The Cosmic Companion - Astronomy, Space, Technology Advancing Humanity

This week on The Cosmic Companion, we look at the future of cities in space. We will discuss how the urban areas many of us live in today will lead to cities of the future, placed in orbit around Earth, on the surfaces of the Moon and Mars, and beyond. Later on in the show, we will be talking with Joe Yogerst. We’ll discuss his new book from National Geographic, 100 Cities 5000 Ideas, as well as what cities of today can tell us about cities of the future. Currently, roughly four billion people — almost exactly half the world’s population — live in cities spread around the globe. By the year 2050, that number is likely to increase to roughly 68% of the world population (including 89% of people in the U.S.) living in urban areas. For those making their homes in space, that number will — almost certainly — be near 100%. Cities in space will also face the additional challenges of… well… being in space. Listen to the podcast here or watch this episode as a video!Next week:Exoplanets in Your Backyard! w/ Allyson Johnson from National Geographic, Senior Editor of Complete National Parks of the United States!Make sure to join us, starting 3 December!Clear skies! James This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aicreatorhouse.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back to The Cosmic Companion! This week, we kick off a new series, Why Explore Space? As we discuss how space travel and exploration are essential to help monitor and cure the effects of global climate change. Later on in the show, we are going to be talking with Alan Gratz. His new book, Two Degrees, is a young adult novel exploring the effects of catastrophic climate change around the world. Since the earliest days of the human race, people have been attempting to predict the weather. Such prognostications were essential for planting, hunting, and other reasons. The realization that climate is vital to understanding weather took quite a while for scientists to understand. And, the climates of Earth have changed over time, and will continue to change in the future. From the time of the Ancient Greeks, people have discussed the idea that human actions could change environmental conditions on Earth. By the 19th Century, researchers had started to realize, for the first time, that human activities — notably the consumption of fossil fuels — had started to alter the atmosphere of Earth, adding to the CO2 which naturally envelopes our planet. Listen to the podcast version of this episode here or watch it as a video!(technical video problems plague the first half of the episode. Sorry about that!)My birthday is next week, so I am on vacation! Join us again on 26 November for The Future of Cities in Space! w/ Nat Geo’s Joe Yogerst, author of 100 Cities 5000 Ideas from National Geographic.And - here is a look at our schedule for the rest of the year! I hope you listen and watch every week! Clear skies! James This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aicreatorhouse.substack.com/subscribe

Hello everyone!My apologies for being a day late - but this one is worth it! (You might say… IT ROCKS!)This week on The Cosmic Companion, we explore one of the most-interesting asteroids known, Ryugu. The Hayabusa2 spacecraft recently collected samples from this mysterious object, bringing fragments of the rocky body to Earth in December 2020. Ryugu could help researchers uncover the mysteries of the early Solar System, as examination shows this asteroid was likely born as our planets were still in their infancies. The makeup of Ryugu is similar to breccia rocks, a type of sedimentary stone formed on Earth as piles of various types of rocks merge together.This ancient asteroid likely formed from the breakup of a larger body long ago, in the early days of our Solar System. Quickly rotating, this intriguing asteroid developed a bulge near its equator, giving Ryugu a faceted shape, similar to a loose diamond.Listen to the podcast version of this episode here or watch the video version of this show.Next week on The Cosmic Companion, we start a new series Why We Explore Space - Curing Climate Change. Join us starting on 9 November, as we welcome Alan Gratz, author of Two Degrees, a new children’s book about climate change. Make sure to join us then!Clear skies! James This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aicreatorhouse.substack.com/subscribe

Happy Halloween!For our Spppooooky Halloween episode of The Cosmic Companion, we’re going to look at Death in Space! Nearly 600 people have launched into space since Yuri Gagarin’s first journey beyond our planetary birthplace. During that time, 19 people, so far, have perished during training or flights. 14 of these were accounted for by the pair of space shuttle tragedies. But, beyond accidents, death is one of the great certainties of life — or something like that. To paraphrase Will Shakespeare, “…[A]ll that lives must die, passing through nature to eternity, even in space.”One gruesome reality is that human bodies may need to be recycled — perhaps even becoming the basis of food. We will likely not be seeing Soylent Space anytime, but nothing can go to waste in space stations and habitats — astronauts aboard the ISS, for instance, are required to finish all their food for instance, and even human urine is recycled into water…  Listen to our podcast here or watch the video version of this episode!We have the second edition of the newly-revamped VIP newsletter coming out this weekend full of extras, and…Join us 3 November for Ryugu and the Giant Laser! We will talk with Esen Ercan Alp of Argonne National Laboratory and Barbara Levine from the University of Chicago about their work examining samples from the asteroid Ryugu! Happy Halloween and, as always….Clear skies! James This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aicreatorhouse.substack.com/subscribe

This week on The Cosmic Companion, we look at lil' baby planets, discussing the birth of solar systems.Later in the episode, we will be joined by University of Arizona astrophysicist Feng Long. She has recently developed a new means of finding young exoplanets as they form in clouds of gas and dust.But first, let's learn a little bit about how planets and solar systems form around the Cosmos. Planets coalesce from gas and dust revolving around their developing stars in formations known as protoplanetary disks.Finding young worlds in these dusky abodes is challenging at best. While planets hide within their shadowy sanctuaries, astronomers must rummage for indirect signs of planets in their infancies.Roughly 4.5 billion years ago, a massive cloud of gas and dust began to collapse inward, perhaps triggered by the gravitational influence of a passing star. This event would, eventually, give rise to our Solar System...Listen to the podcast version of this episode here or watch the video version!Thanks for subscribing to The Cosmic Companion!Clear skies!JamesVIP Subscribers! Leave us your comments below!P.S. We are also going to be revamping this newsletter, offering two regular mailings a week - one for everyone, and one just for VIP members. More on that later! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aicreatorhouse.substack.com/subscribe

This week on The Cosmic Companion, we examine what the oddities of life here on Earth can teach us about life on other worlds. Later in the show, we will welcome Stephanie Drimmer from National Geographic back to the show. Her new book, 5,000 Awesome Facts (About Animals) is filled with amazing facts about animals around the world. We will discuss her new work, as well as play a game exploring what life on our home planet can teach us about life on other worlds. But first, let’s imagine what life may possibly look like on alien planets. Naturally, we could imagine most anything we want, with no regard whatsoever to science. Half the sci-fi movies in the 50s are testament to that. But let’s instead use the tools of science to get a better idea of what life beyond the Earth may look like….Listen to the podcast here or watch the video version of this episode!Join us next week for It’s Just a Little BABY Planet! We will learn all about the formation of planets and solar systems, talking with Feng Long, astrophysicist with the University of Arizona! Make sure to join us then!Clear skies!JamesP.S. My apologies for being a day late here. Technical difficulties galore!VIP subscribers: Leave a comment below! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aicreatorhouse.substack.com/subscribe

Hello everyone!This week on The Cosmic Companion, we journey just 40 light years from our home, examining the TRAPPIST-1 family of planets, one of the most interesting families of worlds yet discovered by astronomers. Solar systems all begin with a star, don’t they? I mean, it’s as good of a place to start as any, in’t? The stellar furnace at the center of this family of worlds is a cool, red star, conveniently named TRAPPIST-1. Less than 12 percent as large as our own Sun and only eight percent as massive, the TRAPPIST-1 star was only discovered in the year 2000. The surface of this star, radiating heat at just 2,260 degrees Celsius, is hot enough to melt almost — but not all — metals. Darn you, tungsten!Listen to the podcast here or watch the video version of this episode!Thanks for being a subscriber - I appreciate every one of you!Clear skies, JamesVIP subscribers: Tell us what you thought of the episode below! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aicreatorhouse.substack.com/subscribe

We talk about how the human body reacts to space travel, with astronaut and physician Dave Williams and science writer Elizabeth Howell, authors of Why am I Taller? Hello everyone!This week on The Cosmic Companion, we look at some of the effects space travel has on the human body and examine some of the ways we can help protect human travelers to the Moon and beyond. Later in the show, we will talk with physician and two-time astronaut Dave Williams, as well as science writer Elizabeth Howell. We will be discussing their new upcoming book, Why am I Taller?Since humans first traveled to space in 1961, we have been learning about how harsh environments beyond our home planet affect human beings... (note: There were technical issues with the audio track during the interview, and we were also not able to put in a music track. Sorry about that, Chief!)Dave Williams and Elizabeth Howell appear on The Cosmic Companion 20 Sept. 2022. Released under Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution 2022 The Cosmic Companion. NEXT WEEK on The Cosmic Companion: We are on vacation. Lucky us! However, on 4 October, we will look at ways of Making Space Sustainable. We will be talking with Daniel Bock, CEO of Morpheus Space. Make sure to join us then!Subscribe today, and never miss an episode. Unless you don’t check your email. That’s on you. :)Clear skies! JamesVIP SUBSCRIBERS: We have some interesting ideas on how to bring you more exclusive content! We will be letting you in on what’s happening after vacation! Thanks for supporting science for everyone!VIP SUBSCRIBERS: Tell everyone what you thought of this episode! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aicreatorhouse.substack.com/subscribe

We look at the future of food in the final frontier, talking with Lenore Newman and Evan Fraser, authors of Dinner on Mars!This week on The Cosmic Companion, we look at The Future of Food in Space. We will discuss how people have answered - and continue to refine - the challenges of eating in habitations away from our home world. Later in the show, we will talk with Lenore Newman and Evan Fraser, authors of Dinner on Mars: The Technologies That Will Feed the Red Planet and Transform Agriculture on Earth. Not surprisingly, the first food in space was eaten by the first person to venture beyond Earth - Yuri Gagarin, during his maiden flight in 1961. Cuisine on the mission consisted of beef and liver paste packed like toothpaste in a metal tube…Listen to the episode here or watch the video version of the show!Thanks so much for subscribing! Clear skies! JamesVIP SUBSCRIBERS: Leave us a comment below! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aicreatorhouse.substack.com/subscribe

The Moons of Jupiter have upended history and science for hundreds of years. We look in on these planetary troublemakers with Stephen Kane of UC Riverside.This week on The Cosmic Companion, we examine The Mischievous Moons of Jupiter! Journey with me, discovering some of the many ways the moons of Jupiter have upended history, science, and our ideas of our place in the Universe.Later in the show, we welcome Stephen Kane, astrophysicist at The University of California Riverside, back to the show. We’ll be taking a look at one of the great questions of the Jovian System: Why is it that Jupiter — larger than all the other planets combined — doesn’t have a magnificent ring system? Hint: It’s the moons. They’re troublemakers!Listen to the podcast version of this episode here or watch it as a video on YouTube. Next week: We look at The Future of Food in Space as we talk with Lenore Newman and Evan Fraser, authors of Dinner on Mars: The Technologies That Will Feed the Red Planet and Transform Agriculture on Earth!Thanks for subscribing to The Cosmic Companion! Clear skies!James VIP Subscribers: Please leave a comment below and let us know what you thought of this episode! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aicreatorhouse.substack.com/subscribe