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Universe Today Podcast

Fraser Cain
Universe Today Podcast
Latest episode

1520 episodes

  • Universe Today Podcast

    [Interview+] A NIAC Project That Could Crush The Hubble Tension

    04/01/2026 | 54 mins.
    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
  • Universe Today Podcast

    [Q&A+] Best Space Pet, Aftermath of 3I/ATLAS Flyby, Limits on Lagrange Points

    03/31/2026 | 18 mins.
    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
  • Universe Today Podcast

    [Interview+] The Limits of The Habitable Worlds Observatory

    03/30/2026 | 41 mins.
    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
  • Universe Today Podcast

    [Emergency Review] Project Hail Mary + Top 100 Lists

    03/28/2026 | 43 mins.
    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
  • Universe Today Podcast

    [Space Bites+] Nuclear Mars Mission // NASA's Moon Base // New ISS Plan

    03/27/2026 | 25 mins.
    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

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