1 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:05,840 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey are you welcome to stuff to 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 1: Blow your Mind? My name is Robert lamp and I'm 4 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:18,960 Speaker 1: Joe McCormick, and gather ye round because I am about 5 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:21,880 Speaker 1: to tell a tale of space. Ah well, let's do 6 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:25,799 Speaker 1: it of space and discovery. So on October nineteenth of 7 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:30,000 Speaker 1: this year, of a telescope on a mountain in Hawaii 8 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: caught sight of something very strange passing through the sky. 9 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: The telescope was the pan STARS one, which stands for 10 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:42,880 Speaker 1: Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System and it's part 11 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:47,280 Speaker 1: of the High Altitude Observatory on holliakla of Volcano on 12 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 1: the island of Maui. Robert, have you been to Hawaii? 13 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:53,279 Speaker 1: I've never been. Yes, I have been once in the 14 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 1: past and actually looking to go back this year. Can 15 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: did you climb a volcano? I went into a volcano. 16 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:03,960 Speaker 1: I mean I went to Volcano National Park on the 17 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: Big Island, burned alive and it was reborn. Yeah. But yeah, 18 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:11,560 Speaker 1: so so picture yourself up on one of these, you know, 19 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 1: Gravelly big craters, the Big Shield volcano. And so the 20 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: pan stars program is a system of telescopes, cameras, computers 21 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:23,840 Speaker 1: that are designed to monitor the sky continuously for signs 22 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: of variable objects. Now, there might be new discoveries of 23 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:31,480 Speaker 1: near Earth asteroids or comets, or there might be like 24 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:35,560 Speaker 1: small minor moons of big planets like Jupiter Saturn that 25 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: they discover, or they might be looking at other features 26 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:42,440 Speaker 1: of the sky that move or change over time. And 27 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,040 Speaker 1: on October nineteenth, pan Stars one caught a glimpse of 28 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: something that was indeed moving incredibly fast. Immediately they enlisted 29 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: the help of other observatories like E. S O S 30 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:58,640 Speaker 1: very large telescope in Chile. And at first what the 31 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:02,720 Speaker 1: scientists thought they saw with a comet. Now, to remind 32 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: you on basic Solar system geology, and asteroid is a 33 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:10,440 Speaker 1: small object made of primarily rock and metal, and a 34 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 1: comet is a small object made primarily of dust and ice. 35 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:17,920 Speaker 1: And asteroids were generally formed closer to the Sun where 36 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 1: volatile compounds like H two O would melt or evaporate, 37 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: and comets were generally formed farther away from the Sun 38 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 1: where water would freeze. So they have this new object, 39 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: they think it's probably a comet. And because they thought 40 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: it was a comet. It got the designated designation see 41 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: slash you one see for comet. So the scientists who 42 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:43,079 Speaker 1: discovered it enlisted the help of other of other telescopes 43 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: and other scientists, and analysis revealed the path of the object, 44 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,880 Speaker 1: and it was a truly unique one. Pretty Much everything 45 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 1: in our Solar System orbits on a relatively flat plane, 46 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:57,480 Speaker 1: and that's because most of the stuff in the Solar 47 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: System was formed out of the same original stellar accretion 48 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 1: disk four and a half to five billion years ago. 49 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:07,240 Speaker 1: If you make a model of the movement of objects 50 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 1: in the Solar System, the angle of their orbital tilt 51 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:13,640 Speaker 1: with respect to the reference plane of Earth's orbit is 52 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: known as their orbital inclination. Now, most planets are within 53 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 1: just a few degrees of us. All the planets are 54 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: relatively flat, except Pluto. Pluto is a good bit more 55 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: tilted than the others, with an inclination of a little 56 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: over seventeen degrees, so it's sort of tipped like a hat. 57 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,240 Speaker 1: But the inclination of this new object, discovered in October 58 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: is off the charts. It is a hundred and twenty 59 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: three degrees according to the JPL data on it. That 60 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: means if you were to look at a model of 61 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:45,440 Speaker 1: the Solar System lying flat on a table with all 62 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: the orbits, you know, they're they're flat down on the surface. 63 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 1: This thing would be approaching the system from above, not 64 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: quite straight down, but close to it, sort of dive 65 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: bombing right through the middle of our galactic neighborhood. Now, 66 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: you might normally see that kind of orbital inclination in 67 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:06,120 Speaker 1: long period comets originating in the Ort cloud, but not 68 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: in planets or asteroids, whose orbits are generally pretty flat. 69 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 1: So here's the thing to wonder. You're you're imagining this 70 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 1: thing dive bombing down into the Solar System. Where did 71 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:19,119 Speaker 1: it cross the plane right? Was it somewhere out near Jupiter? Nope, 72 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:22,919 Speaker 1: it was booking right past the Sun. This object pierced 73 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: inside the orbit of Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun, 74 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:30,120 Speaker 1: passing within twenty of the distance between the Sun and 75 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:32,839 Speaker 1: the Earth. So it was less than a quarter of 76 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: one astronomical unit. And of course, when you pass that 77 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 1: close to the Sun, the Sun's massive gravity, well really 78 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:44,160 Speaker 1: takes a bite out of your trajectory. And so because 79 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:46,280 Speaker 1: they knew that this had happened, the scientists were able 80 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: to construct a model of the object's path. Now, if 81 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 1: you look at some of these maps of what the 82 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: objects path looked like zoomed into the scale of the 83 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:58,360 Speaker 1: inner Solar System, it looks sort of like the object 84 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:01,039 Speaker 1: barrels past the Sun and then begins to bend in 85 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:04,840 Speaker 1: its trajectory like a bow. But if you zoom way 86 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:08,720 Speaker 1: out to a map the scale of the orbit of Neptune, say, 87 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 1: the trajectory suddenly looks instead like a giant letter V. 88 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: It's straight down to the Sun, sharp turn, then straight 89 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,800 Speaker 1: back out of the Solar System, as if it's slingshotted 90 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:23,359 Speaker 1: off of the Sun. Yeah. Now, you might see other 91 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:26,719 Speaker 1: comets with like largely eccentric orbits. You know, a comet 92 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:29,600 Speaker 1: has an eccentric orbit when it's not very circular, when 93 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 1: it's like this crazy oval shape that comes really close 94 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:35,039 Speaker 1: to the Sun and then goes way far back out 95 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:38,839 Speaker 1: into space. Um. But you don't usually see this kind 96 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:41,320 Speaker 1: of shape. So so once you know how close it 97 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:44,520 Speaker 1: recently passed to the Sun, you should know something else 98 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: about it. If it were a comet, you'd expect to 99 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:50,840 Speaker 1: see what commentary activity he would expect to see it 100 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 1: acting like a comet. The tail of the comet for instance. Exactly. Yeah, 101 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:57,719 Speaker 1: So a comet is made of volatile stuff. It's made 102 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:01,040 Speaker 1: of gas and dust and water, um, and so it's 103 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: frozen into this dirty snowball, this chunk of ice. And 104 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:06,080 Speaker 1: when a comet gets close to the sun, it starts 105 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:08,599 Speaker 1: to warm up and thaw out. And for a comet, 106 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:11,039 Speaker 1: of course, warming up and thaw out in tails, the 107 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 1: release of gas and dust, uh, the coma, you know, 108 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:16,599 Speaker 1: the cloud of this haze of dust and gas that 109 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:20,040 Speaker 1: surrounds the comets nucleus. And then as you mentioned, the tails. 110 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: Actually two types of tails can show up, the you know, 111 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:25,680 Speaker 1: the dust tail dragging behind the comet, and the gas 112 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 1: or the ion tail being blown away from the Sun 113 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:31,360 Speaker 1: by the solar wind. So we've got this weird trajectory 114 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 1: on this crazy commet. And they look for the commentary 115 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:36,840 Speaker 1: activity to look for the tail. They look for the coma, 116 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:41,240 Speaker 1: the gas, the dust, nothing. Astronomers didn't see any of it. 117 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:44,000 Speaker 1: They found that it was pretty much completely inert with 118 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: no dust or anything around it. So whatever it was, 119 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 1: it was not made of ice and dust, and so 120 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: it wasn't a comet. So instead they decided to reclassify 121 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:57,200 Speaker 1: this I think was about a week after the discovery 122 00:06:57,279 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: or so, so this would still be like late oct 123 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:05,159 Speaker 1: over probably they reclassified it as an asteroid a slash 124 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:08,800 Speaker 1: you won. Now earlier we mentioned this thing was moving 125 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: really fast. How fast is that? Well, at its fastest, 126 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,240 Speaker 1: this would be when it was sling shotting right around 127 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:19,440 Speaker 1: the Sun at its parahelion on September nine of this year. 128 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:21,680 Speaker 1: So they were able to sort of like take what 129 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 1: they knew about it and chart the back course that 130 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 1: had come from. They didn't see it at this point, 131 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:28,560 Speaker 1: but they knew what it had done by modeling it. 132 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:31,239 Speaker 1: At this point, it was going a hundred and ninety 133 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 1: six thousand miles per hour or eight seven point three 134 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: kilometers per second. That is pretty fast. And looking at 135 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: this speed and at the angle of its trajectory compared 136 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 1: to other objects like long period comets, you start to 137 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 1: notice something different. Most objects that passed near the Sun 138 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:55,440 Speaker 1: bend around the Sun in this elliptical path, indicating they 139 00:07:55,520 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 1: might go way back out into deep space and they 140 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:02,800 Speaker 1: might have this really great orbital eccentricity, but you give 141 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 1: them long enough and they'll be back to pass around 142 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:08,960 Speaker 1: the Sun again. They're locked in orbit this new object, 143 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:14,360 Speaker 1: no dice, no orbit. It came from deep space, bent 144 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:17,520 Speaker 1: around the gravity well of our Sun, and then left 145 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: for deep space again, and it won't be coming back. 146 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:23,600 Speaker 1: What I'm reminded of are these videos that you see 147 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:27,360 Speaker 1: of streakers taking to a major sporting event, you know, 148 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:30,520 Speaker 1: where they just make a bee line onto the field 149 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:33,800 Speaker 1: and then they're almost immediately chased off the field or tackled. 150 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 1: In this case, the streaker was not tackled, but got 151 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:41,079 Speaker 1: in did this, put on their phenomenal show, and made 152 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:44,040 Speaker 1: a break from it. Yeah, it's perfect. It's a space streaker. Now, 153 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:46,240 Speaker 1: when you have an orbital path like this, or I 154 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:48,839 Speaker 1: guess it's not an orbital path, Normally an orbital path, 155 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:52,680 Speaker 1: you'd have some kind of elliptical pattern, but this is 156 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:55,960 Speaker 1: what's known as a hyperbolic trajectory. It forms a hyperbola, 157 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:58,640 Speaker 1: so it's not gonna loop back around. It just bends 158 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:01,960 Speaker 1: around and then goes off on its own way. So 159 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 1: scientists have realized that that makes this object totally unique 160 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:10,880 Speaker 1: in the history of astronomy. This is the first definite 161 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 1: confirmed sighting of an interstellar object in our Solar System. 162 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: It's from somewhere else and Thus, instead of being a 163 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:21,600 Speaker 1: slash you one and we'll get to a better name 164 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:25,360 Speaker 1: in a minute, it became one I seen you won 165 00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:30,480 Speaker 1: I for interstellar. This object ripping through our Solar system 166 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:34,319 Speaker 1: came from deep interstellar space, and before that it almost 167 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:39,120 Speaker 1: definitely came from another star. And we've never seen anything 168 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:41,559 Speaker 1: like this before. Now, of course, the important caveat here 169 00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:45,000 Speaker 1: is is we have never seen it right. And then, 170 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:47,600 Speaker 1: of course we have to take into account the very 171 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 1: small portion of time during which humans have been observing 172 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:55,080 Speaker 1: the cosmos with this degree of detail exactly right, And 173 00:09:55,559 --> 00:09:58,679 Speaker 1: there might be other objects like this that have passed 174 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:01,600 Speaker 1: before us, even when we've had telescopes. We just didn't 175 00:10:01,679 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 1: catch them. Because this thing is very small and very 176 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:09,120 Speaker 1: far away and moving very fast, and the direction that 177 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:12,240 Speaker 1: it's moving very fast in is currently a retreat from Earth. 178 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:15,319 Speaker 1: So it came kind of close to us, and now 179 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:19,200 Speaker 1: it's going and in within some short amount of time 180 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:22,240 Speaker 1: our telescopes won't be able to see it anymore. I 181 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:24,360 Speaker 1: think one of the amazing things about this story is 182 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:27,679 Speaker 1: that it's exciting on the astronomer astronomer level, Like like 183 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:32,680 Speaker 1: astronomers and scientists are excited about this, Uh, this ongoing study, 184 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:37,440 Speaker 1: and uh, outside commentators, um, the science media and beyond 185 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:40,520 Speaker 1: are also excited about it, but all for good reason, 186 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:43,720 Speaker 1: Like like, it's not some sort of like geeky level 187 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 1: of astronomy excitement that one would need to be just 188 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:49,720 Speaker 1: really in depth in the field to get. And it's 189 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:53,000 Speaker 1: not something that the journalists have to blow out of 190 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:58,319 Speaker 1: proportion in order to to to make extremely fascinating. Yeah, 191 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:00,959 Speaker 1: and it gets weirder. It's gonna get weirder. I think 192 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:02,720 Speaker 1: we should take a break and then when we come 193 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 1: back we can discuss in what ways it gets weirder 194 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:10,560 Speaker 1: than Alright, we're back. So first the good news. We 195 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:13,079 Speaker 1: don't have to keep calling it the objects that we'll 196 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:15,000 Speaker 1: probably use that a little bit. And we definitely don't 197 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:18,480 Speaker 1: have to keep calling it one I slash you one. 198 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:21,079 Speaker 1: It has a regular name now as the sort of 199 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:26,120 Speaker 1: regular Yes, yes, it is called Oma, which has a 200 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 1: nice ring to it, and it feels comforting somehow, it's 201 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:32,400 Speaker 1: not frightening. We'll tell me about the name Robert, all right. So, oh, 202 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:36,160 Speaker 1: Muama is Hawaiian for something that is a quote scout 203 00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:39,960 Speaker 1: or messenger sent from the distant past to reach out 204 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:44,600 Speaker 1: to us. Yeah, I've seen it translated occasionally as first Messenger. Yeah. 205 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:48,120 Speaker 1: So this name was chosen in a consultation with Hawaiian 206 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:53,560 Speaker 1: language expert Cayu Kimura and Larry Kimura. Uh And in 207 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 1: this uh word oh means reach out for and uh 208 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:02,120 Speaker 1: mua with the can mua placing emphasis means first in 209 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: advance of, So it's like first first Reacher Outer. Now. 210 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: The Pan Stars Discovery team chose the name, but they 211 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:14,360 Speaker 1: reportedly referred to it at first as Rama uh in 212 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 1: a reference to the nineteen seventy three Arthur C. Clark 213 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:21,120 Speaker 1: science fiction novel Rendezvous with Rama, which I have still 214 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:23,319 Speaker 1: yet to read. I think I have a paperback copy 215 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:25,360 Speaker 1: of it, but it's a It's a major science fiction 216 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:28,280 Speaker 1: classic I've only been trying to make a movie out 217 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:32,240 Speaker 1: of for years. I think um Morgan Freeman I believe 218 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:37,200 Speaker 1: was attached to it. But it's set in the thirties 219 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:40,679 Speaker 1: and concerns a fifty kilometer or thirty one miles cylindrical 220 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:44,920 Speaker 1: alien starship that enters earth solar system, and the fictional 221 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 1: ship was in turn named for the Hindu god Rama, 222 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:50,559 Speaker 1: a major deity and central character in the Hindu epic. 223 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:55,000 Speaker 1: The Ramayana. So already you can see what type of 224 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 1: excitement was attached to this by the scientists. Yeah, well, 225 00:12:58,559 --> 00:13:01,200 Speaker 1: I mean that's kind of ominous. So they're they're naming 226 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:03,840 Speaker 1: it after a spaceship. Surely that doesn't mean they actually 227 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:06,600 Speaker 1: thought it was a spaceship. Well that's that's the interesting 228 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:08,800 Speaker 1: thing because when you start looking at some of the 229 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:14,120 Speaker 1: characteristics of this object um, you can't help but begin 230 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:15,960 Speaker 1: to make those connections. Like you can try and fight 231 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: it off, you can. You can imagine a scientist saying, down, 232 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:20,880 Speaker 1: I don't think about as a spaceship. Don't don't get 233 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:22,960 Speaker 1: your hopes up, don't get don't get all riled up 234 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:26,679 Speaker 1: about this possibly being a spaceship. But when you start 235 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:29,800 Speaker 1: looking at the bullet points, you can't help but think 236 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:32,360 Speaker 1: this could be a spaceship, could be it. This is 237 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 1: what you know. I kept feeling is like, we're responsible 238 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:39,040 Speaker 1: science communicators. It's not aliens, but it is kind of weird. Okay, 239 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:41,599 Speaker 1: so we will we'll talk about that more later. We 240 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:47,559 Speaker 1: should discuss what the characteristics of Omama are. So before 241 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:51,760 Speaker 1: the discovery of Omama, astronomers knew about approximately seven and 242 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:55,640 Speaker 1: fifty thousand asteroids and comets in our Solar system, and 243 00:13:55,679 --> 00:13:57,840 Speaker 1: as far as we can tell, every single one of 244 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:01,880 Speaker 1: those objects originated here in the local Solar system. This 245 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:05,160 Speaker 1: is the only object from anywhere else that we know 246 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:08,640 Speaker 1: about that we've ever seen locally. So it provides us 247 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:12,560 Speaker 1: with this tremendous opportunity to learn about the geology of 248 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:15,640 Speaker 1: other star systems and what's out there in terms of 249 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:17,959 Speaker 1: interstellar objects. So this is the first one we've ever 250 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:20,000 Speaker 1: been able to see up close. Yeah, if it's not 251 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:24,240 Speaker 1: a and it's probably not a message, a literal messenger 252 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:27,920 Speaker 1: from another star system, it is figuratively a messager from 253 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:31,760 Speaker 1: another star system. It is information from another star system, 254 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:35,680 Speaker 1: bringing us a very brief opportunity to catch a glimpse 255 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:39,520 Speaker 1: of what research potential is out there. So the scientists 256 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:42,600 Speaker 1: who discovered it and analyzed it, they published their findings 257 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:45,720 Speaker 1: in Nature in November. It was a paper called quote 258 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:50,400 Speaker 1: A Brief Visit from a red and extremely elongated interstellar Asteroid, 259 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:53,640 Speaker 1: and the research was led by Dr Karen Meach and 260 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:57,600 Speaker 1: astronomer at the University of Hawaii. So let's discuss some 261 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:01,520 Speaker 1: of the facts we've learned so far about Omumua. First, 262 00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:04,840 Speaker 1: the size, the object is very small. The authors of 263 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:07,520 Speaker 1: the Nature paper determined it has an average radius of 264 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:10,920 Speaker 1: just over a hundred meters. But so you're thinking radius 265 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:13,360 Speaker 1: a hundred meters. Okay, maybe it's a two hundred meter 266 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:17,000 Speaker 1: wide sphere, But the shape of the thing is not 267 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:19,560 Speaker 1: a sphere. The shape is one of the weirdest things 268 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:22,560 Speaker 1: about it. You might wonder, how do you figure out 269 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:25,440 Speaker 1: the shape of something that's so small and so far 270 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:28,760 Speaker 1: away and traveling through space at lightning speed, Like, shouldn't 271 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: it just be a blurry streak in the sky. That 272 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:34,080 Speaker 1: is true, that is sort of what it is if 273 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:36,440 Speaker 1: you see the direct images we've been able to capture 274 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:38,720 Speaker 1: of its just kind of a streak on a screen. 275 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 1: But you can start to analyze what the shape of 276 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:44,120 Speaker 1: this object is like by looking at something called light 277 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:47,440 Speaker 1: curve charts. Now, a light curve model is a graph 278 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:50,720 Speaker 1: that shows the intensity of light measured coming from an 279 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:54,800 Speaker 1: object over time, and by analyzing patterns of reflected light 280 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:59,000 Speaker 1: over time, scientists can start to figure out the shape 281 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:01,200 Speaker 1: and the and the rotation sation of an object like this. 282 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:05,080 Speaker 1: And what they discovered about this object about O Muamua 283 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:07,920 Speaker 1: is that it appears to have a roughly ten to 284 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:13,000 Speaker 1: one length to width and depth ratio. So imagine a 285 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:18,360 Speaker 1: roughly cylindrical or tube shaped object ten times longer than 286 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:21,080 Speaker 1: it is wide. According to a NASA write up, I 287 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:23,160 Speaker 1: found it could be maybe about a quarter of a 288 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:26,280 Speaker 1: mile long, So that's up to about four hundred meters 289 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:28,920 Speaker 1: And if so, that would mean it's only about forty 290 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:34,000 Speaker 1: meters wide. So we have a long, slender space cigar 291 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:38,160 Speaker 1: redition color this this needle from another star. We should 292 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:40,640 Speaker 1: point out that this is not a normal shape for 293 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:45,400 Speaker 1: space objects. We don't know other asteroids are not like this. Yeah, 294 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:47,720 Speaker 1: when you see the images that have been put out 295 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:51,040 Speaker 1: there of of of this particular object, the first thing 296 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:53,560 Speaker 1: that enters your mind is this is not something you 297 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:59,119 Speaker 1: see in uh in, in typical illustrations of the cosmos. 298 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:00,840 Speaker 1: I mean, it looks more like something you would see 299 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:04,720 Speaker 1: in a science fiction film. Yeah, exactly. So. Analysis reveals 300 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:07,360 Speaker 1: also in terms of its rotation, that it's what's known 301 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:11,480 Speaker 1: as tumbling. This means it's rotating not around a principal axis, 302 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:15,360 Speaker 1: but just sort of spinning crazily around an irregular axis 303 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:18,640 Speaker 1: once every seven point three hours. Now, by looking at 304 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:21,080 Speaker 1: the spectrum of light coming off of the thing. They've 305 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:23,760 Speaker 1: been able to determine that this thing is going to 306 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:27,080 Speaker 1: have a deep red coloration on its surface, and this 307 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:30,119 Speaker 1: is similar to some objects in our Solar System that 308 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:34,679 Speaker 1: have seen heavy bombardment by cosmic rays. Looking at its trajectory, 309 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:37,840 Speaker 1: I guess we should ask where's it going. It's already 310 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:40,679 Speaker 1: on its way back out of the Solar System, heading 311 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:44,280 Speaker 1: out from the Sun about at an angle of twenty 312 00:17:44,359 --> 00:17:47,520 Speaker 1: degrees up off the orbital plane, so it's going away 313 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:50,400 Speaker 1: from the Sun and then up at an angle off 314 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:53,719 Speaker 1: of the orbital disk of all the planets, and this 315 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:57,080 Speaker 1: puts it on a heading for the Pegasus constellation. It 316 00:17:57,320 --> 00:17:59,920 Speaker 1: passed the orbit of Mars at the beginning of November, 317 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:02,440 Speaker 1: and it's going to pass the orbit of Jupiter by 318 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:06,720 Speaker 1: mayen and then saturned by early twenty nineteen. So once 319 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 1: again it's booking. And this does present kind of a 320 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:12,560 Speaker 1: problem because like, what if we wanted to send a 321 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:14,679 Speaker 1: space mission out to meet it, you know, send a 322 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:17,440 Speaker 1: send a probe to go land on this thing. That's 323 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:20,120 Speaker 1: gonna be a real tough order. You'd have to put 324 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:23,840 Speaker 1: together some kind of propulsion system capable of achieving speeds 325 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,879 Speaker 1: unlike anything we've ever done before. You would need a 326 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:32,159 Speaker 1: real crack team of of scientists and explorers to to 327 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 1: tackle this kind of problem. Yeah, it would be really 328 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:38,000 Speaker 1: hard to catch this thing. Uh So, so it's heading 329 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:42,160 Speaker 1: out towards Pegasus and it's going really fast. The other 330 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,479 Speaker 1: side of that question is where did it come from. 331 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,720 Speaker 1: Scientists currently think that it's been flying through interstellar space 332 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:52,120 Speaker 1: for probably hundreds of millions of years before it entered 333 00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:56,119 Speaker 1: our solar system. Uh And on its approach trajectory, it 334 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:58,679 Speaker 1: seems like it was coming from roughly the direction of 335 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:02,960 Speaker 1: the large STARV Vega in the constellation Lira. But this 336 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:05,679 Speaker 1: doesn't mean it came from the Vegas system because this 337 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:08,760 Speaker 1: is one of the most disorienting things about space. So 338 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,520 Speaker 1: you've got to remember that our view of the night 339 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:15,320 Speaker 1: sky is moving, so from our perspective, something that came 340 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:18,720 Speaker 1: from Vega, say a few hundred thousand years ago, if 341 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:21,200 Speaker 1: if it would have been a hundred a few hundred 342 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:24,840 Speaker 1: thousand years ago where Vega is now, Vega wasn't there 343 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:27,280 Speaker 1: at the time. So wait, are you saying that the 344 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:30,119 Speaker 1: age of the object would be in the hundred million 345 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:32,440 Speaker 1: year range or the hundred thousand year range. Well, we 346 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 1: don't know for sure, but I've seen it speculated that 347 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:37,760 Speaker 1: it it has been drifting. It has existed and been 348 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:41,080 Speaker 1: drifting for maybe hundreds of millions of years, but that 349 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:43,960 Speaker 1: about three hundred thousand years ago, say it would have 350 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,880 Speaker 1: been about where Vega is, but about where Vega is now, 351 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:51,800 Speaker 1: about not where Vega was then. So ultimately we don't 352 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:55,120 Speaker 1: really know its origin yet. But I just saw there 353 00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:59,120 Speaker 1: is a paper out that's on on pre publication servers 354 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:01,720 Speaker 1: right now, so it's on archive dot org, a paper 355 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:05,719 Speaker 1: by Simon's vart at All that discusses three theories about 356 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:08,920 Speaker 1: where this object came from. So one of the theories 357 00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:12,719 Speaker 1: is that it's actually a Kuiper Belt object, so something local. 358 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:16,119 Speaker 1: But if you're you might be wondering, Okay, if it's local, 359 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:18,919 Speaker 1: why would it have this hyperbolic trajectory, And the idea 360 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:20,920 Speaker 1: there is that it would have had to have been 361 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:26,320 Speaker 1: accelerated to a hyperbolic velocity by some kind of large object. 362 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: You got a gravity assist from like a dark hidden 363 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:32,360 Speaker 1: planet or something somewhere out there that made this thing 364 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:35,399 Speaker 1: go really fast, fast enough to escape the Solar System, 365 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:40,159 Speaker 1: some sort of local space collision that that beamed it 366 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:43,080 Speaker 1: in not necessarily collision like that. If there if there's 367 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:48,399 Speaker 1: a dark, hidden massive plant somewhere, so it gets a 368 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:51,840 Speaker 1: gravity assist from this unknown object somewhere out there in 369 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:55,360 Speaker 1: the ort cloud or something like that, and through that 370 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:59,359 Speaker 1: gravity assist it gets enough momentum, it gets enough velocity 371 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:02,320 Speaker 1: that an escape the Solar System. They don't rate that 372 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:05,200 Speaker 1: as very likely. It looks very much like it actually 373 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:08,520 Speaker 1: did come from another star system. Uh. They look at 374 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:11,200 Speaker 1: the theory that it originated from a nearby star called 375 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:14,879 Speaker 1: t y C four seven four to Dash one zero 376 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:21,200 Speaker 1: to seven dash one Yogurt system. They also rate this 377 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:24,760 Speaker 1: is very unlikely. So the most likely option is this. 378 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:30,399 Speaker 1: When a young star forms a protoplanetary disk, the matter 379 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:34,760 Speaker 1: in this disc gradually coalesces into planets and other smaller objects, 380 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:37,120 Speaker 1: and this is how our Solar System came to be 381 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:39,240 Speaker 1: about four and a half to five billion years ago. 382 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:41,760 Speaker 1: This is how other stars came to be as well. 383 00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:45,560 Speaker 1: But then things like other stars in a star cluster 384 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:48,959 Speaker 1: can disturb these disks and cause matter to come out 385 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:53,480 Speaker 1: of orbit, or gravitational resonances between young planets can fling 386 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:57,119 Speaker 1: stuff out of orbit with great velocity. So mathematical models 387 00:21:57,119 --> 00:22:00,720 Speaker 1: show that these disks frequently eject math is of rock 388 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:04,119 Speaker 1: and ice out from the systems as they're forming and 389 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:07,520 Speaker 1: send them flying into interstellar space, and that there are 390 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:12,480 Speaker 1: probably lots of lonely little asteroids like this floating out 391 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:15,960 Speaker 1: in the void between star systems, and the authors think 392 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:21,840 Speaker 1: that's probably what this rock is, unless it's something else entirely. 393 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:25,400 Speaker 1: And we'll get to those possibilities when we come back 394 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:30,800 Speaker 1: from a break. All right, we're back and we're going 395 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:34,199 Speaker 1: to discuss another possibility here. And I and I and 396 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:37,160 Speaker 1: I know everyone already can guess what it is. Now. 397 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:40,240 Speaker 1: Of course, we know by this point if anybody discovers 398 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,919 Speaker 1: any kind of anomalous phenomenon whatsoever in space, the Daily 399 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:46,679 Speaker 1: Mail is going to run an article saying it's aliens. 400 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:50,520 Speaker 1: It's seriously, it's aliens. Also check out these Royal family 401 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:54,480 Speaker 1: beach bods. But it's aliens. Um. And you know, lots 402 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:57,800 Speaker 1: of publications like to do this. That it's aliens is 403 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:02,080 Speaker 1: always going to get you clicks. Uh. And then or aliens, 404 00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:06,960 Speaker 1: you know, just just put a question heavily implying it's aliens. Uh. 405 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:08,639 Speaker 1: Then you've got on the other side all of the 406 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:12,520 Speaker 1: actual space and science journalists who get really annoyed by this, 407 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:15,640 Speaker 1: like they're they're jaded from having to fill their careers 408 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:19,080 Speaker 1: by writing hundreds of It's not Aliens articles over and over, 409 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:23,520 Speaker 1: and they'll immediately get angry and say, it's not aliens. Now. 410 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:26,520 Speaker 1: Of course the latter camp is always right so far. 411 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:29,640 Speaker 1: But let's say we reserve judgment and try to sort 412 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:33,159 Speaker 1: of marry the responsible skepticism of the scientists and the 413 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:37,040 Speaker 1: science journalists with the hopefulness and the open mindedness of 414 00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:39,879 Speaker 1: maybe not the it's aliens community, but at least of 415 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:45,320 Speaker 1: SETI researchers. So it's time to ask this object, is 416 00:23:45,359 --> 00:23:49,560 Speaker 1: it aliens? Yeah? Well, you know, we can't help but 417 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:52,200 Speaker 1: think about this for a number of reasons. Uh science 418 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:55,520 Speaker 1: science fiction has been preparing us for a mysterious alien 419 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 1: vessels to to show up for some time. Uh. You know, 420 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:02,000 Speaker 1: they could be curious visitors, advanced scouts in an invasion fleet, 421 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:06,280 Speaker 1: or simply a darrelict ship bearing extraterrestrial dead. But it 422 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:09,200 Speaker 1: is such a common plot point in our science fiction. 423 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:12,240 Speaker 1: It's even if we even knowing that that is fiction, 424 00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:16,520 Speaker 1: that these are imagined scenarios, we can't help, but look 425 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:19,520 Speaker 1: for it when when an example like this comes around. 426 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:21,920 Speaker 1: I mean, it's the one thing about space that is 427 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:24,640 Speaker 1: sure to get everybody's attention. You've got people who are 428 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:28,239 Speaker 1: into space, and they find space beautiful and interesting on 429 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:31,040 Speaker 1: its own characteristics, in the same way that geology might 430 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 1: be interesting. You know that there's mystery out there even 431 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:38,200 Speaker 1: if there's not life. But generally everybody is going to 432 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:40,680 Speaker 1: get excited if you think there might be life out there. 433 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:42,760 Speaker 1: And and that comes back around just to the fact 434 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:46,240 Speaker 1: that that life elsewhere in the universe is an open question, 435 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:49,000 Speaker 1: like there are You're gonna find hardliners on both sides 436 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:52,159 Speaker 1: that say, yes, there's definitely not only extraterrestrial life, but 437 00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:56,160 Speaker 1: intelligent life and also I saw it yesterday, or you're 438 00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:58,199 Speaker 1: going to you're gonna find people who are taking the 439 00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:00,639 Speaker 1: hard line of there's there's probably nothing. We have no 440 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,000 Speaker 1: evidence to support the idea that there is, and there 441 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:07,280 Speaker 1: probably is not, but it is an unanswered question. We 442 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:11,800 Speaker 1: ultimately cannot definitively say there are aliens or there are 443 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:15,359 Speaker 1: no aliens, at least in the broader sense. But when 444 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:17,560 Speaker 1: we have a situation like this, well then we can 445 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:19,320 Speaker 1: zero zero in on it. A little bit right, we 446 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:22,840 Speaker 1: can say, is this aliens? That's a very different question. 447 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:26,560 Speaker 1: It's a very different question, yes, and also a question. 448 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:29,040 Speaker 1: The answer to that question is not going to answer 449 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:32,520 Speaker 1: the larger question obviously either well well, well one answer 450 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:36,280 Speaker 1: would if this is aliens, there definitely are aliens. But 451 00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:39,840 Speaker 1: if it's not aliens, still might be aliens. That's there 452 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:42,000 Speaker 1: still might be aliens out there. This is just this 453 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:44,159 Speaker 1: just shows is how ready I am for it to 454 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:46,880 Speaker 1: not be aliens, because I do want to just continue 455 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:51,639 Speaker 1: to drive that home. This is almost certainly not aliens, 456 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:56,120 Speaker 1: but it never hurts to look Okay, So what are 457 00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 1: some of the obvious problems here? Um, first, there's the 458 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:05,919 Speaker 1: problem with anybody showing up, period. So astro physicist Michael H. 459 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:07,600 Speaker 1: Hart he wrote He wrote about the matter in a 460 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:11,359 Speaker 1: book titled Interstellar Migration and the Human Experience. There's a 461 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:14,000 Speaker 1: collection of essays and he wrote one of them here, 462 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:17,520 Speaker 1: and he makes a number of points. Mostly he's talking 463 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:25,359 Speaker 1: about the possible existence of interstellar empuyers. Uh, both in 464 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:27,879 Speaker 1: the human sense could we build one? And then in 465 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:30,560 Speaker 1: the sense are they out there? Because we can't help 466 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:33,280 Speaker 1: but think about that kind of like colonial expansion right, 467 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:35,320 Speaker 1: So he's going to be talking about the likelihood of 468 00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:41,639 Speaker 1: like the physical arrival of alien objects of technology or beatings. Yeah. 469 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:43,720 Speaker 1: So he points out that first of all, we have 470 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:47,919 Speaker 1: to remember that space is huge. While technology has drastically 471 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:50,879 Speaker 1: reduced terrestrial travel to uh, you know, a matter of 472 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:54,679 Speaker 1: hours uh quote, there is no reasonable hope that future 473 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:58,680 Speaker 1: technology will ever succeed in reducing interstellar travel time. Two 474 00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:02,879 Speaker 1: months were simply attained in uh to this to this 475 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:09,000 Speaker 1: room via the confines of special relativity. Bearing some unforeseen breakthrough, 476 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:12,200 Speaker 1: we cannot beat a beam of light in a drag race. 477 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:16,720 Speaker 1: You see throughout the Star Wars movies that there is 478 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:19,120 Speaker 1: a jump to light speed and then it will get 479 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:22,200 Speaker 1: you there pretty fast. The sad truth is, we can't 480 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:25,040 Speaker 1: jump to light speed, but even if we could, it 481 00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:29,800 Speaker 1: wouldn't be fast enough. So you've got mass, You're not 482 00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:32,080 Speaker 1: going to be going light speed anytime soon. But it 483 00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:34,840 Speaker 1: doesn't matter because even if you could go light speed 484 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:38,000 Speaker 1: or of light speed, is still going to take you 485 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:42,680 Speaker 1: forever to get between stars. There's just so much space, 486 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:47,240 Speaker 1: that's right, heart. He says he started star travel would 487 00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:50,240 Speaker 1: likely work out to at least a fifty year journey 488 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:53,560 Speaker 1: and that's that's a you know, a reasonable distance of 489 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:55,240 Speaker 1: the star. We're not talking about going to a far 490 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:58,720 Speaker 1: flung uh star. And he says given the time frame, 491 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:01,240 Speaker 1: giving the distance, given the distance involved in the limits 492 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:04,880 Speaker 1: of travel, he figures it would take two million years 493 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:12,600 Speaker 1: of like determined colonization for a civilization to colonize the galaxy. Uh. Now, 494 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:14,880 Speaker 1: this is one of those areas where I don't even 495 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:17,359 Speaker 1: know if that's a low or or a high estimate. Well, 496 00:28:17,359 --> 00:28:19,960 Speaker 1: I mean, would the things colonizing the galaxy by the 497 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:22,720 Speaker 1: end of that still be humans? Yeah, that's that's true. 498 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:25,600 Speaker 1: I mean, ultimately could be just machines, right that have 499 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:32,160 Speaker 1: been created by organic life and become the species of movement. Uh. 500 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:34,640 Speaker 1: But he points out that this would have also been 501 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:38,200 Speaker 1: nothing like a human empire who consists of splintered civilizations 502 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 1: to the tune of a few hundred billion to batch 503 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:44,200 Speaker 1: match the number of stars. Again, just that the distance 504 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:47,840 Speaker 1: would would play such a role in in the extent 505 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:50,600 Speaker 1: to which you could maintain order across any kind of 506 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:54,440 Speaker 1: a large organization. So I assume in this model he 507 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:59,600 Speaker 1: is assuming some significantly faster travel than we have today, 508 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:02,480 Speaker 1: but all so not like light speed Yeah, he's saying 509 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:05,600 Speaker 1: that that we're still gonna even with advanced technology, we're 510 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:08,000 Speaker 1: gonna come up against hard limits. There. There are speed 511 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:13,320 Speaker 1: limits in place, and they prevent some of the models 512 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:17,120 Speaker 1: of interstellar civilization that we have dreamed up in the past. 513 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:20,680 Speaker 1: One of the great questions that most sci fi fails 514 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:23,920 Speaker 1: to address about how to get quickly between stars is 515 00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:27,640 Speaker 1: the question of deceleration. Yes, nobody ever thinks about how 516 00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:29,640 Speaker 1: you need to stop when you get to a place, 517 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:31,880 Speaker 1: and if you're going it like I don't know, fifty 518 00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 1: percent of light speed or something, and you just hit 519 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:37,960 Speaker 1: the brakes and decided to suddenly stop. You you are 520 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:41,720 Speaker 1: maybe atoms still, but you're not a human. I mean, 521 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:45,080 Speaker 1: that doesn't work well. So you'd essentially have to accelerate 522 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:48,960 Speaker 1: halfway and decelerate halfway. Yeah, and that's something you definitely 523 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:52,720 Speaker 1: encounter will a in more realistic science fiction, harder science fiction, 524 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:56,719 Speaker 1: but also in in proposals for how we might um 525 00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:01,240 Speaker 1: go on longer space flights. We would have to spend 526 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:03,680 Speaker 1: half the time ramping up in half the time ramping down. 527 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:06,200 Speaker 1: If you don't want to liquefy, right, you throw on 528 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:09,080 Speaker 1: the brakes too hard, you're going to you're gonna liquefy. Now, 529 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:12,280 Speaker 1: the inherent part of all this is that aliens would 530 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:14,360 Speaker 1: be bound by the same limits, though perhaps they're not 531 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:17,520 Speaker 1: limited in other ways that humans would be. Uh. They 532 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:22,240 Speaker 1: could of course be machines. They could have extremely long lifespans. 533 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:26,560 Speaker 1: I will say that I think if we ever were 534 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:30,080 Speaker 1: to detect make alien contact in our solar system, I 535 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:32,800 Speaker 1: think it's unlikely. But I think it's far more likely 536 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:37,120 Speaker 1: that we would come across alien technology than aliens themselves 537 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:40,400 Speaker 1: as beings. I could see more likely the scenario where 538 00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:44,920 Speaker 1: we receive an unscrewed probe, right, I mean, especially if 539 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:48,400 Speaker 1: we're basing it on how we have we are behaving 540 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:51,280 Speaker 1: in our exploration of space, it seems more likely that 541 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:54,200 Speaker 1: a machine would show up or their voyager arrives. Yeah, 542 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:56,920 Speaker 1: their voyager arrives, and it's not even a not even 543 00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:00,640 Speaker 1: representative of their current level of technology. You know, to 544 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:03,880 Speaker 1: what extent you can talk about current and the current 545 00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:07,200 Speaker 1: state of technology and the now when you're dealing with 546 00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:10,600 Speaker 1: these vast distances. Um, So maybe we should go on 547 00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:12,880 Speaker 1: that model, Like if it is aliens, maybe it's not 548 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:19,480 Speaker 1: physically biologically aliens. Maybe it's alien technology. Yeah, exactly. So 549 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:22,080 Speaker 1: again he says he thinks it would take two billion 550 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:25,840 Speaker 1: years for a civilization to really expand and and and 551 00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:29,720 Speaker 1: reach this power, this level of galactic power. Uh. And 552 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:31,959 Speaker 1: two million years is certainly a drop in the bucket 553 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:36,480 Speaker 1: compared to the Milky Way galaxies ten billion your history. Uh. 554 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:39,600 Speaker 1: But it also means that other emergent life forms and 555 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:42,920 Speaker 1: other emergent civilizations would have the same odds. And nothing 556 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:46,320 Speaker 1: has seemingly expanded throughout the Milky Way Galaxy in the 557 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:50,840 Speaker 1: previous two million year uh period of time. So Heart says, quote, 558 00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:54,360 Speaker 1: we might reasonably infer that we are the first colonizing 559 00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:57,719 Speaker 1: civilization in our galaxy, and for the moment, probably the 560 00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:01,160 Speaker 1: only species within advanced technology. If this is so, it 561 00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:03,920 Speaker 1: will be our descendants who are likely to colonize and 562 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:07,960 Speaker 1: populate the entire galaxy. Alright, So all this just tackles 563 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:10,360 Speaker 1: the question are there aliens? But again we're dealing with 564 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:14,560 Speaker 1: a much more specific situation. We're asking is this aliens? 565 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:19,320 Speaker 1: Is this thing this elongated object, some alien spaceship or 566 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:23,400 Speaker 1: piece of alien technology? Yeah? Is it an artificial object? 567 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:26,440 Speaker 1: Be it a ship, be it a you know, like 568 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:29,720 Speaker 1: a monolith with carvings inside it or something you know, 569 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:35,840 Speaker 1: is it something that was sent here deliberately or accidentally? Well, 570 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:37,840 Speaker 1: I mean, I guess we should instead back up to 571 00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:40,680 Speaker 1: say the question, to ask the question, is there any 572 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:43,880 Speaker 1: good reason to think it might be aliens other than 573 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:48,120 Speaker 1: the fact that it's an interstellar anomalous phenomenon. Alright, we'll 574 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:51,320 Speaker 1: lead Billings of the science writer to discuss this a 575 00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:54,080 Speaker 1: little bit in a Scientific American article that came out 576 00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:56,600 Speaker 1: in the last few weeks. Because everything has pretty much 577 00:32:56,640 --> 00:32:58,120 Speaker 1: come out in the last few weeks and it's still 578 00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:01,000 Speaker 1: coming out regarding this story. So if it does turn 579 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:03,280 Speaker 1: out to be aliens, this episode is a total bust. 580 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:06,280 Speaker 1: We are in the odd position of rooting against aliens 581 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:08,360 Speaker 1: with a scenario simply because it means we'd have to 582 00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:11,200 Speaker 1: re record that episode. Wait, no, so what does Billings 583 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:14,600 Speaker 1: say about reasons people think it might actually be aliens? Well, 584 00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:18,120 Speaker 1: he points to the to the quote collision minimizing form 585 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:22,520 Speaker 1: favored in many designs for theoretical interstellar probes. Okay, so 586 00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:26,120 Speaker 1: the elongated form because we don't usually see that in 587 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:30,200 Speaker 1: naturally formed space objects, and because it mirrors a kind 588 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:32,960 Speaker 1: of spaceship design form that you would have if you 589 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:36,160 Speaker 1: wanted to minimize the chance of running into something in space. 590 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:40,040 Speaker 1: You you might start to think, Okay, maybe that's sort 591 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:43,160 Speaker 1: of a tick in the column of could be artificial exactly. 592 00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:46,640 Speaker 1: It's it's shaped like we might shape a ship or 593 00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:49,640 Speaker 1: a probe for a similar purpose. And on top of that, 594 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:52,760 Speaker 1: it's pretty solid, as we discussed, possibly metal, making it 595 00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:56,720 Speaker 1: perfect for surviving a long journey between stars. And additionally, 596 00:33:56,720 --> 00:33:59,520 Speaker 1: we don't have much in the way of satisfactory theories 597 00:33:59,560 --> 00:34:02,440 Speaker 1: about how an elongated object like this would have formed 598 00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:05,880 Speaker 1: or survived ejection from another solar system. Yeah, that is 599 00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:09,840 Speaker 1: a good question. Now. On the other hand, he also 600 00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:12,680 Speaker 1: points out that, Okay, it boasts an impressive spin rate, 601 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:14,960 Speaker 1: and I imagine some of you are thinking, oh, it's rotating, 602 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:18,600 Speaker 1: it's good artificialty, but he said, he argues that it's 603 00:34:18,680 --> 00:34:22,000 Speaker 1: it's not really enough to produce meaningful artificial gravity. Yeah, 604 00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:25,200 Speaker 1: because I think they said that it rotates every what 605 00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:28,880 Speaker 1: seven point three hours or something like that. Um, that's 606 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:32,600 Speaker 1: not super fast and it's not super huge, and generating 607 00:34:32,640 --> 00:34:37,120 Speaker 1: artificial gravity either requires your your environment to be very 608 00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:40,399 Speaker 1: large or to spin pretty fast. So there's nothing really 609 00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:44,200 Speaker 1: we can significantly latch onto with that. Additionally, there's there's 610 00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:46,320 Speaker 1: no sign of propulsion here. It's following an orbit shaped 611 00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:48,759 Speaker 1: by the gravitational fourth of the Sun. That's not to 612 00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:51,640 Speaker 1: say it can't be a ship, but that makes it 613 00:34:51,680 --> 00:34:55,480 Speaker 1: more of a sailboat than a speed boat. And also 614 00:34:55,520 --> 00:34:59,120 Speaker 1: speaking of speed, experts apparently think that it's actually moving 615 00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:02,120 Speaker 1: a bit slow for a probe. The reasoning here is 616 00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:04,960 Speaker 1: that you'd likely want to be moving faster to cover 617 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:07,919 Speaker 1: more ground and that, but of course that also raises 618 00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:10,879 Speaker 1: a left questions about the presumed alien sense of time. Right, 619 00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:13,600 Speaker 1: So you'd think if they're aliens, say this is like 620 00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:16,880 Speaker 1: a voyager or some some kind of probe to send 621 00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:20,880 Speaker 1: the aliens information about our solar system, you'd think they'd 622 00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:24,160 Speaker 1: want the probes to be going really fast to their 623 00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:27,320 Speaker 1: star systems to get the information back as soon as possible, 624 00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:31,400 Speaker 1: because the people who made it might want something recognizable 625 00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:33,880 Speaker 1: as their own children or grandchildren or something like that 626 00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:36,080 Speaker 1: to be able to get the information. And if it's 627 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:38,640 Speaker 1: going to take hundreds of thousands of years to travel 628 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:41,880 Speaker 1: between star systems, like, what's the point unless it's just 629 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:44,880 Speaker 1: a message in a bottle, and and it's it's not 630 00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:47,640 Speaker 1: about hearing back from it. It's not about their lifespan. 631 00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:49,759 Speaker 1: But again I'm I'm you can. You can make all 632 00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:52,840 Speaker 1: sorts of different interpretations of it and sci fi it 633 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:54,720 Speaker 1: up and just the right way that it makes sense. 634 00:35:54,960 --> 00:35:57,719 Speaker 1: So I guess some people would say then that there 635 00:35:57,800 --> 00:36:01,200 Speaker 1: might be a few kind of interesting little reasons to think, oh, 636 00:36:01,239 --> 00:36:03,600 Speaker 1: maybe this could be artificial. But I think a lot 637 00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:05,759 Speaker 1: of the skeptics are going to be saying, look, it's 638 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:09,919 Speaker 1: not aliens. Why would you waste your time bothering with this? Well, 639 00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:11,680 Speaker 1: part of it comes down to the fact that we 640 00:36:11,719 --> 00:36:15,719 Speaker 1: can't yet say definitively that it's not. Uh, It's like 641 00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:17,759 Speaker 1: this is an open question. We're still trying to figure 642 00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:20,640 Speaker 1: out what this thing is and it's not. We haven't 643 00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:23,879 Speaker 1: completely ruled it out. It's very unlikely, but we haven't 644 00:36:23,880 --> 00:36:27,840 Speaker 1: completely ruled out the possibility that it is an artificial object. 645 00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:30,200 Speaker 1: Is it one of those scenarios where the question is 646 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:33,600 Speaker 1: just so interesting that even if you're ninety nine point 647 00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:37,399 Speaker 1: nine percent sure that the answer is no, you've got 648 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:40,640 Speaker 1: to ask anyway, just because it feels so titillating. Well, 649 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:43,880 Speaker 1: and we also have to ask because there are some 650 00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:47,640 Speaker 1: steps that we can take to further investigate the possibility. 651 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:49,160 Speaker 1: So it's not just one of those things where it 652 00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:51,640 Speaker 1: could be aliens. So let's keep the dream alive. It's 653 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:54,400 Speaker 1: it's more like it could be aliens. Let's take the 654 00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:58,000 Speaker 1: next logical steps to test that hypothesis out right, we can, 655 00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:00,120 Speaker 1: we can check it out. So for instance, obvious ob 656 00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:04,880 Speaker 1: an astrophysicist and Breakthrough advisor, that's the Breakthrough Listen initiative, 657 00:37:04,880 --> 00:37:06,799 Speaker 1: which we'll get into a little more in a minute here. 658 00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:10,960 Speaker 1: Okay Um and he's also an advisor at Harvard University, 659 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:14,520 Speaker 1: pointed out the following to Scientific American quote. Perhaps the 660 00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:17,760 Speaker 1: Aliens have a mothership that travels fast and releases baby 661 00:37:17,840 --> 00:37:22,920 Speaker 1: spacecraft that freely fall into planetary system on a reconnaissance mission. 662 00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:25,360 Speaker 1: In such a case, we might be able to intercept 663 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:29,640 Speaker 1: a communication signal between the different spacecraft. Oh I like that. 664 00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:32,040 Speaker 1: I mean it makes me think of like the scene 665 00:37:32,040 --> 00:37:34,080 Speaker 1: in the Empire Strikes Back where the ship's going through 666 00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:37,320 Speaker 1: and launching the Imperial probe droids off in all these directions, 667 00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:40,239 Speaker 1: exactly same sort of scenario. And indeed, just because the 668 00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:42,239 Speaker 1: things not trying to communicate with us, it could have 669 00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:45,120 Speaker 1: some sort of communication that has to make back to 670 00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:48,080 Speaker 1: the mothership. Well, in that case, let's put some radio 671 00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:50,479 Speaker 1: telescopes on it. And I bet people are already doing 672 00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:53,040 Speaker 1: that exactly, I mean, because that's that's what the folks 673 00:37:53,040 --> 00:37:56,920 Speaker 1: at said he have been thinking to search for extraterrestrial intelligence, 674 00:37:56,920 --> 00:37:59,400 Speaker 1: so they think that it could be emitting or at 675 00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:04,839 Speaker 1: least lead radio waves. However, initial snooping via CETI institutes 676 00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:10,680 Speaker 1: Allen telescope array turned up nothing. On Wednesday, December seventeen, 677 00:38:10,960 --> 00:38:14,240 Speaker 1: the Breakthrough Listen project aimed at the West Virginia based 678 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:19,320 Speaker 1: on Green Bank Telescope at Omamua for ten hours of 679 00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:23,400 Speaker 1: of observations in a wide range of radio frequencies. So 680 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:27,719 Speaker 1: was it aliens no nest? So they listened from three 681 00:38:28,239 --> 00:38:31,560 Speaker 1: pm to ninety five pm Eastern Time. They scanned across 682 00:38:31,640 --> 00:38:35,840 Speaker 1: four radio brands, spanning billions of individual channels across the 683 00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:38,600 Speaker 1: one to twelve gig hurts range. Over the course of 684 00:38:38,640 --> 00:38:41,920 Speaker 1: a two hour observation of the object itself, they collected 685 00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:46,840 Speaker 1: ninety terabytes of data raw data. Uh, and they're searching 686 00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:50,880 Speaker 1: that data for signs of artificial signals. But despite some 687 00:38:50,960 --> 00:38:53,120 Speaker 1: heavy computing power, this is still gonna take a little 688 00:38:53,160 --> 00:38:57,520 Speaker 1: while to carry out. So as of this recording, there 689 00:38:57,600 --> 00:39:01,759 Speaker 1: is currently no evidence of any narrow bandwidth signals in 690 00:39:01,800 --> 00:39:06,080 Speaker 1: the data that would suggest artificial nature to this object. So, 691 00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:08,920 Speaker 1: whatever it is, it does not appear to be communicating 692 00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:12,920 Speaker 1: via radio waves with anything else yet, unless something is 693 00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:16,880 Speaker 1: happening right now that is changing all of that, in 694 00:39:16,880 --> 00:39:19,360 Speaker 1: which case we will have to revisit putting out the 695 00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:22,440 Speaker 1: episode to begin with. But we're we're making a safe 696 00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:25,839 Speaker 1: bet here. Now here's the Here's another interesting point on 697 00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:29,400 Speaker 1: the topic of rarity made by Breakthrough Listens lead scientist 698 00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:33,120 Speaker 1: Andrew Simon that underlines humanity sort of Babe in the 699 00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:37,440 Speaker 1: Woods understanding of the cosmos. He says, this thing cannot 700 00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:41,640 Speaker 1: be a rarity. I mean, well, the idea is if 701 00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:44,759 Speaker 1: it were, if it were rare, we wouldn't be seeing 702 00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:48,600 Speaker 1: it at all. Okay, Yeah, So, which is an interesting 703 00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:50,880 Speaker 1: argument if if you think about the idea here is 704 00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:54,960 Speaker 1: that it can't be a natural object that just happens 705 00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:56,640 Speaker 1: to fall in our laps. If there's one of these 706 00:39:56,640 --> 00:39:59,200 Speaker 1: out there, there have to be more in the ideas 707 00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:01,719 Speaker 1: that we just haven't each the point where are we're 708 00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:04,880 Speaker 1: able to uh to see them, we just were not 709 00:40:04,920 --> 00:40:07,280 Speaker 1: able to detect them yet and we don't have the technology. 710 00:40:07,320 --> 00:40:10,080 Speaker 1: And is that technology comes online, we realize, oh, yeah, 711 00:40:10,080 --> 00:40:13,600 Speaker 1: there are space cigars everywhere. Uh, this was just the 712 00:40:13,640 --> 00:40:16,560 Speaker 1: first time that we saw one. Yeah, so I think 713 00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:19,239 Speaker 1: that is uh, pretty much in line with what a 714 00:40:19,280 --> 00:40:22,280 Speaker 1: lot of these astronomers are thinking. Yeah, there are probably 715 00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:24,720 Speaker 1: a lot more objects like this coming through the Solar 716 00:40:24,719 --> 00:40:26,520 Speaker 1: system all the time. This is just the first time 717 00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:28,440 Speaker 1: we caught one. It's kind of like the way I 718 00:40:28,440 --> 00:40:31,640 Speaker 1: was thinking of it is, if say somebody does not 719 00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:35,399 Speaker 1: know anything about Bollywood films, but they can name one 720 00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:39,680 Speaker 1: Bollywood film, chances are that one Bollywood film they can 721 00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:42,480 Speaker 1: name is a major title. It's like, you know, one 722 00:40:42,520 --> 00:40:45,800 Speaker 1: of the pillars of Bollywood. Like, what are the chances 723 00:40:45,840 --> 00:40:48,880 Speaker 1: that the one film they can name is some super 724 00:40:49,560 --> 00:40:54,280 Speaker 1: rare entry. You could use that with anything in pop culture, 725 00:40:54,640 --> 00:40:56,680 Speaker 1: chances are if you can only think of one example 726 00:40:56,719 --> 00:40:59,040 Speaker 1: of a type of thing in pop culture, it's one 727 00:40:59,080 --> 00:41:02,440 Speaker 1: of the most widely replicated and talked about examples of 728 00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:06,880 Speaker 1: that genre or category exactly. And so that's basically the 729 00:41:06,920 --> 00:41:11,800 Speaker 1: scenario that's that that is probably taking place with this object. 730 00:41:11,920 --> 00:41:15,400 Speaker 1: That if we're seeing it, it cannot be rare unless, 731 00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:18,280 Speaker 1: of course, it's an alienship, and that kind of changes everything. 732 00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:21,080 Speaker 1: I mean, that is very characteristic of someone who thinks 733 00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:24,239 Speaker 1: statistically about their experience of reality, and that is a 734 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:28,200 Speaker 1: mindset that I don't often go to myself, but I 735 00:41:28,200 --> 00:41:32,000 Speaker 1: can respect. Now it makes me question and say, well, well, 736 00:41:32,080 --> 00:41:35,239 Speaker 1: isn't it also true that if this is if this 737 00:41:35,320 --> 00:41:37,960 Speaker 1: does turn out to be an alien spaceship, then alien 738 00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:40,400 Speaker 1: spaceships are also common, and maybe this is just the 739 00:41:40,440 --> 00:41:42,759 Speaker 1: first time we're seeing one of these. I think that 740 00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:45,640 Speaker 1: would be implied by that probabilistic argument. I mean, it's 741 00:41:45,680 --> 00:41:48,560 Speaker 1: all based on the assumption you should make that your 742 00:41:48,760 --> 00:41:52,560 Speaker 1: your life is not special and your experience is not unique. Yeah, 743 00:41:52,600 --> 00:41:55,240 Speaker 1: I mean that's the the anthropic principle and a nutshell, 744 00:41:55,320 --> 00:41:58,040 Speaker 1: the idea that we cannot we cannot look at the 745 00:41:58,080 --> 00:42:02,600 Speaker 1: cosmos with with the notion that the human perspective is privileged, 746 00:42:02,719 --> 00:42:05,200 Speaker 1: or that Earth is privileged in any way that you know, 747 00:42:05,320 --> 00:42:08,440 Speaker 1: defies just mere statistics. At the same time, you are 748 00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:11,160 Speaker 1: all individually very special. I mean, really you have to 749 00:42:11,200 --> 00:42:13,880 Speaker 1: feel special to to think about it. Just think of 750 00:42:13,880 --> 00:42:17,920 Speaker 1: the fact that this story is happening right now? That 751 00:42:17,920 --> 00:42:20,880 Speaker 1: that the the open question is there is there intelligent 752 00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:24,960 Speaker 1: life elsewhere in the universe? Uh, that were this close 753 00:42:25,239 --> 00:42:29,279 Speaker 1: to to potentially getting a yes answer, but probably not. Well, 754 00:42:29,320 --> 00:42:31,359 Speaker 1: I want to renew what I said earlier, which is 755 00:42:31,400 --> 00:42:33,919 Speaker 1: that I think this object and the story of its 756 00:42:33,960 --> 00:42:36,719 Speaker 1: discovery is fascinating, even if it's not aliens, which it's 757 00:42:36,760 --> 00:42:39,520 Speaker 1: almost definitely not. Yeah, but it But it's kind of 758 00:42:39,560 --> 00:42:43,400 Speaker 1: like an unsolved murder, like suddenly there's a suspect. The 759 00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:47,080 Speaker 1: suspect is almost certainly not the perpetrator, but the mere 760 00:42:47,120 --> 00:42:49,440 Speaker 1: fact that there's a subject, that there's a suspect in 761 00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:52,920 Speaker 1: the case is pretty phenomenal, even if they're gonna you know, 762 00:42:52,960 --> 00:42:55,040 Speaker 1: walk the street and just you know, a few hours 763 00:42:55,080 --> 00:42:57,880 Speaker 1: because their ALBI checks out. To be clear, this space 764 00:42:57,960 --> 00:43:01,800 Speaker 1: object has not killed anyone, It's true, not yet. Now 765 00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:04,319 Speaker 1: some of you are probably wondering, well, what what's going 766 00:43:04,360 --> 00:43:09,000 Speaker 1: to happen? Then, assuming that that looking at this object 767 00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:13,719 Speaker 1: data was to present itself that that suggested some sort 768 00:43:13,760 --> 00:43:16,360 Speaker 1: of an intelligence and at least an intelligent design to 769 00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:21,680 Speaker 1: the thing, what would go down? Well? Uh, Simon provides 770 00:43:21,760 --> 00:43:24,239 Speaker 1: a sort of step by step breakdown of how this 771 00:43:24,280 --> 00:43:27,879 Speaker 1: would take place. So first of all, the signal would 772 00:43:27,880 --> 00:43:30,239 Speaker 1: be detected or the signal would be decoded, like we 773 00:43:30,280 --> 00:43:34,920 Speaker 1: would find data in the in the radio waves that 774 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:37,759 Speaker 1: tipped us off, all right, So the next step would 775 00:43:37,760 --> 00:43:42,360 Speaker 1: be too immediately re observed to confirm that signal. Okay, 776 00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:44,000 Speaker 1: you want to make sure that it wasn't a fluke 777 00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:47,400 Speaker 1: in the recording, right. Nobody wants to be the the 778 00:43:47,560 --> 00:43:51,080 Speaker 1: scientists to immediately go on cable news and say we 779 00:43:51,160 --> 00:43:54,120 Speaker 1: did it, we made contact with the aliens and we oh, 780 00:43:54,160 --> 00:43:56,680 Speaker 1: we didn't actually check it though it was actually a 781 00:43:56,760 --> 00:44:01,040 Speaker 1: TV satellite alright. So after this, if they once they 782 00:44:01,040 --> 00:44:03,279 Speaker 1: confirmed the signal, next they will reach out to pre 783 00:44:03,400 --> 00:44:07,000 Speaker 1: selected astronomers around the world to target the object with 784 00:44:07,080 --> 00:44:10,480 Speaker 1: other radio telescopes. And I think his his exact words were, 785 00:44:10,520 --> 00:44:13,200 Speaker 1: we have a we have a rolodex just for this, 786 00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:15,839 Speaker 1: so they have all the contexts ready to go, and 787 00:44:15,880 --> 00:44:18,400 Speaker 1: then if that shakes out, then they're going to go 788 00:44:18,440 --> 00:44:20,319 Speaker 1: public with what's happening. So there's not going to be 789 00:44:20,360 --> 00:44:24,439 Speaker 1: this government conspiracy. Let's hide the nature of aliens from 790 00:44:24,840 --> 00:44:27,479 Speaker 1: the people because they'll all freak out, uh and start 791 00:44:27,560 --> 00:44:30,080 Speaker 1: buying bread and beer. Never really made a lot of 792 00:44:30,080 --> 00:44:33,080 Speaker 1: sense to me. Well, I mean it would. It would 793 00:44:33,200 --> 00:44:36,160 Speaker 1: disrupt things. It would at least disrupt the news cycle 794 00:44:36,239 --> 00:44:38,719 Speaker 1: for a little bit, you know, uh, it would. I mean, 795 00:44:38,760 --> 00:44:41,839 Speaker 1: you know, it would change everything if if suddenly we 796 00:44:41,880 --> 00:44:44,000 Speaker 1: had proof that there was alien life, it would I 797 00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:46,719 Speaker 1: don't know that it would cause a collapse of civilization, 798 00:44:46,840 --> 00:44:49,359 Speaker 1: but I don't think so. This would be This would 799 00:44:49,360 --> 00:44:51,719 Speaker 1: be a good topic to discuss though, just sort of 800 00:44:51,760 --> 00:44:55,120 Speaker 1: like like the preparations for like the cultural preparations for 801 00:44:55,560 --> 00:44:58,680 Speaker 1: the identification of extra stress real life. I think it 802 00:44:58,719 --> 00:45:00,719 Speaker 1: would be one of the most I agree with that. 803 00:45:00,800 --> 00:45:02,480 Speaker 1: I think it would be one of the most interesting 804 00:45:02,520 --> 00:45:05,080 Speaker 1: discoveries in the history of humankind. But I don't know 805 00:45:05,120 --> 00:45:07,880 Speaker 1: if it would actually disrupt life all that much unless 806 00:45:07,920 --> 00:45:10,279 Speaker 1: they were like here and ready to wage war on 807 00:45:10,360 --> 00:45:12,800 Speaker 1: us or something. Well, but that would be the next question, 808 00:45:12,840 --> 00:45:14,960 Speaker 1: like why is it here? What is it doing? What 809 00:45:15,040 --> 00:45:17,160 Speaker 1: are its intentions? Right? And that can lead to a 810 00:45:17,200 --> 00:45:20,680 Speaker 1: certain amount of paranoia. I guess so, but I don't know. 811 00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:25,880 Speaker 1: I think if we just discovered a not overtly threatening alien, 812 00:45:26,920 --> 00:45:30,520 Speaker 1: I think people would basically be really interested, but in 813 00:45:30,640 --> 00:45:32,520 Speaker 1: the next day they need to go get the groceries. 814 00:45:32,840 --> 00:45:35,120 Speaker 1: I think one of my big concerns here though, is 815 00:45:35,120 --> 00:45:38,000 Speaker 1: is in some sort of a first contact scenario, like 816 00:45:38,040 --> 00:45:42,560 Speaker 1: how does communication go with this entity? You know, like 817 00:45:43,080 --> 00:45:45,560 Speaker 1: certainly well, I think we've touched on this in the 818 00:45:45,600 --> 00:45:48,920 Speaker 1: podcast before about the different individuals and organizations sort of 819 00:45:49,200 --> 00:45:52,400 Speaker 1: uh that have been proposed as a first contact team 820 00:45:52,520 --> 00:45:57,600 Speaker 1: or or counsel. But right, you can certainly imagine scenarios 821 00:45:57,600 --> 00:46:01,440 Speaker 1: were say leaders that exists to might want to be 822 00:46:01,560 --> 00:46:04,040 Speaker 1: the first person to talk to the aliens, and maybe 823 00:46:04,120 --> 00:46:06,600 Speaker 1: that would not be great, Like if they realize that 824 00:46:06,640 --> 00:46:10,520 Speaker 1: Twitter is our primary mode of communication, and so the 825 00:46:10,560 --> 00:46:13,520 Speaker 1: spaceship were to join Twitter, like it were to to 826 00:46:13,680 --> 00:46:18,440 Speaker 1: acquire the omamua Twitter handle, and then anybody could tweet 827 00:46:18,480 --> 00:46:22,839 Speaker 1: at it. Just think of the chaos, and it's just 828 00:46:22,920 --> 00:46:27,880 Speaker 1: an egg. It's just an interstellar egg. It probably would 829 00:46:27,920 --> 00:46:31,040 Speaker 1: they wouldn't you know, They might not even have sight. 830 00:46:31,320 --> 00:46:34,479 Speaker 1: It tries to figure out hashtags and fails, just keeps 831 00:46:34,520 --> 00:46:41,759 Speaker 1: hashtagging normal words, or it doesn't actually say anything. It 832 00:46:41,920 --> 00:46:45,239 Speaker 1: just likes tweets, And then you have to wonder who 833 00:46:45,280 --> 00:46:47,360 Speaker 1: doesn't say it it's likes or an endorsement of the 834 00:46:47,440 --> 00:46:50,680 Speaker 1: idea or not, and so it basically means that we 835 00:46:50,719 --> 00:46:53,239 Speaker 1: have just all the great minds of the world are 836 00:46:53,360 --> 00:46:55,640 Speaker 1: just pouring over Twitter to try and figure out what 837 00:46:55,719 --> 00:46:58,600 Speaker 1: it's Uh, it's ideology is based on its likes, and 838 00:46:58,680 --> 00:47:01,480 Speaker 1: its ideology is it only likes the tweets of that 839 00:47:01,520 --> 00:47:05,880 Speaker 1: guy who played the kid on Star Trek the Next Generation? Yeaheah, 840 00:47:06,080 --> 00:47:07,799 Speaker 1: Well that that would I think it would be an 841 00:47:07,800 --> 00:47:10,640 Speaker 1: okay scenario. And then then Will has to step up 842 00:47:10,880 --> 00:47:13,439 Speaker 1: and be the ambassador for Earth. I was trying to think, 843 00:47:13,440 --> 00:47:15,840 Speaker 1: who else are those good like, well liked social media 844 00:47:15,880 --> 00:47:19,000 Speaker 1: power users. Well there, most of them are, really. I mean, 845 00:47:19,040 --> 00:47:22,000 Speaker 1: he's even divisive depending on where you you stand, right, 846 00:47:22,040 --> 00:47:24,800 Speaker 1: I can't think of a single like universally ld Twitter, 847 00:47:25,480 --> 00:47:29,280 Speaker 1: uh individual, because Twitter, by his very nature is about 848 00:47:29,760 --> 00:47:32,879 Speaker 1: hating and loving and equal measures. Right, we've gone way 849 00:47:32,920 --> 00:47:36,840 Speaker 1: off topic here, but hey, but we've given everybody some 850 00:47:36,880 --> 00:47:39,279 Speaker 1: food for thought here. Uh. Think this is a fascinating, 851 00:47:39,480 --> 00:47:44,200 Speaker 1: ongoing story. And again we're really betting that it's not 852 00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:47,560 Speaker 1: alien life here, but it's still amazing to dream about. Yeah, 853 00:47:47,600 --> 00:47:51,480 Speaker 1: the first messenger from another star. All right, Hey, in 854 00:47:51,480 --> 00:47:54,520 Speaker 1: the meantime, when we're waiting for answers from our visitor here, 855 00:47:55,000 --> 00:47:56,759 Speaker 1: be sure to hack out check out stuff to Blow 856 00:47:56,760 --> 00:47:58,320 Speaker 1: your Mind dot com. That's what we'll find. All the 857 00:47:58,320 --> 00:48:00,920 Speaker 1: podcast episodes will find, blog post videos, and links out 858 00:48:00,960 --> 00:48:04,799 Speaker 1: to our various social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, Instagram, 859 00:48:04,840 --> 00:48:08,320 Speaker 1: and so forth. Big thanks to our audio producers Alex 860 00:48:08,360 --> 00:48:10,840 Speaker 1: Williams and Tory Harrison Hey, and if you want to 861 00:48:10,840 --> 00:48:13,440 Speaker 1: get in touch with us directly, as always, you can 862 00:48:13,480 --> 00:48:16,480 Speaker 1: do that via email at blow the Mind at how 863 00:48:16,560 --> 00:48:29,520 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. For more on this and thousands 864 00:48:29,520 --> 00:48:54,680 Speaker 1: of other topics, does it how stuff works dot com