WEBVTT - Listener Mail: The Mailbot Reboots 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:06.000 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how Stuff 0:00:06.000 --> 0:00:13.000 Works dot com. Hey, what's the stuff to Blow your Mind? 0:00:13.000 --> 0:00:15.200 My name is Robert Lamb. Hey, I'm Christian Seger and 0:00:15.280 --> 0:00:17.880 I'm Joe McCormick, and all three of us are in 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:20.320 the same room at the same time. First time. It's 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:22.920 first Yeah, and it's a good time for us all 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:25.720 to get together because the mail bot that we use 0:00:25.880 --> 0:00:29.240 on this show has been out of service for a 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:32.520 couple of months now, Old Arnie, Yeah, Arney, We're gonna 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:34.840 have to reboot the robot. We're going to have to 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:38.000 make sure that it imprints on you guys as as 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:44.400 new hosts, because we want to avoid any unnecessary, uh complications. Yeah, 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:46.280 except didn't I hear that We're gonna have to reboot 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:49.080 it under the new name Carney, with the C standing 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:54.040 for Cartesian doubt, the newest feature of the mail bot. Yes, yeah, because, uh, 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:56.680 I mean enough programming has changed on it. It's gonna 0:00:56.720 --> 0:00:59.560 reject its old name. I'm not a roboticist. I don't 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:02.560 know the poticulars on it, but but yeah, we need it, 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:04.440 and we also need to make sure that it has 0:01:04.480 --> 0:01:07.920 all three of the laws of robotics. Installed this time. 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:10.360 I've heard enough about this around the office that I'm 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:14.400 kind of nervous. I mean, hasn't attacked other podcasts before. Well, 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:17.520 that is why Scott Benjamin had to have all his 0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:22.200 limbs sewn back one, that's why. Okay, well then that's 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:25.200 where he got the tail. Well, there were extra pieces 0:01:25.200 --> 0:01:28.160 of and it's like ikea, you know, you could assemble it, 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:30.280 there's something missing what you need to you can't put 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:32.160 it back in the box. I'm always afraid to ask him. 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:34.560 You know, he's just a personal guy, doesn't doesn't like 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.679 to talk about stuff like that. Yeah, alright, so let's uh, 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:41.160 let's see flip the switch. Okay, Joe, can you get 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:44.039 that one? Yeah? All right, now, Christian can you pull 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:48.400 that back? That metal contraption to the big one? Yeah? Okay, okay, whoa, 0:01:48.440 --> 0:01:51.720 what is with this sall blade? Well? Well that's um, 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:56.720 that's a different feature. Okay, push that back in, okay, okay, alright, okay, 0:01:56.720 --> 0:02:00.120 Now see this metal flower thing opening up there like 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:02.360 the inside of a you know, the head portion of 0:02:02.400 --> 0:02:05.800 an iron Maiden. Why is it presenting us pills? Um? 0:02:06.000 --> 0:02:07.640 Those are optional, but you do need to stick your 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:10.240 face into this contraption real quick. This reminds me of 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:14.240 those robots in that movie R Runaways. Oh well that 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:19.440 that's a predecessor. Okay, prototype for Arnie. But hold on, 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:21.639 so you put your face in the flower. Yeah, and 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:23.639 then it's going to imprint, and then we can be 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:26.240 able to actually deliver the listener mail to us and 0:02:26.320 --> 0:02:30.600 we can read through some of them. I think you did. 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:33.000 If you think I got to oh wait, didn't do 0:02:33.040 --> 0:02:38.320 it again? Well, that's perfect, that's perfect. I'm not putting 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:40.440 my face in that thing. Well you wipe it down first, 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:47.440 the spray. Oh all right, I think they got to. Look, 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:50.799 it's folding up and everything. Uh, seems to be coming online, 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:53.160 all right. Now, we just have to see if Arnie 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:57.880 responds graciously or if it activates its latest Okay, are 0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:01.399 you ever going to explain the sol blade or um? 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:05.000 That feature may become necessary later on right now, No, 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:09.840 don't worry about that. All right, there, he is all right, 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:14.000 you're accepted. Arnie seems to be operating, uh more or 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:18.680 less a long design parameters. Carney Carney, Yes, sorry, Carney, 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:21.640 I got your name wrong. All right, Carney, you're online, 0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:25.680 bring us some listener mail. What do you got for us? Hey, guys, 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:28.040 I'm a newer listener of HSW and a big fan 0:03:28.080 --> 0:03:31.040 of your podcasts and all the HSW shows. You get 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:33.560 me through long, lonely train rides to and from New 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:36.320 York City and where I live in New Jersey. I 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:38.920 just listened to your episode on Stigmata and heard you 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:41.480 reference the wound on the side of Jesus as happening 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:44.200 during his carrying of the cross, which I don't think 0:03:44.320 --> 0:03:47.440 was the case. This is this is absolutely accurate. I 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:50.840 got this wrong in the episode. Uh, not being overly 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:53.320 Christian myself, but raised in such a manner with a 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:58.240 Bible hungry aunt that's sounds awful. I have always known 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:01.160 the story different. After my punch and some quick research, 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:03.720 I think the wound was given after he had been 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:08.760 nearly spent. The story. Yeah, the story I know goes 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:11.200 that he had been hanging for hours and hours, long 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:15.560 after typical people who are crucified would live. The Roman 0:04:15.600 --> 0:04:18.440 centurion was seen as a do gooder, giving Jesus mercy 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:22.040 and making sure he was dead after his marathon of torture. 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:26.960 The unnamed soldier is also credited with saying, quote, truly, 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:28.960 this is the Son of God. Oh so that's where 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:31.680 that comes from. I didn't know that. Uh, not trying 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:33.800 to step on toes, just a big fan reaching out, 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:37.720 keep up the great work, thanks for reading, Michael. Yeah. Absolutely. 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:41.680 Somebody on Facebook also alerted us to that mistake. On 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:43.919 my part, I believe I somehow had it in my 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:46.640 head that the spear wound was inflicted as he's carrying 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:51.120 the cross to the crucifixion. But yeah, I believe. I 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:53.800 hate to call it canon, but I suppose it is canon. 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:57.760 Is that he was what Michael said, Yeah, I think 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:00.560 it's sort of considered the or the literal reroll it 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:03.040 plays in the narrative is it's the the Kuda gras. 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:06.640 You know, it's the final blow to make sure everybody knows, okay, 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:09.480 he's really, really, actually dead. So it's like it's a 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:13.640 compassionate thing from the way that Michael's making it sound 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:16.920 that the this this soldier didn't want him to suffer 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:20.000 any longer. Um, you know, I don't know if I 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:22.920 ever heard that exact interpretation of it. I always thought 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:27.279 he was doing his job, like so, I don't know 0:05:27.320 --> 0:05:31.000 if the gospel narrative is is much No, not necessarily. 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:33.640 I don't think the Gospel narrative is much trying to 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:36.040 get in the head of the Roman soldier. I think 0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:39.640 it's more serving the purpose of demonstrating to the reader 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:42.600 that Jesus was really dead, so the reader wouldn't be 0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:45.440 wondering like, oh, maybe he wasn't dead, Oh, like he 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:49.160 would pull like a I almost just said a huge 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:54.120 game of thrownes spoiler. I'm going to keep that to myself. Yeah, now, 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:56.960 I I also want to point out Bible hungry aunt 0:05:57.160 --> 0:06:01.200 that could be referring to Grimore's talk about individuals who 0:06:01.240 --> 0:06:05.559 consider the book in order to gain its power. Maybe 0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:08.800 that's what was going on there. All right, Michael, thank 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:10.800 you for writing in with with that little bit of 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:15.040 clarification there. What else do we have to read here? Alright? 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:17.640 So next, it looks like we've got one from Jonathan, 0:06:17.680 --> 0:06:20.520 and Jonathan writes in being a member of an older 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:23.839 generation than yourselves, I've just started listening to podcasts, but 0:06:23.880 --> 0:06:26.400 have become addicted to stuff to blow your mind. I 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:29.320 was intrigued by your two part podcast on religion and 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:32.440 technology that was Techno Religion for the Masses Parts one 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:36.159 and two, and he's he continues in researching a book. 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:39.240 I came across a very unusual object in the American 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:44.440 Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. It is basically an astrolabe manufactured 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:48.240 in the mid sixteenth century in Germany. The gnomon of 0:06:48.279 --> 0:06:51.680 the sundial aspect of the object is a turbaned man, 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:55.760 indicating either the intention or origin as a timetelling in 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:59.680 geolocator device for Muslims. It was brought to America in 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:02.719 the l seventeenth century, probably by a group of German 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:06.880 Pietist mystics, and later fell into the hands of Benjamin Franklin, 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:10.880 who founded the American Philosophical Society. One of the most 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:13.720 intriguing features of the device is an engraving on the 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:17.120 bottom with two illustrations and a reference to a passage 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:21.480 in Isaiah where God turns back time. The device purports 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:24.480 to explain the miracle. When set up as a sun 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:27.520 dial and filled with water, the refraction of the shadow 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:31.960 quote throws time backward unquote by the same amount as 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:35.200 in the Miracle and Isaiah. This was, however, before the 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:38.840 principle of refraction was, if not known, at least codified 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:42.320 in Western science. This feature of the device was demonstrated 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:45.160 in the nineteen seventies. Then he gives a link to 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:48.360 an article that he actually wrote about this object, which 0:07:48.360 --> 0:07:50.240 he says is referred to it the A. P. S 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:53.520 as the Schlisser Dial, after the smith whose name was 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:55.920 on it, and he says keep up the good work 0:07:55.960 --> 0:07:58.400 and adds that he will miss Julie. Well, thank you 0:07:58.480 --> 0:08:01.720 for that email, Jonathan. This is really interesting, indeed, and 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:03.960 we'll make sure to include a link to that article 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:06.280 of his on the landing page with this episode Stuff 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:08.960 to blow your mind dot com U, because certainly in 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:12.520 that episode we went into the the role of the astrolabe. 0:08:13.120 --> 0:08:17.360 It's this kind of convergence of technology and religion. So 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:20.960 this is definitely that definitely flows in with what we 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:24.400 talked about totally. All right, here's one that comes to 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:27.040 us from from listener art Art rights in and says, 0:08:27.120 --> 0:08:29.040 did I hear Roberts say that he had decided to 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:32.480 stop eating octopy because of their intelligence? Maybe a little 0:08:32.520 --> 0:08:35.040 bit because they're kind of cute playing with things. I 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:37.400 can see why one might come to such a conclusion. 0:08:37.840 --> 0:08:41.800 But knowing you are voracious learners and reasonably rational decision makers, 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:44.880 thank you. I felt I had to write you to 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:47.680 make sure you had all the octo facts in hand 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:51.120 to make this protein limiting decision. You are aware that 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:54.400 octopi are not shay shy about cannibalism. They are very 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:58.120 territorial and regularly attack and consume fellow octopus is when 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:01.680 they trustpassed. The truspassers had anittedly are their competition too, 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:05.079 But honestly, can you still feel bad about eating octopuses 0:09:05.120 --> 0:09:08.400 now they eat each other? You're welcome, enjoy your sushi 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:11.320 sashimi next time. Thanks again, guys, keep up the great work. 0:09:11.480 --> 0:09:15.360 Best art. So, okay, what was the rationale behind why 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:18.800 you wouldn't I think this was referring to the episode 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:21.560 about grizzly bears from outer space? So we were talking 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:25.040 about different kinds of alien intelligence and how at least 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:28.319 in my opinion, octopus is display and intelligence that doesn't 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:34.280 register is human, but that does register is significant and interesting. Yeah, 0:09:34.440 --> 0:09:37.240 thus underlying, you know, some of the problems of thinking 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:40.679 about alien intelligence because we end up holding it up 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:44.280 to the model of human intelligence, which you know, even 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:46.480 life on Earth illustrates that there there may be other 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:49.240 types of consciousness going on. All right, Well, I mean 0:09:49.840 --> 0:09:52.440 I can see why you would say that. Then, um, wait, 0:09:52.520 --> 0:09:55.840 are you a vegetarian? No? And I'll be the first 0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:58.440 to admit that I'm my My stance on what I 0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:01.240 eat and what I don't eat is kind of hypocritical. 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:02.400 And I guess a lot of people, you know, a 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:04.400 lot of people have varying degrees of hypocrisy when it 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:06.880 comes to this sort of thing. But like, I still 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:10.439 eat occasionally, will eat pork, even though the pig is 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:13.679 a pretty smart creature. And you know, who am I 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:15.920 to say, you go in my belly? But the octopus 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:19.440 is off limits. But maybe I give the octopi some 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:22.600 sort of privileged status because it's so different, because it's 0:10:22.679 --> 0:10:26.160 this kind of alien creature. So arts making an ethical 0:10:26.280 --> 0:10:31.240 argument that because octopi are cannibals themselves, that it's okay 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:33.560 to eat them because they eat each other. That he's 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:36.960 presenting that as a as a potential reason that I 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:40.719 could hang onto and use octopus. I would counter that, 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:43.360 I would present you with the option of would it 0:10:43.360 --> 0:10:45.880 be okay to eat people? Then if they were cannibals 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:49.760 by this yeah, by this Rationelle, that would be perfectly acceptable, 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:53.000 provided they are a cannibal. That would eat me. Not necessarily, 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:55.120 art might be going on a sort of like a 0:10:55.280 --> 0:10:57.960 double qualifier model where they have to be below a 0:10:58.000 --> 0:11:00.719 certain level of problem solving and tell legens or i 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:05.520 Q threshold, and that have to be evil or cannibalistic. 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:08.160 I actually, in response to arts email, I went and 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:10.320 looked into this because I was like, I've never heard 0:11:10.320 --> 0:11:13.360 of this before, but I found an article on Scientific 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:17.920 American talking about octopus cannibalism, and I just want to 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:21.199 read this quote from it that I found. It says, 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:25.560 these amazing, if occasionally gruesome observations revealed that octopus has 0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:28.680 chosen octopus meal even if there were plenty of other, 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:33.280 less feisty food options, such as muscles. But as the 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:37.240 authors point out, even the more docile muscles required more 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:40.600 energy to extract than a smaller octopus might to get 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:44.280 the same amount of meat. An octopus meat, the scientist's note, 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:48.720 is higher in protein per ounce than that of muscles. Additionally, 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:53.080 the octopus predator, after bringing back its prey, sealed off 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:57.520 its den, opening with rocks. This allowed the eating octopus 0:11:57.559 --> 0:12:00.880 to feed in relative safety and privacy. Another advantage of 0:12:00.880 --> 0:12:03.640 a single large catch over having to crack and carry 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:08.240 smaller bivalves. So my reaction to this was art, You're 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:12.840 incredibly correct. This is evil and scary, and this is 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:16.160 serial killer type behavior. But also I am now even 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:19.240 more impressed by the intelligence of the octopus than I 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:22.160 was before. It's smart about what it eats, and it 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:24.480 knows how to eat in privacy. Yeah, it sounds like 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:29.119 it has a real like return on investment style approach 0:12:29.200 --> 0:12:31.240 to its eating. Well, you know it, it lives in 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:34.280 a different economy, and it lives in the economy of 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:36.960 of of the ocean, you know. So, I mean if we, 0:12:36.800 --> 0:12:40.960 if we evolved to thrive in such a dangerous habitat, 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:43.160 we would likely be a little more cannibalistic as well. 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:48.120 So much like you know, the world of Mad Max. Yeah, yeah, 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:49.840 it's just a it's a different world. It's it's the 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:52.880 wild West down there, and sometimes you gotta eat your 0:12:52.880 --> 0:12:56.400 own kind. So all right, before we move on from 0:12:56.440 --> 0:12:59.480 arts letter, clearly I don't know, I don't know if 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:03.400 you guys know, what's the correct plural pronunciation of octopus, 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:06.240 octopi or octopuses. It's octopi. If you want to sound 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:10.480 like a jerk, it's octopus. If you just, you know, 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:13.439 want to sound like a normal person. So is octopi 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:18.319 is correct? I don't know. Oh, I always say octopuses 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:24.000 per the James Bond film. Yeah, yeah, I feel like 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:25.800 this just came up when we wrote a script for 0:13:25.960 --> 0:13:31.160 a video recently about Octopi. Octopuses. Anyways, if anybody out 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:33.440 there knows, write us and we'll answer it in the 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:36.080 next listener mail episode. I'm curious. I mean, I'm sure 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:38.640 we could just google it, but I, in principle refuse 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:45.439 not on air. I prefer grammatical corrections from a thousand listeners. 0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:48.600 That's how I learned. Um. All right, what else do 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:51.680 we have from the old mail bot here? Okay? This 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:54.200 next one is from Brian and it is also in 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:57.520 response to our Grizzly Bears from outer Space podcast, and 0:13:57.559 --> 0:14:00.920 Brian says, Hey, guys, I listen to your episode on 0:14:00.960 --> 0:14:04.040 grizzly Bears from outer Space, or more specifically, the theorized 0:14:04.080 --> 0:14:07.439 shape and size of any potential aliens we may encounter 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:09.360 in the future, and I think I have a bit 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:12.000 of information that will put some of your more worrisome 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:16.120 listeners at ease. I present to you the rocket equation, 0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:19.040 and then he gives a little equation. It's a d 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:22.960 V equals V times l N and the parentheses r M. 0:14:23.280 --> 0:14:25.280 It seems to be important that one of the visa 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:28.800 is capitalized. Yes, that's right. Uh. And so that's my 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:32.560 input on math, right. Uh. And he explains that. He 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:37.280 says V is a rockets effective exhaust velocity limited by 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:41.480 precepts of chemistry and nozzle design. DV is the delta 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:44.360 V applied to the rocket, which is the controller of 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:46.560 how high it reaches before it runs out of fuel. 0:14:46.960 --> 0:14:49.920 And r M is the ratio of the rockets initial 0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:53.120 to final mass with fuel and then without. So does 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:56.240 that make sense? Like as the rocket ascends, it loses 0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:59.160 mass and it becomes easier to propel itself, So it's 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:01.800 got to have enough fuel on board to carry not 0:15:01.960 --> 0:15:06.720 just the rocket but the fuel. Um. So he continues 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:09.760 plug in some numbers and you get the same figures 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:12.360 that had NASA smashing their heads against the wall for 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:15.840 years in the late fifties. A solid fuel rocket requires 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:20.720 a nineties six percent fuel by mass composition to impart 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:24.120 enough delta V to reach Earth's orbit. That's crazy to 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:27.360 think about. Uh. That was my commic, not Brian's But 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:30.120 Brian goes on. The important thing to note here is 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:32.960 that the necessary delta V to leave a planet and 0:15:33.000 --> 0:15:37.120 thus makes space travel possible, is determined by its gravity. 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:39.480 It's easy to see that if Earth's gravity were just 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:42.960 a little bit higher, space travel with conventional rockets would 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:46.520 be all but impossible. Any rocket we built would simply 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:50.000 be too heavy to reach orbit. This puts Earth at 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:53.000 the top of the range of planetary masses in which 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:55.480 the gravity is high enough to hold an atmosphere but 0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:58.560 low enough to allow for space travel. If there were 0:15:58.600 --> 0:16:01.360 any other space farings of realizations out there, and their 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:05.560 technology is anything like ours, which chemists, physicists, and mathematicians 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:08.840 suggest it most likely will be at our level, there 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:12.240 is a virtual certainty that their planets gravity will be 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:15.160 lower than ours, or else they would be trapped on 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:20.400 their world, unable to sail to the star ocean. Regardless 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:23.360 of their size or shape, it is practically guaranteed that 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:27.000 we not they are one of, if not the physically 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:31.720 strongest space capable species in our galaxy. Long story short, 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:36.800 humans are heavy worlders, stay heavy. Yeah, thank you so much, Brian. 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:39.840 This was a really interesting and informative email, and we did. 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:43.440 We did acknowledge in the episode that, uh, definitely some 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:47.800 other space and astrobiology experts had pointed out about the 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:50.320 study we talked about in that episode that it's sort 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:53.160 of was, while it was good reasoning, it was reasoning 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:55.720 in a vacuum, and that once you add in sort 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:58.440 of all these real world variables to think about, like 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:02.840 gravity and other things, that might definitely change the parameters 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:06.080 of the equations that Fergus Simpson used. Yeah, so now 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:10.120 I'm not as concerned about space trolls. I'm more concerned 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:15.120 with like space hobbits, space goblins. Pure. Yeah. So, thank 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:18.160 you Brian for that really interesting email. Yeah, totally, it's 0:17:18.160 --> 0:17:22.080 a good one. Okay. Also, Angelo writes into us from Facebook, 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:24.359 so keep in mind for future listener mail episodes, you 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:26.680 can write into us on Twitter or Facebook or at 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:29.800 the email blow the mind at how stuff works dot com, 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:33.800 even Tumbler and Tumbler that's right. Yeah, uh, Angelo writes 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:36.960 really liked both episodes. By the way, the movie Stigmata 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:39.600 was not so much about a demonic possession, although the 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:41.720 trailer would lead you to think so, as it did 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:45.640 lead me to think so. The female character actually gets 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:49.880 the Stigmata because she had in her possession the rosary 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:53.719 of a stigmatic priest who died and I guess transferred 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:56.959 his soul in the rosary. Oh and it also had 0:17:57.040 --> 0:18:00.240 something to do with the Gospel of Thomas. Okay, I 0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:03.600 barely remember that movie, but that, I mean, obviously he's 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:06.080 seen it. That sounds about right. So so like what 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:10.600 we're talking about here is like, um St. Francis's rosary 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:15.359 falls into Patricia Arquette's possession, she's holding onto it, and 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:18.640 the soul of St. Francis enters her, thus making her 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:24.439 a stigmatic stewing upon her the wounds of Christ. All right, well, 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:28.560 that's that sounds plausible for the movie. I never saw 0:18:28.600 --> 0:18:31.119 that movie, though I remember the trailer for it, and 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:33.520 I think at the time I was offended by it. 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:37.720 Why it was a different time for me. I was 0:18:37.720 --> 0:18:41.159 gonna say, yeah, right before we did the Stigmata episode, 0:18:41.160 --> 0:18:43.360 I rewatched that trailer and it does seem like she's 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:45.800 kind of possessed or something. But um, yeah, I feel 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:47.080 like I might have been in junior high, and you 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:49.399 know you're in junior high. They're all these changes happening 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:53.640 with your body wounds are opening up in your hands, 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:55.680 that sort of thing. So it hits a little close 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:58.240 to yeah, it was. It was definitely made for adolescence, 0:18:58.320 --> 0:19:00.760 that's for sure, all right. This one comes to us 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:04.480 from Brooke brook writes in referring to an old episode 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:08.000 having to do with dinosaurs mating with each other. I 0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:12.760 think it was called tyrannosaur sex. She writes it and says, 0:19:12.920 --> 0:19:15.400 nothing astonishing or a stud here, But today I saw 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:17.800 two fed Ex trucks backed up to each other, hatch 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:19.760 to hatch, and the first thing to come to mind 0:19:19.800 --> 0:19:22.919 was cloacal kiss. So um, thanks for that, I guess 0:19:23.240 --> 0:19:26.040 in all seriousness, love the podcast, especially with how much 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:28.240 of it there is. I've been listening for months and 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:30.800 I'm still years behind and loving every minute. Thanks for 0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:33.960 all the laughs and learning. So that explains the older episode. 0:19:33.960 --> 0:19:38.120 I'm always a little um surprised and or horrified when 0:19:38.160 --> 0:19:40.440 I hear that listeners have discovered the podcast and are 0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:43.480 starting at the very big working their way up. I mean, 0:19:43.480 --> 0:19:46.520 not because the old episodes are bad, but it's like, 0:19:47.000 --> 0:19:49.040 if you start with the current stuff and work back, 0:19:49.119 --> 0:19:53.760 you'll hopefully, you know, started at its best, you know. Yeah, yeah, no, 0:19:53.880 --> 0:19:56.360 I understand that. That's kind of my approach to podcasts. 0:19:56.560 --> 0:19:59.199 That's where when I start them. I know I have 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:01.200 friends who do that, who go back and listen from 0:20:01.200 --> 0:20:04.040 the very beginning to shows. There's two hundred three d episodes, 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:06.160 And I went back and listened to the very first 0:20:06.160 --> 0:20:11.760 episode of this show right before joining the programming Infestations. Yeah, 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:14.440 when it was you and Allison, Alison who still works 0:20:14.480 --> 0:20:16.600 with us here at How Stuff Works. Yeah, yeah, that 0:20:16.640 --> 0:20:18.960 was a good one. I liked it. Yeah. I actually 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:21.119 ended up looking it up recently because they did the 0:20:21.119 --> 0:20:23.679 whole ten years of iTunes and so we we pumped 0:20:23.680 --> 0:20:26.760 out the very first episode of then Stuff in the 0:20:26.760 --> 0:20:29.000 Science Lab before we actually the same Stuff to Blow 0:20:29.040 --> 0:20:31.200 your Mind. So it's kind of cool to look back 0:20:31.240 --> 0:20:33.520 on it. But now the old episodes are great, but 0:20:33.840 --> 0:20:36.040 you know, you're still there's so much of your time 0:20:36.080 --> 0:20:38.879 with this show is sort of finding what that show is. 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:41.840 And you know, it wasn't even called Stuff to Blow 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:44.040 your Mind back then, so that slightly different shows. True, 0:20:44.080 --> 0:20:45.560 was it called stuff to Blow your Mind? During the 0:20:45.640 --> 0:20:48.159 Chloeacle kiss? It was? This was definitely the Stuff to 0:20:48.160 --> 0:20:50.320 Blow your Mind era. That was the chloac Era if 0:20:50.320 --> 0:20:52.800 you will. Is that why Julie has the what is 0:20:52.840 --> 0:20:56.399 it kloeac A Boulevard on her desk? Yeah, I remember correctly, Listener, 0:20:56.440 --> 0:20:59.040 Aaron sent that into her sheet. We each got out 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:03.439 road sign she got and I got sandworms. Oh yeah, yeah, 0:21:03.640 --> 0:21:07.560 that makes sense. Well we've got another one here that 0:21:07.560 --> 0:21:09.840 looks like it's about the stigmata episode. This is another 0:21:09.840 --> 0:21:13.359 Facebook message. This one's from Nick. I was listening to 0:21:13.400 --> 0:21:16.240 your pieces on stigmatics and your special treatment of the 0:21:16.280 --> 0:21:20.440 subject material is anti intellectual. There is absolutely no difference 0:21:20.480 --> 0:21:23.720 between the founding of these beliefs and modern comics. He 0:21:23.760 --> 0:21:27.399 means comic books, not stand up comedians. Stuff you should 0:21:27.400 --> 0:21:30.680 know that's not us. Uh. There is no one single 0:21:30.720 --> 0:21:33.920 account of Jesus written by anyone who could have known him. 0:21:33.960 --> 0:21:36.280 If you know something I do not, please do an 0:21:36.320 --> 0:21:38.960 episode and inform me. I am not arguing to be 0:21:39.040 --> 0:21:42.400 anti theist, but show this subject no more reverence than 0:21:42.480 --> 0:21:46.160 facts in a DC comic. I don't get thinking like this. 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:48.280 I mean it seems to me that whether or not 0:21:48.400 --> 0:21:52.040 you believe the mythology is like literally true, wouldn't it 0:21:52.040 --> 0:21:54.399