When things go right! First images and data from SMAP

So I’m now the proud parent of one orbiting, deployed, spinning, fully functional spacecraft!  The SMAP satellite is done initiating all its systems and has taken its first global soil measurement maps: Since the Earth environment where we built SMAP is very different than the space environment where we operate SMAP, we never before had […]

Episode 6: The (Space) Xplorers Club

It’s Podcast Tuesday, Scopers! We’ve got a fun episode for you all. The (Space) Xplorers Club features guest Emily Calandrelli, host and producer of Fox’s Xploration Outer Space, a show featuring the coolest aspects of the space industry. We chat with Emily about STEM outreach, interviewing astronauts, and the joys and challenges of filming a television show. Have […]

#DenimDay: Raising awareness about sexual assault

April 29th is Denim Day – an opportunity to raise awareness about the issue of sexual assault. Denim Day emerged from an Italian court case in which a rapist walked free because it was the opinion of the court that the 18 year old woman could not have been raped because she was wearing tight […]

A visit to Mumu’s lab at the University of Maryland

This past weekend I had the pleasure of sleeping on Mumu’s couch and eating her food while in town to go to a friend’s wedding. Besides the obligatory podcast planning and conspiring, I got to follow Mumu to her office and lab and see what she really does on a daily basis (besides messaging with […]

The ongoing fight against #Ebola

What we’ve learned from the most recent Ebola outbreak The most recent reports from the CDC estimate over 10,000 deaths as a result of the current Ebola outbreak. That number of deaths is more than 6 times the deaths from all previous ebolavirus outbreaks combined since its discovery in 1976. At a recent Harvard Medical School seminar a doctor from Sierra Leone shared […]

Episode 5: The (Nano) Arms Race

Herpes! Got your attention? Good. Welcome to Episode 5: The (Nano) Arms Race. Nicole Broekema, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School, joins us to talk about her work on viruses. We’ve got jokes, Ender’s Game references, and philosophy all mingled in with some kick ass science. Click play. You won’t regret it.  

Miss us? Here’s an outtake to help you wait for the next episode

Hi folks! Miss hearing the sweet, dulcet tones of your favorite podcast hosts? Have no fear. We’ll be back next week with a brand new episode featuring Nicole Broekema, a real-life virus expert. She may or may not have told a herpes joke. (She definitely did.) #viralhumor In the meantime, make sure you’re all caught […]

Can boys be surgeons, too?

My daughters were three and five-years-old when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011 at the age of the 32. For me, one of the scariest parts of my diagnosis with breast cancer was the challenge of keeping life as normal as possible for those little girls. How would I explain things so that […]

Episode 4: The (Medical) Giving Tree

Molly Lindquist

  Once there was a tree… and she loved a boy, very, very much — even more than she loved herself.” — Shel Silverstein Today’s podcast features Molly Lindquist, a mom, breast cancer survivor, and founder of Consano, a non-profit crowdfunding platform for medical research. Listen as she shares her inspiring story. Then go to https://www.consano.org/ and donate to a research […]