S27E136: Magnetars' Mysterious Birth, Voyager's Light Day Journey, and Australia's Satellite Setback

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This is Space Time, Series 27,
Episode 136, for broadcast on

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Remembrance Day, the 11th of
November, 2024. Coming up on

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Space Time, discovering the
origins of Magnetars, NASA's

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Voyager 1 spacecraft about to
reach one light day away from

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Earth, and Australia axes a
vital military satellite defense

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system. All that and more coming
up on Space Time.

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Welcome to Space Time.

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With Stuart Gary.

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A new study suggests that highly
magnetic neutron stars known as

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Magnetars are actually born out
of stellar mergers rather than

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single-star supernova events.
The findings reported in the

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journal Nature follows new
research into the origins of

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fast radio bursts.

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Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, are
sudden high-energy flashes at

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very specific wavelengths,
lasting just nanoseconds and

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usually originating at cosmic
distances. But in that time,

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they can release more energy
than half a billion suns. The

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first fast radio burst was
discovered back in 2007. That

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was in data from the Parkes
Radio Telescope in New South

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Wales.

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Most are singular events,
occurring just once at a

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specific location and then never
again. And that suggests they're

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caused by some sort of
cataclysmic event, such as a

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supernova, the destructive
explosion of a star. But

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astronomers are now detecting
more and more fast radio bursts

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that have repeated from the same
location, and that suggests a

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different cause.

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Feeding black holes, glitching
neutron stars, and highly

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magnetized neutron stars called
Magnetars are all suspected. Or

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on the other hand, it could
simply be that all fast radio

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bursts are repeaters, with some
just a lot more active than

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others. Currently, confirmed
fast radio bursts number in the

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hundreds, and scientists are
assembling mounting evidence

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that they are triggered by
Magnetars.

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And that's where this latest
research comes in. It's found

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that fast radio bursts are more
likely to occur in massive

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star-forming galaxies rather
than low-mass ones. And this

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finding has in turn led to new
ideas about how the Magnetars

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themselves are being created.

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Specifically, the new work
suggests that these exotic dead

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stars, whose magnetic fields are
100 trillion times stronger than

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the Earth's, often form when two
stars merge and then explode as

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a supernova. Previously, it was
unclear whether Magnetars were

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formed from the explosion of two
merged stars or whether they

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might form when a single star
explodes.

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The study's lead author, Kriti
Sharma from Caltech, says the

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immense power output of
Magnetars makes them some of the

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most fascinating and extreme
objects in the universe. But

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very little is known about what
causes their formation upon the

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death of massive stars.

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And that's where this new work
comes in to try and help answer

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that question. Sharma and
colleagues use Caltech's Deep

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Synoptic Array 110 in the Owens
Valley Radio Observatory near

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Bishop, California. That array's
already detected and localised

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some 70 fast radio bursts,
pinning them down to a specific

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galaxy of origin.

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Although fast radio bursts are
now known to occur in galaxies

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that are actively forming stars,
Sharma and colleagues found that

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they tend to occur more often in
massive star-forming galaxies

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rather than low-mass
star-forming ones. And that's

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important, because massive
galaxies tend to be more

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metal-rich. That's because the
metals in our universe, that is,

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the elements manufactured by
stars, take...

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Time to build up over the course
of cosmic history. Now of course

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when astronomers speak of
metals, they're speaking of all

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elements on the periodic table
other than hydrogen and helium,

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the elements created in the Big
Bang itself.

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The fact that fast radio bursts
are more common in these

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metal-rich galaxies implies that
their source Magnetars are also

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more common in these types of
galaxies. And the simple fact

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is, stars that are rich in
metals tend to grow larger than

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other stars. Over time, as
galaxies grow, successive

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generations of stars enrich
those galaxies with more and

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more metals as those stars
evolve and die.

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Also, massive stars that explode
in supernovae and can become

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Magnetars are more commonly
found in pairs. In fact, some

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84% of all known massive stars
are in binary systems. So, when

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one star in a binary system is
puffed up due to extra metal

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content, the excess material
gets drawn over to the binary

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partner, which facilitates the
ultimate merger of the two

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stars.

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These now merged stars would
therefore have a far greater

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combined magnetic field than
that of a single star. And a

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star with more metal content
expands and drives more mass

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transfer, culminating in a
merger and thus forming an even

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more massive star with a total
magnetic field greater than what

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the individual star would have
had.

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It's nice when the pieces all
fit together. This is Space

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Time. Still to come, Voyager 1
about to reach a distance of one

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light day from Earth, and a
vital military satellite defense

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system axed by the Albanese
government. All that and more

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still to come on Space Time.

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NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is
about to become the first

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man-made object to travel more
than a light day's distance from

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Earth. Now to put that in
perspective, a light day is a

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distance of 26 billion
kilometres. Now the historic

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achievement won't happen for a
while yet, it'll be January

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2027, but it's worth mentioning
it.

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Voyager 1, together with its
twin Voyager 2 spacecraft, are

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continuing their journey through
unexplored interstellar space.

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And it's been a drama-filled
mission, with tensions again set

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soaring recently when Voyager 1
suddenly lost contact with

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mission managers.

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Scientists were concerned that
the unexpected loss signal might

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have meant the end of the
historic 47-year-long

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interstellar mission. Turns out
the loss of contact was

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triggered by a glitch in Voyager
's fault protection system that

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caused its primary radio
transmitter to suddenly switch

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off. Eventually, engineers were
able to re-establish contact.

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And identify the source of the
problem.

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Now, this system usually
autonomously manages onboard

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functions, reducing power use by
deactivating non-essential

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equipment in order to safeguard
the spacecraft's core

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operations. The incident
unfolded when the flight team,

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based at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena,

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California, commanded Voyager 1
to power on a heater on October

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16.

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Now, although the spacecraft
seemed to have enough power, the

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command unexpectedly triggered a
fault protection system. And on

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October 18, NASA's Deep Space
Communications Network was no

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longer able to detect its
signal.

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Initially, engineers
hypothesized the full protection

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system had reduced the data
transmission rate on the X-Band

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radio transmitter, requiring
less power but complicating

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signal detection. Eventually,
they were able to detect a weak

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signal coming from the
spacecraft, indicating that

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Voyager 1 remained operational
and was in a stable condition.

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However, the following day,
October 19th, communications

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appeared to cease entirely,
leading the team to suspect that

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Voyager's fourth protection
system activated again,

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switching from the primary
X-Band transmitter to a much

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weaker S-Band transmitter. Now,
this S-Band transmitter has not

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been used since 1981.

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It emits a weaker signal and
therefore presents a far greater

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chance for detection over
Voyager 1's nearly

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25,879,000,000 km distance.
Glenn Nagel from NASA's Deep

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Space Communications Network
Complex near Canberra says

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engineers managed to pick up the
S-Band signal and confirm that

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Voyager 1 remains operational,
although full functionality has

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not yet been restored.

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Yes, just in recent times, a
standard command set sent to the

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spacecraft, they commanded it to
turn one of its onboard heaters

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on, and that seems to have
tripped a fault inside the

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computer on the Voyager
spacecraft, and it did something

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that wasn't expected.

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Normally the spacecraft
transmits to us on its X-Band

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transmitter, which is a good,
strong frequency that we can get

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back data from the spacecraft
and understand about the health

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of the spacecraft. But this
fault turned off the X-Band and

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turned on the S-Band
communication. Now the S-Band

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transmitter hasn't been operated
in over 30 years, but this

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S-Band switched on and worked.

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So the problem with S-Band, it's
a much wider band, a much wider

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frequency and much lower signal.
Coming back to the Earth. So

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unfortunately, the spacecraft,
while we could hear it, barely

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above the background noise of
the rest of the universe, we

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could not get science data from
it.

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But what we discovered is the
spacecraft was still

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commandable, and that was really
great news. We could uplink

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commands to the spacecraft. We
had to wait for nearly 46 hours

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at round-trip time at the speed
of light to get the signal to

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Voyager 1 and back again and be
able to determine that the

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spacecraft was...

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Responding to the commands that
we gave it, to some little

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offsets in the frequency that it
was transmitting at. So that was

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good news. So we're in lock with
the spacecraft. In fact, as

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we're speaking right now, we're
actually talking with Voyager 1

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through our big disk here in
Canberra.

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And so the spacecraft seems to
be good, in good health. And now

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it's just up to the science team
to try to figure out what was

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the fault, how can they rectify
it, how can we switch back to

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the X-Band transmitter and get
back in full science mode with

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Voyager.

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Well, of course, the two Voyager
twins are getting on in years,

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aren't we all? And there have
been a couple of incidents of

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late.

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Yeah, so they've been both out
there for over 47 years now. And

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just like a lot of us, we might
get a little bit forgetful from

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time to time, have a few aches
and pains as we wake up in the

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morning.

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Last year, Voyager 2, we lost
contact with it for a few weeks

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when an incorrect command set to
the spacecraft recalibrated at

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Santana to actually point away
from the Earth. And again, it

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was sort of cambered for the
rescue, transmitting at high

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power to the spacecraft to
re-lock in and out.

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Computers even though the
antenna was pointed away from us

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and to be able to get it back
and back to science again and it

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's been quite in good health
over the last year and a half or

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so but Voyager one earlier this
year also had a problem on board

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it's on board computer which
we're talking about computers

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that were built in the 1970s
some very very basic tips on

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that spacecraft and when i talk
about a tip not like the little

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tiny ones you might have a new
car fob these are ones that are

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10 000 times less powerful than
put in the car fob to open the

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car door.

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And one of the little tips out
of a set of eight must have been

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hit by a cosmic ray strike. And
that flipped a bit on that and

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made that particular chip
unusable. And so it took a while

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to determine what was the
problem. It was the spacecraft

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was sending back gibberish to
us, basically. The spacecraft is

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talking in binary code, ones and
zeros.

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And we're either just getting
ones or just getting zeros. And

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that doesn't tell us anything
about the spacecraft. It's just

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nonsense. But some great
engineers within the science

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team and within the Deep Space
Network that we're a part of

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actually noticed that there was
some information there, buried

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quite deep.

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Into the data. And that helped
us understand what the problem

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with the spacecraft was, to
identify the problem with the

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chip on board, and then to write
a program, which we were then

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able to uplink through our
antennas and transmit to the

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spacecraft to ensure that it
could then go, don't look at

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that chip anymore.

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Let's distribute the program
across the other chip, which we

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still know are working. And as
soon as that was done, we waited

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an anxious 46 hours for the
transmission time there and

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back, and we received the data.
Voyager 1 was back in full

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communication. So this is just
another one.

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The current pause is just
another one of a series of

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issues with an aging space past.
But you've got to remember,

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nobody ever expected Voyager to
last this long. They were a

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12-year mission. Go and explore
the giant planets of our solar

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system. They finished that
journey in 1989. But they've

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kept going. They've now left
behind the solar system.

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They're both in interstellar
space. They're still telling us

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new and unique things about a
region of space that nobody...

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Ever thought we'd be having a
spacecraft operate and to

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00:12:20,186 --> 00:12:24,267
explore that region so soon. So
they've got a remarkable legacy

229
00:12:24,267 --> 00:12:26,608
behind them. They have a
remarkable journey ahead of

230
00:12:26,748 --> 00:12:26,868
them.

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00:12:26,868 --> 00:12:29,548
Scientists are still using the
data they gathered back in the

232
00:12:30,169 --> 00:12:33,570
1980s to carry out new studies
of bodies within the solar

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00:12:33,630 --> 00:12:37,491
system. Some Voyager 2 data just
the other day was used to

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00:12:37,711 --> 00:12:40,912
confirm that the Uranian Moon,
if that's the correct term,

235
00:12:40,932 --> 00:12:44,633
Miranda, possibly has a liquid
water ocean under its surface.

236
00:12:44,753 --> 00:12:46,754
Yeah, it is remarkable. It's
incredible. Still mining that

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00:12:46,834 --> 00:12:50,316
data, both the scientists all
over the world and even some

238
00:12:50,376 --> 00:12:53,739
amateurs using some of the
available Voyager data to

239
00:12:53,759 --> 00:12:57,662
actually make new discoveries,
even find a once thought-of moon

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00:12:57,742 --> 00:13:01,084
that was sort of lost out at
Neptune and rediscover that in

241
00:13:01,164 --> 00:13:04,087
some of the images just through
amateurs working on the data.

242
00:13:04,147 --> 00:13:07,549
So it's amazing that after 47
years, these two spacecraft are

243
00:13:07,549 --> 00:13:09,991
still telling us new things
about our own solar system and

244
00:13:09,971 --> 00:13:12,433
are now telling us about the
rest of the universe.

245
00:13:12,553 --> 00:13:15,336
That's Glenn Nagel from NASA's
Deep Space Communications

246
00:13:15,416 --> 00:13:19,099
Network near Canberra. The
incident is the latest example

247
00:13:19,099 --> 00:13:22,242
of the mission's complex
engineering demands, especially

248
00:13:22,242 --> 00:13:24,584
as the twin Voyager spacecraft,
which were launched back in

249
00:13:24,584 --> 00:13:28,568
1977, are edging ever closer to
the half-century Mark.

250
00:13:29,209 --> 00:13:32,212
Voyager 1 entered interstellar
space, that's the region of the

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00:13:32,232 --> 00:13:35,675
galaxy beyond the heliosphere, a
bubble created by the solar wind

252
00:13:35,695 --> 00:13:39,518
and magnetic field emanating
from the Sun. Back in 2012 when

253
00:13:39,538 --> 00:13:43,762
it was some 123 astronomical
units from the Sun. An

254
00:13:43,802 --> 00:13:46,644
astronomical unit is the average
distance between the Earth and

255
00:13:46,624 --> 00:13:51,067
the Sun, about 150 million
kilometres or 8.3 light minutes.

256
00:13:51,748 --> 00:13:55,591
Voyager 2 followed its twin into
interstellar space in 2018,

257
00:13:55,751 --> 00:13:58,373
although travelling in a
different direction. In the

258
00:13:58,413 --> 00:14:01,875
decades following their launch,
on August 20 and September 5,

259
00:14:01,875 --> 00:14:06,378
1977 respectively, the Voyager
twins have undertaken a grand

260
00:14:06,518 --> 00:14:10,601
tour of the outer solar system,
studying Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus

261
00:14:10,641 --> 00:14:11,381
and Neptune.

262
00:14:12,021 --> 00:14:14,363
Now if nothing else goes wrong,
the Voyager probes could

263
00:14:14,383 --> 00:14:17,504
continue to operate using their
existing power reserves until

264
00:14:17,524 --> 00:14:22,227
the late 2020s. But as time goes
by, continued operations are

265
00:14:22,227 --> 00:14:24,968
becoming more and more
challenging, with mission power

266
00:14:25,028 --> 00:14:28,710
diminishing by 4 watts every
year, and the two spacecraft

267
00:14:28,750 --> 00:14:31,732
will continue to cool down as
this power decreases.

268
00:14:33,093 --> 00:14:37,961
This. It's Space Time. Still to
come, the Australian government

269
00:14:38,061 --> 00:14:41,965
acts as a crucial $7 billion
satellite defence project, and

270
00:14:41,985 --> 00:14:45,709
later in the science report, it
turns out people using private

271
00:14:45,809 --> 00:14:50,153
jets generate 500 times more
carbon dioxide in a year than

272
00:14:50,193 --> 00:14:54,177
the average person. All that and
more still to come on Space

273
00:14:54,217 --> 00:14:54,718
Time.

274
00:15:10,573 --> 00:15:13,836
The Australian government has
just axed a crucial $7 billion

275
00:15:14,336 --> 00:15:18,079
satellite defence project. The
move is a significant blow to

276
00:15:18,119 --> 00:15:21,062
Australia's defence
capabilities, and it comes at a

277
00:15:21,102 --> 00:15:23,864
time of growing regional
tensions between China and

278
00:15:23,884 --> 00:15:27,067
Taiwan, China and India, and
Beijing's ever-expanding

279
00:15:27,167 --> 00:15:29,569
interests in controlling the
South China Sea.

280
00:15:30,270 --> 00:15:34,453
The ambitious JP-9102 military
satellite communications system

281
00:15:34,613 --> 00:15:37,876
was awarded just 18 months ago
to US defence contractor

282
00:15:37,916 --> 00:15:41,775
Lockheed Martin. Its sudden
cancellation marks a dramatic

283
00:15:41,855 --> 00:15:44,618
reversal for what was a key
project designed to make

284
00:15:44,638 --> 00:15:47,420
Australia's military
communications safer at a time

285
00:15:47,420 --> 00:15:50,343
when the cyber attack and
electronic warfare landscape has

286
00:15:50,403 --> 00:15:51,864
been dramatically evolving.

287
00:15:52,472 --> 00:15:55,415
As well as launching numerous
large military-grade satellites,

288
00:15:55,515 --> 00:15:58,537
the program would have also
included satellite communication

289
00:15:58,617 --> 00:16:01,540
ground stations and a central
mission control system.

290
00:16:02,180 --> 00:16:04,803
The planned satellite Network
would have provided advanced

291
00:16:04,843 --> 00:16:07,745
encryption and anti-jamming
capabilities, creating what

292
00:16:07,785 --> 00:16:11,128
experts call an uncrackable data
Network across the Australian

293
00:16:11,208 --> 00:16:14,971
Defence Force. It would have
provided secure communications

294
00:16:14,991 --> 00:16:18,554
for military aircraft, naval
vessels and ground forces over

295
00:16:18,554 --> 00:16:20,436
the vast Indo-Pacific region.

296
00:16:21,132 --> 00:16:24,554
Without it, Australia's military
lacks the comprehensive coverage

297
00:16:24,574 --> 00:16:28,316
and secure communications
Network that JP9102 would have

298
00:16:28,336 --> 00:16:32,178
delivered. The decision comes at
a time when Australia's Foreign

299
00:16:32,238 --> 00:16:36,260
Minister Penny Wong has given
more than $32.2 million of

300
00:16:36,300 --> 00:16:39,841
taxpayer money to groups like
UNRWA, the controversial United

301
00:16:39,881 --> 00:16:42,823
Nations organisation with close
ties to Hamas and other

302
00:16:42,883 --> 00:16:45,024
Palestinian terrorist
organisations.

303
00:16:45,648 --> 00:16:48,749
The news of the satellite
contract cancellation also comes

304
00:16:48,769 --> 00:16:52,470
in the wake of a promised cut
of $16 billion by the Albanese

305
00:16:52,550 --> 00:16:55,951
government in future hex debt
repayments by university

306
00:16:56,031 --> 00:16:59,112
students if it wins the next
federal election, slated for

307
00:16:59,172 --> 00:17:01,052
sometime around May next year.

308
00:17:01,892 --> 00:17:05,754
China, Iran, North Korea and
Russia are all widely recognised

309
00:17:05,774 --> 00:17:08,954
as having advanced capabilities
to jam satellite signals,

310
00:17:09,174 --> 00:17:12,755
intercept communications,
undertake cyber warfare and take

311
00:17:12,795 --> 00:17:33,270
control of satellite systems.
This is Space Time, and time now

312
00:17:33,250 --> 00:17:35,671
to take a brief look at some of
the other stories making use in

313
00:17:35,691 --> 00:17:37,752
science this week with a science
report.

314
00:17:38,628 --> 00:17:41,589
The next time politicians and
celebrities bleat out about

315
00:17:41,609 --> 00:17:44,730
their green credentials, it
might be worth reminding them of

316
00:17:44,730 --> 00:17:48,311
a new study which has found that
people using private jets to get

317
00:17:48,351 --> 00:17:51,872
themselves around the globe
generate some 500 times more

318
00:17:51,972 --> 00:17:54,693
carbon dioxide every year than
the average person.

319
00:17:55,313 --> 00:17:57,973
The findings reported in the
journal communications Earth And

320
00:17:57,973 --> 00:18:01,174
Environment also showed that the
annual carbon dioxide emissions

321
00:18:01,214 --> 00:18:05,476
from private planes has
increased by 46% between 2019

322
00:18:05,516 --> 00:18:06,676
and 2023.

323
00:18:07,420 --> 00:18:10,963
The study also found significant
emission peaks around certain

324
00:18:11,083 --> 00:18:15,006
international events, including
the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Cannes

325
00:18:15,066 --> 00:18:19,609
Film Festival and, ironically,
the COP28 United Nations Climate

326
00:18:19,649 --> 00:18:23,412
Challenge Conference. The data
shows Australia currently has

327
00:18:23,472 --> 00:18:28,096
317 private jets, which accounts
for 1.2% of the global total.

328
00:18:28,556 --> 00:18:31,118
But it ranks sixth highest
globally for the number of

329
00:18:31,158 --> 00:18:33,260
planes per 100,000 residents.

330
00:18:34,876 --> 00:18:38,960
A new study has identified 22
pesticides consistently linked

331
00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:42,783
to the incidence of prostate
cancer. The findings, reported

332
00:18:42,783 --> 00:18:46,066
in the journal Cancer, assess
links between 295 different

333
00:18:46,106 --> 00:18:49,369
pesticides and prostate cancer
using a lag period between

334
00:18:49,409 --> 00:18:52,872
exposure and cancer incidence of
10 to 18 years.

335
00:18:53,493 --> 00:18:56,355
The time lag was needed because
most prostate cancers grow

336
00:18:56,475 --> 00:19:02,223
slowly. The years 1997 to 2001
were assessed for pesticide use

337
00:19:02,423 --> 00:19:06,546
and the years 2011 to 2015 for
prostate cancer outcomes.

338
00:19:07,207 --> 00:19:11,610
Similarly, 2002 to 2006 were
assessed for pesticide use and

339
00:19:11,590 --> 00:19:13,971
2016 to 2020 for outcomes.

340
00:19:14,552 --> 00:19:17,874
Among the 22 pesticides showing
consistent direct links with

341
00:19:17,914 --> 00:19:21,616
prostate cancer incidence across
both analyses, were three that

342
00:19:21,636 --> 00:19:24,478
had previously been linked to
prostate cancer, including

343
00:19:24,958 --> 00:19:27,860
2,4-D, which had been used for
weed control in Australia since

344
00:19:27,860 --> 00:19:29,040
the 1960s.

345
00:19:29,641 --> 00:19:33,043
The other 19 pesticides had not
been linked to prostate cancer

346
00:19:33,103 --> 00:19:36,745
before and included 10
herbicides, several fungicides

347
00:19:36,745 --> 00:19:41,167
and insecticides, and one soil
fumigant. Four pesticides linked

348
00:19:41,167 --> 00:19:43,588
to prostate cancer incidents
were also linked with an

349
00:19:43,628 --> 00:19:45,789
increased risk of death from
prostate cancer.

350
00:19:46,490 --> 00:19:49,952
Three herbicides, trifluralien,
which is approved for use in

351
00:19:49,952 --> 00:19:53,014
Australia, Choluransilum
methanol, which is not approved

352
00:19:53,014 --> 00:19:55,910
in Australia, and
Difluflenzapri, for which there

353
00:19:55,910 --> 00:19:59,058
's no Australian information,
and also one insecticide,

354
00:19:59,158 --> 00:20:01,980
Thiamethoxam, which is also
approved in Australia.

355
00:20:03,621 --> 00:20:06,963
A new study has found that
humans aren't the only species

356
00:20:07,103 --> 00:20:10,786
that deliberately consume
alcohol. The findings, reported

357
00:20:10,786 --> 00:20:13,948
in the journal Trends in Ecology
and Evolution, looked at growing

358
00:20:14,028 --> 00:20:17,210
evidence of how commonly ethanol
naturally occurs in fruits and

359
00:20:17,250 --> 00:20:19,732
nectar that are commonly food
for wild animals.

360
00:20:20,292 --> 00:20:23,394
The researchers say most animals
that eat sugary fruits are

361
00:20:23,434 --> 00:20:26,876
likely to be exposed to at least
some ethanol. And while most

362
00:20:26,936 --> 00:20:30,638
naturally fermented fruits only
reach about 1-2%, concentrations

363
00:20:30,658 --> 00:20:34,600
as high as 10.2% have been
found. The authors admit there's

364
00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:37,702
not much we know about why
animals might choose to consume

365
00:20:37,762 --> 00:20:38,222
ethanol.

366
00:20:38,342 --> 00:20:41,023
That's because being drunk is
generally a bad idea when you're

367
00:20:41,063 --> 00:20:44,673
living in the wild. However, it
's possible that while humans

368
00:20:44,753 --> 00:20:48,201
like the effects of alcohol but
not the calories, other animals

369
00:20:48,262 --> 00:20:51,128
may be risking the effects
specifically to consume the

370
00:20:51,128 --> 00:20:51,730
calories.

371
00:20:53,346 --> 00:20:56,868
A new systematic review covering
thousands of studies has

372
00:20:56,968 --> 00:21:01,211
confirmed yet again that there's
no scientific evidence that cell

373
00:21:01,311 --> 00:21:04,833
phones can cause brain cancer.
This latest review was

374
00:21:04,873 --> 00:21:07,554
commissioned by the World Health
Organization and published in

375
00:21:07,534 --> 00:21:09,455
the journal Environment
International.

376
00:21:10,156 --> 00:21:13,097
It's the most comprehensive
review so far and included more

377
00:21:13,097 --> 00:21:18,821
than 5,000 studies, of which 63,
published between 1994 and 2022,

378
00:21:18,841 --> 00:21:22,319
were included in the final
analysis. Tim Mendham from

379
00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:25,421
Australian Skeptics says, while
there are a few isolated studies

380
00:21:25,441 --> 00:21:28,564
that have raised concerns, a
more complete examination of the

381
00:21:28,624 --> 00:21:30,846
data has negated those results.

382
00:21:31,046 --> 00:21:33,047
You sort of wonder how much
proof do you need, but obviously

383
00:21:33,248 --> 00:21:35,750
in certain circumstances people
just can't believe the proof, so

384
00:21:35,770 --> 00:21:38,172
you've got to say it again and
again and again. People look at

385
00:21:38,352 --> 00:21:41,754
individual studies and their
meta-studies of thousands in

386
00:21:42,115 --> 00:21:44,857
some cases of other studies and
looking at those that are good

387
00:21:44,897 --> 00:21:47,059
and those that are bad studies,
etc., and they come to the

388
00:21:47,059 --> 00:21:49,100
conclusion, no, there ain't no
problem.

389
00:21:49,120 --> 00:21:51,662
It's not going to cause brain
cancer. Goodbye. Specific time

390
00:21:51,662 --> 00:21:53,523
on the phone, but that's a
different issue.

391
00:21:53,603 --> 00:21:55,925
But, you know, this theory that
it was causing brain cancer, the

392
00:21:55,985 --> 00:21:58,626
radiation from mobile phones you
hold to your ear when you're

393
00:21:58,626 --> 00:22:01,168
listening to them is going to
sort of give you cancer is not

394
00:22:01,228 --> 00:22:04,149
true. Over hundreds and
thousands of studies, over

395
00:22:04,450 --> 00:22:07,131
millions of people, over a long
time that mobile phones have

396
00:22:07,171 --> 00:22:09,612
been available, there is no
evidence that that is causing

397
00:22:09,653 --> 00:22:10,273
brain cancer.

398
00:22:10,373 --> 00:22:13,515
There's just been no correlation
between the increase in cell

399
00:22:13,595 --> 00:22:15,936
phone usage. Brain cancer rates
have not increased.

400
00:22:16,056 --> 00:22:17,897
Brain cancer rates have not
increased, but the usage of the

401
00:22:17,917 --> 00:22:19,398
technology has dramatically
increased.

402
00:22:19,478 --> 00:22:22,219
That's Tim Mendham from
Australian Skeptics.

403
00:22:37,903 --> 00:22:41,464
And that's the show for now.
Space Time is available every

404
00:22:41,564 --> 00:22:45,045
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