98 episodes
EVSN: Escape Velocity Space News Dr. Pamela Gay, Erik Madaus, Beth Johnson, Ally Pelphrey
-
- Science
-
-
4.4 • 81 Ratings
-
Get your weekly dose of all that's new in space and astronomy with Escape Velocity Space News. The sky is not the limit, as we bring you the latest scientific discoveries and rocket launches. EVSN is brought to you by the team behind CosmoQuest at the Planetary Science Institute, and features hosts Dr. Pamela L. Gay and Erik Madaus with special guest interviews by Beth Johnson and audio engineering by Ally Pelphrey. EVSN is supported through Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/CosmoQuestX.
-
Catch the (Alien) Rainbow
As scientists discover and explore the atmospheres of more and more planets orbiting stars other than our Sun, we are learning that if you can imagine it, it probably exists. In a new paper discussing the planet WASP-76b, researchers describe what appears to be a giant rainbow in the atmosphere of another world... a circular rainbow... and it's not caused by refracted starlight!
-
Following the Water Toward Climate Change
This week’s episode is brought to you by last week’s terrible weather. While experiencing hail and thunder IRL, we also saw press release after press release and article after article discussing climate change. This one-two punch of new science and the need for a new roof means we will touch on climate change in our closer look this week. We apologize in advance; it’s not pretty out there -- unless you like storm chasing, then it’s kind of the stuff of dreams at the moment.
-
Planet Formation is (Still) Not Well Understood
One of our recurring topics is “Planet formation is not well understood,” and a trio of new papers is making it clear why planet formation continues to... not be well understood. Put simply: the universe likes to create more diverse solar systems than an entire planet’s worth of sci-fi writers can imagine.
-
SPECIAL SHORT: How NASA Budget Cuts Will Hurt Space Science
Earlier in March, Congress voted into place the FY2024 budgets for multiple agencies, including NASA. The agency is being asked for an overall 2% cut. Combined with inflation rates over 3%, we are looking at a fairly significant cut to the U.S. budget for space science. Dr. Pamela Gay breaks down what these cuts will affect, including people and missions, as we move forward with this already stressful fiscal year. (This episode was recorded on March 14, 2024)
-
Grindavik, Iceland, and Volcanoes with Dr. Melissa Scruggs
As you know, our team loves volcanoes, and since we’ve been focused on Iceland for months, we brought in Dr. Melissa Scruggs (aka VolcanoDoc on Twitch) for a chat about Grindavik and all things volcanic in Iceland.
-
Stability, Instability, Drama, and How We are Space Stuff
It is possible to buy stickers, sweatshirts, mugs, and other stuff and things emblazoned with the simple phrase, “We are star stuff”. This phrase was popularized by Carl Sagan, and it serves as a gentle reminder that all the complex atoms - by which I mean most everything heavier than helium - found their start either in the nuclear core of a star or in the nuclear explosions of a dying star or stars. But, as with so many things, the truth is much more complicated than the meme.
Customer Reviews
Turn it up!
I’ve followed Pamela Gay ever since she was part of the Slacker Astronomy podcast. She is a wonderful science educator and I’m always happy to let her put science in my brain. My one criticism is the low volume level of the podcast. Not only is it way lower than any of the other podcasts I regularly listen to (including Astronomy Cast), but it’s also much lower than the ads in each episode. I have to turn it up to hear only to have my ears assaulted when an ad comes on. I turn it down for the ad but then have to crank it up again once the ad is finished. Can things be leveled out it bit? Otherwise, great podcast!
Love the show but fix the audio levels
I love science podcasts and I have been listening to all of Dr Pamala Gay’s fantastic work for years. From the very beginning of Astronomy Cast I’ve been hooked. Lately I’ve noticed that this show needs to up the audio levels on Pamela’s voice. Every time the commercials come on I wince from how loud it gets because I have to turn it up high to hear Pamela. 6 stars if you fix that problem. Otherwise I love the show.
Raise the speakers’ audio
While I love the content, the audio levels are frustrating. (Hand-on-forehead).
When mixing in the speakers’ audio, please raise speakers’ volume. If you compare it to other podcasts audio levels, speaker audio is very, very low. Audio level of intro music and other fill/transitions is ok. But audio of those speaking is barely audible.
When listening to multiple podcasts and arriving at this one, after the intro in this podcast, I have to increase the volume by 1/3 to hear the speaker’s voice, then when a filler/ad comes on, lower the volume or it is too loud, then raise the volume again again by 1/3 to hear speakers’ voices.
You can easily compare the audio decibel levels with other podcasts and this one using an audio meter. Normalize voice levels please. Don’t change the transition/ad/filler audio levels. Those are fine.
Top Podcasts In Science