SpaceX's Lightning-Fast ISS Delivery, NASA-Roscosmos Talks, and CERN's Antimatter Breakthrough

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Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily. Your

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go to source for the latest happenings in

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space and astronomy. I'm Anna.

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Avery: And I'm, um, Avery. We're thrilled to have you

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join us for today's episode packed with

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fascinating updates from around our universe.

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Anna: We've got a lot to cover, from

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SpaceX's incredibly speedy trip

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to the International Space Station to some

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intriguing new findings at CERN that could

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shed light on one of the universe's biggest

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mysteries.

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Avery: Plus, as always, we'll be sharing our

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top tips for what to look for in the night sky

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this month, including a stunning planetary

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conjunction and a famous meteor shower.

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So let's dive right in.

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Anna: First up, let's talk about an impressive

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feat from SpaceX which just delivered a

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new crew to the International Space Station in a

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lightning fast 15 hours.

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Avery: That's incredibly quick, Anna. Uh, for

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context, that's just over half a day.

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The four astronauts, a mix of U.S.

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russian and Japanese crew members, launched

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from NASA's Kennedy Space center and arrived

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at the orbiting lab. Feeling pretty good, I

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imagine.

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Anna: Absolutely. Mike Thinke one of the

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NASA astronauts even radioed hello,

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Space Station. As soon as their tapsule docked

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high above the South Pacific. They're set to

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spend at least six months up there swapping

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places with the current crew who've been aboard since March.

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Avery: What's really interesting about this particular crew

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are their backstories. Zena Cardman and

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Mike Finke from NASA, Japan's Kimiya

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Ui and Russia's Oleg Plutonov

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each had quite a journey to get to this mission.

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Anna: That's right for Cardman. She was pulled from

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a SpaceX flight last year to make room for the

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two NASA astronauts who ended up stuck on the

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station due to the Boeing Starliner issues.

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Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.

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Avery: And speaking of Starliner, both Mike

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Finke and Kimiya Yui had actually been training

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for the next Starliner mission. But

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with Starliner still grounded by

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thruster problems and other issues potentially

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until 2026, they switched over

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to SpaceX. It's a clear sign of how

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dynamic and sometimes unpredictable

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spaceflight scheduling can be.

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Anna: And Oleg, uh, Platanov, the Russian cosmonaut,

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has his own story too. He was bumped from a

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Soyuz launch lineup a couple of years ago due to

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an undisclosed illness. So it's great to see

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him back in action.

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Avery: It really is. With their arrival, the

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International Space Station temporarily has

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a population of 11. Imagine

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that many people living and working together in that

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confined space.

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Anna: Zena Cardman expressed her awe once on board,

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saying it was such an unbelievably

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beautiful sight to see the space station come into

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our view for the first time. It just goes to

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show that even for seasoned astronauts, the wonder

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of space never fades.

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Avery: And while this 15 hour trip was speedy

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by US standards, it's worth noting that the

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Russians still hold the record for the fastest

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trip to the space station, clocking in at

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a lightning fast three hours.

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Quite a difference.

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Anna: Following up on that speedy delivery to the iss,

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there's been some significant diplomatic movement

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in space this week that we need to talk about.

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Avery: Uh, you're talking about the first high level face to

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face meetings between NASA and Roscosmos

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in almost eight years, right? This

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is a huge deal considering the last time their

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leaders met was back in October 2018,

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which was before a lot of the major

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geopolitical shifts and leadership changes

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on both sides.

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Anna: Exactly. The relatively new head of

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Roscosmos, Director General Dmitry

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Bakanov actually visited the United

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States. He was here to view the launch of the Crew

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11 mission, which included the cosmonaut Oleg

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Plitinov we just mentioned. And he also met

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with some of NASA's human space flight leaders in Houston.

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Avery: What's particularly striking about this visit is

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the disparity in how it was covered.

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NASA barely mentioned it, providing almost no

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public coverage. But the state operated

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Russian news service published

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multiple updates, clearly wanting to highlight

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the interaction.

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Anna: It definitely points to a different agenda.

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Toss reported that Bakanov and acting

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NASA Administrator Sean Duffy

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discussed the future of the International Space

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Station at Kennedy Space Center.

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Bakanov was quoted saying they

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agreed to continue using the ISS

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until 2028 and would work

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on the deorbiting process until

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2030. They also reportedly

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discussed potential collaborations beyond

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2030. Before Bakanov's visit,

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there was speculation that relations might

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cease entirely after the ISS's

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demise. So this suggests a potential

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shift towards some kind of ongoing

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partnership.

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Avery: This brings us to what's been termed Russia's charm

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offensive with NASA. It's clear

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Bakanov wants to reestablish warmer relations,

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but the question is, why now? What's

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driving this push?

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Anna: Well, there are a few interesting theories

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floating around. One highly speculative

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angle involves internal Russian

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politics. Bakanov is reportedly

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popular in Russia and he's managed to

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navigate a very complex political

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landscape, especially given the recent

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dismissal and tragic death of a former

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colleague from his Transportation Ministry days.

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His very public trip could be seen as a way

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to bolster his image and show strong

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international ties.

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Avery: That's quite a twist. But on a more

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direct space related note, a significant

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motivation might be tied to The International Space

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Station's deorbiting contract. NASA

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awarded SpaceX a nearly $1 billion

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contract a year ago to ensure a safety

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orbiting of the station into the Pacific.

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Anna: And before that, NASA and Roscosmos

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had actually considered using three Russian

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Progress vehicles for the deorbiting. However,

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NASA ultimately decided that the Russian

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vehicles would not provide sufficient margin

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to lower the public risk to an accept.

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Avery: So Roscosmos under Bakanov

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has apparently been urging NASA to reconsider

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using Russian vehicles. And there might be

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some interest from certain White House officials to

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reduce reliance on Elon Musk's companies

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for federal contracting. Especially after

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some reported falling out between President Trump and

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Musk a couple of months ago, although

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NASA's press secretary was not aware if this

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specific issue was discussed.

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Anna: It's a complex web of motivations for sure.

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Another key factor is NASA's current

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reliance on SpaceX's Dragon

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spacecraft for crewed transport to the ISS.

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Boeing's Starliner vehicle isn't expected

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to fly crew again until

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2027, and it's unlikely to

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be price competitive with Dragon.

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Avery: So having Russian Soyuz spacecraft as a

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viable option could provide NASA with a crucial

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means of avoiding a, uh, SpaceX monopol

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on crew transport, especially as they look towards

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commercial space stations in the 2000 and 30s.

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It provides leverage and redundancy in their

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access to space.

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Anna: It makes a lot of sense from NASA's perspective to

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keep their options open and maintain diverse

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access to space. It's not just about one

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mission, but the long term strategic needs

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for human spaceflight.

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Avery: Absolutely. This visit, despite the

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geopolitical backdrop, highlights the unique

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collaborative nature of space exploration

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and the enduring need for international

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partnerships, even when things are tense on

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Earth.

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Anna: From navigating geopolitical tensions,

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let's shift our focus to an even grander

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mystery, why our universe exists

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at all. A, uh, groundbreaking discovery at

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CERN could bring us much closer to

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answering one of the most fundamental questions

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in physics.

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Avery: You're talking about the new findings from the

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LHCB experiment, aren't you? This

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goes right to the heart of the matter antimatter

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imbalance. Which is just mind boggling when you think about

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it.

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Anna: Exactly. The core problem is,

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according to our cosmological models,

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the Big Bang should have created equal amounts

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of matter and antimatter. And if matter

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and antimatter meet, they annihilate each

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other, leaving behind nothing but

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pure energy. So if that were

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strictly true, our universe should just

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be a, uh, cosmic soup of energy with no

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stars, no galaxies, and

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certainly no us. But obviously

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that's not the case. Astronomical

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observations show that our universe is

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overwhelmingly made of matters with

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hardly any antimatter left.

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This tells us that matter and

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antimatter must behave differently.

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Somehow. There has to be some

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asymmetry that allowed matter to

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survive and dominate, while antimatter

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largely vanished. Our best theory

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of fundamental quantum physics, the Standard

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Model, does account for some differences

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between matter and antimatter. But these

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differences are far too small to

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explain the vast imbalance we observe.

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And that's where the new discovery

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comes in. The LHCB team

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at CERN has reported finding differences

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in the decay rates of matter particles, called

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baryons, compared to their

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antimatter counterparts,

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antibaryons. M for context,

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baryons are particles made of three

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quarks, like protons and neutrons,

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which make up most of the known matter in our

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universe. Antibaryons are made

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of three antiquarks.

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Previously, we'd seen differences in particles

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like mesons, which are made of a quark

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and an antiquark. But this is the first

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time these differences have been observed in

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baryons, which is hugely significant

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because they're the building blocks of most of the

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visible universe.

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Avery: Specifically, they studied over 80,000 lambda B

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baryons and their anti baryon counterparts.

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They found that these matter baryons decayed to specific

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subatomic particles, a proton, a

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kaon, and two pions, about

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5% more often than the same process happened with

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the antiparticles.

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Anna: 5% difference might sound small,

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but it's statistically significant enough to

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be the first direct observation of

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different behaviors between baryons and

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antibaryons in their decay.

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Avery: So while this particular measurement is still consistent with

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the Standard Model's predictions for such small differences,

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the fact that we've now observed this asymmetry in the

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type of particles that dominate our universe is a

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monumental step. It supports the

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idea that there must be additional fundamental

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particles or effects beyond the Standard Model that

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caused the universe to exist in its current form.

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Anna: Like finding a crucial piece of the puzzle,

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this discovery doesn't solve the whole mystery

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of why matter won out, but it points us

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in the right direction. It gives physicists

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a new avenue to explore for signs

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of that new physics that could finally

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explain the cosmic asymmetry after the

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Big Bang.

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Avery: It's incredibly exciting. With more data from the

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LHCB experiment, scientists hope to

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forensically study these differences and and

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potentially tease out the definitive signs of

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those new fundamental particles, or forces that are

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currently beyond our grasp.

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Anna: Very small to the very large.

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Let's turn Our attention now to something you

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can observe yourself, the August night

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sky. There are some fantastic sights

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to behold this month, even with the Moon getting in the

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way of one of our favorite annual events.

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Avery: That's right, Ana, uh, kicking things off. Jupiter

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and Venus are putting on a show. They'll be

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shining brightly in the east each morning before

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sunrise, with Venus appearing particularly

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brilliant. The real highlight for these two is

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their close meetup on August 11th and 12th,

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when they'll appear just about a degree apart.

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Anna: It's a beautiful conjunction happening against

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a backdrop of familiar bright stars

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like Orion, Taurus and

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Gemini. And later in the month, around the

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19th and 20th, a slim lunar

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crescent will join Jupiter and Venus in the eastern

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sky, creating another stunning view

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before sunrise.

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Avery: Now, about that moon interference I mentioned.

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The annual Perseid meteor shower, which

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usually peaks overnight on August 12th into

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the 13th, is unfortunately going to be hampered

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this year. The Moon will be nearly 84%

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full on the peak night, and its glare will wash

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out all but the brightest meteors.

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Anna: It's a bit of a bummer for Perseid

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enthusiasts, but you might still catch a

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few bright ones in the pre dawn hours.

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The good news is that the Geminids, another

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fantastic annual meteor shower in

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December, is set for Moon free viewing,

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so we have that to look forward to.

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Avery: Beyond meteors and planets, August is

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also a prime time to observe one of the easiest

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to spot nebulas in the sky, the Dumbbell

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Nebula. Also known as M M27.

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It's located high overhead on August

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nights.

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Anna: The Dumbbell Nebula is a type of object

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called a planetary nebula. Though it has

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nothing to do with planets, it's

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essentially a giant cloud of gas and

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dust that's been shed by a star like our

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sun as it reaches the end of its life.

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Once nuclear fusion ceases, these

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stars blow off their outer layers, leaving

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behind a small hot remnant called a

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white dwarf.

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Avery: That white dwarf then emits a lot of bright

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ultraviolet light, which illuminates the expanding

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shell of gas, causing it to glow in

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visible light. The Dumbbell Nebula, named

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for its shape, appears as a small, faint patch

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of light. In binoculars or a small telescope,

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you.

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Anna: Can find it within the summer triangle, a

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prominent pattern of stars in the August sky.

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It's about a third of the way between the bright

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stars Altair and Deneb. It's

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truly a glimpse into the future of our own

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sun, which will undergo a similar

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transformation about 5 billion years from

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now.

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Avery: It's a powerful reminder of the cosmic

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cycle that seeds the galaxy with the ingredients

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for new generations of stars and planets, and

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potentially even ones not too different from our own.

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It's a beautiful sight and a profound thought.

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Anna: And that brings us to the end of another

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fascinating episode of Astronomy Daily.

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We've covered everything from quick trips to the ISS

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and diplomatic dances in space, to

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the mysteries of antimatter and the beauty

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of our night sky.

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Avery: It's been an absolute blast. As always, Anna,

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we hope you've enjoyed diving into the latest space news

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with us. And remember, there's always something

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incredible happening above us.

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Anna: Absolutely. So keep looking up.

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You can find Astronomy Daily wherever you get your

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podcasts. And be sure to follow us on social media

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for more updates and behind the scenes content.

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Avery: Thank you for tuning in. We can't wait to share more

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cosmic adventures with you next time.

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Anna: Until then, this is Anna and this is

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Avery signing off. Astronomy

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Day