Universe Today Podcast

BONUS PART STARTS AT 25:44
Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube https://youtu.be/B8xbSUstIhA
🟣 Guest: Dr. Artur Davoyan https://samueli.ucla.edu/people/artur-davoyan/
Solar sails are great. It's a propulsion method that doesn't require carrying fuel. But the need to be really big to be efficient. How do you fold them on Earth and unfold in space? What's a reliable way to do that? NASA recently awarded a NIAC grant specifically for that.
📜 Coilable Stacked Solar Sails for Very High delta-V Missions https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/niac/niac-studies/coilable-stacked-solar-sails-for-very-high-delta-v-missions/
👉 All 2026 NIAC Selections https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/niac/niac-studies/niac-2026-selections/
00:00 Intro

01:31 Solar sail as a propulsion method

25:44 Alternative propulsion methods

38:38 Current obsessions

44:54 Final thoughts

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 14:37
Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/eLHeqk2Yh1Q
How bright is space? What's the best way to go under the ice on Europa? Are there new gravitational wave detectors in the works? And on Q&A+, have we actually seen black holes grow?
00:00 Intro

00:23 [@Noxelius] What's the best way to get under the ice of Europe or Enceladus?

01:46 [@jvan120] how bright is it in space?

05:16 [@luiscarneiro4123] How can we make governments invest more money in space?

09:11 [@rJaune] Are there any plans to make new Gravitational Wave detectors?

12:27 [@AproposOfWetSnow] What if Pluto got into Mercury's orbit?

14:37 [@GeraldBlakefield] Have we actually seen black holes grow?

17:39 Final thoughts

BONUS STORY STARTS AT 15:56
Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/y9Iknlzbn5s
NASA is working on a new far-infrared space telescope, Starship finally makes it to orbit, a nuclear reactor for the Moon, and an exoplanet orbiting backwards. On Space Bites plus, a galaxy with a disconnected center.
00:00 Intro

00:18 New far-infrared NASA telescope coming https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasas-first-selection-for-a-new-class-of-mission-the-prima-far-infrared-telescope

02:11 Starship goes orbital https://www.universetoday.com/articles/spacexs-starship-rocket-does-its-job-during-first-orbital-flight

04:09 Power for the Moon https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a-1000c-lunar-microreactor-could-power-the-next-era-of-moon-bases

07:28 Sub-Neptune orbiting the wrong way https://www.universetoday.com/articles/astronomers-find-a-sub-neptune-orbiting-completely-backward-around-a-red-dwarf

09:37 Vote results

10:03 Dynamic structural evolution in Chariklo’s rings https://www.universetoday.com/articles/jwst-finds-dynamic-structural-evolution-in-chariklos-rings

11:14 Finding life on Enceladus could be easier than we thought https://www.universetoday.com/articles/finding-life-on-enceladus-could-be-easier-than-we-thought-says-new-research

13:08 Getting even more from the CMB https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a-new-test-looks-for-a-subtle-twist-in-ancient-light

15:56 Bonus story https://www.universetoday.com/articles/diving-into-an-out-of-sync-galaxy

16:46 Final thoughts

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 15:23
Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/BWKrIT28Uk0
We orbit the Sun, Sun orbits the center of the Milky Way, but what does the Milky Way orbit? Can we still catch up with Oumuamua? Is the Big Crunch a ruled-out theory? And in Q&A+, have we seen a phenomenon we can't yet explain?
00:00 Intro

00:26 [@jonathanchamberlain6260] What does the Milky Way orbit?

04:21 [@paulwilson1529] Could we still catch up with Oumuamua?

08:28 [@bakkos_bakkos] Is The Big Crunch a ruled out theory?

13:35 [@kamleshpatel6817] Why can't gravitational waves travel faster than light?

15:23 [@paigepotter4682] Is there an astronomical phenomenon where you think we’ve probably seen the evidence already, but haven’t realized what we’re looking at yet?

18:51 Final thoughts

BONUS PART STARTS AT 43:25
Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/izP3FsO9u8o
PBS Spacetime video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OM0zTfdsPo
Professor David Kipping's channel:  @CoolWorldsLab 
We've done a lot of searching for extraterrestrial life over the years. But how good was it? Did we look hard enough or deep enough? Is it too early for conclusions? Could do a better job? If so, how? Figuring out in this interview.
🟣 Guest: Dr. Ben Zuckerman
📜 Broadband Searches for Extraterrestrial Technological Intelligence: a New Strategy To Find Nearby Alien Civilizations https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.07333
00:00 Intro

01:36 SETI

05:07 How deep did we look

24:12 What could we have done differently

36:57 Most satisfying answer to the Fermi Paradox

43:25 BONUS PART: pollution of white dwarfs

53:01 Current obsessions

57:14 Final thoughts