WEBVTT 1 00:00:03.439 --> 00:00:07.719 Welcome to Bedtime Astronomy. Explore the wonders of the cosmos 2 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:12.279 with our soothing Bedtime Astronomie podcast. Each episode offers a 3 00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:16.320 gentle journey through the stars, planets, and beyond, perfect for 4 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:20.239 unwinding after a long day. Let's travel through the mysteries 5 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:22.440 of the universe as you drift off into a peaceful 6 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:23.800 slumber under the night sky. 7 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:31.719 Picture the most hostile, unforgiving environment you can possibly imagine. 8 00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:35.560 Oh yeah, we're talking about a world where the surface 9 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:39.880 temperatures soar to several hundred degrees celsius, like hot enough 10 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:41.320 to melt lead on contact. 11 00:00:41.479 --> 00:00:43.679 Right, it's completely toxic, exactly. 12 00:00:44.039 --> 00:00:47.280 It is a completely dry hellscape, devoid of any oceans, 13 00:00:47.320 --> 00:00:51.399 no water whatsoever, just endless stretches of searing rock crushed 14 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:55.240 under an atmosphere so thick it would literally feel like 15 00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:56.759 being a mile underwater on Earth. 16 00:00:56.759 --> 00:00:57.719 It's immense pressure. 17 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:02.759 Yeah, that is Venus. And for decades, the scientific consensus 18 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:05.840 was just entirely settled on one thing, that Venus was 19 00:01:05.879 --> 00:01:09.719 a dead planet, completely dead, geologically dormant, locked in time, 20 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:13.680 just a static baking rog floating in the inner Solar System. 21 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:16.200 Right, I mean it served as the ultimate cautionary tale 22 00:01:16.200 --> 00:01:17.599 of planetary evolution. 23 00:01:17.319 --> 00:01:18.959 For a long time the warning label. 24 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:21.680 Yeah, exactly, a world that had supposedly shut down its 25 00:01:21.719 --> 00:01:24.840 internal engines a long long time ago, you know, leaving 26 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:29.040 behind a sterile, unchanging monument to a runaway greenhouse effect. 27 00:01:29.159 --> 00:01:31.680 But what if that supposedly dead planet actually has a 28 00:01:31.719 --> 00:01:33.000 beating geological heart. 29 00:01:33.239 --> 00:01:35.760 Well, that changes everything, right, what if. 30 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:41.079 Beneath that hellish, crushing surface venus is actually still geologically alive. 31 00:01:41.159 --> 00:01:46.400 Today we are talking about vast tectonic activity, shifting crusts, 32 00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:50.000 and you know, even active volcanoes right next door to 33 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:51.319 us in the Solar System, which is. 34 00:01:51.239 --> 00:01:54.120 Wild because it forces a complete rewrite of the planetary 35 00:01:54.159 --> 00:01:57.680 science textbooks. I bet in this field, I mean long 36 00:01:57.719 --> 00:02:01.959 held assumptions like a permanently dormant venus. They are frequently 37 00:02:02.040 --> 00:02:04.879 just hypotheses waiting to be challenged by better. 38 00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:06.680 Data, right, waiting for the tech to catch up. 39 00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:10.400 Exactly, we get comfortable with our established narratives until, you know, 40 00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:13.960 a massive leap in computational capability forces us to wake 41 00:02:14.039 --> 00:02:16.199 up and look at the evidence with totally fresh eyes. 42 00:02:16.319 --> 00:02:19.120 So we are going to explore how groundbreaking new three 43 00:02:19.240 --> 00:02:23.400 D technology unlocked this colossal secret. We'll examine how the 44 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:26.520 surface of Venus is actively shifting right now, how a 45 00:02:26.599 --> 00:02:30.479 really bizarre physical process is constantly reshaping its mountains, and 46 00:02:30.520 --> 00:02:36.400 how this revelation completely changes the trajectory of future space exploration. 47 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:39.599 Because looking at old mysteries with new tools proves that 48 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:43.759 our closest cosmic neighbors still have the capacity to completely 49 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:44.560 surprise us. 50 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:47.960 Yeah, they really do. So to really understand why this 51 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:51.240 shift in thinking is so monumental, we first need to 52 00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:54.039 look at the physical scars on Venus itself. 53 00:02:54.199 --> 00:02:55.759 The terrain is fascinating. 54 00:02:55.879 --> 00:02:58.360 It is. If you were to look at a topographical 55 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:00.759 map of the planet right now, you would see these 56 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:04.479 enormous rift valleys, massive ones. Yeah, if you're familiar with 57 00:03:04.759 --> 00:03:07.360 like the African rift valley here on Earth, it is 58 00:03:07.400 --> 00:03:10.680 structurally similar to that. But the scale on Venus is 59 00:03:10.840 --> 00:03:14.680 just staggering. We are talking about sprawling trenches spanning up 60 00:03:14.680 --> 00:03:18.439 to ten thousand kilometers getting straight across the planet's surface, right. 61 00:03:18.280 --> 00:03:22.280 And these are colossal, defining features of the planet's entire crust. 62 00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:25.199 They aren't just you know, surface scratches. They are deep, 63 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:28.840 tantonic wounds that speak to the fundamental mechanics of the 64 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:29.800 entire planet. 65 00:03:29.879 --> 00:03:32.080 Okay, let's unpack this. Okay, because if you have a 66 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:36.000 massive ten thousand kilometer trench on a planet, my mind 67 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:39.680 instantly goes to planetary stretch marks. 68 00:03:39.800 --> 00:03:41.240 That's a good way to picture it. 69 00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:44.199 It looks like the globe is actively expanding or tearing 70 00:03:44.199 --> 00:03:48.039 itself apart. But for years, geoscientists were firmly convinced that 71 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:52.400 these features were ancient and just entirely inactive, totally frozen. Yeah, 72 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:55.919 they assumed these rifts originated over one hundred million years 73 00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:59.039 ago and were just frozen remnants of a long dead past. 74 00:04:00.039 --> 00:04:02.479 So why were we so stubbornly convinced that they were 75 00:04:02.599 --> 00:04:03.439 ancient history? 76 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:06.159 Well, it really comes down to a fundamental bias in 77 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:08.319 how we understood geodynamics. 78 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:12.400 Geodynamics being like the study of how a planet's interior 79 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:13.400 heat moves. 80 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:16.759 The surface exactly how it deforms and moves the outer crust. 81 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:20.399 So we knew Venus was roughly the same size, mass, 82 00:04:20.439 --> 00:04:24.079 and composition as Earth, right right, our twin, but it 83 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:27.399 visibly lacks Earth's system of plate tectonics. 84 00:04:27.639 --> 00:04:28.120 Oh okay. 85 00:04:28.199 --> 00:04:30.759 On our planet, the crust is broken into these distinct 86 00:04:30.839 --> 00:04:34.319 plates that constantly shift they slide past each other, they subduct. 87 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:36.319 Under each other like puzzle pieces moving around. 88 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:40.560 Exactly, and that movement is what efficiently releases Earth's internal heat. 89 00:04:40.839 --> 00:04:43.199 But Venus doesn't have those puzzle pieces. It just has 90 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:46.720 one solid, continuous outer shell, right. 91 00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:50.720 And because it lacks that jigsaw puzzle crust, the prevailing 92 00:04:50.759 --> 00:04:54.319 assumption was that its interior engine had just essentially choked. 93 00:04:54.439 --> 00:04:55.040 Oh wow. 94 00:04:55.279 --> 00:04:58.879 The old models suggested that without plate tectonics to release 95 00:04:58.920 --> 00:05:03.279 the heat dynamically, Venus just slowly cooled down by conduction 96 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:05.040 over billions of years. 97 00:05:04.920 --> 00:05:06.120 It was baking and coolid. 98 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:10.879 Yeah, and its crust seized up entirely. So when scientists 99 00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:14.120 looked at those sprawling rift valleys, they didn't see an 100 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:14.839 active process. 101 00:05:14.920 --> 00:05:16.279 This saw a fossil exactly. 102 00:05:16.360 --> 00:05:20.079 They logically assumed, based on the geodynamic models of the time, 103 00:05:20.399 --> 00:05:23.000 that the kinetic energy required to tear a crust like 104 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:24.639 that simply didn't exist anymore. 105 00:05:24.839 --> 00:05:28.279 That's wild. We basically looked at the geological equivalent of 106 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:31.759 a giant footprint and assumed the dinosaur that made it 107 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:34.879 died one hundred million years ago, like, without even checking 108 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:36.240 to see if the mud was still wet. 109 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:39.480 That is a perfect analogy. We were viewing the physical 110 00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:43.000 evidence entirely through the lens of a rigid, preconceived assumption. 111 00:05:43.160 --> 00:05:46.439 Because of the models, right, we simply lacked the computational 112 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:50.079 power to simulate anything more complex than a dormant cooling rock. 113 00:05:50.360 --> 00:05:53.560 Which brings us to the technological revolution that changed everything. 114 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:55.759 Yes, the three D models. 115 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:58.879 Because the leap from seeing these rifts as ancient fossils 116 00:05:59.399 --> 00:06:04.439 to realize they're actually fresh, actively moving features. It didn't 117 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:07.319 come from launching a new telescope nope. And it didn't 118 00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:09.600 come from sending a new probe to physically sample the 119 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:12.920 rocks either. It came from a total revelation in how 120 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:15.839 we mathematically model planetary surfaces. 121 00:06:16.120 --> 00:06:20.319 This is where computational geophysics steps in, specifically through a 122 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:22.879 team of researchers at ETH Zurich. 123 00:06:23.079 --> 00:06:26.040 Right Professor Taras Geria and lead author of the study, 124 00:06:26.120 --> 00:06:26.920 she Yang. 125 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:30.560 And Yang remarkably conducted this research during his master's degree. 126 00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:33.439 By the way, wow, just during his masters that's incredible, 127 00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:33.639 I know. 128 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:33.959 Right. 129 00:06:34.279 --> 00:06:38.399 They utilized a highly advanced, high resolution three D computer model, 130 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:39.360 and the. 131 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:41.959 Jump to three D here is the entire lynch pin 132 00:06:42.040 --> 00:06:44.680 of the discovery, isn't it? Because the previous models that 133 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:47.240 gave us that whole dead planet theory, they were fundamentally 134 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:48.879 limited because they were mostly two. 135 00:06:48.680 --> 00:06:50.279 Dimensional, right, very limited. 136 00:06:50.600 --> 00:06:53.519 They relied on highly simplified assumptions about the material of 137 00:06:53.560 --> 00:06:57.480 the planet. I picture it like trying to understand the 138 00:06:57.480 --> 00:07:00.959 structural mechanics of a vast suspension bridge by only looking 139 00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:03.120 at a flat two D line drawing on a piece 140 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:03.519 of paper. 141 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:04.720 You'd miss so much? 142 00:07:04.759 --> 00:07:07.240 Do you just miss all the physics of how the 143 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:09.959 tension and weight actually interact in the real world? 144 00:07:10.120 --> 00:07:13.600 Exactly? A two dimensional model is essentially just a single slice. 145 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:18.160 It's a flat cross section. It cannot accurately capture the 146 00:07:18.199 --> 00:07:22.439 complex geometries of how rocks bend, break, and you know, 147 00:07:22.759 --> 00:07:26.120 stretch across a curved planetary surface over time. 148 00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:28.439 Because a planet is a sphere obviously. 149 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:31.279 Right, obviously, But more importantly, two D models just couldn't 150 00:07:31.319 --> 00:07:35.600 handle the thermodynamic complexity. When Yang and his team upgraded 151 00:07:35.639 --> 00:07:38.439 to this high resolution three D simulation, they had to 152 00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:41.399 break the planet's crust and mantle into a digital mesh 153 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:45.600 made of millions of tiny interconnected cubes, well millions of cubes. 154 00:07:45.959 --> 00:07:48.279 So they are calculating the physics for every single one 155 00:07:48.279 --> 00:07:50.560 of those cubes simultaneously. 156 00:07:50.040 --> 00:07:53.800 Every single one, they are running equations for thermal expansion, 157 00:07:53.959 --> 00:07:58.560 material density, and mantle convection for millions of spatial coordinates 158 00:07:58.600 --> 00:08:02.720 all at once. That is yeah, that requires immense supercomputing 159 00:08:02.759 --> 00:08:06.480 power that simply wasn't available when the older theories were established. 160 00:08:06.519 --> 00:08:08.519 So they just didn't have the hardware back in the day. 161 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:12.160 Right, But by applying that raw computational muscle, now they 162 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:15.920 could accurately replicate the rift structures in their entirety for 163 00:08:15.959 --> 00:08:16.879 the very first time. 164 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:20.000 And when they let these three D simulations run, something 165 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:24.160 entirely new emerge from the math. They discovered that when 166 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:28.399 these huge rifts are geologically young, meaning they're you know, 167 00:08:28.519 --> 00:08:31.319 either actively moving right now or they just recently stopped, 168 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:35.799 they formed these very specific topological features called rift flanks. 169 00:08:35.960 --> 00:08:37.639 Yes, the rift flanks are key. 170 00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:40.639 Which are basically broad, towering ridges that run all along 171 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:43.240 the edges of the valleys. But here's what I want 172 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:46.080 to push you on. How does upgrading from two D 173 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:48.559 to three D suddenly allow us to see the true 174 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:50.000 age of these formations. 175 00:08:50.120 --> 00:08:52.759 It's all about how force distributes. 176 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:55.120 Right, But why does adding that third dimension act like 177 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:56.120 a geological plock. 178 00:08:56.559 --> 00:08:59.279 Well, it comes back to how volume and stress distribute 179 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:02.600 in a three dimensional space. In two D, you are 180 00:09:02.679 --> 00:09:05.200 forcing the math to behave in a straight line left 181 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:08.039 or right exactly, assuming the rock only moves left or right. 182 00:09:08.360 --> 00:09:10.440 But in three D you can finally model how the 183 00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:14.600 crust acts as a continuous, unified sheet across a sphere. 184 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:14.879 Oh. 185 00:09:14.919 --> 00:09:17.639 I see when the crest pulls apart to form a rift. 186 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:20.080 The material doesn't just cleanly. 187 00:09:19.720 --> 00:09:21.559 Separate, like snapping a cracker. 188 00:09:21.720 --> 00:09:24.600 Right, it's not a clean break. The intense heat and 189 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:28.039 pressure welling up from the mantle beneath the tear push 190 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:30.519 the surrounding rock upward and outward. 191 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:33.279 Like pressing your thumb into the bottom of a tight 192 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:37.440 sheet of plastic m The edges around your thumb bow upwards. 193 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:42.759 Yes, that upward bowing creates those towering ridges the rift flanks. 194 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:45.840 And because the three D model calculates the flow of 195 00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:49.440 that underlying heat so accurately, it allowed the researchers to 196 00:09:49.480 --> 00:09:52.039 track exactly how those ridges behave over time. 197 00:09:52.120 --> 00:09:54.639 Ah, so they could watch them age in the simulation exactly. 198 00:09:54.879 --> 00:09:58.159 They demonstrated that those high steep ridges are the definitive 199 00:09:58.200 --> 00:10:01.759 signature of active or extremely recent movement. If the rift 200 00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:05.799 were truly ancient, like if the internal engine shut down 201 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:09.080 one hundred million years ago, like everyone thought, those towering 202 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:11.399 flanks would not be standing tall anymore, Which. 203 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:13.600 Leads right into the most stunning part of the simulations. 204 00:10:13.799 --> 00:10:16.320 If these rifts are young, they must be moving. They are, 205 00:10:16.600 --> 00:10:19.559 and the models revealed they are widening much more rapidly 206 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:22.480 than anyone believed. We are looking at a rate of 207 00:10:22.519 --> 00:10:24.279 three to ten centimeters. 208 00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:27.240 Per year, which is huge, is it? Oh? Yeah, In 209 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:30.279 the context of a planetary lifespan, three to ten centimeters 210 00:10:30.279 --> 00:10:31.840 a year is practically. 211 00:10:31.480 --> 00:10:33.720 A sprint to geological sprint. Right. 212 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:36.519 It points to an immense amount of kinetic energy and 213 00:10:36.559 --> 00:10:39.519 heat churning just below the crust to actively push that 214 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:41.120 much solid rock apart. 215 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:43.799 But wait, this brings up a major physics problem for me. 216 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:44.639 Okay, let's hear it. 217 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:48.679 The simulations showed that when this tectonic movement eventually does cease, 218 00:10:49.279 --> 00:10:52.039 the older the rift system gets, the less steep and 219 00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:55.960 narrow its flanks become. Right, the ridges essentially flatten out rapidly. 220 00:10:56.919 --> 00:10:59.519 But if there is absolutely no wind or water erosion 221 00:10:59.559 --> 00:11:04.039 on Venus, I mean no oceans no rainstorms, no glaciers 222 00:11:04.039 --> 00:11:06.080 to grind down the mountains like we have on Earth. 223 00:11:06.840 --> 00:11:10.440 How does solid rock just decide to flatten out on 224 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:10.840 its own? 225 00:11:11.240 --> 00:11:14.840 That's the billion dollar question, and we have to completely 226 00:11:14.840 --> 00:11:18.279 abandon our Earth's centric view of geology to understand this. Okay, 227 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:23.759 on our planet, we rely almost entirely on erosion. Water, ice, 228 00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:28.559 and wind act like cosmic sandpaper, just slowly wearing down 229 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:32.200 jagged mountain peaks over millions of years. Right, Venus obviously 230 00:11:32.200 --> 00:11:34.919 doesn't have that sand paper, but it does have immense 231 00:11:34.919 --> 00:11:35.759 suffocating heat. 232 00:11:35.879 --> 00:11:39.600 We're talking hundreds of degrees celsius at the surface exactly. 233 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:41.840 And at those extreme temperatures the physical properties of the 234 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:44.840 crust change entirely. The rock isn't cold and brittle like 235 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:46.039 a piece of granite you'd. 236 00:11:45.879 --> 00:11:47.399 Find on a hike here, so it's soft. 237 00:11:47.480 --> 00:11:50.559 It is incredibly hot, which means it behaves plastically over 238 00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:54.000 geological timeframe plastically. Right, It's not melted lava. It is 239 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:57.759 still solid rock, but it has a microscopic flexibility to it. 240 00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:00.759 Imagine like a thick pane of glass suspended in a 241 00:12:00.759 --> 00:12:04.200 hot kiln, or a fresh patch of boiling asphalt in 242 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:07.639 the summer. It's solid, but under its own weight and 243 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:10.360 that intense heat, it begins to slowly. 244 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:12.639 Sag ah crystal relaxation, that. 245 00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:15.919 Is the exact term. Yes, When the upward pressure from 246 00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:19.080 the active rifting stops, gravity takes over and it just 247 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:23.679 groups exactly because the rock is so hot and slightly plastic, 248 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:27.320 it simply cannot support its own towering weight over millions 249 00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:30.559 of years. It slowly slumps. It SAgs back down into 250 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:33.799 the crust. So without the active churning of the planet's 251 00:12:33.799 --> 00:12:38.360 interior constantly pushing those flanks up, crustal relaxation causes them 252 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:40.159 to rapidly subside and flatten. 253 00:12:40.200 --> 00:12:42.559 Wait, so the heat is actually the key to solving 254 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:43.600 the entire mystery. 255 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:44.360 It really is. 256 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:47.559 The heat causes the sagging, which means if the mountains 257 00:12:47.559 --> 00:12:50.519 along these rifts are still standing tall, they have to 258 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:53.240 be new, yes, because otherwise the Venusian heat would have 259 00:12:53.240 --> 00:12:54.039 relaxed them flat. 260 00:12:54.080 --> 00:12:56.879 By now you've just walked through. The exact logical deduction 261 00:12:57.000 --> 00:12:59.840 that Shi Yang and Tarskaria made from their data is 262 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:03.519 the supercomputer provided the blueprint. It showed them exactly what 263 00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:07.159 a living, breathing Venus should look like, and conversely, what 264 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:08.879 a dead Venus would look like right. 265 00:13:09.559 --> 00:13:12.440 But a computer simulation, no matter how advanced, is just 266 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:15.320 a brilliant theory until it can be matched with physical 267 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:16.600 observational proof. 268 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:19.279 True, you need the real world data to back it up. 269 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:22.559 And here's where it gets really interesting, because if we 270 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:26.039 misread Magellan's data for thirty years because our models were 271 00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:28.840 too simple, it makes me wonder what else we're misreading 272 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:29.279 right now? 273 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:29.639 Oh? 274 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:33.320 Absolutely, because the visual proof for this three D model 275 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:36.840 wasn't gathered by a new billion dollar satellite that we 276 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:40.639 just launched. It was sitting in our space archives for 277 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:44.200 decades since the nineties. Yeah. The wide and high rift 278 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:48.480 flanks generated by the eth Zurix simulations perfectly matched physical 279 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:52.480 features seen in actual images of the Venusian surface. And 280 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:55.639 those images were captured by the Magellan prode way back 281 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:57.120 in the nineteen nineties. 282 00:13:56.840 --> 00:13:59.639 Which is incredible. The Magellan mission remains one of the 283 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:02.559 most phenomenal achievements in space exploration. 284 00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:04.799 It mapped almost the whole planet, right, Yeah. 285 00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:07.120 It mapped a ninety eight percent of the surface of Venus. 286 00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:10.000 But the thing is it couldn't just take normal photographs. 287 00:14:10.039 --> 00:14:13.480 Why not, because visible light cannot penetrate the dense toxic 288 00:14:13.559 --> 00:14:17.399 clouds of sulfuric acid that blanket the planet. It's completely opaque. 289 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:20.399 So Magellan had to use synthetic aperture radar. 290 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:22.759 Wait, how does that actually work in practice? Like, how 291 00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:24.399 do you see through the acid clouds? 292 00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:28.120 Well, instead of capturing light level camera, the probe beams 293 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:31.440 radio waves down at the planet. Okay, those radio waves 294 00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:34.600 pass right through the thick cloud cover unaffected. They hit 295 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:36.840 the rocky surface, and then they bounce back up to 296 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:37.279 the probe. 297 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:38.360 Uh like an echo. 298 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:41.759 Exactly like an echo. By timing exactly how long it 299 00:14:41.799 --> 00:14:44.840 takes for those echoes to return, Magellan was able to 300 00:14:44.840 --> 00:14:48.600 build a highly detailed topographical map of all the mountains 301 00:14:48.600 --> 00:14:49.600 and valleys down below. 302 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:50.720 Oh wow, And it. 303 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:53.960 Sent back mountains of this incredible radar data in the 304 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:54.720 early nineties. 305 00:14:54.759 --> 00:14:56.720 But at the time we just didn't have the three 306 00:14:56.799 --> 00:15:01.080 D modeling capability to properly interpret what Magella had actually found. 307 00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:03.840 Right, we saw the high ridges and the radar data, 308 00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:07.320 they were right there, but because our two D geodynamic 309 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:10.279 models insisted the planet was cold and dead, we just 310 00:15:10.279 --> 00:15:11.279 couldn't make sense of them. 311 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:13.080 I had the wrong context totally. 312 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:15.759 The established science told us they had to be ancient, 313 00:15:16.039 --> 00:15:20.000 even though their towering height physically contradicted that very assumption. 314 00:15:20.440 --> 00:15:23.519 We were literally staring at the answer key for thirty years, 315 00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:25.960 but we didn't know how to read the language. 316 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:26.480 Pretty much. 317 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:29.840 Yeah, it wasn't until we had the supercomputers decades later 318 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:33.639 that the archival radar data suddenly clicked into place. 319 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:35.879 And the combination of those two elements is what makes 320 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:38.279 this scientific finding so incredibly. 321 00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:39.840 Robust, the old data and the new math. 322 00:15:40.039 --> 00:15:43.360 Exactly. You have theoretical physics running in a cutting edge 323 00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:46.039 three D simulation on one side, and then you have 324 00:15:46.600 --> 00:15:50.159 hard observational radar echoes from the Magellan probe. 325 00:15:49.879 --> 00:15:51.879 On the other, and they line up when. 326 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:55.600 You overlay them. They match perfectly. The topography Magellan recorded 327 00:15:55.639 --> 00:16:00.159 shows youthful flank morphology, which means it unequivocally confirms that 328 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:02.480 Venus has a dynamically warm interior. 329 00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:04.919 The dinosaurs alive and stopping around the living room. 330 00:16:05.080 --> 00:16:07.720 Huh. Yes, it remains a highly. 331 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:09.759 Active planet that is just so wild to think about. 332 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:13.559 The internal heat is still there, driving tectonic activity, likely 333 00:16:13.639 --> 00:16:16.759 driving volcanic activity, and pushing the crust around it up 334 00:16:16.759 --> 00:16:20.159 to ten centimeters a year. It thoroughly invalidates the long 335 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:22.200 term geological dormancy theory. 336 00:16:22.279 --> 00:16:24.559 Well, so what does this all mean If we were 337 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:29.120 so wrong about our closest planetary neighbor. It really forces 338 00:16:29.159 --> 00:16:32.240 a reckoning for humanity's next steps in space, doesn't it. 339 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:33.919 It definitely changes the roadmap. 340 00:16:34.039 --> 00:16:37.159 We went from dismissing Venus as a baking, boring rock 341 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:41.159 to realizing it's a dynamically active world. How does this 342 00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:46.240 radical shift in understanding change our immediate plans for exploration. 343 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:48.679 Well, it instantly elevates Venus to one of the most 344 00:16:48.759 --> 00:16:50.039 high priority targets in the. 345 00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:51.320 Solar System over Mars. 346 00:16:51.840 --> 00:16:54.200 Well, for a long time, Mars received the lion's share 347 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:57.200 of our exploratory budget and our attention because we thought 348 00:16:57.279 --> 00:17:01.360 Venus was a closed on interesting book. Right now, there 349 00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:04.480 is a massive surgeon interest. Both NASA and the European 350 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:08.279 Space Agency are preparing specialized exploratory missions to go back. 351 00:17:08.680 --> 00:17:10.640 We are heading back into the hellscape. 352 00:17:10.279 --> 00:17:14.640 We are specifically, ESA is launching the Envision mission in 353 00:17:14.680 --> 00:17:15.799 the early twenty thirties. 354 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:17.519 Okay, in Vision, and the. 355 00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:21.400 Core goal of Envision is to explore the planet holistically, 356 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:24.799 like mapping the interactions from its inner core all the 357 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:27.400 way up to its toxic upper atmosphere. 358 00:17:27.559 --> 00:17:30.960 I have to imagine the eth Zurich researchers who made 359 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:33.559 this three D discovery are going to be heavily involved 360 00:17:33.559 --> 00:17:34.480 in that messure. 361 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:37.559 Now they are central to it. Eophysics professors Paul Tackley 362 00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:41.519 and Tarasgaria are actively collaborating on the Envision mission right now. 363 00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:42.079 That's awesome. 364 00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:46.200 Yeah, they are helping develop specific surface analyzing instruments for 365 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:48.920 the orbiter. And this is where their three D model 366 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:53.279 transitions from like a theoretical breakthrough to a very practical. 367 00:17:52.839 --> 00:17:55.079 Tool, because now they know where to look exactly. 368 00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:57.759 Because we now know that Venus is active, we don't 369 00:17:57.799 --> 00:18:00.480 just want to look indiscriminately at the surface anymore. We 370 00:18:00.519 --> 00:18:02.880 want to look where the action is happening right now. 371 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:06.759 The computational model acts like a treasure map, helping pinpoint 372 00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:09.720 the most dynamic shifting regions on the planet for these 373 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:12.119 new probes to investigate in granular detail. 374 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:15.200 So instead of blindly scanning the globe and hoping for 375 00:18:15.240 --> 00:18:18.839 the best, they can actually program the probe and say, hey, 376 00:18:19.559 --> 00:18:22.640 the model predicts active crustal tearing at this specific set 377 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:25.839 of coordinates. Point the radar instruments exactly there. 378 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:27.400 That's exactly how they'll do it. 379 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:29.640 That is incredible. But I want to zoom out even 380 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:32.359 further for a second, like beyond our Solar system. Let's 381 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:35.240 zoom map, because whenever we figure out a fundamental mechanical 382 00:18:35.319 --> 00:18:38.759 truth about a planet next door, it usually changes how 383 00:18:38.759 --> 00:18:41.359 we interpret the rest of the universe, right, almost always. 384 00:18:41.960 --> 00:18:45.480 How does understanding crustal relaxation and the tectonic shifting of 385 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:50.279 Venus actually help us find earthlike planets orbiting distant stars. 386 00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:53.759 It's a great question. It completely expands our recipe for 387 00:18:53.880 --> 00:18:57.960 planetary formation and life support. Howso, right now, when we 388 00:18:58.119 --> 00:19:01.480 use instruments like the James Webs Telescope to look for 389 00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:05.400 rocky exoplanets in deep space, we are mostly relying on 390 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:06.960 our understanding of Earth. 391 00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:09.240 Because it's our only working example. 392 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:12.039 Of life exactly. We look for biosignatures, sure, but we 393 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:16.599 also look for geosignatures signs that a planet is geologically. 394 00:19:15.799 --> 00:19:18.799 Alive, because a dead planet can't maintain an atmosphere for 395 00:19:18.920 --> 00:19:19.200 very long. 396 00:19:19.319 --> 00:19:22.759 Right, you nailed it on Earth. Our specific style of 397 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:26.960 plate tectonics constantly subducts the crust, recycling carbon and other 398 00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:30.200 elements into the mantle, which are then released back into 399 00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:35.200 the atmosphere through volcanic eruptions. This outgassing regulates. 400 00:19:34.599 --> 00:19:36.200 Our climate, keeps us breathing. 401 00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:40.279