Astronomy

The Texas Standard’s favorite stories of the year

After a year covering miles and miles of Texas, what did our producers pick as standout stories? With a new year dawning, we asked our team of producers and reporters to hand pick some of the standout stories we’ve shared over the past 12 months. From amateur astronomers making celestial discoveries to a reconsideration of labor leader Cesar Chavez, and a mysterious tradition involving a certain Sam Houston. We offer a collection of unforgettable voices and tales from 2022 today on the Texas Standard:

Here’s how you can help discover new galaxies

A record setting state surplus. So how do Texas lawmakers plan to use it? With just 40 days to go before the Texas legislature gets back to work, education and energy at the top of the list of priorities for the most powerful figure in the Texas senate. Patrick Svitek of the Texas Tribune helps unpack the latest. Also high drama in an El Paso courtroom where the top prosecutor in the case against the accused Wal-Mart mass shooter is a no show and the judge threatening possible arrest of the DA. And a shout out for amateur skywatchers to help Texas researchers find galaxies. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: July 8, 2019

Texas continues to lead a fight against the Affordable Care Act. We’ll take a look at where things stand now and where a win could leave the state. Plus, battleground 2020… or maybe not. Is Texas really up for grabs as Democrats try to make their mark in Austin and Washington? We’ll explore. And going to the moon: A Texas researcher’s invention tapped to make a trip. Why he says the experience is bringing him full circle. Plus a book about the me too movement that will make you laugh, and reviewers say that’s a good thing. That and so much more today on the Texas Standard:

Life On Mars

Recent discoveries — and ongoing drought — inspired this Typewriter Rodeo poem.

Texas Standard: April 23, 2018

The state’s political maps: will they need to be re-drawn? The stakes are high in a case to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, we’ll have the latest. Also in Texas there’s a lot of love for Southwest. But today, lots of frustrated travelers as the Dallas based airline grounds nearly a hundred planes for engine inspections. We’ll hear what inspectors are looking for. And the nation’s biggest psychiatric ward also happens to be a county jail. How did the criminal justice system become the biggest provider of services to the mentally ill? We’ll explore. And a new wave of National Guard troops arrive at the border. How’s this playing out down in the Valley? We’ll take you there. Those stories and so much more on today’s Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: February 26, 2016

Americans, they say, are turned off by political nastiness. So everyone watched last night expecting nuance? The politics of spectacle on today’s Texas Standard.

After the dust up in Houston last night, who’s paying attention to what’s at stake here for the democrats? We’ll hear how the Sanders and Clinton camps are taking two separate paths to Super Tuesday.

Also, Wall Street is buzzing right now over the rebound of an old line Texas retailer. But in the 21st century, does Penney’s make sense?

And, over the deep dark skies of West Texas researchers discover a new planet. And no it does not orbit around Austin.

June 5, 2015

Egg prices are skyrocketing because of bird flu…….some grocery stores even limiting how many you can buy at once. Legislative elections in Mexico on Sunday…and some Texans are watching to see if they boost the power of the Mexican president. Plus- mixed news on Texas manufacturing, the week in Texas politics, and Neil deGrasse Tyson takes on Hollywood’s astronomical errors. All that and more coming up on the national news show of Texas.