Episode 3 - Don‘t Eat the Nuclear Pasta

Stump the Librarian Episode 3 – Do Not Eat the Nuclear Pasta 

The curious librarians of KDL’s Stump the Librarian Podcast are back with a third episode filled with quizzical questions and interesting information. In this episode, our librarians talk about all things related to that mystical peculiar place we like to call Outer Space. Join us as we ponder if life may exist outside of planet Earth and what that life may look like, how many planets there are in the entire universe, and what the hardest rock of all is (f it’s even a rock). Did these questions stump our librarians? Well, you’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out!  

You can find a new episode of Stump the Librarian every other Wednesday morning at https://stumpthelibrarian.podbean.com/ or wherever you listen to podcasts! Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an exciting episode. If you have a curious question that you would like us to answer you can submit it via at https://kdl.org/stump-the-librarian/. 

 

Concerning rocks... 

Daley, J. (2018, September 20). The universe's strongest material is a cosmic lasagna. Smithsonian.com. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/universes-strongest-material-cosmic-lasagna-180970358/#:~:text=A%20new%20study%20suggests%20that,billion%20times%20stronger%20than%20steel&text=Humans%20have%20looked%20for%20harder,steel%2C%20composites%20and%20now%20graphene.&text=Just%20like%20campfires%20and%20goldfish%2C%20stars%20eventually%20die. 

King, H. M. (n.d.). Mohs hardness scale. Geology and Earth Science News and Information. https://geology.com/minerals/mohs-hardness-scale.shtml. 

Nuclear pasta, the hardest known substance in the universe. Newsroom. (2018, September 28). https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/nuclear-pasta-hardest-known-substance-universe-289729. 

 

Concerning life in space... 

Howells, K. (n.d.). Life on Mars: Your questions answered. The Planetary Society. https://www.planetary.org/articles/life-on-mars-your-questions-answered. 

NASA. (2021, April 2). What is an Exoplanet? NASA. https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/what-is-an-exoplanet/overview/. 

 

Concerning the number of planets... 

NASA. (2019, June 26). Exploration. NASA. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/beyond/exploration/?page=0&per_page=10&order=launch_date%2Bdesc%2Ctitle%2Basc&search=&tags=Beyond%2BOur%2BSolar%2BSystem&category=33.