Universe Today Podcast

Rubin spots a rapidly spinning asteroid, Congress restores NASA’s funding, Crew 11 is back on Earth for a medical emergency, the Pandora Space Telescope launches. And in Space Bites+, two new exoplanets around a red dwarf could help push the habitable zone out.
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00:00 Intro

00:15 Rubin Discovers A Record-Breaking Asteroid https://www.universetoday.com/articles/rubin-observatory-spots-fastest-spinning-asteroid-ever

02:15 NASA Budget Is Safe For Another Year https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/01/nasas-science-budget-wont-be-a-train-wreck-after-all/

04:57 First Ever Medical Evacuation from The ISS https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasa-to-return-spacex-crew-ahead-of-schedule https://www.universetoday.com/articles/follow-spacexs-returning-crew-11-mission-wednesday-night

07:04 Pandora Launched https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96Ee8Z-sbSU

09:09 Vote Results https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain/posts

09:38 A Supernova That Shouldn’t Exist https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a-supernova-that-shouldnt-exist

11:43 Solving the Mystery of Blue Flashes https://www.universetoday.com/articles/solving-the-mystery-of-blue-flashes

14:06 Cool Space Images https://www.universetoday.com/articles/young-stellar-objects-are-prominent-in-a-new-hubble-image https://www.universetoday.com/articles/when-baby-stars-throw-tantrums

16:54 BONUS STORY

19:03 AI as the Great Filter https://www.patreon.com/posts/147346705

Does Europa Clipper have realistic chances to find traces of life at Jupiter? Can humans stop the Kessler syndrome? How long would Earth survive if it was thrown away from the Solar System? And in Q&A+, what's the current situation with RTG nuclear fuel?
BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 14:11
Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/GJGctXIYZ-w
Here's a link to the full, unedited livestream: https://youtube.com/live/yUqB8vkD4cE

Would we even notice if 3I/ATLAS smashed into Jupiter? What are the plans for next gen space stations? Is it okay that most succesful space corporations are run by billionaires? And in Q&A+, what the hell is a Thorne–Żytkow object?
BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 17:04
Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZHdlHSv-OgQ
Here's a link to the full, unedited livestream: https://youtube.com/live/yUqB8vkD4cE

A galaxy without stars, the wake of Betelgeuse’s companion star, a privately-funded Hubble class telescope, and could there be exomoons at TRAPPIST-1? And on Space Bites+, seeing an event horizon in 3D.
Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ilHG9OvMdmo
🌶️ Add to The Pile of Spice https://www.patreon.com/posts/pile-of-spice-147346705
👉 Vote for the best story here: https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain/posts
00:00 Intro

00:17 A galaxy with no stars https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-galaxy-that-never-was

02:08 Hubble detects the wake of Bettelbuddy https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasa-hubble-helps-detect-wake-of-betelgeuses-elusive-companion-star/

04:31 JWST finds new objects astonomers can't explain https://www.universetoday.com/articles/as-puzzling-as-a-platypus-the-jwst-finds-some-hard-to-categorize-objects

06:25 Private initiative for a Hubble replacement https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/01/eric-schmidt-will-massively-invest-in-private-telescopes-including-hubble-replacement/

08:48 Problems for potential life on Europa https://www.universetoday.com/articles/europa-may-be-lifeless-and-unihabitable-after-all

10:52 Rare lensed supernova https://www.universetoday.com/articles/astronomers-discover-a-bright-supernova-using-gravitational-lensing-for-the-first-time

12:36 Vote results

13:12 A mathematical solution for lunar dust problem https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-sticky-problem-of-lunar-dust-gets-a-mathematical-solution

15:28 Potential for exomoons in TRAPPIST-1 system https://www.universetoday.com/articles/could-trappist-1s-seven-worlds-host-moons

17:02 Decades-long supernova timelapse https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasa-releases-the-long-awaited-video-of-keplers-supernova-remnant

18:16 BONUS STORY

19:57 Pile of Spice https://www.patreon.com/posts/pile-of-spice-147346705

Can we find a use for the L3 Lagrange point? How long do the Voyagers have left? Which goals do we have for telescopes that are being built? And in Q&A+, arguably the most important technology we can focus on?
BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 17:07
Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/59zez1t-Xo8
Here's a link to the full, unedited livestream: https://youtube.com/live/gENBle2AVDk