ScienceAstronomyEarth Sciences

Spacepod

Carrie Nugent

Hear stories about the alien moons orbiting our Sun, of cold stars, and the future of space exploration. Every week, scientist Dr. Carrie Nugent chats about an amazing part of our universe with an expert guest. Spacepod is the podcast that gives you an inside look into space exploration. Learn more: http://listentospacepod.com

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241 episodes
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English

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#100
Jun 4, 2017 · 17 min
100: The gauntlet is thrown- explain the ammonia! with Dr. Ehlmann
Dr. Bethany Ehlmann returns to talk about Ceres. She tells us what certain types of silicates have in common with phyllo dough, and explains how traces of ammonia on Ceres hint at unusual history for this dwarf planet.
#99
May 28, 2017 · 19 min
99: Photons from exoplanets with Dr. Meshkat
Dr. Tiffany Meshkat describes direct imaging of exoplanets, which astronomers have used to discover enormous, young planets. She also talks about WFIRST, a mission under development that would be able to find and characterize exoplanets.
#98
May 21, 2017 · 20 min
98: A place on Earth as dry as Mars with Dr. Azua-Bustos
Dr. Armando Azua-Bustos talks about how he discovered the driest place on Earth— a region in the Atacama Desert not far from where he grew up. He explains how he collects and studies microbial life that live in these extremely dry regions.
#97
May 14, 2017 · 22 min
97: If a glacier falls in a fjord… with Dr. Koppes
Dr. Michele Koppes stops by to talk about her glacier research on planet Earth. She describes how a melting glacier triggered a staggeringly large landslide in 2015, and how glaciers can match even humans in their ability to transform the landscape.
#96
May 7, 2017 · 17 min
96: Vega, dust, and a giant inflatable bumblebee with Dr. Ciardi
Dr. David Ciardi talks about Vega, a bright star that's "been a part of human lore forever." Dr. Ciardi and his colleagues discovered that Vega has a nearby ring of dust, implying the presence of planets. He also describes an encounter with a giant inflatable bumblebee at Palomar Observatory.
#95
Apr 30, 2017 · 16 min
95: Asteroid hunting software with John Dailey
John Dailey explains how he uses his software engineering skills to discover asteroids at IPAC/Caltech. He helps solve problems inherent to working with astronomical data, such as the challenge of reading in and out huge volumes of data from hard drives.
#94
Apr 23, 2017 · 14 min
94: Seven hundred new craters on Mars with Dr. Daubar
Dr. Ingrid Daubar stops by to talk about HiRISE, a camera on a Mars-orbiting spacecraft that takes amazing images of the Martian surface. She explains how she uses these images to search for fresh craters, and how you (yes you!) suggest areas of the planet for this camera to image. (Correction to episode: Mars' atmosphere is 0.6% that of Earth, not 6%)
#93
Apr 16, 2017 · 21 min
93: Companionable Jupiters with Marta Bryan
Marta Bryan shares her new results on exoplanets! She explains how she tested a theory of hot jupiter formation, and how she figured out that planet rotation rates are likely set early on in the planet's lifetime.
#92
Apr 9, 2017 · 15 min
92: When there's dust there's planets with Dr. Patel
Dr. Rahul Patel describes his search for undiscovered disks of dust around other stars. He explains how looking for fainter and fainter debris disks may bring us closer to discovering a planetary system similar to our own.
#91
Apr 2, 2017 · 11 min
91: Tectonic hazard on Phobos with Dr. Curren
Dr. Ivy Curren talks about Mars' moon Phobos, and how grooves on its surface indicate that the interior may be fractured. This small, mysterious moon is covered in faults, making it a dicey place for future missions to land.
#90
Mar 26, 2017 · 18 min
90: The universe is full of water with Dr. Paladini
Dr Roberta Paladini talks about the space-based Herschel Space Observatory, which was the largest infrared telescope ever launched. It looked at the sky in the far infrared, and discovered an abundance of water in star-forming regions.
#89
Mar 19, 2017 · 27 min
89: Underwater Flying Objects with Prof. Thompson
Dr. Andy Thompson explains how he uses robotic ocean gliders to learn about our planet. He tells us how ocean water interacts with the atmosphere, and how parcels of water can preserve information about that interaction for thousands of years.
Mar 14, 2017 · 11 min
Bonus episode: I wrote a book!
As part of the 2016 TED Fellows class, I got to meet cool people and I got to talk about asteroids. My TED talk is now online on www.TED.com (check it out!) and the companion book, "Asteroid Hunters", by me, is now available in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and India. There's also e-book and audiobook versions. This bonus episode contains an excerpt from "Asteroid Hunters".
#88
Mar 12, 2017 · 21 min
88: Designing earthquake alarms with Dr. Burkett
Dr. Erin Burkett tells us what prairie dog research has to do with an earthquake early alarm system. She also talks about how to motivate people to prepare for earthquakes, and emphasizes the importance of storytelling in science communication.
#87
Mar 5, 2017 · 20 min
87: Visions of interstellar travel with Dr. Hurt
Dr. Robert Hurt returns to the show to talk about artistic depictions of interstellar travel. We discuss the images of the seven-planet TRAPPIST-1 system he and Tim Pyle created— images that graced the cover of Nature and the front page of the New York Times. We also talk about Star Trek: The Next Generation, and what that TV show got right (and wrong) about the visuals of cruising through outer space.
#86
Feb 26, 2017 · 14 min
86: Celestial cinematography with Dr. Kasliwal
Professor Mansi Kasliwal talks about the GROWTH project, which uses international teamwork to watch astronomical events around the clock. An individual observer is thwarted by sunrise, but together, an international team can continuously monitor supernovae, neutron stars, and asteroids over 24 hours.
#85
Feb 19, 2017 · 18 min
85: Risk, hazard, and threat: the importance of language with Dr. Billings
Dr Linda Billings talks about the importance of clear communication across the expert/non-expert boundary. She describes the difference between the words "risk", "hazard" and "threat," as applied to near-Earth objects and gives advice to scientists who want to communicate their research accurately.
#84
Feb 12, 2017 · 25 min
84: Saturn's siren song with Dr. Burton
Dr. Marcia Burton stops by the show to talk about radio waves from Saturn, as measured by the Cassini Spacecraft. We listen to some audio clips, and she explains why it is so difficult to measure the length of Saturn's day.
#83
Feb 5, 2017 · 22 min
83: Why we archive with Dr. Rebull
Dr. Luisa Rebull explains why it is vital to archive astronomical images. NASA archives, such as the ones at IPAC, are accessible everyone on Earth at no cost. Luisa also describes how you can take a tour through archived data via the Dustier, Messier, Messier Marathon.
Jan 29, 2017 · 14 min
82: Searching the sky for asteroids with Eric Christensen
Eric Christensen, head of the Catalina Sky Survey, talks about how he and his team hunt asteroids and comets. He explains how astronomers can distinguish between individual asteroids and how new upgrades will let the survey discover more asteroids than ever before.

Showing 141–160 of 241 episodes