Star Trek Science, Listening to Pando. May 12, 2023, Part 2

Published: May 12, 2023, 8:26 p.m.

b'Star Trek\\u2019s Science Advisor Reveals The Real Astrophysics On Screen\\nFew pop culture properties have lasted quite as long as Star Trek. A dozen Star Trek television shows have aired over the last sixty years\\u2014not to mention countless movies, novels, and comic books.\\nScience concepts have always been integral to the Star Trek franchise: from warp speed travel to dilithium. But how much does the series actually accurately depict?\\nIra speaks with astrophysicist Dr. Erin Macdonald, science consultant for Star Trek about the legacy of the franchise, and how accurate the science is within the series.\\n\\n\\xa0\\nListen To\\xa0The Largest Tree On Earth\\nFor this story, we\\u2019re taking a trip to south central Utah and into the Fishlake National Forest to visit the largest tree on earth, an aspen named Pando. The strange thing about Pando is that it doesn\\u2019t really look like the world\\u2019s biggest tree. It has rolling hills with thousands of tall, lean aspens swaying in the wind.\\nBut Pando is there, hiding in plain sight. All those tree trunks you see aren\\u2019t actually individual trees. Technically, they\\u2019re branches, and that\\u2019s because Pando is one massive tree\\u2014sprawling more than 100 acres, with 47,000 branches growing from it.\\n\\xa0\\nThere is a lot to learn about Pando, and our guests turned to sound to understand the tree better. Together, they created an \\u201cacoustic portrait\\u201d to hear all the snaps, splinters, and scuttles that happen in and around the tree.\\nIra talks with Jeff Rice, a sound artist and co-founder of the Acoustic Atlas at the Montana State University Library, and Lance Oditt, executive director of the non-profit Friends of Pando, which is dedicated to preserving the tree.\\n\\n\\xa0\\nTranscripts for each segment will be available the week after the show airs on\\xa0sciencefriday.com.'