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

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. 00:00:00 Start 00:02:51 How do we know the rotation rate of gas planets? 00:05:21 Green blobs 00:05:42 Radio signal from Proxima Centauri 00:11:25 Learning Chinese 00:17:05 Why don't we live in a black hole? 00:18:37 Is nuclear propulsion legal? 00:21:50 Are there planets that have no knowledge of space? 00:24:57 Will the speed of light change our view of the conjunction? 00:26:25 Should we build a super-Kepler? 00:29:00 What motivation is there for space colonization? 00:31:23 Better name for dark matter? 00:32:15 Why learn Chinese? 00:35:12 Where will humans go instead of Mars? 00:37:00 Will we detect heavier elements after the island of stability? 00:38:40 Will there be a future mission to Neptune? 00:39:51 Should we send a mission to Alpha Centauri? 00:41:23 What would the Milky Way look like from above? 00:43:00 Updates on O'Neill cylinders? 00:45:10 Should we change our behaviour if we live in a simulation? 00:47:06 Is the Universe 99.99% devoid of life? 00:50:27 Will I do QAs in Mandarin? 00:51:06 What's the terminal velocity speed of Starship? 00:52:04 How to push Venus into the Sun? 00:53:04 Am I enjoying The Expanse? 00:54:15 Could Hubble show the conjunction? 00:54:37 How big were Pop 3 stars? 00:58:15 What missions would I do if I was the head of NASA? 00:59:49 Will robots replace people most of the time? 01:01:15 Favorite missions that never happened? 01:02:20 Backyard observatory? 01:03:20 ESA's reusable rocket plans 01:07:25 Can a remote colony be self-sustaining? 01:10:11 What about VASIMIR? 01:12:17 How bad will Starlink be for astronomy? 01:25:27 Could you extrapolate the position of stars in the sky? 🚀 OUR WEBSITE: ════════════════════════════════════ https://www.universetoday.com/ 🚀 PODCAST LINKS: ════════════════════════════════════ RSS: https://universetoday.com/audio iTunes: https://universetoday.com/itunes Spotify: https://universetoday.com/spotify 🚀 EMAIL NEWSLETTER: ════════════════════════════════════ Read by 50,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads. Subscribe Free: https://universetoday.com/newsletter 🚀 OTHER PODCASTS: ════════════════════════════════════ Weekly Space Hangout: Weekly news roundup with Fraser, special guests, and other space journalists. RSS: https://www.universetoday.com/feed/wshaudio/ iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/weekly-space-hangout-audio/id836926769 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-KklSGlCiJDwOPdR2EUcg/ Astronomy Cast: Award-winning, long-running deep dive into space and astronomy with Fraser and Dr. Pamela Gay. RSS: https://astronomycast.libsyn.com/rss/ iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/astronomy-cast/id191636169?mt=2 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUHI67dh9jEO2rvK--MdCSg 🚀 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY: ════════════════════════════════════ Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 🚀 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA: ════════════════════════════════════ Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday Twitch: https://twitch.tv/fcain 🚀 CONTACT FRASER: ════════════════════════════════════ Email: frasercain@gmail.com 🚀 LICENSE: ════════════════════════════════════ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) You are free to use my work for any purpose you like, just mention me as the source and link back to this video.