Venus And Earth: A Tale Of Two 'Twins'
Short Wave
NPR
4.7 • 6.5K Ratings
🗓️ 20 March 2023
⏱️ 14 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
"It's a big deal," says Dr. Martha Gilmore, a planetary geologist at Wesleyan University. "It's a big deal in that there are no other planets, actually, where we've seen active volcanism." (Moons don't count - sorry Io!)
What makes that fact so striking is how inhospitable a place Venus is now – crushing pressure, a toxic atmosphere and a surface temperature around 850 degrees Fahrenheit. So, what happened? How did Earth and its closest sibling diverge so sharply?
On today's episode, Martha talks with scientist in residence Regina G. Barber about what studying Venus can tell us about the past and the future of our own planet.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. |
| 0:04.6 | Hey Shortwaveers, it's Regina Barber, |
| 0:06.3 | scientist and residents. |
| 0:08.3 | We just had some big news about our next door neighbor, |
| 0:11.6 | the Planet Venus. |
| 0:13.4 | A team of scientists announced they found direct evidence |
| 0:16.0 | of active volcanic activity, which is pretty cool, right? |
| 0:20.2 | It's a big deal. |
| 0:21.4 | It's a big deal in that there are no other planets actually |
| 0:27.7 | where we've seen active organisms. |
| 0:30.4 | That's Dr. Martha Gilmore, a planetary geologist |
| 0:33.3 | at Wesleyan University. |
| 0:35.2 | She wasn't part of the study, but she's definitely |
| 0:37.5 | paying attention. |
| 0:38.5 | I'm a Venue Gen. |
| 0:39.5 | So that those of us who study Venus, we are venue genes. |
| 0:43.4 | That's how we separate ourselves from the margins. |
| 0:46.8 | She says the new data shows a brand new volcanic caldera, |
| 0:50.6 | forming over a course of just a few months. |
| 0:53.5 | And if it proves out, that will be a first. |
| 0:56.4 | So Io has a lot of active volcanism. |
| 0:58.8 | And the moons of Jupiter, they're puffing like in cell |
... |
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