[00:00:00] This is SpaceTime Series 27, Episode 126, for broadcast on the 18th of October 2024.
[00:00:07] Coming up on SpaceTime, NASA's Parker Solar Probe completes its 21st flyby of the Sun.
[00:00:14] The Webb Space Telescope discovers a potential missing link to the Universe's first stars.
[00:00:20] And mission managers have fixed a key science instrument aboard NASA's Perseverance rover.
[00:00:26] All that and more coming up on SpaceTime.
[00:00:30] Welcome to SpaceTime with Stuart Gary.
[00:00:49] NASA's Parker Solar Probe has completed its 21st close encounter with the Sun.
[00:00:54] The flyby equalled its own previous distance record, swooping to within 7.26 million kilometres of the solar surface.
[00:01:02] The close perihelion approach occurred at a record speed of 635,300 kilometres per hour,
[00:01:09] again matching its previous record encounter speed.
[00:01:12] After the flyby, the spacecraft checked in with mission managers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Larell, Maryland,
[00:01:20] using a beacon turn to indicate that it was in good health and all systems were operating nominally.
[00:01:26] A close encounter set the probe up for another close flyby of Venus.
[00:01:29] This close approach marked the last time that Parker will fly around the Sun at this distance and speed
[00:01:36] before it makes the first of three final closest approaches.
[00:01:40] They'll begin on December the 24th.
[00:01:43] Now at this point, with its orbit being shaped by the mission's final Venus gravity assist on November the 6th,
[00:01:48] the spacecraft will swoop down to just 6.1 million kilometres from the solar surface,
[00:01:53] moving at over 692,000 kilometres per hour.
[00:01:57] That's the fastest any man-made object has ever travelled at.
[00:02:02] Launched aboard a Delta IV Heavy from Space Launch Complex 37 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force base in Florida
[00:02:08] back in August 2018,
[00:02:09] the Parker Solar Probe is on a seven-year mission studying the Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona.
[00:02:16] The mission's undertaking 24 highly eccentric orbits around the Sun, flying deep into the corona.
[00:02:22] It'll trace the flow of energy that heats up the corona and accelerates the solar wind,
[00:02:27] the constant stream of charged particles flying out from the Sun and bathing the entire solar system.
[00:02:33] As well as detecting the sources of the solar wind,
[00:02:35] it'll also determine the structure and dynamics of the Sun's magnetic fields,
[00:02:39] and it will work out the mechanisms which are accelerating and transporting energetic particles.
[00:02:45] The $1.5 billion spacecraft carries four scientific instrument suites
[00:02:50] designed to study magnetic fields, plasma and energetic particles,
[00:02:54] and capture images of the solar wind.
[00:02:56] This report from NASA TV.
[00:02:59] Liftoff of the mighty Delta IV heavy rocket.
[00:03:02] In August 2018 in Cape Canaveral, Florida,
[00:03:05] NASA launched Parker Solar Probe to touch the Sun.
[00:03:09] Parker Solar Probe is touching the Sun.
[00:03:11] This is Noor Rawafi, the project scientist of the mission.
[00:03:15] He has been waiting for this moment since the beginning of his career.
[00:03:18] This is a dream come true.
[00:03:20] One of the major goals for the Parker Solar Probe mission
[00:03:23] is to fly through the solar corona, and we are doing that now.
[00:03:26] So what does it mean to touch the Sun?
[00:03:28] To answer that, we need to look at the Sun's structure.
[00:03:32] Unlike Earth, the Sun doesn't have a solid surface.
[00:03:36] It's a giant ball of hot plasma that's held together by its own gravity.
[00:03:41] Solar material flows out from the surface,
[00:03:44] but around the Sun, it's bound by the Sun's gravity and magnetic field.
[00:03:48] This material forms the Sun's atmosphere, the corona.
[00:03:52] Eventually, some of this hot and fast solar material escapes the pull of the Sun
[00:03:56] and gushes out into space as solar wind.
[00:04:00] The boundary that marks the edge of the Sun's atmosphere
[00:04:02] is known as the Alfvén critical surface.
[00:04:05] We didn't know exactly where this boundary was,
[00:04:08] but for the first time in history, a spacecraft has crossed it.
[00:04:13] Parker Solar Probe ventured into the corona,
[00:04:15] touching solar material still bound to the Sun.
[00:04:19] The wispy corona is too faint to see most of the time,
[00:04:23] but it's revealed during total solar eclipses.
[00:04:26] For centuries, we've been studying the Sun's atmosphere during eclipses
[00:04:30] because it's important for understanding
[00:04:32] how our star influences life in the solar system.
[00:04:36] But much about the corona remains a mystery.
[00:04:38] Two of the most challenging scientific mysteries in astrophysics
[00:04:42] occur in a region that we call solar corona.
[00:04:44] The first mystery is about the temperature.
[00:04:47] The corona is about 300 times hotter than the photosphere,
[00:04:51] the visible surface of the Sun below.
[00:04:54] Secondly, there's a constant stream of particles flowing from the Sun,
[00:04:58] known as the solar wind.
[00:04:59] It accelerates up to millions of miles per hour out of the corona,
[00:05:03] and we don't know how.
[00:05:05] Solar wind can disrupt our satellites and technology.
[00:05:08] To better protect them,
[00:05:09] we need to go where the solar wind starts in the corona.
[00:05:14] So heading there has been a key goal of NASA's for a while.
[00:05:16] We first proposed the idea of sending a spacecraft to the Sun in 1958.
[00:05:23] We didn't have the technology to withstand the journey until the 2000s.
[00:05:27] Since its launch in 2018, Parker has been heading towards our star.
[00:05:32] Then, in April 2021, during Parker's eighth orbit around the Sun,
[00:05:36] the spacecraft was around 20 solar radii, or 8 million miles from the Sun's surface,
[00:05:42] when it crossed into the corona.
[00:05:44] This is a huge milestone.
[00:05:46] It took us over six decades to come to this point.
[00:05:50] As Parker entered the corona, its whisper instrument took images.
[00:05:54] Streams of plasma surrounded the spacecraft,
[00:05:56] and Parker's other instruments detected that the magnetic conditions had changed.
[00:06:02] Outside the corona, solar wind gushes out,
[00:06:05] pushing solar material away at high speeds
[00:06:08] so that it can't return back to the Sun's surface.
[00:06:11] Inside the corona, the Sun's magnetic field becomes much stronger.
[00:06:16] Solar material is slower and tethered to the Sun.
[00:06:20] Instead of a smooth divide,
[00:06:22] Parker found that the boundary between these two sides is wrinkly.
[00:06:26] These bumpy ridges are created from huge flows of plasma
[00:06:29] travelling out of the corona.
[00:06:31] Scientists are not sure why this happens,
[00:06:34] but as Parker gets closer, we're finding more clues.
[00:06:37] Before entering the corona,
[00:06:39] Parker had seen kinks in the solar wind
[00:06:41] where it would momentarily double back on itself.
[00:06:44] Scientists called these features in the solar wind switchbacks,
[00:06:47] but no one knew how or where they formed.
[00:06:51] In 2021, the spacecraft finally tracked switchbacks
[00:06:55] to one of their origins.
[00:06:56] As Parker got even closer to the Sun,
[00:06:59] it detected bursts of switchbacks.
[00:07:02] Scientists trace these bursts
[00:07:03] all the way to the visible surface of the Sun.
[00:07:07] As heat rises beneath,
[00:07:09] these convection cells churn
[00:07:10] and create funnels of magnetic energy above the surface.
[00:07:15] Scientists found that switchbacks form inside of these funnels
[00:07:19] before rising into the corona and beyond.
[00:07:22] This is only one piece of the switchbacks puzzle, though.
[00:07:26] Exactly how they form is still unknown.
[00:07:30] Over the next few years,
[00:07:31] Parker will keep looking for clues
[00:07:33] as it explores our Sun,
[00:07:34] the only star we can study up close.
[00:07:38] The Sun is also the only star known to support life.
[00:07:41] So understanding it is critical
[00:07:43] as we search for life beyond our solar system.
[00:07:46] That will link directly into the question,
[00:07:48] are we alone in this universe?
[00:07:50] And that is one of the biggest questions
[00:07:53] for humanity to answer.
[00:07:59] This is space-time.
[00:08:01] Still to come,
[00:08:03] NASA's Webb Space Telescope
[00:08:04] finds a potential missing link
[00:08:05] to the first stars in the universe.
[00:08:07] And mission managers have fixed
[00:08:09] a faulty science instrument
[00:08:11] aboard the Mars Perseverance rover.
[00:08:13] All that and more still to come
[00:08:15] on Space Time.
[00:08:32] Astronomers looking deep into the early universe
[00:08:34] with NASA's Webb Space Telescope
[00:08:36] have found something unprecedented,
[00:08:38] a galaxy with an unusual light signature
[00:08:40] which they're attributing to gas
[00:08:42] outshining the stars.
[00:08:44] Found approximately a billion years
[00:08:46] after the Big Bang,
[00:08:47] the galaxy GSNDG 9422
[00:08:50] may be a missing link phase
[00:08:52] of galactic evolution
[00:08:53] between the universe's first stars
[00:08:55] and the familiar well-established galaxies
[00:08:57] we see today.
[00:08:59] The study's lead author,
[00:09:00] Alex Cameron from Oxford University,
[00:09:02] says his first thought
[00:09:03] in looking at the galaxy's spectrum
[00:09:05] was, that's weird.
[00:09:06] So Cameron reached out
[00:09:07] to his colleague Harley Katz,
[00:09:09] a theoretical physicist,
[00:09:11] in order to determine the strange data.
[00:09:13] Working together,
[00:09:14] they developed computer models
[00:09:16] showing that cosmic gas clouds
[00:09:17] heated by very hot massive stars
[00:09:20] to the extent where the gas
[00:09:21] would shine brighter
[00:09:22] than the stars themselves
[00:09:23] was nearly a perfect match
[00:09:25] for the Webb observations.
[00:09:27] Study co-author Katz,
[00:09:28] also from Oxford,
[00:09:29] says it looks like these stars
[00:09:30] must have been far hotter
[00:09:31] and more massive
[00:09:32] than what we see
[00:09:33] in our local universe today.
[00:09:35] And that makes sense
[00:09:36] because the early universe
[00:09:37] was a very different environment.
[00:09:40] In the local universe,
[00:09:41] typical hot massive stars
[00:09:42] have temperatures ranging
[00:09:43] from between 40,000
[00:09:45] and 50,000 degrees Celsius.
[00:09:47] Now, according to these new observations
[00:09:49] reported in the monthly notices
[00:09:51] of the Royal Astronomical Society,
[00:09:52] galaxy GSNDG 9422
[00:09:55] has stars hotter than
[00:09:56] 80,000 degrees Celsius.
[00:09:58] The authors suspect
[00:10:00] that this galaxy
[00:10:01] must have been in the midst
[00:10:02] of a brief phase
[00:10:03] of intense star formation
[00:10:04] deep inside a cloud
[00:10:06] of dense gas,
[00:10:07] and that's what's producing
[00:10:08] the large number
[00:10:08] of massive hot stars.
[00:10:10] The gas cloud is being hit
[00:10:12] with so many photons of light
[00:10:13] from these stars
[00:10:14] that it's shining extremely brightly.
[00:10:17] Now, in addition
[00:10:18] to its novelty value,
[00:10:19] nebula gas outshining stars
[00:10:21] is intriguing
[00:10:21] because it's something
[00:10:22] predicted in the environments
[00:10:24] of the universe's
[00:10:24] very first generation of stars,
[00:10:27] which astronomers refer to
[00:10:28] as Population 3 stars.
[00:10:30] Now, Katz says
[00:10:31] this galaxy
[00:10:32] does not have
[00:10:33] Population 3 stars.
[00:10:34] That's because
[00:10:35] the web data shows
[00:10:36] it's got far too much
[00:10:37] chemical complexity.
[00:10:39] However,
[00:10:39] its stars are definitely
[00:10:40] different from what
[00:10:41] we're familiar with today.
[00:10:43] And so the exotic stars
[00:10:44] in this galaxy
[00:10:45] could be a guide
[00:10:46] for understanding
[00:10:47] how galaxies transition
[00:10:48] from primordial stars
[00:10:50] to the types of galaxies
[00:10:51] we know today.
[00:10:52] Now, at this point,
[00:10:54] this galaxy is just
[00:10:54] one example
[00:10:55] of this phase
[00:10:56] of galactic development.
[00:10:57] And so there are many
[00:10:59] questions which still
[00:11:00] need to be answered.
[00:11:01] For example,
[00:11:02] are these conditions
[00:11:02] common in galaxies
[00:11:03] from this time period?
[00:11:05] Or is this a rare occurrence?
[00:11:06] And what more
[00:11:07] can galaxies like this
[00:11:08] tell us about this
[00:11:09] earlier phase
[00:11:10] of galactic evolution?
[00:11:11] So Cameron Katz
[00:11:13] and colleagues
[00:11:14] are now actively
[00:11:15] identifying more galaxies
[00:11:16] like this
[00:11:17] to try and add
[00:11:17] to this population
[00:11:18] in order to better
[00:11:19] understand what's
[00:11:20] happening in the universe
[00:11:21] within the first
[00:11:22] billion years
[00:11:23] after the big bang
[00:11:24] of creation.
[00:11:26] This is space time.
[00:11:28] Still to come,
[00:11:29] mission managers
[00:11:30] have repaired
[00:11:30] a major science instrument
[00:11:32] that had broken down
[00:11:33] on the Mars
[00:11:34] Perseverance rover.
[00:11:35] And later in the
[00:11:36] science report,
[00:11:37] a new study
[00:11:38] has confirmed
[00:11:39] that people simply
[00:11:40] don't know
[00:11:41] how much they
[00:11:42] really don't know.
[00:11:43] All that and more
[00:11:44] still to come
[00:11:45] on Space Time.
[00:12:00] Well, after more
[00:12:01] than six months
[00:12:02] of efforts,
[00:12:03] NASA mission managers
[00:12:04] and technicians
[00:12:05] have finally been able
[00:12:06] to bring one of
[00:12:07] the Mars Perseverance rover's
[00:12:08] most important
[00:12:09] scientific instruments
[00:12:10] back online.
[00:12:12] Sherlock,
[00:12:13] the scanning
[00:12:13] habitable environments
[00:12:14] with raymond
[00:12:15] and luminescence
[00:12:16] for organics
[00:12:17] and chemicals
[00:12:17] stopped working
[00:12:18] back in January.
[00:12:20] This key spectroscope
[00:12:22] uses fine-scale imaging
[00:12:23] and an ultraviolet laser
[00:12:25] to determine
[00:12:25] detailed mineralogy
[00:12:27] and to detect
[00:12:28] organic compounds.
[00:12:29] Sherlock was so important
[00:12:31] because it would be used
[00:12:32] to help assess
[00:12:33] the habitability potential
[00:12:34] of rocks and soil samples
[00:12:36] and their aqueous history.
[00:12:38] And that means
[00:12:39] it would help scientists
[00:12:40] determine if there were
[00:12:41] potential bias signatures
[00:12:42] preserved in Martian rocks.
[00:12:44] And it would also
[00:12:45] provide organic
[00:12:46] and mineral analysis
[00:12:47] for selective
[00:12:48] sample caching,
[00:12:49] helping to select
[00:12:50] the rocks
[00:12:50] that would be brought
[00:12:51] back in a sample
[00:12:52] return mission.
[00:12:53] And it doesn't end there.
[00:12:55] Sherlock was also designed
[00:12:57] to examine the availability
[00:12:58] of key elements
[00:12:59] and energy sources
[00:13:00] for life on Mars,
[00:13:01] including carbon,
[00:13:03] hydrogen,
[00:13:03] nitrogen,
[00:13:04] oxygen,
[00:13:05] phosphorus
[00:13:05] and sulfur.
[00:13:06] However,
[00:13:07] all that came
[00:13:08] to a crashing halt
[00:13:09] back in January
[00:13:10] when one of the
[00:13:11] instrument's
[00:13:12] key motors
[00:13:12] suddenly caused
[00:13:13] its dust cover
[00:13:14] an autofocus mechanism
[00:13:16] to become inoperative.
[00:13:17] This was an important
[00:13:19] piece of scientific
[00:13:20] equipment aboard
[00:13:21] the car-sized
[00:13:22] robotic rover,
[00:13:23] and its sudden failure
[00:13:24] was a serious blow
[00:13:26] to the Perseverance
[00:13:27] mission in Jezero
[00:13:28] crater.
[00:13:30] Now, fortunately,
[00:13:31] a motion by the
[00:13:32] robotic arm
[00:13:32] two months after
[00:13:33] the initial issue
[00:13:34] occurred resulted
[00:13:35] in the dust cover
[00:13:36] moving nearly
[00:13:37] to the full open
[00:13:37] position.
[00:13:38] And as a result
[00:13:39] of that,
[00:13:40] mission managers
[00:13:40] began to look at
[00:13:41] new ways to try
[00:13:42] and focus the optics
[00:13:43] and operate Sherlock
[00:13:44] with the dust cover
[00:13:45] left permanently
[00:13:45] in its open position.
[00:13:47] Now, these efforts
[00:13:48] involved numerous
[00:13:49] trials and errors
[00:13:50] and multiple rounds
[00:13:51] of diagnostic examinations,
[00:13:53] analysis and troubleshooting.
[00:13:55] After a lot of hard work
[00:13:56] and persistence,
[00:13:57] the team were able
[00:13:58] to successfully bring
[00:14:00] Sherlock back online
[00:14:01] with a successful
[00:14:02] observation of
[00:14:03] the rock target
[00:14:04] Wahala Glades.
[00:14:06] And since then,
[00:14:07] Sherlock's
[00:14:07] ramen capabilities,
[00:14:08] whose destiny
[00:14:09] was uncertain a month ago,
[00:14:11] before multiple
[00:14:11] calibration scans
[00:14:12] and observations
[00:14:13] of another rock,
[00:14:14] Sheaava Falls.
[00:14:15] And scientists
[00:14:16] were thrilled
[00:14:17] to discover
[00:14:17] what is now
[00:14:18] the most compelling
[00:14:19] evidence for organics
[00:14:20] in Jezero Crater.
[00:14:22] See, organic compounds
[00:14:23] are important
[00:14:23] because although
[00:14:24] they can be formed
[00:14:25] by non-biological
[00:14:26] processes,
[00:14:27] they can also be formed
[00:14:28] through biological
[00:14:28] processes.
[00:14:29] And the organics
[00:14:30] that Sherlock's
[00:14:31] observed in
[00:14:31] Sheaava Falls
[00:14:32] would need to be
[00:14:33] studied in laboratories
[00:14:34] back here on Earth
[00:14:35] for their origins
[00:14:36] to be determined.
[00:14:37] Regardless of
[00:14:38] how they were formed,
[00:14:39] the Sheaava Falls
[00:14:40] organics will tell
[00:14:41] scientists a great deal
[00:14:43] about the red planet's
[00:14:44] past and present
[00:14:45] carbon inventory,
[00:14:46] a possible early
[00:14:47] carbon cycle,
[00:14:48] and the precursor
[00:14:49] conditions for life
[00:14:50] as we know it.
[00:14:51] This is Space Time.
[00:15:09] And time now
[00:15:10] to take another look
[00:15:11] at some of the other
[00:15:11] stories making
[00:15:12] news in science this week
[00:15:13] with a science report.
[00:15:15] A new study has shown
[00:15:16] that consuming more caffeine
[00:15:18] may improve your heart health.
[00:15:20] A report in the journal
[00:15:21] Rheumatology has found
[00:15:22] that caffeine,
[00:15:23] which is present in coffee,
[00:15:25] tea and coca,
[00:15:25] actively helps
[00:15:27] endothelial progenitor cells.
[00:15:29] There are a group of cells
[00:15:30] that help regenerate
[00:15:31] the linings in blood vessels
[00:15:32] and are involved
[00:15:33] in vascular growth.
[00:15:35] Vascular disease,
[00:15:36] damage of blood vessels
[00:15:37] and their resulting
[00:15:38] consequences,
[00:15:39] such as heart attack
[00:15:40] and stroke,
[00:15:40] are among the leading
[00:15:41] causes of death
[00:15:42] in the general population.
[00:15:44] And in patients
[00:15:45] with inflammatory
[00:15:45] rheumatic diseases,
[00:15:47] such as lupus
[00:15:47] and rheumatoid arthritis,
[00:15:49] these risks
[00:15:49] are even greater.
[00:15:51] Researchers
[00:15:51] investigated
[00:15:52] 31 lupus patients
[00:15:53] without traditional
[00:15:54] cardiovascular risk factors
[00:15:56] using a seven-day
[00:15:57] food questionnaire.
[00:15:58] After a week,
[00:15:59] the investigators
[00:16:00] took the patient's blood
[00:16:01] in order to measure
[00:16:02] their blood vessel health.
[00:16:03] They found that
[00:16:04] patients who consume coffee
[00:16:06] had far better
[00:16:07] vascular health
[00:16:08] as measured through
[00:16:08] their endothelial cells.
[00:16:11] A new study has found
[00:16:13] that 35 years
[00:16:14] of satellite observations
[00:16:15] have shown that
[00:16:16] plant cover
[00:16:17] is increasing
[00:16:18] along the northernmost
[00:16:19] part of Antarctica.
[00:16:20] The researchers found
[00:16:22] that areas of vegetation
[00:16:23] on the Antarctic Peninsula
[00:16:25] have increased
[00:16:26] from less than
[00:16:26] 0.9 square kilometres
[00:16:28] to almost 12 square kilometres.
[00:16:30] That's a roughly
[00:16:31] 14-fold increase
[00:16:32] between 1986 and 2021.
[00:16:35] The findings,
[00:16:36] reported in the journal
[00:16:37] Nature Geoscience,
[00:16:38] show that the rate
[00:16:39] of greening
[00:16:39] was higher in 2016 to 2021,
[00:16:42] which could be linked
[00:16:43] to lower sea ice cover,
[00:16:44] causing warmer,
[00:16:45] wetter conditions.
[00:16:46] The authors say
[00:16:47] their observations
[00:16:48] could be explained
[00:16:49] by the spread
[00:16:49] of existing
[00:16:50] moss-dominated vegetation,
[00:16:52] but that mosses
[00:16:53] help convert
[00:16:53] rocky surfaces
[00:16:54] into soil,
[00:16:55] which could make it
[00:16:56] easier for other plants,
[00:16:57] including invasive species,
[00:16:59] to spread in the future.
[00:17:01] Well, over the past year,
[00:17:03] the ward's been horrified
[00:17:04] by news reports
[00:17:05] full of protests
[00:17:06] by people concerned
[00:17:07] about the Middle East,
[00:17:08] but who it turns out
[00:17:09] have absolutely
[00:17:10] no knowledge or facts
[00:17:11] about the history
[00:17:12] behind the events.
[00:17:13] In many cases,
[00:17:14] they don't even understand
[00:17:16] that they would be
[00:17:16] the first to be shot,
[00:17:18] stoned,
[00:17:18] or thrown off tall buildings
[00:17:19] were they to actually
[00:17:20] visit the groups
[00:17:21] they're often violently
[00:17:22] supporting,
[00:17:23] a syndrome which is
[00:17:24] jokingly now known
[00:17:25] as chickens for KFC.
[00:17:27] Now, a new study
[00:17:29] has explained
[00:17:29] what's going on.
[00:17:30] It turns out
[00:17:32] people simply
[00:17:33] don't know
[00:17:33] that they don't know
[00:17:34] what they don't know.
[00:17:36] A report in the journal
[00:17:37] Plus One
[00:17:38] has shown that people
[00:17:39] are biased to assume
[00:17:40] that they're not
[00:17:40] missing crucial information
[00:17:42] when it comes to them
[00:17:43] forming an opinion
[00:17:44] about any given situation.
[00:17:46] To reach their conclusions,
[00:17:47] the authors recruited
[00:17:48] more than a thousand
[00:17:49] participants
[00:17:49] and presented them
[00:17:50] with a hypothetical scenario
[00:17:52] where they needed
[00:17:53] to recommend
[00:17:53] whether two schools
[00:17:55] should be merged or not.
[00:17:57] Some were given
[00:17:57] information about
[00:17:58] the benefits of the merger,
[00:18:00] others were given
[00:18:00] information about
[00:18:01] the benefits of not merging,
[00:18:02] and some were given both.
[00:18:05] The researchers say
[00:18:05] participants in all groups
[00:18:07] were equally likely
[00:18:08] to think that they had
[00:18:09] enough information
[00:18:10] to make a call,
[00:18:11] and they were heavily
[00:18:11] influenced by the information
[00:18:13] they received
[00:18:13] when making their decision.
[00:18:14] But none bothered
[00:18:16] to seek out
[00:18:17] more information
[00:18:17] in order to gain
[00:18:18] a more informed opinion.
[00:18:20] The researchers say
[00:18:21] this assumption
[00:18:22] that people know enough
[00:18:23] to form an opinion
[00:18:24] may be the source
[00:18:25] of much of the conflict
[00:18:26] in our lives today.
[00:18:29] A new study
[00:18:30] has again confirmed
[00:18:31] that when placed
[00:18:32] under strict
[00:18:33] scientific testing,
[00:18:34] astrologers are no better
[00:18:35] than chance
[00:18:36] at determining
[00:18:37] someone's character,
[00:18:38] their past,
[00:18:39] or their future life.
[00:18:40] The findings come
[00:18:41] despite clear evidence
[00:18:43] that astrology is very popular,
[00:18:45] with both Gallup
[00:18:45] and YouGov polls
[00:18:46] showing that some 25%
[00:18:48] of Americans
[00:18:49] believe that the position
[00:18:50] of stars and planets
[00:18:51] really can affect
[00:18:52] their lives,
[00:18:54] and an additional 20%
[00:18:55] being unsure
[00:18:56] of its legitimacy
[00:18:57] and not willing
[00:18:58] to rule it out.
[00:18:59] The latest study
[00:19:00] by clearthinking.org
[00:19:01] wanted to see
[00:19:02] if astrologers
[00:19:03] could use
[00:19:03] astrological charts
[00:19:05] to understand
[00:19:05] a person's character
[00:19:06] and life.
[00:19:08] Tim Mendham
[00:19:08] from Australian Skeptic
[00:19:09] says 152
[00:19:11] experienced astrologers
[00:19:12] took part
[00:19:13] in the study,
[00:19:13] yet not a single
[00:19:14] astrologer
[00:19:15] got more than
[00:19:16] 5 out of 12
[00:19:17] questions right,
[00:19:18] making their performance
[00:19:20] indistinguishable
[00:19:20] from pure random guessing.
[00:19:22] There was a recent
[00:19:22] study done
[00:19:23] of astrologers
[00:19:24] to see if they
[00:19:24] could actually
[00:19:25] match up
[00:19:25] birth information,
[00:19:27] time, day,
[00:19:28] date, place,
[00:19:29] that sort of information
[00:19:29] and character assessment
[00:19:30] as well,
[00:19:31] and see if they
[00:19:32] could do a blind test.
[00:19:33] So they're given
[00:19:34] a character assessment
[00:19:35] of someone
[00:19:35] and see if they
[00:19:36] can match it up
[00:19:36] with the birth
[00:19:36] astrological information.
[00:19:38] This sort of thing
[00:19:38] is done every
[00:19:39] generation or so.
[00:19:40] It comes up
[00:19:41] with the same result.
[00:19:42] No, they can't do it.
[00:19:43] They're no better
[00:19:44] than chance.
[00:19:45] They're given
[00:19:45] 5 different
[00:19:46] character assessments
[00:19:47] or 1 character
[00:19:48] assessment of 5
[00:19:48] different astrological
[00:19:49] charts or vice versa
[00:19:51] and if they pick it
[00:19:52] so you've got
[00:19:52] 1 chance in 5
[00:19:53] of getting it right
[00:19:54] just purely by chance
[00:19:55] and lo and behold
[00:19:56] what these astrologers
[00:19:57] and these are serious
[00:19:58] astrologers and ones
[00:19:59] who always say
[00:19:59] I'm going to get
[00:20:00] 10 out of 12
[00:20:00] or something like that
[00:20:01] they get 1 out of 5
[00:20:02] right or thereabouts.
[00:20:03] Most of them
[00:20:03] were purely
[00:20:04] aligned with chance
[00:20:05] and so what they
[00:20:06] said they can do
[00:20:07] and what they thought
[00:20:07] they were doing
[00:20:08] while they were doing it
[00:20:09] they were saying
[00:20:09] we're going really well
[00:20:10] this happens all the time
[00:20:11] but they turned out
[00:20:12] that they weren't
[00:20:12] and apparently
[00:20:13] there's about
[00:20:13] a whole lot of
[00:20:14] different types
[00:20:15] of astrology
[00:20:15] and this test
[00:20:16] was pretty decent
[00:20:17] test
[00:20:17] and they go to
[00:20:18] great lengths
[00:20:18] to explain how it was
[00:20:19] all these different
[00:20:20] types of astrology
[00:20:21] they all came out
[00:20:22] with the same result
[00:20:23] chance
[00:20:23] pure chance
[00:20:24] you can't do
[00:20:25] what you say
[00:20:25] you can do
[00:20:26] and this is what
[00:20:26] the sceptics are all
[00:20:27] about
[00:20:27] testing people
[00:20:28] we've got a
[00:20:28] $100,000 challenge
[00:20:29] show us what you can do
[00:20:30] if you can do it
[00:20:31] under strict
[00:20:31] scientific conditions
[00:20:32] you're going to get
[00:20:33] 100 grand
[00:20:34] and people
[00:20:34] therefore come out
[00:20:35] and we've done
[00:20:36] a lot of tests
[00:20:36] for people
[00:20:37] and none of them
[00:20:38] have ever been able
[00:20:38] to show us
[00:20:39] that they can do
[00:20:40] what they say
[00:20:40] they can do
[00:20:41] it takes a pretty
[00:20:42] undiscerning audience
[00:20:43] to think they're genuine
[00:20:44] and the sceptics
[00:20:45] are quite the opposite
[00:20:46] we're very discerning
[00:20:47] if you like
[00:20:47] but keen to find out
[00:20:48] we've got $100,000
[00:20:49] real money
[00:20:50] keen to find out
[00:20:51] let's do it
[00:20:51] we've tested astrologers
[00:20:52] we've tested
[00:20:53] water diviners
[00:20:54] psychics
[00:20:54] palm readers
[00:20:55] all sorts of
[00:20:56] different things
[00:20:56] all sorts of
[00:20:57] technologies
[00:20:57] and things
[00:20:58] and none of them
[00:20:59] have actually been able
[00:21:00] to do what they say
[00:21:01] they can do
[00:21:01] and of course
[00:21:02] people see that
[00:21:02] say yeah okay
[00:21:03] and then they go away
[00:21:04] and say well the test
[00:21:05] was wrong
[00:21:05] even though the test
[00:21:06] was not wrong
[00:21:06] you've always got to
[00:21:07] find some sort of
[00:21:08] self-justification
[00:21:09] they always find a
[00:21:10] solution within hours
[00:21:11] normally
[00:21:11] perhaps even less
[00:21:12] that either we cheated
[00:21:13] or the test was
[00:21:15] always agreed to
[00:21:16] beforehand
[00:21:16] and then they say
[00:21:17] the test was unfair
[00:21:18] if astrologers
[00:21:19] whether they gave
[00:21:20] reasons for it
[00:21:20] they probably would
[00:21:21] have just a bad day
[00:21:22] but no
[00:21:23] a lot of astrologers
[00:21:24] were tested
[00:21:25] 152
[00:21:25] tested with these charts
[00:21:27] and they got no
[00:21:27] better than chance
[00:21:28] you and I
[00:21:29] could do just as well
[00:21:30] as they did
[00:21:31] that's Tim Mindham
[00:21:32] from Australian Skeptics
[00:21:33] and that's the show
[00:21:50] for now
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