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The Cosmic Controversy PodcastEpisodes
Episodes of The Cosmic Controversy Podcast
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Guest Benjamin Greenhagen, a planetary scientist at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland, outlines the lunar surface’s remaining mysteries --- everything from permanently shaded regions at the North and South poles
Guest Paul Davies, a theoretical physicist and director of the BEYOND Center at Arizona State University, gives an enlightening and fascinating interview on the true nature of the Cosmos and why there is something rather than nothing. We also
Guest Christopher Combs, an assistant professor of aerodynamics at the University of Texas at San Antonio, discusses current prospects for supersonic. hypersonic and even suborbital spaceplane passenger flight. Combs clearly communicates the t
Acclaimed U.K. journalist Mark Piesing chats about his first book N-4 DOWN: THE HUNT FOR THE ARCTIC AIRSHIP ITALIA (Harper-Collins) which tracks the long-forgotten history of how airship and early aviators tried to conquer the North Pole. Umb
Guest Sheryl L. Bishop, a social psychologist and professor emeritus at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston gets real about what we need to make happen if astronauts are going to be able to thrive off-world beyond low-Earth orbi
Guest Edwin (Ted) Bergin, professor of astronomy and Chair of the Dept. of Astronomy at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, discusses whether our existence in this solar system is directly related to the initial chemical makeup of our star
University of Chicago associate professor Dorian Abbot chats about his research on the controversial Snowball Earth Hypothesis. That is, the idea that at least twice in Earth’s geological past, our planet was basically a glacial ball of ice an
Our civilization and technology as we know it owes itself to a fluke of evolution that enabled the development of human intelligence. It’s a marvelous and nuanced intelligence that cannot be replicated anywhere else in the cosmos. That doesn’
Darren DePoy, Professor of Astronomy and Associate Dean for Research at Texas A&M University in College Station, talks about using one of Einstein’s little-known and underappreciated method of microlensing to look for extrasolar planets around
Guest Earl Swift, a former reporter for The Virginian-Pilot and New York Times bestselling author of “Chesapeake Requiem” discusses his brand-new book “Across the Airless Wilds---the Lunar Rover and the Triumph of the Final Moon Landings,” just
University of Washington paleontologist Peter Ward, co-author of the famed non-fiction title, “Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon In The Universe" is my guest. He and University of Washington astronomer Donald Brownlee’s controversial b
Guest Gerald Jackson, former Fermilab physicist and advanced propulsion entrepreneur chats about his plans for an Antimatter Propulsion interstellar robotic probe. First stop would be Proxima Centauri. In a wide-ranging interview, Jackson tal
Matt Anderson, the John and Horace Dodge Curator of Transportation at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, speaks candidly about the early days of The Ford Motor Company and its foray into aviation via its revolutionary Tri-Motor airpla
Marc Pinsonneault, a professor of astronomy at The Ohio State University in Columbus, and an expert on stellar open clusters, chats about some of the most famous star clusters in the sky, including the beautiful, blue Seven Sisters of The Pleia
Historian and former Clinton presidential speechwriter Jeff Shesol chats about his new book, “Mercury Rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy and the New Battleground of the Cold War” just out from W.W. Norton. Shesol makes the case that the Cold War
Guest Ben K.D. Pearce, a Ph.D student in astrophysics and astrobiology at McMaster University in Toronto, and an expert on the origins of life’s building blocks here on Earth. We discuss the idea that all the genetic components from which life
Villanova University astrophysicist Edward Sion, an expert on stellar white dwarfs chats about our Sun’s own endgame and planet Earth’s ultimate future which may end in cinders. We also discuss the possibility of finding remnant solar systems
Geneticist Christopher Mason chats about his new book, “The Next 500 Years: Engineering Life to Reach New Worlds” from MIT Press. We discuss both the nuts and bolts and the philosophy driving our expansion offworld. Mason’s goal is to preser
Guest commercial pilot and author Jack Hersch talks about his 2020 book, “The Dangers of Automation in Airliners: Accidents Waiting to Happen.” It’s both a fascinating and harrowing read but prompts questions and nagging issues that the aviat
World-renowned, University of Hawaii cosmologist Brent Tully on 50 years of mapping the nearby universe which includes our own home supercluster ‘Laniakea.’ Tully candidly assesses the state of cosmography, the science of making 3-D maps of th
Astronomer and author Linda Schweizer talks about her comprehensive new history of Palomar Observatory --- “Cosmic Odyssey: How Intrepid Astronomers At Palomar Observatory Changed Our View of the Universe” from MIT Press. We focus on Palomar’
Harvard University geologist Andrew H. Knoll takes on the grand sweep of Earth’s formation and evolution in his new book “A Brief History of Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters. He succinctly describes Earth from its cosmological begin
Author Eric Lindner talks about his forthcoming book, “Tiger in the Sea: The Ditching of Flying Tiger 923 and the Desperate Struggle for Survival.” The September 23, 1962 Flying Tiger Line passenger charter Lockheed Super Constellation aircra
Fascinating new chat with Michael Seiffert, the NASA project scientist for the U.S. contribution to the European Space Agency’s Euclid spacecraft. Due for launch in the second half of 2022, we discuss how this new space telescope will help ast
Jason Rhodes, a cosmologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, and the JPL Roman Space Telescope Project Scientist, discusses a proposed galaxy survey to end all galaxy surveys. One that would wring as much information out of our
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