The State of The Universe

Rate the show five stars wherever you are listening or dark matter will forever remain elusive!  Episode 81 features physicist Dr. Daniel Whiteson. We discuss the Standard Model of particle physics and all of the things it cannot explain. We also discuss the many things it does account for, like the Higgs Boson! Dr. Daniel Whiteson is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. He is also co-author of the book We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe which can purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/We-Have-No-Idea-Universe/dp/0735211515/. He is also the co-host of a podcast titled Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe which can be found on Apple Podcasts here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daniel-and-jorge-explain-the-universe/id1436616330 Support the show by leaving a rating or a review and subscribing to receive future content. Consider becoming a Patron by subscribing at https://www.patreon.com/thestateoftheuniverse or supporting the show via a one time donation at https://www.paypal.me/drachler. For more episodes or information about The State of The Universe join the mailing list at thestateoftheuniverse.com or follow the show on social media.

This episode is part of the science podcast takeover extravaganza! Today only, The State of The Universe feed will be taken over by Dan Hooper and Shalma Wegsman, the hosts of Why This Universe? The biggest ideas in physics, broken down. Join theoretical physicist Dan Hooper and soon-to-be physicist Shalma Wegsman as they answer your questions about dark matter, black holes, quantum mechanics, and more. Dan is a physicist at Fermilab and the University of Chicago, and Shalma is a PhD student at New York University.  Go check out their show on Apple Podcasts or wherever podcasts are found!  We will be taking over their feed today too, don't miss it!

Rate the show 5 stars wherever you listen to end the pandy! (that means pandemic... for the people who don't understand hip-lingo) Episode 80 features astrophysicist Dr. Jeyhan Kartaltepe. We discuss how galaxies have evolved from the soup at the very beginning of the Universe to the massive objects we observe (and live in) today. We also discuss how galaxy surveys observe millions of galaxies and what they all can teach us about the Universe! Dr. Kartaltepe is an astrophysicist in the School of Physics and Astronomy and the Director for the Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). She is an expert in the areas of galaxy formation and evolution, galaxy morphologies, galaxy mergers and interactions, and the properties of infrared galaxies. She is a leading member in several large collaborative multiwavelength surveys, including COSMOS (The Cosmic Evolution Survey), CANDELS (The Cosmic Assembly Near-Infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey), and CEERS (The Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey).  Support the show by leaving a rating or a review and subscribing to receive future content. Consider becoming a Patron by subscribing at https://www.patreon.com/thestateoftheuniverse or supporting the show via a one time donation at https://www.paypal.me/drachler. For more episodes or information about The State of The Universe join the mailing list at thestateoftheuniverse.com or follow the show on social media.

Rate the show 5 stars wherever you listen in order to solve world hunger... don't be selfish. Episode 79 features particle physicist and cosmologist Dr. Dan Hooper. We discuss that time "NASA Detected a Parallel Universe" and whether that story is fact or fiction. We also discuss the biggest problems in astrophysics - from dark matter to dark energy to the beginning of time, how can we solve these? Dan is a Senior Scientist and the Head of the Theoretical Astrophysics Group at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. He is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago.  Check out Dan's podcast Why This Universe? https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-this-universe/id1523312400. Dan's newest book At the Edge of Time: Exploring the Mysteries of Our Universe’s First Seconds is available now wherever books are sold. Buy it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Edge-Time-Exploring-Mysteries-Essentials/dp/0691183562/. Follow Dan on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DanHooperAstro. His previous books Nature's Blueprint: Supersymmetry and the Search for a Unified Theory of Matter and Force and Dark Cosmos: In Search of Our Universe's Missing Mass and Energy can be found on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061558362/ and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061130338/, respectively. Support the show by leaving a rating or a review and subscribing to receive future content. Consider becoming a Patron by subscribing at https://www.patreon.com/thestateoftheuniverse or supporting the show via a one time donation at https://www.paypal.me/drachler. For more episodes or information about The State of The Universe join the mailing list at thestateoftheuniverse.com or follow the show on social media.

Rate the show 5 stars wherever you listen or corona season will never end... your choice.  Episode 78 features hurricane expert Brian McNoldy. We discuss how climate change could impact hurricane development and formation in the future. Also, will a warming climate be a catalyst for stronger hurricanes? Furthermore, can we stop a hurricane? It turns out the last question has been explored a lot and some wacky solutions have been proposed... Brian is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Atmospheric Science - Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. Brian has also been the tropical weather expert for the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang blog since 2012. Check out Brian’s blog at http://bmcnoldy.blogspot.com/ and follow him on twitter at https://twitter.com/BMcNoldy. Support the show by leaving a rating or a review and subscribing to receive future content. Consider becoming a Patron by subscribing at https://www.patreon.com/thestateoftheuniverse or supporting the show via a one time donation at https://www.paypal.me/drachler. For more episodes or information about The State of The Universe join the mailing list at thestateoftheuniverse.com or follow the show on social media.

Rate the show 5 stars wherever you listen or throw your phone into the interstate. Your choice... Episode 77 features Dr. Maura McLaughlin - an expert on pulsars and gravitational wave astronomy. We discuss gravitational waves, how we have detected them in the past, how we are trying to use pulsars to detect them within NANOGrav, the intricacies of neutron stars, supermassive black holes and much more! Maura is an Eberly Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy and West Virginia University (WVU) spending much of her time studying pulsars and the, as yet unachieved, direct detection of gravitational waves. Much of her work is done as a member of the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav).  Support the show by leaving a rating or a review and subscribing to receive future content. Consider becoming a Patron by subscribing at https://www.patreon.com/thestateoftheuniverse or supporting the show via a one time donation at https://www.paypal.me/drachler. For more episodes or information about The State of The Universe join the mailing list at thestateoftheuniverse.com or follow the show on social media. The music in this episode belongs to https://freebeats.io/. 

Rate the show 5 stars wherever you listen or you will be the first victim of the robot takeover... Your choice.  Episode 76 features an expert in Artificial Intelligence, Peter Haas. Artificial intelligence and machine learning impact everyone's life in some way. In some cases, the negatives can outweigh the positives. How can we change the way AI is implemented to work for us, not against us? Furthermore, AI is ruthlessly efficient and will continue replacing jobs in nearly every sector. How can we adapt to this coming change? Frankly, the next decade may prove AI to be a very real threat in ways you might not have imagined.  Peter Haas is the associate director of the Brown University Humanity Centered Robotics Initiative. He was the co-founder and COO of XactSense, a UAV manufacturer working on LIDAR mapping and autonomous navigation. Previously, Haas founded AIDG, a small hardware enterprise accelerator in emerging markets. Haas received TED and Echoing Green fellowships. He has been a speaker at TED Global, The World Bank, Harvard University and other venues.  Support the show by leaving a rating or a review and subscribing to receive future content. Consider becoming a Patron by subscribing at https://www.patreon.com/thestateoftheuniverse or supporting the show via a one time donation at https://www.paypal.me/drachler. For more episodes or information about The State of The Universe join the mailing list at thestateoftheuniverse.com or follow the show on social media. The music in this episode belongs to https://freebeats.io/. 

Rate the show 5 stars wherever you listen! Or we'll never get to Europa... Your choice.  Episode 75 features Dr. Kevin Peter Hand. Kevin Peter Hand is a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he has served as deputy chief scientist for solar system exploration and is leading an effort to land a spacecraft on the surface of Europa. How do we know Europa has a subsurface ocean? Could there be life there? What would that life be like? All those questions are answered and much more! Purchase Alien Oceans: The Search for Life in the Depths of Space on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Oceans-Search-Depths-Space-dp-0691179514/dp/0691179514/  Kevin's opinions do not represent the opinions of NASA or JPL. They are solely his. Support the show by leaving a rating or a review and subscribing to receive future content. Consider becoming a Patron by subscribing at https://www.patreon.com/thestateoftheuniverse or supporting the show via a one time donation at https://www.paypal.me/drachler. For more episodes or information about The State of The Universe join the mailing list at thestateoftheuniverse.com or follow the show on social media. The music in this episode belongs to https://freebeats.io/. 

Rate the show 5 stars wherever you listen! Or you hate dogs... Your choice.  Episode 74 feature Bernie Taylor. Bernie Taylor is an author focused on topics at the intersection of archaeology, anthropology, and astronomy. In this episode we discuss the origin of dogs. When did our partnership with dogs begin? The answer to that question could have implications on the disappearance of neanderthals and the emergence of humans as we know them.  More information about Bernie Taylor can be found at https://beforeorion.com/. Support the show by leaving a rating or a review and subscribing to receive future content. Consider becoming a Patron by subscribing at https://www.patreon.com/thestateoftheuniverse or supporting the show via a one time donation at https://www.paypal.me/drachler. For more episodes or information about The State of The Universe join the mailing list at thestateoftheuniverse.com or follow the show on social media. The music in this episode belongs to https://freebeats.io/. 

Episode 73 features Nate Stewart. Nate is an Operations Planning Flight Controller at NASA's Johnson Space Center. The content of the episode does not represent the opinions of NASA or the United States government. It is solely the beliefs and opinions of Nate Stewart. For decades, it has been a goal of the US government to put American astronauts on Martian soil. Why have we been unable to reach any of our predicted timelines? What technology do we lack? Where have we failed? Before a successful mission to Mars is executed, we must understand what technological innovations are necessary. Nate breaks down where we need to improve before we can feasibly move forward.  Support the show by leaving a rating or a review and subscribing to receive future content. Consider becoming a Patron by subscribing at https://www.patreon.com/thestateoftheuniverse or supporting the show via a one time donation at https://www.paypal.me/drachler. For more episodes or information about The State of The Universe visit thestateoftheuniverse.com or follow the show on social media. The music in this episode belongs to https://freebeats.io/. 

Episode 71 features Dr. Joel Kastner. We discuss how we search for young stars, what they can teach us about our own Sun and Solar System, how we observe planets forming, and much more! Joel Kastner is a Professor in the Center for Imaging Science and School of Physics & Astronomy at the Rochester (NY) Institute of Technology. He was formerly the Director of the Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics at the Rochester Institute of Technology and currently serves as the Chair of the Committee on Employment for the American Astronomical Society. Support the show by leaving a rating or a review and subscribing to receive future content. Consider becoming a Patron by subscribing at https://www.patreon.com/thestateoftheuniverse or supporting the show via a one time donation at https://www.paypal.me/drachler. For more episodes or information about The State of The Universe visit thestateoftheuniverse.com or follow the show on social media. The music in this episode belongs to https://freebeats.io/. 

Episode 70 features Dr. Mike Poland. We discuss whether Yellowstone is at risk of another super eruption, how it is monitored, what precursors will indicate an oncoming eruption, probing volcanic activity with measurements of surface gravity, and much more! Mike is a research geophysicist with the Cascades Volcano Observatory and the current Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.  His area of specialization is volcano geodesy, which emphasizes the surface deformation and gravity fields associated wth volcanic activity.  This work involves the use of space-based tecnologies, like Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), as well as ground-based techniques, like microgravity surveys.  Mike has taken part in studies on a variety of volcanic systems in the United states, including Mount St. Helens and other volcanoes of the Pacific Northwest,  Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes in Hawaii, and the Yellowstone caldera.  His recent work has focused on using gravity change over time to understand the character of the fluids that drive volcanic unrest, and also on the potential of satellite data to improve forecasts of future changes in volcanic activity. You can learn more about Mike and the USGS's efforts to monitor the Yellowstone Caldera at https://www.youtube.com/user/usgs/videos or https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/yellowstone/article_home.html Support the show by leaving a rating or a review and subscribing to receive future content. Consider becoming a Patron by subscribing at https://www.patreon.com/thestateoftheuniverse or supporting the show via a one time donation at https://www.paypal.me/drachler. For more episodes or information about The State of The Universe visit thestateoftheuniverse.com or follow the show on social media.

Episode 69 features Dr. David Warmflash. We discuss what will be achieved in spaceflight in the next decade, how commercial spaceflight will develop, the Columbia disaster, and how we can prevent people from getting duped by pseudoscience.  Dr. David Warmflash is an astrobiologist, space medicine researcher, author, and science advisor to the new startup "Let's Rover the Moon." He was in the first cohort of NASA astrobiology postdoctoral trainees and has collaborated with The Planetary Society on three experiments that have flown a variety of small organisms in space. Check out his new book, Moon: An Illustrated History; From Ancient Myths to the Colonies of Tomorrow (Sterling Press, 2019). Support the show by leaving a rating or a review and subscribing to receive future content. Consider becoming a Patron by subscribing at https://www.patreon.com/thestateoftheuniverse or supporting the show via a one time donation at https://www.paypal.me/drachler. For more episodes or information about The State of The Universe visit thestateoftheuniverse.com or follow the show on social media.

Episode 68 features Nate Stewart. Nate is an Operations Planning Flight Controller at NASA's Johnson Space Center. The content of the episode does not represent the opinions of NASA. It is solely the beliefs and opinions of Nate Stewart. We discuss the spaceflight rituals that every astronaut and cosmonaut takes part in before launch. We also discuss the symbolism and history behind each.  Support the show by leaving a rating or a review and subscribing to receive future content. Consider becoming a Patron by subscribing at https://www.patreon.com/thestateoftheuniverse or supporting the show via a one time donation at https://www.paypal.me/drachler. For more episodes or information about The State of The Universe visit thestateoftheuniverse.com or follow the show on social media.

Episode 67 features Spaceflight Historian and Physicist Dr. David Fisher. We discuss what was achieved in spaceflight in 2019, what we expect to achieve in 2020, how we will launch astronauts from American soil in 2020, how commercial spaceflight is emerging, and much more! Dr. David Fisher is a Professor of Physics at Lycoming College and a spaceflight historian. He has authored over 75 articles that have appeared in peer-reviewed research articles, technical journals, popular media, reference works; and has even published a few poems. He also owns one of the largest private collections of spaceflight memorabilia and documentation.  Throughout this episode, multiple pictures are mentioned and they can be found at: For sale sign: https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NjVgQRcDaJ6HoxgVKUvDEe-1024-80.jpg Cosmonaut's weird ritual: https://www.syfy.com/sites/blastr/files/images/assets_c/2012/08/cosmonautpeeing-thumb-330x497-98327.jpg Necktie cutting: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/2009-4100.jpg Support the show by leaving a rating or a review and subscribing to receive future content. Consider becoming a Patron by subscribing at https://www.patreon.com/thestateoftheuniverse or supporting the show via a one time donation at https://www.paypal.me/drachler. For more episodes or information about The State of The Universe visit thestateoftheuniverse.com or follow the show on social media.