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Space Nuts Episode 512 Q&A: Cosmic Colors, Gamma Ray Bursts, and Terraforming Venus
In this enlightening episode of Space Nuts, host Heidi Campo takes the helm alongside astronomer Professor Fred Watson to tackle a range of fascinating cosmic queries from our listeners. From the vibrant colors of celestial bodies to the dangers of gamma ray bursts, and the challenges of terraforming Venus, this episode is a treasure trove of astronomical insights that will spark your curiosity about the universe.
Episode Highlights:
- Cosmic Colors: Heidi and Fred discuss Rusty from Donnybrook's inquiry about the colors of stars, particularly red giants like Pollux and the blue hues of certain stars. They explore how large telescopes enhance our perception of these colors and the subtlety of what we actually see through the eyepiece.
- Gamma Ray Bursts Explained: The duo dives into the nature of gamma ray bursts and why their intensity diminishes with distance. Fred explains the inverse square law and clarifies the effects of dust and gas on signal strength, providing a comprehensive understanding of these powerful cosmic events.
- Terraforming Venus: A thought-provoking discussion on the feasibility of terraforming Venus reveals the planet's extreme conditions and the challenges posed by its thick atmosphere. Fred shares insights on whether blocking sunlight could reverse the runaway greenhouse effect and the implications of Venus's proximity to the sun.
- The Double Slit Experiment: The episode wraps up with a listener's question about the double slit experiment and the puzzling behavior of photons. Fred elaborates on the concept of quantum superposition and entanglement, shedding light on this fundamental experiment that underpins our understanding of light as both a particle and a wave.
For more Space Nuts, including our continually updating newsfeed and to listen to all our episodes, visit our website. (https://www.spacenutspodcast.com/) Follow us on social media at SpaceNutsPod on Facebook, X, YouTube Music Music, Tumblr, Instagram, and TikTok. We love engaging with our community, so be sure to drop us a message or comment on your favorite platform.
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Stay curious, keep looking up, and join us next time for more stellar insights and cosmic wonders. Until then, clear skies and happy stargazing.
(00:00) Heidi Campo welcomes Professor Fred Watson to Space Nuts
(00:30) Andrew and Fred have some questions for you about telescopes and color
(06:36) Radio waves and gamma rays get weaker the further away they get
(09:41) Mike Cupid from the UK has a question about terraforming Venus
(11:41) How could you terraform Venus without losing runaway greenhouse effect
(16:45) Our very, uh, last question is from Todd. He's from Utah. His question is about spring skiing
(17:13) Todd from Utah has a question about the double slit experiment
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss) .
Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/26595429?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 all right let's rock and roll Welcome to
00:00:03 --> 00:00:06 another episode of Space Nuts I am your
00:00:06 --> 00:00:09 host Heidi Combo today filling in for
00:00:09 --> 00:00:11 Andrew Dunley and I'm here with
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 Professor Watson astronomer at
00:00:14 --> 00:00:18 large Professor Fred Watson Actually I
00:00:18 --> 00:00:21 just say Watson If I just say Watson it
00:00:22 --> 00:00:23 makes it sound like this is a mystery
00:00:23 --> 00:00:25 podcast and not a space podcast Yeah
00:00:25 --> 00:00:30 that's right Elementary my dear Watson
00:00:30 --> 00:00:32 All right Well speaking of mysteries we
00:00:32 --> 00:00:34 have a lot of really good questions with
00:00:34 --> 00:00:38 mysteries for you to solve today And our
00:00:38 --> 00:00:40 first question
00:00:40 --> 00:00:44 uh comes from Rusty from Donnie Brook
00:00:44 --> 00:00:46 Hey Andrew and Fred It's Rusty and Donny
00:00:46 --> 00:00:49 Brook I'm sitting out in a beautiful
00:00:49 --> 00:00:53 clear night and looking due north I see
00:00:53 --> 00:00:57 Mars there and it's quite close to the
00:00:57 --> 00:01:00 twins Caster and Pock the Gemini
00:01:00 --> 00:01:04 twins It's closest to
00:01:04 --> 00:01:09 Pock which is it's an orange giant
00:01:09 --> 00:01:14 star and it looks redder Pock looks
00:01:14 --> 00:01:17 redder than Mars
00:01:17 --> 00:01:21 Um and if we look to the southwest from
00:01:21 --> 00:01:24 there we can see Beetlejuice part of
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 Orion That one looks redder again So the
00:01:26 --> 00:01:28 question my question
00:01:28 --> 00:01:32 is when you take a picture through a
00:01:32 --> 00:01:35 very large telescope and you can really
00:01:35 --> 00:01:38 see uh these colors close up how
00:01:38 --> 00:01:42 colorful are they is is a red giant as
00:01:42 --> 00:01:43 red as
00:01:43 --> 00:01:45 um as
00:01:45 --> 00:01:49 a tomato or a pillar
00:01:49 --> 00:01:52 box and what about the the blue stars
00:01:52 --> 00:01:55 how blue do they get is it like when we
00:01:55 --> 00:01:59 call them red and blue is that fair
00:01:59 --> 00:02:03 dinkham anyway have a good one And so I
00:02:03 --> 00:02:05 can imagine so Rusty is one of our
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 regular questioners Donny Brook Donny
00:02:08 --> 00:02:11 Brook in Western Australia uh and always
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 asking intriguing intriguing questions
00:02:13 --> 00:02:15 and I think what he's thinking of here
00:02:15 --> 00:02:19 is if you sat yourself at the eyepiece
00:02:19 --> 00:02:21 for example of the biggest telescope in
00:02:21 --> 00:02:24 Australia uh the one that I used to be
00:02:24 --> 00:02:26 astronomer in charge of up in Kuna
00:02:26 --> 00:02:30 Baraban with its uh 3.9 m diameter
00:02:30 --> 00:02:32 mirror and you looked through an
00:02:32 --> 00:02:36 eyepiece uh at some of these objects
00:02:36 --> 00:02:38 what would you would you see the colors
00:02:38 --> 00:02:41 more richly than we do with a small
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 instrument and the answer's a bit a
00:02:44 --> 00:02:45 little bit
00:02:45 --> 00:02:48 um I suppose disappointing really
00:02:48 --> 00:02:52 because the colors are still subtle Um
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 looking through a very big telescope and
00:02:54 --> 00:02:55 I've actually done it with the Anglo
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 Australian telescope It's quite hard to
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 get an eyepiece on a telescope like that
00:02:59 --> 00:03:01 because it's funed with spectrographs
00:03:01 --> 00:03:05 and uh autoguiders and instruments of
00:03:05 --> 00:03:07 all different kinds that don't have an
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 eyepiece on them But when you look
00:03:09 --> 00:03:12 through yes you do see the colors uh
00:03:12 --> 00:03:15 Mars looking red serious looking
00:03:15 --> 00:03:18 dazzlingly white um some blue stars the
00:03:18 --> 00:03:20 the the jewel box which is a cluster of
00:03:20 --> 00:03:23 stars in um in the constellation of the
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 southern cross uh so named because it's
00:03:25 --> 00:03:27 it's got stars of different colors
00:03:27 --> 00:03:30 including a particularly red one uh
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 which is a sort of ruby colored stars
00:03:32 --> 00:03:35 Those those colors are exaggerated but
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 perhaps not as much as you think they
00:03:37 --> 00:03:41 would be rusty They they um you know
00:03:41 --> 00:03:43 they don't go deep red or anything like
00:03:43 --> 00:03:46 that The colors are still as subtle as
00:03:46 --> 00:03:48 you see them But if I can put it this
00:03:48 --> 00:03:50 way it's just like sliding up the
00:03:50 --> 00:03:53 saturation button on your color editor
00:03:53 --> 00:03:56 uh in whatever whatever photo editing
00:03:56 --> 00:03:59 system you use Slide up saturation a bit
00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 and you get a bit more color Likewise
00:04:01 --> 00:04:04 with the size of a telescope What you
00:04:04 --> 00:04:07 what you might be surprised at though is
00:04:07 --> 00:04:11 that um the the detail that you see with
00:04:11 --> 00:04:15 a big telescope uh is is not as fine as
00:04:15 --> 00:04:17 you'd expect And that's all about the
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 way the atmosphere behaves The
00:04:19 --> 00:04:22 atmosphere in terms of the way
00:04:22 --> 00:04:24 turbulence in the atmosphere spoils the
00:04:24 --> 00:04:26 view through a telescope it's actually
00:04:26 --> 00:04:28 far less forgiving of a big telescope
00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 than it is in a smaller one A smaller
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 one you might just see the object moving
00:04:32 --> 00:04:34 around but you can see it quite sharply
00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 Whereas with a big telescope it just
00:04:36 --> 00:04:39 tends to blur it out It still moves out
00:04:39 --> 00:04:40 Would have totally thought it was the
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 other way around I would have thought
00:04:42 --> 00:04:45 those big telescopes were like high def
00:04:45 --> 00:04:49 4K perfect picture Uh they are with with
00:04:49 --> 00:04:53 modern technology Uh these new uh not
00:04:53 --> 00:04:54 really new they've been around for 30
00:04:54 --> 00:04:55 years but it's only within the last
00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 decade that they've been perfected what
00:04:57 --> 00:05:00 we call adaptive optics systems which
00:05:00 --> 00:05:01 actually it it's all about the
00:05:01 --> 00:05:03 turbulence the mirror the telescopes
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 themselves if they were in space they
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 would reveal perfect images exactly like
00:05:07 --> 00:05:09 the web telescope or the Hubble
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 telescope do but because they're at the
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 bottom of an atmosphere with a lot of
00:05:14 --> 00:05:16 turbulence in the air even on top of
00:05:16 --> 00:05:18 mountains there's turbulence uh that's
00:05:18 --> 00:05:21 what spoils the view but modern
00:05:21 --> 00:05:22 technology lets you sense that
00:05:22 --> 00:05:25 turbulence it lets you see what is the
00:05:25 --> 00:05:28 distortion that the atmosphere is
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 providing and then just like a pair of
00:05:30 --> 00:05:33 noiseancelling headphones it cancels it
00:05:33 --> 00:05:35 out It provides the opposite signal Uh
00:05:35 --> 00:05:39 so it cancels out the the turbulence Uh
00:05:39 --> 00:05:41 it's very hard technology because you
00:05:41 --> 00:05:45 have to uh measure the star Uh we use
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 what's called a reference star which is
00:05:47 --> 00:05:50 sometimes artificial Uh the you've got
00:05:50 --> 00:05:52 to measure that star a thousand times a
00:05:52 --> 00:05:55 second for this process to work Uh so it
00:05:55 --> 00:05:58 needs very fast readout sensors much
00:05:58 --> 00:06:00 much faster than what you find in a in
00:06:00 --> 00:06:03 for example a mobile phone Uh but the
00:06:03 --> 00:06:04 same sort of thing but they're reading
00:06:04 --> 00:06:06 out a thousand times a second at least
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 in fact sometimes twice that That is so
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 incredible I just every day I'm so proud
00:06:11 --> 00:06:13 of humanity for what we've come up with
00:06:13 --> 00:06:15 It's just fantastic to think and if you
00:06:16 --> 00:06:17 know if we all just worked together as a
00:06:17 --> 00:06:20 team this would be you know we'd already
00:06:20 --> 00:06:22 have you know gone past our own solar
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 system by now if we all worked as a big
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 team That is so incredible just to think
00:06:26 --> 00:06:31 of all the details of these technologies
00:06:31 --> 00:06:32 Let's take a little break from the show
00:06:32 --> 00:06:36 to tell you about our sponsor SY As you
00:06:36 --> 00:06:38 know my wife and I like to travel We've
00:06:38 --> 00:06:40 been overseas um quite a few times in
00:06:40 --> 00:06:43 recent years Now that I'm retired we
00:06:43 --> 00:06:46 plan to do more And one of the things I
00:06:46 --> 00:06:48 really like to do is make sure I've got
00:06:48 --> 00:06:50 access to mobile phone data particularly
00:06:50 --> 00:06:53 when I'm using maps because it's so easy
00:06:53 --> 00:06:54 to get lost when you're in a very
00:06:54 --> 00:06:58 unfamiliar environment Some time ago we
00:06:58 --> 00:07:01 did use an eim service uh from a from
00:07:01 --> 00:07:04 another company and it did not work and
00:07:04 --> 00:07:06 it left us in a very difficult position
00:07:06 --> 00:07:10 and we were high and dry and uh we were
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 not happy and we didn't have any backup
00:07:13 --> 00:07:16 service which was also very very
00:07:16 --> 00:07:18 disconcerting So we we had no one to
00:07:18 --> 00:07:20 call to say look this doesn't work what
00:07:20 --> 00:07:23 can you do uh and it it it just left us
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 in a really um difficult position and
00:07:25 --> 00:07:28 left a nasty taste in our mouths as well
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 I wish I'd known about SY at that point
00:07:30 --> 00:07:34 in time Uh SY offers an eSIM service
00:07:34 --> 00:07:37 covering 180 countries Uh with an e SIM
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 you don't have to physically change the
00:07:39 --> 00:07:41 SIM in your phone You just download it
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 and it works when you switch the service
00:07:43 --> 00:07:47 on in whatever country or regional area
00:07:47 --> 00:07:50 that you want to serve the internet on
00:07:50 --> 00:07:53 And it's as simple as going to your app
00:07:53 --> 00:07:55 store or play store downloading the SY
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00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 need from whatever country Uh and away
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 you go Simple as that Right now there's
00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 a discount available to Space Nuts
00:08:05 --> 00:08:08 listeners And all you have to do when
00:08:08 --> 00:08:10 you buy whatever coverage area you've
00:08:10 --> 00:08:13 chosen is put space nuts uh the code
00:08:13 --> 00:08:16 word in at the checkout Okay so Space
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 Nuts at the checkout will get you a
00:08:18 --> 00:08:21 discount as a Space Nuts listener on
00:08:21 --> 00:08:24 sale I highly recommend uh when you're
00:08:24 --> 00:08:27 overseas to use a service like this Uh
00:08:27 --> 00:08:28 so if you would like to get that
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 discount as a as a Space Nuts listener
00:08:30 --> 00:08:33 on sale you download the app from your
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 Android or Apple device and when you get
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 to the checkout make sure you put Space
00:08:38 --> 00:08:39 Nuts in as the code word for the
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 discount Uh no matter where you are or
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 what you plan to do this is a service
00:08:44 --> 00:08:47 that will back you 100% And you can read
00:08:48 --> 00:08:50 all about it as well at
00:08:50 --> 00:08:54 s.com/spacenuts That's
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 sail.com/spacenuts and get all that
00:08:56 --> 00:08:58 stress out of your overseas travel This
00:08:58 --> 00:08:59 is one thing you won't have to worry
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 about All the details of course are in
00:09:01 --> 00:09:02 our show
00:09:02 --> 00:09:05 notes Now back to the show Okay we
00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 checked all four systems and being with
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 Space Nuts Well our next question is
00:09:10 --> 00:09:15 from Dan from California Dan the man He
00:09:15 --> 00:09:18 says "I was reading about gammaray
00:09:18 --> 00:09:20 bursts and how devastating they can be
00:09:20 --> 00:09:22 should they hit Earth Can you explain
00:09:22 --> 00:09:25 why gamma ray bursts become less lethal
00:09:25 --> 00:09:27 the further away they are because the
00:09:27 --> 00:09:29 majority of space is a void rather than
00:09:29 --> 00:09:32 dust?" I assume the same goes for radio
00:09:32 --> 00:09:34 waves where over distance they get
00:09:34 --> 00:09:37 weaker and weaker Is this really due to
00:09:37 --> 00:09:39 dust and gas that are weakening the
00:09:39 --> 00:09:43 signals thanks
00:09:43 --> 00:09:46 Um yes it's actually nothing to do with
00:09:46 --> 00:09:50 dust and gas Uh uh Dan sorry wrong
00:09:50 --> 00:09:52 name Reading the wrong bit of the
00:09:52 --> 00:09:56 question Uh Dan the uh the reason why
00:09:56 --> 00:09:58 things get weaker the further away you
00:09:58 --> 00:10:01 get is because of a fundamental law of
00:10:01 --> 00:10:02 physics which is called the inverse
00:10:02 --> 00:10:07 square law uh and that is that uh if you
00:10:07 --> 00:10:09 double the distance that you are from a
00:10:09 --> 00:10:11 source of gamma rays or radio waves or
00:10:11 --> 00:10:14 whatever you double the distance uh the
00:10:14 --> 00:10:16 signal drops by a factor of four It's
00:10:16 --> 00:10:18 the square of the distance That's why
00:10:18 --> 00:10:21 it's called the inverse square law Uh so
00:10:21 --> 00:10:23 double the distance um you get you know
00:10:23 --> 00:10:26 a quarter of the signal and if you then
00:10:26 --> 00:10:28 double the distance again um it goes
00:10:28 --> 00:10:32 down by an equally large you know it
00:10:32 --> 00:10:33 goes down by the square of the the new
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 distance The new distance is four so it
00:10:36 --> 00:10:38 goes down by 16 a factor of 16 and
00:10:38 --> 00:10:41 that's why uh all these signals get
00:10:41 --> 00:10:44 weaker Uh dust and gas do impact on them
00:10:44 --> 00:10:48 Uh um and for example um the perhaps the
00:10:48 --> 00:10:50 best example of that is the center of
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 our Milky Way galaxy at a distance of
00:10:52 --> 00:10:57 about 25 light years Um we can't see
00:10:57 --> 00:10:58 the center of that with visible light
00:10:58 --> 00:11:00 telescopes because of the dust that
00:11:00 --> 00:11:03 blocks our view It's dusty in the Milky
00:11:03 --> 00:11:05 Way and the center of our galaxy is
00:11:05 --> 00:11:08 hidden uh infrared radiation penetrates
00:11:08 --> 00:11:10 the dust and that's why we can actually
00:11:10 --> 00:11:12 see it uh see the center of our galaxy
00:11:12 --> 00:11:15 in infrared but not with visible light
00:11:15 --> 00:11:17 So dust certainly has an effect but it's
00:11:17 --> 00:11:19 the distance that is the real effect
00:11:19 --> 00:11:21 This inverse square or means it you know
00:11:22 --> 00:11:24 it's the square of the distance uh by
00:11:24 --> 00:11:28 which it drops every time you move away
00:11:28 --> 00:11:30 I wonder if that's uh everyone has that
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 crazy friend that always is just on
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 speaker phone And they're like "Oh I
00:11:34 --> 00:11:35 don't want to hold the phone up to my
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 head I don't want the waves to get me
00:11:37 --> 00:11:40 I'm going to hold my phone." Yeah You
00:11:40 --> 00:11:41 know two feet away from my face and I'm
00:11:42 --> 00:11:43 going to shout into it so everybody can
00:11:43 --> 00:11:46 hear my conversation Who knows maybe
00:11:46 --> 00:11:48 they might be on to something Well
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 you're you're right that sound waves
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 also uh are affected by the inverse
00:11:52 --> 00:11:55 square law So So if you double the
00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 distance from the person who's yelling
00:11:57 --> 00:12:00 into their phone uh then it's going to
00:12:00 --> 00:12:03 go down by a factor of four So that you
00:12:03 --> 00:12:06 you know you try try you know doubling
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 the distance twice and it'll drop by a
00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 factor of 16
00:12:10 --> 00:12:13 Yeah I can't hear
00:12:13 --> 00:12:16 you All right our next question is from
00:12:16 --> 00:12:19 Mike from the UK It's Mike Cupid from
00:12:19 --> 00:12:22 the UK here Uh a very quick question if
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 I may I have heard many many questions
00:12:25 --> 00:12:27 over the years into you guys about
00:12:27 --> 00:12:30 terraforming Mars uh which is obviously
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 something that is beyond our capability
00:12:32 --> 00:12:35 but a lot of people dream about Um what
00:12:35 --> 00:12:38 about terraforming Venus uh it's not
00:12:38 --> 00:12:40 something I've heard a lot about Now
00:12:40 --> 00:12:44 obviously it it's probably still beyond
00:12:44 --> 00:12:46 our capability So let's just talk sort
00:12:46 --> 00:12:49 of theoretical but would it just be a
00:12:49 --> 00:12:52 case of blocking out some of the sun's
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 rays to cool the planet down and
00:12:54 --> 00:12:57 potentially reverse that runaway
00:12:57 --> 00:12:59 greenhouse effect that's happening on on
00:12:59 --> 00:13:03 Venus so potentially just thinking
00:13:03 --> 00:13:06 outside the box possibly um collide to
00:13:06 --> 00:13:10 uh asteroids together and let the debris
00:13:10 --> 00:13:12 catch in the orbit of Venus blocking out
00:13:12 --> 00:13:15 some of the sun and then cooling it down
00:13:15 --> 00:13:17 or potentially even sort of build a
00:13:17 --> 00:13:19 structure to block some of the sun's
00:13:19 --> 00:13:22 rays Um and the other question as well
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 and like I say I know this is probably
00:13:24 --> 00:13:27 beyond our capability but if we did
00:13:27 --> 00:13:30 manage to do that and cool the planet
00:13:30 --> 00:13:33 down if we could get the conditions on
00:13:33 --> 00:13:36 Venus to be similar to what they are on
00:13:36 --> 00:13:39 Earth um which would probably never
00:13:39 --> 00:13:42 happen anyway but would it
00:13:42 --> 00:13:46 stabilize or would the greenhouse
00:13:46 --> 00:13:49 runaway effect happen again um is it too
00:13:49 --> 00:13:53 close to the sun to hold a stable
00:13:53 --> 00:13:56 atmosphere and a similar temperature to
00:13:56 --> 00:13:59 Earth um love the show It's my favorite
00:13:59 --> 00:14:01 podcast in the uh in the world I listen
00:14:01 --> 00:14:03 to it all the time I think I've listened
00:14:03 --> 00:14:05 to just about every episode So uh
00:14:05 --> 00:14:07 regardless of whether you answer my
00:14:07 --> 00:14:08 question or not please keep up the good
00:14:08 --> 00:14:10 work and thank you very much for your
00:14:10 --> 00:14:14 time Yeah that's a a great question Mike
00:14:14 --> 00:14:19 Um terraforming Venus Venus is so
00:14:19 --> 00:14:22 different from the Earth in its natural
00:14:22 --> 00:14:24 environment that it's hard to think of a
00:14:24 --> 00:14:26 more well you can think of more
00:14:26 --> 00:14:28 different planets because exoplanets are
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 even wider in range But yes here we've
00:14:30 --> 00:14:32 got a planet with a surface temperature
00:14:32 --> 00:14:36 of about 460° C Hot enough to melt lead
00:14:36 --> 00:14:39 uh uh hot enough that the rocks probably
00:14:39 --> 00:14:42 glow a dull red as well uh because of
00:14:42 --> 00:14:44 that temperature uh and an atmosphere
00:14:44 --> 00:14:46 whose pressure is 100 times the pressure
00:14:46 --> 00:14:49 of the Earth's atmosphere laden with
00:14:49 --> 00:14:51 carbon dioxide And just to add to that
00:14:51 --> 00:14:55 lovely um benign picture uh in the upper
00:14:55 --> 00:14:57 atmosphere it drizzles sulfuric acid So
00:14:57 --> 00:15:00 you've really got a hellish uh
00:15:00 --> 00:15:04 circumstance for anybody on Venus Uh how
00:15:04 --> 00:15:07 could you terraform it well you you're
00:15:07 --> 00:15:11 you're right that the fact that Venus is
00:15:11 --> 00:15:12 you know it's much nearer the sun than
00:15:12 --> 00:15:15 we are on Earth that contributes and
00:15:15 --> 00:15:17 goes back to the question we were just
00:15:17 --> 00:15:19 talking about You you it's the inverse
00:15:19 --> 00:15:21 square law Uh so you're actually getting
00:15:21 --> 00:15:23 far more radiation than you might think
00:15:23 --> 00:15:26 just by being um you know a few million
00:15:26 --> 00:15:28 kil a few tens of millions of kilometers
00:15:28 --> 00:15:32 nearer to the sun Um the idea of
00:15:32 --> 00:15:34 blocking the sun's light is something
00:15:34 --> 00:15:37 that has been suggested quite seriously
00:15:37 --> 00:15:42 uh on on Earth uh in order to reduce the
00:15:42 --> 00:15:45 carbon footprint that we're all making
00:15:45 --> 00:15:48 Uh if you um launch I'm trying to
00:15:48 --> 00:15:50 remember who suggested it at first It's
00:15:50 --> 00:15:52 somebody I know and I can't remember who
00:15:52 --> 00:15:55 it was Uh but if you launch a swarm of
00:15:55 --> 00:15:58 spacecraft and put them at what we call
00:15:58 --> 00:16:00 the L2 point the second mrange point
00:16:00 --> 00:16:03 which is a stable position between any
00:16:03 --> 00:16:05 planet and the sun where the gravity
00:16:06 --> 00:16:07 balances out you put this swarm of
00:16:08 --> 00:16:09 spacecraft This was suggested for the
00:16:09 --> 00:16:11 Earth but it would equally apply to
00:16:11 --> 00:16:13 Venus You can do the same thing to try
00:16:13 --> 00:16:16 and block down the sun's light I'm not
00:16:16 --> 00:16:19 convinced that that would actually have
00:16:19 --> 00:16:23 any uh positive effect on the uh on the
00:16:23 --> 00:16:25 atmosphere of Venus It would certainly
00:16:25 --> 00:16:27 cool the radiation that it feels from
00:16:27 --> 00:16:31 the sun Uh that uh the the the carbon
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 dioxide rich atmosphere would still act
00:16:33 --> 00:16:36 as a um you know as a a runaway
00:16:36 --> 00:16:39 greenhouse atmosphere Uh so I think you
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 would still have these very high
00:16:41 --> 00:16:44 temperatures and I don't think there is
00:16:44 --> 00:16:46 any technology we could imagine that
00:16:46 --> 00:16:49 would change that and if you were going
00:16:49 --> 00:16:52 to think about terraforming somewhere uh
00:16:52 --> 00:16:53 and I should say it's pretty well
00:16:54 --> 00:16:55 impossible but if you were going to
00:16:55 --> 00:16:58 think of it Mars will be a better bet Uh
00:16:58 --> 00:17:00 you'd have to keep on terraforming it
00:17:00 --> 00:17:01 though because Mars doesn't have enough
00:17:01 --> 00:17:03 gravity to hang on to an atmosphere like
00:17:03 --> 00:17:07 the Earth's So um I think you're right
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 that you would not um you would not lose
00:17:09 --> 00:17:11 the runaway greenhouse effect It would
00:17:11 --> 00:17:15 not uh it would not go away basically
00:17:15 --> 00:17:17 Yeah Venus is really I'm sorry Venus
00:17:18 --> 00:17:21 It's a terrible terrible planet It's uh
00:17:21 --> 00:17:24 really I think pretty pretty nasty as
00:17:24 --> 00:17:26 far as everything that's going on on
00:17:26 --> 00:17:29 that planet But you know we we did
00:17:30 --> 00:17:31 historically used to think that that was
00:17:31 --> 00:17:34 going to be the most similar closest
00:17:34 --> 00:17:37 planet to us and then we flew some
00:17:37 --> 00:17:38 satellites by it and we're like "Oh
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 that's terrifying."
00:17:40 --> 00:17:42 But yeah you're right I mean it is
00:17:42 --> 00:17:44 similar It's virtually the same size as
00:17:44 --> 00:17:47 Earth Uh there's some new research just
00:17:47 --> 00:17:50 been uh released actually which I nearly
00:17:50 --> 00:17:51 thought we might talk about on Space
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 Nuts Uh and it's about the crust of
00:17:53 --> 00:17:58 Venus uh the the because like the Earth
00:17:58 --> 00:18:02 uh Venus has we don't know what's at its
00:18:02 --> 00:18:04 core It doesn't have a magnetic field So
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 it's probably not an iron core like ours
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 A mantle a sort of soft rock above that
00:18:08 --> 00:18:11 and a crust Uh and we live on the
00:18:12 --> 00:18:13 Earth's crust for example which is not
00:18:13 --> 00:18:16 very thick It's 30 or 40 kilometers
00:18:16 --> 00:18:19 thick which is quite slender But the
00:18:19 --> 00:18:22 thinking is that uh Venus has a much
00:18:22 --> 00:18:24 thicker crust and that there is what we
00:18:24 --> 00:18:26 call convection This you know heat
00:18:26 --> 00:18:29 rising or material rising because of
00:18:29 --> 00:18:31 because of heat convection taking place
00:18:31 --> 00:18:34 in the crust of Venus which may be why
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36 Venus has the largest number of
00:18:36 --> 00:18:39 volcanoes of any object known in the
00:18:39 --> 00:18:40 solar system Now we don't know if
00:18:40 --> 00:18:42 they're active or not Uh this is just
00:18:42 --> 00:18:44 counting craters from radar measurements
00:18:44 --> 00:18:47 of its surface It's uh got the largest
00:18:47 --> 00:18:50 number of certainly volcanic structures
00:18:50 --> 00:18:52 Uh and the thinking now is that that
00:18:52 --> 00:18:54 comes from convection in the crust
00:18:54 --> 00:18:55 rather than convection in the mantle
00:18:55 --> 00:18:57 which is what we have here on Earth Just
00:18:57 --> 00:18:59 a little factoid about Venus that I
00:18:59 --> 00:19:02 think contributes to its um its
00:19:02 --> 00:19:06 reputation as uh Earth's ugly system
00:19:06 --> 00:19:08 Well that's a that is a such a fun fact
00:19:08 --> 00:19:13 though I never knew that about Venus
00:19:13 --> 00:19:20 3 2 1 Space nuts Our very last question
00:19:20 --> 00:19:23 is from Todd who's from Utah Um I I am
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 also from Utah So Todd thank you for uh
00:19:26 --> 00:19:29 representing our our little state
00:19:29 --> 00:19:31 Hopefully you're uh winding up for some
00:19:31 --> 00:19:34 good weather there I know springtime um
00:19:34 --> 00:19:36 in Salt Lake's always really beautiful
00:19:36 --> 00:19:38 and I don't know if you're a skier if
00:19:38 --> 00:19:40 you got some good skiing in this season
00:19:40 --> 00:19:44 but that's my little plug to a fellow
00:19:44 --> 00:19:47 Uton His question is "Hello gentlemen I
00:19:48 --> 00:19:50 have a question about the double slit
00:19:50 --> 00:19:53 experiment." Well truthfully I have many
00:19:53 --> 00:19:55 questions about it but let's just focus
00:19:55 --> 00:19:58 on one for now I have seen that some
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00 have done this experiment by shooting
00:20:00 --> 00:20:04 individual um photons at the double slit
00:20:04 --> 00:20:07 one at a time Yet this still produces an
00:20:07 --> 00:20:10 inference pattern This of course boggles
00:20:10 --> 00:20:13 my mind I've read that I've read that
00:20:13 --> 00:20:16 this is an example of quantum superos
00:20:17 --> 00:20:19 superposition and that somehow those
00:20:19 --> 00:20:22 photons are interacting with themselves
00:20:22 --> 00:20:24 Can you and Fred please elaborate on
00:20:24 --> 00:20:27 what exactly we understand is happening
00:20:27 --> 00:20:29 here is this something silly along the
00:20:29 --> 00:20:31 lines of photons not being bound by time
00:20:31 --> 00:20:34 speaking of time thank you for yours
00:20:34 --> 00:20:37 Finally I have an observational joke for
00:20:37 --> 00:20:42 you In 3,25 years from now life on Earth
00:20:42 --> 00:20:45 will either be really good or really bad
00:20:45 --> 00:20:46 It's
00:20:46 --> 00:20:51 50/50 That is from uh Todd from Utah USA
00:20:51 --> 00:20:53 Thank you so much for the joke Todd and
00:20:53 --> 00:20:56 the question I like the joke a lot but
00:20:56 --> 00:20:58 nobody I've told it to so far gets it So
00:20:58 --> 00:21:01 I'm obviously losing something in the
00:21:01 --> 00:21:03 retelling there Uh it's a good one Thank
00:21:03 --> 00:21:05 you I think you need a better audience
00:21:06 --> 00:21:07 They're not laughing at that They're
00:21:08 --> 00:21:13 maybe So yeah Anyway the question yeah
00:21:13 --> 00:21:15 this is and just to you know sort of
00:21:15 --> 00:21:16 fill in the backstory what are we
00:21:16 --> 00:21:18 talking about with the double slit
00:21:18 --> 00:21:22 experiment um if you pass beams of light
00:21:22 --> 00:21:25 through two slits uh under the right
00:21:25 --> 00:21:27 circumstance they will interfere with
00:21:27 --> 00:21:29 one another and that means we will see
00:21:29 --> 00:21:32 bright and dark patterns because of the
00:21:32 --> 00:21:36 way the waves mix Uh so waves of light
00:21:36 --> 00:21:38 basically can add together or can cancel
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40 out and it's where they add together and
00:21:40 --> 00:21:42 cancel out that we see these bright and
00:21:42 --> 00:21:45 dark patterns I was very keen on
00:21:45 --> 00:21:47 interferometry the technique of doing
00:21:47 --> 00:21:49 that and making measurements by it when
00:21:49 --> 00:21:53 I was a young student Uh but um so that
00:21:53 --> 00:21:56 uh is basically it was the proof of the
00:21:56 --> 00:21:59 fact that light is a wave motion um
00:21:59 --> 00:22:02 because Newton thought it was particles
00:22:02 --> 00:22:04 uh but it was demonstrated not long
00:22:04 --> 00:22:06 after Newton's time that it was a wave
00:22:06 --> 00:22:08 motion by virtue of this double slit
00:22:08 --> 00:22:11 experiment at the beginning of the 19th
00:22:11 --> 00:22:16 century But now um we know that light is
00:22:16 --> 00:22:19 particles and waves
00:22:19 --> 00:22:21 uh and sometime maybe the way to imagine
00:22:21 --> 00:22:24 it is as wave packets These photons
00:22:24 --> 00:22:28 particles of light are sort of also a
00:22:28 --> 00:22:30 wave Uh that was the way we kind of
00:22:30 --> 00:22:32 looked at things perhaps in the 50s and
00:22:32 --> 00:22:34 60s that photons were packets of waves
00:22:34 --> 00:22:36 because that would let you then use
00:22:36 --> 00:22:39 particles but the that they would still
00:22:39 --> 00:22:40 do this interference trick So that
00:22:40 --> 00:22:43 proved they had a wave motion Along
00:22:43 --> 00:22:46 comes quantum theory that says particles
00:22:46 --> 00:22:49 are basically made of waves Uh they're
00:22:49 --> 00:22:51 not just packets of waves they're made
00:22:51 --> 00:22:56 of waves in a very odd way And uh that
00:22:56 --> 00:22:59 uh experiment that uh that Todd has
00:22:59 --> 00:23:02 referred to is the one that tells you
00:23:02 --> 00:23:04 that there's something really peculiar
00:23:04 --> 00:23:08 going on uh because if you shoot photons
00:23:08 --> 00:23:11 single photons through this double slit
00:23:11 --> 00:23:13 experiment one at a time so that they
00:23:13 --> 00:23:16 they never come together in a wave meth
00:23:16 --> 00:23:18 method you still get the interference
00:23:18 --> 00:23:20 pattern building up that proves that
00:23:20 --> 00:23:24 they're waves And I think um you know uh
00:23:24 --> 00:23:25 Todd's comment about is it something
00:23:25 --> 00:23:30 silly like uh photons not being bound by
00:23:30 --> 00:23:34 time in a way it is uh I think it's more
00:23:34 --> 00:23:39 about the the mystery of uh quantum
00:23:39 --> 00:23:41 entanglement that these particles are
00:23:41 --> 00:23:43 entangled together which means that they
00:23:43 --> 00:23:45 behave like a single particle So if
00:23:46 --> 00:23:47 you've got one going through one side of
00:23:47 --> 00:23:49 the slit or one half of the slit one
00:23:49 --> 00:23:52 going through another uh they're still
00:23:52 --> 00:23:54 part of the same object even if they're
00:23:54 --> 00:23:57 going through at different times So
00:23:57 --> 00:24:00 that's perhaps yes that they're not
00:24:00 --> 00:24:01 bound by time in that sense but I think
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03 it's more to do with the phenomenon of
00:24:03 --> 00:24:06 quantum entanglement that things behave
00:24:06 --> 00:24:08 as though they're a single quantum
00:24:08 --> 00:24:09 object even though they're quite
00:24:09 --> 00:24:11 separate They're separated sometimes by
00:24:11 --> 00:24:15 very large distances uh uh but they they
00:24:15 --> 00:24:17 have common behavior between them and I
00:24:17 --> 00:24:19 think that's how the double slit
00:24:19 --> 00:24:22 experiment arises when you use photons
00:24:22 --> 00:24:25 separate photons I probably left you
00:24:25 --> 00:24:28 completely cold and hiding I thought
00:24:28 --> 00:24:30 this was fantastic and all went
00:24:30 --> 00:24:34 completely over my head Yeah but it's
00:24:34 --> 00:24:36 one of the it's one of the sort of
00:24:36 --> 00:24:39 fundamental experiments of physics that
00:24:39 --> 00:24:41 tells you that light is both a wave and
00:24:41 --> 00:24:44 a particle but the two somehow mix
00:24:44 --> 00:24:46 together in a very mysterious way I
00:24:46 --> 00:24:48 think that's the bottom line Okay Well I
00:24:48 --> 00:24:51 I I think I can understand that it's a
00:24:51 --> 00:24:53 mystery and they miss I understood those
00:24:53 --> 00:24:54 words
00:24:54 --> 00:24:57 Yeah Oh wow I mean once again thank you
00:24:57 --> 00:25:00 so much Fred for you always take um such
00:25:00 --> 00:25:02 such patience and care with answering
00:25:02 --> 00:25:05 these questions and making making things
00:25:05 --> 00:25:07 make sense and just making it fun and
00:25:07 --> 00:25:09 relatable and just and just exploring
00:25:09 --> 00:25:12 and thinking together So thank you so
00:25:12 --> 00:25:15 much for um everything that you provided
00:25:15 --> 00:25:18 us with today It's a pleasure Kaidie
00:25:18 --> 00:25:20 Thank you for being the the colonel of
00:25:20 --> 00:25:23 the of the show by keeping it going I
00:25:23 --> 00:25:26 mean K E R N E L rather than C O
00:25:26 --> 00:25:29 N C English language is uh quite
00:25:29 --> 00:25:31 interesting Well thank you so much
00:25:31 --> 00:25:35 everybody for listening in to today's
00:25:35 --> 00:25:37 episode This today's question and answer
00:25:37 --> 00:25:40 episode of Space Nuts and we will catch
00:25:40 --> 00:25:42 you next week I will be back here again
00:25:42 --> 00:25:44 for just a couple more weeks and then
00:25:44 --> 00:25:46 you'll get your dear sweet Andrew back
00:25:46 --> 00:25:48 But until then you're stuck with me Uh
00:25:48 --> 00:25:50 thanks again to those of you I heard
00:25:50 --> 00:25:52 that um a few of you wrote in with some
00:25:52 --> 00:25:54 kind words about me So thank you so much
00:25:54 --> 00:25:57 if you guys had compliments I appreciate
00:25:57 --> 00:26:01 that Um but until next time we will be
00:26:01 --> 00:26:03 signing off Thank you so much Thank you
00:26:04 --> 00:26:05 Heidi And thanks also to Hugh in the
00:26:06 --> 00:26:07 background there back in the studio
00:26:07 --> 00:26:10 keeping us all honest We'll see you next
00:26:10 --> 00:26:13 time Heidi Bye for now Space nuts You'll
00:26:13 --> 00:26:17 be listening to the Space Nuts podcast
00:26:17 --> 00:26:20 available at Apple Podcasts Spotify
00:26:20 --> 00:26:23 iHeart Radio or your favorite podcast
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00:26:25 --> 00:26:28 byes.com This has been another quality
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