17 Jun 2011 at 7:16pm
Our improving understanding of the cosmos points to an early epoch during which the universe expanded at a stupendous rate to create the vast amount of space we can observe. Cosmologist are now coming to believe that this "cosmic inflation" may do much more: in many versions, inflation goes on forever, generating not just our observable universe but also infinitely many such regions with similar or different properties, together forming a staggeringly complex and vast "multiverse". Dr. Anthony Aguirre (University of California at Santa Cruz) traces the genesis of this idea, explores some of its implications, and discusses how scientists are seeking ways to test this idea. Recorded May 18, 2011.
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13 May 2011 at 2:45pm
Recent satellite missions are giving scientists dramatic new views of the Sun and the huge magnetic explosions in its outer layers that cause flares and the ejections of huge masses of superheated gas. Dr. Thomas Berger of the Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Lab takes us on a beautiful tour through our Sun's atmosphere with images and movies from these missions. Recorded April 20, 2011.
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24 Mar 2011 at 11:19am
Titan, Saturn's largest satellite, is the only moon with a thick atmosphere. In many ways, Titan is a cold twin of the Earth, with liquid methane playing the same role there as water plays on our planet. Life on Earth is based on liquid water; could there be life on Titan based on liquid methane? Dr. Chris McKay from the NASA Ames Research Center (co-investigator on the Huygens probe that landed on Titan) discuss the new picture we have of this alien world, with its lakes, its rivers, and its rocks made of water ice. Recorded March 9, 2011.
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4 Feb 2011 at 11:55am
Dr. Michael Brown of Caltech shares the inside story of how he discovered "other Pluto's" out there beyond Neptune, including Eris, which is now known to be about the same size as Pluto. He named that new world for the goddess of discord, because, as he describes with his characteristic humor, its discovery resulted in a private and public controversy that led to a redefinition of what a planet is. Recorded January 19, 2011.
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10 Jan 2011 at 11:43am
NASA's Kepler spacecraft, launched in March 2009, is a mission designed to survey a slice of the Milky Way Galaxy to identify planets orbiting other stars. Kepler has the advantage that it can find planets as small as Earth in or near the habitable zone of each star. Dr. Natalie Batalha (San Jose State University) introduces the quest for planets elsewhere, describes the techniques used by the Kepler team, and shares some of the mission discoveries to date. Recorded November 17, 2010.
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22 Nov 2010 at 4:01pm
The long-term fate of the planets in our Solar System has intrigued astronomers and mathematicians for over 300 years. Although the planetary orbits are often held up as a model of clockwork regularity, the Solar System is in truth an extremely complex and chaotic system. Dr. Gregory Laughlin of the University of California, Santa Cruz explains how recent advances in computing technology have finally given us a solution to the problem. He also shows how the delicate gravitational interplay between the planets can be interpreted as a true "music of the spheres", and auditions the unsettling compositions that can result in the event that the planetary orbits go haywire in the extremely distant future. Recorded October 20, 2010.
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3 Aug 2010 at 10:06am
Black holes are regions of space where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape! No longer confined to the imaginations of science-fiction writers and theoretical physicists, black holes have recently been discovered in large numbers by observational astronomers. Learn about the remarkable properties of these bizarre objects from Dr. Alex Filippenko (University of California, Berkeley), one of the finest explainers in the field of astronomy. Recorded May 19, 2010.
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11 May 2010 at 9:57am
Many people have heard the rumors that the world will end in 2012 -- and that some astronomical event or alignment is to blame. Dr. David Morrison of the NASA Lunar Science Institute and SETI Institute discusses the public fears and how they have been enflamed by the media. He sets our minds at ease, showing why there is no reason to worry more in 2012 than any other year. Recorded April 21, 2010.
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12 Apr 2010 at 2:44pm
Antimatter is just like matter with all its properties reversed. Scientists think there may have been equal amount of matter and antimatter in the early universe, and yet today we have lots of matter and very little antimatter. How and when that imbalance developed is one of the great mysteries in understanding the underlying properties of the universe. Dr. Helen Quinn, Professor of Physics at the Stanford Linear Accelerator and co-author of a popular book on antimatter, discusses the history of our understanding of antimatter and how we use the little bit of antimatter around today to study some of the highest energy processes among the stars and galaxies. (This talk is a bit more technical than our usual lectures, but well worth exploring if you are interested in some of the most exciting frontiers of physics.) Recorded March 10, 2010.
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10 Mar 2010 at 12:27pm
A half-century ago, astronomers began trying to "eavesdrop" for radio messages from nearby star systems. However, today, SETI researchers continue to point their telescopes at individual stars, on the assumption that technically advanced societies will inhabit a watery world like our own. Dr. Seth Shostak of the SETI Institute describes these searches, but then discusses some novel ideas for how we might pursue the hunt for "cosmic company" and why it's possible that we might find evidence of sophisticated intelligence out there within only a few decades. Seth Shostak is Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute, in Mountain View, California and hosts the syndicated radio show called "Are We Alone?" Recorded January 20, 2010.
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