Third Pod from the Sun

As the Scientific Visualization lead for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Mark SubbaRao oversees the translation of NASA science into images and movies. For Mark, science visualization is a key co…

As the Deputy Program Manager for NASA’s Radioisotope Power Systems Program at Glenn Research Center, Concha Reid leads a team overseeing and monitoring devices that heat and give power to NASA space…

Being a Hydrologist was never on Matthew Rodell’s radar, let alone working for NASA. But he always trusted the path ahead. Now as their Deputy Director of Earth Sciences for Hydrosphere, Biosphere, a…

Dorian Janney is a science communicator for NASA asking the big question: how do we make science accessible? Sparked into Earth Space Science through her son’s curiosity with space, we talk to Dorian…

Chris Justice is a geographer and professor at the University of Maryland whose research on land use changes and global agriculture has taken him around the world. His research has had a hand in a va…

What do folks who fight food insecurity with satellites, do outreach about Pluto, and map out the Earth's gravitational fields have in common? How about a common thread between those who study light …

Many might think that we know most or all there is to know about our world. On the surface, that might be somewhat true. But below the surfaced, we mapped less of the oceans than of places outside ou…

When you think of a combo of science & art, what comes to mind? Drawings? Dance? Music? How about quilting? Laura Guertin, Professor of Earth Science at Penn State Brandywine, was looking for creativ…

While climate change is a global issue, it affects people on a local, and sometimes personal level. And it disproportionately affects those from traditionally marginalized backgrounds. Luckily, there…

Fresh water is something that many of us take for granted. But for Carmen George and Brianna John, it's not a trivial thing. They're working to bring clean water to the Navajo reservation through Com…

It’s that time of year again. No, we’re not talking about the holiday season (though, happy holidays everyone!). We’re talking AGU’s annual meeting! To celebrate, we’re releasing an episode each day …

Fire is a part of life for many indigenous groups, but for decades cultural burning was restricted and even criminalized. Now, fire is being brought back to the land by indigenous groups to help prev…

This episode is about how random flashes of fireflies gradually acquire synchrony. Studies have shown that this surreal coordination of twinkling occurs through a natural cadence among certain specie…

Think about what types of things burn: wood, grasses, fossil fuels… mostly things that were formed by life. Fire also requires oxygen, which is largely produced by life. Did Earth have fire before li…

When the Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano began filling with water in 2019 it wasn’t unprecedented, volcanic crater lakes aren’t uncommon; but, it was surprising for active volcan…

At the end of the decade, NASA’s Artemis missions will return to the moon—traveling through deep space to get there. A lot of things make deep space travel complicated, but one you might not have con…

Climate change is accelerating as human-made greenhouse gasses continue to warm our atmosphere. Megafires certainly evoke climate change doomsday feelings, but are these types of fires new to the PNW…

We’ve all heard stories about fantastical creatures that people swear they’ve seen and have evidence of but can never be confirmed. Think Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster. Mermaids or the Kraken. Whi…

We’ve all heard stories about fantastical creatures that people swear they’ve seen and have evidence of but can never be confirmed. Think Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster. Mermaids or the Kraken. Whi…

As the leaves change and temperatures cool, head inside, fire up your headphones, and get ready for hot-podcast fall as share stories about, well, fire. Join us over the next six weeks to hear storie…