Universe Today Podcast

Latest Episodes:

[Q&A] Space Railgun, JWST's Plans, Claiming The Moon Mar 21, 2023

Show notes

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?

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

00:00 Start
01:51 [Tatooine] Can we build star-tram-like launch facilities in space?
09:34 [Coruscant] Can red or brown dwarfs be the source of dark matter?
13:09 [Hoth] Can we see an Earth-sized planet orbiting a Sun-like star?
19:12 [Naboo] How to know JWST's plans?
21:37 [Kamino] How much more energy does it take to launch something in Nova Scotia versus the equator?
24:08 [Bespin] Will China own the Moon?
29:45 [Mustafar] Should SpaceX just be the only launch service for the USA?
31:39 [Alderaan] What would you ask to an alien if you meet one as a science reporter?
33:34 [Dagobah] Could a balloon on Venus use the temperature differences in the atmosphere for power?

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/H0Ww_T2u94c

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

🎧 PODCASTS
Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/
Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/

🤳 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain
Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday
Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday
Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday

📩 CONTACT FRASER
frasercain@gmail.com

⚖️ LICENSE
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Support Universe Today Podcast

[Interview] JWST Found Six "Impossible" Galaxies. Here's What The Researchers Have To Say Mar 20, 2023

Show notes

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.

👉 More about the discovery:
https://www.universetoday.com/160243/six-galaxies-that-are-too-big-too-early/

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

00:00 Intro
01:35 What it's like using JWST
02:40 Universe-Breaking Galaxies
07:02 If true, how does it change Cosmology
13:52 How the research can be wrong
18:18 Community response
22:00 "Rewriting" Astronomy
27:09 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/xPK9kF2tqfk

📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER
Read by 55,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads.
Subscribe. It's FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter

🎧 PODCASTS
Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/
Weekly Space Hangout: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-KklSGlCiJDwOPdR2EUcg/
Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/

🤳 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain
Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday
Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday
Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday

📩 CONTACT FRASER
frasercain@gmail.com

⚖️ LICENSE
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Support Universe Today Podcast

[Space Bites] Venus Breakthrough, $1B to Deorbit The ISS, Strange Moon Spacesuit Reveal Mar 17, 2023

Show notes

Venus has active volcanoes, we get a glimpse of NASA’s new lunar exploration suits, and scientists build a completely flat telescope lens.

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

00:00 Intro
00:13 Active Volcano Found On Venus
- https://www.universetoday.com/160579/potentially-active-volcanoes-have-been-found-on-venus/
02:56 Vulcan Is No More
- https://www.universetoday.com/160579/potentially-active-volcanoes-have-been-found-on-venus/
04:09 $1B to Deorbit the ISS
- https://www.nasa.gov/news/budget/index.html
06:40 New Axiom spacesuits for the Moon
- https://www.universetoday.com/160553/nasa-and-axiom-space-do-a-partial-reveal-of-the-spacesuit-that-will-be-worn-on-the-moon/
09:39 Malapert Massif
- http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/1294
10:38 What time is it on the Moon
- https://www.universetoday.com/160453/what-time-is-it-on-the-moon-it-may-get-its-own-timezone/
12:03 Amazon Project Kuiper terminals revealed
- https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/innovation-at-amazon/heres-your-first-look-at-project-kuipers-low-cost-customer-terminals
13:28 DART. Spinning asteroids throw rocks into space
- https://www.universetoday.com/160574/didymos-is-spinning-so-quickly-that-rocks-are-detaching-at-its-equator-and-going-into-orbit/
14:49 More science results from New Horizons
- https://www.universetoday.com/160547/new-horizons-pluto-team-updates-science/
16:01 Q&A Show
16:55 Flat Lens Telescope
- https://www.universetoday.com/160510/researchers-build-a-telescope-with-a-flat-lens/
18:16 Violent Red Dwarfs
- https://www.universetoday.com/160508/even-the-calmest-red-dwarfs-are-wilder-than-the-sun/
19:48 Outro

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

📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER
Read by 55,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads.
Subscribe. It's FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter

🎧 PODCASTS
Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/
Weekly Space Hangout: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-KklSGlCiJDwOPdR2EUcg/
Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/

🤳 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain
Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday
Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday
Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday

📩 CONTACT FRASER
frasercain@gmail.com

⚖️ LICENSE
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Support Universe Today Podcast

[NIAC 2023] Infrared Earth-like Planet Hunter Telescope Mar 16, 2023

Show notes

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.

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

🌌 Milky Way @ home:
https://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/

👉 More about the NIAC project:
https://www.universetoday.com/160089/if-an-earthlike-planet-is-within-30-light-years-this-space-telescope-will-find-it/

00:00 Intro
01:22 How hard it is to observe the Milky Way
05:28 Mindset shift in Astronomy
07:56 NIAC idea: Telescope Design
16:00 Fancy Physics
22:50 Targets for the telescope
39:10 Next steps
42:38 Milky Way @ home
47:35 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/VLsWeMYh7fQ

📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER
Read by 55,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads.
Subscribe. It's FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter

🎧 PODCASTS
Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/
Weekly Space Hangout: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-KklSGlCiJDwOPdR2EUcg/
Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/

🤳 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain
Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday
Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday
Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday

📩 CONTACT FRASER
frasercain@gmail.com

⚖️ LICENSE
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Support Universe Today Podcast

[Q&A] Milky Way from ISS, Jupiter Catching Fire, Best Sci-Fi Novel Mar 14, 2023

Show notes

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!

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

00:00 Start
00:47 [Tatooine] How does Venus hold its atmosphere without a magnetosphere?
03:58 [Coruscant] Which is the best target for the Solar Gravitational Lens telescope?
06:40 [Hoth] Why aren't there more launch complexes near the equator?
10:00 [Naboo] Should you use 'microgravity' instead of 'zero gravity'?
11:37 [Kamino] How does the Milky Way look from the ISS?
13:03 [Bespin] Why doesn't Jupiter catch fire if it's flammable gas?
15:28 [Mustafar] Will I ever go to space?
18:33 [Alderaan] Is the Sun moving to the Milky Way's centre?
20:55 [Dagobah] What happens when the space elevator cable snaps?
22:58 [Yavin] How does time dilation change interstellar flights?
25:18 [Mandalore] Why don't we make space probes more definitive?
29:43 [Geonosis] What is my favourite recent Sci-Fi novel?
31:30 [Corellia] Have I ever seen a UFO?
32:23 [Crait] Can we solve the Hubble Tension?
34:39 [Endor] How weight changes on top of Mount Everest?

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/iZVuydCw5qc

📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER
Read by 55,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads.
Subscribe. It's FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter

🎧 PODCASTS
Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/
Weekly Space Hangout: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-KklSGlCiJDwOPdR2EUcg/
Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/

🤳 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain
Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday
Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday
Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday

📩 CONTACT FRASER
frasercain@gmail.com

⚖️ LICENSE
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Support Universe Today Podcast

[Interview] Habitable Planets Near Red Dwarfs Mar 14, 2023

Show notes

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.

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

00:00 Intro
00:55 How bad are red dwarfs for life
04:20 Experiments to test habitability
13:10 Potential ecosystems near red dwarfs
18:57 Biosignatures to look for
21:20 Other extreme places
24:10 What's next

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/p8X_qrtxPm8

📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER
Read by 55,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads.
Subscribe. It's FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter

🎧 PODCASTS
Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/
Weekly Space Hangout: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-KklSGlCiJDwOPdR2EUcg/
Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/

🤳 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain
Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday
Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday
Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday

📩 CONTACT FRASER
frasercain@gmail.com

⚖️ LICENSE
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Support Universe Today Podcast

[Space Bites] China’s Giant Rocket, Dark Big Bang, Next Bright Comet Mar 10, 2023

Show notes

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.

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

00:00 Intro
00:11 SLS Good For Humans. Artemis 2 in 2024
- https://www.nasa.gov/feature/analysis-confirms-successful-artemis-i-moon-mission-reviews-continue
02:23 Canadian Kids Discover Things About Space NASA Didn’t Know
03:58 Dark Big Bang
- https://www.universetoday.com/160285/the-universe-may-have-started-with-a-dark-big-bang/
07:05 China’s Huge 10-meter Fuel Tank
- https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ANBmxXUY74JlmhFDmc5cwQ
08:45 Japan’s H3 Failure
09:59 Space Balloons
- https://www.universetoday.com/160415/want-to-soar-to-the-stratosphere-japan-joins-the-balloon-tourism-race/
11:03 Mysterious Blob
- https://www.universetoday.com/160318/a-mysterious-blob-near-the-milky-ways-supermassive-black-hole-might-finally-have-an-explanation/
12:20 Support us on Patreon
13:14 Hubble Drops Below Starlink
- https://www.universetoday.com/160405/hubbles-orbit-has-dropped-so-far-that-starlink-satellites-are-photobombing-its-images/
15:01 Hubble VS Roman
- https://www.universetoday.com/160387/it-would-take-hubble-85-years-to-match-what-nancy-grace-roman-will-see-in-63-days/
16:43 Juno’s Flyby of Io
- https://www.universetoday.com/160400/just-dropped-new-close-up-images-of-io-from-juno-with-more-to-come/
17:44 A Bright Comet for 2024
- https://www.universetoday.com/160400/just-dropped-new-close-up-images-of-io-from-juno-with-more-to-come/
19:08 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/4_u2xxfZ8Vs

📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER
Read by 55,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads.
Subscribe. It's FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter

🎧 PODCASTS
Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/
Weekly Space Hangout: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-KklSGlCiJDwOPdR2EUcg/
Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/

🤳 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain
Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday
Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday
Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday

📩 CONTACT FRASER
frasercain@gmail.com

⚖️ LICENSE
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Support Universe Today Podcast

[NIAC 2023] Growing Mars Habitats with Bioreactors Mar 09, 2023

Show notes

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.

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

👉 More about the NIAC award:
https://www.universetoday.com/159635/instead-of-building-structures-on-mars-we-could-grow-them-with-the-help-of-bacteria/

00:00 Intro
01:21 Growing Structures on Mars
08:37 Self-healing materials
10:40 Using this tech on Earth
12:36 Next steps
17:44 When can we expect it
22:02 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/roSoBS0qo1g

📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER
Read by 55,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads.
Subscribe. It's FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter

🎧 PODCASTS
Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/
Weekly Space Hangout: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-KklSGlCiJDwOPdR2EUcg/
Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/

🤳 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain
Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday
Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday
Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday

📩 CONTACT FRASER
frasercain@gmail.com

⚖️ LICENSE
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Support Universe Today Podcast

[Interview] Developing Tech That Can Last On Venus Mar 08, 2023

Show notes

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.

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

00:00 Intro
01:17 How bad Venus really is
03:27 What it takes to last on Venus
06:40 Chips that can survive on Venus
13:59 Batteries for Venus
18:45 Time-based measurements of Venus
23:03 Moving on the surface of Venus
26:32 Clockwork rovers
30:30 High-temperature solar cells
33:00 Advantages of Venus
42:29 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/iVtquFgZ2pQ

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

🎧 PODCASTS
Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/
Weekly Space Hangout: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-KklSGlCiJDwOPdR2EUcg/
Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/

🤳 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain
Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday
Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday
Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday

📩 CONTACT FRASER
frasercain@gmail.com

⚖️ LICENSE
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Support Universe Today Podcast

[Q&A] True Color of Sunspots, Saving the Earth, Identifying Interstellar Objects Mar 07, 2023

Show notes

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!

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

00:00 Start
01:02 [Tatooine] If the Sun is white, are sunspots really black?
05:19 [Coruscant] How many stars did our radio signals reach?
08:51 [Hoth] How do gravitational assists work?
11:43 [Naboo] How to visualize the expansion of the Universe?
13:35 [Kamino] How will the Mars sample return mission find all the dropped tubes?
16:27 [Bespin] Can Earth survive the Red Giant phase of the Sun?
20:16 [Mustafar] What effect will a supernova have on nearby stars?
21:51 [Alderaan] Should the US continue to explore space?
24:16 [Dagobah] Can we time travel with a wormhole?
26:59 [Yavin] What killed the Chinese Mars rover?
29:32 [Mandalore] How does light pollution work?
33:04 [Geonosis] How can we tell that an object is interstellar?