Category: Podcasts

It’s time to answer questions again, but this time we hope that you’ll take a minute and answer ours. We’ve written a brief survey that we hope you’ll take a minute to fill out. This survey will allow us to collect some general demographic information about our audience so we can make the show even better. We promise it doesn’t even ask your email address – and, if you fill it out, we’ll give you a link to a special, full-length episode that does not appear on our feed.

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Listener Survey – Show notes and transcript

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If you remember way back to Episode 9, we covered Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity. Well, that’s only half of the relativity picture. The great scientist made an even more profound impact on physics with his theory of general relativity, replacing Newton with a better model for gravity.

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Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity – Show notes and transcript

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It’s time to answer the questions again. And this time we’ve got some doozies. Is the Universe rotating? Is space something, or is it nothing? Is dark energy evenly distributed? What would happen if an astronaut went out the airlock, without a spacesuit. Want to know the answers? Well, you’ve got to listen.

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Questions Questions #5 – Show notes and transcript

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You probably don’t realize it, but magnetic fields are everywhere. We’re not talking about the magnets in your speakers, your electronic equipment or on the fridge door. We’re talking about the gigantic magnetic fields that surround planets, stars, galaxies and some of the most exotic objects in the Universe.

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Magnetism Everywhere – Show notes and transcript

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The last decade has been the golden age of astronomy, with new observatories and space telescopes pushing out our understanding of the Universe. We can see billions of light years away, watch dynamic events unfold in almost real-time, and see into every corner of the electromagnetic spectrum. Just you wait: things will only get better. Here come the supertelescopes!

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The Rise of the Supertelescopes – Show notes and transcript

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Once again, Pamela does her duty as an astronomer and joins her colleagues at the American Astronomical Society’s meeting, held in May, 2007 on Honolulu, Hawaii. With all that sand, surf and sun, how did anyone get any science done? Pamela tracked down the interesting stories, and brought them back so we could analyze them.

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American Astronomical Society Meeting, May 2007 – Show notes and transcript

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While Pamela’s away at the American Astronomical Society meeting, we brought in a special guest to help debunk some of the pseudoscience that people mistake for astronomy. Dr Steven Novella from the Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe gets to the bottom of astrology and UFOs, and why they’re not real science.

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Astrology and UFOs – Show notes and transcript

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Astronomers are always trying to get their hands on bigger and more powerful telescopes. But the most powerful telescopes in the Huge stars become black holes, and small stars become white dwarfs. But medium-sized stars can become neutron stars; exotic objects that overcome the nuclear force holding protons and electrons apart. What was once the size of a star is compressed down to only a few dozen kilometres across.

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Neutron Stars and their Exotic Cousins – Show notes and transcript

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Gamma ray bursts are the most powerful explosions in the Universe, releasing more energy in a few seconds than our Sun will put out in its lifetime. It’s only been in the last few years that astronomers are finally starting to unravel the cataclysmic events that cause these energetic explosions.

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Questions Show #4 – Show notes and transcript

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