A New Lifeform Takes Root on the ISS

Source - NASA Science News for April 28, 2014

A new lifeform is taking root on the International Space Station, and its name is "Outregeous." The space-faring lettuce was delivered to the space station by a SpaceX Dragon capsule on April 20th.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/25apr_lettuce/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFdwv9yrxD0



License: Standard YouTube License

Big Picture Science for 04/28/14 - Our Tasteless Show

Big Picture Science - Our Tasteless Show

ENCORE: Imagine biting into a rich chocolate donut and not tasting it. That’s what happened to one woman when she lost her sense of smell. Discover what scientists have learned about how the brain experiences flavor, and the evolutionary intertwining of odor and taste.

Plus a chef who tricks tongues into tasting something they’re not. It’s chemical camouflage that can make crabgrass taste like basil and turn bitter crops into delicious dishes – something that could improve nutrition world-wide.

Meanwhile, are we a tasty treat for aliens? Discover whether we might be attractive snacks for E.T. And, out-of-this-world recipes from a “gAstronomy” cookbook!

Guests:

• Bonnie Blodgett – Author of Remembering Smell: A Memoir of Losing—and Discovering—the Primal Sense
• Gordon Shepherd – Neurobiologist, Yale University School of Medicine, author of Neurogastronomy: How the Brain Creates Flavor and Why It Matters
• Homaro Cantu – Chef and owner of restaurants Moto and iNG in Chicago, chairman and founder of Cantu Designs Firm
• Niki Parenteau – Astrobiologist, SETI Institute
• Markus Hotakainen – Astronomer, chef, author of gAstronomical Cookbook

This encore podcast was first released on March 11, 2013

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

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.

X-flare Causes Radio Blackout, CME Misses Earth

Source - Space Weather News for April 25, 2014: http://spaceweather.com

X-FLARE: On April 25th, an active region near the sun's western limb erupted, producing an impulsive X-class solar flare.  A pulse of extreme UV radiation from the flare ionized Earth's upper atmosphere and caused a shortwave radio blackout on the dayside of Earth.   However, a CME hurled into space by the explosion will miss our planet. 

Check http://spaceweather.com for updates.

Discovered: A Cold, Close Neighbor of the Sun

Source - NASA Science News for April 25, 2014

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and Spitzer Space Telescope have discovered a dim, star-like body that surprisingly is as frosty as Earth's North Pole. This "brown dwarf" is only 7.2 light years away, making it one of the sun's nearest neighbors.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/25apr_browndwarf/

Earth Day Meteor Shower

Source - Space Weather News for April 22, 2014: http://spaceweather.com

EARTH DAY METEOR SHOWER: Earth is passing through a stream of debris from ancient Comet Thatcher, source of the annual Lyrid meteor shower.  According to radar data, the shower is peaking today with meteor rates as high as 15 per hour.

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

SPACE WEATHER ALERTS:  Did you miss the Easter geomagnetic storm?  Next time get a wake-up call. Geomagnetic storm alerts are available from http://spaceweathertext.com (text) and http://spaceweatherphone.com (voice).

Big Picture Science for 04/21/14 - Happily Confused

Big Picture Science - Happily Confused

Do you feel happy today? How about happily disgusted? Maybe sadly surprised, or sadly disgusted? Human emotions are complex. But at least they’re the common language that unites us all – except when they don’t. A tribe in Namibia might interpret our expression of fear as one of wonderment. And people with autism don’t feel the emotions that others do.

So if you’re now delightfully but curiously perplexed, tune in and discover the evolutionary reason for laughter … how a computer can diagnose emotional disorders that doctors miss … and why the world’s most famous autistic animal behaviorist has insight into the emotional needs of cattle.

Guests:

• Scott Weems – Cognitive scientist, author of Ha!: The Science of When We Laugh and Why
• Brian Malow – Science comedian
• Aleix Martinez – Cognitive neuroscientist at The Ohio State University
• Maria Gendron – Post-doctoral researcher at Northeastern University
• Temple Grandin – Professor of animal science, Colorado State University, author of
  Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals

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

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.

Weekend Geomagnetic Activity

Source - Space Weather News for April 20, 2014: http://spaceweather.com

INCOMING STORM CLOUDS:  Three or four CMEs that left the sun earlier this week will arrive in quick succession this weekend.  Mostly, the blows they deliver to Earth's magnetic field are expected to be weak, but the combined impacts could stir up significant geomagnetic activity.  NOAA forecasters put the odds of a high-latitude geomagnetic storm at 55% on Saturday, increasing to 75% on Sunday.

Check http://spaceweather.com for updates.

Kepler Discovers First Earth-Size Planet In The 'Habitable Zone' of Another Star

Source - NASA Science News for April 17, 2014

Using NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered the first Earth-size planet orbiting a star in the "habitable zone" -- the range of distance from a star where liquid water might pool on the surface of an orbiting planet.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/17apr_firstearth/

Unexpected Teleconnections in Noctilucent Clouds

Source - NASA Science News for April 16, 2014

NASA's AIM spacecraft is discovering unexpected "teleconnections" in Earth's atmosphere that link weather and climate across vast distances.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/16apr_teleconnections/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d3t1_l4bcw



License: Standard YouTube License

Possible New Moon Forming Around Saturn

Source - NASA Science News for April 14, 2014

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has documented the formation of a small icy object within the rings of Saturn that may be a new moon.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/14apr_newmoon/

Colorful Lunar Eclipse set for Tuesday Morning

Source - Space Weather News for April 13, 2014: http://spaceweather.com

TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE: On Tuesday morning, April 15th, the full Moon will pass through the shadow of Earth, producing a colorful lunar eclipse.  Although the mainstream media is calling this a "blood moon," the color is more likely to be bright orange.  At the moment, Earth's stratosphere is not dusty enough produce a shadow with the deep red hues of blood.  Whatever color it turns out to be, the eclipse will be visible from North and South America, Australia and New Zealand.   Check http://spaceweather.com for observing tips and more information.

LIVE WEBCAST OF THE ECLIPSE: Got clouds? No problem. The lunar eclipse will be broadcast live on the web by the Coca-Cola Science Center at Columbus State University in Georgia: http://www.ccssc.org/webcast.html

Big Picture Science for 04/14/14 - That's Containment!

Big Picture Science - That's Containment!

ENCORE: We all crave power: to run laptops, charge cell phones, and play Angry Birds. But if generating energy is easy, storing it is not. Remember when your computer conked out during that cross-country flight? Why can’t someone build a better battery?

Discover why battery design is stuck in the 1800s, and why updating it is key to future green transportation (not to mention more juice for your smartphone). Also, how to build a new type of solar cell that can turn sunlight directly into fuel at the pump.

Plus, force fields, fat cells and other storage systems. And: Shock lobster! Energy from crustaceans?

Guests:

• Dan Lankford – Former CEO of three battery technology companies, and a managing director at Wavepoint Ventures
• Jackie Stephens – Biochemist at Louisiana State University
• Kevin MacVittie – Graduate student of chemistry, Clarkson University, New York
• Nate Lewis – Chemist, California Institute of Technology
• Alex Filippenko – Astronomer, University of California, Berkeley
• Peter Williams – Physicist, San Francisco Bay Area

This encore podcast was first released on February 4, 2103

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

Separated at Launch: NASA to Study Twin Astronauts

Source - NASA Science News for April 10, 2014

In 2015, with the assistance of the world's only twin astronauts, NASA will conduct an unprecedented experiment in human biology. While one twin remains on the ground, the other will circle Earth aboard the International Space Station for a full year. Will the twins still be identical when they are re-united? The answer could help NASA make space travel safer for generations of astronauts to come.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/10apr_twins/

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



License: Standard YouTube License

Big Picture Science for 04/07/14 - Since Sliced Bread

Big Picture Science - Since Sliced Bread

Happy Birthday, World Wide Web! The 25-year-old Web, along with the Internet and the personal computer, are among mankind’s greatest inventions. But back then, who knew?

A techno-writer reminisces about the early days of the WWW and says he didn’t think it would ever catch on.

Also, meet an inventor who claims his innovation will leave your laptop in the dust. Has quantum computing finally arrived?

Plus, why these inventions are not as transformative as other creative biggies of history: The plow. The printing press. And… the knot?

And, why scientific discoveries may beat out technology as the most revolutionary developments of all. A new result about the Big Bang may prove as important as germ theory and the double helix.

Guests:

• Kevin Kelly – Senior maverick, Wired, author of What Technology Wants
• Eric Ladizinsky – Physicist, co-founder and the chief scientist of D-Wave Systems Palo Alto, California
• Aaron Gardner – Bakery manager, Hy-Vee Store, Chillicothe, Missouri
• George Dyson – Historian of technology, author of Turing’s Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe and Darwin Among The Machines: The Evolution Of Global Intelligence
• Rob Shostak – Brother and founder of Vocera Communications, San Jose, California
• Jamie Bock – Physicist at the California Institute of Technology

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

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.

Deep Ocean Detected Inside Saturn's Moon Enceladus

NASA Science News for April 3, 2014

NASA's Cassini spacecraft and Deep Space Network have uncovered evidence that Saturn's moon Enceladus harbors a large underground ocean, furthering scientific interest in the moon as a potential home to extraterrestrial microbes.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/03apr_deepocean/

Arctic Melt Season Lengthens

Source - NASA Science News for April 1, 2014

A new study shows that the length of the melt season for Arctic sea ice is growing by several days each decade. This is allowing the Arctic Ocean to absorb enough additional solar radiation in some places to melt as much as four feet of the Arctic ice cap's thickness.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/01apr_arcticice/

Mars Brightens in the Night Sky

Source - NASA Science News for April 1, 2014

Dust off your telescope. Earth and Mars are converging for a beautiful close encounter in April, an event astronomers call "the opposition of Mars."

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/28mar_opposition/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xngUpUyyT70



License: Standard YouTube License