From UAP Mysteries to Cosmic Dipoles: Your Daily Space Update

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Avery: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily,

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the podcast that brings you the latest news

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from across the cosmos. I'm your host,

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Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. It's great to be with you.

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Avery: Today we'll be looking at the slow but steady

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progress in UAP research and a new

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discovery that suggests our universe might be

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surprisingly lopsided.

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Anna: We'll also journey to Mars to see the largest

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fresh impact crater ever confirmed, witness

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a rare cosmic dance of three supermassive

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black holes, and explore the innovative ways

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scientists are trying to protect future

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astronauts from cosmic rays.

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Avery: So let's get started. Our first story

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brings us back to Earth's atmosphere.

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After years of headlines, whistleblower

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testimonies, and even congressional hearings.

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Unidentified anomalous phenomena, or

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UAPs, are still being reported in

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America's skies. But getting to the bottom of

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it all has been slow going in 2025.

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Anna: Right. And experts agree that the only way

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forward is with disciplined scientific study.

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The holdup, according to Michael Cifoni of

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the Society for UAP Studies, isn't a lack of

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interest, but a reluctance to invest serious

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time and money into what many still see as a

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wild goose chase.

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Avery: Exactly. The good news is that the focus

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is finally shifting away from old flying

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saucer cold cases and towards

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observational and experimental science. But

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that requires real funding and institutional.

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Anna: Support, and we're starting to see that

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happen. Institutions like the University of

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Wurtzburg in Germany and the Galileo Project

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at Harvard are developing sophisticated

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sensor arrays to collect high quality real

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time data on UAPs.

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Avery: But it's a massive undertaking. Robert

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Powell of the Scientific Coalition for UAP

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Studies says that if you want to seriously

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test the hypothesis that science some UAPs

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are extraterrestrial, you need high precision

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scientific gear that could cost hundreds of

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millions of dollars.

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Anna: Mhm. And this isn't just an academic

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question. Former Navy pilot Ryan Graves,

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who now chairs an aerospace committee on

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UAPs, emphasizes the national security

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implications. He states that these objects

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are operating in sovereign airspace and could

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be collecting intelligence.

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Avery: That's the angle that seems to be getting the

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most traction. There's even a bipartisan

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bill, the Safe Airspace for Americans act,

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designed to support civilian UAP reporting.

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Anna: Between that and the Department of Defense's

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own All Domain Anomaly Resolution Office,

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it feels like momentum is building. Graves

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says he's optimistic that we may finally get

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some closure on this topic.

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Avery: It will be fascinating to see what they find.

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Anna: From the skies above Earth to the very fabric

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of the cosmos.

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Our next story challenges one of the most

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fundamental assumptions in cosmology. A

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new study in the reviews of modern physics

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suggests the universe may not be as

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symmetrical as we've always thought.

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Avery: Not symmetrical? What does that mean exactly?

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I thought the cosmological principle was that

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the universe looks the same in all directions

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from any vantage point.

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Anna: That principle is called isotropy, and this

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new evidence directly challenges it. The

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phenomenon is known as the cosmic dipole

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anomaly, and it was discovered through

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precise measurements of the cosmic microwave

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background, or cmb.

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Avery: Right. The CMB is the afterglow of the

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Big Bang. The oldest light in the universe.

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Anna: Exactly. And while it's incredibly uniform,

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it does have tiny temperature variations.

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What's strange is that these variations seem

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to be biased. The CMB is slightly

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hotter in one direction and slightly cooler

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in the opposite direction. It suggests our

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entire galaxy might be moving through space

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in a preferred direction at a very high

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speed, which shouldn't.

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Avery: Be happening if the universe expanded

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uniformly. So this throws a wrench in the

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standard model of cosmology.

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Anna: It certainly could. If this anomaly

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is confirmed to be a real large scale

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feature of the universe, it would have

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profound implications. It could change

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our understanding of cosmic inflation,

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dark energy and dark matter. It might

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point to entirely new physics, an

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undiscovered cosmic force, or

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even require us to revise our theory of the

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Big Bang itself.

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Avery: Wow. That is a truly cosmic

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mystery.

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Anna: And as you know, we love a, uh, good mystery

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here on Astronomy Daily.

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Avery: From that grand scale, let's zoom in on our

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planetary neighborhood, Mars. NASA's

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Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered

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the largest fresh impact crater ever

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confirmed on the Red Planet.

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Anna: That's fantastic. How big is it and

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how did they spot it?

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Avery: The crater is about 50 meters wide,

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roughly half the length of a football field.

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And the way they found that is quite clever.

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Bruce Cancer of Mallon Space Science Systems

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was using the Mars Color Imager, a camera

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primarily used for weather monitoring, which

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when he noticed an unusual dark spot that

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appeared between March 27th and 28th,

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2012.

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Anna: So he found it by noticing something had

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changed in the daily weather maps.

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Avery: Precisely. The crater itself is relatively

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shallow, and scientists believe it was caused

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by an asteroid only about 10 to 18ft

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long. When they pointed the high resolution

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HiRISE camera at the spot, they not only

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confirmed the crater, but also saw smaller

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nearby craters and even landslides caused

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by the impact's shockwave.

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Anna: And studying a fresh crater like this must be

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incredibly valuable.

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Avery: Absolutely. It provides crucial data on

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current impact rates on Mars and gives us a

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pristine look at the subsurface materials

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that were blasted out. A powerful reminder

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that the solar system is still A very active

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place.

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Anna: Speaking of active places, our next story

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involves a, uh, truly rare and dynamic

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system. Astronomers have confirmed the first

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known triple system where all three

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merging galaxies host actively feeding

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radio bright supermassive black holes.

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Avery: A triple black hole system. That

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sounds like something out of science fiction.

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How far away is it?

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Anna: This system, known as J1218

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35, is about

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1.2 billion light years from Earth.

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You. Using high resolution observations from

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radio telescopes like the Very Large Array,

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scientists confirmed that all three galaxies

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have active galactic nuclei, or

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agn, which are powered by these growing

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black holes.

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Avery: And um, you said this is a first. What makes

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this so unique?

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Anna: While a few other tripleagn

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systems have been found, this is the first

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confirmed triple radioagna,

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meaning all three black holes are blasting

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out powerful jets of radiation detectable

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in radio wavelengths.

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Avery: That makes sense. And I imagine this tells us

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a lot about how galaxies evolve.

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Anna: Exactly. Finding these systems is a key

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prediction of the hierarchical model of

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galaxy evolution where large galaxies

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grow by merging with smaller ones. This

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discovery provides a perfect natural

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laboratory for testing how these galactic

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encounters drive gas into the galactic

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centers and ignite the black holes, causing

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them to grow.

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Avery: Finally, today, let's turn our attention to

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the human element of space exploration. One

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of the single biggest obstacles for future

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long duration missions to the moon and Mars

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is the constant threat of cosmic rays.

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Anna: Right. These aren't like the rays from our

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sun. Cosmic rays are high energy

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particles from distant exploding stars.

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And they are incredibly damaging to

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biological tissue. They they can shred

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DNA, damage proteins, and

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significantly increase the risk for things

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like cancer.

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Avery: Here on Earth, our magnetic field and thick

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atmosphere protect us. But in deep space,

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astronauts are completely exposed. And

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physical shielding, like lining a spacecraft

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with polyethylene, can only do so much. The

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most energetic rays can punch right through.

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Anna: Mm mhm. And they can even create a shower

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of secondary radiation inside the ship

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when they hit the shielding material, which

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can sometimes be be worse.

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Avery: So with shielding limitations, scientists are

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turning to biology for creative new

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solutions. What are they looking into?

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Anna: Several strategies are being explored. One is

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the use of powerful antioxidant drugs,

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which have been shown to reduce cognitive

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damage in mice exposed to simulated cosmic

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radiation. Another fascinating area is

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learning from radio resistant organisms

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like tardigrades.

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Avery: The little water bears that can survive

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almost anything.

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Anna: Exactly. By studying how tardigrades and even

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hibernating animals protect their cellular

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components from damage, we might be able to

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develop treatments that do the same for

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astronauts. A third approach is to activate

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the body's own cellular stress responses

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through specific diets or drugs,

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essentially preparing the cells for the harsh

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environment of space.

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Avery: So the answer probably isn't just one thing.

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Anna: That's the consensus. It will likely require

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a combination of improved physical shielding

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and a cocktail of these biolog strategies

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to make long duration space travel truly safe

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for humans.

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Avery: And that's all the time we have for today on

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Astronomy Daily. From the ongoing search for

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answers about UAPs to the fundamental nature

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of our universe, and from new craters on Mars

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to protecting the next generation of

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explorers.

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Anna: It'S been an episode that shows us once again

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how much there is still to discover out

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there.

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Avery: Absolutely. A, uh, huge thanks to all of you

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for tuning in. Be sure to join us next time

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for more news from across the cosmos.

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Anna: Until then, keep looking up.