Universe Today Podcast

By Fraser Cain

Space news, interviews, Q&As, and exclusive content from Universe Today.

Audio versions of Fraser Cain YouTube channel.... more

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FAQs about Universe Today Podcast:

How many episodes does Universe Today Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 1,365 episodes available.

Universe Today Podcast episodes:

May 14, 2025 [Interview] How Quantum Coronagraphs Will Help Us See Earth-Like Planets Around Sun-Like Stars
Our current tech doesn't allow us to block light from Sun-like stars to see Earth-like planets. The brightness difference is just too high. One of the ways we can achieve it is with quantum coronagraphs. What are they and how do they work? Finding out in this interview.
👉 [Interview+] Bonus Part. No YT ads. FREE
https://www.patreon.com/universetoday
🟣 Guest: Nico Deshler
https://github.com/NicoDeshler
📜 Experimental Demonstration of a Quantum-Optimal Coronagraph Using Spatial Mode Sorters
https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.12776
00:00 Intro
02:26 What is a quantum coronagraph
10:39 How to make one
19:20 How can a quantum coronagraph be used
22:02 Applications for ground-based telescopes
27:48 What's next?
34:14 Current obsessions
38:54 Final thoughts
📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/cfdMxauquec
📰 GUIDE TO SPACE Newsletter
No ads. Subscribe for FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter
🎧 PODCASTS
Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/
Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/
📩 CONTACT FRASER
[email protected]
⚖️ LICENSE
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Support Universe Today Podcast
...more
42min
May 13, 2025 [Q&A] Why Keep Voyagers Alive, Life with No DNA, Confidence in the Distant Ladder
Is keeping the Voyagers active a waste of money and time on the Deep Space Network? Could you play catch with a baseball-mass black hole? How confident are we in the distance ladder? And in our Q&A+ version, does it make sense to film a movie in space? Answering all that and more in this Q&A show.
🎁 [Q&A+] Same video. No YT ads. BONUS question, totally free :
https://www.patreon.com/universetoday
🚀 [Overtime] Even more Q&As
https://www.patreon.com/universetoday
00:00 Start
00:29 [Bentation Funkiloglio] Could we play catch with a really tiny black hole?
01:24 [Aturuxo] How confident are we in the "distance ladder"?
08:03 [Pelican666] Is continuing the Voyager missions just a waste of money?
09:53 [Cooper Levesque] What will finding life in the Solar System actually mean?

12:10 [Edward] Would a microbe without DNA even be alive?
13:48 [Cooper Levesque] The topic I'm bored to cover
📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/6egvw2jEHVQ
📰 GUIDE TO SPACE Newsletter
No ads. Subscribe for FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter
🎧 PODCASTS
Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/
Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/
📩 CONTACT FRASER
[email protected]
⚖️ LICENSE
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Support Universe Today Podcast
...more
21min
May 12, 2025 [Interview] How KSP Helps Designing Real-Life Space Mission
The Kerbal Space Program is a fun game, but also an incredible tool for simulating a realistic space exploration program. According to a new paper, people playing the game can help develop innovative ideas that can turn into real missions, especially with the development and integration of reusable rockets like Starship and New Glenn.
👉 [Interview+] Bonus Part. No YT ads. FREE
https://patreon.com/universetoday
🟣 Guest: Rodrigo Schmitt
https://rodrigo-schmitt.github.io/
📜 Design of space systems and operational mission architectures using sandbox games
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094576525002048
00:00 Intro
01:14 KSP as a learning tool
12:26 Why is KSP useful for mission planning
21:17 From gamers to mission architects
22:54 Useful mods for KSP
25:08 Alternatives to KSP
26:52 Gaming meta and AI
33:22 Current obsessions
37:00 Final thoughts
📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/DIFnf0UCZUk
📰 GUIDE TO SPACE Newsletter
No ads. Subscribe for FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter
🎧 PODCASTS
Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/
Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/
📩 CONTACT FRASER
[email protected]
⚖️ LICENSE
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Support Universe Today Podcast
...more
40min
May 09, 2025[Space Bites] Spying on Spy Satellites // Official NASA Budget Cuts // Dragonfly Milestone
The official NASA cuts are here. Several missions reach big milestones. The Solar Gravitational Lens will be challenging to use, and in our special bonus version on Patreon, [Space Bites+] an additional story about New Horizons scanning the clouds of hydrogen around the Solar System.
🦄 Support us on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/universetoday
00:00 Intro
00:19 NASA budget cuts are official
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-white-house-releases-its-2026-budget-request-for-nasa-cuts-to-sls-gateway-and-orion
03:31 Milestones for Dragonfly and Roman
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/dragonfly/2025/04/24/nasas-dragonfly-passes-critical-design-review/
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/roman-space-telescope/key-portion-of-nasas-roman-space-telescope-clears-thermal-vacuum-test/
05:22 Satellite occultations
https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.03474
06:34 Complications with SGL
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/using-the-solar-gravitational-lens-will-be-extremely-difficult
09:27 Vote results
10:09 Hakuto-R 2 arrives at Moon orbit
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/ispaces-resilience-enters-lunar-orbit-itll-try-to-land-in-early-june
11:32 Rogue binary planets
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/free-floating-binary-planets-cant-last-long
13:09 Strange object on the edge of the Milky Way
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/its-either-the-milky-ways-farthest-known-star-cluster-or-the-smallest-known-galaxy
14:30 Guide to Space
15:50 Space Bites+
16:09 Importance of keeping up space missions
📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/M96tqKyVx_Q
📰 GUIDE TO SPACE Newsletter
No ads. Subscribe for FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter
🎧 PODCASTS
Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/
Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/
📩 CONTACT FRASER
[email protected]
⚖️ LICENSE
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Support Universe Today Podcast
...more
19min
May 08, 2025[Q&A] Smoking Gun Biosignatures, Dyson Spheres vs Warp Drives, Adopting the Metric System
Which evidence will be a definite smoking gun when it comes to finding extraterrestrial life? Why is a Dyson sphere more realistic than warp drives? Will America ever adopt the metric system? And in our Q&A+ version, will China be collaborating with other nations in space? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.
🎁 [Q&A+] Same video. No YT ads. BONUS question, totally free :
https://www.patreon.com/universetoday
🚀 [Overtime] Even more Q&As
https://www.patreon.com/universetoday
00:00 Start
00:32 [Ross] What will be a sufficient enough evidence of life on another world?
06:07 [Mikael Biilmann] Will North America ever switch to the metric system?
08:11 [LeMonkDog] Why is a Dyson sphere considered more rational than FTL travel?
12:34 [Conspiracy_Theory_Enthusiast] Are there any filters that help cope with light pollution?
📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/Z31aWzrlOb0
📰 GUIDE TO SPACE Newsletter
No ads. Subscribe for FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter
🎧 PODCASTS
Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/
Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/
📩 CONTACT FRASER
[email protected]
⚖️ LICENSE
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Support Universe Today Podcast
...more
21min
May 06, 2025 [Q&A] Black Holes as a Great Filter, Artemis 3 Landing Site, Smallest Possible Star
Support Universe Today Podcast
...more
22min
May 05, 2025[Interview] Vera Rubin Will Forever Change Astronomy. Here's Exactly How
Vera Rubin Telescope (aka LSST) is finally ready. We're expecting first light in the coming months. It will find Planet 9 (if it exists), discover thousands of new asteroids, millions of new supernovae and will change the way we do astronomy with its surveys of the night sky. Here's how it will do all that.
👉 Watch this interview with no YT ads:
https://www.patreon.com/universetoday
00:00 Intro
01:25 What's happening with Vera Rubin
08:20 What will Vera Rubin be able to see
23:35 Northern Rubin Wen?
30:23 Survey telescopes
45:50 Light pollution and satellite constellations
50:18 Current obsessions
52:54 Final thoughts
📺 VIDEO VERSION
https://youtu.be/FIJLCwtnKKI
📰 GUIDE TO SPACE Newsletter
No ads. Subscribe for FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter
🎧 PODCASTS
Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/
Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/
📩 CONTACT FRASER
[email protected]
⚖️ LICENSE
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Support Universe Today Podcast
...more
55min
May 02, 2025 [Space Bites] Planet 9 Hint // Problems for Psyche // Uranus Occultation
Support Universe Today Podcast
...more
22min
May 01, 2025 [Q&A] Inside The Space Voids, Protecting Mars, JWST Deep Fields
Support Universe Today Podcast
...more
22min
April 29, 2025 [Q&A] Dinosaurs VS The Asteroid, Infinite Gravity, Real Autonomy of ISS
Support Universe Today Podcast
...more
20min

FAQs about Universe Today Podcast:

How many episodes does Universe Today Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 1,365 episodes available.

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