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<v Speaker 1>Hi, there, Andrew Dunkley again the host of the Space

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<v Speaker 1>Nuts podcast, and we are happy to bring you yet

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<v Speaker 1>another episode. This is a Q and A episode where

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<v Speaker 1>we'll be answering questions about the life that they think

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<v Speaker 1>they may have found. Possibly could be Dono on K two, A,

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<v Speaker 1>D and B, gravity and gravitons, the Swan comet and

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<v Speaker 1>hopefully not the Swan song comet. Boom boom and fake news.

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<v Speaker 1>That's all coming up in this episode of Space Nuts fifteen,

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<v Speaker 1>Channel ten nine ignition Space Nuts or three two space notes.

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<v Speaker 2>It sure does.

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<v Speaker 1>And with me as always his professor, Fred W. Whatt's

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<v Speaker 1>an astronomer at large.

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<v Speaker 3>Hello Fred, Hello Andrew, Nice to see you again, must.

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<v Speaker 2>See you too.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, still sort of getting back down to Earth because

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<v Speaker 1>I mean two minutes with the last every day rank

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<v Speaker 1>so still getting over the jet lag, but that'll that'll pass.

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<v Speaker 1>Didn't get seasick, I didn't mention that before in the

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<v Speaker 1>last I didn't get seasick at all. There were I

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<v Speaker 1>think we only had one day where we hit some

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<v Speaker 1>big swells and the captain came on and said, as

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<v Speaker 1>you can see, the seas are rather.

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<v Speaker 2>Busy today.

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<v Speaker 1>Those waves fourteen feet fourteen feet him in four ways.

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<v Speaker 1>You have board with me at the time, so not

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<v Speaker 1>that you need one where I live, but yeah, it was,

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<v Speaker 1>it was. It was a good ship, very nice ship,

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<v Speaker 1>very good staff. Had a great time. And yeah, I

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<v Speaker 1>won't go through all the things we did, but I.

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<v Speaker 4>Will point out one thing, nothing to do with astronomy,

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<v Speaker 4>but we've been to Las Vegas before fifteen years ago

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<v Speaker 4>and we were you know, it's a sensory overload men.

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<v Speaker 2>A couple of days there and you just can't wait

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<v Speaker 2>to get out.

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<v Speaker 1>It's just that it's just so in your face. We

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<v Speaker 1>went back this time, and we didn't say it to

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<v Speaker 1>each other until after we left, but we both felt

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<v Speaker 1>the same that it's lost some of its mystique. And

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<v Speaker 1>I put that down to the fact that a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of the casinos had all sorts of.

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<v Speaker 2>Things to try and get people.

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<v Speaker 1>In, like the Magic Garden and dolphin pools and white

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<v Speaker 1>lions and MGM Casino had lions in the casino living

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<v Speaker 1>in I don't know, habitats that were built into the

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<v Speaker 1>structure of the casino complex. It was really quite impressive.

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<v Speaker 1>And notwithstanding what the animal rights activists probably that's all gone. Oh,

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<v Speaker 1>most of that's gone. You know what they put in

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<v Speaker 1>their place sports bars. You walk into a giant room

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<v Speaker 1>that has umpteen televisions covering the space of a theater

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<v Speaker 1>screen and just lists and lists of odds and a

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<v Speaker 1>bar with ten thousand different kinds of drinks and people

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<v Speaker 1>just sitting there betting on the whatever. Any sport you

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<v Speaker 1>can think of. Ice hockey I think was the flavor

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<v Speaker 1>of the muss while we were there. Yeah, and we

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<v Speaker 1>just walked away and went.

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<v Speaker 2>Gee, that's sad. It's sad.

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<v Speaker 1>It's just and the one of the big casinos there

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<v Speaker 1>called the Mirage is gone.

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<v Speaker 2>It's just gone.

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<v Speaker 1>There's just flat ground there. They've completely demolished it and

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<v Speaker 1>they're going to replace it with a hard rock you've

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<v Speaker 1>heard of hard rock cafe. They're going to have a

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<v Speaker 1>hard rock you know. Okay, unbelievable, but yeah, anyway, that's

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<v Speaker 1>beside the point. We've got some questions to get to Fred,

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<v Speaker 1>and we might as well get stuck straight into it.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm going to read them all today because I've been

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<v Speaker 1>away and I cleared the decks. So if you've got questions,

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<v Speaker 1>send them in because I have absolutely wiped the slate clean.

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<v Speaker 1>If they had a question in and we didn't answer it.

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<v Speaker 1>That's on me. Send me your hate mail because I'm

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<v Speaker 1>starting from scratch fresh material from next Q and a

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<v Speaker 1>episode onwards, So send them in via our website. So

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<v Speaker 1>first one from Martin Berman Gorvyn of Potomac, Maryland. Hello,

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<v Speaker 1>Space Nuts. That's what I won't do it author and

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<v Speaker 1>write extraordinary us about the recent buzz surrounding the possible

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<v Speaker 1>detection of life on exoplanet K to eighteen B. Specifically

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<v Speaker 1>do mental SULFI did I say that right? Which could

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<v Speaker 1>be a bio signature, and while acknowledging it's too early

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<v Speaker 1>to draw any big conclusions, but that hasn't stopped the

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<v Speaker 1>popular press. I threw that in not Martin. Martin playfully

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<v Speaker 1>wonder if life is found there, might they grant asylum

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<v Speaker 1>to a struggling American sci fi writer disillusioned with.

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<v Speaker 2>Earth away with words he does now.

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<v Speaker 1>I know, I know you covered K two A d

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<v Speaker 1>n B the other day with with Heidi, but there's

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<v Speaker 1>been has there been any more information about it?

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<v Speaker 3>I think what's happened is it's basically caused a lot

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<v Speaker 3>of serious reflection among the science community and the philosophy

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<v Speaker 3>community as well, who have muscled into this with quite

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<v Speaker 3>quite you know understandably as to what we're really doing here,

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<v Speaker 3>what we're looking for when we when we're looking for

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<v Speaker 3>evidence of alien life. And I think there are two

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<v Speaker 3>aspects of this. One is, first of all, there is

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<v Speaker 3>still some doubt about the actual detection of these compounds,

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<v Speaker 3>these molecules, that there are.

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<v Speaker 2>Two of them that have been found.

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<v Speaker 3>They so the authors claim that the authors come from

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<v Speaker 3>the US and the UK. Dimethyl sulfide and dimethyle die sulfide,

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<v Speaker 3>those are the two which on Earth are products of

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<v Speaker 3>the environment caused by phytoplantum, those little microbes.

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<v Speaker 2>That live in water.

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<v Speaker 3>And the authors of the paper have drawn a few

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<v Speaker 3>strings here. This is a world that's actually bigger than Earth.

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<v Speaker 3>It's about eight point six times the mass of the Earth,

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<v Speaker 3>about two point six times the diameter of Earth. And

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<v Speaker 3>the authors believe that this is something called the Heyshien

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<v Speaker 3>world and the Hyshen world. It's a great word actually

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<v Speaker 3>is an amalgamation of hydrogen and ocean. It's basically an

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<v Speaker 3>ocean world with a hydrogen atmosphere. It's been called the

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<v Speaker 3>Hyshen world. We think they exist and the authors of

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<v Speaker 3>this paper think that they've got evidence to suggest that

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<v Speaker 3>K two eighteen B is actually a hyphen world. Now

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<v Speaker 3>there are other authors who've stepped in and said, wait

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<v Speaker 3>a minute, we think it's too hot for that. We

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<v Speaker 3>think it's you know, it's got volcanic activity and it's

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<v Speaker 3>not a world with an ocean at all.

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<v Speaker 2>So that's a moot point.

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<v Speaker 3>But the detection of these of these chemicals, the DMS

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<v Speaker 3>is it's called and dmds the abbreviations for them because

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<v Speaker 3>it's too hard to say methyl sulfide. There are those

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<v Speaker 3>detections themselves are in some doubt because there are the

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<v Speaker 3>confidence level. Yes it's ninety nine point seven percent certain,

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<v Speaker 3>but that's not the pretty well one hundred percent that

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<v Speaker 3>science demands, and so there's still uncertainty about that.

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<v Speaker 2>So that's one aspect.

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<v Speaker 3>That maybe this is a mis identification of features in

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<v Speaker 3>the spectrum of the atmosphere of K two eighteen B.

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<v Speaker 2>But the other side of it is.

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<v Speaker 3>One of two people have pointed out that these chemicals

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<v Speaker 3>have been detected in the gaseous envelopes of comets.

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<v Speaker 2>Now on Earth.

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<v Speaker 3>Yes, they only come from biological activity, but where they're

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<v Speaker 3>going to come from on a comet whose temperature is

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<v Speaker 3>minus two hundred degrees celsius. It's so there's got to

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<v Speaker 3>be chemical reactions that are independent of life that will

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<v Speaker 3>that will actually generate these what have been called biomarkers.

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<v Speaker 3>And so the question is are they biomarkers at all?

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<v Speaker 3>Or is it are we just at straws. Do you

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<v Speaker 3>know that one of the one of the articles I read,

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<v Speaker 3>I really like the term. It was something to the

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<v Speaker 3>fact that we've been hunting for needles in a haystack,

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<v Speaker 3>and is this just a particularly sharp piece of hay

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<v Speaker 3>that they've found, And that could be the case, very

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<v Speaker 3>nicely put. And so that's where the philosophers have come

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<v Speaker 3>in and said, you know, we really we have no

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<v Speaker 3>idea what alien life might look like, and to sort

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<v Speaker 3>of in many ways blinker ourselves so that we're only

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<v Speaker 3>looking for things that have found on Earth that are

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<v Speaker 3>markers of biological activity, maybe we have to be looking

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<v Speaker 3>much broader, in a much broader sense. Now people have

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<v Speaker 3>said this for a long time, but I think this

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<v Speaker 3>particular discovery has really heightened the concentration of a philosopher's

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<v Speaker 3>coming in on this. There's a very interesting article on

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<v Speaker 3>the Conversation and its title is scientists claim to have

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<v Speaker 3>found evidence of alien life, but biosignatures might hide more

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<v Speaker 3>than they reveal. And that comes from a scientist who

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<v Speaker 3>is actually a PhD candidate in the philosophy of biology

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<v Speaker 3>at Sydney University. So this is philosophy rather than science.

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<v Speaker 3>But it's a scientific article, and it makes the point

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<v Speaker 3>that maybe what we should be looking for is not

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<v Speaker 3>life as we know it, but life as we don't

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<v Speaker 3>know it is, because it could be different.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, we've talked about that before that I suppose logically

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<v Speaker 1>make assumptions that life elsewhere might just be like it

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<v Speaker 1>is on Earth, but it might be so alien to

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<v Speaker 1>us we probably wouldn't even notice it exactly what we're

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<v Speaker 1>looking for.

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<v Speaker 3>On the other hand, you know, the other side of

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<v Speaker 3>this coin is all we can look for is biosignatures

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<v Speaker 3>as we think we interpret them from Earth. So we've

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<v Speaker 3>got a few interesting steps to take here. So I

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<v Speaker 3>think that the K two eighteen B story has yet

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<v Speaker 3>to run quite a long way. I think there'll be

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<v Speaker 3>more observations of it, maybe with the James Web, but

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<v Speaker 3>certainly with the the ELT when that comes on stream.

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<v Speaker 2>The thirty nine meter optical.

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<v Speaker 3>Telescope that will probably give us a much firmer view

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<v Speaker 3>of whether dms and dmds are actually in the atmosphere.

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<v Speaker 3>But the philosophy of what we're looking for, I think

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<v Speaker 3>is perhaps almost the more interesting aspect of this.

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<v Speaker 1>It kind of reminds me of the recent discovery that

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<v Speaker 1>they announced about the atmosphere of Venus. Yes, and that

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<v Speaker 1>was ultimately debunked, but I think it's been underbunked again.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes it was.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, that's right, but it's still very very controversial.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, indeed, but again that was phosphine, wasn't it.

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<v Speaker 3>It was, But once again, phosphine is only a biomarker

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<v Speaker 3>under certain circumstances.

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<v Speaker 2>And you know that's the thing.

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<v Speaker 3>It may just there maybe natural causes of it in

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<v Speaker 3>the in the atmosphere of Venus. It's the same situation.

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<v Speaker 3>It was, first of all, a very perhaps adventurous identification

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<v Speaker 3>of a chemical that you've found because the data really

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<v Speaker 3>don't match up to it yet. That coupled with the

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<v Speaker 3>fact that there may be other ways that this this

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<v Speaker 3>compound can be can be formed.

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<v Speaker 1>No, this is fascinating. I was just reading some of

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<v Speaker 1>the headlines of the of the major outlets that have

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<v Speaker 1>latched onto this story. And it goes to what Fenton

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<v Speaker 1>is asking us about it that one till last because

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<v Speaker 1>it's a favorite topic at the moment, so we'll we'll

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<v Speaker 1>get into that. But and that Venus story pops up

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<v Speaker 1>in the list of fake news stories. But it fake

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<v Speaker 1>news is a terrible way to describe it. That these

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<v Speaker 1>would probably genuine attempts to come up with theories and ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>and some of them miss the mark. So fake news

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<v Speaker 1>is I don't know who popularized that, but anyway, we'll

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<v Speaker 1>carry on, Martin help me you know who it was.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you, Martin. Great to hear from you. Different, unusual,

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<v Speaker 1>but always welcome. Let's take a short break from the

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<v Speaker 1>show to tell you about our sponsor, Insta three sixty. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>as you know, particularly if you follow me on Facebook

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<v Speaker 1>I was just in photo heaven. I always look for

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<v Speaker 1>sixty store dot Insterta three sixty dot com. Now back

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<v Speaker 1>to the show Murder space nets. Next question comes from James.

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<v Speaker 1>We're not sure where James is, but I'm sure he

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<v Speaker 1>knows where he is. This is about gravity and gravitons.

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<v Speaker 1>The Higgs particle generates the field gives other particles mass.

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<v Speaker 1>Gravity is a property of mass directly proportional to the

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<v Speaker 1>mess of an object. In other words, why do we

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<v Speaker 1>need another particle, as in a graviton to provide gravity.

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<v Speaker 1>That's a good one.

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<v Speaker 3>It is, Yes, it is a good one, and certainly

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<v Speaker 3>the particle physicists do see these as two completely separate things.

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<v Speaker 3>The Higgs particle was proposed as being something that the

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<v Speaker 3>other particles needed back in I think it was nineteen

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<v Speaker 3>sixty six or nineteen sixty seven by Peter Higgs at

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<v Speaker 3>the University of Edinburgh, who I think he died only

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<v Speaker 3>a couple of years ago if I remember rightly, and

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<v Speaker 3>I mean the graviton has it's still a it's still

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<v Speaker 3>a hypothetical particle, but but it's different from what the

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<v Speaker 3>Higgs does. The way to interpret the Higgs is very

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<v Speaker 3>much as the particle that as exactly as James says,

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<v Speaker 3>it generates the field that gives particles mass, and the

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<v Speaker 3>field it's like a force field. The way I read

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<v Speaker 3>a lovely interpretation of of of this that if you

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<v Speaker 3>imagine some you know, something like a marble moving around

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<v Speaker 3>in space, then it's it's moving freely and you you

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<v Speaker 3>don't really have anything to sense its mass. But if

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<v Speaker 3>you put it in a jar of treacle or honey,

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<v Speaker 3>then the treacle or the honey actually mimics the Higgs

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<v Speaker 3>field and it provides a resistance which is proportional to

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<v Speaker 3>the mass of the particle. And so the Higgs particle,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, this is my understanding of it. I'm not

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<v Speaker 3>a particle physicist, and I don't think I'm explaining this

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<v Speaker 3>particularly well, but it has a different function from what

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<v Speaker 3>the hypothetical gravity graviton has.

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<v Speaker 2>Which would be.

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<v Speaker 3>Transmitting another field, the field of gravity that's a field

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<v Speaker 3>as well.

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<v Speaker 4>But.

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<v Speaker 3>Would have different characteristics from the Higgs particle providing the gravitation.

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<v Speaker 3>I suspect James is not going to be convinced by

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<v Speaker 3>my explanation here because his question why do we need

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<v Speaker 3>another particle to provide gravity? All I'm saying is that

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<v Speaker 3>gravity is a different thing from the Higgs field, and

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<v Speaker 3>so we need another particle for it. But I hope

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<v Speaker 3>you will take that and perhaps, James, you know, follow

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<v Speaker 3>up on some of the on some of the stuff

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<v Speaker 3>you can find online that really talks about the difference

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<v Speaker 3>between these particles.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 3>I was just going to say, the first thing I'd

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<v Speaker 3>google will be what's the difference between the Higgs particle

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<v Speaker 3>and the grubbytot?

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<v Speaker 2>Done? Nut had time, But that's right.

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<v Speaker 1>And Peter Higgs died last year? Was last year, yea

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<v Speaker 1>April tenth, so just over yeares, Yes, much missed.

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<v Speaker 2>He was a great man, Yes, indeed he was.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you, James. This is space Nuts. You're with Andrew

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<v Speaker 1>Dunkley and Professor Fred what's an Now A word from

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<v Speaker 2>Now back to the show.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, we tacked a space nuts. Next question comes from Ted.

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<v Speaker 1>No known location, no known abode. It reminds me, though, Fred,

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00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:30.799
<v Speaker 1>when we know I have this. This is not a

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00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:32.920
<v Speaker 1>reflection on on Ted at all. But when we were

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00:23:32.920 --> 00:23:35.559
<v Speaker 1>in Las Vegas, I was walking across the street and

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00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:38.680
<v Speaker 1>there was a homeless guy in a wheelchair on the

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00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:40.880
<v Speaker 1>opposite side, and I was walking straight towards him, and

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00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:43.559
<v Speaker 1>he had a sign and next to a bottle for

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00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:46.319
<v Speaker 1>people to put in tips. And you read the sign

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00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:51.240
<v Speaker 1>and honestly, I can't say it because it is it's

380
00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:55.400
<v Speaker 1>got a nasty word in it, but it was something

381
00:23:55.480 --> 00:23:59.200
<v Speaker 1>word trump and you can figure it out for yourself.

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00:23:59.400 --> 00:24:01.599
<v Speaker 1>But if you read with him, you gave him a tip.

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00:24:01.720 --> 00:24:05.319
<v Speaker 1>If you didn't, you just kept walking. So it's a

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00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:08.839
<v Speaker 1>rich man. He had quite a few, quite a few

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00:24:09.400 --> 00:24:16.359
<v Speaker 1>painfuls of change. But yeah, that's beside the point. But Ted,

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00:24:16.519 --> 00:24:19.240
<v Speaker 1>Ted wants to know. I've been observing the swan comment

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00:24:19.319 --> 00:24:22.759
<v Speaker 1>every morning for the last few days. Please discuss this.

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<v Speaker 1>If you have not already done so, well, I'm going

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00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:27.440
<v Speaker 1>to ask you anyway, Fred, because I was interested in it.

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<v Speaker 1>What's the latest.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, it's we haven't discussed it already, so it's it's

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00:24:34.519 --> 00:24:38.920
<v Speaker 3>a it's a timely A timely question from Ted. Great

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00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:42.400
<v Speaker 3>to hear Ted that you've been observing it, because it's

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<v Speaker 3>not an easy object to observe. It's it's quite faint.

395
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<v Speaker 3>It's certainly below a naked eye visibility. Its full name

396
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<v Speaker 3>is C twenty twenty five F two Swans And it's

397
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<v Speaker 3>a morning object at the moment. I haven't observed it.

398
00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:05.680
<v Speaker 3>I am not a morning person because astronomers aren't generally

399
00:25:06.039 --> 00:25:08.440
<v Speaker 3>unless there's an object likes one that they really want

400
00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:15.240
<v Speaker 3>to see. But yes, it's it's an interesting object because

401
00:25:15.480 --> 00:25:18.920
<v Speaker 3>it's quite bluish in color.

402
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<v Speaker 2>The the.

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00:25:23.839 --> 00:25:27.200
<v Speaker 3>You know, the the the observations that you can see

404
00:25:27.759 --> 00:25:33.119
<v Speaker 3>made with relatively small telescopes definitely give it a bluish tinge.

405
00:25:34.160 --> 00:25:40.039
<v Speaker 3>It's it's got a tail that is very very thin.

406
00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:42.519
<v Speaker 3>I haven't seen images of its tail, but I believe

407
00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:46.480
<v Speaker 3>it's it's very very thin, and it's roughly a degree

408
00:25:46.720 --> 00:25:51.160
<v Speaker 3>or so long. But good on Ted for observing it.

409
00:25:51.160 --> 00:25:56.920
<v Speaker 3>It's it's probably fading, although not apparently fading as fast

410
00:25:57.000 --> 00:25:59.039
<v Speaker 3>as some observers have expected.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, there are some articles are describing it as green,

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00:26:02.759 --> 00:26:10.759
<v Speaker 1>but different objects being different colors. Yes, from Johnny sent

413
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<v Speaker 1>me some images the other day of what was probably

414
00:26:15.079 --> 00:26:19.599
<v Speaker 1>a metea or a meat or scraping our our what

415
00:26:19.640 --> 00:26:24.880
<v Speaker 1>do you call it atmosphere, and it was green, bright green,

416
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<v Speaker 1>But they're not always color.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 3>So that's from the oxygen in the upper atmosphere that

419
00:26:34.440 --> 00:26:37.160
<v Speaker 3>you get from a fireball or a meteor. And yeah,

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<v Speaker 3>I think blue comes if I remember there. I've probably

421
00:26:40.839 --> 00:26:44.400
<v Speaker 3>got this wrong. Carbon monoxide in a comet that might

422
00:26:44.440 --> 00:26:47.759
<v Speaker 3>be the green. I can't remember, but the color is

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<v Speaker 3>essentially it means it's telling you something about the gases

424
00:26:52.200 --> 00:26:54.960
<v Speaker 3>that make up the or the frozen gases that make

425
00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:57.480
<v Speaker 3>up the comet, because that's what they are, the balls

426
00:26:57.480 --> 00:26:58.559
<v Speaker 3>of frozen gas.

427
00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:03.920
<v Speaker 1>Green comets primarily due to a molecule called diatomic carbon.

428
00:27:04.440 --> 00:27:05.279
<v Speaker 2>Yes, that's right.

429
00:27:06.119 --> 00:27:10.200
<v Speaker 1>And the emission of blue light is it just says

430
00:27:10.279 --> 00:27:13.519
<v Speaker 1>ionized gases such as carbon monoxide.

431
00:27:13.640 --> 00:27:17.599
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so at least I've got that one right. Who

432
00:27:17.640 --> 00:27:18.400
<v Speaker 2>are you doing? Well?

433
00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:22.359
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, but I haven't seen the comic, but thank you

434
00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:24.920
<v Speaker 3>very much for raising it with Space And it was

435
00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:26.640
<v Speaker 3>just nice to have a mention of it too.

436
00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:27.960
<v Speaker 2>We've had We've had.

437
00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:30.440
<v Speaker 1>Quite a glut of comets lately, haven't Yeah, it's not

438
00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:34.359
<v Speaker 1>been bad, that's right, and especially there's big ones that

439
00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:38.640
<v Speaker 1>threaten us. But anyway, we'll not go there. Thank you, Ted,

440
00:27:38.839 --> 00:27:42.319
<v Speaker 1>Lovely to hear from you. Finally, we're going to discuss

441
00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:46.519
<v Speaker 1>something that has been brought up by Fenton in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

442
00:27:47.119 --> 00:27:50.000
<v Speaker 1>I've been an enthusiastic follow of your podcast for several

443
00:27:50.079 --> 00:27:53.160
<v Speaker 1>years and have no doubt about the quality of your knowledge.

444
00:27:54.359 --> 00:27:58.160
<v Speaker 1>I was laughing at myself then analysis and conclusions which

445
00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:01.559
<v Speaker 1>you reached during the discussions, even when you infer I

446
00:28:01.640 --> 00:28:05.799
<v Speaker 1>don't know he's talking about you there. I just came

447
00:28:05.839 --> 00:28:08.960
<v Speaker 1>across the following lay person article, which voices an opinion

448
00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:13.039
<v Speaker 1>on sensational results which make it into the popular press.

449
00:28:13.400 --> 00:28:17.720
<v Speaker 1>Several examples pertain to astronomy and astrophysics. Is it worth

450
00:28:17.799 --> 00:28:22.599
<v Speaker 1>commenting on this phenomenon in your podcasts that comes from Fenton?

451
00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:26.839
<v Speaker 1>Thank you, Fenton. Fenton's a regular lovely to hear from you.

452
00:28:28.359 --> 00:28:33.200
<v Speaker 1>This is something Johnty Horner talked about while he filled

453
00:28:33.240 --> 00:28:35.920
<v Speaker 1>in for you a couple of months ago, and he

454
00:28:36.119 --> 00:28:40.039
<v Speaker 1>was very, very scathing on the way the popular press

455
00:28:40.200 --> 00:28:44.119
<v Speaker 1>misinterprets or just goes for the sensationalist headline. And I

456
00:28:44.119 --> 00:28:47.680
<v Speaker 1>think we've seen it a bit with the Life on

457
00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:51.119
<v Speaker 1>the other planet that we talked about earlier K two

458
00:28:51.200 --> 00:28:53.880
<v Speaker 1>eighteen B. There's been a bit of that going on.

459
00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:57.839
<v Speaker 1>A lot of them have actually been very good and said, look,

460
00:28:57.920 --> 00:29:00.799
<v Speaker 1>we don't know. This is what science so hoping and

461
00:29:00.839 --> 00:29:04.680
<v Speaker 1>thinking and studying, but it's not confirmed. But others have

462
00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:07.960
<v Speaker 1>gone all life on another planet boom, end of story,

463
00:29:08.119 --> 00:29:11.160
<v Speaker 1>not true, or they probably put it in the last paragraph.

464
00:29:12.079 --> 00:29:17.039
<v Speaker 1>That happens a lot unfortunately, Fred, I know, I know

465
00:29:17.119 --> 00:29:23.200
<v Speaker 1>where Johnty stands. I'm sure your thoughts are probably similar.

466
00:29:23.400 --> 00:29:28.359
<v Speaker 3>They're they're similar, that's right. It's partly, you know, a scientist.

467
00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:33.319
<v Speaker 3>In many ways, it's partly our own fault because we

468
00:29:33.720 --> 00:29:38.000
<v Speaker 3>do tend to couch things in maybes and perhaps and possibilities,

469
00:29:38.599 --> 00:29:40.640
<v Speaker 3>and of course that's what the media pick up on.

470
00:29:42.680 --> 00:29:52.640
<v Speaker 2>It's it is hard to avoid that. I think we

471
00:29:52.720 --> 00:29:53.440
<v Speaker 2>have to be careful that.

472
00:29:53.519 --> 00:29:55.839
<v Speaker 3>I mean that the the you know, the story we

473
00:29:55.920 --> 00:29:59.880
<v Speaker 3>discussed a few minutes ago about K two eighteen B.

474
00:30:01.559 --> 00:30:05.000
<v Speaker 3>A quote from the lead author of the paper was

475
00:30:05.119 --> 00:30:12.599
<v Speaker 3>that he says that the most obvious interpretation of the

476
00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:20.839
<v Speaker 3>discovery is that the planet K two eighteen B is

477
00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:26.799
<v Speaker 3>a heishen world teeming with life. And that's throwing you know,

478
00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:32.640
<v Speaker 3>it's just throwing a grenade into the media because they'll

479
00:30:32.680 --> 00:30:35.400
<v Speaker 3>pick up on that, and that's the headline, teaming with life.

480
00:30:36.880 --> 00:30:41.160
<v Speaker 3>But we've got absolutely no evidence for that. Even if

481
00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:48.880
<v Speaker 3>the observations of these chemicals is confirmed, it's still not

482
00:30:49.119 --> 00:30:52.519
<v Speaker 3>proof of living organisms. And so to say it's teeming

483
00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:55.039
<v Speaker 3>with life, I mean, he didn't say it's teeming with life.

484
00:30:55.079 --> 00:30:59.240
<v Speaker 3>He said the simplest interpretation of what they've found is

485
00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:01.960
<v Speaker 3>that that's the case, but that does not mean it

486
00:31:02.039 --> 00:31:04.920
<v Speaker 3>is the case. And yes, the media pick up on that.

487
00:31:05.319 --> 00:31:09.079
<v Speaker 3>And I'm also reminded as well as the sorts of

488
00:31:09.119 --> 00:31:12.240
<v Speaker 3>discoveries like the phosphenem venus and all of the other things.

489
00:31:13.880 --> 00:31:16.400
<v Speaker 3>It seems to be happening less often now, but for

490
00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:20.480
<v Speaker 3>a while, every almost every month, we got a picture

491
00:31:20.519 --> 00:31:25.920
<v Speaker 3>of a doorway on Mars, or you know, a tire

492
00:31:26.039 --> 00:31:29.119
<v Speaker 3>on Mars, a track tire. There was one which was

493
00:31:29.680 --> 00:31:34.720
<v Speaker 3>bowler hat on Mars. So somebody who's been abducted all

494
00:31:34.759 --> 00:31:38.680
<v Speaker 3>of that which we now know is this phenomenon called paradolia,

495
00:31:38.720 --> 00:31:41.160
<v Speaker 3>where we look at things and say, oh, that looks

496
00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:42.960
<v Speaker 3>like a bowler hat or that looks like a tire.

497
00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:45.440
<v Speaker 1>Humanize everything, we humanize it.

498
00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:49.400
<v Speaker 3>Yes, that's a great generator of fake news.

499
00:31:50.599 --> 00:31:55.440
<v Speaker 1>What Yeah, the article that Fenton Center, so I had

500
00:31:55.440 --> 00:31:57.720
<v Speaker 1>a look at and it's got a few examples of

501
00:31:58.119 --> 00:32:01.960
<v Speaker 1>fake news. And as someone who worked in the media

502
00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:05.319
<v Speaker 1>for forty years, I'm very much aware of how some

503
00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:10.200
<v Speaker 1>journalists operate. Not all, but some don't have the integrity

504
00:32:10.240 --> 00:32:15.400
<v Speaker 1>to just stick with the fact they want clickbait I

505
00:32:15.480 --> 00:32:19.319
<v Speaker 1>think is the modern term for it. And the writer

506
00:32:19.400 --> 00:32:26.440
<v Speaker 1>of this article, a very astute gives examples of what

507
00:32:27.079 --> 00:32:32.240
<v Speaker 1>turned out to be untrue situations, citing twenty forteen, astronomers

508
00:32:32.279 --> 00:32:34.880
<v Speaker 1>announce a whopper of a discovery primordial waves from the

509
00:32:34.880 --> 00:32:37.480
<v Speaker 1>earliest moments of the Big Bang. The South Pole telescope

510
00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:40.920
<v Speaker 1>results validated a long standing but still shaky hypothesis of

511
00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:41.920
<v Speaker 1>cosmic inflation.

512
00:32:42.279 --> 00:32:44.000
<v Speaker 2>Turned out to be yes.

513
00:32:45.119 --> 00:32:48.000
<v Speaker 1>And there's a couple of stories like that Tabby's star

514
00:32:48.119 --> 00:32:54.000
<v Speaker 1>in twenty fifteen with its strange light pattern, and the

515
00:32:54.039 --> 00:32:57.440
<v Speaker 1>popular press latched onto the possibility that it was surrounded

516
00:32:57.440 --> 00:33:01.640
<v Speaker 1>by a megastructure built by aliens fear that's right. Yeah,

517
00:33:01.640 --> 00:33:05.200
<v Speaker 1>it was bust again. And so it goes on, and

518
00:33:05.680 --> 00:33:08.079
<v Speaker 1>they actually cite the Venus story that we've talked about

519
00:33:08.119 --> 00:33:10.559
<v Speaker 1>a couple of times already. But as we said, it

520
00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:14.880
<v Speaker 1>was debunked. But now they're undebunking at but it's still

521
00:33:15.640 --> 00:33:18.720
<v Speaker 1>got a big question mark over it. And I did

522
00:33:18.799 --> 00:33:20.799
<v Speaker 1>a bit of research myself, Fred to see if I

523
00:33:20.799 --> 00:33:24.200
<v Speaker 1>could find any other stories that popped up that turned

524
00:33:24.240 --> 00:33:27.640
<v Speaker 1>out to be wrong. Twenty sixteen, a paper in the

525
00:33:27.680 --> 00:33:32.160
<v Speaker 1>Astrophysical Journal Letters suggested that galaxy d DF forty four

526
00:33:32.359 --> 00:33:35.440
<v Speaker 1>was highly unusual, containing an exceptionally high amount of dark

527
00:33:35.480 --> 00:33:40.519
<v Speaker 1>matter at least ninety eight percent. They did some follow

528
00:33:40.599 --> 00:33:42.720
<v Speaker 1>up studies and found out that it had a normal

529
00:33:42.759 --> 00:33:47.079
<v Speaker 1>amount of dark matter because it was a low mass

530
00:33:47.160 --> 00:33:53.240
<v Speaker 1>dwarf galaxy. Yeah, and so it goes on. Look, I

531
00:33:53.279 --> 00:33:56.720
<v Speaker 1>know that a lot of the time this sensationalism is

532
00:33:56.839 --> 00:34:01.359
<v Speaker 1>driven by journalists trying to make a headline, and that's

533
00:34:01.480 --> 00:34:03.880
<v Speaker 1>that's what it comes down to. A lot of these

534
00:34:04.240 --> 00:34:07.000
<v Speaker 1>papers are published, and the writer of the article that

535
00:34:07.079 --> 00:34:09.960
<v Speaker 1>Fenton refers to said it openly. There's a lot of

536
00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:15.239
<v Speaker 1>pressure on scientists and astronomers and physicists and people in

537
00:34:15.239 --> 00:34:20.280
<v Speaker 1>the science fraternity to get published, and sometimes they'll push

538
00:34:20.360 --> 00:34:24.360
<v Speaker 1>the boundaries to get that paper out there and get

539
00:34:24.360 --> 00:34:27.639
<v Speaker 1>the headline and the popular press. We'll hone in on

540
00:34:27.960 --> 00:34:31.639
<v Speaker 1>we have found life like a fly to a flame.

541
00:34:32.440 --> 00:34:36.519
<v Speaker 1>And that's that's really that. That is the problem. But

542
00:34:37.119 --> 00:34:40.559
<v Speaker 1>I'd like to say that most people are astute enough

543
00:34:40.599 --> 00:34:44.079
<v Speaker 1>to read beyond the opening paragraph and get to the

544
00:34:44.119 --> 00:34:48.920
<v Speaker 1>part where they actually tell you the truth be in

545
00:34:48.960 --> 00:34:49.679
<v Speaker 1>there somewhere.

546
00:34:50.079 --> 00:34:52.960
<v Speaker 3>Ye, yes, that's right, it is. Yeah, it's nearly always

547
00:34:52.960 --> 00:34:56.480
<v Speaker 3>in there somewhere. No, I agree with that. So it

548
00:34:56.519 --> 00:34:58.440
<v Speaker 3>sounds as John Ty said the same thing as what

549
00:34:58.480 --> 00:34:59.119
<v Speaker 3>I would have said.

550
00:34:59.639 --> 00:35:04.559
<v Speaker 1>Yes, he was sitting on a wheelchair with a sign.

551
00:35:04.800 --> 00:35:05.039
<v Speaker 3>And.

552
00:35:06.440 --> 00:35:07.679
<v Speaker 2>Yes's show you what.

553
00:35:10.199 --> 00:35:13.599
<v Speaker 1>Kind of looked like him though never mind, But yeah, Fenton,

554
00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:18.320
<v Speaker 1>you're right, it is something that exists. Is it something

555
00:35:18.320 --> 00:35:23.480
<v Speaker 1>to worry about? Oh gosh, maybe a bit. But I

556
00:35:23.599 --> 00:35:27.800
<v Speaker 1>think overall the science fraternity has got enough integrity and

557
00:35:28.079 --> 00:35:32.000
<v Speaker 1>certainly an abundance of intelligence to get past it and

558
00:35:32.039 --> 00:35:32.960
<v Speaker 1>stick to the facts.

559
00:35:33.280 --> 00:35:34.840
<v Speaker 2>That's that's how I read it.

560
00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:39.320
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I think that's pretty well all we can say

561
00:35:39.320 --> 00:35:39.639
<v Speaker 1>about it.

562
00:35:39.679 --> 00:35:40.360
<v Speaker 2>What do you reckon for it.

563
00:35:41.320 --> 00:35:46.920
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, there's you know, there's an almost endless list of things.

564
00:35:47.440 --> 00:35:51.239
<v Speaker 3>You know, the Apollo astronauts never went to the moon,

565
00:35:51.320 --> 00:35:53.880
<v Speaker 3>another piece of fake news, all of that kind of thing.

566
00:35:55.079 --> 00:35:59.360
<v Speaker 3>It's so it's sort of borders into conspiracy theory some

567
00:35:59.400 --> 00:36:02.320
<v Speaker 3>of the times. Well, it feeds into the same sort

568
00:36:02.320 --> 00:36:05.440
<v Speaker 3>of psychology that lets people believe conspiracies.

569
00:36:06.039 --> 00:36:06.280
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

570
00:36:06.719 --> 00:36:10.079
<v Speaker 1>Ye, people who are always looking for something to believe in,

571
00:36:10.119 --> 00:36:13.400
<v Speaker 1>and quite often they're easily duped.

572
00:36:14.519 --> 00:36:15.760
<v Speaker 2>And that happens.

573
00:36:16.039 --> 00:36:18.840
<v Speaker 1>And yes, the media needs to take a long hard

574
00:36:18.840 --> 00:36:22.159
<v Speaker 1>look at itself and to use the Australian colloquialism, give

575
00:36:22.199 --> 00:36:26.880
<v Speaker 1>themselves an upper cut and that might solve it bad things.

576
00:36:26.559 --> 00:36:29.840
<v Speaker 3>So yeah, if you don't know what introspection means, it's

577
00:36:29.880 --> 00:36:31.719
<v Speaker 3>time you took a long, hard look at yourself.

578
00:36:32.960 --> 00:36:35.559
<v Speaker 2>That's sorry, I could resist.

579
00:36:35.239 --> 00:36:39.679
<v Speaker 1>Now, all right, thank you Fenton. That's a great topic

580
00:36:39.679 --> 00:36:41.519
<v Speaker 1>for debate and I hope we get to talk about

581
00:36:41.559 --> 00:36:43.599
<v Speaker 1>it again because it won't stop.

582
00:36:43.880 --> 00:36:46.480
<v Speaker 2>It just won't stop anyway.

583
00:36:47.679 --> 00:36:50.360
<v Speaker 1>All good and thanks to all our contributors. Don't forget

584
00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:53.039
<v Speaker 1>to contribute yourself. If you have questions for us, send

585
00:36:53.039 --> 00:36:56.559
<v Speaker 1>them to us via our website. Space Nuts Podcast dot com,

586
00:36:56.599 --> 00:37:00.599
<v Speaker 1>Space Nuts dot Io. A few turn up on Facebook,

587
00:37:00.639 --> 00:37:03.480
<v Speaker 1>Messenger and things like that, and when I remember to look,

588
00:37:03.519 --> 00:37:06.239
<v Speaker 1>I will dig them up. But your best to go

589
00:37:06.320 --> 00:37:09.000
<v Speaker 1>through our website audio or text will take them both.

590
00:37:10.280 --> 00:37:12.239
<v Speaker 1>Or you can send us a carrier pigeon if you

591
00:37:12.280 --> 00:37:17.280
<v Speaker 1>can find one that hasn't become extinct. And that brings

592
00:37:17.360 --> 00:37:18.079
<v Speaker 1>us to the end.

593
00:37:18.119 --> 00:37:23.079
<v Speaker 2>Fred, thank you very much, great pleasure, Andrew, and we

594
00:37:23.119 --> 00:37:24.079
<v Speaker 2>will do it again soon.

595
00:37:24.199 --> 00:37:27.119
<v Speaker 1>I hope yes, maybe next week or the week after

596
00:37:27.400 --> 00:37:32.840
<v Speaker 1>or something like that, whenever we can get together. Bred Watson,

597
00:37:32.920 --> 00:37:35.159
<v Speaker 1>Astronomer at Large and thanks to hear in the studio,

598
00:37:35.239 --> 00:37:36.760
<v Speaker 1>though he couldn't be with us today he is too

599
00:37:36.760 --> 00:37:39.599
<v Speaker 1>busy generating fake news. Got back to his old career

600
00:37:39.920 --> 00:37:43.840
<v Speaker 1>like that, and from me Andrew, thanks to your company.

601
00:37:44.320 --> 00:37:46.719
<v Speaker 1>See you on the next episode of Space Nuts. Bye bye.

602
00:37:49.039 --> 00:37:50.679
<v Speaker 2>To the Space Nuts podcast.

603
00:37:52.280 --> 00:37:57.440
<v Speaker 1>Available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, or your favorite

604
00:37:57.440 --> 00:37:58.360
<v Speaker 1>podcast player.

605
00:37:58.559 --> 00:37:59.400
<v Speaker 2>You can also.

606
00:37:59.199 --> 00:38:02.199
<v Speaker 1>Stream onto ma and at bites dot com. This has

607
00:38:02.239 --> 00:38:07.280
<v Speaker 1>been another quality podcast production from Nights dot com.
