What’s Next in Science? Nobel Prizes, Space Missions & More (EP 57)

<p>What science should you be watching this fall? From Nobel Prize season to NASA’s Roman Space Telescope, Mars’ moons and Mercury, Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary take a relaxed tour of the discoveries and missions on their radar.</p><p>In Episode 57 of From First Principles, we explore why curiosity-driven research matters, what the Golden Goose Awards celebrate, and how questions that once sounded impractical can lead to unexpected breakthroughs. Then we turn to space: Roman’s search for dark energy and exoplanets, JAXA’s Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, and the mysteries ESA and JAXA’s BepiColombo mission will investigate at Mercury.</p><p>Along the way, we tour the updated FFP website, revisit some favorite episodes, and ask which stories you want us to cover in depth next.</p><p>A note before we begin: the main conversation was recorded before Labor Day weekend. The opening announcement addresses your requests for a separate episode on OpenAI, Navier–Stokes and the wider AI conversation. This episode is our fall science rundown; that deep dive is still to come.</p><p>CHAPTERS<br />00:00 Update on our upcoming Navier–Stokes and AI coverage<br />03:43 Episode intro and football banter<br />05:47 FFP intro<br />06:01 Nobel Prize season and our coverage plans<br />10:45 Golden Goose Awards: why basic research matters<br />21:02 FFP website tour and favorite episodes<br />42:24 Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope<br />46:20 Microlensing, exoplanets and dark matter<br />51:25 MMX: where did Mars’ moons come from?<br />54:40 BepiColombo and the mysteries of Mercury<br />1:02:17 Your questions, future deep dives and sign-off<br />1:05:40 Outro</p><p>SHOW NOTES<br />NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope:<br />https://science.nasa.gov/mission/roman-space-telescope/</p><p>JAXA’s Martian Moons eXploration (MMX):<br />https://www.mmx.jaxa.jp/en/mission/</p><p>ESA / JAXA BepiColombo:<br />https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/BepiColombo</p><p>Explore the research and episodes we cover:<br />https://ffppod.com</p><p>Science R&amp;D Funding Tracker:<br />https://ffppod.com/funding</p><p>Science Transfer Board:<br />https://ffppod.com/transfers</p><p>America 250:<br />https://ffppod.com/America250</p><p>Support the show:<br />https://ffppod.com/donate</p><p>WATCH ON YOUTUBE<br />https://youtu.be/snhQh0fjTX4</p><p>Follow @FFPPod on X / Instagram / TikTok / Facebook</p><p>Breaking down science news so it makes sense to curious people everywh