Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe artwork

Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe

597 episodes - English - Latest episode: 1 day ago - ★★★★★ - 2.1K ratings

A fun-filled discussion of the big, mind-blowing, unanswered questions about the Universe. In each episode, Daniel Whiteson (a Physicist who works at CERN) and Jorge Cham (a popular online cartoonist) discuss some of the simple but profound questions that people have been wondering about for thousands of years, explaining the science in a fun, shorts-wearing and jargon-free way.

Natural Sciences Science Physics business interview comedy news politics entrepreneurship culture health science leadership
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Episodes

What are sterile neutrinos?

November 17, 2022 06:00 - 50 minutes - 46.5 MB

Daniel and Jorge talk about a new stealthy kind of neutrino that might neaten up the mess left by all of the other neutrinos. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why is math so important for physics?

November 15, 2022 06:00 - 56 minutes - 51.7 MB

Daniel talks to mathematician Steve Strogatz about why calculus seems to describe the Universe so well. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How can the Universe expand faster than the speed of light?

November 10, 2022 06:00 - 52 minutes - 48.2 MB

Daniel and Jorge blow their own minds talking about the faster-than-light expansion of the Universe  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can you send messages without particles?

November 08, 2022 06:00 - 48 minutes - 44.6 MB

Daniel and Jorge talk about ingenious quantum tricks to send information without actual particles. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do planets get rings?

November 03, 2022 05:00 - 58 minutes - 53.5 MB

Daniel and Katie talk about planetary rings and what they tell us about the history of the solar system. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can you make matter out of pure electrons?

November 01, 2022 05:00 - 52 minutes - 48.1 MB

Daniel and Jorge talk about the quest to build a crystal out of only electrons. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What are the most common elements in the Universe?

October 27, 2022 05:01 - 57 minutes - 52.4 MB

Daniel and Kelly talk about how elements were made in the early Universe, what processes are making more of them today, and why some elements are more common than others. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listener Questions 31: Photons, aliens, and baseball

October 25, 2022 05:01 - 53 minutes - 48.7 MB

Daniel and Jorge answer questions from listeners like you! Send your questions to [email protected]   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How dangerous is nuclear waste?

October 20, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 64 MB

Daniel talks to experts about the waste produced by nuclear reactors, the dangers, risks and options. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What's up with Iapetus?

October 18, 2022 05:00 - 51 minutes - 47.6 MB

Daniel and Jorge dissect the history of this mysterious solar system object.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Urgent Rest

October 14, 2022 10:30 - 24 minutes - 22.4 MB

Emergencies can happen anytime, and ER doctors need to be ready and rested to treat everything from cardiac events to gunshot wounds or broken bones. Their work could mean life or death for the patients in their care. NYC ER doctor George Russo shares how he finds time to rest despite long days and constantly changing shifts in order to put patients first, while pulmonologist and sleep advocate Dr. Seema Khosla weighs in on the benefits of regular sleep for the wellbeing of both doctors and ...

Can you communicate with neutrinos?

October 13, 2022 06:00 - 58 minutes - 53.7 MB

Daniel and Katie talk about how to detect information carried by the ghostly neutrino, and how to send neutr-emails. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Science of "The Spare Man"

October 11, 2022 05:00 - 58 minutes - 53.3 MB

Daniel and Kelly talk with Mary Robinette Kowal about the science of murder in space in her new book "The Spare Man"  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What's it like to be an alien?

October 06, 2022 06:00 - 56 minutes - 52.2 MB

Daniel talks to Dr. Arik Kershenbaum about what alien animals might be like, how they might sense and communicate.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listener Questions 32: Particles, particles, particles!

October 04, 2022 05:00 - 1 hour - 55.6 MB

Daniel and Jorge answer questions from listeners like you, all about the particles around us. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why does physics even work?

September 29, 2022 05:00 - 54 minutes - 50.4 MB

Daniel talks to Prof. Tim O'Connor about why the craziness of the world around us seems to resolve into things we can understand. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is negative temperature?

September 27, 2022 05:00 - 50 minutes - 46.6 MB

Daniel and Jorge talk about hot and cold coffee, weather and desserts and wrestle with whether things can be colder than zero! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is math the language of the Universe?

September 22, 2022 05:00 - 59 minutes - 54.6 MB

Daniel talks to Prof. Mark Colyvan, philosopher of mathematics, about whether math is something we invented or discovered.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What are quantum glasses?

September 20, 2022 05:00 - 51 minutes - 47.4 MB

Daniel and Jorge talk about finding order among the messiness of the Universe, and the strange frustration of quantum spin glasses.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What will the Lucy mission teach us?

September 15, 2022 05:00 - 50 minutes - 46.7 MB

Daniel and Kelly walk through the trajectory of the Lucy mission and talk about what it might teach us about our origins.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why haven't we seen a Milky Way Supernova in 400 years?

September 13, 2022 05:00 - 57 minutes - 53.1 MB

Daniel and Katie talk about the mysteries of supernovae, and why we haven't seen a local one since Kepler!  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What's inside a neutron star?

September 08, 2022 05:00 - 56 minutes - 52.2 MB

Daniel and Jorge take a bite out of "nuclear pasta" and dive into the heart of these strange stars. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What's the amplituhedron?

September 06, 2022 05:00 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MB

Daniel and Jorge grapple with this hard-to-say word that might make complex quantum calculations much easier. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did the James Webb Space Telescope disprove the Big Bang Theory?

September 01, 2022 05:00 - 51 minutes - 47 MB

Daniel and Jorge talk about the surprises found in the first science from the James Webb telescope and what it means for our understanding of the early Universe.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If the Universe is infinite, why is the night sky dark?

August 30, 2022 05:00 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MB

Daniel and Kelly wrestle with competing infinities to understand why the night sky is not catastrophically ablaze with light.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listener Questions about discoveries

August 25, 2022 05:00 - 52 minutes - 48.3 MB

Daniel and Jorge answer questions from listeners about how discoveries are made, the most important recent discoveries and how to detect aliens.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Could there be two dimensions of time?

August 23, 2022 05:00 - 51 minutes - 47.4 MB

Daniel and Jorge grapple with the possibility that time could flow in more than one direction, at the same time(s).   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How long does a neutron live?

August 18, 2022 05:00 - 58 minutes - 53.5 MB

Daniel and Katie talk about how one of the basic building blocks of matter is surprisingly impermanent and mysterious.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can a gravitational wave pass through a black hole?

August 16, 2022 05:00 - 55 minutes - 51 MB

Daniel and Jorge talk about what happens when one superstar of physics slams into another. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is superdeterminism?

August 11, 2022 05:00 - 50 minutes - 46 MB

Daniel and Jorge talk about the lengths people will go to avoid accepting the randomness of quantum mechanics.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is the speed of light the same in all directions?

August 09, 2022 05:00 - 50 minutes - 46.1 MB

Daniel and Jorge break down the differences between the two-way and one-way speed of light. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are black holes hot or not?

August 04, 2022 05:00 - 54 minutes - 49.8 MB

Daniel and Jorge talk about whether black holes have a temperature and if we can ever know!  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listener Questions about aliens, black holes and white holes!

August 02, 2022 05:00 - 48 minutes - 44.2 MB

Daniel and Jorge answer questions from listeners like you! Send your questions to [email protected]  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is early dark energy?

July 28, 2022 05:00 - 57 minutes - 53.1 MB

Daniel and Jorge talk about whether the Universe got an extra boost of expansion early on, and if it's cartoonists' fault.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What can slime molds teach us about dark matter?

July 26, 2022 05:00 - 55 minutes - 51.3 MB

Daniel and Katie talk about where the missing matter in the Universe might be, and how slime molds might help us find it.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What did the first JWST images reveal?

July 21, 2022 05:00 - 57 minutes - 52.9 MB

Daniel and Jorge walk through the first images from our fancy new space telescope!  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why is momentum conserved?

July 19, 2022 05:00 - 59 minutes - 54.2 MB

Daniel and Jorge talk about why the Universe seems to follow rules, and celebrate the birthday of the woman who revealed the this deep truth.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is laser fusion?

July 14, 2022 05:00 - 58 minutes - 53.2 MB

Daniel and Jorge break down the science of using huge lasers to zap frozen pellets of hydrogen. Or ice cream. Or cartoonists.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do galaxies die?

July 12, 2022 05:00 - 48 minutes - 44.7 MB

Daniel and Jorge talk about the mysteries of why galaxies stop making stars. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is a quark gluon plasma?

July 07, 2022 05:00 - 56 minutes - 52 MB

Daniel and Jorge talk about the hottest state of matter ever created, and make up silly names for it.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do fireworks work?

July 05, 2022 05:00 - 51 minutes - 47.5 MB

Daniel and Jorge blow your mind with the physics and chemistry of how fireworks sparkle and entertain. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens to event horizons when black holes collide?

June 30, 2022 05:00 - 57 minutes - 53.1 MB

Daniel and Jorge take you step by step through the process of black hole mergers . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1M-AbWIlVQ&t=47s See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do photons bump into each other?

June 28, 2022 05:00 - 59 minutes - 54.9 MB

Daniel and Jorge bump brains and talk about whether beams of light interact or pass through each other.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listener Questions about Annihilation

June 23, 2022 05:00 - 58 minutes - 53.2 MB

Daniel and Jorge answer questions about anti-muons, Daniel's research, and dimensional weapons. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is Energy?

June 21, 2022 05:00 - 56 minutes - 52 MB

Daniel and Jorge tackle some of one of the simplest but trickiest concepts in physics.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Could aliens teach us science?

June 16, 2022 05:00 - 45 minutes - 41.8 MB

Daniel talks to Sam Kimpton-Nye about whether aliens do science the same way we do.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can the Earth survive when the Sun expands?

June 14, 2022 05:00 - 54 minutes - 50.2 MB

Daniel and Kelly talk about how we use our smarts to survive the changing conditions in the far future solar system. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What will the next generation of space telescopes reveal?

June 09, 2022 05:00 - 57 minutes - 52.6 MB

Daniel and Jorge talk about the plans for a new set of Great Observatories in space, and what it might show us about the Universe. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Could the Universe be shaped like a donut?

June 07, 2022 05:00 - 59 minutes - 54.2 MB

Daniel and Jorge talk about how much dark chocolate can fit in Universes of various shapes and sizes.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Where is most of Earth's water?

June 02, 2022 05:00 - 1 hour - 55.4 MB

Daniel and Katie drink deeply of the mystery of the Earth's formation and contents and talk about whether Earth's water might be hiding deep within the planet.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guests

Bill Nye
1 Episode
Randall Munroe
1 Episode

Twitter Mentions

@danielandjorge 1 Episode