Chichén Itzá: Live from Chichén Itzá: The Descent of the Serpent(Webcast)
Running Time: 02:03:07
Celebrate the spring equinox at the Mayan ruins of Chichén Itzá, in the state of Yucatan, Mexico. The alignment of the sun on this day creates the appearance of a shadow, in the form of a serpent, that descends the main staircase of the great pyramid. The Live@Exploratorium crew is there to capture the snake on film and to speak with local archaeologists, archeoastronomers, and solar scientists about this amazing phenomenon.
Origins: Astrobiology: Listening for the Long Term(Webcast)
Running Time: 00:43:41
Join us as we talk with Jill Tarter, Director of the Center for SETI Research and the inspiration behind Jody Foster's character in the movie Contact. Find out about the tools and technologies being developed for a multigenerational effort to search for life on other planets.
Origins: Astrobiology: Looking for Mars on Earth(Webcast)
Running Time: 00:32:24
Chris McKay, Planetary Scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center, has traveled the world seeking Mars-like environments. In the Dry Valleys of Antarctica—his favorite Mars analog on Earth—Dr. McKay discovered a kind of algae living inside rocks porous to light and water. He’ll show us some of these rocks and talk about the physical conditions required for life.
Origins: Astrobiology: Life at High Temperatures(Webcast)
Running Time: 00:37:45
Jonathan Trent, Astrobiologist, NASA Ames Research Center studies "thermophiles," heat-loving microbes inhabiting places once thought too hostile for life, but analogous to environments that might be found on other planets. He discovered that some of these microbes make a protein that appears to stabilize their cell membranes (and may have applications for nanotechnology).
Julia Child and physicist Philip Morrison once cooked up (and sampled) "primordial soup," a mixture of ingredients said to be the materials from which life sprang on Earth. How accurate is this notion? David Deamer studies how some molecules self-assemble into order, and has developed new theories about how life evolved from components on Earth. We’ll talk with him, do hands-on experiments, and watch vintage footage of Julia Child tasting the soup. Guests: David Deamer, Director, UC Berkeley SETI Program, and Karen Kalumuk, Exploratorium staff scientist.
Origins: Astrobiology: Live from Licancabur Volcano in Chile(Webcast)
Running Time: 00:32:56
Nathalie Cabrol, Planetary Scientist, Principal Investigator at NASA Ames Research Center and the SETI Institute, looks for Mars analogs in extreme environments on Earth. She found one at the world’s highest lake at Chile’s Licancabur volcano, site of a unique analog to ancient Martian lakes. We chat with Dr. Cabrol as she investigates the life forms at Licancabur.
Light and Landscape: Charles Ross and Star Axis(Webcast)
Running Time: 00:10:19
Join the Exploratorium's Dr. Paul Doherty as he visits a "sculpture to observe the stars" in northern New Mexico, where the Sangre de Cristo Mountains meet the eastern plains. There artist Charles Ross is creating an art installation that is also a star observatory. This major earthwork has two main elements: the Star Tunnel, which allows you to walk through the entire history of the earth's changing alignment to our North Star, Polaris; and the Solar Pyramid, where one can visually experience an hour of the earth's rotation.
Osher Fellowship: A Live Conversation with World-Renowned Biologist/Conservationist E. O. Wil(Webcast)
Running Time: 00:33:44
In this archived program from 2003, join us for a conversation with Pulitzer-prize winning biologist E. O. Wilson, who introduced the term biodiversity to describe the interlocking dependence and diversity of organisms in sustaining life in biological communities.
Return to Mars: Red Planet: Up Close and Personal(Webcast)
Running Time: 00:37:05
We stayed up with Exploratorium scientist Ron Hipschman at the Lick Observatory in San Jose, California, for the best view we've had of Mars in a long, long time. At midnight on August 27, Earth and Mars passed closer to one another than they have in 60,000 years. Astronomers were on hand to tell us all about our nearest neighbor—its geography, orbit, and why both NASA and the European Space Agency have chosen this time to launch robotic missions to Mars.
Webcasts made possible through
the generosity of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The Jim Clark
Endowment for Internet Education, the McBean Family Foundation,.and the Corporation for Educational Networks Initiatives in California (CENIC).