You and Betty and the Nancy's and Bill's and Joes and Jane's will find in the study of science

a richer, more rewarding life.

Hey, welcome to Inquiring Minds. I'm in Dravis Gontas.

This is a podcast that explores the space where science and society collide.

We want to find out what's true, what's left to discover,

and why it matters. This week, we're going to be talking about science and the news that

caught our eye. And joining me is Adam Bristol. So,

you know, big news this week. Yeah, the Perseverance rover landed successfully on Mars,

which is stunningly amazing when you take a step back and think about it. And that those pictures

came back right away. Yep, we watched it live on the internet.

And it was really suspenseful.

You know, you see all of these NASA engineers seemingly chomping their gum underneath their masks in those last few minutes before touchdown.

But then there was also a kind of banality about it that always surprises me.

Banality?

In what way?

Well, there's just, you know, it's like people are in this room and, you know, they're kind of

waiting for some, for this thing to happen.

And I don't know.

It just kind of feels like for such a momentous thing to be, it just feels weird to be sitting in front of a computer while you're potentially watching the fruit of your labors of many years go by. You know, it's not like they're anywhere near the rover, obviously. Of course, but they're professionals. And they each one, I am certain, has a job to do. And there is a, you know, there's a professionalism.

There's a, probably a precision that goes into the work they're doing. I was actually quite

impressed by a lot of the engineers where they kind of have like a hot mic on them, for lack of a

better term, and you get to hear what they're saying. And, you know, the course,

...