Twitter: @universetoday • @fcain
Site: universetoday.fireside.fm
1138 episodes
2014 to present
Average episode: 27 minutes
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Categories: Astronomy • Interview-Style
Podcaster's summary: Space news, interviews, Q&As, and exclusive content from Universe Today. | Audio versions of Fraser Cain YouTube channel.
| Episodes |
| 2024-Apr-24 • 42 minutes [Q&A] Bigger JWST for Starship, Day on A Gas Planet, Real Science Gatekeepers Why don't they just build a bigger version of James Webb for Starship? What's the pressure inside Europa's oceans? How can you measure a day on a planet without a surface? Answering all these questions and more in this week's question show. |
| 2024-Apr-19 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] ISS Debris Hit Florida House // Crisis for Mars Sample Return // Closest Black Hole A piece of the ISS smashed into a house in Florida. Evidence for the first stars in the Universe. NASA is having to rethink its Mars Sample Return mission. |
| 2024-Apr-12 • 23 minutes Evolving Dark Matter // JAXA's Moon Rover for NASA // Eclipse Experience New measurements show dark energy may be evolving, Japan is joining Artemis with a pressurized rover, why the Moon has two different faces, and my experience with the total solar eclipse. |
| 2024-Apr-08 • 43 minutes [Q&A] Interstellar Propulsion, Uranus-Type Exoplanets, AGI Solving Space Mysteries What engine type will the first manned interstellar mission use for propulsion? Will AI help solve any mysteries of space? Why do we have exoplanet types named after Neptune but not Uranus? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show. |
| 2024-Apr-05 • 17 minutes [Space Bites] How To Watch The Eclipse // Vera Rubin's Huge Milestone // New Moon Rovers Vera Rubin’s Camera is complete, where are rogue planets coming from, NASA chooses suppliers for its new lunar rover, and an earlier formation for the Moon. |
| 2024-Apr-02 • 44 minutes [Q&A] Supernova VS Nova, Orientation of the Moon, Gravitational Lensing of the CMB Does gravitational lensing affect the CMB? Can the Great Attractor solve the Hubble tension? Why don't we put a Deep Space Network antenna in space? What's the difference between a nova and a supernova? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show. |
| 2024-Apr-01 • 119 minutes [Special] Where Are All The Aliens? We Ranked Every Explanation The Fermi paradox has many solutions. Many explanations for the fact that we don't see any signs of intelligent life in the Universe. We ranked all the major ones and put them into tiers from S to D. |
| 2024-Mar-29 • 18 minutes [Space Bites] New EHT Image of Sgr A* // VERITAS is back // Supernova in Almost Real Time See the magnetic fields twisting around the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole, a supernova was seen in almost real time, NASA announces its planetary science goals for Artemis III and Gaia finds two ancient building blocks of the Milky Way. |
| 2024-Mar-26 • 42 minutes [Q&A] True Color of The Moon, Capturing Sunspots, Constellation of Almost Hubbles Can we harvest energy from the Moon's temperature difference? Why don't we just launch multiple telescopes like Hubble? Why is the Moon grey? Why are sunspots black? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show! |
| 2024-Mar-22 • 25 minutes [Space Bites] Mystery of Supernova 1987a // End of Chandra // JWST Exomoons Update with @CoolWorldsLab Planning trains on the Moon, Chandra is getting shut down, the future of Mars helicopters, and an update on exomoons with Dr. David Kipping. |
| 2024-Mar-19 • 42 minutes [Q&A] Largest Stars, Dark Matter In The Solar System, Science Being Slow How heavy are the biggest stars in the Universe and how do they compare to the Sun? Why would aliens be grabby? Is there more space for science communicators? What's the minimum size for an object to have an atmosphere? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show. |
| 2024-Mar-18 • 47 minutes [Special] What Went Wrong With Starship's Third Test Flight Another Test of SpaceX Starship Superheavy combo, another analysis of the flight with Scott Manley and Marcus House! |
| 2024-Mar-17 • 29 minutes [Interview] NASA Set Its Spaceship on Fire. Here's Why What did NASA learn from setting their Cygnus spaceships on fire? Is fire more dangerous in space than on Earth? Finding out with Dr. David Urban, Branch Chief from NASA Glenn Research Center. |
| 2024-Mar-16 • 57 minutes [Interview] The Secret Behind NASA's Recent Success What drives NASA's most successful projects like James Webb, Perseverance, Parker Solar Probe, etc? What's going on with international cooperation? How will future missions be planned and executed? Finding out with Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, former Associate Administrator of NASA Science Mission Directorate. |
| 2024-Mar-15 • 24 minutes [Space Bites] Starship’s Third Flight // Schrodinger’s Voyager // Start of Milkdromeda Starship reaches orbit in a new test, NASA regains contact with Voyager 1 (sort of), are the Milky Way and Andromeda already exchanging stars, and two new incredible images to replace your desktop wallpaper. |
| 2024-Mar-14 • 42 minutes [Q&A] How Cold Are Moon Shadows, Why Are Dark Matter Halos Spherical, War For The Moon How cold does it get in the shadows on the Moon? What's going on with dark matter research? Can we chase Oumuamua with a solar sail spacecraft? Will we ever face a war for the Moon? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A. |
| 2024-Mar-12 • 40 minutes [Interview] Why White Dwarf Stars Unexpectedly Stop Cooling Down White dwarf stars should be cooling down practically till the end of the Universe. But yet, they don't. They stop cooling at some point. Why does this happen? Figuring out the answers with Dr Simon Blouin from the University of Victoria. |
| 2024-Mar-11 • 64 minutes [Interview] Getting Samples From Enceladus Is Harder Than You Think How do we plan a mission that can go to Enceladus and grab a sample of its plumes? How fast does it need to go? Will it bring samples to Earth or analyse them on the spacecraft? Figuring out the answers with Professor Mark Burchell from the University of Kent. |
| 2024-Mar-08 • 22 minutes [Space Bites] Furious Boiling of Betelgeuse // Robot-Surgeon on the ISS // Biggest Black Holes Ever Seen Understanding the surface of Betelgeuse, James Webb’s third observing cycle has been announced, Starship’s upcoming third test, and the most massive pair of black holes ever seen. |
| 2024-Mar-05 • 47 minutes [Q&A] Mars Rovers On The Moon, Satellite Management, Life Near Blue Giants Why won't NASA send a copy of Perseverance to the Moon? Can life exist on a planet around a blue giant star? How do satellites stay safe in orbit and don't collide with each other? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show. |
| 2024-Mar-04 • 62 minutes [Interview] How Close Are We To Self-Replicating Robots Conquering Space Self-replicating space robots seems as an obvious way to explore the Universe. How close are we to such a scenario and what do we need to fill outer space with Von Neumann probes? Figuring out with Professor Alex Ellery. |
| 2024-Mar-02 • 71 minutes [Interview] Was Cosmic Dust Responsible for Life on Earth? What is cosmic dust? What is it made of and what can it tell us about the Universe? Could cosmic dust be responsible for life starting on Earth? Figuring it all out with Dr Craig Walton from Cambridge University. |
| 2024-Mar-01 • 19 minutes [Space Bites] Odysseus Moon Landing Verdict // JWST Breakthrough // SLIM Surprise We’ve learned what happened to the Odysseus Lander. SLIM survived the lunar night. Experience a fiery trip from orbit to the Utah desert. James Webb completes one of its major science goals. |
| 2024-Feb-27 • 55 minutes [Interview] How Should We Handle Space Weapons How serious is the threat from space weapons? How should we handle the situation with international treaties? Is there a way to ensure the enforcement of them and what are the risks if somebody breaks them? Figuring out the answers with Dr Matthew Powell from the University of Portsmouth. |
| 2024-Feb-26 • 46 minutes [Q&A] Refuelling the Sun, Rogue Planets Auroras, Space Nukes Where do auroras come from on rogue planets? Can we refuel the Sun to make it last longer? What's going on with space nuke tests? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show. |
| 2024-Feb-23 • 23 minutes [Space Bites] USA’s Crazy Moon Landing // Problems for Perseverance // New Glenn Goes Vertical Odysseus lands successfully on the Moon, China is planning to build bricks on the lunar surface, James Webb finds the neutron star at the heart of supernova 1987 A, and Blue Origins finally rolls out New Glenn. |
| 2024-Feb-21 • 44 minutes [Q&A] JWST vs Apollo Landing Sites, TRAPPIST-1 Atmospheres, Chinese Space Program Why doesn't JWST look at Apollo landing sites? What happened to TRAPPIST-1 atmospheres? What's the biggest thing we can measure our velocity relative to? Will the Universe ever start bouncing back? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show. |
| 2024-Feb-20 • 35 minutes [Interview] Discovery of The Decade for Dwarf Planets? Eris and Makemake Geothermal Activity Huge Kuiper Belt discovery! With James Webb astronomers were able to see that Eris and Makemake show signs of geothermal activity. How exactly did that happen? Figuring out with Dr Christopher Glein, Lead Scientist at Southwest Research Institute. |
| 2024-Feb-19 • 31 minutes [Interview] Swarms of Cheap Spacecraft for Solar System Exploration Solar sails aren't just a tool to send tiny spacecraft to Alpha Centauri. They can also be used to optimise exploration of the Solar System. How can we do that? Figuring it out with Alexander Alvara. |
| 2024-Feb-16 • 21 minutes [Space Bites] Unexpected Mimas Discovery // Moon Mission Launch // New EHT Image More oceans across the Solar System. The Event Horizon Telescope zooms into an active galactic nucleus. Another lunar lander sets off to the Moon. |
| 2024-Feb-14 • 65 minutes [Interview] What's Wrong With Modern Science And How To Fix It What are the main problems of modern-day science? Why there's a growing trust gap between the scientists and the public? How can we fix those problems and restore the trust? Figuring out with Dr. Paul M. Sutter. |
| 2024-Feb-13 • 46 minutes [Q&A] Trusting Asteroid Strike Probabilities, Propulsion Breakthrough, Methane on Mars How sure can astronomers be when estimating asteroid strikes? Why is Jupiter so radioactive? What happened to the methane on Mars story? Are black holes 2D or 3D? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show. |
| 2024-Feb-09 • 18 minutes [Space Bites] NASA in Trouble // More Impossible Galaxies from JWST // Final Goodbye to Ingenuity Big layoffs at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. Testing spacesuits for the Moon. Another flyby of Io. And our final look at Ingenuity. |
| 2024-Feb-08 • 71 minutes [Interview] NASA JPL Layoffs. Artemis and Mars Sample Return in DANGER? BREAKING NEWS. JPL is laying off about 530 people. Why did that happen and what it means for major NASA missions like Artemis and Mars Sample Return? Figuring it out with Casey Dreier, Chief of Space Policy at The Planetary Society. |
| 2024-Feb-07 • 54 minutes [Interview] Deepest Ever Deep Field. Where Are The Limits of James Webb? We all know the Hubble Deep Field as one of the most important astronomy images of all time. But when will we get a similar attempt from Webb? What will we be able to get from it and what are the limits of JWST? Finding out with Dr Viraj Pandya from NASA. |
| 2024-Feb-06 • 41 minutes [Q&A] Kuiper Belt Orbiter, Naming Planet 9, Most Perfect Spheres Could we detect life on Earth from Neptune's orbit? Is the Moon shrinking over time? Why don't we send an orbiter the the Kuiper belt? What should we call Planet 9 if we find it? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show. |
| 2024-Feb-06 • 100 minutes [Interview] Why JWST Avoids Searching For Exomoons with Dr. David Kipping If exoplanets exist, so should exomoons. However, to this day we still did not find any. Even more than that, there's a pretty big controversy regarding the potential discovery of exomoons. What's going on and what can we do about it? Finding the answers with Dr David Kipping. |
| 2024-Feb-05 • 59 minutes [Interview] Venus Could Harbour Non-Water Based Life Whenever we search for life, we're searching for 'life as we know it". But are there alternative options? Non-carbon based life? Or life that doesn't use water as a solvent? It turns out, things like that can be as close as on Venus. Figuring it out with Dr William Bains. |
| 2024-Feb-04 • 68 minutes [Interview] What a REAL City On Mars Will Look Like Science fiction taught us that Mars cities are inevitable. That we will sooner or later have those cool looking glass domes with spaceports and stuff. But the world is a cruel place and reality is unforgivable. So, how will a realistic Mars habitat of the future will look like? Discussing it with Kelly and Zach Weinersmith. |
| 2024-Feb-03 • 36 minutes [Interview] How Nancy Grace Roman Will Help Understand Dark Matter Understanding dark matter is one of the most interesting challenges in modern cosmology. Upcoming new telescopes, such as Nancy Grace Roman, can help us solve this mystery. How exactly will it happen? Finding out with Dr Christian Aganze from Stanford University. |
| 2024-Feb-02 • 19 minutes [Space Bites] Giant Forest Telescope // GO for LISA // Thoughts on YouTube Retirement SLIM woke up but briefly., Turning a forest into a giant particle detector. Another explanation for that hycean world. And some stunning new pictures from Webb. |
| 2024-Feb-01 • 34 minutes [Interview] An Exoplanet With A Comet-Like Giant Tail Recently astronomers made an unexpected discovery. They found a planet called WASP-69b with a giant comet-like gas tail that was bigger than ever. What's causing such behaviour and what can we learn about hot Jupiters? Finding out with Dakota Tyler from the University of LA. |
| 2024-Jan-31 • 40 minutes [Interview] How Space-Based Reflectors Can Change Solar Energy Solar energy is simple the best energy source we have access to. But how can we make it even better? With space tech, of course! In this interview I'm talking about a project that suggests putting giant solar reflectors in orbit to extend daytime for solar farms on Earth with my guest, Dr Onur Celik. |
| 2024-Jan-30 • 46 minutes [Q&A] Lunar Starship VS Saturn V, Max Size of Black Holes, ISS Replacement Why can't Starship reach the Moon without refuelling? How big can black holes get? What space station will replace the ISS? How big do Lagrange points get? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show. |
| 2024-Jan-29 • 66 minutes [Interview] Nobel Prize Winner Explains JWST vs The Crisis in Cosmology The Hubble Tension is one of the most exciting mysteries in modern-day science. Different methods give different results for the expansion of the Universe. So, how can we solve this and can James Webb help us with that? Or will it make things even worse? Finding out with Physics Nobel Prize laureate, Dr Adam Riess. |
| 2024-Jan-26 • 21 minutes [Space Bites] Ingenuity Is OVER // Destructive Test by Sierra Space // Why Starship Exploded Ingenuity is over. SLIM landed on the Moon, but it’s upside-down. Webb sees planets orbiting white dwarf stars. And we finally know why Starship exploded. |
| 2024-Jan-24 • 45 minutes [Q&A] Is Mars Worth Exploring, Imaging Our Galaxy, Rogue Planets How can we possibly know how does the Milky Way look like? Is Marth worth further exploration after not finding any life there for years? How can we realistically settle on the Moon? All this and more in the week's Q&A show. |
| 2024-Jan-22 • 53 minutes [NIAC 2024] Swarming Proxima Centauri and Getting Data Back When we'll be sending probes to other stars, getting there will be only one part of the challenge. How do we get the data back? So, NASA just funded a research that will be aiming to solve this problem through the NIAC program. |
| 2024-Jan-19 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] Hycean VS Lava Worlds //Japan's Moon Landing // NASA's Supersonic Breakthrough News about two lunar landers, Webb helps rule out one explanation for the Hubble Tension, NASA’s new quiet supersonic plane, and lots of exoplanet news. |
| 2024-Jan-16 • 40 minutes [Q&A] TRAPPIST-1 vs Alpha Cen, Catching The Voyagers, Lunar Space Elevator Why it's easier for James Webb to observe TRAPPIST-1 than Alpha Centauri? Is a lunar space elevator possible at all? What would my ideal space mission look like? Can we build a telescope the size of a solar system? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show. |
| 2024-Jan-15 • 50 minutes [Bonus] Modern Day Skeptics This is an episode I did with Brian Dunning, host of The Skeptoid podcast and Richard Saunders, host of The Skeptic Zone podcast. Enjoy! |
| 2024-Jan-14 • 44 minutes [Bonus] Where are all the aliens? This is an episode I did with Brian Dunning, host of Skeptoid and producer and director of THE UFO MOVIE THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO SEE and Richard Saunders, host of The Skeptic Zone. Enjoy! |
| 2024-Jan-12 • 21 minutes [Space Bites] TRUE Colour of Neptune // Moon Landing Failure // Major Missions Delays We finally learn the true color of Neptune. Vulcan succeeds while Peregrine fails. Delays for Artemis missions. A rocket that eats itself for more thrust. |
| 2024-Jan-06 • 65 minutes [Bonus] Why 2024 Will Be a Major Year For Space Exploration This is a bonus episode from John Michael Godier's Event Horizon podcast. We discussed JWST, Artmeis, Parker Solar Probe and many other things to be excited about in 2024. |
| 2024-Jan-05 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] Lunar Starship Elevator Test // Accurate Ancient Star Map // Io Close Flyby Juno’s closest flyby of Io, Hubble studies an exoplanet atmosphere for 3 years, astronauts test out Starship’s elevator, and more evidence for quark stars. |
| 2024-Jan-01 • 61 minutes [Interview] What Is JWST Really Capable Of Where are the limits of James Webb's capabilities? What can we expect from it in terms of exoplanet research and how can we get there? Finding out with Dr Luis Welbanks. |
| 2023-Dec-22 • 21 minutes [Space Bites] Game-Changing Space Test // Black Hole Core Stars // Toxic Enceladus Plumes There’s toxic gas flowing out of Enceladus that could be the key to life. Could there be black holes inside stars? NASA tight beams a cat video from space. |
| 2023-Dec-19 • 46 minutes [Interview] Mysteries of Io NASA Hasn't Solved Yet Io is the by far the most volcanically active place in our Solar System. However, there were not too many missions studying it. What could we learn about Io if we did launch a mission to it? Finding out the answers with Dr Ashley Davies from NASA JPL. |
| 2023-Dec-18 • 59 minutes [Interview] How Did JWST Discover Methane On An Exoplanet WASP-80b One of the discoveries done by James Webb was the presence of methane in the atmosphere of an exoplanet WASP-80b. How exactly did they do it and what will JWST be able to do with similar cases in the future? Looking for answers with Dr Taylor J. Bell from NASA Ames Research Center. |
| 2023-Dec-15 • 21 minutes Voyager-1 Is DOWN // Nearby Kilonova // Giant Stream of Stars Hubble’s Back, but Voyager 1 is Down. An absolutely stunning supernova picture from Webb. How talking whales will teach us to talk to aliens. |
| 2023-Dec-14 • 53 minutes [Interview] Confirming Extraterrestrial Life. A Step-By-Step Instruction What is a realistic scenario of finding life outside Earth? What steps to we need to take to get there and how can we prove it's there. Looking for answers with Dr Harrison Smith and Dr Cole Mathis. |
| 2023-Dec-12 • 45 minutes [Q&A] Extremophiles on Mars, Galaxy Bars, Artemis VS SpaceX Where do the galaxy bars come from and how do they stay stable? Will humanity ever become a Type-II civilization? When will we get more info about the TRAPPIST-1 system from JWST? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show. |
| 2023-Dec-10 • 42 minutes [Interview] How Did Early Earth Get The Ingredients for Life We still don't know how did life start on Earth. But in order to do so, Earth had to have all the building blocks for life, such as organic molecules. How could they get to Earth? Looking for a solution to this problem with Dr Richard Anslow. |
| 2023-Dec-08 • 18 minutes [Space Bites] Starship Refuelling Test Imminent // Perfect Resonance System // Intergalactic Star What Will Starship Test on its Next Flight? A 6-Planet System in Perfect Resonance. And Betelgeuse Might Not be Rotating at all. |
| 2023-Dec-07 • 53 minutes [Interview] When Did Evolution Start on Earth How did life begin on Earth? It's one of the most important questions ever. Clearly, we don't have an answer yet, but how can we even approach it? What methods and studies can we use to come closer to the answer? Figuring all this out with Dr Sukrit Ranjan, Assistant Professor at University of Arizona. |
| 2023-Dec-04 • 35 minutes [Interview] Black Holes Spin. Now, How Can We Measure That? Black holes are defined by only three parameters: mass, charge and spin. We know that black holes spin. But how can we measure that? What tools and methods are at our disposal? Answering these questions with Dr Ruth Daly, Professor of Physics at Penn State University. |
| 2023-Dec-04 • 35 minutes [Q&A] NASA's Take on Starship Progress, Farthest Naked Eye Object, Galactic Lagrange Points What is the farthest object you can see with the unaided eye? Do galaxies have Lagrange points like stars or planets? What does NASA think about Starship's last flight attempt? Which future space telescopes are the most exciting? How will Starship fly without a crew escape system? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show. |
| 2023-Dec-01 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] Hubble Entered Safe Mode // Protoplanetary Disk in Another Galaxy // Dragonfly Delay Hubble is down right now. JWST sees the first protoplanetary disk in another galaxy. Titan Dragonfly’s delay. The first full image of the Chinese Space Station from orbit. |
| 2023-Nov-29 • 52 minutes [Interview] Astronaut’s Perspective On How Space Shuttle Shaped Spaceflight What was it like to fly on the Space Shuttle? What made this vehicle so important for the history of spaceflight? What stories can it tell? Answering all these questions with NASA Space Shuttle Astronaut, Tom Jones. |
| 2023-Nov-28 • 40 minutes [Q&A] Real Danger from Solar Flares, Lagrange Interferometers, Interstellar Communications How bad can a solar flare really be for the Earth? What would evolution in an isolated star system look like? What damage can a rogue planet flying through the Solar System cause? When will we have Lagrange point interferometers? What's the speed limit for gravitational assists? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A. |
| 2023-Nov-27 • 66 minutes [Special] What Does Starship Launch Success Mean for SpaceX Now It happened! Starship and SuperHeavy Did Launch for the second time. All 33 raptors were working. Hot staging went as planned. But then both the Booster 9 and Ship 25 were lost. What exactly went wrong and what does it mean for the future of Starship? Finding out with Scott Manley and Marcus House. |
| 2023-Nov-24 • 23 minutes [Space Bites] China's Moon Secret Revealed // Starship Success // The Real Asteroid Danger SpaceX Starship launches again. Webb finds methane in the atmosphere of an exoplanet and reveals a star-forming region near the center of the Milky Way. The overwhelming logistics of dealing with an asteroid threat. |
| 2023-Nov-22 • 48 minutes [Q&A] More To Come From JWST, Starlink Interferometer, TESS vs Kepler Did James Webb already reach its full potential or is there more to come from it? How does TESS compare to Kepler? Can we use Starlinks as a giant space-based interferometer? Can we rip a black hole apart to see what's inside? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A! |
| 2023-Nov-17 • 17 minutes Mars Samples By 2031 // Starship's GO For Launch // Oumuamua NOT Interstellar? China is planning a Mars Sample Return Mission. James Webb tracks water moving towards planets. The Hubble Tension has gotten even more tense. |
| 2023-Nov-16 • 59 minutes [Interview] 35 Million Galaxies in One Catalog to Understand Dark Energy How large surveys of our galactic neighbourhood can help us better understand dark energy? What more can we learn from them? What instruments and techniques are used for this? Answering all these questions and more with Dr John Moustakas. |
| 2023-Nov-14 • 40 minutes [Q&A] New Space Race, Dyson Spheres in Cosmic Voids, Protection from Solar Storms Can dark energy be just empty space and nothing else? Is there a new space race going on? Why is NASA so slow with its Moon plans? Is there an upper limit for a star? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A. | | 🦄 Support us on Patreon: | https://patreon.com/universetoday | | 📚 Suggest books in the book club: | https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-today-book-club... | | 00:00 Start | 01:07 [Andoria] Is dark energy just empty space? | 06:29 [Vulcan] Canadian accent... |
| 2023-Nov-13 • 54 minutes [Interview] Early Dark Energy and Other Possible Solutions for The Crisis in Cosmology The so-called Crisis in Cosmology didn't go anywhere. Different methods are giving different values for the Hubble Constant creating one of the most interesting mysteries in Astronomy. What possible solutions do we have? Discussing them with Dr Sunny Vagnozzi. |
| 2023-Nov-10 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] INCREDIBLE Discovery From Lucy // Most Powerful Ion Engine // Slime Mold Universe Lucy made an incredible discovery. One of the strangest exoplanetary systems ever seen. Understanding the Universe with slime mold. And the most powerful ion engine passes the test. |
| 2023-Nov-09 • 49 minutes [Interview] The LIFE Telescope. Next Gen Planet Hunter You asked for it, so it's here. A big interview about a proposed mission called LIFE that could help us revolutionise planet hunting. My guest is Dr Daniel Angerhausen from EHT Zurich. |
| 2023-Nov-07 • 44 minutes [Q&A] Things to See Before You Die, Reigniting A Dead Star, Types of Black Holes How do we know that Psyche is a metal asteroid? Did primordial gravitational waves stretch when inflation happened? When do we finally get more Trappist-1 data from JWST? Can a dead star possibly reignite? |
| 2023-Nov-03 • 18 minutes [Space Bites] Ancient Planet Inside Earth // HUGE Exoplanet Discovery // Cannibal Betelgeuse A new system found with 7 Earth and Super-Earth Sized planet, the remains of another planet inside the Earth, and it’s time to replace your wallpaper again with this new image of the Crab Nebula from JWST. |
| 2023-Oct-31 • 38 minutes [Interview] Did Venus Have Plate Tectonics? Plate tectonics might be the key to why Venus had become the hell it is right now. Some think that it just never had it. But recent studies suggest that Venus did have plate tectonics at the same time Earth did. Why is it important? Figuring it out with Dr Matt Weller. |
| 2023-Oct-31 • 40 minutes [Q&A] AI Pilots for Space Missions, A New Big Bang, Falsifiable Dark Matter Could another Big Bang happen in our existing Universe? Is dark matter theory falsifiable? Should we allow AI to control spacecraft? How many things can you put in a Lagrange point? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A. |
| 2023-Oct-30 • 56 minutes [Interview] Event Horizon Telescope. But 10 Times Better We got two images of supermassive black hole with the Event Horizon Telescope. But can we make it better? How can we take the telescope to the next level and resolve a photon ring of a black hole? Finding out with Ben Hudson, System Engineer from KISPE Space. |
| 2023-Oct-27 • 23 minutes [Space Bites] Three Stars Disappeared // So Much JWST News // Io's Global Magma Ocean Three stars mysteriously vanished. So much JWST news. Hundreds of volcanoes on Io. Starship is ready to fly again. |
| 2023-Oct-26 • 55 minutes [Interview] You Don't Understand The Fermi Paradox Are we alone in the Universe? How can we approach this question with a real scientific perspective? What would life even look like if it existed somewhere? Answering all these questions and more with Dr Adam Frank. |
| 2023-Oct-24 • 39 minutes [Q&A] How Dark Does Space Get, Mining Psyche, Danger from Rogue Planets Can you reconstruct an image that was gravitationally lensed? How dark can outer space become? Will we ever be able to mine an asteroid? Answering all these questions and much more in this week's Q&A. |
| 2023-Oct-23 • 52 minutes [Interview] Can Life Exist Around Red Dwarf Stars? Red Dwarfs will be the longest living stars in the Universe. Many of them have planetary systems, like the famous Trappist-1. But there is a big problem, as red dwarfs can emit mega-flares which could render planets uninhabitable. Finding out, if there is any hope for finding life and how can we study red dwarfs better with Dr Ward Howard. |
| 2023-Oct-20 • 25 minutes Deadly Supercontinent // Pluto Super-volcano // Most Powerful Solar Storm See the latest solar eclipse from space. A future supercontinent will wipe out the mammals. Juno makes a close flyby of Io. A planet with clouds made of sand. |
| 2023-Oct-19 • 46 minutes [Interview] Can Dark Matter Be Explained by Dark Photons Dark matter is one of the most exciting mysteries in Astronomy. We can see its effects but we don't know what exactly it is. One of the proposed solutions is dark photons. What are they and what do we need to find them? Finding the answers with Nicholas Hunt-Smith. |
| 2023-Oct-17 • 43 minutes [Q&A] Predicting Supernovae, The Truth About Binary Stars, Creating a Pet Black Hole How can we know that a star is about to go supernova? Can we create a pet black hole in our Solar System? What if all our star data is just wrong? How common are red dwarf binaries? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A. |
| 2023-Oct-16 • 73 minutes [Interview] Faster Than Light, Quantum Communication, Astronomy Pic Of The Day Which things can go faster than light and what does it mean for Physics. Can quantum entanglement provide interstellar communication. Why NASA didn't believe in websites during the early internet era. How should scientists approach controversial ideas. Answering all these questions with Dr Robert Nemiroff. |
| 2023-Oct-13 • 23 minutes [Space Bites] JWST Galaxies Take Another Turn // Ice Giants Collide // Psyche Launch Astronomers see ice giants colliding. We peek into the OSIRIS-REx sample collector. Even more evidence that the Big Bang hasn’t been overturned. |
| 2023-Oct-12 • 58 minutes [Interview] How Nancy Grace Roman's Coronagraph Will Revolutionise Planet Hunting Nancy Grace Roman Telescope will launch in 2027. It will have a best-in-class coronagraph that should revolutionise exoplanet astronomy. How exactly will it work? Finding out with Dr Vanessa Bailey from NASA JPL. |
| 2023-Oct-10 • 43 minutes [Q&A] Discovering Exomoons, Gravitational Lenses for JWST and Hubble, Jupiter's Core Mass How can neutrinos arrive faster than light? How did OSIRIS-REx get samples of an asteroid? Can we extract energy from gravitational waves? When will we be able to discover our first exomoon of an exoplanet? How can we measure the mass of Jupiter's core? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show. |
| 2023-Oct-09 • 43 minutes [Interview] The Mysterious Gap In Exoplanet Population Exoplanets are great. There are hycean worlds, super-dense iron planets, super light planets, ones with potential biosignatures and much more. Catching up on all the latest discoveries with Dr Jessie Christiansen. |
| 2023-Oct-06 • 22 minutes [Space Bites] Two Supernovae Hit Earth // Rogue Planets in Orion Nebula // A Star That Disappeared A mind-bending JWST image of the Orion Nebula, filled with rogue planets. Seeing the cosmic web. An explanation for a massive star that just disappeared. |
| 2023-Oct-05 • 68 minutes [Interview] Non-Trivial Problem of Communication with Interstellar Probes If we want to send an interstellar probe to the nearest stars, getting there isn't the only problem. We explore non-trivial problems like getting the signal back from the probes, communicating within the swarm, choosing which data to send back and much more with Marshall Eubanks. |
| 2023-Oct-04 • 49 minutes [Q&A] The Limit of JWST, Solving Dark Matter, Lifetime of SLS Is our galaxy's black hole still consuming stars? When will we finally figure out dark matter? Can James Webb last until it exhausts its fuel and not break before that? How should we name exoworlds? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show. |
| 2023-Oct-01 • 67 minutes [Interview] We Really Need a Far-Infrared Space Interferometer. Here's Why JWST has shown us what the modern infrared telescope is capable of. But it's not far-infrared. There are no space telescopes operating in that spectrum at the moment. But why? And what would we be able to see if we had one? Let's find out with Dr David Leisawitz, Chief at NASA Science Proposal Support Office. |
| 2023-Sep-29 • 24 minutes [Space Bites] James Webb Proves The Big Bang // Asteroid Samples from OSIRIS-REx // Chandrayaan-3 Lost OSIRIS-REx delivers its asteroid samples back to Earth. India is losing hope to contact its lunar mission. James Webb is finally seeing baby galaxies coming together in the early Universe. |
| 2023-Sep-27 • 52 minutes [Interview] The Future of Exoplanet Research What's the best way to use telescope time to search for exoplanets? How many will we be able to find in a best-case scenario? What future missions will help us with that? Answering all these questions and more with Dr Ben Hord from NASA Goddard. |
| 2023-Sep-26 • 43 minutes [Q&A] Rogue Planets with Liquid Oceans, Post JWST Telescope Size, Non-EM Space Communication How big will the successor of James Webb and Hubble be regarding Starship faring? Can we communicate using something else from radio waves? How can a rogue planet have a liquid ocean? Could aliens look similar to creatures on Earth? How can we detect plate tectonics on exoplanets? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A with Fraser. |
| 2023-Sep-23 • 23 minutes [Secret Bonus] Universe Today's Shareholders Meeting This is a sneak peek into our monthly Patreon-exclusive podcast we call Shareholders Meeting. Patreon is the reason we can keep the entire podcast feed free from ads and sponsor integrations. So, if you want to help us keep it this way and get additional perks, like a cool exclusive podcast in addition to all our other content – join our Patreon. |
| 2023-Sep-22 • 25 minutes [Space Bites] JWST CO2 Discovery on Europa // Fullmetal Exoplanet // Lunar Starship Engine Test James Webb detects carbon dioxide on the surface of Europa. A full metal exoplanet. Searching for tiny dyson spheres. And learning how black holes eat so quickly. |
| 2023-Sep-15 • 24 minutes [Space Bites] So Much James Webb News // NASA's UAPs Report // Closest Black Hole to Earth Have astronomers found the first signs of life on an exoplanet? So much James Webb news. The closest black hole to Earth. NASA gives its report on UAPs. |
| 2023-Sep-12 • 71 minutes [Interview] A Big Problem with Modern Science Communication What's going on with the Hubble Tension and does it really imply a Crisis in Cosmology? How to stay sceptical but at the same time keep an open mind? What big discoveries should we expect in the coming future? Looking for answers to all these questions with Dr Ethan Siegel. |
| 2023-Sep-08 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] New Sun, Moon and X-Ray Missions // Mars Colony Size Limit // Starship's Ready Starship could be almost ready to fly. The smallest possible Mars colony. Three more space missions launched this week. And a new look at China’s next-generation crew capsule and lunar lander. |
| 2023-Sep-05 • 34 minutes [Interview] Looking Deep Into Milky Way's Center with JWST The center of our Galaxy is a mystery. It is full of dust which most telescopes can't see through. But with James Webb we can look into it. What hides deep in the middle of the Milky Way? Finding out with Dr Adam Ginsburg. |
| 2023-Sep-04 • 67 minutes [Special] I Challenged Space YouTubers To Pick James Webb's Best Image Which JWST image is the best so far? To answer that, we did a series of polls among our community with a quarter-final round, semi-final and the final. Can my fellow space YouTubers guess which one turned out to be the winner? Do they agree with your decision? Let's find out! |
| 2023-Sep-01 • 21 minutes [Space Bites] Ultra-Dense Exoplanet // New Horizons Needs Saving // Big ISS Upgrade An exoplanet denser than steel. The Whirlpool Galaxy from JWST. We finally learn where the solar wind comes from. The ISS is getting gigabit internet. |
| 2023-Aug-26 • 65 minutes [Interview] A Clever Hack to Solve The Hubble Tension There is a disagreement in measurements of the Hubble constant often referred to as The Crisis in Cosmology. One way to solve it is to observe redshift drift. However, it requires lengthy observations. But my guest, Dr Geraint Lewis, has a hack up his sleeve — gravitational lensing. |
| 2023-Aug-25 • 22 minutes [Space Bites] India Lands Russia Crashes // Mystery of Neptune Clouds // Red Shift Drift India lands on the Moon. Another Ring Nebula image from JWST. One of the coolest exoplanet videos you’ve ever seen. New images of Neptune. |
| 2023-Aug-18 • 23 minutes [Space Bites] True Darkness of The Universe // MOND vs Dark Matter // SETI Symposium The farthest star and the farthest galaxy seen by JWST. Measuring the darkness of the Universe from deep space. New evidence for MOND vs dark matter. |
| 2023-Aug-11 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] LK-99 Update // Ingenuity's Unscheduled Landing // SuperHeavy Hot Fire Test Superconductor update. Contact re-established with Voyager 2. Two stars orbiting so closely they could hide inside the Sun. A field of gravitational lenses in a new JWST image. |
| 2023-Aug-09 • 51 minutes [Interview] Nautilus – True Next Gen Space Telescope Classical space telescopes have their limit. You can't simply build bigger mirrors all the time. Instead, you can build more mirrors and combine them into a telescope array. That's the concept behind the Nautilus Array which we discuss with Prof. Daniel Apai from The University of Arizona. |
| 2023-Aug-04 • 21 minutes [Space Bites] Voyager-2 Lost Contact // Potential Superconductor Breakthrough // Sag A* Companion NASA Loses Contact with Voyager 2 because of a mistake. Euclid sends its first images. Finally, The Ring Nebula from JWST. |
| 2023-Aug-01 • 42 minutes [Interview] Dealing With Space Junk Dealing with space debris is an increasingly important aspect of spaceflight. Can we take it under control? What technical challenges will we need to overcome? What will it mean for the future of space infrastructure? Answering all these questions with Alex Godfrey from Astroscale. |
| 2023-Jul-31 • 38 minutes [Interview] Launching Rockets With Just Electricity What will it take to ditch chemical rockets and make space launches fully electric? What tech will it require and when will it be reasonable to use such a system? What technical challenges are associated with it? Answering all these questions with David Dillon, the founder of Electromagnetic Launch. |
| 2023-Jul-28 • 21 minutes [Space Bites] UAP Coverup Controversy // NASA's 2027 Nuclear Rocket // Trillions of Rogue Planets NASA reveals nuclear rocket partnership with Lockheed Martin. Witnesses claim there’s a UAP coverup. There could be trillions of rogue planets wandering the Milky Way. |
| 2023-Jul-25 • 45 minutes [Special] All The AMAZING SCIENCE of James Webb's First Year in Space It's already been one year of JWST operations. In this episode, we accumulated all the major science results, all the amazing images and graphs, all the important discoveries and controversies. Enjoy the ULTIMATE GUIDE to the first year of James Webb. |
| 2023-Jul-22 • 27 minutes [Interview] Weirdest White Dwarf Ever Found. What's Going On? A white dwarf was found that literally has to sides. One is Hydrogen. The other one is Helium. And it constantly rotates and changes those two sides. What's going on and how could this possibly happen? We're figuring it out with Dr Jeremy Heyl from the University of British Columbia. |
| 2023-Jul-21 • 19 minutes [Space Bites] Two-Face White Dwarf // Age Of The Universe Controversy // Lagrange Point Planet Is the Universe twice as old as we thought? China updates its lunar exploration plans. Astronomers might have found an exoplanet in a Lagrange Point. |
| 2023-Jul-18 • 65 minutes [Interview] We Must Go Back To Enceladus! Here's Why Enceladus is the most interesting world in our Solar System in terms of exploration potential. It just is. But at the moment there are no approved missions to come back there. In this interview I'm discussing a New Frontiers class mission concept, the Astrobiology eXploration at Enceladus (AXE) with Dr Marshall Seaton from NASA JPL. |
| 2023-Jul-18 • 46 minutes [Special] Real Science Results Behind JWST's First Year James Webb recently celebrated its first anniversary at work. What science results did it bring? Why graphs of spectra are as great as the nice pictures? How did JWST change Cosmology? What to expect from the next year of observations? All the answers in this Special Episode. |
| 2023-Jul-14 • 18 minutes [Space Bites] India's Moon Lander Launch // JWST Anniversary // Strong ELT Progress JWST celebrates its first year of operation. The Extremely Large Telescope is half-built. A black hole suddenly roars into life. |
| 2023-Jul-07 • 43 minutes [Interview] Axions or Not. What's Hiding Behind Dark Matter Before finding out what is dark matter we might first need to find what it isn't. In this interview Dr Keir Rogers explains what do we currently know about dark matter, what can we find in the near future and how the upcoming astronomy instruments might help us with all that. |
| 2023-Jul-07 • 23 minutes [Space Bites] Big JWST Discoveries // 63-Day Silence for Ingenuity // Lensing Gravitational Waves So much James Webb discoveries. A planet survives after being consumed by a red giant star. Euclid successfully launches. And gravitational lensing gravitational waves. |
| 2023-Jul-05 • 31 minutes [Q&A] Submarine for Titan, Planets Changing Size, Even Bigger LIGO When does a Lagrange point stop being one? Can we make LIGO even bigger? Do planets change their size over time? Can we build a submarine to go to Titan? What's next for the TRAPPIST-1 system? All this and more in this week's Q&A! |
| 2023-Jul-02 • 59 minutes [Bonus] Robo Eels Exploring Water Worlds, NASA UAP Study, AGI to Take Over This is an episode of John Michael Godier's show Event Horizon. We explore the extraordinary idea of robo-eels, groundbreaking aquatic automatons designed to unlock the mysteries of water worlds like Enceladus and Europa. |
| 2023-Jun-30 • 22 minutes [Space Bites] Gravitational Waves Background Announced // Planets in The Oort Cloud // Big Starship Update Gravitational wave background of the Universe. A map of the Milky Way in neutrinos. More new discoveries from JWST. A major update for Starship. |
| 2023-Jun-27 • 62 minutes [Interview] Vera Rubin Telescope Will Revolutionise Astronomy. Here's Why The Vera Rubin Observatory will soon come online. It will be a game-changer for Astronomy. How exactly will it happen and how it will help SETI? We're trying to find the answers with my guest, Dr James Davenport from The University of Washington. |
| 2023-Jun-27 • 36 minutes [Q&A] Dark Matter Evidence, Oort Cloud Shape, Size of Lagrange Points Will LIGO detect gravitational waves when Betelgeuse explodes? Why are scientists so sure about dark matter? Could Betelgeuse become a black hole after it goes supernova? Why is the Oort cloud a sphere, not a disk? What determines the size of Lagrange points? All this and more in this week's Q&A! |
| 2023-Jun-23 • 25 minutes [Space Bites] Ancient Echo from Sgr A* // Lightning on Jupiter // TRAPPIST-1c by James Webb JWST Looks at the Next Planet in the TRAPPIST system. Could we detect colliding supermassive black holes. Hot Jupiters that flew too close to their stars. |
| 2023-Jun-21 • 52 minutes [Interview] Simulating The Universe with Supercomputers Supercomputer simulations of the Universe are a huge part of modern astronomy. In this interview with Dr Andrew Pontzen we discuss, how exactly are these simulations done, what's the future of this industry, how it will shape the James Webb era and is it possible that we live in a simulation after all. |
| 2023-Jun-20 • 37 minutes [Q&A] Strange Isotopes in Supernovae, External Gravitational Lenses, Existence of The Present Which astronomical events can only be seen with gravitational waves? Is there enough water on the Moon for a permanent colony? Can we use stars other than the Sun as gravitational lenses? Does the present even exist or are we always living in the past? All this and more in this week's Q&A session. |
| 2023-Jun-17 • 58 minutes [Interview] Can Axions Be Dark Matter? We still don't know what is Dark Matter. We can see its effects but we don't know what it's made of. However, with their latest publication, Dr Amruth Alfred suggests that dark matter should be made of axions (which are one of the candidates among other particles). |
| 2023-Jun-16 • 24 minutes [Space Bites] Another Enceladus Breakthrough, Crystallising White Dwarf, 19-Hour Earth Day A white dwarf is starting to turn into a diamond. Another key element for life found in the plumes at Enceladus. The Parker Solar Probe discovers the source of the fast solar wind. All this and more in this week’s episode of Space Bites. |
| 2023-Jun-14 • 31 minutes [Q&A] Solar Wind Slowing Down Planets, Nuking the Sun, Exomoon Reflection Is nuking the Sun a good way to disarm the Earth? Should they rebuild the Arecibo observatory? How will SpaceX Starship change spaceflight? Could we see a reflection of an exomoon in a planet's ocean? Can a heavy suit help fight lower gravity effects on Moon and Mars? All this and more in this week's Q&A. |
| 2023-Jun-09 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] James Webb Deep Field, Betelgeuse's Doing It Again, Starliner Fail Betelgeuse is unexpectedly bright. An update of JWST’s Deep Field program. Big problems with the Boeing Starliner. |
| 2023-Jun-05 • 39 minutes [Q&A] True Size of the Universe, Inescapable Planets, Magnetic Poles Reversal Was the Universe ever the size of an orange or a basketball? Can life exist on planets that cannot be escaped? Can the asteroid belt ever produce a new planet? Is the CMB slowly changing over time? What happens at the very edge of the observable Universe? All this and more in this week's Q&A! |
| 2023-Jun-02 • 22 minutes [Space Bites] Huge Discoveries by James Webb // Fire In Space // Quantum Squeezing Lots of new discoveries from JWST. How a software bug killed HAKUTO-R. Kepler’s last ever exoplanets. |
| 2023-May-26 • 20 minutes NASA Selected Blue Origin // Galaxies Getting More Impossible // First (Exo)Radiation Belt NASA chooses another lander for Artemis V. The first radiation belt ever seen outside the Solar System. And those impossible galaxies might be even more massive than we thought. |
| 2023-May-24 • 54 minutes [Interview] What Did NASA Discover With TESS' First Complete Mission It's already been five years since NASA's TESS mission was launched. Now it completed its first full mission observing the sky and hunting for exoplanets. In this interview, I'm talking with Nicole Colon from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center about the results from TESS and what can come next for the mission. |
| 2023-May-23 • 35 minutes [Q&A] Did The Universe Come From Nothing? Can Stars Be Alive? What's The Best Nebula? Could stars and planets be living organisms? Is LHC dangerous for the Earth? How do neutrino detectors work? Does the Big Bang suggest that everything around us came from nothing? What will happen if we create a black hole on Earth? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A. |
| 2023-May-23 • 52 minutes [Interview] Aliens' Perspective of Technosignatures from Earth If an extra-terrestrial civilisation saw the Earth, what technosignatures could they pick up? What could they learn about life on our planet and human civilisation in particular? I'm discussing that with Dr Michael Garrett who is the Director of Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics. |
| 2023-May-19 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] Can We Fix The Hubble Tension, JUICE's Happy End, NASA's Snake Robot NASA tests out a snake bot that could explore difficult terrain. An independent way to measure the expansion rate of the Universe. JUICE successfully deploys its radar antenna. |
| 2023-May-18 • 23 minutes [NIAC 2023] Radioactive Flashlight for Moon Rovers In the second part of my conversation with Dr Christopher Morrison, we discuss his second NIAC award. It suggests creating a power source that can also be a science instrument. |
| 2023-May-16 • 35 minutes [Q&A] How to Find The Voyagers, Deorbiting the ISS, Non-Rotational Artificial Gravity How can we get artificial gravity in space without rotating a spacecraft? Will there be bigger Mars helicopters in future? How exactly will they deorbit the ISS? Who will be selecting the crew for the Mars mission? Where are the Voyagers today and how can we find them? Answering all that and more in this week's Q&A episode. |
| 2023-May-13 • 30 minutes [Interview] Battling Moon Dust With Liquid Nitrogen Spray Moon Dust will be a major problem once people will return and settle there. We need to find ways to clean it from space suits, equipment, etc. In this interview I'm talking with Ian Wells, who is a cryogenics researcher suggesting a way to battle Moon dust with liquid nitrogen. |
| 2023-May-12 • 19 minutes [Space Bites] First Artificial Gravity Test in 2025, Uranus Moons' Oceans, Webb's Eye of Sauron There could be liquid oceans in the moons of Uranus. Saturn takes the lead for the most moons in the Solar System. James Webb gazes into the Eye of Sauron aka Fomalhaut. |
| 2023-May-11 • 40 minutes [NIAC 2023] Observe the Universe from Deep Space This is the first part of my interview with Dr Cristopher Morrison. In this one, we're discussing the concept of a propulsion system that should allow things like catching up with an interstellar visitor or delivering a telescope to the outer part of the Solar System. |
| 2023-May-10 • 51 minutes [Interview] Turning the Gravitational Wave Game To The Max Gravitational waves can reveal things we would never detect otherwise. But different events require different sizes of detectors. In this interview, I'm talking with Waldemar Martens from ESA about a proposed LISAmax mission that will have 259 million kilometer arms and should be able to detect collisions of supermassive black holes. |
| 2023-May-09 • 37 minutes [Q&A] Space Force's Secret Shuttle, Hawking Radiation Falsifiability, How to Disprove Big Bang How can James Webb disprove The Big Bang Theory? Where are we at the search of life as we DON'T know it? Can we somehow test if Hawking radiation even exists? What do Space Force use the X37 secret space shuttle for? |
| 2023-May-07 • 36 minutes [Interview] Dangers of Microgravity For The Human Body Microgravity is dangerous for humans. But if we want to conquer space, we need to know how to mitigate the negative effects. Join my discussion with Dr Danail Obreschkow from UWA. We talked about studying the effects of microgravity on human body, particularly eyes, and potential ways to deal with them. |
| 2023-May-05 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] JUICE in Trouble, Sun-Like Star Devours a Planet, Artificial Gravity Space Station JUICE is having problems extending its radar antenna. Astronomers watch a star eat its planet. A design for a space station with artificial gravity. |
| 2023-May-04 • 58 minutes [NIAC 2023] On-Demand Pharmacy for Space Missions Space missions will become longer. It will inevitably become impossible to pack every medication you need and take it from Earth. This means that we'll need a way to produce them in space. Which is the goal of the NIAC award developed by Dr Lynn Rothschild. |
| 2023-May-03 • 67 minutes [Interview] Solar Sails Are Even Better Than You Think Can solar sails change the way we explore the Solar System and beyond? Dr Slava Turyshev definitely thinks so! He assembled an all-star team of researchers in a recent paper about potential science opportunities of using solar sails. In this interview, we talk about the technology behind it, what's its current state, what perspectives it has and much more. |
| 2023-May-02 • 40 minutes [Q&A] Auroras in the South, Restarting Planets' Dynamos, Old People on Mars How can we possibly know everything about exoplanets from just a single pixel? Will Mars be a good place for old people? Where does more emptiness come from if the Universe is expanding? Can we ever get to explore Betelgeuse? Answers to all these questions and more in this week's Q&A! |
| 2023-May-01 • 32 minutes [Interview] Dust Is A Much Bigger Problem Than You Think When we fly to Moon and Mars, how hard will it be to deal with dust. It can be a much more difficult problem when most of us think. And why is it so hard to clean it off solar panels on Mars. We discuss all that with Dr Christine Hartzell. |
| 2023-Apr-29 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] Failed Moon Landing, More JWST Problems, China's Huge Moon Plans iSpace's Hakuto R fails to land safely on the Moon. China wants to have people on the Moon by 2030. Another problem with James Webb. |
| 2023-Apr-27 • 64 minutes [NIAC 2023] Self-Building Radio Telescope On The Far Side of The Moon The FarView Observatory is a NIAC project that's a giant self-building radio telescope on the far side of the Moon. In this interview, I'm discussing the details of the project with Dr Ronald Polidan who's managing the project. We also talk about the role of the Moon in the future of lunar exploration and how close we are to sending Von Neumann probes all over the Universe. |
| 2023-Apr-26 • 34 minutes Starship First Flight: FAIL or SUCCESS? with Scott Manley and Marcus House SpaceX finally tested a fully stacked Starship system on April 20th. Why did they blow it up? What exactly went wrong with the test? How can they fix it in future tests? Discussing all these questions with Scott Manley and Marcus House. |
| 2023-Apr-25 • 44 minutes [Q&A] Artificial Gravity Experiments, JWST VS The Big Bang, Eyes Under Other Stars Did Webb prove the Big Bang Theory wrong? Why did nobody test artificial gravity in space yet? What's the purpose of other planets other than Earth? How would eyes evolve under a different star? All this and more in this week's Q&A! |
| 2023-Apr-20 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] Starship Launch and Explosion, New Horizons in Danger, Sun Tornado Starship launches but fails to reach orbit. JUICE looks back at Earth one last time. GAIA helps find an exoplanet. |
| 2023-Apr-19 • 28 minutes [Interview] Detecting Earth-Size Exoplanets with Magnetospheres Magnetospheres seem to be a very important factor when considering how habitable a planet is. So it was really exciting when it was announced that an Earth-size exoplanet's magnetosphere was detected using radio telescopes. It can also be a method to look for exoplanets by detecting their magnetic fields. |
| 2023-Apr-18 • 37 minutes [Q&A] Rings Around the Earth, Iron Planets, Asteroid Mining Race How big can iron planets get before collapsing into black holes? Why is the Moon floating away from Earth? Will Mars bases have glass domes? How will the asteroid mining race unfold? Will we create rings of satellites around the Earth? All this and more in this week's Q&A! |
| 2023-Apr-14 • 18 minutes [Space Bites] Jupiter Mission Launch, AI Helping Astronomy, Terran-1 Is No More JUICE launches to Jupiter and its moons. A new JWST image of supernova remnant Cassiopeia A. Machine learning cleans up the Universe and improves images of a black hole’s event horizon. |
| 2023-Apr-13 • 74 minutes [Interview] I'm Obsessed With Venus Now. Here's Why Active volcanism. Plate tectonics. Retaining the atmosphere without a magnetosphere. There's so much to learn about Venus! In this interview I'm discussing all these things with Dr Paul Byrne, Planetary Evangelist and Associate Professor of Earth and Planetary Science at Washington University in St. Louis |
| 2023-Apr-12 • 41 minutes [Q&A] Viruses from Mars, Asteroid Landing, Stars Colliding What are the risks of returning samples from Mars? What happens if you bring two stars together? Which galaxies can be seen with the naked eye? What is the system behind naming stars and exoplanets? All this and more in this week's Q&A! |
| 2023-Apr-10 • 42 minutes [Interview] Mystery of Fast Radio Bursts. One Step Closer to The Answer? What are Fast Radio Bursts? Did we get a step closer to answering this question by associating some of them with a Kilonova event? What Cosmology questions can we solve by studying FRBs? Discussing all these things with Dr Clancy James from Curtin University. |
| 2023-Apr-07 • 19 minutes [Space Bites] Artemis 2 Crew, Ultra-Massive Black Hole, Starship Launch Date Meet the crew of Artemis 2, we might have the perfect date for a Mars mission, and astronomers discover an ultramassive black hole. |
| 2023-Apr-06 • 35 minutes [NIAC 2023] NASA Develops Flying Saucers. Literally There's an effect called photophoretic propulsion. You could have seen it in a Crookes radiometer. One of the NIAC awards of 2023 was granted to a team that hopes to use this effect to develop a propulsion system. This can allow flying in altitudes nothing else can fly and possibly even explore other worlds. |
| 2023-Apr-05 • 30 minutes [Q&A] Planet Size Limit, Solar Gravitational Lens, China's Telescopes How complex must a telescope be to use the solar gravitational lens? How would we approach mining asteroids? How to detect magnetic fields outside the solar system? What is the size limit for a planet? All this and more in this week's Q&A. |
| 2023-Apr-02 • 19 minutes [Space Bites] JWST Reveals Trappist-1 Data, Earth-Sized Rogue Planet, Vulcan Delay We finally got JWST data about TRAPPIST-1. An Earth-sized rogue planet was found. More information about China’s plans for the Moon. |
| 2023-Apr-02 • 20 minutes [Interview] How UAE Develops Its Space Exploration Program The United Arab Emirates are making good progress in space exploration. Their Hope mission is orbiting Mars since 2021. Their Rashid rover is on its way to the Moon. They are also planning a mission to the Asteroid belt. |
| 2023-Mar-30 • 42 minutes [NIAC 2023] Fusion Reactor To Melt Through Europa's Ice In this interview, I'm talking with Theresa Benyo and Lawrence Forsley from NASA. They are authors of a Lattice Confinement Fusion Reactor that got a NIAC award this year. A reactor like this could help us melt through the ice on Europa and Enceladus and have other interesting applications in space missions. |
| 2023-Mar-28 • 39 minutes [Q&A] Chat GPT for Astronomy, Microscopes on Mars, Use Cases for Starship Why don't we send microscopes on space probes to search for life? How do black holes even form? Can Chat GPT or similar systems help Astronomy? How will we use Starship when it starts to fly? |
| 2023-Mar-27 • 61 minutes [Interview] Searching for Habitable Planets at Alpha Centauri with the TOLIMAN Mission We know about thousands of exoplanets by now. But it's still a mystery, whether there are planets in the Alpha Centauri binary system, which is just next door to us. My guest today, Professor Peter Tuthill, is the Mission Leader for the TOLIMAN Telescope mission, which is designed to find those answers. |
| 2023-Mar-24 • 18 minutes [Space Bites] iSpace At The Moon, 3D-Printer Rocket, Life Near Rogue Planets iSpace reaches the Moon. Relativity Space’s 3D printed rocket fails to reach orbit, a mission will search for habitable worlds at Alpha Centauri. |
| 2023-Mar-23 • 43 minutes [NIAC 2023] Revolutionary 100-Kilometer Space Telescope There are radio wavelengths that we can't see from Earth. And to observe them from space, we need a truly huge telescope. Mary Knapp and her team proposed a project that can allow us to build such a telescope and they just recently got a NIAC grant for it. |
| 2023-Mar-22 • 39 minutes [Interview] New Research Suggests Building Moon Infrastructure with Potato Starch Scientists came up with a method to produce concrete on the Moon and Mars using potato starch. In this interview, I'm talking with Dr Aled Roberts, who is the Principle Investigator of this research. |
| 2023-Mar-21 • 39 minutes [Q&A] Space Railgun, JWST's Plans, Claiming The Moon Can we build star-tram-like launch facilities in space? What will JWST see next? Can red or brown dwarfs be the source of dark matter? Should SpaceX just be the only launch service for the USA so they can save money? |
| 2023-Mar-20 • 28 minutes [Interview] JWST Found Six "Impossible" Galaxies. Here's What The Researchers Have To Say James Webb recently found six examples of galaxies that are too big too early. This discovery can significantly change our understanding of the early Universe. In this interview, I'm talking with Dr Joel Leja, who is a part of the team behind the research. |
| 2023-Mar-17 • 21 minutes [Space Bites] Venus Breakthrough, $1B to Deorbit The ISS, Strange Moon Spacesuit Reveal Venus has active volcanoes, we get a glimpse of NASA’s new lunar exploration suits, and scientists build a completely flat telescope lens. |
| 2023-Mar-16 • 49 minutes [NIAC 2023] Infrared Earth-like Planet Hunter Telescope In this interview, I'm talking with Heidi Newberg. Her team won a NIAC grant that will investigate building a telescope that will be hunting for Earth-like worlds. The project is called DICER, which stands for Diffractive Interfero Coronagraph Exoplanet Resolver. |
| 2023-Mar-14 • 37 minutes [Q&A] Milky Way from ISS, Jupiter Catching Fire, Best Sci-Fi Novel How does Venus hold its atmosphere without a magnetosphere? Is the Sun moving to the Milky Way's centre? What happens when the space elevator cable snaps? Can we solve the Hubble Tension? All this and more in this week's Q&A! |
| 2023-Mar-13 • 28 minutes [Interview] Habitable Planets Near Red Dwarfs Can there be habitable planets orbiting around red dwarfs? My guest, Mariano Battistuzzi, performed experiments to check it! So, can life survive in the conditions created by red dwarf stars? Let's find out in this interview. |
| 2023-Mar-10 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] China’s Giant Rocket, Dark Big Bang, Next Bright Comet The official verdict on Artemis 1. Canadian kids discovered something NASA didn’t know. Was there a Dark Big Bang? The next bright comet for 2024. |
| 2023-Mar-09 • 23 minutes [NIAC 2023] Growing Mars Habitats with Bioreactors Making habitats from available materials will be a big part of Mars missions. One of the 2023 NIAC awards explored the possibility of growing structures on Mars with the help of fungi and bacteria. We're discussing this project with Dr Congrui Jin. |
| 2023-Mar-08 • 45 minutes [Interview] Developing Tech That Can Last On Venus How long can a modern spacecraft last on Venus? How to develop electronics, batteries and other things that can survive these harsh conditions? What could the lifespan of such a mission be? We discuss all that with Dr Tibor Kremic from NASA Glenn Research Center. |
| 2023-Mar-07 • 37 minutes [Q&A] True Color of Sunspots, Saving the Earth, Identifying Interstellar Objects How many stars did our radio signals reach? How to visualize the expansion of the Universe? Can we save the Earth from the Sun's red giant phase? How can we tell that an object has interstellar origin? All this and more in this week's Q&A! |
| 2023-Mar-06 • 69 minutes [Interview] A Realistic Way to Intercept An Interstellar Visitor How do you plan a trip through the Solar System? What are the orbital mechanics tools that can be used for that? How can all that be used to intercept an interstellar visitor like Oumuamua? |
| 2023-Mar-03 • 17 minutes [Space Bites] Moon's Dirty Problem, JWST's Gravitational Lens, Starlink V2 Mini Hubble shows us exactly what happened after DART’s impact, a new way to clean off lunar regolith, seeing the same supernova at three different times in a gravitational lens, and a new version of Starlink launches. |
| 2023-Mar-02 • 43 minutes [Interview] How Inflatable Space Habitats Will Change Space Exploration In this interview, I'm talking with Shawn Buckley who is the Senior Director of Engineering at Sierra Space. We talk about the development of their LIFE module, discuss how inflatable habitats can change space exploration and what part they play in humanity's space future. |
| 2023-Feb-28 • 39 minutes [Q&A] Starship Price Revolution, Space VS Mass Media, Galaxy Collisions Could black holes collapse directly in the early Universe? How do two galaxies become one after they collide? How would you communicate time units to aliens? How much will Starship change the prices of space launches? All this and more in this week's Q&A! |
| 2023-Feb-26 • 39 minutes [Interview] The Future of Venus Exploration Dr Michael Way explains how we can explore Venus, study its atmosphere and understand what hides underneath. It's also a crucial part of astrobiology and studying exoplanets. |
| 2023-Feb-24 • 17 minutes [Space Bites] Universe-Breaking Galaxies, Source of Dark Energy, Mars Anniversary Perseverance has been on Mars for two years, are black holes the source of dark energy?, Universe-breaking galaxies found, and an early warning system for asteroids. |
| 2023-Feb-22 • 39 minutes [Q&A] Rogue Gas Giant, Fish In Space, Detecting Primordial Black Holes What effect would a rogue gas giant have if it flew through the Solar System? Can fish survive in microgravity and go to space? Do hypervelocity stars leave a wake we could detect? How much do we actually know about Proxima Centauri? All this and more in the week's Q&A! |
| 2023-Feb-21 • 42 minutes [Interview] Breakthrough In Dark Energy? Here's What The Researchers Have To Say A recent research paper suggests that supermassive black holes can be the source of dark energy. It's a big potential breakthrough in Astronomy. So, here's what the co-author of the study, Dr Chris Pearson from STFC RAL Space, has to say about it. |
| 2023-Feb-17 • 17 minutes [Space Bites] Asteroid Explodes Over English Channel, Moon Breakthrough, Dark Matter Galaxy Blue Origin wants to build solar panels on the Moon, out of the Moon, SpaceX sold its floating landing pads, and another asteroid hits Earth exactly where and when astronomers predicted. |
| 2023-Feb-15 • 37 minutes [Q&A] Combining All Telescopes On Earth, Cooling Down Venus, Replacing ISS Modules Why don't we just combine all telescopes into a single one that will have a crazy resolution? Can we simply replace old ISS modules with new ones? How long will it take to cool down Venus? How much mass can the Earth afford to lose? Why blue shift exists if the Universe is expanding? All this and more in this week's Q&A |
| 2023-Feb-13 • 69 minutes [Bonus] Covering the Cosmos with Wiser Tomorrow Podcast This is an interview with me that we did with the Wiser Tomorrow Podcast. We talked about covering space news at Universe Today, how I run the company and what's my perception of some stories I cover. Enjoy! |
| 2023-Feb-10 • 21 minutes [Space Bites] AI's Costly JWST Mistake, 33-Engine Super Heavy Test, Problems in Orbit SpaceX tests all 33 engines on super heavy, the worst-case scenario for space debris actually happened, a kilonova is coming, and a new map of all the matter and dark matter in the Universe. |
| 2023-Feb-08 • 34 minutes [Interview] Exploring Space Lava Tubes: How To Prepare For It Lava tubes can be a solution to a lot of our space problems. They can provide habitat space on Moon, Mars and even beyond. But how do we prepare to explore them? That's what we're discussing with Professor Francesco Sauro. |
| 2023-Feb-07 • 41 minutes [Q&A] Stuck in a Space Station, Black Holes' Habitable Zones, Human-Rated Starship Is there a habitable zone around a black hole? Can you get stuck in the middle of a big space station? How will Starship get human-rated? Why is the Fermi Paradox even a paradox? All this in this week's Q&A! |
| 2023-Feb-03 • 23 minutes [Space Bites] Rolls-Royce Space Reactor, Close Call in Orbit, James Webb's Back Webb is fully operational again, Rolls-Royce is building a nuclear reactor for the Moon, and the space debris worst-case scenario almost happened. |
| 2023-Feb-01 • 70 minutes [Interview] How A Realistic Mars Mission Will Play Out How will a human Mars mission play out? Where exactly should it go? What unexpected challenges will we face? We're discussing all these aspects with Rick Davis. He is the Assistant Director for Science and Exploration, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. |
| 2023-Jan-31 • 27 minutes [Q&A] Protecting from Solar Flares, Tiny Rockets, Oldest Possible Ice Can you maintain a stable orbit with just a solar sail? Will a Dyson sphere or swarm kill all life inside of it? Can you protect yourself from a solar flare? What's the oldest ice in the Universe? All this and more in this week's Q&A! |
| 2023-Jan-27 • 22 minutes [Space Bites] Nuclear Rocket In 2027, New JWST Problems, Starship WDR Starship completes its wet-dress rehearsal, another problem for Webb, a nuclear rocket test is coming, and more cool NIAC grants. |
| 2023-Jan-24 • 42 minutes [Q&A] Children In Space, Dark Forest, Mars Lava Tubes What if two black holes with opposing spin merge? Can we use the Moon's L2 Lagrange point? How habitable are Mars's lava tubes? Can Starships compensate for satellite light pollution? All this and more in this week's episode Q&A with Fraser Cain. |
| 2023-Jan-20 • 17 minutes [Space Bites] Titan's Dragonfly Test, New Nuclear Rocket, Shadow Universe The Titan Dragonfly is coming together, NASA is considering a new kind of nuclear rocket, getting more warning for solar flares, and pinpointing carbon emissions from space. |
| 2023-Jan-17 • 34 minutes [Q&A] Dark Curvature, Navigating the Oort Cloud, Future of Space Toilets Should we change "Dark Matter" to "Dark Curvature"? How do you navigate through dense asteroid fields? What's the future of space toilets? Do aliens block their outgoing signals? All these and more in this week's Q&A with Fraser Cain. |
| 2023-Jan-13 • 22 minutes [Space Bites] Another Rover's Dead, Green Comet Incoming, JWST’s First Exoplanet Keep your eyes on the sky for a comet, another Mars rover has died, the leaky Soyuz is going to be replaced, JWST dominates the American Astronomical Society meeting, and is Starship just around the corner. |
| 2023-Jan-12 • 36 minutes [Interview] Avoiding Kessler Syndrome Mapping out all the space objects and understanding their orbits is the key to avoiding problems in orbit. What are the technical challenges and what's the current state of affairs? We're discussing it with Dr. Moriba Jah. |
| 2023-Jan-11 • 43 minutes [Q&A] Rings Around Stars, Laser Space Propulsion, Life on Cold Moons How do we determine the velocities of objects in distant space? Can we use a laser a space engine on a spaceship? Can we find stars with rings? Is it possible to see the same star at different stages of its life? All this and more in this week's Q&A. |
| 2023-Jan-06 • 18 minutes [Space Bites] Eruption on Io, Moon Navigation, Space-Based Power Test NASA is looking for dangerous asteroids, Io is blasting lava into space, the solar wind could be creating water on the Moon, space power is finally getting a test. |
| 2023-Jan-05 • 40 minutes [Bonus] Are We Alone in The Universe? John Michael Godier's Event Horizon This is part 2 of an interview I did with John Michael Godier on his show called Event Horizon. We talked about the Fermi Paradox and possible solutions to it. |
| 2023-Jan-04 • 38 minutes [Interview] A Realistic Way to Make Space Habitats From Asteroids We can build space habitats from asteroids by spinning them fast enough. That's what Professor Adam Frank suggests in a recent paper he co-wrote. In this interview, we discussed the idea, how realistic it is and what technology will be needed to achieve it, what applications it can have and when we can expect something like that. |
| 2022-Dec-30 • 24 minutes [Space Bites] 2022. Best Space Year Ever? 2022 has definitely been one of the best space years ever. James Webb, SLS, DART and many other major successes. So, let's turn around and remember what did 2022 bring us. |
| 2022-Dec-28 • 31 minutes [Q&A] Milky Way From Space, Terraforming the Moon, Visiting Mars Rovers How can we know whether the Universe is infinite or not? Can something hide behind the Sun in Earth's L3 Lagrange point? Should we start with terraforming the Moon before Mars? Will humans ever visit a lander on Mars? |
| 2022-Dec-26 • 80 minutes [Interview] Interstellar Travel Without Breaking Physics with Andrew Higgins Interstellar travel can be real. And you don't need to break the laws of Physics to do it. In this interview, I discuss a realistic way we can send missions to nearby stars in our lifetimes. |
| 2022-Dec-23 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] InSight Officially Dead // Detecting Warp Drives // New SLS Engine It’s official, InSight is gone. Perseverance is putting samples onto the surface of Mars. More scientific results from James Webb, and using gravitational wave observatories to detect warp drives. |
| 2022-Dec-21 • 37 minutes [Q&A] Dark Antimatter, Human Missions to Asteroids, Rockets and Global Warming Does the Black Knight satellite really exist? Can JWST explore the Oort cloud? Did we hopelessly contaminate Mars with life? Would I fly on the dearMoon mission without the abort system? Should we do crewed missions to near-earth asteroids? Answers to all these questions and more in this week's Q&A with Fraser Cain! |
| 2022-Dec-17 • 12 minutes [Breaking News] What FUSION IGNITION Really Means for The Future of Energy Production This week we got an announcement that a historical milestone was achieved. Fusion Ignition. But what it really means for the future of energy production, what most stories don't say and should you be excited after all? |
| 2022-Dec-16 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] Accident on the ISS, JWST Deep Field, Space Habitat Goes BANG! Splashdown! Artemis I has returned home. Webb has made its first Deep Field survey. Listen to the sound of a dust devil on Mars. Space journalist is going to the Moon. |
| 2022-Dec-14 • 21 minutes [Bonus] Full Overview of Artemis 1 It’s been 50 years since humans set foot on the Moon. Entire generations were born after this historic accomplishment. But humanity has kept its eyes on the sky and vowed to return. This week marks the end of the beginning of that journey, the completion of Artemis I, sending a human-rated capsule around the Moon and back again. With Orion safely back on Earth, let’s look back at this amazing accomplishment and ponder what comes next. |
| 2022-Dec-13 • 39 minutes [Q&A] Should You Get a Degree, Straight Line Space Travel, Astronomy in 100 Years How far away do constellations start to change? What if The Big Bang was more energetic? Is a university degree worth it? Why don't we travel through the solar system in straight lines? All this and more in this week's Q&A with Fraser Cain. |
| 2022-Dec-12 • 51 minutes [Bonus] John Michael Godier's Event Horizon. Can We Go Back to the Moon? This is an interview I did with John Michael Godier on his show called Event Horizon. We talked about bringing people back to the Moon and the success of Artemis 1. We also discussed other space missions, like JWST and DART, and looked back at how well did 2022 go for NASA. |
| 2022-Dec-09 • 18 minutes [Space Bites] Iconic Earthrise By Artemis 1, Rule-Breaking GRB, SpaceX Launches Starshield Construction Begins on the Square Kilometer Array. Artemis I’s iconic crescent Earthrise picture. A gamma-ray burst that breaks all the rules. SpaceX launches a new service. |
| 2022-Dec-07 • 39 minutes [Q&A] Artificial Lights on Exoplanets, Sun's Black Dwarf Stage, Iron Asteroids | Q&A 202 Can there be habitable worlds around black holes? Where did Mars get its perchlorates from? How are iron meteorites formed? How will the Sun die? Will China succeed with their Moon landing? All this and more in this week's Q&A with Fraser Cain. |
| 2022-Dec-02 • 21 minutes [Space Bites] Scientists Simulate a Quantum Wormhole, Black Hole Consumes a Star, More Moon Visitors The best images from Artemis so far. More spacecraft are going to the Moon. Researchers have simulated a wormhole. China now has six people on board its space station |
| 2022-Nov-30 • 36 minutes [Q&A] Black Holes VS Brown Dwarfs, Moon Telescopes, Galaxy Collision Which ones are more invisible: black holes of brown dwarfs? Which cheap telescope should you get? Will the Artemis program start a new era in astronomy? What will happen when Andromeda crashes into the Milky Way? All this and more in this week's Q&A with Fraser Cain. |
| 2022-Nov-28 • 33 minutes [Q&A] Space Questions Special This time it's different. As always, it's your space questions, but not my answers. I invited my fellow space YouTubers to give their answers to help me with the Q&A. Enjoy! |
| 2022-Nov-25 • 21 minutes [Space Bites] Asteroid Explodes Over Canada, Artemis I Updates, Very Large Telescope Improvements Updates on Artemis I. Predicting an asteroid strike with stunning accuracy. Webb’s view of Titan. New adaptive optics for the Very Large Telescope. |
| 2022-Nov-23 • 36 minutes [Interview] Chance for Life After The Sun Dies with Dr Andrew Vanderburg Is there a chance for life to continue after the Sun eventually explodes? Can we find evidence of potentially habitable planets near white dwarfs, remnants of dead stars? How can future telescopes help with that? |
| 2022-Nov-18 • 19 minutes [Space Bites] Artemis 1 Launch, Secret Space Plane Returns, James Webb Protection Plan SLS finally launches to the Moon. SpaceX get another contract from NASA. James Webb gets a protection plan from micrometeoroids. China continues to trash the orbit. Secret space plane returns. |
| 2022-Nov-16 • 37 minutes [Interview] The Existential Threat of Solar Storms with Dr Benjamin Pope How trees can tell us a story of previous solar storms? What are the chances of having another Carrington-scale event and what would it mean? How can we understand solar storms better? |
| 2022-Nov-15 • 41 minutes [Q&A] Harvesting Dark Energy, Making Own Telescope, Escaping Gravity Wells How hard is it to escape the gravity wells of massive planets for other civilizations? How hard is it to make your own telescopes? How do gas clouds become stars? Can we harvest dark energy after the Heat Death? |
| 2022-Nov-11 • 21 minutes [Space Bites] SLS In Trouble, James Webb Fixed, Strange Quark Star JWST’s MIRI is fully operational again, have astronomers found the first strange star?, the first test of an inflatable heat shield, and SLS just got hit by a Hurricane. |
| 2022-Nov-09 • 85 minutes [Bonus] Dr Brian Keating interviews Fraser Cain This in an interview with Dr Brian Keating that happened on his YouTube channel. We talk about how Universe Today runs, what do I want to achieve with it, how science journalism works in general and much more. |
| 2022-Nov-08 • 42 minutes [Q&A] Quantum Computers for Astronomy, Catching Interstellar Guests, The Book Club Can we catch the next interstellar visitor? Why do black holes' accretion disks glow? Can we make spaceships out of asteroids? How do we know that dark matter and dark energy actually exist? All that in this week's episode of Q&A with Fraser Cain. And we've started the Book Club! |
| 2022-Nov-04 • 19 minutes [Space Bites] Worrying Solar Storm Data, Falcon Heavy is Back, Total Lunar Eclipse Historical data about solar storms carved in trees, and it's a bit worrying. Falcon Heavy's back after 40 months of absence. There's a meteor shower and a total lunar eclipse in the coming days. And JWST gave us yet another version of Pillars of Creation. |
| 2022-Nov-01 • 79 minutes [Interview] James Webb, LUVOIR and Mindblowing Future Projects What's the current state of James Webb? What were the main technical difficulties and what does the future look like? What comes after JWST and LUVOIR? Will it be possible to ever build a quantum telescope? |
| 2022-Nov-01 • 44 minutes [Q&A] DART Successor, Fixing Space Debris, Viking Missions Controversy If Moon was created with a big collision, where's the crater? Can we fix the space trash problem? Is doing Astronomy just a waste of money that can be better spent elsewhere? What will come after DART? All this and more in this week's Q&A. |
| 2022-Oct-30 • 34 minutes [Interview] Bacteria That Can Survive on Mars for Millions of Years with Dr Michael Daly How do we know that certain organisms can survive for millions of years in the conditions of Mars? What do we know about them? And where should we be looking for them on Mars? |
| 2022-Oct-28 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] Closest Black Hole Ever Discovered, Starlink as GPS, Early Life Killed Mars There’s a monster black hole in our backyard (astronomically speaking). Life could survive underground on Mars for hundreds of millions of years. Starlink was hacked to work as GPS. Bad news for Arecibo. |
| 2022-Oct-27 • 55 minutes [Interview] Processing Astronomical Images with Judy Schmidt All the nice space images you see on the web are processed. It's a complex process that takes the raw data from the instruments and turns them into a picture. Judy Schmidt is one of the best in this, so I talked to her about how she does it. Enjoy! |
| 2022-Oct-25 • 40 minutes [Q&A] Spaceships Made of Ice, Best Space Pet, Astronomy and Photoshop How do you clean up astronomy images and what part does Photoshop play in it? Can you make spaceships out of ice found in space? When will SpaceX carry people to Mars? What pet will be the best companion for a long space trip? And even more questions in this week's Q&A with Fraser Cain. |
| 2022-Oct-24 • 47 minutes [Interview] Understanding Dark Energy With Most Detailed Supernovae Survey | Dr Dillon Brout Dark Energy will determine how the Universe will die. With the help of Pantheon+, the most detailed survey of Type 1A supernovae, astronomers can understand more details about Dark Energy and the expansion of spacetime. |
| 2022-Oct-23 • 36 minutes [Meet the Team] Matt Williams, Writer We continue to introduce the team behind Universe Today. In this episode meet Matt Williams. Fraser and Matt discussed long format writing, stories about the future of space exploration, science fiction novels Matt has written, how not to be too cynical and how to write fast and write good. |
| 2022-Oct-21 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] The Big Rip Averted, Pillars of Creation by JWST, Faster Than Light Jet The Pillars of Creation revealed by JWST. It seems like Big Rip isn't happening after all. Black holes twisting spacetime into knots. Jets that seem to be going faster than the speed of light. |
| 2022-Oct-20 • 26 minutes [The Big Q] What James Webb Discovered in Its First 100 Days It has been exactly 100 days since we got the first images from JWST. Here's an overview of all the most important discoveries that the James Webb Space Telescope did since then. |
| 2022-Oct-16 • 31 minutes [Meet the Team] Andy Tomaswick, Writer We continue to introduce the team behind Universe Today. In this episode meet Andy Tomaswick. Fraser and Andy talked about Carl Sagan’s ‘Pale Blue Dot’, interest in Astronomy and how to deal with haters and trolls. |
| 2022-Oct-14 • 22 minutes [Space Bites] Huge Success with DART, JWST Sees Weird Rings, Moon's True Origin DART’s results are in, it hammered Dimorphos, the Moon might just be a big chunk of the Earth, Webb sees bizarre rings around a star, and SLS gets a new launch date… at night. |
| 2022-Oct-13 • 60 minutes [Interview] How Understanding The Sun Changes Entire Astronomy with Colin Stuart How understanding the Sun can change our view of all the other stars in the Universe. What will current instruments and future mission will bring. And what are the mysteries that are waiting to be solved in this field. |
| 2022-Oct-11 • 38 minutes [Q&A] JWST Worth the Hype? How to Build a Wormhole? How to Pass Van Allen Belts? Are there alternatives to CMB? Will we ever build a space elevator? How can we see radiation coming from a black hole when nothing can escape it? Can you heat something with gravitational waves? Why JWST can look lame to the laymen? All this and more in this week's Q&A with Fraser Cain. |
| 2022-Oct-10 • 61 minutes [Interview] The Future of Telescopes. Coronagraphs with Dr. Lucie Leboulleux Coronographs will soon be in every major telescope. They can block the light from the star and reveal things around it, like exoplanets. There's so much amazing science behind them. Like, did you know coronographs can be adaptive? We dive into all that with Dr Lucie Leboulleux. Enjoy the interview! |
| 2022-Oct-07 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] Ads Taking Over Night Sky, DART Aftermath, Best JWST Image Dimorphos grows a tail. More Europa pictures from Juno. The horrifying possibility of ads in night sky. Why Jupiter’s atmosphere is surprisingly hot. |
| 2022-Oct-06 • 67 minutes [Interview] True Nature of Science and Skepticism with Professor Peter Vickers In this interview, Professor Peter Vickers and I talk about the scientific method, its true nature and its place in modern society. We talk about the philosophy of science, how scientific consensus works and how it can be made better. |
| 2022-Oct-04 • 36 minutes [Q&A] Can JWST See Oumuamua, Why Go to The Moon, DART Images | Q&A 194 In this week's questions and answers show, I explain why a crewed mission to Venus or the Moon makes sense, if there's debris in the Lagrange Points, and why the photos from DART look so familiar. |
| 2022-Oct-02 • 30 minutes [Meet The Team] Evan Gough, Writer We continue to introduce the team behind Universe Today. In this episode meet Evan Gough, who is the author of more than 1400 articles on the website. Fraser and Evan talked about the way that stories for UT are born, which traps can a writer fall into, and whether to take a university degree or not. Enjoy! |
| 2022-Oct-01 • 19 minutes [Space Bites] SpaceX To Boost Hubble, NASA Smashes Asteroid, Exciting Enceladus Discoveries Humanity moved an asteroid on purpose for the first time in history. Juno flies past Jupiter. A possible mission to boost Hubble, and a mysterious blob is orbiting Milky Way’s supermassive black hole. |
| 2022-Sep-28 • 43 minutes [Bonus] Alternatives to Dark Matter by Paul Sutter This is a bonus from my friend Paul Sutter. It is an episode from his podcast ''Ask A Spaceman'. He explains possible alternatives to Dark Matter, which is a very popular question in my Q&A episodes. Enjoy! |
| 2022-Sep-27 • 38 minutes [Q&A] Antimatter Black Holes, Wen Hop, Life Around Brown Dwarfs In this week's Questions and Answers show, I explain what would happen when an antimatter black hole collides with a regular black hole, I try to estimate when Starship is going to make an orbital launch, and wonder if there could be life around brown dwarf stars. |
| 2022-Sep-25 • 30 minutes [Meet The Team] Nancy Atkinson, Senior Editor This week's behind the scenes interview is with Universe Today's senior editor, Nancy Atkinson. Nancy has been writing for Universe Today since the early days and has contributed thousands of articles. She's also a mentor to newer writers on the team. |
| 2022-Sep-23 • 18 minutes [Space Bites] JWST Problems, Newborn Quasar, Detecting Exoplanets with Lagrange Points James Webb has a problem with one of its most important instruments, SLS completes a crucial test before the next launch attempt, Europe wants to rival Crew Dragon and Starliner, and a new quasar is about to be born. |
| 2022-Sep-22 • 62 minutes [Interview] Solar Sail Propulsion: Reality VS Fiction with Les Johnson Les Johnson is the Principle Investigator with NASA's upcoming Near-Earth Asteroid Scout mission that will fly on the SLS and test solar sail navigation. But at the same time, he's a science fiction author. So, in this interview, we discussed both these sides of his life. |
| 2022-Sep-21 • 45 minutes [Q&A] True Edge of the Universe, Nuclear Rockets Adoption, Lunar Poles Exploration | Q&A 192 In this week's Questions and Answers show, I explain the difference between the observable universe and the Hubble sphere, how satellite megaconstellations will affect smartphones and other consumer devices, and what impact Jupiter's radiation might have for life on Europa. |
| 2022-Sep-21 • 66 minutes [Interview] Proving the Big Bang Happened with Dr Brian Keating This week I'm joined by Dr. Brian Keating, a cosmologist who studies cosmic microwave background radiation and leads the BICEP, POLARBEAR2, and Simons Array experiments. He also has a successful YouTube channel and podcast. We'll be discussing the evidence for the Big Bang and the impact of James Webb on our current understanding of the Universe. |
| 2022-Sep-20 • 61 minutes [Interview] Immune System for Your Mind Against Disinformation with Lee McIntyre Today I'm talking to Lee McIntyre, philosopher of science and the author of a recently released book 'How to Talk to a Science Denier'. We talked about the problems with science communication in modern society, the challenges that misinformation poses, and how we can possibly fight it. |
| 2022-Sep-16 • 19 minutes [Space Bites] Blue Origin Explosion, CAPSTONE Problems, Space Diamonds Uh oh, NASA’s CAPSTONE mission is having problems, A New Shepard Flight fails, Betelgeuse was recently yellow, and of course, another amazing new image from Webb. |
| 2022-Sep-14 • 35 minutes [Q&A] SpaceX VS NASA, AI for Space Science, Black Hole Crushing Itself | Q&A 191 We're back from hiatus! In this week's Questions and Answers show, I talk about what will happen when the expansion of the Universe reaches the speed of light, how I feel about SLS delays, what's happening with James Webb, and more... |
| 2022-Sep-09 • 16 minutes [Space Bites] AMAZING New JWST Image, iPhone 14 Satellite Connection, Green Sand on Mars How iPhone 14 will connect to satellites. Why SLS didn’t launch and when it might. Growing rice in space. And a new incredible image from James Webb. |
| 2022-Sep-06 • 29 minutes [Meet The Team] Nancy Graziano, Producer of Weekly Space Hangout Nancy Graziano, the producer of the Weekly Space Hangout and many of the other projects we're working on. Hear how she fell into the Universe Today gravity well, and her future plans to train the next generation of science communicators. |
| 2022-Sep-02 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] JWST Sees An Exoplanet, Another SLS Delay, Cosmology Crisis Continues Artemis 1 delayed, direct image of an exoplanet from Webb, how Starlink will connect to phones, Voyager 1 is fixed, cosmology crisis continues. |
| 2022-Aug-26 • 24 minutes [Space Bites] Why The ‘Panic!’ Around JWST, Exoplanet With CO2, Weak Mars Astronauts No, James Webb didn’t disprove the Big Bang. Carbon dioxide found in an exoplanet atmosphere. An amazing picture of Jupiter from Webb, pieces of other stars found in asteroid Ryugu, weak astronauts arriving on Mars, and a new way to measure distances in the Universe. All that and more in this week’s episode of Space Bites. |
| 2022-Aug-25 • 86 minutes [Interview] Fraser on the Chatter Podcast Here's another interview with me from another podcast. This time I'm on the Chatter podcast hosted by Lawfare. I spoke with host David Priess about the upcoming Artemis missions, the race to the Moon and other issues relating to the politics and impact of space exploration. Subscribe to the podcast at: https://shows.acast.com/chatter |
| 2022-Aug-24 • 56 minutes [Interview] Tory Bruno: CEO of United Launch Alliance My guest this week is Tory Bruno, the President, and CEO of United Launch Alliance. ULA has provided launch services for many NASA missions, including Juno, Curiosity, MAVEN, and the Parker Solar Probe. |
| 2022-Aug-19 • 21 minutes [Space Bites] Largest JWST Image, First Private Interplanetary Mission, Space Bubbles VS Climate Change Rocket Lab is launching the first-ever private mission to Venus. Europe is considering space-based solar power. A new method to detect exoplanets. More evidence about the Moon’s origins. Webb’s largest every image. All that and more in this week’s episode of Space Bites. |
| 2022-Aug-12 • 16 minutes 859: [Space Bites] JWST's First Science Results, Surgeon Robot for ISS, Booster 7 Test Fire James Webb starts delivering actual science results, Space Launch System and Starship both go even closer to their maiden flights, remote surgery medical robot is going to the ISS, Perseverance continues to find weird stuff on Mars, and Hubble is still going strong. All this and more in this week’s episode of Space Bites. |
| 2022-Aug-05 • 18 minutes [Space Bites] Interstellar Meteorite Underwater, Shortest Day Ever, Earth's Magnetosphere Collapse An interstellar meteorite could be hiding in the ocean. Why doesn’t Jupiter have rings like Saturn. The time when Earth’s magnetic field almost collapsed. The shortest day on Earth, and Planet 9 is running out of places to hide. |
| 2022-Jul-29 • 18 minutes [Space Bites] JWST Damage Assessment, Two New Mars Helicopters, Teaching Robots to Die How JWST is doing after its micrometeorite strike, two more helicopters are flying to Mars, and how do you stop the Milky Way from turning into self-replicating robot probes? |
| 2022-Jul-22 • 16 minutes [Space Bites] SLS Launch Date, Falcon Heavy Gets Flagship NASA Telescope, Dormant Black Hole SLS finally gets a launch date for Artemis I, JWST keeps giving the goodness, Percy finds another weird thing on Mars, astronomers find a dormant black hole and NASA will launch a flagship telescope on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy. |
| 2022-Jul-15 • 14 minutes [Space Bites] Booster 7's BOOM, Nuclear Mission to Neptune, More JWST Images, Space Bites Even more pictures from James Webb Space Telescope, China's planning a mission to Neptune, SpaceX's Booster 7 suffers from an explosion, black holes are messy eaters, going under Europa's ice crust and more. |
| 2022-Jul-14 • 18 minutes [Space Bites] JWST First Full-Color Images Explained NASA finally released James Webb's first full-color images. We have 5 great photos of different regions of space. So, in this video we're digesting all the great pictures we got from JWST. |
| 2022-Jul-05 • 32 minutes [Q&A] Turning Starship into 9m Telescope, Lunar Gravitational Lens, Robotic Exploration | Q&A 190 In this week's questions and answers show, I explain how Starship will enable enormous space telescopes, if James Webb can look at Hubble, and if future astronomers will have any way of learning about the expansion of the Universe and the Big Bang. |
| 2022-Jul-02 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] Mystery Rocket Crash Site Found, ISS Independence from Russia, Space Nuclear Power | Space Bites NASA teases JWST images, Rocket Lab launches CAPSTONE, mystery rocket's crash site found on the Moon, how magnetars are created, ISS gets more independent from Russia and more. |
| 2022-Jun-28 • 38 minutes [Q&A] Medical Emergencies on the ISS, White Dwarf VS Red Dwarf, True Color of SLS | Q&A 189 In this week's Questions and Answers show, I explain how astronauts are trained to deal with medical emergencies if the Universe is expanding smoothly or chaotically, and what would survive longer, a white dwarf or a red dwarf? |
| 2022-Jun-24 • 20 minutes [Space Bites] China VS NASA, SpaceX Breaking Records, Repeating FRB Mystery SLS finally got through WDR (almost), Falcon 9 are setting new reuse records, China is about to beat NASA to Mars with a sample return mission, Charon red spot explained and more. |
| 2022-Jun-23 • 52 minutes [Interview] Gaia Data Release 3 with Dr. Martin Barstow Dr. Martin Barstow is is a Professor of Astrophysics and Space Science at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leicester and the former President of the Royal Astronomical Society. Dr. Barstow was part of the team who worked on the recent Gaia Data Release 3, which categorized almost 2 billion stars in the Milky Way. |
| 2022-Jun-21 • 41 minutes [Q&A] Can ISS Be Recycled, Artificial Meteor Storms, Can Hubble See JWST In this week's questions and answers show, I explain why most quasars are very far away, consider what would happen if you brought Pluto into the inner Solar System, and deliver the heartbreaking news of why the ISS won't be recycled. |
| 2022-Jun-20 • 75 minutes [Interview] Advanced Propulsion Systems with Dr. Sonny White Dr. Sonny White is a physicist and mechanical engineer. He previously worked at NASA's Eagleworks Lab testing advanced propulsion systems, and developing ideas for faster-than-light travel. He's now working with Limitless Space, founded with the vision of advancing human space exploration beyond the Solar System by the end of the 21st century. |
| 2022-Jun-20 • 22 minutes [Space Bites] Starship Approved by FAA, Rogue Black Hole's Mass, Balancing Rock on Mars FAA finally gave its approval to SpaceX for Starship launches from Boca Chica, Gaia released its third data drop, China stars continuous space presence, Perseverance finds another weird rock on Mars. |
| 2022-Jun-15 • 48 minutes [Interview] Self Sustaining Space Habitats with Annika Rollock Annika Rollock is a Ph.D. student at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is studying next generation space habitats and recently published a paper about how future space stations can remain self-sufficient, especially when support and communication from Earth are far away. |
| 2022-Jun-15 • 38 minutes 843: How JWST Sees in Color, Where Is Dark Matter, Did Earth Life Come from Space | Q&A 187 In this week's questions and answers show, I explain how JWST and other telescopes see color, how images from observatories are released to the public, and how much of the sky can JWST see. Also, a bunch of non-Webb questions too. |
| 2022-Jun-14 • 51 minutes 842: Liquid Mirror Telescope with Dr. Paul Hickson Dr. Paul Hickson is a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Hickson is overseeing a team that built a telescope out of liquid mercury in India. The International Liquid Mirror Telescope is 4 meters across and built on top of a 3,000-meter mountain in India. This will prove the technology and allow for larger and larger liquid mirror telescopes on Earth (and eventually in space). |
| 2022-Jun-14 • 52 minutes 840: Searching for Technosignatures with Dr. Jacob Haqq-Misra Dr. Jacob Haqq-Misra is a geologist and astrobiologist with the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science. He studies the conditions that allowed life to spread across the Earth and searches for similar environments across the Universe. In a recent paper, Dr. Haqq-Misra suggests methods that we could search for technologically advanced civilizations across the Universe. |
| 2022-Jun-14 • 42 minutes 841: Interview with Fraser on the Spaced Out Podcast Here's an interview with me on the Spaced Out Podcast from the Center for Astro, Particle, and Planetary Physics at NYU Abu Dhabi. We talk about my career as a space journalist, how I approach the news, what my role is as a science communicator. |
| 2022-Jun-10 • 18 minutes 839: James Webb Mirror Damaged, Comet Interceptor Confirmed, NASA Investigates UFOs | Space Bites JWST got damaged by a micrometeoroid but seems to be okay, NASA buys more Crew Dragon flights, Mars rovers see interesting stuff, ESA confirms a comet hunter, UFOs get official NASA investigations, all planets get into order in the night sky and more. |
| 2022-Jun-10 • 51 minutes 838: Using Pulsars to Navigate in Space with Dr. Zach Putnam Dr. Zach Putnam is an assistant professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He's part of a team developing navigation techniques that use the signals from pulsars to always know your location, anywhere in the Solar System. |
| 2022-Jun-07 • 50 minutes 837: Cosmology and Relativity with Dr. Leah Jenks Einstein's Theory of General Relativity has been tried and tested many times, and so far, Einstein was right. But we know his theory must be incomplete, as it still doesn't integrate with quantum mechanics. Where are physicists searching next for the future of cosmology and relativity? Dr. Leah Jenks is a PhD recipient from Brown University, and will become a KICP Fellow at the University of Chicago. |
| 2022-Jun-07 • 39 minutes 836: Orbit Size Telescopes, Meteors Destroying Satellites, Artificial Gravity | Q&A 186 In this week's Questions and Answers show, I answer what it would take to build a telescope as big as the Earth's orbit around the Sun, why SgrA* seems to have been rolled over on its side, and how we know the age of stars. |
| 2022-Jun-03 • 23 minutes 835: New NASA Spacesuits, JWST Color Images Announced, Another Starship Delay | Space Bites NASA selects two suppliers for new spacesuits, James Webb reveals the date of first color images, JUICE moves closer to launch and a new kind of solar sail gets to next NIAC round. |
| 2022-May-31 • 22 minutes 834: What Will JWST Discover? Everything You Need To Know | The Big Q James Webb is the most expensive and most advanced telescope in human history. Will it be worth its $10B price? What it will discover? How long will JWST last? Will it ever be serviced? All the answers are in this episode of The Big Q. |
| 2022-May-30 • 87 minutes 833: Interview with Fraser: Defending My Belief That We're Alone in the Observable Universe This is a special bonus episode on the YouTube channel. I was interviewed on the Street Epistemology Call-In Show to defend one of my beliefs. I chose to defend my belief that we're alone in the observable Universe. We had an interesting discussion about philosophy and other topics in space afterwards, I hope you enjoy it. Here's a link to the original full-length episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy5-ES_2E-E... |
| 2022-May-30 • 71 minutes 832: Jumping to Multicellular Life with Dr. William Ratcliff How did life go from single-celled to multi-celled? Dr. William Ratcliff is an Associate Professor and Co-Director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences at the School of Biological Science at Georgia Tech. Dr. Ratcliff and his collaborators are working with single cells of yeast, watching them make the jump to become multi-cellular organisms. It turns out, life has done this many times in the past, and not just the jump that created the modern animals we know of today. |
| 2022-May-27 • 19 minutes 831: Meteor Storm Update, Boeing Starliner Returns, Refueling Broken Satellites | Space Bites Boeing finally completes a demo mission, scientists grow plants in lunar regolith, NASA will launch a mission to repair and refuel a satellite, space suits are leaking on the ISS again, and more. |
| 2022-May-24 • 37 minutes 830: Who Will Get to Mars First, Black Hole Through Earth, Dinosaurs in Space | Q&A 185 In this week's Questions and Answers show, I explain what James Webb will see when it looks at SgrA*, why black holes happen to be facing towards us, and if asteroid strikes can hurl dinosaurs into space. |
| 2022-May-20 • 21 minutes 829: HUGE Upcoming Meteor Storm?, Starliner Success, Nova in Real Time | Space Bites In this week's News Bites segment, I talk about the successful launch of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner, how astronomers watch a nova unfold in real-time, the (not) doorway on Mars, and the chance to see the greatest meteor storm in a generation. |
| 2022-May-20 • 57 minutes 828: Sending Humans to the Outer Solar System with Dr. Jonathan Jiang Dr. Jonathan Jiang is the supervisor of the Aerosol and Cloud Group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Dr. Jiang has contributed over 220 peer-reviewed papers in a variety of journals. Most recently, he collaborated on a paper that investigates the future of human space exploration beyond the Moon and Mars, even to the outer Solar System. |
| 2022-May-20 • 44 minutes 827: The Lunar Crater Radio Telescope with Dr. Ashish Goel Dr. Ashish Goel is a Research Technologist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the Robotic Surface Mobility group. He has helped develop the plans to build a giant radio telescope inside a crater on the Moon, providing a pristine view to the Universe, using the Moon to block Earth's radio transmissions. |
| 2022-May-20 • 59 minutes 826: Beaming Power in Space with Dr. Stephen Sweeney Professor Stephen Sweeney works in the department of physics at the University of Surrey. He specializes in photonics, using lasers and photovoltaics for new types of communication, remote power transmission, and other concepts in space exploration. |
| 2022-May-18 • 58 minutes 825: Going Back to Venus with Michael Amato Michael Amato is an engineer at NASA and has been a member of the team behind NASA's DAVINCI spacecraft which will be launching to Venus in 2029. The spacecraft will be exploring the atmosphere of Venus with more clarity and detail than has ever been seen before, giving us a better sense about how the world became so different from Earth. |
| 2022-May-16 • 35 minutes 824: Cynicism VS Wisdom, How Big Do Black Holes Grow, Sky on Mars | Q&A 184 In this week's episode, I talk about how close to the Sun Parker Solar Probe can get, what is the smallest possible star that's turned into a red giant, why do I think aliens will need to adhere to the laws of physics, and more. Oh, and why am I so cynical? |
| 2022-May-15 • 20 minutes 823: Milky Way's Supermassive Black Hole by EHT, Russia's ISS Bluff, Ingenuity's Problems | Space Bites We finally have the SgrA* supermassive black hole image by the Event Horizon Telescope, China announces their plans to launch a space telescope, and Russia threatens to leave the ISS. |
| 2022-May-11 • 37 minutes 820: Fluidic Space Telescopes with Dr. Edward Balaban Edward Balaban is a research scientist at NASA Ames and the principal investigator of the Fluidic Telescope Experiment, or FLUTE. The idea is to create a giant lens in space out of a fluid that could maintain its shape in microgravity. The technology was recently tested during the Axiom-1 mission to the International Space Station. |
| 2022-May-11 • 37 minutes 822: Elon Musk's Tesla in Space, Can We Get Better Rocket Fuel, Space Structures | Q&A 183 In this week's Questions and Answers show, I explain why we don't see much stuff in space unfolding in real time, how long will Musk's Tesla be a recognizable object, and what are some feasible structures we could build to help send payloads to space. |
| 2022-May-11 • 47 minutes 821: Dealing with Lunar Regolith with Dr. Kevin Cannon Dr. Kevin Cannon is an assistant professor of geology and geological engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. Dr. Cannon has been studying the properties of lunar regolith, developing techniques that could help to mitigate its dangers during long-duration lunar exploration missions. |
| 2022-May-07 • 17 minutes 819: Schrodinger's Catch by Rocket Lab, Photon Ring of a Black Hole, Micronovae | Space Bites Rocket Lab almost catches their Electron booster with a helicopter, China building an asteroid redirection mission, NASA gives out awards and astronomers find a new type of space explosions. |
| 2022-May-05 • 95 minutes 818: Going Under the Ice with Dr. Samuel Howell My guest today is Dr. Sam Howell, a planetary scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Sam studies the interiors of icy worlds, like Europa and Enceladus and is pioneering methods to explore their subsurface oceans. |
| 2022-May-03 • 41 minutes 817: Can JWST See The Big Bang, Can Black Holes Disappear, Cutest Nebula | Q&A 182 In this week's Questions and Answers show, I explain why James Web still can't see the Big Bang, if black holes can "unblack hole" later in life and what is the cutest nebula in the Universe? |
| 2022-May-03 • 49 minutes 816: Collecting Micrometeorites with Scott Peterson Every day about 100 tonnes of space dust strikes the Earth's atmosphere. Most of these space rocks vaporize, but some fall to the Earth at meteorites. Did you know that there are particles from space falling on the roof of your house? My guest today is Scott Peterson. Scott collects micrometeorites from his house and takes pictures of them using a microscope. We'll talk about how to find them, identify them and photograph them for yourself. |
| 2022-May-03 • 55 minutes 815: Unistellar Smart Telescope with Dr. Franck Marchis My guest today is Dr. Franck Marchis, a senior planetary astronomer and chair of the exoplanet group at the Carl Sagan Center of the SETI Institute and Chief Scientific Officer and Founder at Unistellar. Franck helps develop adaptive optics systems for research observatories and helped develop the fully automated eVscope telescope which helps amateurs do astrophotography and contribute to astronomical research. |
| 2022-May-01 • 17 minutes 814: Groundbreaking Event Horizon Telescope Update, OSIRIS-REx Reborn, End of SOFIA | Space Bites NASA extended 8 space missions, EHT has groundbreaking announcements on the Milky Way's supermassive black hole, James Webb shows first images, SOFIA telescope is getting shut, Starship evaluation gets another delay, and more space news. |
| 2022-Apr-27 • 56 minutes 813: Weird Orbits and How They Work with Dr. Renu Malhotra My guest today is Dr. Renu Malhotra, a planetary scientist who specializes in planetary migration and orbital mechanics. Dr. Malhotra and her team have discovered that Pluto's orbit is surprisingly chaotic at small timescales and yet surprisingly stable at larger timescale. We'll talk about her research and the science of orbital mechanics that led to the current orbits of the planets in the Solar System. |
| 2022-Apr-27 • 33 minutes 812: Quasar Dust, Grabby Aliens and Who Needs von Neumann probes | Q&A 181 In this week's questions and answers show, I talk about supermassive black hole nucleosynthesis, the threat of grabby aliens and why would we ever bother building Von Neumann Probes. |
| 2022-Apr-23 • 19 minutes 811: Mission to Uranus, More SLS Problems, Ban for Anti-Satellite Tests | Space Bites e2 Planetary Science Decadal Survey recommends a mission to Uranus, SLS is set for another delay, Perseverance sees a Phobos solar eclipse, all Hubble's images in a single picture and other most important space and astronomy news of the week. |
| 2022-Apr-19 • 42 minutes 810: Detecting Primordial Black Holes with Celeste Keith My guest today is Celeste Keith, a graduate student at the University of Chicago. Celeste and her team are searching for ways to detect the presence of primordial black holes, leftover from the Big Bang. These could be an explanation for dark matter and other phenomena in the Universe. |
| 2022-Apr-19 • 64 minutes 809: Turning the Sun Into a Giant Telescope with Dr. Slava Turyshev My guest today is Dr. Slava Turyshev, a physicist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He helped to solve the Pioneer Anomaly, and is developing a mission that could use the Sun's gravity as a natural lens to focus the light from distant objects. |
| 2022-Apr-19 • 48 minutes 808: SOFIA the Flying Telescope with Dr. Margaret Meixner My guest today is Dr. Margaret Meixner, the Director of Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) Science Mission Operations. Previous to this role, Dr. Meixner was a Distinguished Astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) and a Project Scientist at James Webb Space Telescope. |
| 2022-Apr-19 • 39 minutes 807: True Shape of the Universe, Asteroid Mining, Alien Astronomers | Q&A 180 In this week's live Questions and Answers show, I provide the exact number of alien worlds that could detect the Earth, are we made of heavier elements made in other galaxies, will lasers remain perfectly parallel in space? And more... |
| 2022-Apr-17 • 17 minutes 806: $500 000 for Moon Dust, Boson Breaking Physics, New Approach to Space Tourism | News Digest e1 Perseverance found its parachute, JWST cooling down its experiments, Standard Model once again in danger, Space Force releasing data to scientists, yet another approach for expensive space tourism and more top news stories of this week. |
| 2022-Apr-15 • 24 minutes 805: W Boson Breaking the Standard Model with Dr. Paul Sutter Particle physicists have announced an exciting discovery about the W Boson particle that challenges the Standard Model of Physics. To help me understand what was discovered and what it means for physics, I've invited Dr. Paul Sutter back to explain it. Paul is a fantastic science communicator and has a PhD in particle physics. The perfect person to help us make sense of this. |
| 2022-Apr-14 • 58 minutes 804: What Is Dark Matter Made Of with Dr. Surjeet Rajendran My guest today is Dr. Surjeet Rajendran, a physics professor at Johns Hopkins University. In addition to his teaching, Dr. Rajendran's research is in theoretical physics, with a strong focus on what comes after the standard model. What could dark matter be? How can gravity be merged with quantum mechanics? |
| 2022-Apr-12 • 33 minutes 803: ILLEGAL Moon Residents, Space Power Plants, Center of the Universe | Q&A 179 In this week's questions show, I explain how other planets can have geostationary orbits, if sending tardigrades to the Moon is a violation of the Outerspace Treaty, and why everything orbiting the Sun is in perfect balance. |
| 2022-Apr-12 • 55 minutes 802: Directly Imaging Exoplanets with Dr. Thayne Currie My guest today is Dr. Thayne Currie, an astrophysicist at NASA-Ames Research Center and the Subaru Telescope. Dr. Currie was part of a team that directly imaged a newly-forming planet, providing evidence of another way large planets can form, and could have formed here in the Solar System. |
| 2022-Apr-09 • 63 minutes 801: Starship Updates and Mars City Perspectives with Chris Prophet My guest today is Chris Prophet, a freelance writer who has been covering the rise of SpaceX. He has written several books, including SpaceX from the Ground Up. His new book is called SpaceX Evolution and explains some of the company's long-term strategies to create a sustainable human civilization on Mars and beyond. |
| 2022-Apr-09 • 73 minutes 800: Why the Universe Is Silent with Dr. Robin Hanson My guest today is Dr. Robin Hanson, an associate professor of economics at George Mason University and a research associate at the Future of Humanity Institute of Oxford University. Dr. Hanson is famous for writing a paper describing the Great Filter, a theory that explains why we don't see aliens across the Universe. |
| 2022-Apr-05 • 35 minutes 799: Navigation in Space, Sizes of Black Holes and Planet 9 | Q&A 178 In this week's live Questions and Answers show, I explain how big black holes are, what coordinate system astronomers use to map objects in the sky, and what could have collapsed clouds of hydrogen to form the first stars? |
| 2022-Apr-01 • 36 minutes 798: Limits of Kardashev Scale, Artificial Stars, Can We Touch Jupiter | Q&A 177 In this week's questions and answers show, I answer the question: could we build a star? How far will humans realistically explore within the Solar System? Is there any way we can escape the heat death of the Universe? |
| 2022-Mar-27 • 41 minutes Episode 797: Fusion Rockets, Ditching Heat Shields, Looking Beyond the Edge of the Universe | Q&A 176 In this week's live Questions and Answers show, I explain how a more powerful rocket could reduce the need of a heat shield, if we could detect objects beyond the edge of the observable Universe through their gravity, and what are the largest objects (or spacecraft) that could hang out at a Lagrange Point? |
| 2022-Mar-27 • 57 minutes Episode 796: Exploring the mysteries of Triton with Dr. Jason Hofgartner My guest today is Dr. Jason Hofgartner, a planetary scientist specializing in icy worlds of the Solar System. Jason wrote a recent paper about the nature of Neptune's moon Triton, first discovered by Voyager 2 back in 1989. |
| 2022-Mar-21 • 42 minutes Episode 795: Q&A 175: How Do Astronomers Measure Redshift? And More... In this week's Questions and Answers show, I explain how astronomers use the Doppler Effect to know if objects are moving towards or away from us, I give my thoughts on Starlink as a user, and I suggest ideas on how to become a better writer. |
| 2022-Mar-14 • 56 minutes Episode 791: Laser Sailing with Matthew Campbell My guest today is Matthew Campbell, a Mechanical Engineer, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics at the University of Pennsylvania. He's a member of the Bargatin Group, researching nanomaterials and their applications. |
| 2022-Mar-14 • 43 minutes Episode 794: Q&A 174: Could We Mine Jupiter for Hydrogen? And More... In this week's episode, I explain how we could use Jupiter as a source of fuel for our fusion reactors, what it means to say there's a scientific consensus, and if gravitational waves can trigger earthquakes. |
| 2022-Mar-14 • 58 minutes Episode 793: Building an Artificial Magnetosphere with Elena D'Onghia My guest today is Dr. Elena D'Onghia, an associate professor at the University of Wisconson--Madison's Department of Astronomy. Her research is focused on the dynamics of galaxies through simulations, theory, and observations. |
| 2022-Mar-14 • 58 minutes Episode 792: Preparing for James Webb with John Mather My guest today is Dr. John Mather, Senior Astrophysicist in the Observational Cosmology Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Dr. Mather received a Nobel Prize for his influential cosmology work, helping to confirm the Big Bang. He's been involved in almost every major astronomy mission in the last few decades, including Hubble, and of course, James Webb. |
| 2022-Feb-23 • 38 minutes Episode 790: Q&A 173: What If We Didn't Have Space Telescopes? And More... In this week's questions show, I explain how astronomy would be different if we didn't have space telescopes, what was the Universe like shortly after the Big Bang?, and what if James Webb detects oxygen in the atmosphere of another planet? |
| 2022-Feb-23 • 58 minutes Episode 789: Searching for Technosignatures with Dr. Chenoa Tremblay My guest today is Dr. Chenoa Tremblay, a Post Doctoral Researcher at the SETI Institute. Dr. Tremblay and her team used the Murchison Widefield Array to scan the core of the Milky Way for any sign of signals from extraterrestrial civilizations. |
| 2022-Feb-14 • 39 minutes Episode 788: Q&A 172: Why Do We Assume Extraterrestrials Will Be Hostile? And More... In this week's questions and answers show, I explain why people might see extraterrestrials as a threat. What could we learn about astronomy if we lived at the center of a supervoid, and how far away are we from the Big Bang? |
| 2022-Feb-11 • 41 minutes Episode 787: Q&A 171: Could James Webb Detect Type 2 or 3 Civilizations? And More... In this week's episode, I explain why James Webb is actually the perfect telescope for detecting advanced civilizations, could we hide the Earth from snooping aliens, could spacecraft go into polar orbit around the Sun? And more... |
| 2022-Feb-11 • 60 minutes Episode 786: Peering Into the Heart of a Blazar with Dr. Andrei Lobanov My guest today is Dr. Andrei Lobanov, a staff astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Bonn, Germany. Dr. Lobanov was part of a team that just took the highest resolution image ever seen of a blazar, using a network of space and ground-based radio telescopes. |
| 2022-Feb-03 • 60 minutes Episode 785: Getting Astroquizzical with Dr. Jillian Scudder My guest today is Dr. Jillian Scudder, a PhD astrophysicist and assistant professor at Oberlin College. In addition to her teaching and research work, Dr. Scudder also answers space and astronomy questions on her blog and in her newly updated book: Astroquizzical. https://www.jillianscud... |
| 2022-Feb-02 • 37 minutes Episode 784: Q&A 170: Can We See The Stars In Andromeda? And More... In this week's QA, I talk about how we can see individual stars in a galaxy like Andromeda, how we know the Universe is bigger than we can observe, and whether black holes are solid objects or infinitely dense singularities. |
| 2022-Jan-25 • 38 minutes Episode 783: Q&A 169: Could Plants Actually Survive on the Surface of Mars? And More... In this week's episode, I talk about the possibility of a copy of the Hubble Space Telescope, if satellites could relay information like a mesh network, and if it's even possible for plants to survive on the surface of Mars. |
| 2022-Jan-18 • 57 minutes Episode 782: Going Interstellar with Andreas Hein My guest today is Andreas Hein, Executive Director, Chairman Technical Research Committee of the Initiative for Interstellar Studies. Andreas is part of a team working to develop practical missions for interstellar exploration. https://i4is.org/ |
| 2022-Jan-18 • 54 minutes Episode 781: Exoplanet Atmospheres with Dr. Joanna Barstow My guest today is Dr. Joanna Barstow, a Royal Astronomical Society Research Fellow at University College London. Dr. Barstow specializes in planetary science, studying the atmospheres of planets both inside and beyond the Solar System. She's also a member of the ARIEL science team, an upcoming mission that will categorize the atmospheres of exoplanets. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astro... |
| 2022-Jan-18 • 35 minutes Episode 780: Q&A 168: Why Aren't There Cameras On James Webb? And More... In this week's Questions Show I explain why James Webb doesn't have any cameras on board, what the Universe is expanding into, and what is the point of building big telescopes when we're trapped in the Solar System? |
| 2021-Dec-31 • 34 minutes Episode 779: Q&A 167: Will James Webb redo the Hubble Deep Field? And More... In this week's final 2021 QA, I explain why landing on the Moon could make it difficult for other spacecraft to land, if binary planets could exist, and if there are plans to do a JWST version of the Hubble Deep Field. |
| 2021-Dec-20 • 57 minutes Episode 778: Seeing the Clearest View of the Universe with Michael Zemcov My guest today is Dr. Michael Zemcov, an associate professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Dr. Zemcov has proposed putting a telescope out beyond the orbit of Saturn to capture the clearest possible view of the Universe, away from the light-polluted inner Solar System. |
| 2021-Dec-20 • 42 minutes Episode 777: Discovering Earth-Sized Planets with Andrea Lin My guest today is Andrea Lin, a graduate student at the Eberly College of Science at Penn State University. Andrea is working with the NEID Spectrograph, a brand new instrument that will eventually be capable of detecting Earth-sized worlds orbiting sunlike stars. |
| 2021-Dec-20 • 37 minutes Episode 776: Q&A 166: Does an Infinite Universe Solve the Fermi Paradox? And More... In this week's Questions and Answers show, I explain how an infinite Universe could be the ultimate answer to the Fermi Paradox, where the energy for tidal heating comes from, and why are there always so many asteroid scare stories in media? |
| 2021-Dec-06 • 41 minutes Episode 775: Q&A 165: How Could We Explore the Oceans of Europa? And More... In this week's live questions and answers show, I explain why NASA doesn't build standardized rovers, how we know the Universe is approximately 13.8 billion years old, and which are the best (and worst) entry-level telescopes to get. |
| 2021-Dec-01 • 31 minutes Episode 774: Q&A 164: Could Too Much Gravity Prevent a Civilization Going to Space? And More... In this week's live questions and answers show, I speculate what kind of civilization could be permanently stuck on the surface of their planet, if rival nations could shoot down each other's spacecraft, and how do I really feel about the Space Launch System? |
| 2021-Nov-29 • 57 minutes Episode 773: Searching for Exomoons with Alex Teachey My guest today is Dr. Alex Teachey, a Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy & Astrophysics (ASIAA) in Taipei, Taiwan. Alex specializes in searching for moons orbiting extrasolar planets: exomoons. Learn why these could be some of the most interesting places to search for life in the Universe. |
| 2021-Nov-29 • 34 minutes Episode 772: Q&A 163: Is There No Way to Repair James Webb in Space? And More... In this week's episode, I answer questions about the speed of supernovae, if a black hole can pull itself apart, is there really no way to repair James Webb, and more... |
| 2021-Nov-22 • 22 minutes Episode 771: QA 162: Could We Build a Particle Accelerator on the Moon? And More... In this week's live Q&A, I explain what would happen if we build a particle accelerator around the entire Moon (and what would happen if it generated a black hole), if you can ice skate on Pluto, and is it better to do sample return missions or explore with rovers and landers. |
| 2021-Nov-08 • 46 minutes Episode 770: Using Pulsars to Detect Gravitational Waves: with Boris Goncharov My guest today is Dr. Boris Goncharov, a researcher at the Gran Sasso Science Institute. Boris is part of the team using the precise signals from pulsars as a way to detect gravitational waves. This technique could be sensitive enough to even detect merging supermassive black holes. |
| 2021-Nov-08 • 59 minutes Episode 769: NASA's Astrobiology Vision with Mary Voytek My guest today is Dr. Mary Voytek, the director of NASA's Astrobiology Program since 2008. Dr. Voytek and others from NASA are proposing a new 7-step framework on how they could report on the discovery of life beyond Earth. We'll discuss this new framework as well as the latest challenges in the search for life across the Universe. |
| 2021-Nov-08 • 27 minutes Episode 768: Q&A 161: Could You Have a Planet Made of Water? And More... In this week's questions show, I answer if you could have a planet made entirely of water, is it our duty to spread life in the Universe? Could Planet 9 be a brown dwarf? And more... |
| 2021-Nov-01 • 55 minutes Episode 767: Collecting Samples with Perseverance: Justin Simon, NASA My guest today is Dr. Justin Simon, a planetary scientist within the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Division at the Johnson Space Center. He specializes in measuring meteorites and samples collected by spacecraft. We'll be talking about what it takes to sample the surface of Mars and other worlds: |
| 2021-Nov-01 • 30 minutes Episode 766: Q&A 160: Could We Transmit DNA to Another Civilization? And More... In this week's questions show, I answer questions about ice on rockets, the maximum gravitational slingshot, could black holes pull you out of black holes, and more... |
| 2021-Oct-25 • 34 minutes Episode 765: Q&A 159: How Long Can Life Survive? And More... In this week's questions show, I theorize how long life can survive in the Universe, could we detect a wormhole in the Solar System, what's happening with the Chinese Space Agency? And more... |
| 2021-Oct-18 • 55 minutes Episode 764: Habitable Hycean Worlds: An interview with Dr. Nikku Madhusudhan My guest today is Dr. Nikku Madhusudhan, a PhD astronomer at the University of Cambridge. Dr. Madhusudhan is one of the researchers who investigated the habitability of "hycean worlds"; ocean worlds with a thick hydrogen ocean. These worlds are completely alien to anything we have in the Solar System, and yet, could have a much wider region that remains habitable than terrestrial planets. |
| 2021-Oct-18 • 55 minutes Episode 763: The Enceladus Vent Explorer: An interview with Dr. Hiro Ono My guest today is Dr. Hiro Ono, the Group Leader of the Robotic Surface Mobility Group for NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab. Dr. Ono is been awarded a NIAC prize to develop a rover that could crawl into the fascinating vents on Enceladus, to search for evidence of life on this icy world. |
| 2021-Oct-18 • 28 minutes Episode 762: Q&A 158: Does a Titan Sample Return Mission Make Sense? And More... In this week's live questions and answer show, I explain how astronomers measure the distance to gravitational wave events, how clean are spacecraft sent to Mars, and would it be possible to have a sample return mission from Titan? |
| 2021-Oct-06 • 33 minutes Episode 761: Q&A 157: Where Will We Get the Stuff to Build in Space? And More... In this week's Questions and Answers show, I explain how we'll get the matter to build stuff out in space, what about the matter for a Dyson Sphere? How long will the International Space Station survive? And More... |
| 2021-Sep-29 • 31 minutes Episode 760: Q&A 156: Are We Seeing the Same Galaxy Many Times? And More... In this week's questions show, I explain why we don't see the same thing multiple times as we look out into the Universe, could a planet orbit in the Lagrange Points of two stars, and why haven't there been any missions to Io? |
| 2021-Sep-28 • 37 minutes Episode 759: Q&A 155: Could We Build a Base on Mercury? And More... In this week's questions show, I jump into the controversy between Blue Origin and SpaceX, explain why bigger telescopes are better, and talk about how Mercury has eternally shadowed craters and could serve as a place for a base. |
| 2021-Sep-20 • 36 minutes Episode 756: Q&A 154: How Big are Meteors? And More... The new season has begun! We're back with an all-new series of question shows. In this week's episode, I provide a quick guide to seeing fireballs (bolides), which are the brightest meteors you can see (and sometimes hear). I explain the philosophy behind Dyson Spheres, and explain why dark matter can't be made out of antimatter. |
| 2021-Sep-20 • 58 minutes Episode 758: Interview: Dr. Hamsa Padmanabhan, Peering into the Cosmic Dawn My guest today is Dr. Hamsa Padmanabhan, a cosmologist at the University of Geneva. Dr. Padmanabhan's work involves the investigation of Cosmic Dawn, the period shortly after the beginning of the Universe when the large-scale structure of the cosmos was defined. https://cosmology.unige.ch/use... |
| 2021-Sep-20 • 55 minutes Episode 757: Interview: Dr. Markus Janson, Starshades for Ground Telescopes My guest today is Dr. Markus Janson, an astronomy professor at Stockholm University. Dr. Janson and his co-authors have recently published a study investigating if ground-based observatory could use starshades to help directly image exoplanets. https://link.springer.com/a... |
| 2021-Jul-22 • 37 minutes Episode 755: Q&A 153: How High Can Bacteria Survive? And More... In the season finale of my questions show, I talk about high-altitude bacteria, traveling into the future, does it make sense to go back to University, and more. See you all in September! |
| 2021-Jul-05 • 33 minutes Episode 754: Q&A 152: Could We Detect Dyson Swarms? And More... In this week's questions show, I explain why Dyson Spheres (and Swarms) should actually be pretty easy to detect across the Universe. If it's possible to service the Hubble Space Telescope with a Falcon 9, and will computers take jobs away from astronomers. |
| 2021-Jun-24 • 57 minutes Episode 753: Interview: Prof. Lee Cronin - Detecting the Chemistry of Life My guest today is Professor Lee Cronin from the University of Glasgow. Dr. Cronin investigates the chemistry of life and has developed methods that could help us detect it on other worlds - even life as we don't know it. |
| 2021-Jun-24 • 33 minutes Episode 752: Q&A 151: Would They Warn Us About the End of the World? And More... In this week's questions show, I explain what would happen if scientists discovered an existential threat to humanity. Would they let us know, or keep it secret to avoid a panic? Could we detect a Breakthrough Starshot fleet coming our way? And how well does China communicate its space exploration to the public? |
| 2021-Jun-16 • 36 minutes Episode 751: Q&A 150: What is Space Dust, Anyway? And More... In this week's questions and answer show, I explain how all the dust in space forms, could life be Von Neumann probes, why do people think black holes lead to another universe, and more... |
| 2021-Jun-09 • 36 minutes Episode 750: Q&A 149: What if a Microscopic Black Hole Passed Through the Earth? And More... In this week's Q&A, I try to imagine what might happen if a microscopic black hole passed through the Earth. How long will James Webb take to become operational, and what will be the Plan B for James Webb if it fails? |
| 2021-Jun-01 • 35 minutes Episode 749: Q&A 148: How Do We Know the Age of the Universe? And More... In this week's episode, I talk about the various ways we measure the age of the Universe. What's next for OSIRIS-REx? And what are the next frontiers for gravitational wave astronomy? |
| 2021-Jun-01 • 61 minutes Episode 748: Interview: Dr. Casey Handmer, Starship, Space Junk and Settlement I'm pleased to welcome back Dr. Casey Handmer, a software systems architect at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In addition to his work at NASA, Casey has a fascinating blog where he considers the future of human and robotic space exploration: |
| 2021-May-17 • 36 minutes Episode 747: Q&A 147: The Night Sky at the Center of the Milky Way? And More... In this week's questions show, I consider what the night sky might look like if you could stand at the center of the Milky Way where the stars are denser. Do all stars have Oort clouds? And could Starship really send humans to Mars for the price of a house? |
| 2021-May-17 • 51 minutes Episode 746: Interview: Dr. Michael Hecht, Making Oxygen with MOXIE My guest is Dr. Michael H. Hecht, a research scientist and associate director at MIT's Haystack Observatory. Hecht is also the principal investigator for the Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment onboard Perseverance: |
| 2021-May-17 • 58 minutes Episode 745: Interview: Dr. Ken Olum, Boltzmann Brains, Cosmic Strings and Gravitational Waves My guest is Dr. Ken Olum, a research professor at Tufts University. His primary research is into cosmic strings, and how they could be detectable through techniques like gravitational waves. |
| 2021-May-10 • 45 minutes Episode 744: Interview: Practical Time Travel with Prof. Ronald Mallet In this special interview, I was fortunate to speak with Dr. Ronald Mallet, an emeritus professor at UConn. In addition to a lifetime's work in cosmology and astrophysics, Mallet has been trying to work out how our understanding of Einstein's theories of General Relativity might lead to a practical form of time travel. |
| 2021-May-10 • 33 minutes Episode 743: Q&A 146: Could We Even Comprehend Aliens... as Aliens? And More.. In this week's questions show, I explain why we'd be able to recognize aliens, even if they were vastly more technologically advanced than us. Why I don't do any promotional ads on my videos, and if we have any examples of energy turning into matter. |
| 2021-May-06 • 66 minutes Episode 742: Interview with Fraser on Demystifying Science It's time for another interview with me on someone else's podcast. This time it's with Demystifying Science, where we talked about how the lessons of space exploration can help us learn more about conservation and sustainability here on Earth. https://demystifyingscience.com/ |
| 2021-May-06 • 39 minutes Episode 741: Q&A 145: Is Gravity Infinite? And More... In this week's questions show, I explain whether or not gravity is infinite, will we need to cure cancer to go to space? Will SpaceX help Artemis' chances for landing humans on Mars in 2024, and more... |
| 2021-May-06 • 57 minutes Episode 740: Interview: Dr. Jessie Christiansen, 2,200 Planets for TESS My guest is Dr. Jessie Christiansen, an astrophysicist with NASA's Exoplanet Science Institute. Jessie will give us an update on TESS and the 2,200 planets it's discovered so far. |
| 2021-May-06 • 58 minutes Episode 739: Interview: Dr. Rebecca K. Leane, Detecting Dark Matter My guest is Dr. Rebecca K. Leane, an astroparticle physicist with the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The work involves innovative ways to detect dark matter. |
| 2021-Apr-26 • 28 minutes Episode 738: Q&A 144: Are We First in the Universe? In this week's questions show I explain why we could be first in the Universe, do galaxies flip or spin, did I pick a good career? And more. |
| 2021-Apr-26 • 58 minutes Episode 736: Interview: Mick West, Identifying UFOs My guest is Mick West, a game developer and writer. Mick has been studying UFO claims and contrail conspiracy theories for many years and has a useful toolkit to help identify unidentified objects in the sky. |
| 2021-Apr-26 • 59 minutes Episode 737: Interview: Dr. Klaus Pontoppidan, Choosing Targets for James Webb My guest is Dr. Klaus Pontoppidan, an astronomer and project scientist working with the James Webb Space Telescope. Klaus is on the committee that helped choose targets that the telescope will be studying once it flys (and it will). |
| 2021-Apr-20 • 30 minutes Episode 735: Q&A 143: Could Heat on Venus Power a Rover? And More... In this week's questions show, I explain why a heat-powered rover wouldn't work on Venus. I explain how spacecraft navigate, and wonder what James Webb's Deep Field survey will look like. |
| 2021-Apr-20 • 59 minutes Episode 734: Interview: Dr. Maggie Lieu, Euclid and the Dark Universe My guest is astronomer and science communicator Dr. Maggie Lieu. Lieu is a research fellow of machine learning and cosmology at the University of Nottingham and has been working on the upcoming Euclid space mission to help in the search for Dark Energy. |
| 2021-Apr-15 • 59 minutes Episode 733: Interview: Prof. Geraint Lewis and the Anthropic Principle Professor Geraint Lewis is an astrophysicist focused on dark energy, gravitational lensing and galactic merger. He has recently published a paper that that investigates the nature of the anthropic principle, how the Universe needs observers. |
| 2021-Apr-15 • 34 minutes Episode 732: Interview: Dr. Paul Sutter, explaining Muon G-2 You might know Dr. Sutter as a science communicator, but his doctorate is actually in particle physics. Paul is going to join me to talk about the Muon g-2 experiment and what it means for the Standard Model of physics. We'll probably also talk about the end of the EmDrive and other topics in space and astronomy. |
| 2021-Apr-15 • 48 minutes Episode 731: Interview: Dr. Michio Kaku and the God Equation Dr. Michio Kaku is a theoretical physicist and science communicator. His new book is called the God Equation, which traces the quest for a single theory of everything that will unite quantum mechanics and the theory of gravity. |
| 2021-Apr-12 • 57 minutes Episode 730: Interview with Fraser on the Debrief Podcast This time I was interviewed on the Debrief Podcast. We spend an hour talking about humanity's future in space, the exploration of Mars, and more. Check out their website: https://thedebrief.org/ |
| 2021-Apr-12 • 44 minutes Episode 729: Q&A 142: Do Pulsars Slow Down? And More... In this week's questions show, I look at the rotation rate of pulsars, why NASA is such a fan of the term in-situ and what our plans are for exploring the Universe. |
| 2021-Apr-09 • 61 minutes Episode 728: Interview: Oumuamua, Aliens and Astrophysics with Dr. Avi Loeb Professor Avi Loeb is a theoretical physicist from Harvard who has worked on many advances in space and astrophysics. He helped predict exoplanet discoveries using microlensing, worked on the mathematics for the Event Horizon Telescope, and has many fascinating opinions about the search for extraterrestrials. |
| 2021-Apr-09 • 60 minutes Episode 727: Interview: Vera Rubin and Time-Domain Astronomy with Dr. James Davenport My guest is Dr. James Davenport, a research assistant professor at the University of Washington. In addition to his research into magnetically active stars, James focuses on large-scale, time-domain astronomy. He's also a prolific communicator here on YouTube, breaking down complicated scientific topics and documenting astronomy meetings for the general public. |
| 2021-Apr-05 • 39 minutes Episode 726: Q&A 141: Is It Ethical To Send Humans to Mars? And More... In this week's questions show, I tackle some challenging questions, like the ethics of sending humans to Mars, and whether it's better to focus on our efforts on Earth or on space exploration. Should we welcome a Carrington Event? Are there any serious competitors to SpaceX in the market right now? |
| 2021-Mar-29 • 37 minutes Episode 725: Q&A 140: Are the Stars We Can See Special in Any Way? And More... In this week's questions show, I talk about the stars we can see with our own eyes. Are they special? How long does it take solar flares to reach Earth? How will crimes on Mars be prosecuted? |
| 2021-Mar-22 • 47 minutes Episode 724: Q&A 139: Could We Give the Moon an Atmosphere? And More... In this week's questions show, I answer questions about supernovae, how we could terraform the Moon, and why is Starlink so expensive? |
| 2021-Mar-18 • 51 minutes Episode 723: Q&A 138: When Will Starships Stop Exploding? And More... In this week's questions show, I talk about how dark matter seems to clump differently from regular matter. When will Starships stop exploding? And what do I think about the Stellina telescope? |
| 2021-Mar-18 • 62 minutes Episode 722: Interview: Prof. Benjamin Zuckerman on Giant Space Interferometers and Slow Interstellar Exploration Today I'm interviewing Dr. Benjamin Zuckerman, emeritus professor from UCLA. Zuckerman is the author of over 200 papers, and was involved with the first direct imaging of a multi-planetary system. |
| 2021-Mar-18 • 59 minutes Episode 721: Interview: Jack Burns and the Lunar FARSIDE Telescope This week I talk to Dr. Jack Burns, the Principle Investigator for the Lunar FARSIDE telescope. This would be a radio telescope installed on the far side of the Moon that would be capable of observing the first stars and black holes during the Dark Ages and Epoch of Reionization. |
| 2021-Mar-15 • 61 minutes Episode 720: Interview: Christopher Morrison and the Interstellar Sample Return Mission This week I talk to Christopher Morrison from USNC about their recently awarded NIAC Grant. Their grant will investigate the feasibility of a radioisotope-electric propelled spacecraft that could intercept and retrieve a sample from a future interstellar asteroid or comet. |
| 2021-Mar-04 • 47 minutes Episode 719: Q&A 137: What Impressed Me The Most About Perseverance's Landing? And More... In this week's live questions show, we spend a lot of time talking about the Perseverance landing on Mars. What's happening with my content right now, and is anyone watching the Moon for meteorite impacts? |
| 2021-Mar-02 • 49 minutes Episode 718: Interview with Fraser on SciManDan Podcast Here's an interview with me on the SciManDan Podcast. We talked about Perseverance, space conspiracy theories, and much more. Check out the podcast at: https://blubrry.com/thescimandanpodcast/ |
| 2021-Feb-23 • 47 minutes Episode 717: Q&A 136: Should Falcon Heavy Launch the Lunar Gateway? And More... In this week's questions show, I talk about why some missions go into orbit, and other missions make a direct landing on Mars. Is it a good idea for the SpaceX Falcon Heavy to launch components for the Lunar Gateway? And how can we know if the Universe is finite or infinite? |
| 2021-Feb-16 • 48 minutes Episode 716: Q&A 135: Where Will We Find Life First? In the Solar System or Another Star? In this week's questions show, I explain why there are separate challenges for finding life in both the Solar System and in the Milky Way. Can we use water as a propulsion system in space? Will there be interferometer telescopes launched into space? |
| 2021-Feb-09 • 63 minutes Episode 715: Interview: Chris Prophet, SpaceX From the Ground Up This week I interview Chris Prophet, the author of "SpaceX from the Ground Up". His book, now in its 6th edition covers the story of SpaceX, from its initial concept to the latest Starship tests. |
| 2021-Feb-08 • 44 minutes Episode 714: Q&A 134: Could Tethered Starships Provide Artificial Gravity? And More... In this week's Q&A show, I answer questions about Starship might be able to provide artificial gravity, whether I'd prefer to have LUVOIR or the Overwhelmingly Large Telescope, and if nuclear-powered rockets will work in space. |
| 2021-Feb-01 • 60 minutes Episode 713: Interview: The Story of the Europa Clipper: "The Mission" with David Brown In this week's interview, I talk to David Brown about his new book: The Mission. It's all about the campaign to design and build the Europa Clipper mission and everything that happened behind-the-scenes. |
| 2021-Feb-01 • 45 minutes Episode 712: Q&A 133: What's Causing the Expansion of the Universe? And More... In this week's QA, I talk about what's driving the expansion of the Universe, how big the observable Universe is to the actual Universe, and what will happen to dogs in gravity. |
| 2021-Jan-23 • 6 minutes Episode 711: The Universe in Formation. Hubble Sees 6 Examples of Merging Galaxies Contributing author Matthew Cimone decided to record an audio narration for his article this week on Universe Today. I thought it was a cool idea, so I included it here on the podcast feed. Let me know if you enjoyed it and want to hear more of them. |
| 2021-Jan-23 • 59 minutes Episode 710: Interview: Robots Made of Ice with Devin Carroll In this week's interview, I talk with Devin Carroll, a robotics Ph.D. student at the modular robotics lab at the University of Pennsylvania. Devin is working on robots that can build their own structure out of ice. |
| 2021-Jan-20 • 55 minutes Episode 709: Q&A 132: How Much Of The Universe Could We Ever Explore? And More... In this week's live Q&A, I talk about the new Space Launch System hot-fire test, how Breakthrough Starshot spacecraft might be able to communicate with home, and what messages would we send to aliens that we might never be able to reach physically. |
| 2021-Jan-14 • 54 minutes Episode 708: Q&A 131: Can Breakthrough Starshot Slow Down? And More... Welcome to the new style Q&As, which we're now recording every Monday live on my YouTube channel at 5pm Pacific Time. This week we got a lot of great questions about the Proxima Centauri signal, the Fermi Paradox, and Breakthrough Starshot. |
| 2021-Jan-12 • 60 minutes Episode 707: Interview: The Story of the Milky Way with Chris Carr In this week's interview, I talk with Chris Carr, one of the co-hosts in the Weekly Space Hangout. Chris is a grad student at Columbia University, specializing in the cosmos inside and outside the Milky Way. |
| 2020-Dec-24 • 90 minutes Episode 706: Open Space 100: Did We Really Detect a Signal from Proxima Centauri? And More... In this week's last QA of 2020, I go long answering questions about space and astronomy. I talk about the news of a radio signal received from Proxima Centauri, an update on my attempts to learn Mandarin Chinese, and a long diatribe about megaconstellations and their impact on astronomy. |
| 2020-Dec-15 • 62 minutes Episode 705: Open Space 99: Would Alien AI Be Friendly to Us? And More... In this week's live QA, I answer questions about the source of the Earth's water, what happened to Theia after it collided with the Earth? And can we hope for alien artificial intelligence to be peaceful? |
| 2020-Dec-14 • 61 minutes Episode 704: Interview: Elizabeth Howell PhD, Canada's Role in Space Exploration My guest this week is the science journalist Elizabeth Howell. Dr. Howell is one of the most prolific space journalists working in the field, contributing thousands of articles across almost every space news site (including Universe Today). She has also written and collaborated on several books. Her latest book is called "Canadarm and Collaboration", and it's all about Canada's role in spaceflight. |
| 2020-Dec-08 • 62 minutes Episode 703: Open Space 98: Can White Dwarf Stars Have Habitable Planets? And More... In this week's live questions show, I explain why planets can remain habitable long after their stars have died, what we're going to do now that Arecibo has collapsed, how we'll explore the oceans underneath Europa. I also answer the question of whether or not I'm ready to learn about the secret Galactic Federation. |
| 2020-Dec-07 • 55 minutes Episode 702: Interview: Alex Ignatiev and Manufacturing on the Moon My guest this week is Alex Ignatiev, from Lunar Resources. Alex and his team are working on a rover that could build solar panels, wiring and even radio antennae out of lunar regolith. This could support future bases or even radio telescopes. |
| 2020-Dec-02 • 61 minutes Episode 701: Open Space 97: What if SagA* Turned into a Quasar? And More... In this week's live questions show, I explain how amateurs can contribute to space and astronomy research, will I sign up for Starlink, and what would happen if the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way turned into a quasar? |
| 2020-Nov-26 • 60 minutes Episode 700: Interview: Wallace Arthur and the Biological Universe Wallace Arthur is an evolutionary biologist and emeritus professor of Zoology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. His newest book is called the Biological Universe, and features the search for life in the Milky Way and Beyond. |
| 2020-Nov-24 • 61 minutes Episode 699: Open Space 96: The End of the International Space Station? And More... In this week's Open Space, we had a series of questions about the International Space Station. How long will it remain in orbit, and what role will it continue to play with other space stations under construction? We also talked about how much longer the Earth will remain habitable, and if it could be possible to replace Arecibo. |
| 2020-Nov-23 • 60 minutes Episode 698: Open Space 95: Would SpaceX Have Survived without NASA? And More... In this week's live QA, I talk about how much oxygen we need to survive. Could SpaceX have succeeded without NASA's help? And what's going to happen with Gateway with all the changes to Artemis? |
| 2020-Nov-16 • 61 minutes Episode 697: Interview: Theoretical Physicist Dr. Peter Woit Dr. Peter Woit is a theoretical physicist and senior lecturer in the math department at Columbia University. He's a critic of string theory, wrote a book called "Not Even Wrong" and maintains a blog of the same name. |
| 2020-Nov-10 • 60 minutes Episode 696: Open Space 94: Is It Realistic to Declare a "Free Mars"? And More... In this week's live QA, I talk about Elon Musk's hope of establishing a free Mars, the future of gravitational wave detectors, and what do I think about trying to live in other places in the Solar System? |
| 2020-Nov-02 • 26 minutes Episode 695: Q&A 130: Does the Dark Forest Explain the Fermi Paradox? And More... In this week's questions show, I talk about the Dark Forest theory in the Three-Body Problem series of books. Is it a compelling answer to the Fermi Paradox? How much of a risk is dust to interstellar travel? Is black hole evaporation negated by black holes absorbing additional material and energy? |
| 2020-Oct-27 • 55 minutes Episode 694: Interview: Fred Watson, Australia's Astronomer at Large This week my guest is Australian astronomer Fred Watson. He's a writer, researcher and Australia's Astronomer at Large. |
| 2020-Oct-27 • 58 minutes Episode 693: Open Space 92: Why I Hate Embargoed News Stories, and More... In this week's live questions show, I talk about the possibility of life on exomoons and why they'll be important targets to search. Why I hate the embargo system for news, and the announcement of water on the Moon. |
| 2020-Oct-22 • 60 minutes Episode 692: Open Space 91: Any Updates on Venus? And More... In this week's live QA, I give updates on the discovery of phosphine at Venus, how the Universe could be compressed into a singularity leading to a Big Bang, and more... |
| 2020-Oct-14 • 61 minutes Episode 691: Interview: Seth Shostak from the SETI Institute This week I'll be talking Dr. Seth Shostak from the SETI Institute about his work searching the Universe for evidence of extraterrestrials. Check out Seth's podcast at: http://radio.seti.org/ |
| 2020-Oct-14 • 30 minutes Episode 690: The Opposition of Mars with Ralph Crewe Here's a guest interview I did with Ralph Crewe on his podcast "Isn't That Something" talking about the 2020 Mars Opposition. Check out the podcast at: https://ralphcrewe.podbean.com/ |
| 2020-Oct-06 • 61 minutes Episode 689: Open Space 90: Could We Drill for Life on Mars? And More... In this week's live questions show, I answer questions about drilling for microbes on Mars, missions that could survive the surface of Venus, and if anyone else is dissatisfied with the Big Bang. |
| 2020-Oct-02 • 13 minutes Episode 688: Remnants From the Early Universe. Primordial Black Holes Black holes are already mind-bending enough. Matter and energy compressed into a region so dense that the escape velocity exceeds the speed of light. Places where space and time are tangled up so much that even if you could go faster than light speed, you’d still end up at the singularity. Astronomers know of two kinds of black holes in the Universe: stellar mass and supermassive, and how we get them have been worked out pretty well. But there’s a third class of black hole, one which has never been observ... |
| 2020-Oct-02 • 62 minutes Episode 687: Open Space 89: Scott Gaudi and the HabEx Mission This week I'll be talking with astronomer Scott Gaudi from Ohio State University about the search for habitable exoplanets and NASA's HabEx mission. |
| 2020-Sep-28 • 29 minutes Episode 686: Q&A 129: Did Life Get a Ride to Venus from our Missions? And More... Did Venus life hitch a ride on the Venera missions? Could we use life to terraform Venus? Life on Venus? Booooring. |
| 2020-Sep-28 • 59 minutes Episode 685: Open Space 88: UFO Culture with Author Sarah Scoles Sarah Scoles is a Denver-based science writer who has supplied articles to WIRED Science and Popular Science. Her newest book is called "They Are Already Here: UFO Culture and Why We See Saucers". http://www.sarahscoles.com/ |
| 2020-Sep-28 • 58 minutes Episode 684: Open Space 87: What Would It Take to Terraform Venus, And More... In this week's live QA, I answer more questions about the discovery of phosphine on Venus, does Russia own Venus? And more... |
| 2020-Sep-17 • 58 minutes Episode 683: Open Space 86: The Venus Announcement, and More... It's time for an all new season of Open Space. This is a live QA with Fraser Cain. Obviously, everyone wanted to discuss the discovery of phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus. So we did that as well as talk about the progress of Starship and upcoming missions to Mars. |
| 2020-Sep-17 • 11 minutes Episode 682: Life on Venus? A Key Biosignature Called Phosphine has been Discovered in Venus' Atmosphere Well, did you hear the big news? Life on Venus. Life… on... Venus. Now, where have we heard this before? Oh right, life on Mars. If you’ve been watching any of my videos or listening to Astronomy Cast, you’re cautiously optimistic. Skeptical, but hopeful. That’s the right position to take, because buckle up, the internet’s about to run with this news. It’s going to be difficult to figure out what was really discovered, and what this means for the search for life in the Universe. |
| 2020-Sep-14 • 28 minutes Episode 681: Q&A 128: Which Supernova Created the Solar System? And More... With Astronaut Terry Virts In this week's questions show, I wonder about the supernova that formed the Solar System, how astronauts deal with air pressure differences, and how we're going to handle the cold temperatures on Mars. Featuring Astronaut Terry Virts https://terryvirts.com/ |
| 2020-Sep-10 • 88 minutes Episode 680: Interview with Fraser on Awesome Astronomy Here's an interview I did with the Awesome Astronomy podcast. You can see their full podcast here: https://awesomeastronomy.com/ Subscribe to their podcast on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/awesome-astronomy/id521780589 Or... on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Yr24VAoheI0tOUSpVOI2Q... |
| 2020-Sep-08 • 31 minutes Episode 679: Q&A 127: Does the Simulation Hypothesis Explain the Fermi Paradox? And More... In this week's questions show, you wondered if the simulation hypothesis is a good answer to the Fermi Paradox. How to get a career in space manufacturing? Will a compass work on Mars? And more... |
| 2020-Jul-30 • 21 minutes Episode 678: Q&A 126: When Did Mars' Dynamo Shut Off? And More... In this week's questions show, I consider what the benefits might be to humanity if we discover that we aren't alone in the Universe. How long did Mars planetary dynamo take to turn off? Could we find and repair the lunar rovers? |
| 2020-Jul-24 • 33 minutes Episode 677: Q&A 125 Can Stars Orbit So Close They're Touching? And More... In this week's questions show, I explain how it's possible for stars to orbit so closely they're actually touching. What are the limits to gravitational slingshots, and how astronomers know where to point their telescopes in the Universe. |
| 2020-Jul-21 • 10 minutes Episode 676: Lunar Rovers. From Apollo to Artemis When the Apollo astronauts first landed on the Moon, they couldn’t go far on foot. That’s why the three final missions were equipped with Lunar Roving Vehicles, or Moon buggies, which allowed the astronauts to cover much more ground and do more science. Now that NASA is returning to the Moon by 2024 as part of its Artemis Program, it’s considering a fleet of new vehicles that will help astronauts roam far and wide across the surface of the Moon. |
| 2020-Jul-20 • 26 minutes Episode 675: Q&A 124: Are We Even Mentally Capable of Understanding the Universe? And More... In this week's questions show I explain why it's still important to do science, even if it's difficult, can we use multiple methods to measure distance, and why the Trojan asteroids don't collect into a single object? |
| 2020-Jul-14 • 9 minutes Episode 674: A Massive Star Just Disappeared. No Supernova, Just Straight to Black Hole When the largest stars die, it’s usually pretty obvious. Supernovae are visible from billions of light-years away. But recently astronomers watched a massive star just disappear. No explosion, nothing, it just… vanished? Of course, it could have been dust. It’s always dust. But one intriguing possibility is that the star just imploded directly into a black hole, without the supernova detonation. And if that’s the case, is this happening more often, we just didn’t notice it? |
| 2020-Jul-08 • 22 minutes Episode 673: A New Way to Measure The Expansion of the Universe. The Cosmological Crisis Deepens. This episode is a segment that we did in the Weekly Space Hangout talking about how astronomers are using masers (water lasers) to measure the expansion rate of the Universe. You'd think that another, independent way to measure the expansion rate of the Universe would be helpful, but it's only deepened the mystery of the cosmological crisis. |
| 2020-Jul-03 • 61 minutes Episode 672: Open Space 85: Final Open Space Before Hiatus, Live QA with Fraser This week, it'll be the last Open Space with Fraser before the show goes on its summer hiatus until September. If you've got some burning space questions, no will be your chance to ask them. |
| 2020-Jul-03 • 29 minutes Episode 671: Q&A 123: What if a Supernova Exploded Beside a Black Hole? And More... In this week's questions show, I answer what would happen if a supernova exploded right beside a black hole, how do we know that it's impossible to travel faster than the speed of light, can we hitch a ride on an interstellar object, and more... |
| 2020-Jul-03 • 9 minutes Episode 670: NASA is Considering the Trident Mission. Going Back to Neptune and Triton. Earlier this year, NASA announced 4 new Discovery-class missions that they were considering. These are low-cost, rapidly-built missions that will help scientists understand some mystery in astronomy and planetary science. One of these missions is called Trident, and it’s going to be targeting the Planet Neptune. And more specifically, it’s going to be providing close up pictures of its largest moon Triton. |
| 2020-Jun-29 • 61 minutes Episode 669: Interview with Fraser on Space Junk Podcast - Mars is the Worst Place to Live This is a recent interview with me on the Space Junk, hosted by Tony Darnell and Dustin Gibson about the future of Solar System settlement. Although I'm a huge fan of space exploration in general, I'm not a huge fan of living on other words. Subscribe to Space Junk: https://anchor.fm/spacejunk |
| 2020-Jun-29 • 24 minutes Episode 668: Q&A 122: How Will We Know It's Alien Life? And More... In this week's episode, I answer questions about alien life, why the ISS is at its current altitude, and of course, many questions about black holes. |
| 2020-Jun-23 • 61 minutes Episode 667: Open Space 84: Are Red Dwarf Planets Doomed? Should the Space Shuttle Have Been Built? And More Another week, another Open Space. In this week's questions show, I talk about planets orbiting red dwarf stars, if planets could steal moons from each other, and whether or not the space shuttle should have ever been built. |
| 2020-Jun-23 • 9 minutes Episode 666: Two Confirmed Planets at Proxima Centauri. One in the Habitable Zone! Astronomers have discovered thousands of exoplanets, and still need to confirm thousands more. And over the coming decades, we’ll probably learn of millions of planets, orbiting stars we’ve never heard of. That’s why it’s reassuring to know astronomers are learning a tremendous amount about the closest star system to our own, Proxima Centauri. In fact, we now know of two planets orbiting the red dwarf star, one of which is in the habitable zone. |
| 2020-Jun-22 • 86 minutes Episode 663: Interview with Fraser on the Interplanetary Podcast As you know, I sometimes throw interviews with me on the feed. And this is one I did about a week ago on the Interplanetary Podcast. We talk about a range of things in space and astronomy, and my portion shows up around the 30-minute mark. https://www.interplanetary.org.uk... |
| 2020-Jun-22 • 62 minutes Episode 665: Open Space 83: Dr. Jamie Molaro on Asteroid Bennu and OSIRIS-REx In this week's episode of Open Space, I talk with Dr. Jamie Molaro, a planetary scientist who helped discover that the surface of asteroid Bennu has rocks that crack because of the constant day/night cycle. |
| 2020-Jun-22 • 59 minutes Episode 664: Open Space 82: What Will Happen in the Next 5 Decades? And More... Another week, another Open Space. This week I answer questions about what we might see in the next 5 decades. When dark matter will get debunked, and who will carry the Mars torch after Elon Musk passes away. |
| 2020-Jun-22 • 14 minutes Episode 662: How Do We Know Black Holes Exist? With Dr Paul Sutter I’d say half the astronomy-related videos on YouTube are all about black holes. Clearly, they’re a fascinating topic, but they’re also a mystery. How do you observe something that can absorb all the radiation and matter falling onto them, and nothing can ever escape? How do we know they’re really there, and what are the best observations we can make? Today I’m joined by Dr. Paul Sutter, a cosmologist, and astrophysicist to talk about how we know black holes are really there and not just a figment of an ast... |
| 2020-Jun-09 • 26 minutes Episode 661: Q&A 121: What Stops the Space Station from Re-Entry? And More... Featuring Michael Rodruck In this week's questions show, I answer questions about how the International Space Station stays above the Earth's atmosphere, does dark matter need a better name? And how do astronomers know they're looking at exoplanets and not sunspots? |
| 2020-Jun-04 • 10 minutes Episode 660: Crew Dragon Reaches the Station. What it Took to Replace the Space Shuttle On Sunday, May 31st, 2020, a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley docked with the International Space Station. This was a tremendous accomplishment for SpaceX and NASA, giving the United States the capability of launching its own astronauts, and no longer relying on its Russian partners. This was the 5th time that US astronauts went into orbit on a new kind of space vehicle, following in the footsteps of Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and the Space Shuttle. |
| 2020-Jun-02 • 60 minutes Episode 659: Open Space 81: Will Space-Time Freeze in the Far Future? And More... Another week, another Open Space. This week, I answered questions about whether space-time could freeze, are standard candles like Type 1a supernovae still useful? And is the Great Attractor just a black hole? |
| 2020-May-28 • 60 minutes Episode 658: Open Space 80: Will We Ever Get Close to the Speed of Light? And More... In this week's live Open Space, people wanted to know if solar sails really work, will we ever get close to the speed of light, what's the best way to get out of Venus' gravity well, and more? |
| 2020-May-25 • 30 minutes Episode 657: Q&A 120: Dark Matter Black Holes? And More... In this week's questions show, I answer whether or not dark matter could become a black hole, how do we know the Universe is flat, and what would happen to the world's market for precious metals once we start mining asteroids? |
| 2020-May-20 • 9 minutes Episode 656: Searching For Ice In The Moon’s Shadowed Craters When you’re out in space, water is the most precious resource you can get your hands on. It can be used for air, water, to grow food, radiation shielding, and most importantly, as the propellant for your spacecraft. Exploration of the Moon has revealed that there’s a tremendous amount of water ice locked into the regolith, but it’s probably very difficult to access. But there are also permanently shadowed craters at the Moon’s poles that could have more than enough water to support a permanently inhabitabl... |
| 2020-May-20 • 59 minutes Episode 655: Open Space 79: How Can Black Holes Have Infinite Density But Not Infinite Gravity? And More... In this week's live QA, I explain why a black hole can have infinite density but not infinite gravity. Does your perception of time change due to your mass, and am I ever intimidated by the people I get to interview? |
| 2020-May-20 • 58 minutes Episode 654: Open Space 78: Astronomer Royal Martin Rees on the Future of Humanity On a special time, we've got a special guest, Professor Martin Rees, a British cosmologist and astrophysicist. He's the Astronomer Royal and helped develop many of the modern theories of astronomy and cosmology. |
| 2020-May-14 • 10 minutes Episode 653: Catching Interstellar Objects. What If We Could Explore Oumuamua Or 2I/Borisov? The distances to other stars are depressingly enormous. Sure, it’s incredibly far to get to Mars, Jupiter, and even Pluto, but at least you can design a robotic spacecraft to make the journey and see the science results in your own lifetime. But in the case of other stars, interstellar flight times will take thousands and even tens of thousands of years to send just a robotic mission. Fortunately, the Milky Way has got our back. Other star systems have been hurling comets and asteroids towards the Solar ... |
| 2020-May-14 • 57 minutes Episode 652: Open Space 77: Moiya McTier This week's guest is Moiya McTier. You might know Moiya as one of the regular co-hosts on the Weekly Space Hangout. She's an astrophysicist and science communicator, working with Columbia's Cool Worlds Lab. |
| 2020-May-11 • 59 minutes Episode 651: Open Space 76: What Do I Think About Those UFO Videos? And More... In this week's live QA, I explain what's happening with Universe Today during the megavirus, what I think about the recently released UFO videos, how aliens could hide their existence, and if Starship will cause a Kessler Syndrome. |
| 2020-May-11 • 10 minutes Episode 650: Dancing, Flaring Supermassive Black Holes Prove Stephen Hawking's Theory The Moon orbits around the Earth. The Earth orbits around the Sun. And out in the distant Universe, astronomers have found a system that takes this logical progression to its most extreme. There’s a system where a supermassive black hole with millions of times the mass of the Sun orbits another black hole with billions of times the mass of the Sun. How astronomers discovered this incredible interaction took careful observations, imagination, and the hard work of the Spitzer Space Telescope, taken during i... |
| 2020-May-07 • 60 minutes Episode 649: Open Space 75: DasValdez from Kerbal Space Academy This week's guest is DasValdez, a popular Twitch stream who covers all things Kerbal Space Space. Das has carried this love of space exploration and astronomy into the real world, with absolutely fascinating coverage of rocket launches and virtual tours of museums. |
| 2020-Apr-22 • 59 minutes Episode 648: Open Space 74: Alien Oceans With NASA's Dr. Kevin Peter Hand This week I'm joined by Dr. Kevin Peter Hand, the Pre-Project Scientist for the Europa Lander mission concept and Director of JPL's Ocean Worlds Lab to talk about the alien oceans located across the Solar System. |
| 2020-Apr-22 • 60 minutes Episode 647: Open Space 73: Dr. Ryan Watkins, Planetary Science Institute This week I'll be joined by Dr. Ryan Watkins, a planetary scientist who focuses on exploration of the Moon. She's a member of the Science Advisory Board for the Blue Origin Blue Moon landing program. |
| 2020-Apr-22 • 61 minutes Episode 646: Open Space 72: Electric Sails with Dr. Pekka Janhunen Dr. Pekka Janhunen is a researcher with the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the inventor of the Electric Solar Wind Sail concept, using the solar wind as a propulsion system for spacecraft. These could allow spacecraft to explore many regions of the Solar System without any onboard propellant at all. |
| 2020-Apr-07 • 63 minutes Episode 645: Open Space 71: Scott Manley In this episode, I was joined by Scott Manley, a developer, player of video games and total space nerd. Scott and I discussed the state of Starship and other events in space exploration. |
| 2020-Apr-07 • 61 minutes Episode 644: Open Space 70: Professor Brian Keating Professor Brian Keating returns to Open Space to talk about the big concepts in cosmology, from inflation to the largest scale structures. Dr. Keating was the Principal Investigator of the BICEP2 experiment, and now he's the Director of the Simons Observatory in Chile. |
| 2020-Mar-31 • 63 minutes Episode 643: Open Space 69: Matt O'Dowd from PBS Space Time Today I'm joined by Dr. Matt O'Dowd from the successful PBS Space Time YouTube Channel. Matt is an astrophysicist and associate professor in the Physics and Astronomy Department at the Lehman College of the City University of New York. |
| 2020-Mar-31 • 61 minutes Episode 642: Open Space 68: Dangers and Rewards of Moon Mining with Dr. Phil Metzger Today I'm joined by Dr. Phil Metzger, a planetary physicist with the Planetary Science faculty at the University of Central Florida. Phil specializes in economic planetary science, helping humanity learn to prosper in space. |
| 2020-Mar-31 • 59 minutes Episode 641: Open Space 67: Science Communication with Susanna Kohler Today I'll be joined by Susanna Kohler, an astrophysics Ph.D. and science writer for the American Astronomical Society. |
| 2020-Mar-12 • 28 minutes Episode 640: Open Space 66: Special Guest Jim Al-Khalili, The World According to Physics Today I'll be joined by Jim Al-Khalili, a professor of physics at the University of Surrey. He's a well-known science presenter in the UK and has written many books on science and physics. His newest book is "The World According to Physics". |
| 2020-Mar-12 • 10 minutes Episode 639: Waterworlds. Can There Be Life Without Land? One of the longstanding questions astronomers have had is, are we normal? Is our Solar System a template for what we might expect to see as we look out into the Milky Way at other star systems? As the data continues to come in, the answer to that question really seems to be no, we’re not normal. Star systems seem to have a huge variety of planets orbiting them. Familiar planets like our own terrestrial, gas and ice worlds. But then there are also super earths, mini-neptunes, hot jupiters. And it looks lik... |
| 2020-Mar-12 • 59 minutes Episode 638: Open Space 65: Rob Hoyt, Tethers Unlimited My guest today is Rob Hoyt, the CEO and Chief Scientist of Tethers Unlimited. Founded in 1994, Tethers Unlimited is working on space-based assembly and manufacturing technologies. |
| 2020-Mar-05 • 29 minutes Episode 637: Q&A 119: Why Should Artemis Bother When We've Got Starship? And More... Featuring Dr. Pamela Gay In this week's questions show, I explain why we should be excited for both Starship and Artemis. Do we have a cognitive bias when thinking about advanced civilizations? Should humans or robots explore space? And more... |
| 2020-Mar-03 • 60 minutes Episode 636: Open Space 64: Why Send Humans to Space when Robots are Better? And More.. No guest this week, just a live QA with me. I counsel people on how to be patient when living on Elon Musk time, what is NASA interested in with the Moon, what's the purpose of human space exploration, and more. |
| 2020-Mar-03 • 10 minutes Episode 635: Japan is Going to Bring a Sample of Phobos Back to Earth. The Martian Moon eXploration Mission Mars has been the destination for so many of our spacecraft, and for good reason, it’s probably the most Earthlike place in the Solar System, with water ice on its surface and reservoirs of the liquid beneath the surface. If we’re going to find life, Mars might be the place. But the tiny moons orbiting Mars, Phobos and Deimos, are scientifically fascinating on their own, and so far, a mission has never reached them. Last week, Japan announced that they’ve greenlit their Martian Moon eXploration mission, o... |
| 2020-Mar-02 • 59 minutes Episode 634: Open Space 63: China's Plans for the Moon and More... No guest this week, just a live QA with me. We talked about what China is up to on the Moon and what comes next. How well have we mapped the surface of the Moon. Why has NASA chosen to build the Artemis mission differently from the Apollo missions, and more... |
| 2020-Mar-02 • 15 minutes Episode 633: How Will Humans Return to the Moon in 2024? Lunar Lander Options for Artemis After almost 50 years since the Apollo Moon landing missions ended, NASA announced that they’re going to return to the surface of the Moon with their Artemis mission, ideally taking the first lunar footsteps in 2024. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine asked for additional funding to achieve this goal, and the other branches of government haven’t been as enthusiastic about this plan. So don’t be surprised if the landing date slips to 2028 or even farther. But NASA is moving forward on its architecture to r... |
| 2020-Feb-20 • 60 minutes Episode 632: Open Space 62: Will We Need a Prime Directive in the Future? And More... In this week's live Q&A, and talk about whether or now we're going to need a Prime Directive in the future like Star Trek, and why aliens might have one already, could life exist on a red dwarf, and if balloons could be used to launch rockets. |
| 2020-Feb-20 • 29 minutes Episode 631: Q&A 118: Are We In a New Space Race? And More... Featuring Dr Jessie Christiansen In this week's questions show, I talk about how we're in a new space race, and what this means for returning to the Moon. Of course, lots of follow up answers about the Fermi Paradox. Could Betelgeuse release gravitational waves if it explodes? And what is our responsibility if we are truly alone in the Universe? |
| 2020-Feb-20 • 7 minutes Episode 630: Betelgeuse Is Still Dimming! And We Have the Pictures to Prove It Near the end of 2019, astronomers watching the red giant Betelgeuse noted how much the star had dimmed, continuing to steadily fade for months. It’s a variable star, and it’s known to get dimmer and brighter, but the big surprise is that it’s still continuing to dim, recently passing magnitude 1.56 and still getting dimmer. This is unprecedented in the decades that astronomers have been watching the star. The world’s biggest telescopes are on the case, and the European Southern Observatory released drama... |
| 2020-Feb-20 • 10 minutes Episode 629: Should We Fly to Another Star Soon? Or Wait for Better Technology to Come Along? It’s hard to really wrap your mind around the vast distances between stars. The fastest spacecraft ever launched into an interstellar trajectory right now is Voyager 1. If it was directed at the nearest star, it would take tens of thousands of years to make the journey across the interstellar gulf. Even so, groups like Breakthrough Starshot and Icarus Interstellar are working on plans right now to try and send spacecraft to other stars, ideally within our lifetimes. But we can see how quickly technology i... |
| 2020-Feb-13 • 28 minutes Episode 628: Q&A 117: Why Am I So Negative About Aliens? And More... Featuring Dr. Jason Wright In this week's questions show, I explain why I've got such a skeptical view about the search for aliens if there might be multiple great filters, and why NASA doesn't just go back and use Apollo hardware to return to the Moon? |
| 2020-Feb-13 • 9 minutes Episode 627: We've Never Seen the Sun's Poles. That's About to Change With Solar Orbiter On February 9, 2020, the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral Florida on top of an Atlas V 411 spacecraft. The spacecraft’s mission is to fly inside the orbit of Mercury, on a tilted orbit that takes it above and below the Sun, capturing images of the Sun’s poles for the first time. This is just a year and a half after the launch of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, which will fly even closer. Together, the two spacecraft will measure the Sun from every angle up close, pro... |
| 2020-Feb-11 • 8 minutes Episode 626: This is the Highest Resolution Image Ever Taken of the Sun You’re looking at the highest resolution image that has ever been taken of our Sun, using the brand new Daniel K Inouye Solar Telescope in Maui. These lighter regions are convection cells, blobs of hot gas the size of Texas which have carried heat from deep below the surface of the Sun, releasing it into space. The darker lines are cooler regions, where the material is sinking back down into Sun. This image is just a demonstration of the incredible power of this 4-meter observatory, which will join NASA’... |
| 2020-Feb-11 • 26 minutes Episode 625: Q&A 116: When Will the Cosmic Microwave Fade Away? And More... Featuring James Davenport In this week's questions show, I answer when the cosmic microwave background will shift into radio waves, what the Sun would sound like if space was filled with air, and limits of our knowledge about planets through simulations. |
| 2020-Feb-04 • 60 minutes Episode 624: Open Space 61: Do I Think We'll Ever Travel Faster Than Light? And More... In this week's life Q&A, I explain why we don't send animals to space any more, why I don't think we'll ever travel faster than the speed of light, and how graveyard orbits work. |
| 2020-Feb-04 • 16 minutes Episode 623: Escape! Spaceflight Abort Systems from the Launch Pad to Interplanetary Travel On Sunday, January 19th, 2020, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying its newly designed Crew Dragon spacecraft. 84 seconds into flight, at the moment of maximum aerodynamic pressure, the capsule fired its eight SuperDraco thrusters, detaching from the top of the rocket and flying ahead. Moments after, the Falcon 9 rocket exploded in midair, destroying a completely good rocket, but the capsule was completely safe, jettisoning its trunk and landing gently in the ocean a few minutes later. Nobody was on... |
| 2020-Jan-31 • 10 minutes Episode 622: Finally! An Explanation for One of the Most Powerful Supernovae Ever Seen In 2006, astronomers spotted the telltale sign of a supernova detonating in the galaxy NGC 1260, located about 240 million light-years away in the constellation of Perseus. As telescopes around the world turned their collective light-gathering power on the expanding explosion designated as SN 2006gy, they realized they were seeing something very unusual. This clearly wasn’t a regular supernova. It grew to be 100 times brighter than the typical stellar explosion and lasted much much longer. More than a dec... |
| 2020-Jan-30 • 26 minutes Episode 621: Q&A 115: Could We See a Nuclear Explosion on the Moon? And More... Featuring Dr. Amber Straughn In this week's questions show, I explain if we'd be able to see a nuclear bomb explode on the Moon, have we already passed the Great Filter, and where we could put DNA to keep it safe in the Solar System. |
| 2020-Jan-28 • 13 minutes Episode 620: Is There A Shadow Biosphere? Life On Earth That Isn't Related To Us Whenever I talk about the search for life in the Universe and its emphasis on water, I get comments that scientists aren’t being creative enough. Why does life rely on water? Couldn’t there be lifeforms which are completely different from life on Earth? Isn’t that the textbook definition of alien? Astrobiologists have only scratched the surface in their search for life in the Universe, and they’re going after the low-hanging fruit. Since life on Earth can be found wherever there’s water, why not check out ... |
| 2020-Jan-28 • 60 minutes Episode 619: Open Space 60: Will Aliens Be Kind Or Cruel? In this week's questions show, I wonder whether any aliens out there would be nice to us or try to wipe us out. What would be their motivations? Why are planets turning in the wrong direction? Would Betelgeuse generate gravitational waves? |
| 2020-Jan-24 • 15 minutes Episode 618: The Future Of Gravitational Waves. Seeing Every Black Hole Collision In The Observable Universe? In 2015, scientists discovered the telltale signal from ripples of spacetime sweeping over the Earth. It was the very first direct detection of gravitational waves, generated by the merger of two massive black holes 1.3 billion light-years away. This discovery was the culmination of decades of research and construction of huge instruments called interferometers to detect the warping of spacetime caused by gravitational waves. Today, the most advanced detectors, the LIGO/VIRGO collaboration, have turned up... |
| 2020-Jan-23 • 31 minutes Episode 617: Q&A 114: Why Isn't There A Microscope On Mars? And More... Featuring Stella Kafka from AAVSO In this week's questions show, I explain why it doesn't make sense to send a microscope to Mars, how we could use a black hole to see a reflection of Earth and see dinosaurs, and why we don't just send a solar sail down to the Sun. |
| 2020-Jan-21 • 60 minutes Episode 616: Open Space 59: Professor Greg Eghigian and the History of UFOs This week I'm joined by Professor Greg Eghigian, from Penn State University to talk about the history of UFO sightings and claims of alien contact. You can read a recent essay by Dr. Eghigian on Smithsonian's Air and Space Magazine: https://www.airspacemag.com/s... learn more about his work here: https://history.la.psu.edu/directo... |
| 2020-Jan-21 • 12 minutes Episode 615: The Far Side Of The Moon Is The Perfect Place For a Radio Telescope We’ve now passed the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, and all eyes are back on the Moon. NASA is planning to return to the Moon by 2024 with its Artemis mission, the Chinese have put the Moon firmly in their plans for space exploration, and even SpaceX thinks the Moon is the perfect destination to test out the capabilities of its Starship. But what can you do with the Moon? Refuel spacecraft with resources drawn from the lunar regolith? Mine its helium 3 for your fusion reactors? Build a lunar am... |
| 2020-Jan-17 • 11 minutes Episode 614: Starlink And Its Impact On Astronomy On Monday, January 6th, 2020, another SpaceX Falcon 9 blasted off from Cape Canaveral, carrying another 60 Starlink internet communications satellites, bringing the full size of the constellation to 180. With just three launches, SpaceX becomes the largest satellite operator in the world. But the company is just getting started. They’re planning to do this again every couple of weeks during 2020, bringing the total number of satellites in the constellation to about 1440, which is enough to provide high-spe... |
| 2020-Jan-16 • 9 minutes Episode 613: Q&A 113: Could We Attach Telescopes To Starlink? And More Featuring Jeff Foust In this week's questions show, I've got another expert guest answerer. Space News reporter and Space Review editor Jeff Foust answers your tricky spaceflight questions. Could we attach telescopes to Starlinks? What impact will these megaconstellations have on astronomy? What can humans do that robots can't? And more... |
| 2020-Jan-14 • 60 minutes Episode 612: Open Space 58: First Pictures From the New Telescope, And More... Thanks to our good friends at Oceanside Photo and Telescope, our livestreaming telescope is back online. I featured a couple of quick pics I took with the telescope during a test stream on Twitch Sunday night. I also answered questions about our trip to the AAS in Hawaii, if it's possible to make a more powerful telescope out of smaller telescopes, and why the ISS doesn't have an artificial magnetosphere. |
| 2020-Jan-14 • 24 minutes Episode 611: Are Aliens Watching Us And How Could We Hide? With Dr. David Kipping Once again, at the AAS Meeting in Hawaii, I got a chance to sit down with another astronomer to talk about their research. This time it was Dr. David Kipping from Columbia University's Cool World's Lab. We talked about how easy it'll be for aliens to know our planet is inhabited, and some ways we might be able to hide the evidence of our existence. |
| 2020-Jan-11 • 60 minutes Episode 610: Open Space 57: Could We Terraform Earth To Make It Better? And More... In this week's Open Space QA, I respond to complaints about my Betelgeuse video, wonder about alien civilizations stuck in heavy gravity, and consider whether we could terraform Earth to make it better. |
| 2020-Jan-11 • 15 minutes Episode 609: Why Haven't Aliens Settled Every Star In The Milky Way? With Adam Frank At the American Astronomical Society's meeting Honolulu I got a chance to talk with Adam Frank about new research he's worked with Caleb Scharf, Jonathan Carroll-Nellenback and Jason Wright about the Fermi Paradox. They calculated how difficult it would be for aliens traveling at 10% the speed of light to settle the entire Milky Way, and it turns out, it's not as simple as you might think. |
| 2020-Jan-11 • 19 minutes Episode 608: Q&A 112: Are Stars Moving The Same Speed And More. Featuring Ethan Siegel This week's questions show was recorded at the 235th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Honolulu, Hawaii. I was lucky enough to have 3,500 astronomers, space scientists and others to talk with. Ethan Siegel from "Starts with a Bang" is back, and this time he's answering your questions about space and astronomy. |
| 2019-Dec-30 • 26 minutes Episode 607: Q&A 111: Will We Ever Study All The Planets? And More... In this week's questions show I explain how we'll ever study 100 million planets, what's the business case for space exploration, and how I pull the questions together for these shows. |
| 2019-Dec-27 • 10 minutes Episode 606: Betelgeuse Is Dimmer Than We've Ever Seen It Over the last weekend, astronomy Twitter started noting that the red giant Betelgeuse, the prominent shoulder of Orion was looking visibly dimmer in the sky, and I had a few people reach out to me and ask me if it was really happening and if I knew what was going on. This is exciting, of course, because Betelgeuse is living on borrowed time, and it could explode as a supernova any day now. Or, it might not detonate for another 100,000 years. We just don’t know. What’s Betelgeuse up to? Is this a sign that... |
| 2019-Dec-17 • 55 minutes Episode 605: Open Space 56: SpaceX's Andrew Rader and "Beyond the Known" This week I'm joined by Andrew Rader, a game designer and mission manager at SpaceX. Andrew's new book is called Beyond the Known and it's all about the history and future of space exploration. |
| 2019-Dec-17 • 12 minutes Episode 604: 100 Million Exoplanets By 2050? How Will We Get There? As I’m recording this video near the end of 2019, the total number of confirmed exoplanets stands at 4,104. We’ve come a long way since the discovery of the first exoplanet orbiting a sunlike star back in 1995 with 51 Pegasi b. And the reality is that the race to find new exoplanets is only accelerating. New ground and space-based telescopes are turning up planetary candidates at an increasing rate. New techniques will find planets in entirely new ways. The bottom line is that over the next few decades, th... |
| 2019-Dec-16 • 15 minutes Episode 603: What Is The Crisis in Cosmology? With Dr. Paul Sutter How old is the Universe? In order to figure that out, all you have to do is figure out how quickly it’s expanding, and then the clock backward until everything is crunched together. And astronomers have measured the rate that the Universe is expanding with tremendous precision at various times in its history; at the beginning, and much more recently. The problem is, these expansion rates disagree, but they’ve both been measured so accurately that their error bars don’t overlap. In other words, there are m... |
| 2019-Dec-12 • 26 minutes Episode 602: Q&A 110: Why Can't I Just Be Realistic About Mars? And More... In this week's questions show, I explain why I don't think we always need to be realistic, if galaxies in the local group are bound together gravitationally, and what we should call Earth-moving equipment on Mars. |
| 2019-Dec-10 • 13 minutes Episode 601: Living Off The Land On Mars. What Can We Find On The Red Planet? Extending humanity to other worlds in the Solar System is at the very limits of our modern technology. And unless there are dramatic discoveries in new propulsion systems or we learn how to build everything out of carbon nanotubes, the future of space exploration is going to require living off the land. The technique is known as In-Situ Resource Utilization or ISRU, and it means supplying as much of your mission from local resources as possible. And many of our future exploration destinations, like Mars, ... |
| 2019-Dec-06 • 24 minutes Episode 600: Q&A 109: Could We Have A Steam Powered Rocket? And More... In this week's questions show, I explain why you could have a steam-powered rocket, how often spacecraft have crashed into asteroids and comets, and why a red supergiant star actually has a very low surface gravity. |
| 2019-Dec-03 • 12 minutes Episode 599: Flying In The Cloudtops Of Venus. Balloons, Airships And Airplanes For Venus The exploration of Venus has been mainly about getting down to the surface of the planet. The Soviet Union sacrificed lander after lander to discover just how extreme the conditions are down there on the ground. But higher up, among the clouds, the climate on Venus is surprisingly Earthlike in temperature and pressure, and there have been some fascinating ideas for robotic and human explorers to fly the skies of Venus, to help understand our evil twin planet. Let’s take a look at them. |
| 2019-Dec-02 • 60 minutes Episode 598: Open Space 55: Jason Derleth, NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts This week I'm joined by Jason Derleth from NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (or NIAC). This is a special part of NASA that funds innovative ideas for new telescopes, propulsion systems and rovers. Many of the cool, science-fiction ideas I present on this channel come from research done at NASA. |
| 2019-Nov-29 • 28 minutes Episode 597: Q&A 108: Why Are There Meteor Showers Every Year? And More, Featuring Paul Geithner from JWST In this week's questions show, I explain why we can see meteor showers every year, why we're not 3D printing telescopes in space, why there aren't any plans to launch telescopes with SpaceX Starship. And a lengthy answer to one of the most common James Webb questions we get: can it be refueled? This was answered by Paul Geithner, a Deputy Project Manager for James Webb during a recent livestream. |
| 2019-Nov-26 • 61 minutes Episode 596: Open Space 54: Dr. Casey Handmer On How Starship Changes Everything We talked about the implications of SpaceX Starship, Starlink, why power beamed from space or asteroid mining will never turn a profit down here on Earth, and why he's not that scared about space radiation. |
| 2019-Nov-26 • 104 minutes Episode 595: Fraser as Guest on the Skeptic's Guide to the Universe In case you're interested, I was the special guest rogue for episode 750 of the Skeptic's Guide to the Universe. This long-running science podcast features all kinds of topics relating to science and skepticism. We talked about recent news in space and astronomy as well as the pseudoscience that I run across in my job. If you haven't already, you should definitely subscribe to their podcast, it's one of my favorites. https://www.theskepticsguide... |
| 2019-Nov-26 • 12 minutes Episode 594: Building Space Telescopes... In Space When it comes to telescopes, bigger is better. That’s true down here on Earth, and it’s especially true out in space. As astronomers and engineers design the next generation of giant space telescopes, they’re running up against the limits of current launch providers. There are only so many ways you can fold a huge telescope to get it to fit inside a 5-meter launch fairing. The upcoming James Webb Space Telescope is pretty much the very limit of what you can construct on Earth and put into space in a single... |
| 2019-Nov-22 • 25 minutes Episode 593: Q&A 107: All Your James Webb Questions, Answered In this week's questions show, I tackle all the questions about James Webb generated by the videos we did this week. Can it be refueled? How can it see the entire sky? Is the delay a blessing? And more... |
| 2019-Nov-21 • 57 minutes Episode 592: Open Space 53: Live QA with Paul Geithner from James Webb Today I'll be joined by Paul Geithner, the Deputy Project Manager for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. You've had questions about this mission. Well... now's your chance to get them answered directly from the source. Paul started working with NASA in 1991 on the Hubble Space Telescope, shifting over to James Webb. In 2011, he became the Deputy Project Manager, Technical for James Webb. |
| 2019-Nov-18 • 21 minutes Episode 591: The History And Future Of The James Webb Space Telescope On March 30, 2021, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will blast off from the European Space Agency’s European spaceport in Kourou, French Giana on board an Ariane 5 rocket. It’ll fly to the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point, a relatively stable spot in space that keeps the glare from the Sun, Earth, and Moon all in a tiny spot in the sky. Then, it’ll unfurl its tennis court-sized sunshade, fold out its gigantic 6.5-meter mirror, and peer out into the distant cosmos. Over the course of the next 10 years, this ... |
| 2019-Nov-18 • 60 minutes Episode 590: Open Space 52: Dustin Gibson from Oceanside Photo and Telescope Today's guest is Dustin Gibson from Oceanside Photo and Telescope (OPT). Dustin will talk about his journey to becoming an astrophotographer and eventually running one of the most successful telescope retailers in the world. |
| 2019-Nov-15 • 26 minutes Episode 589: Q&A 106: Do Geostationary Satellites Reenter The Atmosphere? And More... In this week's questions show, I answer what will bring geostationary satellites back to Earth, if you could use the heat on Venus to power a rover, why are we so arrogant to believe that life formed only here on Earth, and more. |
| 2019-Nov-08 • 61 minutes Episode 588: Open Space 51: Where Would I Send A Rover? And More... It was another solo live QA this week and I did my best to answer as many audience questions as I could do, closing in on 60 questions during the hour. Needless to say it was a wide-ranging conversation with questions about where I think rovers should go, what do I think about time travel, and whether we should do more SETI or build more space telescopes. |
| 2019-Nov-08 • 8 minutes Episode 587: Why Launch Solar Panels When You Can Print Them Directly In Space? Printing Perovskite Panels Solar energy is the ideal way to power a spacecraft. There’s no weather, there’s no pesky atmosphere, just pure photons streaming from the Sun to harvest for whatever you need. Well, as long as you’re within the inner Solar System. But solar panels are complicated and fragile made of sensitive electronics and glass - not to mention, really heavy. Any spacecraft equipped with solar panels needs to handle the gravity down here on Earth for the construction and testing, then the shaking and high Gs of launch.... |
| 2019-Nov-08 • 28 minutes Episode 586: Q&A 105: Why Not Send Earth Life to Europa? And More... Featuring Back to Space In this week's questions show, I tackle questions about seeding Europa with hardy Earth life, what makes galaxies spin, what are we competing with aliens for, and why is it so hard for second stages of rockets to land? |
| 2019-Nov-05 • 12 minutes Episode 585: Can Life Spread From Star to Star? The Theory of Galactic Panspermia The race is on to find life in other places in the Solar System, from underground reservoirs on Mars to the subsurface oceans on Europa and Enceladus. If spacecraft, rovers or even astronauts make the momentous discovery of life on another world, that’ll just open up new questions. Did it originate all on its own, completely independently from Earth, or are we somehow related? And if we are related, how long ago did our evolutionary trees branch away from each other. Even though Mars is millions of kilom... |
| 2019-Oct-30 • 13 minutes Episode 584: Surviving On Venus. Is It Time To Go Back To That Awful Place? If you’ve watched this channel enough, you might have the impression that I hate Venus. It’s possible, just possible I’ve even suggested that the planet is so terrible it should be pushed into the Sun. The reality, of course, is that it’s an absolutely fascinating world - the closest twin to the Earth that we have in the Solar System. It’s nearly the same mass and has the same surface gravity. While Earth is the beautiful life-filled world we all enjoy, Venus is a tortured hellscape, with temperatures h... |
| 2019-Oct-30 • 11 minutes Episode 583: A Single Spacecraft Will Visit Seven Asteroids. NASA's Lucy Mission Passes Its Design Review Scientists have had the opportunity to examine several asteroids in the Solar System now, and what they’ve learned is how much variety is out there, depending on the mass, distance from the Sun and composition. Astronomers currently know of 829,400 asteroids across the Solar System, and they’d love to visit as many of them as possible to learn more about them. Considering the price of a single spacecraft, that’s going to get expensive. Fortunately, there are places in the Solar System that have trapped a... |
| 2019-Oct-30 • 24 minutes Episode 582: Q&A 104: Should We Reconsider The Definition Of A Moon? And More... In this week's questions show, I explain why it's probably not time to reconsider the definition of a moon, if we could make artificial gravity with a chunk of a neutron star, and why a supermassive black hole isn't the anchor for an entire galaxy. |
| 2019-Oct-28 • 60 minutes Episode 581: Open Space 50: When Will There Be Giant Rotating Space Stations? And More... In this week's live QA, we talked about rotating space stations, the materials that can be made in space, what telescopes and binoculars I use. And there were a lot of questions about James Webb. |
| 2019-Oct-25 • 13 minutes Episode 580: Is Humanity Prepared To Discover Alien Life? People always ask me how I think humanity will react if we discover life somewhere out there in the Universe, whether it’s bacteria under the surface of Mars, a biosignature of alien life in the atmosphere of another world, or a radio signal from another civilization. Will our civilization lose its collective mind and have a temper tantrum on a global scale? Will we become one of those purge planets from Rick and Morty? Will the discovery suddenly end all religion, as we wait for guidance from our new al... |
| 2019-Oct-18 • 24 minutes Episode 579: Q&A 103: How Many Stars Have Zero Planets? And More... In this week's questions show, I explain why we'll never know which stars have no planets. How we could prevent a catastrophe to Earth, and why aliens might still be a threat to us. |
| 2019-Oct-15 • 61 minutes Episode 578: Open Space 49: How Can Planets Capture Asteroids? And More... No guest this week, just a live QA with me and the audience about all things space and astronomy. People had questions about how planets can capture asteroids to turn them into moons, what rocket James Webb will use to fly to space, and why you can't use antimatter to destroy a black hole. |
| 2019-Oct-15 • 13 minutes Episode 577: AstroClipper: Plans For A Two-Stage, Fully Reusable Spaceplane Even as the first rockets were launched into space decades ago, aerospace knew it was a wasteful process. Rocket stages, motors, and complex equipment crashed into the ocean or burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere. Could spaceplanes bring the costs down? Flying to orbit with a combination of jet engines and rockets and then safely re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere again. Single-stage to orbit spacecraft and spaceplanes have always seemed out of reach, and actually not that practical. But what about a two-sta... |
| 2019-Oct-11 • 13 minutes Episode 576: What Comes After LUVOIR? Three Extreme Ideas For Space Telescopes While we’re all waiting for James Webb to launch - which it will - the Extremely Large Telescope to be constructed, and LUVOIR to get approved. (Please get approved, please get approved.) We’re going to need a way to pass the time. So let’s have our imaginations take flight, out into the Universe, and consider some of the most incredible ideas suggested for telescopes. Unless you’ve been crawling through scientific journals like me, I guarantee you’ve never heard of any of them. But when I’m done, you’r... |
| 2019-Oct-11 • 24 minutes Episode 575: Q&A 102: Will Starship Cause Global Warming? And More... Featuring Tony Darnell from Deep Astronomy In this week's questions show, I explain why Starship probably won't contribute to human carbon emissions, if there's a galactic Prime Directive, and if SpaceX has finally perfected the single-stage to orbit. Featuring Tony Darnell from Deep Astronomy and the Space Junk Podcast |
| 2019-Oct-10 • 10 minutes Episode 574: Venus Could Have Supported Life For Billions Of Years. First Habitable Planet In The Solar System? After decades of research, including multiple landers and orbiters, science can definitively say: Venus sucks. Seriously, that place is the worst, with its boiling temperature, intense pressure, sulfuric acid rain, and more. But was it always this bad? According to new research from NASA and various universities in Sweden and the US, Venus might have actually been the first habitable world in the Solar System. And it might have maintained a reasonable climate for billions of years, finally rolling over in... |
| 2019-Oct-10 • 61 minutes Episode 573: Open Space 48: Floating in Darkness with Astronaut Ron Garan This week I was joined by astronaut Ron Garan to talk about his new book "Floating in Darkness". Ron is an accomplished F-16 pilot, flying combat missions during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He flew to space twice, first aboard STS-124, and then a six-month stay on board the International Space Station as part of Expedition 27. |
| 2019-Oct-01 • 63 minutes Episode 572: Open Space 47: Quantum Mechanics With Caltech's Sean Carroll My guest this week was Professor Sean Carroll from Caltech. Sean's a theoretical physicist, author of many books, and podcaster. His newest book, "Something Deeply Hidden" has just been released, presenting his ideas about the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. |
| 2019-Oct-01 • 12 minutes Episode 571: Starship Takes Shape. Are We Months Away From A Fully Reusable Rocket System? On Saturday, September 28th, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stood in front of an audience in Boca Chica, Texas, and presented the fully assembled SpaceX Starship, 50 meters tall and made from shiny stainless steel. As part of his presentation, Musk showed off the history of the company’s developments so far and gave us an updated view of what Starship and its first stage Superheavy booster will look like when they’re fully operational. It was actually a pretty short presentation, and there weren’t a lot of details... |
| 2019-Oct-01 • 10 minutes Episode 570: What Will It Take To Feed A Million People On Mars? In 2017, Elon Musk laid out his grand sweeping plans for the future of SpaceX, the company that would take humanity to Mars. Over decades, tens of thousands of Starship flights would carry a million human beings to the surface of the Red Planet, the minimum Musk expects it’ll take to create a self-sustaining civilization. The number of details in an effort like this is mind-boggling. What about the reduced gravity, radiation exposure, and space madness? What about return flights? Replacement parts? Buildin... |
| 2019-Sep-27 • 62 minutes Episode 569: Open Space 46: Dr. Robert Zubrin and the "Case for Space" One of my most requested guests is Dr. Robert Zubrin, engineer and founder of the Mars Society. It was Dr. Zubrin's "Case for Mars" that helped inspire me to get into space journalism in the first place. We had a wide-ranging interview that updated the Case for Mars, looked at what comes next, and how current efforts are stumbling in their efforts to return humans to the Moon, and then on to Mars. |
| 2019-Sep-26 • 27 minutes Episode 568: Q&A 101: How Do We Know Meteorites Came From Mars? And More... Featuring Dr. Nick Cowan from McGill In this week's questions show, I explain how scientists know that meteorites came from Mars, is it dangerous to look for alien civilizations, what citizen science projects to get involved in, and more. Featuring Professor Nick Cowan from McGill University. |
| 2019-Sep-24 • 59 minutes Episode 567: Open Space 45: Exomoons and the Terrascope with Professor David Kipping This week I was joined in a live stream with Dr. David Kipping from Columbia University. We had a great interview about his research into exomoons, what new observatories will do for this field. We also talked about his idea of the Terrascope, using the Earth's atmosphere as a lens to study the Universe. And we talked about how scientists can better use the internet to communicate directly with the public about their research. |
| 2019-Sep-23 • 10 minutes Episode 566: Better Than Earth? Are There Superhabitable Worlds In The Milky Way? I’ve said many times in the past that the Earth is the best planet in the Universe. No matter where we go, we’ll never find a planet that’s a better home to Earth life than Earth. Of course, that’s because we, and all other Earth life evolved in this environment. Evolution adapted us to this planet, and it’s unlikely we could ever find another planet this good for us. However, is it the best planet? Are there places in the Universe which might have the conditions for more diversity of life? |
| 2019-Sep-19 • 23 minutes Episode 565: Q&A 100: When Will Earth Be Uninhabitable? And More, Featuring Anton Petrov In this week's questions show, I explain that life on Earth has less time than you think, if there could be multiple supermassive black holes inside the Milky Way, and what would we see if Mars replaced the Moon. Featuring Anton Petrov from WhatDaMath. |
| 2019-Sep-19 • 58 minutes Episode 564: Interview with Fraser on the Big Beard Theory This was an interview with me on the Russian podcast "The Big Beard Theory" with Anton Pozdyakov. We spent an hour talking about my career in space journalism, how I run Universe Today, how I choose stories and how we cover various topics. We also talk about the larger changes I've seen over the course of 20 years of space journalism. The first minute and a half is in Russian, and then it switches to English. https://beardycast.com/podcast/tbbt/th... |
| 2019-Sep-17 • 12 minutes Episode 563: Want To Explore Mars? Send Humans To The Moons Of Mars First: Phobos And Deimos Humans to Mars. That’s the plan right? The problem is that sending humans down to the surface of Mars is one of the most complicated and ambitious goals that we can attempt. It’s a huge step to go from low Earth orbit, then lunar landings, and then all the way to Mars, a journey of hundreds of millions of kilometers and 2 years at the least. But there are two places humans can go which are a stepping stone between Earth and Mars. Base camps that would let us gather our resources in relative safety before d... |
| 2019-Sep-17 • 58 minutes Episode 562: Open Space 44: Astrophotography With Dylan O'Donnell This week I was joined by Dylan O'Donnell, an incredible astrophotographer and amateur astronomer from Australia. Dylan's photography has been featured in exhibits and websites around the world, and he's the organizer of the Starstuff Conference in Byron Bay (https://starstuff.com.au/) and has a website featuring all his astrophotography (https://deography.com/) |
| 2019-Sep-13 • 8 minutes Episode 561: Water Vapor Seen In the Atmosphere Of An Exoplanet. It Might Even Be Rain We’re learning more and more about extrasolar planets, and for the first time, astronomers have discovered water vapor in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting another star. The planet is located in the habitable zone of its star, so this might even be rain. Of course, it’s not all good news, it’s much more massive than Earth, with higher gravity, and is probably bathed in radiation from its red dwarf star. But, it’s a good start in the search for habitable places in the Universe, places where there might be... |
| 2019-Sep-12 • 28 minutes Episode 560: Q&A 99: Could We Find Life On Venus? And More, Featuring SciManDan In this week's questions show, I talk about searching for life on Venus, trying to get to orbit with a jet, and why NASA probably shouldn't hire me. This episode features special guest SciManDan. |
| 2019-Sep-10 • 60 minutes Episode 559: Open Space 43: Welcome to Season 2. Mixing Concrete in Space, And More... Welcome back to Season 2 of my weekly live QA. Your chance to ask me your questions about space and astronomy... live. Sometimes I'll have guests, and sometimes I won't. This week... I didn't. You wanted to know about recent news about astronauts mixing concrete in space, the formation of craters on Titan, and what might be the difficulties of people going to the Moon or Mars? |
| 2019-Sep-09 • 12 minutes Episode 558: A Tour Of The Lagrange Points. Part 3 - Trojans and Space Colonies at L4/L5 We’ve reached the third part of our series on Lagrange Points, those stable spots in the Solar System, where you can sort of hover with the minimum amount of fuel. This episode we’re going to look at the L4 and L5 points which share the orbit with a more massive object. |
| 2019-Sep-05 • 25 minutes Episode 557: Q&A 98: What's The Best Use For The Moon? And More... In this week's questions show, I explain what I think the best uses of the Moon might be, why I'm qualified to answer questions about space, and if you could use a black hole as mirror that lets you look back in time. |
| 2019-Sep-03 • 17 minutes Episode 556: A Tour Of The Lagrange Points. Part 2 - Space Telescopes At L2 And Nothing At L3 Lagrange Points. Stable spots in space that you just can’t stop thinking about. What spacecraft work best in which places? What are some amazing ideas that could utilize these regions across the Solar System? In the last episode, I gave an overview of the Lagrange points, and then went into the details of spacecraft missions sent to L1, the perfect place to constantly observe the Sun, the Earth, or to block radiation coming from the Sun. The best place for a lunar elevator, or a spot to put a space station... |
| 2019-Aug-30 • 14 minutes Episode 555: A Tour Of The Lagrange Points. Part 1 - Past And Future Missions To L1 Thanks to gravity, there are places across the Solar System which are nicely balanced. They’re called Lagrange Points and they give us the perfect vantage points for a range of spacecraft missions, from observing the Sun to studying asteroids, and more. Various spacecraft have already visited Lagrange Points, used them for some or all of their missions, and there are fascinating plans in the works that could put new missions and even space colonies into these balanced places in the Solar System. Let’s exp... |
| 2019-Aug-30 • 24 minutes Episode 554: Q&A 97: By Request, Here's Our Dog. And Then Some Actual Questions... In this week's questions show, I introduce Ona, by request. I explain why I don't think going to space is going to fix the big challenges that humanity faces, and how do astronomers figure out how big a planet is? |
| 2019-Aug-28 • 12 minutes Episode 553: Bringing Mars To Earth. The Plans For a Mars Sample Return Mission One of the great accomplishments of the Apollo missions was to bring home hundreds of kilograms of lunar rock. Suddenly, geologists had a lifetime’s worth of lunar samples captured from several different spots across the Moon. These rocks and dust have been under continuous analysis since the Apollo 11 astronauts came home over 50 years ago. And they’re still making discoveries. Scientists have samples of the Sun’s solar wind, particles from a comet’s tail, a few grams from an asteroid, with more coming s... |
| 2019-Aug-23 • 12 minutes Episode 552: A Spacecraft Is Going To Build Its Own Solar Panels In Space: Archinaut One As I’ve mentioned in several episodes now, humanity is in a bit of a transition period, a time when it makes sense to launch material up and out of Earth’s gravity well into orbit, and beyond. But it’s really expensive, costing up to $10,000 per pound you want in orbit, and 10 times if you want it on the Moon. But over the coming decades, more and more of our space-based infrastructure will be built in space, manufactured out of materials that were mined in space. The only thing that’ll actually need to ... |
| 2019-Aug-22 • 21 minutes Episode 551: Q&A 96: Why Are Astronomers Finding Such Bizarre Exoplanets? And More... In this week's questions show, I explain why all the planets astronomers have found are so bizarre. Couldn't we use laser highways to go faster? Is the lunar gateway really a lunar tollbooth? |
| 2019-Aug-20 • 12 minutes Episode 550: Exploring The Icy Moons of Jupiter. NASA's Europa Clipper and ESA's JUICE Mars is the place that most of our spacecraft, landers and rovers are studying, searching for any evidence that life ever existed somewhere else in the Solar System. But talk to planetary scientists, and they’re just as excited about the ocean worlds of the Solar System; the moons, asteroids, dwarf planets and Kuiper Belt objects where there could be vast oceans of liquid water under thick shells of ice. The perfect environment for life to thrive. We’ve only had tantalizing hints that these oceans are... |
| 2019-Aug-16 • 12 minutes Episode 549: Why Build Big Rockets At All? It’s Time For Orbital Refueling On Tuesday, July 30th, NASA announced 19 different partnerships with 13 different companies to use their expertise to help them develop space technologies, from advanced communications systems to new methods of entry, descent and landing. Instead of contracting out specific projects, NASA will make its employees, facilities, hardware and software available to these companies, for free. One of the most notable of these partnerships will be with SpaceX and NASA’s Glenn and Marshall Centers to help advance t... |
| 2019-Aug-15 • 26 minutes Episode 548: Q&A 95: Is Techno-Optimism Blinding Us To The Challenges of Space Exploration? And More... In this week's questions show, I answer if techno optimism is blinding us to the challenges of spaceflight, why there aren't spacecraft at all the planets right now, could the Great Attractor be dark matter? And more... |
| 2019-Aug-12 • 12 minutes Episode 547: Spacecraft Gyroscopes And Reaction Wheels. You Can Never Have Enough It’s amazing to think there are telescopes up in space, right now, directing their gaze at distant objects for hours, days and even weeks. Providing a point of view so stable and accurate that we can learn details about galaxies, exoplanets and more. And then, when the time is up, the spacecraft can shift its gaze in another direction. All without the use of fuel. It’s all thanks to the technology of reaction wheels and gyroscopes. Let’s talk about how they work, how they’re different, and how their failu... |
| 2019-Aug-09 • 12 minutes Episode 546: One Year, Almost 1,000 Planetary Candidates. An Update On TESS NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Telescope launched back in April, 2018. After a few months of testing, it was ready to begin mapping the southern sky, searching for planets orbiting stars relatively nearby. We’re just over a year into the mission now, and on July 18th, TESS has shifted its attention to the Northern Hemisphere, continuing the hunt for planets in the northern skies. As part of this shift, NASA has announced a handful of fascinating new planets turned up by TESS, including a couple of wor... |
| 2019-Aug-08 • 23 minutes Episode 544: Q&A 94: Can Solar Sails Explore The Outer Solar System? And More... In this week's questions show, I answer a question about solar sails, what geologists might learn from lunar rocks, if Earth could survive inside Jupiter, could gas giants be closer to the Sun, and more. |
| 2019-Aug-05 • 12 minutes Episode 543: What Are Light Echoes? Using Reflections Of Light To See Even Further Back In Time When we look outward into space, we’re looking backwards in time. That’s because light moves, at the speed of light. It takes time for the light to reach us. But it gets even stranger than that. Light can be absorbed, reflected, and re-emitted by gas and dust, giving us a second look. They’re called light echoes, and allow astronomers another way to understand the Universe around us. |
| 2019-Aug-02 • 11 minutes Episode 542: How Habitable Is Titan? NASA Is Sending The Titan Dragonfly Helicopter To Find Out There are few places in the Solar System which are as fascinating as Saturn’s moon Titan. It’s a world with a thicker atmosphere than Earth. Where it’s so cold that it rains ammonia, forming lakes, rivers and seas. Where water ice forms mountains. Like Europa and Encleadus, Titan could have an interior ocean of liquid water too, a place where there might be life. Titan’s got layers, and fortunately, there’s an awesome new mission in the works to explore it: the Titan Dragonfly mission. |
| 2019-Aug-01 • 33 minutes Episode 545: Q&A 93: When Will The Space Junk Return To Earth? And More... In this week's questions show, I explain how long it'll take for space junk to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, would it be possible to put advertising in space, and why panspermia is appealing as a hypothesis. |
| 2019-Jul-30 • 13 minutes Episode 541: Why Is The Moon’s South Pole So Important? It’s All About Water As NASA prepares to return to the Moon by 2024 as part of its Artemis program, the agency is focusing its efforts on exploring the Moon’s polar regions. These are areas of the Moon which seem to have a lot of water mixed in with the regolith. Some of these craters are permanently in shadow, and might still have large quantities of water, that’s accessible to human and robotic explorers. This is a critical resource, and the Moon might be just the place to help humanity as it pushes out to explore the rest o... |
| 2019-Jul-26 • 11 minutes Episode 540: Planetary Society Deploys LightSail 2’s Solar Sail. What Does The Future Hold For Solar Sails? Where you can travel in space depends on how much propellant you’ve got on board your rocket and how efficiently you can use it. But there’s a source of free propellant right here in the Solar System - the Sun - which is streaming out photons in all directions. You just need to catch them. And right now, the Planetary Society’s new LightSail 2 spacecraft is testing out just how well it’ll work. |
| 2019-Jul-24 • 31 minutes Episode 539: Q&A 92: Can We Accelerate At 1G Like In The Expanse? Featuring Sophia Gad-Nasr In this week's QA, I tackle constant acceleration. Do we have anything that can accelerate at 1G for long periods of time? Why are there different sized stars? And do the heavier elements come from supernovae or colliding neutron stars? |
| 2019-Jul-23 • 10 minutes Episode 538: Searching For The Red Edge. How The Earth's Forests Are Telling The Aliens Where We Live People are always worried that alien civilizations will detect the transmissions from our old radio shows and television broadcasts, and send in the invasion fleet. But the reality is that life itself has been broadcasting the existence of life on Earth for 500 million years. Blame it on the plants. In addition to filling the atmosphere with oxygen, plants give off a very specific wavelength visible in infrared radiation. It’s the kind of signal that other civilizations could search for as they’re scanni... |
| 2019-Jul-23 • 11 minutes Episode 537: Catching The Next Interstellar Asteroid Or Comet. ESA's Comet Interceptor Mission On October 19th, 2017 astronomers detected the first interstellar asteroid (or maybe comet) passing through the Solar System: Oumuamua. It had a brief encounter with the inner Solar System and then hurtled back out into interstellar space. Once astronomers noticed it, they directed the world’s telescopes on the object, but it was too far away to reveal anything more than a faint dot. Until now, we’ve only been able to study objects in our own Solar System. We have no idea what the rest of the Milky Way ... |
| 2019-Jul-09 • 13 minutes Episode 536: Q&A 91: Are Space Telescopes A Waste Of Money? And More... In this week's QA, I answer why space telescopes aren't a waste of taxpayer resources, if ground-based space telescopes will become obsolete, and whether it makes sense to crash phobos into Mars. |
| 2019-Jul-04 • 38 minutes Episode 535: Fermi Paradox: Where are they? A Debate with John Michael Godier Moderated by Skylias This past weekend Skylias moderated a debated between John Michael Godier and Fraser Cain over their Fermi paradox theories. If there are aliens where are they? The Fermi paradox theory asks where are the alien civilizations in the galaxy? And in the universe. If they exist. Where are the extraterrestrials? |
| 2019-Jul-03 • 19 minutes Episode 534: Q&A 90: How Do We Know What The Milky Way Looks Like? And More... In this week's questions show, I explain how astronomers know what the Milky Way looks like, what would happen in a catastrophic impact on the International Space Station, and who is the team who works with me on Universe Today? |
| 2019-Jul-01 • 12 minutes Episode 533: Earth To Mars In 100 Days? The Power Of Nuclear Rockets The Solar System is a really big place, and it takes forever to travel from world to world with traditional chemical rockets. But one technique, developed back in the 1960s might provide a way to dramatically shorten our travel times: nuclear rockets. Of course, launching a rocket powered by radioactive material has its own risks as well. Should we attempt it? |
| 2019-Jun-21 • 19 minutes Episode 532: Q&A 89: Why Didn't NASA Build More Hubbles? And More... In this week's questions show, I explain why NASA decided to build James Webb and not more Hubble Space Telescopes, what would happen if you opened up a jar in space, and do we know of any stars without planets? |
| 2019-Jun-18 • 11 minutes Episode 530: 386: Planetary Protection: What If We Destroy Life Before We Even Find It? Explorers have always brought stowaways with them on board. Thanks to our travels around the world, hardy creatures like rats, goats, pigs and starlings and more have found their way to every corner of the globe. Not to mention our plants, microbes and viruses. Wherever we go, life goes with us, whether we want it to or not. And when we travel to other worlds, it looks like the most extreme life Earth has ever cooked up is ready and willing to make the journey with us. Now that the big flybys are over, ... |
| 2019-Jun-18 • 62 minutes Episode 531: Open Space 41: Seeing Jupiter At Opposition, And More... In this week's penultimate episode of Open Space before our summer hiatus, I give tips and tricks on seeing Jupiter, what's a good starting telescope, updates on LIGO, why rockets launch straight up, and more... |
| 2019-Jun-12 • 60 minutes Episode 529: Open Space 40: To The Moon By 2024? And More... In this week's live QA episode, I tackled questions about the reality of returning astronauts to the Moon by 2024, the loss of dark skies, will we ever be able to shop for our own personal spacecraft, and more. |
| 2019-Jun-06 • 22 minutes Episode 528: Q&A 88: How Could We Cool Down Venus? And More... In this QA, I explain why only gas giants have rings, if it would be possible to cool down Venus, what would it take to build a generational ships and more... |
| 2019-Jun-04 • 9 minutes Episode 527: Just How Tough Is Earth Life? Tough Enough To Go Space And Still Thrive Every time we send a spacecraft to another world, our Earth-based lifeforms are going with us. No matter how well we try to keep them clean, a few stowaways will always come along for the ride. You’d think that years in the cold hard vacuum of space, suffering extreme temperature changes, and receiving brutal doses of radiation would be all it takes to sterilize any life caught on the outside of a lander or rover headed to Mars or Europa. Well, think again. Life just demonstrated that it’s surprisingly re... |
| 2019-May-31 • 22 minutes Episode 526: Q&A 87: Why Is Starlink So Bright? Is It Right For Starlink To Provide Internet? And More... In this week's questions show, I give my personal experience of how bright the Starlinks are, and I wonder if companies like SpaceX have the right to provide internet to the planet. Who asked them? Why do people think black holes are so cool? They're scary! |
| 2019-May-28 • 11 minutes Episode 525: SpaceX Just Launched the First 60 Satellites for Starlink. What About Space Junk? On Thursday, May 23rd, 2019, SpaceX launched one of its most important payloads in the history of the company - 60 satellites that will begin the constellation of their Starlink internet satellite system. |
| 2019-May-27 • 72 minutes Episode 524: Space Junk Podcast - Interview with Fraser about the Fermi Paradox and the Great Filter Tony and Dustin brought me back for round two on the Space Junk Podcast. This time to talk about my favorite topic: The Fermi Paradox. Was I able to convince Dustin that we're probably the only intelligent life in the observable Universe? Subscribe to their podcast at: https://anchor.fm/spacejunk |
| 2019-May-22 • 62 minutes Episode 523: Interview with Fraser on the SNaQ Podcast This isn't an interview by me, it's an interview - of me - on the Science News and Questions (SNaQ) podcast from the Carnegie Science Center. Our conversation starts at the 15 minute mark. And if you like the podcast, subscribe at snaq.podbeam.com |
| 2019-May-21 • 9 minutes Episode 522: 382: Project Artemis: NASA's Plans To Return To The Moon By 2024 On Monday, May 13, 2019, NASA declared: “We are going to the Moon to stay” by 2024. It’s an exciting announcement; the return to a place humans haven’t set foot on in more than 45 years. A serious goal that will test the ability of technology and engineering, as well as the bravery of the men and women who will carry out this task. But we’ve also heard announcements like this before, many times. How will the mission come together? What are the risks? What’s new this time? |
| 2019-May-21 • 61 minutes Episode 521: Open Space 39: Dennis E. Taylor, author of the Bobiverse Trilogy This week I was joined by one of my favorite authors, Dennis E. Taylor, the creator of the Bobiverse Trilogy. If you haven't already, I highly recommend you read this series. He was here to talk about what went into the books and his newest book, Outland. |
| 2019-May-20 • 26 minutes Episode 520: Q&A 86 : Could We Move Atmosphere from Venus to Mars? And More... Featuring Dylan O'Donnell In this week's questions show, I wonder why there isn't a standard platform for space exploration, if we could move the atmosphere from Venus to Mars, are there L6 and L7 Lagrange Points and more. Featuring guest answerer Dylan O'Donnell. |
| 2019-May-14 • 61 minutes Episode 519: Open Space 38: Thoughts On Blue Origin/Blue Moon and More... Again no guest this week. Just you and me. Talking about space. In this week's live QA, people waned to know more information about space construction (09:04), if we could catch a future Oumuamua (11:04) and my thoughts on Blue Origin's Blue Moon strategy (18:07). |
| 2019-May-14 • 8 minutes Episode 518: 16 Years of Hubble Data In One Incredible Picture. The Hubble Legacy Field NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope launched on April 24, 1990, and it’s been hard at work ever since, studying the cosmos like no other observatory in human history. Several times in its journey, astronomers have called upon Hubble to study a single spot in the sky for weeks at a time, staring as far as it can, almost to the edge of the observable Universe. These are the deep fields, including the most recent Hubble eXtreme Deep Field. Now all of these data have been mashed together into a single image, span... |
| 2019-May-09 • 19 minutes Episode 517: QA 85: Am I Optimistic About Humanity? And More... In this week's questions show, I think about the future of humanity, wonder what would happen if Olympus Mons erupted and how big observatories clean the dust off their telescopes. |
| 2019-May-07 • 62 minutes Episode 516: Open Space 37: Can The Sun Release A Killer Flare? And More... I didn't have a guest this week, instead I just answered everyone's questions for an hour. We got through about 40 of them. Questions about the Sun releasing a killer solar flare, capturing asteroids to mine, and if my wife is into space too. |
| 2019-May-07 • 10 minutes Episode 515: Build Enormous Structures In Space With 3D Printing When we send anything to space, we have to pay an enormous amount of money. That’s because you need to push satellites, water, astronauts up and out of the Earth’s gravity well. Whether you’re just going to orbit, or heading to the Moon, or out into deep space, it makes the most sense to build your structures in space, out of material that you got from space. |
| 2019-May-04 • 17 minutes Episode 514: Q&A 84: Is It Cheaper To Build Stuff In Space? And More... In this week's questions show, I wonder if it's cheaper to build things in space, if the Universe is expanding because it's rolling downhill, and do astronauts fart in space? |
| 2019-May-01 • 9 minutes Episode 513: 379: LIGO/Virgo Upgraded. A Black Hole Merger Every Week? Notice that you haven’t been hearing much about black holes crashing into each other recently? That’s because the world’s most sensitive gravitational wave hunters have been offline for the last year. Well, they're back now, with enough upgrades that they should be capable of finding a black hole merger every week, not to mention more colliding neutron stars, and maybe, just maybe, black holes eating neutron stars. |
| 2019-Apr-30 • 61 minutes Episode 512: Open Space 36: Live QA with Meteorite Man Geoff Notkin This week's guest is Geoff Notkin, the host of TV's Meteorite Men. He was recently elected to be the President of the National Space Society. http://www.geoffnotkin.com/ |
| 2019-Apr-29 • 9 minutes Episode 511: Where Will the Voyagers Go Next? NASA’s Voyager spacecraft are traveling on an escape trajectory from the Sun, and are now on a journey that will take them through the outer reaches of the Solar System and out into the Milky Way Galaxy. |
| 2019-Apr-22 • 61 minutes Episode 510: Open Space 35: Live QA with Gizmodo's George Dvorsky This week, my guest will be science writer and futurist George Dvorsky, from Gizmodo and io9.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Apr-15 • 60 minutes Episode 509: Open Space 34: Live QA with Guest: Chad Weber Today I'm joined by Chad Weber, the video editor for the Guide to Space and other videos we do here on Universe Today. Chad was also the audio editor for Astronomy Cast and other Astrosphere projects.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Apr-15 • 24 minutes Episode 508: QA 83: New Planets Around Dead Stars? Featuring Dr. Sabine Hossenfelder In this week's questions show, I wonder if planets could form from the wreckage around dead stars, who don't all stars collapse immediately into black holes, and where did my new channel pic come from?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Apr-10 • 8 minutes Episode 507: 377 - It's Finally Here! The First Image Of A Black Hole All that waiting has paid off. Here it is, the first ever image of a black hole. Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Apr-09 • 17 minutes Episode 506: 376 - The New Planet Hunters. Who Will Find Earth 2.0? We now know of thousands of confirmed exoplanets, with many more candidates. And there are now dozens of planet hunting telescopes on Earth and in space, using a range of techniques to find tens of thousands more. There’s a new class of instruments and missions in the works that’ll give us an incredible understanding about the planets orbiting other stars. One of these will be the one to find Earth 2.0.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Apr-08 • 60 minutes Episode 505: Open Space 33: Live QA with Dr. Brian Keating (Losing the Nobel Prize) My guest today will be Dr. Brian Keating, a professor of physics and the author of the recent book "Losing the Nobel Prize". Brian was on the BICEP2 team that announced the discovery of primordial gravitational waves; a discovery that turned out to be dust.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Apr-03 • 24 minutes Episode 504: QA 82: Could There Be Galactic Panspermia? And More... In this QA episode, I wonder if there could be a galactic panspermia, why I'm always stealing articles from Fraser Cain from Universe Today, and where the Universe came from.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Apr-01 • 61 minutes Episode 503: Open Space 32: Live QA with Dr. Ian O'Neill My guest today will be Dr. Ian O'Neill. Ian is an astrophysicist and journalist, and has been covering space and astronomy news for more than a decade.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Mar-25 • 62 minutes Episode 502: Open Space 31: The Cosma Hypothesis with Frank White This week I'm joined by Frank White, author of the Overview Effect. His new book is the Cosma Hypothesis, which talks about humanity's role in the larger cosmos.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Mar-25 • 11 minutes Episode 501: 374: Soaring Above Mars. Airplanes, Helicopters and Balloons on the Red Planet Aircraft make some of the best platforms for science here on Earth. From weather balloons to study the high atmosphere to aircraft that fly into the hearts of hurricanes. From surveys of Antarctic ice sheets to drones. Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Mar-24 • 29 minutes Episode 500: QA 81: Did Life Evolve Only Once? And More... Featuring Science Mom In this week's QA, we discuss infecting Mars with diarrhea, if life evolved more than once, and why other countries don't help explore space.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Mar-20 • 12 minutes Episode 499: 374: The Incredible Challenge of Landing Heavy Payloads On Mars It’s too bad Mars is such an interesting place, because it’s actually one of the most difficult places to visit in the Solar System, especially if you want to bring along a lot of luggage. That planet is a graveyard of missions that didn’t quite make it.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Mar-18 • 61 minutes Episode 498: Open Space 30: Searching for Exoplanets with Dr. Jessie Christiansen This week's guest is Dr. Jessie Christiansen, aka the Aussie Astronomer. Jessie is an exoplanet researcher working at NASA's Exoplanet Science Institute at Caltech. We'll talk all things exoplanets.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Mar-12 • 72 minutes Episode 497: Space Junk Podcast: Conspiracy Theories With Fraser Cain I was a guest on the Space Junk Podcast from Oceanside Photo and Telescope. Subscribe to their podcast! When it comes to end of the world theories, NASA conspiracies or astronomy hoaxes Fraser has seen or heard them all. This episode picks apart those ideas and we talk about whether anything should or could be done to combat them.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Feb-26 • 63 minutes Episode 496: Open Space 29: Existential Risks with Phil Torres My guest today is Phil Torres, author, journalist and the founder of the X-Risks Institute. He tracks the ways the world could end. He's the author of Morality, Foresight and Human Florishing. An Introduction to Existential RisksSupport Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Feb-25 • 27 minutes Episode 495: QA 80: Does Everything Orbit Something? And More Featuring Dr. Becky In this week's QA, I answer if Opportunity could ever phone home, are there stars between galaxies, and who, exactly, is Chad? Featuring a special guest answer from Dr. Becky.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Feb-25 • 61 minutes Episode 494: Open Space 28: Live QA with Dr. Morgan Rehnberg This week I'm joined by Dr. Morgan Rehnberg. Morgan is a planetary scientist, scriptwriter for SciShow Space, and of course, one of the co-hosts of the Weekly Space Hangout.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Feb-20 • 13 minutes Episode 493: 373 - Farewell Opportunity. A History Of The Mars Exploration Rovers Today I wanted to look back at the history of the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. To take you through their creation, launch to Mars, the amazing discoveries they made, and of course, how they finally died.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Feb-18 • 62 minutes Episode 492: Open Space 27: Live QA with Dr. Kimberly Cartier Dr. Kimberly Cartier is an exoplanet researcher, reporter for Eos Magazine and one of my co-hosts with the Weekly Space Hangout. Join us for a conversation about space, astronomy and the search for extrasolar planets.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Feb-14 • 29 minutes Episode 491: QA 79: Galactic Prime Directive Keeping Us In The Dark? And More... Featuring Ryan Macdonald In this week's questions show, I explain why SLS is still happening, if we can rule out contamination when we finally find life, and wonder why China is sending spacecraft to the Moon. Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Feb-11 • 64 minutes Episode 490: Open Space 26 - Live QA, Searching for Technosignatures with Dr. Jason Wright Today Fraser is joined by exoplanet researcher Dr. Jason Wright from Penn State University. In addition to the more traditional hunt for exoplanets, Jason is helping define the search for extraterrestrials using all the new techniques available to astronomers.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Feb-06 • 28 minutes Episode 489: QA 78: Why Use Crew Dragon AND Starliner? And More, Featuring Everyday Astronaut In this week's QA, I wonder if there were other bombardments, how the Earth could have been oxygen rich, and why the asteroid belt isn't a planet. With a special guest answer from Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Feb-04 • 11 minutes Episode 488: 372: Dark Energy Seems To Be Changing Over Time. Leading To A Big Rip? Astronomers working with the NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton have developed a technique to watch quasars and track the expansion of the Universe over the last 9 billion years. What they found is that the mysterious dark energy that’s currently accelerating the expansion of the Universe doesn’t appear to be a fixed amount. It’s changing, and appears to be increasing over time. If true, it’s a groundbreaking discovery in cosmology, and it could just fortel the end of the Universe.Support... |
| 2019-Feb-04 • 63 minutes Episode 487: Open Space 25 - Amateur Astronomy with Dean Regas Today I hang out with astronomer Dean Regas, author with the Cincinnati Observatory and author of 100 Things to See in the Night Sky.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Feb-02 • 8 minutes Episode 486: 371: Oldest Rock From Earth Was Found On The Moon (Of All Places) Geologists think they’ve found the oldest Earth rock ever seen. And they found it in one of the last places you’d ever suspect, on the Moon. When the Apollo 14 astronauts returned their lunar samples back to Earth, they were carrying one rock that had formed on Earth 4 to 4.1 billion years ago, which was carved out of our planet during the time of intense bombardment and delivered to the Moon.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Jan-30 • 30 minutes Episode 485: QA77: Constant Acceleration For Artificial Gravity? And More... Featuring Astroathens In this week's Questions Show, I wonder if there's a way ion engines can give us artificial gravity, if electromagnetic rail guns can launch space craft, and should we be worried about returning alien pathogens back to Earth?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Jan-29 • 61 minutes Episode 484: Open Space 24 - Going The Speed of Light With Dr. Paul Sutter Today I hang out with astrophysicist Dr. Paul Sutter to talk about space and his new book, Your Place in the Universe.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Jan-23 • 9 minutes Episode 483: 370: Can There Be Life On Planets Around Red Dwarf Stars? As astronomers find more and more planets around other stars, the big question we want to know is: are they habitable, could there be life there?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Jan-22 • 25 minutes Episode 482: QA 76: Can You Come To A Dead Stop In Space? And More... Featuring Launch Pad Astronomy In this week's QA, I answer if it's possible to come to a dead stop, will Mars be more habitable when the Sun expands as a red giant, is there a stellar mass black hole nearby, and more...Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Jan-21 • 61 minutes Episode 481: Open Space 23 - Space and Futurism With Isaac Arthur In this week's live QA, I sit down with Isaac Arthur. He talks about the challenges of futurism, how he creates so much amazing content, and a new suggestion for the Prime Directive: Don't Be a Jerk.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Jan-17 • 10 minutes Episode 480: 369: Many New Fast Radio Bursts Found, Including Another Repeater One of the big mysteries in astronomy is unfolding right before our eyes: fast radio bursts. And now a new Canadian radio telescope has come online, detecting many new bursts, including the second ever seen repeating. Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Jan-15 • 25 minutes Episode 479: QA 75: Have We Already Infected Mars with Bacteria? And More... In this week's questions show, I wonder if we've already infected Mars with our Earth life, why we assume aliens build Dyson Spheres, and if you could link up 5 Hubble telescopes together.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Jan-15 • 61 minutes Episode 478: Open Space 22: Photonic Propusion, Canada in Space, Big or Small Rockets, and More... This week's Live QA was just me, no guest. Which gave us lots of time to get into your questions. We talked about photonic propulsion systems, the future of small rockets and whether space elevators will work better on the Moon or Mars.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Jan-10 • 12 minutes Episode 477: 368: Searching for Technosignatures. Evidence of Intelligent Alien Civilizations Are we alone in the Universe? It’s one of the most difficult and important questions that humanity can ask. As Arthur C. Clarke noted, it’s equally terrifying whether the answer is yes or no.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Jan-08 • 23 minutes Episode 476: QA 74: Can We Be Ready for the Next Oumuamua? And More... In this week's questions show, I wonder what we'd do if we actually found life, if we can be ready for the next interstellar asteroid, why the Mars 2020 rover is going to help with sample return and more. Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Jan-07 • 62 minutes Episode 475: Open Space 21: Live QA with John Michael Godier This week I'm joined by sci-fi author and science writer John Michael Godier. We talk about the latest space news and what's happening with John's new Event Horizon Channel. Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2019-Jan-06 • 11 minutes Episode 474: 367: Project Dragonfly. A Laser-Powered Probe to Alpha Centauri The distances between stars are so vast, it’s hard to wrap your mind around it. Even our far flung Voyagers have barely reached interstellar space, and would take tens of thousands of years to get to even the nearest star. But scientists and engineers are considering what it would actually take to send a spacecraft to another star. It’s called Project Dragonfly, and would use existing or near future technologies to send a 3,000 kg spacecraft to Alpha Centauri within 100 years. Support Universe Today Podcast... |
| 2019-Jan-01 • 21 minutes Episode 473: QA 73: Is SETI Pointless? And More... In this week's questions show, I wonder if moons could be geostationary, if we could detect Hawking radiation, if SETI is pointless, and why I'm always talking to people like they're 11. as the Sun. In fact, this star is a virtual twin of the Sun and it’s actually pretty close. Well, astronomical speaking.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Nov-29 • 9 minutes Episode 472: 366: One of the Sun's Sibling Stars Has Been Found. And It's Actually Pretty Close Thanks to the hardworking Gaia spacecraft, astronomers think they’ve located a star that formed from the same solar nebula as the Sun. In fact, this star is a virtual twin of the Sun and it’s actually pretty close. Well, astronomical speaking.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Nov-22 • 24 minutes Episode 471: QA 72: Escaping an Extinction Event and More... In this week's questions show, I wonder how well we'll be able to survive various extinction scenarios, can mobile apps help you learn the night sky? What would we do if Tunguska happened today? And more...Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Nov-19 • 11 minutes Episode 470: 365: Is Oumuamua a Solar Sail Spacecraft from Another Star? Probably Not It’s been about a year since the mysterious interstellar asteroid (or maybe comet) Oumuamua passed through our Solar System. It was going so fast and was so far away that astronomers could see very little before it was off and away into deep space again.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Nov-12 • 16 minutes Episode 469: QA71: Could We React to An Incoming Asteroid? And More... In this week's questions show, I wonder if we'll have enough time to respond to an asteroid or comet, if we're going to fill the asteroid belt with space junk and if antimatter engines are the best way to explore space.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Oct-24 • 13 minutes Episode 468: 364: The Search for Neutrinos. Catching These Elusive Particles in a Gigaton of Ice In the pristine icy environment of Antarctica, there’s a telescope, embedded into an ancient glacier. The telescope is observing the Universe, directly through the Earth, using a cubic kilometer of ice to capture elusive particles called neutrinos. Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Oct-01 • 25 minutes Episode 467: QA 70: What is Space Itself? And More Featuring Dr. Paul Sutter We recorded this week's episode of the QA show from inside the Carnival Magic cruise ship, as part of our summer Astrotour. I saved up a bunch of tough questions for Dr. Paul Sutter, including: what is space itself? Could we use negative mass to destroy black holes? What would you see falling into a black hole, and more...Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Oct-01 • 60 minutes Episode 466: Open Space 20: Live QA with Casey Dreier from the Planetary Society Casey Dreier is the Planetary Society's Director of Space Policy, helping to advocate for planetary science with the US government. He's probably the best person I know to talk about the state of US space policy and the future of crewed and robotic spaceflight.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Sep-21 • 32 minutes Episode 465: QA 69: Can We Detect Random Particles With The LHC? And More With Dr. Pamela Gay We recorded this episode of the QA live in front of a real audience as part of our Astronomy Cast 500 celebration. I took some rough questions and threw them at Pamela Gay, my co-host in Astronomy Cast. Will the Large Hadron Collider randomly detect particles passing through it? and more.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Sep-20 • 12 minutes Episode 464: 363: A Return Mission to Pluto? This Time to Stay New Horizons gave us the best views we could have hoped for of Pluto. But it was only a single glimpse of half the world. What's New Horizons up to next? And what plans are in the works to return to Pluto and Charon?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Sep-12 • 23 minutes Episode 463: QA 68: What If It's Really a Vast Government Conspiracy? And More... In this week's questions show, I explain how I'd react if it turned out the government was hiding evidence of aliens. How we communicate with Mars when it goes behind the Sun, and why we should bother building space telescopes any more.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Sep-10 • 62 minutes Episode 462: Open Space 19: QA with Anton Petrov. Surf a Gravitational Wave, Building Sea Dragon and More... For tonight's live QA, I'll be joined by Anton Petrov, a math and science teacher who talks about space and astronomy on his YouTube channel, often simulating events in Universe Sandbox to show how they work.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Aug-30 • 16 minutes Episode 461: 362: How Are We Searching For Dark Matter? And How Do We Even Know It’s Real? Whenever I mention dark matter in anyway in the Guide to Space, or in a questions show, I get a bunch of responses that have essentially the same point. Astronomers are just speculating, why do they even think dark matter is a thing?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Aug-27 • 60 minutes Episode 460: Open Space 18: When Will Betelgeuse Go Supernova? And more... In this week's live QA, I answer questions about when Betelgeuse will go supernova, how bad are the fires here in British Columbia, and which planets I'd like us to send probes to.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Aug-22 • 18 minutes Episode 459: QA 67: Is Anywhere Else Perfectly Habitable? And More... Featuring Dr. Sabine Hossenfelder In this week's questions show, I explain why we don't know of any perfectly habitable worlds in the galaxy. Why we don't know if the Universe is finite or infinite, and why we call it "micro gravity" and not "zero gravity".Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Aug-20 • 59 minutes Episode 458: Open Space 17: Live QA with Fraser No guests this time, just a live QA with Fraser.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Aug-16 • 11 minutes Episode 457: 361: Making the Atmosphere Disappear. The Power of Adaptive Optics The Earth’s atmosphere keeps us safe from the harsh environment of space, but it also obscures our view into the cosmos. No matter how powerful a telescope you build, the turbulence of the atmosphere limits your resolution. But astronomers and engineers have an amazing technology that allows a telescope to peer into space as if the atmosphere isn’t even there, producing images from here on the ground which are as sharp and clear as if the telescope was out in space. It’s called adaptive optics, and we’re no... |
| 2018-Aug-14 • 24 minutes Episode 456: QA 66: What If SpaceX Went Bankrupt? and More... In this week's questions show, I wonder what would happen if SpaceX failed as a company, why New Horizons can't search for Planet 9, and I ask for your suggestions for new names to call dark matter and dark energy.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Aug-13 • 62 minutes Episode 455: Open Space 16: Live QA with Professor Avi Loeb, Breakthrough Starshot Professor Avi Loeb is one of the hardest working astrophysicists in the field, writing a blistering number of academic papers on fascinating topics like the Fermi Paradox, the habitability of other worlds, black holes, and the history of the early universe. He's also one of the people working on the Breakthrough Starshot project to send tiny probes to other star systems.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Aug-06 • 59 minutes Episode 454: Open Space 15: Live QA with David Brin On this week's live QA, I got a chance to talk with David Brin, a science fiction author, futurist, and an advisor for NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts awards. David and I talked about the Transparent Society, why we should go to asteroids before the Moon or Mars, and some cool ideas coming out of NIAC.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jul-30 • 59 minutes Episode 453: Open Space 14: Prof. Brad Peterson and LUVOIR This week Professor Brad Peterson joins me to talk about the capability of the LUVOIR telescope, which is one of the next generation space telescopes NASA is considering as part of its new Decadal Survey.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jul-25 • 23 minutes Episode 452: QA 65: Is Dark Matter Really Real? And More In this week's QA, I explain why dark matter is really a thing, and not just some made up thing by evil astronomers. How event horizons flatten out when they spin, what kind of scientist I'd want to be, and if you could build a ladder to space.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jul-23 • 59 minutes Episode 451: Open Space 13: Live QA with Fraser Cain Just me again, back from Australia answering live questions about the Universe.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jul-14 • 9 minutes Episode 450: 360 - Missing Baryonic Mass in the Universe... Found! Astronomers have finally solved one of the outstanding mysteries in cosmology. Forget about all the dark matter and dark energy, where’s all the missing regular mass in the Universe? This has been called the “missing baryon problem”.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jul-12 • 20 minutes Episode 449: QA 64: What If The Milky Way Lost Its Black Hole? And More... In this week's question's show, I answer what would happen if the Milky Way lost its supermassive black hole, why can't you spiral stuff into the Sun, why do we assume life breathes oxygen?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jul-11 • 11 minutes Episode 448: 359 - Space Navigation. Finding Your Way in the Cosmos Until we learned to properly navigate our way across the oceans, early explorers were fearful to lose sight of land in case they’d be lost at sea. They learned to use the water currents, winds, movements of birds and of course, the positions of the Sun, the Moon and the stars to find their way across the seas to distant lands. As we learned to launch spacecraft into orbit and out into the Solar System, mission planners needed to develop entirely new methods of navigation. Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jul-06 • 20 minutes Episode 447: QA 63: Why Can't We Find Planet 9? And More... In this week's episode, I explain why you can't just calculate the position of Planet 9, why we don't use parachutes to retrieve boosters, and if we can wait 100 million years to see the Great Attractor.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jul-04 • 6 minutes Episode 446: First Ever Picture of a Baby Planet! For the first time ever, astronomers have captured a direct image of a newly forming planet orbiting around a newly forming star. It’s a stunning photograph, not only for the science and what was observed, but what it means the future of exoplanetary astronomy.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jul-02 • 59 minutes Episode 445: OpenSpace 12 - Live QA with Fraser Live QA with just Fraser this week.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jun-29 • 15 minutes Episode 444: 357 - Harvesting Resources From The Solar System. In Situ Resource Utilization Rocket launches are expensive. Even with huge price drops from SpaceX and other New Space companies, there’s no cheap way to get stuff down here in Earth’s gravity well up to low Earth orbit. In order to really survive and thrive in space, we’ve got to learn to live off the land, to acquire the resources in space that will allow us to survive… in space. We’ve got to learn to turn those raw materials into forms we need: fuel, breathable air, water, construction materials, and eventually even finished goods l... |
| 2018-Jun-26 • 21 minutes Episode 443: QA 62: Can We Build A Space Internet and More... In this week's questions show, I answer if it's a good idea to build a space internet, if microbes reach Mars, will they evolve into something new, where could we go after Mars, and more.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jun-24 • 61 minutes Episode 442: Open Space 11: Live QA with Dr. Pamela Gay This week I'm joined by my Astronomy Cast co-host Dr. Pamela Gay to talk about all things astronomy, and casting.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jun-20 • 17 minutes Episode 441: QA 61: Could Jupiter Be a Gravity Lens? and More... In this week's QA, I present real pictures of the whole Earth, not some fake CGI, and wonder if Jupiter could be used as a gravitational lens for a space telescope.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jun-18 • 61 minutes Episode 440: Open Space 10: Live QA with Fraser, Space Force and More... In this week's live QA, I was solo again, answering live questions from the audience about Trump's ongoing plans to build a Space Force.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jun-14 • 27 minutes Episode 439: QA 60: How Do We Know Where Gravitational Waves Come From? And More... In this week's questions show, I explain how we now where gravitational waves are coming from, will there be planets around a white dwarf, what does it feel like where the space station is getting boosted, and if I'm an arrogant fool.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jun-12 • 15 minutes Episode 438: 356: What Comes After James Webb and WFIRST? Four Amazing Future Space Telescopes The Hubble Space Telescope has been in space for 28 years, producing some of the most beautiful and scientifically important images of the cosmos that humanity has ever taken. But let’s face it, Hubble is getting old, and it probably won’t be with us for too much longer.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jun-11 • 63 minutes Episode 437: Open Space 9: Radio Astronomer Dr. Nicole Gugliucci This week, it's a live QA with radio astronomer Dr. Nicole Gugliucci to talk about radio telescopes, and how close the movie Contact is to reality.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jun-08 • 13 minutes Episode 436: 355: The Problem of Power in Space. NASA's New Kilopower Reactor Space is the worst. It’s got hostile radiation, a total lack of atmosphere, near absolute zero temperatures, problematic gravity wells, and worse. In order to keep your spacecraft alive in that environment, you need electricity to keep it warm. Not to mention all the power to run scientific instruments and the transmitters to send that data home. Getting enough power in space is a big problem.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jun-06 • 21 minutes Episode 435: QA 59: Why Does the Deep Future Make Us Sad? And More... In this week's questions show, I talk about entry level telescopes, why we can see galaxies billions of light years away but not objects on the Moon, and why events that won't happen billions of years into the future still make us kind of sad. Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jun-04 • 63 minutes Episode 434: Open Space 8: Guest Dr. Paul Sutter from Ask a Spaceman Paul was busy last week, but now he's ready to join me for an hour answering your mind bending questions about space and astronomy. Bring all your complex questions about dark matter, black holes and the Big Bang and he'll sort it all out.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-May-31 • 11 minutes Episode 433: 354: Are We The First Advanced Civilization in The Solar System? Humans are believed to be the most technologically advanced civilization that’s ever set foot on Earth, or really anywhere in the Solar System. But are we the first?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-May-29 • 22 minutes Episode 432: QA 58: Can We Live If The Sun Dies? and More, Featuring Astronaut Mike Massimino In this week's questions show, astronaut Mike Massimino answers a question about astronaut training, I wonder how we could survive if the Sun dies, and explain why the shuttle's fuel tank was orange.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-May-28 • 58 minutes Episode 431: Open Space 7: Guest Eric Berger from Ars Technica In my opinion, Eric Berger (aka @sciguyspace) is one of the top journalists working on stories about spaceflight, especially SpaceX, Blue Origins and NASA. Eric will join me live to answer your questions about the state of private and public space exploration.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-May-22 • 11 minutes Episode 430: 353: Cosmological Horizons. The Past, Present and Future Limits of Astronomy with Dr. Paul Sutter The observable Universe is finite, which means there are limits to what we can see, now and deep into the future. Dr. Paul Sutter joins Fraser to talk about the various cosmological horizons that surround us.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-May-21 • 60 minutes Episode 429: Open Space 6: Live QA with Fraser Cain It was just me this week, answering questions from the YouTube audience.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-May-17 • 20 minutes Episode 428: QA 57: Is The Fermi Paradox Really a Paradox? And More... In this week's questions show, the viewers try to suggest names for balloon rockets. Could live from Venus escaped to Earth? Is the Fermi Paradox really a paradox when we've only explored a little bit of the galaxy? And MoreSupport Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-May-15 • 9 minutes Episode 427: 352: How Do Ion Engines Work? The Most Efficient Propulsion System Out There People always ask me why we’re stuck with chemical rockets. Seriously, exploding a bunch of hydrogen or kerosene is the best we can do? Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-May-14 • 61 minutes Episode 426: Open Space 5: Chasing New Horizons with Alan Stern and David Grinspoon In this week's live QA, Fraser is joined by Dr. Alan Stern, the Principal Investigator of New Horizons and Dr. David Grinspoon to talk about their new book.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-May-10 • 24 minutes Episode 425: QA 56: Is Everything We See Long Dead? And More... When we look out into space, are we really just seeing stars, planets and galaxies which are long dead, ghosts from eons ago? Can black holes consume dark matter? Can we repair Kepler and other dead satellites, and more.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-May-08 • 11 minutes Episode 424: 351: The Militarization of Space. Do We Really Need a Space Force? President Trump recently called for the creation of a space force to deal with the future warfighting in space. It turns out, this already exists, space is already well militarized.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-May-07 • 60 minutes Episode 423: Open Space 4: John Michael Godier In this week's live QA, Fraser is joined by sci-fi author and futurist John Michael Godier.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-May-04 • 23 minutes Episode 422: QA 55: Launching Rockets From Balloons? Featuring Emily Lakdawalla From The Planetary Society In this week's questions show, Fraser wonders if lava tubes are stable, the best places to extract resources from the Solar System, and why the US has to pay for everyone's science.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-May-03 • 9 minutes Episode 421: 350: Thanks To Gaia We Now Know Exactly Where 1.7 Billion Stars Are In The Milky Way The European Space Agency just dropped an enormous amount of data onto the scientific community. The location and position of 1.7 billion stars in the Milky Way. Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Apr-26 • 62 minutes Episode 420: Open Space 3: Live QA Featuring CodyDon Reeder from Cody's Lab In this week's live QA, Fraser talks to CodyDon Reeder, the host and self-taught chemist and mad scientist from the popular YouTube channel Cody's Lab.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Apr-26 • 16 minutes Episode 419: QA 54: Why Doesn't NASA Mass Produce Spacecraft? and More... In this week's episode, Fraser talks about how you can support the creators you love, why NASA doesn't make duplicates of its spacecraft, and what binoculars he's using.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Apr-24 • 60 minutes Episode 418: Open Space 2: Live QA Featuring Isaac Arthur In this week's live QA, Fraser welcomes futurist Isaac Arthur to talk about a range of topics, from SpaceX to Breakthrough Starshot, and what we think about the state of sci-fi on TV.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Apr-19 • 21 minutes Episode 417: QA 53: How Many Planets Can We Detect? And More... Featuring Professor David Kipping In this week's questions show, Fraser gets excited about the NIAC awards, considers how NASA will deal with a fully operational BFR, and a special guest answer from Professor David Kipping from Columbia University's Cool Worlds lab.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Apr-18 • 60 minutes Episode 416: Open Space 1: Live QA on YouTube Once a week I'll be opening up the livestream on my YouTube channel and taking questions from the audience, as well as inviting special guests to join me. I didn't think about turning into this into a podcast, so I apologize. Next time I'll be more careful about making sure I read out the questions carefully for audio listeners.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Apr-17 • 10 minutes Episode 415: 349: Farewell Kepler. Welcome TESS And The Quest To Find Earth 2.0 We’re now entering the final days for NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope. It’s running out of fuel and already crippled by the loss of its reaction wheels. In just a few months NASA will shut it down for good. That is sad, but don’t worry, NASA’s next planet hunting spacecraft, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Telescope is on the launchpad and ready to fly to space to take over where Kepler left off. Finding Earth-sized worlds in the Milky Way.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Apr-12 • 14 minutes Episode 414: QA 52: Could Satellites With Lasers To Clear Debris Be Weapons Too? And More... In this week's questions show, Fraser explains how space debris hunting satellites could also be used as weapons, why his green screen is always set to Endor, and ways to find nearby places for stargazing.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Apr-11 • 10 minutes Episode 413: 348: Living Underground on Other Worlds. Exploring Lava Tubes The Moon and Mars will probably be the first places in the Solar System that humanity will try to live after leaving the safety and security of Earth. But those worlds are still incredibly harsh environments, with no protection from radiation, little to no atmosphere, and extreme temperatures. Living on those worlds is going to be hard, it’s going to be dangerous. Fortunately, there are a few pockets on those worlds that’ll make it a tiny little bit easier to get a foothold in the Solar System: lava tubes.S... |
| 2018-Mar-29 • 18 minutes Episode 412: QA 51: Could We See Ourselves in the Past? And more.. In this week's QA, I wonder if we could use the speed of light to see ourselves in the past, how the Mars rovers clean their solar panels, and if aliens would infect us with their bacteria and viruses.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Mar-27 • 13 minutes Episode 411: 347: Searching for Life on Europa? Going Under the Ice We’re now learning that icy worlds seem to be the best places in Solar System where life could be hiding. Worlds like Europa and Enceladus, which have vast oceans of liquid water beneath a shell of water ice. Clearly we need to explore these worlds, to go deep down beneath the ice to explore the ocean depths. But how do you drill through kilometers of ice to reach it?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Mar-22 • 21 minutes Episode 410: QA 50: Can James Webb Find Megastructures? And More... Featuring Abby Harrison In this week's questions show, I wonder if the James Webb Space Telescope will be able to find satellites around other stars, what my favorite sci-fi FTL method is, and why can't we see Mars as a bright object in the sky?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Mar-21 • 11 minutes Episode 409: 346: Which Are The Real Pictures of Space? What’s a Photo and What’s An Illustration? With modern computer graphics, it’s sometimes hard to know which is an actual photograph of space, and what’s an illustration or a 3D rendering. Some really fascinating discoveries don’t have a pretty picture to go along with them, so illustrations are created to help us understand.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Mar-15 • 23 minutes Episode 408: QA 49: How Would We Drill Into Europa? And More... In this week's questions show, I explain why I never get to the point, if we'll ever reach interstellar space, and how we'd get down below the ice sheet on Europa.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Mar-14 • 12 minutes Episode 407: 345: What Will It Take To Make Artificial Gravity? Surviving in Space Forever If we want to live and work in space for long periods of time, we’ll need to conquer the lack of gravity and its effects on the human body. We’ll want to come up with some kind of artificial gravity. Futurists imagine huge rotating space stations, but realistically there are strategies that could provide artificial gravity for the times that we need it, and allow us to survive in space forever.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Mar-09 • 25 minutes Episode 406: QA 48: Is Falcon Heavy More Powerful Than Space Shuttle? And More... In this week's QA, I compared apples to apples and look at the launch capability of the Falcon Heavy versus the Space Shuttle. The answer may surprise you. We also look at extracting energy from a black hole, and if launching satellites from the Earth's poles will avoid a Kessler Syndrome.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Mar-05 • 16 minutes Episode 405: 344: What Are the Limits of Science? A Conversation with Dr. Paul Sutter During our Iceland adventure, I had a chance to sit down with Dr. Paul Sutter and talk about the limits of science. Why a better version of the Planck Mission can't tell us anything else about the cosmic microwave background radiation. Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Mar-01 • 24 minutes Episode 404: QA 47: Starter Telescope Advice and More. Featuring Dr. Alan Stern from New Horizons In this week's question show, I explain why I'm happy to answer questions, what first telescope people should get, and if we've ever seen a black hole ever. Also, stick around to the end, where Dr. Alan Stern, the principal investigator of New Horizons answers a question about the mission.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Feb-27 • 12 minutes Episode 403: 343: NASA Wants To Bring A Chunk Of Comet Back To Earth. NASA is going to decide between a comet sample return mission or a helicopter on Titan. Which mission should it be?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Feb-21 • 24 minutes Episode 402: QA 46 - Why Doesn't NASA Cancel SLS? And more... Featuring Emma Osborne In this week's QA, I answer the several related questions about why NASA doesn't just cancel the Space Launch System and give all their money to SpaceX. With special guest answerer Emma Osborne.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Feb-20 • 14 minutes Episode 401: 342: What Has The Curiosity Rover Discovered? NASA’s Curiosity Rover has been exploring the surface of Mars for over 5 years now. What has it turned up?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Feb-14 • 13 minutes Episode 400: QA 45: Solving Mysteries At The Speed Of Light? And more... Featuring Dr. Paul Sutter In this QA from Iceland, astrophysicist Dr. Paul Sutter steps in to tackle some of the more complicated cosmology and physics based questions from the audience. Did the Big Bang create the matter of the Universe, how close are we do discovering what dark matter is, and more.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Feb-12 • 13 minutes Episode 399: 341: The Rocket Engines Carrying Us to Space. The SLS RS-25 (aka The Space Shuttle Main Engine) There are few rockets more iconic than the RS-25, also known as the Space Shuttle main engine. Even though it’s been around in some form since the 1970s, it’s been improved and upgraded several times, making it the most efficient liquid fuel rocket engine going today. And now the RS-25 is going to see a new chapter in its history, working to carry NASA’s new Space Launch System back to deep space, beyond Earth orbit.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Feb-06 • 25 minutes Episode 398: QA 44: Am I Ruining Sci-Fi? and more In this week's questions show, I talk about being wrong, why I'm such a buzz kill to sci-fi, and what I'd launch on a Falcon Heavy.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Feb-05 • 9 minutes Episode 397: 340: What Is The Flyby Anomaly? Why Spacecraft Aren't Where They're Supposed to Be You might have heard of the recently solved Pioneer anomaly. But what about the flyby anomaly? The unexpected velocity change that happens during gravitational slingshots.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Feb-01 • 28 minutes Episode 396: QA 43: Will New Telescopes Challenge The Big Bang and More... In this week's questions show, Fraser is excited to see the southern hemisphere night sky, considers how the next generation of telescopes will change our understanding of the Big Bang, and suggests what you should look at with a new telescope.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jan-28 • 11 minutes Episode 395: 339 - What'll It Take to Find Life? Searching the Universe for Biosignatures When astronomers scan the atmospheres of other worlds, they’ll be looking for gases to confirm that yes, indeed, there’s life there. It turns out, this is actually pretty tough.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jan-23 • 21 minutes Episode 394: QA 42: Where Can You Escape Time Dilation? And More... In this week's questions show, Fraser wonders where you'd have to go in the Universe to minimize your time dilation, how to see Iridium Flares, how interferometry works, and more.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jan-21 • 13 minutes Episode 393: 338 - Which Are The Real Photos of Spacecraft? When we see images of space, it’s hard to know which are real images and which are artist illustrations.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jan-11 • 22 minutes Episode 392: QA 41: Will We Ever Clear That Space Junk? and more... In this week's questions show, Fraser wonders how we're ever going to clear all that space junk orbiting Earth, whether it's better to colonize Mars or Mercury, and can water worlds explain the Fermi Paradox?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jan-04 • 11 minutes Episode 391: 337 - Life Beneath the Ice Forget rocky worlds like Earth and Mars. New discoveries about icy worlds like Europa and Enceladus make them the ideal candidates for the search for life in the Universe. In fact there could be hundreds, or even thousands of times more worlds out there with ability to support life.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2018-Jan-02 • 11 minutes Episode 390: 336 - What Do We Do With Dead Spacecraft We try to avoid thinking about it, but spacecraft are machines that break down and eventually fail. Some can last for years, others decades, but in the end they’ll be gone forever.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Dec-19 • 22 minutes Episode 389: QA 40: When Will the Big Rip Happen and more... In this QA episode, Fraser wonders when the Big Rip might happen, could there be binary galaxies, what it would be like to live in higher gravity.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Dec-15 • 9 minutes Episode 388: 335 - Why Did Mars Lose Its Atmosphere? Mars is in the spotlight now, as both SpaceX and NASA are preparing their long range plans to send humans to the Red Planet. But Mars is an inhospitable environment, especially because of its tenuous and poisonous atmosphere of carbon dioxide.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Dec-12 • 9 minutes Episode 387: 334 - Interstellar Asteroid On October 25, 2017, astronomers from NASA’s Minor Planet Center sent out an announcement that they needed help confirming the trajectory of an interesting object.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Dec-10 • 23 minutes Episode 386: QA 39: Galactic Escape Velocity and More... Featuring Astronaut Terry Virts In this week’s question show, Fraser explains why almost everything in the Solar System is spinning in the same direction, is there a limit to how massive black holes can get, and do galaxies have an escape velocity?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Dec-06 • 13 minutes Episode 385: 332 - Can We Protect Astronauts Space is our future, but space is also a deadly place, with poisonous radiation and an increased risk of cancer. We’re protected here on Earth thanks to our planet’s magnetosphere, but is there a way to create an artificial magnetosphere and shield astronauts?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Dec-06 • 10 minutes Episode 384: 333 - How Do Planets Shift Orbits We once thought our Solar System was normal, average. How wrong we were, how varied the planetary systems are out there. It turns out, the migration of planets played a huge role in the Solar System we see today.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Dec-01 • 22 minutes Episode 383: QA 38: Measuring a Black Hole’s Spin and more. Featuring Andy Weir Author of the Martian In this week’s question show, Fraser explains how astronomers measure the spin rate of black holes, other uses of gravitational slingshots, and why everyone is talking about Patreon.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Nov-14 • 25 minutes Episode 382: QA 37: Why Am I Such a SpaceX Hater (or Fanboy)? And More... In this week’s question show, Fraser explains his thoughts on SpaceX, what he does for his regular job, and wonders if you could use a black hole to perform gravitational slingshots, whether planets could hide in Lagrange points, and growing trees on Mars. Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Nov-13 • 28 minutes Episode 381: 331 - What Is Eternal Inflation In order to get the large scale structure of the Universe we see today, cosmologists have proposed the idea of inflation, that the Universe expanded an enormous amount in the earliest moments. But if inflation really happened, then it has even stranger implications for the nature of the Universe and the search for multiverses.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Nov-08 • 9 minutes Episode 380: 330 - Going Back To The Moon On October 5th, 2017, US Vice President Mike Pence announced that NASA is going back to the Moon. He didn’t provide any other details, just some kind of moonward directed space exploration. And it turns out they won’t be the only ones. The Moon is going to be a busy busy place.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Oct-30 • 23 minutes Episode 379: QA 36: Growing Plants in Lunar Regolith? And More In this week’s question show, Fraser wonders if we’ll be able to grow crops in lunar soil, if the Moon has been changing over time, and what title does Elon Musk get when he colonizes Mars.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Oct-24 • 10 minutes Episode 378: 329 - What Is An Electric Sail We’re all familiar with the idea of solar sails to explore the Solar System, using the light pressure from the Sun. But there’s another propulsion system that could harness the power of the Sun, electric sails, and it’s a pretty exciting idea.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Oct-20 • 9 minutes Episode 377: 328 - Kilonova Astronomers have made the groundbreaking detection of two neutron stars colliding in a galaxy 130 million light years away. They detected the gravitational waves AND the blast of radiation released from the collision, observing a kilonova for the first time.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Oct-19 • 10 minutes Episode 376: 327 - Where Do Comets Come From Some comets orbit the Sun on a regular basis, but others come in from deep space, a region known as the Oort Cloud. What causes them to make this journey, and will we ever be able to explore the Oort Cloud?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Oct-17 • 20 minutes Episode 375: QA 35: Best Place for a Telescope? And More In this week’s question show, Fraser wonders where would be the best place to put a really powerful telescope, why a kilonova is important, and what happens when brown dwarfs die.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Oct-11 • 17 minutes Episode 374: QA 34: Will Ice Protect Us From Radiation? And More In this week’s question show, Fraser wonders if the Earth will get new moons, if dark energy is getting more diluted over time, and if the ice on Jupiter’s moons will protect us from its deadly radiation.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Oct-11 • 11 minutes Episode 373: 326 - SpaceX Goes All in On The Big Freaking Rocket Elon Musk gave us an update on SpaceX’s plans to send humans to Mars, going all in on their new launch vehicle: the BFR.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Sep-24 • 10 minutes Episode 372: 325 - Deep Space Gateway NASA is working on developing a space station in a cis-lunar orbit that will serve as the jumping off point to exploring the Solar System; it’s known as the Deep Space Gateway.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Sep-19 • 18 minutes Episode 371: QA 33: Should We Sweep the Moon? And More, Featuring Scott Manley In this week’s question show, Fraser searches for the most energetic collisions in the Universe, whether we should vacuum up dust on the Moon, and are there supernovae that don’t create black holes.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Sep-10 • 9 minutes Episode 370: 324 - What Are Globular Clusters? One of the most beautiful and scientifically interesting objects in space are the globular clusters, containing hundreds of thousands of stars. What are they and where did they come from?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Sep-08 • 20 minutes Episode 369: QA 32: Why Can’t James Webb Be Repaired? And More In this week’s question show, Fraser explains why James Webb can’t be repaired if anything goes wrong, why we even need space telescopes in the first place, and his favorite methods of zipping around the Solar System.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Sep-07 • 8 minutes Episode 368: 323 - Intermediate Mass Black Hole Discovered Astronomers have been searching for mid-weight black holes, and now they’ve found one, right here in the Milky Way.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Sep-05 • 12 minutes Episode 367: 317 - What Missions Have Been Cancelled Over the past decades, many missions have been canceled. What alternative history could we have had if these projects had gone through?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Sep-05 • 11 minutes Episode 366: 318 - Where Are The Voyagers Now We’re nearly at the 40th anniversary of the launch of NASA’s Voyager spacecraft. And they’re still going! Let’s remember these amazing missions.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Sep-05 • 10 minutes Episode 365: 319 - What Are The Van Allen Belts The Van Allen Belts surround the Earth with deadly radiation. What can we do to get past them and escape into deep space?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Sep-05 • 10 minutes Episode 364: 321 - Rise Of The Supertelescopes Part 2 In part 2 of this series, we look at the supertelescopes heading to space in the next few decades.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Sep-05 • 12 minutes Episode 363: 320 - Rise Of The Supertelescopes Part 1 Astronomy is about to get much much more exciting, with a whole new class of enormous telescopes developed on Earth and in space. How much more powerful? What will we be able to see?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Sep-05 • 11 minutes Episode 362: 322 - Supermassive Black Holes Or Galaxies It’s a mystery that’s puzzled astronomers for years. Which came first, supermassive black holes or the galaxies that surround them?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Sep-04 • 16 minutes Episode 361: QA 31: Is Contacting Aliens Our Worst Mistake? And More In this week’s question show, Fraser wonders if science is the best tool we’ve got, if communicating with aliens is a wise idea, and how he feels about people falling asleep to his videos.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Aug-28 • 18 minutes Episode 360: QA 30: Is the Earth Increasing or Decreasing in Mass? And More In this week’s question show, Fraser answers questions about dark matter black holes, the magnetospheres of exoplanets and whether the Earth is increasing or decreasing in mass.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Aug-04 • 17 minutes Episode 359: QA 29: Are Generational Ships Possible? And more... In this week’s QA, Fraser worries about artificial super intelligence, getting flung out of the Milky Way.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jul-29 • 8 minutes Episode 358: 313 - What Happens During a Solar Eclipse North America is preparing itself for the August Eclipse, so we thought it would be a good time to explain how eclipses work and what’s going on as the Moon briefly destroys the Sun.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jul-29 • 10 minutes Episode 357: 315 - How Do We Protect Earth From Asteroids Part 2 Once we know where all the dangerous asteroids are, how do we prevent one from hitting Earth?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jul-29 • 10 minutes Episode 356: 314 - How Do We Protect Earth From Asteroids Part 1 We know we live in a cosmic shooting gallery. Who’s got their eyes on the sky, and how will we prevent an asteroid strike if we find a dangerous space rock?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jul-29 • 10 minutes Episode 355: 316 - Where Will The Space Launch System Take Us NASA is working on the most powerful rocket ever built: the Space Launch System. What could it be used for to explore the Solar System?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jul-24 • 22 minutes Episode 354: QA 28: Dealing with Conspiracy Theories and More... In this week’s questions show, Fraser explains how the Apollo astronauts got past the Van Allen Belt, bulking up brown dwarfs, and how to deal with conspiracy theories. Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jul-16 • 20 minutes Episode 353: QA 27: Asteroid as a Space Ship and more... In this week’s QA, Fraser talks using an asteroid for a space ship, colonizing the whole galaxy, and whether you’ve got dark matter all around you.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jul-06 • 11 minutes Episode 352: 312 - Why Haven't We Gone Anywhere It’s been half a century since humans first set foot on the Moon? Why haven’t we gone back? Will we ever go anywhere interesting in space?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jul-05 • 19 minutes Episode 351: QA 26: Faster Than Light Into the Past? In this week’s QA, Fraser talks about black holes consuming dark matter, if traveling faster than light moves you backwards in time, and what those big pools under rockets are for.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jun-29 • 9 minutes Episode 350: 311 - Is Time To Go Back To Uranus And Neptune We’ve only seen Uranus and Neptune one time up close. There are now some mission ideas in the works that might take us back.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jun-21 • 10 minutes Episode 349: 310 - Is Human Hibernation Possible We know trips in space will take a long time. Can we go to sleep for the journey and then wake up when we arrive?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jun-21 • 23 minutes Episode 348: QA 25: Is It Wrong to Dismantle Planets and More... In this week’s QA, Fraser talks about how spacecraft deal with orbital debris, the ethics of dismantling planets, the age of life in the Universe. With special guest answerer, Dr. Paul Matt Sutter.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jun-18 • 10 minutes Episode 347: 309 - Seeing Gravity We’ve now had multiple detections of gravitational waves, opening up a whole new field: gravitational astronomy. We talk about the detections made so far, and how we can see the Universe in a whole new way.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jun-13 • 10 minutes Episode 346: 308 - Flying Into The Sun NASA is planning a mission to get as close as possible as we can to the Sun and reveal its mysteries.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jun-12 • 17 minutes Episode 345: QA 24: Are Aliens Testing Us and More... In this week’s QA, Fraser talks about how aliens might be testing our morality, traveling faster than light to go back in time, and alternatives to the Big Bang Theory.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jun-08 • 10 minutes Episode 344: 307 - Construction Tips From A Type 2 Engineer Part 1 Fraser Cain and Isaac Arthur team up again to bring you another epic collaboration. This time, it’s a 2-part series of construction tips from an engineer from a Type 2 Civilization. In this episode, we harvest helium 3, mine the asteroids, and rearrange the Solar System.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jun-06 • 16 minutes Episode 343: QA 23: Black Hole Lagrange Points and More... In this week’s QA, Fraser talks about capturing comets, finding Lagrange Points around black holes, and what would happen if you crashed a whole lot of oxygen into the Sun.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jun-06 • 8 minutes Episode 342: 306 - How Do We Know The Universe Is Flat Cosmologists tell us that the Universe is flat. It sure feels like 3-dimensions. What does this even mean, and how do we know it’s true?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jun-01 • 8 minutes Episode 341: 305 - Can We Own Space Owning land here on Earth is nice and legal. But what about a plot of land on the Moon or Mars? When can I buy some ice on Europa?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-May-30 • 20 minutes Episode 340: QA 22: China’s Human Space Exploration and More... In this week’s QA, Fraser talks about the Chinese space exploration efforts, rotating space stations with artificial gravity and why he’s always standing in a forest.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-May-30 • 9 minutes Episode 339: 304 - What Was Cosmic Inflation The Big Bang was a tremendous theory, but it had a few problems. In 1980 Alan Guth developed the revolutionary theory of cosmic inflation, and astronomers have been looking for evidence to this day.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-May-27 • 9 minutes Episode 338: 303 - How Far Away Is Fusion Power The Sun uses its enormous mass to crush hydrogen into fusion, releasing enormous energy. How long will it be until we’ve got this energy source for Earth?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-May-22 • 19 minutes Episode 337: QA 21: How Could We Destroy a Galaxy and More... In this week’s QA, Fraser proposes ways to destroy the Milky Way, wonders what might happen if a warp drive ship passes through a planet, and how you could keep a galaxy alive forever.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-May-22 • 11 minutes Episode 336: 302 - The Mars Project In a special two part episode, Fraser collaborates with space historian Amy Shira Teitel at Vintage Space to investigate what spaceflight advances could have happened. Amy looks at the lost Apollo Missions, while Fraser talks about Werhner Von Braun’s “Mars Project”.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-May-20 • 10 minutes Episode 335: 301 - Are There Dark Matter Galaxies We know there’s dark matter, and there are galaxies, but are there galaxies entirely made up of dark matter? Astronomer Sarah Pearson joins Fraser to talk about what’s out there.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-May-09 • 11 minutes Episode 334: 300 - How Fast Are Stars Moving The stars look static in the sky, but are they moving? How fast, and how do we know? What events can make them move faster, and how can humans make them move?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-May-08 • 21 minutes Episode 333: QA 20: Going Skydiving on Mars and More... In this week's QA, Fraser contemplates the horror of advertising in space, setting off nukes to counteract global warming, and what it would be like to go skydiving on Mars.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-May-03 • 11 minutes Episode 332: 299 - Why Do Rockets Need Stages Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-May-02 • 16 minutes Episode 331: QA 19: Can Dark Matter Be Dyson Spheres and More... In this QA, Fraser wonders how Earth would react if aliens colonized Mars, is it ethical to seed Enceladus with life, and if the total mass of the Universe has changed.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Apr-26 • 11 minutes Episode 330: 298 - What Are Fast Radio Bursts Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Apr-20 • 18 minutes Episode 329: QA 18: Best Place For a Mass Driver and More... In this week's QA, Fraser suggests some good locations for a Mass Driver launcher, how the laws of physics would be different in a different universe, and what it would take to throw a supermassive black hole out of its galaxy.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Apr-18 • 10 minutes Episode 328: 297 - Do I Believe In UFOs Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Apr-15 • 7 minutes Episode 327: 296 - Chemicals For Life Found On Enceladus Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Apr-11 • 20 minutes Episode 326: QA 17: A Planet Inside a Star and More... In this week's questions show, Fraser tries again to explain why the Universe has no center, if there's any evidence for intelligent design, and why we don't have drones exploring other worlds.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Apr-11 • 11 minutes Episode 325: 295 - Space X Just Reused A Rocket Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Mar-25 • 10 minutes Episode 324: 294 - What About A Mission To Titan Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Mar-22 • 8 minutes Episode 323: 293 - Why Doesnt Earth Have Rings Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Mar-21 • 18 minutes Episode 322: QA 16: The Hazards of Antimatter Fuel and More... In this week's QA, Fraser answers why antimatter is the perfect fuel source, and why the evidence of ancient civilizations won't entirely be hidden by plate tectonics.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Mar-17 • 14 minutes Episode 321: 292 - Do We Live In A Hologram Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Mar-14 • 13 minutes Episode 320: 291 - What's On the Surface Of Venus Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Mar-13 • 18 minutes Episode 319: QA 15: What's a Type IV Civilization and More... In this week's question show, Fraser extends the Kardashev Scale one more notch, urges everyone to see the Milky Way before they die, and looks for actual pictures of satellites in space.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Mar-08 • 11 minutes Episode 318: 290 - What Did Cassini Teach Us Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Mar-07 • 21 minutes Episode 317: QA 14: Why Doesn't the Earth Implode and More... In our newest questions show, we answer your questions about black hole rotation, what stops the Earth from imploding, and why Fraser is part of massive Sputnik coverups.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Feb-24 • 8 minutes Episode 316: 289 - Seven New Earth Sized Worlds Discovered Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Feb-09 • 10 minutes Episode 315: 288 - Can We Launch Nuclear Waste Into The Sun Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jan-27 • 18 minutes Episode 314: QA 13: Where Could We Hide From an Asteroid Strike and More... In our latest QA, Fraser tackles hiding places from asteroid strikes, merging Earths, and the fastest way we could explore Planet 9. If we ever actually find it.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jan-26 • 11 minutes Episode 313: 287 - Whats That Bright Star In The Sky Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jan-17 • 8 minutes Episode 312: 286 - What Was The Carrington Event Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jan-10 • 9 minutes Episode 311: 285 - Could We Marsiform Ourselves Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2017-Jan-09 • 13 minutes Episode 310: QA 12: Does the Universe Have a Preferred Spin and More... This week's question show includes the visible versus the visitable Universe, and why don't black holes increase in mass as virtual particles fall into them? Does the Universe have a preferred spin direction?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Dec-06 • 7 minutes Episode 309: 284 - How Can An Infinite Universe Start From A Singularity Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Nov-29 • 7 minutes Episode 308: 283 - What Are Multiple Star Systems Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Nov-28 • 13 minutes Episode 307: QA 11: Why the ISS Doesn't Rotate and More... In this week's question show, our viewers want to know why the ISS doesn't rotate, and if you can detect a black hole without an accretion disc. Also, why are we always shooting our videos in a forest?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Nov-24 • 8 minutes Episode 306: 282 - What If We Do Find Aliens Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Nov-22 • 11 minutes Episode 305: 281 - Is There Life On Mars Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Nov-22 • 13 minutes Episode 304: QA 10: Living on a Cube Planet and More... In this week's questions show, Fraser answers whether black holes are really black, who's going to win the next space race, and whether we can weaponize asteroids.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Nov-15 • 8 minutes Episode 303: 280 - What Is The Interplanetary Transport Network Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Nov-13 • 13 minutes Episode 302: QA 9: Jet Planes in Space and More... In this week's QA, Fraser answers questions about why jet planes can't fly into space, what does he mean when he says "the Universe", and why we need to just say "I don't know".Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Nov-04 • 7 minutes Episode 301: 279 - When Was The First Light In The Universe Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Nov-01 • 10 minutes Episode 300: QA 8: Life with Quasars and More... In this questions show, we wonder when we’ll finally merge our brains with computers, is the Death Star a Dyson Sphere? And whether we could live in lava tubes.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Nov-01 • 7 minutes Episode 299: 278 - How Many Galaxies Are There In The Universe Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Oct-27 • 6 minutes Episode 298: 277 - What Is The Mars Curse Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Oct-25 • 6 minutes Episode 297: 276 - Can We Get Space Madness Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Oct-24 • 12 minutes Episode 296: QA 7: Joining the Galactic Federation and More... In this week’s QA episode, we wonder if there’s a galactic federation out there, keeping us in a cosmic zoo. What’s the ideal length of our episodes, and when will the space wars begin?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Oct-20 • 5 minutes Episode 295: 275 - What Is A Nova Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Oct-18 • 6 minutes Episode 294: 274 - What Are Cosmic Voids Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Oct-16 • 13 minutes Episode 293: QA 6: Surfing the Lagrange Points and More... Can you use Lagrange Points to easily travel around the Solar System? Could we use a giant slingshot to just launch objects into space? Fraser answers these questions and more.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Oct-12 • 6 minutes Episode 292: 273 - Shouldnt We Fix The Earth First Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Oct-10 • 5 minutes Episode 291: 272 - How Do Supernovae Fail Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Oct-09 • 13 minutes Episode 290: QA 5: Retrieving Life From Europa and More... In this questions show, Fraser explains why it might have gotten much easier to bring samples of life back from Europa. Oh, and why he’s always saying “Milkdromeda”.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Oct-06 • 7 minutes Episode 289: 271 - Where Are All The Alien Robots Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Oct-04 • 6 minutes Episode 288: 270 - What Happens When Black Holes Collide Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Oct-02 • 11 minutes Episode 287: QA 4: Does Fraser Really Believe This Stuff? In this week’s question show, we find out if Fraser really believes all this “space” stuff he’s always talking about, as well as what could be accomplished if you could just go 1% the speed of light.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Sep-30 • 7 minutes Episode 286: 246 - When Can I Die On Mars Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Sep-29 • 7 minutes Episode 285: 269 - Where Can I Take Off My Space Helmet Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Sep-27 • 14 minutes Episode 284: QA 1: Black Holes You’ve got questions, I’ve got answers. In this new segment, I answer your questions about space and astronomy. Well mostly, it’s about black holes. Questions and more questions about black holes.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Sep-24 • 7 minutes Episode 283: 268 - What Is Absolute Zero Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Sep-23 • 10 minutes Episode 282: QA 3: Running out of Hydrogen and More... More questions from viewers. This time we consider different ways to clean up space debris, and Fraser is schooled on how to pronounce Euler.Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Sep-22 • 7 minutes Episode 281: 267 - How Can We Save The Sun Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Sep-19 • 9 minutes Episode 280: QA 2: Seeing the Earth from Mars and More... Could you see the Earth from Mars? Do nuclear bombs work in space? Would binary stars crash into each other?Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Sep-19 • 6 minutes Episode 279: 266 - Does Our Galaxy Have A Habitable Zone Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Sep-08 • 8 minutes Episode 278: 265 - Are We Living In A Simulation Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Sep-02 • 7 minutes Episode 277: 264 - How Cold Are Black Holes Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Aug-26 • 8 minutes Episode 276: 263 - What Are The Lagrange Points Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Aug-15 • 7 minutes Episode 275: 262 - Will Our Black Hole Eat The Milky Way Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Aug-13 • 6 minutes Episode 274: 261 - How Close Can Moons Orbit Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Aug-09 • 7 minutes Episode 273: 260 - What Are Magnetars Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Aug-05 • 7 minutes Episode 272: 259 - Why Is Uranus On Its Side Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Jul-25 • 6 minutes Episode 271: 258 - What Are Quark Stars Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Jul-21 • 6 minutes Episode 270: 257 - How Big Is The Great Red Spot Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Jul-19 • 7 minutes Episode 269: 256 - What Does The Universe Do When Were Not Looking Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Jul-11 • 6 minutes Episode 268: 255 - How Fast Can Stars Spin Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Jul-08 • 5 minutes Episode 267: 254 - What If Earth Stopped Orbiting The Sun Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Jul-05 • 6 minutes Episode 266: 253 - When Will We Be A Type III Civilization Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Jun-30 • 7 minutes Episode 265: 252 - What Is Time Dilation Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Jun-13 • 12 minutes Episode 264: 251 - What Are Virtual Particles Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Jun-09 • 5 minutes Episode 263: 250 - Are There Antimatter Galaxies Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Jun-02 • 6 minutes Episode 262: 249 - What Are Planetary Transits Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-May-26 • 5 minutes Episode 261: 248 - Can Stars Be Cold Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-May-22 • 7 minutes Episode 260: 247 - How Far Can You Travel Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-May-09 • 6 minutes Episode 259: 245 - Can We Really Get To Alpha Centauri Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Apr-22 • 6 minutes Episode 258: 244 - How Do We Know Theres A Planet 9 Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Apr-19 • 6 minutes Episode 257: 243 - Whats Outside The Universe Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Apr-14 • 5 minutes Episode 256: 242 - Are There Storms On The Moon Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Apr-11 • 5 minutes Episode 255: 241 - When Will Earth Lock To The Moon Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Apr-05 • 6 minutes Episode 254: 240 - How Long Does It Take To Get To Jupiter Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Apr-01 • 5 minutes Episode 253: 239 - Do We Live In A Special Part Of The Universe Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Mar-18 • 5 minutes Episode 252: 237 - What Are The Different Kinds Of Supernovae Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Mar-18 • 5 minutes Episode 251: 238 - Where Is The Closest Black Hole Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Feb-25 • 12 minutes Episode 250: 236 - Was The Big Bang Just A Black Hole Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Feb-25 • 7 minutes Episode 248: 234 - What Are Alien Megastructures Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Feb-25 • 7 minutes Episode 247: 233 - What Is The Higgs Boson Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2016-Feb-25 • 5 minutes Episode 249: 235 - Why Do Planets Have Rings Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Dec-05 • 7 minutes Episode 246: 232 - What Are Wormholes Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Dec-05 • 6 minutes Episode 245: 231 - Should We Go to Mars or Back to the Moon Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Dec-05 • 7 minutes Episode 238: 224 - Will We Contaminate Europa Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Dec-05 • 5 minutes Episode 244: 230 - What Does It Take To Be An Astronaut Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Dec-05 • 5 minutes Episode 243: 229 - What If We Dug A Tunnel Through The Earth Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Dec-05 • 4 minutes Episode 242: 228 - Why Do Red Dwarfs Live So Long Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Dec-05 • 4 minutes Episode 241: 227 - Did We Need The Moon For Life Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Dec-05 • 3 minutes Episode 240: 226 - What Is Tidal Locking Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Dec-05 • 3 minutes Episode 239: 225 - Why Arent There Eclipses Every Month Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Nov-07 • 7 minutes Episode 236: 222 - Do We Really Need Rockets To Go To Space Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Nov-07 • 6 minutes Episode 235: 221 - What Isthe Black Hole Information Paradox Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Nov-07 • 5 minutes Episode 237: 223 - How Long Is A Day On Earth Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Oct-26 • 6 minutes Episode 234: 220 - Will Minds Appear In The Cosmos Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Oct-26 • 5 minutes Episode 233: 219 - Is The Universe Perfect For Life Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Oct-26 • 6 minutes Episode 232: 218 - Why Do Red Giants Expand Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Oct-26 • 4 minutes Episode 231: 217 - How Are Galaxies Moving Away Faster Than Light Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Oct-26 • 5 minutes Episode 230: 216 - What Are White Holes Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Oct-07 • 6 minutes Episode 228: 214 - Can You Kill A Star With Iron Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Oct-07 • 5 minutes Episode 226: 212 - What Was The Wow Signal Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Oct-07 • 5 minutes Episode 229: 215 - Is Jupiter Our Friend Or Enemy Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Oct-07 • 5 minutes Episode 227: 213 - Is The Universe Dying Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Sep-22 • 6 minutes Episode 225: 211 - Could We Terraforma Black Hole Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Sep-22 • 6 minutes Episode 223: 209 - Will the Big Bang Go Backwards Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Sep-22 • 5 minutes Episode 224: 210 - Could We Terraformthe Sun Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Sep-22 • 7 minutes Episode 222: 208 - What Do Other Planets Sound Like Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Sep-22 • 6 minutes Episode 221: 207 - What Did We Learn About Pluto Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Sep-03 • 4 minutes Episode 220: 205 - How Do Stars Go Rogue Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Sep-03 • 6 minutes Episode 219: 206 - Are Martian Dust Storms Dangerous Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 5 minutes Episode 218: 195 - Why Dont We Send Probes Up In The Solar System Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 6 minutes Episode 214: 201 - Could We Make Artificial Gravity Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 4 minutes Episode 211: 198 - Whats This Ridge On Iapetus Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 7 minutes Episode 205: 191 - Will We Ever Reach Another Star Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 4 minutes Episode 217: 204 - Why Is It Tough To Land On A Comet Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 4 minutes Episode 216: 203 - how Massive Can Black Holes Get Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 5 minutes Episode 215: 202 - could We Terraform Jupiter Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 5 minutes Episode 213: 200 - What About A Mission To Europa Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 5 minutes Episode 212: 199 - What If A Black Hole Met An Antimatter Black Hole Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 4 minutes Episode 210: 197 - How Could We Destroy The Moon Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 4 minutes Episode 209: 196 - How Fast Is Gravity Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 4 minutes Episode 208: 194 - Could We Terraform The Moon Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 5 minutes Episode 207: 193 - how Do Astronauts Avoid Debris Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 5 minutes Episode 206: 192 - What Is The Habitable Zone Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 5 minutes Episode 204: 190 - What Are The Biggest Mysteries In Astronomy Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 6 minutes Episode 203: 189 - When Will We Find Another Earth Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 5 minutes Episode 202: 188 - Do Black Holes Compress Forever Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 4 minutes Episode 201: 187 - How Low Can You Orbit Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 5 minutes Episode 200: 186 - What Are Gravitational Waves_mp 3 Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 4 minutes Episode 199: 185 - How Do Galaxies Die Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Aug-14 • 6 minutes Episode 198: 184 - Would We See The Aliens Coming Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Jun-01 • 6 minutes Episode 195: 181 - How Bad Can Solar Storms Get Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Jun-01 • 5 minutes Episode 181: 167 - How Dense Is The Asteroid Belt Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Jun-01 • 6 minutes Episode 179: 165 - Is The Universe Finite Or Infinite Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Jun-01 • 4 minutes Episode 197: 183 - What Was Here Before The Solar System Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Jun-01 • 6 minutes Episode 196: 182 - How Long Will Our Spacecraft Survive Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Jun-01 • 4 minutes Episode 194: 180 - Could You Put A Black Hole In Your Pocket Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Jun-01 • 5 minutes Episode 193: 179 - Could We Live On Jupiter Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Jun-01 • 7 minutes Episode 192: 178 - What Shape Is The Universe Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Jun-01 • 5 minutes Episode 191: 177 - What Is The Moons Real Name Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Jun-01 • 6 minutes Episode 190: 176 - What Animals Have Been To Space Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Jun-01 • 5 minutes Episode 189: 175 - Why Cant We See The Center Of The Milky Way Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Jun-01 • 4 minutes Episode 188: 174 - Do Astronauts Drink Their Pee Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Jun-01 • 5 minutes Episode 187: 173 - Am I Being Watched From Space Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Jun-01 • 5 minutes Episode 186: 172 - Is There A Mirror Universe Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Jun-01 • 4 minutes Episode 185: 171 - Does The Solar System Line Up With The Milky Way Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Jun-01 • 4 minutes Episode 184: 170 - How Do Black Holes Evaporate Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Jun-01 • 5 minutes Episode 183: 169 - How Quickly Does A Supernova Happen Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Jun-01 • 5 minutes Episode 182: 168 - How Can Black Holes Shine Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Jun-01 • 5 minutes Episode 180: 166 - Will The Universe Run Out Of Energy Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Mar-25 • 6 minutes Episode 177: 163 - Could The Death Star Destroy A Planet Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Mar-25 • 4 minutes Episode 174: 160 - How Long Does It Take To Get To Pluto Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Mar-25 • 5 minutes Episode 178: 164 - How Could You Capture An Asteroid Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Mar-25 • 5 minutes Episode 176: 162 - How Do We Know Dark Energy Exists Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Mar-25 • 5 minutes Episode 175: 161 - How Do We Know Dark Matter Exists Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Mar-03 • 3 minutes Episode 173: 152 - How Fast Is The Universe Expanding Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Mar-03 • 5 minutes Episode 172: 153 - Where Did The Big Bang Happen Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Mar-03 • 6 minutes Episode 171: 154 - Are Astronauts Really Weightless Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Mar-03 • 4 minutes Episode 170: 155 - Why Does The Moon Look So Big Tonight Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Mar-03 • 5 minutes Episode 169: 156 - Could There Be Another Planet Behind The Sun Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Mar-03 • 4 minutes Episode 168: 157 - Could The Milky Way Become A Quasar Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Mar-03 • 5 minutes Episode 167: 158 - Why Dont We Search For Different Life Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Mar-03 • 5 minutes Episode 166: 159 - How Far Back Are We Looking In Time Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-18 • 5 minutes Episode 165: 141 - What Is The Biggest Thing In The Universe Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-18 • 4 minutes Episode 164: 137 - Why Is Venus So Horrible Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-18 • 6 minutes Episode 161: 140 - What Will We Never See Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-18 • 6 minutes Episode 153: 149 - What's Happening In The Universe Right Now Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-18 • 4 minutes Episode 151: 150 - Is Everything Actually Shrinking Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-18 • 4 minutes Episode 163: 138 - How Do We Know How Old Everything Is Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-18 • 6 minutes Episode 162: 139 - How Many Stars Did It Take To Make Us Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-18 • 4 minutes Episode 160: 142 - How Much Water Would Extinguish The Sun_mp 3 Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-18 • 4 minutes Episode 159: 143 - Will We Mine Asteroids Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-18 • 4 minutes Episode 158: 144 - Are Gamma Ray Bursts Dangerous Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-18 • 4 minutes Episode 157: 145 - What Causes The Northern Lights Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-18 • 4 minutes Episode 156: 146 - Are Aliens Watching Old Tv Shows Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-18 • 6 minutes Episode 155: 147 - Why Is Andromeda Coming Towards Us Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-18 • 5 minutes Episode 154: 148 - How Do Planets Go Rogue Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-18 • 4 minutes Episode 152: 151 - What Is Gravitational Lensing Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-17 • 5 minutes Episode 150: 133 - What Is The Smallest Star Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-12 • 3 minutes Episode 149: 129 - How Quickly Do Black Holes Form Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-12 • 4 minutes Episode 148: 130 - Is Phobos Doomed Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-12 • 3 minutes Episode 147: 131 - How Are Energy And Matter The Same Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-12 • 4 minutes Episode 146: 132 - What Came Before The Big Bang Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-12 • 5 minutes Episode 145: 134 - How Do We Measure Distance In The Universe Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-12 • 6 minutes Episode 144: 135 - What Does Space Really Look Like Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-12 • 5 minutes Episode 143: 136 - Why Is Space Black Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-10 • 3 minutes Episode 142: 127 - What's Causing The Universe To Expand Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2015-Feb-10 • 3 minutes Episode 141: 128 - Where's All The Antimatter Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Nov-17 • 4 minutes Episode 140: 115 - What Time Is It In The Universe Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Nov-17 • 3 minutes Episode 139: 126 - Why Doesnt The Sun Steal The Moon Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Nov-17 • 4 minutes Episode 138: 125 - When Did The First Stars Form Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Nov-17 • 4 minutes Episode 137: 124 - How Does A Rocket Work Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Nov-17 • 5 minutes Episode 136: 123 - How Big Is The Big Dipper Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Nov-17 • 3 minutes Episode 135: 122 - What Strange Places Are Habitable Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Nov-17 • 4 minutes Episode 134: 121 - Why Cant We See The Big Bang Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Nov-17 • 4 minutes Episode 133: 120 - What Would A Black Hole Look Like Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Nov-17 • 4 minutes Episode 132: 119 - .Could A Planet Be As Big As A Star Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Nov-17 • 3 minutes Episode 131: 118 - .What Does The Earth Look Like From The Moon Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Nov-17 • 3 minutes Episode 130: 117 - What Part Of The Milky Way Can We See Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Nov-17 • 4 minutes Episode 129: 116 - What Would It Be Like To Fall Into A Black Hole Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Aug-18 • 4 minutes Episode 124: 110 - How Big Is The Universe Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Aug-18 • 5 minutes Episode 128: 114 - Are Intelligent Civilizations Doomed Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Aug-18 • 3 minutes Episode 127: 113 - What Is Nothing Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Aug-18 • 3 minutes Episode 126: 112 - How Do The Tides Work Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Aug-18 • 5 minutes Episode 125: 111 - How Can We Clean Up That Space Junk Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Aug-18 • 4 minutes Episode 123: 109 - Are All The Stars Really Dead Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Aug-18 • 4 minutes Episode 122: 108 - What Are Comet Tails Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Aug-18 • 5 minutes Episode 121: 107 - How Do Gravitational Slingshots Work Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Aug-18 • 4 minutes Episode 120: 106 - How Do We Terraform Venus Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Aug-18 • 3 minutes Episode 119: 105 - How Do We Terraform Mars Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Aug-18 • 4 minutes Episode 118: 104 - Is Our Solar System Weird Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Aug-18 • 4 minutes Episode 117: 103 - What Is The Great Attractor Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Aug-18 • 3 minutes Episode 116: 102 - Whats Inside Jupiter Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Aug-18 • 5 minutes Episode 115: 101 - How Many Ways Can The Sun Kill You Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jul-08 • 4 minutes Episode 114: 100 - Why Do People Go Crazy During The Full Moon Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jun-26 • 4 minutes Episode 113: 99 - How Can We Move The Earth Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jun-26 • 4 minutes Episode 112: 98 - Why Is Everything A Sphere Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jun-18 • 4 minutes Episode 111: 97 - What Does A Supernova Sound Like Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jun-18 • 4 minutes Episode 110: 96 - Which Planets Have Rings Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jun-16 • 3 minutes Episode 108: 94 - Why Isnt The Asteroid Belt A Planet Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jun-16 • 5 minutes Episode 107: 93 - Why Is The Moon Leaving Us Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jun-16 • 4 minutes Episode 109: 95 - How Much Of The Universe Is Black Holes Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Apr-30 • 4 minutes Episode 106: 92 - Does Light Experience Time Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Apr-28 • 5 minutes Episode 105: 91 - Where Is The Center Of The Universe Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Apr-24 • 5 minutes Episode 104: 90 - How Can We Live On Mars Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Apr-14 • 6 minutes Episode 103: 89 - How Do We Know the Moon Landing Isn't Fake Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Apr-10 • 4 minutes Episode 102: 88 - Can Tatooine Be Real Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Apr-07 • 4 minutes Episode 101: 87 - Can You Escape The Force of Gravity Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Apr-02 • 2 minutes Episode 99: Interview 12 - Whyis Andromeda Drifting Towards Us? Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Apr-02 • 4 minutes Episode 100: 85 - How Far Can You See In The Universe Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Apr-02 • 4 minutes Episode 98: 86 - Why Do Galaxies Have Arms Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Mar-26 • 5 minutes Episode 97: 84 - Whats The Fastest Way To Die In Space Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Mar-26 • 2 minutes Episode 96: Interview - Mercury Hollows Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Mar-24 • 4 minutes Episode 95: 83 - Can Light Orbit A Black Hole Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Mar-19 • 4 minutes Episode 94: 82 - What Happens When The Poles Flip Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Mar-19 • 3 minutes Episode 93: Interview 10 - How Does Life Recover Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Mar-17 • 4 minutes Episode 92: 81 - Which Star Will Explode Next Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Mar-11 • 4 minutes Episode 91: 80 - How Do You Jumpstart A Dead Star Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Mar-11 • 5 minutes Episode 90: Interview 9 - What Is The Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation Ned Wright Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Mar-10 • 8 minutes Episode 89: 79 - How Will Aliens Find Us Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Mar-06 • 4 minutes Episode 88: 78 - Is This a Special Time in the Universe? Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Mar-05 • 5 minutes Episode 87: 77 - How Do You Kill A Black Hole Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Mar-05 • 4 minutes Episode 86: 75 - Could Jupiter Become A Star Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Mar-05 • 4 minutes Episode 85: 76 - Can Moons Have Moons Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Feb-17 • 4 minutes Episode 84: Interview 8 Why Should We Go To Europa? Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Feb-16 • 5 minutes Episode 83: 74 - Where Is The Earth Located Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Feb-12 • 4 minutes Episode 82: 73 - How Fast Do Black Holes Spin Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Feb-11 • 4 minutes Episode 81: Interview 7 - What Are Hot Jupiters Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Feb-10 • 4 minutes Episode 80: 72 - How Old Is The Universe Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Feb-07 • 5 minutes Episode 79: 71 - How Can We Find Killer Asteroids Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Feb-05 • 5 minutes Episode 78: Interview 6 - Whats At The Center Of The Galaxy? Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Feb-03 • 5 minutes Episode 77: 70 - Could We Harvest Energy From A Star Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-30 • 3 minutes Episode 76: 69 - How Much Stuff Is In A Light Year Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-29 • 5 minutes Episode 75: Interview 5 - What Is The Future Of Our Sun? Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-27 • 4 minutes Episode 74: 68 - What Is A Super Earth Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-20 • 3 minutes Episode 73: 1 - How Long Does It Take To Get To Mars Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-20 • 3 minutes Episode 72: 2 - What Is The Biggest Star In The Universe Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-20 • 4 minutes Episode 71: 3 - How Fast Does The Earth Rotate Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-20 • 3 minutes Episode 70: 4 - How To See The International Space Station ISS Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-20 • 4 minutes Episode 69: 5 - How Many Planets Are In The Solar System Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-20 • 3 minutes Episode 68: 8 - How Old Is The Earth Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-20 • 3 minutes Episode 67: 7 - How Many Stars In The Universe Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-20 • 3 minutes Episode 65: 6 - How To See Your House From Space Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-20 • 5 minutes Episode 64: Why Pluto is Not A Planet Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-20 • 3 minutes Episode 63: 9 - Interesting Facts About Saturn Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-20 • 3 minutes Episode 62: 10 - What Is The Closest Star To Earth Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-20 • 3 minutes Episode 61: 11 - What Is The Hottest Planet In The Solar System Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-20 • 5 minutes Episode 60: 12 - Where Are All The Aliens Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-20 • 3 minutes Episode 59: 13 - What Is The Distance To The Moon Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-20 • 3 minutes Episode 58: 14 - How Cold Is Space Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-20 • 3 minutes Episode 57: 15 - How Many Moons Does The Earth Have Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-20 • 3 minutes Episode 56: 16 - How Will The World End Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-20 • 4 minutes Episode 55: 17 - Whats The Most Earthlike Place In The Solar System Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-20 • 2 minutes Episode 54: 18 - Does The Moon Rotate Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-20 • 2 minutes Episode 66: 0 - How Long Does It Take Sunlight To Reach Earth Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 4 minutes Episode 53: 67 - What Is A Solar Sail Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 3 minutes Episode 52: 19 - What Killed All the Dinosaurs Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 3 minutes Episode 51: 20 - How Hot Is the Sun Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 3 minutes Episode 50: 21 - How High Is Space Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 3 minutes Episode 49: 22 - Is Life On Mars Related To Earth Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 3 minutes Episode 48: 23 - Could We Move The Sun Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 3 minutes Episode 47: 24 - Why Do Stars Twinkle Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 4 minutes Episode 46: 25 - What Is A Quasar Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 4 minutes Episode 45: 26 - Can You Really Name A Star Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 5 minutes Episode 44: 27 - How Do Astronomers Find Other Planets Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 4 minutes Episode 43: 34 - What Is A Meteor Shower Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 4 minutes Episode 42: 28 - How Did Life Begin Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 4 minutes Episode 40: 30 - How Big Is The Solar System Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 4 minutes Episode 38: 32 - How Did The Moon Form Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 4 minutes Episode 37: 33 - Why Does The Earth Spin Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 4 minutes Episode 36: 35 - Is There Really A Planet X Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 4 minutes Episode 35: 36 - What Is A Dyson Sphere Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 4 minutes Episode 34: 37 - Why Are There Seasons Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 4 minutes Episode 33: 38 - How Do Black Holes Form Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 4 minutes Episode 41: 29 - Should Robots Or Humans Explore Space Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-19 • 5 minutes Episode 39: 31 - How Could We Find Aliens Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-17 • 4 minutes Episode 32: 39 - How Long Will Life Survive On Earth Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-17 • 3 minutes Episode 31: 40 - What Are The Phasesofthe Moon Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-17 • 3 minutes Episode 30: 41 - What Color Is The Sun Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-17 • 4 minutes Episode 29: 42 - What Is A Space Elevator Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-17 • 4 minutes Episode 28: 43 - Where Did The Earths Water Come From Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-17 • 4 minutes Episode 27: 44 - How Will The Universe End Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-17 • 3 minutes Episode 26: 45 - Why Is Mars Red Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-17 • 4 minutes Episode 25: 46 - How Many Satellites Are In Space Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-17 • 4 minutes Episode 24: 47 - How Far Is Earth Fromthe Sun Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-17 • 3 minutes Episode 23: 48 - What Is The Hottest Place On Earth Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-16 • 4 minutes Episode 22: 66 - Whats On The Far Side Of The Moon Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-16 • 3 minutes Episode 20: 50 - How Long Does It Take To Get To The Moon Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-16 • 4 minutes Episode 19: 51 - What If The Earth Stopped Turning Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-16 • 5 minutes Episode 17: 53 - What Is The Evidence For The Big Bang Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-16 • 4 minutes Episode 16: 54 - What Is A Pulsar Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-16 • 4 minutes Episode 15: 55 - Are There More Grainsof Sand Than Stars Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-16 • 5 minutes Episode 14: 56 - What Is The Universe Expanding Into Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-16 • 3 minutes Episode 13: 57 - How Do Stars Form Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-16 • 4 minutes Episode 12: 58 - What Is The Distance To Mars Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-16 • 4 minutes Episode 11: Interview 2 - What Is The Big Rip Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-16 • 4 minutes Episode 21: 49 - What Is The Milky Way Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-16 • 4 minutes Episode 18: 52 - What Is A Parsec Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-15 • 3 minutes Episode 10: Interview 3 - When Will We Become Interstellar? Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-15 • 3 minutes Episode 9: Interview 1 - Where Should We Look for Life in the Solar System Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-15 • 5 minutes Episode 8: 59 - Why Does The Moon Shine Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-15 • 3 minutes Episode 7: 60 - Is Everything In The Universe Expanding Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-15 • 7 minutes Episode 6: 61 - Can Stars Collide Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-15 • 5 minutes Episode 5: 62 - Where Did Saturns Rings Come From Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-14 • 3 minutes Episode 4: Interview 4 - What Are Cassini's Most Interesting Discoveries Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-14 • 5 minutes Episode 3: 65 - Whats On The Other Side Of A Black Hole Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-14 • 4 minutes Episode 2: 64 - Will The Sun Explode Support Universe Today Podcast |
| 2014-Jan-14 • 4 minutes Episode 1: 63 - What Is The Kuiper Belt Support Universe Today Podcast |