Hunting asteroids from space, and talking to pollinators with heat
A new space-based observatory designed to identify large, Earth-bound asteroids, and a very old way for plants to signal their pollinators
Science Magazine Podcast · Science Magazine
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Show Notes
First up on the podcast, we’ve likely only found about half the so-called city-killer asteroids (objects more than 140 meters in diameter). Freelance science journalist Robin George Andrews joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss the upcoming launch of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Surveyor, an asteroid hunter that will improve our ability to look for large objects that might crash into Earth, particularly those hiding in the Sun’s glare.
Next on the show, freelancer producer Elah Feder talks with Wendy Valencia-Montoya, an organismic and evolutionary biology Ph.D. candidate at Harvard University, about heated conversations between plants and their pollinators. Her work suggests infrared radiation might be the oldest cue for animals to come hither, more ancient than color.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
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