Daniel and Kelly’s Extraordinary Universe

Can we see inside things using muons?

08 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about the weirdness of muons and how they can let us see inside things.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why do some galaxies have bars?

06 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge explain what we know about the bars at the center of galaxies, and what mysteries they might hide.See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

What is quantum relativity?

01 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Katie grapple with an effort to explain how quantum mechanics could arise from relativity.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati...

Were all the forces once one?

30 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge explore whether the fundamental forces can be linked together, and whether they all acted as one in the early Universe.See omnystudio...

What is the dark flow?

25 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about whether the whole Universe is in motion, and what could be pulling on itSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informatio...

Listener Questions 47: Gravity, Time, Photons

23 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge answer questions from listeners like you! Ask your [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What are octonions?

18 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about super complex numbers and how they might hold the secrets of the Universe. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...

What's hidden inside planets?

16 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel talks to Prof. Sabine Stanley about what's happening inside planets, and how that helps us understand what's out there.See omnystudio.com/liste...

How do particles carry forces?

11 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge push and pull on the simple picture of particles exchanging other particlesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How can we find life on other planets?

09 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel talks to Prof. Aomawa Shields, auther of "Life on Other Planets" about the the climate of exoplanets and her unusual path to astronomy.See omny...

What are land tides?

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about how tidal forces shape the Earth itself and the life on it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is a symmetron?

02 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about creative ways to explain the accelerating expansion of the Universe. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Does hot or cold water freeze faster?

28 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge get the chills when they discover how little we know about water.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listener Questions 46: Mountains, ether and time!

26 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge answer questions about reviving old theories, building tall mountains, and passing time.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor...

What is the electrical charge of the moon?

21 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about whether the moon is positive, negative or neutral!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can planets share an orbit?

19 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about whether two planets could share an orbit around a star, or whether there would be too much gravitational squabbling.See om...

What shapes can galaxies take?

14 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about the weird, wacky shapes of galaxies and the cosmic story they tell.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What’s the difference between inertial and gravitational mass?

12 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about whether there are two or one kind of mass and the massive consequences.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...

Has our solar system lost any planets?

07 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about how instabilities in the early solar system may have ejected an ancient ice giant.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy ...

Are there galaxies without dark matter?

05 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge discuss how dark matter shapes our Universe and whether it would be possible to have a galaxy without it.See omnystudio.com/listener ...

Does quantum mechanics conserve energy?

30 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge explore whether basic rules of our Universe are broken at the quantum scale.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listener Questions 45: Gravity and Black holes

28 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge venture to the edge of human knowledge about black holes, gravity and magnetic fields.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...

The Science Fiction Universe of "Invasion"

23 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about alien arrival, as depicted on the show "Invasion" and Daniel talks to two of the writers, Tatiana Suarez Pico and Aditi Br...

Who was the first scientist?

21 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel talkes to Prof. James Poskett about how the history of science has much more nuance and global participation than the standard mythology.See om...

The Science Fiction Universe of "Venemous Lumpsucker" by Ned Beauman

16 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Kelly chat with Ned Beauman, author of "Venemous Lumpsucker" a cautionary tale about applying free market strategies to preventing extincti...

Why is there quantum uncertainty?

14 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge wrestle with one of the fuzziest concepts in quantum mechanicsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What did the early Universe sound like?

09 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge take you back to the early Universe and the sound bubbles that seeded everything.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can we settle space? Should we? Have we really thought this through?

07 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel talks to Kelly and Zach Weinersmith about whether humanity is ready to move into the stars.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What's the matter with matter in the Universe?

02 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge dig into the history of matter, dark matter and dark energy, explaining how they used to have very different ratios.See omnystudio.co...

Listener Questions 44: Deep questions from listeners like you!

31 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge wrestle with the Earth's tilt, steampunk atoms and fundamental pixels of rad.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Which force(s) power the human senses?

26 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Katie talk about how we experience the Universe and what physics underlies our senses.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Could we see moons around exoplanets?

24 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge are over the moon about the possibility of spotting alien moons.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Could we seed exoplanets with life?

19 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Kelly wrangle with the tricky science and ethics of sending microbes to distant worlds.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do Black Holes Have Hair?

17 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge wrestle with the hairy question of what's happening inside and on the surface of black holes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privac...

Was the interstellar visitor oumuamua natural or artificial?

12 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about the claims that 'Oumuamua might have been alien space junk.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Could dark matter be making flashes of light?

10 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge break down a new study that looks for dark matter using both gravity and light.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Where is all the missing matter?

05 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about the effort to track down all the quarks in the Universe.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How does gravity escape a black hole?

03 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Katie warp their minds around the question of what gravitational information really is and what we know about a black hole.See omnystudio.c...

Listener Questions 43: Light, heat and vision

28 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge answer questions from listeners like you! Send in your questions to [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for priva...

Great, Big Questions about the Universe

26 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge answer questions from young people about the Universe, to mark Jorge's new book!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How important is cosmic dust?

21 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge dust off their knowledge of the tiny-but-mighty grains of space dust which help form our world and block our view of the cosmos.See o...

Explain the Universe: Behind the Scenes

19 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

To mark the 500th episode, Daniel gives a tour of the podcast's history and production process, including candid interviews with the co-hosts, Sean Ca...

How big is the smallest habitable planet?

14 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Kelly talk about what it would take to live away from Earth, and whether a small planet could host humanity.See omnystudio.com/listener for...

Why do moving objects look shorter?

12 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge wrestle with the weird consequences and hard questions of special relativity!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do we measure the Higgs boson mass?

07 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about why the Higgs mass is such an important number and how physicists weigh such a fleeting particle.See omnystudio.com/listen...

Listener Questions 42: Life, the Universe and Ghosts!

05 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge answer questions from listeners like you! Send your questions to [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy ...

Why do scientists do simulations?

31 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge explain how simulation lets scientists answer new kinds of questions about the Universe.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor...

Have we seen more or fewer gravitational waves than expected?

29 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Katie talk about what physicists expected when they turned on a new kind of ear for listening to the Universe.See omnystudio.com/listener f...

Why is space so flat?

24 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about what it means for space to be curved, how we measure it and why the answer is a puzzle.See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

The Science Fiction Universe of "Meru" by SB Divya

22 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Kelly talk to the author of "Meru" about a future which blurs the line between humans and machines.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy ...

What is the maximum vacuum?

17 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about what is revealed if you empty space of all possible particles.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Science Fiction Universe of "Orbital Cloud"

15 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Kelly talk to Tayio Fujii, author of "Orbital Cloud" See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does the center of the galaxy look like?

10 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge turn their eyes to the center of the galactic action and give us a sense for where we are.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf...

How fast can a black hole spin?

08 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Katie get their heads spinning as they spiral into the center of spinning black holesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How can we look for magnetic monopoles?

03 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about a particle with a pure magnetic charge and how to look for it using a cubic kilometer of ice.See omnystudio.com/listener f...

How massive is a neutrino?

01 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about the mysterious mass of the neutrino and how we can measure it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How can we keep solar panels clean on Mars?

27 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Kelly talk about how to keep solar panels bright and powerful when they far away on a dusty planet.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy ...

What is a non-Newtonian fluid?

25 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about the gooey physics of honey, gravity, asphalt and ketchup!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listener Questions 41: Questions about the mass of the Universe, moons made of gas, and backyard blackholes.

20 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge answer questions from listeners like you!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What everyone misunderstands about the Universe

18 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel talks to Zach Weinersmith about the most common misconceptions about our Universe.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How stable is the Earth's orbit?

13 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about whether we can expect the Earth to continue in its path forever, or if our days are numbered.See omnystudio.com/listener f...

Do things get more massive the faster they move?

11 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about what happens when you start to move fast, and whether it makes sense to think about your mass growing.See omnystudio.com/l...

How do planets get their moons?

06 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about how a planets gets its natural satellites and the stories that each one reveals.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

Do all galaxies have central black holes?

04 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about whether galaxies have to have black holes at their hearts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How to use the whole galaxy to hear huge gravitational waves

29 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge break down the recent discovery of huge gravitational waves by NANOGrav, and what it means about supermassive black holes.See omnystu...

What drives the movement of Earth’s continents?

27 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge explore the deep, violent history of the Earth's surface.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens if you explode a nuclear bomb in space?

22 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Katie touch on the explosive question of nuclear weapons and explain the impact of space-based explosions.See omnystudio.com/listener for p...

Listener Questions 40: Ways our Universe could end us

20 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge answer questions from listeners about the dangers of our Universe and whether engineers could save us. See omnystudio.com/listener f...

Could there be more than one theory of everything?

15 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel talks to philosopher Thomas Barrett about whether there could be multiple effective descriptions of our Universe See omnystudio.com/listener f...

Why are some things transparent?

13 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge try to see through the mysteries of transparency.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is a superluminous supernova?

08 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about the super names for some of the most incredible events in astronomy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What color is the Sun?

06 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Katie talk about the amazing physics, chemistry and biology that determines how we see the Sun.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...

Why does the Universe have antiparticles?

01 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about whether the Universe would make sense without antimatter.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Could we reveal quantum gravity in a tabletop experiment?

30 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about how clever experiments might provide a breakthrough in the effort to understand the quantum nature of space-time.See omnys...

What is tidal locking?

25 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Kelly talk about how the gravitational dance of the Earth and Moon, and other objects in and out of our Solar System.See omnystudio.com/lis...

What's the best way to measure the expansion of the Universe?

23 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about how to use different cosmic rulers to measure the expansion of the Universe.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...

Listener Questions 39: gravitons, antimatter and unified forces!

18 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge answer questions from listeners like you! Submit your question to [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...

Will our supercluster be torn apart?

16 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about the deep future fate of our cosmic neighborhood.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do black holes have a maximum electric charge?

11 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge explore whether its possible to crack open a black hole by overcharging it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What did the night sky look like to the dinosaurs?

09 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Kelly talk about what the night sky would look like if you travelled back to the time of the dinosaurs.See omnystudio.com/listener for priv...

Could spacetime be a fluid?

04 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge explore the question of the nature of space itself, and whether it might flow and bubble. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

Could black holes help form stars?

02 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about the delicate process of star formation and how black holes may be able to contribute.See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...

What weird thing in space is pulsing every 20 minutes?

27 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Katie talk about things in the sky that pulse, and a recent discovery of a puzzling set of pulses.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...

What is a glueball?

25 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge explore the sticky subject of the strong force and one of its still unverified predictionsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf...

How do we measure the gravitational constant?

20 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about the number that controls the strength of gravity and why it's so hard to measure.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...

Listener Questions about rogue planets and black holes!

18 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge answer questions from listeners like you! Send your questions to [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privac...

Why can't two electrons be in the same place?

13 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge explore the Pauli exclusion principle: why some particles avoid each other and how it affects the nature of our Universe.See omnystud...

What can we learn from dwarf galaxies?

11 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about how the smaller galaxies might hold the secrets to understanding the structure of the Universe and the truth about dark ma...

Why didn't we evolve around a red dwarf star?

06 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge discuss the 'Red Dwarf Paradox' and what it would be like to live under a cooler, redder star.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

How does carbon dating work?

04 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Kelly talk about how cosmic rays and carbon decay let us put dates on ancient deaths!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is there a better way to accelerate particles?

30 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about why its so expensive to build a super collider and how plasma technology might make it all better, faster, cheaper. See o...

What does the Antikythera Mechanism do?

28 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Katie explore the puzzle of the "world's first computer", and what it might have calculated.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...

Listener Questions 37: quantum cats, heat death and dark multiverses!

23 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge answer questions about quantum mechanics, the end of the Universe, and the multiverse. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor...

Would the Universe be different with a zero Higgs field?

21 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge explore how the Higgs field shapes our Universe and what it would be like to live without it.  See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...

Could we spot an alien nuclear blast?

16 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about whether we have the technology to spot a nuclear war on other planets.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati...

Could some particles have tiny electric charges?

14 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge wonder about why particles have charge, and whether particles could exist with tiny electrical charge.See omnystudio.com/listener for...

How can we measure the curvature of space?

09 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge bend their minds (and yours) around the curvy topic of bent space.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do space telescopes point themselves?

07 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about how our great space eyeballs know where they are looking and how they turn.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...

Listener Questions 36

02 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about 3-armed galaxies, the color of the Universe and its phases. https://tinyurl.com/3cf7hvu3See omnystudio.com/listener for pr...

Could black holes be making the Universe expand faster?

28 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge discuss a brand new result that suggests that black holes might be driving the unexplained expansion of the UniverseSee omnystudio.co...