Universe Today Podcast

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[Interview] Turning the Gravitational Wave Game To The Max May 10, 2023

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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.

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More about LISAmax:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.08287

00:00 Intro
01:38 What's the status of LISA
10:18 What could LISA detect
20:45 What would LISAmax be
34:57 What could LISAmax discover
40:10 LISA VS LISAmax
48:25 What's next for LISAmax

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/2OykvNV8zuw

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[Q&A] Space Force's Secret Shuttle, Hawking Radiation Falsifiability, How to Disprove Big Bang May 09, 2023

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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?

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00:00 Start
00:49 [Tatooine] How can Webb disprove The Big Bang Theory?
06:21 [Coruscant] Does Hawking radiation even exist?
12:10 [Hoth] Where are we at the search of life as we DON'T know it?
17:56 [Naboo] How do we study the wobble of stars?
20:24 [Kamino] How to protect humans from radiation in space?
25:46 [Bespin] Why don't they send telescopes to L4 and L5 Lagrange points?
30:33 [Mustafar] What do we know about secret space shuttle missions?
33:09 [Alderaan] Most exciting thing about the JUICE mission?

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/B_64LBRDyss

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[Interview] Dangers of Microgravity For The Human Body May 07, 2023

Show notes

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.

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00:00 Intro
01:35 Flying on parabolic flights
08:49 What does weightlessness do to human body
14:17 Things we can't fix
17:44 Studying eyesight in space
25:01 Will artificial gravity solve it?

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/mSz_F82LPGI

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[Space Bites] JUICE in Trouble, Sun-Like Star Devours a Planet, Artificial Gravity Space Station May 05, 2023

Show notes

JUICE is having problems extending its radar antenna. Astronomers watch a star eat its planet. A design for a space station with artificial gravity.

🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday

00:00 Intro
00:14 JUICE Has Problems
- https://www.universetoday.com/161180/esa-cant-deploy-juices-radar-antenna-it-needs-it-to-scan-under-the-ice-at-callisto-europa-and-ganymede/
01:39 A Sun-Like Star Eats its Planet
- https://news.mit.edu/2023/astronomers-spot-star-swallowing-planet-0503
02:53 Space station with artificial gravity concept
- https://www.universetoday.com/161112/airbus-designs-a-space-station-with-artificial-garavity/
05:52 Starship update from Elon Musk
09:09 Rule-Breaking Exoplanet
- https://www.universetoday.com/161146/bizarre-exoplanet-breaks-all-the-orbital-rules/
11:33 Black hole eats a star
- https://www.universetoday.com/161142/a-black-hole-tore-a-star-to-pieces-the-closest-weve-ever-seen/
13:20 Interviews
14:31 China finally admits what happened to Zhurong
- https://www.universetoday.com/161136/china-finally-tells-us-whats-going-on-with-its-mars-rover/
17:11 Permanently shadowed craters
- https://www.universetoday.com/161166/we-can-now-see-into-the-permanently-shadowed-craters-on-the-moon/
19:05 Outro

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

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[NIAC 2023] On-Demand Pharmacy for Space Missions May 04, 2023

Show notes

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.

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More about the NIAC award:
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2023/Astropharmacy/

00:00 Intro
02:15 Printing medicine in space
17:17 Evolution VS Engineering in Biology
36:30 Risks involved
50:50 What's next for the NIAC grant

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/jvHEKqrdP9k

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[Interview] Solar Sails Are Even Better Than You Think May 03, 2023

Show notes

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.

🌟 All-star paper "Science opportunities with solar sailing smallsats":
https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.14917

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🌞 Interview with Dr Turyshev about the Solar Gravitational Lens
https://youtube.com/live/lqzJewjZUkk

00:00:00 Intro
00:01:55 Updates on the Solar Gravitational Lens
00:08:04 All-star paper
00:16:20 Sun Diver
00:26:09 How fast will it go
00:34:50 Potential science objectives
00:39:48 Paradigm shift in space exploration
00:47:22 Timeframes for potential missions
00:55:13 Funding for the project
01:02:10 Where to find more

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/W-E83lC-eN0

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[Q&A] Auroras in the South, Restarting Planets' Dynamos, Old People on Mars May 02, 2023

Show notes

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!

🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday

00:00 Start
01:43 [Tatooine] How do we know so much about exoplanets from single pixel images?
11:43 [Coruscant] Side windows on Mars greenhouses?
13:09 [Hoth] Is low gravity good for old people?
14:31 [Naboo] How can a planet's dynamo restart after stopping?
16:42 [Kamino] How to explore Betelgeuse?
19:35 [Bespin] Are we expanding with the expansion of the Universe?
21:41 [Mustafar] Does Universe expand or do we shrink?
22:58 [Alderaan] Will far away galaxies fade out of existence?
26:01 [Dagobah] Do solar storms affect the borealis and australis equally?
30:41 [Yavin] What is the Great Attractor?
34:57 [Mandalore] Newest water origin explanation?

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/jUfTNxk_n2Y

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[Interview] Dust Is A Much Bigger Problem Than You Think May 01, 2023

Show notes

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.

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00:00 Intro
01:35 What is Moon dust
07:55 What damage can dust do
12:57 What can we do about it
20:19 How big the problem really is
22:08 Why don't they just...
30:11 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/LfigUsu7V2Q

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[Space Bites] Failed Moon Landing, More JWST Problems, China's Huge Moon Plans Apr 29, 2023

Show notes

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.

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🚀 Starship discussion with @scottmanley and @MarcusHouse
https://youtu.be/RGcdjJj-f4g

00:00 Intro
00:12 iSpace Hakuto-R Moon Landing Failed
- https://www.universetoday.com/161051/hakuto-r-spacecraft-just-captured-its-own-stunning-version-of-earthrise/
03:10 China’s Going to the Moon by 2030
- https://www.universetoday.com/161106/china-is-planning-to-land-humans-on-the-moon-by-2030-to-go-with-its-ambitious-lunar-agenda/
06:36 Aftermath of Starship Launch
- https://youtu.be/RGcdjJj-f4g
09:16 Support Us on Patreon
10:25 Yet another James Webb problem
- https://www.universetoday.com/161117/jwsts-miri-instrument-is-having-problems-again/
11:38 Close-up of Deimos by UAE's Hope
- https://www.universetoday.com/161077/new-high-resolution-photos-of-deimos-from-the-hope-mission/
13:43 Percy lost its pet rock
- https://www.universetoday.com/161009/the-perseverance-rover-has-lost-its-pet-rock/
14:49 Ingenuity's 51st flight
16:39 UFOs aren't breaking Physics
- https://www.universetoday.com/161040/ufo-office-fails-to-find-anything-that-defies-the-laws-of-physics/
18:22 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/ymM6IuAeOTQ

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[NIAC 2023] Self-Building Radio Telescope On The Far Side of The Moon Apr 27, 2023

Show notes

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.

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👉 More about the FarView Observatory NIAC Award:
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2023/FarView_Observatory/

00:00:00 Intro
00:01:16 Current state of lunar exploration
00:03:22 What is the FarView Observatory
00:11:20 Step-by-step procedures
00:22:40 Limits of the project
00:35:08 Science objectives of FarView
00:47:17 Role of the Moon in future exploration
00:51:29 Von Neumann probes
01:00:55 What's next

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/a99QXRIO1g4

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