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Big Picture Science

Martian Madness

Big Picture Science

Big Picture Science

Science, Technology

4.51K Ratings

🗓️ 5 October 2015

⏱️ 54 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s the starkly beautiful setting for the new film “The Martian,” and – just in time – NASA has announced that the Red Planet is more than a little damp, with liquid water occasionally oozing over its surface. But Mars remains hostile terrain. Mark Watney, the astronaut portrayed by Matt Damon, struggles to survive there. If he has a hard time, what chance does anyone else have? Find out how long you could last just eating Martian potatoes. Also, author Andy Weir describes how he prevailed upon his readers to turn his serialized blog posts into a technically accurate thriller that inspired the film.  Plus, the NASA advisor to “The Martian” sorts the science from the fiction. And, how the discovery of water on Mars might change NASA’s game plan. Guests: Andy Weir – Author, “The Martian” James Green - Director, NASA’s Planetary Science Christopher Wanjek - Health and science reporter based in Baltimore, Maryland James Watzin – Director, NASA’s Mars Exploration Program Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

You're listening to an airwave media podcast.

0:05.0

The world is filled with many questions such as, did giants exist?

0:09.0

What is junk DNA?

0:10.4

Does it mean that you're trash?

0:11.8

Do you ever wonder if aliens have underwater bases in our oceans and that's why there are so many

0:16.8

UFO sightings off the coast of islands all over the world?

0:20.8

How serious even is climate change and when should we start building our rafts?

0:25.0

Hello everyone, you may recognize me as Gabby from the History of Everything podcast.

0:29.0

And my name is Bruna, and you don't recognize me from anything yet. Together we're two

0:34.6

scientists who explore the answers to these questions and many many more in our new

0:38.2

podcast Mystery of Everything available everywhere you get your podcast.

0:43.0

Get ready to geek out.

0:46.0

The Wired Science Podcast explores all the latest and greatest in science.

0:50.0

Everything from strange diseases and biological breakthroughs to interesting

0:54.9

tech and mysteries in outer space. Listen to Wired Science today

0:58.8

wherever you get your podcasts. That's Wired Science wherever you get your podcasts. Survival. It's not just a reality show, it's a hardwired instinct. When our ancestors

1:19.6

confronted stealthy predators on the savanna, their instinct for survival is what allowed them to make it.

1:25.4

Lion, run gork! Huh? Where? I don't see any.

1:29.8

Or not? Okay, some dropped out in the gene pool, but for the rest of us, the instinct to

1:36.8

endure remains tightly woven into our DNA. Every day is a fight to make it to the next day.

1:43.6

Sure, the challenges take on a different cast in today's world,

1:47.5

but still to survive means to struggle.

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