A dying star explodes in a luminous supernova.
Shutterstock / NASA pictures
The universe is filled with wild and fantastic mysteries, scenes of mind-blowing magnificence and extremely highly effective forces. Additionally it is residence to New Scientist’s Chelsea Whyte and Leah Crane, who current Lifeless Planets Society. On this new podcast, our two intrepid hosts think about what it is perhaps like in the event that they got cosmic powers to rearrange the universe.
Together with professional astronomers, physicists and planetary scientists, they discover all the pieces from comparatively benign situations – Might we make Pluto a planet once more? Is it potential to show Venus right into a liveable planet for people? – to the downright damaging. Subscribe to New Scientist Weekly for entry to all of our podcasts, together with Lifeless Planets Society, and be taught what may occur if we punched a gap in a planet, chiselled Earth right into a dice, or put out the solar.
Whilst you’re ready for brand new episodes to drop, try seven of our hottest in-depth articles that discover the photo voltaic system and past. To have a good time the launch of Lifeless Planets Society, we’re making these premium articles free to learn till 25 July. Unlock your entry by clicking by and registering as a newscientist.com person.
A cosmic catalogue
What, precisely, is on the market? Discover our stock of the universe, a concise information to all the pieces we all know of within the cosmos, from stars and planets to galaxy clusters and darkish power. Highly effective telescopes have given us a deep have a look at a menagerie of moons and black holes, super-Earths and sizzling Jupiters – and supplied a deeper understanding of how the universe works.
Saving Earth from an asteroid
What would we do if scientists detected an asteroid the scale of a big constructing rushing immediately in the direction of Earth? Determining which cities to evacuate, who to inform and maintain the human race going is the aim of planetary defence tasks. On this article, comply with together with a gaggle of scientists who met in Washington DC to hash out how we’d reply to a cosmic worst-case situation.
Black gap choose-your-own-adventure
Think about your self being pulled into one of many universe’s widespread giants – a black gap. A looming darkness washes over your eyes and your physique is stretched into ribbons, “spaghettified” as scientists name it. However then what? On this choose-your-own-adventure story, you resolve. Will you be devoured and evaporate into Hawking radiation? Would your atoms get crushed down and spewed again out in a white gap? Or might you find yourself in one other universe altogether?
Postcards to the celebrities
Since business radio started within the Twenties, we now have been inadvertently broadcasting our presence to the celebrities. About half a century later, scientists started intentionally sending messages into the universe with the hope that there is perhaps some clever life on the market to obtain them. So what sort of image do aliens have of us? If they’ve ears or eyes, they’ve heard Morse code and seen The Simpsons. They’ve additionally acquired a missive with binary code depicting the double helix of DNA and and perhaps even hummed alongside to Throughout the Universe by the Beatles. Extra lately, researchers have been engaged on an up to date message to ship into the cosmos – however some say there’s potential hazard in revealing an excessive amount of about Earth.
The best way to get to Mars
Earth and Mars are worlds aside. The Crimson Planet is a frigid wasteland with decrease stress and gravity than our residence planet. However that isn’t the one problem for any people hoping to arrange home there. Simply attending to Mars is an endeavour that we will solely confidently set out on after we now have answered some big questions: how can we construct a large enough rocket for the journey, can it carry all of the meals and spare components we would want to make the months-long journey, and who can we ship as the primary people to set foot on one other planet? And the largest query of all: can we deliver them residence?
Black holes from the daybreak of time
Because the early universe quickly expanded, space-time unfold out sooner than the pace of sunshine. Out of this chaos arose primordial black holes. Or did they? These historic black holes have been theorised for many years, and a few scientists suppose we could have already noticed them – which might be a monumental discovery. Not solely would they be the primary black holes ever to type, however essentially the most attention-grabbing ones within the cosmos. Learn extra to be taught what they might inform us about darkish matter, the accelerating enlargement of the universe and the forces that maintain collectively all the pieces that exists.
Making a moon base
There was renewed curiosity within the moon for years, with plans for landers and rovers popping out of China, Russia, Japan, India, Europe and personal house firms. However NASA doesn’t simply need to go go to – the US house company needs to remain. It has plans to assemble samples of moon ice and discover outdoors the touchdown areas of the Apollo missions from a long time in the past. However first, the astronauts it sends must overcome the challenges of house radiation and harmful moon mud to construct and energy a moon base.
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