Universe Today Podcast

My guest this week was Professor Sean Carroll from Caltech. Sean's a theoretical physicist, author of many books, and podcaster. His newest book, "Something Deeply Hidden" has just been released, presenting his ideas about the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. Learn more about Sean Carroll here: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/ Subscribe to his podcast: https://www.preposterous...

In 2017, Elon Musk laid out his grand sweeping plans for the future of SpaceX, the company that would take humanity to Mars. Over decades, tens of thousands of Starship flights would carry a million human beings to the surface of the Red Planet, the minimum Musk expects it’ll take to create a self-sustaining civilization. The number of details in an effort like this is mind-boggling. What about th...

One of my most requested guests is Dr. Robert Zubrin, engineer and founder of the Mars Society. It was Dr. Zubrin's "Case for Mars" that helped inspire me to get into space journalism in the first place. We had a wide-ranging interview that updated the Case for Mars, looked at what comes next, and how current efforts are stumbling in their efforts to return humans to the Moon, and then on to Mars....

In this week's questions show, I explain how scientists know that meteorites came from Mars, is it dangerous to look for alien civilizations, what citizen science projects to get involved in, and more. Featuring Professor Nick Cowan from McGill University. 00:20 How do we know a meteorite came from Mars 02:27 Why look for aliens? 05:20 Observational bias finding big planets? 08:03 What projects ca...

This week I was joined in a livestream with Dr. David Kipping from Columbia University. We had a great interview about his research into exomoons, what new observatories will do for this field. We also talked about his idea of the Terrascope, using the Earth's atmosphere as a lens to study the Universe. And we talked about how scientists can better use the internet to communicate directly with the...

I’ve said many times in the past that the Earth is the best planet in the Universe. No matter where we go, we’ll never find a planet that’s a better home to Earth life than Earth. Of course, that’s because we, and all other Earth life evolved in this environment. Evolution adapted us to this planet, and it’s unlikely we could ever find another planet this good for us. However, is it the best plane...

In this week's questions show, I explain that life on Earth has less time than you think, if there could be multiple supermassive black holes inside the Milky Way, and what would we see if Mars replaced the Moon. Featuring Anton Petrov from WhatDaMath. Check out his channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCciQ8wFcVoIIMi-lfu8-cjQ 00:29 When will the Earth be unlivable? 03:00 Are there more s...

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This week I was joined by Dylan O'Donnell, an incredible astrophotographer and amateur astronomer from Australia. Dylan's photography has been featured in exhibits and websites around the world, and he's the organizer of the Starstuff Conference in Byron Bay ( https://starstuff.com.au/ ) and has a website featuring all his astrophotography ( https://deography.com/ ) Check out his channel at: https...

Humans to Mars. That’s the plan right? The problem is that sending humans down to the surface of Mars is one of the most complicated and ambitious goals that we can attempt. It’s a huge step to go from low Earth orbit, then lunar landings, and then all the way to Mars, a journey of hundreds of millions of kilometers and 2 years at the least. But there are two places humans can go which are a stepp...

We’re learning more and more about extrasolar planets, and for the first time, astronomers have discovered water vapor in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting another star. The planet is located in the habitable zone of its star, so this might even be rain. Of course, it’s not all good news, it’s much more massive than Earth, with higher gravity, and is probably bathed in radiation from its red dwa...

In this week's questions show, I talk about searching for life on Venus, trying to get to orbit with a jet, and why NASA probably shouldn't hire me. This episode features special guest SciManDan. Check out his channel at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRtsZ5Iak9wSLsQLQ3XOAeA 00:20 Could there be life on Venus? 03:30 Could you get into orbit with a jet? 06:31 Should NASA hire me? 08:57 Will junk...

Welcome back to Season 2 of my weekly live QA. Your chance to ask me your questions about space and astronomy... live. Sometimes I'll have guests, and sometimes I won't. This week... I didn't. You wanted to know about recent news about astronauts mixing concrete in space, the formation of craters on Titan, and what might be the difficulties of people going to the Moon or Mars? 04:22 Mixing concret...

We’ve reached the third part of our series on Lagrange Points, those stable spots in the Solar System, where you can sort of hover with the minimum amount of fuel. This episode we’re going to look at the L4 and L5 points which share the orbit with a more massive object. Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WN7lS9bpB4 Part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgIZgrOZElo Building an artificial...

In this week's questions show, I explain what I think the best uses of the Moon might be, why I'm qualified to answer questions about space, and if you could use a black hole as mirror that lets you look back in time. 00:28 What's the best use of the Moon? 03:46 What are my qualifications? 05:44 Could a black hole bend light back to us? 07:12 How can the Moon drift away? 10:18 What are black holes...

Lagrange Points. Stable spots in space that you just can’t stop thinking about. What spacecraft work best in which places? What are some amazing ideas that could utilize these regions across the Solar System? In the last episode, I gave an overview of the Lagrange points, and then went into the details of spacecraft missions sent to L1, the perfect place to constantly observe the Sun, the Earth, o...

In this week's questions show, I introduce Ona, by request. I explain why I don't think going to space is going to fix the big challenges that humanity faces, and how do astronomers figure out how big a planet is? Talking about existential threats with Phil Torres https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKYTrKapyrs 00:00 Meet Ona 02:00 Will going to space fix our evil humanness? 04:40 Sparks under the spa...

Thanks to gravity, there are places across the Solar System which are nicely balanced. They’re called Lagrange Points and they give us the perfect vantage points for a range of spacecraft missions, from observing the Sun to studying asteroids, and more. Various spacecraft have already visited Lagrange Points, used them for some or all of their missions, and there are fascinating plans in the works...

One of the great accomplishments of the Apollo missions was to bring home hundreds of kilograms of lunar rock. Suddenly, geologists had a lifetime’s worth of lunar samples captured from several different spots across the Moon. These rocks and dust have been under continuous analysis since the Apollo 11 astronauts came home over 50 years ago. And they’re still making discoveries. Scientists have sa...

As I’ve mentioned in several episodes now, humanity is in a bit of a transition period, a time when it makes sense to launch material up and out of Earth’s gravity well into orbit, and beyond. But it’s really expensive, costing up to $10,000 per pound you want in orbit, and 10 times if you want it on the Moon. But over the coming decades, more and more of our space-based infrastructure will be bui...

In this week's questions show, I explain why all the planets astronomers have found are so bizarre. Couldn't we use laser highways to go faster? Is the lunar gateway really a lunar tollbooth? 00:14 Why do planets orbit so quickly? 02:33 What about laser highways? 03:57 Is the Lunar Gateway a Lunar Tollbooth? 07:15 How much artificial gravity is needed for human health? 08:43 Will Titan turn into E...

Mars is the place that most of our spacecraft, landers and rovers are studying, searching for any evidence that life ever existed somewhere else in the Solar System. But talk to planetary scientists, and they’re just as excited about the ocean worlds of the Solar System; the moons, asteroids, dwarf planets and Kuiper Belt objects where there could be vast oceans of liquid water under thick shells...

On Tuesday, July 30th, NASA announced 19 different partnerships with 13 different companies to use their expertise to help them develop space technologies, from advanced communications systems to new methods of entry, descent and landing. Instead of contracting out specific projects, NASA will make its employees, facilities, hardware and software available to these companies, for free. One of the...

In this week's questions show, I answer if techno optimism is blinding us to the challenges of spaceflight, why there aren't spacecraft at all the planets right now, could the Great Attractor be dark matter? And more... Links to various raw images Cassini - https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/raw-images/raw-image-viewer/?order=earth_date+desc&per_page=50&page=0 Curiosity - https://mars.nasa.gov/m...

It’s amazing to think there are telescopes up in space, right now, directing their gaze at distant objects for hours, days and even weeks. Providing a point of view so stable and accurate that we can learn details about galaxies, exoplanets and more. And then, when the time is up, the spacecraft can shift its gaze in another direction. All without the use of fuel. It’s all thanks to the technology...