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PODCAST

Cool Worlds

Space, astronomy, exoplanets, astroengineering and the search for extraterrestrial life & intelligence.The Cool Worlds Lab (http://coolworldslab.com), based at the Department of Astronomy, Columbia University, is a team of astronomers seeking to discover and understand alien worlds, particularly those where temperatures are cool enough for life, led by Professor David Kipping.Links:Subscribe!: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGHZpIpAWJQ-Jy_CeCdXhMA?sub_confirmation=1

science

All Episodes

10:59

Did Astronomers Just Prove Dark Energy is an Illusion?

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/11

Did astronomers just prove dark energy is wrong? Some breaking news this week that I couldn't resist covering on here...Written, presented & edited by Prof. David Kipping.→ Support our research: https://www.coolworldslab.com/support→ Get merch: https://teespring.com/stores/cool-worlds-store→ Check out our podcast: www.youtube.com/@CoolWorldsPodcastTHANK-YOU to T. Widdowson, D. Smith, L. Sanborn, C. Bottaccini, D. Daughaday, S. Brownlee, E. West, T. Zajonc, A. De Vaal, M. Elliott, B. Daniluk, S

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7:50

What is an Alien Megastructure?

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/11

Alien megastructures are back in the headlines after some new research published last week. It has been claimed that Tabby's Star is confirmed to be steadily dimming, which is completely unexpected behavior for a star. Prof Kipping explains what we know (and don't know) about this mysterious star and what astronomers really mean by "alien megastructures".::More about this Video::► Montet & Simon (2016), "KIC 8462852 Faded Throughout the Kepler Mission": http://arxiv.org/abs/1608.01316► Schaefer

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6:04

Why Finding Earth-Sized Planets is Hard

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/11

The transit method of finding exoplanets is easier for big planets than small planets. But new work from the Cool Worlds Lab shows that transits disfavor the detection of small, Earth-sized planets even more than previously realized. Emily Sandford, a third-year graduate student with the Cool Worlds Lab at Columbia, explains our new paper which derives these biases, allowing astronomers to correct for these effects when figuring out how many Earths there really are.::More about this Video::► Kipping

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43:41

The Strangest Idea in Science: Quantum Immortality

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/11

Use code coolworlds at https://incogni.com/coolworlds to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan.One of the leading interpretations of quantum theory is that every probabilistic event leads to a branching of reality, where all possibilities occur. This "many worlds" interpretation has been growing in prominence, but it implies a bizarre consequence. It might mean that you can never die, and will continue to survive not only life threatening events but even old age. Join us today as we

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18:04

Shocking Result from DESI Stuns Cosmology

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/11

Thanks to Storyblocks for sponsoring this video! Download unlimited stock media at one set price with Storyblocks: https://storyblocks.com/CoolWorldsThe Standard Model of Cosmology has reigned supreme for decades, confirmed over and over again. But chinks in the armour have been developing, such as the Hubble Tension. Now, however, a new result threatens to completely upend our view of the Universe - we no longer even know how it will end.Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping.→ Support our

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7:53

Juno Explained

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/11

The Juno spacecraft just arrived at Jupiter! Prof Kipping explains what Juno is all about, how NASA got the spacecraft safely into orbit and how this connects to exoplanetary science.::More about this Video::► NASA Juno homepage: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/juno/main/index.html► Outro music by Taylor Davis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl9kI1yQKZk::Playlists For Channel::Latest Cool Worlds Videos ► http://bit.ly/NewCoolWorldsCool Worlds Research ► http://bit.ly/CoolWorldsResearchGuest

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17:10

In Defense of Science

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/11

ACTION CENTER: https://aas.org/advocacy/get-involved/action-alerts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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48:01

The K2-18b Video You've Been Waiting For

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/11

Thanks to Opera for sponsoring this video. Click here to upgrade your browser for FREE! - https://opr.as/Opera-browser-coolworldslabSo the whole world seems to have become very excited about the claim of a biosignature discovered in the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2-18b. And no sooner did those headlines hit the airwaves, astronomers came out in droves expressing skepticism and concerns. It feels a bit confusing to have two sides so certain of their position, and often the truth is more nuanced

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32:52

Could Quark Stars be the Engines of Self-Replicating...

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/11

Check out https://NordVPN.com/coolworlds for 4 months for free when you sign up today, thanks to Nord for sponsoring us!Could there be a bizarre exotic type of star out there made of quarks? What would these things be like and how could they form? Join us as we explore quark stars, and the terrifying implications they have for forging strange matter within their cores...Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping. Edited by Jorge Casas. Special thanks to Dr Sam Gregson

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6:45

The Most Mysterious Star | Prof Jason Wright

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/11

Prof Jason Wright from Penn State explains why Tabby's Star has become known as the most mysterious star in the galaxy and how you can help him and Tabby Boyajian solve this mystery. To contribute to their Kickstarter campaign, go to https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/608159144/the-most-mysterious-star-in-the-galaxy right now!::More about this Video::► Kickstarter page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/608159144/the-most-mysterious-star-in-the-galaxy► Boyajian et al. (2016), "Planet Hunters X

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30:38

Why I Don’t Buy The Dark Forest Hypothesis

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/11

Use code coolworlds at https://incogni.com/coolworlds to get an exclusive 60% off. Many of you wanted me to talk about the Dark Forest Hypothesis - an idea popularised (bit not limited to) the the sci-fi novel and Netflix series, "The Three Body Problem" by Liu Cixin. So in this video I'll explain what dark forest says and why I don't buy it. (Note - this is *not* an analysis of Cixin’s story beats set in his fictional universe, but rather the concept of dark forest in our real one! Although, I will

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8:42

The Kepler Revolutions

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/11

There have been two scientific revolutions involving a "Kepler"- one 400 years ago and one on-going! Prof Kipping explains both and why NASA's Kepler Mission will go down in the history books as transformative.::More about this Video::► NASA's Kepler Mission website: http://kepler.nasa.gov► Burke et al. (2015), "Terrestrial Planet Occurrence Rates for the Kepler GK Dwarf Sample": http://arxiv.org/abs/1506.04175► Doyle et al. (2011), "Kepler-16: A Transiting Circumbinary Planet":

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87:51

Ask Me Anything Million Subs Special

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/11

A huge thank-you to everyone who helped us reach this milestone!→ Support our research: https://www.coolworldslab.com/support→ Get merch: https://teespring.com/stores/cool-worlds-store→ Check out our podcast: www.youtube.com/@CoolWorldsPodcastTHANK-YOU to T. Widdowson, D. Smith, L. Sanborn, C. Bottaccini, D. Daughaday, S. Brownlee, E. West, T. Zajonc, A. De Vaal, M. Elliott, B. Daniluk, S. Vystoropskyi, S. Lee, Z. Danielson, C. Fitzgerald, C. Souter, M. Gillette, T. Jeffcoat, J. Rockett, D

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11:07

Red and White Dwarfs QandA

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/10

Answers to your questions by Prof David Kipping from our "Proxima Planet Hunt" and "Polluted Dead Stars" videos (links below)! Thanks to all of you who posted questions, keep 'em coming, we love interacting with you all!::More about this Video::► "Proxima Planet Hunt" video: https://youtu.be/z5LVcfzRDI8► "Polluted Dead Stars" video: https://youtu.be/MAeqIQd6BMM► Dressing & Charbonneau (2015), "The Occurrence of Potentially Habitable Planets Orbiting M Dwarfs Estimated from the Full Kepler Dataset

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30:51

Can We Save Ourselves?

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/10

Use code coolworlds at https://incogni.com/coolworlds to get an exclusive 60% off. Rubin Observatory just came online and one of its main goals is to detect comets and asteroids that could threaten the Earth. But how long will this take? How many threats do we know of so far? And what could we do about it if we discovered one with our name on it? Join us today as we explore just how dangerous the skies can be...Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping, edited by Jorge Casas.→ Support our research:

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7:26

Polluted Dead Stars

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/10

Cool Worlds Lab guest Dr Sarah Ballard from MIT explains how observing dead stars (white dwarfs) can reveal the makeup of exoplanets and even exoplanetesimals! Be sure to follow Sarah on Twitter @hubbahubble and check out her website at http://www.drsarahballard.com.::More about this Video::► Farihi et al. (2013), "Evidence for Water in the Rocky Debris of a Disrupted Extrasolar Minor Planet": http://arxiv.org/abs/1310.3269► Xu et al. (2014), "Elemental Compositions of Two Extrasolar Rocky

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36:45

An Idea So Crazy It Might Just Work...

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/10

Light sails are a promising method for traveling through space - indeed, Breakthrough Starshot proposed a laser driven version could reach nearby stars. But the exorbitant costs and engineering challenges of such a proposal have stymied its realization. What if there was a way of using the Sun - no lasers required - but keeping our dream of interstellar travel in tact? Introducing TARS.This video is based on published research(see https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.17615 ) supported by the Cool Worlds

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34:53

A Tale of Scientific Integrity

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/10

Click https://betterhelp.com/coolworlds for 10% off your first month of therapy with our sponsor BetterHelp. Join over 4 million people who’ve met with a therapist on BetterHelp and started living a healthier, happier life.We usually celebrate the big wins, the major discoveries, the eureka moments... but sometimes the most important moments in science aren't like this. Today we explore a pivotal moment that may have saved the field of exoplanets from a much darker path...Written & presented by

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6:03

Proxima Planet Hunt

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/10

Proxima Centauri is our nearest star but we still don't know whether it has any planets. Prof Kipping discusses our planet hunting campaign using the space telescope MOST and gives you the latest news.::More about this Video::► Gillon et al. (2016), "Temperate Earth-sized planets transiting a nearby ultracool dwarf star": http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature17448.html► Muirhead at al. (2012), "Characterizing the Cool KOIs III. KOI-961: A Small Star with Large Proper Motion

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31:33

Could 3I/ATLAS Be Technological?

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/10

Use code coolworlds at https://incogni.com/coolworlds to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan.Déjà vu? Professor Avi Loeb has sparked controversy by suggesting - again - that a recently detected interstellar body passing through the Solar System (3I/ATLAS) could be an alien spacecraft. Today, we dive into what he his claiming and whether it holds up - just the science.Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping, edited by Jorge Casas. Special thanks to Jason Wright for fact checking.→

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