Join communications specialist Beth Johnson and historian Rebecca Charbonneau as they discuss Dr. Charbonneau's new book, Mixed Signals. The book examines the Cold War relationship between the US and the USSR, what it meant for radio astronomy, and how it affected the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. (Recorded live on 19 December 2024.)

Get ready to giggle and make bad jokes. Uranus is back in the news. In 1986, Voyager 2 flew by the distant ice giant and made a strange discovery—the planet's magnetic field was weird. It's not just weird; it's unlike every other planet in the solar system. For nearly 40 years, scientists have tried to understand why. To solve the mystery, researchers delved into the data collected by Voyager 2 and found a "cosmic coincidence". The solar wind was unusually strong just prior to the flyby, causing the strange observations. This is good news for Uranus's moons, which were thought to be inactive as a result of the Voyager 2 findings. Join planetary scientist Beth Johnson and space plasma physicist Jamie Jasinski from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory as they discuss the initial observations, how the data was reevaluated, and what this all means for future missions to Uranus. (Recorded 12 December 2024.)

Imagine that scene from every apocalyptic asteroid movie—you know the one. The scientist comes rushing in because a "new" asteroid has been detected and is on a collision course with Earth. What happens next? The answer depends on several factors: how big is the asteroid, what is it made of, and how soon is the impact? (That's simplified but roll with it.) NASA's DART mission showed that an impactor can change the orbit of an asteroid, but that tested the hypothesis on the tiny moon of a small asteroid. What if the asteroid is much larger? Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico may have an answer -- a controlled nuclear blast that deflects (rather than destroys) the asteroid. Join planetary scientist Beth Johnson and lead author Nathan Moore for an exciting—and probably terrifying—conversation about how to keep our advanced civilization alive. (Recorded live 5 December 2024.)

Join Dr. Franck Marchis, Chief Science Officer and co-founder at Unistellar and director of Citizen Science at SETI Institute, and Dr. Lauren Sgro, Outreach Manager at the SETI Institute, for a conversation on citizen science with the Unistellar network in partnership with the SETI Institute. We take the time to answer your questions about our program on the Unistellar community page and discuss some of the recent highlights, including comet observations and exoplanet discoveries. (Recorded 21 November 2024.)

Nearly 40 years ago, on November 20, 1984, the SETI Institute was incorporated with inaugural officers CEO Thomas Pierson and SETI scientist Jill Tarter. The goal was to provide SETI researchers with a place to grow the search for life beyond Earth. What began with one NASA-funded SETI project and two people has since grown to include over 100 researchers and various scientific areas of study, all seeking to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the universe. As a part of our outreach and education efforts, we grew our presence on the Internet, reaching out to a wide audience through our website, social media, and livestreams like SETI Live. We have education programs across all age ranges. We produce the weekly podcast Big Picture Science. And today, we celebrate all of these accomplishments and look forward to the next 40 years of science. Join host and senior planetary astronomer Franck Marchis as he chats with SETI Institute President and CEO Bill Diamond, senior astronomer and Big Picture Science co-host Seth Shostak, long-time Board of Directors member Andrew Fraknoi, and the Director of the Carl Sagan Center Nathalie Cabrol. (Recorded live 14 November 2024.)

OSIRIS-REx and the Hayabusa spacecraft have sample asteroids to understand what they're made of. NASA sent the DART mission to change the orbit of a tiny asteroid orbiting another asteroid. ESA sent Hera as a follow-up mission to see what the impactor did. All of these missions have been done in the name of planetary defense -- protecting Earth from the worst of the rocks in space. While none of the asteroids so far discovered are a threat to our planet in the next century, there are still more out there that are small enough to do major damage to a city or even country. So what do we do if we find a near-Earth asteroid that's a real threat? Launch a team a la "Armageddon"? Ignore the problem? Try to flee off-planet or below ground? As DART showed, the best answer seems to be "move it out of the way". In his new book "How to Kill an Asteroid", Dr. Robin George Andrews tells the story of planetary defense and how we got to this point in saving ourselves. Join communications specialist Beth Johnson in a fun (and slightly scary) conversation with Dr. Andrews about killer asteroids this Halloween on SETI Live. (Recorded 31 October 2024.)

In September 2022, a small spacecraft called DART hit the surface of a tiny asteroid moonlet called Dimorphos. That spacecraft was the first test of a planetary defense system, attempting to change an asteroid's orbit in the hope of being able to do so under a real near-Earth threat. The test succeeded, shortening the moonlet's orbit by 32 minutes. Now, a follow-up mission called Hera is on its way to the system, complete with an orbiter and a lander. The European Space Agency plans to observe the impact site and measure any changes to the shape and any craters left behind. Join communications specialist Beth Johnson as she chats with Hera's principal investigator, Patrick Michel, from the Université Côte d'Azur about the mission, the science, and the technology being tested. (Recorded live 24 October 2024.)

The cosmos is full of huge questions: "What caused the Big Bang? What happens inside black holes? Are there other dimensions?" Scientists have been working to answer these questions, but sometimes, we feel like the answers are unknowable. Astrophysicist Kelsey Johnson contemplates what this paradox means for science, particularly where philosophy and even religion come into play. In her latest book, "Into the Unknown", Johnson takes us to the edge of our understanding. Join communications specialist Beth Johnson as she chats with author Kelsey Johnson about science, philosophy, and our quest for answers that may not be available. (Recorded live 21 October 2024.)

In 1976, NASA's two Viking spacecraft touched down on Mars, becoming the first successful landers on the red planet. On board Viking 1, the craft carried several biological experiments to search for life. While most scientists consider the results of those experiments to be negative for Martian life, one experiment gave a positive result. The resulting controversy has spanned decades, with numerous scientists weighing in. Now, Dirk Schulze-Makuch from the Centre of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ZAA) at Technische Universität Berlin questions how those experiments were performed in light of what we know of extremely dry environments here on Earth. These Mars analogs, such as the Atacama desert in Chile, show that while microbes can survive in harsh conditions, too much water becomes a problem. And those Viking experiments may have involved too much water. Join Dr. Franck Marchis as he discusses Dr. Schulze-Makuch's recent Nature Astronomy article and how we should follow the salts instead of the water. (Recorded 28 October 2024.)

Suppose global warming raised temperatures so drastically that crops failed and caused world hunger. Would you support the idea of gene editing humans’ skin cells so that photosynthesis would become an alternative source of human nutrition? The Non Random Arts Collective, part of the SETI Institute’s Artist in Residence (AIR) program, explores fascinating scenarios connecting climate change, habitability, and gene editing. SETI AIR Director Bettina Forget chats with the collective about their GAIA workshop series, which they led at the SETI Institute this summer, where they invited scientists and artists to engage with the intricacies of climate adaptation, space exploration, and genetic research. The Non Random Arts Collective consists of Linda O’Keeffe, Ashley James Brown, Tony Doyle, and Ines Montalvao. Together, they delve into the intersections between the arts and diverse fields such as astrophysics, genetics, urban planning, ecology, climate change, technological adaptation, AI, and design futures. (Recorded live 17 October 2024.)