Q&BA from January 29, 2012 (complete)

This is the complete (1 hr) Q&BA live video chat session I did on January 29, 2012. I talk about spending money on NASA, exobiology, what happens if you're exposed to the vacuum of space, the New Horizons Pluto probe, whether the Sun or human flesh has more energy, would I like a scientist for President, for how long will the Moon orbit the Earth, my favorite Trek TNG episodes, is it possible for the Earth to have an extra moon, and ending with the idea of asteroid in orbits that make them look like moons of Earth when they're not.

Note: when I was talking about the energy of the Sun versus a human, I got tripped up in my answer, and it got a bit confused. I decided to reshoot that answer later. It starts at 31 minutes in. I put up a slide confessing this, to keep me honest. :)

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Q&BA
• Phil Plait
• Bad Astronomer
• Earth
• Moon
• space
• Pluto
• . New Horizons
• NASA. exobiology

[IstasPumaNevada]

Caution: pedantry... And apologies if you just misspoke in the hustle of the live broadcast.

An RTG relies on heat from radioactive decay, not from fission. RTGs are much smaller, lighter, and simpler than fission reactors, hence their usefulness in space probes.

[TheBadAstronomer]

@IstasPumaNevada True; I skipped a step. The fission is what makes the heat. I was stuck trying to decide if I wanted to look up the exact meaning or skip it, and that made my brain freeze up. :)

[Evulmeh]

Phil, you are awesome!

[TheBadAstronomer]

@Evulmeh Why, thanks!

[SCAREDBANANA]

How can I see theese in live? Where do I need to sing in? It´s nice to see more action on this channel again. Thanks mr Plait.

[TheBadAstronomer]

@SCAREDBANANA I will probably do these on Sundays on Google+. Look for me there.

[Shockszzbyyous]

let me get this right fission is splitting the atom apart with a source, and radioactive decay are atoms that do it on thier own?

[Shockszzbyyous]

Ebook kind of thing would be awesome :)

i meen i like to listen to the vid two, but i also like to listen to this kind of stuff when just relaxing :) like on my mp3 ...

[nuggetsww]

Again Phil, thank you! This is why I go to your site!

[piperpilot26]

Hey Phil, I just wanted to say that I think it's really great that you take the time to hold these hangouts. You are truly a great educator and I hope to catch you at one of the hangouts in the future!

[CriticuleMe]

@CriticuleMe btw...this is the greatest and most informative video I've seen on youtube to date. You don't just cover the general knowledge applied to an idea, you go in depth and explain everything; you even shed light on the extra info that relates to the facts that correlate to the original idea...honestly, the greatest and most influential to date. Thank you very much for sharing, i look forward to more and I'm subscribing!

[themadlolscientist]

Can has on iTunes like your old Q&BA series? kthxbai. =^..^=

[supremeon1]

I AM ALWAYS WATCHING YOU ON YOUTUBE....

[dhtroy]

Phil, think it's great you're doing these, I have to come up with some questions for you.