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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

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All Episodes

31:57

The “Crisis in Cosmology” EXPLAINED

Cool Worlds ·

2026/10/06

In the last few years, astronomers have witnessed a growing problem emerge. As measurement precision has increased, the hope was that this problem would abate, but instead it has only exacerbated. Welcome to "The Crisis in Cosmology". But what exactly is the fuss all about, and how much should be believe the sensationalism?Written and presented by Prof David Kipping, edited by Jorge Casas.→ Support our research program: https://www.coolworldslab.com/support→ Get Stash here

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35:42

How Does ChatGPT Do on a College Level Astrophysics...

Cool Worlds ·

2026/10/04

Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) systems have been rapidly improving in recent years and Chat-GPT3 took the world by storm in Nov 2022. As smart at it may be, how does it compare to a typical undergraduate student sitting an introductory astronomy exam? Let's find out! Sponsored by Ground News, head to https://ground.news/coolworldsWritten and presented by Prof David Kipping, edited by Jorge Casas.→ Support our research program: https://www.coolworldslab.com/support→ Get Stash here

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7:06

The Signatures of Alien Life… or Not | Tiffany Jansen

Cool Worlds ·

2026/10/03

Astronomers are finding habitable exoplanets everywhere! We are now starting to think about the next step, how can we use our telescopes to look for signs of life on distant worlds? Cool Worlds Lab astronomer Tiffany Jansen talks about possible atmospheric signals that could indicate the presence of a biosphere, but also the abiotic sources that could fool us all.::More about this Video::► Reinhard et al. (2017), "False negatives for remote life detection on ocean-bearing planets: Lessons from the

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20:47

Earth Over The Next Billion Years

Cool Worlds ·

2026/10/02

Our lifespans might feel like a long time by human standards, but to the Earth it's the blink of an eye. Even the entirety of human history represents a tiny slither of the vast chronology for our planet. We often think about geological time when looking back into the past, but today we look ahead. What might happen on our planet in the next billion years?Written and presented by Prof David Kipping, edited by Jorge Casas.→ Support our research program: https://www.coolworldslab.com/support→ Get

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34:55

The Truth About JWST Detecting Alien Life...

Cool Worlds ·

2026/10/01

JWST is the pinnacle of our astronomical aspirations, the most sensitive telescope ever built by human hands. But can this feat of engineering resolve a question which has haunted us since the dawn of civilization - are we alone? So let's explore whether JWST could detect signatures of biology on another world, and if so under what conditions? Sponsored by Ground News, head to https://ground.news/coolworldsWritten and presented by Prof David Kipping, edited by Jorge Casas. Thanks to Ryan MacDonald

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5:13

The Ultra-Cool Dwarf: TRAPPIST-1 | Elisabeth Newton

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/30

Astronomers just announced the discovery of seven Earth-sized transiting planets around TRAPPIST-1! Elisabeth Newton, who studies very small stars like TRAPPIST-1, came by the Cool Worlds Lab to tell us about how this star might affect the prospects for life on these potentially habitable worlds.::More about this Video::► Gillon et al. (2017), "Seven temperate terrestrial planets around the nearby ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1":

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26:22

The Question That Keeps Me Awake At Night

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/29

The most fundamental question we can ever ask: Why is something rather than nothing? Not nothing as in no particles or no energy, but nothing as in no space, no time, no laws of physics at all. This is a question that has haunted me for years and today this deepest of questions.Written and presented by Prof David Kipping, edited by Jorge Casas.→ Support our research program: https://www.coolworldslab.com/support→ Get Stash here! https://teespring.com/stores/cool-worlds-store [themed T-shirt for the

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8:05

The Doomsday Argument | When Will Civilization End?

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/28

When will our civilization end? Whether it be by our own means or an external threat, there are many plausible scenarios which could extinguish humanity. Remarkably, using the Principle of Mediocrity (that we are just typical observers and not special) it is possible to answer this question statistically with a line of thought called the Doomsday Argument. We get into how this works and what it says about our prospects for survival...::More about this Video::► Richard Gott (1993), "Implications of

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30:42

An Event So Deadly it Makes Parts of the Galaxy...

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/27

Space is a bleak, hostile environment. Asteroid strikes, supernovae and gamma ray bursts could wipe us out at any moment. But could certain parts of the galaxy be more dangerous than others? And could this explain why we live, when and where we live?Written and presented by Prof David Kipping, guest starring Jackson Kipping and edited by Jorge Casas.→ Support our research program: https://www.coolworldslab.com/support→ Get Stash here! https://teespring.com/stores/cool-worlds-storeTHANK-YOU to our

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35:03

The Fermi Paradox Has An Incredibly Simple Solution

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/26

It’s possibly the most famous question in all of science - where is everyone? Join us today for deep dive into Fermi Paradox. 🌏 Get exclusive NordVPN deal here ➵ https://NordVPN.com/coolworlds It’s risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!✌The Fermi Paradox has been a topic of keen debate amongst scientists, astronomers and the rest of us for more than seven decades. We can't resist the urge to speculate about aliens! But what is the paradox even really about? What explanations have been

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7:33

How Many Planets in the Universe? | Part 2: Our Universe

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/25

Hey Cool Worlders! Here's part 2 of the mini series "How Many Planets in the Universe?" where we now estimate the total number of worlds in the cosmos. If you haven't seen part 1, link is just below!::More about this Video::► Check out part 1 of this video series, "How Many Planets in the Universe? | Part 1: Our Galaxy": https://youtu.be/QQbp91m16Fw► Size of the Universe reference, Vardanyan et al. (2011), “Applications of Bayesian model averaging to the curvature and size of the Universe”:

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11:26

Some Bad News

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/24

Off the cuff immediate reaction…Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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7:45

How Many Planets in the Universe? | Part 1: Our Galaxy

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/23

Have you ever wondered just how many planets there are in the Universe? So have we! We haven't surveyed the entire Universe (!) but based of the occurrence rate of planets in our local part of the cosmos, we can try to carefully extrapolate the total. In Part 1 of this mini-series, we focus on our galaxy, the Milky Way and explain why even here there is a great deal of uncertainty.::More about this Video::► Cassan et al. (2012), "One or more bound planets per Milky Way star from microlensing

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35:49

The Fate of Our Sun

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/22

For billions of years the Sun has been the perpetual, life-giving star in our sky. It's a force of immense power, yet one we take for granted in our every day lives. But like all things, it too must eventually end. Today, we chronicle the future of our home star, its various phases, why this all happens, and the final fate of our Solar System.Written and presented by Prof David Kipping. Edited by Jorge Casas. Thanks to Matt Scoggins for checking the script.→ Support our research program:

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35:26

Are UFOs Legitimate Science?

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/21

UFOs, UAPs are dominating the media, but what do astronomers really think is going on? Check out our sponsor by using the code coolworlds to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan: https://incogni.com/coolworlds Over the last few years, there has been growing public attention and interest in UFOs/UAPs fuelled by whistleblowers, leaked videos and of course the media. But astronomers have been looking for life in the Universe for decades already, using systematic searches and established

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4:51

Is Time an Illusion? | Prof Sean Carroll

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/20

We caught up with Prof Sean Carroll at a recent astronomy conference and got his thoughts about time. Time may seem like a fundamental property of the Universe, but actually there's nothing in quantum theory which requires this to be so. Prof Carroll explains how time being merely an illusion, an emergent property rather than a fundamental one, is actually compatible with our best understanding of nature. This is one of two videos we shot with Sean so look out for the second video later in the

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31:26

What's Stopping Us From Building a Warp Drive?

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/19

Get a 7-day free trial and 25% off Blinkist Annual Premium by clicking here: https://www.blinkist.com/coolworldslabA faster-than-light (FTL) warp drive would arguably represent the most important invention of all time. In 1994, Miguel Alcubierre gave all of us hope as he found a solution within general relativity that would cause the necessary warping of space. But after nearly 30 years of further study, what does our current understanding of physics say about the feasibility of a warp drive?Written

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5:38

Cool Worlds Research in 2017: A Look Ahead!

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/18

It's time to take a break for a few weeks but before we do, here's a look ahead at what research we'll be getting up to in 2017! Many of us are heading to the American Astronomical Meeting in Grapevine, TX, so be sure to say hello if you'll be there. Thanks to everyone for tuning in and supporting our channel in 2016!::More about this Video::► 229th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society: https://aas.org/meetings/aas229► Proxima b Transit Results video: https://youtu.be/fLPZiCZtr_k► Machines

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23:44

Why Exomoons Are So Important

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/17

Flexispot’s anniversary sale is here! Get up to 60% off with my code COOLWORLDS on orders over $500 at http://bit.ly/coolworlds10!Exoplanets was a transformative discovery for astronomy. Exomoons is the next. I’ve spent most of my career looking for exomoons and today I explain the five reasons why finding them isn’t just fascinating - it’s necessary.Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping. Edited by Jorge Casas.→ Support our research: https://www.coolworldslab.com/support→ Get merch:

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11:31

Could We Detect the Death Star?

Cool Worlds ·

2026/09/17

To celebrate the release of Star Wars Rogue One this weekend, let's ask the question - could we detect the Death Star with our current telescopes? Remarkably astronomers have been thinking about the detectability of alien megastructures, such as the Death Star, for many years and we can apply some scientific thinking to get to the answer.::More about this Video::► Companion video on Martin Archer's channel, "Is the Death Star a Star?": https://youtu.be/Q4CKSekJzxk► Kipping & Teachey 2016, "A

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