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Space Nuts: Q&A on Mitsubishi's Role in Telescope Manufacturing, Jupiter's Storms, and Gravitational Waves
In this Q&A episode of Space Nuts , hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson tackle a range of fascinating listener questions, from the involvement of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in telescope manufacturing to the mysteries of Jupiter’s storms and the nature of gravitational waves. Join them as they delve into these cosmic queries with their signature wit and expertise.
Key topics
- Thomas from Canberra asks about Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and their role in the manufacturing of telescope hardware at Siding Spring Observatory. Fred Watson explains the engineering behind the Anglo-Australian Telescope and the significance of its construction.
- Young listener Emily poses a question about Jupiter's Great Red Spot, prompting a discussion on the dynamics of storms and atmospheric patterns on the gas giant.
- Butch from the UK inquires about the Parker Solar Probe and its mission to study the sun, as well as the advancements in solar observation technology.
- Trent from North Georgia wonders if gravitational waves are slowed down by passing through matter, leading to an insightful explanation of how these waves interact with the fabric of spacetime.
- The episode wraps up with a lively discussion on the role of artificial intelligence in astronomy and its implications for the future of scientific research.
Timestamps
00:00 - Introduction to the Q&A format and listener interactions
01:20 - Thomas's question about Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Siding Spring Observatory
10:30 - Emily's question about storms on Jupiter
18:45 - Butch's inquiry on the Parker Solar Probe and solar missions
26:00 - Trent's question about gravitational waves and their speed
32:15 - Discussion on artificial intelligence in astronomy and its impact
40:00 - Closing remarks and listener engagement
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Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/35250109?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:01 Hello again and thank you for joining
00:00:02 --> 00:00:04 us. This is a Q&A edition of Space Nuts.
00:00:04 --> 00:00:07 Uh my name is Andrew Dunley. Uh this is
00:00:07 --> 00:00:10 the episode where we answer questions
00:00:10 --> 00:00:12 from our audience and sometimes our
00:00:12 --> 00:00:14 studio audience. We've had uh people
00:00:14 --> 00:00:16 asking us questions live in recent
00:00:16 --> 00:00:20 times. Uh coming up today, we've uh we
00:00:20 --> 00:00:22 have actually received an email from a
00:00:22 --> 00:00:26 listener um Thomas in Canra asking about
00:00:26 --> 00:00:28 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and their
00:00:28 --> 00:00:30 involvement at Siding Spring. I know
00:00:30 --> 00:00:32 someone who might know something about
00:00:32 --> 00:00:34 that. [laughter]
00:00:34 --> 00:00:36 Anyway, we'll talk about that. Um we've
00:00:36 --> 00:00:39 got a a young listener who's sent in a
00:00:39 --> 00:00:43 question uh about the storm on Jupiter.
00:00:43 --> 00:00:44 Uh, we've also got a question about a
00:00:44 --> 00:00:47 mission to the sun
00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 and uh, the speed of gravitational
00:00:49 --> 00:00:51 waves. We'll try and tackle all of that
00:00:51 --> 00:00:54 on this Q&A edition of Space Nuts.
00:00:54 --> 00:00:59 >> 15 seconds. Guidance is internal. 10 9
00:00:59 --> 00:01:00 Ignition sequence start.
00:01:00 --> 00:01:01 >> Space Nuts.
00:01:01 --> 00:01:06 >> 5 [music] 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5 5 4 3 2 1
00:01:06 --> 00:01:07 >> Space Nuts.
00:01:08 --> 00:01:10 >> Astronauts report. It feels good. And
00:01:10 --> 00:01:12 he's back again to solve all of those
00:01:12 --> 00:01:14 riddles. Professor Fred Watson,
00:01:14 --> 00:01:15 astronomer at large. Hello, Fred.
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 >> Hello, Andrew. Hello. Good to see you.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:18 >> Good to see you.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:20 >> Can I see you? Yes, I can see you. You
00:01:20 --> 00:01:20 can see me?
00:01:20 --> 00:01:23 >> Yeah, I [laughter] can't.
00:01:23 --> 00:01:23 >> Good to see you.
00:01:23 --> 00:01:25 >> I've got a bit of a box head at your end
00:01:25 --> 00:01:26 of things that
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 >> you're you squashed him, but um you're
00:01:29 --> 00:01:31 looking nonetheless handsome for that.
00:01:31 --> 00:01:32 It's all right.
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 >> Yeah, my wife wouldn't agree, but
00:01:34 --> 00:01:35 anyway, [laughter]
00:01:35 --> 00:01:36 >> she might.
00:01:36 --> 00:01:37 >> Different there's a different story.
00:01:37 --> 00:01:39 Yes.
00:01:39 --> 00:01:42 Uh shall we tackle some questions?
00:01:42 --> 00:01:43 >> Why not? Why not?
00:01:43 --> 00:01:44 >> All right. Our first one comes from
00:01:44 --> 00:01:47 Thomas in Canberra. I was down in Canra
00:01:47 --> 00:01:49 a couple of weeks ago. Uh and it was
00:01:49 --> 00:01:50 bitterly cold
00:01:50 --> 00:01:53 >> as always. Uh some years ago, we visited
00:01:53 --> 00:01:56 Australia's very own Acropolis. Um um
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 Pantheon and the Temple of Fred, i.e.
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 Siding Spring Observatory. Luckily for
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 us, it was an open day, so we got to
00:02:04 --> 00:02:07 tour inside the telescope hall. Uh, the
00:02:07 --> 00:02:09 guide pointed out that we were standing
00:02:09 --> 00:02:11 on a trapdo several stories up. Suffice
00:02:11 --> 00:02:14 to say, we all stepped aside onto solid
00:02:14 --> 00:02:16 flooring. I noticed a plaque on the
00:02:16 --> 00:02:19 telescope hardware that read Mitsubishi
00:02:19 --> 00:02:21 Heavy Industries. My question is, what
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 role does Mitsubishi play in
00:02:23 --> 00:02:25 manufacturing modern telescope hardware
00:02:25 --> 00:02:28 hardware, if any? And is the telescope
00:02:28 --> 00:02:31 mirror made in Ohio and polished in
00:02:31 --> 00:02:35 England? Uh, still one of the best. Um
00:02:35 --> 00:02:36 or he's asking if it's still one of the
00:02:36 --> 00:02:39 best. So now that's a good question. So
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 um yeah, plenty to ply through on that,
00:02:41 --> 00:02:44 Fred. Uh I've been exactly there with
00:02:44 --> 00:02:47 you doing a doing a television show, I
00:02:47 --> 00:02:49 believe it was at one stage many moons
00:02:49 --> 00:02:50 ago, [snorts]
00:02:50 --> 00:02:52 >> but uh they kicked me out cuz I had a
00:02:52 --> 00:02:53 head for radio.
00:02:53 --> 00:02:56 >> But um yeah, it's a good question. Uh
00:02:56 --> 00:02:59 and very observant of Thomas to pick up
00:02:59 --> 00:03:01 on all of that except for the trapoor.
00:03:01 --> 00:03:04 He missed that. Um yeah, the the trap
00:03:04 --> 00:03:07 doors quite important because that's
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 what lets you um hoist things from the
00:03:09 --> 00:03:12 ground floor, which is uh eight stories
00:03:12 --> 00:03:16 below uh up seven stories below uh up
00:03:16 --> 00:03:17 into the dome area. And there's an
00:03:17 --> 00:03:20 intermediate level, which is where we
00:03:20 --> 00:03:22 recoat the mirror every year. And I'm
00:03:22 --> 00:03:25 saying we because it used to be we when
00:03:25 --> 00:03:27 I was the astronomer in charge and uh
00:03:27 --> 00:03:30 worked there for many, many years. Uh
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 it's now other people, but um I hope
00:03:32 --> 00:03:35 they won't mind me including myself as
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 part of their team because I know them
00:03:37 --> 00:03:42 all pretty well. Um so uh that trapdo uh
00:03:42 --> 00:03:45 actually I do remember um hearing a
00:03:45 --> 00:03:46 story. I didn't see this happen myself,
00:03:46 --> 00:03:49 but the trapdo itself weighs probably
00:03:49 --> 00:03:51 about three tons. [snorts] Uh and it's
00:03:51 --> 00:03:53 on a hinge and it's got a kind of crane
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 mechanism to lift it up. And I do
00:03:55 --> 00:03:56 remember somebody once telling me that
00:03:56 --> 00:03:59 it accidentally got let go and it
00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 slammed shut and the entire building
00:04:01 --> 00:04:05 shook as you'd expect. Yeah. That wasn't
00:04:05 --> 00:04:08 in my time there though. So um indeed
00:04:08 --> 00:04:10 the Anglo Australian telescope a joint
00:04:10 --> 00:04:12 project between the two governments the
00:04:12 --> 00:04:14 Australian government and the British
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 government. Um really interesting story
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 uh how it all started and how it
00:04:20 --> 00:04:25 emerged. Um it uh was uh the basically
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 the first thing that happened when uh
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 when they you know when the governments
00:04:30 --> 00:04:31 decided to spend the money on this and
00:04:31 --> 00:04:34 it was I think 16 million was what they
00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 had at the time. That would be more like
00:04:36 --> 00:04:38 a hundred million now to build the same
00:04:38 --> 00:04:42 thing. Um but back in the uh late 1960s
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 actually uh they set up a project office
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 and the project office looked at all the
00:04:46 --> 00:04:49 contractors and all the rest of it. And
00:04:49 --> 00:04:53 so um that uh office which for a while
00:04:53 --> 00:04:55 was run by a very old friend of mine
00:04:55 --> 00:04:58 Herman Vehner um who was in CRA. He was
00:04:58 --> 00:05:03 a an engineer uh in CRA. Uh so he would
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 have been I think party to some of these
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 decisions along with another old friend
00:05:07 --> 00:05:09 Ben Gascoin one of the great names in
00:05:09 --> 00:05:12 Australian astronomy. Um and they
00:05:12 --> 00:05:17 elected to accept a bid from Mitsubishi
00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 Heavy Industries to build the mounting
00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 of the telescope. And by that I mean the
00:05:21 --> 00:05:24 part that actually points the thing
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 around. And this is it is heavy
00:05:27 --> 00:05:28 engineering because if I remember
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 rightly the moving parts of the
00:05:30 --> 00:05:31 telescope are about 60 tons or
00:05:31 --> 00:05:34 thereabouts and yet you've got to point
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 it with an accuracy of an a second of
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 arc. Uh which you know when you think of
00:05:39 --> 00:05:41 the number of microns that means in
00:05:41 --> 00:05:43 terms of where the where the telescope
00:05:43 --> 00:05:45 structure is pointing that's quite
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 significant. Uh the telescope floats on
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 oil bearings. It actually floats on oil.
00:05:49 --> 00:05:52 Wow. Um and so all of that has to come
00:05:52 --> 00:05:55 together and a company like Mitsubishi
00:05:55 --> 00:05:58 were very very well placed to to deliver
00:05:58 --> 00:06:04 that. Now uh um Thomas's question is to
00:06:04 --> 00:06:06 an extent Mitsubishi is still involved
00:06:06 --> 00:06:08 with this sort of thing. Uh I think they
00:06:08 --> 00:06:12 would um with having that expertise I
00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 think they would um sort of tender for
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 contracts uh whenever there was an
00:06:16 --> 00:06:19 opportunity. Now, um I'm if I'd had a
00:06:19 --> 00:06:21 bit more time and forethought and I
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 could still check it, but uh the biggest
00:06:23 --> 00:06:27 telescope operated by Japanese
00:06:27 --> 00:06:30 astronomers is called Subaru. Uh it is
00:06:30 --> 00:06:33 and Subaru is of course the Japanese
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 word for the Plyudes. That's why you've
00:06:35 --> 00:06:38 got six stars on your Subaru car badge.
00:06:38 --> 00:06:40 Uh Subaru is on the big island of
00:06:40 --> 00:06:43 Hawaii. It's an 8 mass telescope. It is
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 one of the finest 8 meter telescopes in
00:06:45 --> 00:06:48 the world. I'm not sure whether
00:06:48 --> 00:06:51 Mitsubishi played a part in building
00:06:51 --> 00:06:53 Subaru, but that might be the kind of
00:06:53 --> 00:06:55 thing that you might be able to tell me
00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 within a few minutes with Claude
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 whispering into your ear or something
00:06:59 --> 00:07:00 like that.
00:07:00 --> 00:07:03 >> Were Mitsubishi involved with Subaru?
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 >> Um, uh, the other side of the story
00:07:06 --> 00:07:08 though is the what we call the tube of
00:07:08 --> 00:07:09 the telescope, which isn't a tube. It's
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 an open structure for anybody standing
00:07:13 --> 00:07:15 in front of it. It's the the white part.
00:07:15 --> 00:07:18 um which contains all the optics that
00:07:18 --> 00:07:21 was built by the company I started my
00:07:21 --> 00:07:22 career working for. So Howard Grub
00:07:22 --> 00:07:25 Parsons and Company Limited. They indeed
00:07:25 --> 00:07:28 polished the mirrors. My uh old friend
00:07:28 --> 00:07:32 and colleague David Syninden um was the
00:07:32 --> 00:07:36 chief optitian for that. I am privileged
00:07:36 --> 00:07:39 to have in this room his notebook uh
00:07:39 --> 00:07:41 that he had all the notes when he was
00:07:41 --> 00:07:44 doing that polishing. And one of the
00:07:44 --> 00:07:47 first things it says in the notebook uh
00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 when the mirror blank was delivered
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 indeed from Ohio as as Thomas said um
00:07:52 --> 00:07:55 this is a uh it was then a 20tonon block
00:07:55 --> 00:07:59 of material uh 4 meters in diameter.
00:07:59 --> 00:08:01 There's a comment in the notebook that
00:08:01 --> 00:08:04 says this thing is bloody big.
00:08:04 --> 00:08:05 [laughter]
00:08:05 --> 00:08:07 Um that's David Tinden. So he was the
00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 optician and made a fantastic job
00:08:09 --> 00:08:11 working with his colleague David Brown.
00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 first boss, David Brown. Uh, and I
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 worked a little bit on the mirror um
00:08:16 --> 00:08:19 actually preparing the um the hardware
00:08:19 --> 00:08:21 for the mirror to be supported while it
00:08:21 --> 00:08:24 was being ground and polished uh in the
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 works in Newcastle on time in England.
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 That I I did that just before I left uh
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 Grub Parsons to go back to university to
00:08:30 --> 00:08:34 to further my career in astronomy.
00:08:34 --> 00:08:36 >> Did you did you know at the time or you
00:08:36 --> 00:08:37 wouldn't have probably known at the time
00:08:37 --> 00:08:38 you were working on it in the UK that
00:08:38 --> 00:08:42 you'd end up using it? Um, no, that's
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 right. Not only did I end up using it, I
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 ended up as its astronomer in charge.
00:08:47 --> 00:08:47 >> Yeah.
00:08:47 --> 00:08:53 >> Uh, which I was for 20 years. Um, I I I
00:08:53 --> 00:08:55 it's a really good question. Um,
00:08:55 --> 00:08:59 thinking back to that time, I was a bit
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 fixated on getting back to university
00:09:01 --> 00:09:02 because I wasn't happy with my degree
00:09:02 --> 00:09:05 and I wanted to do a a research degree
00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 in astronomy, which I did. That's
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 another story. Um, and so I, um, you
00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 know, this making this these supports
00:09:12 --> 00:09:15 for the telescope mirror was, uh, was
00:09:15 --> 00:09:17 something that I, I quite keen to get
00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 out of the way. Uh, and I probably just
00:09:19 --> 00:09:21 never gave it a thought that maybe one
00:09:21 --> 00:09:22 day I would use this telescope. I
00:09:22 --> 00:09:24 certainly would never have given it a
00:09:24 --> 00:09:26 thought that one day I'd be responsible
00:09:26 --> 00:09:28 for it scientific output, which I was
00:09:28 --> 00:09:29 for 20 years.
00:09:29 --> 00:09:31 >> Yeah. And in answer to your query, the
00:09:31 --> 00:09:34 Subaru telescope in Hawaii was
00:09:34 --> 00:09:38 manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric
00:09:38 --> 00:09:39 Company.
00:09:39 --> 00:09:40 >> There you go.
00:09:40 --> 00:09:40 >> Yeah.
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 >> Yeah, that was a that was a guess, but
00:09:42 --> 00:09:46 um it's obviously a reasonably informed
00:09:46 --> 00:09:46 guess.
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 >> Yeah, indeed. Uh thanks for the
00:09:48 --> 00:09:51 question, Thomas. But uh yeah um it's
00:09:51 --> 00:09:54 it's amazing facility and I I uh up at
00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 Siding Spring and I don't think people
00:09:56 --> 00:09:59 realize how massive that building is.
00:09:59 --> 00:10:00 >> Yeah.
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 >> Until they sort of get up the top of the
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 mountain and take a a look. You can see
00:10:04 --> 00:10:06 it from just about everywhere. Uh you
00:10:06 --> 00:10:09 can still see it quite clearly um in the
00:10:09 --> 00:10:11 aftermath of those tragic fires so many
00:10:11 --> 00:10:13 years ago.
00:10:13 --> 00:10:17 >> Um but uh yeah, it's it's sort of like a
00:10:17 --> 00:10:20 big pimple on the top of a hill. It is.
00:10:20 --> 00:10:22 It's amazing. Thanks, Thomas. Uh, we've
00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 got a few live viewers, Fred. We've got,
00:10:24 --> 00:10:27 uh, Ollie in Jalong. Good day, Ollie.
00:10:27 --> 00:10:29 Uh, Danny says he's added Outback
00:10:29 --> 00:10:32 astronomer to his audible wish list. Uh,
00:10:32 --> 00:10:34 we've got Turk listening from Sunnyvale
00:10:34 --> 00:10:37 in California, and he's 35 miles from
00:10:37 --> 00:10:39 the Lick Observatory. I can see it from
00:10:39 --> 00:10:40 his bedroom.
00:10:40 --> 00:10:42 >> Um, and Moose is back again. He's found
00:10:42 --> 00:10:44 us again. Hi, Moose. you've uh you've
00:10:44 --> 00:10:47 missed pretty much half the whole deal
00:10:47 --> 00:10:50 today, but we were on a bit earlier.
00:10:50 --> 00:10:54 >> And uh Tommy has messaged us um uh in
00:10:54 --> 00:10:56 the evening in Frederick's dad in
00:10:56 --> 00:11:00 Norway. So um welcome everybody.
00:11:00 --> 00:11:03 >> Uh let's go to an audio question, Fred.
00:11:03 --> 00:11:06 Uh this is Sandy, but it's not Sandy's
00:11:06 --> 00:11:09 question. Well, this will become
00:11:09 --> 00:11:10 self-obvious.
00:11:10 --> 00:11:11 >> Good day, Fred and Andrew. It's Sandy
00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 here again from Melbourne. Um, this time
00:11:14 --> 00:11:17 my little listening buddy, um, Emily, my
00:11:17 --> 00:11:19 daughter, would like to ask a question.
00:11:19 --> 00:11:21 Um, she she quite enjoys listening in
00:11:21 --> 00:11:24 the car, um, to your show with me. So,
00:11:24 --> 00:11:25 I'm going to hand the the microphone
00:11:25 --> 00:11:27 over to my daughter.
00:11:27 --> 00:11:31 >> Why does Jupiter have a storm on it?
00:11:31 --> 00:11:33 >> Excellent question. Thank you. Um, thank
00:11:33 --> 00:11:35 you, friend Andrew. I hope you get a
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 chance to answer this question and we're
00:11:37 --> 00:11:39 looking forward to the answer.
00:11:40 --> 00:11:41 >> Thank you, Sandy. Thank you, Emily. Hi,
00:11:41 --> 00:11:45 Emily. Um, that's a great question and I
00:11:45 --> 00:11:47 uh we've we've talked about the storm on
00:11:47 --> 00:11:50 Jupiter uh many times in the past and in
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 fact I think there's more than one storm
00:11:52 --> 00:11:54 on Jupiter, but there's there's one big
00:11:54 --> 00:11:58 one that um that that's famously known
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 as the red spot.
00:12:00 --> 00:12:03 It is um in fact because it's big, it's
00:12:03 --> 00:12:08 called the Great Red Spot. Um and um I
00:12:08 --> 00:12:09 think there's another one called
00:12:09 --> 00:12:11 sometimes called Little Red as well,
00:12:11 --> 00:12:13 which is uh not it's not far away from
00:12:14 --> 00:12:15 the the big one.
00:12:15 --> 00:12:18 >> Yeah. Um Emily, your question's a great
00:12:18 --> 00:12:21 one. Uh and so last in the last episode
00:12:21 --> 00:12:23 we were talking about some of the
00:12:23 --> 00:12:27 patterns that we get in the cloud belts
00:12:27 --> 00:12:30 of Saturn and this hexagon pattern and
00:12:30 --> 00:12:33 the decagon pattern and they are caused
00:12:33 --> 00:12:37 by um the way atmospheres behave. So
00:12:37 --> 00:12:40 this is movements of air basically. It's
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 not air like we breathe here on earth
00:12:42 --> 00:12:44 but it's it's it's wind uh that give
00:12:44 --> 00:12:47 rise to these various patterns. And the
00:12:47 --> 00:12:49 same thing happens on Jupiter. Jupiter's
00:12:49 --> 00:12:53 got um what we call the cloud belts. A
00:12:53 --> 00:12:55 lot of um you know I don't know how many
00:12:55 --> 00:12:57 there are altogether how many are
00:12:57 --> 00:12:58 recognized. It used to be eight or nine
00:12:58 --> 00:13:00 when I was a youngster. Uh these are
00:13:00 --> 00:13:03 different belts of cloud on the planet.
00:13:03 --> 00:13:06 all of which are moving east to west or
00:13:06 --> 00:13:09 west to east but at different speeds.
00:13:09 --> 00:13:14 And it's those th those um winds if you
00:13:14 --> 00:13:17 like these these mass movements of of
00:13:17 --> 00:13:20 atmospheric gas that cause what we call
00:13:20 --> 00:13:24 turbulence on the edge. It's where uh
00:13:24 --> 00:13:28 you find um um air swirling around in a
00:13:28 --> 00:13:31 circle. Um, we're many of us know about
00:13:31 --> 00:13:33 turbulence if we fly on airplanes
00:13:33 --> 00:13:35 because you run into it and it shakes
00:13:35 --> 00:13:37 the aircraft. And what you what you're
00:13:37 --> 00:13:39 talking about there is the same sort of
00:13:39 --> 00:13:42 thing. It's swirls of air that are not
00:13:42 --> 00:13:45 behaving in a nice smooth uh manner. And
00:13:45 --> 00:13:47 so uh that's what happens at the
00:13:47 --> 00:13:50 boundaries of these cloud belts. And at
00:13:50 --> 00:13:52 some time in the past, and it's
00:13:52 --> 00:13:55 certainly more than 300 years ago, uh
00:13:55 --> 00:13:59 that was enough to form a storm. uh
00:13:59 --> 00:14:01 between two of these cloud belts. Uh and
00:14:01 --> 00:14:03 we still see that as the great red spot.
00:14:03 --> 00:14:06 Uh you might know, Emily, and maybe
00:14:06 --> 00:14:11 Sandy will too, your dad. Um that uh the
00:14:11 --> 00:14:12 great red spot seems to be changing.
00:14:12 --> 00:14:14 It's sort of grown and shrunk a bit a
00:14:14 --> 00:14:16 few times recently.
00:14:16 --> 00:14:16 >> Yeah.
00:14:16 --> 00:14:19 >> Uh so it's it's like
00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 because this is, you know, the when we
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 look at Jupiter, we're seeing the top of
00:14:23 --> 00:14:24 the cloud melts. We're not seeing a
00:14:24 --> 00:14:26 surface that doesn't change. We're
00:14:26 --> 00:14:28 seeing something that's very dynamic and
00:14:28 --> 00:14:31 active u always in motion and so maybe
00:14:31 --> 00:14:34 one day the great red spot will just
00:14:34 --> 00:14:37 fizzle out and we won't have that beauty
00:14:37 --> 00:14:38 spot on the on the face of Jupiter
00:14:38 --> 00:14:41 anymore. No, we we've uh you know when
00:14:41 --> 00:14:43 you talk about storms on Earth, they
00:14:43 --> 00:14:46 come and go in minutes, hours, sometimes
00:14:46 --> 00:14:48 occasionally days.
00:14:48 --> 00:14:51 >> This one has been active for at least
00:14:51 --> 00:14:55 190 years. was first tracked in 1831 I
00:14:55 --> 00:14:56 think.
00:14:56 --> 00:14:58 >> Yeah, it may have been spotted before
00:14:58 --> 00:15:01 that as well. Some people think it um
00:15:01 --> 00:15:04 possibly even Cassini or Huygens, one of
00:15:04 --> 00:15:06 these great astron observers of Saturn
00:15:06 --> 00:15:09 might have seen it
00:15:09 --> 00:15:11 maybe so or he was just having a
00:15:12 --> 00:15:15 migraine but uh it's [laughter]
00:15:15 --> 00:15:18 you just never know but um it it's a
00:15:18 --> 00:15:20 fascinating thing that is displayed on
00:15:20 --> 00:15:23 that planet. Uh it's not the only gas
00:15:23 --> 00:15:25 giant that has a storm like that. Does
00:15:25 --> 00:15:26 Saturn have something similar?
00:15:26 --> 00:15:29 >> Well, Saturn's had does have storms, but
00:15:29 --> 00:15:30 they seem they tend to be much more
00:15:30 --> 00:15:31 short-lived.
00:15:31 --> 00:15:31 >> Yeah.
00:15:31 --> 00:15:34 >> And that's where young Trevor Barry that
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 we were talking about last last episode,
00:15:36 --> 00:15:39 he he monitored those storms so that the
00:15:39 --> 00:15:41 Cassini mission could home in on them
00:15:41 --> 00:15:44 when uh you know when when they were at
00:15:44 --> 00:15:45 their most active. So yeah,
00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 >> in fact, it was it was Giovani Cassini
00:15:48 --> 00:15:51 who suggested that there was a permanent
00:15:51 --> 00:15:52 spot on Jupiter and that was back in
00:15:52 --> 00:15:53 1665.
00:15:53 --> 00:15:54 >> There you go. Yeah.
00:15:54 --> 00:15:56 >> So yeah, they've known about it for a
00:15:56 --> 00:15:57 long. It's been around for a very long
00:15:57 --> 00:16:01 time, Emily. This this particular storm.
00:16:01 --> 00:16:03 >> Um and uh yeah, Fred started his career
00:16:03 --> 00:16:06 before the storm began
00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 [laughter] and
00:16:08 --> 00:16:11 when it was just a a whisp of wind. Yes,
00:16:11 --> 00:16:11 [laughter]
00:16:11 --> 00:16:14 >> indeed. Uh thanks Emily. Lovely to hear
00:16:14 --> 00:16:16 from you. This is Space Nuts. Andrew
00:16:16 --> 00:16:21 Dunley here with Professor Fred Watson.
00:16:21 --> 00:16:23 Let's take a short break from the show
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00:18:08 --> 00:18:11 >> Okay, we checked all four systems and go
00:18:11 --> 00:18:12 >> Space Nuts.
00:18:12 --> 00:18:17 >> Our next question uh comes from Butch, I
00:18:17 --> 00:18:19 think. Yes, in Suffach in the UK. Hey,
00:18:19 --> 00:18:21 Andrew, Professor Fred, possibly Jonty
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 and Hugh in the studio. Not Hugh in the
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 studio, I can tell you that now. Uh,
00:18:25 --> 00:18:28 love the show. been with you for over
00:18:28 --> 00:18:30 two years now. I went to a planetarium
00:18:30 --> 00:18:33 show in Greenwich in the UK 6 years ago
00:18:33 --> 00:18:36 for my 46th birthday. Uh this was hosted
00:18:36 --> 00:18:39 by impressionist John Kulshaw. He was
00:18:39 --> 00:18:41 amazing and one of the scientists with
00:18:41 --> 00:18:44 him was working on the mission satellite
00:18:44 --> 00:18:47 to the sun and explained how they can
00:18:47 --> 00:18:51 film and track and circle the sun uh and
00:18:51 --> 00:18:53 the heat involved. Just wondering if you
00:18:53 --> 00:18:56 aware of this uh or had more information
00:18:56 --> 00:18:58 or opinions on it. Quite an incredible
00:18:58 --> 00:19:00 mission really. There was also a quiz
00:19:00 --> 00:19:04 after prizes were astronaut food. I won
00:19:04 --> 00:19:07 nothing. He says, "Uh, thanks for the
00:19:07 --> 00:19:09 excellent podcast. Love listening to you
00:19:09 --> 00:19:11 and the and the listener questions.
00:19:11 --> 00:19:14 Thanks, Butch. Uh, I I bought some
00:19:14 --> 00:19:17 astronaut food when I was in um NASA in
00:19:17 --> 00:19:22 Florida. Um, it's not all that palatable
00:19:22 --> 00:19:24 in my opinion. [laughter]
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 Probably more designed for sustaining
00:19:26 --> 00:19:30 life than enjoying food. Would that be
00:19:30 --> 00:19:31 that'd be fair amount?
00:19:31 --> 00:19:32 >> Well, I think that's right. Although I
00:19:32 --> 00:19:35 suspect um things have moved on quite a
00:19:35 --> 00:19:37 bit. I think the um the International
00:19:37 --> 00:19:40 Space Station has some quite nice
00:19:40 --> 00:19:42 gourmet meals now. Seems to be
00:19:42 --> 00:19:43 particularly when there are Italian
00:19:43 --> 00:19:45 astronauts on board. They get great
00:19:45 --> 00:19:47 coffee and [laughter] you know great
00:19:47 --> 00:19:48 great
00:19:48 --> 00:19:50 >> Why am I not surprised?
00:19:50 --> 00:19:52 >> Yes. Um because they're gearing up for
00:19:52 --> 00:19:53 the restaurant at the end of the
00:19:53 --> 00:19:55 universe. That's probably right. Yeah.
00:19:55 --> 00:19:56 >> Yeah.
00:19:56 --> 00:20:00 >> Um so I'm I'm guessing uh from what said
00:20:00 --> 00:20:03 that um I mean there are there are
00:20:03 --> 00:20:07 several solar spacecraft or spacecraft
00:20:07 --> 00:20:10 observing the sun. Um SOHO the solar
00:20:10 --> 00:20:12 heliospheric observatory was one of the
00:20:12 --> 00:20:14 first. There's a pair of spacecraft
00:20:14 --> 00:20:17 called STEREO uh that are in in orbit
00:20:17 --> 00:20:19 around the sun at slightly different
00:20:19 --> 00:20:21 positions. So they get a stereo view of
00:20:21 --> 00:20:23 the sun. Um I'm wondering if the one
00:20:23 --> 00:20:25 that he's thinking of though was the
00:20:25 --> 00:20:28 park solar probe and that's because that
00:20:28 --> 00:20:32 one of all those uh solar spacecraft is
00:20:32 --> 00:20:35 the one that goes closest to the sun. Uh
00:20:35 --> 00:20:38 and indeed as that mission has evolved I
00:20:38 --> 00:20:41 think they've um they've you know thrown
00:20:41 --> 00:20:43 caution to the winds and and got closer
00:20:44 --> 00:20:45 and closer to the sun. It's got a very
00:20:45 --> 00:20:48 very robust heat shield on it uh which
00:20:48 --> 00:20:51 they point sunwards when it's near the
00:20:51 --> 00:20:53 sun uh to protect the spacecraft from
00:20:54 --> 00:20:56 the heat. Uh its mission is all about
00:20:56 --> 00:21:00 trying to sample the solar corona, the
00:21:00 --> 00:21:03 outer atmosphere of the sun, which as
00:21:03 --> 00:21:05 many of our listeners will know is
00:21:05 --> 00:21:08 heated to very very high temperatures uh
00:21:08 --> 00:21:12 in the region of 15 million degrees C.
00:21:12 --> 00:21:15 Uh whereas it that's right the surface
00:21:15 --> 00:21:19 is at about 5 5 a half thousand Celsius
00:21:19 --> 00:21:22 and yet you've got this you know region
00:21:22 --> 00:21:25 above uh and and we we tend to think of
00:21:25 --> 00:21:28 heat rising by convection. Uh why is the
00:21:28 --> 00:21:31 surface so cool compared with the the
00:21:31 --> 00:21:33 heat of the of the corona and the clues
00:21:33 --> 00:21:35 that come from the Parker Solar Probe
00:21:35 --> 00:21:37 and other spacecraft seem to relate it
00:21:37 --> 00:21:39 directly to the magnetic activity of the
00:21:39 --> 00:21:42 sun. The sun is a hot bed of magnetism.
00:21:42 --> 00:21:45 um which is only really becoming uh
00:21:46 --> 00:21:48 better understood. I might just throw in
00:21:48 --> 00:21:50 a a a bit of advice though for Butch
00:21:50 --> 00:21:53 because there's just lately within the
00:21:53 --> 00:21:55 last couple of weeks we've seen some
00:21:55 --> 00:21:57 extraordinary images of the solar
00:21:57 --> 00:21:59 surface. That's the it's not really a
00:22:00 --> 00:22:02 surface. It's the the gas region that we
00:22:02 --> 00:22:04 can see. It's called the photosphere.
00:22:04 --> 00:22:06 They've come from the Daniel K Inui uh
00:22:06 --> 00:22:09 solar telescope which is on top of a
00:22:09 --> 00:22:12 mountain uh in on the island of Maui in
00:22:12 --> 00:22:14 Hawaii. It's the summit of Halakala and
00:22:14 --> 00:22:17 they that's the biggest telescope uh in
00:22:18 --> 00:22:20 the world uh able to look at the sun and
00:22:20 --> 00:22:23 the images the detail that's coming back
00:22:23 --> 00:22:28 is quite extraordinary. Um, and what uh
00:22:28 --> 00:22:31 has come from these latest images, and
00:22:31 --> 00:22:33 this is a little bit off the track, but
00:22:33 --> 00:22:35 it's interesting. Uh, something that's
00:22:35 --> 00:22:36 fascinated me for a long time. Things
00:22:36 --> 00:22:39 called Kelvin Hel,
00:22:39 --> 00:22:42 let me get it out. Kelvin Helmholtz
00:22:42 --> 00:22:44 instabilities,
00:22:44 --> 00:22:46 if you want to look that up, they are
00:22:46 --> 00:22:48 they're a little bit like what we were
00:22:48 --> 00:22:50 talking about with Emily's question
00:22:50 --> 00:22:53 where you've got two masses of
00:22:53 --> 00:22:55 atmosphere shearing against one another.
00:22:55 --> 00:22:57 They're moving at different speeds and
00:22:58 --> 00:23:00 you uh sometimes get these regular
00:23:00 --> 00:23:02 patterns which are called Kelvin
00:23:02 --> 00:23:05 Helmholtz instabilities. They're quite
00:23:05 --> 00:23:09 striking. Um, we saw some in Japan last
00:23:09 --> 00:23:11 year, uh, which I took a photograph of.
00:23:11 --> 00:23:14 Uh, this was with clouds because clouds
00:23:14 --> 00:23:15 kind of reveal where they're taking
00:23:15 --> 00:23:17 place. But these have now been seen in
00:23:17 --> 00:23:19 the atmosphere of the sun. Uh, people
00:23:20 --> 00:23:21 have thought they would find them, but
00:23:21 --> 00:23:23 yes, they have now been revealed.
00:23:23 --> 00:23:26 >> Wow. That's exciting, isn't it?
00:23:26 --> 00:23:28 >> Yeah. Um and [snorts] you mentioned the
00:23:28 --> 00:23:30 Parker Solar Probe which may well be the
00:23:30 --> 00:23:33 mission that Butcher is referring to but
00:23:33 --> 00:23:37 um it it's become famous because of uh
00:23:37 --> 00:23:39 the the speeds that it's achieved.
00:23:39 --> 00:23:40 >> Yeah, that's right.
00:23:40 --> 00:23:44 >> In fact, it's the fastest object ever
00:23:44 --> 00:23:47 made by human beings. It reached a top
00:23:47 --> 00:23:50 speed on the 24th of December 2024 of
00:23:50 --> 00:23:52 692
00:23:52 --> 00:23:55 kilometers per hour. That's 430 m an
00:23:55 --> 00:23:58 hour, skimming about 3.8 million miles
00:23:58 --> 00:24:01 above the solar surface.
00:24:01 --> 00:24:03 >> It's extraordinary. Extraordinary.
00:24:03 --> 00:24:07 Fastest object ever made by humans.
00:24:07 --> 00:24:08 Uh although we, you know, you turn a
00:24:08 --> 00:24:10 torch on and you're making light. That I
00:24:10 --> 00:24:12 [laughter] think that that should count.
00:24:12 --> 00:24:15 We've all achieved light speed.
00:24:15 --> 00:24:17 Um but yeah, that's uh that's pretty
00:24:17 --> 00:24:19 impressive stuff. And while we're
00:24:19 --> 00:24:21 talking about missions to the sun,
00:24:21 --> 00:24:23 they've um they've got a few coming up.
00:24:23 --> 00:24:27 Uh the sun coronal ejection tracker,
00:24:27 --> 00:24:30 >> uh which is supposedly
00:24:30 --> 00:24:32 about to happen, designed to track
00:24:32 --> 00:24:34 coronal mass ejections and improve space
00:24:34 --> 00:24:36 weather forecasting. There's the
00:24:36 --> 00:24:39 multi-slit solar explorer, which is due
00:24:39 --> 00:24:43 to launch in 2027. That's a uh a NASA
00:24:43 --> 00:24:45 mission targeting fine detail of the
00:24:45 --> 00:24:49 solar atmosphere. Um I don't know how to
00:24:49 --> 00:24:52 pronounce this. TIS 2 uh is set to
00:24:52 --> 00:24:57 launch in 2027 and um they'll measure
00:24:57 --> 00:24:59 spectral solar energy input into Earth's
00:24:59 --> 00:25:04 atmosphere and this one uh is already up
00:25:04 --> 00:25:06 there was uh 2025 the interstellar
00:25:06 --> 00:25:10 mapping and acceleration probe IMAP
00:25:10 --> 00:25:12 um which uh is looking at the boundary
00:25:12 --> 00:25:14 where the heliosphere meets interstellar
00:25:14 --> 00:25:15 space. So,
00:25:15 --> 00:25:17 >> uh, lots and lots of work going on
00:25:17 --> 00:25:20 around the sun, and I don't think
00:25:20 --> 00:25:21 they'll stop there. They'll they'll keep
00:25:21 --> 00:25:23 going back to to figure out more about
00:25:23 --> 00:25:26 it. Um, I mean, it's the easiest star
00:25:26 --> 00:25:29 for us to study really. Um,
00:25:29 --> 00:25:32 >> you you it's just over there all the
00:25:32 --> 00:25:34 time. It's shining very brightly today.
00:25:34 --> 00:25:36 I'm actually going to go outside later
00:25:36 --> 00:25:38 because we're at the beginning of the
00:25:38 --> 00:25:39 pollen season
00:25:39 --> 00:25:42 >> and see if I can get myself another um
00:25:42 --> 00:25:44 photo of the um the the pollen
00:25:44 --> 00:25:45 >> pollen pollen corona
00:25:46 --> 00:25:47 >> pollen corona which is
00:25:47 --> 00:25:48 >> that would be great.
00:25:48 --> 00:25:48 >> Yeah.
00:25:49 --> 00:25:50 >> I took one many years ago, but I haven't
00:25:50 --> 00:25:53 been able to get one six since. So, I
00:25:53 --> 00:25:55 must have got lucky that day.
00:25:55 --> 00:25:57 >> But, uh I I I think those photos work
00:25:57 --> 00:26:00 out better with an iPhone than they do a
00:26:00 --> 00:26:03 camera uh or or a telescope for that
00:26:03 --> 00:26:04 matter. But um yeah, anyway, [snorts]
00:26:04 --> 00:26:07 I'll give it a go later. Uh thanks Butch
00:26:07 --> 00:26:10 for your question.
00:26:10 --> 00:26:13 >> The crew of Artemis 2 now bound for the
00:26:13 --> 00:26:15 moon. Humanity's next great voyage
00:26:15 --> 00:26:17 begins.
00:26:17 --> 00:26:18 >> Space nuts.
00:26:18 --> 00:26:20 >> Our final question and audio question
00:26:20 --> 00:26:22 comes from
00:26:22 --> 00:26:25 somebody else who I've lost. I've found
00:26:25 --> 00:26:27 him again. It's Trent.
00:26:27 --> 00:26:30 >> Hello, Andrew and Dr. Fred. This is
00:26:30 --> 00:26:34 Trent from North Georgia, USA.
00:26:34 --> 00:26:37 I had a question. I know that
00:26:37 --> 00:26:40 gravitational waves move at the
00:26:40 --> 00:26:43 universal speed limit, the same as light
00:26:43 --> 00:26:47 in a vacuum, but are gravitational waves
00:26:47 --> 00:26:50 slowed down as they pass through
00:26:50 --> 00:26:54 atmosphere and planets and
00:26:54 --> 00:26:56 water and things like that like light
00:26:56 --> 00:26:58 waves are.
00:26:58 --> 00:27:02 just curious. Love your show.
00:27:02 --> 00:27:04 Been a long time listener and thoroughly
00:27:04 --> 00:27:06 enjoy asking questions here. Y'all have
00:27:06 --> 00:27:09 a wonderful day and I look forward to
00:27:09 --> 00:27:10 hearing my answer.
00:27:10 --> 00:27:12 >> Thank you, Trent. Um really good
00:27:12 --> 00:27:15 question. Gravitational waves have been
00:27:15 --> 00:27:18 um a very popular topic of late uh not
00:27:18 --> 00:27:20 only with Space Nuts and listeners but
00:27:20 --> 00:27:22 scientists around the world trying to
00:27:22 --> 00:27:23 detect them and figure them out and
00:27:23 --> 00:27:26 learn from them because they can tell us
00:27:26 --> 00:27:27 about things that have happened that we
00:27:27 --> 00:27:30 have not witnessed but uh we know what
00:27:30 --> 00:27:32 they are and why
00:27:32 --> 00:27:35 um because they vary according to the
00:27:35 --> 00:27:39 source. Um, so, um, yeah. How fast do
00:27:40 --> 00:27:41 they go? And can something slow them
00:27:41 --> 00:27:43 down, Fred?
00:27:43 --> 00:27:44 >> Yes, they go at the speed of light.
00:27:44 --> 00:27:47 Exactly as Trent says, but, uh, they
00:27:47 --> 00:27:48 don't slow down.
00:27:48 --> 00:27:49 >> Oh,
00:27:49 --> 00:27:52 >> yeah. So, they're not like light. Um,
00:27:52 --> 00:27:54 they're not like photons of light, which
00:27:54 --> 00:27:57 are subatomic particles that interact
00:27:57 --> 00:28:00 with, you know, the electrons and atoms
00:28:00 --> 00:28:04 um of, uh, of a medium that they're pl
00:28:04 --> 00:28:05 that they're passing through, and that's
00:28:05 --> 00:28:07 what slows them down. But gravitational
00:28:07 --> 00:28:11 waves are actually in well we sometimes
00:28:11 --> 00:28:13 call it the fabric of spacetime. They're
00:28:13 --> 00:28:17 basically they're waves in space. Um and
00:28:17 --> 00:28:21 so um matter the kind of stuff that I
00:28:21 --> 00:28:23 think Trent's thinking of doesn't block
00:28:23 --> 00:28:25 them, doesn't absorb them, doesn't
00:28:25 --> 00:28:27 impede them, doesn't slow them down.
00:28:27 --> 00:28:29 They just go right through it. Uh uh
00:28:29 --> 00:28:32 they go through planets,
00:28:32 --> 00:28:35 >> stars, humans, anything as though they
00:28:35 --> 00:28:37 were just empty space.
00:28:37 --> 00:28:39 >> Uh so they don't
00:28:39 --> 00:28:41 >> they don't. All right, that was easy.
00:28:41 --> 00:28:42 That was quick.
00:28:42 --> 00:28:43 >> It was, wasn't it?
00:28:43 --> 00:28:44 >> Yeah. So I'm going to give you a
00:28:44 --> 00:28:45 question without notice that's come from
00:28:46 --> 00:28:47 our live audience. This comes from
00:28:47 --> 00:28:50 Tommy. He says, "Atificial intelligence
00:28:50 --> 00:28:52 is a great uh is great for pattern
00:28:52 --> 00:28:54 recognition. Any comments about the
00:28:54 --> 00:28:57 advancements in computer science?"
00:28:57 --> 00:29:00 Um certainly AI is used a lot in um in
00:29:00 --> 00:29:01 astrophysics
00:29:01 --> 00:29:05 u because a lot of what we study in
00:29:05 --> 00:29:07 astronomy and astrophysics relies on
00:29:07 --> 00:29:12 very complex statistical methodologies.
00:29:12 --> 00:29:14 Um you know basian statistics and all
00:29:14 --> 00:29:16 kinds of stuff that I never [snorts]
00:29:16 --> 00:29:19 knew about when I was a student. uh and
00:29:20 --> 00:29:22 AI is great at dealing with that kind of
00:29:22 --> 00:29:24 thing and teasing out uh some of the
00:29:24 --> 00:29:27 nuances from uh from you know from the
00:29:28 --> 00:29:32 work that's going on. Uh so um it's it's
00:29:32 --> 00:29:34 um and that's just one example of the
00:29:34 --> 00:29:36 way that perhaps AI is being used in in
00:29:36 --> 00:29:38 astronomy and astrophysics. Yes.
00:29:38 --> 00:29:41 >> Yeah. It's it's um it's making inroads
00:29:41 --> 00:29:43 into just about every facet of of life
00:29:43 --> 00:29:45 and business, isn't it Fred? It's um
00:29:46 --> 00:29:47 >> Yep. And and there's a lot of debate
00:29:48 --> 00:29:49 over whether or not this is a good
00:29:49 --> 00:29:50 thing.
00:29:50 --> 00:29:50 >> Mhm.
00:29:50 --> 00:29:54 >> Uh I actually read a report today uh not
00:29:54 --> 00:29:56 that it's suggesting AI is the problem,
00:29:56 --> 00:29:58 but uh it's suggesting that screen time
00:29:58 --> 00:30:02 is the problem, but um the the um
00:30:02 --> 00:30:07 academic decline in in school students
00:30:07 --> 00:30:09 um that they're witnessing now. uh the
00:30:10 --> 00:30:13 the exam results uh globally
00:30:13 --> 00:30:16 uh on on standard tests is showing that
00:30:16 --> 00:30:19 um there's there's a you know the curve
00:30:19 --> 00:30:21 is falling. We're we're um we're seeing
00:30:21 --> 00:30:24 a decline in scholastic ability and
00:30:24 --> 00:30:25 they're blaming screen time. They're
00:30:25 --> 00:30:28 blaming access to easy data without
00:30:28 --> 00:30:31 using your brain to figure it out. Um
00:30:31 --> 00:30:34 it's uh something that governments and
00:30:34 --> 00:30:36 institutions around the world are going
00:30:36 --> 00:30:38 to have to tackle if they haven't
00:30:38 --> 00:30:39 started already. and I'm sure they have.
00:30:39 --> 00:30:41 But, uh, yeah, it's it's a growing it's
00:30:41 --> 00:30:43 a growing problem. But, um,
00:30:43 --> 00:30:45 >> I don't think we're going to, um, stop
00:30:45 --> 00:30:48 using AI and computers and and tablets
00:30:48 --> 00:30:52 and and smartphones anytime soon. So, we
00:30:52 --> 00:30:54 got to find a way for everything to work
00:30:54 --> 00:30:58 together in unison to the benefit of
00:30:58 --> 00:31:01 humanity. And, uh,
00:31:01 --> 00:31:03 maybe doing what we've done in New South
00:31:03 --> 00:31:06 Wales and banning phones in classrooms
00:31:06 --> 00:31:09 uh, might be a start. Who knows? Uh,
00:31:09 --> 00:31:11 thanks Trent. Great question. Great to
00:31:11 --> 00:31:12 hear from you. Great to hear from
00:31:12 --> 00:31:14 everybody who contributed. Thank you so
00:31:14 --> 00:31:15 much. And don't forget to send your
00:31:15 --> 00:31:17 questions through to us on our website,
00:31:17 --> 00:31:20 spacen nutsodcast.com
00:31:20 --> 00:31:21 or spacenuts.io.
00:31:22 --> 00:31:24 Click on the little AMA link at the top.
00:31:24 --> 00:31:25 That means ask me anything. And don't
00:31:25 --> 00:31:27 forget to tell us who you are or where
00:31:27 --> 00:31:29 you're from uh in text or audio form.
00:31:29 --> 00:31:30 And while you're there, have a look
00:31:30 --> 00:31:33 around, visit our shop, sign up for the
00:31:33 --> 00:31:36 astronomy newsletter, and um yeah,
00:31:36 --> 00:31:37 whatever you like. And please leave
00:31:37 --> 00:31:40 reviews wherever you listen to us. Uh
00:31:40 --> 00:31:42 and thank you Fred as always. It's been
00:31:42 --> 00:31:43 great fun.
00:31:43 --> 00:31:45 >> It's been good, hasn't it? Yep. And
00:31:45 --> 00:31:46 we'll do it again soon.
00:31:46 --> 00:31:47 >> We will. Professor Fred Watson,
00:31:47 --> 00:31:49 astronomer at large. And thanks to Hugh
00:31:49 --> 00:31:50 in the studio. Couldn't be with us
00:31:50 --> 00:31:52 today. Did a mission to the sun. Forgot
00:31:52 --> 00:31:55 his sunscreen. Back in hospital. And
00:31:55 --> 00:31:56 from me, Andrew Dunley, thanks for your
00:31:56 --> 00:31:58 company. We'll see you in the next
00:31:58 --> 00:32:01 episode of Space Nuts. Until then,
00:32:01 --> 00:32:02 bye-bye.
00:32:02 --> 00:32:03 >> Space Nuts.
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