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Ep. 312: The Inverse-Square Law and Other Strangeness 7 Aug 2013 | 07:42 pm
Why don’t we have insects the size of horses? Why do bubbles form spheres? Why does it take so much energy to broadcast to every star? Let’s take a look at some non-linear mathematical relationships a...
Ep. 311: Sound 29 Jul 2013 | 06:58 pm
Shhhh, shhh. You can stop screaming. That’s because nobody can hear you … in space. But why not? How does sound work here on Earth, and what would it sound like on other planets? Ep. 311: Sound Jump...
Ep. 309: Creating a Scienc-y Society 24 Jul 2013 | 11:38 pm
Our modern society depends on science. It impacts the way we eat, work, communicate and play. And yet, most people take our amazing scientific advancement for granted, and some are even hostile to it....
Ep. 308: Climate Change 24 Jul 2013 | 11:36 pm
When it comes to carbon dioxide, just a little goes a long way to warming the planet. Unfortunately, we’ve been dumping vast amounts into the atmosphere, recently passing 400 parts per million. Let’s ...
Ep. 307: The Pacific Ring of Fire 16 Jul 2013 | 01:31 am
The Pacific Ring of Fire wraps around the Pacific Ocean, including countries like Japan, Canada, New Zealand and Chile. And the inhabitants within those countries are prone to… oh… killer earthquakes,...
Ep. 306: Accretion Discs 11 Jul 2013 | 08:39 pm
When too much material tries to come together, everything starts to spin and flatten out. You get an accretion disc. Astronomers find them around newly forming stars, supermassive black holes and many...
Ep. 305: The Spacecraft That Wouldn’t Die 9 Jul 2013 | 05:32 am
Last week we explored the various ways spacecraft can die. But this week, we explore the spacecraft (and the scientists) who never give up, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. We’ll look at cle...
Ep. 304: Death of a Spacecraft 26 Jun 2013 | 01:23 am
In the end, everything dies, even plucky space robots. Today we examine the last days of a series of missions. How do spacecraft tend to die, and what did in such heroes as Kepler, Spirit, and Galileo...
Ep. 303: Equilibrium 26 Jun 2013 | 01:20 am
So many of the forces in space depend on equilibrium, that point where forces perfectly balance out. It defines the shape of stars, the orbits of planets, even the forces at the cores of galaxies. Let...
Ep. 302: Planetary Motion in the Sky 24 Jun 2013 | 11:27 pm
Even the ancient astronomers knew there was something different about the planets. Unlike the rest of the stars, the planets move across the sky, backwards and forwards, round and round. It wasn’t unt...
