Universe Today Podcast

Japan’s space agency often flies under the radar, despite pursuing missions many larger agencies haven’t attempted. Like returning samples from Phobos or deploying a Toyota-built lunar rover. In this interview, we trace JAXA’s origins and the decisions that defined it.

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_u9ZJBLCDBQ

🟣 Guest: Dr. Subodhana Wijeyeratne https://subowijeyeratne.com/

📚 The Islands and the Stars: A History of Japan's Space Programs https://bdo.wfu.mybluehost.me/the-islands-the-stars/

• 00:00 Intro

• 02:01 Researching JAXA

• 06:48 Star of Japan's space journey

• 16:05 Japan's first liquid fuel rocket

• 24:14 Japan's relationships with NASA and others

• 31:23 Lesser known projects

• 36:53 Dependency on the US

• 42:00 Excitement for the Future

• 44:41 Current obsessions

• 50:17 Final thoughts

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 12:43

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/aALqt_Ng0dU

• 00:00 Start

• 00:26 [@ar-visions] Are white dwarf a solution for Dyson spheres?

• 02:41 [@gumby2ms] How will Vera Rubin's data releases work?

• 06:48 [@karandeepgill5589] How much of a galaxy does the SMBH take up?

• 09:47 [@hangmann747tinmann8] Where do magnetars come from?

• 12:43 [@logicbug] What if the laws of physics are not uniform across the Universe?

BONUS STORY starts at 19:42

👉 Interview about Europa with Dr. Paul Byrne https://youtu.be/Sj3JwQde-b8
👉 Interview about Magnetars with Dr. Genevieve Schroeder https://youtu.be/Q3JGdARjzTA
👉 How AI Destroyed My Job: https://youtu.be/HjDD8xwU6s8

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

Another reason why Europa might not be habitable, Artemis II is delayed for a month, Claude takes Perseverance for a drive, SpaceX is planning to launch data center satellites, and in Space Bites+, making discoveries in leftover data.

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:15 New Measurements for Europa https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasas-juno-measures-thickness-of-europas-ice-shell

• 03:16 Ammonia on Europa https://www.universetoday.com/articles/cracks-on-europa-sport-traces-of-ammonia

• 04:40 No Artemis Launch in February https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasas-artemis-ii-spacecraft-on-the-launch-pad

• 06:34 Claude AI Took Over Percy https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-perseverance-rover-completes-first-ai-planned-drive-on-mars/

• 08:26 Many More Satellites for SpaceX https://www.universetoday.com/articles/elon-musk-lays-out-a-new-vision-of-ai-satellites-as-spacex-acquires-xai

• 12:06 New Shepard Paused For No Less Than 2 Years https://www.blueorigin.com/news/new-shepard-to-pause-flights

• 13:18 Vital Molecule in Interstellar Space https://www.universetoday.com/articles/for-the-first-time-scientists-detect-molecule-critical-to-life-in-interstellar-space

• 15:09 Vote results https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain/posts

• 15:42 Lava Tunnels for Venus https://www.universetoday.com/articles/venus-might-harbor-massive-subsurface-lava-tunnels

• 17:23 Kilonova simulation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt6vcy-hssA

• 18:36 Even Further Galaxies https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasa-webb-pushes-boundaries-of-observable-universe-closer-to-big-bang/

• 19:42 BONUS STORY

• 21:02 Missions that didn't happen

How will livestreams from Artemis be different from Apollo? Can planetary systems survive their stars exploding? Can a completely different life hide deep inside Earth? And in Q&A+, when should we expect new NIAC awards?

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 14:31

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/N9PwTZFnMRc

🟣 Universe Today: https://www.universetoday.com/

• 00:00 It already happened

• 00:45 The downfall of ad-supported media

• 05:08 My response

• 06:44 What's next?

Will AI help us to create a warp drive? Could aliens even survive a trip to Earth? What would happen if you fire a powerful beam at a black hole? And in Q&A+, which part of the Universe does the CMB show us?

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 15:06

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/a7CKyGeiMEY

JWST is still up there and working 24/7. There are papers coming out every day based on the results from Webb. What's the current status of JWST? What are the latest discoveries? What should we expect next from it? Finding out in this interview.

BONUS PART STARTS AT 28:29

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/vcgUQy1SXdc

🟣 Guest: Dr. Andreas Faisst https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/~afaisst/

📜 Young Galaxies Grow Up Fast https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/young-galaxies-grow-up-fast

• 00:00 Intro

• 01:41 How JWST changed Cosmology

• 05:36 Surprising findings from Webb

• 13:50 The role of super-massive black holes

• 17:09 The mystery of little red dots

• 21:57 What to watch for

• 28:39 DUUUST

• 35:57 Current obsessions

• 40:06 Final thoughts
  

The Dark Energy Survey results are in, an asteroid strike on the Moon would be a boon to science, Mercury might not be totally dead, and NASA continued to test its nuclear rockets. And in Space Bites+ solving the mystery of cosmic expansion close to home.

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube https://youtu.be/NK-zu5eMvJU

BONUS PART START AT 17:21

👉 Escape Velocity Space News (EVSN) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDtUsDJGqiI&list=PLo1j35Qh8M1xuXThFgWMJNdHYNBb9gf4U

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:15 4% Change of YR4 Hitting the Moon https://www.universetoday.com/articles/asteroid-2024-yr4-has-a-4-chance-of-hitting-the-moon-heres-why-thats-a-scientific-goldmine

• 02:15 NASA's nuclear rockets are back https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasa-fires-up-nuclear-future-for-deep-space-travel

• 04:57 Big results from the Dark Energy Survey https://www.universetoday.com/articles/dark-energy-survey-data-reveals-the-tighest-estimates-yet-on-cosmic-expansion

• 10:06 It's ALIVE (maybe) https://www.universetoday.com/articles/mercury-may-not-be-dead-after-all

• 11:01 TESS spies 3I/ATLAS https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/3iatlas/2026/01/27/nasas-tess-reobserves-comet-3i-atlas/

• 12:06 Vote results https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain/posts

• 12:34 Super-Eddington limit black holes https://www.universetoday.com/articles/this-rapidly-growing-black-hole-is-challenging-super-eddington-accretion

• 14:37 Circinus Galaxy https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasas-webb-telescope-peers-into-the-heart-of-the-circinus-galaxy

• 16:24 Huge gravitational lens https://www.universetoday.com/articles/an-almost-famous-galaxy-cluster-is-the-jwsts-picture-of-the-month

• 17:12 More space news

What will happen when Earth's magnetic poles flip? Is Andromeda launching hypervelocity stars at us? Can Vera Rubin find a new target for New Horizons? And in Q&A+, could ants evolve to develop space travel?

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 13:52

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/QMf2wHMyDWc

Here's a link to the full, unedited livestream: https://youtube.com/live/ojaiPqDdsXU?feature=share

Magnetars are a special sauce of neutron stars. They are extremely violent with crazy magnetic fields. But how are they created? Do kilonova neutron star collisions produce them? What do we really know about that? Finding out in this interview.

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Q3JGdARjzTA

BONUS PART STARTS AT 28:29

🟣 Guest: Dr. Genevieve Schroeder
https://astro.cornell.edu/genevieve-schroeder https://sites.northwestern.edu/genevieveschroeder/ https://bsky.app/profile/genevieveschroeder.bsky.social

📜 No Sign of a Magnetar Remnant Following the Kilonova-Producing Long GRB 211211A ∼1.7 Years Later https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.09744

• 00:00 Intro

• 01:58 GRB 211211A

• 09:37 How can you get a magnetar

• 12:30 Searching for magnetars

• 16:28 Findings from GRB 211211A

• 24:01 What happens next

• 28:29 Off-axis Gamma-Ray Bursts

• 39:03 Current obsessions

• 43:18 Final thoughts