This Week In Space podcast: Episode 162 — Lunar Landing Day

Ever feel like your streaming platforms just don’t get you? If your Netflix queue is stuck suggesting bad rom-coms or Hulu thinks you’re obsessed with cooking shows (you watched one episode!), this article’s got your back. It walks you through resetting those stubborn algorithms so you can ditch the garbage recommendations and start fresh.

Editor’s Note: Let’s be real—streaming algorithms can be weirdly clingy, holding onto your guilty-pleasure binge from six months ago like it’s your entire personality. This matters because wrestling back control means less time scrolling, more time actually watching stuff you love. Plus, who doesn’t want a digital do-over?

A sponsored post from Popular Science is promoting a lifetime subscription to Hushed, a private phone line app, for just $19.99. The app promises to help users stay organized while keeping their data secure—though, as with any sponsored deal, it’s worth reading between the lines to see if it lives up to the hype.

Editor’s Note: In an era where spam calls and data breaches are everywhere, tools like Hushed appeal to folks who want a little more control over their digital footprint. But since this is a paid promotion, savvy readers might want to dig deeper into reviews or alternatives before jumping on the deal. Still, at $20 for a "lifetime" offer, it could be a low-risk experiment for privacy-conscious users.

Astronomers just caught a supermassive black hole in the act of tearing a star to shreds—and it’s happening inside a rare cosmic crash scene where two galaxies are merging. This violent "tidal disruption event" is only the second time scientists have seen one play out in colliding galaxies, making it a weird and fascinating find.

Editor’s Note: Black holes shredding stars isn’t new, but spotting it in the chaos of colliding galaxies? That’s like catching lightning in a bottle—twice. It gives scientists a front-row seat to how these cosmic monsters behave in extreme environments, which could help unravel bigger mysteries about galaxy evolution and black hole growth. Plus, it’s just cool to witness the universe’s most dramatic demolition derby.

A powerful G4 geomagnetic storm—one of the strongest categories—lit up skies across the U.S. and even parts of the southern states with dazzling northern lights. The rare spectacle, usually confined to polar regions, was visible as far south as California and New Mexico, treating stargazers to vibrant ribbons of green, pink, and purple.

Editor’s Note: This isn’t just a pretty light show—it’s a reminder of how interconnected our planet is with the sun’s activity. While intense solar storms can disrupt satellites and power grids, this one gave us a breathtaking (and harmless) display. For many, it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the auroras without traveling to the Arctic. Plus, it’s a cool example of space science playing out in real life.

NASA's IXPE telescope just caught a magnetar—a super-dense, hyper-magnetic dead star—in the middle of a violent cosmic outburst. For the first time, scientists observed polarized light from one of these eruptions, giving them a new way to study these extreme objects. Think of it like catching a toddler's tantrum in ultra-high-definition slow-mo, but instead of toys being thrown, it's insane magnetic forces warping space itself.

Editor’s Note: Magnetars are basically the universe's drama queens—rare, bizarre, and packing magnetic fields so strong they'd shred your atoms from a thousand miles away. Understanding their outbursts helps scientists test the limits of physics (like how matter behaves under conditions we could never recreate on Earth). Plus, this discovery shows how new tech like IXPE can peel back layers of cosmic mysteries we didn’t even know existed.