Cool Worlds

Cool Worlds is the channel of the Cool Worlds Lab, a team of astronomers in the Department of Astronomy at Columbia University. The lab is led by Professor David Kipping and studies planets around other stars, especially those cool enough to support life.

The videos cover astronomy, exoplanets, astroengineering and the search for extraterrestrial life. They are long, carefully scripted and calmly narrated, with rich visuals. Many take a big question, such as whether a warp drive could work or why we have not found aliens, and work through it using real physics and current research.

Some highlights include:

An exploration of what would be needed to build a warp drive and what is stopping us.

An explanation of how astronomers measure the size of the universe and what the answer means.

A look at the Fermi paradox, the puzzle of why we have not detected alien civilisations, and a simple possible answer.

The channel has around 1.09 million subscribers.

Cool Worlds shows how working scientists reason through hard questions. It connects to physics, astrophysics and space engineering, and to the way research is actually done. It suits students thinking about a physics degree or a career in the space sector. The videos are long, so they reward viewers who enjoy following an argument to its end. Many also touch on the engineering challenges of spaceflight, such as propulsion and energy.