Asteroid 2024 YR4 Threat, Lunar Canyon Formation, and NASA Astronauts’ Early Homecoming: S28E24
Movies First: Film Reviews & InsightsFebruary 25, 202500:23:0821.19 MB

Asteroid 2024 YR4 Threat, Lunar Canyon Formation, and NASA Astronauts’ Early Homecoming: S28E24

Kind: captions Language: en
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 this is spacetime series 28 episode 24

00:00:03 --> 00:00:05 for broadcast on the 24th of February

00:00:05 --> 00:00:09 2025 coming up on SpaceTime the odds

00:00:09 --> 00:00:11 narrowing for an Earth impact by the

00:00:11 --> 00:00:13 city killer asteroid looking at the

00:00:13 --> 00:00:16 origins of the moon's Grand Canyons and

00:00:16 --> 00:00:19 NASA's stranded Starliner astronauts

00:00:19 --> 00:00:22 coming home earlier than thought all

00:00:22 --> 00:00:25 that and more coming up on

00:00:25 --> 00:00:28 SpaceTime welcome to SpaceTime with

00:00:28 --> 00:00:38 steuart Gary

00:00:38 --> 00:00:45 [Music]

00:00:45 --> 00:00:48 Nessa says there's now a 3.1% chance of

00:00:48 --> 00:00:51 asteroid 2024 yr4 slamming into the

00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 Earth on December the 22nd

00:00:54 --> 00:00:58 20132 that translates to odds of 1 in32

00:00:58 --> 00:01:01 up from the 1 in 43 or 2.3% chance of an

00:01:01 --> 00:01:03 impact earlier this month and roughly

00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 three times greater than the original

00:01:05 --> 00:01:08 estimate of one in 83 or 1.2% first

00:01:08 --> 00:01:12 calculated 4 weeks ago the 40 to 90 M

00:01:12 --> 00:01:13 wide asteroid is now the most

00:01:13 --> 00:01:15 threatening space rock this big ever

00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 recorded by modern forecasting

00:01:18 --> 00:01:20 astronomers have estimated its size

00:01:20 --> 00:01:24 based on its brightness 2024 yr4 is on

00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 an elongated elliptical orbit around the

00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 sun it's currently moving away from the

00:01:29 --> 00:01:31 earth making it more difficult to track

00:01:31 --> 00:01:34 but it will be back in December 2028

00:01:34 --> 00:01:35 where scientists will get a good look at

00:01:35 --> 00:01:38 it and be able to finalize its orbit and

00:01:38 --> 00:01:40 trajectory the last time an asteroid

00:01:40 --> 00:01:42 more than 30 m wide posed such a

00:01:42 --> 00:01:44 significant risk to Earth was apus back

00:01:44 --> 00:01:48 in 2004 when it briefly had a 2.7%

00:01:48 --> 00:01:51 chance of Earth impact in 2029 a

00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 possibility later ruled out by

00:01:53 --> 00:01:56 additional observations 2024 yr4 was

00:01:56 --> 00:01:58 first detected on December the 27th last

00:01:59 --> 00:02:00 year by the old source observatory in

00:02:00 --> 00:02:03 Chile the international asteroid warning

00:02:03 --> 00:02:05 Network issued an alarm on January the

00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 29th after the impact probability cross

00:02:08 --> 00:02:11 the 1% barrier the agency says if that

00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 risk Rises to over 10% it'll issue a

00:02:13 --> 00:02:15 formal warning leading to a

00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 recommendation for all United Nation

00:02:17 --> 00:02:18 members who have territories in the

00:02:19 --> 00:02:20 potential Impact Zone to start

00:02:20 --> 00:02:21 terrestrial

00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 preparedness the potential Earth impact

00:02:24 --> 00:02:26 site lies along an arc running from the

00:02:26 --> 00:02:28 central eastern Pacific Ocean across

00:02:28 --> 00:02:30 Northern South America in the Atlantic

00:02:30 --> 00:02:32 Ocean and equatorial Africa before

00:02:32 --> 00:02:35 finally ending in Northern India

00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 Professor Fred judan from the school of

00:02:37 --> 00:02:39 Earth and planetary Sciences at curtain

00:02:39 --> 00:02:40 University says that while the odds of

00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 an impact are still incredibly low the

00:02:42 --> 00:02:44 threat is not so small that it can be

00:02:44 --> 00:02:47 easily ignored well I think the latest

00:02:47 --> 00:02:49 news is really about the increase of

00:02:49 --> 00:02:51 probability that it's going to smash on

00:02:51 --> 00:02:54 Earth and uh it's still very very low I

00:02:54 --> 00:02:56 think I've read a news somewhere that

00:02:56 --> 00:02:59 there's even a 0.3% chance it would

00:02:59 --> 00:03:01 impact the moon so it's even lower we

00:03:01 --> 00:03:03 don't know whether it's a rocky body or

00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 a rubble pile I guess one of the

00:03:05 --> 00:03:07 interesting things is issues of

00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 planetary defense now we've had the dart

00:03:09 --> 00:03:11 Mission by NASA so we know a little bit

00:03:11 --> 00:03:13 about planetary defense from an asteroid

00:03:13 --> 00:03:15 don't we yeah so that that mission was

00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 absolutely excellent I mean it really

00:03:17 --> 00:03:21 showed us that by Smashing probe into

00:03:21 --> 00:03:24 asteroid we can push them but it also

00:03:24 --> 00:03:27 show us that we don't push them a lot

00:03:27 --> 00:03:30 right so it takes time to really push an

00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 asteroid out of the way because the

00:03:32 --> 00:03:34 probe the weight of the probe is fairly

00:03:34 --> 00:03:36 low and the mass of the asteroid is

00:03:36 --> 00:03:39 really high so you need to smash mini

00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 probe if you want to deflect a beginner

00:03:41 --> 00:03:45 asteroid now in the case of yr4 it's fa

00:03:45 --> 00:03:49 small it's between 40 m and 90 M that

00:03:49 --> 00:03:51 doesn't seem very big but that could

00:03:51 --> 00:03:54 level easily a city so that's something

00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 to consider pushing it away destroying

00:03:56 --> 00:03:59 all this safety measure that people are

00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 considering and you mentioned the

00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 structure and this structure is

00:04:03 --> 00:04:05 absolutely important the structure the

00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 nature of the asteroid it's very

00:04:07 --> 00:04:10 important to know what we can do to

00:04:11 --> 00:04:12 prevent an impact let me give you an

00:04:12 --> 00:04:15 example if it's a hard Rocky body and

00:04:15 --> 00:04:19 you try to impact a big enough object or

00:04:19 --> 00:04:22 even data nuclear bomb there's a huge

00:04:22 --> 00:04:23 chance that it's going to fragment now

00:04:23 --> 00:04:26 if it's a rubble pile asterid some study

00:04:26 --> 00:04:28 we did at curtain really show that if

00:04:28 --> 00:04:31 you detonate a nuclear B not at the

00:04:31 --> 00:04:33 surface but near the surface then it

00:04:33 --> 00:04:35 would withstand the sh and be pushed

00:04:35 --> 00:04:38 away and maybe this kind of measure this

00:04:38 --> 00:04:41 kind of approach is more efficient for

00:04:41 --> 00:04:44 deflecting and steroid very quickly than

00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 impacting probe over time because in the

00:04:47 --> 00:04:50 case of yr4 it's going to come back in

00:04:50 --> 00:04:54 2028 and then again in 2032 and that's

00:04:54 --> 00:04:56 when it could potentially impact so

00:04:56 --> 00:04:58 that's a really short amount of time to

00:04:59 --> 00:05:01 be able to push it out of the way that's

00:05:01 --> 00:05:03 why it's important to consider all the

00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 technique we can use to deflect this

00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 Aster yeah I remember we did an

00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 experiment like this on a small scale we

00:05:10 --> 00:05:12 had a boulder and we had a rubble pile

00:05:12 --> 00:05:15 and we fired a 223 rifle into each of

00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 them and hit the Boulder and it moved

00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 the boulder but when the bullet hit the

00:05:19 --> 00:05:22 rubble pile it just went right through

00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 and the rubble pile stayed where it was

00:05:24 --> 00:05:26 it didn't really move the rubble pile

00:05:26 --> 00:05:28 this is absolutely correct I mean that

00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 that that's something to to really keep

00:05:30 --> 00:05:32 in mind is like well if you detonate a

00:05:32 --> 00:05:35 device at the surface you would fragment

00:05:35 --> 00:05:37 the big one and then I don't know what

00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 it would do to the rubble Pile in space

00:05:39 --> 00:05:41 but the shock wave from something that

00:05:41 --> 00:05:44 is detonated sufficiently far away you

00:05:44 --> 00:05:45 know those people they make the

00:05:45 --> 00:05:48 calculation not too close not too far

00:05:48 --> 00:05:51 very brilliant engineering and if you do

00:05:51 --> 00:05:53 that then the verble pile will be easily

00:05:54 --> 00:05:56 pushed away without theoretically

00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 fragmenting it because obviously if you

00:05:58 --> 00:06:01 fragment the asteroid you transform a

00:06:01 --> 00:06:04 single ball into many many pieces it's

00:06:04 --> 00:06:06 like instead of a bullet yeah instead of

00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 a bullet now you got a shotgun spread so

00:06:09 --> 00:06:12 if it was supposed to be the ocean and

00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 now you fragment it and now it's going

00:06:14 --> 00:06:17 to rain on every cities on Earth uh well

00:06:17 --> 00:06:20 I mean you know not every along the fly

00:06:20 --> 00:06:22 path yeah yeah yeah along the fly path

00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 exactly then people are not going to be

00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 really happy you know less damage but

00:06:26 --> 00:06:28 still a lot of damage whereas before

00:06:28 --> 00:06:30 they would have been nothing for this

00:06:30 --> 00:06:32 particular City so there's really

00:06:32 --> 00:06:34 ethical concern like that to consider

00:06:34 --> 00:06:37 let's assume it's a solid body that's

00:06:37 --> 00:06:38 not going to wear burst that's going to

00:06:38 --> 00:06:39 cut through the atmosphere it's going to

00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 go all the way to the surface what sort

00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 of damage would something that's say 90

00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 M across do on the planet well that's

00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 why we call it the city killer not the

00:06:47 --> 00:06:50 country killer or or the Planet Killer

00:06:50 --> 00:06:53 because it's it's fairly small actually

00:06:53 --> 00:06:55 if people want to imagine what it would

00:06:55 --> 00:06:58 do it's like detonating a powerful

00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 nuclear bomb it it's the same an impact

00:07:00 --> 00:07:02 is an explosion it's not really like

00:07:02 --> 00:07:05 digging a hole it's just an explosion

00:07:05 --> 00:07:07 and well unfortunately you know in our

00:07:07 --> 00:07:10 history of humankind we detonate a lot

00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 of weapon as a test everywhere on the

00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 planet and uh you know depending where

00:07:14 --> 00:07:16 it's done it just leave a hole in the

00:07:16 --> 00:07:17 ground and the hole it would live it

00:07:17 --> 00:07:20 would be the size of Arizona crater the

00:07:20 --> 00:07:22 baringer crater which is about 1 kilm

00:07:22 --> 00:07:25 wide so that's not that big however a

00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 city would be completely leveled so here

00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 I I live in purse and we have roughly 2

00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 million inhabitant and the city would be

00:07:33 --> 00:07:34 completely destroyed now would have been

00:07:34 --> 00:07:36 a bit of warning before so people can

00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 evacuate but still it's really not nice

00:07:39 --> 00:07:41 to lose a beautiful city like this if

00:07:41 --> 00:07:44 you want but considering the bigger

00:07:44 --> 00:07:46 implication not much I mean you know

00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 it's not like you got to have a nuclear

00:07:48 --> 00:07:49 winter or anything like that plus

00:07:49 --> 00:07:51 something that people need to consider

00:07:51 --> 00:07:55 Earth is covered by about 70% water so

00:07:55 --> 00:07:57 you get 70% chance he going to land on

00:07:57 --> 00:08:00 the ocean and the land is about 2%

00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 inhabited in term of of cities I mean

00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 you know of course there's people living

00:08:05 --> 00:08:07 in Bush and stuff like that but in the

00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 term of city it's about 2% coverage so

00:08:09 --> 00:08:11 that's not there's very low Chance is

00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 going to impact on a city much more like

00:08:13 --> 00:08:14 in the outback or something like that

00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 well not that it's on the flat plan but

00:08:16 --> 00:08:19 like you you know related to Australia

00:08:19 --> 00:08:21 so the chance is really small and I

00:08:21 --> 00:08:23 would say for scientists you know we we

00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 almost would hope that it would impact

00:08:25 --> 00:08:27 so we could study how things happen

00:08:27 --> 00:08:28 because there's going to be so little

00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 consequence but again in middle of the

00:08:30 --> 00:08:33 ocean it's safe in the outback it's safe

00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 unfortunately if it's on a city that's

00:08:35 --> 00:08:37 really not good news and that's why we

00:08:37 --> 00:08:40 need to learn to deflect Aster maybe not

00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 for this particular case but you know

00:08:43 --> 00:08:45 for the training purpose not waiting the

00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 absolute that minute to know how to do

00:08:47 --> 00:08:51 something and our first test is you know

00:08:51 --> 00:08:52 is our first practice that's not

00:08:53 --> 00:08:55 reasonable I would think so using this

00:08:55 --> 00:08:58 opportunity maybe trying to deflect this

00:08:58 --> 00:09:00 one that would be interesting and I

00:09:00 --> 00:09:03 think uh I might be wrong but I think I

00:09:03 --> 00:09:05 read online that China is interested by

00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 the prospect of doing that having their

00:09:07 --> 00:09:11 own dart Mission using another asteroid

00:09:11 --> 00:09:13 and maybe this one as well so we'll see

00:09:13 --> 00:09:15 how it goes the other option of course

00:09:15 --> 00:09:17 is that it is the rubble pile and that

00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 makes me think more of the tangus like

00:09:19 --> 00:09:22 event I know what you're saying uh like

00:09:22 --> 00:09:24 like a big explosion in the sky it's

00:09:24 --> 00:09:27 still like tangus or chela blinks chela

00:09:27 --> 00:09:29 blinks was really small it was a small

00:09:29 --> 00:09:32 was a 10 m in diameter but still you

00:09:32 --> 00:09:34 know broke a lot of Windows and things

00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 like that but impact a St like that

00:09:36 --> 00:09:38 explosion it's really a exponential

00:09:38 --> 00:09:42 scale so 90 m is not nine times more

00:09:42 --> 00:09:45 powerful is so many more time powerful

00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 like I said you know yes 500 time

00:09:48 --> 00:09:49 yoshima or something like that so that

00:09:49 --> 00:09:52 that's really decent Rubble pile or not

00:09:52 --> 00:09:54 I think that would be the same thing if

00:09:54 --> 00:09:57 the explosion touch the ground okay it's

00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 one thing but if it explodes in midair

00:09:59 --> 00:10:01 with the power of nuclear bomb that has

00:10:01 --> 00:10:03 exactly the same effect on a city that

00:10:03 --> 00:10:06 still Level it the same way so Rubble

00:10:06 --> 00:10:08 pile or not it's more for how we going

00:10:08 --> 00:10:10 to deflect it which is important rather

00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 than how it's going to impact on Earth

00:10:12 --> 00:10:14 in my opinion that's Professor Fred

00:10:14 --> 00:10:16 Jordan from the school of Earth and

00:10:16 --> 00:10:19 planetary Sciences at curtain University

00:10:19 --> 00:10:22 and this SpaceTime still to come looking

00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 at the origins of the moon's Grand

00:10:24 --> 00:10:27 Canyons and nessa's Stranded astronauts

00:10:27 --> 00:10:29 now likely to come home a little bit

00:10:29 --> 00:10:31 early ier than last planned all that and

00:10:31 --> 00:10:37 more still to come on

00:10:37 --> 00:10:48 [Music]

00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 SpaceTime a new study has concluded that

00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 two gigantic Canyons on the moon were

00:10:53 --> 00:10:55 most likely carved out by streams of

00:10:55 --> 00:10:58 impacting asteroids over a space of just

00:10:58 --> 00:11:00 10 minutes the new findings reported in

00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 the journal Nature Communications are

00:11:02 --> 00:11:05 providing fresh insights into an area of

00:11:05 --> 00:11:06 the Moon which will be crucial in

00:11:06 --> 00:11:09 upcoming lunar missions the Schrodinger

00:11:09 --> 00:11:12 impact Basin with an estimated age of

00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 3.81 billion years is located in the

00:11:14 --> 00:11:18 outer margin of the moon's 2 km

00:11:18 --> 00:11:21 diameter South Pole atken Basin that's

00:11:21 --> 00:11:23 one of the largest impact basins in the

00:11:23 --> 00:11:25 solar system the Schrodinger Basin

00:11:25 --> 00:11:27 itself is surrounded by canyons and

00:11:27 --> 00:11:30 Ravines created by by streaks of Rocky

00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 debris known as ejector rays that were

00:11:32 --> 00:11:35 flung out during an impact event two

00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 spectacular canyons in the complex are

00:11:37 --> 00:11:40 valis Schrodinger and valis plank these

00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 massive canyons are comparable in size

00:11:42 --> 00:11:44 to North America's Grand Canyon with

00:11:44 --> 00:11:47 Schrodinger measuring some 270 km long

00:11:47 --> 00:11:50 and 2.7 km deep while plank is even

00:11:50 --> 00:11:55 larger at 280 km long and 3.5 km deep

00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 however the exact nature of their

00:11:57 --> 00:11:59 formation had always been unclear on

00:11:59 --> 00:12:01 until now the new research is based on

00:12:01 --> 00:12:03 images of the moon's surface used to

00:12:03 --> 00:12:06 generate new topographic maps which were

00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 then used to calculate flow directions

00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 and speed of the debris ejected during

00:12:10 --> 00:12:12 the canyon forming impact event and

00:12:12 --> 00:12:14 these data could then be used to model

00:12:14 --> 00:12:17 how the ejector rays were formed the

00:12:17 --> 00:12:19 study's authors proposed that these

00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 lunar Grand Canyons were carved out of

00:12:21 --> 00:12:24 the lunar crust in less than 10 minutes

00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 by ejector traveling at speeds of

00:12:26 --> 00:12:29 between 0.95 and 1.28 km

00:12:29 --> 00:12:32 m/s they calculate that the energy

00:12:32 --> 00:12:34 needed to create these massive Canyons

00:12:34 --> 00:12:36 would have been over 130 times the

00:12:36 --> 00:12:38 energy of all the current Global

00:12:38 --> 00:12:41 inventory of nuclear weapons rather than

00:12:41 --> 00:12:42 flying out symmetrically the work

00:12:42 --> 00:12:44 suggest that the majority of the

00:12:44 --> 00:12:46 excavated debris was asymmetrically

00:12:46 --> 00:12:48 distributed away from the poles the

00:12:48 --> 00:12:50 shrer impact Basin is close to the

00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 exploration zone for the upcoming

00:12:52 --> 00:12:55 Artemus man moon mission so these

00:12:55 --> 00:12:56 findings will have important

00:12:56 --> 00:12:59 implications for future Luna missions

00:12:59 --> 00:13:00 possibly offering insights into the

00:13:00 --> 00:13:03 composition of potential Landing zones

00:13:03 --> 00:13:07 this SpaceTime still to come Nas's

00:13:07 --> 00:13:09 stranded astronauts Cy Williams and

00:13:09 --> 00:13:11 Butch Wilmore who have been stuck aboard

00:13:11 --> 00:13:13 the International Space Station since

00:13:13 --> 00:13:15 June last year could be returning home

00:13:15 --> 00:13:17 earlier than currently planned and later

00:13:17 --> 00:13:19 in the science report it's official

00:13:19 --> 00:13:22 linia has finally arrived in the Eastern

00:13:22 --> 00:13:25 Pacific Ocean all that and more still to

00:13:25 --> 00:13:39 come on SpaceTime

00:13:39 --> 00:13:42 [Music]

00:13:42 --> 00:13:44 Nessa astronauts Sunni Williams and

00:13:44 --> 00:13:46 Butch Wilmore have been stranded aboard

00:13:46 --> 00:13:47 the International Space Station since

00:13:47 --> 00:13:49 June last year could end up returning

00:13:49 --> 00:13:52 home earlier than currently planned

00:13:52 --> 00:13:53 that's because SpaceX is looking at

00:13:53 --> 00:13:55 swapping the dragon capsules for its

00:13:55 --> 00:13:57 next twom man missions to the orbiting

00:13:57 --> 00:14:00 Outpost the that would see the crew 10

00:14:00 --> 00:14:02 Mission launch on March 12 two weeks

00:14:02 --> 00:14:05 earlier than previously slated Wilmore

00:14:05 --> 00:14:07 and Williams have now been stranded on

00:14:07 --> 00:14:09 the space station for over 8 months on

00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 what should have been an 8 to 10day

00:14:11 --> 00:14:12 mission after problems developed with

00:14:13 --> 00:14:14 the thrusters aboard their Boeing styl

00:14:14 --> 00:14:16 on a spacecraft which was undertaking

00:14:16 --> 00:14:19 its first man test flight NASA were

00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 concerned about safety issues with the

00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 spacecraft and Boeing eventually decided

00:14:23 --> 00:14:25 to return the spacecraft to Earth

00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 unmanned it ended up safely landing on

00:14:27 --> 00:14:30 the Whit Sand Missile range after the

00:14:30 --> 00:14:32 new crew 10 arrives on station Wilmore

00:14:32 --> 00:14:34 and Williams will return to Earth with

00:14:34 --> 00:14:36 the current crew 9 team aboard their

00:14:36 --> 00:14:38 dragon capture which will be fitted with

00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 two additional couches for the

00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 astronauts this is

00:14:42 --> 00:14:57 [Music]

00:14:57 --> 00:14:59 spacetime and time now to take a a brief

00:14:59 --> 00:15:00 look at some of the other stories making

00:15:00 --> 00:15:02 news in science this week with a science

00:15:02 --> 00:15:06 report well after 7 months of waiting L

00:15:06 --> 00:15:08 the cooler and wetter sister of El Nino

00:15:08 --> 00:15:10 has finally arrived in the Eastern

00:15:10 --> 00:15:13 Pacific Ocean however a report by Noah

00:15:13 --> 00:15:14 the national oceanographic and

00:15:14 --> 00:15:15 Atmospheric administration's climate

00:15:16 --> 00:15:18 Prediction Center has warned that Lenin

00:15:18 --> 00:15:20 may not stick around for very long with

00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 the Pacific likely to return to neutral

00:15:22 --> 00:15:25 conditions either next month or in April

00:15:25 --> 00:15:27 part of the elino Southern oscillation

00:15:27 --> 00:15:29 or Enzo cycle Lenin appears when

00:15:29 --> 00:15:32 energized easterly Trade Winds intensify

00:15:32 --> 00:15:34 the upwelling of cooler water from the

00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 depths of the Eastern tropical Pacific

00:15:36 --> 00:15:38 causing a large scale cooling of surface

00:15:38 --> 00:15:39 waters in the eastern and Central

00:15:39 --> 00:15:41 Pacific Ocean near the equator the

00:15:41 --> 00:15:43 stronger than usual Trade Winds also

00:15:43 --> 00:15:46 push warmer equator Waters westwards

00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 towards Australia and Asia and this

00:15:48 --> 00:15:50 dramatic cooling of the ocean surface

00:15:50 --> 00:15:52 layers affects the Atmosphere by

00:15:52 --> 00:15:54 modifying moisture content right across

00:15:54 --> 00:15:57 the Pacific the new report has confirmed

00:15:57 --> 00:16:00 that Lin conditions are now present it

00:16:00 --> 00:16:03 measured sea surface temperature 0.7 de

00:16:03 --> 00:16:05 C below average in an area of the

00:16:05 --> 00:16:07 tropical Pacific known as the Nino 3.4

00:16:07 --> 00:16:10 region and the signature of Lenin is

00:16:10 --> 00:16:11 also visible in the Central and Eastern

00:16:11 --> 00:16:13 Pacific Ocean as areas of lower than

00:16:13 --> 00:16:15 average water levels that's because

00:16:15 --> 00:16:17 cooler water contracts lowering sea

00:16:17 --> 00:16:20 levels conversely warmer water expands

00:16:20 --> 00:16:23 increasing them linia causes shifts in

00:16:23 --> 00:16:25 the path of mid latitude jet streams in

00:16:25 --> 00:16:27 ways that intensify rainfall in some

00:16:27 --> 00:16:30 regions and bring drought to others in

00:16:30 --> 00:16:32 the Western Pacific for example rainfall

00:16:32 --> 00:16:34 usually increases over Australia and

00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 Indonesia clouds and rainfall become

00:16:36 --> 00:16:38 more sporadic over the Central and

00:16:38 --> 00:16:40 Eastern Pacific Ocean which can lead to

00:16:40 --> 00:16:42 dry conditions in Brazil Argentina and

00:16:42 --> 00:16:45 other parts of South America and wter

00:16:45 --> 00:16:47 conditions over Central America in North

00:16:47 --> 00:16:49 America cooler and stormier conditions

00:16:49 --> 00:16:50 often sit in across the Pacific

00:16:51 --> 00:16:52 Northwest while the weather typically

00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 becomes warmer and drier across the

00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 Southern United States and across

00:16:56 --> 00:16:59 northern Mexico

00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 a new study warns that if you lose your

00:17:01 --> 00:17:03 sense of smell or taste in adulthood

00:17:03 --> 00:17:05 especially for saltiness and sourness

00:17:05 --> 00:17:08 you may well be a risk of dying

00:17:08 --> 00:17:10 prematurely the findings reported in the

00:17:10 --> 00:17:11 Journal of the American Medical

00:17:11 --> 00:17:15 Association followed 7 people for

00:17:15 --> 00:17:18 around 6 to 7 years 662 of whom reported

00:17:18 --> 00:17:21 losing their sense of taste now during

00:17:21 --> 00:17:23 the study period 1,1 of those

00:17:23 --> 00:17:25 participating died resulting in a

00:17:26 --> 00:17:28 background chance of dying of 14% or

00:17:28 --> 00:17:31 around one in seven people but for those

00:17:31 --> 00:17:33 who lost their sense of taste the risk

00:17:33 --> 00:17:34 of dying during the study period was

00:17:34 --> 00:17:38 around 47% higher or around 1 in five

00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 the biggest increases in death risk were

00:17:40 --> 00:17:42 among those who stopped being able to

00:17:42 --> 00:17:44 sense salty tastes as well as among men

00:17:44 --> 00:17:46 who stopped being able to taste sourness

00:17:46 --> 00:17:48 and among women who sto being able to

00:17:48 --> 00:17:51 taste bitterness and that increased risk

00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 of death was seen even among people who

00:17:53 --> 00:17:54 had lost their sense of taste but whose

00:17:54 --> 00:17:58 sense of smell had remained intact so it

00:17:58 --> 00:18:00 seems although it's yet to be proven

00:18:00 --> 00:18:02 that a loss in taste could serve as a

00:18:02 --> 00:18:04 simple way of scanning high-risk

00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 populations in order to determine who's

00:18:06 --> 00:18:09 at risk of dying prematurely now all

00:18:09 --> 00:18:11 we've got to do is work out why the

00:18:11 --> 00:18:13 association seems to be

00:18:13 --> 00:18:16 there paleontologists have Rewritten the

00:18:16 --> 00:18:18 evolution of dinosaurs after discovering

00:18:18 --> 00:18:20 fossils of the world's oldest known Mega

00:18:20 --> 00:18:22 raptoid and the first evidence of

00:18:22 --> 00:18:26 karadon Sids in Australia the findings

00:18:26 --> 00:18:27 reported in the Journal of vertebrate

00:18:27 --> 00:18:29 paleontology has has changed the history

00:18:29 --> 00:18:32 of theropod dinosaurs uncovering a

00:18:32 --> 00:18:34 predator hierarchy unique to Cretaceous

00:18:34 --> 00:18:37 Australia the research describes five

00:18:37 --> 00:18:39 therapod fossils discovered along

00:18:39 --> 00:18:40 Victorious Coastline Unearthed in the

00:18:40 --> 00:18:43 upper stres Lei group between 121.4 and

00:18:43 --> 00:18:46 118 million years ago and from the umel

00:18:46 --> 00:18:49 formation on the Otway Coast between 113

00:18:49 --> 00:18:52 and 108 million years ago these fossils

00:18:52 --> 00:18:55 are offering scientists new insights

00:18:55 --> 00:18:58 into Victoria's ancient ecosystems it

00:18:58 --> 00:19:00 was a time dominated by large powerful 6

00:19:00 --> 00:19:04 to 7 m long mear Rapids smaller 2 to 4 M

00:19:04 --> 00:19:07 long karadon SIDS and small agile meter

00:19:07 --> 00:19:10 long Southern Raptors the discovery also

00:19:10 --> 00:19:12 shows how Victorious Predator hierarchy

00:19:12 --> 00:19:15 diverge from South America where karadon

00:19:15 --> 00:19:17 aaids reach Tyrannosaurus Rex likee

00:19:17 --> 00:19:20 sizes up to 13 M toing over the mega

00:19:20 --> 00:19:23 raptoid but in Victoria the roles were

00:19:23 --> 00:19:25 reversed highlighting the uniqueness of

00:19:25 --> 00:19:29 Australia's Cretaceous ecosystem

00:19:29 --> 00:19:31 a fraudster who claimed to be able to

00:19:31 --> 00:19:33 cure a range of illnesses using a

00:19:33 --> 00:19:35 so-called slapping therapy has been

00:19:35 --> 00:19:37 jailed for 10 years in the UK after one

00:19:37 --> 00:19:40 of his patients died Tim mum from

00:19:40 --> 00:19:42 Australian skeptic says the con man had

00:19:42 --> 00:19:44 used the same scam in Australia where

00:19:44 --> 00:19:46 another patient died sling therapy is

00:19:46 --> 00:19:48 one of those treatments for disease Etc

00:19:48 --> 00:19:50 which people make up oh I've got a good

00:19:50 --> 00:19:52 idea maybe we should try this there is

00:19:52 --> 00:19:54 something close to it but not quite the

00:19:54 --> 00:19:55 same has been around a while called

00:19:55 --> 00:19:57 tapping therapy you tap parts of the

00:19:57 --> 00:19:59 body just tapping with sort of like two

00:19:59 --> 00:20:01 fingers and that's supposed to help your

00:20:01 --> 00:20:02 health no evidence of that but there's

00:20:02 --> 00:20:03 the one which is a lot more serious than

00:20:04 --> 00:20:06 that it's slapping as in literally

00:20:06 --> 00:20:07 slapping the face and slapping the body

00:20:08 --> 00:20:09 hard and it's sort of developed by a

00:20:09 --> 00:20:12 Chinese fellow named honi XO and he was

00:20:12 --> 00:20:15 doing it in the UK he came to Australia

00:20:15 --> 00:20:17 and was doing it there what He suggests

00:20:17 --> 00:20:18 is is that this is better than

00:20:18 --> 00:20:20 medication this has a real effect he

00:20:20 --> 00:20:22 says and it's better than medication and

00:20:22 --> 00:20:24 in some instances specific instances

00:20:24 --> 00:20:27 people who need insulin have been told

00:20:27 --> 00:20:28 not to take it and when you don't take

00:20:28 --> 00:20:30 insulin and you have a bad case of

00:20:30 --> 00:20:32 diabetes it can have immediate or very

00:20:32 --> 00:20:34 short almost instantaneous effects and

00:20:34 --> 00:20:36 what happens is that if you continue not

00:20:36 --> 00:20:37 to use it it can be fatal and that's

00:20:37 --> 00:20:39 exactly what happened in Australia with

00:20:39 --> 00:20:41 a young lad I think was 10 years old his

00:20:41 --> 00:20:42 parents were going through the slapping

00:20:42 --> 00:20:44 I don't know if the kid was but the

00:20:44 --> 00:20:45 parents wereth and this person was

00:20:45 --> 00:20:47 suggesting don't take insulin it's bad

00:20:47 --> 00:20:49 for you the slapping will do all the

00:20:49 --> 00:20:51 things you needs to do so they stopped

00:20:51 --> 00:20:52 the insulin for the kid and then pretty

00:20:52 --> 00:20:54 soon within a few days he was rushed off

00:20:54 --> 00:20:55 the hospital and he died in a most

00:20:55 --> 00:20:57 agonizing horrible way you start off

00:20:57 --> 00:21:00 vomiting that coughing up bile all sorts

00:21:00 --> 00:21:02 of terrible things happened so he was

00:21:02 --> 00:21:04 charged in Australia he was found guilty

00:21:04 --> 00:21:06 sentenced for 10 years but he got off on

00:21:06 --> 00:21:08 appeal mainly because of of legal

00:21:08 --> 00:21:10 technicality not because he was not

00:21:10 --> 00:21:11 guilty of slapping in the way but just

00:21:12 --> 00:21:14 that saying the trial wasn't exactly as

00:21:14 --> 00:21:15 it should have been and therefore

00:21:15 --> 00:21:16 they're going to have a retrial but in

00:21:16 --> 00:21:18 the meantime he had actually moved to

00:21:18 --> 00:21:19 England and was doing the same thing

00:21:20 --> 00:21:21 there and with the same result of

00:21:21 --> 00:21:22 another older woman there who was

00:21:22 --> 00:21:25 suffering from diabetes and she thought

00:21:25 --> 00:21:27 he was a messenger from God which is the

00:21:27 --> 00:21:29 way he portrays himself and and same

00:21:29 --> 00:21:32 problem insulin stopped and dies in in a

00:21:32 --> 00:21:34 terribly agonizing way so he's moved

00:21:34 --> 00:21:36 around from place to place and doing the

00:21:36 --> 00:21:38 same sort of thing and now been thrown

00:21:38 --> 00:21:40 in jail in the UK sounds like a silly

00:21:40 --> 00:21:41 thing seconding someone for medical

00:21:41 --> 00:21:42 reasons yeah you get a red cheek and

00:21:42 --> 00:21:44 might be a bit painful to you know what

00:21:44 --> 00:21:46 harm can it do well it can kill you

00:21:46 --> 00:21:51 that's Tim mum from Australian Skeptics

00:21:51 --> 00:22:04 [Music]

00:22:04 --> 00:22:07 and that's the show for now SpaceTime is

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