Cows Driving Down the Motorway

Summary: Chris is in Arizona and Rob is Oxford (but he can see into Chicago). Chris’ obsession with Curiosity continues. Rob wonders why Brian May has a badger on his arm at the Olympics. There’s debris on Mars, rings around Saturn and a distinct lack of oblateness on the Sun. [We apologise for the audio quality of some parts of this episode - there was unexpected interference on Rob’s microphone.] [MP3 Link] Episode #45. 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: Congrats to Stuart Clarke, Rebekah Higgitt, Vanessa Heggie and Dean Burnett for their new Guardian science blogs: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/across-the-universe, http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/the-h-word/ and http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/brain-flapping/ A new .Astronomy website: http://dotastronomy.com Mars Curiosity: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/images/pia16040_Sell_2_Thruster_Divots-br2.jpg and http://www.mit.edu/%7Ejfc/MER%20Soundtrack.html Why is the Sun so round?: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/press-releases/RoundSun/ Gravity around a neutron star is REALLY strong: http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tempolimit-lichtgeschwindigkeit.de%2Fgalerie%2Fgalerie.html&act=url Bernard Lovell gets arsey : http://etherwave.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/bernard-lovell-an-archival-anecdote/ Telepresence robots via an iPad: http://www.doublerobotics.com Brian May has a Fox/Badger patch: http://instagram.com/p/OPpciLD7Vw/ Eyjafjallajökull’s ash: http://all-geo.org/volcan01010/2012/08/ten-swimming-pools/ Filtergraph: http://delia.phy.vanderbilt.edu/tools/default/portal/23 NASA and we know it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFvNhsWMU0c 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/).