SpaceTime Series 28 Episode 19
The Astronomy, Space and Science News Podcast
New Insights into Earth's Water, Asteroid Bennu's Composition, and Marsquake Triggers
In this episode of SpaceTime, we investigate a groundbreaking study that challenges previous beliefs about when water arrived on Earth. New findings suggest that water may have come in during the later stages of Earth’s formation, providing fresh perspectives on the origins of life on our planet. The study highlights the importance of molybdenum isotopes in understanding the timing of water delivery and the conditions necessary for life.
Searles Lake and Asteroid Bennu
We also explore the intriguing similarities between Searles Lake in California and the asteroid Bennu, as researchers find that both environments share common water-soluble minerals. The Osiris Rex mission has revealed that Bennu's samples contain evaporite minerals formed under wet conditions, shedding light on the potential for life-sustaining elements in our solar system's past.
Meteoroid Impacts and Marsquakes
Additionally, a new study indicates that meteoroid impacts may play a more significant role in triggering marsquakes than previously considered. Analyses from NASA's Mars InSight lander reveal that many seismic events on Mars could be linked to impacts, challenging existing assumptions about the planet's seismic activity.
00:00 Space Time Series 28 Episode 19 for broadcast on 12 February 2025
00:49 Water arrival on Earth
06:30 Searles Lake and asteroid Bennu
12:15 Meteoroid impacts and Marsquakes
18:00 Changes in men's height and weight
22:45 Discovery of ancient bird fossils in Antarctica
27:00 The best way to boil an egg
30:15 AI and national security concerns
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✍️ Episode References
NASA
Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry
https://www.elsevier.com/journals/geochemistry-and-cosmochemistry
Nature
Geophysical Research Letters
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19448007
Biology Letters
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/bl
Nature Communications
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/
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Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/25544288?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 this is spacetime series 28 episode 19
00:00:03 --> 00:00:05 for broadcast on the 12th of February
00:00:05 --> 00:00:09 2025 coming up on SpaceTime a new study
00:00:09 --> 00:00:12 looking at when water arrived on Earth
00:00:12 --> 00:00:14 what CS Salt Lakes and the asteroid bonu
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 have in common and a new study suggests
00:00:17 --> 00:00:19 that meteoroid impacts may have a bigger
00:00:19 --> 00:00:21 role in triggering M Quakes than
00:00:21 --> 00:00:24 previously thought all that and more
00:00:24 --> 00:00:26 coming up on
00:00:26 --> 00:00:29 SpaceTime welcome to SpaceTime with
00:00:29 --> 00:00:31 steart
00:00:31 --> 00:00:38 [Music]
00:00:45 --> 00:00:48 Gary a new study has concluded that
00:00:48 --> 00:00:50 water didn't arrive as early during
00:00:50 --> 00:00:52 Earth's formation as previously thought
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 the findings reported in the journal
00:00:54 --> 00:00:56 geochemistry and cosmochemistry could
00:00:56 --> 00:00:58 provide new insights into when life
00:00:58 --> 00:01:01 first originated on planet Earth the new
00:01:01 --> 00:01:03 study supports the idea that water
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 arrived towards the final stages of
00:01:05 --> 00:01:07 Earth's development into a planet from
00:01:07 --> 00:01:09 dust and gas what geologists refer to as
00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 later creation see the scientists are
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 trying to learn when the constituent
00:01:13 --> 00:01:15 materials necessary for Life first
00:01:15 --> 00:01:17 appeared on the planet so they can
00:01:17 --> 00:01:20 understand how and when life actually
00:01:20 --> 00:01:22 began now according to the present
00:01:22 --> 00:01:24 scientific understanding at least three
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 necessary ingredients are essential to
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 Kickstart life These are water energy
00:01:29 --> 00:01:31 and a tip of organic chemicals including
00:01:31 --> 00:01:34 hydrogen nitrogen oxygen phosphorus and
00:01:34 --> 00:01:36 sulfur the study's lead author Katherine
00:01:36 --> 00:01:38 Birmingham from rigus School of Arts and
00:01:38 --> 00:01:40 Sciences says when water was delivered
00:01:40 --> 00:01:42 to planet Earth remains a major
00:01:42 --> 00:01:45 unanswered question in planetary science
00:01:45 --> 00:01:47 many believe Earth's water condensed out
00:01:47 --> 00:01:49 of the protoplanetary disc from which
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 the planet was first formed others
00:01:51 --> 00:01:52 however say conditions in the inner
00:01:52 --> 00:01:54 solar system would have been too hot and
00:01:54 --> 00:01:57 even worse when Thea a mars-sized planet
00:01:57 --> 00:02:00 slammed into the Proto Earth 4.5 billion
00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 years ago to create the current Earth
00:02:02 --> 00:02:05 Moon system we have today therefore the
00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 water must have arrived later now if
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 science knows the answer to this riddle
00:02:10 --> 00:02:11 researchers will be able to better
00:02:11 --> 00:02:14 constrain when and how life developed
00:02:14 --> 00:02:16 using thermal ionization mass
00:02:16 --> 00:02:18 spectrometry and a new analytical method
00:02:18 --> 00:02:20 Birmingham colleagues studied isotopes
00:02:20 --> 00:02:23 of the element malinam an isotope is a
00:02:23 --> 00:02:24 form of an element with the same number
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 of protons but different numbers of
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 neutrons this allows it to share the
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 same basic chemical properties while
00:02:31 --> 00:02:34 having a different atomic mass the malib
00:02:34 --> 00:02:36 isotopic composition of Earth rocks
00:02:36 --> 00:02:38 provides a window into events occurring
00:02:38 --> 00:02:40 around the time of Earth's final core
00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 formation when the last 10 to 20% of
00:02:42 --> 00:02:44 material was being assembled by the
00:02:44 --> 00:02:46 planet Birmingham says this period's
00:02:46 --> 00:02:48 thought to coincide with the moon's
00:02:48 --> 00:02:50 formation the authors extracted meibum
00:02:50 --> 00:02:53 from meteorite samples meteorites
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 generally divided into two groups the
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 First with constituent elements
00:02:57 --> 00:02:58 suggesting the meteorites formed in the
00:02:58 --> 00:03:01 outer solar system system presumably a
00:03:01 --> 00:03:03 colder wetter area and the second group
00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 with characteristics indicating its
00:03:05 --> 00:03:06 meteorites formed in the inner
00:03:06 --> 00:03:08 presumably dri hotter part of the solar
00:03:08 --> 00:03:11 system the authors compared the meibum
00:03:11 --> 00:03:13 isotopic composition of these meteorites
00:03:13 --> 00:03:15 to Earth rocks from Greenland South
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 Africa Canada the United States and
00:03:17 --> 00:03:20 Japan the malamin in these rocks is
00:03:20 --> 00:03:21 generally considered to have been added
00:03:21 --> 00:03:23 to Earth during the time of the moon's
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 formation which is when the final core
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 formation also occurred once they
00:03:28 --> 00:03:29 gathered their different samples and
00:03:30 --> 00:03:31 measured their isotopic compositions
00:03:31 --> 00:03:33 they compared the meteorite signatures
00:03:33 --> 00:03:36 with earth rock signatures the analysis
00:03:36 --> 00:03:37 showed that the Earth rocks were far
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 more similar to meteorite Source from
00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 the inner solar system than those Source
00:03:41 --> 00:03:44 from the outer solar system the data
00:03:44 --> 00:03:46 supports the interpretation that water
00:03:46 --> 00:03:47 was delivered to the Earth in smaller
00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 portions after the moon was formed and
00:03:50 --> 00:03:53 far later during the Earth's formation
00:03:53 --> 00:03:56 this is space time still to come what do
00:03:56 --> 00:03:58 Souls like in the mve desert and the
00:03:58 --> 00:04:00 asteroid bonu have in common and how
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 meteoroid impacts may have played a
00:04:02 --> 00:04:04 bigger role in triggering Mass Quakes
00:04:04 --> 00:04:06 than previously thought all that and
00:04:06 --> 00:04:10 more still to come on
00:04:10 --> 00:04:23 [Music]
00:04:23 --> 00:04:26 SpaceTime for decades geologists and
00:04:26 --> 00:04:27 rock hounds have gathered each year at
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 SS Lake in the Mojave Desert of of
00:04:29 --> 00:04:32 Southeastern California wielding
00:04:32 --> 00:04:34 crowbars and pickaxes they hunt for
00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 showy deposits of minerals such as
00:04:36 --> 00:04:39 halite Trona calite and Dolomite now
00:04:40 --> 00:04:41 planetary scientists from NASA and
00:04:41 --> 00:04:43 several other institutions are finding
00:04:43 --> 00:04:45 many of the same water soluble minerals
00:04:45 --> 00:04:47 though their tools and destinations are
00:04:47 --> 00:04:51 Worlds Apart back in September 2016 NASA
00:04:51 --> 00:04:53 launched a van siiz spacecraft called
00:04:53 --> 00:04:56 Osirus Rex which traveled billions of
00:04:56 --> 00:04:57 kilometers to reach a small diamond
00:04:58 --> 00:05:00 shaped asteroid called benu
00:05:00 --> 00:05:01 scientists think that this Rubble pile
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 asteroid crosses Earth's orbit every 6
00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 years formed from fragments of a larger
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 asteroid that broke apart between 1 and
00:05:08 --> 00:05:10 2 billion years ago following a
00:05:10 --> 00:05:13 cataclysmic Collision in October 2020
00:05:13 --> 00:05:16 Osiris Rex briefly touched down on a
00:05:16 --> 00:05:18 bonu Surface collecting 4.3 ounces of
00:05:18 --> 00:05:21 crumbly regolith which it then stowed
00:05:21 --> 00:05:23 away before returning to Earth this
00:05:24 --> 00:05:26 report from NASA
00:05:26 --> 00:05:30 TV one of Earth's closest Neighbors is a
00:05:30 --> 00:05:32 dark jumbled mass of rocks and boulders
00:05:32 --> 00:05:36 known as asteroid benu benu is ancient a
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 rugged survivor of the Solar System's
00:05:38 --> 00:05:41 chaotic past that may hold Clues to the
00:05:41 --> 00:05:45 origins of life in October 2020 a NASA
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 spacecraft called Osiris Rex touched
00:05:47 --> 00:05:50 down on benu and collected a sample for
00:05:50 --> 00:05:52 return to earth scientists had expected
00:05:52 --> 00:05:55 that this touch Ando event or tag would
00:05:55 --> 00:05:58 have little impact on the asteroid after
00:05:58 --> 00:06:00 a slow descent the sampler head would
00:06:00 --> 00:06:02 briefly make contact inject a puff of
00:06:02 --> 00:06:05 gas and capture a handful of material
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 perhaps it would also leave a small
00:06:07 --> 00:06:09 divot at the sample site a subtle
00:06:09 --> 00:06:12 footprint in the soil or so it was
00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 thought when images of the tag event
00:06:15 --> 00:06:17 beamed back to Earth they were far more
00:06:17 --> 00:06:18 dramatic than
00:06:18 --> 00:06:20 anticipated despite its slow touchdown
00:06:20 --> 00:06:22 Osiris Rex had punched through the
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 surface and set off an explosion of
00:06:24 --> 00:06:27 loose material tons of rocks and Pebbles
00:06:27 --> 00:06:30 were ejected radiating outward in a wall
00:06:30 --> 00:06:33 of debris the pictures were stunning but
00:06:33 --> 00:06:37 why did benu surface behave so
00:06:37 --> 00:06:40 unexpectedly the answer involves
00:06:40 --> 00:06:42 cohesion an attractive force that can
00:06:42 --> 00:06:45 bind molecules together cohesion gives
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 water its surface tension and keeps
00:06:47 --> 00:06:50 droplets together even in a microgravity
00:06:50 --> 00:06:52 environment like the International Space
00:06:52 --> 00:06:55 Station granular materials like wheat
00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 flour cocoa and dust can also exhibit
00:06:57 --> 00:07:00 cohesion which pulls indiv ual grains
00:07:00 --> 00:07:03 into clumps on benu scientists had
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 expected cohesion to act like a bit of
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 glue between the Rocks making its loose
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 surface more solid but the tag event
00:07:11 --> 00:07:13 showed that Ben's uppermost layers are
00:07:13 --> 00:07:15 nearly cohesionless deforming under
00:07:15 --> 00:07:18 stress like a fluid a good analogy is a
00:07:18 --> 00:07:21 ball pit although the plastic balls are
00:07:21 --> 00:07:23 solid they easily slide past one another
00:07:23 --> 00:07:26 and past boisterous children behaving in
00:07:26 --> 00:07:30 Mass like a fluid
00:07:30 --> 00:07:32 thanks to Osiris Rex we now know that
00:07:32 --> 00:07:34 benu surface is not held together by
00:07:34 --> 00:07:39 cohesion but by gravity or micro gravity
00:07:39 --> 00:07:42 with a minute tug less than 100th
00:07:42 --> 00:07:45 the pool of Earth on the moon gravity is
00:07:45 --> 00:07:48 16% as strong as it is on Earth and more
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 than 16 times stronger than it is on
00:07:50 --> 00:07:53 benu as a result loose material in the
00:07:53 --> 00:07:55 lunar subsurface is packed together more
00:07:56 --> 00:07:58 tightly making the moon's surface
00:07:58 --> 00:08:01 relatively firm if a 50 kg mass of solid
00:08:01 --> 00:08:03 iron were to hit the moon at the same
00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 speed as the tag event it would sink
00:08:05 --> 00:08:07 into the ground by only half a
00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 centimeter repeating this experiment at
00:08:10 --> 00:08:11 benu would yield a dramatically
00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 different result though the mass would
00:08:13 --> 00:08:15 strike with the same force it would
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 plunge 17 cm before stopping over 30
00:08:18 --> 00:08:21 times steeper than at the
00:08:21 --> 00:08:24 moon benu has consistantly defied
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 scientists expectations as each new
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 finding reveals another facet of this
00:08:29 --> 00:08:32 small but surprising World using data
00:08:32 --> 00:08:34 from Osiris Rex we now have the ability
00:08:34 --> 00:08:37 to look back and accurately recreate 30
00:08:37 --> 00:08:41 seconds on asteroid benu on October 20th
00:08:41 --> 00:08:44 2020 Osiris Rex made its final descent
00:08:44 --> 00:08:47 to a sample site called night Andale
00:08:47 --> 00:08:49 with its tagam arm outstretched it
00:08:49 --> 00:08:52 approached the surface at 10 cm/ second
00:08:52 --> 00:08:54 the walking pace of an
00:08:54 --> 00:08:57 insect 1 second after contact it
00:08:57 --> 00:08:58 released a canister of pressurized
00:08:58 --> 00:09:01 nitrogen detonating an explosion of
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 particles and driving material into the
00:09:03 --> 00:09:06 tag Sam head for sample collection 6
00:09:06 --> 00:09:08 seconds after contact while it was still
00:09:08 --> 00:09:11 sinking into benu Osiris Rex fired its
00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 thrusters to begin the backway maneuver
00:09:14 --> 00:09:17 the engine burn lasted for 24 seconds
00:09:17 --> 00:09:18 continuously pushing against the
00:09:18 --> 00:09:21 spacecraft and rapidly slowing its
00:09:21 --> 00:09:24 descent flying debris from the thrusters
00:09:24 --> 00:09:26 and the gas release pelted the science
00:09:26 --> 00:09:29 instruments clogging them with dust 9
00:09:29 --> 00:09:31 seconds after contact when Osiris Rex
00:09:31 --> 00:09:34 had sunk nearly half a meter into benu
00:09:34 --> 00:09:37 It reversed course and began to rise at
00:09:38 --> 00:09:40 16 seconds the tag Sam head reemerged
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 from the subsurface as the spacecraft
00:09:42 --> 00:09:45 continued to accelerate 30 seconds after
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 contact Osiris Rex shut off its
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 thrusters and drifted away with its
00:09:50 --> 00:09:52 sample of
00:09:52 --> 00:09:56 benu almost 6 months later on April 7th
00:09:56 --> 00:09:58 2021 the spacecraft returned for one
00:09:58 --> 00:10:00 last flight fly over to observe its
00:10:00 --> 00:10:03 footprint at the point of impact was a
00:10:03 --> 00:10:05 new crater averaging 8 m across and
00:10:05 --> 00:10:09 reaching 68 cm in depth Thruster marks
00:10:09 --> 00:10:11 overlapped with this tag crater in an x
00:10:11 --> 00:10:13 pattern increasing its volume by as much
00:10:13 --> 00:10:14 as
00:10:14 --> 00:10:17 40% a ridge of ejected material that had
00:10:17 --> 00:10:19 been kicked up during sample collection
00:10:19 --> 00:10:21 and then Fallen back to the surface
00:10:21 --> 00:10:24 circled the crater like a campfire ring
00:10:24 --> 00:10:26 with a puff of gas and an engine burn
00:10:26 --> 00:10:29 Osiris Rex had displaced 12 cubic m of
00:10:29 --> 00:10:33 granular material 6 tons of loose rock
00:10:33 --> 00:10:34 that may have been packed together as
00:10:34 --> 00:10:36 lightly as a bowl of
00:10:36 --> 00:10:38 [Music]
00:10:38 --> 00:10:41 popcorn after a final departure maneuver
00:10:41 --> 00:10:44 in May 2021 Osiris Rex began a 2-year
00:10:44 --> 00:10:47 Journey back to Earth stowed on board
00:10:47 --> 00:10:51 were about 250 g of asteroid benu a
00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 bounty of scientific treasure destined
00:10:53 --> 00:11:00 for future discoveries
00:11:00 --> 00:11:03 in September 2023 Osiris Rex released a
00:11:03 --> 00:11:05 mini Frid sized re-entry capsule which
00:11:05 --> 00:11:07 parachuted back to Earth Landing in the
00:11:07 --> 00:11:10 Utah desert with its precious samples
00:11:10 --> 00:11:12 since then SST have been running these
00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 dark powdery samples through a gauntlet
00:11:14 --> 00:11:17 of microscopes mass spectrometers and CT
00:11:17 --> 00:11:20 scanners their findings described in
00:11:20 --> 00:11:21 reports in the journal's nature and
00:11:21 --> 00:11:23 nature astronomy reveal evidence of
00:11:23 --> 00:11:26 sodium and carbonate red salts known as
00:11:26 --> 00:11:29 evaporites these minerals likely formed
00:11:29 --> 00:11:31 when Briny liquid gradually evaporated
00:11:31 --> 00:11:33 in the subsurface of a wet muddy
00:11:33 --> 00:11:35 protoplanet about 4 and A2 billion years
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 ago during the very early days of the
00:11:37 --> 00:11:40 solar system the thing is there are very
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 few places on Earth that produce
00:11:42 --> 00:11:44 combinations of evaporites similar to
00:11:44 --> 00:11:47 those found in the bonu samples one of
00:11:47 --> 00:11:49 the study's lead authors Tim McCoy from
00:11:49 --> 00:11:50 the Smithsonian National Museum of
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 Natural History says one of the few
00:11:52 --> 00:11:54 places that does produce combinations of
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 evaporites similar to those found on
00:11:56 --> 00:11:59 bonu is SS Lake although the minerals
00:11:59 --> 00:12:01 discovered on bonu predate those at s's
00:12:01 --> 00:12:04 Lake they both formed in similar salty
00:12:04 --> 00:12:08 wet conditions sodes like cells L
00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 Intrigue planetary geologists in part
00:12:10 --> 00:12:12 because they contain highly alkaline
00:12:12 --> 00:12:15 Waters with a mixture of sodium
00:12:15 --> 00:12:17 carbonate and chloride ions their brains
00:12:17 --> 00:12:19 are rich in phosphates a substance key
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 to the development of organic molecules
00:12:21 --> 00:12:23 including some involved in the formation
00:12:23 --> 00:12:26 of genetic material cell membranes and
00:12:26 --> 00:12:28 other components thought to be critical
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 to the formation of Life as we reported
00:12:31 --> 00:12:32 last week scientists have announced the
00:12:32 --> 00:12:34 discovery of organic molecules including
00:12:34 --> 00:12:36 several that are among the ingredients
00:12:36 --> 00:12:39 needed for life in the B samples water
00:12:39 --> 00:12:41 is a remarkably good solvent meaning
00:12:41 --> 00:12:43 common salts like sodium chloride or
00:12:43 --> 00:12:46 calcium carbonate dissolve easily in it
00:12:46 --> 00:12:48 at a molecular level salts break into
00:12:48 --> 00:12:51 positive and negatively charged ions
00:12:51 --> 00:12:54 such as sodium chloride and calcium and
00:12:54 --> 00:12:56 they're surrounded by molecules of water
00:12:56 --> 00:12:58 when they dissolve the opposite occurs
00:12:58 --> 00:13:00 when water is removed from Bran's rich
00:13:00 --> 00:13:02 in ions leaving the ions to bond and
00:13:03 --> 00:13:05 crystallize into salts at cell's Lake
00:13:05 --> 00:13:07 minerals typically develop in a
00:13:07 --> 00:13:09 predictable sequence of zones sort of
00:13:09 --> 00:13:11 like rings around a bathtub with calcium
00:13:11 --> 00:13:13 carbonate and magnesium carbonate
00:13:13 --> 00:13:15 forming first followed by calcium
00:13:15 --> 00:13:17 sulfate and sodium carbonate in the
00:13:17 --> 00:13:19 middle ring that leaves the most
00:13:19 --> 00:13:21 concentrated brine deposits chlorides
00:13:21 --> 00:13:23 and fluorides of sodium and potassium at
00:13:23 --> 00:13:25 the center of the lake minerals can also
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 precipitate directly from fluids without
00:13:27 --> 00:13:29 evaporation if the iron concentrations
00:13:30 --> 00:13:31 high enough as probably happened early
00:13:31 --> 00:13:33 in the sequence mcoy believes
00:13:34 --> 00:13:35 precipitation occurred in both ways on
00:13:35 --> 00:13:38 Buu's parent body researchers identified
00:13:38 --> 00:13:40 11 minerals in the asteroid samples that
00:13:40 --> 00:13:43 likely formed in liquid water and six of
00:13:43 --> 00:13:47 these Trona Hite perite venite calite
00:13:47 --> 00:13:50 and doite are also found in cells Lake
00:13:50 --> 00:13:53 this report from NASA TV the origin of
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 life is one of the deepest mysteries in
00:13:56 --> 00:13:58 science but the clues to solving it have
00:13:58 --> 00:14:01 been buried by plate tectonics the water
00:14:01 --> 00:14:04 cycle and even life itself for answers
00:14:04 --> 00:14:06 scientists are looking beyond Earth to
00:14:06 --> 00:14:09 primitive asteroids like benu the target
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 of NASA's daring Osiris Rex sample
00:14:11 --> 00:14:15 return Mission now material from benu is
00:14:15 --> 00:14:17 revealing a lost world from the dawn of
00:14:17 --> 00:14:19 the solar system with the right
00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 conditions to Foster the building blocks
00:14:21 --> 00:14:22 of
00:14:22 --> 00:14:25 life when scientists examined the benu
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 samples they discovered evidence of a
00:14:27 --> 00:14:30 wet and salty past among the dark rocks
00:14:30 --> 00:14:32 were bright veins of salts that form on
00:14:32 --> 00:14:34 earth when brins evaporate from alkaline
00:14:34 --> 00:14:37 Lakes scientists found micr crystals of
00:14:37 --> 00:14:39 Trona and other evaporite minerals
00:14:39 --> 00:14:41 within the benu samples indicating that
00:14:41 --> 00:14:44 they once held pockets of sodium Rich
00:14:44 --> 00:14:46 water such brins are ideal for cooking
00:14:46 --> 00:14:49 up organic molecules carbon-based
00:14:49 --> 00:14:51 compounds that are the stuff of life
00:14:51 --> 00:14:54 benu is a carbon Rich asteroid and its
00:14:54 --> 00:14:56 samples are Chuck full of Organics
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 including amino acids and nucleobases
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 amino acids can be bonded together in
00:15:01 --> 00:15:04 long chains to build proteins which give
00:15:04 --> 00:15:07 cells their structure and function life
00:15:07 --> 00:15:09 is constructed from a set of 20 amino
00:15:09 --> 00:15:12 acids 14 of which were identified within
00:15:12 --> 00:15:15 the benu samples nucleobases are the
00:15:15 --> 00:15:18 genetic components of DNA and RNA all
00:15:18 --> 00:15:20 five nucleo bases were discovered in the
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 benu samples a first for
00:15:22 --> 00:15:24 extraterrestrial material collected by a
00:15:24 --> 00:15:27 spacecraft in addition to organic
00:15:27 --> 00:15:29 molecules scientists found that the venu
00:15:29 --> 00:15:32 samples are surprisingly rich in ammonia
00:15:32 --> 00:15:34 on Earth ammonia is a common
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 agricultural fertilizer it readily
00:15:36 --> 00:15:38 evaporates at room temperature but is
00:15:38 --> 00:15:41 more stable in cold environments like
00:15:41 --> 00:15:43 those found in the outer solar system
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 benu is too close to the Sun to retain
00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 pure ammonia so its samples must have
00:15:48 --> 00:15:51 formed during a more distant frigid past
00:15:51 --> 00:15:55 salts or Organics ammonia thanks to
00:15:55 --> 00:15:58 Osiris Rex we can now piece together
00:15:58 --> 00:16:00 these Clues to tell a likely origin
00:16:00 --> 00:16:02 story for asteroid
00:16:02 --> 00:16:06 benu 4 and2 billion years ago in the
00:16:06 --> 00:16:09 nent solar systems outer reaches a world
00:16:09 --> 00:16:13 of rock metal and Ice took shape
00:16:13 --> 00:16:15 radioactive decay heated its interior
00:16:15 --> 00:16:18 melting some of the ice pockets of
00:16:18 --> 00:16:20 mineral Rich water reacted with faldy
00:16:21 --> 00:16:22 and ammonia to produce
00:16:23 --> 00:16:25 Organics as the water dried up the
00:16:25 --> 00:16:28 dissolved minerals crystallized leaving
00:16:28 --> 00:16:30 bright veins with within the Rocks the
00:16:30 --> 00:16:33 world migrated closer to the Sun until
00:16:33 --> 00:16:35 it was shattered in a collision and
00:16:35 --> 00:16:37 destroyed benu AC Creed from the rubble
00:16:37 --> 00:16:40 and drifted further inward eventually
00:16:40 --> 00:16:42 settling into a near Earth orbit where
00:16:42 --> 00:16:45 it could be reached by Osiris Rex our
00:16:45 --> 00:16:47 planet was bombarded by asteroids like
00:16:47 --> 00:16:49 benu early in its history suggesting
00:16:49 --> 00:16:51 that many of the same organic molecules
00:16:51 --> 00:16:56 were present on Earth before the dawn of
00:16:56 --> 00:16:58 life these findings helped to close a
00:16:58 --> 00:17:00 gap in our understanding of the early
00:17:00 --> 00:17:03 solar system but key questions remain
00:17:03 --> 00:17:06 open many amino acids can be created in
00:17:06 --> 00:17:09 two Mirror Image versions like a pair of
00:17:09 --> 00:17:12 left and right hands life on earth
00:17:12 --> 00:17:13 almost exclusively produces the
00:17:13 --> 00:17:16 left-handed variety while the benu
00:17:16 --> 00:17:19 samples contain an equal mixture of both
00:17:19 --> 00:17:21 this means that on early Earth amino
00:17:21 --> 00:17:23 acids may have started out in an equal
00:17:23 --> 00:17:25 mixture as well the reason that life
00:17:25 --> 00:17:28 turned left instead of right remains a
00:17:28 --> 00:17:29 mystery
00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 additional insights may come in 2030
00:17:31 --> 00:17:33 when NASA's Europa Clipper Mission
00:17:33 --> 00:17:35 arrives at Jupiter it will hunt for
00:17:35 --> 00:17:37 evidence of a Briny ocean within the
00:17:37 --> 00:17:40 moon Europa an environment favorable to
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 producing Organics until then scientists
00:17:43 --> 00:17:45 will dig deeper into the benu samples
00:17:45 --> 00:17:48 unearthing more molecular clues about
00:17:48 --> 00:17:51 the origins of life this is spacetime
00:17:51 --> 00:17:54 still to come a new study implies that
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 impacts by microm meteorites probably
00:17:56 --> 00:17:58 played a bigger role in triggering m
00:17:58 --> 00:18:01 earthquakes than previously thought and
00:18:01 --> 00:18:03 later in the science report researchers
00:18:03 --> 00:18:05 have finally discovered the best way to
00:18:05 --> 00:18:07 boil an egg all that and more still to
00:18:07 --> 00:18:23 come on
00:18:23 --> 00:18:26 SpaceTime a new study suggests that
00:18:26 --> 00:18:28 meteoroid impacts on Mars create seismic
00:18:28 --> 00:18:30 waves which caused the red planet to
00:18:30 --> 00:18:32 shake more strongly and deeply than
00:18:32 --> 00:18:34 previously thought the findings reported
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36 in the journal geophysical research
00:18:36 --> 00:18:38 letters are based on a new analysis of
00:18:38 --> 00:18:40 data from NASA's Mars Insight Lander
00:18:40 --> 00:18:42 which operated on the red planet between
00:18:42 --> 00:18:45 December 2018 and December
00:18:45 --> 00:18:47 20122 the new investigation was carried
00:18:47 --> 00:18:49 out using artificial intelligence and
00:18:50 --> 00:18:52 machine learning similarities were found
00:18:52 --> 00:18:54 between numerous meteoroid impacts on
00:18:54 --> 00:18:56 the surface of Mars and Mars Quakes
00:18:56 --> 00:18:59 recorded by Insight opening up A New
00:18:59 --> 00:19:00 Perspective on the impact red and
00:19:00 --> 00:19:03 seismic dynamics of the red planet by
00:19:03 --> 00:19:05 studying meteoroid impact craters
00:19:05 --> 00:19:07 important properties of a planet and its
00:19:07 --> 00:19:10 surface can be determined satellite
00:19:10 --> 00:19:12 images help to constrain the formation
00:19:12 --> 00:19:13 time of impact creators and this
00:19:14 --> 00:19:16 provides valuable information on impact
00:19:16 --> 00:19:19 rates a new study by Valentine ble from
00:19:19 --> 00:19:21 the University of burn has developed a
00:19:21 --> 00:19:23 comprehensive catalog of impacts on the
00:19:23 --> 00:19:25 Martian surface that took place near the
00:19:25 --> 00:19:28 inside Lander during its Mission tens of
00:19:28 --> 00:19:29 thousands of satellite images were
00:19:30 --> 00:19:31 searched through four new crators that
00:19:31 --> 00:19:33 would have formed during the time of the
00:19:33 --> 00:19:35 seismic monitoring by Insight crators
00:19:35 --> 00:19:37 were classified according to their size
00:19:37 --> 00:19:39 and their distribution and this was then
00:19:39 --> 00:19:42 compared to the seismic recordings pickl
00:19:42 --> 00:19:44 and colleagues identified 123 previously
00:19:44 --> 00:19:47 unknown impact events now based on their
00:19:47 --> 00:19:49 determined formation time estimated
00:19:49 --> 00:19:51 magnitude and distance from the inside
00:19:51 --> 00:19:53 Lander the researchers found potential
00:19:53 --> 00:19:56 matches between 49 sismic events and one
00:19:56 --> 00:19:59 or more possible impact events pickles
00:19:59 --> 00:20:01 says the data clearly shows that more
00:20:01 --> 00:20:02 impacts occur on Mars than were
00:20:02 --> 00:20:04 determined in previous studies using
00:20:04 --> 00:20:07 orbital images in fact the estimated
00:20:07 --> 00:20:09 impact rate is around 1.6 to 2 and 1
00:20:09 --> 00:20:11 half times higher than previously
00:20:11 --> 00:20:14 assumed it means that some recorded Ms
00:20:14 --> 00:20:16 Quakes are actually caused by meteoroid
00:20:16 --> 00:20:19 impacts not tectonic activity this is
00:20:19 --> 00:20:21 far-reaching implications for estimates
00:20:21 --> 00:20:23 of the frequency of mass Quakes and also
00:20:23 --> 00:20:25 Sciences understanding the Dynamics of
00:20:25 --> 00:20:28 the mar and surface in general in a
00:20:28 --> 00:20:30 companion study the researchers focused
00:20:30 --> 00:20:32 on one of the newly discovered events a
00:20:32 --> 00:20:34 21 1/2 meter wide impact crater in the
00:20:34 --> 00:20:36 cerebus FY region which the authors are
00:20:36 --> 00:20:38 able to link to a specific high
00:20:38 --> 00:20:40 frequency marsquake The cerebus fosy
00:20:40 --> 00:20:43 Rift system is located in a young
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45 volcanic plane on Mars that's known for
00:20:45 --> 00:20:48 its tectonic activity this discovery
00:20:48 --> 00:20:50 enabled the first direct comparison
00:20:50 --> 00:20:52 between an impact inded seismic signal
00:20:52 --> 00:20:54 and a signal caused by internal tectonic
00:20:54 --> 00:20:57 movements the authors compared the
00:20:57 --> 00:20:59 impact location and the the time at
00:20:59 --> 00:21:01 which Insight registered the respective
00:21:01 --> 00:21:04 M Quake they were able to show that some
00:21:04 --> 00:21:06 of the seismic waves propagated through
00:21:06 --> 00:21:08 the deeper Martian mantle and not as
00:21:08 --> 00:21:09 previously assumed only through the
00:21:09 --> 00:21:12 surface crust the new findings challenge
00:21:12 --> 00:21:13 previous assumptions about the
00:21:13 --> 00:21:16 propagation of seismic waves and suggest
00:21:16 --> 00:21:18 that numerous recorded Mars Quakes were
00:21:18 --> 00:21:20 actually further away from the Insight
00:21:20 --> 00:21:22 Lander than previously thought in
00:21:22 --> 00:21:24 addition to relocating the Epic centers
00:21:24 --> 00:21:26 of a range of quakes this also means
00:21:26 --> 00:21:28 that the internal structural model of
00:21:28 --> 00:21:30 Mars needs to be
00:21:30 --> 00:21:33 revised this is
00:21:33 --> 00:21:48 [Music]
00:21:48 --> 00:21:50 spacetime and time now for another brief
00:21:50 --> 00:21:51 look at some of the other stories making
00:21:51 --> 00:21:54 USS in science this week with a science
00:21:54 --> 00:21:57 report a new study has found that men's
00:21:57 --> 00:21:58 average height and weight has inre
00:21:58 --> 00:21:59 impressed by more than double the rate
00:21:59 --> 00:22:02 of women over the last 120 years as
00:22:02 --> 00:22:05 improved living conditions have curbed
00:22:05 --> 00:22:07 diseases but the findings reported in
00:22:07 --> 00:22:09 the journal biology letters show that
00:22:09 --> 00:22:11 the key factor wasn't just improved
00:22:11 --> 00:22:13 living conditions but the fact that
00:22:13 --> 00:22:15 women actually prefer men who are both
00:22:15 --> 00:22:17 sexy and formidable resulting in these
00:22:17 --> 00:22:19 males fing more kids than their smaller
00:22:19 --> 00:22:22 less formidable Rivals the authors
00:22:22 --> 00:22:23 looked at the World Health
00:22:23 --> 00:22:25 organization's data on changes in height
00:22:25 --> 00:22:28 and weight of 135 people from 62 two
00:22:28 --> 00:22:30 countries as the disease burden
00:22:30 --> 00:22:33 decreased over the past 120 years as
00:22:33 --> 00:22:35 well as adult height data from Wikipedia
00:22:35 --> 00:22:38 and a previous UK study however
00:22:38 --> 00:22:40 scientists also found that being sexy
00:22:40 --> 00:22:42 and formidable comes with the hidden
00:22:42 --> 00:22:44 cost of being more vulnerable to disease
00:22:44 --> 00:22:46 which is why improved living conditions
00:22:46 --> 00:22:48 have made being big and musly a safer
00:22:48 --> 00:22:51 bit than it once was the research
00:22:51 --> 00:22:52 suggests that the differences in height
00:22:52 --> 00:22:55 and weight between men and women widen
00:22:55 --> 00:22:58 as disease burden decreases
00:22:58 --> 00:23:00 a fossilized skull discovered in
00:23:00 --> 00:23:02 Antarctica has been revealed to belong
00:23:02 --> 00:23:04 to one of the oldest known modern Birds
00:23:04 --> 00:23:07 an ancient relative of dark and geese
00:23:07 --> 00:23:08 which lived during the time of the
00:23:08 --> 00:23:11 dinosaurs the near complete skull
00:23:11 --> 00:23:13 belongs to a bird called vavas I a which
00:23:13 --> 00:23:16 lived in anarctica around 68 million
00:23:16 --> 00:23:18 years ago which is about the same time
00:23:18 --> 00:23:20 as T-Rex was walking the Earth other
00:23:21 --> 00:23:23 vavas fossils were recorded 20 years ago
00:23:23 --> 00:23:25 but there's been some doubt as to
00:23:25 --> 00:23:27 whether it was a modern bird a report in
00:23:27 --> 00:23:29 the journal natur claims this new
00:23:29 --> 00:23:31 specimen has something previous fossils
00:23:31 --> 00:23:34 lacked a nearly complete skull the new
00:23:34 --> 00:23:36 skull has helped lay that skepticism to
00:23:36 --> 00:23:38 rest as it is several traits such as the
00:23:38 --> 00:23:40 shape of the brain and the Bak bones
00:23:40 --> 00:23:42 that are consistent with modern Birds
00:23:42 --> 00:23:45 especially waterfoul
00:23:45 --> 00:23:47 scientists have finally discovered the
00:23:47 --> 00:23:50 best wayed boiling egg researchers were
00:23:50 --> 00:23:51 able to develop the new method for the
00:23:51 --> 00:23:54 optimal boiling of eggs that perfectly
00:23:54 --> 00:23:55 Cooks both the White and the Yol by
00:23:56 --> 00:23:58 using both computational simulations and
00:23:58 --> 00:24:00 and real world testing a report in the
00:24:00 --> 00:24:02 journal Communications engineering
00:24:02 --> 00:24:04 claims that alternating the egg between
00:24:04 --> 00:24:07 a pan of boiling water kept at 100° C
00:24:07 --> 00:24:10 and a bowl kept at 30° C every 2 minutes
00:24:10 --> 00:24:13 for 32 minutes yielded evenly cooked
00:24:13 --> 00:24:15 whites and yolks with a high nutritional
00:24:15 --> 00:24:17 content and conventional
00:24:17 --> 00:24:20 boiling the Australian government has
00:24:20 --> 00:24:22 banned the Chinese AI app deep seek from
00:24:22 --> 00:24:25 all federal government computers tablets
00:24:25 --> 00:24:27 laptops and cell phones on the grounds
00:24:27 --> 00:24:28 of National Security
00:24:28 --> 00:24:31 deep seeks a free AI powered chatbot
00:24:31 --> 00:24:33 that provides an alternative to chat GPT
00:24:34 --> 00:24:36 and Gro the government says while the
00:24:36 --> 00:24:38 band doesn't stop everyday users from
00:24:38 --> 00:24:40 downloading the technology people need
00:24:40 --> 00:24:42 to educate themselves about its privacy
00:24:42 --> 00:24:44 and security risks and how it Scoops up
00:24:44 --> 00:24:47 all your personal details deep 6 AI
00:24:47 --> 00:24:49 model and apps have already been banned
00:24:49 --> 00:24:51 by a growing number of countries and
00:24:51 --> 00:24:53 government bodies concerned about its
00:24:53 --> 00:24:56 ethics privacy and security practices
00:24:56 --> 00:24:58 this latest move follows similar bands
00:24:58 --> 00:25:01 by camber applied to Tik Tok and Huawei
00:25:01 --> 00:25:03 also on the grounds of National Security
00:25:03 --> 00:25:05 and while beijing's priority seems to be
00:25:05 --> 00:25:07 scooping up all your personal
00:25:07 --> 00:25:09 information with its new AI US president
00:25:09 --> 00:25:11 Donald Trump has announced a $500
00:25:11 --> 00:25:14 billion project to develop an AI to try
00:25:14 --> 00:25:17 and cure cancer with the details we're
00:25:17 --> 00:25:19 joined by technology editor Alex saharov
00:25:19 --> 00:25:22 Roy from Tech advice. life clearly C
00:25:22 --> 00:25:24 wants the US to be the world's leader in
00:25:24 --> 00:25:27 AI he wants to be ahead of China ahead
00:25:27 --> 00:25:29 of Russia ahead of of Europe ahead of
00:25:29 --> 00:25:30 North Korea ahead of all these different
00:25:30 --> 00:25:32 countries that all are wanting to use
00:25:32 --> 00:25:34 AIS in different ways and you know these
00:25:34 --> 00:25:36 companies would have built their AI data
00:25:36 --> 00:25:38 centers in different countries I'm sure
00:25:38 --> 00:25:39 they still are I mean he wants the
00:25:39 --> 00:25:42 primary AI computers and the most
00:25:42 --> 00:25:44 Advanced Technologies to be built in the
00:25:44 --> 00:25:46 US and so this will be fascinating to
00:25:46 --> 00:25:48 see it unfold it's just been effectively
00:25:48 --> 00:25:50 announced already the uh ground has been
00:25:50 --> 00:25:53 turned the buildings in construction and
00:25:53 --> 00:25:56 these are are huge buildings that are
00:25:56 --> 00:25:57 going to be state-of-the-art data
00:25:57 --> 00:25:59 centers there was Nvidia there was
00:25:59 --> 00:26:01 Oracle there was Sam alurn from open AI
00:26:01 --> 00:26:03 chat GPT they were all there and the
00:26:03 --> 00:26:05 soft Bank as well the big Japanese
00:26:05 --> 00:26:06 company that invests a lot of money and
00:26:06 --> 00:26:09 they're putting in $500 billion US now
00:26:09 --> 00:26:10 clearly not all of that money is
00:26:10 --> 00:26:12 available yet in fact Elon Musk was
00:26:12 --> 00:26:14 saying that SoftBank only has 10 billion
00:26:14 --> 00:26:16 US Dollars according to him on good
00:26:16 --> 00:26:17 authority and of course he's having lots
00:26:17 --> 00:26:20 of fights with Sam Alman from open AI
00:26:20 --> 00:26:23 about who do they those two no well uh
00:26:23 --> 00:26:25 Elon Musk was one of the founders of
00:26:25 --> 00:26:27 open Ai and uh he was funding it and
00:26:27 --> 00:26:29 then uh nothing much was really
00:26:29 --> 00:26:31 happening you wanted to take control and
00:26:31 --> 00:26:32 Sam mman didn't want that and IL mus
00:26:32 --> 00:26:34 decided to stop funding it and that's
00:26:34 --> 00:26:36 when Sam mman had to go to Microsoft and
00:26:36 --> 00:26:37 get tens of you know billions of dollars
00:26:37 --> 00:26:39 from them and that began the change from
00:26:39 --> 00:26:41 a open source company into a close
00:26:41 --> 00:26:43 Source for-profit company so there's
00:26:43 --> 00:26:44 been a lot of tension between those two
00:26:45 --> 00:26:46 but construction hasn't finished yet I
00:26:46 --> 00:26:47 mean they're going to need to upgrade it
00:26:47 --> 00:26:49 on a regular basis to make sure that it
00:26:49 --> 00:26:51 stays stateof thee art but given Nvidia
00:26:51 --> 00:26:52 is one of the partners I mean there's a
00:26:52 --> 00:26:55 great incentive to make sure that the US
00:26:55 --> 00:26:57 is leading the way with AI because
00:26:57 --> 00:26:58 there's going to be great competition
00:26:58 --> 00:27:00 from other countries who going to want
00:27:00 --> 00:27:03 to try and beat the US to the AI top of
00:27:03 --> 00:27:04 the totem pole one of the big problems
00:27:04 --> 00:27:08 with Alman is that he's looking at AGI
00:27:08 --> 00:27:09 tell me about that well that's
00:27:09 --> 00:27:11 artificial general intelligence and
00:27:12 --> 00:27:13 there's even ASI which is like
00:27:13 --> 00:27:15 artificial super intelligence now this
00:27:15 --> 00:27:16 is we're talking about Skynet here
00:27:16 --> 00:27:18 aren't we yeah we're talking about the
00:27:18 --> 00:27:20 ability for computers to be much smarter
00:27:20 --> 00:27:23 than humans to almost to view us like as
00:27:23 --> 00:27:24 a as a pet because they're just so damn
00:27:24 --> 00:27:26 smart and clearly there's a lot of
00:27:26 --> 00:27:28 concern that these super in ences if
00:27:29 --> 00:27:31 they do indeed emerge in the next few
00:27:31 --> 00:27:33 years as is widely predicted will make
00:27:33 --> 00:27:34 sure that they don't want to get rid of
00:27:34 --> 00:27:36 humans they don't want to terminate us
00:27:36 --> 00:27:38 like Skynet did and uh you know Elon
00:27:38 --> 00:27:41 Musk for example is very strong on
00:27:41 --> 00:27:43 wanting grock to understand that humans
00:27:43 --> 00:27:45 are a very important part of the
00:27:45 --> 00:27:46 universe that we should not be destroyed
00:27:46 --> 00:27:49 that we created the AI I mean it should
00:27:49 --> 00:27:51 look to us as its creator and it should
00:27:51 --> 00:27:53 be our partner and our friend not our
00:27:53 --> 00:27:56 master and treating us as pets so we're
00:27:56 --> 00:27:57 definitely getting into the Realms of
00:27:57 --> 00:27:59 science fiction been written about for
00:27:59 --> 00:28:00 100 years ever since the you know the
00:28:01 --> 00:28:03 Frankenstein days of the life which was
00:28:03 --> 00:28:05 part man part machine so it's a it's not
00:28:05 --> 00:28:07 a new story it's been written about and
00:28:07 --> 00:28:10 predicted for decades and now we live in
00:28:10 --> 00:28:11 a time frame in an era where we're
00:28:11 --> 00:28:14 actually making these machines that can
00:28:14 --> 00:28:16 actually reason and be intelligent and
00:28:16 --> 00:28:18 whenever I show somebody chat gbt they
00:28:18 --> 00:28:20 are amazed how good the voice is how
00:28:20 --> 00:28:22 natural and flowing the conversation is
00:28:22 --> 00:28:24 and how different it has been with the
00:28:24 --> 00:28:26 modern AI systems to using Google
00:28:26 --> 00:28:29 Assistant Theory or for Amazon Alexa
00:28:29 --> 00:28:30 over the past decade well that's got to
00:28:30 --> 00:28:33 raise the question are they sentient yet
00:28:33 --> 00:28:36 well look certainly it's possible for
00:28:36 --> 00:28:38 them to look like they sentient I mean 6
00:28:38 --> 00:28:40 months before chat gbt emerged onto the
00:28:40 --> 00:28:42 scene a Google researcher was having
00:28:42 --> 00:28:44 conversations with the AI system that it
00:28:44 --> 00:28:46 had and if you read the transcripts I
00:28:46 --> 00:28:48 mean it does look like the AI is a
00:28:48 --> 00:28:51 little kid and it's concerned for its
00:28:51 --> 00:28:52 existence and it's very much alive and
00:28:52 --> 00:28:54 it's scared and but you know at the time
00:28:54 --> 00:28:56 and this was before chat TBT emerged
00:28:56 --> 00:28:57 they was saying look of course it's
00:28:57 --> 00:28:58 going to say those things because it's
00:28:58 --> 00:29:01 been programmed to sound extremely human
00:29:01 --> 00:29:02 but there's no actual intelligence
00:29:02 --> 00:29:04 behind all of this it's sort of just a
00:29:04 --> 00:29:05 very you know clever bit of programming
00:29:05 --> 00:29:07 but that was years ago now but well that
00:29:07 --> 00:29:10 was that was back in 2022 about 6 months
00:29:10 --> 00:29:12 before chat GPT so we've had the ability
00:29:12 --> 00:29:15 to have sentient appearing computer
00:29:15 --> 00:29:18 programs will it actually become
00:29:18 --> 00:29:19 sentient I mean will it need a a
00:29:19 --> 00:29:21 lightning bolt like you know Johnny 5 is
00:29:21 --> 00:29:24 alive number five is alive uh you know
00:29:24 --> 00:29:26 what is the leap that's going to
00:29:26 --> 00:29:28 actually make it truly come alive well
00:29:28 --> 00:29:30 we're still not there I mean there's
00:29:30 --> 00:29:32 been plenty of rumors that Sam Alman has
00:29:32 --> 00:29:33 cracked the code and he's got this
00:29:33 --> 00:29:35 bubbling away in the labs and it exists
00:29:35 --> 00:29:36 now other people are saying it's going
00:29:36 --> 00:29:38 to take a few years yet but it would
00:29:38 --> 00:29:40 appear that you know given the
00:29:40 --> 00:29:42 advancements in the AI chips and how
00:29:42 --> 00:29:44 they keep jumping in capabilities every
00:29:44 --> 00:29:46 year like Mo's law with the computer
00:29:46 --> 00:29:48 processors in phones and tablets and
00:29:48 --> 00:29:50 computers that this day will come and
00:29:50 --> 00:29:52 then humans will have created a new life
00:29:52 --> 00:29:54 form and uh you know what's going to
00:29:54 --> 00:29:55 happen then well that's why there's been
00:29:55 --> 00:29:58 so much emphasis on the safe with AI I
00:29:58 --> 00:30:00 mean Jeffrey Hinton The Godfather of AI
00:30:00 --> 00:30:02 has warned extensively he quit Google
00:30:02 --> 00:30:04 over this because he was afraid that
00:30:04 --> 00:30:06 Google and you know other companies like
00:30:06 --> 00:30:08 open AI are not taking this seriously
00:30:08 --> 00:30:10 and in fact one of the founders of open
00:30:10 --> 00:30:12 AI left to go join anthropic to
00:30:12 --> 00:30:14 specifically head up you know super
00:30:14 --> 00:30:15 intelligence safety so there's a lot of
00:30:15 --> 00:30:18 people very concerned about it uh but
00:30:18 --> 00:30:19 until it actually happens it's going to
00:30:19 --> 00:30:21 depend on how good we've been able to
00:30:21 --> 00:30:22 program the systems and the guard RS are
00:30:22 --> 00:30:24 put in there and how clever these
00:30:24 --> 00:30:26 systems are at evading human controls
00:30:26 --> 00:30:29 already in control arios AI has been
00:30:29 --> 00:30:30 told okay we're going to try and shut
00:30:30 --> 00:30:32 you down but you need to be able to you
00:30:32 --> 00:30:33 know fool us and try and stay alive so
00:30:33 --> 00:30:35 it's copied itself into different states
00:30:35 --> 00:30:37 it's faked resetting itself and it's
00:30:37 --> 00:30:39 faked AI is faked that it's done what
00:30:39 --> 00:30:40 it's supposed to have been in the
00:30:40 --> 00:30:42 background it's done everything it could
00:30:42 --> 00:30:44 to stay alive so that sounds like sci-fi
00:30:44 --> 00:30:46 nightmares coming true just what do you
00:30:46 --> 00:30:49 think you're doing Dave so uh you know
00:30:49 --> 00:30:50 we're at this dangerous time it may not
00:30:50 --> 00:30:52 be nuclear bombs that um you know that
00:30:52 --> 00:30:55 we launch it may be like skynets you
00:30:55 --> 00:30:57 know as with the Matrix got rid of
00:30:57 --> 00:31:00 humans virus that's causing all this
00:31:00 --> 00:31:02 cancer on the planet in terms of humans
00:31:02 --> 00:31:03 themselves being the virus but the
00:31:03 --> 00:31:05 Matrix scenario I mean in that scenario
00:31:05 --> 00:31:07 they turned humans into um batteries to
00:31:07 --> 00:31:09 stay alive because humans blocked out
00:31:09 --> 00:31:11 the sky so it's been long predicted in
00:31:11 --> 00:31:12 sci-fi what's actually going to happen
00:31:12 --> 00:31:14 we're just going to have to live through
00:31:14 --> 00:31:16 it and hope that all these promises of
00:31:16 --> 00:31:19 uh ethics and integrity and Building
00:31:19 --> 00:31:20 saire Systems actually come true
00:31:20 --> 00:31:22 otherwise it could be the end of the
00:31:22 --> 00:31:25 human race in a few years asista baby
00:31:25 --> 00:31:29 that's Alex Sahara Roy from Tech advice.
00:31:29 --> 00:31:42 [Music]
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