Big Picture Science for Monday 06 July 2015 - Dogged Pursuit of Pluto

Big Picture Science - Dogged Pursuit of Pluto

Pluto is ready for its close up – but the near encounter during this historic flyby will last less than three minutes. Be ready for the action with our special New Horizons episode!

Hear from researchers who are Pluto rock stars: the astronomer who discovered two of Pluto’s five moons, the planetary scientist who coined the term “dwarf planet,” and the man who claims to have “killed Pluto.”

Find out how the New Horizons spacecraft will dodge rocks and other dangers as it approaches the planet and what we might learn about planet formation once we arrive. And why the battle over Pluto’s nomenclature continues.

Plus, Neil deGrasse Tyson reads his hate mail – from 3^rd graders.

Guests:

• Neil deGrasse Tyson – Astrophysicist, director of the Hayden Planetarium, New York City
• Alan Stern – Planetary scientist, Principal Investigator, New Horizons mission
• Mark Showalter – Senior research scientist, SETI Institute, New Horizons team member
• Mike Brown – Astronomer, California Institute of Technology

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

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 Monday 09 March 2015 - Mars-Struck

Big Picture Science - Mars-Struck

You love to travel. But would you if doing so meant never coming home? The private company Mars One says it will land humans on the Red Planet by 2026, but is only offering passengers one-way tickets. Hundreds of thousands of people volunteered to go.

Meet a young woman who made the short list, and hear why she’s ready to be Mars-bound. Also, why microbes could be hiding in water trapped in the planet’s rocks. And, how a wetter, better Mars lost its atmosphere and became a dry and forbidding place.

Plus, why Kim Stanley Robinson, author of a famous trilogy about colonizing and terraforming Mars, thinks that the current timeline for going to the planet is unrealistic.

Guests:

• Laurel Kaye – A senior in the physics department at Duke University
• Alfonso Davila – Senior scientist at the SETI Institute
• Stephen Brecht – Physicist and president of the Bay Area Research Group
• Kim Stanley Robinson – Hugo Award-winning science Fiction author of the Mars trilogy: Red Mars (Mars Trilogy), Green Mars (Mars Trilogy), Blue Mars (Mars Trilogy)

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

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 09/08/14 - A Sudden Change in Planets

Big Picture Science - A Sudden Change in Planets

A planet is a planet is a planet. Unless it’s Pluto – then it’s a dwarf planet. But even then it’s a planet, according to experts. So what was behind the unpopular re-classification of Pluto by astronomers, and were they justified?

As the New Horizons spacecraft closes in on this small body, one planetary scientist says that this dwarf planet could be more typical of planets than Mars, Mercury, and Saturn. And that our solar system has not 8 or even 9 planets, but 900.

Also, meet a type of planet that’s surprisingly commonplace, although we don’t have one in our solar system: super Earths. Could they harbor life?

And the DAWN mission continues its visit to the two most massive residents of the asteroid belt: Vesta and Ceres. Discover what these proto-planets may reveal to us about the early solar system.

Guests:

• Alan Stern – Planetary scientist, Southwest Research Institute, Principal Investigator of the New Horizons mission
• Marc Rayman – DAWN Mission chief engineer and mission director
• David Stevenson – Professor of planetary science at CalTech
• Rebekah Dawson – Astronomer, postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley
• David Eicher – Editor-in-chief, Astronomy Magazine

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

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 07/21/14 - A Stellar Job

Big Picture Science - A Stellar Job

The stars are out tonight. And they do more than just twinkle. These boiling balls of hot plasma can tell us something about other celestial phenomena. They betray the hiding places of black holes, for one. But they can also fool us. Find out why one of the most intriguing discoveries in astrobiology – that of the potentially habitable exoplanet Gliese 581g – may have been just a mirage.

Plus, the highest levels of ultraviolet light ever mentioned on Earth’s surface puzzles scientists: is it a fluke of nature, or something manmade?

And a physicist suggests that stars could be used by advanced aliens to send hailing signals deep into space.

Guests:

• Paul Robertson – Postdoctoral fellow, Penn State Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds
• Mike Joner – Research professor of astronomy at Brigham Young University
• Nathalie Cabrol – Planetary scientist, SETI Institute
• Anthony Zee – Theoretical physicist at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara

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

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 06/02/14 - A New Hope for Life In Space

Big Picture Science - A New Hope for Life In Space

Alien life. A flurry of recent discoveries has shifted the odds of finding it. Scientists use the Kepler telescope to spot a planet the same size and temperature as Earth … and announce that there could be tens of billions of similar worlds, just in our galaxy!

Plus, new gravity data suggests a mammoth reservoir of water beneath the icy skin of Saturn’s moon Enceladus … and engineers are already in a race to design drills that can access the subsurface ocean of another moon, Jupiter’s Europa.

Meanwhile, Congress holds hearings to assess the value of looking for life in space. Seth Shostak goes to Washington to testify. Hear what he said and whether the exciting discoveries in astrobiology have stimulated equal enthusiasm among those who hold the purse strings.

Guests:

• Elisa Quintana – Research scientist at the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center
• Christopher McKay – Planetary scientist, NASA Ames Research Center
• Victoria Siegel – Autonomous systems engineer for Stone Aerospace Inc.
• Cynthia Phillips – Planetary geologist, SETI Institute

Permalink: http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/A_New_Hope_for_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.

Big Picture Science for 12/16/13 - Some Like It Cold

Big Picture Science - Some Like It Cold

We all may prefer the goldilocks zone – not too hot, not too cold. But most of the universe is bitterly cold. We can learn a lot about it if we’re willing to brave a temperature drop.

A chilly Arctic island is the closest thing to Mars-on-Earth for scientists who want to go to the Red Planet. Meanwhile, the ice sheet at the South Pole is ideal for catching neutrinos – ghostly particles that may reveal secrets about the nature of the universe.

Comet ISON is comet ice-off after its passage close to the Sun, but it’s still giving us the word on solar system’s earliest years.

Also, scientists discover the coldest spot on Earth. A champion chill, but positively balmy compared to absolute zero. Why reaching a temperature of absolute zero is impossible, although we’ve gotten very, very close.

Guests:

• Francis Halzen – Physicist, University of Wisconsin-Madison, principal investigator of The IceCube Neutrino Observatory
• Ted Scambos – Glaciologist, lead scientist, National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado
• Pascal Lee – Planetary scientist, SETI Institute, director, NASA Haughton-Mars Project, and co-founder of the Mars Society. His new book is Mission: Mars
• Andrew Fraknoi – Chair, astronomy department, Foothill College
• Vladan Vuletić – Physicist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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

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 06/17/13 - Exoplanets

Big Picture Science - Exoplanets

You may be unique, but is your home planet? NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has uncovered thousands of planetary candidates, far far beyond our solar system. Some may be habitable and possibly even Earth-like. But now a failure in its steering apparatus may bring an abrupt end to this pioneering telescope’s search for new worlds.

But Kepler has a massive legacy of data still to be studied. Many new worlds will undoubtedly be found in these data. Hear why the astronomer who has discovered the greatest number of exoplanets is hopeful about the hunt for alien life, and meet the next generation of planet-hunting instruments.

Also, “Weird worlds? That was our idea!” Sci-fi writers lay claim to the first musings on exotic planetary locales. And a biographer of Magellan and Columbus describes the dangerous hunt for new worlds five centuries ago.

Guests:

• Charlie Sobeck – Engineer, deputy project manager, Kepler Mission, NASA Ames Research Center
• Geoff Marcy – Astronomer, University of California, Berkeley
• Dan Clery – Deputy news editor, European office of Science
• Laurence Bergreen – author of Voyage to Mars, Columbus: The Four Voyages, 1492-1504, Over the Edge of the World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe (P.S.)
• Robert J. Sawyer – Hugo Award-winning author; most recently of Red Planet Blues

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

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 10/15/12 - As the Worlds Turn

Big Picture Science - As the Worlds Turn

If you’re itching to get away from it all, really get away from it all, have we got some exotic destinations for you. Mars … Jupiter’s moon Europa … asteroids . Tour some enticing worlds that are worlds away, but ripe for exploration.

Also, why private spaceships may be just the ticket for getting yourself into space, unless you want to wait for a space elevator.

And, why one science journalist boasts of an infectious, unabashed, and unbridled enthusiasm for space travel.

Guests:

• Cynthia Phillips – Planetary geologist, SETI Institute
• Britney Schmidt – Research scientist, University of Texas, Austin
• Paul Abell – Planetary geologist, NASA’s Johnson Space Center
• Richard Hollingham – Science journalist, producer of Space Boffins podcast, living in the U.K.
• Barry Matsumori – Senior vice president for commercial sales and business development, SpaceX Corporation
• Peter Swan – Space System Engineer and Vice President, International Space Elevator Consortium

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

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 08/13/12 - A Martian Curiosity

Big Picture Science - A Martian Curiosity

We dig the Red Planet! And so does Curiosity. After a successful landing, and a round of high-fives at NASA, the latest rover to land on Mars is on the move, shovel in mechanical hand.

Discover how the Mars Science Laboratory will hunt for the building blocks of life, and just what the heck a lipid is. Plus, how to distinguish Martians from Earthlings, and the tricks Mars has played on us in the past (canals, anyone?).

Also, want to visit Mars firsthand? We can point you to the sign-up sheet for a manned mission. The catch: the ticket is one-way.

Guests:

• John Grotzinger – Geologist, California Institute of Technology, and project scientist, NASA Mars Science Laboratory mission
• Jennifer Heldmann – Research scientist at NASA Ames Research Center
• Rachel Harris – Astrobiology student at the NASA Astrobiology Institute
• Stuart Schlisserman – Physician in Palo Alto, California
• Felisa Wolfe-Simon – NASA astrobiology research fellow, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs
• Bas Lansdorp – Founder, Mars One

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

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 06/25/12 - Seth's Storm Shelter

Big Picture Science - Seth's Storm Shelter

Expect the unexpected when we go digging in Seth’s storm shelter – who knows what we’ll find! In this cramped never-never land, tucked between piles of dehydrated food packets and old civil defense helmets, we stumble (but don’t step) upon marauding ants … a mission to Pluto…. “evidence” of a spaceship crash … the Apollo astronaut who shot the “Earth Rise” photograph … and Jonah Lehrer meditating on creativity.

Tune in, find out and, help move this box of canned soup, will you?

Guests:

• Mark Moffett – Entomologist, research associate at the Smithsonian Institution, author of Adventures among Ants: A Global Safari with a Cast of Trillions
• John Spencer – Planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and member of the New Horizons science team
• Joe Nickell – Paranormal investigator, Senior Research Fellow, Skeptical Inquirer Magazine
• William Anders – Astronaut on Apollo 8, and photographer of “Earth Rise”
• Jonah Lehrer – Author of Imagine: How Creativity Works

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

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 09/05/11 - Seth's Tool Shed

Big Picture Science - Seth's Tool Shed

Anyone who does gardening knows that life is tough. It’s also ancient – the first living things appeared on this planet nearly as soon as our world was habitable. We consider life on real worlds – like Earth and Mars – as well as fictional ones, such as the desert planet from the movie “Dune”. We’ll hear about a new scheme to find Martians, and practical approaches to coping with climate change.

And is Pluto seeking revenge? The unmasking of a fourth moon around this former planet!

We’re making some lively discoveries in Seth’s Tool Shed on Big Picture Science.

Guests:

• Philip Duffy – Physicist and senior scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• Kevin Zahnle – Planetary scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center
• David Summers – Astrobiologist at the SETI Institute
• Christopher Carr – Researcher in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Mark Showalter – Research scientist at the SETI Institute

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

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.

Big Picture Science for 07/25/11 - Water the Chances

Big Picture Science - Water the Chances

Water, water everywhere. But most of it is sea water – you can’t drink it. Discover the most promising technologies for desalination and why solar cells are key. Also, how astronauts filter “water-closet water” to drink it, and how to turn a salt pond back to a wetland.

Plus, from Roman aqueducts to modern-day pumps: a history of quenching human thirst. And, why NASA strives to “follow the water.”

Guests:

• Brian Fagan – Anthropologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, author of Elixir: A History of Water and Humankind
• John Bourgeois – Biologist and Executive Project Manager, South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project
• Michael Meyer – Lead scientist for the Mars Exploration Program
• Farouk El-Baz – Geologist and Director of the Center for Remote Sensing, Boston University
• Michael Flynn – Principal investigator for NASA’s advanced life support branch, Ames Research Center

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

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.

NOTICE - Are We Alone is now Big Picture Science! You can find out more here: http://radio.seti.org/blog/2011/05/the-names-they-are-a-changin/