How An Extreme New Star Could Change All Cosmology

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A new white dwarf has been discovered (poetically named: ZTF J1901+1458) that’s doing some stuff that no white dwarf should ever be able to do. In fact, it has multiple properties that are so extreme that it almost certainly did NOT form in the way that we thought all white dwarfs formed. This one peculiar point of faint light may change our understanding of not just white dwarfs, but of all cosmology.

Professor Dave Explains: Debunking the Electric Universe

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Hosted by Matt O'Dowd
Written by Matt Caplan & Matt O'Dowd
Graphics by Leonardo Scholzer, Yago Ballarini, Pedro Osinski, Adriano Leal & Stephanie Faria
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[ScienceAsylum]

I did my (theoretical) graduate work on white dwarf equilibrium, so this video was particularly exciting for me. White dwarf collisions?! That's so cool! The weirdest thing I learned about them during my grad work was that the vast majority of the electrons are moving relativistically, yet the derivation of the Chandrasekhar limit involves a mix of relativistic and non-relativistic equations. I was never able to figure out how we can get away with that (because I ran out of time and my advisor told me to just suggest it for future research).

[ProfessorDaveExplains]

Thanks for the shout out! And great work on this video!

[haroldfloyd]

He breaks down this cutting edge science to a level I can almost comprehend.

[dedale]

I'm so happy that human kind has people smart enough to study this stuff. This is fascinating.

[themadotaku]

You're such an effective science communicator. You do a very good job at diving in deeper than most pop-sci but using repetition and good visual aids you keep it accessible to an educated layperson.

[dahauns]

When you brought up that Gaia was launched to help measure parallax, the "how?" popping up in my mind was immediately answered through a single quick animation without breaking stride - which made me grin and stop to say:
I've really come to appreciate how incredibly well your illustrations complement what currently is explained.

[NewMessage]

Finally, something with 'Extreme' branding that actually qualifies for the title.

[Rubrickety]

From the question responses: "Much much weaker than gravity." There's a phrase you don't hear a lot on Space Time.

[RCaIabraro]

The tribute to Charlie, the Big Bang Patreon, was awesome. You deserve it, buddy! Thank you for helping keep the lights on at Space Time Studios!

[abrahamlincoln]

White dwarf: I want to be even smaller
Matt: Actually, quantum mechanics forbids this.

[feekygucker]

Got to love the stuff that can alter the course of whole areas of study.

What a splendid time to be a human. Watching this on my 50th birthday and humbled by how much we’ve learnt in my life, and how well disseminated that learning has become in the latter half. Great stuff Matt and the pbsst team.

[DrWhosmate]

"Wafer thin mint, ZEE?" "It's only wafer thin..." <boom>

[swedebug]

I want a shirt with "Typical until proven weird" print!

[MrEmperorBlack]

Matt O'Dowd taught for a semester at my university in the Bronx. He was such a great teacher!

[DyxoXinoro]

"Quantum Mechanics Greatest Pranks" sounds like a tongue in cheek series about times scientists got things hilariously off base even though the math checked out.

[Gamer]

I thought the only reason you haven't done Quantum Mechanic based pranks is that you couldn't be certain of the outcome.

[srinitaaigaura]

How to name a star - gets frustrated and bangs both hands on keyboard - "Yeah, that looks right"

[CubOfJudahsLion]

Loving "huh, that's weird" -- one of my favorite sci-fi novels, Asimov's "The Gods Themselves" (Nebula + Hugo winner) begins with one such moments.

[kierangallagher]

I love finding a brand new episode mere minutes old

[jedmstr]

The Magneto defense has now replaced the Chewbacca defense in my conversations. Thank You