Big Picture Science for July 31, 2017 - Caught in a Traps

Big Picture Science - Caught in a Traps

ENCORE: “Locked and loaded” is how one scientist recently described the San Andreas fault.  Find out when this famous west-coast rift might cause “the big one;” also, the state of early earthquake warning systems.
Plus, another sign of our planet’s unceasing turmoil: volcanos!  Could the eruption that produced the Deccan Traps, and not a rock from space, have been the nail in the coffin for the dinosaurs?  One seismologist shares new evidence about some suspicious timing.

And, the man who was the first to take the temperature of lava, established the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, and essentially pioneered the field of volcanology a century ago is nearly lost to history.  A scientist rescues fellow volcanologist Thomas Jagger from obscurity. 
 
Guests:

• Tom Jordan – Seismologist, director, Southern California Earthquake Center, University of Southern California
• Mark Richards – Professor of earth and planetary science, University of California, Berkeley
• John Dvorak -  Volcanologist who worked with the United States Geological Survey for 16 years, author, “The Last Volcano: A Man, ARomance, and the Quest to Understand Nature’s Most Magnificent Fury”

This encore podcast was first released on 5/30/2016

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/caught-traps

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Space Lightning over Hawaii

Source - Space Weather News for July 26, 2017: http://spaceweather.com

SPACE LIGHTNING OVER HAWAII: This week, automated cameras atop a dormant volcano in Hawaii captured rare footage of Gigantic Jets leaping up from a powerful thunderstorm. The strange-looking bolts reached toward the edge of space, delivering a surge of electricity to the top of Earth's atmosphere. These unusual forms of "space lightning" could become more common in the years ahead as declining solar activity allows more ionizing cosmic rays to penetrate Earth's atmosphere. Learn more on today's edition of Spaceweather.com.


Gigantic Jet Lightning Near Hawaii

Taken by Frankie Lucena on July 24, 2017 @ Mauna Kea Observator
Image Source URL -  http://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=137164

Big Picture Science for July 24, 2017 - What Goes Around

Big Picture Science - What Goes Around

It’s not just tin cans and newspapers.  One man says that, from a technical standpoint, everything can be recycled – cigarette butts, yoga mats, dirty diapers.  Even radioactive waste.  You name it, we can recycle it.  But we choose not to.  Find out why we don’t, and how we could do more.

Plus, a solar-powered device that pulls water from the air – even desert air.

And, something upon which life depends that seems dirt cheap, but can’t be replenished: soil.  What happens when we pave over this living resource?

Guests:

• Tom Szaky - CEO and founder of Terracycle.
• Eugene Kapustin - Graduate student, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley.
• Etienne Schneider - Deputy Prime Minister and Economic Minister, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
• Pete Worden - Chairman of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation and former Director, NASA Ames Research Center.
• Paul Bogard - Assistant professor of English, James Madison University, author of, “The Ground Beneath Us: From the Oldest Cities to the Last Wilderness, What Dirt Tells Us About Who We Are.”  His op-ed about lawns, “Beyond Blades of Grass,” appeared in the June 16, 2017 New York Times.

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/what-goes-around

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for July 17, 2017 - Eclipsing All Other Shows

Big Picture Science - Eclipsing All Other Shows

They say that the experience of watching a total eclipse is so profound, you’re not the same afterward.  If life-changing events are your thing and you’re in the lower 48 states on August 21st, let us help you make the most of viewing the Great American Solar Eclipse.

Learn the basics of where to be and what to bring, even on short notice. No eclipse glasses?  Find out why a kitchen colander is an excellent Plan B.

Also, the strange behavior of animals and private jet pilots during an eclipse.  The latter is making the FAA sweat.

Plus, how 1878 eclipse fever inspired Thomas Edison and astronomer Maria Mitchell, and what was at stake for them scientifically.  And today, with astronauts able to view the Sun from space, what new science can we still learn by eclipse expeditions on Earth?

And, NASA turns up the heat on solar studies with a probe to within a hair’s breadth of the Sun.

Guests:

• David Baron - Author of “American Eclipse: A Nation’s Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon and Win the Glory of the World.”
• Andrew Fraknoi - Chair of the Astronomy Department, Foothill College.  His latest book, for children:  “When the Sun Goes Dark.”
• Jay Pasachoff - Professor of Astronomy, Williams College, chair of the International Astronomical Union Working Group on Solar Eclipses.
• Madhulika Guhathakurta - Astrophysicist, NASA Heliophysics Science Division and Program Scientist for the Solar Probe Plus mission.

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/eclipsing-all-other-shows

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

CME Strike Sparks Geomagnetic Storms

Source - Space Weather News for July 16, 2017: http://spaceweather.com

CME STRIKE SPARKS GEOMAGNETIC STORMS: Geomagnetic storms are underway on July 16th following a CME strike at 0545 UT. Auroras have been sighted in New Zealand as well as US states such as Washington and Wyoming. G1-class storms happening now could intensity to G2-class in the hours ahead as Earth moves into the CME's magnetized wake.

Visit Spaceweather.com for images and updates

Above: Auroras over Hoopers Inlet, Otago, New Zealand, on July 16, 2017. 

Photo credit: Ian Griffin

Solar Activity Intensifies as Huge Sunspot Grows

Source - Space Weather News for July 9, 2017: http://spaceweather.com

SOLAR ACTIVITY INTENSIFIES: Sunspot AR2665, which emerged just as few days ago, has mushroomed into a behemoth nearly as wide as the planet Jupiter. On July 9th the fast-growing sunspot produced an M-class solar flare and a short-lived shortwave radio blackout over east Asia and Australia. Stronger flares and Earth-directed CMEs may be in the offing as AR2665 turns toward our planet in the days ahead.

Visit Spaceweather.com for images, movies and updates.

Big Picture Science for July 10, 2017 - Frogs' Pants

Big Picture Science - Frogs' Pants

It’s one of the most bizarre biological experiments ever. In the 18th century, a scientist fitted a pair of tailor-made briefs on a male frog to determine the animal’s contribution to reproduction.  The process of gestation was a mystery and scientists had some odd-ball theories.

Today, a 5th grader can tell you how babies are made, but we still don’t know exactly what life is.  In our quest to understand, we’re still at the frogs’ pants stage.

Find out why conception took centuries to figure out.  Also, why the 1970s Viking experiments, specifically designed to detect life on Mars, couldn’t give us a definitive answer.  Plus, can knowing where life isn’t help define what it is?  Take a tour of the world’s barren places.

Guests:

• Jay Gallentine - Author of books about space and space history.
• Edward Dolnick - Author and former science writer at the Boston Globe.  His book is The Seeds of Life: From Aristotle to Da Vinci, from Shark’s Teeth to Frogs’ Pants.
• Chris McKay - Planetary scientist, NASA Ames Research Center.

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/frogs-pants

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

A Big Sunspot is Turning Toward Earth

Source - Space Weather News for July 7, 2017: http://spaceweather.com

BIG SUNSPOT TURNS TOWARD EARTH: A new and large sunspot is rapidly growing on the solar disk, temporarily arresting the sun's plunge into Solar Minimum. Stretching more than 70,000 km from end to end, the active region numbered AR2665 has more than doubled in size in 24 hours. This makes it an easy target for backyard solar telescopes. So far the growing sunspot has not produced any strong flares, but this could change if its rapid growth continues apace and destabilizes the sunspot's magnetic field.

Visit Spaceweather.com for movies and updates.

Big Picture Science for July 03, 2017 - Skeptic Check: Rational Lampoon

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: Rational Lampoon

Two heads may be better than one.  But what about three or more?  A new study shows that chimpanzees excel at complex tasks when they work in groups, and their accumulated knowledge can even be passed from one generation to the next.

But group-think also can be maladaptive.  When humans rely on knowledge that they assume other people possess, they can become less than rational.

Find out why one cognitive scientist says that individual thinking is a myth.  Most of your decisions are made in groups, and most derive from emotion, not rationality.

Also, why we know far less than we think we do.  For example, most people will say they understand how an everyday object like a zipper works, but draw a blank when asked to explain it.

Plus, why we have a biological drive to categorize people as “us” or “them,” and how we can override it.

Guests:

• Steven Sloman - Professor of cognitive linguistics and psychological sciences at Brown University and editor-in-chief of the journal, Cognition
• Robert Sapolsky - Professor of neuroscience at Stanford University and author of Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
• Laurance Doyle - Scientist at the SETI Institute

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/skeptic-check-rational-lampoon

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

NASA Creates Artificial 'Space Clouds'

Source - Space Weather News for June 29, 2017: http://spaceweather.com

NASA CREATES ARTIFICIAL 'SPACE CLOUDS': A rocket launched before sunrise on June 29th from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility produced an amazing display of colorful 'space clouds' over the east coast of the USA.  Onlookers described their "erupting colors" as "vivid", "spellbinding", and "brilliantly apparent" as the vaporous forms spread across the early morning sky. To learn more about the clouds, and why NASA made them, visit today's edition of Spaceweather.com

THE SOLAR ECLIPSE BALLOON NETWORK: The Great American Solar Eclipse is less than two months away. Where will you be on Aug. 21, 2017, when the Moon completely covers the sun? Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus plan to observe the eclipse from the stratosphere, photographing the Moon's shadow and collecting unique cosmic ray data high above any obscuring clouds.  We'll do it using space weather balloons launched from multiple sites along the path of totality. Learn more about how you can support or even join the Solar Eclipse Balloon Network.

Skeptic Check: How Low Can You Go?

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: How Low Can You Go?

ENCORE: Baby, it’s cold outside… but you still might want to be there.  Some people claim that chilly temperatures are good for your health, and proponents of cryotherapy suggest you have a blast – of sub-zero air – to stave off wrinkles and perhaps halt aging altogether.

Meanwhile the field of cryonics offers the ultimate benefit by suggesting that you put future plans – and your body – on ice when you die.  That way you might be revived when the technology to do so is developed.

So, will a chill wind blow you some good?  Possibly, as scientists are discovering that the body can endure colder temperatures than previously thought.  We examine the science of extreme cold and claims of its salubrious benefits.

It’s our monthly look at critical thinking, Skeptic Check … but don’t take our word for it!

Guests:

• Seth Abramovitch - Senior writer at the Hollywood Reporter
• Gordon Giesbrecht - Professor of thermal physiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
• Grant Shoffstall - Sociologist, Williams College

This encore podcast was first released on 03/28/2017

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/skeptic-check-how-low-can-you-go

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Atmospheric Radiation Update: Cosmic Rays Increasing from Coast to Coast in the USA

Source - Space Weather News for June 25, 2017: http://spaceweather.com

ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION UPDATE: For years, Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus have been using space weather balloons to monitor cosmic rays in the atmosphere above California. We previously reported that dose rates have been increasing over the Golden State, more than 13% since March 2015. Now we know the same thing is happening over New England--only more so. Balloons recently launched from the Atlantic Coast of the USA have detected even stronger and more rapidly intensifying levels of cosmic radiation. What's causing this continent-wide increase?

Visit today's edition of Spaceweather.com for the full story.






SIERRA SNOWPACK SEEN FROM THE STRATOSPHERE: A space weather balloon launched on June 23rd has captured remarkable spherical images of California's historic snowpack from the stratosphere. They show Sierra Nevada mountains laden with widespread snow despite an early summer heat wave that has sent temperatures shooting above 110 F at the base of the range.

Click on the image below to explore the scene as an interactive 360-degree image--or visit the Earth to Sky Calculus Facebook page.

Jellyfish-shaped 'Space Lightning' Sighted over Europe

Source - Space Weather News for June 22, 2017: http://spaceweather.com

JELLYFISH SPRITES OVER EUROPE: We all know what comes out of the bottom of a thunderstorm: lightning. But do you know what comes out of the top? On June 20th, an amateur astronomer photographed incredible jellyfish-shaped 'sprites' flickering above a storm system in Austria. Such upper atmospheric lightning is a form of space weather that is being seen and photographed by increasing numbers of sky watchers.

Visit today's edition of Spaceweather.com for observing tips and more information about this phenomenon.

Big Picture Science for June 19, 2017 - Perpetual Emotion Machine

Big Picture Science - Perpetual Emotion Machine

Get ready for compassionate computers that feel your pain, share your joy, and generally get where you’re coming from.  Computers that can tell by your voice whether you’re pumped up or feeling down, or sense changes in heart rate, skin, or muscle tension to determine your mood.  Empathetic electronics that you can relate to.

But wait a minute – we don’t always relate to other humans.  Our behavior can be impulsive and even self-sabotaging – our emotions are often conflicted and irrational.   We cry when we’re happy.  Frown when we’re pensive.  A suite of factors, much of them out of our control, govern how we behave, from genes to hormones to childhood experience.

One study says that all it takes for a defendant to receive a harsher sentence is a reduction in the presiding judge’s blood sugar.

So grab a cookie, and find out how the heck we can build computers that understand us anyway.

Guests:

• Rosalind Picard – Professor at the MIT Media Lab and co-founder of the companies Affectiva and Empatica.
• Robert Sapolsky – Professor of neuroscience at Stanford University, and author of Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst.

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/perpetual-emotion-machine

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Upper Atmospheric 'Heat Wave' Wipes out Noctilucent Clouds

Source - Space Weather News for June 15, 2017: http://spaceweather.com

MYSTERY OF THE MISSING NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS: Every year in June, far-northern sky watchers see electric-blue tendrils creeping over the western horizon at sunset. These are noctilucent clouds (NLCs) formed by summertime wisps of water vapor crystallizing around bits of meteor smoke at the edge of space.  Every year in June ... except this year.  NLCs have been mysteriously absent in June 2017, and researchers have just figured out why. A 'heat wave' in the upper atmosphere has temporarily wiped them out.

Visit today's edition of Spaceweather.com for the full story and the prognosis for future NLCs.

Article URL - http://news.spaceweather.com/mystery-of-the-missing-noctilucent-clouds/