Universe Today Podcast

Fraser Cain
  • 4.7 (79)
  • ASTRONOMY
  • UPDATED DAILY

Public feed with [Space Bites+], [Q&A+], [Interview+] and other episodes. Free for everyone.

  1. [Space Bites+] Io's Lakes Turned Out Weirder Than We Thought

    1 DAY AGO

    [Space Bites+] Io's Lakes Turned Out Weirder Than We Thought

    BONUS STORY starts at 15:34 Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/f5t09W_tdfE Patreon Q&As https://www.patreon.com/collection/116972 Pandora interview with Dr Ben Hord https://youtu.be/96Ee8Z-sbSU Curiosity gets a rock stuck to its drill. NASA releases over 12,000 images of the Artemis II mission. The new Pandora Space Telescope sees first light. How Io's lava lakes are hotter than we thought. And in Space Bites+, a meteorite that is very similar to the planet Mercury. 00:00 Intro ]00:19 NASA Releases 12,000 Artemis II Photos https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/ShowQueryResults-TextTable.pl?results=1778194875140121 02:15 Curiosity Lifting Rocks on Mars https://science.nasa.gov/blog/curiosity-blog-sols-4879-4885-struggle-at-atacama/ 03:33 Pandora's first light https://www.universetoday.com/articles/first-images-from-the-pandora-exoplanet-mission 05:31 ESPRESSO Telescope https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-paranal-solar-espresso-telescope-a-new-tool-for-finding-exoplanets 07:42 Io's superhot https://www.universetoday.com/articles/we-might-have-massively-underestimated-ios-thermal-output 09:30 Radar drones https://www.universetoday.com/articles/drones-scanning-earths-glaciers-are-paving-the-way-for-future-mars-helicopters 11:25 Vote results 11:51 Subaru on 3I/ATLAS https://www.universetoday.com/articles/subaru-telescope-reveals-new-data-on-the-interior-composition-of-3iatlas 13:20 Superionic ice inside ice giants https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a-new-quasi-1d-state-of-matter-could-be-hiding-inside-ice-giant-planets 15:34 BONUS STORY https://www.universetoday.com/articles/how-a-meteorite-helps-explain-mercurys-chemical-makeup 17:40 My current obsessions

    22 min
  2. [Q&A+] Orbital VS Surface Lunar Bases

    2 DAYS AGO

    [Q&A+] Orbital VS Surface Lunar Bases

    BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 15:16 Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/VFtMBTalNMg How hard is it to keep rocket fuel in space? Which is better, a Moon mission on the surface or in orbit? How would a space station look like in a binary planet system? And in Q&A+, could we launch a probe into a black hole? 00:00 Intro 00:24 [@geohondo] Is it problematic to keep rocket fuel in space for extended time? 07:09 [@drewd2] Would a lunar base be more effective for reducing the cost of space exploration? 09:32 [@vistotutti6037] Are we capable of launching Voyager class probes out of our solar system today? 12:21 [@thelightrunner2612] Would a large space station at the barycentre of binary planets work? 15:16 [@JohnnyApplleseed] What could we learn from launching a probe into a black hole? 17:14 Science VS Religion

    22 min
  3. [Q&A+] What If AI Finds An Alien Technosignature Tomorrow?

    4 DAYS AGO

    [Q&A+] What If AI Finds An Alien Technosignature Tomorrow?

    BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 13:25 Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/5PTjLZQ7qLU 00:00 Intro 00:25 [@paigepotter4682] If we detected a technosignature tomorrow, what’s the first thing scientists would argue about? 04:46 [@Jimdica] Could humanity fall victim of an alien infohazard? 08:06 [@savr4est] Will AI find alien first? 10:55 [@terryhardaway3285] Would there be a CHZ for earth sized moons around rouge brown dwarfs? 13:25 [@EdSceptic-y2e] How far realistically do you think biological humans will ever get from Earth? 15:46 Books I read

    19 min
  4. [Space Bites+] Half Of Our Galaxy Is Hotter Than The Other (We Finally Know Why!)

    1 MAY

    [Space Bites+] Half Of Our Galaxy Is Hotter Than The Other (We Finally Know Why!)

    BONUS STORY STARTS AT 18:18 Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/tejYwoRqG38 New info about 3I/ATLAS, NASA tests a new high-power ion engine, did dark matter power early black hole formation, why is half the Milky Way hotter than the other? And in Space Bites+, different sources for two of Uranus moons. 00:00 Intro 00:15 More info on 3I/ATLAS https://www.universetoday.com/articles/interstellar-comet-3iatlas-left-a-trail-of-methane-in-its-wake https://www.universetoday.com/articles/new-research-reveals-that-interstellar-comet-3iatlas-formed-in-a-system-far-colder-than-our-own 04:04 NASA tests new ion engine https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-fires-up-powerful-lithium-fed-thruster-for-trips-to-mars/ 06:45 NO to NASA budget cuts https://spacenews.com/house-appropriators-keep-nasa-funding-flat/ 07:50 Earliest SMBH Mystery https://www.universetoday.com/articles/is-the-earliest-supermassive-black-hole-mystery-solved 09:46 Vote results https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain/posts 10:15 Milky Way’s Hot Side https://www.universetoday.com/articles/our-galaxy-has-a-hot-side-and-now-we-know-why 11:56 Where's the edge of the Milky Way https://www.universetoday.com/articles/astronomers-find-the-edge-of-the-milky-ways-star-forming-disc 13:52 Disappearing exoplanets https://www.universetoday.com/articles/toi-201-planets-are-wobbling-out-of-our-line-of-sight 16:02 That's no moon https://www.universetoday.com/articles/jwst-hunts-for-an-earth-moon-twin-in-a-habitable-zone-but-the-star-has-other-plans 18:18 BONUS STORY 20:45 More space news 21:16 Working with Vera Rubin data

    24 min
  5. [Q&A+] How Does A Telescope Made of 5000 Robots Work?

    1 MAY

    [Q&A+] How Does A Telescope Made of 5000 Robots Work?

    BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 15:48 Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/90S24jYGtd4 Latest Patreon Q&A show: https://www.patreon.com/posts/156265102/ What did we really find on Mars? Could we find actual fossils there? How was the most detailed 3D-map of the Universe made? And in Q&A+, what's the deal with Iapetus and its huge ridge? Q&A 00:00 Intro 00:22 [@HanSolo__] Did we find marks of past primitive life on Mars? 05:15 [@geohondo] Could we find an actual skeletal fossil on mars? 07:18 [@louisnelsonsmith] How DESI works 15:48 [@TheGoldishFish] Why does Saturn moon Iapetus have that huge equatorial ridge? 18:03 The Q&A format

    21 min
  6. [Interview+] Removing Space Debris with Real-Life Star Trek Tech

    29 APR

    [Interview+] Removing Space Debris with Real-Life Star Trek Tech

    BONUS PART STARTS AT 24:29 Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/GfEzOHGoAuU 🟣 Guest: Amy Haft 📜 Spacecraft electrostatic tractor using a power-constrained pulsed high-energy high-current electron beam https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S027311772600075X?via%3Dihub The number of satellites constantly grows. As the result, space debris is becoming more and more of a concern. A new study suggests using practically real-life Star Trek tech to use an electron tractor beam to tug broken satellites around the orbit. 00:00 Intro 01:11 The state of space debris 04:25 Satellite tractor beam 14:07 Alternative applications 24:29 Tracking objects via plasma trails 39:23 Current obsessions 44:29 Final thoughts

    46 min
  7. [Q&A+] What If Voyager Crashed Into Something? | Q&A 418

    28 APR

    [Q&A+] What If Voyager Crashed Into Something? | Q&A 418

    BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 17:23 Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4uPUdm7WP9o Can we deploy a huge fleet of amateur telescopes to image a single planet? If the Voyager crashes into something, will we know that? What's the point of studying gravitational waves? And in Q&A+, does the starless galaxy have any planets? 00:00 Intro 00:27 [@liamdobbyn6167] Fleet of amateur telescopes on TRAPPIST-1 06:28 [@SpaceGeekSheri] Would we know about it if Voyager crashed into something? 08:12 [@deant6361] Will New Horizons end up leaving the solar system? 09:07 [@davidevans6487] Can we use radiation of space to power spacecraft? 11:16 [@JuanMendez-zh2ez] Why study gravitational waves? 17:23 [@christiandesalliers] Are there planets in Cloud-9? 19:18 Astronomy Cast

    23 min
  8. [Space Bites+] Moon Landing Bottleneck // China Gaining // 11,000 New Rubin Asteroids

    24 APR

    [Space Bites+] Moon Landing Bottleneck // China Gaining // 11,000 New Rubin Asteroids

    Here’s what might delay Artemis, New Glenn flies again, but there’s a problem, Voyager 1 has to shut down another instrument, Vera Rubin is finding so many asteroids. And in Space Bites+, an incredible image to celebrate Hubble’s 35th birthday. 00:00 Intro 00:18 Potential bottleneck for Artemis https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/whats-the-deal-with-spacesuits-for-the-moon-will-they-be-ready-in-time/ 03:20 China Shows Off a 5-Meter Rocket Module https://www.universetoday.com/articles/china-unveils-a-massive-5-meter-composite-module-for-its-next-generation-reusable-rocket 06:20 Success and Failure of New Glenn NG-3 https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/errant-upper-stage-spoils-blue-origins-success-in-reusing-new-glenn-booster/ 08:25 Voyager Shuts Down More Instruments https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/voyager/2026/04/17/nasa-shuts-off-instrument-on-voyager-1-to-keep-spacecraft-operating/ 11:08 Vera Rubin Discovers A Lot of Asteroids https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-vera-c-rubin-observatory-has-discovered-11000-new-asteroids-and-its-barely-even-started 12:36 Vote results 13:06 Organics on Mars https://www.universetoday.com/articles/msl-curiosity-found-new-organic-chemicals-on-mars-proof-that-the-planet-can-preserve-ancient-biosign 15:09 Roman’s Ready to Launch 16:51 SPHEREx Mapping the Sky https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasas-spherex-telescope-just-mapped-the-cosmic-ices-that-will-someday-build-planets 18:05 The Universe in X-Rays https://www.universetoday.com/articles/behold-the-solar-system-in-all-its-x-ray-glory 19:18 More space news 20:20 Complexity of the interviews

    24 min
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Public feed with [Space Bites+], [Q&A+], [Interview+] and other episodes. Free for everyone.

Information

  • Creator
    Fraser Cain
  • Years Active
    2014 - 2026
  • Episodes
    1.5K
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright Fraser Cain
  • Show Website
    Universe Today Podcast

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