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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.

Blood is one of the most revolutionary features in our evolutionary history. Over hundreds of millions of years, the way in which blood does its job has changed over and over again. As a result, we animals have our familiar red blood. But also blue blood. And purple, and green, and even white.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The amazing legacy of animal cells.

How does perceived 'personal space' impact your daily life?

We live in one of a hundred billion of galaxies, each with hundreds of billions of stars. And now, thanks to modern astronomy, we know that the Milky Way is home to perhaps a hundred billion planets! In the past two decades, these exoplanet discoveries have spawned new questions about our universe, and if there might be another Earth, or other life, somewhere out there.

It’s okay to be… small?

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!

Do you believe in mind reading? So far, science denies its existence. At the same time, we still hear stories about telepathic experiences. Telepathy, direct transference of thought from one person (sender or agent) to another (receiver or percipient) without using the usual sensory channels of communication, hence a form of extrasensory perception (ESP). This is a great story that begins in California in the late 90’s where a group of scientist got a group of cats to watch a movie. The cats had electrodes attached to the visual area of their brains. The researchers saw how the cats experienced the outside world by hacking into and recording what their brain cells were communicating. With these bits of information, they rebuilt images from the movies- as seen by the cats. Understanding how our brains encode information and how we can crack the code- could make <a href="https://rumble.com/v3349f-6-people-with-real-superpowers-caught-on-camera.html" target="_blank">”superpowers”</a> like telepathy a reality. While it seems like science fiction, telepathy of mind reading has a scientific name- Brain to brain communication. Between the thoughts of us, humans (or cats) is a computer, a Brain-Computer Interface. It’s clunky compared to the elegant telepathy of Jedi knights. So the final answer to our question? Unfortunately, telepathy doesn’t exist, but advances in technology are bringing it closer to reality. We still need a computer interface between our brains- not as cool as <a href="https://rumble.com/v42b6n-10-greatest-star-wars-fan-theories.html" target="_blank">Star Wars</a>. If you could wear technology and communicate with a thought rather than speech what would you say?

How does math keep a folded slice from drooping? And what does pizza have to do with the speed of light?

SPOILERS: It doesn't end well.

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

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.

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?

Does anyone really remember what we used to do when we were bored before we had these hi-tech devices to keep us occupied? In the old days, people just had to be more creative. Next time you feel that life is going too slow, why don’t you put those idle hands to use and play with the fastest thing in the universe. Here are tree experiments that will bend light itself by using nothing but your own two hands. Try this: close one eye, look at something across the room, preferably something with a nice straight edge or interesting pattern; next, put your finger a few inches in front of your eye, focus on that object and let your eye relax until your finger and the background are slightly out of <a href="https://rumble.com/v4f5r5-iss-spacewalk-underway-robotic-arm-the-focus.html" target="_blank">focus</a>. Look what happens when you move your finger side to side: the light seems to bend around your finger. For some people, it may bend towards the finger, for some it may bend away, but in a few attempts, you should be able to do this quite easily. What is going on here? Is your finger tugging at the fabric of the universe? Well, just a bit. Everything with mass wraps space by a bit, but your finger isn’t massive enough to be noticeable unless you have a black hole in your finger. So, what happened to the <a href="https://rumble.com/v3t82j-artists-create-interactive-light-installation-in-malta.html" target="_blank">light</a> around the finger and what other light experiments are there for us? We wouldn’t want to spoil your fun by saying anything more! Grab yourselves a cup of coffee and enjoy the rest of the video!

Some of the biggest evolution questions finally answered.

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.

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.

Has a fifth fundamental force been discovered and how will this effect our understanding of the universe?

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.

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!

Why do you get a brain freeze? Sometimes, after ice-cream or a cold drink, it can feel like your skull is squeezing in our your brain – it can even be pretty painful. The cold temperatures are picked up by pain receptors near your palate, so while a brain freeze feels like a headache, it's actually just referred pain from your mouth. Keep watching for a few ways to get rid of a brain freeze... as