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John Mather

The James Webb Space Telescope and the Big Bang: A Q&A with Nobel Laureate Dr. John Mather

  • By Maggie Masetti
  • June 29, 2016
  • Comments Off on The James Webb Space Telescope and the Big Bang: A Q&A with Nobel Laureate Dr. John Mather

As the person at the other end of the James Webb Space Telescope social media, I answer a lot of questions. One big area of interest is always the Big Bang. And that’s for obvious reasons – there’s a definite fascination with the universe’s beginnings. We want to know where … Continue Reading →


How do you get to Stockholm?

Nobel Laureate, and James Webb Space Telescope project scientist, John Mather gave an interesting talk (to a packed room) at NASA Goddard recently. It focused on where he grew up and how he got to where he is today. Did you know, for example, that a failed thesis project led … Continue Reading →


Biggest Bang

Biggest Bang

Welcome to the -EST blog! Here we’ll chat about some of the awesome astronomical superlatives that exist in our universe – biggest, smallest, brightest, coldest, densest, and whatever else we come up with. As this is my first -EST blog, I thought it would make sense to start with something … Continue Reading →


Podcast: Astrophysicist to the Stars

When I first met Dr. David Saltzberg, he was rushing by with a big box of multicolored dry-erase pens. As the science advisor for the popular sitcom The Big Bang Theory, he provides the technical content for each episode’s whiteboards as well as the scripts and other aspects of production. … Continue Reading →


Big Bang Theory Prop Master

A talk with Scott London, property master for The Big Bang Theory

  • By Maggie Masetti
  • April 10, 2012
  • Comments Off on A talk with Scott London, property master for The Big Bang Theory

You might have read my recent blog post about our visit to a taping of The Big Bang Theory and our chat with Ann Shea, the set decorator. We also snagged a few minutes with Scott London, the show’s property master. Since we’re not Hollywood insiders, we had a lot … Continue Reading →


The Big Bang Theory Set

A chat with Ann Shea, Set Decorator for The Big Bang Theory

Sara and I were fortunate enough to be guests at a recent taping of The Big Bang Theory. Before the show, we had the chance to chat with Ann Shea, the set decorator, and Scott London, the property master. They were both very nice and very generous with their time, … Continue Reading →


We're on the Grid!

We’re on the Grid!

Last week, we got a tip from a long-time Twitter follower (hi, Pete!) that Blueshift showed up in the April 2011 issue of Astronomy magazine. I just got my hands on a copy, and there we are, in the issue’s “Cosmic Grid” section on the last page. Why are we … Continue Reading →


Awesomeness Round-up

Awesomeness Round-up – 11/22/10

The Chandra X-ray satellite just found the youngest nearby black hole. At 30 years old, it’s the remnant of SN 1979C, a supernova in the galaxy M100 approximately 50 million light years from Earth. “If our interpretation is correct, this is the nearest example where the birth of a black … Continue Reading →


Big Bang Theory Set

Podcast: When Science Inspires Comedy

One of the bonuses of our set visit to The Big Bang Theory was that we got the chance to talk to co-creator and executive producer Bill Prady about how the show came to be, and how they get the science right in every episode. Since much of what we … Continue Reading →


THE BIG BANG THEORY

NASA on the Big Bang Theory

As you might know, because we have mentioned it a whole bunch of times because we’re still excited by it, Bill Prady, the co-creator/producer of “The Big Bang Theory”, invited us out to visit the set of the show. We brought a whole bunch of NASA goodies with us to … Continue Reading →


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