Cool Worlds

NYU Professor of Physics, David Grier, dropped in to tell us about his team's amazing work building the world's first real life tractor beam. Just like Star Trek, he explains how their light beam pulls things toward it, how it works and how it could soon be used by NASA.

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► Prof David Grier's homepage: http://physics.nyu.edu/grierlab/
► "Building Star Trek", Smithsonian Channel: http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/shows/building-star-trek/0/3436402
► Outro music by Taylor Davis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl9kI1yQKZk

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The idea of Dyson Spheres was a radical proposal by the physicist Freeman Dyson, an enormous shell of material enveloping a star. Dyson's idea may be over half a century old, but interest in looking for such objects has only grown in the decades since. But how would such structures work? Are they physically even possible? And what might someone use them for? Today, we dive into the physics of Dyson spheres.

Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping...

Dr Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer of the SETI Institute, was at the New England Fall Astronomy Festival with me last week and I took the opportunity to ask him about the news reports of a SETI signal detected in Russia from the star HD 164595. Dr Shostak explains why he's not convinced that we've just heard from another civilization. Apologies for the noisy background and typo on the title: Shostak not Shostack!

::More about this Video::

► CNN News report: http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/31/europe/seti-signal-hd-164595-not-alien-civilization/
► Big Picture Science: http://radio.seti.org/about_the_show...

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There are many possible solutions to the Fermi Paradox but a few have risen to particular prominence - including the "Grabby Aliens" hypothesis. Today, we'll explore what this solution proposes, what it assumes, and ultimately three reasons why I personally don't think it's right.

Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping. Edited by Jorge Casas. Special thanks to Robin Hanson for his discussions with me on this.

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This week a plot showing the global sea ice over time went viral due to shockingly low levels, smashing previous records. The plot was so weird that we decided to check out the data for ourselves and see if it was legit. Indeed, we can reproduce this alarming plot and provide some links and scripts for any of you who want to go ahead and try yourselves. Here we get into why we think these kinds of weird observations may become more common in the future.

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► National Sea and Ice Data Ce...

Thanks for all of your great comments and questions on our last two Proxima b videos! Here's a quick video covering some of the most common questions about Proxima b, such as: Is it tidally locked? Can we image it with Hubble? Can we take a photo with a flyby spaceship?

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► "Discovery of a Planet around our Nearest Star: Proxima b" Cool Worlds video by Dr Guillem Anglada: https://youtu.be/59ClESB1AqA
► "Proxima b: Transits, Habitability & How to Get There!" Cool Worlds video by Prof Kipping: https://youtu.be/tcc6...

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Many of you wanted me to talk about the different interstellar propulsion ideas out there so we figured a fun way to compare them all would be in a tier list! Today we take a look at 14 different methods proposed to explore the stars. Let us know your rankings down below in the comments.

Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping. Edited by Jorge Casas.

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Astrobiology an exciting new field studying how life begins and the conditions needed both on Earth and elsewhere in the cosmos. Columbia's Director of Astrobiology, Dr Caleb Scharf, dropped into the Cool Worlds Lab to tell us about his new paper which created a "Drake Equation" for abiogenesis. Whilst we can only guess at many of the factors in the equation right now, it provides a framework for tackling this problem going forward.

::More about this Video::

► The paper by Scharf & Cronin (2016), "Quantifying the Origins of Life on a Planetary Scale": https://arxiv.org/abs/1511.02549

Unscripted excitement about what's coming next...

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Previous videos in this story…
- Some Bad News
https://youtu.be/HtHqmlAb1pA
- Some Good News https://youtu.be/4sv_sa_tLPg?si=9D4Pzh8H0TkisrTr
- Why Exomoons Are So Important https://youtu.be/b2crw2DGy38?si=-mEc8rznBsO0GDah

THANK-YOU to T. Widdowson, D. Smith, L. Sanborn, C. Bottaccini, D. Daughaday, S. Brownlee...

Woah, 1000 subscribers! Thanks to everyone who viewed and subscribed so far! Quick thank-you video and some background about this channel's goals and future. Stay curious!

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► Cool Worlds Lab website: http://coolworlds.astro.columbia.edu
► Outro music by Taylor Davis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl9kI1yQKZk

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There's been some new studies in the fields of paleopaleontology that have changed my mind about one of the most profound questions - does life start easily on Earth-like planets? Join me today to find out why.

Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping. Edited by Jorge Casas.

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Hey Cool Worlders! Here's part 2 of the mini series "How Many Planets in the Universe?" where we now estimate the total number of worlds in the cosmos. If you haven't seen part 1, link is just below!

::More about this Video::

► Check out part 1 of this video series, "How Many Planets in the Universe? | Part 1: Our Galaxy": https://youtu.be/QQbp91m16Fw
► Size of the Universe reference, Vardanyan et al. (2011), “Applications of Bayesian model averaging to the curvature and size of the Universe”: https://arxiv.org/abs/1101.5476v2
► Number of galaxies in the observable...

Dr Guillem Anglada and the Pale Red Dot project team announced today the discovery of a planet orbiting our nearest star, Proxima Centauri! Prof Kipping provides an update on the search as to whether "Proxima b" also is seen to transit its star our the Cool Worlds Lab MOST data + a discussion of habitability and how to reach this planet!

::More about this Video::

► MOST telescope homepage: http://most.astro.ubc.ca
► Outro music by Taylor Davis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl9kI1yQKZk

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Latest Cool...

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Today we explore what could be considered a classic problem in exoplanetary science, yet one which has eluded astronomers for decades. Transit timing variations (TTVs) are seen in thousands in systems, literally wobbling worlds. Yet for the vast majority of cases, we have no solution for the culprit. Today, we present new research from our team that finds analytic expressions for the allowed solution space and reveals the startling existence of an "exoplanet...

It's getting harder to harder to ignore the potential disruptive power of AI in research. Scientists are already using AI tools but could the future lead to complete replacement of humans? How will our scientific institutions transform? These are difficult questions but ones we have to talk about in today's episode.

Written, presented & edited by Prof. David Kipping.

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Our own cool world is warming up. Dr Gavin Schmidt, Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), visited the Cool Worlds Lab and explains how NASA actually measures these climatic changes and the modeling used to understand what is responsible for them.

::More about this Video::

► NASA GISS Surface Temperature Analysis software and data sources: http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/
► Outro music by Taylor Davis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl9kI1yQKZk

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Latest Cool Worlds Videos ► http://bit.ly/NewCoolWorlds
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Did astronomers just prove dark energy is wrong? Some breaking news this week that I couldn't resist covering on here...

Written, presented & edited by Prof. David Kipping.

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THANK-YOU to T. Widdowson, D. Smith, L. Sanborn, C. Bottaccini, D. Daughaday, S. Brownlee, E. West, T. Zajonc, A. De Vaal, M. Elliott, B. Daniluk, S. Vystoropskyi, S. Lee, Z. Danielson, C. Fitzgerald, C. Souter, M. Gillette, T. Jeffcoat, J. Rockett, D. Mur...

Alien megastructures are back in the headlines after some new research published last week. It has been claimed that Tabby's Star is confirmed to be steadily dimming, which is completely unexpected behavior for a star. Prof Kipping explains what we know (and don't know) about this mysterious star and what astronomers really mean by "alien megastructures".

::More about this Video::

► Montet & Simon (2016), "KIC 8462852 Faded Throughout the Kepler Mission": http://arxiv.org/abs/1608.01316
► Schaefer (2016), "KIC 8462852 Faded at an Average Rate of 0.165+-0.013 Magnitudes Per Century From 1890 To 1989": http://arxiv.org/abs/1601.03256
► Boyajian et al. (2016), "Planet...

The transit method of finding exoplanets is easier for big planets than small planets. But new work from the Cool Worlds Lab shows that transits disfavor the detection of small, Earth-sized planets even more than previously realized. Emily Sandford, a third-year graduate student with the Cool Worlds Lab at Columbia, explains our new paper which derives these biases, allowing astronomers to correct for these effects when figuring out how many Earths there really are.

::More about this Video::

► Kipping & Sandford (2016), "Observational biases for transiting planets": http://arxiv.org/abs/1603.05662
► Outro music by Taylor Davis: http...

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What kind of evidence would be needed to convince the world of alien life? Sagan said that "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence", but what exactly is "extraordinary"? Today we explore the difficult problem of dealing with potentially ambiguous evidence and how it might affect our search for life.

Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping. Edited by Jorge Casas.

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Exoplanets was a transformative discovery for astronomy. Exomoons is the next. I’ve spent most of my career looking for exomoons and today I explain the five reasons why finding them isn’t just fascinating - it’s necessary.

Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping. Edited by Jorge Casas.

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One of the leading interpretations of quantum theory is that every probabilistic event leads to a branching of reality, where all possibilities occur. This "many worlds" interpretation has been growing in prominence, but it implies a bizarre consequence. It might mean that you can never die, and will continue to survive not only life threatening events but even old age. Join us today as we explore the extraordinary idea of quantum immortality.

Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping...

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The Standard Model of Cosmology has reigned supreme for decades, confirmed over and over again. But chinks in the armour have been developing, such as the Hubble Tension. Now, however, a new result threatens to completely upend our view of the Universe - we no longer even know how it will end.

Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping.

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UFOs, UAPs are dominating the media, but what do astronomers really think is going on? Check out our sponsor by using the code coolworlds to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan: https://incogni.com/coolworlds

Over the last few years, there has been growing public attention and interest in UFOs/UAPs fuelled by whistleblowers, leaked videos and of course the media. But astronomers have been looking for life in the Universe for decades already, using systematic searches and established scientific methodologies. No-one spends more time looking up and thinking about aliens than astronomers, so what...

The Juno spacecraft just arrived at Jupiter! Prof Kipping explains what Juno is all about, how NASA got the spacecraft safely into orbit and how this connects to exoplanetary science.

::More about this Video::

► NASA Juno homepage: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/juno/main/index.html
► Outro music by Taylor Davis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl9kI1yQKZk

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Latest Cool Worlds Videos ► http://bit.ly/NewCoolWorlds
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So the whole world seems to have become very excited about the claim of a biosignature discovered in the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2-18b. And no sooner did those headlines hit the airwaves, astronomers came out in droves expressing skepticism and concerns. It feels a bit confusing to have two sides so certain of their position, and often the truth is more nuanced than either side will concede. So today, we're going to take a...

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Could there be a bizarre exotic type of star out there made of quarks? What would these things be like and how could they form? Join us as we explore quark stars, and the terrifying implications they have for forging strange matter within their cores...

Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping. Edited by Jorge Casas. Special thanks to Dr Sam Gregson (www.youtube.com/@BadBoyofScience) for fact checking our script.

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Prof Jason Wright from Penn State explains why Tabby's Star has become known as the most mysterious star in the galaxy and how you can help him and Tabby Boyajian solve this mystery. To contribute to their Kickstarter campaign, go to https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/608159144/the-most-mysterious-star-in-the-galaxy right now!

::More about this Video::

► Kickstarter page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/608159144/the-most-mysterious-star-in-the-galaxy
► Boyajian et al. (2016), "Planet Hunters X. KIC 8462852 - Where's the Flux?": http://arxiv.org/abs/1509.03622
► Wright et al. (2016), "The Ĝ Search for Extraterrestrial Civilizations with Large Energy Supplies. IV. The Signatures and Information Content...

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Many of you wanted me to talk about the Dark Forest Hypothesis - an idea popularised (bit not limited to) the the sci-fi novel and Netflix series, "The Three Body Problem" by Liu Cixin. So in this video I'll explain what dark forest says and why I don't buy it. (Note - this is *not* an analysis of Cixin’s story beats set in his fictional universe, but rather the concept of dark forest in our real one! Although, I will refer to the al...

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There have been two scientific revolutions involving a "Kepler"- one 400 years ago and one on-going! Prof Kipping explains both and why NASA's Kepler Mission will go down in the history books as transformative.

::More about this Video::

► NASA's Kepler Mission website: http://kepler.nasa.gov
► Burke et al. (2015), "Terrestrial Planet Occurrence Rates for the Kepler GK Dwarf Sample": http://arxiv.org/abs/1506.04175
► Doyle et al. (2011), "Kepler-16: A Transiting Circumbinary Planet": http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.3432
► Johansen et al. (2012), "Can planetary instability explain the Kepler dichotomy?": http://arxiv.org/abs/1206.6898
► Outro music by Taylor...

A huge thank-you to everyone who helped us reach this milestone!

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THANK-YOU to T. Widdowson, D. Smith, L. Sanborn, C. Bottaccini, D. Daughaday, S. Brownlee, E. West, T. Zajonc, A. De Vaal, M. Elliott, B. Daniluk, S. Vystoropskyi, S. Lee, Z. Danielson, C. Fitzgerald, C. Souter, M. Gillette, T. Jeffcoat, J. Rockett, D. Murphree, M. Sanford, T. Donkin, A. Schoen, K. Dabrowski, R. Ramezankhani, J. Armstrong, S. Marks, B. Smith, J. Kru...

Answers to your questions by Prof David Kipping from our "Proxima Planet Hunt" and "Polluted Dead Stars" videos (links below)! Thanks to all of you who posted questions, keep 'em coming, we love interacting with you all!

::More about this Video::

► "Proxima Planet Hunt" video: https://youtu.be/z5LVcfzRDI8
► "Polluted Dead Stars" video: https://youtu.be/MAeqIQd6BMM
► Dressing & Charbonneau (2015), "The Occurrence of Potentially Habitable Planets Orbiting M Dwarfs Estimated from the Full Kepler Dataset and an Empirical Measurement of the Detection Sensitivity": http://arxiv.org/abs/1501.01623
► Veras (2015), "Post-main-sequence planetary system evolutio...

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Rubin Observatory just came online and one of its main goals is to detect comets and asteroids that could threaten the Earth. But how long will this take? How many threats do we know of so far? And what could we do about it if we discovered one with our name on it? Join us today as we explore just how dangerous the skies can be...

Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping, edited by Jorge Casas.

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Cool Worlds Lab guest Dr Sarah Ballard from MIT explains how observing dead stars (white dwarfs) can reveal the makeup of exoplanets and even exoplanetesimals! Be sure to follow Sarah on Twitter @hubbahubble and check out her website at http://www.drsarahballard.com.

::More about this Video::

► Farihi et al. (2013), "Evidence for Water in the Rocky Debris of a Disrupted Extrasolar Minor Planet": http://arxiv.org/abs/1310.3269
► Xu et al. (2014), "Elemental Compositions of Two Extrasolar Rocky Planetesimals": http://arxiv.org/abs/1401.4252
► Vanderburg et al. (2015), "A disintegrating minor planet transiting a white dwarf": http://arxiv...

Light sails are a promising method for traveling through space - indeed, Breakthrough Starshot proposed a laser driven version could reach nearby stars. But the exorbitant costs and engineering challenges of such a proposal have stymied its realization. What if there was a way of using the Sun - no lasers required - but keeping our dream of interstellar travel in tact? Introducing TARS.

This video is based on published research
(see https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.17615 ) supported by the Cool Worlds donors (see below). Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping.

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We usually celebrate the big wins, the major discoveries, the eureka moments... but sometimes the most important moments in science aren't like this. Today we explore a pivotal moment that may have saved the field of exoplanets from a much darker path...

Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping. Thanks to Matt Bailes for graciously coming on.

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Proxima Centauri is our nearest star but we still don't know whether it has any planets. Prof Kipping discusses our planet hunting campaign using the space telescope MOST and gives you the latest news.

::More about this Video::

► Gillon et al. (2016), "Temperate Earth-sized planets transiting a nearby ultracool dwarf star": http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature17448.html
► Muirhead at al. (2012), "Characterizing the Cool KOIs III. KOI-961: A Small Star with Large Proper Motion and Three Small Planets": http://arxiv.org/abs/1201.2189
► MOST telescope homepage: http://most.astro.ubc.ca
► O...

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Déjà vu? Professor Avi Loeb has sparked controversy by suggesting - again - that a recently detected interstellar body passing through the Solar System (3I/ATLAS) could be an alien spacecraft. Today, we dive into what he his claiming and whether it holds up - just the science.

Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping, edited by Jorge Casas. Special thanks to Jason Wright for fact checking.

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