We're losing the Moon

In the course of this podcast the Moon will move nearly half a millimeter* away from the Earth. Does this mean it was once crazily close to us? For this show we were over the moon because our guest from a few weeks ago returned for another episode of Fuzzy. Dr Phil Nicholson is a fabulous speaker and among other things, he tells us about work he's been doing with Dr Charley Lineweaver (Fuzzy guest not long ago) looking at tides over geological timespans. This is one of those wonderful subjects that bring together several of the major arms of science including astronomy, paleantology and geology. Along the way we bring you a follow-up on the Plastiki story from last week with plans to harvest plastic to form an artifical island. And....the bizzare things people did with nuclear material. Thumb-and-screwdriver controlled fission reactions? You bet! * Note that the Moon will move regardless of whether you pause or fast-forward the show. Join Prof Phil Nicholson Cornell University, Rod, and Eamon. Check the new Fuzzy Hoodie! Look stylish in one of our new hoodie/T Shirts. We're on Facebook.