Universe Today Podcast

In this week's live QA, I talk about Elon Musk's hope of establishing a free Mars, the future of gravitational wave detectors, and what do I think about trying to live in other places in the Solar System? 00:00:00 Start 00:03:00 Thoughts on Bridenstine leaving NASA? 00:08:10 Should we declare a Free Mars? 00:11:43 How sensitive will gravitational wave detectors become? 00:17:05 More damage at Arec...

In this week's questions show, I talk about the Dark Forest theory in the Three-Body Problem series of books. Is it a compelling answer to the Fermi Paradox? How much of a risk is dust to interstellar travel? Is black hole evaporation negated by black holes absorbing additional material and energy? 00:00 Start 00:46 Is the Dark Forest a reasonable answer to the Fermi Paradox? 04:05 How much dust i...

https://www.darkskytraveller.com.au/fredwatson Space Nuts Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-space-and-science-news/id1080090608 Our Book is out! https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Today-Ultimate-Viewing-Cosmos/dp/1624145442/ Audio Podcast version: ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/universe-today-guide-to-space-audio/id794058155?mt=2 RSS: https://www.universe...

00:00:00 Start 00:04:10 Searching for exomoons 00:07:35 Why I hate embargoes 00:11:29 Discovery of water on the Moon 00:17:00 Could Spitzer target the Moon? 00:17:30 Would Jupiter's magnetosphere protect you? 00:20:56 Any space telescopes for Starship? 00:26:27 Cost of a replacement James Webb? 00:27:45 Do you need gravitational assists to go to the outer Solar System? 00:30:49 Is Juno still flyin...

00:00 Start 05:54 Have we learned any more about Venus? 08:31 Elon Musk interview with the Mars Society 11:15 How small would Earth be as a black hole? 11:31 Could space be infinite at the Big Bang? 13:57 Will we mine the Moon for Helium 3? 17:08 How does inflation improve the Big Bang? 23:22 Why didn't the Universe collapse again? 27:03 OSIRIS-REx update 28:17 Could you turn condensed light into...

This week I'll be talking Dr. Seth Shostak from the SETI Institute about his work searching the Universe for evidence of extraterrestrials. Our Book is out! https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Today-Ultimate-Viewing-Cosmos/dp/1624145442/ Audio Podcast version: ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/universe-today-guide-to-space-audio/id794058155?mt=2 RSS: https://www.universetoday.com/audio What...

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In this week's live questions show, I answer questions about drilling for microbes on Mars, missions that could survive the surface of Venus, and if anyone else is dissatisfied with the Big Bang. 00:00 Start 04:18 Any updates on the Chinese mission to Mars? 05:41 How many exoplanets are confirmed? 07:18 Can any rovers drill for microbes? 10:31 Any ways to survive the surface of Venus? 13:10 How do...

Black holes are already mind-bending enough. Matter and energy compressed into a region so dense that the escape velocity exceeds the speed of light. Places where space and time are tangled up so much that even if you could go faster than light speed, you’d still end up at the singularity. Astronomers know of two kinds of black holes in the Universe: stellar mass and supermassive, and how we get t...

Our Book is out! https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Today-Ultimate-Viewing-Cosmos/dp/1624145442/ Audio Podcast version: ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/universe-today-guide-to-space-audio/id794058155?mt=2 RSS: https://www.universetoday.com/audio What Fraser's Watching Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbJ42wpShvmkjd428BcHcCEVWOjv7cJ1G Weekly email newsletter: https://www.un...

Sarah Scoles is a Denver-based science writer who has supplied articles to WIRED Science and Popular Science. Her newest book is called "They Are Already Here: UFO Culture and Why We See Saucers". http://www.sarahscoles.com/ Our Book is out! https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Today-Ultimate-Viewing-Cosmos/dp/1624145442/ Audio Podcast version: ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/universe-today...

00:00 Start 00:16 Did we infect Venus with life? 02:27 Can we terraform Venus with bacteria? 04:03 This is boring. 06:21 It's probably not life. 09:07 Phosphine is on Jupiter too. 10:50 Are there spaceflight insurance companies? 12:59 Why can gas giants remain spherical? 15:21 What if the Moon was in geosynchronous orbit? 17:42 Are astronauts falling? 19:40 Could we use interstellar hydrogen as fu...

Our Book is out! https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Today-Ultimate-Viewing-Cosmos/dp/1624145442/ Audio Podcast version: ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/universe-today-guide-to-space-audio/id794058155?mt=2 RSS: https://www.universetoday.com/audio What Fraser's Watching Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbJ42wpShvmkjd428BcHcCEVWOjv7cJ1G Weekly email newsletter: https://www.un...

Well, did you hear the big news? Life on Venus. Life… on... Venus. Now, where have we heard this before? Oh right, life on Mars. If you’ve been watching any of my videos or listening to Astronomy Cast, you’re cautiously optimistic. Skeptical, but hopeful. That’s the right position to take, because buckle up, the internet’s about to run with this news. It’s going to be difficult to figure out what...

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In this week's questions show, I wonder about the supernova that formed the Solar System, how astronauts deal with air pressure differences, and how we're going to handle the cold temperatures on Mars. Featuring Astronaut Terry Virts https://terryvirts.com/ 00:00 Start 01:17 Where are the supernovae that created the Solar System? 03:53 Can astronauts get infected on Mars or in space? 05:20 When a...

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In this week's questions show, you wondered if the simulation hypothesis is a good answer to the Fermi Paradox. How to get a career in space manufacturing? Will a compass work on Mars? And more... Featuring Moiya McTier https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAzGSsOGMAJeet8SkO8TWmA https://twitter.com/GoAstroMo https://exolore.captivate.fm/listen 00:00 Start 00:27 Could the simulation hypothesis explain...

In this week's questions show, I consider what the benefits might be to humanity if we discover that we aren't alone in the Universe. How long did Mars planetary dynamo take to turn off? Could we find and repair the lunar rovers? 00:00 Start 00:12 Would extraterrestrial life have any impact on us? 03:01 When did Mars shut down? 05:16 Could the rovers be repaired? 07:05 Would an ejected star take i...

In this week's questions show, I explain how it's possible for stars to orbit so closely they're actually touching. What are the limits to gravitational slingshots, and how astronomers know where to point their telescopes in the Universe. 00:00 Start 00:44 Can stars touch? 02:39 What is the maximum slingshot speed? 05:32 How do astronomers know where to look? 08:27 Could a planet orbit backwards?...

When the Apollo astronauts first landed on the Moon, they couldn’t go far on foot. That’s why the three final missions were equipped with Lunar Roving Vehicles, or Moon buggies, which allowed the astronauts to cover much more ground and do more science. Now that NASA is returning to the Moon by 2024 as part of its Artemis Program, it’s considering a fleet of new vehicles that will help astronauts...

In this week's questions show I explain why it's still important to do science, even if it's difficult, can we use multiple methods to measure distance, and why the Trojan asteroids don't collect into a single object? 00:00 Start 00:40 Why should we bother trying to understand the Universe? 05:01 Can different methods be used to measure distances to the same object? 07:50 Why don't Trojans collect...

When the largest stars die, it’s usually pretty obvious. Supernovae are visible from billions of light-years away. But recently astronomers watched a massive star just disappear. No explosion, nothing, it just… vanished? Of course, it could have been dust. It’s always dust. But one intriguing possibility is that the star just imploded directly into a black hole, without the supernova detonation. A...

This episode is a segment that we did in the Weekly Space Hangout talking about how astronomers are using masers (water lasers) to measure the expansion rate of the Universe. You'd think that another, independent way to measure the expansion rate of the Universe would be helpful, but it's only deepened the mystery of the cosmological crisis. Subscribe to the Weekly Space Hangout https://www.youtub...

This week, it'll be the last Open Space with Fraser before the show goes on its summer hiatus until September. If you've got some burning space questions, no will be your chance to ask them. Our Book is out! https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Today-Ultimate-Viewing-Cosmos/dp/1624145442/ Audio Podcast version: ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/universe-today-guide-to-space-audio/id794058155?...