During my weekly live video chat, I was asked if black holes can ever really form -- won't the slowing of time make it impossible for one to ever actually exist? The answer is, well, a little weird. But that's how black holes are!
I apologize for the quality-- it's jumpy; this was recorded during a live chat, and the connection was spotty.
I visited the incredible Large Hadron Collider in Geneva. This is technology on a truly amazing scale! For more (including who's who in the vid) go to my two blog entries about this: http://www.badastron omy.com/bablog/2008/ 04/27/my-excellent-c ern-adventure-the-vi deo/
and
http://www.badast ronomy.com/bablog/20 08/04/22/europe-day- 3-cern-the-lhc
There are YouTube videos and websites saying that a near-Earth asteroid may cause epic disasters. These people are completely wrong, and scaring others. I debunk these claims here. More info and links can be found on my site: http://www.badastron omy.com/bablog/2008/ 01/25/asteroid-2007- tu24-no-danger-to-ea rth/.
UPDATE: The Navy successfully shot down the spysat: http://www.badastron omy.com/bablog/2008/ 02/20/breaking-spysa t-successfully-hit-b y-missile/
I give some of the facts and some opinions on the US blowing up the spy satellite USA 193. More info can be found on my blog at http://www.badastron omy.com/bablog/2008/ 02/19/blowing-up-a-s py-satellite/.
As the Phoenix Mars Lander descended to the surface of the red planet, a camera in orbit snapped a picture of it showing the lander and its parachute. This gets my vote for the single most amazing space shot I have ever seen.
Links:
Phoenix mission: http://phoenix.lpl.a rizona.edu/
Planetary Society Blog:
http://www.planet ary.org/blog/
During my live video chat I was asked, where is the center of the Universe? Someday, someone will ask an easy question. :-) But this is a good one, and the answer is a little weird.
Remember the TechTV show "Call for Help", with Chris Pirillo? I made several appearances, debunking bad movie science. I found a tape from the November 8, 2001 show when I was on. Enjoy.
"How dense is the center of the Sun?" Turns out, pretty frakking dense. Also, the Sun makes a VAST amount of energy there, and I go through a few analogies to help make this make sense. No marshmallows were hurt in the making of this video.
My friend Tina is a teacher in Austin. She asked her sixth grade students to send me questions they had about astronomy, and I answer them on camera. There were so many I had to split this into *5* parts!
This is the part. I really only answer one question: What is the Big Bang theory, and do I think it's real? But I also take a moment to talk about science, and why it's so cool.
I was on my local TV station a couple of years ago talking about my book and standing eggs on end on the vernal equinox. It's silly and humorous, but informative.
Let's take the Moon out for a spin. Oh wait... too late. It's *already* spinning.
Show notes are on my blog: http://www.badastron omy.com/bablog/2007/ 03/04/q-ba-episode-5 -spin-doctor/
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