@westernu.ca planetary scientist @planetneish.bsky.social Neish and PhD candidate Sashank Vanga travelled to Hawai‘i Volcanoes Nat'l Park in June to investigate lava flows that could reveal new clues about the Moon’s volcanic past 🌋 Learn more here: 🔗 news.westernu.ca/2026/07/hawa...

An article describing the field work I conducted in Hawai'i this June with my PhD student and LRO's Mini-RF team. We can learn so much about other planets by studying key analogues on Earth! 🌋

Hawai‘i serves as model for studying the Moon’s volcanic history

Western planetary scientists travelled to Hawai‘i to investigate lava flows that could reveal new clues about the Moon’s volcanic past.

news.westernu.ca

The Dragonfly mission to Saturn's moon Titan just got one step closer. Dragonfly, led by an international team including co-investigator @westernu.ca professor @planetneish.bsky.social has completed its frame qualification testing in prep for the July 2028 launch. 🔗 spaceq.ca/nasa-dragonf...

NASA Dragonfly rotorcraft enters integration phase ahead of Titan mission

The NASA Dragonfly mission has completed frame testing. The rotorcraft will explore Titan and search for complex organic molecules in 2034.

spaceq.ca

You now can catch @planetneish.bsky.social and me on the radio! We dropped by London Morning with Andrew Brown yesterday to talk all about scientific accuracy in movies: www.cbc.ca/listen/live-... To hear more of our conversations, check out Popcorn Science Podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

Titan has rivers, dunes and a rich organic chemistry unlike anywhere we've explored. Join us July 16 for a live look at Dragonfly and the mission preparing to investigate this remarkable ocean world. https://www.youtube.com/live/nQeXWoPfUBY

Eye on Dragonfly Live | A Behind-the-Scenes Look at NASA's Mission to Titan

YouTube video by NASA Science

youtube.com

Congrats to Dr. Elisa Dong (co-supervised student of myself and @planetneish.bsky.social ) who successfully defended her PhD dissertation this afternoon!

In this week’s episode of Popcorn Science, we cover the AppleTV series, “Pluribus”. For our first ever in-person recording, we cover virus transmission, exoplanets, and Vince Gilligan’s love of Albuquerque. Spoiler alert - this episode has the longest “science shine” section of any of our podcasts!

Pluribus

You will never have to consume this podcast. Not unless you want to, which we assume is unlikely.

popcornscience.ca

Join APL and NASA experts July 16 at 2 p.m. ET for a live behind-the-scenes look at NASA's Dragonfly, hear from the engineers and scientists preparing the spacecraft, and see what's next for this audacious mission of exploration. https://www.youtube.com/live/nQeXWoPfUBY

Eye on Dragonfly Live | A Behind-the-Scenes Look at NASA's Mission to Titan

YouTube video by NASA Science

youtube.com

For the second part of our Andy Weir double feature, John and I discuss “Project Hail Mary.” In this episode, we talk about alien life, the fallacy of the “lone genius”, and why Andy Weir may be a bit too much of a “bro”.

Project Hail Mary

Give us some words of encouragement because you are in for an episode which will amaze amaze amaze you so much that you'll want to fist my bump!

popcornscience.ca

This week’s Popcorn Science kicks off our Andy Weir double header, starting with “The Martian.” We discuss wind on Mars, how hard it is to grow potatoes, and why sometimes a movie is better than a book. @arcticsaxifrage.bsky.social

The Martian

We don't want to come off as arrogant here, but Catherine and John are the greatest scientists on this podcast.

popcornscience.ca

This week on Popcorn Science, John and I take a deep dive into the 1989 film “The Abyss.” We discuss the science of scuba diving, oxygenated breathing fluid, and why no one wants to work with James Cameron.

The Abyss

It's not easy being a cast-iron bitch. It takes discipline, and years of training... A lot of people don't appreciate that.

popcornscience.ca

This week, Popcorn Science goes back to 1977 to critique one of Spielberg’s early hits, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” We discuss the cultural phenomena of alien abductions, music as a universal language, and the hopping tourist industry in Wyoming.

Close Encounters

I know this sounds crazy, but ever since yesterday on the road, Catherine and John have been seeing this shape. Shaving cream, pillows... This means something. This is important.

popcornscience.ca

I had the pleasure of attending a fireside chat with the Artemis astronauts at the Canadian Museum of History last night. What a wonderful group of humans! It reawakened the 12 year-old in me who fell in love with space travel so long ago.

Her research spans the Earth, Moon and Mars, as well as the icy satellites of the giant planets. She is a leading international expert on impact cratering on Saturn’s moon Titan, lunar impact melts, astrobiology and radar studies of numerous planetary bodies. Full story: buff.ly/AM1rkTQ

Planetary friends -- the DPS Fall Meeting abstract submission is now open! We have some great special sessions planned, and warmly encourage abstracts on planetary science / geological science, DEIA/Workforce and Education topics. aas.org/meetings/dps58

Thrilled to announce I was selected by the DPS for the Claudia J. Alexander Prize for mid-career researchers in planetary science. Honoured to be listed alongside all these amazing people. dps.aas.org/news/aas-div...

AAS DIVISION FOR PLANETARY SCIENCES ANNOUNCES 2026 PRIZE WINNERS | AAS Division for Planetary Sciences

The Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society has named its prize winners for 2026. Prof. Mark Marley of the University of Arizona is the recipient of the 2026 Gerard ...

dps.aas.org

Inyalowdas! In our longest Popcorn Science to date, we take an “Expansive” look at a genre defining series. We ponder what it would be like to die of radiation exposure, realistic ways of living in zero-g, and why James Holden is so darn boring. www.popcornscience.ca/the-expanse/...

The Expanse

Wrecking things is what Earthers do best.

popcornscience.ca

Congratulations, Prof. Catherine Neish! @planetneish.bsky.social Recipient of a Western Faculty Scholars Award, recognizing exceptional recent achievements in teaching or research and international scholarly impact. Well deserved!

Thank-you to everyone who is enjoying Popcorn Science! We've recently passed 250 plays over on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. @planetneish.bsky.social and I are looking forward to our next milestone. Next time we'll be talking about an Expansive series that you suggested! Keep those ideas flowing

In this week’s episode of Popcorn Science, John and I are joined by physiologist Dr. Ann Revill to discuss the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park. Hop on the Mr. DNA ride as we discuss ancient mosquitoes, cloning, and a very sexy Jeff Goldblum. Life, uh, finds a way! @arcticsaxifrage.bsky.social

Jurassic Park

God creates dinosaurs, God destroys dinosaurs. God creates Man, Man destroys God. Man creates podcasts. Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

popcornscience.ca

Those balloons on top of Orion look a bit like maple leafs. They’re clearly celebrating the first Canadian to go to the Moon. 🇨🇦🍁🎈

That was a surprisingly emotional roller coaster. Went from nausea to choking up when they reestablished comms. Only brought my daughter down to watch the splashdown after the parachutes had successfully deployed. So glad everyone is safe.

I once heard my colleague Jim Head speculate on how human history would have evolved if Orientale was pointed directly at Earth. It would look like a giant eye ball. Can you imagine what that would look like? Now we know.

Even Closer Now

art002e009276 (April 6, 2026) - In this view of the Moon, the near side (the hemisphere we see from Earth), is visible at the top half of the Moon disk. It is identifiable by the dark splotches. These...

flickr.com

I’m wondering if the crater Reid Wiseman wanted to dedicate to his late wife is in fact Pierazzo crater, also named for a woman who left us too soon due to cancer. It is a bright spot that straddles the near and far sides. ❤️

Astronauts Dedicate Moon Crater to Carroll Wiseman, Wife of NASA Commander

nytimes.com

On this week’s episode of Popcorn Science, we travel back to 1997’s “The Fifth Element”. In this bright and vibrant vision of the future, we discuss what makes a “perfect being”, the vocal range of aliens, and why NYC in the 23rd century looks so much like the 90s.

The Fifth Element

Y'know we've got a show to run here, and it must pop POP POP!

popcornscience.ca

My graduate students and I were featured in this CBC article about the Artemis II launch! One of the astronauts is from a small community just outside of London, so there was a lot of local interest in the launch. 🚀

London, Ont., connection to historic moon mission as Artemis II prepares for launch | CBC News

Dozens of students and teachers at London's Western University gathered to cheer on the launch of the Artemis II mission which is sending astronauts, including Canadian Jeremy Hansen, around the moo...

cbc.ca

I'm know everyone's excited about The Moon today, but I wanted to alert you to a new article I co-authored on another moon. In this review, we discuss potential terrestrial analogues for Saturn's moon Titan. Despite it being an icy world, it looks surprisingly Earth-like!

Terrestrial Analogs to Titan for Geophysical Research

Titan and Earth are the only two worlds in the solar system today to exhibit processes such as rainfall, rivers and surface seas The many parallels between Earth and Titan are yet to be fully exp...

agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, was discovered on March 25, 1655, by Christiaan Huygens. More than 350 years later, it remains a key target for exploration. Launching in 2028, NASA’s Dragonfly mission will investigate the complex chemistry of this ocean world. https://dragonfly.jhuapl.edu/Why-Titan

Excited about Season 5 of ‘For All Mankind‘? Join us as we discuss the science behind this “space soap opera”. Could humans really live on Mars? What does Russian sound like with a southern accent? Join us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. www.popcornscience.ca/for-all-mank...

For All Mankind

Hi, Bob!

popcornscience.ca

I still remember going to a sugar bush in Quebec where we ate what amounted to a maple syrup snow cone. Underrated treat.