| May 10, 2012 |
Runaway Planets
- Under some circumstances, planets could be thrown out of the galaxy at tremendous speed.
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| 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.
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| April 23, 2012 |
Penguins from Space
- Researchers have estimated the total number of Emperor Penguins in Antarctica using satellite images.
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| 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.
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| April 2, 2012 |
Comet Harpoon
- NASA scientists are testing a harpoon that could bring back samples from comets.
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| 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.
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| February 6, 2012 |
The Sun’s Temperature
- A listener asks: How hot is the surface of the sun?
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| January 31, 2012 |
Twin Star Planets
- Planets with two stars could have wild climates.
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| January 23, 2012 |
Weightless Flies
- Magnetically levitated flies may help researchers study the effects of weightlessness.
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| 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.
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| January 6, 2012 |
Calendar Roundup
- Researchers say they’ve developed a better calendar.
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| December 20, 2011 |
Fastest Spinning Star
- A powerful telescope has detected the fastest rotating star yet.
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| 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.
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| October 24, 2011 |
Mercury’s Make-up
- The MESSENGER spacecraft is revealing new details about the tiny planet’s chemical composition.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| October 4, 2011 |
Mercury Hollows
- NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft has identified mysterious hollows on the planet's surface.
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| October 3, 2011 |
Mercury Origins
- The MESSENGER spacecraft is revealing surprising details about the origins of the planet Mercury.
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| 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.
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| September 12, 2011 |
Food For Mars
- NASA nutritionists face a delicious challenge when planning what astronauts will eat on a mission to Mars.
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| September 1, 2011 |
Darkest Planet
- Scientists have identified the darkest known extrasolar planet.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| June 15, 2011 |
Habitable Exoplanet
- Climate modeling has identified the first exoplanet that really could support life.
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| June 6, 2011 |
SETI Star Survey
- Astronomers are listening for radio signals from star systems that are most likely to harbor life.
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| 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.
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| May 23, 2011 |
3-D Space Map
- Using light from quasars, scientists are mapping the distant universe.
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| March 10, 2011 |
Star Distance
- Astronomers calculate the distance to the furthest stars by comparing them to stars they know.
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| February 18, 2011 |
Space Roundup
- Solar technology could come in handy if a dangerous meteor is ever headed for earth.
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| December 20, 2010 |
Satellites & Human Rights
- Satellite images document human rights abuses in Burma.
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| October 28, 2010 |
Google Crater
- Scientists have found a previously undiscovered meteorite impact crater using Google Earth.
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| October 18, 2010 |
Rail-Space Launcher
- Giving spacecraft a running start on a long rail may significantly reduce launch costs.
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| October 11, 2010 |
Robonaut
- A human-like robot is about to make its first trip into outer space.
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| 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.
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| October 5, 2010 |
Mapping Disasters
- Google Earth is making it easier to locate survivors of natural disasters.
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| September 20, 2010 |
Similar Solar System
- Scientists have discovered the closest thing yet to our solar system.
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| 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.
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| September 13, 2010 |
Moons of Jupiter
- Designing instruments for planned missions to explore Jupiter's many moons requires a combination of scientific acumen and engineering skill.
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| June 22, 2010 |
Mars 500 Mission
- A crew of six volunteers has embarked on a simulated, 520-day Mars mission.
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| June 17, 2010 |
Spaceflight & Immunity
- Long-term space flight may compromise astronauts' immune systems.
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| June 4, 2010 |
Podcast
- TECHNOLOGY UPDATE: Ecologically-friendly plastic, a cleaner way to produce hydrogen fuel, cell phone air sensors, the perils of spaceflight, the ethical implications of synthetic life, and more.
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| April 29, 2010 |
NASA’s Basement Tapes
- Scientists resurrect satellite data from old NASA tapes.
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| April 9, 2010 |
Podcast
- The world's strongest insect, why showering could pollute, tests that fail the grade and sampling the early solar system.
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| February 8, 2010 |
Sun Glints
- Brief glints of light reflected from distant planets may reveal the presence of liquid water or ice.
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| January 29, 2010 |
Podcast
- Sleeping birds, sperm wars, looking for water on distant planets, and the value of "most".
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| January 20, 2010 |
Martian Lakes
- Scientists find evidence of ancient lakes on Mars.
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| January 14, 2010 |
Volcanoes on Mercury
- Ancient volcanoes found on the planet mercury challenge assumptions about the planet's chemical composition.
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| January 8, 2010 |
Podcast
- Mountaintop removal mining's devastating effects on the environment, ancient Martian lakes, an herbal disappointment, fish that punish cheaters, and reading and writing in the brain.
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| January 1, 2010 |
Podcast
- People with Alzheimer's disease get less cancer, nearsightedness is on the rise in the U.S., why the bones of the skull don't become brittle, and how an ingredient in clown make-up could protect astronauts from radiation.
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