SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 13
*NASA shuts down its Mars Ingenuity Helicopter Mission NASA has been forced to end its history-making Mars Ingenuity Helicopter mission on the Red planet.
*The mystery monster in an ancient globular cluster Astronomers may have detected a monster in the heart of 47 Tucanae one of the most famous globular star clusters in the sky.
*Could diamonds drive Neptune and Uranus' magnetic fields A new study suggests that diamond rain in the dense atmospheres of the ice giants Uranus and Neptune could drive these distant worlds magnetic fields.
*The Science Report
The link between climate change and human life span quantified.
NASA’s new experimental supersonic aircraft specifically designed not to generate a sonic boom.
A new study has confirmed that most dogs love watching TV.
Skeptics guide a paranormal presence in your home
https://spacetimewithstuartgary.com https://bitesz.com
This week’s guests: Dr Arash Bahramian from the Curtin University node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research NASA Administrator Bill Nelson Dr. Jennifer Sietins from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's Army Research Laboratory – ARL Lisa Kaltenegger, director of Cornell University’s Carl Sagan Institute And our regular guests: Alex Zaharov-Reutt from techadvice.life Tim Mendham from Australian Skeptics
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00:00:00
This is space time series 27 episode 13 for broadcast on the
00:00:04
29th of January 2024. Coming up on space time, NASA shuts down
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its Mars Ingenuity Helicopter mission, a mysterious monster
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discovered in an ancient globular cluster and could
00:00:18
diamonds be driving Neptune and Uranus magnetic fields all that
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and more coming up on space time.
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Welcome to space time with Stuart. Gary.
00:00:47
NASA has been forced to end its history making. Mars Ingenuity
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Helicopter mission on the Red Planet. The decision to end the
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mission was taken by the team at NASA's jet propulsion laboratory
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in passed into California after images showed damage to one of
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the rotocop it's blades.
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The problems began when NASA suddenly lost contact with
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Ingenuity during its 72nd flight on January the 18th.
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The mission was designed to simply be a quick pop up
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vertical flight in order to check out the helicopter systems
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following an unplanned early landing during its previous
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flight data sent by Ingenuity to the perseverance rover which
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then relays the telemetry back to earth indicated that the
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tissue box sized drone successfully climbed to its
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aside maximum altitude of 12 m.
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It then hovered there for 4.5 seconds before starting its
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descent at a velocity of a meter per second. However, during the
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descent, when it was still a meter off the ground, the 1.8 kg
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helicopter suddenly lost contact with the rover. Our Ingenuity
00:01:50
had lost communications before usually when direct line of
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sight signals to the rover were blocked by terrain.
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Mission managers were able to re establish contact with the rover
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the following day after instructing perseverance to
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undertake long duration listening sessions.
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Once contact had been re established, more information
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about the flight was then relayed back to ground
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controllers at JPL. Now at this stage, the course of the
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communications dropout is still being investigated. Also,
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mission managers still don't know why the previous mission
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ended abruptly.
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But when they reviewed the latest data, they found that one
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or more of the rotor blades had sustained damage during the
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landing and was no longer capable of flight. Right now.
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Ingenuity remains upright on the ground and in communication with
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mission managers, the helicopter was originally sent to Mars with
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perseverance as a technology demonstrator.
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It was designed to perform just five experimental test flights
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over 30 days to see if it was even possible to fly in the
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ultra thin Martian atmosphere.
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Ingenuity had landed on Mars on February the 18th 2021 attached
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to the undercarriage of the car sized perseverance rover. The
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tiny helicopter's historic first flight off the Martian surface
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was on April the 19th proving once and for all that powered
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controlled flight on Mars was possible.
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After notching up another four flights Ingenuity embarked on a
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new mission as an operations demonstration, serving as an
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aerial scout for the perseverance rover. Finding
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interesting features ahead of the rover and warning of any
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dangerous terrain best avoided.
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Now, almost three years and 1000 Martian days later, Ingenuity
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has performed 72 flights. That means it's flown more than 14
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times further and 33 times longer than originally planned.
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Logging in more than two hours of overall flight time in the
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process.
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Over its extended mission, Ingenuity was upgraded on
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several occasions giving it the ability to autonomously choose
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landing sites in treacherous terrain, deal with a dead sensor
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and clean itself. After dust storms, it operated from 48
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different landing sites performed three emergency
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landings and it survived a frigid Martian winter.
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But there were problems. Ingenuity was unable to power
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its heaters throughout the night during the coldest parts of the
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Martian winter, resulting in the flight computer periodically
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freezing and resetting these power brown outs required team
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managers to redesign Ingenuity's winter operations in order to
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keep flying with final flood operations.
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Now concluded mission managers will perform final tests on the
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helicopter systems and download the remaining imagery and data
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in Ingenuity's onboard memory.
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Sadly, the perseverance roe is currently too far away to
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attempt to get an image of the helicopter at its final resting
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place. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson says the helicopter's
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performance and resilience in the hash Martian environment
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greatly exceeded expectations.
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It is bittersweet that I must announce that Ingenuity, the
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little helicopter that could and it kept saying, I think I can, I
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think I can. Well, it is now taken its last flight on Mars as
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it was coming for landing. At least one of its carbon fiber
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rotor blades was damaged.
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We're investigating the possibility that the blade
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struck the ground. It's a special fiber with a special
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contour that little helicopter could fly in a 1% atmosphere,
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not 100% atmosphere like we have on earth. It cut through a 1%
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atmosphere and was able to fly. And what Ingenuity accomplished
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far exceeds what we thought possible.
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Almost three years ago, the helicopter made its first flight
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on the planet Mars and living up to its name. Ingenuity made
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history as the first aircraft to make a powered controlled flight
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on another planet. But then it flew farther and higher than we
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ever thought possible.
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And what started as a technology demonstration with plans for
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only up to five flights has now completed a remarkable 72
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flights on Mars and the innovation doesn't stop here. It
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acted as a scout for the perseverance rover. It would go
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and check out sites.
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Ingenuity demonstrated how flight can enhance operational
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missions and it's helping us in the search for life on Mars. And
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like the Wright brothers, what they did back here on earth at
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the early part of the last century, Ingenuity has paved the
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way for future flight in our solar system and it's leading
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the way for smarter safer human missions to Mars and beyond.
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NASA proved once again that with relentless determination in the
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power of America's best minds. Anything is possible. That's
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what we try to do at NASA. Make the impossible possible. And so
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thank you Ingenuity. That's Bill.
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Nelson, the administrator of NASA. And this space time still
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to come. Discovery of a Mystery Monster in the heart of an
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ancient globular cluster. And a new study suggests that diamonds
00:07:27
could be driving the magnetic fields of the ice giants,
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Neptune and Uranus. All that and more still to come on space
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time.
00:07:52
Astronomers may have detected a mysterious monster in the heart
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of 47 canI one of the most famous Clolar clusters in the
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sky. The object reported in the Astrophysical Journal could be
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either a rarely seen and long sought after intermediate mass
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black hole or a pulsar. A rapidly spinning neutron star.
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It was picked up as scientists were undertaking the most
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sensitive and detailed radio image ever undertaken of this
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spectacular globular cluster. Globular clusters are ancient
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stellar spheres containing thousands to millions of tightly
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packed stars.
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They're thought to be either the relic nuclei of dwarf Galaxies
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that have lost the rest of their stars during galactic mergers or
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there could be families of stars which are all born together at
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the same time in the same molecular gas and dust cloud
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globular clusters tend to hover around the edges of Galaxies.
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The milky way is thought to have at least 150 of them.
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47 Chicana, which is also known as NGC 104 is located around
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50 light years away in the direction of the constellation
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Chicana. It's the second brightest globular cluster in
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the night sky after Omega Centauri, one of the study's
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authors, Dr Ash Beaman from the Curtin University node of the
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International Center For Radio Astronomy Research says 47 canI
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is one of the most massive globular clusters in the galaxy.
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It has over a million stars and a very bright dense central
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core. The ultra sensitive image of the cluster was created for
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more than 450 hours of observations using the Csiro's
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Australia telescope compact array near Narrabri in North
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Western New South Wales Braian says 47 Chicana can be seen with
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the unaided eye and was first cataloged by astronomers back in
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the 17 fifties.
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But imaging it in such great detail has now allowed
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astronomers to discover an incredibly faint radio signal at
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the center of the cluster that had never been detected.
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Previously, the signals suggest that 47 to Canny contains either
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an intermediate mass black hole or a pulsar intermediate mass
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black holes are extremely rare they have masses somewhere
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between that of a supermassive black hole of the type fat at
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the centers of Galaxies and the stellar mass black hole which
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are created by collapsed stars.
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We see lots of both stellar mass black holes and supermassive
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black holes. But finding intermediate sized black holes,
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something that fits between the two is extremely rare. And while
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intermediate black holes are thought to exist inside globular
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clusters, there's never been a clear detection of one.
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Now, if the signal turns out to be an intermediate sized black
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hole, it would be a highly significant Discovery and the
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first ever radio detection of one inside a cluster. Now, the
00:10:43
second possible source for the signal is a pulsar, a rotating
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neutron star that emits radio waves, neutron stars will
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collapse still a cause of stars far more massive than the sun.
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They spin incredibly fast, producing a beam of energy that
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shines out across the universe like a lighthouse. Beacon Burian
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says a pulsar this close to a cluster center is also
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scientifically interesting because it could be used to
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search for a central black hole that's yet to be detected.
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Is one of the brightest glo clusters in the night sky and it
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's partially because it's very large compared to other glove
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clusters and partially because it's relatively close when we
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consider galactic distance.
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Now, what we have done is we have used Csiro's telescope
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compact array to looked at this cluster and pushed the
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sensitivity of the observatory to its limits. We looked at it
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for 450 hours of observation. We looked at it and what has
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happened, this allowed us to make the deepest radio image
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ever made of a glove cluster.
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Now, the reason this is exciting is because glove clusters are
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among the oldest parts of our galaxy, they were formed when
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the galaxy was very young. So these are we are talking about
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10 billion years old roughly in age.
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So what we are looking at is this collection dense collection
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of stars that some stars that were very massive has already
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gone, have already gone through the stages of stellar life and
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turned into stellar remnants, things like black holes or
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neutral stars which are dense remnants of stars.
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And now those remnants are still moving around in the globular
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cluster and occasionally interact with other stars that
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are around. And these interactions create energetic
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signatures, either X ray emission or radio emission that
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we can observe.
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So when we observe with this amount of sensitivity with this
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much effort and push things to the to make the deepest image,
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we start to capture some of the things that have been hidden and
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we have never captured before. So now we see the deepest image,
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we are starting to see neutral stars and black holes that have
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never been seen before in this cluster.
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At the center of the cluster, we notice a very faint source at
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the center of the globular cluster. Now this was exciting
00:13:01
for multiple reasons because typically at the center of these
00:13:05
globular clusters is where the density is the highest.
00:13:08
This is where you expect some more exotic elements of the
00:13:11
cluster to be. For example, one of the things that have been
00:13:15
speculated for a long time to be present at the center of the
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globe cluster is an intermediate mass black hole.
00:13:23
So what that is when we look at the black holes in the universe,
00:13:27
we see two main groups, we see stellar mass black holes. These
00:13:31
are black holes that are formed when stars die, heavy stars die
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and they turn into stellar mass black holes a few times more
00:13:39
massive than our sun.
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At the other end, we have supermassive black holes. These
00:13:43
are black holes at the center of the galaxy. They are millions of
00:13:47
times heavier than the sun. So these are the two groups that we
00:13:51
have observed. We have measured their masses, we know of their
00:13:54
existence.
00:13:55
However, this is kind of like the situation is kind of like
00:13:59
going into a village and you see toddlers and you see adults, but
00:14:04
you don't see any teenagers, but you infer that there's got to be
00:14:08
some teenagers, you just haven't seen them, maybe they are at the
00:14:11
playground that you haven't seen. This is the kind of
00:14:13
situation with intermediate mass black holes.
00:14:15
We have seen the stellar mass black holes we have seen the
00:14:18
supermassive black holes. There are a few intermediate mass
00:14:21
black hole candidates that have been identified in the cosmos.
00:14:24
But one of the places is that people have speculated these
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intermediate mass black holes should be is center of glo
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clusters.
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And that is one of the exciting interpretations of that same
00:14:36
signal that we have seen in the center of our glove cluster. So
00:14:40
that's very exciting. If true, it would be, it would, it would
00:14:44
allow us to understand more about the black holes and how
00:14:48
they grow, how they evolve. The other interpretation of this
00:14:52
signal is that it could be a pulsar.
00:14:54
Pulsars are so neutron stars are dense remnants of stars that
00:15:00
explode. These are very dense, we're talking densities that are
00:15:04
tens of thousands of times. So if you have, if you have a
00:15:07
spoonful of matter from a neutron star, that matter, that
00:15:10
will be heavier 10 times roughly more than Sydney Opera
00:15:16
house. So that's the density we are talking about here.
00:15:19
So neutron stars, some of them rotate very rapidly. This rapid
00:15:24
rotation allows a period to make them appear pulsating from our
00:15:29
point of view. So the other interpretation is that this
00:15:32
signal we have seen at the center of the globular cluster
00:15:34
could be a pulsar that is also exciting because pulsars are
00:15:38
amongst some of the most precise clocks in the universe.
00:15:41
So by tracking it is really a pulsar which follow up studies
00:15:45
may confirm that allows us to understand the dynamics at the
00:15:49
center of the cluster with some of the most precise clots in the
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universe. So either of the two interpretations are very
00:15:56
exciting and allow us to understand how glove clusters
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have evolved stars in the galaxy have evolved to get here.
00:16:03
The other exciting factor about this Discovery and study was the
00:16:07
fact that we have pushed the sensitivity of our current
00:16:11
generation of observatories to their limit. And this is
00:16:14
exciting as we prepare for the next generation of observatories
00:16:18
such as square kilometer array, which is currently being built
00:16:21
in Western Australia.
00:16:22
As we learn about the techniques that we are developing, as we
00:16:26
learn about the challenges that we may face as we accumulate
00:16:29
this much data and we try to make sense of it. These kinds of
00:16:32
studies allow us to be more efficient and harness all of the
00:16:36
science that we can capture from the next generation of
00:16:39
observator.
00:16:39
When you look at the density of the material around the center
00:16:44
of the globular cluster, are you able to differentiate stars or
00:16:48
other objects orbiting around the central point? I guess where
00:16:52
I'm getting at there is any idea of the mass of the.
00:16:55
Object we cannot get the mass dynamically. What I mean
00:16:58
dynamically is, for example, sometimes when we look at binary
00:17:03
star systems, we can easily apply Newtonian mechanics at the
00:17:07
orbit and say OK, these have to be the masses. However, there
00:17:11
are other indirect methods to infer the mass.
00:17:15
For example, we can look at the bright of it. And we say, well,
00:17:19
if it is this class of objects based on how much energy it's
00:17:23
releasing, this is the mass it can have. So under that
00:17:28
interpretation, under these methods, if this is a black
00:17:32
hole, we expect its mass to be around a few 100 times more
00:17:36
massive than the.
00:17:37
See, that's important because this really does put us in those
00:17:41
teenage years that we've been looking forward to.
00:17:43
So it's the range that we are typically we consider
00:17:46
intermediate. It's not a clear cut definition, but roughly we
00:17:52
would say a few 100. So around 200 is where stellar evolution
00:17:58
models cannot really predict black holes of that mass around
00:18:03
102 100 roughly all the way to around 100. That that's the
00:18:08
range that really is hard to find black holes in that range.
00:18:12
Now, at the upper end, like a few 100, a few 10 thousands,
00:18:17
there are now a few good candidates that have been found
00:18:20
at the center of what we call dwarf Galaxies. These are
00:18:23
Galaxies that are not really the size of milky way or Andromeda,
00:18:27
they are very tiny, but they are in the same system of Galaxies,
00:18:31
for example.
00:18:32
And some of them seem to host black holes at the center that
00:18:36
may be 10 times more massive than the sun or 100 times
00:18:40
more massive than the sun. So in that context, when we look at it
00:18:44
finding a black hole that only a few 100 solar mass at the center
00:18:49
of the cluster. It is quite surprising and interesting
00:18:52
because we're saying that we are finding this awkward zone that
00:18:56
is just more mass than stellar mass black holes.
00:19:00
But at the very low end of the intermediate mass black hole
00:19:03
spectrum. So it is exciting, it tells us it also reveals because
00:19:07
of its low mass, if it's a common pattern among other glove
00:19:11
clusters, it is telling us that because of this low mass, that's
00:19:14
why we haven't in previous efforts because they are so
00:19:18
light that you need so much observation to actually detect.
00:19:22
And of course, the other problem is is has the universe been
00:19:25
around long enough for a stellar mass black hole to grow into a
00:19:29
supermassive black hole assuming they the same way precisely.
00:19:33
Yes, that is one of the problems that the growth theory as to
00:19:40
which is stellar mass, black holes merge and become larger
00:19:44
and larger. And black holes is that actually a viable theory
00:19:49
given the age of the universe.
00:19:52
When you look at this globular cluster, and you look at the
00:19:55
stars within it, are they made out of the same material as the
00:19:59
other stars within that part of the milky way galaxy. In other
00:20:04
words, do they all have the same sort of metallic or are we
00:20:07
seeing something which may once have started out as the core of
00:20:11
a different galaxy?
00:20:12
Oh, that's a fantastic question. So for 47 Takane, we actually
00:20:19
what we see is metallic is comparatively with like for
00:20:23
example, other parts of the galaxy around it, it is a bit
00:20:26
more metal for because and that is expected because we expect
00:20:30
stars in the 47th economy to be a lot earlier. So you expect
00:20:36
them to be older. So that's what we are seeing.
00:20:39
However, what you said about the core of other Galaxies that app
00:20:44
that applies to a a couple of glove clusters in our galaxy
00:20:48
that their distribution of elements their and sometimes
00:20:53
even their shape is a bit unusual compared to other glove
00:20:57
clusters in our galaxy.
00:20:59
And there is this ongoing discussion and study if some of
00:21:03
them may have been small galaxy that interacted with our galaxy
00:21:08
and got stripped of some of their stars and became what
00:21:11
looks like a globe cluster, but they weren't a glob cluster from
00:21:15
the beginning. But for 47 we're pretty sure they are the stars
00:21:20
in that cluster formed as part of the milky way.
00:21:23
Where is your research going to take you next?
00:21:26
So there are two important two exciting bits that we are really
00:21:32
keen to follow. First is that the amount of data we have
00:21:35
collected on 47 Kan with this project, there is still a lot of
00:21:41
exciting stuff to explore and analyze. We made the first image
00:21:45
which is the deepest image. And the most exciting thing was the
00:21:49
source in the center.
00:21:50
There are a lot of other signals in the cluster are likely to be
00:21:54
Neutra stars or other types of less exotic objects that we are
00:21:58
going to explore and understand. And then after that, there are
00:22:01
also my focus is now on understanding the population of
00:22:06
black holes in our galaxy. I'm trying to understand how many
00:22:09
stellar mass black holes are in our galaxy.
00:22:11
What fraction of them are we really able to observe? Because
00:22:15
black holes are notoriously hard to observe because they don't
00:22:19
have any light and they are only observed when they interact with
00:22:22
other stars or the like of other stars. So trying to connect the
00:22:27
theoretical expectation of population of black holes to
00:22:29
what is actually observed is one of the my goals in the.
00:22:34
Next few years. That's Dr ash beam from the Curtin University
00:22:38
know of the International Center For Radio Astronomy Research and
00:22:42
this space time still to come, could diamonds be driving
00:22:47
Neptune and Uranus magnetic fields? And later in the science
00:22:51
report, NASA's new experimental supersonic aircraft specifically
00:22:55
designed not to generate a sonic boom, all that and more still to
00:23:00
come on space time.
00:23:18
A new study suggests that diamond rain in the dense
00:23:21
atmospheres of the ice giants, Uranus and Neptune could be
00:23:24
driving these distant worlds magnetic fields. The findings
00:23:29
reported in the Journal Nature Astronomy are based on new
00:23:32
resolutions to long standing issues about the temperature and
00:23:35
pressure conditions under which diamonds form from short lived
00:23:38
hydrocarbons such as those expected to be found inside
00:23:42
these ice giants.
00:23:44
The authors use sophisticated computer modeling to describe
00:23:47
the internal conditions deep inside the atmospheres of both
00:23:51
Uranus and Neptune and then monitor how small samples of
00:23:54
planetary building blocks behave and rearrange under these
00:23:57
extreme conditions.
00:23:59
Previous modeling had already provided scientists with a
00:24:01
fairly rough idea of the processes by which diamonds form
00:24:05
from short lived hydrocarbon molecules inside ice giant
00:24:09
interiors.
00:24:10
But different lab techniques have been yielding varying
00:24:13
results making it challenging to pin down the exact depth at
00:24:17
which this process occurs. The main debate centered on
00:24:20
experiments that compress hydrocarbons to bring them to
00:24:23
pressure extremes and the experiments that create these
00:24:26
conditions are hitting samples with high speed projectiles
00:24:30
mimicking a meteor impact.
00:24:32
Instead, the authors of this study used an X ray laser
00:24:35
capable of generating ultra short flashes 27 times per
00:24:39
second. This would then hit a compressed sample of polystyrene
00:24:43
with ultra short X ray flashes producing a sort of goldilocks
00:24:47
method to resolve the tension between the two early
00:24:49
approaches.
00:24:51
They found that diamond formation was observed under
00:24:54
pressures ranging from 19 to 27 gap pascals and above 2500
00:24:59
Kelvin. Now what all that means is that diamond rains form at
00:25:04
shallower depth than previously thought. And because it's denser
00:25:09
than the surrounding material, it sinks deeper, providing an
00:25:12
additional heat source which could then drive convection in
00:25:15
the ice layer.
00:25:16
And it's that which could be contributing to these planets
00:25:19
complex magnetic fields. This is space time and time now to take
00:25:40
a brief look at some of the other stories making news in
00:25:43
science this week with the science report, a new study
00:25:47
warns that as little as a single degree in average global
00:25:50
temperature increase could shorten your life by as much as
00:25:53
half a year.
00:25:54
A report in the journal PLOS one shows that just one °C of
00:25:59
warming may cost an average of six months off the average human
00:26:03
lifespan with women and people in developing nations facing the
00:26:06
most significant consequences.
00:26:09
The findings are based on studies of data from 191
00:26:12
different countries. The study looked at how direct factors
00:26:16
such as storms and indicative factors such as mental illness
00:26:20
all contribute to an overall lowering effect on global human
00:26:24
life expectancies.
00:26:27
NASA has unveiled a new experimental supersonic aircraft
00:26:30
specifically designed not to generate a sonic boom. The
00:26:34
technological advances made to the aircraft known as the X 59
00:26:38
reduce the usual air splitting crack of the sonic boom to a
00:26:41
more quiet thump as the aircraft breaks the sound barrier.
00:26:46
The key is a new ultra thin tapered nose design which breaks
00:26:50
up the shockwaves traditionally created when an aircraft
00:26:52
traverses the sound barrier. But the configuration means the
00:26:56
cockpit is located almost halfway down the length of the
00:26:58
aircraft and it does not have a forward facing window.
00:27:02
Instead, the X 59 team developed an external vision system using
00:27:06
a series of high resolution cameras which are then feeding a
00:27:09
set of four K monitors in the cockpit. The aircraft also uses
00:27:13
a top of fuselage mounted engine resulting in a smoother belly to
00:27:17
help keep shockwaves from merging behind the aircraft and
00:27:20
causing a sonic boom.
00:27:21
The aircraft was unveiled at Lockheed's secret Skunkworks
00:27:25
facility in the Mojave Desert. NASA project integration
00:27:28
manager, Peter Cohen says the X 59 will undertake its maiden
00:27:32
flight later this year before attempting its first quiet
00:27:35
supersonic transit.
00:27:37
The test flights will initially occur at the skunk works before
00:27:40
transferring down the road to NASA's Armstrong Flight Research
00:27:43
Center at the Edwards Air Force Base. NASA hopes the new
00:27:47
supersonic transport could revolutionize air travel. Paving
00:27:50
the way for a new generation of commercial aircraft.
00:27:53
It can travel faster than sound. Of course, the Concorde did all
00:27:57
this during the 19 sixties and seventies but it left a sonic
00:28:00
boom that resulted in governments banning it from
00:28:03
achieving supersonic speeds over land. It therefore became
00:28:07
restricted the supersonic flight only on transatlantic journeys.
00:28:13
A new study has confirmed that most dogs love watching TV and
00:28:18
the findings by researchers from the University Of Wisconsin
00:28:20
Madison also show that man's best friends do have their
00:28:24
favorite shows. The two year study reported in the applied
00:28:28
animal behavior science journal was designed to learn what video
00:28:32
content engaged poos.
00:28:33
The most 1600 dog owners from the United States, Canada,
00:28:37
Europe, the UK, Australia and New Zealand were asked to fill
00:28:40
out a questionnaire looking at how their dog behaved when the
00:28:43
TV was on. And it seems our furry friends love cartoons with
00:28:48
animals in them, best of all and no surprises for guessing.
00:28:52
They especially love those with dogs in them. They also like
00:28:55
other nature documentaries, you know, anything with animals in
00:28:58
them again, especially those with dogs in them. But
00:29:01
interestingly, they find shows with humans fairly boring.
00:29:06
A new study has found that 42 per cent of Americans claim
00:29:09
they've felt a paranormal presence in their home. 37 per
00:29:13
cent claim they've heard unexplained sounds such as
00:29:16
footsteps or voices and 19 per cent say they've actually seen
00:29:20
apparitions or ghostly figures.
00:29:23
The study also shows that 49 per cent of strange experiences,
00:29:26
paranormal experiences that is happen in the bedroom 26 per
00:29:31
cent in the living room, 23 per cent of the kitchen, 21 per cent
00:29:34
of the hallway were on the stairs but only 12 per cent in
00:29:37
the basement. Some nine per cent of those surveyed prayed right
00:29:41
after the experience happened.
00:29:43
The research also found that one in 10 of the Americans surveyed
00:29:46
have used a Ouija board in their home and of those 42 per cent
00:29:50
said they'd never do it again. Amazingly, seven out of the 1017
00:29:55
people surveyed didn't stick around to figure out what had
00:29:58
happened and actually moved away from their home.
00:30:01
After the experience, over 40 per cent said their community
00:30:05
has a long history of local ghost stories and more than half
00:30:08
believe the stories are real. But Tim Mendham from Australian
00:30:12
Skeptics says those funding this study are advising people to try
00:30:15
something else first before resorting to an exorcist.
00:30:19
If anyone in an old home knows that the thing creaks and it
00:30:22
settles and all sorts of noises are being made. This was a study
00:30:25
done of about 1000 people in America asking them a range of
00:30:29
questions. Do you notice sounds and things? Do you notice any
00:30:32
strange occurrences? Where do you notice them? What reactions
00:30:35
do people have to the?
00:30:36
And is your house haunted? So, what they found out was that
00:30:38
about 42 per cent of people felt there was a paranormal presence
00:30:42
in their home and 16 per cent thought the house was haunted.
00:30:45
37 per cent had an unexplained sounds and things and 19 per
00:30:50
cent had seen apparitions quite an extensive survey.
00:30:53
Actually, one of the issues they point out is that a lot of the
00:30:56
phenomena might be caused by the house, not by being haunted, but
00:30:59
if it's an old house, you've got things coming adrift, you've got
00:31:02
the fiber board here of a house or something is creaking a bit.
00:31:05
It's coming loose, letting wind in windows, rattling all sorts
00:31:08
of things.
00:31:09
One of the points they made was that some people reported
00:31:11
stationary objects moving such as doors and windows, which I
00:31:14
didn't thought it was stationary objects that they can move. That
00:31:17
's part of the principle for those things. But yeah, the
00:31:19
interesting thing about the survey is it's actually done by
00:31:22
a home repair company.
00:31:24
Now, the survey might be legit. But the, the solutions they
00:31:29
offer is, I think it's a very inventive one. Actually, this
00:31:32
particular survey, I think it's lovely. They actually
00:31:35
commissioned a survey so they might have had this in mind all
00:31:38
along.
00:31:38
But the eerie encounters that people have, the interesting
00:31:41
thing is certain rooms are eerier than others and obviously
00:31:44
the room, which is the eeriest and has the most paranormal
00:31:47
events is the bedroom. Now, what do you do in the bedroom? Well,
00:31:50
there's, there's always a it, yeah, you sleep and it's dark
00:31:56
and hopefully it's dark, you turn the lights off and go to
00:31:58
sleep.
00:31:59
So naturally that is a room that lends itself to spooky feelings,
00:32:02
especially if you're only half awake and you're sort of in a
00:32:04
dream state, etcetera, if you're more likely to see a ghost in a
00:32:08
bedroom than you would say in a kitchen where it's pretty
00:32:11
bright, half of the knives and things around there.
00:32:12
You're fairly safe from ghosts. But all sorts of these things is
00:32:15
quite fascinating little survey. But saying that in America there
00:32:18
's a lot more older houses and perhaps they are where I live,
00:32:21
which is a newish sort of suburb where the houses might range
00:32:24
from average age to be 50 years old.
00:32:25
And they're suggesting that this is a factor in the sort of
00:32:28
haunting and paranormal things that people report and of
00:32:30
course, summer old houses are pretty spooky just in their own.
00:32:33
Right. If you're seeing noises, if you see hearing sort of
00:32:36
seeing visions and things, go talk to your home repair
00:32:38
company, don't exercise, renovate the best solution.
00:32:41
That's Tim Inam from Australian Skeptics.
00:33:00
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