Podcasts about Breakthrough Starshot

Dr. Al Grauer hosts. Dr. Albert D. Grauer ( @Nmcanopus ) is an observational asteroid hunting astronomer. Dr. Grauer retired from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2006. travelersinthenight.org From October 2025. Today's 2 topics: - Looking at the stars on a clear dark night, far from the artificial air glow humanity creates, have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel in truly deep interstellar space? 40 years after their launches in 1977, your representatives, the twin Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft are in the vast space between the stars in our Milky Way galaxy. Aboard each Voyager is a Golden Record time capsule which is expected to last billions of years. This message from all of humanity is inscribed with greetings from Earth as well as sounds, images, and a decoding key which will enable any intelligent aliens which find a Voyager to discover who made it and where it came from.   - To reach the vicinity of the nearest star, 24 trillion miles away, in less than 20 years, an interstellar space probe would have to travel at a substantial fraction of the speed of light. Newton's laws of motion, published 300 years ago, predict that the greater the mass of an object the greater is the force required to increase its velocity. In order to alleviate the need for the virtually unaffordable amount of energy required to accelerate a normal sized spacecraft to a speed of 20% of the speed of light, the Breakthrough Starshot program has funded the creation of 'Sprite' , the world's smallest spacecraft.   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.  Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!  Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.  Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

Dr. Al Grauer hosts. Dr. Albert D. Grauer ( @Nmcanopus ) is an observational asteroid hunting astronomer. Dr. Grauer retired from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2006. travelersinthenight.org From June 2025. Today's 2 topics: - When we find a planet which appears to have the chemical signs of living organisms in its atmosphere, the desire to take a close up look at it will be hard to contain. In a Scientific American article, Lee Billings describes Yuri Milner's 100 million dollar project "Breakthrough Starshot" which has been created to leap frog our current rocket technology's extremely long travel times to nearby planets.    - The mystery of Tabby's star began to unfold when in 2015 Dr. Tabetha S. Boyajian of Louisiana State University and her team published a paper describing the irregular dips in the light output of what otherwise would seem to be a garden variety star over the period 2009 to 2013. Subsequently a list of proposed explanations include swarms of comets, large asteroids, a debris disk, and even a massive alien megastructure.   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.  Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!  Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.  Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

To reach the vicinity of the nearest star, 24 trillion miles away, in less than 20 years, an interstellar space probe would have to travel at a substantial fraction of the speed of light. Newton's laws of motion, published 300 years ago, predict that the greater the mass of an object the greater is the force required to increase it's velocity. In order to alleviate the need for the virtually unaffordable amount of energy required to accelerate a normal sized spacecraft to a speed of 20% of the speed of light, the Breakthrough Starshot program has funded the creation of 'Sprite' , the world's smallest spacecraft. About the size of a saltine cracker and having a mass of less than 2 dimes, the single-board Sprite spacecraft has all the essentials; solar panels, computing electronics, thermometers, gyroscopes, radio communication equipment and more. Working prototypes have been launched into Earth orbit by the Indian Space Research Organization attached to the Italian Max Valier and Latvian Ventra satellites. One of them has sent back signals which have been received by Cornell University's ground station. Dr. Zac Manchester who started the Sprite Spacecraft program while earning a PhD at Cornell University envisions using tiny spacecraft to explore near Earth Space as well as asteroids and moons in our solar system. In the future, fleets of the decedents of Sprite could be sent to explore intriguing planets in nearby alien solar systems. These tiny explorers will be propelled by high power Earth bound lasers directed at their solar sails and could reach and explore distant planets in a reasonable amount of time.

Since Breakthrough Starshot was announced back in 2006 we started hearing less and less about the cause. But now it's gone practically to zero. What happened to the most realistic attempt to send a starship to another star system? Finding out in this interview.Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FRHaMOR0dJ0

What would be the next interstellar project after the quite end of Breakthrough Starshot? Can planets exist around black holes? Why don't all stars combine into one megastar? And in Q&A+, are ion engines the future of space travel?Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/TEcSkFQ14hQHere's a link to the full, unedited livestream: https://youtube.com/live/gtvRDBOqVK4

Building infrastructure on the Moon, Earth gets a new quasi-satellite, a black hole has wandered away from the center of its galaxy, and a tour through star forming nebulae thanks to Gaia. And on Space Bites+, China's new neutrino detector comes online.

When we find a planet which appears to have the chemical signs of living organisms in its atmosphere, the desire to take a close up look at it will be hard to contain. In a Scientific American article, Lee Billings describes Yuri Milner's 100 million dollar project "Breakthrough Starshot" which has been created to leap frog our current rocket technology's extremely long travel times to nearby planets. The plan is to put ultra light space probes on paths which will enable them to collect data as they streak by nearby potentially habitable planets. Our current iPhone technology is being used to envision a tiny robotic space probe which features cameras, life detecting sensors, maneuvering rockets, computers, and communications gear and yet has a mass of about that of a dime. Photons from 100 gigawatt pulses from a ground based laser array are then envisioned to reflect off the tiny spacecrafts solar sail where they transfer momentum to the space craft accelerating it to 20% of the speed of light. Numbers of these tiny robotic investigators could be launched together into Earth orbit and perhaps one a day could be sent towards a nearby star accelerated by laser pulses each of which contains the energy required to send a space shuttle into orbit. In a few decades closeup views and data from nearby worlds would begin streaming back towards the residents of our planet. The cost of investigating our planetary life hosting neighbors is likely to be less than what the US is planning to spend upgrading its nuclear weapons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXtYUawd4AY From Feb 14, 2020. Hosted by Fraser Cain. It's hard to really wrap your mind around the vast distances between stars. The fastest spacecraft ever launched into an interstellar trajectory right now is Voyager 1. If it was directed at the nearest star, it would take tens of thousands of years to make the journey across the interstellar gulf.   Even so, groups like Breakthrough Starshot and Icarus Interstellar are working on plans right now to try and send spacecraft to other stars, ideally within our lifetimes.   But we can see how quickly technology is advancing all around us, from materials science to high energy physics, not to mention reusable rockets.   It seems reasonable to ask, should we invest in an interstellar mission now, or wait a few decades or even centuries for better technology to come along which could make the trip much shorter?   Watch Chris Hadfield's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6woV3encOA   Andrew Kennedy's paper: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260275150_Interstellar_Travel_-_The_Wait_Calculation_and_the_Incentive_Trap_of_Progress   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.  Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!  Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.  Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

Interstellar travel, the stuff of sci-fi movies, is starting to feel like it could actually happen! Scientists and engineers are working on crazy new tech, like light sails powered by lasers, to send tiny spacecraft to other stars. Projects like Breakthrough Starshot aim to reach Alpha Centauri, our nearest star system, within a few decades. While it's still early days, the idea of exploring other solar systems isn't as far-fetched as it used to be. This kind of travel could help us learn if there's life out there or even find a new home for humanity. It's like the first steps of a real-life space odyssey! Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/ Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD... Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook:   / brightside   Instagram:   / brightside.official   TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.of... Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Una vela solare è un tipo di propulsione spaziale che utilizza la pressione della luce solare per muovere una nave spaziale. Questa propulsione spaziale innovativa si basa su larghe vele solari, spesso fatte di materiali riflettenti come Mylar o Kapton, che catturano il momentum dei fotoni del Sole, fornendo una spinta costante e senza necessità di carburante. A differenza dei sistemi tradizionali a propellente, le vele solari sono più efficienti per missioni di lunga durata e possono accelerare gradualmente fino a raggiungere velocità elevate. Alcuni progetti come il LightSail hanno sfruttato questa tipologia di propulsione spaziale innovativa delle vele solari. Il progetto Breakthrough Starshot è un'iniziativa ambiziosa che punta a dimostrare questa tecnologia. Mirando a inviare piccole sonde verso Alpha Centauri (in particolare verso Proxima Centauri), il sistema stellare più vicino al nostro, Breakthrough Starshot prevede l'utilizzo di vele solari ultra-sottili e robuste. Queste vele solari saranno spinte da raggi laser potenti, permettendo alle sonde di raggiungere una frazione significativa della velocità della luce. __________________

#259More people in the US are getting bird flu. Though numbers are small – just five new cases, all mild – every new case is a reason for concern. How and why is it being transmitted – and how is it being monitored?What if you could make a sailboat that's pushed not by wind, but lasers? Breakthrough Starshot is a mission attempting to send a spacecraft to our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, using such a lightsail. While lightsail designs have been too expensive and unworkable so far, a new prototype is looking promising.Climate change is threatening a key part of the global climate system. The Atlantic Meridional Ocean Circulation (AMOC) system transports heat and salinity between the tropics and the poles. Scientists have ongoing concerns about its stability, but it's now showing signs of potential collapse much sooner than expected. And if it does shut down, the knock-on effects would be drastic.What makes a planet a planet? Defining this is what knocked Pluto off planetary status, but now one researcher has proposed a new set of criteria. Is the new method useful – and does it change which objects are considered planets?Believe it or not – sea slugs hunt in packs. A species of sea slug has been seen ganging up on brown sea anemones to avoid its poisonous tentacles. How are they capable of teaming up like this?Hosts Rowan Hooper and Christie Taylor discuss with guests Grace Wade, Alex Wilkins, Madeleine Cuff and Sophie Bushwick.To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The eposode of Space Nuts is brought to you by NordPass....the password manager that will make your life so much eaier for not very much money. Check out our special offer at www.bitesz.com/nordpass - you'll be glad you did.Strap in for an astronomical journey as Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson return to answer your burning cosmic questions in this enlightening episode of Space Nuts. Beam up to the cosmos as we tackle the challenges of snapping photos at supersonic speeds with the Breakthrough Starshot project. Viano from Florence brings into focus the hurdles of capturing clear images of distant planets when traveling at a third the speed of light. Could the blur of speed and the distortion of space-time leave us with just a glimpse of Proxima Centauri's secrets?Next, we delve into the cosmic dance of celestial bodies. Brady from Florida, with a front-row seat to rocket launches, ponders the possibility of a moon having its own moon. Could a satellite's satellite exist, or are the gravitational tugs within our solar system too much for such a delicate balance? Professor Watson explains the intricate gravitational ballet that determines these cosmic relationships.Then, Scott from Oregon opens a window into the fascinating world of triple star systems with a question about HD 110067. How can stars so far apart still be considered gravitationally bound? Discover the cosmic ties that bind these stellar companions across vast distances.And for a bonus, we tackle an impromptu query from Dean about the Hubble Space Telescope's remarkable ability to maintain steady images while orbiting Earth. The secret lies in the dance of gyroscopes, but how long can this celestial photography session last?From interstellar photography to the gravitational waltz of moons and stars, this episode is packed with insights into the mechanics of our universe. Remember to send us your space-related questions, and join us on this voyage of cosmic discovery. Subscribe to Space Nuts on your favorite podcast platform, and until our next stellar encounter, keep gazing at the stars and wondering about the wonders above. 

At 3 in the night at Starmus 2017 I finally managed to get ten minutes with astrophysicist, science communicator, director of the Hayden Planetarium. At it's purest, Wunderdog digs into one or two topics and goes deep, like Vinay's refugee cities, Casey's carbon capture, Ana's cosmic bullet holes, and Eugene's star-based life. This isn't that! This is, me grabbing hold of someone very smart and trying to squeeze fun answers out of them on as many topics as I could. We talk about CRISPR, Breakthrough Starshot, Ray Kurzweil, Mars exploration and contamination, mind uploads, genetically engineered bacteria and Craig Venter, sci-fi, Bach's Mass in D minor, and how Beethoven's 7th symphony is "high cholesterol" and Denis Villeneuve's "Arrival". I was reluctant to share it because it was so unfocused, but Neil has such a knack for delivering fun, concise answers on any topic. He did this easily, despite having been CONSTANTLY surrounded by media all weekend. He was the most popular man on a festival where ELEVEN of the guests had won Nobel prizes. Wunderdog is produced by Nitro Studio Oslo, and music is by Trop1ce / Charky. In this particular episode my ticket was funded by Norway's Research Council, and the interview was originally done for Andreas Kjensli Knudsen, Pablo Castro & my excellent live-podcast "Applied Science Fiction" / "Anvendt Science Fiction". The people who support this stuff are mentioned on this episode, they did so at www.patreon.com/runde

En este episodio de PARSEC, Darth Atapu, un ferviente servidor de Palpatine, nos guía en un viaje fascinante a través de la tecnología espacial en la ficción junto al experto Álex Barredo. Acompáñanos a explorar las complejidades de la teoría de la relatividad y cómo la ciencia ficción explora los viajes más rápidos que la luz. Sistemas de propulsión futuristas, desde el motor Epstein de "The Expanse", que utiliza la fusión nuclear para propulsar naves a través del sistema solar con eficiencia asombrosa, hasta la nave ISV Venture Star de "Avatar", que combina motores de materia-antimateria, velas fotónicas, y maniobras planetarias para alcanzar el 70% de la velocidad de la luz. Viajes interesalares mediante puertas de salto, como los "Babylon 5", que permite viajar distancias enormes a través del hiperespacio. Y su humilde alternativa real: Breakthrough Starshot, que busca enviar nanonaves a Alpha Centauri usando velas impulsadas por láser. Y por supuesto, la criogenización de "Alien" y los esfuerzos de la NASA y la ESA para desarrollar tecnologías de hibernación para futuras misiones espaciales de larga distancia. PARSEC es un podcast semanal sobre exploración espacial presentado por Javier Atapuerca y Matías S. Zavia. Haznos llegar tus preguntas por Twitter: @parsecpodcast@JaviAtapu@matiass Puedes escucharnos en todas las plataformas a través de parsecpodcast.com.

In der letzten Folge haben wir uns angeschaut, wo der nächste für uns erreichbare Stern sich befinden würde, wie lange wir dahin bräuchten und ob es überhaupt eine realistische Möglichkeit gibt, dies zu tun. Dabei sind wir zu dem Schluss gekommen, dass es mit dem heutigen Stand der Technik wohl mehrere tausend Jahre dauern würde. Doch das lassen wir natürlich nicht auf sich beruhen: Denn es gibt Ideen und konkret ein Projekt namens Breakthrough Starshot, dass sich genau dieser Mission verschrieben hat und plant, den Weg in nur 20 Jahren zurückzulegen. Ob das realistisch ist und wie genau sie das umsetzen wollen - All das erfahrt ihr in der heutigen Folge ALLwissen.

Today, Avi Loeb joins us to explore his work in discovering Alien Artifacts falling from space, evidence that Aliens exist, and the possibility of the Human Race becoming an interstellar species. We explore the frontier of extraterrestrial research through the Galileo Project and the intriguing interstellar object 'Oumuamua.' Loeb discusses the potential impact of discovering extraterrestrial life on humanity, from changing our understanding of the cosmos to influencing global tribalism and politics. He speculates on humanity's readiness for alien encounters and the role of AI in the search for alien intelligence. This episode offers a captivating look at the intersection of technology, space exploration, and the profound questions facing our place in the universe.Highlights:00:00 Intro and Episode Preview1:50 Galileo Project Overview8:10 Oumuamua Significance12:00 US Govt. and Extraterrestrial Data23:00 First Objects Beyond Solar System28:00 Could aliens' discovery change humanity?30:00 Tribal Hate Discussion33:55 Scenarios with Alien Earth Visits39:08 Aliens as Messiahs?45:27 Ready for Alien Encounter?48:00 Earth's Potential Disappearance?52:04 Alien Encounters for Human Survival?54:00 Politics Influencing Tribalism1:00:42 Investment in Extraterrestrial Research1:09:09 AI's Role in Alien Discovery?1:10:35 Extraterrestrial AI1:12:00 The next step is artificial intelligence in spaceAbout Avi:Read more of his work here: https://avi-loeb.medium.comAvi Loeb is the head of the Galileo Project, founding director of Harvard University's — Black Hole Initiative, director of the Institute for Theory and Computation at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and the former chair of the astronomy department at Harvard University (2011–2020). He chairs the advisory board for the Breakthrough Starshot project, and is a former member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and a former chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies. He is the bestselling author of “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth” and a co-author of the textbook “Life in the Cosmos”, both published in 2021. His new book, titled “Interstellar”, was published in August 2023.// Let's Connect //Website: https://throughconversations.comNewsletter: https://throughconversations.ck.page/0c18d1ab61// Say Hi on Social Media //Twitter: https://twitter.com/thruconvpodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thruconvpodcast/?hl=enYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl67XqJVdVtBqiCWahS776g 

There's toxic gas flowing out of Enceladus that could be the key to life. Could there be black holes inside stars? NASA tight beams a cat video from space.

There's toxic gas flowing out of Enceladus that could be the key to life. Could there be black holes inside stars? NASA tight beams a cat video from space.

If we want to send an interstellar probe to the nearest stars, getting there isn't the only problem. We explore non-trivial problems like getting the signal back from the probes, communicating within the swarm, choosing which data to send back and much more with Marshall Eubanks.

We're pleased and honored to present a special guest for this episode, Dr. Abraham “Avi” Loeb. Dr. Loeb is the Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University and received his Ph.D. in Physics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel at the age of 24. He has written nine books and nearly 1000 papers, led the first international project supported by the Strategic Defense Initiative, and served as a long-standing member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, among many other achievements. Although his work with the Breakthrough Starshot project to send “light sails” speeding toward nearby stars may have initially gained him the most notoriety in science news, his study and theory of a recent anomalous visitor put him on the radar of the general public. In October 2017, a Hawaiian observatory detected the first interstellar object to pass through our solar system, which was subsequently named Oumuamua, meaning “scout” in the Hawaiian language. That fact alone may have registered a blip of mild interest to most. Yet the first artists' conceptions of the object as a cigar-shaped asteroid put further curiosity of the masses to rest as it being, albeit odd, just another space rock. However, analysis of sensor data of Oumuamua, with no visual inspection obtained during its visit, led Dr. Loeb and his team to conclude that it was nothing like it was portrayed to the public. Instead, their research showed it was roughly the size of a football field, reflective, spinning, thin as a sheet of paper, and moving unusually. Dr. Loeb hypothesized that Oumuamua could likely be a probe, perhaps manufactured by an ancient alien civilization to gather information as star systems pass by. Not surprisingly, many of his peers met this open-minded thinking with dismissive resistance, hesitant or unwilling to entertain such bold and adventurous speculation. Join us for a fascinating discussion with one of the world's leading astrophysicists on the challenges of searching for extraterrestrial life on the eve of his appearance at the upcoming annual Contact in the Desert conference taking place June 2 through 4, 2023, in Indian Wells, California. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

The ancient ambition of exploring the cosmos and possibly even inhabiting other planets may one day come true, as we discover more and more exoplanets and intend to develop innovative propulsion techniques suitable for interstellar travel. Projects like 100 Year Starship and Breakthrough Starshot enable us to study the challenges involved with a view to develop solutions, furthering the idea of interstellar travel. In his new book “A Traveller's Guide to the Stars” physicist and Nasa Technologist Les Johnson takes the readers on an exciting journey through the science and innovations that could help us get to the stars.The book gives a thorough account of the next great frontier of human exploration, outlining exclusive inside look at the amazing advances in science and technology that will aid today's astronauts in setting out for the stars. Les Johnson is a physicist, author, and NASA technologist. He leads the development of advanced, in-space spacecraft propulsion technologies at the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. During his career at NASA, Les served as the Manager for the Space Science Programs and Projects Office, the In-Space Propulsion Technology Project, and the Interstellar Propulsion Research Project. We begin by reviewing the impact of discovery of exoplanets on the ambition of travelling to and inhibiting these distant alien worlds. Next we look at the precursors that we must take into consideration before building the ships and embarking on interstellar journeys. We discuss in detail the presently used propulsion technologies and evaluate their shortcomings for interstellar journeys. While discussing the future, we first discuss in detail two rocket technologies of the future: nuclear fusion and antimatter. Then we discuss in detail the innovative and promising propulsion approaches such as solar sails and laser-beamed energy. We discuss in detail how these technologies may one day enable us to embark on interstellar journeys. Les Johnson has written a number of science fiction books; I ask him to expand on his view that science fiction is an effective tool to imagine future technologies. No discussion on the topic of space exploration is complete without discussing the possibility of life out there; we discuss this as I ask Les to give us his views on the possibility of life out there and on the question “are we alone”. This has been a fantastic discussion. Complement this discussion with ““The Next 500 Years: Engineering Life to Reach New Worlds” with Professor Christopher Mason” available at: https://www.bridgingthegaps.ie/2022/05/the-next-500-years-engineering-life-to-reach-new-worlds-with-professor-christopher-mason/ And then listen to ““The End of Astronauts”, Robotic Space Exploration and Our Future on Earth and Beyond with Professor Martin Rees” available at: https://www.bridgingthegaps.ie/2022/03/the-end-of-astronauts-robotic-space-exploration-and-our-future-on-earth-and-beyond-with-professor-martin-rees/

Thanks to SpaceX, it's getting cheaper and cheaper to launch stuff into orbit. But just imagine if instead of using rockets, we could send cargo and people to space on an incredibly tall elevator. This may sound like a total sci-fi idea, but it has some grounding in real-world physics. In theory, we could build a space elevator by putting a counterweight in geostationary orbit and attaching a cable between the satellite and Earth. An elevator could then climb the cable, delivering payloads to space at a fraction of the cost of propulsive rockets. As you can imagine, it isn't quite that easy, which is why I'm joined today by Stephen Cohen.Stephen teaches physics at Vanier College in Montreal and has been working on space elevator concepts for almost 20 years. Recently, he wrote “Space Elevators Are Less Sci-Fi Than You Think” for Scientific American. Stephen also has a new book, Getting Physics: Nature's Laws as a Guide to Life, which was released earlier this year.In This Episode* Space elevators 101 (1:42)* The engineering challenges (7:14)* The economics of space elevators (11:07)* Space elevators in sci-fi (19:21)Below is an edited transcript of our conversation.Space elevators 101James Pethokoukis: In the intro, I tried to do my best at explaining what a space elevator is. But the simple version is we have something big and heavy in orbit, a cable extends down from that thing, attaches somewhere on the Earth, and we run an elevator up and down it. That's a space elevator. Am I right?Stephen Cohen: Sure.Now that we have a picture in our heads, why is it something more than just an interesting engineering thought experiment? What attracts you to it, other than sort of a technical problem that would be interesting to solve on paper?Well, it's space infrastructure, which is something we don't currently have and never have had. Right now, and for all time we've accessed space, going to space is like a one-off each time. Sometimes you have some reusable parts, but basically what a space elevator is, is a bridge instead of just a bunch of boats.And the advantage of a bridge over boats is what?Access. Right now, each time you want to plan a mission, to simply put something into orbit requires a lot of planning. The weather has to be right. And then you want to plan another mission, you sort of have to begin again. With a space elevator, you can just days in advance say, “Okay, we're going to send something up to a desired orbit.” And just hours later after that one would be sent, you could send something else. And you basically have a housing — that's what the climber is, effectively — that you put the payload inside and up it goes. That's the transformative part. But we haven't talked about really the cost savings, the energy savings, and that's just basic physics.The way you get around in general is by applying forces. And that's something you do without thinking. When you walk, you push on the ground. When you fly through the air, you're basically pushing on air molecules and they push back. But in space, you have none of that. And so what rockets do is they literally are the medium. The fuel you bring is the medium you're pushing against — rather, you're throwing it out the back. It's a hugely wasteful, inefficient way to get around. It's preposterous when you think about it. But it's the only way we can get things to the speeds we need to get them to. Just as a mode of getting things into this is extremely practical. You can't compare the efficiencies. It's orders of magnitude of difference.It really strikes people. When they hear the general concept, they really think it's something big and it sounds like it's amazing. It's something that is science fictional, but maybe we could turn into science fact. There's something else about it, I think, that just grabs people's attention.Yeah, for sure, because it's a physical connection to space. It's like, if you could just touch the cord at the Earth port, then you're in contact with something that's reaching out all the way into space, which is wild. But I think there's an element missing. People don't realize tethers in space are not a new thing. We've had missions since the ‘70s that are effectively two bodies orbiting earth connected by a long tether, sometimes kilometers long. Now, that's not in the ballpark of 100,000 kilometers long, which is a common number thrown out there for what the eventual space elevator might be. But a lot of the same technologies are involved. The biggest difference is of course, instead of two bodies connected by a tether, like a big spacecraft to a small spacecraft, say, this is a big structure connected all the way to Earth. The amount of tension is tremendous. That's the big difference. That's what effectively becomes the big engineering challenge about it all.To be clear, the cable would be connected to something large in orbit, and that could be something we build, but I've also heard maybe it could be a small asteroid? Am I confusing two different things there?It doesn't have to be something we build, but likely it won't be an asteroid. The way at least the first space elevator will likely be constructed would be you send the cable up in a spacecraft and you drop it, you sort of spool down the cable over time. And it would be a lengthy unspooling. The dynamics of that are super interesting. But the point is, at the end of it you can now connect that cable to the ground. It's good to have something functional at the other end, not just some mass. Of course, the mass you're going to have at the far end, the particular value of that mass, that depends on how long the cable will be. So to achieve an equilibrium, you can't just choose any random mass. It would have to be planned.The engineering challengesLet's get to some of the challenges. And as you answer those questions, we may also find out why you think this is something that can be done. You mentioned that cable. That seems to be the chief engineering issue, as you mentioned: finding an ultra-strong lightweight material to make up that cable. Is that something that needs to be invented? Are we talking an innovation? Do we need radical new science, or can you see how that cable could be manufactured in a decade if we got serious about funding that kind of research?The key property is called specific strength. It's not just strength, but it's the strength-to-density ratio. And that property in the material existed since the mid-‘90s. But it's very costly to produce. Time consuming as well. Now, on both fronts, there have been big improvements since then.Are these carbon nanotubes? I always hear about carbon nanotubes. Is that what you're talking about?The two candidates that are talked about these days are carbon nanotubes and just graphene. These options, there are some issues with repeatability. So the process, you think you're doing it the same twice, but you don't get exactly the same properties each time. It still needs to mature, but the basic science is there. It's become a materials engineering kind of problem.Is it an engineering problem that we just sort of have to work the problem, and it'd be great if we had funding, but it doesn't require a radical breakthrough? We think we know how to get there. It's just sort of resources and effort and time.Yeah. Yeah. There are probably solutions to every problem that stand in its way. I would say as the material problem is getting solved and as time is going on, a new problem is entering that is on the same level as the material problem. And that's our very, very crowded space environment. That is only becoming a bigger issue. That problem is only going to get worse with time. And the equator is a fairly busy area. It's very likely that the space elevator will be situated slightly off-equator, and the mechanics of that are sound. That's not a big issue.On land or in the ocean?Probably in the ocean, is the proposals I've seen. Those are sort of the details, I would say. And it will come down to economics, won't it? We're still at the stages of design, but there's really no company that is clearly in charge and no administration, institution is pulling all the strings. What we have right now is a big project with a bunch of academics scattered around the world that are, I would say, dabbling in it. A lot of work has taken place. I would say low-intensity work. That is, you get 10 very useful studies done in the course of a year. That's peanuts for something on this scale. There needs to be probably a champion or several on the business side, I guess. But also governments need to get involved for this to really take off.The economics of space elevatorsIt must be annoying that you can't find a super billionaire — they seem to be very interested in rockets. You need to find one who's interested in a space elevator. That would seem to be an important piece to the puzzle when you look at how things are going in space and rocketry.Yeah, on the economic side of things, if you want return on investment, you probably need to work on steps to get there. So partial space elevator, that's something which is basically a larger space tether. Space tether on the order of thousands of kilometers. So it's an easier challenge, but the payoff isn't nearly as high. There need to be small aspects that are worked on that have return on investment that get you there. There are several that could be listed. If I could speak about the big investor of which you just mentioned, there's another project that really reminds me of the space elevator: something called Breakthrough Starshot that you haven't heard of it. It's an attempt to send something interstellar. To send to another star system a very small payload, on the order of grams, that we could then once we get there take a picture of, say, an exoplanet and send it back. And we'd get something way cooler than what our best satellites can do. That project also has a few major engineering challenges, but I wouldn't say science challenges. We're now at the point where there's a road to it. It's also probably decades away. It has spinoff technologies. They're really very similar. And the interesting thing is, there seem to be investors putting more money into that one than space elevators. That's my impression. Not boat loads of money.Isn't that a Mark Zuckerberg thing? Hasn't he put money in that?I don't think he's the only one.Yeah.I'm not fully aware of all the happening surrounding Breakthrough Starshot, but it's worth mentioning that the space elevator is completely transformative for life in our solar system, really. We talk about colonizing the Moon and Mars, and that would be really neat. But it's sort of a pipe dream if you can't support it. Sending a single person or several to Mars, that's a big, big undertaking. But now for them to live there in a supported way? The amount of mass you have to get there is tremendous. And you can't do this in a sustainable way without infrastructure. The point I'm making is, a space elevator [is] really transformative for the solar system. And I don't want to speak down on Breakthrough Starshot. I don't want to speak ill of that project. Totally cool. I'm on board. But that one, I would say, is transformative in the sense that you can actually send something to another star. We've never done that before. But it wouldn't change life as we know it, unless our picture happens to show something living on an exoplanet.Someone else's space elevator, perhaps!.It's really the economics and efficiency of getting something off the ground, into orbit. Has that economic potential calculus been changed, or would it be changed, by reusable rockets? I mean, when you first got interested it was probably either pre-SpaceX or maybe SpaceX's early days, and those costs have come down and are expected to continue come down. At some point, does that make a space elevator irrelevant?Before we get to the cheaper chemical rockets, there are other changes that have taken place. For example, nuclear rocketry. There's also the idea of solar sails and things like that. But of course, none of those can address the primary reason why a space elevator is useful, and that's to get out of the Earth's gravity well. That's where you need chemical rockets or, well, nothing else. Nothing else will do it, because you need a tremendous amount of power in order to reach those speeds, unless you can just climb along a cable. Of course, those chemical rockets get cheaper. It doesn't mean they necessarily become routine, in the sense that weather will always be an issue, safety always a concern. They're not green, and if you intend to get really serious about space in the way people are talking about it, we are talking about such wasteful practices there. It's just unconscionable in a way. That's not the economic side, I realize. But an economic study needs to probably be repeated regularly to see whether this is the best way forward, purely based on economics. Access, environmental considerations: Those are other elements that also need consideration. But the economic story, I'd say, is evolving. Chemical rockets will always have a certain ceiling that you just can't beat, and we're maybe getting close to it.If I got into a space elevator capsule on Earth, how long would it actually take to get up to a space station?In all likelihood, there will be a station at geosynchronous that's 36,000 kilometers high — so about three Earths away — and it will probably take a week to get there if you could go in the area of the high-speed trains we've become accustomed to on Earth. That would be beautiful views for a week. What's cool is as you go up, the weight you feel goes down gradually until you reach this geo place. And then you are indeed weightless, just floating there like they do in the ISS. However, you'll have passed the ISS a long, long time ago, because that's only 300 kilometers off the surface of Earth. You couldn't put a station there on the space elevator. Physically that just wouldn't work. Geostationary is the ideal place for a space station because it imposes no new tension on the cable. In any case, it would take a week, is the short answer to that question.But that week would be a far more relaxing experience than taking a rocket.And let's be clear, this would be way cheaper once you've got it. Operating one of these, you wouldn't pay millions of dollars a person. Not even close. I can't know exactly what the number would be, but it could be 100 times less for one person once this thing's really up and running. Plus you don't have to spend a week going to geo and a week coming back. If we're trying to recreate the experience of going up to 300 kilometers, it could be an hour up and down and you've achieved a nice view of Earth.Space elevators in sci-fiIt's an interesting concept, but one which is probably used more in scientific literature than in movies and TV shows. I think the first time I ever saw one on a screen was in the recent TV series based on Foundation by Isaac Asimov where they had a space elevator. Now, of course, the space elevator — spoilers — the space elevator in that show, there's a terrorist attack and it falls down and just kills…Is there a portrayal of this technology in science fiction that you're aware of or that you think is interesting?There's some artistic license, perhaps, going on there. What would happen if it's severed, if that's the conversation we're having, the portion beyond the severance likely is gone never to be seen again. And then the portion below, its future really depends on where the severance happens, exactly what that looks like. There was a study done when I was doing my master's — in like 2005, 2006, I think — [by] someone named Paul Williams, if I remember right. He did animations on exactly this question. It flies down to Earth, the lower portion below severance. And it would, like, paint a line on the equator —whatever didn't burn up in the atmosphere on the way down. But we're talking about a cable that's like one meter wide and very thin. So don't imagine a building collapsing that's wrapping around the equator. It's a rubber band, if you want to imagine something.The piece you wrote in Scientific American, have you gotten any feedback on that from other scientists, astrophysicists, engineers? What kind of response have you gotten, if any?Oh, I've gotten letters from high school students. “Can you tell me this? Can you tell me that?”It was a completely honest piece. I am not what I would even call a space elevator advocate. But the moment I start talking about it, I get excited. To be clear, a quick perusal of some of the online message boards reveals a lot of, well, trolling where some people who may be informed, some people who aren't, just write a thousand reasons why this will never happen, X, Y, Z. But most of the feedback I've gotten in the circles I would ask through are just: “That was delightful to read.”I think it approached it with the appropriate level of seriousness for something that's interesting, it's not tomorrow, but it's possible. And let's give it some thought. That seems like a very reasonable approach to the issue.I'm a college teacher at this point. I've worked in the space industry. But my goal is to capture people's imagination when I'm in the classroom. That's at least a big part of it. The space elevator ticks a lot of boxes in that department. Exactly where it'll go in terms of economics and all that, I don't really know. And in my day-to-day life, space elevator is something I dabble in when I have free time and when I feel like it. It is something I write about in a small part of the book that I published recently, but it's mostly a general physics book, for example. It's not the focus of my life.Let's say we elected an American president who said, “This is something we can do. We're going devote resources. This is a new Apollo.” With enough effort, could you say within a decade we could have a space elevator, if we had that kind of enthusiasm and allocation of resources?I think in a decade we could have a design that is pretty mature, and I think a decade after that it could be built. But again, that would take the kind of backing that is associated with serious projects. And you'd talk about many countries coming together. To go on a little tangent, there was a film that had a space elevator recently released in China. I cannot recall what it was, but a lot of the recent conversations I've had because of that Scientific American article were from that. Journalists in China wanted to know more about space elevators. Their question for me was along the lines of what you just asked me, is this realistic? And I said it's probably true that the engineering challenge becomes a bit smaller than the challenge of getting all the groups to do this thing together. The scale of the teamwork, cooperation for a project on this scale, this is a lot bigger than the International Space Station. Not just in terms of its physical size, in terms of things like space law that come into play, all kinds of areas, some of which we haven't even considered yet.That may sound like a bug, but maybe that's actually a feature. Get everybody together working on something. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fasterplease.substack.com/subscribe

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Are we alone in the universe? According to Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, we got our answer to that question on October 19, 2017 when the peculiar and fast-moving and luminous interstellar object, named Oumuamua was observed. Loeb discusses his book, "Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Traveler's Guide to the Stars: The Possibilities of Interstellar Exploration- Interview with Les Johnson The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series Welcome to The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Inside Science Interview series on radio and podcast.  I'm Paul Vogelzang, and today's show is part of our Smithsonian Associates Inside Science interview series, and we have an excellent program about interstellar spaceflight, rocket science, and solar sails and their impact on interplanetary travel…you're going to want to hear this. Thank you so much for listening. As I say, we've got a great guest today, who, after reading his new book, I've been looking forward to for a while and whom I'll introduce in just a moment…But, quickly, if you missed any episodes, last week was our 679th episode, and I spoke with historian, author, and Smithsonian Associate Clay Jenkinson about Gulliver's Travels and the fascinating story within a story, not just for children.  Two weeks ago had another great conversation with the author and NFL legend, a member of the only team in NFL history to be undefeated, and very entertaining guest Larry Csonka. Wonderful stuff…If you missed those shows, along with any others, you can go back and check them out with my entire back catalog of shows, all free for you there on our website, NotOld-Better.com…and if you leave a review, we will read it at the end of each show…leave reviews on Apple Podcasts for us. The age-old dream of venturing forth into the cosmos and perhaps even colonizing distant worlds all may one day become a reality, according to our guest today, physicist, NASA consultant, and Smithsonian Associate Les Johnson. Les Johnson will be appearing at Smithsonian Associates coming up soon, so please check out our show notes today for more details about Smithsonian Associates.  Les Johnson and I will talk today about the known exoplanets now numbering in the thousands and initiatives like 100 Year Starship and Breakthrough Starshot advancing the idea of interstellar travel, and how and when in our lifetimes we will be boarding rocket ships! Les Johnson is a scientist, an author, and the Deputy Manager for NASA's Advanced Concepts Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Please join me in welcoming to The Not Old Better Show Inside Science interview series on radio and podcast Les Johnson. My thanks to Les Johnson for his time today.  My thanks to the Smithsonian team for all they do to support the show.  My thanks to you, my wonderful Not Old Better Show audience on radio and podcast…please be well and be safe, which I'm mentioning in every show because I want to bring attention to the issue of assault rifles, which aren't safe, in anyone's hands but the military and law enforcement.  Assault rifles are killing our children and grandchildren in the very places they learn: schools!  Please, let's work together to eliminate assault rifles, and let's do better.  Let's talk about Better…the Not Old Better Show on radio and podcast, Smithsonian Associates Inside Science Interview series…

Scooping Interstellar Fragments from the Ocean FloorAlbert Einstein famously argued in a letter to the physicist Max Born in December 1926 that God does not play dice. The letter referred to the probabilistic nature of Quantum Mechanics but it can also be interpreted more broadly as if nature does not make random choices. In fact, it is the duty of a scientist to make sense of nature's choices. Otherwise, reality looks random to those who do not understand it. Weather was perceived this way before satellite and ground-based data allowed modern science to make weather forecasts a week in advance. The fundamental insight we learned as an advanced scientific civilization is that we should be guided by evidence rather than prejudice. The range of possibilities, as often imagined in mathematics or science fiction stories, is far greater and sometimes has no overlap with what is actually realized in nature.On April 6, 2022, the United States Space Command tweeted a formal letter confirming that a meteor identified in the CNEOS catalog by my student Amir Siraj and me in 2019 as originating from outside the Solar system based on its high speed, is indeed interstellar. The meteor detection on January 8, 2014 predated the first reported interstellar object, `Oumuamua, by almost four years and should be recognized as the first interstellar object ever discovered. The meteor paper was initially doubted because the uncertainties in the velocity measurements were classified. The release of the confirmation letter is a watershed moment in which the government assists scientific progress by confirming the interstellar origin of this so-called CNEOS-2014–01–08 meteor at the 99.999% confidence.Our discovery of an interstellar meteor heralds a new research frontier, in which the Earth serves as a fishing net for massive interstellar objects. As a result of encountering Earth and rubbing against its atmosphere, an interstellar object burns up in a bright fireball. This fireball is detectable by satellites or ground-based sensors even for relatively small interstellar objects like CNEOS-2014–01–08, which was about a meter in size and created a fireball carrying a percent of the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. This size scale is a hundred times smaller than `Oumuamua, which was discovered by the Pan STARRS telescope through its reflection of sunlight. This alternative detection method allows existing survey telescopes to discover only objects larger than a football field, within the orbit of the Earth around the Sun.There should be a million objects as small as CNEOS-2014–01–08 within that volume for every `Oumuamua-size object, but only a tiny fraction of them is seen as meteors because of the small size of our “fishing net”, the Earth. The situation is analogous to finding many more small fish than whales in the ocean. But we should also keep in mind that most meteors originate from the Solar system, but the interstellar ones can be flagged by their high speeds.The interstellar meteor discovery is very important from another perspective. One can imagine a billion dollar mission to land on an interstellar object like `Oumuamua and return a sample of it to Earth, similar to the OSIRIS-REx mission that landed on the asteroid Bennu and will return material from it in September 2023. But at a cost that is ten thousand times smaller, one could scoop fragments left over from an interstellar meteor and study them in our laboratories.The debris from CNEOS-2014–01–08 landed on the ocean floor near Papua New Guinea and it is possible to scoop them with a magnet. Once collected, we could place our hands around sizeable chunks of interstellar matter and examine its composition and nature. The ocean on site is a couple of kilometers deep and the impact region is uncertain to within ten kilometers. But an expedition to explore this region for meteor fragments is feasible and we are currently engaged in designing it.The fundamental question is whether any interstellar meteor might indicate a composition that is unambiguously artificial in origin? Better still, perhaps some technological components would survive the impact. My dream is to press some buttons on a functional piece of equipment which was manufactured outside of Earth.This gives a whole new meaning to a “fishing expedition”; in this case, of extraterrestrial equipment.In February 1954, just 14 months before he died, Einstein wrote a letter to the physicist David Bohm, in which he stated: “If God created the world, his primary concern was certainly not to make its understanding easy for us.” I wonder whether our expedition to Papua New Guinea might replace the word `God' in Einstein's statements by the term `an advanced scientific civilization'.ABOUT THE AUTHORAvi Loeb is the head of the Galileo Project, founding director of Harvard University's — Black Hole Initiative, director of the Institute for Theory and Computation at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and the former chair of the astronomy department at Harvard University (2011–2020). He chairs the advisory board for the Breakthrough Starshot project, and is a former member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and a former chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies. He is the bestselling author of “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth” and a co-author of the textbook “Life in the Cosmos”, both published in 2021.

In conversation with Indian Genes in this Exclusive, Avi Loeb the Harvard University professor who is now heading the Galileo Project, explains his shocking hypothesis, details in this conversation have not been heard before and Avi Loeb, opens up to all matters related to the search for Extraterrestrial life including some details about his own life you may not Know. Avi Loeb is no stranger to controversy. The prolific Harvard University astrophysicist has produced pioneering and provocative research on black holes, gamma-ray bursts, the early universe and other standard topics of his field. But for more than a decade he has also courted a more contentious subject—namely, space aliens, including how to find them. Until relatively recently, Loeb's most high-profile work in that regard was his involvement with Breakthrough Starshot, a project funded by Silicon Valley billionaire Yuri Milner to send laser-boosted, gossamer-thin mirrorlike spacecraft called “light sails” on high-speed voyages to nearby stars. All that began to change in late 2017, however, when astronomers around the world scrambled to study an enigmatic interstellar visitor—the first ever seen—that briefly came within range of their telescopes.

Guest: Professor Avi Loeb is the head of the Galileo Project, founding director of Harvard University's — Black Hole Initiative, director of the Institute for Theory and Computation at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and the former chair of the astronomy department at Harvard University (2011–2020). He chairs the advisory board for the Breakthrough Starshot project and is a former member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and a former chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies. He is the bestselling author of “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth” and a co-author of the textbook “Life in the Cosmos”, both published in 2021. We talk about Galileo Project and the quest to eliminate the term UAP from our lexicon, the search for extraterrestrial equipments, intelligent communication in a possible encounter & the use of artificial intelligence, physics and math as universal languages, sending artificial intelligence astronauts to other planets, the Black Hole Initiative, the search for dark matter on underground labs, space junk x intergalactic treasures, and more.

Guest: Professor Avi Loeb is the head of the Galileo Project, founding director of Harvard University's — Black Hole Initiative, director of the Institute for Theory and Computation at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and the former chair of the astronomy department at Harvard University (2011–2020). He chairs the advisory board for the Breakthrough Starshot project and is a former member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and a former chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies. He is the bestselling author of “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth” and a co-author of the textbook “Life in the Cosmos”, both published in 2021. We talk about Galileo Project and the quest to eliminate the term UAP from our lexicon, the search for extraterrestrial equipments, intelligent communication in a possible encounter & the use of artificial intelligence, physics and math as universal languages, sending artificial intelligence astronauts to other planets, the Black Hole Initiative, the search for dark matter on underground labs, space junk x intergalactic treasures, and more.

---The episode is in English - scroll down for the English description.--- Трудно е да повярваме, че никъде другаде в огромната Вселена няма интелигентни същества. Но ако имаше, защо не сме ги виждали досега? А дали не сме? През 2017 учени засякоха първият междузвезден посетител в Слънчевата система - обектът Оумуамуа. Веднага след това започнаха активни дебати между учени и астрономи какво представлява той. Но един астрофизик повече от всеки друг изрази мнението, че това може би е бил първият пример за апарат с извънземен произход. Това е Ейбрахам (Ави) Льоб – астрофизик, завеждащ департамента по Астрофизика в Харвард, а освен това, оказва се, и с български корени. Ще ви срещнем с Ави Льоб за един ексклузивен разговор, в който ще обсъдим както Оумуамуа, така и като цяло предизвикателствата пред търсенето на интелигентен живот в Космоса. В интервюто ще научите: — С какво е уникален обектът Оумуамуа и дали можем да очакваме още като него? — Как всъщност можем да сме сигурни дали един обект е космически кораб? С какви инструменти можем да си послужим за такъв анализ? — Ако някога открием извънземен живот, това ще бъде ли държано в тайна от обществото? — Какво представлява космическата археология? — Какво са проектите Лира, Галилей и Breakthrough Starshot? === Книгата Extraterrestrial, в която Ави Льоб излага цялата си теория за обекта Оумуамуа и която веднага се превърна в бестселър в САЩ, може да откриете в магазина на Ratio: https://shop.ratio.bg/product/avi-loeb-extraterrestrial/ Допълнителни бележки към епизода: ratio.bg/podcast/270 Ако това, което правим, ви харесва, подкрепете Ratio тук: ratio.bg/support --- IN ENGLISH --- It's hard to believe that we are the only species in the vast Universe that possesses higher intelligence and technological power. But if that's not true, why haven't we seen alien life? Or have we? In 2017, scientists saw the first interstellar object to come into the Solar System. It was called Oumuamua. There are still numerous debates about the nature of this mysterious object. But one astrophysicist spearheaded the controversial idea that this might be an extraterrestrial apparatus. This was Abraham (Avi) Loeb – the head of the Astrophysics department of Harvard University. In this exclusive talk with Avi Loeb, we'll discuss Oumuamua and the challenges of searching for extraterrestrial life. You'll hear: — What makes Oumuamua unique and what more can we expect from it? — How would we even know if an object is an alien spaceship? What tools can help us in this analysis? — If we ever find extraterrestrial life, can this news be hidden from the public? — What is space archeology? — What are the projects Lyra, Gallileo, and Breakthrough Starshot?

หมู่คณะแขกรับเชิญในตอนนี้ รวมตัวกันมาจากเพจนำเสนอคอนเท็นต์วิทยาศาสตร์หน้าใหม่ The Principia (เว็บไซต์ https://theprincipia.co/) ฟังแล้วชอบ อย่าลืมไปติดตามและสนับสนุนกันนะครับ TIME STAMPS 0:00 เกริ่นนำ ทักทาย แนะนำแก๊งค์ The Principia (เต้,กน,ภูริ,นิก,หญิง,เฟิส) 21:34 เข้าไฮไลท์ข่าวใหญ่ปี 2021 - โควิดกลายพันธุ์ 40:05 คุณนิกเล่าข่าวการสำรวจอวกาศช่วงต้นปี หลายประเทศส่งยานไปดาวอังคารพร้อมๆ กัน 54:52 เต้เล่าข่าวบรรพชีวิน เบบี้หยิงเหลียง (Baby Yingliang) กับซากเซลล์และ DNA อายุ 125 ล้านปี + คุยเรื่องโคลนแมมอธ + แมลงยักษ์ๆ สมัยก่อน 1:12:01 บริษัทไบโอเทคมาแรง Gingko Bioworks รับออกแบบสิ่งมีชีวิต 1:18:20 คุณนิกเล่าข่าวอวกาศช่วงกลางปี 2021 โครงการ DART + การไปอวกาศของคนธรรมดาที่ไม่ใช่นักบินอวกาศ 1:50:00 เฟิสเล่าข่าวพฤติกรรมหนอนผีเสื้อกับมด 2:02:35 เต้สรุป Metaverse 2:24:40 พูดคุยเพิ่มเรื่องประวัติแต่ละคน 2:15:48 เฟิสเล่าข่าวเจอด้วงพันธุ์ใหม่ที่อยู่ในรังกับปลวก 2:37:15 คุณนิกพูดถึงกล้อง James Webb ความน่าทึ่งของการที่มนุษย์สามารถมองย้อนกลับไปในอดีต และในความยิ่งใหญ่ของเอกภพ คลิปไลฟ์สด https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiiaD4Z1G98 ข่าวใหญ่สุดแห่งปีที่ผ่านมาคงหนีไม่พ้นการเกิดวิวัฒนาการ variant ต่างๆ ของโควิดที่ติดง่ายกว่าเดิม ทั้ง delta และ omicron ข่าวการสำรวจอวกาศช่วงต้นปี สหรัฐอาหรับเอมิเรตส์ จีน และอเมริกา ส่งยานไปดาวอังคารพร้อมๆ กัน ข่าวงการบรรพชีวิน เบบี้หยิงเหลียง (Baby Yingliang) ฟอสซิลตัวอ่อนไดโนเสาร์ในไข่ที่สมบูรณ์ที่สุด -1 ข่าวเจอฟอสซิลเซลล์และซาก DNA ไดโนเสาร์อายุ 125 ล้านปี -1,2,3 Gingko Bioworks บริษัทไบโอเทคที่ระดมทุนได้สูงเป็นประวัติกาลในปีที่ผ่านมา https://www.facebook.com/biologybeyondnature/photos/a.680275942134989/825065140989401/?__cft__[0]=AZVgH0T3u6pqJFHbHQpgv0soMVtEk1-s_4PpX77iuJBl6vaDEX2lyNuacJYWk_0yqBaan7qZX1ZSxHpC2cDhRlh56FXgvm2dt_pOLLnu9wTVeDcLP916jQm0WKDeundqh66_G7x4BEVyJJ6795HgFML3&__tn__=%2CO*F ข่าวอวกาศช่วงกลางปี 2021 โครงการ DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test ) ทดลองส่งยานไปพุ่งชนดาวเคราห์น้อย ดูว่าจะเบี่ยงทิศทางมันได้มั้ย 2021 ปีแห่งการไปอวกาศของคนที่ไม่ใช่นักบินอวกาศ คุณ Wally Funk อายุ 82 กับ William Shatner อายุ 90 ไปกับ Blue Origin โครงการ Inspiration4 ของ SpaceX The Inspiration4 crew of Chris Sembroski, Sian Proctor, Jared Isaacman and Hayley Arceneaux poses in this picture obtained by Reuters on September 15, 2021. INSPIRATION 4/Handout via REUTERS การค้นพบแมลงน่าสนใจ หนอนผีเสื้อใช้ยาเสพติดล่อมดมาเป็นบริวาร -1,2 หนอนผีเสื้อใช้กลิ่นหลอกมดให้เอามันไปเลี้ยงในรัง-1 เจอด้วงชนิดใหม่ (Termitotrox icarus) ที่อาศัยอยู่กับปลวกในรัง -1 ปล่อยกล้อง James Webb สำเร็จ รอติดตามดูรูปที่จะถ่ายได้ โครงการ cosmic telescope - 1 โครงการ Breakthrough Starshot

This episode is the second part of our talk with Harvard Professor Avi Loeb. We discuss ― Life In The Cosmos ― an academic textbook he co-authored with Manasvi Lingam which provides an analysis of the latest scientific methodologies for detecting life beyond our planet. It's an updated version of an original book written in 1966 by astrophysicists Carl Sagan and Iosif Shklovsky. We dive into the Kardashev Scale, a theoretical model for classifying stages the development of intelligent alien civilizations based on energy consumption, and the potential of applying a modified version, based on a more indirect but proportional scale of wasted heat or entropy production, toward today's search for extraterrestrial intelligences (ETIs). Learn more about Avi's work with Breakthrough Starshot, a proposed flyby mission to our neighboring solar system Alpha Centauri, and how his recently funded Galileo Project will help to demystify Unexplained Aerial Phenomena. Join us as we survey the latest endeavors to detect alien technosignatures, and explore whether monkeys may one day compose Shakespeare's Hamlet on a typewriter. Professor Avi Loeb is the Director of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He received his PhD in plasma physics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and worked as a theoretical astrophysicist at Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. Loeb is a New York Times bestselling author, chairs the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative, and founded the current Galileo Project advancing the search for extraterrestrial life. CONTENT 00:00:35 Intro 00:02:21 Kardashev scale 00:07:01 Building Noah's Ark in Space 00:12:35 Breakthrough Starshot 00:16:36 How to Decelerate as you get to Proxima B 00:22:05 A Masterpiece: Monkeys Typing Hamlet 00:22:39 Technosignatures: detecting Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) 00:26:44 The Galileo Project

Podrá ser borrado y bloqueado su autor, cualquier comentario que contenga falacias de hombre de paja, falsedades, sea ofensivo, irrespetuoso o mal educado. Los comentarios que expresen opiniones diferentes a las sostenidas en el programa, así como las críticas serán bien recibidas si se acompañan de los argumentos en los que se apoyan. Gracias por expresar tu opinión a través de los comentarios. Escucha el episodio completo en la app de iVoox, o descubre todo el catálogo de iVoox Originals

I started selling Let's Find Out merchandise at https://www.letsfindoutasmr.com (btw, nothing says "ASMR" on it LOL) as a cool way to help support the channel. I think Teespring usually takes 3 weeks to deliver from date of purchase, so heads up if you want anything by Christmas. Thanks for all the continual support you all give. I never take the patron pledges, paypal donations, or gifts to the po box for granted, and I seriously appreciate every single one of you for showing the channel love and support. It means so much. Happy Holidays, and a Merry coming Christmas to you and your families!   Now for the interstellar starships! Breakthrough Initiatives is a science-based program founded in 2015 and funded by Julia and Yuri Milner, also of Breakthrough Prize, to search for extraterrestrial intelligence over a span of at least 10 years. The program is divided into multiple projects: 1. Breakthrough Listen will search over 1,000,000 stars for artificial radio or laser signals. 2. Breakthrough Message is an effort to create a message "representative of humanity and planet Earth". 3. Breakthrough Starshot, co-founded with Mark Zuckerberg, aims to send a swarm of probes to the nearest star at about 20% the speed of light. 4. Breakthrough Watch aims to identify and characterize Earth-sized, rocky planets around Alpha Centauri and other stars within 20 light years of Earth. 5. Breakthrough Enceladus, plans to send a mission to Saturn's moon Enceladus, in search for life in its warm ocean, and in 2018 signed a partnership agreement with NASA for the project.   Timestamps: 0:00 showing the new merchandise, talking about discord 1:08:56 Interstellar Projects coming in the 21st Century   ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ►Support for the channel... ▸Shop on Amazon here (kick-backs at no cost to you): ▸PayPal ......... https://www.paypal.me/LetsFindOutASMR ......... ▸Patreon ........ https://www.patreon.com/LetsFindOutASMR ▸

⚠️ Découvrez du contenu EXCLUSIF (pas sur la chaîne) ⚠️ ⇒ https://the-flares.com/y/bonus/ ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Infos complémentaires : sources, références, liens... ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Le contenu vous intéresse ? Abonnez-vous et cliquez sur la

Você já deve ter ouvido falar no LHC certo? E todo o burburinho que correu sobre o possível dano que ele poderia causar ao planeta. Obviamente o alerta sobre esse experimento da física não se mostrou factível, nem mesmo o Futuro Colisor Circular 4 vezes mais longo e 10 vezes mais potente que está sendo desenvolvido pode causar qualquer dano ao planeta. Mas em uma escala maior e bastante possível para uma civilização mais avançada, trabalhar em maiores escalas pode acabar por destruir toda a galáxia e todos que vivem nela. Avi Loeb é ex-presidente (2011-2020) do departamento de astronomia da Universidade de Harvard, diretor fundador da Iniciativa Buraco Negro de Harvard e diretor do Instituto de Teoria e Computação do Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Ele também preside o Conselho de Física e Astronomia das Academias Nacionais e o conselho consultivo do projeto Breakthrough Starshot, e é membro do Conselho de Assessores de Ciência e Tecnologia do Presidente. Loeb é o autor best-seller de Extraterrestre: O Primeiro Sinal de Vida Inteligente Além da Terra (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Saiba mais em: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-avoid-a-cosmic-catastrophe/ Nos acompanhe também nas redes sociais: Youtube: youtube.com/superfatocanal Instagram: instagram.com/eusuperfato Facebook: fb.com/eusuperfato Twitter: twitter.com/eusuperfato EMAIL PARA CONTATO: comercialsuperfato@gmail.com

The Astronomy, Technology, and Space Science News Podcast.SpaceTime Series 24 Episode 85*Australia's Interstellar laser propulsion systemScientists with the Australian National University have designed a new laser powered propulsion system as part of the ambitious Breakthrough Starshot project to send a fleet of light sail spacecraft to explore the worlds of Alpha Centauri our nearest neighbouring star system*The biggest comet ever seen becomes activeAstronomers have discovered the largest comet ever seen and it's now become active.*Hubble Space Telescope back on lineNasa Hubble Space Telescope is back in service following marathon efforts to fix a computer crash that shut it down back on June 13.*Starliner ready for launchNASA and Boeing are hoping for better luck second time round as they prepare for the launch of the CST100 Starliner spacecraft on its second test flight.*Blue Origin's first space tourist flightThe world's richest man Jeff Bezos has become the first billionaire to fly in space.*The Science ReportA single dose of either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against the Delta strain.It's now been confirmed that China was behind Microsoft Exchange mail server cyber-attack.New genetic glaucoma test 15 times better than existing tests.A swarm of more than 141 earthquakes has rattled Yellowstone National Park.Skeptic's guide to why pseudoscience survives and thrives.For more SpaceTime and show links: https://linktr.ee/biteszHQ Help support the show and visit our sponsor Fiverr...find someone to help you with that project you're working on. They have the people to help you out no what it is....please use our link to help support the show... https://spacetimewithstuartgary.com/fiverr ... Thank you.

  Darin: ESA-AstronautInnen, Florian im Radio über UFOs und mehr UFOs, DNA-Fresser, Weltraumwetter, Drachenmann, Algen-Asteroid, Stratosphärenschrumpfen, Wenn Nobelpreisträger auf Irrwegen wandeln, mehr Nobelpreisträger auf Irrwegen, Breakthrough Starshot, Chicxulub-Krater, Resonator-Podcast: Das Mikrobiom des Darms, Sciencebusters über Avi Loeb und Oumuamua, Trunkene Bienen, Beteigeuze staubt, Niesreiz, Langer Impfschutz, Alzheimer-Impfung, Fremder Kot, Intervallfasten, Neues vom ITER Kauft: Die Neuentdeckung des Himmels* Florian unterstützen? […]

In this week's questions show, I explain what would happen if scientists discovered an existential threat to humanity. Would they let us know, or keep it secret to avoid a panic? Could we detect a Breakthrough Starshot fleet coming our way? And how well does China communicate its space exploration to the public? 00:00 Start 00:37 Would they tell us about the end of the world? 03:05 Is the Solar System normal? 05:38 Could we detect Breakthrough Starshots? 08:46 How well does China communicate to the public? 11:15 Could we use space junk for 3D printing? 14:02 What do I suggest for aspiring astrophysicists? 17:11 Will there ever be another Grand Tour? 19:47 What determines a planet's orbit? 22:08 Will Blue Origin pick up the pace? 25:02 What if aliens were pure energy? 28:14 Should there be more dark matter inside planets? 29:39 Would alien life be multicellular? Want to be part of the questions show? Ask a short question on any video on my channel. I gather a bunch up each week and answer them here.

In this week's live Q&A, I talk about the new Space Launch System hot-fire test, how Breakthrough Starshot spacecraft might be able to communicate with home, and what messages would we send to aliens that we might never be able to reach physically. 00:00 Start 02:11 How would Starship chipsats communicate with Earth? 05:00 How far can we ever explore into the Universe? 06:31 Why was the SLS test so short? 08:59 This is why we test. 09:52 What message would we send to aliens we could never visit? 13:52 Is anyone working on a practical artificial gravity? 18:32 Do we know which stars can see Earth transiting? 21:11 How do spacecraft change their trajectories? 23:50 When will LUVOIR launch? 26:24 Why is there a solar cycle? 29:51 Will AI start answering science questions? 32:53 Is a generation ship or seed ship better? 35:25 Are gravitational lenses like telescope lenses? 36:46 Will we hit light speed or wormholes first? 37:49 How prepared are we for a Carrington Event? 40:48 Can we predict gamma ray bursts? 45:52 What are my news sources? 48:41 Do I think there's non-intelligent life out there? 52:56 Would a Europa lander see any life in the surface? Want to be part of the questions show? Ask a short question on any video on my channel. I gather a bunch up each week and answer them here.

Welcome to the new style Q&As, which we're now recording every Monday live on my YouTube channel at 5pm Pacific Time. This week we got a lot of great questions about the Proxima Centauri signal, the Fermi Paradox, and Breakthrough Starshot. 00:00:00 Start 00:00:14 Is Starlink portable? 00:01:07 Any thoughts on the Wow signal? 00:03:58 What are magnetars? 00:06:20 Any followup planned on Proxima signal? 00:07:34 My answer to the Fermi Paradox 00:11:50 Why don't neutron stars turn into black holes? 00:13:03 Could Breakthrough Starshot confirm the Oort Cloud? 00:15:07 Can Breaththrough Starshot slow down? 00:20:03 Do other planets have pole stars? 00:20:45 Should we put a telescope out by Neptune or Uranus? 00:23:15 Next rare celestial event 00:26:12 Does Skylon have a future in space exploration? 00:30:35 How will humanity end? 00:33:47 Is Elon Musk a supervillain? 00:35:16 When can regular people do space tourism? 00:38:12 Am I up to date on the Expanse? 00:39:51 SG1 or the Expanse? 00:41:37 Does everything experience gravitational lensing? 00:44:07 What do I think of DALL-E? 00:47:18 Doing space journalism for 21 years 00:48:39 Space assembly of telescopes.

It's hard to really wrap your mind around the vast distances between stars. The fastest spacecraft ever launched into an interstellar trajectory right now is Voyager 1. If it was directed at the nearest star, it would take tens of thousands of years to make the journey across the interstellar gulf. Even so, groups like Breakthrough Starshot and Icarus Interstellar are working on plans right now to try and send spacecraft to other stars, ideally within our lifetimes. But we can see how quickly technology is advancing all around us, from materials science to high energy physics, not to mention reusable rockets. It seems reasonable to ask, should we invest in an interstellar mission now, or wait a few decades or even centuries for better technology to come along which could make the trip much shorter? Watch Chris Hadfield's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6woV3encOA Our Book is out! https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Today-Ultimate-Viewing-Cosmos/dp/1624145442/ Audio Podcast version: ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/universe-today-guide-to-space-audio/id794058155?mt=2 RSS: https://www.universetoday.com/audio Weekly email newsletter: https://www.universetoday.com/newsletter Weekly Space Hangout: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-KklSGlCiJDwOPdR2EUcg/ Astronomy Cast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUHI67dh9jEO2rvK--MdCSg Support us at https://www.patreon.com/universetoday More stories at https://www.universetoday.com/ Twitch: https://twitch.tv/fcain Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/universetoday Instagram - https://instagram.com/universetoday Team: Fraser Cain - @fcain / frasercain@gmail.com Karla Thompson - @karlaii / https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEItkORQYd4Wf0TpgYI_1fw Chad Weber - weber.chad@gmail.com References: https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/initiative/3 http://www.icarusinterstellar.org/ http://lifeunbounded.blogspot.com/2010/07/summer-reading.html https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260275150_Interstellar_Travel_-_The_Wait_Calculation_and_the_Incentive_Trap_of_ProgressSupport Universe Today Podcast

Where you can travel in space depends on how much propellant you've got on board your rocket and how efficiently you can use it. But there's a source of free propellant right here in the Solar System - the Sun - which is streaming out photons in all directions. You just need to catch them. And right now, the Planetary Society's new LightSail 2 spacecraft is testing out just how well it'll work. Light Sail 2 Photos: http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/lightsail-2-team-continues-tweaks-tests.html Episode on Breakthrough Starshot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FWcEtXgK2g&list=PLbJ42wpShvml6Eg22WjWAR-6QUufHFh2v&index=146 Episode on Project Dragonfly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=598UtgxFd1E&list=PLbJ42wpShvml6Eg22WjWAR-6QUufHFh2v&index=23 Audio Podcast version: ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/universe-today-guide-to-space-audio/id794058155?mt=2 RSS: https://www.universetoday.com/audio What Fraser's Watching Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbJ42wpShvmkjd428BcHcCEVWOjv7cJ1G Weekly email newsletter: https://www.universetoday.com/newsletter Support us at: http://www.patreon.com/universetoday More stories at: http://www.universetoday.com/ Twitch: https://twitch.tv/fcain Follow us on Twitter: @universetoday Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/universetoday Instagram - http://instagram.com/universetoday Team: Fraser Cain - @fcain / frasercain@gmail.com Karla Thompson - @karlaii / https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEItkORQYd4Wf0TpgYI_1fw Chad Weber - weber.chad@gmail.com References: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-maximum-speed-a-chemical-rocket-can-achieve http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/lightsail-2-has-launched.html http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/lightsail-2-team-continues-tweaks-tests.html https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/abs/10.2514/6.2014-4435 https://www.nasa.gov/content/nea-scout https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2018/pdf/1406.pdf http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/2017/20170925-solar-sail-dsg.htmlSupport Universe Today Podcast

Professor Avi Loeb is one of the hardest working astrophysicists in the field, writing a blistering number of academic papers on fascinating topics like the Fermi Paradox, the habitability of other worlds, black holes, and the history of the early universe. He's also one of the people working on the Breakthrough Starshot project to send tiny probes to other star systems.Support Universe Today Podcast

Deploy the solar sails and take to the stars! Bill Nye the Science Guy and comic co-host Iliza Schlesinger answer fan-submitted questions about LightSail 1 and 2, space exploration, artificial intelligence, Breakthrough StarShot, and more.NOTE: StarTalk All-Access subscribers can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://www.startalkradio.net/all-access/solar-sailing-with-bill-nye/Photo Credit: Credit: Josh Spradling / The Planetary Society, via Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.

In this week's live QA, Fraser welcomes futurist Isaac Arthur to talk about a range of topics, from SpaceX to Breakthrough Starshot, and what we think about the state of sci-fi on TV.Support Universe Today Podcast

Topics: Stephen Hawking and the Russian billionaire, Yuri Milner, want to send hundreds of tiny space probes to solar systems around other stars (exactly as Dr. Philip Lubin described to me a few months ago in the December 16, 2015 episode.) The project is called Breakthrough Starshot. Also: a Genetically Modified Mushroom will bypass GMO food rules through a regulatory loophole; IBM's Watson will advise and consult with cancer patients as well as with doctors; a British hospital live-streamed a surgery in virtual reality; insulin-making cells can be efficiently generated according to researchers at the Salk Institute; Blue CareOnDemand (from Blue Cross, Blue Shield) allows smartphone users access to a personal medical consultation with a doctor or nurse 24 hours a day any day of the year, for a price; Windows XP still powers 181 million computers around the world, which means it is more popular than all Apple computers combined. (Wake up, people. XP hasn't been supported for over two years. You are vulnerable to hackers. Upgrade to something.); and a listener email from Joseph. Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the April 20, 2016 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 30 minutes] Stephen Euin Cobb has interviewed over 350 people for his work as an author, futurist, magazine writer, ghostwriter, and award-winning podcaster. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he has also been a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. For the last ten years he has produced a weekly podcast, The Future And You, which explores (through interviews, panel discussions and commentary) all the ways the future will be different from today. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. Stephen is the author of an ebook about the future entitled: Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science.