00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 this is spacetime series 27 episode 130
00:00:03 --> 00:00:06 will broadcast on the 28th of October
00:00:06 --> 00:00:10 2024 coming up on SpaceTime has our
00:00:10 --> 00:00:11 understanding of the evolution of the
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 universe been thrown into question old
00:00:14 --> 00:00:16 data yielding new Secrets as work
00:00:16 --> 00:00:18 continues on preparing NASA's Da Vinci
00:00:18 --> 00:00:21 spacecraft for its mission to Venus and
00:00:21 --> 00:00:25 China tests its first reusable satellite
00:00:25 --> 00:00:28 all that and more coming up on
00:00:28 --> 00:00:31 SpaceTime welcome to SpaceTime with
00:00:31 --> 00:00:33 Stuart
00:00:33 --> 00:00:40 [Music]
00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 Gary a new study has found that the
00:00:49 --> 00:00:52 epoch of reionization a crucial period
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 for the early evolution of the universe
00:00:54 --> 00:00:56 may have occurred at least 350 million
00:00:56 --> 00:00:59 years earlier than previously thought
00:00:59 --> 00:01:01 the new findings reported in the Journal
00:01:01 --> 00:01:02 of the monthly notices of the Royal
00:01:02 --> 00:01:05 Astronomical Society letters are based
00:01:05 --> 00:01:07 on new observations using data from the
00:01:07 --> 00:01:11 web Space Telescope reionization was a
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 crucial period in the history of the
00:01:13 --> 00:01:15 cosmos it happened when the first stars
00:01:15 --> 00:01:17 and galaxies changed the physical
00:01:17 --> 00:01:19 structure of their surroundings and
00:01:19 --> 00:01:22 eventually the entire universe
00:01:22 --> 00:01:24 established theories state that the
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 epoch ended about a billion years after
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 the big bang 13.8 billion years ago
00:01:29 --> 00:01:30 throughout its history history the
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 universe has undergone several major
00:01:32 --> 00:01:35 changes for the first 380 years
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 after the big bang it was nothing more
00:01:37 --> 00:01:39 than a hot dense plasma of protons and
00:01:39 --> 00:01:42 electrons eventually over time things
00:01:42 --> 00:01:44 cooled enough for these protons and
00:01:44 --> 00:01:47 electrons to combine forming the first
00:01:47 --> 00:01:50 neutral hydrogen atoms then around 100
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 million years after the big bang the
00:01:52 --> 00:01:54 first stars and galaxies began to form
00:01:54 --> 00:01:56 ushering in the epoch of
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 reionization see those first Stars these
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 days we call them population three stars
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 were huge and they were incredibly hot
00:02:04 --> 00:02:05 some estimates suggest they could have
00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 been between 30 and 300 times as massive
00:02:08 --> 00:02:11 as say our sun and they emitted a lot of
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 energy in the form of extreme
00:02:13 --> 00:02:15 ultraviolet radiation now this energy
00:02:15 --> 00:02:18 was so intense that as its photons
00:02:18 --> 00:02:20 struck nearby hydrogen atoms they were
00:02:20 --> 00:02:22 split into separate protons and
00:02:22 --> 00:02:25 electrons and that's the process called
00:02:25 --> 00:02:27 ionization after hundreds of millions of
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 years when almost all the hydrogen in
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 the UN un had become ionized the epoch
00:02:31 --> 00:02:34 of reionization ended now considering
00:02:34 --> 00:02:37 that roughly 75% of all matter is
00:02:37 --> 00:02:39 hydrogen this represents an immense
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 transformation the study's lead author
00:02:41 --> 00:02:44 Julian munz from the University of Texas
00:02:44 --> 00:02:46 at Austin says this was the last major
00:02:46 --> 00:02:49 change to happen to the cosmos the
00:02:49 --> 00:02:51 universe had literally gone from neutral
00:02:51 --> 00:02:54 and cold and boring to ionized and hot
00:02:54 --> 00:02:56 and of course it's important to remember
00:02:56 --> 00:02:57 this isn't something that happened in
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 just one or two galaxies it happened
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 across the entire universe the process
00:03:02 --> 00:03:04 heated and ionized all the gas in the
00:03:04 --> 00:03:07 universe and that regulated how fast
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 galaxies grew and evolved because
00:03:09 --> 00:03:11 astronomers aren't able to observe the
00:03:11 --> 00:03:13 reionization process directly they need
00:03:13 --> 00:03:16 to use models to predict when it ended
00:03:16 --> 00:03:17 these models are based on indirect
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 evidence including measurements of how
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 much light has reached us from the
00:03:21 --> 00:03:23 Afterglow of the Big Bang known as The
00:03:23 --> 00:03:26 Cosmic microwave background radiation
00:03:26 --> 00:03:28 other evidence is an early abundance of
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 a wavelength associated with energy
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 changes in hydrogen known as the ly and
00:03:32 --> 00:03:35 Alpha Forest both of these help
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 astronomist calculate how much hydrogen
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 was transformed during reionization and
00:03:39 --> 00:03:42 by extension how much energy was needed
00:03:42 --> 00:03:44 to do that inire says astronomers know
00:03:44 --> 00:03:47 that all the hydrogen was neutral before
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 reionization and from there you need
00:03:49 --> 00:03:52 enough extreme ultraviolet radiation to
00:03:52 --> 00:03:54 split each atom so at the end of the day
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 you can do the math and figure out when
00:03:56 --> 00:04:00 reionization ended but now the James web
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 Space Telescope is challenging this
00:04:02 --> 00:04:05 established model with web astronomers
00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 can pee further back into the cosmos
00:04:07 --> 00:04:09 than ever before and therefore deeper
00:04:09 --> 00:04:11 into this critical Epoch and this is
00:04:12 --> 00:04:14 leading to many unexpected observations
00:04:14 --> 00:04:16 in the early Universe one of which is an
00:04:16 --> 00:04:18 apparently greater abundance of extreme
00:04:19 --> 00:04:20 ultraviolet emitting galaxies than what
00:04:21 --> 00:04:23 was expected Webbers revealed that these
00:04:23 --> 00:04:25 bright galaxies were enough to ionize
00:04:25 --> 00:04:28 the universe all by themselves and this
00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 counters what was anticipated ated and
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 so with these new observations all the
00:04:32 --> 00:04:35 accounting is off mun says if you were
00:04:35 --> 00:04:37 to trust the web results blindly it
00:04:37 --> 00:04:39 tells you that realization ended 550
00:04:39 --> 00:04:42 million to 650 million years after the
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 big bang instead of the current
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 estimates of a billion years now if
00:04:46 --> 00:04:48 that's true the cosmic microwave
00:04:48 --> 00:04:50 background radiation should look very
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 different and the Lyman Alpha Forest
00:04:52 --> 00:04:55 would also be different so there's the
00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 problem it's unlikely that reionization
00:04:58 --> 00:04:59 happened hundreds of million years early
00:04:59 --> 00:05:01 than predicted that means something else
00:05:01 --> 00:05:03 is going on something we don't
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 understand it means that the established
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 models are missing a key piece of
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 crucial information for example
00:05:10 --> 00:05:12 sometimes ionized photons and electrons
00:05:12 --> 00:05:14 could come back together reforming
00:05:14 --> 00:05:16 neutral hydrogen atoms that's a process
00:05:16 --> 00:05:18 called recombination now if that
00:05:18 --> 00:05:20 happened more often than current models
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 assume that could increase how much
00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 ultraviolet light was needed to ionize
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 the entire universe M says more detailed
00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 and deeper observations of galaxies are
00:05:29 --> 00:05:31 needed in order to gain a better
00:05:31 --> 00:05:33 understanding of the recombination
00:05:33 --> 00:05:35 process he says resolving this tension
00:05:35 --> 00:05:38 on reionization will be a key step to
00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 finally understanding this pivotal
00:05:40 --> 00:05:42 period of the universe's
00:05:42 --> 00:05:46 Evolution this is spacetime still to
00:05:46 --> 00:05:49 come old data yielding new Secrets as
00:05:49 --> 00:05:51 NASA's Da Vinci spacecraft is prepared
00:05:51 --> 00:05:54 for its mission to Venus and China has
00:05:54 --> 00:05:56 successfully tested its first reusable
00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 satellite all that and more still to
00:05:58 --> 00:06:04 come on space
00:06:04 --> 00:06:13 [Music]
00:06:15 --> 00:06:18 time due to launch in the early 2030s
00:06:18 --> 00:06:20 NASA's Da Vinci Mission will investigate
00:06:20 --> 00:06:23 whether the planet Venus a sweltering
00:06:23 --> 00:06:24 World wrapped in an atmosphere of
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 noxious gases once had oceans and
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 continents like the Earth consisting of
00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 fly by spacecraft and a descent probe
00:06:31 --> 00:06:33 the Vinci will focus on a mountainous
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 region called alphar Regio a possible
00:06:35 --> 00:06:38 ancient continent Alpha Regio is one of
00:06:38 --> 00:06:41 the most mysterious places on Venus its
00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 terrain known as Tessa is similar in
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 appearance to rugged Earth mountains but
00:06:45 --> 00:06:48 much more irregular and disorderly soall
00:06:48 --> 00:06:50 because they resemble a geometric pet
00:06:50 --> 00:06:52 floor pattern Tess have been found only
00:06:53 --> 00:06:55 on Venus and da Vinci will be the first
00:06:55 --> 00:06:56 mission to explore this Terrain in
00:06:56 --> 00:06:59 detail and map its topography Da Vinci's
00:06:59 --> 00:07:01 probe will begin photographing Alpha
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 Rego collecting the highest resolution
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 images yet once it descends below the
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 planet's clouds starting at about 40 km
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 in altitude so far only a handful of
00:07:11 --> 00:07:13 mostly Soviet spacecraft have plunged
00:07:13 --> 00:07:15 through Venus's atmosphere and most of
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 those didn't survive for very long once
00:07:17 --> 00:07:18 they reached the ground thanks to the
00:07:18 --> 00:07:20 planet's extreme surface temperatures of
00:07:20 --> 00:07:23 162° c and its crushing atmospheric
00:07:23 --> 00:07:26 pressure which is some 92 times greater
00:07:26 --> 00:07:28 than average sea level surface pressure
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 on Earth Venus is shrouded in thick
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 opaque clouds producing corrosive
00:07:33 --> 00:07:35 droplets of metaling sulfuric acid
00:07:35 --> 00:07:37 scientists have seen what looked like
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 snow caps on some of venice's taller
00:07:39 --> 00:07:41 mountain ranges but that snow isn't
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 frozen water it's actually metallic in
00:07:43 --> 00:07:46 fact the clouds are so heavy they quite
00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 literally Crush Venus's Rich carbon
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 dioxide based atmosphere acting like the
00:07:50 --> 00:07:52 lid of a pressure cooker and giving the
00:07:52 --> 00:07:54 planet its high surface pressure the
00:07:54 --> 00:07:56 surface of Venus is dominated by more
00:07:56 --> 00:07:58 than 1 volcanic structures that's
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 more than any other planet in the solar
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 system so there's a lot to study and
00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 scientists developing the new Da Vinci
00:08:05 --> 00:08:07 spacecraft are preparing for the mission
00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 by looking over all data we have from
00:08:09 --> 00:08:12 previous flights and by using modern
00:08:12 --> 00:08:14 data analysis techniques to pour over
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 decades old observations they've made
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 some interesting new discoveries between
00:08:19 --> 00:08:22 1990 and 1994 NASA's Millan spacecraft
00:08:22 --> 00:08:24 used radar Imaging and altimetry to map
00:08:25 --> 00:08:27 the Topography of the alpha regia region
00:08:27 --> 00:08:29 from Venus orbit now da Vinci team
00:08:29 --> 00:08:31 wanted more data so they supplemented
00:08:31 --> 00:08:34 this information with radar images taken
00:08:34 --> 00:08:36 on three occasions from the former aasbo
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 observatory in Puerto Rico and they then
00:08:38 --> 00:08:40 used Machine Vision computer modeling to
00:08:40 --> 00:08:43 scrutinize the data and fill in gaps in
00:08:43 --> 00:08:46 the information and this has provided
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 amazing new 10-fold higher resolution
00:08:48 --> 00:08:50 images of alpha Regio including new
00:08:50 --> 00:08:52 geologic features which are raising
00:08:52 --> 00:08:54 fresh questions about how these patterns
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 could have been formed the same sort of
00:08:57 --> 00:08:58 evidence has already allowed scientists
00:08:58 --> 00:09:00 to find new new evidence for modern day
00:09:00 --> 00:09:03 volcanic activity on Venus with three
00:09:03 --> 00:09:05 forthcoming missions to Venus NASA's D
00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 Vinci and veritas plus the European
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 space agency's Envision Mission more and
00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 more archival space dat is being used to
00:09:12 --> 00:09:13 help scientists prepare for their
00:09:13 --> 00:09:15 missions one of the other problems
00:09:15 --> 00:09:17 facing Da Vinci scientists are the
00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 atmospheric gases which will scatter
00:09:19 --> 00:09:21 light in ways that make the images
00:09:21 --> 00:09:23 appear blurred so Da Vinci scientists
00:09:23 --> 00:09:26 are working on a solution recently
00:09:26 --> 00:09:28 scientists reanalyzed old Venus data
00:09:28 --> 00:09:30 Imaging using new artificial
00:09:30 --> 00:09:31 intelligence technique that can sharpen
00:09:31 --> 00:09:33 the images and use them to compute
00:09:33 --> 00:09:36 three-dimensional topographic maps and
00:09:36 --> 00:09:37 this technique will ultimately help the
00:09:37 --> 00:09:39 team optimize Da Vinci's images and maps
00:09:39 --> 00:09:42 of the alpha Regio mountains the
00:09:42 --> 00:09:44 upgraded images will give scientists the
00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 most detailed view ever right down to
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 resolutions of a meter per pixel
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 possibly allowing them to detect small
00:09:50 --> 00:09:51 features such as rocks rivers and
00:09:51 --> 00:09:54 gullies for the first time by analyzing
00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 the surface texture and rock types at
00:09:56 --> 00:09:58 alphar Regio scientists hope to
00:09:58 --> 00:10:00 determine if the new in Tess form
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 through the same processes that created
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 mountains and some of the volcanoes here
00:10:04 --> 00:10:08 on Earth this report from NASA the
00:10:08 --> 00:10:10 surface of Venus is completely
00:10:10 --> 00:10:14 inhospitable for Life Barren dry crushed
00:10:14 --> 00:10:16 under an atmosphere about 90 times the
00:10:16 --> 00:10:18 pressure of earths and roasted by
00:10:18 --> 00:10:20 temperatures two times hotter than an
00:10:20 --> 00:10:23 oven but was it always that way could
00:10:23 --> 00:10:25 Venus once have been a twin of Earth a
00:10:25 --> 00:10:29 habitable world with liquid water oceans
00:10:29 --> 00:10:31 here here are 10 mysteries of Venus that
00:10:31 --> 00:10:33 NASA scientists are still grappling
00:10:33 --> 00:10:37 [Music]
00:10:37 --> 00:10:40 with did Venus ever host life to answer
00:10:40 --> 00:10:42 this question we first need to
00:10:42 --> 00:10:44 understand the past environment on Venus
00:10:44 --> 00:10:46 this involves studying the atmosphere
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 geology and history of the planet
00:10:48 --> 00:10:50 something NASA's Da Vinci Mission plans
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 on exploring in great
00:10:52 --> 00:10:54 detail why did Venus evolve so
00:10:54 --> 00:10:56 differently than Earth Venus and Earth
00:10:56 --> 00:10:59 are similar in size and density and yet
00:10:59 --> 00:11:01 they are strikingly different air
00:11:01 --> 00:11:03 pressure at the surface of Venus is 90
00:11:03 --> 00:11:06 times that of Earth Venus rotates on its
00:11:06 --> 00:11:08 axis backwards compared to the other
00:11:08 --> 00:11:09 planets in the solar system and the
00:11:09 --> 00:11:12 surface of Venus is over 900° F making
00:11:13 --> 00:11:14 it the hottest planet in our solar
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 system hot enough to melt
00:11:16 --> 00:11:20 lead Venus's Evolution Through Time may
00:11:20 --> 00:11:22 help us understand how habitability
00:11:22 --> 00:11:23 evolves over time and where we might
00:11:23 --> 00:11:26 find habitable planets beyond our solar
00:11:26 --> 00:11:29 system how did Venus form
00:11:29 --> 00:11:31 it is still not known if Venus was
00:11:31 --> 00:11:33 bombarded by comets and asteroids rich
00:11:33 --> 00:11:36 in water the way Earth was understanding
00:11:36 --> 00:11:38 the delivery of water to Venus is
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 important for evaluating its potential
00:11:40 --> 00:11:43 to host oceans in the
00:11:43 --> 00:11:46 past what is the atmosphere composition
00:11:46 --> 00:11:49 at Venus one of the biggest mysteries of
00:11:49 --> 00:11:51 Venus's atmosphere lies in the lowermost
00:11:51 --> 00:11:54 or deep atmosphere where carbon dioxide
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 is heated and pressurized to the point
00:11:56 --> 00:11:58 where it acts more like a hot liquid
00:11:58 --> 00:11:59 than a gas
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 the D Vinci probe will measure chemistry
00:12:02 --> 00:12:04 pressure temperature and Dynamics at
00:12:04 --> 00:12:07 least every 200 M as it descends through
00:12:07 --> 00:12:10 Venus's atmosphere to the
00:12:10 --> 00:12:13 surface how are the rocks of Venus
00:12:13 --> 00:12:16 formed Da Vinci's highresolution Imaging
00:12:16 --> 00:12:18 beneath the clouds will test ideas about
00:12:18 --> 00:12:21 the role of water ining what may be
00:12:21 --> 00:12:23 ancient continental crust on Venus at
00:12:23 --> 00:12:26 human scales Da Vinci will study one of
00:12:26 --> 00:12:28 these tessay alphar Regio to better
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 understand and its composition how much
00:12:31 --> 00:12:33 water did Venus have liquid water is
00:12:33 --> 00:12:35 essential for life we cannot assess
00:12:35 --> 00:12:38 Venus's past habitability without
00:12:38 --> 00:12:39 knowing how much water Venus may have
00:12:39 --> 00:12:42 had and when and how it lost that water
00:12:42 --> 00:12:44 scientists will use measurements of the
00:12:44 --> 00:12:46 atmosphere from the D Vinci probe to
00:12:46 --> 00:12:49 explore clues of the story of past water
00:12:49 --> 00:12:51 on our sister
00:12:51 --> 00:12:53 Planet what is the nature of surface
00:12:53 --> 00:12:56 activity at Venus Earth's crust host a
00:12:56 --> 00:12:58 network of relatively thin plates
00:12:58 --> 00:13:00 jostling around on the planet's surface
00:13:00 --> 00:13:02 in constant horizontal motion if similar
00:13:03 --> 00:13:05 plate tectonics exist on Venus the
00:13:05 --> 00:13:06 planet's crust must experience
00:13:06 --> 00:13:09 continental drift like Earth another key
00:13:09 --> 00:13:11 mystery about the surface of Venus is
00:13:11 --> 00:13:13 volcanism the two upcoming missions to
00:13:13 --> 00:13:16 Venus D Vinci and veritas aim to
00:13:16 --> 00:13:17 understand the current volcanic activity
00:13:18 --> 00:13:19 at
00:13:19 --> 00:13:21 Venus what did the mountains look like
00:13:21 --> 00:13:24 on Venus previous Venus Landers Vera and
00:13:24 --> 00:13:26 Vega have taken photographs of the
00:13:26 --> 00:13:28 venutian ples from the surface but D
00:13:28 --> 00:13:30 Vinci's camera will snap the first ever
00:13:30 --> 00:13:32 highresolution aerial photos of a
00:13:32 --> 00:13:35 mountainous Tess surface as the probe
00:13:35 --> 00:13:37 descends over the rugged alphar Regio
00:13:37 --> 00:13:38 Highlands
00:13:38 --> 00:13:40 region are there venus-like planets
00:13:40 --> 00:13:43 beyond our solar system we'll be able to
00:13:43 --> 00:13:45 relate what we discover at Venus to
00:13:45 --> 00:13:47 venus-like exoplanets observed by the
00:13:47 --> 00:13:49 James web Space Telescope if Venus shows
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 signs of previous habitability that
00:13:52 --> 00:13:53 could mean these exoplanets might be
00:13:53 --> 00:13:56 habitable as well new Mysteries we
00:13:56 --> 00:13:58 haven't thought of yet there are many
00:13:58 --> 00:13:59 new Mysteries we can't even imagine
00:13:59 --> 00:14:02 right now with NASA's newest missions to
00:14:02 --> 00:14:04 our sister Planet there are plenty of
00:14:04 --> 00:14:08 new discoveries to be made Venus here we
00:14:08 --> 00:14:10 [Music]
00:14:10 --> 00:14:14 come this is spacetime still to come
00:14:14 --> 00:14:16 China test its first reusable satellite
00:14:16 --> 00:14:18 and later in the science report
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 paleontologists discover one of Earth's
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 earliest life forms in the South
00:14:22 --> 00:14:24 Australian Outback all that and more
00:14:24 --> 00:14:31 still to come on SpaceTime
00:14:31 --> 00:14:39 [Music]
00:14:42 --> 00:14:44 China has successfully tested its first
00:14:44 --> 00:14:47 reasonable satellite the shyan 19 was
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 launched from the zukan satellite launch
00:14:49 --> 00:14:52 Center aboard a long match 2D rocket the
00:14:52 --> 00:14:54 US space force track the mission
00:14:54 --> 00:14:56 claiming the satellite was placed into a
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 322 by 339 km High orbit orbit inclined
00:14:59 --> 00:15:03 at 41.6 De the China National Space
00:15:03 --> 00:15:05 Administration says the satellite was
00:15:05 --> 00:15:07 recovered at the dong Fang Landing site
00:15:07 --> 00:15:10 in inam Mongolia 13 and 1 half days
00:15:10 --> 00:15:12 later Beijing claims the mission carried
00:15:12 --> 00:15:14 a number of payloads including plant
00:15:14 --> 00:15:17 seeds microorganism samples technology
00:15:17 --> 00:15:19 demonstration devices space experimental
00:15:19 --> 00:15:23 instruments and cultural items this is
00:15:23 --> 00:15:26 spacetime
00:15:26 --> 00:15:39 [Music]
00:15:39 --> 00:15:41 and time now to take a brief look at
00:15:41 --> 00:15:42 some of the other stories making news
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 and science this week with a science
00:15:44 --> 00:15:47 report a new study has shown that people
00:15:47 --> 00:15:49 who sustain hearing loss in older age
00:15:49 --> 00:15:51 are more likely to go on to develop
00:15:51 --> 00:15:53 Parkinson's disease the findings
00:15:53 --> 00:15:55 reported in the Journal of the American
00:15:55 --> 00:15:57 Medical Association suggest that this
00:15:57 --> 00:15:59 risk can be mitigated by tracking the
00:15:59 --> 00:16:02 hearing loss itself the authors used
00:16:02 --> 00:16:03 data from an American Veteran health
00:16:03 --> 00:16:05 study to compare hearing loss measured
00:16:05 --> 00:16:08 by audiograms with ler diagnosis of
00:16:08 --> 00:16:11 Parkinson's disease they found that the
00:16:11 --> 00:16:13 more severe hearing loss was in a person
00:16:13 --> 00:16:15 the more likely they were to go on to
00:16:15 --> 00:16:18 develop Parkinson's however they say
00:16:18 --> 00:16:20 that if a person with hearing loss
00:16:20 --> 00:16:21 received a hearing aid within 2 years of
00:16:21 --> 00:16:24 their audiogram the risk was reduced
00:16:24 --> 00:16:26 suggesting effective management of
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 hearing loss could mitigate Parkinson's
00:16:28 --> 00:16:30 risk
00:16:30 --> 00:16:32 paleontologists have discovered one of
00:16:32 --> 00:16:34 Earth's earliest life forms in the South
00:16:34 --> 00:16:37 Australian Outback the ancient fossil
00:16:37 --> 00:16:41 quaz dorium dates back some 550 million
00:16:41 --> 00:16:43 years was found at the famous idaka
00:16:43 --> 00:16:45 National Park Reserve in the northern
00:16:45 --> 00:16:48 Flinders Rangers this region has become
00:16:48 --> 00:16:50 famous for its early marine animal
00:16:50 --> 00:16:51 fossils which represent some of the
00:16:51 --> 00:16:54 planet's first complex animal life known
00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 as the Ed acine a pivotal moment in the
00:16:56 --> 00:16:59 history of evolution during which single
00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 organisms began to evolve into more
00:17:01 --> 00:17:04 complex life forms the new findings
00:17:04 --> 00:17:05 reported in the journal Evolution
00:17:05 --> 00:17:07 development show this animal which is a
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 little smaller than the size of your
00:17:09 --> 00:17:11 palm has a question mark shape in the
00:17:11 --> 00:17:13 middle of its body which distinguishes
00:17:13 --> 00:17:16 between the left and the right there are
00:17:16 --> 00:17:18 no other fossils from this time period
00:17:18 --> 00:17:20 which have shown this type of
00:17:20 --> 00:17:22 organization now this is especially
00:17:22 --> 00:17:23 interesting as it's also one of the
00:17:24 --> 00:17:26 first animals that was capable of moving
00:17:26 --> 00:17:29 on its own the stud's authors describ
00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 the creature as behaving sort of like a
00:17:31 --> 00:17:33 small marine version of a Roomba vacuum
00:17:33 --> 00:17:35 cleaner consuming nutrients from
00:17:35 --> 00:17:37 microscopic algae bacteria and other
00:17:37 --> 00:17:40 organisms as it moved along the seafloor
00:17:40 --> 00:17:41 the collection of microbes formed an
00:17:41 --> 00:17:44 organic mat like a layer of slime filled
00:17:44 --> 00:17:46 with nutrients this formed a specific
00:17:46 --> 00:17:48 texture preserved in the Rock slabs
00:17:48 --> 00:17:51 which make up the Park's Fossil Beds
00:17:51 --> 00:17:52 scientists discovered qu's te
00:17:52 --> 00:17:54 Impressions along with evidence of its
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 Trails known as trace fossils in this
00:17:56 --> 00:17:59 fossilized matte texture
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 a new study warns that by the end of the
00:18:01 --> 00:18:04 century up to 33% of frog and toed
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 habitats could become arid putting
00:18:06 --> 00:18:07 further pressure on an already
00:18:08 --> 00:18:10 threatened class of animals the findings
00:18:10 --> 00:18:12 reported in the journal Nature climate
00:18:12 --> 00:18:13 change suggest that if global
00:18:13 --> 00:18:17 temperatures Rise by 2° then around 6.6%
00:18:17 --> 00:18:19 of frog and toed habitats will become
00:18:19 --> 00:18:21 arid likee but if temperatures Rise by
00:18:21 --> 00:18:24 4° the Arid conditions will impact
00:18:24 --> 00:18:27 around 33.6% of the areas they live in
00:18:27 --> 00:18:29 the authors also found an increase in
00:18:29 --> 00:18:31 the habitats exposed to worsening
00:18:31 --> 00:18:34 Drought especially in Australia they say
00:18:34 --> 00:18:35 the findings highlight the combined
00:18:35 --> 00:18:37 threats of warming and environmental
00:18:37 --> 00:18:41 drying which frogs and toads are already
00:18:41 --> 00:18:44 facing a new Gallop poll shows that
00:18:44 --> 00:18:46 support for childhood vaccinations has
00:18:46 --> 00:18:48 dropped considerably since
00:18:48 --> 00:18:50 2019 the data shows that the percentage
00:18:50 --> 00:18:52 of Americans who say vaccinating their
00:18:52 --> 00:18:54 children is essential has dropped from
00:18:54 --> 00:18:59 58% in 2019 down to just 40% now the
00:18:59 --> 00:19:02 survey also suggests that only 51%
00:19:02 --> 00:19:03 believe the government should require
00:19:03 --> 00:19:05 children to be vaccinated that's down
00:19:05 --> 00:19:09 from 62% in 2019 meanwhile a Centers for
00:19:09 --> 00:19:11 Disease Control report has found that
00:19:11 --> 00:19:13 vaccination rates have dropped from 95%
00:19:13 --> 00:19:15 amongst kindergarten kids during the
00:19:15 --> 00:19:19 2019 2020 school year to 93% 2 years
00:19:19 --> 00:19:21 later Tim mindham from Australian
00:19:21 --> 00:19:24 skeptic says while 2% may not seem like
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 much for diseases like measles herd
00:19:26 --> 00:19:28 immunity becomes threatened when
00:19:28 --> 00:19:31 vaccination rates fall below 95% you
00:19:31 --> 00:19:32 believe it that we almost wiped out
00:19:32 --> 00:19:34 measles a number of years ago the actual
00:19:34 --> 00:19:35 cases of measles was dropping
00:19:35 --> 00:19:38 dramatically I think about 8 years ago
00:19:38 --> 00:19:40 it fell under 100 cases worldwide
00:19:40 --> 00:19:41 for the first time and it was going down
00:19:41 --> 00:19:43 and down and down and then suddenly the
00:19:43 --> 00:19:45 anti-vaccination movement got on top of
00:19:45 --> 00:19:48 it the famous sany Vos scho putting
00:19:48 --> 00:19:50 forward supposed theories about the MMR
00:19:50 --> 00:19:53 vaccine the meel M rill vaccine Etc and
00:19:53 --> 00:19:54 that scared a lot of people and as soon
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 as it scares people they stopped
00:19:56 --> 00:19:57 vaccinating their kids and the cases of
00:19:57 --> 00:20:00 measles inreased dramatically I think
00:20:00 --> 00:20:02 the case in Oregon in the US it's
00:20:03 --> 00:20:04 actually in the last year has increased
00:20:04 --> 00:20:07 300% or close to it so yeah triple the
00:20:07 --> 00:20:08 number of meil cases now the numbers are
00:20:08 --> 00:20:10 not huge L people don't report them
00:20:10 --> 00:20:11 although they should the doctors should
00:20:11 --> 00:20:13 it's a dangerous disease it's not just a
00:20:13 --> 00:20:14 simple thing of sort of getting a few
00:20:14 --> 00:20:16 spots and that sort of stuff it can kill
00:20:16 --> 00:20:18 especially for kids so we regard that as
00:20:18 --> 00:20:20 pretty serious and it was very
00:20:20 --> 00:20:21 encouraging to see the number of cases
00:20:21 --> 00:20:23 dropping and then suddenly antiva has
00:20:23 --> 00:20:25 come on the scene they're sort of better
00:20:25 --> 00:20:27 at using the media than they used to be
00:20:27 --> 00:20:29 and Co scared a lot of people so the
00:20:29 --> 00:20:30 rates of measles have jumped up again
00:20:30 --> 00:20:32 especially in the US but across the
00:20:32 --> 00:20:33 world and it's not just measles either
00:20:34 --> 00:20:35 polio rates are going up again which is
00:20:35 --> 00:20:37 unheard of that's right polio was almost
00:20:37 --> 00:20:39 entirely wi wiped there was only in two
00:20:39 --> 00:20:41 countries I think at one stage fairly
00:20:41 --> 00:20:42 recently now it's coming back up again
00:20:43 --> 00:20:44 for for much the same reason so people
00:20:44 --> 00:20:46 don't like getting a polio vaccine the
00:20:46 --> 00:20:48 issue is most people alive today have
00:20:48 --> 00:20:50 never seen a case of polio they've never
00:20:50 --> 00:20:51 seen someone in a l lung machine or
00:20:52 --> 00:20:53 walking around with calipers most of
00:20:53 --> 00:20:55 them have never seen a case of measles
00:20:55 --> 00:20:56 that they're there and they're endemic
00:20:56 --> 00:20:58 moment you take a foot off the brake b
00:20:58 --> 00:21:00 leap back up again and that's what's
00:21:00 --> 00:21:01 happening and of course the ideal figure
00:21:01 --> 00:21:03 for vaccination especially amongst kids
00:21:03 --> 00:21:05 is about 95% that's when you reach the
00:21:05 --> 00:21:07 stage of herd immunity where the measles
00:21:07 --> 00:21:09 has fewer candidates to actually attack
00:21:09 --> 00:21:11 and therefore has less spreading
00:21:11 --> 00:21:13 capacity but in some cases the
00:21:13 --> 00:21:15 vaccination rate of adults and things is
00:21:16 --> 00:21:18 down below 50% and that is ripe for
00:21:18 --> 00:21:20 these diseases to attack the population
00:21:21 --> 00:21:22 and once they start they grow in they gr
00:21:22 --> 00:21:24 they grow and they start killing people
00:21:24 --> 00:21:25 well you mentioned oron earlier that's a
00:21:25 --> 00:21:27 bit of a hippie zone of course we have
00:21:27 --> 00:21:29 our own version of again here in
00:21:29 --> 00:21:31 Australia the northern rivers of New
00:21:31 --> 00:21:33 South Wales that's right the the North
00:21:33 --> 00:21:34 Coast of New South Wales is is a strong
00:21:34 --> 00:21:36 area for alternative lifestyle people
00:21:36 --> 00:21:38 and a lot of alternative lifestyle
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40 people think vaccines are one
00:21:40 --> 00:21:43 unnecessary two dangerous three a
00:21:43 --> 00:21:44 government conspiracy to try and take
00:21:44 --> 00:21:47 over your minds or whatever to inject
00:21:47 --> 00:21:49 mind altering silicon chips into into
00:21:49 --> 00:21:50 your bloodstream and all sorts of
00:21:50 --> 00:21:51 theories like that and therefore the
00:21:51 --> 00:21:53 vaccination rates there rather than 90
00:21:53 --> 00:21:56 odd per amongst kids are down to 60% and
00:21:56 --> 00:21:58 there cases of hooping cough with the
00:21:58 --> 00:22:00 VAC is not as effective as a lot of the
00:22:01 --> 00:22:02 other ones are but it's still effective
00:22:02 --> 00:22:05 and hooping cough is definitely not good
00:22:05 --> 00:22:06 for little kids babies especially who
00:22:07 --> 00:22:08 can't be vaccinated they're too young
00:22:08 --> 00:22:09 but because the adults are not
00:22:09 --> 00:22:11 vaccinated the mother's not vaccinated
00:22:11 --> 00:22:13 before giving birth that kills kids
00:22:13 --> 00:22:18 that's Tim mum from Australian Skeptics
00:22:18 --> 00:22:26 [Music]
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