エピソード

  • The Hidden Challenge of Exomoons in Red Dwarf Systems
    2025/11/15
    A new Phys.org report explores research showing that large exomoons rarely survive around planets orbiting red dwarf stars. Using advanced simulations, scientists found that strong tidal forces often tear these moons apart within a billion years.

    While a few may persist around early-type M-dwarfs, most are too unstable to last—highlighting the fragile nature of exomoons in these environments. Future missions like the Habitable Worlds Observatory could help confirm these predictions.
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    35 分
  • Is the Universe Slowing Down? New Study Challenges Dark Energy Theory
    2025/11/13
    A new study from Yonsei University challenges the long-accepted view that the universe’s expansion is accelerating. Researchers found that biases in type Ia supernova data—linked to the age of their progenitor stars—may have led scientists to overestimate dark energy’s effect.

    When corrected, the data suggests the universe’s expansion is slowing, not speeding up, marking a potential paradigm shift in cosmology.
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    35 分
  • The Future of Propellantless Space Travel
    2025/11/11
    A new Phys.org feature explores the future of fuel-free propulsion, from proven gravity assists to emerging tech like solar, magnetic, and electric sails.

    As rockets reach their fuel limits, these propellantless methods could unlock the path to deep-space and interstellar exploration.
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    27 分
  • What Fills the Universe’s Emptiest Spaces?
    2025/11/09
    Cosmic voids aren’t truly empty — they hold a faint mix of dwarf galaxies, thin gas, and dark matter, at just one-fifth the universe’s average density.

    In this episode, we explore what these vast “cosmic deserts” are made of and what it might mean if life or intelligence emerged in such isolated regions of space.
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    24 分
  • Mundanity and the Fermi Paradox
    2025/11/07
    A new study by Dr. Robin Corbet explores the idea of “radical mundanity” — the notion that extraterrestrial civilizations might simply be few and technologically modest, explaining why we haven’t detected them yet.

    Instead of vast megastructures or powerful beacons, these civilizations could be only slightly more advanced than us, awaiting discovery by the next generation of radio telescopes.
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    28 分
  • Astrometry for Earth-sized Exoplanets and Dark Matter
    2025/11/05
    A new proposal could supercharge NASA’s future Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) with an ultra-precise astrometer capable of detecting the tiny “wobbles” of nearby stars caused by Earth-sized exoplanets.

    This upgrade could greatly expand the hunt for habitable worlds and even help test theories about dark matter distribution in galaxies — all before the HWO’s expected launch in the 2040s.
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    33 分
  • The “Solitude Zone”: A New Way to Measure If We’re Alone in the Universe
    2025/11/03
    A new study introduces the “Solitude Zone,” a statistical model that gauges when a single intelligent species—like humanity—is most likely to exist. Merging ideas from the Fermi paradox, Drake equation, and Kardashev Scale, researcher Antal Veres found that Earth’s odds of being in this zone are only about 30%, suggesting we’re either one of many civilizations—or none at all.

    The concept offers a fresh perspective on the age-old question: Are we truly alone?
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    32 分
  • New “Super-Earth” Found in the Habitable Zone
    2025/11/01
    Astronomers have discovered GJ 251 c, a “super-Earth” nearly four times our planet’s mass, orbiting in its star’s habitable zone — the sweet spot for liquid water and possibly life. Using 20 years of data and tools like the Habitable-Zone Planet Finder, researchers from Penn State tracked the star’s subtle wobble to confirm the planet’s presence.

    While we can’t yet study its atmosphere, future telescopes may reveal whether GJ 251 c holds signs of alien life.
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    27 分