SpaceTime Series 28 Episode 42
The Astronomy, Space and Science News Podcast
Unraveling Antimatter Mysteries, New Techniques to Detect Dark Matter, and Insights into the Spectrum Rocket Failure
In this episode of SpaceTime, we dive into groundbreaking discoveries at the Large Hadron Collider, where physicists have identified a significant difference in the decay behaviors of ordinary matter and antimatter. This finding could provide vital clues to understanding why our universe is dominated by matter despite the Big Bang's creation of equal amounts of both. We explore the implications of these results and how they align with the Standard Model of particle physics.
Innovative Approaches to Dark Matter Detection
Next, we discuss an innovative new technique developed by researchers at the University of Queensland to detect dark matter using atomic clocks and cavity-stabilized lasers. This cutting-edge approach aims to uncover the elusive nature of dark matter, which constitutes about 80% of the universe yet remains largely a mystery. We examine how this method could lead to new insights into the distribution and properties of dark matter.
Spectrum Rocket Launch Failure Investigation
Additionally, we analyze the recent failure of the Spectrum rocket during its inaugural launch from Norway. Investigators are looking into the causes of the incident, which involved thrust vectoring oscillations leading to the rocket's loss of control. We discuss potential technical issues and what this means for future European orbital launches.
00:00 Space Time Series 28 Episode 42 for broadcast on 7 April 2025
00:49 Discovery of decay differences between matter and antimatter
06:30 Implications for understanding the universe's matter dominance
12:15 New techniques for detecting dark matter
18:00 Using atomic clocks for dark matter research
22:45 Analysis of the Spectrum rocket failure
27:00 Summary of recent scientific developments
30:15 Science report: Southern Ocean warming impacts
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✍️ Episode References
Physical Review Letters
https://journals.aps.org/prl/ (https://journals.aps.org/prl/)
NASA
https://www.nasa.gov (https://www.nasa.gov/)
Nature Communications
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/ (https://www.nature.com/ncomms/)
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Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/26477216?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 this is Spaceime Series 28 episode 42
00:00:03 --> 00:00:06 for broadcast on the 7th of April
00:00:06 --> 00:00:09 2025 coming up on Spaceime another clue
00:00:09 --> 00:00:11 helping to pry open the door to the
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 antimatter universe a new technique to
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 try and detect dark matter and what
00:00:17 --> 00:00:19 caused the Spectrum rocket to fail all
00:00:19 --> 00:00:23 that and more coming up on Spaceime
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 welcome to Spaceime with Stuart
00:00:27 --> 00:00:34 Garry
00:00:34 --> 00:00:42 [Music]
00:00:42 --> 00:00:45 physicists have discovered a fundamental
00:00:45 --> 00:00:47 difference in the decay behaviors of
00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 ordinary matter particles and their
00:00:49 --> 00:00:52 antimatter counterparts this discrepancy
00:00:52 --> 00:00:53 is important because it could help bring
00:00:54 --> 00:00:55 scientists a step closer to
00:00:55 --> 00:00:57 understanding how everything in the
00:00:57 --> 00:01:00 universe came to be the findings by the
00:01:00 --> 00:01:02 LHCB detector at the Large Adron
00:01:02 --> 00:01:04 Collider reveals a significant
00:01:04 --> 00:01:06 difference in decay rates between the
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 ordinary matter and antimatter versions
00:01:08 --> 00:01:11 of the beauty lambda baron lambda barons
00:01:12 --> 00:01:13 are a family of subatomic hydron
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 particles containing an up quark a down
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 quark and a third quark from a higher
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 flavor generation in this case a bottom
00:01:21 --> 00:01:24 or beauty quark quarks are elementary
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 subatomic particles and fundamental
00:01:26 --> 00:01:28 constituents of matter they're found
00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 inside larger particles like protons and
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 neutrons which are the components of
00:01:32 --> 00:01:35 atomic nuclei quarks come in six types
00:01:35 --> 00:01:39 known as flavors these are the up down
00:01:39 --> 00:01:42 top bottom or beauty charm and strange
00:01:42 --> 00:01:44 the up and down quarks have the lowest
00:01:44 --> 00:01:47 masses and heavier quarks rapidly change
00:01:47 --> 00:01:48 into up and down quarks through a
00:01:48 --> 00:01:51 process of particle decay the authors
00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 studied the decay of a lambda b baron
00:01:54 --> 00:01:56 into a proton and three mison which are
00:01:56 --> 00:01:58 particles containing a quark and an
00:01:58 --> 00:02:01 anti-quark in this case the three mison
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 consisted of a kon and two pions the
00:02:04 --> 00:02:05 authors found the rate of decay was
00:02:05 --> 00:02:07 slightly different compared to that of
00:02:07 --> 00:02:10 its antimatter counterpart now the
00:02:10 --> 00:02:12 probability of a significant discrepancy
00:02:12 --> 00:02:14 in decay rates between the ordinary
00:02:14 --> 00:02:15 matter and antimatter versions the
00:02:16 --> 00:02:18 beauty lambda barriion occurring just by
00:02:18 --> 00:02:20 chance are calculated to be less than 1
00:02:20 --> 00:02:23 in 3 million in other words this is the
00:02:23 --> 00:02:25 first result to cross a key statistical
00:02:25 --> 00:02:27 threshold for a discovery in physics
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 known as five sigma the findings
00:02:30 --> 00:02:31 reported on the pre-press physics
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 website archive.org or are based on an
00:02:33 --> 00:02:36 analysis of data collected by the LHCB
00:02:36 --> 00:02:40 detector between 2009 and 2018 it aligns
00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 with predictions from the standard model
00:02:42 --> 00:02:44 of particle physics the foundation stone
00:02:44 --> 00:02:46 for science's understanding of the
00:02:46 --> 00:02:48 universe and it offers a potential clue
00:02:48 --> 00:02:51 to the long-standing cosmic mystery of
00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 why the cosmos contains more matter than
00:02:53 --> 00:02:56 antimatter see the standard model
00:02:56 --> 00:02:58 suggests that antimatter is the same as
00:02:58 --> 00:03:00 ordinary matter but with opposite charge
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 par and time so the antimatter
00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 equivalent of the positively charged
00:03:05 --> 00:03:07 proton is the negatively charged
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 antiproton and the antimatter
00:03:09 --> 00:03:10 counterpart to the negatively charged
00:03:10 --> 00:03:12 electron is the positively charged
00:03:12 --> 00:03:15 positron the standard model also
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 suggests that equal amounts of each were
00:03:17 --> 00:03:18 created during the birth of the universe
00:03:18 --> 00:03:22 in the big bang 13.8 billion years ago
00:03:22 --> 00:03:24 the trouble is we know ordinary matter
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 and antimatter annihilate each other
00:03:26 --> 00:03:28 once they come into contact and that
00:03:28 --> 00:03:29 means the universe should have
00:03:29 --> 00:03:31 disappeared in a blast of purple gamma
00:03:31 --> 00:03:34 radiation virtually as soon as it formed
00:03:34 --> 00:03:36 and this clearly didn't happen now
00:03:36 --> 00:03:38 antimatter does occur through natural
00:03:38 --> 00:03:41 processes like cosmic ray collisions and
00:03:41 --> 00:03:43 some types of radioactive decay but only
00:03:43 --> 00:03:45 a tiny fraction of these have
00:03:45 --> 00:03:46 successfully been bound together in
00:03:46 --> 00:03:49 experiments to form antiatoms minuscule
00:03:49 --> 00:03:51 numbers of antiparticles can be
00:03:51 --> 00:03:53 generated in particle accelerators but
00:03:53 --> 00:03:56 total artificial antimatter production
00:03:56 --> 00:03:58 has so far only ever achieved a few
00:03:58 --> 00:04:02 nanogs so for some as yet unknown reason
00:04:02 --> 00:04:03 we live in a universe dominated by
00:04:03 --> 00:04:05 ordinary matter with antimatter only
00:04:06 --> 00:04:07 ever appearing very fleetingly before
00:04:07 --> 00:04:10 being annihilated but some particles
00:04:10 --> 00:04:13 disobey this matter antimatter symmetry
00:04:13 --> 00:04:15 it's a phenomenon known as charge par or
00:04:15 --> 00:04:18 CP violation previously scientists have
00:04:18 --> 00:04:21 only ever seen CP violation in mison
00:04:21 --> 00:04:23 therefore there's got to be some
00:04:23 --> 00:04:25 additional fundamental unknown
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 differences between ordinary matter and
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 antimatter which has allowed ordinary
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 matter to come to dominate the cosmos
00:04:32 --> 00:04:35 and knowing this explains why we're here
00:04:35 --> 00:04:38 the Large Hadron Collider or LHC is
00:04:38 --> 00:04:39 located at CERN the European
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 Organization for Nuclear Research it's a
00:04:42 --> 00:04:45 27 km long ring buried roughly 100 m
00:04:45 --> 00:04:47 beneath the Franco Swiss border near
00:04:47 --> 00:04:50 Geneva the L8C includes four massive
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 underground caverns which house four
00:04:52 --> 00:04:55 primary detectors known as Atlas Alice
00:04:55 --> 00:04:58 CMS and LHCB
00:04:58 --> 00:05:00 packets of protons or rather subatomic
00:05:00 --> 00:05:03 particles are accelerated to within
00:05:03 --> 00:05:06 999% the speed of light in opposite
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 directions in two particle beam lines
00:05:08 --> 00:05:10 around the ring guided by cryogenically
00:05:10 --> 00:05:13 cooled superconducting magnets and the
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 beam lines intersect at any of these
00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 four detectors colliding the particle
00:05:17 --> 00:05:20 packets at up to 13 terra electron volts
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 in the process creating the sorts of
00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 conditions pressures and temperatures
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 that occurred just after the big bang
00:05:27 --> 00:05:30 this is spacetime still to come a new
00:05:30 --> 00:05:33 technique to detect dark matter and we
00:05:33 --> 00:05:35 look at the possible causes for the
00:05:35 --> 00:05:37 spectrum rocket failure last week all
00:05:37 --> 00:05:44 that and more still to come on Spaceime
00:05:44 --> 00:05:53 [Music]
00:05:56 --> 00:05:57 scientists have developed a new
00:05:57 --> 00:05:59 innovative approach to try and uncover
00:05:59 --> 00:06:01 the secrets of dark matter using atomic
00:06:01 --> 00:06:04 clocks and cavity stabilized lasers dark
00:06:04 --> 00:06:06 matter is a mysterious invisible
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 substance which makes up about 80% of
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 all matter in the universe trouble is
00:06:11 --> 00:06:14 scientists have no idea what it is they
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 know it exists because they can see its
00:06:16 --> 00:06:17 gravitational interaction with normal
00:06:17 --> 00:06:20 so-called barionic matter that's the
00:06:20 --> 00:06:22 stuff that stars planets trees cars
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 houses dogs cats and people are made
00:06:24 --> 00:06:27 from one of the studies authors Ashley
00:06:27 --> 00:06:29 Cadell from the University of Queensland
00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 says that despite many theories and
00:06:31 --> 00:06:33 experiments scientists are yet to
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 understand dark matter cadell says her
00:06:35 --> 00:06:37 new study reported in the journal
00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 Physical Review Letters uses a different
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 approach analyzing the data from a
00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 network of ultrastable lasers connected
00:06:44 --> 00:06:46 by optical fiber cables as well as from
00:06:46 --> 00:06:49 two atomic clocks aboard GPS satellites
00:06:49 --> 00:06:51 she says in this case dark matter is
00:06:51 --> 00:06:54 acting like a wave because its mass is
00:06:54 --> 00:06:57 extremely low so Cadellan colleagues use
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 the separator clocks to try and measure
00:06:59 --> 00:07:01 changes in the wave which would look
00:07:01 --> 00:07:02 like the clocks displaying different
00:07:02 --> 00:07:04 times or ticking at slightly different
00:07:04 --> 00:07:07 rates and this effect gets stronger as
00:07:07 --> 00:07:08 the clocks are further
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 apart the authors were able to search
00:07:11 --> 00:07:13 for forms of dark matter that had been
00:07:13 --> 00:07:14 invisible in previous searches because
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 it emits no light or energy i mean we
00:07:17 --> 00:07:18 still don't know what it is but at least
00:07:18 --> 00:07:21 we can see what it's doing she says that
00:07:21 --> 00:07:23 by comparing precision measurements
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 across vast distances the team could
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 identify the subtle effects of
00:07:27 --> 00:07:28 oscillating dark matter fields that
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 would otherwise cancel themselves out in
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 conventional setups they were able to
00:07:33 --> 00:07:34 search for signals from dark matter
00:07:34 --> 00:07:36 models that interact universally with
00:07:36 --> 00:07:38 all atoms something that's eluded
00:07:38 --> 00:07:41 traditional experiments cadill says the
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 research means scientists will now be
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 able to investigate a broader range of
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 dark matter scenarios and perhaps even
00:07:47 --> 00:07:50 answer some very fundamental questions
00:07:50 --> 00:07:52 about the fabric of the universe so
00:07:52 --> 00:07:53 there have been like quite a lot of
00:07:53 --> 00:07:56 experiments to be honest for a while the
00:07:56 --> 00:07:57 type of dark matter that everyone was
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 looking for was called wimps so it's
00:07:59 --> 00:08:01 weekly interacting massive particles and
00:08:01 --> 00:08:03 the way that you look for those is
00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 similar to the way that the older
00:08:06 --> 00:08:08 neutrino detector experiments work so
00:08:08 --> 00:08:11 the basic idea is like you can't see
00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 dark matter you can't hear it or
00:08:13 --> 00:08:15 anything like that but it's sort of the
00:08:15 --> 00:08:17 same idea as if you literally couldn't
00:08:17 --> 00:08:19 see anything you're just kind of feeling
00:08:19 --> 00:08:20 around in the dark and waiting for
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 something to hit you it's pretty much
00:08:22 --> 00:08:23 the same idea for the experiments right
00:08:23 --> 00:08:26 so for the nutrino ones and also for the
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 newer dark matter ones what they do is
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 just get kind of just a big vat of
00:08:30 --> 00:08:33 liquid or a gas or even both sometimes
00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 and they just wait for things to hit it
00:08:35 --> 00:08:37 it's quite literally like you can't see
00:08:37 --> 00:08:39 anything so just sit and wait and if
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 anything hits it then it might give you
00:08:41 --> 00:08:43 a little bit of light you got photo
00:08:43 --> 00:08:45 receptors which then pick that up yes
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 yeah exactly usually you have a big
00:08:47 --> 00:08:50 array of photo detectors like on the top
00:08:50 --> 00:08:52 and bottom of these things and if you
00:08:52 --> 00:08:54 get that little bit of light it goes
00:08:54 --> 00:08:57 that was a photon so that's a detection
00:08:57 --> 00:08:58 but unfortunately none of those have
00:08:58 --> 00:09:01 really found anything so far anyway they
00:09:01 --> 00:09:02 kind of just keep building better and
00:09:02 --> 00:09:04 better ones because it could just be
00:09:04 --> 00:09:07 that we're just missing it or it's just
00:09:07 --> 00:09:09 not sensitive enough yet so there have
00:09:09 --> 00:09:10 been some other really cool experiments
00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 as well such as like if you're looking
00:09:12 --> 00:09:15 for axons you make this thing called a
00:09:15 --> 00:09:18 heliocope or a haloscope and it's sort
00:09:18 --> 00:09:20 of a similar principle but it's a little
00:09:20 --> 00:09:23 bit more complicated so axons they do a
00:09:23 --> 00:09:26 very odd thing where if they're exposed
00:09:26 --> 00:09:28 to like a I think a magnetic field or an
00:09:28 --> 00:09:31 electric field then you can see it but a
00:09:31 --> 00:09:32 lot of the there are so so many
00:09:32 --> 00:09:34 experiments to be honest people are very
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 creative in this field course with axons
00:09:36 --> 00:09:37 is we still don't know whether they're
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 real or not yeah yeah that's that's the
00:09:40 --> 00:09:41 problem with most of these particles to
00:09:41 --> 00:09:43 be honest we we do just kind of keep
00:09:43 --> 00:09:45 coming up with new dark matter models
00:09:45 --> 00:09:46 and trying to think up experiments for
00:09:46 --> 00:09:49 them it's honestly it's a very creative
00:09:49 --> 00:09:51 field to be honest but it is quite
00:09:51 --> 00:09:53 difficult and the problem is we know
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 dark matter is real because we can see
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 its influence on regular barionic matter
00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 so exactly it affects the way galaxies
00:09:59 --> 00:10:01 revolve it affects the way we can see
00:10:02 --> 00:10:03 more distant objects through
00:10:03 --> 00:10:05 gravitational lensing and that that
00:10:05 --> 00:10:07 raises an interesting point because it
00:10:07 --> 00:10:10 has gravity it must have mass and we
00:10:10 --> 00:10:13 know that mass slows down time yeah
00:10:13 --> 00:10:15 exactly so it's Yeah it's seen pretty
00:10:15 --> 00:10:17 much only through its effects through
00:10:17 --> 00:10:20 gravity so you know we don't see it in
00:10:20 --> 00:10:22 any telescopes no matter what wavelength
00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 we're looking at we only ever see it
00:10:24 --> 00:10:27 through how it affects other things and
00:10:27 --> 00:10:29 it's basically just galaxy glue right so
00:10:29 --> 00:10:31 if we didn't have any dark matter all of
00:10:31 --> 00:10:33 our spiral galaxies would just kind of
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 be ripped apart because they seem to be
00:10:35 --> 00:10:37 moving a lot well rotating a lot faster
00:10:37 --> 00:10:39 than they should be for how much how
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 many stars we can see in there so
00:10:41 --> 00:10:42 without dark matter it's all a bit of a
00:10:42 --> 00:10:44 mess this is where your research comes
00:10:44 --> 00:10:48 in yeah so we were kind of thinking um
00:10:48 --> 00:10:50 in a little bit of a different range
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 than the usual dark matter experiments
00:10:52 --> 00:10:54 so people have been looking more towards
00:10:54 --> 00:10:56 some more interesting models in the last
00:10:56 --> 00:10:57 couple of years so people have been
00:10:57 --> 00:11:00 looking because the the WIMP models are
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 usually quite high mass everyone's been
00:11:02 --> 00:11:03 sort of going down to the opposite mass
00:11:04 --> 00:11:05 scale so we were looking at ultra light
00:11:05 --> 00:11:08 dark matter which is so so lightweight
00:11:08 --> 00:11:10 that it starts to behave more like a
00:11:10 --> 00:11:12 wave than a particle because with really
00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 lightweight particles you have to still
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 match the the amount of dark matter that
00:11:16 --> 00:11:18 we know is in the universe so if it's
00:11:18 --> 00:11:19 really lightweight that means there has
00:11:20 --> 00:11:22 to be way way more of it and so we kind
00:11:22 --> 00:11:24 of just get sort of I think of it as
00:11:24 --> 00:11:26 kind of like a a mesh over the entire
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 universe that just has like little waves
00:11:28 --> 00:11:31 in it but to look for that is a little
00:11:31 --> 00:11:34 bit interesting so there are quite a few
00:11:34 --> 00:11:36 experiments using atomic clocks and
00:11:36 --> 00:11:39 stuff so what we were trying to do was
00:11:39 --> 00:11:40 essentially see if we could try to
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 detect dark matter with two separated
00:11:42 --> 00:11:44 atomic clocks and what's cool about this
00:11:44 --> 00:11:48 is those already exist so there's a big
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 fiber network in all of Europe so it
00:11:50 --> 00:11:53 starts in London at the National Physics
00:11:53 --> 00:11:57 Lab and it goes all the way to PTB in
00:11:57 --> 00:12:00 Germany and with that there's atomic
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 clocks at each point along there and
00:12:02 --> 00:12:04 well a couple of them but the important
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 ones are at the start and the end cuz
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 that's where you get the maximum
00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 separation so biggest distance between
00:12:10 --> 00:12:13 them but what's cool also is that you
00:12:13 --> 00:12:15 probably know that there's atomic clocks
00:12:15 --> 00:12:17 on GPS satellites now they're not quite
00:12:17 --> 00:12:20 as accurate as the ones that NPL and PTV
00:12:20 --> 00:12:22 have but they are massive distances
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 apart so we were trying to basically use
00:12:25 --> 00:12:27 these clocks to check if there was any
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 ultra light dark matter because what it
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 would look like is just these two clocks
00:12:31 --> 00:12:33 ticking at a different rate or just
00:12:33 --> 00:12:35 having a different time displayed on
00:12:35 --> 00:12:36 them so if there was a difference in
00:12:36 --> 00:12:39 that then it could be that dark matter
00:12:39 --> 00:12:42 was interacting with the atoms in these
00:12:42 --> 00:12:44 atomic clocks and what's happened so far
00:12:44 --> 00:12:46 what's happened so far is that we didn't
00:12:46 --> 00:12:48 see anything which pretty much is kind
00:12:48 --> 00:12:51 of the state of dark matter research is
00:12:51 --> 00:12:52 trying to figure out what dark matter
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 isn't so you might have heard of like uh
00:12:54 --> 00:12:56 people saying constraints a lot and
00:12:56 --> 00:12:59 constraints just means we've kind of
00:12:59 --> 00:13:00 tightened the area that we're looking
00:13:00 --> 00:13:02 for with dark matter and we were looking
00:13:02 --> 00:13:06 for a slightly different uh coupling so
00:13:06 --> 00:13:08 a different type of interaction this
00:13:08 --> 00:13:11 time so we've got newer constraints on
00:13:11 --> 00:13:13 this type of interaction which is really
00:13:13 --> 00:13:14 quite cool because it just means that
00:13:14 --> 00:13:17 we're looking at a slightly different
00:13:17 --> 00:13:19 model to what you usually search for so
00:13:19 --> 00:13:21 unfortunately I can report that we
00:13:21 --> 00:13:23 haven't detected dark matter but what's
00:13:23 --> 00:13:24 actually really cool about this
00:13:24 --> 00:13:26 experiment is that it would be really
00:13:26 --> 00:13:29 useful in the case where dark matter is
00:13:29 --> 00:13:32 already detected so what's nice about
00:13:32 --> 00:13:34 having massively spatially separated
00:13:34 --> 00:13:36 atomic clocks is that you actually end
00:13:36 --> 00:13:40 up sensitive to spatial distribution of
00:13:40 --> 00:13:41 dark matter which means that like we
00:13:42 --> 00:13:43 know that dark matter exists but we
00:13:43 --> 00:13:45 don't actually know how it's distributed
00:13:46 --> 00:13:48 throughout any of the galaxies right so
00:13:48 --> 00:13:50 we don't know if it's I don't know if it
00:13:50 --> 00:13:51 clumped together we don't know if it's
00:13:51 --> 00:13:54 just completely uniformly spread out and
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 what's really nice is that when you have
00:13:56 --> 00:13:58 an experiment that is both separated in
00:13:58 --> 00:14:01 space and time you can actually probe
00:14:01 --> 00:14:03 those differences so like you can try to
00:14:03 --> 00:14:05 work out what the spatial distribution
00:14:05 --> 00:14:07 is which would be useful in the case of
00:14:07 --> 00:14:10 say we had a terrestrial detection of
00:14:10 --> 00:14:11 dark matter but we want some more
00:14:11 --> 00:14:13 information we can then use these
00:14:13 --> 00:14:16 separated atomic clocks to figure out
00:14:16 --> 00:14:17 what that dark matter distribution
00:14:17 --> 00:14:19 actually looks like which is really
00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 quite cool in my opinion because that's
00:14:21 --> 00:14:22 one of the problems we don't know
00:14:22 --> 00:14:24 whether it's part of the actual fabric
00:14:24 --> 00:14:26 of spaceime or whether it's just in big
00:14:26 --> 00:14:28 clumps and that's where galaxies then
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 form yeah yeah exactly like there's a
00:14:30 --> 00:14:32 lot of um well there's a lot of research
00:14:32 --> 00:14:35 into like large scale structure and it
00:14:35 --> 00:14:37 seems to be that like where dark matter
00:14:37 --> 00:14:40 forms on large scales is exactly where
00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 the galaxies end up but the problem is
00:14:42 --> 00:14:45 we don't know the the small scale
00:14:45 --> 00:14:47 structure stuff so how it settles in a
00:14:48 --> 00:14:50 galaxy we know that it settles where
00:14:50 --> 00:14:52 galaxies are so we will get a massive
00:14:52 --> 00:14:55 clump of dark matter and then the galaxy
00:14:55 --> 00:14:57 will form on top of that but how it's
00:14:57 --> 00:14:58 actually distributed when you look in
00:14:58 --> 00:15:01 way way closer inside the galaxy is more
00:15:01 --> 00:15:02 of a mystery there's a lot of there's a
00:15:02 --> 00:15:04 lot of theories and some people just
00:15:04 --> 00:15:07 kind of make uh assumptions to go with
00:15:07 --> 00:15:09 the most popular one but it is kind of
00:15:09 --> 00:15:12 an interesting field to really look into
00:15:12 --> 00:15:13 yeah because some of the observations
00:15:13 --> 00:15:15 have been counterintuitive too haven't
00:15:15 --> 00:15:16 they we for a while there there was a
00:15:16 --> 00:15:18 lot of talk about dark matter is more
00:15:18 --> 00:15:21 dominant in dwarf galaxies and yet when
00:15:21 --> 00:15:23 we look at dwarf galaxies some of them
00:15:23 --> 00:15:25 seem to be very breath of dark matter
00:15:25 --> 00:15:27 yeah there um honestly I usually look at
00:15:27 --> 00:15:30 like spiral galaxy stuff so I'm not the
00:15:30 --> 00:15:32 expert on different types of galaxies
00:15:32 --> 00:15:34 that's for sure but I do know that at
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 least when I was doing a lot of my
00:15:36 --> 00:15:37 undergrad they teach us about different
00:15:37 --> 00:15:40 types of galaxies and there was one that
00:15:40 --> 00:15:41 I didn't really expect was that
00:15:41 --> 00:15:44 ellipsoid galaxies or like some type
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 have are just like almost entirely dark
00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 matter which is which was a little bit
00:15:48 --> 00:15:50 insane to me so what's happening next
00:15:50 --> 00:15:52 where do we take this well I mean that's
00:15:52 --> 00:15:55 a good question there are basically just
00:15:55 --> 00:15:58 more atomic clocks to make like the more
00:15:58 --> 00:15:59 accurate that you get an atomic clock
00:15:59 --> 00:16:01 the better it will be at detecting these
00:16:01 --> 00:16:03 things so like atomic clocks are already
00:16:03 --> 00:16:06 extremely accurate if you know much
00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 about like the watch industry like
00:16:08 --> 00:16:10 quartz watches were kind of a big thing
00:16:10 --> 00:16:12 because they only lose like 1 second
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 every couple of months or a couple of
00:16:14 --> 00:16:16 years if it's a really good one but the
00:16:16 --> 00:16:17 current atomic clocks the ones that are
00:16:18 --> 00:16:20 the best if they had been made at like
00:16:20 --> 00:16:22 the big bang at the start of the
00:16:22 --> 00:16:24 universe they wouldn't have lost a
00:16:24 --> 00:16:26 second yet which is really quite amazing
00:16:26 --> 00:16:29 so that affords a lot of accuracy but we
00:16:29 --> 00:16:31 can actually make them better if it just
00:16:31 --> 00:16:34 continues on atomic clocks are going to
00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 get much much better and when you have
00:16:36 --> 00:16:39 way more precise equipment it's just
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 going to make the experiment better
00:16:41 --> 00:16:44 itself so the next stage I guess would
00:16:44 --> 00:16:47 be with one a better atomic clock and
00:16:47 --> 00:16:50 two even more spatially separated so
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 what was something quite cool that we
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 found in our experiment was that the
00:16:54 --> 00:16:57 signal strength actually was directly
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 proportional to the distance between
00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 clocks which means that you can just
00:17:01 --> 00:17:03 scale this experiment up further and
00:17:03 --> 00:17:04 further by moving those clocks further
00:17:04 --> 00:17:06 and further apart that's Ashley Cadell
00:17:06 --> 00:17:09 from the University of Queensland and
00:17:09 --> 00:17:12 this is spacetime still to come we look
00:17:12 --> 00:17:14 at what could have caused the Spectrum
00:17:14 --> 00:17:16 rocket failure and later in the science
00:17:16 --> 00:17:18 report a new study shows that the
00:17:18 --> 00:17:20 Southern Ocean's warming may be
00:17:20 --> 00:17:21 affecting rainfall and drought
00:17:21 --> 00:17:24 conditions in the tropics all that and
00:17:24 --> 00:17:31 more still to come on Spaceime
00:17:31 --> 00:17:39 [Music]
00:17:42 --> 00:17:44 investigators are working to try and
00:17:44 --> 00:17:45 determine the cause of last week's
00:17:45 --> 00:17:48 launch failure of a Spectrum rocket the
00:17:48 --> 00:17:50 Spectrum was launched from the Andory
00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 Spaceport on Norway's northwestern coast
00:17:52 --> 00:17:53 on what should have been the first ever
00:17:53 --> 00:17:55 orbital rocket launch from mainland
00:17:55 --> 00:17:58 Europe the 28 m tall two-stage launch
00:17:58 --> 00:18:00 vehicle built by German company is
00:18:00 --> 00:18:03 Aerospace was on its first test flight
00:18:03 --> 00:18:05 the launch is designed to carry up to
00:18:05 --> 00:18:08 1 kg into low Earth orbit and 700
00:18:08 --> 00:18:10 kilos into the sun's synchronous polar
00:18:10 --> 00:18:12 orbits but there was no payload on this
00:18:12 --> 00:18:15 first test flight now as we've said
00:18:15 --> 00:18:18 previously on the show space is hard so
00:18:18 --> 00:18:20 while the investigation's continuing
00:18:20 --> 00:18:22 let's speculate as to what's likely to
00:18:22 --> 00:18:24 have gone wrong after watching the
00:18:24 --> 00:18:26 launch repeatedly both in regular and
00:18:26 --> 00:18:28 slow-mo speeds we can see that the
00:18:28 --> 00:18:30 rocket was already experiencing thrust
00:18:30 --> 00:18:32 vectoring oscillations from shortly
00:18:32 --> 00:18:35 after its launch and those oscillations
00:18:35 --> 00:18:38 appear to amplify as the engine's gimbal
00:18:38 --> 00:18:40 during the ascent roll over maneuver
00:18:40 --> 00:18:43 some 18 seconds after liftoff in fact if
00:18:43 --> 00:18:45 you look closely the oscillations appear
00:18:45 --> 00:18:47 to be generating a self-perpetuating
00:18:47 --> 00:18:49 amplifying loop increasing the problem
00:18:49 --> 00:18:51 and eventually leading to the vehicle
00:18:51 --> 00:18:53 tumbling and veing sideways out of
00:18:53 --> 00:18:56 control at an altitude of around 500 m
00:18:56 --> 00:18:58 now at this point mission managers
00:18:58 --> 00:19:00 terminated engine power there was no
00:19:00 --> 00:19:03 overall self-destruct system by
00:19:03 --> 00:19:05 terminating engine power it allowed the
00:19:05 --> 00:19:07 rocket to plummet back down and into the
00:19:07 --> 00:19:09 sea now the rocket didn't actually
00:19:09 --> 00:19:12 explode in the sky it only detonated
00:19:12 --> 00:19:14 once it hit the water now all this
00:19:14 --> 00:19:16 suggests some type of issue with the
00:19:16 --> 00:19:18 sensor inputs from the guidance system
00:19:18 --> 00:19:20 to the gimbals which were then amplified
00:19:20 --> 00:19:22 during the rollover maneuver well at
00:19:22 --> 00:19:24 least that's what it looks like needless
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 to say we'll know more in the weeks to
00:19:26 --> 00:19:28 come this is
00:19:28 --> 00:19:43 [Music]
00:19:43 --> 00:19:46 spacetime and time now to take a brief
00:19:46 --> 00:19:47 look at some of the other stories making
00:19:47 --> 00:19:48 news in science this week with the
00:19:48 --> 00:19:51 science report there are new warnings
00:19:51 --> 00:19:53 today that the Southern Ocean's warming
00:19:53 --> 00:19:55 may have a more dramatic effect on
00:19:55 --> 00:19:57 rainfall and drought in the tropics than
00:19:57 --> 00:19:59 warming from the Arctic Ocean the
00:19:59 --> 00:20:01 findings reported in the journal Nature
00:20:01 --> 00:20:03 Communications are based on computer
00:20:03 --> 00:20:06 simulation climate models while Arctic
00:20:06 --> 00:20:08 warming has been studied extensively the
00:20:08 --> 00:20:10 Southern Ocean has been warming more
00:20:10 --> 00:20:13 slowly and is less well understood the
00:20:13 --> 00:20:15 authors found that just 1° C of Southern
00:20:15 --> 00:20:17 Ocean warming could affect tropical
00:20:17 --> 00:20:19 rainfall to the same extent as 1 and a
00:20:19 --> 00:20:22 half° C of Arctic Ocean warming the
00:20:22 --> 00:20:24 authors also investigated the effects of
00:20:24 --> 00:20:26 southern ocean warming on specific
00:20:26 --> 00:20:28 tropical regions finding that it could
00:20:28 --> 00:20:30 increase rainfall in northeastern Brazil
00:20:30 --> 00:20:32 while making drought risk worse in the
00:20:32 --> 00:20:35 Shahil region of subsaharan
00:20:35 --> 00:20:37 Africa scientists have developed the
00:20:38 --> 00:20:40 world's smallest temporary pacemaker a
00:20:40 --> 00:20:42 report in the journal Nature claims the
00:20:42 --> 00:20:44 device which is smaller than a grain of
00:20:44 --> 00:20:46 rice was capable of regulating a
00:20:46 --> 00:20:48 heartbeat during tests of its
00:20:48 --> 00:20:51 effectiveness in human heart tissue the
00:20:51 --> 00:20:53 tiny pacemaker incorporates electrodes
00:20:53 --> 00:20:55 that generate an electrical current when
00:20:55 --> 00:20:58 exposed to body fluids that eliminates
00:20:58 --> 00:20:59 the need for an external power source or
00:20:59 --> 00:21:02 lead wires and reduces the risks that
00:21:02 --> 00:21:04 come with external power supplies and
00:21:04 --> 00:21:07 invasive surgery once no longer required
00:21:07 --> 00:21:09 the device simply breaks down and is
00:21:09 --> 00:21:11 absorbed by the body the authors say
00:21:11 --> 00:21:13 this offers a safer alternative for
00:21:13 --> 00:21:15 smaller body sizes or for those who may
00:21:15 --> 00:21:17 not be able to handle invasive surgery
00:21:17 --> 00:21:20 such as fragile newborns with heart
00:21:20 --> 00:21:23 defects researchers have discovered that
00:21:23 --> 00:21:26 miso made in space has a nuttier more
00:21:26 --> 00:21:27 roasted flavor than when it's made on
00:21:28 --> 00:21:30 the Earth's surface the findings
00:21:30 --> 00:21:32 reported in the journal Ice Science are
00:21:32 --> 00:21:34 based on a study which sent a small
00:21:34 --> 00:21:36 container of fermenting soybeans and
00:21:36 --> 00:21:37 salt they're the ingredients of the
00:21:37 --> 00:21:39 traditional Japanese condiment miso to
00:21:39 --> 00:21:42 the International Space Station the
00:21:42 --> 00:21:43 ingredients then spent 30 days
00:21:43 --> 00:21:45 fermenting in space before being
00:21:45 --> 00:21:47 returned to Earth and it was then
00:21:47 --> 00:21:49 compared to two batches of miso made at
00:21:50 --> 00:21:52 the same time on the ground analysis
00:21:52 --> 00:21:54 found that the space miso fermented
00:21:54 --> 00:21:55 successfully but that there were notable
00:21:56 --> 00:21:57 differences in the bacterial communities
00:21:57 --> 00:22:00 present in the misos and that the space
00:22:00 --> 00:22:02 fermented miso had a more roasted nutty
00:22:02 --> 00:22:05 flavor than the earth miso while still
00:22:05 --> 00:22:07 maintaining its classic salty unami
00:22:07 --> 00:22:09 flavor that people know and
00:22:09 --> 00:22:12 love there's a growing trend in some
00:22:12 --> 00:22:14 parts of Indian culture promoting the
00:22:14 --> 00:22:16 consumption of bovine urine and feces as
00:22:16 --> 00:22:18 a form of alternative medicine for
00:22:18 --> 00:22:21 medicinal purposes the problem is
00:22:21 --> 00:22:23 there's no scientific evidence to
00:22:23 --> 00:22:24 support claims that consuming these
00:22:24 --> 00:22:28 items has any beneficial effect in fact
00:22:28 --> 00:22:29 the research suggests that it can
00:22:29 --> 00:22:31 introduce dangerous bugs toxins and
00:22:31 --> 00:22:33 other harmful substances potentially
00:22:33 --> 00:22:35 causing infections especially
00:22:35 --> 00:22:38 antibioticresistant bacteria tim Mendum
00:22:38 --> 00:22:40 from Australian Skeptics says that
00:22:40 --> 00:22:42 despite the dangers this practice is
00:22:42 --> 00:22:44 being strongly promoted by some dubious
00:22:44 --> 00:22:47 academics and politicians india's got a
00:22:47 --> 00:22:48 lot of alternative medicine things that
00:22:48 --> 00:22:50 that are sort of quite embedded in
00:22:50 --> 00:22:53 society ayurveda medicine is basically
00:22:53 --> 00:22:56 the herbal alternative medicine of India
00:22:56 --> 00:22:58 it's got a lot of different aspects to
00:22:58 --> 00:23:00 it and it's actually often endorsed by
00:23:00 --> 00:23:02 the World Health Organization the
00:23:02 --> 00:23:04 director of the Indian Institute of
00:23:04 --> 00:23:06 Technology in Madras has been saying
00:23:06 --> 00:23:09 that he drinks to urine and that it can
00:23:09 --> 00:23:11 cure ailments like fever and irritable
00:23:11 --> 00:23:13 bowel syndrome in fact they take it even
00:23:13 --> 00:23:14 further and say it can cure a whole
00:23:14 --> 00:23:16 range of different conditions the
00:23:16 --> 00:23:17 problem with cow urine it's got a lot of
00:23:17 --> 00:23:19 impurities in it it's probably got ecoli
00:23:19 --> 00:23:20 in it which can cause you a lot of
00:23:20 --> 00:23:22 problems starting with diarrhea and
00:23:22 --> 00:23:23 getting worse from there now they also
00:23:23 --> 00:23:25 say cow dung you know you mix a bit of
00:23:25 --> 00:23:28 cow urine and cow dung pats mix it up
00:23:28 --> 00:23:30 together and that can cause all sorts of
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 disease there are things in cow dung
00:23:31 --> 00:23:33 course there's often lava in there you
00:23:33 --> 00:23:34 know of tapeworms and that sort of stuff
00:23:34 --> 00:23:36 and you're swallowing cow dung yes he's
00:23:36 --> 00:23:38 probably swallowing those as well so
00:23:38 --> 00:23:39 it's not going to do your body any good
00:23:39 --> 00:23:40 it probably can actually do your body
00:23:40 --> 00:23:42 major harm your brain your muscles your
00:23:42 --> 00:23:44 eyes all sorts of things but this has
00:23:44 --> 00:23:46 been endorsed by at least one director
00:23:46 --> 00:23:49 of a university and it's also endorsed
00:23:49 --> 00:23:51 by a lot of political leaders who are
00:23:51 --> 00:23:52 not necessarily medically trained or
00:23:52 --> 00:23:54 even medically literate but politicians
00:23:54 --> 00:23:56 within the Indian government a lot of
00:23:56 --> 00:23:58 them are promoting Ayda it's almost like
00:23:58 --> 00:23:59 being seen as an alternative to
00:24:00 --> 00:24:01 traditional Chinese medicine they're
00:24:01 --> 00:24:02 trying to get market share in other
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03 words there's a group called the
00:24:04 --> 00:24:06 doctor's association for social equality
00:24:06 --> 00:24:07 and there are other sort of doctor
00:24:07 --> 00:24:09 groups who are actually campaigning
00:24:09 --> 00:24:11 actively to say stop doing this it is
00:24:11 --> 00:24:13 dangerous that you are promoting this
00:24:13 --> 00:24:15 out there treatment for medical
00:24:15 --> 00:24:18 conditions which is purely based on some
00:24:18 --> 00:24:21 sort of uh spiritual healing techniques
00:24:21 --> 00:24:23 that have no bearing that that that
00:24:23 --> 00:24:25 don't work sorry Avita sorry you know of
00:24:25 --> 00:24:26 Indian population a lot of people sort
00:24:26 --> 00:24:29 of swear by it but these things are not
00:24:29 --> 00:24:32 only won't help you they very might harm
00:24:32 --> 00:24:34 you and that's the thing e coli will
00:24:34 --> 00:24:35 cause all sort of things these lava will
00:24:36 --> 00:24:37 cause all sorts of things drinking our
00:24:37 --> 00:24:40 urine chowing down on a on a cow pad is
00:24:40 --> 00:24:42 not advised that's tendum from
00:24:42 --> 00:24:45 Australian skeptics
00:24:45 --> 00:24:58 [Music]
00:24:58 --> 00:25:02 X and that's the show for now spaceime
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