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Unveiling the Mysteries of Water on Mars and Beyond
In this captivating episode of Space Nuts, host Andrew Dunkley and the ever-knowledgeable Professor Fred Watson delve into the latest discoveries surrounding water on Mars and innovative ideas for spacecraft re-entry. They explore a groundbreaking theory suggesting vast amounts of liquid water may exist beneath the Martian surface and discuss a revolutionary new cooling method for spacecraft during atmospheric re-entry.
Episode Highlights:
- The Water Beneath Mars: Andrew and Fred Watson discuss the findings from NASA's InSight mission, revealing that Mars may harbour significant amounts of liquid water trapped in porous rock beneath its surface. They explore the implications of this discovery for future Martian exploration and the potential for microbial life.
- Innovative Cooling Solutions: The duo examines a new approach to spacecraft re-entry that involves a 3D printed material capable of 'sweating' to cool down, potentially revolutionising how we protect spacecraft from the intense heat of re-entry.
- The Universe's Expiration Date: They also discuss a startling new theory from Dutch scientists that suggests the universe may end much sooner than previously thought, with calculations indicating it could be just 10 to the power of 78 years away, significantly shorter than earlier estimates.
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Stay curious, keep looking up, and join us next time for more stellar insights and cosmic wonders. Until then, clear skies and happy stargazing.
(00:00) Welcome to Space Nuts with Andrew Dunkley and Fred Watson Watson
(01:20) Discussion on water beneath Mars
(15:00) Innovative spacecraft cooling methods
(25:30) New theories on the universe's lifespan
For commercial-free versions of Space Nuts, join us on Patreon, Supercast, Apple Podcasts, or become a supporter here: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss) .
Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/27150981?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Hi there. This is Space Nuts, where we
00:00:02 --> 00:00:04 talk astronomy and space science. And my
00:00:04 --> 00:00:06 name is Andrew Dunley, your host. It's
00:00:06 --> 00:00:08 good to have your company. On this
00:00:08 --> 00:00:11 episode, we're going to Mars, uh, where
00:00:11 --> 00:00:13 we're going to talk about water. Now,
00:00:13 --> 00:00:16 water is a very common Martian topic.
00:00:16 --> 00:00:19 Uh, but this story is going to throw a
00:00:19 --> 00:00:22 completely different light on Mars
00:00:22 --> 00:00:24 water, and we'll tell you why. Uh
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 there's also a a a great idea that's
00:00:27 --> 00:00:30 being put forward to help aircraft
00:00:30 --> 00:00:32 spacecraft re-enter Earth's atmosphere
00:00:32 --> 00:00:34 cuz up until now we've used heat shields
00:00:34 --> 00:00:37 and tiles. Now they think they've come
00:00:37 --> 00:00:39 up with something completely different.
00:00:39 --> 00:00:43 It's called sweat and the universe.
00:00:43 --> 00:00:47 RIP. Yep. We're going to see it all end
00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 much sooner than we expected. We'll talk
00:00:49 --> 00:00:51 about all of that on this episode of
00:00:51 --> 00:00:54 Space Nuts. 15 seconds. Guidance is
00:00:54 --> 00:00:59 internal. 10 9 Ignition sequence start.
00:00:59 --> 00:01:05 Space nuts. 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5 5 4 3 2 1
00:01:05 --> 00:01:07 Space Nuts. Astronauts reported feels
00:01:07 --> 00:01:10 good. And he's back again for more. It
00:01:10 --> 00:01:12 is Professor Fred Watson, astronomer at
00:01:12 --> 00:01:14 large. Hello, Fred. Uh Andrew, how you
00:01:14 --> 00:01:17 doing? I'm doing quite well, thank you
00:01:17 --> 00:01:19 very much. Are you What a surprise to
00:01:19 --> 00:01:20 see. Yeah, I'm very well, thank you.
00:01:20 --> 00:01:22 Yeah. It is a surprise to see you. No
00:01:22 --> 00:01:24 doubt. I mean,
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 do you like my new background? I'm going
00:01:26 --> 00:01:27 to change the background every week on
00:01:27 --> 00:01:30 my studio. I I think that's a good idea.
00:01:30 --> 00:01:33 Uh and um I do like it actually. It's uh
00:01:33 --> 00:01:35 it's a place that's close to my heart as
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 well as yours. It's a great place that
00:01:37 --> 00:01:40 you Well, isn't Isn't that the saying? I
00:01:40 --> 00:01:42 left my heart in San Francisco. Yeah,
00:01:42 --> 00:01:44 you probably did. Yeah. So, I left my
00:01:44 --> 00:01:47 that's that's a photo I took after we
00:01:47 --> 00:01:49 crossed the Golden Gate Bridge looking
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 back to San Francisco. So, thought I'd
00:01:52 --> 00:01:54 use that as my backdrop today. The um
00:01:54 --> 00:01:56 second line of that song is a good one
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 as well. I I I left my knees in Old
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 Peru,
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 courtesy of the courtesy of the Goons.
00:02:04 --> 00:02:08 Yes, of course. Yeah. Uh beautiful city.
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 Really beautiful city. I think I told
00:02:10 --> 00:02:12 you about the driverless taxis they've
00:02:12 --> 00:02:14 got, but there's so much more going for
00:02:14 --> 00:02:17 it. Those uh cable cars are fantastic.
00:02:17 --> 00:02:20 Um we we obviously did the tourist thing
00:02:20 --> 00:02:22 and did a ride on one of those and then
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 you know did the walk down Lombard
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 Street that zigzaggy street that um it's
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 become quite famous and I don't know how
00:02:30 --> 00:02:32 many movies and TV shows it's been in
00:02:32 --> 00:02:35 but um and it's like all of these things
00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 that that when you see them on TV you
00:02:37 --> 00:02:39 think oh wow got to go see that and then
00:02:39 --> 00:02:42 you get there and go oh it's it's a lot
00:02:42 --> 00:02:44 smaller than I
00:02:44 --> 00:02:47 thought but yeah Um I I don't know what
00:02:48 --> 00:02:49 the price of a house is on Lombard
00:02:49 --> 00:02:51 Street, but uh it's beautiful homes
00:02:51 --> 00:02:54 there. Yes. Um but overall a beautiful
00:02:54 --> 00:02:56 city. Beautiful city. I'd go back there
00:02:56 --> 00:02:59 tomorrow. Uh we better get into it,
00:02:59 --> 00:03:03 Fred. And our first topic uh today is
00:03:03 --> 00:03:06 the water on Mars or in this case
00:03:06 --> 00:03:08 according to a new theory inside Mars.
00:03:08 --> 00:03:11 And we're talking about massive amounts
00:03:11 --> 00:03:13 of water.
00:03:13 --> 00:03:16 Indeed. That's right. We are. It's not
00:03:16 --> 00:03:19 just a few drips or drops. Uh so the
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 story uh the the star of the story,
00:03:21 --> 00:03:25 Andrew, is NASA's Insight spacecraft,
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 which um it's almost it's more than a
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 decade ago now, I think, that Insight
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 landed. Uh you might remember it landed
00:03:32 --> 00:03:36 in the Arctic region of Mars and uh
00:03:36 --> 00:03:39 basically did one summer's worth of work
00:03:40 --> 00:03:42 because we knew that once it got into
00:03:42 --> 00:03:44 winter on Mars, the spacecraft would
00:03:44 --> 00:03:46 freeze and all the electronics would die
00:03:46 --> 00:03:49 and it would pass away, which it did. Uh
00:03:49 --> 00:03:50 it's still there, of course, but it's
00:03:50 --> 00:03:54 inactive. Um so a great a great uh m
00:03:54 --> 00:03:57 mission. Uh it had one um little hiccup
00:03:57 --> 00:03:59 in that the thermometer that they were
00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 trying to dig into the ground didn't get
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 dug in. You might remember we covered
00:04:03 --> 00:04:04 that on Space Nuts. But what worked to
00:04:04 --> 00:04:08 treat was the seismometer because it had
00:04:08 --> 00:04:12 a very sensitive seismometer uh able to
00:04:12 --> 00:04:16 listen to Mars quakes. Uh and um Mars
00:04:16 --> 00:04:19 quakes are caused by a number of things.
00:04:19 --> 00:04:23 uh impacting uh meteorites actually
00:04:23 --> 00:04:25 cause a little quake. And they also
00:04:25 --> 00:04:28 think there's some residual not exactly
00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 plate tectonics but just slips and
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 slides of fault lines and things of that
00:04:32 --> 00:04:35 sort which also create seismic data.
00:04:35 --> 00:04:39 Yeah. And so this is uh where the story
00:04:39 --> 00:04:41 really starts because
00:04:41 --> 00:04:44 um we know uh from other evidence that
00:04:44 --> 00:04:49 Mars uh probably between about 4.1 and 3
00:04:49 --> 00:04:53 billion years ago was warm and wet. Uh
00:04:53 --> 00:04:55 the evidence is in your face in many
00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 ways. You can see evidence of beaches
00:04:57 --> 00:05:00 and river channels and you know the
00:05:00 --> 00:05:01 northern hemisphere of Mars is much
00:05:01 --> 00:05:03 smoother and flatter than than the
00:05:03 --> 00:05:04 southern hemisphere which we think is
00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 because there was possibly an ocean
00:05:06 --> 00:05:09 there. So all the evidence uh is that
00:05:09 --> 00:05:10 during that early period in Mars's
00:05:10 --> 00:05:13 history and just remember that all the
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 planets are 4.6 billion years old or
00:05:15 --> 00:05:18 thereabouts 4.7 something like that. Uh
00:05:18 --> 00:05:20 4.1 billion years is only half a billion
00:05:20 --> 00:05:23 years after the origin of Mars. But uh
00:05:23 --> 00:05:25 we think that that was more or less the
00:05:25 --> 00:05:27 start of when it would be was a warm and
00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 wet world and that lasted for nearly a
00:05:29 --> 00:05:30 billion years, a little bit more
00:05:30 --> 00:05:35 perhaps. So um the atmosphere uh uh
00:05:35 --> 00:05:38 sorry the the water on Mars is now no
00:05:38 --> 00:05:41 longer on the surface and uh that's
00:05:41 --> 00:05:43 pretty evident because it's as dry as
00:05:43 --> 00:05:44 dust and in fact it's got a humidity
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 effectively not quite but effectively of
00:05:46 --> 00:05:50 zero very very low humidity. Um so the
00:05:50 --> 00:05:51 questions have always been where did the
00:05:52 --> 00:05:55 surface water go? We know that uh
00:05:55 --> 00:05:57 because Mars does not have a strong
00:05:57 --> 00:05:59 magnetic field, it's bombarded intensely
00:05:59 --> 00:06:03 by the solar wind and that tends to
00:06:03 --> 00:06:08 separate any water uh vapor uh into its
00:06:08 --> 00:06:11 component atoms hydrogen and oxygen and
00:06:11 --> 00:06:13 that they then basically waft off into
00:06:13 --> 00:06:15 space. And we know that's happening
00:06:15 --> 00:06:16 because there's a spacecraft called
00:06:16 --> 00:06:19 Marvin or Maven uh which is still active
00:06:19 --> 00:06:21 in orbit around Mars and that can see
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 this this stuff all leaking away. So we
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 know that was part of the story. But um
00:06:26 --> 00:06:28 the planetary scientists who look at
00:06:28 --> 00:06:30 Mars in detail say that's not enough. We
00:06:30 --> 00:06:33 can't actually account for all the water
00:06:33 --> 00:06:36 that must have been there by it just
00:06:36 --> 00:06:39 disappearing into space. Um we know some
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 of it's frozen in the polar caps uh of
00:06:41 --> 00:06:45 Mars. Um, and probably, you know,
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 hydrayzeed minerals that they they've
00:06:47 --> 00:06:49 been minerals on Mars's surface have
00:06:49 --> 00:06:52 been affected by water. Uh, that's still
00:06:52 --> 00:06:56 the case. However, uh, there must be
00:06:56 --> 00:06:59 more. And there was a calculation done
00:06:59 --> 00:07:01 um I think by the research group that's
00:07:01 --> 00:07:04 uh done this work with the insights um
00:07:04 --> 00:07:09 lander which estimates that the the the
00:07:09 --> 00:07:12 water that's gone missing uh was enough
00:07:12 --> 00:07:16 to cover the planet in an ocean between
00:07:16 --> 00:07:20 700 and 900 m deep. So that just blowed
00:07:20 --> 00:07:25 me away. Yeah. It's uh it's gone. um
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 where and and that's not an
00:07:27 --> 00:07:28 insignificant amount of water. Remember,
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 Mars is only half the diameter of Earth.
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 So, it's not like uh an earthly amount,
00:07:33 --> 00:07:36 but it's a lot of water. 700 to 900 m
00:07:36 --> 00:07:39 deep across the whole planet. So, uh
00:07:39 --> 00:07:43 where's it gone? Uh and you know, if we
00:07:43 --> 00:07:46 can find it, what what might it be like?
00:07:46 --> 00:07:50 So, uh now enter uh Insight. Uh and
00:07:50 --> 00:07:51 actually, I was wrong. It's not a decade
00:07:51 --> 00:07:55 ago. It was 2018 when Insight landed uh
00:07:55 --> 00:07:57 and did all that super work with its
00:07:58 --> 00:08:01 sensitive seismometer. They looked uh
00:08:01 --> 00:08:05 these scientists looked at the the
00:08:05 --> 00:08:09 vibrations that come from um any sort of
00:08:09 --> 00:08:11 Mars quake caused by yeah as as I
00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 mentioned before either slippage in the
00:08:13 --> 00:08:16 rock or a or a meteorite. uh but you can
00:08:16 --> 00:08:20 look very accurately at the um
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 essentially the types of waves that
00:08:22 --> 00:08:24 you're getting because the uh there
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 there are pressure waves and shear waves
00:08:26 --> 00:08:27 I think they're called S waves and P
00:08:27 --> 00:08:31 waves in the in the um uh in the jargon
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 of seismometry but these these waves
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 seism seismographic waves tell you
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 something about the material that they
00:08:38 --> 00:08:41 are passing through and that is where
00:08:41 --> 00:08:44 this this uh story has gone because
00:08:44 --> 00:08:46 these scientists estimate
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 uh what they call a significant
00:08:48 --> 00:08:52 underground anomaly exists uh in a layer
00:08:52 --> 00:08:56 between 5 and a half and 8 kilometers
00:08:56 --> 00:08:58 below the surface because they find that
00:08:58 --> 00:09:01 these sheer waves move more slowly uh in
00:09:01 --> 00:09:04 that region. And the most likely
00:09:04 --> 00:09:06 explanation and remember that's that's a
00:09:06 --> 00:09:08 layer that's you know it's 2 and a half
00:09:08 --> 00:09:11 kilometers 2 and a half kilometers
00:09:11 --> 00:09:16 thick. Um that layer they think is
00:09:16 --> 00:09:20 likely to be porous rock like we've got
00:09:20 --> 00:09:22 here on planet Earth uh filled with
00:09:22 --> 00:09:25 liquid water just a little bit like the
00:09:25 --> 00:09:27 aquifers and we've got a great one here
00:09:27 --> 00:09:30 in Australia the Great Artisian Basin uh
00:09:30 --> 00:09:31 which is I'm sitting on it right now.
00:09:31 --> 00:09:32 You're sitting on it. That's right. You
00:09:32 --> 00:09:35 are. Are your feet wet, Andrew? Or no?
00:09:35 --> 00:09:38 No. Look, we do we do have, as you know,
00:09:38 --> 00:09:41 several BS all over the city here
00:09:41 --> 00:09:44 because uh we can tap the Great Artisian
00:09:44 --> 00:09:47 Basin and and get that water for
00:09:47 --> 00:09:50 domestic use. So, we we kind of um take
00:09:50 --> 00:09:52 water from that source as well as from
00:09:52 --> 00:09:55 the local river. The river is fed by a a
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 huge dam upstream which is bigger than
00:09:57 --> 00:10:01 Sydney Harour. Uh and yes, that's right,
00:10:01 --> 00:10:03 Baron Dam. So uh yeah we we uh
00:10:03 --> 00:10:07 definitely use the aquifer water from
00:10:07 --> 00:10:09 the great artisian basin to supplement
00:10:09 --> 00:10:12 the the city supply. We are actually
00:10:12 --> 00:10:13 drought proof as a consequence of that.
00:10:14 --> 00:10:17 We will never run out of water because
00:10:17 --> 00:10:19 we sit on the great artisian basin.
00:10:19 --> 00:10:21 Yeah. Which basically stretches north to
00:10:21 --> 00:10:23 south across the entire continent down
00:10:24 --> 00:10:27 um this sort of central eastern section.
00:10:27 --> 00:10:28 That's correct. Yeah. Yeah. It's
00:10:28 --> 00:10:31 massive. It is. It's like it's like an
00:10:31 --> 00:10:32 underground ocean basically and that's
00:10:32 --> 00:10:35 what we're talking about with Mars.
00:10:35 --> 00:10:37 That's exactly right. And so is it's a
00:10:37 --> 00:10:39 really nice um you know connection that
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 we have here in Eastern Australia with
00:10:41 --> 00:10:44 Mars. uh this sort of you know um it's
00:10:44 --> 00:10:47 almost the rock itself is is spongelike
00:10:47 --> 00:10:49 in the sense that it holds the water the
00:10:49 --> 00:10:52 liquid water and the thinking is uh that
00:10:52 --> 00:10:56 because it's at a depth as I said a few
00:10:56 --> 00:10:58 kilometers between 5 and a half and 8
00:10:58 --> 00:11:01 kilometers um the temperature there is
00:11:02 --> 00:11:03 warmer than it is on the surface by
00:11:03 --> 00:11:05 quite a long way because of just the
00:11:05 --> 00:11:07 internal heat of the planet uh and so
00:11:08 --> 00:11:10 they think it is actually liquid uh and
00:11:10 --> 00:11:13 that fits the bill in terms of the
00:11:13 --> 00:11:16 seismic waves that they've detected. Uh
00:11:16 --> 00:11:17 that that you've actually got this
00:11:17 --> 00:11:22 liquid water in porous rock. Um and
00:11:22 --> 00:11:25 what's really nice about this story is
00:11:25 --> 00:11:29 uh that if that is um a a global uh
00:11:29 --> 00:11:32 layer of rock, and it may well be, um
00:11:32 --> 00:11:36 they calculate how much water is in it.
00:11:36 --> 00:11:38 Uh, and sure enough, it's enough to
00:11:38 --> 00:11:41 cover Mars in a global ocean between,
00:11:41 --> 00:11:43 well, the figures they quote is between
00:11:43 --> 00:11:47 520 and 780 m deep. Just about the same
00:11:47 --> 00:11:49 as what they think is the missing water
00:11:49 --> 00:11:52 mass on Mars. So, this makes sense.
00:11:52 --> 00:11:55 Yeah. I mean, this is still a maybe, not
00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 a definite, but the the numbers
00:11:57 --> 00:12:00 certainly support it. That's that's
00:12:00 --> 00:12:01 what's really interesting about this
00:12:01 --> 00:12:06 story. Excuse me. And uh yeah, the
00:12:06 --> 00:12:09 question is if we go to Mars
00:12:09 --> 00:12:11 and I know you don't like this, but they
00:12:11 --> 00:12:13 will probably establish colonies there
00:12:13 --> 00:12:17 if one man has his way. Um will they be
00:12:17 --> 00:12:19 able to access it? Could it could it
00:12:19 --> 00:12:22 actually hold microbial life? And could
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 you drink it? Uh yes, that's right. I
00:12:25 --> 00:12:27 mean, the middle question there, the
00:12:28 --> 00:12:29 fact that there might be life in it,
00:12:29 --> 00:12:32 that's the one that's so intriguing. Uh
00:12:32 --> 00:12:34 I think I suspect at that depth you'd
00:12:34 --> 00:12:37 struggle to get it. But we do know and
00:12:37 --> 00:12:40 again this comes from Insight. Um uh no
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 it wasn't Insight, was it? It was
00:12:42 --> 00:12:44 Phoenix. Yes, Phoenix was a spacecraft
00:12:44 --> 00:12:49 like Insight uh which was uh actually
00:12:49 --> 00:12:50 the one that was in the Arctic. I'm
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 sorry I beg you pardon. I said something
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 incorrect before that Insight was in the
00:12:54 --> 00:12:55 Arctic, Martian Arctic, but it wasn't.
00:12:56 --> 00:12:58 It was Phoenix. Two spacecraft which was
00:12:58 --> 00:13:00 very similar. Uh, one was for
00:13:00 --> 00:13:02 seismometry. Insight was basically
00:13:02 --> 00:13:04 giving us sight sight of the inside of
00:13:04 --> 00:13:09 Mars. And Phoenix was all about uh
00:13:09 --> 00:13:12 basically um sampling the surface rock.
00:13:12 --> 00:13:16 Uh and we you remember those classic
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 pictures. They scraped away the top
00:13:18 --> 00:13:20 layer of soil and there was ice and
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 there's ice underneath it. Yeah. Yeah.
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 Yeah. It was it was like a um it was
00:13:24 --> 00:13:27 like a a kid had been up there with his
00:13:27 --> 00:13:29 tonker tractor and he scraped the top of
00:13:29 --> 00:13:32 the the dirt and it turned white. It
00:13:32 --> 00:13:35 turned white. That's right. So that's
00:13:35 --> 00:13:37 that is in the Arctic region, but that's
00:13:37 --> 00:13:39 telling you there's a perafrost of water
00:13:39 --> 00:13:42 and and there is a huge amount there as
00:13:42 --> 00:13:44 well. uh but you know to find liquid
00:13:44 --> 00:13:48 water now um whether that's drinkable
00:13:48 --> 00:13:49 probably if you purify it might have
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 minerals in it that you'd like to get
00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 rid of but uh I think it will be
00:13:53 --> 00:13:56 drinkable um but yes the intriguing
00:13:56 --> 00:13:58 thing is as you said is whether it could
00:13:58 --> 00:14:01 harbor Martian biology that's uh really
00:14:01 --> 00:14:04 really interesting uh and and in that
00:14:04 --> 00:14:06 regard um you know we've talked about
00:14:06 --> 00:14:08 the planetary protection rules before
00:14:08 --> 00:14:12 and uh planet um how how much of
00:14:12 --> 00:14:14 spacecraft has to be sterilized before
00:14:14 --> 00:14:15 it's sent to Mars if it's going anywhere
00:14:15 --> 00:14:18 where liquid water could exist. What it
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 would do, this would mean that we would
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 have to be doubly careful so that no
00:14:22 --> 00:14:24 matter where you're going on Mars, cuz
00:14:24 --> 00:14:25 deep under the surface, there might well
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 be Martian microbes that wouldn't like
00:14:27 --> 00:14:29 earthly microbes if they found their way
00:14:29 --> 00:14:32 down through the rocks. So, absolutely.
00:14:32 --> 00:14:34 And and we've got evidence on earth of
00:14:34 --> 00:14:37 that kind of contamination when like the
00:14:37 --> 00:14:39 Spanish went to South America and the
00:14:39 --> 00:14:42 the South American people um were
00:14:42 --> 00:14:45 exposed to diseases that just didn't
00:14:45 --> 00:14:47 exist in there. Wiped them out. Wiped
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 them out almost completely. Similar
00:14:49 --> 00:14:51 things happened in our own country,
00:14:51 --> 00:14:53 Andrew, as well. Absolutely. Smallox and
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 things like that. And I should just
00:14:55 --> 00:14:56 talking about our country, I should
00:14:56 --> 00:14:57 mention that some of this work has been
00:14:57 --> 00:14:59 carried out by Australian investigators
00:14:59 --> 00:15:02 at the Australian National University as
00:15:02 --> 00:15:04 well as um uh scientists at the Chinese
00:15:04 --> 00:15:07 Academy of Sciences. Well, hopefully
00:15:07 --> 00:15:09 there'll be some followup to um maybe
00:15:10 --> 00:15:13 confirm what they think. U as I said,
00:15:13 --> 00:15:15 the numbers are stacking up in that
00:15:15 --> 00:15:18 favor and it will mean that if that's
00:15:18 --> 00:15:22 true, um Mars is not a dry dead planet.
00:15:22 --> 00:15:24 It's probably a water world, but a
00:15:24 --> 00:15:26 different kind of water. And then and we
00:15:26 --> 00:15:28 we're seeing more and more of that
00:15:28 --> 00:15:30 throughout the solar system. We are
00:15:30 --> 00:15:32 indeed. That's right. Very exciting
00:15:32 --> 00:15:34 indeed. All right. If you'd like to read
00:15:34 --> 00:15:38 up on that, you can uh see that at the
00:15:38 --> 00:15:41 conversation.com website. This is Space
00:15:41 --> 00:15:44 Nuts. Andrew Dunley with Professor Fred
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 Watson. Let's take a little break from
00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 the show to tell you about our sponsor
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00:17:15 --> 00:17:18 get a new lens. It'll take some work to
00:17:18 --> 00:17:19 break though because it's uh got very
00:17:19 --> 00:17:22 very tough optical glass. Uh they
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00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 would like to get one of these cameras,
00:17:31 --> 00:17:32 they're offering a special deal for
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00:17:56 --> 00:18:00 Store.instree 360.com and use the promo
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00:18:05 --> 00:18:07 first 30 standard package purchases
00:18:07 --> 00:18:10 only. And if you want more information,
00:18:10 --> 00:18:12 check out our show notes. But uh just
00:18:12 --> 00:18:15 remember the URL
00:18:15 --> 00:18:17 store.insta360.com and the promo code
00:18:17 --> 00:18:20 spaceenuts. Now back to the
00:18:20 --> 00:18:24 show here also. Space nuts. Speaking of
00:18:24 --> 00:18:28 water, well, not quite, but uh we we've
00:18:28 --> 00:18:33 seen uh over the entire uh space race to
00:18:33 --> 00:18:35 date um which began way back in the
00:18:35 --> 00:18:38 middle of the last century uh that if
00:18:38 --> 00:18:40 you wanted to get a spacecraft back into
00:18:40 --> 00:18:43 the atmosphere, you had to be prepared
00:18:43 --> 00:18:46 for it to potentially burn up. uh unless
00:18:46 --> 00:18:49 you put a heat shield on it and later
00:18:49 --> 00:18:51 those heat absorbent tiles that were
00:18:51 --> 00:18:54 made famous by the space shuttle. And my
00:18:54 --> 00:18:55 son has actually got one of those tiles
00:18:56 --> 00:18:58 at his place because he got it as a
00:18:58 --> 00:19:00 secret Santa through um one of the
00:19:00 --> 00:19:02 social media websites when they used to
00:19:02 --> 00:19:05 do that. Um and the warning came, do not
00:19:05 --> 00:19:07 lick the tile. Apparently, it's very
00:19:07 --> 00:19:11 toxic. Um, so, um, that's how it's been
00:19:11 --> 00:19:13 done to date, but now they've come up
00:19:13 --> 00:19:17 with a new idea that basically involves
00:19:17 --> 00:19:21 spacecraft sweating to stay cool as they
00:19:21 --> 00:19:23 come back into the atmosphere. This is
00:19:23 --> 00:19:24 really
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 fascinating. Uh, it it it's
00:19:26 --> 00:19:28 extraordinary. Yeah. And and what you've
00:19:28 --> 00:19:31 said is absolutely right. the um the uh
00:19:31 --> 00:19:34 the traditional uh heat shield is called
00:19:34 --> 00:19:37 an ablative shield because it ablates
00:19:37 --> 00:19:39 the heat takes it away. Uh and that
00:19:39 --> 00:19:43 means that you only use them once. So um
00:19:44 --> 00:19:46 that's an issue for example with the
00:19:46 --> 00:19:48 Orion capsule which is um going to be
00:19:48 --> 00:19:50 reused. This is the one that will take
00:19:50 --> 00:19:54 astronauts to the moon. Um uh and um
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 it's a pretty large piece of kit and
00:19:56 --> 00:19:58 every time you reuse it, you've got to
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00 replace that ablative shield that's on
00:20:00 --> 00:20:02 the or ablative shield, how however you
00:20:02 --> 00:20:03 pronounce it, it's on the back of the
00:20:03 --> 00:20:05 spacecraft. That's the bit that burns
00:20:05 --> 00:20:09 away as the spacecraft re-enters. Uh so
00:20:09 --> 00:20:12 um could you find a way of doing this uh
00:20:12 --> 00:20:15 which was essentially reusable uh
00:20:16 --> 00:20:19 something else that would uh that would
00:20:19 --> 00:20:21 actually protect the spacecraft from the
00:20:21 --> 00:20:23 intense heat of re-entry and it's a team
00:20:24 --> 00:20:27 at Texas&M University uh partnering with
00:20:27 --> 00:20:30 a a private concern called Canopy
00:20:30 --> 00:20:34 Aerospace and they've basically uh
00:20:34 --> 00:20:38 developed a 3D printed substance
00:20:38 --> 00:20:42 um that releases gas uh when you've got
00:20:42 --> 00:20:47 the heat of re-entry. Uh and the reason
00:20:47 --> 00:20:49 that's interesting is that
00:20:49 --> 00:20:54 gas has a very low conductivity of heat.
00:20:54 --> 00:20:56 Uh unlike, you know, a piece of metal or
00:20:56 --> 00:20:58 something like that which conducts heat
00:20:58 --> 00:21:00 very very well, gas is pretty poor at
00:21:00 --> 00:21:03 conducting heat. Uh and it's actually
00:21:03 --> 00:21:07 why you know you've got um a lot of uh
00:21:07 --> 00:21:09 you know why putting putting putting air
00:21:09 --> 00:21:11 in the space between your in inner and
00:21:11 --> 00:21:13 outside walls provides a bit of heat
00:21:13 --> 00:21:15 insulation and things of that sort. It's
00:21:15 --> 00:21:19 uh it's it's um a good heat insulator.
00:21:19 --> 00:21:22 So, if you can make something that will
00:21:22 --> 00:21:27 release gas as it enters the space as it
00:21:27 --> 00:21:29 as the spacecraft enters the atmosphere,
00:21:29 --> 00:21:31 then you might well find that you've got
00:21:31 --> 00:21:34 a situation where you you've got
00:21:34 --> 00:21:36 something that's effectively reusable
00:21:36 --> 00:21:38 and that you don't have to replace every
00:21:38 --> 00:21:41 time. And it and the material itself is
00:21:41 --> 00:21:45 a it's a 3D printed silicon carbide. uh
00:21:45 --> 00:21:49 and it is strong and I'm quoting here
00:21:49 --> 00:21:50 from the
00:21:50 --> 00:21:53 um space.com article about this which is
00:21:53 --> 00:21:56 a very nice description uh written by
00:21:56 --> 00:21:59 Samantha Matthew a few days ago or a day
00:21:59 --> 00:22:03 or so ago. Uh it's uh it's designed to
00:22:03 --> 00:22:05 be strong enough to withstand extreme
00:22:05 --> 00:22:07 atmospheric pressures yet poor enough
00:22:08 --> 00:22:11 for the coolant to sweat through. Uh and
00:22:11 --> 00:22:13 uh she says prototypes are being tested
00:22:13 --> 00:22:14 at the university to evaluate the
00:22:14 --> 00:22:17 material's ability to sweat and how well
00:22:17 --> 00:22:20 the gas that is released insulates a
00:22:20 --> 00:22:23 spacecraft. Uh so it is yeah it's um
00:22:23 --> 00:22:25 it's a really interesting step. You
00:22:25 --> 00:22:28 know, it's um what struck me about this
00:22:28 --> 00:22:31 is we've been using these ablative
00:22:31 --> 00:22:34 shields since well the Mercury capsule
00:22:34 --> 00:22:39 back in 1960 whenever it was 62 I think
00:22:39 --> 00:22:44 Mercury maybe 63. Um and they're still
00:22:44 --> 00:22:45 being used. They're still on the Orion
00:22:46 --> 00:22:48 capsule which is just a giant version of
00:22:48 --> 00:22:50 Mercury in some ways. Uh, and it's great
00:22:50 --> 00:22:52 to see people thinking outside the box
00:22:52 --> 00:22:54 as to whether we can find better ways to
00:22:54 --> 00:22:57 do this and actually create um, you
00:22:57 --> 00:23:00 know, create new materials given where
00:23:00 --> 00:23:02 we've got to today in things like 3D
00:23:02 --> 00:23:04 printing. Uh, create new materials that
00:23:04 --> 00:23:06 can do the job better. Yeah. I suppose
00:23:06 --> 00:23:08 the only way to really test this would
00:23:08 --> 00:23:11 be to create this this new form of
00:23:12 --> 00:23:14 shielding and send one up and bring it
00:23:14 --> 00:23:16 back and see if it survives basically.
00:23:16 --> 00:23:19 And that's um you wouldn't want to sort
00:23:19 --> 00:23:21 of um go up there unchecked and go,
00:23:21 --> 00:23:23 "Okay, we're going to test this new
00:23:23 --> 00:23:25 Yeah.
00:23:25 --> 00:23:27 No, you wouldn't you wouldn't want that.
00:23:27 --> 00:23:29 Um they there's a they've used hyper
00:23:29 --> 00:23:33 hypersonic uh wind tunnels to test it.
00:23:33 --> 00:23:34 So, and these are things that blow the
00:23:34 --> 00:23:36 wind along at several times the speed of
00:23:36 --> 00:23:38 sound. And so, they've they've got a
00:23:38 --> 00:23:39 good idea that this is going to work, I
00:23:39 --> 00:23:41 think. Yeah. As we've seen though with
00:23:42 --> 00:23:43 the space shuttle, all it takes is a
00:23:43 --> 00:23:48 tiny little crack in a tile to cause a a
00:23:48 --> 00:23:50 major catastrophe. Yeah, I'll never
00:23:50 --> 00:23:54 forget that. Um but um I I would imagine
00:23:54 --> 00:23:56 with a a heat shield type of approach
00:23:56 --> 00:23:59 like this, the gas that too could be
00:23:59 --> 00:24:02 exposed if if one of the vents or
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03 whatever it is they use to release the
00:24:03 --> 00:24:05 gas fails.
00:24:05 --> 00:24:08 Yes, I I I guess that's right. there'll
00:24:08 --> 00:24:10 always be um you know some sort of
00:24:10 --> 00:24:13 failure uh possibility
00:24:13 --> 00:24:15 uh and the trick is to reduce those as
00:24:15 --> 00:24:19 much as possible. Indeed. Uh well uh it
00:24:19 --> 00:24:20 will be really interesting to see how
00:24:20 --> 00:24:23 this develops. It it could be one of the
00:24:23 --> 00:24:27 um the big leaps forward in terms of
00:24:27 --> 00:24:28 getting spacecraft back into Earth
00:24:28 --> 00:24:32 without having to constantly regenerate
00:24:32 --> 00:24:34 um shields because uh that's what
00:24:34 --> 00:24:36 happens at the moment once a heat shield
00:24:36 --> 00:24:38 is has been used. you can't use it
00:24:38 --> 00:24:40 again. It's the same with the tiles on
00:24:40 --> 00:24:42 the space shuttle. You you have to
00:24:42 --> 00:24:44 replace them after every mission
00:24:44 --> 00:24:47 apparently. Uh this could be a renewable
00:24:47 --> 00:24:49 resource, a renewable approach to the
00:24:49 --> 00:24:51 the whole thing, which obviously would
00:24:52 --> 00:24:54 reduce costs ultimately and it's still
00:24:54 --> 00:24:56 very expensive to get up
00:24:56 --> 00:24:58 there, send out your payload or
00:24:58 --> 00:25:01 whatever, and then get the the hardware
00:25:01 --> 00:25:05 back to Earth. So, um it's uh it's been
00:25:05 --> 00:25:07 a long time coming. I mean, we're coming
00:25:07 --> 00:25:09 up on a 100 years of space flight and
00:25:09 --> 00:25:13 it's it's taken 3/4 of that time to come
00:25:13 --> 00:25:15 up with a new idea. So, fingers crossed
00:25:15 --> 00:25:17 that this is actually the answer and who
00:25:17 --> 00:25:19 knows what else they might figure out
00:25:19 --> 00:25:21 down the track that could do the job.
00:25:21 --> 00:25:24 So, um I I suppose a question that pops
00:25:24 --> 00:25:26 to mind, and this is this is sort of a a
00:25:26 --> 00:25:29 very dumb question, I suppose. Um why
00:25:29 --> 00:25:31 can't they just re-enter slowly to avoid
00:25:31 --> 00:25:33 the heat? I'm guessing I'm guessing you
00:25:33 --> 00:25:37 wouldn't get back in. Um, you're limited
00:25:37 --> 00:25:39 by, you know, the the mechanics of space
00:25:40 --> 00:25:43 flight. So, um, anything in space
00:25:43 --> 00:25:44 that's, you know, that's not coming back
00:25:44 --> 00:25:49 to Earth is orbiting at nearly 8
00:25:49 --> 00:25:52 kilometers/s. And uh that's why you need
00:25:52 --> 00:25:54 such a big rocket to put things into
00:25:54 --> 00:25:56 orbit because you've got to not only get
00:25:56 --> 00:25:59 the height uh to two or 300 kilometers,
00:25:59 --> 00:26:01 but also to push it into this high
00:26:01 --> 00:26:03 velocity with respect to the Earth's
00:26:03 --> 00:26:06 surface. And when you come back, you
00:26:06 --> 00:26:08 you've somehow got to dump that
00:26:08 --> 00:26:10 velocity. You've got to kill it somehow.
00:26:10 --> 00:26:13 Now, you know, I do remember when I used
00:26:13 --> 00:26:15 to read Dandere, the uh pilot of the
00:26:15 --> 00:26:18 future in the Eagle. They they used um
00:26:18 --> 00:26:20 what they called reactor rockets. So,
00:26:20 --> 00:26:24 you had the spacecraft was in in orbit
00:26:24 --> 00:26:26 and then they uh the command that
00:26:26 --> 00:26:29 Captain Dandere said was blow reactors
00:26:29 --> 00:26:32 and that was forwardfiring rockets that
00:26:32 --> 00:26:34 slowed the spacecraft down. And that's
00:26:34 --> 00:26:37 what they still do. They fire forward
00:26:37 --> 00:26:39 firing rockets to slow the spacecraft
00:26:39 --> 00:26:42 down. But unless you've got the same
00:26:42 --> 00:26:44 amount of fuel as you used to put it up
00:26:44 --> 00:26:47 there, you can't use that forward firing
00:26:47 --> 00:26:49 rocket to gently land it on the planet's
00:26:49 --> 00:26:51 surface. You've got to have something
00:26:51 --> 00:26:53 else. And that something else is a
00:26:53 --> 00:26:55 braing, which is using the atmosphere to
00:26:55 --> 00:26:57 slow the spacecraft down. And that's
00:26:57 --> 00:26:59 traditionally what what has been used.
00:26:59 --> 00:27:00 It's the only way we have available at
00:27:00 --> 00:27:02 the moment until somebody invents
00:27:02 --> 00:27:04 something that doesn't need as much fuel
00:27:04 --> 00:27:06 to slow you down as as it takes you up
00:27:06 --> 00:27:09 there. Well, that time will probably
00:27:09 --> 00:27:12 come. But uh now, for now, making your
00:27:12 --> 00:27:15 spacecraft sweat could be uh the new
00:27:15 --> 00:27:17 approach. And if you uh are interested
00:27:17 --> 00:27:19 in that story, uh as Fred said, it's at
00:27:19 --> 00:27:23 space.com.
00:27:23 --> 00:27:26 Okay, we checked all four systems with
00:27:26 --> 00:27:29 the space nets. Okay, Fred, our final
00:27:29 --> 00:27:33 story today is a very scary one because
00:27:33 --> 00:27:35 um we might not be here next week or
00:27:35 --> 00:27:38 maybe it's a billion years. I always get
00:27:38 --> 00:27:42 the two mixed up. Uh but um on a serious
00:27:42 --> 00:27:44 note, uh some Dutch scientists have come
00:27:44 --> 00:27:47 up with a a new theory as to when the
00:27:47 --> 00:27:50 universe will end, and it is a heck of a
00:27:50 --> 00:27:53 lot sooner than we than we originally
00:27:53 --> 00:27:58 thought. If they are right,
00:27:58 --> 00:28:00 Indeed it is. Uh so here are the
00:28:00 --> 00:28:03 numbers. Okay. Uh because we might as
00:28:03 --> 00:28:07 well start with that. We used to think
00:28:07 --> 00:28:12 that the universe would die in 10 to the
00:28:12 --> 00:28:16 power years. So that is a one with 1100
00:28:16 --> 00:28:18 zeros after it. That's how long we
00:28:18 --> 00:28:22 thought it would take to die. The new uh
00:28:22 --> 00:28:27 calculation is only it's a mere 10 ^ 78
00:28:27 --> 00:28:31 years and that's 10 followed by sorry a
00:28:31 --> 00:28:34 one followed by 78 zeros. Uh look that's
00:28:34 --> 00:28:37 a one heck of a difference isn't it?
00:28:37 --> 00:28:40 It's it's factor of more than 10
00:28:40 --> 00:28:41 different
00:28:41 --> 00:28:43 uh it's a factor of more than 10 in
00:28:43 --> 00:28:46 exponent which means that it's very much
00:28:46 --> 00:28:49 different. It's um so yes, the universe
00:28:49 --> 00:28:51 has only got really a brief period of 10
00:28:51 --> 00:28:54 to the 78 years to last. Um but let's
00:28:54 --> 00:28:56 cut to the reason why these scientists
00:28:56 --> 00:29:00 are uh making these calculations.
00:29:00 --> 00:29:02 They're scientists actually in the
00:29:02 --> 00:29:05 Netherlands. Uh and what they've done is
00:29:06 --> 00:29:10 they've looked at Hawking radiation. Uh
00:29:10 --> 00:29:13 and that is the the trick to this this
00:29:13 --> 00:29:16 whole calculation. Hawking radiation is
00:29:16 --> 00:29:19 uh as we know the radiation that leaks
00:29:19 --> 00:29:22 from a black hole uh which is a quantum
00:29:22 --> 00:29:25 physics effect because relativity says
00:29:25 --> 00:29:27 nothing can come out of a black hole but
00:29:27 --> 00:29:28 quantum mechanics says well they can
00:29:28 --> 00:29:30 evaporate very very
00:29:30 --> 00:29:34 slowly and they do uh there's all the
00:29:34 --> 00:29:35 evidence suggests that Hawking radiation
00:29:35 --> 00:29:37 is a real thing and so what these
00:29:38 --> 00:29:39 calculations are about is how long it
00:29:40 --> 00:29:42 takes everything in the universe to come
00:29:42 --> 00:29:44 to an end by Hawking radi
00:29:44 --> 00:29:46 Um, and they don't just cover black
00:29:46 --> 00:29:50 holes, they cover everything. They cover
00:29:50 --> 00:29:52 um neutron stars, which are kind of
00:29:52 --> 00:29:54 failed black holes. They cover white
00:29:54 --> 00:29:55 dwarf stars, which are kind of failed
00:29:55 --> 00:29:59 neutron stars. Um, and these all have,
00:29:59 --> 00:30:03 um, a Hawking age. And I think actually,
00:30:03 --> 00:30:05 um, the original calculation of 10 to
00:30:05 --> 00:30:09 the,00 years um, was, uh, basically
00:30:09 --> 00:30:11 coming from just the lifetime of white
00:30:11 --> 00:30:13 dwarf stars.
00:30:13 --> 00:30:19 But uh the new calculation have uh have
00:30:19 --> 00:30:24 um essentially said uh the the decay
00:30:24 --> 00:30:30 time for white dwarfs is uh sooner than
00:30:30 --> 00:30:32 we thought. Uh I think actually the
00:30:32 --> 00:30:34 white dwarf decay time originally didn't
00:30:34 --> 00:30:36 include Hawking radiation. I think it
00:30:36 --> 00:30:38 was just how long it takes to cool down
00:30:38 --> 00:30:41 to a completely inert object. So um the
00:30:41 --> 00:30:44 new calculation takes into account uh
00:30:44 --> 00:30:48 the basics of Hawking radiation. Um
00:30:48 --> 00:30:52 they've they've got um some nice other
00:30:52 --> 00:30:55 figures as well because uh they can they
00:30:55 --> 00:30:59 can work out how long neutron stars take
00:30:59 --> 00:31:04 to decay. That's 10 ^ 67 years. um they
00:31:04 --> 00:31:07 can work out how long the moon will take
00:31:07 --> 00:31:11 to evaporate by human uh sorry by
00:31:11 --> 00:31:14 hawking radiation and how long it will
00:31:14 --> 00:31:16 take a human to evaporate
00:31:16 --> 00:31:18 and those figures are respectively well
00:31:18 --> 00:31:21 they're the same 10 ^ 90 so you and I as
00:31:21 --> 00:31:24 we sit here Andrew
00:31:24 --> 00:31:27 uh we will evaporate in 10 the^ 90 years
00:31:28 --> 00:31:29 which means we actually outlast the
00:31:29 --> 00:31:32 universe because the universe is going
00:31:32 --> 00:31:35 to evaporate in 10 to the 78 years. Uh
00:31:35 --> 00:31:38 so we're we're doing well there. How can
00:31:38 --> 00:31:40 we outlast the universe? I'm not sure
00:31:40 --> 00:31:43 what the answer to that is.
00:31:43 --> 00:31:46 Yeah. Well, um nothing could if the
00:31:46 --> 00:31:47 universe comes to a grinding halt,
00:31:48 --> 00:31:49 that's the end of everything, isn't it?
00:31:49 --> 00:31:52 Although to qualify this, you've got to
00:31:52 --> 00:31:53 accept that um they're talking about the
00:31:53 --> 00:31:56 the fading out of everything. That's
00:31:56 --> 00:31:58 correct. But the universe will still be
00:31:58 --> 00:32:00 there. It'll just be dead in unless
00:32:00 --> 00:32:03 unless uh the you know, the accelerated
00:32:03 --> 00:32:05 expansion of the universe results in the
00:32:05 --> 00:32:07 big rip, which could come a lot sooner
00:32:07 --> 00:32:10 than those evaporation times. So, you're
00:32:10 --> 00:32:12 quite right. This is assuming nothing
00:32:12 --> 00:32:13 else happens in the universe. The
00:32:13 --> 00:32:15 universe is as boring as anything. Uh,
00:32:15 --> 00:32:19 and things just uh evaporate by Hawking
00:32:19 --> 00:32:20 radiation. That's the the numbers that
00:32:20 --> 00:32:22 you get. Yeah. And and there was one
00:32:22 --> 00:32:24 other thing we left out of that and that
00:32:24 --> 00:32:27 was the um the um evaporation of brown
00:32:27 --> 00:32:29 dwarfs um because they're failed Disney
00:32:29 --> 00:32:32 actors. So, got to take that into
00:32:32 --> 00:32:35 account, too. And that only takes 88
00:32:35 --> 00:32:38 years. Okay. I point that out. Very,
00:32:38 --> 00:32:40 very good. That's a neat calculation. I
00:32:40 --> 00:32:42 think you should write that's up to the
00:32:42 --> 00:32:45 conver conversation, Andrew.
00:32:45 --> 00:32:47 Oh, it's terrible joke. Horrible. Yeah.
00:32:48 --> 00:32:50 Um, no, but it is uh rather fascinating.
00:32:50 --> 00:32:52 Um, so do we know I don't know if you
00:32:52 --> 00:32:54 said it in number of years what 10 to
00:32:54 --> 00:32:58 the 78 actually means for the universe?
00:32:58 --> 00:33:01 Uh, yeah. Well, yes. Uh, it just means
00:33:01 --> 00:33:04 one followed by 78 zeros. It's a long
00:33:04 --> 00:33:07 time. Still a long time. Yeah. And, um,
00:33:07 --> 00:33:09 we should be right to pay the the water
00:33:09 --> 00:33:11 rates next week then. That's right. I
00:33:11 --> 00:33:14 mean, you know, put it in perspective.
00:33:14 --> 00:33:16 Uh, the Earth is probably going to get
00:33:16 --> 00:33:19 melted within maybe four billion years.
00:33:19 --> 00:33:23 What's that? 4 * 10 9 years. So uh yeah
00:33:23 --> 00:33:27 that's uh that's that's going to be a
00:33:27 --> 00:33:29 much more immediate uh problem for us
00:33:29 --> 00:33:31 than the evaporation of everything by
00:33:31 --> 00:33:33 hawking radius. That's assuming humanity
00:33:33 --> 00:33:36 has actually survived that long which is
00:33:36 --> 00:33:38 a totally different Yes we might
00:33:38 --> 00:33:40 argument theory whatever you like. Yeah.
00:33:40 --> 00:33:43 All right. Uh that story available
00:33:43 --> 00:33:46 through fizz.org
00:33:46 --> 00:33:48 phys.org if you want to read up on it.
00:33:48 --> 00:33:50 It's really really interesting. Uh, and
00:33:50 --> 00:33:52 that brings us to the end. Fred, thank
00:33:52 --> 00:33:55 you very much. Pleasure, Andrew, as
00:33:55 --> 00:33:56 always. And we'll speak again soon. I'm
00:33:56 --> 00:33:59 sure we will. And, uh, looking forward
00:33:59 --> 00:34:01 to it. And don't forget to visit us
00:34:01 --> 00:34:04 online at our website and visit the shop
00:34:04 --> 00:34:05 while you're there or just have a look
00:34:05 --> 00:34:08 around. And that's at
00:34:08 --> 00:34:10 spacenutpodcast.com or
00:34:10 --> 00:34:12 spacenuts.io. Uh, I would have said
00:34:12 --> 00:34:14 thanks to Hugh in the studio, but he
00:34:14 --> 00:34:16 couldn't be with us today because he he
00:34:16 --> 00:34:19 reached the age of 10 to the 78. And
00:34:19 --> 00:34:22 that was the end of that from me, Andrew
00:34:22 --> 00:34:23 Dunley. Thanks for your company. We'll
00:34:23 --> 00:34:25 see you on the next episode of Space
00:34:25 --> 00:34:28 Nuts. Bye-bye. Space Nuts. You'll be
00:34:28 --> 00:34:32 listening to the Space Nuts podcast,
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