The long road to launching the James Webb Space Telescope, and genes for a longer life span

The James Webb Space Telescope was first conceived in the late 1980s. Now, more than 30 years later, it’s finally set to launch in December. After such a long a road, anticipation over what the telescope will contribute to astronomy is intense. Daniel Clery, a staff writer for Science, joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about what took so long and what we can expect after launch.

You might have heard that Greenland sharks may live up to 400 years. But did you know that some Pacific rockfish can live to be more than 100? That’s true, even though other rockfish species only live about 10 years. Why such a range in life span? Greg Owens, assistant professor of biology at the University of Victoria, discusses his work looking for genes linked with longer life spans.

This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.

[Image: Tyson Rininger; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

[Alt text: Sebastes caurinus, the copper rockfish ]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Daniel Clery

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