Universe Today Podcast

Which is a bigger showstopper for a human Mars mission: food or radiation exposure? Does Vera Rubin leave any chance for aliens to still sneak upon us? Can something like space whales actually exist?…

Why are galaxies and star systems flat? What does the future of the space race look like? Are we going to Mars to mine it? And in Q&A+, what sparked my personal interest for space as a kid?

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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 ne…

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 …

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 …

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…

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?

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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 imp…

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 o…

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 …

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…

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 …

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 searc…

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. H…

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 Univ…

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 fo…

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 ast…

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 Un…

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 Spa…

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 religio…