Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Astrophysics • Relativity • Cosmology • Black Holes • Quantum Mechanics • Astronomy History • Exoplanets • Gravity • AI in Astronomy • Fusion Power • Cosmic Phenomena • Science and Pseudoscience
"Ask a Spaceman!" is a podcast hosted by astrophysicist Paul Sutter, offering listeners a deep dive into a wide range of astrophysical and cosmological questions. Each episode addresses specific phenomena and concepts related to the universe, aiming to unravel the mysteries of space and provide comprehensive answers to often complex inquiries.
The podcast frequently explores fundamental questions about the universe's nature, mechanics, and origins. Topics such as black holes, including their mysteries and effects on surroundings, the Big Bang, and the potential for the universe to end in various scenarios like the Big Rip are discussed. Listeners can expect detailed explanations on celestial phenomena such as quasars, cosmic microwave background, and white holes. Paul Sutter delves into the mechanics of these phenomena, often touching on the underlying physics, including relativity and quantum mechanics.
Astrobiology is another recurring theme, with episodes discussing the possibility of life on other planets, the conditions required for life, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Sutter addresses the potential forms alien life might take and the evolution of life across the cosmos.
Episodes also address practical and theoretical aspects of space exploration and technology. Discussions include the technologies used in space missions, the challenges of returning to the Moon, the feasibility of building structures like Dyson Spheres, and the potential for human and robotic exploration of the solar system.
Moreover, the podcast frequently touches on the intersection of advanced technology and astrophysics, such as AI in astronomical research and pulsar timing for mapping gravitational waves.
Listeners can expect in-depth explorations of theoretical physics and its applications to cosmic phenomena, emphasizing the laws of physics, the nature of spacetime, and the principles governing the cosmos. The podcast stays grounded in scientific inquiry, providing both specific answers and broader insights into the workings of the universe.
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Episodes:
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AaS! 227: Where is the Center of the Universe?
2024-Jul-02
37 minutes
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AaS! 226: Does the Universe Get Shorter When You Go Faster?
2024-Jun-18
37 minutes
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AaS! 225: What is the Cosmic Flaw That Shouldn’t Exist?
2024-Jun-04
42 minutes
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AaS! 224: Can Life Survive on Locked Planets?
2024-May-21
37 minutes
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AaS! 223: Why is it So Hard to Return to the Moon?
2024-May-07
35 minutes
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AaS! 222: What is the Most Distant Thing We Can See?
2024-Apr-16
35 minutes
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AaS! 221: Will Emergent Gravity Rewrite Physics?
2024-Apr-02
36 minutes
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AaS! 220: Will Our Universe End in a Big Rip?
2024-Mar-19
39 minutes
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AaS! 219: What's the Best Way to Defend Our Planet?
2024-Mar-05
41 minutes
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AaS! 218: How Do We Know What the Milky Way Looks Like?
2024-Feb-20
39 minutes
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AaS! 217: Will We Achieve Fusion Power Soon?
2024-Feb-06
42 minutes
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AaS! 216: Do Aliens Look Like Us?
2024-Jan-16
42 minutes
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AaS! 215: How Does Science Regain Trust?
2024-Jan-02
48 minutes
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AaS! 214: Is Empty Space Really...Empty?
2023-Dec-19
45 minutes
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AaS! 213: How Were Ancient Astronomers So Good?
2023-Dec-05
39 minutes
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AaS! 212: Where Do All the Elements Come From?
2023-Nov-21
42 minutes
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AaS! 211: Will AI Take Over Astronomy?
2023-Nov-07
48 minutes
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AaS! 210: How Does Space Affect the Climate?
2023-Oct-17
37 minutes
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AaS! 209: What Secrets Are Hiding in Triton?
2023-Oct-03
36 minutes
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AaS! 208: Where Are All the White Holes?
2023-Sep-19
36 minutes
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AaS! 207: How Far Do We Travel in Our Lives?
2023-Sep-05
38 minutes
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AaS! 206: What are the Weirdest Names in Astronomy?
2023-Aug-15
29 minutes
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AaS! 205: What's the Difference Between Science and Pseudoscience?
2023-Aug-01
35 minutes
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AaS! 204: How did Annie Jump Cannon Bring Order to the Universe?
2023-Jul-18
31 minutes
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AaS! 203: Is the Universe a Giant Black Hole?
2023-Jul-04
25 minutes
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AaS! 202: Could the Earth Leave the Solar System?
2023-Jun-13
30 minutes
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AaS! 201: How Does Light Slow Down?
2023-Jun-06
39 minutes
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AaS! 200: What are the Top 5 Mysteries in Astronomy?
2023-May-16
34 minutes
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AaS! 199: What are the Top 5 Discoveries of All Time in Astronomy?
2023-May-02
41 minutes
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AaS! 198: What's So Weird About Black Hole Shadows?
2023-Apr-18
32 minutes
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AaS! 197: Which is Better, Human or Robotic Exploration?
2023-Apr-04
35 minutes
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AaS! 196: Could We Ever Build a Dyson Sphere?
2023-Mar-21
38 minutes
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AaS! 195: How Cold Can Space Get?
2023-Mar-07
29 minutes
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AaS! 194: Does the Universe Rotate?
2023-Feb-21
43 minutes
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AaS! 193: What are the Blue Stragglers?
2023-Feb-07
37 minutes
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AaS! 192: Can Tachyons Exist?
2023-Jan-17
40 minutes
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AaS! 191: What is the Meaning of Quantum Mechanics? (Part 9: Both/And)
2023-Jan-03
34 minutes
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AaS! 190: What is the Meaning of Quantum Mechanics? (Part 8: For Nothing is Hidden)
2022-Dec-20
41 minutes
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AaS! 189: What is the Meaning of Quantum Mechanics? (Part 7: Many Worlds, Infinite Possibilities)
2022-Dec-06
49 minutes
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AaS! 188: What is the Meaning of Quantum Mechanics? (Part 6: Einstein’s Revenge)
2022-Nov-15
39 minutes
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AaS! 187: What is the Meaning of Quantum Mechanics? (Part 5: Dreams of Copenhagen)
2022-Nov-01
39 minutes
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AaS! 186: What is the Meaning of Quantum Mechanics? (Part 4: It’s a Quantum, Quantum, Quantum World)
2022-Oct-18
29 minutes
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AaS! 185: What is the Meaning of Quantum Mechanics? (Part 3: There and Back Again)
2022-Oct-04
48 minutes
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AaS! 184: What is the Meaning of Quantum Mechanics? (Part 2: Quantum Mechanics 102)
2022-Sep-20
43 minutes
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AaS! 183: What is the Meaning of Quantum Mechanics? (Part 1: This Way to the Weird)
2022-Sep-06
37 minutes
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AaS! 182: Wait, Super-Atoms are a Real Thing?
2022-Aug-16
37 minutes
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AaS! 181: What is the Principle of Least Action?
2022-Aug-02
36 minutes
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AaS! 180: How Does Pulsar Timing Work?
2022-Jul-19
33 minutes
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AaS! 179: What are the Alternatives to Dark Matter?
2022-Jul-05
44 minutes
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AaS! 178: How Big Can Planets Get?
2022-Jun-21
38 minutes
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AaS! 177: How Do Black Holes Affect Their Galaxies?
2022-Jun-07
33 minutes
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AaS! 176: Why is Gravity So Weak?
2022-May-17
35 minutes
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AaS! 175: Should We Be Afraid of the Dipole Repeller?
2022-May-03
38 minutes
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AaS! 174: What Solves the Twin Paradox?
2022-Apr-19
28 minutes
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AaS! 173: How Does Radioactive Decay Work?
2022-Apr-05
30 minutes
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AaS! 172: What Are Some Alternatives to the Big Bang Theory?
2022-Mar-15
35 minutes
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AaS! 171: What are Lagrange Points?
2022-Mar-01
30 minutes
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AaS! 170: What’s So Fine About the Fine Structure Constant?
2022-Feb-15
37 minutes
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AaS! 169: What Is Loop Quantum Gravity?
2022-Feb-01
39 minutes
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AaS! 168: Can We Get Some Love for Globular Clusters?
2022-Jan-18
29 minutes
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AaS! 167: Do We Live In a Giant Simulation?
2022-Jan-04
46 minutes
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AaS! 166: What’s the Truth Behind ‘Oumuamua?
2021-Dec-21
47 minutes
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AaS! 165: What Comes After the James Webb Space Telescope?
2021-Dec-07
35 minutes
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AaS! 164: Where Can We Find Diamond Rain?
2021-Nov-16
27 minutes
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AaS! 163: Will Our Universe End in a False Vacuum Decay?
2021-Nov-02
33 minutes
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AaS! 162: What the Heck are Gamma Ray Bursts?
2021-Oct-19
34 minutes
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AaS! 161: Is There a Crisis in Cosmology? RELOADED
2021-Oct-05
40 minutes
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AaS! 160: What’s the Best Way to Search for Life?
2021-Sep-21
43 minutes
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AaS! 159: Why Should We Geek Out Over Maxwell?
2021-Sep-07
40 minutes
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AaS! 158: What’s So Groovy About Gravitational Waves? (Part 2)
2021-Aug-17
42 minutes
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AaS! 157: What’s So Groovy About Gravitational Waves? (Part 1)
2021-Aug-03
45 minutes
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AaS! 156: What are Asteroids Good For?
2021-Jul-20
39 minutes
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AaS! 155: Who’s Going To Clean Up All That Space Junk?
2021-Jul-06
38 minutes
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AaS! 154: Is There REALLY a Crisis in Cosmology?
2021-Jun-15
37 minutes
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AaS! 153: What is a Black Hole Firewall, and Do They Really Exist??
2021-Jun-01
38 minutes
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AaS! 152: Could We Really Terraform Mars?
2021-May-18
36 minutes
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AaS! 151: How Do Quantum Computers Work?
2021-May-04
41 minutes
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AaS! 150: Why Don’t Neutrinos Make Any Sense?
2021-Apr-20
41 minutes
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AaS! 149: Is the Universe a Fractal?
2021-Apr-06
31 minutes
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AaS! 148: What’s Outside the Universe?
2021-Mar-16
35 minutes
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AaS! 147: What’s the Deal with the Uncertainty Principle?
2021-Mar-02
39 minutes
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AaS! 146: Astro101 Part 8 - What is the Future of Astronomy?
2021-Feb-16
38 minutes
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AaS! 145: Astro101 Part 7 - What is the Universe?
2021-Feb-02
46 minutes
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AaS! 144: Astro101 Part 6 - What are Galaxies?
2021-Jan-19
42 minutes
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AaS! 143: Astro101 Part 5 - What are Neutron Stars, White Dwarfs, and Black Holes?
2021-Jan-05
38 minutes
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AaS! 142: Astro101 Part 4 - What Happens When Stars Die?
2020-Dec-15
34 minutes
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AaS! 141: Astro101 Part 3 - What is a Star?
2020-Dec-01
35 minutes
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AaS! 140: Astro101 Part 2 - Who lives in the solar system?
2020-Nov-17
35 minutes
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AaS! 139: Astro101 Part 1 - Why bother with astronomy?
2020-Nov-03
35 minutes
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AaS! 138: Could the "emdrive" really work?
2020-Oct-20
33 minutes
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AaS! 137: What's really at the center of a black hole?
2020-Oct-06
32 minutes
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AaS! 136: Can planets survive the death of their star?
2020-Sep-15
30 minutes
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AaS! 135: Why Aren't There More Black Physicists?
2020-Sep-01
30 minutes
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AaS! 134: Is there a fifth force of nature?
2020-Aug-18
31 minutes
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AaS! 133: How do we know the Earth is curved?
2020-Aug-04
32 minutes
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AaS! 132: What did Einstein get wrong?
2020-Jul-21
35 minutes
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AaS! 131: What's so cool about the TRAPPIST-1 system?
2020-Jul-07
33 minutes
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AaS! 130: What's the most amazing thing about the universe?
2020-Jun-16
25 minutes
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AaS! 129: Did the big bang make black holes?
2020-Jun-02
32 minutes
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AaS! 128: Why are we missing all the baryons?
2020-May-19
27 minutes
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AaS! 127: What was Newton's big deal?
2020-May-05
42 minutes
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AaS! 126: What's the wildest weather in the solar system?
2020-Apr-21
32 minutes
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AaS! 125: Does Planet Nine exist?
2020-Apr-07
33 minutes
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AaS! 124: Why is the speed of light the way it is?
2020-Mar-17
35 minutes
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How to Die in Space: Sneak Preview
2020-Mar-10
14 minutes
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AaS! 123: What powers a hypernova?
2020-Mar-03
27 minutes
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AaS! 122: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 8: An Armageddon of Strings)
2020-Feb-18
48 minutes
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AaS! 121: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 7: A Correspondence from a Dear Friend)
2020-Feb-04
30 minutes
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AaS! 120: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 6: We Should Probably Test This)
2020-Jan-21
32 minutes
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AaS! 119: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 5: Duality of the Fates)
2020-Jan-07
35 minutes
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AaS! 118: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 4: What We Need is a Superhero)
2019-Dec-17
42 minutes
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AaS! 117: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 3: Dimension is Destiny)
2019-Dec-03
42 minutes
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AaS! 116: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 2: Tuning the Strings)
2019-Nov-19
48 minutes
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AaS! 115: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 1: Unify This!)
2019-Nov-05
49 minutes
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AaS! 114: How did spectroscopy revolutionize astronomy?
2019-Oct-15
31 minutes
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AaS! 113: Is the James Webb Space Telescope worth the wait?
2019-Oct-01
36 minutes
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AaS! 112: Why can't I quantum tunnel myself?
2019-Sep-17
39 minutes
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AaS! 111: What's it like to fall into a black hole? (redux)
2019-Sep-03
41 minutes
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AaS! 110: Is the universe really predictable?
2019-Aug-20
25 minutes
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AaS! 109: What are the mysterious cosmic strings?
2019-Aug-06
28 minutes
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AaS! 108: What do we learn from eclipses?
2019-Jul-16
32 minutes
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AaS! 107: Is interstellar travel possible?
2019-Jul-02
37 minutes
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AaS! 106: How do we measure the expansion of the universe?
2019-Jun-18
36 minutes
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AaS! 105: Is everything a wave or a particle, and why does my head hurt?
2019-Jun-04
27 minutes
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AaS! 104: What turned Venus into hell?
2019-May-21
24 minutes
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AaS! 103: What's wrong with the cosmic calendar?
2019-May-07
24 minutes
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AaS! 102: What are the mighty clusters of galaxies?
2019-Apr-16
32 minutes
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AaS! 101: What is the black hole information paradox?
2019-Apr-02
26 minutes
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AaS! 100: Why avoid the cosmic voids?
2019-Mar-19
30 minutes
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AaS! 99: Do we live in the multiverse?
2019-Mar-05
35 minutes
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AaS! 98: Who's in charge of the quantum world?
2019-Feb-19
26 minutes
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AaS! 97: What makes the strong force so strong?
2019-Feb-05
25 minutes
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AaS! 96: Hey, who took all the antimatter?
2019-Jan-15
23 minutes
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AaS! 95: Does light experience time? (and other mysteries)
2019-Jan-01
27 minutes
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AaS! 94: How did we figure out that stuff is made of atoms?
2018-Dec-18
46 minutes
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AaS! 93: Does the Oort Cloud Exist?
2018-Dec-04
41 minutes
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AaS! 92: I give up, what is time?
2018-Nov-20
36 minutes
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AaS! 91: Could we blow up a star?
2018-Nov-06
30 minutes
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AaS! 90: Why are brown dwarf stars so weird?
2018-Oct-16
33 minutes
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AaS! 89: What makes all the light?
2018-Oct-02
26 minutes
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A Reading from the Book of Paul
2018-Sep-25
23 minutes
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AaS! 88: Is the Drake Equation useful?
2018-Sep-18
33 minutes
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AaS! 87: How do magnets work?
2018-Sep-04
31 minutes
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AaS! 86: Why do we need cosmic inflation? (Part 2)
2018-Aug-21
33 minutes
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AaS! 85: Why do we need cosmic inflation? (Part 1)
2018-Aug-07
34 minutes
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AaS! 84: How does dark energy accelerate the universe?
2018-Jul-17
43 minutes
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AaS! 83: Can entangled particles communicate faster than light?
2018-Jul-03
32 minutes
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AaS! 82: What awoke the cosmic dawn?
2018-Jun-19
35 minutes
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AaS! 81: How do you build a rocket-ship?
2018-Jun-05
31 minutes
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AaS! 80: What made the "OMG Particle" so special?
2018-May-15
38 minutes
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AaS! 79: Seriously, what is gravity? (Part 3)
2018-May-01
42 minutes
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AaS! 78: Seriously, what is gravity? (Part 2)
2018-Apr-17
34 minutes
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AaS! 77: Seriously, what is gravity? (Part 1)
2018-Apr-03
38 minutes
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AaS! 76: Iceland Question Bonanza!
2018-Mar-20
31 minutes
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AaS! 75: Why is Iceland so warm?
2018-Mar-06
31 minutes
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AaS! 74: Why are small stars such a big deal?
2018-Feb-20
26 minutes
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AaS! 73: Why should we believe the big bang?
2018-Feb-06
30 minutes
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AaS! 72: How does gravity make a lens?
2018-Jan-16
34 minutes
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AaS! 71: Who lives in the particle zoo?
2018-Jan-02
32 minutes
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AaS! 70: Can we have some quark stars, please?
2017-Dec-19
39 minutes
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AstroTour: Atacama Dark Sky Retreat
2017-Dec-08
9 minutes
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AaS! 69: What makes a blazar blaze so brightly?
2017-Dec-05
29 minutes
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AaS! 68: Do we live in a hologram?
2017-Nov-21
26 minutes
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AaS! 67: Why can't I be an astrophysicist?
2017-Nov-07
33 minutes
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AaS! 66: What in the world is metallic hydrogen?
2017-Oct-17
30 minutes
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AaS! 65: How does one become an astrophysicist?
2017-Oct-03
38 minutes
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All about the "Sea and the Stars" AstroTour
2017-Sep-26
11 minutes
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AaS! 64: What fate awaits the Voyagers?
2017-Sep-19
29 minutes
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AaS! 63: How are we to understand quantum spin?
2017-Sep-05
33 minutes
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AaS! 62: Why do some stars blow up?
2017-Aug-15
28 minutes
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Update and Space Radio Preview
2017-Aug-08
26 minutes
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AaS! 61: Where do giant magnetic fields come from?
2017-Aug-01
29 minutes
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AaS! 60: What's the Deal with Time Crystals?
2017-Jul-18
34 minutes
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AaS! 59: Do Black Holes Exist?
2017-Jul-04
29 minutes
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AaS! 58: Is time travel possible?
2017-Jun-20
20 minutes
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AaS! 57: What's the matter with dark matter?
2017-Jun-06
33 minutes
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AaS! 56: What is the "Axis of Evil"?
2017-May-16
35 minutes
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AaS! 55: Does dark energy exist?
2017-May-02
36 minutes
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AaS! 54: What happens when galaxies collide?
2017-Apr-18
37 minutes
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AaS! 53: Why is the Higgs boson important? (Part 2)
2017-Apr-04
30 minutes
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AaS! 52: Why is the Higgs Boson important? (Part 1)
2017-Mar-21
37 minutes
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AaS! 51: What has New Horizons learned about Pluto?
2017-Mar-07
50 minutes
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AaS! 50: What's up with Saturn's rings?
2017-Feb-21
40 minutes
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AaS! 49: What were the most clever experiments of all time?
2017-Feb-07
45 minutes
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AaS! 48: Why are Kepler's Laws important?
2017-Jan-17
35 minutes
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AaS! 47: What's the universe made of?
2017-Jan-03
42 minutes
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AaS! 46: How to describe astronomy to the blind?
2016-Dec-20
36 minutes
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AaS! 45: Wormholes - deal or no deal?
2016-Dec-06
36 minutes
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AaS! 44: How does the sun get spots?
2016-Nov-15
36 minutes
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AaS! 43: What's the Shape of the Universe?
2016-Nov-01
32 minutes
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AaS! 42: Where do "weird" radio signals come from?
2016-Oct-18
33 minutes
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AaS! 41: How do (regular) novas work?
2016-Oct-04
34 minutes
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AaS! 40: Do black holes die?
2016-Sep-20
41 minutes
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AaS! 39: Is there life on Europa?
2016-Sep-06
41 minutes
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AaS! 38: How do we see beyond the visible?
2016-Aug-16
34 minutes
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AaS! 37: What is the cosmic microwave background (Part 2)?
2016-Aug-02
46 minutes
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AaS! 36: What is the cosmic microwave background? (Part 1)
2016-Jul-19
43 minutes
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AaS! 35: What are "virtual particles"?
2016-Jul-05
36 minutes
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AaS! 34: What is the Great Attractor?
2016-Jun-21
39 minutes
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AaS! 33: What if the moon disappeared?
2016-Jun-07
30 minutes
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AaS! 32: Where do nebulae come from?
2016-May-17
36 minutes
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AaS! 31: How can the universe expand faster than light?
2016-May-03
35 minutes
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AaS! 30: 2nd-Grade Question Bonanza!
2016-Apr-19
27 minutes
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AaS! 29: Why does E=mc^2?
2016-Apr-05
37 minutes
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AaS! 28: What's the point in talking about science?
2016-Mar-15
44 minutes
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AaS! 27: How does gravity make waves?
2016-Mar-01
43 minutes
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AaS! 26: Wolf-Rayet Stars: Sci-Fi or What?
2016-Feb-16
31 minutes
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AaS! 25: How do we know how far away stuff is...far away?
2016-Feb-02
37 minutes
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AaS! 24: What's the beef with quantum gravity?
2016-Jan-19
45 minutes
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Aas! 23: What's up with exoplanets?
2016-Jan-05
39 minutes
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AaS! Transient Special: What was the Christmas star?
2015-Dec-22
8 minutes
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AaS! 22: Question Bonanza!
2015-Dec-15
59 minutes
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AaS! 21: Are we really made of stars?
2015-Dec-01
28 minutes
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AaS! 20: How much light is in the universe?
2015-Nov-17
29 minutes
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AaS! Special: What did you think of The Martian?
2015-Nov-12
33 minutes
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AaS! 19: How do planets get magnetic fields?
2015-Nov-03
31 minutes
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AaS! 18: Is the universe dying?
2015-Oct-20
42 minutes
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AaS! 17: What banged the Big Bang?
2015-Oct-06
48 minutes
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AaS! 16: How do spiral galaxies form?
2015-Sep-15
35 minutes
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AaS! 15: Will we colonize Mars?
2015-Sep-01
45 minutes
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AaS! 14: What is spacetime? (Part 2)
2015-Aug-18
35 minutes
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AaS! 14: What is spacetime? (Part 1)
2015-Aug-04
40 minutes
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AaS! 13: What the heck is a magnetar?
2015-Jul-21
32 minutes
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AaS! 12: Is life possible around binary stars?
2015-Jul-07
34 minutes
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AaS! 011: What do we do in space?
2015-Jun-16
39 minutes
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AaS! 010: How do black holes form?
2015-Jun-02
40 minutes
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AaS! 009: How big is the universe?
2015-May-19
39 minutes
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AaS! 008: Will a comet kill us all?
2015-May-05
38 minutes
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AaS! 007: How do we know that dark matter exists?
2015-Apr-21
29 minutes
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AaS! 006: When did the first stars appear?
2015-Apr-07
25 minutes
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AaS! Transient Special: When is the next eclipse?
2015-Mar-27
18 minutes
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AaS! 005: Where did the oceans come from?
2015-Mar-20
24 minutes
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AaS! 004: Are there aliens...out there?
2015-Feb-20
25 minutes
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