Universe Today Podcast

The Fermi paradox has many solutions. Many explanations for the fact that we don't see any signs of intelligent life in the Universe. We ranked all the major ones and put them into tiers from S to D.

See the magnetic fields twisting around the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole, a supernova was seen in almost real time, NASA announces its planetary science goals for Artemis III and Gaia finds two ancient building blocks of the Milky Way.

Can we harvest energy from the Moon's temperature difference? Why don't we just launch multiple telescopes like Hubble? Why is the Moon grey? Why are sunspots black? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show!

Planning trains on the Moon, Chandra is getting shut down, the future of Mars helicopters, and an update on exomoons with Dr. David Kipping.

How heavy are the biggest stars in the Universe and how do they compare to the Sun? Why would aliens be grabby? Is there more space for science communicators? What's the minimum size for an object to have an atmosphere? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show.

Another Test of SpaceX Starship Superheavy combo, another analysis of the flight with Scott Manley and Marcus House!

What did NASA learn from setting their Cygnus spaceships on fire? Is fire more dangerous in space than on Earth? Finding out with Dr. David Urban, Branch Chief from NASA Glenn Research Center.

What drives NASA's most successful projects like James Webb, Perseverance, Parker Solar Probe, etc? What's going on with international cooperation? How will future missions be planned and executed? Finding out with Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, former Associate Administrator of NASA Science Mission Directorate.

Starship reaches orbit in a new test, NASA regains contact with Voyager 1 (sort of), are the Milky Way and Andromeda already exchanging stars, and two new incredible images to replace your desktop wallpaper.

How cold does it get in the shadows on the Moon? What's going on with dark matter research? Can we chase Oumuamua with a solar sail spacecraft? Will we ever face a war for the Moon? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A.

White dwarf stars should be cooling down practically till the end of the Universe. But yet, they don't. They stop cooling at some point. Why does this happen? Figuring out the answers with Dr Simon Blouin from the University of Victoria.

How do we plan a mission that can go to Enceladus and grab a sample of its plumes? How fast does it need to go? Will it bring samples to Earth or analyse them on the spacecraft? Figuring out the answers with Professor Mark Burchell from the University of Kent.

Understanding the surface of Betelgeuse, James Webb’s third observing cycle has been announced, Starship’s upcoming third test, and the most massive pair of black holes ever seen.

Why won't NASA send a copy of Perseverance to the Moon? Can life exist on a planet around a blue giant star? How do satellites stay safe in orbit and don't collide with each other? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show.

Self-replicating space robots seems as an obvious way to explore the Universe. How close are we to such a scenario and what do we need to fill outer space with Von Neumann probes? Figuring out with Professor Alex Ellery.

What is cosmic dust? What is it made of and what can it tell us about the Universe? Could cosmic dust be responsible for life starting on Earth? Figuring it all out with Dr Craig Walton from Cambridge University.