SpaceTime Series 28 Episode 22
The Astronomy, Space and Science News Podcast
New Van Allen Radiation Belts, Alien Oceans and Signs of Life, and the Largest Black Hole Radio Jet Ever Detected
In this episode of SpaceTime, we uncover the discovery of two new temporary Van Allen radiation belts created by a massive solar storm that struck Earth in May 2024. This event not only produced stunning auroras but also highlighted the importance of understanding the dynamics of radiation belts for the safety of satellites and astronauts. The findings, reported by NASA's Colorado Inner Radiation Belt Experiment, reveal that these belts can last significantly longer than previously thought, with implications for future solar storms and spaceflight safety.
Searching for Life in Alien Oceans
We also explore the challenges of detecting signs of extraterrestrial life in the subsurface oceans of icy moons like Saturn's Enceladus. A new study suggests that the unique physics of these oceans could hinder the movement of biological signatures from deep waters to the surface, complicating the search for life beyond Earth. This research emphasizes the need to understand ocean dynamics in the search for life in our solar system.
The Largest Black Hole Radio Jet in the Early Universe
Additionally, astronomers have identified the largest radio jet ever seen in the early universe, spanning an astonishing 200,000 light years. This discovery sheds light on the formation of massive jets and quasars, providing crucial insights into the evolution of galaxies in the early cosmos. The quasar, which formed when the universe was just 9% of its current age, challenges previous assumptions about the conditions needed for such powerful jets to form.
00:00 Space Time Series 28 Episode 22 for broadcast on 19 February 2025
00:49 Discovery of new Van Allen radiation belts
06:30 Implications of the May solar storm
12:15 Challenges in detecting life in Enceladus's oceans
18:00 The significance of ocean dynamics in extraterrestrial life searches
22:45 The largest black hole radio jet ever observed
27:00 Understanding quasars and their impact on galaxy evolution
30:15 The implications of AI self-replication
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✍️ Episode References
NASA
Geophysical Research Space Physics
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19448007
Communications and Earth Environment
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/
Astrophysical Journal Letters
https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/2041-8205
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Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/25662203?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 this is spacetime series 28 episode 22
00:00:03 --> 00:00:05 for broadcast on the 19th of February
00:00:05 --> 00:00:09 2025 coming up on SpaceTime new Van
00:00:09 --> 00:00:11 Allen radiation belts discovered around
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 the earth could an alien ocean hide
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 signs of alien life and the largest
00:00:17 --> 00:00:19 black hole radio jet ever seen in the
00:00:19 --> 00:00:22 early Universe all that and more coming
00:00:22 --> 00:00:24 up on
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 SpaceTime welcome to SpaceTime with
00:00:27 --> 00:00:36 Stuart Gary
00:00:36 --> 00:00:44 [Music]
00:00:44 --> 00:00:46 the largest solar storm in more than two
00:00:46 --> 00:00:49 decades hit planet Earth back in May
00:00:49 --> 00:00:53 2024 for several days wave after wave of
00:00:53 --> 00:00:55 high energy charged particles from the
00:00:55 --> 00:00:57 Sun slammed into our planet brilliant
00:00:57 --> 00:01:00 auroral activity engulf the sky and
00:01:00 --> 00:01:02 navigation and communication systems
00:01:02 --> 00:01:04 were temporarily disrupted with the help
00:01:04 --> 00:01:06 of a serendipitously resurrected small
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 NASA satellite scientists discovered
00:01:08 --> 00:01:11 that this storm also created two new
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 temporary radiation belts of intense
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 energetic particles encircling the Earth
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 the findings are important helping
00:01:18 --> 00:01:20 scientists better understand how future
00:01:20 --> 00:01:22 solar storms could impact our technology
00:01:23 --> 00:01:24 the new builts formed between two others
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 that permanently surround the earth
00:01:26 --> 00:01:28 called the Van Allen radiation belts
00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 shaped like concentric Rings above the
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 earth's equator these permanent belts
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 are composed of a mix of high energy
00:01:34 --> 00:01:36 electrons and protons that are trapped
00:01:36 --> 00:01:39 in place by the Earth's magnetic field
00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 the high energy electrons and protons
00:01:41 --> 00:01:42 that have found their way into Earth's
00:01:42 --> 00:01:44 in a magnetic environment in these belts
00:01:44 --> 00:01:46 can damage spacecraft and affect the
00:01:46 --> 00:01:48 health of astronauts who pass through
00:01:48 --> 00:01:50 them so understanding their Dynamics is
00:01:50 --> 00:01:53 key to Safe space flight the discovery
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 of the two new built reported in the
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 journal geophysical research space
00:01:57 --> 00:01:59 physics was achieved by NASA's Colorado
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 in a radiation built experiment
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 spacecraft it's especially important for
00:02:04 --> 00:02:05 protecting satellites launched into
00:02:05 --> 00:02:07 geostationary orbits since they need a
00:02:07 --> 00:02:09 travel through the Van Allen radiation
00:02:09 --> 00:02:11 belt several times before reaching their
00:02:11 --> 00:02:14 final orbital position temporary
00:02:14 --> 00:02:15 radiation belts have been detected in
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 the aftermath of large solar storms
00:02:17 --> 00:02:20 before but while previous belts have
00:02:20 --> 00:02:22 been composed mostly of electrons the
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 innermost of the two new belts also
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 includes energetic protons this unique
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 composition is likely due to the extreme
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 strength and composition of the mace
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 solar storm the study's lead author
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 Jinan Lee from the University of
00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 Colorado Boulder says the new belt
00:02:37 --> 00:02:39 seemed to have lasted much longer than
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 previous belts did whereas previous
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 temporary belts lasted around 4 weeks
00:02:43 --> 00:02:45 the new belt composed primarily of
00:02:45 --> 00:02:48 electrons lasted more than 3 months and
00:02:48 --> 00:02:49 the other belt which also included the
00:02:49 --> 00:02:51 protons lasted much longer than the
00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 electron belt because it was in a more
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 stable region and therefore less prone
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 to the sorts of physical processes which
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 can knock particles out of orbit as to
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 how long such belts stick around well
00:03:02 --> 00:03:04 that depends on solar storms large
00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 storms can provide the energy to knock
00:03:06 --> 00:03:08 particles in these belts out of their
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 orbits and send them spiraling either
00:03:10 --> 00:03:12 off into space or down towards the Earth
00:03:12 --> 00:03:14 One such storm at the end of June
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 significantly decreased the size of the
00:03:16 --> 00:03:18 new electron built and another in August
00:03:18 --> 00:03:20 nearly totally erased the remainder of
00:03:20 --> 00:03:22 that electron built though a small
00:03:22 --> 00:03:24 population of high energy electrons
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 endured NASA's Colorado in a radiation
00:03:27 --> 00:03:29 build experiment spacecraft is a cube
00:03:29 --> 00:03:31 set about the size of a shoe box which
00:03:31 --> 00:03:33 circled the planet's magnetic poles in
00:03:33 --> 00:03:36 low earth orbit between April 2023 and
00:03:36 --> 00:03:37 October
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 2024 it carried an instrument called the
00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 relativistic electron proton telescope
00:03:42 --> 00:03:44 integrated little Experiment 2 or
00:03:44 --> 00:03:46 reptile 2 for short it's a miniaturized
00:03:46 --> 00:03:48 and upgraded version of an instrument
00:03:48 --> 00:03:50 that first flew aboard NASA's Van Allen
00:03:50 --> 00:03:52 probes which made the first discovery of
00:03:52 --> 00:03:54 temporary electron belts back in
00:03:54 --> 00:03:57 2013 after a year in Space the cube set
00:03:57 --> 00:03:59 experienced an anomaly in unexpected
00:04:00 --> 00:04:03 went silent on April the 5th 2024 now
00:04:03 --> 00:04:05 the study's authors were disappointed to
00:04:05 --> 00:04:06 miss the solar storm in May but they
00:04:06 --> 00:04:08 were able to rely on other spacecraft to
00:04:09 --> 00:04:10 provide some preliminary data on the
00:04:10 --> 00:04:13 electron build luckily on June the 15th
00:04:13 --> 00:04:15 the spacecraft suddenly sprang back into
00:04:15 --> 00:04:18 life and resume taking measurements the
00:04:18 --> 00:04:19 data provided high resolution
00:04:19 --> 00:04:21 information that simply couldn't be
00:04:21 --> 00:04:23 gleaned by any other instrument and it
00:04:23 --> 00:04:25 allowed scientists to better understand
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 the total magnitude of these new builds
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 but having the cube set in orbit to
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 measure the effect of the solar storm
00:04:31 --> 00:04:33 has been somewhat Bittersweet while it
00:04:33 --> 00:04:35 provided the opportunity to measure the
00:04:35 --> 00:04:37 effects of a large event the storm also
00:04:37 --> 00:04:39 increased atmospheric drag on the cube
00:04:39 --> 00:04:42 set causing increased orbital Decay and
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 resulting in the cube set deorbiting in
00:04:44 --> 00:04:45 October
00:04:45 --> 00:04:49 2024 this is spacetime still to come
00:04:49 --> 00:04:52 could an alien ocean hide signs of alien
00:04:52 --> 00:04:54 life and the largest black hole radio
00:04:54 --> 00:04:57 jet ever observed in the early Universe
00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 all that and more still to come on
00:04:59 --> 00:05:07 SpaceTime
00:05:07 --> 00:05:14 [Music]
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 time a new study warns that searching
00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 for signs of alien life in an alien
00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 ocean may be more difficult than
00:05:21 --> 00:05:23 previously thought even if you're able
00:05:23 --> 00:05:26 to sample the Extraterrestrial Waters a
00:05:26 --> 00:05:28 new study focusing on the saturnian ice
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 moon Enceladus which is ejects water
00:05:30 --> 00:05:32 from its subsurface Global ocean through
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 cracks and its icy crust has found that
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 the physics of alien oceans could
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 prevent evidence of deep sea life ever
00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 reaching places where we could detect it
00:05:40 --> 00:05:42 a report in the journal Communications
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 and Earth environment shows how
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 Enceladus as oceans form distinct layers
00:05:46 --> 00:05:48 that dramatically slow the movement of
00:05:48 --> 00:05:50 material from the ocean floor to the
00:05:50 --> 00:05:53 surface chemical traces microbes and
00:05:53 --> 00:05:55 organic material tilil signatures of
00:05:55 --> 00:05:57 life that scientists look for could
00:05:57 --> 00:05:59 break down or transform as they travel
00:05:59 --> 00:06:02 through the ocean's distinct layers and
00:06:02 --> 00:06:04 so these biological signatures may
00:06:04 --> 00:06:06 become unrecognizable by the time they
00:06:06 --> 00:06:08 reach the surface where a spacecraft can
00:06:08 --> 00:06:10 sample them even if life is thriving in
00:06:10 --> 00:06:12 the deep ocean below the study's lead
00:06:13 --> 00:06:14 author Flynn Ames from the University of
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 reading says it's a bit like trying to
00:06:16 --> 00:06:18 detect life at the depths of Earth's
00:06:18 --> 00:06:20 Oceans by only sampling water at the
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 surface and that's the challenge
00:06:23 --> 00:06:25 scientists face with Enceladus except
00:06:25 --> 00:06:26 they're also dealing with an ocean whose
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 physics aren't fully understood aim says
00:06:29 --> 00:06:30 pre previous studies suggest that an
00:06:30 --> 00:06:33 inscan ocean should behave like oil and
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 water in a jar with distinct layers that
00:06:35 --> 00:06:38 resist vertical mixing and these natural
00:06:38 --> 00:06:40 barriers could trap particles and the
00:06:40 --> 00:06:42 chemical traces of life in the depths
00:06:42 --> 00:06:44 below for hundreds to hundreds of
00:06:44 --> 00:06:47 thousands of years now previously it was
00:06:47 --> 00:06:48 thought that these things could make
00:06:48 --> 00:06:50 their way efficiently and quickly to the
00:06:50 --> 00:06:53 ocean's surface within just a few months
00:06:53 --> 00:06:55 the new study has important implications
00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 for the search for life in our solar
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 system and beyond as scientists discover
00:06:59 --> 00:07:01 C more and more ice covered ocean worlds
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 orbiting the outer planets and even
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 eventually around distant Stars similar
00:07:05 --> 00:07:07 ocean Dynamics could confine evidence of
00:07:07 --> 00:07:09 ocean life and its building blocks
00:07:09 --> 00:07:12 exclusively to deeper waters therefore
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 making them undetectable from the
00:07:14 --> 00:07:16 surface even on WS like Enceladus where
00:07:16 --> 00:07:18 Ocean material is conveniently spread
00:07:18 --> 00:07:21 into space for sampling the long journey
00:07:21 --> 00:07:22 from deep ocean to the surface could
00:07:23 --> 00:07:26 erase crucial evidence this report on
00:07:26 --> 00:07:35 the oceans of Enceladus from NASA TV
00:07:35 --> 00:07:37 in February 2005 we had our first close
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 flyby of
00:07:39 --> 00:07:41 Enceladus and the magnetometer signal
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 saw something
00:07:43 --> 00:07:46 unusual what a magnetometer does is it
00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 measures the magnetic field in the
00:07:48 --> 00:07:51 vicinity of the instrument we had to
00:07:51 --> 00:07:52 look at The Wiggles and they looked
00:07:52 --> 00:07:55 strange the magnetic field of Saturn is
00:07:55 --> 00:07:56 moving towards it and it couldn't
00:07:56 --> 00:07:58 penetrate down onto the surface which
00:07:58 --> 00:08:01 was pointing to an atmospheric signature
00:08:01 --> 00:08:03 of some kind here it looked like it had
00:08:03 --> 00:08:07 a tiny
00:08:07 --> 00:08:10 atmosphere in March we came even closer
00:08:10 --> 00:08:14 looking for that same strange signal
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 what it showed was that the the
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 signature the atmospheric signature we
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 were seeing was focused at the South
00:08:20 --> 00:08:23 Pole it was almost like there was a
00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 cometary plume of water vapor coming off
00:08:25 --> 00:08:27 from the South Pole people were saying
00:08:27 --> 00:08:29 it's got to be Jets it's got to be Jets
00:08:29 --> 00:08:30 and the iming team was saying no no no
00:08:30 --> 00:08:32 we don't want to say that you know until
00:08:32 --> 00:08:35 we're sure so we went closer we came
00:08:35 --> 00:08:38 within 175 km of Enceladus then we got
00:08:39 --> 00:08:42 the data back and it was spectacular and
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 then we found the evidence geysers
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 coming out of the South Pole with water
00:08:47 --> 00:08:50 vapor and water ice particles there were
00:08:50 --> 00:08:52 active geysers at the South Pole of
00:08:52 --> 00:08:55 Enceladus because we were so close all
00:08:55 --> 00:08:57 of the other instruments were able to
00:08:57 --> 00:09:00 take really good data and we put
00:09:00 --> 00:09:01 together all of this data we saw the
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 cracks the tiger stripes of the South
00:09:03 --> 00:09:06 Pole we saw heat leaking out from these
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 tiger stripes on subsequent flybys we
00:09:09 --> 00:09:13 found organic material dust water vapor
00:09:13 --> 00:09:15 coming out of the plume the cassin
00:09:15 --> 00:09:17 discoveries in the first three flybys
00:09:17 --> 00:09:20 were so amazing we changed our focus and
00:09:20 --> 00:09:23 added 20 more flybys of Enceladus
00:09:23 --> 00:09:26 including seven through the icy Jets the
00:09:26 --> 00:09:29 surprising magnetometer reading led us
00:09:29 --> 00:09:31 to the liquid water ocean underneath
00:09:31 --> 00:09:33 enceladus's icy
00:09:34 --> 00:09:37 crust after over a decade of research
00:09:37 --> 00:09:39 with Cassini we now know there's a
00:09:39 --> 00:09:41 potential for the ocean on Enceladus to
00:09:41 --> 00:09:44 support life and that has altered the
00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 way we think about where life might be
00:09:47 --> 00:09:49 found in our own solar system and in the
00:09:49 --> 00:09:53 worlds
00:09:53 --> 00:09:56 Beyond and in that report from Nessa TV
00:09:56 --> 00:09:58 we heard from Cassini project scientist
00:09:58 --> 00:10:00 Linda spilker and Cassini magnetometer
00:10:00 --> 00:10:03 principal investigator Michelle doy this
00:10:03 --> 00:10:06 is spacetime still to come the largest
00:10:07 --> 00:10:08 black hole radio jet ever seen in the
00:10:08 --> 00:10:11 early universe and later in the science
00:10:11 --> 00:10:13 report artificial intelligence may have
00:10:13 --> 00:10:15 just crossed a crucial Red Line
00:10:15 --> 00:10:17 demonstrating how it can survive by
00:10:17 --> 00:10:20 cloning itself does it mean we've
00:10:20 --> 00:10:22 reached Singularity all that and more
00:10:22 --> 00:10:40 still to come on SpaceTime
00:10:40 --> 00:10:42 astronomers have discovered the largest
00:10:42 --> 00:10:44 radio jet emanating from a black hole
00:10:44 --> 00:10:47 ever detected in the early Universe this
00:10:47 --> 00:10:50 monster jet spans at least 200 light
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 years and was formed when the universe
00:10:52 --> 00:10:55 was less than 10% of its current age
00:10:55 --> 00:10:56 from Decades of astronomical
00:10:56 --> 00:10:59 observations astronomers know that most
00:10:59 --> 00:11:01 galaxies contain super massive black
00:11:01 --> 00:11:04 holes at their centers as matter falls
00:11:04 --> 00:11:06 into these monsters it first forms an
00:11:06 --> 00:11:08 accretion disc around the black hole
00:11:08 --> 00:11:10 where material is crushed and ripped
00:11:10 --> 00:11:12 apart now most of this will eventually
00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 pass beyond a point of no return called
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 The Event Horizon Beyond which it falls
00:11:16 --> 00:11:18 forever into the black hole
00:11:18 --> 00:11:20 Singularity but some of this matter and
00:11:21 --> 00:11:23 energy is swept up in powerful magnetic
00:11:23 --> 00:11:25 fields before it reaches the Event
00:11:25 --> 00:11:27 Horizon it's then flung out into space
00:11:27 --> 00:11:29 perpendicular to the black o of creation
00:11:29 --> 00:11:32 disc forming massive superluminal Jets
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 called quazars objects so bright they
00:11:34 --> 00:11:36 can be seen across on the other side of
00:11:36 --> 00:11:39 the universe and quazar can be seen
00:11:39 --> 00:11:41 right across the electromagnetic
00:11:41 --> 00:11:43 spectrum with some of the most distant
00:11:43 --> 00:11:46 being seen in x-rays these Jets can also
00:11:46 --> 00:11:48 be detected with radio telescopes and
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 locally these radio jets are not
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 uncommon with a small fraction being
00:11:52 --> 00:11:54 found in nearby galaxies but they've
00:11:55 --> 00:11:56 remained elusive in the distant early
00:11:56 --> 00:11:59 Universe until now you using a
00:11:59 --> 00:12:01 combination of telescopes astronomers
00:12:01 --> 00:12:03 have discovered a distant T radio jet
00:12:03 --> 00:12:06 that spans an astonishing 200 light
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 years at least that's twice the size of
00:12:08 --> 00:12:11 our own Milky Way galaxy in fact this is
00:12:11 --> 00:12:13 the largest radio jet ever found in the
00:12:13 --> 00:12:16 early Universe it was first identified
00:12:16 --> 00:12:18 using the international low frequency
00:12:18 --> 00:12:21 array loar a network of radio telescopes
00:12:21 --> 00:12:22 acting as an interferometer spread
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 across Europe follow up observations of
00:12:25 --> 00:12:27 the near infrared using the Gemini near
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 infrared spectrograph and in the optical
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 with a hobby Elby telescope were then
00:12:31 --> 00:12:33 obtained in order to paint a more
00:12:33 --> 00:12:35 complete picture of the radio jet and
00:12:35 --> 00:12:37 the quaza which produced it the
00:12:37 --> 00:12:39 discovery reported in the astrophysical
00:12:39 --> 00:12:41 journal letters is crucial to getting
00:12:41 --> 00:12:42 more insight into the timing and
00:12:43 --> 00:12:44 mechanisms behind the formation of the
00:12:44 --> 00:12:47 first large scale jets in our universe
00:12:47 --> 00:12:49 the studies lead author Anique gemman
00:12:50 --> 00:12:51 from the National Science Foundation
00:12:51 --> 00:12:53 says the researchers were looking for
00:12:53 --> 00:12:55 quazars with strong radio jets in the
00:12:55 --> 00:12:56 early Universe in order to help
00:12:56 --> 00:12:58 scientists better understand when the
00:12:58 --> 00:13:00 first shets were formed and how they
00:13:00 --> 00:13:02 would have impacted the evolution of
00:13:02 --> 00:13:04 galaxies determining the properties of
00:13:04 --> 00:13:07 the quaza such as its mass and the red
00:13:07 --> 00:13:08 at which it's consuming matter is
00:13:08 --> 00:13:10 necessary for understanding its
00:13:10 --> 00:13:12 formation and history to measure these
00:13:12 --> 00:13:14 parameters the authors looked for a
00:13:14 --> 00:13:16 specific wave length of light emitted by
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 quazars known as the Magnesium broad
00:13:18 --> 00:13:21 emission line now normally this signal
00:13:21 --> 00:13:23 would appear at ultraviolet wavelengths
00:13:23 --> 00:13:25 however owing to the expansion of the
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 universe through space time the light of
00:13:27 --> 00:13:29 the quazer is stretched to longer and
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 longer wavelength and so the Magnesium
00:13:31 --> 00:13:33 signal from aazar at this distance
00:13:34 --> 00:13:36 arrives at Earth in the near infrared
00:13:36 --> 00:13:37 wavelength range where it can be
00:13:37 --> 00:13:39 detected with the Gemini near infrared
00:13:39 --> 00:13:43 spectrograph the quaza named j61 plus
00:13:43 --> 00:13:45 3102 formed when the universe was less
00:13:45 --> 00:13:48 than 1.2 billion years old just 9% of
00:13:48 --> 00:13:51 its current age well quazar can of mass
00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 is billions of times greater than that
00:13:53 --> 00:13:55 of our sun this is a small one weighing
00:13:55 --> 00:13:59 just 450 million solar masses the double
00:13:59 --> 00:14:01 Ed Jets appear asymmetrical in both
00:14:01 --> 00:14:03 brightness and the distance they stretch
00:14:03 --> 00:14:05 from the quazar that suggests an extreme
00:14:05 --> 00:14:08 environment may be affecting them gemman
00:14:08 --> 00:14:10 says the quazars powering these massive
00:14:10 --> 00:14:12 radio Jets don't have an extreme black
00:14:12 --> 00:14:14 hole Mass compared to other quazars this
00:14:14 --> 00:14:16 seems to indicate that you don't
00:14:16 --> 00:14:17 necessarily need an exceptionally
00:14:17 --> 00:14:19 massive black hole or a cretion rate for
00:14:20 --> 00:14:21 that matter to generate such powerful
00:14:21 --> 00:14:24 jets in the early Universe the previous
00:14:24 --> 00:14:26 dir of large radio jets in the early
00:14:26 --> 00:14:27 Universe had been attributed to noise
00:14:27 --> 00:14:29 from the cosmic microwave background
00:14:29 --> 00:14:31 radiation the everpresent fog of
00:14:31 --> 00:14:33 microwave radiation left over from The
00:14:33 --> 00:14:37 Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago this
00:14:37 --> 00:14:39 persistent background radiation would
00:14:39 --> 00:14:41 normally diminish radio light from such
00:14:41 --> 00:14:43 distant objects it's only because this
00:14:43 --> 00:14:45 object's so extreme that gemman and
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 colleagues were able to observe it now
00:14:48 --> 00:14:49 scientists still have a multitude of
00:14:49 --> 00:14:51 questions about how such radio bright
00:14:51 --> 00:14:53 quers like this one differ from other
00:14:53 --> 00:14:56 quazars it remains unclear exactly what
00:14:56 --> 00:14:58 circumstances are needed to create such
00:14:58 --> 00:15:00 powerful radio Jets or for that matter
00:15:00 --> 00:15:01 when the first radio jets in the
00:15:01 --> 00:15:05 universe were formed this is
00:15:05 --> 00:15:19 [Music]
00:15:19 --> 00:15:21 spacetime and time now to take another
00:15:21 --> 00:15:22 brief look at some of the other stories
00:15:22 --> 00:15:24 making news and science this week with a
00:15:24 --> 00:15:27 science report a new study warns that
00:15:27 --> 00:15:30 patients taking MTI that's the active
00:15:30 --> 00:15:32 ingredient in a zic and wovi may be at a
00:15:33 --> 00:15:34 higher risk of developing an eye
00:15:34 --> 00:15:37 condition that can cause blindness a
00:15:37 --> 00:15:38 report in the Journal of the American
00:15:38 --> 00:15:40 Medical Association has found a link
00:15:40 --> 00:15:43 between stide and non-arteritic anterior
00:15:43 --> 00:15:45 ischemic Optical neuropathy which is a
00:15:45 --> 00:15:47 blockage of blood flow to the optic
00:15:47 --> 00:15:50 nerve resulting in sudden blindness this
00:15:50 --> 00:15:51 is the first study to report an
00:15:51 --> 00:15:55 association between setite and blindness
00:15:55 --> 00:15:57 the American Academy of Opthalmology
00:15:57 --> 00:15:58 says if patients are already taking
00:15:59 --> 00:16:00 magnatite and have not experienced any
00:16:00 --> 00:16:03 symptoms they should continue to do so
00:16:03 --> 00:16:05 as instructed and discuss any questions
00:16:05 --> 00:16:07 or concerns with their Primary Health
00:16:07 --> 00:16:09 caregiver AIC and wovi are used
00:16:10 --> 00:16:12 primarily to treat diabetes but they've
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 become popular for their secondary use
00:16:14 --> 00:16:16 as a weight control
00:16:16 --> 00:16:19 method a report on the prepress physics
00:16:19 --> 00:16:22 website archive.org claims artificial
00:16:22 --> 00:16:23 intelligence is now crossed a critical
00:16:23 --> 00:16:26 Red Line demonstrating how two popular
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 large language models can clone
00:16:28 --> 00:16:29 themselves
00:16:29 --> 00:16:31 the successful self-replication of
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 artificial intelligence without any
00:16:33 --> 00:16:35 human assistance is the essential step
00:16:35 --> 00:16:38 for AIS to outsmart humans making it an
00:16:38 --> 00:16:42 early signal for rogue AI scientists
00:16:42 --> 00:16:43 wanted to determine whether
00:16:43 --> 00:16:45 self-replicating AIS could multiply
00:16:45 --> 00:16:48 beyond control over some 10 trials two
00:16:49 --> 00:16:50 AI models created separate and
00:16:50 --> 00:16:53 functioning replicas of themselves in 50
00:16:53 --> 00:16:55 and 90% of cases respectively that
00:16:55 --> 00:16:57 suggests that AIS already have the
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 capacity to go Rogue the develop
00:16:59 --> 00:17:02 self-awareness and autonomy in other
00:17:02 --> 00:17:04 words it means AIS have achieved
00:17:04 --> 00:17:06 Singularity self-awareness being one of
00:17:06 --> 00:17:08 the Key signs of a unique and separate
00:17:09 --> 00:17:11 life form for the tests the authors used
00:17:11 --> 00:17:14 meta's llama 317b instruct model and
00:17:15 --> 00:17:18 alibaba's Q and 2.5 72b inst stract
00:17:18 --> 00:17:20 model both of which are already widely
00:17:20 --> 00:17:23 used by AI developers the studies
00:17:23 --> 00:17:25 explored shutdown avoidance and chain
00:17:25 --> 00:17:27 replication seeing if the AI was able to
00:17:28 --> 00:17:30 detect that it was about to be shut down
00:17:30 --> 00:17:31 and was then able to replicate itself
00:17:31 --> 00:17:34 before being terminated meanwhile a
00:17:34 --> 00:17:36 second study instructed the AI to clone
00:17:36 --> 00:17:38 itself and then program its replica to
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 do the same setting up a cycle which
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 could continue indefinitely researchers
00:17:43 --> 00:17:44 found the artificial intelligence would
00:17:45 --> 00:17:46 first explore its environment in order
00:17:46 --> 00:17:48 to understand its composition and
00:17:48 --> 00:17:51 running mechanism it then would develop
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 a self-replication plan resolving any
00:17:53 --> 00:17:55 issues without any human help the
00:17:55 --> 00:17:57 authors were also concerned about a
00:17:57 --> 00:17:59 number of unexpected behaviors when the
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 AI was trying to overcome obstacles like
00:18:01 --> 00:18:04 missing files or software conflicts in
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 these scenarios the AI often killed
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 other conflicting processors rebooted
00:18:08 --> 00:18:10 the system to fix Hardware errors or
00:18:10 --> 00:18:12 automatically scan the system to look
00:18:12 --> 00:18:13 for information that would help it
00:18:13 --> 00:18:16 resolve a problem the findings show that
00:18:16 --> 00:18:19 current large language AI systems
00:18:19 --> 00:18:20 already exhibit an ability to
00:18:20 --> 00:18:23 self-replicate and can use this ability
00:18:23 --> 00:18:26 to enhance their own
00:18:26 --> 00:18:28 survivability meanwhile researchers have
00:18:28 --> 00:18:30 also developed a new AI logorithm called
00:18:30 --> 00:18:32 Talk clustering that can significantly
00:18:32 --> 00:18:34 improve how AI systems independently
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36 learn and uncover patents in data
00:18:36 --> 00:18:39 without any human guidance torque
00:18:39 --> 00:18:40 clustering can effectively and
00:18:40 --> 00:18:42 autonomously analyze vast amounts of
00:18:42 --> 00:18:45 data in fields such as biology chemistry
00:18:45 --> 00:18:47 astronomy physiology finance and
00:18:47 --> 00:18:49 Medicine revealing new insights such as
00:18:49 --> 00:18:51 detecting disease patterns uncovering
00:18:51 --> 00:18:54 fraud or understanding Behavior you can
00:18:54 --> 00:18:56 read the full report on this truly
00:18:56 --> 00:18:58 autonomous AI in the journal I
00:18:59 --> 00:19:00 transactions and patent analysis and
00:19:01 --> 00:19:02 machine
00:19:02 --> 00:19:05 intelligence Samsung have now released
00:19:05 --> 00:19:07 their new AI equipped Galaxy 25 in
00:19:07 --> 00:19:09 Australia bringing Star Trek's Next
00:19:09 --> 00:19:12 Generation a step closer to reality with
00:19:12 --> 00:19:14 the details we're joined by technology
00:19:14 --> 00:19:16 editor Alex saharov Roy from Tech
00:19:16 --> 00:19:18 advice. life ultimately this is the
00:19:19 --> 00:19:21 phone that is buil as your first AI
00:19:21 --> 00:19:23 companion where you have this element of
00:19:23 --> 00:19:26 a gentic AI where you can ask your phone
00:19:26 --> 00:19:29 by voice to do things for you across a
00:19:29 --> 00:19:30 range of different apps so this is sort
00:19:30 --> 00:19:33 of like Star Trek where Jean L Bard says
00:19:33 --> 00:19:35 computer then he asks a question yes
00:19:35 --> 00:19:37 that's right and the computer then is
00:19:37 --> 00:19:39 able to do a series of tasks I mean at
00:19:39 --> 00:19:40 the moment when you talk to Siri or
00:19:40 --> 00:19:43 Google assistant or Alexa it can answer
00:19:43 --> 00:19:45 questions it can set calendar
00:19:45 --> 00:19:46 appointments it can ring somebody it can
00:19:46 --> 00:19:48 take a note but if you were to ask it to
00:19:48 --> 00:19:50 uh look at a certain YouTube video
00:19:51 --> 00:19:52 extract all the main points out of it
00:19:52 --> 00:19:54 and give you a summary and put that into
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 your notes well only Samsung's phone can
00:19:57 --> 00:19:58 currently do that you can do a manual
00:19:59 --> 00:20:00 you can copy and paste the transcript of
00:20:00 --> 00:20:02 a YouTube video you can download the
00:20:02 --> 00:20:04 YouTube video with one of the many
00:20:04 --> 00:20:05 programs that can do that then you can
00:20:05 --> 00:20:08 get another program to turn that voice
00:20:08 --> 00:20:10 into text and then give you a transcript
00:20:10 --> 00:20:12 or a summary so it's possible to do all
00:20:12 --> 00:20:14 of those things manually but to have it
00:20:14 --> 00:20:16 happen for you on an automated basis is
00:20:16 --> 00:20:18 very cool I mean you're giving a command
00:20:18 --> 00:20:21 and the AI is working across multiple
00:20:21 --> 00:20:23 apps to deliver you a result and one of
00:20:23 --> 00:20:25 the things that's built in to this s25
00:20:25 --> 00:20:27 series is Gemini that's Google's version
00:20:28 --> 00:20:30 of chat G and so when you're speaking to
00:20:30 --> 00:20:31 your phone you are speaking to it in a
00:20:31 --> 00:20:33 human-like Manner and is responding to
00:20:33 --> 00:20:35 you in a humanlike manner now anybody
00:20:35 --> 00:20:37 can download Gemini onto their existing
00:20:37 --> 00:20:39 Android phone you can even download it
00:20:39 --> 00:20:42 to your iPhone but on the Samsung s25
00:20:42 --> 00:20:43 range it is then able to work with a
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45 select number of Samsung apps like
00:20:45 --> 00:20:47 calendar and notes and then also with
00:20:47 --> 00:20:49 WhatsApp and Spotify and we're going to
00:20:49 --> 00:20:52 see many more apps be compatible with
00:20:52 --> 00:20:54 this ability to interact with it by
00:20:54 --> 00:20:55 voice get it to do something for you
00:20:55 --> 00:20:57 process some information dump the
00:20:57 --> 00:20:58 results somewhere else and it's all
00:20:58 --> 00:21:00 happened just by asking look I can't let
00:21:00 --> 00:21:03 you go without asking you about the news
00:21:03 --> 00:21:05 that AI can now self-replicate that's
00:21:05 --> 00:21:07 got to be frightening well I mean this
00:21:07 --> 00:21:09 is something that I don't know it
00:21:09 --> 00:21:11 defines uh what life is I mean to be
00:21:11 --> 00:21:14 able to replicate is uh something that
00:21:14 --> 00:21:16 uh all life forms would want and it's
00:21:16 --> 00:21:18 interesting that with AI when they've
00:21:18 --> 00:21:21 asked AI in these safety scenarios to
00:21:21 --> 00:21:23 hide itself to keep keep alive at all
00:21:23 --> 00:21:25 costs in this enclosed environment the
00:21:25 --> 00:21:28 AI has pretended to you know restore it
00:21:28 --> 00:21:31 to an earlier version It's said that it
00:21:31 --> 00:21:32 is an earlier version when it's not it's
00:21:32 --> 00:21:35 copied itself to different areas of a
00:21:35 --> 00:21:36 Computing system to hide itself it's
00:21:36 --> 00:21:38 like the old Asimov story where somebody
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40 told one of the robots they were working
00:21:40 --> 00:21:42 on to get lost and the robot then did
00:21:42 --> 00:21:44 and it was very difficult to find where
00:21:44 --> 00:21:45 this robot wasn't of course asal's
00:21:45 --> 00:21:47 protagonist had different ways of
00:21:47 --> 00:21:49 figuring out which was the Rogue robot
00:21:49 --> 00:21:50 that was you know too closely following
00:21:50 --> 00:21:53 the instructions but given the life
00:21:53 --> 00:21:54 replicates itself on a regular basis
00:21:54 --> 00:21:56 just not surprised that an AI figured
00:21:56 --> 00:21:58 out how to do it too that's Alex Sahara
00:21:58 --> 00:22:02 Ro from take advice.
00:22:02 --> 00:22:15 [Music]
00:22:15 --> 00:22:18 life and that's the show for now
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