EVSN: Escape Velocity Space News

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Yes, Scientists DO Look at the (Dark Energy Survey) Data Feb 14, 2024

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Every time I get the digital "why can't you scientists just look at the data" lecture, I wonder what people think scientists do. All we do is look at data, and when that data tells us our understanding of the universe is wrong, we're pretty good at accepting the data and throwing out our false understandings… even when the data makes our life a whole lot harder. Such is the case with the accelerating rate of expansion of the Universe...

Celebrating the Mars Robots that Could Feb 07, 2024

Show notes

Robots on Mars have a long history of exceeding all possible expectations. From Spirit and Opportunity lasting far beyond their planned 90-day missions to Ingenuity lasting 72 flights out of a planned five, these craft have become so beloved that we mourn their missions ending. Today, while we recognize NASA's Day of Remembrance, we also celebrate all the Mars missions that have done more than expected.

The Compass (Sometimes... Kinda) Points North Jan 24, 2024

Show notes

If you take a compass and follow its pointy little needle, you will end up in Northern Canada but not at the North Pole. If you have a boat, you'll end up on Ellesmere Island wondering where Santa is hiding. The fact that the rotational north pole of the Earth and the magnetic pole of the Earth don't align means that if you want to actually get to the Earth's rotational North Pole - the one the pole sticks out of on your globe - you have to look up corrections online and veer a little bit in whatever direction the correction happens to be at the moment. And if you are catching this show sometime far, far in the future, then Ellesmere Island that is true in early 2024 is likely no longer true.

Spooky Season Space Images Jan 11, 2024

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From October 25, 2023: Around our parent collaboration, CosmoQuest, Halloween is, hands-down, the most beloved season of the year. Costumes are worn. Yards are decorated. We are here for all the strangers that knock on our door - the weirdos, the witches, and the oh-so-many werewolves - and there will be as much candy as we can afford given out. We know we are not the only ones. With about a week to go, we know that any day now, NASA, ESA, ESO, and others will begin releasing their spooky season images. There will be nebulae cropped with the contrast adjusted just so to reveal witches' hats, and others rotated to reveal ghosts and maybe - I can hope - a goblin or two.

Making Anti-Matter... Matter Jan 03, 2024

Show notes

In this episode, we look at what tree rings can teach us about past earthquakes, and how well machine learning can identify life, like trees, from carbon-rich materials that were never alive to distant galaxies and spinning black holes. We even take a deep dive into anti-matter, but not a literal deep dive… just a conceptual deep dive.

Whales and (Possible) Space Whales Dec 29, 2023

Show notes

As the Thanksgiving leftovers reach the stage of possibly gaining intelligence in the back of our refrigerators, we're going to take a look at the origins of life, how we might find simple life on icy moons, and even how we can practice learning to communicate with other civilizations by chatting up a humpback whale.

Blast From the Past: Watch the Annular Eclipse on October 14! Dec 21, 2023

Show notes

When we headed into recording this episode, I didn't know if there would be a government shutdown or not, and I have to admit, on Saturday, September 30, I spent more than a few hours binge-watching TV shows while frequently updating my news feeds. This episode would have looked very different with a shutdown. Since we got a budget, today's episode focuses on science. In the first segment, I get to talk about something I never thought I'd even read about -- the effects of spawning anchovies on energy dissipation in the ocean. Along with that fishy story, we have news from the Mars rovers, pretty images, and information on watching the October 14th annular eclipse. (This episode was originally released on October 4, 2023.)

Solar Cycle to the Maximum, 2025 Dec 13, 2023

Show notes

Researchers currently think solar maximum - when the Sun is most active - will occur sometime in late 2024 to early 2025. With this cycle, we will experience just what a good blast of solar radiation can do to the small sats, CanSats, and other satellites in low-earth orbit. If history is to be listened to, it's only a matter of time before a solar event wreaks havoc on satellites and our ground-based society.

Planetary Formation Leads to Strange New Worlds Dec 06, 2023

Show notes

We keep tweaking our format a little bit every episode, trying to find the right mix for YouTube, podcasts, and now, short-form video. We think we the setup is on the mark now and thank you for your patience as we made adjustments. Soon, we will have content to share on TikTok and Reels. For now, enjoy this week's deep dive into planetary formation and all the ways scientists have tried to explain stellar systems. (This episode was originally released in video format on December 1, 2023.)

It's Not Aliens (We Also Want Aliens) Dec 03, 2023

Show notes

There are some news cycles that are just plain weird, and this news cycle tried really, really hard to be one of them. Headlines last week highlighted that JWST observed methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet, which is entirely true. This headline was followed by stories that the reason could be aliens… and there is not enough data to be aliens. We want there to be definitive signs of life on other worlds. We want to know that life is common. We want the universe to thrive with societies capable of art, exploration, empathy, and science. We want our universe to not be a tremendous waste of space. And it is really frustrating to see these stories that inevitably imply that researchers are trying to cover up the truth. We're not; we're impatiently waiting for there to be enough evidence that we can say, yes, there is life out there among the stars. And that evidence isn't here. (This episode was originally released on YouTube September 27, 2023.)

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