Major Fireball Event over the Southeastern USA

Source - Space Weather News for August 30, 2013: http://spaceweather.com

MAJOR FIREBALL EVENT: Two nights ago, a ~100 lb meteoroid traveling 53,000 mph hit the atmosphere over the southeastern USA and exploded, producing sonic booms and a fireball as bright as a full Moon.  Researchers are now scouring the countryside for fragments that could reveal the nature and origin of the meteoroid.  A movie, more information, and updates are available on http://spaceweather.com.

WEEKEND AURORA WATCH: A solar wind stream is expected to hit Earth's magnetic field  on August 30-31.  The impact could produce minor geomagnetic storms and auroras at high latitudes.  Geomagnetic storm alerts are available from http://spaceweathertext.com (text) and http://spaceweatherphone.com (voice).

Survey on Exoplanet Classification

Those interested in exoplanets might be interested in taking this survey on Exoplanet Classification, organized as part of the *Exoplanets and Brown Dwarfs: Mind the Gap Conference* at U. Hertfordshire, 2013 September 2-5.

Here is the URL for the survey:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1zlvCS_y1irCasALukIQnGA4JLVvuX1AC2aWap1alf5Q/viewform

Mega-Canyon Discovered Beneath Greenland Ice

Source - NASA Science News for August 29, 2013

Proving that there is still much to discover about the landscape of Earth, data from a NASA airborne science mission has revealed an immense and previously unknown canyon hidden under a mile of Greenland ice.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/29aug_megacanyon/

Big Picture Science for 08/26/13 - Welcome to Our Labor-atory

Big Picture Science - Welcome to Our Labor-atory

Hi ho, hi ho … it’s out with work we go! As you relax this holiday weekend, step into our labor-atory and imagine a world with no work allowed. Soft robots help us with tasks at home and at the office, while driverless cars allow us to catch ZZZZs in the front seat.

Plus, the Internet of Everything interconnects all your devices, from your toaster to your roaster to … you. So there’s no need to ever get off the couch. But is a machine-ruled world a true utopia?

And, the invention that got us into our 24/7 rat race: Edison’s electric light.

Guests:

• Barry Trimmer – Professor of biology, neuroscience, and biomedical engineering at Tufts University, and editor-in-chief, Soft Robotics
• Red Whittaker – Roboticist at Carnegie Mellon University
• Ernest Freeberg – Historian, University of Tennessee, and author of The Age of Edison: Electric Light and the Invention of Modern
• Rob Chandhok – Computer scientist, president of Qualcomm Interactive Platforms
• Andre Bormanis – Television writer, producer, screenwriter and science advisor to Star Trek and Cosmos

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

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.

Comet ISON to fly by Mars

Source - NASA Science News for August 23, 2013

Comet ISON is heading for a Thanksgiving Day brush with the sun, but first it's going to pay a visit to the Red Planet. Mars rovers and satellites will have a ringside seat for the comet's close approach on Oct. 1st.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/23aug_marsison/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uJFvkJzBVA



License: Standard YouTube License

Asteroid Redirect Mission Concept Animation

Source - NASAgovVideo for Aug 22, 2013:

"Concept animation featuring notional crew operations during NASA's proposed Asteroid Redirect Mission"



License: Standard YouTube License

Read the related CNET article at: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57599801-1/a-nasa-asteroid-sample-extraction-might-look-like-this/

Sundiving Comet and CME

Source - Space Weather News for August 20, 2013: http://spaceweather.com

SUNDIVING COMET AND CME: A small comet plunged into the sun this morning. Just before it arrived, the sun expelled a magnificent full-halo CME. Did the comet survive? Find out what happened at http://spaceweather.com.

CHANCE OF STORMS:  There is a slight chance of polar geomagnetic storms on Aug. 20-21 when Earth is expected to pass through the wake of a CME that left the sun a few days ago.  Geomagnetic storm alerts are available from http://spaceweathertext.com (text) and http://spaceweatherphone.com (voice).

Big Picture Science for 08/19/13 - Skeptic Check: Got a Sweet Truth?

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: Got a Sweet Truth?

The sweet stuff is getting sour press. Some researchers say sugar is toxic. A new study seems to support that idea: mice fed the human equivalent of an extra three sodas a day become infertile or die. But should cupcakes be regulated like alcohol?
Hear both sides of the debate. Another researcher says that animal studies are misleading, and that for good health, you should count calories, not candy and carbs.

Plus, an investigative reporter exposes the tricks that giant food companies employ to keep you hooked on sugar, salt, and fat.

It’s Skeptic Check … but don’t take our word for it!

Guests:

• Robert Lustig – University of California, San Francisco, author of Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease
• James Ruff – Biologist post-doc at The University of Utah
• John Sievenpiper – Knowledge Synthesis Lead of the Toronto 3D Knowledge Synthesis and Clinical Trials Unit, St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto, Canada
• Michael Moss – Pulitzer prize-winning journalist at The New York Times, and author of Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us

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

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 Attraction of Hot Jupiters

Source - NASA Science News for August 17, 2013

An exotic class of exoplanets called "hot Jupiters" are even weirder than astronomers imagined. While these worlds may have Earth-like blue skies, new data show that they are anything but Earth-like.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/17aug_hotjupiters/

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



License: Standard YouTube License

NASA Tracks Chelyabinsk Meteor Plume

Source - NASA Science News for August 16, 2013

New research shows that an asteroid exploding over Russia earlier this year created a belt of 'meteor dust' that circulated through the stratosphere for at least three months.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/15aug_russianmeteorplume/

Big Picture Science for 08/12/13 - Digging Our Past

Big Picture Science - Digging Our Past

What’s past is prologue. For centuries, researchers have studied buried evidence – bones, teeth, or artifacts – to learn about murky human history, or even to investigate vanished species. But today’s hi-tech forensics allows us to analyze samples dug from the ground faster and at a far more sophisticated level.

First, the discovery of an unknown species of dinosaur that changes our understanding of the bizarre beasts that once roamed North America.

And then some history that’s more recent: two projects that use the tools of modern chemistry and anthropology to deepen our understanding of the slave trade.

Plus, an anthropologist on an evolutionary habit that is strange to some, but nonetheless common all over the world: the urge to eat dirt.

Guests:

• Scott Sampson – Paleontologist at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and author of Dinosaur Odyssey: Fossil Threads in the Web of Life
• Fatimah Jackson – Biologist, anthropologist, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, director of the Cobb Lab at Howard University, and advisor to EUROTAST
• Joseph Jones – Biological anthropologist, visiting assistant professor at the College of William and Mary, researcher on the African Burial Ground Project
• Sera Young – Research scientist, division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, and author of Craving Earth: Understanding Pica—the Urge to Eat Clay, Starch, Ice, and Chalk

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

Perseid Meteor Shower Intensifies

Source - Space Weather News for August 11, 2013: http://spaceweather.com

PERSEID METEOR SHOWER: The Perseid meteor shower is intensifying as Earth moves deeper into the debris stream of parent comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. International observers are reporting as many as 30 Perseids per hour from dark sky sites, a rate which could triple on August 12-13 when the shower peaks. Check http://spaceweather.com for updates and observing tips.

GOT CLOUDS?  You can listen to the Perseid meteor shower on Space Weather Radio, which is monitoring signals from the USAF Space Surveillance Radar. Every Perseid that flies over the radar makes an audible ping.  Hear the echoes at http://spaceweatherradio.com

The Sun's Magnetic Field is About to Flip

Source - NASA Science News for August 5, 2013

According to data from NASA-supported observatories, the sun's global magnetic field is about to reverse polarity. This is a sign that Solar Max has arrived.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/05aug_fieldflip/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34gNgaME86Y



License: Standard YouTube License

Big Picture Science for 08/05/13 - Sounds Abound

Big Picture Science - Sounds Abound

The world is a noisy place. But now we have a better idea what the fuss is about. Not only can we record sound, but our computers allow us to analyze it.

Bird sonograms reveal that our feathery friends give each other nicknames and share details about their emotional state. Meanwhile, hydrophones capture the sounds of dying icebergs, and let scientists separate natural sound from man-made in the briny deep.

Plus, native Ohio speakers help decipher what Neil Armstrong really said on that famous day. And, think your collection of 45 rpm records is impressive? Try feasting your ears on sound recorded before the Civil War.

Guests:

• Bob Dziak – Oceanographer, Hatfield Marine Science Center, Oregon State University, Program Manager, Acoustics Program, NOAA
• Michael Porter – Senior scientist of H.L.S. Research, La Jolla, California
• Patrick Feaster – Sound media historian at Indiana University
• Laura Dilley – Assistant professor in the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, Michigan State University
• Jenny Papka – Co-director of Native Bird Connections
• Michael Webster – Professor of neurobiology and behavior, director of the Macaulay Library, Cornell University

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

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.

Hubble Sees the Fireball from a "Kilonova"

Source - NASA Science News for August 3, 2013

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has detected a new kind of stellar blast called a kilonova, which happens when a pair of compact objects such as neutron stars crash together. The observation solves a longstanding mystery of gamma-ray bursts.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/03aug_kilonova/

First Perseid fireballs reach Earth

Source - Space Weather News for August 2, 2013: http://spaceweather.com

PERSEID METEOR SHOWER: Earth is entering a broad stream of debris from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, source of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Although the shower won't peak until August 12-13, when Earth hits the densest part of the stream, the first Perseids are already arriving. Check http://spaceweather.com for images and updates.

QUIET SUN: Many readers are asking about a recent media report, which stated that a Carrington-class solar storm narrowly missed Earth two weeks ago. That report is inaccurate.  Solar activity was low throughout July and remains low as August begins. Details at http://spaceweather.com.

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).