Universe Today Podcast

Earth is hit by meteorites every day. Some are harmless, some could be dangerous. But now we have the most advanced tool to discover and predict them, the Vera Rubin Observatory. Will it be enough to predict a hit with enough precision to catch up a meteorite mid-flight? Finding out in this interview.

👉 NOIRLab Interview https://youtu.be/VKrpJODdEM0

🟣 Guest: Ian Chow https://ia-chow.github.io/

📜 Predictions of Imminent Earth Impactors Discovered by LSST https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.05587

• 00:00 Intro

• 01:54 Working with Vera Rubin

• 04:33 Early detections

• 14:12 How can we improve

• 18:20 Big threats

• 22:00 New method to identify asteroids

• 27:43 Amateur observations

• 31:52 Current obsessions

• 33:08 Final thoughts

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 13:39

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/gIOPdaFyjFY

How did the ring galaxies get their weird shape? Could we redirect a comet to hit the Moon? Could Project Orion ever launch? And in Q&A+, how bad did AI hit astronomy jobs?

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:23 [@billionsandbillionsofstars] Can we expect a meteor storm in our lifetime?

• 02:48 [@CynicExtraordinaire] Will Project Orion ever work?

• 05:03 [@PhoboScorpio] Can you power a spaceship with Jupiter?

• 09:48 [@vistotutti6037] Could we redirect a comet into the Moon?

• 12:33 [@EdSceptic-y2e] How did ring galaxies form?

• 13:39 [@ShaanGrilla] How bad the AI is affecting Astro jobs?

• 17:42 Outro

BONUS PART STARTS AT 18:21

Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/K6LbP3Q1iMM

Going to Mars means contaminating it with Earth's life. Most probably, we have already done it with our landers. But it appears, things might not be as bad as Mars could have a natural "built-in" protection against contamination. How does it work? Finding out in this interview.

🟣 Guest: Dr. Corien Bakermans https://altoona.psu.edu/person/corien-bakermans-phd

📜 ‘Water bears’ reveal potential for adapting, protecting Martian resources https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/water-bears-reveal-potential-adapting-protecting-martian-resources

• 0:00 Intro

• 01:48 Fantastic Tardigrades and where to find them

• 03:25 Martian regolith vs life

• 07:13 Earth soil vs Mars regolith

• 09:10 Experimental setup

• 14:49 Contamination risks for Mars

• 17:13 What's next for the research

• 18:21 Sub-zero bacteria

• 25:08 Current obsessions

• 28:56 Final thoughts

BONUS STORY STARTS AT 20:11

👉 Interviews on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbJ42wpShvmnK1xmCRad_8bn0uOcmLiIE

👉 Interviews on Patreon (free for everyone) https://www.patreon.com/collection/44300?view=expanded

🔵 Vote for the best story here: https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain/posts

Artemis II lifts off for the moon. A comet slows down and reverses its rotation. Galaxies found without dark matter. Anti-matter goes for a ride. And in Space Bites Plus, how humanity is slowing down the rotation of the Earth.

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:17 Artemis 2 Launched https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-artemis-generation-begins-artemis-ii-launches-for-the-moon

• 02:40 Moonfall Drones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsK-ff2Mycg

• 04:33 Never Seen Before Comet Behaviour https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasas-hubble-detects-first-ever-spin-reversal-of-tiny-comet/

• 06:35 Another Galaxy with NO Dark Matter https://www.universetoday.com/articles/astronomers-find-a-third-galaxy-missing-its-dark-matter-validating-a-violent-cosmic-collision-theory

• 10:13 AI Helped Finding Hundreds of Exoplanets https://www.universetoday.com/articles/scouring-tess-data-with-ai-reveals-a-hundred-new-exoplanets

• 12:12 Transporting Antimatter https://home.cern/news/press-release/experiments/base-experiment-cern-succeeds-transporting-antimatter

• 15:04 Vote results

• 15:53 Robotic Refueling https://www.china-in-space.com/p/sustain-space-successfully-completes

• 17:20 Plants for Mars https://www.universetoday.com/articles/mars-plant-growth-from-cyanobacteria-based-fertilizer

• 19:07 Celebrating Spring https://www.universetoday.com/articles/to-celebrate-the-coming-of-spring-nasa-releases-images-of-blossaming-stellar-nurseries

• 20:11 BONUS STORY https://www.universetoday.com/articles/we-are-slowing-down-the-planet

• 22:28 Interviews

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 15:49

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/poOg7fY_3Q0

What will we learn from going back to the Moon? Is there dark matter in the Solar System? Which telescopes would be best for Time Delay Cosmography? And in Q&A+, which planets will be left after the Sun dies?

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:24 [@N.Armstrng] Which telescopes will be best for Time Delay Cosmography?

• 05:28 [@notmanyeclipsesleft] What is the most important long-term information mankind will acquire from creating a permanent presence on the moon?

• 09:24 [@jessienotot3558] Would WW3 lead to the Kessler Syndrome?

• 12:55 [@sferrin2] Why does the Universe appear to be the same size in every direction?

• 14:49 [@geohondo] Do we know if dark matter possibly in our solar system?

• 15:49 [@kasieream1248] Which planet will the sun be left with as a white dwarf?

• 17:38 Outro

Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/MX3YWQVSjW8

Fast Radio Bursts can be a key to dramatically improving cosmic distance measurements. A NIAC project suggests using it for a global cosmic positioning system. But at the same time it could be used to finally resolve the Hubble Tension. How will it work? Finding out in this interview.

🟣 Guest: Dr. Matt McQuinn

📜 NIAC project report: Solar system-scale VLBI to dramatically improve cosmological distance measurements https://arxiv.org/pdf/2602.09141

📜 Solar System-scale Interferometry on Fast Radio Bursts Could Measure Cosmic Distances with Subpercent Precision https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/acc947

• 00:00 Intro

• 02:12 What are Fast Radio Bursts

• 09:07 Measuring distances with FRBs

• 18:00 How to improve the accuracy of measurements

• 24:60 Cosmic Positioning System

• 43:11 Alternative use cases

• 51:18 Current obsessions

• 52:23 Final thoughts

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 15:00

🎬 Top-100 Sci-Fi/Space Movies https://www.patreon.com/posts/153930141

📺 Top-100 Sci-Fi/Space TV Series https://www.patreon.com/posts/153997969

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/yPju8peHp2s

Which animal would be the make the best space pet? Who has priority access to Vera Rubin’s data? Is there a limit on how many telescopes can we put in a Lagrange point? And in Q&A+, what’s the current progress with spacesuits?

Full livestream: https://www.youtube.com/live/s9XkvvAyx9g

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:25 [@churchdiscography] What kind of animal would make a good space pet?

• 01:30 [@jamesmnguyen] Do fish care about living in a microgravity environment?

• 02:22 [@trickymick] What is the process for flagging and following up on objects reported by the Vera Rubin?

• 06:26 [@IARRCSim] Do US scientists have priority for Vera Rubin's data?

• 07:17 [@Frosty.Winnipeg] Could a telescope on Earth use the moon as a star shade?

• 08:49 [@Nomad77ca] Is there a limit to how many telescopes we could put out at L1?

• 10:01 [@terryhardaway3285] Did 3I/ATLAS have any effect on objects in the Kuiper belt?

• 15:00 [@kasieream1248] Will spacesuits ever change much?

• 16:52 Outro

Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/M3KZgV-_kks

The Habitable Worlds Observatory is our ultimate tool to see an Earth-sized world around a Sun-like star. But what will be the limits of its instruments? What will it realistically be able to see? Finding out the answers in this interview.

👉 HWO interview with Lee Feinberg https://youtu.be/0R3ykUkxH5M
👉 Coronagraph interview with Vanessa Bailey https://youtu.be/HXZMRagv66M

🟣 Guest: Celeste Hagee https://www.celestehagee.com/

📜 Bayesian Analysis for Remote Biosignature Identification on exoEarths (BARBIE) IV: Analyzing CO2 Detections in the Near-IR to Determine the Long-Wavelength Cut-off for the Habitable Worlds Observatory Coronagraph https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.12353

• 00:00 Intro

• 01:43 What could HWO see

• 06:20 Celeste's research

• 19:06 Findings

• 28:16 The quest of confirming extraterrestrial life

• 35:04 Current obsessions

• 39:00 Final thoughts

This is an EMERGENCY podcast about Project Hail Mary. Fraser's joined by Producer Anton discussing the movie, as well as the recently released Top-100 lists for movies and TV shows.

⚠️‼️⛔️THIS CONTAINS SPOLERS for Project Hail Mary⚠️‼️⛔️

• 00:00 Intro

• 01:06 SPOILER ALERT

• 01:48 Project Hail Mary

• 27:51 Top-100 movies

• 35:36 Top-100 TV shows

Top 100 movies
Top 100 TV Shows

BONUS STORY STARTS AT 20:07

Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FBEUdChBGxA

NASA overturns its future exploration plans, Rubin pipelines are filled with juicy data, dwarf galaxies hide overmassive black holes, Titan Dragonfly is coming together. And in Space Bites+, charting the history of a galaxy’s evolution.

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:16 NASA Ignition https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasa-lays-out-ambitious-plans-f00or-moon-base-and-nuclear-mars-mission

• 06:49 First Follow-Up On Rubin’s Alert https://www.universetoday.com/articles/rubin-alert-leads-to-first-follow-up-observations-and-detection-of-four-supernovae

• 10:04 JWST Finds Overmassive Black Holes https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-jwst-finds-more-overmassive-black-holes-this-time-in-dwarf-galaxies

• 11:15 Did Triton Do It? https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-moon-that-tipped-a-planet

• 13:20 Milestone for Dragonfly https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasas-dragonfly-rotorcraft-begins-integration-and-testing-ahead-of-mission-to-titan

• 14:41 Vote results https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain/posts

• 15:09 Baby Planets Directly Observed https://www.universetoday.com/articles/direct-confirmation-of-two-baby-planets-forming-around-a-young-sun-like-star

• 17:12 Team-Up for Saturn https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasas-webb-and-hubble-telescopes-look-at-saturn-in-a-different-light

• 18:44 Crab Nebula Evolution https://www.universetoday.com/articles/watching-25-years-of-expansion-in-the-crab-nebula-with-the-hubble

• 20:07 Galactic Archeology https://www.universetoday.com/articles/extragalactic-archaeology-a-new-method-to-understand-galaxy-growth-and-evolution

• 23:16 Project Hail Mary mini-review