aerospace

After listening to about 16 hours of podcasts this past weekend for a drive to Rochester and back, I’m putting together playlists of astronomy- and space-themed episodes from science podcasts! These playlists will be a great way to learn more about outer space in an approachable, accessible (read: non-expert, non-academic) way. First up: the podcast Abstract: The Future of Science.

Yes, I was on this one, and my episode is listed below, but you should listen to the other astro episodes, too! I’ve put the episode description beneath them along with a link to the episode pages on Apple Podcasts. I’ll do posts like this in upcoming weeks for more science podcasts, like Ologies (the UFOlogy episode is what sparked this playlist idea), Science Rules! with Bill Nye, Flash Forward, and Sean Carroll’s Mindscape. More ideas are welcome!

Abbie Stevens is an energetic, friendly and curious postdoctoral fellow in Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. She studies black holes and neutron stars by looking at X-ray light coming from stars they’re gobbling up!
Tune in for answers to questions like…
How do binary systems form?
What is the process of stellar evolution?
What are the different types of black holes and where do we find them?
How do stars die and what kind of remnants do they leave behind?
and many more! Get the episode on Apple Podcasts.

Lisa Dang is an enthusiastic, outgoing and optimistic PhD student in Astrophysics at McGill University. During her graduate degree, she also held a research position at the NASA Spitzer Science Center at Caltech in Pasadena, California. Right now, she’s studying the diversity of exoplanets and their climate, with a variety of space telescopes, and most excitingly with the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope. She hopes to understand how planets form and evolve, to ultimately uncover the recipe for habitable planets! When she’s not busy scratching her head looking at copious amounts of data, you can find her traveling, drawing, or taking care of her plants!
Tune in for answers to questions like…
Is there life in the universe beyond earth?
How do we define life?
How old are you in “Hot Jupiter” years?
What and how have we learned about exoplanets?
What are the mechanisms behind tidal locking?
and more! Get the episode on Apple Podcasts.

Our guest this week, Shaziana Kaderali, is a Master’s candidate at McGill University in Aerospace Engineering. Her research is focused on Space Situational Awareness and Spaceflight Dynamics. She helps satellite operators avoid collisions, among much else! She’s a jack of all trades and a master of all of them, and we’ve got her on the show to talk all things aerospace!
Questions Answered:
What’s an aerospace engineer thinking about first thing in the morning?
What do we mean by dynamics and specifically aerospace dynamics?
What’s going on up there in orbit around our lovely little planet?
Should we be worried about the exponential increase in orbital objects and debris in freefall around the earth?
What is the future of aerospace engineering going to look like?
How do we dispose of dead or defunct spacecraft and what’s the end-of-life process?
and many, many, many more! Get the episode on Apple Podcasts.

Our guest this week, Bryce Cyr, is completing his PhD in Cosmology at McGill University. He’s studying the theoretical structures known as cosmic strings (unrelated to string theory, but we discuss that too). They might shed light on the nature of the early universe and the origin of dark matter!
Questions Answered:
How did the universe begin? Where did it come from and where is it going How far back can we look?
What’s the big idea with the cosmic microwave background?
Why is gravity problematic?
What’s the goal of string theory? What about cosmic strings, are they the key unification?
What’s the big hold up on the grand unified theory of physics?
and many, many, many more! Get the episode on Apple Podcasts.

Our guest this week, Mitchell Kurnell, just started his PhD in Mechanical Engineering in the Aerospace Mechatronics lab (yeah you know the one, he’s worked alongisde Eitan Bulka (Ep.11) and Ali Safaei (Ep.39)). Our discussion is split between his master’s research on nuclear physics, and his PhD research on cube sats.
Questions Answered:
Is nuclear energy a safe energy alternative and can we entrust our future in these fission reactors?
How can we use lasers to learn about a material’s composition?
How big and how small are the satellites in orbit above our heads? What are they doing up there?
What is space junk and does it pose a problem to other satellites in orbit around the earth?
and many, many, many more! Get the episode on Apple Podcasts.

Our guest this week, Andrew Saydjari, is midway through his PhD in Astrophysics at Harvard University. Andrew’s research lies at the intersection of Astrophysics and Machine Learning, and he’s studying the massive dust clouds in our very own galaxy. Tune in to tap into the wealth of knowledge that Andrew’s bringing to Episode 31!
On this week’s episode we answer questions like:
Why should you care about interstellar dust clouds that are a million times as wide as the earth’s orbit around the sun?
What do spectra of light tell us about the molecular make-up of these clouds?
How much information can I glean from just a single image of a molecular cloud out there in space?
And how does the symmetry of molecules factor into all this? Get the episode on Apple Podcasts.