283 - Definitely Maybe

Science... sort of

Brachiolope

Of, Science, Network, Paleopals, Media, Brachiolope, Natural Sciences, Sort

4.8 • 677 Ratings

🗓️ 31 May 2018

⏱️ 86 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

00:00:00 - We're starting off this episode with a bit of news about the ongoing Kīlauea eruption in Hawaii. Abe explains the basics of what's happening and if you want updates you can read the USGS reports on the situation and follow their topical @USGSVolcanoes Twitter account. But for our actual first subject we're talking about hitting asteroids with HAMMERs because if they're coming for us, we better be ready. Joe tells us about the current state of our asteroid defense (HINT: not great) as well as some things we could do to beef up our meager defenses against an assured eventual threat.

00:26:19 - Nothing like existential terror to make on want a drink. Joe keeps it soft but bilingual with a Johnnie Ryan's Black Cherry Soda, and like most cherry sodas, he enjoys it. Abe blinds himself and finds out that he's enjoying a Stone Xocoveza, a hard one to guess even in the best of circumstances. And Ryan is having a Black Flag Mambo Sauce, which fortunately does not taste like actual mambo sauce because that would be weird.

00:33:56 - Predicting when volcanoes will go off is hard, we've covered that much before. But a new technique is aiming to make it just a little bit easier. Abe discusses the new idea, how it could help, and some of the continued hurdles that come up when trying to understand what's happening under our feet.

00:58:17 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like asteroid impacts, you know they're coming and they may hurt. First up, Patreon supporter Rich B. has completed his coursework and written a thesis titled: Love taps: Using bulk impactors to induce hammer shock for mapping crustal magma pathways in active volcanic edifices. Thanks, Rich! Next, Frank has sent in a story about old beer. Ryan has an update, and he and Abe disagree about whether this is a beer worth sampling. Finally, Joe has a voicemail from Jonathan in Illinois about the future of internal combustion engines. Joe is a big supporter of electric, and suggests you find out how your own vehicle stacks up here: How Clean is Your Electric Vehicle? You can call in and give us your results at 312-PALEOPALS (312-725-2672).

More cool rewards await you if you decide to support us on Patreon!

Music of this week's show:
No Hammer To Hold - The Milk Carton Kids
Cherry Cola - Eagles of Death Metal
Warning - Green Day

Transcript

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0:00.0	Pugh, pew, pew.
0:02.2	That was me shooting an asteroid down.
0:04.6	Finally.
0:06.5	From sciencesortov.com, you're listening to science sort of.
0:26.5	This is episode 283, and our theme this week is definitely maybe.
0:30.3	I am your host, Ryan, and join me to talk about things that are science, things that are sort of science, and things that wish they were science for an old-fashioned episode.
0:37.2	It's
0:37.5	Vio Abrahima. Aloha. And Old Manjo. We're all gonna die. Maybe. That is sort of the theme of
0:47.2	this episode, but there's a maybe. But we already knew that. That's fair. So as we record this, this episode will come out in a few weeks' time, but as we record
0:57.5	this, there's a lot of volcanic activity on the island of Hawaii. And so, news flash,
1:04.5	we're bringing in our volcanic correspondent with the USGS, Abe Padilla,
1:11.3	to give us an update on what's happening in the state of Hawaii.
1:14.6	Abe?
1:15.6	Yeah, so it's a pretty awesome little flank eruption taking place at Kilauea.
1:21.9	Well, at least it was...
1:22.9	Slow down. Define flank eruption. You've already lost me.
1:25.7	Awesome. Cool. So just a little bit of basic. Kiloea volcano, it has a few different zones.
1:32.1	So most people are probably familiar with the Kilauea Summit. That's the Hellamount Mountain
1:36.7	Crater where the Volcano's National Park Visitor Center is. So it overlooks the big crater.
1:42.9	And so the actual entire area on that side of
1:46.9	Kilauea Island on the southeast is an active zone related to the magma flow through the crust.
1:55.1	So a flank zone, just like you would think about a flank, you know, as a side of this entire structure.
	...

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