NWSFS News: Science News

The Science News blog is now in stasis

2009-11-22T15:32:00.000-08:00

This blog along with several others will be placed in stasis until further notice. It is unfortunate that this needs to be done, but is necessary due to a lack of time and contributors.

Any future entries that would have been posted in this blog will be now be posted in the NWSFS Science And Science Fiction News Blog. The sidebar links and RSS feeds will be kept intact for now.

If you would like to contribute to this blog, then please drop us a line at NWSFSNews at GMail dot com. Membership in NWSFS is not a requirement, though living in the Pacfic NW or Cascadia region is. There are just a few simple guidelines to follow.

Hopefully some time in the future there will be more interest in this blog, and it will be taken out of stasis.

Are We Alone for 11/16/09 - SETI: Now What?

2009-11-15T12:33:00.000-08:00

Are We Alone - SETI: Now What?

Hello! Is anyone out there? As the scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence marks its 50th anniversary, there’s been no contact as yet with alien beings. But SETI researchers maintain that we are not alone. Find out why in a SETI retrospective that looks at the past and future of the search.

We remember the first scientific SETI search… Carl Sagan… how the SETI Institute began… the WOW signal…and the 1993 NASA budget cuts.

We’ll also hear from critics of the search… scientists involved in optical SETI and SETI@home. Plus, international collaborations… and where the search is headed.

Guests:

Frank Drake – Director of the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute
Jill Tarter – Director of the Center for SETI Research, SETI Institute
Tom Pierson – CEO, SETI Institute
Paul Horowitz – Physicist, electrical engineer, Harvard University
Dan Werthimer – Chief Scientist, SETI@home, University of California, Berkeley
Ben Zuckerman – Physicist, Astronomer, UCLA

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

PSC: AstroInfo: Debunking The 2012 Hoax

2009-11-08T18:33:00.000-08:00

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 for 11/09/09 - Skeptic Check: Doomsday at the Movies

2009-11-08T18:18:00.000-08:00

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:

Dave Morrison – Astrobiologist, NASA Ames Research Center
Phil Plait – Astronomer, keeper of badastronomy.com, and author of Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . .
Lynn Rothschild – Astrobiologist, NASA Ames Research Center
Ken Caldeira – Scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science’s Department of Global Ecology

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 11/02/09 - Do Computers Byte?

2009-11-01T18:50:00.001-08:00

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:

Jo Marchant – Freelance science journalist and author of Decoding the Heavens: A 2,000-Year-Old Computer—and the Century-Long Search to Discover Its Secrets
Stephen Wolfram – Mathematican, computer programmer, and founder of Wolfram Research and Wolfram Alpha
Fred Stutzman – PhD student at the University of North Carolina School of Information and Library Science
Peggy Orenstein – author and contributing editor to the New York Times Magazine, which is where we found her article “Stop Your Search Engines”
Ray Kurzweil – Inventor, futurist and author, most recently, of The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 10/26/09 - Skeptic Check: Mind Your Body

2009-10-25T09:43:00.000-07:00

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!

Dennis Overbye – Cosmic Affairs Correspondent, New York Times
Phil Plait – Keeper of the skeptical website badastronomy.com and author of Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . .
Steve Silberman – Contributing editor, Wired Magazine, author of “The Placebo Problem” in the September 2009 issue
Leeka Kheifets – Epidemiologist, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 10/19/09 - Seth's Storage Locker

2009-10-19T21:02:00.000-07:00

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:

Steve Brusatte – Vertebrate paleontologist from the American Museum of Natural History in New York
Steven Pinker – Psychologist, Harvard University
Geoff Marcy – Astronomer, University of California, Berkeley
Adam Showman – Planetary scientist at the University of Arizona
Mike Collins – Associate Director, Texas Archeological Research Laboratory

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 10/13/09 - Extreme Geology

2009-10-13T04:48:00.000-07:00

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 Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 10/05/09 - Say What?

2009-10-04T13:59:00.000-07:00

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:

Douglas Carlton Abrams – Author of Eye of the Whale: A Novel
Laurance Doyle – Scientist at the SETI Institute
Douglas Vakoch – Director of Interstellar Message Composition at the SETI Institute
David DeGusta – Anthropologist at Stanford University

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

UW Astrobiology Public Lectures Autumn 2009

2009-10-02T07:06:00.001-07:00

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 for 09/28/09 - Aloha Astronomy

2009-09-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

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:

Charles Blue – Science writer, Thirty Meter Telescope Project
Richard Ellis – Astronomer, California Institute of Technology
Koa Rice – Hawaiian culture consultant
Julian Christou – Adaptive optics scientist, Gemini North Telescope
Ashley Yeager – Outreach manager, Keck Telescope
Taft Armandroff – Director of the W. M. Keck Telescope

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 09/21/09 - Skeptic Check: Waking the Dead

2009-09-20T07:11:00.000-07:00

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!

Jim Yount – Chief Operating Officer, American Cryonics Society
Robert Smith? – Mathematician, University of Ottawa
Dan Vado – President of SLG Publishing, San Jose, California
Edward Martinez – Makeup specialist, Hayward, California
Phil Plait – Keeper of the skeptical website badastronomy.com and author of Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . .
Brendan Riley – Assistant professor of English, Columbia College, Chicago

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 09/14/09 - Seeing Stars and Planets

2009-09-13T07:55:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Seeing Stars and Planets

It’s hot, too darn hot! And bright, too darn bright! But over-the-top photon flux doesn’t stop scientists from studying the sun. And solar eclipses are an ideal time for observing our favorite nuclear reactor. Discover what it was like to observe totality during the 2009 China solar eclipse.

Plus, how a star is born … the latest from the NASA Kepler mission to seek Earth-like planets … and, planet-hunter extraordinaire Mike Brown discovers the tenth planet: an icy body beyond Pluto.

Guests:

Jay Pasachoff – Astronomer, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts
Betsy Barton – Astronomer, University of California, Irvine
Mike Brown – Planetary Astronomer, California Institute of Technology
Jon Jenkins – SETI Institute scientist with NASA’s Kepler Mission

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 09/07/09 - That's Cosmic!

2009-09-06T07:52:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - That's Cosmic!

ENCORE EPISODE - What makes up the universe? Lots of tiny particles with strange names: bosons, leptons, quarks and neutrinos. But physicists think there are more members to be discovered in this particle zoo.

From strange particles to dark matter to vibrating strings, find out why you have to think small to understand the physics of the universe.

Plus, other cosmic connections: is SETI a religion?

Guests:

Murray Gell-Mann – Physics Nobel Laureate, Professor Emeritus – California Institute of Technology, Distinguished Fellow at the Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Brian Greene – Mathematician and physicist, Columbia University, author of The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory and, most recently, Icarus at the Edge of Time
Lisa Randall – Physicist, Harvard University, author of Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe’s Hidden Dimensions
David Wilkinson – Theologian, University of Durham, U.K.

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 08/31/09 - What Were You Thinking?

2009-08-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - What Were You Thinking?

ENCORE EPISODE - Say what you mean. That’s difficult, if you don’t know what you’re thinking. But the neuromarketers do, and they’ll be happy to tell Madison Avenue what’s on your mind. Discover why this marketing strategy is wired for success.

Also, Steven Pinker on how language reveals private thoughts as well as why the big-brained Homo neanderthalensis couldn’t out-compete Homo sapiens. And, we tease your gray matter with the “Monty Hall Problem.”

Guests:

Steven Pinker – Psychologist, Harvard University and author, most recently, of The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature
A. K. Pradeep – Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Neurofocus in Berkeley, California
Quentin Baldwin – Client Services Engineer at Neurofocus
Richard Klein – Paleoanthropologist at Stanford University
Deborah Bennett – Mathematician at New Jersey City University

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

SomaFM: Space Shuttle Launch tonight on Mission Control

2009-08-25T05:25:00.000-07:00

Posted on behalf of SomaFM

Space Shuttle Mission STS-128 is set to launch in about an hour at 1:36a.m. EDT Tuesday on a flight to the space station.

We'll be mixing ambient music and the live mission audio from NASA on our new Mission Control channel. You can tune in at: http://somafm.com

If you're using a device that needs a direct stream link, that is: http://somafm.com/missioncontrol.pls

We hope you'll tune in!

Best of luck to Commander Rick Sturckow and the crew of STS-128

Update: Weather delays shuttle Discovery launch - CNN

Are We Alone for 08/24/09 - Earth: A Millennium Hence

2009-08-23T07:12:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Earth: A Millennium Hence
Humans have not gone unnoticed on this planet. We’ve left our mark with technology, agriculture, architecture, and a growing carbon footprint. But where is this trajectory headed?

In the second of a two-part series: what we’ll lose and what will last in 1000 years or more.

Discover what the planet might look like to geologists of the far-off-future… the stubborn longevity of plastic and radioactive waste… human civilization in space… and postcards from the galactic edge; crafting interstellar messages to E.T.

Guests:

Charles Moore – Sea Captain and founder of Algalita Marine Research Foundation
Jan Zalasiewicz – Geologist, University of Leister and author of The Earth After Us: What Legacy Will Humans Leave in the Rocks?
Matthew Wald – Reporter for the New York Times and author of the article “Is There a Place for Nuclear Waste?” in the August 2009 issue of Scientific American
Doug Vakoch – Director of Interstellar Message Composition at the SETI Institute
David Korsmeyers – Chief of the Intelligent Systems Division at NASA Ames Research Center

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 08/17/09 - Earth: A Century Hence

2009-08-16T07:45:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Earth: A Century Hence
Humans have not gone unnoticed on this planet. We’ve left our mark with technology, agriculture, architecture, and a growing carbon footprint. But where is this trajectory headed?

In the first of a two-part series: what will be lost and what will still be around 100 years from now? James Lovelock says a hotter planet will prompt mass migrations. And Cary Fowler urges us to save our seeds – the health of future farms may depend on it.

Plus, from antibiotics to sewage systems: why human ingenuity ultimately saves the day.

And, sure, humans will be around in a century, but – with bionic limbs and silicon neurons – would we recognize them?

Guests:

James Lovelock – Independent scientist and author of The Vanishing Face of Gaia
Cary Fowler – Executive Director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust
Russell Blackford – Philosopher, writer, and editor-in-chief of the “Journal of Evolution and Technology.”

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 08/10/09 - Skeptic Check: Doomsday at the Movies

2009-08-09T07:54:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Skeptic Check: Doomsday at the Movies

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:

Dave Morrison – Astrobiologist, NASA Ames Research Center
Phil Plait – Astronomer, keeper of badastronomy.com, and author of Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . .
Lynn Rothschild – Astrobiologist, NASA Ames Research Center
Ken Caldeira – Scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science’s Department of Global Ecology

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 08/03/09 - Grave Matters

2009-08-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Grave Matters
We could choose not to pay income tax and suffer the consequences. But we can’t avoid death. The biological functions of all organisms eventually cease. But why should this be? Find out why animals die and meet one creature that is biologically immortal.

Plus, a trip to the Body Farm where decaying bodies help science…how we might cheat the Big Sleep with drugs… why Mexican cemeteries look like villages… and a doctor’s fight against one of the world’s deadliest diseases.

Guests:

Bill Bass – Forensic Anthropologist, founder of the University of Tennessee Forensic Research Facility. Author of Beyond the Body Farm: A Legendary Bone Detective Explores Murders, Mysteries, and the Revolution in Forensic Science and fiction written under the pen name Jefferson Bass. The latest: Bones of Betrayal: A Body Farm Novel
Stanley Brandes – - Cultural Anthropologist, University of California, Berkeley, author of Skulls to the Living, Bread to the Dead: The Day of the Dead in Mexico and Beyond
Matt Kaeberlein – Pathologist, University of Washington
Ross Donaldson – Doctor and author of The Lassa Ward

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 07/27/09 - TXT MSG: Behavior

2009-07-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - TXT MSG: Behavior
ENCORE: From iPods to Google to Facebook – information swims at our fingertips and friends are just a txt msg away. Digital devices have re-defined what it means to be connected – but how else are they shaping behavior? Join us for the second of a two-part series on how the network is changing how we think and act.
Part II: Behavior: how computers compel us to interact with them… why your iPod may improve your health… why Facebook may leave you friendless… the unintended consequences of past innovation… and the growing threat of “videophilia.”

Guests:

BJ Fogg – Experimental Psychologist and Director of Stanford University’s Persuasive Technology Lab
James Levine – Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic
Andrew Keen – Author of The Cult of the Amateur; How the Internet is Killing Our Culture and Assaulting our Economy
Patricia Zaradic – Conservation Ecologist with the Red Rock Institute
Edward Tenner – Writer and consultant on technology and culture at Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania, and author of Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences and, most recently, Our Own Devices: How Technology Remakes Humanity

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Repost: [nwsfs-announcements] 40 Year Moon Landing Celebration

2009-07-20T20:42:00.000-07:00

Northwest Science Fiction Society Chair Michael Citrak recently posted this notice on the NWSFS Google Group, and I thought that it would be fitting to repost the notice here on the Science Page. Enjoy! ~ Jim

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I remember July 20, 1969 late at night my parents woke my brother and I to watch man’s first steps on the moon on TV. Today I have a Christmas tree ornament with Armstrong’s voice “One small step for man….”. Wow, has it been 40 years? To help celebrate both The Northwest Film Forum and The Museum of Flight have special events.

Enjoy Michael Citrak

The Northwest Film Forum presents “The Moon Landing: Screening and Special Live Event” on July 20 at 8:30pm. Join us as we commemorate this profound event for humankind with a 40th anniversary screening of the original television broadcast (at 7pm), followed by a live remix presentation in which filmmaker and sound artist Joe Milutis reworks images of major NASA events leading up to and including the landing. See their web site for details: http://nwfilmforum.org/live/page/calendar/920, The Northwest Film Forum: 1515 12th Ave, Seattle, Washington 98122

The Museum of Flight: Special Events Honor 40th Anniversary of Moon Landing July 20 is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. On that day in 1969 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the Moon, while fellow Apollo 11 crew member Michael Collins orbited above in the mission's Command Module. The entire mission lasted from July 16 until July 24. See their web site for details: http://www.museumofflight.org, The Museum of Flight: 9404 East Marginal Way South, Seattle, WA, 98108

And below is a list of “some” of the many events at The Museum of Flight:

Apollo 11: An Artist's Perspective-Original Sketches from NASA Artist Paul Calle July 1 - Sept. 12, Space: Exploring the New Frontier
As part of the 40th anniversary celebration of humankind's first steps on the Moon, The Museum of Flight opened a new art exhibit featuring the work of Paul Calle, the only artist to be with the Apollo 11 crew as they prepared for the launch at Cape Kennedy in July 1969.

Tip-to-Tail Tours: Apollo Artifacts July 18 - 25, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., July 19 only: 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Space: Exploring the New Frontier Exhibit
Join a Museum docent for a free tour of Apollo artifacts including an Apollo command module and lunar rover.

Apollo 11: 40th Anniversary Event: NASA TV Broadcast Monday, July 20, 11 a.m., William M. Allen Theater
NASA and the Newseum in Washington, D.C. are hosting a special panel event commemorating the first human landing on the Moon. Moderated by journalist Nick Clooney, panelists tentatively scheduled to appear are astronauts Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11), Alan Bean (Apollo 12), Charlie Duke (Apollo 16) and John Grunsfeld (mission specialist, STS-125 Atlantis). The Museum of Flight will screen this event in the William M. Allen Theater.

The NASA Mobile Exhibit "The Exploration Experience"July 23 - 25, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Museum Airpark Parking Lot
The Vision for Space Exploration Experience exhibit is housed in a 53-foot-long tractor and trailer rig. The exhibit is designed to share with visitors NASA's exploration goals to return to the moon and travel to Mars and beyond. The experience is intended to inspire visitors as they embark on a simulated journey into space. The exhibit is staffed by NASA professionals in a wide variety of space-related programs. The exhibit will be parked on the Museum's west campus, next to the Airpark. I am sure this is the same exhibit Becky and I saw (with LOTS of kids) a couple of days ago in Olympia and her review of it is:

“From almost the moment we entered, tears. I stroked the bit of moon rock (just a triangular sliver, polished smooth by both tools and the tips of generations of fingers), marveled at my lack of memory for the names of the mares and craters of the moon, and grieved that we (real human beings) won't be going back until 2020 at the earliest. If just one of those kids is bitten by the science bug because of this exhibit, it is so very worth it.”

Theodore Ro on the Vision for Space Exploration Friday, July 24, 2 - 3 p.m., William M. Allen Theater
Ted Ro is currently serving as a patent attorney in the Johnson Space Center's Office of Chief Counsel. Ro has been with NASA for 23 years. During that time he has worked on various projects associated with upgrading Mission Control for dual Shuttle-International Space Station operations. He will speak on NASA's Exploration Mission and plans to return to the Moon.

New "Mission Control" channel + Apollo 11 40th Anniversary

2009-07-20T05:34:00.001-07:00

Posted on behalf of SomaFM:

Celebrate the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 and landing on the Moon, with a live NASA rebroadcast set to music as part of SomaFM's new "Mission Control" channel.

http://somafm.com/play/missioncontrol

Also available on our iPhone and Palm Pre streams.

Mission Control will feature ambient space music that's somewhere between Space Station Soma and Drone Zone, mixed with NASA audio. In the future, we'll have other historical space exploration rebroadcasts as well as live Space Shuttle coverage.

Hope you enjoy it!

Rusty Hodge ~ SomaFM

Are We Alone for 07/20/09 - TXT MSG: Thought

2009-07-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - TXT MSG: Thought
ENCORE: From iPods to Google to Facebook – information swims at our fingertips and friends are just a txt msg away. Digital devices have re-defined what it means to be connected – but how else are they shaping behavior? Join us for the first of a two-part series on how the network is changing how we think and act.

Part I: Thought: whether Google is making us stupid… how the Internet is curtailing creativity… and the future of a hyper-networked world that does all our thinking for us.

Guests:

Nick Carr – Journalist and author of The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google. His article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” is the cover story of the July/August 2008 issue of Atlantic Monthly
Jonathan Grudin – Researches human-computer interaction at Microsoft Corporation
David Kirsh – Cognitive scientist, University of California, San Diego
Jonathan Zittrain – Author of The Future of the Internet—And How to Stop It and co-founder of Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

The Virtual Telescope Project

2009-07-13T20:13:00.000-07:00

Posted on behalf of Valentina Romeo of the The Virtual Telescope Project:

Join us to enjoy the Universe from your Desktop! Just connect with the Virtual Telescope website: http://www.virtualtelescope.eu

The Virtual Telescope is a project of the Bellatrix Astronomical Observatory (Italy), created and managed by Dr. Gianluca Masi, PhD. It consists in a number of robotic telescopes, remotely accessible via the Internet for observing the skies, 24h/day. It is a single user facility: a given observer/team will be the owner of the instruments during the observing session.
If necessary, more people can access the telescope at the same time, one of them being the conductor, the others being the “audience”.

The VT is very active in both research and science communication. Asteroids and comets, variable stars and exoplanets are some of the field of interest and it contributed with discoveries and significant results in all of them.

Since it started in 2006, the Virtual Telescope was a pioneer in broadcasting live observing sessions and conferences, experimenting with the most modern technologies available.

The Virtual Telescope is currently used both by researchers and hobby astronomers, thanks to its specifications; the system was carefully fine-tuned to perform at its best in photometry, but it can be used in many different applications. Also, people with no astronomical experience at all surf the sky with us, thanks to our professional staff, skilled in science communication.

Special attention is paid to schools.

We are also available for media looking for assistance with astronomical, cosmological, astrophysical topics.

The Virtual Telescope is a no-profit project: for some advanced services we ask for a small fee to contribute to the maintenance of the system and its cutting-edges technologies. A pro-bono option is also available (working on its English web page).

If you want to learn more about this project, just surf our website here: http://www.virtualtelescope.eu/

Contact information:

Mailing list: info@virtualtelescope.bellatrixobservatory.org
Info: info@virtualtelescope.eu
Phone: +39 3349236690 (Mon-Fri 4:00PM - 8:00PM CET)
Fax: +39 07751800159
Skype: virtualtelescope

Are We Alone for 07/13/09 - Rxs Get Personal

2009-07-12T06:43:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Rxs Get Personal
Medicine’s back.. and this time it’s personal. Get ready to have your genome read… your brain scanned… and undergo a chemical analysis so detailed, it’ll reveal the Twinkie you had for lunch. Everyone’s different, and reading those differences at the level of the gene may provide a more accurate profile of health and how to treat disease. But are you ready to know what’s wrong with you?

Discover the future of personalized medicine with biologist Craig Venter, as well as a man who turned his body over to the new science. Learn what his tests revealed.
Plus, why stem cell research really is a horse race. And, why getting sick is sometimes the best thing.

Guests:

Craig Venter – Genome scientist
Frank McCormick – Director of the Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, San Francisco
David Ewing Duncan – Journalist and author of Experimental Man: What One Man’s Body Reveals about His Future, Your Health, and Our Toxic World
Sharon Moalem – Neurogeneticist and Evolutionary Biologist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and author of Survival of the Sickest
Sean Owens – Director of the Regenerative Medicine Laboratory at the University of California, Davis

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 07/06/09 - Skeptic Check: Sheer Lunacy

2009-07-06T20:15:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Skeptic Check: Sheer Lunacy
Watch out, the moon is full… of intrigue. Our lovely satellite is blamed for all sorts of Earth-bound mischief – from robberies to shape-shifting to general nutty behavior. It’s also the setting for more than one loony tale. In this hour, as NASA spacecraft return to the moon, a look at the mythology it inspires.

Discover the true correlation between crime and a full moon… the 1835 reports of unicorns and man-bats living on moon… and, our favorite hair-raising howler: the werewolf! Also, why some still insist the Apollo moon landing is a hoax. Discover the true correlation between crime and a full moon… the 1835 reports of unicorns and man-bats living on moon… and, our favorite hair-raising howler: the werewolf! Also, why some still insist the Apollo moon landing is a hoax.

Plus, space travel – boxed and bundled.

Guests:

Phil Plait – Keeper of the skeptical website badastronomy.com and author of Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . .
Matthew Goodman – Author of The Sun and the Moon: The Remarkable True Account of Hoaxers, Showmen, Dueling Journalists, and Lunar Man-Bats in Nineteenth-Century New York
Jim Underdown – Executive Director for the Center for Inquiry West, Los Angeles and keeper of the blog Hollywood Reality Check
June Pulliam – English professor, Louisiana State University
Cynthia Phillips – Scientist at the SETI Institute
Paul Spudis – Senior scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 06/29/09 - Humans in Space... ace... ace

2009-06-28T08:02:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Humans in Space... ace... ace
ENCORE When the economy’s down, will humans still be going up – into space, that is? We investigate the future of human spaceflight at the International Astronautical Congress in Glasgow, Scotland and find out whether sending Homo sapiens to the Moon and Mars is still a good idea. Also, the chief of Virgin Galactic is happy to send you into space on a private flight – but it may max out your credit card.

Plus, an Apollo astronaut’s view from orbit… dining with South Korea’s first astronaut… and one of Britain’s great science fiction authors on how space science fuels the imagination.

Guests:

Rusty Schweickart – Former NASA astronaut and Chairman of the Board of the B612 Foundation
John Mankins – 25-year NASA veteran who managed the Agency’s exploration technology activities
Sanjoy Som – Planetary scientist at the University of Washington, Seattle
Will Whitehorn – President of Virgin Galactic
Yi So-yeon – Biomechanical engineer and South Korean astronaut
Stephen Baxter – Science fiction author, most recently of Weaver: Time’s Tapestry, Book Four

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Video: NASA | HD LRO and LCROSS Atlas 5 Launch

2009-06-27T15:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a great vide of the LRO and LCROSS Atlas 5 Launch courtesy of NASAexplorer:

Are We Alone for 06/22/09 - What Makes Us Human Part II: Adaptability

2009-06-21T06:56:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - What Makes Us Human Part II: Adaptability
Are humans unique or do we just do some things a little better than other species? In the second of our two-part series – how our ability to adapt has shaped our evolution.
Find out how throwing a burger on the grill has transformed our species… the 1% genetic difference that separate us from chimps… why we’re poorly adapted and stressed out … and why human evolution is not only on the move, but picking up the pace.
Guests:

Richard Wrangham – Biological anthropologist at Harvard University and author of Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human
Katherine Pollard – Biostatistician at the Gladstone Institutes at the University of California, San Francisco
Robert Sapolsky – Biological scientist at Stanford University and neurologist at Stanford’s School of Medicine. Author of Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, Third Edition and, more recently, Monkeyluv: And Other Essays on Our Lives as Animals
Gregory Cochran – Anthropologist at the University of Utah and co-author of The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 06/15/09 - What Makes Us Human Part I: Others

2009-06-14T08:41:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - What Makes Us Human Part I: Others
Are humans unique or do we just do some things a little better than other species? In the first of our two-part series on the nature of humanity: how the influence of others has shaped our evolution.

Find out how baby talk gave root to human language and why social isolation can make us sick. Plus, the joke’s on us – new research says we’re not the only laughing species: meet your giggling gorilla cousins.

And, what a writer’s visit to a chimp retirement center revealed about human discomfort with our animal ancestry.

Dean Falk – Anthropologist at Florida State University and author of Finding Our Tongues: Mothers, Infants, and the Origins of Language
John Cacioppo – Director of the Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience at the University of Chicago and co-author of Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection
Lori Marino – Biologist at Emory University
Kathryn Denning – Anthropologist at York University
Charles Siebert – Author of The Wauchula Woods Accord: Toward a New Understanding of Animals
Marina Davila-Ross – Psychologist at the University of Portsmouth in the U.K.

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 06/08/09 - Bodies in Motion

2009-06-07T08:30:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Bodies in Motion
Feel the need for speed? Well, you’ll need an extra helping of speed if you plan to leave the Earth and explore other parts of the solar system. On the 40^th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, and as part of our series for the International Year of Astronomy: what it’s like to travel in a rocket (why you won’t feel any motion), and NASA’s plans for returning to the moon.

Also, life in an accelerating universe and why a spacecraft’s quirky trajectory may mean that the laws of motion need tweaking. And we revisit Stanley Kubrick’s epic film 2001: A Space Odyssey

Plus, Seth gets around … and around … when he takes a spin in a gravitational centrifuge.

Guests:

John Keller – Deputy project scientist for NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
Robert Kirschner – Astronomer at Harvard University
Jaime Mateus – Graduate student at M.I.T.’s Manned Vehicle Laboratory
Mark Frank – Astrodynamicist in California
Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood – Stars of the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 06/01/09 - Robots Call the Shots

2009-05-31T08:42:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Robots Call the Shots
Dr. Robot, I presume? Your appendix may be removed by motor-driven, scalpel-wielding mechanical hands one day. Robots are debuting in the medical field… as well as on battlefields. And they’re increasingly making important decisions – on their own. But can we teach robots right from wrong? Find out why the onslaught of silicon intelligence has prompted a new field of robo-ethics.
Plus, robo-geologists: NASA’s vision for autonomous robots in space.
Guests:

P.W. Singer – Director of the 21^st Century Defense Initiative at the Brookings Institution, and the author of Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century
Wendell Wallach – Chair of a technology and ethics working group for Yale University’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, and the co-author of Moral Machines: Teaching Robots Right from Wrong
Pablo Garcia – – Principal engineer working on medical robotics at SRI International, Menlo Park, California
Robert Anderson – Planetary geologist, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Robyn Asimov – Daughter of author Isaac Asimov

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 05/25/09 - Skeptic Check: Playing Doctor

2009-05-24T22:53:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Skeptic Check: Playing Doctor
A new herbal supplements is on the shelf, and it claims to improve memory. Should you take it? It’s not easy to sort through the firehose of health and nutrition advice that comes at us daily. Find out how to get healthy about health advice, plus hear the story of Bernarr Macfadden, the eccentric who kicked off America’s fitness craze; he believed that eating less was good for you, but he didn’t believe germ theory.

Plus, our Hollywood skeptic spills his guts and other entrails for a phony class for nurses and Phil Plait gives us the latest lapse in critically-thinking brains.

It’s Skeptic Check… but don’t take our word for it.

Guests:

Phil Plait – Author, badastronomy.com and Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . .
Mark Adams – writer and editor, and author of Mr. America: How Muscular Millionaire Bernarr Macfadden Transformed the Nation Through Sex, Salad, and the Ultimate Starvation Diet
Jim Underdown – Executive Director, Center for Inquiry, West – Los Angeles
Steven Novella – Assistant professor of neurology at Yale School of Medicine

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Local Project Astro Star Party - May 23, 2009

2009-05-19T18:56:00.000-07:00

Posted on behalf of David Dorais - Project Astro volunteer - http://www.astrosociety.org/education/astro/project_astro.html

The Room 9 Community School is planning to hold a Star Party on May 23rd, Saturday, weather permitting, from 5pm to 11pm (roughly). We will have two Dobs-8'',10", a C-8 and 10x50 binos. Any fellow Project Astro'gators' and any local amateurs are invited to add their 'scopes to the party. Especially any refractors-in honor of Galileo/400 yrs/IYA2009 will be very welcome.

The location is the north SAS monthly site at Paramount School Park in Shoreline, WA at 155th NE and 8th NE. Map of site is available on SAS website-- www.seattleastro.org .

If overcast or forecast is very unfriendly on Friday; we are planning an alternate date of May 30th which coincides with the regular SAS monthly SP event.

Parking lot is relatively small- parents and amateurs are encouraged to carpool and park their front headlights to the west to help with dark eye adaptation.

Are We Alone for 05/18/09 - Why We Do What We Shoo Be Do Be Do

2009-05-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Why We Do What We Shoo Be Do Be Do
We see a man laughing and we smile in response. Our heart goes out to the sad-looking woman on the train. Humans are empathetic creatures – we feel what others feel, even the emotions of strangers. And it may be due to brain cells that researchers have only recently discovered: mirror neurons. Find out how these mimicking cells help us survive cocktail parties, keep society humming, and even give rise to the concept of self.
Also, are humans born with a moral code? And, if human behavior is hard-wired – whatever becomes of free will?

Guests:

Marc Hauser – Evolutionary psychologist and biologist at Harvard, author of Moral Minds: How Nature Designed Our Universal Sense of Right and Wrong

Take Marc’s Moral Sense Test
Marco Iacoboni – Psychologist and neuroscientist at UCLA and the author of Mirroring People: The New Science of How We Connect with Others
Allen Stairs – Philosopher at the University of Maryland
John-Dylan Haynes – Neuroscientist, Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 05/11/09 - Seas the Moment

2009-05-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Seas the Moment
With more water than land on this planet, Earth is more aptly-named “Ocean” or “Water.” The oceans have been here for billions of years, and make all life possible. Yet, it’s taken less than a century for humans to deal some serious blows to the watery cradle of our existence. Discover how our oceans are changing and the worrisome increase in their acidity from the maker of the documentary film, A Sea Change

Also, hear how hope is bubbling up for ocean recovery from famed oceanographer Sylvia Earle. Learn about her record-breaking voyages underwater and how her reprimand to a Silicon Valley entrepreneur gave birth to Google Ocean. Plus, farming the seas for new antibiotics.

Guests:

Sylvia Earle – Oceanographer, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, founder of DeepSearch Foundation, and author of Ocean: An Illustrated Atlas (National Geographic Atlas)
Sven Huseby – Co-producer of the documentary A Sea Change
Peter Moeller – Toxin and Natural Products Chemist at NOAA
Pacific Ocean – Largest oceanic division of the world, overlay of the Pacific Plate

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 05/04/09 - Genes That Fit

2009-05-03T08:45:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Genes That Fit
Encore: Remember Mr. Potato Head? You changed his look by snapping in plastic mustaches, googly eyes and feet. Now imagine doing the same with a living cell: inserting the genes you want to create the organism you want. Welcome to the world of synthetic biology. It has potential to create new bio-fuels and life-saving drugs. It also ushers in a host of ethical and safety concerns. We examine both when we discuss this emerging science of mix and match genes.
Plus, does doing an end run around Mother Nature challenge the essence of life itself?

Guests:

Jay Keasling – professor of chemical engineering and biological engineering at UC Berkeley and founder of Amyris Biotechnologies
Jonathan Eisen – biologist at UC Davis
Jim Thomas – researcher at ETC group in Ottawa, Canada
Ed Regis – science writer and author of What Is Life?: Investigating the Nature of Life in the Age of Synthetic BiologyWhat Is Life: Investigating the Nature of Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology
Michael Dosmann – curator of Living Collections at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 04/27/09 - Seth's Garage

2009-04-26T07:44:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Seth's Garage
It’s always a surprise to go digging in Seth’s garage – who knows what we’ll find! In this impressive heap of paraphernalia, tucked between boxes of old radio tubes and hydraulic jacks, we stumble upon the secrets to our galaxy’s central black hole… witness the dance of the PhD theses… uncover the genome of milk (while moo-ving boxes) and … hey? Who’s that crunching numbers in the corner? It’s astrophysicist Mario Livio addressing the mathematical mysteries of universe.

Guests:

Andrea Ghez – Astronomer at University of California, Los Angeles
Mario Livio – Senior Astronomer at the Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute and author of Is God a Mathematician?
John Bohannon – Gonzo Scientist and Contributing Correspondent for Science
Katrien Kolenberg – Astrophysicist, University of Vienna
Danielle Lemay – Nutrition Scientist at the University of California, Davis

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show

SETI Institute special offer: Confessions of an Alien Hunter

2009-04-22T14:41:00.000-07:00

Here is a special offer from the SETI Institute:

The SETI Institute is celebrating Senior Astronomer Seth Shostak's new book Confessions of an Alien Hunter with a great offer - Sign up as a new TeamSETI member, and Seth will personalize and autograph a copy of his book for you for just $15.00!

Seth's book offers an entertaining and expert account of the facts, fantasies, and future of finding intelligence elsewhere in the universe, and how real science differs from the Hollywood view of extraterrestrial life. As noted in the Washington Post's book review, "this book is compelling and thought-provoking." You can listen to Seth discuss the book on this week's Are We Alone? radio show.

And by becoming a TeamSETI member with this offer, you will not only receive a great read, but you will also support the research behind the story - and reap the benefits of joining our TeamSETI family.

We hope you'll choose to take advantage of this special opportunity, and join TeamSETI today!

Are We Alone for 04/20/09 - Reading Life's Tea Leaves

2009-04-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Reading Life's Tea Leaves
For nearly four billion years, life has been swimming and shuffling across our planet. But how can we deduce what it was like? You don’t need Sherlock Holmes to track the clues of life that came before – call on an anthropologist or biologist. From fossils to alien radio signals, find out how to interpret the clues that living organisms leave behind, and hear adventure stories in the evolution of life on Earth.

Also, the discovery of a dino-eating crocodile and the tale of scientist/explorer/polymath Idaho Brown.

Guests:

Sean Carroll - Molecular biologist and geneticist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and author of Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origin of Species
Paul Sereno - Paleontologist at the University of Chicago, and National Geographic Explorer in Residence
Seth Shostak - Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute and author of Confessions of an Alien Hunter: A Scientist's Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

NYT Op-Ed "Boldly Going Nowhere" By Seth Shostak

2009-04-15T14:33:00.000-07:00

Many readers of this blog and/or listeners of the Are We Alone podcasts may be interested in this Op-Ed piece "Boldly Going Nowhere" by SETI's own Seth Shostak. Give it a read and feel free to leave your comments here.

Are We Alone for 04/13/09 - Skeptical Sunday: Is Ignorance Bliss?

2009-04-12T08:52:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Skeptical Sunday: Is Ignorance Bliss?
Europe is a country. Six justices sit on the Supreme Court. The Vietnamese attacked Pearl Harbor. If ignorance is bliss, this is one happy-go-lucky country. The average American's grasp of history, current events, and geography is so poor, according to one journalist, we've become a nation of dunces, seriously undermining our own future.

Keeping ourselves in the dark.

Find out why "F" stands for American intellect and what's behind the national trend of dumbing down. Also, the story of the brilliant Russian geneticist who paid the ultimate price during Stalin's Terror in the 1930s.

Plus, Brains on Vacation assesses the doomsday threat of the Large Hadron Collider. And, hunting for ghosts in Hollywood.
It's Skeptical Sunday... but don't take our word for it.

Guests:

Susan Jacoby - Author of The Age of American Unreason
Peter Pringle - Journalist and author of The Murder of Nikolai Vavilov: The Story of Stalin's Persecution of One of the Greatest Scientists of the Twentieth Century
Phil Plait - Astronomer and keeper of the website www.badastronomy.com
James Underdown - Executive Director of the Center for Inquiry West in Los Angeles

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 04/06/09 - Life of Brain

2009-04-06T16:15:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Life of Brain
We should award frequent travel miles to your brain. After all, it’s evolved a long way from the days of guiding brachiation from tree-to-tree to become the three pounds of web-surfing, Sudoku-playing powerhouse it is today. But a suite of technologies may expand human brains further still.

From smart pills to nano-wires: discover the potential – and peril – of neuro-engineering to repair and enhance our cognitive function.

Also, how our brains got so big in the first place: a defense of the modern diet.

Guests

Bill Leonard - department chairman and professor of Anthropology at Northwestern University
Michael Gazzaniga - neuroscientist and director of the University of California – Santa Barbara’s SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind. Author of Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique
Ian Pearson - futurologist at Futurizon
Steven Rose - biologist and director of the Brain and Behavior Research Group at the Open University in London. Author of The Future of the Brain: The Promise and Perils of Tomorrow's Neuroscience

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 03/30/09 - Speaking Klingon

2009-03-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - "Speaking Klingon"
Ever try talking to an alien? In the movies, they always speak perfect English. But what if we really made contact? Could we just whip out a universal translator - or even a babelfish - to understand one another?

Let's say we do learn to communicate: what to say, what to say? We'll hear the protocol for just how to reply to ET. And, from Klingon to Esperanto: the recipe for creating a language from scratch.

Plus, get ready to babble with your Blackberry: how computers are learning to recognize - and respond - to human speech.

Q1=B4t'.f:t'.ql. P4&=tr'w.k*.k*n.=D5^Q5=P4^B5 P4&=D1>s'.t*.ql.=B5
What does this mean? Listen to the show to find out!

Guests:

Terrence Deacon - Professor of anthropology and neuroscience, University of California, Berkeley
Douglas Vakoch - Director of Interstellar Message Composition, SETI Institute
Donald Boozer - Librarian, Coordinator of Cleveland Public Library's recent exhibit "Esperanto, Elvish, and Beyond...The World of Constructed Languages"
Jim Glass - Director of the Spoken Language Systems Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Systems.
Ask MIT's Jupiter about the weather!

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 03/23/09 - Skeptical Sunday: Take a Number

2009-03-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - "Skeptical Sunday: Take a Number "
Pick a number, any number. Got it? Good. Is it a lucky or unlucky? Is it a code that gives you a clue to the future? A lot of people assign all sorts of magical significance to numbers. From Friday the 13th to lucky number 7 – we’ll find out whether the idea of digits of destiny adds up. Plus, 666 and 616: find out what famous figures these figures code for.

Learn the numbers that do have significance in math and nature: how a honey bee’s lineage is an example of the Fibonacci series.

Meanwhile, Brains on Vacation quashes satellite fireball rumors, and our Hollywood skeptic gives a “how to” for faking UFO photos.

It’s Skeptical Sunday.. but don’t take our word for it!

Guests:

Phil Plait - Astronomer and author of badastronomy.com and Death from the Skies!
Richard Wiseman - Psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire in England
David Parker - Professor of New Testament Textual Criticism and Paleography at the University of Birmingham in England
Pat McKeague - Teacher in San Luis Obispo in California
Jim Underdown - Executive Director, Center for Inquiry in Los Angeles

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 03/16/09 - You've Been Slimed!

2009-03-15T09:03:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - "You've Been Slimed!"
Hollywood horror flicks have captivated us with alien blobs, but the slime slithering on our own planet is as beguiling. From microscopic machines to life on ocean floors, new research reveals how essential slime is to life on Earth, and possibly other worlds.

Discover the new materials made from hagfish slime… the social life of a slime mold… and the threat posed by the gray goo of self-replicating nanobots.

Plus, it’s been 50 years since it first oozed across the screen: why there’s no escape from The Blob!

Guests:

Tori Hoeler - Astrobiologist, NASA Ames Research Center
Douglas Fudge - Biologist, University of Guelph, Canada
John Tyler Bonner - Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, and author of The Social Amoebae: The Biology of Cellular Slime Molds
Chris Phoenix - Director of Research, Center for Responsible Technology
Andre Bourmanis - Television Writer and Producer

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Video: Confessions of an Alien Hunter

2009-03-13T09:32:00.000-07:00

Check out this interesting video featuring Seth Shostak of the SETI Inistitute as he talks about the search for extraterrestrial civiliztions, and the possibility of discovering an extraterrestrial civiliztion in the near future.

You can find out about Seth's new book "Confessions of an Alien Hunter: A Scientist's Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence" at both National Geographic and Amazon.com. Be sure to check out the Are We Alone? internet radio show as well as it's companion blog Are We A Blog?

Are We Alone for 03/09/09 - Building Better Brains

2009-03-08T14:07:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - "Building Better Brains"
Forgot your own birthday? Misplaced your Shih Tzu? Did you put the milk in your backpack and the iPod in the fridge? Age may bring wisdom but - alas - not a boost in RAM. But there's hope - scientists are discovering that the brain is more malleable than thought. We'll hear about the science of neuroplasticity and what you can do to slow that cerebellum slide. Ever been to a brain gym?

Plus, why the brains of London cabbies are bigger than those of your average commuter.

Guests:

Michael Merzenich - Professor Emeritus Neuroscientist, University of California, San Francisco
Gordy Slack - Science journalist and author of The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything: Evolution, Intelligent Design, and a School Board in Dover, PA
Sam Wang - Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Molecular Biology at Princeton University and the author of Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys but Never Forget how to Drive and other Puzzles of Everyday Life
Lisa Schoonerman - Co-founder, VibrantBrains
Jan Zivic - Co-founder, VibrantBrains

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 03/02/09 - A Man, A Planet, A Tenal: Panama!

2009-03-01T15:48:00.000-08:00

Are We Alone - "A Man, A Planet, A Tenal: Panama!"
While the Kepler spacecraft hunts for habitable planets outside our galaxy, we’ve let one of our own planets slip away! Find out why Pluto’s demotion to dwarf status created a public uproar as astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson reads us his hate mail. From third-graders!

Also, how we might find Earth-like planets… the possibility of life on Saturn’s moon Titan… and TED Prize winner Jill Tarter’s vision for finding E.T.
And, the man who made it all possible: 400 years of Galileo and the telescope. Part of our series for the International Year of Astronomy.

Guests

Neil deGrasse Tyson - Astrophysicist, Head of the Hayden Planetarium, and author of The Pluto Files:The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet
Alan Stern - Planetary Scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, lead investigator on NASA’s New Horizons Mission
Jeffrey Van Cleve - Astronomer at the Kepler Mission Science Office
Carolyn Porco - Planetary scientist and Lead for NASA’s Cassini Mission
Jill Tarter - Director of SETI Research at the SETI Institute
Andy Fraknoi - Astronomer at Foothill College and author of Voyages Through the Universe

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 02/23/09 - It's the Science, Cupid!

2009-02-23T09:40:00.001-08:00

Are We Alone - "It's the Science, Cupid!"
Love make us feel warm and mushy, but the sweet sting of Cupid's arrow makes a compelling chemistry lesson, too. Research into animal mating and human courtship provides clues to an eternal mystery: what's the purpose of love?

Learn lessons from the family values of field mice, and affectionate same-sex penguin pairs. Plus: Darwin's take on speed dating, and the science of smooching.

Guests:

Helen Fisher - Anthropologist, Rutgers University
Saraj Woodley - Biologist, Duquesne University
Skyler Place - Doctoral Student, Indiana University's Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
Larry Young - Neurobiologist, Emory University
Marlene Zuk - Biologist, University of California, Riverside

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 02/16/09 - Life's Stories

2009-02-15T16:56:00.000-08:00

Are We Alone - "Life's Stories"
ENCORE PRESENTATION: How did the first cells make the scene? Could there be critters on some newly discovered planets? And what happens if we ever encounter weird life? These may not be the sort of questions you hear being bandied about in your local coffee shop, but they were hot topics at the AbSciCon conference held recently in Santa Clara, California, and sponsored by the SETI Institute.

AbSciCon stands for Astrobiology Science Conference, and Seth was there, talking to researchers about progress in puzzling out how life began on Earth, and where it might have gained a claw-hold elsewhere. Could there be certain parts of our Galaxy that are off-limits for life? Also, hear whether our universe has special properties that render it just dandy for life, and whether we should be looking for viruses on Mars.

Guests:

Diana Valencia - Planetary physicist at Harvard University
Charley Lineweaver - Cosmologist at the Australian National University
David Deamer - Research scientist at the University of California at Santa Cruz
Baruch Blumberg - Scientist at the Fox Chase Cancer Institute, Nobel Prize winner, and Trustee at the SETI Institute
Matthew Kenworthy - Astronomer at the University of Arizona
Eric Korpela - Research scientist at the University of California, Berkeley
Richard Muller - Physicist, University of California, Berkeley
Kathryn Denning - Anthropologist at York University

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 02/09/09 - Skeptical Sunday: Que Sera... No Sera?

2009-02-08T07:57:00.000-08:00

Are We Alone - "Skeptical Sunday: Que Sera... No Sera?"
We all want to peek into the future and find out what fate has in store: Will I get that raise? Is love around the corner? What’s the winning combo in Las Vegas? Some people claim the ability to see events before they occur. Find out how accurate their prognostications are.

Plus, how the job market drove the granddaddy of “I told you so” – Nostradamus – into the business of soothsaying.

Also, how the brain misfires to produce déjà vu. Also, how the brain misfires to produce déjà vu. And, astronomical predictions for the final apocalypse … will the world end in fire or in ice?

Guests:

Peter Lemesurier - author of the biography The Unknown Nostradamus. He lives in Wales.
Arika O'Connor - psychologist at Washington University, in Saint Louis
Ben Radford - managing editor of Skeptical Inquirer magazine and an investigator with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 02/02/09 - Feather Knows Best

2009-02-01T08:41:00.000-08:00

Are We Alone - "Feather Knows Best"
Can animals think? Merely asking the question was once thought ridiculous. But studies that range from chimps to birds to sea creatures have prompted scientists to reassess the cognitive capabilities of our animal friends. These results challenge not only our idea of intelligence, but man’s unequivocal perch at the top.

Learn the secret communication between camouflaging cuttlefish… how the smarts of Alex the parrot turned “birdbrain” into a compliment… and why brawn sometimes trumps brains in evolution.

Plus, how tool-making made humans smarter: the new field of cognitive archaeology.

Guests:

Irene Pepperberg - teaches animal cognition at Harvard University, and author of Alex and Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Uncovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence and Discovered a Deep Bond in the Process
Roger Hanlon - senior scientist at Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts
Lambros Malafouris - archeologist and a post-doc at the University of Cambridge in England
Jonathan Payne - assistant professor of geological and environmental science at Stanford University

You can listen to this and other

Publish Post

episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 01/26/09 - Carbon Your Enthusiasm

2009-01-25T08:34:00.000-08:00

Are We Alone - "Carbon Your Enthusiasm"
Bond it to oxygen and it’s the scourge of climate change. But earthly life wouldn’t be possible without carbon, and maybe that’s true for alien life, too.

And carbon has other exciting forms: tiny diamonds may be evidence of a catastrophic comet impact 13,000 years ago. And, chalky carbonates may point to a once-habitable Mars.
So get cozy with carbon. Find out if you could swap it for silicon in DNA. Plus, the conundrum of calculating a carbon footprint.

Guests:

Allen West - Retired Geophysicist
Bethany Ehlmann - Geologist, Brown Unviversity
Michael Mumma - Planetary scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
John Murlis - Chief Scientific Advisor to the Carbon Neutral Company in the U.K.
Steven Benner - Molecular Biologist, Founder of the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 01/19/09 - You Animal!

2009-01-18T08:10:00.000-08:00

Are We Alone - Encore Presentation "You Animal!"
Maybe Dr. Doolittle was on to something; animals are smarter than we think. Birds, apes, and dolphins are all clever problem solvers with a rich vocabularly and - in some cases - self-awareness. Find out what you can learn from our furry, finned and feathered friends. Also, why you are so much an animal yourself, all the way down to the bare bones.

Plus, enter the locked vaults that hold extinct and newly-discovered animal species. And why B-movie critters steal the show.
(A new species? This is a grey-faced sengi. Click here for another photo.)

Guests:

Neil Shubin - Anatomist and Associate Dean at the University of Chicago, and author of Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body
Galen Rathbun - Biologist, California Academy of Sciences
Jack Dumbacher - Curator, Birds and Mammals, California Academy of Sciences
Virginia Morell - Science writer. Her cover story Inside Animal Minds is in the March, 2008 issue of National Geographic
Alex Kacelnik - Behavioral Ecologist at Oxford University
Lori Marino - Behavioral Biologist at Emory University

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 01/12/09 - Scoping Out Astronomy

2009-01-11T09:09:00.000-08:00

Are We Alone - "Scoping Out Astronomy"
A loud radio hiss is coming from the cosmos. Is it the swan song of the first giant stars of the universe?

Find out from stargazers attending the American Astronomical Society meeting in California... the brightest flash in the universe illuminates how a galaxy grows up... a planet hunter closes in on Earth-size prey. Also, find out how to spy on the universe from the comfort of your living room. Plus, the four-century-old history of the telescope... and Galileo didn't invent it!

It's the kick off to the International Year of Astronomy - so scope it out!

Guests:

David Charbonneau - Astronomer, Harvard University
Alan Kogut - Astrophysicist, NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center
Xavier Prochaska - Astronomer, University of California at Santa Cruz
Simon Steel - Astronomer, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Kris Koenig - Producer, Interstellar Studios, Chico, California
Mark Slater - Film composer

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 01/05/09 - Sex: From Beginning to End

2009-01-04T11:52:00.000-08:00

Are We Alone - Encore Presentation "Sex: From Beginning to End"
We all know how sex begins: a dimly-lit room, a come-hither smile, and a surfeit of parasol-shaded cocktails. But long before all that, the gentle currents of the ancient sea floor set the mood. It was there, 570 million years ago, that two ropy sea creatures found each other and changed the course of evolution.

Hear how sex began and where it's headed: if you think your love life is mechanical now, just wait until you're cozying up to titanium skin and the latest emotion software.

Plus, everything you always wanted to know about modern sex research, but were afraid to ask.
Guests:

Mary Roach - Author of Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
David Levy - Artificial intelligence researcher and the author of Love and Sex with Robots
Mary Droser - Professor of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 12/29/08 - Nerds

2008-12-28T12:35:00.000-08:00

Are We Alone - Encore Presentation "Nerds"
There are two kinds of people: those who are unstylish, socially inept, yet academically gifted, and those who tease them. Being a nerd is rough; it's no fun to sit alone in the cafeteria or be forced to dine on beach sandwiches. But revenge is sweet: the world depends more than ever on the witty and gifted to keep it technologically and scientifically turning. So who gets the last laugh? Just ask Bill Gates. Then again, have attitudes towards eggheads really matured? Just ask Al Gore.

Hear why America has contempt for nerds, while other countries treat them as rock stars. Also, how to solve a Rubik's Cube in seconds, and a Geeksta Rap sing-along.
Guests:

David Anderegg - Author of Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them
Jessica Fridrich - Electrical and computer engineer at Binghamton University in New York
Sun Kwok - Physicist and astronomer at the University of Hong Kong
Peter Hartlaub - Pop Culture Critic for the San Francisco Chronicle
Christian Ternus - Sophomore at MIT
Fred Hall - Space Physicist

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Are We Alone for 12/22/08 - Science and Art: Worlds Apart?

2008-12-22T22:02:00.000-08:00

Are We Alone - Encore Presentation "Science and Art: Worlds Apart?"
Leonardo da Vinci is considered a genius for combining art and science. But how usual is this for us mere mortals? Can science and art sucessfully inform each other?

We'll hear how the insights of French writer Marcel Proust anticipated modern neuroscience. Also, a debate over the evolutionary function of art. Does it have survival value? We meet a robot whose painting talents have garnered it a job in one of America's top museums. And, hear - or don't hear - why some of our relatives don't monkey around with music.
Guests:

Jonah Lehrer - science journalist, editor-at-large, Seed magazine and author of Proust Was a Neuroscientist
David Sloan Wilson - evolutionary biologist at Binghamton University, and author of Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives
Ellen Dissanayake - independent scholar and author of Art and Intimacy: How the Arts Began
Leonel Moura - conceptual artist

Find out more about RAP, including a picture, at the American Museum of Natural History website! Whip up some madeleines (click here for a recipe) and savor your own remembrance of things past.

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

2008-12-22T00:26:00.000-08:00

Technorati Profile

Are We Alone for 12/15/08 - Skeptical Sunday: Ghost of a Chance

2008-12-14T09:38:00.000-08:00

Are We Alone - "Skeptical Sunday: Ghost of a Chance"
Half of all Americans believe in ghosts - despite any compelling evidence of their existence. Find out why we believe in what we can't see, and why loneliness may increase our chances of a poltergeist experience. Hear the tale of the Toys R Us ghost, and scope out the latest in haunted real estate.

Also, why our Hollywood skeptic is tired of wild ghost chases and Phil Plait speaks out on lapses in critical thinking. This week: vaccination and autism.

It's Skeptical Sunday... but don't take our word for it!

Guests:

Phil Plait - Keeper of website, badastronomy.com, and author of Death from the Skies!
Mary Pope-Handy - Estate Agent, Silicon Valley and keeper of the website hauntedrealestate.com
Christopher French - Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit, Goldsmiths College, University of London, U.K. and co-editor of The Skeptic magazine
Nicholas Epley - Behavioral Scientist, University of Chicago
James Underdown - Executive Director, Center for Inquiry, Los Angeles
Wayne Thatcher - Geophysicist, U.S. Geological Survey

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

Are We Alone for 12/08/08 - That's Cosmic!

2008-12-07T15:55:00.001-08:00

Are We Alone - That's Cosmic!
What makes up the universe? Lots of tiny particles with strange names: bosons, leptons, quarks and neutrinos. But physicists think there are more members to be discovered in this particle zoo.
From strange particles to dark matter to vibrating strings, find out why you have to think small to understand the physics of the universe. Plus, other cosmic connections: is SETI a religion?

Guests:

Murray Gell-Mann - Physics Nobel Laureate, Professor Emeritus - California Institute of Technology, Distinguished Fellow at the Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Brian Greene - Mathematician and physicist, Columbia University, author of The Elegant Universe and, most recently, Icarus at the Edge of Time
Lisa Randall - Physicist, Harvard University, author of Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions
David Wilkinson - Theologian, University of Durham, U.K.

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

Are We Alone for 12/01/08 - Got Life?

2008-11-30T14:18:00.000-08:00

Are We Alone - "Got Life?"
"Spore" is the ultimate game of life. Play it wisely and you can evolve from a single-celled organism, swimming in salt water, to an intelligent being rocketing through the galaxy. It's survival of the cleverest - are you game?

Join us as we attend the "Spore" launch party. Hear how the game's primary author, Will Wright (of "SimCity" fame) simulated the arc of evolution; whether complex life is inevitable; and how SETI scientists inspired one of the most anticipated video games in history.

Also, why real human evolution is picking up the pace (did you know that blue eyes are relatively new?)... and a doctor's film about the meaning of life.
Click here to become a Spore-TeamSETI Member!

Guests:

Will Wright - Creator of "Spore" and "Sim City"
Howard Weiner - Neurologist, Harvard Medical School
John Hawks - Anthropologist, University of Wisconsin-Madison

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

Runaway ISS Toolbag Sighted and Filmed

2008-11-25T05:19:00.000-08:00

Source - Space Weather News for Nov. 25th: http://spaceweather.com

ISS TOOLBAG: A backpack-sized tool bag inadvertently dropped from the International Space Station last week is orbiting Earth and has been sighted from the ground. The tool bag is surprisingly bright, about 6th or 7th magnitude, which makes it an easy target for binoculars or a small telescope. Today's edition of http://spaceweather.com offers observing tips, sighting reports and a movie of the bag in orbit.

AURORA WATCH: High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras tonight and tomorrow. Earth is entering a solar wind stream and this could trigger geomagnetic storms around the Arctic Circle.

Are We Alone for 11/24/08 - First Contact!

2008-11-23T12:07:00.001-08:00

Are We Alone - First Contact! (Encore Presentation)
From human settlers to alien visitors - when one society meets another, the results can be messy.

The Jamestown settlement may have kicked off the colonization of the New World. But, you'll hear how it also left an indelible mark on its ecosystem and the human landscape. Plus, why the Galapagos Islands haven't been the same since their most celebrated visitor set foot on their rocky shores more than a century ago.

Also: how a spider led the re-population of Krakatau after a devastating volcanic eruption... the "raining" threat of alien microbes... and one man's emergency plan for when Mars attacks.
Guests:

Charles C. Mann - author and journalist. His article "America Found and Lost" is in the May issue of National Geographic Magazine
Travis Taylor - author of An Introduction to Planetary Defense: A Study of Modern Warfare Applied to Extraterrestrial Invasion
Robert Whittaker - Professor of Biogeography at the University of Oxford
John Rummel - Senior Scientist for Astrobiology at NASA
Timothy Silcott - Director for Information and Development for the Charles Darwin Foundation based in Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

Are We Alone for 11/17/08 - Skeptical Sunday: I'll Buy That!

2008-11-17T20:14:00.001-08:00

Are We Alone - Skeptical Sunday: I'll Buy That!
Smoking is good for you! Doctors want you to light up! Discover how cigarette companies of the 1950s manipulated the media to peddle their tobacco - and why not much has changed since then. Also, what goes on in our brain when we buy; the results of a global neuroscience study. Plus, our Hollywood Skeptic tests the purifying claims of Kinoki pads and Brains on Vacation debunks Carl Sagan ufology.

Guests:

Martin Lindstrom- Marketing expert and author of Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy
Robert Jackler - Associate Dean, Continuing Medical Education, Stanford University School of Medicine and organizer of the exhibition Not a Cough in a Carload: Images Used by Tobacco Companies to Hide the Hazards of Smoking
James Underdown - Executive Director, Center for Inquiry, Los Angeles
Phil Plait - Astronomer, author and keeper of badastronomy.com

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

Converging Planets and Leonid Meteors

2008-11-16T16:13:00.000-08:00

Source - Space Weather News for Nov. 16, 2008: http://spaceweather.com

EVENING PLANETS: When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look southwest. The two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, are shining through the twilight side by side. You'll want to keep an eye on these two because they are drawing noticeably closer together every night. Venus and Jupiter are converging on a patch of sky in Sagittarius where they will have a spectacular double-conjunction with the Moon at the end of the month. Don't wait until then, though. Visit http://spaceweather.com for sky maps and start watching now.

LEONID METEOR WATCH: The Leonid meteor shower peaks this year on Nov. 17th and 18th. Bright moonlight will probably spoil the show, but not necessarily. Researchers who study Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, the source of the Leonids, say Earth is going to pass through one or two of the comet's dusty filaments. Peak rates of 20 to 100 meteors per hour are possible during the early hours of Nov. 17th (especially 0000-0200 UT) and again during the waning hours of Nov. 18th (around 2130 UT). These times favor sky watchers in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Smaller numbers of Leonids could appear between the anticipated peak times. Meteor enthusiasts everywhere should monitor the sky on Nov. 17th and 18th; the hours before local dawn are usually best.

Are We Alone for 11/10/08 - Time's Mysteries Part II: Warping Time

2008-11-10T20:53:00.000-08:00

Are We Alone - Time's Mysteries Part II: Warping Time

Ever since Einstein, we've known that time doesn't barrel willy-nilly into the future. Moving clocks tick at a different rates, and by riding a fast rocket, we can slow time to a crawl. Such tricks may give you a way to see the distant future, but can you go back in time?

Discover one man's quest to build a time machine. Also learn how to put the brakes on aging by getting near a black hole. Plus, does your entire life really pass before your eyes if you jump off the Brooklyn Bridge? Our perception of time.

Guests:

Roy Gould - Astrophysicist, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Ronald Mallett - Professor of Physics, University of Connecticut, and author of Time Traveler: A Scientist's Personal Mission to Make Time Travel a Reality
Simon Steel - Astrophysicist, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
David Eagleman - Neuroscientist at Baylor College of Medicine, and Director of the Laboratory for Perception and Action

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

Are We Alone for 11/03/08 - "Time's Mysteries Part I: Marking Time"

2008-11-02T06:40:00.000-08:00

Are We Alone - "Time's Mysteries Part I: Marking Time"

Time's a mystery, yet we've invented clever ways to capture it. From sundials to atomic clocks, trace the history of time-keeping. Also, discover the surprising accuracy of nature's dating schemes - from the decay of carbon to laying down tree rings. Plus, why the "New York minute," stretches to hours in Rio de Janeiro: cultural differences in the perception of time.

Guests:

Chris Turney - Geologist at the University of Wollongong, Australia and the author of Bones, Rocks and Stars: The Science of When Things Happened
Demetrios Matsakis - Head of the U.S. Naval Observatory's Time Service
Steven Jefferts - Physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado
Robert Levine - Psychologist at California State University in Fresno and the author of The Geography of Time
Norman Mohr - Owner, Mohr Clocks, Mountain View, California

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

Are We Alone for 10/27/08 - "War of the Worlds: Happy Anniversary!"

2008-10-26T13:10:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - "War of the Worlds: Happy Anniversary!"
It's been 70 years since malevolent Martians landed in Grover's Mill, New Jersey. Orson Welles described the dramatic events as they unfolded on CBS's Mercury Theater On The Air. Some listeners were so frightened, they became hysterical and fled their homes.
We revisit the famous radio adaptation of H.G. Well's novel and examine its cultural legacy. Also, what do modern invasion movies say about today's public fears?
Plus, the religious response to an alien invasion... how to protect Earth from Martian microbes... and, what Percival Lowell thought he saw on Mars.

Guests:

Aeon Skoble - Professor of Philosophy at Bridgewater State College
Kevin Schindler - Outreach Manager at the Lowell Observatory
Brother Guy Consolmagno - Astronomer at the Vatican Observatory
Margaret Race - Principal Investigator at the SETI Institute
John Gosling - Writer

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

Are We Alone for 10/20/08 - "What Were You Thinking?"

2008-10-19T15:39:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - "What Were You Thinking?"
Say what you mean. That's difficult, if you don't know what you're thinking. But the neuromarketers do, and they'll be happy to tell Madison Avenue what's on your mind. Discover why this marketing strategy is wired for success.

Also, Steven Pinker on how language reveals private thoughts as well as why the big-brained Homo neanderthalensis couldn't out-compete Homo sapiens. And, we tease your gray matter with the "Monty Hall Problem."
Guests:

Steven Pinker - Psychologist, Harvard University and author, most recently, of The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature
A. K. Pradeep - Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Neurofocus in Berkeley, California
Quentin Baldwin - Client Services Engineer at Neurofocus
Richard Klein - Paleoanthropologist at Stanford University
Deborah Bennett - Mathematician at New Jersey City University

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

Are We Alone for 10/13/08 - "Senses Census"

2008-10-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - "Senses Census" (Encore Presentation)
Don't worry if you've lost your senses - we've found them. Find out why we've evolved taste, sight, hearing, touch, and smell the way we have, and why we don't sense our world through antennae or echolocation. Discover what part of the tongue recognizes anchovies and why cats can't taste candy. And, in need of some virtual surgery? Visit the robotics lab where computers are wired with the sense of touch.

Also, release yourself from the limits of your biology: from bionic limbs to infrared vision; join humans of the future who are enhanced with super-senses.
Now that you have a feel for the taste of this show by nosing about this blurb, you can see that it's worth a listen. Make sense?

Guests:

Tom Finger - Cell and Developmental Biologist at University of Colorado Medical School and Co-Director of the Rocky Mountain Taste and Smell Center.
Ken Salisbury - Computer Scientist in the Bio-Robotics Laboratory, Stanford.
James Hughes - Sociologist and Bioethicist at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and Executive Director of the Institute of Ethics and Emerging Technologies.
Nina Jablonski - Anthropologist at Penn State University and author of Skin: A Natural History.

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

Are We Alone for 10/06/08 - "Humans in Space... ace... ace"

2008-10-06T22:33:00.001-07:00

Are We Alone - "Humans in Space... ace... ace"
When the economy's down, will humans still be going up - into space, that is? We investigate the future of human spaceflight at the International Astronautical Congress in Glasgow, Scotland and find out whether sending Homo sapiens to the Moon and Mars is still a good idea. Also, the chief of Virgin Galactic is happy to send you into space on a private flight - but it may max out your credit card.
Plus, an Apollo astronaut's view from orbit... dining with South Korea's first astronaut... and one of Britain's great science fiction authors on how space science fuels the imagination.

Guests:

Rusty Schweickart - Former NASA astronaut and Chairman of the Board of the B612 Foundation
John Mankins - 25-year NASA veteran who managed the Agency's exploration technology activities
Sanjoy Som - Planetary scientist at the University of Washington, Seattle
Will Whitehorn - President of Virgin Galactic
Yi So-yeon - Biomechanical engineer and South Korean astronaut
Stephen Baxter - Science fiction author, most recently of Weaver

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

Are We Alone for 09/29/08 - "Formula One: The Drake Equation"

2008-09-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Next show available September 29, 2008: Formula One: The Drake Equation (Encore Performance)

Show description:

When it comes to contacting ET, SETI scientists do the math. They've been filling in values for the Drake Equation ever since 1961. That's when Frank Drake proposed his simple formula for estimating the number of communicating civilizations in the galaxy. It's one equation that everyone can understand.
We'll talk about the current best estimates for the terms in Drake's famous formulation - from the number of Earth-size planets to the life expectancy of advanced civilizations. Also, with all this number crunching, why haven't we yet heard from ET?
Guests:

Frank Drake - Senior Scientist, SETI Institute
Charley Lineweaver - Astrobiologist at the Australian National University
Lori Marino - Behavioral Biologist at Emory University
J. Richard Gott - Physicist at Princeton University
Natalie Batalha - Professor of Physics and Astronomy, San Jose State University, and science team member, Kepler Mission

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

Are We Alone for 09/22/08 - "Get Your Boson"

2008-09-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Encore Performance September 22, 2008 "Get Your Boson"

What happens when particles collide? The answer may tell us the dark secrets of the cosmos. At least, that's the hope for the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest particle accelerator. When it fires up this summer, colliding protons may produce the elusive Higgs Boson - the so-called God particle - and reveal the building blocks of the universe.

We talk to the Director of CERN, home of this massive device, about what happens when they throw the big switch. Also, what if black holes happen? Find out how these weird gravity pits are created, and whether they're actually two-way streets that allow information to escape after all.

Also, plans are already underway for the next particle accelerator, and playing with fire: a new fusion reactor in France.

Guests:

Robert Aymar - Director General of CERN in Geneva, Switzerland
Barry Barish - Physicist Emeritus, California Institute of Technology and Director of the International Linear Collider Global Design Effort
Norbert Holtkamp - Principle Deputy Director General of ITER and physicist at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Simon Steel - Astronomer, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

Skeptical Sunday: Bear Right in a Bull Market

2008-09-14T20:49:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Skeptical Sunday: Bear Right in a Bull Market
When we're in love, we do some crazy things. And that's OK. But when we merge lanes on the highway, sign up for a credit card, or just order a book, we're as irrational as a teenager who's got a crush.

Find out why we're mad in money matters, why we're suckers for designer aspirin, are willing to believe in the paranormal, and anything but logical in traffic. It's Skeptical Sunday, but be rational - don't take our word for it! Guests:

Tom Vanderbilt - Author of Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What it Says About Us)
Dan Ariely - Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University, and author of Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions
James Underdown - Executive Director of the Center for Inquiry, Los Angeles
Phil Plait - Author of badastronomy.com
Michael Shermer - Founder of "Skeptic Magazine" and author, most recently, of The Mind of the Market: Compassionate Apes, Competitive Humans, and Other Tales from Evolutionary Economics

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

Are We Alone - TXT MSG: Behavior

2008-09-08T00:22:00.001-07:00

Are We Alone - TXT MSG: Behavior
From iPods to Google to Facebook - information swims at our fingertips and friends are just a txt msg away. Digital devices have re-defined what it means to be connected - but how else are they shaping behavior? Join us for the second of a two-part series on how the network is changing how we think and act.

Part II: Behavior: how computers compel us to interact with them... why your iPod may improve your health... why Facebook may leave you friendless... the unintended consequences of past innovation... and the growing threat of "videophilia." Guests:

BJ Fogg - Experimental Psychologist and Director of Stanford University's Persuasive Technology Lab
James Levine - Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic
Andrew Keen - Author of The Cult of the Amateur; How the Internet is Killing Our Culture and Assaulting our Economy
Patricia Zaradic - Conservation Ecologist with the Red Rock Institute
Edward Tenner - Writer and consultant on technology and culture at Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania, and author of Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences and, most recently, Our Own Devices: How Technology Remakes Humanity

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

Are We Alone - Next show available Sept. 1, 2008

2008-08-31T21:44:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Next show available September 1, 2008 TXT MSG: Thought
From iPods to Google to Facebook - information swims at our fingertips and friends are just a txt msg away. Digital devices have re-defined what it means to be connected - but how else are they shaping behavior? Join us for the first of a two-part series on how the network is changing how we think and act.

Part I: Thought: whether Google is making us stupid... how the Internet is curtailing creativity... and the future of a hyper-networked world that does all our thinking for us.
Guests:

Nick Carr - Journalist and author of The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, From Edison to Google. His article "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" is the cover story of the July/August 2008 issue of Atlantic Monthly
Jonathan Grudin - Researches human-computer interaction at Microsoft Corporation
David Kirsh - Cognitive scientist, University of California, San Diego
Jonathan Zittrain - Author of The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It and co-founder of Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

Are We Alone - Next show available Aug. 25, 2008

2008-08-24T20:43:00.001-07:00

Are We Alone - Next show available August 25, 2008: Skeptical Sunday: Bigfoot Press Conference
Finally, Bigfoot meets habeus corpus: three men claim they have the body of the elusive hirsute creature on ice, and throw a big press conference to prove it. Lots of journalists show up, as do the Bigfoot baggers.

Days later the purported historic discovery turned out to be - gasp! - a hairy hoax. How did these men perpetuate the con - and why did the media, including Are We Alone?, bother to cover it?

Join us front row and center at this peculiar press event and for the post-mortem (sans body) of the latest chapter in the ongoing mythology that is Bigfoot.

Guests for this episode are:

Lori Marino - Behavioral Biologist at Emory University
James Underdown - Executive Director of the Center for Inquiry West in Los Angeles

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

Science Blog Updates: Aug. 14, 2008

2008-08-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

*****
Bad Astronomy:

*****
The Daily Galaxy:

*****
Planet Pride:

Science Blog Updates: Aug. 12, 2008

2008-08-12T22:13:00.000-07:00

*****
Bad Astronomy:

*****
The Daily Galaxy:

*****
Planet Pride: NASA Blog: Cassini Engineering Is Ready for Enceladus!

Are We Alone - Next show available Aug. 11, 2008

2008-08-10T15:32:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Next show available August 11, 2008 From Mars to Eternity

The discovery of water on Mars has scientists asking whether they're could have once been life on the Red Planet. It's a big question - and it's prompted us to follow up with a few of our own, such as: what is our relationship to the cosmos? How do we find meaning in a universe that is destined to end? Plus, in response to Seth's appearance on Larry King Live: have aliens visited Earth?
Any questions? If you missed Seth on Larry King Live, check out our blog and watch the videos. You can read Seth's article about the experience here.
Guests:

Janice Bishop - Planetary Scientist at the SETI Institute and at NASA Ames Research Center
Roy Gould - Education Analyst at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

You can listen to this and other episodes at: http://radio.seti.org/ and be sure to check the Are We Alone Profile and Blog on MySpace.

Science News & Blog Updates: Aug. 10, 2008

2008-08-10T00:21:00.000-07:00

Science News:
MSNBC: Amateur astronomer spots gassy ‘cosmic ghost’: There have been quite a few articles about the recently discovered "cosmic ghost", and here is another one from MSNBC. Congrats to Hanny van Arkel, the Dutch amateur astronomer who discovered the object as part of the Galaxy Zoo Project. You have to love the nickname: "Hanny's Voorwerp"!

Moses Lake doubles for the Moon: KOMONews.Com posted this article a while back about NASA conducting tests with prototype space suits and vehicles in Moses Lake WA. According to the article "The tests started in late May in the Moses Lake Sand Dunes, a 3,000-acre off-road vehicle park." The article is fairly detailed and has some great shots of the spaces suits and vehicles. One thing I didn't know about Moses Lake is that there is a closed B-52 base there that NASA has designated as an emergency landing site for the space shuttle. Hopefully NASA will come back for more tests, and if they do it might be worth a trip out to Moses Lake to maybe catch a glimpse of the new Lunar hardware.

Science Blogs:
*****
Bad Astronomy:

*****
The Daily Galaxy:

Science News & Blog Updates: Aug. 07, 2008

2008-08-08T00:30:00.000-07:00

Science News:

Are We Alone - This weeks episode: "Why We Do What We Shoo Be Do Be Do"

Science Blogs:
*****
Are We A Blog?: Uncivilized Behavior

*****
Bad Astronomy:

*****
The Daily Galaxy:

*****
What's New At Pacific Science Center:

Countdown to the Perseid Meteor Shower

2008-08-08T00:25:00.000-07:00

The following notice was recived from Space Weather - http://spaceweather.com

Countdown to the Perseid Meteor Shower - Space Weather News for August 5, 2008

COUNTDOWN TO THE PERSEIDS: The annual Perseid meteor shower peaks one week from today, on Tuesday, August 12th. The best time to look is during the dark hours before dawn on Tuesday morning when forecasters expect 50 to 100 meteors per hour. Get away from city lights if you can; plan a camping trip! The darker the sky, the more meteors you will see.

The source of the Perseids is Comet Swift-Tuttle, which has littered the August portion of Earth's orbit with space dust. The dusty zone is broad and Earth is already in its outskirts. As a result, even before the peak on August 12th, you may see some "early Perseids" streaking across the night sky. Photos of these early arrivals will be featured in the days ahead on http://Spaceweather.com as part of our full coverage of the Perseid meteor shower.

BONUS: Last Friday's total solar eclipse is history, but new pictures continue to appear in our photo gallery. Start browsing at this URL: http://spaceweather.com/eclipses/gallery_01aug08_page3.htm

Science News & Blog Updates: Aug. 05, 2008

2008-08-05T22:58:00.000-07:00

Science News:

Are We Alone - This weeks episode: "Why We Do What We Shoo Be Do Be Do"

Science Blogs:
*****
Bad Astronomy:

*****
The Daily Galaxy:

*****
What's New At Pacific Science Center: Special Coupon Offer

Science News & Blog Updates: Aug. 04, 2008

2008-08-04T23:59:00.000-07:00

Science News:

Are We Alone - This weeks episode: "Why We Do What We Shoo Be Do Be Do"

Science Blogs:
*****
Bad Astronomy:

*****
The Daily Galaxy:

*****
What's New At Pacific Science Center:

Are We Alone - Next show available August 4, 2008

2008-08-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

Are We Alone - Next show available August 4, 2008: "Why We Do What We Shoo Be Do Be Do"

We see a man laughing and we smile in response. Our heart goes out to the sad-looking woman on the train. Humans are empathetic creatures - we feel what others feel, even the emotions of strangers. And it may be due to brain cells that researchers have only recently discovered: mirror neurons. Find out how these mimicking cells help us survive cocktail parties, keep society humming, and even give rise to the concept of self.
Also, are humans born with a moral code? And, if human behavior is hard-wired - whatever becomes of free will?
Guests: