Big Picture Science

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Journey to a Black Hole Dec 21, 2009

Show notes

A massive black hole lies at the center of our galaxy, a monster hunkered down in the Milky Way’s innermost sanctum. Here, the bizarre laws of General Relativity take over, as the physics we know break down. And our spaceship is headed straight for it.

Join us on a special dramatized 26,000 light-year adventure to the Galaxy’s hulking heart of darkness. We explore a cosmos held together by gravity – discover why it’s not really a force – and try to avoid getting too close to a black hole, the ultimate expression of gravity.

This program is part of the traveling exhibit: “Black Holes, Space Warps and Time Twists,” a production of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Find out more at: http://web-bh.cfa.harvard.edu/

Voices:

Roland Pease, Lilia Roman, Roe DeVasto, Doug Vakoch, Patrick Porter, Gary Niederhoff

Descripción en español

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A Man, A Planet, A Tenal: Panama! Dec 14, 2009

Show notes

While the Kepler spacecraft hunts for habitable planets beyond the solar system, we’ve let one of our own planets slip away! Find out why Pluto’s demotion to dwarf status created a public uproar as astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson reads us his hate mail. From third-graders!

Also, how we might find Earth-like planets… the possibility of life on Saturn’s moon Titan… and TED Prize winner Jill Tarter’s vision for finding E.T.

And, the man who made it all possible: 400 years of Galileo and the telescope. Part of our series for the International Year of Astronomy.

Guests

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

Descripción en español

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Skeptic Check: Bigfoot Press Conference Aug 25, 2008

Show notes

Finally, Bigfoot meets habeus corpus: three men claim they have the body of the elusive hirsute creature on ice, and throw a big press conference to prove it. Lots of journalists show up, as do the Bigfoot baggers. Days later the purported historic discovery turned out to be - gasp! - a hairy hoax. How did these men perpetuate the con - and why did the media, including Are We Alone?, bother to cover it?

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

Guests:

Lori Marino - Behavioral Biologist at Emory University
Jeff Meldrum - Professor of Anatomy at Boise State University, and author of Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science
Jerry Parrino - Owner of costume maker thehorrordome.com
James Underdown - Executive Director of the Center for Inquiry West in Los Angeles

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