Universe Today Podcast

[Interview+] How Good Was Our Search for Extraterrestrial Life, Really?

Universe Today Podcast

Show Notes

BONUS PART STARTS AT 43:25 Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/izP3FsO9u8o PBS Spacetime video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OM0zTfdsPo Professor David Kipping's channel: @CoolWorldsLab We've done a lot of searching for extraterrestrial life over the years. But how good was it? Did we look hard enough or deep enough? Is it too early for conclusions? Could do a better job? If so, how? Figuring out in this interview. 🟣 Guest: Dr. Ben Zuckerman 📜 Broadband Searches for Extraterrestrial Technological Intelligence: a New Strategy To Find Nearby Alien Civilizations https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.07333 00:00 Intro

01:36 SETI

05:07 How deep did we look

24:12 What could we have done differently

36:57 Most satisfying answer to the Fermi Paradox

43:25 BONUS PART: pollution of white dwarfs

53:01 Current obsessions

57:14 Final thoughts

More from Universe Today Podcast

Oct 23, 2026

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 20:35 Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/B9P_8oZ4rCA The Japanese mission is off to Phobos. Actually, there are green stars. Explaining the most mysterious cloud on Mars. Euclid discovers a comet. And in Space Bites+, how the shrinking Moon could be a danger for astronauts. 00:00 Intro

Oct 23, 2026

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 14:54 Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/a0t-G4LKiMU What does "the present" mean in space? Why do we have the laws of Physics we have? Was there a rime when all the Universe was accessible? And in Q&A+, are all black holes perfect spheres? 00:00 Intro

Oct 21, 2026

BONUS PART STARST AT 21:45 Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/sx-qjgeslfQ A new mission that was just proposed to NASA is an extreme UV telescope that will observe hundreds of stars to find the conditions for planets with atmospheres. How exactly will it work? Finding out in this interview. Interview with Lee Feinberg about the HWO https://youtu.be/0R3ykUkxH5M?si=DhJxA32PyHr3ypUh Huge interview about TRAPPIST-1 system https://youtu.be/B8H4EnbKkgU?si=_mGhpuR5w2G0bCtX 🟣 Guest: Dr. Allison Youngblood https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/allison.a.youngblood 📜 ESCAPE: a small explorer mission to study the stellar drivers of exoplanet evolution https://arxiv.org/pdf/2608.00683 00:00 Intro

Oct 21, 2026

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 15:22 Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/MhJFyC_vdtk Why are there no binary planets? Should you buy into dark energy and dark matter? What apps are best for stargazing? And in Q&A+, why don't NASA just bring put wipers on Mars solar panels? 00:00 Intro

Oct 17, 2026

BONUS STORY STARTS AT 14:37 Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Qpthhx9svK8 Do hypernovae actually exist? The science is in from the Artemis 2 mission. A second generation planet found around a white dwarf. Starship 40 finally makes it home. And Space Bites Plus, a red dwarf feasting on a brown dwarf. 🔵 Vote for the best story here: https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain/posts 00:00 Intro

See all episodes →