Space Week: A seven-day tour of the cosmos

The universe is filled with wild and fantastic mysteries, scenes of mind-blowing magnificence and extremely highly effective forces. Additionally it is house to New Scientist’s Chelsea Whyte and Leah Crane, who current Dead Planets Society. On this new podcast, our two intrepid hosts think about what it is likely to be 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 things from comparatively benign situations – Might we make Pluto a planet once more? Is it doable to show Venus right into a liveable planet for people? – to the downright harmful. Subscribe to New Scientist Weekly for entry to all of our podcasts, together with Lifeless Planets Society, and be taught what would possibly 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 spanking new episodes to drop, try seven of our hottest in-depth articles that discover the photo voltaic system and past. To rejoice 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 consumer.

A cosmic catalogue

What, precisely, is on the market? Discover our stock of the universe, a concise information to all the things we all know of within the cosmos, from stars and planets to galaxy clusters and darkish vitality. 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 offered 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 instantly in direction of Earth? Determining which cities to evacuate, who to inform and the way to maintain the human race going is the objective of planetary defence initiatives. On this article, comply with together with a gaggle of scientists who met in Washington DC to hash out how we would reply to a cosmic worst-case state of affairs.

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 industrial radio started within the Nineteen Twenties, we’ve got 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 likely to be 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 obtained 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 may be potential hazard in revealing an excessive amount of about Earth.

The right way to get to Mars

Earth and Mars are worlds aside. The Pink Planet is a frigid wasteland with decrease stress and gravity than our house 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’ve got answered some enormous questions: how can we construct a large enough rocket for the journey, can it carry all of the meals and spare elements we would wish to make the months-long journey, and who can we ship as the primary people to set foot on one other planet? And the most important query of all: can we convey them house?

Black holes from the daybreak of time

Because the early universe quickly expanded, space-time unfold out sooner than the velocity of sunshine. Out of this chaos arose primordial black holes. Or did they? These historical black holes have been theorised for many years, and a few scientists suppose we might have already noticed them – which might be a monumental discovery. Not solely would they be the primary black holes ever to kind, however essentially the most attention-grabbing ones within the cosmos. Learn extra to be taught what they may inform us about darkish matter, the accelerating enlargement of the universe and the forces that maintain collectively all the things 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 corporations. However NASA doesn’t simply wish 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 many years in the past. However first, the astronauts it sends should overcome the challenges of house radiation and harmful moon mud to construct and energy a moon base.