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This episode of SpaceTime dives deep into the intriguing findings from Mars, the peculiar behavior of a family of stars, and the latest developments in NASA's Artemis program.
Possible Martian Biosignatures
Scientists are captivated by the potential detection of biosignatures in a rock sample named Chayava Falls, collected by NASA's Perseverance rover. This rock, filled with unique chemical signatures, raises questions about the possibility of ancient microbial life on Mars. The analysis reveals organic compounds and distinctive structures, prompting further investigation to determine their origins and implications for past life on the Red Planet.
Strange Stellar Family
In an unexpected discovery, astronomers have identified a cluster of over a thousand young stars, named Ophion, that are behaving in a chaotic manner, rapidly dispersing instead of forming stable groups. This unusual behavior challenges existing theories about star formation and raises questions about the influences of nearby massive stellar groups and past supernovae on their movement.
Artemis 2 Orion Capsule Delivered
The Orion capsule designated for NASA's Artemis 2 mission has officially been handed over to NASA after final assembly and testing. This advanced spacecraft is set to carry a crew of four on a mission to orbit the Moon, marking a significant step towards future lunar exploration. We discuss the enhancements made to Orion since Artemis 1 and the preparations for its upcoming launch.
www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com (https://www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com/)
✍️ Episode References
Astrophysical Journal
https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/0004-637X (https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/0004-637X)
NASA Perseverance Rover
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ (https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/)
NASA Artemis Program
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis (https://www.nasa.gov/artemis)
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/spacetime-space-astronomy--2458531/support (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/spacetime-space-astronomy--2458531/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss) .
00:00 This is Space Time Series 28, Episode 59 for broadcast on 16 May 2025
00:54 Possible biosignatures detected on Mars
12:15 The unusual behavior of the Ophion star cluster
20:30 Artemis 2 Orion capsule delivered to NASA for preparations
25:00 Science report: Technology use around children and its effects on health
Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/27151282?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 This is Spacetime series 28 episode 59
00:00:03 --> 00:00:05 for broadcast on the 16th of May
00:00:05 --> 00:00:09 2025. Coming up on Spacetime, possible
00:00:09 --> 00:00:11 Martian bio signatures continuing to
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 perplex scientists, a strange family of
00:00:14 --> 00:00:16 stars desperate to leave home, and the
00:00:16 --> 00:00:19 Artemus 2 Orion moon capsule delivered
00:00:19 --> 00:00:22 to NASA. All that and more coming up on
00:00:22 --> 00:00:25 Spaceime.
00:00:25 --> 00:00:36 Welcome to Spaceime with Stuart Garry.
00:00:36 --> 00:00:44 [Music]
00:00:44 --> 00:00:46 Scientists are continuing to examine the
00:00:46 --> 00:00:48 fascinating possible detection of bio
00:00:48 --> 00:00:51 signatures on Shaya Falls rock samples
00:00:51 --> 00:00:52 collected by NASA's Mars Perseverance
00:00:52 --> 00:00:55 rover in the red planet's Jezro crater
00:00:55 --> 00:00:57 almost a year ago. The discoveries
00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 continue to intrigue researchers who've
00:00:59 --> 00:01:01 never seen anything like it on Mars
00:01:01 --> 00:01:04 before. The vein-filled arrowheadshaped
00:01:04 --> 00:01:06 rock contains fascinating traits that
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 may bear on the question of whether Mars
00:01:08 --> 00:01:11 was once home to microscopic life in the
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 distant past billions of years ago at a
00:01:13 --> 00:01:15 time when the area contained running
00:01:15 --> 00:01:17 water. Analysis by instruments aboard
00:01:17 --> 00:01:20 the K-siz six world rover indicate the
00:01:20 --> 00:01:22 rock possesses chemical signatures and
00:01:22 --> 00:01:24 structures that do fit the definition of
00:01:24 --> 00:01:27 a possible indicator of ancient life. Of
00:01:27 --> 00:01:29 course, other explanations for the
00:01:29 --> 00:01:30 observed features are being considered
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 by the science team and future research
00:01:32 --> 00:01:35 steps will be required if we determine
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 whether or not ancient life is a valid
00:01:37 --> 00:01:39 explanation. The rock is the rover's
00:01:39 --> 00:01:42 22nd rock core sample. It was collected
00:01:42 --> 00:01:44 back on July the 21st as the rover
00:01:44 --> 00:01:46 explored the northern edge of Nareta
00:01:46 --> 00:01:48 valleys, an ancient river valley
00:01:48 --> 00:01:50 measuring some 400 meters wide that was
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 carved out by water rushing into Jezro
00:01:52 --> 00:01:55 crater long ago. Multiple scans of
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 Shaava Falls by the Rover Sherlock
00:01:57 --> 00:01:59 instrument indicate that it does contain
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 organic compounds. Now whilst such
00:02:01 --> 00:02:03 carbon based molecules are considered to
00:02:03 --> 00:02:05 be the building blocks of life, they can
00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 be formed by non-biological processes.
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 Perseverance project scientist Ken
00:02:10 --> 00:02:12 Farley from Caltech says Shaaba Falls is
00:02:12 --> 00:02:14 the most puzzling, complex, and
00:02:14 --> 00:02:16 potentially important rock ever
00:02:16 --> 00:02:18 investigated by the rover. On one hand,
00:02:18 --> 00:02:20 it's the first compelling detection of
00:02:20 --> 00:02:22 organic material. Distinctive colorful
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 spots indicative of chemical reactions
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 that microbial life could use as an
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 energy source. And it's also clear
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 evidence that water necessary for life
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 as we know it once passed through the
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 rock. On the other hand, scientists
00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 still are unable to determine exactly
00:02:37 --> 00:02:39 how this meter wide rock was formed and
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 to what extent nearby rocks may have
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 heated Shava Falls and contributed to
00:02:43 --> 00:02:45 these features. In its ongoing search
00:02:46 --> 00:02:48 for signs of ancient microbial life, the
00:02:48 --> 00:02:49 Perseverance mission has focused on
00:02:50 --> 00:02:51 rocks that may have been created or
00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 modified long ago by the presence of
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 water and that's why they homeed in on
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 Shayava Falls. Running the length of the
00:02:58 --> 00:03:00 rock are large white calcium sulfate
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 veins. And between these veins are bands
00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 of material whose reddish color suggest
00:03:06 --> 00:03:07 the presence of hematite, one of the
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 minerals that gives Mars its distinctive
00:03:09 --> 00:03:12 rusty hue. But when Perseverance took a
00:03:12 --> 00:03:14 closer look at these rusty regions, it
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 found dozens of irregularly shaped
00:03:16 --> 00:03:18 millimeter size off-white splotches,
00:03:18 --> 00:03:20 each ringed with black material akin to
00:03:20 --> 00:03:23 leopard spots. Perseverance pixel
00:03:23 --> 00:03:24 instrument was then able to determine
00:03:24 --> 00:03:27 that these black halos contain both iron
00:03:27 --> 00:03:29 and phosphate. Now on Earth, these types
00:03:30 --> 00:03:31 of features are often associated with a
00:03:31 --> 00:03:33 fossilized record of microbes living in
00:03:33 --> 00:03:35 the subsurface. But of course, they
00:03:36 --> 00:03:37 could also occur when chemical reactions
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 involving hematite turn the rock from
00:03:39 --> 00:03:42 red to white. And those reactions can
00:03:42 --> 00:03:44 release iron and phosphate, possibly
00:03:44 --> 00:03:46 causing the black halos to form.
00:03:46 --> 00:03:48 Reactions of this type can be an energy
00:03:48 --> 00:03:50 source for microbes. And that explains
00:03:50 --> 00:03:52 the association between these features
00:03:52 --> 00:03:55 and microbes in an earth setting. In one
00:03:55 --> 00:03:57 scenario Perseverance's science team are
00:03:57 --> 00:03:59 now considering, Shia Falls was
00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 initially deposited as mud with organic
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 compounds mixed in. They eventually were
00:04:04 --> 00:04:06 cemented into rock. Later, a second
00:04:06 --> 00:04:08 episode of fluid flow penetrated the
00:04:08 --> 00:04:10 fishes in the rock, enabling mineral
00:04:10 --> 00:04:11 deposits that created large white
00:04:12 --> 00:04:14 calcium sulfate veins and resulting in
00:04:14 --> 00:04:16 the spots. While both the organic matter
00:04:16 --> 00:04:18 and the leopard spots are of great
00:04:18 --> 00:04:20 interest, they aren't the only aspects
00:04:20 --> 00:04:22 of the Shia Falls rock confounding
00:04:22 --> 00:04:24 scientists. They're also surprised to
00:04:24 --> 00:04:26 find that these veins were filled with
00:04:26 --> 00:04:28 millimeter sized crystals of olivine.
00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 That's a mineral that forms from magma.
00:04:30 --> 00:04:31 The olivine might have been related to
00:04:31 --> 00:04:33 rocks that were formed further upstream
00:04:33 --> 00:04:35 on the rim of the river valley and that
00:04:35 --> 00:04:37 may well have been produced by
00:04:37 --> 00:04:39 crystallization of magma. Now, if that's
00:04:39 --> 00:04:40 the case, scientists have another
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 question to answer. Could the olivine
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 and sulfate have been introduced into
00:04:44 --> 00:04:45 the rock in inhabitably high
00:04:46 --> 00:04:47 temperatures, thereby creating an
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 abiotic chemical reaction that resulted
00:04:49 --> 00:04:51 in the leopard spots? To fully
00:04:51 --> 00:04:53 understand what really happened in that
00:04:53 --> 00:04:55 Martian River Valley at Jezro crater
00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 billions of years ago, scientists will
00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 need to bring a Shaava Falls rock sample
00:04:59 --> 00:05:01 back to Earth. That way can be studied
00:05:01 --> 00:05:03 with more powerful instruments which are
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 available in laboratories.
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 Perseverance's mission is to search for
00:05:07 --> 00:05:09 signs of past microbial life on the red
00:05:09 --> 00:05:15 planet. This report from NASA TV.
00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 You know, Mars is the closest place that
00:05:18 --> 00:05:20 we can reach with robotic exploration
00:05:20 --> 00:05:21 that we think had a really good chance
00:05:21 --> 00:05:24 of having ancient life. Jezro Crater is
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 a very interesting place. It's a crater
00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 that once held a lake. There are a lot
00:05:29 --> 00:05:31 of craters on the surface of Mars that
00:05:31 --> 00:05:33 could have once hosted ancient lakes,
00:05:33 --> 00:05:35 but not every crater that we think had a
00:05:35 --> 00:05:37 lake actually preserves evidence that
00:05:37 --> 00:05:40 that lake was there. It had an inflow
00:05:40 --> 00:05:42 channel and it had an outflow channel.
00:05:42 --> 00:05:43 That means it was filled, the crater was
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 filled with water. In Jezra, we have
00:05:46 --> 00:05:48 probably one of the most beautifully
00:05:48 --> 00:05:51 preserved delta deposits on Mars in that
00:05:51 --> 00:05:53 crater. This is a wonderful place to
00:05:54 --> 00:05:56 live, for microorganisms. And it is also
00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 a wonderful place for those
00:05:58 --> 00:06:01 microorganisms to be preserved so that
00:06:01 --> 00:06:03 we can find them now so many billions of
00:06:03 --> 00:06:05 years later. There is no other place on
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 Mars that has the unique combination of
00:06:07 --> 00:06:09 a lake setting, a beautifully preserved
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 delta, and the diverse minology that we
00:06:11 --> 00:06:13 have in Jezro Crater. So, it's truly a
00:06:13 --> 00:06:17 special landing site. The major goal of
00:06:17 --> 00:06:20 the Perseverance mission is to
00:06:20 --> 00:06:22 investigate astrobiology on Mars and in
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 particular to address the question of
00:06:24 --> 00:06:28 whether life ever existed on Mars. The
00:06:28 --> 00:06:29 Perseverance rover starts with a design
00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 that's very similar to Curiosity, but
00:06:31 --> 00:06:33 we've added to it a whole new set of
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 science instruments. And these science
00:06:35 --> 00:06:38 instruments were purposefully selected
00:06:38 --> 00:06:40 to help us in the search for bio
00:06:40 --> 00:06:42 signatures. One of the major upgrades
00:06:42 --> 00:06:45 that Perseverance has from Curiosity is
00:06:45 --> 00:06:48 that it's able to self-drive for a
00:06:48 --> 00:06:51 distance of up to 200 m per day. As the
00:06:51 --> 00:06:53 rover is driving, it's literally
00:06:53 --> 00:06:55 building the map of the road it's
00:06:55 --> 00:06:59 driving on on Mars. Scientists for years
00:06:59 --> 00:07:02 have told us that to really unlock the
00:07:02 --> 00:07:04 secrets of Mars, we have to bring
00:07:04 --> 00:07:06 samples from Mars back to Earth. So,
00:07:06 --> 00:07:09 what Mars 2020 is going to do is to
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 drill samples, put them in small tubes.
00:07:13 --> 00:07:15 We're going to seal it in its own
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 individual tube. We set them on the
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 surface to provide a target for the
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 second two missions. which hopefully
00:07:21 --> 00:07:23 we'll get in development in the next
00:07:23 --> 00:07:24 several years and could potentially get
00:07:24 --> 00:07:27 the samples back to Earth by
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 2031. Perseverance is a very very
00:07:30 --> 00:07:34 profound first step in both our
00:07:34 --> 00:07:37 understanding of our place in the
00:07:37 --> 00:07:40 universe and a stepping stone towards
00:07:40 --> 00:07:43 human exploration on Mars.
00:07:43 --> 00:07:46 [Music]
00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 And in that report from NASA TV, we
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 heard from Perseverance deputy project
00:07:50 --> 00:07:52 scientist Ken Farley from Caltech and
00:07:52 --> 00:07:54 Perseverance deputy project scientist
00:07:54 --> 00:07:58 Katie Stack Morgan. This is spaceime.
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 Still to come, the odd family of stars
00:08:00 --> 00:08:02 desperately seeking to leave home and
00:08:02 --> 00:08:04 the Arteimus 2 Orion moon capsule
00:08:04 --> 00:08:07 finally delivered to NASA in preparation
00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 for next year's man moon mission. All
00:08:09 --> 00:08:14 that and more still to come on Spaceime.
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 Okay, let's take a break from our show
00:08:16 --> 00:08:19 with a word from our sponsor, Insta 360.
00:08:19 --> 00:08:21 Get ready to capture the universe like
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00:09:32 --> 00:09:35 that massive 2 milliamp battery
00:09:35 --> 00:09:37 keeps you rolling for up to 185 minutes
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 in endurance mode. Now, to bag a free
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00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 package purchase, head to the store
00:09:48 --> 00:09:51 inst.com and use the promo code
00:09:51 --> 00:09:53 spacetime available for the first 30
00:09:53 --> 00:09:57 standard package purchases only. That's
00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 insta360.com and use the promo code
00:09:59 --> 00:10:01 spacetime. And for more information,
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 check out the links in our show notes.
00:10:04 --> 00:10:09 And now it's back to our
00:10:09 --> 00:10:17 [Music]
00:10:17 --> 00:10:19 show. Astronomers have discovered a
00:10:19 --> 00:10:21 strange cluster of more than a thousand
00:10:21 --> 00:10:24 stars acting in a really unusual way.
00:10:24 --> 00:10:27 And no one knows why. Stars in the Milky
00:10:27 --> 00:10:29 Way tend to form in families with
00:10:29 --> 00:10:31 similar stars all springing to life in
00:10:31 --> 00:10:33 roughly the same place at roughly the
00:10:33 --> 00:10:36 same time. These stars then later head
00:10:36 --> 00:10:38 out into the wider galaxy, usually in
00:10:38 --> 00:10:41 pairs or triplets, sometimes, as is the
00:10:41 --> 00:10:44 case with our sun as a solo traveler.
00:10:44 --> 00:10:45 While smaller stellar groups can
00:10:45 --> 00:10:47 completely dissipate, siblings from
00:10:47 --> 00:10:49 larger families are often held together
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 by their mutual gravitational attraction
00:10:52 --> 00:10:53 and therefore they continue to move
00:10:53 --> 00:10:56 through space as a single group.
00:10:56 --> 00:10:58 Now, using data from the European Space
00:10:58 --> 00:11:00 Ay's Gaia mission, astronomers have
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 identified a close cluster of over a
00:11:02 --> 00:11:04 thousand young stars, which they've
00:11:04 --> 00:11:05 named Ofon, which are not sticking
00:11:05 --> 00:11:07 together, but instead rapidly
00:11:07 --> 00:11:09 dispersing. The study's lead author,
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 Dylan Houston, from Western Washington
00:11:11 --> 00:11:13 University, says Ofon is filled with
00:11:13 --> 00:11:15 stars that are set to rush out across
00:11:15 --> 00:11:17 the galaxy in a totally haphazard,
00:11:17 --> 00:11:19 uncoordinated way. And that's far from
00:11:20 --> 00:11:22 what's expected from a cluster so big.
00:11:22 --> 00:11:24 And what's more, it'll all happen in a
00:11:24 --> 00:11:25 fraction of the time it would usually
00:11:25 --> 00:11:28 take for such a large family to scatter.
00:11:28 --> 00:11:30 It's like no other stellar family he's
00:11:30 --> 00:11:33 ever seen before. The discovery reported
00:11:33 --> 00:11:35 in the astrophysical journal was made
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 using observations from Gaia's third
00:11:37 --> 00:11:39 data release. The authors developed a
00:11:39 --> 00:11:41 new model to explore Gaia's vast
00:11:41 --> 00:11:44 unrivaled trove of spectroscopic data,
00:11:44 --> 00:11:45 specifically searching for young stars
00:11:45 --> 00:11:48 less than 20 million years old. And it
00:11:48 --> 00:11:51 was during this study that aon shone
00:11:51 --> 00:11:54 out. But the question remains, why is
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 Ofon behaving so unusually? Now,
00:11:56 --> 00:11:58 astronomers have come up with several
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 possible options. See, the cluster
00:12:00 --> 00:12:03 resides around 650 light years away, and
00:12:03 --> 00:12:05 it's near some other massive young
00:12:05 --> 00:12:06 stellar groups and energetic events
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 within, and interactions between these
00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 colossal neighbors may well have
00:12:10 --> 00:12:13 influenced a Theon throughout the years.
00:12:13 --> 00:12:15 There are also signs that stars may have
00:12:15 --> 00:12:17 exploded here in the past and these
00:12:17 --> 00:12:19 supernova bursts may have swept material
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 away from a theon, causing its stars to
00:12:21 --> 00:12:23 move more rapidly apart from each other
00:12:23 --> 00:12:26 and onto their current radical paths.
00:12:26 --> 00:12:28 Whatever the real reason, this discovery
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 changes how scientists think about
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 stellar groups and also how to find
00:12:32 --> 00:12:34 them. Previous methods identified
00:12:34 --> 00:12:35 families by clustering similar moving
00:12:36 --> 00:12:37 stars together, but a Fion would have
00:12:37 --> 00:12:40 slipped through that net. This is
00:12:41 --> 00:12:44 spaceime. Still to come, NASA's Artemis
00:12:44 --> 00:12:46 2 Orion moon capsule finally delivered,
00:12:46 --> 00:12:48 ready for its man mission to the moon.
00:12:48 --> 00:12:50 And later in the science report,
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 warnings that parents using phones and
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 tablets around their kids may be
00:12:54 --> 00:12:56 affecting their children's health. All
00:12:56 --> 00:12:59 that and more still to come on Spaceime.
00:12:59 --> 00:13:14 [Music]
00:13:14 --> 00:13:16 The return of humans to the moon is a
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 step closer with the Orion capsule to be
00:13:18 --> 00:13:20 used for the manned Artemis 2 lunar
00:13:20 --> 00:13:23 mission officially handed over to NASA.
00:13:23 --> 00:13:24 The spacecraft which was built by
00:13:24 --> 00:13:26 Lockheed Martin has finalized assembly
00:13:26 --> 00:13:28 and testing and it's now been
00:13:28 --> 00:13:30 transferred to NASA's space exploration
00:13:30 --> 00:13:33 ground systems team. A ride is NASA's
00:13:33 --> 00:13:35 most advanced humanrated spacecraft and
00:13:36 --> 00:13:37 it's been specially designed for deep
00:13:37 --> 00:13:40 space exploration. While Artemus 1
00:13:40 --> 00:13:42 undertook an unmanned mission to the
00:13:42 --> 00:13:44 moon and back again, Artemis 2 will
00:13:44 --> 00:13:47 carry a crew of four on a 10-day flight
00:13:47 --> 00:13:49 that will circle the moon and travel
00:13:49 --> 00:13:52 7 km beyond lunar orbit for
00:13:52 --> 00:13:54 eventually returning to Earth. Building
00:13:54 --> 00:13:57 on the lessons of Artemus 1, the Orion
00:13:57 --> 00:13:59 used for Artemus 2 has been equipped
00:13:59 --> 00:14:01 with new life support systems, user
00:14:01 --> 00:14:03 interfaces, voice communications,
00:14:03 --> 00:14:05 thermal and waste control, a fitness
00:14:05 --> 00:14:07 device, and a fully integrated launch
00:14:07 --> 00:14:09 abort system. The new technologies on
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 board the spacecraft also include a
00:14:11 --> 00:14:13 partial squared of docking sensors, and
00:14:13 --> 00:14:15 a prototype laser communications unit
00:14:15 --> 00:14:18 for testing high-speed data transfer.
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 NASA's exploration ground systems team
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 will now handle final launch
00:14:22 --> 00:14:24 preparations. The spacecraft will then
00:14:24 --> 00:14:26 be transferred from the Neil Armstrong
00:14:26 --> 00:14:27 operations and checkout building at the
00:14:27 --> 00:14:29 Kennedy Space Center to the nearby
00:14:29 --> 00:14:31 processing facilities. That's where
00:14:31 --> 00:14:33 propellants, oxygen, and water will be
00:14:33 --> 00:14:35 loaded. The launch abort system and its
00:14:35 --> 00:14:37 protective fairings will also be
00:14:37 --> 00:14:39 installed there. Orion will then be
00:14:39 --> 00:14:42 moved to NASA's iconic vehicle assembly
00:14:42 --> 00:14:44 building and finally lifted in position
00:14:44 --> 00:14:46 on top of its giant space launch systems
00:14:46 --> 00:14:50 SLS heavy lift rocket. Mus 2's launch is
00:14:50 --> 00:14:52 currently slated for early next year and
00:14:52 --> 00:14:54 it'll be used to validate Orion's
00:14:54 --> 00:14:56 performance in space with a crew testing
00:14:56 --> 00:14:58 guidance, navigation, communications,
00:14:58 --> 00:15:00 and mission operations. The flight also
00:15:00 --> 00:15:02 includes a rendevous exercise with the
00:15:02 --> 00:15:05 SLS upper stage. That's a key dress
00:15:05 --> 00:15:07 rehearsal for the historic Artemis 3
00:15:07 --> 00:15:10 manned lunar landing mission, a 30-day
00:15:10 --> 00:15:13 flight currently slated for mid 2027.
00:15:13 --> 00:15:15 Meanwhile, Loheed Martin's continuing
00:15:15 --> 00:15:17 construction of its Orion spacecraft for
00:15:17 --> 00:15:19 both the Arteimus 3 and Aremus 4
00:15:19 --> 00:15:21 missions at the Kennedy Space Center and
00:15:21 --> 00:15:23 the Artemis 5 spacecraft's pressure
00:15:23 --> 00:15:25 vessel is now in the early stages of
00:15:25 --> 00:15:27 manufacture in NASA's assembly facility
00:15:27 --> 00:15:30 at New Orleans in Louisiana. Work will
00:15:30 --> 00:15:32 then move forward towards the future
00:15:32 --> 00:15:36 Artemis 6, 7, and 8 spacecraft. This
00:15:36 --> 00:15:39 spaceime
00:15:39 --> 00:15:53 [Music]
00:15:53 --> 00:15:55 And time now to take another brief look
00:15:55 --> 00:15:56 at some of the other stories making news
00:15:56 --> 00:15:58 in science this week with a science
00:15:58 --> 00:16:01 report. A new study claims that parents
00:16:01 --> 00:16:03 who use technology such as phones and
00:16:03 --> 00:16:05 tablets around their kids may be having
00:16:05 --> 00:16:07 a negative impact on their children's
00:16:07 --> 00:16:09 health and development. The findings
00:16:09 --> 00:16:10 reported in the Journal of the American
00:16:10 --> 00:16:12 Medical Association pulled together data
00:16:12 --> 00:16:15 from 21 separate studies involving some
00:16:15 --> 00:16:17 15 people, finding that young kids
00:16:17 --> 00:16:19 of parents who use technology around
00:16:19 --> 00:16:21 them a lot had poorer cognition and
00:16:21 --> 00:16:24 psychosocial outcomes. However, the
00:16:24 --> 00:16:25 study also found that while the effects
00:16:26 --> 00:16:27 were real and present, they were
00:16:27 --> 00:16:31 classified as being fairly small.
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 A man who injected himself with snake
00:16:33 --> 00:16:36 venom 856 times has helped to create an
00:16:36 --> 00:16:38 antivenenine for all snake bites. A
00:16:38 --> 00:16:40 report of the journal cell says that
00:16:40 --> 00:16:42 over a period of 18 years, the man
00:16:42 --> 00:16:44 developed a cocktail of antibodies which
00:16:44 --> 00:16:46 have been used in combination with a
00:16:46 --> 00:16:48 drug vessib to protect against snake
00:16:48 --> 00:16:50 bites from 19 different species
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 including Australia's deadly eastern
00:16:52 --> 00:16:55 brown snakes, inland taipans and tiger
00:16:55 --> 00:16:57 snakes. The study says the man had
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 independently chosen to inject himself
00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 with snake venom from a variety of
00:17:01 --> 00:17:03 different snakes and in doing so
00:17:03 --> 00:17:05 generated a range of antibodies in his
00:17:05 --> 00:17:07 body which could neutralize a range of
00:17:07 --> 00:17:10 snake venoms. The cocktail of antibodies
00:17:10 --> 00:17:11 together with the drug gave full
00:17:11 --> 00:17:14 protection against 13 of the 19 snakes
00:17:14 --> 00:17:15 and partial protection against the
00:17:15 --> 00:17:18 remaining six.
00:17:18 --> 00:17:20 A new study claims growing peas and
00:17:20 --> 00:17:22 potatoes could help feed a city in times
00:17:22 --> 00:17:24 of a global catastrophe which disrupted
00:17:24 --> 00:17:26 fuel supplies and restricted food
00:17:26 --> 00:17:29 transport. The findings reported in the
00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 journal plus one admit that while it's a
00:17:31 --> 00:17:33 radical pivot to urban and near urban
00:17:33 --> 00:17:35 agriculture, it nevertheless could offer
00:17:35 --> 00:17:37 a solution to a growing threat. The
00:17:37 --> 00:17:39 authors were modeling a case study
00:17:39 --> 00:17:41 showing that planting of home gardens
00:17:41 --> 00:17:43 and parks in peas could provide 20% of
00:17:43 --> 00:17:45 the food needed to supply a city the
00:17:45 --> 00:17:47 size of say Palmyister North in New
00:17:47 --> 00:17:49 Zealand and areas near the city could
00:17:49 --> 00:17:51 also grow potatoes to supply the
00:17:51 --> 00:17:54 remainder along with bofuel crops to run
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 farming equipment. While there would be
00:17:56 --> 00:17:58 many challenges affecting how it all
00:17:58 --> 00:17:59 works in practice, the authors recommend
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 that cities focus on protecting and
00:18:01 --> 00:18:04 reszoning nearby agricultural land and
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 set up expertise and infrastructure for
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 urban and near urban
00:18:08 --> 00:18:11 farming. A landmark court ruling in
00:18:11 --> 00:18:13 Spain has reaffirmed that Gestalt
00:18:13 --> 00:18:15 Therapy lacks scientific validity and
00:18:15 --> 00:18:17 operates in ways that resemble sectarian
00:18:17 --> 00:18:20 structures. The decision dismissed a
00:18:20 --> 00:18:22 lawsuit filed by the Spanish Association
00:18:22 --> 00:18:24 of Gestab Therapy which sought financial
00:18:24 --> 00:18:26 compensation and retraction of a
00:18:26 --> 00:18:29 critical report on Gesttop therapy. Tim
00:18:29 --> 00:18:31 Mendum from Australian Skeptic says
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 instead the court ordered the
00:18:33 --> 00:18:35 association be responsible for paying
00:18:35 --> 00:18:37 all costs. Okay, Gesttop therapy is
00:18:38 --> 00:18:38 something that's come out of the
00:18:39 --> 00:18:41 psychoanalytic movement. It basically
00:18:41 --> 00:18:43 says it's psychoanalysis without the
00:18:43 --> 00:18:44 past. You know how sort of
00:18:44 --> 00:18:46 psychotherapists would come in and say
00:18:46 --> 00:18:47 think about your past. Think about
00:18:47 --> 00:18:48 terrible things that happened to your
00:18:48 --> 00:18:50 traumas in the past. Gestalt therapy is
00:18:50 --> 00:18:52 a response to that and suggesting no
00:18:52 --> 00:18:53 don't go to the past. Let's look at the
00:18:53 --> 00:18:54 here and now. What are your problems
00:18:54 --> 00:18:57 now? And basically it has been derided
00:18:57 --> 00:19:00 as a bit of a motivational type course.
00:19:00 --> 00:19:02 You sit there in a therapy session
00:19:02 --> 00:19:03 either one-on-one with a therapist or it
00:19:03 --> 00:19:05 might be a group session all around in a
00:19:05 --> 00:19:07 circle etc. And you talk about all your
00:19:07 --> 00:19:08 problems of what you like etc. So it's a
00:19:08 --> 00:19:10 bit of digging into your soul. And the
00:19:10 --> 00:19:12 problem is that there are issues with a
00:19:12 --> 00:19:13 lot of psychoanalytical and
00:19:13 --> 00:19:15 psychotherrapeutic techniques that come
00:19:15 --> 00:19:17 along. Are they scientific? Right? How
00:19:17 --> 00:19:19 much evidence is there for them? The
00:19:19 --> 00:19:21 refreshed memory idea that you have this
00:19:21 --> 00:19:22 trauma in your youth which you have
00:19:22 --> 00:19:24 successfully covered up the remnants of
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 that causes all sort of psychological
00:19:26 --> 00:19:27 problems in your later life and you have
00:19:28 --> 00:19:29 to go through a psychotherapy session.
00:19:29 --> 00:19:31 You lie down, you go into a hypnotic
00:19:31 --> 00:19:33 state and you relive that thing does not
00:19:33 --> 00:19:35 exist. It's actually been proved to be
00:19:35 --> 00:19:37 very very dodgy. This hidden memory
00:19:37 --> 00:19:39 theory because basically most people who
00:19:39 --> 00:19:40 have been through a traumatic experience
00:19:40 --> 00:19:42 only remember it too well. So hiding it
00:19:42 --> 00:19:44 would be a nice thing but they don't.
00:19:44 --> 00:19:45 But it's a handy excuse for trying to
00:19:45 --> 00:19:47 explain sort of strange behavior. This
00:19:47 --> 00:19:49 gestal therapy says no, not in the past.
00:19:49 --> 00:19:51 Let's look at you now. Okay, obviously
00:19:51 --> 00:19:53 this disagreement over Freudian
00:19:53 --> 00:19:54 psychotherapy. Look at you now. The
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 trouble is, is it true? Is there any
00:19:56 --> 00:19:58 science behind it? Is it just a nice
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00 thing to do to talk about yourself and
00:20:00 --> 00:20:02 reveal your feelings and try and find
00:20:02 --> 00:20:04 some sort of reasons why you are acting
00:20:04 --> 00:20:06 the way you are or why you're unhappy?
00:20:06 --> 00:20:08 It is a bit cultish. The problem is that
00:20:08 --> 00:20:10 in some cases the patient gets very
00:20:10 --> 00:20:13 attached in whatever way to the
00:20:13 --> 00:20:15 therapist. They rely on the therapist.
00:20:15 --> 00:20:16 This is this happens with you know
00:20:16 --> 00:20:18 standard psychotherapy anyway with a
00:20:18 --> 00:20:19 group. It can be a bit sort of
00:20:19 --> 00:20:21 self-generating. So is it scientific? So
00:20:21 --> 00:20:23 someone in Spain wrote a report on
00:20:23 --> 00:20:26 gestalt therapy. They suggested no there
00:20:26 --> 00:20:27 there ain't no science here. It's all
00:20:27 --> 00:20:29 just something developed over the years
00:20:29 --> 00:20:30 has become very influential. You get
00:20:30 --> 00:20:32 universities and things picking it up
00:20:32 --> 00:20:33 not just studying it but using it
00:20:34 --> 00:20:35 applying it. This report said no. The
00:20:35 --> 00:20:38 Gestalt therapy group in Spain said,
00:20:38 --> 00:20:40 "Hang on, that's lialous to us. We're
00:20:40 --> 00:20:42 going to sue you because you said what
00:20:42 --> 00:20:43 we're doing is unscientific." They took
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45 it to court and the court came down and
00:20:45 --> 00:20:46 said, "Yep, it's unscientific." And the
00:20:46 --> 00:20:49 Gustalt group has to now pay costs. And
00:20:49 --> 00:20:50 as someone pointed out, if you were
00:20:50 --> 00:20:52 really in a real science, you'd argue it
00:20:52 --> 00:20:53 out. You debate it and I'm sure they
00:20:53 --> 00:20:55 probably have been debating gestalt
00:20:55 --> 00:20:56 therapy for a while. It certainly is a
00:20:56 --> 00:20:58 lot of stuff out there. I think it's
00:20:58 --> 00:20:59 great. It's wonderful. Written by the
00:20:59 --> 00:21:01 gestalt therapy people by and large. But
00:21:02 --> 00:21:03 if you're real science, you would put it
00:21:03 --> 00:21:04 in the scientific arena and you say,
00:21:04 --> 00:21:06 "Here's the evidence. You give me the
00:21:06 --> 00:21:07 counter evidence. Let's argue it out."
00:21:07 --> 00:21:09 Rather than just go take it to court for
00:21:09 --> 00:21:10 liel. So that had a bad taste in a lot
00:21:10 --> 00:21:12 of people's mouth, especially when they
00:21:12 --> 00:21:14 could therapist when they were classed
00:21:14 --> 00:21:15 as being unscientific. And if you look
00:21:16 --> 00:21:17 at it, there's a lot of information
00:21:17 --> 00:21:19 about it. There's a lot of scientific
00:21:19 --> 00:21:21 trimmings about it. There sciency words.
00:21:22 --> 00:21:24 Any theory like this worth that salt
00:21:24 --> 00:21:26 does drag up a lot of sciency sort of
00:21:26 --> 00:21:28 explanations. But is it science or is it
00:21:28 --> 00:21:30 just a lot of words? Well, the Spanish
00:21:30 --> 00:21:32 court said no, it's not fine. That's Tim
00:21:32 --> 00:21:36 Mindum from Australian
00:21:36 --> 00:21:48 [Music]
00:21:48 --> 00:21:52 Skeptics. And that's the show for now.
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