Burst 3 - MISS on Mars?

Release Date: 20 December 2014

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Nora Noffke, Associate Professor in the Department of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Old Dominion University, tells us about her recent hypothesis paper that argues that certain sedimentary structures seen by the Curiosity rover on Mars could be fossilized microbial mats.

Ancient Sedimentary Structures in the <3.7 Ga Gillespie Lake Member, Mars, That Compare in Macroscopic Morphology, Spatial Associations, and Temporal Succession with Terrestrial Microbialites

Dr. Noffke's page at ODU 

ODU Press Release

Music by Jason Robinson

Gillespie Lake (photo from NASA)

Burst 1 - The Astronaut Instruction Manual for Preteens

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Mike Mongo

In this short Wow! Signal Burst, Mike Mongo, Astronaut Teacher, tells us about his forthcoming book, which has just completed successful crowdfunding. The Astronaut Instruction Manual for Preteens. The book is available for preorder now.

KidAstronaut.com

Theme music by Jason Robinson.

The Wow! Signal is produced by Dream of the Open Channel and distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike license.





Wow! Signal Burst 1 by Paul Carr is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.wowsignalpodcast.com/2014/11/burst-1-astronaut-instruction-manual.html.

Episode 17 - The Long Delays

Release Date: 29 October 2014

Alan Penny

Is SETA really just local SETI? It makes sense to me, and to Alan Penny, coordinator of the UK SETI Research Network. We talk to Dr. Penny about the future of SETI. Then, we talk to another Scottish astronomer Duncan Lunan about the scientific mystery of the Long Delay Echoes. Are the LDEs from a Bracewell Probe?

Music by DJ Spooky, Jason Robinson, Erika Lloyd and George Hrab

Download the .mp3 directly.

Detailed Show Notes




The Long Delays by Paul Carr is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://traffic.libsyn.com/wowsignal/S2_E5_Long_Delays.mp3.

Episode 16 - Cells, Planets

astrobiologist Betul Kacar

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The study of astrobiology projects current scientific knowledge of the living world into the wide universe and asks the questions we all want to ask: where are the best places to search for life in the universe and what should we look for? Are we searching for exotic microbes, living beings like ourselves, or advanced robots that have taken over from their creators?

In this episode we meet Steven Dick and Betul Kacar, two astrobiologists from different backgrounds who are exploring these questions in different ways.

Detailed Show Notes

Cells, Planets by Paul Carr is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://traffic.libsyn.com/wowsignal/S2_Ep4_cellsplanets.mp3.

Episode 15 - Oblique Strategies

Release Date: 24 June 2014

Heath Rezabek

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Host Mike Mongo talks to futurist librarian Heath Rezabek about preserving humanity's knowledge into the far future.


Paul Carr talks to economist and former AI researcher Robin Hanson about a possible future in which humans exist, but aren't very important. Will AI put us all out of a job, and what will that mean to us if so?


Music by Erika Lloyd and DJ Spooky



Detailed Show Notes

Oblique Strategies by Paul Carr is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://traffic.libsyn.com/wowsignal/WSP_S2_Ep3_ObliqueStrategies.mp3.

Episode 6 - Conversation with an Alien Hunter

We talk to Seth Shostak of the SETI Institute about the past, present and future of the Search for
Extraterrestrial Intelligence.  Seth discussed why he doesn't think the Eerie Silence may be all that eerie, and his own optimism and doubts about detecting ET in the next generation or so.

We also award the third Wow! Signal podcast podcasting seal of approval to: the Weekly Weinersmith.  Music is mostly by Cuneiform artist Jason Robinson.

Links

Download the .mp3 file

The script for this episode
The SETI Institute
Donate to the SETI Institute
Big Picture Science
Seth's book: Confessions of an Alien Hunter
Seth Shostak on the last term in the Drake Equation (page 399)
A Google Hangout with Seth Shostak (video)
Carl Sagan explains the Drake Equation (video)

About the Wow! Signal
Is SETI Silly?
A review of Paul Davies' An Eerie Silence.
The Fermi Paradox with Geoffrey Landis

The Weekly Weinersmith

Subscribe to the Wow! Signal Podcast

The Music

Jason Robinson
Cuneiform Records

John Baez and Greg Egan's Telesto

Ahleuchatistas

Episode 4 - All the Lonely Planets

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A conversation about alien life with Dr. David Grinspoon, author of Lonely Planets.  We talked about

David Grinspoon

his career as an astrobiologist, about habitability of environments throughout the solar system from Venus to the moons of Saturn, a proposed Venus balloon, the Curiosity rover on Mars, his upcoming book, his band, and more.

We also play a little music by the House Band of the Universe, and introduce a new feature of the Wow! Signal podcast - the Wow! Signal Podcast Seal of Approval for Podcasting, the first of which goes to: Big Picture Science.

Links

Download the .mp3 file
Subscribe to the Wow! Signal Podcast

David Grinspoon's website, funkyscience.net
Lonely Planets - the Natural Philosophy of Alien Life
The Episode 4 Script

The Drake Equation (SETI Institute)
Carl Sagan on the Drake Equation (video)

Co-host this podcast
Be on the Podcast

Musical Contributors:

Jason Robinson
Ahleuchatistas
Cuneiform Records
George Hrab (via Meevio Music Alley)
Mike Griffin

Episode 2 - What About Fact A?

Release Date: 16 January 2013

Geoffrey Landis

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There is no persuasive evidence that aliens from other star systems have ever visited our planet - a situation Michael Hart dubbed "Fact A."  However, as Enrico Fermi pointed out in 1950, this is something of a surprise.  This podcast is the first in a series examining what has become known as the Fermi Paradox.

We'll talk to award winning SF author and NASA scientist Geoffrey Landis about one of his proposed solutions to this paradox, and set the stage for further explorations.  We'll also sample some powerful music by 21st Century Jazz artist Jason Robinson from his new CD "Tiresian Symmetry" and experimental sound sculptor Sleep Research Facility from the new CD "Stealth,"  based on sounds recorded in a B2 bomber hangar in the UK.

Links:

Episode 2 Script (actual spoken content may vary)
Download .mp3 file
The Wow! Signal Podcast on iTunes

The Fermi Paradox Part 2

Geoffrey Landis
A collection of Geoffrey Landis' short stories: Impact Parameter

The Fermi Paradox: An Approach Based on Percolation Theory by Geoffrey Landis

Jason Robinson

Cuneiform Records (order Tiresian Symmetry here)

Sleep Research Facility
Hypnos Records

The Drake Equation (SETI Institute)

Carl Sagan on the Drake Equation
The Fermi Paradox, part 1 (Dream of the Open Channel)

Episode 1 (Antonio Paris is Not from Outer Space)


Subscribe to the Wow! Signal Podcast
Be on the Podcast
Music Wanted

Contact the Wow! Signal Podcast