Universe Today Podcast

Latest Episodes:

[Space Bites] Updates on The Great Red Spot // Black Hole Awakening // More Starliner Delays Jun 21, 2024

Show notes

How old is Jupiter’s Red Spot, watching a supermassive black hole wake up, the earliest merging quasars, and Starliner still hasn’t come home.

[Interview] Deep Dive Intro Primordial Black Holes Jun 20, 2024

Show notes

What are primordial black holes and how are they different from all the other kinds of black holes out there? How could we possibly detect them and what would it mean for Cosmology? Can primordial black holes be a solution for dark matter? Finding out the answers in this interview.

Guest: Jason Kristiano

[Interview] Satellites That Scoop Air And Use It As Propellant Jun 19, 2024

Show notes

Satellites run out of fuel and have to de-orbit and end their missions. But what if they had access to a practically infinite amount of fuel? What if they could scoop air from the atmosphere and use it as propellant? That is exactly the research that Dr Mansur Tisaev is doing!

Guest: Dr. Mansur Tisaev

[Q&A] Galaxy Level Threats, The Truth About Binary Stars, Rogue Gravitational Waves Jun 18, 2024

Show notes

What percentage of stars live in binary systems? Are there Lagrange points all the way down? Can there be a rogue gravitational wave? Why do stars twinkle? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show.

[Interview] NASA Wants to Make Mars Less Toxic with This Clever Idea Jun 17, 2024

Show notes

Mars is full of toxic perchlorates that can be very harmful for future human missions. So, when people go to Mars, they will need to fix it. NASA has awarded a NIAC grant for a project that can help solving this problem. It's called Detoxifying Mars: the biocatalytic elimination of omnipresent perchlorates.

👉 More about the NIAC project:
https://www.nasa.gov/general/detoxifying-mars/

🟣 Guests: Dr. Lynn Rothschild, Dr. Garrett Roberts Kingman

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00:00 Intro
02:31 Perchlorates on Mars
10:48 The NIAC proposal
35:09 What's next
49:18 Current obsessions
53:35 Final thoughts

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/GitfDWpm6UU

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[Space Bites] New Visible Nova // Starship Mars Sample Return // Frost on Olympus Mons Jun 14, 2024

Show notes

We’re now weeks away from a nova, NASA is looking for new Mars Sample Return mission ideas, there’s frost on Olympus Mons, and watching asteroids collide in another star system.

🦄 Support us on Patreon:
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00:00 Intro
00:15 A nova's coming
- https://www.universetoday.com/167320/were-now-just-weeks-away-from-a-stellar-explosion-you-can-see-with-your-own-eyes/
04:08 Alternative Mars Sample Return architectures
- https://www.universetoday.com/167361/nasa-is-considering-other-ways-of-getting-its-mars-samples-home/
06:34 Chandra confirms exoplanet habitability
08:06 Euclid sees rogue planets too
- https://www.universetoday.com/167326/euclid-is-finding-free-floating-planets-in-orion-too/
09:17 Frost on Olympus Mons
- https://www.universetoday.com/167358/frost-seen-on-olympus-mons-for-the-first-time/
11:03 Vote results
11:51 Free lunch for satellites
- https://www.universetoday.com/167366/next-generation-satellites-might-skim-the-atmosphere-using-air-as-a-propellant/
13:57 JWST sees asteroi collisions in another star system
- https://www.universetoday.com/167344/webb-sees-asteroids-collide-in-another-star-system/
15:28 Starliner has 5 leaks
- https://www.universetoday.com/167381/starliner-has-five-leaks/
17:03 More space news
17:36 Moon-based astronomy

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/yPGGi1-yAUE

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[Interview] I'm Convinced. Let's Do Astronomy From the Moon Jun 12, 2024

Show notes

What kind of science can we do with telescopes on the Moon? Giant radio dishes in craters, gravitational wave detectors, UV-interferometers and much more. How Starship will completely change this field and enable new opportunities.

🟣 Guest: Dr. Martin Elvis
https://cfa.harvard.edu/people/martin-elvis

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📚 Suggest books in the book club:
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00:00:00 Intro
00:02:11 Why put telescopes on the Moon
00:10:00 Unique things for the Moon
00:18:01 What a telescope should look like
00:27:31 Gravitational waves observatory
00:37:12 History of the Moon
00:41:00 What's next
00:49:43 How Starship will change the game
00:54:29 Current obsessions
01:02:37 Final thoughts

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/Cz511HLQynM

📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER
Read by 60,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads.
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frasercain@gmail.com

⚖️ LICENSE
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[Q&A] Coldest Place in The Universe, Most Distant Solar System Object, Best Use for Starship Jun 12, 2024

Show notes

What is the coldest place in the known Universe? Which object that has a name is the most distant in the Solar System? What would be the best use for SpaceX Starship? How do satellites avoid collisions? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show.

🦄 Support us on Patreon:
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📚 Suggest books in the book club:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-today-book-club

00:00 Start
00:24 [Andoria] What's the furtherest named object in the Solar System?
04:48 [Vulcan] How do satellites avoid collisions?
09:00 [Risa] Where did all the pictures of the Milky Way come from?
12:17 [Aeturen] Can astrophotography hobby be turned into something serious?
18:59 [Vendikar] Why does gravity work across vast distances?
20:11 [Remus] What's the coldest place in the Universe?
21:18 [Janus] What are my current obsessions?
25:56 [Cait] Why is space black will all the stars in it?
28:28 [Betazed] Did JWST disprove the all previously known astronomy?
30:20 [Cheleb] Is the Great Attractor moving away from us?
32:37 [Nimbus] Best use for SpaceX Starship?

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/OOFT6u7tR2M

📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER
Read by 60,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads.
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⚖️ LICENSE
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[Special] IFT-4 and the Future of Starship: All You Need to Know Jun 11, 2024

Show notes

Another Test of SpaceX Starship Superheavy combo, another analysis of the flight with Scott Manley and Marcus House! Super Heavy soft-landed in the ocean. Starship survived re-entry. What does it mean for SpaceX?

📺 Scott Manley:
https://www.youtube.com/@scottmanley

📺 Marcus House:
https://www.youtube.com/@MarcusHouse

🚀 IFT-3 Analysis: https://youtu.be/EVic941kQ44
🚀 IFT-2 Analysis: https://youtu.be/ReXZvXPak4U
🚀 IFT-1 Analysis: https://youtu.be/RGcdjJj-f4g

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00:00 Intro
01:30 Starship IFT-4 Liftoff
06:19 Booster separation and landing
15:51 Ship coast and reentry
32:52 Failure or success?
45:41 What it means for Artemis
49:10 Starliner and Chang'e-6
59:14 Final thoughts

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/ecMlV4W_CLU

📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER
Read by 60,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads.
Subscribe. It's FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter

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⚖️ LICENSE
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[Space Bites] HUGE Starship Success // Far Side Moon Samples // Hubble In Trouble Jun 09, 2024

Show notes

Starship is successful on its fourth flight, Starliner reaches the station, carrying people, Hubble is only using one gyro, and Chang’e-6 scoops samples from the Moon and heads for home.

🦄 Support us on Patreon:
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📚 Suggest books in the book club:
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