WEBVTT - (Kick)Astrobiology

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind.

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<v Speaker 1>My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas. And

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<v Speaker 1>Julie I was thinking, you take the word astro and

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<v Speaker 1>you apply it to anything, and it immediately brings to

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<v Speaker 1>mind sort of a nineteen fifties, you know, space enthusiasm

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<v Speaker 1>kind of awesomeness and probably like an overstated awesomeness like

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<v Speaker 1>astro gum. You know, you could you could expect that

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<v Speaker 1>to be basically just gum, but maybe with cool packaging,

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<v Speaker 1>Yes man or astro man man or astro man or

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<v Speaker 1>you know, just think about astro lamp, astro desk, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>astro boy. They're they're they're all examples. So when you

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<v Speaker 1>when you talk about astro biology, there's a there's a

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<v Speaker 1>hint of of of absurdity to it. Yeah, it doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>quite square in the mind, doesn't. Yeah, it can easily

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<v Speaker 1>make you think of like old pulp magazine covers with

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<v Speaker 1>crazy wonky looking aliens that have no no basis in

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<v Speaker 1>in any kind of physiology that we have on Earth

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<v Speaker 1>or could even conceivably exist elsewhere. And it's also easy

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<v Speaker 1>to confine the whole realm of astrobiology to oh, I

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<v Speaker 1>wonder what aliens look like. But it's, as we're going

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<v Speaker 1>to explore in this uh, this little podcasts, there's a

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<v Speaker 1>lot more to it than that. Yeah, okay. Astrobiology really

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<v Speaker 1>deals with the speculation about the unknown, but it does

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<v Speaker 1>it through what we do know, right, what scientific theory

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<v Speaker 1>in data that we have. Yeah, it's it's uh, it's

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<v Speaker 1>it's about deduction. It's very like Sherlock Holmes would approve

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<v Speaker 1>of this. Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean it's Sherlock Holmes

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<v Speaker 1>in the universe right right, saying what can I deduce here? Um?

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<v Speaker 1>You know, where where do we come from? Are we alone?

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<v Speaker 1>Astrobiology looks at origins, evolution, in the future of life

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<v Speaker 1>in the universe. Yeah, and it does it by drawing

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<v Speaker 1>on a bunch of different fields, yeah, including biology, astronomy, geology,

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<v Speaker 1>as and astrogeology and figuring out all the things that

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<v Speaker 1>really make life like yeah, chemistry, because basically this is

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<v Speaker 1>the key, all right, in contemplating life in space or

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<v Speaker 1>on other worlds. Uh, we know that, or we believe

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<v Speaker 1>the laws of physics are universal, So what the laws

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<v Speaker 1>of physics here are they gonna say, are the same

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<v Speaker 1>as they're gonna be in any corner of the known universe.

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<v Speaker 1>All right, So it stands. So it stands the reason

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<v Speaker 1>that the laws of life also apply elsewhere as well. Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>so we have to look at the best model of

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<v Speaker 1>life we have, which is the one we have on Earth.

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<v Speaker 1>The only model of life that we have is the

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<v Speaker 1>one we have here on Earth. So we need to

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<v Speaker 1>understand it. We need to understand how it forms, how

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<v Speaker 1>it evolves, how it changes, how it kicked off to

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<v Speaker 1>begin with? Did it did it just brew up here?

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<v Speaker 1>Did it get a kickstart from a little bit of

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<v Speaker 1>a space shrapnel? A little pans bermia in action? Yeah?

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<v Speaker 1>Pants a great word, but but yeah, that's that's that's

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<v Speaker 1>one of the keys about about astrobiology. It's like taking

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<v Speaker 1>our model of life and really figuring out how it

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<v Speaker 1>works in order to figure out how it might work

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<v Speaker 1>somewhere else. And so you do. You have to think

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<v Speaker 1>about geology, you have to think about climate, you have

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<v Speaker 1>to think about about the biochemical aspect of it all.

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<v Speaker 1>It's auf so you end up drawing in a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of different fields. Yeah, and to make a sort of

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<v Speaker 1>Darwinian tinged joke. It really got its legs in the

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<v Speaker 1>last like forty years, UM. And a lot of that

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<v Speaker 1>is because there's been a burgeoning technology that's really aided astrobiology.

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<v Speaker 1>There's been the Human Genome Project, which has really helped

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<v Speaker 1>astrobiology in terms of looking at ancient genes, proteins, um,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, looking at old fossils and trying to figure

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<v Speaker 1>out what's going on here at the beginning, and how

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<v Speaker 1>can it inform us about what we are like right

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<v Speaker 1>now and what might be out there in the universe.

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<v Speaker 1>And the more we explore to it, it changes the

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<v Speaker 1>limits of what, if where life can be. Um. Extreme

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<v Speaker 1>aphiles are a huge example of this, you know, and

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<v Speaker 1>the microbes thriving around the geothermal heat in dark, deep

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<v Speaker 1>portions of the ocean. And again that's something of extreme

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<v Speaker 1>aphiles or something that we've gotten a much better hold

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<v Speaker 1>on since we've really in earnest begun to explore the

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<v Speaker 1>oceans right right right um, and you know, these geothermal

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<v Speaker 1>vents um and how and then I guess the idea is,

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<v Speaker 1>if an extreme aphile can exist in that sort of atmosphere,

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<v Speaker 1>then certainly it can exist somewhere out there in the

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<v Speaker 1>universe that's very different to the way that we we

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<v Speaker 1>humans um as liand lovers exist right right, Like it's

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<v Speaker 1>changed the way we've thought first about mars Um. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>in the past, it's been like, oh, well, maybe there's

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<v Speaker 1>a little liquid water um you know, around the near

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<v Speaker 1>the poles or something, or maybe it used to exist.

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<v Speaker 1>But but with with the extreme fhiles have changed the

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<v Speaker 1>equation a bit where we can say, oh, well, it

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<v Speaker 1>might actually be thriving somewhere deep below the surface. Likewise,

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<v Speaker 1>the there. You know, there's a lot of excitement about

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<v Speaker 1>Europa and the idea that beneath these frozen caps you

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<v Speaker 1>have a lightless ocean, which normally you might not imagine

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<v Speaker 1>things thriving, and a lightless ocean that's sealed forever beneath

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<v Speaker 1>the ice caps. But if they're geno geothermal events down there,

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<v Speaker 1>based on what we've we've discovered, that could that could

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<v Speaker 1>be it. That's could be how they're thriving down there.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe not whole mermaid cities or anything, but maybe you

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<v Speaker 1>know some I'm sorry, but but yes, probably not mermaid cities.

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<v Speaker 1>And there are no treasure chests to have that. No,

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<v Speaker 1>this presentation is brought to you by Intel Sponsors of

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<v Speaker 1>Tomorrow just but but still microas the idea of that

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<v Speaker 1>there's some sort of alien life is thriving somewhere, like

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<v Speaker 1>right now, there's a lightless ocean on one of the

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<v Speaker 1>Jovian moons, and there's something there might be something living

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<v Speaker 1>around this searing hot water. That's kind of beautiful. Yeah, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I like that. David Grinspoon, from his book Lonely Planet

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<v Speaker 1>said it helped that by the nineties, the second generation

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<v Speaker 1>of planetologists was becoming well established in the field of

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<v Speaker 1>astrobiology UM, which may at times been falsely hyped as

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<v Speaker 1>a scientific revolution or brand new discipline, but it is

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<v Speaker 1>a refreshing and encouraging development. A revolution really is going on,

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<v Speaker 1>not a scientific revolution, but a revolution in the culture

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<v Speaker 1>of science, one that is healthy for science in a

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<v Speaker 1>number of ways. And he talks about that is basically

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<v Speaker 1>saying that astrobiology is bridging all of these disciplines and

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<v Speaker 1>allowing them to to share their information socially, since we

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<v Speaker 1>do have this new understanding of the world UM. And

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<v Speaker 1>I think a good example of that is that, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>we kind of thought that the first earthlike planet that

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<v Speaker 1>we would find um outside of our Solar system would

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<v Speaker 1>be earthlike, right, But turns out that the nearest one

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<v Speaker 1>is more Jupiter. It's really hot, and it's really changed

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<v Speaker 1>the paradigm of what astrobiologists think happened in the universe.

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<v Speaker 1>How we developed jupiters, that's what they call it. That's

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<v Speaker 1>it's the new dance. I don't know what that is um.

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<v Speaker 1>So it really does has changed our understanding of of ourselves. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>and of course there are other things in an astrobiology

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<v Speaker 1>that are a little more straightforward, like obviously we know

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<v Speaker 1>that water is really important to life as we understand it,

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<v Speaker 1>so in looking to other worlds, one of the things

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<v Speaker 1>we look for our signs that there may be water

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<v Speaker 1>on the planet. We also look for Earth like planets

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<v Speaker 1>that are in a habitable zone, you know, not too

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<v Speaker 1>close to the Sun because then the ports will be

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<v Speaker 1>too hot, and not too far away because then the

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<v Speaker 1>parts will be too cold. The goldils principle. Yes, yes, Hey,

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<v Speaker 1>this brings us to another interesting tidbit in the evolution

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<v Speaker 1>of the field of astrobiology, and that's the Martian meteorite

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<v Speaker 1>a l H eight four zero zero one. We ran

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<v Speaker 1>across this in nineties six and they found it contained

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<v Speaker 1>fossilized Martian nanobacteria, or that was the argument, tiny bacteria. Yeah. Now, subsequently,

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<v Speaker 1>the you know, the evidences has been discredited for the

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<v Speaker 1>most part, but still skept question right, yeah, just yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>heavily questioned. Skeptics still can't really explain the crystals of

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<v Speaker 1>magnetite found on this particular meteorite. But the thing is

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<v Speaker 1>they closely resemble crystals made by terrestrial bacteria. So it's

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<v Speaker 1>a real thought provoking relic. Yeah. So when it first

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<v Speaker 1>came out, people are like, oh, this is evidence that

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<v Speaker 1>life does exist outside there, outside of what we know.

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<v Speaker 1>And um, NASA really got behind this, um, which is

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<v Speaker 1>not to say they got behind something that was, um

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<v Speaker 1>not worth getting behind, But at the time I think

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<v Speaker 1>that really gave them a vehicle to say, you know what,

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<v Speaker 1>this this, whether or not it's right it, this is

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<v Speaker 1>a good idea for us to get behind astrobiology and

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<v Speaker 1>use it to try to explore the world more. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>And part of that is like understanding Earth's early biosphere,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, examining the earliest sedimentary rock for biosignatures, UM,

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<v Speaker 1>searching for biosignatures of key micro organisms in these ancient rocks. UH,

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<v Speaker 1>analyzing genomic sequences UH and UH and and really looking

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<v Speaker 1>at at how evolutionary ecological changes may have occurred following

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<v Speaker 1>known asteroid impacts. Again, looking back to the idea of

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<v Speaker 1>pant spermia, the idea that that in the same way

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<v Speaker 1>that this meteorite may or may not have signs of bacteria, UM,

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<v Speaker 1>that in the distant past we might have had bacteria

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<v Speaker 1>introduced to the planet through one of these events of

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<v Speaker 1>pant spermia. I was hoping you'd say that again, there

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<v Speaker 1>you go. Well, I tried on the fly make an

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<v Speaker 1>adjective out of it, like pan spermom mamic. I don't know,

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<v Speaker 1>pansper mimic, pansper mimic. But that's just too much. Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>I love to think about that. But one of the

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<v Speaker 1>things that I read that if it was really interesting

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<v Speaker 1>is that once now said Dick, get behind it, it

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<v Speaker 1>was sort of allowed astrobiole just to sort of say, Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>the cats have the bag here. Yes, we're interested in

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<v Speaker 1>in looking at the Earth, um, looking at our solar system,

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<v Speaker 1>looking beyond it. But the reason we're really interested in

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<v Speaker 1>this is because we of course want to know if

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<v Speaker 1>there's some sort of alien life form out there. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>it's kind of like that's the that's the real point

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<v Speaker 1>of the spear. Basically, again, I wonder what aliens look like,

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<v Speaker 1>But there's all this cool stuff that comes up comes

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<v Speaker 1>off the side of it, because we end up learning

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<v Speaker 1>much more about what we are because again it's kind

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<v Speaker 1>of like, uh, imagine a mystery where you're trying to

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<v Speaker 1>figure out why a coworker is is sad or stressed out,

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<v Speaker 1>and you're like, huh, well, why would I be stressed out?

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<v Speaker 1>Why would I be sad? And you have to you know,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe examine yourself to figure out what somebody else is doing.

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<v Speaker 1>And we're examining life on Earth to try and figure

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<v Speaker 1>out what life might consist of some more else, right exactly. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>And of course even then we know that that filter

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<v Speaker 1>is limited, right, so um trying to And again that's

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<v Speaker 1>why astrobiology so interesting because it has so many different

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<v Speaker 1>fields that can provide all those different filters. Yeah, and

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<v Speaker 1>NASA is particularly interested in it too, because they feel

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<v Speaker 1>like astrobiology again really interesting and the point of the

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<v Speaker 1>spear is our wonder what aliens look like, So they

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<v Speaker 1>think it can serve to excite like new generations about science,

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<v Speaker 1>about all these different sciences that are tied up in astrobiology.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe a kid gets into it because he wants to

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<v Speaker 1>know what an alien looks like, but ends up becoming

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<v Speaker 1>more interested in how climate change effects uh, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>species on on Earth as we know it today. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>And you know, we've talked about this before, about how

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<v Speaker 1>there's this sort of cosmic naval gazing, like you know

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<v Speaker 1>between us, you know, humans making these lists of all

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<v Speaker 1>these banal things we're supposed to do in our life, right,

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<v Speaker 1>go to the group store, so on and so forth.

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<v Speaker 1>Every once in a while we kind of stop in

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<v Speaker 1>our you know, in our travels and go, why wait,

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<v Speaker 1>why are we here? Wait? There are other beings out there,

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<v Speaker 1>like are we alone? I mean, you can't help but

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<v Speaker 1>not have these thoughts. Yeah, it's like you're in the line.

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<v Speaker 1>You let you go. Let's see. Okay, I got the

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<v Speaker 1>soy milk, I got the bananas, I got the yogurt.

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<v Speaker 1>I wonder if there's a god. Oh I forgot the U,

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<v Speaker 1>I forgot the nutella, and again yeah, yeah, why why

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<v Speaker 1>why did my deem thee? Why did it survive? You know,

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<v Speaker 1>it's going back so many hundred thousands of years. It's

0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:24.720
<v Speaker 1>pretty fascinating actually, um, But again, astrobiology is really seeking

0:12:24.720 --> 0:12:29.880
<v Speaker 1>to try to answer these questions. Astrobiologists actually, Paul Davies

0:12:30.120 --> 0:12:35.080
<v Speaker 1>in Charles Lynne Weaver line Weaver I found that cancer

0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:39.040
<v Speaker 1>share similarities with early forms of multicellular life. So again,

0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:42.000
<v Speaker 1>this is something that you were talking about that in

0:12:42.000 --> 0:12:45.240
<v Speaker 1>in this pursual we we find all these different pieces

0:12:45.280 --> 0:12:47.959
<v Speaker 1>of information emerging, and this is I think one of

0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:51.160
<v Speaker 1>the most fascinating ones. Um. So we're talking about ancient

0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:54.080
<v Speaker 1>forms of life that survived, you know, six hundred million

0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:57.520
<v Speaker 1>to one million, one billion years ago that might be

0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:03.079
<v Speaker 1>related to what we know no cancer. Yeah, it's kind

0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:04.520
<v Speaker 1>of I like to think of this kind of as

0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:07.840
<v Speaker 1>the demolition Man factor. For the one listener out there

0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:11.280
<v Speaker 1>who questioned h the exclusion of demolition Man references from

0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:14.440
<v Speaker 1>a recent podcast. In this film, in this science fiction film,

0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:17.600
<v Speaker 1>the world has advanced and become more peaceful, and uh,

0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:21.400
<v Speaker 1>this ultra violent Wesley Snipes type character is completely obsolete.

0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:23.560
<v Speaker 1>But he was frozen. He's not dead, he's frozen and

0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:25.600
<v Speaker 1>preserved in some sort of a prison. And then he

0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:30.200
<v Speaker 1>escapes on an unsuspecting world. So it's uh, the the

0:13:30.240 --> 0:13:32.960
<v Speaker 1>idea that Davis in line we were putting forth is

0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:37.280
<v Speaker 1>that is it cancer is uh is basically just the

0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:40.040
<v Speaker 1>Wesley snipes in this scenario. It is the the archaic

0:13:40.120 --> 0:13:42.880
<v Speaker 1>form of life way back on the scene and it's

0:13:42.880 --> 0:13:46.000
<v Speaker 1>causing chaos. Yeah, that's I'd like how you put that. Actually,

0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:50.400
<v Speaker 1>um as also known as atavistic, right, so it's reoccurring, uh,

0:13:50.520 --> 0:13:53.320
<v Speaker 1>not this digital right, not something that has gone extinct,

0:13:53.640 --> 0:13:56.800
<v Speaker 1>but something in our genetic coating that may pop up.

0:13:57.120 --> 0:13:59.720
<v Speaker 1>And that was quite a revelation. I mean, that's still

0:13:59.720 --> 0:14:03.760
<v Speaker 1>someone of a theory out there. But um, Unlike bacteria

0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:06.720
<v Speaker 1>and viruses, cancer has not developed the capacity to evolve

0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:09.600
<v Speaker 1>into new forms. So cancer is better understood as the

0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:13.320
<v Speaker 1>reversion of cells. This this atavistic quality to the way

0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:17.040
<v Speaker 1>that they behaved. UM. So basically what that's saying is

0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:23.640
<v Speaker 1>that because they are atavistic, there's a limited set of

0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:26.880
<v Speaker 1>functions that it can perform. And so and if we

0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:28.960
<v Speaker 1>can understand it in this way, we may actually be

0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:31.240
<v Speaker 1>able to treat it better that way, because it's not

0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:35.400
<v Speaker 1>a moving target anymore, there's some form of predictability to it. Right.

0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:38.360
<v Speaker 1>And it's not necessarily necessarily about understanding something new, but

0:14:38.520 --> 0:14:42.240
<v Speaker 1>understanding something very old, right right. And see that's very

0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:44.000
<v Speaker 1>That's what I think is so fascinating about this is

0:14:44.040 --> 0:14:47.480
<v Speaker 1>because we've always thought of cancer as rogue cells taking over,

0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:50.840
<v Speaker 1>but in fact, it's just that it's it's sort of

0:14:50.880 --> 0:14:54.840
<v Speaker 1>been there, Uh, that you've got our more modern cells

0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:57.720
<v Speaker 1>that if if they're damaged or they're not performing, all

0:14:57.720 --> 0:15:00.120
<v Speaker 1>of a sudden you have these cancer as cells that

0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:03.680
<v Speaker 1>have their own little toolkit, almost like a computer virus, right,

0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:07.200
<v Speaker 1>that sort of implant themselves. Um So, knowing that that

0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:10.240
<v Speaker 1>they've got the discrete function is pretty fascinating, and that

0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:12.600
<v Speaker 1>they can't evolve and they're not they're not a moving target.

0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:16.560
<v Speaker 1>Um so. And how how cool is that the astrobiology

0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:20.080
<v Speaker 1>is a part of that, right? Yeah. Again, the point

0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:23.040
<v Speaker 1>of the spear is still wonder what what aliens look like,

0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:25.800
<v Speaker 1>when what life in another world may consist of. But

0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:29.000
<v Speaker 1>we're learning so much about more about ourselves in our

0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:31.400
<v Speaker 1>quest to answer that question. Yeah. So for I mean

0:15:31.600 --> 0:15:33.240
<v Speaker 1>for anybody who thinks, I, well, what you know, why

0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:36.080
<v Speaker 1>is astrobiology important? It's just pine this skuy stuff. Um

0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:37.840
<v Speaker 1>it's just sort of like when people first looked at

0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:40.240
<v Speaker 1>the Human Genome Project and thought, well, this is ridiculous.

0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:43.000
<v Speaker 1>Why are we mapping the human genome? You know, what's

0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:44.880
<v Speaker 1>what's the worth in that? Well that there have been

0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:48.160
<v Speaker 1>all these different offshoots which allow us to look at

0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:51.200
<v Speaker 1>this very microscopic level and say, okay, look look at

0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:57.640
<v Speaker 1>how cancers UM performing as this sort of ancient uh gene. Yeah,

0:15:57.680 --> 0:16:00.240
<v Speaker 1>it's giving us a deeper understanding of life, and it's

0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:03.600
<v Speaker 1>also fueled a lot of of of measures to make

0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:06.640
<v Speaker 1>sure that as we continue to explore the worlds that

0:16:06.680 --> 0:16:10.480
<v Speaker 1>we keep this in mind and we don't pollute them

0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:14.000
<v Speaker 1>with with earth life, that that we we try and

0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:17.240
<v Speaker 1>keep it a little sanitary. I can't keep it clean, Yeah,

0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:19.960
<v Speaker 1>keep it clean if possible. But that's just one of

0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:21.320
<v Speaker 1>the many things that have come out of the come

0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:24.080
<v Speaker 1>out of this UM. But yeah, I mean it's in

0:16:24.160 --> 0:16:28.280
<v Speaker 1>young field. It's really exciting to be alive in this

0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:30.600
<v Speaker 1>you know, day and age where the sort of data

0:16:30.680 --> 0:16:33.080
<v Speaker 1>is coming to fruition UM. Not just that we have

0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:36.440
<v Speaker 1>our iPods handy, but we know that we can see

0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:39.760
<v Speaker 1>that the the full impact of something like the Human

0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:44.720
<v Speaker 1>Genome Project in astrobiology. Yeah, bring scientists together. It's a

0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:49.280
<v Speaker 1>beautiful thing. It is indeed beautiful speaking beautiful. I don't

0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:52.880
<v Speaker 1>we have just a quick note from a listening there, Yeah,

0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:55.680
<v Speaker 1>we do. We've got a note from Michael and um.

0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:58.720
<v Speaker 1>He sent us a nice email and I'll just read

0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:02.320
<v Speaker 1>the first couple of um sentences. But we were talking

0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:06.240
<v Speaker 1>about subliminal messaging in our Eat Popcorn podcasts and I

0:17:06.359 --> 0:17:09.840
<v Speaker 1>had talked about a subliminal cross used in a politicians

0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:12.520
<v Speaker 1>commercial and at the time I couldn't remember who it was,

0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:15.560
<v Speaker 1>but he wrote to say, hey, I remember the controversy

0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:19.040
<v Speaker 1>surrounding Huckabees commercial and how people made a big deal

0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:22.080
<v Speaker 1>about the shelves in the background that formed a subliminal cross.

0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:23.919
<v Speaker 1>It was just like, okay, it was like books on

0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:27.520
<v Speaker 1>a shelf and they formed a cruciform shape. Yeah, like

0:17:27.560 --> 0:17:30.440
<v Speaker 1>that's the interscesces of the bookshelves just kind of made

0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:32.399
<v Speaker 1>this cross. Like, I mean, if you looked at it,

0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:35.480
<v Speaker 1>you could see what looked like across. Honestly, I don't

0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:37.080
<v Speaker 1>know that I would have picked it out if I

0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:39.320
<v Speaker 1>hadn't been hip to the fact. But that's the thing

0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:43.000
<v Speaker 1>about subliminal messaging, right, You don't know what part of

0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:46.359
<v Speaker 1>your brain is pickcamp on stuff exactly, So thank you, Michael.

0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:48.639
<v Speaker 1>Thanks for the heads up on that. If you have

0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:52.600
<v Speaker 1>any cool examples of subliminal messaging you would like to

0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:56.320
<v Speaker 1>share with us, or if you have any thoughts on astrobiology,

0:17:56.480 --> 0:17:59.000
<v Speaker 1>if you are indeed an astrobiologist, or or in any

0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:02.360
<v Speaker 1>of the fields that stray into its territory, feel free

0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:04.480
<v Speaker 1>to drop us a line on Twitter or Facebook. We

0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:06.919
<v Speaker 1>are blow the Mind on both of those, and you

0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:09.200
<v Speaker 1>can also drop us a line at blow the Mind

0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:15.359
<v Speaker 1>at how stuff works dot com. For more on this

0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:18.320
<v Speaker 1>and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com.

0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:21.240
<v Speaker 1>To learn more about the podcast, click on the podcast

0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:24.399
<v Speaker 1>icon in the upper right corner of our homepage. The

0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:27.040
<v Speaker 1>how Stuff Works iPhone app has a ride. Download it

0:18:27.080 --> 0:18:28.359
<v Speaker 1>today on iTunes