Astronomers have finally solved one of the outstanding mysteries in cosmology. Forget about all the dark matter and dark energy, where’s all the missing regular mass in the Universe? This has been called the “missing baryon problem”.
Feb 10th: Is There A Shadow Biosphere? Searching For Life On Earth That Isn’t Related To Us
Why does life rely on water? Couldn’t there be lifeforms which are completely different from life on Earth? Isn’t that the textbook definition of alien?
Jan 27th: Spacecraft Gyroscopes And Reaction Wheels
It’s amazing to think there are telescopes up in space, right now, directing their gaze at distant objects. It’s all thanks to the technology of reaction wheels and gyroscopes. Let’s talk about how they work, how they’re different, and how their failure has ended missions in the past.
Dec 30th: What If We Could Explore Oumuamua Or 2I/Borisov?
The distances to other stars are depressingly enormous. Fortunately, the Milky Way has got our back. Other star systems have been hurling comets and asteroids towards the Solar System. All we’ve got to do… is catch them.
Aug 31st: Why Haven’t Aliens Settled Every Star In The Milky Way?
This week Fraser Cain discuss about Fermi Paradox. How difficult it would be for aliens traveling at 10% the speed of light to settle the entire Milky Way, and it turns out, it’s not as simple as you might think.
Aug 12th: Harvesting Resources From The Solar System: ISRU
In order to really survive and thrive in space, we’ve got to learn to live off the land, to acquire the resources in space that will allow us to survive… in space. We’ve got to learn to turn those raw materials into forms we need: fuel, breathable air, water, construction materials, and eventually even finished goods like rocket parts and electronics.
Jul 29th: 16 Years of Hubble Data in One Incredible Picture
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope launched on April 24, 1990, and it’s been hard at work ever since, studying the cosmos like no other observatory in human history.
Jul 22nd: Trojans and Space Colonies at L4/L5
We’ve reached the third part of our series on Lagrange Points, those stable spots in the Solar System, where you can sort of hover with the minimum amount of fuel. In this episode we’re going to look at the L4 and L5 points which share the orbit with a more massive object.
Jul 15th: Space Telescopes at L2 & Nothing at L3
Lagrange Points. Stable spots in space. What spacecraft work best in which places? What are some amazing ideas that could utilize these regions across the Solar System? This week, we’re going to talk about L2 and L3, the other meta-unstable spots that you can park a spacecraft at.
Jul 8th: A Tour Of The Lagrange Points: Past & Future Missions To L1
Thanks to gravity, there are places across the Solar System which are nicely balanced. They’re called Lagrange Points. Various spacecraft have already visited Lagrange Points, used them for some or all of their missions. Let’s explore the Lagrange Points.