Universe Today Podcast

BONUS PART STARTS AT 21:56
Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/VqBVL2vwh04
🟣 Guest: Dr. Mike Rubenstein
📜 Actively Steerable Femtosat Constellations for In-situ Exploration of Saturn’s Rings, Atmosphere, and Magnetosphere https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/niac/actively-steerable-femtosat-constellations-for-in-situ-exploration-of-saturns-rings-atmosphere-and-magnetosphere/
👉 All 2026 NIAC Selections https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/niac/niac-studies/niac-2026-selections/
Saturn's rings are dense. Sending one flagship probe through them makes no sense. It'll most probably be lost. But sending a swarm of small cheap probes does. Even if a lot of them won't survive, you're still getting lots of data. This is exactly what this NIAC project is proposing.
00:00 Intro

01:22 Observing Saturn's rings

05:21 A swarm of satellites

21:56 Invisible drones

29:33 Current obsessions

31:12 Final thoughts

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 12:37
Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/N2INt2XOCp0
My Top-100 movie list: https://www.patreon.com/universetoday/posts/my-top-100-space-153930141
If white holes exist, could we ever see one? Do SETI researches have access to Vera Rubin? Which is the best way for the Universe to end? And in Q&A+, will the Earth eventually become tidally locked to the Sun?
00:00 Intro

00:25 [@festerallday] if a civilization isn't detected by SETI did it even exist?

02:20 [@tommix6016] If White Holes were to exist, would they be detectable?

03:49 [@vistotutti6037] Does SETI have access to the Vera Rubin data stream?

06:26 [@setaihedron] So we are going to trust that the most corrupt government in modern history is honest about what it is filtering from the data?

09:00 [@MelindaGreen] How would I prefer the Universe end?

12:37 [@paulwilson1529] Will the Earth become tidally lock to the Sun?

14:56 Final thoughts

BONUS STORY STARTS AT 19:40
Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube https://youtu.be/rV0bRCA2cSs
🔵 Vote for the best story here: https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain/posts
Interviews mentioned:
👉 Interview with Dr Matt Weller https://youtu.be/R18W6VVZMhc?si=RasWhg-Y9sfKvXys
👉 Interview with Dr Paul Byrne https://youtu.be/VXuhaJu-GNM?si=A-lFy8XUQHJLqvL-
Venus might not be completely dead. Evidence of liquid flowing on the surface of Pluto. Can primordial black holes cause supernova? And on Space Bites Plus, what happened to Neptune's rings and moons when Triton showed up?
00:00 Intro

00:18 Three Worlds Not One https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-asteroid-that-may-be-three-worlds

02:22 Venus Isn’t Dead https://www.universetoday.com/articles/venus-isnt-dead-after-all

06:04 Liquid on Pluto https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/science-news/2026/08/05/nasas-new-horizons-finds-evidence-of-recent-liquid-on-plutos-surface/

07:47 Charon Was Spinning Much Faster https://www.universetoday.com/articles/charons-mountains-reveal-moon-once-spun-10x-faster

09:00 Primordial Black Holes and Supernovae https://www.universetoday.com/articles/primordial-black-holes-can-trigger-type-ia-supernovae-and-astronomers-should-be-able-to-find-them

12:05 SpaceX Slams a Rocket Into The Moon https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2085121782315446613

13:53 Vote results https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain/posts

14:48 Voyager 2 Avoids Shutting Down More Instruments https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-engineers-help-prolong-voyager-2s-science-mission/

17:05 Quick Update on New Glenn https://x.com/davill/status/2085074404627915059

18:07 Rescuing the Rescuer https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/08/heres-how-engineers-plan-to-save-the-satellite-sent-to-save-nasas-swift-mission/

19:40 Bonus story https://www.universetoday.com/articles/smashed-ice-worlds-formed-neptunes-inner-moons-and-rings

20:50 Hank Green's AI controversy

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 13:26
Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2lopY61vhgc
Channels mentioned:
 @filmjoy 

 @WeirdExplorer 

Are primordial gravitational waves still coming to us? How big would a 30 billion Sun mass black hole be? Do photons start experiencing time when slowed down in a medium? And in Q&A+, can any particle pop up into existence any time anywhere?
00:00 Intro

00:27 [@vistotutti6037] Are primordial gravitational waves still going?

04:25 [@AriasThirdOfHisName] Thoughts on charged black holes?

06:45 [@KnownUnknown-i8r] How large is a 30 billion solar mass black hole?

08:04 [@hangmann747tinmann8] Does a photon experience time when it's slowed down in a medium?

09:18 [@oldtimer2662] Is Andromeda traveling towards us or are we traveling towards it?

10:35 [@EpicQuestBio] Has anyone considered using railgun to launch ultra-high-aspect ablation-shieled microgram payloads to escape velocity from their backyard?

13:26 [@yonatan62] Is there a chance that any particle can pop into existence anywhere at any time?

17:29 Final thoughts

BONUS PART STARTS AT 30:33
Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bbJ3I37yS4o
🟣 Guest: Dr. Austin Phoenix https://nationalsecurity.vt.edu/personnel-directory/phoenix-austin.html
📜 ECLIPSE – Efficient variable Conductivity Lunar Insulator for Passive Surveyor Environmental control https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/niac/eclipse-efficient-variable-conductivity-lunar-insulator-for-passive-surveyor-environmental-control/
👉 All 2026 NIAC Selections https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/niac/niac-studies/niac-2026-selections/
The Moon is brutal. It's super hot during the day and super cold during the night. Most landers and rovers can't survive that swing. So, how do you mitigate it? One of this year's NIAC projects has a potential solution.
00:00 Intro

01:04 Why is the Moon so terrible?

04:56 Mitigation strategies

30:33 Bistable booms https://arxiv.org/pdf/2605.13818

37:26 Current obsessions

45:03 Final thoughts