logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2022
29m 57s

The James Webb Space Telescope

Vox
About this episode

This Sunday, the greatest telescope in the history of humanity is scheduled to reach its destination nearly a million miles away from Earth. Vox’s Unexplainable explored what it will do when it gets there.

Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained

Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Up next
Today
The campus resistance
In this special feed drop of On with Kara Swisher, Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber talks about standing up to Donald Trump and what free speech on campus really looks like. This episode was produced by Cristian Castro Rossel, Kateri Jochum, Michell Eloy, Megan Burney an ... Show More
53m 47s
Yesterday
Saudi Arabia is no joke
The Riyadh Comedy Festival was billed as “two weeks of laughs in the desert” but has comics asking, “At what cost?” This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Adriene Lilly, and hosted by Noel King. A poster f ... Show More
26 m
Oct 8
Trump deploys the National Guard
The president is attempting to send the National Guard into two American cities for two (seemingly) different reasons with two (for now) different results. This episode was produced by Denise Guerra and Danielle Hewitt, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard and K ... Show More
25m 55s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2021
The James Webb Space Telescope
After decades of planning, NASA is finally (finally!) set to launch the successor to the Hubble. The new Webb telescope will be a paradigm shift for astronomy, exploring places in the cosmos that have been completely invisible to us until now. But first, it has to safely reach a ... Show More
27m 28s
Jul 2022
What’s the James Webb telescope searching for?
A lava planet, life on other worlds, the very first starlight in the universe — the most powerful space telescope ever built is ready to reveal many mysteries of the cosmos.For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about ... Show More
49m 53s
Sep 2021
The James Webb Time Machine
To look into deep space is to look back in time. With the upcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists hope to see “cosmic dawn,” a period long ago when the first starlight transformed the universe. But what happened before cosmic dawn? The Webb can’t tell us, th ... Show More
29m 30s
Dec 2023
Something weird near the beginning of time
The James Webb Space Telescope launched two years ago, giving scientists a new view into the early universe. Now, it's revealed a big new cosmic mystery.For show transcripts, go to bit.ly/unx-transcriptsFor more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to view show t ... Show More
21m 1s
Feb 2023
We booped an asteroid
Last fall, a NASA spacecraft slammed into an asteroid to test a way to avert a disaster on Earth. So are we safe now? For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@v ... Show More
22m 24s
Jul 2021
Moon poop
Astronauts left something on the moon that could help unlock the origins of life itself.For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@vo ... Show More
25m 15s
Apr 2021
The Twilight Zone of the ocean
Every day, untold numbers of strange organisms rise from the middle of the ocean to its surface. They may be playing a crucial role in slowing climate change, so scientists are struggling to understand this migration ... before it’s too late.For more, go to http://vox.com/unexpla ... Show More
27m 32s
Feb 2022
A sonic tour of the solar system
What does it sound like on Mars? On Jupiter? Titan? This collaboration between the podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz and the composer Melodysheep imagines the soundscapes of other worlds.For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to view show transcripts and read ... Show More
22m 59s
Aug 2023
It’s getting harder to see
Something about modern life is leading to higher rates of nearsightedness across the world. What is it?To buy tickets to our upcoming live show in New York, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableliveFor more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to view show transcrip ... Show More
20m 51s