Freakish One-Offs in Astronomy

New research! One-offs... there's something about them, whether it be the first interstellar asteroid or a star behaving in an unprecedented way. These "black swans" capture our attention and imagination but interpreting them is challenged by the inherent scarcity of data. Perhaps no case encapsulates this more than the famous 1977 Wow Signal. Join us today as we discuss our new paper on Black Swan Theory with consequences for the Wow signal.

Thank-you to our supporters T. Widdowson, D. Smith, M. Sloan, L. Sanborn, C. Bottaccini, D. Daughaday, A. Jones, S. Brownlee, M. Lijoi, Z. Star, T. Zanjonc, C. Wolfred, F. Rebolledo, L. Skov, E. Wilson, M. Elliot, B. Daniluk, J. Patrick-Saunders, M. Forbes, S. Vystoropskyi, S. Lee, Z. Danielson, C. Fitzgerald, V. Alexandrov, L. Macchia, C. Souter, M. Gillette, T. Jeffcoat, H. Jensen, F. Linker, J. Rockett, N. Fredrickson, B. Mlazgar, D. Holland, J. Alexander, E. Hanway, A. Rao, E. Crump & J. Bergman.

Correction at 10:19 - the hydrogen line is 1420 MHz not kHz

::Links::

::Music::
► Joachim Heinrich - Y
► Chris Zabriskie - Cylinder Five
► Indive - Lightyears Away
► Chris Zabriskie - Cylinder Four
► Falls - Life in Binary
► Falls - Ripley
► Kevin MacLeod - Long Note Two
► Joachim Heinrich - Horizon

::Video clips::

::Film clips used::
► Contact (1997) - Warner Bros
► Independence Day (1996) - 20th Century Fox
► Ad Astra (2019) - 20th Century Fox

::Chapters::
00:00 Discovery
02:50 Black Swans
07:53 Sponsorship
09:08 The Wow Signal
11:59 Black Swan Theory
17:09 Wow as a Black Swan
23:48 Credits

#BlackSwanTheory #WowSignal #CoolWorlds

[morbidmanatee]

I held the Wow! printout in my hand back in the late 80's when I was a volunteer at OSU Big Ear in Delaware OH.

[jacob]

"why would an alien civilization send a one time signal?"

Carl Sagan:.

[e]

12:41 that's not impossible to imagine. We've sent one off signals ourselves at random stars just hoping for a reply. I can imagine an alien civilization receiving a wow signal from us and not knowing what to make of it.

[nonbinaryDes]

I think it's so cool how you recognize your patrons as executive producers. Shows how much you appreciate the community

[MrMekmek]

Oh man I wish my college professor was like this guy. I feel like Im being serenated with poems while I learn Physics. This channel is awesome! The production value is just superb.

[cahinton.]

I think it's really cool that David makes an effort to highlight prominent women in the history of science, many of whom were never given the credit they deserved and/or passed over for their male counterparts. Just a small but nice detail I've noticed in his videos that I appreciate.

[JazzyArtKL]

Hands down the best channel on YT next to Event Horizon. Thanks David!

[OldKingSol]

I love guys like you who know how to play the "dramatic passion" effect to the max. I'm sure you aren't just faking it, mind you. But to be able to present like that on-demand takes a special talent. You have to be able to sound convincingly passionate even at times when you're not fully feeling it, and you manage to sound that convincing all the time. You make it fun to learn. You make it interesting by sounding interested, yourself, which again I'm sure you are, but nobody can be that passionate 100% of the time. Life makes sure of that. so good job!

[danielviking]

I just have to get out of my system now. I have always had a deep interest in physics, mainly astrophysics. David are the one that inspired me to take up studies the university again to pursue a deeper understanding of the subject and to follow my passion. You are a true inspiration and keep up the amazing work!

[OGSinisterPotato]

I'm drunk and feel the need to express how much I love your channel despite being extremely new to it. Your work is amazing. Thank you.

[supersymmtry]

My favourite YT channel atm. The paradox of wanting more frequent videos, but knowing videos of this quality take longer to make. Bravo!

[johnfyten]

Carl Sagan was a true prophet of astronomy. He sparked my imagination as a kid. This channel, and Parralax Nick, keep the fire burning.

[XenoWiz]

This Channel is so great, I love when you explain something such an underrated channel.

[frenchexpat]

People like you make me think that internet was a great thing

[benmcreynolds]

The more I learn about how the universe works... The more I wish we weren't limited to our human timeline.... Even tho the universe functions on much greater timelines and distances and lifespans it doesn't stop me from utterly loving it and wanting to explore every inch of places I visit. I have this passion that anyone can discover something even if other people have been there already, all you have to do is look in a new or different way...

[jjt]

Always creating and uploading the best material on YouTube. Thanks, Cool Worlds! 😃😃👍

[omerkaracay]

Wow.. You deserve millions of subscriptions and views. This channel deserve so much more than this. Keep up the excellent work! Thank you so much for the great content!

[davidczajkowski]

Professor Kipping youvare an amazing teacher. I listen to anything astronomy/physics almost every night before sleep, and no other YouTube channel comes even close to Cool Worlds! Every video covers the topics in way that is easy to follow and understand…and always invoking deep thought. Thanks for sharing your knowledge! When Netflix series😁

[stevesoldwedel]

This was exactly what I needed to end this day on a high note. Thank you. I look forward to reading your paper.

[alexandermartin]

Great video. Guys, I recommend you to check out the paper "An approximation to determine the source of the Wow signal".