The Cosmic Shed The Cosmic Shed

Abigail Harrison is also known as Astronaut Abby. Since the age of 13,  her eyes have firmly set on the red planet. Abby is an aspiring astronaut who dreams of becoming the first astronaut to set foot on Mars and the co-founder of the international non-profit organization The Mars Generation. 
Abby joins Andrew for this episode of The Cosmic Shed podcast. Abby Harrison is aiming to be the first person to set foot on Mars
Dream Big! How to Reach for Your Stars is Abby's first book and it "provides helpful advice and practical tips to help readers on the path toward finding, reaching for, and achieving their goals."
Abby's book is out this month.
It turns out Abby is a bit of a science fiction fan too. Obviously, Andrew and Abby chatted about that and we find out which book and film she'll be taking with her when she sets off for Mars.
Download and listen now.
show notesThe Cosmic Shed is part of the Stimulus NetworkYou can subscribe to The Cosmic Shed podcast

This is the episode. Disney have announced 10 new films and series in the Star Wars Universe. The Mandalorian Season 2 has just finished. The Arecibo Observatory just collapsed. We're in.
"Your name will be legendary" Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand
Andrew, Ti and Steve settle in to talk all things Mandalorian and Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute joins us to talk about the latest in the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence and the collapse of the Arecibo.
Baby Yoda stole our hearts. Mando stole our Friday nights. 
Fair warning, this is a spoiler laden episode so make sure you watch all of the first two seasons of the Mandalorian first. Once you have done that, settle in for our last episode of 2020.
The Arecibo (as featured in Contact) has collapsed
You have two choices. You can download and listen at home or your can can download and listen outside. We can bring in 2021 warm or we can bring it in cold. It's up to you.
We have spoken.
show notes
Seth Shostak has written a lovely tribute to AreciboThe Cosmic Shed is part of the Stimulus NetworkYou can subscribe to The Cosmic Shed podcastOur episode featuring Joonas Suatamo (Chewbacca) is here Our episode with Warwick Davis is hereOur episode on the Physics of Star Wars is hereOur previous episode featuring Cavan Scott (Star Wars author) is here Our episode on some rather interesting Star Wars research is here 

Andrew is joined by Pippa Ehrlich, Director/Producer of the wonderful documentary My Octopus Teacher now streaming on Netflix for this special episode of The Cosmic Shed.
It's been stealing hearts and winning awards across the world, including winning The Golden Panda at Wildscreen Festival which leads us to be able to type the following, deeply wonderful sentence:
My Octopus Teacher won the Golden Panda.
Pippa Ehrlich is Director/Producer of My Octopus Teacher
Pippa tells Andrew just what goes into making such a stunning film in a wide ranging conversation including diving in the kelp forests and making a film for Netflix.
Pippa and Andrew in conversation.
Put on your warmest wetsuit and dive in. Alternatively, wear whatever you like and download the latest episode of The Cosmic Shed podcast.
show notes
Pippa is also part of the Sea Change Project. Find out about their wonderful work here.The Cosmic Shed is part of the Stimulus NetworkYou can subscribe to The Cosmic Shed podcast

Kellie Gerardi joins Andrew to talk about life in the Space Age and her work in the commercial space industry. Kellie is something of a social media star with over 200,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok and has set her sights firmly on reaching Space for herself.
Her new book, "Not Necessarily Rocket Science - A Beginners Guide to Life in the Space Age" is out on November 24th 2020
Kellie and Andrew talk about life in the Space Age and Kellie's new book
Kellie researches bioastronautics and has flown on the Vomit Comet (a plane which enables passengers to experience weightlessness) on a number of occasions as part of her research.
Kellie Gerardi and Andrew talking for The Cosmic Shed podcast
This being The Cosmic Shed, the conversation turns to Science Fiction and we learn of Kellie's links to a galaxy far, far away.
Download, sit back and listen to this episode of The Cosmic Shed with Kellie Gerardi.
show notes
The Cosmic Shed is part of the Stimulus NetworkYou can subscribe to The Cosmic Shed podcastYou can buy Kellie's excellent book hereYou can buy Kellie's merchandise here

Next up on The Cosmic Shed, we explore Alice Winocour's fascinating new film, Proxima starring Eva Green and we hear from Alice Winocour herself.
Eva Green's character is surrounded by men
Andrew, Ti, Tushna and Achintya gather in the virtual shed, wishing they were next to each other and not separated by a lockdown and virus. All rather fitting for the film which you'll know if you've seen it and you should.
Achintya, Andrew, Ti and Tushna discuss Proxima
Strap in, escape under a fence or blast off into space. Do what you need to do but make sure you download this first.
show notesYou can read Andrew's review of Proxima in Physics WorldThe Cosmic Shed is part of the Stimulus NetworkYou can subscribe to The Cosmic Shed podcastVery special thanks to Achtintya Rao for editing this episode.

In this long in development episode, we look back at the ground-breaking, record-breaking and undeniably beautiful Avatar.
We see you, Cosmic Shed listeners.
Andrew, Ti and Steve are joined by the hosts of the For What it's Earth podcast Emma Brisdion and Lloyd Hopkins to discuss the science and storytelling of Avatar.
Steve, Andrew, Ti, Emma and Lloyd
You'll also hear from Christopher Conselice whose research revealed the likely number of alien civilisations out there. Christopher  is an American astrophysicist who is currently a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Manchester.
The floating mountain of the Valley of Mo'ara is an inspiration for Avatar's Pandora.
Settle in under your favourite tree and listen to this brand new episode of the Cosmic Shed podcast. Oh and you might as well watch Avatar again too. It's been too long.
show notes
The Cosmic Shed is part of the Stimulus NetworkYou can subscribe to The Cosmic Shed podcastVery special thanks to Achtintya Rao for his help in editing this episode.Steve and Lloyd mention this