SpaceTime Series 28 Episode 40
The Astronomy, Space and Science News Podcast
Largest Organic Molecule Discovered on Mars, Parker Solar Probe's Close Encounter with the Sun, and New Insights into Earth's Formation
In this episode of SpaceTime, we discuss the remarkable discovery made by NASA's Curiosity Rover, which has identified the largest organic molecules ever found on Mars. These molecules, potentially remnants of fatty acids, suggest that prebiotic chemistry may have progressed further on the Red Planet than previously thought. We delve into the implications of these findings for future Mars sample return missions and the search for signs of past life.
Parker Solar Probe's Record-Breaking Philip
We also cover the Parker Solar Probe's successful close encounter with the Sun, where it reached an unprecedented distance of just 6.1 million kilometers from the solar surface. This flyby allowed for unique scientific observations of the Sun's corona and solar wind, providing crucial data that can enhance our understanding of solar phenomena and their impact on space weather.
New Insights into Earth's Early Formation
Additionally, we explore a groundbreaking study that challenges existing assumptions about the formation of Earth's lower mantle. Researchers have found evidence suggesting that the dynamics of Earth's early formation may have involved low-pressure crystallization, altering our understanding of how terrestrial planets evolve.
00:00 Space Time Series 28 Episode 40 for broadcast on 2 April 2025
00:49 Discovery of largest organic molecules on Mars
06:30 Implications for prebiotic chemistry and sample return missions
12:15 Parker Solar Probe's record-setting solar encounter
18:00 Observations of the Sun's corona and solar wind
22:45 New insights into Earth's lower mantle formation
27:00 Summary of recent scientific developments
30:15 Discussion on healthy aging and dietary patterns
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✍️ Episode References
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
https://www.pnas.org/ (https://www.pnas.org/)
NASA
https://www.nasa.gov (https://www.nasa.gov/)
Nature
https://www.nature.com/ (https://www.nature.com/)
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Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/26400975?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 this is Spaceime Series 28 episode 40
00:00:03 --> 00:00:05 for broadcast on the 2nd of April
00:00:05 --> 00:00:08 2025 coming up on Spaceime the largest
00:00:08 --> 00:00:11 organic molecule ever found on Mars
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 NASA's Parker Solar Probe survives its
00:00:14 --> 00:00:16 close encounter with the sun and some
00:00:16 --> 00:00:18 interesting results from a new study
00:00:18 --> 00:00:21 looking at the earliest days of Earth's
00:00:21 --> 00:00:24 formation all that and more coming up on
00:00:24 --> 00:00:26 Spacetime
00:00:26 --> 00:00:30 welcome to Spaceime with Stuart
00:00:30 --> 00:00:37 [Music]
00:00:45 --> 00:00:47 Garry scientists analyzing pulverized
00:00:47 --> 00:00:50 rock using NASA's Mars Curiosity rover
00:00:50 --> 00:00:52 have discovered the largest organic
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 compounds ever seen on the red planet
00:00:54 --> 00:00:56 and they could be the remains of fatty
00:00:56 --> 00:00:58 acids the findings reported in the
00:00:58 --> 00:01:00 journal of the proceedings of the
00:01:00 --> 00:01:02 National Academy of Sciences PNAS
00:01:02 --> 00:01:04 expands of the kinds of ancient
00:01:04 --> 00:01:05 molecules that can be preserved on the
00:01:05 --> 00:01:08 Martian surface and it suggests that
00:01:08 --> 00:01:10 prebiotic chemistry may have advanced
00:01:10 --> 00:01:12 much further on Mars than previously
00:01:12 --> 00:01:14 observed scientists reached their
00:01:14 --> 00:01:16 conclusion after probing an existing
00:01:16 --> 00:01:19 rock sample inside Curiosity's mini lab
00:01:19 --> 00:01:22 and found the molecules decain and
00:01:22 --> 00:01:24 dodicane these compounds are made up of
00:01:24 --> 00:01:27 10 11 and 12 carbon atoms respectively
00:01:27 --> 00:01:29 and it's thought they could be fragments
00:01:29 --> 00:01:31 of fatty acids that were preserved in
00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 the sample fatty acids are among the
00:01:33 --> 00:01:35 organic molecules that at least on Earth
00:01:36 --> 00:01:37 are the chemical building blocks for
00:01:37 --> 00:01:40 life living things produce fatty acids
00:01:40 --> 00:01:42 to help form cell membranes and perform
00:01:42 --> 00:01:45 various other biological functions of
00:01:45 --> 00:01:47 course the thing is fatty acids can also
00:01:47 --> 00:01:48 be made through chemical and geological
00:01:48 --> 00:01:50 processes using the interaction of water
00:01:50 --> 00:01:53 with minerals in hydrothermal vents so
00:01:53 --> 00:01:56 no life needed the problem is there's no
00:01:56 --> 00:01:57 way to confirm the original source of
00:01:58 --> 00:02:00 these molecules but still finding them
00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 at all is exciting the Curiosity
00:02:02 --> 00:02:04 scientists had previously discovered
00:02:04 --> 00:02:06 small simple organic molecules on Mars
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 but finding these larger compounds
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 provides the first real evidence that
00:02:10 --> 00:02:12 organic chemistry advanced towards the
00:02:12 --> 00:02:14 kind of complexity which is required for
00:02:14 --> 00:02:16 the origins of life to have evolved on
00:02:16 --> 00:02:18 the red planet the new study also
00:02:18 --> 00:02:20 increases the chances that bio
00:02:20 --> 00:02:22 signatures could survive and be
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 preserved in the Martian soil thereby
00:02:24 --> 00:02:26 allaying concerns that these compounds
00:02:26 --> 00:02:28 would get destroyed and break down after
00:02:28 --> 00:02:30 millions of years of exposure to intense
00:02:30 --> 00:02:33 radiation and oxidation so the discovery
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 bird's will for plans for a sample
00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 return mission to the red planet
00:02:37 --> 00:02:39 hopefully by the end of this decade we
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 know the Chinese are planning for that
00:02:41 --> 00:02:44 in 2029 but a joint American and
00:02:44 --> 00:02:46 European mission has been put on the
00:02:46 --> 00:02:48 back burner because of costs
00:02:48 --> 00:02:50 nevertheless bringing Martian samples
00:02:50 --> 00:02:52 back to Earth would allow scientists to
00:02:52 --> 00:02:53 examine them using far more extensive
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 and sophisticated equipment than what
00:02:55 --> 00:02:58 can be incorporated in a Mars rover the
00:02:58 --> 00:03:00 study's lead author Caroline Freezenette
00:03:00 --> 00:03:02 from the French National Center for
00:03:02 --> 00:03:04 Scientific Research says the discovery
00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 proves that even today by analyzing
00:03:06 --> 00:03:08 Martian samples one could detect
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 chemical signatures of past life that is
00:03:10 --> 00:03:12 if it ever existed on the red planet
00:03:12 --> 00:03:15 back in 2015 Fzinet co-led a team that
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 in a first conclusively identified
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 Martian organic molecules in the same
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 sample that was used for this current
00:03:21 --> 00:03:24 study the sample nicknamed Cumberland by
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 the scientists has now been analyzed
00:03:26 --> 00:03:28 many times using a range of different
00:03:28 --> 00:03:31 techniques curiosity first drilled the
00:03:31 --> 00:03:33 Cumberland sample back in May 2013 from
00:03:33 --> 00:03:35 the Yellow Knife Bay formation inside
00:03:35 --> 00:03:38 Gal Crater scientists were so intrigued
00:03:38 --> 00:03:40 by Yellow Knife Bay which looks like an
00:03:40 --> 00:03:42 ancient lake bed they sent the rover
00:03:42 --> 00:03:43 there before heading in the opposite
00:03:43 --> 00:03:45 direction to its primary target Mount
00:03:45 --> 00:03:48 Sharp the central peak rising thousands
00:03:48 --> 00:03:51 of meters from the crater floor and the
00:03:51 --> 00:03:53 detour was worth it cumberland turned
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 out to be jam-packed with tantalizing
00:03:55 --> 00:03:58 chemical clues to G crater's 3.7
00:03:58 --> 00:04:01 billionyear past scitus had previously
00:04:01 --> 00:04:02 found the sample to be rich in mineral
00:04:02 --> 00:04:05 clays which form exclusively in water it
00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 also has an abundance of sulfur and that
00:04:07 --> 00:04:10 can help preserve organic molecules and
00:04:10 --> 00:04:12 Cumberland has lots of nitrates which on
00:04:12 --> 00:04:14 Earth are essential to the health of
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 plants and animals and it has methane
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 made with a type of carbon that on Earth
00:04:19 --> 00:04:22 is associated with biological processes
00:04:22 --> 00:04:24 but perhaps most importantly scientists
00:04:24 --> 00:04:26 determined that Yellow Knife Bay was
00:04:26 --> 00:04:28 indeed the site of an ancient lake
00:04:28 --> 00:04:29 providing an environment that could
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 concentrate organic molecules and
00:04:31 --> 00:04:33 preserve them in fine grain sedimentary
00:04:33 --> 00:04:36 rock called mudstone the study's
00:04:36 --> 00:04:37 co-author Daniel Glavin from NASA's
00:04:38 --> 00:04:39 Godard Space Flight Center in Green Belt
00:04:40 --> 00:04:41 Maryland says there's evidence that
00:04:41 --> 00:04:44 liquid water existed in Gale Crater for
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 millions of years that means there would
00:04:46 --> 00:04:48 have been enough time for life forming
00:04:48 --> 00:04:50 chemistry to happen in these crater lake
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 environments the recent organic
00:04:52 --> 00:04:54 compounds discovery was actually a side
00:04:54 --> 00:04:56 effect of an unrelated experiment to
00:04:56 --> 00:04:58 probe Cumberland for signs of amino
00:04:58 --> 00:05:01 acids the building blocks of proteins
00:05:01 --> 00:05:03 however after heating the sample twice
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 in Curiosity's onboard laboratory oven
00:05:05 --> 00:05:06 and then measuring the mass of the
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 molecules released the authors found no
00:05:08 --> 00:05:11 evidence of any amino acids but they
00:05:11 --> 00:05:12 didn't notice that the sample released
00:05:12 --> 00:05:15 small amounts of decane undercane and
00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 dodicane because these compounds could
00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 have broken down from larger molecules
00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 during heating the scientists sort of
00:05:21 --> 00:05:22 worked backwards to try and figure out
00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 what structures they could have come
00:05:24 --> 00:05:26 from they hypothesized that these
00:05:26 --> 00:05:28 molecules were remnants of the fatty
00:05:28 --> 00:05:31 acids underinoic acid dotinoic acid and
00:05:31 --> 00:05:34 tridoconinoic acid so they tested their
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 prediction in the lab mixing underinoic
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 acid into a Mars-like clay and
00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 conducting a curiosity ovenike
00:05:40 --> 00:05:43 experiment after being heated the
00:05:43 --> 00:05:45 underininoic acid released decay just as
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 predicted the authors then referenced
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 experiments already published by other
00:05:49 --> 00:05:50 scientists that showed that the
00:05:50 --> 00:05:52 undercane could have broken off from
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 dotinetic acid and docaine from
00:05:54 --> 00:05:57 tridotinetic acid the authors also found
00:05:57 --> 00:05:59 an additional intriguing detail in their
00:05:59 --> 00:06:01 study related to the number of carbon
00:06:01 --> 00:06:03 atoms that make up the presumed fatty
00:06:03 --> 00:06:06 acids in the sample see the backbone of
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 each fatty acid is a long straight chain
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 of between 11 and 13 carbon atoms
00:06:11 --> 00:06:13 depending on the molecule notably
00:06:13 --> 00:06:15 non-biological processes typically make
00:06:15 --> 00:06:17 shorter fatty acids with less than 12
00:06:17 --> 00:06:20 carbons but it's possible the Cumberland
00:06:20 --> 00:06:22 sample had longer chain fatty acids
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 problem is Curiosity's Lab simply isn't
00:06:24 --> 00:06:27 optimized to detect these longer chains
00:06:27 --> 00:06:29 the authors say that ultimately there's
00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 simply a limit as to how much one can
00:06:31 --> 00:06:32 infer from molecule hunting instruments
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 that can be fitted onto a Mars rover
00:06:35 --> 00:06:37 glavin says they now need to take the
00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 next big step and bring Mars samples
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 back here to Earth so that bigger better
00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 equipped labs here can finally settle
00:06:43 --> 00:06:46 the debate about life on Mars once and
00:06:46 --> 00:06:48 for all this report about the explos of
00:06:48 --> 00:06:52 the Mars Curiosity Rover from NASA TV
00:06:52 --> 00:06:54 the Curiosity Rover set out to answer a
00:06:54 --> 00:06:57 big question could Mars have supported
00:06:58 --> 00:07:01 ancient life now we know the answer but
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 there's still so much more to learn i'm
00:07:03 --> 00:07:06 Raquel Venewa here with Curiosity Deputy
00:07:06 --> 00:07:09 Project Scientist Abigail Framan well
00:07:09 --> 00:07:12 Curiosity landed at the base of a big
00:07:12 --> 00:07:15 mountain named Mount Sharp that is made
00:07:15 --> 00:07:18 of layers of rocks so we're climbing the
00:07:18 --> 00:07:19 mountain to give us a snapshot of
00:07:19 --> 00:07:22 Martian history we've climbed over 2
00:07:22 --> 00:07:25 ft in elevation up the mountain we're
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 all the way up in these hills now it's
00:07:27 --> 00:07:29 pretty spectacular with all that
00:07:29 --> 00:07:32 climbing how is Curiosity doing pretty
00:07:32 --> 00:07:35 good actually the arm and the drill and
00:07:35 --> 00:07:37 the rover they're a little bit arthritic
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 and our wheels are a little bit beat up
00:07:39 --> 00:07:40 and how do you decide where the rover is
00:07:40 --> 00:07:42 going to go do you work with other NASA
00:07:42 --> 00:07:44 missions you know the data from the Mars
00:07:44 --> 00:07:47 orbiters have been really helpful the
00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 spectrometers that's the kind of
00:07:49 --> 00:07:50 instrument on on Odyssey and Mars
00:07:50 --> 00:07:52 Reconnaissance Orbiter have told us
00:07:52 --> 00:07:54 where the interesting minerals are and
00:07:54 --> 00:07:57 where the best places to go to look at
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 changing environments are and then in
00:07:59 --> 00:08:01 particular the cameras on the Mars
00:08:01 --> 00:08:03 Reconnaissance Orbiter they're so good
00:08:03 --> 00:08:06 and they're so helpful at allowing us to
00:08:06 --> 00:08:08 find the safest way that we can climb
00:08:08 --> 00:08:11 this mountain what would you say is the
00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 biggest discovery your team has made you
00:08:13 --> 00:08:15 know Curiosity was sent to Mars in order
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 to answer a really big question did Mars
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 have all of the ingredients that we know
00:08:20 --> 00:08:23 life needed and not only have we given
00:08:23 --> 00:08:26 that answer a definitive yes but we've
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 also seen that those ingredients were
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 around for tens of millions of years and
00:08:31 --> 00:08:34 what's next for Curiosity we can see
00:08:34 --> 00:08:35 from orbit that we're getting to a place
00:08:35 --> 00:08:37 in the mountain that likely records a
00:08:37 --> 00:08:39 pretty dramatic change in the sorts of
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 environments that were around you know
00:08:41 --> 00:08:44 the lakes that once filled Gale started
00:08:44 --> 00:08:46 to dry out and we're getting to that
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 period in time so we're really
00:08:48 --> 00:08:50 interested in answering how long did
00:08:50 --> 00:08:53 these habitable environments persist as
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 Mars and Gail Crater went through these
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 pretty big climate changes i just can't
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 wait to see what's next we've seen hints
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 that the rocks are going to be very
00:09:03 --> 00:09:06 different very soon and so I'm really
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 curious what we're going to find
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 and in that report from NASA TV we heard
00:09:11 --> 00:09:13 from Curiosity Deputy Project scientist
00:09:13 --> 00:09:17 Abigail Framan this is spaceime still to
00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 come nasa's Parker Solar Probe survives
00:09:20 --> 00:09:22 a close encounter with the sun and it
00:09:22 --> 00:09:23 turns out the earliest days of Earth's
00:09:23 --> 00:09:26 formation may have been very different
00:09:26 --> 00:09:28 from what we thought all that and more
00:09:28 --> 00:09:32 still to come on Spaceime
00:09:32 --> 00:09:46 [Music]
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 nasa's Parker Solar Probe has just
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 survived another close encounter with
00:09:50 --> 00:09:52 the sun swooping down to within 6.1
00:09:52 --> 00:09:55 million kilometers of the blistering hot
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 solar surface as well as matching its
00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 previous distance record which was
00:09:59 --> 00:10:01 achieved back in December last year the
00:10:01 --> 00:10:03 spacecraft also equaled its previous
00:10:03 --> 00:10:05 speed record clocking some
00:10:05 --> 00:10:08 692 kilometers an hour that's three
00:10:08 --> 00:10:10 times closer to the sun and seven times
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 faster than any other spacecraft has
00:10:12 --> 00:10:15 ever flown the flyby was actually
00:10:15 --> 00:10:18 Parker's 23rd science gathering solar
00:10:18 --> 00:10:20 encounter and each has been getting a
00:10:20 --> 00:10:22 little bit closer and closer this latest
00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 flyby allowed the mission's four
00:10:24 --> 00:10:25 scientific instrument packages to
00:10:25 --> 00:10:27 undertake a series of unique
00:10:27 --> 00:10:29 observations from inside the sun's
00:10:29 --> 00:10:32 corona during the encounter parker was
00:10:32 --> 00:10:33 out of contact with Earth and operating
00:10:33 --> 00:10:36 autonomously during the close approach
00:10:36 --> 00:10:37 but mission managers at the John's
00:10:38 --> 00:10:39 Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 Lurel Maryland say the spacecraft sent
00:10:41 --> 00:10:44 back a series of special turn signals
00:10:44 --> 00:10:46 confirming that it had survived and was
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 operating nominally more detailed data
00:10:48 --> 00:10:50 and information will be transmitted in
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 the next few days that's when the probes
00:10:52 --> 00:10:54 further away from the sun and its
00:10:54 --> 00:10:57 extreme electromagnetic environment the
00:10:57 --> 00:10:59 flyby the second at this distance and
00:10:59 --> 00:11:01 speed allowed the spacecraft to conduct
00:11:01 --> 00:11:03 unrivaled scientific measurements of the
00:11:03 --> 00:11:06 solar wind and related activities at the
00:11:06 --> 00:11:08 same time scientists are continuing to
00:11:08 --> 00:11:09 dig into the data which is still
00:11:10 --> 00:11:11 streaming back from the December close
00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 approach it's all a major effort with
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 three novel aerospace technology
00:11:16 --> 00:11:18 achievements critical to enabling Parker
00:11:18 --> 00:11:20 to become the first spacecraft to reach
00:11:20 --> 00:11:23 inside the sun's atmosphere the first of
00:11:23 --> 00:11:25 these is an amazing thermal protection
00:11:25 --> 00:11:27 system or heat shield it's designed to
00:11:28 --> 00:11:29 protect the spacecraft from the searing
00:11:29 --> 00:11:31 temperatures of its environment allowing
00:11:31 --> 00:11:33 it to withstand brutal temperatures as
00:11:33 --> 00:11:37 high as 1° C the thermal protection
00:11:37 --> 00:11:39 system allows the spacecraft's
00:11:39 --> 00:11:41 electronics and instruments to operate
00:11:41 --> 00:11:43 close to room temperature additional
00:11:43 --> 00:11:46 Parker innovations include firstofitkind
00:11:46 --> 00:11:47 actively cooled solar arrays that
00:11:47 --> 00:11:49 protect themselves from overexposure to
00:11:49 --> 00:11:51 the intense heat energy while powering
00:11:51 --> 00:11:53 the spacecraft and a fully autonomous
00:11:53 --> 00:11:55 spacecraft system that can manage its
00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 own flight behavior orientation and
00:11:57 --> 00:12:00 configuration for months at a time in
00:12:00 --> 00:12:01 fact Park has relied on these
00:12:01 --> 00:12:03 technologies ever since its launch
00:12:03 --> 00:12:07 almost 7 years ago back in August 2018
00:12:07 --> 00:12:09 parker's close-up observations of solar
00:12:09 --> 00:12:11 events such as coronal mass ejections
00:12:11 --> 00:12:13 and solar flares are crucial for
00:12:14 --> 00:12:15 advancing science's understanding of the
00:12:16 --> 00:12:18 sun and the phenomena that drive high
00:12:18 --> 00:12:19 energy space weather
00:12:19 --> 00:12:22 events so understanding the fundamental
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 physics behind these events will enable
00:12:25 --> 00:12:27 more reliable predictions and lower
00:12:27 --> 00:12:28 astronaut exposure to hazardous
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 radiation during future deep space
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 missions to places like the moon and
00:12:32 --> 00:12:37 Mars this spaceime still to come a new
00:12:37 --> 00:12:39 study says the earliest days of Earth's
00:12:39 --> 00:12:40 formation may have been very different
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 to what we thought and later in the
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 science report we look at the golden
00:12:45 --> 00:12:48 keys to being healthy in old age all
00:12:48 --> 00:12:53 that and more still to come on Spaceime
00:12:53 --> 00:12:58 [Music]
00:13:06 --> 00:13:07 scientists have found that planet
00:13:07 --> 00:13:09 Earth's lower mantle may have been
00:13:09 --> 00:13:11 formed under very different dynamics
00:13:11 --> 00:13:12 than what had originally been
00:13:12 --> 00:13:14 hypothesized with evidence of what
00:13:14 --> 00:13:16 appears to be low pressure rather than
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 high pressure crystallization taking
00:13:18 --> 00:13:20 place the findings reported in the
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 journal Nature shed new light on the
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 earliest days of Earth's formation and
00:13:24 --> 00:13:26 potentially calls into question some
00:13:26 --> 00:13:28 previous assumptions in planetary
00:13:28 --> 00:13:29 science about the early years of
00:13:30 --> 00:13:32 terrestrial rocky planets establishing
00:13:32 --> 00:13:34 direct link between the Earth's interior
00:13:34 --> 00:13:36 dynamics occurring within the first 100
00:13:36 --> 00:13:37 million years of the planet's history
00:13:37 --> 00:13:39 and its present- day structure the
00:13:39 --> 00:13:41 work's one of the first in the field to
00:13:41 --> 00:13:43 combine fluid mechanics with chemistry
00:13:43 --> 00:13:45 to better understand the Earth's early
00:13:45 --> 00:13:47 evolution the study's lead author
00:13:47 --> 00:13:49 Charles Edward Bicare from York
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 University says the research is the
00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 first to demonstrate using a physical
00:13:53 --> 00:13:54 model that the first order features of
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 the Earth's lower mantle structure were
00:13:56 --> 00:13:59 established 4 billion years ago the
00:13:59 --> 00:14:01 mantle is a rocky envelopment sort of
00:14:01 --> 00:14:04 like slowmoving honey or molasses that
00:14:04 --> 00:14:07 surrounds the iron core of rocky planets
00:14:07 --> 00:14:08 the structure and dynamics of the
00:14:08 --> 00:14:10 Earth's lower mantle play a major role
00:14:10 --> 00:14:13 throughout Earth's history it dictates
00:14:13 --> 00:14:14 among other things the cooling of the
00:14:14 --> 00:14:16 Earth's core that's where Earth's
00:14:16 --> 00:14:18 protective magnetic fields generated
00:14:18 --> 00:14:21 picare says that while seismology
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 geodnamics and prology have helped
00:14:23 --> 00:14:24 answer many questions about the
00:14:24 --> 00:14:26 present-day thermmochemical structure of
00:14:26 --> 00:14:28 the earth's interior a key question has
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 always remained how old are these
00:14:30 --> 00:14:33 structures and how did they form he says
00:14:33 --> 00:14:35 that trying to answer this is a bit like
00:14:35 --> 00:14:36 looking at a person in the form of an
00:14:36 --> 00:14:39 adult versus a child and trying to
00:14:39 --> 00:14:40 understand how the energetic conditions
00:14:40 --> 00:14:43 will not be the same bar points out that
00:14:43 --> 00:14:45 sometimes kids do crazy things because
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 they have lots of energy but as humans
00:14:48 --> 00:14:50 get older they don't do so many crazy
00:14:50 --> 00:14:53 things because their activity levels or
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 energy levels decrease and so the
00:14:55 --> 00:14:57 dynamics become really different but
00:14:57 --> 00:14:59 there are still some things that humans
00:14:59 --> 00:15:00 do when they're really young that end up
00:15:00 --> 00:15:03 affecting their entire lives and he says
00:15:03 --> 00:15:05 it's the same thing with planets there
00:15:05 --> 00:15:07 are some aspects in the early evolution
00:15:07 --> 00:15:09 of a planet that you could still find in
00:15:09 --> 00:15:12 their structure today so to better
00:15:12 --> 00:15:14 understand old planets scientists first
00:15:14 --> 00:15:17 need to learn how young planets behave
00:15:17 --> 00:15:19 since simulations of the Earth's matter
00:15:19 --> 00:15:20 focused mostly on present-day solid
00:15:20 --> 00:15:23 state conditions Bar had to develop a
00:15:23 --> 00:15:25 novel model to explore the early days of
00:15:25 --> 00:15:27 Earth when the matter was much hotter
00:15:27 --> 00:15:30 and substantially more molten bar's
00:15:30 --> 00:15:32 model is based on a multi-phase flow
00:15:32 --> 00:15:33 approach that allows for capturing the
00:15:33 --> 00:15:35 dynamics of magma solidification at a
00:15:35 --> 00:15:38 planetary scale using his model he
00:15:38 --> 00:15:40 studied how the early metal transition
00:15:40 --> 00:15:43 from a molten to a solid state but and
00:15:43 --> 00:15:45 his team was surprised to discover that
00:15:45 --> 00:15:47 most of the crystals formed at low
00:15:47 --> 00:15:49 pressure and that creates a very
00:15:49 --> 00:15:51 different chemical signature from what
00:15:51 --> 00:15:52 would have been produced at depth in a
00:15:52 --> 00:15:55 high pressure environment and this
00:15:55 --> 00:15:57 challenges the prevailing assumptions in
00:15:57 --> 00:15:59 planetary science as to how rocky
00:15:59 --> 00:16:02 planets form and solidify see until now
00:16:02 --> 00:16:03 science always assumed that the
00:16:04 --> 00:16:05 geochemistry of the lower mantle was
00:16:05 --> 00:16:07 probably governed by high pressure high
00:16:07 --> 00:16:10 temperature chemical reactions but based
00:16:10 --> 00:16:12 on these findings scientists may start
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 to need to account for a low pressure
00:16:14 --> 00:16:17 scenario bar says the work's important
00:16:17 --> 00:16:18 because it could also help predict the
00:16:18 --> 00:16:21 behavior of other planets down the line
00:16:21 --> 00:16:23 he says if we know the kinds of starting
00:16:23 --> 00:16:25 conditions we have with planetary
00:16:25 --> 00:16:27 formation especially terrestrial worlds
00:16:27 --> 00:16:29 we know the main processes of planetary
00:16:29 --> 00:16:31 evolution and we can then predict how
00:16:31 --> 00:16:35 planets will evolve this is spacetime
00:16:35 --> 00:16:50 [Music]
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 and time now to take another brief look
00:16:52 --> 00:16:53 at some of the other stories making news
00:16:53 --> 00:16:56 in science this week with the science
00:16:56 --> 00:16:59 report a new study warns that the amount
00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 of dissolved oxygen in the world's lakes
00:17:01 --> 00:17:04 has declined profoundly since 2003
00:17:04 --> 00:17:06 the findings reported in the journal
00:17:06 --> 00:17:08 Science Advances shows that heat waves
00:17:08 --> 00:17:10 in the overall warming of the climate is
00:17:10 --> 00:17:13 contributing to this change the authors
00:17:13 --> 00:17:15 use climate data and satellite images to
00:17:15 --> 00:17:17 model how much climate factors have
00:17:17 --> 00:17:19 influenced the oxygen levels in more
00:17:19 --> 00:17:22 than 15 lakes they found a
00:17:22 --> 00:17:24 continuous reduction in oxygen levels in
00:17:24 --> 00:17:27 83% of the lakes they studied with
00:17:27 --> 00:17:29 oxygen levels in the lakes dropping
00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 faster than observations in either
00:17:31 --> 00:17:33 rivers or oceans the authors warned
00:17:33 --> 00:17:35 lower oxygen levels can disrupt lake
00:17:35 --> 00:17:37 ecosystems harming species living in the
00:17:37 --> 00:17:39 lakes and impacting economies on the
00:17:39 --> 00:17:42 shore and of course deoxxygenated lakes
00:17:42 --> 00:17:44 produce more nitrous oxide which can
00:17:44 --> 00:17:47 further exacerbate global
00:17:47 --> 00:17:49 warming well it's nothing you haven't
00:17:49 --> 00:17:51 heard before but a new study has
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 confirmed that if you want to achieve
00:17:53 --> 00:17:55 healthy aging it's a good idea to eat
00:17:55 --> 00:17:57 more fruits and vegetables as well as
00:17:57 --> 00:17:59 whole grains unsaturated fats legumes
00:18:00 --> 00:18:02 and low-fat dairy products the findings
00:18:02 --> 00:18:04 reported in the journal Nature Medicine
00:18:04 --> 00:18:07 looked at data from over 105 people
00:18:07 --> 00:18:09 across the United States with an average
00:18:09 --> 00:18:12 age of 53 the authors looked at specific
00:18:12 --> 00:18:14 dietary patterns that help people
00:18:14 --> 00:18:16 achieve healthy aging these include
00:18:16 --> 00:18:18 maintaining cognitive physical and
00:18:18 --> 00:18:20 mental health after the age of 70 they
00:18:20 --> 00:18:22 found that after a 30-year follow-up
00:18:22 --> 00:18:25 only 9.3% achieved what the researchers
00:18:25 --> 00:18:27 defined as healthy aging with specific
00:18:27 --> 00:18:29 dietary patterns being closely
00:18:29 --> 00:18:32 associated with that healthy aging in
00:18:32 --> 00:18:34 contrast they found that eating more
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36 trans fats more salt more sugary
00:18:36 --> 00:18:38 beverages and lots of red or processed
00:18:38 --> 00:18:40 meats was all associated with a much
00:18:40 --> 00:18:42 lower likelihood of achieving healthy
00:18:42 --> 00:18:44 aging
00:18:44 --> 00:18:45 scientists have developed a way of
00:18:45 --> 00:18:47 purifying urban waste water and
00:18:47 --> 00:18:50 extracting valuable products from urine
00:18:50 --> 00:18:52 the new findings reported in the journal
00:18:52 --> 00:18:53 Nature could be used for a range of
00:18:54 --> 00:18:56 applications including fertilizing crops
00:18:56 --> 00:18:58 the new process involves using an
00:18:58 --> 00:19:00 electrochemical reaction to remove ura
00:19:00 --> 00:19:03 from waste water and transform it into a
00:19:03 --> 00:19:05 nearly pure perbomide which could then
00:19:05 --> 00:19:06 have various useful applications
00:19:06 --> 00:19:08 including environmental water treatment
00:19:08 --> 00:19:11 disinfection and improved crop growth so
00:19:11 --> 00:19:13 the new findings are presenting a new
00:19:13 --> 00:19:15 potentially scalable and cost-effective
00:19:15 --> 00:19:17 approach to large-scale wastewater
00:19:17 --> 00:19:19 treatment with both economic and
00:19:19 --> 00:19:21 environmental
00:19:21 --> 00:19:23 values well looks like scientists may
00:19:23 --> 00:19:24 have come up with a practical
00:19:24 --> 00:19:27 replacement for lithium ion batteries
00:19:27 --> 00:19:29 the lithium ion battery has been a
00:19:29 --> 00:19:31 revolution in rechargeable portable
00:19:31 --> 00:19:33 storeable power primarily because it
00:19:33 --> 00:19:35 lacked the memory charging problems of
00:19:35 --> 00:19:38 earlier NIKAD batteries however
00:19:38 --> 00:19:39 lithium-ion batteries are a growing
00:19:40 --> 00:19:41 concern because their energy density and
00:19:42 --> 00:19:44 flammable electrolytes with cases often
00:19:44 --> 00:19:46 stemming from improper charging damage
00:19:46 --> 00:19:49 or exposure to extreme conditions now
00:19:49 --> 00:19:51 scientists have come up with a practical
00:19:51 --> 00:19:53 replacement it's called the lithium
00:19:53 --> 00:19:56 titanate oxide battery lithium titanate
00:19:56 --> 00:19:58 has the advantage of being safer and
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00 faster to charge they use lithium
00:20:00 --> 00:20:03 titanate nano crystals instead of carbon
00:20:03 --> 00:20:05 on the surface of the anode this gives
00:20:05 --> 00:20:07 the anode a surface area of around 100
00:20:07 --> 00:20:09 square m per gram compared with 3 square
00:20:09 --> 00:20:12 m per gram for carbon allowing electrons
00:20:12 --> 00:20:13 to enter and leave the anode more
00:20:13 --> 00:20:16 quickly also lithium titanate cells are
00:20:16 --> 00:20:19 longlasting between 6 and 30
00:20:19 --> 00:20:22 charge cycles they're already being used
00:20:22 --> 00:20:24 in many military applications and some
00:20:24 --> 00:20:26 Japanese electric cars are now also
00:20:26 --> 00:20:28 being fitted with them but lithium
00:20:28 --> 00:20:31 titanate isn't perfect the disadvantages
00:20:31 --> 00:20:33 include lower energy density resulting
00:20:33 --> 00:20:36 in lower inherent 2.4 volts instead of
00:20:36 --> 00:20:37 lithium ions
00:20:37 --> 00:20:40 3.7 with the details we're joined by
00:20:40 --> 00:20:42 technology editor Alexarovit from
00:20:42 --> 00:20:44 techadvice.life
00:20:44 --> 00:20:45 now these batteries actually have been
00:20:45 --> 00:20:47 in use by NASA and the military for some
00:20:47 --> 00:20:49 decades but they weren't commercial or
00:20:49 --> 00:20:50 commercially available because
00:20:50 --> 00:20:53 technology just hadn't advanced to a
00:20:53 --> 00:20:54 degree that you could replicate as
00:20:54 --> 00:20:56 easily as lithium ion now lithium ion
00:20:56 --> 00:20:58 has a problem in that if you put a nail
00:20:58 --> 00:20:59 through the battery in the back of your
00:20:59 --> 00:21:01 phone it'll have a runaway thermal
00:21:01 --> 00:21:02 reaction where you'll have this
00:21:02 --> 00:21:04 outgassing of very toxic gases and we
00:21:04 --> 00:21:06 hear about people with scooters they
00:21:06 --> 00:21:07 charge them inside their houses they
00:21:07 --> 00:21:09 leave them on the charger all night they
00:21:09 --> 00:21:11 may maybe have third party batteries or
00:21:11 --> 00:21:12 the batteries themselves have been
00:21:12 --> 00:21:13 damaged because on scooters you know
00:21:14 --> 00:21:15 you're banging on curbs and it's just a
00:21:15 --> 00:21:16 rough sort of environment for the
00:21:16 --> 00:21:19 battery and they go off and if you know
00:21:19 --> 00:21:20 people have died the houses have been
00:21:20 --> 00:21:23 burnt down and so people are wary of
00:21:23 --> 00:21:25 modern mobile batteries especially if
00:21:25 --> 00:21:27 it's very cold that don't charge i mean
00:21:27 --> 00:21:29 we heard about cars that don't charge in
00:21:29 --> 00:21:30 the very cold American winters and
00:21:30 --> 00:21:32 lithium titanate has a few serious
00:21:32 --> 00:21:35 advantages one it operates in those - 20
00:21:35 --> 00:21:38 - 30° C temperatures which are very bad
00:21:38 --> 00:21:39 for lithium ion batteries and they
00:21:39 --> 00:21:41 operate at high temperatures as well
00:21:41 --> 00:21:43 they recharge to full in approximately
00:21:43 --> 00:21:45 20 minutes if you damage them with a
00:21:45 --> 00:21:48 nail or if they get broken in a airplane
00:21:48 --> 00:21:49 seat they will not have the runaway
00:21:49 --> 00:21:51 thermal reaction and then on top of all
00:21:51 --> 00:21:53 of that a normal mobile phone battery
00:21:53 --> 00:21:56 lasts about 1500 cycles before it starts
00:21:56 --> 00:21:57 getting to about 80% of its life and you
00:21:57 --> 00:21:59 know discharges very quickly we've all
00:21:59 --> 00:22:01 experienced a phone that is not holding
00:22:01 --> 00:22:03 anywhere near the charge you got when it
00:22:03 --> 00:22:04 was new and of course you can buy a new
00:22:04 --> 00:22:06 or third party battery but imagine if
00:22:06 --> 00:22:08 you could have a battery that lasted 10
00:22:08 --> 00:22:09 or even 20 years before you needed to
00:22:09 --> 00:22:11 replace it lithium Titanate batteries
00:22:11 --> 00:22:13 have a recharge cycle not of 1500 but of
00:22:13 --> 00:22:15 20 cycles or more there are some
00:22:16 --> 00:22:17 robot prototypes from 30 years ago that
00:22:18 --> 00:22:19 are still working to this day because
00:22:19 --> 00:22:21 they had lithium titan AA batteries so
00:22:21 --> 00:22:22 Toshiba is one of the companies that is
00:22:22 --> 00:22:24 commercializing this going to be using
00:22:24 --> 00:22:26 it in power tools that use rechargeable
00:22:26 --> 00:22:27 batteries we'll see these things in cars
00:22:28 --> 00:22:29 and in scooters and the company behind
00:22:29 --> 00:22:32 it is called proper voltage.com used to
00:22:32 --> 00:22:35 be known as zapbat b-t.com and they
00:22:35 --> 00:22:36 actually have an operating system that
00:22:36 --> 00:22:38 can interface with any sort of battery
00:22:38 --> 00:22:39 and produce the correct sort of voltage
00:22:39 --> 00:22:41 for any sort of application so it's kind
00:22:41 --> 00:22:43 of this universal translator between
00:22:43 --> 00:22:44 different sorts of batteries and
00:22:44 --> 00:22:46 different sorts of electronics in the
00:22:46 --> 00:22:47 past you had to match them very
00:22:47 --> 00:22:48 carefully and closely together but with
00:22:48 --> 00:22:50 this operating system merged with this
00:22:50 --> 00:22:52 lithium titanate batteries it's going to
00:22:52 --> 00:22:53 be the revolution we've been waiting for
00:22:53 --> 00:22:55 in battery technology but it'll still
00:22:55 --> 00:22:57 take a few years before it's everywhere
00:22:57 --> 00:22:59 but that's a great example of that
00:22:59 --> 00:23:00 famous saying that from William Gibson
00:23:00 --> 00:23:02 the guy who wrote neurommancer he said
00:23:02 --> 00:23:04 "The future has already been invented it
00:23:04 --> 00:23:06 just hasn't been widely distributed
00:23:06 --> 00:23:09 yet." Well lithium titan 8 time is on
00:23:09 --> 00:23:10 the very cusp of being widely
00:23:10 --> 00:23:12 distributed and the battery problems of
00:23:12 --> 00:23:14 the past 10 years are going to fade away
00:23:14 --> 00:23:17 into non-existent they'll be distant
00:23:17 --> 00:23:19 memories that's Alexar of Roit from
00:23:19 --> 00:23:22 techadvice.life
00:23:22 --> 00:23:36 [Music]
00:23:36 --> 00:23:39 and that's the show for now spaceime is
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