Universe Today Podcast

Your Ultimate Guide to All Things Space

Episodes

  • 00:00:00
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    00:20:07
    August 29th, 2025

    The Wow signal was even more Wow. Starship Flight 10 makes it space and returns to Earth, more red dwarf planets get crossed off the list as lacking an atmosphere, a supernova spilled its guts into space. And on Space Bites+, finding supernovae as quickly as possible.

  • 00:00:00
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    00:44:52
    August 29th, 2025

    The boys are back! Discussing all the things that happened during Starship IFT-10. Why didn't they catch the Super Heavy booster? What did explode near the engines? Why was Starship orange? What's next for SpaceX? Looking for all the answers with Scott Manley and Marcus House.

  • 00:00:00
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    00:19:16
    August 28th, 2025

    Can the difficulty of interstellar travel the answer to the Fermi paradox? Or maybe it's the fact that we can only apply it to our galaxy and not further? Or maybe we can even find life in our solar system?

  • 00:00:00
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    00:39:20
    August 27th, 2025

    We definitely won't see a space elevator built in any foreseeable future. But there is a similar but much more practical approach – a skyhook. How close are we to creating one? Why is it useful? What challenges does it bring and when can we expect first practical demonstrations? Finding out in this interview.

  • 00:00:00
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    00:17:36
    August 26th, 2025

    When is a supernova too close for comfort? Will USA's Moon race against China accelerate a race towards a Mars base? How can we see the Oort cloud? And in Q&A+, what do I tell to space deniers?

  • 00:00:00
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    00:17:38
    August 22nd, 2025

    Ryugu and Bennu are related, a star tried to eat a black hole and it didn’t go well, using moons to save fuel, and China tests its new human lunar lander. In Space Bites+, how climate change will impact satellite orbits.

  • 00:00:00
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    00:16:30
    August 21st, 2025

    Why do people believe Starships will go to Mars? Can we use molten salt batteries on the Moon? What's the difference between the Universe and the Observable Universe? And in Q&A+, what's the chance of hitting an stone during an interstellar voyage?

  • 00:00:00
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    00:41:01
    August 20th, 2025

    Satellites are causing light pollution. Every year there a more of them. So, why don't they just paint them all vantablack, the ultra-black coating that doesn't reflect almost any light? Finding out in this interview.

  • 00:00:00
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    00:16:43
    August 19th, 2025

    Is living in the clouds of Venus better than living in sub-surface habitats on Mars? Can we really lock ourselves from orbit with space junk? Should we build another version of Biosphere before going to Mars? And in Q&A+, is abiogenesis really unlikely?

  • 00:00:00
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    00:25:56
    August 15th, 2025

    Finally, Webb’s analysis of TRAPPIST-1d, new Hubble images comet 3I/ATLAS, the most massive black hole ever discovered, why Mars sand is so dangerous. And in Space Bites+, staring right down the jet of an actively feeding supermassive black hole.

  • 00:00:00
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    00:20:06
    August 13th, 2025

    What would happen if we moved a jovian moon to Mars? What are black holes spitting out as those jets? What's the best case scenario for Europa Clipper's search for life? And in Q&A+, how are we searching for Sun-like stars?

  • 00:00:00
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    00:45:31
    August 13th, 2025

    How did supermassive black holes get so big so early? There are two main models for that, and JWST just got a huge boost for the one that suggests they can form via a direct collapse of gas clouds. How did the researchers pull the first observations of a potential birth of a SMBH? Finding out in this interview.

  • 00:00:00
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    00:22:31
    August 12th, 2025

    Is there an upper size limit for black holes? Why don't we build multiple identical missions to increase the chance of success? Is the Universe considered finite or infinite? And in Q&A+, is the Universe expanding or is everything else just shrinking?

  • 00:00:00
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    00:16:58
    August 8th, 2025

    A Planet Found at Alpha Centauri. Webb Revisits the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. Little Red Dots don't break the laws of physics. In Space Bites Plus, showing that the Earth's magnetosphere was here for a long time.

  • 00:00:00
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    00:18:37
    August 7th, 2025

    Could we aim asteroid YR4 at the Moon on purpose? What would happen to babies born and raised on Mars? Should we use water as an insulation layer for our spacecraft? And in Q&A+, could we mine an asteroid that's stuck in a Lagrange point?

  • 00:00:00
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    00:20:16
    August 5th, 2025

    If nothing escapes a black hole, how does gravity escape? Could we detect a faster-than-light spaceship cruising through the Solar System? What does JWST really orbit at L2? And in Q&A+, could the Universe have started as a black hole?