Something Flare-y This Way Comes: The mini-Halloween Storms of 2013

Source - NASA Science News for Oct. 31, 2013

Ten years after the original Halloween Storms, the sun is putting on a repeat performance--albeit not nearly so scary.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/31oct_minihalloween/

Big Picture Science for 10/28/13 - Shutting Down Science

Big Picture Science - Shutting Down Science

“Sorry, closed for business.” That sign hung on doors of national laboratories when the US government shut down. What that meant for one Antarctic researcher: her critically important work was left out in the cold.

So just what do we lose when public funds for science fade? The tools for answering big questions about our universe for one, says a NASA scientist … while one of this year’s Nobel Prize winners fears that it is driving our young researchers to pursue their work overseas.

Yet one scientist says publically funding isn’t even necessary; privatizing science would be more productive.

Plus, an award-winning public-private research project changes the way we use GPS … and a BBC reporter on the fate of international projects when Americans hang up their lab coats.

Guests:

• Jill Mikucki – WISSARD principal investigator and a microbiologist at the University of Tennessee
• Max Bernstein – Lead for research at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate
• James Rothman – Professor and chairman of the department of cell biology at Yale University, recipient of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Medicine
• Alexandre Bayen – Civil engineer and computer scientist, University of California, Berkeley
• Pat Michaels – Director for the Study of Science at the Cato Institute
• Roland Pease – BBC science reporter

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

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 Effects of Space Weather on Aviation

Source - NASA Science News for Oct. 25, 2013

Astronauts aren't the only ones who need to worry about solar flares. High-latitude air travelers can also be exposed to doses of radiation during solar storms. A new computer model developed by NASA aims to help protect the public by predicting space weather hazards to aviation.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/25oct_aviationswx/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHYbnv6O1Go



License: Standard YouTube License

Strong Solar Activity on Oct. 25th

Source - Space Weather News for Oct. 25, 2013: http://spaceweather.com

GLOBAL SOLAR ACTIVITY: Solar activity is high and intensifying. This morning, new sunspot AR1882 unleashed an X1-class solar flare.  The flare was bracketed by two erupting magnetic filaments--an ensemble of explosions that involved more than half of the solar disk.

For more information on these blasts and possible Earth-effects, visit http://spaceweather.com

A Comet Explodes

Source - Space Weather News for Oct. 22, 2013: http://spaceweather.com

A COMET EXPLODES: Amateur astronomers are reporting a 100-fold outburst of brightness from Comet C/2012 X1 (LINEAR).  Images reveal a spherical shell of gas that reminds observers of Comet 17P/Holmes, which exploded in 2007.  So far the comet is too dim for naked-eye viewing, but at magnitude +8.5 it is bright enough for imaging by backyard telescopes.

Visit http://spaceweather.com for photos and more information

Big Picture Science for 10/21/13 - Skeptic Check: War of the Worlds

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: War of the Worlds

It was the most famous invasion that never happened. But Orson Welles’ 1938 “War of the Worlds” broadcast sure sounded convincing as it used news bulletins and eyewitness accounts to describe an existential Martian attack. The public panicked. Or did it? New research says that claims of mass hysteria were overblown.

On the 75^th anniversary of the broadcast: How the media manufactured descriptions of a fearful public and why – with our continued fondness for conspiracies – we could be hoodwinked again

Plus, journalism ethics in the age of social media. Can we tweet “Mars is attacking!” with impunity?

And why we’re obsessed with the Red Planet.

Guests:

• Michael Socolow – Associate professor of communication and journalism at the University of Maine
• Jesse Walker – Senior editor at Reason Magazine and author of The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory
• Katy Culver – Assistant professor at the school of journalism and mass communication at the University of Wisconsin, Madison
• Kevin Schindler – Outreach manager at the Lowell Observatory

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

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.

Orionid Meteor Shower

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

ORIONID METEOR SHOWER: Earth is passing through a stream of debris from Halley's Comet, source of the annual Orionid meteor shower.  Forecasters expect the shower to peak on Oct. 21st with approximately 20 meteors per hour.  Bright moonlight will reduce visibility, however. The best time to look is during the hours before local sunrise when the shower's radiant in the constellation Orion is high in the sky. 

Check http://spaceweather.com for more information.

Minor CME Impact Expected on Oct. 15th

Source - Space Weather News for Oct. 14, 2013: http://spaceweather.com

AURORA WATCH: A CME propelled toward Earth by an M1-class eruption on Oct. 13th is expected to hit our planet's magnetic field on Oct. 15th.  Polar geomagnetic storms and high-latitude auroras are possible when the CME arrives. Check today's edition of http://spaceweather.com for more information and updates.

GEOMAGNETIC STORM ALERTS: Would you like a call when geomagnetic storms are underway? Storm alerts are available from http://spaceweathertext.com (text) and http://spaceweatherphone.com (voice).

Big Picture Science for 10/14/13 - Emergence

Big Picture Science - Emergence

Your brain is made up of cells. Each one does its own, cell thing. But remarkable behavior emerges when lots of them join up in the grey matter club. You are a conscious being – a single neuron isn’t.

Find out about the counter-intuitive process known as emergence – when simple stuff develops complex forms and complex behavior – and all without a blueprint.

Plus self-organization in the natural world, and how Darwinian evolution can be speeded up.

Guests:

• Randy Schekman – Professor of molecular and cell biology, University of California, Berkeley, 2013 Nobel Prize-winner
• Steve Potter – Neurobiologist, biomedical engineer, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Terence Deacon – Biological anthropologist, University of California, Berkeley
• Simon DeDeo – Research fellow at the Santa Fe Institute
• Leslie Valiant – Computer scientist, Harvard University, author of Probably Approximately Correct: Nature’s Algorithms for Learning and Prospering in a Complex World
  

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

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.

Sundiving Comet

Source - Space Weather News for Oct. 10, 2013:http://spaceweather.com

SUNDIVING COMET:  A comet is falling into the sun today. Images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory show a bright comet rapidly evaporating as the sun turns up the heat, and it may be only hours away from complete disintegration.  Check http://spaceweather.com for images of the death plunge.

JUNO PHOTOGRAPHED: Yesterday, NASA's Juno spacecraft buzzed Earth only 347 miles above our planet's surface. Although the spacecraft was very faint, several amateur astronomers managed to photograph it.  Their images are featured in a special gallery on today's edition of http://spaceweather.com.

Juno Spacecraft to Buzz Earth on Oct. 9th

Source - Space Weather News for Oct. 8, 2013: http://spaceweather.com

JUNO TO BUZZ EARTH: En route to Jupiter, NASA's Juno spacecraft will make a very close flyby of Earth on October 9th, only 347 miles above our planet's surface. Juno's radio will be turned on, and radio amateurs on Earth will be able to communicate with the spacecraft via Morse Code. 

Ground tracks and further instructions may be found on today's edition of http://spaceweather.com

Big Picture Science for 10/07/13 - Life in Space

Big Picture Science - Life in Space

Discovering bacteria on Mars would be big news. But nothing would scratch our alien itch like making contact with intelligent life. Hear why one man is impatient for the discovery, and also about the new tools that may speed up the “eureka” moment.

One novel telescope may help us find E.T. at home, by detecting the heat of his cities.

Also, the father of modern SETI research and how decoding the squeals of dolphins could teach us how to communicate with aliens.

Guests:

• Lee Billings – Journalist and author of Five Billion Years of Solitude: The Search for Life Among the Stars
• Oliver Guyon – Optical physicist, astronomer, University of Arizona and Suburu telescope; 2012 McArthur Genius award winner
• Jeff Kuhn – Physicist, Institute for Astronomy in Honolulu, Colossus Telescope
• Frank Drake – Astronomer, SETI Institute
• Denise Herzing – Behavioral biologist and research director of the Wild Dolphin Project

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

Spacecraft Goes into Lunar Orbit

Source - Space Weather News for Oct. 6, 2013: http://spaceweather.com

SPACECRAFT GOES INTO LUNAR ORBIT: Among a select few allowed to work during the US government shutdown, controllers for NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) fired the spacecraft's engines this morning, Oct. 6th, slowing it enough to be captured by lunar gravity.  LADEE is now in orbit.  Soon, the spacecraft will begin its mission to study the Moon's exotic and diaphanous atmosphere, which is mightily affected by space weather. For more information about this development, plus new color images of incoming Comet ISON, visit 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).