Episode 706: Open Space 100: Did We Really Detect a Signal from Proxima Centauri? And More...

Published: Dec. 24, 2020, 8 p.m.

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In this week\'s last QA of 2020, I go long answering questions about space and astronomy. I talk about the news of a radio signal received from Proxima Centauri, an update on my attempts to learn Mandarin Chinese, and a long diatribe about megaconstellations and their impact on astronomy.

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00:00:00 Start
\\n00:02:51 How do we know the rotation rate of gas planets?
\\n00:05:21 Green blobs
\\n00:05:42 Radio signal from Proxima Centauri
\\n00:11:25 Learning Chinese
\\n00:17:05 Why don\'t we live in a black hole?
\\n00:18:37 Is nuclear propulsion legal?
\\n00:21:50 Are there planets that have no knowledge of space?
\\n00:24:57 Will the speed of light change our view of the conjunction?
\\n00:26:25 Should we build a super-Kepler?
\\n00:29:00 What motivation is there for space colonization?
\\n00:31:23 Better name for dark matter?
\\n00:32:15 Why learn Chinese?
\\n00:35:12 Where will humans go instead of Mars?
\\n00:37:00 Will we detect heavier elements after the island of stability?
\\n00:38:40 Will there be a future mission to Neptune?
\\n00:39:51 Should we send a mission to Alpha Centauri?
\\n00:41:23 What would the Milky Way look like from above?
\\n00:43:00 Updates on O\'Neill cylinders?
\\n00:45:10 Should we change our behaviour if we live in a simulation?
\\n00:47:06 Is the Universe 99.99% devoid of life?
\\n00:50:27 Will I do QAs in Mandarin?
\\n00:51:06 What\'s the terminal velocity speed of Starship?
\\n00:52:04 How to push Venus into the Sun?
\\n00:53:04 Am I enjoying The Expanse?
\\n00:54:15 Could Hubble show the conjunction?
\\n00:54:37 How big were Pop 3 stars?
\\n00:58:15 What missions would I do if I was the head of NASA?
\\n00:59:49 Will robots replace people most of the time?
\\n01:01:15 Favorite missions that never happened?
\\n01:02:20 Backyard observatory?
\\n01:03:20 ESA\'s reusable rocket plans
\\n01:07:25 Can a remote colony be self-sustaining?
\\n01:10:11 What about VASIMIR?
\\n01:12:17 How bad will Starlink be for astronomy?
\\n01:25:27 Could you extrapolate the position of stars in the sky?

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