July 6, 2025

Stellar Questions: Gravitational Waves, Time Travel & the Search for Extraterrestrial Life

Stellar Questions: Gravitational Waves, Time Travel & the Search for Extraterrestrial Life

In this thought-provoking Q&A episode of Space Nuts, hosts Heidi Campo and Professor Fred Watson tackle a variety of intriguing listener questions that delve into the realms of astrophysics and the possibilities of life beyond Earth. From the complexities of time dilation to the potential for extraterrestrial communication, this episode is a treasure trove of cosmic knowledge.
Episode Highlights:
- Time Dilation and Space Travel: The episode kicks off with a fascinating question from listener Peter about the implications of time dilation as depicted in Queen's song "39." Fred explains the calculations needed to understand how a journey at 99.995% the speed of light could allow travelers to experience just one year while 100 years pass on Earth, revealing the mind-bending effects of Einstein's theory of relativity.
- Observing Gravitational Waves: Trent from North Georgia poses a compelling question about how observatories can detect light from events that have already emitted gravitational waves. Fred clarifies the relationship between different types of radiation and their detection, using gamma-ray bursts as a prime example of how various signals can provide insight into cosmic events.
- Limits of Biological Detection: Listener Chris wonders why organisms on Earth can only sense a limited part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Fred discusses the potential for extraterrestrial life to communicate using different frequencies, exploring the limits of biology and the intriguing possibilities of non-verbal communication in the cosmos.
- Earth-Sized Moons Around Gas Giants: Martin raises an interesting question about the possibility of Earth-sized moons orbiting gas giants in other solar systems. Fred elaborates on the feasibility of such moons and their potential to harbor life, while also considering the dynamic challenges posed by their environments.
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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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WEBVTT

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Welcome back to another fun and exciting Q and A

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episode of Space Nuts Perfecting.

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Channel ten nine Ignition sik.

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Wench Space Nuts Yo three two one Space Nuts.

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As I reported, good, I'm.

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Your host for this episode, Heidi Compo and joining us

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is Professor Fred Watson. Watson, I don't know why I've

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done that twice now, mispronounced your name Astronomer at Large, Fred,

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how are you well?

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Thank you don't don't really care how the name's pronounced.

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It's Fred's pretty straightforward.

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You know.

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When I go to Scandinavia, I've probably said this before, Heidi,

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there are freds. I see Fred everywhere because it's the

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Scandinavian word meaning peace, and so fred Gutten is a

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peace street, and I've got lots of photographs standing underneath

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peace streets because they're called Fred.

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That's lovely. I love that. I guess my name is

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a German name is short for Adehyde and it means noble.

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Here you go, So mind's German as well. It's from Freed,

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same same word. Yeah.

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Well, our first question from today is from Peter wondering

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if I don't think I know the history of that one.

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I think it's'rean, it's very old. It goes back to

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biblical times.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, the rock, Peter is the rock Petra.

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That's what it means, is the rock.

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Yeah.

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I love that. Let's see if let's see if we

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can figure out the etymology of all the names today.

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I think we've we've probably run out now.

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All right, So yeah, our first question is from Peter,

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and he says high Space Nuts. Queen's great nineteen seventy

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five album A Night at the Opera has a song

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called thirty nine, written by astrophysicist Brian May. Of course,

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in the song, the a band interpret band of intrepid

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volunteers leave Earth in a spaceship to find another planet

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for human habitation. They leave in the year thirty nine,

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we don't know what century, and their trip takes one year.

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They must have had a good warp drive because when

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they return it is the year thirty nine in the

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next century, so they have been away for one hundred

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years in Earth time. The protagonist of the song laments

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his remaining life, with his wife and children dead and

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just his great granddaughter remaining now a very old lady.

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My question is these my questions are these approximately? How

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far out into the galaxy might they have gone in

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that time and what would their average speed have been?

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At first I thought that they only traveled for a year,

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and the near star is more than year four light

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years away, so it is a wasted trip. But then

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they were away from the Earth for one hundred years.

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Maybe they checked out many stars with planetary systems. Now

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I'm just confused, that's our question from Peter.

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Well, so it turns out that it's reasonably easy to

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do the calculation that Peter's interested in, because what he's

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talking about is something we call time dilation. It comes

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from in this case, it comes from Aindistein's special theory

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of relativity that covers the effects of things that are

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moving close to the speed of light. And so you've

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got to be moving close to the speed of light

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to experience this. So what we've got here is a

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fraction of one hundred. It's been a year on Earth.

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Sorry it's been a year for the travelers, but it's

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been one hundred years on Earth. So that means that

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the time dilation effect is one hundred. It's one hundred times. Now,

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there's a formula for time dilation which is reasonably simple.

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I'll just quote it's in silent in relativity one hundred

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years ago. The time dilation is and it's a fraction.

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It's one over the square root of one minus V

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squared over C squared via is the velocity that you're

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traveling at, and see is the velocity of light. So

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it's a relatively straightforward formula. And so yesterday what I

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did was I put the numbers into it to work

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out what speed they would have to travel for that

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ratio of one hundred years on Earth to one year

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on the spacecraft. And it turns out to me, here's

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my calculation.

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The probably yeah, spread back before everyone outsourced their brains

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to chat GPT. That is a handwritten math everybody.

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And the bottom line you probably can't see it. They

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would have to travel at ninety nine point five percent

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of the speed of light. So ninety nine point nine

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nine five percent of the speed of light. If you

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travel for a year, then on Earth you've got one

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hundred years elapsed. Now that probably means that they they

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went out for fifty light years and then came back again,

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so they could have visited many stellar systems in that time,

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although they wouldn't have seen much of it going past

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them at nineteen nine point nine ninety five percent of

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the speed of light. So yeah, that's the answer. Check

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it out. You can look up time dilation on the

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web and you'll find all the formulae there. And that's easy.

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You know, it's a relatively easy question to answer. So Peter,

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thank you for getting my brain working on these questions again,

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because I appreciate that, and I've always so it was

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a good thing to have at the back of your mind,

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the relativistic time dilation travel near the speed of light,

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just in case you ever find your off doing that.

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Fred I am tickled at the amount of times you

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said easy and time dilation equation in that answer. I

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think you use the word this is easy or the

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phrase this is easy at least two or maybe three times.

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So that's just I don't know if I need to

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work on my bath skills or if you're just that brilliant.

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But that was that's adorable, it's not.

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It's a lot easier than some of the ones I

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used to stumble over back when I was This must

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not go beyond these four walls, Heidi. But there's a

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mass exam at university that I failed five times. It

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took me six attempts to pass it.

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Oh my goodness. So there's hope for the rest of us.

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Yeah.

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Oh, Gosha still shudder at that. It was the wrong

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kind of mathematics. You had to do it. It was

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pure mathematics, and my brain just didn't work that way.

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Yeah, mine does not either.

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What space nuts.

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Well, our next question is from Trent, and this is

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an audio question that we're going to queue up and

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we're going to play for you right now.

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Hello, Heidi, and for sir Watson. My name is Trent.

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I'm from North Georgia, USA, and I had a question

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in reference to Ben's question from Northwestern University in episode

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five point thirty. I was wondering how an observatory could

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view something that's already happened, for example, and his question

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he asked about an observatory turning to look at a

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source of gravitational wave, and I was thinking, so, gravitational

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waves move it to speed of light, and the light

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from that source is also moving at the speeded light.

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After the gravitational waveservatory has already observed.

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The phenomenon, how can a radio observatory or a light

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observatory observe the same phenomena since.

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The other waves would have already passed us. So hope

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this question piqued your interest. I would love to hear

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the answer and you'll have a wonderful time. I love

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your show, never miss an episode. Y'all are fantastic.

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Bye bye, that was sweet. Thank you so much, Trent.

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That that was wonderful.

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So Trens questions is a great one and his points

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is absolutely well made. You know that if you've got

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a phenomenon that causes gravitational waves and also beams out lies,

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then the two travel at the same speed. So how

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can a detection in gravitational waves then be used to

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you know, somebody phones up in observatory and says, oh,

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we've seen these gravitational waves. Can you point your telescope

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in this direction? What you're going to see the I

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guess Trend's hypothesis is that it will be nothing. But

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it's not quite that straightforward because often the counterpart of

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an event seen in one way, for example by gravitational waves,

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the counterpart in the visible light spectrum for example, or

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the radio spectrum. Whilst the radiation travels at the same speed,

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there are sometimes delays because you've got different mechanisms that

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give rise to that signal with what you might call

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the follow up radiation, I'm thinking mostly Perhaps the best

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example of this is in what we call gamma ray bursts,

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which were discovered back in the seventies by spacecraft which

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were put into orbit to look for people breaking atmosphere

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nuclear test bands. The idea was to detect gamma rays

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from illicit nuclear test bands that might be going on

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on the Earth's surface in the atmosphere because they were banned,

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but people wanted to police that until these spacecraft were

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developed and put into orbit and they didn't find any

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illicit nuclear tests. What they found was these phenomena in

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deep space we call gamma ray bursts, which are caused

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we think by cataclysmic events in principally in distant galaxies. Now,

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what you really want to find as well as the

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gamma rays is whether there's another you know, another frequency

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or something that's carrying information. And so it was what

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we call the opt counterparts of those bursts that people

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were looking for, and by that I mean the visible

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light flash. And to do that you would want to

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first of all detect the gamma ray burst and then

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alert visible light telescopes to the direction that that had

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come from so that they could home in on the

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target as quickly as possible after the event to try

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and work out what these things were, because if you've

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got information from gamma rays and information from visible light,

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then you've got a chance of working it out. And

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indeed that's the case because the visible light flash is

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it's usually caused by whatever caused the gamma rays interacting

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with the environment that's around it, and that means rarefied

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gas usually, and it's the effect of that rarefied gas,

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perhaps by a shockwave moving through it, that gives you

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the visible light flash, and that's going to be after

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the original gamma ray burst.

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Self.

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Gammay bus last a few seconds. They're sort of second long,

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a bit different from the millisecond fast radio bus that

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we also see. So all these phenomena have different counterparts,

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different components to them, and you're not trying to see

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back in time when you're following up the you know,

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the target of opportunity observations, which is what we're talking

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about previously. You're actually just looking at a different aspect

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of whatever that cataclysmic event has been I don't know

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whether that's a satisfactory explanation, but that's what's happening. So

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you chase it up as quickly as you can to

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try and learn as much as you can.

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Thank you so much, Trent. Our next question is from Chris,

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and Chris says, thank you for the podcast, folks. Good stuff. Indeed,

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on Earth, living organisms can sense a small part of

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the EM spectrum from infrared through visible light up to

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the ultraviolet, but as far as we know, no organism

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can detect lower or higher frequencies such as radio or

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X rays on Earth. This could be because such senses

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don't convey usefulness, but elsewhere it could. So is there

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any limiting factor in biology, chemistry, or physics that prevents

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organisms detecting this different this, different parts of the spectra

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spectrum and therefore possibly communicating with each other like this?

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Could extraterrestrial life use radio to communicate with each other?

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Isn't that a great question, Heidi, because yeah, it's thinking

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outside the box, and I like that very much. You

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might have a comment on that, actually, because science fiction

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looks at these things quite a lot.

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You know, I'm such a science fiction nerd. Well, I'm

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just thinking of our episode a few weeks ago about

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the whale bubbles.

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Yeah, yeah, that's right. The whale bubbles might well be

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a way of communicating, although of course you're using visible

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light there, and I think that's a little bit different

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from the sort of thing that that Chris is thinking of.

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So it's not quite true that we're not sensitive to

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some of these other electromagnetic radiations, because, for example, X

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rays can damage tissue, and so in a sense, what

226
00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:35.159
you've got there is a detector. It's albeit it's the

227
00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:37.120
wrong kind of you don't You know, you don't really

228
00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:42.000
want your tissue to be damaged, but you know that

229
00:14:42.440 --> 00:14:47.679
is an organism being able to detect a high frequency

230
00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:51.519
radiation such as X rays, gamma rays too. So that's

231
00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:56.000
all what we call ionizing radiation. It's damaging radiation, and biology,

232
00:14:56.200 --> 00:14:59.320
biological organisms can detect that, but it's usually in a

233
00:14:59.399 --> 00:15:07.720
very destruct way. There have been many experiments done and

234
00:15:07.799 --> 00:15:12.559
tests done to see whether the radiation emitted by mobile

235
00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:18.559
phones has a damaging effect on people's well being, and

236
00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:23.399
the evidence that I've read is that no, the radiation

237
00:15:23.600 --> 00:15:26.799
levels are too low to have any kind of effect

238
00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:31.120
but I think higher, you know, higher intensities, and I'm

239
00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:36.519
thinking now of microwaves. Your microwave oven is cooking by

240
00:15:36.639 --> 00:15:40.879
means of radiation that causes things to get hot, and

241
00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:43.120
if you flood your brain with that, it's going to

242
00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:46.279
get hot. And in fact, and it was Andrew Dunkley

243
00:15:46.279 --> 00:15:48.720
who told me this because I didn't know the way

244
00:15:48.759 --> 00:15:51.799
your microwave does four or five beeps at the end

245
00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:58.039
of every every cooking session when it reaches the prescribed time.

246
00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:03.000
Is not just for music, is to give your give

247
00:16:03.080 --> 00:16:06.960
you a few seconds for the microwaves inside it to

248
00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:11.919
settle down before you open the door. Oh, radiate yourself

249
00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:13.120
with microwaves.

250
00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:16.320
So I always thought I was terribly clever because I

251
00:16:16.360 --> 00:16:19.000
always would try and time it. So I opened the

252
00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:21.480
door right before the beeps go off. So I've just

253
00:16:21.480 --> 00:16:23.159
been cooking myself with radiation.

254
00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:29.919
Yeah, yeah, So I think the bottom line here is

255
00:16:29.960 --> 00:16:32.559
that it is possible to imagine that there could be

256
00:16:32.600 --> 00:16:39.360
ways in which, you know, extraterrestrial species might be able

257
00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:45.080
to communicate by using these different electromagnetic frequencies in a

258
00:16:45.080 --> 00:16:48.559
way that we haven't thought of. And that's I suppose

259
00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:52.399
one of the other things that leads us to that

260
00:16:52.679 --> 00:16:58.799
movie that both you and I have raved about Arrival. Yeah,

261
00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:02.240
that you know you're looking for. You've got to think

262
00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:04.519
outside the box as to what you might how you

263
00:17:04.599 --> 00:17:09.759
might communicate with extraterrestrial organisms and whales too. I think

264
00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:13.319
blowing bubble rings is a great way of thinking outside

265
00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:15.119
the books or outside the ring.

266
00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:16.039
Well.

267
00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:19.480
I mean, just communication is so interesting in general. I

268
00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:23.400
don't know the exact percentage. I want to say it's

269
00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:27.599
somewhere in the eighties, but we'll just say for discussions sake,

270
00:17:27.640 --> 00:17:31.680
that eighty percent of our communication is nonverbal. I have

271
00:17:31.720 --> 00:17:33.599
a patient that I work with who had a TBI

272
00:17:33.720 --> 00:17:38.359
and he can't talk, but he says so much. I

273
00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:43.119
work as a graduate assistant research coordinator at university, and

274
00:17:43.160 --> 00:17:45.359
I'm always telling all the new students who are coming

275
00:17:45.400 --> 00:17:47.720
in and working with him. I'm like, he says a lot.

276
00:17:47.880 --> 00:17:49.839
You just have to learn to listen better because he

277
00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:53.200
communicates with you like you wouldn't believe. We can have

278
00:17:53.240 --> 00:17:56.319
full conversations with just the movements of his eyebrows and

279
00:17:56.440 --> 00:18:00.759
his expressions and gestures, and it's really amazing. So I

280
00:18:00.839 --> 00:18:03.720
like this about communication, and who knows, maybe there's some

281
00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:07.119
rock creatures out there that their shells are thick enough

282
00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:11.000
the radio radio frequencies would be good. What was that

283
00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:17.599
movie about the military kids that go to space? I gosh,

284
00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:19.599
it's a little bit of an older one. I can't

285
00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:21.319
think of the title right now. Or they're fighting the

286
00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:22.319
bugs in space?

287
00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:28.519
Okay, okay, I so seldom watched science fiction movies that

288
00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:30.359
I'm no use to you whatsoever.

289
00:18:31.240 --> 00:18:39.440
It was kind of a funny one, Space Nuts. Well,

290
00:18:39.240 --> 00:18:43.000
I guess that brings us to our last question from Martin,

291
00:18:43.160 --> 00:18:48.000
And this one is also an audio question, so I'm

292
00:18:48.039 --> 00:18:50.640
going to go ahead and cue up that last audio

293
00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:51.640
question from Martin.

294
00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:59.960
Now, Hello space Nuts, Martin Berman borvine here, writer extraordinary

295
00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:05.480
in many genres, with a.

296
00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:10.319
Question that I know I've tried to ask before and

297
00:19:10.799 --> 00:19:16.119
somehow it hasn't ever quite gotten through. And it's inspired

298
00:19:16.200 --> 00:19:21.319
again by your discussion of Titan in the latest episode

299
00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:29.079
that I'm listening to. Is there any reason to rule

300
00:19:29.240 --> 00:19:39.400
out the existence of moons with roughly the mass of

301
00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:45.200
the Earth orbiting gas giants, and we know some of

302
00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:51.119
those are quite a bit larger than Jupiter in other

303
00:19:51.880 --> 00:19:56.880
solar systems, And if you could have an Earth mass moon,

304
00:19:58.359 --> 00:20:03.039
is there again, and in principle, any reason to think

305
00:20:03.240 --> 00:20:10.759
you could not have an earth like environment where life

306
00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:18.880
could evolve. I can't wait for the answer. And thanks

307
00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:23.480
for doing such a great job, including Heidi Compo, who

308
00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:29.839
is marvelous when she comes in instead of Andrew. Though

309
00:20:29.880 --> 00:20:36.119
nobody can replace our Andrew Martin Berman Gorvine over and

310
00:20:36.680 --> 00:20:38.880
out out out.

311
00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:44.680
Oh Martin, that was so sweet. We appreciate that so much.

312
00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:49.000
It is true nobody can replace Andrew. And I know

313
00:20:49.079 --> 00:20:51.799
I probably have been really not doing my job of

314
00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:54.519
the dad jokes, but I think I got my own

315
00:20:54.559 --> 00:20:56.880
brand of the sci fi. By the way, that movie

316
00:20:56.960 --> 00:20:59.079
was called Starship Troopers. I had to just look it

317
00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:01.079
up because it was right. You know. It's a kind

318
00:21:01.079 --> 00:21:07.119
of a commentary on communism. But yeah, great question, Martin.

319
00:21:07.160 --> 00:21:08.599
That's let Fred take it away.

320
00:21:08.759 --> 00:21:13.319
As they always are. And yeah, thanks Martin. Thanks for

321
00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:16.119
sticking in there with a question that we might have

322
00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:18.480
overlooked at some time in the past. Ize I don't

323
00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:20.720
know how we manage that, because it's a good question.

324
00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:24.519
And so I was thinking about this too, and I

325
00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:30.240
don't think there is any reason why you shouldn't have

326
00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:35.359
been able to have an earth sized moon or satellite

327
00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:41.279
of a large gas giant because and in some ways

328
00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:43.680
you'd think it will be natural to do that. We

329
00:21:44.200 --> 00:21:51.079
see what we call super Jupiter's planets around other stars,

330
00:21:51.160 --> 00:21:54.680
extraplanets which are bigger than Jupiter, not that much bigger,

331
00:21:54.680 --> 00:21:58.279
because if you go up to thirteen times the massive Jupiter,

332
00:21:58.519 --> 00:22:01.240
it's not a planet anymore, becomes a brown dwarf star

333
00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:05.480
because you've got reactions that can take place, low level

334
00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:08.519
nuclear reactions that can take place and mean that it

335
00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:13.000
radiates in the infrared. Jupiter itself radiates in the infrared too.

336
00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:15.240
It's got these low level reactions, but it's not big

337
00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:18.519
enough to be a brown dwarf star. But if you had,

338
00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:23.039
you know, something, with twice the massive Jupiter, there's no

339
00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:27.839
reason why as far as I can see. And I'm

340
00:22:27.880 --> 00:22:31.359
not a planetary scientist per se, but I do hang

341
00:22:31.400 --> 00:22:33.359
out with them, so I know the sort of things

342
00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:36.920
that they think about. I don't think there's any reason

343
00:22:36.920 --> 00:22:43.240
why you shouldn't actually manage to generate a large rocky planet, sorry,

344
00:22:43.319 --> 00:22:48.759
a large rocky moon which was planet sized from the

345
00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:54.279
same part of the swirling disc of gas and dust

346
00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:58.160
from which planets have formed. Some of my colleagues might

347
00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:00.279
correct me on that, but I don't think there is

348
00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:02.680
a limit. And in that regard, I don't think there's

349
00:23:02.680 --> 00:23:06.039
a limit as to whether such a planet or such

350
00:23:06.039 --> 00:23:10.720
a moon might actually be habitable. The only thing is

351
00:23:11.240 --> 00:23:14.160
that most of these hot most of these large jupiters

352
00:23:14.200 --> 00:23:18.039
that we find in other solar systems, are very close

353
00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:23.400
to their parents star. And so if you imagine, you know,

354
00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:25.640
you've got a planet that goes around its parents star

355
00:23:25.880 --> 00:23:28.559
in just a few days, the Moon would have to

356
00:23:28.599 --> 00:23:32.000
go around its parent planet quicker than that, or else

357
00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:35.720
all sorts of dynamic interactions would take place and it

358
00:23:35.720 --> 00:23:40.039
would probably lose its moon. But then, so then you've

359
00:23:40.039 --> 00:23:45.559
got this phenomenon where you've got something very hot whose

360
00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:50.519
temperature is changing very rapidly as it orbits its parent planet.

361
00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:54.599
So I suspect that it might not be the kind

362
00:23:54.599 --> 00:24:00.000
of ideal world for life to evolve because of these

363
00:24:00.599 --> 00:24:04.559
perhaps rapid changes of temperature. Now, Martin, being a writer

364
00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:09.599
in many genres, is usually looking for story for ideas

365
00:24:09.640 --> 00:24:13.000
for science fiction stories, and this might be one that

366
00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:15.160
you know, maybe in a year or two is time

367
00:24:15.240 --> 00:24:19.039
we might read about species on the planet on the moon.

368
00:24:19.079 --> 00:24:21.880
The size of the Earth going around the hot Jupiter

369
00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:25.319
somewhere deep in the Solar System with a new, new

370
00:24:25.319 --> 00:24:28.000
and completely different kind of life form that uses radio

371
00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:31.799
for communications. So that would would solve all our issues,

372
00:24:31.799 --> 00:24:32.240
wouldn't it.

373
00:24:32.839 --> 00:24:36.000
Well, the best writers, I think, the best science fiction

374
00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:41.680
writers use fringe science. And I'm going to butcher his

375
00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:46.160
last name, I always do, Michael Creighton. Oh yes, yeah,

376
00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:48.319
Jurassic Perk. I always wanted to die, so I said

377
00:24:48.359 --> 00:24:51.039
it right, Okay, Thank goodness, usually say Christian people like

378
00:24:51.079 --> 00:24:51.559
it's Cretan.

379
00:24:53.400 --> 00:24:53.599
Yeah.

380
00:24:53.640 --> 00:24:55.759
I mean he did an amazing job of writing books

381
00:24:55.759 --> 00:24:59.119
that were just right on the fringe of possible, and

382
00:24:59.160 --> 00:25:01.240
that's always so fun to think of.

383
00:25:02.759 --> 00:25:06.640
Well, as Martin does as well, I think, Yeah, I'm

384
00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:07.079
going to have.

385
00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:09.119
To look up some of Martin's books. It sounds like

386
00:25:09.119 --> 00:25:11.559
they're right up my alley, and probably a lot of

387
00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:13.400
our other listeners too.

388
00:25:14.759 --> 00:25:17.240
Yeah, that's right. But a great question, Martin, and thank you,

389
00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:18.920
and I hope I've given you the right answer. I'll

390
00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:21.079
check next time I talk to some of my planetary

391
00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:25.400
specialists whether I've overstepped the mark.

392
00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:29.319
Well, Fred, this has been so much fun. I always

393
00:25:29.319 --> 00:25:32.000
have a great time with these Q and A episodes.

394
00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:35.599
It's so fun to hear how just so smart people

395
00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:37.240
are asking great questions.

396
00:25:38.680 --> 00:25:42.039
Indeed they are, and they're challenging too sometimes.

397
00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:46.000
Yeah, keep them coming, guys. These questions are really really fun.

398
00:25:46.039 --> 00:25:48.000
It's good when you get a mix of questions that

399
00:25:48.039 --> 00:25:49.519
aren't just black hole questions.

400
00:25:50.200 --> 00:25:52.759
That's right, yes, all right.

401
00:25:52.920 --> 00:25:56.519
Well, this concludes today's episode, and we hope to see

402
00:25:56.559 --> 00:26:00.880
you guys back here next time for another regular episode,

403
00:26:00.920 --> 00:26:03.240
and then Q and A episodes and on and on

404
00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:12.039
for eternity. How about that, Fred.

405
00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:09.839
Or as long as we can do.

406
00:26:09.799 --> 00:26:13.880
It for Ah. That works too, Thank you so much, everybody.

407
00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:15.200
We'll catch you next time.

408
00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:18.799
Hi, Fred, Hi, Heidi, Hello Hugh. In the studio, Andrew

409
00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:24.200
reporting from the Crown Princess Cruise ship. We are currently

410
00:26:24.680 --> 00:26:28.160
rounding the Cape of Good Hope, which was also once

411
00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:32.079
known as the Cape of Storms, and that's actually what

412
00:26:32.160 --> 00:26:34.920
it's been like. The last time I spoke to you,

413
00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.359
we'd been to Mauritius. Unfortunately we could not get to

414
00:26:39.599 --> 00:26:42.359
Cape Town on the other side of Africa in time

415
00:26:43.000 --> 00:26:46.319
because of the storms, so we just hung around Durban

416
00:26:46.359 --> 00:26:49.240
for a while, going backwards and forwards, and then finally

417
00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:51.599
they arranged for us to go ashore in Durban, so

418
00:26:51.759 --> 00:26:54.640
we did that and Judy and I did a tour

419
00:26:54.720 --> 00:26:58.880
out to the place where Nelson Mandela was captured in

420
00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:03.200
nineteen sixty two and arrested, and they've got this fantastic

421
00:27:03.279 --> 00:27:10.759
sculpture there of Nelson Mandela's head face. It's fifty metal

422
00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:13.440
poles that have been put in the ground and they

423
00:27:13.480 --> 00:27:16.119
just look like a bunch of poles sticking up out

424
00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:19.759
of nowhere. But when you stand on a specific spot

425
00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:23.680
you can see his face. It is quite remarkable. And

426
00:27:23.720 --> 00:27:27.920
the museum they're telling the life and times of the apartheid,

427
00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:33.200
anti apartheid movement, starting with Mahat mcgandhi and then the

428
00:27:33.240 --> 00:27:37.680
formation of the ANC African National Congress and ultimately the

429
00:27:37.799 --> 00:27:42.000
leadership of Nelson Mandela and him becoming president and wiping

430
00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:44.920
out apartheid. Fantastic place to visit if you ever get

431
00:27:44.920 --> 00:27:49.319
a chance. Really remarkable. I was also struck by how

432
00:27:49.480 --> 00:27:54.759
the landscape around Durban is so much like home, grasslands

433
00:27:54.759 --> 00:27:57.559
and eucalyp trees, and it just looks so much like

434
00:27:57.599 --> 00:28:01.839
Australia with taller mountains compared to where I live in Dubbo.

435
00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:06.359
But we're just working our way around the Horn of Africa,

436
00:28:07.279 --> 00:28:09.720
due into Cape Town tomorrow morning. We spend a couple

437
00:28:09.720 --> 00:28:13.000
of days there and we're going on a safari, so

438
00:28:13.400 --> 00:28:16.160
we're looking forward to that. It hasn't been too bad

439
00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:19.559
on board. The captain's taking his time so we don't

440
00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:22.200
get caught up in heavy swells. But right now it's

441
00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:27.720
looking very angry outside and all the decks have been closed,

442
00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:31.279
so we're inside staying nice and cool, nice and warm.

443
00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:34.400
It's pretty cold out there and it looks like it'll

444
00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:37.039
be raining when we get to Cape Town. But because

445
00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:39.960
we're two days behind schedule as a consequence of the weather,

446
00:28:40.599 --> 00:28:42.599
we'll be missing out on a few ports, so we

447
00:28:42.680 --> 00:28:46.480
won't be going to any of the stops that we'd

448
00:28:46.480 --> 00:28:51.839
previously planned, such as the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, and

449
00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:54.640
we're also going to miss out on Gibraltar, very sadly,

450
00:28:55.079 --> 00:28:58.960
but we're picking up ten of Reef, so we got Durban,

451
00:28:59.000 --> 00:29:01.440
we got ten of Reef, We miss those other three

452
00:29:01.519 --> 00:29:04.960
and then yeah, we'll move on from there, hopefully get

453
00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:07.880
to Barcelona on time because there's a big change of

454
00:29:09.079 --> 00:29:12.440
passengers there so they can't be late for that. Otherwise

455
00:29:12.440 --> 00:29:15.160
people will be pitching tents. It's about it. I think

456
00:29:15.599 --> 00:29:18.680
we're having a great time, feeling relaxed, and hope all

457
00:29:18.759 --> 00:29:22.079
is well with everybody on the Space Nuts team and

458
00:29:22.200 --> 00:29:26.039
the audience around the wider world. If you're anywhere where

459
00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:30.799
I'm stopping, maybe you can wave if you're close by.

460
00:29:31.720 --> 00:29:33.200
But I'll talk to you again next week.

461
00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:33.680
Bye.

462
00:29:33.720 --> 00:29:38.680
For now, You'll be listening to the Space Nuts podcast.

463
00:29:39.640 --> 00:29:44.799
Available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and all your favorite

464
00:29:44.799 --> 00:29:45.680
podcast player.

465
00:29:45.880 --> 00:29:49.000
You can also stream on demand at bides dot com.

466
00:29:49.200 --> 00:29:54.440
This has been another quality podcast production from nights dot com.
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