American Museum of Natural History Podcast

When Sally Ride left Earth’s atmosphere on the space shuttle Challenger in 1983, she built her legacy as the youngest astronaut and the first woman to enter space, and yet she was famously private. In this podcast, join award-winning author and journalist Lynn Sherr for a lecture bringing detail and color to the life of Sally Ride. Drawing on her thirty year friendship with Ride and exclusive access to Ride’s papers and closest confidants, Sherr brings to vivid life this extraordinarily gifted, daring, and complex woman. This lecture took place at the Museum on June 14, 2014.

Autism is a widely-discussed topic in today's media, with sources positing different causes for the disorder. In this SciCafe, neuroscientist and molecular biologist Samuel Wang of Princeton University, discusses how to decipher the risks associated with causing autism, as well as it's neurology and genetics. This lecture took place at the Museum on June 4, 2014. To watch a video version of this SciCafe, visit the AMNH live section of AMNH.tv.

An ant colony is a classic example of a colony where many individuals work together for the good of their nest. However, it is also an example of a group that operates without a single designated controller. How can that work? In this SciCafe, Deborah Gordon, biologist at Stanford University, illuminates the workings of collective behavior and collaborative systems, based on her research with ant colonies. This SciCafe took place at the Museum on May 7, 2014. A video version of this event will be posted tothe AMNH Live section of AMNH.tv next week.

What is the universe made of? The longest outstanding problem in all of modern physics, this question is the most important research topic in cosmology and particle physics today, especially as new research shows that most of the universe consists of what is known as dark matter. In this podcast, theoretical astrophysicist Katherine Freese discusses dark matter and the ongoing research being done to learn about the nature of this mysterious particle. This lecture took place at the Hayden Planetarium on May 12, 2014. The talk was hosted by Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium Neil deGrasse Tyson.

In the past few decades, genetic testing and sequencing has gone from extraordinary to almost easy, allowing people unprecedented looks at their own genetic makeup. What can our genomes tell us about ourselves? In this podcast, join Spencer Wells, geneticist and director of the Genographic Project from National Geographic and IBM, Rebecca Cann, cell biologist at the University of Hawaii, Dorothy Roberts, a professor of law and sociology at the University of Pennsylvania Law School; and Robert Darnell, physician and investigator at Rockefeller University, as they discuss the methods and implications of mapping our individual genomes. The discussion was moderated by Museum Curator of Entomology Rob DeSalle. This program took place at the Museum on April 23, 2014.

The ancestral history of humans and primates is extensive, but can it explain even our financial choices? New experiments in “monkeynomics” demonstrate that monkeys make some of the same silly financial choices we do – but sometimes they make smarter choices. In this SciCafe, Yale University comparative psychologist Laurie Santos explores the roots of human irrationality by watching the way our primate relatives make decisions. This SciCafe took place at the Museum on April 2, 2014. To watch a video version, go to the AMNH Live section of AMNH.tv, or the Museum's YouTube channel.

For many years, Oliver Jagoutz, Assistant Professor of Geology at MIT, and Max Schmidt, Professor of Geology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, have searched the Himalayan Mountains for information on the formation of the Earth’s continental crust, leading to discoveries that put the material of the Earth’s molten mantle on par with that of meteorites. In this podcast, Jagoutz and Schmidt discuss the implications of this discovery for understanding our planet’s origin and other aspects of Earth's formation. This lecture took place at the Hayden Planetarium on April 7, 2014.

Space exploration is entering a new era. Dozens of aerospace companies have emerged in recent years, all with the goal of commercializing space as never before. In this podcast, listen in on this discussion between a panel of entrepreneurs and space historians, hosted by Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium, Neil deGrasse Tyson. The 2014 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate took place at the Museum on March 19, 2014. An accompanying video of the event can be viewed at AMNH.tv or on the Museum’s YouTube channel.

Every year, the Museum is proud to host the Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate, which brings together prominent scientists and public figures to discuss pressing questions on the frontier of scientific discovery. Moderated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, who is the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium, the 2014 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate is titled “Selling Space” and will feature panelists including Elliot Pulham of Space Foundation and Tom Shelley of Space Adventures Ltd. discussing the commercialization of space. Tickets for this event have already sold out, but the debate will be live-streamed on Wednesday March 19 at 7:30 PM Eastern Standard Time at amnh.org/LIVE. By March 21, the debate will also be available as a video on AMNH.tv or on the Museum’s YouTube channel. In anticipation of the 2014 debate, this week’s podcast brings you a recording of the 2010 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate, titled “Moon, Mars, and Beyond: Where Next for the Manned Space Program?” Listen as panelists such as Lester Lyles, four-star Air Force General and Paul Spudis, lunar mapper at the Lunar and Planetary Institute discuss the future of the manned space program, and where the next astronauts might find themselves. The event was moderated by Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium Neil deGrasse Tyson and took place at the Museum on March 15, 2010.

Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions—times when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out large dinosaurs. And this time, the cataclysm is us. In this podcast, join Elizabeth Kolbert, staff writer for the The New Yorker magazine and author of the new book The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, and Michael Novacek, senior vice president and provost of science at the American Museum of Natural History, as they discuss the process of extinction—and the role humanity plays in it. The event was moderated by science writer and video journalist Flora Lichtman. This event took place at the Museum on February 27, 2014.

An advanced telescopic imaging system enabled this year is the first of its kind capable of not only spotting planets orbiting other stars, but also analyzing the chemistry of their atmospheres. In this SciCafe, join Museum curator and Chair of the Astrophysics Department Ben R. Oppenheimer as he discusses the system, known as Project 1640, and its implications for astrophysics and the future of remote space exploration. This SciCafe took place at the Museum on February 5, 2014.

Every year, the Museum is proud to host the Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate, which brings together prominent scientists and public figures to discuss pressing questions on the frontier of scientific discovery. Moderated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, the 2014 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate is titled “Selling Space” and will feature panelists including Elliot Pulham of Space Foundation and Tom Shelley of Space Adventures Ltd. discussing the commercialization of space. Tickets for this event have already sold out, but the debate will be live streamed on Wednesday March 19 at 7:30 PM Eastern Standard Time at amnh.org/LIVE. By March 21, the debate will also be available as a video on AMNH.tv or on the Museum’s YouTube channel. In anticipation of the 2014 debate, this week’s podcast brings you a recording of the 2008 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate, titled “Mining the Sky.” Listen as panelists such as Cassie Conley, Acting Planetary Protection officer of NASA and Charles F. Fogarty, Professor of Economic Geology at the Colorado School of Mines discuss the natural resources found on cosmic bodies that may prove valuable to life on Earth. The 2008 debate was moderated by Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium Neil deGrasse Tyson and took place at the Museum on March 13, 2008.

Concern about asteroids, meteors, and other near-earth objects has increased in the past few years due to events like the Chelyabinsk meteor crash. Like meteors, asteroids have interacted with Earth in the past, and will continue to do so in the future. In this podcast, join Amy Mainzer as she explains what an asteroid is, their origins in the solar system, and systems in place on Earth to discover, track, and predict impacts from Earth's nearest neighbors. This lecture took place at the Hayden Planetarium on February 3, 2014.

It’s no surprise that birds have specialized brains to support the complicated act of flight, but new research shows that dinosaurs evolved the brainpower necessary for flight well before they actually took to the air as birds. In this SciCafe, join Museum paleontologist and curator Mark Norell and research associate Amy Balanoff as they discuss the cutting-edge research and techniques that have continued to illuminate the evolutionary history of living birds, and their extinct dinosaur ancestors. This SciCafe took place at the Museum on January 8, 2014. To watch the accompanying video for this SciCafe, go to the AMNH Live section of AMNH.tv.

Cosmological mathematics are often mind-bogglingly complex, but in this podcast, cosmologist Max Tegmark helps us to grasp some of his most complicated theories about physics, astronomy, and mathematics. Tegmark is the author of a new book, “Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality,” and in his lecture he not only delves into his theory of the ultimate multiverse, but also his own personal triumphs and disappointments that have shaped his life as a scientist. This lecture took place in the Hayden Planetarium on January 13, 2014.