1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to tex Stuff, a production of I Heart Radios 2 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 4 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:19,920 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and I love all things tech. And 5 00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:24,360 Speaker 1: as you listen to this, I will be returning to Atlanta, 6 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 1: which likely will be under a storm cloud of rain again, 7 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:35,320 Speaker 1: having spent a week in Hawaii. So because it's gonna 8 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:36,760 Speaker 1: take me a little bit of time to get back 9 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: into the swing of things, we're gonna listen to a 10 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:42,599 Speaker 1: classic episode. But don't worry, brand new material will be 11 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 1: coming out very soon. For today, however, we're going to 12 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: listen to a classic episode titled Can We Stop and 13 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 1: Asteroid From Hitting Earth? And the reason I picked this 14 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: rerun is because I've been getting a lot of notifications 15 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 1: from a particular news sign outlet that seems to have 16 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:06,639 Speaker 1: an update on potential disaster about asteroids on a daily basis. 17 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: I have a feeling that they're being a bit alarmist. 18 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:12,040 Speaker 1: It is something to be concerned about, because we're talking 19 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:16,399 Speaker 1: about a contingency that would be truly disastrous, but maybe 20 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:18,839 Speaker 1: not something that we need a daily update of. Maybe 21 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: it will happen tomorrow. Levels So Chris Palette and I 22 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: sit down to talk about what we would do in 23 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:27,920 Speaker 1: the event of an asteroid heading towards Earth and what 24 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: what are our various plans might be in order to 25 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 1: prevent that from becoming a worldwide catastrophe. Let's sit back 26 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:40,080 Speaker 1: and listen. Asteroids and preventing a collision with Earth, and 27 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: what sort of tech would be involved with that. And 28 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 1: this comes courtesy of some Facebook requests and email requests. 29 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 1: I can't believe that we had people send us multiple 30 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: people sent us this request, which seems really specific for 31 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 1: more than one person. But hey, we're going to do it, okay. 32 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: And um you know, if you have seen the documentary Armageddon, 33 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:05,680 Speaker 1: you remember that we shot Bruce Willis up into space 34 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:08,839 Speaker 1: um with Ben Affleck and some other folks like Steve 35 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:12,160 Speaker 1: Bussemmy to scare an asteroid out of the way, because 36 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: Steve Busumy is a scary guy. Uh wait, I think 37 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:16,800 Speaker 1: I might be. I think I might be a little 38 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: off track. Oh well, anyway, the premise of the movie 39 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 1: was that there was this enormous asteroid the Signs of Texas, which, 40 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:29,480 Speaker 1: by the way, not that guy. You yeah, that that's 41 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:32,960 Speaker 1: that's a reference that goes over everyone's head because no one, 42 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 1: none of our listeners have ever played the game Asteroid. 43 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:39,359 Speaker 1: What any really some of you have played Asteroids, and 44 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:44,080 Speaker 1: maybe maybe maybe our our buddy Floyd the truck driver, 45 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:47,919 Speaker 1: he might have. Hopefully not while driving, well, I hope not. Anyway, 46 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,399 Speaker 1: we're getting off track already. So the whole, the whole 47 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:53,640 Speaker 1: premise of the movie is that there's this giant asteroid 48 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: the size of Texas that's going to be flying at Earth. 49 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: And so they come up with this idea where they 50 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: scramble a bunch of of uh minors essentially to shoot 51 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: up into space, land on the asteroid and plant a 52 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 1: nuclear device on the asteroid that will blow it up 53 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 1: to tiny little bits and save the Earth. And so 54 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: we want to address this um this first. So let's 55 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: let's get this out of the way. That would not work. 56 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 1: That would that would be a bad thing. First of all, 57 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:27,919 Speaker 1: the power of such a device is hard to imagine. 58 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:30,639 Speaker 1: How would you create a nuclear device powerful enough to 59 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 1: explode Texas into tiny bits the equivalent of Texas flying 60 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: at you. Also, by the way, an asteroid that size 61 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: would pretty much wipe out everybody um, you know, when 62 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 1: we talk about asteroids that are are dangerous enough to 63 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:50,120 Speaker 1: wipe out a city, fifty yards is big enough. A 64 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 1: fifty yard asteroid, like an asteroid fifty yards across, we 65 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 1: have enough power, enough enough force to destroy a city 66 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: if it impacted the city. Um. Now, NASA classifies earth 67 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: threatening asteroids as being a hundred and forty meters or larger. 68 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: But then that conveniently is about the size that we 69 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:17,279 Speaker 1: can detect them. Well, it's uh, it's important to note 70 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:21,480 Speaker 1: too that it's happened before. We have been hit with 71 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:26,080 Speaker 1: with many space objects in the past, and I assume, 72 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:30,360 Speaker 1: to some small degree, continue to do so. It's something 73 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:32,040 Speaker 1: that we hear about in the news every day. But 74 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: every single day the Earth is hit by by tiny 75 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:39,840 Speaker 1: little object. Granted we haven't been hit by a massive 76 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: asteroid in a really long time, but meteorites hit the 77 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 1: Earth every day. Sometimes they're so small that you know, 78 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:51,160 Speaker 1: they're almost undetectable, but it does happen the But yeah, 79 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 1: they've happened in the past. I mean, that's what wiped 80 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 1: out the dinosaurs was an asteroid impact were possibly common impact, 81 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:01,919 Speaker 1: but it was a mass of impact that that altered 82 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 1: the Earth's climate, and dinosaurs did not have air conditioning, 83 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 1: so they were pretty much doomed. Doomed. I figured it 84 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:13,680 Speaker 1: was their debaucherous lifestyle and it was unsustainable. Now you're 85 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:17,039 Speaker 1: thinking of Rome, right, you know, I get this confused 86 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 1: a lot. Yeah, well, you know, if you've ever seen 87 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:23,039 Speaker 1: a t rex in a toga never mind, So so 88 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:27,560 Speaker 1: why would this plan not work with destroying an asteroid 89 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:31,359 Speaker 1: with a nuclear device. Let's assume that, for for argument's sake, 90 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:36,160 Speaker 1: that somehow you managed to find a nuclear device capable 91 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: of breaking up a Texas size asteroid while it was 92 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 1: hurtling towards Earth. And keep in mind this was this 93 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 1: this asteroid was close to Earth by the time it 94 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:49,600 Speaker 1: blows up. Otherwise it's not nearly as dramatic an ending. Right, 95 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: of course, you've gotta have it close enough to the 96 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:53,480 Speaker 1: Earth where people are starting to really freak out. Oh 97 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: and how long exactly did they have to prepare for this? 98 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:58,520 Speaker 1: It was like a couple of days or something like that. 99 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:02,599 Speaker 1: It was crazy short time period. We would yeah, anything 100 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 1: that's anything that that size we would be able to 101 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:09,679 Speaker 1: spot between Mars and Jupiter, giving us years, literally years 102 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:12,840 Speaker 1: to prepare it would not be a last minute thing. 103 00:06:12,839 --> 00:06:16,040 Speaker 1: And that's one of the myths that movies perpetuate is 104 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: that you know, you have some uh some some amateur 105 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:22,280 Speaker 1: astronomer out in the middle of nowhere just looking up 106 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: and saying, that's weird that star wasn't there yesterday. And 107 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,919 Speaker 1: then and then that information slowly filters its way to 108 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:31,919 Speaker 1: some official source which immediately clamps down and keeps it 109 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: all secret so that nobody knows that doom is on 110 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:38,400 Speaker 1: the way until it leaks to the media causing a panic. Yeah, 111 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: that we don't want to cause a panic. That's definitely 112 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 1: Hollywood related. So why would blowing up the asteroid not 113 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: be a good idea? Well, that asteroids moving at a 114 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:49,719 Speaker 1: really fast speed and the nuclear warhead is not going 115 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:52,560 Speaker 1: to slow it down. Okay, so you've still got this 116 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 1: this material moving at an incredible speed, and the mass 117 00:06:57,120 --> 00:06:59,679 Speaker 1: isn't gone. You haven't destroyed the mass, You've just spread 118 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: it out some. So instead of it being a one 119 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:06,359 Speaker 1: massive asteroid hitting the Earth, it's a whole bunch of 120 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 1: them hitting the Earth. And it's like the difference between 121 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:12,560 Speaker 1: getting hit by a slug and getting hit by um 122 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: shotgun shot. We've just spread out the area of impact 123 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: is what you've done. This is mission control. We just 124 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 1: wanted to say, oops, yeah are bad? So um so yeah, 125 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:28,280 Speaker 1: here's here's why all this stuff would really work in 126 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:32,200 Speaker 1: the real world. All Right, We've got lots of powerful 127 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:35,480 Speaker 1: telescopes pointing in all sorts of directions. Now, so the 128 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: the the myths of the amateur astronomer who detects uh 129 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 1: something the size the size that's in depicted an armageddon 130 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 1: is really that's that's busted because it would be detected 131 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:50,600 Speaker 1: by much more powerful telescopes much earlier. And um that 132 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: information would go to uh it's kind of a clearing 133 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 1: house for near Earth objects that could potentially cause harm. 134 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:05,840 Speaker 1: It's called the Minor Planet Center. It's in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Now, 135 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 1: the Minor Planet Center would then take the information that 136 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 1: was sent to it, which usually would involve the size 137 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:15,320 Speaker 1: of the asteroid and it's it's shape of orbit around 138 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:19,080 Speaker 1: the Sun and whether that orbit could potentially uh collide 139 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:22,200 Speaker 1: with the Earth, send that information out to observatories all 140 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 1: across the planet. Now, these observatories would then train their 141 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:28,720 Speaker 1: telescopes onto the object to try and make their own 142 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:32,800 Speaker 1: calculations based upon their own their own perspective to see 143 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:37,840 Speaker 1: if perhaps this would be a quote unquote interesting object. Now, 144 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:42,720 Speaker 1: in astronomical terms, interesting means, holy crap, we're all going 145 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: to die. That's the that's what they mean by interesting 146 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:51,560 Speaker 1: as in potentially impact the Earth interesting. And that information 147 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:56,319 Speaker 1: would then be shared amongst those observatories, and the likelihood 148 00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:58,720 Speaker 1: of a clamp down is really low, just because you 149 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:00,680 Speaker 1: have so many people who would be involved in this 150 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:04,000 Speaker 1: and have the information, and lots of them were gonna talk. 151 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: A lot of them, we're gonna talk and say we 152 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:08,120 Speaker 1: got to prepare now, because if we don't, we're all 153 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:11,400 Speaker 1: going to die, or a significant number of people are 154 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:15,239 Speaker 1: going to die. Because if this asteroid hits a land mass, 155 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:19,040 Speaker 1: then it's gonna be like, depending on the size of 156 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:22,000 Speaker 1: the asteroid, it could be like the entire world's nuclear 157 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 1: arsenal exploding in a single point. Um. If it hits 158 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 1: the ocean, then it could generate a tsunami of unprecedented 159 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 1: uh force that could wipe out an entire coast of 160 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:39,720 Speaker 1: a of a continent. Um. So I mean this is 161 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:45,120 Speaker 1: serious business. Uh. Fortunately, we haven't discovered anything so far 162 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:47,960 Speaker 1: that would cause that much of a problem. But again, 163 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:52,320 Speaker 1: our ability to detect these objects is limited. Most of 164 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:54,959 Speaker 1: the objects that NASA concentrates on is anything that's a 165 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:58,920 Speaker 1: higher forty meters or across or larger. And uh, the 166 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:01,840 Speaker 1: problem is that smaller objects could cause significant harm. But 167 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:07,559 Speaker 1: finding those objects is a lot trickier because space is big. Really, yeah, 168 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,360 Speaker 1: and in relation to space, fifty yard across asteroid or 169 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 1: is nothing. Yeah, it's it's you know, you you it's 170 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:21,640 Speaker 1: it's impossible to exaggerate how tiny that is. Yeah, it's 171 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:26,000 Speaker 1: like a it's like a germ on a bug. And 172 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:29,120 Speaker 1: and and you happen to be like a blue whale. 173 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:34,440 Speaker 1: That's kind of and even then that's not even close that. Yeah, 174 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:36,920 Speaker 1: I can't get my mind around it. That's that's how 175 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:39,959 Speaker 1: it is. So so all right, So nuking a an 176 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:43,560 Speaker 1: asteroid directly, as in trying to blow it up, is 177 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 1: not a feasible option. So let's let's assume for the 178 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:50,440 Speaker 1: moment that we have developed technology that helps us that's 179 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:53,760 Speaker 1: improved our ability to detect asteroids to the point where 180 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:58,240 Speaker 1: any asteroid that could potentially cause significant harm to people 181 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:00,560 Speaker 1: on Earth, to life on Earth, that you have somehow 182 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: managed to to create the technology to detect it. Yeah, 183 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:06,640 Speaker 1: all right, and it's and it's important to do so 184 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:09,480 Speaker 1: because it is probable that we will be hit by 185 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:14,319 Speaker 1: something largish again, yeah, at some point. Essentially, like it's 186 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:18,280 Speaker 1: worthwhile to to develop this technology exactly. So, yeah, the 187 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:21,400 Speaker 1: the risk might be low, but the impact would be huge. 188 00:11:21,679 --> 00:11:25,920 Speaker 1: So you know, even taking a low risk perspective of it, 189 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:29,880 Speaker 1: the actual impact would be so enormous that it is 190 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:32,040 Speaker 1: a good argument and a lot of people have made 191 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:35,640 Speaker 1: this argument to um to invest in technology to help 192 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:39,760 Speaker 1: prevent it from happening. I'd like to interrupt this particular 193 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:44,400 Speaker 1: podcast about potential disaster in order to take a moment 194 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:54,959 Speaker 1: to thank our sponsors. Let's assume that we have improved 195 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:58,080 Speaker 1: technology so we can actually detect these asteroids from a 196 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:00,280 Speaker 1: pretty good distance. Like I said, it might be years 197 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 1: before they get here, or we're gonna need that time 198 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:05,840 Speaker 1: because we're gonna need that time to develop the actual 199 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:09,480 Speaker 1: vehicles that the tools that we're going to use in 200 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 1: order to intercept that asteroid. So by intercepting it, what 201 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:18,320 Speaker 1: could we do to to avoid a collision. Well, the 202 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:22,280 Speaker 1: real key is deflecting the asteroid. You just have to 203 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:25,160 Speaker 1: move it a tiny bit, especially the further out you go, 204 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:28,719 Speaker 1: the further out you go, the tinier that that adjustment 205 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:30,920 Speaker 1: needs to be, because by the time it gets to 206 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:33,880 Speaker 1: the Earth, it's going to be the distance is going 207 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 1: to be much more enormous. You know. Just think about 208 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:41,199 Speaker 1: like you're walking to have a friend standing across from 209 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:43,920 Speaker 1: you across the football field, and you're both facing each 210 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:48,199 Speaker 1: other exactly. Now, imagine that your friend just turns slightly 211 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,120 Speaker 1: a little bit to the left and starts walking forward. Well, 212 00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:54,679 Speaker 1: from a distance, it looks like there that your friend 213 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:57,600 Speaker 1: may actually meet up with you once they get all 214 00:12:57,640 --> 00:12:59,720 Speaker 1: the way across the football field. But as they continue, 215 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:02,600 Speaker 1: you see that they're getting further and further away until 216 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:06,560 Speaker 1: they reach essentially a point parallel to you, and they 217 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,520 Speaker 1: are a good distance from you right there, further down 218 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:11,440 Speaker 1: the field, like further to the right or to the left, 219 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:15,160 Speaker 1: whichever way that the person turned. Um, that's kind of 220 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:16,680 Speaker 1: the idea here, is that if you can catch an 221 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:20,080 Speaker 1: asteroid early enough and deflect it just a couple of degrees, 222 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:23,080 Speaker 1: then you've solved the problem because it's going to miss 223 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:26,200 Speaker 1: the Earth by millions of miles. But how do you 224 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:29,600 Speaker 1: deflect it. Well, there's a lot of different options. Yeah, 225 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:34,720 Speaker 1: I read uh too. Specifically that seemed to be the 226 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:39,160 Speaker 1: options people are thinking of most like what's that um. 227 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:43,520 Speaker 1: One of them, ironically enough, was to use nuclear devices, Yes, 228 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:46,400 Speaker 1: but not to destroy, but to nudge. Right. Yeah, the 229 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:48,840 Speaker 1: idea is being that you would you would detonate the 230 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:53,720 Speaker 1: device over the asteroid. This would actually um cause a 231 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:56,480 Speaker 1: couple of things to happen, and it's you know, it's 232 00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:59,480 Speaker 1: interesting that again that we're talking about something. You know, 233 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:01,800 Speaker 1: you might say, hey, you just said nuking is bad. Well, 234 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:04,319 Speaker 1: in this case, what would happen is that you would 235 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,840 Speaker 1: uh create an uh a nuclear radiation would create this 236 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:11,440 Speaker 1: uh this vaporizing energy and vaporize the surface or a 237 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:14,440 Speaker 1: section of the surface of the asteroid. Now that's going 238 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:17,920 Speaker 1: to cause that part of the surface to eject material 239 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 1: into space. And you know, for a react action, there's 240 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:23,840 Speaker 1: an equal and opposite reaction, so that ejection from space 241 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:26,480 Speaker 1: is actually going to act as a pushing force on 242 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: the asteroid. And it's tiny, but that's all you need necessary. 243 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 1: You know, that might be all you need to move 244 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:37,120 Speaker 1: that asteroid out of the pathway of the Earth. So yeah, um, 245 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:40,920 Speaker 1: you're just using it again to to give the asteroid 246 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:44,840 Speaker 1: a little push. Actually, most of the the options I've 247 00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:47,840 Speaker 1: seen are some variation on pushing the asteroid. It's just 248 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: lots of different potential ways we could do that. Well, 249 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 1: that's true. I did read UH yet. To be fair, 250 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:56,080 Speaker 1: I did read of the possibility of using an inert 251 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:01,400 Speaker 1: UH device nothing that explodes, but basically a bullet if 252 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:06,160 Speaker 1: you will, to shove, using us kinetic force to push 253 00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:09,320 Speaker 1: the asteroid out of the way. Yeah, that is another 254 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:16,120 Speaker 1: potential UM solution, although it's it's again one of those 255 00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:20,200 Speaker 1: that that has its own set of difficulties. But yeah, 256 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:22,640 Speaker 1: that's that is what I've also heard, where you're just 257 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:26,400 Speaker 1: using a kinetic force to to tap the asteroid out 258 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:30,520 Speaker 1: of the way. And it's it's important to note that. Um. 259 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:35,680 Speaker 1: What we really can't stress how much detection and identifying 260 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:40,240 Speaker 1: the the objects path, how important that is because um, 261 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:43,040 Speaker 1: there there's an effect called the Yarkovsky effect. Did you 262 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:47,280 Speaker 1: read about this, um, As the object gets close to 263 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,000 Speaker 1: the Sun, closer to the Sun. Um, And I'm not 264 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:52,080 Speaker 1: talking about directly on a path too, but you know, 265 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 1: as it gets closer and closer to the Sun in 266 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 1: the center of our solar system, it's going to heat 267 00:15:56,600 --> 00:16:02,040 Speaker 1: up UM and for larger object it doesn't matter so 268 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:06,880 Speaker 1: much UM. But according UH to an article that I 269 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:11,240 Speaker 1: um than an article I read, the Arkovsky effect basically 270 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:14,680 Speaker 1: means that once the the object starts to heat up, 271 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:19,400 Speaker 1: the heat can affect its path. It can basically started 272 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:23,200 Speaker 1: to move in a slightly different direction. So you need 273 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:25,000 Speaker 1: to be able to We would need to be able 274 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:29,480 Speaker 1: to know exactly where the or as least as close 275 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:33,240 Speaker 1: enough to UH where the object is going to be 276 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:36,120 Speaker 1: so that we can accurately hit it with something if 277 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:38,520 Speaker 1: we're going to try to use a brute force method 278 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:41,240 Speaker 1: of moving the the asteroid out of the way, And 279 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:44,560 Speaker 1: a lot of the attempts to move asteroids may depend 280 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: upon sun, the sunlight and the Sun's power because UM, 281 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 1: there are a lot of different options that would harness 282 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 1: the power of the Sun in order to create a 283 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:59,520 Speaker 1: pulling effect or pushing effect on the the asteroid. For example, 284 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 1: there's one UM one possible technique where we would coat 285 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:11,320 Speaker 1: the asteroid with white and dark coating like paint or 286 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:16,920 Speaker 1: dust or whatever, and that would cause it to move 287 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:20,480 Speaker 1: because the Sun's energy would actually push against the asteroid. 288 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:23,280 Speaker 1: And if we've coded the rights the correct side, not 289 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:25,440 Speaker 1: the right side. I mean there's no real right or left, 290 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:29,320 Speaker 1: but the correct side of the asteroid. It could push 291 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:32,119 Speaker 1: the asteroid those couple of degrees. By the time it 292 00:17:32,119 --> 00:17:34,359 Speaker 1: gets to where the Earth is, it's millions of miles away. 293 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:38,800 Speaker 1: It's it's millions of miles off course from hitting the Earth. Um. Similarly, 294 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:42,919 Speaker 1: there were suggestions that maybe we could create a solar 295 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 1: sail that would attach We would use a like a 296 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:49,960 Speaker 1: probe to attach a solar sail to an asteroid, and 297 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:54,199 Speaker 1: the solar sale would catch the Sun's energy and be 298 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:58,320 Speaker 1: propelled by the solar wind, essentially to pull the asteroid 299 00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:03,679 Speaker 1: again outside of its pathway. UM. That that's kind of 300 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:05,919 Speaker 1: a far fetched one, really. I mean, it's definitely a 301 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: lot more challenging than say, coading and asteroid with a 302 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:13,600 Speaker 1: light colored material. Um. But then there's also the idea 303 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:18,119 Speaker 1: of using a net, an enormous net to encapsulate the 304 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:20,640 Speaker 1: the the asteroid, and the net would again act as 305 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:24,280 Speaker 1: almost like a solar sale. It would it would react 306 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:26,880 Speaker 1: against you know, the Sun. The Sun's energy would push 307 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:29,919 Speaker 1: against the net, which again would alter the course of 308 00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:36,040 Speaker 1: the asteroid. UM. Mirrors are another potential UH solution where 309 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:39,959 Speaker 1: you you launch a device that is going to deploy 310 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 1: mirrors around the asteroid to direct sunlight to specific points 311 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:48,040 Speaker 1: in the asteroid to again push it out of the way. Um. Well, 312 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:50,679 Speaker 1: everyone knows that asteroids are vein, so if you, you know, 313 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:52,640 Speaker 1: put the mirrors on the far side of the Earth, 314 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:55,919 Speaker 1: they'll go toward the mirrors and gold my best side. 315 00:18:55,960 --> 00:19:01,080 Speaker 1: I look good. Um. But then a couple of other elements. 316 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:02,960 Speaker 1: There are a couple other ways of nudging an asteroid 317 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,520 Speaker 1: all the way that don't involve sunlight at all. Uh. 318 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:09,200 Speaker 1: And one of them, one of them's strapping a rocket 319 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:13,399 Speaker 1: to it. So essentially you have a um, do we 320 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:16,680 Speaker 1: have to land somebody on the asteroid. No, not necessarily. 321 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:21,120 Speaker 1: You'd have to have some sort of of remotely operated 322 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:26,680 Speaker 1: probe that could embed into the asteroid itself and then 323 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:30,000 Speaker 1: use um, have enough fuel in it to be able 324 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:33,880 Speaker 1: to push as a rocket to push the asteroid out 325 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:38,199 Speaker 1: of the way of the pathway of collision. Now it 326 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:39,879 Speaker 1: doesn't have to push very hard, it doesn't have to 327 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:41,920 Speaker 1: push for very long. Again, as long as you catch 328 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:44,439 Speaker 1: the asteroid early enough that we have to keep stressing 329 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:46,840 Speaker 1: that this is this is assuming that we capture that 330 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:49,400 Speaker 1: we detect the asteroid and years and years and years 331 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:51,640 Speaker 1: in advance, and that we're able to react quickly enough 332 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 1: so that by the time the probe reaches the asteroid, 333 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:55,920 Speaker 1: because you remember, this isn't gonna be overnight. It's gonna 334 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:59,119 Speaker 1: take time for the for whatever solution we deploy to 335 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:01,920 Speaker 1: get to the asteroid. Like it, maybe you know, we 336 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:03,560 Speaker 1: launched something and we don't know if it's going to 337 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:06,359 Speaker 1: work for another two years or three years. I mean, 338 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:11,560 Speaker 1: that's kind of scary to think about, but that's true. So, um, yeah, 339 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:14,880 Speaker 1: you have to figure away where you have this this device, 340 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:16,840 Speaker 1: and it has to be able to carry enough fuel 341 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:19,639 Speaker 1: so that it can actually deploy properly. A lot of 342 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:22,400 Speaker 1: people suggest that this kind of approach would be best 343 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:25,160 Speaker 1: if it were already space born. So in other words, 344 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:29,240 Speaker 1: we already had some sort of launching platform in space 345 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:34,520 Speaker 1: so that the the individual probes would not need so 346 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:37,440 Speaker 1: much fuel to both escape the arts gravity and land 347 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:41,440 Speaker 1: on an asteroid and then propel it away. Um that 348 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,600 Speaker 1: that does prose a problem. But then another one is 349 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:48,760 Speaker 1: the gravity tractor. Ah. Yes, and I when I looked 350 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:51,320 Speaker 1: up the gravity tractor, I had to check just a 351 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:55,760 Speaker 1: moment ago and yes, someone has named their band gravity Tractor. 352 00:20:55,840 --> 00:21:01,840 Speaker 1: Good for them, Yeah, lead singer John Dear nice, thank you. Um. 353 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:07,520 Speaker 1: But yeah, the gravity tractor is fascinating, um because this 354 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:12,879 Speaker 1: is essentially using a different body and the gravity of 355 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:16,240 Speaker 1: another body and body that we would launch into space 356 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:20,640 Speaker 1: to pull the asteroid away without even I mean there's 357 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:23,200 Speaker 1: not the point here is not even to touch the asteroid. 358 00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:26,800 Speaker 1: It's to get something near enough to it to affect 359 00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:30,880 Speaker 1: um the asteroids path with another gravitational field, right, because 360 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:35,040 Speaker 1: you getta remember everything in the universe exerts a gravitational 361 00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:38,119 Speaker 1: pull on everything else. It's just that that pull is 362 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:41,520 Speaker 1: dependent upon distance and mass and lots of other stuff. 363 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:44,080 Speaker 1: But they you know, so if you were able to 364 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:47,440 Speaker 1: put a massive enough object close enough to the asteroid, 365 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:49,879 Speaker 1: you could alter its pathway. There is there are some 366 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:54,320 Speaker 1: problems with the gravity tractor, really. Yeah. One of them 367 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:55,960 Speaker 1: is that you have to figure out are a well, 368 00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:59,680 Speaker 1: you want the gravity tractor to pull the asteroid away 369 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:01,520 Speaker 1: from the path of collision. You don't want the asteroid 370 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:04,320 Speaker 1: to pull the gravity tractor into the path of collision. 371 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:07,159 Speaker 1: So so that means that you would have to have 372 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:10,679 Speaker 1: some sort of propulsion system aboard the gravity tractor to 373 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:15,040 Speaker 1: make little course corrections and continue to gently pull the 374 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:17,919 Speaker 1: asteroid out of its pathway. Well, if you have propulsion, 375 00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:20,680 Speaker 1: then there's the possibility of that propulsion that you're going 376 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:24,480 Speaker 1: to when you fire your rockets to to give it 377 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:28,040 Speaker 1: a boost that forced me push against the asteroid, thus 378 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:31,359 Speaker 1: negating the gravity pull that you are exerting upon it. 379 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:36,520 Speaker 1: So essentially you're getting a net zero result because that 380 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:38,760 Speaker 1: you're you're pulling it out with gravity, but you're pushing 381 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:41,360 Speaker 1: on it with your propulsion system. So finding a way 382 00:22:41,359 --> 00:22:45,440 Speaker 1: where you could create some sort of gravity tractor where 383 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:49,840 Speaker 1: the propulsion system would not actually push against the asteroid 384 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:52,959 Speaker 1: itself is would be part of the solution. Plus this 385 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,960 Speaker 1: would be really really expensive. It's a much more costly 386 00:22:56,480 --> 00:23:01,080 Speaker 1: approach and not necessarily uh the most easy to implement 387 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:05,000 Speaker 1: compared to other approaches. So I don't know that this 388 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:08,720 Speaker 1: is necessarily likely to happen. I mean, if if enough 389 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:10,639 Speaker 1: research goes into it where it proves that this is 390 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:15,639 Speaker 1: the most effective way, then sure I can see it happening, 391 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:17,679 Speaker 1: just because people would finally say all right, well you 392 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:20,520 Speaker 1: know we have to invest in it, because we can't 393 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:25,879 Speaker 1: we can't just play roulette all our existence. We have 394 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:28,880 Speaker 1: to prepare for this, But I would imagine that we'd 395 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:34,160 Speaker 1: probably go with some other route before we tried this one. Yeah. 396 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:37,960 Speaker 1: An article I read suggested that the the gravity tractor 397 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:42,760 Speaker 1: would have to be at least twenty tons in order 398 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:46,720 Speaker 1: to safely to you know, effectively to I should say, 399 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:51,639 Speaker 1: not safely effectively to an asteroid away from the Earth. Um, 400 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:55,720 Speaker 1: And I can't you know, I just imagine that's going 401 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:58,760 Speaker 1: to be very hard to get out of the Earth's orbit. 402 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:01,040 Speaker 1: I mean, you know, our gravity. I'm sorry to leave 403 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:03,199 Speaker 1: the gravitational field of the Earth. They launched something that 404 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:07,840 Speaker 1: big into space. But you know, I'm not a rocket scientist, 405 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:12,159 Speaker 1: so nor are you a brain surgeon. Now I'm not 406 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:16,159 Speaker 1: a rocket surgeon either, so um, well that's good. I 407 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:18,919 Speaker 1: can just imagine that going wrong. So I've got another 408 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:24,080 Speaker 1: another potential, although it's far fetched, possibility of getting rid 409 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:27,680 Speaker 1: of an asteroid that um that's coming at you. You 410 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:31,000 Speaker 1: let robots eat it. Really, Yeah, that's kind of cool. 411 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:33,399 Speaker 1: Robert Lamb actually wrote about this. He has a great 412 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:38,600 Speaker 1: article on the Our Our Discovery news site called top 413 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:41,440 Speaker 1: ten ways to stop an asteroid, and one of them 414 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:46,800 Speaker 1: is talking about using them robots that would actually essentially 415 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:51,000 Speaker 1: kind of chew up the asteroid and then shoot out 416 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:56,760 Speaker 1: the tiny bits of asteroid uh into space electromagnetically UM 417 00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:01,200 Speaker 1: and essentially disperse the asteroid while it still really really 418 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:03,320 Speaker 1: really far away from the Earth, because keep in mind, 419 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:05,560 Speaker 1: if it's really far away from the Earth, then not 420 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:07,720 Speaker 1: all of that mass is going to hit the Earth 421 00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:11,600 Speaker 1: the way it would in the beginning of UM the 422 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:15,640 Speaker 1: or or at the end of ARM again rather. So, Yeah, 423 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:20,840 Speaker 1: these these robots eating poop. They eat asteroids and they 424 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:24,680 Speaker 1: poop asteroid dust. I am. I wanted to go there, 425 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:26,520 Speaker 1: and I said, no, I'm not gonna say it. You're 426 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 1: not gonna say they eating poop. Nope, But you did 427 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:30,520 Speaker 1: it for me, so I could see the look on 428 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:32,280 Speaker 1: your face and I knew that you were thinking that. 429 00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:34,720 Speaker 1: So I was like, I'm going to do it. Chris 430 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:37,320 Speaker 1: and I have more to say about how we get 431 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:48,399 Speaker 1: our asteroids in gear. After this quick break. There are 432 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:53,600 Speaker 1: some talks about private companies actually investing in this UM 433 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:56,480 Speaker 1: sort of technology, this sort of approach UM, which is 434 00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:58,600 Speaker 1: kind of cool that you know, it's not just not 435 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:01,879 Speaker 1: just depending upon for mental agencies that have lots of 436 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,359 Speaker 1: different you know, things pulling on them. Um. I did 437 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:09,119 Speaker 1: read that scientists don't seem to believe that there's anything 438 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:12,119 Speaker 1: likely to hit us in the next hundred years or 439 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:14,440 Speaker 1: so right at the earliest, well at least nothing that 440 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:17,760 Speaker 1: we can see. Yeah, exactly. So there's still the possibility 441 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:21,080 Speaker 1: that something smaller it could hit and still cause massive damage. 442 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:24,000 Speaker 1: It's just not gonna necessarily cause global damage, but it 443 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:28,520 Speaker 1: could cause catastrophic local damage, you know. Um. Yeah, there's 444 00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:32,080 Speaker 1: some interesting organizations out there that are dedicated to trying 445 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:34,600 Speaker 1: to fix this problem. There's one called the B six 446 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:39,159 Speaker 1: one to Foundation, uh, and they their goal is to 447 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:45,880 Speaker 1: have a workable solution by that's coming up pretty pretty soon. Um. 448 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:48,520 Speaker 1: If you guys want to learn more about the topic, well, 449 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:50,880 Speaker 1: I can recommend a couple of things and how stuff works. 450 00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:53,439 Speaker 1: We actually have two articles that you go into more 451 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:55,920 Speaker 1: detail about the stuff we've talked about. One is called 452 00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:58,800 Speaker 1: could we really blow up an incoming asteroid with a 453 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:01,439 Speaker 1: nuclear bomb? And one is called could we stop an 454 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:05,440 Speaker 1: asteroid on a collision course towards the Earth? And also, uh, 455 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:09,399 Speaker 1: there's a great program that aired on Discovery UM called 456 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:13,240 Speaker 1: Bad Universe, and it was. It's hosted by Phil Plate, 457 00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:16,119 Speaker 1: the bad astronomer. Phil Plate, by the way, one of 458 00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:19,800 Speaker 1: my favorite bloggers and scientists out there, because he's one 459 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:23,879 Speaker 1: of those scientists who really dedicates his work to explaining 460 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:26,920 Speaker 1: science to the layman in terms that are easy, easy 461 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:31,399 Speaker 1: to understand. It makes science fun and exciting, and he 462 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:35,000 Speaker 1: does not shy away from topics like this where you know, 463 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:37,439 Speaker 1: he's like, yeah, it'll kill you, so that's why I 464 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:41,520 Speaker 1: gotta fix it. So he's very matter of fact about it. Um. 465 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:44,399 Speaker 1: Really intelligent guy, very entertaining guy. So if you have 466 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:47,720 Speaker 1: not read his stuff or watched his show, I do 467 00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:51,080 Speaker 1: recommend trying to catch that because it's he's a great guy. 468 00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:54,119 Speaker 1: And he also has a really amusing Twitter feed, and 469 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:57,640 Speaker 1: he interacts with a lot of other uh Twitter Wisenheimer's 470 00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:00,879 Speaker 1: out there, like Jonathan Holton, Paul and Storm. You know, 471 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:04,520 Speaker 1: um will be eaten. There's there's this kind of Twitter 472 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:09,760 Speaker 1: rottie that I have formed up and uh and so um. 473 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:14,199 Speaker 1: He often will chat with those folks in interesting and 474 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:16,000 Speaker 1: entertaining ways. And he's and he shares a lot of 475 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:19,040 Speaker 1: really cool science news through his Twitter feed as well. 476 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:22,600 Speaker 1: I showed you that that amazing photo of the Space 477 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:27,520 Speaker 1: Shuttle Endeavor across the sun. Yeah. Yeah, that was that 478 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:30,200 Speaker 1: was courtesy of of Mr Phil Plate. So yeah, he's 479 00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:32,919 Speaker 1: written extensively about this, and he's he's talked about it 480 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:36,120 Speaker 1: in his blogs and on on on the show Bad Universe. Um, 481 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:39,320 Speaker 1: so I recommend that as well. And uh, well, I 482 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:42,720 Speaker 1: don't have any other potential solutions off the top of 483 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:44,040 Speaker 1: my head. Do you have anything else you want to 484 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:47,760 Speaker 1: add before we conclude? Not in particular. Now, well, then, um, 485 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:50,440 Speaker 1: I would suggest we all just take a moment to 486 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:56,800 Speaker 1: uh to to ridicule the documentary Armageddon, uh for its 487 00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:01,440 Speaker 1: portrayal of how we would uh alter the course of 488 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:04,040 Speaker 1: a of an asteroid by blowing it up real good 489 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:06,400 Speaker 1: uh Texas style. But you have to land a space 490 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:09,480 Speaker 1: shuttle on it first. Yeah, and you have to sing 491 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:12,040 Speaker 1: the song I quoted at the beginning at some point, 492 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:17,960 Speaker 1: and uh and Bruce Willis has to die. Oh spoiler alert. Yeah. Um. 493 00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:21,280 Speaker 1: I was interested in though, that scientists are also talking 494 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:26,600 Speaker 1: about the possibility of of mining asteroids in an attempt 495 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:30,440 Speaker 1: to understand them better. Um yeah, I did read that. Uh. 496 00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:34,640 Speaker 1: You know, although we may not necessarily be ready to 497 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:38,480 Speaker 1: destroy one just yet that scientists even alter its path 498 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:43,920 Speaker 1: right right, Um, But scientists are considering the possibility if uh, 499 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:46,880 Speaker 1: you know, since they are tracking some asteroids that are 500 00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:50,520 Speaker 1: coming near to Earth and near and again space is big, 501 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:53,640 Speaker 1: so near as a relative term. Um, But they're talking 502 00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:59,680 Speaker 1: about the idea of visiting some near Earth asteroids with 503 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:03,000 Speaker 1: the assibility of mining, you know, taking some samples of 504 00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:05,640 Speaker 1: the rocks that are there on the asteroid to get 505 00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:08,960 Speaker 1: a better understanding of elements in the universe and bringing 506 00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:12,320 Speaker 1: them back to Earth, which uh is a really cool idea. 507 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:14,400 Speaker 1: I don't I don't imagine they would send people to 508 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:19,160 Speaker 1: do that. Um. So the idea of doing the complex 509 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:22,920 Speaker 1: calculation necessary to hit a moving object you know that's 510 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:26,680 Speaker 1: coming around, um, take samples and then return to Earth. 511 00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:30,040 Speaker 1: That's that's really fascinating stuff. And that's not exactly the 512 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:33,120 Speaker 1: same topic. But I think it's a really cool application 513 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:36,680 Speaker 1: of science and hope that if they can do that 514 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:38,800 Speaker 1: that it will be fruitful and we'll learn a lot 515 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:41,600 Speaker 1: from it. And that wraps up this classic episode all 516 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:44,640 Speaker 1: of tech stuff. Hope you guys enjoyed it. You know, 517 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:46,920 Speaker 1: it was always fun to talk about these sort of 518 00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:50,720 Speaker 1: topics with Chris Palette keeping the ear out for Mr Pallette. 519 00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:54,080 Speaker 1: I think we might be able to lure him back 520 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:58,800 Speaker 1: in for a very special episode later this year. No promises, 521 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:02,920 Speaker 1: but there is a possibility. And it's always a pleasure 522 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:05,440 Speaker 1: to have Chris in the studio. And it's been a 523 00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:08,120 Speaker 1: long time since we sat across from each other and 524 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:10,720 Speaker 1: and did the old podcast thing. So here's hoping we 525 00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:13,000 Speaker 1: can make that happen. In the meantime, if you guys 526 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:16,520 Speaker 1: have any suggestions for future topics for tech Stuff, or 527 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:20,200 Speaker 1: maybe there's a special guest co host you would love 528 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:22,320 Speaker 1: to have on the show, maybe someone who's been on before, 529 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:25,360 Speaker 1: or someone you would like to have here as a 530 00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:28,840 Speaker 1: person to you know, stop me from chatting all the time. 531 00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:32,520 Speaker 1: Let me know, send me a message on Facebook or Twitter. 532 00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:35,240 Speaker 1: The handle for both of those is tech Stuff H 533 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:38,680 Speaker 1: s W and I'll talk to you again really soon. 534 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:45,560 Speaker 1: Text Stuff is a production of I Heart Radio's How 535 00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:49,040 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit 536 00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:52,160 Speaker 1: the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 537 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:53,560 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.