1 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind. 3 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and my name is Julie Douglas, 4 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:19,200 Speaker 1: and we just came off of a week of grueling 5 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:23,000 Speaker 1: video work in which we've created a really exciting product 6 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 1: called Stuff to Blow Your Kid's Mind. It wasn't that 7 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: grueling though, well I haven't me. I mean, it wasn't 8 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:30,639 Speaker 1: like we were being forced whipped or anything. It was 9 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: a great experience. It was just we had to do 10 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:34,320 Speaker 1: a lot of it in a very short time, and 11 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: we had to muddle through some concepts. They're a little 12 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 1: bit heavy, yeah, and my my brain only works well 13 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: with conversation and for a very short period of time 14 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:44,280 Speaker 1: every day, so I had to really try and stretch 15 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:47,959 Speaker 1: that time out to cover an entire eight hour periods. Well, 16 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:50,520 Speaker 1: only that we had to become acts. Yes, a little 17 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:53,159 Speaker 1: a little other thing, but anyway. We we have the 18 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 1: chance to talk about the skill of the universe in 19 00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: one of our episodes for the a s F sponsor 20 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: or Stuff to Blow your Kids Mind, and we thought 21 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: that this would be an interesting fodder for you guys 22 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 1: that we could expand on a little bit. Yeah, the 23 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:08,880 Speaker 1: video version is going to start off with a cool 24 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: little experiment that you can do at home to show 25 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 1: kids or even yourself. I mean, I really had a 26 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 1: ball doing the experiment because it helps me understand all 27 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,040 Speaker 1: this stuff that's really so much larger than ourselves. It's 28 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:20,959 Speaker 1: gonna start off with this experiment, and then we're gonna 29 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 1: go in and you're gonna see us float around in 30 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 1: space as we talk about all this stuff. But we 31 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:26,760 Speaker 1: can only go into so much detail there, so this 32 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:29,679 Speaker 1: is considered this a companion piece this episode in which 33 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:34,199 Speaker 1: we discuss the subject of planetary scale and the scale 34 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:36,200 Speaker 1: of our Solar system and a little more detail. Well, 35 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,639 Speaker 1: we wanted to try to let kids know just how tiny, tiny, 36 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: tiny our Earth is, even though it seems immense, and 37 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 1: so we did sort of this, Uh, I guess you 38 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:48,840 Speaker 1: could say like pantry experiment with a bunch of different 39 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 1: objects that you could find in your home to illustrate this. Right, 40 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 1: So the basic experiment boils down to you're gonna just 41 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:58,320 Speaker 1: grab a few household items to illustrate exactly what the 42 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:01,560 Speaker 1: sizes are. So, for instance, you would start off with Earth, 43 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 1: which is the size of a black peppercorn. Pretty small, right, Jupiter, 44 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 1: the largest planet in our Solar system, would be about 45 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:10,880 Speaker 1: the size of like a gumball or a foosball. So 46 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: if you grab one of those and put it next 47 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 1: to a black peppercorn, that would be about the size. 48 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: Saturn would be as big as a hazel nut. You're 49 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 1: in this, A Neptune would be coffee veins, Venus would 50 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: be a green peppercorn, Mars and Mercury would be just 51 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: little pinheads. And then the Sun itself, how big would 52 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: that be? Oh? Well, how about a ten pound bowling ball? Yeah, boom. 53 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: We are hoping that that gives kids a really good 54 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: perspective of, like, again, how tiny the Earth is relative 55 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: to the other planets and to the Sun. And when 56 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 1: we talk about that green peppercorn Venus, that's just slightly 57 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:43,200 Speaker 1: larger than the Earth. Just wanted to point that a 58 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 1: since you're like, well, peppercorns, what's up with that? And 59 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: what we talked about, which I think it's really interesting, 60 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: is okay? Like if that doesn't kind of root you 61 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: in an idea of these relative distances, let's talk about 62 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: what would happen if we were to take a walk 63 00:02:57,080 --> 00:02:59,239 Speaker 1: across the Earth, and then we are about to take 64 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:01,920 Speaker 1: a walk across us for some what might we expect 65 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:04,799 Speaker 1: in those journeys. Well, let's see, the average human being 66 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 1: walks roughly three miles per hour. The circumference of the 67 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: Earth is about twenty four thousand, so it would take 68 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 1: you about three days to walk all that that that 69 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:19,799 Speaker 1: that's doable, right, Well, I mean you know, well, and 70 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: you also have to have a continuous strip of land 71 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: or bridge and which to walk. So it's a thought experiment. 72 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 1: Say like cyborg col Julie could probably do this, right, Like, 73 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:33,639 Speaker 1: I guess, but where cybar Julie. Now, She's never here, 74 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: she's being built. Rather, my parts are being built, the 75 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: parts that don't need to digest anything and just can 76 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 1: keep walking on and on. But okay, so if you're 77 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: going to try to make the same journey around the sun, 78 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: what would be facing you is two point seven million miles, 79 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 1: which would take you more than a century to walk. Yeah, 80 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 1: basically about a hundred and two years and some change. 81 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: So that definitely that's even something that Cyborg Julie would 82 00:03:57,640 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: have a problem with, I think unless you really pimped 83 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: out or metal skin. Yeah, yeah, that's just a couple 84 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:05,120 Speaker 1: of years away. That's like a total nano. This was 85 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: interesting to us because we started to say we we 86 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:09,839 Speaker 1: really take all of these distances for granted, the fact 87 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: that we even have this knowledge, and you know, we 88 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: can look back up the giants of science who began 89 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:18,480 Speaker 1: to get an inkling of just how big our universe is. Yeah, 90 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:20,599 Speaker 1: because the like the bowling ball and the peppercorn and 91 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: all that, you can build a thousand yard model with 92 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: that where you space them out. And I'll throw some 93 00:04:26,279 --> 00:04:29,000 Speaker 1: links to this experiment up on the blog posted accompanies 94 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: this episode if you want to try it for real 95 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: at home. But if you have a thousand yards, you 96 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 1: can put that bowling ball at one end, and you 97 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 1: can string the planets out at appropriate distances, and you 98 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 1: have a scale model of the Solar system which would 99 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 1: spread out to what about half a mile. Let's imagine 100 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:48,680 Speaker 1: that you are Johannes Kepler, right, your sixteenth century German 101 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 1: mathematician and astronomer. We have discussed him a couple of 102 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: times here in the podcast. Yeah, because because the thing is, 103 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:55,800 Speaker 1: we talk about these distances and then you ask, well, 104 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:57,359 Speaker 1: how do we know that, and how is it possible 105 00:04:57,400 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: that we've we've more or less known it for centuries. 106 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:02,600 Speaker 1: Kepler looked at the solar system in the same way 107 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:05,120 Speaker 1: we might look at a race track. All Right, If 108 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 1: you've been to a race track, you know that you 109 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:10,279 Speaker 1: have these inner lanes and then you have progressively outer lanes. 110 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:14,160 Speaker 1: So the distance around that inner lane is less than 111 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:16,359 Speaker 1: the distance around that outer lane. Right, That's why you 112 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: always staggered runners, right, But if you weren't to stagger him, 113 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: if everybody started at the same time, you'd have less 114 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:24,240 Speaker 1: distance to cover if you're on the inner ring, right, 115 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:26,040 Speaker 1: And if everyone was traveling at the same speed, and 116 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:28,719 Speaker 1: the closer you were to the middle of that race track, 117 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 1: the shorter your trip would be. So Kepler looked out 118 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:34,159 Speaker 1: at the planets and he clocked the time it took 119 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:36,040 Speaker 1: for them to rotate around the Sun and use that 120 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 1: termine exactly how far from the Sun they were. And 121 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:41,479 Speaker 1: that's the breakthrough he had after he went to a 122 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:43,559 Speaker 1: dog race. Right, Yeah, he's able to figure out stuff 123 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: that like Mars is one point five times farther from 124 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 1: the Sun than Earth. Right, So he couldn't exactly give 125 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:52,599 Speaker 1: exact measurements in kilometers, but he could figure out the 126 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:54,719 Speaker 1: order of the planets. And for example, we just said 127 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:57,479 Speaker 1: about Mars being farther from the Sun than the Earth. 128 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:00,600 Speaker 1: Then there comes along this guy by the name of 129 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:05,919 Speaker 1: Giovanni Cassini century whereas Johanna s Kepler was that a 130 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: century earlier. Yeah, and he is also an astronomer, and 131 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: he takes this idea of parallax and he applies it 132 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:16,520 Speaker 1: to the universe. But before we talk about how he 133 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,480 Speaker 1: did that, we'll just explain this parallax method, which is 134 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:22,400 Speaker 1: super easy. You just put a finger up and close 135 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,359 Speaker 1: one eye and then open the other eye closed and 136 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:29,480 Speaker 1: shift between them. And it appears that your fingers just 137 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:31,880 Speaker 1: has a slight shift to it. When you do that, right, 138 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:34,080 Speaker 1: it appears to jump from the side of the other 139 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: back and forth. That you staggered the blinking. Yeah, and 140 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:38,440 Speaker 1: this is because your eyes are separated from each other 141 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: by distance of a few inches, so each eye sees 142 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,360 Speaker 1: the finger in front of you from a slightly different angle. Now, 143 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:46,279 Speaker 1: you can't really do that with a star or a 144 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:49,800 Speaker 1: planet in the sky. So what good old Giovanni Gazzini 145 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 1: does here is that he says, well, all right, what 146 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: have I had one eye here in Paris and I 147 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:58,720 Speaker 1: had another eye in South America, and then I looked 148 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:01,280 Speaker 1: to the heavens right right, So I mean this is 149 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,240 Speaker 1: what gave him a baseline, the same parallax right that 150 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:07,600 Speaker 1: your eyes have about those interests between of several thousand kilometers, 151 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: and then using geometry, he was able to calculate a 152 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:12,960 Speaker 1: distance from Mars that is only seven percent off today's 153 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: more precise measurements, which is pretty incredible because it's kind 154 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:17,960 Speaker 1: of I think about it, it's like, well, what would 155 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:20,440 Speaker 1: you do today? Oh, I had this whole right through 156 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:23,240 Speaker 1: about you know, this parallax method. What if you applied 157 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:26,440 Speaker 1: it to two different geographic points here on Earth to 158 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: try to figure out the immensity of the universe. If 159 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:32,960 Speaker 1: today you have a satellite or space probe named after you, 160 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 1: you were pretty dope. I mean you you had it 161 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:38,240 Speaker 1: going on in the brains department and the cosmic mechanics. 162 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:40,880 Speaker 1: You did the leg work for what we have today, 163 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 1: right in terms of our understanding of the universe and 164 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:47,160 Speaker 1: even our more precise measurements like radar, which is what 165 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:50,200 Speaker 1: we used to actually figure out a lot of the distances. Yeah, 166 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: radar is pretty simple. You send these waves out, they 167 00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 1: bounce off of another planet. They come back, we know 168 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:57,680 Speaker 1: how fast the waves travel, so we time that journey 169 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 1: and then we're able to see exactly how far those 170 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:03,280 Speaker 1: waves travel. Right, And when you're thinking about radio signals, 171 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 1: beaming those back to Earth and that that can be time. 172 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 1: And if that seems weird, just remember that radar is 173 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 1: essentially microwave electromagnetic radiation, and microwaves fall under the radio spectrum. 174 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 1: And so since electromagnetic creation in all of its forms 175 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:22,280 Speaker 1: is light, we know that radar travels at the speed 176 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: of light and can measure it. All right, Well, let's 177 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:27,400 Speaker 1: take a quick break and when we come back, we're 178 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:29,760 Speaker 1: gonna start talking about Voyager a little bit. Yeah, and 179 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about breaking through to the other 180 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:40,559 Speaker 1: side into interstellar space. All right, we're back. So Voyager, 181 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:44,400 Speaker 1: just to rehash back in, we launched a Voyager of 182 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: one and Voyager two out into space to explore other 183 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:50,679 Speaker 1: planets and to beam information about these planets in our 184 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 1: Solar System back to Earth. And they continue to travel 185 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:55,200 Speaker 1: and we continue to keep in touch with them, and 186 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:57,520 Speaker 1: we're not as close as we used to be. Uh, 187 00:08:57,760 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 1: you know, they don't they don't come over for dinner 188 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 1: as often and billions. It's going on there and they're 189 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:05,839 Speaker 1: up to interesting things. Well, you know, they again they 190 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 1: gathered all that wonderful data for us and boomed it 191 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: back to us, and they are on a new tour 192 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,280 Speaker 1: of sorts into interstellar space. At least that's what we 193 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 1: think any day now up until about two years from now, 194 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:20,200 Speaker 1: that this is going to happen. And the reason we 195 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:24,120 Speaker 1: know this is because they are again collecting data, particularly 196 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:27,360 Speaker 1: about the solar winds that we know are present in 197 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:30,000 Speaker 1: our Solar system. And what they found, researchers found this 198 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 1: actually last spring, is that the solar winds completely died down. 199 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:37,520 Speaker 1: And at first they thought this was anomally because these 200 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 1: are the sort of particles that were coming at the 201 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:42,640 Speaker 1: probe right, But then they realized that no, that they 202 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:46,839 Speaker 1: are actually entering the helio pause. And you think helio pause, 203 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: do you think you know? A son and then a 204 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:51,400 Speaker 1: quick stop before you start again. This is the outermost 205 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:56,120 Speaker 1: bubble the surrounding the Solar system. They're at the cusp 206 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:57,760 Speaker 1: of it. I like to think of it in terms 207 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:00,680 Speaker 1: of imagine the Sun is a camp fire and the 208 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:03,320 Speaker 1: planets are more or less huddled around this camp fire 209 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:06,560 Speaker 1: for warmth and energy and light, and the farther you 210 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:09,840 Speaker 1: walk away from that camp fire, the darker it gets, 211 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:14,040 Speaker 1: the colder it gets. Until you actually walk into the darkness, 212 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:16,480 Speaker 1: you've passed that point where the light from the fire 213 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:19,160 Speaker 1: and the heat from the fire ceases to be a 214 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 1: commanding factor the right. So voyagers essentially passing out through 215 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 1: this darkness. And again to talk about the speeds, they 216 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 1: had been going something like a hundred and fifty thousand 217 00:10:28,559 --> 00:10:31,920 Speaker 1: miles per hour, that's what the solar winds were blowing on. 218 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:35,240 Speaker 1: They just stopped, period. I mean, that's really traumatic. Voyager 219 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:37,840 Speaker 1: one is both the fastest moving and the most distant 220 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:41,439 Speaker 1: man made object. Yeah, which is incredible that again it's beaming, 221 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 1: even the fact that the solar winds completely died down. 222 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:47,480 Speaker 1: So researchers found that the speed of the charge particles 223 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: hitting Voyagers outward face matched the spacecraft's own speed. And 224 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:52,720 Speaker 1: that's what you're talking about, We're talking about that camp 225 00:10:52,760 --> 00:10:55,520 Speaker 1: fire kind of dying out, because that suggests that the 226 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:59,560 Speaker 1: probe has bumped up against pressure from the interstellar magnetic field, 227 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:02,880 Speaker 1: the region between the stars right right outside of our 228 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:06,480 Speaker 1: solar system. So again that's an indication that less and 229 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:09,840 Speaker 1: less of the Sun's influence is apparent, and that the 230 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:12,680 Speaker 1: spacecraft is actually entering new territory. So what do we 231 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:16,240 Speaker 1: have going on in the outer limits of our solar system? 232 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:18,440 Speaker 1: This is an interesting thing to mention too. We talked 233 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:21,200 Speaker 1: about the magnetic field. In June of last year. It 234 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:24,200 Speaker 1: was discovered that the time the spacecraft was moving through 235 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:27,640 Speaker 1: what pop Side described in its article Voyager one might 236 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:30,720 Speaker 1: leave the Solar System any day now, a foamy froth 237 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:34,760 Speaker 1: of magnetic bubbles, which is a bizarre phenomenon that results 238 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:38,160 Speaker 1: from the criss crossing and rejoining of magnetic field lines 239 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:41,120 Speaker 1: at the edge of the Solar system. So what is 240 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:44,439 Speaker 1: beyond that? Well, there are two things that interest us here, 241 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: and one is the Kuiper Belt, and this is a 242 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:50,840 Speaker 1: disc shaped region of icy objects beyond the orbit of Neptune, 243 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:54,440 Speaker 1: billions of kilometers from our son. Yeah, it's thought to 244 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:57,560 Speaker 1: be sort of like leftover material from the formation of 245 00:11:57,559 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 1: our solar system. It's still within our solar system. In fact, 246 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,440 Speaker 1: it contains Pluto, which is the largest object in the 247 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:06,720 Speaker 1: Kuiper Belt, and the Copper Belt is also leaved to 248 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:10,080 Speaker 1: be the source for short period commets. Those are comments 249 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: that take about less than two hundred years to orbit. Now, 250 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:15,960 Speaker 1: if you go out even farther, you encounter something called 251 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:17,920 Speaker 1: the Orc Cloud, which is also thought to be home 252 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:20,120 Speaker 1: to a number of commets as well. And this is 253 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:24,040 Speaker 1: an immense spherical cloud surrounding the planetary system, thought to 254 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:27,960 Speaker 1: extend approximately three light years and is about thirty trillion 255 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:31,000 Speaker 1: kilometers from the Sun. This is speculative, but it's also 256 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 1: thought that the Orc Cloud may account for a significant 257 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:36,280 Speaker 1: fraction of the mass in the Solar System, perhaps as 258 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,240 Speaker 1: much or even more than the planet Jupiter. So that 259 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:42,880 Speaker 1: much mass just spread out. Yeah, again, this is a theory. 260 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:45,520 Speaker 1: This idea that the Orc Cloud is sort of like 261 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:49,040 Speaker 1: a thick bubble that surrounds the entire Solar System, reaching 262 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:51,839 Speaker 1: about halfway from the Sun to the next nearest star. 263 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:54,640 Speaker 1: And there's also this idea that it intersects with the 264 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:57,960 Speaker 1: Kuiper Belt. This is the cosmic riff raff that lives 265 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:01,720 Speaker 1: on the margins of planetary society. Yeah, including a long 266 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:04,679 Speaker 1: period comments. Again, this is the theory of the source 267 00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:08,719 Speaker 1: of those Yeah, yeah, big time drifters. But I think 268 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:12,679 Speaker 1: what's so tantalizing about this idea of voyager leaving our 269 00:13:12,679 --> 00:13:15,360 Speaker 1: solar system and going into into stellar space. Is that 270 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:18,000 Speaker 1: it is collecting all of this data and changing the 271 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:20,679 Speaker 1: way that we are viewing how the universe works and 272 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:24,360 Speaker 1: challenging some of our theories. So will we gather more 273 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:27,079 Speaker 1: data about the Orc cloud, will we say, yes, this 274 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 1: this thing actually exists, and once it does go into 275 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:34,160 Speaker 1: interstellar space and is under the influence of other sons again, 276 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:36,559 Speaker 1: who knows, you know, sort of time period we're looking 277 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:41,800 Speaker 1: at In terms of that, of course, how is that 278 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:45,760 Speaker 1: going to again change our understanding of our relative place 279 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:49,320 Speaker 1: here on Earth and the universe around us. Well, for starters, 280 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:53,640 Speaker 1: if we were to aim Voyager one at Alpha Centauri, 281 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:56,480 Speaker 1: he could make it there in about seventy tho years 282 00:13:56,280 --> 00:14:01,200 Speaker 1: and yeah, so probably not in our time in terms 283 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:04,599 Speaker 1: of another sun like major influence. But what about the 284 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:06,839 Speaker 1: space in between? Right? Yeah, but I've also read that 285 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:09,959 Speaker 1: Voyager one is more like it's not these are Voyger 286 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:11,840 Speaker 1: one and Voyger two are not really aimed at any 287 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:17,400 Speaker 1: interstellar destinations. But Voyager one is roughly headed towards the 288 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 1: constellation off a Ucas. So in the year forty thousand, 289 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: two hundred and seventy two, a D Voyager one will 290 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:28,360 Speaker 1: come within one point seven light years of an obscure 291 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: star in the constellation or some a minor the Little 292 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 1: Bear or the Little Dipper called a C plus seventy 293 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:39,480 Speaker 1: nine three eighty eight. And then voyager To it's estimated 294 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:41,720 Speaker 1: that in about forty thousand years it will come within 295 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:44,320 Speaker 1: about one point seven light years of a star called 296 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 1: ross to forty eight, a small star in the constellation 297 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 1: of Andromeda. So these are colossal numbers, and they give 298 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:54,400 Speaker 1: you just a little more insight into this the colossal 299 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:57,880 Speaker 1: scale of the universe beyond our Solar system, which is 300 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:01,880 Speaker 1: ultimately just as puny punior in the grand scheme of things, 301 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: and our Earth is within our own solar system. Well, 302 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:06,280 Speaker 1: and I think just even even the bits of information 303 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: that have come back, like what's happening at the edge 304 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:12,080 Speaker 1: of the Solar system, these magnetic bubbles, this now brings 305 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:14,760 Speaker 1: into question, well, what are these magnetic bubbles doing anyway, 306 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:16,960 Speaker 1: because again we're talking about the magnetic field sort of 307 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: doing these twisty turney things creating these magnetic bubbles. Are 308 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 1: they actually taking the cosmic rays and deflecting them from 309 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:28,440 Speaker 1: the Earth essentially from the Sun, or are those bubbles 310 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:31,320 Speaker 1: helping those cosmic rays to reach the Sun and the Earth. 311 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:35,040 Speaker 1: How are they actually helping in terms of defense or aggression? 312 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:39,080 Speaker 1: I guess you can say to our solar system. Yeah, 313 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:42,200 Speaker 1: I mean that is froth, the magnetic bubbles. It doesn't 314 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 1: get any better than that. So I can't wait. You know, 315 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:47,400 Speaker 1: maybe it'll be a couple of years before it actually 316 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:50,560 Speaker 1: goes into interstellar space. But one can only imagine what 317 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 1: sort of information we will get from that. Would your one? 318 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:56,040 Speaker 1: And Voyger too are just fascinating and beautiful, And we 319 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:58,920 Speaker 1: have an article on how stuff works dot com about 320 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:01,160 Speaker 1: the Voyager program you should check out. So go to 321 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:04,520 Speaker 1: house stuff Works, put Voyager into the search bar and 322 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:07,880 Speaker 1: you'll find that. Because they're not only probes of exploration, 323 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:11,360 Speaker 1: their time capsule as saract or or if you will, 324 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:14,480 Speaker 1: tombstones for the human race that have been jettisoned out 325 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:17,400 Speaker 1: there into the void to let everyone know who we 326 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:19,360 Speaker 1: once were and how great we were and what we 327 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:21,560 Speaker 1: look like naked. You're referring to the Golden Album, right, 328 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:25,400 Speaker 1: and the plates. Yeah, and these contain all sorts of 329 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:28,240 Speaker 1: samples I guess you could say from Earth babies cry 330 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 1: trying to think of you know, Dove's Cry that's on there. 331 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 1: That's yeah, yeah, there's some knocking on there, specific pieces 332 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:39,080 Speaker 1: of music that been really important to our culture, and 333 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:41,880 Speaker 1: and then just living sounds. And not only is it 334 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:44,080 Speaker 1: just going, like you say, on sort of a mission 335 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,960 Speaker 1: to explore the rest of the Milky Way, but it 336 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:50,800 Speaker 1: does represent a piece of humanity, all right. Well, speaking 337 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:53,240 Speaker 1: of a piece of humanity, let's have that robot bring 338 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:55,320 Speaker 1: us some pieces of humanity in the form of some 339 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:59,840 Speaker 1: listener mail. Here's we see from Rachel in a response 340 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:02,120 Speaker 1: to Toxo plus most of this episode, and it's one 341 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:04,160 Speaker 1: of the more interesting ones. Said that we receive received 342 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:06,440 Speaker 1: a lot of great content that really got people's minds working. 343 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:09,240 Speaker 1: But Rachel retson and says, I really enjoyed your podcast 344 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:13,240 Speaker 1: on toxo. My mom ate Steak Tartar while pregnant with me, 345 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:16,159 Speaker 1: and I was infected with toxo in utero. I was 346 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 1: lucky as this happened during the third trimester. The only 347 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:22,840 Speaker 1: part of me affected with my vision. The toxo parasites 348 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:25,439 Speaker 1: assumed all of the central retina in one eye and 349 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:28,760 Speaker 1: left lesions in both eyes. I had excellent eye care 350 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:31,199 Speaker 1: and where glasses, both for your near sightedness as well 351 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:34,120 Speaker 1: as to protect my good left eye from objects, as 352 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:37,080 Speaker 1: my right eye has only peripheral vision. I also have 353 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:40,159 Speaker 1: a nice stagnus eye wiggling, but that has had minimal 354 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:42,879 Speaker 1: effect on me other than kids teasing me when I 355 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,480 Speaker 1: was growing up. I find the information about parasites and 356 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:48,360 Speaker 1: mental health fascinating as well. Thank you for this podcast, 357 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:50,600 Speaker 1: as well as your earlier podcast in a similar topic. 358 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:53,200 Speaker 1: In addition to parasites, I know that there are many 359 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:55,840 Speaker 1: factors in the gut affecting mental health. My daughters and 360 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:58,680 Speaker 1: I have Celiac disease, and I saw a huge change 361 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,480 Speaker 1: in my daughter's behavior when we eliminated gluten, and my 362 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,119 Speaker 1: moods became much more stable as well. I'd love to 363 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:06,199 Speaker 1: hear a podcast and how different foods can affect us 364 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:09,760 Speaker 1: beyond needing a sandwich when feeling bloody or wrathfle Thanks 365 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:12,600 Speaker 1: again for a great podcast, Rachel, Well, that's a great email. 366 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:14,760 Speaker 1: That's a lot to think about, and it probably does 367 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 1: bear a little bit more exploration into where we've talked 368 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:20,040 Speaker 1: about the gut in the brain, but certainly what we 369 00:18:20,119 --> 00:18:22,639 Speaker 1: put in our gut how it affects us. Yeah, and 370 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:25,320 Speaker 1: we will certainly be conducting more research and doing more 371 00:18:25,359 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 1: episodes regarding our diets and our digestion, as those are 372 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:31,760 Speaker 1: such a fascinating area and there's always new research rolling 373 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:33,760 Speaker 1: out on the subject. So yeah, we definitely live in 374 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:36,360 Speaker 1: an era where we've got a ton of great information 375 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:38,200 Speaker 1: to draw from. All right, here's another one. This is 376 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:41,400 Speaker 1: from Dan dan Wrightson and says Robert and Julie. Last night, 377 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:44,399 Speaker 1: I experienced sleep paralysis for the first time and only 378 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:46,720 Speaker 1: times for my life. I woke up rather suddenly because 379 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:49,679 Speaker 1: I was over keying under my very warm comforter. I 380 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:52,160 Speaker 1: desperately wanted to take the blanket off and cool down, 381 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:54,800 Speaker 1: but I couldn't move at all. I could only open 382 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:57,679 Speaker 1: my eyes. It was a rather scary experience, but I 383 00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:00,719 Speaker 1: must say it was reassuring to understand what was happening 384 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:04,080 Speaker 1: from a scientific perspective. After maybe thirty seconds, which felt 385 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:06,879 Speaker 1: much longer given the circumstances, I was finally able to 386 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 1: move and escape from my bed. I can certainly see 387 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:12,960 Speaker 1: why some cultures have explained sleep paralysis as ghostly apparitions 388 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:15,840 Speaker 1: pinning down their victims, but it was very comforting to 389 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:20,160 Speaker 1: know what was exactly happening anyway, keep up the great podcast. Yeah, yeah, 390 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:22,239 Speaker 1: and it is terrifying. I don't know if I've ever 391 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:23,520 Speaker 1: shared it here on the podcast, but I know I've 392 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:26,919 Speaker 1: shared with you that I had a repetitive dream up 393 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:29,560 Speaker 1: until my twenties in which I had a I was 394 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:31,480 Speaker 1: pinned down in my dream and the dog was mulling 395 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:35,200 Speaker 1: my face, and so I would try to wake up 396 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:37,560 Speaker 1: and I'd be like, oh, like just trying to scream 397 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:39,760 Speaker 1: but couldn't move, and it really it's the worst thing 398 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:43,679 Speaker 1: in the world. But understanding why that's happening is it 399 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:48,680 Speaker 1: is incredibly comforting to think, how much, isn't it? Um, Yeah, 400 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:50,560 Speaker 1: this is a dream. This was This was this weird 401 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:53,200 Speaker 1: thing that just happened between disconnect to my muscles and 402 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:55,800 Speaker 1: my brain and I'm not being lifted off to a saucer. 403 00:19:55,920 --> 00:20:00,240 Speaker 1: Well there you go. Well I can do the dog. Yeah, well, 404 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:01,960 Speaker 1: well there you go. I tend to think our listeners 405 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:06,159 Speaker 1: tend to already understand how reality and unreality work, and 406 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:09,639 Speaker 1: the difference between a dream and an actual dog modelling. 407 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:12,120 Speaker 1: But to whatever extent we can provide a little more 408 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:14,920 Speaker 1: AMMO to help people when you're having a nightmare or 409 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:18,080 Speaker 1: about a sleep paralysis, then hey, that's just I think 410 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:20,800 Speaker 1: it's just fascinating to know that those are the inner 411 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:24,399 Speaker 1: machinations going on in our brain and our body and 412 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:26,320 Speaker 1: how all of it is connected. Yeah, so Dan, thanks 413 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:28,440 Speaker 1: for sending that in. I'm always delighted to hear about 414 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:30,919 Speaker 1: people's dreams and the various strange things that can go 415 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:33,280 Speaker 1: on during sleep or just in our minds in general 416 00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:37,679 Speaker 1: that can sometimes become interpreted as a paranormal encounter. So 417 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:39,440 Speaker 1: if you would like to reach out to us, if 418 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:40,920 Speaker 1: you would like to share something with us and see 419 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:43,119 Speaker 1: what we're up to, and check out some links to 420 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:45,040 Speaker 1: these stuff to Blow your kid's Mind videos that we're 421 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:46,919 Speaker 1: talking about, hit us up on Facebook where we are 422 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:48,800 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind, and then you can also 423 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:50,680 Speaker 1: find us on Twitter where we are Blow the Mind, 424 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:53,560 Speaker 1: and you can always drop us a line at Blow 425 00:20:53,600 --> 00:21:01,120 Speaker 1: the Mind at Discovery dot com. Be sure to check 426 00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:04,280 Speaker 1: out our new video podcasts, Stuff from the Future. Join 427 00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:07,000 Speaker 1: Howsta Work staff as we explore the most promising and 428 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:09,240 Speaker 1: perplexing possibilities of tomorrow.