WEBVTT - Big Science of 2012 0:00:03.840 --> 0:00:06.680 Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 0:00:06.720 --> 0:00:13.440 Works dot com. Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:16.000 your mind. My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas, 0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:20.400 and we're in now. Now that we're safely into it 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:22.680 and we know there's no chance of twelve sucking us 0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:25.320 back into its clutches, we thought to be about time 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:28.720 to just run through some of the big science that 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:32.519 happened in because, as is generally the case, science did 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:35.320 not take the year off. Maybe you didn't pay attention 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:38.239 to everything that came out of the science headlines, but 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:40.279 you you probably got some of these stories. These are 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:43.319 the big ones. These are the ones where, uh, if 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:46.559 you were going to talk science just with random folks 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:49.479 on your commute to work or you know, at a 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:51.680 dinner party, these are some of the topics who would 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:53.960 have come up. So it serves to remind us that, hey, 0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:58.240 we had some really big, uh you know, landmark achievements 0:00:58.240 --> 0:01:02.040 in science, and those are spilling often to where we are. Yeah, 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:04.920 and um, actually we had some themes come out of 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:08.160 this too, which we'll discuss. But it's kind of interesting 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:10.000 that this was a year in science where you really 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:12.680 saw a lot of innovation, of course, as you always do, 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:16.680 but UM particularly by in the private sector and by 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:20.960 citizens something called UM Citizens Science, which we'll talk about 0:01:21.000 --> 0:01:23.400 a little bit later. But yeah, there's a ton of 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:25.360 stuff to choose from. But we're going to hit the 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:27.720 big items on the list, some of which we have 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:30.640 talked about before, but we're going to UM just trying 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:32.759 to cover them and say why they are so very 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:37.240 important and why they are actually game changers to our reality. Really. So, 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:40.320 first off, one of the big things about twelve was 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:43.560 this was the first year UH in ages that we 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:46.800 had we didn't have a Space Shuttle Space Shuttle Endeavor 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:52.240 final mission, and in twelve its activities basically involved you know, 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:55.040 coasting down the street into storage. Yeah, I mean, basically 0:01:55.040 --> 0:01:59.440 what you saw was the shuttering of the shuttle program 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:04.680 in then the actual concrete manifestation of that truth UM 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:08.120 occurring in twelve, we saw four different shuttles that were 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:11.959 ferried off to new lives in different places, usually museums 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:17.080 UM or space themed attractions, without any kind of immediate 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:21.920 replacement for those shuttles either. Right, So, probably most notably 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:26.720 was the Endeavor shuttle towing that which became a pretty 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:29.400 big spectacle, right, because if you tow a shuttle through 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:32.080 the streets, people will notice, trees will need to be 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:37.399 cut down, signs removed. But before the endeavor was actually 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:41.800 um towed to its final place. Uh, it actually was 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:43.720 flown from the Kennedy Space Center on the back of 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:46.680 a seven forty seven to California and then there it 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:49.800 was towed by I believe it was Toyota Tundra uh 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:52.680 to its new home at the California Science Center in 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:56.280 Los Angeles. Yeah, there were some fabulous video footage of 0:02:56.320 --> 0:02:58.240 that shuttle making its way down the street. They're like, 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:00.079 you know, sped it up so that it was a 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:02.040 little snappier, but it was. It was, it was. It 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:04.399 was emotional to watch. And that's the thing. I think 0:03:04.440 --> 0:03:06.280 that people are looking at this as a new era, 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:09.720 that this was definitely a manifestation of what, you know, 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:14.360 what's happening in space exploration. Uh. Most notably what we 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:18.080 see is we see the private sector picking up where 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:21.480 NASA might have, um, you know, if they had more 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:25.440 funding left off right. Uh. And of course that that 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:29.040 brings us to SpaceX, California based space X, which which 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:31.600 everyone's heard of over the years They've been involved in 0:03:31.600 --> 0:03:35.800 a number of different projects, but most notably, UH, they're 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:38.520 they're the first private company to deliver cargo to the 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:41.720 International Space Station, which is pretty big deal. It. We 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:44.800 were talking earlier and I about this, and I brought 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:49.400 up the possible analogy of a dad who teaches his 0:03:49.400 --> 0:03:53.040 his teenage son to drive. So in this scenario, the 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:56.720 NASA is the father, and and he's been doing the drive, 0:03:56.720 --> 0:03:58.320 and he's been doing the drive into the to school 0:03:58.360 --> 0:03:59.800 in the mornings, he's been doing the drive into the 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:02.640 grow free store, and now finally he's reached the point where, 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:04.760 all right, I think I think the sun can handle it. 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:07.320 You know, he's a little he's a little cocky, he's 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:09.880 he's new, he's he's maybe a little a little, a 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:12.120 little heavy on the gas, but he's ready. I'm not 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:14.640 gonna drive anymore. I'm gonna let this guy drive me 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:17.240 to the grocery store. Yeah. And and UH, you can 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:20.560 actually take that analogy and even say that the parent 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:22.880 NASA gave them a little test run. And that was 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:25.960 back in May of two thousand and twelve, when the 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:32.240 Dragon capsule actually delivered one sixty two meal packets forty 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:35.280 five of them low sodium by the way, a laptop computer, 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:37.800 change of clothes for the station astronauts, and fifteen student 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:40.800 experiments to the International Space Station. So that was the 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:42.720 first kind of like, well, let's see you on a 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:47.080 test run here. Um that was obviously successful. So then 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:50.599 as you say, we've got the larger, more official, hey, 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:53.400 can you actually take a bunch of cargo up to 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:56.599 the I S S for us? That later decision and 0:04:56.640 --> 0:04:59.920 eventually they're they're hoping to do humans in it extreme 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:02.560 ends up, which is kind of like, you know, the 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:04.960 father doesn't trust the son enough to say, let's not 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:07.120 go for a Sunday drive with with your your mom 0:05:07.160 --> 0:05:09.800 and your grandma. Let's let's focus on you and me 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:11.919 getting to the grocery in one piece. All right, Now, 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:14.400 what's to do? Maybe a trip to the herd, to 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:16.680 the hardware store there and back again. All right, we've 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:21.159 got that check clicked off. We're working towards that Sunday drive. Yeah. 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:23.279 So I mean this is just, uh, I think what 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:26.760 is going to become a good indication of things to come. 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:29.080 Right now, some space X have a contract for a 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:31.960 dozen flights to the space station. And then as I said, 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:34.400 that October trip after the May test. Ruin was the 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:37.800 first official one. UM and then space x isn't the 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:41.560 only player in this commercial space. We've talked about Virgin Galactic. Uh. 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:45.520 Sir Richard Branson's private space flight company and their recently 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:49.720 completed high altitude test and Orbital Sciences is also under 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:53.680 contract with NASA and Walstle launch a demonstration flight. Yeah. 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:57.919 It's I mean, it's it's it's definitely informs us about 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:01.040 what what about this age of space exploration that we're entering, 0:06:01.040 --> 0:06:03.599 this this commercial well I'm not only entering, we're we're 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:07.719 in it now. This age of commercial space exploration. On 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:10.920 one hand, it's it's kind of like a oh, kind 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:14.120 of like a libertarian um dream, you know, this idea 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:17.720 of the of the of big government is not doing 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:19.800 as much, but it's the the actual corporations like I 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:23.320 canic individual human spirit. Yeah, like like Ron Swanson would 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:26.120 really appreciate beause I feel like, you know, um, you know, 0:06:26.440 --> 0:06:29.160 a Swedem's capsule going into into space. So that kind 0:06:29.160 --> 0:06:31.840 of thing, and and it and so. But I mean 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:33.320 some people were that's going to rub them the wrong 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:35.599 wrong way. You know, it's the idea. Oh well, there's 0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:39.080 it's corporations doing this, and you know corporations, uh don't 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:42.360 have the best track record with with everyone, right. It 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:44.839 It reminds me of an article I did this year, 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:50.280 or did in ten fictional Spacecraft we Wish were real, 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:52.720 And I tried to, you know, I tried to make 0:06:52.720 --> 0:06:55.280 it a little more thought provoking instead of just like 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:59.240 here's ten rad spaceship, because spaceships fictional space ships, by 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:01.240 their very nature our rat you can throw. It's like 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:03.719 throwing a dark you know, at a wall. Any of 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:05.559 them hit, they're gonna be cool. That's just how it works. 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:07.800 So I was trying to look at like, what in 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:11.080 what way to fictional spacecraft inform our ideas about the 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:15.200 actual future of space exploration, And I think I left 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:18.560 off the USS Enterprise, even though obviously the Enterprise is 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:22.440 a really cool ship. Yeah, and it's like a government thing. 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:25.320 It's a it's about exploration, it's about it and being 0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:28.560 ambassadors and it's all these positive aspect. Yes, it's a 0:07:28.560 --> 0:07:30.200 warship too, but for the most part it's a very 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:35.240 much a positive vision of our our future at the stars. Um. 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:36.720 So I don't think I included that one, but I 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:40.800 did and include the USS issue Mura, which is like 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:43.760 a it's the setting for a space horror video game 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:45.880 where it's a where they are all these like zombies 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:49.320 running on the ship, but the ship itself is a 0:07:49.360 --> 0:07:54.280 commercial vehicle designed to crack open planets and harvest minerals. 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:57.160 Because ultimately, well that's a you know, it's a far 0:07:57.280 --> 0:08:00.360 darker idea than than than the Enterprise. And I'm just 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:03.239 talking about the function, not the zombies, um the idea 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:05.320 of just going on harvesting minerals, and it's all about 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:08.400 the bottom line. It's it's a it's a bleaker image, 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:12.680 but it's ultimately a motivating idea. You know, you can 0:08:12.720 --> 0:08:15.840 actually see that getting us out there into space. If 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:18.760 there is money to be had, if there are asteroids 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:21.360 to be mined, then people are going to throw some 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:23.360 money at it. Well, and that's what we're seeing, right, 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:25.640 That's what is lining up with us because we've talked 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:30.240 about the company Planetary Resources, and it's a desire to 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:34.480 mind asteroids for platinum, which could be pretty lucrative. Of course, 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:36.600 it would take a while for them to actually get 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:38.960 their investment back, the money that they put into that 0:08:39.000 --> 0:08:41.600 investment to actually start making money. But really, when you're 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:45.000 talking about an endeavor like that, you're talking about a 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:49.240 generational accumulation of wealth, and they're not doing this. Those 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:51.880 people who are behind that are so very rich that 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:54.720 they're not worried about getting, you know, some money from 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:58.600 a pound of platinum. They're just trying to um actually 0:08:58.640 --> 0:09:04.079 put their their lives and uh, their their effort into 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:08.640 this thing that will affect generations to come right. So 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:12.920 that's another um theme that that largely is tied to 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:16.560 is Mars One, which is the completely private Dutch company 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:19.559 that is committed to establish establishing the first human presence 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:23.679 on Mars by the early twenties. So again you do 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:27.560 see that coming into play, this idea of privatization really 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:32.080 taking over. But with that comes responsibility. And we covered 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:34.800 this a bit in Space Junk because we talked about 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:37.319 how much is out there in orbit and how it's 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:40.040 actually a problem. So couldn't this be a good thing, 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:43.559 this privatization, knowing that you'd have to have companies come 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:45.599 in and clean this up. Yeah, if you want to 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:48.559 make money in space, you need to keep our orbit 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:51.440 clean so that we don't entombe ourselves. In this uh, 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:54.880 this this enclosing shell of space card. Yeah, if you 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:58.880 don't want your hugely expensive instruments, you know, crashed into 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:01.040 by a piece of space junks. And hey, you gotta 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:03.439 get up there and start sweeping. If you want to 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:06.520 sprinkle nutmeg on Mars, you've got to pay the price. 0:10:06.840 --> 0:10:09.120 Which that's what I hope the Dutch do. I was 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:11.920 gonna say, what, yes, now it makes sense the Dutch. 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:15.199 Yet Mars one will be covered. I'm sure Mars will 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:18.480 be covered with with nutmeg. Um. So these are a 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:20.960 couple of related podcasts. We have a space junk Removable 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:22.920 podcast in Afterward Minding if you want to learn a 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:27.600 little bit more about that. Um. But certainly, uh was 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:31.199 the realization of this idea of privatization and space cool? 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:33.320 Now what else happened in space? And and there's an 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:36.240 interesting UM trend with all of these space stories we're 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:38.760 mentioning because they're all stories that we really got to 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:44.400 participate in as viewers. UM, I mean participate. We didn't 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:46.520 you know, we didn't actually control anything, but we really 0:10:46.520 --> 0:10:48.240 got to feel like we were there for it, you know, 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:51.280 because we were either huddled around a TV or we 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:53.240 were taking a few minutes away from our workday to 0:10:53.280 --> 0:10:56.199 watch it streaming on on one of the news sites. Uh, 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:58.000 you know, we were We were there when when the 0:10:58.080 --> 0:11:01.840 Dragon capsule uh met up with the International Space Station, 0:11:02.120 --> 0:11:06.000 and we were there when Mars Curiosity visited the Red planet, 0:11:06.679 --> 0:11:09.920 which was so incredibly cool because, first of all, think 0:11:09.960 --> 0:11:14.320 about all the engineering that went behind launching this craft okay, 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:16.040 into space. This was when it was launched. It was 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:19.160 November two thousand and eleven, okay, all of that just 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:20.600 to get up in the air and to get it 0:11:20.600 --> 0:11:23.480 on the right trastructory, that's the easy part. It was 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:27.800 landing it nine months later that became incredibly tricky and 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:31.440 put everyone on pins and needles because if you think 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:36.520 about this, by the time that the Mars Curiosity capsule 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:39.400 was at the top of the atmosphere from the surface, 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:43.840 it takes seven minutes okay um to get to actually land, 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:46.319 and it takes fourteen minutes for the signal from the 0:11:46.440 --> 0:11:51.040 spacecraft to reach the Earth. So when they first get 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:53.160 word that the vehicle has touched the top of the atmosphere, 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:55.720 there's a seven minute window that requires the computer to 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:59.040 land the machine. Okay, Because there's this delay, and it 0:11:59.120 --> 0:12:01.400 has to do so lawless lee and has to manage 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:04.800 a landing with speeds of thirteen thousand miles per hour 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:07.559 that have to come to a dead stop using really 0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:12.600 complex mechanical maneuverings. And this is just to watch this, 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:18.560 It's just a beautiful ballet of engineering and innovation. I 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:21.120 excited when I when I think about this. Yeah, I 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:23.400 mean I thowt it referred to as seven minutes of 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:26.280 terror and then the whole thing. I mean, it's kind 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:30.160 of it was kind of like an Ocean's eleven type scheme, 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:32.559 you know, to actually land this thing and landing successfully 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:34.880 and uh and and you really got that when you're 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:38.280 following it on the video streams, you're you're totally investing, 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:41.600 because nobody wants to watch an expensive wreck on Mars, 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:45.120 you know, an expensive crash um. And so when when 0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:48.520 it actually came out, you know, successfully, everyone rejoiced that 0:12:48.600 --> 0:12:52.839 mohawk guy jumped up and down by all and most 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:56.520 importantly we were able to land the most sophisticated explorer 0:12:56.520 --> 0:12:59.320 ever on the Red planet. Yeah, and that again, there 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:02.040 seven minutes of terror where where you really saw the 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:06.160 magic happen and you begin to understand how they're Every 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:10.080 single component of that landing absolutely mattered and had to 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:13.560 be done again flawlessly, because once you began to to 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:16.480 enter that um the atmosphere, you have the heat shield 0:13:16.480 --> 0:13:20.600 protecting the capsule from the sixteen hundred degrees fahrenheit um 0:13:20.600 --> 0:13:23.800 of the atmosphere, and then you have to deal with 0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:26.760 the atmosphere of Mars, which there's enough of that you 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:28.599 have to deal with it right, but not enough to 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:31.920 actually slow the cat, to slow it down into create 0:13:31.960 --> 0:13:34.560 some drag. And then you have the heat shield popping 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:37.559 off right at the right moment so that the machine 0:13:37.600 --> 0:13:39.719 can then began to see where it is, you can 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:43.600 begin to use um the cameras and okay, so that's 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:46.520 just one tenth of that part of that landing. Then 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:49.840 you have a parachute that weighs one hundred pounds deploying 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:53.480 and it can withstand pressures of up to sixty five 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:57.720 thousand pounds of pressure, and it slows it down to 0:13:57.800 --> 0:14:00.960 two d miles per hour. But that's still not enough, right, 0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:04.960 so now the parachute has to pop off and rockets 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:08.319 now help divert curiosity away from the parachute so it 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:11.320 doesn't collide with that, but it now that that gives 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:14.400 it the ability to have some measure of control of 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:17.360 its landing, So then you begin to see it descend 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:20.240 in a very controlled manner. Okay, here's the other problem 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:22.360 you have. You've got rockets and you don't want them 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:25.520 to kick up so much dust that you then ruin 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:31.440 some of the machinery on curiosity. So what do you do, Oh, 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:35.800 let's now deploy the tether system from the rockets, so 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:38.640 then it can start to to lower away and then 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:42.520 the rockets. That wasn't one of the really amazing parts 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:44.880 to where it's you're you're rocketing down there and then 0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:48.120 the rockets are lowering it down on an on a string, 0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:51.760 and uh yeah, it's just incredible that, yeah, I mean, 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:55.000 is breathtaking to see all of that unfold. And then, 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:57.480 as you say, all of a sudden, you have a 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:01.760 successful um land being of one of the most complex 0:15:01.840 --> 0:15:05.920 labs on on wheels that you could ever want on Mars, 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:10.840 taking soil samples and really actually starting to engage with 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:13.360 the mission of this, which is to understand the past 0:15:13.400 --> 0:15:17.360 and the current habit ability for life on Mars. All right, 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:19.240 so what else do we have on the plate. Other 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:23.160 big news that happened in twelve, we have to mention 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:25.400 the Higgs. Of course, Yeah, of course, of course the 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:28.400 Higgs has just continue to be a big story because 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:31.120 it seems like for ages now, because it's always like, 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:32.800 when are they going to find the Higgs? What is 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:34.960 the Higgs? Like? Because the Hig it's it's one of 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:37.160 those questions just just what is it is a question 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:39.400 that continues to sort of come up because it's it's 0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:41.440 kind of a it's what you hear about the Higgs 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:45.400 all the time, and it's easy to either not learn 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:47.600 what the heck it is to begin with, or to 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:50.120 sort of forget it. Now. We did a whole episode 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:53.160 on this um about the Higgs. You can look it 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:55.920 up in our list of episodes. But you know, essentially 0:15:55.960 --> 0:16:00.360 that the ideas it's a hypothetical um sometimes it article 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:05.280 that uh, and it's a field that gives that gives 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:07.840 matter mass and if it, if we could find it, 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:10.360 if we could prove that it actually exists, it could 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:15.120 explain a number of the mysteries surrounding the cosmos are 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:19.560 understanding of physics. It's uh, it's a suspect in a 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:24.240 crime that should exist and we've just been looking for it. Yeah, 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:26.800 all right, because this is really um this is the 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:30.240 big idea, right, that this Higgs field exists and it's 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:33.360 a kind of cosmic molasses that keeps all of us together. 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:35.600 So if we can really prove this, and we can 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:39.400 really get a little bit more at this question of 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:41.400 how do we exist, how do we come to exist? 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:43.960 What really keeps us all together? What is this reality 0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:47.640 that we're all can jealed in. Uh So, here's the deal. 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:52.400 The Large Hadron Collider, which is headquartered in Geneva, is 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:55.640 tasked to try to find this Higgs particle, because again, 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:58.400 if this can be isolated, then it gives crudence this 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:02.440 idea that this Higgs field, this molasses does exist. Smashing 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:05.800 those atoms looking for the brief existence of this particle 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:09.879 before it blinks out and again, sort of committing the 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:12.280 same crime over and over again, and then in the 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:16.520 hopes that you'll glimpse the suspect that's right after these 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:20.199 primordial fireballs are left after these proton collisions in the 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:24.520 Large Hadron Collider. So in a July it was reported 0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:27.639 that a Higgs like particle was found, and this is 0:17:27.680 --> 0:17:30.680 really important they're calling Higgs like, Okay, the jury is 0:17:30.720 --> 0:17:34.320 still a bit out about this, right, because there's been 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:37.720 some more information about this, because we found the suspect. 0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:42.400 We found the suspect. The problem is another suspect showed up. See, 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:44.960 because it's like like a Raymond Chandler novel, you know, 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:48.200 it's like you reached that point where they found the murder. Note, 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:51.520 it just gets a little more complicated there are two suspects, 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:53.719 or maybe maybe there wasn't a murder at all. I mean, 0:17:53.760 --> 0:17:55.960 that's how mysteries work, and that's how this one is 0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:58.400 kind of working out as well. Well, they've been going 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:01.120 through the data and with a found is that now 0:18:01.240 --> 0:18:06.360 two bumps show in the data, casting doubt on the experiment. Okay, Um, 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:08.479 what that means is that there appears to be one Higgs, 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:11.679 both on with a massive one two three point five 0:18:12.160 --> 0:18:15.159 giga electron volts in one with one to six point six. 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:20.560 So in a December fourteenth article in Scientific America excuse me, 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:23.800 in Scientific American, it explains that it's been thought before 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:26.639 that there might be one more than one Higgs, but 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:30.239 not so close together. That's where the mystery becomes even deeper, right, 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:32.119 because it's okay if there's another one, but just not 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:35.120 so close together. So again, it's pointing to this question 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:37.920 about whether or not there's a problem with the experiment, 0:18:38.040 --> 0:18:42.080 and physicist Adam Falkowski wrote on his blog quote, in 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:46.320 this case, they most likely signal a systematic problem rather 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:48.639 than some interesting physics. First and least, it would be 0:18:48.760 --> 0:18:51.720 quite a coincidence to have two Higgs particles so close 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:55.560 and mass. So again, the jury is still out, but 0:18:55.680 --> 0:19:00.359 this is the fact that they're getting this close is 0:19:00.359 --> 0:19:03.320 still a game changer, and it's still amazing, and I 0:19:03.359 --> 0:19:06.239 think it points to this idea that in science you 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:09.000 have to continue to go back to the drawing board. 0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:12.199 This is what makes good science good science, Right, you 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:14.520 just don't accept that this was a Higgs particle. You 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:17.359 begin to go through that data more and more and 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:21.080 corroborated to the point where there's just absolutely no question 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:24.400 that it is. And they're not there right now. Um, 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:27.800 but they're getting closer. Yeah. I mean, science creeps forward 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:30.840 and sometimes it has to creep a little little little 0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:34.080 ways back to recalibrate. You know, it's like a roomba 0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:38.119 running into stuff in your living room. But it's figuring 0:19:38.160 --> 0:19:40.800 it out right. Um, so so yeah, we continue to 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:43.280 watch what happens with the with the higgs um. But 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:45.600 certainly it was it was definitely a big year for 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:48.920 the Higgs, regardless of what it actually ends up to, 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:52.000 you know. Being the case with these particles that we 0:19:52.760 --> 0:19:54.840 these higgs is that we sort of found. Yeah, more 0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:56.800 to come on that, I think. Um, all right, we're 0:19:56.800 --> 0:19:58.880 gonna take a quick break and when we get back, 0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:06.199 we are going to talk about citizens science. All right, 0:20:06.240 --> 0:20:10.960 we're back. Um, so what else happened in Well, a 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:13.240 lot of pieces sort of continuing business. Of course, science 0:20:13.280 --> 0:20:16.040 is a continuing business. We continue to search for certain things. 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:18.359 We continue to search out things. And one of the 0:20:18.400 --> 0:20:24.120 things we've been looking for exoplanets, planets elsewhere in the 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:28.320 in the in the galaxy, planets that maybe might be 0:20:28.359 --> 0:20:31.960 like Earth. That's what we have our eye out for. Yeah, 0:20:32.000 --> 0:20:34.040 and it turns out that there is a ton of 0:20:34.119 --> 0:20:37.399 data to sort through in order to find Earth like 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:43.800 planetary candidates. And it's really helpful when you have citizens 0:20:44.280 --> 0:20:47.000 in this case, citizens scientists to help sort through the 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:50.119 extensive data. And this is actually data that's provided by 0:20:50.200 --> 0:20:53.920 NASA's Kepler Mission. So here's this really cool thing. Fifteen 0:20:53.920 --> 0:20:57.160 new planet candidates. We call them again planet candidates because 0:20:57.160 --> 0:20:58.959 they have to have to be a certain distance from 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:03.480 the Sun in order to be considered earth like properties 0:21:03.560 --> 0:21:06.840 or have earth like properties. Right, Um, they've been discovered 0:21:06.840 --> 0:21:10.760 by planet hunters, and planet hunters is this project of 0:21:10.800 --> 0:21:14.000 these citizens scientists. These are people who have access to 0:21:14.160 --> 0:21:17.000 the data that NASA has given them, and what they 0:21:17.040 --> 0:21:19.040 do is they look through all that data to try 0:21:19.080 --> 0:21:23.160 to figure out habitable planets. And again, like I said 0:21:23.160 --> 0:21:25.800 in that Goldilocks zone, right that distance from the Sun 0:21:25.840 --> 0:21:29.439 and not too hot, not too cold, approximate size. You know, 0:21:29.440 --> 0:21:31.560 it just has to be just right right and just 0:21:31.600 --> 0:21:34.560