1 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:11,680 Speaker 1: Okay, or Hey, how long do you think life on 2 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: Earth will last? I mean human life or just life 3 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:18,560 Speaker 1: in general on Earth. So let's assume the humanity somehow 4 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: manages to off itself. What do you think is going 5 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: to survive? I'm not sure we can. We have to 6 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:29,040 Speaker 1: assume that it's looking pretty probable these days. Probably some 7 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: of the stuff in the back of my fridge that 8 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:33,839 Speaker 1: looks pretty pretty hardy. It's been there for thousands and 9 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: millions of years. Well, my wife would like that answer, 10 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: since she's a microbiologist. They are a tough bunch microbes. 11 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:42,599 Speaker 1: But let's think bigger. What about multicellular life. You think 12 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:48,920 Speaker 1: anything like that could survive like an actual like animal organism. Yeah, um, don't. 13 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:53,159 Speaker 1: They say cockroaches can survive in nuclear explosion, But I'm 14 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 1: not sure that's true. I'm not sure that's true either. 15 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: I think it's just good pr by the cockroach lobby. 16 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:00,080 Speaker 1: But there is something on Earth that is eve and 17 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: tougher than the conquerae. I hear it's cuter too. That's 18 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:22,319 Speaker 1: not a very high barred pass. I am Orge, I'm 19 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 1: a cartoonism the creator of PhD Comics. Hi, I'm Daniel, 20 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: I'm a particle physicist, and welcome to our podcast, Daniel 21 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:32,520 Speaker 1: and Jorge Explain the Universe, a production of I Heart 22 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 1: Radio in which we go all around the universe and 23 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:39,119 Speaker 1: find interesting, weird, crazy, little creepy crawley stuff to talk 24 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:41,040 Speaker 1: to you about and explain it to you in a 25 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 1: way that hopefully you find entertaining. Cute little creatures and 26 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:49,640 Speaker 1: also horrifyingly scary looking creatures sometimes they're even the same organism. 27 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:51,559 Speaker 1: That's true, you know, Um, there are lots of things 28 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 1: which look scary when they're big, and that are just 29 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 1: cute and cuddly when they're small. Like if you walk 30 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 1: next to a mountain lion, you'd be freaked out. Everybody's 31 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 1: house cat is basically a miniaturized mountain lion. It's all 32 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: about the scale. It's all about the scale. The opposite 33 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: is true. Also, take anything you find cute a dragonfly, 34 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: and make it the size of a school bus, and 35 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:17,360 Speaker 1: all of a sudden, it's terrifying. It's terrifying. Yeah, so 36 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 1: some things are cute when they're tiny and terrifying when 37 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:22,919 Speaker 1: they're huge, and one of kind of like children too 38 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:29,119 Speaker 1: in corrupt into teenagers. Terrifying cute is a toddlers terrifying 39 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: as teens exactly, and especially terrifying if you're toddler grows 40 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: up to be the size of a school bus. So 41 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:35,239 Speaker 1: if you never were going to talk about something that's 42 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:38,280 Speaker 1: been on the news lately, right, Daniel, it's been apparently 43 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:42,760 Speaker 1: it's now been colonizing the moon lately. That's right. This 44 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: is a fascinating little creature. It's a bit of a 45 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: departure for us because it's not quite physics, but it 46 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 1: appeared in the news recently. And also we had a 47 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: listener right in and say this is her favorite thing 48 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:55,240 Speaker 1: in the whole world, and could we please talk about 49 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:57,400 Speaker 1: it on the podcast. Her favorite thing in the world. 50 00:02:57,440 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 1: Is this creature that we're going to talk about, Yes, exactly? 51 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: Is this that it may now be colonizing the moon? Exactly? 52 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:12,920 Speaker 1: So today on the program we'll be talking about cart grade. 53 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:17,160 Speaker 1: What is the tart grade and why are they so interesting? 54 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:18,799 Speaker 1: And how did they end up on the moon? That's 55 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 1: the question we'll be talking about today. Yeah, it turns 56 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 1: out there are a crazy little creature that can do 57 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: things no other creature we know of can do. So 58 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:29,399 Speaker 1: it's quite amazing. Yeah, and it's also a little bit 59 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: cute slash terrifying at the same time. So if you 60 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 1: are not driving right now and have a moment, you're 61 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 1: welcome to past our podcast right now and just go 62 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: on the internet and search for images of Tardi grades 63 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:47,000 Speaker 1: and what you will find will both make you go 64 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: all and if you imagine one the size of a 65 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: school bus. So yeah, tart grades are um these creatures 66 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: and they look wild right like, if you could look 67 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:00,280 Speaker 1: at a picture of them, they look like monstrous from 68 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: a science fiction movie. They do look like crazy little creatures. 69 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: And you know, usually at this point in the podcast, 70 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:07,800 Speaker 1: we go in and we ask people on the street 71 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: what they know about the subject. But today we're doing 72 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: something a little bit different. Today instead of starting with 73 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: asking people on the street what they think at hard 74 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 1: to Grade is, We're going to try a news segment 75 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:23,200 Speaker 1: today called Ask the Wrong Expert, which we bring somebody 76 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:25,920 Speaker 1: on is a world class expert on one topic and 77 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:29,240 Speaker 1: ask him about something completely different that's right. And I 78 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 1: feel like this is only fair since I'm always springing 79 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:35,799 Speaker 1: questions on random people at you see Irvine, they're not experts, 80 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:37,599 Speaker 1: and what I'm asking them about and we hear them 81 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:40,479 Speaker 1: speculate and sometimes struggle and guests. So I thought it 82 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:42,599 Speaker 1: might be fun to also hear what happens when you 83 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 1: ask an expert, a scientist about something they don't know 84 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:47,839 Speaker 1: anything about. And so to the on the program, we 85 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:51,279 Speaker 1: have our good friend Brian Keating. Welcome Brian, right, guys, 86 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,280 Speaker 1: great to be with you again virtually through the ether. Alright. So, 87 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:56,680 Speaker 1: Brian is a professor of astrophysics at you see San 88 00:04:56,680 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: Diego's Department of Physics. He has over a hundred scientific 89 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 1: public asian and holds two US patents. Tell it, Brian, 90 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 1: what do you what kind of what are you an 91 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:10,040 Speaker 1: expert in? My specialty is experimental cosmology, So I build 92 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:13,040 Speaker 1: new universes, and no I don't do that. I build 93 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:17,839 Speaker 1: telescopes that can see invisible radiation known as the cosmic 94 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:21,760 Speaker 1: microwave background radiation. And my number one project now is 95 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: going to be one of the world's highest altitude observatories 96 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: on Earth, called the Simon's Observatory. I'm the director of it, 97 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:30,960 Speaker 1: and it's a collaboration of about two hundred and sixties 98 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:35,360 Speaker 1: scientists on all seven continents on planet Earth. Brian, you're 99 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: also the author of a book called losing the Noble Prize. 100 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:43,159 Speaker 1: That Buck was published in eighteen and the Pipe paperback edition, 101 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: the new and improved paperback edition is about to come 102 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 1: out any day now. It's a really fun book for 103 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,919 Speaker 1: those of you who haven't checked it out. It chronicles 104 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:56,240 Speaker 1: Brian's adventures and misadventures in physics um, which I think 105 00:05:56,360 --> 00:05:58,240 Speaker 1: is really fascinating. I think it's really brave of you 106 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: to talk all about how your experiment thought they saw 107 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:04,279 Speaker 1: something and then turns out they didn't. This two part 108 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:07,039 Speaker 1: memoir really a part of it's a story about what 109 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: it's like to actually do experimental science. You know, a 110 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:13,039 Speaker 1: lot of our colleagues, you know, Daniel, you excluded, but 111 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: a lot of our colleagues brainiac scientists as they are, 112 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:19,279 Speaker 1: are theoreticians, which means that they deal at the esoterica 113 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:23,520 Speaker 1: between their ears and and perhaps to be discovered centuries 114 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:26,640 Speaker 1: long after they're gone. Uh. And these include you know, 115 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:31,760 Speaker 1: wonderful writers Stephen Hawking, Brian Green, Lisa Randall, etcetera, etcetera. 116 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:34,160 Speaker 1: And they're wonderful, as they say, and they inspire us. 117 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 1: But an experimentalist, in some sense has a unique vantage 118 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:40,440 Speaker 1: point on the process of how science is done. So 119 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:43,240 Speaker 1: I want to chronicle what it's like to do experimental 120 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,640 Speaker 1: science at the world's extremes and what it's how it 121 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: took me from a small telescope as a twelve year 122 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: old kid all the way to the bottom of the 123 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:55,159 Speaker 1: Earth at the South Pole, Antarctica, where I've been several 124 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:57,839 Speaker 1: times and done research along with the team that thought 125 00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:01,520 Speaker 1: we had glimpsed the afterglow of what's called inflation. I 126 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:04,240 Speaker 1: know you guys have done some some podcast episodes on that. 127 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:06,160 Speaker 1: I won't get into too much detail, but suffice it 128 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:09,600 Speaker 1: to say, inflation is the epoch theorized by theorists, our 129 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:14,040 Speaker 1: friends Alan Gooth and others, to have produced the the 130 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:16,760 Speaker 1: bang in the Big Bang, the what caused the expansion 131 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:20,760 Speaker 1: of the universe to accelerate incredibly rapidly at extremely early times. 132 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:24,160 Speaker 1: And when we made this announcement on St. Patrick's Day, 133 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: the world was really uh in awe that we had discovered, 134 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: as they say, the aftershocks of of the Big Bang itself, 135 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 1: so to speak. This set the world's attention and media 136 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,200 Speaker 1: on fire, with millions and millions of people around the 137 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: world excited about these discoveries, and as I recount in 138 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:42,880 Speaker 1: the book the extraordinary experience that it was like to 139 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 1: be once be the leader of this team and then 140 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: go to being kind of on the outskirts of it, 141 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:50,000 Speaker 1: just as we were being positioned to potentially be the 142 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:53,240 Speaker 1: recipients of the Nobel Prize for the magnitude of this discovery. 143 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: So it's a memoir of that process. And then along 144 00:07:56,040 --> 00:08:00,360 Speaker 1: the way, immediately after the Dnument, as they say, of 145 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:03,120 Speaker 1: that episode, I was asked by the Swedish Royal Academy 146 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:05,840 Speaker 1: of Sciences to nominate the winners of the Nobel Prize 147 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:08,520 Speaker 1: that I potentially could have been eligible for. So it 148 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: would be kind of like, you know, somebody coming up 149 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: to you and saying, you know, guys, you guys have 150 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,440 Speaker 1: a great podcast, but can you introduce me to Neil 151 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: de grasse Tyson because I'd really rather be on that show. 152 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:21,200 Speaker 1: Uh So it's kind of humiliating in a sense, and 153 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 1: because I had aspired to win a Nobel Prize for 154 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:26,000 Speaker 1: a long time and it really impelled me to look 155 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:27,600 Speaker 1: at the Nobel Prize and what it did to me 156 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 1: personally and perhaps other scientists around the world too, So 157 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:33,520 Speaker 1: it was sort of cathartic in a way. And many 158 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:37,520 Speaker 1: scientists have written to say that they agree with the 159 00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 1: kind of um conjectures and proposals that I put forth 160 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 1: to reform what's arguably not just science is highest honor, 161 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 1: but humanity's highest honor. There's really, you know, nowhere to 162 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: go from there but down in terms of accolades that 163 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:53,080 Speaker 1: a human being can receive. So it's a it's a 164 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:56,480 Speaker 1: memoir coupled with a little polemic, you know, dash side 165 00:08:56,559 --> 00:08:59,840 Speaker 1: order of polemicism on the side, and received any feedback. 166 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,599 Speaker 1: The Nobel Prize committee themselves they opened your reform proposals. 167 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:06,760 Speaker 1: Oh yes, they embrace it wildly. They want to adopt 168 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:09,000 Speaker 1: them completely, change it to the Keating prose. You want 169 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:11,320 Speaker 1: to give the Nobel Prize in Literature just for the book. 170 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:18,200 Speaker 1: So being hausin Felder, I guess I'm sure you guys know. 171 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:20,600 Speaker 1: She she wrote a kind of a critical review of 172 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:22,160 Speaker 1: my book, but in the end she said, the writing 173 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:24,320 Speaker 1: is so good, you know, maybe he'll win. He'll lose 174 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:30,480 Speaker 1: the Nobel Prize in Literature next but losing another losing 175 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:33,480 Speaker 1: his second Nobel prize exactly, all right, Brian, So you 176 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:37,079 Speaker 1: are an expert in astrophysics and the Big Bang and cosmology, 177 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:40,080 Speaker 1: and experimental physics. But today we are going to be 178 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 1: asking you about today's topic, which is about Tarty grades. 179 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:47,120 Speaker 1: Have you heard of Tarty grades before? Yes? I used 180 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:49,280 Speaker 1: to receive a lot of negative ones in school for 181 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:54,120 Speaker 1: being late. Get it, Get it? That's quite good, Yes, 182 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 1: I I I know about Tartar grades. I don't call 183 00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:00,480 Speaker 1: them tart gredes. They called them water bears alight and 184 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:04,320 Speaker 1: and I understand there's not only plenty of them on Earth, 185 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:07,199 Speaker 1: but there's also a few in the heavens. That's right, 186 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:10,079 Speaker 1: they have established. And maybe you are an expert in 187 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:12,320 Speaker 1: Tarte grades, then well let's find out. The point of 188 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:15,400 Speaker 1: this game asked the wrong expert is to see how 189 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:18,120 Speaker 1: scientists think when we take them out of there, you know, 190 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:20,440 Speaker 1: the little niche that they've developed an expertise in, and 191 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,840 Speaker 1: asked them to think carefully about something else. And so 192 00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:26,280 Speaker 1: that's why, Brian, we wanted to ask you questions about 193 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:28,680 Speaker 1: something that wasn't your field. So feel free to answer 194 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:32,840 Speaker 1: wildly and share your thoughts. And you haven't had time 195 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:34,880 Speaker 1: to look this up in Google or anything right right 196 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:38,920 Speaker 1: now aloud, I'm not looking on with right now. I 197 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 1: promise you first question is true or false. Tarte grades 198 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:50,920 Speaker 1: are sometimes called moss piglets. Moss piglets, I'll say true, 199 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:55,520 Speaker 1: all right, true or false. The name Tartar grade means 200 00:10:55,840 --> 00:10:59,800 Speaker 1: slow moving. That sounds about right. True, alright, true or false. 201 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:03,680 Speaker 1: Daniel named one of his children after Tartar grades. No, 202 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:06,360 Speaker 1: but I know that you have some rats in the house, 203 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:08,360 Speaker 1: so maybe you're named a rat after our tartar grade. 204 00:11:09,360 --> 00:11:13,120 Speaker 1: You have water bears in your house, has water rats, 205 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:15,480 Speaker 1: and I'm sure actually everybody does have water bears in 206 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:20,079 Speaker 1: their house there everywhere. Yeah, all right, well you are 207 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:22,600 Speaker 1: three for three on that one, Brian, I'm verily impressed. 208 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:26,800 Speaker 1: Thank you. I'd like to thank the Academy, the Noble Academy. 209 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:30,200 Speaker 1: You're not done yet. We got more. There is a 210 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:39,320 Speaker 1: Nobel Prize for podcast guessing. Podcast guessing. Alright. Second question, Brian, 211 00:11:39,559 --> 00:11:44,480 Speaker 1: is which involves first Tartar grades or dinosaurs. Oh that's 212 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:47,360 Speaker 1: a good one. Um, you mean which is old or not? 213 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:52,640 Speaker 1: I'm in their presumably co evolved at some points water 214 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 1: bear or the dinosaur. I'm gonna say some form of dinosaur, 215 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: some form of creature would have free dated them. Maybe, 216 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:02,360 Speaker 1: So you're going with dinosaurs. I'll go with some form 217 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:10,040 Speaker 1: of well, actually you're making hedgehogging. I'm most pickling. Well, 218 00:12:10,559 --> 00:12:13,120 Speaker 1: I appreciate your change direction. There. You're correct in your 219 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:16,080 Speaker 1: final answer, they're not your preliminary one. Tarte grade do 220 00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:21,200 Speaker 1: outdate the dinosaurs. Wow, they don't look a day over sixty. 221 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:26,880 Speaker 1: Al right. Next question, Tarte grades can live almost anywhere. 222 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:31,319 Speaker 1: But where did they like to live? A volcanoes be 223 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:36,640 Speaker 1: undervending machines? See a two bedroom condo in Hollywood or 224 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 1: d any place damp? I'm gonna go with the last one. Date. 225 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:43,440 Speaker 1: I think lots of two bedroom condos in Hollywood are 226 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:46,839 Speaker 1: probably pretty damp. Also, that's true too, Yeah, maybe, yeah, 227 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:49,280 Speaker 1: that's true. They can live wherever they want. Probably they 228 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:51,040 Speaker 1: can live in space. They don't need water. So I'm 229 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:53,600 Speaker 1: gonna gonna revise my answer. But see them. No, your 230 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:57,960 Speaker 1: first answer was right, It's all right, all right. Next 231 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:02,719 Speaker 1: question is what's the highest temperature a Tarte grade can tolerate? 232 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:07,520 Speaker 1: Is it a hundred degrees fahrenheit? B three hundred degrees 233 00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:13,000 Speaker 1: fahrenheit see one million degrees fahrenheit or D They haven 234 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:17,760 Speaker 1: survived LHC collisions at five point five million degrees. I'm 235 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:19,959 Speaker 1: gonna go with b you are a good guess or 236 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:23,520 Speaker 1: Brian that you have a very very deep knowledge our 237 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:27,839 Speaker 1: fast internet connection. Just kidding, I doubt Are you feeding 238 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:31,040 Speaker 1: all these questions into Siri? Is she listening in and answers? 239 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:34,520 Speaker 1: All right? Last question, which the two scenarios is more 240 00:13:34,559 --> 00:13:38,400 Speaker 1: likely in your opinion? A A robot revolution in which 241 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 1: we all become slaves to artificial intelligence or B Tarte 242 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:45,360 Speaker 1: Grades building a civilization on the moon and becoming our 243 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 1: lunar overlords. Well, we know that they're living there now. 244 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 1: They got their courtesy of an Israeli spacecraft. I'll say A. 245 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 1: It is more likely because these these little Carte grades 246 00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:58,840 Speaker 1: are you know we're going to keep them at bay 247 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:00,440 Speaker 1: on the moon. All right, Well, it's it's good to 248 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:03,600 Speaker 1: know that you worry more about AI revolution than the 249 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:06,079 Speaker 1: coming of our lunar apocalypse. I want to see that 250 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:10,120 Speaker 1: movie where we become slaves to the artificial intelligence robots, 251 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:12,160 Speaker 1: but then the Tarting Grades come down from the moon 252 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 1: to save us. Just a great giant battle between water 253 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:20,160 Speaker 1: bears and robots, even some dinosaurs you get throw in. 254 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:22,240 Speaker 1: This is giving me an idea for a new book. 255 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:25,520 Speaker 1: It's start a grade hypothesis. That's a literature Nobel prize 256 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:27,520 Speaker 1: right there. That's right, yeah, team up with Michael Bay. 257 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 1: I'm sure there'll be a big hit. That's right. I'll 258 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:32,600 Speaker 1: share you share the opening credits with each other. All right, 259 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:35,080 Speaker 1: thank you very much for playing our silly game and 260 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:37,040 Speaker 1: doing so well. We need to come up with some 261 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:39,560 Speaker 1: sort of prize. How about ten Tarte grades. Are you 262 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:45,520 Speaker 1: going to record his answering machine, Daniel or maybe? All right, Well, 263 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:47,440 Speaker 1: thanks very much for being a guest on the podcast, 264 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:50,000 Speaker 1: and folks, check out Brian's book. Tell us again, Brian, 265 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:53,680 Speaker 1: what it's called. It's called Losing the Nobel Prize and 266 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:58,080 Speaker 1: it is available in paperback as we speak, hopefully, all right, 267 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 1: so check that out and you can lose your own 268 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,480 Speaker 1: Nobel prize. Alright, So Brian did pretty well on our quiz. 269 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:05,840 Speaker 1: I was impressed with how well he was able to 270 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:08,600 Speaker 1: answer questions about something he does not have a PhD in. 271 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:11,040 Speaker 1: And so we'll get into what a tardy grade is, 272 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:14,040 Speaker 1: where can it survive and where can you find them? 273 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:29,560 Speaker 1: But first let's take a quick break. All right, we're 274 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:32,880 Speaker 1: talking about Tardi grades. What are they? What are they 275 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:36,120 Speaker 1: so funny looking? Are they so cute and scary at 276 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:39,320 Speaker 1: the same time. They are crazy little creatures. And so 277 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:41,880 Speaker 1: for those of you who don't have a Google image 278 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:43,880 Speaker 1: in front of you, let's try to sketch it out 279 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:46,880 Speaker 1: for you in your mind. Oh man, let's let's try 280 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:50,760 Speaker 1: to paint the nightmare. Yeah, exactly. And remember they're tiny, alright. 281 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:53,080 Speaker 1: So first of all, these things are tiny. They range 282 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:56,360 Speaker 1: from point three to one point two millimeters, so they're 283 00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:00,560 Speaker 1: absolutely microscopic. But they do look a little bit like bears, 284 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 1: I mean, except that they have eight legs. Yeah. I 285 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 1: think if anyone's not not seen him of these before, 286 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:10,120 Speaker 1: I would describe them as like little plush teddy bear 287 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:16,040 Speaker 1: animals with like giant claws and horrifying mouth with teeth. 288 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:20,040 Speaker 1: That's kind of The face is horrifying, right, You've got 289 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:22,160 Speaker 1: the legs, so they've got eight legs, four on each side, 290 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: with little claws in them, and there's sort of poofy 291 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:26,920 Speaker 1: like a pillow, you say. But the mouth, the face, 292 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:30,400 Speaker 1: that's the part that's terrifying because there's no discernible eyes. 293 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:33,600 Speaker 1: It's just like list sucking thing in the front, relying 294 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:35,400 Speaker 1: with teeth all around. Right, Yeah, have you are you 295 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:37,760 Speaker 1: a watcher of Stranger Things. I am. Yeah, I'm a 296 00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:40,240 Speaker 1: huge fan. Yeah. I think that these things might have 297 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:43,120 Speaker 1: been the inspiration for the demigorg or whatever that thing 298 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:46,240 Speaker 1: is that comes out of the upside down, because it 299 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:49,960 Speaker 1: also has this eyeless face that's featuring just a big mouth, yeah, 300 00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:53,200 Speaker 1: line with a bunch of teeth. Yeah, exactly. So I 301 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:55,400 Speaker 1: think this thing would be really terrifying. If it was 302 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:57,320 Speaker 1: the size of a school bus or you know, even 303 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:00,280 Speaker 1: like a red wagon, it would be pretty scary. But 304 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:02,600 Speaker 1: the fact that it's microscopic means that you know, it 305 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:04,840 Speaker 1: can't really do you any harm. But still it's it's 306 00:17:04,840 --> 00:17:06,840 Speaker 1: pretty scary. And even though I know that there are 307 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:10,840 Speaker 1: only like a millimeter or less than a millimeter in length, 308 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:13,400 Speaker 1: it's scary to think that those things are out there. 309 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:15,760 Speaker 1: It could be on me, inside of me. Maybe, I 310 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:18,679 Speaker 1: don't know. They're almost certainly some on you. I mean, 311 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:22,080 Speaker 1: these things are found everywhere. There are in sand dunes, 312 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:24,439 Speaker 1: there in soil, They're in leaf litter, they're in water, 313 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:27,840 Speaker 1: especially like any sort of damp place at all, you'll 314 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,040 Speaker 1: find them. And if you scoop up, like you know, 315 00:17:30,119 --> 00:17:33,040 Speaker 1: a leader of sort of gunky water near the edge 316 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:36,879 Speaker 1: of a pond. You probably get about twenty five thousand 317 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 1: of them in a leader like any old pond all 318 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:43,399 Speaker 1: over the world, from the tops of mountains to you know, 319 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:48,120 Speaker 1: wet goopie places to basically everywhere. These things have adapted 320 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:51,239 Speaker 1: to live in almost every environment on Earth. And just 321 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,280 Speaker 1: to be clear, are they insects? Are they bugs? Are 322 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:57,159 Speaker 1: they like bacteria? What? What? What are they? What are 323 00:17:57,200 --> 00:17:59,879 Speaker 1: they officially classify under? Well, they are not back to 324 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:03,320 Speaker 1: rear right there, multicellular. There actually are an animal. They're 325 00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:06,600 Speaker 1: officially categorized as an micro animal. But they're in the 326 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:10,000 Speaker 1: Kingdom and Animalia. They're not an insect, they're not bacteria, 327 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:12,760 Speaker 1: they're not a microbe. But they are just a tiny, tiny, 328 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:16,560 Speaker 1: tiny little animal. And genetically people think that they evolved 329 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:20,000 Speaker 1: to be tiny from something larger. Oh no, kidding, they 330 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:23,240 Speaker 1: started out bigger. Yeah, that's that's not scary at all, exactly. 331 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:25,520 Speaker 1: It's an example of miniaturization. And you know, I love 332 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:28,080 Speaker 1: when this thing, when this happens in evolution, when things 333 00:18:28,119 --> 00:18:31,560 Speaker 1: like change dramatically in scale, you know, like horses used 334 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:34,760 Speaker 1: to be much smaller, and whales evolved from something much smaller, 335 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:37,520 Speaker 1: and these tartar grades evolved from something larger, like we 336 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:39,959 Speaker 1: don't know exactly how much larger that there are some 337 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,119 Speaker 1: fossilized versions, but it's a bit of speculation. But imagine, like, 338 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:44,760 Speaker 1: you know, there could have been like a time when 339 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:47,359 Speaker 1: they were big tarte grades roaming the Earth. Yeah, like 340 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:50,360 Speaker 1: a hand sized tarte grade or maybe even bigger. But yeah, 341 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:52,920 Speaker 1: these are one of the tiniest little animals on Earth. 342 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:56,480 Speaker 1: And they've been on the news lately because apparently they've 343 00:18:56,640 --> 00:18:58,720 Speaker 1: made it all the way to the Moon. Somehow. There 344 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:00,960 Speaker 1: is now life on the Moon. There is now life 345 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:03,280 Speaker 1: on the Moon. Yes, this is really landed. They sent 346 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:05,760 Speaker 1: up to the moon UM had this project on it 347 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:09,680 Speaker 1: to sort of record human and Earth DNA, and they said, 348 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:12,159 Speaker 1: you know, if something goes wrong on the Earth, it 349 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:14,120 Speaker 1: might be good to have sort of like a backup 350 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:17,560 Speaker 1: copy of people and all sorts of other stuff somewhere 351 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 1: else that's protected. So they were flying to the Moon 352 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:22,280 Speaker 1: and they thought, oh, let's put some you know, human 353 00:19:22,359 --> 00:19:24,880 Speaker 1: DNA UM to bring up to the Moon and while 354 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:28,240 Speaker 1: we're at it, we'll bring some tart grades. What could 355 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:30,320 Speaker 1: go wrong and go wrong And then of course it 356 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:33,680 Speaker 1: crash landed right, and a lot of it was vaporized, 357 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:37,240 Speaker 1: and people think that nothing survived except maybe the tart 358 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:40,520 Speaker 1: degrades because they are really tough little critters. They are 359 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:43,440 Speaker 1: really really hard to kill. Yeah, so that's kind of 360 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:46,320 Speaker 1: what they're known for, rights is their hardiness and their 361 00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:50,560 Speaker 1: ability to survive even the craziest of environments. Yeah, they 362 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 1: are really hard to kill, and people have found them 363 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:55,920 Speaker 1: in all sorts of places on Earth, Like they found 364 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:58,280 Speaker 1: them in hot springs, they find them in the Himalayas, 365 00:19:58,359 --> 00:20:00,520 Speaker 1: they found them on the bottom of the the ocean, 366 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:03,240 Speaker 1: they find them in layers of solid ice, and they've 367 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:05,639 Speaker 1: done all sorts of crazy experiments on them just to 368 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:08,320 Speaker 1: sort of test how far they can push the survival 369 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:10,320 Speaker 1: of a tartar grade. Wow. So what are some of 370 00:20:10,359 --> 00:20:13,920 Speaker 1: the most extreme conditions that we know that they can survive. Well, 371 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:16,639 Speaker 1: one thing they've done is just like dose them with radiation, 372 00:20:17,119 --> 00:20:19,639 Speaker 1: because you know, radiation is one thing that kills people, 373 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:21,399 Speaker 1: and it kills people when you're an outer space, so 374 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:23,439 Speaker 1: when you're in the surface of the Earth, and so 375 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:25,400 Speaker 1: what they've done is just like stick them in the microwave. 376 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:30,080 Speaker 1: See what happens with some grapes, which is more exciting. Yeah, 377 00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:32,720 Speaker 1: exactly know, they just like blasted them with gamma rays, 378 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:35,920 Speaker 1: you know. And it turns out that tarte grades can 379 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:40,800 Speaker 1: survive radiation doses that would kill humans and even more like, 380 00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:43,920 Speaker 1: they can survive radiation doses that are hundreds of times 381 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:47,840 Speaker 1: the radiation dose that would be deadly to a human being. Wow. 382 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:50,080 Speaker 1: But my question is how can they do that? How 383 00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:53,200 Speaker 1: can they survive all of that radiation? Is are they 384 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:58,159 Speaker 1: just made out of like tougher materials or the the 385 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:02,320 Speaker 1: DNA is more I don't know, more like redundant or 386 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:04,800 Speaker 1: what's what's your secret? There are some organisms that are 387 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:07,800 Speaker 1: called extremal files that are adapted to live in crazy 388 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:11,520 Speaker 1: environments like high radiation, etcetera. And some of those bacteria, 389 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:14,439 Speaker 1: for example, they have extra copies of their DNA and 390 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:16,280 Speaker 1: just in case one of them gets blasted, they can 391 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:20,199 Speaker 1: recopy them, right, And so that's adapting for living in 392 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:23,000 Speaker 1: those environments. Tarte grades aren't like that. They're not adapted 393 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:25,440 Speaker 1: to live in these environments. They just sort of can 394 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:29,240 Speaker 1: survive because they're extra tough and one and the way 395 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:31,920 Speaker 1: they do is they have this special protein inside their 396 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:35,960 Speaker 1: body um that protects them. And these proteins can turn 397 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:38,800 Speaker 1: into glass and help them survive when it gets really 398 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:42,160 Speaker 1: really dry, or when there's a lot of radiation, or 399 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:47,080 Speaker 1: basically when anything happens. Yeah, exactly, but it's arm inside. 400 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 1: It's not like a shell. It's something inside the body. 401 00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:51,600 Speaker 1: Because the thing that happens when you get hit by 402 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:55,720 Speaker 1: radiation is that the stuff inside your body gets torn apart. Right, 403 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:58,640 Speaker 1: it's the same problem that when you freeze. For example, 404 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:01,320 Speaker 1: why can you not freeze the human being and then 405 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:04,920 Speaker 1: fall them out? The reason is that when water freezes, 406 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:08,480 Speaker 1: it gets bigger, right, Ice is bigger than liquid water, 407 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:11,480 Speaker 1: and so each of your cells, for example, is a 408 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:13,880 Speaker 1: little bag of water, and when it freezes, it turns 409 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:15,960 Speaker 1: into ice, which is bigger than the cell membrane, and 410 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:19,320 Speaker 1: it basically bursts the cell. And so wa, wait wait 411 00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:22,480 Speaker 1: wait you mean Captain America could not have survived being 412 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:26,760 Speaker 1: frozen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, not a documentary Starry 413 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:32,679 Speaker 1: to Break Too. But somehow these um little animals they 414 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: can survive being frozen, and they can survive super high 415 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:40,640 Speaker 1: temperatures and pressures and radiation. And you're saying it's all 416 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:44,440 Speaker 1: because they something in like the liquid of their cells 417 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:47,920 Speaker 1: or something surrounding their cells kind of gives them that protection. Yeah, 418 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:50,520 Speaker 1: it's like the liquid that's inside their cells is different 419 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:54,560 Speaker 1: from the liquid that's inside our cells. And it's hardier. Um, 420 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:57,000 Speaker 1: And that's not heartier, like you make a better soup, 421 00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:58,680 Speaker 1: though maybe it would. I don't know what tartar grade 422 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:01,679 Speaker 1: soup taste like. But it's hardier, like it's more robust. 423 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:03,639 Speaker 1: But chances are you are probably eating a couple of 424 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:06,159 Speaker 1: Tarte grades when you can drink your soup, right, every 425 00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:13,160 Speaker 1: soup is targegrade whatever. Um. Yeah, but it's the soup 426 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:16,880 Speaker 1: of the inside their cells that's more robust. So for example, 427 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:20,840 Speaker 1: when they when they freeze these proteins inside their cells, 428 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:23,200 Speaker 1: turned into a kind of glass that protects the cell 429 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:29,440 Speaker 1: right from the inside. Like like it crystallizes into something unbreakable. Yeah, 430 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:31,919 Speaker 1: it's described as turning into glass. I know the glass 431 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:34,160 Speaker 1: is not a crystal, so I'm not sure if crystallizing 432 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:37,639 Speaker 1: is exactly correct, but essentially, yeah, it's instead of turning 433 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:40,080 Speaker 1: into an ice cube, which is bigger than the drop 434 00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:42,800 Speaker 1: of water it originated from, it turns into this little 435 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:45,040 Speaker 1: bit of glass. And they call this this has this 436 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:50,679 Speaker 1: awesome name. They call it cryptobiosis, right man, And so 437 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:53,399 Speaker 1: to survive these environments, the tartar grades, you know, these 438 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:56,200 Speaker 1: proteins turned into glass and then they can do crazy 439 00:23:56,320 --> 00:24:00,119 Speaker 1: stuff like they can survive outer space. You can just 440 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:03,840 Speaker 1: like throw tarte grades into space, collect them again and 441 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:06,840 Speaker 1: add water and they wake up. Put them in the microwave. 442 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:10,919 Speaker 1: What we haven't done is put them in the LHC. 443 00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:13,800 Speaker 1: That was a funny suggestion, but it's not something I'm 444 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:16,200 Speaker 1: aware that we've actually done. It's like, well, put put 445 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:19,479 Speaker 1: it in the next proposal, Daniel, you could you can 446 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:22,440 Speaker 1: make a cryptobiotic breakthrough. I'm going to build a tartar 447 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:24,920 Speaker 1: grade collider. I want to see what happens when you 448 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:27,040 Speaker 1: accelerate tartar grades to the speed of light and collide 449 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:29,000 Speaker 1: them against each other. So it's kind of almost the 450 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,639 Speaker 1: opposite when they freeze, instead of forming crystals that might 451 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:33,840 Speaker 1: break the cells, you're saying that it has some sort 452 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:36,639 Speaker 1: of something in there in there inside of their bodies 453 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:39,760 Speaker 1: that somehow hold it together, so that you maybe don't 454 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:41,600 Speaker 1: get those crystals. That's right. You don't get sort of 455 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:44,320 Speaker 1: ice crystals exactly. You get this other stuff which doesn't 456 00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:47,040 Speaker 1: expand because remember ice is sort of special right, ice 457 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:49,560 Speaker 1: is one of the few things that when you freeze it, 458 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:52,440 Speaker 1: it gets bigger. It's a special property of water. Most 459 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:54,520 Speaker 1: things in the universe when you freeze and they get smaller. 460 00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:57,879 Speaker 1: And so this has some other stuff inside itsel so 461 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:00,560 Speaker 1: that when it freezes, it doesn't get bigger and sort 462 00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:03,199 Speaker 1: of avoids popping even though we are mostly water. And 463 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,359 Speaker 1: then how do they survive the high temperatures? Then? Is 464 00:25:05,359 --> 00:25:08,240 Speaker 1: it just like a thick skin or like a like 465 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,120 Speaker 1: everything just held together better or what they're just held 466 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:14,480 Speaker 1: together better? And so they can survive these high temperatures, 467 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 1: they can survive these super low temperatures. They can even 468 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:21,119 Speaker 1: be dried out and um, you can you can suck 469 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:23,800 Speaker 1: all the water out of these tartar grades and it 470 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:26,919 Speaker 1: doesn't again, it doesn't like rearrange what's inside them in 471 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:29,960 Speaker 1: a way that breaks them like naturally zips it up. 472 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:33,080 Speaker 1: And so they've seen these tartar grades. They can get 473 00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:36,439 Speaker 1: down to like one percent of the normal moisture they have. 474 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:39,760 Speaker 1: You know, it's like beef jerk. It's like tartar grade jerky. 475 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:41,679 Speaker 1: And then you add water back and it's just like 476 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:44,560 Speaker 1: flips up and goes about his business happily chumping away. 477 00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:46,320 Speaker 1: Do you think it remember, like, do you think it's 478 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:49,280 Speaker 1: still thinking when it's dehydrated. I think we need to 479 00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:51,159 Speaker 1: have one on the podcast so we can ask these 480 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:53,840 Speaker 1: kind of questions. Yeah, what is it like to be 481 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:56,560 Speaker 1: for them to evolve the moon? And then we'll ask 482 00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:59,359 Speaker 1: him a question? So they can survive in you're saying 483 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:03,080 Speaker 1: volcano even like hot springs kind of up in the mountains, 484 00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:06,600 Speaker 1: the bottom of the sea. Yeah, they can survive four 485 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:11,120 Speaker 1: d twenty degrees kelvin. What Yeah, it's pretty crazy, down 486 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:13,400 Speaker 1: to one degree kelvin all the way up to four 487 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:16,240 Speaker 1: hundred and twenty degrees kelvin. It's really hard to kill 488 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:19,399 Speaker 1: these things. What is four degrees kelling relatives little to 489 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:23,439 Speaker 1: like water boiling or a fire. Kelvin is about a 490 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:26,600 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty degrees celsius, which is higher than the 491 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:29,560 Speaker 1: boiling point of water. So you can make targar grade 492 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:32,080 Speaker 1: soup and the tartar grades will still be happily swimming 493 00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:39,400 Speaker 1: around inside, swimming around drinking. You're drinking with their horrifying mouth, 494 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:41,159 Speaker 1: that's right. So when you eat tartar grade soup, are 495 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:43,760 Speaker 1: you eating the tartar grades or are they eating you? 496 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:46,440 Speaker 1: All right? And so they somehow ended up in space 497 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:48,879 Speaker 1: because the Israelis put him there as an experiment to 498 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:51,520 Speaker 1: see if they would survive the moon trip or or 499 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:53,200 Speaker 1: in the moon. Is that kind of So they were 500 00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:55,600 Speaker 1: kind of thinking about landing these things on the moon 501 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:57,600 Speaker 1: or not. They intended to land these things on the moon, 502 00:26:57,720 --> 00:26:59,919 Speaker 1: that was the idea, right, But they had them so 503 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 1: have contained in a special little device, and they were 504 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:07,000 Speaker 1: of course in their crypto biotic state. Um. But when 505 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,040 Speaker 1: it crash landed, you know, all that whole thing got 506 00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:11,480 Speaker 1: ruptured and they got you know, tossed out and they're 507 00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:14,120 Speaker 1: tumbling along on the surface of the Moon now, and 508 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:16,680 Speaker 1: so you know, if the right drop of water hits them, 509 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:19,000 Speaker 1: then they could wake up. And you might think, well, 510 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:21,640 Speaker 1: there's no chance you're gonna get water on the Moon, right, 511 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,280 Speaker 1: But that's not that unlikely because the surface of the 512 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:27,639 Speaker 1: Moon is pelted constantly by a rubble from outer space 513 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:29,960 Speaker 1: and some of that is ice, right, A huge back 514 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:31,720 Speaker 1: into the stuff that's out there in the Solar System 515 00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:35,400 Speaker 1: is ice. So you have this momentary impact of basically 516 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:38,000 Speaker 1: high speed ice on the surface of the Moon. If 517 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:40,359 Speaker 1: it just happens to hit a tartar grade, it could 518 00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:44,360 Speaker 1: melt turn into water. Wake up that tarte grade. Hello, 519 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:48,879 Speaker 1: you're on the moon. What what's going on? Where am I? What? 520 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:51,879 Speaker 1: I'm on the moon? Last thing I knew I was 521 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:55,240 Speaker 1: in Israel. Yeah, because when they go into this cryptobiotic state, 522 00:27:55,359 --> 00:27:59,000 Speaker 1: they're not dead right there, and they're not totally paused. 523 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:02,520 Speaker 1: Their metabolism actually still going, but it goes down to 524 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:06,200 Speaker 1: point oh one percent of its normal metabolism, so it's 525 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:08,760 Speaker 1: like one in a thousand. So it's like your body 526 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:11,280 Speaker 1: is running at one one thousands of its normal speed. 527 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:14,000 Speaker 1: It's amazing. I don't know what that's like that, but 528 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:15,879 Speaker 1: I'd love to know. All right, let's get into what 529 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:17,720 Speaker 1: it means we have tart grades on the moon. But 530 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:33,160 Speaker 1: first let's take a quick break. All right, we're talking 531 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:35,040 Speaker 1: about Carti grades on the moon, and so there are 532 00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:38,040 Speaker 1: now tarty grades on the moon, kind of on purpose, 533 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 1: but kind of by accident. Also, right, I mean we 534 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:42,760 Speaker 1: meant to send them to the moon, but they got out. 535 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:47,760 Speaker 1: That's right, Like in a bad science fiction movie. Nobody 536 00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:49,840 Speaker 1: can imagine this stuff, and if they did, nobody would 537 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:52,480 Speaker 1: believe it. Right, But it is our life, This is 538 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,040 Speaker 1: our universe. There are tart grades on the Moon. We 539 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:56,840 Speaker 1: don't know if they're walking around, We don't know if 540 00:28:56,840 --> 00:28:59,840 Speaker 1: they're munching on on stuff, but they are there, and 541 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:02,360 Speaker 1: can they survive? Is there stuff for them to eat? What? 542 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:05,160 Speaker 1: What did Tardi grades eat? Yeah, that's a great question. 543 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:08,680 Speaker 1: Tarte grade they eat plants, and they eat little bacteria 544 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:11,680 Speaker 1: because remember they're super tiny, and sometimes they also eat 545 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:14,560 Speaker 1: tartar grades. So many, there's only one tart grade on 546 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:17,440 Speaker 1: the move right now. It's one big tartar grade now 547 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:21,960 Speaker 1: and it's hungry. It ain't all the other ones. It's 548 00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:23,960 Speaker 1: a grumpy tartar grade and it's looking to come back 549 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:27,520 Speaker 1: to Earth for lunch. All right, Well, good job humans, 550 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:32,080 Speaker 1: you've now colonized the moon, that's right, or our little allies, hopefully, 551 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:35,000 Speaker 1: our friendly little allies have colonized the Moon. And you know, 552 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:38,240 Speaker 1: it's funny to joke about, like, um, Tartar grades on 553 00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:42,760 Speaker 1: the Moon surviving some sort of global apocalypse or catastrophe 554 00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:45,280 Speaker 1: the humans bring on. But you know, Tartar grades have 555 00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:48,959 Speaker 1: already survived a lot of global catastrophes. Yeah, that's right, 556 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:51,200 Speaker 1: they've been around. I mean we said it before. They're 557 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 1: they've been around longer than the dinosaurs, which means they've 558 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:57,920 Speaker 1: they've seen it all. They've seen it all, they've seen 559 00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:01,640 Speaker 1: everything else come and go their board. Right, they're not 560 00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:05,120 Speaker 1: interested in climate change and nuclear apocalypse. To them, that's 561 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:07,880 Speaker 1: no big deal. They've seen craziest stuff. You know, in 562 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:10,360 Speaker 1: the history of our planet, we've had five of these 563 00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:14,400 Speaker 1: things we call mass extinctions, where something happens that changes 564 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:17,760 Speaker 1: the climate or the environment and a lot of species die. 565 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:21,400 Speaker 1: And we've had five of those so far. And tarte 566 00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:25,320 Speaker 1: grades um predate even the first one. They evolved before 567 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:28,440 Speaker 1: the first mass extinction, and they're still here, which means 568 00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:31,120 Speaker 1: they've survived all five of them. Right, that's a little 569 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:33,600 Speaker 1: suspicious if you ask me, if you think about it, 570 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:37,400 Speaker 1: isn't it you think that makes them suspect number one? 571 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:40,840 Speaker 1: I mean, there isn't any other suspect. I think it's 572 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:43,640 Speaker 1: pretty awesome. I'm amazed. I love these little creatures. I mean, 573 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:45,520 Speaker 1: I don't want to see one the size of a 574 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:48,440 Speaker 1: school bus walking into my backyard. And they are a 575 00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:51,600 Speaker 1: little creepy, but they're also sort of awesome. Like what 576 00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:54,760 Speaker 1: evolutionary path led to them? Could we survive this way? Like? 577 00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:58,880 Speaker 1: Could we copy this technology somehow to become more radioactive, 578 00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:02,320 Speaker 1: more protective from radiation. It just it seems so awesome 579 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:05,400 Speaker 1: when when evolution finds a little niche to reveal secrets 580 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:08,200 Speaker 1: to you. And it's amazing to think about what we 581 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:11,480 Speaker 1: must look like to them. You know, imagine being such 582 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:15,840 Speaker 1: a hardy being and seeing all these other animals around 583 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:18,120 Speaker 1: you that are really, if you think think about it, 584 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:23,760 Speaker 1: compared to them, were super fragile and really vulnerable. That's right, 585 00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:26,520 Speaker 1: where these huge squishy meat bags. Right, all you have 586 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:29,360 Speaker 1: to do is pocus and boom it's over. Yeah, just 587 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:32,520 Speaker 1: a little pooke. These are crazy little creatures. There's also 588 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:34,560 Speaker 1: a lot of really other fun little facts you can 589 00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:38,200 Speaker 1: learn about them, Like they actually molt like snakes. Do 590 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:41,320 Speaker 1: you know they shed their skin? What? Yeah, they really 591 00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:44,440 Speaker 1: are tiny little creatures. I mean they're the size of microbes, 592 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:47,400 Speaker 1: but they really are animals. It's sort of like ant man, 593 00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:51,280 Speaker 1: you know, like actually getting shrunk down to the microscopic 594 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:54,280 Speaker 1: world and living among these creatures. Like they have organs 595 00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:56,800 Speaker 1: inside and everything. Oh yeah, no, they poop and everything, 596 00:31:56,880 --> 00:32:00,760 Speaker 1: Like they eat, they poop. They are little creatures. Yeah, absolutely, 597 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:04,640 Speaker 1: there's tardy poop. They might be tarted podcasts for all 598 00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:07,520 Speaker 1: we know. So they molt like snakes. Yeah, they molt 599 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:10,240 Speaker 1: like snakes, and there's lots of versions of them. There's 600 00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:14,120 Speaker 1: one that I find particularly hilarious that doesn't poop except 601 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:17,320 Speaker 1: when it molts. It's like it holds it in for 602 00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:19,240 Speaker 1: months and then it gets rid of its skin and 603 00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:23,440 Speaker 1: just leaves it all behind. So I'm not sure we 604 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:25,640 Speaker 1: really want to adopt like all of the culture of 605 00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:27,920 Speaker 1: these tartar grades. You know, there's some things we do 606 00:32:28,080 --> 00:32:30,240 Speaker 1: want to pick and choose. It's like a buffet. Well, 607 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:32,240 Speaker 1: I don't know. You know, if you only have to 608 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:35,120 Speaker 1: go to the bathroom once every couple of months, that 609 00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:38,520 Speaker 1: would save you a lot of time and conserve water 610 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:41,520 Speaker 1: which might be in low supply in the future. Yeah, 611 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:43,520 Speaker 1: that's true. If you're holding that all in, you might 612 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:45,680 Speaker 1: also want to leave that skin behind because it seems 613 00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:47,920 Speaker 1: kind of soiled. All right. So those are Tardi grades, 614 00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:52,959 Speaker 1: little tiny, actual animals, not insects, not bugs, not bacteria, 615 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:57,920 Speaker 1: but actual little animals that will probably outlive all of us, 616 00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:00,880 Speaker 1: almost certainly outlive all of us. And you know, each 617 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:03,760 Speaker 1: individual Tartar grade doesn't actually live that long. They only 618 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:06,520 Speaker 1: live for like three months, maybe up to two years. 619 00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:09,400 Speaker 1: But the course, yeah, they reproduce. I mean unless they 620 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:11,760 Speaker 1: get frozen in space or something. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, 621 00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:13,800 Speaker 1: then they can live longer, but sort of like a 622 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:18,200 Speaker 1: live time unfrozen time is is not that long. Um, 623 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:20,240 Speaker 1: So it's not like they are like thousand year old 624 00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:23,360 Speaker 1: tartar grades combing the earth, you know, with ancient wisdom 625 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:27,200 Speaker 1: in them or anything. Oh man, they're busy. They're busy, 626 00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:31,240 Speaker 1: getting busy. They are there, male tarte grades, their female 627 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:33,880 Speaker 1: tartar grades as a whole society. You know, they probably 628 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:36,360 Speaker 1: have dating apps. They've been around a lot longer than us, 629 00:33:36,360 --> 00:33:40,720 Speaker 1: so they've got this thing w Yeah, to survive at 630 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:45,000 Speaker 1: that scale and that they must be pretty busy reproducing, right, 631 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:48,040 Speaker 1: And they're definitely more tartar grades are unearthed than people. 632 00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:50,680 Speaker 1: All right, I'm just gonna go have some nightmares right now. 633 00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:55,560 Speaker 1: And just like your housecat would be terrifying if it 634 00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:57,680 Speaker 1: was larger, these things are tiny and so you don't 635 00:33:57,720 --> 00:33:59,840 Speaker 1: have to worry about them. Well, thanks to jays l 636 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:02,520 Speaker 1: Her writing in and asking us to talk about teger grades. 637 00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:04,760 Speaker 1: There are a really fun subject. Hope you enjoyed it, 638 00:34:04,920 --> 00:34:06,480 Speaker 1: And when next time you look up at the moon, 639 00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:09,480 Speaker 1: you can know that we have some neighbors out there 640 00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:11,960 Speaker 1: and wave to the moon and be friendly because we 641 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:14,759 Speaker 1: don't know what their intentions are. You ape you enjoyed that, 642 00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:24,920 Speaker 1: See you next time. If you still have a question 643 00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:28,359 Speaker 1: after listening to all these explanations, please drop us a line. 644 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:30,560 Speaker 1: We'd love to hear from you. You can find us 645 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:34,359 Speaker 1: at Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at Daniel and Jorge That's 646 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:37,799 Speaker 1: one Word, or email us at Feedback at Daniel and 647 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:41,360 Speaker 1: Jorge dot com. Thanks for listening and remember that Daniel 648 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:43,880 Speaker 1: and Jorge Explain the Universe is a production of I 649 00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:47,560 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. For more podcast from my Heart Radio, visit 650 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:51,080 Speaker 1: the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 651 00:34:51,200 --> 00:35:01,200 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.