Nobel Prize Winner John Mather on the James Webb Space Telescope (2022) (382)

The James Webb Space Telescope is a monumental step forward in our pursuit of understanding the Universe and its origins. Here today, to answer the most frequently asked questions about the telescope, is the senior project scientist himself, John Cromwell Mather!

John is an astrophysicist and cosmologist of the highest rank. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite COBE along with his colleague George Smoot. Now, he’s exploring the early Universe via the JWST.

Tune in!

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Key Takeaways:

00:00:00 Intro
00:00:57 James Webb Space Telescope
00:04:00 Why are people so fascinated with space exploration?
00:06:51 Does Webb have the potential to see small rocky planets close to us?
00:09:29 Can Webb rule out or comment on the uniformity of the universe?
00:11:58 Will the TRAPPIST-1 system be viewed by Webb?
00:14:23 Will future projects self-assemble and self-replicate?
00:15:40 Can we look at Europa?
00:20:37 Rapid fire questions
00:24:14 Advice for aspiring students
00:25:08 Outro

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Additional resources:

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Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.

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#intotheimpossible #briankeating #jwst

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Please watch: "Neil DeGrasse Tyson: Plays the Race Card!"
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[zoltanmeksz]

Dear gentlemen, I wish you both a successful and happy new year, from Szekszárd, Hungary!

[petermaingi]

Great debate. When will JWST point its eyes on habitable exoplanets.. Trappist 1e, Proxima b.. especially habitable exoplanets within the range of 40 light years.

[flyflybaby]

Dear Brian, *where is the Kip Thorne interview?*
Happy New Year!❤🎉

[alexshtyn]

The JWST has been such a treasure so far. I hope it will help open the doors of progress in fields that have been stagnant for some time now.

[leyniaLip]

John Mather is the cat's pajamas. What a superb scientist, educator, and person.

[michaelreagan]

Interesting discussion. I wonder are there any plans to build and launch a traveling telescope? Maybe point it at Alpha-Proxima or something?

[BiswajitBhattacharjee-upvv]

Congratulations
With great hope and confidence.

[gulsen]

You added Turkish subtitles, thank you very much 😊

[GeneralSulla]

I picture the JWST walking into a room of Big Bang junkie scientists and saying: You know that stuff ain't good for 'ya"!

[techteampxla]

Dr BK, can you an episode on how the JWST maintains security, validity, and truth about the information they gather and publish to the public?

[smithaz]

MATHER WOULD BE ON MY SCIENCE ADVISOR BOARD HE'S SUCH AN AWESOME HUMAN. STILL THAT LOOK OF WONDER THAT TIME HASNT TAKEN AWAY FROM HIM. WHERE DO THE ALIENS COME FROM MATHER. WE COME FROM THE ALIENS MATHER WHAT IS THE WOW SIGNAL IN HUMAN DNA.

[philrilp]

It be great if we could get an image of whatever is pulling on the orbits of some kuiper belt objects that have led to speculation of a super earth with a highly elliptical orbit. I haven't heard anything about this since it was announced shortly after pluto was demoted?

[JungleJargon]

Since time and distance change they explain away dark matter and inflation (dark energy is suction, not inflation) so now it’s back to the drawing board for naturalism and a supposed natural cause for natural things.

[julioguardado]

I've read that the JWST could not be pointed at the Earth because it is too bright. Is that true? If it could be, what would it be able to see?

[karlgoebeler]

Same with Neil Degrasse Tyson. Starting with 1987A Super Nova. Neutrino question. Are they particles or waves? What I read is they could be particles. Try that with Einstein's Cosmological Constant.

[vitr]

Is there any research about the balance of planets from the solar system due to magnetic field of planets? The weakness of Mars magnetic field may benefit our Earth to hit the sun.

When the planets are closer to each other, the strongest forces from magnetic field from the poles are makings planets to spin faster for balancing the pull.

[albin]

All it can see is the grinning face of Brian Cox.

[karlgoebeler]

Time loop?? Confusing the consevation.

[andyoates]

Really wish that the JWST board had let the @CoolWorldsLab team have a bit of telescope time to look for exomoons.

They won’t be found until someone looks for them!😢😭😭🤓💚♾️

[such-a-time-as-this]

What an amazing, intricate, and complex universe our God has created for those who believe and enjoy science.

Perhaps humans can work together in peace to discover more of what surrounds us. Thank you for your podcast, Brian. I am a person of faith who enjoys learning new things and learning both about Jesus in the bible and science. I care for all humans and their wellbeing here on earth. All the best to you and continued success.