“…the ash was falling from the sky. They were probably like, ‘What is going on? Let's get out of here.’ Because that's what they did. They left.”
“[Akrotiri had] three to four story buildings. I mean, they are stunning. They're significant, like I remember walking into that archeological site for the first time two years ago and my mind was just blown.”
“They're paddling away, and now they have this pyroclastic density current coming after them.”
Can you imagine PADDLING away from a volcano? Neither can we but we were curious to learn more. Join us for our newest episode w/ volcanologist Krista Evans who talks about the volcanic eruption on the Greek island of Thera.
“It was really fascinating to me as a scientist. I look at it and I'm like, ‘Yeah, that's a well-crafted, frighteningly sophisticated and precise scientific plan that they executed on a scale that I couldn't have imagined trying to put together.’”
“I try to imagine myself walking through Central Park and then seeing this landscape of ships, and then smack-dab in the middle of this zone is this hulking crater that stares at you like the Eye of Sauron. It just looks like this massive dent that some Marvel superhero has just punched into the planet.”
In 1946, residents of Bikini Atoll were “temporarily" evacuated for the US gov’t to conduct >100 nuclear tests.
The fallout means they can never return.
We talked w/ Art Trembanis about those tests, radioactive water, a battleship graveyard, & more
Kathy Crane is a true adventurer. As one of the first women in the field of marine geophysics in the 1970s, she hypothesized and then helped discover the existence of hydrothermal vents on the Galápagos Rift along the East Pacific Rise in the mid-1970s and was one the first people to see many of the strange creatures that make their home in this improbable environment.
Check out our newest podcast episode here: http://tinyurl.com/yyt2mknw
Using a temperature-monitoring system that she developed for a a deep-tow seafloor towing system, she discovered temperature anomalies, as well as seafloor images of volcanic features, which provided strong support for her hypothesis about the existence of hydrothermal vents – cracks in the crust of the deep ocean floor where tectonic plates move away or towards one another, thereby releasing by hot magma that forms vents that heat the surrounding cold seawater.
Aboard the submersible Alvin, she also discovered never before seen animal life – mussels, clams, and most beautifully, tube worms – where it was once thought impossible, all of which led to led to the discovery of the biological process of chemosynthesis. Of the tube worms, Kathy said “they looked like roses. Pristine white stems that were part of the worm, and they were fixed hold-fast onto the basalt rocks below them, and at the top was a head that was scarlet red with, looked like, pink petals coming out, which is where it got all its nutrients and everything taking the chemistry off of the ocean water. Absolutely beautiful place.”
Throughout, she had to deal with scientists sabotaging each other, build tools never used in the deepest marine environments, and survive aboard sea rickety research vessels. This episode of Third Pod has it all!
How does one go from combatting the bird flu epidemic to a nationally-elected official in Italy to the subject of a (debunked) criminal case about illegally trafficked viruses? We chatted with virologist Ilaria Capua about her research, political career, controversies, and more and our latest Third Pod from the Sun podcast episode.
“I mean the field work for me is by far the passion and just euphoria that I have when I'm in the field. It's like nothing I've ever experienced literally, and I've given birth to four children.”
“Mostly I've learned how important it is for those people to have some kind of pay equity to their largely male peers. I'm really focused and part of my work at Georgia Tech to try to insure women, not just scientist, but women all over the campus are not just treated equitably, but supported in their life choices and encouraged to find a way to be fulfilled in their work and fee that they have the level of connection and access to their family whenever they need it.”
Kim Cobb is not only a champion of science, but of women in science, & frankly, in general. & she has some wisdom to grant. We chatted w/ her about that & more in our most recent Third Pod from the Sun Sci & Tell episode.
“The first thing that drives both of us is equity, that's the first thing. Are we making just decisions and just use of scientific information so that we're benefiting people of all stripes?”
“I think the public's really looking for humility in how we provide this information... Yeah, this information forward. If they feel like we're trying to sell something, then I think it makes our job a lot tougher.”
Science communication isn’t just about talking at people. It’s about connecting w/ them. We chatted w/ Roger Pulwarty of the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory & Michael Hayes of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Natural Resources about their work connecting science & society in our most recent Sci & Tell episode. https://thirdpodfromthesun.com/2020/03/04/third-pod-presents-sci-tell-pulwarty-hayes-connecting-science-society/
A pink water buffalo. A (kind of) rocket ship. A river crossing via backhoe. What does any of this have to do with water security?
In our most recent Third Pod from the Sun episode, we chatted with researcher Chris Scott of the University of Arizona about the places he’s traveled to, the people that he’s met, and the challenges that he’s faced. http://tinyurl.com/y257mxdx
