February 6, 2018 2:23 pm

Tonight, Re-Discover “Comparative Planetology with Ellen Stofan,” host David Grinspoon, and co-host Chuck Nice

This week on StarTalk All-Stars we venture to other planets in order to better understand our own.

To do this, we have some experts in the house. Astrobiologist and host David Grinspoon, a.k.a. Dr. FunkySpoon, teams up with comic co-host Chuck Nice and former Chief Scientist at NASA Ellen Stofan to explore the ins and outs of comparative planetology.

Ellen is kind of a big deal. She was the former chief scientist at NASA and David describes her in the episode as a “planetary geologist extraordinaire” and the “premiere comparative planetary volcanologist” given her work studying volcanos on Earth, Mars, and Venus and her involvement in many interplanetary spacecraft missions. If I had those two titles to describe me and my expertise, I would probably introduce myself a lot every day because they sound so cool.

Comparative planetology can be extremely useful when we want to know more about the natural processes of our own planet. So, it’s probably easy to guess that climate change is a topic up for discussion in this episode. You’ll hear about using space exploration to talk about climate change, the impact of volcanos on climate, how climate impacts human health, and applying climate models to other planets. You’ll also hear why David and Ellen think there are better ways to solve the climate crisis than geoengineering.

David, Ellen, and Chuck also discuss Titan, Ellen’s favorite celestial body in the solar system. You’ll learn about the geological mechanics of Titan’s ice volcanoes and Titan’s “anti-greenhouse effect.”

Lastly, to wrap things up, our crew answers fan-submitted Cosmic Queries on topics including using other planets as trash depots, reversing global warming, and much more!

Please join us tomorrow night for Comparative Planetology, with Ellen Stofan (Repeat) at 7pm ET right here on our website, as well as on our All-Stars channels on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and TuneIn. If you’re an All-Access subscriber, you can watch or listen to this episode ad-free at 7pm, too.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
–Ian Mullen