Third Pod from the Sun
Third Pod from the Sun is back, and we’re going weekly! We’re breaking things up into six-week mini-series and our first series is all about the true, personal stories from scientists, for everyone. Join us as we combat misconceptions about sharks, learn how to lasso lizards, hear from a Martian here on Earth, spark science joy via TikTok, journey to Antarctica, and fight over food with some capuchins!
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 25 minutes
- Episodes
- 189
- Years Active
- 2017 - 2023
What's It Like Pretending to Live on Mars?
If someone offered you the chance to drop everything, fly to Hawaii, and spend four months trapped in a dome with seven strangers in the name of science, would you do it? For writer Kate Greene, the…
What Tree Rings Can Tell Us About the U.S. Civil War
Many of us know that tree rings can tell us how old a tree is. But there’s so much more we can learn from these seemingly simple lines.
In the mid 1800’s, right before the start of the U.S. Civil War…
A Modern Way to Look for Aliens
If you were an ant living in an anthill in the Serengeti and you wanted to know whether an intelligent species lived on planet Earth, how could you tell? A particularly clever ant might pick up a rad…
Special Release: The Beast of the Arctic
Scientists sent a remotely operated vehicle named Beast under the sea ice in Arctic winter. Jenessa Duncombe talks with scientist Christian Katlein about the race to characterize sea ice in the Arcti…
Special Release: Can Volcano Forecasting Make Visiting Whakaari Safe Again?
Last year’s explosive eruption at the New Zealand volcano tragically took tourists by surprise. Jenessa Duncombe talks with scientist David Dempsey about a new forecasting model that could issue aler…
Special Release: It's astrobiology, my dear WATSON
By drilling into ice sheets on Earth, a new instrument called WATSON can help us find biosignatures on icy ocean worlds across the solar system. Read more at https://eos.org.
Special Release: The Canadian Wildfire Chronicles
How have wildfires in Canada changed in the past 50 years? New research documents how a warming climate contributes to patterns in wildfire severity and frequency and how the fires contribute to clim…
From Athlete to Astronaut
Leland Melvin’s scientific career began during his childhood in Lynchburg, Virginia, when he created a fantastic explosion in his living room with an at-home chemistry set. Little did Leland or his f…
Songs of the Arches (with Helicopters)
Utah’s famous bridges and spires hum with a deep, Earthly music, below the threshold of human perception.
The wind that carved the sandstone of Arches National Park into spectacular arches and towers…
Special Release: Mythical Monsters and their Real-life Inspirations (Part 2)
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…
Special Release: Mythical Monsters and their Real-life Inspirations (Part 1)
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…
Final Frontier? The Evolution of Planetary Science Missions
The latest episode of Third Pod from the Sun features an interview with planetary scientist Fran Bagenal, who has had a fascinating career working on NASA missions from Voyager to Juno and New Horiz…
The Unusual Relationship Between Climate and Pandemics
Well-documented torrential rains and unusually cold temperatures affected the outcomes of many major battles during World War I from 1914 to 1918. Poet Mary Borden described the cold, muddy landscap…
Putting Brains in Rock Machines
What happens when you cross medical science with geophysics?In one study published last year, the result was one-part interdisciplinary and one-part science fiction.
Scientists have studied the pres…
Escape from Thera
About 3,600 years ago, a colossal volcanic eruption blew apart the Greek island Thera, now the popular tourist destination known as Santorini. Falling volcanic rock and dust buried the Bronze Age set…
Instruments of Unusual Size
Volcanic craters could be the largest musical instrument on Earth, producing unique sounds that tell scientists what is going on deep in a volcano’s belly.
Chile’s Villarica volcano acted much like a…
Special Release: Climate change, tree rings, and string theory
What’s it like to be one of the most well-known climate scientists around? People (e.g. your dad) should just trust what you say, right? Well…it doesn’t always work out like that.
Kate Marvel, Associ…
Mt. St. Helens: 40 Years Later
On May 18, 1980, Mt. St. Helens erupted in Washington state, capping off a series of volcanic events that began on March 27th of that year. The May 18th explosions is credited with causing 57 deaths,…
Third Pod Live: The Dirty Links between Soil and Climate
Asmeret Asefaw Berhe is a Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry at the Life and Environmental Sciences unit, University of California, Merced. She received her PhD in Biogeochemistry from the University …
Third Pod Presents: Sci & Tell - James Garvin on Earth Day at 50
James Garvin is the Chief Scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Dr. Garvin has been at NASA for 35 years in a variety of roles and missions, and is well known for his incredible work in NA…