107: Loose rocks and soft bots with Dr. McMahon
Professor Jay McMahon stops by the show to explain the YORP effect and how it changes asteroid spins and shapes. He also describes his NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) project that is inves...
10 Sep 201729min
106: Sample the mantle with Dr. Peterson
Dr. Mary Peterson tells us about basaltic glasses from the Galápagos Islands, and why they might have originated deep within the Earth's mantle. She also describes her lab work, which involves cool la...
27 Aug 201729min
105: Tectonic fabric with Dr. Donnellan
Dr. Andrea Donnellan stops by the show to talk about GeoGateway, a website that combines different datasets to help geologists. She explains how rocks move like silly putty, and recounts the time a lo...
13 Aug 201719min
104: Occultation vacation with Dr. Kramer
Dr. Emily Kramer stops by the show to try some tea and talk about her trip to South Africa to observe the next New Horizons target, 2014 MU69. She was one of several astronomers and planetary scientis...
30 Jul 201727min
103: Meteor showers and "broom stars" with Dr. Ye
Dr. Quan-Zhi Ye tries an unusual frappuccino and explains how meteor showers are related to comets. He tells the story of how he became interested in comets and asteroids, and fills us in on some of h...
16 Jul 201726min
102: A thrilling tale of discovery with Dr. Christiansen
Dr. Jessie Christiansen returns to the show to talk about newly discovered exoplanets! She explains why this planetary system was devilishly difficult to observe with ground-based telescopes, and how ...
2 Jul 201714min
101: The best geologist on Mars with Dr. Francis
Dr. Raymond Francis talks about a rock-vaporizing laser and the software that controls it. He describes how he and colleagues programmed a computer to make choices like a geologist would, allowing the...
18 Jun 201723min
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 ...
4 Jun 201717min
