A Spacecraft Crashing Into an Asteroid

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Nassa plans to crash a spacecraft into an asteroid. The idea is to find out if we could change the course of an asteroid with one day. They're not testing it on any actual killer asteroids, nor are they anticipating any imminent killer asteroids. This is basically just a first try to see if it's even possible.

The Nature salary and satisfaction survey reveals researchers' outlook, and NASA’s test of planetary defences.

In this episode:

00:45 Salary and satisfaction survey

Like all aspects of life, scientific careers have been impacted by the pandemic. To get an insight into how researchers are feeling, Nature has conducted a salary and satisfaction survey. We hear from some of the respondents.

Careers Feature: Stagnating salaries present hurdles to career satisfaction

09:07 Research Highlights

The physics of a finger snap, and the surprisingly strong silk of jumping spiders.

Research Highlight: It’s a snap: the friction-based physics behind a common gesture

Research Highlight: High-speed spinning yields some of the toughest spider silk ever found

11:23 Briefing Chat

We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, the plans to smash a spacecraft into an asteroid, and how baby formula is changing to better resemble breast milk.

Nature News: NASA spacecraft will slam into asteroid in first planetary-defence test

Chemistry World: The science of breast milk and baby formula

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