Universe Today Podcast

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[Q&A] Quantum Computers for Astronomy, Catching Interstellar Guests, The Book Club Nov 08, 2022

Show notes

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!

🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday
📖 Book Club Group: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-today-book-club

00:00 Start
01:39 [Tatooine] Why do accretion disks glow?
06:19 [Coruscant] Can redshift create a light trail?
10:13 [Hoth] Can we turn asteroids into spaceships?
13:45 [Naboo] Book Club: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
18:03 [Kamino] What's the current state of quantum computers?
22:54 [Bespin] Can we catch the next Oumuamua-type object?
27:53 [Mustafar] How do we know dark matter and dark energy exist?
34:12 [Alderaan] How can there be something beyond the observable universe?
36:51 [Dagobah] How will AI affect astronomy?
39:26 [Yavin] Would I freeze myself to see the future?
41:24 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/WSt1AqPYdkM

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

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[Space Bites] Worrying Solar Storm Data, Falcon Heavy is Back, Total Lunar Eclipse Nov 05, 2022

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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.

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00:00 Intro
00:33 Even more Pillars of Creation by Webb
- https://www.universetoday.com/158384/another-version-of-the-pillars-of-creation-from-webb/
03:20 Meteor shower and Total Lunar Eclipse
- https://www.universetoday.com/158356/possible-taurid-meteor-outburst-for-2022/
- https://www.universetoday.com/158196/our-guide-to-tuesdays-total-lunar-eclipse/
06:38 Star Storms in Tree Rings
- https://www.universetoday.com/158351/the-most-devastating-solar-storms-in-history-are-scoured-into-tree-rings/
09:30 Heavy Elements from Neutron Stars Merger
- https://www.universetoday.com/158379/not-just-gold-colliding-neutron-stars-forge-strontium-lanthanum-and-cerium/
11:23 Support us on Patreon
12:18 InSight Felt a Meteor Strike on Mars
- https://www.universetoday.com/158390/insight-felt-the-ground-shake-from-a-meteorite-impact-on-mars/
14:09 Falcon Heavy flies again
- https://www.universetoday.com/158447/falcon-heavy-launches-for-the-first-time-in-over-three-years-carrying-military-satellites-to-orbit/
15:12 Psyche mission is back on track
- https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-continues-psyche-asteroid-mission/
16:32 Channel updates
18:12 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/l95ADb_Jx2c

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[Interview] James Webb, LUVOIR and Mindblowing Future Projects Nov 01, 2022

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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?

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💯 100 Days of Webb: https://youtu.be/lpJ5x4rcH-k

00:00:00 Intro
00:01:36 Current state of JWST science
00:08:42 JWST data release mechanisms
00:16:34 Evolution of the Periodic table
00:19:03 Technical challenges of JWST
00:24:06 Expectations VS reality of operating Webb
00:31:52 Damage and current health of JWST
00:45:14 Architecture for the next telescopes
00:59:37 Non-conventional concepts of future telescopes
01:03:47 Quantum telescopes
01:17:16 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/eXchT7mtEao

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[Q&A] DART Successor, Fixing Space Debris, Viking Missions Controversy Nov 01, 2022

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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.

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

00:00 Start
02:01 [Tatooine] Is Astronomy just a waste of money?
07:17 [Coruscant] How do scientists react to being wrong?
09:25 [Hoth] Where's Theia's crater?
11:22 [Naboo] If no Big Rip, what's left?
14:52 [Kamino] What about returning to the Moon?
17:22 [Bespin] Is life everywhere?
20:34 [Mustafar] Will there be DART successors?
24:23 [Alderaan] How to fix space debris?
28:53 [Dagobah] EHT but in space?
34:26 [Yavin] Dark energy after heat death?
37:29 [Mandalore] Viking missions controversy?
42:39 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/gLlzt0Vwn1A

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[Interview] Bacteria That Can Survive on Mars for Millions of Years with Dr Michael Daly Oct 30, 2022

Show notes

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?

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00:00 Intro
01:36 What is Deinococcus radiodurans
07:54 How can it live for hundreds of millions of years
15:41 Mars contamination
18:52 Where should we look on Mars
25:45 Panspermia from Mars
29:00 What’s next
32:03 Outro

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

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[Space Bites] Closest Black Hole Ever Discovered, Starlink as GPS, Early Life Killed Mars Oct 28, 2022

Show notes

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.

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

00:00 Intro
00:39 The closed black hole ever discovered
- https://www.universetoday.com/158176/a-monster-black-hole-has-been-found-right-in-our-backyard-astronomically-speaking/
03:28 Life can hide deep within Mars
- https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2022/10/ancient-bacteria-might-lurk-beneath-mars-surface/?fj=1
06:24 Life could have killed Mars in the past
- https://www.universetoday.com/158167/early-life-on-mars-might-have-wiped-out-life-on-mars/
09:50 Starlink got “hacked” and can be used as GPS alternative
11:38 Support us on Patreon
- https://patreon.com/universetoday
12:19 Lucy gets a portrait of the Earth and the Moon
- https://www.universetoday.com/158323/lucy-took-this-picture-of-earth-as-it-was-making-its-gravity-assist-maneuver/
14:13 Star blasts away the atmosphere from a planet
- https://www.universetoday.com/158217/a-nearby-star-has-completely-blasted-away-the-atmosphere-from-its-planet/
16:38 Arecibo won’t be rebuilt
- https://www.universetoday.com/158125/arecibo-wont-be-rebuilt/
19:01 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/l_gf_d8kX6M

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[Interview] Processing Astronomical Images with Judy Schmidt Oct 27, 2022

Show notes

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!

👉 Judy's Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/geckzilla/
👉 Judy's Twitter: https://twitter.com/spacegeck
👉 Judy's Tutorial: https://youtu.be/8kGPGhbefhI

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00:00 Intro
02:44 How did Judy get into space image processing
10:47 Pipeline for astronomical images
14:34 Astronomers and processed images
19:45 What is the image processing pipeline
25:43 Working with raw data
40:22 Scientific discoveries made while processing images
48:49 How to get into image processing
53:32 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/iiXzfeE5EjI

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⚖️ LICENSE
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[Q&A] Spaceships Made of Ice, Best Space Pet, Astronomy and Photoshop Oct 25, 2022

Show notes

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.

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

00:00 Intro
01:41 [Tatooine] How do you "clean up" astronomical images?
06:41 [Coruscant] Why Moon spin is synced with Earth?
09:31 [Hoth] How many habitable worlds are out there?
13:35 [Naboo] Wen hop?
18:57 [Kamino] Best space pet?
20:46 [Bespin] Can a planet pierce through an accretion disk?
22:56 [Mustafar] Remote telescopes?
27:12 [Alderaan] Mars mission by 2029?
30:20 [Dagobah] Spaceships made of ice?
33:08 [Yavin] Why do they sit on data?
36:47 [Mandalore] How Q&As are made?
39:34 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/gVRKuZKjk9g

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[Interview] Understanding Dark Energy With Most Detailed Supernovae Survey | Dr Dillon Brout Oct 24, 2022

Show notes

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.

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00:00 Intro
01:50 What is Pantheon+
13:47 Can we predict Type 1A supernovae
17:07 How to use Type 1A supernovae
23:33 Dark Energy and the Big Rip
27:35 Crisis in Cosmology
42:01 What comes next
45:05 Outro

📺 VIDEO VERSION
#TODO_LINK

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[Meet the Team] Matt Williams, Writer Oct 23, 2022

Show notes

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.

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