Snow that doesn't melt! Is it a government conspiracy?! (Hint: no)

I've seen some bizarre conspiracy theories in my time, but this may be the plain old weirdest: The snow that paralyzed Atlanta, Georgia in January of 2014 was not *really* snow: It was some sort of chemical that didn't melt, and scorched when held to a flame! Is it some weird engineered mind-altering material? Maybe nanobots, like one guy claims?



Yeah, not so much. Oddly enough, this idea struck me as being really, really, REALLY silly, so I decided to test it myself with the help of some freshly fallen snow in Boulder. I repeat the experiments done in other videos - making a snowball and holding a lighter up to it - and show that... well, see for yourself. But can you guess *why* the snow doesn't appear to melt, and why it gets scorched?

Asteroid 2012 DA14 Nearmissapalooza

Phil Plait, February 2013

Virtual Star Party Jan 13, 2013

Telescopes by Bill McLaughlin, Dave Dickinson, Gary Gonella, Ray Sanders, and Roy Salisbury.

Commentary by Phil Plait, Scot Lewis, Thad Szabo, Nicole Gugliucci, and Pamela Gay.



Hosted by Fraser Cain.
Special Guest Amanda Bauer.

How do Mars meteorites get to Earth?

In this episode of Q&BA, I talk about Mars meteorites: how do they form, how do they get here, and how do we know they're from Mars?



Recorded this in January 2012

LIVE Solar eclipse Q&BA hangout

This is the recording of the live video chat hangout Phil Plait did during the May 20, 2012 solar eclipse. We had a live video feed from a telescope, and several astronomers on hand to discuss it. Due to a few issues, it doesn't really start until 17:23 in, so start there!



3,5 hours un-edited!

Phil Plait aka The Bad Astronomer

Q&BA Live chat with Dr. Phil Plait, The Bad Astronomer (April 15, 2012)

Sadly un-edited..... You can easyli skip the first 8:00 minuts



Phil Plait aka The Bad Astronomer

Surprise Rainbow

Sitting in my office one late afternoon I was surprised to see a beautiful rainbow splashed across my wall. I grabbed my phone and made this short video explaining this vividly-hued surprise visitation.



This is why be trust science. We can all tjeck science.

Q&BA/Dot Con 2012: "The Sci of SciFi"

Phil Plait did a special episode of Q&BA live video chat as part of the Dot Con 2012 online convention. The topic of the chat was The Science of Science Fiction, and Phil Plait answered viewers' questions live about that.



On February 26, 2012

Sorry about Phil Plait don't edit his videoes

Q&BA for Feb. 12, 2012

This is the complete Q&BA session I did on Google+ Hangouts on February 12, 2012. I answered questions from viewers about living in space, binary stars, exoplanets, gravitational slingshots, and more!

What happens to a human body if it's exposed to the vacuum of space?

Phil Plait: In my weekly Q & BA live video chat session on Google+, I answer the question, "What would happen to the human body exposed to the vacuum and cold of space?" The answer, it turns out, is pretty icky, but very different than the way Hollywood movies portray it.



Phil Plait, January 2012

Q&BA for January 22, 2012

This is the complete Q&BA session Phil Plait did on Google+ Hangouts on January 22, 2012. Phil Plait answered questions from viewers about Mars Curiosity, comets, dark matter, dark energy, and more.

An icy Titanic encounter

Phil Plait took images from NASA's Cassini Saturn probe and put them together to make an animation of the giant moon Titan slipping behind the tinier, icy moon Enceladus. You can see some details in Titan's atmosphere as the smaller moon slides past it, and Phil Plait describe how the motions work.



Note: During the sequence Cassini switched filters, changing the way Titan looks. Phil Plait didn't compensate for any of that; these are raw images right off the spacecraft!

Our Future in Space

This vigorous discussion on "Our Future In Space" featuring Phil Plait, Pamela Gay, Lawrence Krauss, Bill Nye, and Neil deGrasse Tyson was one of the most memorable moments at TAM 2011 Las Vegas. We invite you to enjoy the video of this great panel discus