Universe Today Podcast

Particle physicists have announced an exciting discovery about the W Boson particle that challenges the Standard Model of Physics. To help me understand what was discovered and what it means for phys…

My guest today is Dr. Surjeet Rajendran, a physics professor at Johns Hopkins University. In addition to his teaching, Dr. Rajendran's research is in theoretical physics, with a strong focus on what …

In this week's questions show, I explain how other planets can have geostationary orbits, if sending tardigrades to the Moon is a violation of the Outerspace Treaty, and why everything orbiting the S…

My guest today is Dr. Thayne Currie, an astrophysicist at NASA-Ames Research Center and the Subaru Telescope. Dr. Currie was part of a team that directly imaged a newly-forming planet, providing evid…

My guest today is Dr. Robin Hanson, an associate professor of economics at George Mason University and a research associate at the Future of Humanity Institute of Oxford University. Dr. Hanson is fam…

My guest today is Chris Prophet, a freelance writer who has been covering the rise of SpaceX. He has written several books, including SpaceX from the Ground Up. His new book is called SpaceX Evolutio…

In this week's live Questions and Answers show, I explain how big black holes are, what coordinate system astronomers use to map objects in the sky, and what could have collapsed clouds of hydrogen t…

In this week's questions and answers show, I answer the question: could we build a star? How far will humans realistically explore within the Solar System? Is there any way we can escape the heat dea…

In this week's live Questions and Answers show, I explain how a more powerful rocket could reduce the need of a heat shield, if we could detect objects beyond the edge of the observable Universe thro…

My guest today is Dr. Jason Hofgartner, a planetary scientist specializing in icy worlds of the Solar System. Jason wrote a recent paper about the nature of Neptune's moon Triton, first discovered by…

In this week's Questions and Answers show, I explain how astronomers use the Doppler Effect to know if objects are moving towards or away from us, I give my thoughts on Starlink as a user, and I sugg…

My guest today is Matthew Campbell, a Mechanical Engineer, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics at the University of Pennsylvania. He's a member o…

In this week's episode, I explain how we could use Jupiter as a source of fuel for our fusion reactors, what it means to say there's a scientific consensus, and if gravitational waves can trigger ear…

My guest today is Dr. Elena D'Onghia, an associate professor at the University of Wisconson--Madison's Department of Astronomy. Her research is focused on the dynamics of galaxies through simulation…

My guest today is Dr. John Mather, Senior Astrophysicist in the Observational Cosmology Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Dr. Mather received a Nobel Prize for his influential cosmolo…

My guest today is Dr. Chenoa Tremblay, a Post Doctoral Researcher at the SETI Institute. Dr. Tremblay and her team used the Murchison Widefield Array to scan the core of the Milky Way for any sign of…

In this week's questions show, I explain how astronomy would be different if we didn't have space telescopes, what was the Universe like shortly after the Big Bang?, and what if James Webb detects ox…

In this week's questions and answers show, I explain why people might see extraterrestrials as a threat. What could we learn about astronomy if we lived at the center of a supervoid, and how far away…

In this week's episode, I explain why James Webb is actually the perfect telescope for detecting advanced civilizations, could we hide the Earth from snooping aliens, could spacecraft go into polar o…

My guest today is Dr. Andrei Lobanov, a staff astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Bonn, Germany. Dr. Lobanov was part of a team that just took the highest resolution image ever…