Jul 8

Why Is North Sentinel Island Totally Off-Limits?

This small island in the Bay of Bengal is home to one of the last uncontacted peoples on the planet -- and they seem to want to keep it that way. Learn how North Sentinel Island has remained independent in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://history.howstuf ... Show More

9m 41s

Jul 7

How Have Obituaries Changed?

Public death notices about common people are a fairly recent development, and they've changed a lot since their inception. Learn how obituaries went from dry statements to tributes to truth in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://people.howstuffworks.com/cul ... Show More

8m 20s

Jul 6

BrainStuff Classics: What Is the Mandela Effect?

When many people share a false memory, that's the Mandela Effect in action -- but how does it happen? Learn how our individual brains misremember stuff and how false memories can spread in this classic episode of BrainStuff.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

6m 35s

May 2012

Space Junk in the Trunk

How much junk can we accumulate in Earth's orbit before we seal off our world? Before we cut the planet off from the cosmos and doom civilization to a new dark age? In this episode, Robert and Julie look skyward to space exploration's garbage. Learn more about your ad-choices at ... Show More

24m 48s

Feb 2024

NASA’s New PACE Observatory Searches for Clues to Humanity’s Future

They may be tiny, but phytoplankton and aerosols power pivotal Earth systems. Scientists are about to learn a whole lot more about them at a critical time.Read this story here.

9m 1s

Jan 2022

Finding asteroids before they find us

Scientists are constantly searching for asteroids that could crash into Earth. But if they find one, will they be able to do anything about it? NASA has launched a spaceship that will slam into an asteroid to find out.For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place ... Show More

31m 32s

Mar 2021

Can space exploration be environmentally friendly?

The space industry, with its fuel-burning rockets, requirements for mined metals and inevitable production of space junk, is not currently renowned for its environmental credentials. Can space exploration ever be truly environmentally friendly? Presenter Marnie Chesterton answers ... Show More

39m 34s

Mar 2023

Volcanic Venus? New insights from vintage data

Is Venus hiding volcanic secrets beneath its shroud of clouds? Robbie Herrick and Scott Hensley, the minds behind a new paper on recent potential volcanic activity on Venus, join Planetary Radio to discuss their discovery and what it means for the future of Venusian exploration. ... Show More

48m 44s

Aug 2023

DART Showed How to Smash an Asteroid. So Where Did the Space Shrapnel Go?

Last year’s NASA mission proved it was possible to knock an incoming near-Earth object off course. But that creates debris—which might also be a threat.Read this story here.

8m 2s

Jul 2021

Selects: How Mars Works

Sure today Mars would kill you with its thin, toxic atmosphere and cold desert temperature swings of 100 degrees,but early on it and Earth were practically twins. Find out how the two planets diverged and if there might be life on the Red Planet, in this classic episode. Learn mo ... Show More

52m 1s

Oct 2021

Selects: Will We Find Evidence of Aliens by Their Engineering Projects?

In 1960 physicist Freeman Dyson suggested that in the hunt for alien life, we should search for evidence of massive engineering projects that encapsulate stars with solar arrays to harness their energy. Could we humans ever make one ourselves? Find out in this classic episode. Le ... Show More

45m 2s

Could a Spaceship Ignite an Alien Atmosp...