History | Astronomy Cast: Recent Episodes
History | Astronomy Cast
Astronomers talk about all the amazing discoveries they’re making but sometimes, it turns out, they were wrong. After decades and centuries of discoveries, how have they changed their minds?
This episode was made possible by the following Patreon members:
Jordan Young
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THANK YOU! – Fraser and Dr. Pamela
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It’s official! June and July were the warmest we’ve seen since records began over a century ago. Fires are rampant across Canada, and we’re seeing record droughts around the world. Today, we’re going to look at 20 years of climate science, how well does reality match up with the predictions.
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Show NotesRecord shattering: Earth had its hottest July in 174 years (NOAA)
This is Canada’s worst wildfire season on record, researchers say (Washington Post)
Rainforest (National Geographic)
What’s the Difference Between Weather and Climate? (NOAA)
Parts of South America are sweltering under a ‘fierce’ heatwave – and it’s the middle of winter (CNN)
Both of the planet’s poles experience extreme heat, and Antarctica breaks records (NPR)
Greenhouse gases continued to increase rapidly in 2022 (NOAA)
World of Change: Global Temperatures (NASA)
What are El Nino and La Nina? (NOAA)
Aerosols: Small Particles with Big Climate Effects (NASA)
The heat index reached 152 degrees in the Middle East — nearly at the limit for human survival (Washington Post)
Basics of Climate Change (EPA)
Exxon scientists predicted global warming with ‘shocking skill and accuracy,’ Harvard researchers say (Harvard Gazette)
Global warming: World on track to breach 1.5 degrees of warming in the next 5 years (CNN)
Mount Graham Red Squirrel (Arizona State University)
The effort to restore Joshua trees after Mojave wildfire faces grim odds (NPR)
Panama Canal water levels at historic lows, restrictions to remain (Reuters)
‘Receding before our eyes’: Island glaciers likely to be all gone by mid-century (Victoria Times-Colonist)
World’s biggest permafrost crater growing, as Earth warms (EarthSky)
Siberia permafrost yields well-preserved ice age woolly rhino (The Guardian)
Viruses in permafrost: Scientists have revived a ‘zombie’ virus that spent 48,500 years frozen (CNN)
A worm that survived 46,000 years in permafrost wows scientists (NPR)
How is the current global warming trend different from previous warming periods in Earth’s history? (Climate.gov)
What is the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)? (NOAA)
Reconstruction of Major North Atlantic Circulation System Shows Weakening (NOAA)
PDF: GLOBAL CLIMATIC IMPACTS OF A COLLAPSE OF THE ATLANTIC THERMOHALINE CIRCULATION (Harvard University)
Warning of a forthcoming collapse of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Nature Communications)
Renewable Energy Costs Have Dropped Much Faster Than Expected, But There’s A Catch (Forbes)
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Last week we talked about the laws that govern space exploration. This week the rubber hits the road. What are the consequences for actually breaking these rules? Are they really going to stop anyone?
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The Universe was inaccessible for most of human history, but the first tentative steps to space in the 20th century made humanity realize that science fiction was becoming science reality. New rules would have to be written to govern how we used this limitless expanse. Today we’ll talk about the Outer Space Treaty of 1967.
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We’re recording this episode on Halloween, so how could we resist but take advantage of this opportunity. Space is already terrifying enough, you know, with the vast endless emptiness, incomprehensible mysteries, and uncaring coldness. But here are some scary stories to spook it up a notch.
It’s been about 65 years since the Soviets launched the first orbital satellite into low Earth orbit: Sputnik 1. Now there are thousands of satellites in orbit, with tens of thousands on the way. Let’s look at the impact that Sputnik had on the history of spaceflight.
On the day that we’re recording this, NASA’s Space Launch System is about to blast off. But everyone is expecting it’ll be delayed to October. When it does launch, it’ll be the most powerful rocket on Earth. Well, until Starship blasts off. Are we about to see the end of single-use rockets and enter the era of reusable rocketry?
Have you ever noticed that significant space and astronomy events seem to happen during holidays? It’s not a coincidence, there’s actually a reason why. Today we’ll talk about some of the key events that happened during holidays.
With all the success of James Webb so far, it's looking like science's huge gamble is going to pay off, but there were years of delays and budget overruns. What impacts did these delays have on science, careers, and the future of space exploration?
You're familiar with the Hubble Space Telescope, of course, but it's just one of NASA's Great Observatories. After Hubble came three more incredible observatories, each greater than the last. Together, they would fill in almost the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
Astronomy Cast more than 600 episodes ago. Are there any updates? Does Pluto have a chance of regaining planethood again?
When you think about the world's observatories, I'm sure you're imagining huge telescopes perched atop mountain peaks, or space telescopes like Hubble. But you might be surprised to learn that some telescopes are carried high into the atmosphere on board balloons. What can they accomplish?
The Moon is about to become a very busy place, with multiple countries and private companies planning missions in the next few years. It's been decades since the Outer Space Treaty was negotiated. It's time for the Artemis Accords.
We lost a bright star here on planet Earth last week. NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson passed away at the age of 101, after an incredible career of helping humans land on the Moon. If you saw the movie Hidden Figures, you'll know what I'm talking about.
This week we're live at the American Astronomical Society's 235th meeting in Honolulu, Hawai'i. We learned about new planets, black holes and star formation, but the big issue hanging over the whole conference is the protests and politics over the new Thirty Meter Telescope due for construction on Mauna Kea.
The Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation is the earliest moment in the Universe that we can see with our telescopes, just a few hundred thousand years after the Big Bang itself. What will it take for us to be able to fill in the missing gap? To see closer to the beginning of time itself?
Powerful observatories like Hubble and the Very Large Telescope have pushed our vision billions of light-years into the Universe, allowing us to see further and further back in time. But there are regions which we still haven't seen: the Cosmic Dark Ages. What's it going to take to observe some of these earliest moments in the Universe?
2018 was an incredible year in space news. Rockets launched, landers landed, spacecraft were born and died. We learned tremendous new things about Universe around us, and today we're here to look back fondly over the last 12 months to review the year in space that was.