1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,840 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camra. 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:08,840 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with 3 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: text Stuff from houstuff works dot com. This podcast is 4 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:17,320 Speaker 1: brought to you by Audible dot com, the Internet's leading 5 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:20,200 Speaker 1: provider of audio books, with more than one hundred thousand 6 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 1: downloadable titles across all types of literature. For tex Stuff listeners, 7 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:27,440 Speaker 1: Audible is offering a free audiobook to give you a 8 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: chance to try out their service. 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Hello everyone, and welcome to tech Stuff. My 19 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 1: name is Chris Poulette and I am an editor at 20 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. Sitting here across from me. 21 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:16,560 Speaker 1: A guy who used to be an adventurer like you 22 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:18,759 Speaker 1: until he took an arrow to the knee is senior 23 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 1: writer Jonathan Strickland. The sky above the port was the 24 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 1: color of television. Tune to a dead channel. It's good guy, Okay, 25 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: So um, before we get started, we're gonna do something 26 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,559 Speaker 1: we haven't done a little while. Yeah, we're gonna listen 27 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:41,480 Speaker 1: to a little listener mail. This listener mail comes from Minka, 28 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: who says I love your podcast and have enjoyed listening 29 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:47,319 Speaker 1: to your incifle and quirky explanations immensely. I tried to 30 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: search through the past podcast to see if you have 31 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 1: done one on radio telescopes, to no avail, So I 32 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: hope I didn't just miss it. It seems to me 33 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: that radio telescopes are being used frequently to learn about 34 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: this and study the far reaches of the galaxy and beyond, 35 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:01,560 Speaker 1: and it's pretty darn cool, so it'd be neat to 36 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 1: learn more about how they work. Thanks and thanks for 37 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: the show, Minka. Well you're welcome, Minga. I just wanted 38 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:09,000 Speaker 1: to say you're welcome, all right. So now we're moving 39 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 1: on to our topic, the Smurfs. No No, we're gonna 40 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: talk about radio telescopes. Yeah, we sort of. Well, we've 41 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: talked about things that relate to radio telescopes like radio 42 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: and set yes and set CD, which does very much 43 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:30,080 Speaker 1: relate to radio telescopes. Well, what do radio telescopes do? 44 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:33,240 Speaker 1: Why are they important? Well, it's funny that you should 45 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: mention that, because they're my notes crashed, so I don't 46 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,359 Speaker 1: know what I'm talking about. I'm not I'm just kidding. 47 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:43,240 Speaker 1: They're still up. He can't see my computer from where 48 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:45,959 Speaker 1: he sits. Yes, because he's sitting directly across from me. Yes. 49 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:48,239 Speaker 1: See if if you ever wondered if that was true 50 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,359 Speaker 1: or not, it is. Yeah, um no, it's it's actually 51 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:57,239 Speaker 1: using It's unlike a typical visual telescope, which uses lenses 52 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:00,400 Speaker 1: and your eyeball and you look through it and you 53 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 1: look for stuff on the other side and base it 54 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,239 Speaker 1: directs light which is in the visible spectrum of the 55 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: electromagnetic frequency to our to our eyeballs. Ultimately right, right, 56 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:14,679 Speaker 1: But and again another drastic oversimplification of the parts. But 57 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 1: a radio telescope is actually monitoring different parts of the 58 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 1: electromagnetic frequency. Yeah, yeah, it's good looking at a completely 59 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:24,680 Speaker 1: different spectrum, So this is part of the spectrum that 60 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: is not visible to the naked eye. So we are 61 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: using these telescopes to measure um radio frequency variations that 62 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: come from outer space. And it turns out that lots 63 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: of stuff out there generates radio frequencies, right, So things 64 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:48,120 Speaker 1: like quasars, pulsars, galaxies, uh, distant stars, these sort of 65 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: things can generate electromagnetic radiation and in the form of 66 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: radio frequencies. And sometimes these are are objects that we 67 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: can't detect visually, but we can detect them if we 68 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:09,120 Speaker 1: have a sensitive enough tool that can can detect and 69 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 1: measure radio frequencies. So that's really what a radio telescope 70 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 1: is all about. And it's kind of tricky picking up 71 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: radio frequencies from outer space because only certain the actual 72 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:25,400 Speaker 1: band of frequencies or wavelengths I should say, the band 73 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:29,880 Speaker 1: of wavelengths that exist within the electromatic magnetic spectrum that 74 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 1: our radio frequency waves. It's pretty broad, Yeah, about ten 75 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:39,599 Speaker 1: meters and to one millimeter. That's a pretty good size. Yeah, 76 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:41,919 Speaker 1: you can actually get radio waves that are even longer 77 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:45,119 Speaker 1: than that, like the size of football fields. But here's 78 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: the thing is that the Earth has a level of 79 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: the atmosphere called the iona sphere. Now, the iona sphere 80 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:55,839 Speaker 1: is uh, it's kind of funky. So you guys probably 81 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:58,440 Speaker 1: have heard us talk about ions before, you know. That's 82 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 1: when we're talking about uh, atoms that have either gained 83 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:05,680 Speaker 1: or lost an electron. And if you ionize something, that 84 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 1: means you've got some free electrons roaming around in it. 85 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: So like an ionized gas or a plasma can actually 86 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 1: hold carry an electric charge. Right, Yes, why are you 87 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 1: smiling at me just because I saw a whole bunch 88 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:24,160 Speaker 1: of people going free electrons? Yeah, they're so expensive otherwise 89 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:27,120 Speaker 1: that's true. Have you seen my electric bill? Anyway? So 90 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:30,600 Speaker 1: you have the ionosphere, whether these free roaming electrons out there, 91 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:33,400 Speaker 1: and uh, and it kind of acts as a bit 92 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:38,040 Speaker 1: of a a shield or reflector in in some ways. 93 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: And so radio waves of a certain wavelength cannot pass 94 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: through the ionosphere. Essentially, anything that's ten meters are longer. 95 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:49,720 Speaker 1: The ionosphere is opaque to those. That's why you can 96 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:55,400 Speaker 1: actually broadcast certain long wavelength radio waves uh and bank 97 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:59,839 Speaker 1: them off the ionosphere, right because it won't pass through. Now, 98 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 1: when you start getting shorter than a ten meter wave length, 99 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:07,360 Speaker 1: you have radio waves that can pass through the ionosphere. 100 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 1: But if it's longer than twenty centimeters, which is about 101 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:13,279 Speaker 1: one point five gig hurts in frequency when you're talking 102 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:17,159 Speaker 1: about these, If it's longer than twenty centimeters, you start 103 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 1: to have distortion as it passes through the ionosphere. It's 104 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 1: called scintillation. And this isn't that different from the way 105 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 1: when we look up into the sky and we see 106 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:29,359 Speaker 1: stars twinkling. That's sort of the same sort of thing 107 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,400 Speaker 1: we talked about being scintillating, same kind of idea, except 108 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:34,240 Speaker 1: in this case. You know, that's we're talking about the 109 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:39,080 Speaker 1: visual spectrum there, but here, Yeah, the twenty centimeters are longer, 110 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 1: you run into that problem, and so that's not entirely 111 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:48,040 Speaker 1: useful for measurement purposes. So radio telescopes tend to focus 112 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:52,760 Speaker 1: on pun intended uh. Wavelengths that are between one centimeter 113 00:06:52,839 --> 00:06:56,840 Speaker 1: and twenty centimeters in length tend to Now there are 114 00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: some variations, and also if you were to have a 115 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:03,000 Speaker 1: radio tell scope, say in orbit, where it's you know, 116 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:06,919 Speaker 1: you don't have the ionosphere as a in play. Um, 117 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 1: that's a different story. But ground based radio telescopes kind 118 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: of had to play within these rules because the way 119 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: the ionosphere works. One of the nice things though about 120 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 1: the radio telescope is that, uh, those frequencies generally come 121 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: through pretty clearly. So uh, putting one of the ground 122 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:29,560 Speaker 1: based radio telescopes in orbit really wouldn't improve its ability 123 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: to detect signals, UM, at least based on my research, 124 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 1: not not within anything that's within those wavelengths. Yeah. Actually, 125 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:39,040 Speaker 1: it's it's a little tricky to detect that stuff anyway, 126 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:43,120 Speaker 1: because we're talking about really weak signals. I mean, by 127 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:45,640 Speaker 1: the time they reached the Earth, that these signals are 128 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 1: not very strong at all. In fact, one one reference 129 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 1: I I looked at said that, um that if you 130 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:56,120 Speaker 1: were to add up all the energy that every radio 131 00:07:56,160 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 1: telescope on Earth had been subjected to since they were built, 132 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 1: it still would not equal the energy would find in 133 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: the snowflake. Yeah, that's pretty impressive. Actor. Now, grant that 134 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 1: snowflake is the size of Detroit. No, I'm kidding, I'm kidding, 135 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:14,720 Speaker 1: typical snowflake. No. Uh. And it is also worthwhile to note, 136 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 1: especially before anyone writes in UM, that radio telescopes do 137 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:23,320 Speaker 1: have to be placed away from population centers in general, uh, 138 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: to some degree to because there is earthly interference. Yeah, 139 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:29,680 Speaker 1: those terrestrial radio interference that you have to try and 140 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:33,200 Speaker 1: minimize as much as possible. Otherwise it's just so much 141 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 1: noise that you're not going to even find any signal 142 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:38,920 Speaker 1: out there, right right, So, um, yeah, it has its 143 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: it has its good points and it's bad points simply 144 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 1: because of the the frequencies it's able to monitor. And 145 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: it's a good point too that you uh you mentioned 146 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:52,120 Speaker 1: the from the very first because these these devices. I mean, 147 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:54,840 Speaker 1: I imagine people you know, have a good idea what 148 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:58,560 Speaker 1: radio telescopes look like. I mean, we've all seen satellite dishes, 149 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: and to some degree that's more or less what they 150 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:04,240 Speaker 1: look like. In fact, you may have seen pictures of them. 151 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:09,560 Speaker 1: But um, that I think gives it the this sort 152 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:12,640 Speaker 1: of feeling that it's a fairly recent thing. And in fact, 153 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:17,320 Speaker 1: um it was somebody in uh nineteen thirty three who 154 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:21,080 Speaker 1: who figured out that um there was uh, there were 155 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:26,760 Speaker 1: radio frequencies coming from extraterrestrial bodies, someone at of course 156 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:33,280 Speaker 1: Bell telephone laboratories. You always do that. I can't fight 157 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: it that, I can't fight this feeling anymore. I can't. 158 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:42,040 Speaker 1: But yes, so you're talking about Carl Carl Jansky. Carl Jansky, Yes, uh. 159 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:46,079 Speaker 1: He he built the first antenna that could be used 160 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:48,240 Speaker 1: as a radio telescope back in nineteen thirty one, but 161 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:50,719 Speaker 1: it would take a couple of years to really figure out, uh, 162 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,120 Speaker 1: the fact that you could use this to to explore 163 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:59,040 Speaker 1: the heavens above. Because when he built his radio frequency detector, 164 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,840 Speaker 1: it was not to act as a radio telescope. It 165 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 1: was meant to detect static that could potentially interfere with 166 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:09,720 Speaker 1: radio telephone services. Right. So he was he was working 167 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:13,720 Speaker 1: literally on a project for Bell. Yeah, And what happened 168 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:16,679 Speaker 1: was he discovered that there was this interesting hissing noise 169 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:18,920 Speaker 1: he was picking up and it was hitting a cycle. 170 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:23,679 Speaker 1: The hissing noise would would occur at a certain time 171 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:26,880 Speaker 1: every day, and the cycle hit, well, not every day, 172 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:29,280 Speaker 1: the cycle hit every twenty three hours and fifty six minutes. 173 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:31,839 Speaker 1: And once he removed the snake from the line, he 174 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:33,880 Speaker 1: realized there was something else hit. He figured out that 175 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:36,080 Speaker 1: the twenty three hours of fifty six minutes was essentially 176 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:38,719 Speaker 1: the period that it takes for if you've if you've 177 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:41,360 Speaker 1: got a fixed point on the sky for you to 178 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:44,559 Speaker 1: come back round, so that you're pointing at that same object. 179 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:48,120 Speaker 1: This will come up again later. Eventually he determined that 180 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:53,920 Speaker 1: this was the the origin of this radio frequency was otherworldly, 181 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:56,320 Speaker 1: so it was coming from outside the Earth, and that 182 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 1: it was in fact coming from somewhere in the Sagittarius 183 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:04,640 Speaker 1: constellation far out. Yeah, so it would take a few 184 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:08,600 Speaker 1: more years before you saw anyone build a parabolic antenna, 185 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:10,920 Speaker 1: which is what Chris was talking about earlier, the dish 186 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:14,560 Speaker 1: style antenna. Those are not the only kind of antennas 187 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:18,000 Speaker 1: that are used in radio telescopes. It's probably, i would argue, 188 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:21,120 Speaker 1: probably the most iconic and the most common that we 189 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:23,720 Speaker 1: we see. But there are other types of antennas, including 190 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:27,199 Speaker 1: dipole antenna's, cylindrical parabolics, which are they kind of look 191 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:31,560 Speaker 1: like a trough. Uh. There are the yaggy antenna's, which 192 00:11:31,559 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 1: are um not little guys who teach you how to 193 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:39,599 Speaker 1: use kung fu karate, I should say, their horn antennas, 194 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:42,360 Speaker 1: their mills crosses that kind of stuff. Mills crosses. Telescope 195 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:46,720 Speaker 1: is um various ways of doing this, but the principle 196 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:49,760 Speaker 1: is essentially the same. It's to try and gather to 197 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:54,800 Speaker 1: detect together as much as radio frequency um radiation as possible, 198 00:11:54,800 --> 00:12:00,600 Speaker 1: and usually there are several reflectors involved that reflect radio 199 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:05,360 Speaker 1: frequencies to a focal point that can then send the 200 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:09,800 Speaker 1: signal to receiver and then from there it gets amplified. 201 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,480 Speaker 1: And we'll go through that process in a little bit. 202 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:16,480 Speaker 1: But uh so, in our and the parabolic style of 203 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 1: of antenna, this is why you have that big dish. 204 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:24,839 Speaker 1: The dish part is actually reflecting um frequencies so that 205 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:28,880 Speaker 1: they all are directed to a single focal point and 206 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:31,920 Speaker 1: that's usually called the feed that's usually a small antenta 207 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,199 Speaker 1: called the feed that us often called the feed horn 208 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:40,679 Speaker 1: that will collect the signal and send it to the receiver. Yes, 209 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: so these these radio frequencies are, like we said, generated 210 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:48,320 Speaker 1: by lots of different stuff out there in the in 211 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:53,559 Speaker 1: the in space. Um so. But the problem is that 212 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:59,319 Speaker 1: they're so so delicate. There's so such tiny little frequencies 213 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:02,200 Speaker 1: that you have to really control for the noise element, 214 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:05,040 Speaker 1: not just by trying to isolate the antenna of it, 215 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:09,520 Speaker 1: but also by making sure the material you've used in 216 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:13,320 Speaker 1: your antenna array is the right kind of stuff, because 217 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:18,880 Speaker 1: they're pretty sensitive things. And also the amount of information 218 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:23,199 Speaker 1: you can get is very much connected to the size 219 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:26,920 Speaker 1: of your antenna. Bigger antennas are able to provide a 220 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:31,199 Speaker 1: higher resolution image. It's kind of a weird word to say, 221 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:34,040 Speaker 1: because we're not talking about visible light necessarily, but an 222 00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:36,880 Speaker 1: image of what it is you're looking at. Right. So, 223 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:39,840 Speaker 1: so the larger the better in general. But if you 224 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:43,480 Speaker 1: start building so large that the material itself is heavy 225 00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:47,160 Speaker 1: enough to warp because it's it's it's so heavy that 226 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:51,360 Speaker 1: the structure itself can't maintain a specific shape, well then 227 00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:54,559 Speaker 1: you're not reflecting the radio frequencies to that focal point anymore. 228 00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:56,040 Speaker 1: You've warped it out of shape. So you have to 229 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:58,520 Speaker 1: build it out of special materials, and you have to 230 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:02,120 Speaker 1: plan for Okay, while uh, we know that by designing 231 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:05,559 Speaker 1: an antenna of this size, this particular warping is going 232 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:07,640 Speaker 1: to occur, so we have to factor that into the 233 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:10,839 Speaker 1: design so that the warping actually ends up helping rather 234 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:13,360 Speaker 1: than hurting. And usually you do that by adding a 235 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:16,640 Speaker 1: second reflector that is that's movable, so you can have 236 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:20,080 Speaker 1: a second reflector actually um position in such a way 237 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:24,000 Speaker 1: where the distortion from the main reflector hits the second reflector, 238 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:26,600 Speaker 1: which then reflects it back to the focal point, so 239 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:28,160 Speaker 1: it gets a little complicated. In fact, there are two 240 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:33,160 Speaker 1: main types of secondary reflectors. There's the Cassegrain focus, which 241 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 1: is a reflector that's in front of the main antenna 242 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:40,040 Speaker 1: or the main reflector, i should say. And then there's 243 00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:41,960 Speaker 1: another one if you have it in the back. It's 244 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:46,600 Speaker 1: called Grigoryan focus, and it chants a lot feeling you 245 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 1: were going to say that, yeah, there was a pretty 246 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 1: good chance. Uh, yeah, it's possible. Um. Now, given what 247 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:57,760 Speaker 1: what Jonathan was just talking about, giving the materials and 248 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:00,040 Speaker 1: and the uh, there are a lot of things that 249 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:06,040 Speaker 1: that can affect, uh, the efficiency of a radio telescope, 250 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:11,200 Speaker 1: including heat or cold, because the materials will expand or 251 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:15,600 Speaker 1: contract right wind the surface of the material itself, the 252 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 1: surface of the material itself. Um. But other than that, 253 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:21,600 Speaker 1: I mean, once you take all these things into account, 254 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:25,240 Speaker 1: it is theoretically possible to build as large a radio 255 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:28,000 Speaker 1: telescope as you possibly can. There's really no limit to 256 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 1: the size other than the fact that you're going to 257 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:34,280 Speaker 1: have to take things like gravity and temperature and things 258 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:38,000 Speaker 1: like that into a tensile strength. But conceivably, if you 259 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:40,960 Speaker 1: could build one that's three times the size of Earth, 260 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 1: it would work. But that and that's fascinating because it's 261 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 1: it's not it doesn't have to be a particularly large 262 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:51,560 Speaker 1: or particularly small device. It just you know, you can 263 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 1: pick up more with it. And a lot of a 264 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:57,720 Speaker 1: lot of radio telescopes are actually telescope like antenna a rays, 265 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:00,960 Speaker 1: so it's not just one antenna's several antenna's working together 266 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:06,200 Speaker 1: in order for you to gather this information, and that 267 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 1: that helps you create a larger radio telescope just but 268 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:12,400 Speaker 1: you know, you're adding extra elements in. It means that 269 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:15,360 Speaker 1: you sort of get around part of the problem, which is, 270 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:18,320 Speaker 1: you know, building just an enormous single antenna. You can 271 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,200 Speaker 1: do an array of antennas. There are different limitations on 272 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:24,800 Speaker 1: this as well. Um So the signal that you're picking 273 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:29,160 Speaker 1: up with this radio telescope is really really weak, So 274 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:31,960 Speaker 1: in order for you to have it and to to 275 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:35,360 Speaker 1: transmit first you have to you have to transfer the 276 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:39,880 Speaker 1: radio frequency information by by changing it into electricity. But 277 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:43,920 Speaker 1: because the frequency signal is so weak, the electric current 278 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:46,640 Speaker 1: would be pretty pathetic. You would not be able to 279 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:50,560 Speaker 1: measure it just by converting it right from radio frequency 280 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 1: to electricity without amplifying it in some way. So typically 281 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:58,280 Speaker 1: a radio telescope will then have a pre amplifier. So 282 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:02,440 Speaker 1: you musicians out there and and and radio folks, you know, 283 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:05,160 Speaker 1: you're probably pretty familiar with the idea of a pre amplifier. 284 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:09,040 Speaker 1: Microphones usually have a pre amplifier, that kind of thing. Um, 285 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: So a pre amplifier is really just a a way 286 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 1: of boosting a signal a certain amount before it gets 287 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:18,639 Speaker 1: truly amplified, uh, for the final use of whatever that 288 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:21,760 Speaker 1: signal is gonna be, whether it's in the audio industry 289 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:25,800 Speaker 1: or in this case, the measuring the celestial bodies. Yeah, 290 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:27,919 Speaker 1: I was I was gonna say that they don't necessarily 291 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:32,000 Speaker 1: usually have them anyway. Um, well, that's that's fair, but 292 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:35,439 Speaker 1: it does it does assist, uh, and in picking up 293 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:37,480 Speaker 1: these weak signals, that's for sure. Yeah. And so the 294 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:40,000 Speaker 1: kind that tends to be used in radio telescopes are 295 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:45,119 Speaker 1: called low noise amplifiers because we're talking about such small, 296 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:49,720 Speaker 1: very very quiet and signals. And so, boy, I'm glad 297 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:52,280 Speaker 1: didn't do the old listener mail will be getting because 298 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: then it with all this, it would have probly blown 299 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: everybody's ears out. So the the these l n A 300 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:02,480 Speaker 1: pre amplifiers take these um signals and then they boost 301 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:06,640 Speaker 1: them now here's the thing. Any sort of interference at 302 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:10,480 Speaker 1: this point could really compromise the measurements you're making. So 303 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:17,080 Speaker 1: that includes molecular movement of the pre amp. So the 304 00:18:17,119 --> 00:18:20,679 Speaker 1: fact that you know, everything in matter is made up 305 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:24,200 Speaker 1: of molecules, and these molecules move even in solid objects, right, 306 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:30,320 Speaker 1: So they in in a in big radio telescope facilities, 307 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:32,199 Speaker 1: things like the professional ones that you would find in 308 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:35,800 Speaker 1: say NASA, they tend to have to cool down the 309 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:39,920 Speaker 1: pre amplifier to reduce molecular movement as much as possible, 310 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 1: and usually to around ten kelvin. It's pretty cold. Pretty cold, yeah, 311 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:47,639 Speaker 1: zero kelvin means no molecular movement. That's what like the 312 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:50,760 Speaker 1: deepest reaches of space would be zero kelvin. So ten 313 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:54,320 Speaker 1: kelvin's pretty cold. They tend to use liquid helium to 314 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:58,120 Speaker 1: cool down the this this device low enough so that 315 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:01,480 Speaker 1: it reduces the chance for it to contribute noise to 316 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:04,879 Speaker 1: this signal. All right. From there, the signal moves into 317 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:09,200 Speaker 1: a mixer, yes, where it has a party and networks 318 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:15,080 Speaker 1: with people and not. Oh, should have taken different notes. Okay, 319 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:17,760 Speaker 1: well I'll just work from memory here then. Um No, 320 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:20,639 Speaker 1: a mixer, what the mixer's purpose is to change the 321 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:24,200 Speaker 1: frequency of the signal. Now, these signals are very high 322 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:28,439 Speaker 1: frequency and UH, and it turns out that it's easier 323 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:32,720 Speaker 1: to amplify lower frequencies. It's possible to amplify higher frequencies, 324 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:37,600 Speaker 1: but in general, it takes less UH effort to amplify 325 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: the lower frequency signals. And if it's kept at it's 326 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:44,560 Speaker 1: high frequency and you're just you're you're working with the 327 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:48,680 Speaker 1: frequency at that and it's native frequency, there's the chance 328 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:51,800 Speaker 1: that will travel back up the antenna and create feedback. 329 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:56,440 Speaker 1: It's not dissimilar to what would happen with a microphone 330 00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:58,600 Speaker 1: too close to a speaker, where you get that wonderful 331 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:03,240 Speaker 1: sound that's not wonderful. Now you're you're probably more familiar 332 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:05,119 Speaker 1: with it than I am, with your rock and roll 333 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:10,600 Speaker 1: lifestyle and all. So then what happens is the mixer 334 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,919 Speaker 1: mixes this frequency, not just it doesn't just lower. The 335 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:16,360 Speaker 1: way it lowers this frequency is it mixes the frequency 336 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:19,879 Speaker 1: with a frequency generated by an oscillator. Okay, so the 337 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:23,439 Speaker 1: oscillator creates two frequencies that are both sent into the 338 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:28,280 Speaker 1: mixer and UH one is their polar opposites of each other, 339 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:33,240 Speaker 1: and So the the mixer adds in the lower frequency 340 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:38,560 Speaker 1: together with the frequency that came in through the receiver, 341 00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:44,359 Speaker 1: and that is what it sends out to the intermediate 342 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:49,840 Speaker 1: frequency amplifier. So we've gone PREAMPTI mixer. Mixer pulls in 343 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:53,919 Speaker 1: a second frequency from the oscillator. The oscillator frequency, the 344 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:57,199 Speaker 1: lower one, gets combined with the incoming frequency that is 345 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,920 Speaker 1: then sent to the intermediate frequency amplifier or I of amplifier, 346 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 1: and that just process that sesses that signal and amplifies it. 347 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:07,679 Speaker 1: We've talked about amplifiers before in this podcast, so I'm 348 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:10,360 Speaker 1: not going to get into that. Uh. And then this 349 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:14,160 Speaker 1: this stronger signal from the I F amplifier gets sent 350 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:17,240 Speaker 1: to Well, now we've got to go to the square 351 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:22,159 Speaker 1: law detectors and the d C processors because we have 352 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:26,040 Speaker 1: to create a d C a direct current in order 353 00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:30,520 Speaker 1: for that to go to a recording device. So this 354 00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:34,120 Speaker 1: converts the frequency from the amplifier to direct current signals, 355 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:36,920 Speaker 1: and it smooths out the signals to make them easier 356 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:39,960 Speaker 1: to measure because they fluctuate quite a bit. Even as 357 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:41,879 Speaker 1: direct current, they tend to fluctuate. So the way they 358 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:45,280 Speaker 1: do this is they use capacitors. And if you recall 359 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:50,760 Speaker 1: we've talked about capacitors before too, capacitors store up electricity 360 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:53,680 Speaker 1: and then release it all at once, right there. They're 361 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:55,840 Speaker 1: kind of like a battery that it can store electricity, 362 00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:59,200 Speaker 1: but unlike a battery, it is and it releases all 363 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:03,080 Speaker 1: the electricity, doesn't do a constant flow. This, by the way, 364 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:06,199 Speaker 1: is the reason why it's a bad idea to fiddle 365 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:09,040 Speaker 1: around with electronics you don't know a lot about, including 366 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:13,760 Speaker 1: things like televisions and computers, because they have capacitors in 367 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:16,840 Speaker 1: them that can store high amounts of electricity that are 368 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:21,480 Speaker 1: potentially deadly. So, especially things like computers and televisions, you 369 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:24,560 Speaker 1: don't wanna, you know, just knock a hole in one, 370 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:27,439 Speaker 1: or you know, I've seen like videos, if you've ever 371 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:29,960 Speaker 1: seen a video of someone who who accellently breaks the television, 372 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:32,120 Speaker 1: you see a spark go off. That's a capacitor that's 373 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:36,200 Speaker 1: that's discharging, and those can be very dangerous. So anyway, 374 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:38,879 Speaker 1: in this case, the capacitors are used to kind of 375 00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:42,199 Speaker 1: smooth out those signals. I have read an interesting analogy 376 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 1: which said, imagine that you have a water hose and 377 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:49,720 Speaker 1: water is moving through the hose, but the pressure keeps changing, 378 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 1: so the water sometimes it's flowing out very quickly and 379 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:56,880 Speaker 1: sometimes it's sputtering out. Okay. Uh. In the case of 380 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:00,680 Speaker 1: this detecting radio frequencies, you want to a steady um 381 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:04,159 Speaker 1: flow so that you can measure it properly. So what 382 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:06,919 Speaker 1: if you were to instead of just measure the measuring 383 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:09,679 Speaker 1: the water that comes out of the hose, you you 384 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:12,639 Speaker 1: direct the hose towards a bucket, okay, And at the 385 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 1: base of the bucket there's a spigot that you can 386 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:17,720 Speaker 1: open up. Well, if you open up the spigot on 387 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:19,440 Speaker 1: the bucket, water is going to flow out at a 388 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:22,479 Speaker 1: much more steady rate than it's flowing out of the hose. 389 00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 1: That's the kind of idea here with the capacitor, and 390 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:27,600 Speaker 1: that it's to try and smooth out that signal and 391 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:29,640 Speaker 1: make it easier to record. And then finally you've got 392 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:32,960 Speaker 1: the actual recording device. Now, in the old days, the 393 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:37,159 Speaker 1: recording device was a an old man who said, what 394 00:23:37,359 --> 00:23:40,359 Speaker 1: was that. No, it was actually a pen attached to 395 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:44,399 Speaker 1: a a movable arm and some paper that was pulled 396 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:47,800 Speaker 1: across and then the movable arm would would move depending 397 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:52,360 Speaker 1: upon changes in voltage and so it's very similar to uh, 398 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:56,480 Speaker 1: earthquake detecting equipment. We've talked about seismological equipment in the 399 00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:59,400 Speaker 1: past where you see that or even if you think 400 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:03,800 Speaker 1: also similar things lie detectors. That's exactly what I was thinking. 401 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:06,560 Speaker 1: Polygraphs where they have the little the little pen that 402 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:09,159 Speaker 1: scratches back and forth across the papers, the papers going by, 403 00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:13,560 Speaker 1: similar kind of thing. Um, now you were in October fourteen. Yeah, 404 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:18,040 Speaker 1: so we tell you when did you go super nova? Um? No, 405 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:20,639 Speaker 1: so this in this case instead, what it's doing is 406 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:24,320 Speaker 1: it's actually uh, modern ones don't tend to use this anymore. 407 00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:26,440 Speaker 1: They tend to actually send the data directly to a 408 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,159 Speaker 1: computer where it gets recorded and you read out the 409 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:31,720 Speaker 1: information on a computer screen, as opposed to looking at 410 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:36,760 Speaker 1: a physical representation scratched out in pen um. That's generally 411 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:40,440 Speaker 1: how the radio telescope works from start to finish. So 412 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:49,440 Speaker 1: it's pretty interesting stuff. It's a little complex, I would say, yeah, yeah. Um. 413 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:52,600 Speaker 1: One of the things that we were talking about two 414 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:57,720 Speaker 1: Jonathan mentioned, um the Jansky's experiments where he was he 415 00:24:57,720 --> 00:24:59,960 Speaker 1: would note that the interference would come around it these 416 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,359 Speaker 1: certain period of time. UM. One of the prime places 417 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:08,040 Speaker 1: to put a radio telescope is near the equator because 418 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:12,439 Speaker 1: it is really good. Um, it's a really good place 419 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:17,480 Speaker 1: to get an accurate depiction as the Earth rotates, um 420 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:22,800 Speaker 1: and it can it can identify sources of radio information 421 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:27,480 Speaker 1: coming from space very clearly. UM. Unfortunately, it's a rather 422 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:31,439 Speaker 1: expensive place to try to build a radio telescope, and 423 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:33,280 Speaker 1: that's one of the reasons why they can be found 424 00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:36,119 Speaker 1: in many different places around the world. But yeah, closer 425 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:38,480 Speaker 1: to the equator tends to be better just for the 426 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:41,200 Speaker 1: you know, the quality of information you can get from this. 427 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:46,080 Speaker 1: UM and and uh, we've actually started using radio telescopes 428 00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:49,280 Speaker 1: to kind of map out the celestial bodies around us, 429 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:51,920 Speaker 1: even ones that are not visible to the naked eye. 430 00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:55,639 Speaker 1: And it's been very useful for astronomers. And there's still 431 00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:59,159 Speaker 1: there's still even you know, uh, amateur astronomers who use 432 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:02,840 Speaker 1: radio telescope. This it's it's not just the realm of 433 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:08,040 Speaker 1: massive scientific organizations like NASA, although I mean those are 434 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:09,639 Speaker 1: the ones that you know, if you look up the 435 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: pictures online, you tend to see the really larger arrays 436 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:18,560 Speaker 1: or really large antennas that belong to these major organizations. Now, 437 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:23,760 Speaker 1: a radio telescope is able to detect things celestial bodies 438 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:29,120 Speaker 1: in the sky by their angular resolution. Um. Basically it 439 00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:32,199 Speaker 1: it really is contingent on the wavelengths that it is 440 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:36,000 Speaker 1: able to detect. So that's one of the reasons why, Um, 441 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:39,800 Speaker 1: a radio telescope does need to be large. Um. Yeah, 442 00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:41,600 Speaker 1: if you you could build a small one, but it 443 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:45,760 Speaker 1: wouldn't be nearly as functional as a larger one. Basically, 444 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:51,720 Speaker 1: the larger radio telescope is the greater it's angular resolution. Um. 445 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:55,560 Speaker 1: But um, that that's basically, uh, that's basically what it is. 446 00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:58,360 Speaker 1: What what it's using. In terms of how you would 447 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:02,720 Speaker 1: measure the effectiveness of a radio telescope. Yeah, if you 448 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:06,280 Speaker 1: you know, if you had like a backyard telescope visual telescope, 449 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:09,240 Speaker 1: the resolution you would get on that is equivalent to 450 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:14,000 Speaker 1: what you would get with a huge radio telescope. The 451 00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:17,360 Speaker 1: resolution on a radio telescope is proportional to its size. 452 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:20,480 Speaker 1: So um, yeah, you've gotta have a big one if 453 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:24,440 Speaker 1: you're going to have any any real precise resolution. And 454 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:26,920 Speaker 1: again we're not. You know, it's it's a little weird 455 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:29,159 Speaker 1: because it's hard to think of resolution in terms of 456 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:31,600 Speaker 1: something other than visible light, because that's what we're mostly 457 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:35,000 Speaker 1: familiar with. But but yes, it's it still applies in 458 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:40,840 Speaker 1: this case. YEA UM and radio. Basically radio astronomers have 459 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:45,080 Speaker 1: been able to detect all kinds of different molecules in 460 00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:50,120 Speaker 1: space too. UM. You can you might be surprised to learn. 461 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:53,080 Speaker 1: I was a little surprised to learn that radio radio 462 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:59,720 Speaker 1: astronomers were able to identify carbon dioxide, water, formaldehyde, ethyl alcohol, methanol, 463 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:04,840 Speaker 1: and na um and all kinds of other different kinds 464 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:08,199 Speaker 1: of just that kinds choice of compounds out in space 465 00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:13,359 Speaker 1: UM and and to use the radio telescope in that way, 466 00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:15,320 Speaker 1: I mean, it's you can get a lot of information. 467 00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:17,920 Speaker 1: And that's actually uh sort of ties back into the 468 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:22,639 Speaker 1: set project because the if if you haven't listened to 469 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:26,960 Speaker 1: that particular podcast or are unfamiliar with the project, Basically, 470 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:31,640 Speaker 1: UM astronomers were collecting large amounts of data from the 471 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:35,600 Speaker 1: radio telescope. They were using UM for their project, and 472 00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:40,000 Speaker 1: the thing is their computers couldn't analyze it all at 473 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:42,160 Speaker 1: one time. They were collecting so much that it was 474 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:45,720 Speaker 1: just stacking up essentially, not literally, but to figure it 475 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:49,160 Speaker 1: in to create an analogy we've talked about in the past, 476 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:52,720 Speaker 1: how on YouTube users are uploading forty eight hours of 477 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:56,720 Speaker 1: content every every minute, So it'd be like telling one 478 00:28:56,800 --> 00:29:00,320 Speaker 1: person to watch everything that's on YouTube. You've got you've 479 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:02,560 Speaker 1: got a growing amount of content that you're never going 480 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:05,280 Speaker 1: to catch up to and only so much ability to 481 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:07,760 Speaker 1: consume it. So same sort of thing. In this case, 482 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:12,360 Speaker 1: we're talking about generating uh, incredible amounts of data and 483 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:16,840 Speaker 1: having a limited ability to actually analyze the information. So 484 00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:19,240 Speaker 1: what they would do was to break it down and 485 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:23,200 Speaker 1: use it in a distributed computing project, which they were 486 00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:26,480 Speaker 1: calling Steady at Home, and the idea being that people 487 00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:31,560 Speaker 1: take a slice of information, allow their computers to work 488 00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:35,480 Speaker 1: it out using a specially designed program, and send it 489 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,040 Speaker 1: back to the astronomers so that they could evaluate it 490 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:41,160 Speaker 1: and add it to the project. And uh, you know, 491 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:43,240 Speaker 1: it's just sort of a kind of a neat way 492 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:47,720 Speaker 1: to get into helping out with the project like that. 493 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:52,040 Speaker 1: But that's that's one of the problems, a good problem 494 00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:55,320 Speaker 1: to have with with radio astronomy is that these uh 495 00:29:55,680 --> 00:30:00,440 Speaker 1: large radio telescopes can couldn't collect an awful lot of data. Yeah, 496 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:03,000 Speaker 1: and so we might use them to discover things like 497 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:06,560 Speaker 1: quaysars and pulsars that we had never seen before, or 498 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 1: even detect the presence of a galaxy that before this 499 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:12,400 Speaker 1: point we just didn't know existed. Uh. Now, Cetti, of course, 500 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:15,080 Speaker 1: was really looking for any sort of signals that might 501 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:22,160 Speaker 1: indicate a pattern or uh a possible um well possible 502 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:25,440 Speaker 1: hint that there's some sort of other intelligent life out 503 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:29,719 Speaker 1: there that's generating these signals, not not just some natural phenomenon. 504 00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:35,400 Speaker 1: Do do do do well? Um and radio radio telescopes 505 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:41,440 Speaker 1: can also detect information about near celestial bodies as well. Uh, 506 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:43,520 Speaker 1: the surface for the Moon, we knew it was sort 507 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:48,080 Speaker 1: of sandy before people actually landed there because astronomers had 508 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:51,480 Speaker 1: used radio telescopes to uh to get signals from the 509 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:54,040 Speaker 1: Moon and learn you know what it was like. They're 510 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:59,720 Speaker 1: also Venus, you know, is shrouded by clouds, but astronomers 511 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:02,200 Speaker 1: are able to learn more about the surface by using 512 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:06,040 Speaker 1: radio telescopes and radar to get an idea of what 513 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:08,960 Speaker 1: the actual planet surfaces. Well, they've also used it to 514 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:14,400 Speaker 1: observe the storms on Jupiter, so that's kind of interesting too. 515 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:16,480 Speaker 1: Like they just looked at the weather report for to 516 00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:20,680 Speaker 1: right today today it's gonna be a big gas. It 517 00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:26,320 Speaker 1: sounds like my never mind, never mind, Yes, just think that. Okay, 518 00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:29,000 Speaker 1: but yeah, I think, uh, it's it's an interesting topic. 519 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:31,320 Speaker 1: It's really and it's one honestly I did not know 520 00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:34,680 Speaker 1: very much about before we started researching this podcast. No, 521 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:36,760 Speaker 1: I agree with you. I mean I knew of it, 522 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:40,200 Speaker 1: I knew it existed, but I didn't really understand what 523 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:42,360 Speaker 1: it was doing or how it did it. And it 524 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:44,680 Speaker 1: is pretty cool. I mean, it just shows me that 525 00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:48,560 Speaker 1: radio is way cooler than I ever imagined when I 526 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:50,880 Speaker 1: you know, so there you turn a radio on. That's 527 00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:53,600 Speaker 1: that's the extent of your Maybe you play with a 528 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:56,280 Speaker 1: walkie talkie, but that's about it as far as radio goes. 529 00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:57,800 Speaker 1: And then the more you look into it, the more 530 00:31:57,800 --> 00:32:00,960 Speaker 1: you're like, wow, this is really phenomenal stuff. Tesla was 531 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:02,960 Speaker 1: onto something. I'm gonna say you probably had a patent 532 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:05,360 Speaker 1: for that. Yeah, I probably did. And then never mind, 533 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:09,920 Speaker 1: I'm not gonna go into another Tesla rent. Okay. Then 534 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:12,760 Speaker 1: all right, Well that wraps up this discussion. Minka. Thank 535 00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:14,760 Speaker 1: you so much for writing in and suggesting that that 536 00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:17,000 Speaker 1: was a really cool topic for us to tackle. If 537 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:19,520 Speaker 1: any of you have a topic you would like us 538 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:22,000 Speaker 1: to look at in a future episode of tech stuff. 539 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:24,680 Speaker 1: You can let us know on Twitter or Facebook are handled. 540 00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:27,880 Speaker 1: There is text stuff hs W and I promise we're 541 00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:30,800 Speaker 1: gonna have a new email for you soon. We just 542 00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:35,000 Speaker 1: haven't created that new email address on our new email platform. Um, 543 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:37,160 Speaker 1: you can try sending it to the old one, but 544 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:40,120 Speaker 1: there's no guarantee get to us. But as soon as 545 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:41,320 Speaker 1: we have a new one, I'll let you guys know. 546 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:43,640 Speaker 1: So that'll wrap this up and Chris and I will 547 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:48,960 Speaker 1: talk to you again really soon. This podcast is brought 548 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:51,920 Speaker 1: to you by audible dot com, the Internet's leading provider 549 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:55,360 Speaker 1: of audiobooks, both more than one dred thousand downloadable titles 550 00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:58,760 Speaker 1: across all types of literature and featuring audio versions of 551 00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:02,200 Speaker 1: many New York Times of sellers. 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