Episodes
Why is star formation the workhorse of the universe? What is a flocculent galaxy? Which cosmic cataclysm creates new globular star clusters? And why are we currently seeing such amazing aurora in unusual places? To find out, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome Dr. Kelsey Johnson, past president of the AAS and the ASP, and author of “Into the Unknown – The Quest to Understand the Mysteries of the Cosmos.”
Published 11/09/24
Happy Halloween! In this special episode of The LIUniverse, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome back archaeology expert Hannah Liu, MEd to bring a scientific eye to the holiday and some of its most familiar denizens: witches, werewolves, zombies, black cats and even the Great Galactic Ghoul!
Published 10/26/24
Welcome to Season 4 of The LIUniverse and thank you for joining us on this journey. We’re kicking off the new season with another Chuck GPT episode devoted to answering your questions, and to do that, we’ve brought back archaeology expert Hannah Liu, MEd. She’s not alone: joining Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu is The LIUniverse’s Social Media Guru, Stacey Severn.
Published 10/20/24
How did the universe evolve, and more importantly, how might it end? To find out, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome theoretical cosmologist and astrophysicist, Dr. Katie Mack, author of the recently published book, “The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking).” In Part 2, we look at dark matter, Gravitational Memory Effect, and more.
Published 09/07/24
How did the universe evolve, and more importantly, how might it end? To find out, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome theoretical cosmologist and astrophysicist, Dr. Katie Mack, author of the recently published book, “The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking).” Be warned: thinking caps required for this episode as the trio tackle some pretty intense science and astrophysics!
Published 08/24/24
How do you go from a small town in Colorado to being a scientist-astronaut candidate in Australia? And how can you make space accessible for disabled astronauts? To find out, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome scientist-astronaut candidate Celene Shimmen.
Published 08/10/24
Would materials behave differently in a different universe? What’s it like to spacewalk in a spacesuit that’s too big? How would society be different if the Mercury 13 women had been allowed to become astronauts? In this episode, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu conclude their interview with astronaut, chemist, engineer, flautist, and author of “Sharing Space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission, Wonder, and Making Change,” Dr. Cady Coleman.
Published 07/20/24
What is the overview effect? Why is slow fast when you’re spacewalking? And what would happen to Chuck and Allen’s hair in space? To get the answers to these and other questions, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome back astronaut, chemist, engineer, flautist, and most recently, the author of “Sharing Space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission, Wonder, and Making Change,” Dr. Cady Coleman.
Published 07/06/24
Does sound travel faster in space? Is the multiverse theory true? Can gravity escape a black hole? In our latest episode of our popular “Chuck GPT” series, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome our Social Media/Patreon Community Director Stacey Severn to answer fan questions collected from Patreon patrons, students, Facebook and YouTube.
Published 06/15/24
Is there really a music of the spheres? And why is space so inspirational for creativity? To ponder these cosmic questions, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome noted composer and pianist Bruce Lazarus, whose compositions include “Musical Explorations of Messier Star Clusters and Nebulae” and “Starry Messenger.”
Published 06/02/24
Do gravitons exist? What are blazars? How did our universe begin? To grapple with questions on a cosmological scale, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome Dr. Ron Gamble, a theoretical astrophysicist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
Published 05/18/24
Volcanoes in space...supervolcanoes here on Earth... and lava lakes everywhere! To get an expert opinion on eruptions, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome Dr. Sam Tramontano, a Post-Doctoral researcher in geology and Earth sciences at The American Museum of Natural History.
Published 05/04/24
How does the brain actually work? And is there anything we can do when it doesn’t? To find out, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome Dr. Nicki Driscoll, CTO and Co-Founder of NeuroBionics.
Published 04/21/24
The total solar eclipse is almost here! In this special episode of The LIUniverse, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu want to bring to you – in a “nice clean package” – both the basics and some more in-depth investigations of how eclipses work, how to see them, and what makes them so unique. This episode includes clips from Dr. Liu’s recent public talk at the College of Staten Island.
Published 04/05/24
What is the science behind the science fiction in “Three Body Problem”? In our second episode of “ChuckGPT” Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome two members of The LIUniverse production team: Jon Barnes and Stacey Severn, to delve into the questions and answers posed by the award-winning novel and new series on Netflix.
Published 03/30/24
What does the study of archeology, the study of the human past, offer to the astronomers of today? To find out, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome archaeology expert Hannah Liu, MEd, to connect the past, the present, and the future of astronomy in an episode Allen has described as, “A Fistful of Lius.”
Published 03/16/24
How can college students who would like to work in the space industry and at NASA get their foot in the door? And what is the purpose of the Lucy mission to the Trojan Asteroids? To get the answers to both of these questions, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome Freya Holloway, a NASA L’SPACE Lab Tech at ASU.
Published 03/03/24
Welcome to the Season 3 premiere of The LIUniverse, your happy half-hour dose of cosmic conversation and geeky banter with host Dr. Charles Liu! In this episode, Chuck and co-host Allen Liu welcome back Dr. Jimmy Negus, who was our guest on our very first episode, to talk about Solar Flares, “Deep Space Nine,” and more.
Published 02/18/24
What happens to one sun of a binary pair if the other goes supernova? Will we succeed in mitigating the greenhouse effect? How do we decide how big a telescope should be? For our season finale, we’re answering questions from our fans. And to bring your questions to life, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome “Vinyl Benjy” Schoenfeld and Stacey Severn from the LIUniverse social media team.
Published 12/30/23
Conclusion: When humanity heads out for the stars, what will be powering our spacecraft? To find out, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome father and daughter team Franklin Chang-Diaz, NASA astronaut and founder of the Ad Astra Rocket Company™, and Miranda Chang, Ad Astra’s Global Communications Director for Part 2 of this two-part episode.
Published 12/16/23
When humanity heads out for the stars, what will be powering our spacecraft? To find out, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome father and daughter team Franklin Chang-Diaz, NASA astronaut and founder of the Ad Astra Rocket Company™, and Miranda Chang, Ad Astra’s Global Communications Director for Part 1 of this two-part episode.
Published 12/10/23
How do we find black holes? And how can we tell whether it’s a small black hole “eating” really fast or a large black hole that’s eating very slowly? To find out, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome astrophysicist Dr. Vivienne Baldassare, a professor of astronomy and physics at Washington State University.
Published 11/19/23
In this episode of The LIUniverse, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome Dr. Jeyhan Kartaltepe, an astronomer and professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, who studies galactic evolution, including galactic collisions and the growth of black holes, to explore final frontiers, both real and fictional.
Published 10/28/23
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a science educator and work at a planetarium or science museum? Even better, to run one? To find out, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome Elliot Severn, the Planetarium Director at Sacred Heart University’s Discovery Science Center and Planetarium, and Jenny Powers, the Director of the Springfield Science Museum.
Published 10/14/23