Astronomy Cast - Ep. 112: Death From the Skies, Interview with Phil Plait

Ep. 112: Death From the Skies, Interview with Phil Plait

We say it all the time here on Astronomy Cast: the Universe is trying to kill us. This week, Pamela is joined by Dr. Phil Plait to discuss his new book, Death from the Skies. Phil and Pamela talk about asteroid strikes, solar flares and gamma ray bursts.

Ep. 112: Death from the Skies, Interview with Phil Plait
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Ep 104: Science Fiction at Dragon*Con with Plait and Grazier

Pamela left Fraser behind (with sorrow) and took on Dragon*Con and the facts (or lack there of) in Science Fiction. Helping her out were special guests Phil Plait and Kevin Grazier.

Ep. 104: Science Fiction at Dragon*Con with Plait and Grazier
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Ep. 80: Craters

Pamela's attending the 39th Lunar and Planetary Sciences Conference, and you know what that means: the Moon… and planets! When you think of the Moon, you think of craters. In fact, that's a big theme this week at the conference, so Pamela took it as inspiration. Here you go, the week we drove the show into a crater. Wait… there's got to be a better way to describe this.

Episode 80: Craters (16.3MB)
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Ep. 70: How To Win a Nobel Prize

Just a couple of shows ago, we showed you how to get a career in astronomy. Now that you've got your career in astronomy, obviously the next goal is to win a Nobel prize. We're here at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Austin, which is just one tiny step that a person has to take before you get that Nobel prize. Before you get that call in the middle of the night from Sweden, you're going to need to come with an idea, do some experiments, write a paper, get published and a bunch of other stuff. This week, we'll tell you all about it.

Episode 70: How to Win a Nobel Prize (13.9MB)
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Ep. 67: Building a Career in Astronomy

With all the enthusiasm that's being generated with astronomy, it's had a bit of a strange side-effect. We've been causing some of our listeners to have midlife crises about their careers. We've had other people who just want advice – they're moving into college for the first time and they want to direct the courses they're going to be taking into astronomy. Some other people already have skills that are very useful and have wondered how they can help up or even change their career to be working in the field. We thought we'd try and answer everyone's questions all at once and just run through the major career paths you can take that relate to astronomy and space, and the kinds of things you'll need to do to actually make yourself a good candidate for that field.

Episode 67: Building a Career in Astronomy (16.9MB)
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Ep. 53: Astronomy in Science Fiction

$This week\'s episode was recorded live at Dragon*Con 2007$
This is a very different episode of Astronomy Cast. As we mentioned last week, Pamela recently attended the Dragon*Con science fiction convention in Atlanta, Georgia. While she was there, she participated in a special live edition of Astronomy Cast with special guest Dr. Kevin Frazier. Kevin is a NASA scientist, and the science consultant for the TV shows Battlestar Galactica and Eureka. He and Pamela work through physics and astronomy in popular science fiction. What they get right, and what they get wrong… so very wrong.

Episode 53: Astronomy in Science Fiction(27.4MB)

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Ep. 40: American Astronomical Society Meeting, May 2007

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.

Episode 40: American Astronomical Society Meeting, May 2007 (13.0MB)

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Ep. 39: Astrology and UFOs

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.

Episode 39: Astrology and UFOs(16.5MB)

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Ep. 20: What We Learned from the American Astronomical Society

It's astronomical society get together time, and we send Pamela to investigate and record. Hear the latest news that will make your text books out of date. Find out where all the dark matter is collecting, the identity of Kepler's supernova, and new insights into the closest, brightest supernova in recent memory.

Episode 20: What We Learned from the American Astronomical Society (12.6 MB)
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Ep. 112: Death From the Skies, Interview with Phil Plait

Ep 104: Science Fiction at Dragon*Con with Plait and Grazier

Ep. 80: Craters

Ep. 70: How To Win a Nobel Prize

Ep. 67: Building a Career in Astronomy

Ep. 53: Astronomy in Science Fiction

Ep. 40: American Astronomical Society Meeting, May 2007

Ep. 39: Astrology and UFOs

Ep. 20: What We Learned from the American Astronomical Society