Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: Overview of College of the Atlantic’s Summer Institute, in collaboration with the National Geographic Society Reflections on what “exploration” means in the 21st century Preview of sessions led by Nadia Rosenthal on the science of viruses and implications for global health Preview of session led by Kim Stanley Robinson, on Space: Our Last Great Commons Guest/s: Darron Collins, President of College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor Nadia Rosenthal, Scientific Director, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor Kim Stanley Robinson, author of The Ministry for the Future, science fiction writer Other links: Summer Institute at College of the Atlantic Can Science Fiction Wake Us Up to Our Climate Reality? – The New Yorker, January 24, 2022 Abou
Lisa Pratt, the new planetary protection officer for NASA takes up her job at a challenging time for astrobiology. We are approaching a major decision point for Mars. If Elon Musk succeeds in his ambitious plans, then some time in the next couple of decades we may introduce trillions of hardy microbial spores to the planet.