Daniel and Kelly’s Extraordinary Universe

Who was the most influential scientist?

23 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel talks to Ananyo Bhattacharya, author of "The Man From the Future" about the life and impact of John von NeumannSee omnystudio.com/listener for ...

What's the electric charge of the Universe?

21 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Katie reveal the shocking truth about the balance between positive and negative particles.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati...

Listener Questions 56: Neutron Stars, Dense matter and shared atmospheres!

16 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge answer questions from listeners like you. Get your questions answered: [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for pr...

What mysteries are hiding in the extra-galactic background light?

14 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge explore the challenges of detecting light from outside the Milky Way, and the secrets it might reveal.See omnystudio.com/listener for...

What’s the largest asteroid impact in Earth’s history?

09 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Kelly review the most cataclysmic impacts in our planet's history.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listener Questions 55: Time and waves!

07 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge answer questions from listeners like you. Get your questions answered: [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for pr...

What is quantum biology?

02 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Kelly explore how biological systems rely on the quantum nature of matter.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is gravitoelectromagnetism?

30 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Katie bushwack their way between theories of gravity and electromagnetism, looking for the elusive connection.See omnystudio.com/listener f...

Physics of the Internet

25 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about how our understanding of physics is central to making the internet work.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informatio...

Listener Questions 54: String cosmology, cosmic strings, and alien numbers

23 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge answer questions from listeners like you. Get your questions answered: [email protected]  See omnystudio.com/listener for...

Can element 115 be used for anti-gravity?

18 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about real science of element 115 and whether it aligns with the spectacular story of anti-gravity alien ships at Area 51.See om...

Listener Questions 53: Strong force, primordial atoms and infinities

16 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge answer questions from listeners like you. Get your questions answered: [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for pr...

How metallic is the Sun?

11 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge explore the enduring mystery of how much heavy metal sits in our Sun.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listener Questions 52

09 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about aliens, answer a question from a high school class, and advise a listener about destroying the moon.See omnystudio.com/lis...

Are physics and religion in harmony or conflict?

04 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel talks to Rabbi Jack Schlacter, a physicist at Los Alamos, about the movie Oppenheimer and the connections and conflicts between physics and jud...

The most promising particle physics anomalies

02 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel talks to Harry Cliff, author of the new book "Space Oddities", about the most intriguing unexplained particle physics experiments and what they...

Listener Questions 51

28 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge answer questions about the speed of light, entanglement and time!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happened to M33's black hole?

26 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about the mystery of the missing mysterious black hole at the heart of M33See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listener Questions 50: Dark matter, photon wavelengths and rainbows!

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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

How does electricity work?

19 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Katie explain how electric current, lightning and static electricity emerge from the strange quantum nature of electrical charge.See omnyst...

Physics of Chocolate

14 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about the deep but tenuous connection between physics and chocolate.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listener Questions 49: Black Holes, Neutrinos and Gravitational waves!

12 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge answer questions from listeners and get stuck in philosophical rabbit holes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is the Universe made of waves (Part 2)

07 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel talks to Matt Strassler about how everything is vibrating, and his new book "Waves in an Impossible Sea" (Part 2)See omnystudio.com/listener fo...

Is the Universe made of waves (Part 1)

05 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel talks to Matt Strassler about how everything is vibrating, and his new book "Waves in an Impossible Sea" (Part 1)See omnystudio.com/listener fo...

Are there charm quarks in the proton?

29 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about whether the cozy story of the proton might need to be updated to describe all of its true charm.See omnystudio.com/listene...

Why is quantum gravity so hard?

27 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge explain why the two theories of physics are so at odds with each other.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is cold welding?

22 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Kelly talk about how its possible to merge metals without melting!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How is general relativity wrong?

20 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge talk about why we think Einstein was wrong about the nature of the Universe.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listener Questions 48: Vacations, Destruction and Anti-matter Black Holes

15 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Jorge answer questions from listeners and try to avoid giving marriage advice.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have interstellar meteors hit the Earth?

13 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel and Kelly analyze recent claims of the recovery of iron spheres from interstellar meteors.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.