Michelle Thaller
Assistant Director for Science Communication, NASA
Dr. Michelle Thaller is an astronomer who studies binary stars and the life cycles of stars. She is Assistant Director of Science Communication at NASA. She went to college at Harvard University, completed a post-doctoral research fellowship at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, Calif. then started working for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) Spitzer Space Telescope. After a hugely successful mission, she moved on to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), in the Washington D.C. area. In her off-hours often puts on about 30lbs of Elizabethan garb and performs intricate Renaissance dances. For more information, visit NASA.
The science of expansion: Andromeda, gravity, and the ‘Big Rip’
If the universe is expanding in all directions, why is Andromeda hurtling toward the Milky Way?
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Black hole death: How extreme tidal forces turn humans into spaghetti
Getting to close to a black hole is a nightmare waiting to happen.
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Space toilets: How astronauts boldly go where few have gone before
A NASA astronomer explains how astronauts dispose of their, uh, dark matter.
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Would scientists tell us about a looming apocalypse?
If a doomsday asteroid is set to collide with Earth, you're going to know about it – whether you want to or not.
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Great scientific discoveries hide in boring places
NASA's Michelle Thaller explains how an accidental discovery led to the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physics.
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3 proofs that debunk flat-Earth theory
We're finally here! We've been counting down the 10 most popular videos of 2018. This is #1...
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How the Moon’s ice craters will power a human colony
Astronauts will be able to harvest the Moon's natural resources to sustain human life.
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The Big Bang wasn’t an explosion. Visualize it like this.
NASA's Michelle Thaller explains why the term 'Big Bang' is misleading, and how to best imagine the shape of the universe.
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Why spiritualizing the cosmos is a disservice to science and religion
Where is God? Michelle Thaller lays out a cosmic view of religion, science, and the human condition.
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How to make a black hole
Here's the science of black holes, from supermassive monsters to ones the size of ping-pong balls.
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Where might we find aliens? Ice moons, methane oceans, and the red planet
We may not find Klingons, but what we do find will blow our terrestrial minds.
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How ‘The Goblin’ may unravel the mystery of Planet Nine
Around Halloween in 2015, astronomers discovered 'The Goblin'. Now, it's leading us to what some call Planet X.
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Carl Sagan’s most important lesson about science
The thing that Carl Sagan did better than anybody else was connecting to the science through emotion and stories, says NASA's Michelle Thaller.
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Tiny humans, big universe: How to balance anxiety and wonder in astrophysics
The universe is a huge place, inconceivably vast. And it can make even the most brilliant minds feel very, very small.
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The Einstein myth: Why the cult of personality is bad for science
We love citing the big names in science. Einstein. Curie. Sagan. Nye The Science Guy. But does that lower the bar for the rest of the workaday scientists out there?
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Art vs. science? The battle that never was
What role can art play in science? An unexpectedly important one, says NASA's Michelle Thaller.
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Why space garbage is more lethal than a bullet
Trash on earth is pretty bad. But space trash is at a whole other level.
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How futuristic ion rockets supercharge space exploration
What are the different types of rocket engines and will there be a rocket engine coming in the future that uses very little energy? NASA's Michelle Thaller explains.
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Colonize Mars? Elon Musk, SpaceX and NASA are making big plans
NASA's Michelle Thaller shares her prediction of what it will take to get people to Mars, including what role Elon Musk will play in that effort.
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How self-healing DNA may protect astronauts from killer radiation
Can radiation in space limit human exploration? It's a real challenge, explains NASA's Michelle Thaller.
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Ask an astronomer! Should we block out the sun to stop climate change?
Michelle Thaller from NASA examines if it's possible to put up a giant disk to block out the sun's rays and cool Earth.
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Ask a NASA astronomer! How many galaxies are out there?
If we ever discover the true size of the universe, we'll likely have galaxies to thank. The trillions of massive star clusters we've observed are sending light from the early universe back to us.
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Ask a NASA astronomer! What’s it like to work at NASA?
With over 100 active science missions, from the Hubble Space Telescope to studying ice shifts on Earth, working at NASA can be a dream come true for any astronomer or astrophysicist.
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Ask a NASA astronomer! Why is there zero gravity in space?
Astronauts aren’t floating in space, they’re free falling—and so are you. Here's the amazing science behind so-called zero gravity.
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Ask a NASA astronomer! How did Stephen Hawking change the world?
Stephen Hawking was one of the greatest scientific and analytical minds of our time, says NASA's Michelle Thaller.
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Ask a NASA astronomer! Is there proof that the Earth is round?
We've known for 2,000 years that the Earth is round. Here are three observable proofs that can instantly debunk flat-Earth theory.
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How to celebrate science: Ask questions, get creative, spread the love
Ever wanted to ask a NASA astronomer a question? Michelle Thaller is Big Think's resident space pro, and she is taking questions right now!
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How success and failure co-exist in every single one of us
NASA's director of science communication explains why success and failure are vague, impractical metrics to give young people.
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How NASA averted the 2060 apocalypse
Pop quiz! Which NASA mission has been most critical to humanity? (Hint: it's not the Moon landing.)
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