PBS Space Time
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Episodes
New Results in Quantum Tunneling vs. The Speed of Light
This episode explores the theoretical and experimental aspects of quantum tunneling, specifically investigating whether particles can traverse barriers faster than light.
Perpetual Motion From Negative Mass?
This episode explores the theoretical implications of negative mass, examining how it behaves under Newtonian mechanics and Einstein’s general relativity.
The Physics of Life (ft. It's Okay to be Smart & PBS Eons!)
This episode explores how the second law of thermodynamics and entropy drive the emergence of life, arguing that living systems are essentially efficient energy dissipators.
Mapping the Multiverse
This episode explores the interior of a rotating Kerr black hole using maximally extended Penrose diagrams to map a theoretical multiverse.
How to Communicate Across the Quantum Multiverse
This episode explores how tiny nonlinear deviations in the Schrödinger equation could allow for faster-than-light communication and messaging between…
Understanding the Uncertainty Principle with Quantum Fourier Series | Space Time
This episode uses sound waves and Fourier transforms to explain Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, demonstrating how position and momentum are conjugate variables in quantum mechanics.
Where Is The Center of The Universe?
This episode explores the question of whether the universe has a center, explaining that while the standard Big Bang model suggests no central point,…
Could The Universe Be Inside A Black Hole?
This episode explores the mathematical similarities between black hole singularities and the Big Bang, examining the hypothesis that our universe might exist inside a gigantic black hole.
When Quasars Collide STJC
This episode explores the first detection of a pair of supermassive black holes in a tight binary orbit within the Seyfert galaxy Markarian 533.
Is There A Basic Answer To The Fermi Paradox?
This episode explores the Fermi paradox by proposing that the formation of the first eukaryotic cell may be the "Great Filter" preventing the rise of alien civilizations.
Venus May Have Life!
This episode explores the detection of phosphine in Venus's atmosphere, a chemical signature that could indicate the presence of microbial life.
Supervoids vs Colliding Universes!
This episode investigates the CMB Cold Spot, analyzing a new study that rules out giant supervoids as the primary cause due to insufficient energy loss.
Why Is 1/137 One of the Biggest Unsolved Mysteries In Physics?
This episode explores the fine-structure constant, a dimensionless number that defines the strength of the electromagnetic force and has baffled physicists for a century.
Quantum Theory's Most Incredible Prediction | Space Time
This episode explores the anomalous magnetic dipole moment of the electron, a key test of quantum electrodynamics that verifies the theory's predictions to ten decimal places.
'Oumuamua Is Not Aliens
This episode examines the recent proposal by Shmuel Bialy and Avi Loeb that the interstellar object 'Oumuamua is an artificial alien light sail.
Is the Proxima System Our Best Hope For Another Earth?
This episode explores the Alpha Centauri system, detailing the discovery of Proxima b, the nearest habitable exoplanet, and its potential to support life despite tidal locking and stellar flares.
How Many Black Holes Reside In The Solar System?
This episode explores the hypothesis that dark matter consists of asteroid-mass primordial black holes, which have evaded previous detection methods.
Does the Planck Length Disrupt E=MC^2?
This episode explores Doubly Special Relativity, a theory proposing that the Planck energy remains invariant for all observers to resolve conflicts between quantum mechanics and general relativity.
Electrons DO NOT Spin
This episode explores the true nature of quantum spin, explaining that it is an intrinsic property rather than physical rotation.
What If the Galactic Habitable Zone LIMITS Intelligent Life?
This episode explores the galactic habitable zone to determine if our Sun's uniqueness explains the Fermi paradox.
The Quasar from The Beginning of Time | STELLAR
Host Chris Lintott visits the Gemini telescope on Mauna Kea to discuss the discovery of a record-breaking distant quasar.
Are Many Worlds & Pilot Wave THE SAME Interpretation?
This episode explores the tension between classical determinism and quantum mechanics, focusing on the double-slit experiment and the apparent randomness of measurement.
Loop Quantum Gravity Explained
This episode explores loop quantum gravity as a leading alternative to string theory for unifying quantum mechanics and general relativity.
The NEW Crisis in Cosmology
This episode explores the "Hubble tension," a growing discrepancy between the universe's expansion rate measured via the cosmic distance ladder and the Planck satellite's early universe data.
Do Black Holes Have to Remain Black?
This episode explores the theoretical possibility of "color-charged" black holes, which carry quantum chromodynamic charge rather than electric charge.
Is There Support For a Vast Multiverse?
This episode explores Steven Weinberg’s 1987 paper, which used anthropic arguments and the principle of mediocrity to predict the value of the cosmological constant.
How Stars Destroy Each Other
This episode explores the violent dynamics of binary star systems, detailing how white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes siphon mass from…
The Black Hole Information Paradox
This episode explores the black hole information paradox, explaining how Hawking radiation appears to destroy quantum information in violation of fundamental physics.
The Origin of 'Oumuamua, Our First Interstellar Visitor | Space Time
This PBS Space Time episode analyzes the discovery of 'Oumuamua, the first confirmed interstellar object to pass through our solar system.
Anti-Matter and Quantum Relativity
This episode explores Paul Dirac’s 1928 unification of quantum mechanics and special relativity, which led to the prediction of antimatter.
What Happened Before the Big Bang?
This episode explores the physics of cosmic inflation, explaining how a scalar inflaton field drives exponential expansion and leads to the formation of a multiverse.
What If A Black Hole Dwelt Inside The Sun? | Hawking Stars
This episode explores the theoretical possibility that stars harbor primordial black holes, a concept first suggested by Stephen Hawking.
The Most Significant Satellite You've (Probably) Never Heard Of
This episode explores NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) program, which maps global carbon dioxide levels and, unexpectedly, detects plant photosynthesis to monitor vegetation health.
How Does Gravity Affect Light?
This episode explores the connection between light and gravity, explaining how Einstein’s general relativity predicts light deflection despite the…
The NEW Warp Drive Possibilities
This episode examines two recent papers claiming breakthroughs in warp drive technology, specifically addressing the need for exotic matter and the…
How to Detect Extra Dimensions
This episode of Spacetime Journal Club examines a new paper using the GW170817 neutron star merger to test theories involving extra spatial dimensions.
2021 End of Year AMA!
Host Matt O'Dowd discusses his background in astrophysics and current research on gravitational lensing of quasars.
Will The Big Bang Happen ANEW (and Anew)?
This PBS Space Time episode marks the show's 10th anniversary while exploring the ekpyrotic cyclic universe model as an alternative to cosmic inflation.
Does Time Cause Gravity?
This episode explores the counterintuitive idea that gravity is caused by the warping of time rather than the other way around.
Space Time Livestream: Ask Matt Anything
Host Chris Lintott celebrates the first live stream of PBS Space Time, discussing upcoming episodes on the aether and electroweak unification.
Are Room Temperature Superconductors UNACHIEVABLE?
This episode explores the physics of superconductivity, detailing the London, Ginzburg-Landau, and BCS theories that explain zero resistance and the Meissner effect.
The Death of the Sun
This episode explores the Sun's final life stages, detailing its expansion into a red giant, the helium flash, and its eventual collapse into a white dwarf.
What's Your Brain's Purpose in Producing Space & Time?
This PBS Space Time episode explores whether space and time are objective realities or mental constructs by examining the neuroscience of spatial and temporal perception.
Can Free Will be Saved in a Deterministic Universe?
This episode explores the relationship between physics, determinism, and free will, examining whether concepts like Laplace's demon and quantum mechanics negate human agency.
Is The Universe Finite?
This episode of PBS Space Time examines a new study suggesting the universe may be finite and positively curved, based on gravitational lensing data from the Planck satellite.
Absolute Cold | Space Time
This episode explores the physics of absolute zero, explaining how quantum mechanics prevents particles from reaching a state of complete stillness due to zero-point energy.
Why The Multiverse Might Actually Be Real
This episode explores the concept of the multiverse, detailing various models such as eternal inflation, the string landscape, and cosmological natural selection.
Using Stars to See Gravitational Waves
This episode explores the rapid advancements in gravitational wave astronomy, highlighting LIGO's detection of unexpectedly massive black hole…
The First Quantum Field Theory
This episode explores quantum field theory and quantum electrodynamics, explaining how particles are fundamentally vibrational modes of underlying fields.
Theory of Everything Controversies: Livestream
This episode features a panel discussion with astrophysicist Brian Keating, Eric Weinstein, Sabina Hossenfelder, and Lee Smolin regarding the stalled progress in finding a theory of everything.