Universe Today Podcast

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[Q&A] AI Pilots for Space Missions, A New Big Bang, Falsifiable Dark Matter Oct 31, 2023

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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.

🦄 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
01:50 [Andoria] Should we put satellites on a supersynchronous orbit?
06:23 [Vulcan] Should we use AI to pilot spacecraft?
08:02 [Risa] Could another Big Bang happen in our Universe?
11:11 [Aeturen] Where did the Weekly Space Hangout go?
15:00 [Vendikar] Is dark matter falsifiable?
22:47 [Remus] What's going on with phosphine on Venus?
25:50 [Janus] Can you fit multiple spacecraft in a Lagrange point?
28:16 [Cait] Can a supernova destroy its star companions?
32:31 [Betazed] Where's the future the futurists of the sixties promised us?
34:57 [Cheleb] Is the L3 point good for anything?

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/9cu3O0TNihU

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[Interview] Event Horizon Telescope. But 10 Times Better Oct 30, 2023

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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.

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

00:00 Intro
01:50 What is a photon ring
04:56 Structure around black holes
08:36 How can we resolve the photon ring
12:51 Making the Event Horizon Telescope bigger
44:28 What can we learn from the photon ring
53:10 Final thoughts and more interviews

More interviews:
👉 Far infrared interferometer:
https://youtu.be/3N03G9WbYqo
👉 Giant space interferometers
https://www.youtube.com/live/RSPpakbgUS0?si=zi9XTHXS-7ur0q9v

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/O6hX70YvPms

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[Space Bites] Three Stars Disappeared // So Much JWST News // Io's Global Magma Ocean Oct 27, 2023

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Three stars mysteriously vanished. So much JWST new. Hundreds of volcanoes on Io. Starship is ready to fly again.

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

00:00 Intro
01:53 Three Stars Vanished
- https://www.universetoday.com/163820/in-1952-a-group-of-three-stars-vanished-astronomers-still-cant-find-them/
04:34 Fomalhaut's companions
- http://arxiv.org/abs/2310.15028
06:28 Jupiter's new weather feature
- https://www.universetoday.com/163817/a-new-weather-feature-was-hiding-in-jwsts-picture-of-jupiter/
07:59 Detailed look at Ganymede
- http://arxiv.org/abs/2310.13982
10:34 Planet debris found in a stellar disk
- https://www.universetoday.com/163832/jwst-looks-at-the-debris-disc-around-a-white-dwarf/
12:35 Vote
- https://youtu.be/whE6wd-cXEc
13:12 Global magma ocean on Io
- https://www.universetoday.com/163811/io-has-266-active-volcanic-hotspots-linked-by-a-global-magma-ocean/
14:43 Lagest simulation of the Universe
- https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/astronomers-carry-out-largest-ever-cosmological-computer-simulation
16:26 Interviews
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbJ42wpShvmnK1xmCRad_8bn0uOcmLiIE
17:37 JWST and the galaxy core
- https://www.universetoday.com/163810/astronomers-want-jwst-to-study-the-milky-way-core-for-hundreds-of-hours/
19:04 Starship WDR
- https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1716979479845953646?t=n1pJe6mEeu7yW_Z-hxeVQA&s=19
20:01 Jupiter's Halloween face
- https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/just-in-time-for-halloween-nasas-juno-mission-spots-eerie-face-on-jupiter/
21:07 More on Io

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

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[Interview] You Don't Understand The Fermi Paradox Oct 26, 2023

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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.

📕 Adam Frank's book 'Little Book of Aliens'
https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-little-book-of-aliens-adam-frank

🦄 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 Intro
01:15 When did we start thinking of aliens
03:47 Misunderstanding of the Fermi Paradox
10:44 End state of alien civilisation
28:33 Are aliens here
32:14 How to properly explore UFOs
36:02 Accepting that we might be alone
39:42 Best way to search for technosignatures
47:54 Current obsessions

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/6OKTkm7wCuI

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⚖️ LICENSE
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[Q&A] How Dark Does Space Get, Mining Psyche, Danger from Rogue Planets Oct 24, 2023

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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.

🦄 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
01:27 [Andoria] How dark can space be?
05:42 [Vulcan] Can you reconstruct gravitationally lensed images?
09:58 [Risa] How big does a parallax need to be for a meaningful improvement?
13:12 [Aeturen] Will we ever be mining Psyche?
15:30 [Vendikar] Which planet would I be spending my last seconds on?
18:02 [Remus] How long does it take a nebula to become a star?
20:53 [Janus] What do amino acids on asteroids really mean?
23:15 [Cait] Are rogue planets a threat for Earth?
25:28 [Betazed] What will be the first entirely space-based manufacturing industry?
26:40 [Cheleb] How with the Starship be refuelled on Mars?
29:31 [Nimbus] Why there was no warfare in space yet?
32:07 [Belos] Was I surprised finding out that antimatter falls down with gravity?
33:51 [Lyar] Do all solar systems have an Oort cloud?

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/XNe-f1K8WxM

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[Interview] Can Life Exist Around Red Dwarf Stars? Oct 23, 2023

Show notes

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.

👉 Ward Howard's website:
https://www.wardshowardastronomer.com/

🦄 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 Intro
01:31 How bad are red dwarf flares
16:28 How to solve the flares problem
21:43 Lifecycle of red dwarfs and their planets
30:02 Any hope for life?
35:25 Brown dwarfs
36:40 Our place in the Universe
41:21 Future of explanatory research
48:58 More interviews and final thoughts

More interviews:
👉 With Dr Jessie Christiansen https://youtu.be/MuH2BlHdAyw
👉 With Dr Ben Hord https://youtu.be/6b377MO20uE

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/6ihLo5sRyNQ

📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER
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Deadly Supercontinent // Pluto Super-volcano // Most Powerful Solar Storm Oct 20, 2023

Show notes

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.

🦄 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 Intro
00:13 Eclipse from space
- https://www.universetoday.com/163767/nasa-mission-had-the-perfect-view-for-the-recent-solar-eclipse/
03:30 Deadly supercontinent
- https://www.universetoday.com/163694/in-250-million-years-a-single-supercontinent-will-form-wiping-out-nearly-all-mammals/
05:57 Juno's flyby of Io
- https://www.universetoday.com/163766/juno-completes-its-closest-flyby-of-io-yet/
07:54 Planet with sand clouds
- https://www.universetoday.com/163749/an-exoplanet-so-hot-it-has-clouds-made-of-quartz/
09:26 Vote
- https://youtu.be/Zc8W77btzA8
10:30 Possible supervolcano on Pluto
13:40 JWST looks at Kuiper Belt
- https://www.universetoday.com/163483/jwst-observes-the-kuiper-belt-sedna-gonggong-and-quaoar/
15:57 Newsletter
16:56 Powerful solar storms
- https://www.universetoday.com/163712/a-monster-solar-storm-struck-earth-14300-years-ago/
19:55 Cosmic rays
- https://www.universetoday.com/163711/air-showers-ruin-astrophotos-but-they-could-be-a-new-method-for-studying-the-universe/
21:31 More on solar storms

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/whE6wd-cXEc

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[Interview] Can Dark Matter Be Explained by Dark Photons Oct 19, 2023

Show notes

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.

👉 Global QCD analysis and dark photons:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/JHEP09(2023)096

🦄 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 Intro
01:52 What is a dark photon
06:35 Importance of naming
08:00 What properties should it have
14:59 How dark matter fits into the standard model
20:20 How we could find dark photons
24:38 What's next
40:07 Current obsessions
42:34 More interviews

More interviews:
👉 Axions with Dr Keir Rogers
https://youtu.be/SruXU-Owz_M
👉 Axions with Dr Amruth Alfred
https://youtu.be/M7IO6FkHRhE

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/g_eaYxt5DuE

📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER
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⚖️ LICENSE
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[Q&A] Predicting Supernovae, The Truth About Binary Stars, Creating a Pet Black Hole Oct 17, 2023

Show notes

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.

🦄 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
01:21 [Andoria] How can we know how soon will a star go supernova?
07:14 [Vulcan] How common are red dwarf binary stars?
08:41 [Risa] Can we create a pet black hole?
12:41 [Aeturen] How would aliens harvest stars?
17:24 [Vendikar] Could dark matter be just normal matter?
21:46 [Remus] How can computer scientists support astronomy?
25:42 [Janus] Could panspermia occur from Earth to other worlds?
29:55 [Cait] Will New Horizons be able to put to rest?
31:46 [Betazed] What if all our stars data is wrong?
36:03 [Cheleb] Can UFOs be from another dimension?
40:21 [Nimbus] How can JWST look back in time?
41:36 [Belos] Will satellites take over our night sky?

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/XEt974WYbN8

📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER
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⚖️ LICENSE
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[Interview] Faster Than Light, Quantum Communication, Astronomy Pic Of The Day Oct 16, 2023

Show notes

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.

More interviews to watch:
👉 Advanced Propulsion Systems with Dr. Sonny White
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDURVz31N1k&t=1s
👉 Interstellar Travel Without Breaking Physics with Andrew Higgins
https://youtu.be/SkGRVvA23qI?si=sT2KHhEUuJ8KvZkR

🦄 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