Podcasts about space sciences

Between budget battles, proposed grant rule changes, and an exploding Blue Origin rocket, there's a lot to cover in U.S. space policy right now. Jack Kiraly, The Planetary Society's director of government relations, joins host Sarah Al-Ahmed to walk through a cascade of developments affecting NASA and the broader U.S. science community, including a proposed rule change at the Office of Management and Budget that would hand control of federal research grant decisions to political appointees, bypassing the peer review process that has underpinned U.S. science for decades. Kiraly also discusses a major reorganization at NASA, a new competition for the management of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the fallout from the New Glenn explosion, and what it means for the future of Artemis. Plus, in What's Up, the names of the Artemis III crew are revealed. Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-us-space-science-in-fluxSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Astronomical data presents unique challenges for artificial intelligence, often requiring specialized AI models tailored to the needs of astrophysicists and large-scale scientific research. Scientists at the Center for Astrophysics — a collaboration between the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and Harvard College Observatory — developed the AstroAI Institute to help researchers analyze massive datasets and accelerate scientific discovery through AI-driven analysis. At the 2026 SCSP AI+Expo, the institute's Founder and Director Cecilia Garraffo told GovCIO Media & Research the center is using AI to search for unexpected patterns in large data sets and cluster data based on similarity without prior coding, enabling scientists to detect new phenomena and uncover previously unseen relationships. Garraffo also discussed the growing need for AI education and workforce development across the scientific community. She explained how AstroAI is helping train researchers at all levels — from students to senior scientists — to use AI effectively in astrophysics research and discovery.

For 65,000 years before computers, satellites, and scientific journals, Australia's first peoples were reading tides, stars, seasons, animal behaviour, currents, and ecosystems with extraordinary precision. Yet until recently, their knowledge was not formally considered alongside Western Science.Now, more research and conservation organisations are recognising that in order to protect places like the Great Barrier Reef, not only do we need better technology and data, but we also need to listen more carefully to the voices of the world's oldest continuous living cultures.This week we're joined by Libby Evans-Illidge from the Australian Institute of Marine Science for an inspiring chat about bridging the divide between two cultures, one step at a time.In this special Reconciliation Week episode, we'll discover how making space for a knowledge system different to our own, can help us better understand and conserve our environment, while also rebuilding our connection with each other.Thumbnail Image: The 'dark emu,' a dark spot in the milky way, with its long neck extended upward in the night sky, was more than just a story. It carried valuable environmental knowledge.Sources and Recommended Reading:Aboriginal people - how to misunderstand their science, by Ray Norris,Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Astronomy & Space Science.Aboriginal memories of inundation of the Australian coast dating from more than 7000 years ago by Patrick D. Nunn and Nicholas J. ReidLynne KellyThe Memory Code by Lynne KellyFirst Knowledges book collectionWatch: The Australian WarsWatch: The First Inventors Watch: First AustraliansWoppaburra RangersSupport the showHelp Keep Word on the Reef Afloat!Please take 2 minutes to fill out our Word on the Reef Listener Survey to help us apply for funding for the show!PROTECT THE REEF - Sign these Petitions Now!Australian Marine Conservation Society: Australia, it's time to lead on Climate Action!Divers for Climate: Sign the 'I'm a Diver for Climate' National StatementAustralian Conservation Foundation: No New Coal and Gas!Queensland Conservation Council: Take Strong Climate Action and Build a Positive Renewable Future!Our Islands Our Home: Protect the Torres Strait Islands from Climate ChangeGreenpeace: Save the Great Barrier Reef!WWF Australia: Protect NatureRising Tide: ...

Walter Sterling blends scientific discussion and conspiracy-oriented commentary. Journalist Ross Coulthart discusses a 7-billion-year-old meteorite found in Australia and its implications for the origins of life, including the presence of interstellar amino acids. Walter then shifts to speculative claims about alleged lunar and Martian anomalies and accusations that agencies like NASA may be withholding information about possible artificial structures in space. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host | Matthew S Williams For more podcast Stories from Space with Matthew S Williams, visit: https://itspmagazine.com/stories-from-space-podcast ______________________Episode Notes From Apollo to Artemis: What Lowell Observatory Knows About Going Back to the Moon Fifty years is a long time to forget how to do something. That is, more or less, where NASA stood when Artemis 1 left the pad — and where it stands now, with Artemis 2 having put humans beyond low Earth orbit for the first time in half a century. The institutional memory had thinned. The people who built Apollo had moved on, retired, or passed away. The books, as Dr. Alex Polanski puts it in this episode, had to be dusted off. Polanski, a Percival Lowell postdoctoral fellow at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, joins host Matt to talk about what Artemis 2 actually proved, and why Lowell — an observatory better known for its exoplanet work and its founder's obsession with Mars — has always sat closer to crewed spaceflight than most people realize. The nine Apollo astronauts trained on the volcanic terrain of northern Arizona. They studied lunar maps made at Lowell. They walked the same ground tourists walk today, in the shadow of the Clark refractor. The conversation moves from the geology of the Moon's Highlands and Maria to the meteorite work of Dr. Nick Moskowitz, the mapping happening at the USGS office down the road, and the longer question behind all of it: is the Moon a stepping stone to Mars, or a detour? Polanski makes the case for the stepping stone — not out of caution, but because there are things we don't yet know we need to know, and a one-second light delay is a much more forgiving classroom than a twenty-minute one. And then there's what comes next. Radio telescopes in the craters of the far side, shielded from Earth's noise. Optical interferometers spread across lunar real estate, free of the atmospheric wobble that makes ground-based astronomy feel, in Polanski's words, like reading a note card at the bottom of a pool. For the first time, the possibility of actually seeing the surfaces of other stars. Percival Lowell saw canals on Mars that weren't there. He may have been looking at the veins in his own eye. A century later, his observatory is helping figure out how to look at the real thing.

PODCAST: This Week in Amateur Radio Edition #1419 - Full Version (With repeater ID breaks every 10 minutes) Release Date: May 9, 2026 Here is a summary of the news trending...This Week in Amateur Radio. This week's edition is anchored by Chris Perrine, KB2FAF, Mike Nikolich, K9DXM, George Lama, KC2OXJ, Will Rogers, K5WLR, Don Hulick, K2ATJ, Joshua Marler, AA4WX, Eric Zittel, KD2RJX, Rich Lawrence, KB2MOB, Marvin Turner, W0MET, George Bowen, W2XBS, and Jessica Bowen, KC2VWX Produced and edited by George Bowen, W2XBS Approximate Running Time: 1:24:11 Podcast Download: https://bit.ly/TWIAR1419 Trending headlines in this week's bulletin service 1. AMSAT: FCC Approves Limited Emergency Use of 70cm Band AST SpaceMobile Satellites Outside US 2. AMSAT: Saudi Amateur Radio Society Sponsors Satthon_2 3. AMSAT: NASA Completes Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope 4. AMSAT: SpaceX Rocket Debris to Impact The Moon 5. AMSAT: Artemis 2 Moon Astronauts Visit the White House 6. AMSAT:Satellite Shorts from All Over 7. WIA: Thousands Of Tiny Dots Could Save First Responders Lives 8. ARRL: The Ham Radio World Heads to Ohio 9. ARRL: Learn More About SDR From The Boston Software Defined Radio User Group 10. ARRL: STEM On and Off the Air 11. ARRL: Salty Walt Goes Next Level With New Portable Antenna Sketchbook 12. SK: Composer And Singer Alan Osmond, KN0IZE 13. CW Operators Needed To Copy Data From Cubesat Built In Tokyo 14. SK: Alaxander Teimurazov, 4L5A, DX News Editior and Top Contester 15. Special Event To Celebrate North American Soccer Tournament 16. The National Council on Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) elects new officers 17. ARRL: Upcoming contests and regional convention listings 18. NASA: Want to help NASA with Space Science? Here is how to volunteer 19. ARRL: The Texas Emergency Management Conference is coming up in a few weeks 20. ARRL: New book release: Satellite Operating For Amateur Radio is now shipping 21. FCC: The FCC modernizes its satellite spectrum sharing rules for high speed broadband from space 22. The Radio Amateurs of Canada are looking for an editor for its magazine The Canadian Amateur Plus these Special Features This Week: * Working Amateur Radio Satellites with Bruce Paige, KK5DO - AMSAT Satellite News * Australia's own Onno Benshop, VK6FLAB, and Foundations of Amateur Radio, will tell us How To Deal With Complexity" * Our own amateur radio historian, Will Rogers, K5WLR, returns with another edition of "A Century Of Amateur Radio". This week, Will takes us back to 1924. The summer 1924 brought the first explorers to the four new, shorter wavelength bands that were opened up to amateur use in July. Amateurs anticipated interesting times ahead based on their earlier experimental work that produced the first transatlantic QSOs This is the final part of a series titled, "DX Records and Shortwave Reflections" * We will take at look at this months Volunteer Monitoring Enforcement Report * We will stop by and visit with Bill Salyers, AJ8B in the DX Corner, with all the latest news on DXpeditions, DX, upcoming contests, and more * Weekly Propagation Forecast from the ARRL ----- Full Podcast (ID breaks every 10 mins for use on ham frequencies): https://www.twiar.net/static/twiarpodcast.rss Full Podcast (No ID Breaks for LPFM or personal listening): https://www.twiar.net/static/twiarpodcastlpfm.rss Truncated Podcast (Approximately 1 hour in length): https://www.twiar.net/static/twiarpodcast60.rss Website: https://www.twiar.net X: https://x.com/TWIAR Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/twiar.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/twiari YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQdPO6QkZJ1eIvw6-EQWQPgogVNiZim4u RSS News: https://twiar.net/?feed=rss2 Automated (Full Static file, updated weekly): https://twiar.net/TWIARHAM.mp3 Automated (1-hour Static file, updated weekly): https://www.twiar.net/TWIAR1HR.mp3 This Week in Amateur Radio is produced by Community Video Associates in upstate New York, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. If you would like to volunteer with us as a news anchor or special segment producer please get in touch with our Executive Producer, George, via email at w2xbs77@gmail.com. Thanks to FortifiedNet.net for the server space! Thanks to Archive.org for the audio space.

Join us in this podcast with Mark Fox as he unpacks the ideas behind his book, What on Earth Are We Doing to Our Health: A Rocket Scientist Investigates Out-of-This-World Therapies. Drawing from his experience in aerospace engineering, Mark examines an unexpected link between vision problems experienced by astronauts during shuttle launches and the vibrational forces generated by Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs).  In this episode, Mark discusses how specific frequencies interact with the human body – and how this overlooked phenomenon could hold the key to innovative, non-invasive therapies for a wide range of health challenges… Hit play to learn about: How Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF) therapy can be used to heal the body. How portable, non-invasive tech could reshape the future of at-home healing and performance optimization. The role that wearables can play in measuring heart rate variability for animals.  Mark is an entrepreneur, scientist, engineer, author, creative thinking consultant, crop formation researcher, former Space Shuttle Chief Engineer, and CEO of Resona Health. He's also spent over three decades as a hot air balloonist, built his own airplane, and invented VIBE, the world's only "pocket" Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF) device. Could resonance-based therapy offer relief from conditions like PTSD and anxiety from home? Tune in to explore what's possible! Follow along with Mark and his work here.

Sponsor Link:When you're ready to upgrade your online security, do what we did and get NordVPN. And right now we have a great deal for you that will save you lot's on money. There's never been a  better time. To check out the deal Click Here!Wednesday 6 May 2026 | astronomydaily.io | @AstroDailyPod   Episode Summary In today's episode, Anna and Avery explore six remarkable stories from across the cosmos: a tiny frozen world beyond Pluto surprises scientists with an atmosphere it should never have; NASA drops twelve thousand stunning photographs from the Artemis II mission and Artemis III preparations accelerate; Blue Origin's uncrewed moon lander Endurance passes its toughest test; new research confirms the sun actively speeds up the descent of space debris; radar-equipped drones emerge as a key tool for mapping buried Martian ice; and Comet PanSTARRS makes its debut in southern skies.   Stories in This Episode 1. The Atmosphere That Shouldn't Exist Japanese astronomers have detected a thin atmosphere around trans-Neptunian object 2002 XV93 — a Kuiper Belt body just 500 km across. Published in Nature Astronomy, the discovery challenges long-held assumptions about which bodies can retain atmospheres. Possible causes include cryovolcanism or a recent cometary impact. Lead researcher: Dr Ko Arimatsu, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.   2. NASA Releases 12,000+ Artemis II Photos + Artemis III Update NASA has published more than 12,000 high-resolution images from the Artemis II mission, captured using Nikon cameras and iPhone 17 devices by the crew of Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen. The archive includes lunar far-side close-ups, Earthset images, star trails, and a solar eclipse from space. Meanwhile, the Artemis III SLS core stage has arrived at Kennedy Space Center for assembly, with a mid-2027 launch targeting a 460 km Earth-orbit docking test.   3. Blue Origin's Endurance Passes NASA Vacuum Test Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 1 uncrewed cargo lander (nickname: Endurance) has completed thermal vacuum testing inside Chamber A at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston. The lander is targeted for the Moon's south polar region later in 2026, carrying stereo cameras and a laser retroreflector array. MK1 informs the development of the crewed Blue Moon Mark 2.   4. Solar Activity Accelerates Space Debris Reentry A study published today in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences tracked 17 pieces of orbital debris through three solar cycles (1986–2024). Researchers at India's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre found that once sunspot numbers reach ~70% of their cycle peak, orbital decay rates increase sharply due to thermosphere expansion and increased drag. Lead researcher: Ayisha Ashruf.   5. Radar Drones Could Map Hidden Water Ice on Mars A new study in Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets proposes using low-flying radar-equipped drones to precisely map debris-covered glaciers on Mars. Tests on Earth's Galena Creek Rock Glacier in Wyoming demonstrated the technique can resolve the ice-debris boundary with unprecedented precision — information critical for future human missions planning to use Martian water resources.   6. Comet C/2025 R3 PanSTARRS — Now Visible from Southern Hemisphere Having passed perihelion on 19 April 2026 (at ~75 million km from the Sun) and peak northern hemisphere visibility, Comet C/2025 R3 PanSTARRS is now emerging in southern skies. Currently in Eridanus and heading toward Orion, the comet will pass within ~2° of the Orion Nebula 10–12 May. Best viewing conditions: around new moon 16 May. The comet is on a hyperbolic trajectory and will not return.   Connect With Us Website: astronomydaily.io Podcast: Available on all major podcast platforms X/Twitter: @AstroDailyPod Instagram: @AstroDailyPod TikTok: @AstroDailyPod Tumblr: @AstroDailyPodBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.

This week we are exploring sustainability in space, the satellite innovation ecosystem, how satellite technology could help solve big issues on our planet, such as cancer treatments, and why communicating space science effectively can be tricky. To discuss this is Joaquin Perez-Grande, Partnerships and Policy Manager (Place) at the Satellite Applications Catapult and 2026 Foundation Future Leader.

Misha Glenny and guests discuss the physics, biology and chemistry of the element silicon which is at the heart of some of the most useful and beautiful objects on the planet. While it is still being created throughout the universe, the silicon we have here was made billions of years ago in dying stars. In its compounds we have long used silicon for glass and, more recently, purified silicon has become the foundation of modern electronics. Perhaps less appreciated is the role silicon compounds play in the biology of life on Earth, on the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the cycling of elements between land, oceans and atmosphere that sustains us.With Kate Hendry Oceanographer at the British Antarctic Survey and Bye-Fellow of Queen's College, University of CambridgeAndrea Sella Professor of Chemistry at University College LondonAnd Monica Grady Professor Emerita in Planetary and Space Sciences at the Open UniversityProduced by Martha OwenReading list:Christina De La Rocha and Daniel J. Conley, Silica Stories (Springer, 2017)Bernard Quéguiner, The Biogeochemical Cycle of Silicon in the Ocean (John Wiley & Sons, 2016)In Our Time is a BBC Studios ProductionSpanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.

Dr. Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley,Apr. 8, 2026.The NASA Psyche mission is on its way to orbit a small but immensely ancient world in our asteroid belt: A metallic object, the first humans will ever have visited. When our solar system was in its infancy, thousands of planetesimals (tiny planet-like objects) formed in less than a million years. Many planetesimals later melted, allowing metal cores to form inside rocky mantles. One of these metal cores may be revealed in the asteroid (16) Psyche. Dr. Elkins-Tanton, the Mission Lead, takes us behind the scenes in planning and carrying out this remarkable mission of exploration, which launched in 2023, and updates us of where we are over two years post-launch.

In this Plutopia News Network episode, science and technology journalist Tereza Pultarova discusses her path from covering space exploration to reporting on defense technology after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine,… The post Tereza Pultarova: Space, Science, and Drone Wars first appeared on Plutopia News Network.

The Alberta NDP needs to change its name...right? Party leader Naheed Nenshi isn't so sure (3:30), and he explains why in our feature interview presented by Mercedes-Benz Edmonton West. Nenshi leads off with his Opposition to Danielle Smith's trip to Saudi Arabia, and Alberta banning "politics and ideology" from classrooms. Do you agree or disagree with Nenshi on the name change? Leave a comment below!  THIS EPISODE IS PRESENTED BY RapidEX FINANCIAL. THE CRYPTO WORLD MOVES FAST, BUT YOUR TRUST IN AN EXCHANGE SHOULDN'T BE A GAMBLE. RapidEX IS SECURE, FINTRAC-REGISTERED, AND NON-CUSTODIAL. SAVE 50% ON FEES ON ONLINE INTERAC E-TRANSFER TRADES WITH PROMO CODE RYAN50 AT https://rapidexfinancial.com/. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: talk@ryanjespersen.com MBEW: https://www.mercedes-benz-edmontonwest.ca/ 38:30 | Did you watch Artemis II launch into orbit? Frank Florian, one of Canada's biggest space enthusiasts, sure did. The senior manager of Planetarium and Space Sciences at Telus World of Science spells out why the first moon mission in more than 50 years is such a big deal.  TELUS WORLD of SCIENCE: https://telusworldofscienceedmonton.ca/ 1:10:30 | Are Alberta teachers - social studies teachers in particular - handcuffed with the UCP's Bill 25? Dr. Jonathan Sharek explains how politics and ideology are integrated in the real world. 1:54:00 | Congratulations to our friends at North Road Investment Counsel for their "Trailblazer" honour on Edify's 2026 list of Edifiers!  EDIFY EDMONTON: https://edifyedmonton.com/ FULL NORTH ROAD INTERVIEW on MITIGATING YOUR DIGITAL RISK: https://rtrj.info/040126NRIC 2:01:00 | Anne calls the UCP's take on classroom ideology "laughable and ridiculous," Tim claims Mark Carney's forcing him to leave Canada, Bruce has a theory on the Golden Cat controversy, and "B" and Brent have thoughts on MAiD. It's The Flamethrower presented by the DQs of Northwest Edmonton and Sherwood Park!  FIRE UP YOUR FLAMETHROWER: talk@ryanjespersen.com  WHEN YOU VISIT THE DQs IN PALISADES, NAMAO, NEWCASTLE, WESTMOUNT, or BASELINE ROAD, BE SURE TO TELL 'EM REAL TALK SENT YOU!  REGISTER for the HEARTS & HANDS POKER TOURNEY on APRIL 16/17: https://benstelterfoundation.com/ FOLLOW US ON TIKTOK, X, INSTAGRAM, and LINKEDIN: @realtalkrj & @ryanjespersen  JOIN US ON FACEBOOK: @ryanjespersen  REAL TALK MERCH: https://ryanjespersen.com/merch RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE PERKS - BECOME A REAL TALK PATRON: patreon.com/ryanjespersen THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS! https://ryanjespersen.com/sponsors The views and opinions expressed in this show are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Relay Communications Group Inc. or any affiliates.

Recorded Live March 28,2026This live edition of Made of Stars covers Artemis II's launch plans, nuclear Mars helicopters, Jared Isaacman's plans for the Moon, a 7 hour gamma ray burst, AI's use to "find" alien worlds and questions from the audience. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/made-of-stars--4746260/support.

Materials science is the unsung hero of the science world. Behind every physical product you interact was decades of research into getting the properties of materials just right. Your gym clothes contain synthetic fibers developed over decades. The glass screen, diodes, and chip substrate technology needed to read this blog post were only viable due to many teams of material scientists.Our guest Prof. Heather Kulik was one of the first material scientists to realize that there was alpha in combining computational tools with data driven modeling — she did AI for science before it was cool. She has a hard-fought perspective for how to succeed in this field. Yes, she believes the wins are real. To get there you must work hard to deeply integrate domain expertise with AI techniques, and also maintain a discriminating mind. Ultimately what matters is you succeed in the lab, and nature doesn't care about how hyped a model is. These lessons personally resonated with the Latent.Space Science team and our own experience.This episode is a must watch for all aspiring AI for science practitioners. A few highlights:Designing new polymers with AI: Heather's group recently used AI to design new polymers that are significantly stronger. These materials were created and tested in the lab, and the scientists who built them were surprised by the designs. The AI had figured out certain building blocks could break in a novel way. The AI discovered a purely quantum mechanical effect, and after convincing their lab collaborators to actually synthesize it, the material turned out to be four times tougher!The twenty-two-atom ligand challenge: When asked about the role and need of human scientists, Heather points out that AI has a strong understanding of academic chemistry, but is still lacking intuition. Every time an LLM is updated, Heather asks it to design a ligand that contains exactly twenty-two heavy atoms. She has yet to find one that can succeed at this seemingly simple task that any expert could do in a second! Is this the chemistry counterpart to counting ‘r's in strawberry?Side note: Heather joked that this comment would date itself immediately, so we decided to see if this was still true three months after recording. We found some interesting results! We asked both Claude and ChatGPT to design a 22 atom ligand for both a metal-organic framework (MOF) and a Kinase protein. * For the Kinase, both models got it right: Claude pulled out RDKit in a python script and iterated on several designs, whereas ChatGPT just one-shotted it. * For MOFs, both models got it wrong, generating ligands with 21, 23, or 24 atoms, yet stubbornly not getting 22 atoms. Is there something different about how LLMs reason in the materials and bio domains?Materials vs biology: The two biggest domains of AI in science have been biology and materials. We asked Heather if there could be an AlphaFold moment for materials. Her answer reframes how we should think about the field:* First, the datasets in material science are woefully lacking in comparison to the bio world. The closest to ground truth in most cases are noisy DFT datasets. These are just approximations to the real world! The datasets that are accurate are all boring, as Heather quipped “We have really good datasets for really boring chemistry.” Furthermore, good experimental structures are hard to come by and require interpretation. So generating generating high-quality, novel datasets at scale would really drive the field forward.* More philosophically, AlphaFold is making predictions in a fairly limited space: there are just twenty amino acids. Sure, even here AlphaFold doesn't get everything right, but it seems plausible that one could learn the entire design space. For materials, each element is a new set of interactions and chemistry, with little to no transferability. This is a massive open problem in material science that we hope some of the smartest AI scientists will want to work on!The difficulties of trusting the literature: Heather's team has spent the last few years using NLP and later LLMs to extract data from literature. Even a few thousand data points from these papers can be valuable for guiding her group's work. One surprising result: sometimes the reported values for a property (say temperature) do not match up with the graphs in the papers! So there's lots of potential in using LLMs to mine data from the literature, just do it with care.The role of academia in an ever-changing world: One theme that has been running through many of our conversations has been the changing role of the academic — and the scientist — in science. When startups are raising $100s of millions and hyperscalers and Big Pharma are all ramping up AI-for-science efforts, the academic researcher needs both resources and judgement about problems to chase more than ever.Resources include data that is organized for machine learning, access to high throughput experimentation labs, and compute resources. These are all things that academics can build together. More importantly, Heather emphasizes curiosity about problems that haven't hit the radar of the heavily capitalized AI companies. After so many years on the forefront of AI for Science, Heather's judgement that Chemical Engineering and Material Science still need curious people asking questions with no clear path to money is a welcome beacon in the AI fog.Full Video podcast Is on Youtube! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.latent.space/subscribe

Host | Matthew S Williams For more podcast Stories from Space with Matthew S Williams, visit: https://itspmagazine.com/stories-from-space-podcast ______________________ SpaceX founder Elon Musk recently announced that his company, founded on the idea of creating the first city on Mars, was focusing on the Moon instead. This announcement has left many wondering why he has made such a massive pivot. There are also questions as to why he's chosen to do this now.   SpaceX, Mars, Moon, NASA, Musk, Bezos, Blue Origin, Artemis, xAI, Starlink, Starship, HLS, astronauts, space, Blue Moon, New Glenn, lunar lander, lunar surface, Moon base   ______________________ Resources Fraser Cain - Soundbiteshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqCx81ky8Ts ______________________ For more podcast Stories from Space with Matthew S Williams, visit: https://itspmagazine.com/stories-from-space-podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A nontechnical talk by Dr. Bruce Macintosh (University of California Observatories)Mar. 11, 2026In the past three decades, more than 6000 planets have been discovered orbiting other stars.  Advances in technology have allowed a handful of giant planets around other stars to be imaged directly. Dr. Macintosh tells us about the first-ever images of other solar systems — and the technology that has allowed us to discover them, such as the Gemini Planet Imager — as well as the future planet-hunting space telescopes. The ultimate goal is detection of a second ‘pale blue dot' — an Earth twin where we could even see the biosignatures of extrasolar life.  (He also talks a bit about the wind damage to the Lick Observatory and what is being done to repair the historic dome.)Bruce Macintosh is the Director of the University of California Observatories in California and Hawaii. He co-led the team that imaged the first extrasolar planets, and was the Principal Investigator of the Gemini Planet Imager, an advanced planet-finder for the Gemini South telescope.

A key question about the early history of the Solar System is whether the giant planets formed roughly at the distances from the Sun they presently occupy, or, as some theories predict, much closer to the Sun. The discovery of other solar systems with radically different configurations of planets has made this question more pressing, since it appears that the configuration of the Solar System might be atypical. In the podcast, Hal Levison explains why the Trojan asteroids of Jupiter offer us the best opportunity to discriminate between the various models of Solar System evolution. And that is why a spacecraft called Lucy is now well on its way to a rendezvous with these asteroids. Hal Levison is the Principal Investigator of the Lucy mission. He studies the dynamics of astronomical objects and, in particular, the formation and long-term behavior of solar system bodies. He is one of the original proponents of the Nice model (named after the city where it was conceived), a scenario that proposes the migration of the giant planets from an initial compact configuration closer to the Sun to their present positions. He is Chief Scientist in the Department of Space Sciences at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

Harriet Brettle studied finance, had several varied jobs in leadership, and now heads the Keck Institute for Space Studies at Caltech. Like the “professor of everything” Bob May from Australia, who once combined his mathematical physics with the head of the Bank of England, Harriet can take risks with projects based on knowing both what's worthwhile scientifically and sensible financially. Guest Harriet Brettle Executive director of the Keck Institute for Space Studies Caltech PresenterRobyn Williams

Host | Matthew S Williams For more podcast Stories from Space with Matthew S Williams, visit: https://itspmagazine.com/stories-from-space-podcast ______________________Episode Notes Asteroid Mining: The Promise, the Problems, and the Philosophy Asteroid mining is one of those ideas that cycles in and out of public fascination — generating enormous excitement, then fading when people realize it won't happen within the next news cycle. But the concept never truly disappears, and for good reason. Near-Earth asteroids, numbering in the millions, contain staggering quantities of precious metals, rare earth elements, and water ice. Ironically, those same materials — iron, gold, platinum, nickel, and dozens of others — were originally delivered to Earth by asteroids during the Late Heavy Bombardment period some four billion years ago. We're essentially talking about going back to the source. The three main asteroid types — carbonaceous (C-type), silicate (S-type), and metallic (M-type) — each offer distinct resources. Beyond metals, the abundance of water ice in the solar system could relieve pressure on Earth's increasingly stressed freshwater supply and fuel deep-space missions. Philosophically, the implications are profound. Thomas More and Nietzsche both wrestled with why scarcity drives human value systems. Flood the market with space-borne metals and the entire economic architecture built on scarcity begins to crumble. Orwell saw it too — abundance erodes hierarchy. The first trillionaires born from asteroid mining might find their wealth meaningless almost immediately after making it. But the darker scenarios deserve equal attention. Redistributing consumption off-world doesn't eliminate it. Space debris, environmental degradation beyond Earth, and the very real risk of exploitative labor structures in off-world operations — echoes of colonialism and indentured servitude — are not science fiction. They're logical extensions of human patterns. The enthusiasm may ebb and flow, but asteroid mining remains an inevitable chapter in humanity's story. The real question is what kind of story we choose to write around it. ______________________ Resources   ______________________ For more podcast Stories from Space with Matthew S Williams, visit: https://itspmagazine.com/stories-from-space-podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dr. Andrew Friedman is an Assistant Research Scientist at the Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). He is also a Research Affiliate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As an astrophysicist and cosmologist, Andy is studying the history of the universe from the Big Bang through present day. Andy and his colleagues use the universe as a laboratory to learn more about how things work. Specifically, Andy uses observations of astronomical objects in other galaxies to learn about fundamental physics and quantum mechanics. When he's not at work, you can find Andy hanging out with his wife and dog, or enjoying good food and good conversation with friends and family. Andy received his bachelor's degree in physics and astrophysics from the University of California, Berkeley and his master's and PhD degrees in Astronomy and Astrophysics from Harvard University. Afterwards, Andy worked as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT, a National Science Foundation funded Research Associate at MIT, and a Visiting Research Scientist at the MIT Center for Theoretical Physics. He joined the Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences at UCSD in 2017. In our interview, Andy tells us more about his life and science.

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The Space Show Presents Sarah Scoles, Friday, 1-30-26Quick Summary”Our program initially focused on discussing the status and challenges of the Breakthrough Starshot project, including its cancellation and implications for interstellar travel research through Sarah's Oct 2025 Scientific American story. Participants explored the technical and financial aspects of space exploration, including the development of laser propulsion technology, the importance of mechanical engineering in different gravity environments, and the role of commercial space companies in pharmaceutical development and national security. The group also discussed space budget allocation, the challenges of evaluating space companies, and the geopolitical implications of space exploration, with participants expressing optimism about space's potential contributions to global progress.SummaryDavid and Sarah discussed the status of the Breakthrough Starshot project, which Sarah had recently written about in Scientific American. David noted that several previous guests who had been involved with Breakthrough, including Worden, Phil Lubin, and Zach Manchester, had been unable to return for updates. Sarah's article revealed that the project had become dormant, which came as a surprise to David, who had been discussing it as a real possibility for years on his Space Show program.In introduced the Wisdom Team for this program including Dr. James Benford, who argued that the Breakthrough Starshot project was successful in achieving its Phase 1 objectives, which involved investing in high-risk, high-reward research to de-risk technology and identify potential showstoppers. Others highlighted the importance of designing equipment that functions in microgravity or zero-gravity environments, a topic that is often overlooked in space exploration discussions. Later in the program the team discussed the need for mechanical engineering specialists tailored to different gravity conditions, such as those on Mars, and considered the possibility of writing an article on this topic.David discussed the cancellation of Breakthrough's interstellar flight project and its impact on the show's guests, noting that Pete Worden and others had not been Space Show guests in the past few years. He introduced Sarah Scoles, a science journalist who wrote an article about the project's demise in Scientific American. Sarah explained that Breakthrough's plan to send wafer-sized spacecraft to Alpha Centauri at a quarter the speed of light had been abandoned, highlighting the risks of billionaire-funded science projects. David and Sarah discussed the reasons behind the project's cancellation and its implications for future interstellar missions.Sarah's article explored the demise of Breakthrough Starshot, a $100 million project aimed at developing laser propulsion technology for interstellar travel. Despite significant progress in laser and spacecraft technology, the project faced challenges such as high costs and technical difficulties, leading to its quiet discontinuation. Jim Benford, a key figure in the project, clarified that the concept predates Breakthrough Starshot and has a long history, including his own laboratory work on microwave sails in the 1990s. He criticized the article for not consulting with major project participants and emphasized the secretive nature of the Breakthrough team.Jim discussed the Starshot project's Phase 1, which aimed to assess the feasibility of interstellar travel using a sail propelled by a laser. The phase was successful in determining that there are no showstoppers to the concept, which is technically and financially viable. The project addressed four key challenges, including building a coherent laser array, finding a suitable material for the sail, ensuring stable beam riding, and transmitting data over vast distances. Phase 2, which would involve laboratory and in-orbit demonstrations, is now seeking funding to continue the work, with an estimated cost of $100 million.The group discussed Sarah's article about Breakthrough Starshot, with Jim and David expressing appreciation for her thorough coverage of the project's four main challenges and progress made. Jim, who is 85 years old, explained that Breakthrough Starshot's communication issues have been a significant problem, particularly regarding the final report that was completed over a year ago but has not been released. Jim announced he would be writing a two-part series on Centauri Dreams about Breakthrough Starshot, with the first part focusing on Sarah's article and the second part providing a technical review of the project's achievements.The group continued discussing Sarah's recent article about the Breakthrough Starshot project, with Sarah defending her reporting approach and acknowledging she spoke to key researchers but not top executives due to their secrecy. Jim explained that Yuri Milner, the project's financier, is secretive and avoids public attention, which contributes to the organization's poor internal and external communications. Marshall inquired about the appropriate budget allocation for R&D project publicity, and Jim shared that Kevin Parkin had modeled the system's costs, estimating $10 billion for construction if laser costs decrease, with half the budget going to the beamer and the rest split between the aperture and power.Sarah discussed her overall experience covering space and technology, highlighting the rapid development of low Earth orbit satellite constellations for communications and Earth observation. She noted that companies are increasingly using space data for various applications, including national security and weather monitoring. David inquired about Sarah's views on the progress of space development, particularly in areas like human spaceflight and the shift of commercial space companies towards defense and national security work.The group discussed the current state of space companies and their funding. David expressed concern about the high failure rate of entrepreneurial space ventures, noting that many companies may not be able to sustain themselves due to technological limitations or financial constraints. Joe agreed, emphasizing that founders often focus more on technology than fundraising. The discussion also touched on the challenges of distinguishing between credible and fraudulent space companies at conferences, with Sarah and David sharing their approaches to evaluating potential stories or investments.Sarah discussed her experience covering space news, including her interest in space policy and UAP topics. Ajay brought up Russia's development of a nuclear-powered missile, which sparked a debate between Ajay and Jim about the feasibility and implications of such a weapon. John suggested that Russia's development might be a response to the U.S. pulling out of the ABM Treaty and deploying its own missile defense system.The group discussed the development and implications of nuclear-powered cruise missiles, with Ajay emphasizing their strategic significance regardless of whether they have a “Golden Dome” capability. Marshall raised concerns about evaluating economic claims and technical feasibility of such projects, leading to a discussion about methods to verify claims, including Sarah's approach as a physics-major journalist and Phil's description of the Atlantis Project's evidence ledger system for crowdsourced peer review. The conversation concluded with David inquiring about Sarah's media work, learning that she primarily focuses on print media and is developing a podcast called “What I Left Out” about journalists' omitted article content.The group discussed the state of medical research and drug development in space, with David expressing skepticism about private space stations replacing the ISS's national lab. Sarah shared her experience writing about the major private space station projects, noting limited transparency and detailed information from the companies. Jim and Ajay agreed with David's concerns about the technical challenges of building and maintaining private space stations, particularly regarding power requirements and vibration control. The conversation concluded with a brief discussion about fusion research, where Sarah noted that while fusion companies often receive significant funding, technical progress remains uncertain.The group discussed the status of commercial space tourism, with David noting that true commercial space tourism is still 2 years away as it requires tickets to be sold without specific reservations. Joe shared his investments in Axiom and Voyager, highlighting VAST as an interesting single-purpose space station company that aims to launch in 2027 and is entirely privately funded without federal money. Jim shared his expertise on fusion, predicting that Tri-Alpha Energy will succeed with a 100-megawatt reactor in the early 2030s, while most tokamak-based fusion companies are unlikely to succeed. The discussion concluded with Sarah expressing interest in space stations for pharmaceutical development, while Marshall mentioned potential uses for satellite maintenance and astronomy.The program addressed the allocation of space budgets between commercial and scientific endeavors, with Sarah and Jim agreeing that commercial space activities, including pharmaceutical development in orbit, are important alongside scientific research. David highlighted the geopolitical implications of space exploration and emphasized the need for a balanced approach that considers both commercial and scientific interests. The discussion concluded with Jim and David expressing optimism about space's potential to contribute to global peace and progress, while acknowledging challenges posed by political leaders and educational systems.Special thanks to our sponsors:American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Helix Space in Luxembourg, Celestis Memorial Spaceflights, Astrox Corporation, Dr. Haym Benaroya of Rutgers University, The Space Settlement Progress Blog by John Jossy, The Atlantis Project, and Artless EntertainmentOur Toll Free Line for Live Broadcasts: 1-866-687-7223 (Not in service at this time)For real time program participation, email Dr. Space at: drspace@thespaceshow.com for instructions and access.The Space Show is a non-profit 501C3 through its parent, One Giant Leap Foundation, Inc. To donate via Pay Pal, use:To donate with Zelle, use the email address: david@onegiantleapfoundation.org.If you prefer donating with a check, please make the check payable to One Giant Leap Foundation and mail to:One Giant Leap Foundation, 11035 Lavender Hill Drive Ste. 160-306 Las Vegas, NV 89135Upcoming Programs:Broadcast 4498: Zoom Dr. Greg Autry | Tuesday 03 Feb 2026 700PM PTGuests: Dr. Greg AutryZoom: Dr. Autry on policy, economics, commercial and space missions/projectsBroadcast 4499 Hotel Mars TBD | Wednesday 04 Feb 2026 930AM PTGuests: John Batchelor, Dr. David LivingstonHotel Mars TBDBroadcast 4500: Zoom Overview Energy with Dr. Paul Jaffe | Friday 06 Feb 2026 930AM PTGuests: Dr. Paul JaffeZoom: Dr. Jaffe with others talks about Overview EnergyBroadcast 4501 Zoom Dr. Scott Solomon | Sunday 08 Feb 2026 1200PM PTGuests: Dr. Scott SolomonZoom: Settlement, humans in space, reproduction and more Get full access to The Space Show-One Giant Leap Foundation at doctorspace.substack.com/subscribe

Every second, lightning strikes 50 to 100 times somewhere. It can wreak havoc by starting wildfires and sometimes killing people. But lightning also produces a form of nitrogen that's essential to vegetation. In this episode, we talk about the nature of these dramatic sparks. Ben Franklin established their electric origin, so what do we still not know? Also, why the frequency of lightning strikes is increasing in some parts of the world. And, what to do if you find someone hit by lightning. Guests: Thomas Yeadaker – Resident of Oakland, California Chris Davis – Medical doctor and Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Wake Forest University and Medical Director for the National Center for Outdoor Adventure Education Jonathan Martin –Professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Steve Ackerman – Professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison Peter Bieniek – Professor of Atmospheric and Space Science, University of Alaska, Fairbanks Descripción en español Originally aired September 12, 2022 Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every second, lightning strikes 50 to 100 times somewhere. It can wreak havoc by starting wildfires and sometimes killing people. But lightning also produces a form of nitrogen that's essential to vegetation. In this episode, we talk about the nature of these dramatic sparks. Ben Franklin established their electric origin, so what do we still not know? Also, why the frequency of lightning strikes is increasing in some parts of the world. And, what to do if you find someone hit by lightning. Guests: Thomas Yeadaker – Resident of Oakland, California Chris Davis – Medical doctor and Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Wake Forest University and Medical Director for the National Center for Outdoor Adventure Education Jonathan Martin –Professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Steve Ackerman – Professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison Peter Bieniek – Professor of Atmospheric and Space Science, University of Alaska, Fairbanks Descripción en español Originally aired September 12, 2022 Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guests:Dr Penelope Wozniakiewicz, Senior Lecturer in Space Science at the University of KentDr Shane BerginDr John Regan

2026 is a pivotal year for space science. From humans returning to the Moon to new telescopes opening more expansive windows on the universe, this year marks a turning point in how we explore space—and why it matters. SETI Institute communications specialist Beth Johnson and Senior Planetary Astronomer Franck Marchis will tour the biggest missions, milestones, and moments shaping space science in 2026. We'll look at crewed lunar exploration, robotic missions to asteroids and planets, next-generation observatories, and the celestial events unfolding above our own skies. Along the way, we'll talk about what these missions are designed to discover, the questions they're trying to answer, and how they fit into the bigger story of humanity's search to understand our place in the cosmos. Whether you follow every launch or love looking up at the night sky, this episode will connect the dots between ambitious engineering, fundamental science, and the sense of wonder that keeps us exploring. (Recorded live 8 January 2026.)

The very latest developments in the world of space science with Roland Pease, recorded at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting in New Orleans, where thousands of space and planetary scientists come together to promote discovery in space science for the benefit of humanity.

# Exploring the Cosmic Frontier: Webb's Latest Astronomical MysteriesJoin The Space Cowboy in this captivating podcast episode as he guides listeners through the James Webb Space Telescope's most perplexing recent discoveries. From "astronomy's platypus" to diamond rain planets, this episode delves into cosmic phenomena that challenge our understanding of the universe.## Episode Highlights:- **Mysterious "Platypus" Objects**: Discover nine tiny point-like entities from the early universe that defy classification—not stars, not quasars, not typical galaxies—possibly revealing how galaxy formation first began.- **The Lemon-Shaped Planet**: Explore the bizarre world PSR J2322-2650b, an elongated exoplanet orbiting a pulsar with an atmosphere of helium and unusual carbon molecules that shouldn't exist, potentially featuring diamond rain.- **Metal-Poor Galaxy Surprises**: Learn how the dwarf galaxy Sextans A is manufacturing metallic iron dust and complex carbon molecules despite its limited resources, challenging theories about early universe chemistry.- **Little Red Dots Explained**: Hear about new research suggesting some mysterious compact red objects in Webb's images may actually be supermassive stars—potential birthplaces of the first black holes.Perfect for astronomy enthusiasts, space exploration fans, and anyone fascinated by cosmic mysteries, this episode showcases how Webb continues to reveal a universe more creative and strange than our best scientific theories predicted.Some great Deals https://amzn.to/49SJ3QsFor more check out http://www.quietplease.aiThis content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

# Space Exploration Reaches New Frontiers: Latest James Webb Space Telescope DiscoveriesIn this captivating episode of The Space Cowboy podcast, journey through the cosmos as we explore groundbreaking discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope. From colliding galaxies captured in stunning detail to a bizarre exoplanet with diamond-filled skies, this episode highlights how our understanding of the universe continues to evolve.## Episode Highlights:- **Galactic Collision**: Witness the breathtaking dance between spiral galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163, revealed through the combined power of James Webb and Chandra X-ray observatories- **Diamond Planet Mystery**: Discover the peculiar exoplanet PSR J2322-2650 b orbiting a pulsar with an atmosphere of helium, carbon, and diamond clouds that challenges current planetary formation theories- **Potential Alien Life**: Learn about K2-18 b, a sub-Neptune exoplanet showing evidence of biosignature gases potentially linked to oceanic life- **Exotic Atmospheres**: Explore hot Jupiters with massive helium tails and rocky worlds with unexpected atmospheric compositionsThis episode demonstrates how the James Webb Space Telescope continues to revolutionize astronomy since its 2021 launch, providing unprecedented views of cosmic phenomena and expanding our knowledge of planetary systems beyond our solar system.Join The Space Cowboy for this fascinating journey through recent astronomical discoveries that are reshaping our understanding of the universe and our place within it.Some great Deals https://amzn.to/49SJ3QsFor more check out http://www.quietplease.aiThis content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

# Beyond the Stars: Webb's Discoveries from Diamond Planets to Cosmic BeginningsJoin The Space Cowboy on a fascinating journey through the cosmos as we explore the latest mind-blowing discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope. In this episode, we venture from bizarre planetary oddities to the very birth of galaxies.Discover the "lemon planet" - a helium and carbon-rich world squeezed into an unusual shape by a pulsar, potentially harboring a diamond-rich interior that challenges our understanding of planetary formation. We'll also examine newly forming solar systems caught in stunning detail, witness the creation of moons around distant planets, and explore massive star-forming regions near our galaxy's center.The journey continues to the edge of time itself as Webb captures what may be the earliest known supernova in a universe just 730 million years old. We'll explore the deepest views ever taken of the cosmos through the MIDIS field observations and witness the chaotic death spirals of massive stars in the aptly-named Apep system.From dwarf galaxies locked in gravitational dances to a newly discovered moon orbiting Uranus, this episode showcases how Webb is revolutionizing our understanding of cosmic evolution at every scale - from our solar neighborhood to the most distant reaches of space and time.Some great Deals https://amzn.to/49SJ3QsFor more check out http://www.quietplease.aiThis content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

Why do we explore space, and why does science matter in the first place? In this Space Policy Edition rerun, Planetary Society Chief of Space Policy Casey Dreier revisits a deeply influential 2020 conversation with philosopher and ethicist J. S. Johnson-Schwartz, author of The Value of Science and Space Exploration. As debates over NASA’s budget and the future of space science continue to resurface, this conversation remains strikingly relevant. Dr. Johnson Schwartz makes a compelling philosophical case that science itself is not merely useful or beneficial, but a moral obligation. Beyond economic returns, technological spinoffs, or national prestige, the pursuit of knowledge has intrinsic value, and public space agencies play a critical role in representing that shared human interest. Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/the-moral-case-for-spaceSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why do we explore space? In this Space Policy Edition rerun, Casey Dreier speaks with philosopher Dr. J. S. Johnson-Schwartz about why space science is a moral obligation, beyond economics or prestige.

Show Summary:Claire sits down with Sharon Boese, a dynamic STEM educator from McKinney Christian Academy in Texas, to explore what hands-on, inquiry-based science education looks like in action. Sharon shares what a typical day in her classroom entails - from guiding 8th graders through Earth and Space Science to inspiring younger students in the school's K–5 STEM enrichment program.We talk about how to balance multiple class preps and design unique experiences to prevent repetition across grade levels, and integrate creativity and rigor through project-based learning. Sharon also gives us a peek inside her students' engineering notebooks and explains how documentation supports problem-solving and reflection. Whether you're a fellow teacher looking for classroom inspiration or simply curious about how STEM education comes alive, this conversation offers practical insights and plenty of passion for learning.About Sharon Boese: Sharon Boese is currently an eighth grade science/STEM teacher and an Elementary School STEM Coordinator at McKinney Christian Academy in McKinney, Texas. She has a great passion for all things space and constantly encourages her students to reach for the stars. Sharon is happily married to Michael, an environmental engineer. They have three sons who all have no choice but to love the nighttime sky. All are Eagle Scouts who earned the Astronomy and Space Exploration merit badges! Sharon hopes that one day one of her sons will become an Astronaut!Credit: NASA Directory | Solar System Ambassadors - NASA Solar System ExplorationLinks from the Show:Related The STEM Space Podcast Episodes 128. Preparing for the New Science Standards in Texas131. How to Scaffold Engineering Design in K-12105. Explaining the 3 Stages of STEMVivify STEM Blog Posts How to Start an After School STEM ClubUnderstanding a Framework for P-12 Engineering LearningNot all STEM is Equal: 3 Stages of STEM Education10 Tips for Managing a STEM ClassroomVivify STEM LessonsIntro to Coding: STEM Distance Learning ActivityBuilding Bricks STEM Challenge Mats - GROWING BUNDLE!STEM by Grade LevelBridge Engineering STEM ChallengeFREE! - Engineering Design Teacher Slides (editable)FREE! - Editable Budget Sheet for Engineering Design ChallengesTower STEM ChallengesDesign a Car Engineering Design Challenge | 1st Grade STEM DiscoveriesSailboat STEM Challenge - K-5 or 6-8Simple Machines Toy Factory STEM ChallengeOther STEM ResourcesNASA Space Exploration Educators Conference (SEEC)Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) | Texas Education AgencyVivify STEM Space Library - free (Explorer Library) and paid (STEM Space All-Access: ALL Vivify lessons, PD, videos, and MORE) optionsVivify Scope and SequenceSphero Bolt+ | Sphero EducationTinkercadTHE STEM SPACE SHOWNOTESTHE STEM SPACE FACEBOOK GROUPVIVIFY INSTAGRAMVIVIFY FACEBOOKVIVIFY XVIVIFY TIKTOKVIVIFY YOUTUBE

A teddy bear launched into the upper atmosphere as part of a school science project has gone missing! Inspired by this story, the Unexpected Elements team look into how bears could help improve astronauts' health on long-term space flights. Next, how has a US Air Force site delivered an unexpected conservation win for an endangered species?We're then joined by Justin Gregg, a professor of animal behaviour and cognition. He reveals why we anthropomorphise cuddly toys – such as teddy bears – and why this isn't necessarily a bad thing. We meet Alan Turing's teddy bear, before finding out why it's good to get lost.All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Andrada Fiscutean and Chhavi Sachdev Producers: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Alice McKee and Robbie Wojciechowski

On this Student Spotlight: White Dwarf stars may create a potentially viable environment for life. Cal Whyte, PhD student in the Department of Aerospace, Physics and Space Science at Florida Institute of Technology, looks into this. Caldon T. Whyte is a PhD student in the Department of Aerospace, Physics and Space Science at Florida Institute […]

# Exploring Cosmic Frontiers: James Webb's Groundbreaking DiscoveriesJoin the Space Cowboy as he unpacks the most fascinating recent discoveries from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. This episode delves into mysterious "little red dots" in the distant universe, including the perplexing object dubbed "The Cliff" that has astronomers rethinking black hole formation theories. Discover how Webb's infrared capabilities revealed these objects that remained invisible to Hubble for decades.Learn about Webb's stunning observations of interacting dwarf galaxies and the shocking discovery of Alaknanda - a fully-formed spiral galaxy existing when the universe was just one-tenth its current age. The episode also explores WASP-107b, an exoplanet dramatically shedding its atmosphere, visible through Webb's powerful instruments.Perfect for astronomy enthusiasts and space exploration fans, this episode showcases how the James Webb Space Telescope continues revolutionizing our understanding of the cosmos with its ability to observe distant infrared light and peer through cosmic dust to reveal the universe's hidden secrets.Some great Deals https://amzn.to/49SJ3QsFor more check out http://www.quietplease.aiThis content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

In this episode of Tiny Show and Tell Us, we talk about different ways of turning pennies all of the colors of the rainbow. Then we discuss an ongoing NASA mission to touch the sun.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

# Journey Through the Cosmos with The Space Cowboy Podcast: Webb Telescope RevelationsExplore the universe's greatest mysteries in this fascinating episode of The Space Cowboy Podcast. Host delves into groundbreaking discoveries from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope that are transforming our understanding of cosmic reality.Learn about the record-breaking competition among scientists vying to use Webb's powerful capabilities, with over 2,900 proposals submitted for its fifth cycle. Discover the unprecedented findings about interstellar comet 3I ATLAS, which exhibits extreme chemical compositions and bizarre behavior that challenges established science.The episode covers Webb's detection of life's chemical building blocks in a neighboring galaxy, potential sightings of Population III stars from the universe's dawn, and the discovery of an unusual cold gas giant planet that defies current planetary formation theories.Perfect for space enthusiasts, astronomy buffs, and anyone fascinated by our cosmic neighborhood, this episode showcases how Webb is revolutionizing our understanding of the universe. Subscribe to join The Space Cowboy on this continuing journey through the cosmic prairie.#SpaceTelescope #Astronomy #CosmicDiscoveries #JamesWebbTelescope #Exoplanets #InterstellarObjectsSome great Deals https://amzn.to/49SJ3QsFor more check out http://www.quietplease.aiThis content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

Recorded November 1, 2025: It's Made of Stars... LIVE! How do you move a space shuttle without a shuttle mover and while preserving it? We're learning more about Jupiter's role in our solar system. Plus 3I/ATLAS and its strange behavior has scientists scratching their heads. Plus photos from the 50's have light flashes that could be UFOs. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/made-of-stars--4746260/support.

The future of the Juno mission is uncertain after the probe's extension ended on Sept. 30, right before the government shutdown. Plus, the OSIRIS-APEX mission continues on after almost being cancelled. The mission will study the asteroid Apophis as it flies close to Earth in 2029.

The universe is hard enough to figure out without one kind of object dressing up as another, but - just in time for Halloween - researchers have figured out that the Little Red Dot in the early universe just might be massive black holes surrounded in a costume of glowing red gas. Also in this episode, Hyabusa2's amusingly tiny destination, a white dwarf star eating what may be an icy dwarf planet, and tales from the launch pad.

If the United States is indeed in a space race with China, then we cannot abandon space science. That’s the claim made by Maxwell Zhu and The Planetary Society’s chief of space policy, Casey Dreier, in a recent op-ed in Payload Space. Their piece contrasted the growing ambitions of China’s coming space science program against the draconian cuts proposed by the White House in 2026. The results are stark: where China is pursuing new missions, the United States is abandoning them. Casey and Maxwell explore why this is the case, whether China sees this investment as part of a competition at all, and the structural challenges of integrating space science into a geopolitical context. Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/maxwell-zhu-on-chinas-space-science-ambitionsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week's episode, we tell the story of a Giant Blue Star that made the terrible, terrible mistake of trying to nibble on its more evolved sibling; it's black hole of a sibling. Folks, don't eat the dark holes in spacetime. We also look at this week's news, including lumpy planets, forming planets, asteroids getting up close and personal, and how Leopard spots are in style for life hunting Mars Scientists. We also have tales from the launch pad.

Earlier this year, the White House proposed a nearly 24% cut to NASA's 2026 fiscal year budget — the largest in the agency's history. The trims are largely aimed at the NASA's fundamental science research and would halt science that has already been partially paid for, like the Mars sample return and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Many scientists and policy experts are also worried that the reduced funding would cause a scientific brain drain. But within the last month, Congress has started to discuss appropriations packages that may not severely contract the budget after all. So, in this episode, Regina reports on the important hypotheticals: What programs might be affected? Are these cuts likely to happen? If so, when? Want to hear more stories about space and policy? Let us know at shortwave@npr.org.Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Recorded at the 2025 Humans to the Moon and Mars Summit (H2M2) in Washington, D.C., this episode features two powerful conversations about the future of human space exploration. Hosted by Mat Kaplan, senior communications adviser at The Planetary Society, these panel discussions explore the scientific and diplomatic foundations guiding humanity’s journey beyond Earth. The first panel, Space Science: A Vital National Interest, features James Green, former NASA chief scientist and chair of the Explore Mars advisory board, James Garvin, chief scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Britney Schmidt, astrobiologist and associate professor at Cornell University, and John Mather, Nobel Prize–winning astrophysicist and senior scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope. They discuss how space science drives innovation, strengthens U.S. national priorities, and deepens our understanding of the universe, especially in the face of proposed funding cuts. In the second panel, Artemis Accords: International Collaboration in Deep Space, Mike Gold of Redwire, Marc Jochemich of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Adnan Mohammad Alrais of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, and Sohair Salam Saber of The Hague Institute for Global Justice explore how diplomacy and shared values are shaping global participation in lunar exploration. The conversation also highlights the Washington Compact, an effort to bring shared values and responsible behavior in space to commercial companies and other non-governmental organizations. We wrap up the show with a new What’s Up segment with Bruce Betts, where we talk about what could happen if the Gateway lunar space station is canceled, and how that would impact humanity’s dreams for Mars. Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2025-H2M2See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When will the last supernova be? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice explore types of novas, freaky binary star systems, core collapse, standard candles, and the explosive future of Betelgeuse with astrophysicist Michael Shara.NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://startalkmedia.com/show/super-duper-novas-with-michael-shara/Thanks to our Patrons Devon Gromko, Ron C, Blake Flynn, michelle slaughter, Mia Ham, Ryan Jacobs, Philipp Fallon, Ashley Sandfort, Sam, John Munn, Fred Rubin, TJ Kochhar, Zeraka, Jason Huddleston, Richard Ireland Jr, Judy, Darren Lawson, Bob, Rahul Phatak, Santiago Salas Ventura, Nicholas Bartlett, John D Sostrom, Byron E, Jeremy Corbello, Josh Kirkman, Daniel Carneiro, Tommyboi711, Thomas Hall, Keith Rogers, Luke Hargrett, Darren, Tassos Souris, Patrick GRindol, Erin Anthony, Duane Wolfe, PcuriousJ, Greg Gredvig, Trey Nicholson, Torsten Diekhoff, Sergiu Neacsu, Scott Woodman, FredDawg, Corey He, Kolja Milankovic, Jim Ransom, Kris Waygood, Suvi Irvine, Sarath, Cody Knotts, Jose Trejo, Lauren, Maverick91, Gloss, James, AComatoseLemur, and Ivan Dsouza 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.

How do we detect ripples in spacetime? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Harrison Greenbaum explore black hole collisions, quantum tricks, and how gravitational waves can help us uncover the early universe with MIT physicist and LIGO researcher Nergis Mavalvala.NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://startalkmedia.com/show/when-black-holes-collide-with-nergis-mavalvala/Thanks to our Patrons Akhilesh Kashyap, George Woods, Alishan Momin, Scott Artyn, Terrance Wallace, justinetaylor1989, David Kupersmith, Asef Karim, Robert Somazze, Micheal Emmer, Jeffrey Cooper, Bigyan Bhar, Gavin TRaber, A Bains, josh burrell, Darius Cruz, Cassandre L Henderson, Liam Higley, Ojakuna, Karen, Anshul Sanghi, Sam Walley, David Eatwell, Psychotacon, Alec Myers, Alfred Rivera, Colby Carmichiel, Tommy, kim kanahele, Robert Breutzmann, Dan Defibaugh, Slyter, Aksheev Bhambri, Chris Topher, Joanna Apergis, Rockington, Patrick Corrigan, AlexKP_, Abi ROdriguez, Shawn Santor, Shanna Johnston, Cleve Dawson, Mohammed Bilal Monnoo, Patrick Laurin, Eric Kaplan, Dr. What, Glen S. Sheets, David Yardley, Librak Productions LLC, and Catherine Thomas 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.

Is “now” just an illusion? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Paul Mecurio answer questions on the Higgs Field, dark energy, and the feasibility of Dyson spheres with astrophysicist Hakeem Oluseyi.NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://startalkmedia.com/show/hubble-trouble-with-hakeem-oluseyi/Thanks to our Patrons Omar Video, Dan Carson, Joy Jack, Christine Bryant, Andrea Andrade, mahmoud hassan, Kyal Murray, Mercedes Dominguez, Christopher Rogalski, Eric De Bruin, Telmore, Gabe Ramshaw, James Edward Humphrey, Laurel Herbert, AJ Chambers, Bill WInn, Mayson Howell, Julianne Markow, Manthan Patel, Sonya Ponds, Depression Rawr, David Leys, Garon Devine, Vishal Ayeppun, BIIZZxGaming, Kurt Clark, Max Goldberg, Beth McDaniel, Shelby Staudenmaier, Kinnick Sutton, Jane von Schilling, Joanne karl, Walter Kinslow, and Eric Johnston 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.