in fuzzy green mold.

Also, a clock that won’t stop ticking (for 10,000 years) and our love-hate relationship with that long-lived hydrocarbon that keeps our snack cakes fresh: plastic!

Guests:

• Martin Bucknavage- Senior Food Safety Extension Associate, Department of Food Science at Penn State
• Leonard Guarente – Biologist, Laboratory for the Science of Aging, M.I.T.
• Alexander Rose – Executive Director and Clock Project Manager, Long Now Foundation
• Rick Hochberg – Biologist, University of Massachusetts – Lowell
• Susan Freinkel – Author of Plastic: A Toxic Love Story

First aired June 13, 2011

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

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.

Big Picture Science for 11/12/12 - Skeptic Check: Zombies Aren't Real

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: Zombies Aren't Real

Zombies are making a killing in popular culture. But where did the idea behind these mythical, cerebrum-supping nasties come from? Discover why they may be a hard-wired inheritance from our Pleistocene past.

Also, how a whimsical mathematical model of a Zombie apocalypse can help us withstand earthquakes and disease outbreaks, and how the rabies virus contributed to zombie mythology.

Plus, new ideas for how doctors should respond when humans are in a limbo state between life and death: no pulse, but their brains continue to hum.

Meet the songwriter who has zombies on the brain …. and we chase spaced-out animated corpses in the annual Run-For-Your-Lives foot race.

Guests:

• Guy P. Harrison – Science writer and author of 50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True
• Jonathan Coulton – Singer and songwriter
• Robert Smith? – Mathematician and epidemiologist at the University of Ottawa, in Canada
• Dick Teresi – Science writer and author of The Undead: Organ Harvesting, the Ice-Water Test, Beating Heart Cadavers—How Medicine Is Blurring the Line Between Life and Death
• Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy – - Respectively Senior Editor at Wired Magazine and veterinarian, and the co-authors of Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus

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

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.

Taurid Meteor Shower

Source - Space Weather News for Nov. 11, 2012: http://spaceweather.com

TAURID METEOR SHOWER: Earth is passing through a stream of gravelly debris from Comet Encke, source of the annual Taurid meteor shower. Because the debris stream is not very congested, Taurid meteor rates are low, no more than 5 per hour. The special thing about Taurids is that they tend to be fireballs. Check http://spaceweather.com for the latest videos and images of the display, which is expected to peak around Nov. 12th.

Don't just watch meteors, wear them:  Authentic meteorite jewelry is available in the Space Weather Store:  http://www.shopspaceweather.com/ownameteorite.aspx

Total Eclipse of the Sun

Source - NASA Science News for Nov. 8, 2012

Scientists and sky watchers are converging on the northeast coast of Australia, near the Great Barrier Reef, for a total eclipse of the sun on Nov. 13/14. For researchers, the brief minutes of totality open a window into some of the deepest mysteries of solar physics.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/07nov_totaleclipse/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn5nKlMY5cI

NASA Finds Cure for a Common Phobia

Source - NASA Science News for Nov. 9, 2012

NASA has found a cure for a common phobia--the fear of asking "stupid" questions. The remedy, revealed in today's story from Science@NASA, might surprise you:

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/09nov_camilla/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYwNFwj2QVE

Big Picture Science for 11/05/12 - Going Global

Big Picture Science - Going Global

The Internet is not the only globally-uniting phenomenon. Viruses and bacteria can circle the globe as fast as we can, and the effects can be devastating. Discover what it takes for an animal disease to become a human pandemic. Also, was hurricane Sandy a man-made disaster? The future of severe storms and climate change.

Plus, the view of our science from abroad: why Brits have no trouble accepting the theory of evolution but Americans do. And what about a new annex for Silicon Valley – 12 miles out to sea?

Guests:

• Jerry Meehl – Senior scientist, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO
• Alok Jha – Science correspondent, The Guardian
• David Quammen – Science journalist and author, most recently of Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic
• Max Marty – Co-founder and CEO of Blueseed

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

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.