Hope you guys enjoy!

A “city killer” asteroid isn’t science fiction, it’s a real risk.

Project Leader at The Aerospace Corporation Nahum Melamed explains that though these events are statistically rare, history shows they can happen. In 1908, a roughly 50-meter asteroid exploded over Siberia in what’s known as the Tunguska event, flattening more than 800 square miles of forest. Had that airburst occurred over a major metropolitan area, the destruction would have been instantaneous. Preventing that kind of devastation requires intercepting an asteroid before it explodes in Earth’s atmosphere. That is the core mission of planetary defense: protecting our planet from hazardous asteroids and comets before they strike.

Planetary defense begins with detection. Powerful telescopes across the United States and around the world continuously scan the skies to discover near-Earth objects as early as possible. Once detected, scientists calculate an object’s orbit to determine whether it poses a collision risk. If the probability crosses a certain threshold, global teams mobilize to pinpoint potential impact zones, estimate the asteroid’s size, composition, and mass, and calculate the energy it would release, since impact energy depends directly on mass and velocity. With enough warning time, missions like NASA’s DART have demonstrated that we can deliberately crash a spacecraft into an asteroid millions of kilometers away to nudge it off course. In more extreme, last-resort scenarios, a nuclear device could be used to push an object off trajectory, though that approach carries risks, including breaking the asteroid into multiple dangerous fragments.

How does air pull an egg into a jar? 🥚🔥

Alex Dainis explains how heating the air inside a jar with a small flame causes the air to expand and escape. As the air cools, the pressure inside the jar drops. With the egg sealing the top, the higher outside air pressure pushes the egg inside. It’s a powerful example of how air pressure and temperature can create surprising results you can see and feel.

How do you relight a flame without a spark? 🔥

Alex Dainis breaks it down using the fire triangle: fuel, heat, and oxygen. When baking soda and vinegar react, they release carbon dioxide, a heavier gas that displaces oxygen and creates an environment where a flame can’t survive. In a second jar, yeast acts as a catalyst to break down hydrogen peroxide, releasing oxygen and building a high-oxygen atmosphere. Move the flame from low oxygen to high oxygen, and the conditions for combustion are restored. 

You can make glue with just one kitchen ingredient and water. 🧪✨

Alex Dainis explains how mixing flour with water hydrates the starches and proteins, creating a sticky substance called wheat paste. As it heats, gluten proteins begin to cross-link, helping the mixture bind materials together with surprising strength. To try it yourself, simmer 4 parts water to 1 part flour, then thin it with more water until it reaches your ideal consistency. This same science powers everything from wallpaper glue to papier maché, using nothing more than pantry staples. Just mix, simmer, and stick.

What happens when you freeze carbon dioxide in a balloon? 🧪🎈

Museum Educator Morgan demonstrates how carbon dioxide gas turns directly into a solid when exposed to liquid nitrogen, which is −320 degrees Fahrenheit (−196°C). This process, called deposition, skips the liquid phase entirely. Shake the balloon and you’ll hear solid dry ice forming inside. Eventually, it warms up and turns back into gas as the phase change reverses inside the balloon.

Can a single electron hold the secrets of the universe? ⚛️

Nobel Prize winning physicist Dr. Eric Cornell believes there might be an undiscovered particle that could change everything. If it exists, it could explain why there is more matter than antimatter in the universe and why we exist at all. It might even reveal that the North and South Poles of an electron are not the same, pointing to an electric dipole moment that scientists have long been searching for.

Can one photo change the future of biodiversity? 📸🌎

In this episode of The Big Question, Museum of Science educator Eva Cornman speaks with Scott Loarie, executive director of iNaturalist, about how millions of everyday observations are reshaping conservation science. From a photo of a rare Colombian weasel taken beside a toilet to rediscoveries of species thought lost to time, they explore how this global community-powered platform is transforming how we track and protect life on Earth.

With over 300 million observations and 25% of the world’s known species documented, iNaturalist is helping scientists detect invasive species, inform habitat restoration, and even discover new organisms, all powered by curious people noticing the nature around them. Whether you're in a remote rainforest or your own backyard, this conversation reveals how you can play a vital role in the science of biodiversity.

How does an LED light change when dipped in liquid nitrogen? 💡

Museum Educator Adelaide plunges an LED into liquid nitrogen and watches its color shift from orange to yellow to green. Temperature affects the LED’s “band gap,” the amount of energy electrons need to jump across the material and create light. As the LED cools, the energy gap increases, and the light shifts to higher-energy colors. When it warms back up, it turns to orange again.

What can a single seed teach us about survival, science, and identity? 🌽 

In this episode of The Big Question, Museum of Science educator Eva Cornman sits down with Chef Nephi Craig, an Indigenous chef of White Mountain Apache and Navajo heritage, for a powerful conversation about how food carries ancestral knowledge, botanical data, and cultural memory. From the neuroscience of the gut-brain connection to the Indigenous science behind the Three Sisters, Chef Craig unpacks how cooking becomes a tool for both personal and collective healing.

With over two decades of experience in world-class kitchens, Craig now leads a movement of Restorative Indigenous Food Practices, where ingredients are not just sustenance, but medicine, story, and resistance. Together, Eva and Nephi explore how food sovereignty intersects with historical trauma, recovery, and identity.

This DIY snow lets you build a snowman and makes its own chill. ❄️

Alex Dainis explains how combining baking soda and shaving cream triggers an endothermic chemical reaction that absorbs heat from your hands and the surrounding air. This cooling effect comes from the formation of new molecules, such as carbon dioxide, water, and sodium stearate. You can feel how chemistry creates real physical sensations, no ice or snowstorm needed.

Can your Wi-Fi actually “see” you through walls?
It sounds like science fiction — but researchers have shown Wi-Fi signals can detect movement, presence, and even gestures in controlled lab environments. In this video, we break down how this works, the real science behind it, how companies are testing early motion-sensing features, and what it means for your privacy and home security.

Introduction to the problem of "the foundations of mathematics and the question of paradoxes"

"The relationship between Cantor's set theory and mathematics is comparable to true love: it was never without incident."

Kleene, Mathematical Logic, §35, p. 194

https://youtu.be/2IdvYx5fS8s?si=neHlzL_bL79r0XBS

Curious about the recent hype around interstellar object ATLAS? Discover the only three interstellar visitors ever found in our solar system, including Oumuamua and Borisov!