Summary
William Herschel, the astronomer who discovered Uranus in 1781, is a figure of both monumental achievement and controversial belief. While he made significant contributions to astronomy, including the discovery of several moons and the cataloging of numerous celestial objects, he also held unsubstantiated views about extraterrestrial life. Herschel claimed that not only the moon but also the sun and other planets were inhabited by intelligent beings, a belief he documented in his notebooks and correspondence without providing empirical evidence.
Despite his scientific prowess, Herschel's personal beliefs influenced public perception of astronomy. His assertions about life on celestial bodies were met with skepticism from contemporaries, including the Astronomer Royal, Neville Maskelyne, who criticized Herschel's lack of scientific rigor. Yet, Herschel remained convinced of the existence of lunar inhabitants, suggesting that his enthusiasm clouded his scientific judgment. This phenomenon raises questions about the reliability of scientific authority, as even esteemed scientists can succumb to unfounded beliefs.
The legacy of Herschel's claims is evident in later events, such as the "Great Moon Hoax" of 1835, where fabricated reports of life on the moon gained widespread acceptance among the public. This illustrates the ongoing challenge of discerning credible scientific claims from sensationalized ideas. The discussion emphasizes the importance of skepticism and the need for rigorous validation in scientific discourse, reminding us that science is a collective endeavor, subject to scrutiny and evolution over time.
Show Notes
► 🌏 Upgrade your online protection with an all-in-one security app! ➵ https://NordVPN.com/coolworlds It’s risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!✌In 1781, William Herschel discovered Uranus. He became the most famous astronomer of his day, and a legend in the annals of history. Yet he also had some very strange beliefs about aliens. So strange it begs the question - how?!:Written & presented by David Kipping, edited by Jorge Casas→ Support our research: https://www.coolworldslab.com/support→ Get merch: https://crowdmade.com/collections/cool-worlds→ Check out our podcast: www.youtube.com/@CoolWorldsPodcastTHANK-YOU to S. Shardool, M. Seay, M. McMillan, M. Popovski, M. Singh, M. Elliott, M. Donkin, M. Zajonc, M. Czirr, M. Williams, M. Daughaday, M. Muriuki, M. Cartmell, M. Ford, M. Devermont, M. Hedlund, M. Patterson, M. Murphy, M. Bassnett, M. Lovely, M. Schiff, M. Bylinsky, C. Fitzgerald, M. Danielson, M. Morrow, M. Corwin, M. Schreiner, M. Metts, M. Stevenson, M. Vystoropskyi, M. Brownlee, M. Shamp, M. Sattler, M. Ross-Lee, M. Bueche, M. Fitzsimmons, M. Borisoff, M. Larter, M. Cunningham, M. Williams, M. Alley, M. Adler, M. Murray, L. Deacon, M. Kruger, M. Bryant, M. Lee, P. Johnston, M. Sanford, N. Offor, M. Saint, R. Borbidge, M. Reese, M. Langley, M. Howard, M. Stewart, M. Morrison, M. Kennedy, M. Aron, M. Rockett, M. Kingston, M. Daniluk, M. Schoen, M. Lee, M. Huch, M. Chaffee, M. Simmons, M. Herman, M. Vaal, M. Canning, M. Kochkov, M. Fullwood, G. Belsak, M. Bergman, M. Armstrong, M. Bottaccini, M. Farabee, B. Gaalen, M. Haan, M. Hoffman, E. Garland, M. Everest, M. Venzor, M. Frederick, M. Peraza, W. Ruf, M. Matters, M. Smith, M. Hansen, M. Edris, M. Souter, M. Smith, M. OBrien, M. Provost & M. Nimmerjahn.REFERENCES► Hoskin, Michael, "Discoverers of the Universe: William and Caroline Herschel"MUSICLicensed by SoundStripe.com (SS) [shorturl.at/ptBHI], Artlist.io, via CC Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) or with permission from the artist. You can see all of our past music here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Bu2UQlKDb0KaeliLZUOZn► In the Moment - Scott Buckley► Dust and Light - Hill► Cylinder Four - Chris Zabriskie► World of Wonder - Hill► Cylinder Four - Chris Zabriskie► First and Last - Hill► Don’t Think - Hill► To Accept the Partings That Must Come - Hill#Uranus #Aliens #CoolWorlds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Use code coolworlds at https://incogni.com/coolworlds to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan.Venus resembles our Earth in so many ways, yet in many others it's frightningly different. Was Venus always this way? Could it have once been habitable? And if so, what went wrong? Why did Venus transform to the hellscape we see today? Let's explore the world next door...Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping. Edited by Jorge Casas. Special thanks to Prof Stephen Kane for fact checking our script.→ 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 D. Smith, M. Sloan, L. Sanborn, C. Bottaccini, D. Daughaday, A. Jones, S. Brownlee, N. Kildal, Z. Star, E. West, T. Zajonc, C. Wolfred, L. Skov, G. Benson, A. De Vaal, M. Elliott, B. Daniluk, M. Forbes, S. Vystoropskyi, S. Lee, Z. Danielson, C. Fitzgerald, C. Souter, M. Gillette, T. Jeffcoat, J. Rockett, D. Murphree, T. Donkin, K. Myers, A. Schoen, K. Dabrowski, J. Black, R. Ramezankhani, J. Armstrong, K. Weber, S. Marks, L. Robinson, S. Roulier, B. Smith, J. Cassese, J. Kruger, S. Way, P. Finch, S. Applegate, L. Watson, E. Zahnle, N. Gebben, J. Bergman, E. Dessoi, C. Macdonald, M. Hedlund, P. Kaup, C. Hays, W. Evans, D. Bansal, J. Curtin, J. Sturm, RAND Corp., M. Donovan, N. Corwin, M. Mangione, K. Howard, L. Deacon, G. Metts, G. Genova, R. Provost, B. Sigurjonsson, G. Fullwood, B. Walford, J. Boyd, N. De Haan, J. Gillmer, R. Williams, E. Garland, A. Leishman, A. Phan Le, R. Lovely, M. Spoto, A. Steele, M. Varenka, K. Yarbrough, A. Cornejo, D. Compos, F. Demopoulos, G. Bylinsky, J. Werner, B. Pearson, S. Thayer, T. Edris, A. Harrison, B. Seeley, F. Blood, M. O'Brien, P. Muzyka, E. Loomans, D. Lee, J. Sargent, M. Czirr, F. Krotzer, I. Williams, J. Sattler, J. Smallbon, B. Reese, J. Yoder, O. Shabtay & X. Yao.REFERENCES► Weller, M. et al. 2023, "Venus’s atmospheric nitrogen explained by ancient plate tectonics", Nature Astronomy: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-023-02102-w► Truong, N. & Lunine, J. 2021, "Volcanically extruded phosphides as an abiotic source of Venusian phosphine", PNAS, 118, e2021689118: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2021689118► Greaves, J. et al. 2021, "Phosphine gas in the cloud decks of Venus", Nature Astronomy, 5, 655: https://arxiv.org/abs/2009.06593► Way, M. et al. 2016, "Was Venus the First Habitable World of our Solar System?", Geophysical Research Letters, 43, 8376: https://arxiv.org/abs/1608.00706MUSICLicensed by SoundStripe.com (SS) [shorturl.at/ptBHI], Artlist.io, via CC Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) or with permission from the artist.0:00 Hill - The Great Alchemist3:58 Hill - Unhurried5:31 Hill - World of Wonder7:27 Chris Zabriskie - Music from Neptune Flux 048:40 Hill - A Slowly Lifting Fog11:07 Falls - Life in Binary15:38 Hill - Chasing out the Chaos19:29 Chris Zabriskie - Cylinder Seven23:28 Joachim Heinrich - YCHAPTERS0:00 Not With 10,000 Men...2:20 The Mysterious World3:45 Communist Venus5:34 Incogni6:59 Venusian Volcanism8:31 Resurfacing10:15 92 Bars12:24 The Outgassing Conundrum13:41 Lost Oceans15:30 Was Venus Habitable?18:09 Venusian Life21:54 Future Exploration23:08 Endgame24:45 Outro & Credits#Venus #CoolWorlds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Go to http://DrinkLMNT.com/coolworlds for a free sample pack with any order!One of strangest discoveries in astronomy is one you've probably never heard of - Przybylski’s Star. This is a star that defies natural explanation and has many wondering whether this could be evidence of alien life, a star being deliberately "salted" by some advanced civilization. Join us today to learn more.Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping, edited by Jorge Casas. Special thanks to Jason Wright for fact checking and for his wonderful blog that inspired this video - https://sites.psu.edu/astrowright/przybylskis-star/.→ 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 D. Smith, M. Sloan, L. Sanborn, C. Bottaccini, D. Daughaday, A. Jones, S. Brownlee, N. Kildal, Z. Star, E. West, T. Zajonc, C. Wolfred, L. Skov, G. Benson, A. De Vaal, M. Elliott, B. Daniluk, S. Vystoropskyi, S. Lee, Z. Danielson, C. Fitzgerald, C. Souter, M. Gillette, T. Jeffcoat, J. Rockett, D. Murphree, T. Donkin, K. Myers, A. Schoen, K. Dabrowski, J. Black, R. Ramezankhani, J. Armstrong, K. Weber, S. Marks, L. Robinson, S. Roulier, B. Smith, J. Cassese, J. Kruger, S. Way, P. Finch, S. Applegate, L. Watson, E. Zahnle, N. Gebben, J. Bergman, E. Dessoi, C. Macdonald, M. Hedlund, P. Kaup, C. Hays, W. Evans, D. Bansal, J. Curtin, J. Sturm, RAND Corp., M. Donovan, N. Corwin, M. Mangione, K. Howard, L. Deacon, G. Metts, R. Provost, B. Sigurjonsson, G. Fullwood, B. Walford, J. Boyd, N. De Haan, J. Gillmer, R. Williams, E. Garland, A. Leishman, A. Phan Le, R. Lovely, M. Spoto, A. Steele, K. Yarbrough, A. Cornejo, D. Compos, F. Demopoulos, G. Bylinsky, J. Werner, B. Pearson, S. Thayer, T. Edris, B. Seeley, F. Blood, M. O'Brien, P. Muzyka, D. Lee, J. Sargent, M. Czirr, F. Krotzer, I. Williams, J. Sattler, J. Smallbon, B. Reese, J. Yoder, O. Shabtay, X. Yao, S. Saverys, M. Pittelli, A. Nimmerjahn & C. Seay.REFERENCES► Przybylski, A. 1977, "Is iron present in the atmosphere of HD 101065?", MNRAS 178, 71: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1977MNRAS.178...71P► Wolff S. & Hagen, W. 1976, "The magnetic field of HD 101065", PASP 88, 119: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1976PASP...88..119W► Gopka, V. et al. 2008, "Identification of absorption lines of short half-life actinides in the spectrum of Przybylski's star (HD 101065)", KPCB 24, 89: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008KPCB...24...89G/abstract► Whitemire, D. & Wright, D. 1980, "Nuclear waste spectrum as evidence of technological extraterrestrial civilizations", Icarus 42, 149: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1980Icar...42..149W/abstractMUSICLicensed by SoundStripe.com (SS) [shorturl.at/ptBHI], Artlist.io, via CC Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) or with permission from the artist.0:00: Arc - Hill0:30: Falls - Ripley2:07: Cylinder Seven - Chris Zabriskie6:39: There is But One Good - Hill 24:32: Y - Joachim HeinrichCHAPTERS0:00 A Peculiar Star2:39 Spectroscopic Strangeness5:25 It Gets Weirder5:50 LMNT7:15 Impossible Chemistry9:44 Explanations13:09 Aliens16:12 Outro & Credits#Aliens #Astrobiology #CoolWorlds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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": http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v542/n7642/full/nature21360.html► O'Malley-James & Kaltenegger (2017), "UV Surface Habitability of the TRAPPIST-1 System": https://arxiv.org/abs/1702.06936► TRAPPIST-1 website: www.trappist.one► Elisabeth Newton's website: https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~enewton/► 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 Videos ► http://bit.ly/CoolWorldsGuestsQ&A Videos ► http://bit.ly/CoolWorldsQAScience of TV/Film ► http://bit.ly/ScienceMovies::Follow us::SUBSCRIBE to the channel http://bit.ly/CoolWorldsSubscribeCool Worlds Lab http://coolworlds.astro.columbia.eduTwitter https://twitter.com/david_kippingInstagram https://www.instagram.com/cool.worldsTHANKS FOR WATCHING!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices