Universe Today Podcast

BONUS STORY STARTS AT 25:06
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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

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 14:37
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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

BONUS PART STARTS AT 20:51
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🟣 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

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

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