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Cosmic Curiosities: Time Dilation, Supernova Remnants, and Aurora Colors
In this engaging Q&A edition of Space Nuts , hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson tackle a series of thought-provoking questions from their curious audience. From the enigmatic nature of time in anti-gravity fields to the vibrant colors of auroras, this episode dives deep into the mysteries of the cosmos.
Episode Highlights:
- Time in Anti-Gravity Fields: Andrew and Fred explore the implications of time dilation in gravitational and anti-gravity environments, discussing how time appears to flow differently depending on the observer's frame of reference.
- Supernova Remnants: The hosts address whether we can still see the star remnants that contributed to the formation of heavy elements in our solar system, revealing the complexities of cosmic recycling.
- The Colors of Aurora: Listener Nate's question about the stunning colors of auroras leads to a fascinating discussion on the atmospheric processes that create different hues, from greens to reds and beyond.
- Relativistic Mass and Spacecraft Acceleration: Lee from Sweden poses an intriguing idea about using relativistic mass ejection to enhance spacecraft propulsion, prompting a conversation about the theoretical limits of current technology and the physics involved.
For more Space Nuts, including our continuously 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.
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Hi there. Thanks for joining us again.
00:00:02 --> 00:00:04 This is Space Nuts, a Q&A edition. My
00:00:04 --> 00:00:07 name is Andrew Dunley. Hope you're well.
00:00:07 --> 00:00:10 Stick around. We have got questions from
00:00:10 --> 00:00:13 uh our audience. Uh one about time in
00:00:13 --> 00:00:17 anti-gravity and the speed of time. Uh
00:00:17 --> 00:00:21 that's always fun to talk about. Uh
00:00:21 --> 00:00:22 we've got another question about
00:00:22 --> 00:00:26 supernova remnants. uh the colors of
00:00:26 --> 00:00:30 Aurora and uh a light speed boost idea.
00:00:30 --> 00:00:33 This is a could I would I should I type
00:00:33 --> 00:00:35 of with my spaceship do something that
00:00:35 --> 00:00:38 might give me a light speed boost. We'll
00:00:38 --> 00:00:41 see if it works on this edition of Space
00:00:41 --> 00:00:42 Nuts.
00:00:42 --> 00:00:47 >> 15 seconds. Guidance is internal. 10 9
00:00:47 --> 00:00:48 ignition sequence start.
00:00:48 --> 00:00:52 >> Space nuts. 5 4 3 2
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 >> 1 2 3 4 5 5 4 3 2 1
00:00:54 --> 00:00:55 >> space notice
00:00:55 --> 00:00:58 >> astronauts reported feels good.
00:00:58 --> 00:01:01 >> And he's back uh once again to try and
00:01:01 --> 00:01:03 solve all your little riddles. Here's
00:01:03 --> 00:01:04 Professor Fred Watson, astronomer at
00:01:04 --> 00:01:06 large. Hello, Fred.
00:01:06 --> 00:01:09 >> Uh hello there, Andrew. It's very good
00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 to be talking with you. It is. I'm sorry
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 I've turned into an Irishman cuz I
00:01:13 --> 00:01:15 >> I wonder what was happening there.
00:01:15 --> 00:01:17 >> Yeah, in my trip to Ireland, which is
00:01:17 --> 00:01:19 great. There's nothing wrong with the
00:01:19 --> 00:01:21 Irish when we were there in would have
00:01:21 --> 00:01:25 been July. Yeah, July. Uh they really
00:01:25 --> 00:01:28 bunged it on for us at um at a place
00:01:28 --> 00:01:32 called Cove. It used to be called um I
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 think Victoria. Was that what it was
00:01:34 --> 00:01:38 called? Um no no. Uh anyway, that it's
00:01:38 --> 00:01:41 where the uh uh Titanic made its last
00:01:41 --> 00:01:43 stop before getting out to the Atlantic
00:01:43 --> 00:01:45 and picked up its last groups of
00:01:45 --> 00:01:48 passengers and some very sad stories
00:01:48 --> 00:01:50 >> as well. Uh yeah, the the pier where
00:01:50 --> 00:01:53 everybody got on board the the um the
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 boats to go out to the Titanic cuz it
00:01:55 --> 00:01:58 couldn't actually anchor at at Paul had
00:01:58 --> 00:02:01 to anchor outside the the harbor at u
00:02:01 --> 00:02:07 >> at Cove. Um it um it's still there parts
00:02:07 --> 00:02:07 of it.
00:02:07 --> 00:02:10 >> H so you can still see the remnants of
00:02:10 --> 00:02:13 that old um and and the White Starline
00:02:13 --> 00:02:15 office is still there as well which is
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 now a museum where you can learn about
00:02:18 --> 00:02:19 the Titanic through the Titanic
00:02:19 --> 00:02:22 experience. I highly recommend that in
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 the town of Cove which is near County
00:02:24 --> 00:02:28 Cork. County Cork it is. Yeah. Uh lovely
00:02:28 --> 00:02:30 place and they they had Australian and
00:02:30 --> 00:02:32 New Zealand flags everywhere and music
00:02:32 --> 00:02:35 playing and they know how to party those
00:02:35 --> 00:02:38 people. Yeah. Terrific. Uh shall we um
00:02:38 --> 00:02:41 do some questions, Fred?
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 >> No, no, I think we should just have a
00:02:43 --> 00:02:44 cup of tea.
00:02:44 --> 00:02:46 >> Yeah, we that we'd probably have less
00:02:46 --> 00:02:49 trouble. Uh let's firstly get a question
00:02:49 --> 00:02:51 from Andy.
00:02:51 --> 00:02:54 >> Hi guys, it's Andy here from the UK.
00:02:54 --> 00:02:57 First time questioner. two questions
00:02:57 --> 00:03:03 both time related. Um the first question
00:03:04 --> 00:03:08 um as mass and gravity are so closely
00:03:08 --> 00:03:12 related and the higher a mass is the
00:03:12 --> 00:03:15 slower time will flow.
00:03:16 --> 00:03:18 What would happen to the flow of time in
00:03:18 --> 00:03:21 an anti-gravity field? So that's the
00:03:21 --> 00:03:26 first question. Um the second question,
00:03:26 --> 00:03:30 if a planet had life that was
00:03:30 --> 00:03:34 intelligent and was evolving and had the
00:03:34 --> 00:03:38 potential to become space fairing, but
00:03:38 --> 00:03:42 the planet was high gravity. Is the
00:03:42 --> 00:03:45 playoff between gravity and the speed of
00:03:45 --> 00:03:48 time enough that that will make a
00:03:48 --> 00:03:51 significant difference to the evolution
00:03:51 --> 00:03:54 of the planet on galactic scales? Hope
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 that one makes sense. Great program. No
00:03:56 --> 00:03:58 doubt I'll be back again.
00:03:58 --> 00:04:00 >> Wow, Andy, where gee whiz, you've been
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 pondering that for a while. There's some
00:04:02 --> 00:04:04 great questions there. We'll um we'll
00:04:04 --> 00:04:05 tackle the first one first, unless you
00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 want to do the first one second and the
00:04:07 --> 00:04:09 second. No, I don't know. uh time, the
00:04:09 --> 00:04:13 effect of um uh the effect on time
00:04:13 --> 00:04:16 um if it passes through an anti-gravity
00:04:16 --> 00:04:18 field or just the effect on time in an
00:04:18 --> 00:04:21 anti-gravity field.
00:04:21 --> 00:04:25 Yes. So um so Andy's right actually uh
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 if you so what you've got is this
00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 phenomenon called time dilation. Appears
00:04:30 --> 00:04:33 that clocks slow down when you're in a
00:04:33 --> 00:04:36 gravitational field. um they only appear
00:04:36 --> 00:04:39 to be slowed down to outside observers.
00:04:40 --> 00:04:41 To you as the person in the gravity
00:04:42 --> 00:04:43 field, it makes no difference. The
00:04:43 --> 00:04:44 clock's just ticking at the same speed
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 as it always did. But to an outside
00:04:47 --> 00:04:48 observer, your clocks are ticking more
00:04:48 --> 00:04:51 slowly. uh if there was such a thing as
00:04:51 --> 00:04:54 an anti-gravity field, and we have no
00:04:54 --> 00:04:56 knowledge of anything like that at the
00:04:56 --> 00:04:58 moment, although people have worked very
00:04:58 --> 00:04:59 hard to try and demonstrate
00:04:59 --> 00:05:01 anti-gravity,
00:05:01 --> 00:05:02 uh as you can imagine, it would be a
00:05:02 --> 00:05:05 very useful thing to be able to harness.
00:05:05 --> 00:05:08 Um uh if if you could have anti-gravity,
00:05:08 --> 00:05:12 in other words, something that um uh
00:05:12 --> 00:05:14 actually repelled rather than attracted.
00:05:14 --> 00:05:18 Yes. The the um or or at least No, let
00:05:18 --> 00:05:19 me put it another way. It's not repel
00:05:19 --> 00:05:22 repulsion. It's reducing the effect of
00:05:22 --> 00:05:25 gravity. I think anti-gravity might
00:05:25 --> 00:05:27 might reduce the effect of gravity.
00:05:28 --> 00:05:29 >> And it could if you reduce it beyond
00:05:29 --> 00:05:32 zero, it could produce a repulsion. But
00:05:32 --> 00:05:35 that is not that doesn't really matter
00:05:35 --> 00:05:37 for this argument because what happens
00:05:37 --> 00:05:40 is um yes, relativity says that time
00:05:40 --> 00:05:43 would actually speed up. uh time as I
00:05:43 --> 00:05:45 said to the person in the anti-gravity
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 field would keep on ticking away as
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 normal but to the outside observer uh
00:05:49 --> 00:05:51 the time would appear to be passing more
00:05:51 --> 00:05:52 quickly.
00:05:52 --> 00:05:53 >> Isn't it the same effect if you're
00:05:53 --> 00:05:56 falling into a black hole? What you're
00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 seeing is happening in real time because
00:05:58 --> 00:06:00 you're living your life like you do
00:06:00 --> 00:06:04 anywhere, but to the observer
00:06:04 --> 00:06:06 you would be,
00:06:06 --> 00:06:08 >> you know, completely different bucket of
00:06:08 --> 00:06:09 fish.
00:06:09 --> 00:06:12 >> That's right. Time slows down. You're
00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 everything appears more slowly and when
00:06:14 --> 00:06:15 you cross the event horizon you're sort
00:06:15 --> 00:06:17 of frozen on it.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:18 >> Yeah. Which means that
00:06:18 --> 00:06:19 >> weird, isn't it? Event horizons are
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 always all splattered with things that
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 are falling into the maybe.
00:06:24 --> 00:06:25 >> Yeah.
00:06:25 --> 00:06:27 >> Hard to imagine. It's like the front of
00:06:27 --> 00:06:28 a car.
00:06:28 --> 00:06:32 >> Well, in summer white hot. Yes.
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 >> Um Yep. I think this was portrayed quite
00:06:35 --> 00:06:37 well in the movie Interstellar where
00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 they had to go down onto a planet that
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 was under the effect of a a black hole
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 and every hour on the planet surface
00:06:44 --> 00:06:46 equated to 7 years back on the
00:06:46 --> 00:06:49 spaceship. Um they they did portray that
00:06:50 --> 00:06:52 quite well,
00:06:52 --> 00:06:53 that effect.
00:06:53 --> 00:06:54 >> Yeah.
00:06:54 --> 00:06:56 >> Okay. So, there's no such thing really
00:06:56 --> 00:06:59 as an anti-gravity field, but um he he'd
00:06:59 --> 00:07:01 be right. The effect would be
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 >> Yeah, that's right. But the second part
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 of Andy's question,
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 >> yes, high levels of gravity and its
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 effect on the speed of time.
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 >> Well, what he's saying is if you had a a
00:07:13 --> 00:07:14 planet
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 >> or if you had if you had a civilization
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 working in a very high gravitational
00:07:19 --> 00:07:19 field.
00:07:19 --> 00:07:20 >> Yeah.
00:07:20 --> 00:07:22 >> Uh would that mean that they would
00:07:22 --> 00:07:23 evolve more quickly and things would
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 develop more quickly?
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 >> Um and I suppose the answer is yes, but
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 only to an outside observer. uh to to
00:07:30 --> 00:07:32 the people doing it, it would be just
00:07:32 --> 00:07:36 the same. Um so yes, maybe if our planet
00:07:36 --> 00:07:39 had a hugely different gravitational
00:07:39 --> 00:07:41 field from what it does have. Uh seen
00:07:42 --> 00:07:43 from the outside, we might look as
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 though we're evolving more quickly and
00:07:45 --> 00:07:48 developing technology more quickly. But
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 to the to to us, it would be just the
00:07:50 --> 00:07:52 same as if we had, you know, a lower
00:07:52 --> 00:07:55 gravitational field. It
00:07:55 --> 00:07:57 >> this would complicate the search for
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 intelligent life, wouldn't it? Uh I mean
00:07:59 --> 00:08:02 you might find a a planet um and go hey
00:08:02 --> 00:08:05 something's going on there. Um but it's
00:08:05 --> 00:08:08 in it's in a you know high gravity
00:08:08 --> 00:08:11 environment and um maybe it was
00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 happening
00:08:13 --> 00:08:15 some time ago but it's all over Red
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 Rover. I mean I don't know. It's it's a
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 headscratcher.
00:08:20 --> 00:08:23 Or here's one. If you do find a
00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 civilization living in a in a on a
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 planet and you land to say hello and
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 then you take off again and find out
00:08:30 --> 00:08:31 that everyone at home's dead because
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 you've been gone 500 years but you were
00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 only gone a week.
00:08:35 --> 00:08:37 >> Yeah. Well, there's that too. That's
00:08:37 --> 00:08:38 right.
00:08:38 --> 00:08:41 >> Yeah. That's um special relativity.
00:08:41 --> 00:08:42 That's the one
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 >> the relativistic difference in time
00:08:44 --> 00:08:46 because you're traveling at speeds near
00:08:46 --> 00:08:47 the speed of light.
00:08:47 --> 00:08:49 >> Yeah. I mean it happens happens on
00:08:49 --> 00:08:51 Earth. They've done those tests with um
00:08:52 --> 00:08:54 highly sensitive clocks and and tested
00:08:54 --> 00:08:57 them at different altitudes and you know
00:08:57 --> 00:08:59 they they've come back and went well
00:08:59 --> 00:09:00 look there's a thousandth of a second
00:09:00 --> 00:09:03 difference in their performance. So you
00:09:03 --> 00:09:05 know that we we moved through time. I
00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 read a story the other day Fred which I
00:09:07 --> 00:09:11 wish I'd kept it. um about a cosmonort,
00:09:11 --> 00:09:13 I think it was, who'd spent so much time
00:09:13 --> 00:09:17 in space that they estimated that he was
00:09:17 --> 00:09:20 um he was actually slightly ahead of
00:09:20 --> 00:09:23 time than everybody else,
00:09:23 --> 00:09:25 and I can't remember the details, but uh
00:09:25 --> 00:09:29 it was really fascinating. Um I they've
00:09:29 --> 00:09:31 done a they've released a paper about
00:09:31 --> 00:09:33 it. I'll see if I can find it.
00:09:33 --> 00:09:34 >> Interesting.
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 >> I might do that while while you answer
00:09:36 --> 00:09:38 this next question. Thank you, Andy. I
00:09:38 --> 00:09:39 love that idea though. Um, keep them
00:09:40 --> 00:09:41 coming.
00:09:41 --> 00:09:43 >> Now, let's take a break from the show to
00:09:43 --> 00:09:45 tell you about our sponsor, NordVPN.
00:09:46 --> 00:09:47 Now, I think we'll all agree that
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00:11:06 --> 00:11:09 >> 3 2 1
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 >> Spacenuts.
00:11:11 --> 00:11:13 Uh, this question comes from Mark. Hi
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 Andrew and Fred and team. My name is
00:11:16 --> 00:11:18 Mark Turner and I live in the south of
00:11:18 --> 00:11:20 England. I'm sorry about that. About
00:11:20 --> 00:11:22 five about five minutes from Patrick
00:11:22 --> 00:11:25 Moore's house as a point of interest.
00:11:25 --> 00:11:28 Wow. Um, I've been listening now for
00:11:28 --> 00:11:30 just over three years and always look
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 forward to Thursday lunchtime when I sit
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 down and listen to you guys. Sorry, we
00:11:34 --> 00:11:35 were talking about toilet stuff earlier.
00:11:35 --> 00:11:38 I hope that didn't mess you up. Uh, my
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 question is, it's generally accepted
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 that all of the heavy elements were
00:11:42 --> 00:11:45 produced in an even larger star than
00:11:45 --> 00:11:48 ours that went supernova, which leads me
00:11:48 --> 00:11:51 to uh to this. Can we still see the
00:11:51 --> 00:11:54 remains of the star that made us in the
00:11:54 --> 00:11:57 night sky? Or do we know uh at what
00:11:57 --> 00:11:59 point in the night sky the star would
00:11:59 --> 00:12:02 have been by turning back the cosmic
00:12:02 --> 00:12:04 time clock? Keep up the great work,
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 Mark.
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 >> What do you reckon about that one?
00:12:08 --> 00:12:13 >> Um so the answer is no. Um because
00:12:13 --> 00:12:18 the so yes um uh the what we call the
00:12:18 --> 00:12:19 interstellar medium the gas between the
00:12:20 --> 00:12:24 stars is enriched in its chemical
00:12:24 --> 00:12:27 um abundance. The amount of heavier
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 elements that are in it is enriched over
00:12:29 --> 00:12:32 time because of supernova explosions.
00:12:32 --> 00:12:35 stars that have that have detonated and
00:12:35 --> 00:12:37 gone through this high temperature
00:12:37 --> 00:12:39 process where you get heavier elements
00:12:39 --> 00:12:41 created and some of the some of the
00:12:41 --> 00:12:43 heavy elements are we now know are
00:12:43 --> 00:12:46 created in neutron star collisions. Um
00:12:46 --> 00:12:49 but that doesn't matter which which it
00:12:49 --> 00:12:53 is. The bottom line is that it's the
00:12:53 --> 00:12:55 general interstellar medium that is
00:12:55 --> 00:12:57 enriched. So you've got an explosion
00:12:57 --> 00:13:00 that takes place and over millions of
00:13:00 --> 00:13:03 years the debris from that explosion
00:13:03 --> 00:13:06 just gets absorbed into the clouds of
00:13:06 --> 00:13:08 gas and dust that are then going to form
00:13:08 --> 00:13:12 uh later generations of stars. So
00:13:12 --> 00:13:15 there's really no way that the remnants
00:13:15 --> 00:13:19 of the star that gave us uh the uh the
00:13:19 --> 00:13:22 you know the heavier elements um there's
00:13:22 --> 00:13:26 no way that we can pinpoint that. It it
00:13:26 --> 00:13:29 may be that some of the supernova
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 remnants that we see and we see many
00:13:31 --> 00:13:35 around the sky that some of those were
00:13:35 --> 00:13:40 responsible for some of the stuff
00:13:40 --> 00:13:42 they were probably responsible for
00:13:42 --> 00:13:45 enriching the interstellar medium closer
00:13:45 --> 00:13:47 to them than we are. That's kind of the
00:13:47 --> 00:13:50 point I I guess I want to make. the the
00:13:50 --> 00:13:52 debris that gave us our enriched
00:13:52 --> 00:13:55 interstellar medium is probably long
00:13:55 --> 00:13:59 dissipated and we could not identify it
00:13:59 --> 00:14:01 with any of the known supernova remnants
00:14:01 --> 00:14:04 because they are they're still enriching
00:14:04 --> 00:14:06 their local environment if I can put it
00:14:06 --> 00:14:08 that way because they're still intact
00:14:08 --> 00:14:10 structures. They're expanding and
00:14:10 --> 00:14:12 dissipating but we see them as intact
00:14:12 --> 00:14:15 structures. And so the the debris that
00:14:15 --> 00:14:20 made us 4.6 six billion years ago is uh
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 basically is not is nowhere near you
00:14:22 --> 00:14:25 know it's not nothing to do with them.
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 Um and partly because those explosions
00:14:27 --> 00:14:29 took place more recently than the 4.6
00:14:29 --> 00:14:31 billion years ago origin of our own
00:14:32 --> 00:14:33 solar system.
00:14:33 --> 00:14:37 So uh the
00:14:37 --> 00:14:40 basically uh yes the the answer is no.
00:14:40 --> 00:14:43 We can't we can't identify those
00:14:43 --> 00:14:45 remains. uh and turning back the cosmic
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 time clock. We can do that but but we
00:14:48 --> 00:14:49 can't do it in the sort of detail. I
00:14:49 --> 00:14:51 mean we can do it in a physical phys
00:14:51 --> 00:14:53 physical modeling sense. We're not
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 looking at anything unless we're looking
00:14:55 --> 00:14:57 at things at great distances where we
00:14:57 --> 00:15:00 are looking back in time. Uh but for the
00:15:00 --> 00:15:02 the physics that you we use to model the
00:15:02 --> 00:15:06 universe um we we can't wind back the
00:15:06 --> 00:15:09 clock in enough detail to see where
00:15:09 --> 00:15:12 these objects exploded. uh they may be
00:15:12 --> 00:15:14 you know many many thousands of tens of
00:15:14 --> 00:15:16 thousands of light years away uh from
00:15:16 --> 00:15:19 where we are now. Uh all they did was
00:15:19 --> 00:15:20 enrich the medium around them and that's
00:15:20 --> 00:15:23 where we found our own uh solar system
00:15:23 --> 00:15:26 being formed. So we can't we can't look
00:15:26 --> 00:15:28 back in time in that regard.
00:15:28 --> 00:15:31 >> Okay. Thank you Mark. Uh by the way I
00:15:31 --> 00:15:33 was a pretty regular visitor to Patrick
00:15:33 --> 00:15:35 Moore while he was still alive. So I
00:15:35 --> 00:15:37 know that house well at Celi it was
00:15:37 --> 00:15:40 called Farings. uh is a lovely house
00:15:40 --> 00:15:43 actually uh and um when I used to visit
00:15:43 --> 00:15:46 him he was always very welcoming uh and
00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 um always glad to show me around.
00:15:48 --> 00:15:51 >> Wonderful. Wow. Lucky you. Yeah.
00:15:51 --> 00:15:51 >> Yeah.
00:15:51 --> 00:15:55 >> Now um just to sort of draw on Mark's
00:15:55 --> 00:15:57 question um so he's right about a
00:15:58 --> 00:16:00 supernova creating the heavy elements.
00:16:00 --> 00:16:01 >> Yes.
00:16:01 --> 00:16:04 >> So how do they end up being a part of
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 our planet? Is is that because the
00:16:06 --> 00:16:09 supernovas created the the the spawning
00:16:09 --> 00:16:13 ground or being you know run through it?
00:16:13 --> 00:16:14 What how does that work?
00:16:14 --> 00:16:16 >> Yeah, I mean it's what I was saying
00:16:16 --> 00:16:18 basically the you know you get a
00:16:18 --> 00:16:22 supernova explosion which um sends shock
00:16:22 --> 00:16:25 waves out. Uh it sends enriched gas out
00:16:26 --> 00:16:29 and that gas gradually diffuses into the
00:16:30 --> 00:16:31 background
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 uh what we call the interstellar medium.
00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 the the gas between the stars. It's very
00:16:36 --> 00:16:39 very rarified, but that's where that
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 stuff ends up. And as you then get
00:16:41 --> 00:16:44 concentrations of that gas into clouds
00:16:44 --> 00:16:47 of hydrogen, mostly hydrogen, but other
00:16:47 --> 00:16:48 elements as well because it's been
00:16:48 --> 00:16:51 enriched, then that is what would form
00:16:51 --> 00:16:54 the next solar system. uh and so that
00:16:54 --> 00:16:57 you know that gradual process of uh
00:16:58 --> 00:17:01 stars forming exploding enriching the uh
00:17:01 --> 00:17:04 interstellar medium then interstellar
00:17:04 --> 00:17:07 medium creates other star systems which
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 do the same thing. It's why as the
00:17:09 --> 00:17:11 universe ages, you're going to get an
00:17:11 --> 00:17:14 enrichment of the number of of heavy of,
00:17:14 --> 00:17:16 you know, quantities of heavier elements
00:17:16 --> 00:17:18 that there are within the universe. And
00:17:18 --> 00:17:20 that's actually one way that we can
00:17:20 --> 00:17:22 measure the ages of stars by how much of
00:17:22 --> 00:17:24 this stuff they've got in them. Because
00:17:24 --> 00:17:26 when they were formed, the universe
00:17:26 --> 00:17:27 would have been at a certain point of
00:17:27 --> 00:17:29 enrichment.
00:17:29 --> 00:17:32 uh and you know that for that point is
00:17:32 --> 00:17:34 fossilized if I can put it that way in
00:17:34 --> 00:17:37 the star itself by the chemical
00:17:37 --> 00:17:39 composition that it demonstrates.
00:17:39 --> 00:17:42 >> Okay, very good. Um it's it's a law of
00:17:42 --> 00:17:44 diminishing returns though, isn't it?
00:17:44 --> 00:17:46 Eventually all of this is going to stop
00:17:46 --> 00:17:46 happening.
00:17:46 --> 00:17:48 >> Yes, that's right. Eventually the
00:17:48 --> 00:17:49 universe will die because of that
00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 because there won't be any more any
00:17:52 --> 00:17:54 there won't be any gas in which to
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 create supernova explosions which is the
00:17:56 --> 00:17:58 raw material of stars. intelligen gas
00:17:58 --> 00:18:00 that will all be used up eventually
00:18:00 --> 00:18:02 >> and we'll have what used to be called
00:18:02 --> 00:18:05 the heat death of the universe unless it
00:18:05 --> 00:18:07 starts collapsing on itself with you.
00:18:07 --> 00:18:08 >> Well, yeah. I mean there's there's all
00:18:08 --> 00:18:11 these terrible perilous things that are
00:18:11 --> 00:18:14 going to happen but um
00:18:14 --> 00:18:15 you know it's not going to happen next
00:18:15 --> 00:18:17 week. The week after maybe cuz we're on
00:18:17 --> 00:18:18 holidays
00:18:18 --> 00:18:19 >> if we're lucky or the week after. Yeah,
00:18:19 --> 00:18:21 that's right.
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 >> Yeah. Uh thank you Mark. Great question.
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 Uh, now that thing I was trying to look
00:18:25 --> 00:18:28 up, I can't find the exact story, but um
00:18:28 --> 00:18:30 I I found something that that kind of
00:18:30 --> 00:18:33 explains the concept. Um, apparently for
00:18:33 --> 00:18:35 a six-month mission on the International
00:18:35 --> 00:18:39 Space Station, an astronaut ages 0
00:18:39 --> 00:18:42 seconds less than they would on Earth.
00:18:42 --> 00:18:46 So, this this particular um cosmonort
00:18:46 --> 00:18:47 that I'm talking about apparently has
00:18:47 --> 00:18:50 spent so much time in space that he's
00:18:50 --> 00:18:54 actually I think it's 222
00:18:54 --> 00:18:58 um minutes younger than he
00:18:58 --> 00:19:01 >> would had he not gone into space.
00:19:01 --> 00:19:03 >> It's like seconds rather than minutes.
00:19:03 --> 00:19:03 Yeah.
00:19:03 --> 00:19:06 >> Oh, 222 seconds. Yes, exactly.
00:19:06 --> 00:19:10 >> Yeah. Um so I I Yeah, I read it last
00:19:10 --> 00:19:11 week. I meant to send it to you and I
00:19:11 --> 00:19:13 completely forgot. So, uh, but that's
00:19:13 --> 00:19:15 the that's the the the guts of the
00:19:15 --> 00:19:18 story. Uh, this is Space Nuts. Andrew
00:19:18 --> 00:19:21 Dunley with Professor Fred Watson.
00:19:21 --> 00:19:23 >> Space Nuts.
00:19:23 --> 00:19:26 >> Uh, we have a question from one of our
00:19:26 --> 00:19:29 regular contributors. This is Casey.
00:19:29 --> 00:19:31 >> Hi guys, this is Casey from Colorado.
00:19:31 --> 00:19:34 Um, I just saw Red Northern Lights and
00:19:34 --> 00:19:37 it was it was really incredible. Um, I
00:19:37 --> 00:19:39 was hoping that you could please explain
00:19:39 --> 00:19:41 why auroras come in different colors. I
00:19:41 --> 00:19:43 hope we're both well and thanks for the
00:19:43 --> 00:19:44 podcast.
00:19:44 --> 00:19:46 >> Uh, thank you, Casey. Casey sent in a
00:19:46 --> 00:19:49 few um questions in recent times and
00:19:49 --> 00:19:50 we're more than happy to answer. She
00:19:50 --> 00:19:52 comes up with some interesting ideas.
00:19:52 --> 00:19:54 Uh, I just thought this was a good
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 question to answer. Uh, and I know we've
00:19:56 --> 00:19:58 talked about it before, but there's been
00:19:58 --> 00:20:01 some great auroral activity of late.
00:20:01 --> 00:20:05 >> And even in parts of Australia where you
00:20:05 --> 00:20:07 just don't see them, they have been
00:20:07 --> 00:20:09 absolutely stunning. Even as recently as
00:20:09 --> 00:20:11 a week or two ago, we had some fabulous
00:20:11 --> 00:20:14 photographs coming out of uh many, many
00:20:14 --> 00:20:18 parts of southeastern Australia. And um
00:20:18 --> 00:20:20 you know it prompted a thought in my
00:20:20 --> 00:20:24 mind that the one the aurora we see here
00:20:24 --> 00:20:27 generally are pink but when you see
00:20:28 --> 00:20:29 photos up in the northern hemisphere and
00:20:30 --> 00:20:31 when you're practically underneath them
00:20:31 --> 00:20:34 they're green. Uh and and I'm sure the
00:20:34 --> 00:20:40 colors can vary into many areas. Fred u
00:20:40 --> 00:20:41 I mean you've you've taken tours on
00:20:41 --> 00:20:43 these um to see these things. You've
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45 you've seen that like this is boring for
00:20:45 --> 00:20:46 you.
00:20:46 --> 00:20:47 Uh
00:20:47 --> 00:20:49 >> it's never boring actually. I didn't
00:20:49 --> 00:20:51 imagine it would be just always
00:20:51 --> 00:20:53 spectacular. But you're absolutely
00:20:53 --> 00:20:57 right. So when we're up in uh uh Ala,
00:20:57 --> 00:21:00 which is far northern Norway, or um
00:21:00 --> 00:21:02 Kirina, which is far northern Sweden, or
00:21:02 --> 00:21:03 Aiscoco, which is also far northern
00:21:04 --> 00:21:06 Sweden, and looking at the aurora,
00:21:06 --> 00:21:09 you're basically standing underneath it.
00:21:09 --> 00:21:11 And so you see the aurora as it really
00:21:11 --> 00:21:15 is. Uh, and it you've got lots of colors
00:21:15 --> 00:21:20 in it. Um, but the the pink and red Aori
00:21:20 --> 00:21:24 are typically seen when you're a long
00:21:24 --> 00:21:27 way from the action. Uh, and the green
00:21:27 --> 00:21:29 the bottom line is the the green is
00:21:29 --> 00:21:31 talking shift.
00:21:31 --> 00:21:31 >> No,
00:21:31 --> 00:21:34 >> no, no, but we're talking atmospheric.
00:21:34 --> 00:21:37 >> We're talking uh we're talking um
00:21:37 --> 00:21:38 emission line spectroscopy.
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40 >> Oh, okay. Well, I never would have
00:21:40 --> 00:21:41 thought of that.
00:21:41 --> 00:21:45 >> Yeah. So, um, so the the pink and red
00:21:45 --> 00:21:47 aurori, uh, you'd see them if you're in
00:21:47 --> 00:21:49 the northern hemisphere, you'd see them
00:21:49 --> 00:21:50 on the northern horizon. In the southern
00:21:50 --> 00:21:52 hemisphere here in Tasmania, you see
00:21:52 --> 00:21:54 them very often down in the south.
00:21:54 --> 00:21:56 Usually, the green part is below the
00:21:56 --> 00:21:59 horizon. It's, you know, it's too far
00:21:59 --> 00:22:01 over the Earth's curvature to see, and
00:22:01 --> 00:22:03 that's why you only see the red and
00:22:03 --> 00:22:06 that's a clue to what's happening here.
00:22:06 --> 00:22:09 So, um, what you've got is the
00:22:09 --> 00:22:12 atmosphere, uh, being excited by
00:22:12 --> 00:22:16 radiation from the sun. These, uh, these
00:22:16 --> 00:22:19 subatomic particles charge out from the
00:22:19 --> 00:22:20 sun. If you've got a solar flare or
00:22:20 --> 00:22:22 something like that, they going at
00:22:22 --> 00:22:25 typically a million kilometers an hour.
00:22:25 --> 00:22:27 Uh so they take a couple of days to get
00:22:27 --> 00:22:29 here and then they're sort of funneled
00:22:29 --> 00:22:32 down the earth's magnetic field lines u
00:22:32 --> 00:22:34 and they're most concentrated near the
00:22:34 --> 00:22:36 magnetic poles which is why it's around
00:22:36 --> 00:22:38 the magnetic poles that you see most
00:22:38 --> 00:22:40 aurori. This is a sort of simplified
00:22:40 --> 00:22:42 version of the story, but um what
00:22:42 --> 00:22:45 happens is they these electrons and you
00:22:45 --> 00:22:46 know they're accelerated. They're quite
00:22:46 --> 00:22:51 high energy. They hit atoms of oxygen
00:22:51 --> 00:22:53 and nitrogen in the earth's atmosphere
00:22:53 --> 00:22:56 and they make them glow. And the car the
00:22:56 --> 00:23:00 important thing here is that those atoms
00:23:00 --> 00:23:02 of oxygen and nitrogen actually they're
00:23:02 --> 00:23:05 molecules as well. uh O2 which is a pair
00:23:05 --> 00:23:07 of oxygen atoms or N2 which is a pair of
00:23:07 --> 00:23:10 nitrogen atoms. Um they behave
00:23:10 --> 00:23:12 differently at different pressures and
00:23:12 --> 00:23:14 of course as you go up through the
00:23:14 --> 00:23:16 atmosphere the pressure gets steadily
00:23:16 --> 00:23:19 lower. So the most common one is the
00:23:19 --> 00:23:22 green light and that's uh when you've
00:23:22 --> 00:23:26 got oxygen being excited to emit this
00:23:26 --> 00:23:28 green color. It's what we call a
00:23:28 --> 00:23:29 spectrum line. It's a particular
00:23:29 --> 00:23:31 wavelength which means it's a particular
00:23:31 --> 00:23:35 color. Uh but it's green. Uh and that uh
00:23:35 --> 00:23:38 works for pressures that you see between
00:23:38 --> 00:23:41 about 100 and 200 kilometers above the
00:23:41 --> 00:23:43 earth's atmosphere.
00:23:43 --> 00:23:47 Above 200 kilometers, the pressure is
00:23:47 --> 00:23:50 lower uh and the green line doesn't form
00:23:50 --> 00:23:52 or the green light is not formed. uh
00:23:52 --> 00:23:55 it's actually quenched and there is a
00:23:55 --> 00:23:58 different atomic process that gives rise
00:23:58 --> 00:24:02 to red light uh 630 nanometers if I
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03 remember rightly is the is the
00:24:04 --> 00:24:06 wavelength so you get this red light
00:24:06 --> 00:24:09 which is still oxygen but it's oxygen at
00:24:09 --> 00:24:11 a lower pressure than what comes out
00:24:11 --> 00:24:14 from the green so between 1 and 200
00:24:14 --> 00:24:15 kilometers you're going to see green
00:24:15 --> 00:24:17 aori above that you're going to see red
00:24:17 --> 00:24:20 aurori and that's why we only see the
00:24:20 --> 00:24:21 red ones if you're looking from
00:24:21 --> 00:24:23 Australia because the green is way below
00:24:23 --> 00:24:27 the horizon. Um if you've got a really u
00:24:27 --> 00:24:31 powerful stream of subatomic particles
00:24:31 --> 00:24:33 then they will penetrate below 100
00:24:33 --> 00:24:37 kilometers and that then excites uh not
00:24:37 --> 00:24:40 the oxygen but the nitrogen. You get um
00:24:40 --> 00:24:41 what's called molecular exitation.
00:24:42 --> 00:24:44 Nitrogen molecules start emitting light
00:24:44 --> 00:24:46 and they emit in several different
00:24:46 --> 00:24:50 colors like per um deep blue. Um there
00:24:50 --> 00:24:54 is different red, there's sort of greens
00:24:54 --> 00:24:55 and all those mix together to give you
00:24:56 --> 00:24:58 something like a purple. Often in a
00:24:58 --> 00:25:00 bright aurora, you've got the green
00:25:00 --> 00:25:02 auroral curtains and below that there
00:25:02 --> 00:25:05 might be a purple layer as well. And
00:25:05 --> 00:25:06 sometimes the colors are so mixed that
00:25:06 --> 00:25:09 it turns white that you actually get a
00:25:09 --> 00:25:11 white bottom edge to an aurora. Then you
00:25:11 --> 00:25:13 know you've got really high energy
00:25:13 --> 00:25:15 electrons. And then
00:25:15 --> 00:25:16 >> so always seen one of those.
00:25:16 --> 00:25:19 >> Yes, I have. Uh yeah, actually the very
00:25:19 --> 00:25:21 first time we went up there, I've got
00:25:21 --> 00:25:23 photographs taken from a place called
00:25:23 --> 00:25:25 Lingan Fjord in northern Norway, a very
00:25:25 --> 00:25:27 dark site. It was a wonderful place to
00:25:27 --> 00:25:29 see the aurora from. And yeah, there
00:25:29 --> 00:25:31 were definitely white white bottoms on
00:25:31 --> 00:25:33 my auroral curves.
00:25:33 --> 00:25:38 Um, so, uh, but what I was going to say
00:25:38 --> 00:25:41 was that's the basic story, but in
00:25:41 --> 00:25:43 reality, you get these things all mixing
00:25:43 --> 00:25:45 and so sometimes you do get pinks and
00:25:45 --> 00:25:46 you get you can actually get some quite
00:25:46 --> 00:25:49 odd colors, almost browns. Actually, I
00:25:49 --> 00:25:51 took some photographs at the beginning
00:25:51 --> 00:25:53 of this year in uh far again far
00:25:53 --> 00:25:55 northern Norway uh and later in
00:25:56 --> 00:25:57 Greenland where the coloring was almost
00:25:58 --> 00:26:00 like a brown color rather than the the
00:26:00 --> 00:26:02 reddish that you expect uh from high
00:26:02 --> 00:26:04 altitude aurora. So, it it's the way the
00:26:04 --> 00:26:06 colors mix that give you the the
00:26:06 --> 00:26:08 different effects. Plus, you've got to
00:26:08 --> 00:26:10 add to that the color response of your
00:26:10 --> 00:26:13 camera as well, which can sometimes tell
00:26:13 --> 00:26:16 you, you know, give you falsehoods
00:26:16 --> 00:26:19 because the the the camera itself is is
00:26:19 --> 00:26:21 basically tuned to to take photographs
00:26:21 --> 00:26:23 of everyday objects. It's not really
00:26:23 --> 00:26:25 tuned to take photographs of things that
00:26:25 --> 00:26:27 are emitting only on one wavelength,
00:26:27 --> 00:26:28 which the aurora does.
00:26:28 --> 00:26:31 >> Yes. Yes, I know. Um although while we
00:26:31 --> 00:26:34 were uh up there um northern northern
00:26:34 --> 00:26:37 parts of Europe Norway um Greenland,
00:26:37 --> 00:26:41 Iceland um people did try to um take
00:26:41 --> 00:26:43 photos of Aurora and a couple of them
00:26:43 --> 00:26:46 were successful. I was not
00:26:46 --> 00:26:49 >> Yeah, I'll say one. But it was summer.
00:26:49 --> 00:26:50 >> Yeah, summer's the that's a problem
00:26:50 --> 00:26:52 because there's still so much twilight
00:26:52 --> 00:26:55 there. Um, I used to cut around a
00:26:55 --> 00:26:58 digital proper digital camera with me in
00:26:58 --> 00:27:00 a tripod to do all these long exposure
00:27:00 --> 00:27:03 photographs, but to be honest, now with
00:27:03 --> 00:27:05 a smartphone, they are so sensitive you
00:27:05 --> 00:27:07 can handhold them. Yeah.
00:27:07 --> 00:27:09 >> And get really fantastic auroral
00:27:09 --> 00:27:12 photographs. Um, which blew me away the
00:27:12 --> 00:27:14 first time I did it, which was the
00:27:14 --> 00:27:17 beginning of this year. Uh, I tried it a
00:27:17 --> 00:27:19 little bit on the previous trip that we
00:27:19 --> 00:27:21 had up to Northern Palace, which was in
00:27:21 --> 00:27:23 Canada, actually. Uh but this time at
00:27:23 --> 00:27:25 the beginning of this year in Norway,
00:27:25 --> 00:27:27 Sweden, Iceland, and Greenland, I just
00:27:27 --> 00:27:30 held the smartphone up and well, I've
00:27:30 --> 00:27:32 got more photographs than I know what to
00:27:32 --> 00:27:33 do with, and they're all dramatically
00:27:33 --> 00:27:36 good. Uh the smartphone is such amazing
00:27:36 --> 00:27:37 technology.
00:27:37 --> 00:27:39 >> It's changed the world,
00:27:39 --> 00:27:41 >> has in many ways, particularly when it
00:27:41 --> 00:27:44 comes to photography. It was the old um
00:27:44 --> 00:27:46 the old Canon snappies and all those
00:27:46 --> 00:27:48 that we used to have with film in them.
00:27:48 --> 00:27:50 You got one shot at it and you didn't
00:27:50 --> 00:27:51 find out if it was any good for a couple
00:27:51 --> 00:27:52 of weeks.
00:27:52 --> 00:27:53 >> Yeah. And the odds are that it it
00:27:54 --> 00:27:55 wouldn't be because this sensitivity of
00:27:56 --> 00:27:58 film is so much lower than the the you
00:27:58 --> 00:27:59 know than the sensors that we now use
00:28:00 --> 00:28:01 for images. That's the bottom line.
00:28:01 --> 00:28:01 >> Yep.
00:28:02 --> 00:28:04 >> Yeah. The gear is good now. Makes makes
00:28:04 --> 00:28:06 everybody a professional. Well, not
00:28:06 --> 00:28:07 quite, but you know what I'm saying.
00:28:07 --> 00:28:08 >> Talk to a professional photographer and
00:28:08 --> 00:28:09 they won't actually agree with that.
00:28:10 --> 00:28:12 >> No, they would they work hard.
00:28:12 --> 00:28:15 >> Uh, thank you Casey. Great question and
00:28:15 --> 00:28:17 good to hear from you again. Okay, we
00:28:17 --> 00:28:19 checked all four systems and being with
00:28:19 --> 00:28:19 the girls.
00:28:19 --> 00:28:21 >> Space nets.
00:28:21 --> 00:28:24 >> Our final question today. Uh, hi guys.
00:28:24 --> 00:28:27 Love the show, etc., etc. He doesn't
00:28:27 --> 00:28:29 bandandy around much. He's straight to
00:28:29 --> 00:28:31 the point. Uh, an idea just occurred to
00:28:31 --> 00:28:34 me. Uh, mass increases the faster you
00:28:34 --> 00:28:37 go, becoming infinite at the speed of
00:28:37 --> 00:28:39 light. So, if it were possible to
00:28:39 --> 00:28:42 accelerate particles up to rel
00:28:42 --> 00:28:44 relativistic, I hate that word,
00:28:44 --> 00:28:47 relativistic speeds in some compact
00:28:47 --> 00:28:49 device and then throw them out of the
00:28:49 --> 00:28:51 back of a spacecraft, would the
00:28:51 --> 00:28:54 acceleration increase because you're
00:28:54 --> 00:28:57 throwing more mass out the back? Yeah, I
00:28:57 --> 00:28:59 did that the other day. It's not
00:28:59 --> 00:29:03 pleasant. Um, kind of an ion engine on
00:29:03 --> 00:29:06 on steroids. Uh, I'm envisioning some
00:29:06 --> 00:29:08 kind of small particle accelerator
00:29:08 --> 00:29:10 powered by a nuclear power source,
00:29:10 --> 00:29:13 preferably fishing. Any thoughts?
00:29:13 --> 00:29:15 Absolutely. Welcome. Uh, many thanks and
00:29:15 --> 00:29:18 keep up the great work. Lee in Sweden,
00:29:18 --> 00:29:23 not to be confused with Swed Leon.
00:29:23 --> 00:29:24 >> Oh, okay. Really?
00:29:24 --> 00:29:27 >> Yeah, that's somebody else.
00:29:27 --> 00:29:31 >> Um, no, Lee in Sweden. So, um, okay.
00:29:31 --> 00:29:33 Okay. So, he's he's got a particle
00:29:33 --> 00:29:35 accelerator on his spaceship and he's
00:29:35 --> 00:29:38 he's accelerating the particles up to
00:29:38 --> 00:29:42 relativistic speeds and then he's
00:29:42 --> 00:29:43 shooting them out the back of the
00:29:43 --> 00:29:46 spacecraft, bigger mass, whatever. Can
00:29:46 --> 00:29:49 it accelerate the spacecraft?
00:29:49 --> 00:29:52 Um, yeah. All right. I'm going to read u
00:29:52 --> 00:29:55 what I've just put up brought up on the
00:29:55 --> 00:29:58 screen in front of me. Um, relativistic
00:29:58 --> 00:30:00 mass ejection in ion motors is not a
00:30:00 --> 00:30:02 current technology but a theoretical
00:30:02 --> 00:30:05 concept for future propulsion where ions
00:30:05 --> 00:30:07 would be accelerated to speeds
00:30:07 --> 00:30:08 approaching the speed of light. The
00:30:08 --> 00:30:11 relativistic aspect refers to the effect
00:30:11 --> 00:30:13 of special relativity where an object's
00:30:13 --> 00:30:15 mass appears to increase as it
00:30:15 --> 00:30:17 approaches the speed of light making it
00:30:17 --> 00:30:19 harder to accelerate it further. This
00:30:19 --> 00:30:21 would require extremely high energy
00:30:21 --> 00:30:24 inputs and would involve complex physics
00:30:24 --> 00:30:26 unlike current ion thrusters that use
00:30:26 --> 00:30:29 less energetic but still very high ion
00:30:29 --> 00:30:33 ejection velocities that came from AI.
00:30:33 --> 00:30:34 So how's that?
00:30:34 --> 00:30:37 >> Yeah. Well, I mean AI can be very
00:30:38 --> 00:30:39 useful.
00:30:39 --> 00:30:40 >> That's kind of what
00:30:40 --> 00:30:42 >> steer you up the the wrong path. It kept
00:30:42 --> 00:30:44 getting Yeah. Like I had to make some
00:30:44 --> 00:30:47 pretty significant inquiries
00:30:47 --> 00:30:49 last uh last year, early this year,
00:30:49 --> 00:30:52 whatever, uh about a a housing situation
00:30:52 --> 00:30:56 and it just got it so wrong constantly.
00:30:56 --> 00:30:57 >> Yeah.
00:30:57 --> 00:31:00 >> Um but yeah. Um
00:31:00 --> 00:31:02 >> so what I've just read out is putting
00:31:02 --> 00:31:05 nicely into words what I was going to
00:31:05 --> 00:31:07 say, but it's putting it rather more
00:31:07 --> 00:31:09 nicely than I would have put it. So
00:31:09 --> 00:31:10 there you go.
00:31:10 --> 00:31:15 >> Yeah. All right. So the the concept of
00:31:15 --> 00:31:19 um creating engines that can do these
00:31:19 --> 00:31:22 kinds of things is real in science but
00:31:22 --> 00:31:24 only to a certain degree.
00:31:24 --> 00:31:27 >> Yeah. My only worry about it would be um
00:31:27 --> 00:31:29 and I guess this is what you know the
00:31:29 --> 00:31:33 complex physics bit was. You've got um
00:31:33 --> 00:31:35 you've got different reference frames.
00:31:35 --> 00:31:37 You've got the reference frame of the of
00:31:37 --> 00:31:38 the spacecraft. You've got the reference
00:31:38 --> 00:31:42 frame of the flow of of charged
00:31:42 --> 00:31:43 particles coming out the back of it and
00:31:43 --> 00:31:45 you've got a stationary reference frame
00:31:46 --> 00:31:48 and and the mass looks different to all
00:31:48 --> 00:31:49 of those.
00:31:49 --> 00:31:53 >> Uh so uh that will be my only worry
00:31:53 --> 00:31:54 about that and it's the thing that I
00:31:54 --> 00:31:56 would like to go a bit further into it
00:31:56 --> 00:31:59 rather than rely on AI. Uh but the but
00:31:59 --> 00:32:02 the basic principle I think is is quite
00:32:02 --> 00:32:06 right. Uh but I would be I have a caveat
00:32:06 --> 00:32:08 about just watch out for your reference
00:32:08 --> 00:32:10 frame if I can put it that way.
00:32:10 --> 00:32:14 >> Yeah. Um I I've been toying with AI just
00:32:14 --> 00:32:16 to sort of get some concepts in my head
00:32:16 --> 00:32:19 about you know I mentioned I don't know
00:32:19 --> 00:32:20 if it was this podcast or the previous
00:32:20 --> 00:32:23 one where we uh where I'm writing a new
00:32:23 --> 00:32:25 book but um
00:32:25 --> 00:32:28 I there's some concepts I wanted to
00:32:28 --> 00:32:30 include but I my brain wouldn't go
00:32:30 --> 00:32:33 there. So, um, I did use AI to try and
00:32:34 --> 00:32:37 learn what I needed to learn to make the
00:32:37 --> 00:32:39 the thing work the way it wanted to in
00:32:39 --> 00:32:41 the story. Uh, it's very clever when you
00:32:41 --> 00:32:43 want to do things like that.
00:32:43 --> 00:32:44 >> Did it help?
00:32:44 --> 00:32:45 >> Yeah, very much.
00:32:45 --> 00:32:46 >> Oh, that's interesting.
00:32:46 --> 00:32:47 >> Yeah. Yeah.
00:32:47 --> 00:32:50 >> Um, in fact, it it sometimes gave me way
00:32:50 --> 00:32:53 too many concepts. I only wanted one,
00:32:53 --> 00:32:54 but it gave me 10. And I'm thinking,
00:32:54 --> 00:32:56 "Oh, hang on.
00:32:56 --> 00:32:58 That's all good stuff. I can't use it
00:32:58 --> 00:33:02 all." So, I had to pick. But um
00:33:02 --> 00:33:06 I I found it very useful. But um if you
00:33:06 --> 00:33:07 use it the right way, it's a it's a
00:33:07 --> 00:33:09 great tool.
00:33:09 --> 00:33:13 >> But if um yeah, for general information,
00:33:13 --> 00:33:16 sometimes it can just hit the you
00:33:16 --> 00:33:18 throwing a dart and hitting that metal
00:33:18 --> 00:33:19 thing around the edge.
00:33:19 --> 00:33:20 >> All right. Okay.
00:33:20 --> 00:33:22 >> Cuz it's it's throwing information back
00:33:22 --> 00:33:26 at you that's too generic, I suppose.
00:33:26 --> 00:33:28 >> Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes
00:33:28 --> 00:33:31 >> I think when it comes to AI, you've got
00:33:31 --> 00:33:33 to know how to use it to get the best
00:33:33 --> 00:33:35 out of it. Otherwise,
00:33:35 --> 00:33:36 >> that's right. Yes.
00:33:36 --> 00:33:38 >> Otherwise, it's dangerous.
00:33:38 --> 00:33:40 >> Yeah. The wrong path.
00:33:40 --> 00:33:42 >> Absolutely true. Yeah. I have found it
00:33:42 --> 00:33:45 very handy for like I've I've had a few
00:33:46 --> 00:33:47 photos over the years that I've wanted
00:33:47 --> 00:33:49 to keep, but they they've not been
00:33:49 --> 00:33:52 really good photos and it's been really
00:33:52 --> 00:33:54 good at cleaning them up, taking taking
00:33:54 --> 00:33:56 out some of the um there's one
00:33:56 --> 00:33:58 particular photo that I really love, uh
00:33:58 --> 00:34:00 but it's it's grainy.
00:34:00 --> 00:34:00 >> Yeah.
00:34:00 --> 00:34:03 >> So, I I you just upload the photo and
00:34:03 --> 00:34:06 say, "Can you um I can't remember the
00:34:06 --> 00:34:08 terminology I use, but um can you do
00:34:08 --> 00:34:11 this?" and it takes like a minute or two
00:34:11 --> 00:34:15 to rec calibrate the photo and then it
00:34:15 --> 00:34:19 gives you its result. And uh I had a
00:34:19 --> 00:34:22 couple of big hits with that that well,
00:34:22 --> 00:34:24 but I've had a couple that didn't.
00:34:24 --> 00:34:24 >> Yeah.
00:34:24 --> 00:34:28 >> Um because the um it had to try and fill
00:34:28 --> 00:34:31 in spaces because of the graininess of
00:34:31 --> 00:34:32 the photo
00:34:32 --> 00:34:34 >> and what it filled them in with actually
00:34:34 --> 00:34:35 changed the subject too much and I
00:34:35 --> 00:34:38 didn't like it. that makes any sense at
00:34:38 --> 00:34:39 all.
00:34:39 --> 00:34:42 But um yeah, I I do find it useful, but
00:34:42 --> 00:34:45 um it it's not a perfect science and you
00:34:45 --> 00:34:47 got to keep that in mind.
00:34:47 --> 00:34:49 >> Uh Lee, thanks for your question. Did we
00:34:49 --> 00:34:51 finish with Lee? I'm pretty sure we did.
00:34:51 --> 00:34:53 Yeah, good on you, Lee. Hope all is well
00:34:53 --> 00:34:55 in Sweden and I'm sure you get to see
00:34:55 --> 00:34:58 lots of Aurora, too, you lucky duck.
00:34:58 --> 00:35:01 >> Um that's it, Fred. We are finished.
00:35:01 --> 00:35:03 Thank you.
00:35:03 --> 00:35:07 >> Uh you're welcome.
00:35:07 --> 00:35:10 Yeah. Uh I um I've enjoyed uh going
00:35:10 --> 00:35:12 getting my mind bent around some of
00:35:12 --> 00:35:15 those issues myself. So, thank you Space
00:35:15 --> 00:35:17 Nuts listeners. You keep me on my toes.
00:35:17 --> 00:35:19 >> Yes, they do, don't they? If you would
00:35:19 --> 00:35:22 like to send us a question, uh you can
00:35:22 --> 00:35:23 do that through our website,
00:35:23 --> 00:35:25 spacenutspodcast.com
00:35:25 --> 00:35:28 or spacenuts.io
00:35:28 --> 00:35:31 and you click on the AMA link at the top
00:35:31 --> 00:35:34 of the homepage and uh just fill in the
00:35:34 --> 00:35:36 blanks. So, you can send us your text
00:35:36 --> 00:35:38 questions that way, or you can send us
00:35:38 --> 00:35:41 an audio question if you've got a device
00:35:41 --> 00:35:42 with a microphone. And just uh remember
00:35:42 --> 00:35:44 to tell us who you are and where you're
00:35:44 --> 00:35:46 from. Most people do these days. Uh or
00:35:46 --> 00:35:48 you can send us questions via YouTube.
00:35:48 --> 00:35:50 We've been getting a few of those. And
00:35:50 --> 00:35:52 sometimes they just turn up on social
00:35:52 --> 00:35:54 media. Uh it doesn't matter. We'll um
00:35:54 --> 00:35:56 we'll get to them. Although on social
00:35:56 --> 00:35:59 media, the audience tends to deal with
00:35:59 --> 00:36:01 them for us. So, um not many of them
00:36:01 --> 00:36:03 filter through. But, uh, yeah, keep, uh,
00:36:03 --> 00:36:06 those questions coming. Um, and, uh,
00:36:06 --> 00:36:08 yeah, that'll all be good. Uh, Fred,
00:36:08 --> 00:36:10 we'll see you next week. I think it'll
00:36:10 --> 00:36:11 be our last couple of programs before
00:36:11 --> 00:36:13 the Christmas break.
00:36:13 --> 00:36:15 >> May well be. That's right. We'll see.
00:36:15 --> 00:36:16 >> All right. We'll catch you then. Thanks,
00:36:16 --> 00:36:17 Fred. Sounds great.
00:36:17 --> 00:36:19 >> And thanks to Hugh in the studio who
00:36:19 --> 00:36:21 went supernova on us because he's got a
00:36:21 --> 00:36:23 lot of heavy elements and he's gone to
00:36:23 --> 00:36:25 see a dietician. And from me, Andrew
00:36:25 --> 00:36:27 Dunley, thanks for your company. We'll
00:36:27 --> 00:36:28 see you on the next episode of Space
00:36:28 --> 00:36:30 Nuts. Bye-bye.
00:36:30 --> 00:36:32 >> Space Nuts. You'll be listening to the
00:36:32 --> 00:36:35 Space Nuts podcast
00:36:35 --> 00:36:38 >> available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
00:36:38 --> 00:36:41 iHeart Radio, or your favorite podcast
00:36:41 --> 00:36:43 player. You can also stream on demand at
00:36:43 --> 00:36:46 byes.com. This has been another quality
00:36:46 --> 00:36:51 podcast production from byes.com.