SpaceTime Series 29 Episode 54 *The two outer rings of the ice giant Uranus show starkly different origins Astronomers have discovered that two of the planet Uranus’s outer rings have very different compositions and so must have come from different origins. *Africa breaking apart faster than thought A new study claims Africa is much closer to being physically torn apart into two separate continents than previously thought – possibly in just a few million years from now. *Engine issues blamed for the failure of the maiden flight of the Eris rocket The investigation into the failure of the maiden flight of the Eris rocket last year has traced the problem to two of the launch vehicles hybrid rocket engines. *The Science Report Scientists have discovered a new way for some coronaviruses to infect humans. The Australian Army to get 268 more Bushmaster infantry mobility vehicles. Study warns most teens are sent sexting messages from strangers. Alex on Tech: Bad Samsung update.
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Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/33119424?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 This is Spacetime Series 29, episode 54
00:00:03 --> 00:00:06 for broadcast on the 6th of May, 2026.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:09 Coming up on Spacetime, new evidence
00:00:09 --> 00:00:11 shows that the two outer rings of the
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 ice giant Uranus have starkly different
00:00:14 --> 00:00:16 origins. Scientists warned that the
00:00:16 --> 00:00:19 African continent is now breaking apart
00:00:19 --> 00:00:21 much faster than previously thought, and
00:00:21 --> 00:00:23 rocket engine issues have been blamed
00:00:24 --> 00:00:26 for the failure of the maiden flight of
00:00:26 --> 00:00:29 Gilmore Space's Aerys rocket. All that
00:00:29 --> 00:00:33 and more coming up on Spaceime.
00:00:33 --> 00:00:52 >> Welcome to Spaceime with Stuart Garry.
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 Astronomers have discovered that two of
00:00:54 --> 00:00:56 the planet Uranus's outer rings have
00:00:56 --> 00:00:58 very different compositions. and so must
00:00:58 --> 00:01:00 have come from completely different
00:01:00 --> 00:01:03 origins. The findings reported in the
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 journal geohysical research planets show
00:01:05 --> 00:01:07 that the epsilon and the new rings have
00:01:07 --> 00:01:09 different colors and are reflecting
00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 light differently. The discovery is
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 based on new spectroscopical
00:01:13 --> 00:01:15 observations by the KEK observatory on
00:01:15 --> 00:01:17 Monay in Hawaii and by the Hubble and
00:01:17 --> 00:01:21 web space telescopes. These two rings
00:01:21 --> 00:01:23 are peculiar because they're extremely
00:01:23 --> 00:01:25 faint and orbit within the planet's
00:01:25 --> 00:01:28 crowded system of 14 inner moons. By
00:01:28 --> 00:01:29 decoding the light from these rings,
00:01:30 --> 00:01:31 astronomers can trace both their
00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 particle size distribution and their
00:01:33 --> 00:01:35 composition, and that in turn sheds
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 light on their origins, offering new
00:01:37 --> 00:01:39 insights into how the uranian system and
00:01:40 --> 00:01:41 other ice giant planets like it formed
00:01:42 --> 00:01:44 and evolved. The studies lead author MK
00:01:44 --> 00:01:46 Deattera from the University of
00:01:46 --> 00:01:48 California, Berkeley says the findings
00:01:48 --> 00:01:51 point to very different origin stories.
00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 Though they orbit the same planet,
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 Uranus's epsilon and a new rings are
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 fundamentally different. Prior
00:01:57 --> 00:01:59 observations with Ke and Hubble showed
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 that the epsilon ring appeared blue, a
00:02:01 --> 00:02:03 signature characteristic of extremely
00:02:03 --> 00:02:05 small particles, while the Anu ring's
00:02:05 --> 00:02:07 reddish hue points to a more typical
00:02:07 --> 00:02:10 dusty origin. However, exactly why the
00:02:10 --> 00:02:12 rings were so different has remained a
00:02:12 --> 00:02:14 mystery. But then when the web space
00:02:14 --> 00:02:16 telescope came online and observed
00:02:16 --> 00:02:18 Uranus, the authors used all its data
00:02:18 --> 00:02:20 taken at different wavelengths in
00:02:20 --> 00:02:22 combination with the KEK and Hubble data
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 to construct a new complete spectrum
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 from visible through to infrared. By
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 analyzing how sunlight reflects off the
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 rings, the authors identified a strong
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 absorption feature near a wavelength of
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 three microns, 3 millionth of a meter,
00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 and it was visible in the infrared for
00:02:37 --> 00:02:40 both rings. Beyond that shared feature,
00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 the differences became clear when
00:02:42 --> 00:02:44 simulating the detailed spectra. The
00:02:44 --> 00:02:46 epsilon ring closely matches the
00:02:46 --> 00:02:48 spectral signature for water ice while
00:02:48 --> 00:02:50 the new ring is clearly composed of
00:02:50 --> 00:02:52 rocky material mixed with approximately
00:02:52 --> 00:02:55 10 to 15% carbonrich organic compounds
00:02:55 --> 00:02:56 which are commonly found in the outer
00:02:56 --> 00:02:59 solar system. The epsilon ring appears
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 to be made up of tiny ice grains knocked
00:03:02 --> 00:03:05 off the planet's small 12 km wide moon m
00:03:05 --> 00:03:08 as a result of micrometeorite impacts.
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 Interestingly, the icy composition of
00:03:10 --> 00:03:12 the epsilon ring also confirms that the
00:03:12 --> 00:03:14 moon map is also composed mostly of
00:03:14 --> 00:03:17 water ice. The patter says in contrast,
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 the anu ring material is sourced from
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 micromedorite impacts and collisions
00:03:21 --> 00:03:23 between unseen rocky bodies rich in
00:03:23 --> 00:03:26 organic materials which must be in orbit
00:03:26 --> 00:03:29 between some of Uranus's known moons.
00:03:29 --> 00:03:31 One interesting question is why the
00:03:31 --> 00:03:33 parent bodies sourcing these rings are
00:03:33 --> 00:03:35 so different in composition.
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 Uranus's rings were first discovered
00:03:37 --> 00:03:40 back in 1977 when astronomers observed
00:03:40 --> 00:03:43 the star dim several times as the planet
00:03:43 --> 00:03:45 passed in front or occulted it
00:03:45 --> 00:03:48 indicating a surrounding ring system. At
00:03:48 --> 00:03:50 that time only Saturn was known to have
00:03:50 --> 00:03:52 rings making Uranus only the second
00:03:52 --> 00:03:55 known ring planet in our solar system.
00:03:55 --> 00:03:57 Since then we've discovered that all the
00:03:57 --> 00:03:59 giants have rings Jupiter, Saturn,
00:03:59 --> 00:04:02 Uranus, and Neptune. But unlike Saturn's
00:04:02 --> 00:04:04 bright, easily visible rings, those on
00:04:04 --> 00:04:06 the other giants, including Uranus's
00:04:06 --> 00:04:08 rings, are faint and narrow, making them
00:04:08 --> 00:04:11 far more difficult to study. Over the
00:04:11 --> 00:04:13 decades, additional rings have been
00:04:13 --> 00:04:14 identified using NASA's Voyager 2
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 spacecraft and Hubble observations,
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 gradually revealing a far more complex
00:04:19 --> 00:04:22 system. The giant 10 m ke telescopes
00:04:22 --> 00:04:24 together with Hubble played a key role
00:04:24 --> 00:04:25 in science's understanding of the
00:04:25 --> 00:04:28 uranian system. Hubble's observations
00:04:28 --> 00:04:31 between 2003 and 2005 led to the
00:04:31 --> 00:04:33 discovery of the epsilon and a new rings
00:04:33 --> 00:04:35 and kek helped characterize them
00:04:35 --> 00:04:37 including providing the first evidence
00:04:37 --> 00:04:39 that the epsilon ring is blue whereas
00:04:39 --> 00:04:42 the new ring appears red. These color
00:04:42 --> 00:04:43 differences hinted at fundamental
00:04:43 --> 00:04:45 variations in particle size and
00:04:45 --> 00:04:48 composition. But the data was limited.
00:04:48 --> 00:04:50 At the time the only ring in our solar
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 system that was blue was Saturn's
00:04:52 --> 00:04:54 A-ring. And this ring is produced by
00:04:54 --> 00:04:57 geyser activity on the Satnian ice moon
00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 in Enceladus, which orbit Saturn in the
00:04:59 --> 00:05:01 A-ring. And it's geysers that spew out
00:05:01 --> 00:05:03 tiny icy grains from the moon's south
00:05:03 --> 00:05:06 pole tiger stripes. These grains
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 originate in a global subsurface ocean
00:05:08 --> 00:05:11 beneath Enceladus' frozen crust. But
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 Uranus's M appears too small to be
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 cryovanically active. And so the new
00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 results raise an interesting question.
00:05:19 --> 00:05:22 Why is M the source of the epsilon ring?
00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 and why is it so different to Uranus's
00:05:24 --> 00:05:26 other rockier inner moons? Needless to
00:05:26 --> 00:05:29 say, ongoing studies of the system will
00:05:29 --> 00:05:31 play a crucial role in answering this
00:05:31 --> 00:05:33 mystery. This report on the many
00:05:33 --> 00:05:35 mysteries of Uranus from NASA TV.
00:05:35 --> 00:05:37 >> Uranus is the seventh planet from the
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 sun and the third largest planet in the
00:05:40 --> 00:05:42 solar system.
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 It also may have the coldest interior,
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 emitting far less heat than its
00:05:46 --> 00:05:48 counterparts Jupiter, Saturn, and
00:05:48 --> 00:05:51 Neptune. It is known as an ice giant
00:05:51 --> 00:05:53 because it contains more ices, including
00:05:53 --> 00:05:56 water, methane, and ammonia, than
00:05:56 --> 00:05:59 Jupiter or Saturn. And while NASA's
00:05:59 --> 00:06:00 learned a great deal about this planet
00:06:00 --> 00:06:03 over the last three decades, there's a
00:06:03 --> 00:06:06 lot more waiting to be discovered.
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 Back in 1986, NASA's Voyager 2
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 spacecraft flew by Uranus, making it the
00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 first and only spacecraft to visit this
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 distant planet.
00:06:16 --> 00:06:18 Previous observations showed that Uranus
00:06:18 --> 00:06:20 has a unique tilt of its axis, so it
00:06:20 --> 00:06:23 rotates almost on its side, causing its
00:06:23 --> 00:06:25 poles to actually face the sun. No other
00:06:25 --> 00:06:27 planet in our solar system has this
00:06:27 --> 00:06:29 feature.
00:06:29 --> 00:06:32 In its quick sprint past Uranus, Voyager
00:06:32 --> 00:06:33 discovered 10 new moons orbiting the
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 planet that had not been seen before.
00:06:35 --> 00:06:37 And in the decades since, even more have
00:06:38 --> 00:06:40 been found. During its encounter,
00:06:40 --> 00:06:42 Voyager also saw new faint rings and
00:06:42 --> 00:06:47 explored the complex magnetosphere.
00:06:47 --> 00:06:49 Voyager only briefly viewed the planet's
00:06:49 --> 00:06:52 five major moons, Ariel, Miranda,
00:06:52 --> 00:06:56 Titania, Oberon, and Umbreal. These
00:06:56 --> 00:06:57 moons have a wide variety of terrains
00:06:57 --> 00:07:00 and geological features, some of which
00:07:00 --> 00:07:03 indicate possible subsurface oceans.
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 Small Miranda has chaotic terrain with
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 deep canyons and tall mountains, but is
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 likely now frozen solid.
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 Ariel appears to have the youngest
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 surface with few impact craters. While
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 Titania has a very old surface, the lack
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 of large craters and presence of a large
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 canyon system may indicate ancient
00:07:21 --> 00:07:24 resurfacing. Oberon is also covered with
00:07:24 --> 00:07:26 craters and has valleys and large
00:07:26 --> 00:07:27 mountains.
00:07:27 --> 00:07:29 Umbreel's surface is the darkest of the
00:07:29 --> 00:07:32 Iranian moons and it sports a strange
00:07:32 --> 00:07:35 polar ring. The origin of this ring is
00:07:35 --> 00:07:37 still a mystery, but scientists believe
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 that it may have been formed by an icy
00:07:39 --> 00:07:41 impact.
00:07:41 --> 00:07:44 Since Voyager, groundbased telescopes
00:07:44 --> 00:07:46 and the Hubble Space Telescope have
00:07:46 --> 00:07:47 played the leading role in our
00:07:47 --> 00:07:51 understanding of Uranus. Since 1992,
00:07:51 --> 00:07:53 Hubble has watched the slowly changing
00:07:53 --> 00:07:55 uranian seasons, including changes in
00:07:55 --> 00:07:57 its unusual pale blue color and polar
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 hazes.
00:07:59 --> 00:08:00 Telescopes have also revealed that
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 Uranus has a complex weather system with
00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 massive storms that can last for months
00:08:05 --> 00:08:08 or even years with wind speeds over 500
00:08:08 --> 00:08:11 mph.
00:08:12 --> 00:08:13 The ongoing search for ocean worlds and
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 life beyond Earth makes Uranus an
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 exciting target for the James Web Space
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 Telescope and for future uplose
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 exploration.
00:08:22 --> 00:08:24 New data will help scientists understand
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 the formation and evolution of Uranus as
00:08:26 --> 00:08:29 well as its moons and rings and provide
00:08:29 --> 00:08:30 clues as to whether liquid water may
00:08:30 --> 00:08:34 reside beneath their icy crusts.
00:08:34 --> 00:08:36 The fascinating properties of this
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 planet discovered in just the span of a
00:08:38 --> 00:08:40 few decades reveal that unlocking
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 mysteries here can help scientists learn
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 even more about our solar system and our
00:08:44 --> 00:08:47 place in it.
00:08:47 --> 00:08:50 >> This is spaceime. Still to come, new
00:08:50 --> 00:08:52 evidence show that Africa is breaking
00:08:52 --> 00:08:54 apart much faster than scientists had
00:08:54 --> 00:08:57 previously thought, and engine failure
00:08:57 --> 00:08:58 has been blamed for the loss of the
00:08:58 --> 00:09:01 Aries rocket on its maiden flight from
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 North Queensland. All that and more
00:09:03 --> 00:09:21 still to come on Spaceime.
00:09:21 --> 00:09:23 A new study claims Africa is much closer
00:09:23 --> 00:09:26 to being physically torn apart into two
00:09:26 --> 00:09:27 separate continents than previously
00:09:27 --> 00:09:29 thought, possibly as soon as a few
00:09:29 --> 00:09:32 million years from now. The findings
00:09:32 --> 00:09:34 reported in the journal Nature show part
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 of the great East African rift valley
00:09:36 --> 00:09:39 system known as the Takana rift is far
00:09:39 --> 00:09:40 thinner than scientists had previously
00:09:40 --> 00:09:44 understood. The Takana rift is a 500 km
00:09:44 --> 00:09:47 wide low-lying region that spans Kenya
00:09:47 --> 00:09:49 and Ethiopia which is splitting apart at
00:09:49 --> 00:09:52 a rate of about 4.7 mm a year causing
00:09:52 --> 00:09:54 the underlying planetary crust to thin
00:09:54 --> 00:09:57 significantly. The Great East African
00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 Rift System runs from the Afar
00:09:59 --> 00:10:01 Depression in northeastern Ethiopia down
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 to Mosamb beek in the south with the
00:10:04 --> 00:10:06 African Nubian tectonic plate on one
00:10:06 --> 00:10:08 side and the Arabian and Somali plates
00:10:08 --> 00:10:11 on the other. Along the rift's axis, the
00:10:11 --> 00:10:13 crust, the rocky outermost layer of the
00:10:13 --> 00:10:14 planet, which rests on the Earth's
00:10:14 --> 00:10:18 shifting mantle, is just 13 km thick.
00:10:18 --> 00:10:20 That's significantly thinner compared to
00:10:20 --> 00:10:22 the more than 35 km thick crust further
00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 away from the rift center and is a
00:10:24 --> 00:10:27 telltale sign of a process geologists
00:10:27 --> 00:10:29 call necking. Scientists believe that a
00:10:29 --> 00:10:31 kind of rift began pulling apart about
00:10:32 --> 00:10:34 45 million years ago and it's causing
00:10:34 --> 00:10:35 the earth's crust to stretch
00:10:35 --> 00:10:37 horizontally resulting in it buckling
00:10:37 --> 00:10:39 and fracturing releasing magma from deep
00:10:40 --> 00:10:42 below. The authors estimate that the
00:10:42 --> 00:10:44 necking started after widespread
00:10:44 --> 00:10:46 volcanic eruptions around 4 million
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 years ago. They say it may be just
00:10:48 --> 00:10:50 several million years before the next
00:10:50 --> 00:10:53 phase known as oceanization begins. At
00:10:53 --> 00:10:55 that stage, magma will rise through the
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 fractures to form new seafloor and water
00:10:57 --> 00:10:59 from the Indian Ocean to the north will
00:10:59 --> 00:11:02 flood in. The authors also uncovered
00:11:02 --> 00:11:04 signs of an earlier rifting episode that
00:11:04 --> 00:11:07 didn't lead to a full continental split.
00:11:07 --> 00:11:09 However, instead it left the crust
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 thinner and weaker, and that set the
00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 stage for the current phase of activity.
00:11:14 --> 00:11:17 This is spacetime. Still to come, engine
00:11:17 --> 00:11:19 issues blamed for the failure of the
00:11:19 --> 00:11:21 maiden flight of the Aries rocket. And
00:11:21 --> 00:11:23 later in the science report, scientists
00:11:24 --> 00:11:25 have discovered a new way for some
00:11:25 --> 00:11:28 corona viruses to infect humans. All
00:11:28 --> 00:11:46 that and more coming up on Spaceime.
00:11:46 --> 00:11:48 The investigation into the failure of
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 the maiden flight of the Aerys rocket
00:11:50 --> 00:11:53 last year has traced the problem to two
00:11:53 --> 00:11:54 of the launch vehicles hybrid rocket
00:11:54 --> 00:11:57 engines. The AIS1 launched from the
00:11:57 --> 00:11:59 Bowen Spaceport on the Queensland
00:11:59 --> 00:12:01 Pacific coast back on July the 30th last
00:12:02 --> 00:12:03 year, marking what should have been
00:12:03 --> 00:12:05 Australia's first orbital rocket launch
00:12:05 --> 00:12:07 since flights from the warmer rocket
00:12:07 --> 00:12:09 range in outback South Australia ended
00:12:09 --> 00:12:12 in the early 1970s. The investigation by
00:12:12 --> 00:12:15 Gilmore Space included that the vehicle
00:12:15 --> 00:12:17 experienced an in-flight anomaly with
00:12:17 --> 00:12:19 one of its four first stage rocket
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 engines which lost thrust just 9 seconds
00:12:21 --> 00:12:24 after liftoff. Then a second rocket
00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 engine exhibited a similar problem at
00:12:26 --> 00:12:29 around t + 17 seconds. The combination
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 dramatically reduced vehicle performance
00:12:32 --> 00:12:34 bringing the mission to an early end.
00:12:34 --> 00:12:36 Investigators say they've identified two
00:12:36 --> 00:12:38 independent failure modes originating
00:12:38 --> 00:12:41 from the oxidizer pump subsystem.
00:12:41 --> 00:12:42 Electrical and thermal faults were
00:12:42 --> 00:12:44 observed in the electric pump motors and
00:12:44 --> 00:12:46 associated inverters indicating
00:12:46 --> 00:12:48 components sourced from an external
00:12:48 --> 00:12:50 supplier. Mission managers say the
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 findings provide a clearer understanding
00:12:52 --> 00:12:55 of the underlying causes. They say that
00:12:55 --> 00:12:56 based on the findings of the
00:12:56 --> 00:12:58 investigation, design, qualification,
00:12:58 --> 00:13:00 and process improvements are now being
00:13:00 --> 00:13:03 evaluated and implemented. As with all
00:13:03 --> 00:13:05 first test flights, the Aries 1 mission
00:13:05 --> 00:13:08 was designed to generate flight data and
00:13:08 --> 00:13:10 uncover conditions which can't be fully
00:13:10 --> 00:13:13 replicated in ground testing. Data from
00:13:13 --> 00:13:15 flight test one will provide updates to
00:13:15 --> 00:13:17 vehicle design and operations as Gilmore
00:13:17 --> 00:13:19 Space prepares for a second Aries test
00:13:19 --> 00:13:22 flight sometime later this year. A final
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 report based on the investigation's
00:13:24 --> 00:13:26 findings has now been submitted to the
00:13:26 --> 00:13:28 Australian Space Agency in coordination
00:13:28 --> 00:13:31 with the Office of the Space Regulator.
00:13:31 --> 00:13:48 This is spacetime.
00:13:48 --> 00:13:49 And time now to take another brief look
00:13:50 --> 00:13:51 at some of the other stories making news
00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 in science this week with a science
00:13:53 --> 00:13:55 report. Scientists have discovered a new
00:13:55 --> 00:13:58 way for some corona viruses to infect
00:13:58 --> 00:14:00 humans. The findings reported in the
00:14:00 --> 00:14:02 journal Nature could be a potential new
00:14:02 --> 00:14:05 threat to human health. Of all the types
00:14:05 --> 00:14:07 of corona viruses, scientists know the
00:14:07 --> 00:14:09 most about how beta corona viruses enter
00:14:10 --> 00:14:12 human cells. That's the same group that
00:14:12 --> 00:14:13 Chinese government scientists
00:14:13 --> 00:14:15 genetically engineered resulting in the
00:14:15 --> 00:14:18 CO 19 pandemic. However, researchers
00:14:18 --> 00:14:21 know far less about alpha corona
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 viruses, although both rely on spike
00:14:23 --> 00:14:26 proteins to get into human cells. The
00:14:26 --> 00:14:28 authors were testing a variety of alpha
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 corona viruses and found that one virus
00:14:30 --> 00:14:32 spike protein from a virus isolated from
00:14:32 --> 00:14:34 heart-nosed bats in Kenya could enter
00:14:34 --> 00:14:36 human cells using a receptor in the
00:14:36 --> 00:14:40 human cells called CAM6.
00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 Related alpha corona viruses from
00:14:42 --> 00:14:44 Africa, Europe, and East Asia also use
00:14:44 --> 00:14:47 the same receptor. While blood samples
00:14:47 --> 00:14:48 from people living near the bat sampling
00:14:48 --> 00:14:50 site showed no evidence of widespread
00:14:50 --> 00:14:52 infection, the authors say these
00:14:52 --> 00:14:54 findings do identify a potential threat
00:14:54 --> 00:14:56 to human health, as well as identifying
00:14:56 --> 00:14:58 one of the details needed to enhance
00:14:58 --> 00:15:00 pandemic preparedness and prevention
00:15:00 --> 00:15:02 efforts.
00:15:02 --> 00:15:04 The Australian Army's acquiring an
00:15:04 --> 00:15:07 additional 268 Bushmaster infantry
00:15:07 --> 00:15:09 mobility vehicles under a new 1.2
00:15:09 --> 00:15:12 billion contract. The armored troop
00:15:12 --> 00:15:13 transports, which are built in the
00:15:13 --> 00:15:15 Victorian town of Bendigo, will be
00:15:15 --> 00:15:17 equipped with directed energy weapons,
00:15:17 --> 00:15:19 in other words, laser cannons. And
00:15:19 --> 00:15:20 they'll have more powerful engines
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 compared to earlier versions of these
00:15:22 --> 00:15:24 vehicles, which were highly successful
00:15:24 --> 00:15:25 in Australian Defense Force operations
00:15:26 --> 00:15:28 in both Iraq and Afghanistan, thanks to
00:15:28 --> 00:15:30 their ability to survive landmines and
00:15:30 --> 00:15:34 IEDs. More than Bush Masters are
00:15:34 --> 00:15:35 already deployed with the Australian
00:15:36 --> 00:15:38 Defense Force. They're fitted with a
00:15:38 --> 00:15:39 range of weapons ranging from turret
00:15:39 --> 00:15:41 mounted machine guns to rocket and
00:15:41 --> 00:15:43 missile launchers. The vehicles are also
00:15:44 --> 00:15:45 used by the defense forces of Britain,
00:15:45 --> 00:15:47 the Netherlands, New Zealand, the
00:15:47 --> 00:15:50 Ukraine, Fiji, Japan, Indonesia, and
00:15:50 --> 00:15:53 Jamaica. The New Deal will also see the
00:15:53 --> 00:15:54 Australian army purchase additional
00:15:54 --> 00:15:56 Hawkeye light protection mobility
00:15:56 --> 00:15:59 vehicles. There are,00 Hawkeyes already
00:15:59 --> 00:16:03 in ADF service. While the 15tonon
00:16:03 --> 00:16:04 Bushmaster is designed to carry 10
00:16:04 --> 00:16:07 troops, the much smaller 7-tonon Hawkeye
00:16:07 --> 00:16:09 carries four and is also designed to
00:16:09 --> 00:16:13 withstand landmines and IEDs.
00:16:13 --> 00:16:15 A new study has found that most
00:16:15 --> 00:16:18 teenagers aged 16 and 18 have been sent
00:16:18 --> 00:16:20 texting messages, often from strangers.
00:16:20 --> 00:16:22 The findings reported in the journal
00:16:22 --> 00:16:24 Sexual Behavior were part of a long-term
00:16:24 --> 00:16:28 Norwegian study involving 743 teens.
00:16:28 --> 00:16:30 Subjects were first asked how often they
00:16:30 --> 00:16:32 had sent intimate images or videos of
00:16:32 --> 00:16:34 themselves in which they were undressed
00:16:34 --> 00:16:37 and exposed their breasts or genitalia.
00:16:37 --> 00:16:40 The authors found that around 8% of 14y
00:16:40 --> 00:16:44 olds, 31% of 16year-olds and 39% of
00:16:44 --> 00:16:47 18year-olds had engaged in such texting,
00:16:47 --> 00:16:50 usually to a romantic acquaintance. Most
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 teens texted on their preferred social
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 media platforms such as Snapchat or
00:16:54 --> 00:16:57 Instagram. But the study also found it
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 was far more common for teens to receive
00:16:59 --> 00:17:03 texting messages with 39% of 14y olds
00:17:03 --> 00:17:06 and 70% of 16 and 18 year olds having
00:17:06 --> 00:17:08 been sent such messages and these mostly
00:17:08 --> 00:17:11 came from strangers. The authors say
00:17:11 --> 00:17:12 girls were far more likely to receive
00:17:12 --> 00:17:14 texting messages from strangers while
00:17:14 --> 00:17:16 boys were more likely to get them from
00:17:16 --> 00:17:19 friends.
00:17:19 --> 00:17:21 Samsung are urgently trying to fix a bad
00:17:21 --> 00:17:22 update that's affecting millions of
00:17:22 --> 00:17:24 Samsung cell phones, causing their
00:17:24 --> 00:17:26 batteries to drain quickly with reports
00:17:26 --> 00:17:28 the batteries in some phones are also
00:17:28 --> 00:17:31 overheating. With the details, we're
00:17:31 --> 00:17:33 joined by technology editor Alex Sahara
00:17:33 --> 00:17:35 from techadvice.life.
00:17:35 --> 00:17:37 >> Yeah, this is for the Samsung Galaxy S24
00:17:37 --> 00:17:40 and S25 and there was an April update
00:17:40 --> 00:17:42 that had 47 bug patches and fixes
00:17:42 --> 00:17:43 inside. You know, it's important to
00:17:43 --> 00:17:45 install updates. Well, this particular
00:17:45 --> 00:17:48 one is causing the battery to drain 30
00:17:48 --> 00:17:50 to 50% in just a few hours. And the
00:17:50 --> 00:17:51 phone is getting, according to people
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 who've got it, noticeably warmer.
00:17:53 --> 00:17:55 Samsung has sadly had battery problems
00:17:55 --> 00:17:57 before with the uh the Note 7 series,
00:17:58 --> 00:18:00 which they had to recall because it was
00:18:00 --> 00:18:01 exploding. Clearly, that's not something
00:18:01 --> 00:18:03 we hear about too much with phones
00:18:03 --> 00:18:04 anymore. I mean, there's been no major
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 scandal since. We do hear a lot about
00:18:06 --> 00:18:09 exploding batteries in e- scooters, and
00:18:09 --> 00:18:11 you know, it can be the case when an
00:18:11 --> 00:18:13 electric vehicle crashes. If the battery
00:18:13 --> 00:18:14 gets damaged, it can cause a runaway
00:18:14 --> 00:18:17 thermal reaction that emits chemicals
00:18:17 --> 00:18:18 like a jet. That's not happening here
00:18:18 --> 00:18:20 with this update. There will obviously
00:18:20 --> 00:18:21 be a fix at some point, but if you've
00:18:21 --> 00:18:25 got a Samsung Galaxy S24, S25 and you
00:18:25 --> 00:18:27 have installed the update and the
00:18:27 --> 00:18:28 battery is draining really fast, you're
00:18:28 --> 00:18:30 not imagining it. It's something that's
00:18:30 --> 00:18:32 really happening and the users just have
00:18:32 --> 00:18:33 to wait for the fix.
00:18:33 --> 00:18:35 >> But that's a scary thing. If the battery
00:18:35 --> 00:18:37 is overheating, there's always the
00:18:37 --> 00:18:38 potential of failure.
00:18:38 --> 00:18:39 >> Yeah, heat is the enemy of batteries.
00:18:40 --> 00:18:41 That's why you shouldn't leave any
00:18:41 --> 00:18:43 devices with batteries in a hot car
00:18:43 --> 00:18:45 during summer for example. So battery
00:18:45 --> 00:18:47 technology is one of those things where
00:18:47 --> 00:18:50 the processing power of chips and the
00:18:50 --> 00:18:52 amount of well the amount of transistors
00:18:52 --> 00:18:54 that a chip has according to Moor's law
00:18:54 --> 00:18:57 doubles every 18 months. I was in a uh
00:18:57 --> 00:18:59 at an Intel event in 2007 in Beijing.
00:18:59 --> 00:19:02 They had a a session there on batteries.
00:19:02 --> 00:19:04 I mean this is nearly 20 years ago now.
00:19:04 --> 00:19:05 They were talking at the time about
00:19:05 --> 00:19:08 using silver in batteries. the silver
00:19:08 --> 00:19:10 could be recycled and reused once the
00:19:10 --> 00:19:11 battery had gone through enough charging
00:19:11 --> 00:19:13 cycles. And what struck me was that they
00:19:13 --> 00:19:15 said that battery technology doubles in
00:19:15 --> 00:19:18 its performance and capability every 18
00:19:18 --> 00:19:20 years. And of course, today's batteries
00:19:20 --> 00:19:22 are far more advanced. But what we
00:19:22 --> 00:19:24 really need to see is a change in
00:19:24 --> 00:19:27 battery chemistry. Lithium titanate is a
00:19:27 --> 00:19:29 alternative to lithium ion that can have
00:19:29 --> 00:19:32 tens of thousands of recharge cycles. it
00:19:32 --> 00:19:34 can operate in much colder and hotter
00:19:34 --> 00:19:36 temperatures and if it's damaged it does
00:19:36 --> 00:19:38 not explode. There's also technology
00:19:38 --> 00:19:40 like sodium ion which is being used in
00:19:40 --> 00:19:42 home batteries and it too is effectively
00:19:42 --> 00:19:43 impervious to this sort of destruction.
00:19:43 --> 00:19:46 So, we're in a a time where lithium ion
00:19:46 --> 00:19:49 is more widely used than ever, but it
00:19:49 --> 00:19:51 can be extremely dangerous. And
00:19:51 --> 00:19:53 thankfully, over the next decade or so,
00:19:53 --> 00:19:55 we're going to start seeing lithium ion
00:19:55 --> 00:19:58 being phased out and these other better
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00 battery technologies being introduced.
00:20:00 --> 00:20:01 >> And they're already being used in the
00:20:01 --> 00:20:02 military.
00:20:02 --> 00:20:03 >> Well, yeah. I mean, uh, lithium
00:20:03 --> 00:20:04 carbonate's actually been used in the
00:20:04 --> 00:20:07 military for decades, but it was just
00:20:07 --> 00:20:09 not commercially viable to be used in
00:20:09 --> 00:20:11 phones at the time, and people were
00:20:11 --> 00:20:13 using it in the military because it it
00:20:13 --> 00:20:15 wouldn't easily be an internal bomb if
00:20:15 --> 00:20:17 it was damaged. If military equipment
00:20:17 --> 00:20:19 was being powered by lithium titanate
00:20:19 --> 00:20:21 batteries, it was much safer. But now
00:20:21 --> 00:20:23 that has changed, we're going to be
00:20:23 --> 00:20:25 seeing home appliances that use lithium
00:20:25 --> 00:20:27 titanate batteries.
00:20:27 --> 00:20:30 >> That's Alex Zahara from techadvice.life
00:20:30 --> 00:20:47 life and this is spaceime
00:20:48 --> 00:20:50 and that's the show for now. Spacetime
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