1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:02,400 Speaker 1: Hey, please take a second and leave us a review 2 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:06,279 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to the podcast. 3 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 2: Thanks a lot. 4 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:13,319 Speaker 1: Hey, welcome to Sign Stuff reproduction of iHeartRadio. I'm Horrid 5 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: cham And in this year end episode, we are answering 6 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:20,079 Speaker 1: the question why is a year a year? Why do 7 00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:22,480 Speaker 1: we have three hundred and sixty five days in the year? 8 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,319 Speaker 1: Is it changing? And will the new year always be 9 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:29,000 Speaker 1: the same? This is the second in our two part 10 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:31,800 Speaker 1: holiday special, so be sure to check out last week's 11 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:35,879 Speaker 1: episode about whether the North Pole is moving. Today, we're 12 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 1: going to continue our conversation with my friend and planetary 13 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 1: scientist Matt Siegler, and he's going to fill us in 14 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,320 Speaker 1: on the physics of our annual spin around the Sun. 15 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: So get ready to count down the new year with 16 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 1: Science as we answer the question why is a year 17 00:00:51,880 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: a year? Hey? Everyone, Happy new Today we're celebrating another 18 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: orbit around our lovely Sun and the end of our 19 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: first year on Science Stuff. On behalf of everyone involved 20 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: in the show. Thanks for tuning in to get you 21 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:16,679 Speaker 1: into party mode. We're going to continue my conversation with 22 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:21,039 Speaker 1: planetary scientists doctor Matt Siegler. Doctor Siegler is a professor 23 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: at the University of Hawaii's Institute for Geophysics and Planetology, 24 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 1: and he works with NASA and the European Space Agency 25 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,679 Speaker 1: on several missions. On our last episode, we talked about 26 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: how you can't really trust the North Pole no matter 27 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: if you're talking about the magnetic North Pole, the spin 28 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: axis of the Earth, or even the GPS top of 29 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:44,320 Speaker 1: the world. It's all changing. So I wanted to ask 30 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: doctor Siegler if the same applies to the year, as 31 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 1: our orbit around the Sun changed since the Earth was formed, 32 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 1: or will it change in the future. Here's my chat 33 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 1: with doctor Siegler. Okay, let's stitch over to the new year. Matt, 34 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:00,720 Speaker 1: are you looking for to the new year? 35 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah, it's a very exciting new year. 36 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 1: You sound excited. Did you do anything specially in Hawaii 37 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:09,280 Speaker 1: for New Years? 38 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:14,680 Speaker 2: Apparently there is a massive, massive home fireworks display world 39 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:17,160 Speaker 2: that goes on here such that it becomes kind of 40 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 2: out of control and chaotic where the skies are just 41 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:20,639 Speaker 2: lit up. 42 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:22,519 Speaker 1: Well, good luck with that. So I thought it'd be 43 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 1: fun to talk about in the Solar System whether the 44 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 1: year has changed for Earth and also where are the 45 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:31,360 Speaker 1: years like in other planets. So let's start with the 46 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:35,200 Speaker 1: planet Earth. We talk about how the north pole is 47 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 1: changing on Earth. Is the year changing for planet Earth also? 48 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:40,280 Speaker 1: Or is it pretty constant? 49 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, the year is not really as malleable as the 50 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:48,679 Speaker 2: spin axis. In a way, the year is how long 51 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:52,040 Speaker 2: we go to take one revolution around the Sun, Okay, 52 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 2: and so that period ends up being pretty constant. You know, 53 00:02:56,639 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 2: we talked about how oval the Earth's orbit is, but 54 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 2: it's still take the same period to go around. It 55 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 2: will just go faster at some parts of it and 56 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 2: slower at other parts. 57 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: Okay, here's what's going on. The Earth's orbit around the 58 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:13,080 Speaker 1: Sun is pretty much a circle. If someone showed you 59 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 1: a picture of that orbit, you'd probably say, yep, that's 60 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:20,520 Speaker 1: a circle. But actually it's not quite a perfect circle. 61 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:24,600 Speaker 1: It's a little bit about one point six percent ovalish 62 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:28,920 Speaker 1: or elliptical. And this has a few interesting consequences. First 63 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:30,960 Speaker 1: of all, it means we're not always at the same 64 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:35,200 Speaker 1: distance from the Sun. In January, we're about three million 65 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: miles closer to the Sun than in June. Now, that 66 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: doesn't affect too much how hot it feels on Earth. 67 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: As we'll talk about later, the tilt of the Earth 68 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: has a bigger effect on the seasons. But it does 69 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: mean that the Sun looks a little bit smaller in 70 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: June than in January, about three point three percent smaller. 71 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 1: And it also means that our speed around the Sun 72 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 1: changes throughout the year. In January, the Earth is swinging 73 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: around the Sun a little faster than in June, about 74 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 1: two thirds of a mile per second faster. So if 75 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: it feels like the holidays in New Year go by fast, 76 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: you can blame it on the earth slightly elliptical orbit. Okay, 77 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:18,599 Speaker 1: now the question is how did we get that orbit? 78 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:22,719 Speaker 1: I have two questions. The first question is what determined 79 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:24,800 Speaker 1: how long our year was going to be? Is it 80 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: tied to the formation of the Solar system. 81 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, so, as the planets formed, they had a certain 82 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:34,640 Speaker 2: time period over their orbit. And there is actually a 83 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 2: really interesting story about that that we think the way 84 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:41,840 Speaker 2: the planets formed, Jupiter and Saturn were at slightly different 85 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 2: distances to the Sun than they are today, and that 86 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:49,479 Speaker 2: actually ended up with them going into a resonance, which 87 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:53,160 Speaker 2: is every one time Juwber goes around, Saturn goes around 88 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 2: twice or something like that. Right, And so what happened 89 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 2: then was that the gravity of the two giant planets 90 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 2: would yank on you each other, and that eventually caused 91 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 2: Saturn to move around and then slingshot out into the 92 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:10,360 Speaker 2: outer Solar System, and that messed up Neptune's orbit and 93 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:13,919 Speaker 2: fired it kind of out into the Coiper Belt and 94 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 2: may have knocked around all these icy objects out there 95 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,359 Speaker 2: and caused them to go haywire and fall into the 96 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:22,919 Speaker 2: inner Solar System, and some of them hit the Earth 97 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:25,919 Speaker 2: and Moon and Mars. And that might be one of 98 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 2: the main reasons we have water here on Earth is 99 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:32,719 Speaker 2: because of this chaotic change of years. 100 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:36,680 Speaker 1: Yes, scientists don't really know why we have so much 101 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: water here on Earth. Some of the water in our 102 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:42,839 Speaker 1: oceans and lakes probably came from water that was trapped 103 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:46,120 Speaker 1: inside the Earth when the Earth formed that was then 104 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 1: burped out into our atmosphere by volcanoes. But that's not 105 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:53,599 Speaker 1: enough water to fill up the oceans. So scientists have 106 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:56,040 Speaker 1: a theory that the rest of the water on Earth 107 00:05:56,360 --> 00:06:00,480 Speaker 1: came from space, from icy comets or astero It's from 108 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 1: the far out Kuiper Belt in our Solar system. And 109 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: what doctor Siegler is saying is that the reason that 110 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:10,360 Speaker 1: water ended up here to create deep oceans and maybe 111 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 1: life and us was the orbital Shenanigans of the planets 112 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:18,279 Speaker 1: Jupiter and Saturn. So as you look back and give 113 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,400 Speaker 1: thanks this holiday season and New Year, be sure to 114 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:23,799 Speaker 1: give a shout out to the planets Jupiter and Saturn 115 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:27,279 Speaker 1: for putting us here. Now, could that have happened to 116 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:30,760 Speaker 1: us here on Earth? Were we thrown into this orbit 117 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:35,360 Speaker 1: in that crazy chaotic young Solar system? Sort of? Actually 118 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 1: our planet came about from two smaller planets crashing into 119 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:43,719 Speaker 1: each other. Could that have happened to Earth? Could something 120 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:46,360 Speaker 1: have happened to make us have a different year in 121 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:48,640 Speaker 1: our past? Or can it happen in the future. 122 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, And so this is something we're learning from studying 123 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 2: other Solar systems or exoplanets, right, is that a lot 124 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 2: of the planets seem to migrate around closer or farther 125 00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:02,400 Speaker 2: away from their star over time. And so I think 126 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 2: the ideas that the Earth has not migrated a ton 127 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 2: over its time. But the Earth we think formed kind 128 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 2: of like a pre Earth that was a little bit 129 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:14,000 Speaker 2: smaller than Earth. And then there was another planet about 130 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:18,440 Speaker 2: the size of Mars that crashed into us, and most 131 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 2: of that material became the Earth, but some of it 132 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 2: got thrown into a disc kind of like Saturn, and 133 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:25,400 Speaker 2: that formed the Moon. 134 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 1: Oh so the pre Earth could have had a different orbit, 135 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: could have had a different year. 136 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:32,800 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, So you had these two planets that one 137 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:34,720 Speaker 2: was a little closer to the Sun than the Earth 138 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 2: and so it had a shorter year, right, and then 139 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:39,400 Speaker 2: one was a little farther from the Earth and had 140 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:40,200 Speaker 2: a longer year. 141 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:40,680 Speaker 3: Uh huh. 142 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 2: And they got into some kind of gravity tug of 143 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 2: war and crashed into each. 144 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: Other, and that's when the year was born. Yes, that's 145 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 1: when the Earth year was born. Oh before that, there 146 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:56,760 Speaker 1: was no Earth year after that impact. Now the year 147 00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: was born, yes, when it just happened forzero point five 148 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:06,480 Speaker 1: six billion years ago, not yesterday. No, And we can 149 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 1: tell when that started because the rocks on the Moon 150 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 1: that formed at the same time haven't been all messed 151 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:15,200 Speaker 1: up by weather, and so we can date a rock 152 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:19,679 Speaker 1: from the Moon and figure out how old the Earth is. Whah. 153 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,480 Speaker 1: That's fascinating. And we don't think it's changed since then, 154 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 1: Like the Earth year hasn't changed much. 155 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 2: No, I mean there's some perturbations to the year from 156 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:32,160 Speaker 2: how much Jupiter might yank on us and alter our 157 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:34,559 Speaker 2: orbit a little bit, right, pull us out a little 158 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 2: towards Jupiter. Venus might pull us in a little bit. 159 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:41,040 Speaker 2: But on average, the year has not changed substantially. 160 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:43,559 Speaker 1: I see it has changed, but just a little bit. Yeah, 161 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 1: and what do you think is going to happen in 162 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:46,880 Speaker 1: the future. I think we're going to be stuck with 163 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 1: our year for quite a while. Actually this is not 164 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:55,360 Speaker 1: quite true, Doctor Sieger says. There is something that is 165 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:58,080 Speaker 1: going to affect how long our gear is going to 166 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:01,400 Speaker 1: be in the future. So when we come back, we'll 167 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: talk about what that effect is and how other orbital 168 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:08,280 Speaker 1: effects are going to fundamentally change how we celebrate the 169 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:11,040 Speaker 1: new year. So don't say goodbye to the old year 170 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:11,760 Speaker 1: just yet. 171 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:12,840 Speaker 2: Stay with us. 172 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 1: We'll be right back. Hey, welcome back. We're talking about 173 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:31,240 Speaker 1: the physics of the new year, and so far we've 174 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:34,480 Speaker 1: learned the Earth's orbit around the Sun is not a 175 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:38,440 Speaker 1: perfect circle, and it's the result scientists theorize of two 176 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:43,080 Speaker 1: planets crashing into each other. But once the crash settled 177 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 1: and the debris became the Earth and the Moon, our 178 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 1: orbit around the Sun has been pretty stable. But that's 179 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:52,160 Speaker 1: not always going to be true. 180 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:56,360 Speaker 2: I guess in the long long future, roughly three or 181 00:09:56,360 --> 00:10:01,320 Speaker 2: four billion years from now, the Sun have expanded enough 182 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:04,520 Speaker 2: that the outer atmosphere of the Sun will cause some 183 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:07,880 Speaker 2: drag on the Earth and that might cause it to 184 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:11,160 Speaker 2: lose a little bit of its momentum. Huh, and then 185 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 2: it would slowly spiral down. 186 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:15,679 Speaker 1: In into the Sun. Yeah, so the year will get 187 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: shorter and short. Well, first of all, like, if we're 188 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:20,640 Speaker 1: being dragged by the atmosphere of the Sun, we're probably 189 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:21,920 Speaker 1: not here, like we're cooked. 190 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:25,320 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, so hopefully we're all living somewhere else. 191 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:29,960 Speaker 1: We might see the Earth's year get shorter and shorter 192 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:31,720 Speaker 1: as it drags into the Sun. 193 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:35,760 Speaker 2: Yeah. And it's kind of questionable or depending on what 194 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:39,560 Speaker 2: model you might assume of how a star expands, whether 195 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:42,920 Speaker 2: it's enough drag to cause the Earth to spiral in 196 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:45,679 Speaker 2: all the way, or if it just slows us down 197 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:47,520 Speaker 2: a little bit and we end up a little closer 198 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:51,000 Speaker 2: to the venus or crash in the venis sudden. I 199 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:54,400 Speaker 2: guess we won't see, but we can imagine that there 200 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:56,319 Speaker 2: are some interesting ways. 201 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:57,800 Speaker 1: Hopefully we'll see from a distance. 202 00:10:58,040 --> 00:10:58,360 Speaker 3: Yeah. 203 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:01,360 Speaker 2: So the idea is that the long term of our 204 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:05,320 Speaker 2: solar system is that the outer atmosphere of the Sun 205 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:08,920 Speaker 2: will expand away. There'll be a white dwarf star, you know, 206 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:12,800 Speaker 2: where the core of the Sun that remains is. And 207 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 2: I suppose the Earth will be a little closer, probably 208 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:19,240 Speaker 2: because of this drag, and have a shorter year, but 209 00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 2: hopefully there will still be some hulk of what used 210 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:26,440 Speaker 2: to be the Earth going around there. And whether after 211 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:28,640 Speaker 2: that it can never be a place where life could 212 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:31,480 Speaker 2: re emerge, that's going to be an interesting, big question, 213 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 2: I see. But going through the outer atmosphere of the 214 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:35,719 Speaker 2: Sun will be a traumatic period for. 215 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:38,280 Speaker 1: The Earth, meaning there might not be anything alive to 216 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:40,319 Speaker 1: celebrate New Years. 217 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:46,400 Speaker 2: It's hard to do a sad one. 218 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:52,520 Speaker 1: That's pretty good. So the year will get shorter, according 219 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:55,559 Speaker 1: to scientists, maybe a few billion years in the future 220 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:59,760 Speaker 1: when the Sun expands and engulfs the Earth, making it 221 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:03,760 Speaker 1: into a smaller orbit. Now, in general, the orbit of 222 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:07,160 Speaker 1: a planet depends on how close it is to the Sun. 223 00:12:07,559 --> 00:12:10,240 Speaker 1: Planets close to the Sun move really fast and their 224 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:13,120 Speaker 1: orbits are short, and planets that are far from the 225 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:17,880 Speaker 1: Sun move slowly and their orbits take longer. For example, 226 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:21,080 Speaker 1: mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, and its 227 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:24,720 Speaker 1: orbit takes eighty eight Earth days. In other words, a 228 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:29,280 Speaker 1: year on Mercury is only eighty eight days long. But Neptune, 229 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:32,440 Speaker 1: the farthest planet from the Sun, has an orbit that 230 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:36,920 Speaker 1: takes around sixty thousand Earth days or about one hundred 231 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:40,080 Speaker 1: and sixty three Earth years. So if you want it 232 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:43,120 Speaker 1: to feel younger or older, you could just move to 233 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:45,800 Speaker 1: another planet. I'm just trying to find a way to 234 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:46,680 Speaker 1: make myself younger. 235 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,679 Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, if you measure it by years, then you 236 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 2: want to go further out in the source. Right, So 237 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:55,000 Speaker 2: we have Mercury is close to the Sun and so 238 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:59,280 Speaker 2: it's year is only eighty eight days long. Uh huh. Yeah, 239 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:02,160 Speaker 2: so you might feel pretty old pretty quickly if your 240 00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 2: birthday is every three. 241 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:07,000 Speaker 1: Months, as opposed to if you move to like Saturn. 242 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, you go out to Saturn and your year is 243 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:13,560 Speaker 2: about thirty Earth years, right, so you're barely a year 244 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:14,840 Speaker 2: old and Saturn, yeah. 245 00:13:14,679 --> 00:13:16,320 Speaker 1: It'd be like one and a half basically. 246 00:13:16,679 --> 00:13:20,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, so there you're a Saturnian infant. 247 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:24,160 Speaker 1: Oh my goodness. Okay. There are two interesting things about 248 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 1: the physics of the New Year. The first is one 249 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:30,560 Speaker 1: that most people know, and that is that the orbit 250 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:33,720 Speaker 1: of the Earth is not quite three hundred and sixty 251 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:37,840 Speaker 1: five days long. It's actually three hundred and sixty five days, 252 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:42,200 Speaker 1: five hours, and forty eight minutes, Meaning the Earth doesn't 253 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:45,200 Speaker 1: spin in place a full three hundred and sixty five 254 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:47,920 Speaker 1: times in the time it takes to go around the 255 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:51,960 Speaker 1: Sun and back to the same spot. It spins a 256 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:55,240 Speaker 1: little bit more. But we celebrate the new year when 257 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:58,000 Speaker 1: we fad three hundred and sixty five days, which means 258 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:01,000 Speaker 1: the new year we celebrate is not actually how long 259 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:04,240 Speaker 1: it takes to go overround the Sun, and we build 260 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:07,720 Speaker 1: up this difference for three years until every fourth year 261 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:10,600 Speaker 1: we add a whole new day to the year on 262 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:14,439 Speaker 1: leap years, So if you really wanted to celebrate going 263 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:17,360 Speaker 1: around the Sun a full orbit, you should wait until 264 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:20,480 Speaker 1: about six am on New Year's Day to set off 265 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:24,600 Speaker 1: those fireworks. The other interesting thing about the physics of 266 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:27,760 Speaker 1: the new year is that the new year also doesn't 267 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:31,360 Speaker 1: celebrate the passing of the seasons. We're used to thinking 268 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 1: that a year is when we've had a full cycle 269 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:37,640 Speaker 1: of winter, spring, summer, and fall, but actually our orbit 270 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:41,240 Speaker 1: and the seasons are slowly going out of sink. 271 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:46,960 Speaker 2: We celebrate New Year's conspicuously around the winter solstice, right, 272 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:51,320 Speaker 2: but those events have changed where they would fall in 273 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:52,800 Speaker 2: the year over time. 274 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:56,080 Speaker 1: Because of the wobble of the spinactive of the Earth. Yeah, 275 00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:59,040 Speaker 1: all right, this one's a little hard to explain. Right now. 276 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:02,800 Speaker 1: We celebrate the New ye near the winter solstice, which 277 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:05,600 Speaker 1: is the longest night of the year for people in 278 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:08,600 Speaker 1: the Northern hemisphere, and it's the longest night of the 279 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:12,480 Speaker 1: year because that's when the northern hemisphere is tilted the 280 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:18,240 Speaker 1: most away from the Sun. Then six months later, when 281 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:20,760 Speaker 1: the Earth has gone through half of its orbit, the 282 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:25,000 Speaker 1: northern hemisphere is tilted the most towards the Sun, making 283 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:28,240 Speaker 1: it the longest day of the year for people above 284 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:32,880 Speaker 1: the equator. This is called the summer solstice, and right now, 285 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:37,160 Speaker 1: those two solstices fall on December twenty first and June 286 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:40,320 Speaker 1: twenty first. But as we talked about in the previous 287 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:44,920 Speaker 1: episode about the North Coal, the Earth is wobbling, which 288 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:49,480 Speaker 1: means its spin axis is rotating and changing direction, sort 289 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 1: of like a top that wobbles as it spins on 290 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:55,840 Speaker 1: a table. Scientists think that in thirteen thousand years, that 291 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:58,760 Speaker 1: wobbling is going to make the Earth tilt in the 292 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:02,880 Speaker 1: opposite direction, which means the winter and summer solstices are 293 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:07,360 Speaker 1: going to switch. In thirteen thousand years, the summer solstice 294 00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:10,520 Speaker 1: is actually going to be on December twenty first, and 295 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:15,240 Speaker 1: the winter solstice will be June twenty first. In other words, 296 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 1: in thirteen thousand years, those of us in the Northern 297 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:21,360 Speaker 1: Hemisphere are going to be celebrating New Year's Day in 298 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:25,000 Speaker 1: the middle of summer. It's going to be hot, and 299 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:28,080 Speaker 1: at least in the United States, if the United States 300 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:30,960 Speaker 1: still exists in thirteen thousand years, we're going to be 301 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 1: celebrating the fourth of July in the dead of winter. 302 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:38,080 Speaker 1: And that's because the seasons follow the tilt of the Earth, 303 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:41,520 Speaker 1: and the tilt of the Earth is changing regardless of 304 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:43,360 Speaker 1: our orbit around the Sun. 305 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:49,600 Speaker 2: Earth has a round enough orbit that the electricity of 306 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:52,680 Speaker 2: the Earth's orbit is not a predominant cause of season. 307 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:56,840 Speaker 2: I see, yeah, so it's mostly just this tilt. 308 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:59,520 Speaker 1: But that's wobbling. So that means that in like ten 309 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:03,360 Speaker 1: thousand years, it's going to be summer in New Year's Yes. 310 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:06,920 Speaker 2: If you're in the northern hemisphere, what so everyone will 311 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:07,680 Speaker 2: be like Hawaii. 312 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:12,720 Speaker 1: So our year is not really defined by the seasons. 313 00:17:12,840 --> 00:17:17,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, seasons will slowly drift over thousands of years time scales, 314 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:20,840 Speaker 2: thirteen thousand year time scales, right, it will change. Oh 315 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:24,159 Speaker 2: so yeah, So that's why I don't know when we 316 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,919 Speaker 2: talk about stoneheads being aligned for the summer solstice, I 317 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:30,440 Speaker 2: think maybe it's not aligned in the same way as 318 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:32,720 Speaker 2: it was when they built it. 319 00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:37,359 Speaker 1: What does that mean? It means New Year's Day is 320 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:39,040 Speaker 1: totally unrelated to the seasons. 321 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:42,480 Speaker 2: Yes, in the long game, New Year's Day is totally 322 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:43,639 Speaker 2: unrelated to the season. 323 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:47,400 Speaker 1: It's also arbitrary and changing at the same time. Yes, 324 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:51,680 Speaker 1: these things we think are like, you know, set points 325 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:55,439 Speaker 1: in our lives, in our cycle of society are really 326 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:58,640 Speaker 1: in the long run due to physics changing. 327 00:17:58,520 --> 00:17:59,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, or due to culture. 328 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:02,160 Speaker 1: You know, that's wild. 329 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:04,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, nothing is fixed. 330 00:18:04,359 --> 00:18:07,800 Speaker 1: You can't trust anything. Man, Just live with the impermanence. 331 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:11,760 Speaker 1: He live in the moment. Just enjoy the holidays. 332 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:13,439 Speaker 2: Yes, okay. 333 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 1: So to recap, the length of the year that we 334 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:18,480 Speaker 1: have right now on Earth is the result of a 335 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:23,080 Speaker 1: gigantic crash that happened billions of years ago that merge 336 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:26,199 Speaker 1: two small planets together and put them in a single 337 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:30,280 Speaker 1: orbit around the Sun. That orbit is pretty constant. The 338 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:33,280 Speaker 1: length of the year is not changing, even though the 339 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:36,320 Speaker 1: orbit is not a perfect circle, and we move around 340 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:39,520 Speaker 1: the Sun at different speeds at different times of the year. 341 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:42,359 Speaker 1: But what is changing is the tilt of the Earth, 342 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:45,959 Speaker 1: which is what determines the seasons. So in the future, 343 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:49,320 Speaker 1: we're going to be celebrating new Years in opposite seasons 344 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:52,840 Speaker 1: from how we celebrated today. People in the northern hemisphere 345 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:55,600 Speaker 1: will celebrate it in the middle of summer, and people 346 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:58,480 Speaker 1: in the southern hemisphere will celebrate it in the middle 347 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:03,320 Speaker 1: of winter. Case it's still a celebration of surviving another 348 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:07,879 Speaker 1: spin around the Sun plus or minus five hours and 349 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:11,320 Speaker 1: forty eight minutes. All right, When we come back, we're 350 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:14,680 Speaker 1: going to recap our favorite episodes of the year, including 351 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:17,800 Speaker 1: which one surprised me the most and which one was 352 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:21,240 Speaker 1: the most fun to make. So stay with us, we'll 353 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:38,480 Speaker 1: be right back. Hey, welcome back, Okay. In this third segment, 354 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:40,719 Speaker 1: I thought it'd be fun to recap some of our 355 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:44,040 Speaker 1: favorite episodes of the year. In twenty twenty five, we 356 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:47,760 Speaker 1: made forty three episodes on a wide range of topics. 357 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:51,360 Speaker 1: We asked questions about animals, like do our pets lie 358 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:59,040 Speaker 1: to us, can animals appreciate music? And do animals have consciousness? 359 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:04,800 Speaker 1: We wondered about space topics like what's inside a black hole? 360 00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:12,320 Speaker 1: Or where are all the aliens? And can we terraform mars? 361 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:16,600 Speaker 1: We also explored questions about technology like what is a 362 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:20,600 Speaker 1: quantum computer? Can we upload our brains to the cloud? 363 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:26,720 Speaker 1: And can you survive being cryogenically frozen? And we answered 364 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:30,320 Speaker 1: questions about evolution and the human body and brain like 365 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:32,960 Speaker 1: why do we have five fingers? Do we have to 366 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:35,760 Speaker 1: wait thirty minutes after eating before you can go swimming? 367 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:40,160 Speaker 1: And it is food coloring that for you? I could 368 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:42,600 Speaker 1: go on and on. So if you haven't gone through 369 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:45,200 Speaker 1: our archive in a while, I encourage you to go 370 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:48,480 Speaker 1: check it out. I guarantee all the episodes are fascinating. 371 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:51,400 Speaker 1: To pick which ones to recap, I ask the people 372 00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:54,119 Speaker 1: who work on the show to pick their favorite episodes. 373 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:58,520 Speaker 1: So first up is our sound mixer, engineer and general 374 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:02,879 Speaker 1: manager of the show, Casey pegram. Casey is the reason 375 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:05,840 Speaker 1: I and every guest on the show sound great. And 376 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:10,000 Speaker 1: believe me, we're recording pretty suboptimal conditions most of the time. 377 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:12,359 Speaker 1: So the fact that the show stays on track and 378 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:15,080 Speaker 1: sounds like it was all recorded in the studio. Is 379 00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:18,879 Speaker 1: all thanks to his magic. Back in October, Casey picked 380 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:23,520 Speaker 1: this episode as his favorite Don't pull the plug and 381 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:27,119 Speaker 1: get ready to live inside our electronic mind as we 382 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:31,160 Speaker 1: answer the question can you upload your brain to a computer. 383 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:35,359 Speaker 4: So, the idea of mind uploading, which is like a 384 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:40,280 Speaker 4: hypothetical future technology, is that if you make a simulation 385 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:44,840 Speaker 4: of the human brain, and you make it refined enough, 386 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:47,879 Speaker 4: it will be as good as the real thing. And 387 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:50,880 Speaker 4: the hope is that if it's good enough, we can 388 00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:55,280 Speaker 4: use this technology to migrate over to machines. 389 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:59,800 Speaker 5: Yeah, it's in principle possible for you to capture that 390 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:02,760 Speaker 5: level of detail from a human brain. We do it 391 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:07,720 Speaker 5: from animal brains all the time. Unfortunately, those methods. 392 00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:08,800 Speaker 6: Require that you die. 393 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:13,120 Speaker 5: We don't yet have wadys of looking at it without 394 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:17,199 Speaker 5: taking chunks of your brain out, essentially pickling them and 395 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:18,760 Speaker 5: then slicing them into. 396 00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:22,560 Speaker 6: Very very thin sections of brain. But what you're getting 397 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:26,600 Speaker 6: is the instant after you had actually died. So I 398 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:29,960 Speaker 6: don't think you would want to be necessarily preserved in 399 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 6: that state, right. 400 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:34,960 Speaker 1: Casey said he found this episode interesting because of the 401 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:39,320 Speaker 1: topic and the viewpoints of the three interviewees. In the episode, 402 00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:43,400 Speaker 1: we talked to a philosopher, a mathematician, and a neuroscientist, 403 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:48,040 Speaker 1: all interested in the idea of uploading your brain. Casey 404 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:49,960 Speaker 1: said he liked that it had a great mix of 405 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:53,080 Speaker 1: sci fi and philosophy, and that it's speculative but at 406 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:56,080 Speaker 1: the same time very plausible. You also liked the third 407 00:22:56,119 --> 00:23:00,000 Speaker 1: interview covered the exact main objection he had about uploading 408 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:02,679 Speaker 1: your brain, which is that the copy you make of 409 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:05,119 Speaker 1: you is not going to be a part of you, 410 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:07,399 Speaker 1: even though it may think it is. 411 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:10,760 Speaker 7: So why would anybody think that if we build a 412 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:15,000 Speaker 7: simulation of your brain, then somehow you enter the simulation 413 00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 7: instead of staying there where you are in your brain. 414 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:21,199 Speaker 2: I see, but yeah, that's not you, that's a copy. 415 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:25,160 Speaker 1: Meaning like, there's this fantasy that I would close my eyes, 416 00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:27,240 Speaker 1: I would feel like I'm going through a tunnel and 417 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:30,159 Speaker 1: suddenly I'm in a computer. That's the fantasy, yeah, But 418 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:32,360 Speaker 1: in reality it's like I'll close my eyes and I'll 419 00:23:32,359 --> 00:23:35,160 Speaker 1: open them again, and then now suddenly there's something that's 420 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:36,280 Speaker 1: like me on the computer. 421 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:37,600 Speaker 4: Yes, I think so. 422 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:40,560 Speaker 1: But for the thing in the computer, they would have 423 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:42,320 Speaker 1: the experience of going through the tunnel over to. 424 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:45,080 Speaker 3: They Well, they wouldn't exist before, so maybe they would 425 00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:47,679 Speaker 3: have a memory, you know, like a false memory of that. 426 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:57,440 Speaker 1: Oh, false memory. This gets so tricky. This episode reminded 427 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:01,080 Speaker 1: Casey of a short story called The Copy by Paul Jennings, 428 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:04,000 Speaker 1: where a kid has a machine that can copy things, 429 00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:08,560 Speaker 1: except the copies come out mirrored. He eventually clones himself. 430 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,960 Speaker 1: Then the two clones fight and he kills the clone. 431 00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:15,000 Speaker 1: But then later his mom tells him he's writing with 432 00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:17,560 Speaker 1: his left hand instead of his right hand, and that 433 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:20,879 Speaker 1: his hair is parted in the other direction. In other words, 434 00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:24,199 Speaker 1: he was the clone and he didn't know it. That 435 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:26,920 Speaker 1: is creepy indeed, So if you want to learn more 436 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:30,200 Speaker 1: about how scientists think about the idea of uploading your brain, 437 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:34,240 Speaker 1: go check out that episode. The next person I asked 438 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:38,239 Speaker 1: was our editor Rose Segura. Rose lives in Spain and 439 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:41,720 Speaker 1: she puts the whole show together, adding music and sound effects. 440 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:45,119 Speaker 1: She's basically the reason we all sound so smart. I 441 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:47,879 Speaker 1: asked her what her favorite episode was, and she said 442 00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:51,240 Speaker 1: there were many, but the episode about taking an elevator 443 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:54,399 Speaker 1: to space was a particular favorite. I guess for her 444 00:24:54,480 --> 00:25:00,240 Speaker 1: a rows above the others. Today we are going to space. No, 445 00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:03,080 Speaker 1: we're not going to strap ourselves to a giant rocket 446 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:11,560 Speaker 1: full of flammable fuel. Instead, we are going to take 447 00:25:12,119 --> 00:25:19,800 Speaker 1: the elevator. It may seem like science fiction, but a 448 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:24,280 Speaker 1: space elevator is something serious scientists actually think is possible 449 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:24,920 Speaker 1: to build. 450 00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:28,359 Speaker 8: If you're not using a space elevator, the alternative is 451 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:32,080 Speaker 8: a rocket, and rockets are dangerous and rather explosive. And 452 00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:34,280 Speaker 8: so the idea of a space elevator is if you 453 00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:37,360 Speaker 8: put like a really big spool of cable right at 454 00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:39,760 Speaker 8: that altitude and just sort of let it down very 455 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:41,359 Speaker 8: gradually and slowly, and. 456 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:44,200 Speaker 9: Then you have this straight or mostly straight cable that 457 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:46,240 Speaker 9: goes from the surface of the Earth, so it's a 458 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:51,080 Speaker 9: big stationary cable. And on this cable you would put 459 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:54,840 Speaker 9: a climber or an elevator car or something which lifts 460 00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 9: your payload up to whatever altitude you want. 461 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,120 Speaker 1: Rosette said this was a favorite episod it because when 462 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:04,160 Speaker 1: editing the episode, she felt like she was traveling around 463 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:07,679 Speaker 1: space without a spaceship or spacesuit, just pushing a button 464 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:11,960 Speaker 1: while of course listening to elevator music. Rose said she 465 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:15,280 Speaker 1: liked how in the episode we make several stops kilometers 466 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:17,480 Speaker 1: away from the surface of the Earth to learn about 467 00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:21,200 Speaker 1: the physics of space, which made her feel small lying 468 00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:23,120 Speaker 1: in orbit around the planet. 469 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:29,840 Speaker 9: We want to advance the development of the space elevator 470 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:32,920 Speaker 9: and hopefully get it built within our lifetimes. So that's 471 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:36,760 Speaker 9: a perfect place to build solar power satellites. Rather large 472 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:40,440 Speaker 9: habitats could be built there, Okay, colonies, things like that, 473 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:43,920 Speaker 9: orbible factories. If you want to go to Mars, then 474 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:46,480 Speaker 9: you can get to Mars in about sixty one days. 475 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:47,400 Speaker 6: Oh, it's doable. 476 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:49,479 Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean the question is do you have an 477 00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:52,840 Speaker 8: economic case for doing so? Right, That's that's a real question. 478 00:26:56,160 --> 00:26:59,880 Speaker 1: Now for me, I have three favorite moments from the years. 479 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:02,840 Speaker 1: Was when I got to visit a quantum computer lab 480 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:06,680 Speaker 1: at Caltech for the episode What Is a Quantum Computer? 481 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:10,560 Speaker 1: The lab is led by Amazon's head of quantum hardware 482 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:17,320 Speaker 1: and my friend, professor Oscar Painter. Hey, Oscar, how are you. 483 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:19,000 Speaker 4: Good to see you after so many years? 484 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:20,360 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been a while. Huh. 485 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:21,240 Speaker 4: Yeah. 486 00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:24,439 Speaker 7: All of these control electronics, right, is to use to 487 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:26,879 Speaker 7: control about twenty of these quantum bits. 488 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:30,040 Speaker 1: There's twenty quantum particles correct. 489 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:32,959 Speaker 7: Which we are manipulating as quantum bits, and that circuit 490 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:36,960 Speaker 7: lives down inside of this special refrigerator. And this refrigerator 491 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:40,159 Speaker 7: is under vacuum, the temperature which is about ten million 492 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:41,440 Speaker 7: degrees above absolute zero. 493 00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:43,120 Speaker 1: Ten million degrees so. 494 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 7: To give you an idea the coldest darkest parts of 495 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:48,960 Speaker 7: outer space or that universe. Yeah, but this thing's about 496 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:50,639 Speaker 7: thirty times colder than that. 497 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:55,679 Speaker 1: Even whoa. It's just cool to be there and to 498 00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:58,719 Speaker 1: be able to take listeners with me, to experience what 499 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:01,520 Speaker 1: it's like to be in front of such a cutting 500 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:06,000 Speaker 1: edge technology. Now. My second favorite moment was when I 501 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:09,040 Speaker 1: got my kids to do a live taste test of 502 00:28:09,119 --> 00:28:14,520 Speaker 1: different meats for the episode Why does frog Taste Like Chicken? Okay, 503 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:17,480 Speaker 1: I'm gonna give you four meats and you're just gonna 504 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:25,080 Speaker 1: tell me what do you think of it? Oh? Very well, 505 00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:31,479 Speaker 1: taste like chicken. Does not taste like chicken. 506 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:32,400 Speaker 3: Chicken? 507 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:44,160 Speaker 1: Probably the rabbit or the alligator alligator meat. Yeah, okay, 508 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:49,240 Speaker 1: it's just a lot better. Very chicken, very chickeny chicken 509 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:50,440 Speaker 1: chicken like. 510 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:52,000 Speaker 6: This is probably the frog meat. 511 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:55,600 Speaker 1: What do you think? It is? 512 00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:56,920 Speaker 5: Very lushy? 513 00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:03,440 Speaker 1: No, how about the taste ye quin, So the alligator 514 00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:09,400 Speaker 1: meet definitely like chicken taste like overcooked. Okay, what do 515 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:16,480 Speaker 1: you think of your dad experience unsuing? First of all, 516 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:19,120 Speaker 1: I was surprised my teenage kids agreed to do it, 517 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:22,280 Speaker 1: And second of all, we actually learned a lot. We 518 00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:25,120 Speaker 1: kind of set the stage for that episode really well. 519 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:27,960 Speaker 1: Plus I like that in that episode we learned that 520 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:31,640 Speaker 1: lots of meat taste like chicken because basically all meat 521 00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:35,479 Speaker 1: is made of the same molecular mechanism and proteins. What 522 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:39,440 Speaker 1: makes different meats taste different is something else. So if 523 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:41,280 Speaker 1: you want to know what that is, go check out 524 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:44,760 Speaker 1: that episode. And my third favorite moment from the year 525 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:48,480 Speaker 1: was when I interviewed Professor Jim Anderson for the episode 526 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:53,960 Speaker 1: Do Animals Understand Death? In the episode, doctor Anderson tells 527 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:57,680 Speaker 1: the story of a chimpanzee named Pansy who passed away 528 00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:01,720 Speaker 1: of old age, surrounded by her and best friend who 529 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:04,600 Speaker 1: comforted her in her last hours. 530 00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:10,440 Speaker 3: The old female chimpanzee, she was lying up on a platform. 531 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:15,320 Speaker 3: All three of the chimpanzees in the group came over 532 00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:19,520 Speaker 3: and gathered around her at once, and this was the. 533 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:21,120 Speaker 1: First time this was happening. 534 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:26,040 Speaker 3: And two of them were grooming her, her daughter, and 535 00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:31,360 Speaker 3: her long term friend, another adult female, and then the 536 00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:36,240 Speaker 3: adult male in the group came over and he bent 537 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:41,320 Speaker 3: down and looked closely into her face, and then he 538 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:46,080 Speaker 3: took her by the shoulder and gradually shoot her shoulder 539 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:51,400 Speaker 3: while staring at close range into her face. And then 540 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:55,400 Speaker 3: he laid her shoulder back down on the ground, looked 541 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:59,120 Speaker 3: at her, and then moved away. What we had witnessed 542 00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:03,680 Speaker 3: was the Chris moment, where the adult male seemed to 543 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:10,120 Speaker 3: be checking for any signs of life and perhaps realizing 544 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:15,040 Speaker 3: that she had gone. Her daughter slept beside her all 545 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:15,760 Speaker 3: night long. 546 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:16,600 Speaker 6: Wow. 547 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:20,080 Speaker 3: And then the following morning, her long term friend came 548 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:23,880 Speaker 3: over and sat by her. And because of that response 549 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:27,960 Speaker 3: is by the male, he had left some straw on her, 550 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:32,280 Speaker 3: so she gently cleaned the straw of her OIDI and 551 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:35,160 Speaker 3: her sheesh and just sat by her for a while. 552 00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:35,920 Speaker 2: Wow. 553 00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:39,560 Speaker 1: Now I did this interview while I was traveling. I 554 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:42,160 Speaker 1: was in a hotel room in San Diego and doctor 555 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:44,960 Speaker 1: Anderson was in Japan, and it was just a very 556 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:49,160 Speaker 1: profound moment hearing a scientist talk about how animals relate 557 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:52,480 Speaker 1: to dying and how he knew the end of his career, 558 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:56,200 Speaker 1: things about his life. If we haven't listened to that episode, 559 00:31:56,320 --> 00:32:00,200 Speaker 1: I highly recommend it. Okay, with that, we reached the 560 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:03,520 Speaker 1: end of the episode and twenty twenty five. We look 561 00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:06,160 Speaker 1: forward to making more episodes for you next year. We're 562 00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:09,520 Speaker 1: gonna start twenty twenty six with episodes about the signs 563 00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:16,560 Speaker 1: of imagination, whether supersensus exist, and why we procrastinate. At 564 00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:19,960 Speaker 1: least I think we'll get to it. We'll see anyways, 565 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:23,160 Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening to sign Stuff. See you next 566 00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:29,480 Speaker 1: time you've been listening to science Stuff. The production of iHeartRadio, 567 00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:34,360 Speaker 1: written and produced by me or Yham, edited by Rose Seguda, 568 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:38,960 Speaker 1: executive producer Jerry Rowland, and audio engineer and mixer Kasey Pegrom. 569 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:41,200 Speaker 1: And you can follow me on social media. Just search 570 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:44,480 Speaker 1: for PhD Comics and the name of your favorite platform. 571 00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:47,520 Speaker 1: Be sure to subscribe to sign Stuff on the iHeartRadio app, 572 00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:50,760 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts, and please 573 00:32:51,000 --> 00:33:06,760 Speaker 1: tell your friends we'll be back next Wednesday with another episode.