Spark Science

Spacecraft Chronicles 1: The JUNO mission with Emily Lakdawalla

Enjoy the first installment of the mini-podcast about past, present and future space missions just in time for JUNO’s arrival at Jupiter!

In this episode we talk to Planetary Society’s Senior Editor and Planetary Evangelist, Emily Lakdawalla about JUNO's camera and citizen science.  We also share some fun facts about Jupiter and other spacecraft that have studied the gas giant in the past.

Image and Information Courtesy of NASA

Clarifications:

1.   When I say “Humans have visited the planet before” I mean human-made spacecraft not actual humans like in Interstellar
2. There is a water “whooshing” sound in the show because I interviewed Emily at Lakewood in Bellingham, WA.  It was very scenic.      

Science On Screen - The Man Who Knew Infinity

In this episode Spark Science partners with the Pickford Film Center in Bellingham, WA to host a "Science on the Screen" event.  WWU professors Dr. Amites Sarkar and Dr. Stephanie Treneer discuss the work of the great mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan before a screening of the film about Ramanujan's life, "The Man Who Knew Infinity" starring Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons.

The event was filmed and can be viewed by clicking the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3nCtWsI7bA

A special thanks to Lucas Holtgeerts who filmed & edited the video

and also....

Pickford Film Center: http://www.pickfordfilmcenter.org/

Science on Screen: http://scienceonscreen.org/

Image Courtesy of Warner Bros. UK

Photonics & Friends - Interview with SPIE CEO

SPIE is the international society for optics and photonics and Spark Science got the CEO to come to the Spark Radio studios for an interview.

We talk about what the heck photonics is, spying with film and student chapters worldwide.  Spark Science even calls into Hsinchu, Taiwan to talk to some wonderful SPIE chapter members.

Enjoy our show on how the world is affected by LIGHT.

Gene Luen Yang: Award Winning Author & Computer Scientist

We are back with an amazing interview with National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Superman writer, Avatar the Last Airbender comic author and Computer Scientist, Gene Luen Yang.

Please enjoy our joyous conversation about superheroes, growing up Chinese-American, computer science and comics for STEM.

Video of interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pyXnzJKnKE

Check out Gene Luen Yang's websites and his new comic that teaches kids computer science.

http://www.secret-coders.com/

http://geneyang.com/

Whatcom Water Quality

The questions "How drinkable is the city water?" & "Where does our drinking water come from?" are in the news nationally and locally.

City of Bellingham's own Eric Johnston came to the Spark Radio studios to answer our questions and talk to us about the history of water treatment.  Jordan and I also learn about "NIGHT SOIL" in London (listeners please look this up) and how Bellingham's drinking water is better than bottled water.

Enjoy the show that may make you more confident in your drinking water.

Featured Song is "Once in a Lifetime" by Talking Heads

Finding Our Way in the Dark

In this episode we talk about Dark Matter, Gravity Waves, Gravitational Lensing and other Astronomy with WWU astrophysicist Dr. Kenneth Rines.  

 

Dr. Rines succeeded in teaching the guest host, Dr. Regina’s brother and local actor, Ruben Chen science (Regina could not).  We had a great time learning about things in the universe that still confuses scientists today.  

Enjoy our journey through the mysterious dark of space.

Image credit: NASA, ESA, D. Coe (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, and Space Telescope Science Institute), N. Benitez (Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia, Spain), T. Broadhurst (University of the Basque Country, Spain), and H. Ford (Johns Hopkins University)

The Science of Speeding...tickets

In today's episode we have a great conversation about the legal system and how it utilizes science with Officer Vince Sainati & City Attorney Maili Barber.  

My sister and Officer Vince show us how to use Radar & Lidar, we talk about accident recreation & how people try to get out of speeding tickets.

We also have a great time testing the Radar & Lidar on nervous bellingham residents and joke about how cop & legal dramas are not so accurate.

Enjoy.

Fermentation at the Chuckanut Bay Distillery

Join us on our tour of the Chuckanut Bay Distillery in Bellingham, WA with owner Matt Howell and WWU Chemist Dr. Elizabeth Raymond.  Matt tells us about the local ingredients and the stages of the process while Dr. Raymond helps use dive into the chemistry.

We talk about the natural and processed fermentation, moonshine and homebrew.  Enjoy hearing us sample the goods on air.

Please visit the Chuckanut Bay Distillary for your own tour.

https://www.chuckanutbaydistillery.com/home/

The Anthropology Files

What is Medical Anthropology?  Listen to our show with Dr. Sean Bruna where we talk about the study of human beings and what can affect their health.  We also talk about "aliens", meeting Barak Obama, physicians bedside manner, food deserts and the physical dangers of scientific research.  We end with Dr. Bruna talking about America's most famous forensic anthropologist, Bones.

Enjoy our show that tries to humanize scientists and each other.

Inclusive Science: Inspiration & Support

Spark Science recorded on location in Washington, DC at the SACNAS National Convention.  This convention is the largest gathering of minority scientists and I went around and asked the questions "Why did you become a scientist?" and "What and who supported you?"

I apologize for the audio quality due to my inexperience.  However, the stories are definitely worth a listen.  Enjoy.

Image:  Myself and Dr. Dione Rossiter.