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Colliding With Asteroids (On Purpose), Shohei Ohtani, And The Misunderstood Shark

Nicole Vasquez
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flickr creative commons
Baseball's two-way phenom, Shohei Ohtani.

The impending doom of an asteroid (or comet or whatever) colliding with the Earth is the premise of any number of movies and books and such. But what would we really do to stop such a thing from happening, if we had to? One solution might be to try to nudge the asteroid off its collision course with us, and NASA is about to test a way to do just that.

And: A few points about baseball's two-way phenom, Shohei Ohtani. He might be having the best season anyone's ever had, "it's almost inarguable that he's the most physically talented all-around athlete ever to play the game," and, also according to Ben Lindbergh, "if you can't get into Ohtani, maybe baseball isn't for you." But are we maybe not appreciating Ohtani enough?

And finally: If I say "shark," you think of Jaws, right? But there are two major problems with the shark-as-villain stereotype. First, sharks are fascinating and awe-inspiring more than they're scary. And second, we need to be more afraid for sharks than afraid of them.

GUESTS:

  • Ben Lindbergh - Staff writer at The Ringer and co-host of Effectively Wild
  • Melissa Cristina Márquez - A marine biologist and shark scientist
  • Andrew Rivkin - A planetary astronomer and the DART Investigation Team Lead at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.

Jonathan is a producer for ‘The Colin McEnroe Show.’ His work has been heard nationally on NPR and locally on Connecticut Public’s talk shows and news magazines. He’s as likely to host a podcast on minor league baseball as he is to cover a presidential debate almost by accident. Jonathan can be reached at jmcnicol@ctpublic.org.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Fund the Facts

You just read trusted, local journalism that’s free for everyone, thanks to donors like you.

If that matters to you, now is the time to give. Join the 50,000+ members powering honest reporting and a more connected — and civil! — Connecticut.

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