Dr. Robert Thacker, a Canada Research Chair in Computational Astrophysics and Professor in the Department of Astronomy & Physics at Saint Mary’s University, stars in a weekly podcast in conjunction with Mainstreet on CBC Halifax.
Recent Podcasts
Each podcast is about 10-15 minutes long.
Walloping websnappers! Rob Thacker spins a web of scientific intrigue
The science of bubbles, and how bacteria change them and hitch a ride when they burst
Rob Thacker talks about ways technology is changing restaurants
Jay Ingram joins Rob Thacker to talk science, technology, engineering, and math
Does the Chinese city Chengdu need an artificial moon to help light its night life?
Rob Thacker on the trouble with Hubble, and another space telescope that's having problems
1918 flu pandemic killed more people than First World War -- researchers want to know why
Landing on 1 km-wide asteroid offers opportunity to learn how to do things with almost no gravity
Algorithms in the justice system -- more fair than judges, or just harder to track their biases?
A space elevator would make economic sense, but you'll wait a long time for it to arrive
Rob Thacker tells us how a video game can teach us about patience
Rob Thacker talks about the prevalence of water worlds in space
Rob Thacker talks about a report China has developed a laser gun, and doubts raised by skeptics
If people are disconnected from nature, can citizen science help change that?
You've heard of narcolepsy, and now researchers shed new light on the causes of 'carcolepsy'
Rob Thacker on futurology, and the success of science in predicting what is to come
Big data can help solve some problems, but all those numbers can also be misleading
Rob Thacker explains why new insights into photosynthesis are exciting astrophysicists
Could saying "egg noodle" lead to a series of unfortunate events? Questions about the Alexa debacle
Research points the way to plastic that can be better recycled into new products
TESS is set to launch at 6:30pm ET (April 16), and here's why planet hunters are excited
Researchers at MIT find fake news travels faster than real news on Twitter
Is Facebook a surveillance company masquerading as something else?
Rob Thacker's reaction to a plan to build a commercial fusion reactor in 15 years
Rob Thacker on how science helps shape your day from dawn 'til dusk
If plants react to aesthetics, does that mean they have consciousness?
Far out, man! Scientists claim first evidence of planets outside out galaxy
Rob Thacker on the controversy over a 'disco ball' launched into space
Rob Thacker talks about a self-healing concrete that fixes its own cracks
Rob Thacker on a space rock that likely had origin a long time ago in a solar system far, far away
Rob Thacker on a German study that found a steep decline in number of flying insects
Rob Thacker on gravitational waves that alert researchers to the collision of neutron stars
Rob Thacker on the electric bus that travels almost 1800km on single charge
Solar Eclipse 2017: Rob Thacker on the lunacy of total solar eclipses
Rob Thacker on potential discovery of first moon beyond solar system
Rob Thacker on the award-winning mathematician who recently died at 40; video stored in DNA
Rob Thacker on solar eclipses, and a notable one coming August 21st
Rob Thacker's wager on identifying life elsewhere in the universe
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