The Space, Astronomy & Science Podcast.
SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 30
*Discovery of a Short-Period Brown Dwarf Raises New Questions
Astronomers have detected a new short-period brown dwarf, NGTS-28 AB, orbiting a red dwarf star 402 light-years away. This brown dwarf completes an orbit in a mere 30 hours, challenging our understanding of stellar evolution and the fine line between massive planets and the smallest stars. Join us as we delve into the significance of this discovery and what it reveals about the mysterious inhabitants of the galaxy's dark corners.
*North America Prepares for a Total Solar Eclipse Spectacle
North America is set to be plunged into darkness with a total solar eclipse on April 8. As the moon's shadow races across the continent, NASA is seizing the opportunity to study how eclipses affect ecosystems through a citizen science project. We'll explore the anticipation building up to this celestial event and the scientific endeavors that will accompany it.
*Testing the Future of Space Optics: Meta Optical Elements Under Scrutiny
The European Space Agency embarks on a groundbreaking study to test the resilience of meta optical elements in space. These ultra-thin components could revolutionize space technology by reducing payload weight and paving the way for miniaturized systems. Find out how this study could lead to a new era of space exploration.
Plus, we'll touch on the impact of AI on human perception, the discovery of Europe's oldest man-made megastructure, and the latest in space and science news. Prepare for a journey that spans from the depths of space to the frontiers of technology.
Listen to SpaceTime on your favorite podcast app with our universal listen link: https://spacetimewithstuartgary.com/listen and access show links via https://linktr.ee/biteszHQ
For more SpaceTime and show links: https://linktr.ee/biteszHQ
For more space and astronomy podcasts visit our HQ at https://bitesz.com
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/spacetime-with-stuart-gary--2458531/support.
00:00:00
STUART GARY: This is Space Time series 27 episode 29 for
00:00:03
broadcast on the sixth of March 2024. Coming up on Space Time
00:00:09
astronomers detect a new short period Brown dwarf North America
00:00:13
to experience a total solar eclipse next month and meta
00:00:17
optical elements to be tested for possible use in space. All
00:00:21
that and more coming up on Space Time.
00:00:25
GENERIC: Welcome to Space Time with Stuart Gary.
00:00:45
STUART GARY: Astronomers have discovered a Brown dwarf
00:00:47
orbiting a red dwarf star some 402 light years away. A report
00:00:52
on the pre press physics website, archive.org claims the
00:00:55
Brown dwarf designated NGTS 28 A B orbits its host star in just
00:01:00
30 hours. The host star is part of a spectral type M red dwarf
00:01:05
binary system with about 56% of the mass and 59% of the radius
00:01:10
of our sun.
00:01:11
The red dwarf's binary companion is only slightly smaller Brown
00:01:16
dwarfs are failed stars objects which don't have enough mass to
00:01:20
sustain the core hydrogen fusion process which make stars like
00:01:24
our sun shine.
00:01:26
However, Brown dwarves do fuse deuterium a heavier form of
00:01:29
hydrogen which includes a neutron as well. As the core
00:01:32
proton in its nucleus and Brown dwarves above 65 Jovian masses
00:01:37
can also fuse lithium Brown dwarves are classified into one
00:01:41
of three basic spectral types.
00:01:43
Lt and Y depending on their mass and surface temperature
00:01:46
aggressively passing through later spectral types as they
00:01:50
age. While some Brown dwarfs are born as such, others actually
00:01:53
start their lives as spectra type M red dwarf stars. But as
00:01:58
they age, they lose enough mass during their revolution to
00:02:01
eventually pass a point with a cease core fusion in the
00:02:05
process, turning them from red dwarfs into Brown dwarfs.
00:02:09
Brown dwarfs fit into a category between the largest planets.
00:02:12
Those with about 13 times the mass of Jupiter and the smallest
00:02:16
spectra type M red dwarf stars which usually have between 75
00:02:20
and 80 times the of Jupiter or 0.08 solar masses.
00:02:24
This newly detected Brown dwarf was discovered while the authors
00:02:28
were analyzing data on the binary system N GTs 28 using the
00:02:32
next generation transit survey and NASA's test transiting
00:02:36
exoplanet survey satellite, they identified a massive object
00:02:40
orbiting the primary star of the system NGT S 28 A.
00:02:45
The newly detected Brown dwarf is slightly smaller than the
00:02:47
planet Jupiter with around 0.95 Jovian radii, but it's far more
00:02:52
dense with some 69 times the mass of Jupiter NGT S 28 A B
00:02:58
orbits its host star every 30.1 hours at a distance of just 0.02
00:03:04
astronomical units.
00:03:06
An astronomical unit is the average distance between the
00:03:09
earth and the sun about 150 million kilometers or 8.3 light
00:03:13
minutes. The discovery means NGTS 28 A B is one of the
00:03:18
shortest period transiting Brown dwarfs ever seen and it's
00:03:21
orbiting one of the hottest red dwarfs known. The Brown dwarf
00:03:25
has an equilibrium temperature of about 863 Kelvin and is
00:03:29
estimated to be at least 500 million years old.
00:03:33
This is Space Time still to come North America to experience a
00:03:37
total solar eclipse next month. And the European Space Agency
00:03:41
are about to start testing meta optical elements fierce in
00:03:45
space. All that and more still to come on Space Time.
00:04:03
Ok. Let's take a break from our show or a word from our sponsor
00:04:07
in Cogni. You know, today's the day you really need to get
00:04:10
serious about protecting your personal data online. And the
00:04:14
best way to do that is with in Cogni the data protection
00:04:17
specialists in today's digital age.
00:04:20
Your personal information is like gold for scammers. They use
00:04:24
details like your income, your health conditions, even the
00:04:27
names of your loved ones to target you. And that's where
00:04:31
Cogni steps in in Cogni is your guardian against these threats.
00:04:35
It offers ongoing monitoring and protection by removing your
00:04:39
personal data from data broker sites on the dark web.
00:04:42
These are an online treasure trove for criminals and
00:04:45
scammers. But in Cogni understands the value of your
00:04:48
privacy and the importance of keeping your personal
00:04:51
information secure. So, with, in Cogni, you're not just getting
00:04:55
protection, you're investing in peace of mind.
00:04:58
And here's the best part. As a Spacetime listener, you'll get
00:05:01
up to 60 per cent off by visiting our site at in
00:05:04
Cogni.com/Stuart Carry. And of course, there's a 30 day money
00:05:09
back guarantee. So you've got nothing to lose. Visiting
00:05:12
Cogni.com/Stuart Gary to get up to 60 per cent off.
00:05:16
Don't wait until it's too late. Protect yourself and your
00:05:19
family. Now with in Cogni visit in Cogni.com/Stuart Garrett
00:05:24
today and take the first step towards a safer scam free life.
00:05:28
Remember your privacy matters and in Cogni is here to make
00:05:32
sure it stays that way.
00:05:33
And of course, you can get all the details on our website. And
00:05:37
now it's back to our show. You're listening to Space Time
00:05:41
with Stuart Garry, North America will experience a total solar
00:05:47
eclipse early next month.
00:05:49
The event on April the eighth will stretch from Mexico and
00:05:52
Texas in the south through the midwestern us, right over
00:05:56
Indianapolis and Cleveland before passing over upstate New
00:05:59
York in New England and finally entering Canada and New
00:06:02
Brunswick, a solar eclipse happens when the moon passes
00:06:06
directly in front of the sun as seen from earth.
00:06:09
In the process, it blocks out light from reaching parts of the
00:06:12
earth known as the path of totality along this path where
00:06:16
the sun's light is completely blocked out. It looks as if dusk
00:06:19
has fallen, temperatures drop and some stars become visible as
00:06:24
the darkness sweeps across the landscape. During a total solar
00:06:27
eclipse, unusual things start to happen.
00:06:30
Fooled by the false dusk. Birds stop singing, crickets start
00:06:34
chirping and bees return to their hives. Reports of these
00:06:38
typical animal behaviors date back centuries, but the effects
00:06:42
of an eclipse on plant and animal life have never been
00:06:44
fully understood.
00:06:46
And as the April solar eclipse passes over the heads of some 30
00:06:49
million people in North America, it provides a perfect
00:06:52
opportunity for NASA to undertake a large scale citizen
00:06:55
science project. The idea is to collect the sights and sounds of
00:06:59
a total solar eclipse on earth to better understand how an
00:07:02
eclipse affects different ecosystems.
00:07:05
Kelsey Perrett from the eclipse. Soundscapes project says
00:07:08
eclipses are often thought of as a visual event, something that
00:07:11
you see. But these events can trick animals into altering
00:07:15
their usual daytime behaviors.
00:07:17
The project will in fact be replicating a similar study
00:07:20
conducted by American scientist William Wheeler following the
00:07:23
1932 total solar eclipse which passed over north eastern
00:07:27
reaches of Canada and the United States. That near century old
00:07:30
study captured almost 500 observations from the general
00:07:34
public.
00:07:35
But this new project will use modern day instruments to
00:07:38
replicate and expand upon Wheeler's original work in order
00:07:42
to better understand animal and insect behavior. The project
00:07:45
will use multi sensory observations such as audio
00:07:48
recordings and written accounts of what he's seen heard and felt
00:07:52
during the eclipse of this report from NASA TV.
00:07:56
NASA TV: During a total solar eclipse, it is almost like day
00:08:00
becomes night very quickly.
00:08:02
So knowing that there's going to be a change in that light and
00:08:06
life giving energy means that we can predict when animals are
00:08:10
going to have a rapid shift in their behavior which.
00:08:13
Results in changes in the acoustic environment or the
00:08:16
soundscape.
00:08:17
So the Eclipse Soundscapes project is a project to
00:08:20
determine how eclipses affect life here on earth.
00:08:23
And there's a lot more to observation than just what you
00:08:26
see. It's also important to think about what you hear.
00:08:30
We're measuring how the rapid onset of darkness during an
00:08:33
eclipse affects wildlife by measuring the changes in sounds
00:08:37
that they make.
00:08:38
The general public is best suited for this type of project
00:08:41
because the general public is everywhere.
00:08:44
And that's really the power of the participatory science
00:08:46
component of this project. It enables recordings and
00:08:49
observations of soundscapes across the diversity of
00:08:52
ecosystems covered by the path of totality.
00:08:55
We might think of some ecosystems having a greater
00:08:58
influence of human activities on the soundscape. Whereas in other
00:09:01
ecosystems say a remote part of a national park, we might have a
00:09:04
lower influence of human activities and greater influence
00:09:07
from the sounds of life and earth.
00:09:10
The only way to properly preserve a species is to
00:09:14
understand it. The only way to understand it is through
00:09:17
scientific study on their behavior, their patterns and
00:09:20
their habitat requirements.
00:09:23
One of the things we'll be doing during the total solar eclipse
00:09:26
is setting up these recording stations. So these are our
00:09:30
accusing monitoring stations. And what we're doing is listing
00:09:34
for calls of the different bat species with the hopes of maybe
00:09:38
picking up some of those endangered species like the
00:09:40
northern long year bat.
00:09:42
We're hoping the results of this study will inform us about the
00:09:45
health of our bat populations of Pal Springs National Park and
00:09:49
help improve future conservation efforts.
00:09:53
The Eclipse Soundscapes project is an inclusive and accessible
00:09:57
project that is inviting the general public to get involved
00:10:01
in NASA science alongside scientists and subject matter
00:10:05
experts.
00:10:06
SPK_3: Wherever you take your observations, you might be
00:10:09
giving us information that has never been recorded before and
00:10:12
that is really useful and interesting to a.
00:10:15
STUART GARY: And in that report from NASA TV, we heard from NASA
00:10:18
Eclipse Soundscapes project, chief scientist Henry Winter,
00:10:21
the project's co lead Mary Kay Serino, its acoustic Ecologist,
00:10:25
William Erst Reich, and natural resource manager, Chance
00:10:28
Holzhauser from the Hot Springs National Park.
00:10:31
This is Space Time still to come. Scientists looking at meta
00:10:37
optical elements for use in space and later in the science
00:10:40
report, discovery of what could be Europe's oldest manmade mega
00:10:45
structure, all that and more still to come on. Space Time.
00:11:05
A new first of its kind engineering study has been
00:11:07
commissioned by the European Space Agency to determine the
00:11:10
usefulness of meta optical elements in space. Among those
00:11:14
taking part in the study is the Australian Research Council's
00:11:17
Center For Excellence Of Transformative Meta Optical
00:11:20
Systems.
00:11:21
The study will determine whether meta optical components can
00:11:24
withstand the pressures of a space launch as well as the
00:11:27
rigors of prolonged exposure in the space environment.
00:11:30
Meta optics are a new field of optical physics that aims to
00:11:34
replace traditional optics such as mirrors and lenses with what
00:11:38
are called meta surfaces which are thinner than a piece of
00:11:40
clean wrap and will greatly reduce the size weight and power
00:11:44
requirements of future space technology.
00:11:47
In fact, meta optics could solve a major problem for the space
00:11:50
industry, namely weight constraints in payloads. That's
00:11:54
because meta optical systems can lead to a miniaturization of
00:11:58
systems where traditional optics have been used and which form a
00:12:01
choke point, especially with lens systems adding significant
00:12:05
bulk and mass.
00:12:06
But the problem is meta surfaces have never been tested for their
00:12:10
ability to withstand intense pressures and extreme conditions
00:12:13
of launch or for that matter, the harsh environments of space.
00:12:17
And that's what this test will be all about. We'll keep you
00:12:21
informed this Space Time and time. Now to take another brief
00:12:41
look at some of the other stories making news in science
00:12:43
this week with a science report, a study by the Australian
00:12:48
National University has found that a protein in the human
00:12:51
immune system can be manipulated to help overcome bowel cancer.
00:12:55
The study reported in the journal science advances claims
00:12:58
the protein known as KU 70 can be activated or turned on like a
00:13:02
light switch by using a combination of new and existing
00:13:06
drugs.
00:13:07
The research shows that Kus 70 can cool off cancer cells and
00:13:10
mop up damaged DNA. The protein works by preventing cancer cells
00:13:15
from becoming more aggressive and spreading throughout the
00:13:18
body, essentially deactivating them and keeping them in a
00:13:21
dormant state.
00:13:22
Some one in 20 people will be diagnosed with bowel cancer by
00:13:26
the age of 85. It claims more than 100 lives in Australia each
00:13:31
week. Yet some 90 per cent of cases can be successfully
00:13:34
treated if it's detected. Early.
00:13:38
Archaeologists say a kilometer long string of boulders
00:13:41
discovered on the floor of the Baltic Sea could be Europe's
00:13:44
oldest human maiden mega structure. A report in the
00:13:48
journal P and A s claims the pristine discovery was probably
00:13:51
used for hunting Eurasian reindeer more than 10 years
00:13:54
ago.
00:13:55
That's before it was submerged by rising sea levels. Around
00:13:59
8500 years ago, hunters might have been using the wall to
00:14:03
force prey to a bottleneck or a nearby lake.
00:14:07
Scientists say the Chat GTP Four Artificial Intelligence Program
00:14:11
has aced their turing test proving itself to be
00:14:14
indistinguishable from a real human. Even when statistical
00:14:17
methods were used to try and detect it. In fact, chat GTP
00:14:22
four displayed more humanity than some of the humans.
00:14:24
It was tested against as it was found to be more Cooper
00:14:27
altruistic, trusting, generous, and likely to return a favor
00:14:31
than the average human included in the trial. A report in the
00:14:35
journal PNAS claims the authors asked chat GTP four to answer
00:14:39
psychological survey questions and play interactive games that
00:14:42
assess trust, fairness, risk, aversion, altruism and Cooper
00:14:47
operation.
00:14:48
Next, they compared chat GTP four choices to the choices made
00:14:52
by 108 humans from more than 50 countries.
00:14:57
Now, statistically chat GTP four was indistinguishable from the
00:15:01
randomly selected humans and it mirrored human responses such as
00:15:05
becoming more generous when it was told that someone else was
00:15:08
watching. The authors say this all suggests that artificial
00:15:12
intelligence could be employed in negotiation, dispute
00:15:15
resolution, customer service and even caregiving.
00:15:19
Well, the past few weeks have shown the world, both the highs
00:15:22
and lows of artificial intelligence technology with soa
00:15:26
displaying how unbelievably life like computer generated images
00:15:29
can now be with the details. We're joined by technology
00:15:33
editor Alex Sarov Roy from Tech Advice start live.
00:15:36
ALEX ZAHAROV REUTT: They've been working on this for quite some
00:15:37
time. You've got people like Pika Dot Art and Google with
00:15:41
their lumia and their video. But open A I have been keeping this
00:15:45
in reserve and this is just the beginning this open A I text to
00:15:49
video model is only available for select beta testers.
00:15:53
So when they'll actually launch this for the public, it's going
00:15:55
to be even better open A I has taken it to the next level. And
00:15:58
if you type in open A i.com forward slash sora sor A, then
00:16:05
you can see a whole bunch of different examples of just how
00:16:08
good the system looks and you can now create anything.
00:16:10
And at the moment, it takes one hour of processing to create one
00:16:14
minute of video that's obviously going to get faster, especially
00:16:17
when chat G BT launches its GP T Five engine, that's going to
00:16:21
make the SOA application even faster.
00:16:25
And eventually people will be doing entire TV shows and movies
00:16:27
we already see in science fiction like Westworld that
00:16:30
people using this generative A I to create stuff out of thin air.
00:16:33
Well, science fiction has become.
00:16:35
STUART GARY: Brought back from the dead and some of the Star
00:16:37
Wars episodes. Absolutely.
00:16:38
ALEX ZAHAROV REUTT: Look, I cannot wait for people to be
00:16:41
able to and especially in the studios who own all the content
00:16:43
to upload. For example, all seven seasons of Star Trek, the
00:16:47
next generation or all three and a bit seasons of the original
00:16:50
Star Trek or any TV show into their sooty application.
00:16:55
And then they can say, look, we have all of these actors in
00:16:57
their prime with their voices and look that permission will
00:17:01
have to pay them, but we're now going to create entirely new
00:17:04
episodes. We're going to continue the journeys and it's
00:17:06
going to be completely computer generated. You'll have season
00:17:09
eight and season nine, Season 10 of Star Trek, the next
00:17:11
generation.
00:17:13
STUART GARY: Of course, as well as the good, there's also the
00:17:16
flip side of that. That means deep fakes are gonna become
00:17:19
virtually impossible to tell from the real thing.
00:17:22
ALEX ZAHAROV REUTT: Look, we're going to need some sort of
00:17:23
Blockchain, some sort of digital stamping. I mean, there need to
00:17:26
be some way of being able to authenticate content and yes,
00:17:30
people are going to use it for all sorts of evil purposes
00:17:31
already. There was this scandal where there were nudes of Taylor
00:17:35
Swift that were created and shared all over X or Twitter and
00:17:39
they were taking down quick smart.
00:17:40
So people are already doing evil things. So look, this is a
00:17:43
problem that humanity is going to have to deal with, but we've
00:17:46
dealt with every other problem in life. You know, we have all
00:17:48
sorts of horrible things happening now. But even so
00:17:50
humanity seems to muddle.
00:17:52
STUART GARY: Through the other big story. This week has been
00:17:54
Gemini and positive proof. Beyond any reasonable doubt that
00:17:58
garbage Gin gives you garbage out in terms of programming.
00:18:01
ALEX ZAHAROV REUTT: We have to wonder what Google's agenda is.
00:18:03
I mean, the left wing woke, you know, viewpoints of Google have
00:18:07
been exposed.
00:18:08
STUART GARY: We already know that 67 per cent of Google news
00:18:11
comes from left wing media sources, we know that something
00:18:14
like 70 per cent of Google search finds are the result of
00:18:17
pro woke programming. This is just the latest example of that.
00:18:21
ALEX ZAHAROV REUTT: This is where open source models for A I
00:18:24
and search engines and the ability for you to control your
00:18:27
A I to control the information that you're seeing based on your
00:18:30
preferences. I mean, some people will want a super woke
00:18:32
environment to deal in, they want to raise their kids like
00:18:34
that.
00:18:34
I don't know why, but some people want that. So this is a
00:18:37
great wake up call. There's a huge outrage about it. Google
00:18:40
has had to, you know, take their system offline and people are
00:18:43
now.
00:18:44
STUART GARY: Google unless they sack people unless Google
00:18:46
actually get rid of this work agenda, they've fallen for,
00:18:49
they're going to wind up and they're a multi billion dollar
00:18:51
company now. But we've seen go work, go broke.
00:18:54
ALEX ZAHAROV REUTT: And nobody talks about, nobody talks about
00:18:56
myspace anymore. You know, Facebook is always at risk. I
00:18:59
mean, why do you think Facebook spend billions of dollars to buy
00:19:01
WhatsApp and Instagram? Because they're trying to broaden their
00:19:03
horizons in terms of their products and services. This is
00:19:05
the big challenge of our generation in a few years.
00:19:08
Hopefully all this is settled and we don't have to worry about
00:19:10
it any more.
00:19:11
But as Ronald Reagan said, freedom is not passed down
00:19:13
through the bloodline. It has to be fought for by every single
00:19:16
generation and it's up to us to make sure that we leave a better
00:19:19
world for the next generation and we give that next generation
00:19:21
the tools that are required to do the same for the future
00:19:23
generations that will follow them.
00:19:24
STUART GARY: That's Alex Sahara Reut from Tech Advice dot life.
00:19:44
And that's the show for now. Spacetime is available every
00:19:47
Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple Podcasts, itunes,
00:19:51
Stitcher, Google Podcast Podcasts, Spotify, Acast Amazon
00:19:56
Music, Bytes. Com, Soundcloud, YouTube, your favorite podcast
00:20:01
download provider. And from Space Time with Stuart Gary.
00:20:04
Com, Spacetime also broadcast through the National Science
00:20:08
Foundation on Science Zone Radio and on both iheartradio and Tune
00:20:12
In Radio.
00:20:14
And you can help to support our show by visiting the Spacetime
00:20:17
store for a range of promotional merchandizing goodies or by
00:20:20
becoming a Spacetime patron, which gives you access to triple
00:20:24
episode commercial free versions of the show as well as lots of
00:20:27
earnest audio content which doesn't go to air access to our
00:20:30
exclusive Facebook group and other rewards just go to Space
00:20:34
Time with Stuart Gary. Com for full details.
00:20:37
And if you want more Space Time, please check out our blog where
00:20:40
you'll find all the stuff we couldn't fit in the show as well
00:20:43
as heaps of images, news stories, loads of videos and
00:20:47
things on the web.
00:20:48
I find interesting or amuse. Just go to Space Time with
00:20:51
Stuart Gary.tumblr.com. That's all one word and that's Tumblr
00:20:56
without the E you can also follow us through at Stuart Gary
00:20:59
on Twitter at Space Time with Stuart Gary on Instagram through
00:21:03
our Space Time YouTube channel and on Facebook, just go to
00:21:07
Facebook.com/Space Time with Stuart Gary.
00:21:11
GENERIC: You've been listening to Space Time with Stuart Gary.
00:21:14
This has been another quality podcast production from Bytes.
00:21:18
Com.