Milky Way's Hidden Satellites
Recent research suggests that the Milky Way may host up to 100 previously undetected satellite galaxies. Using advanced supercomputer simulations and mathematical modeling, astronomers have identified the existence of these faint dwarf galaxies, which could provide crucial support for the Lambda cold dark matter model. Currently, only 60 companion galaxies are confirmed, but with new telescopes like the Vera Rubin Observatory, the search for these elusive satellites is set to expand, potentially reshaping our understanding of the universe's structure.
Curiosity Rover Reaches New Heights
NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has made significant progress in its exploration of Mount Sharp, revealing intricate geological formations known as boxwork. This unique terrain, shaped by ancient groundwater processes, offers valuable insights into the Red Planet's history. Curiosity has been utilizing its advanced instruments to analyze the composition of the Martian surface and conduct atmospheric observations, marking a new phase in its mission to uncover the secrets of Mars.
Parker Solar Probe's Record-Breaking Images
In a groundbreaking achievement, NASA's Parker Solar Probe has captured the closest images of the Sun ever taken. These stunning observations, made during a recent pass through the solar corona, are helping scientists understand solar phenomena and their impact on space weather. The high-resolution images reveal important details about the solar wind and coronal mass ejections, providing insights that could improve predictions of solar activity and protect technology on Earth.
www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com
✍️ Episode References
Nature Astronomy
https://www.nature.com/natureastronomy/
NASA Mars Curiosity Mission
https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/
Parker Solar Probe
https://www.nasa.gov/content/parker-solar-probe
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/spacetime-space-astronomy--2458531/support.
00:00 New study says Milky Way could have far more satellite galaxies than previously thought
00:47 Our Milky Way galaxy could have more satellite galaxies surrounding it than previously predicted
05:37 NASA's Mars Curiosity rover reaches new heights exploring boxwork terrain on Mount Sharp
09:08 NASA's Parker Solar Probe captured stunning new images of the solar atmosphere
18:40 A new study warns that hail storms could hit Australian cities harder due to climate change
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Stuart Gary: This is space Time Series 28, episode
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 94 for broadcast on 6 August
00:00:05 --> 00:00:07 2025. Coming up on Space Time,
00:00:08 --> 00:00:11 a new study says the Milky Way could have far more
00:00:11 --> 00:00:13 satellite galaxies than previously thought.
00:00:13 --> 00:00:16 NASA's Mars Curiosity rover reaches new heights on
00:00:16 --> 00:00:19 the Red Planet's Mount Sharp. And NASA releases
00:00:19 --> 00:00:22 the closest ever images of the sun taken by
00:00:22 --> 00:00:25 the Parker solar probe. All that and more coming
00:00:25 --> 00:00:27 up, uh, on SpaceTime.
00:00:28 --> 00:00:31 Voice Over Guy: Welcome to SpaceTime with Stuart Gary
00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 Our Milky Way galaxy could have more satellite
00:00:49 --> 00:00:52 galaxies surrounding it than astronomers had previously
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 predicted or been able to observe.
00:00:55 --> 00:00:57 Cosmologists used a new technique which combines high
00:00:57 --> 00:01:00 resolution supercomputer simulations together with novel
00:01:00 --> 00:01:03 mathematical modeling in order to predict the existence of up
00:01:03 --> 00:01:06 to 100 small dwarf galaxies orbiting around the
00:01:06 --> 00:01:09 Milky Way. Of course, the best known
00:01:09 --> 00:01:12 galaxies which we see orbiting the Milky Way are, uh, the Large and
00:01:12 --> 00:01:14 Small Magellanic Clouds and the Sagittarius dwarf
00:01:14 --> 00:01:17 galaxy, which is currently in the process of crashing through the Milky
00:01:17 --> 00:01:20 Way. Right now, the nearest dwarf galaxy to the
00:01:20 --> 00:01:23 Milky Way is the Ursa Major III dwarf throidal
00:01:23 --> 00:01:26 galaxy. But if these new hypothesized galaxies
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 are eventually observed using telescopes, then they could provide
00:01:29 --> 00:01:32 strong support for the so called Lambda cold dark
00:01:32 --> 00:01:35 matter model, which astronomers currently use to explain the
00:01:35 --> 00:01:38 large scale structure of the universe and how galaxies
00:01:38 --> 00:01:41 form. The model suggests that ordinary
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 matter, the stuff stars, planets, houses, dogs,
00:01:44 --> 00:01:47 cats and people are made from, really only represents about
00:01:47 --> 00:01:50 5% of the total mass energy budget of the
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 universe. Cold dark, uh, matter, an
00:01:52 --> 00:01:55 invisible substance which we can't see, but which we know it
00:01:55 --> 00:01:58 exists because we can see its influence on regular matter
00:01:58 --> 00:02:01 makes up a further 25% of the total mass energy
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 budget of the cosmos. And the remaining
00:02:04 --> 00:02:06 70% is the even more mysterious dark
00:02:06 --> 00:02:09 energy, a force which we know exists because we can
00:02:09 --> 00:02:12 see it's causing the accelerated expansion of the universe
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 and will ultimately determine the universe's fate.
00:02:16 --> 00:02:18 Now, according to the lambda cold dark matter model,
00:02:18 --> 00:02:21 galaxies form at the centers of gigantic clumps of
00:02:21 --> 00:02:24 dark matter known as. Most galaxies
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 in the universe are low mass dwarf galaxies, the majority
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 of which are, uh, satellites orbiting around more massive galaxies
00:02:30 --> 00:02:33 like Andromeda and our own Milky Way. The
00:02:33 --> 00:02:36 existence of these enigmatic objects has long posed challenges
00:02:36 --> 00:02:39 to the lambda cold dark matter model. Many
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 more Milky Way companion galaxies should exist than what
00:02:41 --> 00:02:44 cosmological simulations have so far produced or
00:02:44 --> 00:02:47 what astronomers have so far been able to see.
00:02:47 --> 00:02:50 The new research shows that the Milky Way's missing
00:02:50 --> 00:02:53 satellites are extremely faint galaxies, stripped
00:02:53 --> 00:02:56 almost entirely of their dark matter halos by the
00:02:56 --> 00:02:58 gravity of the Milky Way's own dark matter halo.
00:02:58 --> 00:03:01 These so called orphan galaxies are lost in the
00:03:01 --> 00:03:04 simulations, but they should have survived in the real
00:03:04 --> 00:03:07 universe. Using their new technique,
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 astronomers were able to track the abundance, distribution and
00:03:09 --> 00:03:12 properties of these Milky Way orphan galaxies, showing that many
00:03:12 --> 00:03:15 more Milky Way satellites should exist and be
00:03:15 --> 00:03:18 observable today. The authors hope that new
00:03:18 --> 00:03:20 advances in telescopes and instruments such as the
00:03:20 --> 00:03:23 Vera Rubin Observatory will give astronomers the ability
00:03:23 --> 00:03:26 to detect these very faint objects, bringing them into
00:03:26 --> 00:03:29 our view for the first time. The study's lead author,
00:03:29 --> 00:03:32 AH Isabel Santos Santos from Durham University, says
00:03:32 --> 00:03:35 astronomers know the Milky way has some 60 confirmed
00:03:35 --> 00:03:38 companion satellite galaxies, but there should be dozens
00:03:38 --> 00:03:40 more of these very faint galaxies orbiting around the Milky Way
00:03:40 --> 00:03:43 at very close distances. The
00:03:43 --> 00:03:46 concept of the Lambda cold dark matter model is the
00:03:46 --> 00:03:49 cornerstone of our understanding of the universe.
00:03:49 --> 00:03:52 It has led to the standard model of cosmology and
00:03:52 --> 00:03:55 is the most widely accepted model for describing the universe's
00:03:55 --> 00:03:58 evolution and structure on large scale. The so
00:03:58 --> 00:04:01 called cosmic web where galaxies, galaxy
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 clusters and superclusters are spread along fine
00:04:03 --> 00:04:06 filaments surrounding huge voids of near empty
00:04:06 --> 00:04:09 space. The model has already passed multiple tests,
00:04:09 --> 00:04:12 but it's recently been challenged by puzzling observational data
00:04:12 --> 00:04:15 on dwarf galaxies. The Durham University
00:04:15 --> 00:04:18 researchers say that even the best existing cosmological
00:04:18 --> 00:04:21 simulations, which include gas and star formation in
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 addition to dark matter, don't have the resolution needed to
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 study galaxies as faint as those astronomers are now starting
00:04:27 --> 00:04:30 to discover close to the Milky. These
00:04:30 --> 00:04:33 simulations also lack the precision required to follow
00:04:33 --> 00:04:36 the evolution of the small dark matter halos that host these
00:04:36 --> 00:04:38 dwarf galaxies as they orbit around the Milky Way,
00:04:38 --> 00:04:41 and this leads to the artificial disruption of some
00:04:41 --> 00:04:44 halos, leaving galaxies orphaned. The results
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 showed that the halos of dark matter which may host the
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 satellite galaxy, have been orbiting around the central Milky Way
00:04:49 --> 00:04:52 halo for most of the age of the universe, leading to
00:04:52 --> 00:04:55 the stripping of their dark matter and stellar mass and
00:04:55 --> 00:04:58 rendering what's left extremely small and faint.
00:04:58 --> 00:05:01 As a result, the authors predict that the total number of
00:05:01 --> 00:05:04 satellite galaxies of any brightness likely to exist
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 around the Milky way is around 80 or potentially
00:05:07 --> 00:05:09 even up to 100 or more currently known.
00:05:10 --> 00:05:13 The authors are putting a special emphasis on the approximately
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 30 newly discovered tiny Milky Way satellite
00:05:15 --> 00:05:18 candidate galaxies that are extremely faint and small.
00:05:18 --> 00:05:21 But they say it's still unclear if these are dwarf galaxies embedded
00:05:21 --> 00:05:24 in the dark matter halo or their globular clusters
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 collections of self gravitating stars which either
00:05:27 --> 00:05:30 formed in stellar nurseries or or the cores of small
00:05:30 --> 00:05:33 galaxies which have already merged with the Milky Way
00:05:33 --> 00:05:36 this is space time still to come.
00:05:36 --> 00:05:39 NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover, uh, reaches new heights
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 on the Red Planet's Mount Sharp. And the Parker solar
00:05:42 --> 00:05:45 probe snaps its closest ever images of the
00:05:45 --> 00:05:48 Sun. All that and more still to come on, uh,
00:05:48 --> 00:05:49 space time.
00:05:55 --> 00:05:55 Alex Zaharov-Reutt: Foreign.
00:06:04 --> 00:06:07 Stuart Gary: NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has reached new
00:06:07 --> 00:06:10 heights in its ongoing exploration of the intricate
00:06:10 --> 00:06:13 boxwork terrain on the slopes of Mount Sharp, the 5
00:06:13 --> 00:06:16 1/2 kilometer high central peak in the Red
00:06:16 --> 00:06:18 Planet Scale crater. The six wheeled car
00:06:18 --> 00:06:21 sized mobile laboratory has now arrived at the base of
00:06:21 --> 00:06:24 a steep ridge near a hollow, providing increasingly
00:06:24 --> 00:06:27 detailed views of these unique Martian formations.
00:06:27 --> 00:06:30 It's thought the terrain was formed by groundwater when it
00:06:30 --> 00:06:33 encountered crisscrossing low ridges, some just a few
00:06:33 --> 00:06:36 centimeters tall and arranged in what geologists call
00:06:36 --> 00:06:39 a boxwork pattern. The bedrock below these
00:06:39 --> 00:06:42 ridges likely formed as groundwater trickling through
00:06:42 --> 00:06:45 the rock left behind minerals that accumulated in cracks
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 and fissures, hardening and becoming cement like.
00:06:48 --> 00:06:50 Then eons of sandblasting by Martian
00:06:50 --> 00:06:53 winds wore away the rocks, but not the cement
00:06:53 --> 00:06:56 like minerals, resulting in networks of resistant
00:06:56 --> 00:06:59 ridges that give the geology the boxwork name.
00:06:59 --> 00:07:02 The research marks a new phase in Curiosity's campaign
00:07:02 --> 00:07:05 to analyze the composition, structure and origins of the
00:07:05 --> 00:07:07 rigid terrain. To get there,
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 Curiosity first needed to scale a steep 11 meter
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 incline to reach the rim leading to the boxwork region.
00:07:14 --> 00:07:16 Here, the rover deployed its MASTCAM and CHEMCAM
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 instruments to capture mosaics of features including the El
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 Corral, Champar and Mizon ridges.
00:07:22 --> 00:07:25 It then drove 15 metres closer to the Meson ridge for
00:07:25 --> 00:07:28 a more detailed inspection. Other targets were also
00:07:28 --> 00:07:31 studied using ChemCam's laser to determine the composition
00:07:31 --> 00:07:34 and texture of the nodular bedrock. And it
00:07:34 --> 00:07:37 wasn't just the rocks. Curiosity also continued to
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 undertake atmospheric observations, including a
00:07:39 --> 00:07:42 360 degree dust devil survey.
00:07:42 --> 00:07:45 Initial observations using the NAVCAM and MASTCAM
00:07:45 --> 00:07:48 instruments quantified dust opacity, while a large
00:07:48 --> 00:07:51 MASTCAM mosaic detailed the ridge beneath the rover.
00:07:51 --> 00:07:54 Kencamp was used to focus on a vein of minerals named
00:07:54 --> 00:07:56 Vicuna, while contact Science instruments
00:07:56 --> 00:07:59 examined nodular bedrock targets Toral
00:07:59 --> 00:08:02 and silla, allowing uh, scientists to compare
00:08:02 --> 00:08:05 ridgetop chemistry with the material. In nearby lower
00:08:05 --> 00:08:08 areas. Scientists also examined more distant
00:08:08 --> 00:08:10 sedimentary boxwork structures and carried out atmospheric
00:08:10 --> 00:08:13 observations, analyzing the day and night, uh, chemistry and
00:08:13 --> 00:08:16 isotopic makeup of the Martian atmosphere.
00:08:17 --> 00:08:20 Later, NAVCAM assessed Gale Crater's dust opacy while
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 MASTCAM performed sunwar dust measurements.
00:08:22 --> 00:08:25 Curiosity also examined a weird nodular rock
00:08:25 --> 00:08:28 called Lake Titicaca using its laser
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 spectrograph, followed by a telescopic mosaic of sediment
00:08:31 --> 00:08:34 Layers on the Meshimok Butte. This
00:08:34 --> 00:08:36 is space time still to come.
00:08:37 --> 00:08:39 NASA's Parker Solar Probe snaps its closest ever
00:08:39 --> 00:08:42 images of the Sun. And later in the science report,
00:08:43 --> 00:08:46 warnings that hail storms could hit Australian cities harder and more
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 often than ever before due to climate change.
00:08:49 --> 00:08:51 All that and more still to come on space
00:08:51 --> 00:08:52 time.
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 On uh, one of its recent record breaking passes close to the
00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 Sun, NASA's Parker Solar Probe captured some
00:09:12 --> 00:09:15 stunning new images from within the solar solar
00:09:15 --> 00:09:18 atmosphere. The newly released observations were taken
00:09:18 --> 00:09:21 closer to the sun than ever before and they're helping
00:09:21 --> 00:09:23 scientists better understand the Sun's influence across the
00:09:23 --> 00:09:26 Solar system, including space weather events which can affect
00:09:26 --> 00:09:29 life here on Earth. The images show the very
00:09:29 --> 00:09:32 region where space weather threats to Earth are thought to
00:09:32 --> 00:09:35 begin. The new data will help astronomers
00:09:35 --> 00:09:38 vastly improve their geomagnetic storm predictions.
00:09:38 --> 00:09:41 And that'll help ensure the safety of crew in space as well as
00:09:41 --> 00:09:44 technology both on the Earth and throughout the Solar system.
00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 Now these specific images were taken during Parker Solar
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 Probe's closest approach to the sun back on December
00:09:50 --> 00:09:53 24th as it skimmed through the corona, the Sun's
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 outer atmosphere. In the days around
00:09:55 --> 00:09:58 perihelion, it collected data with an array of
00:09:58 --> 00:10:01 scientific instruments including wispr, the Wide Field
00:10:01 --> 00:10:03 Imager for Solar Probe. The new WISPR
00:10:03 --> 00:10:06 images reveal the corona and solar wind, the
00:10:06 --> 00:10:09 constant stream of electrically charged particles which flow out
00:10:09 --> 00:10:12 from the sun and spread right across the Solar system.
00:10:12 --> 00:10:15 The solar wind expands as it travels through the solar
00:10:15 --> 00:10:18 system and it results in some wide ranging
00:10:18 --> 00:10:20 effects. Uh, together with outbursts of
00:10:20 --> 00:10:23 material, plasma and magnetic currents from the sun, it
00:10:23 --> 00:10:26 helps generate auroras, strips planetary
00:10:26 --> 00:10:28 atmospheres and induces electric currents that can
00:10:28 --> 00:10:31 overwhelm power grids on Earth and affect communications
00:10:31 --> 00:10:34 and navigation systems. The whisper images
00:10:34 --> 00:10:37 are giving scientists a closer look at what happens to the
00:10:37 --> 00:10:40 solar wind shortly after it's released from the corona.
00:10:40 --> 00:10:43 The images are showing an important boundary region known as the
00:10:43 --> 00:10:46 heliospheric current sheet. That's where the Sun's
00:10:46 --> 00:10:49 magnetic field direction switches from northwards to
00:10:49 --> 00:10:51 southwards. And for the first time in high
00:10:51 --> 00:10:54 resolution, it was able to capture the collision of
00:10:54 --> 00:10:57 multiple coronal mass ejection events.
00:10:57 --> 00:11:00 Coronal mass ejections are large explosions of
00:11:00 --> 00:11:03 charged particles, plasma and magnetic field, which are
00:11:03 --> 00:11:06 blown away from the sun by solar flares. And they're
00:11:06 --> 00:11:08 a key driver of space weather events.
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 In these new images, scientists are seeing coronal mass
00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 ejections actually piling up on top of one another.
00:11:15 --> 00:11:17 It's allowing scientists to figure out how they merge
00:11:17 --> 00:11:20 together and that could be important for Space weather studies.
00:11:21 --> 00:11:24 See, when coronal mass ejections collide, their
00:11:24 --> 00:11:27 trajectory can change, and that makes it harder to predict
00:11:27 --> 00:11:29 where they'll end up, whether they'll hit the Earth or whether
00:11:29 --> 00:11:32 they'll miss us. Their merger can also
00:11:32 --> 00:11:35 accelerate charged particles and mixed magnetic
00:11:35 --> 00:11:38 fields. And that makes their effects potentially far more
00:11:38 --> 00:11:41 dangerous to astronauts and satellites in as well as
00:11:41 --> 00:11:44 technology on the ground. The solar wind
00:11:44 --> 00:11:47 was first theorized by heliophysicist uh, Eugene Parker
00:11:47 --> 00:11:50 back in 1958. His theories about the
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 solar wind, which were met with criticism at the time, have
00:11:52 --> 00:11:55 revolutionized science's understanding of the solar system.
00:11:56 --> 00:11:59 Prior to Parker Solar Probe's launch, back in 2018,
00:11:59 --> 00:12:01 NASA and its international partners led missions like
00:12:01 --> 00:12:04 Mariner 2, Helios, Ulysses Wind, and
00:12:04 --> 00:12:07 ACE, which all helped scientists understand the origins of the
00:12:07 --> 00:12:10 solar wind. But from a distance, Parker
00:12:10 --> 00:12:13 Solar Probe, named in honor of the late scientist, is filling
00:12:13 --> 00:12:15 the gaps in our understanding. Much closer to the
00:12:15 --> 00:12:18 sun, uh, usually at Earth distance, the
00:12:18 --> 00:12:21 solar wind is mostly a consistent breeze.
00:12:21 --> 00:12:24 But Parker Solar Probe has discovered that it's really
00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 anything but that at the Sun. When the
00:12:26 --> 00:12:29 Spacecraft reached within 24 million kilometers of the sun,
00:12:29 --> 00:12:32 it encountered zigzagging magnetic fields, a feature
00:12:32 --> 00:12:35 which scientists have now named switchbacks. Using
00:12:35 --> 00:12:38 Parker Solar Probe's data, scientists discovered that these
00:12:38 --> 00:12:41 switchbacks, which came in clumps, were far more
00:12:41 --> 00:12:44 common than expected. When Parker first crossed into
00:12:44 --> 00:12:47 the solar corona, about 13 million kilometers from the Sun's
00:12:47 --> 00:12:50 surface back in 2021, it noticed the boundary of the
00:12:50 --> 00:12:53 corona was uneven and more complex than previously
00:12:53 --> 00:12:56 thought. And as it got even closer, Parker
00:12:56 --> 00:12:59 helped scientists pinpoint the origins of the switchbacks.
00:12:59 --> 00:13:02 It appears they come from patches on the Sun's visible surface,
00:13:02 --> 00:13:04 the photosphere where magnetic funnels form.
00:13:06 --> 00:13:08 Last year, astronomers announced that what's known as the fast
00:13:08 --> 00:13:11 solar wind, one of two main classes of solar wind, is
00:13:11 --> 00:13:14 in part powered by these switchbacks. Adding to
00:13:14 --> 00:13:17 a 50 year old mystery. However, it would take
00:13:17 --> 00:13:20 a closer view to better understand the slow solar wind,
00:13:20 --> 00:13:23 which travels at just 360km per second,
00:13:23 --> 00:13:26 about half the speed of the fast solar wind.
00:13:26 --> 00:13:29 Parker Solar Probe project scientist Noor Rafi from
00:13:29 --> 00:13:32 the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland,
00:13:32 --> 00:13:35 says the big unknown has always been how the solar wind
00:13:35 --> 00:13:37 is generated. And how does that manage to escape the
00:13:37 --> 00:13:39 Sun's immense gravitational pull.
00:13:40 --> 00:13:43 Understanding this continuous flow of particles, especially the
00:13:43 --> 00:13:46 slow solar wind, is a, uh, major challenge for scientists,
00:13:46 --> 00:13:49 especially given the diversity of properties in these streams.
00:13:49 --> 00:13:52 The slow solar wind, which is twice as dense and
00:13:52 --> 00:13:55 more variable than the fast solar wind, Is important
00:13:55 --> 00:13:58 Because its interplay with the fast solar wind can create
00:13:58 --> 00:14:00 Moderately strong solar storm conditions At Earth,
00:14:01 --> 00:14:03 Sometimes even rivaling those of coronal mass ejections.
00:14:04 --> 00:14:07 Prior to Parker, Distant observations Suggested There are
00:14:07 --> 00:14:10 actually two varieties of slow solar wind,
00:14:10 --> 00:14:13 Distinguished by the orientation or variability of
00:14:13 --> 00:14:15 their magnetic fields. One type of slow
00:14:15 --> 00:14:18 solar wind, Called alfenic, Has small scale
00:14:18 --> 00:14:21 switchbacks. The other, called non alvinic, doesn't
00:14:21 --> 00:14:24 show these variations. As it spiraled
00:14:24 --> 00:14:27 towards the sun, Parker was able to confirm that there were
00:14:27 --> 00:14:30 indeed these two different types of slow solar wind.
00:14:30 --> 00:14:33 Its close up views Are also helping scientists differentiate the
00:14:33 --> 00:14:36 origins of the two types, which scientists believe are
00:14:36 --> 00:14:39 unique. The nonalvanic wind May come, um,
00:14:39 --> 00:14:42 of features Known as helmet streamers, Large loops
00:14:42 --> 00:14:44 Connecting active regions of the sun where some particles can heat
00:14:44 --> 00:14:47 up sufficiently to escape. On the other hand,
00:14:47 --> 00:14:50 Alphenic winds May well be originating near coronal
00:14:50 --> 00:14:52 holes, Dark, cool regions of the solar
00:14:52 --> 00:14:55 corona. In its current orbit around the sun,
00:14:55 --> 00:14:58 which brings the spacecraft just 6.1 million kilometers
00:14:58 --> 00:15:01 from the Sun's surface, Parker will continue to gather
00:15:01 --> 00:15:03 Additional data During its upcoming passes through the
00:15:03 --> 00:15:06 corona in order to help scientists Better confirm the slow
00:15:06 --> 00:15:09 solar wind's origins. By the way, the next pass
00:15:09 --> 00:15:11 will be on September 15 this year.
00:15:12 --> 00:15:14 This report from NASA TV
00:15:15 --> 00:15:18 liftoff of the mighty Delta IV Heavy rocket
00:15:18 --> 00:15:18 with.
00:15:18 --> 00:15:21 NASA TV: NASA's Parker Solar Probe. Ever since
00:15:21 --> 00:15:24 NASA's Parker Solar Probe launched into space in
00:15:24 --> 00:15:27 2018, it has been circling
00:15:27 --> 00:15:30 closer and closer to the sun and taking images
00:15:30 --> 00:15:32 along the way. In December
00:15:32 --> 00:15:35 2024, it made its record breaking
00:15:35 --> 00:15:38 closest approach to the sun. That's when
00:15:38 --> 00:15:40 it took historic close ups of the solar
00:15:40 --> 00:15:43 atmosphere, Images that are changing the way
00:15:43 --> 00:15:46 we understand our star. With images
00:15:46 --> 00:15:49 like these ones, we are actually going to
00:15:49 --> 00:15:52 have this full understanding of how the solar
00:15:52 --> 00:15:55 atmosphere works, and in particular, to
00:15:55 --> 00:15:58 try to predict the solar activity and
00:15:58 --> 00:15:59 mitigate its impacts.
00:15:59 --> 00:16:02 Stuart Gary: The images were taken by the spacecraft's wide field
00:16:02 --> 00:16:05 imager Of a solar probe, or wispr,
00:16:05 --> 00:16:07 which observes space in visible light.
00:16:08 --> 00:16:10 WISPR doesn't look at the sun directly.
00:16:11 --> 00:16:14 Instead, it captures solar material Just as it
00:16:14 --> 00:16:16 comes off of the sun. When it took these images,
00:16:16 --> 00:16:19 the spacecraft was only 3.8 million miles from
00:16:19 --> 00:16:22 the sun's surface. If Earth and the sun were
00:16:22 --> 00:16:25 one foot apart, Parker solar probe Was about
00:16:25 --> 00:16:28 half an inch from the sun. At that
00:16:28 --> 00:16:31 distance, the spacecraft was immersed in the solar
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 atmosphere, Known as the corona.
00:16:33 --> 00:16:36 Here, streams of electrically charged
00:16:36 --> 00:16:38 particles Flow outward From the sun at over a
00:16:38 --> 00:16:41 million miles per hour, Forming the solar
00:16:41 --> 00:16:44 wind that fills the entire solar system.
00:16:44 --> 00:16:47 These images reveal previously unseen
00:16:47 --> 00:16:49 details at the origin of the solar wind.
00:16:50 --> 00:16:53 The amount of clarity and the amount of details that we got from
00:16:53 --> 00:16:56 Parker Solar Probe is totally unprecedented. But also we
00:16:56 --> 00:16:59 see phenomena that you didn't really see before. And that's
00:16:59 --> 00:17:02 where the fun begins. The most impactful events,
00:17:02 --> 00:17:05 multiple events that are one following the others.
00:17:05 --> 00:17:07 And understanding that interaction between
00:17:07 --> 00:17:10 CMEs will help us also have
00:17:10 --> 00:17:13 another view of their potency for
00:17:13 --> 00:17:13 spacewalk.
00:17:14 --> 00:17:17 Stuart Gary: When the most impactful eruptions reach Earth, they can
00:17:17 --> 00:17:20 trigger auroras. But they can also harm
00:17:20 --> 00:17:22 satellites, disrupt power grids and expose
00:17:22 --> 00:17:25 astronauts to dangerous radiation. Another
00:17:25 --> 00:17:28 key feature marks an important structure known
00:17:28 --> 00:17:31 as the heliospheric current sheet. The
00:17:31 --> 00:17:34 current sheet looks like a twirling skirt that extends
00:17:34 --> 00:17:36 out from the sun and across the solar system.
00:17:37 --> 00:17:39 This invisible current sheet is a boundary
00:17:39 --> 00:17:42 separating where the solar wind's magnetic
00:17:42 --> 00:17:45 field changes direction from north to south.
00:17:45 --> 00:17:48 It surrounds the whole sun and
00:17:48 --> 00:17:51 it never disappears. That's actually one of the
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 regimes of the solar wind that we have to understand.
00:17:54 --> 00:17:57 Stuart Gary: The current sheet is important to study because it can
00:17:57 --> 00:18:00 affect how impactful eruptions can be at Earth.
00:18:01 --> 00:18:04 We've never seen these phenomena in such detail before.
00:18:04 --> 00:18:07 And scientists are continuing to study these images
00:18:07 --> 00:18:10 to piece together how the sun affects Earth and the
00:18:10 --> 00:18:13 rest of the solar system. Parker Solar Probe
00:18:13 --> 00:18:16 is opening our eyes on a new reality about our
00:18:16 --> 00:18:19 star, the Sun. It is rewriting the
00:18:19 --> 00:18:20 textbooks for us.
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 Stuart Gary: This space time.
00:18:39 --> 00:18:42 Stuart Gary: And time now to take a look at some of the other stories making news in Science this week
00:18:42 --> 00:18:45 with a science report. A new study
00:18:45 --> 00:18:48 warns that hail storms could hit Australian cities harder than
00:18:48 --> 00:18:51 ever before due to climate change. Uh, findings
00:18:51 --> 00:18:53 by meteorologists at the University of New South Wales
00:18:53 --> 00:18:56 suggest that hailstorms will become more frequent, more
00:18:56 --> 00:18:59 damaging. And with hailstones increasing in size
00:18:59 --> 00:19:02 in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth, uh,
00:19:02 --> 00:19:05 for example, past simulations have produced large
00:19:05 --> 00:19:08 10cm hailstones once every 20 years around
00:19:08 --> 00:19:11 Melbourne. But a warmer future will increase that to
00:19:11 --> 00:19:14 once every three years. But the good news is
00:19:14 --> 00:19:16 modeling shows there'll be little change for people living in
00:19:16 --> 00:19:19 Adelaide. From smashed windscreens in Sydney to
00:19:19 --> 00:19:22 ruined crops across Queensland, hail is one of
00:19:22 --> 00:19:25 nature's most dramatic and often costly displays.
00:19:26 --> 00:19:29 In fact, hailstorms are responsible for more than 20% of
00:19:29 --> 00:19:31 insurance losses across Australia. The damage
00:19:31 --> 00:19:34 is largely driven by the size of hailstones. And the
00:19:34 --> 00:19:37 stones can get big. Australia's record
00:19:37 --> 00:19:40 near Mackay in Queensland is around 16
00:19:40 --> 00:19:43 cm, more than double the diameter of a cricket or
00:19:43 --> 00:19:46 baseball. Hailstorms rely on warmth
00:19:46 --> 00:19:49 to start, so they usually occur during spring and summer
00:19:49 --> 00:19:51 when warm air is pushed up into cooler air higher in the
00:19:51 --> 00:19:54 atmosphere. Hailstones size is controlled by
00:19:54 --> 00:19:57 how strong the updraft is in a thunderstorm.
00:19:57 --> 00:20:00 Inside these storms, these strong updraft
00:20:00 --> 00:20:03 winds carry moisture high up into the atmosphere where it
00:20:03 --> 00:20:05 freezes, forming ice particles. These ice
00:20:05 --> 00:20:08 particles, initially known as hail embryos, pick up
00:20:08 --> 00:20:11 surrounding supercooled water as they circulate through the
00:20:11 --> 00:20:14 storm cloud. And the stronger the updraft, the
00:20:14 --> 00:20:16 longer a hailstone can stay in the storm and continue
00:20:16 --> 00:20:19 to grow. Of course, eventually a hailstone
00:20:19 --> 00:20:22 gets too heavy to stay up there and so it falls down to
00:20:22 --> 00:20:25 the ground. A new study has found
00:20:25 --> 00:20:28 that tubeworms and rare mollusks, which live in the deepest parts of
00:20:28 --> 00:20:31 the ocean, are far more widespread than previously
00:20:31 --> 00:20:33 thought. The new findings, reported in the journal
00:20:33 --> 00:20:36 Nature, used a manned submarine to explore the
00:20:36 --> 00:20:39 deepest, darkest sea floor trenches in the northwestern
00:20:39 --> 00:20:41 Pacific Ocean. Scientists descended down
00:20:41 --> 00:20:44 into the blackness of the Haddel trenches at a depth ranging
00:20:44 --> 00:20:46 from 5 to
00:20:46 --> 00:20:49 9 meters. The
00:20:49 --> 00:20:52 findings are shedding new light on the potential for life to
00:20:52 --> 00:20:55 exist in these extreme dark zone environments.
00:20:55 --> 00:20:58 You see, the communities which occupy these depths have
00:20:58 --> 00:21:00 no access to light and therefore they can't use
00:21:00 --> 00:21:03 photosynthesis to make energy. Instead they
00:21:03 --> 00:21:06 uh, use hydrogen sulfide and methane for chemical
00:21:06 --> 00:21:08 reactions in a process called chemosynthesis.
00:21:09 --> 00:21:11 The hydrogen sulfide and methane coming from deep
00:21:11 --> 00:21:14 sea vents and black smokers found along mid
00:21:14 --> 00:21:17 ocean ridges. A new
00:21:17 --> 00:21:20 study has shown that most research into computer vision technology
00:21:20 --> 00:21:23 which interprets imagery, is actually focused on
00:21:23 --> 00:21:26 facial ID and detecting people. The
00:21:26 --> 00:21:28 warnings showing that Big Brother really is watching you are
00:21:28 --> 00:21:31 being reported in the journal Nature. The authors found
00:21:31 --> 00:21:34 that targeting people within this research field has become
00:21:34 --> 00:21:37 normalized and that papers often used obscure
00:21:37 --> 00:21:39 language to hide the surveillance potential of their research
00:21:40 --> 00:21:43 by referring to people as objects. The study
00:21:43 --> 00:21:45 analysed papers from 1990 to 2020
00:21:46 --> 00:21:48 along with patents which cited these papers.
00:21:48 --> 00:21:51 They found that the top two nations producing papers that
00:21:51 --> 00:21:54 resulted in surveillance enabling patents were from the United
00:21:54 --> 00:21:55 States and China.
00:21:57 --> 00:22:00 The Australian government's social media censorship
00:22:00 --> 00:22:02 scheme is expanding to now include YouTube Music.
00:22:03 --> 00:22:05 Prime Minister Anthony Albanese claims the program is
00:22:05 --> 00:22:08 designed to protect children under 16 from bullying and
00:22:08 --> 00:22:10 access to inappropriate sexual content
00:22:11 --> 00:22:14 policing this scheme will require every Australian to
00:22:14 --> 00:22:16 obtain a digital proof of age id.
00:22:17 --> 00:22:20 However, critics see it as the government's backdoor
00:22:20 --> 00:22:23 entry to enforce a Big Brother digital ID scheme on
00:22:23 --> 00:22:26 citizens who have already rejected the idea of an Australia
00:22:26 --> 00:22:29 card identification proposal. They point to
00:22:29 --> 00:22:31 examples like China's Social Credit scheme which
00:22:31 --> 00:22:34 punishes its citizens who refuse to follow the government's
00:22:34 --> 00:22:37 directives. Then there's the Canadian government's decision
00:22:37 --> 00:22:40 to lock bank accounts of protesting truck drivers
00:22:41 --> 00:22:43 and Australian police using the digital Covid
00:22:43 --> 00:22:46 vaccination passport to track people's movements.
00:22:46 --> 00:22:49 And it's not just social media and YouTube Music. The
00:22:49 --> 00:22:52 government's new legislation will also force you to establish and
00:22:52 --> 00:22:55 provide your digital id. In order to use search engines
00:22:55 --> 00:22:58 like Google, you'll need to provide detailed information
00:22:58 --> 00:23:00 about yourself, including biometric data such as
00:23:00 --> 00:23:03 facial recognition, which will be stored on tech company
00:23:03 --> 00:23:06 servers like those of TikTok in Beijing. We all
00:23:06 --> 00:23:09 know how well governments and companies secure your personal details from
00:23:09 --> 00:23:12 hackers. Technology editor Alex Zahara
00:23:12 --> 00:23:14 Reutt from TechAdvice dot Life warns that it's a
00:23:14 --> 00:23:17 slippery slope with government bureaucratic overreach a,
00:23:17 --> 00:23:19 guaranteed certainty.
00:23:19 --> 00:23:21 Alex Zaharov-Reutt: Well, the government and the Prime Minister of Australia
00:23:22 --> 00:23:24 has effectively announced that its decision
00:23:24 --> 00:23:27 to uh, exempt YouTube Music from the under 16
00:23:27 --> 00:23:30 social media ban is now being rescinded and they want
00:23:30 --> 00:23:33 to include it in the ban after all, uh, from the end of
00:23:33 --> 00:23:36 this year. And that of course raises all kinds of questions as
00:23:36 --> 00:23:38 to how this is going to be enforced. I mean all of the age
00:23:38 --> 00:23:41 verification schemes are more or less not really
00:23:41 --> 00:23:44 feasible. How is an AI system going to tell
00:23:44 --> 00:23:47 a, uh, 15 year old from one who's 16? And
00:23:47 --> 00:23:50 of course what's to stop parents from simply logging
00:23:50 --> 00:23:53 into their children's devices, whether through the app
00:23:53 --> 00:23:55 or through YouTube Music, in the browser with their
00:23:55 --> 00:23:57 username and password and kids, uh, will have
00:23:57 --> 00:24:00 unfettered access. And that is before we talk about
00:24:00 --> 00:24:03 VPNs and browsers that are known for privacy
00:24:03 --> 00:24:05 with VPNs built in or accessing Tor.
00:24:05 --> 00:24:08 Stuart Gary: The sale of plastic face masks and things like that, uh,
00:24:08 --> 00:24:09 are likely to.
00:24:09 --> 00:24:12 Alex Zaharov-Reutt: Rise if they're going to use AI facial
00:24:12 --> 00:24:15 detection. But now for parents simply logs in to their
00:24:15 --> 00:24:17 child's device with their username and password.
00:24:17 --> 00:24:18 Stuart Gary: Their parents password anyway.
00:24:18 --> 00:24:19 Alex Zaharov-Reutt: That's right.
00:24:19 --> 00:24:22 Stuart Gary: Shouldn't parents be controlling what their kids watch,
00:24:22 --> 00:24:22 not the government?
00:24:22 --> 00:24:25 Alex Zaharov-Reutt: Well, of course, I mean that's what it comes down to. You know, the parent is
00:24:25 --> 00:24:26 the parent, not the government.
00:24:26 --> 00:24:28 Stuart Gary: Give me a child at the age of five and I'll give you the man.
00:24:28 --> 00:24:31 Alex Zaharov-Reutt: That's exactly right. And really this all comes down to the
00:24:31 --> 00:24:34 government wanting to implement a digital ID
00:24:34 --> 00:24:37 system to effectively track every user
00:24:37 --> 00:24:38 in Australia.
00:24:38 --> 00:24:41 Stuart Gary: Well, it does more than that. Lets the government spy on what people are
00:24:41 --> 00:24:44 doing. And controlling information is what governments have always been about.
00:24:44 --> 00:24:47 Alex Zaharov-Reutt: Absolutely, yeah. I mean the only way to counter misinformation
00:24:47 --> 00:24:50 is with good information, with more information and to let
00:24:50 --> 00:24:53 the people make up their own mind. Otherwise you effectively
00:24:53 --> 00:24:55 have what is just a dystopian situation
00:24:55 --> 00:24:58 where the government claims to be the sole source of truth. And, you know,
00:24:58 --> 00:25:01 it's like Pravda. I mean, you read the approved, uh, information
00:25:01 --> 00:25:04 or, you know, off to the gulag as you go. You know, the New
00:25:04 --> 00:25:07 Zealand government prime minister at the time, Jacinda Ardern, was saying
00:25:07 --> 00:25:10 that, you know, we are the sole single source of truth. Well, no,
00:25:10 --> 00:25:13 I mean that we're no longer a democracy. If that's the case, we're
00:25:13 --> 00:25:16 a dictatorship. Ronald Reagan has famously, uh,
00:25:16 --> 00:25:19 stated a few decades ago that liberty is not passed
00:25:19 --> 00:25:22 down through the bloodline, but must be fought for and preserved by every
00:25:22 --> 00:25:25 generation. And that is the case. The very high reality that this
00:25:25 --> 00:25:27 is effectively a backdoor into a digital ID
00:25:27 --> 00:25:30 for all citizens. I mean, everything you're doing is
00:25:30 --> 00:25:33 going to be spied upon. And already the government,
00:25:33 --> 00:25:34 uh, social credit.
00:25:34 --> 00:25:36 Stuart Gary: Points, just like they do in China. You're wonderful.
00:25:36 --> 00:25:39 Alex Zaharov-Reutt: That's right. If you are not adhering to whatever the, uh, government
00:25:39 --> 00:25:42 policies are, and you know, you'll have your vaccine, passports,
00:25:42 --> 00:25:45 you'll have all sorts of things that are inside this digital id, we're going to a
00:25:45 --> 00:25:48 technological dystopia. And that is something that every
00:25:48 --> 00:25:50 science fiction movie of note has been warning about
00:25:50 --> 00:25:51 for, uh, decades.
00:25:51 --> 00:25:54 Stuart Gary: That's Alex Zaharov-Reutt from Tech Advice dot Life.
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