Speaker 1: Okay, so have you ever thought about what would happen
if the Earth's core just decided to stop spinning?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 1: Wow, and I don't mean just like your compass going crazy,
I mean a total global catastrophe.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: We're diving deep today into earthquakes, mass extinctions, and the
theories that try to explain them. We've got geological data,
historical accounts of some really bad earthquakes, even a peak
into a top secret government project.
Speaker 2: Interesting.
Speaker 1: Oh, and there might even be a connection to astrology.
Get ready to have your mind blown.
Speaker 2: It's amazing how much we don't even think about what's
happening under our feet. Yeah, most people don't even consider
it until there's an earthquake exactly.
Speaker 1: So let's start with the basics. What causes these earthquakes?
Speaker 2: Well, the usual explanation is that pressure builds up along
fault lines in the Earth's crust. Okay, think of the
Earth's crust like a huge jigsaw puzzle. These massive pieces
are always moving and grinding against each other. Right over time,
this creates so much press sure that when it finally
overcomes the strength of the rocks, it's released as seismic waves.
Speaker 1: And those seismic waves are what make the ground shake,
sometimes with terrible consequences.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: The death tolls from some of the big earthquakes in
recent history are just unbelievable.
Speaker 2: It's true.
Speaker 1: The Tangjan earthquake in nineteen seventy six, the Indian Ocean
tsunami in two thousand and four, the Haiti earthquake in
twenty ten. We're talking about hundreds of thousands, even millions
of lives lost.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's awful.
Speaker 1: Well, it really shows how powerful nature is and how
vulnerable we are to these forces.
Speaker 2: It's true. Those numbers represent real people, families, entire communities
whose lives were changed in a moment.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And it's not just about the immediate impact of the
earthquake itself either. There's also the aftermath to think about
the destruction of homes and infrastructure, the spread of disease,
the long term psychological effects on survivors. Absolutely, it can
take years, even decades for communities to fully recover from
a major earthquake.
Speaker 1: And that's what I find so fascinating about someone like
Jim Berkland.
Speaker 2: Oh.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he was a geologist who went against the usual
way of predicting earthquakes. He challenged mainstream science with his
own methods.
Speaker 2: Interesting.
Speaker 1: He even correctly predicted the nineteen eighty nine Loma Prieta earthquake,
which happened right in the middle of the World Series.
Speaker 2: Wow, what a prediction.
Speaker 1: Talk about pressure.
Speaker 2: Berkland's theories were definitely interesting.
Speaker 1: So what did he think?
Speaker 2: He believed that gravitational forces from the Moon and the
tidal stresses they cause could actually trigger earthquakes.
Speaker 1: Hold on, are we saying the moon could be causing earthquakes?
Speaker 2: Well, Berkland certainly thought so.
Speaker 1: That sounds a bit out there, doesn't it.
Speaker 2: He even observed changes in animal behavior before earthquakes. What
he noted unusual patterns and fishbirds, and even domesticated animals
like cats and dogs.
Speaker 1: Okay, he thought that.
Speaker 2: These animals were sensitive to changes in the Earth's magnetic
field that happened before seismic uns.
Speaker 1: That's pretty wild. But if his methods were so successful,
why weren't they more widely accepted. Why didn't the scientific
community embrace his ideas.
Speaker 2: That's a good question, and it points to a bigger
issue within the scientific community.
Speaker 1: What do you mean a.
Speaker 2: Reluctance to accept ideas that challenge the established norms? Brooklyn's
methods weren't always perfect, but he was often right. So
you have to wonder if there's even a small chance
that factors like lunar cycles or animal behavior could help
us predict earthquakes and maybe save lives. Shouldn't we be
looking into those possibilities more seriously?
Speaker 1: You've got a point. Speaking of events that shook the world,
both literally and figuratively, let's move on to a rather
unsettling chapter in recent history, the North Korean nuclear mystery. Okay,
can you set the scene for us.
Speaker 2: Imagine this. It's twenty seventeen and North Korea has just
successfully detonated a hydrogen bomb. The world is on edge,
tensions are high. Then just a few weeks later, a
huge earthquake hits, causing the collapse of North Korea's nuclear facility.
Oh wow, several of their top scientists are killed in
the disaster. The timing is incredibly suspicious.
Speaker 1: It sounds like something straight out of a conspiracy theory.
Was it a natural earthquake or could something more be
going on?
Speaker 2: That's where things get murky. This is where HARP comes in.
The high frequency act of auroral research program.
Speaker 1: That's one that always sounds like science fiction.
Speaker 2: Right Exactly. It's a real government research project and its
stated purpose is to study the ionosphere, which is the
upper layer of the Earth's atmosphere. But as you can imagine,
a project like that, with its somewhat mysterious nature, is
bound to attract some pretty wild conspiracy theories.
Speaker 1: Oh I bet what kind of theories were we talking
about here?
Speaker 2: Well, some people claim that HARP can be used to
manipulate weather patterns. Really they point to events like Hurricane
Katrina and Hurricane Ophelia as examples. And then there are
the even more outlandish theories that HARP can actually trigger earthquakes.
Speaker 1: Wait, hold on, trigger earthquakes. Isn't that a little far fetched?
Speaker 2: Most scientists would say, yes, absolutely. But here's the thing.
What the timing of the North Korean earthquake so soon
after their nuclear test and coincidentally, during a period of
increased activity at HARP does make you wonder?
Speaker 1: It does?
Speaker 2: It makes you wonder if there could be a connection.
Speaker 1: I can see why people would jump to that conclusion.
It's definitely a very interesting coincidence. Yeah, so what are
we supposed to believe? Is there a real link between
HARP and the North Korean earthquake, or just people seeing
patterns that aren't really there.
Speaker 2: That's the big question, isn't it. The truth is we
may never know for sure, but it's definitely a fascinating
mystery that highlights the potential for both natural and man
made disasters to shape history.
Speaker 1: It really does make you think. So we've talked about
the possibility of the Earth's core influencing earthquakes and the potential,
however unlikely, for human interference with these events. But could
there be forces at play that are even bigger, even
more cosmic and scale, interesting forces that might be affecting
not only earthquakes but also the very survival of life
on Earth.
Speaker 2: Now you're talking. That's a question that has fascinated scientists
and philosophers for centuries, and it leads us to some
truly mind blowing possibility.
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm ready to have my mind blow.
Speaker 2: Let's do it, all right, So let's go back to
the nineteen fifties. Okay, there was this radio engineer named
John Nelson, and he was doing research on how to
predict disruptions in shortwave radio communications. He found that these
signals weren't just affected by solar activity like everyone thought
at the time, right, but also by the positions of
the planets, especially the big gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn.
Speaker 1: Well, you saying the planets were messing with our radio signals.
How was that even possible?
Speaker 2: It was a revolutionary concept. Yeah, and it definitely challenged
what scientists thought at the time. Nelson discovered that when
these planets were in specific alignments, you know the astrologers
call oppositions or squares, there was a noticeable increase in
solar activity and that interfered with radio transmissions.
Speaker 1: Okay, I have to admit that's pretty mind blowing.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Is this suggesting that astrology, like horoscopes and things like
that might actually have some scientific basis.
Speaker 2: Well, Nelson's findings definitely showed a connection between planetary alignments
and how electromagnetic waves behave Okay, And when you think
about it, our thoughts, our brain activity, it's all just
a complex dance of electromagnetic signals, right, So it makes
you wonder if these cosmic alignments could be having a
subtle but real influence on us.
Speaker 1: That's a pretty wild thought. But you said there's even
more to Nelson's work, right, What else could this.
Speaker 3: Mean, well, if the planets can affect the Sun's activity, yeah,
and the Sun is the center of our whole Solar system,
then it makes sense that those planetary alignments could also
be playing a role in some of the big events
that have shaped life on Earth, including maybe even mass
extinction events.
Speaker 1: Whoa are we talking about, like the extinction of the dinosaurs?
What kind of planetary alignment could cause something that huge?
Speaker 2: That brings us to the idea of Planet X or
Planet nine as some people call it. It's this hypothetical
planet that scientists think might be out there in the
far reaches of our solar system.
Speaker 1: I think I've heard of this as like this invisible planet, right. Yeah,
we can't see it directly, but we know there's something
massive out there because it's pulling on the orbits of
the outer planets exactly.
Speaker 2: And this leads us to something called the nemesis theory. Okay,
this theory says that our Sun has a companion star,
really possibly a brown dwarf. A brown dwarf, it's kind
of like a failed star, something that's too big to
be a planet, but not big enough to become a
real star. And the nemesis theory suggests that as this
brown dwarf orbits the Sun, it sometimes disrupts something called
the ORT cloud.
Speaker 1: The ORT cloud, it's.
Speaker 2: This huge distant region that surrounds Our Solar System. Think
of it like a giant icy shell that envelops Our
Solar System, and it's full of trillions of icy objects, commets, asteroids,
that kind of thing.
Speaker 1: So you're saying, this brown dwarf comes crashing through the
ort cloud, knocking these icy objects out of their orbits.
Speaker 2: That's the idea, and some scientists think that some of
those objects could end up flying towards the inner Solar System.
Uh oh, potentially colliding with Earth. And if one of
those objects were big enough, yeah, it could cause a
mass extinction event.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's terrifying but also kind of fascinating. Yeah, So,
how often does this brown dwarf supposedly come by and
mess up our Solar system.
Speaker 2: That's where the twenty six million year cycle comes in.
Scientists have noticed that major extinction events on Earth seem
to happen roughly every twenty six million years, and.
Speaker 1: They think this cycle is connected to the orbit of Nemesis.
This hypothetical brown dwarf companion to our son.
Speaker 2: Exactly. It's a pretty amazing idea, right, yeah, this idea
that something so incredibly far away could have such a
huge impact on our planet and the history of life itself.
Speaker 1: It really is. But are we due for another close
encounter with this cosmic bully anytime soon? Should we be worried?
Speaker 2: Well, according to the theory, we're still millions of years
away from Nemesis's next visit. Okay, good, so no need
to panic just yet. But there's another cosmic structure that's
a bit closer to home that we need to talk about.
Speaker 1: Oh no, what now, you're really keeping me on the
edge of my seat.
Speaker 2: And it's even more massive. Okay, it's called the Radcliff Wave.
Have you heard of it?
Speaker 1: The Radcliff Wave. I have to admit that one's new
to me.
Speaker 2: It was only discovered in twenty twenty.
Speaker 1: Oh wow.
Speaker 2: It's this huge wave of gas, dust and stars that
stretches for almost nine thousand light years across our galaxy.
Speaker 1: Nine thousand light years. That's just unimaginable. It's hard to
even wrap my head around a distance that big. So
how does this radcliff.
Speaker 2: Wave affect us well as our solar system orbits the
galactic center. Yeah, we actually passed through this wave every
so often. We went through it about thirteen million years ago,
and we're on track to pass through it again in
another thirteen million years.
Speaker 1: Wait a minute, thirteen million years, another thirteen million years.
That's the twenty six million year cycle again. Are you
suggesting that passing through this Radcliffe Wave could be connected
to mass extinctions?
Speaker 2: It's definitely an interesting possibility. We still don't know much
about the Radcliffe Wave, right, We don't know how it formed,
why it has that wave like structure, or how it
even stays together. But the fact that our solar system
interacts with it on that same twenty six million year
timescale is a pretty big coincidence.
Speaker 1: Really is so. We've gone from the depths of the
Earth to the vastness of the galaxy, and it seems
like with every step the potential for things to go
really wrong just keeps getting bigger.
Speaker 2: It is a bit on inspiring and terrifying, isn't it.
The universe is full of mysteries, and the more we learn,
the more we realize how much we still don't know.
Speaker 1: I couldn't have said it better myself, Yeah, so we've
got these really interesting and sometimes scary connections between planetary movements,
these cosmic structures, and the fate of life life on Earth. Right,
But here's the big question, why isn't mainstream science more
interested in exploring these possibilities?
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's good question.
Speaker 1: If there's even a small chance that some of these
theories are true, shouldn't we be doing everything we can
to understand these risks and prepare for the worst case scenario.
Speaker 2: It's a good question, and I think it kind of
gets at this uncomfortable truth about science.
Speaker 1: What's that?
Speaker 2: You know? We like to think of science as this
pure pursuit of knowledge. Yeah, but it's also influenced by
human stuff, you know, like ego, funding, pressures, and just
not wanting to change.
Speaker 1: So you're saying even scientists can be afraid of.
Speaker 2: Being wrong totally. Imagine you've spent your whole life studying something,
You've built your whole reputation on certain theories. Then someone
comes along and says everything you thought you knew is wrong. Yeah,
it can be really hard to accept those new ideas.
Speaker 1: I bet, and I guess it's even harder when funding
for research is tied to getting specific results. Like, if
you start exploring ideas that are seen as weird, controversial,
you could lose your funding, your job, even your whole career.
Speaker 2: Exactly. It's risky. And that reminds me of this really
interesting document called the Brookings Report.
Speaker 1: The Brookings Retort.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was put together for NASA back in the
nineteen sixties.
Speaker 1: Wow, a long time ago.
Speaker 2: It was a study to figure out what would happen
to society if we discovered extraterrestrial life. That sounds like
something out of a movie, right, So they thought about
the chances of astronauts actually meeting aliens, yeah, which they
said were pretty slim, Okay, but they said it was
totally possible that we might find evidence of past alien civilizations,
like what things like ruins or artifacts on other planets.
Speaker 1: So what would be wrong with that? It would be
a huge discovery.
Speaker 2: That's the interesting part. This report actually said that finding
something like that could really mess things up for society. Yeah,
especially for the scientific community.
Speaker 1: Are you serious. They were worried that scientists would freak
out if they found proof of aliens.
Speaker 2: Well, they argued that such a huge shift in thinking, Yeah,
like changing how humans see themselves in the universe right,
and turning centuries of science on its head could have
really bad psychological effects.
Speaker 1: Wow. I never thought of.
Speaker 2: That, especially for the people who had built their careers
on the old way of thinking.
Speaker 1: So basically they were afraid that scientists face with something
totally new might not act rationally. Yeah. It kind of
reminds me of HL nine thousand and two thousand and one,
a Space Odyssey. Oh yeah, you know the computer that
goes nuts when it finds the monolith. Right, It's like
this perfect example of logic breaking down when it meets
something it can't understand.
Speaker 2: That's a great comparison, and I think it shows that scientists,
even though they're all about logic and reason, are still human.
They have emotions, biases, and maybe even a little bit
of fear about what they don't.
Speaker 1: Know, especially when they're dealing with the really big unknowns exactly.
Speaker 2: So where does that leave us?
Speaker 1: Yeah? What does all this mean for understanding earthquakes, extinctions,
and the future of life on Earth?
Speaker 2: I think the biggest takeaway is this, what's that if
we're really facing big changes on Earth? Okay, whether it's
from deep inside our planet or from way out in space,
we need to be open to every possibility. Yeah, even
the ones that make us uncomfortable, even the ones that
challenge everything we think we know about the universe.
Speaker 1: So it's not about getting rid of scientific rigor, No,
not at all. But it's about having that rigor along
with a good amount of curiosity and open mindedness.
Speaker 2: Exactly. We need to encourage people to be curious in science,
even when it takes them in unusual directions.
Speaker 1: I agree.
Speaker 2: And most importantly, we need to be brave enough to
ask the really big questions. Yeah, even if the answers
are scarier than we ever imagined.
Speaker 1: Well said, this has been an incredible deep dive. We've
explored some truly amazing ideas we have, from the depths
of the Earth to the vastness of space. Yeah, and
I think it's safe to say we've all learned a lot.
Speaker 2: I think so too. It just goes to show there's
always more to discover, always, and the universe is full
of mysteries waiting for us.
Speaker 1: If you could ask a science is just one question
about earthquakes, extinctions or the universe, what would it be?
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good one.
Speaker 1: Share your thoughts with us. I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 2: Keep exploring, keep asking questions, and keep looking up at
the stars. Who knows what amazing things are waiting to
be found.
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us on this deep die into the
mysteries of our planet and beyond.
Speaker 2: It's been fun.
Speaker 1: Until next time, stay curious,