Kainaati Gup Shup with Salman Hameed

How does a sense of wonder translate into music? Many of you like the Kainaat Theme music for Kainaati Gup Shup. It is by Umer Piracha, who is also the lead vocalist for the band Falsa. He also performs with the eclectic Charu Suri & Friends. Here Umer Piracha and astrophysicist Salman Hameed talk about the creation of music inspired by discoveries in astronomy and the vastness of the universe...

Which is the farthest star in the universe? Sometimes astronomers get lucky. Recently astronomers have detected a star names Earendel, whose light started its journey 12.9 billion years ago!! This is on top of recent discoveries about the farthest galaxies ever discovered, only a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. Please join astrophysicist Salman Hameed in exploring how astronomers det...

There is a fantastic new mission to Trojan asteroids near Jupiter. It is called Lucy, named after the famous 3.2 million year old skeleton that has helped us understand human evolution. In the same way, Trojan asteroids may tell us about the origins of our Solar System. There have been other missions that have explored asteroids in the asteroid belt, near-Earth-orbits (NEO), and even in the Kuiper...

Why are jets coming out close to the central black holes of galaxies? What can be done to improve gender equity in the sciences? How can India and Pakistan cooperate in astronomy projects across the border? Please join in a conversation on these topics and more between Dr. Prajval Shastri and Salman Hameed.  Video of this podcast is available at:  https://youtu.be/ErYPNTBU3G8

This podcast may be better seen as a video: https://youtu.be/TeBsGpw1cJ0 If you want to bet on the next big supernova, then I would suggest that name of Eta Carinae. It is one of the most massive stars in the Milky Way and had an enormous eruption in 1843. But now, a combination of images from the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra, and Spitzer, we have an insight into what is happening with this sta...

What happens on the International Space Station (ISS) when a war breaks out on Earth? This is not just a scenario from science fiction film. Rather, this is happening right now. As Russia's war in Ukraine continues, there are two NASA astronauts, one German astronaut, and four Russian cosmonauts currently residing at the International Space Station. The station itself is a legacy of an unusua...

How come there is an ocean on Jupiter's moon, Europa? Jupiter after all is five times further away than the Earth is from the Sun. It is not even close to the Habitable Zone. And yet, there is liquid water ocean there. In fact, the four large moons of Jupiter (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto) are all fascinating places. Please join astrophysicist Salman Hameed in exploring the reasons why...

There is growing evidence to suggest that Columbus was not the first European to cross the Atlantic ocean to get to North America. It seems that the Vikings had a settlement in what is now Canada around the year 1000. But when exactly? Now a solar storm can pinpoint the date when at least one Viking cut a tree there in 1021CE. Please join astrophysicist in exploring the way scientists figured out...

How do we promote science fiction from the developing world? Do we expect that science fiction to be different? Five years ago, Tehseen Baweja c-founded a science fiction award named after Professor Abdus Salam. Here Salman Hameed and Tehseen Baweja have a conversation about the awards and more. Also, please check out the Salam Awards page here: http://thesalamaward.com/ And check out a past winni...

What happened to the potentially ET signal from our nearest star, Proxima Centauri? The star is, of course, the closest to us and it has at least one roughly Earth-sized planet that also happens to be in its 'habitable zone'. All of this had heightened the intrigue from a signal that was detected in 2019 and announced in 2021. Please join astrophysicist Salman Hameed in exploring the fol...

For the first time, a space craft built by humans has flown close to the Sun. In April of 2021, Parker Solar Probe "touched" the Sun by entering its corona. But what does that even mean? Please join astrophysicist Salman Hameed in exploring some of the science that Parker is uncovering.  For the video, please visit:  https://youtu.be/gm4Z-tEWglc 

When did the first stars light up in the universe? When did the first galaxies form? Can we detect signatures of life on exoplanets? On December 22nd, James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)  is expected to be launched to answer some of these fundamental questions of humanity. Please join astrophysicist Salman Hameed in exploring why there is so much hype about this telescope and what kind of science it...

What will happen if we detect an alien signal? Who are the people who are taking a scientific approach to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI)? What do we know about the famous WOW! signal? Dr. Seth Shostak is a prominent scientist in this field and is a Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute. He has received Carl Sagan Award for the Popularization of Science and Klumpke Roberts Aw...

How did life start on Earth? This is a fascinating puzzle. One of the ideas suggests that life on Earth may have come from outer space. This theory is called Panspermia. While it is not widely accepted by the scientific community, it is still an interesting idea worth exploring. Please join astrophysicist Salman Hameed in discussing Panspermia and why some scientists think it is a valid theory. Fo...

A new star appeared for a few months in 1181CE. What was it and why was it there for only a few months? This mystery has probably been resolved and we now know that it was a rare form of supernova - an exploding star. Please join astrophysicist Salman Hameed in exploring how astronomers solved this mystery in this Urdu. For a video of this episode, please see here:  https://youtu.be/676RRfx40ug

How did the universe start and what do we know about its expansion? What is the nature of dark energy and dark matter? Please join in this session of Kainaati Chai where we ask Arsalan Adil about these questions and about his PhD work in cosmology. He is a PhD candidate at University of California at Davis. Prior to this, Arsalan obtained his B.S. in physics and mathematics in the honors program f...

This is a strange galaxy. Instead of a spiral or an elliptical galaxy, it has a ring. The story of how this ring formed leads us to a hit-and-run suspect - a galaxy that went though the center of a spiral galaxy creating ripples of shock waves. Please join astrophysicist Salman Hameed in exploring the origins of Cartwheel galaxy in this Urdu (and Hindi).  For a video of this episode, see here:  ht...

Good science fiction allows us to explore deep questions about humanity. The new movie adaptation of Dune is an excellent such example. There are many ways to explore this story about a fictional desert planet called Arrakis. Please join astrophysicist Salman Hameed in exploring the ecology, environmentalism, anti-colonialism, and Arab & Islamic elements in the novel and the new film Dune.  Fo...

Was there ever any life on Mars? This is a big question. Currently there are rovers like NASA's Perseverance and China's Zhuorong Mars rover looking for clues of life on the Red planet. But it is possible that Martian moon Phobos may be an ideal place to look ancient life from the planet. Please join astrophysicist Salman Hameed in exploring this fascinating and puzzling moon of Mars in...

Humans can see and appreciate the Milky Way. Can insects see it as well? How can we even tell if an insect can see our Galaxy. Please join astrophysicist Salman Hameed in learning about fascinating experiments dealing with dung beetles (yes - "gober ka keera") in this Urdu episode of Kainaati Gup Shup.  For the video of the podcast, please see here: https://youtu.be/7L8BCx5yfTA

When did the very first stars form in the universe? How can we even find such stars in a universe that has over a trillion-trillion stars? This is a fascinating and tough puzzle. But astronomers have started to some of the pieces together and now they think that the first stars may have formed after only a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. Please join astrophysicist Salman Hameed in fi...

In astronomy, distance to an object is one of the most important things to know. But this is also one of the hardest. Please join astrophysicist Salman Hameed in exploring a variety of ways in which astronomers measure distances. From Parallax method to standard candles, such as Cepheid variables and supernovae, we look at foundations of these methods. In addition, we discuss some of the foundatio...

There are more viruses in the world than there are stars in the observable universe!! We normally talk about astronomy here. But the world is currently facing an enormous challenge that can (and will) be solved through science and hard-work. What are viruses and can this understanding help scientists create vaccines against Covid-19 or Coronavirus? How do vaccines work and what are the different t...

February is Mars Mania! A UAE mission called "Hope" is getting to Mars (Marreekh)on February 9th. It will be followed by a Chinese mission called "Tianwen-1" on February 10th. Then NASA's Perseverance rover will land on the Red Planet on February 18th. Please join astrophysicist Salman Hameed in exploring the science behind the UAE and Chinese missions.  Video here: https:...

How did life start here on Earth? The answer may lie in studying Mars. NASA's Perseverance mission is about to land on Jezero crater on the Red planet. Please join astrophysicist Salman Hameed in exploring how this mission may unlock mysteries about the origin of life here on Earth. Video podcast here: https://youtu.be/7wrf3clsWzw