Sunset Planet Alert

Source - NASA Science News for March 31, 2010

The solar system's innermost planets are about to put on a beautiful show for sunset sky watchers.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/31mar_sunsetplanets.htm?list894285

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

'Radio-Active' Sunspot

Source - Space Weather News for March 29, 2010: http://spaceweather.com

"RADIO-ACTIVE" SUNSPOT: Over the weekend, big sunspot 1057 emitted a series of radio bursts that caused roaring sounds to issue from the loudspeakers of shortwave receivers. Visit today's edition of http://spaceweather.com to hear a sample "roar" and to find out how you can build your own solar radio burst monitor.

FIRST FULL MOON OF NORTHERN SPRING: According to folklore, tonight's full Moon has a special name--the Worm Moon. It signals the coming of northern spring, a thawing of the soil, and the first stirrings of earthworms in long-dormant gardens. Step outside tonight and behold the wakening landscape. "Worm moonlight" is prettier than it sounds.

SHUTTLE SIGHTINGS: Space shuttle Discovery is set to launch to the International Space Station on April 5th. During the 13-day mission, the two spaceships will make a series of bright flybys over North America. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker for viewing opportunities:

http://spaceweather.com/flybys

And don't forget, there's an app for that, too:

http://simpleflybys.com

Are We Alone for 03/29/10 - SETI: Now What?

Are We Alone - SETI: Now What?

ENCORE: Hello! Is anyone out there? As the scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence marks its 50th anniversary, there’s been no contact as yet with alien beings. But SETI researchers maintain that we are not alone. Find out why in a SETI retrospective that looks at the past and future of the search.

We remember the first scientific SETI search… Carl Sagan… how the SETI Institute began… the WOW signal…and the 1993 NASA budget cuts.

We’ll also hear from critics of the search… scientists involved in optical SETI and SETI@home. Plus, international collaborations… and where the search is headed.

Guests:

• Frank Drake – Director of the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute
• Jill Tarter – Director of the Center for SETI Research, SETI Institute
• Tom Pierson – CEO, SETI Institute
• Paul Horowitz – Physicist, electrical engineer, Harvard University
  
• Dan Werthimer – Chief Scientist, SETI@home, University of California, Berkeley
• Ben Zuckerman – Physicist, Astronomer, UCLA

Permalink: http://radio.seti.org:80/episodes/SETI_Now_What

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.

An Avalanche of Dark Asteroids

Source - NASA Science News for March 26, 2010

Every day, a NASA infrared space telescope named "WISE" is discovering hundreds of previously unknown asteroids. The observatory is making a remarkable contribution to the census of dark space rocks that could potentially threaten Earth.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/26mar_darkasteroids.htm?list894285

Are We Alone for 03/22/10 - Thanks for the Memories

Are We Alone - Thanks for the Memories

Memories are slippery things – some are crystal clear, others more like a muddy pool, and some… well, they seem to vanish completely.

Scientists admit that memory is all very complicated, but one piece of the puzzle lies in how we age – we’ll hear the latest research. Meanwhile, meet the man who digitally logged his every waking moment – and why maybe the secret to happiness isn’t in remembering but in forgetting.

Plus, the case for deleting data from your hard-drive… and from your brain itself.

Guests:

• Adam Gazzaley – Director of the Neuroscience Imaging Center at University of California, San Francisco
• Gordon Bell – Principal researcher at Microsoft Research
• Jim Gemmell – Senior researcher at Microsoft Research
• James McGaugh – Neurobiologist at the University of California, Irvine
• Viktor Mayer-Schönberger – Director of the Information and Innovation Policy Research Center at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and the author of Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age
• Todd Sacktor – Neurologist, SUNY Downstate Medical Center

Permalink: http://radio.seti.org:80/episodes/Thanks_for_the_Memories

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.

Equinox Sky Show

Source - NASA Science News for March 19, 2010

Grab your binoculars. The crescent Moon and the Pleiades star cluster are gathering for a beautiful close encounter on the first night of northern Spring.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/19mar_equinox.htm?list894285

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

The Multiplying Mystery of Moonwater

Source - NASA Science News for March 18, 2010

Researchers who once confidently stated that the Moon was bone-dry are now thinking the unthinkable: The Moon has so much water, there's actually a "lunar hydrosphere." International spacecraft have recently discovered no fewer than three "flavors" of moonwater and no one knows when the discoveries will end.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/18mar_moonwater.htm?list894285

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

Are We Alone for 03/15/10 - Physics Phrontiers

Are We Alone - Physics Phrontiers

Physics means getting physical if you’re tackling the biggest, most mysterious questions in the universe. Stoic scientists endure the driest, darkest, coldest spots on the planet to find out how it all began and why there’s something rather than nothing. From the bottom of an old iron mine to the top of the Andes, we’ll hear their stories.

Plus, Steven Weinberg on this weird stuff called dark energy, and Leonard Susskind sees double, no, triple, no, …infinite universes.

Guests:

• Anil Ananthaswamy – Corresponding editor for New Scientist magazine in London and author of The Edge of Physics: A Journey to Earth’s Extremes to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe
• Steven Weinberg – Nobel Prize-winning physicist at University of Texas at Austin and author of Lake Views: This World and the Universe
• Leonard Susskind – Professor of theoretical physics, Stanford University
• André de Gouvêa – Associate professor of physics, Northwestern University

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.

PCS news for 03-12-2010

Posted on behalf of the Pacific Science Center:

Hubble 3D Premiere A Star-Studded Affair
Instead of Hollywood stars, this movie debut featured stars in the sky. This amazing film, shot with an IMAX 3D camera in space, shows how a crew of astronauts repaired the Hubble Space telescope. The images from Hubble 3D are incredible. Learn more about the movie premiere in this article from CollectSpace.com and read more about the mission in this interview with astronaut Mike Massimino. Then get set for the opening of Hubble 3D at Pacific Science Center's Boeing IMAX Theater March 19. Tickets are on sale now.

Seeing 'Alice?' 3D Is A Must
Thousands have been flocking to theaters across the country to watch the newest interpretation of the classic Alice in Wonderland story. But if you're going to see it, you really must see it in 3D, as this LA Times reviewer points out. And if you're going to see it in 3D, you really owe it to yourself to see it on the biggest screen in Seattle. Alice in Wonderland An IMAX 3D Experience is now playing at Pacific Science Center's Boeing IMAX Theater. Buy Tickets.

Go For A Run, Celebrate Science
If you plan to be among the thousands taking part in the St. Paddy's Day Dash this Sunday in Seattle, be on the lookout for some participants sporting Martian antennae and lime green t-shirts! OK, so they're not real antennae, they're costumes some Pacific Science Center staffers will be wearing as they run and walk the course. Letting everyone know about our current exhibit, Facing Mars. Don't be surprised if they hand out some goodies along the way. Hope to see you there!

Web: http://pacificsciencecenter.org

Solar 'Current of Fire' Speeds Up

Source - NASA Science News for March 12, 2010

A massive "current of fire" on the sun has started running at high speed, surprising researchers and challenging some models of the solar cycle.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/12mar_conveyorbelt.htm?list894285

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

Bright Sungrazing Comet

Source - Space Weather News for March 12, 2010: http://spaceweather.com

Today, a newly discovered comet is plunging toward the sun for a close encounter it probably will not survive. The comet is rapidly vaporizing and appears very bright in coronagraph images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Visit http://spaceweather.com for movies of the ongoing encounter and more information about the comet.

Did the Chilean Quake Shift Earth's Axis?

Source - NASA Science News for March 11, 2010

Widespread press reports have noted that February's Chilean earthquake might have shortened Earth's day by a small amount. Today's story from Science@NASA explores a more significant effect---how the quake might have shifted Earth's axis.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/11mar_figureaxis.htm?list894285

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

Hubble 3D to Premiere at Pacific Science Center’s Boeing IMAX Theater on the largest screen in Seattle March 19

Posted on behalf of the Pacific Science Center:

SEATTLE – Pacific Science Center’s Boeing IMAX Theater launches its newest space film Hubble 3D March 19. This giant-screen film is the latest in the Smithsonian’s space-related IMAX film series and is the seventh film created by IMAX’s award-winning space team.

Hubble 3D chronicles NASA’s historic Hubble Space Telescope, the first major optical telescope to be placed in space. Development for the space observatory began in 1970, but technical glitches and other space-program setbacks delayed its launch until 1990. Since then, NASA performed five service missions that improved the telescope and enabled it to make in excess of 800,000 observations and capture more than 500,000 images of more than 25,000 celestial objects from within the solar system and beyond.

The film contains several minutes of IMAX 3-D footage captured by NASA’s STS-125 Atlantis astronauts, including their intricate space walks during the final service repairs to the telescope. This footage will give audiences the sensation of being in space while performing some of the most difficult tasks ever undertaken in NASA’s 50-year history.

Pacific Science Center’s Boeing IMAX Theater’s six-story screen and 3-D technology will showcase the breathtaking images of the universe captured by the Hubble telescope in a truly immersive format. Viewers will feel like they are among the stars as they observe the splendor of nebulae and other galaxies and witness the life cycle of celestial bodies. They will also gain an understanding of the efforts needed to ensure the success of the Hubble mission.

Hubble 3D was directed by veteran IMAX filmmaker Toni Myers (Space Station 3D) and was narrated by Academy Award Nominee Leonardo DiCaprio (Shutter Island). It was produced by IMAX and Warner Bros. Pictures in cooperation with NASA.

Pacific Science Center’s Boeing IMAX Theater is located at 200 Second Ave. North, under the arches, near the Space Needle, in Seattle. For information on tickets and showtimes, please call 206/443-2001 or visit the website at www.pacificsciencecenter.org

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IMAX® is a registered trademark of IMAX Corporation.

Pacific Science Center (pacificsciencecenter.org) is an independent, not-for-profit educational institution that inspires lifelong interest in science, math and technology by engaging diverse communities through interactive and innovative exhibits and programs in every county of Washington state and beyond.

Are We Alone for 03/08/10 - Skeptic Check: Climate Clamor

Are We Alone - Skeptic Check: Climate Clamor

Arctic ice is melting, atmospheric temperatures are climbing – yet climate change science is under attack. Detractors claim that researchers are manipulating data and hoodwinking the public. And the public is increasingly skeptical about the science.

Find out what’s behind the surge of climate change skepticism… what the IPCC really does… and why snowstorms don’t refute global warming.

Plus a health report on the world’s coral reefs and what we’ll miss if they disappear.

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

Guests:

• Stephen Schneider – Climate scientist, Stanford University
• Phil Chapman – Apollo 14 Mission Scientist, now a geophysicist and consultant on energy and astronautics
• Simon Donner – Geographer at the University of British Columbia
• Sheila Jasanoff – Professor of Science and Public Policy at Harvard University

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.