Podcasts about Astrobiology

If scientists discovered that we are not alone, what would they do with that information? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice learn about the search for life, habitability around M stars and more with astrophysics professor and author Aomawa Shields. Originally Aired July 11, 2023. NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here:  https://startalkmedia.com/show/cosmic-queries-life-on-other-planets-with-aomawa-shields/ Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of StarTalk Radio ad-free and a whole week early.Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Two theoretical physicists helped design landmark surveys of 1,600+ scientists on the deepest unsolved questions in physics — and found almost no consensus at all. From string theory's shockingly low support to physicists admitting their models run on "belief," this episode exposes the faith hiding inside science. Adam Frank (University of Rochester astrophysicist and astrobiologist) and Niayesh Afshordi (Perimeter Institute / University of Waterloo cosmologist, co-author of the APS Physics Magazine "Big Mysteries" survey) join Brian to unpack what physicists actually believe versus what they can prove. We cover: - Why string theory pulled a shockingly small share of the vote against loop quantum gravity - What a Bayesian "prior" reveals about every scientist's hidden beliefs - Why one branch of physics quietly became unfalsifiable - How sociology and "tastemakers" can hijack scientific consensus - Why AI might become the field's unlikely savior. There is no sane statistical analysis that doesn't have a prior — that's your belief. Timestamps: 00:00 – Why scientists owe the public real answers 04:00 – Splitting time between research and outreach 07:55 – The survey that "rankled" Brian Keating 09:18 – Are physicists secretly just like Spock? 12:05 – Are we living in an anti-scientific age? 16:56 – Why most scientists refuse to go public 21:36 – Should "belief" ever appear in a survey? 23:12 – Is string theory really 21st-century physics? 26:20 – When sociology hijacks scientific consensus 28:39 – The hidden "prior" behind every experiment 33:01 – String theory's shockingly low vote count 39:03 – Four levels of belief, from data to faith 41:39 – Inside the 1,675-physicist mystery survey 46:12 – Kingmakers, tastemakers, and physics cliques 54:12 – Is advanced tech indistinguishable from magic? 59:23 – Could AI become physics' long-awaited savior? 1:01:47 – What's next for Adam and Niayesh ———

Program Note: Daniel misspoke about the Tycho and Kepler supernovae. They were not the last to be seen in the universe but the last two supernovae to be seen in the Milky Way galaxy.   A great deal of time, effort, and tax dollars have been spent to explore the heavens. But even after all the expenditures, secular astronomy and cosmology are still unable to say what it all means. Some have suggested the universe doesn't mean anything, that it just is. Others say we can make up our own meaning. But we here at Good Heavens! believe the universe exists for one main purpose, to declare the glory and the righteousness of God, to display His handiwork and remind us of His many invisible attributes (Psalm 19; 50.6; Romans 1.18ff; Colossians 1.16ff). Here on this episode we sit down with Christian and astrophysicist Dr. Jeff Zweerink and get his thoughts about how he sees the universe pointing him to the glory of God. Astrophysicist Jeff Zweerink is a former senior research scholar at Reasons to Believe (RTB). He earned a BS in physics and a PhD in astrophysics from Iowa State University with a focus on gamma rays. He taught at and ran the planetarium at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, until postdoctoral research in gamma rays led him to the University of California, Riverside. Jeff spent years working on the STACEE and VERITAS gamma-ray telescopes and was involved in research projects such as the Solar Two project and the Whipple Collaboration. He continues to work as a project scientist at UCLA on GAPS, a balloon experiment seeking to detect dark matter. Zweerink is also a coauthor of more than 30 academic papers published in peer-reviewed journals such as Astrophysical Journal, Astroparticle Physics, and Astrobiology. While an undergrad at Iowa State University, he heard astrophysicist and RTB founder Hugh Ross speak on the constructive integration of science and the Christian faith. Ten years later, a professor encouraged Zweerink to enroll in RTB's volunteer apologists program. This involvement eventually led to a scholar position in 2005. Today, Zweerink writes and speaks on the compatibility of science and the Christian faith and on evidence for intentional design from multiverse theory and exoplanets, as well as artificial intelligence (AI). His speaking engagements take him to universities, conferences, churches, high schools, youth groups, and other venues around the world. His books include Is There Life Out There?, Who's Afraid of the Multiverse?, Escaping the Beginning?, and Building Bridges (coauthor). He has also made many media appearances on television, radio, and in print. Zweerink and his wife, Lisa, live in Southern California and have five children. Image credit (Helix Nebula): NASA/JPL-Caltech, Spitzer Space Telescope. Two-part episode with cosmologist Dr. Luke Barnes on C.S. Lewis' science fiction. Part 1:  https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/jwalker55293/episodes/2026-06-28T22_00_00-07_00 Part 2: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/jwalker55293/episodes/2026-07-05T22_00_00-07_00 Watchman Fellowship Resources on the Question of Aliens, UFOs, and UAPs: Free Four-Page Profile Articles UFOs and UAPs Raelians Heaven's Gate Disclosure Day The Urantia Book Podcast Episodes on UFOs, Aliens, and Extraterrestrials Aliens, Evolution, and Intelligent Design What is the Message of Spielberg's Disclosure Day? UFOS and Aliens Ufologist Gary Bates Part One Ufologist Gary Bates Part Two Ancient Aliens? No. Daniel's interview with Sasha Sagan, the daughter of the late planetary astronomer Carl Sagan Additional Resources FREE: We are also offering a subscription to our 4-page bimonthly Profiles here: www.watchman.org/Free PROFILE NOTEBOOK: Order the complete collection of Watchman Fellowship Profiles (around 700 pages -- from Astrology to Zen Buddhism) in either printed or PDF formats here: www.watchman.org/Notebook SUPPORT: Help us create more content like this. Make a tax-deductible donation here: www.watchman.org/Give Good Heavens! is a ministry of Watchman Fellowship For more information, visit www.watchman.org © 2026 Watchman Fellowship, Inc. Podbean enables our podcast to be on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.  To support Good Heavens! on Podbean as a patron, you can use the Podbean app, or go to https://patron.podbean.com/goodheavens.  This goes to Wayne Spencer. If you would like to give to the ministry of Watchman Fellowship or to Daniel Ray, you can donate at https://www.watchman.org/daniel. Donations to Watchman are tax deductible.

Discoveries on Mars, the Hubble Tension, and Dark Photons - Space Nuts EpisodeJoin Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson as they explore the latest developments in space science—from evidence of complex organic molecules found by the Perseverance rover on Mars that may hint at past life, to the ongoing mystery of the Hubble tension that challenges our understanding of the universe's expansion. Plus, a deep dive into the elusive concept of dark photons and their potential role in explaining dark matter.Key Topics:The significance of complex carbon molecules detected in Martian rocks by Perseverance and their implications for extraterrestrial lifeThe challenges and prospects of returning samples from Mars and the influence of upcoming Chinese missionsUnderstanding the Hubble tension: different measurements of the universe's expansion rate and what they could mean for new physicsThe role of gravitational wave observations in refining the Hubble constant and resolving cosmological discrepanciesAn introduction to dark photons: what they are and their potential connection to dark matter and dark energyThe nature of cosmic redshift, light travel time, and how we look back in cosmic historyThe possibility of the universe expanding into higher dimensions or higher-dimensional multiversesThe shape and boundaries of the universe: flat, spherical, or saddle-shaped?Resources & Links:Science Advances Paper on Martian Organic MoleculesNASA Perseverance RoverCosmological Parameters and Hubble TensionLarge Hadron Collider Official SiteDark Photons and Dark Matter — University of CaliforniaBiteStop Streaming ServiceConnect with Fred Watson:Professor Fred Watson - LinkedInProfessor Fred Watson - TwitterNote:Stay tuned for future episodes where we continue exploring mysteries of the cosmos, and don't forget to visit our website to send questions or feedback!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support.

SpaceTime Series 29 Episode 87 Ancient impacts display the red planet's past history A new study has shown how ancient Martian rocks exposed on the rim of Jezero Crater are preserving a 3.9-billion-year-old “weather report” from the solar system's most dynamic era. Understanding of the Moon's regolith for human habitation Scientists have mapped out the thickness of the Moon's regolith, the layer of loose dust and rock that covers the entire lunar surface finding it averages about six meters in the highlands and about four meters in the maria. Strange goings on Pluto's Charon A new study has found that the rotation of Pluto's binary partner Charon is slowing down. The Science Report Heart disease linked to nine specific molecules produced in your gut biota. A billion more people now face at least one day of extreme heat stress compared to the 1970s. Claims consuming an avocado daily, lowers the risk of heart disease in people with obesity. Just like humans, monkeys appear to dislike AI avatars that look like them, but are just a bit wrong. Alex on Tech: APPLE IOS-27 beta publicly released.Our Guests This Week: Mars Perseverance Rover Deputy Project Scientist Katy Stack Morgan NASA JPL Mars Perseverance Rover project Scientist Ken Farley NASA JPL Mars Perseverance Rover Deputy Project Manager Matt Wallace NASA JPL Mars Perseverance Rover Chief Engineer Adam Steltzner NASA JPL Mars Perseverance Rover Mobility Team Member Farah Alibay NASA JPL     And our regular guests: Alex Zaharov-Reutt from techadvice.life Tim Mendham from Australian Skeptics  

Alien life: what does Islam say? Join our hosts for Monday's show where we will be discussing: 'Social Housing: A system in crisis?' and 'Aliens: What does Islam say? ' Social Housing: A system in crisis? Join us as we examine the challenges facing social housing today, from overcrowding and housing shortages to the impact on families and communities. We'll explore what is driving the crisis and discuss how society can respond with compassion and justice Aliens: What does Islam say? Are we alone in the universe? Join us as we investigate the search for alien life, examine modern scientific discoveries and explore if religion and belief in alien life are compatible. Guests: Bill Diamond- the President and CEO of the SETI Institute. Dr. Becky McCauley-Rench - NASA's Lead Scientist for Astrobiology. Sam Bloomer - Policy officer at housing and homelessness charity Shelter Producers: Afia Nasir and Bareera Iftkhar

After more than two decades, the European Space Agency's Rosalind Franklin rover finally has a path to the launchpad. This week, ExoMars Project Scientist Jorge Vago joins Planetary Radio to talk about what makes this mission like nothing we've sent to Mars before: a drill capable of reaching 2 meters beneath the surface, where organic molecules may have been shielded from radiation for billions of years. We dig into how the rover will scout its drilling sites, how its onboard laboratory will analyze samples for signs of life, and why the chirality of any organic molecules it finds could be one of the most telling clues of all. Then stick around for What's Up with Bruce Betts, our chief scientist, where we talk about the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, the spacecraft already at Mars that will serve as Rosalind Franklin's lifeline back to Earth. Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-rosalind-franklinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does it actually take to keep humans alive on Mars? Not the SpaceX version — the biology version. Dr. Lynn Rothschild, research scientist at NASA Ames and adjunct professor at Brown and Stanford, has spent decades at the intersection of astrobiology and synthetic biology, and her answer is both elegant and radical: life itself is the technology. On this episode, Karl and Erum sit down with one of the scientists who helped build NASA's synthetic biology program to talk about on-demand drug manufacturing in space, growing habitats out of fungal mycelium, engineering bacteria to pull specific metals from e-waste, and the audacious "Hell Cell" project that aims to stack every survival superpower nature has ever evolved into a single organism. If you've ever wondered what it looks like when evolutionary biology meets aerospace engineering meets materials science — with a healthy dose of iGEM undergrads and Tetris metaphors — this one's for you.Grow Everything brings the bioeconomy to life. Hosts Karl Schmieder and Erum Azeez Khan share stories and interview the leaders and influencers changing the world by growing everything. Biology is the oldest technology. And it can be engineered. What are we growing?Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.messaginglab.com/groweverything⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Chapters:(00:00:00) - NYC energy, the Knicks parade, and when does biotech get its ticker tape?(00:04:00) - Peptides: biohacking goes mainstream, and why the back alley of your gym is not a pharmacy(00:10:00) - Bemotrizinol: the first new active sunscreen ingredient cleared in the US in over 20 years(00:14:30) - Listener shoutouts and a night with sci-fi legend Kim Stanley Robinson at Pioneer Works(00:22:30) - SpaceX goes public at a $2.5 trillion valuation — what the space economy actually means(00:26:00) - Why biology — not steel or solar — is the only real answer to the upmass problem(00:35:00) - Lynn's origin story: from studying extremophiles to being told to engineer them for NASA(00:42:00) - The astro pharmacy: programming bacteria to brew medicine on demand during a six-month Mars transit(00:51:00) - The Hell Cell, AI in the lab, and Lynn's Tetris approach to building multi-disciplinary teams(01:04:00) - Gravity, radiation, the 2030s Mars timeline, and what from Lynn's lab shows up in your house firstLinks and Resources:Lynn RothschildNASA interview with Lynn RothschildNature's Hardware Store - Lynn on Building the Future with BiologyThe Peptide Gold RushBemotrizinol - new FDA approved sunscreen ingredient185. Brick Happens: Chris Maurer of Redhouse Studio Redesigns Remote Living for Earth and Mars93. Houston, We Have a Protocol: NASA's Kate Rubins on Biotech in Space116. Cell Yeah for Space!: Pioneer Labs' Erika DeBenedictis on Engineering Life for Mars156. When Matter Makes Decisions: Michael Levin on the Intelligence of Form111. Space Genes and Subway Scenes: Chris Mason on Planning Life's Next Big LeapBioInnovations Events - For 25% off use code: Grow EverythingTopics Covered:Synthetic biology in space, astrobiology, space biomanufacturing, Mars missions, biomining, on-demand pharmaceuticals, extremophiles, mycelium architecture, space sustainability, lunar infrastructureHave a question or comment? Message us here:Text or Call (804) 505-5553⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ / ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Grow Everything⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Music by: Nihilore Production by: Amplafy Media

This outstanding novella, “To Be Taught, If Fortunate” by award-winning science fiction author Becky Chambers, is a passionate argument for the human exploration of space and the wonders we will find there. Kirkus Reviews calls it, “An extraordinary picture of humanity among the stars.” Join host Mat Kaplan for a conversation with Becky in which her personal enthusiasm for space science matches that of her four wandering explorers. The very alien lifeforms they discover amplify their own, very human failings and triumphs. Questions submitted by The Planetary Society’s members were a valuable contribution to this live event presented in our member community. Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/book-club-becky-chambersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Saturn's moon Titan is one of the most Earth-like worlds in our Solar System, with a dense nitrogen atmosphere, weather cycles, methane rivers, and vast organic dune fields. It also happens to be the perfect place to fly a drone. NASA's Dragonfly mission is doing exactly that, sending a car-sized, nuclear-powered rotorcraft to explore Titan's surface starting in 2034. With just two years until launch, the team is deep in the work of making it happen. This week, we're joined by two members of the Dragonfly team from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. Felipe Ruiz is the mission's lead rotor engineer and mechanical implementation lead, responsible for designing the eight-rotor system that will carry Dragonfly across Titan's skies. Zibi Turtle is the mission's principal investigator, a planetary scientist whose career has spanned missions from Galileo to Cassini to Europa Clipper. Together, they walk us through the engineering challenges of flying a thousand-kilogram rotorcraft in an alien atmosphere, how the team is testing and validating the design here on Earth, and what the spacecraft's instruments will look for on Titan's surface. Then Bruce Betts, our chief scientist, joins us for What's Up, where we pay tribute to the Ingenuity Mars helicopter and the legacy of the first powered, controlled flight on another world. Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-engineering-of-dragonflySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nella puntata 619, Francesca e Luca ci conducono in volo alla scoperta dei batteri che popolano la stratosfera e i piccioni che volano alle nostre altitudini.Francesca ci spiega che, per orientarsi, i piccioni utilizzerebbero diversi meccanismi, tutti indipendenti fra loro. In condizioni meteorologico favorevoli, essi utilizzano principalmente la vista. Quando non è possibile sfruttare gli occhi, i piccioni avrebbero una bussola speciale, contenuta nei loro macrofagi con speciali proprietà superparamagnetiche.In esterna, Andrea e Giorgio tornano con i loro consigli di lettura, perfetti da leggere a casa oppure in vacanza sotto l'ombrellone e in montagna.Tornati in redazione, Luca ci delizia con la consueta barza brutta, per poi raccontarci di speciali batteri presenti nella stratosfera, in grado di resistere a rigidissime condizioni di pressione, temperatura ma anche all'esposizione ai raggi UVC.Fonti:C. Lisowski et al. Homing pigeon navigation relies on superparamagnetic macrophages under overcast conditions. Science. Vol. 392, pp. 985-991. doi: 10.1126/science.ady2486. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/earth-stratosphere-life-microbesJ.M. Scouten et al. Curtobacterium aetherium sp. nov., a polyextremophilic plant pathogen isolated from the stratosphere. Microbiology Spectrum. Vol. 13, April 2, 2025. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.01774-24.A.J. Ellington et al. The genetic determinants of extreme UV radiation and desiccation tolerance in a bacterium recovered from the stratosphere. Microorganisms. Vol. 13, March 27, 2025. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms13040756.N.C.Bryan et al. Abundance and survival of microbial aerosols in the troposphere and stratosphere. The ISME Journal. Vol. 13, July 17, 2019, p. 2789. doi: 10.1038/s41396-019-0474-0.R.L.Harris and A.C. Schuerger. Hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis at 7-12 mbar by Methanosarcina barkeri under simulated martian atmospheric conditions. Scientific Reports. Vol. 15, January 22, 2025, p. 2880. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-86145-1.S.Seager et al. The Venusian lower atmosphere haze as a depot for desiccated microbial life: A proposed life cycle for persistence of the Venusian aerial biosphere. Astrobiology. Vol. 21, October 2021, p. 1206. doi: 10.1089/ast.2020.2244.Diventa un supporter di questo podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/scientificast-la-scienza-come-non-l-hai-mai-sentita--1762253/support.

Scientific Sense ® by Gill Eapen: Prof. Amy Williams is Assoc. Professor of astrobiology and geobiology at the University of Florida. She studies the formation and preservation of biosignatures in extreme environments on Earth. She uses these analog studies to inform the search for biosignatures and organic carbon on other worlds such as Mars, Enceladus, and Europa. Her work is leveraged to study habitability and the search for life on Mars with the NASA Mars Curiosity and Perseverance rovers, on which she serves as a science team member.Please subscribe to this channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/ScientificSense?sub_confirmation=1

Sponsor Link:This episode of Space Nuts is brought to you by NordVPN, your go-to solution for online security. To take advantage of our special offer, including four extra months for free, visit www.nordvpn.com/spacenuts.Astrobiology Part 2: The Search for Life Beyond Earth In this captivating continuation of our exploration of astrobiology, hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Jonti Horner delve deeper into the complexities of life in the universe. Following up on their previous discussion, they tackle the intriguing factors that influence the potential for life on other planets, as well as the implications of our own technological advancements.Episode Highlights:- Review of Astrobiology: The episode kicks off with a quick recap of the previous discussion on the history of astrobiology, including the ongoing search for life within our solar system and beyond.- The Exoplanet Era: Jonty shares insights on our current capabilities to identify exoplanets that may harbour life, discussing the significance of size, distance from stars, and other critical factors in determining habitability.- Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence: The hosts explore the challenges of detecting intelligent life and the fascinating concept of alien megastructures, as well as the importance of understanding what to look for in the cosmos.- Planetary Systems and Habitability: The conversation shifts to the dynamics of planetary systems and how factors like Milankovitch cycles, orbital stability, and the presence of water influence a planet's ability to support life.- Ethics of Seeding Life: A listener question prompts a discussion on the ethical implications of potentially seeding other planets with life, exploring the concept of panspermia and the responsibilities of humanity in the cosmos.For more Space Nuts, including our continuously updating newsfeed and to listen to all our episodes, visit our website. Follow us on social media at SpaceNutsPod on Facebook, Instagram, and more. We love engaging with our community, so be sure to drop us a message or comment on your favourite platform.If you'd like to help support Space Nuts and join our growing family of insiders for commercial-free episodes and more, visit spacenutspodcast.com/about.Stay curious, keep looking up, and join us next time for more stellar insights and cosmic wonders. Until then, clear skies and happy stargazing.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support.- Recap of Astrobiology Part 1- The Exoplanet Landscape- Searching for Intelligent Life- Factors Influencing Habitability- Ethical Considerations in Seeding Life

May 20, 2026Dr, Hakeem Oluseyi (CEO, Astronomical Society of the Pacific)n his new book, Why Do We Exist, Dr. Oluseyi suggests that the story of our existence can be told as a passage through nine interwoven realms—each revealing a new layer of cosmic information. In this public talk, he introduces each of the realms, but then focuses on cosmic connections to the Middle Realm, where we humans live, and to the Realm of Life, where organisms flourish across the vastness of space. He explores these realms with humor and honesty, weaving in stories from his early life in Mississippi and his career in science.

Explore the profound question of whether the cosmos points to intelligent design. From the vastness of space to the complexity of DNA, this film delves into scientific evidence that challenges materialistic explanations. #CosmicDesign #IntelligentDesign #FineTuning #ScienceAndFaith #walkinfaith #craigsyracusa #god #godsplan #godsuniverse #Astrobiology

Astrobiology: The Search for Life Beyond Earth In this special edition of Space Nuts, hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Jonti Horner delve into the captivating field of astrobiology. With Professor Fred Watson away, Jonty brings his expertise to explore the complexities of life beyond our planet, the conditions necessary for its existence, and the ongoing quest to find it.Episode Highlights:- The Evolution of Exoplanet Discovery: Andrew and Jonty discuss the advancements in technology that have allowed astronomers to discover thousands of exoplanets, with a particular focus on Earth-like planets that could potentially harbour life.- The Challenges of Finding Life: The hosts address the difficulties in the search for extraterrestrial life, including the implications of the absence of evidence and the complexities of distinguishing between life forms.- Life in Our Solar System: Jonty shares insights on why we might find life within our solar system, particularly on Mars and the icy moons of the outer planets, and how robotic exploration is key to this search.- Defining Habitable Zones: The conversation shifts to the criteria that define a habitable zone around stars and the importance of factors such as stellar type, distance, and planetary characteristics in the search for life.- Philosophical Implications: The hosts ponder the philosophical questions surrounding the existence of life and the potential for advanced civilisations, and whether humanity is prepared for contact with extraterrestrial intelligence.For more Space Nuts, including our continuously updating newsfeed and to listen to all our episodes, visit our website. Follow us on social media at SpaceNutsPod on Facebook, Instagram, and more. We love engaging with our community, so be sure to drop us a message or comment on your favourite platform.If you'd like to help support Space Nuts and join our growing family of insiders for commercial-free episodes and more, visit spacenutspodcast.com/about.Stay curious, keep looking up, and join us next time for more stellar insights and cosmic wonders. Until then, clear skies and happy stargazing.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support.Chapters:- Introduction to Astrobiology- Technological Advances in Exoplanet Discovery- Searching for Life in Our Solar System- Defining Habitable Zones and Their Importance- The Philosophical Questions of Extraterrestrial Life

NASA's Curiosity rover has been exploring Mars' Gale Crater for over a decade. A new analysis of samples collected there reveals something remarkable: more than 20 different organic molecules preserved in ancient rock, including the first detection of a nitrogen-bearing heterocycle on Mars, a type of molecule that's a precursor to compounds essential for life as we know it. While these molecules aren't evidence of life, they tell us that the chemical building blocks for life were present in ancient Martian environments. In this episode, we talk with Amy Williams, an astrobiologist and associate professor at the University of Florida, about what this discovery means for our understanding of Mars' habitability. Then, Planetary Society Chief Scientist Bruce Betts joins us for What's Up, where we compare the results to samples collected from asteroid Bennu. Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-diverse-organics-gale-crater-marsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Explore the profound question of whether the cosmos points to intelligent design. From the vastness of space to the complexity of DNA, this film delves into scientific evidence that challenges materialistic explanations. #CosmicDesign #IntelligentDesign #FineTuning #ScienceAndFaith #walkinfaith #craigsyracusa #god #godsplan #godsuniverse #Astrobiology

O jipe Perseverance encontra possíveis bioassinaturas na superfície de uma rocha e dá mais um motivo para que a missão de retorno de amostras de Marte não seja cancelada. As análises sobre a habitabilidade marciana é uma vertente dos estudos na área, que buscam responder: quais são as condições encontradas no planeta hoje e como ele já deve ter sido no passado? O episódio faz parte de um conjunto de reportagens sobre A busca por vida extraterrestre e se essa estaria esquentando. A série é desenvolvida por Danilo Albergaria, bolsista do Programa Mídia Ciência, da FAPESP. Este episódio contou com a participação de Gabriel Gonçalves Silva (pós-doutorando na UNISINOS), Fernanda Jamel (doutoranda – USP e MIT), Roberta Vincenzi (pós-doutoranda no IO-USP) e Isabella Gaião (doutoranda – USP). [Introdução] Danilo: No primeiro episódio da série que trata da astrobiologia, aqui no podcast Oxigênio, a gente falou da alegação de detecção de uma possível bioassinatura num planeta fora do sistema solar. Uma bioassinatura é um sinal produzido por seres vivos – um possível vestígio de atividade biológica. Mas essa notícia de um potencial sinal de vida num exoplaneta não foi a única ocasião em que uma possível bioassinatura em um ambiente extraterrestre gerou manchetes no ano passado. Em setembro de 2025, a NASA anunciou um resultado que foi descrito pela agência aeroespacial americana como: “pode bem ser o sinal mais claro de vida que já encontramos em Marte”. A novidade foi um estudo publicado na revista Nature que apontou a existência de uma “potencial bioassinatura” numa rocha marciana – sim, uma pedra em Marte, coletada e analisada pelo jipe Perseverance, da NASA. A rocha marciana tem algumas características que aqui na Terra são encontradas em rochas que exibem rastros deixados por micróbios. Mas ainda não dá para saber se essas características encontradas na pedra marciana tiveram origem em atividade biológica ou se foram formadas por processos naturais sem o envolvimento de seres vivos. Os equipamentos do jipe, por melhores que sejam, não conseguem produzir resultados claros o suficiente para que os cientistas tirem essa dúvida. Para distinguir se os sinais encontrados são biogênicos (ou seja, foram originados por atividade biológica) ou se são abióticos (ou seja, sem o envolvimento de seres vivos), é preciso trazer as amostras para a Terra.  Eu sou Danilo Albergaria, jornalista e historiador pesquisando a comunicação da astrobiologia, essa área que estuda a origem, a evolução e a distribuição da vida no universo. Neste episódio, vou conversar com quatro cientistas associados ao Laboratório de Astrobiologia da Universidade de São Paulo para entender um pouco melhor de quê se trata essa possível bioassinatura e o que sabemos sobre se Marte pode ou não pode oferecer condições para a existência de vida, ou se já pode em algum momento do passado distante.  [Vinheta] Danilo: Vamos começar pelo que a gente sabe sobre esses resultados anunciados com grande entusiasmo pela NASA no ano passado. O jipe Perseverance está em Marte desde 2021 explorando a região de uma cratera chamada Jezero. A gente sabe que Marte teve água líquida em sua superfície há mais de 3,5 bilhões de anos, e essa cratera já foi um lago nesse passado remoto. Só para vocês terem uma ideia dessa região marciana, para atravessar essa cratera, de borda a borda, é preciso percorrer 45 quilômetros, pouco mais do que a distância entre Campinas e Jundiaí ou de Jundiaí a São Paulo. Em uma parte da borda da cratera existem marcas características de um delta de um rio que desaguava ali. Foi nas margens do leito desse rio, medindo 400 metros de margem a margem, que o jipe encontrou algumas rochas interessantes em julho de 2024. Em uma delas, o Perseverance identificou compostos orgânicos, moléculas compostas de carbono, e o mais importante: marcas que foram apelidadas de “pintas de leopardo”, que são manchas mais claras do que o restante da rocha, circundadas por linhas bem mais escuras. A rocha é formada principalmente de argila e lodo, materiais que costumam preservar rastros de vida microbiana, e fazem da rocha algo tipicamente encontrado no fundo de rios. Essas marcas, as “pintas de leopardo”, são compostas de fosfato de ferro e sulfeto de ferro. Aqui na Terra, esses compostos são associados a rastros químicos causados por reações produzidas por microrganismos em rochas. Essas foram as pistas analisadas para ver se as manchas poderiam ter sido geradas por micróbios há bilhões de anos. O Gabriel Gonçalves Silva é pós-doutorando na UNISINOS, químico associado ao Laboratório de Astrobiologia da USP, e estuda geobiologia. Eu pedi para ele me explicar por que esses sinais foram considerados possíveis vestígios de vida microbiana passada em Marte neste último estudo feito pelos pesquisadores da NASA. Gabriel: Eles analisaram uma amostra que se chama de mudstone, que seria algo como uma rocha formada de uma antiga lama. Marte é muito rico em ferro e foi observado principalmente nessa rocha pequenos pontinhos que eles observaram com mais detalhes e nele foi encontrado o ferro que a gente chama de ferro mais reduzido, que é o ferro 2+, que é interessante porque contrapõe ao ferro que a gente encontra mais em Marte, que é o ferro 3+, que é aquele que tem a cor de ferrugem. E não só essas manchinhas apresentavam principalmente um mineral, que é a vivianita, que é um fosfato de ferro II e a greigita, que é um sulfeto de ferro II. O ferro II na Terra, por exemplo, pode ser formado por processos na ausência de vida ou na presença de microrganismos. Eles conseguiram observar que não havia nessas rochas nenhum indício de grandes mudanças de pH nem de temperatura, mas junto da vivianita e da greigita tinha matéria orgânica. Na Terra, a gente sabe que a matéria orgânica pode acoplar reações onde a oxidação da matéria orgânica resulta na redução do ferro e aí, pela presença de sulfeto e do fosfato, a formação desses minerais. Porém, eles observaram que, por mais que a vivianita possa se formar em condições de temperatura, pressão e pH próximos do que nós consideramos normais, geralmente a formação de sulfeto de ferro dependeria de uma temperatura mais alta, então não só a oxidação da matéria orgânica, levando à redução do ferro, necessitaria de outros elementos para a formação desse mineral, desse sulfeto de ferro II. E graças a observações da composição ali da rocha, ausência de fosfato de alumínio, ausência de outros componentes, eles perceberam que não houve nem aquecimento, nem uma mudança drástica de pH durante esse processo de formação desses minerais. Isso faz com que a causa mais provável para a formação desses minerais, pelo menos se a gente pensasse na Terra, seria a ação da vida como nós conhecemos. Danilo: Vamos entender um pouco mais da química envolvida na produção das “pintas de leopardo”. Algumas bactérias formam minerais usando e transformando compostos químicos, como diferentes tipos de óxidos de ferro, formados por ligações entre ferro e oxigênio. O chamado ferro II (um íon de ferro) é muito importante para atividade biológica porque se liga facilmente ao oxigênio – por exemplo, ele é fundamental para o transporte do oxigênio no nosso sangue por meio da hemoglobina. A Fernanda Jamel, doutoranda no AstroLab da USP e que fez parte de suas pesquisas atuais no MIT (o Massachusetts Institute of Technology, nos EUA), explica a química da formação dos minerais encontrados na rocha marciana como possível explicação biológica, comparando com o que acontece na Terra. Fernanda: Aqui a gente tem formação de vivianita com bactérias que usam o ferro III, o óxido de ferro III, e transforma em ferro II. Por isso que a gente fala que é a redução de ferro. Então, quando as bactérias fazem isso, ela libera o ferro II no ambiente ao redor e aquilo ali vai formando camadas, vai se ligando com o que tem ali, e vai formando camadas que vão se mineralizando. A greigita também, da mesma forma, só que seria bactérias redutoras de sulfato, elas usam o sulfato como receptor de elétrons, o SO4, e elas produzem H2S, que é sulfeto de hidrogênio. E aí esse sulfeto reage com o ferro II disponível no sedimento. Depois vão formando essa combinação de sulfeto de ferro que vai se formando em greigita também dessa mesma forma, no sentido de que isso vai se expandindo: vem de um núcleo e vai se expandindo ao redor.” “É difícil dizer que existe um padrão exatamente igual a esse que a gente encontrou em Marte, mas esses nódulos que se formaram são condizentes com formações que a gente encontra aqui.” Danilo: Além dos compostos orgânicos, os instrumentos do Perseverance também identificaram, na região em que a rocha foi encontrada, alguns compostos químicos ricos em enxofre, ferro oxidado ou ferrugem, e fósforo. Se micróbios existiram ali, esses compostos podem ter fornecido fontes de energia para o metabolismo desses microrganismos, reforçando a hipótese de origem biológica para os vestígios. Porém, o fato de que esses vestígios podem ter sido formados por vida microbiana não quer dizer que dê para descartar outros processos que não envolvam seres vivos – também chamados de processos abióticos. Os próprios autores do artigo que avalia a possível origem biológica das “pintas de leopardo” propõem alguns processos abióticos como explicações alternativas. Até agora, as alternativas abióticas, sem o envolvimento da vida, não parecem muito promissoras para explicar as marcas nas rochas, mas ainda não dá para descartá-las. Talvez estejam faltando algumas peças do quebra-cabeças para uma explicação abiótica convincente. O Gabriel de novo vai nos ajudar a entender isso. Gabriel:  Eles tentaram investigar o máximo possível de reações na ausência de vida, e nenhuma que nós conhecemos hoje poderia sustentar esse tipo de reação. Isso não quer dizer que a vida é sempre necessária para que essas reações aconteçam. A gente pode estar ignorando alguma coisa. Pode não estar percebendo alguma coisa. Podem existir reações que a gente não estudou hoje e que poderia estar fomentando essa formação desses minerais na ausência de vida, ou até mesmo as grandes escalas – a gente está falando aí de bilhões de anos – poderiam permitir que houvesse a formação desses minerais na ausência de vida. Mas de tudo que a gente conhece hoje, essa condição de formação de fosfato de ferro II, formação de sulfeto de ferro II acoplado à presença de matéria orgânica, como nós conhecemos, seria mais bem explicado pela ação da vida. Então eles fizeram um estudo muito minucioso de várias hipóteses. E a que melhor responde hoje é a ação da vida, em contrapartida a reações abióticas, sem a presença de vida.  Danilo: É justamente pela possibilidade de que as “pintas de leopardo” tenham sido formadas por mecanismos abióticos, sem o envolvimento de seres vivos, que os sinais são classificados de “potenciais bioassinaturas”. Ou seja, podem ter sido, como podem não ter sido causados por seres vivos. Para que uma potencial bioassinatura seja considerada um sinal de vida inequívoco, é preciso estabelecer com segurança a sua origem biológica e descartar os mecanismos plausíveis que não envolvam processos biológicos em sua formação – ou seja, é preciso eliminar essas hipóteses abióticas alternativas. É uma barra bem alta, difícil de ser alcançada. Para complicar, os instrumentos a bordo do Perseverance são versões miniaturizadas, simplificadas, de ferramentas que se usa em laboratórios terrestres para buscar bioassinaturas de vida do passado remoto da Terra, como o espectroscópio Raman. Gabriel: Para quem tem um olho um pouco mais treinado nessas questões científicas, quando a gente observa, por exemplo, no próprio artigo, os espectros Raman que foram publicados, a gente leva um pouco de susto, porque a gente vê que são dados muito ruidosos, que isso tem a ver com a forma com que a amostra é tratada lá no espaço. O laser não é tão preciso. O aumento não é tão grande. Você tem a grande influência da iluminação natural. Isso faz com que o espectro fique extremamente ruidoso e dificulta a análise daquilo que se espera estar sendo estudado. Se esse material pudesse ser trazido para a Terra num ambiente muito mais controlado, a gente poderia trabalhar com lasers com focos muito menores, ou seja, na escala de micrômetros, com uma precisão muito grande do que está sendo selecionado para ser estudado. E aí a gente tem alternativas: trocar lasers, trocar aparatos para garantir que o ruído seja minimizado e outros efeitos que atrapalham possam ser minimizados. [música]  Danilo: Da forma como eu e o Gabriel falamos, pode parecer que o Perseverance é um aparelho meio limitado, mas a verdade é que o jipe é uma grande realização da engenharia. O Gabriel me explicou que os engenheiros e cientistas da NASA bolaram soluções muito criativas para poder, por exemplo, em um único espectro separar a fluorescência de raio-X, que permite saber a composição elementar do material analisado, da difração de raio-X, que dá uma informação da estrutura cristalográfica dos minerais – ou seja, permite ver a organização interna dos átomos nas amostras. Apesar da criatividade, esses mini-aparelhos que o jipe carrega nem de longe se comparam com os dos laboratórios aqui na Terra. Por exemplo, o espectroscópio Raman que o Gabriel mencionou e que tem lá no AstroLab, ocupa boa parte de uma sala ao lado do laboratório, enquanto que as dimensões do SHERLOC, o instrumento que inclui o Raman no Perseverance, tem 26cm de comprimento por 20cm de largura (isso porque o SHERLOC carrega ainda outros instrumentos, como a câmera WATSON… sim, os cientistas são bons em dar nomes para os aparelhos… Elementar). Se der para trazer essas amostras para o nosso planeta, daria para trabalhar com radiação síncrotron, por exemplo, que consegue focar e fazer esse tipo de análise em escalas nanométricas. E também fazer a observação de microscopia eletrônica, onde a gente vai ver a estrutura daquela amostra com aumentos entre mil e dez mil vezes. Por isso, o jipe vem colhendo amostras que poderão, no futuro, ser trazidas para cá e analisadas em laboratório. É a única maneira de eliminar algumas incertezas e filtrar as hipóteses da origem das possíveis bioassinaturas. A missão de retorno dessas amostras estava em desenvolvimento pela NASA, mas extrapolou as estimativas de custo iniciais, chegando a 11 bilhões de dólares, e agora está cancelada devido aos cortes profundos no orçamento da NASA propostos pelo governo de Donald Trump. Mas um detalhe mostra que o caro, em ciência, é quase sempre barato quando comparado com gastos militares. Os 11 bilhões previstos para o desenvolvimento de toda a missão de retorno de amostra são os mesmos 11 bilhões que os Estados Unidos gastaram só nos primeiros seis dias de ataques ao Irã entre fevereiro e março deste ano.  [música] Danilo: Com os cortes no orçamento, a situação atual da NASA é complicada, para dizer o mínimo, por isso ainda não dá para saber quando e se vamos um dia analisar as tais “pintas de leopardo” em laboratório e distinguir se elas são biogênicas ou se foram formadas por processos abióticos. Mas dá para saber muita coisa sobre as condições que Marte oferece – e não oferece – para a existência da vida, além das condições que o planeta enferrujado já deve ter oferecido a possíveis seres vivos num passado muito distante. A Isabella Gaião e a Roberta Vincenzi, pesquisadoras associadas ao Laboratório de Astrobiologia da USP, vão me ajudar a entender melhor se Marte é ou já foi habitável um dia. Elas estudam um mesmo microrganismo, a bactéria Staphylococcus nepalensis. O micróbio é adaptado a ambientes hipersalinos, repletos de sal, como as lagoas de Araruama, no estado do Rio de Janeiro, onde elas encontraram essa espécie de bactéria em meio a outros microrganismos que sobrevivem a concentrações de sal nocivas à maior parte dos seres vivos. A superfície de Marte está cheia de sais que são nocivos à vida, como sulfato de magnésio e o perclorato de magnésio. Esses sais são muito mais nocivos do que o cloreto de sódio que predomina nos oceanos terrestres. A Roberta explicou porque esses sais são tão prejudiciais à vida. Roberta: Os principais danos dos percloratos, na verdade, são dois. Eles são muito oxidantes, mas hoje, e essa era uma das principais preocupações na época da descoberta desses sais lá, mas hoje, do que a gente entende, aparentemente, se você pega a parte termodinâmica do negócio, não é tão relevante o fato de eles serem oxidantes, mas eles são extremamente caotrópicos. E esse vai ser um conceito bastante importante para a gente entender os problemas da vida nessas soluções, porque um agente caotrópico é aquele agente que tem o potencial de desestabilizar macromoléculas. Macromoléculas são basicamente tudo que a vida precisa para existir, como proteínas, lipídios, material genético. Então, se você tem agentes caotrópicos em uma solução, essas moléculas que precisam se manter em determinada forma vão ter dificuldade de permanecer assim. E a gente sabe que a forma dessas macromoléculas hoje estão intimamente ligadas à função que elas exercem. Então, quando a gente tem esses agentes caotrópicos, é basicamente uma função de desestabilizar a vida como a gente conhece ali. E esses sais são extremamente caotrópicos. Danilo: A Isabella também me ajudou a entender como a caotropicidade desses sais pode desestruturar o arranjo de grandes moléculas orgânicas, como as proteínas. Isabella: Basicamente um agente caotrópico é qualquer coisa química que desestruture macromoléculas. Aí o que seriam macromoléculas? Qualquer molécula importante para a vida. Então a vida é baseada em células. Células têm principalmente proteínas, que é o arranjado de várias moléculas orgânicas ali e que elas se rearranjam de uma forma 3D. Então, a forma 3D de uma proteína é muito importante para ela executar a função. E função de proteína é tudo. Tudo que envolve uma célula funcionar, você precisa de uma proteína ali trabalhando para ela funcionar. E para essa proteína funcionar, ela tem que estar na forminha dela 3D, ela não pode ser uma linha, ela tem que ter três dimensões. E agentes caotrópicos vão quebrar esse 3D. E se você quebra esse 3D e ela fica, por exemplo, linear, uma proteína, aí ela não tem mais função. Se ela não tem função, a célula não funciona. Se uma célula não funciona, a vida por si não funciona.  Danilo: Como a Roberta já tinha mencionado, os percloratos da superfície marciana desestruturam a química da vida não só por serem caotrópicos, mas também por serem oxidantes. Roberta: Porque quando a gente fala que um composto ele é muito oxidante ou muito oxidativo, significa que ele reage muito fácil com outras coisas ao redor. Então, aquela estrutura que a Isabela falou, que precisa ser mantida, dessas proteínas, para que elas funcionem, quando você tem algo que é muito reativo ao redor… Isso também, ela vai reagir com esse agente oxidativo, que no caso é esse sal, e quando ela reage assim, todas as outras ligações que ela tem para manter essa estrutura específica, para ela funcionar, podem se desorganizar também, e isso vai prejudicar a função, seja das proteínas, como também dos lipídios, por exemplo, que são aquelas gorduras que constroem a membrana biológica das células, que é muito importante para manter um ambiente interno, mas também os próprios materiais genéticos, o DNA e o RNA, que são essenciais pra manter e passar a informação da vida como a gente a conhece. Danilo: a bactéria que a Roberta e a Isabella estudam gosta de alta concentração de sal. É, por isso, considerada um extremófilo, uma espécie adaptada a condições extremas em que a maioria dos seres vivos terrestres não teria condição de sobreviver. Extremófilos que se dão bem com alta concentração de sal são chamados de halófilos. Os halófilos são importantes para entender a possibilidade da existência de vida hoje em Marte. Caso a vida tenha um dia existido no planeta vermelho, ela poderia, talvez, ter se adaptado para sobreviver em bolsões de água debaixo da superfície, algo que provavelmente existe segundo os modelos mais aceitos da estrutura de Marte. Isabella: Mas existem locais na Terra em que de alguma forma a água evaporou demais e concentrou muito sal, então a gente tem um aumento dessa concentração comparado com o mar. E existem principalmente microrganismos nesses ambientes que se adaptaram e desenvolveram para esse tipo de ambiente. Então eles têm uma resposta ao sal, NaCl, cloreto de sódio, diferente dos que vivem no mar, por exemplo. Então eles resistem a concentrações maiores. Roberta: E isso seria interessante porque, como a gente falou, qualquer tipo de água líquida presente em Marte seria o que a gente chamaria de uma salmoura. Então, teria uma concentração alta de sal dissolvida nesses ambientes. Portanto, qualquer tipo de vida presente ali deveria ser capaz de lidar com isso, ou seja, a gente poderia chamar de halófilo. Danilo: esses bolsões subterrâneos de água têm a vantagem de estarem protegidos da alta radiação ultravioleta que castiga a superfície marciana. O nó é que deve haver outras barreiras para a sobrevivência de microrganismos nesses bolsões. A Roberta começa explicando isso e a Isabella depois completa a explicação. Roberta: Porque é possível. Se a gente tem água líquida, as reações são possíveis. Mas a gente vai ter diversas outras características. …desses ambientes que continuam sendo problemáticos. Um deles é, por exemplo, a própria disponibilidade de água que você vai ter numa solução aquosa com muita concentração de sal. Quando você tem uma solução com muita concentração de sal, as moléculas de água estão ligadas ao íon. Então, ela não está disponível para reação. Apesar da água estar líquida, você tem muito mais dificuldade de a reação acontecer. E a gente precisa de reação para que a vida aconteça. Isabella: Ela acabou de introduzir um termo extremamente importante, que ela só não deu o nome, mas é extremamente importante para esse tipo de pesquisa, que é a atividade da água. É o quanto de água está disponível para a vida reagir, para as reações acontecerem e a vida conseguir acontecer. Hoje, é meio arbitrário, esse número vai de zero a um, é um número, enfim, mas a gente sabe que a vida consegue sobreviver até 0,6 de atividade da água. Abaixo disso, não. E aí, quanto maior a atividade da água, ou seja, mais próximo de um, mais água disponível tem. Quanto menor, mais água está retida. Ela está ali, mas ela está se fazendo ligação com outro grupo químico, no caso, o que ela falou, são os sais. Então, os sais estão ligando com aquela água, ela não está disponível para a reação. Então, quanto mais sal, mais você tem a diminuição da atividade da água e menor chance de ter água disponível ali para a vida poder fazer reações químicas. Danilo: Então, no índice de 0 a 1 de atividade da água, a vida consegue existir se este índice estiver acima de 0.6, aproximadamente. O índice estimado de atividade da água nos aquíferos subterrâneos em Marte é 0.57 – ou seja, a bola bate na trave, mas não entra. [música de transição] Danilo: A atividade da água no passado remoto de Marte era, provavelmente, muito acima do mínimo requerido para a existência de vida. Se a superfície de Marte parece hoje inabitável, há mais de 3,5 bilhões de anos o planeta pode ter oferecido condições mais amenas à vida, especialmente a microbiana. O Gabriel publicou recentemente, como primeiro autor e junto com outra pesquisadora do AstroLab – a Ana Paula Schiavo, uma especialista em microrganismos halófilos – um estudo na conceituada revista internacional Astrobiology. Eles exploraram como o lago que existia na cratera Jezero há mais de 3,5 bilhões de anos pode ter sido habitável, pois deve ter sido rico em um íon de ferro capaz de proteger microrganismos da radiação ultravioleta. Ele mesmo explicou esse trabalho interessantíssimo para este podcast. Gabriel: Cada vez mais a gente descobre que Marte é muito mais heterogêneo do que a gente pensa como uma coisa uniforme. Existiam lagos onde você tinha pH muito baixo, que a gente tem uma ideia disso, principalmente por esses depósitos, como sulfatos de magnésio ou sulfatos de ferro, como mineral jarosita, detectado por satélites que orbitam Marte. A presença de jarosita demonstra que essa água, em algum momento, era extremamente abundante de ferro III e extremamente ácida, condições onde a gente possui vida aqui na Terra. Então a gente queria demonstrar que Marte tinha semelhanças com a Terra mas tinha algumas características também que eram um pouco diferentes. E poxa, Marte também estava recebendo uma grande quantidade de radiação do Sol, e eu falo principalmente da radiação ultravioleta, que é aquela que a camada de ozônio protege hoje em dia. Mas ainda assim, a gente tem um pouco de ultravioleta que chega por isso que a gente precisa passar protetor solar. E a gente pensou no ferro como também um protetor solar. Já havia estudos que demonstravam que o próprio solo marciano, por ser muito rico em ferro (por isso, aquela cor de ferrugem) ele já é capaz de proteger fisicamente organismos que eventualmente poderiam estar presentes ali no planeta. A gente queria poder quantificar essa proteção, principalmente nesses lagos.  Danilo: Usando algumas leis químicas que já são bem conhecidas, os pesquisadores do AstroLab desenvolveram um modelo matemático para tentar estimar qual seria o efeito protetivo do ferro em solução nos lagos que existiam no passado remoto de Marte. Pela composição das rochas encontradas no que era o fundo, o assoalho desses lagos, já sabia que eles poderiam ser ricos em ferro. Os pesquisadores do AstroLab fizeram experimentos em laboratório testando o quanto microrganismos poderiam sobreviver com diferentes taxas de radiação ultravioleta e soluções com mais e menos íons de ferro. Eles compararam os resultados dos experimentos com o modelo matemático e viram que o modelo era capaz de prever com uma boa precisão qual seria o efeito protetivo do ferro contra o ultravioleta.  Gabriel: E aí, com isso, a gente pôde modelar como esses lagos poderiam proteger a vida, pelo menos a vida como nós a conhecemos. Aí, claro, a gente tem que assumir várias questões. Por exemplo, a gente não sabe quais eram as concentrações de ferro nesse ambiente. Se existia vida ou não, qual seria a resistência dessa vida naturalmente ao ultravioleta, mas usando exemplos da Terra, a gente conseguiu demonstrar que lagos com pouco ferro, em algumas profundidades relativamente rasas na casa de alguns centímetros, até alguns poucos metros, esse ferro já seria capaz de proteger a vida como nós conhecemos. Então esses lagos marcianos poderiam estar protegidos dessa ação do ultravioleta do Sol. Mesmo não tendo uma camada de proteção de camada de ozônio, ainda assim a vida como nós conhecemos poderia se desenvolver nesse tipo de ambiente que a gente sabe que existiu no passado marciano. Danilo: Se o ouvinte quiser saber um pouco mais sobre esse estudo, pode dar uma olhada na matéria que eu publiquei na Folha de S. Paulo no final do ano passado, com o título “Novo modelo simula condições de habitabilidade de antigos lagos de Marte”. Vamos deixar o link da matéria e do artigo do Gabriel na descrição do episódio. [música de transição] Danilo: A gente viu que a superfície de Marte é inóspita para a vida como a gente a conhece, mas resta alguma esperança de que os aquíferos subterrâneos marcianos sejam habitáveis. Agora, para encontrar água embaixo da superfície, em grande quantidade e com potencial para ser habitável, a gente vai ter que ir para bem mais longe, lá na vizinhança dos planetas gigantes gasosos. No próximo episódio o assunto vai ser as luas de Júpiter e Saturno que têm grandes oceanos debaixo de uma espessa camada de gelo. Essas luas geladas têm se tornado o assunto mais quente da astrobiologia quando se trata da procura por condições e ingredientes para a vida no sistema solar. O roteiro, pesquisa, produção e narração foram feitos por mim, Danilo Albergaria; a revisão do roteiro foi feita pela Simone Pallone. Os entrevistados foram o Gabriel Gonçalves Silva, a Fernanda Jamel, a Roberta Vincenzi e a Isabella Gaião. A edição do episódio foi da Carolaine Cabral. As músicas são do Blue Dot Sessions,  são Creative Commons. E esse podcast foi produzido com o apoio da Fapesp, por meio da bolsa Mídia Ciência, com o projeto Pontes interdisciplinares para a compreensão da vida no universo, o Núcleo de Apoio à Pesquisa e Inovação em Astrobiologia e o Laboratório de Astrobiologia da USP.

Susan Schneider is a philosophy professor at Florida Atlantic University, and the founding director of the Center for the Future of AI, Mind, & Society. She has also worked at NASA as the chair of Astrobiology, Exploration, and Scientific Innovation. Susan's book, Artificial You: AI and the Future of Your Mind, explores whether advanced AI systems could become conscious, and how we might design ways to test whether they truly are. In our mini-series on the nature of intelligence, we have talked with Simon Conway Morris about how intelligence naturally arose from billions of years of evolution. In upcoming episodes, we will also talk with Lazslo Barabasi and Christof Koch about the nature of consciousness, and how networks of individuals can produce collective intelligence that vastly exceeds the sum of its parts. Check our Templeton Ideas feed for new episodes. Follow us on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

What are the true limits of life, will we even recognize it when we see it? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice explore the beginnings of life on Earth and what they might tell us about life everywhere else with astrobiologist and bacteriologist, Betül Kaçar. NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here:  https://startalkmedia.com/show/how-did-life-begin-with-betul-kacar/ Thanks to our Patrons Christian Payne, Gage Ewing, Ryan Whynot, Temirlan, 2 Lives Left, Chad Keeler, Harli Shae Smith, Brad Smith, Norm Bailey, James Peterson, Ryan Coppens, David Whittenberg, Scott Jarboe, Varun Krishnan, Eric Salinas, Mary Seman, Melissa Davis, Stephen Rockwell, Catrina, Max Wilburn, Keith Koenigsberg, LEIII, Vincent Loniello, Simon Toth, DoctorWaterGod, Ruthanne Nava, Martineau Alex, Matthew, Phil, Jaden, Arik Drori, Papersneaker, Steven Peeters, Trey Durango, Julianne, Robbie James, Jason Foreman, Liam, Steven Van Vleet, Marilyn, Zakk Why, Ben Wheeldon, Erik Leazure, Konal Sharma, Dušan Živanović, Erik Strandberg, Berklie Novak-Stolz, Kazi Mahin Mahfuz, Tim Van Devender, Andrew Martin, Jason F, Charles Joubert, Youcef Kazwiny, Joy Joslyn, Freeman, Jessica, Pat, Phillip Brooks, Michael Hues, Jacqueline Sinclair, Robert Marsh, Botas, Raza Naqvi (Sid), Jake, Christine Bartholomew & Family, Mr Xoot, Dyonté Houston, Daryl, Rob Weiss, Caleb Holmes, Jeffrey Luce, Kellie Owczarczak, Brandt Reppond, Joseph Savage, Grace Smith, Joe Pacillo, Gregory Wright, Eric Brothwell, IvanM, Pattie Particle, Cory Fenstermaker, James H Lawson, Embreebane, Dai Stiho, Raymond C King, J M, Alex Wheeler, Jason Rushmore, Idris, Damian Correa, Dylan Woody, Julia Nolen, Chris Petit, Anna, David Kapner, Lalo, Vic, Ash Anthony, and Wayne Stubblefield for supporting us this week. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of StarTalk Radio ad-free and a whole week early.Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ellen & special guests, Ella Hubber and Tom Lum of Let's Learn Everything, turn our gazes to the skies and talk animals in space. We discuss the fruit fly fan club, the great big farm on the moon, which earthlings were ACTUALLY the first to make the trip around the moon and back, a spider escape where you least want it, why dentistry researchers had a snake room, shooting tardigrades out of a gun, and so much more. This one is truly out of this world. Works Cited & Further Reading: "Bioastronautics Research" video "This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury" - Loyd S. Swenson, Jr., James M. Grimwood, Charles C. Alexander, NASA SP-4201 "Judith's Web - Student Experiment Aboard Skylab 3" - NASA.gov “URODELEAN AMPHIBIANS IN STUDIES ON MICROGRAVITY: EFFECTS UPON ORGAN AND TISSUE REGENERATION” - E.N. Grigoryan et al., Adv. Space Res, 2002 "From Undersea to Outer Space: The STS-40 Jellyfish Experiment" - NASA STI Program "For water bears, the glass is all full" - Tina Hesman Saey, Science News, December 2015 "Tardigrades survive exposure to space in low Earth orbit" - K. Ingemar Jonsson et al., Current Biology, September 2008 "What happened to those tardigrades sent to the Moon?" - Laurent Palka, The Conversation, February 2024 "Tardigrade Survival Limits in High-Speed Impacts—Implications for Panspermia and Collection of Samples from Plumes Emitted by Ice Worlds" - Alejandra Traspas & Mark J. Burchell, Astrobiology, July 2021 Links: Support our shows with your membership during the MaxFunDrive! Check out Let's Learn Everything! For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

SpaceTime Series 29 Episode 51 *Discovery of organic molecules never before seen on Mars New data has confirmed that NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover has identified seven organic molecules on the red planet that have never been detected there before. *A spectacular new understanding of cosmic buckyballs Fifteen years after astronomers first discovered buckyballs in space, new observations have now shown how they're distributed in a shell around the corpse of a dying star. *NASA shuts down another instrument on Voyager 1 to keep it operating NASA has been forced to shut down an instrument aboard the Voyager 1 spacecraft in order to conserve power and keep humanity's first interstellar explorer operational. *The Science Report New implants to help sleep apnea sufferers who can't use breathing masks. Palaeontologists have identified a new species of sauropod dinosaur. Artificial Intelligence successfully judge a person's mood by the expression on their face. Alex on Tech: $25 billion for a new Aussie AI centre.Our Guests This Week: Professor Kliti Grice from Curtin University Jan Cami from Western University   And our regular guests: Alex Zaharov-Reutt from techadvice.life Tim Mendham from Australian Skeptics  

Ellen & special guests, Ella Hubber and Tom Lum of Let's Learn Everything, turn our gazes to the skies and talk animals in space. We discuss the fruit fly fan club, the great big farm on the moon, which earthlings were ACTUALLY the first to make the trip around the moon and back, a spider escape where you least want it, why dentistry researchers had a snake room, shooting tardigrades out of a gun, and so much more. This one is truly out of this world. Works Cited & Further Reading: "Bioastronautics Research" video "This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury" - Loyd S. Swenson, Jr., James M. Grimwood, Charles C. Alexander, NASA SP-4201 "Judith's Web - Student Experiment Aboard Skylab 3" - NASA.gov “URODELEAN AMPHIBIANS IN STUDIES ON MICROGRAVITY: EFFECTS UPON ORGAN AND TISSUE REGENERATION” - E.N. Grigoryan et al., Adv. Space Res, 2002 "From Undersea to Outer Space: The STS-40 Jellyfish Experiment" - NASA STI Program "For water bears, the glass is all full" - Tina Hesman Saey, Science News, December 2015 "Tardigrades survive exposure to space in low Earth orbit" - K. Ingemar Jonsson et al., Current Biology, September 2008 "What happened to those tardigrades sent to the Moon?" - Laurent Palka, The Conversation, February 2024 "Tardigrade Survival Limits in High-Speed Impacts—Implications for Panspermia and Collection of Samples from Plumes Emitted by Ice Worlds" - Alejandra Traspas & Mark J. Burchell, Astrobiology, July 2021 Links: Support our shows with your membership during the MaxFunDrive! Check out Let's Learn Everything! For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky! Thanks to everyone who participated in this year's MaxFunDrive! Still want to get in on the action? Follow this link to support this show (and get in on our limited-time keychain sale to benefit the Center for Constitutional Rights): https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Guests: Kayla Smith & Prof. Patrick Anderson Astrobiology Kayla Smith and philosopher Patrick Anderson beam aboard to celebrate the diversity of scientific thought that goes into astrobiology, and how astrobiology can continue to grow by pulling on threads from outside of science too. They co-authored a paper called "Epistemic Pluralism & Astrobiology" with host Mike Wong. Kayla, Patrick, and Mike's paper "Epistemic Pluralism & Astrobiology": https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10838-025-09760-6 Follow us on Bluesky! Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.social Kayla: https://bsky.app/profile/astrokayla.bsky.social

“Project Hail Mary” is finally in theaters, and the science is just as thrilling as the story. This week on Planetary Radio, Sarah Al-Ahmed and senior communications adviser Mat Kaplan share their first reactions fresh from the theater. Author and producer Andy Weir tells us in his own words what the story is really about, in a flashback conversation with Mat. Award-winning Nature correspondent Alexandra Witze takes a critical scientific eye to the film. Virginia Tech astrophysicist Nahum Arav walks us through the real-life fate of our Sun. And in What's Up, Bruce Betts joins us to explore just how long it would actually take humanity to reach Tau Ceti at the fastest speed a spacecraft has ever traveled. Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-project-hail-mary-hits-the-big-screenSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Beyond the crafts in the sky lies a much more disturbing possibility: a biological takeover. Dr. Irena Scott explores the theory of Human-Alien Hybridization through the lens of the Pascagoula Abduction. We discuss her research into Physical Evidence of UFOs that suggests NHI (Non-Human Intelligence) is experimenting with human DNA.Why is this part of the UFO Disclosure conversation being suppressed? We examine MUFON Investigations that document anomalous medical recoveries and strange markings. This episode pushes the boundaries of Astrobiology and exposes the Government Cover-up of our true origins.✨ Download Our FREE Throne Room Meditation✨ ➡️ https://www.truthseekah.com ➡️Join our online community at https://www.truthseekah.com ➡️ Support on Patreon! https://patreon.com/join/truthseekah✅ Get access to 40+ video lessons + Weekly LIVE calls!✅ Worldwide Online Community!✅ Courses, Monthly Webinars, Prayer, Meditation, Discussion✅ TruthSeekah's Meditation Library

Griffin Rowe examines groundbreaking James Webb Space Telescope discoveries: supermassive black holes in the infant universe, chaotic early galaxies, atmospheric biosignatures on exoplanet K2-18b suggesting possible extraterrestrial life, and elongated galaxy shapes challenging dark matter models.Loved this episode? Discover more original shows from the Quiet Please Network at QuietPlease.ai, explore our curated favorites here amzn.to/42YoQGI, and catch just a slice of our AI hosts in action on Instagram at instagram.com/claredelish and YouTube at youtube.com/@DIYHOMEGARDENTVThis content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell - Astrobiology and Astronaut Training - David Grinspoon

We are joined by Dr. Caleb Scharf, NASA Senior Scientist for Astrobiology, to explore the profound implications of the Fermi Paradox. Why, in a galaxy of hundreds of billions of stars, do we find only silence? We move beyond the "geek wonderland" of physics and biology to examine the "Overview Effect"—the shift in perspective that occurs when we realize just how fragile our shared existence truly is.If humanity is the first species to face the conundrum of its own survival, we have a unique moral responsibility to look past the outrage of the day and safeguard the future of life on Earth.Text me your feedback and leave your contact info if you'd like a reply (this is a one-way text). Thanks, DavidSupport the showShow Notes:https://outrageoverload.net/ Contact me, David Beckemeyer by email outrageoverload@gmail.com. Follow the show on Instagram @OutrageOverload. We are also on Facebook /OutrageOverload. Check out our Subtstack https://outrageoverload.substack.comHOTLINE: 925-552-7885Got a Question, comment or just thoughts you'd like to share? Call the O2 hotline and leave a message and you could be featured in an upcoming episodeIf you would like to help the show, you can contribute here. Tell everyone you know about the show. That's the best way to support it.Rate and Review the show on Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/OutrageOverloadAlso check out our companion podcasts, This Week in Outrage and Outrage Science Bites.Intro music and outro music by Michael Ramir C.Many thanks to my co-editor and co-director, Austin Chen.Outrage Overload, a Conners Institute podcast, is part of The Democr...

Could the ingredients for life have arrived on asteroids? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice unpack what the sample collected from asteroid Bennu is teaching us about the origins of life itself with Harold Connolly, geologist and mission scientist for OSIRIS-REx. NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here:  https://startalkmedia.com/show/secrets-of-asteroid-bennu-with-harold-connolly-jr/ Thanks to our Patrons Kevin Widener, WilfriedLepuschitz, Rodney Juste, Aladin Mihai, Marc Washington, david smith, Gary Flenthrope, Christian Becker, EricRobert, Sonya a, Steve Jones, leeinalaska, Sewit Haile, Edward Janezich, Miguel Rodriguez, Shea M, Mister E, G.Montagnard, Vincent Jenkins, Ryan B, Brandon Kavulla, Owoskeun Cinder, LehensGivris, Marc, Debbie Evercloud, Fakhreddine Madi, Logan Koehler, Cem Oğuz, Aaron Greeley, Ohad Meir, Paul Osborne, Bodnár Márton János, STRS, Lawrence, THEO NNEBE, Richard Mosby, Kenneth Hawley, Robert Wilson, Amelia Cooper, mabus98, Mandana Rad, Lucas Kiil, Channing Hodges, Elizabeth Newton, Sebastián Egaña, Eric Hall, Sondre Rypdal, Anne Shirley, Andrew Rosenfeld, Michael Owen, T Playle, Kevin Selman, david Aldridge, Raymond Wright, Biotoxin, Brittany, Wraptile, Frances Cooley, Rodney Bell, Hesam Eskandari, Patrick Dietz, Alexandre Malouin, Diana Smith, Jesse Hoffman, Ian Peterson, WickedProf, Jonathan, SUSAN Moore, Tom DeGerlia, Jessica Holden, Simeon Ivaylov Petrov, Dario Kubler, Robert Passeri, Jr., Fred Miller, Jason Delancey, Rory L, Alice Kelaine Harline Davis, Loonertick, Rich, Jason Rich, jon meier, Susan, Robert Christine, Simon, Lauren Zajac, Brandon Abramovitz, J Sauce, Christopher Smith, Suzan Stocker, Roch Dylla, Treven Price, Zippo, Preet Sandhawalia, Chris McAfee, Hoth, Cody Mecham, Lewis, Casey Hampton, Jason Beezley, and Anthony Gliganic for supporting us this week. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of StarTalk Radio ad-free and a whole week early.Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Host Griffin Rowe explores Webb telescope discoveries: a supermassive black hole 570 million years post-Big Bang, chaotic early galaxies, potential biosignatures on exoplanet K2-18b, elongated galaxy shapes suggesting wave dark matter, and 1,700 newly cataloged galaxy groups reshaping our cosmic understanding.Loved this episode? Discover more original shows from the Quiet Please Network at QuietPlease.ai, explore our curated favorites here amzn.to/42YoQGI, and catch just a slice of our AI hosts in action on Instagram at instagram.com/claredelish and YouTube at youtube.com/@DIYHOMEGARDENTVThis content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

In this episode of High Theory, Zac Zimmer talks to Kim about Decolonizing the Novum. The novum is a concept developed by Darko Suvin that names the new element of a science fiction or speculative fiction narrative. SF narratives from the Americas that rewrite archival material about colonization and first contact have begun an imaginative project of decolonizing that novum. In Zac's words, the "novum" has been part of our definition of science fiction since Darko Suvin first offered up the concept of part of his critical assessment of SF. This idea of "novelty" is linked to conquest and colonialism through the figure of the New World, i.e. the post-1492 Americas. Thus untangling the relationship between colonialism, novelty, and science fiction must pass through the historical record of the conquest. One way to do this is to focus on SF that deeply engages the archival record of the XVIth century in the Americas: texts and artworks that use speculation to depart from the knowledge that things didn't quite occur the way the dominant paradigms would lead us to believe, and to imagine other futures linked to past moments of historical contingency. In the episode, Zac references an incredible list of writers and theorists, including Edmundo O'Gorman and Walter Benjamin, Saidiya Hartman's “Venus in Two Acts,” You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue, Destrucción de todas las cosas by Hugo Hiriart, and “Decolonization is not a metaphor” by Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang. The transcript lives here as a WordDoc and here as a PDF. Zac's book, First Contact: Speculative Visions of the Conquest of the Americas (Northwestern University Press 2025), is a comparative study of Latin American science fiction and narratives of the sixteenth century conquest of the Americas. It moves through a corpus of Mexican novels, Andean visual arts practices, and other cultural artifacts that have dramatized counterfactual narratives. Reimagining the early colonial period's historiography from a south-to-north directionality while inventing parallel realities, these texts, which are concerned with limit cases, alterities, and alternative temporalities, refuse any reliance on the imperial ontologies of European expansion. Zac examines these works to explore the slippage that exists between science fiction as the exemplary genre of the modern, colonial reality and literary speculation as an aesthetic tool that can be used to imagine other possible worlds. You can read a review in the Los Angeles Review of Books. Zac Zimmer works as an Associate Professor of Literature at UC Santa Cruz. His research explores questions of literature, aesthetics, politics, and technology in the Americas.In addition to his current research on the cultural infrastructure of technosystems, he co-facilitates the Ethics & Astrobiology reading group, part of UCSC's Astrobiology Initiative. In the Literature department, he teaches classes on Latin American literature, science fiction, ethics & technology, and the poetics of California infrastructure. The image for this episode is the view from the Hubble Space Telescope, showing the birth of a sun-like star, retrieved from Flicker for High Theory by Lili Epstein. Image credit: NASA, ESA, G. Duchene (Universite de Grenoble I); Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In this episode of High Theory, Zac Zimmer talks to Kim about Decolonizing the Novum. The novum is a concept developed by Darko Suvin that names the new element of a science fiction or speculative fiction narrative. SF narratives from the Americas that rewrite archival material about colonization and first contact have begun an imaginative project of decolonizing that novum. In Zac's words, the "novum" has been part of our definition of science fiction since Darko Suvin first offered up the concept of part of his critical assessment of SF. This idea of "novelty" is linked to conquest and colonialism through the figure of the New World, i.e. the post-1492 Americas. Thus untangling the relationship between colonialism, novelty, and science fiction must pass through the historical record of the conquest. One way to do this is to focus on SF that deeply engages the archival record of the XVIth century in the Americas: texts and artworks that use speculation to depart from the knowledge that things didn't quite occur the way the dominant paradigms would lead us to believe, and to imagine other futures linked to past moments of historical contingency. In the episode, Zac references an incredible list of writers and theorists, including Edmundo O'Gorman and Walter Benjamin, Saidiya Hartman's “Venus in Two Acts,” You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue, Destrucción de todas las cosas by Hugo Hiriart, and “Decolonization is not a metaphor” by Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang. The transcript lives here as a WordDoc and here as a PDF. Zac's book, First Contact: Speculative Visions of the Conquest of the Americas (Northwestern University Press 2025), is a comparative study of Latin American science fiction and narratives of the sixteenth century conquest of the Americas. It moves through a corpus of Mexican novels, Andean visual arts practices, and other cultural artifacts that have dramatized counterfactual narratives. Reimagining the early colonial period's historiography from a south-to-north directionality while inventing parallel realities, these texts, which are concerned with limit cases, alterities, and alternative temporalities, refuse any reliance on the imperial ontologies of European expansion. Zac examines these works to explore the slippage that exists between science fiction as the exemplary genre of the modern, colonial reality and literary speculation as an aesthetic tool that can be used to imagine other possible worlds. You can read a review in the Los Angeles Review of Books. Zac Zimmer works as an Associate Professor of Literature at UC Santa Cruz. His research explores questions of literature, aesthetics, politics, and technology in the Americas.In addition to his current research on the cultural infrastructure of technosystems, he co-facilitates the Ethics & Astrobiology reading group, part of UCSC's Astrobiology Initiative. In the Literature department, he teaches classes on Latin American literature, science fiction, ethics & technology, and the poetics of California infrastructure. The image for this episode is the view from the Hubble Space Telescope, showing the birth of a sun-like star, retrieved from Flicker for High Theory by Lili Epstein. Image credit: NASA, ESA, G. Duchene (Universite de Grenoble I); Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/latin-american-studies

In this episode of High Theory, Zac Zimmer talks to Kim about Decolonizing the Novum. The novum is a concept developed by Darko Suvin that names the new element of a science fiction or speculative fiction narrative. SF narratives from the Americas that rewrite archival material about colonization and first contact have begun an imaginative project of decolonizing that novum. In Zac's words, the "novum" has been part of our definition of science fiction since Darko Suvin first offered up the concept of part of his critical assessment of SF. This idea of "novelty" is linked to conquest and colonialism through the figure of the New World, i.e. the post-1492 Americas. Thus untangling the relationship between colonialism, novelty, and science fiction must pass through the historical record of the conquest. One way to do this is to focus on SF that deeply engages the archival record of the XVIth century in the Americas: texts and artworks that use speculation to depart from the knowledge that things didn't quite occur the way the dominant paradigms would lead us to believe, and to imagine other futures linked to past moments of historical contingency. In the episode, Zac references an incredible list of writers and theorists, including Edmundo O'Gorman and Walter Benjamin, Saidiya Hartman's “Venus in Two Acts,” You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue, Destrucción de todas las cosas by Hugo Hiriart, and “Decolonization is not a metaphor” by Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang. The transcript lives here as a WordDoc and here as a PDF. Zac's book, First Contact: Speculative Visions of the Conquest of the Americas (Northwestern University Press 2025), is a comparative study of Latin American science fiction and narratives of the sixteenth century conquest of the Americas. It moves through a corpus of Mexican novels, Andean visual arts practices, and other cultural artifacts that have dramatized counterfactual narratives. Reimagining the early colonial period's historiography from a south-to-north directionality while inventing parallel realities, these texts, which are concerned with limit cases, alterities, and alternative temporalities, refuse any reliance on the imperial ontologies of European expansion. Zac examines these works to explore the slippage that exists between science fiction as the exemplary genre of the modern, colonial reality and literary speculation as an aesthetic tool that can be used to imagine other possible worlds. You can read a review in the Los Angeles Review of Books. Zac Zimmer works as an Associate Professor of Literature at UC Santa Cruz. His research explores questions of literature, aesthetics, politics, and technology in the Americas.In addition to his current research on the cultural infrastructure of technosystems, he co-facilitates the Ethics & Astrobiology reading group, part of UCSC's Astrobiology Initiative. In the Literature department, he teaches classes on Latin American literature, science fiction, ethics & technology, and the poetics of California infrastructure. The image for this episode is the view from the Hubble Space Telescope, showing the birth of a sun-like star, retrieved from Flicker for High Theory by Lili Epstein. Image credit: NASA, ESA, G. Duchene (Universite de Grenoble I); Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/native-american-studies

In this episode of High Theory, Zac Zimmer talks to Kim about Decolonizing the Novum. The novum is a concept developed by Darko Suvin that names the new element of a science fiction or speculative fiction narrative. SF narratives from the Americas that rewrite archival material about colonization and first contact have begun an imaginative project of decolonizing that novum. In Zac's words, the "novum" has been part of our definition of science fiction since Darko Suvin first offered up the concept of part of his critical assessment of SF. This idea of "novelty" is linked to conquest and colonialism through the figure of the New World, i.e. the post-1492 Americas. Thus untangling the relationship between colonialism, novelty, and science fiction must pass through the historical record of the conquest. One way to do this is to focus on SF that deeply engages the archival record of the XVIth century in the Americas: texts and artworks that use speculation to depart from the knowledge that things didn't quite occur the way the dominant paradigms would lead us to believe, and to imagine other futures linked to past moments of historical contingency. In the episode, Zac references an incredible list of writers and theorists, including Edmundo O'Gorman and Walter Benjamin, Saidiya Hartman's “Venus in Two Acts,” You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue, Destrucción de todas las cosas by Hugo Hiriart, and “Decolonization is not a metaphor” by Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang. The transcript lives here as a WordDoc and here as a PDF. Zac's book, First Contact: Speculative Visions of the Conquest of the Americas (Northwestern University Press 2025), is a comparative study of Latin American science fiction and narratives of the sixteenth century conquest of the Americas. It moves through a corpus of Mexican novels, Andean visual arts practices, and other cultural artifacts that have dramatized counterfactual narratives. Reimagining the early colonial period's historiography from a south-to-north directionality while inventing parallel realities, these texts, which are concerned with limit cases, alterities, and alternative temporalities, refuse any reliance on the imperial ontologies of European expansion. Zac examines these works to explore the slippage that exists between science fiction as the exemplary genre of the modern, colonial reality and literary speculation as an aesthetic tool that can be used to imagine other possible worlds. You can read a review in the Los Angeles Review of Books. Zac Zimmer works as an Associate Professor of Literature at UC Santa Cruz. His research explores questions of literature, aesthetics, politics, and technology in the Americas.In addition to his current research on the cultural infrastructure of technosystems, he co-facilitates the Ethics & Astrobiology reading group, part of UCSC's Astrobiology Initiative. In the Literature department, he teaches classes on Latin American literature, science fiction, ethics & technology, and the poetics of California infrastructure. The image for this episode is the view from the Hubble Space Telescope, showing the birth of a sun-like star, retrieved from Flicker for High Theory by Lili Epstein. Image credit: NASA, ESA, G. Duchene (Universite de Grenoble I); Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

In this episode of High Theory, Zac Zimmer talks to Kim about Decolonizing the Novum. The novum is a concept developed by Darko Suvin that names the new element of a science fiction or speculative fiction narrative. SF narratives from the Americas that rewrite archival material about colonization and first contact have begun an imaginative project of decolonizing that novum. In Zac's words, the "novum" has been part of our definition of science fiction since Darko Suvin first offered up the concept of part of his critical assessment of SF. This idea of "novelty" is linked to conquest and colonialism through the figure of the New World, i.e. the post-1492 Americas. Thus untangling the relationship between colonialism, novelty, and science fiction must pass through the historical record of the conquest. One way to do this is to focus on SF that deeply engages the archival record of the XVIth century in the Americas: texts and artworks that use speculation to depart from the knowledge that things didn't quite occur the way the dominant paradigms would lead us to believe, and to imagine other futures linked to past moments of historical contingency. In the episode, Zac references an incredible list of writers and theorists, including Edmundo O'Gorman and Walter Benjamin, Saidiya Hartman's “Venus in Two Acts,” You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue, Destrucción de todas las cosas by Hugo Hiriart, and “Decolonization is not a metaphor” by Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang. The transcript lives here as a WordDoc and here as a PDF. Zac's book, First Contact: Speculative Visions of the Conquest of the Americas (Northwestern University Press 2025), is a comparative study of Latin American science fiction and narratives of the sixteenth century conquest of the Americas. It moves through a corpus of Mexican novels, Andean visual arts practices, and other cultural artifacts that have dramatized counterfactual narratives. Reimagining the early colonial period's historiography from a south-to-north directionality while inventing parallel realities, these texts, which are concerned with limit cases, alterities, and alternative temporalities, refuse any reliance on the imperial ontologies of European expansion. Zac examines these works to explore the slippage that exists between science fiction as the exemplary genre of the modern, colonial reality and literary speculation as an aesthetic tool that can be used to imagine other possible worlds. You can read a review in the Los Angeles Review of Books. Zac Zimmer works as an Associate Professor of Literature at UC Santa Cruz. His research explores questions of literature, aesthetics, politics, and technology in the Americas.In addition to his current research on the cultural infrastructure of technosystems, he co-facilitates the Ethics & Astrobiology reading group, part of UCSC's Astrobiology Initiative. In the Literature department, he teaches classes on Latin American literature, science fiction, ethics & technology, and the poetics of California infrastructure. The image for this episode is the view from the Hubble Space Telescope, showing the birth of a sun-like star, retrieved from Flicker for High Theory by Lili Epstein. Image credit: NASA, ESA, G. Duchene (Universite de Grenoble I); Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

In this episode of High Theory, Zac Zimmer talks to Kim about Decolonizing the Novum. The novum is a concept developed by Darko Suvin that names the new element of a science fiction or speculative fiction narrative. SF narratives from the Americas that rewrite archival material about colonization and first contact have begun an imaginative project of decolonizing that novum. In Zac's words, the "novum" has been part of our definition of science fiction since Darko Suvin first offered up the concept of part of his critical assessment of SF. This idea of "novelty" is linked to conquest and colonialism through the figure of the New World, i.e. the post-1492 Americas. Thus untangling the relationship between colonialism, novelty, and science fiction must pass through the historical record of the conquest. One way to do this is to focus on SF that deeply engages the archival record of the XVIth century in the Americas: texts and artworks that use speculation to depart from the knowledge that things didn't quite occur the way the dominant paradigms would lead us to believe, and to imagine other futures linked to past moments of historical contingency. In the episode, Zac references an incredible list of writers and theorists, including Edmundo O'Gorman and Walter Benjamin, Saidiya Hartman's “Venus in Two Acts,” You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue, Destrucción de todas las cosas by Hugo Hiriart, and “Decolonization is not a metaphor” by Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang. The transcript lives here as a WordDoc and here as a PDF. Zac's book, First Contact: Speculative Visions of the Conquest of the Americas (Northwestern University Press 2025), is a comparative study of Latin American science fiction and narratives of the sixteenth century conquest of the Americas. It moves through a corpus of Mexican novels, Andean visual arts practices, and other cultural artifacts that have dramatized counterfactual narratives. Reimagining the early colonial period's historiography from a south-to-north directionality while inventing parallel realities, these texts, which are concerned with limit cases, alterities, and alternative temporalities, refuse any reliance on the imperial ontologies of European expansion. Zac examines these works to explore the slippage that exists between science fiction as the exemplary genre of the modern, colonial reality and literary speculation as an aesthetic tool that can be used to imagine other possible worlds. You can read a review in the Los Angeles Review of Books. Zac Zimmer works as an Associate Professor of Literature at UC Santa Cruz. His research explores questions of literature, aesthetics, politics, and technology in the Americas.In addition to his current research on the cultural infrastructure of technosystems, he co-facilitates the Ethics & Astrobiology reading group, part of UCSC's Astrobiology Initiative. In the Literature department, he teaches classes on Latin American literature, science fiction, ethics & technology, and the poetics of California infrastructure. The image for this episode is the view from the Hubble Space Telescope, showing the birth of a sun-like star, retrieved from Flicker for High Theory by Lili Epstein. Image credit: NASA, ESA, G. Duchene (Universite de Grenoble I); Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/art

What if a microscopic alien lifeform was slowly eating our sun? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice sit down with Andy Weir, the bestselling author of Project Hail Mary, for a deep dive into designing aliens, science fiction, and science behind the book (and the movie.) NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here:  https://startalkmedia.com/show/project-hail-mary-with-andy-weir/ Thanks to our Patrons RT, Matthew Wessel, Tyler Walker, nuclear_detergent, Ryan Buchanan, The Lord of the Ganja, Tyrone Morgan, Ciara Steinert, Fabian De Rossi, Travis Anders, Dee El Dee, Lazzarous, Moshe Sedero, Sebastian Heineberg, David, Casey Sizeland, Anna, Simon Franklin, Chris Carley, ohhdontdoit, hilde, Jim Niemann, Jesse Lee, Sri Harsha Chennavajjala, grbac6800, Mike, Aviad Pineles, salima makitina, Gero Finke, Nick Charles, David Shapiro, Diyako Kochar Taymur, David Kunz, Bob, Doug, Aviral Bhatnagar, Matthew Sims, Squibb Thompson, Theta544, D00gster x702, Kyle Sullivan, John Hermansen, April Stearns, Brian Eastwood, jassim tazi, Kassious, Gustavo Rincon, Reloadown, Tom Kavanaugh, Kay 1, George Grimes, Barbara Lewis, Davey Maclaren, Blake Muccini, Sydney, MISFIT, Mohammed Nadeem Amin, JB, rasma, Chris, Glenn Whelan, Elizabeth Grey, Eli Hadden, Elias Holguin, Darrell Thayer, Jason, Shayla Hamady, Bradley Martin, jamie jarrard, Robert Douglas Brown, Michael Johnston, Kristine Nixon, VirusJTG, Briana Bartlett, Tim Rea, Leo Carrasco, Christopher Friedline, belle g, Carver Nevling, Emily Winter, Draxontheyeen, Leslie, Bombed Blonde, Shadow, Brian, Sam Smith, Brianna Smith, Evan Q, Anzhr, Jolo, Austin Applegate, Bryan Smarkola, Steven Patterson, Femke Seynaeve, Bee, Jeffrey Macris, Stan Ginsel, Bob M, Eric, and Yet Another Patron for supporting us this week. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of StarTalk Radio ad-free and a whole week early.Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Gentry Lee spent nearly five decades at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and in that time he helped shape some of the most ambitious missions in the history of space exploration. A new documentary, “Starman,” chronicles his career and the big question that runs through it: is there life beyond Earth? Lee worked on every NASA mission to land on Mars, helped Carl Sagan bring the Universe to living rooms around the world with “Cosmos,” and oversaw dozens of active missions as Chief Engineer for the Solar System Exploration Directorate at JPL. Few people have had a front-row seat to the Space Age quite like him. In this episode, host Sarah Al-Ahmed sits down with Gentry at Planetary Society headquarters just one day after his retirement from JPL. He reflects on the colleagues who shaped him, the missions that changed our understanding of the Solar System, and why the search for life beyond Earth remains the most profound endeavor humanity has ever undertaken. Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-starmanSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After more than five decades building spacecraft to search for life, one senior NASA engineer says the universe is probably alive — just not visiting Earth.*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*PRINT VERSION: https://weirddarkness.com/aliens-exist-nasa-leeWeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.#WeirdDarkness, #WeirdDarkNEWS

SpaceTime with Stuart Gary Gary - Series 29 Episode 21In this episode of SpaceTime, we explore intriguing revelations about the search for life on Mars, the surprising effects of Saturn's moon Enceladus on its planet, and the monumental volcanic events that reshaped Earth's tectonic landscape.Life on Mars: A New PerspectiveRecent findings suggest that non-biological processes cannot fully explain the organic compounds found in Martian regolith samples collected by NASA's Curiosity rover. Published in the journal Astrobiology, the study indicates that life may have contributed to some of these compounds, challenging previous assumptions. The research involved evaluating potential non-biological sources and concluded that the abundance of organics on Mars could hint at past life, sparking renewed interest in the Red Planet's potential habitability.Enceladus' Electromagnetic InfluenceA fascinating study reveals that Saturn's icy moon Enceladus trails a wake of electromagnetic ripples extending over half a million kilometers, significantly influencing its giant host planet. Data from NASA's Cassini mission demonstrated how Enceladus' geysers contribute to energy and momentum circulation within Saturn's magnetic environment, marking a crucial discovery about the moon's role in the Saturnian system.Earth's Volcanic HistoryNew research highlights how Earth's largest volcanic event, associated with the Ontong Java Plateau, dramatically altered a major tectonic plate. The findings suggest that extensive volcanic activity led to significant physiochemical modifications within the oceanic plate, enhancing our understanding of plate formation processes and the environmental impacts of such massive eruptions.www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com✍️ Episode ReferencesAstrobiology, Geophysical Research Space Physics, Geophysical Research LettersBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/spacetime-with-stuart-gary--2458531/support.

Sponsor Link:www.incogni.com/spacenuts Cosmic Dust in a Jar, Volcanic Eruptions on Io, and the Quest for Intelligent LifeIn this exciting episode of Space Nuts, hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson delve into a series of captivating cosmic stories that will spark your imagination. From the groundbreaking creation of cosmic dust in a lab to the simultaneous volcanic eruptions on Jupiter's moon Io, this episode is a treasure trove of astronomical insights.Episode Highlights:- Cosmic Dust in a Jar: A Sydney PhD student has synthesized cosmic dust in a laboratory setting. Andrew and Fred discuss the implications of this breakthrough for our understanding of how complex organic molecules form in space, and whether this could reduce the need for future space missions to gather samples from asteroids.- Simultaneous Volcanic Eruptions on Io: The hosts explore the extraordinary event of five volcanoes erupting at once on Io, revealing insights into the moon's geological activity. They discuss the gravitational forces at play and how this discovery challenges previous theories about Io's solid interior.- Follow the Coal to Find Intelligent Life: A new theory suggests that the presence of coal may be a key factor in the development of intelligent civilizations. Andrew and Fred unpack the idea that access to natural resources could influence technological advancement, raising questions about the rarity of intelligent life in the universe.For more Space Nuts, including our continuously updating newsfeed and to listen to all our episodes, visit our website. Follow us on social media at SpaceNutsPod on Facebook, Instagram, and more. We love engaging with our community, so be sure to drop us a message or comment on your favorite platform.If you'd like to help support Space Nuts and join our growing family of insiders for commercial-free episodes and more, visit spacenutspodcast.com/about.Stay curious, keep looking up, and join us next time for more stellar insights and cosmic wonders. Until then, clear skies and happy stargazing.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support.

The toppling of authoritarian leader Sheikh Hassina in Bangladesh in 2024 was celebrated as a triumph for democracy. Tomorrow the country finally heads to the polls. Our correspondent weighs the choice. Can Mars and other bleak planets be made fit for human habitation? And why AI bots are applying for human jobs. To find out how to have sex in space, listen to this episode of “The Weekend Intelligence”. Guests and host:Rosie Blau and Jason Palmer, co-hosts of “The Intelligence”Mark Johnson, senior writerOliver Morton, senior editorShera Avi-Yonah, business writerTopics covered: Bangladesh's electionAstrobiologyHow AI changes job recruitmentListen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The toppling of authoritarian leader Sheikh Hassina in Bangladesh in 2024 was celebrated as a triumph for democracy. Tomorrow the country finally heads to the polls. Our correspondent weighs the choice. Can Mars and other bleak planets be made fit for human habitation? And why AI bots are applying for human jobs. To find out how to have sex in space, listen to this episode of “The Weekend Intelligence”. Guests and host:Rosie Blau and Jason Palmer, co-hosts of “The Intelligence”Mark Johnson, senior writerOliver Morton, senior editorShera Avi-Yonah, business writerTopics covered: Bangladesh's electionAstrobiologyHow AI changes job recruitmentListen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if Europa’s seafloor isn’t alive with activity after all? This week on Planetary Radio, host and producer Sarah Al-Ahmed explores new research that reframes how scientists think about one of the Solar System’s most intriguing ocean worlds. Sarah is joined by Paul Byrne, associate professor of earth, environmental, and planetary sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. Paul is the lead author of a new study suggesting that the seafloor beneath Europa’s global ocean may be geologically quiet today, potentially lacking the hydrothermal activity often associated with habitable environments on Earth. Together, they discuss how scientists investigate places we can’t yet observe directly and why Europa remains a compelling world to explore regardless of what we find. Then, Bruce Betts, chief scientist of The Planetary Society, joins us for What’s Up to explain why Saturn’s moon Enceladus shows strong evidence for active hydrothermal vents beneath its icy crust, offering a fascinating contrast between two ocean worlds. Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-europas-quiet-seafloorSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is there life in the Venusian Clouds? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice are joined by planetary astrobiologist David Grinspoon to discuss NASA's return to Venus, our space future, and whether we'll find life in our solar system. NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free.Thanks to our Patrons Nick Pullia, Sean Cater, Keith Reiss, Seph Gordon, Charlie Viola, Miguel Rangel, Andrew Ferguson, JeAnnette Elaine Thomas, Hugh Caley, Daniel Weber, Chris, Peter Grossman, Darryl Baker, Joyce A Edwards, Maxim, Joshua Richard, Patrick ridlon, Kathleen Reardon, David Watts, Angelina Bryant, Liza, Dave Holloway, Ricardo Andrés Morales Muñoz, Damian Wilson, m. szachacz, Vince Johnson, Lucy, Randal Walcott, Rachel Ambrose, andrew wong, Richard Hudson, Peter Galindo, Mehdi Degryse, Carl Starr M.D., Rodrigo De Luca Comelli, Christian Harris, Ryan Grillo, Jose Villavicencio, Kell, Russ, Mota Ephrahim, Andre Campos-Gomez, Catherine Noiboonsook, Sam McClure, Jerry Taylor, Ian Howarth, Gerrard Lobo, Jordan Strauch, Pretender to the Throne, Dustin, Bulbacats, Jim Mirra, Matt, Adrian Martinez, GuruMojo - Kenny, Malcolm Townes, Russell, Vincent Thomas, Caleb Winters, Carsten, Frank, Andrew Sabado, Roger beeper, Jason Burden, lilacjasminetea, Eric, Samantha, Eric Sneddon, philip griffiths, Christian Chidester, Bruce Berky, Bill Polskoy, Maddux Hammer, Tim Neumark, nathan burcl, Paul Santos, Tognia, sugar, Mike Vacay, Niklas lundkvist, JaneB, Gutek, Natalie & Dad, Ashley, J Sh-Wood, Alexej Muehlberg, and Emery for supporting us this week. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of StarTalk Radio ad-free and a whole week early.Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A massive new study reveals that almost everyone believes intelligent extraterrestrial life exists, yet we vastly underestimate how many of our friends and neighbors share this belief — hiding our convictions like a shameful secret even though nearly all of us feel the same way.READ or SHARE: https://weirddarkness.com/95-percent-believe-aliensWeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2025, Weird Darkness.#WeirdDarkness #Aliens #UFO #Extraterrestrial #FermiParadox #AreWeAlone #AlienLife #UAP #Space #ScientificMystery

The 2025 International Mars Society Convention convened at the University of Southern California this October for three days of passionate discussion about humanity’s future on the red planet. Speakers explored science, policy, technology, AI, synthetic biology, and the long-term path toward becoming a multi-planet species. In this episode, Mat Kaplan, senior communications adviser at The Planetary Society, shares his conversations with speakers and guests at the Convention. We hear from Robert Zubrin, founder of The Mars Society, who delivered a fiery call to protect NASA’s science programs in the face of unprecedented budget cuts. Humphrey “Hoppy” Price, Chief Engineer for NASA’s Robotic Mars Exploration Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, updates us on the future of Mars Sample Return and new mission architectures. Keynote speaker Dex Hunter-Torricke, a longtime communications leader for SpaceX, Meta, and other major tech organizations, reflects on AI’s promise and peril, and why Mars remains a beacon of hope for humanity’s future. Biologist and technologist Tiffany Vora, vice president for innovation partnerships at Explore Mars, and Erika DeBenedictis, biologist and founder of Pioneer Labs, reveal breakthroughs in synthetic biology and engineered microbes that could help future Martians survive. Steve Benner, chemist and founder of the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution (FfAME), revisits the Viking lander experiments and makes a provocative case that we may have found Martian life nearly 50 years ago. Architect Melodie Yashar, CEO of AENARA and a pioneer in 3D-printed habitat research, shares progress in additive construction on Earth and Mars. James Burk, executive director of The Mars Society, discusses advocacy, analog research stations, and the organization’s expanding international footprint. Finally, we meet Sasha, a 13-year-old presenter whose enthusiasm offers a bright glimpse of the next generation of explorers. We wrap up the show with What’s Up with Bruce Betts, chief scientist at The Planetary Society, with a discussion of perchlorates in the Martian soil. Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2025-mars-society-conventionSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After 27 years, Melvyn Bragg has decided to step down from the In Our Time presenter's chair. With over a thousand episodes to choose from, he has selected just six that capture the huge range and depth of the subjects he and his experts have tackled. In this first pick, we hear Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the origins, science and mythology of the moon. Humans have been fascinated by our only known satellite since prehistory. In some cultures the Moon has been worshipped as a deity; in recent centuries there has been lively debate about its origins and physical characteristics. Although other planets in our solar system have moons ours is, relatively speaking, the largest, and is perhaps more accurately described as a 'twin planet'; the past, present and future of the Earth and the Moon are locked together. Only very recently has water been found on the Moon - a discovery which could prove to be invaluable if human colonisation of the Moon were ever to occur.Mankind first walked on the Moon in 1969, but it is debatable how important this huge political event was in developing our scientific knowledge. The advances of space science, including data from satellites and the moon landings, have given us some startling insights into the history of our own planet, but many intriguing questions remain unanswered.With:Paul Murdin Visiting Professor of Astronomy at Liverpool John Moores UniversityCarolin Crawford Gresham Professor of Astronomy at the University of CambridgeIan Crawford Reader in Planetary Science and Astrobiology at Birkbeck College, London.Producer: Natalia FernandezSpanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Melvyn Bragg and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.