Special Release: Deviations from the Norm

One of the most alluring parts of Earth and space science is that much of the key research takes place in the field, in some of the most incredible – and inhospitable – environments on the planet: on treacherous polar ice sheets, abroad sea tossed ships, at the mouths of active volcanoes, beneath turbid ocean waters, and atop the highest the highest windswept peaks. Under these often less than ideal conditions, instruments often fail, the weather can become uncooperative, and the best made scientific plans are undone. In this special episode of Third Pod from the Sun, five scientists share their stories of “deviations from the mean” – when their fieldwork went awry on the account of everything from uncooperative arctic mollusks, inaccessible food supplies buried in snows of Greenland, overfilled stoves and flammable tents, wayward Turkish donkeys, and inoperative rifles in polar bear country. Mishaps, however, can sometimes lead to some surprising and unexpected insights. This episode was produced by Joshua Speiser and mixed by Kayla Surrey.