Recycled Electrons

Chris and Rob find themselves stranded in the year 2013 with nothing but a scrap of paper containing scribbled news notes and a microphone. Will asteroids strike in 2040? Will comets shine bright in 2013? What exactly is inside a poop? How for how many years has WMAP operated? Answers inside… [MP3 Link] Episode #62. If you have anything you’d like us to look at, or any questions you’d like us to answer - use the links at the top of the web page at http://recycledelec.com. Follow us on Twitter @recycledelec @orbitingfrog and @chrislintott. Links: Tau Ceti: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20770103 Darkened cities by Thierry Cohen: http://orbitingfrog.com/post/38615406507/staceythinx-darkened-cities-by-thierry-cohen No asteroid impact in 2040 : http://www.gemini.edu/node/11922 What’s inside a poop? http://www.plosntds.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001969 Final WMAP papers released : http://releases.jhu.edu/2012/12/21/wmap-team-releases-final-results-based-on-nine-years-of-observations/ Source of CM asteroids : http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2012/12-93AR.html Clouds on MWP launches: http://www.milkywayproject.org Comet PANSTARRS : March/April, southern sky: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2011_L4 The Explorer: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Explorer-James-Smythe/dp/0007456751 Credits: Audio content Copyright 2012 Chris Lintott and Robert Simpson. Many thanks to Oxford Press Office for recording space. Podcast Image courtesy of Flickr user bazik (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bazik/395792175/).

Chris and Rob talk all about the Zooniverse in this special episode. It’s been a busy week at the Zooniverse and so we have also recruited special guest Brooke Simmons, as a Galaxy Zoo expert. We focus of the backstory of the past ten days of the Zooniverse, which includes the launch of the Andromeda Project and Snapshot Serengeti. [MP3 Link] Episode #61. If you have anything you’d like us to look at, or any questions you’d like us to answer - use the links at the top of the web page at http://recycledelec.com. Follow us on Twitter @recycledelec @orbitingfrog and @chrislintott. Links: The Zooniverse: http://www.zooniverse.org The Andromeda Project: http://www.andromedaproject.org Snapshot Serengeti: http://www.snapshotserengeti.org The Milky Way Project: http://www.milkywayproject.org Galaxy Zoo: http://www.galaxyzoo.org Planet Hunters: http://www.planethunters.org Zooniverse Advent Calendar: http://www.zooniverse.org/advent Brooke Simmons: http://twitter.com/vrooje Credits: Audio content Copyright 2012 Chris Lintott and Robert Simpson. Many thanks to Oxford Press Office for recording space. Podcast Image courtesy of Flickr user bazik (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bazik/395792175/).

Chris and Rob talk about Sir Patrick Moore, who died yesterday at the age of 89. Chris has known Patrick for twenty years and worked with him on The Sky at Night for ten years. [MP3 Link] Episode #60. If you have anything you’d like us to look at, or any questions you’d like us to answer - use the links at the top of the web page at http://recycledelec.com. Follow us on Twitter @recycledelec @orbitingfrog and @chrislintott. Credits: Audio content Copyright 2012 Chris Lintott and Robert Simpson. Many thanks to Oxford Press Office for recording space. Podcast Image courtesy of Flickr user bazik (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bazik/395792175/).

Chris and Rob discuss the brand new Andromeda Project, the anniversary of Apollo 17 and NASA’s plans for Mars. We also chat about Caroline Herschel: comet chaser and how science works in sign language. [MP3 Link] Episode #59. If you have anything you’d like us to look at, or any questions you’d like us to answer - use the links at the top of the web page at http://recycledelec.com. Follow us on Twitter @recycledelec @orbitingfrog and @chrislintott. Links: Andromeda Project launches: andromedaproject.org Moon Zoo goes to Apollo 17: moonzoo.org GRAIL results : http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2012-385 NASA’s plans to go back to Mars : http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1401 Curiosity’s first chemistry - perchlorate  : http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1399 .Astro 5 and Hack Day: http://dotastronomy.com/blog/2012/12/hack-day-in-new-york/ Comets of Caroline Herschel: http://arxiv.org/pdf/1212.0809v1.pdf The infamous Time paragraph : http://profmattstrassler.com/2012/12/05/my-version-of-the-higgs-time-paragraph/ Sign language for science : http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/science/sign-language-researchers-broaden-science-lexicon.html?smid=tw-nytimeshealth&seid=auto&_r=0&pagewanted=all Zooniverse advent calendar: https://zooniverse.org/advent Credits: Audio content Copyright 2012 Chris Lintott and Robert Simpson. Many thanks to Oxford Press Office for recording space. Podcast Image courtesy of Flickr user bazik (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bazik/395792175/).

Chris and Rob talk about a black hole that is almost as big as it’s host galaxy. Herschel (the telescope) has been looking at dust all over the place and Mary Shelly (the person) writes about writing her most-famous book. Chris told Roger Penrose that birds can see magnetic fields. [MP3 Link] Episode #58. If you have anything you’d like us to look at, or any questions you’d like us to answer - use the links at the top of the web page at http://recycledelec.com. Follow us on Twitter @recycledelec @orbitingfrog and @chrislintott. Links: A really big black hole : http://www.mpia.de/Public/menu_q2e.php?Aktuelles/PR/2012/PR121128/PR_121128_en.html and http://sarahaskew.net/2012/11/28/small-galaxy-massive-black-hole Do missing Jupiters mean massive comet belts? : http://www.ras.org.uk/news-and-press/219-news-2012/2192-do-missing-jupiters-mean-massive-comet-belts Mary Shelley writes about writing Frankenstein in the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2012/nov/26/mary-shelley-frankenstein-preface-1831-archive Herschel watches star formation in Lupus: http://arxiv.org/abs/1211.5232 Top twitter accounts to follow? Rob says: @yoyoha @BadAstronomer @CatherineQ @telescoper @garwboy @hullodave @arielwaldman @arfon @KarenLMasters @vrooje @Stellar190 @astro_jules @apontzen @astrofairy @codinghorror @jpsmythe Elon Musk’s missions to MArs : http://media.aerosociety.com/aerospace-insight/2012/11/23/video-elon-musk-interview/7553/ Hanny’s Voorwerp & the Antikythera Mechanism - http://arxiv.org/abs/1211.5487 Credits: Audio content Copyright 2012 Chris Lintott and Robert Simpson. Many thanks to Oxford Press Office for recording space. Podcast Image courtesy of Flickr user bazik (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bazik/395792175/).

Chris and Rob discuss Mercury and MESSENGER, Roger Penrose, exoplanets and supernovae. [MP3 Link] Episode #57. If you have anything you’d like us to look at, or any questions you’d like us to answer - use the links at the top of the web page at http://recycledelec.com. Follow us on Twitter @recycledelec @orbitingfrog and @chrislintott. Links: New image on an exoplanet: http://arxiv.org/abs/1211.3744 (12Mjup, 2.2Msun, 55 AU orbit, Subaru/HiCIAO during the SEEDS survey) NASA has a secret - maybe: http://boingboing.net/2012/11/20/big-news-from-mars-coming-soon.html Will Gater’s beautiful image of Jupiter, the Pleiades and the Hyades: http://twitter.com/willgater/status/270257707490091008/photo/1 (see above) Mercury and MESSENGER: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/messenger/main/index.html Credits: Audio content Copyright 2012 Chris Lintott and Robert Simpson. Many thanks to Oxford Press Office for recording space. Podcast Image courtesy of Flickr user bazik (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bazik/395792175/).

Chris and Rob are back together in Oxford, discussing bosons, colliders, eclipses and rouge planets. We take questions from Twitter and try to turn up the volume. [MP3 Link] Episode #56. If you have anything you’d like us to look at, or any questions you’d like us to answer - use the links at the top of the web page at http://recycledelec.com. Follow us on Twitter @recycledelec @orbitingfrog and @chrislintott. Links: Total Solar Eclipse down under: http://youtu.be/yT-2a3NLdiQ Is supersymmetry dead? : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20300100 and http://profmattstrassler.com/2012/11/14/why-theories-dont-go-into-hospitals/ Rogue planet : http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1245/ New starcluster in Orion : http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/en/news/Orion/ The great space coaster : http://www.sdss3.org/press/lyabao.php @davehullo asks: Where do wild budgies come across cuttlefish bones? @davidtoddhoward asks: Maybe a silly q, but why is a total eclipse of the sun not called an occultation? What is the tech difference? @weeFreeSpeech asks: We can measure distance to other galaxies (red shift) but not to objects in ours. Why is that? Star distance often quoted! @sfgmulcahy asks: In a perfect world, what stage would you like your careers at in 10 years time? 100,000 Stars: a Google Chrome experiment in WebGL: http://workshop.chromeexperiments.com/stars/ Credits: Audio content Copyright 2012 Chris Lintott and Robert Simpson. Many thanks to Oxford Press Office for recording space. Podcast Image courtesy of Flickr user bazik (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bazik/395792175/).

Chris narrowly avoids Sandy only to await a second storm. Rob is stormless… so far. We’re talking about the lack of methane on Marrrsss, more talking animals, and how to spot a rainbow on another planet. [MP3 Link] Episode #54. If you have anything you’d like us to look at, or any questions you’d like us to answer - use the links at the top of the web page at http://recycledelec.com. Follow us on Twitter @recycledelec @orbitingfrog and @chrislintott. Links: (No) methane on Mars: http://www.nature.com/news/nasa-rover-yet-to-find-methane-on-mars-1.11730 Looking for the rainbow on exoplanets covered by liquid and icy water clouds http://arxiv.org/abs/1211.1293 Cake Wrecks (courtesy of @vrooje) http://www.cakewrecks.com Spot the Station: http://spotthestation.nasa.gov The Elephant that speaks Korean: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20142858 Credits: Audio content Copyright 2012 Chris Lintott and Robert Simpson. Many thanks to Oxford Press Office for recording space. Podcast Image courtesy of Flickr user bazik (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bazik/395792175/). The image at the top of this entry is from io9 - which is awesome and you all should follow it.

Chris is in Sweden, Rob is in England, Skype is… not working very well. We chat about exoplanets, Swedish coffee, Planet Hunters and beluga whales - though not all at once. [MP3 Link] Episode #54. If you have anything you’d like us to look at, or any questions you’d like us to answer - use the links at the top of the web page at http://recycledelec.com. Follow us on Twitter @recycledelec @orbitingfrog and @chrislintott. Links: The Sky at Night: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mk7h PH1: A new planet from Planet Hunters: http://blog.planethunters.org/2012/10/15/ph1-a-planet-in-a-four-star-system/ Earth-sized world around Alpha Centauri b: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/oct/17/earth-planet-found-alpha-centauri A ‘talking’ Beluga whale: http://io9.com/5953817/easily-the-best-thing-youll-hear-all-week-a-beluga-whale-mimicking-human-speech Curiosity begins eating dirt: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20003236 Credits: Audio content Copyright 2012 Chris Lintott and Robert Simpson. Many thanks to Oxford Press Office for recording space. Podcast Image courtesy of Flickr user bazik (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bazik/395792175/). The image at the top of this entry is from io9 - which is awesome and you all should follow it.

Chris and Rob are continents apart and discussing the aurora, the Nobel prize(s) and whether or no we live in a huge computer simulation. Chris has a new book out - Rob has been reading about the Parkes Telescope. This is the first podcast in ages that we don’t mention Marrrs. [MP3 Link] Episode #53. If you have anything you’d like us to look at, or any questions you’d like us to answer - use the links at the top of the web page at http://recycledelec.com. Follow us on Twitter @recycledelec @orbitingfrog and @chrislintott. Links: Aurora over the UK: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-19881645 15 Years in 15 Minutes: Parkes: http://arxiv.org/abs/1210.2138 Constraints on the Universe as a numerical simulation: http://arxiv.org/abs/1210.1847 Nobel Prize : http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2012/popular-physicsprize2012.pdf Cosmic tourist : http://brianmay.com/brian/briannews/briannewsoct12a.html#17 http://www.calacademy.org/sciencetoday Credits: Audio content Copyright 2012 Chris Lintott and Robert Simpson. Many thanks to Oxford Press Office for recording space. Podcast Image courtesy of Flickr user bazik (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bazik/395792175/).

Chris and Rob are apart this week, so Rob is alone in Oxford for this very short podcast. There’s a possible new comet out in the Solar System, and Curiosity is about to dip it’s claws into the Martian soil. [MP3 Link] Episode #52. If you have anything you’d like us to look at, or any questions you’d like us to answer - use the links at the top of the web page at http://recycledelec.com. Follow us on Twitter @recycledelec @orbitingfrog and @chrislintott. Links: Comet ISON: http://www.astronomynow.com/news/n1209/25comet/ Drinking the most coffee: http://io9.com/5948206/here-are-the-fifteen-professions-that-drink-the-most-coffee-guess-whos-number-one Bat Detective: http://www.batdetective.org Curiosity is preparing to collect its first sample. An apsirn-sized pocket of sand that may take some time to analyse: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19840928 Credits: Audio content Copyright 2012 Chris Lintott and Robert Simpson. Many thanks to Oxford Press Office for recording space. Podcast Image courtesy of Flickr user bazik (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bazik/395792175/).

Chris and Rob discuss papers and news, and express their own dubious views. There’s deep data from Hubble and sea-level trouble and a tip about cool @HorseReviews. (We also make a plea to HSBC.) [MP3 Link] Episode #51. If you have anything you’d like us to look at, or any questions you’d like us to answer - use the links at the top of the web page at http://recycledelec.com. Follow us on Twitter @recycledelec @orbitingfrog and @chrislintott. Links: Hubble eXtreme Deep Field: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/xdf.html (#doingitwrong) Rising sea levels: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19702450 (3mm average but huge regional variations) Meandering to lithopanspermia : http://www.europlanet-eu.org/outreach/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=382&Itemid=41 The return of the Andromedids meteor shower: http://arxiv.org/abs/1209.5980 Isaac Newton: Alchemist http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/the-h-word/2012/sep/26/history-science Britishisms in America: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19670686 Horse Reviews: https://twitter.com/HorseReviews BAA Jupiter reports : http://www.britastro.org/jupiter/ Credits: Audio content Copyright 2012 Chris Lintott and Robert Simpson. Many thanks to Oxford Press Office for recording space. Podcast Image courtesy of Flickr user bazik (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bazik/395792175/).

Chris is ready to go nuclear and Rob is feeling ignoble. We report on a report suggesting a report about reports about reports. Astronomy Photographer of the Year was just awarded in Greenwich and the JWST may be able to see the very first supernovae in the Universe. This and more in our self-aware 50th episode! [MP3 Link] Episode #50. If you have anything you’d like us to look at, or any questions you’d like us to answer - use the links at the top of the web page at http://recycledelec.com. Follow us on Twitter @recycledelec @orbitingfrog and @chrislintott. Links: Astronomy Photographer of the Year: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19637073 and http://www.rmg.co.uk/visit/exhibitions/astronomy-photographer-of-the-year/2012-winners/ Ignoble Awards: http://www.improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2011 Curiosity is looking at a rock : http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2012-295&cid=release_2012-295 Astrochemistry in the lab : http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2012-293 Seeing supernova at the edge of the universe with JWST: http://arxiv.org/abs/1209.3457 The Larson Scaling relation is just an observational artefact: http://arxiv.org/abs/1209.3346 @radiovicky would like this explained : http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Technology/SEMLWO7YJ6H_0.html Wikipedia List of Fictional Medicines: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_medicines_and_drugs#section_1   Credits: Audio content Copyright 2012 Chris Lintott and Robert Simpson. Many thanks to Oxford Press Office for recording space. Podcast Image courtesy of Flickr user bazik (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bazik/395792175/).

Chris and Rob have a Friday feeling as they discuss the sleeping Listener, new and renewed Zooniverse projects and a doomed cloud of interstellar dust. Are Martian blueberries organic? Do you need a coffee stain to be a real paper? All this and more. [MP3 Link] Episode #49. If you have anything you’d like us to look at, or any questions you’d like us to answer - use the links at the top of the web page at http://recycledelec.com. Follow us on Twitter @recycledelec @orbitingfrog and @chrislintott. Links: Relaunch of Galaxy Zoo: http://galaxyzoo.org Gas cloud which is being eaten might have a star: http://www.nature.com/news/gas-cloud-hurtling-towards-milky-way-s-black-hole-may-harbour-young-star-1.11351 http://arxiv.org/abs/1112.4822v3 Mars: Tests nearly complete, time to drive off and do some science.  Plus snow at the south pole: http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2012/2011JE004040.shtml Astronomical music: http://blog.planethunters.org/2012/09/09/planethunters-sounding-good/ Are blueberries organic? http://www.lifescientist.com.au/article/436306/iron_blueberries_may_sign_microbial_life_mars/ Presidential science questions - what would you ask? http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=obama-romney-science-debate Quantum uncertainty isn’t about measurement error: http://www.nature.com/news/quantum-uncertainty-not-all-in-the-measurement-1.11394 Seafloor Explorer: http://seafloorexplorer.org Erdos/Bacon/Sabbath: http://ebs.rosschurchley.com/the-list LaTeX coffee stain: http://hanno-rein.de/archives/349     Credits: Audio content Copyright 2012 Chris Lintott and Robert Simpson. Many thanks to Oxford Press Office for recording space. Podcast Image courtesy of Flickr user bazik (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bazik/395792175/).

Chris forgets and Rob remembers that it’s been a year since Recycled Electrons began! If you have suggestions for the honour of ORE (Order of Recycled Electrons) then please tweet us @recycledelec. We discuss Voyager 1, Nerdiversaries, and quantum teleportation. Chris obsesses over knots on Mars, and Rob has been learning about meringue. [MP3 Link] Episode #48. If you have anything you’d like us to look at, or any questions you’d like us to answer - use the links at the top of the web page at http://recycledelec.com. Follow us on Twitter @recycledelec @orbitingfrog and @chrislintott. Links: Voyager 1 birthday (Sep 5th): Cool Jupiter moasic to celebrate - http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/20120906-jonsson-voyager-1-jupiter-mosaic.html New record for quantum teleportation (143km): http://www.rdmag.com/News/2012/09/Information-Technology-Quantum-Physics-At-A-Distance/ £10 million for open access publishing support: http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/media/news/2012news/Pages/070912.aspx Lost BBC archive found: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19455602 The toothbrush that saved the ISS : http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/09/behold-the-toothbrush-that-just-saved-the-international-space-station/262035/ Curiosity flexes its arm. (AWESOME photo : http://www.uahirise.org/releases/msl-tracks.php)  And meanwhile Opportunity rocks : http://roadtoendeavour.wordpress.com/2012/09/04/opportunity-rocks/ Climate variations on Mars: http://www.nbi.ku.dk/english/news/news12/marss-dramatic-climate-variations-are-driven-by-the-sun/ Remote Sensing of Chirality on Mars: http://arxiv.org/abs/1209.0671 Compiler Language With No Pronounceable Acronym (INTERCAL): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INTERCAL Science of meringue: http://boingboing.net/2012/09/04/the-history-and-science-of-mer.html Bird/Magnetic Field update: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2012/08/28/robins-start-with-a-magnetic-compass-in-both-eyes-and-end-up-with-just-one/ Nerd anniversaries: http://letters.standupmaths.com/?p=84 http://nerdiversary.com/ Bartender: http://www.macbartender.com APoD of awesome: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120813.html Credits: Audio content Copyright 2012 Chris Lintott and Robert Simpson. Many thanks to Oxford Press Office for recording space. Podcast Image courtesy of Flickr user bazik (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bazik/395792175/).