EVSN: Escape Velocity Space News

This week, in the first of our new shorter and more frequent episodes, we are going to take a look at the interplay of plate tectonics, geology, climate, and life. Specifically, we're looking at the interplay between super volcanoes and us! Did you know Naples is on a supervolcano? Also, in this episode: human sperm get lost in space.

Once again, we're going to attempt to get you up to date with what is going down at NASA. In addition to NASA updates, we have stories of science that comes in twos. From 2 planets forming in a disk to 2 stars coming together to shine brightly, to two asteroids that together orbit the Sun a bit faster, to two planets that collided, … it is a week for pairs.

In this special episode, funded by the National Science Foundation, we're taking a break from the headlines to share the background story of comets. Today, we'll focus on the origin of comets and their basic anatomy, and in future episodes, we'll dive deep into how comets are discovered, what we can learn from them, and how they can literally and figuratively impact our world.

This episode went through a lot of rewrites as breaking news kept breaking our hearts. Artemis is still on, but there are delays and cancellations. Before we face that, let's look at some pretty pictures and remember the universe is pretty even when our Earthly-timeline is not.

The glaciers are melting, the volcanoes are erupting, and earthquakes are shaking things up. Let's discuss.

In this episode, we take a closer look at how the increasing number of rockets and satellites going up mean there is also an unfortunate increase in the space junk coming down. We also cover dramatic weather, stars dying and disappearing, and update you on Maven and Paranal Observatory.

In this episode we look at highlights from the latest American Astronomical Society Meeting. An accidental theme came out: with each new telescope and each improved instrument we can look more closely at our universe - we can and do learn more and understand more even about the things we thought we knew best. In this episode, Rubin Observatory brings rapidly rotating asteroids, and JWST peers at objects thriving in the first 2 billion years of our universe. Observatory after observatory brings us new science.

In this episode, we're pleased to say we get to focus on science, as we bring you hot Jupiters, a tear-drop shaped Jupiter massed… something…? - and news of objects getting torn apart and other objects getting merged together as our universe lights up our night.

In this week's episode, we look at planets younger than fossils, celebrate relativity repeatedly working as expected, and peer at previously only theorized 1st generation stars using JWST. We celebrate the completion of the construction of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and look in on all the recent launches. All this and more is coming to you right here, and right now.

The world we live on today has undergone dramatic change since it first formed, and time hasn't necessarily been kind. Earth has gained some weight (and a Moon) after a chance collision. A leaky gut led to some confusing internal structures. Here on the surface, mountains keep finding new ways to pop off and destroy surroundings. But scientists are helping us understand all these factors. Learn how in this episode of EVSN, and also hear about our latest tales from the launch pad.