SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 137
*The Earth: A Giant Slushie?
New research reveals that Earth once experienced a "slushy" period following its snowball Earth phase. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study by Virginia Tech scientists suggests that as the planet thawed, it transitioned into a slushy state, marked by high carbon dioxide levels and rapid melting. The findings offer fresh insights into Earth's climate evolution and the resilience of life under extreme conditions.
*Phobos Eclipses the Sun
NASA's Mars Perseverance rover has captured a rare celestial event: the Martian moon Phobos eclipsing the Sun. Using its Mastcam-Z camera, Perseverance observed the tiny moon transiting the Sun from its position in Jezero Crater. This remarkable event highlights the ongoing challenges and discoveries as the rover ascends the crater's rim.
*SpaceX Dragon Boosts ISS
For the first time, NASA has utilized the SpaceX Dragon capsule to boost the International Space Station into a higher orbit. This maneuver, using Dragon's Draco thrusters, is part of a broader strategy to maintain the station's altitude and test future deorbit capabilities. The mission also delivered over 2,700 kg of supplies and scientific equipment, including a wooden cubesat and human tissue samples for aging research.
The Science Report
A new study attributes last year's global temperature spike primarily to El Nino, rather than climate change. Meanwhile, scientists discover a 161-million-year-old giant tadpole fossil, shedding light on the evolution of frogs and toads. Additionally, research indicates that popular music in the US has become simpler since the 1950s. Plus, global cell phone sales show regional variations post-COVID, with notable growth in the US, Europe, and Australia.
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00:00 This is space Time Series 27, episode 137 for broadcast on 13 November 2024
00:47 New research suggests that as the planet thawed, it went slushy
04:46 NASA's Mars Perseverance rover captures rare Phobos eclipse of the Sun
07:15 NASA uses SpaceX Dragon cargo ship to boost International Space Station to higher altitude
14:38 Study says El Nino Southern Oscillation caused global temperatures spike last year
16:55 Scientists in South America have discovered the fossilized remains of a 161 million year old tadpole
18:33 New figures show that global cell phone sales dropped following the COVID pandemic
Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/24043544?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 this is spacetime series 27 episode 137
00:00:03 --> 00:00:06 for broadcast on the 13th of November
00:00:06 --> 00:00:09 2024 coming up on space time a new study
00:00:09 --> 00:00:13 shows the Earth was once a giant slushy
00:00:13 --> 00:00:14 scientists watching amazement as the
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 marsh and moon foboss eclipses the sun
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 and a SpaceX Dragon capsule used to
00:00:20 --> 00:00:22 boost the space station into a higher
00:00:22 --> 00:00:25 orbit for the first time all that and
00:00:25 --> 00:00:27 more coming up on
00:00:27 --> 00:00:30 SpaceTime welcome to space time with
00:00:30 --> 00:00:32 Stuart
00:00:32 --> 00:00:39 [Music]
00:00:46 --> 00:00:49 Gary a new study has found that planet
00:00:49 --> 00:00:52 earth once went through a global slushy
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 period previous evidence has already
00:00:54 --> 00:00:56 shown that our planet has experienced
00:00:56 --> 00:00:58 several so-called snowball Earth events
00:00:58 --> 00:01:00 during which time the entire Globe was
00:01:00 --> 00:01:02 frozen over with a covering of ice and
00:01:02 --> 00:01:05 snow the last snowball Earth took place
00:01:05 --> 00:01:09 between 635 and 650 million years ago
00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 but that raises an interesting question
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 what happened next the new research
00:01:13 --> 00:01:15 reported in the journal the proceedings
00:01:15 --> 00:01:17 of the National Academy of Sciences
00:01:17 --> 00:01:19 suggest that as the planet th it went
00:01:19 --> 00:01:22 slushy the findings are based on work by
00:01:22 --> 00:01:24 scientist at Virginia Tech which
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 provides the first direct geochemical
00:01:26 --> 00:01:28 evidence of a slushy Earth more
00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 scientifically it's referred referred to
00:01:30 --> 00:01:33 as the plume World ocean era a time when
00:01:33 --> 00:01:35 Skyhigh carbon dioxide levels forced the
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 Frozen Earth into a massive rapid
00:01:37 --> 00:01:40 melting period the study's lead author
00:01:40 --> 00:01:42 Tian Gan says the results have important
00:01:42 --> 00:01:44 implications for understanding how
00:01:44 --> 00:01:46 earth's climate and ocean chemistry
00:01:46 --> 00:01:48 changed after the extreme conditions of
00:01:48 --> 00:01:50 the last Global Ice Age scientists
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 believe global temperatures began to
00:01:52 --> 00:01:54 drop and the polar ice caps began to
00:01:54 --> 00:01:57 creep around the hemispheres between 635
00:01:57 --> 00:02:00 and 650 million years ago as the growing
00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 eyce sheets reflected more and more
00:02:02 --> 00:02:05 sunlight back into space setting off a
00:02:05 --> 00:02:07 spiral of plunging temperatures the
00:02:07 --> 00:02:09 authors believe that at least a quarter
00:02:09 --> 00:02:11 of the ocean volume was frozen due to
00:02:11 --> 00:02:14 extremely low carbon dioxide levels and
00:02:14 --> 00:02:17 when the surface ocean sealed a chain of
00:02:17 --> 00:02:19 reactions shuted to a stop the water
00:02:19 --> 00:02:22 cycle locked up that resulted in no
00:02:22 --> 00:02:25 evaporation and very little rain or snow
00:02:25 --> 00:02:27 and without water there was a massive
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 slowdown in a carbon dioxide consuming
00:02:30 --> 00:02:32 process known as chemical weathering
00:02:32 --> 00:02:34 where rocks erode and disintegrate
00:02:34 --> 00:02:36 without weathering and erosion carbon
00:02:36 --> 00:02:38 dioxide began to amass in the atmosphere
00:02:38 --> 00:02:41 and trap heat eventually over millions
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 of years carbon dioxide levels were once
00:02:43 --> 00:02:45 again high enough to break the snowball
00:02:45 --> 00:02:48 Earth syndrome and the authors of this
00:02:48 --> 00:02:50 study believe that when that ended it
00:02:50 --> 00:02:52 probably ended catastrophically with
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 heat suddenly starting to build up very
00:02:54 --> 00:02:56 rapidly the ice gaps began to recede and
00:02:57 --> 00:03:00 the earth's climate backpedal furiously
00:03:00 --> 00:03:01 they say that over a mere 10 million
00:03:01 --> 00:03:03 years average global surface
00:03:03 --> 00:03:07 temperatures swung from -45° C to plus
00:03:07 --> 00:03:11 48 de C but the thing is their research
00:03:11 --> 00:03:13 shows that the ice didn't melt and remix
00:03:13 --> 00:03:15 with sea water at the same time the
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 research findings paint a very different
00:03:17 --> 00:03:20 world with vast rivers of glacial water
00:03:20 --> 00:03:22 rushing like a sort of reverse tsunami
00:03:22 --> 00:03:25 from the land into the sea then pulling
00:03:25 --> 00:03:27 on top of the extra salty extra dense
00:03:27 --> 00:03:29 ocean water now in order to test the
00:03:29 --> 00:03:32 this idea of their prehistoric world the
00:03:32 --> 00:03:33 authors looked at a set of carbonate
00:03:33 --> 00:03:36 rocks that formed as the global ice Edge
00:03:36 --> 00:03:38 was ending they then analyzed the
00:03:38 --> 00:03:40 relative abundance of lithium Isotopes
00:03:40 --> 00:03:43 recorded Within These carbonates now
00:03:43 --> 00:03:45 according to the plume World ocean
00:03:45 --> 00:03:47 Theory the geochemical signatures of
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 freshwater would be stronger in rocks
00:03:49 --> 00:03:51 formed under Nearshore meltwater
00:03:51 --> 00:03:53 conditions than in rocks formed offshore
00:03:53 --> 00:03:56 beneath a deep Salty Sea and that's
00:03:56 --> 00:03:59 exactly what the authors observed the
00:03:59 --> 00:04:00 new f ings bring the limit of
00:04:00 --> 00:04:03 environmental change into better focus
00:04:03 --> 00:04:04 providing scientists with additional
00:04:04 --> 00:04:06 insights into the frontiers of biology
00:04:06 --> 00:04:09 and the resiliency of Life under extreme
00:04:09 --> 00:04:13 conditions hot cold and slushy this is
00:04:13 --> 00:04:16 spacetime still to come scientists watch
00:04:16 --> 00:04:18 in or as the Marti and moon faux boss
00:04:18 --> 00:04:21 eclipses the Sun and NASA have used the
00:04:21 --> 00:04:23 SpaceX Dragon cargo ship to boost the
00:04:23 --> 00:04:25 International Space Station up into a
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 higher orbit for the first time all that
00:04:28 --> 00:04:32 and more still to come on SP
00:04:32 --> 00:04:45 [Music]
00:04:45 --> 00:04:47 SpaceTime scientists working with NASA's
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 Mars perseverance Rover have just
00:04:49 --> 00:04:52 experienced a rare Phobos eclipse of the
00:04:52 --> 00:04:54 Sun the event was captured by the
00:04:54 --> 00:04:57 Rover's M cam Z camera as the tiny
00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 Phobos moon transited in front of the
00:04:59 --> 00:05:00 Sun
00:05:00 --> 00:05:04 Mars's Two Moons Phobos and deos and
00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 perseverance was just in the right
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 position on jro Crater to be able to
00:05:08 --> 00:05:10 point its camera up towards Phobos as it
00:05:10 --> 00:05:13 passed overhead and transited directly
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 in front of the sun it was a stunning
00:05:15 --> 00:05:18 moment during the past week perseverance
00:05:18 --> 00:05:20 has continued climbing up jro crater's
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 rim and this steep Ascent through the
00:05:22 --> 00:05:25 Martian Reg has continued to prove to be
00:05:25 --> 00:05:27 a slow drive with the Ws continuing to
00:05:27 --> 00:05:30 slip on the steepest areas
00:05:30 --> 00:05:32 Mission managers have described it as
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 trying to run up a hill of sand on a
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 beach all this means science and
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 engineering teams are working closely
00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 together to plan slow and steady drives
00:05:40 --> 00:05:43 through this tricky terrain but there
00:05:43 --> 00:05:45 have been some interesting gains driving
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 through a region known as the mount rier
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 quadrangle Mission managers identified a
00:05:49 --> 00:05:51 relatively obstacle-free path to reach
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 the Crater Rim which they've designated
00:05:54 --> 00:05:56 the Summerland Trail apply named for a
00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 popular hiking trail that ascends mount
00:05:58 --> 00:06:01 rineer perseverance is tracking to the
00:06:01 --> 00:06:03 next Waypoint near an outcrop of rocks
00:06:03 --> 00:06:05 called picot tuno where the science team
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 hopes to perform its next proximity
00:06:07 --> 00:06:09 investigations using its pixel
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 instrument and the now back online
00:06:11 --> 00:06:13 Sherlock instrument while roing the
00:06:13 --> 00:06:15 Summerland Trail perseverance is
00:06:15 --> 00:06:17 constantly observing the surrounding
00:06:17 --> 00:06:20 terrain supercam and mass cam Z have
00:06:20 --> 00:06:22 been observing rocks on the ground and
00:06:22 --> 00:06:25 on a distant Hill known as Crystal Creek
00:06:25 --> 00:06:27 and it was during these observations
00:06:27 --> 00:06:29 that perseverance was able to turn its
00:06:29 --> 00:06:30 eyes to the the sky and make
00:06:30 --> 00:06:32 observations of the sun and the
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 atmosphere including the solar Transit
00:06:35 --> 00:06:39 of Phobos this is space time still to
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 come NASA has used the SpaceX Dragon
00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 capture for the first time to boost the
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 International Space Station up into a
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 higher orbit and later in the science
00:06:47 --> 00:06:50 report a new study has confirmed that it
00:06:50 --> 00:06:53 was El Nino not climate change which was
00:06:53 --> 00:06:55 the primary cause of last year's spike
00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 in global temperatures all that and more
00:06:57 --> 00:07:02 still to come on SpaceTime
00:07:02 --> 00:07:14 [Music]
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 time NASA have used the SpaceX Dragon
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 cargo ship for the first time to boost
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 the International Space Station up into
00:07:21 --> 00:07:23 a higher orbit the station normally
00:07:24 --> 00:07:26 orbits at an altitude of around 400
00:07:26 --> 00:07:29 km however even the limited amount of
00:07:29 --> 00:07:31 atmospheric drag from the rarified air
00:07:31 --> 00:07:34 at these altitudes can cause some
00:07:34 --> 00:07:36 gradual orbital Decay and so visiting
00:07:36 --> 00:07:38 space shuttles were always used to boost
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 the space station back up to high
00:07:40 --> 00:07:43 altitudes during their visits once the
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 space shuttles were retired American
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 signis and Russian progress cargo ships
00:07:47 --> 00:07:50 took over that role but now NASA asked
00:07:50 --> 00:07:53 SpaceX to undertake the task using the
00:07:53 --> 00:07:55 dragon cargo ships aft facing Draco
00:07:55 --> 00:07:58 thrusters for a 12 1/2 minute burn as
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 well as lifting the space station to
00:08:00 --> 00:08:02 high altitude the reboost test will also
00:08:02 --> 00:08:05 add in developing spacex's United States
00:08:05 --> 00:08:07 the orbit vehicle that'll eventually be
00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 used in 2030 to deorbit the
00:08:09 --> 00:08:11 International Space Station and ensure
00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 that it burns up in the atmosphere at a
00:08:13 --> 00:08:16 safe location by using the dragon to
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 boost the space station up into a higher
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 altitude Mission managers can undertake
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 specific orbital trajectory and velocity
00:08:22 --> 00:08:26 tests and carefully observe the results
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 NASA is also believed to be testing its
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 ability to maneuver the space station
00:08:30 --> 00:08:33 using just signis and dragon spacecraft
00:08:33 --> 00:08:34 that's in the event that the Russian
00:08:34 --> 00:08:36 orbital segment which historically has
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 handled the rebooting and maneuvering of
00:08:38 --> 00:08:40 the space station is ultimately
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 abandoned or detached from the US
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 orbital segment by Moscow Moscow have
00:08:45 --> 00:08:46 repeatedly stated that they want to
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 leave the International Space Station
00:08:48 --> 00:08:50 project however they keep changing the
00:08:50 --> 00:08:52 timing of when they're going to leave
00:08:52 --> 00:08:54 because of ongoing delays in the
00:08:54 --> 00:08:55 construction of their own new space
00:08:55 --> 00:08:58 station when they do eventually leave
00:08:58 --> 00:09:00 possibly in 20 28 at least that's the
00:09:00 --> 00:09:02 latest estimate it's likely they'll take
00:09:02 --> 00:09:04 the Russian orbital segment of the space
00:09:04 --> 00:09:06 station with them the space station
00:09:06 --> 00:09:08 altitude boost was just one of the
00:09:08 --> 00:09:11 highlights of NASA's SpaceX CRS 31
00:09:11 --> 00:09:13 mission to the orbiting Outpost the
00:09:13 --> 00:09:15 flight aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from pad
00:09:15 --> 00:09:17 39a at the Kennedy Space Center in
00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 Florida docked with the forward-facing
00:09:19 --> 00:09:22 port of the harmony module on board the
00:09:22 --> 00:09:25 dragon cargo ship with some
00:09:25 --> 00:09:28 2 kg of food supplies and scientific
00:09:28 --> 00:09:31 equipment the cargo manifest included
00:09:31 --> 00:09:36 some 961 kg of crew supplies 917 kg of
00:09:36 --> 00:09:39 scientific equipment experiments 171 kg
00:09:39 --> 00:09:43 of new space walking equipment 238 kg of
00:09:43 --> 00:09:45 space station hardware and 20 kgs of
00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 Computer Resources the new technology
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 includes equipment to study the solar
00:09:50 --> 00:09:52 wind a study looking at the behavior of
00:09:52 --> 00:09:55 stafler caucus biofilms in microgravity
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 that could yield new insights into
00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 infection prevention in space exploring
00:09:59 --> 00:10:02 the germination of spinach seeds in
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 space potentially leading to improved
00:10:04 --> 00:10:06 space-based Agriculture and analyzing
00:10:06 --> 00:10:08 the effects of powdered hydration
00:10:08 --> 00:10:11 products in space other projects are
00:10:11 --> 00:10:12 looking at the development of brine
00:10:12 --> 00:10:14 shrimp in microgravity as part of an
00:10:14 --> 00:10:17 aquaculture study and using nemits to
00:10:17 --> 00:10:18 evaluate how effectively these small
00:10:18 --> 00:10:22 worms can combat insect pests in Space
00:10:22 --> 00:10:23 the dragon capsules also carrying
00:10:23 --> 00:10:26 Antarctic Mass to study the effects of
00:10:26 --> 00:10:28 cosmic radiation and microgravity on
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 plant biology there's a cold welding
00:10:31 --> 00:10:33 device aboard as well it'll test metal
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 bonding in microgravity and a material
00:10:35 --> 00:10:37 science investigation to understand how
00:10:38 --> 00:10:40 space environments alter different
00:10:40 --> 00:10:42 substances these studies are all
00:10:42 --> 00:10:43 designed to increase science's knowledge
00:10:43 --> 00:10:45 based for long duration space missions
00:10:45 --> 00:10:48 and potential human settlement on other
00:10:48 --> 00:10:50 worlds but probably the most unusual
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 experiment brought up by the Dragon
00:10:52 --> 00:10:54 capsule was the world's first wooden
00:10:54 --> 00:10:57 satellite developed by students at Kyoto
00:10:57 --> 00:11:00 University the 10x10 centimet Cube set
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 called lios set is equipped with sensors
00:11:02 --> 00:11:04 to test its strength and durability and
00:11:04 --> 00:11:06 to see how it reacts to the strain of
00:11:06 --> 00:11:08 the space environment it'll be launched
00:11:08 --> 00:11:11 from the space station in about a month
00:11:11 --> 00:11:13 scientists expect the wooden material to
00:11:13 --> 00:11:14 burn up when the device reenters the
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 earth atmosphere potentially providing a
00:11:17 --> 00:11:19 new way to avoid generating metallic
00:11:19 --> 00:11:21 particles when retired satellites return
00:11:21 --> 00:11:24 to Earth meanwhile Oxford University
00:11:24 --> 00:11:25 space Innovations lab has sent up its
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 first human tissue samples it's part of
00:11:28 --> 00:11:30 a science pack package designed to study
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 the effects of microgravity on the human
00:11:32 --> 00:11:35 aging process this research could help
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 people better cope with the biological
00:11:37 --> 00:11:40 effects of long duration space flly this
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 report from the University of Oxford
00:11:42 --> 00:11:46 power and as in the International Space
00:11:46 --> 00:11:48 Station they have a problem with their
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 muscle so muscles atrophy they have
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 problem with their bone so they lose the
00:11:52 --> 00:11:53 bone they have a problem with
00:11:53 --> 00:11:55 articulation and also their immune
00:11:55 --> 00:11:58 system so when we look at all this we we
00:11:58 --> 00:12:01 think they might have kind of aerating
00:12:01 --> 00:12:04 aging if the astronaut have this problem
00:12:04 --> 00:12:07 in a very short time while we need a 14
00:12:07 --> 00:12:10 years in Earth this will give us a huge
00:12:10 --> 00:12:13 opportunity to understand aging and
00:12:13 --> 00:12:14 maybe we find actually a way to treat
00:12:14 --> 00:12:17 sever age related disease they were
00:12:17 --> 00:12:18 enthusiastic about going to space and
00:12:19 --> 00:12:20 they had the right ideas of what to do
00:12:20 --> 00:12:24 and what to test what what more perfect
00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 situation could you have to study the
00:12:26 --> 00:12:28 pathway of Aging in this way we were
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 also the first to do this from my
00:12:30 --> 00:12:33 knowledge so what we do we take cells
00:12:33 --> 00:12:35 from patient and we put them back
00:12:36 --> 00:12:39 together in a control environment so the
00:12:39 --> 00:12:41 idea is to mimic the organ where you
00:12:41 --> 00:12:44 could put all the cells present in the
00:12:44 --> 00:12:46 true tissue we want to kind of use our
00:12:46 --> 00:12:48 cellular based system to model this and
00:12:48 --> 00:12:50 model The Joint specifically in space
00:12:50 --> 00:12:53 using microgravity as an accelerant for
00:12:53 --> 00:12:54 the aging process and then we're going
00:12:54 --> 00:12:57 to send some of them to the
00:12:57 --> 00:12:59 International Space Station and other
00:12:59 --> 00:13:01 will stay in Earth because we need to
00:13:01 --> 00:13:03 compare that's the plan and we just put
00:13:03 --> 00:13:07 them in small tubes send it to the ISS
00:13:07 --> 00:13:08 very
00:13:08 --> 00:13:11 easy this partner company called Ice
00:13:11 --> 00:13:14 Cube give us a box which is uh connected
00:13:14 --> 00:13:18 with computers with cameras with lights
00:13:18 --> 00:13:19 the students here at botner can walk
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 into the the the space Innovation lab
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 which is our connection to the
00:13:24 --> 00:13:26 International Space Station and get data
00:13:26 --> 00:13:29 that's downloaded and look at it right
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 way we would be able really to control
00:13:31 --> 00:13:34 all the sble every second every minute
00:13:34 --> 00:13:36 this is the sunrising orbit right now
00:13:36 --> 00:13:37 it's a very impressive you picked a very
00:13:38 --> 00:13:40 good time for this on my day three of my
00:13:40 --> 00:13:42 PhD I'm flying to the Kennedy Space
00:13:42 --> 00:13:44 Center to help on a rocket launch it's
00:13:44 --> 00:13:50 very surreal it is very cool we are all
00:13:50 --> 00:13:53 excited I watched uh science fiction I
00:13:53 --> 00:13:55 watched Captain Kirk and he would be on
00:13:55 --> 00:13:57 a planet and he would he would call
00:13:57 --> 00:14:00 Scotty with this phone right now I can
00:14:00 --> 00:14:03 do exactly that I can call an astronaut
00:14:03 --> 00:14:05 on the International Space Station and
00:14:05 --> 00:14:07 talk to them and Implement some really
00:14:07 --> 00:14:10 neat experiments and activities that
00:14:10 --> 00:14:14 will lead I think to enhancing our
00:14:14 --> 00:14:17 quality of life as we age so in my
00:14:17 --> 00:14:21 lifetime that was total science fiction
00:14:21 --> 00:14:22 and it's now a
00:14:22 --> 00:14:25 reality and in that report from Oxford
00:14:25 --> 00:14:26 University we heard from Principal
00:14:26 --> 00:14:29 investigator G alala from Oxford space
00:14:29 --> 00:14:31 Innovations lab former Nessa Chief
00:14:31 --> 00:14:33 scientists James Green and Vincent
00:14:33 --> 00:14:36 gutier and Dean Moran also from Oxford
00:14:36 --> 00:14:40 space Innovations lab this is
00:14:40 --> 00:14:55 [Music]
00:14:55 --> 00:14:57 spacetime and time that to take another
00:14:57 --> 00:14:58 brief look at some of the other stories
00:14:58 --> 00:15:00 making news and science this week with a
00:15:00 --> 00:15:03 science report a new study by scientist
00:15:03 --> 00:15:05 with the University of Miami has
00:15:05 --> 00:15:07 identified the recent elino Southern
00:15:07 --> 00:15:09 oscillation as the primary cause of last
00:15:09 --> 00:15:11 year's spike in global surface
00:15:11 --> 00:15:13 temperatures rather than human induced
00:15:13 --> 00:15:16 climate change the findings reported in
00:15:16 --> 00:15:18 the journal atmospheric chemistry and
00:15:18 --> 00:15:20 physics are based on an analysis of
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 models that allow the earth's climate to
00:15:22 --> 00:15:24 evolve without any influence from human
00:15:24 --> 00:15:27 activity it showed a 10% chance of a
00:15:27 --> 00:15:29 spiking temperatures occurring when an
00:15:29 --> 00:15:32 El Nino event is preceded by long L as
00:15:32 --> 00:15:36 happened in 2022 23 global temperatures
00:15:36 --> 00:15:38 last year reached unprecedented levels
00:15:38 --> 00:15:40 with many regions experiencing extreme
00:15:40 --> 00:15:42 heat which contributed to one of the
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 hottest years on record the year saw
00:15:45 --> 00:15:46 remarkable temperature anomalies
00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 especially in Europe and parts of the
00:15:48 --> 00:15:50 Middle East where heat waves brought
00:15:50 --> 00:15:53 record highs often exceeding 40° cius
00:15:53 --> 00:15:55 the oceans also reached higher than
00:15:55 --> 00:15:57 normal temperatures resulting in weather
00:15:57 --> 00:15:59 extremes such as intense storms and
00:15:59 --> 00:16:01 prolonged droughts in various parts of
00:16:01 --> 00:16:03 the world the authors say the new
00:16:03 --> 00:16:05 findings don't take away from the fact
00:16:05 --> 00:16:07 that human emissions of greenhouse gases
00:16:07 --> 00:16:09 are responsible for the long-term
00:16:09 --> 00:16:11 warming Trend and that this warming will
00:16:11 --> 00:16:13 continue until the net emission of
00:16:13 --> 00:16:14 carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
00:16:14 --> 00:16:17 gases is brought to zero El Nino is a
00:16:17 --> 00:16:20 climatic phenomenon characterized by
00:16:20 --> 00:16:22 periodic warming periods of sea surface
00:16:22 --> 00:16:24 temperatures in the Central and Eastern
00:16:24 --> 00:16:26 Pacific it significantly impacts global
00:16:27 --> 00:16:28 weather patterns and can lead to inv
00:16:28 --> 00:16:31 environmental and climatic changes the
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 World Meteorological organization says
00:16:33 --> 00:16:35 China Remains the world's biggest carbon
00:16:35 --> 00:16:37 dioxide polluter producing almost a
00:16:37 --> 00:16:39 third of the total Global output
00:16:39 --> 00:16:42 amounting to more than 10.2 million tons
00:16:42 --> 00:16:45 annually that's almost double that of
00:16:45 --> 00:16:46 the United States which is in second
00:16:46 --> 00:16:49 place and four times that of India which
00:16:49 --> 00:16:54 is in third place Australia is in 16th
00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 position scientists in South America
00:16:56 --> 00:16:58 have discovered the fossilized remains
00:16:58 --> 00:16:59 of a
00:16:59 --> 00:17:02 161 million year old giant tadpole a
00:17:02 --> 00:17:04 report in the journal Nature indicates
00:17:04 --> 00:17:08 the amphibian was around 16 cm long the
00:17:08 --> 00:17:09 discovery adds to science's
00:17:09 --> 00:17:11 understanding of the evolution of frogs
00:17:11 --> 00:17:13 and toads because key features of
00:17:13 --> 00:17:15 today's tadpoles including their filter
00:17:15 --> 00:17:17 feeding system are present in these
00:17:17 --> 00:17:20 ancient counterparts the fossils
00:17:20 --> 00:17:22 remarkably well preserved with a head
00:17:22 --> 00:17:25 eyes nerves a limb and most of the body
00:17:25 --> 00:17:27 and part of the tail all visible the
00:17:27 --> 00:17:29 presence of the limb suggested this
00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 tadpole was close to becoming an adult
00:17:31 --> 00:17:34 when it met its unfortunate demise the
00:17:34 --> 00:17:35 authors say the fossil shows that the
00:17:36 --> 00:17:38 two-stage life cycle and dramatic
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 metamorphosis were already present in
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 frogs and toads at least 161 million
00:17:43 --> 00:17:44 years
00:17:44 --> 00:17:47 ago a new study has found that music
00:17:47 --> 00:17:49 from the most popular songs each year in
00:17:49 --> 00:17:52 the United States have become simpler
00:17:52 --> 00:17:54 and less complex in their form since the
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 1950s the findings published in the
00:17:57 --> 00:17:59 journal scientific reports analyze the
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 most prominent Melodies From songs that
00:18:01 --> 00:18:03 reach the top five positions on the US
00:18:03 --> 00:18:05 billboard year- end singles music charts
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 each year between 1950 and
00:18:08 --> 00:18:11 2022 they say as time went by the
00:18:11 --> 00:18:13 complexity of song rhythms and the
00:18:13 --> 00:18:16 variation in Pitch decreased while the
00:18:16 --> 00:18:17 average number of notes played per
00:18:17 --> 00:18:20 second increased they noted big
00:18:20 --> 00:18:23 decreases in 1975 and the year 2000
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 which they speculate could be from the
00:18:25 --> 00:18:28 rise of New Wave disco and Stadium Rock
00:18:28 --> 00:18:30 in the 7 and then hip hop and audio
00:18:30 --> 00:18:32 looping into the
00:18:32 --> 00:18:34 naughties new figures show that Global
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36 cell phone sales have dropped in the
00:18:36 --> 00:18:39 wake of the covid pandemic but the data
00:18:39 --> 00:18:42 also shows the drops aren't uniform but
00:18:42 --> 00:18:44 instead are regionally based with the
00:18:45 --> 00:18:46 details we're joined by technology
00:18:46 --> 00:18:49 editor Alex saharov Roy from Tech advice
00:18:49 --> 00:18:51 start life yeah well look during the
00:18:51 --> 00:18:53 pandemic obviously sales went up then
00:18:53 --> 00:18:56 once the pandemic was over sales dropped
00:18:56 --> 00:18:57 quite a lot because people just didn't
00:18:57 --> 00:18:59 need new devices but we're now a couple
00:18:59 --> 00:19:01 of years on from the pandemic we're
00:19:01 --> 00:19:04 nearly in 2025 and Cana one of the big
00:19:04 --> 00:19:05 market research firm has launched their
00:19:05 --> 00:19:08 smartphone operating system quarterly
00:19:08 --> 00:19:11 data and they say that year on year
00:19:11 --> 00:19:14 sales have dropped about 2% now this is
00:19:14 --> 00:19:16 driven by weaker demand in mainland
00:19:16 --> 00:19:18 China and Japan but there have been
00:19:18 --> 00:19:20 strong growth in smartphone sales in the
00:19:20 --> 00:19:23 US 21% and in Europe's top five markets
00:19:23 --> 00:19:25 it's grown by 133% and in Australia
00:19:25 --> 00:19:29 where we are it's grown by 19% these s
00:19:29 --> 00:19:30 don't take into account the launch of
00:19:30 --> 00:19:32 the new iPhone 16 range because they're
00:19:32 --> 00:19:36 for the third quarter of 2024 so in this
00:19:36 --> 00:19:38 time frame iPhone 15 Series has
00:19:38 --> 00:19:39 continued to be the most popular
00:19:39 --> 00:19:41 smartphone range interestingly in the
00:19:41 --> 00:19:43 European top five markets in the US
00:19:43 --> 00:19:45 Australia and Japan this was the iPhone
00:19:45 --> 00:19:47 15 so this is basically the regular
00:19:47 --> 00:19:49 model that didn't have the faster chip
00:19:49 --> 00:19:51 and the five times optical zoom with
00:19:51 --> 00:19:53 three cameras but in mainland China the
00:19:53 --> 00:19:56 iPhone 15 Pro Max was the top selling
00:19:56 --> 00:19:57 model and then you've got a range of
00:19:57 --> 00:20:00 usually Sam Galaxy devices but in
00:20:00 --> 00:20:02 mainland China we also saw huawei's
00:20:02 --> 00:20:04 purer range kind of their I guess
00:20:04 --> 00:20:06 mid-range that had done very well too
00:20:06 --> 00:20:08 that China is a distorted Market because
00:20:08 --> 00:20:10 Google Play is not available there they
00:20:10 --> 00:20:12 have a range of their own app stores and
00:20:12 --> 00:20:14 in fact in China I was actually in
00:20:14 --> 00:20:17 shenzen the Silicon Valley of China in
00:20:17 --> 00:20:19 early October and I got to see the
00:20:19 --> 00:20:21 triple screen phone and compare it with
00:20:21 --> 00:20:23 the Google pixel folding phone and each
00:20:23 --> 00:20:25 of the slices were thinner than each
00:20:25 --> 00:20:27 side of the Google Exel fold and when
00:20:27 --> 00:20:29 you put it all together a triple Spring
00:20:29 --> 00:20:31 phone with the giant camera thing on the
00:20:31 --> 00:20:33 back was a bit thicker but still it was
00:20:33 --> 00:20:36 very cool to be able to unfold a 6.9 in
00:20:36 --> 00:20:39 device into a 10-in tablet so Huawei is
00:20:39 --> 00:20:41 doing very well in the US but until
00:20:41 --> 00:20:44 somebody in the US allows Huawei to have
00:20:44 --> 00:20:46 access to Google Play then it's unlikely
00:20:46 --> 00:20:47 we're going to see too many huway
00:20:47 --> 00:20:49 devices sold around the world and now
00:20:49 --> 00:20:51 that Trump's been voted back in to power
00:20:51 --> 00:20:53 I don't think we're going to see being
00:20:53 --> 00:20:56 given access to Google play again yeah
00:20:56 --> 00:20:58 but the concern with WWE of course has
00:20:58 --> 00:21:00 always been be what information they're
00:21:00 --> 00:21:02 pulling from you and what they're not
00:21:02 --> 00:21:03 telling you well that's very true and
00:21:03 --> 00:21:05 you know another company that suffered
00:21:05 --> 00:21:08 the same fate was ZTE which was a a
00:21:08 --> 00:21:10 Chinese brand that teler sold a lot of
00:21:10 --> 00:21:12 in Australia with their own branded
00:21:12 --> 00:21:14 teler branded phones that were ZT that
00:21:14 --> 00:21:17 had some of these Cades homes also ZTE
00:21:17 --> 00:21:19 so Huawei and ZTE have been the two
00:21:19 --> 00:21:20 companies that have been really targeted
00:21:20 --> 00:21:22 but a number of other Chinese brands
00:21:22 --> 00:21:25 have sailed on through no problems Oppo
00:21:25 --> 00:21:27 Vivo Lenovo is the company that earns
00:21:27 --> 00:21:30 murolo they do very well in Australia
00:21:30 --> 00:21:33 but yes chway was accused of leaking
00:21:33 --> 00:21:35 secrets to the Chinese government that's
00:21:35 --> 00:21:39 Alex Sahara Roy from Tech advice.
00:21:39 --> 00:21:48 [Music]
00:21:52 --> 00:21:55 life and that's the show for now
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