Universe Today Podcast

Fraser Cain
  • 4.7 (116)
  • Astronomy
  • Updated Daily

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

  1. 17 hrs ago

    [Space Bites+] SpaceX Go All-In On Building The Biggest Spaceport In History

    BONUS STORY STARTS AT 25:06 Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/8eMctTM-dug Vote for the best story here: https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain/posts My sister's website: https://haislacollins.com/ Japan’s Phobos mission is almost ready to launch and so is Roman, NASA needs help re-inventing the wheel, why Earth is inevitable, and on Space Bites+, melting diamonds to learn more about ice giant interiors. All this and more in this week’s Space Bites. 00:00 Intro 00:17 MMX Is Ready 03:18 Possible Origin of Deimos https://www.universetoday.com/articles/marss-funky-moon-deimos-was-shaped-by-an-impact 05:36 Phobos Transit https://science.nasa.gov/photojournal/perseverance-captures-another-phobos-transit/ 07:09 Starship aboard https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:255286 08:40 SpaceX's $100B expansion plan https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/08/spacex-intends-to-invest-up-to-100-billion-in-massive-louisiana-spaceport/ 10:30 Reinventing the Wheel for NASA https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/johnson/nasa-challenge-tests-wheel-designs-for-moon-base-mobility/ 13:20 Skyfall Drones https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasas-skyfall-mars-helicopters-will-feature-a-revolutionary-antenna-design 16:45 More Leads for Dark Matter https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a-distant-stream-of-stars-may-offer-new-clues-to-dark-matter 18:56 Vote results 19:34 Earth is inevitable https://www.universetoday.com/articles/new-solar-system-models-show-earth-is-no-fluke 21:33 Roman's ready to launch 23:23 New image of Betelgeuse https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/audiences/alma-reveals-long-lived-hotspots-on-betelgeuses-bubbling-surface/ 25:06 Bonus story https://www.universetoday.com/articles/scientists-melted-a-diamond-and-cracked-a-secret-of-ice-giants 27:08 More space news 27:56 Final thoughts

    [Space Bites+] SpaceX Go All-In On Building The Biggest Spaceport In History

  2. 1d ago

    [Q&A+] What Percentage of The Universe’s Life Has Already Passed?

    BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 14:37 Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2gtlfvI9JJ0 How much of the Universe's life has already passed? Is the Universe spinning? How do binary planets work? And in Q&A+, does solar wind influence the orbits of planets? 00:00 Intro 00:24 [@adamredwine774] What percent of the Universe's total lifetime have already passed? 05:41 [@DamingoFlave] Do you think that Deja Vu and Dreams could be glimpses into our multiverse versions of our lives we live? 07:45 [@ragetail3] Is the idea of adding a slingshot connected to earth for slinging rockets in to space a realistic idea? 12:26 [@HudsonAnsley] How do binary planets work?? 14:37 [@danielguite3914] Do solar winds influence planet orbits? 17:23 Final thoughts

    [Q&A+] What Percentage of The Universe’s Life Has Already Passed?

  3. 2d ago

    [Interview+] How Much Gravity Is Too Much To Escape A Planet?

    BONUS PART STARTS AT 20:51 Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/QD5sJ636wxM More interviews: https://www.patreon.com/collection/44300/ 🟣 Guest: Dr. Sanjoy Som https://www.bluemarblespace.org/ 📜 Multistage Rocket Optimization, Geophysics, and the Spacefaring Envelope of Habitable Super-Earths https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.02691 Rockets fight against gravity to help us as a civilization escape into space. But what if a planet is much heavier? How big and dense does it need to get before a civilization gets permanently trapped and can't go to space? 00:00 Intro 01:16 Escaping the gravity well 06:53 Limiting factors 09:47 Rockets 15:18 Can a civilizations get trapped 20:51 Geology-driven civilization 32:54 Current obsessions 39:11 Final thoughts

    [Interview+] How Much Gravity Is Too Much To Escape A Planet?

  4. 3d ago

    [Q&A+] Can We Turn The Entire Moon Into a Giant Datacenter?

    BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 21:21 Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/xrMsuZTdfAM Couldn’t we use the entire moon as a data center? Does the vastness of space ever scare me? Do solar systems have Lagrange points? And in Q&A+, will we ever get to a Jetsons reality? 00:00 Intro 00:23 [@rwarren58] Couldn’t we use the entire moon as a data center? 03:58 [@jonathanchamberlain6260] Is the vastness of space and the unknown nature ever unnerving for you. I love space content but sometimes it gives me major anxiety. 11:16 [@ashstar42] How do you stay motivated when the world seems to be turning its back on progress? 20:04 [@DamingoFlave] Do Solar Systems have Lagrange points? 21:21 [@Stanton415] How quickly do you believe the robots will be able to give us Jetsons reality? 25:04 Final thoughts

    [Q&A+] Can We Turn The Entire Moon Into a Giant Datacenter?

  5. Aug 21

    [Space Bites+] Swift Will Now Inevitably Die // China Lands a Rocket (again) // Starship Survived

    BONUS STORY STARTS AT 26:33 Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ccPtQeURDzM 🔵 Vote for the best story here: https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain/posts Interview with Vasiliy Kokorev about Little Red Dots https://youtu.be/zoHtCmCbcEU Interview with Nobel Prize Winner Adam Riess about JWST https://youtu.be/hmJOz9qCk0M Interview with Lee Feinberg about HWO and LIFE Telescopes https://youtu.be/0R3ykUkxH5M We have more pictures of the Falcon 9 crater on the moon. Starship arrives at port after landing in the ocean. The Link mission to save Swift has failed. Another reusable Chinese rocket lands. And in Space Bites Plus, a really clever way to redirect an asteroid with a nuclear weapon. 00:00 Intro 00:37 The Falcon Crater https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/moon/nasas-lro-images-falcon-9-crater-on-moon-learns-new-details/ 03:08 Starship Arrives to a Port https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/08/its-christmastime-at-spacex-as-company-salvages-starship-from-indian-ocean/ 05:33 Mars' Field of Polygons https://www.universetoday.com/articles/mars-curiosity-rover-discovers-massive-field-of-polygons 07:41 Link Failed. Swift Will Die Soon https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-updates-next-steps-for-commercial-swift-boost-mission/ 08:59 China Lands A Rocket (Again) https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/08/the-floodgates-are-open-after-another-chinese-company-lands-a-reusable-rocket/ 10:41 Fastest Star In The Milky Way https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-fastest-star-in-the-milky-way-will-test-relativity 13:21 LRD = Black Hole Star? https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-jwst-little-red-dots-could-be-black-hole-stars 15:47 Early Galaxies Are Bigger Than We Thought https://www.universetoday.com/articles/whoa-the-jwsts-ancient-galaxies-are-much-more-massive-than-thought 17:56 Three Supermassive Black Holes https://www.universetoday.com/articles/another-first-for-the-jwst-it-detects-three-supermassive-black-holes-in-the-same-galaxy 19:20 JWST Looks at Callisto https://www.universetoday.com/articles/jwst-peeks-at-callistos-ancient-scars 20:49 Vote results 21:45 Star Formation is Slowing Down in the Andromeda Galaxy https://www.universetoday.com/articles/hubble-reveals-that-star-formation-is-slowing-down-in-the-andromeda-galaxy 23:35 Helix Nebula https://www.universetoday.com/articles/mothra-shows-us-a-star-being-recycled-in-the-helix-nebula 24:38 Carina Nebula https://www.universetoday.com/articles/webb-captures-the-treasure-chest-at-the-heart-of-the-carina-nebula 25:49 Lion Nebula https://www.universetoday.com/articles/webb-captures-clearest-image-yet-of-the-lion-nebula 26:33 Bonus story https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nuking-an-asteroid-on-short-notice-could-save-us 30:31 Final thoughts

    [Space Bites+] Swift Will Now Inevitably Die // China Lands a Rocket (again) // Starship Survived

  6. Aug 20

    [Q&A+] Earth’s True Path Through The Galaxy | Q&A 451

    BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 14:13 Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/aX16AFy_Y9Q Do we go through same places in the Milky Way every rotation? How should we celebrate the first contact? Will artificial magnetosphere help creating an atmosphere on Mars? And in Q&A+, how much does YouTube really pay for views. 00:00 Intro 00:27 [@JamesMcIntosh-r7j] Will an artificial magnetosphere help retain Mars' atmosphere? 03:36 [@1000dots] Wouldn't that cut off heat and light from the sun too? 04:20 [@emilianolaneri] Does the Earth always follow the same path through on the milky way? 07:07 [@sciencecompliance235] How should we celebrate the first contact? 11:16 [@drewd2] How old is the Universe if you include pre-big bang? 14:13 [@JohnnyApplleseed] How much does 3M views pay? 15:55 Final thoughts

    [Q&A+] Earth’s True Path Through The Galaxy | Q&A 451

  7. Aug 19

    [Q&A+] How Bad Would a Super Solar Storm Be for The Moon Base? | Q&A 450

    BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 12:48 Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/R8_XwBxWsn0 How dangerous would a massive solar storm be for future Moon and Mars bases? Can more exoplanet discoveries stimulate more funding? What’s the ultimate fate of galaxy clusters? And in Q&A+, would I go on a Moon voyage? 00:00 Intro 00:27 [@slowboyfuelpump5438] how devastating would a Kerrington event be to our plans for the Moon and Mars? 03:07 [@thomasstarkey8238] If we had more Earth 2.0 candidates, would governments increase astronomy funding? 05:28 [@ragetail3] @frasercain when they say the farthest galaxy we can see is 13 billion light years away, and they say it is basically right after the big bang. What would Earth 4 billion years ago have seen there? 08:18 [@MikeKalil-e4f] How did we get here before the light reached us here? 10:11 [@OneOfAMineRocks] What does dark energy imply for the gravity-bound galaxies? 12:48 [@iliketurtles7947] Would I be willing to live on a lunar base for some years? 16:49 Upcoming Nancy Grace Roman launch

    [Q&A+] How Bad Would a Super Solar Storm Be for The Moon Base? | Q&A 450

  8. Aug 14

    [Space Bites+] Bad News for Europa Exploration // Watching Pluto’s Atmosphere Fade Away // Auroras on Mars

    BONUS STORY STARTS AT 17:16 Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/9XGHRoVJgYA 🔵 Vote for the best story here: https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain/posts How can there be auroras on Mars? More bad news for the exploration of Europa. Watching Pluto's atmosphere. And on Space Bites Plus, could planets form right after the Big Bang? 00:00 Intro 00:17 Auroras on Mars https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasas-maven-illuminates-new-understanding-of-auroras-at-mars 03:07 More Bad News for Europa Exploration https://www.universetoday.com/articles/europas-interior-ocean-may-harbor-life-but-could-be-hard-to-reach-says-new-research 05:46 Watching Pluto’s Atmosphere https://www.universetoday.com/articles/scientists-watch-as-a-distant-worlds-atmosphere-shrinks-and-thins 08:14 Identifying Quasars with Machine Learning https://www.universetoday.com/articles/seven-needles-800000-haystacks 10:05 First “AI-Driven” Telescope https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-telescope-that-points-itself 11:55 Vote results https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain/posts 12:41 China’s Rocket Exploded in Flight https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/08/one-of-chinas-workhorse-rockets-just-exploded-in-flight/ 13:41 Moonquakes to Locate Lunar Ice https://www.universetoday.com/articles/how-to-find-lunar-ice-moonquakes-to-the-rescue 15:40 More Good News for Swift https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/swift/2026/08/11/nasa-swift-boost-spacecraft-prepares-to-continue-mission/ 17:16 Bonus story https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-ingredients-for-planets-turned-up-astonishingly-early 19:58 Solar eclipse 2026 and the Perseids

    [Space Bites+] Bad News for Europa Exploration // Watching Pluto’s Atmosphere Fade Away // Auroras on Mars
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About

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

Information

  • Creator
    Fraser Cain
  • Years Active
    2014 - 2026
  • Episodes
    1.6K
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright Fraser Cain
  • Show Website
    Universe Today Podcast

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