Why is it so hard to get a picture of the Milky Way? How much of our galaxy have we mapped? What the heck is a “barred spiral” and what does that have to do with our core? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.As...
Feb 20, 2024•40 min•Ep. 218
How do we achieve nuclear fusion in the laboratory? What are some experiments that are trying to achieve fusion power generation? Why is it so difficult? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com Fol...
Feb 06, 2024•42 min•Ep. 217
Is evolution universal throughout the cosmos? What are the different forms that life can take? When did life first appear in the universe? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com Follow on Twitter:...
Jan 16, 2024•43 min•Ep. 216
What forces people to lose trust in science? How does this affect the process of science itself? What are scientists doing to make this worse? How can we fix it? In this special episode themed from my latest book, I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreo...
Jan 02, 2024•49 min•Ep. 215
What’s floating around in space between all the stuff? Are there any truly empty places in the universe? What is the “fabric” of spacetime? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com Follow on Twitter...
Dec 19, 2023•45 min•Ep. 214
How were ancient people able to predict eclipses so well? How did they make predictions without modern science? What were they able to discover? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com Follow on Tw...
Dec 05, 2023•40 min•Ep. 213
What processes create all the elements? Why are some elements more common than others? How does fusion happen inside and outside of a star? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com Follow on Twitter...
Nov 21, 2023•43 min•Ep. 212
How long have astronomers been using artificial intelligence? How do computers sift through massive amounts of data? Will AI discover something new about the universe? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASp...
Nov 07, 2023•49 min•Ep. 211
What triggers ice ages and other climate events? How are sunspot cycles and orbital motions related to climate patterns? What does Jupiter have to do with all this? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpace...
Oct 17, 2023•38 min•Ep. 210
What’s so cool about Triton? How did it end up in orbit around Neptune, and what can we learn from it? Could we send a mission there one day? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com Follow on Twitt...
Oct 03, 2023•37 min•Ep. 209
How are white holes different from black holes? What would happen if you were stuck inside of one? Why don’t they appear in the universe? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com Follow on Twitter: ...
Sep 19, 2023•36 min•Ep. 208
What is the combined motion of everything in the universe? How does all of that influence us? Are we just going around in circles, or is there something more? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.co...
Sep 05, 2023•38 min•Ep. 207
What are some wild stories behind names in astronomy and physics? How did we get the jargon words that we did? What are some of the funniest names? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com Follow on...
Aug 15, 2023•29 min•Ep. 206
What’s the difference between science and pseudoscience? What is a scientific mindset? How are we able to spot pseudoscience when it’s happening? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com Follow on T...
Aug 01, 2023•35 min•Ep. 205
How was massive astronomy done in the 1800’s? Who were the Harvard Computers? How did Annie Jump Cannon figure out how to classify stars? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com Follow on Twitter: ...
Jul 18, 2023•32 min•Ep. 204
Why didn’t the big bang collapse in a singularity? What would a universe-sized black hole be like? Now that I think about it, do we live inside a giant black hole already? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.As...
Jul 04, 2023•25 min•Ep. 203
Could we nudge the orbit of the Earth to avoid the death of the Sun? Could it get kicked out of the solar system altogether? What are rogue exoplanets? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com Follo...
Jun 13, 2023•31 min•Ep. 202
If light always travels at the speed of light, how does it slow down when passing through air or water? Does it matter if light is made of particles or waves? What’s the difference between phase velocity and group velocity, and how does that all play into this? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your ...
Jun 06, 2023•40 min•Ep. 201
What are the biggest mysteries facing modern astronomers? What questions do I wish could be answered in my lifetime? What are most astronomers working on right now? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpace...
May 16, 2023•35 min•Ep. 200
What discoveries and insights made the biggest impacts in astronomy and physics? What were the biggest surprises? What results took the longest to achieve? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com F...
May 02, 2023•42 min•Ep. 199
How does a black hole make a shadow? What can we learn from it? What are we seeing when we look at a black hole? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com Follow on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Pa...
Apr 18, 2023•32 min•Ep. 198
What are the advantages of robotic exploration of the solar system? What are the limitations? Is there any situation where human exploration is better? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com Follo...
Apr 04, 2023•36 min•Ep. 197
What are Dyson spheres? What would be involved in building one? How much energy would it cost, and could we ever pay it back? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com Follow on Twitter: http://www.t...
Mar 21, 2023•39 min•Ep. 196
What’s the temperature of deep space? Can it get any colder than that? How do we even define temperature when there’s nothing around? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com Follow on Twitter: http...
Mar 07, 2023•30 min•Ep. 195
How do we know that the universe doesn’t rotate? Why would it matter if it did? What does all this have to do with time travel? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com Follow on Twitter: http://www...
Feb 21, 2023•43 min
What are blue straggler stars? How were they first discovered? What do they tell us about star clusters and the evolution of stars? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com Follow on Twitter: http:/...
Feb 07, 2023•37 min
Is it possible for anything to travel faster than light? What about tachyons? How would faster-than-light travel break causality? And just what the heck is causality, anyway? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com Follow on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/PaulMattSutter Like on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PaulMattSutter Watch on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/PaulMSutter Read...
Jan 17, 2023•40 min•Ep. 192
Part 9! What is the role of consciousness in quantum mechanics, if there even is one? Is there any way at all to develop a coherent view of nature based on quantum mechanics? What are the ultimate lessons that we can learn from quantum mechanics? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by Chirp. Join Paul's Audio Book Club. There are no commitments or subscription required. Listen along with Paul, and you can enjoy deeply discounted prices (for a l...
Jan 03, 2023•34 min•Ep. 191
Part 8! What is real in quantum mechanics, and what are mere mathematical tricks? Can the probability waves be real, and what would that mean? What is Pilot-Wave theory? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskA...
Dec 20, 2022•42 min•Ep. 190
Part 7! What is the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics? How does decoherence play a critical role? What are the strengths and weaknesses of this idea? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/spaceman and get on your way to being your best self. Visit BetterHelp to get 10% off your first month! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpacem...
Dec 06, 2022•50 min•Ep. 189
