Universe Today Podcast

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?

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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?

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?

More evidence that dark energy is weakening, cosmic rays could keep life alive under the ice, NASA is building fuel depots in space, and a radio telescope is going to the far side of the Moon. On Space Bites+, how brines could form on the surface of Mars, providing a habitat for life.

Do gravitational waves deflect like waves on the water? Which type of comet would cause the most destruction for Earth? Will we see humans on Mars in our lifetime? And in Q&A+ could AI become religious?

Do we predictions when will the Universe stop its expansion? Did we find hypervelocity stars in M31? What does it mean when planets go retrograde? And in Q&A+ could the Big Bang be a white hole?

FRBs are a great example of a modern day space mystery. We've seen a lot of them. We know a fair amount about them. But we still don't really know for sure how do they work and what's their true source. Some of them can be super weird. How exactly? Finding out in this interview.