Pulsar
Science Podcasts
We hear amazing questions in the exhibit halls of the Museum of Science, Boston. Do woodpeckers get headaches? How many colors are in the rainbow? Who gets to drive the Mars rovers? Pulsar features short interviews with our education staff along with scientists, engineers, and experts from around the world in order to find the answers.
Location:
United States
Genres:
Science Podcasts
Description:
We hear amazing questions in the exhibit halls of the Museum of Science, Boston. Do woodpeckers get headaches? How many colors are in the rainbow? Who gets to drive the Mars rovers? Pulsar features short interviews with our education staff along with scientists, engineers, and experts from around the world in order to find the answers.
Language:
English
Email:
sciencequestions@mos.org
Episodes
When Is the Next Eclipse? 2024-2026 Edition
5/6/2024
With the Great American Eclipse of 2024 in the rear view mirror, we look ahead to the next three years of solar and lunar eclipses visible from Boston and around the globe.
Duration:00:22:38
How Do You Tag a Great White Shark? What Does The Tag Tell Us?
4/29/2024
Dr. Greg Skomal, a shark expert with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, discusses the incredible data that shark tags can give us as well as the process of finding and tagging great white sharks off of Cape Cod.
Duration:00:16:46
What Dinosaurs Lived in New England?
4/16/2024
Our triceratops fossil, Cliff, did not live in New England. So what kind of dinosaurs did? We ask two local experts, Mark Agostini and Dr. Mark McMenamin, to tell us what fossils have been recovered from our own backyard.
Duration:00:13:39
What Is It Like to Experience a Total Solar Eclipse?
2/29/2024
With a total solar eclipse coming up on April 8th, 2024, we ask planetarium educator Talia what it feels like to actually witness the moon totally blocking the sun.
Duration:00:08:22
How Was the Hubble Telescope Fixed?
12/20/2023
We celebrate the 30th anniversary of a daring Space Shuttle mission that fixed the Hubble Space Telescope by chatting about the experience with astronaut Jeff Hoffman.
Duration:00:09:32
What Kind of Space Research Happens Here in Massachusetts?
11/13/2023
Dr. Supriya Chakrabarti, the Director of UMass Lowell's Center for Space Science and Technology, explains some of the exciting space research and engineering that is happening right here in our backyard.
Duration:00:13:05
Why Do Narwhals Have Tusks?
10/30/2023
We ask marine mammal odontologist Dr. Martin Nweeia about one of the most amazing teeth anywhere in the animal kingdom and get the full story of the narwhal and its ten-foot tusk.
Duration:00:13:57
What Is It Like to Look Down at the Earth from Space?
10/16/2023
One of the more hopeful results of human spaceflight has been the Overview Effect, when astronauts feel the awe in looking down at our home planet while orbiting above. NASA Astronaut Bob Hines details his experience earthgazing from the International Space Station in 2022.
Duration:00:07:21
How Can I Help Fight Climate Change?
10/2/2023
Maybe the most frequent questions we have gotten this century at the museum is what people can do personally to mitigate the effects of climate change. Frank Lowenstein from Rare's Climate Culture Boston gives a short list of big-impact actions.
Duration:00:12:15
How Smart Are Ants?
9/18/2023
There are an astonishing number of ant species living on our planet. One of the world's foremost experts on ants, Dr. Susanne Foitzik, explains how their society is different from ours in many ways.
Duration:00:14:48
Are Sci-Fi Authors Scientists or Writers?
7/27/2023
There are so many amazing writers of science fiction. When they were young, did they dream of bring famous authors, or amazing scientists? Author Katie Slivensky shares her journey through the worlds of science and fiction.
Duration:00:14:34
How Do Scientists Make Discoveries?
7/3/2023
Last month, MIT's Kishalay De published the first ever observations of a star destroying a planet. Hear about the detective work it took to realize what some of the world's largest telescopes were seeing as this cataclysmic event unfolded.
Duration:00:14:33
What Do You Mean, That Isn’t a Dinosaur?
6/12/2023
The word 'dinosaur' refers to a specific group of animals. Many animals get included under the dinosaur umbrella when they are actually from different groups. Becca from our programs team helps us set the fossil record straight.
Duration:00:13:58
How Do Spacecraft Move Around the Solar System?
5/29/2023
Talia from our planetarium team talks about calculating the most efficient trajectories for spacecraft in order to get to interesting places from Mercury to Pluto and beyond.
Duration:00:11:35
How Many Moons Are There In The Solar System?
5/15/2023
With 62 new moons announced last week, Talia from our Charles Hayden Planetarium tells us how Saturn is once again the grand champion of the solar system in terms of natural satellites.
Duration:00:13:58
Where Do Volcanoes Come From?
5/8/2023
Volcanoes are incredibly powerful, but what causes one to form? Becca from our programs team talks about the origins of these explosive entities.
Duration:00:11:43
What Counts As Artificial Intelligence?
4/24/2023
With so many stories in the news about the new capabilities of artificial intelligence, Emily from the museum's programs team explains what that term means and how AI works.
Duration:00:07:35
Why Is It Important To Look For Life On Mars?
4/10/2023
Dr. Michael Meyer has been the lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program for over 25 years. He tells us what the possibility of life on the red planet would mean for science and our understanding of the universe.
Duration:00:13:51
I Found This Strange Rock...Is It A Meteorite?
3/27/2023
We ask Dr. Ben Weiss, an MIT expert on meteorites, how to spot the difference between rocks that formed on Earth and ones that fell from space.
Duration:00:15:07
I Think I Saw a Right Whale! Who Should I Call?
3/13/2023
North Atlantic Right Whales are critically endangered. We chat with Tim Cole and Lieutenant Christopher Licitra from NOAA Fisheries about efforts to identify, track, and conserve this fragile population.
Duration:00:15:16