1 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:16,760 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas, and 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:19,760 Speaker 1: we're doing a couple of episodes here. These are kind 5 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:23,480 Speaker 1: of round up episodes of science that occurred or came 6 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:26,439 Speaker 1: to fruition in two thousand fourteen. We're recording this at 7 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:29,960 Speaker 1: the tail end often, so it's possible, uh, in the 8 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 1: two weeks that follow that we'll make contact with aliens 9 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:37,440 Speaker 1: or or some other major groundbreaking thing will happen and 10 00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: we will have missed it just because they didn't occur 11 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 1: or they didn't publish the study for some reason until 12 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 1: the last two weeks of the year, in which case 13 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: we apologize. Also, we want to say this is what 14 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: we're doing here. We're not trying to to to put 15 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:54,720 Speaker 1: out an exhaustive, perfect set in stone, launch it into 16 00:00:54,720 --> 00:01:00,959 Speaker 1: space list of this is the science. It's more this 17 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: is these are some of the big stories that impressed 18 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 1: us that we think probably resonated with you. And also 19 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 1: some of this is, uh, we have some smaller studies 20 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 1: on here that you might have missed, and we're going 21 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 1: to point out why they're amazing and worth taking a 22 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: second glance at. Yeah, I think you covered it. Um. 23 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 1: This is a two part of the first is going 24 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 1: to focus more on astonishing science, and the second part 25 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,039 Speaker 1: is just going to be more extraordinary science. So again, 26 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:28,080 Speaker 1: as you said, this is not an exhaustive list, but 27 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: it's a couple of things that may be familiar to you, 28 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 1: probably are, and a couple of things that will make 29 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: you perhaps gonna you know, cock your head to the 30 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: side and say, ah, has reframed my understanding of existence 31 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:44,800 Speaker 1: or perhaps not. Um. In any case, let's go ahead 32 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: and launch into it. And when I say launch into it, 33 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 1: of course I am referring to the Mars Science Laboratory, 34 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: also called Curiosity. Yeah, Curiosity was really really one of 35 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:02,280 Speaker 1: the m v p s for science. And uh, you know, 36 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 1: even if it wasn't interesting, it wasn't a really fun 37 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:08,600 Speaker 1: topic to discuss. We'd have to mention it here because 38 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:12,919 Speaker 1: he's just snow getting around curiosity. Um never, no, never, 39 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 1: now Now. Certainly, NASA's Curiosity rover has actually been on 40 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: the surface of Mars since August. But this was a 41 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: very good good year for our eyes and ears on 42 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:25,799 Speaker 1: the Red planet. Um. We'll see I don't even know 43 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:27,919 Speaker 1: where to start on this one. You know, well, maybe 44 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: we should just kind of say the main mission for 45 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:36,600 Speaker 1: Curiosity is to answer the question could Mars have one 46 00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 1: time Harvard life? So everything that it does, all the 47 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:44,639 Speaker 1: data that it reports back on is trying to scratch 48 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: at this question. So two years later, we're beginning to 49 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:52,920 Speaker 1: see some of this information put together from the pieces 50 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: of the puzzle. And that's what's so fascinating about where 51 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,919 Speaker 1: we are right now, because it wasn't just the spec 52 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: tagular landing that it pulled off, that in and of 53 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:08,239 Speaker 1: itself was a milestone um. But now we are seeing 54 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:12,440 Speaker 1: Curiosity cruise around there like it's a little wally, kind 55 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: of lonely looking on that planet and reporting back some 56 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 1: things like, hey, there are some key chemical ingredients for 57 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,120 Speaker 1: life in the gray powder that it's been analyzing and 58 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: it drilled out of the John Kline Rock outcrop. We're 59 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 1: talking about sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and carbon and these, 60 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:36,520 Speaker 1: as we know, become really important in terms of building life. 61 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: And Curiosity has been assessing the Martian radiation environment, helping 62 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 1: scientists to better understand the hazards that radiation may post. 63 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: So we're talking about dangers that could be posed to 64 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: indigenous microbes and human visitors should that occur. And it 65 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 1: was determined that the amount of radiation the Red planet 66 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: has exceeds NASA's career. That's for astronauts. Get to now, right, 67 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: good to know, Good to know. Now, I'm gonna go 68 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 1: a little over the top here for a minute and 69 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: say that just as Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive 70 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: the will of God, so too did the Little Rover 71 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:17,560 Speaker 1: spend much of two thousand fourteen en route to the 72 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: Martian Mount Sharp curiosity that already had already two point 73 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: discovered many of the key elements necessarily for life on 74 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 1: on Mars in the past carbon oxytion, hydrogen, phosphorus, nitrogen 75 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: uh in standing water, which we'll get to in a minute. 76 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 1: But the emergence of life also requires a great deal 77 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:36,120 Speaker 1: of time, and it's reported by Mark Kaufman in the 78 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: New York Times, scientists previously only predicted a habitable period 79 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 1: of mere centuries or you know, a few thousand years, 80 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: which which is nothing basically, when you're talking about the 81 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: window for life to emerge on a planet, but with 82 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 1: curiosities findings, we discovered a strong new evidence here that 83 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:57,680 Speaker 1: gael Crater had large bodies of water for millions or 84 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 1: even tens of millions of years, to say nothing of 85 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:06,680 Speaker 1: lingering water underground. So this year, in among other other 86 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,840 Speaker 1: things from curiosity, the window for ancient life on Mars 87 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:14,279 Speaker 1: expanded significantly, giving us a vision possible vision of a 88 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:16,919 Speaker 1: of a blue Mars three point five to four billion 89 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 1: years ago, which is pretty cool. They also found an 90 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 1: ancient stream bed where water once flowed roughly knee deep 91 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:25,120 Speaker 1: for thousands of years at a time, So again more 92 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:29,480 Speaker 1: mounting evidence that water had been present and perhaps for 93 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:33,279 Speaker 1: a significant amount of time now most recently. And these 94 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:38,039 Speaker 1: are early days so we don't have the full perspective 95 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:42,360 Speaker 1: on this yet, this sort of armchair perspective. But methane 96 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:48,160 Speaker 1: was discovered on the planet mid December here, and this 97 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:53,360 Speaker 1: is really important because since uh, we know living organisms 98 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: produce methane, then that gives sign to some pause to 99 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 1: scratch their head and say, m what possibly could be 100 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 1: the reason for this methane here found on Mars. So 101 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:07,440 Speaker 1: over the course of four measurements and two months on Mars, 102 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:12,200 Speaker 1: average methane levels increased tenfold before quickly dissipating. But this 103 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:15,919 Speaker 1: cause of the fluctuation is really unknown right now. It 104 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: could have been created by a geological process known as serpentinization, 105 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 1: which requires both heat and liquid water, or it could 106 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:27,279 Speaker 1: be the product of life in the form of microbes 107 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: releasing methane as waste product. Right now, according to Paul 108 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: Mahaffy of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, it's too much 109 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: of a single point measurement for us to really jump 110 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:44,039 Speaker 1: to any conclusions. It's pretty amazing, though, and with a 111 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: lot of these studies, especially when we get into water 112 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:49,960 Speaker 1: on Mars and UH, We've been gradually learning a lot 113 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:53,039 Speaker 1: about Mars and its history over the years, so it's 114 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:55,159 Speaker 1: it's easy to kind of, you know, ease into some 115 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: of this information and not realize just how how groundbreaking 116 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:01,760 Speaker 1: it is and how much how much more we know 117 00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: about the Red planet versus UH ten twenty years ago. UM. 118 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,840 Speaker 1: Out of that same press conference, UH, it was also 119 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:12,360 Speaker 1: they also broke down some information from May, some findings 120 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 1: from May in which the rover drilled into a piece 121 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:18,440 Speaker 1: of Martian rock called Cumberland and found UH some ancient 122 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 1: water hidden within it, and then the onboard instruments were 123 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 1: able to analyze the sample, and uh I subsequently reveilt 124 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 1: a lot about the probable history of water on Mars. 125 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: Measured the ratio of deuterium, which is heavy hydrogen um 126 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:37,280 Speaker 1: to normal hydrogen, and that that D t H ratio, 127 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: as they got, allows us to gauge how long it 128 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:43,200 Speaker 1: takes for water molecules to escape because lighter HAWL hydrogen 129 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 1: molecules fly towards the upper atmosphere fear more freely UH 130 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 1: than the heavy hydrogen ones do. So the D two 131 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:53,600 Speaker 1: H ratio in Cumberland is about half the ratio found 132 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:57,320 Speaker 1: in the Martian atmosphere water vapor today and so NASA 133 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:00,120 Speaker 1: scientists believe that this suggests that the planet lost uch 134 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 1: of its surface water after this rock form. So the 135 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:05,840 Speaker 1: idea here is that most of the Martian water likely 136 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:08,400 Speaker 1: disappeared before the Convent Cumberland rock form about three point 137 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:12,120 Speaker 1: nine billion to four point six billion years ago. So again, 138 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 1: just another insight into the history of Mars. And uh 139 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: I want to drive home with this uh and in 140 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 1: another entry that we're gonna mention that with a with 141 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:25,480 Speaker 1: a project like Curiosity, you have a lot of stuff 142 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:28,400 Speaker 1: is done in advance obviously, and you're shooting the arrow 143 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: off into the future, um, rolling the dice in some respect, 144 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:35,960 Speaker 1: um to see how everything's gonna land, sometimes literally. And 145 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 1: then there's a lot of data you get back, and 146 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 1: sometimes that data is crunched for you know, for for 147 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: for quite a long time afterwards. So just as curiosity 148 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:48,320 Speaker 1: is still ongoing the data that it's sent back and 149 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:52,199 Speaker 1: is sending back, there's a continual process of going over 150 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:54,800 Speaker 1: writ and comparing and figuring out exactly what it means. Yeah, 151 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:58,320 Speaker 1: and there have been some criticisms levied at the project 152 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:00,960 Speaker 1: to say that it's not as focus as it should be. 153 00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:06,560 Speaker 1: But I would say, here's this monumental uh project, that's 154 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 1: that's the first for humanity, you know, for Mars, and 155 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:14,800 Speaker 1: and having this data collection rover, you're probably gonna have 156 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:18,080 Speaker 1: some unfocused moments as you try to figure out exactly 157 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:21,000 Speaker 1: what is present and how to interpret that data and 158 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:24,360 Speaker 1: what direction to go in after you interpret it. Indeed, 159 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:26,400 Speaker 1: I mean there are several different experiments on board, there 160 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:29,120 Speaker 1: are multiple tools that the scientists are able to use, 161 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:32,679 Speaker 1: so it's it's gonna get pulled in different directions. Now, 162 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: the most important thing I think that happened is that 163 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:40,600 Speaker 1: on Mars the rover took a selfie. Oh I forgot 164 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:43,400 Speaker 1: about this, Yeah yeah, sent it back like hey, look 165 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: at me. Well in two thousand thirteen, it's supposed to 166 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:50,440 Speaker 1: drew a penis. Uh, well, and so did I. Yeah. Yeah, 167 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:52,920 Speaker 1: you know, we all get bored. We take selfies, we 168 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:55,960 Speaker 1: draw penises. It's just how it goes. So when we 169 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:00,079 Speaker 1: send a robotic emissary out there through the void to 170 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:03,080 Speaker 1: an alien world, it's just gonna happen. Indeed, all right, 171 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 1: we're gonna take a quick break. When we get back, 172 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:18,720 Speaker 1: we are going to discuss Rosetta. All right, we're back. Yes, 173 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:22,599 Speaker 1: the Rosetta mission from the e s A. This this 174 00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:26,760 Speaker 1: is a big one. And if it rivals curiosity just 175 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:30,719 Speaker 1: and if not surpasses it in terms of the scientific findings, 176 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:34,960 Speaker 1: the the drama even of getting getting this little guy there, 177 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:37,840 Speaker 1: uh and and just the the audacity of the experiment 178 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:40,280 Speaker 1: as a whole. Yeah, we're talking about a ten year 179 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: mission in the making. When in two thousand and four 180 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:47,400 Speaker 1: the European Space Agency launched the Rosetta spacecraft. Again, we're 181 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:52,360 Speaker 1: talking about a circuitous six point four billion kilometer trek 182 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: across the Solar System, crossing the Asteroid Belt, and traveling 183 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:59,640 Speaker 1: into deep space more than five times Earth's distance from 184 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:04,840 Speaker 1: then on to the periodic comment known as Commet sixty 185 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:09,440 Speaker 1: seven P. And now, once the spacecraft got close enough 186 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:11,920 Speaker 1: to the comment, the idea was to do the unthinkable, 187 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:14,160 Speaker 1: which is just to throw a little lander on it 188 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 1: and on top of it. No big deal. Yeah, I 189 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:19,240 Speaker 1: mean this is this is this is like one of 190 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:22,360 Speaker 1: those just sci fi meats reality kind of scenarios, right 191 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:23,959 Speaker 1: that we were going to send this thing out. It's 192 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:27,160 Speaker 1: gonna spend ten years hibernating to get there. And then 193 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:30,680 Speaker 1: not only is it going to uh be the be 194 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:33,280 Speaker 1: the first mission in history to rendezvous with the comment, 195 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:36,080 Speaker 1: because we've had fly byes in the past. Uh and 196 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:38,880 Speaker 1: not only is going to escort it as it orbits 197 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:42,439 Speaker 1: the Sun, it's going to deploy a lander to its surface. 198 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:45,280 Speaker 1: We're going to land on a comet. That was that 199 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:50,360 Speaker 1: was the plan, and uh, it mostly mostly came out Okay, Yeah, 200 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:54,480 Speaker 1: it had some um some sort of high stakes moments 201 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:57,040 Speaker 1: where it wasn't sure whether or not it was going 202 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:01,800 Speaker 1: to happen. The Harpoons does sign to attach to the 203 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:05,600 Speaker 1: comment from the lander did not fire, and so that 204 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:08,160 Speaker 1: was a bit of a problem in trying to get 205 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:11,120 Speaker 1: a bead on the actual comment and and um and 206 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:14,160 Speaker 1: find some stasis. Yeah, it's an issue with the descent 207 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:18,080 Speaker 1: thrusters as well. And so what was supposed to be 208 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:21,800 Speaker 1: a smooth landing and in a very anchored landing, Uh, 209 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:23,840 Speaker 1: there in a nice area where could get plenty of 210 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:28,960 Speaker 1: solar radiation to repowers batteries. Instead it tumbles across the 211 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:32,280 Speaker 1: surface and it hits a crater wall. And here it 212 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:34,840 Speaker 1: is a position where it can only receive a quarter 213 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:38,120 Speaker 1: of the sunlight necessary to sufficiently charge its batteries once 214 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:42,280 Speaker 1: it runs out of juice. And how much juice? Sixty 215 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:46,160 Speaker 1: hours of juice. So this was this was a fairly 216 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:50,040 Speaker 1: big blow to the immediate future of the of of it, 217 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:51,920 Speaker 1: so that the science just had to double down and say, oh, 218 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:54,640 Speaker 1: all right, we got sixty hours of juice. Let's figure 219 00:12:54,679 --> 00:12:57,640 Speaker 1: out as much as we can about this comment. Yeah, 220 00:12:57,679 --> 00:13:00,520 Speaker 1: there were so many zen moments I think that people 221 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:02,920 Speaker 1: had to tap into in the control room, I imagine, 222 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:06,360 Speaker 1: because by the time that it deployed from the rocket 223 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:08,960 Speaker 1: with something like seven hours right to make its way 224 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:11,960 Speaker 1: to actually land onto the comment for seven hours. That's 225 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:14,760 Speaker 1: white knuckling, you know, hoping that it makes it, and 226 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:17,199 Speaker 1: then when it is bouncing around, saying, oh, I hope 227 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:21,240 Speaker 1: that it actually stays. And then look it's it's got 228 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:24,120 Speaker 1: some screws that is digging into the surfaces anchoring. But 229 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:26,680 Speaker 1: now it's anchored at an angle that it can't take 230 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:32,560 Speaker 1: advantage of the full sun spectrum. So, as you say, 231 00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:35,199 Speaker 1: we got sixty hours, let's get to work. Yeah, it 232 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:40,959 Speaker 1: landed on November twelve, and last contact was November um 233 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:43,720 Speaker 1: last contact contact as of now, and we'll get more 234 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:45,560 Speaker 1: into that later. But in the sixty hours, we did 235 00:13:45,559 --> 00:13:47,120 Speaker 1: find out a lot about this comment. We found out 236 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:49,600 Speaker 1: things we didn't expect. Yeah, and why would you want 237 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:51,480 Speaker 1: to study a comment in the first place. Well, they 238 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:54,640 Speaker 1: are icy bodies that are regarded as fossils from the 239 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:57,880 Speaker 1: times when the Solar system was originating, So this could 240 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:04,120 Speaker 1: provide scientists with some prime, mordial prime material to work with. Yeah, 241 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:07,040 Speaker 1: I'm sure everyone has seen the stunning images that we 242 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:09,960 Speaker 1: received back of the comet, you know, these sort of desolate, gray, 243 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:14,240 Speaker 1: dark images, but still very very inspiring. We found, for instance, 244 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 1: that if this was not a smooth, whole shaped body 245 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:19,280 Speaker 1: like we thought it would be. Instead, it's an odd 246 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:24,040 Speaker 1: shaped coal black lump. Possibly two commets that merge together 247 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:26,480 Speaker 1: at some point in the past, because it kind of 248 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:28,160 Speaker 1: kind of looks kind of looks like two things, just 249 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:32,040 Speaker 1: sort of two big awful rocks crunched together to a 250 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: certain extent. Found out that the surface is hotter than 251 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:37,440 Speaker 1: we guessed and surprisingly ice free. The first inch of 252 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:41,080 Speaker 1: the surface crust is porous, dusty, and contains almost no 253 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:44,800 Speaker 1: ice um. Now the commet is only two point five 254 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:48,000 Speaker 1: miles wide, but it expels so much water that it 255 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:51,280 Speaker 1: could quote fill an Olympic size swimming pool in about 256 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:54,040 Speaker 1: a hundred days. So bear all that in mind when 257 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:56,320 Speaker 1: you think about the challenges of landing on this thing, 258 00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 1: landing on the surface that you it turned out to 259 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:01,200 Speaker 1: be drastically different than what you thought it was going 260 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:03,040 Speaker 1: to be. Yeah, and then all of a sudden you 261 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:06,160 Speaker 1: have all of this information, like the isotopes, what do 262 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:09,400 Speaker 1: they look like in that water? Do they match up 263 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:12,640 Speaker 1: with Earth? It could it be comments or asteroids or 264 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:16,200 Speaker 1: both that seated life on Earth. All of these questions 265 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:19,560 Speaker 1: hang in the distance, and it's possible that we may 266 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 1: be able to answer them over a period of time 267 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:25,920 Speaker 1: sorting through that data. Now, something that I'm not sure 268 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:30,200 Speaker 1: if it was widely reported on is that this comment stinks. 269 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:35,360 Speaker 1: It's got barnyard smells. Um. Sensor devices of the Rosetta 270 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:41,120 Speaker 1: spacecraft orbiting the comment sniffed out the gas molecules of 271 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:45,800 Speaker 1: and According to Katherine Altwig, she's the head of the 272 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:49,560 Speaker 1: Rosina project at the Center for Space Inhabitability, she says, 273 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:52,600 Speaker 1: the perfume of sixty seven ps quite strong, with the 274 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:58,440 Speaker 1: odor of rotten eggs, hydrogen sulfide, horse stable ammonia, and 275 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:02,840 Speaker 1: the pungent, suffocating odor of formalde hyde. This is mixed 276 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:06,040 Speaker 1: with a faint, bitter almond like aroma of hydrogen side 277 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:12,120 Speaker 1: who knew? Nice. I'm always interested to hear what other 278 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:15,360 Speaker 1: planets smell like. There's a I think I can't remember 279 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:17,440 Speaker 1: if we did a video about this at some point 280 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:19,920 Speaker 1: in the past. I know we did a blog Stinky planets, Yeah, 281 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:23,640 Speaker 1: stinky comments. Yeah. Because the stats are out there, you know, 282 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:25,840 Speaker 1: people say this, this planet smells like this, this one 283 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:28,560 Speaker 1: like that. Sometimes the answer is a little more entertaining 284 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 1: than other times. A lot of there's a lot of 285 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 1: sulfur out there. Oh, I'm sure anyway it it might smell, 286 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:37,440 Speaker 1: but it has a pleasant singing voice. And that's because 287 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:40,560 Speaker 1: the magnetic field of the comment oscillates at forty to 288 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:43,200 Speaker 1: fifty millet hurts and the sound is too low for 289 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:46,000 Speaker 1: human ears to hear it. But uh, the e s 290 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 1: a increase the pitch a thousand times and they were 291 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:52,720 Speaker 1: able to make this song more hearable, and they actually 292 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:55,080 Speaker 1: put it off on SoundCloud. I'll make sure I linked 293 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:57,360 Speaker 1: to it on the landing page for this episode. But 294 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 1: does it have no No, it does not. It's it's 295 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:03,680 Speaker 1: very very ambient in space music. And how do space 296 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:07,320 Speaker 1: music post about this? Why not? Um? But they yeah, 297 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:09,320 Speaker 1: they took the data and then it was compiled by 298 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:13,439 Speaker 1: German composer Manuel Smiffed. Uh, so it's it's very pleasant, 299 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:16,280 Speaker 1: very space it seems it sounds like the kind of 300 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,800 Speaker 1: music a comet would have kicking around in it. Now, 301 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:23,240 Speaker 1: we should probably discussed a few cultural aspects of Rosetta 302 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:28,080 Speaker 1: as well, including Filet, the name of the lander. Yeah, indeed, uh, 303 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:31,840 Speaker 1: Rosetta is of course named for the famed Rosetta stone, 304 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:36,480 Speaker 1: the pivotal Greek Egyptian hieroglyphic artifact um, which of course 305 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:40,720 Speaker 1: was vital in our understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphics and what 306 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:42,800 Speaker 1: they meant, because we had basically the same text in 307 00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:45,679 Speaker 1: both Greek and Egyptian. And the idea with Rosetta is 308 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 1: that we would gain a better understanding of commas. We 309 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:51,600 Speaker 1: learned the language of comments in the same way that 310 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:54,000 Speaker 1: the Rosetta stone allowed us to learn the language of 311 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:57,840 Speaker 1: the ancient Egyptians. And the rover is likewise named for 312 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:01,760 Speaker 1: the filet obelisk, which bears a bilingual Greek and Egyptian 313 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:06,520 Speaker 1: hieroglyphic inscription as well. Now, Rosetta was not without its scandal, 314 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:10,359 Speaker 1: and it's not anything Rosetta did, but it has to 315 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:14,439 Speaker 1: do with a scientist who was wearing a particularly colorful 316 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:19,720 Speaker 1: shirt when interviewed about Rosetta. That's right, Rosetta scientist Dr 317 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:24,800 Speaker 1: Matt Taylor UM wore a rather colorful um button up 318 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: shirt with a lot of kind of pin up ladies 319 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:30,879 Speaker 1: on its scannily clad ladies, half naked ladies. Yeah and 320 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:33,800 Speaker 1: uh and then you know he's a he's a bearded dude. Uh, 321 00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:37,719 Speaker 1: tattoos sleeved on each arm. And afterwards it was kind 322 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:40,520 Speaker 1: of an outcry from from some from some scientists and 323 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:43,280 Speaker 1: also people just observing saying, whoa, what's who? This is? 324 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:45,520 Speaker 1: The guy's the voice of your mission, and he's he's 325 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:50,119 Speaker 1: dressed like he's in a he just came out of Margharitaville. 326 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:54,679 Speaker 1: What's what's going on? Yeah, historical moment. Uh, kind of 327 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:58,120 Speaker 1: a sexist shirt. That's that's the criticism loved at him. 328 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:02,480 Speaker 1: But uh, yeah, I mean he took the criticism to heart, 329 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:06,479 Speaker 1: and it would appear that he just he just was 330 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:09,919 Speaker 1: a bit clueless about it. Yeah. He did a very heartfelt, 331 00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:12,639 Speaker 1: you know, tearful apology about it and was sorry that 332 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:16,160 Speaker 1: he'd upset people and that the press had really dove 333 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:18,399 Speaker 1: into this a lot too, because, I mean, is if 334 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:22,480 Speaker 1: the science, if this wasn't fascinating and and mind blowing enough, 335 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:25,879 Speaker 1: they had to find another angled report on. But they 336 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:29,600 Speaker 1: even talked to his sister and she said, you know, basically, 337 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:32,560 Speaker 1: he he's a guy who's so devoted to his work, 338 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:34,840 Speaker 1: but he's also the kind of guy who will lose 339 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:37,760 Speaker 1: track of where his car or his car keys might be. Uh, 340 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:39,680 Speaker 1: and so he can maybe be a little a little 341 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 1: clueless about some of the uh. The finer points of 342 00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:46,199 Speaker 1: life outside of the science environment, but didn't realize that 343 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:50,080 Speaker 1: his half naked lady shirt would be distracting. Yeah, but 344 00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:53,119 Speaker 1: you know, Carl Sagan was putting just straight up naked 345 00:19:53,119 --> 00:19:56,840 Speaker 1: pictures on other probs we've sent out into the Oh, 346 00:19:56,920 --> 00:19:59,600 Speaker 1: come on, that is not He did not send a 347 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:04,960 Speaker 1: bargain kin up out there on the Pioneer plant. I'm 348 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:09,840 Speaker 1: just saying, mind drawing possible a possible um foothold if 349 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:13,199 Speaker 1: one were to really, you know, get defensive about that 350 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:16,040 Speaker 1: shirt choice. Yeah, yeah, you know, we have a lot 351 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:18,679 Speaker 1: of young people that listen to this podcast. We have 352 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:21,200 Speaker 1: some middle aged people listen to podcasts. We have old 353 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:23,520 Speaker 1: people who listen to the podcasts. We have immortal people 354 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:26,760 Speaker 1: listening to You may very well be it's very possible 355 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:28,680 Speaker 1: that someone out there listening to this podcast could live, 356 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:33,560 Speaker 1: if not uh forever for centuries. And it would be 357 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:35,760 Speaker 1: my dream if someone like say Aubrey de Gray we're 358 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:38,000 Speaker 1: listening to this and he is, of course the bio 359 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:40,720 Speaker 1: gerontologists that I have a slight crush on, who talks 360 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:43,760 Speaker 1: about maintaining the body like a classic car, and that 361 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:47,359 Speaker 1: the first person to live to five hundred years old 362 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:50,640 Speaker 1: has already been born. Yeah, yeah, I mean the degrays. 363 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:52,919 Speaker 1: The whole thing is like basically saying, all right, we 364 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:57,480 Speaker 1: have this war against death. Well, let's break that war 365 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:00,280 Speaker 1: down into battles, because wars are fought in battles. So 366 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:04,440 Speaker 1: he divides it up into these these seven winnable battles 367 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:07,600 Speaker 1: engagements against the enemy. And if you can figure out 368 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:11,119 Speaker 1: how to knock off each of these problems, then you 369 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:13,960 Speaker 1: have the whole thing solved. Well, and what could could 370 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:17,840 Speaker 1: be better than replacing your blood with younger blood That 371 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:21,800 Speaker 1: would actually have some very beneficial effects. And uh. In 372 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:24,840 Speaker 1: the nineteen fifties, Clive McKay of Cornell University in Ithaca, 373 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:27,040 Speaker 1: New York, he was the first to sort of figure 374 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:29,960 Speaker 1: out that some of this might come into play. He 375 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:34,159 Speaker 1: stitched together the circulatory system of an old and young mouse, 376 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:39,320 Speaker 1: a technique called hetero chronic parabiosis, and he found that 377 00:21:39,359 --> 00:21:43,280 Speaker 1: the cartilage of the old mice soon appeared younger than 378 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:45,639 Speaker 1: would be expected. That was the first sort of clue 379 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,080 Speaker 1: that something could be going on here. And then in 380 00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:51,560 Speaker 1: two thousand and five, Thomas Rando at Stanford University in 381 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:54,560 Speaker 1: California and his team found that young blood returned the 382 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:57,919 Speaker 1: liver and skeletal stem cells of old mice to a 383 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:02,560 Speaker 1: more youthful state during heterochronic parabiosis, and the old mice 384 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:05,920 Speaker 1: were also able to repair injured muscles as well as 385 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:09,560 Speaker 1: young mice. So here's the spooky thing about this too. 386 00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:12,640 Speaker 1: They found that young mice that received old blood appeared 387 00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 1: to age prematurely. Wow, so it works both ways. Yeah. Well, Now, 388 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:19,640 Speaker 1: one thing I love about about these findings, of course, 389 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:22,160 Speaker 1: is that it it just goes into that classic idea 390 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:24,879 Speaker 1: that that maybe old people could drink the blood of 391 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:28,560 Speaker 1: the young and sustain their life and opens the door 392 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:32,240 Speaker 1: that one to normalizing it to normalizing and one day 393 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:36,399 Speaker 1: making it possible that old rich men uh no longer 394 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:39,120 Speaker 1: have to just sleep with young women and marry them 395 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:43,320 Speaker 1: and and take obtain their youth. That way, they can 396 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:45,760 Speaker 1: actually drink their blood or not will not drink it, 397 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:48,920 Speaker 1: but they can, um, they can take things from their 398 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:52,919 Speaker 1: blood and make themselves younger. Yeah. I think in the 399 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:55,800 Speaker 1: more recent news item that was posted this year that 400 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:58,159 Speaker 1: when I put it up on Facebook, I think I 401 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:03,240 Speaker 1: said something like, millennials, you in danger. You gotta run 402 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:07,000 Speaker 1: because more mounting evidence is pointing to your blood has 403 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:10,320 Speaker 1: been really beneficial. So then you fast forward to two 404 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:13,240 Speaker 1: thousand and twelve, Yeah, that's right. This is when we're 405 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:17,359 Speaker 1: seeing UH researchers demonstrating that blood from a young mouse, 406 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: or even just a factor known as g DF eleven 407 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:23,480 Speaker 1: from a young from young mouse blood can rejuvenate the 408 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:26,800 Speaker 1: muscles and brains of older mice. And the brain is 409 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:29,800 Speaker 1: key here because in that we're getting into possibilities for 410 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 1: some of the debilitating of brain issues that that have 411 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:37,879 Speaker 1: received so much attention over the years, particularly Alzheimer's. Yeah. 412 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:41,840 Speaker 1: So if you have this young blood plasma that that 413 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:45,720 Speaker 1: growth differential factor eleven, and you were to introduce it 414 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:48,879 Speaker 1: to a human who has Alzheimer's, you know what is 415 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:52,119 Speaker 1: that's the million dollar question? Would that actually help to 416 00:23:53,119 --> 00:23:58,480 Speaker 1: reverse the effects of Alzheimer's? And this year team at 417 00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:02,840 Speaker 1: Stanford School of Medicine did indeed start human trials on 418 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:07,879 Speaker 1: participants who received blood that was under the age of 419 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:13,520 Speaker 1: thirty and given to people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's. Yeah. 420 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:17,320 Speaker 1: Professor's Amy Wagner's and Lee Reuben of Harvard's the Department 421 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:22,080 Speaker 1: of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology. They report that injections 422 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:26,280 Speaker 1: of g d F eleven um improve the exercise capability 423 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:28,200 Speaker 1: of old mice that are about equivalent to a seventy 424 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:31,320 Speaker 1: year old human, and also improved the function of the 425 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:33,480 Speaker 1: old factory region of the brains and older mince so 426 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:35,760 Speaker 1: that they could they could smell more like a younger 427 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:37,960 Speaker 1: mouse could smell. Now, I guess you'd have to sort 428 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:41,000 Speaker 1: of extrapolate that into the sense experience of human versus 429 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,160 Speaker 1: a mouse, but that you you get the idea and 430 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:47,280 Speaker 1: the h The theory here is that g d F 431 00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:52,919 Speaker 1: eleven improves vascularity and blood flow that is associated with 432 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:56,680 Speaker 1: increased neurogenesis. Yeah, and the number of stem cells in 433 00:24:56,720 --> 00:25:01,040 Speaker 1: the brain as well. So this is really exciting stuff. 434 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:05,400 Speaker 1: Um Again, this this sort of plays into already Degray's 435 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:09,560 Speaker 1: idea that there are procedures out there, there is technology 436 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:12,359 Speaker 1: out there that can help to maintain your body like 437 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 1: a classic car, and this would be one of them, 438 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:17,600 Speaker 1: exactly one step closer to immortality. Maybe we get to 439 00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:22,480 Speaker 1: keep Patrick Stewart forever if only Yeah yeah, Ben Kingsley too, sure, 440 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:26,240 Speaker 1: why not? Maybe some more, but mainly those guys because 441 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 1: they have the capital. Don't forget Oprah, she's listening to Oprah. Yes, Oprah. 442 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:34,879 Speaker 1: I definitely am hoping Oprah lives forever as well. Yeah, 443 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:36,679 Speaker 1: I'm sure she's got some R and D out on that. 444 00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:39,240 Speaker 1: All right, I'll see what else happened. Well, it was 445 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:42,160 Speaker 1: a big year free bola, of course. UM. Certainly not 446 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:44,679 Speaker 1: the first year that ebola has been a major issue, 447 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:47,280 Speaker 1: but it it certainly made more headlines, especially here in 448 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:51,119 Speaker 1: the United States, UM, as as as it became a 449 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:55,440 Speaker 1: hot topic of discussion, even a political uh topic. Yeah. 450 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:58,120 Speaker 1: I mean we've known about ebil listens the seventies, but 451 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:02,359 Speaker 1: this strain, the zaire straight first was detected in March 452 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:05,320 Speaker 1: and Guinea, and the virus has now infected more than 453 00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:10,040 Speaker 1: seventeen thousand people and killed six thousand people, uh, laying 454 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:14,080 Speaker 1: waste to the healthcare systems, communities and economies of Guinea, 455 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:18,760 Speaker 1: Sierra Leone, and Liberia. UM. It looks like we may 456 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:21,359 Speaker 1: be coming out of this. Um, that this may not 457 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:23,840 Speaker 1: be a sort of world pandemic that's going to shut 458 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:26,560 Speaker 1: everything down. But I feel like there were some really 459 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:31,280 Speaker 1: scary moments there, UM, and that this has had all 460 00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:34,840 Speaker 1: of the elements of the human experience, because there's cultural 461 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:38,840 Speaker 1: aspects to it. UM. There's some biases, they're pretty rampant 462 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:42,679 Speaker 1: with it. And then there's just a huge amount of 463 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:47,199 Speaker 1: data and research um that has been thrown at this 464 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:49,879 Speaker 1: in order to try to stem it. Yeah, we know, 465 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:52,960 Speaker 1: we devoted a whole topic to Bola earlier in the year, 466 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:54,920 Speaker 1: and that should be linked on the landing page for 467 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:57,760 Speaker 1: this episode, Sidal Understanding of Bola, where we just break 468 00:26:57,760 --> 00:26:59,159 Speaker 1: on the science of the bowl of what we know, 469 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:02,320 Speaker 1: uh and and at the time, what what was happening 470 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:05,160 Speaker 1: and uh and so we're not going to go through 471 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:08,520 Speaker 1: all of that that information again here, but you know, 472 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:11,800 Speaker 1: basically there you kind of had. You had the science, 473 00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:16,480 Speaker 1: and then you had the politics and the media fearmongering 474 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:19,480 Speaker 1: on top of all that, uh, which made for an 475 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:25,680 Speaker 1: interesting overall experience of the Abola epidemic. Yeah, and initially 476 00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:27,879 Speaker 1: it was hard to sort out fact from fiction. But 477 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,320 Speaker 1: I feel like again there there does seem to be 478 00:27:31,359 --> 00:27:34,399 Speaker 1: a stasis that has been reached here and now we 479 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:37,480 Speaker 1: do have these raft of studies to be picked through 480 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:39,920 Speaker 1: and to try to figure out what's going on and 481 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:44,320 Speaker 1: and to help researchers better deal with a deadly pathogen um. 482 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:47,240 Speaker 1: We do not have a vaccine or treatment right now 483 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:49,760 Speaker 1: that is proven to be effective. I should say that. 484 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:52,640 Speaker 1: But here are two examples of some studies that came 485 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:55,480 Speaker 1: out of many, many, many many UH to get a 486 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:58,800 Speaker 1: handle on why some people survive infection, scientists compared mice 487 00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:01,840 Speaker 1: resistant to below with those susceptible to it, and they 488 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:04,960 Speaker 1: discovered that a gene in charge of blood vessel leakiness 489 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:08,240 Speaker 1: may play a part in the disease severity. That's that's 490 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:12,399 Speaker 1: one example. Another study published an m BIO found that 491 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:16,520 Speaker 1: THEA Bola virus can edit its genetic material, adding extra 492 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:20,119 Speaker 1: RNA building blocks, and then these changes may affect how 493 00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:22,320 Speaker 1: the virus grows in humans. Again, there are a bunch 494 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:26,200 Speaker 1: of different factors that determine whether or not a person 495 00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:28,160 Speaker 1: is going to survive this, and that's what they're trying 496 00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:31,320 Speaker 1: to figure out. And in the meantime, however, medical trials 497 00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:34,400 Speaker 1: that would normally take years or decades to roll out 498 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:38,160 Speaker 1: have been fast tracked to a timescale of even weeks 499 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:41,479 Speaker 1: or months. So you know, we're going to see how 500 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:45,360 Speaker 1: all this rolls out. But you know, hopefully um with 501 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:47,959 Speaker 1: the with the with the trials being sped up like 502 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,720 Speaker 1: this and UH fire being lit u under the projects 503 00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:53,959 Speaker 1: that we'll see what we'll see it come to fruition 504 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:56,560 Speaker 1: a lot sooner. Yeah, and that that is the hope. 505 00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:58,800 Speaker 1: But it does certainly feel better to be talking about 506 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:01,880 Speaker 1: this now in December, uh, than a couple of months 507 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:04,680 Speaker 1: ago when it was very uncertain as to what was 508 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:10,200 Speaker 1: going on. Now. The last entry is, uh, it's a doozy, 509 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:12,600 Speaker 1: and we've talked about it before, and we thought it 510 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:17,840 Speaker 1: was so important in terms of challenging our perception about 511 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 1: gender or even morphology, that we'd bring it up again. 512 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:26,520 Speaker 1: We're talking about sex reversed Genitalia. I remember seeing the 513 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:30,040 Speaker 1: embargoes release that was coming out on this one, and 514 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:32,120 Speaker 1: and I fell in love right away, and you almost 515 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:35,720 Speaker 1: broke that embargo for two seconds. You're like maybe I 516 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:39,120 Speaker 1: I certainly had to had to double and triple check 517 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:41,240 Speaker 1: to make sure I wasn't breaking em bargo on the story, 518 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:44,920 Speaker 1: because I was just just get accidentally, you know, out 519 00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:47,600 Speaker 1: of control and just push published. But but yeah, when 520 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:49,080 Speaker 1: I first saw it, I knew that this was we're 521 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:50,520 Speaker 1: gonna blog on it, We're gonna do I have to 522 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:52,960 Speaker 1: do a podcast on this, and and heck even refer 523 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:55,520 Speaker 1: to it in a second podcast as we're doing now. Um, 524 00:29:55,640 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 1: we're talking about the Brazilian cave insects of the Eotrogla genus. 525 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:05,480 Speaker 1: This covers four distinct species and they marked the first 526 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:10,120 Speaker 1: documented example of an animal with sex reversed genitalia. Uh. 527 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:14,400 Speaker 1: This was detailed in an issue of Cell Pressed Journals 528 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:18,480 Speaker 1: Current Biology came out earlier this year, and the researchers 529 00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:22,960 Speaker 1: found that females quote insert an elaborate penis like organ 530 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:28,360 Speaker 1: into males the males much reduced vagina like opening during 531 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:34,479 Speaker 1: forty to seventy hour love making sessions. Yeah. When they 532 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:36,719 Speaker 1: saw this in the act, they did see it lasting 533 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:39,360 Speaker 1: for forty to seventy hours, and this is thanks to 534 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:43,440 Speaker 1: the females inflatable spiny penis that anchors itself to the 535 00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:47,680 Speaker 1: males internal tissues. And during this time, the female trogla 536 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:51,160 Speaker 1: gathers large quantities of sperm that she uses to then 537 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:54,880 Speaker 1: fertilize her eggs. And researchers found that trying to pride 538 00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:58,200 Speaker 1: the pair apart led the separation of the male abdomen 539 00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:01,440 Speaker 1: from the thorax without breaking the genital coupling, which led 540 00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:05,120 Speaker 1: them to speculate that the entire meeting process is controlled 541 00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:08,960 Speaker 1: actively by the females, whereas the males play a more 542 00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:12,600 Speaker 1: rather a passive part. I mean basically the situation here, 543 00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:16,720 Speaker 1: as many headlines referred as, you have a female penis, 544 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:20,720 Speaker 1: you have the I mean, technically it's a dinosome, So 545 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:23,560 Speaker 1: it's the it's the female sex organs, but they've taken 546 00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:27,920 Speaker 1: on a phallic form to insert into the male sex organs, 547 00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:30,560 Speaker 1: which have taken on a yonic form. Yeah, it's it's 548 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:33,560 Speaker 1: pretty amazing, and I think it speaks not just to 549 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:37,400 Speaker 1: the fact that there's just rich biodiversity in caves that 550 00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:41,360 Speaker 1: we're still learning about, but also um that when we 551 00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:43,960 Speaker 1: do learn about it, there's a bit of cultural baggage 552 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:45,840 Speaker 1: that's put on top of this. And the reason I 553 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:48,240 Speaker 1: bring this up is because one of the more amazing 554 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:50,480 Speaker 1: things to me in the way that this was being 555 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:53,440 Speaker 1: reported is that it was spun a is, hey there's 556 00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:58,720 Speaker 1: a female organism with a painess and kind of glossing 557 00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:03,240 Speaker 1: over the fact that, hey, there's also a male organism 558 00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:08,080 Speaker 1: with a vagina, what you know, that's functioning like a vagina. 559 00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:12,520 Speaker 1: So that was that was curious. Yeah, it definitely plays 560 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:16,080 Speaker 1: into a lot of a lot of our cultural ideas 561 00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:18,520 Speaker 1: about gender and is the title of our podcast episode 562 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:23,000 Speaker 1: In this uh suggested it forces to rethink genitalia, to 563 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:25,760 Speaker 1: rethink gender in a sense, you know what, what on 564 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:28,840 Speaker 1: a biological level makes this a mail on what makes 565 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:31,560 Speaker 1: is a female versus what on a cultural level? Yeah, 566 00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:33,920 Speaker 1: and we won't go back into it, but if you're curious, 567 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:36,920 Speaker 1: do check that out, because it is pretty astounding when 568 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:39,560 Speaker 1: you began to line up female and male genitalia and 569 00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:43,680 Speaker 1: see how incredibly similar they are, especially in their functions, 570 00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:47,080 Speaker 1: you know. And maybe that's what the Rover was trying 571 00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:49,400 Speaker 1: to tell us into pousand and thirteen when it was 572 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:51,719 Speaker 1: drawing a penis, is that it's just it's a penis 573 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:55,760 Speaker 1: centric world. And yeah, I mean, Rover can't even like 574 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:59,040 Speaker 1: skid sideways on a foreign planet without the press going 575 00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:01,000 Speaker 1: or maybe not the US, but at least the Internet 576 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:03,160 Speaker 1: going crazy and saying, look, there's a penis on marks. 577 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:06,719 Speaker 1: I know they didn't even see the vagina that it drew. Yeah, 578 00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:09,920 Speaker 1: all right, so there you go. That's a that's our 579 00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:12,320 Speaker 1: first episode. We're gonna do a second episode where we 580 00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:14,880 Speaker 1: talk a little more about some of the science that 581 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:19,320 Speaker 1: occurred in or came to fruition in and uh and 582 00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:21,880 Speaker 1: and well, we'll run through a few more bits that 583 00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:24,160 Speaker 1: you may have missed during the year. Yes, join us 584 00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:26,440 Speaker 1: for the next one, won't you. An In the meantime, 585 00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:28,040 Speaker 1: you can check us out at stuff to Blow your 586 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:29,840 Speaker 1: Mind dot com. That's right, that's the mother ship. That's 587 00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:32,120 Speaker 1: where you find all of our podcast episodes. Any of 588 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:34,840 Speaker 1: these episodes, past episodes we've mentioned before, they are all 589 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:36,880 Speaker 1: present there. You may not find them on iTunes, but 590 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:38,640 Speaker 1: you will definitely find them Stuff to Blow your Mind 591 00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:41,480 Speaker 1: dot com. Also, we have tons of blog posts, we 592 00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:44,560 Speaker 1: have videos, links after our social media accounts. Uh. Anything 593 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:46,880 Speaker 1: and everything we're doing, you're gonna hear about it on 594 00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:50,240 Speaker 1: that website. All right, guys, what was astonishing to you 595 00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:52,600 Speaker 1: in the science realm this year? Let us know? You 596 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:54,800 Speaker 1: can send us an email at blow the Mind at 597 00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:59,640 Speaker 1: house to works dot com. For more on this and 598 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:08,480 Speaker 1: that sense of other topics, visit how staff works dot com. 599 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:08,360 Speaker 1: H