Lab Out Loud » space

Episode 42: SOFIA – A Telescope on a Plane

Brian — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 06:15:17 +0000

SOFIA's 100 Inch Diameter Telescope

Dana Backman is the Outreach Director for SOFIA – The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. Essentially, SOFIA is a modified 747SP with telescope in its fuselage. A joint project between NASA and the German Aerospace Center (NASA supplied the aircraft and the telescope was built in Germany), SOFIA is the largest airborne astronomical observatory that will allow astronomers to peer into the visible, infrared and sub-millimeter spectrum of space – above the majority of water vapor in the atmosphere. Dana talks with us about the aircraft, the mission, and some exciting opportunities for science teachers.

Links:

Direct download: LOL42.mp3

Episode 32 – Neil deGrasse Tyson on Science Literacy

Brian — Mon, 11 May 2009 05:16:05 +0000

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson joins Lab Out Loud for our season finale. Dr. Tyson is an author (most recently The Pluto Files and Death by Black Hole), has been described as the ‘Carl Sagan of the 21st Century’ and named “Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive” by PEOPLE magazine, appeared numerous times on The Colbert Report and The Daily Show, stars in the PBS series NOVA Science Now, and is the director of the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium. Dr. Tyson joins us to talk about scientific literacy.

As this is our last episode of the season, we remind you that you can download every episode from the website through the episode page. And we’ll also be posting items to the blog over the summer, so don’t forget to visit the website, or simply pick up our RSS feed. As we prepare for our third season (opening mid-September), make sure to give us some feedback. You can leave any comments, criticisms, suggestions for the show or for future guests by completing the form at www.laboutloud.com/contact/.

Preview from the Show:

The most important feature [of scientific literacy] is an outlook that you bring with you in your daily walk through life. It’s a lens through which you look that affects how you see the world. And the science literacy that can be promoted along those lines shows up in a lot of ways… So science literacy is not the know-it-all who’s fluent in science jargon; science literacy is the person who knows how to question the world around them, and en route to an answer that’s deeper than you would otherwise get.

Research and education has shown that field trips are remembered long into adulthood. Why?, because you’re experiencing something rather than simply reading it in a book… To experience something has a far more profound effect on your ability to remember and influence you than if you simply read it in a book. So why not figure out a way to turn a lesson plan into a living expression of that content. A living expression, so that sparks can be ignited and flames can be fanned within the students. And at that point, it doesn’t matter what grade they get on the exam because they are stimulated to want to learn more. If they didn’t learn all the “A” stuff for that exam, they’re inspired enough to go out and buy a book or spend more time on the documentary that they saw on the Discovery Channel or on PBS. And there it is. You’ve cast a learner into the world. And that’s the most powerful thing you can do as a teacher.

The enthusiastic teacher is fundamental to igniting flames of interest in any student in any subject. So that’s not a special need within the call for science literacy. That’s a need for all teachers in all subjects.

There’s this system that’s in place that promotes the standardized testing, and to get the high score, and the regurgitation of facts, and read these chapters, and these are the key words, and these are the key questions, and you’ll be tested on that. And it’s completely eviscerated the passion that could ignite a flame within student that would then go out and do learning on their own. Because at the end of the day, the student who does not learn on their own is not going to succeed.

If I had a nickel for every parent who said “how do I get my kids interested in science?”, my answer is – get outta their way. They’re born curious. Kids are not superstitious. Kids don’t read their horoscopes. Kids are not doing all the things that adults are doing, who’ve lost their curiosity… So, the adults have to get out of the way. And get out of the way as a minimum. As a maximum, further stimulate curiosity by surrounding kids with things that they can explore on their own. You don’t want to put them in a sterile environment. You want to put them in an environment that attracts their curiosity for how things work.

The flaw in the educational system, as far as I see it, is that you live your life – the teacher and student – in quest of A’s. Yet later in life, the A is irrelevant. So then what is the point of the school system? It’s missing something. It is not identifying to people who actually succeed in life, because they’re not showing up as the straight A’s. So somewhere in there, the educational system needs to reflect on what it takes to succeed in life, and get some of that back into the classroom.

Links:

Books

Direct download: LOL32.mp3

Episode 29 – We're All Stellar Corpses

Brian — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 06:16:01 +0000

Dr. Michelle Thaller

Our guest this week is Dr. Michelle Thaller. A research scientist at the California Institute of Technology, Thaller is currently the Manager of the Education and Public Outreach program for the Spitzer Space Telescope. Thaller talks to us about Spitzer, infrared light, and our origins in stellar corpses.

I have always had a deep respect for people who can take complex ideas and make them seem profoundly simple and elegant. Instinctually, I’ve always felt that wisdom and eloquence are related. It’s not just what you say, but now effectively you communicate the inner workings of your mind to another human being.

-Dr. Michelle Thaller, from Spitzer Profile

Videos about our origins in stars:

Direct download: LOL29.mp3

Episode 24 – The Bad Astronomer Returns

Brian — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 06:16:09 +0000

The Bad Astonomer

We welcome Phil Plait (aka The Bad Astronomer) back to the show. Phil talks to us about the International Year of Astronomy and highlights a few events planned for the IYA. As President of the James Randi Educational Foundation, Phil also discusses the role of skepticism in education.

Links:

Skeptic
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
PZ Myers Pharyngula
Stop Jenny McCarthy – post from the BA
Stop Jenny
Amanda Peet supports the science with vaccinateyourbaby.org
Dale uses viral videos to promote skepticism in the classroom

Direct download: LOL24.mp3

Episode 3 – Steve Squyres and Roving Mars

Brian — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 00:38:18 +0000

Steve Squyres

This week we talk with Steve Squyres, principal investigator for the science payload on the Mars Exploration Rover Project, & Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Preview from the show:

We have been so incredibly lucky with this mission. I mean, to have that dead wheel, which we thought was a catastrophe at the time, turn up one of the most exciting discoveries of the mission, was very good fortune.

The next big thing, at least in mars exploration, along with the continuing adventures of the rovers, is a mission called Phoenix. And Phoenix is a lander mission that’s going to land near the north polar region of mars, and is going to dig down into the soil there, hope to find ice and then, scoop up some of that ice, and put it into a little chemistry set on top of the lander, and find out what’s inside of that ice.

What we’ve tried to do is provide images, provide curriculum materials, and provide information for educators as we go. And I think that’s actually the best way to do it, because the thing that makes this exciting is not reading about it in the historical sense after the mission’s over, so much as being an active participant – you know following the mission as it’s going along. You can go to our website, and you can download the latest pictures from Mars that have come down in the last day or so.

Links:

NASA’s Mars Exploration Page
Audio clips with Dr. Steve Squyres, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Transcript: Mars Rover Update with Dr. Steve Squyres
Steve Squyres on NASA Direct
Steve Squyres entry from Wikipedia
Steve Squyres: Man on a Misson from NOVA
Steve Squyres Interview on The Colbert Report
Steve Squyres on NPR’s Fresh Air from WHYY, March 29, 2004
ABC News Person of the Week Article
Father of Spirit and Opportunity, an article from Scientific American, October 2004
Interview with Steve Squyres from The Cornell Daily Sun
Mars Exploration Rovers Mission Update blog & Way Cool Scientist!
UC Berkeley Distinguished Lecture in Astronomy Lecture with Steve Squyres on Google Video
Roving Mars, written by Steve Squyres from amazon.com

Brian’s “Flaming Pumpkin of Death”
Dale’s Stop-motion video project

Direct download: nsta_lol3.mp3