Third Pod from the Sun

Hans Sues is a fossil guy at the Smithsonian. Born in Germany, he has been all over the world finding and interpreting fossils for more than 40 years. His focus is on vertebrates – both in his professional work and his personal attachment to cats. We talked with Hans about why the Triassic era had so many strange animals, what happened in the extinctions at each end, and why he worries about getti...

Dani DellaGiustina is one of the youngest leaders of a NASA mission, and she was in charge of image processing for OSIRIS-REx before she even got her PhD. OSIRIS-REx is a spacecraft sent to study asteroid Bennu and scheduled to return a sample to Earth in 2023. Dani walks us through the difference between asteroids and comets—it turns out there’s some overlap! There’s even a thing called “extinct...

For many of us, the word “extinctions” conjures up images of dinosaurs, asteroids, and (maybe?) volcanos. And while that last point did likely play a role in the demise of the dinosaurs, volcanos in their own right can go extinct. In this episode, we chatted with volcanologist Janine Krippner , Honorary Research Associate at the University of Waikato, about what exactly makes a volcano extinct, th...

The Cambrian explosion is commonly labelled as the time in Earth’s history when animals suddenly appear. But research from geoscientist Rachel Wood and her team turns this explanation on its head. We talked with Rachel about how this research changes our understanding of how animals arose on Earth and about whether we can even call this event the “Cambrian explosion,” anymore. This episode was pro...

When you hear the word “extinction,” chances are you probably think of the extinction of the dinosaurs and a big rock. But did you know that there were other factors at play that lead to that extinction including volcanos and sea-level rise? We talked with David Mascato and Will Harris of the Common Descent podcast about dinosaurs (of course), K-Pg misconceptions, and what an asteroid-included cha...

When you hear the word “extinction,” what comes to mind? Dinosaurs? Asteroids? Volcanoes?   How about the International Space Station?   Join us for our next six-part miniseries on Extinctions as we learn about the demise of the dinosaurs, what makes a comet “extinct,” the Cambrian and Triassic period s, volcano e s, and the aforementioned (planned) fiery end of the International Space Station! Th...

Emily Williams has traveled the world in search of birds. As a biologist, she’s worked in Kansas, Argentina, Australia, and Denali, and studied loons, flycatchers, kingbirds, and more. And even with all these experiences and diverse species interactions, she’s now landed (ha, get it?!) on studying the common robin. But before you dismiss it, Emily makes a compelling case for this backyard bird. We...

Pacifica Sommers is an ecologist and explorer. From the deserts of Arizona to the Antarctic tundra, Pacifica has looked at how organisms from tardigrades to pocket mice live in extreme environments. We talked with her about some of the most beautiful places on Earth, the diversity of folks who can be scientists, and what exactly that bucket is for on the flight to Antarctica.   This episode was pr...

Jaida Elcock says she thrives in chaos. And we’re inclined to believe her. From her ridiculously entertaining TikToks on animal facts, to her work with the non-profit Minorities in Shark Sciences (oh, did we mention she’s currently pursuing her Ph. D.), she seems to be managing that chaos pretty well. We talked with her about all of her endeavors, her inspiration from conservationist Jeff Corwin,...

Tanya Harrison never thought she was going to be an astronaut. But she was determined to go to space. And she did just that – through satellites, first to Mars, and now looking back at our own third rock from the Sun as she uses satellites to map places near and far. We talked with her about what it’s like to be a Martian, making science more accessible to those with disabilities, and what it’s li...

Gina Zwicky love lizards. And frogs. And turtles. Basically, all sorts of amphibians and reptiles. The love has turned into a career looking at how lizards fight off parasites and how those parasites evolve to be, well, better parasites. And when she’s not in the field or the lab, she’s wandering through New Orleans teaching folks about frogs. her about the challenges of grad school, failed experi...

David Shiffman is a shark guy. It’s in his Twitter handle, he’s writing a book about it, and he was wearing a shark shirt the day we interviewed him. But more broadly he’s a marine conservation biologist, meaning he studies all sorts of ocean-going animals. We talked with David about fighting science misinformation, expanding what the field of science looks like, some painful (literally) field exp...

Third Pod from the Sun is back, and we’re going weekly! We’re breaking things up into six-week mini-series and our first series is all about the true, personal stories from scientists, for everyone. Join us as we combat misconceptions about sharks, learn how to lasso lizards, hear from a Martian here on Earth, spark science joy via Tiktok, journey to Antarctica, and fight over food with some capuc...

University of Washington biologist Kristin Laidre travels to the Arctic to study animals many of us have only seen in pictures. She has successfully tracked down the elusive narwhal and been up close and personal with a polar bear seeking to understand how the loss of sea ice and the effects of climate change are altering Arctic ecosystems. In this episode, part of our Staff Picks series, Kristin...

In 1959, the United States built an unusual military base under the surface of the Greenland ice Sheet. Camp Century was a hub for scientific research, but it also doubled as a top-secret site for testing the feasibility of deploying nuclear missiles from the Arctic. When Camp Century was decommissioned in 1967, its infrastructure and waste were abandoned under the assumption they would be forever...

We’ve all heard stories about fantastical creatures that people swear they’ve seen and have evidence of but can never be confirmed. Think Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster. Mermaids or the Kraken. While there’s no evidence backing the existence of these creatures, either in present day or at any point in the past, there must be a reason why such legends were created in the first place. In most case...

We’ve all heard stories about fantastical creatures that people swear they’ve seen and have evidence of but can never be confirmed. Think Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster. Mermaids or the Kraken. While there’s no evidence backing the existence of these creatures, either in present day or at any point in the past, there must be a reason why such legends were created in the first...

More than 50 years of missions to Mars paint a clear picture of a cold, dry, desert planet. And at the same time, photographs, minerals, and other data tell scientists that Mars once had as much water as Earth, or even more. Why are the two planets so different today? We're excited to feature an episode from our friends over at  Stereo Chemistry , where they talk to scientists about the lates...

The Johnstown Flood occurred on May 31, 1889, after the failure of the South Fork Dam, which is located on the south fork of the Little Conemaugh River, 14 miles upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The dam, constructed to provide a recreational resource in part to support The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, broke after several days of extremely...

In a parking lot behind the Comstock Art Facility at Syracuse University, geologist  Jeff Karson and sculptor  Bob Wysocki cook up something almost unimaginable – homemade lava. Using a gas furnace the size of a small truck, the two professors melt gravel typically used for roadbeds into hot molten rock that they pour onto sand to recreate natural lava flows seen in places like Hawaii, I...

Today, we are releasing two more special Third Pod from the Sun podcast episodes exploring allyship and diversity, equity and inclusion featuring conversations with Billy Williams, AGU executive vice president of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Lisa White, director of education and outreach at the Museum of Paleontology at the University of California, Berkeley, chair of AGU's diversity and in...

Today, we are releasing two more special Third Pod from the Sun podcast episodes exploring allyship and diversity, equity and inclusion featuring conversations with Billy Williams, AGU executive vice president of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Lisa White, director of education and outreach at the Museum of Paleontology at the University of California, Berkeley, chair of AGU's diversity and in...

Before COVID, before the swine flu, there was the bird flu outbreak of the mid-2000s. An international group of scientists came together to combat the deadly virus, including Dr. Ilaria Capua, a virologist, and now Director of the One Health Center of Excellence at the University of Florida, Gainesville. Capua played a key role in helping to quell the outbreak, but little did she know that experie...

As ships explored the world from the Age of Sail through 20th century, mariners kept detailed navigation records using the Sun and stars. Scientists scoured these ship logs, many of which are preserved in European libraries, for clues about Earth’s magnetic field. The work, published in 2000, created the first-ever magnetic field map for the past four centuries. Third Pod spoke with the historian...

This month's “Third Pod from the Sun” episode is a special release, featuring AGU Vice President of Meetings Lauren Parr and AGU Vice President of Science Policy and Government Relations Lexi Shultz, hosted by AGU CEO Randy W. Fiser. In this episode, they talk about what is AGU, as an organization, doing to serve as an ally when it comes to our meetings and public policy. Read the transcript: http...