Embark on an interplanetary journey with SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 59, where we unravel the enigmatic atmosphere of Venus and its waterless environment. Discover the startling new study that suggests Venus lost its water reserves to space, leaving it with a mere fraction of Earth's water despite their similar origins. The episode dives into the complex chemical reactions in Venus's atmosphere that may have turned a once Earth-like planet into a scorching, inhospitable world.
Next, we explore the innovative ideas NASA is considering for future lunar logistics, including a magnetic railroad system designed to transport materials across the Moon's surface. This system could revolutionize the way we build and sustain lunar bases, pushing the boundaries of off-world construction and resource utilization.
The episode then shifts to the launch of a cutting-edge satellite from the International Space Station. This new eye in the sky aims to provide early warnings of volcanic eruptions by detecting trace gases, a game-changer for disaster preparedness and environmental monitoring.
Join us as we delve into these cosmic developments and more, including the implications of AI biases and the latest in tech from Apple.
Tune into SpaceTime with Stuart Gary for a deep dive into the latest astronomical insights and technological advancements.
(00:00) This is spacetime series 27, episode 59, for broadcast on 15 May 2024
(00:42) Study claims Venus loses twice as much water every day through dissociative recombination
(06:16) NASA is looking at building a railway on the moon to transport freight
(16:23) Ultra processed junk foods associated with higher risk of premature death, study finds
(18:52) Apple has formally released its new Apple Air and Apple Pro iPads
(24:15) Spacetime is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple podcasts
Support the show and access ad-free episodes at https://www.spreaker.com/show/spacetime (https://www.spreaker.com/show/spacetime) . Follow our cosmic conversations on Twitter @stuartgary, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. Join us as we unravel the mysteries of the universe, one episode at a time.
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Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/20734923?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 This is Spacetime Series 27, episode 59
00:00:03 --> 00:00:07 for broadcast on the 15th of May, 2024.
00:00:07 --> 00:00:10 Coming up on Spaceime, why Venus is
00:00:10 --> 00:00:13 almost no water, a space railroad on the
00:00:13 --> 00:00:16 moon, and the launch of a new volcanic
00:00:16 --> 00:00:18 eruption early warning satellite. All
00:00:18 --> 00:00:23 that and more coming up on Spaceime.
00:00:23 --> 00:00:42 >> Welcome to Spaceime with Stuart Garry.
00:00:42 --> 00:00:44 A new study claims that Earth's scalding
00:00:44 --> 00:00:47 and uninhabitable sister planet Venus
00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 became incredibly dry after losing much
00:00:49 --> 00:00:52 of its atmospheric hydrogen into space
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 through a process called disassociative
00:00:54 --> 00:00:55 recombination.
00:00:55 --> 00:00:58 The study claims that resulted in Venus
00:00:58 --> 00:01:00 losing roughly twice as much water every
00:01:00 --> 00:01:03 day compared to previous estimates. The
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 new findings reported in the journal
00:01:05 --> 00:01:07 Nature are based on computer simulations
00:01:07 --> 00:01:09 and they fill an important gap in
00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 science's understanding of the water
00:01:11 --> 00:01:14 story on Venus. One of the studies
00:01:14 --> 00:01:16 authors Aaron Kangji from the University
00:01:16 --> 00:01:19 of Colorado Boulder says water is vital
00:01:19 --> 00:01:21 for life as we know it. Scientists need
00:01:21 --> 00:01:23 to understand the conditions that
00:01:23 --> 00:01:25 support liquid water in the universe and
00:01:25 --> 00:01:27 that may have produced the very dry
00:01:27 --> 00:01:30 state of Venus today. Kangji says if you
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 took all the water on Earth and spread
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 it over the planet like jam on toast,
00:01:34 --> 00:01:37 you'd get a liquid layer roughly 3 km
00:01:37 --> 00:01:39 thick. But she says if you did the same
00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 thing on Venus where all the water's
00:01:41 --> 00:01:42 trapped in the air, you'd wind up with
00:01:42 --> 00:01:45 only 3 cm, barely enough to get your
00:01:45 --> 00:01:48 toes wet. You see, Venus has 100
00:01:48 --> 00:01:50 times less water than the Earth, even
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 though it's the Earth's nearest
00:01:52 --> 00:01:54 planetary neighbor. And that's really
00:01:54 --> 00:01:56 confusing because both worlds are
00:01:56 --> 00:01:58 basically the same size. They have the
00:01:58 --> 00:02:00 same mass, and they were formed in the
00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 same part of the solar system out of the
00:02:02 --> 00:02:05 same material. So, why the huge
00:02:05 --> 00:02:07 difference? Well, Kangji and colleagues
00:02:07 --> 00:02:09 have used computer models to try and
00:02:09 --> 00:02:12 understand Venus as a gigantic chemistry
00:02:12 --> 00:02:14 laboratory. And they zoomed in on the
00:02:14 --> 00:02:16 diverse range of reactions that occur in
00:02:16 --> 00:02:19 the planet's swirling atmosphere. They
00:02:19 --> 00:02:21 found a specific molecule, an ion made
00:02:21 --> 00:02:24 up of one atom each of hydrogen, carbon,
00:02:24 --> 00:02:26 and oxygen, which is high in Venus's
00:02:26 --> 00:02:28 atmosphere, could be the culprit behind
00:02:28 --> 00:02:30 the planet's escaping water. Now, if
00:02:30 --> 00:02:32 they're right, these findings reveal new
00:02:32 --> 00:02:34 hints about why Venus probably once
00:02:34 --> 00:02:36 looked almost identical to Earth, but is
00:02:36 --> 00:02:39 now completely unrecognizable.
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 See, if Venus is Earth's sister planet,
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 then it's a twisted sister with a
00:02:43 --> 00:02:46 runaway greenhouse effect. Its surface
00:02:46 --> 00:02:48 is scorchingly hot with average
00:02:48 --> 00:02:51 temperatures of 462° C. That's hot
00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 enough to melt lead. And those thick
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 opaque planet shrouding clouds, well,
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 they do cause rain, but the rain isn't
00:02:57 --> 00:03:00 water. Instead, it's droplets of metal
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 eating sulfuric acid. Scientists have
00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 seen what looks like snow caps in some
00:03:05 --> 00:03:07 of Venus's taller mountain ranges. But
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 that snow isn't frozen water, it's
00:03:09 --> 00:03:12 actually metallic. Venus's thick cloud
00:03:12 --> 00:03:15 cover is so heavy it crushes Venus's
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 carbon dioxide based atmosphere, acting
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 like a lid on a pressure cooker and
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 giving the planet a surface pressure
00:03:21 --> 00:03:23 some 92 times greater than the average
00:03:23 --> 00:03:26 sea level surface pressure on Earth. The
00:03:26 --> 00:03:28 surface of Venus is dominated by
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 thousands of volcanic structures, more
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 than any other planet in the solar
00:03:32 --> 00:03:34 system. Importantly, there's no evidence
00:03:34 --> 00:03:36 of any form of plate tectonic activity
00:03:36 --> 00:03:39 on Venus. Venus orbits the sun every
00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 224.7
00:03:41 --> 00:03:43 Earth days. And unlike the Earth, it
00:03:43 --> 00:03:45 rotates in retrograde compared to most
00:03:45 --> 00:03:47 other planets in the solar system. That
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 means on Venus, the sun rises in the
00:03:50 --> 00:03:52 west and sets in the east. And the
00:03:52 --> 00:03:56 rotation is awfully slow. A day on Venus
00:03:56 --> 00:03:59 lasts 243 Earth days. That means a
00:03:59 --> 00:04:02 Venuian day lasts longer than a Venujian
00:04:02 --> 00:04:05 year. Venus wasn't always such a dry,
00:04:05 --> 00:04:08 inhospitable world. Scientists suspect
00:04:08 --> 00:04:10 that billions of years ago during the
00:04:10 --> 00:04:12 formation of Venus, the planet received
00:04:12 --> 00:04:14 just as much water as the Earth did. But
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 at some point, catastrophe struck.
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 Clouds of carbon dioxide in Venus's
00:04:19 --> 00:04:21 atmosphere kicked off the most powerful
00:04:21 --> 00:04:23 greenhouse effect in the solar system,
00:04:23 --> 00:04:25 eventually raising temperatures on the
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 surface to roasting. And in the process,
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 all of Venus's water evaporated into
00:04:29 --> 00:04:32 steam, and most of it wound up drifting
00:04:32 --> 00:04:34 away into space. But that ancient
00:04:34 --> 00:04:37 evaporation can't explain why Venus is
00:04:37 --> 00:04:39 as dry as it is today, or how it
00:04:39 --> 00:04:42 continues to lose water into space. Now,
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 according to this new study, the culprit
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 is this elusive carbon, hydrogen, oxygen
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 ion. Water mixes with carbon dioxide to
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 form this molecule. In previous
00:04:52 --> 00:04:54 research, the authors reported that the
00:04:54 --> 00:04:56 same molecule may be responsible for
00:04:56 --> 00:04:58 Mars losing a huge chunk of its water.
00:04:58 --> 00:05:00 Here's how it works on Venus. The
00:05:00 --> 00:05:02 molecules being produced constantly in
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 the atmosphere, but the individual ions
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 don't survive for long. Electrons in the
00:05:07 --> 00:05:09 atmosphere find these ions and recombine
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 with them, splitting the ions in two.
00:05:11 --> 00:05:13 Now, in the process, the light hydrogen
00:05:13 --> 00:05:16 atom zips away and may even escape into
00:05:16 --> 00:05:18 space entirely, robbing Venus of one of
00:05:18 --> 00:05:21 the two components needed for water,
00:05:21 --> 00:05:24 H2O. The only way to explain Venus's dry
00:05:24 --> 00:05:26 state was if the planet hosted larger
00:05:26 --> 00:05:28 than expected volumes of this molecule
00:05:28 --> 00:05:31 in its atmosphere. Now, there's one more
00:05:31 --> 00:05:33 twist to the findings. Scientists have
00:05:33 --> 00:05:35 never actually observed this molecule
00:05:35 --> 00:05:38 around Venus. While many spacecraft have
00:05:38 --> 00:05:41 visited Mars in recent years, far fewer
00:05:41 --> 00:05:43 have traveled to Venus, and none have
00:05:43 --> 00:05:45 carried instruments capable of detecting
00:05:45 --> 00:05:48 this hydrogen carbon oxygen ion. One of
00:05:48 --> 00:05:50 the surprising conclusions of this new
00:05:50 --> 00:05:52 research is that the molecule should
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 actually be really common, one of the
00:05:54 --> 00:05:56 most abundant ions in Venus's
00:05:56 --> 00:05:59 atmosphere. So, all they need to do now
00:05:59 --> 00:06:03 is go there and find it. this spaceime.
00:06:03 --> 00:06:05 Still to come, NASA looking at building
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 a railroad on the moon to transport
00:06:07 --> 00:06:10 freight across the lunar surface. And a
00:06:10 --> 00:06:11 new satellite's been launched from the
00:06:12 --> 00:06:13 International Space Station to study
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 volcanic activity from orbit. All that
00:06:16 --> 00:06:35 and more still to come on Spaceime.
00:06:35 --> 00:06:37 NASA's looking at building a railway on
00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 the moon to transport freight across the
00:06:39 --> 00:06:42 lunar surface. The magnetically powered
00:06:42 --> 00:06:44 robotic flexible levitation on track or
00:06:44 --> 00:06:47 float system would transport up to 100
00:06:47 --> 00:06:49 tons of lunar soil or regalith and other
00:06:49 --> 00:06:52 materials a day using unpowered robots.
00:06:52 --> 00:06:54 The float would involve lightweight
00:06:54 --> 00:06:56 tracks being unfilled directly onto the
00:06:56 --> 00:06:59 lunar surface, thereby avoiding all the
00:06:59 --> 00:07:01 major on-site construction problems
00:07:01 --> 00:07:02 associated with traditional transport
00:07:02 --> 00:07:05 infrastructures like conventional roads,
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 railways, or cableways. Ethan Shaylor
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 Pasadena, California, says unlike
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 robotic vehicles with wheels, legs, or
00:07:14 --> 00:07:16 tracks, float robots have no moving
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 parts and levitate over the tracks,
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 minimizing lunar dust, abrasion, or
00:07:21 --> 00:07:23 wear. Transporting Regalith across the
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 lunar surface would be vital to NASA's
00:07:25 --> 00:07:28 plans to convert the soil into oxygen
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 and building materials to support human
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 bases on the moon. Also, the extracted
00:07:33 --> 00:07:35 oxygen could be used as an oxidizer for
00:07:35 --> 00:07:37 rocket fuel. Float would operate
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 autonomously with minimal sight
00:07:39 --> 00:07:41 preparation and its network of tracks
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 could be rolled up and reconfigured to
00:07:44 --> 00:07:45 match evolving lunar base mission
00:07:45 --> 00:07:48 requirements. JPL engineers estimate it
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 will be capable of handling payloads of
00:07:50 --> 00:07:53 more than 30 kg per square meter at
00:07:53 --> 00:07:55 speeds of half a meter/s.
00:07:55 --> 00:07:57 Float is just one of the concepts being
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 looked at by NASA for funding as part of
00:07:59 --> 00:08:01 the AY's innovative advanced concepts
00:08:02 --> 00:08:05 program phase 2 projects. The others
00:08:05 --> 00:08:07 include a fluidic telescope or flute,
00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 which would involve the creation of a
00:08:09 --> 00:08:11 large optical observatory in space, not
00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 using a solid heavy piece of glass as a
00:08:13 --> 00:08:16 mirror, but instead having a fluidic
00:08:16 --> 00:08:19 mirror shaped by rotating ionic fluids.
00:08:19 --> 00:08:21 The telescope would allow astronomers to
00:08:21 --> 00:08:23 search for Earthlike exoplanets, first
00:08:23 --> 00:08:27 generation stars, and young galaxies.
00:08:27 --> 00:08:29 Then there's the proposal for pulse
00:08:29 --> 00:08:31 plasma rockets. These would dramatically
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 reduce transit times for humans
00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 traveling to Mars or other parts of the
00:08:35 --> 00:08:37 solar system. This innovative propulsion
00:08:37 --> 00:08:39 system would use fishing generated
00:08:39 --> 00:08:42 packets of plasma for thrust.
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 Another idea is the great observatory
00:08:44 --> 00:08:47 for long wavelengths or glow. It would
00:08:47 --> 00:08:49 see a mega constellation of
00:08:49 --> 00:08:51 low-frequency radio telescopes using
00:08:51 --> 00:08:53 thousands of autonomous small sats
00:08:53 --> 00:08:54 capable of measuring the magnetic fields
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 emitted by exoplanets and study the
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 cosmic dark ages a time before the first
00:09:00 --> 00:09:02 stars began to shine.
00:09:02 --> 00:09:04 Then there's the radioisotope therma
00:09:04 --> 00:09:07 radiative cell powered generator. It
00:09:07 --> 00:09:09 would be a new inspace power source
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 operating at higher efficiencies than
00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 current power generators.
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 And finally, there's science craft for
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 outer planet exploration. It would place
00:09:19 --> 00:09:20 quantum dotbased sensors on the surface
00:09:20 --> 00:09:23 of solar cells, enabling that cell to
00:09:23 --> 00:09:26 act like a giant innovative imager.
00:09:26 --> 00:09:28 Quantum physics would allow NASA to make
00:09:28 --> 00:09:30 scientific measurements through studying
00:09:30 --> 00:09:33 how the dots absorb light. By leveraging
00:09:33 --> 00:09:35 the solar cells area, it would allow
00:09:35 --> 00:09:37 lighter, more cost effective spacecraft
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 carrying images across the solar system.
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 This spaceime
00:09:42 --> 00:09:45 still to come, a new volcanic eruption
00:09:45 --> 00:09:47 early warning satellite launched from
00:09:47 --> 00:09:49 the International Space Station and
00:09:49 --> 00:09:51 later in the science report, artificial
00:09:51 --> 00:09:54 intelligencia showing clear racist and
00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 work programming. All that and more
00:09:56 --> 00:10:14 still to come on Spaceime.
00:10:14 --> 00:10:16 A new satellite has been launched from
00:10:16 --> 00:10:18 the International Space Station to study
00:10:18 --> 00:10:21 volcanic activity on Earth from orbit.
00:10:21 --> 00:10:23 The hyperspectral thermal imager or
00:10:23 --> 00:10:26 hightai spacecraft is a sixunit cubat
00:10:26 --> 00:10:28 designed to measure trace gases which
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 could be an early indication of an
00:10:30 --> 00:10:32 impending volcanic eruption. The
00:10:32 --> 00:10:34 spacecraft was initially launched from
00:10:34 --> 00:10:36 Earth on the 30th SpaceX commercial
00:10:36 --> 00:10:39 resupply mission aboard a Dragon cargo
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 ship on a Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape
00:10:41 --> 00:10:43 Canaveral Space Force base in Florida
00:10:43 --> 00:10:46 back on March the 21st. After docking to
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 the International Space Station, High
00:10:48 --> 00:10:50 Thai was deployed into low Earth orbit
00:10:50 --> 00:10:53 on April the 21st. This demonstration
00:10:53 --> 00:10:55 mission will test new technologies that
00:10:56 --> 00:10:58 could provide the next generation of
00:10:58 --> 00:11:00 high spatial spectral and temporal
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 resolution satellites using thermal
00:11:02 --> 00:11:04 infrared imagery acquisition from low
00:11:04 --> 00:11:06 Earth orbit. High-Tai principal
00:11:06 --> 00:11:07 investigator Robert Wright from the
00:11:08 --> 00:11:09 University of Hawaii says the mission
00:11:09 --> 00:11:12 will pave the way for future spacecraft
00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 dedicated to detecting volcanic
00:11:14 --> 00:11:15 eruptions weeks or even months in
00:11:15 --> 00:11:18 advance. Wright says hyperspectral
00:11:18 --> 00:11:20 images like hightai can measure a broad
00:11:20 --> 00:11:23 spectrum of thermal radiation signatures
00:11:23 --> 00:11:25 and they're especially useful for
00:11:25 --> 00:11:26 characterizing gases in low
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 concentrations quantifying
00:11:28 --> 00:11:31 concentrations of sulfur dioxide in the
00:11:31 --> 00:11:33 atmospheres around volcanoes. You see,
00:11:33 --> 00:11:35 in the weeks and even months before they
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 erupt, volcanoes often emit increased
00:11:37 --> 00:11:39 amounts of sulfur dioxide and other
00:11:39 --> 00:11:42 trace gases. So measuring those gases
00:11:42 --> 00:11:45 could indicate an impending eruption.
00:11:45 --> 00:11:47 High tai sensitivity to thermal
00:11:47 --> 00:11:49 radiation will also be useful for
00:11:49 --> 00:11:51 observing water vapor and convection.
00:11:51 --> 00:11:54 Wright says a future constellation of 25
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 to 30 high tai satellites could monitor
00:11:56 --> 00:11:58 Earth's volcanoes for signs of impending
00:11:58 --> 00:12:01 eruptions and map soil moisture for crop
00:12:01 --> 00:12:03 management at lower cost than a single
00:12:03 --> 00:12:05 conventional satellite.
00:12:05 --> 00:12:06 >> I tell people that I study volcanoes
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 from space to try and work out when they
00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 are going to start and stop erupting.
00:12:10 --> 00:12:12 The satellite is called high tai
00:12:12 --> 00:12:14 hyperspectral thermal imaging. There are
00:12:14 --> 00:12:16 two science objectives for high tai. One
00:12:16 --> 00:12:18 is we want to try and improve how well
00:12:18 --> 00:12:19 we can predict when a volcano is going
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 to erupt and also when a volcanic
00:12:21 --> 00:12:23 eruption is going to end and we're also
00:12:23 --> 00:12:25 going to measuring soil moisture content
00:12:25 --> 00:12:27 as it pertains to the persistence of
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 drought. So both of those things high
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 will be able to contribute to society.
00:12:31 --> 00:12:32 Hi uses a phenomenon called
00:12:32 --> 00:12:34 interference. If you've ever seen the
00:12:34 --> 00:12:36 rainbow of colors that are produced by
00:12:36 --> 00:12:37 on the side of the street when you have
00:12:37 --> 00:12:40 a film of oil over water, that's an
00:12:40 --> 00:12:43 interference phenomenon which allows
00:12:43 --> 00:12:46 broadband light to be split into its
00:12:46 --> 00:12:47 different color or wavelength or
00:12:47 --> 00:12:50 spectral components. High uses a a
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 fabric faux intererometer which is about
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 the size of my my fingernail. Two pieces
00:12:54 --> 00:12:56 of germanium and we just have air in the
00:12:56 --> 00:12:58 middle. When light lands on one side, it
00:12:58 --> 00:13:00 gets passed through and it gets bounced
00:13:00 --> 00:13:02 around in the cavity, reflected
00:13:02 --> 00:13:04 backwards and forwards. And it's very
00:13:04 --> 00:13:06 attractive as an imaging technology for
00:13:06 --> 00:13:08 a cube satellite. Firstly, because it's
00:13:08 --> 00:13:10 small, but secondly, because it has no
00:13:10 --> 00:13:12 moving parts. It's just glued together
00:13:12 --> 00:13:13 solid and mounted to the focal plane on
00:13:13 --> 00:13:15 it. People are familiar with carbon
00:13:15 --> 00:13:16 dioxide
00:13:16 --> 00:13:19 from a liquid when you open a bottle of
00:13:19 --> 00:13:21 Coke. Carbon dioxide is also present in
00:13:21 --> 00:13:23 magmas at depth. When you're bringing
00:13:23 --> 00:13:25 the magma up to the surface, the gases
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 which are dissolved under pressure at
00:13:27 --> 00:13:29 depth, eventually they escape and they
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 produce a gas cloud before an eruption,
00:13:31 --> 00:13:33 carbon dioxide can give you weeks for
00:13:33 --> 00:13:35 months of early warning. Once you start
00:13:35 --> 00:13:37 detecting that elevated amount within
00:13:37 --> 00:13:39 that plume with High Thai, we have the
00:13:39 --> 00:13:41 sensitivity, the spectral coverage and
00:13:41 --> 00:13:43 the spectral resolution that we can
00:13:43 --> 00:13:45 measure both volcanic carbon dioxide
00:13:45 --> 00:13:47 emissions as well as volcanic sulfur
00:13:47 --> 00:13:48 dioxide emissions. Our ability to
00:13:48 --> 00:13:51 measure the chemical composition of
00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 targets on the earth and how they change
00:13:53 --> 00:13:55 as a function of time in the thermal
00:13:55 --> 00:13:57 infrared has really lagged behind
00:13:57 --> 00:13:58 progress that has been made in other
00:13:58 --> 00:14:01 parts of the spectrum. Everything emits
00:14:01 --> 00:14:03 energy because it's warm. In the thermal
00:14:03 --> 00:14:05 infrared, we're studying the amount of
00:14:05 --> 00:14:07 light that it emits. We make many
00:14:07 --> 00:14:09 spectral measurements with narrow wave,
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 which is what high tide is going to do.
00:14:11 --> 00:14:12 Then not only can we work out the
00:14:12 --> 00:14:13 temperature of the thing we're imaging,
00:14:14 --> 00:14:15 we can also work out something about its
00:14:15 --> 00:14:17 chemical composition. So, High Tai is
00:14:17 --> 00:14:18 going to provide a different kind of
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 thermal infrared data than scientists
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 have previously had available to them.
00:14:22 --> 00:14:23 One of the most frustrating things about
00:14:23 --> 00:14:25 being a scientist is that you're usually
00:14:25 --> 00:14:28 given data and you have to work with it,
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 even if it's not exactly the kind of
00:14:30 --> 00:14:31 data that you really like to bring to
00:14:31 --> 00:14:32 bear on the problem that you're trying
00:14:32 --> 00:14:34 to solve. Historically, the conversion
00:14:34 --> 00:14:37 from a meaningless number to a
00:14:37 --> 00:14:39 scientifically meaningful number would
00:14:39 --> 00:14:41 take place on the ground. With High Tai,
00:14:41 --> 00:14:42 we're going to do this processing on
00:14:42 --> 00:14:44 board. So what we have to do is convert
00:14:44 --> 00:14:47 the raw response of the camera to the
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 thing called spectral radiance. During a
00:14:49 --> 00:14:51 given day, the instrument is going to
00:14:51 --> 00:14:56 acquire about 100 GB of raw data. By
00:14:56 --> 00:14:57 processing it on board and then
00:14:57 --> 00:14:58 compressing it, we're going to convert
00:14:58 --> 00:15:03 100 Gbits to 4 GB, which on a scientist
00:15:03 --> 00:15:05 could grab, unzip, and then immediately
00:15:05 --> 00:15:08 begin analyzing a height cube set. Cube
00:15:08 --> 00:15:09 sets are designed to work in
00:15:09 --> 00:15:11 constellations. So to replicate the
00:15:11 --> 00:15:13 functionality of a large mission using
00:15:13 --> 00:15:16 several smaller spacecraft is a
00:15:16 --> 00:15:18 technology demonstration mission. So
00:15:18 --> 00:15:19 it's not designed to be a science
00:15:19 --> 00:15:20 mission. It's designed to be a
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 pathfinder for a science mission. So in
00:15:22 --> 00:15:24 order to achieve high temporal
00:15:24 --> 00:15:25 resolutions of the kind that you need to
00:15:25 --> 00:15:28 study the gases emanating from a volcano
00:15:28 --> 00:15:30 before it erupts, then one high tide
00:15:30 --> 00:15:32 would not do that. But a constellation
00:15:32 --> 00:15:35 of 8 n or 10 high ties would. So we work
00:15:35 --> 00:15:36 at the University of Hawaii and we're
00:15:36 --> 00:15:37 doing this. But there are some things
00:15:37 --> 00:15:40 it's just better to rely on NASA to
00:15:40 --> 00:15:43 handle. The ESTO program allows for
00:15:43 --> 00:15:46 scientists to have interesting ideas and
00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 actually turn them into reality in a
00:15:48 --> 00:15:49 time scale which is not measured in
00:15:49 --> 00:15:51 decades but is measured in months to
00:15:51 --> 00:15:52 years.
00:15:52 --> 00:15:54 >> That's Robert Wright, the director of
00:15:54 --> 00:15:56 the Hawaii Institute of Geoysics and
00:15:56 --> 00:15:58 Planettology at the University of
00:15:58 --> 00:16:17 Hawaii. And this spaceime
00:16:17 --> 00:16:19 and time now to take another brief look
00:16:19 --> 00:16:20 at some of the other stories making news
00:16:20 --> 00:16:22 in science this week with the science
00:16:22 --> 00:16:25 report. A new study has shown that
00:16:25 --> 00:16:27 ultrarocessed junk foods, especially
00:16:28 --> 00:16:29 processed meats and seafoods, are
00:16:29 --> 00:16:32 associated with a higher risk of dying
00:16:32 --> 00:16:34 prematurely. The findings reported in
00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 the British Medical Journal are based on
00:16:36 --> 00:16:38 research following the diets of 100
00:16:38 --> 00:16:40 American healthare workers over an
00:16:40 --> 00:16:43 average of 34 years, half of whom died
00:16:43 --> 00:16:46 during the study period. The authors say
00:16:46 --> 00:16:48 there was no association between eating
00:16:48 --> 00:16:50 more ultrarocessed foods and deaths
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 related to cancer or heart problems. And
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 so the overall increased risk of death
00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 could be explained by the overall diet
00:16:56 --> 00:16:59 quality. In an accompanying editorial,
00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 the authors note that it's important not
00:17:01 --> 00:17:03 to regard all foods considered
00:17:03 --> 00:17:05 ultrarocessed as unhealthy in all
00:17:05 --> 00:17:07 contexts and also not to equate
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 underprocessed foods as being especially
00:17:09 --> 00:17:12 healthy.
00:17:12 --> 00:17:13 Scientists have found that harnessing
00:17:13 --> 00:17:16 the same chemical processes that capture
00:17:16 --> 00:17:18 carbon dioxide from the atmosphere could
00:17:18 --> 00:17:20 also allow for the carbon negative
00:17:20 --> 00:17:22 production of concrete. The findings
00:17:22 --> 00:17:24 reported in the journal of the Royal
00:17:24 --> 00:17:26 Society Open Science follow experiments
00:17:26 --> 00:17:29 using olivine, a mineral commonly found
00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 in Earth's upper mantle. The mineral was
00:17:32 --> 00:17:33 broken down into an amorphous silica
00:17:34 --> 00:17:35 which has the potential to be used as a
00:17:35 --> 00:17:37 supplementary material in concrete
00:17:37 --> 00:17:39 making and nesquanite which is able to
00:17:39 --> 00:17:42 capture and store carbon. The authors
00:17:42 --> 00:17:44 say using silica for cement would give
00:17:44 --> 00:17:46 concrete a low potentially negative
00:17:46 --> 00:17:48 carbon footprint as a carbon capturing
00:17:48 --> 00:17:50 material is being created during its
00:17:50 --> 00:17:53 production. Right now concrete's
00:17:53 --> 00:17:55 considered to be the worst construction
00:17:55 --> 00:17:59 material for greenhouse gases.
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 Artificial intelligence or AI is the
00:18:01 --> 00:18:04 fastest growing technology in the world,
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 but there's growing concern about its
00:18:06 --> 00:18:07 ability to consider and represent
00:18:07 --> 00:18:10 diverse communities. Prominent AI
00:18:10 --> 00:18:13 applications such as Google and Meta are
00:18:13 --> 00:18:15 showing racial biases, a lack of
00:18:15 --> 00:18:17 diversity, and a lack of cultural
00:18:17 --> 00:18:20 sensitivity. For example, Google's AI
00:18:20 --> 00:18:22 has been shown to be culturally woke to
00:18:22 --> 00:18:23 the point where it ignores achievements
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 of white people, such as claiming George
00:18:25 --> 00:18:28 Washington was black and the Apollo 11
00:18:28 --> 00:18:30 astronauts are all colored. AI expert
00:18:30 --> 00:18:32 Professor Kevin Wong from Murdoch
00:18:32 --> 00:18:34 University School of Information
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36 Technology says in order to deal with
00:18:36 --> 00:18:38 the problem of cultural biases in AIs,
00:18:38 --> 00:18:40 it's important to understand the
00:18:40 --> 00:18:43 fundamentals of different AI techniques.
00:18:43 --> 00:18:44 It's also important to remember the
00:18:44 --> 00:18:46 racist biases of the programmers
00:18:46 --> 00:18:49 scripting their AI. A clear case of
00:18:49 --> 00:18:52 garbage in, garbage out.
00:18:52 --> 00:18:54 Apple has formally released its new
00:18:54 --> 00:18:57 Apple Air and Apple Pro iPads. And as
00:18:57 --> 00:18:58 expected, the Pro includes the new
00:18:58 --> 00:19:01 top-of-the-line M4 chip. With all the
00:19:01 --> 00:19:03 details, we're joined by technology
00:19:03 --> 00:19:06 editor Alex Sahara from techadvice.life.
00:19:06 --> 00:19:08 Well, two iPad Airs, an 11 in and a 13
00:19:08 --> 00:19:11 in, and two iPad Pros, an 11 in and also
00:19:12 --> 00:19:13 a 13 in. Now, that's bigger than the
00:19:13 --> 00:19:17 12.9 in I had last year. And the iPad
00:19:17 --> 00:19:21 Pro 11 in is 5.3 mm, and the 13 in is
00:19:21 --> 00:19:24 5.1 mm. Now, that is smaller than the
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 iPod Nano from a few years ago, which
00:19:26 --> 00:19:28 was 5.4 mm. So, it's incredibly thin.
00:19:28 --> 00:19:30 And already people have made jokes that,
00:19:30 --> 00:19:31 well, it's just going to bend. This is
00:19:31 --> 00:19:33 Apple's first foldable, but clearly most
00:19:33 --> 00:19:34 people are going to have this in some
00:19:34 --> 00:19:35 sort of a case. And you got to be
00:19:36 --> 00:19:37 careful because it's it's going to be a
00:19:37 --> 00:19:37 very
00:19:37 --> 00:19:39 >> I remember that happened with iPhones a
00:19:39 --> 00:19:40 while ago. I think it was the six,
00:19:40 --> 00:19:41 wasn't it?
00:19:41 --> 00:19:43 >> It was the six. And also the 2018 iPads
00:19:43 --> 00:19:45 could bend as well. But again, you know,
00:19:45 --> 00:19:46 if you sat on it, if you if you
00:19:46 --> 00:19:47 purposefully bent it. The reality is
00:19:47 --> 00:19:49 most people will have them in cases. And
00:19:49 --> 00:19:50 price of these things, especially if you
00:19:50 --> 00:19:53 want the two TB version, is going to be
00:19:53 --> 00:19:54 in Australian dollars four to five
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 grand. I mean, these are not cheap
00:19:56 --> 00:19:58 devices. But the iPad Air is the one
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00 that's meant to be more for everyday
00:20:00 --> 00:20:01 consumer, especially the one that wants
00:20:01 --> 00:20:03 the the larger 13-in screen without
00:20:03 --> 00:20:05 having to pay the pro prices. Of
00:20:05 --> 00:20:07 >> course, the big question is, did the M4
00:20:07 --> 00:20:09 chip come out? And if so, with what?
00:20:09 --> 00:20:11 >> Yes. So, the iPad Air has gone from M1
00:20:11 --> 00:20:13 to M2, and that's a big improvement for
00:20:13 --> 00:20:16 for the consumer range. But the Pro
00:20:16 --> 00:20:18 range has skipped the M3 entirely and
00:20:18 --> 00:20:20 gone to the M4. Now, that's why Apple
00:20:20 --> 00:20:21 didn't launch it earlier because they
00:20:21 --> 00:20:23 were clearly waiting for this chip to be
00:20:23 --> 00:20:26 launched. And it's 50% faster than the
00:20:26 --> 00:20:28 M2. I mean, they didn't say how much
00:20:28 --> 00:20:29 faster it is than the M3, but given
00:20:29 --> 00:20:31 there's no M3 iPad Pro, it doesn't
00:20:32 --> 00:20:33 really matter. It's a faster and better
00:20:33 --> 00:20:35 device. And it's got the biggest sort of
00:20:35 --> 00:20:37 most powerful neural engine which
00:20:37 --> 00:20:39 delivers AI. Now, Apple has studiously
00:20:39 --> 00:20:41 avoided mentioning AI. They've always
00:20:41 --> 00:20:42 talked about machine learning, but this
00:20:42 --> 00:20:44 time they said it seven or eight times,
00:20:44 --> 00:20:46 and they gave some examples where you
00:20:46 --> 00:20:49 could take a some sort of a dancer and
00:20:49 --> 00:20:50 just tap on this particular dancer and
00:20:50 --> 00:20:52 move it into a different video editing
00:20:52 --> 00:20:54 timeline without all the background. And
00:20:54 --> 00:20:55 you can just do that with sort of with a
00:20:55 --> 00:20:56 tap and a drag. There's another example
00:20:56 --> 00:20:59 with a song with Apple's latest music
00:20:59 --> 00:21:01 software version too where you could
00:21:01 --> 00:21:03 just tap a button and instantly the song
00:21:03 --> 00:21:05 is broken up into the singer and the
00:21:05 --> 00:21:07 drums and the main instrument and the
00:21:07 --> 00:21:09 backing instruments and it all happens
00:21:09 --> 00:21:11 in a blink of an eye and you can then
00:21:11 --> 00:21:13 remix things. What Apple didn't show and
00:21:13 --> 00:21:15 what they were saving for their big
00:21:15 --> 00:21:17 worldwide developer conference in early
00:21:17 --> 00:21:20 June, just weeks away, is whether or not
00:21:20 --> 00:21:22 Apple is going to have a large language
00:21:22 --> 00:21:25 model generative AI clone or competitor
00:21:25 --> 00:21:27 to Chat GPT, which would be like a Siri
00:21:27 --> 00:21:29 on steroids. And so there's clearly
00:21:29 --> 00:21:31 another shoe to drop in terms of what
00:21:31 --> 00:21:35 Apple's true AI response to chat GPT is
00:21:35 --> 00:21:36 going to be and how else that will be
00:21:36 --> 00:21:37 used throughout the system. I mean
00:21:38 --> 00:21:39 already Samsung devices can do live
00:21:40 --> 00:21:42 translation on device whilst you're on
00:21:42 --> 00:21:43 phone call from one language to another.
00:21:43 --> 00:21:46 It can automatically convert audio files
00:21:46 --> 00:21:48 as it's being recorded into text,
00:21:48 --> 00:21:50 summarize that for you, change the tone
00:21:50 --> 00:21:52 of your emails and notes from something
00:21:52 --> 00:21:53 more casual to something more
00:21:53 --> 00:21:55 professional. I mean there's a bunch of
00:21:55 --> 00:21:57 things that Samsung showcase which
00:21:57 --> 00:21:58 iPhones can do but you need different
00:21:58 --> 00:22:00 apps for that but it's built directly
00:22:00 --> 00:22:01 into the operating system. And so this
00:22:01 --> 00:22:03 is something we expect to see Apple
00:22:03 --> 00:22:05 launch. And the big question will be
00:22:05 --> 00:22:08 whether or not you need an M4 powered
00:22:08 --> 00:22:10 iPad Pro or a forthcoming MacBook which
00:22:10 --> 00:22:12 will be launching towards the end of the
00:22:12 --> 00:22:14 year with these chips to do all that on
00:22:14 --> 00:22:16 device and also the new iPhone 16 that
00:22:16 --> 00:22:17 will come towards the end of the year or
00:22:17 --> 00:22:18 whether or not you'll be able to do a
00:22:18 --> 00:22:20 number of these things on your existing
00:22:20 --> 00:22:22 MacBook Pro devices. And then how far
00:22:22 --> 00:22:24 back, you know, can I use these AI
00:22:24 --> 00:22:26 features that aren't official yet on my
00:22:26 --> 00:22:28 iPhone 15 Pro Max, for example? Can I do
00:22:28 --> 00:22:30 it on an iPhone 15? Can I do it on an
00:22:30 --> 00:22:32 iPhone 14 or 13? Now, where will the cut
00:22:32 --> 00:22:34 off be? Because Microsoft is going to
00:22:34 --> 00:22:37 launch its Surface device in the next
00:22:37 --> 00:22:39 week or two. We'll talk about it on this
00:22:39 --> 00:22:41 show. And it will have the Snapdragon
00:22:41 --> 00:22:44 Qualcomm X Elite and the X Plus. And
00:22:44 --> 00:22:47 these two chips are their answer to
00:22:47 --> 00:22:49 Apple's M series chips. And they've come
00:22:49 --> 00:22:52 effectively 5 years after the M1 was
00:22:52 --> 00:22:54 released in 2020. Now, one interesting
00:22:54 --> 00:22:56 point. Qualcomm said its chip can do 45
00:22:56 --> 00:22:58 tops. That's trillion operations per
00:22:58 --> 00:23:00 second. And Apple only said it can do 38
00:23:00 --> 00:23:02 tops, trillion operations per second.
00:23:02 --> 00:23:04 And this is important because Microsoft
00:23:04 --> 00:23:05 has been reported to say that to do
00:23:06 --> 00:23:07 generative AI on device, you need at
00:23:07 --> 00:23:10 least 40 tops. And interestingly, AMD's
00:23:10 --> 00:23:13 chip does 39 and the previous one last
00:23:13 --> 00:23:15 year did 33. So is Qualcomm's better at
00:23:15 --> 00:23:17 45 than Apple's at 38.
00:23:17 --> 00:23:18 >> And of course, it doesn't end there.
00:23:18 --> 00:23:19 There's more news from Google as well.
00:23:20 --> 00:23:21 >> Yes. As we're going to air, Google will
00:23:21 --> 00:23:23 be holding its IO developer conference,
00:23:23 --> 00:23:25 which will be full of AI news and
00:23:25 --> 00:23:27 information. And it's also going to
00:23:27 --> 00:23:30 officially launch the Google Pixel 8a.
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 It'll go on sale when the conference is
00:23:31 --> 00:23:33 on. And that's full of AI stuff, too.
00:23:33 --> 00:23:35 Circle to search and Google's AI built
00:23:35 --> 00:23:37 into the phone. And it's at a price in
00:23:38 --> 00:23:40 the US of $4.99, $8.49 in Australia,
00:23:40 --> 00:23:42 $100 more. But it's their answer to the
00:23:42 --> 00:23:44 mid-range phones that are nearly
00:23:44 --> 00:23:47 high-end and have all of the pure Google
00:23:47 --> 00:23:49 goodness and seven years of OS and
00:23:49 --> 00:23:51 security updates. So, Google is by no
00:23:51 --> 00:23:52 means wanting to be left behind either.
00:23:52 --> 00:23:54 And they have plenty of news which we'll
00:23:54 --> 00:23:56 talk about next week. That's Alex Sahara
00:23:56 --> 00:24:13 from tech advice.life
00:24:13 --> 00:24:16 and that's the show for now. Spaceime is
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00:25:40 --> 00:25:42 >> You've been listening to Spacetime with
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