One giant leap for mankind! Dr. Andy Aldrin

An entire day at the American Museum of Natural History in New York today with very good friend Dr. Mark Siddall. Mark is a curator, researcher, and Professor at the Richard Gilder Graduate School at the AMNH. As an evolutionary biologist, his illustrious career has been devoted to uncovering biodiversity and evolutionary histories. He returned yesterday from 3 weeks doing field work and specimen collection in South America.

After spending the day behind the scenes at the Museum in the CT scanner, electron microscope, and genetic sequencing laboratories, and the collections storage facilities (the home of many type specimens collected over almost 150 years), we sat down in Mark's office to chat for a spell. Apologies for the audio quality and the abrupt ending, the recorder stopped about 2 minutes before we finished. The Natural History of Cuba exhibit we mentioned opens in late November, 2016.

http://explorers.institute/podcast/MarkSiddallAMNH.mp3

Exhibitions Mark has curated at the Museum include The Power of Poison (http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/the-power-of-poison), Picturing Science (http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/picturing-science), and Undersea Oasis. He is also co-curator of the Hall of Ocean Life (www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent-exhibitions/biodiversity-and-environmental-halls/milstein-hall-of-ocean-life). His popular book (illustrated by his charming wife, good friend Megan Gavin) Poison: Sinister Species with Deadly Consequences, is available at Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Poison-Sinister-Species-Consequences-American/dp/1454907649).

More about Mark here: http://www.amnh.org/our-research/staff-directory/mark-e.-siddall

A discussion with good friend and collaborator, Dr. Brendan Foley, archaeologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. We talk about one of the most interesting archaeology excavations ever, the Antikythera shipwreck. Brendan and team announced just this week, that ancient skeletons, over 2000 years old, have been located at the site deep underwater in the  Aegean Sea. This is a very rare find. We also discuss the use of reality capture technology to share the the artifacts and tell the story of the doomed Greek ship which sank over 2000 years ago.

I speak with Brendan via Skype. He lives in Sweden and I am in Monterey Bay, California participating in the Marine Technology Society / IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society Oceans '16 conference.

http://explorers.institute/podcast/BrendanFoleyAntikythera.mp3

More from Woods Hole about the Brendan's work on the Antikythera shipwreck here: http://antikythera.whoi.edu

More about the the Antikythera Shipwreck Exhibition at the National Archaeological Museum of Greece here: http://www.antikythera-mechanism.gr/events/exhibitions/nam-2012

For more about the Antikythera Mechanism, watch the PBS NOVA episode, "Ancient Computer" here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/ancient-computer.html

More about the Marine Technology Society: https://www.mtsociety.org

More about the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society: www.oceanicengineering.org

Click here to subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiuMAuTsBtPYN3VvqdYaDEg?sub_confirmation=1

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A chat with Dr. Michael Waltemathe, co-editor of the book "Touching the Face of the Cosmos: On the Intersection of Space Travel and Religion.” Michael is a Senior Lecturer in Religious Education, in the Department of Protestant Theology at Ruhr-University in Bochum, Germany. He is the author of Computer Worlds and Religion, articles about science, religion, and outer space. Our discussion was recorded at the SETI Institute.

From Amazon: "Military advantage, scientific knowledge, and commerce have thus far been the main motives for human exploration of outer space. Touching the Face of the Cosmos explores what may be the best motive of all, largely untapped: the desire of every human being, essentially spiritual, to understand more about our place in the universe, how our lives on Earth are inextricably part of that bigger picture. Drawing on leading scientists, religious thinkers, and science fiction writers--including a new interview with John Glenn, and an essay by Director of the Vatican Observatory Guy Consolmagno, SJ--Paul Levinson and Michael Waltemathe have assembled a volume that puts space travel and religion on the map for anyone interested in outer space, theology, and philosophy."

You will find the book at Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Touching-Face-Cosmos-Intersection-Religion-ebook/dp/B019HF7H5Y

More about the SETI Institute here: http://www.seti.org

http://www.explorers.institute/podcast/M1.mp3

A chat with friend Jenn Gustetic from NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration ) headquarters. Jenn, who has an aerospace engineering degree and a master's in technology policy from MIT, is currently in NASA's Space Technology Directorate where she is focused on public sector innovation--connecting NASA with entrepreneurs as the Program Executive for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR/STTR). She was the first-ever Challenges and Prizes program executive at NASA before being detailed to the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in the White House where she served as Assistant Director for Open Innovation. 

More about OSTP: https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ostp

More about CitizenScience.gov: https://www.citizenscience.gov

More about NASA: http://www.nasa.gov

More about XPRIZE: http://www.xprize.org

Watch NASA JPL's 7 minutes of Terror here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki_Af_o9Q9s

Jenn and Jonathan having some fun at NASA Ames: https://vimeo.com/182807638

http://www.explorers.institute/podcast/Jenn.mp3

A chat with friend Professor Francis Thackeray at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. Francis, the former director of the Institute of Human Evolution at Wits, is currently the Phillip Tobias Chair in Palaeoanthropology at the Evolutionary Studies Institute at Wits. Here we talk about the researchers and significance of past and current palaeoanthropology work in the Gauteng province and surrounding areas, including The Cradle Of Humankind in South Africa.

http://explorers.institute/podcast/ProfessoFrancisThackerayPalaeoanthropologist.mp3

More about Francis Thackeray here: https://www.wits.ac.za/esi/staff/prof-francis-thackeray

More about Professor Lee Berger here: http://profleeberger.com

Experience a 360° view inside the Phillip Tobias vault at the University of the Witwatersrand Institute of Human Evolution here: https://www.facebook.com/explorersinstitute/photos/a.1780251858923767.1073741828.1765490780399875/1800004196948533/?type=3&theater

More about The Cradle Of Humankind here: http://www.cradleofhumankind.co.za

Founded in 2007 by friend Meaghan McCord, the South African Shark Conservancy has a research focus on the development of biological and ecological baselines, and long-term monitoring of species diversity, abundance and habitat use within Walker Bay and along the South African coast. The Shark Conservancy lab is located in Hermanus, South Africa, on Walker Bay, in the Western Cape. This is part of the Cape Whale Coast, which was designated a Hope Spot in 2014.

In this video, we hear from Colby Bignell, Lab Manager and Social Media Manager at the Shark Conservancy.

The 200 km-long Cape Whale Coast is unique in its combination of rich and abundant biodiversity, spectacular scenery and cultural heritage. Mountains run down to an intricate coastline of estuaries, beaches and bays. Offshore, two major ocean currents come together, as temperate south coast currents meet cold west coast upwellings. In addition to being the the great white shark capital of the world, the region is home to a number of iconic animals, including the Marine Big Five: African penguin, great white shark, Cape fur seal, whales (humpback, Southern right and Bryde's) and dolphins (common, bottlenose and humpback).

http://explorers.institute/podcast/SouthAfricanSharkConservancy.mp3

For more about the South African Shark Conservancy: http://www.sharkconservancy.org

For more about Hope Spots: http://www.mission-blue.org

A chat with friend Dr. James P. Delgado, marine archaeologist. Jim who serves as the Director of Maritime Heritage in the NOAA office of National Marine Sanctuaries, has led or participated in shipwreck expeditions around the world. His undersea explorations include RMS Titanic, the discoveries of Carpathia, the ship that rescued Titanic's survivors, and the notorious "ghost ship" Mary Celeste, as well as surveys of USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, the sunken fleet of atomic-bombed warships at Bikini Atoll, the polar exploration ship Maud, wrecked in the Arctic, the 1846 wreck of the United States naval brig Somers, whose tragic story inspired Herman Melville's Billy Budd, and Sub Marine Explorer, a civil war-era find and the world's oldest known deep-diving submarine.

http://explorers.institute/podcast/JimDelgadoDirectorMaritimeHeritage.mp3

* Apologies for the audio in a few places - radio interference*

More about Jim Delgado here: http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/maritime/contact_us.html

More about Maritime Heritage here: http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/maritime

More about NOAA Oceans Explorer here: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos

More about Exploration Vessel Nautilus here: http://www.nautiluslive.org

Subscribe to Explorers Institute on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiuMAuTsBtPYN3VvqdYaDEg?sub_confirmation=1

Exploration Vessel (EV) Nautilus, led by ocean explorer Dr. Robert Ballard, is equipped with some of the latest technological systems, helping to advance the frontiers of ocean exploration. This beautiful vessel supports science class remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), high-resolution seafloor mapping, and real-time satellite communication systems to facilitate live streaming telepresence-enabled outreach and scientific collaboration to all who which to follow along and participate. We’ll take an interesting and fun tour of Nautilus with friend Samantha Wishnak, Science Communication Fellow at Nautilus Live and Digital Media Coordinator at the Ocean Exploration Trust with a cameo by Dr. Bob Ballard. Links to 360° views of the ship can be found below.

Nautilus is currently heading out to study the cultural heritage and natural wildlife in the Greater Farallons National Marine Sanctuary (GFNMS). Recently expanded to protect 3,295 square miles, GFNMS contains over 400 shipwrecks and is largely unexplored in the deepest portions. Nautilus will survey the USS Independence, a World War II era naval ship and former aircraft carrier, once used in the atomic tests at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. Independence was scuttled offshore of San Francisco in 1951, rediscovered as the deepest shipwreck in GFNMS, and acoustically mapped by NOAA in 2015 using autonomous underwater vehicles. NOAA Director of Maritime Heritage, James Delgado, who was part of the team that located the Independence in 2015, is onboard Nautilus to conduct the first visual survey of the ship since her sinking. Two other shipwrecks, the Ituna, which was an historic steam yacht from 1886, and the freighter Dorothy Windermote will also be explored. In addition to documenting and mapping these wrecks, the shipwrecks’ roles as artificial marine habitat for fish and invertebrates will be assessed. 

http://explorers.institute/podcast/Ocean_Exploration_Vessel_Nautilus_Tour.mp3

Subscribe, follow, and like the Nautilus here: http://www.nautiluslive.org

More about Dr. Robert Ballard here: http://www.nautiluslive.org/people/robert-ballard

More about Samantha Wishnak here: http://www.nautiluslive.org/people/samantha-wishnak

Watch our chat with James Delgado here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i93c6Lpt5fs

More about Dr. James Delgado here: http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/maritime/contact_us.html

More about Samantha Wishnak here: http://www.nautiluslive.org/people/samantha-wishnak

360° views of the EV Nautilus: Hercules and Argus ROVs: https://theta360.com/s/b26ZoetEsqkzoJB2AvHeWp3nk

Hercules ROV in the hanger: https://theta360.com/s/frKzR6OMNIbccz06zJIwL8Rto

The shop: https://theta360.com/s/mjneWF381BRyUGyWSzLItR1n6

The lab: https://theta360.com/s/qq1RSuqlzB0629SgNc0z2Q8MS

Media production: https://theta360.com/s/2wEMxvQpmMx8LoYglFeWaVPWK 

Mission Control: https://theta360.com/s/eiteahTc44UtSCJfoQhbDXeAC

The ship's mess: https://theta360.com/s/hgWOU2yv3ttOJ0nho7p6kHmYi 

Communications: https://theta360.com/s/nkuejsMnsNCDWbbpJtQB2IxLE

The Bridge: https://theta360.com/s/3bXBDJX0naXbuBhAp8M8FB15k

Topside: https://theta360.com/s/ckgchVUCIvNghgrF9gYx89KK0

The bow: https://theta360.com/s/fMi14N1HFNYQw5HwywMj68I40

A brief Facebook Live chat with dear friend oceanographer extraordinaire, Her Deepness, Dr. Sylvia Earle. Sylvia is always on the go speaking for our ocean. Listen to her here, watch her many talks, read her many books, watch her film, Mission Blue on Netflix--get on board and help as she and her team Mission Blue work to create Hope Spots around the world. 

http://explorers.institute/podcast/SylviaEarleaudioonly.mp3

NASA Deputy Chief Technologist, Jim Adams, NASA Chief Systems Engineer, Bruce Pittman, and NASA Program Executive for Planetary Defense, Victoria Friedensen, speaking about the NASA Frontier Development Lab Applied Research Accelerator, NASA Space Portal, and NASA Office of Planetary Defense.

http://explorers.institute/podcast/JimAdamsNASAFrontierDevelopmentLab.mp3