Is the Universe Bigger and Older; and the Status of Pluto.

Science Talk

Scientific American

Science

4.2 • 644 Ratings

🗓️ 16 August 2006

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, Scientific American editor George Musser explains recent research that could mean that the entire universe is 15 percent bigger and about two billion years older than previously thought. Plus, Pluto expert and MIT professor Richard Binzel, a member of the Planet Definition Committee of the International Astronomical Union, discusses the status of Pluto. And amateur astronomer and Plutophile Ari Mirsky shares his thoughts. Plus, we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include blog.sciam.com, www.sciam.com and www.sciamdigital.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is presented by eBay.
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0:23.7	Then when you're buying, you can discover loads of hidden gems. There's so many items where you think I would have never found that anywhere else. Then when you're selling, it's so simple and most
0:25.9	importantly, free. It's free, Rob. When it's this easy to sell for free and there's great deals
0:31.6	on things you love. You can't help but say when it's eBay. It excludes vehicles and business
0:35.9	sellers.
0:43.9	Welcome to Science Talk, the podcast of Scientific American. For the seven days starting August 16th,
0:50.2	I'm Steve Murski. This week on the podcast, The Universe, now available in the large economy size.
0:58.1	The news started coming out about 10 days ago, a paper's appearing in an upcoming issue of the astrophysical journal that had a pretty impressive implication.
1:02.2	The universe might be about 15% bigger than previously thought.
1:09.6	The work was funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation, and the research team included scientists from institutions around the globe.
1:14.7	Fortunately, Scientific American has its own astronomy institution, editor George Musser.
1:18.5	I asked him to help me understand what was going on out there in the universe.
1:23.0	We'll also talk about the status of Pluto, not Mickey's Dog, the planet.
1:24.7	Or is it a planet?
1:28.3	Plus, we'll test you on some recent science in the news. First up, George Musser and the entire universe.
1:32.3	George, thanks for coming into my office here to explain this to me.
1:36.3	Thanks for letting me fit into your office, Steve.
1:38.3	It's not a big office.
1:39.3	So these folks came out with this story this week that the universe,
1:43.3	according to their calculations,
1:45.3	may be significantly bigger than we thought it was.
	...

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