1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:05,240 Speaker 1: My Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, the production 2 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:14,040 Speaker 1: of My Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:17,239 Speaker 1: Your Mind. My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, 4 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:20,480 Speaker 1: and we're back with part two of our discussion of sinkholes. Now. 5 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:24,119 Speaker 1: In the last episode, we talked about some some fabulous 6 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: examples of sinkholes that suddenly open up and reveal interesting things. Below, 7 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:32,720 Speaker 1: we talked about how sinkholes form, the geology and hydrology 8 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: of sinkholes, and we talked about some interesting specific examples 9 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 1: in the world. But today we wanted to get into 10 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:42,920 Speaker 1: some things about like the religious significance of sinkholes and 11 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: sinkholes as a scientific tool that can help show us 12 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:49,600 Speaker 1: things about the past UH, and also maybe some sinkholes 13 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:53,199 Speaker 1: in space. But I thought sinkholes in religion would be 14 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: a good place to start because one of the interesting 15 00:00:56,520 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: ways of conceptualizing UH deities is that deities are often 16 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: manifestations of natural forces and natural resources, And of course, 17 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:12,800 Speaker 1: one of the most important natural resources is water, so 18 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:15,479 Speaker 1: there are all kinds of water deities around the world. 19 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 1: Coastal civilizations and cultures will have deities associated with the 20 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: ocean that are very important in their culture. But if 21 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: you're if you're more inland, there will often be deities 22 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:28,680 Speaker 1: associated with where you get your fresh water. Either are 23 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: a very important river or they're even There are lots 24 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,559 Speaker 1: of holy wells that are found throughout the history of 25 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:37,680 Speaker 1: of Europe, both Pagan and Christian. There are a lot 26 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:41,319 Speaker 1: of like holy wells and water sources. And the same 27 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 1: is true of many sinkholes in ancient meso America. That's right, um, 28 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: and in particular the sacred sonotes of the Maya, which 29 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: is what we'd like to talk about here. I was 30 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 1: reading a piece, really nice piece on Mexico Lore dot 31 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 1: com dot UK by Maya archaeologist Andrew kenkela Um, just 32 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 1: titled Sacred Sinkholes, and he discusses some of what we've 33 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:12,080 Speaker 1: already mentioned in regard to, you know, the large number 34 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 1: of these sinkholes or sinotes in Mesoamerica. The entire area 35 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 1: is situated on a limestone bedrock, and we end up 36 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 1: with with these hollows and then they collapse, and then 37 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:27,239 Speaker 1: of course then they often fill with water. But so yeah, 38 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: you're world left with something. There's not just a deep pit, 39 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: which alone can be pretty interesting, but pits with water, 40 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: often from deep underground, so you're often talking clean water, 41 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: clear water an ideal resource. Some of these contain as 42 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: much as like fifty meters of water. Uh. He points out. Yeah, 43 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 1: there are a lot of fascinating things about these sinkholes. 44 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 1: One of which, just before I forget, I wanted to 45 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:53,960 Speaker 1: call attention to that they explore some of these uh 46 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:58,520 Speaker 1: senotes in the Yucatan Peninsula in the documentary that we 47 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 1: recently interviewed Werner Hertzog and Clive Oppenheimer about there, there's 48 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: this segment where they so that documentary is called Fireball, 49 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: and it's about impacts from space and the scars they 50 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:11,520 Speaker 1: leave on Earth and and what we can learn from them. 51 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: And one of the things they explore is if if 52 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 1: you look at a map of the senotes of the 53 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:19,800 Speaker 1: Yucatan Peninsula, there's one part of the Yucatan where there 54 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: is this almost perfect partial ring of sinotes, and it's like, 55 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,919 Speaker 1: what's going on there? And that apparently corresponds to the 56 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:31,560 Speaker 1: outer rim of the crater that was left by the 57 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: impact from the KPg extinction, the large space impact that 58 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: probably contributed significantly to the extinction of the non avian dinosaurs. 59 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:44,400 Speaker 1: And so in Fireball there's a segment where where Clive 60 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: Oppenheimer goes down into one of these beautiful ancient senotes 61 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: with a local researcher and and they talk about not 62 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: just what it can tell is geologically we might get 63 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:55,760 Speaker 1: a little bit more into that later, but but also 64 00:03:55,840 --> 00:04:00,160 Speaker 1: what it means religiously. Yeah, So especially for areas are 65 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: from rivers, these sonotes became very important for just purely 66 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: practical reasons like this is where you could get water. 67 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 1: This enabled you to live and have you know, have 68 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: have communities that existed further away from those rivers. But 69 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,240 Speaker 1: then they ended up taking on religious power as well. 70 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: And Kintella writes that the ancient Maya regarded senotes as 71 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:24,360 Speaker 1: one of the three symbolic entry ways Uh to Sibalba, 72 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: the Mayan underworld. So eventually this kind of he describes 73 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 1: it as a sinote cult emerges, devoted to venturing out, 74 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:36,880 Speaker 1: like taking these pilgrimages to different senotes, collecting water from 75 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:40,479 Speaker 1: them from different the different ones, and making what offerings 76 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:45,600 Speaker 1: up to the watery depths. And their role these these priests, 77 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: these pilgrims, their role would have been seen as vitally important, 78 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:54,080 Speaker 1: especially during times of drought, you know, when when the 79 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:57,800 Speaker 1: the the resources of the senotes becomes uh, you know, 80 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:00,360 Speaker 1: in doubt or seems threatened. Like they seemed to have 81 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:03,920 Speaker 1: a role in in trying to maintain the balance, to 82 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:08,320 Speaker 1: try and maintain the balentiful gifts of these places. I 83 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:12,040 Speaker 1: was also looking at an article on National Geographic titled 84 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 1: Secrets of the Maya in the Other World, and this 85 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 1: was by Alma Guillermo Prieto, and this is about the 86 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:23,800 Speaker 1: sinkholes uh that we've been discussing here and about how 87 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 1: they were also associated with a key deity which was Chock. 88 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: I believe that it's spelled in this article is c 89 00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 1: H A A K. I've also seen it with the 90 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: with a C H A C. I think. Yeah. So 91 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:39,800 Speaker 1: here's what they wrote in this article quote or this 92 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:43,240 Speaker 1: is just a really I think telling passage from it quote. 93 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 1: For men like un Kin, the old gods are still 94 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 1: very much alive, and Chock, ruler of sinotes and caves, 95 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:52,719 Speaker 1: is among the most important gods of all for the 96 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,600 Speaker 1: benefit of living things. He pours from the skies, the 97 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 1: water he keeps in earthenware jars and caves. Chalk is 98 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:03,040 Speaker 1: one one in many. Each thunderclap is a separate chock 99 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:06,279 Speaker 1: in action, breaking a jar open and letting the rain fall. 100 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: Each god inhabits a separate layer of reality, along with 101 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:15,400 Speaker 1: dozens of alternatively complacent and ferocious gods that live in 102 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:20,360 Speaker 1: the thirteen other worlds above and the nine other worlds below. Together, 103 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: they filled the Maya people's lives with dreams, visions, and nightmares, 104 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 1: a complicated calendar of agricultural times and fertility rituals, in 105 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 1: a firm sense of the way things must be done. 106 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 1: Chock had moved, un Kin said, and that meant the 107 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: planting season would soon arrive. That's beautiful. Yeah. Yeah, So 108 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:42,880 Speaker 1: in this we see that a cave or sinote could 109 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: be seen as as a dwelling place of chalk, but 110 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:48,239 Speaker 1: it could also, you know, be seen as this yawning 111 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:51,360 Speaker 1: mall of the earth, or even this gateway to deeper 112 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:56,520 Speaker 1: realms of reality. Yeah. And and this combines the multiple version, 113 00:06:56,560 --> 00:06:59,160 Speaker 1: so you you can of course see these senotes as 114 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 1: a gateway to the under world and a source of water. 115 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,600 Speaker 1: But I was also reading in a different National Geographic 116 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: article um about like the the the specifics of certain senotes, 117 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 1: like It's not just all senotes are religiously equivalent. There 118 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 1: would be, for example, some senotes and specific locations that 119 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 1: have different religious significance for the people who lived nearby. 120 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:23,960 Speaker 1: The one I was thinking of was a senote that 121 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: as the ancient mind city had a wall, there was 122 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:30,880 Speaker 1: like many senotes within the wall that could be used 123 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 1: as a water source. But there's one senote outside the 124 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: city wall that it seems was regarded primarily as a 125 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: place for the burial of the dead, and there have 126 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 1: been many human remains found down inside that one. Yeah, yeah, 127 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 1: they yeah, they're They're a whole slew of them with 128 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: different significance. Is the most famous of the sonotes, Uh, 129 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 1: it's probably the sacred senote at the Maya site of 130 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:55,080 Speaker 1: Channita Uh where there was this it's been a place 131 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:56,680 Speaker 1: of of a fair amount of study. There was a 132 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: small building by it that was apparently used for blood sacrifice. 133 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 1: Is um again tying into traditions related to the you know, 134 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:06,720 Speaker 1: the sacredness of the spot and the continuation of water. 135 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: Variety of sacred objects were also apparently cast into the soote, 136 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:17,360 Speaker 1: including precious jade artifacts, gold and copper disks, uh, foods, 137 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: and other organic items that that we've we actually can find, 138 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: you know, evidence of. But uh, yeah, so you think 139 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: of this as like an opening up into the world 140 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 1: below where you might throw offerings, where you might make 141 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:33,640 Speaker 1: sacrifices of material or sacrifices of blood. It's hard for 142 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:35,920 Speaker 1: me not to sort of connect this to some of 143 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:38,080 Speaker 1: the stuff we were talking about in the previous episode, 144 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:41,760 Speaker 1: where there is a pretty clear link between pumping too 145 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: much groundwater up. You know, like, uh, there's certain places 146 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:48,959 Speaker 1: where there's a need for for massive irrigation of fields 147 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:51,840 Speaker 1: maybe sometime to like protect a certain crop from frost 148 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:54,160 Speaker 1: or something, so you will pump just tons and tons 149 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:57,840 Speaker 1: of water to put over the fields so so so 150 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 1: much that you really lower the level of the groundwater 151 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:04,080 Speaker 1: and suddenly cause lots of sinkholes to to open up 152 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 1: where the suddenly the you know, the water pressure is 153 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:08,960 Speaker 1: not what it was below the overburden can't hold up 154 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 1: its own weight and then collapses. And this has happened 155 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:14,360 Speaker 1: in the US in places like Florida. I mean, it 156 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: could be it's very easy to see how something like 157 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 1: that could be interpreted as as the wrath of the gods, right, yeah, absolutely, yeah, 158 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:26,079 Speaker 1: you're you're messing with the domain of the the earth gods. Now, 159 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:29,560 Speaker 1: one of the interesting things about these Mesoamerican traditions concerning 160 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:33,520 Speaker 1: sinots is that it's also thought that that native people's 161 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:37,520 Speaker 1: um elsewhere in the America has probably carried some of 162 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: these uh these ideas with them, And so when you 163 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:45,640 Speaker 1: encounter of some North American sinotees, there's there's evidence of 164 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:49,160 Speaker 1: that these areas that native peoples may have used them 165 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 1: as burial places as well given them, um you know, 166 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:55,920 Speaker 1: places of importance in their world views. And one such 167 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:01,760 Speaker 1: place is Devil Sinkhole northwest of sand San Antonio. Um. 168 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 1: It's now a state park, but it's a hundred and 169 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:07,640 Speaker 1: forty ft deep or forty three meters deep, and um 170 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:11,360 Speaker 1: uh yeah, apparently there's evidence that ancient people's came here 171 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:14,560 Speaker 1: and probably held it in some esteem. But one of 172 00:10:14,559 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 1: the really crazy natural world things about Devil Sinkhole is 173 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:21,680 Speaker 1: that it is home to, or at least part of 174 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 1: the year, it is home to three million Mexican freetailed bats. Wow, 175 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:30,640 Speaker 1: that's a lot of bats. Yeah. So they migrate to 176 00:10:30,679 --> 00:10:33,280 Speaker 1: Mexico for the cooler months, but they roost up in 177 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:37,240 Speaker 1: the sinkhole other parts of the year. And we've we've 178 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 1: talked about how amazing bats are in the show before 179 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:45,080 Speaker 1: and especially especially insectivore uh bats, you know that eat insects. Well, 180 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:48,160 Speaker 1: it's been estimated that the bats that live in Devils 181 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 1: Sinkhole again something like three million Mexican freetail bats that 182 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:57,560 Speaker 1: they consume un estimated thirty tons of beetles and moths 183 00:10:57,559 --> 00:11:02,720 Speaker 1: each night, each night, thirty tons, thirty tons beetles and moth. 184 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:05,120 Speaker 1: That's crazy. That's one of those facts that makes you 185 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:08,720 Speaker 1: wonder how many tons of beetles they're just are already, Like, 186 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:11,200 Speaker 1: is that is that half the beatles in the area? 187 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:13,960 Speaker 1: Is that one person of the beatles in the area. Yeah, 188 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:16,480 Speaker 1: I mean, it's just a tremendous biomass out there, and 189 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:20,000 Speaker 1: these bats are here for it um and most of 190 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 1: it is insect or arthur pod in some way, or 191 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:25,000 Speaker 1: you know, most of the animal is is arthur pod 192 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:28,720 Speaker 1: in some way. And wow, that's just amazing. You can 193 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:33,800 Speaker 1: measuring insects or beetles in units of like garbage truck fulls. 194 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:38,000 Speaker 1: So I love this because, yeah, this is a great 195 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:40,080 Speaker 1: example of just sort of how like we said in 196 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:43,080 Speaker 1: the last episode, when a sinkhole occurs, it does not 197 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,560 Speaker 1: you know, create this natural void, like things will move 198 00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 1: into the sinkhole, things will take advantage of this new 199 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:53,360 Speaker 1: um aspect of the geography, and in this case, the 200 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:56,560 Speaker 1: bats make it their home. So if you, if you've 201 00:11:56,559 --> 00:11:58,640 Speaker 1: lived in the San Antonio area, you're visited there, and 202 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:01,480 Speaker 1: you've been to too Devil's Cole, I'd love to hear, uh, 203 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:04,000 Speaker 1: hear about your experience checking it out. I know, if 204 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:05,960 Speaker 1: you go during the right time of the year, you 205 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 1: can actually observe the bats like, uh, moving in and 206 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:12,680 Speaker 1: out of the of the cavern area. So uh, it 207 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:15,120 Speaker 1: sounds beautiful. I've read that there are also I mean, 208 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:18,280 Speaker 1: one of the things is that belief in the sacredness 209 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:21,280 Speaker 1: of of sinkholes and and their association with the world 210 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:24,040 Speaker 1: of the gods is not just an ancient belief. It's 211 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:26,480 Speaker 1: not necessarily extinct. I mean, there are people today for 212 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:30,040 Speaker 1: whom sinkholes hold sacred importance. And if if you if 213 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:32,360 Speaker 1: you are one of those people or know some, I'd 214 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:34,520 Speaker 1: like to hear about that too. Yeah, yeah, I'd love 215 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:38,959 Speaker 1: to hear, especially the details about any modern rights associated 216 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:41,079 Speaker 1: with it, and and just sort of the belief system 217 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:49,360 Speaker 1: built up around it, you know, the stories than Now. 218 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: One of the things we mentioned in the previous episode 219 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:54,800 Speaker 1: is that the sinkhole is a natural feature that can 220 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:59,000 Speaker 1: inadvertently serve as a type of scientific instrument, much in 221 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:01,120 Speaker 1: the same way that like ancient ice. You know, it's 222 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:03,280 Speaker 1: like nobody intended it to be this way, but we 223 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:06,240 Speaker 1: can learn things about the ancient climate from taking ice cores, 224 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:08,880 Speaker 1: so that you know, those layers of ice really give 225 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,400 Speaker 1: us a lot to read into the history of the Earth. 226 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 1: And apparently sinkholes can do the same thing, right, that's right. 227 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:17,320 Speaker 1: I mean, you know, we think about how they gobble 228 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:19,960 Speaker 1: up parts of the surface world, and yeah, they do 229 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:22,599 Speaker 1: sometimes do scientists a huge favor by collecting and to 230 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:26,959 Speaker 1: some degree preserving evidence of past life forms, even past 231 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 1: like storm activity and and and and climates of ancient times. Uh. 232 00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:34,400 Speaker 1: And so when we venture into the sink whole, UH, 233 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:37,600 Speaker 1: with the right tools or with the right methods, UH, 234 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:40,840 Speaker 1: we're able to uncover those secrets that have been preserved there. 235 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:43,840 Speaker 1: And they have just been There've been numerous studies that 236 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:47,280 Speaker 1: have looked at sinkholes and UH and gathered specific information 237 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:50,120 Speaker 1: from from these sinkholes, and we're not gonna be able 238 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:53,319 Speaker 1: to give a full overview of them here in this episode, 239 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:55,480 Speaker 1: but I wanted to touch on some that I thought 240 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:59,040 Speaker 1: provided a reasonable overview and in an idea of what 241 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:02,760 Speaker 1: sort of stuff we can learn from sinkholes. So, uh, 242 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:05,840 Speaker 1: there's the For instance, in two thousand fourteen, a team 243 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:10,559 Speaker 1: from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champagne studied genetic 244 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:14,880 Speaker 1: information extracted from the tooth of an adolescent girl who 245 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:18,959 Speaker 1: fell into a sinkhole in the Yucatan some twelve thousand 246 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:22,760 Speaker 1: to thirteen thousand years ago, and this with her remains 247 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:26,960 Speaker 1: were found alongside the remains of ancient beasts. Because you 248 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:29,880 Speaker 1: know what what occurs is some of these really treacherous sinkholes, 249 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:32,920 Speaker 1: is like things will fall in and then they cannot 250 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:35,560 Speaker 1: get out, and of course they die down there. They 251 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:38,800 Speaker 1: decay down there, and the remains are down there for 252 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:42,440 Speaker 1: us to later discover and study. Oh, I hadn't thought 253 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:45,280 Speaker 1: about this, but I wonder if sinkholes are one of 254 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:47,960 Speaker 1: these things, uh, one of these terrain features that can 255 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:51,920 Speaker 1: serve as a natural predator trap. Um. A predator trap 256 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:54,240 Speaker 1: is I guess a concept in the interaction between the 257 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 1: landscape and and the animals that live nearby. But you know, 258 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:00,440 Speaker 1: a classic example is like the librettart It's you know, 259 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:04,160 Speaker 1: so a an animal becomes stranded and dies in it, 260 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:07,560 Speaker 1: and then the smell attracts predators or scavengers who then 261 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:11,040 Speaker 1: themselves become trapped. Another example I was reading about not 262 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 1: too long ago was there is a geologically active valley 263 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:18,840 Speaker 1: in the cum Choca Peninsula where often like birds are 264 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:22,600 Speaker 1: killed by volcanic fumes, and then their decaying bodies attract 265 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:25,440 Speaker 1: predators into the area, who then also are killed by 266 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:29,080 Speaker 1: the fumes, and it leads to this feedback cycle. Yeah, yeah, 267 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: it's uh. I think in some cases they definitely are 268 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:36,840 Speaker 1: serving as predator traps um. So in this particular study, 269 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:39,320 Speaker 1: one of the reasons this tooth was so important is 270 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:42,280 Speaker 1: that the researchers were studying the influx of humans into 271 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 1: the Americas and wanted to see if a specimen such 272 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 1: as this with a skull shape that was that is 273 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:51,360 Speaker 1: unusual among other Native American lineages. They wanted to see 274 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:54,000 Speaker 1: if it fell in line genetically with those lineages or 275 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:59,320 Speaker 1: represented something else, perhaps winding up with theories about migration 276 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: from Southeast Stagia or even Australia that didn't come in 277 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:06,080 Speaker 1: through the bearing straight um, and they found that their 278 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:09,920 Speaker 1: remains did line up with with the bearing straight or 279 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 1: Barringian migration. Okay, so that's just one cool example. Okay, 280 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 1: let's hear another, all right here, Yeah, here's one from 281 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:21,360 Speaker 1: nineteen Researchers from the Florida Museum of Natural History looked 282 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:24,600 Speaker 1: at the preserved bones of a Craton's carcara and an 283 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:28,440 Speaker 1: extinct carrion eating falcon from the Caribbean that was killed 284 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:30,880 Speaker 1: off roughly a thousand years ago when humans first entered 285 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:33,240 Speaker 1: the region, and they were looking at these remains in 286 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:38,280 Speaker 1: a flooded sinkhole um on Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas, 287 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:41,840 Speaker 1: and the whole is a sawmill sink, a a hundred 288 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:46,280 Speaker 1: foot deep, dark, oxygen free environment that preserved the two thousand, 289 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:49,480 Speaker 1: five hundred year old bones of this creature enough that 290 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:52,680 Speaker 1: they could they could conduct genetic studies of it. In fact, 291 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:56,160 Speaker 1: the bone yielded ninety eight point seven per cent of 292 00:16:56,200 --> 00:17:00,000 Speaker 1: the bird's mitochondrial genome, which is pretty impressive. Again, it's 293 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:04,240 Speaker 1: like a it's like a deep cooler, you know, it 294 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:09,080 Speaker 1: preserves these remains uh that if they were dropped, you know, 295 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:11,400 Speaker 1: in other places on the world, would have just been 296 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:16,480 Speaker 1: long lost, no ice required. Um. Here's another one of note. 297 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: In two thousand and eighteen, another study from the University 298 00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:21,840 Speaker 1: of Illinois or Banno Champagne studied the remains of a 299 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:25,080 Speaker 1: giant sloth that fell into a sinkhole in what is 300 00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:29,280 Speaker 1: now Carriblanca in central Belize twenty seven thousand years ago. 301 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:33,680 Speaker 1: And in this the tooth, humorous and femur were partially fossilized, 302 00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:37,080 Speaker 1: but there was still enough unaltered tissue for stable carbon 303 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:40,640 Speaker 1: and oxygen isotope analysis to study what the sloth eight. 304 00:17:41,359 --> 00:17:44,800 Speaker 1: And this in turn revealed details about local climate and 305 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:48,480 Speaker 1: local environment there in that region at that time, which 306 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:51,320 Speaker 1: is pretty pretty astounded. Did did it say exactly what 307 00:17:51,359 --> 00:17:54,720 Speaker 1: the sloth did eat? Um? I didn't get into the 308 00:17:55,200 --> 00:18:00,240 Speaker 1: the the nuts and berries of of that bay, simply 309 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:02,520 Speaker 1: suffice to say, I'd love to come back and discuss 310 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:05,560 Speaker 1: um uh giant ground slots more in the future though. 311 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:10,000 Speaker 1: But but basically it provided them the information they needed to, 312 00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:12,520 Speaker 1: you know, to actually gaze back in the past and consider, 313 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:14,600 Speaker 1: you know, what it was consuming, and that means what 314 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:17,480 Speaker 1: was around it, what was you know, how it was 315 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:19,600 Speaker 1: able to make its home in in the world at 316 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 1: that time. So it's pretty amazing. We could probably do 317 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:25,680 Speaker 1: a whole episode or series of episodes just on really 318 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:29,560 Speaker 1: interesting studies finding out what ancient peoples and creatures eight 319 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:33,359 Speaker 1: using analyzes and chemical analyses of these kinds. Yeah, I 320 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:37,720 Speaker 1: mean it reveals so much, so much. Absolutely. One I 321 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:40,320 Speaker 1: was just reading not too long ago that was kind 322 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:44,800 Speaker 1: of funny to me was, um, was chemical analysis of 323 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 1: a gigantic copper light found. I think it was around 324 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:51,040 Speaker 1: the city of York in England that revealed it was 325 00:18:51,119 --> 00:18:53,680 Speaker 1: left by a human I think like a thousand years 326 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:57,159 Speaker 1: ago or so, you know, roughly, and revealed a diet 327 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:01,680 Speaker 1: heavy and meat and bread, but also just just riddled 328 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:04,960 Speaker 1: with intestinal worms. So then you get the double You 329 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 1: have the fossilized poop, but then on the fossilized creatures 330 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:11,960 Speaker 1: that were arriving inside it. Awesome, awesome, But I guess 331 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:13,760 Speaker 1: if it's about a thousand years ago, I'm not sure. 332 00:19:14,359 --> 00:19:16,679 Speaker 1: I'm not sure if that counts as fossilized. I don't know. 333 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 1: That's a good question. I don't know. So it was, 334 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:22,199 Speaker 1: you know, poop from hundreds of years ago, so you know, 335 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:25,440 Speaker 1: roughly around a thousand years ago. But is that technically 336 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:28,000 Speaker 1: a fossil or is that just very well preserved poop. 337 00:19:28,359 --> 00:19:31,440 Speaker 1: We'll have to come back and discuss in the future. UM. 338 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:34,960 Speaker 1: Here's a two thousand twenty study from go Through University 339 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,600 Speaker 1: in Frankfort. They dove into one of the most impressive 340 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:40,600 Speaker 1: sinkholes in the world, the Blue Hole. I believe we 341 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:44,760 Speaker 1: mentioned this um in the last episode, at least in passing. UH. 342 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:49,199 Speaker 1: This is a flooded car sinkhole on Lighthouse Reef in 343 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:52,679 Speaker 1: Belize and they were able to to to drill up 344 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:57,840 Speaker 1: and analyze a sedimentary quote storm archive covering two thousand 345 00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:01,720 Speaker 1: years of history, built layer by layer by layer in 346 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:04,439 Speaker 1: the dark depths of this whole, and it revealed a 347 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:07,760 Speaker 1: lot about the frequency of tropical storms in their area. 348 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:11,480 Speaker 1: Over time. They found quote hurricanes in the Caribbean became 349 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: more frequent in their force varied noticeably around the same 350 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:18,880 Speaker 1: time that classical mind culture in Central America suffered its 351 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:22,200 Speaker 1: final demise. So again, just a chance to do gaze 352 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:26,480 Speaker 1: back in time and see what what was going on, um, 353 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:29,640 Speaker 1: you know, with the climate and with weather patterns. By 354 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:33,199 Speaker 1: looking into the sinkhole. So as the suggestion there, I 355 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:36,000 Speaker 1: assume it's not totally known, but the suggestion there may 356 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:40,760 Speaker 1: be that the organizational decline of the mind civilization was 357 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:44,600 Speaker 1: in some ways possibly related to changes in weather patterns. 358 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:48,800 Speaker 1: That's my understanding that it would have would have impacted UH, 359 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:54,120 Speaker 1: that that civilization UH and would have con potentially contributed. Yeah. 360 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:57,159 Speaker 1: I also ran across a two thousand seventeen study from 361 00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:01,080 Speaker 1: the University of Hawaii at Manoa that looked into uh 362 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 1: um uh Makawaii Cave and Kauaii, the largest limestone cave 363 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 1: in Hawaii and only accessible via a sinkhole. So it's 364 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:13,600 Speaker 1: a it's a rich fossil site providing insight into Hawaiian life. 365 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:18,439 Speaker 1: The sinkhole Paleo Lake contains ten thousand years of sedimentary information, 366 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:21,600 Speaker 1: revealing a rich diversity of natural information as well as 367 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:24,399 Speaker 1: Polynesian artifacts. So in this study they were able to 368 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 1: find supporting evidence in the coral fragments there to discover 369 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:34,040 Speaker 1: the source of the mega earthquake UH in the Aleutian 370 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:38,360 Speaker 1: Islands that spawned the devastating eight six tsunami that hit 371 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:42,400 Speaker 1: uh sen Ricou, Japan. So UH you know again, it's 372 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:45,479 Speaker 1: It goes beyond merely being able to go in and 373 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,080 Speaker 1: find the remains of creatures, you know, which is I 374 00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:50,160 Speaker 1: think the first place your mind goes when you think 375 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:52,960 Speaker 1: about sinkholes, but able to to be able to go 376 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:56,320 Speaker 1: in there and find some some shattered bits of coral 377 00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:59,720 Speaker 1: and then compare that to uh two other bits of 378 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: in form nation and sort of pieced together like seismic 379 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:06,679 Speaker 1: activities that occurred centuries ago. And I have I have 380 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:09,199 Speaker 1: one more here. This one's really fun too. Back in 381 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:13,280 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy a twenty five thousand year old sinkhole in 382 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:17,520 Speaker 1: Wyoming Natural Trap Cave and Big Horn Canyon was found. 383 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:20,720 Speaker 1: It measured fifteen feet across about eighty five ft deep, 384 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:23,919 Speaker 1: and when they went into it, they discovered fossils of mammoths, 385 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:29,159 Speaker 1: short faced bears, camels, and um collared limmings. But they 386 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:31,480 Speaker 1: ended up boarding it up after that for thirty years 387 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:35,159 Speaker 1: to prevent accidental falls, because the Natural Park Service I 388 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:38,720 Speaker 1: was reading describes that, uh, this particular sinkhole is quote 389 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:43,240 Speaker 1: virtually impossible to see until it is directly underfoot, and 390 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:45,119 Speaker 1: if you look at pictures of it, yeah, it looks 391 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:49,440 Speaker 1: because if you fell like it widens out underneath, So 392 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:52,240 Speaker 1: you wouldn't like skid along the side of this or 393 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:54,400 Speaker 1: even like it would just you would just plummet down 394 00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:57,399 Speaker 1: to the bottom. Yeah, it's not a cone. It's not 395 00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:00,480 Speaker 1: even a cylinder. It's like a jug with with you know, 396 00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:04,600 Speaker 1: bottle opening. Yeah, so it's it's very impressive. You should 397 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:06,439 Speaker 1: look it up. They have some wonderful pictures of it 398 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:09,199 Speaker 1: in the National Park Service does. But so, yeah, they 399 00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:11,240 Speaker 1: ended up bordering it up, boarding it up for thirty years. 400 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 1: But when scientists finally got a chance to dig in again, 401 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:17,600 Speaker 1: they discovered numerous large prehistoric mammal bones and even complete 402 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:21,280 Speaker 1: skeletons of smaller mammals, and they said that it ultimately 403 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:24,639 Speaker 1: functioned like a refrigerator, even preserving collagen in some of 404 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 1: the bones. It wound up containing a whopping thirty thousand specimens, 405 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:32,520 Speaker 1: they say, And on top of this, scientists are still 406 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:35,719 Speaker 1: studying what the cave can reveal about ancient human migration 407 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:41,280 Speaker 1: ancient climate. So again, just another cash of information about 408 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:44,320 Speaker 1: about the past that we find in one of these sinkholes. Now, 409 00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:46,280 Speaker 1: I'm sorry if I missed this. Do they know if 410 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:49,320 Speaker 1: this huge cache of different animal specimens is that a 411 00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:52,280 Speaker 1: result of some kind of natural deposition process, or is 412 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:55,240 Speaker 1: that the result of humans like humans putting animal remains 413 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:58,520 Speaker 1: into the sink whole? Um? My understanding is that this 414 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:02,160 Speaker 1: would have been a most accidentally falling in over over 415 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:05,440 Speaker 1: the ages. Um. But it could be wrong on that. Um. 416 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:10,440 Speaker 1: There's I guess it's possible that that some of these 417 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:13,439 Speaker 1: bodies would have been thrown in, but uh not. My 418 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:15,959 Speaker 1: impression was that we were dealing with with things that 419 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:19,520 Speaker 1: had had made the very mistake that the Natural National 420 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:22,240 Speaker 1: Park Service was was warning about, you know, that it 421 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:25,000 Speaker 1: being virtually impossible to see it until it's directly underfoot, 422 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:27,840 Speaker 1: Like you've got to do a real dexterity saving throat 423 00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:30,480 Speaker 1: to avoid fall into the bottom of this baby yeah 424 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:41,000 Speaker 1: at disadvantage? Yes, thank Okay, well I've got another one 425 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:44,320 Speaker 1: for you. Obviously, it would be bad to suddenly plunge 426 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:47,880 Speaker 1: down into a sinkhole unwittingly on Earth, But what if 427 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:51,200 Speaker 1: you were to do it in space? Oh wow, well 428 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:53,840 Speaker 1: that would be even worse. Well, actually you might think so, 429 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:56,080 Speaker 1: but I just I just now thought of a condition 430 00:24:56,119 --> 00:24:58,040 Speaker 1: that would make it maybe not nearly as bad. I 431 00:24:58,080 --> 00:24:59,639 Speaker 1: don't know what we'll get into that. I mean, I 432 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:02,000 Speaker 1: would to fall into a sinkhole like the one we 433 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:05,399 Speaker 1: just described in general. But what if then you? I mean, 434 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:07,280 Speaker 1: because if you get to the bottom, what you're injured, 435 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:10,240 Speaker 1: maybe you maybe you're gonna starve to death or you know, 436 00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:13,320 Speaker 1: dive your wounds or dive exposure down there. Maybe there's 437 00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:17,159 Speaker 1: a recently uh fallen animal down there you can you 438 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:19,680 Speaker 1: can eat, or maybe there's something down there that is 439 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:21,920 Speaker 1: going to eat you. There's so many horrible ways that 440 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:24,920 Speaker 1: could go. But space is a lonely place to die. 441 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:27,479 Speaker 1: So I don't know how true that is. So I 442 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:30,320 Speaker 1: want to talk about a space object, an object called 443 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:35,399 Speaker 1: comet sixty seven P. Turyumov Gerasimenko. Now, this comment is 444 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:38,800 Speaker 1: called sixty seven P because it is the sixty seven 445 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:42,879 Speaker 1: periodic comment discovered in our solar system. It was found 446 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:46,239 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty nine at an observatory in Russia by 447 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:51,280 Speaker 1: an astronomer named Klim ivanovitch Uryumov from a photographic plate 448 00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:56,080 Speaker 1: that was taken by St. Lana Ivanova Garasimenko, and sixty 449 00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:58,919 Speaker 1: seven P, like I said, as a periodic comment, meaning 450 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:02,400 Speaker 1: that it's a comment a relatively short orbit that we've 451 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:06,840 Speaker 1: documented repeatedly returning to the inner Solar System. Some commets, 452 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:09,240 Speaker 1: you know, they're just way way out there and they're 453 00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:11,119 Speaker 1: never going to get close to the Sun, so we 454 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:13,120 Speaker 1: don't really have any chance to get a good look 455 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:15,080 Speaker 1: at them. This is one of the ones that comes 456 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:18,160 Speaker 1: in at one angle of its of its orbit, pretty 457 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:22,000 Speaker 1: close to the Sun, and astronomers have of course cited 458 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:24,040 Speaker 1: it a bunch of times since it was first discovered, 459 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:26,000 Speaker 1: since it comes around every six and a half years 460 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:29,600 Speaker 1: or so, if you've seen pictures of a comet up close, 461 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:32,800 Speaker 1: there's a good chance it was this one. Uh. It's 462 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:35,160 Speaker 1: it's kind of l shaped, or sort of like a 463 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:38,640 Speaker 1: bent barbell with a very short handle. It has these 464 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:42,760 Speaker 1: two lobes of crust or or rocky icy material, and 465 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:45,960 Speaker 1: its nucleus. It also kind of looks like a bent 466 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:50,280 Speaker 1: double mushroom. It probably originally came from the Kuiper Belt, 467 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:53,399 Speaker 1: which is a large, loose collection of icy objects that 468 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,119 Speaker 1: extends far out past the orbit of Neptune. So if 469 00:26:56,119 --> 00:26:59,000 Speaker 1: you go out past all of the planets, you know, 470 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:01,760 Speaker 1: you go past the gas giants, pass Neptune into the 471 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:04,800 Speaker 1: realm of Pluto, and then from there on out there's 472 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:07,640 Speaker 1: just sort of this big shell around the Solar System 473 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:12,240 Speaker 1: of of space, and these icy objects that if they're 474 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:14,560 Speaker 1: perturbed in just the right way, if they get flung 475 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:17,800 Speaker 1: off of their their deep orbital path and thrown down 476 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,760 Speaker 1: into the inner Solar System, they can become these familiar 477 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:24,040 Speaker 1: periodic comets. And that appears to be what happened to 478 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:28,560 Speaker 1: sixty It was probably flung on this path that occasionally 479 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:32,040 Speaker 1: brings it close to the Sun when long ago it 480 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:35,479 Speaker 1: was subject to a collision or a gravitational disturbance by 481 00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:39,119 Speaker 1: some other object. At its biggest dimensions, it's a little 482 00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:42,760 Speaker 1: over four kilometers or about two point five miles long 483 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:45,640 Speaker 1: and wide, so it would be big enough to walk on, 484 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:47,840 Speaker 1: but not nearly as big as a planet or even 485 00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:50,720 Speaker 1: a moon. Now we know a lot about sixty seven 486 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:53,679 Speaker 1: P and have great pictures of it because it was 487 00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:56,760 Speaker 1: the target of the e s A, the European Space 488 00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:01,080 Speaker 1: Agency Rosetta mission, which actually landed a probe on the 489 00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: surface of this comment and took a bunch of amazing 490 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:06,560 Speaker 1: photos among other things. Uh, and there's a lot that's 491 00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:10,520 Speaker 1: really interesting about this comment. There's likely one amazing short 492 00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:14,040 Speaker 1: video or gift that you've seen from its surface, and 493 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:16,720 Speaker 1: this was made out of a series of still images 494 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:20,280 Speaker 1: taken by the lander. That's that we're sequenced together into 495 00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:23,080 Speaker 1: an animation where it looks kind of like there's a 496 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:26,960 Speaker 1: snowstorm or a blizzard raining down onto the surface. Rob 497 00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:30,159 Speaker 1: have you seen this animation before, Yes, I believe so 498 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:33,640 Speaker 1: it's really amazing. Now, it does need some qualification that 499 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:36,879 Speaker 1: this is not actually a snowstorm like we would experience 500 00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:39,560 Speaker 1: here on Earth. Uh, and the animation that we see 501 00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:41,960 Speaker 1: as a sped up animation. It takes something I think 502 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,400 Speaker 1: like twenty five minutes of original uh you know, time 503 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:48,200 Speaker 1: lapse between the different photos, and compresses it into a 504 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:52,440 Speaker 1: few seconds of of panning camera shot. So it's not 505 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,280 Speaker 1: actually a snowstorm, but probably more like the movements of 506 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:59,360 Speaker 1: dust particles and the starfield as the comment travels. But 507 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:01,800 Speaker 1: it's still just one of the most strange and beautiful 508 00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:05,560 Speaker 1: images I've seen made out of photos taken by space Probe. Yeah, 509 00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:08,200 Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's absolutely other worldly. Now, there are 510 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:10,880 Speaker 1: a lot of things that were interesting about the Rosetta mission, 511 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:14,440 Speaker 1: including the ways that the Rosette mission kind of went wrong. 512 00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:16,280 Speaker 1: Do you do you remember this when it was trying 513 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:18,960 Speaker 1: to put the phile lander down on the surface of 514 00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:21,000 Speaker 1: the comet, and how it kind of bounced in a 515 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:23,800 Speaker 1: way it wasn't supposed to. I I remember, I remember 516 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:26,280 Speaker 1: this being a point in the news around the time 517 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:29,800 Speaker 1: it happened. Yeah. Yeah, So the so the Rosetta mission 518 00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:32,959 Speaker 1: had it had a lander that separated from the orbiter craft, 519 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:35,520 Speaker 1: and then the lander was supposed to touch down on 520 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:37,520 Speaker 1: the surface of the comet, and I believe it was 521 00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:40,680 Speaker 1: supposed to fire these harpoons that would lock it into 522 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:43,800 Speaker 1: the surface so it didn't float away again. Because again, 523 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:48,080 Speaker 1: thinking about the gravity of a comet, uh, it's mass 524 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:50,480 Speaker 1: is so small compared to the kind of gravity we're 525 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:53,280 Speaker 1: used to on planets or moons that you can quite 526 00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:55,680 Speaker 1: easily drift away from it if you've really got any 527 00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:58,160 Speaker 1: momentum at all. I believe I read that the escape 528 00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:02,440 Speaker 1: velocity from this comment was one meter per second. So 529 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:04,480 Speaker 1: if you're, you know, moving away from its center of 530 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:07,480 Speaker 1: mass at one meter per second or more, you're not 531 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:10,080 Speaker 1: going to fall back down. You're just gonna keep drifting away. 532 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,680 Speaker 1: But anyway, what I think happened with the lander was 533 00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:15,720 Speaker 1: that it was supposed to fire these harpoons to lock 534 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:18,160 Speaker 1: it into the surface, but that didn't work correctly, so 535 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:20,880 Speaker 1: instead it kind of bounced after it touched the surface, 536 00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:23,600 Speaker 1: and then bounced a couple of times and eventually came 537 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:26,440 Speaker 1: to rest under a cliff. Because remember this is not 538 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 1: like a spherical comment, but it's kind of bent l 539 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:32,680 Speaker 1: shaped with these round edges. It came to rest under 540 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:35,480 Speaker 1: some kind of cliff or overhang, the shadow of which 541 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:38,600 Speaker 1: mostly blocked the solar panels that were supposed to power 542 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:42,080 Speaker 1: the lander. So then that led to you know, lead 543 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:44,000 Speaker 1: to it not having enough power to do all the 544 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:46,600 Speaker 1: things it wanted to do. But despite that, there was 545 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:50,200 Speaker 1: still a huge amount of um really great science that 546 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:53,040 Speaker 1: came out of the rose At emission and these wonderful photographs. 547 00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:56,560 Speaker 1: And one of the interesting findings about this comment sixty 548 00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:59,200 Speaker 1: seven that I wanted to mention this was from a 549 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:03,600 Speaker 1: NASA press least from September called Comet discovered to have 550 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:07,960 Speaker 1: its own northern lights. Uh. This was actually revealed with 551 00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:10,280 Speaker 1: the help of NASA instruments that were part of the 552 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:12,880 Speaker 1: essay rose At emission. What they found was that the 553 00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:17,000 Speaker 1: comet has this invisible glow. It has an aurora of 554 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:21,080 Speaker 1: far ultra violet radiation. Uh. These findings were published in 555 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:25,280 Speaker 1: Nature Astronomy of last year, and this electromagnetic glow was 556 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:28,000 Speaker 1: an aurora, much like we see in the polar regions 557 00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:31,240 Speaker 1: of Earth. So on Earth, the northern and Southern lights 558 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:35,000 Speaker 1: are created when charged particles from the Sun collide with 559 00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:38,880 Speaker 1: gas particles in our upper atmosphere, and this results in 560 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:43,120 Speaker 1: reactions that create patterns of green, red, and white across 561 00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:46,840 Speaker 1: across the sky. Other planets in the Solar System also 562 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:50,680 Speaker 1: have auroral phenomena. Jupiter does, I think even Mars does. 563 00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:53,600 Speaker 1: Mini planets, but this is the first time we've ever 564 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:56,520 Speaker 1: observed it surrounding a comet and quote from the press 565 00:31:56,600 --> 00:32:00,560 Speaker 1: release here quote electrons streaming out in the soul ler wind. 566 00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:03,360 Speaker 1: The stream of charged particles flowing out from the Sun 567 00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:08,080 Speaker 1: interact with the gas in the comets coma, breaking apart 568 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:11,560 Speaker 1: water and other molecules. The resulting atoms give off a 569 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:15,520 Speaker 1: distinctive far ultra violet light invisible to the naked eye. 570 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:19,120 Speaker 1: Far ultra violet light has the shortest wavelengths of radiation 571 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:22,560 Speaker 1: in the ultra violet spectrum, which makes me wonder if 572 00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:26,520 Speaker 1: this comet could give you a sunburn. But anyway, I 573 00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:28,600 Speaker 1: want to get around to the main study. I wanted 574 00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:31,840 Speaker 1: to talk about tying into our our overall theme today. 575 00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:36,080 Speaker 1: So this is a study published in Nature by Jehan 576 00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:40,000 Speaker 1: Baptiste Vincent at All called large heterogeneity is and Commet 577 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:43,640 Speaker 1: sixty seven p as revealed by active pits from sinkhole collapse. 578 00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:47,160 Speaker 1: So the authors here talk about how a lot of 579 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:49,840 Speaker 1: times when we get a look at the surface of 580 00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:53,480 Speaker 1: a commetary nucleus that's the hard icy core of the commet. 581 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:56,080 Speaker 1: Remember commet has so it's got a hard core that's 582 00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:58,040 Speaker 1: made of like ice and dust, the part you could 583 00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:01,160 Speaker 1: walk on, and then it's surrounded often by sort of 584 00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:05,480 Speaker 1: cloud or tail. The coma is made of water, vapor, dust, 585 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:08,440 Speaker 1: and gas. And when they get a look at this 586 00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:12,360 Speaker 1: hard nucleus of a comet, we often observe pits. Now, 587 00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:15,120 Speaker 1: there's one way that that might not be surprising, because 588 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:17,479 Speaker 1: if you think about other objects in the Solar System, 589 00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:21,280 Speaker 1: like the Moon or asteroids the dwarf planet like series, 590 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:23,880 Speaker 1: they have a lot of pits also, and these are 591 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:28,600 Speaker 1: quite clearly impact craters. As these objects are bombarded by 592 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:32,760 Speaker 1: space junk over millions of years, these pits accumulate and 593 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:36,120 Speaker 1: if the planets or moons don't have active geology like 594 00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:40,760 Speaker 1: volcanoes and plate tectonics to repeatedly pave and smooth over 595 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:44,360 Speaker 1: the surface. The pits from ancient impacts just sit there, 596 00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:46,200 Speaker 1: and they stay there, and we can see them easily. 597 00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:49,200 Speaker 1: But there is a problem with explaining the pits on 598 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:53,320 Speaker 1: comets as impact craters. First of all, our best guests 599 00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:57,560 Speaker 1: about how often comets encounter large impacts does not seem 600 00:33:57,600 --> 00:33:59,800 Speaker 1: to correlate with the number of pits that we see. 601 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:03,280 Speaker 1: And then second, when we try to create physical models 602 00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:05,960 Speaker 1: of what would happen when a commet suffered a high 603 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:09,440 Speaker 1: speed impact, these models just don't create pits like the 604 00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:13,719 Speaker 1: ones we actually observe. So what's making the pits? Uh? 605 00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:16,840 Speaker 1: Some researchers have hypothesized that the pits are a result 606 00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:20,120 Speaker 1: of internal explosions of some kind, but in the words 607 00:34:20,200 --> 00:34:24,520 Speaker 1: of the author's quote, the driving process remains unknown. Uh 608 00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:27,719 Speaker 1: So do we have any better guesses? Well, according to 609 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:30,840 Speaker 1: this study, yes we do, so, Rob, I want you 610 00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:33,120 Speaker 1: to look at this next picture picture I've got for 611 00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:36,560 Speaker 1: you here. This is a picture of Commet sixty seven 612 00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:38,960 Speaker 1: P shared by the E. S A. And if you 613 00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:41,920 Speaker 1: look at this comment from a close orbit under the 614 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:44,920 Speaker 1: right conditions, you can see what look kind of like 615 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:48,600 Speaker 1: shafts of light, almost like those Spielberg lights, you know 616 00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:51,840 Speaker 1: from Steven Spielberg movies. He loves these God lights, the 617 00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:56,480 Speaker 1: shafts of light piercing through a dusty patch of air 618 00:34:56,680 --> 00:34:59,960 Speaker 1: or you know, cutting through different obstacles in the foreground. 619 00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:03,160 Speaker 1: You see these shafts of light blasting out of the 620 00:35:03,239 --> 00:35:06,160 Speaker 1: surface of the comet like it makes me think of 621 00:35:06,239 --> 00:35:09,520 Speaker 1: Indiana Jones saying, you know, lightning, fire power of God 622 00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:12,040 Speaker 1: or something. Yeah, yeah, it does bring to mind the 623 00:35:12,440 --> 00:35:14,840 Speaker 1: you know, the fires of the arc or or the 624 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:18,600 Speaker 1: lights of you know, the UFOs, the very spaceships that 625 00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:23,040 Speaker 1: are that they are encountered in Spielberg films. So I 626 00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:25,640 Speaker 1: was reading an article about this study by phil Plate 627 00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:28,800 Speaker 1: the Bad Astronomer, at his blog on sci Fi, and 628 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:31,680 Speaker 1: he highlighted this image in particular, the one you're looking 629 00:35:31,719 --> 00:35:35,200 Speaker 1: at now, rob in connection with the subject matter this study. 630 00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:37,840 Speaker 1: This photo is taken from a distance of about a 631 00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:40,520 Speaker 1: hundred and seventy seven kilometers, and the point of it 632 00:35:40,640 --> 00:35:43,560 Speaker 1: is that what's being shown in these shafts of light 633 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:47,120 Speaker 1: in the image is not actually lightning or fire power 634 00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:49,560 Speaker 1: of God. They're not actually shafts of light. It is 635 00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:54,160 Speaker 1: actually jets of water vapor that are gassing out from 636 00:35:54,239 --> 00:35:57,840 Speaker 1: the surface of the comet and being illuminated by the sunlight. 637 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:00,600 Speaker 1: Then I've got another photo know for you to look 638 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:02,960 Speaker 1: at this up close of these jets. It truly does 639 00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:07,880 Speaker 1: look amazing. Yeah, it creates this feeling that it is 640 00:36:08,239 --> 00:36:12,239 Speaker 1: glowing or emitting energy. Um we whicheness since it is 641 00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:16,200 Speaker 1: emitting energy here. Um. But yeah, it creates these are 642 00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:19,279 Speaker 1: very these are beautiful images like these would not look 643 00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:22,440 Speaker 1: out of place, like framed on the wall of some 644 00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:27,080 Speaker 1: sort of you know trendy uh you know New York 645 00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:30,480 Speaker 1: eatery or something. Yeah, I agree. I mean they have 646 00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:34,239 Speaker 1: an almost artistic quality with their their real photos. So 647 00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:38,120 Speaker 1: scientists believe these jets are caused in the following way. 648 00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:41,239 Speaker 1: A large part of the nucleus of a comet is 649 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:44,520 Speaker 1: made of water ice. As a comet with an irregular 650 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:47,440 Speaker 1: orbit gets to that part of its orbit closest to 651 00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:50,360 Speaker 1: the Sun, of course, the ice in its crust heats 652 00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:53,840 Speaker 1: up and it melts or its sublimates, it vaporizes, turns 653 00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:57,280 Speaker 1: into a gas, and these jets we see in the photos. 654 00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:00,400 Speaker 1: This is the water vapor that is being x hailed 655 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:04,359 Speaker 1: into space by the crusty lobes. But here's where all 656 00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:06,840 Speaker 1: of the different subjects we've been talking about come together. 657 00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:10,400 Speaker 1: What we have recently observed in these images is that 658 00:37:10,640 --> 00:37:14,359 Speaker 1: many of these jets seem to be shooting directly from 659 00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:18,880 Speaker 1: the mysterious pits in the surface of the comet. Now 660 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:21,680 Speaker 1: what does that mean. Well, the authors of this study 661 00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:27,680 Speaker 1: in Nature conclude that the pits are probably sinkholes, sinkholes 662 00:37:27,719 --> 00:37:30,120 Speaker 1: in space. Well, that makes sense given what we've just 663 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:35,120 Speaker 1: discussed about the water vapor jetting out of them, right, 664 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:38,160 Speaker 1: it is leaving a hollow and uh, and that's the 665 00:37:38,600 --> 00:37:41,680 Speaker 1: very kind of situation that on on Earth can lead 666 00:37:41,719 --> 00:37:44,880 Speaker 1: to a sinkhole exactly right. Now, these wouldn't be caused 667 00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:48,480 Speaker 1: by the exact same process as natural sinkholes on Earth, 668 00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:51,319 Speaker 1: just because it wouldn't involve things like rain drainage and such. 669 00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:54,120 Speaker 1: But it's pretty close. It's it's almost exactly the same thing. 670 00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:56,640 Speaker 1: And what you're what you're saying, rob is exactly correct. 671 00:37:56,920 --> 00:38:01,040 Speaker 1: So the hypothesized mechanism works like this. The comet travels 672 00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:02,960 Speaker 1: into the inner parts of its orbit, so it gets 673 00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:06,000 Speaker 1: close to the sun, heat from the sun warms the comet, 674 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:09,400 Speaker 1: turning the ice into water vapor, and apparently sometimes this 675 00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:14,160 Speaker 1: heat penetrates the surface, sublimating large pockets of ice underneath 676 00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:17,879 Speaker 1: the top layer of the comet, and then the water 677 00:38:18,040 --> 00:38:21,360 Speaker 1: vapor gets blasted off into space, leaving these voids or 678 00:38:21,520 --> 00:38:26,160 Speaker 1: caves underneath the surface where the ice used to be. Eventually, 679 00:38:26,239 --> 00:38:30,720 Speaker 1: the overburden lying above these evaporated comet caves can't support 680 00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:34,319 Speaker 1: itself and it collapses, leaving a pit. And this can 681 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:37,759 Speaker 1: create an interesting feedback cycle because now that there's a pit, 682 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:41,800 Speaker 1: radiation from the sun can penetrate deeper into the surface 683 00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:45,360 Speaker 1: of the comet, warming even more ice below, which is 684 00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:48,200 Speaker 1: why we see jets of water vapor shooting out of 685 00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:51,719 Speaker 1: the pits themselves. These are sort of hot spots where 686 00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:55,080 Speaker 1: the solar radiation can access pockets of ancient ice and 687 00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:58,919 Speaker 1: heat them up very fast. The author's right quote here. 688 00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:03,760 Speaker 1: We report that it's on Comet six. Triuma of Garasimenko 689 00:39:04,239 --> 00:39:08,200 Speaker 1: are active and probably created by a sinkhole process, possibly 690 00:39:08,200 --> 00:39:13,160 Speaker 1: accompanied by outbursts. We argue that after formation, pits expand 691 00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:19,040 Speaker 1: slowly in diameter owing to sublimation driven retreat of the walls. Therefore, 692 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:24,040 Speaker 1: pits characterize how eroded the surface is. A fresh commentary 693 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:27,359 Speaker 1: surface will have a ragged structure with many pits, while 694 00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:31,200 Speaker 1: an evolved surface will look smoother. The size and spatial 695 00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:36,839 Speaker 1: distribution of pits imply that large heterogeneitys exist in the physical, structural, 696 00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:40,760 Speaker 1: and compositional properties of the first few hundred meters below 697 00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:43,960 Speaker 1: the current nucleus surface. So what they're saying there is 698 00:39:44,080 --> 00:39:46,960 Speaker 1: that there's also probably a way to tell how old 699 00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:49,239 Speaker 1: the pits are and how old the surface of the 700 00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:52,800 Speaker 1: comet is by looking at these pits. Over time, the 701 00:39:52,880 --> 00:39:57,000 Speaker 1: vaporization of ice erodes and smooths over the walls of 702 00:39:57,080 --> 00:39:59,520 Speaker 1: the pit. So if you're looking at a comet, uh, 703 00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:03,280 Speaker 1: the older a comet sinkhole is, the smoother its walls 704 00:40:03,360 --> 00:40:07,000 Speaker 1: and the shallower its pits become, and very new pits 705 00:40:07,080 --> 00:40:10,360 Speaker 1: in in less evolved comets are the ones with very steep, 706 00:40:10,520 --> 00:40:14,520 Speaker 1: straight walls. It's kind of the exact opposite of like 707 00:40:14,680 --> 00:40:18,399 Speaker 1: how human faces age. Right, So, a very old piece 708 00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:21,279 Speaker 1: of comet terrain that's been exposed to the sun many times, 709 00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:24,280 Speaker 1: I guess, would probably have a smoother surface with shallower 710 00:40:24,400 --> 00:40:27,640 Speaker 1: pits and one where the pits are fresh. It's gonna 711 00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:32,239 Speaker 1: be craggier. Yeah, yeah, it's it's interesting. But but but, 712 00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:35,200 Speaker 1: like you said, this is essentially a sinkhole in space, 713 00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:38,560 Speaker 1: and not even in the most likely place you might 714 00:40:38,600 --> 00:40:41,000 Speaker 1: think to find it, not on a planet, but on 715 00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:44,360 Speaker 1: the surface of a comet. Now, the one reason I 716 00:40:44,440 --> 00:40:46,680 Speaker 1: said maybe, actually it wouldn't be quite as bad to 717 00:40:46,719 --> 00:40:49,240 Speaker 1: fall into a sinkhole in space, at least in this example, 718 00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:51,600 Speaker 1: is that the gravity of the comet is so low 719 00:40:52,160 --> 00:40:54,480 Speaker 1: that when you fell into the sinkhole, you wouldn't fall 720 00:40:54,680 --> 00:40:56,759 Speaker 1: very fast, so you'll probably be fine when you hit 721 00:40:56,800 --> 00:41:01,160 Speaker 1: the bottom. Yeah, or maybe you can catch upward boost 722 00:41:01,239 --> 00:41:04,160 Speaker 1: on one of those jets, right right, It sounds like 723 00:41:04,200 --> 00:41:07,319 Speaker 1: a great place for an action scene to take place. Yeah, 724 00:41:07,960 --> 00:41:12,399 Speaker 1: Ice pirates to sinkhole City. I think all city sounds great. 725 00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:15,560 Speaker 1: That sounds like exactly like the kind of place you'd 726 00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:17,960 Speaker 1: want to wind up in and um like a space 727 00:41:18,120 --> 00:41:22,560 Speaker 1: noar kind of a um you know fiction. Yeah, sinkhole City. 728 00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:25,839 Speaker 1: I like it. Well, we've I feel like we've really 729 00:41:25,920 --> 00:41:28,960 Speaker 1: expanded even more on the idea of the sinkhole and 730 00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:31,720 Speaker 1: hopefully worked a little more to to rescue the sinkhole 731 00:41:31,840 --> 00:41:34,000 Speaker 1: from the what do you call it, the the the 732 00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:38,160 Speaker 1: the section at the bottom of blogs, the chum box, 733 00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:40,919 Speaker 1: the box. That's not a word of my coinage. That's 734 00:41:40,920 --> 00:41:43,279 Speaker 1: like a well known term. I think it was a 735 00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:46,040 Speaker 1: term innovated by somebody who wrote, like a I don't know, 736 00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:48,399 Speaker 1: like a Gawker article or something about them a long 737 00:41:48,520 --> 00:41:50,600 Speaker 1: time ago, about like how they're put together and what's 738 00:41:50,640 --> 00:41:53,320 Speaker 1: in them. But yeah, that that that is not a 739 00:41:53,440 --> 00:41:55,160 Speaker 1: term original to me, but I think it is a 740 00:41:55,320 --> 00:41:59,120 Speaker 1: very good term. It's an apt description. Yeah, return, I 741 00:41:59,200 --> 00:42:02,320 Speaker 1: guess it's referring to u the kind of like a 742 00:42:02,520 --> 00:42:04,640 Speaker 1: slurry of meat that you throw out of a boat 743 00:42:04,680 --> 00:42:08,000 Speaker 1: to attract sharks. Yes, exactly, that is exactly what those 744 00:42:08,080 --> 00:42:11,360 Speaker 1: boxes are. They're just like kind of throwing rotten garbage 745 00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:14,200 Speaker 1: out there to see what comes up. Yeah, and the 746 00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:17,680 Speaker 1: sink whole deserves better. The sinkhole is far more interesting. 747 00:42:18,080 --> 00:42:22,680 Speaker 1: Yet you know, certainly they do, uh, they do have 748 00:42:22,840 --> 00:42:25,279 Speaker 1: this this visceral impact on us. Just this again, this 749 00:42:25,400 --> 00:42:27,960 Speaker 1: idea of the earth opening up, opening up and swallowing 750 00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:31,080 Speaker 1: this whole or exposing dark realms beneath the earth. But 751 00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:34,440 Speaker 1: but there's much more beyond that. Much more than just 752 00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:39,480 Speaker 1: sheer terror titilation. So hopefully we've we've uh, you know, 753 00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:42,640 Speaker 1: urged everyone out there too to uh, you know, respect 754 00:42:42,680 --> 00:42:45,080 Speaker 1: the sink whole a little bit more. And obviously, yeah, 755 00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:47,000 Speaker 1: we'd love to hear from anybody out there, you know, 756 00:42:47,040 --> 00:42:49,520 Speaker 1: if you've traveled any of these sinkholes we've mentioned, if 757 00:42:49,560 --> 00:42:51,600 Speaker 1: you've been too impressive, sinkholes that we didn't get into 758 00:42:51,719 --> 00:42:55,880 Speaker 1: in these episodes, or you just have general thoughts about them, 759 00:42:56,239 --> 00:42:58,560 Speaker 1: we would love to hear from you. In the meantime, 760 00:42:58,600 --> 00:43:00,759 Speaker 1: if you would like to listen to other episodes of 761 00:43:00,800 --> 00:43:02,760 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind, you can find the Stuff 762 00:43:02,800 --> 00:43:04,920 Speaker 1: to Blow your Mind podcast feed wherever you get your 763 00:43:04,920 --> 00:43:08,439 Speaker 1: podcasts and wherever that happens to be. We just asked 764 00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:10,840 Speaker 1: the rate, review and subscribe if the platform allows you 765 00:43:10,960 --> 00:43:13,400 Speaker 1: to do so. Huge thanks as always to our excellent 766 00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:16,400 Speaker 1: audio producer Seth Nicholas Johnson. If you would like to 767 00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:18,640 Speaker 1: get in touch with us with feedback on this episode 768 00:43:18,719 --> 00:43:20,760 Speaker 1: or any other, to suggest a topic for the future, 769 00:43:20,840 --> 00:43:22,759 Speaker 1: or just to say hello, you can email us at 770 00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:33,280 Speaker 1: contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff 771 00:43:33,320 --> 00:43:35,480 Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind is production of I Heart Radio. 772 00:43:35,880 --> 00:43:38,200 Speaker 1: For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the iHeart 773 00:43:38,239 --> 00:43:40,960 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you're listening to your 774 00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:41,640 Speaker 1: favorite shows.