** Draft Script: May not 100% reflect what aired **

Title: Just Blame the Termites And Be Done With It 
Written By: Aaron 
Show #45 
Castdate: 060307

Pamela: Welcome to another episode of Slacker Astronomy. Each week we bring you a recent news event from the world of astronomy. And when there is nothing to report, we'll continue auditions for Queer Eye for the Astronomer.
Travis:	Hey, we don't need no stinkin' style advice. I've got it all baby. It's halloween and I'm all the eye candy you need.
Pamela:	You'd think after doing this show for a year you'd finally figure out that ITS A PODCAST! People cannot see you!
Travis:	I transcend such limitations. Listen to my voice, and you shall too.
Pamela:	I think we need to just get you on TV and get it out of your system.
Travis:	I'm not that cheap. I need at least two personal assistants, a stylist, and at least four cameras on me all the time, a bowl of M&M's- all the red ones removed of course, a trailer... Pamela: (loud and over him) ONE OF THE THINGS...we like to do through Slacker Astronomy, when not feeding Travis' ego, is to revisit recent space missions and see what kind of science came out of them. All too often the mainstream media forgets about a cool mission after it launches and lands. Yet science is a slow and sometimes frustrating process, like renewing your drivers license or waiting for the girl or guy to call after the first date.
Pamela:	The main difference is that in the latter, you know the end result will be worth it. But in science you can't be so sure. After all, if you were sure of the outcome in the first place then why spend the time and money to confirm it?
Travis: Uhh,votes in your political district? Money from lobbyists in aerospace industries?
Pamela:	Okay, let's leave reality out of this for a second and stay in the idealized world.
Travis:	So then we do it for the joy of exploration.	
Pamela:	Exactly. And this time we have something to report from our recent exploration of Saturn's moon Titan by NASA's Cassini and the European Space Agency's Huygens space probes. Researchers at the University of Arizona and the University of Nantes in France think they have discovered why Titan has so much methane gas in its atmosphere.
Travis:	Methane was discovered on Titan in 1944 via spectroscopic observations by Gerard Kuiper. (note the pronunciation is "kiper" according to badastronomy.com which claims he adopted that pronunciation when he became a US citizen) Astronomers have wondered ever since about the source of the methane. Methane breaks down quickly in the Sun, with an atmospheric halflife of around 8 years on Earth. So something must be replenishing it on Titan. 
Pamela:	Methane is an important source of energy on Earth. So the more we know about how it is formed the better we can plan for the future of our own methane industry. Methane is the principal component of natural gas, which is used to create electricity and heat homes.
Travis:	Professional chefs, such as Aaron's wife, swear by gas stoves since they can be more precisely controlled and maintain their temperature better. 
Pamela:	(while eating with a full mouth) And..mmm.. anyone who enjoys food can appreciate..mm.. anything that makes a chef happy makes us..happy too.. mmm..
Travis: On Earth, our methane deposits are predominantly formed by microorganisms breaking down organic matter deep within the crust, usually at depths far deeper and temperatures far higher than for oil deposits. Surprisingly, Termites account for a large percentage of methane generation as well. It is formed in their digestive track as they break down the cellulose in wood.
Pamela:	Methane is also one of the cleanest burning fossil fuels, creating less carbon dioxide when it is burned than coal and oil per same level of heat generated. Many metropolitan areas of the United States, such as Slacker Astronomy's hometown of Boston, are converting their bus fleets to natural gas as a way to clean up the air.
Travis:	Interestingly, while it burns cleaner, methane itself is a major greenhouse gas. Over the course of 100 years methane will retain 23 times more heat than carbon dioxide. Lots of methane is being generated on Earth through both manmade and natural processes. The biggest source being rice fields and other wetlands used for food production but landfills, waste treatement and biomass burning also contribute a significant amount. Over 50% of the current methane production on Earth is a result of man's influence.
Pamela:	So for our own sake, we want to know more about the creation of methane, how it is stored and its impacts on a planetary scale. Enter Titan. With a methane rich and thick atmosphere it presents a good laboratory to watch methane in action on a scale far larger than possible in laboratories on Earth.
Travis:	Before the Huygens probe landed on Titan about a year ago, it was thought that Titan may even have oceans of methane on its surface. The probe was built to float because of just this possibility. Such oceans would be quite the site considering methane boils at a chilly negative 161 degrees celsius. But instead they found that Titan used to have seas of methane but they are mostly gone now, although some small rivers and methane springs may still exist.
Pamela:	When Huygens landed, its methane readings increased significantly around the probe. Astronomers believe this is because the heat of the probe warmed the ground beneath it and methane just below the surface boiled out and into the atmosphere. This was a key discovery leading to their new theories about the formation of methane on Titan.
Travis:	Their theory begins shortly after Titan's creation. Originally, Titan had a rocky core surrounded by an ocean of water and and ammonia mixed together. On top of that was a crust of frozen ice. The ammonia acts as a sort of antifreeze and lowers the freezing temperature of the water. That along with radioactive decay of other trace elements warmed the moon enough for some methane to outgas, or boil out of the frozen crust and into the atmosphere. This went on for about a billion years.
Pamela:	It seems like this podcast has gone on for a billion years.
Travis:	(very fast!)IcouldtalklikethisveryfasttospeedthingsupandexplainhowabillionyearslaterTitan'scorebegantoheatupcausingconvectionofthecoreandtheoceanaroundit(slow way down) but then you wouldn't understand me very well.
Pamela:	We never understand you, Travis.
Travis:	That's me, an enigmatic tortured artist	no woman could possibly understand or tame.
Flora:	Travis Searle! I see unwashed dishes in the sink! 
Travis:	(scared) uh, uh, sorry my dear. I'll wash them immediately. 
(sound of running down a hallway, then dishes and running water in background during next section)
Pamela:	Sooooo.. I'll just pick up where he left off. Anyway, a billion years after the first release of methane gas the core of Titan heated up due to radioactive decay of Uranium, potassium and thorium. This caused the ocean to heat up and the ice crust to thin, which released more methane into the atmosphere. Then, 500 million years ago the ice crust began to cool which led to more convection and more methane being released into the atmosphere. What the scientists don't say, at least in their press release, is why convection stopped in between these events.
Travis: (sounds of runnng back and out of breath) Okay, (huff puff) I'm back. Where were we?
Flora: Travis! The trash!
Travis: Yes, honey! (runs away)
Pamela:	He's well trained. I'll have to ask Flora about her secret. Anyway, this current outgassing period underway on Titan will be its last for a very long time as the Moon eventually will become too cold for methane to boil away into the atmosphere. Titan's foggy shroud will be lifted and its atmosphere will become very different. It will be more clear, thin and much colder without the methane greenhouse gas to keep it warm.Then it will start all over again about 4 billion years from now when the Sun becomes a red giant and melts all the ice on Titan. Perhaps then the methane seas astronoemrs dreamed about will finally exist.
Travis:	(sound sof runnng back and out of breath) Whew! Sorry about that (huff puff).. (suddenly smooth and suave) so, like I said... I'm an artist baby, know how it feels?
Pamela: Travis, fetch my shoes!
Travis: (quick reaction)Okay! Where are th.... hey!
Pamela: This is a very interesting development in our partnership...(thinking)
Travis: Umm, i think we need to wrap this show up - and fast! Thanks for listening to another episode of slacker astronomy, show notes available at blah blah blah blah, for the voices in our head, BYE!!!!

(really say blah blah blah and end it quickly, that's not me being lazy again :) )