The Secrets of Gravity: AMSEcast with James Riordon
AMSEcast
In this episode of AMSEcast, host Alan Lowe welcomes back science journalist and NASA senior science writer James Riordon to discuss his new book Crush: Close Encounters With Gravity. Riordon explores the fascinating science of gravity, from Isaac Newton’s groundbreaking laws to Albert Einstein’s revolutionary theory of general relativity. The conversation dives into how gravity shapes everything from the structure of Earth to the behavior of black holes and gravitational waves. Riordon also explains the strange effects of weightlessness on the human body, the mysteries of dark...
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AMSEcast with guest Dr. Sam Schrell
AMSEcast
In this episode of AMSECast, Dr. Samantha Schrell explores the fascinating and often mysterious world of actinides—rare, radioactive elements with powerful applications in medicine, energy, space exploration, and national security. She explains what makes actinides unique, why they are difficult to study, and how elements like californium play a critical role in starting nuclear reactors and powering space missions. Dr. Schrell also discusses Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s long-standing leadership in producing and researching heavy actinides through the High Flux Isotope Reactor. The...
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AMSEcast with guest Vasyl Dunets
AMSEcast
This episode explores how science education becomes an act of resilience, hope, and nation-building in Ukraine. From the creation of the country’s first national science museum to mobile science labs traveling near the front lines, the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine demonstrates how curiosity can endure even amid war. The guest traces a personal journey from law and political science into science education, driven by a commitment to Ukraine’s future. Listeners learn how museums, labs, competitions, and business incubators form an educational “vertical” that guides children from...
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AMSEcast with guest Dr. Ahmed El-Mokadem
AMSEcast
In this wide-ranging conversation, Ahmed El-Mokadem explores the deep ideas behind mathematics’ most mysterious numbers, revealing how concepts like zero, infinity, irrational numbers, and imaginary numbers challenge both logic and philosophy. He traces how constants such as π, e, the golden ratio, and the Feigenbaum constants appear universally across nature, physics, biology, and technology—suggesting they are discovered features of reality rather than human inventions. El-Mokadem highlights how mathematics repeatedly expands its own boundaries, from accepting imaginary numbers to...
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From Earth to Mars: A Rock’s View with Jan Zalasiewicz
AMSEcast
From Oak Ridge, Tennessee, AMSEcast host Alan Lowe sits down with geologist and paleontologist Dr. Jan Zalasiewicz, chair of the Anthropocene Working Group and author of How to Read a Rock. Their conversation explores how rocks and minerals form and what they reveal about Earth’s history, from the rock cycle and earthquakes to ancient climates recorded in stone. Jan explains how life, human activity, and materials like bricks and concrete have reshaped geology, and how coal, oil, and gas fit into Earth’s carbon cycle. The discussion also looks outward to the Moon and Mars, where rocks...
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AMSE Science Report with Alan Chodos and James Riordon
AMSEcast
What if I told you that, no matter where you are or what you are doing, about 100 trillion neutrinos are passing through your body every second? Well, you might first respond, as I did, by asking what is a neutrino, and then wondering why we seem to have no awareness at all of their presence. I mean, if were one or two particles, sure, you might miss them, but 100 trillion every second? I needed to learn more so I spoke on our podcast, AMSEcast, with Alan Chodos and James Riordon about their fascinating book, Ghost Particle: In Search of the Elusive and Mysterious...
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AMSE Science Report with Robert Hettich
AMSEcast
Robert Hettich who serves as the Corporate Fellow and Leader of the Bioanalytical Mass Spectrometry Group of the Biosciences Division at Oak Ridge National Lab, and as a Joint Faculty Member in the Microbiology Department at the University of Tennessee. Bob is an internationally recognized leader in the field of microbiomes. Now, you might have heard of microbiomes especially in regard to the biome or family of bacteria, that lives in your digestive system - our growing understanding of that symbiotic relationship has made prebiotics and probiotics for digestive health a big...
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Why We Go to Space: Curiosity, Innovation, and the Human Spirit with William Harris
AMSEcast
In this episode of AMSEcast, host Alan Lowe sits down with William Harris, President and CEO of Space Center Houston, to explore the past, present, and future of human space exploration and what it means for American innovation. As the official visitor center for NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Space Center Houston serves as the public gateway to human spaceflight. William shares how the center uses historic artifacts, immersive experiences, and cutting-edge STEM programming to demystify space exploration and inspire the next generation of innovators. From Apollo and the Space Shuttle to...
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AMSEcast with guests Alan Chodos and James Riordon
AMSEcast
Ghost Particle explores the neutrino, one of the most abundant yet elusive particles in the universe, tracing its journey from a theoretical fix to puzzling nuclear reactions to a cornerstone of modern physics. The book explains how neutrinos helped preserve fundamental laws like conservation of energy and reveals how decades of ingenious experiments finally confirmed their existence. The authors guide readers through discoveries such as neutrino “flavors,” oscillations, and the surprising realization that neutrinos have mass—challenging the Standard Model of particle physics....
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How to Kill an Asteroid
AMSEcast
Around 66 million years ago, an asteroid that was perhaps 9 miles wide struck the Earth, an impact that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. What if an asteroid that large or even larger was headed toward Earth today? We’ve seen this scenario in books and in movies like Armageddon, but I wanted to get some expert input, so I spoke on our podcast, AMSEcast, with Robin Andrews, about his book, How to Kill an Asteroid: The Real Science of Planetary Defense.
info_outline- (4:32) When the earthquakes occurred and how many there were
- (9:23) The creation of the Reelfoot Rift and how it became the source of the quakes
- (12:38) What makes intraplate earthquakes different from other kinds
- (13:57) Why the Mississippi River ran backwards at the height of the quake
- (16:11) The creation of Reelfoot Lake
- (17:54) The legend of Tecumseh’s prophecy about the earthquakes
- (21:55) How the Roosevelt family was involved with the event
- (27:55) The crime that was revealed in the wreckage of the earthquakes
- (32:44) Seismic activity in the area today
- Manufacturing Hysteria: A History of Scapegoating, Surveillance, and Secrecy in Modern America: https://www.amazon.com/Manufacturing-Hysteria-History-Scapegoating-Surveillance/dp/0307388239
- When the Mississippi Ran Backwards: Empire, Intrigue, Murder, and the New Madrid Earthquakes: https://www.amazon.com/When-Mississippi-Ran-Backwards-Earthquakes/dp/0743242793