Space Policy Showdown, Mars Missteps, and Cosmic Beginnings

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Avery: Hello and welcome to Astronomy AstroDailyPod,

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your essential guide to the latest news from

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across the cosmos. I'm Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. Coming up on today's episode,

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a diplomatic clash over space regulations

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between the US and the European Union.

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We'll revisit a 50 year old scientific

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mistake that changed the course of Mars

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exploration.

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Avery: Plus, we'll look at an unexpected dual crew

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situation aboard, uh, the Tiangong Space

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Station, check in on this week's launch

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schedule and explore a new theory that sheds

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light on what happened less than a second

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after the Big Bang.

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Anna: Let's begin with our top story.

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The United States government has formally

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pushed back against the European Union's

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proposed EU Space act, calling its

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regulations potentially unfair and

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unwarranted.

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Avery: That's right. The EU Space act, introduced in

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June 2025, is designed to create a

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unified regulatory framework for Europe's

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space industry. It's built on three main

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safety, which involves tracking space objects

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and mitigating debris Resilience,

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focusing on cybersecurity and the continuity

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of space based services and sustainability,

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which aims to reduce environmental impact and

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simplify market access.

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Anna: But in a, uh, formal Response released on

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November 4, the US State and Commerce

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Departments representing over 70American

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space companies warned that the act would

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impose unacceptable regulatory

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burdens. A, uh, primary concern is the

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addition of new environmental protection

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rules, which the US argues would

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significantly drive up costs for operators.

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Avery: The response also takes issue with provisions

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that seem to favour European operators. In

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what appears to be a thinly veiled defence of

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SpaceX's Starlink, the document claims the

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proposed rules unfairly target large

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telecommunications satellite constellations

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simply because of their size and success.

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Anna: This is particularly evident in the section

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addressing satellite brightness. Starlink

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has faced criticism for the visual brightness

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of its satellites and the US response argues

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that a regulation limiting brightness would

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be impossible to implement and would

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disproportionately harm US companies that

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operate at lower altitudes.

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Avery: Interestingly, the US document strikes a

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somewhat contradictory tone. It first

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suggests that space operations are too new

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and novel for strict regulation. But

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then it highlights that the US already has a

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world leading regulatory framework, having

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licenced over a thousand launches. The

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core request is for the EU to recognise

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US licencing to avoid burdensome

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duplication.

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Anna: With the public consultation period now

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closed, the European Commission will review

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the feedback, including these pointed

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criticisms from the us. The draught, um, may

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be revised before it is presented to the

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European Parliament and Council for potential

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adoption, setting the stage for a critical

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phase in transatlantic space policy.

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Avery: From modern policy to a decades old

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mistake.

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Our next story looks at How a scientific

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error in the 1970s derailed the search

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for life on Mars nearly 50 years

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ago, NASA's Viking Lander Mission delivered a

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verdict that echoed for generations

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Mars was lifeless.

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Anna: This conclusion was based on the announcement

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from principal investigator Klaus Beeman

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that the landers had found no organic

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compounds on the Martian surface. While other

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life detection experiments on Viking returned

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ambiguous results, the absence of organics

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was seen as the final word. Without

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organic carbon, life as we know it couldn't

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exist.

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Avery: But here's the critical Beaman's

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instrument had in fact detected organic

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compounds, specifically methyl chloride and

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methylene chloride. However, his team

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interpreted them as contaminants brought from

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Earth. Even though the mechanism for that

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contamination.

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Anna: Was unclear, the impact was immediate

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and profound. Believing Mars to be

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sterile, NASA shifted its focus. It

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took another 20 years before the next

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successful landing mission, Mars Pathfinder,

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touched down. For half a century, the story

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of a lifeless Mars has been accepted

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wisdom.

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Avery: Now that consensus is finally changing.

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Thanks to the Curiosity and Perseverance

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rovers, we have multiple detections of

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various organic compounds, including the same

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chlorinated organics found by Viking. It's

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now clearer than ever that the original

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conclusion was wrong.

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Anna: The scientific community is now calling to

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correct this longstanding mistake and more

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importantly, to shed the negative mindset it

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created. The next step, many argue, is to

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launch a new robotic mission dedicated

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explicitly to the search for life on Mars,

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picking up where we should have been decades

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ago.

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Avery: Next up, let's take a look at this week's

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launch roundup. It's a busy schedule

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featuring several high profile missions that

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were scrubbed last week.

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Anna: The second ever launch of Blue Origin's new

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Glenn carrying the Mars Bound escapade

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payload is now scheduled for no earlier than

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Wednesday, November 12th. That's followed a

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day later by ULA Atlas v launching the

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Viasat 3F2 satellite. Then

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on Friday, SpaceX has two Starlink missions

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on the manifest.

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Avery: The week is expected to close out with a

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suborbital electron haste mission from

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Wallops and the Sentinel 6B mission.

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However, there's a significant factor

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affecting the schedule an ongoing U.S.

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government shutdown.

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Anna: Due to staffing shortages caused by the

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shutdown, the FAA issued an emergency

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notice banning launches during peak hours

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from 6am to 10pm local time

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starting Monday, Nov. 10. While a deal

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to end the shutdown is reportedly being

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worked out, missions like Transporter 15 have

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already been pushed to later in the month.

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Once the shutdown ends and staffing levels

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return to normal, the FAA is expected to lift

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the ban.

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Avery: Now let's turn our attention to China's

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Tiangong Space Station, which is currently

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hosting an unprecedented dual crew operation

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after a suspected space debris impact delayed

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the return of the Shenzhou 20 astronauts.

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Anna: That's right, the Shenzhou 20 crew was

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scheduled to return, but on November 5, the

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China Manned Space Agency, or CMSA,

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postponed the landing citing concerns over

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possible damage to their return capsule. As a

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result, crew Commander Chen Dong and his two

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colleagues have remained aboard the station.

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Avery: They have now been joined by the newly

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arrived three member Shenzhou 21 crew,

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creating a temporary six person occupancy on

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Tiangong. The CMSA has activated its

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emergency plans, emphasising that crew safety

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is the absolute top priority.

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Anna: Both crews are reportedly conducting joint

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scientific experiments, leveraging the robust

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systems and ample supplies. Meanwhile,

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engineers on the ground are performing

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simulations and system tests on the Shenzhou

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20 capsule, which remains docked to the

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station. No official return date has been

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announced, but reports suggest preparations

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are underway for a near future return using

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the original Shenzhou 20 spacecraft

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and finally, let's journey.

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Avery: Back to the very beginning of time

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Cosmologists have a strong understanding of

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the universe's earliest moments, from the

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initial explosive inflation to the formation

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of the first atomic nuclei. But a period in

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between lasting just fractions of a second

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has remained the mystery.

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Anna: A new study published in Physical Review D

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suggests this era was far more dynamic than

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previously thought. Researchers explored a

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scenario where, for a brief moment, dense

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clouds of particles temporarily overpowered

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radiation in the newborn cosmos. This shift

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would have created a matter dominated era.

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Avery: During this time, tiny ripples in density

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could have grown into massive halos of

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matter. While small by today's standards,

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these halos were massive enough to collapse

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under their own gravity, leading to a

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fascinating the creation of the

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universe's very first black holes.

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Anna: These primordial black holes would have been

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extremely small, far less massive than the

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black holes we observe today. Some may have

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survived and could even constitute a part of

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the dark matter that shapes our universe.

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Others would have evaporated long ago through

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Hawking radiation.

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Avery: The energy released by these evaporating

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black holes could have left fingerprints on

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the cosmos, potentially altering the

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formation of the first elements or the growth

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of large scale structures. This work

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opens a new window into exploring the

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dark, hidden history of our universe's first

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second.

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Anna: And that brings us to the end of today's

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episode. We covered the brewing regulatory

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tensions in space policy, corrected a

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50 year old misconception about Mars, and

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peered into the universe's earliest moments.

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Avery: Thank you for joining us from both of us here

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at Astronomy AstroDailyPod. Keep looking up

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Astronomy Day Mhm.

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Stories we told.