logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2024
29m 32s

Dead Planets Society: Can We Burn Uranus...

NEW SCIENTIST
About this episode

What would it take to set Uranus ablaze? Is it even possible to burn it in the typical sense? If anyone can figure it out, it's the Dead Planets Society.

Join Dead Planeteers Leah and Chelsea as they invite planetary scientist Paul Byrne back to the podcast, to join in more of their chaotic antics. 

This mission is less about destruction (though it’s definitely also about destruction) and more about advancing science. Uranus is an ice giant, one of the most common types of planets in the universe, so burning it could teach us a lot about the cosmos. The planet may also be full of diamonds - and the potential for treasure derails the team’s destructive intentions.

Dead Planets Society is a podcast that takes outlandish ideas about how to tinker with the cosmos – from punching a hole in a planet to unifying the asteroid belt – and subjects them to the laws of physics to see how they fare.

Your hosts are Leah Crane and Chelsea Whyte.

If you have a cosmic object you’d like to figure out how to destroy, email the team at deadplanets@newscientist.com. It may just feature in a later episode. 


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Up next
Aug 22
Could we end winter illness?; Cold fusion’s comeback; The delicious microbiome of chocolate
Episode 317 Winter bugs are notoriously hard to vaccinate against. But as cold, flu and covid season is about to descend on us once more, one group researchers are working on an entirely new solution to the misery. A team out of Columbia University has been testing an mRNA-based ... Show More
20m 41s
Aug 14
Climate special: How to fix the climate crisis with Tim Lenton and Kate Marvel
Episode 316 “All of the other planets out there are just complete garbage. The Earth is the only good place.” – Kate Marvel The climate crisis can leave many of us feeling hopeless and overwhelmed. But, as climate scientists Kate Marvel and Tim Lenton say, there are many reasons ... Show More
44m 25s
Aug 5
80 years since Hiroshima: Forgotten victims of the atomic bomb
Episode 315 It’s been 80 years since the first and only use of nuclear weapons in war - events that altered the course of history. The consequences of the widespread destruction, deaths and nuclear fallout are still being dealt with today. On 6th August 1945, a bomb was dropped o ... Show More
34m 6s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2024
Cheap Astronomy - Dear CA # 113: The Planets
We’ve plundered Earth, what’s next? Dear Cheap Astronomy – If we did colonize the Solar System, what would we do with the different planets? It remains to be seen if we will spread out across the solar system. While we starting to feel more confident about avoiding a mass extinct ... Show More
14m 33s
Nov 2024
EVSN - Aquatic Planets Like Earth Could Abound in Milky Way
From March 10, 2021. A new study examines the formation of rocky worlds from dust particles containing ice and carbon, increasing the possibility that our own Milky Way galaxy could be filled with aquatic planets similar to Earth. Plus, a simulation of the Milky Way-Andromeda col ... Show More
22m 17s
Dec 2024
Travelers in the Night Eps. 769 & 770: Green Comet & Hycean World
Dr. Al Grauer hosts. Dr. Albert D. Grauer ( @Nmcanopus ) is an observational asteroid hunting astronomer. Dr. Grauer retired from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2006. travelersinthenight.org Today's 2 topics: - Given the effects of climate change today who can predi ... Show More
5m 30s
Mar 2025
Astronomy Cast Ep. 747: Rogue Planets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evnwMG85VeY Streamed live on Mar 10, 2025. Hosted by: Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela L. Gay Most planets orbit stars. That’s the rule, right? Well, maybe not. In fact the vast majority of planets could be floating freely through the Milky Way. Today we ... Show More
29m 41s
Sep 2023
Subsurface oceans: The hidden potential of Earth-like exoplanets
Lujendra Ojha, assistant professor at Rutgers University, joins Planetary Radio to discuss how subsurface liquid water on exoplanets orbiting red dwarf stars could increase the likelihood of finding habitable worlds beyond our Solar System. Then we check in with Bruce Betts, chie ... Show More
50m 28s
Oct 2024
Cheap Astronomy - Implausible Engineering Ep. 2: Embracing Your Inner Robot
Robots Like Us... Implausible Engineering – Episode 1a: The Relativity Vault We’re all going to die. But let’s say you’re going to die from some incurable disease – or even just from ageing – and you’ve got some time to plan ahead. One option is to assume that future science coul ... Show More
15m 17s
Sep 2024
Awesome Astronomy - Should We Worry About Asteroids?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dqqw579DOY Paul Hill & Dr. Jenifer “Dr. Dust” Millard host.  Damien Phillips, John Wildridge and Dustin Ruoff produce. From Dec 9, 2022. At AstroCamp. Astronomy 101 - Everything you need to know about asteroids! - What are they? - What are they ma ... Show More
19m 38s