Monday, September 12, 2011

Apollo 11: There and Back Again


Podcasts: 365 Days of Astronomy, Cheap Astronomy

It's nice to hear a familiar voice again.

When I first began soaking up podcasts during my long drives to and from work, Astronomy dominated my playlists. And the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast was the center of my audio universe. As their About page explains "The project was started as part of the International Year of Astronomy 2009." 365 Astro has published a new podcast almost every day since January 1, 2009, and I am proud to say I listened to every single one, at least for the first two years, I even sponsored episodes three times in mid-March 2009, 2010 and 2011 to honor the birthday of Spock and Micro, two wonderful cats who shared our lives for too few years. Then, early this year I suddenly found myself over saturated from listening to the same shows every day, so I went on an Astronomy podcast diet.

One of the many impressive qualities of the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast is that it's a community effort. Episodes are created and presented by volunteers, especially amateur astronomy enthusiasts, from all over the planet. If you think the typical podcast/radio show format with one or two hosts and one or more guests being interviewed is a lot of work, imagine coordinating a different podcast creator every day, many of whom have never done a podcast before. Impressive.

Now, in all fairness, not all of the contributors to 365 Astro have been newbies. My absolute favorite regular presenter has been Steve Nerlich, an Australian (love the accents!) who also produces the excellent Cheap Astronomy website and podcast. Actually, many of Nerlich's episodes appear in both podcasts series. Nerlich always manages to pack a lot of information into a ten minute talk that is consistently interesting and learned. The guy knows his stuff. Plus, he has a quirky sense of humor. Always hang around to the very end to hear his funny outros.

Some of the newer podcasts I began listening to slowed down their release cycles in the summer, so after a while I took a peak into the recent episode lists for some of the astro podcasts I kept downloading even though I wasn't playing them (did I mention I'm a packrat?).

Scanning the deep list of 365 Days of Astronomy podcasts, I was intrigued to notice a three part series by Steve Nerlich on Apollo 11. The next day I enjoyed about a half hour of fascinating, even gripping, explanations of what it took to fling three guys a quarter of a million miles away, land two of them on a dusty barren landscape, and somehow get them back again complete with a pulse. Folks, it's not as easy as it sounds, and remember we pulled this off 40 years ago when space travel was still in its infancy.

Indeed, Nerlich's first installment detailed the major practice runs NASA conducted leading up to the Apollo11 mission. It's quite incredible to realize that many of the absolutely critical steps that had to go right had only been done once or twice before. We're not talking tried and true routine here. It really is a wonder nothing fatal happened.

The middle podcast in the series explored what happened when Armstrong and Aldrin were landing on the moon, and what they did there. The landing was fraught with potential mishaps. I won’t describe them because Nerlich does it so much better, it's well worth the ten minutes it takes to get the story from him. Part two also tells of a piece of scientific equipment that was setup and is still working today. Wow!

The last of the three podcasts described getting the three astronauts home (yes, there were three - Michael Collins stayed in the orbiter - extra Trivia points if you recall his name). Again, it may seem routine, but getting a small chunk of metal traveling at over 10,000 miles per hour into Earth's atmosphere without burning up is neither routine nor trivial. As Nerlich points out, the heat shield reaches temperatures rivaling that of the surface of the sun. Hot, very hot. Then, we're reminded that the three spacers spent three weeks in quarantine making sure moon bugs did not wipe out life on Earth.

If you have about 30 minutes to spare, maybe 35 with the intro and outro parts, I highly recommend this three part series. Fortunately, you can also access complete transcripts from both the 365 Days of Astronomy website and Steve Nerlich's Cheap Astronomy website. The Cheap Astro links are very clean and simple PDFs, so start there. But I'm also linking to the 365 pages because that's what I heard.

I would not be surprised if 40 more years elapse before humans walk on the lunar surface again. These excellent podcasts help us appreciate just how out of this world complex it really is.


365 Days of Astronomy: July 16th: Apollo 11: Part 1 - Getting There
Presenter: Steve Nerlich, host of Cheap Astronomy
Release Date: July 16, 2011

365 Days of Astronomy: July 21st: Apollo 11: Part 2 - The Landing
Presenter: Steve Nerlich, host of Cheap Astronomy
Release Date: July 21, 2011

365 Days of Astronomy: July 24th: Apollo 11: Part 3 - Getting Back Again
Presenter: Steve Nerlich, host of Cheap Astronomy
Release Date: July 24, 2011

You can find the Cheap Astronomy transcripts at:



Monday, August 8, 2011

Follow Up from Down Under


Podcasts: All in the Mind, Philosopher's Zone

Two recent podcasts from ABC Radio National, the Australian public radio network echoed themes I discussed in recent blogs. One touches on brain and device interfaces, the other on practices in medical biology.

All in the Mind: Neural engineering: the cutting edge of prosthetics
Presenter: Natasha Mitchell
Guests: Glen Lehman, others
Release Date: July 30, 2011

On July 10, 2011 ("Hoping for Holodecks and TheMeaning of Life") I blogged about advances in mind machine integration. The July 20 episode of All In the Mind explores similar developments even more vividly. In particular, the interview with Glen Lehman, a Retired Sergeant first class in the United States Army, is an arresting first-person account of what it is like to adapt to and live with a prosthetic arm integrated with and controlled by one's thoughts. Tragically, Lehman's arm was blown off by a grenade while serving in Iraq just ten days before he was scheduled to return home.

Lehman talks about what it was like to learn how to think about arm and hand movements which then actually happened because his prosthetic arm is linked to his nervous system. The arm senses and interprets electrical signals from his brain and is programmed to carry out the imagined action. The show also includes interviews with medical experts who explain some of the science involved.

Around the same time as I heard this podcast news reports highlighted another technological breakthrough linking machines to human brains. Scientists hooked up EEG and muscle sensors to a driver of a car and detected the driver's intention to brake, then applied the brakes faster than the driver could have done so without this aid. Here is a reference from Scientific American magazine's website:

Fast Brake: Drivers' BrainWaves Show Intent to Stop Before the Act

By John Matson, August 1, 2011

Scientific American also summarized this research in a 60-Second Science podcast on August 3, 2011 presented by Karen Hopkins:


Although the human brain is immensely complex, our limited knowledge is already enabling science fiction like strides in linking the brain to mechanical extensions. I wonder just how far and how fast this will go. Sensing muscle movement is one thing, and while not simple, is probably simpler than detecting other kinds of higher mental processes. But it seems only a matter of time before we see mind-machine interfaces that capture and respond to our inner thoughts. Vulcan Mind Meld, anyone?


Philosopher's Zone: The ethics of Kevin Rudd's Heart
Presenter: Alan Saunders
Guest: Ian Kerridge, Associate Professor, Bioethics, University of Sydney
Release Date: August 6, 2011

In the same blog noted above, my discussion of the Radiolab podcast explained "Modifying cow genetics so they bleed human blood useful for transfusions is another example of bioengineering for medical applications, and there are many more."

This week's Philosopher's Zone featured an interview with a medical ethics expert who talked about issues involved in Xenotransplantation which means: "Xenotransplantation is when you take living cells, tissues and organs from one species and transplant them into another" (quote from the show's webpage). As the show notes, this is actually not new but it does raise many interesting questions about how humans use animals and what it means when some barriers between species begin to get a little fuzzy.

I'm certainly no medical expert, but it seems to me that many of the ethical issues can be sidestepped by use of advanced mechanical devices such as artificial hearts. Even when that is not feasible today, more such solutions will probably emerge in the future.

By the way, Kevin Rudd is a former prime Minister of Australia and is currently their Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

StarTalk Talks to a Star: Nichelle Nichols


Podcasts: StarTalk Radio
 

StarTalk Radio: On the Bridge to Equality: A Conversation with Nichelle Nichols
Host: Neil deGrasse Tyson
Guest: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek's Lieutenant Uhura, actress, singer, dancer, space advocate
Release Date: July 12, 2011

StarTalk Radio: NASA and Nichelle Nichols
Host: Neil deGrasse Tyson
Co-Host: Leighann Lord, Comedian
Guest: Nichelle Nichols
Release Date: July 18, 2011

If you're a serious Star Trek fan, chances are you've heard the story of how Nichelle Nichols submitted her resignation to Gene Roddenberry after the end of the first season. Fortunately, Nichols was dissuaded by her biggest fan, none other than Dr. Martin Luther King.

Even if you know the story, Neil deGrasse Tyson's interview with Nichols is well worth a listen because of the deep rapport the two shared during the first episode of this two part series. Weepy tissue alert: many parts of Nichol's story are deeply moving and both the guest and host (not to mention at least one listener) were teary eyed while Nichols retold stories of her time as the Chief Communications Officer (and fourth in command) of the Starship Enterprise.

The initial interview focused on how Nichols' role was a truly ground breaking part for a black woman on TV. Indeed, Dr. King emphasized to Nichols how vitally important her role was. Remember, in the mid to late 1960's when Star Trek aired, blacks were not regulars on TV shows, and they certainly were not officers on the bridge of a starship. While her mere prescience would have been significant, Nichols' grace and dignity elevated her position and inspired countless young women to pursue professional careers that were previously inconceivable.

The second part of the interview explored Nichols' instrumental role as a consultant who helped NASA recruit and hire women and minority astronauts, something NASA was not able to do before Nichols' involvement. I'm sure many super Trekkies knew of this, but I'm a more casual fan (I have not been to a convention in years) and I found Nichols' public service after Star Trek was fascinating and eye opening.

Not only did Nichols represent a key part of Gene Roddenberry's vision of a diverse future, but in our own present Nichols worked tirelessly to make this vision begin to become a reality. She deserves a lot of credit for her accomplishments, and her story is truly inspiring and worth hearing. Plus, the second hour also had more laughs than the first hour, so it's not just informative but fun.


Sunday, July 17, 2011

Big Pictures and Big Endings


Podcasts: Big Picture Science (formerly Are We Alone), StarTalk Radio

Big Picture Science: The Big Picture
Hosts: Seth Shostak, Molly Bentley
Guests: Nicolas Humphrey and others
Release Date: July 11, 2011

This past week I listened to two of my favorite science podcasts (both are radio shows), and on both I heard some interesting comments about death.

Since I discovered this show last December, Are We Alone has been one of my favorite science podcasts. The topics are fascinating, the hosts are witty and entertaining, the discussions and guests are knowledgeable and interesting. I learn a lot and have fun at the same time. It's produced by The SETI Institute, the folks who search for signs of extraterrestrial life, but the topics span all of science, not just Astronomy.

This week's show was the first episode broadcast as the new name, Big Picture Science. The topics for this first episode addressed some really big questions: "How did life begin? What’s the universe made of, and what’s the nature of consciousness?, Will the Cubs ever win a World Series? Just kidding about the last one. I think they are Houston Astros fans.

Nicolas Humphrey, the next to last guest, ended his interview with an intriguing insight about consciousness. First I should explain that Humphrey is "a theoretical psychologist, based in Cambridge, "who is known for his work on the evolution of human intelligence and consciousness." (quoted from his website). He has had positions at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and has authored several books, most recently Soul Dust: The Magic of Consciousness

After an exchange with host Molly Bentley about how consciousness gives meaning to human life, Humphrey concluded that "Consciousness made us fear death, and do everything we could not to go into that oblivion. Animals don’t think about death. They don't understand death. Humans for the first time of any animal on Earth faced up to death and do face it every day of their lives. And, of course, we fear death more than anything because we fear the loss of consciousness."


StarTalk Radio: The Political Science of The Daily Show
Host: Neil deGrasse Tyson
Co-Host: Leighann Lord, Comedian
Guests: Jon Stewart, Host of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central, Charles Liu, Professor of astrophysics at CUNY (City University of new York)
Release Date: May 22, 2011

Speaking of science shows that are entertaining and informative, few can match StarTalk Radio. The host, Neil deGrasse Tyson is a well known astrophysicist and the Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Natural History in New York. A professional comedian joins Tyson as a co-host on each show. This episode was funnier than usual because the main host, Jon Stewart, was no less comedic in his unscripted conversations.

But the banter was more than funny: at least one comment by Stewart echoed Nicolas Humphrey's point about consciousness by saying that humans fear death while animals do not. Stewart them remarked that "Because we know we are going to die, science is in essence that search we have to either come up with an answer, or to solve the dilemma, or to ease our minds about the uncertainty."

I've heard that the fear of death and the need for some kind of emotional defense against death is one explanation for why people embrace religion. But this is the first time I've heard of science cast in the same role. Hmm, that's one to ponder.

As enlightening as I found these views, I do have one small quibble with both Humphreys and Stewart. Both assume that animals lack enough consciousness to fear death. Do we really know that for a fact? Is it even possible for us to know without a doubt that animals really do lack any thoughts about their own death? Scientists recently discovered that at least five animal species (some primates, some non-primates) can actually recognize their own image in a mirror. I'm not saying your garden variety squirrel is a mental match for any human. But I would not be surprised if future research reveals even more forms of animal thought that we now have no clue about. At least that what my cat thinks, and who am I to argue?