# How An Extreme New Star Could Change All Cosmology Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/pbs-space-time-7778773/how-an-extreme-new-star-could-change-all-cosmology Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/pbs-space-time-7778773/how-an-extreme-new-star-could-change-all-cosmology.md Podcast: [PBS Space Time](https://stenobird.com/podcast/pbs-space-time-7778773) Published: 2026-07-19T18:30:00+00:00 Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/VG9328081031.mp3 Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/VG9328081031.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/pbs-space-time-7778773/episodes/how-an-extreme-new-star-could-change-all-cosmology Duration seconds: 1530 ## Resource Sign Up on Patreon to get access to the Space Time Discord! https://www.patreon.com/pbsspacetime A new white dwarf has been discovered (poetically named: ZTF J1901+1458) that’s doing some stuff that no white dwarf should ever be able to do. In fact, it has multiple properties that are so extreme that it almost certainly did NOT form in the way that we thought all white dwarfs formed. This one peculiar point of faint light may change our understanding of not just white dwarfs, but of all cosmology. Professor Dave Explains: Debunking the Electric Universe https://youtu.be/T9q-v4lBGuw Check out the Space Time Merch Store https://www.pbsspacetime.com/shop Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements! https://mailchi.mp/1a6eb8f2717d/spacetime Hosted by Matt O'Dowd Written by Matt Caplan & Matt O'Dowd Graphics by Leonardo Scholzer, Yago Ballarini, Pedro Osinski, Adriano Leal & Stephanie Faria Directed by Andrew Kornhaber Assistant Producer: Setare Gholipour Executive Producers: Eric Brown & Andrew Kornhaber End Credits Music by J.R.S. Schattenberg: https://www.youtube.com/user/MultiDroideka Special Thanks to Our Patreon Supporters Big Bang Sponsors Kyle Bulloch Ananth Rao Charlie Mrs. Tiffany Poindexter Leo Koguan Sandy Wu Matthew Miller Scott Gray Ahmad Jodeh Alexander Tamas Morgan Hough Juan Benet Vinnie Falco Fabrice Eap Mark Rosenthal David Nicklas Quasar Supporter Ethan Cohen Stephen Wilcox Christina Oegren Mark Heising Hank S Hypernova Supporters william bryan drollere Joe Moreira Marc Armstrong Scott Gorlick Nick Berard Paul Stehr-Green MuON Marketing Russell Pope Ben Delo L. Wayne Ausbrooks Nicholas Newlin DrJYou Антон Кочков John R. Slavik Mathew Danton Spivey Donal Botkin John Pollock Edmund Fokschaner Joseph Salomone Mat… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/pbs-space-time-7778773/episodes/how-an-extreme-new-star-could-change-all-cosmology/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/pbs-space-time-7778773/how-an-extreme-new-star-could-change-all-cosmology.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.