{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Radio Chatskill","title":"Science Stories with Joe Johnson: Spiders on Mars, Shorter Days on Earth, and Goo from the Deep","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":726,"description":"It’s not David Bowie’s band—but “spiders from Mars” are real, at least geologically speaking. That’s just one of the mind-bending science stories Radio Catskill’s resident science guy Joe Johnson broke down in a recent segment filled with cosmic curiosities, spinning chairs, and mysterious goo from the bottom of the Great Lakes.Spiders on Mars? Yes, But Not the Kind You SquashThese “spiders” aren’t living creatures, but strange dark formations on the Martian surface recently photographed in remarkable detail by the Mars Express Orbiter in 2024. Though first spotted from orbit back in the early 2000s, NASA released new data last year suggesting how these peculiar half-mile-wide, spider-like features—located in a region of Mars near the South Pole known as \"Inca City\"—actually form.The explanation lies in Mars’ extreme climate. Temperatures can plummet to -225°F, and the planet's atmosphere is 95% carbon dioxide with a mere 1% of Earth’s air pressure. During the brutal Martian winter, CO₂ gas deposits directly onto the planet’s surface as translucent dry ice. Come spring, sunlight penetrates the ice, warming the dark soil below. This causes sublimation—ice turning directly into gas—resulting in sudden gas eruptions that blast through the ice, scattering dust and debris in branching patterns that resemble spiders.NASA scientists recently confirmed this “spider” formation theory in a Mars simulation chamber on Earth, offering a compelling Earth-based model for a truly alien phenomenon.Why August 5th Might Be One of the Shortest Days EverShifting gears from Mars to Earth, Johnson highlighted another space-time oddity: the ever-so-slight shortening of Earth’s daily rotation. According to the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, August 5, 2025, was predicted to be 1.25 milliseconds shorter than a standard 24-hour day.“Milliseconds may not seem like much,” said Johnson, “but when it comes to GPS systems, air traffic control, and data transfer...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/q7XXsnSXT_u4mZLCn3chUorwDmUD_kWiB272D6emB18/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80N2Uy/OGY5MWUwZThkYTEw/NDVkZGM2ZGZkZDIw/ZjliOS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}