Blue Dot

This week, we look at the ice sheets of Antarctica. Like so much of the world's ice, a lot of it is melting away and shrinking. But there are certain places in Antarctica that the ice is actually increasing. How? Why? Better ask a scientist. Or how about three? Son Nghiem, Eric Larour and Ala Khazendar give us the scoop on how scientists gather this crucial data, and what it's telling them about our changing climate.

The Dawn spacecraft is pretty cool (we've thought so for a long time). Using its ion propulsion system, it's studied Vesta and now Ceres, the two largest objects in the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter. The craft and its Earthbound crew are this year's winners of the Collier Trophy, awarded for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America.

This week on Blue Dot, we look at how we measure the amount of snowpack in the Sierra Nevada. We hear from Steve Margulis , a hydrology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Michael Durand , a professor at Ohio State University. They both help give us the numbers that tell how much water (we think) is in the Sierra Snowpack , how much meltwater we'll have to use as a state, and how long it will take the snowpack to recover from drought.

In Greco-Roman mythology, Juno was Jupiter's wife (and sister... hmm). Jupiter would shroud his behaviors in clouds, but Juno could part them and see what Jupiter was up to. Launched five years ago, NASA's Juno spacecraft will be lifting the veil on Jupiter when it enters Jovian orbit on the Fourth of July. The craft, the fastest thing ever built by humans, will gather data on the gas giant's magnetosphere, its gravity and its very composition. This data could help provide insight on many of the

Is it summer already? Just like we did in the spring, we talk with National Weather Service meteorologists Tom Dang and Bill Rasch . Tom and Bill talk about forecasting in the hot North State summer, where the hottest of the hot spots are, how we cool down, and what we may have to look forward to in terms in La Niña .