1 00:00:01,490 --> 00:00:05,010 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:11,150 --> 00:00:13,990 Speaker 2: Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, and there's Chuck, 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:18,240 Speaker 2: and Jerry's here, too, with their laser blaster. Yeah, and 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:19,280 Speaker 2: this is Stuff You Should Know. 5 00:00:20,260 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 3: I was reminded today of the Asteroids joke from the 6 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:24,200 Speaker 3: movie Vacation. 7 00:00:26,020 --> 00:00:27,659 Speaker 2: I don't remember that one. 8 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:29,280 Speaker 1: It's when they go visit Cousin Eddie. 9 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:33,100 Speaker 3: And the two boys are hanging out, Anthony Michael Holland, 10 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,879 Speaker 3: the cousin. And he's talking about you got Pac-Man something, 11 00:00:36,900 --> 00:00:40,900 Speaker 3: you got asteroids. And I think he says something like, no, 12 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,199 Speaker 3: but my dad does. And sometimes he can't even sit 13 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:45,500 Speaker 3: on the toilet or something like that. 14 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:47,220 Speaker 1: Dumb, dumb joke. 15 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:50,650 Speaker 2: That is a dumb joke. That's a Chevy Chase level joke. 16 00:00:51,100 --> 00:00:53,210 Speaker 1: Oh, he didn't write that. It was John Hughes. 17 00:00:54,470 --> 00:00:57,130 Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know. I think Chevy Chase maybe contributed 18 00:00:57,190 --> 00:00:57,550 Speaker 2: that one. 19 00:00:58,170 --> 00:00:58,310 Speaker 3: Okay. 20 00:00:59,350 --> 00:01:03,180 Speaker 1: I know your lifelong grudge against Chevy Chase continues. 21 00:01:03,740 --> 00:01:05,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, it really does. Unabated. 22 00:01:05,700 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 3: I know. 23 00:01:07,540 --> 00:01:10,620 Speaker 2: So we are talking about asteroids, not hemorrhoids, I think 24 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:11,760 Speaker 2: is what they were getting at, right? 25 00:01:11,780 --> 00:01:12,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, probably. 26 00:01:13,060 --> 00:01:16,620 Speaker 2: And they are small, rocky bodies. That's the point here. 27 00:01:16,670 --> 00:01:22,390 Speaker 2: These are essentially two different things, Chuck. They're either ancient 28 00:01:23,230 --> 00:01:26,130 Speaker 2: pieces of the early universe. 29 00:01:26,209 --> 00:01:26,390 Speaker 1: Yeah. 30 00:01:27,450 --> 00:01:30,050 Speaker 2: Were meant to become planets but never did, so they 31 00:01:30,090 --> 00:01:36,200 Speaker 2: disappointed their parents tremendously. Or they're smashed remnants of early planets, right? 32 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 2: Whatever they are, they're big or sometimes small chunks of 33 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:43,340 Speaker 2: rock floating around in our solar system, most of the 34 00:01:43,380 --> 00:01:47,060 Speaker 2: time trapped between Jupiter and Mars in an asteroid belt. 35 00:01:48,700 --> 00:01:51,010 Speaker 2: But every once in a while, one of them gets 36 00:01:51,110 --> 00:01:54,610 Speaker 2: spit out, And by God, there is a non-zero chance 37 00:01:54,670 --> 00:01:57,410 Speaker 2: that thing is headed right toward Earth, ready to kill 38 00:01:57,490 --> 00:01:59,090 Speaker 2: you and everything you love. 39 00:02:00,010 --> 00:02:04,570 Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, that is a deep impact in Armageddon. 40 00:02:04,890 --> 00:02:05,830 Speaker 3: Weren't those the two movies? 41 00:02:06,430 --> 00:02:07,730 Speaker 2: Yeah, at the same time. 42 00:02:08,250 --> 00:02:09,050 Speaker 1: Yeah, that happened a. 43 00:02:09,030 --> 00:02:11,490 Speaker 3: Few times back then, back in the good old days 44 00:02:11,530 --> 00:02:15,030 Speaker 3: of moviemaking. But there are, and they probably said some 45 00:02:15,060 --> 00:02:17,010 Speaker 3: of this stuff in the movie, who knows? There are 46 00:02:17,060 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 3: more than 1.8 million known asteroids and they can be, 47 00:02:21,700 --> 00:02:25,590 Speaker 3: you know, 30, 35 feet in radius. They could be 48 00:02:25,710 --> 00:02:30,090 Speaker 3: several hundred kilometers in radius. The ones that we worry 49 00:02:30,130 --> 00:02:36,110 Speaker 3: about are the 25,000 near-Earth asteroids. And we discover about 50 00:02:36,110 --> 00:02:39,140 Speaker 3: 1,100 of those every year. So, you know, those are 51 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:41,260 Speaker 3: the ones that we keep an eye on. And as 52 00:02:41,300 --> 00:02:43,419 Speaker 3: you'll see, we have plans for potentially. 53 00:02:43,889 --> 00:02:46,230 Speaker 2: Yeah. The reason we want to keep an eye on 54 00:02:46,250 --> 00:02:50,340 Speaker 2: them is because they sometimes can fall into orbit or 55 00:02:50,410 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 2: fall through an orbit and interact with a planet, whether 56 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:55,520 Speaker 2: it's Earth, the moon. If you look at all the 57 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:58,700 Speaker 2: craters on the moon, those are from former asteroid strikes. 58 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:03,519 Speaker 2: And so one of NASA's big roles is to monitor 59 00:03:03,780 --> 00:03:07,580 Speaker 2: these asteroids that are near Earth and classify them even 60 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:10,640 Speaker 2: further if they pose a threat. We'll get into that. 61 00:03:11,250 --> 00:03:14,049 Speaker 2: But NASA is carrying on a several hundred year old 62 00:03:14,110 --> 00:03:19,030 Speaker 2: tradition of discovering new asteroids that started in the 1770s, 63 00:03:19,470 --> 00:03:21,330 Speaker 2: the swinging 70s. 64 00:03:21,610 --> 00:03:21,950 Speaker 1: Yeah. 65 00:03:22,090 --> 00:03:23,990 Speaker 3: I mean, it's crazy when you look at the year 66 00:03:24,490 --> 00:03:26,740 Speaker 3: when some of these discoveries were being made, like how 67 00:03:26,790 --> 00:03:30,660 Speaker 3: far ahead of stuff they were. Super impressive. And there 68 00:03:30,700 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 3: was an astronomer named Johan Bode. And they discovered a 69 00:03:36,180 --> 00:03:40,010 Speaker 3: through math, a mathematical sequence that you're going to. I'm 70 00:03:40,030 --> 00:03:40,930 Speaker 3: going to make you explain it. 71 00:03:40,930 --> 00:03:41,450 Speaker 1: I'm just kidding. 72 00:03:43,110 --> 00:03:46,810 Speaker 3: That explained the distances from the sun for all known planets. 73 00:03:46,990 --> 00:03:49,050 Speaker 3: And when they were doing their calculations, they were like, 74 00:03:49,790 --> 00:03:51,870 Speaker 3: wait a minute, there seems to be one missing here 75 00:03:51,910 --> 00:03:55,970 Speaker 3: in the calculation. Like there should be something like a 76 00:03:56,030 --> 00:04:01,190 Speaker 3: planet orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. And eventually, well, they 77 00:04:01,230 --> 00:04:03,650 Speaker 3: started to search for it. And in 1801, an Italian 78 00:04:03,690 --> 00:04:08,510 Speaker 3: astronomer named Giuseppe Piazza found a faint body that he 79 00:04:08,550 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 3: called Ceres. And I guess we should explain what these 80 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 3: planetesimals were and kind of what happened back then, right? 81 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, the planetesimals, which is an okay word, I guess. 82 00:04:23,220 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 2: They were either forming into planets and didn't, like I said, 83 00:04:27,260 --> 00:04:29,600 Speaker 2: or they were broken up from other chunks of planets. 84 00:04:30,060 --> 00:04:33,060 Speaker 2: And when they came near Jupiter, Jupiter is so immense 85 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:37,230 Speaker 2: that And its gravitational pull is so strong. How strong 86 00:04:37,290 --> 00:04:40,610 Speaker 2: is it? It actually can break stuff into other planets 87 00:04:40,670 --> 00:04:43,150 Speaker 2: just from orbiting around it. So these asteroids have been 88 00:04:43,190 --> 00:04:46,790 Speaker 2: broken into smaller and smaller pieces. But the one that 89 00:04:47,010 --> 00:04:50,630 Speaker 2: remained the largest, Ceres, is so big that it makes 90 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:53,820 Speaker 2: up one third of the total mass of the entire 91 00:04:54,020 --> 00:04:58,660 Speaker 2: asteroid belt. 1.8 million known asteroids. One third of the 92 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 2: mass of all of them is just Ceres. That is 93 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:04,159 Speaker 2: an asteroid we do not want coming anywhere near us, Chuck. 94 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 3: I think Ceres is Latin for problem, problematic. Potentially problematic. 95 00:05:10,500 --> 00:05:11,260 Speaker 1: All right. I got you. 96 00:05:11,660 --> 00:05:12,380 Speaker 2: Yeah. 97 00:05:12,420 --> 00:05:14,220 Speaker 1: Yeah. Did you say how big it was? 98 00:05:14,220 --> 00:05:19,770 Speaker 3: 620 miles across, a thousand kilometers across. So that is 99 00:05:19,810 --> 00:05:24,810 Speaker 3: very large. there had been five asteroids. You know, there's 100 00:05:24,830 --> 00:05:27,200 Speaker 3: something called Asteroid Watch, which is exactly what you think 101 00:05:27,220 --> 00:05:27,500 Speaker 3: it is. 102 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:30,500 Speaker 2: It's a watch made of asteroids. 103 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: Oh, shoot. 104 00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:35,960 Speaker 3: There were five asteroids on that list in December 22 alone. 105 00:05:36,930 --> 00:05:38,590 Speaker 3: Two were thought to be about the size of a 106 00:05:38,650 --> 00:05:42,890 Speaker 3: commercial jet. And earlier in 22, there was one that 107 00:05:42,910 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 3: was two and a half times the height of the 108 00:05:45,580 --> 00:05:49,479 Speaker 3: Empire State Building, and it flew the closest it's got 109 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 3: in 200 years to planet Earth in 2022, which was 110 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:57,170 Speaker 3: 1.2 million miles. So everyone can now breathe a sigh 111 00:05:57,190 --> 00:05:57,529 Speaker 3: of relief. 112 00:05:58,310 --> 00:06:00,609 Speaker 2: Yeah, and that sounds like a really far distance, and 113 00:06:00,650 --> 00:06:03,430 Speaker 2: it is pretty far. It's further than the moon is, 114 00:06:03,510 --> 00:06:06,180 Speaker 2: but for an asteroid, that's close. It's close enough that 115 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:09,679 Speaker 2: NASA keeps them on what's called its close approaches list. 116 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:12,540 Speaker 2: And I said, oh, there's a close approaches list. Let 117 00:06:12,580 --> 00:06:15,510 Speaker 2: me go check that out. And most of these, these 118 00:06:15,550 --> 00:06:21,570 Speaker 2: are like, you know, airplane size meteors or asteroids millions 119 00:06:21,610 --> 00:06:24,930 Speaker 2: of miles away than as close as they're going to get. But, Chuck, 120 00:06:24,950 --> 00:06:28,490 Speaker 2: there's one. There's one that's coming on April 13th, 2029. 121 00:06:28,490 --> 00:06:32,490 Speaker 2: A popfish, A-P-O-P-H-I-S. Oh, yeah. 375 meters in diameter. That's big. 122 00:06:32,550 --> 00:06:42,570 Speaker 2: It's going to come. Within 20,000 miles of planet Earth. 123 00:06:42,710 --> 00:06:43,900 Speaker 1: That's relatively close. 124 00:06:44,660 --> 00:06:48,100 Speaker 2: That's closer than some of the satellites we've launched in 125 00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:52,289 Speaker 2: orbit around Earth are. It's going to come really close. 126 00:06:52,790 --> 00:06:56,170 Speaker 2: And NASA was like, calm down, everybody. There's basically no 127 00:06:56,230 --> 00:06:59,050 Speaker 2: chance of it hitting Earth for the next hundred years. 128 00:06:59,350 --> 00:07:02,360 Speaker 2: They added that kind of quietly on the end. Great. 129 00:07:03,750 --> 00:07:06,860 Speaker 2: So look out on April 13th, 2029 for some end 130 00:07:06,900 --> 00:07:09,390 Speaker 2: of the world parties that are going to be bitching. Oh, 131 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:09,740 Speaker 2: I bet. 132 00:07:10,500 --> 00:07:12,119 Speaker 3: I mean, they did come out and say like, hey, 133 00:07:13,900 --> 00:07:18,700 Speaker 3: something bigger than 400 meters could collide with Earth about 134 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:23,650 Speaker 3: every 160,000 years. So it's not a matter of if, 135 00:07:23,810 --> 00:07:27,950 Speaker 3: but when. And it could be 100,000 years from now. But, 136 00:07:28,070 --> 00:07:29,970 Speaker 3: you know, at some point it's happened before and we'll 137 00:07:30,010 --> 00:07:32,590 Speaker 3: talk about some of those events and it will happen again. 138 00:07:33,130 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 3: And the idea is that NASA is just going to 139 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 3: keep an eye out and hopefully thwart anything in the 140 00:07:37,580 --> 00:07:38,420 Speaker 3: near future. 141 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 2: That's the hope for sure. One of the ways that 142 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:46,100 Speaker 2: they do it is by launching space telescopes to keep 143 00:07:46,140 --> 00:07:48,460 Speaker 2: an eye on these things. And not only are they 144 00:07:48,580 --> 00:07:50,720 Speaker 2: using them to track, they're using them to discover new ones. 145 00:07:50,780 --> 00:07:55,140 Speaker 2: Because like you said, I think Giuseppe Piazzi discovered a 146 00:07:55,940 --> 00:07:58,930 Speaker 2: planetismal that he named Ceres and And he noticed that 147 00:07:58,950 --> 00:08:01,330 Speaker 2: it was way darker than the other planets. And one 148 00:08:01,370 --> 00:08:04,230 Speaker 2: of the reasons why is that asteroids reflect far less 149 00:08:04,310 --> 00:08:08,830 Speaker 2: visible light than planets do, than other celestial bodies. So 150 00:08:08,940 --> 00:08:12,500 Speaker 2: they've created infrared space telescopes to keep track of them. 151 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:16,120 Speaker 2: And these are turning up an alarming number of near-Earth 152 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 2: objects that we didn't realize were there before. Yeah. 153 00:08:18,860 --> 00:08:21,660 Speaker 3: I mean, we're throwing around a lot of terms. Near-Earth 154 00:08:21,740 --> 00:08:26,100 Speaker 3: object is one. There's also a PHA, Potentially Hazardous Asteroid. 155 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:26,740 Speaker 1: Mm-hmm. 156 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:31,420 Speaker 3: So this near-orbit surveyor has been, you know, infrareding around, 157 00:08:31,980 --> 00:08:34,540 Speaker 3: spotting these PHAs, writing them down. 158 00:08:34,740 --> 00:08:36,900 Speaker 1: Probably not writing them down. It's probably digital, I would guess. 159 00:08:37,540 --> 00:08:38,420 Speaker 2: Sure. 160 00:08:38,700 --> 00:08:45,420 Speaker 3: And basically anything over 460 feet or 140 meters in 161 00:08:45,490 --> 00:08:48,410 Speaker 3: size that has an orbit that will bring them as 162 00:08:48,510 --> 00:08:52,470 Speaker 3: close as 4.6 million miles. So they're really like, they're 163 00:08:52,490 --> 00:08:55,170 Speaker 3: really pushing it out there. Those are the ones that 164 00:08:55,230 --> 00:08:56,830 Speaker 3: are potentially hazardous. 165 00:08:57,420 --> 00:08:59,740 Speaker 2: Yeah. And that are ending up on the closest approaches 166 00:08:59,780 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 2: list too. So yeah, there's all sorts of, the other 167 00:09:03,590 --> 00:09:06,910 Speaker 2: thing too, is there's different lists, there's different definitions for 168 00:09:06,950 --> 00:09:09,890 Speaker 2: what's close, there's different definitions for what size we need 169 00:09:09,910 --> 00:09:13,570 Speaker 2: to keep an eye on. But essentially what they're saying 170 00:09:13,650 --> 00:09:16,090 Speaker 2: is there are some out there that could be close 171 00:09:16,150 --> 00:09:20,489 Speaker 2: enough that we really need to track and that we 172 00:09:20,550 --> 00:09:23,910 Speaker 2: eventually may need to actually do something about this. So 173 00:09:24,500 --> 00:09:27,700 Speaker 2: Let's start thinking about that today because we might need 174 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:31,030 Speaker 2: a decade's worth of heads up to do something about it. 175 00:09:31,660 --> 00:09:35,020 Speaker 2: And I say, Chuck, that we take a break and 176 00:09:35,070 --> 00:09:38,429 Speaker 2: come back and talk about that after the break. 177 00:09:38,950 --> 00:10:06,670 Speaker 1: Let's do it. Let's do it. So we're back. 178 00:10:07,070 --> 00:10:09,630 Speaker 3: I want to make a quick, not a correction, but 179 00:10:09,670 --> 00:10:13,090 Speaker 3: maybe clear something up. That Near Earth Orbit Surveyor is 180 00:10:13,110 --> 00:10:16,809 Speaker 3: not launched yet. I think they said September 27 was 181 00:10:16,830 --> 00:10:20,010 Speaker 3: like the earliest it could get out there. But they 182 00:10:20,050 --> 00:10:24,380 Speaker 3: had something for 25 years, another space telescope called the NEOWISE. 183 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 3: And so it's not like nothing was going on. No. 184 00:10:29,580 --> 00:10:32,460 Speaker 2: And I think you said that there was like it 185 00:10:32,500 --> 00:10:36,640 Speaker 2: discovers we discover eleven hundred new ones every year. 186 00:10:36,660 --> 00:10:40,000 Speaker 1: That's new asteroids like overall new asteroids. 187 00:10:40,020 --> 00:10:40,179 Speaker 3: Yeah. 188 00:10:40,380 --> 00:10:40,990 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. 189 00:10:41,110 --> 00:10:41,350 Speaker 1: Oh, no. 190 00:10:41,390 --> 00:10:43,829 Speaker 2: I think those are near Earth asteroids even. 191 00:10:44,550 --> 00:10:44,890 Speaker 3: Oh, were they? 192 00:10:44,929 --> 00:10:45,189 Speaker 1: Okay. 193 00:10:45,370 --> 00:10:45,530 Speaker 2: Yeah. 194 00:10:45,550 --> 00:10:47,730 Speaker 1: But not potentially hazardous. There's so many distinctions. 195 00:10:47,830 --> 00:10:49,730 Speaker 2: Right, exactly. There's this and this and this, and they're 196 00:10:49,750 --> 00:10:52,610 Speaker 2: all subclasses. It's really the potentially hazardous ones that we 197 00:10:52,650 --> 00:10:55,510 Speaker 2: need to keep an eye on. Sure. But NEOWISE is 198 00:10:55,580 --> 00:10:58,380 Speaker 2: how we started discovering so many every year. 199 00:10:58,400 --> 00:10:58,800 Speaker 1: That's right. 200 00:10:59,140 --> 00:11:02,100 Speaker 2: And I think these guys were like, we really should 201 00:11:02,620 --> 00:11:07,179 Speaker 2: start doing something about that. There are some, here's another subclass. 202 00:11:07,220 --> 00:11:09,980 Speaker 2: This is one of my favorites. It's a subclass of 203 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:14,700 Speaker 2: potentially hazardous asteroids that That are extinction class asteroids. 204 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:15,220 Speaker 3: Yeah. 205 00:11:15,740 --> 00:11:18,819 Speaker 2: The kind that are so big that they could conceivably 206 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:22,920 Speaker 2: wipe out all life on Earth, which makes them an 207 00:11:23,140 --> 00:11:24,579 Speaker 2: existential risk, by the way. 208 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:28,880 Speaker 1: That's right. What Busta Rhymes would call an extinction level event. 209 00:11:29,860 --> 00:11:31,520 Speaker 2: Is that one of Busta Rhymes' songs? 210 00:11:32,020 --> 00:11:34,040 Speaker 1: That's one of his records. 211 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:36,920 Speaker 2: Oh, okay. That sounds like a Busta Rhymes record for sure. 212 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:37,140 Speaker 3: Yeah. 213 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:38,459 Speaker 1: I don't know if that, there may have been a 214 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:40,900 Speaker 1: song called that, but yeah. ELE. 215 00:11:41,620 --> 00:11:41,800 Speaker 2: Okay. 216 00:11:44,809 --> 00:11:45,990 Speaker 1: I'm not going to say it like Busta Rhymes. 217 00:11:46,370 --> 00:11:46,790 Speaker 2: Please. 218 00:11:47,390 --> 00:11:47,910 Speaker 1: No, no, no, no. 219 00:11:48,690 --> 00:11:52,070 Speaker 3: But extinction class is anything bigger than 6.2 miles or 220 00:11:52,070 --> 00:11:55,829 Speaker 3: 10 kilometers in diameter. And that's basically like, hey, if 221 00:11:55,870 --> 00:11:59,810 Speaker 3: this thing hit Earth, could possibly destroy all of life. 222 00:12:00,809 --> 00:12:05,510 Speaker 3: There are four of these that are PHAs. So four 223 00:12:05,610 --> 00:12:09,230 Speaker 3: extinction class asteroids that are potentially close enough to one 224 00:12:09,270 --> 00:12:11,390 Speaker 3: day cause us a problem, even if that day is 225 00:12:11,390 --> 00:12:11,970 Speaker 3: 100,000 years from now. 226 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:16,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, and not just cause us a problem, cause bacteria 227 00:12:16,059 --> 00:12:19,170 Speaker 2: a problem. Like everything on Earth would die if one 228 00:12:19,210 --> 00:12:20,230 Speaker 2: of these hit it, you know? 229 00:12:20,490 --> 00:12:22,090 Speaker 1: Yeah, but who cares about bacteria? 230 00:12:23,070 --> 00:12:29,089 Speaker 2: Exactly. The chances are very small, obviously. And I think 231 00:12:29,170 --> 00:12:32,690 Speaker 2: NASA's like, we've got 90% of the near-Earth asteroids at 232 00:12:32,730 --> 00:12:38,270 Speaker 2: least half a mile wide tracked. And they stop taking 233 00:12:38,330 --> 00:12:41,250 Speaker 2: questions before anybody can be like, what's up with the 234 00:12:41,290 --> 00:12:46,910 Speaker 2: other 10%? They rushed off stage. And they're like, none 235 00:12:46,950 --> 00:12:50,650 Speaker 2: of that 90% have a significant chance of hitting Earth, 236 00:12:50,750 --> 00:12:54,370 Speaker 2: but there is a non-zero chance, which means we really 237 00:12:54,470 --> 00:12:58,219 Speaker 2: need to keep an eye on these things. There could 238 00:12:58,260 --> 00:13:00,700 Speaker 2: be some bigger ones out there that we don't know about. 239 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:06,180 Speaker 2: And it doesn't have to be an extinction class asteroid 240 00:13:06,220 --> 00:13:09,360 Speaker 2: for us to want to do something about it. They 241 00:13:09,380 --> 00:13:13,680 Speaker 2: gave an estimate of What would happen if a mile wide? 242 00:13:13,940 --> 00:13:16,200 Speaker 2: I think you said a six mile wide would be 243 00:13:16,260 --> 00:13:19,540 Speaker 2: extinction class. This is one sixth of an extinction class. 244 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:23,459 Speaker 2: What would happen if it hit the planet, Chuck? What 245 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 2: would happen? 246 00:13:24,220 --> 00:13:25,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, we have a few scenarios. 247 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:30,070 Speaker 3: If it's a mile wide asteroid and it comes in 248 00:13:30,110 --> 00:13:33,469 Speaker 3: cooking at 30,000 miles an hour, that would be about 249 00:13:33,490 --> 00:13:35,650 Speaker 3: a one million megaton bomb. 250 00:13:36,710 --> 00:13:38,089 Speaker 1: You probably don't even know what that means. 251 00:13:38,370 --> 00:13:38,570 Speaker 3: So. 252 00:13:39,860 --> 00:13:41,380 Speaker 1: So let's lower the stakes a little bit and make 253 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:42,280 Speaker 1: it a little more relatable. 254 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:43,199 Speaker 2: Yeah. 255 00:13:43,300 --> 00:13:43,860 Speaker 1: Let's say it was the. 256 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:46,670 Speaker 3: Size of a house, an asteroid the size of a, oh, 257 00:13:46,700 --> 00:13:47,059 Speaker 3: I don't know. 258 00:13:47,460 --> 00:13:49,679 Speaker 1: Let's call it an 1,800-square-foot home. 259 00:13:50,100 --> 00:13:51,260 Speaker 2: Two-story, one-story? 260 00:13:52,100 --> 00:13:54,620 Speaker 3: Let's go with two-story, maybe a basement, subterranean basement. 261 00:13:54,950 --> 00:13:57,160 Speaker 2: Ranch, Dutch colonial revival? 262 00:13:57,830 --> 00:14:01,190 Speaker 3: Dutch colonial at 30,000 miles an hour hits the Earth. 263 00:14:01,950 --> 00:14:04,710 Speaker 3: It would be equal to the bomb that fell on Hiroshima. 264 00:14:04,730 --> 00:14:04,810 Speaker 2: Yeah. 265 00:14:05,550 --> 00:14:09,340 Speaker 3: It would completely flatten any kind of reinforced concrete building 266 00:14:09,420 --> 00:14:11,319 Speaker 3: about a half a mile from where it hit. And 267 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:13,860 Speaker 3: any wooden structure up to a mile and a half 268 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:15,099 Speaker 3: out is just gone so. 269 00:14:15,620 --> 00:14:15,800 Speaker 1: Right. 270 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:19,120 Speaker 2: That's one the size of a house, Chuck. I want 271 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:22,640 Speaker 2: to go back and point out that there are, I think, 272 00:14:23,060 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 2: five or six airplane size like jet like air commercial 273 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:32,990 Speaker 2: aircraft size asteroids that are passing by Earth today and tomorrow. 274 00:14:33,420 --> 00:14:36,700 Speaker 2: Today's September 1st and tomorrow's September 2nd that we're recording this. 275 00:14:37,260 --> 00:14:40,120 Speaker 2: So like if it was even bigger than, say, a 276 00:14:40,180 --> 00:14:42,550 Speaker 2: house or a commercial airline or say like a 20 277 00:14:42,550 --> 00:14:47,270 Speaker 2: story building, that would be roughly something like 20 to 278 00:14:47,270 --> 00:14:52,729 Speaker 2: 50 megatons worth of explosion. I saw that the most 279 00:14:52,810 --> 00:14:57,540 Speaker 2: powerful nuclear warhead in the United States arsenal is 1.4 megatons. 280 00:14:58,860 --> 00:15:02,060 Speaker 2: This is potentially 50 megatons, which is the same size 281 00:15:02,140 --> 00:15:05,450 Speaker 2: as the Tsar Bomba, which is the far and away 282 00:15:05,500 --> 00:15:10,810 Speaker 2: the largest nuclear warhead ever exploded on Earth. And it 283 00:15:10,850 --> 00:15:11,730 Speaker 2: was just a test. 284 00:15:12,450 --> 00:15:12,870 Speaker 1: That's right. 285 00:15:13,570 --> 00:15:15,750 Speaker 3: If you want to wipe out almost everything on Earth, 286 00:15:15,850 --> 00:15:18,430 Speaker 3: it would have to be about seven, an asteroid seven 287 00:15:18,450 --> 00:15:20,320 Speaker 3: to eight miles or 11 to 12 kilometers big. 288 00:15:24,110 --> 00:15:25,730 Speaker 1: It would there would be a dust plume. 289 00:15:25,770 --> 00:15:28,470 Speaker 3: Basically, you know, we would experience something like a nuclear 290 00:15:28,510 --> 00:15:32,510 Speaker 3: winter would block out the sun, raise temperatures to scorching heats. 291 00:15:34,230 --> 00:15:39,750 Speaker 3: Almost everything would be destroyed, but potentially some stuff might live. 292 00:15:39,770 --> 00:15:42,330 Speaker 3: I think they said it would have to be an 293 00:15:42,450 --> 00:15:47,000 Speaker 3: asteroid 60 miles or 96 kilometers wide. to completely wipe 294 00:15:47,140 --> 00:15:49,580 Speaker 3: out every bacteria that you were talking about. 295 00:15:49,660 --> 00:15:50,640 Speaker 1: Everything on Earth would die. 296 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:53,860 Speaker 2: Like unquestionable. There's just no way something would survive. Although 297 00:15:54,020 --> 00:15:55,740 Speaker 2: life tends to surprise us, you know? 298 00:15:56,500 --> 00:15:58,000 Speaker 1: Life finds a way. 299 00:15:58,220 --> 00:16:01,040 Speaker 2: Right. Can't you just see like a couple bacteria just 300 00:16:01,220 --> 00:16:03,980 Speaker 2: jumping right at the moment of impact, like an elevator 301 00:16:04,020 --> 00:16:06,120 Speaker 2: going down and surviving? 302 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:07,220 Speaker 1: That's right. 303 00:16:07,300 --> 00:16:10,420 Speaker 3: And, you know, we're going to detail some past events, 304 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:14,580 Speaker 3: kind of like the one 66 million years ago. that 305 00:16:15,020 --> 00:16:17,720 Speaker 3: most people agree that was an asteroid that took out 306 00:16:17,740 --> 00:16:21,100 Speaker 3: the dinosaurs and a lot of other things. It was 307 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:24,920 Speaker 3: a global mass extinction event. About 75% of all species 308 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:30,940 Speaker 3: were killed off. And we discovered this in 1978. We 309 00:16:30,980 --> 00:16:34,820 Speaker 3: discovered along the Mexican Gulf Coast, these geologists were doing 310 00:16:34,860 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 3: an underwater survey for an oil company. And we're like, 311 00:16:37,660 --> 00:16:42,140 Speaker 3: there's a weird arc-like formation on the seabed here north 312 00:16:42,180 --> 00:16:46,310 Speaker 3: of the Yucatan Peninsula. And they're like, buddy, this is 313 00:16:46,350 --> 00:16:53,290 Speaker 3: an underwater, underground crater between 112 and 124 miles in diameter. 314 00:16:53,630 --> 00:16:55,180 Speaker 2: That's a big crater for sure. 315 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:56,500 Speaker 1: It's a very large crater. 316 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:00,220 Speaker 2: So, by the way, I mentioned this in a little 317 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:02,180 Speaker 2: more detail in The End of the World. It's one 318 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:05,359 Speaker 2: of my favorite things to talk about is this insane 319 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:10,040 Speaker 2: event that took place in a moment in Earth's history. 320 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:14,070 Speaker 2: Just talking about it. And like all the little details 321 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:16,770 Speaker 2: of what happened as a result are just mind boggling 322 00:17:16,830 --> 00:17:17,109 Speaker 2: to me. 323 00:17:17,130 --> 00:17:18,790 Speaker 1: And what episode was that? 324 00:17:19,130 --> 00:17:21,650 Speaker 2: That was, I don't remember. Okay. So I guess they're 325 00:17:21,670 --> 00:17:24,150 Speaker 2: going to have to listen to all 10. 326 00:17:24,150 --> 00:17:24,620 Speaker 1: That's right. 327 00:17:25,130 --> 00:17:29,140 Speaker 2: But this was the Chicxulub impactor is what they call 328 00:17:29,180 --> 00:17:31,440 Speaker 2: whatever it was that hit the earth. And I think, 329 00:17:31,660 --> 00:17:32,859 Speaker 2: I don't know if you said it could have been 330 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 2: a comet, could have been an asteroid, but it seems 331 00:17:35,020 --> 00:17:40,060 Speaker 2: pretty clear that it was definitely an asteroid that did this. Yeah. 332 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:42,020 Speaker 1: The Iridium is kind of the giveaway. 333 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:47,140 Speaker 3: Iridium is in the Earth's crust, but it's like asteroids 334 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:51,950 Speaker 3: are just loaded with Iridium. And the Chicxulub impact crater landed, 335 00:17:52,150 --> 00:17:54,090 Speaker 3: I think it was named after a village near there 336 00:17:54,150 --> 00:17:58,109 Speaker 3: where it hit. And it left the crater and it 337 00:17:58,150 --> 00:18:01,210 Speaker 3: also scattered Iridium all over the planet because all over 338 00:18:01,250 --> 00:18:06,630 Speaker 3: planet Earth in geologic layers that Mark, 66 million years ago, 339 00:18:06,670 --> 00:18:09,669 Speaker 3: the end of the Cretaceous period, there's really high levels 340 00:18:09,730 --> 00:18:12,570 Speaker 3: of iridium. So if you're still on the comet train, 341 00:18:12,590 --> 00:18:15,230 Speaker 3: you're probably missing out on the good parties would be 342 00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:15,650 Speaker 3: my guess. 343 00:18:16,220 --> 00:18:21,820 Speaker 2: I agree. So a couple of things about this. They 344 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:25,440 Speaker 2: think now, just basically by crunching some numbers, that it 345 00:18:25,540 --> 00:18:30,990 Speaker 2: was this Chicxulub impactor, this asteroid, was about 8.7 miles 346 00:18:31,050 --> 00:18:31,750 Speaker 2: in diameter. 347 00:18:32,250 --> 00:18:32,650 Speaker 1: That's big. 348 00:18:33,450 --> 00:18:37,070 Speaker 2: Yeah, it is. That it produced an explosion or an 349 00:18:37,330 --> 00:18:42,109 Speaker 2: impact or a blast, I guess you'd call it, equal 350 00:18:42,150 --> 00:18:47,290 Speaker 2: to about 100 million megatons. That's 20, 30 times the 351 00:18:47,470 --> 00:18:51,840 Speaker 2: total megatonage of all of the nuclear weapons and all 352 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:54,700 Speaker 2: the nuclear arsenals in the world today, all going off 353 00:18:54,740 --> 00:18:58,840 Speaker 2: at once in one place. And they figured out that 354 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:01,639 Speaker 2: right when it hit, since it hit in what's now 355 00:19:01,700 --> 00:19:04,800 Speaker 2: the Gulf of Mexico, or part of it, that it 356 00:19:04,859 --> 00:19:07,940 Speaker 2: just created all sorts of chaos, not the least of 357 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:10,800 Speaker 2: which was a tidal wave that formed within five seconds 358 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:11,620 Speaker 2: of impact, right? 359 00:19:12,340 --> 00:19:16,870 Speaker 3: Yeah, a 15-mile, 15-mile-high tidal wave. 360 00:19:17,430 --> 00:19:18,950 Speaker 2: That's so nuts. 361 00:19:19,930 --> 00:19:23,189 Speaker 1: I mean, I feel bad for all the animals. 362 00:19:23,250 --> 00:19:28,250 Speaker 3: Like, can you imagine just being a stegosaurus, just grazing around, 363 00:19:28,530 --> 00:19:31,900 Speaker 3: and all of a sudden it's just over everything? Yeah, yeah. 364 00:19:32,510 --> 00:19:34,189 Speaker 2: I can. That's why I think that I find this 365 00:19:34,210 --> 00:19:37,450 Speaker 2: so fascinating. I can just imagine this stuff happening. I 366 00:19:37,470 --> 00:19:41,100 Speaker 2: can imagine like a sauropod getting carried away on that 367 00:19:41,100 --> 00:19:44,680 Speaker 2: 15 mile high tidal wave going. 368 00:19:46,710 --> 00:19:48,570 Speaker 1: For real. I feel bad for that. What'd you say 369 00:19:48,590 --> 00:19:48,810 Speaker 1: it was? 370 00:19:48,830 --> 00:19:52,780 Speaker 2: Sauropod. I believe that's one of the flipper ones. 371 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:56,800 Speaker 1: OK, the flipper guys. Yeah, I'm sure they were into waves, 372 00:19:56,859 --> 00:19:57,520 Speaker 1: but nothing like that. 373 00:19:58,180 --> 00:19:59,060 Speaker 2: No, not like that. 374 00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:03,270 Speaker 3: So all the rock and seawater would have been vaporized. 375 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:06,140 Speaker 3: It's going to obviously kick up all kinds of debris, 376 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:09,300 Speaker 3: geologic debris, that's going to come back down to Earth. 377 00:20:09,340 --> 00:20:12,200 Speaker 3: Like what goes up must come down. And that produced 378 00:20:12,260 --> 00:20:14,500 Speaker 3: friction that set off what's called the heat pulse throughout 379 00:20:14,540 --> 00:20:18,260 Speaker 3: the atmosphere. Basically, that's what killed off all the surface 380 00:20:18,300 --> 00:20:22,420 Speaker 3: dwelling life. And then the after effects are sulfur dioxide 381 00:20:22,460 --> 00:20:27,770 Speaker 3: in the atmosphere raining down as sulfuric acid. The acidity 382 00:20:27,869 --> 00:20:30,830 Speaker 3: of the planet and the oceans as a whole changes 383 00:20:31,010 --> 00:20:32,650 Speaker 3: in an instant, basically. 384 00:20:32,910 --> 00:20:38,150 Speaker 2: Yeah. Ocean acidity increased a hundred fold very, very quickly. 385 00:20:38,570 --> 00:20:42,370 Speaker 2: That is a really quick, really big rise in acidity. 386 00:20:42,450 --> 00:20:46,150 Speaker 2: So that killed a lot of stuff off immediately, right? 387 00:20:46,210 --> 00:20:50,100 Speaker 2: There was just like plankton doesn't like stuff that acidic. 388 00:20:50,180 --> 00:20:52,800 Speaker 2: And so you've got a food web, which means if 389 00:20:52,820 --> 00:20:56,760 Speaker 2: you kill off stuff like plankton or ferns on the surface. 390 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:00,879 Speaker 2: it's going to have an extended cascading effect on the 391 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,270 Speaker 2: rest of life. And that's what happened not just from 392 00:21:03,369 --> 00:21:06,969 Speaker 2: the acidity, but also from the nuclear winter that followed. 393 00:21:07,030 --> 00:21:10,590 Speaker 2: Because remember, like you said, what comes up or what 394 00:21:10,609 --> 00:21:13,490 Speaker 2: goes up must come down, but it doesn't necessarily mean 395 00:21:13,540 --> 00:21:16,119 Speaker 2: that it comes down immediately. So a lot of that 396 00:21:16,140 --> 00:21:20,600 Speaker 2: vaporized rock floated as dust in the atmosphere and blocked 397 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:24,270 Speaker 2: the sun out. for God knows how long, and a 398 00:21:24,330 --> 00:21:27,609 Speaker 2: nuclear winter set in, and it was an extended one. 399 00:21:28,270 --> 00:21:28,550 Speaker 1: Yeah. 400 00:21:28,630 --> 00:21:31,459 Speaker 3: I mean, they estimate that it took about 30,000 years 401 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:33,900 Speaker 3: for the Earth to just be Earth again. 402 00:21:34,180 --> 00:21:35,760 Speaker 1: Yeah. It's a long time. 403 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:41,940 Speaker 2: Yeah. That really knocked Earth off of its good mood. 404 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:43,359 Speaker 1: It's charted course. 405 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:45,470 Speaker 3: Well, I mean, I don't know if you can say 406 00:21:45,510 --> 00:21:49,129 Speaker 3: like bright side or anything, but it allowed mammals to 407 00:21:49,170 --> 00:21:52,679 Speaker 3: fill in a lot of niches that were vacated. The 408 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:58,760 Speaker 3: mammal diversification after this was just bonkers. Birds, obviously, humans 409 00:21:58,820 --> 00:22:00,719 Speaker 3: probably would have never evolved had it not been for 410 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:01,220 Speaker 3: this event. 411 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:02,970 Speaker 1: So, you know, bright side. 412 00:22:03,050 --> 00:22:05,010 Speaker 2: Yeah, I call it a bright side for sure. For us, 413 00:22:05,090 --> 00:22:05,410 Speaker 2: at least. 414 00:22:06,210 --> 00:22:07,500 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, we wouldn't have this podcast. 415 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:10,840 Speaker 2: No, and you know what? Nothing alive today would know 416 00:22:10,940 --> 00:22:14,800 Speaker 2: that this even happened if we hadn't evolved. So, pow. 417 00:22:15,340 --> 00:22:16,359 Speaker 1: Yeah, good point. 418 00:22:16,740 --> 00:22:19,200 Speaker 2: Okay, Chuck, so even though there's a silver lining that 419 00:22:19,260 --> 00:22:23,470 Speaker 2: humans evolved as a direct result of the KPG extinction event, 420 00:22:24,650 --> 00:22:27,050 Speaker 2: we wouldn't want it to happen while we're around because 421 00:22:27,130 --> 00:22:29,310 Speaker 2: we'd be the dinosaurs this time, right? 422 00:22:29,609 --> 00:22:30,070 Speaker 1: That's right. 423 00:22:30,510 --> 00:22:33,820 Speaker 2: But unlike the dinosaurs, we have things like nuclear weapons. 424 00:22:34,390 --> 00:22:37,940 Speaker 2: We have brains. We're a space-fearing, well, you know, I 425 00:22:38,580 --> 00:22:44,359 Speaker 2: guess that was pretty dinosaurist. We're a space-faring species, too, 426 00:22:44,380 --> 00:22:47,240 Speaker 2: which means we can actually get out there and meet 427 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:50,090 Speaker 2: the asteroid where it's at and deal with it there. 428 00:22:50,350 --> 00:22:52,990 Speaker 2: So you put all this stuff together, and it's actually 429 00:22:53,030 --> 00:22:57,690 Speaker 2: becoming a lot clearer that we could conceivably deal with 430 00:22:57,750 --> 00:22:59,970 Speaker 2: an asteroid that we figured out was headed for Earth 431 00:23:00,050 --> 00:23:00,929 Speaker 2: to mess stuff up. 432 00:23:01,730 --> 00:23:02,050 Speaker 1: That's right. 433 00:23:02,950 --> 00:23:05,070 Speaker 3: So the first thing, obviously, that you might think is 434 00:23:05,130 --> 00:23:09,159 Speaker 3: nuclear bomb. And that is a reasonable thought because we 435 00:23:09,180 --> 00:23:11,640 Speaker 3: have all seen those two movies and. 436 00:23:11,580 --> 00:23:12,160 Speaker 1: That could work. 437 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:16,080 Speaker 2: I've actually not seen either of those movies. Oh, really? Well, 438 00:23:16,119 --> 00:23:16,460 Speaker 2: wait a minute. 439 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:17,530 Speaker 1: I saw both of them. 440 00:23:17,660 --> 00:23:20,109 Speaker 2: Is one of them. Does one of them feature Taylor 441 00:23:20,130 --> 00:23:22,330 Speaker 2: Leone standing on a beach where their dad is like 442 00:23:22,490 --> 00:23:23,890 Speaker 2: a tidal waves about to kill them both? 443 00:23:24,930 --> 00:23:27,110 Speaker 1: I think that was Deep Impact. 444 00:23:27,190 --> 00:23:30,230 Speaker 2: OK, then I guess I was Morgan Freeman president, although 445 00:23:30,250 --> 00:23:32,710 Speaker 2: that doesn't really narrow it down for disaster movies from 446 00:23:32,730 --> 00:23:33,030 Speaker 2: the 90s. 447 00:23:33,090 --> 00:23:35,429 Speaker 1: Bet your sweet bippy he was president in Deep Impact. 448 00:23:35,490 --> 00:23:36,780 Speaker 2: I guess I have seen that one then. 449 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:40,280 Speaker 3: Yeah, that I mean, you know, they both were what 450 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:43,420 Speaker 3: they were, like fairly fun summer movies, like not great cinema, 451 00:23:43,820 --> 00:23:47,460 Speaker 3: but not like terrible. Armageddon was a I don't know 452 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 3: which one did better. I feel like Armageddon probably did better. 453 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 3: Or maybe I'm just thinking because of the Aerosmith song. 454 00:23:51,780 --> 00:23:53,060 Speaker 2: I was going to say you can chalk it up 455 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:54,260 Speaker 2: to Aerosmith if it did. 456 00:23:56,170 --> 00:23:58,490 Speaker 1: Oh, Bruce Willis. Poor Bruce Willis. It makes me sad 457 00:23:58,540 --> 00:23:59,439 Speaker 1: every time I think about him. 458 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:02,100 Speaker 2: Yeah. All right. 459 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:06,379 Speaker 3: So nuclear bombs is a reasonable assumption. And like I said, 460 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:09,760 Speaker 3: it depends on how big the asteroid is. If it 461 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:11,879 Speaker 3: was smaller, a nuclear bomb could just take care of 462 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:13,859 Speaker 3: that one and blow it into a million tiny pieces. 463 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:15,220 Speaker 2: Sure. 464 00:24:15,380 --> 00:24:17,310 Speaker 3: But those are the ones that aren't really a threat 465 00:24:17,330 --> 00:24:19,690 Speaker 3: to the Earth. Like the ones that are big enough 466 00:24:19,770 --> 00:24:22,250 Speaker 3: to be a threat to the Earth, like hitting it 467 00:24:22,290 --> 00:24:25,010 Speaker 3: with a nuclear bomb wouldn't even work because it would 468 00:24:26,350 --> 00:24:28,300 Speaker 3: the pieces of it would still be big enough to 469 00:24:28,340 --> 00:24:28,879 Speaker 3: be a problem. 470 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:31,859 Speaker 2: Yeah, even if so, NASA was like, let's think this through. 471 00:24:32,100 --> 00:24:34,439 Speaker 2: If we went out to an asteroid and we landed 472 00:24:34,540 --> 00:24:36,460 Speaker 2: on the asteroid and we drilled into it and put 473 00:24:36,500 --> 00:24:39,619 Speaker 2: a nuclear warhead in there and blew it up, or 474 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:42,290 Speaker 2: maybe we just left one on the surface, who knows 475 00:24:42,930 --> 00:24:44,790 Speaker 2: what would happen? And they were like, it would basically 476 00:24:44,850 --> 00:24:50,210 Speaker 2: break it into like smaller chunks, but still really problematic chunks. 477 00:24:50,250 --> 00:24:54,050 Speaker 2: And it might not blast them all off of course 478 00:24:54,130 --> 00:24:57,910 Speaker 2: for Earth, right? So they're like, I don't think blowing 479 00:24:57,970 --> 00:25:00,230 Speaker 2: up asteroids is a very good way to approach this. 480 00:25:00,330 --> 00:25:03,330 Speaker 2: But that doesn't mean that we can't use the world's 481 00:25:03,369 --> 00:25:06,930 Speaker 2: nuclear arsenals for a really good, noble purpose and use 482 00:25:06,990 --> 00:25:10,050 Speaker 2: nuclear warheads in a different way. And what they figured 483 00:25:10,150 --> 00:25:13,630 Speaker 2: out is that something called a standoff explosion, where you 484 00:25:13,670 --> 00:25:17,160 Speaker 2: set these things off near an asteroid on one side 485 00:25:17,180 --> 00:25:20,179 Speaker 2: of it, that actually could have a pretty pronounced effect 486 00:25:20,260 --> 00:25:22,920 Speaker 2: on dealing with an asteroid headed for Earth. Yeah. 487 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:25,199 Speaker 3: The idea there is to obviously just blow it off 488 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:29,290 Speaker 3: its course. There was a report in 2007 from NASA 489 00:25:29,369 --> 00:25:33,689 Speaker 3: that said planting a nuclear bomb either on the surface 490 00:25:33,750 --> 00:25:37,250 Speaker 3: or under the surface would would fracture it. And it's 491 00:25:37,270 --> 00:25:39,310 Speaker 3: going to be an issue. So that was like sort 492 00:25:39,330 --> 00:25:43,010 Speaker 3: of official confirmation that that wasn't the best plan. So 493 00:25:44,890 --> 00:25:49,210 Speaker 3: in 2005, I think Congress said, all right, NASA, do 494 00:25:49,250 --> 00:25:52,020 Speaker 3: your do your thing. We need some like real plans. 495 00:25:52,380 --> 00:25:53,810 Speaker 2: We just saw Armageddon. 496 00:25:54,430 --> 00:25:56,250 Speaker 1: Yeah, they just saw Armageddon. 497 00:25:56,650 --> 00:25:58,669 Speaker 3: And in 2007, they presented the ideas at what was 498 00:25:58,710 --> 00:26:03,570 Speaker 3: called the Planetary Defense Conference in D.C. And they said, 499 00:26:03,590 --> 00:26:06,950 Speaker 3: all right, like Josh Clark will one day say, I 500 00:26:07,430 --> 00:26:09,900 Speaker 3: think the best idea is to try and nudge these 501 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:13,080 Speaker 3: things off course, at least away from the United States. 502 00:26:14,020 --> 00:26:16,920 Speaker 1: No, like completely off course from planet Earth. 503 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:20,440 Speaker 2: Sure. Because a nuclear winner affects everybody. I think that 504 00:26:20,460 --> 00:26:23,510 Speaker 2: was the slogan of the Planetary Defense Conference. 505 00:26:24,010 --> 00:26:26,270 Speaker 1: Yeah, and on the back it said, don't be a dinosaurist. 506 00:26:26,790 --> 00:26:30,350 Speaker 2: That's right. So this staggered explosion where you set off 507 00:26:30,390 --> 00:26:33,600 Speaker 2: a bunch of nuclear explosions like all in one place 508 00:26:33,820 --> 00:26:38,639 Speaker 2: just off of the surface of an asteroid would actually 509 00:26:38,780 --> 00:26:41,639 Speaker 2: sear it. And it would vaporize a bunch of the 510 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:44,770 Speaker 2: asteroid and it would push the asteroid in the opposite directions. 511 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:47,420 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's like exhaust almost, right? 512 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:51,959 Speaker 2: Yeah, it'd go and shoot off somewhere else. That is 513 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 2: essentially the only explosive technique that seems to be endorsed 514 00:26:56,859 --> 00:27:00,199 Speaker 2: by the scientific community that we could conceivably do, the 515 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:05,560 Speaker 2: staggered explosion technique. Most of the other ideas are not explosive, 516 00:27:06,119 --> 00:27:08,490 Speaker 2: which is why they don't get as much press. But 517 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:12,120 Speaker 2: they do seem to be even more viable. They all 518 00:27:12,260 --> 00:27:17,640 Speaker 2: basically fall into the kinetic impactor deflection category. The KID 519 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:19,389 Speaker 2: cat is what I call it. 520 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:20,660 Speaker 1: The kid cat? 521 00:27:20,980 --> 00:27:24,659 Speaker 2: Yeah. That's even better. And essentially what it is is 522 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:29,560 Speaker 2: trying to figure out how to use a spacecraft as 523 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:32,660 Speaker 2: a cue ball hitting an eight ball, the asteroid being 524 00:27:32,700 --> 00:27:35,020 Speaker 2: the eight ball, and sending the eight ball off into 525 00:27:35,060 --> 00:27:36,590 Speaker 2: a different trajectory. 526 00:27:37,220 --> 00:27:37,380 Speaker 3: Yeah. 527 00:27:38,300 --> 00:27:41,580 Speaker 1: Into the corner pocket, hopefully. And that's basically what they're 528 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:42,109 Speaker 1: trying to figure out. 529 00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:47,210 Speaker 3: It's like, how many remote controlled spacecrafts would we have 530 00:27:47,250 --> 00:27:51,430 Speaker 3: to ram an asteroid with to knock it off its course? 531 00:27:51,790 --> 00:27:55,160 Speaker 3: Is that an idea that could work? And they're like, yeah, potentially, sure. 532 00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:59,200 Speaker 3: And then they're like, that's kind of hard, though. I 533 00:27:59,220 --> 00:28:01,720 Speaker 3: think they likened it to shooting at a speeding cannonball 534 00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:05,940 Speaker 3: with a bullet. So the ESA, the European Space Agency, said, 535 00:28:06,420 --> 00:28:08,119 Speaker 3: All right, we got a plan called the– we'll call 536 00:28:08,140 --> 00:28:10,879 Speaker 3: it the Don Quixote. And we're going to get two 537 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:13,810 Speaker 3: spacecraft out there. One's going to land on that asteroid 538 00:28:14,430 --> 00:28:17,169 Speaker 3: and analyze it for a while and give us all 539 00:28:17,210 --> 00:28:19,550 Speaker 3: sorts of data points to where we can make sort 540 00:28:19,570 --> 00:28:21,869 Speaker 3: of a more pinpointed strike and just the right place 541 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:24,700 Speaker 3: to maximize it so we're not just throwing cue balls 542 00:28:24,740 --> 00:28:28,600 Speaker 3: at this thing. Or we could just have an unmanned 543 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:32,389 Speaker 3: probe just– Park it in orbit and shoot lasers at 544 00:28:32,430 --> 00:28:34,350 Speaker 3: it because Star Wars is a thing, guys. I don't 545 00:28:34,390 --> 00:28:35,950 Speaker 3: know if you've seen that. Yeah. 546 00:28:35,990 --> 00:28:37,290 Speaker 2: And people are like, where are you going to get 547 00:28:37,330 --> 00:28:40,810 Speaker 2: your lasers, bucko? That requires a lot of energy. And 548 00:28:40,930 --> 00:28:44,900 Speaker 2: somebody said, I have a witty retort. How about we 549 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,680 Speaker 2: put a bunch of mirrors on the space probe and 550 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:50,940 Speaker 2: concentrate a beam of sunlight and use that as a laser? 551 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:54,200 Speaker 2: And that shut those critics up real fast. Yeah. 552 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:54,830 Speaker 1: What was the? 553 00:28:57,110 --> 00:29:00,010 Speaker 3: Oh, what was the sunbeam laser years ago that the 554 00:29:00,050 --> 00:29:01,810 Speaker 3: Mythbusters tested that we covered? 555 00:29:01,830 --> 00:29:02,930 Speaker 2: Archimedes ray? 556 00:29:03,150 --> 00:29:03,870 Speaker 1: That's right. 557 00:29:03,950 --> 00:29:07,050 Speaker 3: Archimedes death ray. So something sort of like that. Not 558 00:29:07,090 --> 00:29:09,710 Speaker 3: a bad idea. And it's sort of the same thing. 559 00:29:09,850 --> 00:29:12,230 Speaker 3: Is it that laser is going to heat up? It's 560 00:29:12,260 --> 00:29:13,900 Speaker 3: not like it shoots it and it blows it up. 561 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:17,440 Speaker 3: It just heats it up and bits of steam start 562 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:20,660 Speaker 3: popping off as the laser hits it. And that creates, again, 563 00:29:20,700 --> 00:29:23,180 Speaker 3: like an exhaust, like a jet almost moving it in 564 00:29:23,220 --> 00:29:23,900 Speaker 3: a different direction. 565 00:29:24,050 --> 00:29:28,830 Speaker 2: Yeah. Or like when somebody is in a manned spacecraft 566 00:29:28,890 --> 00:29:33,420 Speaker 2: and they're using like the little boosters. They're not called boosters. 567 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:35,360 Speaker 2: They're called, I just had it. 568 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:36,240 Speaker 1: Yeah. 569 00:29:36,370 --> 00:29:38,810 Speaker 2: Where you're just like, you're, you know, evening out or 570 00:29:38,850 --> 00:29:39,570 Speaker 2: something like that. 571 00:29:39,590 --> 00:29:40,810 Speaker 1: Thruster? Boosters? 572 00:29:41,190 --> 00:29:44,210 Speaker 2: Yes. Okay. And you're creating with this beam of sunlight, 573 00:29:44,230 --> 00:29:49,300 Speaker 2: this Archimedes death ray, little thrusters within the rock as 574 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:52,120 Speaker 2: this gas like vaporizes and explodes and all of them 575 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:56,730 Speaker 2: start pressing down Or pushing the asteroid in a different direction. 576 00:29:57,290 --> 00:29:59,250 Speaker 2: None of this is going to happen. We should say 577 00:29:59,350 --> 00:30:02,010 Speaker 2: none of this will happen in any kind of rapid way. 578 00:30:02,050 --> 00:30:06,050 Speaker 2: We're talking pushing this asteroid with a beam of sunlight, 579 00:30:06,550 --> 00:30:11,850 Speaker 2: such a minute fraction of a minute fraction of a nanometer. 580 00:30:12,550 --> 00:30:15,430 Speaker 2: that it will take years and years and years and 581 00:30:15,490 --> 00:30:18,320 Speaker 2: years to actually have the effect that we're looking for, 582 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:21,220 Speaker 2: which is why we said earlier we need to start 583 00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:23,900 Speaker 2: planning for this stuff now and know what we're going 584 00:30:23,940 --> 00:30:27,160 Speaker 2: to do because we might need 30 years of lead 585 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:30,560 Speaker 2: time to be successful in moving the asteroid off course 586 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:36,100 Speaker 2: using some of these totally viable solutions that we have today. Yeah. 587 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:39,540 Speaker 3: Another idea was like maybe we should just park a 588 00:30:39,580 --> 00:30:42,440 Speaker 3: probe in its orbit. And just leave it there. And 589 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:45,870 Speaker 3: if you have enough time, it might, like Jupiter did, 590 00:30:45,990 --> 00:30:49,250 Speaker 3: it might have a gravitational pull that will pull that asteroid, again, 591 00:30:50,230 --> 00:30:52,330 Speaker 3: off its course just enough to where in like 30, 592 00:30:52,330 --> 00:30:55,770 Speaker 3: 40 years, 50 years, it ends up in a completely 593 00:30:55,790 --> 00:30:56,310 Speaker 3: different place. 594 00:30:56,790 --> 00:30:57,510 Speaker 2: Pretty neat, huh? 595 00:30:58,010 --> 00:31:00,540 Speaker 1: And they call that a gravitational tractor. 596 00:31:00,580 --> 00:31:01,340 Speaker 2: Yeah. 597 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:02,580 Speaker 1: I love that, like a tractor beam. 598 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:10,850 Speaker 2: For sure. I saw somewhere 20-ton gravity. probe, essentially, working 599 00:31:10,910 --> 00:31:15,210 Speaker 2: as a gravitational tractor, could move a 60 million ton 600 00:31:15,370 --> 00:31:19,850 Speaker 2: asteroid in less than a year. Amazing. It is, especially 601 00:31:19,910 --> 00:31:23,340 Speaker 2: considering this is just something that's messing with its gravity 602 00:31:23,580 --> 00:31:27,100 Speaker 2: just by orbiting around it. I mean, that's like, you know, 603 00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:32,260 Speaker 2: Dollar Tree version idea. Like, you don't have to do anything. 604 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:33,860 Speaker 2: You just send a probe up there and get it 605 00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:35,740 Speaker 2: into orbit around the asteroid. Done. 606 00:31:36,740 --> 00:31:37,770 Speaker 1: I'm glad you didn't say Teemu. 607 00:31:38,490 --> 00:31:38,930 Speaker 2: What is that? 608 00:31:40,030 --> 00:31:43,370 Speaker 3: Oh, that's the big thing to call the cheap version something, 609 00:31:43,390 --> 00:31:46,050 Speaker 3: the Timu version. I think it's a Chinese company that 610 00:31:46,090 --> 00:31:46,910 Speaker 3: does knockoff stuff. 611 00:31:47,070 --> 00:31:48,090 Speaker 2: Oh, okay. 612 00:31:48,110 --> 00:31:53,210 Speaker 3: So everything is like your Timu, like if you look 613 00:31:53,230 --> 00:31:55,390 Speaker 3: like somebody, you're Timu Ryan Gosling. 614 00:31:55,490 --> 00:31:56,190 Speaker 2: I gotcha. 615 00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:57,080 Speaker 1: That kind of thing. 616 00:31:57,220 --> 00:31:59,900 Speaker 2: Well, there's a non-zero chance I would have said that 617 00:31:59,940 --> 00:32:01,980 Speaker 2: had I known about that meme. 618 00:32:02,180 --> 00:32:04,560 Speaker 3: Yeah, but I love how out of touch you are 619 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:06,200 Speaker 3: sometimes with some of that stupid stuff. 620 00:32:06,990 --> 00:32:07,890 Speaker 2: Yeah, I definitely. 621 00:32:08,630 --> 00:32:10,870 Speaker 1: You're like you're better for it. You know, Dollar Tree 622 00:32:10,910 --> 00:32:11,230 Speaker 1: is better. 623 00:32:11,370 --> 00:32:14,070 Speaker 2: I appreciate that. I mean, I don't think the Gen 624 00:32:14,130 --> 00:32:18,900 Speaker 2: Z listeners agree, but I appreciate that. 625 00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:22,320 Speaker 3: So we should talk about Project Near because the question 626 00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:24,480 Speaker 3: here toward the end of this thing is like, how 627 00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:27,959 Speaker 3: worried should we be? And the answer is not super worried. 628 00:32:28,080 --> 00:32:31,360 Speaker 3: Like in our lifetime. And like I said, it could 629 00:32:31,380 --> 00:32:33,900 Speaker 3: be thousands and thousands or tens of thousands or hundreds 630 00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:35,660 Speaker 3: of thousands of years that this is going to happen. 631 00:32:35,740 --> 00:32:36,500 Speaker 2: Or a hundred years. 632 00:32:37,710 --> 00:32:40,470 Speaker 3: Or 100 years, you and I don't need to sweat it, pal. 633 00:32:40,550 --> 00:32:41,570 Speaker 1: I'm 55 years old. 634 00:32:41,590 --> 00:32:42,110 Speaker 2: Who cares? 635 00:32:42,770 --> 00:32:44,330 Speaker 1: I'll be lucky to make it till 80. 636 00:32:44,330 --> 00:32:47,780 Speaker 3: And people are like, what about your child, Chuck? 637 00:32:48,020 --> 00:32:48,680 Speaker 1: I'm not going to be around. 638 00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:51,960 Speaker 2: I'm not even going to know. Exactly. What do you care? 639 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:57,360 Speaker 1: I'm just kidding, of course. But Project NEAR, capital N-E-A-R, 640 00:32:57,500 --> 00:32:58,760 Speaker 1: what does that stand for? Do you know? 641 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:03,010 Speaker 2: Near Earth Asteroid.... 642 00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:04,660 Speaker 1: Rolodex? 643 00:33:04,940 --> 00:33:05,220 Speaker 2: Yes. 644 00:33:06,050 --> 00:33:06,140 Speaker 1: Okay. 645 00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:10,540 Speaker 3: Okay. That was the– Project NEAR was the first spacecraft 646 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:13,620 Speaker 3: to orbit a small body of the solar system. 647 00:33:13,660 --> 00:33:16,390 Speaker 1: And it launched in 1996, in February of that year. 648 00:33:16,410 --> 00:33:21,710 Speaker 3: And at first it flew by the asteroid Matilda or Matilde, 649 00:33:22,570 --> 00:33:22,830 Speaker 3: June 1997. 650 00:33:22,830 --> 00:33:24,050 Speaker 1: It came within 753 miles or a little over 1,200 651 00:33:24,050 --> 00:33:25,050 Speaker 1: kilometers of its surface. Kept going. 652 00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:33,600 Speaker 3: And eventually orbited an asteroid called 433 Eurus in February 653 00:33:33,620 --> 00:33:33,960 Speaker 3: of 2000. 654 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,500 Speaker 2: Yeah, it went psych Matilde and headed on to Eurus. 655 00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:40,840 Speaker 1: But Eurus is a big deal because it's a big asteroid, right? 656 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:43,960 Speaker 2: It is a big asteroid. Just orbiting Matilde, I think, 657 00:33:44,020 --> 00:33:46,320 Speaker 2: was like a first-time thing, like just to see that 658 00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:48,600 Speaker 2: they could do it. So they put it into orbit 659 00:33:48,620 --> 00:33:52,860 Speaker 2: around Eurus, 433 Eurus. And it's a potato-shaped, 21-mile-long, 8-mile-wide asteroid. What, 660 00:33:52,900 --> 00:33:53,229 Speaker 2: like a.... 661 00:33:59,930 --> 00:34:01,390 Speaker 1: Baker, New Potato. 662 00:34:01,490 --> 00:34:01,880 Speaker 2: Russet. 663 00:34:02,710 --> 00:34:03,200 Speaker 1: Russet, okay. 664 00:34:03,340 --> 00:34:04,940 Speaker 2: Everything I saw said Russet. 665 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:07,360 Speaker 1: Okay, I got you. 666 00:34:07,900 --> 00:34:10,779 Speaker 2: And it's, I mean, it's a ways away from us. 667 00:34:11,060 --> 00:34:14,680 Speaker 2: So it's a great little test asteroid. But what they 668 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:18,950 Speaker 2: did was they put near, the near spacecraft in orbit 669 00:34:19,050 --> 00:34:21,850 Speaker 2: around Eros for about a year. Just kind of, just 670 00:34:21,870 --> 00:34:23,910 Speaker 2: to make Eros a little nervous, like what's this thing? 671 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:27,470 Speaker 2: Four miles over the surface, which is, I mean, like 672 00:34:27,530 --> 00:34:31,370 Speaker 2: if you're a high altitude skydiver, you might be diving, 673 00:34:31,390 --> 00:34:35,270 Speaker 2: skydiving onto Eros from that height. It was just kind 674 00:34:35,310 --> 00:34:37,730 Speaker 2: of circling it for a year. And then it's like, 675 00:34:37,770 --> 00:34:39,969 Speaker 2: you know what? I'm going to go down and get 676 00:34:40,250 --> 00:34:41,430 Speaker 2: on Eros. And it did. 677 00:34:42,310 --> 00:34:42,710 Speaker 1: That's right. 678 00:34:42,890 --> 00:34:47,040 Speaker 3: And it got data, measured its gravity, took some nice pictures, 679 00:34:49,140 --> 00:34:51,640 Speaker 3: mapped it out, of course, and made some chemical measurements 680 00:34:51,700 --> 00:34:55,300 Speaker 3: of the surface. Right. they're basically proving in real time, like, hey, 681 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:57,719 Speaker 3: this is something we have proven that we can do. 682 00:34:57,739 --> 00:35:02,160 Speaker 3: I think it was in orbit for about a year 683 00:35:02,300 --> 00:35:04,520 Speaker 3: when it landed on it and was sending back good 684 00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:08,279 Speaker 3: data until it completely just froze, like the extreme cold 685 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:10,040 Speaker 3: just destroyed how it could communicate. 686 00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:14,400 Speaker 2: Yes. And so one of the big things about NEAR 687 00:35:14,660 --> 00:35:19,420 Speaker 2: is that it satisfies that thing that the European Space 688 00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:22,230 Speaker 2: Agency pointed out, which was like, You really need data 689 00:35:22,350 --> 00:35:25,260 Speaker 2: on this thing before you actually shoot a probe at 690 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:28,779 Speaker 2: it to knock it off course. And so NEAR proved, OK, great, 691 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:30,880 Speaker 2: we can send a probe to send back data on 692 00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:33,580 Speaker 2: it that will need to shoot a probe in exactly 693 00:35:33,620 --> 00:35:35,879 Speaker 2: the right place. So that was a big deal. Then 694 00:35:35,900 --> 00:35:38,960 Speaker 2: they came up with the DART test. DART, we don't 695 00:35:38,980 --> 00:35:41,490 Speaker 2: have to make up the name for. We understand what 696 00:35:41,550 --> 00:35:42,790 Speaker 2: that acronym stands for. 697 00:35:42,810 --> 00:35:47,390 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's the Double Asteroid Redirection Test. And it is 698 00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:51,739 Speaker 3: a robotic spacecraft that launched a few years ago, I 699 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:52,919 Speaker 3: guess five years ago. 700 00:35:52,980 --> 00:35:55,120 Speaker 1: Geez, time's flying. November 2021. 701 00:35:55,100 --> 00:35:58,440 Speaker 3: And its mission, they were like, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, 702 00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:05,880 Speaker 3: programmed to slam into an asteroid, Dimorphos, at 4.1 miles 703 00:36:06,300 --> 00:36:09,160 Speaker 3: per second and see if we can change its orbit. 704 00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:10,839 Speaker 1: And they did. And it did. 705 00:36:10,860 --> 00:36:10,940 Speaker 3: Yes. 706 00:36:11,950 --> 00:36:15,350 Speaker 2: Now, remember I said we're talking like just minute little 707 00:36:15,410 --> 00:36:20,400 Speaker 2: amounts that it's moving it. But it adds up over time. 708 00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:22,920 Speaker 2: So what they figured out, and this is just amazing 709 00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:25,399 Speaker 2: that there are people here on Earth that can talk 710 00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:29,760 Speaker 2: about the orbit of an asteroid being moved this slightly. 711 00:36:30,660 --> 00:36:33,770 Speaker 2: They figured out that DART, when it hit it, it 712 00:36:34,090 --> 00:36:36,989 Speaker 2: knocked it off of its course at a rate of 713 00:36:36,989 --> 00:36:41,870 Speaker 2: 11.7 microns. That's one-tenth the width of a human hair 714 00:36:42,430 --> 00:36:46,910 Speaker 2: per second, which is a crazy small amount. But over 715 00:36:46,950 --> 00:36:49,689 Speaker 2: the course of a year, all of those microns per 716 00:36:49,770 --> 00:36:53,930 Speaker 2: second add up to about 360 meters a year. So 717 00:36:54,410 --> 00:36:56,819 Speaker 2: it depends on how far you need to move the 718 00:36:56,860 --> 00:36:59,040 Speaker 2: thing out of orbit. If you have a decade or 719 00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:03,300 Speaker 2: two heads-up time, you could just do that. So everybody, 720 00:37:03,320 --> 00:37:05,319 Speaker 2: I just want to make sure this is getting through. 721 00:37:05,950 --> 00:37:09,970 Speaker 2: We have shown as of 2022 that we can handle 722 00:37:10,370 --> 00:37:14,609 Speaker 2: asteroids that are coming near Earth. Isn't that amazing? That 723 00:37:14,690 --> 00:37:17,629 Speaker 2: makes this an amazing time to be alive. Don't you think? 724 00:37:18,610 --> 00:37:19,109 Speaker 1: I think so. 725 00:37:19,590 --> 00:37:22,570 Speaker 3: And just that little nudge, I believe it was former 726 00:37:22,670 --> 00:37:27,089 Speaker 3: President of the United States, one Barack Obama, who talked 727 00:37:27,150 --> 00:37:30,240 Speaker 3: about making change and how you might not feel like 728 00:37:30,260 --> 00:37:33,110 Speaker 3: you're making change when you're making change. But I believe 729 00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:35,259 Speaker 3: he likened it to a big ship in the ocean. 730 00:37:35,950 --> 00:37:37,450 Speaker 3: And he said, if you just get that thing a 731 00:37:37,510 --> 00:37:40,810 Speaker 3: couple of inches in another direction in 10 and 20 years, 732 00:37:40,850 --> 00:37:43,080 Speaker 3: you'll be surprised about where that ship ends up. 733 00:37:43,330 --> 00:37:45,950 Speaker 2: Wow. I was not expecting an Obama quote. 734 00:37:47,200 --> 00:37:51,919 Speaker 3: Just substitute asteroid and outer space. And it's the same 735 00:37:52,020 --> 00:37:53,100 Speaker 3: sort of idea. 736 00:37:53,420 --> 00:37:55,239 Speaker 2: I think that's what he was really saying. If you 737 00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:58,340 Speaker 2: read between the lines, he was talking about the dark project. 738 00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:01,120 Speaker 1: That's right. And then he said, don't be a dinosaur. 739 00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:01,540 Speaker 1: Peace out. 740 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:05,219 Speaker 2: I should say, by the way, just to be specific, 741 00:38:05,260 --> 00:38:08,440 Speaker 2: that one-tenth of a human hair, the width of a 742 00:38:08,480 --> 00:38:11,820 Speaker 2: human hair, that's if you're using salon selectives. If you're not, 743 00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:14,360 Speaker 2: it's probably your hair's a little thinner. 744 00:38:15,390 --> 00:38:17,650 Speaker 1: Yeah. More body, right? Mm-hmm. 745 00:38:18,469 --> 00:38:19,430 Speaker 2: That's my experience. 746 00:38:20,270 --> 00:38:21,710 Speaker 1: I knew there was going to be a hair girth 747 00:38:21,810 --> 00:38:22,570 Speaker 1: joke coming. 748 00:38:24,090 --> 00:38:25,989 Speaker 2: Well, since Chuck figured out that there was going to 749 00:38:26,010 --> 00:38:28,480 Speaker 2: be a hair girth joke, I think that that means 750 00:38:28,700 --> 00:38:30,040 Speaker 2: listener mail's coming up, don't you? 751 00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:31,500 Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think. 752 00:38:32,070 --> 00:38:34,450 Speaker 3: Hair girth might rival diarrhea planet is one of the 753 00:38:34,489 --> 00:38:36,259 Speaker 3: worst fan names you can think of. 754 00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:37,620 Speaker 2: I wonder if there's one. I'm going to look it 755 00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:40,380 Speaker 2: up while you figure out what listener mail we're going 756 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:40,640 Speaker 2: to read. 757 00:38:40,940 --> 00:38:42,459 Speaker 1: Can't wait to hear. People are going to actually listen 758 00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:44,120 Speaker 1: to listener mail for change just so they can hear. 759 00:38:47,239 --> 00:38:47,580 Speaker 2: Hey, guys. 760 00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:48,419 Speaker 1: First of all, I love the show. 761 00:38:48,480 --> 00:38:50,530 Speaker 3: I was born in 1970, so I relate to many 762 00:38:50,550 --> 00:38:53,230 Speaker 3: of the things you guys randomly reminisce about during each episode. 763 00:38:53,670 --> 00:38:56,170 Speaker 3: This morning, I dragged myself out of bed early to 764 00:38:56,210 --> 00:38:58,169 Speaker 3: go for a run before work. My back was stiff. 765 00:38:58,290 --> 00:39:00,650 Speaker 3: My throat was a little sore. But I resisted the 766 00:39:00,710 --> 00:39:02,610 Speaker 3: temptation to have a handy excuse not to run. I 767 00:39:02,860 --> 00:39:05,279 Speaker 3: got dressed, put on my earbuds, and I looked at 768 00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:07,000 Speaker 3: my app to see if there were any good podcast 769 00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:10,260 Speaker 3: episodes to listen to, and I gleefully saw your episode 770 00:39:10,300 --> 00:39:13,460 Speaker 3: on Terry Fox. I remember seeing that movie several times 771 00:39:13,520 --> 00:39:16,300 Speaker 3: on HBO before I even joined cross-country in junior high. 772 00:39:16,820 --> 00:39:19,340 Speaker 3: What an inspiration he was for Canadians and Americans and 773 00:39:19,469 --> 00:39:22,350 Speaker 3: all humans alike. So thanks for this great episode and 774 00:39:22,810 --> 00:39:25,150 Speaker 3: for being in my ear during many, many runs in 775 00:39:25,170 --> 00:39:27,000 Speaker 3: the last several years. And that is from Jim. 776 00:39:28,850 --> 00:39:30,700 Speaker 2: Thanks a lot, Jim. That was a good one. And 777 00:39:30,739 --> 00:39:33,580 Speaker 2: that was a good episode. We haven't heard from enough 778 00:39:33,620 --> 00:39:36,500 Speaker 2: Canadians to keep me from being nervous about it still, 779 00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:38,700 Speaker 2: but I feel like it was a good one. 780 00:39:39,430 --> 00:39:41,450 Speaker 3: Yeah, and I imagine if you're debating on whether or 781 00:39:41,489 --> 00:39:42,910 Speaker 3: not to go for a run and you see that 782 00:39:42,950 --> 00:39:44,950 Speaker 3: pop up, you're like, I've got to go for the run. 783 00:39:44,969 --> 00:39:49,609 Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. You know? Yeah, for sure. You just be like, 784 00:39:49,710 --> 00:39:51,089 Speaker 2: I feel a little slack for not. 785 00:39:51,630 --> 00:39:54,230 Speaker 1: That's right. So Terry Fox continuing to inspire. I love it. 786 00:39:54,270 --> 00:39:55,780 Speaker 2: Very nice. Who is that from? 787 00:39:56,260 --> 00:39:56,800 Speaker 1: That's Jim. 788 00:39:57,430 --> 00:40:00,110 Speaker 2: Thanks a lot, Jim. I appreciate that. Chuck appreciates it. 789 00:40:00,160 --> 00:40:02,960 Speaker 2: Jerry does too. And before I tell you where to 790 00:40:03,020 --> 00:40:05,400 Speaker 2: send your own email to, I want to tell everybody 791 00:40:05,440 --> 00:40:07,680 Speaker 2: that if you have a band... And you want to 792 00:40:07,700 --> 00:40:10,859 Speaker 2: name it Hair Girth? You will have zero competition out there. 793 00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:13,060 Speaker 2: You'll be the only band named Hair Girth as far 794 00:40:13,100 --> 00:40:15,640 Speaker 2: as the internet reports. Wow. 795 00:40:17,020 --> 00:40:17,620 Speaker 1: And you know what? 796 00:40:17,800 --> 00:40:19,799 Speaker 3: I just Googled it in quotes just to see if 797 00:40:19,860 --> 00:40:21,090 Speaker 3: Hair Girth is a term. 798 00:40:21,989 --> 00:40:24,049 Speaker 1: And the only thing you see is. 799 00:40:24,030 --> 00:40:28,469 Speaker 3: Like hair comma girth and rude awakenings by somebody named 800 00:40:28,510 --> 00:40:29,450 Speaker 3: Michael Nader. 801 00:40:30,230 --> 00:40:31,550 Speaker 2: Oh, Mike Nader said that? 802 00:40:33,410 --> 00:40:34,149 Speaker 1: Please tell me you're kidding. 803 00:40:34,190 --> 00:40:34,710 Speaker 2: Yeah, I am. 804 00:40:35,130 --> 00:40:38,420 Speaker 1: Okay. Okay. I guess it's a book, so yeah. Book plug. 805 00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:41,240 Speaker 2: Okay. Well, way to go, Mike Nader. Does it say 806 00:40:41,280 --> 00:40:41,870 Speaker 2: the name of the book? 807 00:40:42,890 --> 00:40:43,250 Speaker 1: That's it. 808 00:40:43,330 --> 00:40:46,530 Speaker 3: Hair, Girth, and Rude Awakenings. Childhood, Fatherhood, and the Chaos 809 00:40:46,550 --> 00:40:47,670 Speaker 3: in Between by Michael Nader. 810 00:40:48,030 --> 00:40:48,350 Speaker 2: Awesome. 811 00:40:48,530 --> 00:40:51,970 Speaker 3: It's released 2014. It's out there. It's a short, 112 pages. 812 00:40:52,310 --> 00:40:55,270 Speaker 2: Ooh, that's a slim tome. That's great. Yeah. A brisk read. 813 00:40:55,650 --> 00:40:58,460 Speaker 1: Yeah, so Anthony Jezelnik, pay attention. You should be in 814 00:40:58,500 --> 00:40:59,200 Speaker 1: your book club list. 815 00:41:00,480 --> 00:41:03,060 Speaker 2: Awesome. Well, if you've read any of Michael Nader's work... 816 00:41:03,860 --> 00:41:06,080 Speaker 2: that would be fantastic to let us know how it was. 817 00:41:06,140 --> 00:41:09,060 Speaker 2: We'll let everybody else know. And if you want to 818 00:41:09,120 --> 00:41:11,239 Speaker 2: just send us an email for any reason at all, 819 00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:14,729 Speaker 2: you can send it off to stuffpodcasts at iheartradio.com. 820 00:41:17,950 --> 00:41:20,810 Speaker 1: Stuff You Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For 821 00:41:20,830 --> 00:41:24,960 Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app. Apple Podcasts 822 00:41:25,100 --> 00:41:26,920 Speaker 1: are wherever you listen to your favorite shows.