Black Hole Dilemmas, Pulsar Planets & Bennu’s Chemical Secrets | Q&A | Space Nuts: Astronomy...
Black Holes, Pulsar Planets, and the Mysteries of Bennu
In this captivating Q&A episode of Space Nuts , hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson tackle an array of intriguing listener questions that delve deep into the cosmos. From the nature of black holes and their supermassive growth to the discovery of planets orbiting pulsars, and the latest findings from the asteroid Bennu, this episode is packed with cosmic insights and scientific discussions.
Episode Highlights:
- Understanding Black Holes: Andrew and Fred explore the complexities of black holes, addressing how they can accrete enough matter to become supermassive within cosmological time scales, and the fascinating concept of time dilation at the event horizon.
- Pulsar Planets: Hazel's question about planets orbiting pulsars sparks a discussion on the survival of these celestial bodies after supernova explosions and the potential effects of pulsar radiation on their environments.
- Asteroid Bennu Update: David inquires about the latest findings from the asteroid Bennu, and the hosts reveal exciting new research on the complex chemical landscape and the implications of liquid water's interaction with organic materials on this carbon-rich asteroid.
- Neutrinos and Black Holes: Keith's question leads to a discussion on the elusive neutrinos, their ability to pass through matter, and what happens to them when they encounter a black hole.
For more Space Nuts, including our continuously updating newsfeed and to listen to all our episodes, visit our website. (https://www.spacenutspodcast.com/) Follow us on social media at SpaceNutsPod on Facebook, Instagram, and more. We love engaging with our community, so be sure to drop us a message or comment on your favorite platform.
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Stay curious, keep looking up, and join us next time for more stellar insights and cosmic wonders. Until then, clear skies and happy stargazing.
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Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/32586832?utm_source=youtube
Kind: captions
Language: en
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Hi there. Thanks for joining us again.
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This is Space Nuts. It's a Q&A edition.
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My name is Andrew Dunley. Great to have
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your company. Questions today about
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falling into a black hole and how can
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black holes get super massive? Have they
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got enough time? It doesn't make sense.
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We'll see if we can explain that.
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Planets orbiting pulsars. That's a
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question that's been raised. And
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somebody wants an update on the asteroid
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Bennu and what's going on with
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neutrinos. We'll try and answer all of
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that on this episode of Space Nuts.
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>> 15 seconds. Guidance is internal. 10 9
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Ignition sequence start.
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>> Space Nuts.
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>> 5 4 3 2
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>> 1 2 3 4 5 5 4 3 2 1
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>> Space Nuts.
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>> Astronauts report. It feels good.
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>> And to furnish us with his vast amount
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of knowledge because the brain the size
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of a planet he has, Professor Fred
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Watson, astronomer at large. Hello,
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Fred.
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>> I've forgotten the name of the robot
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whose brain was the size of a planet.
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>> Marvin the paranoid android.
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>> Marvin. That's right. Yes, it was
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Marvin.
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>> Yes, Marvin.
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>> And he looked like this. He didn't have
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>> He would have been really terrible on
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radio.
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>> No color, no inflection,
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>> just nothing.
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>> And yeah, everything was just the end of
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the world for him.
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or the end of the universe, which is
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actually what the whole thing was about.
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>> Yes, it was. That's true. Yeah.
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>> Um, let's do some questions, Fred, if
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you um are ready and willing and able.
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It doesn't matter if you're able,
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adequacy is enough. Uh, let's go to our
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first question. Longtime listener, first
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time caller, uh, I've been rereading the
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threebody problem trilogy without
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spoilers. There's a moment where an
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image of someone who fell into a small
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man-made black hole is still visible.
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That got me thinking about time dilation
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at the event horizon. Given the that
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extreme gravitational time dilation
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occurs there, how are black holes able
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to accrete enough matter to grow to
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super massive scales within cosmological
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time scales? Uh, thanks for all the time
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and effort you both put into the
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podcast. Nick from the UK. Milton Kees,
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I think is the name of his locality.
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>> It is.
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>> So, um, yeah, you'd know that area. I
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imagine you'd know just about every
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square foot of the UK, wouldn't you?
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>> I do. I certainly know that bit quite
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well because my brother used to live in
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Newport Pagnel, which is right next door
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to Milton Kees.
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>> Um, Newport Pagnel is a charming sort of
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old country village. Milton Kees is a
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new town. Uh, and so they're quite
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different, but they both had their
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pluses, and I'm sure they both had their
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minuses. He doesn't live there anymore,
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but that's another story which we won't
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go into on space.
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>> So, what was the question?
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>> Well, well, he he made a reference to
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threebody problem where someone fell
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into a man-made black hole and they were
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still visible. I must say, um, Nick,
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that I I read the first book and I found
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it pretty heavy going, so I I haven't
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actually tried to read the rest, but I
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might get around to it. They're still
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making the TV series, but there's
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there's a bit of a um like the first
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season was out a couple of years ago as
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it turns out now, but um they initially
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announced that they weren't going to
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keep going. Then they said, "Yes, we
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are. We're going to make two more
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seasons and and align them both with the
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two more books." Now, they're starting
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to think, "No, we'll make one more
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season and combine the two books." So,
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we don't quite know where it's at, but
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uh great series if you haven't had a
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look at it, The Threebody Problem. Um uh
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the first season, I'm going to watch it
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again cuz it's so so very good. His
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question, um he's thinking about time
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dilation at the event horizon. Given
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that extreme gravitational time dilation
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occurs there, how are black holes able
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to accrete enough matter to grow to
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super massive scales within cosmological
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timelines? I love that question. It's
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great, isn't it? And it's a good
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question, too. But, um, the the crucial
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point here, it's all dependent on your
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on the observer's frame of rest. In
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other words, where you are and what
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you're doing. So, um, the person
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splattered on the event horizon of a of
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a a black hole for whom time appears to
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have stopped to an outside observer,
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that person's already long gone. They've
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been sucked into the black hole. uh it's
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only their time dilated image that we
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are seeing. The outside observer sees
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the time dilation. The person going
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through doesn't they just basically
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expect experience time ticking away in
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the normal way. Uh and as they get
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spaghettified, they probably wish they
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weren't there. Uh so it's it's all about
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your kind of your vantage point. Uh but
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we would call it the the frame of
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reference. So yes, it is possible for uh
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black holes to accrete and become super
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massive black holes. And um you and I I
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think Andrew spoke recently about um the
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idea that black holes uh can become
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super massive much more quickly than we
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thought. Uh and I can't remember the
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mechanism by which that happened. Uh we
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we did cover it. It's a story we
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covered. Uh and there was there was a
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sort of trick to it. uh that if you do
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this uh then your black hole can gather
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uh material so quickly that you find
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yourself in the situation that we find
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when we observe the early universe with
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the James Webb telescope. We find super
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massive black holes that are much more
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massive than we thought they should be.
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We thought the accretion of material
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onto these black holes would be
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relatively gentle and a long process
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taking most of the age of the universe
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but it's not. It all happens within the
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first few hundred million years.
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>> Uh yeah, it's called the uh it exceeds
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the Edington limit apparently. Um this
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this faster growth.
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>> Um these objects often reaching billions
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of solar masses, matured only 900
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million years after the Big Bang,
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implying they formed extremely early and
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grew unexpectedly fast or had massive
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initial um seeds. It says
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>> um I'd have to do a lot more reading to
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um find out
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>> but but they refer to a feeding frenzy.
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Abundant gas fueled a feed feeding
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frenzy.
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>> Feeding frenzy. Uh that was it. It's to
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do with the properties of the gas cloud
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in which it's sitting. That was right.
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>> You've reminded me. You see there's a
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few neurons in there that are still
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remembering
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>> firing. Yeah.
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>> So um so it's not so unusual. It's not
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so unusual is basically what um the
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answer is to Nick's question. This is
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this is um yeah, it's the time scale
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isn't really the issue. It's it's what
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they've got to eat.
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>> That's right. In terms of uh Yes, in
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terms of how how fast these things can
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accrete. But, you know, the the basic
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premise of Nick's question is answered
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by the fact that you're talking about
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two different reference frames. We
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observing the black hole from the
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outside see somebody falling into it.
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Their time seems to go slower and slower
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and it's stationary on the event
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horizon. But for the person themselves,
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they're just whizzing down through the
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event horizon and straight into the
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black hole in very long strings.
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I Okay, so let's just say we observe
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somebody who's obviously been sucked
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into a black hole and we can see their
00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:46.629
image there. How long would that image
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last? Would they they'd have to
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disappear eventually, wouldn't they? I
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think so. Well, probably by covered up
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by whatever else falls into the black
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hole because there's lots of stuff going
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going in. Uh yeah, it's something I've
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tried to um envisage as well. And I'm
00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:04.469
not really sure of what the you know
00:08:04.479 --> 00:08:06.390
what the answer is, but I think it I
00:08:06.400 --> 00:08:08.550
suppose if you think of it like um
00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:11.510
raindrops on a dry pavement or something
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uh where one raindrop hits and you see
00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:16.950
it, you know, sort of sitting there and
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another one covers it up and then
00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:19.830
another one covers it up. Don't know.
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That's my That's how the the Watson
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brain might do it.
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>> Yeah, that's that's a good example.
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Yeah.
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>> No, that that covers it. I understand.
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If I understand, everyone's got it.
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>> Hey, I should be on radio, shouldn't I?
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>> You should. Yeah, I think you are a lot.
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>> A lot more than I am these days, I must
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say.
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>> Yeah. All right. Thanks, Nick. Great
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question. Very thoughtprovoking. And uh
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thanks for sending it in. And don't uh
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don't make it your last time seeing it's
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your first time. Uh next question comes
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from Hazel. I have in my studies just
00:08:53.519 --> 00:08:55.350
come across something completely new to
00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:58.150
me but uh sort of makes sense. We've
00:08:58.160 --> 00:09:00.870
found evidence of what look like planets
00:09:00.880 --> 00:09:03.110
orbiting pulsars. This would mean
00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:05.670
somehow these orbiting bodies survive
00:09:05.680 --> 00:09:08.630
massive stars that went supernova. Also,
00:09:08.640 --> 00:09:10.870
the sweeping beams of seriously strong
00:09:10.880 --> 00:09:13.030
electromagnetic radiation would, I
00:09:13.040 --> 00:09:15.990
assume, have some fascinating effects on
00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:18.230
these planets. As always, love the show
00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:20.310
and keep up the great work. All the best
00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:24.070
from uh cloudy skyed Scotland. Well, it
00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:25.670
wasn't cloudy skyed when I was there
00:09:25.680 --> 00:09:27.509
because the sky was falling. It was
00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:30.870
raining cats and dogs,
00:09:30.880 --> 00:09:33.670
but um I'm sure that's not uncommon, but
00:09:33.680 --> 00:09:36.790
um yes, thanks for the question, Hazel.
00:09:36.800 --> 00:09:39.910
All right, Fred, over to you.
00:09:39.920 --> 00:09:43.430
Uh, yes. Uh, in fact, the first planet
00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:45.750
that was discovered beyond the solar
00:09:45.760 --> 00:09:48.070
system was exactly what Hazel has just
00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:51.350
described. It's a planet around a pulsar
00:09:51.360 --> 00:09:53.590
and it won its discoverers, the Nobel
00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:58.070
Prize. Uh, this was I think it was 1978
00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:00.310
when that was discovered. Uh and the
00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:02.389
first planet orbiting a normal star was
00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:05.030
discovered in 1995
00:10:05.040 --> 00:10:08.790
uh by Mayor Mayor and Quos were the two
00:10:08.800 --> 00:10:11.829
scientists who discovered that. Um, but
00:10:11.839 --> 00:10:16.389
the one orbiting a pulsar uh was uh it's
00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:19.430
partly because pulsars are very very
00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:22.069
accurate clocks and you can use their
00:10:22.079 --> 00:10:24.550
accuracy of their clocks to time
00:10:24.560 --> 00:10:26.150
basically how they're rotating and
00:10:26.160 --> 00:10:28.150
whether there's anything gravitational
00:10:28.160 --> 00:10:29.910
going on in their environment and that's
00:10:29.920 --> 00:10:32.230
how the planet was discovered. Uh the
00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:34.230
first planet known to exist beyond the
00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:36.389
solar system. Quite a big quite a big
00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:38.870
discovery. Uh so there are others like
00:10:38.880 --> 00:10:40.870
that now others known to be in the same
00:10:40.880 --> 00:10:43.990
situation and I think the question Hazel
00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:46.550
postulates is still an active question.
00:10:46.560 --> 00:10:49.350
How does a planet survive that kind of
00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:53.350
scenario? Um did it form after the
00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:56.069
supernova explosion uh form in the
00:10:56.079 --> 00:10:58.230
debris of what happened or did it
00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:00.790
survive the supernova explosion? And I'm
00:11:00.800 --> 00:11:03.350
not sure what the current thinking of my
00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:05.509
learned colleagues is on that but I
00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:08.470
might ask them. uh because uh I um I
00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:10.790
think it's it's a valid question. Uh for
00:11:10.800 --> 00:11:13.110
a long time we we it was a puzzle. How
00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:16.310
how does a how does a star um that goes
00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:17.829
supernova? How does it still have a
00:11:17.839 --> 00:11:20.310
planet in its retinue?
00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:22.710
>> But but we're assuming that it would
00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:25.509
destroy the planet, but it it might mess
00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:27.670
it up a bit, but the the rocket still be
00:11:27.680 --> 00:11:29.590
there, wouldn't it?
00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:31.829
Um well, when you think of the energy
00:11:31.839 --> 00:11:33.910
that goes into a supernova, a supernova
00:11:33.920 --> 00:11:35.829
when it's at its peak is brighter
00:11:35.839 --> 00:11:37.509
usually than the rest of its host
00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:40.630
galaxy. So there's huge amounts of
00:11:40.640 --> 00:11:44.230
energy there and a lot of that's optical
00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:46.630
energy, visible light energy, but uh
00:11:46.640 --> 00:11:48.550
there are shock waves that we see. Shock
00:11:48.560 --> 00:11:51.190
waves will be disastrous for a for a
00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:55.829
planet. So my my guess is it's still not
00:11:55.839 --> 00:11:57.670
well understood how a planet can survive
00:11:57.680 --> 00:11:59.030
something like that.
00:11:59.040 --> 00:12:03.509
>> Yeah. Um what effect would those those
00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:05.110
I don't know what what do you call them
00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:08.790
with the the um that come out of a puls
00:12:08.800 --> 00:12:10.710
>> neutron star
00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:14.790
>> or the or the the be um the uh the beams
00:12:14.800 --> 00:12:16.949
of radiation you mean caused by the
00:12:16.959 --> 00:12:17.990
magnetic fields.
00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:20.310
>> So that that in itself would be just
00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:22.629
>> Yep. Yeah. Horrific.
00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:25.430
>> Yeah, that's right. You'd think so
00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:27.269
because they're very powerful. That's
00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:29.829
what we see when we see a pul pulsar.
00:12:29.839 --> 00:12:32.550
See the flash flashlight beams of uh of
00:12:32.560 --> 00:12:35.110
energy. Yeah. Not somewhere you want to
00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:36.230
be really.
00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:38.230
>> No, it's hard to imagine that there
00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:41.190
might be life on some of these pulsar
00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:42.629
planets.
00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:45.829
>> Yeah. Do do we know how how many planets
00:12:45.839 --> 00:12:47.670
we've discovered that have sort of
00:12:47.680 --> 00:12:49.670
managed to survive in this environment?
00:12:49.680 --> 00:12:50.389
Wouldn't
00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:52.389
>> I'm sure we do. Uh I'd have to check it
00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:54.150
out. I don't know the number off hand,
00:12:54.160 --> 00:12:58.150
but I'm sure with your adept fingering,
00:12:58.160 --> 00:13:00.389
you could very quickly tell me how many
00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:04.230
planets are in orbit around pulsars.
00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:08.069
>> Yes, I'm going to do that now.
00:13:08.079 --> 00:13:10.150
>> Meanwhile, I'll wax.
00:13:10.160 --> 00:13:12.870
>> And the answer is um the answer isn't
00:13:12.880 --> 00:13:15.509
big. As early as this year, between six
00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:17.590
and eight planets have been confirmed
00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:19.910
orbiting pulsars. That sounds
00:13:19.920 --> 00:13:22.069
>> that that suggests the survival rate is
00:13:22.079 --> 00:13:24.470
pretty pretty low.
00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:26.710
>> Yes, it it does.
00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:28.949
>> It does. On the other hand, you know,
00:13:28.959 --> 00:13:31.750
stars that um that go supernova and
00:13:31.760 --> 00:13:32.949
create
00:13:32.959 --> 00:13:36.150
>> a pulsar have got very short lives.
00:13:36.160 --> 00:13:38.550
Their lives times are measured in tens
00:13:38.560 --> 00:13:41.590
of millions of years rather than
00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:43.750
tens of billions of years like our our
00:13:43.760 --> 00:13:45.509
son is at probably 10 billion years
00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:50.150
total lifetime. So um that's you know
00:13:50.160 --> 00:13:52.230
for a planet to have time to coales
00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:54.550
properly and form uh and do all the
00:13:54.560 --> 00:13:57.110
things that planets do in their infancy
00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:59.269
uh it's not very long if you've got a
00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:02.310
looming explosion on your doorstep.
00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:05.110
>> Absolutely. Yes. Um thankfully we don't
00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:06.790
live in that kind of environment.
00:14:06.800 --> 00:14:08.949
>> We don't. No, that's right. Although
00:14:08.959 --> 00:14:11.509
although um yeah that that famous old
00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:13.350
story keeps popping up and I saw it
00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:15.509
again the other day about uh the the
00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:18.790
impending explosion of Beetlejuice
00:14:18.800 --> 00:14:20.870
>> and you know we don't want to be in the
00:14:20.880 --> 00:14:22.389
way of that.
00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:24.470
>> We don't know it's um it's about 700
00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:27.269
light years away so it's survivable. Uh
00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:27.670
but
00:14:27.680 --> 00:14:29.189
>> yeah good
00:14:29.199 --> 00:14:31.350
>> yeah we don't really want to be on the
00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:33.030
on the Beetlejuice side of the earth
00:14:33.040 --> 00:14:35.189
when it goes off because of all the
00:14:35.199 --> 00:14:36.230
radiation.
00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:40.150
>> Exactly. M but um you know uh if you
00:14:40.160 --> 00:14:41.509
read the popular press it's going to
00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:45.430
happen next week but uh it could be you
00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:49.430
know tens or maybe 100 thousand years or
00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:51.829
something like that couldn't it
00:14:51.839 --> 00:14:53.990
>> it's certainly people are talking about
00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:55.750
thousands of years that's correct
00:14:55.760 --> 00:14:58.949
>> yeah okay thank you Hazel hopefully that
00:14:58.959 --> 00:15:01.350
uh sorted out your question thanks for
00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:04.389
sending it in and please send us another
00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:06.629
one when it pops into your head this is
00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:08.470
Space Nuts. Andrew Dunley here with
00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:12.550
Professor Fred Watson.
00:15:12.560 --> 00:15:14.870
>> We choose to go to the moon in this
00:15:14.880 --> 00:15:17.350
decade and do the other things. Not
00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:19.670
because they are easy, but because they
00:15:19.680 --> 00:15:20.310
are hard.
00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:22.710
>> These nuts.
00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:25.590
>> Okay, Fred, we have uh an audio
00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:28.310
question. Let's hear from David.
00:15:28.320 --> 00:15:29.990
>> Good day. David here from the Sunshine
00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:32.389
Coast. Longtime listener. Uh fairly
00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:34.069
short question today. I see that you
00:15:34.079 --> 00:15:37.509
were looking for phone in questions. Um,
00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:39.590
just wondering what we've learned uh
00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:41.990
with regard to the material that came
00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:44.150
back from Benu. Um, I haven't heard a
00:15:44.160 --> 00:15:46.310
lot in the mainstream media at all. It's
00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:48.069
been quite some time and I know they had
00:15:48.079 --> 00:15:49.829
trouble uh dealing with the sample when
00:15:49.839 --> 00:15:51.670
it first came back. Uh, just wondering
00:15:51.680 --> 00:15:53.269
if you could fill us in. Thanks very
00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:55.749
much. Keep up with the great show.
00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:56.389
>> See you later.
00:15:56.399 --> 00:15:57.670
>> Thank you very much and we'll see you
00:15:57.680 --> 00:16:00.310
later too, David. Um,
00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:02.150
yeah, Benu, it's funny that the question
00:16:02.160 --> 00:16:04.310
should turn up when it does because, uh,
00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:06.150
I think Beno's just got back into the
00:16:06.160 --> 00:16:07.749
news, has it not?
00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:09.430
>> Yes, that's right. There's a really
00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:11.749
interesting story which came out this
00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:14.470
week in the proceedings
00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:16.949
of the National Academy of Science in
00:16:16.959 --> 00:16:19.509
the United States. Um, and because this
00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:21.590
is a press release, it means I can read
00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:24.949
from it with impunity. Uh, and so it
00:16:24.959 --> 00:16:26.629
introduces the issue very well.
00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:28.790
Scientists studying samples from the
00:16:28.800 --> 00:16:30.949
asteroid Bennu have uncovered a
00:16:30.959 --> 00:16:33.269
surprisingly complex chemical landscape
00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:36.470
at the tiniest scales. A new study shows
00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:38.710
that at an extremely small scale,
00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:41.590
organic material and minerals inside the
00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:44.150
asteroid asteroid Bennu are organized
00:16:44.160 --> 00:16:46.310
into three clearly different chemical
00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:48.470
groupings. These patterns provide
00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:51.829
important clues about how liquid water
00:16:51.839 --> 00:16:57.189
once altered the atmosph
00:16:57.199 --> 00:16:59.030
relatively close to the Earth. It formed
00:16:59.040 --> 00:17:01.269
from fragments left behind after its
00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:03.749
original parent body broke apart because
00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:06.309
the samples returned from Bennu have not
00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:08.069
been exposed to Earth's atmosphere or
00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:10.470
whether they offer a rare untouched
00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:13.110
record of how water, minerals, and
00:17:13.120 --> 00:17:15.350
organic compounds interacted in the
00:17:15.360 --> 00:17:17.110
early solar system. So, it's a great
00:17:17.120 --> 00:17:20.549
story. Um, and um, it comes from
00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:24.549
scientists uh, I think in the US. I'm
00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:25.829
not sure actually. That's a good
00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:27.350
question. Where are these scientists
00:17:27.360 --> 00:17:29.669
from? We might answer that during the
00:17:29.679 --> 00:17:32.230
during the talk. But yes, remembering
00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:35.110
Bennu, Benu is an asteroid visited by
00:17:35.120 --> 00:17:38.789
the spacecraft Osiris Rex uh which had
00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:41.590
um a marvelous mechanism on board called
00:17:41.600 --> 00:17:44.230
Tag SAM, the touchandgo sample
00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:47.270
acquisition mechanism uh which basically
00:17:47.280 --> 00:17:49.590
sank the spacecraft onto the asteroid
00:17:49.600 --> 00:17:52.470
surface uh and let it grab some of the
00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:54.710
soil. Bennu is a rubble pile. It's
00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:57.190
shaped very much like two cones end to
00:17:57.200 --> 00:17:59.029
end. A typical shape for a rubble pile
00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:01.590
asteroid. So what they grabbed was quite
00:18:01.600 --> 00:18:04.950
a lot of uh material. Uh I think it was
00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:07.430
uh if I remember rightly 60 grams comes
00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:08.870
into mind. That might not be the number
00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:10.630
but it's something like that. A
00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:14.390
significant amount. So asteroid Bennu is
00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:16.470
very much in the headlines. A lot of
00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:20.950
interesting stuff. Um the um the paper
00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:24.230
that uh re reveals these results is
00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:27.110
called nanocale infrared spectroscopy
00:18:27.120 --> 00:18:29.750
reveals complex organic mineral
00:18:29.760 --> 00:18:32.390
assemblages in asteroid Bennu. So that
00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:34.710
seems to be the crucial aspect of this.
00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:37.270
Not the minerals and organic or carbon
00:18:37.280 --> 00:18:40.310
containing molecules uh that are there
00:18:40.320 --> 00:18:42.470
but the fact that they're organized in
00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:45.430
such a way that they have been subjected
00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:48.230
to water related processes and that
00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:52.549
means basically liquid water.
00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:54.870
>> It's quite extraordinary. Uh once again
00:18:54.880 --> 00:18:56.390
reading from the press release, these
00:18:56.400 --> 00:18:59.590
uneven nanocale structures indicate that
00:18:59.600 --> 00:19:02.070
water did not affect Bennu in a single
00:19:02.080 --> 00:19:04.390
uniform way. Instead, water interacted
00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:06.630
differently in separate areas, producing
00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:08.549
a patchwork of chemical environments
00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:11.350
across the asteroid. It's almost poetic,
00:19:11.360 --> 00:19:12.230
isn't it?
00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:16.230
>> It is. It is. Uh from my research, uh
00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:20.470
the sample return was 121.6 g of
00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:21.590
material.
00:19:21.600 --> 00:19:22.630
>> There you go.
00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:25.110
>> 4.29. half right
00:19:25.120 --> 00:19:27.190
>> 4.29 O and
00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:30.310
>> you're right they um the the the authors
00:19:30.320 --> 00:19:33.350
are from the United States um places
00:19:33.360 --> 00:19:37.669
like uh the department of geosciences
00:19:37.679 --> 00:19:41.190
um Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:44.870
etc. So yes, definitely a USbased
00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:47.430
uh based study that uh has has been
00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:50.549
released on on the latest from uh
00:19:50.559 --> 00:19:53.590
asteroid Bennu. Um I'm just trying to
00:19:53.600 --> 00:19:55.510
remember where that sample landed. Was
00:19:55.520 --> 00:19:57.350
that the one that landed in Australia or
00:19:57.360 --> 00:19:58.789
was that another one?
00:19:58.799 --> 00:19:59.430
>> That was
00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:01.110
>> No, that was a Japanese mission, wasn't
00:20:01.120 --> 00:20:01.990
it?
00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:04.470
>> So Benu's sample Sirius Rex is the
00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:07.110
spacecraft which I think is on its way
00:20:07.120 --> 00:20:09.029
might be on its way to Apous. It's been
00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:10.630
redirected. I can't remember where it's
00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:12.789
going though. What it did was dropped a
00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:16.150
capsule which has the uh which has the
00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:19.270
um uh samples in it and they landed in
00:20:19.280 --> 00:20:22.230
Utah. That's where the landing site was.
00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:24.150
Uh our samples that came to Australia
00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:25.909
are from the two Hayabusa missions, the
00:20:25.919 --> 00:20:28.630
two Japanese asteroid sample return
00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:29.590
missions.
00:20:29.600 --> 00:20:31.270
>> Yeah. And you're right. It's headed for
00:20:31.280 --> 00:20:32.870
Apous.
00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:34.149
>> Good. I thought it was
00:20:34.159 --> 00:20:36.149
>> they refer to it as a mission extension
00:20:36.159 --> 00:20:39.510
to study um a near-Earth asteroid. and
00:20:39.520 --> 00:20:43.190
it should arrive in April of 2029.
00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:45.909
So, they're extraordinarily long
00:20:45.919 --> 00:20:47.350
missions, aren't they? When you when
00:20:47.360 --> 00:20:49.110
you're out there in the
00:20:49.120 --> 00:20:50.870
>> in the nether regions of the solar
00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:52.950
system.
00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:54.789
>> That's right. It's um you know, that's
00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:57.430
just the way space works. You kind of
00:20:57.440 --> 00:20:59.990
tied tied up with gravity and time and
00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:01.830
you can't really do much about either of
00:21:01.840 --> 00:21:02.950
those two things.
00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:05.190
>> Oh, you can in a science fiction story.
00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:06.710
Yes. Amazing what you can do in a
00:21:06.720 --> 00:21:07.590
science fiction book.
00:21:07.600 --> 00:21:10.549
>> Stories. Yes.
00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:12.950
And I keep saying it, a lot of science
00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:14.789
fiction has turned into reality over the
00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:16.789
years. So,
00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:19.110
um, you know, you never know. In fact, I
00:21:19.120 --> 00:21:21.190
can't remember what the what the the
00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:24.390
problem was, but they they did actually
00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:27.909
not so long ago, um, get science fiction
00:21:27.919 --> 00:21:30.149
writers together. I don't know if it was
00:21:30.159 --> 00:21:32.230
NASA or someone else to try and solve a
00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:33.909
problem that they couldn't get their
00:21:33.919 --> 00:21:35.190
heads around to see if the science
00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:37.350
fiction community could come up with an
00:21:37.360 --> 00:21:39.990
answer for them. Can't remember any more
00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:41.510
about it than that. And I wish I could
00:21:41.520 --> 00:21:43.990
because I the story fascinated me. They
00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:45.990
never called me Fred.
00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:49.190
obviously sold anything
00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:50.789
>> your
00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:52.789
I would think being a best-selling
00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:55.029
author of one or two copies that have
00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:57.430
been sold over the years that I would be
00:21:57.440 --> 00:22:01.029
the go-to guy.
00:22:01.039 --> 00:22:02.470
>> Not the case.
00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:04.310
>> Not the case. Um have we finished
00:22:04.320 --> 00:22:06.789
answering that question?
00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:09.029
>> Yes. Basically, there's a lot going on.
00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:11.669
Um you know, I urge David just to check
00:22:11.679 --> 00:22:13.990
it out on the web. this um quite a lot
00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:16.630
of stuff on on Benu. It's u it's been
00:22:16.640 --> 00:22:18.710
interesting. I've I've I've noticed over
00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:21.190
the last few weeks things popping out
00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:23.270
particularly about the minerals which
00:22:23.280 --> 00:22:25.510
have been water affected which in itself
00:22:25.520 --> 00:22:26.870
tells you something about where it's
00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:28.070
come from somewhere where there was
00:22:28.080 --> 00:22:29.909
liquid water.
00:22:29.919 --> 00:22:31.510
>> That is fascinating.
00:22:31.520 --> 00:22:35.350
>> Yeah. Um and yes uh that um paper was
00:22:35.360 --> 00:22:38.630
published on sciencedaily.com
00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:40.870
uh David if you want to check it out. Um
00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:42.630
and it was published the paper was
00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:46.070
published on the 31st of March. Uh an
00:22:46.080 --> 00:22:47.990
auspicious day in history Fred I must
00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:51.190
say. Yeah. Um yes
00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:53.190
a certain non-successful science fiction
00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:57.669
writer was born on that day.
00:22:57.679 --> 00:22:59.750
>> So yes yesterday was
00:22:59.760 --> 00:23:01.510
>> yesterday our time. Yeah. Yeah.
00:23:01.520 --> 00:23:04.470
>> So that was your 64th. Is that right?
00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:06.789
>> Yes. I can I can uh officially play that
00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:07.830
Beatles song now.
00:23:07.840 --> 00:23:09.590
>> Good on you. I was just about to say
00:23:09.600 --> 00:23:11.909
that.
00:23:11.919 --> 00:23:12.149
>> Yeah,
00:23:12.159 --> 00:23:14.070
>> it's okay.
00:23:14.080 --> 00:23:15.909
>> Good old Paul McCartney. He hit the nail
00:23:15.919 --> 00:23:16.630
on the head.
00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:18.470
>> Yeah, I watched his doco the other day.
00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:20.789
They had they released a doco about him.
00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:23.830
Gosh, it's amazing what I didn't know
00:23:23.840 --> 00:23:25.590
about him.
00:23:25.600 --> 00:23:27.669
>> That's that's come out now. It's um
00:23:27.679 --> 00:23:30.470
yeah, quite incredible. But that's a
00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:32.070
different story. Completely different
00:23:32.080 --> 00:23:35.350
story. But uh yeah, 64. Can't believe
00:23:35.360 --> 00:23:37.669
it. Um, anyway, when I told my
00:23:37.679 --> 00:23:39.270
grandchildren I was 64, they looked at
00:23:39.280 --> 00:23:41.350
me and said, "And you're still alive?"
00:23:41.360 --> 00:23:44.149
No, they didn't.
00:23:44.159 --> 00:23:45.909
I said, "Well, hang on a minute. You
00:23:45.919 --> 00:23:47.510
should meet Fred." No, I didn't say that
00:23:47.520 --> 00:23:49.270
either.
00:23:49.280 --> 00:23:55.430
>> I remember 64 just about.
00:23:55.440 --> 00:23:57.350
>> Oh dear. All right, let's move on. Uh,
00:23:57.360 --> 00:23:59.270
thank you, David. Um, yeah, good news
00:23:59.280 --> 00:24:01.590
about Benu and yeah, they've just
00:24:01.600 --> 00:24:03.909
published that paper on my birthday. Uh,
00:24:03.919 --> 00:24:06.070
our final question, uh, comes from
00:24:06.080 --> 00:24:08.149
Keith. Hello, gentlemen. Oh, well, he
00:24:08.159 --> 00:24:09.750
got that wrong straight away. Uh, this
00:24:09.760 --> 00:24:12.149
is Keith from Washington State, USA.
00:24:12.159 --> 00:24:14.230
This is my first time asking a question.
00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:15.590
We've had a couple of newbies on the
00:24:15.600 --> 00:24:17.750
show today. Uh, looking forward to your
00:24:17.760 --> 00:24:20.070
explanation. From what I understand,
00:24:20.080 --> 00:24:22.630
neutrinos travel vast distances through
00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:26.549
space and even from our own sun. Uh,
00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:28.630
they they pass through our bodies every
00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:31.190
second and easily through the Earth. But
00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:33.830
do they travel straight through a black
00:24:33.840 --> 00:24:36.710
hole or are they captured by it?
00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:38.070
Appreciate you guys and love the
00:24:38.080 --> 00:24:40.549
podcast. Look forward to every episode.
00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:42.310
Thank you, Keith. Hope all is well in
00:24:42.320 --> 00:24:43.830
Washington State. That's on the
00:24:43.840 --> 00:24:45.990
northwest corner of the United States.
00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:48.310
Seattle's in Washington State. I love
00:24:48.320 --> 00:24:50.630
Seattle. Bent went there a year bit over
00:24:50.640 --> 00:24:53.750
or couple of years ago now. Um terrific
00:24:53.760 --> 00:24:56.630
place. Terrific. Uh current Super Bowl
00:24:56.640 --> 00:24:59.990
champions Seahawks.
00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:01.350
I knew you'd be interested in that,
00:25:01.360 --> 00:25:02.310
Fred.
00:25:02.320 --> 00:25:05.909
>> Keep talking cuz I'm just googling this.
00:25:05.919 --> 00:25:08.070
>> I kind of figured I needed to pad, but I
00:25:08.080 --> 00:25:10.789
didn't pad long enough. Yeah. See, I'm
00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:12.070
I'm out of practice.
00:25:12.080 --> 00:25:14.549
>> I'm out of practice. I haven't been on
00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:17.269
radio for two years now, so I don't need
00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:19.909
to add lib like I used to. It used to be
00:25:19.919 --> 00:25:21.029
really funny when something went
00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:22.630
horribly wrong and you knew you had to
00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:25.430
fix it while you were talking. And have
00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:27.110
you ever tried to thread a tape on a
00:25:27.120 --> 00:25:29.909
realtore recorder while you're talking
00:25:29.919 --> 00:25:33.590
to an audience and making sense of what
00:25:33.600 --> 00:25:34.789
you're saying and you don't even know
00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:38.149
what you're Yeah. Gosh, it can be a fun
00:25:38.159 --> 00:25:42.630
moment. I miss those days so much.
00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:44.470
>> Are you Are you good now?
00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:46.870
>> Yes.
00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:49.110
I just I just you've conjured up an
00:25:49.120 --> 00:25:51.110
entirely different picture in my head of
00:25:51.120 --> 00:25:53.350
you threading a realtore recorder which
00:25:53.360 --> 00:25:54.789
I used to remember
00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:56.870
>> doing. The one the one piece of kit that
00:25:56.880 --> 00:25:59.350
I'd like that I don't have is a realtore
00:25:59.360 --> 00:25:59.830
machine.
00:25:59.840 --> 00:26:02.149
>> I can steal one for you. I I know I know
00:26:02.159 --> 00:26:04.789
a guy in town who's got one
00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:06.789
>> and if I took it he wouldn't notice for
00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:07.830
a few years.
00:26:07.840 --> 00:26:11.110
>> No,
00:26:11.120 --> 00:26:12.710
>> tell me more offline.
00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:15.430
>> Yes, I will. Yes. Good morning, Richard.
00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:16.789
Uh, hi Richard.
00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:18.390
>> Um,
00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:20.390
>> yeah, but look, what we're talking about
00:26:20.400 --> 00:26:22.789
radio, I it's changed so much because
00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:25.510
it's all digital now. So, you don't
00:26:25.520 --> 00:26:26.789
really
00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:30.470
>> all those those um what what do you call
00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:31.669
them? Skills
00:26:31.679 --> 00:26:33.590
>> that you developed in radio like like
00:26:33.600 --> 00:26:37.110
like cut splicing tape and and and drop
00:26:37.120 --> 00:26:38.470
editing and
00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:40.950
>> all of those special talents, they're
00:26:40.960 --> 00:26:43.110
gone. They're just gone. If you gave
00:26:43.120 --> 00:26:44.789
someone a a realtore to real tape and
00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:46.870
said, "Here, can you just um edit that
00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:49.190
piece out for me? Here's a razor blade."
00:26:49.200 --> 00:26:53.350
They'd go, "What?
00:26:53.360 --> 00:26:55.510
>> Remember to to make the cut diagonally
00:26:55.520 --> 00:26:57.510
so that it doesn't impair the sound
00:26:57.520 --> 00:26:58.390
quality."
00:26:58.400 --> 00:27:00.549
>> Exactly. Yeah, that's that's how it
00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:01.510
works.
00:27:01.520 --> 00:27:02.070
>> Yeah.
00:27:02.080 --> 00:27:04.630
>> In fact, splicing block the splicing
00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:06.870
block had the had the slots in it so you
00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:09.029
could do the diagonal cut and and it was
00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:11.110
made in a way so that the tape actually
00:27:11.120 --> 00:27:12.390
just
00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:14.950
sat in there without folding up or
00:27:14.960 --> 00:27:17.669
rolling around or slipping was
00:27:17.679 --> 00:27:20.390
brilliantly p made piece of kit as Fred
00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:23.909
would say to to keep the tape still.
00:27:23.919 --> 00:27:26.149
>> I bet look all this all this all these
00:27:26.159 --> 00:27:27.909
memories. Gosh,
00:27:27.919 --> 00:27:30.549
>> I think I've ped enough now, Fred.
00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:32.710
>> Yeah, I'm sure
00:27:32.720 --> 00:27:35.350
>> a tape splicing block. It's how do you
00:27:35.360 --> 00:27:37.830
splice neutrinos? That's the question.
00:27:37.840 --> 00:27:39.669
>> Well, why do they splice or can they
00:27:39.679 --> 00:27:41.669
splice a black hole? That's the That's
00:27:41.679 --> 00:27:43.269
the question.
00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:45.510
>> That's the worst segue I think we've
00:27:45.520 --> 00:27:47.430
ever made, but that will do. It's as
00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:50.230
good as it gets. Adequacy is all we aim
00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:53.269
for. Um, but neutrinos are indeed
00:27:53.279 --> 00:27:55.990
affected by gravity, as you'd expect.
00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:58.389
Um, because they're particles. They're
00:27:58.399 --> 00:28:01.510
subatomic particles. And so once uh a
00:28:01.520 --> 00:28:03.590
neutrino crosses the event horizon, then
00:28:03.600 --> 00:28:05.990
it's doomed. It will be absorbed by the
00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:09.110
black hole just like light basically. um
00:28:09.120 --> 00:28:11.909
they they hardly interact with normal
00:28:11.919 --> 00:28:15.350
matter uh exactly as Keith mentions. Uh
00:28:15.360 --> 00:28:18.389
but they do h feel the force of gravity
00:28:18.399 --> 00:28:22.630
or the the um what base of gravity and
00:28:22.640 --> 00:28:24.630
they just get pulled in in the same way
00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:28.389
as uh as a any other particle. So the
00:28:28.399 --> 00:28:32.710
answer is yes. Um and it's
00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:34.630
you know it's a really interesting
00:28:34.640 --> 00:28:36.470
subatomic particle. We used to think for
00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:39.269
a while that maybe nutrinos made up the
00:28:39.279 --> 00:28:41.350
dark matter of the universe, but it
00:28:41.360 --> 00:28:43.110
turns out from other studies that they
00:28:43.120 --> 00:28:45.510
don't have enough mass to do that. Uh so
00:28:45.520 --> 00:28:47.909
they're not the culprits, but there are
00:28:47.919 --> 00:28:49.430
a lot of them.
00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:52.149
>> I think uh um David mentioned, sorry,
00:28:52.159 --> 00:28:55.590
Keith begg mentioned the um the nutr the
00:28:55.600 --> 00:28:59.269
sun solar neutrinos and for a long time
00:28:59.279 --> 00:29:01.510
that was there was a problem there. I
00:29:01.520 --> 00:29:03.190
think it was that we didn't see enough
00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:07.029
neutrinos coming from the sun to agree
00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:08.710
with theory and that was called the
00:29:08.720 --> 00:29:10.549
solar neutrino problem. I think that was
00:29:10.559 --> 00:29:12.710
the way round it was. But I believe that
00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:16.950
has now been basically solved by both
00:29:16.960 --> 00:29:18.549
observational and theoretical
00:29:18.559 --> 00:29:21.029
astronomers. I should um go down a
00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:22.870
rabbit hole and chase all that because
00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:25.750
um my knowledge of neutrinos is really
00:29:25.760 --> 00:29:28.310
really a little bit sad.
00:29:28.320 --> 00:29:32.789
Uh it's got uh it does have uh the one
00:29:32.799 --> 00:29:35.510
joke that I remember about neutrinos uh
00:29:35.520 --> 00:29:38.310
which is probably not worth relating.
00:29:38.320 --> 00:29:40.710
>> Oh, now you've got to say it.
00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:43.190
Well, it was when there was this idea
00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:45.830
that the Large Hadron Collider had
00:29:45.840 --> 00:29:48.230
generated a neutrino that turned up at a
00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:52.630
detector in Grand Sasso in in um Italy
00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:54.870
uh sooner than it would have done if it
00:29:54.880 --> 00:29:57.110
had not been traveling at less than the
00:29:57.120 --> 00:29:59.350
speed of light. And so it became known
00:29:59.360 --> 00:30:02.389
as the faster than light neutrino. Um in
00:30:02.399 --> 00:30:04.230
the end it was debunked. They found it
00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:07.269
was due to a loose connection in the
00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:09.750
detector. Uh which led to the director
00:30:09.760 --> 00:30:12.389
of Grand Sasso resigning. Actually was
00:30:12.399 --> 00:30:15.190
so ashamed of what his institution had
00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:15.909
done.
00:30:15.919 --> 00:30:17.909
>> I remember that now.
00:30:17.919 --> 00:30:21.669
>> But the joke is uh the joke is I'm sorry
00:30:21.679 --> 00:30:23.590
we don't allow faster than night light
00:30:23.600 --> 00:30:26.470
nutrinos into our bar. A faster than
00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:28.630
light neutrino walked into a bar. That's
00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:31.669
the joke.
00:30:31.679 --> 00:30:33.510
Okay.
00:30:33.520 --> 00:30:35.110
That's pretty good though.
00:30:35.120 --> 00:30:36.710
>> I think it's a good one, too. I wish it
00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:37.909
was mine, but
00:30:37.919 --> 00:30:40.710
>> that is pretty good. Yeah. But what I
00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:42.630
find difficult to get my head around is
00:30:42.640 --> 00:30:44.389
that these things pass through the
00:30:44.399 --> 00:30:45.510
planet. I mean,
00:30:45.520 --> 00:30:47.430
>> yes, they do. Oh, yeah. They don't
00:30:47.440 --> 00:30:49.430
notice the planet at all.
00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:52.070
>> Yeah. But there is a detector. There's
00:30:52.080 --> 00:30:53.669
the ice cube detector down in
00:30:53.679 --> 00:30:56.389
Antarctica. This is a cube of ice. It's
00:30:56.399 --> 00:30:59.350
a 1 kilometer cube of ice which is got
00:30:59.360 --> 00:31:02.710
it's um basically uh not festoned so
00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:05.430
much as impre impregnated with many many
00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:08.230
optical detectors that would sense the
00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:12.470
flash of light. If a neutrino actually
00:31:12.480 --> 00:31:15.430
did collide and interact with a a normal
00:31:15.440 --> 00:31:17.830
particle uh then you'd get a flash of
00:31:17.840 --> 00:31:20.549
light uh which it would be detectable in
00:31:20.559 --> 00:31:21.830
ice cube and I think they've had
00:31:21.840 --> 00:31:24.950
detections as well. Oh, interesting.
00:31:24.960 --> 00:31:27.350
Fascinating even.
00:31:27.360 --> 00:31:29.669
All right. Uh, Keith, I think we covered
00:31:29.679 --> 00:31:32.070
it. Did we cover it?
00:31:32.080 --> 00:31:34.470
>> We Well, we answered the question, but I
00:31:34.480 --> 00:31:35.990
think that was a value added question,
00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:36.389
Keith.
00:31:36.399 --> 00:31:38.070
>> Yes, it was. It's got lots of bonus
00:31:38.080 --> 00:31:40.230
material in there. Probably boring as
00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:43.909
you know, or whatever, an old sock. But,
00:31:43.919 --> 00:31:44.710
uh,
00:31:44.720 --> 00:31:45.430
>> oh dear.
00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:48.070
>> We got there in the end. Uh, thank you,
00:31:48.080 --> 00:31:49.590
Keith. Thank you everybody who sent
00:31:49.600 --> 00:31:51.269
questions in. If you do have questions
00:31:51.279 --> 00:31:53.430
for us, please go to our website and
00:31:53.440 --> 00:31:55.909
send them in on the ask me anything tab
00:31:55.919 --> 00:31:59.509
at the top. Just click a the AMA letters
00:31:59.519 --> 00:32:01.430
and there's an interface there where you
00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:04.310
can send us text and audio questions.
00:32:04.320 --> 00:32:05.669
Please remember to tell us who you are
00:32:05.679 --> 00:32:07.909
and where you're from. And uh we'll do
00:32:07.919 --> 00:32:11.110
our very best to answer them all. Uh and
00:32:11.120 --> 00:32:13.430
again, we we're just yeah, we're on the
00:32:13.440 --> 00:32:14.710
cusp of not quite having enough
00:32:14.720 --> 00:32:16.149
questions. Got a lot of text questions,
00:32:16.159 --> 00:32:18.070
but audio questions are few and far
00:32:18.080 --> 00:32:19.990
between for some reason.
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:22.789
But um who knows uh get them into us.
00:32:22.799 --> 00:32:24.870
We'd love to hear from you. We love all
00:32:24.880 --> 00:32:26.710
these uh voices, all the different
00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:28.389
people from around the world. It's it's
00:32:28.399 --> 00:32:31.029
fantastic. Uh and thank you Fred as
00:32:31.039 --> 00:32:34.070
always. It's been a great pleasure.
00:32:34.080 --> 00:32:36.310
>> It has indeed. And good to talk to you
00:32:36.320 --> 00:32:38.149
uh this week and hopefully we'll do it
00:32:38.159 --> 00:32:39.509
again next week.
00:32:39.519 --> 00:32:41.269
>> Yes indeed. And I'll get back to you on
00:32:41.279 --> 00:32:45.190
that free realtore tape recorder. Fred.
00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:47.590
>> Yeah. Nudge nudge wink wink. uh,
00:32:47.600 --> 00:32:49.350
Professor Fred Watson, astronomer at
00:32:49.360 --> 00:32:51.669
large, part of the team here, uh, on the
00:32:51.679 --> 00:32:53.750
Space Nuts podcast. And, uh, thanks to
00:32:53.760 --> 00:32:56.230
Hugh in the studio, who couldn't be with
00:32:56.240 --> 00:32:58.149
us today. He's a bit slow. He's an old
00:32:58.159 --> 00:33:02.470
Trino. And, um, yeah, he can't even get
00:33:02.480 --> 00:33:05.350
through a door. And from me, Andrew
00:33:05.360 --> 00:33:07.430
Dunley, thanks for your company. We'll
00:33:07.440 --> 00:33:10.070
see see you on the next episode of Space
00:33:10.080 --> 00:33:11.750
Nuts. Bye-bye.
00:33:11.760 --> 00:33:12.789
>> Space Nuts.
00:33:12.799 --> 00:33:14.870
>> You've been listening to the Space Nuts
00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:17.110
podcast. radio
00:33:17.120 --> 00:33:20.070
>> available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
00:33:20.080 --> 00:33:22.710
iHeart Radio, or your favorite podcast
00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:25.190
player. You can also stream on demand at
00:33:25.200 --> 00:33:28.070
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00:33:28.080 --> 00:33:32.519
podcast production from byes.com.