Martian Mineral Mysteries, Australia’s Spaceport Setback, and Antimatter Breakthrough: S27E153
Space News TodayDecember 20, 202400:25:2123.22 MB

Martian Mineral Mysteries, Australia’s Spaceport Setback, and Antimatter Breakthrough: S27E153

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 153

* The Mysterious Origins of Martian Minerals

A new study suggests that some Martian minerals may have formed in liquid carbon dioxide rather than water. While traditional views link Mars' dry river channels to past water presence, this research indicates that under ancient Martian conditions, liquid CO2 could have been a significant factor in shaping the planet's geological features. This finding, published in Nature Geoscience, adds a new layer to the ongoing debate about Mars' liquid past and its implications for the planet's habitability.

* Australia's Arnhem Space Centre Shuttered

Equatorial Launch Australia has announced the closure of the Arnhem Space Centre due to unresolved lease issues with the Northern Land Council. Originally envisioned as a hub for commercial space launches, the project faced multiple delays over land agreements. Plans are now underway to relocate operations to Queensland, aiming to establish the Australian Space Centre, Geberic which promises significant economic benefits and indigenous employment opportunities.

*Discovery of the Heaviest Antimatter Particle

Physicists at CERN's Large Hadron Collider have identified what could be the heaviest antimatter particle ever detected. Using the ALICE experiment, researchers observed anti-hyperhelium 4, an exotic hypernucleus. This discovery provides new insights into the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe, as scientists continue to explore the mysteries of the Big Bang and the universe's evolution.

00:00 Some Martian minerals may have been formed in liquid carbon dioxide rather than water

06:01 Scientists find evidence for what appears to be the most massive antimatter particle ever detected

13:15 Move of time projection chamber into ALICE detector starts very slowly

15:22 The TPC is our main tracking detector for heavy ion collisions

20:21 Living in an agricultural community with high pesticide use may increase cancer risk

22:50 Former CNN reporter Tucker Carlson claims he was attacked by a demon while sleeping

www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com (https://www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com)

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✍️ Episode References

Journal of Nature Geoscience

[Nature Geoscience](https://www.nature.com/ngeo/)

NASA's Mars Perseverance rover mission

[NASA Perseverance](https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/)

Equatorial Launch Australia

[Equatorial Launch Australia](https://ela.space/)

Large Hadron Collider

[CERN LHC](https://home.cern/science/accelerators/large-hadron-collider)

ALICE experiment

[ALICE Experiment](https://alice.cern/)

Northern Land Council

[Northern Land Council](https://www.nlc.org.au/)

Journal Frontiers of Cancer Control and Society

[Frontiers in Cancer](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cancer)

Journal Science

[Science Journal](https://www.sciencemag.org/)

Australian Skeptics

[Australian Skeptics](https://www.skeptics.com.au/)

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/spacetime-with-stuart-gary--2458531/support (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/spacetime-with-stuart-gary--2458531/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss) .

Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/24723590?utm_source=youtube

Kind: captions Language: en
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 this is spacetime series 27 episode 153

00:00:03 --> 00:00:06 for broadcast on the 20th of December

00:00:06 --> 00:00:09 2024 coming up on space time the

00:00:09 --> 00:00:11 possible strange origins of some Martian

00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 minerals Australia's Anam Space Center

00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 scrapped and discovery of the heaviest

00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 antimatter particle ever detected all

00:00:20 --> 00:00:23 that and more coming up on

00:00:23 --> 00:00:26 SpaceTime welcome to SpaceTime with

00:00:26 --> 00:00:28 Stuart Gary

00:00:28 --> 00:00:35 [Music]



00:00:43 --> 00:00:45 a new study has found that some minerals

00:00:45 --> 00:00:47 seen on Mars today may have been formed

00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 in liquid carbon dioxide rather than

00:00:49 --> 00:00:52 liquid water Dry River channels and Lake

00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 beds on Mars point to a long ago

00:00:54 --> 00:00:57 presence of liquid on the planet surface

00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 and the minerals observed from orbit and

00:00:59 --> 00:01:02 from Landers seemed to many scientists

00:01:02 --> 00:01:04 to prove that the liquid was ordinary

00:01:04 --> 00:01:07 water however a new study reported in

00:01:07 --> 00:01:09 the journal natur geoscience suggests

00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 that water is only one of two possible

00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 liquids which under the right conditions

00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 could have been present on Ancient Mars

00:01:16 --> 00:01:19 the other is liquid carbon dioxide and

00:01:19 --> 00:01:21 it may actually been easier for carbon

00:01:21 --> 00:01:22 dioxide in the atmosphere to condense

00:01:23 --> 00:01:24 into a liquid under those conditions

00:01:24 --> 00:01:27 than for water ice to melt well others

00:01:27 --> 00:01:30 have suggested that liquid CO2 might be

00:01:30 --> 00:01:31 the source for some of the river

00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 channels seen on Mars the mineral

00:01:33 --> 00:01:36 evidence seems to point uniquely to

00:01:36 --> 00:01:38 water however this new paper sites

00:01:38 --> 00:01:41 recent studies of carbon sequestration

00:01:41 --> 00:01:43 the process of bearing liquefied CO2

00:01:43 --> 00:01:45 recovered from Earth's atmosphere deep

00:01:45 --> 00:01:47 in underground Caverns it shows that

00:01:48 --> 00:01:50 similar mineral alteration can occur in

00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 liquid carbon dioxide as in liquid water

00:01:52 --> 00:01:55 sometimes even more rapidly the studies

00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 leate author Michael heck principal

00:01:57 --> 00:01:58 investigator for The Moxy instrument

00:01:58 --> 00:02:00 aboard NASA's MS perseverance rover

00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 mission says understanding how

00:02:02 --> 00:02:04 sufficient liquid water was able to flow

00:02:04 --> 00:02:06 on the early Martian surface in order to

00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 explain the morphology and minerology

00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 scen today is probably the greatest

00:02:10 --> 00:02:13 unsettled question of Martian science he

00:02:13 --> 00:02:15 says there's likely no one right answer

00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 and is merely suggesting another

00:02:17 --> 00:02:20 possible piece of the puzzle hecken

00:02:20 --> 00:02:21 colleagues looked at the compatibility

00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 of their proposal with current knowledge

00:02:23 --> 00:02:25 of Martian atmospheric content and the

00:02:25 --> 00:02:28 implications for Martian surface

00:02:28 --> 00:02:30 minerology they also explored the latest

00:02:30 --> 00:02:32 carbon sequestration research and

00:02:32 --> 00:02:34 concluded that liquid CO2 mineral

00:02:34 --> 00:02:36 reactions are consistent with the

00:02:36 --> 00:02:38 predominant Mass alteration products

00:02:38 --> 00:02:41 carbonates phos silicates and sulfates

00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 the argument for the probable existence

00:02:43 --> 00:02:45 of liquid CO2 on the Marian surface

00:02:45 --> 00:02:49 isn't an Allin or allout scenario it's

00:02:49 --> 00:02:51 not a case of either liquid CO2 or

00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 liquid water it could be that a

00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 combination of both may have brought

00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 about much of the geomorphological and

00:02:57 --> 00:03:00 minerological evidence for a liquid m

00:03:00 --> 00:03:02 the likelihood of each depends on the

00:03:02 --> 00:03:04 actual inventory of CO2 at the time as

00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 well as the temperature conditions on

00:03:06 --> 00:03:08 the surface the authors acknowledge that

00:03:08 --> 00:03:11 the tested sequestration conditions with

00:03:11 --> 00:03:13 the liquid CO2 is above room temperature

00:03:13 --> 00:03:15 at pressures of tens of atmospheres are

00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 very different from the cold relatively

00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 low press conditions that might have

00:03:19 --> 00:03:22 once produced liquid CO2 on early Mars

00:03:22 --> 00:03:25 hex says it's difficult to say just How

00:03:25 --> 00:03:27 likely it is that this speculation about

00:03:27 --> 00:03:30 early Mars is true but the likelihood is

00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 high enough that the possibility should

00:03:32 --> 00:03:36 not be ignored this is spacetime still

00:03:36 --> 00:03:39 to come the northern territory's arnam

00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 Spaceport closed and scrapped and

00:03:41 --> 00:03:43 discovery of what could be the heaviest

00:03:43 --> 00:03:46 antimatter particle ever detected all

00:03:46 --> 00:03:50 that and more still to come on SpaceTime

00:03:50 --> 00:04:04 [Music]

00:04:04 --> 00:04:06 it was meant to Herald in a bright New

00:04:06 --> 00:04:08 Era for the Northern Territory but

00:04:08 --> 00:04:10 ongoing problems with some of the

00:04:10 --> 00:04:12 traditional owners has forced equatorial

00:04:12 --> 00:04:15 launch Australia to shut down the Aram

00:04:15 --> 00:04:17 Space Center near nenoy and relocate

00:04:17 --> 00:04:20 operations to Queensland the commercial

00:04:20 --> 00:04:22 Spaceport looked like it had an exciting

00:04:22 --> 00:04:24 future with three suborbital rocket

00:04:24 --> 00:04:26 launchers finessa under its sport in

00:04:26 --> 00:04:29 2022 and a long list of potential future

00:04:29 --> 00:04:30 clients which would have seen around 50

00:04:30 --> 00:04:33 launches a year generating a projected

00:04:33 --> 00:04:37 $3.6 billion in direct economic stimulus

00:04:37 --> 00:04:39 the problem is there have been multiple

00:04:39 --> 00:04:41 delays in trying to secure a lease

00:04:41 --> 00:04:43 agreement with the northern land Council

00:04:43 --> 00:04:44 that's the group representing the

00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 traditional owners of the land the lease

00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 is needed to expand the base and build

00:04:49 --> 00:04:52 infrastructure for future missions

00:04:52 --> 00:04:54 equatorial launch Australia says the

00:04:54 --> 00:04:55 northern land Council has failed to meet

00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 its own specified deadline for the

00:04:58 --> 00:04:59 approval of the head lease for the

00:04:59 --> 00:05:02 fourth time in the last 12 months the

00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 company says despite desperate appeals

00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 by the company the northern territory's

00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 Chief Minister's department and the Gumi

00:05:08 --> 00:05:10 Corporation since February 2024 the

00:05:10 --> 00:05:12 northern land Council would not issue a

00:05:12 --> 00:05:14 head lease or provide any official

00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 reasons for the ongoing delays the

00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 Spaceport project was meant to provide

00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 indigenous employment and was provided

00:05:21 --> 00:05:23 with $5 million worth of taxpayer

00:05:23 --> 00:05:25 funding to get the project off the

00:05:25 --> 00:05:27 ground the company says the ongoing

00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 delays had a potential to put equatorial

00:05:29 --> 00:05:31 Australia in breach of its contractual

00:05:31 --> 00:05:34 obligations with launch clients and so

00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 it's now started negotiations with the

00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 Queensland government and he's looking

00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 at a site near weeper on Cape York

00:05:40 --> 00:05:42 Peninsula for a new space port which

00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 will be called the Australian Space

00:05:44 --> 00:05:48 Center Cape York this is spacetime still

00:05:48 --> 00:05:50 to come discovery of the heaviest

00:05:50 --> 00:05:52 antimatter particle ever detected and

00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 later in the science report a new study

00:05:54 --> 00:05:56 warns that Australian and New Zealand

00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 species are among the most vulnerable to

00:05:58 --> 00:06:01 Extinction choose to climate change all

00:06:01 --> 00:06:04 that and more still to come on

00:06:04 --> 00:06:18 [Music]

00:06:18 --> 00:06:20 SpaceTime scientists have found evidence

00:06:20 --> 00:06:22 for appears to be the most massive

00:06:22 --> 00:06:25 antimatter particle ever detected the

00:06:25 --> 00:06:26 discovery was made by physicist with the

00:06:27 --> 00:06:29 ALICE Experiment at the world's largest

00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 atom smash out the large hron collider

00:06:31 --> 00:06:34 or LHC at CERN the European Organization

00:06:34 --> 00:06:37 for nuclear research in theory

00:06:37 --> 00:06:40 antimatter is exactly the same as normal

00:06:40 --> 00:06:41 matter but with opposite electrical

00:06:41 --> 00:06:45 charge and some different quet colors so

00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 while the proton has a positive charge

00:06:47 --> 00:06:48 its antimatter counterpart the

00:06:48 --> 00:06:50 antiproton would have the same mass but

00:06:50 --> 00:06:53 a negative charge and while the electron

00:06:53 --> 00:06:55 has a negative charge its antimatter

00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 counterpart the positron has the same

00:06:57 --> 00:07:00 mass but a positive charge science's

00:07:00 --> 00:07:02 current understanding of cosmology

00:07:02 --> 00:07:04 suggests that equal amounts of matter

00:07:04 --> 00:07:06 and antimatter would have been produced

00:07:06 --> 00:07:09 in the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago

00:07:09 --> 00:07:11 now because matter and antimatter

00:07:11 --> 00:07:13 annihilate each other as soon as they

00:07:13 --> 00:07:14 come into contact the universe should

00:07:14 --> 00:07:16 have disappeared in a sudden blinding

00:07:16 --> 00:07:18 flash of purple gamma radiation as soon

00:07:18 --> 00:07:21 as it Formed yet clearly this didn't

00:07:21 --> 00:07:24 happen for some as yet unknown reason we

00:07:24 --> 00:07:26 live in a universe which is asymmetric

00:07:26 --> 00:07:28 made up almost exclusively of matter

00:07:28 --> 00:07:31 with anti matter mostly missing

00:07:31 --> 00:07:33 scientists using the Large Hadron

00:07:33 --> 00:07:35 Collider a 27 km circumference

00:07:35 --> 00:07:37 underground particle accelerator along

00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 the Franco Swiss border was smashing

00:07:39 --> 00:07:41 heavy ions together at

00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 99% the speed of light creating

00:07:43 --> 00:07:46 what's called a quark glue on plasma the

00:07:46 --> 00:07:47 hot and dense state of matter that

00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 existed during the first millionth of a

00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 second after the big bang and in the

00:07:52 --> 00:07:54 process they created an exotic hyper

00:07:54 --> 00:07:57 nucleus known as Hyper helium 4

00:07:57 --> 00:07:58 measurements of these forms of matter

00:07:58 --> 00:08:01 are important helping physicists

00:08:01 --> 00:08:02 understand the formation of hyrons from

00:08:02 --> 00:08:04 the plasma constituents of quarks and

00:08:04 --> 00:08:06 gluin and the mattera antimatter

00:08:06 --> 00:08:08 asymmetry which is seen in our present

00:08:08 --> 00:08:11 day Universe hyper nuclei are exotic

00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 nuclei formed by a mix of protons

00:08:13 --> 00:08:16 neutrons and hyperons the latter being

00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 unstable particles containing one or

00:08:18 --> 00:08:21 more strange quarks there are six types

00:08:21 --> 00:08:24 of quarks up down top bottom charm and

00:08:24 --> 00:08:27 strange and strange quarks are extremely

00:08:27 --> 00:08:30 rare more than 70 after their Discovery

00:08:30 --> 00:08:33 in cosmic rays hypernuclei remain a

00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 source of Fascination for physicists

00:08:35 --> 00:08:37 because they're rarely found in nature

00:08:37 --> 00:08:38 and it's challenging to create and study

00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 them in the laboratory and that's where

00:08:41 --> 00:08:43 the ALICE Experiment comes in but until

00:08:43 --> 00:08:46 recently only the lightest hyper nucleus

00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 the hyperon and its antimatter partner

00:08:48 --> 00:08:50 the anti- hyper Triton have been

00:08:50 --> 00:08:53 observed a hyper Triton is composed of a

00:08:53 --> 00:08:56 proton a neutron and a Lambda that is a

00:08:56 --> 00:09:00 hyon containing a strange quark an anti-

00:09:00 --> 00:09:02 hyperon is made up of an anti-proton an

00:09:03 --> 00:09:05 anti- Neutron and an anti- Lambda

00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 following hot on the hills of an

00:09:07 --> 00:09:09 observation of anti- hyper hydrogen 4

00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 which is a bound state of an anti-proton

00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 two anti- neutrons and an anti- Lambda

00:09:14 --> 00:09:15 and which were reported earlier this

00:09:15 --> 00:09:17 year by the star collaboration at the

00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 relativistic heavy iron collider of the

00:09:19 --> 00:09:21 Brook Haven National Laboratory in New

00:09:21 --> 00:09:24 York the Alice collaboration at the LHC

00:09:24 --> 00:09:26 has now seen the first ever evidence for

00:09:26 --> 00:09:28 anti- hyper helium for which is composed

00:09:28 --> 00:09:31 of two anti protons an anti- Neutron and

00:09:31 --> 00:09:34 an anti-lambda the result represents the

00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 first evidence for the heaviest

00:09:36 --> 00:09:39 antimatter hyper nuclei yet detected the

00:09:39 --> 00:09:41 Alice measurement is based on lead lead

00:09:41 --> 00:09:44 Collision data taken back in 2018 at an

00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 energy of 5.02 Terra electron volts for

00:09:47 --> 00:09:49 each of the colliding pair of nucleons

00:09:49 --> 00:09:51 that is protons and neutrons using a

00:09:51 --> 00:09:53 machine learning technique that

00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 outperforms conventional hypernuclei

00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 search techniques the Alice researchers

00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 looked at the data for signals of hyper

00:09:59 --> 00:10:01 hydrogen 4 hyper helium 4 and their

00:10:01 --> 00:10:04 antima Partners candidates for the anti-

00:10:04 --> 00:10:06 hyper hydrogen 4 were identified by

00:10:07 --> 00:10:09 looking for the anti- hyper helium 4

00:10:09 --> 00:10:11 nucleus and the charged Pon into which

00:10:11 --> 00:10:14 it decays whereas candidates for the

00:10:14 --> 00:10:16 anti- hyper helium 4 were identified

00:10:16 --> 00:10:18 through its Decay into antih helium 3

00:10:18 --> 00:10:22 nucleus an antiproton and a Charged p p

00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 are the lightest type of subatomic

00:10:24 --> 00:10:26 particles called meons which are the

00:10:26 --> 00:10:28 lest types of matter particles called

00:10:28 --> 00:10:31 hadrons the they're highly unstable and

00:10:31 --> 00:10:34 usually decay in a matter of Nan seconds

00:10:34 --> 00:10:35 in addition to finding evidence for

00:10:35 --> 00:10:38 anti-hy helium 4 with a significance of

00:10:38 --> 00:10:40 3.5 Sigma as well as evidence for anti-

00:10:40 --> 00:10:42 hyper hydrogen 4 with a significance of

00:10:42 --> 00:10:45 4.5 Sigma the Alice team also measured

00:10:45 --> 00:10:47 the production yields and masses for

00:10:47 --> 00:10:48 both

00:10:48 --> 00:10:50 hypernuclei the findings are consistent

00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 with Alice's observations of the equal

00:10:52 --> 00:10:54 production of both matter and antimatter

00:10:54 --> 00:10:56 at LHC energies and adds to the ongoing

00:10:57 --> 00:10:58 Research into matter antimatter

00:10:58 --> 00:11:01 imbalance in the universe the Alice

00:11:01 --> 00:11:02 detector recently underwent a major

00:11:02 --> 00:11:04 upgrade with new components and

00:11:04 --> 00:11:06 Equipment helping the facility to

00:11:06 --> 00:11:09 improve its scientific research this

00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 report from the Alis collaboration at

00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 CERN welcome to CERN welcome to LHC

00:11:14 --> 00:11:17 point2 one of the eight surface point on

00:11:17 --> 00:11:20 the surface of the large hyron collider

00:11:20 --> 00:11:23 this is the home of the Alice experiment

00:11:23 --> 00:11:27 that is situated about 60 M underground

00:11:27 --> 00:11:29 Alice stands for a large iron collider

00:11:29 --> 00:11:31 experiment and it is one of the four

00:11:31 --> 00:11:33 detectors reading the collisions

00:11:33 --> 00:11:36 generated by the large Adon collider

00:11:36 --> 00:11:39 it's a very special detector studying

00:11:39 --> 00:11:42 the conditions of matter right after the

00:11:42 --> 00:11:44 very beginning of the universe at the

00:11:44 --> 00:11:47 Big Bang we are here to share with you a

00:11:47 --> 00:11:50 major and spectacular operation of

00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 transport and installation of some of

00:11:52 --> 00:11:55 the components of the Alys detector that

00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 have been undergoing a major upgrade

00:11:57 --> 00:12:00 these operations uh was Happening Here

00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 on the surface we've been following it h

00:12:02 --> 00:12:05 in particular we have been following the

00:12:05 --> 00:12:07 time projection chamber one of the main

00:12:07 --> 00:12:09 components of the detector a big piece

00:12:09 --> 00:12:12 14.2 tons heavy while it was transported

00:12:12 --> 00:12:15 from the clean room where it has been

00:12:15 --> 00:12:17 upgraded in the last few months through

00:12:17 --> 00:12:21 the shaft inside the TPC Cavern the TPC

00:12:21 --> 00:12:25 is being dissented into the shaft

00:12:25 --> 00:12:28 precisely 56 meters deep this was quite

00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 a delicate operation because the TPC is

00:12:30 --> 00:12:33 almost as large as the shaft itself it

00:12:33 --> 00:12:36 measures 50 m in length it has 90 cubic

00:12:36 --> 00:12:39 m in volume so the tolerance was very

00:12:39 --> 00:12:41 little the piece is extremely cumbersome

00:12:41 --> 00:12:43 and heavy but also delicate and

00:12:43 --> 00:12:45 sophisticated so you can see the uh

00:12:45 --> 00:12:47 Alice Engineers running around the gang

00:12:47 --> 00:12:49 ways making sure that everything is

00:12:49 --> 00:12:52 under control the mo the movement was

00:12:52 --> 00:12:55 quite slow it took an entire hour to

00:12:55 --> 00:12:58 descend 56 M and it took all in all 3

00:12:58 --> 00:13:00 days for the whole operation to be

00:13:00 --> 00:13:02 completed the operation is now complete

00:13:02 --> 00:13:05 the TPC is underground we are going to

00:13:05 --> 00:13:07 join very soon the Alice technical

00:13:07 --> 00:13:09 coordinator verer regler to ask him

00:13:09 --> 00:13:12 questions about the operation the piece

00:13:12 --> 00:13:14 what it measures what it does why it's

00:13:14 --> 00:13:17 been upgraded we are in the Alice Cavern

00:13:17 --> 00:13:19 with verer regler the technical

00:13:19 --> 00:13:21 coordinator of the Alice collaboration

00:13:21 --> 00:13:24 hi verer so we are here and the movement

00:13:24 --> 00:13:26 of the time projection chamber your TPC

00:13:26 --> 00:13:28 has just started tell me what's

00:13:28 --> 00:13:29 happening

00:13:29 --> 00:13:32 so this is now after the move from the

00:13:32 --> 00:13:34 clean room to the coven this is now the

00:13:34 --> 00:13:38 final move of uh the TPC into the Aris

00:13:38 --> 00:13:41 detector to the interaction point it's a

00:13:41 --> 00:13:43 very critical moment because uh we have

00:13:43 --> 00:13:46 changed a lot on the TPC during this

00:13:46 --> 00:13:48 upgrade uh we also have changed a lot on

00:13:48 --> 00:13:50 the Alice detector so we still have lots

00:13:50 --> 00:13:52 of new we have lots of new services and

00:13:52 --> 00:13:54 we have to make sure it fits the

00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 clearances are very tight so there are

00:13:56 --> 00:13:58 many people all around the DPC to look

00:13:58 --> 00:14:00 that we have no interferences and that

00:14:00 --> 00:14:03 we can move the TPC really to the final

00:14:03 --> 00:14:06 position and it's moving very slowly yes

00:14:06 --> 00:14:08 it's moving slowly of course because

00:14:08 --> 00:14:10 everybody has to look uh that there are

00:14:10 --> 00:14:14 no uh things in the way the TPC is about

00:14:14 --> 00:14:16 15 Tons we pull it with hydraulic checks

00:14:16 --> 00:14:18 and of course if there's something in

00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 the way you would not feel it you have

00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 to really look to make sure that we

00:14:22 --> 00:14:23 don't break anything and this is why

00:14:23 --> 00:14:25 it's a very slow movement and why we

00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 have many people around the TPC to have

00:14:27 --> 00:14:31 a look okay okay and now once it it's in

00:14:31 --> 00:14:34 its final position inside there are all

00:14:34 --> 00:14:37 sorts of connections to be made right so

00:14:37 --> 00:14:39 yes what we do now is the TPC will go to

00:14:39 --> 00:14:42 the final position okay and then we will

00:14:42 --> 00:14:45 align it okay it has to be aligned uh

00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 properly to a mm or so or better with

00:14:48 --> 00:14:52 the nominal beam line from theis very

00:14:52 --> 00:14:54 precisely with the beam line and uh once

00:14:54 --> 00:14:56 this is done then we move it back a

00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 little bit and then the beam pipe will

00:14:59 --> 00:15:00 be installed this is the piece that will

00:15:01 --> 00:15:04 then connect the uh two sides of the LC

00:15:04 --> 00:15:06 tunnel where the beam will pass through

00:15:06 --> 00:15:08 the it's like a Lego basically Alice is

00:15:08 --> 00:15:10 made of many different components the

00:15:10 --> 00:15:13 TPC is very very big it's it's beautiful

00:15:13 --> 00:15:15 to to look at and it's very delicate as

00:15:15 --> 00:15:17 we've seen uh the transport down the

00:15:17 --> 00:15:19 shaft was also very careful and now is

00:15:19 --> 00:15:22 very carefully being inserted inside

00:15:22 --> 00:15:25 what's the role of the TPC uh in the

00:15:25 --> 00:15:28 whole uh detector yeah so the TPC is our

00:15:28 --> 00:15:30 main tracking detector it means time

00:15:30 --> 00:15:33 projection chamber Let's us explain uh

00:15:33 --> 00:15:36 why this name what does it mean exactly

00:15:36 --> 00:15:40 so yeah the the the task of the DPC is

00:15:40 --> 00:15:42 to to track the particles okay to make

00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 the particles visible that are produced

00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 in the heavy ion collisions and the

00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 trick with the TPC is that this is a big

00:15:48 --> 00:15:51 volume that is filled with a very light

00:15:51 --> 00:15:53 gas with neon gas yeah and as particles

00:15:53 --> 00:15:57 are moving through this gas uh these

00:15:57 --> 00:15:59 particles are ionizing the gas and these

00:15:59 --> 00:16:00 electrons and ions that are produced

00:16:00 --> 00:16:03 there are then detected by the TPC and

00:16:03 --> 00:16:05 this is how we can make the path of the

00:16:05 --> 00:16:07 part ni beautiful tracks of the Alice

00:16:07 --> 00:16:09 event and now that is going to be in uh

00:16:09 --> 00:16:11 in half an hour or so because the

00:16:11 --> 00:16:14 movement is low but it's it takes uh it

00:16:14 --> 00:16:16 takes time but it's also a short

00:16:16 --> 00:16:17 movement right now that you're doing

00:16:17 --> 00:16:19 it's the final the final part it's about

00:16:19 --> 00:16:21 2 3 m that we move in as I said it will

00:16:21 --> 00:16:24 go to the final position and after that

00:16:24 --> 00:16:26 we move back a little bit and then we

00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 install the pin pipe which is a very

00:16:28 --> 00:16:32 important element of a particle uh the

00:16:32 --> 00:16:34 bean pipe is also new it's a new Bean

00:16:34 --> 00:16:35 pipe that you're putting in the bean

00:16:35 --> 00:16:37 pipe is new the bean pip is also a very

00:16:37 --> 00:16:40 important element of a particle detector

00:16:40 --> 00:16:42 because we want to be as close as

00:16:42 --> 00:16:43 possible to the Collision point with our

00:16:43 --> 00:16:46 sensors right the machine of course they

00:16:46 --> 00:16:47 want the pipe as big as possible to be

00:16:47 --> 00:16:50 sure there are no interferences so there

00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 is a long negotiation with the machine

00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 to be able to to agree on the smallest

00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 possible Bean pipe and the one we will

00:16:56 --> 00:16:58 have is about 4 cm in diameter and

00:16:58 --> 00:17:00 important thing for the Bean pipe is

00:17:00 --> 00:17:03 also that the wall is only 800 Micron

00:17:03 --> 00:17:06 thick if this would be a big steel pipe

00:17:06 --> 00:17:07 the particles that are produced inside

00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 in the Collision when they go through

00:17:09 --> 00:17:11 this pipe they would be completely

00:17:11 --> 00:17:13 diverted and our measurement would be

00:17:13 --> 00:17:15 not not possible so this is why there

00:17:15 --> 00:17:17 has to be the least amount of material

00:17:18 --> 00:17:19 possible around the Collision point this

00:17:20 --> 00:17:22 is why this Bean pipe is of this very

00:17:22 --> 00:17:25 thin perum which is very fragile so you

00:17:25 --> 00:17:27 can imagine if we have this very brittle

00:17:27 --> 00:17:28 object and then around this we have to

00:17:28 --> 00:17:30 install out the deck because it's a very

00:17:30 --> 00:17:32 delicate operation amazing amazing we're

00:17:32 --> 00:17:34 going to follow one of your

00:17:34 --> 00:17:37 collaborators Roberto Diva who could go

00:17:37 --> 00:17:40 inside Alice before the TPC was inserted

00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 and show us one of the most innermost

00:17:43 --> 00:17:45 places where it's very rare it's very

00:17:45 --> 00:17:47 rare to go in because normally TPC is

00:17:47 --> 00:17:50 always in and these are the MU absorber

00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 and the trigger before looking at that

00:17:52 --> 00:17:53 tell us more what what do these

00:17:53 --> 00:17:56 components do so yeah the muon absorber

00:17:56 --> 00:18:00 is one big object inside which is uh

00:18:00 --> 00:18:02 absorbing all the particles in the

00:18:02 --> 00:18:04 forward region and all the Neons are the

00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 particles that manage to go through

00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 because behind that there's the big muon

00:18:08 --> 00:18:10 spectrometer that should just measure

00:18:10 --> 00:18:12 these particles so this is a very

00:18:12 --> 00:18:14 massive object at the other side here of

00:18:14 --> 00:18:18 our detector and the trigger this is the

00:18:18 --> 00:18:22 um uh the electronics that will decide

00:18:22 --> 00:18:24 on the readout of the detector it has to

00:18:24 --> 00:18:25 be very close to the detector such that

00:18:25 --> 00:18:28 the propagation time of the signals is

00:18:28 --> 00:18:30 small and this is on the back side a bit

00:18:30 --> 00:18:32 under the magnet amazing thank you very

00:18:32 --> 00:18:35 much verer and I leave you back to your

00:18:35 --> 00:18:38 very delicate and important work today

00:18:38 --> 00:18:40 thank Youk you so this is the muon

00:18:40 --> 00:18:45 absorber it is like a a a big big sponge

00:18:45 --> 00:18:47 that takes all the low energy particles

00:18:47 --> 00:18:49 so everything that passes is a high

00:18:49 --> 00:18:52 energy particle mainly muons and on the

00:18:52 --> 00:18:54 other side of this absorber is a series

00:18:54 --> 00:18:58 of detectors which are dedicated only to

00:18:58 --> 00:19:00 the muon physics so it's like a big

00:19:00 --> 00:19:05 shower going towards the back of Alys so

00:19:05 --> 00:19:07 this is the deepest point in Alys here

00:19:07 --> 00:19:11 we are at minus 56 M and this is the

00:19:11 --> 00:19:14 trigger we are in the bunker this is

00:19:14 --> 00:19:17 solid uh concrete so no particles can

00:19:17 --> 00:19:20 come in here and this is the heart of

00:19:20 --> 00:19:23 Alice this is where the decision if

00:19:23 --> 00:19:26 something interesting happened is taken

00:19:26 --> 00:19:29 and this is done on the Fly this was

00:19:29 --> 00:19:30 done during round two during round three

00:19:30 --> 00:19:34 it will be a different theme this heart

00:19:34 --> 00:19:36 will be a bit more relieved it will uh

00:19:36 --> 00:19:38 beat a bit less but nevertheless it will

00:19:39 --> 00:19:41 be the core of the taking of data for

00:19:41 --> 00:19:43 for the whole of of

00:19:43 --> 00:19:46 Alice and in that report from the Alice

00:19:46 --> 00:19:48 collaboration at CERN we heard from paa

00:19:48 --> 00:19:51 catapano from CERN Communications Vera

00:19:51 --> 00:19:53 regler Alice technical coordinator and

00:19:53 --> 00:19:55 ALICE Experiment systems coordinator

00:19:55 --> 00:19:58 Roberto devier this is space

00:19:58 --> 00:20:09 [Music]



00:20:14 --> 00:20:17 time and time now to take another brief

00:20:17 --> 00:20:18 look at some of the other stories making

00:20:18 --> 00:20:19 news and science this week with the

00:20:20 --> 00:20:23 science report a new study is shown that

00:20:23 --> 00:20:24 living in a community with a high

00:20:24 --> 00:20:26 exposure to pesticides may come with an

00:20:26 --> 00:20:29 increased risk for some cancers that's

00:20:29 --> 00:20:31 comparable to smoking a report of the

00:20:31 --> 00:20:33 journal frontiers of cancer control and

00:20:33 --> 00:20:36 Society compared agricultural pesticide

00:20:36 --> 00:20:38 data cancer rates and data on other

00:20:38 --> 00:20:40 cancer risks including smoking in order

00:20:40 --> 00:20:42 to estimate the relationship between

00:20:42 --> 00:20:43 living in an agricultural Community with

00:20:43 --> 00:20:46 high pesticide use and eventual cancer

00:20:46 --> 00:20:48 rates and the authors found a link

00:20:48 --> 00:20:50 between pesticide exposure and an

00:20:50 --> 00:20:52 increased risk for any

00:20:53 --> 00:20:55 cancer a new study warns that Australian

00:20:55 --> 00:20:57 and New Zealand species are among the

00:20:57 --> 00:20:59 most vulnerable to to Extinction due to

00:20:59 --> 00:21:02 climate change the findings reported in

00:21:02 --> 00:21:03 the journal science are based on a

00:21:03 --> 00:21:06 global analysis of 30 years of research

00:21:06 --> 00:21:08 data the authors show that under a

00:21:08 --> 00:21:11 projected 2.7 de C temperature rise

00:21:11 --> 00:21:13 above pre-industrial levels one in 20

00:21:13 --> 00:21:16 species will be at risk of Extinction

00:21:16 --> 00:21:18 globally the authors found that

00:21:18 --> 00:21:21 amphibians species in mountain regions

00:21:21 --> 00:21:23 species on isolated islands and

00:21:23 --> 00:21:25 freshwater ecosystem species as well as

00:21:25 --> 00:21:27 species inhabiting South America

00:21:27 --> 00:21:30 Australia and New Zealand All face the

00:21:30 --> 00:21:31 greatest

00:21:31 --> 00:21:34 threats a new study has found that

00:21:34 --> 00:21:36 around one in five people under the age

00:21:36 --> 00:21:39 of 50 that some 846 million people

00:21:39 --> 00:21:42 globally have a genital herpes infection

00:21:42 --> 00:21:44 the findings reported in the journal

00:21:44 --> 00:21:46 sexually transmitted infections also

00:21:46 --> 00:21:48 shows that more than 200 million people

00:21:48 --> 00:21:50 between 15 and 49 have probably had at

00:21:50 --> 00:21:52 least one symptomatic outbreak of the

00:21:52 --> 00:21:55 infection in 2020 the last year for

00:21:55 --> 00:21:57 which the Figures were available there

00:21:57 --> 00:22:00 are two types of simplex virus hsv1 and

00:22:01 --> 00:22:03 hsv2 both of which are highly infectious

00:22:03 --> 00:22:07 incurable and last a lifetime HS v1's

00:22:07 --> 00:22:09 primarily spread in childhood through

00:22:09 --> 00:22:11 mouth contact resulting in cold SES in

00:22:11 --> 00:22:13 and around the mouth but it can

00:22:13 --> 00:22:14 sometimes cause more serious

00:22:14 --> 00:22:17 neurological eye skin and mucus membrane

00:22:17 --> 00:22:19 complications and it's increasingly

00:22:19 --> 00:22:21 being spread through sexual contact at

00:22:21 --> 00:22:24 older ages on the other hand hsv2 is

00:22:24 --> 00:22:26 almost entirely sexually transmitted

00:22:26 --> 00:22:28 through skin-to-skin contact and it's

00:22:28 --> 00:22:30 it's the leading cause of recurrent

00:22:30 --> 00:22:32 painful genital blisters although

00:22:32 --> 00:22:35 relatively rare both HSV 1 and 2 can be

00:22:35 --> 00:22:37 passed on to newborns often proving

00:22:37 --> 00:22:39 fatal the findings are prompting the

00:22:39 --> 00:22:41 authors to call for the development of

00:22:41 --> 00:22:43 new treatments and vaccines in order to

00:22:43 --> 00:22:45 try and control the spread of this

00:22:45 --> 00:22:47 infection and to try and lessen its

00:22:47 --> 00:22:49 health and financial

00:22:49 --> 00:22:52 burden and time now for what must be the

00:22:52 --> 00:22:54 silliest story of the week if not the

00:22:54 --> 00:22:57 year it seems former CNN reporter taka

00:22:57 --> 00:22:59 Carlson is now claiming that he's been

00:22:59 --> 00:23:01 attacked by a demon really we didn't

00:23:01 --> 00:23:04 make this up Tim menum from Australian

00:23:04 --> 00:23:06 skeptic says a popular celebrity

00:23:06 --> 00:23:08 journalist claims the incident occurred

00:23:08 --> 00:23:10 some 18 months ago and left him bleeding

00:23:10 --> 00:23:12 with scars from claw marks he's now

00:23:12 --> 00:23:14 claiming that a couple years ago he got

00:23:14 --> 00:23:16 attacked by a demon while he was

00:23:16 --> 00:23:18 sleeping now the issue is a few things

00:23:18 --> 00:23:19 here okay he was sleeping in his bed

00:23:19 --> 00:23:21 with his wife and apparently for dog and

00:23:21 --> 00:23:24 then he suddenly woke up what do you say

00:23:24 --> 00:23:26 uh I woke up I couldn't breathe and I

00:23:26 --> 00:23:27 thought I was going to suffocate well

00:23:27 --> 00:23:30 it's actually paralysis it's a true

00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 condition where you're lying in bed you

00:23:31 --> 00:23:33 can't move and you think there's someone

00:23:33 --> 00:23:34 holding you down or it's a nightmare

00:23:34 --> 00:23:36 Condition it's real and um you might

00:23:36 --> 00:23:38 wake up you might be half awake Etc but

00:23:38 --> 00:23:39 you feel you're being just totally

00:23:39 --> 00:23:40 trapped can't move if there's a ghost

00:23:40 --> 00:23:42 beside you or something like or some fig

00:23:42 --> 00:23:44 and it's a very scary experience but

00:23:44 --> 00:23:45 whether he had that but apparently he

00:23:45 --> 00:23:47 did get up he wandered around and he

00:23:47 --> 00:23:49 clipped on the light in the bathroom or

00:23:49 --> 00:23:50 something he went in there and he saw

00:23:50 --> 00:23:52 claw marks with either side underneath

00:23:52 --> 00:23:54 his arms on his and now he sleeps with

00:23:54 --> 00:23:56 now as well as his wife there're also

00:23:56 --> 00:23:58 dogs on the bed yeah that's right now 7

00:23:58 --> 00:24:03 IDE that's Tim mum from Australian

00:24:03 --> 00:24:12 [Music]



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