Blue Dot

In this first installment of a two part look at the life and career of Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean we hear from two very special astronaut friends. Alan Bean devoted his life to creating masterful oil paintings depicting many aspects of the Apollo Moon landings. Bean passed away at age 86 on May 26, 2018. We talk to his longtime friend, fellow Apollo astronaut Walt Cunningham who flew the very first test of the Apollo Command and Service module in Earth orbit -- Apollo 7. Then we talk to a

The Sacramento River flows from its headwaters above Shasta Dam to the Pacific Ocean through the Delta and out the Golden Gate. It is one of the most diverse and productive fisheries in the world. In this episode we examine the anadromous fishery in particular. Anadromous fish are those that spawn in fresh water but spend most of their lives in the ocean like the imperiled Chinook salmon. But we also check out other species of game fish that live in the river like green sturgeon, striped bass

For the 100th episode of Blue Dot we go volcanic! Dave interviews Erik Klemetti, Professor of Geosciences at Denison University in Ohio. Klemetti is an expert volcanologist who writes about volcanoes for the Discover Magazine blog Rocky Planet. We'll talk about the ongoing and unfolding saga of the Kilauea Volcano's eruptions on the big island of Hawaii. In the second half of the show, we visit with three California State University Chico students who are doing volcanology research as

Dave talks to Alan Stern and David Grinspoon, coauthors of Chasing Pluto: Inside The Epic First Mission to Pluto. When Voyager 2 flew by Neptune in 1989, it closed out the golden age of solar system exploration. But it left one unexplored body: Pluto. Stern was part of a group of scientists known as "The Pluto Underground." For years the proposed, lobbied and planned for a robotic mission to what was then, "the ninth planet." The mission that would be eventually called New Horizons went through

In this episode Dave visits with Adam Weymouth, author of the new book Kings of The Yukon. In it, he describes taking an epic trip down the length of the Yukon River in a canoe. His purpose is to learn about the longest Chinook or "King" salmon run in the world. As Adam leaves the spawning grounds at the headwaters, the salmon are entering the mouth of the river from the Bering Sea 2000 miles away. Somewhere along the way, the powerful swimmers and the human paddler will meet. As he journeys

In this episode we talk defense. Planetary defense. From one of the worst of all possible natural diasters, an asteroid impact. Dave talks to Lindley Johnson, NASA's "Planetary Defense Officer" from HQ in Washington, Paul Chodas (an expert on calculating asteroid orbits) and Physicist Megan Bruck Syal from the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in Pasadena. Johnson and Syal are involved in HAMMER ( Hypervelocity Asteroid Mitigation Mission for Emergency Response), a mission designed to actually

In this episode of Blue Dot, Dave talks to Jennifer Strauss from the UC Berkeley Seismology Lab and Ken Hudnut from the United States Geological Survey. Both are deeply involved in the April 18, 2018 roll out of the "Haywired Scenario" a scientifically accurate modeling of a Magnitude 6.8 earthquake on the Hayward Fault. Our conversation revolves around the new technology called Shake Alert. Using seismic monitoring all over the state (especially in quake prone areas such as the Bay area and

Big Wave Dave talks surfing! Featuring a conversation between San Francisco Chronicle sportswriter Bruce Jenkins and retired NASA Oceanographer Bill Patzert, we dive deep under the swells of the world of big waves with an emphasis on Mavericks -- the biggest surf wave on the west coast located in Half Moon Bay. The conversation wraps up reminiscing about Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer and a campaign for surfer license plates as a tribute to the classic film. Mark Sponsler rides big waves like

On this episode Dave is joined by co-host Kate Fullam as they interview Florence Williams, author of The Nature Fix: How Nature makes us Happier, Healthier and more Creative. The second half of the show features an in depth look at Naturebridge at Yosemite, a program that connects young people to nature on its grandest stage. Dave talks to Kristina Rylands, former Naturebridge participant who is now the head of the program. Nolan Ford visits with Ana Bachman from the McConnell Foundation, which

Before the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, the signature temblor in the Bay Area occurred on October 21, 1868. That rupture of a major fault, 150 years ago has drawn the attention of scientists concerned that a magnitude 6.5+ quake is due for the densely populated East Bay. Dave is joined by USGS Geophysicist Ken Hudnut as they interview two leading experts on the Hayward Fault: David Schwartz and Tom Brocher. It's a fascinating and frightening discussion of the "ticking seismic time bomb"