Aug. 14, 2025
NISAR Launch: Unveiling Earth's Secrets Through Radar
In this episode of SpaceTime, we journey through the latest advancements in space exploration and cosmology, featuring a groundbreaking radar mission, a new hypothesis on the universe's origins, and updates on the International Space Station.
NISAR: A New Era in Earth Observation
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched the NISAR satellite, a joint mission with NASA that promises to revolutionise our understanding of Earth's dynamic systems. This advanced synthetic aperture radar satellite will monitor changes in forests, wetlands, and ice-covered surfaces with unprecedented detail, providing crucial data for disaster response, infrastructure management, and climate change studies. With its ability to see through clouds and operate day and night, NISAR will deliver vital insights into the planet's movements and environmental changes every 12 days, enhancing our preparedness for natural hazards.
A New Hypothesis on the Universe's Origins
In a significant shift in cosmological theory, scientists have proposed a new model that explains the universe's early moments without relying on speculative elements. This revolutionary hypothesis, reported in the journal Physical Review Research, suggests that natural quantum fluctuations in a state known as de Sitter space could account for the density differences that led to the formation of galaxies and stars. By eliminating arbitrary parameters, this model offers a clearer understanding of the cosmos and poses fundamental questions about our existence and origins.
Russia's Commitment to the International Space Station
In a surprising announcement, Russia has confirmed its intention to remain a partner in the International Space Station (ISS) project until at least 2028, despite previous threats to withdraw. This decision comes amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and technical challenges within the Russian segment of the ISS. As the global space community continues to evolve, Russia's commitment ensures continued collaboration in low Earth orbit, even as plans for an independent Russian space station progress.
www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com
✍️ Episode References
Physical Review Research
https://journals.aps.org/prresearch/
NASA NISAR Mission
https://www.nasa.gov/nisar
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/spacetime-space-astronomy--2458531/support.
The Astronomy, Space, Technology & Science News Podcast.
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Stuart Gary: This is space time series 28 episode 98
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full broadcast on 15 August 2025.
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Coming up on Space Time. The joint American
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Indian NISA radar mission lifts off
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a new hypothesis to understand the origins of the
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universe. And Russia says it uh, will
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remain part of the International Space station project until
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2028. All that and more coming
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up on uh, Space Time.
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Welcome to Space Time with Stuart.
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The Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO
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has successfully launched a new joint American Indian
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Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite called
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nisar. The mission was launched aboard an Indian
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GSLV geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle from
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the Shitishtawan Space Centre in Siri Kota Province
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on the Bay of Be coast. Orbiting at an
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altitude of 747 kilometres, NISA
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will help protect communities by providing dynamic three
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dimensional images of the Earth in unprecedented detail.
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This will allow faster disaster response, better
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infrastructure monitoring as well as agricultural management
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opportunities. Jointly developed by NASA
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and isro, NISA will use two advanced radar
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instruments to track changes in Earth's forests and wetlands,
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monitor deformation and motion of the planet's frozen
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surfaces and detect the movement of the Earth's crust down
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to fractions of a centimetre, a key measurement in
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understanding how the land surface moves before, during
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and after earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and
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landslides. The mission's two radars
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will monitor nearly all of the planet's land and ice covered
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surfaces twice every 12 days, including
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areas of the polar southern hemisphere rarely covered by
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other Earth observing radar, uh, satellites. And
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unlike optical sensors, NISA will be able to see
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through clouds, making it possible to monitor surfaces
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during storms in both day and night. In
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the coming weeks the spacecraft will begin a roughly 90
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day commissioning phase. During this time it
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will deploy its primary 12 metre diameter radar
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antenna reflector. Uh, it's this reflector which
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will direct and receive the microwave signals coming from the
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two radars. By interpreting the differences
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between the two radars, researchers will be able to discern
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characteristics about the surface below. As
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NISAR passes over the same location twice every 12
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days, scientists will be able to evaluate how characteristics have
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changed over that time, revealing new insights
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about Earth's uh, dynamic surfaces.
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This report from NASA tv.
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Paul Rosen: With nisar we're tracking the changes of the
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solid Earth and how it's moving ecosystems,
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ice cover and any other thing that's
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changing at the scale of a centimetre on the Earth
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in a way that we've never been able to see before.
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Because of these very subtle motions we can
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measure, we're able to understand what's
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happening below. The uh, surface of the Earth at great
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precision we can see subsidence
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and that allows us then to manage resources
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of what's happening below the Earth.
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Deepak Putravu: Scientists want to study the movements of the Earth's surface,
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uh, to understand the processes that could trigger
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earthquakes, volcanoes and.
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Paul Rosen: Landslides and, and that allows us then to
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understand risks associated with natural
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hazards.
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Deepak Putravu: Which in turn can help in mitigation measures
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and early response. Other changes over the
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Earth's surface include melting of glaciers and ice
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sheets, changes in forest biomass, soil
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moisture and shoreline changes.
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Tim Mendham: It's based on radar, so it has two different
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frequency radars and it basically looks
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through clouds and sees the surface of the Earth.
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Paul Rosen: We can see day and night through clouds and
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uh, we're covering all of the land and all of the ice
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covered surfaces of Earth every week.
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NISAR is quite unique in that it
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has two radars, one provided by
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NASA, one provided by isro, the Indian
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Space Research Organisation.
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Chitra Rao: NASA and ISRO have collaborated in
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this mission. Till last year we were there at
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jpl, NASA where the radars
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got integrated and tested and were shipped back to
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India.
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Deepak Putravu: NASIR is measuring the changes on the Earth's
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surface which are either factors or
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indicators of uh, climate change. The society
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will also immensely benefit due to its
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contribution towards disaster management
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and providing food and water security.
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Paul Rosen: These things are global problems that the global community
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needs to come to, together to resolve.
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Chitra Rao: Now it looks like we are no more uh, belonging to
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two different worlds and we all belong to the space community.
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That's it.
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Tim Mendham: There's the excitement about what we are going to learn that
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we didn't even anticipate we were going to learn.
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Stuart Gary: And in that report from NASA TV we had from NASA project
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scientist Paul Rosen from NASA's Jet Propulsion
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Laboratory in Pasadena California.
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NASA Science co lead Deepak Putravu from
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isro, the Indian Space Research Organisation,
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NISA Deputy Project Manager uh, Wendy Edelston from
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NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena California
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and NISA Deputy Project Director uh, Chitra
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Rao from isro, the Indian Space Research
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Organisation.
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This is space time still to come,
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a new hypothesis to understand the origins of the
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universe and Russia says it will remain part of
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the International Space Station until at least
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2028. All that and more still to come
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um, on space time
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scientists have developed a revolutionary new hypothesis to
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try and better understand the origins of the universe
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without the need for speculative elements.
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Um, the new idea reported in the journal Physical
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Review Research introduces a radical change in
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the understanding of the first moments after the Big Bang
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without relying on the speculative Assumptions that
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physicists have traditionally needed to assume.
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For decades, cosmologists have worked under the
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inflationary paradigm. That's a model that suggests that
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the universe suddenly expanded extremely rapidly
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through cosmic inflation in just a fraction of a second,
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thus paving the way for everything we observe today.
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Cosmic inflation is the only way Scientists can
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explain why the universe looks the way it does
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today, with things looking pretty much the same in all
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directions. The problem is this model includes too
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many adjustable parameters, so called free parameters,
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which can be modified scientifically. This
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poses a problem because it makes it difficult to know whether a model
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is truly predicting what happened or simply adapting to the
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data. Now, in a significant breakthrough,
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Scientists have proposed a new model in which the early universe
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doesn't require any of these arbitrary parameters.
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Instead, it begins with a well established cosmic state
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Called de ceta space, which is consistent with
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current observations of dark energy. De
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Setter space is a theoretical concept in physics,
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Specifically within general relativity, Representing a
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universe with a positive cosmological constant Leading to
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an exponential expansion. It's a
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maximally synthetic space, Meaning it has a
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uniform curvature and looks the same in all locations
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and directions. Think of it as sort of like being an empty
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universe With a repulsive force, the cosmological
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constant, what we call dark energy, which is
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causing it to expand even without any matter.
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The new model doesn't rely on any hypothetical
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fields or particles, Such as cosmic inflation.
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Instead, it suggests that natural quantum fluctuations
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in space time Were sufficient to see the small
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density differences that eventually gave rise to
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galaxies, stars, and planets. These ripples
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evolve nonlinearly, interacting and generating
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complexity over time, Allowing for verifiable
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predictions with real data. The study's lead author,
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Raul Jimenez, from the University of Barcelona, says
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that for decades, Scientists have tried to understand the early
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moments of the universe Using models based on elements
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we've never observed. He says what makes this
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proposal so exciting Is its simplicity and
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variability. It doesn't add any speculative
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elements, but rather demonstrates that gravity and
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quantum mechanics May be sufficient to explain how
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the structure of the cosmos came into being. He
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says understanding the origins of the universe Is not
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just a philosophical question, but it actually helps
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answer fundamental questions about who we are
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and where we came from.
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This space time still to come.
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Russia to remain a partner with the International Space
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Station until at least 2028. And later in the
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science report, a new study has found that walking
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40 steps a minute faster could be enough to help
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older people improve their endurance and aerobic
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capac. All that and more still to come on, um,
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space time.
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The Russian Federal space Agency Roscosmos
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has announced that it will remain in partnership with the International
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space station until 2028.
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For years now, the Kremlin has been threatening to leave the International
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Space Station partnership. Ongoing issues,
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including concerns over quality control and reliability
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problems with Russian segments of the orbiting outpost, have
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caused friction with Moscow's American, European and
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Japanese partners. And then there was the
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Russian invasion of Ukraine, which triggered major
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sanctions by Western nations, including
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cooperation in space. But somehow the
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International Space Station project has remained
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insulated from these issues, at least to a degree.
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The West's disapproval of Moscow's actions in
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Ukraine led to Moscow announcing in 2022
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that it would leave the International Space station partnership
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by 2024. At the same time, the
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Kremlin moved forward with its plans to launch its own
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independent standalone space station, the ros, or
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Russian Orbital Space Station. And Moscow went
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a step further. They announced plans to team up with their new
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best friend China to build a joint space station on
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the moon's surface. One which could be operational by
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the2030s. The Russian orbital space
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station's core module, known as the Science Power Module
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1, was slated for launch in 2024, at which
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time Russia would leave the International Space Station.
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However, corruption within the Russian space industry, as
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well as ongoing construction problems and chronic funding issues
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has continuously delayed the project, forcing
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Moscow to repeatedly delay Roscosmos
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departure from the ISS partnership. Now the
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head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Bankanov, uh, says Moscow will
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remain as a partner with the ISS until 20.
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And that's just two years before NASA plans to deorbit the outpost
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in 2030. Anyway. The International Space
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Station's first modules were launched way back in
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1998. It was originally planned to remain
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in orbit until 2024, but the SO called
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American section of the space station, which also contains the
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Japanese and European modules, is operating fine.
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It's only the Russian segments which keep having leaks and other
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problems. As for what happens after the space
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station de orbits, several private companies are already
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developing plans to launch their own space stations over the next
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dec. And NASA, together with the European
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Space Agency and Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency
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jaxa, uh, are already building modules for the new Lunar
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Gateway space Station. That'll be an orbital base in
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cislunar space for manned missions to the moon's
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surface and eventually onto Mars and
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beyond. This is space, time
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and time. Now to take another brief look at some of the other stories making
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news in science this week with a science report.
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A new study claims that walking just 14 extra
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steps a minute faster could be enough to help older
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people improve their walking endurance and aerobic
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capacity. A report in the journal PLOS ONE
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looked at a small study of around 100 people living in
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a retirement community. The authors found that those
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who increased the number of walking steps they took per minute
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had around a 10% increase in their chances of
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having an improvement in their functional capacity.
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Engineers from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
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University have produced a new type of 3 dimensionally
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printed titanium that's about a third cheaper than
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currently commonly used titanium alloys.
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The new researcher reported in the journal Nature
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Communications used readily available and cheaper
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alternative materials to replace the increasingly expensive
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vanadium. The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
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has now filed a provisional patent on their innovative
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approach as the team considers future commercial
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opportunities.
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Palaeontologists have discovered dinosaurs from different
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species walking together some 76 million years
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ago. Sort of like herds of zebras and wildebeests do
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in Africa today. The findings, reported in the
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journal PLOS one represents the first evidence of
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multi species dinosaur herding behaviour.
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The authors say the track showed horned ceratopsians
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and armoured ankylosaurs travelled together during the
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late Cretaceous epoch across what is now
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Alberta in Canada. The discovery in
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Canada's Dinosaur Provincial park also includes tracks
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of two large tyrannosaurs walking perpendicular
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to the herd, suggesting a possible predator stalking
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behaviour. These findings are, uh, providing a rare
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snapshot into how these ancient animals interacted
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in their natural environment.
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Okay, time now for the silliest story of the week.
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And a British psychic who claims he was abducted by
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extraterrestrials back in the 1980s has now
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developed what he says is a five point guide to
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determine if you too have been the victim of an alien
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probing. Philip Kinsilla claims he was beamed
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aboard an alien spaceship, stripped down, and
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in true alien fashion, given the sort of probing the
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TSA would be proud of as to why
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aliens travelled light years across the galaxy just to probe
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him, that's still a bit of a mystery. Timms Mendham from
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Australian Sceptics says Kinsella claims many
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victims have had their own ET experience, but
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simply don't remember it because of alien mind
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control.
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Tim Mendham: This actually was developed by someone who reckons they
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were abducted by reptilian aliens when
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he was stripped down, probed, etc. And then he
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got all these sort of psychic powers. He developed these sure
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signs to show that you've been abducted, and I'm sure
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judging by how broad they are,
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indicates that basically everyone's been abducted at some stage or another.
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Some of these are pretty strange One is mysterious bumps under your skin.
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We're not talking about fatty substances, we're talking about implants.
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Right. So you can check on them. You can get an X ray or something.
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Stuart Gary: Pacemaker or something like that.
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Tim Mendham: Yeah, something more subtle than that. If you know your X
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files. People get implants all the time for tracking you with controlling
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your brain. Could be as small as a grain of rice. You can
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check it out with X rays just to see if it's actually there or not. So
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maybe you should do that. Unexplained nosebleeds. A lot of people get
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unexplained nosebleeds. That happens suddenly your nose starts
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bleeding.
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Stuart Gary: I have never had a nosebleed.
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Tim Mendham: Haven't you? No.
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Stuart Gary: Yeah. Never ever, ever, ever.
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Tim Mendham: It's not fun when you're sitting there during a meeting and your stomach starts
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looking. Suddenly gotta rush out and grab a hanky. You sit there looking
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stupid with a hanky shoved up your nose.
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Stuart Gary: Tissues in each nostril.
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Tim Mendham: So I'll explain. Nosebleeds. So suddenly you've got this bump
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under your skin. You've got your nose starts bleeding. Another one is
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strange flashbacks. Not quite sure what strange means, actually.
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Vivid memories of being somewhere otherworldly,
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perhaps. Maybe there are things locked away in your brain.
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Stuart Gary: Cold metal table in a dark area with.
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Tim Mendham: That's right.
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Stuart Gary: Or shoving things in places you'd rather not have them shove
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things.
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Tim Mendham: That's the irony. Because lost time. Yeah, sort of. What happened
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to that, uh, that 20 minutes? You know? Was I just daydreaming?
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Last one, I should add. Psychic powers. If you have psychic powers, you've been
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abducted by aliens. So that's one most people might not have.
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But if you do have it and your nose bleeds, you've probably been abducted.
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Stuart Gary: It was Howard Wolowitz from Big Bang Theory who said it best
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is if you're going to date someone, date someone who feels they've been abducted
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by aliens. Because you know that. That might have been
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approving.
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Tim Mendham: Yeah, good old Wallowitz. And he went to space.
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Stuart Gary: And if you Google on yout hear an astronaut scream
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for eight minutes, it's there. They actually did it.
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Wallowit's screaming for eight minutes in the SO's
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capsule. Very funny stuff. That's Timms Inam
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from Australian Sceptics.
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And that's the show for now. Space Time is
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available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple
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00:16:55.820 --> 00:16:58.460
Podcasts, itunes, Stitcher, Google
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Podcast, Pocketcasts, Spotify,
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YouTube. Your favourite podcast download provider
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and from spacetimewithstuartgarry.com
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spacetime's also broadcast through the National Science
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foundation on Science Zone Radio and on both
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you can help to support our show by visiting the Space
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and other rewards. Just go to
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spacetimewithstuartgarry.com for full
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details. You've been listening to Space
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00:17:45.490 --> 00:17:47.930
with Stuart Gary. This has been another
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00:17:47.930 --> 00:17:50.890
quality podcast production from bytes.com.
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Stuart Gary: This is space time series 28 episode 98
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full broadcast on 15 August 2025.
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Coming up on Space Time. The joint American
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00:00:09.360 --> 00:00:11.760
Indian NISA radar mission lifts off
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a new hypothesis to understand the origins of the
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universe. And Russia says it uh, will
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remain part of the International Space station project until
7
00:00:20.720 --> 00:00:23.640
2028. All that and more coming
8
00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:25.520
up on uh, Space Time.
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Welcome to Space Time with Stuart.
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The Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO
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has successfully launched a new joint American Indian
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Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite called
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nisar. The mission was launched aboard an Indian
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GSLV geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle from
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the Shitishtawan Space Centre in Siri Kota Province
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on the Bay of Be coast. Orbiting at an
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altitude of 747 kilometres, NISA
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will help protect communities by providing dynamic three
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dimensional images of the Earth in unprecedented detail.
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This will allow faster disaster response, better
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infrastructure monitoring as well as agricultural management
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opportunities. Jointly developed by NASA
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and isro, NISA will use two advanced radar
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instruments to track changes in Earth's forests and wetlands,
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monitor deformation and motion of the planet's frozen
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surfaces and detect the movement of the Earth's crust down
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to fractions of a centimetre, a key measurement in
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understanding how the land surface moves before, during
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and after earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and
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landslides. The mission's two radars
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will monitor nearly all of the planet's land and ice covered
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surfaces twice every 12 days, including
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areas of the polar southern hemisphere rarely covered by
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other Earth observing radar, uh, satellites. And
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unlike optical sensors, NISA will be able to see
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through clouds, making it possible to monitor surfaces
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during storms in both day and night. In
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the coming weeks the spacecraft will begin a roughly 90
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day commissioning phase. During this time it
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will deploy its primary 12 metre diameter radar
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antenna reflector. Uh, it's this reflector which
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will direct and receive the microwave signals coming from the
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two radars. By interpreting the differences
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between the two radars, researchers will be able to discern
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characteristics about the surface below. As
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NISAR passes over the same location twice every 12
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days, scientists will be able to evaluate how characteristics have
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changed over that time, revealing new insights
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about Earth's uh, dynamic surfaces.
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This report from NASA tv.
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Paul Rosen: With nisar we're tracking the changes of the
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solid Earth and how it's moving ecosystems,
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ice cover and any other thing that's
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changing at the scale of a centimetre on the Earth
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in a way that we've never been able to see before.
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Because of these very subtle motions we can
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measure, we're able to understand what's
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happening below. The uh, surface of the Earth at great
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precision we can see subsidence
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and that allows us then to manage resources
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of what's happening below the Earth.
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Deepak Putravu: Scientists want to study the movements of the Earth's surface,
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uh, to understand the processes that could trigger
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earthquakes, volcanoes and.
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Paul Rosen: Landslides and, and that allows us then to
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understand risks associated with natural
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hazards.
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Deepak Putravu: Which in turn can help in mitigation measures
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and early response. Other changes over the
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Earth's surface include melting of glaciers and ice
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sheets, changes in forest biomass, soil
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moisture and shoreline changes.
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Tim Mendham: It's based on radar, so it has two different
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frequency radars and it basically looks
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through clouds and sees the surface of the Earth.
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Paul Rosen: We can see day and night through clouds and
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uh, we're covering all of the land and all of the ice
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covered surfaces of Earth every week.
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NISAR is quite unique in that it
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has two radars, one provided by
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NASA, one provided by isro, the Indian
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Space Research Organisation.
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Chitra Rao: NASA and ISRO have collaborated in
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this mission. Till last year we were there at
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jpl, NASA where the radars
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got integrated and tested and were shipped back to
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India.
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Deepak Putravu: NASIR is measuring the changes on the Earth's
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surface which are either factors or
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indicators of uh, climate change. The society
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will also immensely benefit due to its
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contribution towards disaster management
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and providing food and water security.
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Paul Rosen: These things are global problems that the global community
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needs to come to, together to resolve.
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Chitra Rao: Now it looks like we are no more uh, belonging to
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two different worlds and we all belong to the space community.
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That's it.
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Tim Mendham: There's the excitement about what we are going to learn that
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we didn't even anticipate we were going to learn.
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Stuart Gary: And in that report from NASA TV we had from NASA project
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scientist Paul Rosen from NASA's Jet Propulsion
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Laboratory in Pasadena California.
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NASA Science co lead Deepak Putravu from
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isro, the Indian Space Research Organisation,
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NISA Deputy Project Manager uh, Wendy Edelston from
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NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena California
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and NISA Deputy Project Director uh, Chitra
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Rao from isro, the Indian Space Research
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Organisation.
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This is space time still to come,
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a new hypothesis to understand the origins of the
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universe and Russia says it will remain part of
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the International Space Station until at least
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2028. All that and more still to come
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um, on space time
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scientists have developed a revolutionary new hypothesis to
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try and better understand the origins of the universe
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without the need for speculative elements.
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Um, the new idea reported in the journal Physical
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Review Research introduces a radical change in
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the understanding of the first moments after the Big Bang
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without relying on the speculative Assumptions that
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physicists have traditionally needed to assume.
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For decades, cosmologists have worked under the
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inflationary paradigm. That's a model that suggests that
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the universe suddenly expanded extremely rapidly
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through cosmic inflation in just a fraction of a second,
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thus paving the way for everything we observe today.
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Cosmic inflation is the only way Scientists can
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explain why the universe looks the way it does
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today, with things looking pretty much the same in all
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directions. The problem is this model includes too
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many adjustable parameters, so called free parameters,
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which can be modified scientifically. This
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poses a problem because it makes it difficult to know whether a model
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is truly predicting what happened or simply adapting to the
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data. Now, in a significant breakthrough,
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Scientists have proposed a new model in which the early universe
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doesn't require any of these arbitrary parameters.
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Instead, it begins with a well established cosmic state
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Called de ceta space, which is consistent with
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current observations of dark energy. De
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Setter space is a theoretical concept in physics,
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Specifically within general relativity, Representing a
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universe with a positive cosmological constant Leading to
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an exponential expansion. It's a
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maximally synthetic space, Meaning it has a
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uniform curvature and looks the same in all locations
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and directions. Think of it as sort of like being an empty
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universe With a repulsive force, the cosmological
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constant, what we call dark energy, which is
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causing it to expand even without any matter.
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The new model doesn't rely on any hypothetical
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fields or particles, Such as cosmic inflation.
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Instead, it suggests that natural quantum fluctuations
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in space time Were sufficient to see the small
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density differences that eventually gave rise to
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galaxies, stars, and planets. These ripples
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evolve nonlinearly, interacting and generating
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complexity over time, Allowing for verifiable
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predictions with real data. The study's lead author,
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Raul Jimenez, from the University of Barcelona, says
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that for decades, Scientists have tried to understand the early
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moments of the universe Using models based on elements
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we've never observed. He says what makes this
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proposal so exciting Is its simplicity and
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variability. It doesn't add any speculative
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elements, but rather demonstrates that gravity and
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quantum mechanics May be sufficient to explain how
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the structure of the cosmos came into being. He
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says understanding the origins of the universe Is not
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just a philosophical question, but it actually helps
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answer fundamental questions about who we are
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and where we came from.
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This space time still to come.
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Russia to remain a partner with the International Space
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Station until at least 2028. And later in the
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science report, a new study has found that walking
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40 steps a minute faster could be enough to help
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older people improve their endurance and aerobic
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capac. All that and more still to come on, um,
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space time.
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The Russian Federal space Agency Roscosmos
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has announced that it will remain in partnership with the International
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space station until 2028.
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For years now, the Kremlin has been threatening to leave the International
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Space Station partnership. Ongoing issues,
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including concerns over quality control and reliability
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problems with Russian segments of the orbiting outpost, have
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caused friction with Moscow's American, European and
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Japanese partners. And then there was the
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Russian invasion of Ukraine, which triggered major
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sanctions by Western nations, including
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cooperation in space. But somehow the
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International Space Station project has remained
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insulated from these issues, at least to a degree.
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The West's disapproval of Moscow's actions in
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Ukraine led to Moscow announcing in 2022
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that it would leave the International Space station partnership
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by 2024. At the same time, the
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Kremlin moved forward with its plans to launch its own
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independent standalone space station, the ros, or
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Russian Orbital Space Station. And Moscow went
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a step further. They announced plans to team up with their new
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best friend China to build a joint space station on
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the moon's surface. One which could be operational by
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the2030s. The Russian orbital space
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station's core module, known as the Science Power Module
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1, was slated for launch in 2024, at which
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time Russia would leave the International Space Station.
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However, corruption within the Russian space industry, as
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well as ongoing construction problems and chronic funding issues
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has continuously delayed the project, forcing
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Moscow to repeatedly delay Roscosmos
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departure from the ISS partnership. Now the
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head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Bankanov, uh, says Moscow will
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remain as a partner with the ISS until 20.
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And that's just two years before NASA plans to deorbit the outpost
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in 2030. Anyway. The International Space
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Station's first modules were launched way back in
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1998. It was originally planned to remain
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in orbit until 2024, but the SO called
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American section of the space station, which also contains the
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Japanese and European modules, is operating fine.
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It's only the Russian segments which keep having leaks and other
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problems. As for what happens after the space
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station de orbits, several private companies are already
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developing plans to launch their own space stations over the next
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dec. And NASA, together with the European
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Space Agency and Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency
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jaxa, uh, are already building modules for the new Lunar
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Gateway space Station. That'll be an orbital base in
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cislunar space for manned missions to the moon's
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surface and eventually onto Mars and
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beyond. This is space, time
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and time. Now to take another brief look at some of the other stories making
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news in science this week with a science report.
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A new study claims that walking just 14 extra
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steps a minute faster could be enough to help older
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people improve their walking endurance and aerobic
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capacity. A report in the journal PLOS ONE
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looked at a small study of around 100 people living in
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a retirement community. The authors found that those
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who increased the number of walking steps they took per minute
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had around a 10% increase in their chances of
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having an improvement in their functional capacity.
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Engineers from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
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University have produced a new type of 3 dimensionally
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printed titanium that's about a third cheaper than
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currently commonly used titanium alloys.
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The new researcher reported in the journal Nature
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Communications used readily available and cheaper
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alternative materials to replace the increasingly expensive
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vanadium. The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
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has now filed a provisional patent on their innovative
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approach as the team considers future commercial
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opportunities.
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Palaeontologists have discovered dinosaurs from different
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species walking together some 76 million years
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ago. Sort of like herds of zebras and wildebeests do
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in Africa today. The findings, reported in the
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journal PLOS one represents the first evidence of
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multi species dinosaur herding behaviour.
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The authors say the track showed horned ceratopsians
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and armoured ankylosaurs travelled together during the
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late Cretaceous epoch across what is now
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Alberta in Canada. The discovery in
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Canada's Dinosaur Provincial park also includes tracks
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of two large tyrannosaurs walking perpendicular
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to the herd, suggesting a possible predator stalking
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behaviour. These findings are, uh, providing a rare
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snapshot into how these ancient animals interacted
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in their natural environment.
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Okay, time now for the silliest story of the week.
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And a British psychic who claims he was abducted by
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extraterrestrials back in the 1980s has now
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developed what he says is a five point guide to
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determine if you too have been the victim of an alien
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probing. Philip Kinsilla claims he was beamed
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aboard an alien spaceship, stripped down, and
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in true alien fashion, given the sort of probing the
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TSA would be proud of as to why
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aliens travelled light years across the galaxy just to probe
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him, that's still a bit of a mystery. Timms Mendham from
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Australian Sceptics says Kinsella claims many
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victims have had their own ET experience, but
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simply don't remember it because of alien mind
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control.
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Tim Mendham: This actually was developed by someone who reckons they
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were abducted by reptilian aliens when
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he was stripped down, probed, etc. And then he
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got all these sort of psychic powers. He developed these sure
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signs to show that you've been abducted, and I'm sure
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judging by how broad they are,
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indicates that basically everyone's been abducted at some stage or another.
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Some of these are pretty strange One is mysterious bumps under your skin.
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We're not talking about fatty substances, we're talking about implants.
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Right. So you can check on them. You can get an X ray or something.
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Stuart Gary: Pacemaker or something like that.
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Tim Mendham: Yeah, something more subtle than that. If you know your X
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files. People get implants all the time for tracking you with controlling
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your brain. Could be as small as a grain of rice. You can
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check it out with X rays just to see if it's actually there or not. So
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maybe you should do that. Unexplained nosebleeds. A lot of people get
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unexplained nosebleeds. That happens suddenly your nose starts
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bleeding.
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Stuart Gary: I have never had a nosebleed.
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Tim Mendham: Haven't you? No.
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Stuart Gary: Yeah. Never ever, ever, ever.
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Tim Mendham: It's not fun when you're sitting there during a meeting and your stomach starts
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looking. Suddenly gotta rush out and grab a hanky. You sit there looking
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stupid with a hanky shoved up your nose.
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Stuart Gary: Tissues in each nostril.
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Tim Mendham: So I'll explain. Nosebleeds. So suddenly you've got this bump
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under your skin. You've got your nose starts bleeding. Another one is
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strange flashbacks. Not quite sure what strange means, actually.
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Vivid memories of being somewhere otherworldly,
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perhaps. Maybe there are things locked away in your brain.
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Stuart Gary: Cold metal table in a dark area with.
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Tim Mendham: That's right.
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Stuart Gary: Or shoving things in places you'd rather not have them shove
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things.
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Tim Mendham: That's the irony. Because lost time. Yeah, sort of. What happened
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to that, uh, that 20 minutes? You know? Was I just daydreaming?
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Last one, I should add. Psychic powers. If you have psychic powers, you've been
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abducted by aliens. So that's one most people might not have.
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But if you do have it and your nose bleeds, you've probably been abducted.
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Stuart Gary: It was Howard Wolowitz from Big Bang Theory who said it best
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is if you're going to date someone, date someone who feels they've been abducted
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by aliens. Because you know that. That might have been
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approving.
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Tim Mendham: Yeah, good old Wallowitz. And he went to space.
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Stuart Gary: And if you Google on yout hear an astronaut scream
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for eight minutes, it's there. They actually did it.
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Wallowit's screaming for eight minutes in the SO's
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capsule. Very funny stuff. That's Timms Inam
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from Australian Sceptics.
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And that's the show for now. Space Time is
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available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple
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with Stuart Gary. This has been another
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