WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:02.160 While the world takes a little bit of a rest 2 00:00:02.200 --> 00:00:04.839 over the Christmas New Year period. We thought we would too, 3 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:07.879 but we're not going to leave you hanging. We've dug 4 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:10.599 into the archives and found a few of the biggest 5 00:00:10.679 --> 00:00:14.599 episodes of recent times, so sit back and enjoy those, 6 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:17.800 and we'll be back with new episodes of Space Nuts, 7 00:00:18.519 --> 00:00:19.879 probably in the middle of January. 8 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:21.839 See then, Space Nuts. 9 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:24.719 Hello and thank you for joining us on Space Nuts, 10 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:28.480 where we talk astronomy and space science. Great to have 11 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:32.560 your company once again, and coming up on this particular episode, 12 00:00:32.600 --> 00:00:36.359 we're going to talk about an exoplanet that has unusual rain. 13 00:00:37.159 --> 00:00:41.719 It's raining gemstones and ruby slippers. Well maybe not the 14 00:00:41.799 --> 00:00:45.759 ruby slippers, but definitely gemstones, which is very unusual. We'll 15 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:48.920 also be answering some audience questions. Bob wants to talk 16 00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:52.479 about research papers and how accurate or otherwise they might be. 17 00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:58.280 It's all to come on this edition of Space Nuts 18 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:06.079 Channel ten nine Ignition Space Nuts or. 19 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:09.760 Three two. 20 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:11.079 Space Nuts. 21 00:01:11.400 --> 00:01:12.400 That's when actually bought it. 22 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:13.079 Bells good. 23 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:16.480 My name is Andrew Dunkley. I am your host. Thank 24 00:01:16.519 --> 00:01:19.799 you for joining us and with us again this week. 25 00:01:19.560 --> 00:01:22.280 Because we can't get rid of him really it is 26 00:01:23.159 --> 00:01:25.519 Professor Fred Watson, Astronomer at Large. 27 00:01:25.560 --> 00:01:29.120 Hello Fred, Hello Andrew, how are you. 28 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:30.719 You are the space nuts barnacle you are? 29 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:33.560 That's yeah, I know, it's just just a barnacle on 30 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:35.599 the buck side of space nuts. 31 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:40.200 Right. 32 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:41.959 We have a lot to talk about today, so let's 33 00:01:41.959 --> 00:01:45.640 get straight to our first topic, and this is a 34 00:01:45.799 --> 00:01:51.439 really interesting one. We've talked about exoplanets and even planets 35 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:54.079 and moons in our own Solar system that have unusual 36 00:01:54.280 --> 00:01:56.879 kinds of rain, like sulfur rain. 37 00:01:56.719 --> 00:01:57.480 And acid rain. 38 00:01:57.560 --> 00:02:00.159 And I think we talked about a planet one that 39 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:04.920 rained diamonds. Now there's an exoplanet that rains gemstones. 40 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:06.840 What's what's this all about? 41 00:02:08.280 --> 00:02:13.479 Well, yeah, it's gemstones among other things. And it's you know, 42 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:18.319 there's a lot going on on this exo planet. It's 43 00:02:18.759 --> 00:02:22.000 what is it? Well, it is. I think it's a WASP. Yeah, 44 00:02:22.120 --> 00:02:26.199 WASP one to one B. WASP is a is a 45 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:30.919 project that developed the detect XO planets by the transit method, 46 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:33.400 the fact that their brightness drops when they pass in 47 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:37.199 front of their parents. Star. WASP one two one is 48 00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:40.680 actually a star which is about eight hundred and fifty 49 00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:45.599 light years from here. It has a planet which is 50 00:02:46.840 --> 00:02:49.280 very close to it. It's a hot jupiter. That's the 51 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:52.960 excuse me, the official description, because it's a big planet 52 00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:58.080 and it orbits its parents star once every thirty hours, 53 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:00.800 so you know, its year is thirty hours long, Andrew, 54 00:03:00.840 --> 00:03:06.599 it just doesn't it. But that's what's happening now. That means. 55 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:12.240 One of the things that means is that with a 56 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:14.479 you know, with a period that shorts and the distance 57 00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:16.879 between the parents star and the planet that's that's small, 58 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:21.080 this planet will be tidally locked to its parents star. 59 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:24.400 And that is the I guess the key to understanding 60 00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:29.000 what's you know, what's going on here? It is it's 61 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:34.759 day side always is permanently facing the parents style. Well 62 00:03:34.759 --> 00:03:38.360 that that's a bit of a tortology, really, isn't it, 63 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:41.639 because the day side is always facing the parents star. 64 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:45.000 But the bottom line is, jeez, this is a good 65 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:51.199 start this morning. The bottom line, yes, so well done, 66 00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:57.439 thank you. Yes, the planet is rotating at the same 67 00:03:57.520 --> 00:03:59.840 rate at which it revolves around its start, like the 68 00:04:00.280 --> 00:04:02.400 is rotating at the same rate as it revolves around 69 00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:06.120 the Earth. And so you've got this one side of 70 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:09.960 it that permanently faces the heat source and that means 71 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:13.560 one side is hot and the other side is cold. Now, 72 00:04:14.599 --> 00:04:19.160 given that we can't see these planets directly, you may 73 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:21.959 well ask and Drew, how can you study the day 74 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:25.240 and night sides of a world like this in detail? 75 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:27.639 That's a good question. Glad I thought of it. 76 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:31.959 I'm glad you thought of it too. The answer is 77 00:04:32.120 --> 00:04:36.040 it's really clever stuff and needs you know, it needs 78 00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:42.079 really quite significant astronomical infrastructure in order to make these observations. 79 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:45.439 I should I should mention that the authors of this 80 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:51.879 work come from MIT, Massaitutsetts Institute of Technology, John's Hopskins 81 00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:57.399 Johns Hopkins University, Caltech, and other US universities. 82 00:04:57.480 --> 00:05:01.680 It is a myth fall, but it is Massachusetts, Massachusetts, 83 00:05:01.720 --> 00:05:02.720 is what I tried to say. 84 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:07.759 That's right. I didn't really anyway, never mind, I didn't 85 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:10.600 do well with it. But so what how do you 86 00:05:10.680 --> 00:05:14.560 How do you detect what's going on on the day 87 00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:16.399 and night sides of a world like this? And what 88 00:05:16.439 --> 00:05:22.319 you do is you observe the planet and all you 89 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:24.360 can see is the star. That's the only thing that 90 00:05:24.439 --> 00:05:27.959 is visible in your telescope. But you observe the star's 91 00:05:28.079 --> 00:05:32.920 light throughout the orbital period, of the planet. And given 92 00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:34.879 that that's only thirty hours, you don't have to wait 93 00:05:34.920 --> 00:05:38.040 it very long. If you're looking from outside the Solar 94 00:05:38.040 --> 00:05:40.079 System and trying to do this with Jupiter, you'd be 95 00:05:40.120 --> 00:05:42.079 waiting what is it twelve years or something like that. 96 00:05:42.199 --> 00:05:46.800 It's much longer. No, I think it's five years. Sorry, 97 00:05:46.839 --> 00:05:52.759 I should do that calculation again. Anyway, thirty hours gives 98 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:58.639 you time to you know, to actually work out exactly 99 00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:02.279 what's going on through the different phases of the planet, 100 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:04.920 because that's what it's all about. It's like the phases 101 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:08.240 of the moon. We watch the moon going round because 102 00:06:08.279 --> 00:06:11.480 it's lit up by the Sun and we can see, 103 00:06:11.639 --> 00:06:14.600 you know, progressing from new moon to first quarter to 104 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:16.399 full moon and all the rest of it. And you 105 00:06:16.439 --> 00:06:20.920 can do the same thing with an exoplanet. But what 106 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:23.240 you do, what all you're able to measure is the 107 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:27.399 total light from the planet plus the star. But as 108 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:32.240 you'd imagine, that varies throughout the revolution period of the planet. 109 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:37.399 When you've got just when the planet is behind the star, 110 00:06:37.959 --> 00:06:40.839 all you've got is the light of the star. And 111 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:44.079 I should add that you're not just observing how bright 112 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:46.839 it is, you're also observing the spectrum of this thing, 113 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:50.240 so you're looking in detail at the chemical constituents that 114 00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:53.720 is revealed by the light that is coming to you. 115 00:06:54.519 --> 00:06:57.000 So when the planets behind the star, all her seeing 116 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:00.319 is the light of the star when the planet shifts 117 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:03.240 slightly in its path around the star, so you can 118 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:06.800 see both. What you've got is effectively you're looking at 119 00:07:06.839 --> 00:07:09.560 the full planet like an equivalent of a full moon. 120 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:13.240 It's almost completely illuminated, and that light adds to the 121 00:07:13.319 --> 00:07:17.720 light of the star. And so you can then look 122 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:21.120 at how the spectrum has changed, and that is telling 123 00:07:21.160 --> 00:07:24.480 you about the atmosphere of the planet itself rather than 124 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:28.040 you know the atmosphere of the star. In fact, what 125 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:30.959 you can do is subtract the star spectrum from the 126 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:34.519 spectrum of the combined planet plus star and you get 127 00:07:34.519 --> 00:07:38.399 the planet spectrum. That's how this works, and then that 128 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:45.279 changes throughout the planet's year thirty thirty hours, and eventually 129 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:49.720 you're looking at the backside of the planet, and in 130 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:53.839 fact you have a point where that is superimposed on 131 00:07:53.879 --> 00:07:58.079 the star. Once again, you can do some clever work 132 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:02.079 because you can look at you can look at the 133 00:08:02.120 --> 00:08:06.279 combined spectrum of the backside of the planet superimposed on 134 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:10.759 the star itself. That combined spectrum. If you subtract out 135 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:14.759 the spectrum of the star itself, it shows you what 136 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:18.079 chemical constituents again are in the atmosphere of the planet, 137 00:08:18.120 --> 00:08:21.519 because the light of the star is passing through the 138 00:08:21.560 --> 00:08:24.319 atmosphere of the planet, round the edge of it and 139 00:08:24.360 --> 00:08:28.279 coming back to Earth. So that's the technique. And what's 140 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:32.080 been found is that this object is quite extraordinary. So 141 00:08:33.480 --> 00:08:38.600 it's got a day side that is extremely hot, more 142 00:08:38.600 --> 00:08:43.639 than three thousand degrees kelvin. So what that does is 143 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:47.320 it's known that there is water vapor in the atmosphere 144 00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:50.320 of this planet. Well there's water vapor on the night side, 145 00:08:50.360 --> 00:08:54.320 but on the day side, the water molecules are just 146 00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:58.720 torn apart because of the high temperatures. So you've got 147 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:03.120 hydrogen and oxygen atoms that are that are you know, 148 00:09:03.159 --> 00:09:08.399 they're they're independent within the atmosphere. And then it turns 149 00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:11.919 out that because of the heat, that generates high pressure 150 00:09:11.960 --> 00:09:15.799 in the day side, which causes winds that blow things 151 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:19.720 around to the night side. On the night side, it's 152 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:22.879 cool enough, yeah, for these things to fall back to water, 153 00:09:24.200 --> 00:09:28.519 and so you get water vapor fall forming in the 154 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:31.360 atmosphere of the of the dark side of the planet. 155 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:36.559 That the estimate that these these winds are five kilometers 156 00:09:36.600 --> 00:09:40.720 per second, so this is eleven thousand miles per hour. 157 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:45.480 It's it's a it's sixteen, sixteen or seventeen thousand kilometers 158 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:46.159 per hour. 159 00:09:46.519 --> 00:09:49.879 Sounds like that's the same as it was in Sydney yesterday. 160 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:52.480 Yeah, we didn't get the wind, but we got the rain. 161 00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:55.600 So we got the we got the water vapor, huge, 162 00:09:55.759 --> 00:09:59.960 huge quantities of rain. Oh gosh, bucket loads of it 163 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:05.519 h two suitably combined back into water vapor. Yes, so 164 00:10:05.559 --> 00:10:08.279 that's what they get on the on the dark side 165 00:10:08.440 --> 00:10:12.240 of the of this wasp on onto one being. But 166 00:10:12.919 --> 00:10:17.240 there's but way, there's more, because it's not just water 167 00:10:18.279 --> 00:10:23.159 that's that's circulating like this. They find that on the 168 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:28.559 night side that the temperature is right to have quite 169 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:32.639 I guess the best word is exotic clouds or clouds 170 00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:36.759 of exotic materials, and iron is one of them, and 171 00:10:36.840 --> 00:10:40.840 a mineral, and a mineral that actually is a constituent 172 00:10:40.919 --> 00:10:43.519 in gemstones. That's that's the point that you are making 173 00:10:43.559 --> 00:10:44.399 right at the beginning. 174 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:48.440 Yeah, well then that's that's the journalistic hook isn't it. 175 00:10:48.440 --> 00:10:53.000 It is absolutely so. Yes, to quote the Physics Dog 176 00:10:54.279 --> 00:10:57.919 report on this, on the way around, exotic rain might 177 00:10:57.960 --> 00:11:01.679 be produced, such as liquid gems from the Corundum clouds, 178 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:05.279 so you know, liquid rubies that would be quite nice. 179 00:11:05.320 --> 00:11:12.240 Actually well yeah, anyway, really quite really quite remarkable stuff. 180 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:16.399 I should mention that these these observations were made with 181 00:11:17.320 --> 00:11:19.919 the Hubble Space telescope. It was one of the spectroscopic 182 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:23.279 cameras on board the Hubble telescope that were that was used. 183 00:11:24.039 --> 00:11:28.399 And fantastic work. Congratulations to the team and to the 184 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:29.960 jointist who writing about this. 185 00:11:30.279 --> 00:11:32.919 I don't suppose they can tell us exactly what kind 186 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:34.320 of gem stones these. 187 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:38.039 Might be or Jim Jim Blobs sponents. 188 00:11:38.399 --> 00:11:49.000 Yeah, they're suggesting that it could be maybe Look I 189 00:11:49.080 --> 00:11:53.120 had rubies in my mind, and yeah, maybe rubies and sapphires. 190 00:11:53.159 --> 00:11:57.799 That's that's that's the possibility. Corundum apparently is the minerals 191 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:01.759 that you know, goes towards these these gemstones. 192 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:04.799 So it wasn't far wrong with my ruby slippers analogy. 193 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:06.679 No, no, it's a very nice one though. I like 194 00:12:06.759 --> 00:12:07.399 that very much. 195 00:12:07.480 --> 00:12:12.360 Yes, interesting, all right, that's a fascinating discovery. And if 196 00:12:12.360 --> 00:12:14.879 you want to read more about it, you should go 197 00:12:14.919 --> 00:12:18.480 to the fizz dot org website. It's not FI double z, 198 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:22.360 that's p h y s dot org website. It's a 199 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:25.279 fabulous website if you want to catch up on that 200 00:12:25.399 --> 00:12:30.559 and many other stories. This is Space Nuts with Andrew 201 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:33.080 Dunkley and of course professor Fred Watson. 202 00:12:35.720 --> 00:12:39.559 Three Space Nuts. 203 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:43.200 Now, if you would like to do us a favor, 204 00:12:43.559 --> 00:12:46.360 that would be wonderful. You can send your checks to 205 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:51.159 Fred Watson at no of course, if you do want 206 00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:53.360 to become a patron, you can do that, and that 207 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:56.279 is putting a little bit of money into the into 208 00:12:56.360 --> 00:13:00.279 the kitty to keep the podcast rolling, which can do 209 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:05.919 via our website. Now that is totally optional and thank 210 00:13:05.960 --> 00:13:09.679 you to those many many patrons that do so through 211 00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:13.639 Patreon or supercast. So that's something that you can do. 212 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:16.159 Or you can make one off donations through the bias 213 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:19.720 a Cup of Coffee button on our website Spacenuts podcast 214 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:25.559 dot com. Or if you want to do something that's 215 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:29.480 going to be cost free and just cost you a 216 00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:33.879 bit of time, write a review through whatever podcast platform 217 00:13:34.200 --> 00:13:35.440 you happen to use. 218 00:13:35.559 --> 00:13:37.519 So that's very helpful as well. 219 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:40.919 So those are some of the options to help support 220 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:44.159 the Space Nuts podcast, and we do appreciate anything anybody 221 00:13:44.200 --> 00:13:48.320 does to keep us up and running. Okay, Fred, let's 222 00:13:48.360 --> 00:13:52.279 get into our question segment. This is where people who 223 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:54.200 listen to space and That's send us all sorts of 224 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:58.519 hyperintelligent questions that I've got no clue about. But Fred 225 00:13:58.919 --> 00:14:04.279 has an inkling and the first one comes from Bob. 226 00:14:04.519 --> 00:14:07.519 This is Bob from Asheville, North Carolina in the US. 227 00:14:08.200 --> 00:14:11.519 I have two questions. In two thousand and five, Professor 228 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:15.559 John Ionidis published a highly influential paper in Close Medicine 229 00:14:15.559 --> 00:14:20.519 titled why most published research findings are False. He makes 230 00:14:20.519 --> 00:14:23.679 the argument, and here I'm quoting that for most studied 231 00:14:23.720 --> 00:14:27.000 designs and settings, it is more likely for our research 232 00:14:27.080 --> 00:14:30.639 claim to be false than true. It's important to note 233 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:33.720 that he was focusing on medical studies, which have less 234 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:37.600 scientific rigor than physics. He does, however, conclude that, and 235 00:14:37.639 --> 00:14:42.080 I'm quoting his paper again, that for many current scientific fields, 236 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:46.639 claimed research findings may often be simply accurate measures of 237 00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:50.960 the prevailing bias. My first question for Professor Watson is 238 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:54.240 how often does this happen in your field? Meaning how 239 00:14:54.279 --> 00:14:58.159 often our published research findings actually false because of bias 240 00:14:58.279 --> 00:15:03.879 or statistical reasons. My second question is hypothetical medicine changes 241 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:08.840 relatively quickly. For example, peptic ulcers were treated with surgery 242 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:12.480 until nineteen eighty four, which is when Barry James Marshall, 243 00:15:12.600 --> 00:15:16.639 an Australian physician at Royal Perth Hospital, reported that peptic 244 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:19.679 ulcers were caused by a type of bacteria called He'll 245 00:15:19.720 --> 00:15:23.639 go back to pay Lauri. Today ulcers are treated with antibiotics. 246 00:15:24.279 --> 00:15:27.879 Professor Watson, suppose you get fast forward one hundred or 247 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:29.960 five hundred years into the future and look back at 248 00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:31.639 cosmology and astro and. 249 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:34.519 That's where Bob unfortunately got cut off. But we think 250 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:38.159 we've got the nuts and pults of his question, so 251 00:15:38.200 --> 00:15:40.320 we're going to take a stab at it for you, Bob. 252 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:42.960 But yeah, I guess the first part of his question 253 00:15:43.080 --> 00:15:50.279 is about scientific papers, research papers, published works, and how 254 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:55.679 maybe they could misinform or not be quite accurate. Is 255 00:15:55.720 --> 00:16:01.200 that something that happens. 256 00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:07.480 It's a really interesting question. There are I don't think 257 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:15.879 they're in astronomy. There is a strong incentive perhaps or 258 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:22.600 the reason why people should intentionally misinform. I think that 259 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:29.639 is almost always almost always zero. And what research that 260 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:33.399 does bark up the wrong tree. What research of that 261 00:16:33.559 --> 00:16:39.000 kind that there is is honest mistakes, like the color 262 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:42.200 of the universe perhaps, well, that's right, that was an 263 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:44.799 honest mistake, Yeah, which was what was? 264 00:16:44.840 --> 00:16:47.879 It was kind of I originally said it was aqua, 265 00:16:47.960 --> 00:16:49.519 but it turned out to beige. 266 00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:52.720 It was beige, that's right. And in fact, I remember 267 00:16:53.080 --> 00:16:56.159 when I read that paper. This is probably ten to 268 00:16:56.200 --> 00:16:57.919 fifteen years ago, and I know the guy who wrote 269 00:16:57.960 --> 00:17:00.799 it quite well. I remember when I read that paper 270 00:17:00.840 --> 00:17:03.919 thinking this cannot be the case. You can't have a 271 00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:07.680 an aqua universe because it's expanding and you know, you've 272 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:11.319 got basically a red shift there, and it turned out 273 00:17:11.319 --> 00:17:15.160 to be beige, which is red shifted aqua. Anyway, Look, 274 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:17.759 the kind of thing that I was thinking of, Andrew, 275 00:17:17.799 --> 00:17:20.200 and it might go to the heart of Bob's question, 276 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:23.680 is you remember last year there was a big fuss 277 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:27.119 when people thought that possphine had been detected in the 278 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:34.079 upper atmosphere of Venus, and phosphene is on Earth is 279 00:17:34.519 --> 00:17:39.720 generally produced by biological processes, and so that I know 280 00:17:39.880 --> 00:17:42.039 that the researchers who did that work, and I know 281 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:43.519 some of them. In fact, I talked to one of 282 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:48.240 them afterwards. He's a friend of mine in Hawaii. They 283 00:17:48.279 --> 00:17:53.359 were very very careful to tease out the signal of 284 00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:57.319 phosphine from the noise. This was done with quite big 285 00:17:57.400 --> 00:18:00.160 radio telescopes. In fact, Alma was one of them. Has 286 00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:06.440 to come a large millimeter array. And it was with 287 00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:11.599 reluctance that they mentioned the fact that posphine's a live product. 288 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:15.000 Because the popular press jumped all over, Yeah, that's right 289 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:17.000 on venus, there's life on venus. 290 00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:21.680 Yeah, exactly what happened. And you know, maybe the bias 291 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:25.319 that Bob mentions is there because it's something that we're all, 292 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:27.559 you know, we're all kind of trigger happy with. We 293 00:18:28.359 --> 00:18:33.200 are urgently trying to seek any evidence of life anywhere 294 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:34.200 else in the universe. 295 00:18:35.319 --> 00:18:38.839 Now, when you give some elements of the media an inch, 296 00:18:38.880 --> 00:18:39.680 they take a mile. 297 00:18:40.359 --> 00:18:42.559 Well, that's true, and that certainly happened in that case. 298 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:47.039 My recollection is that the original team still stand by 299 00:18:47.079 --> 00:18:50.960 their discovery that it was posphine. But there was another 300 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:54.039 paper published. It must have been actually the year before 301 00:18:54.119 --> 00:18:56.359 us when the posphine measurement was made, because I think 302 00:18:56.359 --> 00:18:59.240 it was early last year that another paper was published 303 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:04.680 showing how how the phosphine signature could be mistaken that 304 00:19:04.759 --> 00:19:07.880 it might actually think it was something like nitrous oxide. 305 00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:11.680 I can't remember. It was something a lot less suggestive 306 00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:15.000 of life processes. So I think honest mistakes are made. 307 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:17.400 But yes, there might be a bias there too. 308 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:23.359 Generally, you'll probably find bias in circumstances where somebody's trying 309 00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:30.400 to sell something. You might get those studies that are 310 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:34.920 released into certain products that improve your life, and the 311 00:19:34.920 --> 00:19:36.960 study turned out to be ten people at a five 312 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:40.039 stars art for a weekend, answering a question. 313 00:19:39.880 --> 00:19:42.519 And that kind of thing. So yeah, yeah, I think 314 00:19:42.559 --> 00:19:43.319 that goes on. 315 00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:46.680 There is certainly less so in astronomy. Astronomy, I think 316 00:19:46.759 --> 00:19:51.400 is partly what one thing you're looking for, and you 317 00:19:51.480 --> 00:19:54.839 always check this whenever you make a discovery, is how 318 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:58.240 consistent it is with what we already know about the universe, 319 00:19:58.599 --> 00:20:02.359 Because often our discovery is they're highly forensic. It's all 320 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:07.640 done at distances ranging up to the thirteen billion light years. 321 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:11.920 Just turning to and I'm hypothesizing here as to what 322 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:14.279 the second part of Bob's question was because he got 323 00:20:14.359 --> 00:20:17.119 cut off, as he said, but I think he might 324 00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:19.799 have been wanting to ask me, what if I fast 325 00:20:19.799 --> 00:20:23.720 forward one hundred years into the future and then look 326 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:26.559 back at twenty twenty two, what I would think of 327 00:20:26.839 --> 00:20:30.559 as being discoveries that maybe were misleading, And perhaps the 328 00:20:30.599 --> 00:20:33.400 one that comes to mind, and it's not through any 329 00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:36.759 lack of honesty. This is the best evidence we have 330 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:41.519 so far is that dark matter exists and that it 331 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:46.039 is a subatomic particle of some kind that is pointed 332 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:49.640 to on through so many different experiments, and there's a 333 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:52.279 self consistency about it as well with what else we 334 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:56.680 know about the universe. But it could well be that 335 00:20:56.759 --> 00:20:59.640 it turns out that it wasn't that. You know that 336 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:02.599 in the end, there is something that we don't understand 337 00:21:02.759 --> 00:21:07.079 about physics. And what I'm thinking of his mond modified 338 00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:10.720 Newtunian dynamics. We've got a friend out there in the 339 00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:13.240 audience a bit of a way and who's studying that 340 00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:16.079 for his pH d and doing a great job. You know. 341 00:21:16.279 --> 00:21:20.119 Just maybe the tide will turn and people will see 342 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:23.599 the evidence for modified Newtunian dynamics, which means that gravity 343 00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:25.559 doesn't behave quite the way we thought it did on 344 00:21:25.640 --> 00:21:29.160 large scales. That that might turn out to be the 345 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:32.880 answer that would be one I might venture to suggest 346 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:35.319 will be something that in one hundred years time we 347 00:21:35.400 --> 00:21:37.839 might look back on and say, we all thought it 348 00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:41.759 was dark matter. Yeah, how foolish were we? 349 00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:43.839 Yeah? 350 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:47.680 Now, and then that's not probably not an uncommon scenario. 351 00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:52.680 I mean we hindsight is twenty twenty in hindsight, until 352 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:54.920 you go forward and look back and go, ah, okay. 353 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:57.000 Right, that was it, that was why. 354 00:21:57.240 --> 00:21:59.680 Yes, of course we get it right. 355 00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:01.799 A lot of tom too, I think we do. I 356 00:22:01.880 --> 00:22:03.359 think that's really all right. 357 00:22:03.400 --> 00:22:08.799 Bob Lovely, Hey from me, thanks for your questions or 358 00:22:11.559 --> 00:22:12.559 space nuts. 359 00:22:13.079 --> 00:22:16.400 Hello again, space nutters. This is Anna from Astronomy Daily, 360 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:18.839 the podcast, stopping by again with a couple of the 361 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:22.519 important stories we've been following over the past week. In 362 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:26.000 an intriguing start to twenty twenty five, residents of Mukukuo 363 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:29.000 Village and Kenya's Macqueney County were startled by a mysterious 364 00:22:29.079 --> 00:22:32.920 arrival from above. A massive metal object weighing over one 365 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:36.640 thousand pounds plummeted from space and landed in their community, 366 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:39.279 creating a sound that could be heard up to thirty 367 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:44.160 miles away. The Kenya Space Agency quickly responded to the incident, 368 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:48.680 arriving at the scene on Tuesday morning. Working alongside local authorities, 369 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:52.519 they secured the area and retrieved what they later identified 370 00:22:52.599 --> 00:22:56.119 as a separation ring from a rocket launch. This impressive 371 00:22:56.160 --> 00:23:01.160 piece of space hardware measures approximately eight feet in diameter. Typically, 372 00:23:01.359 --> 00:23:03.960 these separation rings are designed to either burn up during 373 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:07.720 re entry into Earth's atmosphere or land safely in unpopulated 374 00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:12.759 areas like oceans. This particular landing, while unexpected, fortunately caused 375 00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:16.640 no injuries or significant damage. The Space Agency has assured 376 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:18.720 the public there is no cause for concern and is 377 00:23:18.759 --> 00:23:22.400 treating this as an isolated incident. They're handling the situation 378 00:23:22.519 --> 00:23:25.720 under international space law protocols, with the object now in 379 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:29.480 their custody for further investigation. It's a remarkable reminder of 380 00:23:29.480 --> 00:23:33.920 how space exploration occasionally makes surprising appearances in our everyday lives. 381 00:23:34.839 --> 00:23:37.240 Scientists have made an exciting breakthrough in our ability to 382 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:40.720 detect gravitational waves, those subtle ripples and space time that 383 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:45.119 give us unique insights into cosmic events. Researchers have developed 384 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:48.759 a new technique called optical spring tracking that could dramatically 385 00:23:48.759 --> 00:23:52.839 improve how clearly we can detect these elusive waves. The 386 00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:58.160 Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory or ALIGO uses incredibly 387 00:23:58.200 --> 00:24:01.759 sensitive equipment to measure tiny distortions in space time caused 388 00:24:01.799 --> 00:24:06.400 by distant cosmic events. While this technology has already revolutionized 389 00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:09.759 our understanding of phenomena like black hole mergers, it faces 390 00:24:09.799 --> 00:24:13.920 limitations from what scientists call quantum noise. This new optical 391 00:24:13.960 --> 00:24:16.640 spring tracking system works by tuning itself to match the 392 00:24:16.680 --> 00:24:21.200 frequency of incoming gravitational waves. In tests, researchers used a 393 00:24:21.240 --> 00:24:26.240 microscopic mirror weighing just fifty nanograms made from carefully layered aluminum, 394 00:24:26.279 --> 00:24:30.160 gallium arsenide, and gallium arsenide. When hit with laser light, 395 00:24:30.359 --> 00:24:33.119 this tiny mirror creates an optical spring effect that can 396 00:24:33.160 --> 00:24:36.799 be precisely controlled to track and enhance gravitational wave signals. 397 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:41.279 The results have been remarkable. In their proof of concept experiment, 398 00:24:41.640 --> 00:24:44.599 the team demonstrated that tracking a signal with this system 399 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:48.519 improved the signal to noise ratio by up to forty 400 00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:52.160 times compared to traditional methods. This means we could potentially 401 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:56.359