Walkabout the Galaxy

Scientists have been chasing methane on Mars for years. It's a slippery little molecule that doesn't stick around very long and has several biological (as well as non-biological) sources. The armada of spacecraft at Mars have conflicting measurements of the presence or absence of methane in Mars' atmosphere. Fortunately the astroquarks are here to make sense (or fun) of it. Plus, we discuss a cool new way to figure out the rate of expansion of the universe, and bonus methane trivia!

We discuss the dramatic first view of a black hole in a special episode recorded in front of a live audience. In addition to the Event Horizon Telescope's image, bonus nerd trivia, and an abundance of space news, we review the latest in space impacts, including the dramatic fossil field in North Dakota revealing the death and mayhem just minutes after the catastrophic asteroid impact that wiped out nearly all life on Earth 65 million years ago.

Just when you thought Dark Energy couldn't get any stranger, new measurements of the history of the expansion of the universe show an era well after the big bang and inflation but long, long ago when the rate of expansion was different than today. We are running out of dark names for the unknown. Closer to home the astroquarks discuss evidence for rain and water on Mars at a surprisingly recent (well, still a long time ago) epoch. All that plus space news and nerd trivia can be found on this episode of Walkabout the Galaxy.

We are joined by asteroid expert and "b" quark Dr. Zoe Landsman to discuss the remarkable discovery by the OSIRIS-REx mission that the asteroid it is orbiting, Bennu, is spitting pebbles and rocks out into space. The mechanism for this remains a topic of research. Also, another thing named after Enrico Fermi, another super moon with a silly name, and examining Apollo samples that have been sealed since they were recovered from the lunar surface. All in all, just another episode of Walkabout the Galaxy.

Our guest, André Bormanis, has spent a considerable amount of time thinking about extraterrestrial intelligence, as well as warp travel, holodecks, artificial life forms, and more. Having spent more than a decade as an advisor and producer on the Star Trek franchise, André is now an executive producer and writer on "The Orville", Seth MacFarlane's trekkiest of shows. André joins the astroquarks for a discussion of Trek, humor, and the vexing Fermi paradox. Maybe we're just too early to the party. Check it out, and check out "The Orville", plus a special Trek trivia on this episode of Walkabout the Galaxy.

Science Fiction great Joe Haldeman ("The Forever War", "Marsbound", "The Hemingway Hoax", "Worlds") joins the astroquarks for a wide-ranging discussion from microwave-plasma-grapes to cosmic rays, science in science fiction, and the latest space news including SpaceShipTwo returning to space and Hayabusa-2 touching an asteroid.

Sometimes it seems like you can't count on anything, and now the Earth's north pole is on the move at a dramatically accelerated rate, more than 30 miles per year. Of course, that's not the rotation pole, but the magnetic pole, and it's not the north magnetic pole, it's the magnetic north pole. Confused? That's what the astroquarks are here for. Tune in for this, more interesting news about the complicated environments around the cool red stars that are home to so many exoplanets, space news, and trivia.

The astroquarks welcome Professor Mohamed Noor from Duke University, author of "Live Long and Evolve" to talk about evolution of humans and aliens, interspecies sex, and what we can learn about the big questions of life, the universe and everything from Star Trek. As if that wasn't enough, there's new intriguing information about Dark Energy, plus Nobel Prize trivia and space news featuring our recent payload flights with Blue Origin's New Shepard. Tune in for all your space and alien news.

Hold on to your solar system, the Milky Way may be in store for a galactic collision sooner than anticipated. And speaking of collisions, evidence from craters on the Moon as well as an apparent dearth of craters on the Earth (I just wanted to say dearth and Earth in the same sentence) suggest that the current rate of asteroid and comet impacts on the Earth is 2-3 times higher now than it was a few hundred million years ago. Zoe Landsman joins us for a traveling Addie to discuss all this, new research on the likelihood of life in the ocean of Europa, and Top quark trivia.

2019 began with the successful flyby of Ultima Thule (2014 MU69 - more on the name in the show!) by the New Horizons spacecraft, but there's much more to talk about, including a discovery of more Fast Radio Bursters (mysterious sources of tremendous energy), and observations that show phase transitions in White Dwarf stars. Josh, Addie and Jim have got it all, plus space news and trivia, in this episode that kicks off the Year of the Astroquark. You heard it here first!