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Posted on behalf of Pacific Science Center:
As we approach 2012, TV shows, new books - even a new movie - all sensationalize the idea of the world "ending" in 2012. In her latest AstroInfo post, Pacific Science Center Planetarium Specialist Alice Enevoldsen uses science to debunk any fears you may have about the end of the world: →Learn More
Are We Alone - Skeptic Check: Doomsday at the Movies
ENCORE PRESENTATION: Hollywood has a few ideas of how the world will end: killer asteroids … lethal pandemics … deadly ice-ages. These themes have all played out on the big screen. But, hey, they’re only movies, right?
We’ll separate the science from the fiction in doomsday movies. From the 2012 prophesy of the Mayans … to colliding worlds … to abrupt climate change, find out which among this crowd of cinematic scares are for real, and which aren’t worth the price of popcorn.
Guests: You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out , the companion blog to the radio show.
Are We Alone - Do Computers Byte?
The march of computer technology continues. But as silicon chips and search engines become faster and more productive – can the same be said for us?
The creator of Wolfram Alpha describes how his new “computational knowledge engine” is changing – and improving – how we process information. Meanwhile, suffering from data and distraction burnout? Find out what extremes some folks take to stop their search engines.
Also, the Singularity sensation of humans merging with machines… and, why for the ancient Greeks all of this is “been, there, done that.” A deep sea dive turns up a 2,000 year old computer!
Guests:
You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out , the companion blog to the radio show.
Are We Alone - Skeptic Check: Mind Your Body
Popping a pill may help when you’re sick… but maybe not for the reasons you think. Sugar pills – placebos – cure illness better than prescription pills in as many as half of all cases in clinical trials … and the placebo effect is getting stronger.
Plus, the safety – or otherwise – of electromagnetic waves, and the “electro-sensitive” refugees who have built a camp to protect themselves from waves they say are causing pain. Is it all in their minds?
And, New York Times reporter Dennis Overbye joins Phil Plait on the latest lapse in critically-thinking brains – a wild idea that may not be so loony: namely, could a cosmic censor from the future be thwarting efforts to find the Higgs boson?
It’s Skeptic Check … but don’t take our word for it! You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out , the companion blog to the radio show.
Are We Alone - Seth's Storage Locker
It’s always an adventure to go digging in Seth’s storage locker – who knows what we’ll find …
In this imposing pile of paraphernalia, tucked between boxes of socket wrenches and old 45s, we stumble upon the hunt for extrasolar planets, the evidence for water on moons of the solar system, theories of language, a controversial hypothesis for the peopling of the Americas, and a new dinosaur fossil.
Guests: You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out , the companion blog to the radio show.
Are We Alone - Extreme Geology
We think of major geologic events as taking place a long time ago – but the Earth is just as active as it ever was. We’re a planet in motion. Discover why earthquakes might be increasing worldwide… descend into daring cave exploration… and take a trip to Hawaii where new volcanoes are gurgling up right now.
Plus – the supervolcano under Yellowstone Park… when might it erupt again?
Guests: - Robert Nadeau – Geologist, University of California, Berkeley Seismological Laboratory
- Joel Achenbach – Reporter, author of “When Yellowstone Explodes”, August 2009 National Geographic cover story
- Jim Kauahikaua – Geologist, United States Geologic Survey Hawaii Volcano Observatory
- Pat Kambesis – Geologist, Assistant Director of the Hoffman Environmental Research Institute at Western Kentucky University
You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out , the companion blog to the radio show.
Are We Alone - Say What?
There’s no escape from the chattering classes – they talk, squawk, squeal and sing all around us. Every animal communicates in some form – it’s essential for survival. They’ve evolved to understand each other … but do we understand them?
Find out what’s coded in humpback whale song and whether human-cetacean dialogue is possible… how information theory reveals communication patterns within the animal kingdom… how plants call out to animals to protect them… and why only humans evolved language.
Guests: You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out , the companion blog to the radio show.
The UW Astrobiology Program is presenting a series of free public lectures celebrating Galileo and Darwin and their ideas.
The series begins October 6, and examines how these monumental ideas have led to the emerging interdisciplinary science of astrobiology.
The lectures are free but require a reservation.
Go to this URL for more information: http://depts.washington.edu/astrobio/PubLec_tickets.html
Are We Alone - Aloha Astronomy
From Mauna Kea in Hawaii, the view of the cosmos is spectacular. Giant black holes, distant galaxies, and extrasolar planets have all been uncovered by the massive telescopes that perch on this volcanic cone.
Join the astronomers who use the Keck Telescopes to peer at objects so far away, their light started out before Earth was born.
Also discover how the new Thirty Meter Telescope will dwarf even the massive glass eyes now in place, and why some of the world’s most important astronomical discoveries are being made in the Aloha State.
Plus, why the building of telescopes on the volcano is controversial to some native Hawaiians.
Guests: You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out , the companion blog to the radio show.
Are We Alone - Skeptic Check: Waking the Dead
The undead, those mindless shambling specters from the grave, are enjoying a cultural (if not literal) resurgence, in films, books, and through strange, urban “zombie crawls.”
Discover the unearthly appeal of these reanimated beings and why playing dead may mirror the real social alienation of our digital lives. Also, how mathematicians use “zombie attacks” to model real disease epidemics, such as swine flu.
Plus – another case of life in suspension: the promise and peril of cryonics.
And, Phil Plait’s vacationing brains swallow a hoax moon-landing-hoax story.
It’s Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it! You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out , the companion blog to the radio show.
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