james webb space telescope

In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert discusses big questions, fears and possibilities concerning extraterrestrial life with astrophysicist Adam Frank, author of “The Little Book of Aliens.” 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NASA recently celebrated one orbit around the Sun since the James Webb Space Telescope became operational. On the show today, Caitlin Casey, professor of astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin, is back to share some of the exciting discoveries her team has made in the first year of the $10 billion machine’s mission. She’ll also fill us in on the buzz over gravitational waves. Plus, why learning about the seemingly incomprehensible cosmos can keep us grounded.

Later, we’ll discuss dueling op-eds that arrive at the same conclusion: Immigration is good for the economy. Then, a listener calls in with a cocktail recipe, and a tortoise with the hiccups inspires this week’s answer to the Make Me Smart question.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• • “12 amazing James Webb Space Telescope discoveries across the universe” from Space

• • “Webb telescope discovers oldest galaxies ever observed” from Phys

• • “New 3D Visualization Highlights 5,000 Galaxies Revealed by Webb” from NASA

• • “The James Webb Space Telescope is out of this world” from “Make Me Smart”

• • “America’s Choice: Immigration or Bust” from The Wall Street Journal

• • “Opinion | The left needs to win, not duck, the immigration debate” from The Washington Post

• • “UPS Reaches Tentative Deal With Teamsters to Head Off Strike” from The New York Times

• • “IMF raises global growth forecast despite China’s recovery ‘losing steam'” from CNBC

• • “Nike is coming out with a soccer cleat specifically for women” from NPR

• • “Boots and balls made for men an injury risk to women footballers” from BBC News

We want to hear your answer to the Make Me Smart question. You can reach us at makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.

This week, The Daily is revisiting some of our favorite episodes of the year and checking in on what has happened in the time since they first ran.

In July, NASA released new images captured from a point in space one million miles from Earth. Ancient galaxies carpeting the sky like jewels on black velvet. Fledgling stars shining out from deep within cumulus clouds of interstellar dust.

Today, we return to our episode about the moment when the James Webb Space Telescope, the largest space observatory ever built, sent its first images back to Earth — and explore what the telescope has discovered since then in its long journey across the universe. 

Guest: Kenneth Chang, a science reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading

• Here are more scenes of the universe captured by the Webb telescope.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Ancient galaxies carpeting the sky like jewels on black velvet. Fledgling stars shining out from deep within cumulus clouds of interstellar dust. Hints of water vapor in the atmosphere of a remote exoplanet.

This week, NASA released new images captured from a point in space one million miles from Earth.

Today, we discuss the James Webb Space Telescope, the world’s most powerful space observatory, its journey to launch and what it can teach us about the universe.

Guest: Kenneth Chang, a science reporter for The New York Times.

Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, subscribe to our newsletter. 

Background reading: 

• Here are more scenes of the universe captured by the Webb telescope.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.