This week, I sat down with noted researcher Caroline Piaulet, a doctoral student at the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx) and the Université de Montréal. Caroline is an astrophysicist who specializes in the study of exoplanets that are between Earth and Neptune in terms of size. These are the planets that are largely missing from the exoplanet census. Caroline and her colleagues intend to find out why!

Caroline also specializes in the study of “Water Worlds,” a strange and exotic type of exoplanet where water makes up a significant fraction of their mass. This means that they are covered in oceans many kilometers deep, far far greater than anything we know here on Earth! These worlds are something astronomers never imagined until they began popping up in telescope data less than two decades ago and the implications they could have for finding life in our Universe could be immense!

These and other fascinating topics came up in the course of our half-hour conversation. Her research and the topic itself warranted way more time, but she’s a busy person. Check it out below!

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This week, I addressed one of my favorite proposed resolutions to the Fermi Paradox. Known as the “Berserker Hypothesis” (or deadly probe scenario), this theory states that the reason we haven’t heard from any advanced civilizations is that advanced life is wiped out before long. The theory incorporates advanced concepts like John von Neumann’s “Universal Constructor” (aka. self-replicating probes, or von Neumann Probes) and Robin Hanson’s “Great Filter Hypothesis.”

Basically, the idea is that at some point in the future, advanced species will create self-replicating probes to explore the Universe. If just one of these species designed these probes to seek out and eliminate other species before they could become a threat, then this might explain the “Great Silence.” In another scenario, the probes suffered a malfunction and went “berserk,” consuming all matter in the Universe in a runaway manner (which included their creators).

This theory takes its name from the Berserker science fiction series by Fred Saberhagen and has been explored by countless science fiction series and franchises. Some examples include Greg Bear’s The Forge of God and Anvil of Stars, Alastair Reynold’s Revelation Space series (aka. The Inhibitor Cycle), the Mass Effect series, Star Trek, Babylon 5, Stargate, and the original Battlestar Galactica.

While the idea is science fiction gold, it is admittedly frightening when considered as a serious prospect. Luckily for all of us, various lines of research indicate that it is not a likely scenario. Check it out below:

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This week’s episode is part II of my interview with science communicator, author, and educator James Maynard, creator and host of The Cosmic Companion. For Part II, we talked more about the Artemis Program, the role of the commercial space industry, and the future of human spaceflight and space exploration (and what it will make possible). During our chat, he capped things with a brilliant quote, which I had to introduce the episode with:

“The squabbles of nations on other worlds will soon become as distant to people living in space as the squabbles of ancient city-states are to us today. It could be the end of nationalism as we know it.”

Heady stuff! And inspiring words for the future. Follow the links below to hear the episode:

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This week, my guest was science communicator, author, and educator James Maynard, creator and host of The Cosmic Companion. Maynard is what is typically referred to as a “NASA legacy,” a person whose parents worked for NASA. In Maynard’s case, that includes his mother and father, who worked with the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. Through the network he’s created, Maynard maintains this tradition of educating and inspiring people to pursue careers in space, the STEAMs, and science communication.

This is Part I of our two-part interview, where we discuss today’s most important missions and programs and what we can look forward to in the future. We also got into what it means to be a science communicator, how to deal with doubters and skeptics, how awesome it is to do what you love for a living, and how to deal with that nasty old voice that says, “you’re not good enough.” – aka. “imposter syndrome.” Check it out below:

Where to Listen:

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That’s right! The Electronic Advanced Reader Copies (eARCs) of The Ross 248 Project are now available for Kindle and in other e-formats. This anthology contains scientific essays and science fiction stories that explore how humans may one day live on plants that orbit Red Dwarf suns. The volume is edited by famed NASA scientists and SF author Les Johnson and terraforming specialist Ken Roy – who coined the idea for “Shellworlds” (see graphic below).

My own contribution was an essay titled “Terraforming Planets Under a Red Sun,” which reviews the relevant science and ecological engineering behind terraforming, how it could be used to transform planets and moons in our Solar System, and how this might be applied to exoplanets as well. This summer, I will be joining Johnson and Roy on a panel that discusses the new book at the 8th Interstellar Symposium: “In the Light of Other Suns.” This will event is taking place at McGill University, Montreal, from July 10th – 13th and is being hosted by the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx).

And if you’re in Montreal that week, swing on by! We’ll grab some smoked meat and beers!

And be sure to check out The Ross 248 Project over at Baen.com or pre-order the paperback at Simon & Schuster!

This week’s episode is dedicated to what is arguably the most influential and inspired science fiction film of all time. The movie and novelization of 2001: A Space Odyssey were released simultaneously in 1968 and had a massive impact on audiences and cinematic history. It combined hard science, futuristic predictions, and cosmology with inspired ideas about extraterrestrials, evolution, and classic philosophy. It also combined Arthur C. Clarke’s knowledge and predictive powers with Stanley Kubrick’s famous “show, don’t tell” style of filmmaking.

But there are several lesser-known facts about the film that have to do with its inspiration and production. In addition to being a consultant and co-author on the script, the film was based on two of Arthur C. Clarke’s short stories – “The Sentinel” and “Encounter at Dawn.” There’s also the way Kubrick struggled to find a realistic depiction of advanced extraterrestrials. Carl Sagan was brought in to advise Kubrick on this, and (middle, middle, middle) the Monolith was born! Check it out below:

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This week’s episode is dedicated to the life and times of Galileo Galilei. In 1610, using a telescope of his own make and design, Galileo forever revolutionized astronomy as we know it. Not only did he prove the Copernican model (aka. the heliocentric model) of the Universe to be correct. His observations of the Sun, Moon, Jupiter’s moons, Mars, and the Milky Way effectively demonstrated that Earth was neither special nor unique in the Universe.

Galileo was a rare sort, a polymath, an intellectual giant, and a passionate soul. In that respect, his life and accomplishments are comparable only to individuals like Ptolemy, Copernicus, Newton, Einstein, and Hawking. While he didn’t get his due in his lifetime, history remembers Galileo for his efforts to break humanity out of provincially-minded dogma. That struggle continues today, and it’s good to honor and acknowledge those who contributed along the way.

Where to Listen:

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This week, I had the privilege of chatting with famed physicist, author, NASA technologist, and interstellar travel expert Les Johnson. In addition to discussing the challenges of mounting human-rated missions to interstellar space, we talked about his science fiction writing – which includes multiple novels and anthologies. He’s also been a contributor and the chief editor of several collections that combine SF short stories with scientific essays, like Going Interstellar and Stellaris: People of the Stars.

We also talked about the upcoming anthology, The Ross 248 Project, which is available for pre-order through Baen Publishing and Simon & Schuster. This book explores how human beings could one day travel to rocky planets that orbit Red Dwarf suns and how these planets could be terraformed to make them habitable for Earth organisms (including us). I had the honor of contributing an essay to this anthology, “Under a Crimson Sun,” which explores potential terraforming strategies and was inspired by a series I wrote for Universe Today (The Definitive Guide to Terraforming). Follow the links below to check it out!

Where to Listen:

• Spotify
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This week’s episode is a homage to one of the greatest science fiction authors and science communicators of all time: Arthur C. Clarke. In addition to his writing and research, Clarke was a noted futurist who made many famous predictions about the future. His ability to anticipate technological advancements and the effect they would have on society earned him the nickname “Prophet of the Space Age.”

The subject of his predictions and what he got right or wrong is something I’ve been examining since I read the novelization of 2001: A Space Odyssey a few decades ago. While there were many details that he got wrong and had to ret-con in later books, he was eerily right about many things. These included communication satellites, the internet, spaceplanes, commercial spaceflight, and orbital space stations. Follow the links below to hear more!

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For this week’s episode, I sat down with Dr. Alex Ellery, a professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Carleton University – which happens to be my alma mater (Go Ravens!) Dr. Ellery has written extensively about a subject that is near and dear to the heart of SETI researchers – Von Neumann Probes! For those unfamiliar, the concept is named in honor of famed scientist and engineer John Von Neumann (1903-1957).

In a series of lectures and his posthumously-published book, Theory of Self Reproducing Automata, he described machines that could harvest raw materials and produce exact copies of themselves. Over time, this notion has merged with ideas like nanotechnology and additive manufacturing (3-D printing) to become an idea for space exploration. And as SETI reminds us, if we can think of it, someone else has likely created it already.

Since the 1970s, Von Neumann probes have become a focal point in the ongoing debate about the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence (aka. the Fermi Paradox). The argument goes like this: if an advanced civilization were out there, we’d see evidence of self-replicating probes by now. This argument has led to all kinds of speculation and theories, and you can bet that Ellery and I got into them with gusto! Follow the links below to have a listen!

Where to Listen:

• Spotify
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• Simplecast