We have a special episode to share with you today of the daily poetry podcast, “The Slowdown.” “The Slowdown” offers a poem and a moment of reflection in short episodes, each weekday. In this episode, host Major Jackson, reads “Chaos Theory” by Clint Smith. Major writes… “Occasionally, I try to follow the series of decisions that led me to this pre…

José Antonio Rodríguez joins Kevin Young to read “[World of the future, we thirsted](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/07/29/world-of-the-future-we-thirsted),” by Naomi Shihab Nye, and his own poem “[Tender](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/22/tender).” Rodríguez is a poet, memoirist, and translator whose honors include a Bob Bus…

Analysis of the samples returned from the asteroid Bennu have revealed surprising assemblages of minerals that put new constraints on the origin of the solar system. And once Top Quark Jim Cooney stops giggling, he tells us about the discovery of an itsy-bitsy galaxy, if you can call it that, orbiting the Milky way. It has only dozens of stars, plu…

We peer back in time both to the murky history of our own solar system and to the dark ages of the universe. The JWST has confirmed that dwarf galaxies were the first to illuminate the universe, putting an end to the dark ages that followed the cooling after the big bang. In our own corner of the universe, new research highlights how nearby stars c…

One of only a handful of recurrent novas, white dwarf stars that undergo a periodic explosive brightening as they accrete material from a neighboring star, is showing signs that it may be ready to blow sometime in 2024! Visible in the northern hemisphere, T CrB may become visible to the naked eye for a few days this year, repeating a cycle that occ…

Ada Limón joins Kevin Young to read “You Belong to The World,” by Carrie Fountain, and her own poem “Hell or High Water.” Limón is the current United States Poet Laureate and the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship. She’s the author of six books—including “The Carrying,” which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry—and the e…

The presumed metallic asteroid Psyche gets a new look before the spacecraft of the same name gets there in 2029, and it reveals different spectral characteristics than were observed in previous studies. We discuss the mystery of metallic asteroids and what we might see at Psyche. Top quark educates us about the largest binary black hole system, wit…

Saturn's so-called Death Star moon Mimas may harbor a global subsurface ocean based on analysis of Cassini data of the tiny moon's orbit and rotation. And in the distant universe, what was previously thought to be a run-of-the-mill star in our own galaxy turns out to be a quasar thousands of times brighter than our entire galaxy itself. Join us on …

Donika Kelly joins Kevin Young to read “One Hundred White-Sided Dolphins on a Summer Day,” by Mary Oliver, and her own poem “Sixteen Center.” Kelly is the author of two poetry collections, and the recipient of an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, a Cave Canem Poetry Prize, a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and a Kate Tufts Discovery Award. A founding member …

Water molecules have been observed on the surface of an asteroid for the first time, and new studies help explain some of the odd behavior of planetary ring systems, including why they even exist around small objects in the outer solar system. Join us for a clear and fun explanation, the latest from Mars, upcoming missions, space trivia and more.…

In this special episode recorded live at MegaCon Orlando 2024, we are joined by NPR space reporter Brendan Byrne to take a close look at where we are in the mission to get people to the red planet. We take a look at the next steps in the Artemis program, and the history and future of robotic exploration of Mars. Find out when we will walk on Mars, …

There's another claim for a violation of the cosmological principle - that all parts of the universe are basically the same on large scales - but Top quark Jim Cooney explains all is not lost for the standard model of the universe, and more observations are needed. The JWST is providing amazing observations near and far, and has now separately meas…

Richie Hofmann joins Kevin Young to read “Twilight” by Henri Cole, and his own poem “French Novel” Hofmann is the author of two collections of poetry and the recipient of a Ruth Lilly Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation and a Wallace Stegner Fellowship from Stanford University.By WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Strange disappearing islands in the hydrocarbon lakes of Saturn's giant moon Titan may be fluffy icebergs of hydrocarbon snow. If you're on Titan, definitely don't eat the snow, yellow or not. As the Lucy mission heads towards the Trojan asteroids, questions remain about how this strange population of objects formed. We catch up with all the space …

What role has Jupiter played in the existence of our warm and cosy home planet? Has it been bravely using its gravity to keep the inner solar system calm, or did we luck out and escape getting hurtled out of the solar system or dashed to bits in a giant collision? We’ll discuss new research that explores exoplanetary systems with multiple large pla…

New analysis of Cassini data suggests more complex hydrocarbons are part of Enceladus's global sub-surface ocean. We discuss the prospects for life on this tiny moon. The JWST continues to deliver scientific bonanzas, now providing direct observations of globular clusters in very distant galaxies, helping us understand these enigmatic and ancient s…

At Pluto’s frigid temperatures, even what we breathe is frozen. This can give rise to unusual cryovolcanism, and new research suggests a super cryovolcano tens of kilometers across on the ninth planet (yes, we went there). Speaking of super things, we also review the argument that we are located in a cosmological supervoid and whether than can expl…

The second most energetic cosmic ray (really a particle) ever observed smashed into the Earth a couple of years ago, raising more questions about the origins of these incredibly energetic particles. Solar wind particles meanwhile smash into the planets, and now a green glow from Mars' atmosphere has been observed by one of the many spacecraft explo…

Bianca Stone joins Kevin Young to read “Learning to Read,” by Franz Wright, and her own poem “What’s Poetry Like?” Stone has published several books of poetry and poetry comics, including, most recently, “What Is Otherwise Infinite.” She runs the Ruth Stone House in Vermont, hosts the podcast “Ode & Psyche,” and serves as Editor at Large for Iteran…

The astroquarks are joined by Dr. Erika Nesvold, astrophysicist and author of “Off Earth: Ethical Questions and Quandaries for Living in Outer Space” to explore some of the surprising problems people need to think about when going to space. We’re busy littering already, but that’s just the tip of the asteroid. Join us for a discussion of some of th…

JWST data confirm early formation of supermassive black holes, less than 500 million years after the big bang. This early formation suggests these monsters start off very large and form with the initial formation of the galaxy. We also take a closer look at the exciting results from the Lucy spacecraft's flyby of the asteroid Dinkinesh and its surp…

The Lucy spacecraft had its first asteroid encounter, revealing Dinkinesh to be a binary asteroid. In cosmology, a new simulation with a terrible acronym leaves the "S8 Tension" intact. Models of the expansion of the universe starting with our observations of the cosmic microwave background are in disagreement (tension) with observations of the act…

New research suggests that Venus, Earth’s twin gone bad, may have started off with tectonic plate activity, like Earth. This will help us understand the evolution of Earth-like planets and why they become hothouses like Venus. Our other planetary next-door neighbor, Mars, may have a deep molten magma ocean, revealed thanks to a fortuitous meteoroid…

Fast Radio Bursts are back, this time providing a crucial measurement of the amount of normal matter in the universe. Top quark Jim Cooney explains how the interaction of light from very distant gamma ray bursts reveals the otherwise invisible matter sprinkled in the intergalactic void. Somewhat closer to home, JWST is providing tantalizing glimpse…

Evie Shockley joins Kevin Young to read “Hattie McDaniel Arrives at the Coconut Grove,” by Rita Dove, and her own poem “the blessings.” Shockley is the author of six poetry collections and the Zora Neale Hurston Distinguished Professor of English at Rutgers University. Her honors include the 2023 Shelley Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of Am…

Images of the distant Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth add more weight to the pebble accretion model of planetesimal formation via the streaming instability. If that sounds strange, then you'll really love the story about comparing Fast Radio Burst statistics to earthquakes. This study suggests that these energetic bursts of radiation may be produced by…

The next supercontinent could spell bad news for mammals. The equivalence principle passes another test, with antimatter atoms falling just like normal matter atoms, and Josh gets excited about the evection resonance and the role it may have played in the formation of Saturn’s rings. Plus, we have top quark trivia and a nerd news rant. Join us!…

Strange and Top discuss the return of the sample from the asteroid Bennu and an intriguing measurement from a dark matter detector in Italy in this, our first Short Take episode. Sadly, the measurement has not been reproduced. Yet. A new detector in Australia will try to confirm the Italian result.By Josh Colwell, Jim Cooney

Dorothea Lasky joins Kevin Young to read “Three Songs,” by Louise Bogan, and her own poem “The Green Lake.” Lasky is the author of several books of poetry and prose, including her forthcoming collection “The Shining.” She’s the co-creator, with Alex Dimitrov, of Astro Poets, and she teaches poetry at Columbia University.…