Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS

Topic: Astronomy & Space

February 11, 2013	Storm Cloud Life - A world of bacterial life inhabits storm clouds high in the atmosphere.
February 7, 2013	Dung Beetle Navigation - Dung beetles use the Milky Way to roll their dung balls in a straight line.
January 8, 2013	Comet Encounters - A newly discovered comet will be visible from earth this fall.
December 21, 2012	Podcast for 21 December 2012 - THE CHANGING ENVIRONMENT - What a scallop's cough can tell us about environmental health, how melting Arctic ice may have caused the earth's last big freeze, and why climate change may have undone the Maya empire. Also: using weather forecasting techniques to predict flu outbreaks, and revisiting the apocalypse myth surrounding the fictional planet Nibiru.
December 7, 2012	Podcast for 7 December 2012 - ARE YOU WREN ENOUGH? Why fairy wrens require their babies to show ID, how coral reefs ask for help, and how one microscopic animal patches itself up with borrowed genes. Also: Host Bob Hirshon went down to NASA Headquarters to report on the discovery of water on the planet Mercury.
December 3, 2012	Water on Mercury - Scientists discover water on the planet Mercury.
November 12, 2012	Butterfly Migration Radar - Radar data, along with highly coordinated observations, has solved a disappearing-butterfly mystery.
July 24, 2012	Martian Water - An analysis of meteorites suggests that the Martian interior contains much more water than previously suspected.
July 6, 2012	Podcast for 6 July 2012 - OUR SOLAR SYSTEM - Scientists discover organic carbon in meteorites from Mars and take a new look at the asteroid Vesta. Also: zebrafish meet their robotic overlords, and someone finally invents a blind-spot-free side-view mirror.
June 12, 2012	Solar Heat - A listener asks: How hot is the surface of the sun?
June 5, 2012	Martian Carbon - Researchers have discovered organic carbon in meteorites from Mars.
May 24, 2012	Vesta the Protoplanet - The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter contains an embryonic planet in arrested development.
May 10, 2012	Runaway Planets - Under some circumstances, planets could be thrown out of the galaxy at tremendous speed.
April 27, 2012	Podcast for 27 April 2012 - Why some planets are on the run. How to harpoon a comet. And counting penguins from space.
April 23, 2012	Penguins from Space - Researchers have estimated the total number of Emperor Penguins in Antarctica using satellite images.
April 13, 2012	Podcast for 13 April 2012 - CHEMISTRY & LIFE - What 2-billion-year-old raindrop fossils can tell us about conditions on the early earth. What science is revealing about the artwork of Leonardo da Vinci and Vincent Van Gogh. And a breakthrough in materials science technology yields plastic that can repair itself.
April 2, 2012	Comet Harpoon - NASA scientists are testing a harpoon that could bring back samples from comets.
February 10, 2012	Podcast for 10 February 2012 - Are cyclones and earthquakes related? Why recent bad winters may be the result of global warming. And what life might be like on a planet with two stars. Also: we answer a listener's question about the temperature of the sun.
February 6, 2012	The Sun’s Temperature - A listener asks: How hot is the surface of the sun?
January 31, 2012	Twin Star Planets - Planets with two stars could have wild climates.
January 23, 2012	Weightless Flies - Magnetically levitated flies may help researchers study the effects of weightlessness.
January 20, 2012	Podcast for 20 January 2012 - ANIMALS & PEOPLE - Levitating flies, what dogs and babies have in common, how oxytocin makes kinder, gentler monkeys, a fish that mimics an octopus that mimics a fish, and how bats hear with both sides of the brain.
January 6, 2012	Calendar Roundup - Researchers say they’ve developed a better calendar.
December 20, 2011	Fastest Spinning Star - A powerful telescope has detected the fastest rotating star yet.
October 31, 2011	Mercury’s Volcanoes - The planet Mercury seems placid compared to others in the solar system. But the MESSENGER spacecraft is revealing a more tumultuous past.
October 24, 2011	Mercury’s Make-up - The MESSENGER spacecraft is revealing new details about the tiny planet’s chemical composition.
October 11, 2011	Not-So-Precious Metals - If you’re wearing a gold ring, it began as a meteeorite that struck the earth billions of years ago, but vast deposits of precious metals are also hidden deep in the earth’s core.
October 6, 2011	Podcast for 7 October 2011 - MERCURY SPECIAL REPORT - The MESSENGER spacecraft is revealing new discoveries about the planet closest to our Sun.
October 4, 2011	Mercury Hollows - NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft has identified mysterious hollows on the planet's surface.
October 3, 2011	Mercury Origins - The MESSENGER spacecraft is revealing surprising details about the origins of the planet Mercury.
September 23, 2011	Podcast for 23 September 2011 - PLANETS & PATHOGENS - Gardening for Mars, the darkest planet, a parasite that turns rats against themselves, telling the viruses from the bacteria, and the link between caffeine and skin cancer prevention.
September 12, 2011	Food For Mars - NASA nutritionists face a delicious challenge when planning what astronauts will eat on a mission to Mars.
September 1, 2011	Darkest Planet - Scientists have identified the darkest known extrasolar planet.
August 19, 2011	Podcast for 19 August 2011 - WATER EVERYWHERE - Astronomers have discovered the largest cache of water ever, and researchers are developing new software for detecting contamination of municipal water supplies. Also: Round robots to help safeguard nuclear power plants.
August 16, 2011	Black Hole Water - Water was abundant in the universe just 1.6 billion years after the Big Bang - in one of the most inhospitable places imaginable.
August 12, 2011	Climate Roundup - Climate scientists who want to know how airplanes might affect the climate are gaining new insights by looking nearly seventy years into the past.
June 15, 2011	Habitable Exoplanet - Climate modeling has identified the first exoplanet that really could support life.
June 6, 2011	SETI Star Survey - Astronomers are listening for radio signals from star systems that are most likely to harbor life.
June 3, 2011	Podcast for 3 June 2011 – Searching for Life in Outer Space - Astronomers are using new tools to look for life in outer space. And, the search for intelligent life in the universe is targeting the best candidate planets. Also: how tsunamis impact sealife.
May 23, 2011	3-D Space Map - Using light from quasars, scientists are mapping the distant universe.
March 10, 2011	Star Distance - Astronomers calculate the distance to the furthest stars by comparing them to stars they know.
February 18, 2011	Space Roundup - Solar technology could come in handy if a dangerous meteor is ever headed for earth.
December 20, 2010	Satellites & Human Rights - Satellite images document human rights abuses in Burma.
October 28, 2010	Google Crater - Scientists have found a previously undiscovered meteorite impact crater using Google Earth.
October 18, 2010	Rail-Space Launcher - Giving spacecraft a running start on a long rail may significantly reduce launch costs.
October 11, 2010	Robonaut - A human-like robot is about to make its first trip into outer space.
October 8, 2010	Podcast - SPACE UPDATE: NASA prepares to launch a human-like robot into space, engineers are designing a more efficient system for launching payloads into orbit, why microwaves aren't as dangerous as some people think, and the physics behind the color of clouds.
October 5, 2010	Mapping Disasters - Google Earth is making it easier to locate survivors of natural disasters.
September 20, 2010	Similar Solar System - Scientists have discovered the closest thing yet to our solar system.
September 17, 2010	Podcast - AIR & SPACE: The moon is shrinking - slowly, astronomers discover a solar system similar to our own, exploring the moons of Jupiter, how satellite-based mapping programs can help during natural disasters, and why clouds have distinct borders.