Big Picture Science for June 22, 2026: Make Space For Animals

Big Picture Science: Make Space For Animals

REPEAT
Long before Yuri Gagarin became the first human to go into space, Laika, a stray dog, crossed the final frontier. Find out what other surprising species were drafted into the astronaut corps.

They may be our best friends, but we still balk at giving other creatures moral standing. And why are humans so reluctant to accept the fact that we too are animals?

Guests:

• Jo Wimpenny - Zoologist and writer. Author of “Aesop’s Animals”
• Taylor Maggiacomo - Associate Graphic Editor at National Geographic
• Alexander Stegmaier - Freelance Graphic Editor at National Geographic
• Melanie Challenger - An author who writes on nature, environment and human history. Her latest book: “How to be Animal: A New History of What it Means to be Human”

Originally aired January 24, 2022

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/make-space-for-animals

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Study: Astronauts face a growing peril from space radiation

Source - Space Weather News for Dec. 6, 2014: http://spaceweather.com

SPACE RADIATION:  According to a new study just published in the research journal Space Weather, astronauts face a growing peril from space radiation.  Rising fluxes of cosmic rays inside the solar system place increasingly strict limits on the amount of time explorers can safely travel through interplanetary space.  Visit http://spaceweather.com for more information and links to the complete study.

AURORA WATCH:  Arctic sky watchers should be alert for auroras this weekend. Earth is passing through a fast-moving stream of solar wind, and this is causing geomagnetic unrest around the poles. Geomagnetic storm alerts are available from http://spaceweathertext.com (text) and http://spaceweatherphone.com (voice).

Fruit Flies on the International Space Station

Source - NASA Science News for July 8, 2014

A new species is about to join astronauts on the International Space Station: Drosophila melanogaster, also known as the "fruit fly." Genetically speaking, the bug-eyed insects have a lot in common with human beings, and they are poised to teach researchers a great deal about voyaging into deep space.

The complete article can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/08jul_fruitflies/

A companion video is posted below and can also be viewed at: http://youtu.be/ArHDSjfKDAs



License: Standard YouTube License

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

Are We Alone for 02/22/10 - Space Race 2.0

Are We Alone - Space Race 2.0

It’s goodnight moon from President Obama, as he calls for canceling the program that would return astronauts to the moon by 2020. We’ll hear from the private sector, which might win in this deal, and consider whether we should really replace human explorers with robots.

Plus, if we can’t fly you to the moon, would you settle for a few acres and a deed? Meet the man who claims to have property on the moon – but will it hold up in court?

Wernher von Braun was one of America’s premier rocket engineers and, a new book contends, an enthusiastic supporter of the Nazi party. Find out what the U.S. space program was willing to ignore for the prize of beating the Russians to the moon.

Guests:

• Burt Rutan – Aerospace engineer, founder of Scaled Composites and designer of SpaecShipOne and SpaceShipTwo
• Steven Weinberg – Nobel Prize-winning physicist at University of Texas at Austin and author of Lake Views: This World and the Universe
• Phil Chapman – First Australian-born astronaut and Apollo 14 Mission Scientist, now a consultant on energy and astronautics
• Steven Durst – Editor of Space Age Publishing
• Frans von der Dunk – Professor of space law at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Wayne Biddle – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Dark Side of the Moon: Wernher von Braun, the Third Reich, and the Space Race

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

A collection of cosmic headlines for November 01, 2009

You most likely have read these stories already, but I thought I would list the links just in case you had not. Leave a comment and let me know what you think of them:

• NASA - Happy Halloween - The Cassini team sends "bats wishes" for a happy, healthy and fun Halloween.
• Space Disco : Discovery Space: 5 Frightening (But True) Space Stories - Stranded cosmonauts vs. hungry wolves, Apollo Toilet Horrors, Decompression Blues, and more.
• Physicist makes new high-res panorama of Milky Way - I just wish that the article had included a larger image :(
• Do Jupiter's Red Storms Signal Massive Climate Change? - From The Daily Galaxy about possible climate changes on Jupiter.
• SPACE.com -- The Strangest Moments in Space Launch History - Alligators, bats, and wet spacesuits, Oh my!
• Robot Armada Might Scale New Worlds - This is a great article on how future robotic missions will be more autonomous.
  

Lastly PhysOrg.com is reporting that transparent aluminium is no longer the stuff of science fiction. Below is a snippet from the PhysOrg.com article:

"Oxford scientists have created a transparent form of aluminium by bombarding the metal with the world’s most powerful soft X-ray laser. 'Transparent aluminium' previously only existed in science fiction, featuring in the movie Star Trek IV, but the real material is an exotic new state of matter with implications for planetary science and nuclear fusion."

You can read the rest of the article here: http://www.physorg.com/news167925273.html

Apollo Landing Sites Photographed

Source - NASA Science News for July 17, 2009

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has returned its first imagery of Apollo landing sites. The pictures show lunar module descent stages, scientific instruments and even 40-year-old foot trails made by astronauts walking across the dusty lunar surface.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/17jul_lroc.htm?list894285

Check out our RSS feed at http://science.nasa.gov/rss.xml

Exploring the Moon, Discovering Earth

Source - NASA Science News for July 17, 2009

Forty years ago, Apollo astronauts set out on a daring adventure to explore the Moon. They ended up discovering their own planet.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/17jul_discoveringearth.htm?list894285

For more information about space and space exploration, visit our Home page: http://science.nasa.go

The Beating Heart, Minus Gravity

Source - NASA Science News for July 10, 2009

When astronauts travel through space, the human heart loses something it seems to need: the Earthly pull of gravity. Is this a problem? NASA is launching a new study to find out.

FULL STORY at: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/10jul_cardio.htm?list894285

Spacewalkers Test Planetary Protection Concept

Source - NASA Science News for March 20, 2009

Yesterday, astronauts onboard the International Space Station checked themselves for microbes before stepping outside on a space walk. It was a first-ever test of planetary protection technology that, one day, could keep humans from contaminating the sands of Mars.

FULL STORY at:

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/20mar_locadexploration.htm?list894285