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The LIUniverse with Dr. Charles Liu: Daily Summaries Delivered
by theliuniverse
A half-hour dose of cosmic conversation with scientists, educators and students about the cosmos, scientific frontiers, scifi, comics, and more. Hosted by Dr. Charles Liu, PhD, an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History.
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- Aug 29, 202641 min
Bonus Episode: The Secret Fortress of Ag-Karrah, Part 2 (Actual Play)
What happens next when an astronomer, a mathematician, an educator, a physics student and a biomedical engineer stand upon the threshold of the Great Room of the perilous, Secret Fortress of Ag-Karrah? You get the conclusion to this summer’s bonus Actual Play episode of The LIUniverse starring Dr. Charles Liu, co-host Alice Liu, Hannah Liu, M.Ed., Isaac Liu, and Eleanor Adams. For this episode of The LIUniverse, Chuck and co-host Alice Liu welcome back fan favorite guest and expert on ancient civilizations, author and educator Hannah Liu, M.Ed. (a.k.a. our “Classicist of Awesomeness”), and the show’s “Intern Extraordinaire” and TikTok channel manager, physics student Eleanor Adams. We’ve also got another guest, and it’s none other than “the hidden Liu sibling,” Isaac Liu, “Master of Science and Bricks,”who is pursuing his PhD in Biomedical Engineering starting this fall at Rochester Polytechnic Institute. Normally in these descriptions we tell you what you’ll find in the episode. For the conclusion of this bonus episode, where Alice is gamemastering a live, tabletop role playing game called “Swords & Sorcery,” which is a little like “Dungeons & Dragons” but much simpler, we’re going to skip the sizzle and let you get straight to the steak. The party of stalwart adventurers braving the perils of “The Secret Fortress of Ag-Karrah” is made up of: Charles Liu as Larry the Lion-Livered, a Druid. Isaac Liu as a Dwarven fighter named Brickothy Brickton Hannah Liu as a Tortle magic user named Felix Frankfurter Eleanor Adams as a Palladin of Athena named Annabeth Now, as GM Alice Liu says by way of preamble, “You walk past the dead jellyfish you’ve defeated and enter the Great Room…” Enjoy Part Two, the conclusion of The Secret Fortress of Ag-Karrah. We hope you like this bonus episode of The LIUniverse, and, if you do, please support us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theliuniverse. Credits for this Episode: – “Swords & Sorcery” – Designed by James Lennox-Gordon / UnknownDungeon.itch.io / v1.1 2020 - CC BY SA 4.0. “Swords & Sorcery” is a hack of John Harper’s “Lasers & Feelings.” Find out more here: https://unknowndungeon.itch.io/swords-and-sorcery
- Aug 16, 202648 min
Bonus Episode: The Secret Fortress of Ag-Karrah, Part 1 (Actual Play)
What happens when an astronomer, a mathematician, an educator, a physics student and a biomedical engineer set off to explore the Secret Fortress of Ag-Karrah? You get Part One of this summer’s bonus Actual Play episode of The LIUniverse starring Dr. Charles Liu and company. You read that right! For this actual play podcast episode of The LIUniverse, Chuck and co-host Alice Liu welcome back fan favorite guest and expert on ancient civilizations, author and educator Hannah Liu, M.Ed., and the show’s intern and TikTok channel manager, physics student Eleanor Adams. But for this special occasion – drumroll, please – we’ve also got another guest, and it’s none other than “the hidden Liu sibling,” Isaac Liu, who is pursuing his PhD in Biomedical Engineering starting this fall at Rochester Polytechnic Institute. Normally in these descriptions we tell you what you’ll find in the episode. For this bonus episode, where Alice is gamemastering a live, tabletop role playing game called “Swords & Sorcery,” which is a little like “Dungeons & Dragons” but much simpler, we’re going to skip the sizzle and let you get straight to the steak. We will, however, describe the party that is venturing into “The Secret Fortress of Ag-Karrah.” Charles Liu is Larry the Lion-Livered, a Druid. Isaac Liu is a Dwarven fighter named Brickothy Brickton Hannah Liu is a Tortle magic user named Felix Frankfurter Eleanor Adams is a Palladin of Athena named Annabeth Now, as GM Alice Liu says by way of preamble, “There might be combat. There might be treasure. There might be secrets inside of this hidden fortress…” Enjoy Part One of The Secret Fortress of Ag-Karrah – and be sure to come back for Part 2 in a couple of weeks. (And yes, of course there’s a Joyfully Cool Cosmic Thing this episode, but we don’t want to ruin the surprise.) We hope you like this bonus episode of The LIUniverse, and, if you do, please support us on Patreon. Credits for this Episode: – “Swords & Sorcery” – Designed by James Lennox-Gordon / UnknownDungeon.itch.io / v1.1 2020 - CC BY SA 4.0. “Swords & Sorcery” is a hack of John Harper’s “Lasers & Feelings.” Find out more here. #LIUniverse #CharlesLiu #SwordsandSorcery #ActualPlayPodcast
- Jun 13, 202638 min
ChuckGPT - Patreon Question Edition
It’s time for the Season 5 finale of The LIUniverse, which means another episode of ChuckGPT where we answer our audience’s most vexing questions – this time via video from our Patreon Patrons. And to help us answer those questions, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome back fan favorite guest and expert on ancient civilizations, author and educator Hannah Liu, M.Ed. As always, though, we start off with the day’s joyfully cool cosmic thing: the completion of DESI’s 5-year survey mapping millions of objects in the universe. The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument completed the survey ahead of schedule, so there’s still time to map millions more. Hannah tells us about mapping the universe in antiquity, starting with the first star catalog created by the Babylonians about 3,000 years ago. You’ll hear about the Venus tablet from the first millennium BC, Chinese star charts from the Tang dynasty, and Atlas, the mythological Titan who was the “first astrologer.” Returning to the DESI survey, Chuck talks about the change in the dark energy content of the universe that we didn’t really expect. Allen, our resident mathematician, talks about the velocity of universal expansion and a concept called “the jerk.” Then it’s time for audience questions, and for this episode, we’re doing something new. Both audience questions come from Patreon Patrons, and both are in video format so you can actually see our fans asking Chuck the questions – if you’re watching rather than listening, that is. Our first question comes from Patron Lee Dubey, who asks, “Since atoms are mostly empty space, could all matter, including measuring devices, almost undetectably consume minimal space, warping the space around it? If so, could that cause gravity, and could the shrinkage cause a redshift related to dark energy?” We’re not even going to try and summarize the explanation from Allen and Chuck here, except to say that the ensuing conversation includes the physics concept of “unparticles.” Hannah brings up Democritus, who, along with his teacher Leucippus in ancient Greece, first theorized the existence of atoms. Our next question comes from our Patreon Patron Lee Williams, who asks, “If we live in a simulation, is it correct to assume that there’s an architect? Could there be a simulation without an architect?” Given that there’s no scientific answer to either of these questions, Chuck turns to Hannah for enlightenment. While she explains that the question of whether we live in a simulation is a modern concept, Hanna discusses how humanity grapples with the questions of existence and higher powers, and why people engage with religion, magic, or quantum entanglement in the first place. In the free-wheeling, far-ranging conversation that follows, Allen brings up how we create simulations now, by creating processes and letting them run, to offer some perspective on the role of the architect. And yes, H.P. Lovecraft, “The Devil and Daniel Webster,” “Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus,” and even Spider-Man somehow make it into the discussion. And that’s it for this season of The LIUniverse. We want to thank all of you for your questions, your curiosity, and your help in keeping this experiment going. As Chuck always says, “Thank you for being a part of The LIUniverse.” We hope you enjoyed this episode, and this season, of The LIUniverse. If you do, please support us on Patreon. Credits for Images Used in this Episode: Map of DESI’s 5-year survey. – Credit: Claire Lamman/DESI collaboration. Roman statue of Atlas (2nd century AD). Credit: Lalupa / Creative Commons The Venus tablet recording astronomical positions for Venus dating from the first millennium BC. – Credit: FAI / Creative Commons Chinese Tang dynasty star map made around the year 700. – Credit: Public Domain. CHAPTERS 00:00 - We Welcome Back Archaeology Expert, Author and Educator Hannah Liu, M.Ed. 02:28 - Joyfully Cool Cosmic Thing: DESI Completes Its 5-Year Survey of the Universe 04:33 - Mapping the Universe in Antiquity 12:06 - The Empty Space in Atoms, Gravity, Shrinkage, and Dark Energy 16:42 - What Are Unparticles? 22:53 - Do We Live in a Simulation? Is There an Architect?
- May 30, 202643 min
Our Weird, Wondrous Universe with Erika Hamden
How do distant galaxies form? If you have two distant clouds of hydrogen, why does one turn into a star and another doesn’t? To find out, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome Dr. Erika Hamden, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Arizona. If Erika looks familiar, that might be because her TED Talk or “New Frontiers,” the TV show she hosts on Arizona Public Media. As always, though, we start off with the day’s joyfully cool cosmic thing, Artemis II, our first manned mission around the moon since 1972. Chuck, Allen and Erika share their excitement watching the mission, and especially the landing, while we watch the “only good video of the moon ever taken with a phone” that Reid Wiseman shot on his iPhone. Dr. Hamden tells us about her research into how distant stars and galaxies form. To fill in the blanks of this cosmic puzzle, she observes hydrogen in its elemental or molecular form – not looking at the stars themselves, but the emissions from hydrogen atoms. You’ll learn about star formation in our galaxy and how Erika discerns the moment that a new star “first turns on.” Then it’s time for our first audience question. Emma B. asks, “How many galaxies are there?” Erika says that in the observable universe, it’s an outrageously large number, probably hundreds of billions or more. We take a look at the Hubble Ultra Deep Field image, which reflects a “tiny, tiny part of the sky,” where every dot except for the 3 stars is a galaxy. And that’s just the universe we can see. Chuck asks Erika to tell us about her book, “Weird Universe: Everything We Don’t Know about Space (and why it’s important).” Professor Hamden shares her belief that anyone can understand anything if it’s explained the right way to them. She talks about a poem by Rebecca Elson called “Responsibility to Awe” and the responsibility scientists have to share the wonders of the world with everybody. For our next audience question, Ava asks, “What is the craziest job in Astronomy that you have seen AI take over from humans?” Erika talks about using LLMs to review the digitized photographic plates of stars and the massive amount of data from the Vera Rubin Observatory, and also which activities still require human creativity. Speaking of creativity, it turns out that before becoming an astrophysicist, Erika got a diploma at Le Cordon Bleu in London and had a career as a professional chef. She still loves to cook and shares her recipe (below) for the Swedish-style cardamom buns she shows us in the episode. Finally, before we go, we congratulate Emily on recently being awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. She shares some wisdom and advice she’s learned on her journey that she also tells her students, but according to her it’s a bit “cheesy” so we’ll let her tell you in the show. If you’d like to know more about Dr. Hamden, you can keep up with her research, follow her on her social media accounts, and find out about her book by visiting her website. We hope you enjoy this episode of The LIUniverse, and, if you do, please support us on Patreon. Erika’s Cardamom Bun Recipe You can find the original recipe here on Cecilia Tolone’s Substack. Erika’s Modifications: “My changes are that I add more milk- about 75 grams more, because American flour is drier and Tucson is especially dry! And I played around with adding chiltipin flakes (a local, very spicy pepper) to the filling to make it kind of spicy. It’s great! Finally, I use whole cardamom seeds from Penzey’s that I grind before putting in.” Credits for Images Used in this Episode: Artemis II end of mission splashdown. – Credit: NASA/ Bill Ingalls. Artemis II astronaut Reid Wiseman’s iPhone video of the Earth and the Moon with his iPhone 17 ProMax, using 8x zoom, which he said is comparable to what he was seeing from the Artemis II capsule. – Credit: NASA /Reid Wiseman Hydrogen observed in the Milky Way Galaxy. – Credit: HI4PI Collaboration The Hubble Ultra Deep Field. – Credit: NASA/ESA Example of a photographic plate of stars, including notation marks, aka a Schmidt ammonia-sensitized, near-IR (Kodak I-N) objective-prism plate exposed for 1 hr. – Credit: STScI/ESO/Carnegie. Additional Credits: A Responsibility to Awe, by Rebecca Elson CHAPTERS 00:00 - We welcome University of Arizona Astrophysics Prof. Dr. Erika Hamden 02:43 - Joyfully Cool Cosmic Thing: Artemis II Mission and Return 08:14 - How Do Distant Stars and Galaxies Form? 15:46 -How Many Galaxies Are There? 18:25 - Weird Universe and
- May 16, 202645 min
Ruby Raindrops and Painted Peacocks with Munazza Alam
Are there really exoplanets with where it rains ruby and emerald raindrops? How do we measure the atmospheres of exoplanets light years away? To find out, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome Dr. Munazza Alam of the Space Telescope Science Institute. The STScI performs science operations for the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope when it launches in 2026. As always, though, we start off with the day’s joyfully cool cosmic thing. On Feb 24, 2026, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory activated the alert system it will use to notify astronomers of noteworthy events and sent out 800,000 alerts on that single day! Munazza tells us about how she studies the atmospheres of exoplanets like Wasp 121-b, a gas giant thought to have ruby and sapphire rain. Dr. Alam describes exoplanets with surface oceans made of magma, and she and Chuck talk about the importance of plate tectonics. You’ll hear about Hot Jupiters, Super-Earths, and Sub-Neptunes – and the theories about why we don’t have any of them in our solar system despite the fact that they’re incredibly common in the Milky Way galaxy. Then it’s time for audience questions, which for this episode come from students at Notre Dame Academy on Staten Island, where Munazza is an alum. Not only does past guest Dr. Betty Jensen teach there, as well, but she was a critical influence on Munazza’s career path. (You can listen to our episode with Dr. Jensen here.) The first question is from Charlotte, who asks, “How far have we gone in space?” Munazza, Allen, and Chuck discuss Voyager 1, which at a current distance of nearly 16 billion miles is the man-made object that has gone furthest from Earth. Next up, Gabby asks, “What was the best advice you were given when you were preparing for college?” Dr. Alam’s answer: Pick something you enjoy and are good at - in spite of any pressure you might get from friends, family, and others. A second piece of advice Munazza got was to maintain your breadth, i.e., developing other interests besides your primary focus. For Munazza, that was art and writing, and she shares some of her art later in the show. Finally, Gisella asks if it was hard picking a college. Dr. Alam shares her process, with the caveat that it might not be good advice for everyone. Charles and Munazza reflect on the tradition of scientific exploration, observation, discovery and analysis of which she’s part. Munazza recounts the excitement when JWST observations of transmission spectra of the exoplanet Wasp 39b confirmed their predictions – and also detected something unexpected: sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere of the planet which is a by-product of photochemistry between light from its star and water molecules in the atmosphere of the planet. Finally, Chuck asks Munazza to share some of her art. She shows us one of the first paintings she ever did, a peacock, and tells us a little about it and a portrait she has displayed at the Lowell Observatory. If you’d like to know more about what Dr. Alam is up to, you can follower her on LinkedIn or visit her website . We hope you enjoy this episode of The LIUniverse, and, if you do, please support us on Patreon. Credits for Images Used in this Episode: Artist impression of Wasp 121-b, an exoplanet thought to have ruby and sapphire rain. – Credit: NASA, ESA, Q. Changeat et al., M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble) Quake epicenters Digital Tectonic Activity Map of the Earth (DTAM). – Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Illustration comparing the sizes of sub-Neptune exoplanets TOI-421 b and GJ 1214 b to Earth and Neptune. – Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Dani Player (STScI) Illustration of the inferred size of the super-Earth CoRoT-7b (center) in comparison with Earth and Neptune. – Credit: Creative Commons / Aldaron Location of the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft. – Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech JWST transmission spectra of the exoplanet Wasp 39b. – Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI) Radial velocity method to detect exoplanets. – Credit::ESA Transit method for discovering exoplanets (animation). – Credit: NASA PlanetQuest Artist's concept of WASP-107b, a gas giant, orbiting a highly active K-type star about 200 light-years from Earth. – Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, M. Kornmesser CHAPTERS 00:00 - We welcome Dr. Munazza Alam of the Space Telescope Science Institute 02:50 - Joyfully cool cosmic thing: Vera C. Rubin Observatory Alert System 07:00 - How Do We Know What Exop
- May 2, 202647 min
Astrophotography with Astronaut Don Pettit
Can the physics you learned in High School take you to the stars? Who is behind many of your favorite pictures of space? What is it actually like to live and work in space? You might be surprised to know how much of it comes down to the physics you probably learned in class and thought to yourself, “When will this ever be useful?” To answer those questions and more, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome Dr. Don Pettit –NASA astronaut, astrophotographer, chemical engineer, and genuinely one of the most interesting people alive, who was also a science consultant for the movie Project Hail Mary. As you’ll see, the complex physics of space could be critical to your future endeavors in the world of tech, space, and astrophysics. As always, though, we start off with the day’s joyfully cool cosmic thing, which was the famous DART mission (Double Asteroid Redirection Test). It’s a mission where NASA crashed a spacecraft into a small asteroid (Dimorphos) to see if they could literally change the orbit of an asteroid in space. This mission was successful, changing the asteroid’s orbit by nearly 30 mins. This is certainly joyfully cool, as it shows we can take planetary defense measures to change the path of an impending asteroid. Throughout the episode, Don, Chuck, and Allen ping pong back and forth with the following topics: Why he chose chemical engineering (and how that led to becoming an astronaut by consistently choosing passion and innovation over money) Whether being an astronaut is even worth it financially How cities look different from orbit over time (yes, you can literally see lighting technology evolve) The physics behind astrophotography from space (and why those images look so insane) How astronauts drink coffee in zero gravity! Just wait, there is even more that we dive into: from lunar bases, to Antarctica meteorite hunts, to a casual mention of driving a lunar rover simulator like it’s nothing. There’s a lot here that feels huge and abstract, but also weirdly human, like choosing passion over money, or just wanting your morning espresso in space. While Don always had a love for chemistry, he ultimately pursued chemical engineering because he thought he wouldn't be able to get a good job without higher ed (relatable or what?). Then he got a PhD anyway, following his passion. Don also discusses the coffee cup he invented, which is widely used in space and lets you drink espresso like normal. He designed a cup that lets astronauts drink normally in zero gravity using fluid physics. Toward the end of the episode, he talks about going to Antarctica to collect meteorites and what that tells us about the chemistry of space. During this episode, Don’s intrinsic love for creation and scientific innovation shines through. If you like physics, space, or just hearing someone explain complicated things in a way that actually makes sense, you’ll absolutely love this. If you want to know more about Dr. Don Pettit, you can find him on NASA’s website. For the latest updates on his many projects and dazzling astrophotography, check out his Instagram @astro_pettit. (We’ve included some of those photos in the episode - just another reason to watch on YouTube!) We hope you enjoy this episode of The LIUniverse, and, if you do, please support us on Patreon. Credits for Images Used in this Episode: Photo of asteroids Didymos and Dimorphus, NASA’s DART mission target. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL Lunar map depicting craters on the south pole of the Moon. Credit: USGS Don Pettit taking photos on the International Space Station. Credit: NASA Chicago as seen from the ISS. Credit: NASA/Don Pettit Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, as seen from the ISS. Credit: NASA/Don Pettit Sao Paulo, Brazil, at Night, April 12, 2003 as seen from the ISS. Credit: NASA/Don Pettit Star trail time exposure, taken for approximately 30 minutes during orbital night, assembled from multiple 30 second exposures. Credit: NASA/Don Pettit/Babak Tafreshi The first prototype of Don Pettit’s capillary cup. Credit :NASA Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti drinking from Don Pettit’s cup on the ISS. Credit: NASA ANSMET meteorite hunters in Antarctica. Credit: NASA Cross-section of a carbonaceous chondrite, the 4.5-billion-year-old Allende meteorite formed along with the solar system. Credit: AMNH/Creative Commons Spaceborne - Don Pettit’s photography book. Credit: Don Pettit / Press Syndication Group Special thanks to Eleanor Adams for writing this episode description. CHAPTERS 0:00 - Introduction of Astronaut Don Pettit 3:19
- Apr 11, 202647 min
Finding the “Bubbles” Exoplanet and Crocheting Dinosaurs with Victoria DiTomasso
How do we find exoplanets? What is the Milky Way’s “Thick Disk” and what makes it so special? To find out, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome Harvard astronomer Dr. Victoria DiTomasso, who has discovered an exoplanet system that includes exoplanet HD60079 b, which she sometimes calls “Bubbles.” As always, though, we start off with the day’s joyfully cool cosmic thing, a paper just recently published about the exoplanet Teegarden Star b. Dr. DiTomasso explains the difference in exoplanet research between the observational studies she does and the theoretical modeling represented in the paper. She goes on to discuss recent, exciting theoretical work coming out of UCLA that posits that rather than have our water brought to Earth by comets, we started out as a larger, sub-Neptune planet with a larger hydrogen-helium envelope that we’ve lost over time. This is a pattern seen in some exoplanets, especially given the fact that Super Earth and sub-Neptune planets are the most common types of planets we’ve found, yet we have none in our solar system. After we find out why a planet Chuck studied was called Flagellan, it’s time to find out how Victoria goes looking for exoplanets, and how she found Bubbles – with an assist from a team of citizen scientists. You’ll learn about using the transit method for discovering exoplanets and identifying potential targets with TESS, the Transiting Exoplanets Survey Satellite and other instruments. Dr. DiTomasso explains the differences between the Milky Way’s younger “Thin Disk,” the older “Thick Disk,” and the oldest of all, the Milky Way’s “Halo.” Victoria studies the chemistry of stars to categorize them and their planets by age. She’s found 4 stars in the thick disk that have “Hot Jupiters” so far, which is more impressive when you learn that we only knew about one before her work. Then it’s time for a question from the audience. Grace asks, “Has the environment ever been as bad as it is now, and can it heal by itself?” Chuck, Allen and Victoria discuss changing environments on exoplanets and on Earth, the difference between long and short term change, and the possibility of recovery. Finally, Chuck asks Victoria what she does outside of astronomy, and we learn all about her new hobby, crocheting. Don’t miss her show and tell, which includes Fred, the cutest crocheted dinosaur to ever appear on The LIUniverse. Victoria also talks about her other hobby, visiting museums – especially art museums. If you’re watching this episode on YouTube, you get to see one of her current favorite exhibits, which consists of semi-abstracted felted wool sculptures of creatures and supernatural beings (yōkai) at the MassArt Museum (MAAM) in Boston. If you’d like to know more about Dr. Victoria DiTomasso, you can find her on LinkedIn . But to see her latest telescope photos that she took during her observing trip to the Canary Islands, check out her Instagram @victoriaditomasso. (We’ve included some of those photos in the episode - just another reason to watch on YouTube!) We hope you enjoy this episode of The LIUniverse, and, if you do, please support us on Patreon. Credits for Images Used in this Episode: Radial velocity measurements graphic depicting the Radial velocity method to detect exoplanets. – Credit: ESA. Artist concept of the exoplanet Teegarden's Star b, also known as Teegarden b. – Creative Commons/ Bubblesong. Illustration comparing sizes of sub-Neptune exoplanets with Earth and Neptune. – Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Dani Player (STScI). Transit method for discovering exoplanets (animation). – Credit: NASA PlanetQuest. All-sky image showing the flat plane of the Milky Way galaxy. – Credit: E. L. Wright/UCLA, The COBE Project, DIRBE, NASA. Illustration of the Milky Way’s halo. – Credit: Halo stars: ESA/Gaia/DPAC, T Donlon et al. 2024; Background Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds: Stefan Payne-Wardenaar. Masako Miki's "Midnight March" features semi-abstracted felted wool sculptures of creatures and supernatural beings (yōkai) at the MassArt Museum (MAAM) in Boston. – Credit: Masako Miki/MAAM Photos from Victoria DiTomasso’s observing trip to the Canary Islands. – Credit: @victoriaditomasso on Instagram. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro and Let’s Meet Dr. Victoria DiTomasso 03:53 - Joyfully Cool Cosmic Thing of the Day: Exoplanet Teegarden Star B 06:20 - Super Earth and Sub-Neptune Exoplanets 12:46 - The Discovery and Naming of Bubbles the Exoplanet 20:32 - The Difference Between Milky Way’s Thin Disk, Thick Disk, and Halo 27:58 - Audience Question: Has the Environment Ever Been this Bad? 36:51 - Crocheted Dinosaurs and Giant Felt Museum Creatures 45:14 - Victoria
- Mar 21, 202640 min
Supernovas and Space Gold with Dr. Ashley Villar
How do stars die? And what happens when they do? To find out, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome Dr. Ashley Villar, who teaches astronomy at Harvard and whose team studies supernovas as they happen. As always, though, we start off with the day’s joyfully cool cosmic thing, the release of a set of new Hubble Space Telescope images of the Crab Nebula and the pulsar at its center. Needless to say, it’s a great start to an episode about a team of scientists who actually study the moment a star explodes and the immediate aftermath. Ashley explains how they have been able to use LIGO, the gravitational wave detector, as a sort of early warning detector that twice gave them enough time to set up their instruments to observe the explosion over the next few hours and days as it unfolds. Professor Villar talks about how neutron star mergers and magnetars may be the source of heavy elements like gold and uranium. Or, as Chuck says, “A gold-filled smoke ring puffing off of a highly spinning, highly magnetic neutron star - what a great picture that would be.” Ashley is looking forward to how the Vera Rubin Observatory is going to change the observation of these events. In the process of explaining, Professor Villar answers an audience question from Jamison, who asks how often stars explode in space. It turns out, in our observable universe, there’s a supernova every 2 seconds! We currently detect about 10,000 of these explosions every year - Vera Rubin will be able to detect 10,000 of these explosions in just two weeks. In order to get a handle on this flood of data, Dr. Villar and her team will be looking for these exotic physics needles in a haystack using machine learning models to look for patterns and abnormalities and “go fishing.” Charles asks Ashley for her take on AI and whether we should be afraid of it or not.(And yes, take the opportunity to plug co-host Allen Liu’s forthcoming book, “The Handy Artificial Intelligence Answer Book.”) Allen and Ashley discuss the difference between how a chatbot like ChatGPT operates and how she trains her models. There was a second part to Jamison’s question about exploding stars: Are we in any danger. Dr. Villar explains that when we just look at our Milky Way, supernovas occur only once a century, so we’re not in any danger. Next, Jessie asks, “How do we know the universe is infinite?” Our answer is, we don’t. That doesn’t stop us from discussing it, though, and the conversation takes us to, among other places, the Nazca lines in Peru and the quantum effect that creates iridescent blue butterfly wings. (You can read the scientific research mentioned in the episode here: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms8959) We end with a discussion about supernovas, neutrinos, space dust, gamma ray bursts, and what kind of event it would take to interrupt the normal activities of space telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope or the Vera Rubin and hijack them for a disruptive observation. And we get a book recommendation from Ashley, “Katabasis” by R. F. Kuang, about a grad student who journeys to hell to get a letter of reference from her deceased advisor. If you’d like to know more about what Professor Villar is up to, you can check out her lab’s website at http://astrotimelab.com/. We hope you enjoy this episode of The LIUniverse, and, if you do, please support us on Patreon. Credits for Images Used in this Episode: New Hubble mosaic of the Crab Nebula. – Credit: William P. Blair et al 2026 ApJ 997 81 Previous Hubble photo of the Crab Nebula. – Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Hester and A. Loll (Arizona State University) The Vera Rubin Observatory. – Credit: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/P. Horálek (Institute of Physics in Opava), CC BY 4.0 Nazca line “The Condor”. – Credit: Photo by Roger Canals Blue butterfly wings in an electron microscope. – Credit: Radislav A. Potyrailo et al. Aragonite plates in a shell. – Credit: Fabian Heinemann SN 1987A (Bright central “star”). – Credit: European Southern Observatory Artist’s illustration of Gamma Ray Burst jets. – Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva; Image processing: M. Zamani (NSF's NOIRLab) CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Welcome to The LIUniverse 02:14 - Joyfully Cool Cosmic Thing of the Day - Hubble Crab Nebula Images 07:06 - Neutron Star Mergers, Magnetars, and Space Gold 09:18 - How Often Do Stars Explode? 12:35 - Can AI Help Us Find Supernovas? 17:11 - Are We In Danger From Exploding Stars? 19:48 - How Do We Know the Universe Is Infinite? 24:01 - How Does Quantum Physics Impact Color in Butterflies and Supernovas? 31:
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A calming exploration of cosmic wonders, sharing stories about stars, planets, and celestial phenomena to inspire curiosity before sleep.
The World, the Universe and Us
Explores big scientific questions about life, consciousness, climate, and the cosmos with expert scientists and New Scientist journalists.
Cosmos in a Pod
Explores space, science, philosophy, and technology to reveal the wonders of the universe and humanity's place within it.
That UFO Podcast
Covers global UFO, UAP, and related phenomena through news updates and interviews with experts and witnesses.
Crash Course Pods: The Universe
A theoretical astrophysicist and a bestselling author explore the history and future of the universe.
NASA's Curious Universe
Mind-blowing stories from inside NASA’s space exploration, revealing the people and science behind cosmic discoveries.
About The LIUniverse with Dr. Charles Liu
A half-hour dose of cosmic conversation with scientists, educators and students about the cosmos, scientific frontiers, scifi, comics, and more. Hosted by Dr. Charles Liu, PhD, an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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The LIUniverse with Dr. Charles Liu publishes biweekly. Our AI generates a summary within hours of each new episode.
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The LIUniverse with Dr. Charles Liu covers topics including Science, Fiction, Astronomy. Our AI identifies the specific themes in each episode and highlights what matters most to you.
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