Understanding the Uncertainty Principle
Sometimes intuitive, large-scale phenomena can give us incredible insights into the extremely unintuitive world of quantum mechanics.
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Martian Evolution
What will become of humanity after spend a few hundred years on Mars? What will happen after a few thousand? Evolution has, and still is, shaping humanity in rather drastic ways. How long will humans stop being human and become Martian?
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White Holes
Lurking in the depths of the mathematics of Einstein’s general relativity is an object even stranger than the mysterious black hole. In fact it’s the black hole’s mirror twin, the white hole. Some even think that these could be the origin of our universe.
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Suicide Space Robots
Let’s take a moment to remember the selfless sacrifices made by some amazing robotic explorers.
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Did Dark Energy Just Disappear?
Did all of dark energy just vanish? A team of scientists have just analyzed new data and claim that we need to completely rethink its existence.
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The Holographic Universe Explained
We live in a universe with 3 dimensions of space and one of time. Up, down, left, right, forward, back, past, future. 3+1 dimensions. Or so our primitive Pleistocene-evolved brains find it useful to believe. And we cling to this intuition, even as physics shows us that this view of reality may be only a very narrow perception.
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Are We Alone? Galactic Civilization Challenge
The Drake Equation tells us the likelihood that there are other advanced technological civilizations waiting for us among the stars. In this episode of Space Time we challenge you to use the Drake Equation to help us determine how near or far these alien races may be.
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Extraterrestrial Superstorms
Earth has its share of monster storms, but even our most powerful hurricanes are a breeze compared to the great, planet-sized tempests of the gas giants.
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Quantum Theory's Most Incredible Prediction
Quantum field theory is notoriously complicated, built from mind-bendingly abstract mathematics. But are the underlying rules of reality really so far from human intuition? Or are physicists just showing off? For better or worse, the physicists are definitely on the right track. We know this because the predictions of quantum field theory stand up to experimental test time and time again.
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S2: Can We Survive the Destruction of the Earth?
What do we do to protect ourselves from extinction level events? And what if some of those events are unavoidable? Can we survive adrift in space? Find out in this episode of Space Time.
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Should the First Mars Mission Be All Women?
Okay, going to Mars is going to be expensive. Not only that, but who we choose to pick on that trip also needs to have the statistically lowest chance of
perishing. So it might be the case that our best scenario is all female crew!
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Perpetual Motion From Negative Mass?
Challenge question: if 1kg of apples is $5 and 2kg is $10, how much is -1kg of apples? The answer? Priceless. Because you could use negative-mass apples to build warp drives, travel in time, and construct a perpetual motion machine. In fact that last one will be today’s actual challenge question.
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The Many Worlds of the Quantum Multiverse
The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics tells us that observation collapses a probability wave into a single definitive outcome, but this isn’t the only interpretation of quantum mechanics. The many worlds theory proposes that the wavefunction never actually collapses. The observer simply follows one of those many possible paths into their present reality while all the other paths conti
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Why the Universe Needs Dark Energy
We know the universe will continue to expand forever, so now we can begin to complete the first Friedmann equation, and determine the shape and geometry of our universe. At first glance, it would seem that the equation doesn’t quite add up, and that our universe is a hyperbolic plane. But when we add in the cosmological constant, the equation balances out, and we return to a flat universe.
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Will Starshot's Insterstellar Journey Succeed?
Yuri Milner’s Breakthrough Starshot is an interstellar travel expedition unlike any other before it. It’s many years in the making and is contingent on a series of incredible advancements in nanotechnology, materials science and laser power. Just how likely is it that Starshot’s journey to Alpha Centauri will succeed?
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Life on Europa?
The Hubble Telescope found more evidence of vast plumes of water bursting through the icy surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa. What does this tell us about the potential for life on Europa?
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Is There a Fifth Fundamental Force? + Quantum Eraser Answer
Has a fifth fundamental force been discovered and how will this effect our understanding of the universe?
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The Origin of Our First Interstellar Visitor
We were recently visited by a traveler from outside our solar system. This is the first time we’ve ever seen an object that came to us from interstellar space. It's name is 'Oumuamua.
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Are We Living in an Ancestor Simulation? ft. Neil deGrasse T
The idea that our reality is a simulation is not as far-fetched as you may think. Many philosophers, scientists and tech-billionaires are seriously considering not just the possibility but the high probability that our civilization may be a program being run by another, more advanced alien civilization.
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9 NASA Technologies Shaping YOUR Future
NASA is really good at going to space, amongst other things, but did you know that part of their mission is to work also for the public good!? It’s part of NASA’s doctrine that they must release the patents on the stuff they work on, which has, over the years, given us some really awesome things you would have never thought have come from NASA!
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How to Estimate the Density of the Moon in Majora’s Mask
Gabe breaks down the steps for how he determined the density of the moon in Majora's Mask.
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Solving the Impossible in Quantum Field Theory
The equations of quantum field theory allow us to calculate the behaviour of subatomic particles by expressing them as vibrations in quantum fields. But even the most elegant and complete formulations of quantum physics – like the Dirac equation or Feynman’s path integral - become impossibly complicated when we try to use them on anything but the most simple systems.
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No Dark Matter = Proof of Dark Matter?
We’ve been failing to detect dark matter for decades. Finally, the latest failure to detect dark matter may have actually proved its existence. One of these is true: either most of the matter in the universe is invisible and formed of something not explained by modern particle physics OR our understanding of gravity is completely broken.
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Kronos: Devourer Of Worlds
What happens when a star eats its planets? Find out on today’s Space Time Journal Club.
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