New Cosmic X-Ray Class, Chiron's Mysteries, and the Next Space Station Era: S27E155

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[00:00:55] Wünschst du dir jemanden, der dich versteht wie kein anderer?

[00:00:59] Jemand, der deine Wünsche wahr werden lässt und mit dir das schönste Abenteuer deines Lebens erleben möchte?

[00:01:05] Die Commerce-Plattform Shopify revolutioniert Millionen von Unternehmen weltweit.

[00:01:10] Mit Shopify richtest du im Nu deinen Online-Shop ein – ganz ohne Programmier- oder Designkenntnisse.

[00:01:17] Dank der effizienten Einrichtung und intuitiven Social-Media- und Online-Marketplace-Integration kannst du über Instagram, eBay und Co. werben und verkaufen.

[00:01:26] Neue Zielgruppen zu erreichen war noch nie so einfach.

[00:01:30] Shopify bietet auf einer einzigen sicheren Plattform alle Tools, um dein Online-Business aufzubauen.

[00:01:36] Kostenlos testen und dein Business der Welt präsentieren.

[00:01:39] Shopify.de-try besuchen

[00:01:42] Einfach Shopify.de-try eingeben und loslegen.

[00:01:47] Made for Germany. Powered by Shopify

[00:01:50] This is Space Time series 27 episode 155 for broadcast on the 25th of December 2024.

[00:01:58] Coming up on Space Time, discovery of a new class of cosmic X-ray, uncovering the secrets of the Centaurs and NASA's plans for multiple commercial space stations to replace the ISS.

[00:02:10] All that and more coming up on Space Time.

[00:02:15] Welcome to Space Time with Stuart Gary.

[00:02:35] Astronomers have identified a new class of cosmic X-ray source, possibly originating from a new type of Nova event.

[00:02:41] The findings reported in the Astrophysical Journal letters follows the identification of 29 unusual objects in the large and small Magellanic clouds, two nearby satellite galaxies which orbit the Milky Way.

[00:02:53] These objects all displayed unexpected behaviour.

[00:02:57] Some exhibited long-duration X-ray outbursts, typically lasting several months, during which time they brightened about 20 times their usual brightness.

[00:03:06] Others, however, exhibited recurring outbreaks every few Earth years and still others flared up only the once during the observation period.

[00:03:15] In space, X-rays are commonly generated by hot gas falling onto compact objects like white dwarfs, neutron stars or black holes.

[00:03:23] But they can also be generated by decelerating charged particles such as electrons.

[00:03:27] The authors discovered these objects by analysing over 20 years of data collected by OGLE, the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment Survey.

[00:03:36] One of the objects, named OGLE-M NOVA11, began an outburst in November 2023, providing a unique opportunity for a detailed examination.

[00:03:45] The study's lead author, Prismic Roz from the University of Warsaw, says observations using the Southern African Large Telescope revealed signatures for ionised atoms of helium, carbon and nitrogen, indicating extremely high temperatures.

[00:03:59] And the star was also observed by NASA's Swift Space Observatory, which detected X-rays corresponding to a temperature of some 600,000 degrees Celsius.

[00:04:07] Given its distance of over 160,000 light-years from Earth, OGLE-M NOVA11 emitted more than 100 times the luminosity of our Sun.

[00:04:16] The object's unusual properties resembled another system called Assassin 16-OH that was discovered in 2016 by the All Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae.

[00:04:26] The authors believe OGLE-M NOVA11, Assassin 16-OH, and the other 27 objects form a new class of transient X-ray sources, which they've named Millinovae, as their peak brightness is roughly a thousand times lower than that of a classical NOVA.

[00:04:42] NOVA occur when a white dwarf, that is the remains of a Sun-like star, is in a binary partnership closely orbiting a sub-giant star that's exhausted its hydrogen in its core and has expanded out to become a red giant, and gradually draws more and more mass from its binary partner.

[00:04:58] Now this matter builds up on the surface of the white dwarf until it reaches a critical mass, the hydrogen ignites, causing a thermonuclear explosion not enough to destroy the star in a supernova event, but certainly enough to be seen in what's called a classical NOVA.

[00:05:13] And then the cycle starts over again, and NOVA can therefore repeat multiple times.

[00:05:19] Now, like classical NOVA, Millinovae are thought to be binary systems consisting of two objects orbiting each other with a period of just a few days.

[00:05:28] Again, one object is a white dwarf, closely orbiting a sub-giant star that's expanded out to become a red giant.

[00:05:35] And once again, the proximity of the two stars allows material to flow from the sub-giant to the white dwarf.

[00:05:42] But the exact source of the X-rays remains a mystery.

[00:05:45] Now, one scenario suggests that X-rays might be produced as the sub-giant material falls onto the white dwarf's surface, releasing energy.

[00:05:53] Alternatively, the X-rays could be the result of a thermonuclear runaway on the white dwarf's surface, just like a regular NOVA, but on a smaller scale.

[00:06:01] Now, if this latter hypothesis is correct, then Millinovae may play a crucial role in astrophysics.

[00:06:07] See, as a white dwarf grows in mass, it can eventually reach a critical threshold known as the Chandrasekhar limit, about 1.4 solar masses.

[00:06:14] At that point, the white dwarf will explode as a Type 1a supernova, one of the most powerful explosions in the universe, able to outshine an entire galaxy.

[00:06:25] This is space-time.

[00:06:27] Still to come, uncovering the secrets of centaurs and plans for modable commercial space stations to replace the ISS.

[00:06:34] All that and more still to come on Space Time.

[00:06:54] Astronomers have begun studying a unique family of comet-like asteroids known as centaurs, which orbit the sun in the dark, cold outer reaches of the solar system between Jupiter and Neptune.

[00:07:05] Scientists with the University of Central Florida have now been using the James Webb Space Telescope to reveal the strange one-of-a-kind attributes of 2060 Chiron, a distant centaur which is providing new clues about the origins of our solar system.

[00:07:19] Centaurs are akin to the mythical creature they borrow their names from, in that they're hybrids, possessing characteristics of both asteroids and comets.

[00:07:27] But using the Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered that Chiron has surface chemistry unlike that of any other known centaur.

[00:07:35] A report in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics shows that its surface has both carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide ice, along with carbon dioxide and methane gases in its coma, a cloud-like envelope of dust and gas surrounding its nucleus.

[00:07:49] One of the study's authors, Naomi Finilla-Alonso, says the new findings build on earlier discoveries that detected carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide ice on trans-Neptunian objects earlier this year.

[00:08:02] Trans-Neptunian objects include frozen debris, comets and icy worlds that circle the sun beyond the orbit of Neptune.

[00:08:10] Finilla-Alonso says those earlier observations paired with the new ones of Chiron are producing foundational knowledge for understanding the creation of our solar system.

[00:08:19] That's because these objects have all largely remained unchanged since the solar system was formed 4.6 billion years ago.

[00:08:27] She says all the small bodies in the solar system talk to astronomers about how it was back in time, during a period which we can no longer observe.

[00:08:36] But the active centaurs are telling astronomers much more.

[00:08:40] They're undergoing transformation driven by solar heating, and they're providing a unique opportunity to learn about their surface and subsurface layers.

[00:08:48] She says since Chiron possesses characteristics of both an asteroid and a comet, it makes it rich for studying the processes that could assist in understanding them.

[00:08:57] What's unique about Chiron is that you can observe both the surface where most of the ices can be found, and the surrounding coma where you see the gases that are originating from the surface or just below it.

[00:09:08] On the other hand, trans-Neptunian objects don't have this kind of activity because they're too far away from the sun, consequently too cold.

[00:09:16] And asteroids don't have this kind of activity either.

[00:09:19] That's because they usually don't have any ices on them.

[00:09:21] On the other hand, comets show activity just like centaurs.

[00:09:25] But they're typically observed much closer to the sun, and their comas are also very thick, which complicates the interpretations of observations of the ices on their surface.

[00:09:35] Discovering which gases are part of the coma, and their different relationships with the ices on the surface, helps astronomers learn physical and chemical properties, such as the thickness and porosity of the ice layer, its composition, and how a radiation is affecting it.

[00:09:49] Discovering these ices and gases on an object as distant as Chiron, which is being observed near its furthest point from the sun, is exciting because it could help contextualize other centaurs.

[00:09:59] Chiron was first discovered back in 1977.

[00:10:03] It's an oddball when compared to the majority of centaurs.

[00:10:06] It has periods when it behaves just like an asteroid, it has rings of material around it, and potentially a debris field with small dusty or rocky material orbiting around it.

[00:10:16] There are so many questions arising about the sort of properties on Chiron which allow these unique behaviours.

[00:10:21] And the coexistence of the molecules in various states is adding another layer of intrigue for those studying comets and centaurs.

[00:10:28] The study also highlighted the presence of irradiated by-products of methane, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, which will require further research.

[00:10:37] And that could help scientists further reveal unique processes producing Chiron's surface composition.

[00:10:42] Scientists are pretty sure that Chiron originated from the trans-Neptunian objects region, and it's been travelling around our solar system since its creation.

[00:10:51] The orbits of Chiron and many other large non-planetary objects occasionally experience close encounters with one of the giant gas planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus or Neptune.

[00:11:01] There, the gravitational pull from the planet changes the smaller objects orbit, taking them all over the solar system and exposing them to many different environments.

[00:11:10] After about a million years or so, centaurs like Chiron typically are rejected from the giant planets region, where they may end their lives as Jupiter family comets,

[00:11:19] or on the other hand may be flung back out into the trans-Neptunian objects region.

[00:11:24] Some of Chiron's ices, such as methane, carbon dioxide and water ice, may even be primordial components of Chiron, inherited from the pre-solar nebula.

[00:11:34] Others, such as acetylene, propane, ethane and carbon oxide, could have formed on the surface because of reduction in oxidation processes.

[00:11:42] This report from the University of Central Florida.

[00:11:45] So, I am focused on the space composition of minor bodies of the solar system.

[00:11:51] So, minor bodies of the solar system, comets, asteroids, meteorites, everything about that I am interested in.

[00:11:58] To conduct our research, we are astronomers, so we need telescopes.

[00:12:03] So, DISCO is the acronym for discovering the surface composition of trans-Neptunian objects.

[00:12:10] This project is an observational program conducted on the James Webb Space Telescope.

[00:12:17] And we were awarded with almost 100 hours on the first cycle.

[00:12:23] Like, they launched the telescope, they made the first call for proposals.

[00:12:27] And we were awarded with almost 100 hours to study these icy minor bodies of the solar system.

[00:12:36] And our goal is to study the surface composition of these targets, 60 objects, that are orbiting beyond the orbit of Neptune.

[00:12:45] So, they contain a lot of ices, but we have not been able to see them before with the instrumentation located ground-based.

[00:12:55] So, now with the James Webb, it's a unique opportunity to really dig up information on what is the recipe to have to build a trans-Neptunian object.

[00:13:06] Well, there are two things that excites me a lot.

[00:13:10] That we are seeing the solar system as we never saw it before.

[00:13:14] It's like when you lead a mission and you approach an object.

[00:13:17] Before we approached Pluto, we had just some pixels on the screen and we knew there were different materials because they had different color and different albido.

[00:13:29] But we were not ready, at least I was not ready for the amazing mountains, valleys, glaciers, caps, everything that the image is revealed.

[00:13:44] And that is in a similar way is happening now for us with James Webb and will be happening for decades, I think.

[00:13:52] Because we were not able before to access this kind of information with the instrumentation that we have.

[00:13:58] So, the other amazing thing is that we don't know where we are going to.

[00:14:02] And that is not as much as the senior career that are going to do that.

[00:14:08] It's all the young people, the next generations that are being trained now with working with us and the different groups.

[00:14:15] The ones that are really going to explore the deeper breadth of the GSWC data.

[00:14:22] And in that report from the University of Central Florida, we heard from astronomers Anna Carolina D'Souza Feliciano and Naomi Finilla-Alonso.

[00:14:30] This is Space Time.

[00:14:33] Still to come, the plans for multiple commercial space stations to replace the ISS.

[00:14:38] And later in the science report, a new study shows that all AI chatbots show some symptoms of mild cognitive impairment similar to early stage dementia.

[00:14:47] All that and more still to come on Space Time.

[00:15:05] We are Teresa and Nemo.

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[00:16:52] The number of proposals for commercial low-Earth orbit space stations is growing

[00:16:57] as the countdown to the demise of the International Space Station continues.

[00:17:02] As the ISS moves slowly towards its retirement in 2030

[00:17:06] and NASA continues to work with ESA and JAXA on the new Lunar Gateway space station

[00:17:11] as part of the Artemis program to return humans to the Moon

[00:17:14] and eventually onto Mars and beyond,

[00:17:16] work's also getting underway, with help from NASA,

[00:17:19] on the development of several new commercial low-Earth orbit space stations.

[00:17:23] So, what are we looking at?

[00:17:25] Well, one of these is the NASA-funded Starlab space station.

[00:17:29] It's slated for launch aboard a SpaceX Starship in 2028.

[00:17:32] The commercial space station is designed to be launched in one go on a single flight

[00:17:37] and includes a large habitation and laboratory module

[00:17:40] where astronauts will spend most of their time living and working

[00:17:42] and a smaller service module for power and propulsion.

[00:17:45] This project's already passed a number of key developmental milestones.

[00:17:50] These include reviews of the habitat structural test article preliminary design,

[00:17:54] systems integration, integrated operations and a habitat structural test plan.

[00:17:59] Now, earlier this year, Starlab Space, supported by NASA,

[00:18:03] completed a structural test article preliminary design review.

[00:18:06] The structural test article is an actual physical model used to test and verify the design.

[00:18:12] Starlab also recently shared a test plan for the structural test article.

[00:18:16] This included defining qualification tests for the development of the unit,

[00:18:20] ranging from welding verifications to proof pressure and static load testing.

[00:18:24] It also completed integrated operations and systems integration reviews,

[00:18:28] including updates on system and station architecture and segment interfaces.

[00:18:33] Now, this review is meant to demonstrate that the station's design meets the requirements of NASA,

[00:18:38] including those needed for human spaceflight verification.

[00:18:42] But Starlab isn't alone.

[00:18:44] Other commercial space stations, now either in the planning or development stages,

[00:18:48] include Axion's modular space station, which will initially be docked to the International Space Station,

[00:18:53] before eventually moving into its own orbit when the ISS is finally decommissioned and deorbited.

[00:19:00] And this week, Axiom Space modified its planned assembly sequence

[00:19:03] in order to accelerate its ability to operate the space station as a viable free-flying complex,

[00:19:09] thereby reducing its reliance on the International Space Station during assembly.

[00:19:13] The initial Axiom plan was to launch and attach the first module, Habitat 1,

[00:19:18] to the International Space Station, followed by three additional modules.

[00:19:21] But under the company's new assembly sequence,

[00:19:24] a payload power and thermal module will be launched to the orbiting laboratory first,

[00:19:28] allowing it to depart from the ISS as early as 2028,

[00:19:33] becoming a free-flying destination to be known as Axiom Station.

[00:19:37] Now, once in free flight,

[00:19:39] Axiom Space will continue assembly of the commercial destination,

[00:19:42] adding the Habitat 1 module, an airlock,

[00:19:44] the Habitat 2 module, and the research and manufacturing facility.

[00:19:48] But as well as Starlab and Axiom Station,

[00:19:50] there are also other proposals out there, some of which are fairly advanced.

[00:19:55] One of them is Orbital Reef.

[00:19:57] It's being designed by Blue Origin and Sierra Space,

[00:19:59] both for commercial space activities and research, and for space tourism.

[00:20:04] It will be designed to support at least 10 people at a time

[00:20:07] in multiple accommodation and research modules, and should be operational by 2027.

[00:20:12] Another proposal is Haven 1, which is slated for launch in August next year aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9.

[00:20:18] It will house a microgravity research facility and manufacturing platform.

[00:20:23] However, it's designed to only operate when a Dragon capsule is docked to it.

[00:20:28] That's because the Dragon will be needed to supply power and life support.

[00:20:31] And of course, then there's the Bigelow Aerospace Expandable Activity module,

[00:20:36] and it's already up there, attached to the International Space Station.

[00:20:39] It's an inflatable module which was docked at the Space Station back in 2016,

[00:20:44] what was meant to be a two-year experimental test.

[00:20:46] However, it's proven to be so reliable and so useful,

[00:20:50] it's well and truly exceeded all expectations,

[00:20:53] and it's now remaining attached to the Space Station as additional cargo storage until at least 2028.

[00:20:59] Unfortunately, that's more than can be said for the Bigelow Company itself.

[00:21:03] Sadly, it's since been dissolved.

[00:21:06] This is Space Time.

[00:21:22] We are Teresa and Nemo, and that's why we switched to Shopify.

[00:21:25] The platform, which we used before Shopify, has used regularly updates,

[00:21:30] which have sometimes been brought to the point of the shop that didn't work.

[00:21:33] Finally, our Nemo Boards shop makes so much more on mobile devices a good figure.

[00:21:37] The illustrations on the boards come now much clearer,

[00:21:40] what is important to us and what our brand also makes us out.

[00:21:44] Start your test today for 1€ per month on Shopify.de.

[00:21:53] Time to take another brief look at some of the other stories,

[00:21:55] making news and science this week with a science report.

[00:21:59] A new study has found that exposure to higher levels of air pollution over time

[00:22:03] is associated with a higher risk of hospitalisation,

[00:22:06] both for physical and mental health problems.

[00:22:09] The findings reported in the British Medical Journal looked at the hospitalisation data

[00:22:13] for just over 200,000 people in Scotland over a 15-year period.

[00:22:17] It then compared that data with air pollution data in their local postcodes.

[00:22:22] The authors found that higher exposure to air pollution over time

[00:22:26] was linked to higher hospitalisation for all causes,

[00:22:29] as well as cardiovascular, respiratory, infectious diseases and mental behavioural problems.

[00:22:34] They also found that different types of air pollution were linked to different risks,

[00:22:38] with sulphur dioxide more strongly linked to respiratory problems,

[00:22:42] while nitrogen dioxide was more strongly linked to mental illness and behavioural disorders.

[00:22:48] New research into the lifespans of baleen whales has yielded boom or bust results for two well-known species,

[00:22:54] with one species' age estimates almost doubling from what was previously thought

[00:22:58] and the other dramatically reduced due to human-driven impacts.

[00:23:02] The findings reported in the journal Science Advances have given new lifespan estimates

[00:23:07] to both the southern right whale and the North Atlantic right whale.

[00:23:11] The authors found that the average lifespan for the southern right whale is 73.4 years,

[00:23:17] with 10% of individuals surviving to be 131.8 years old.

[00:23:22] However, the news isn't so good for the North Atlantic right whale.

[00:23:26] Their lifespans are likely to be shortened due to human impacts,

[00:23:29] with an average maximum age of just 22.3 years,

[00:23:32] with just 10% of individuals living past 47.2 years.

[00:23:38] Well, here's one we didn't expect.

[00:23:40] A new study has found that almost all artificial intelligence chatbots

[00:23:44] are showing symptoms of mild cognitive impairment similar to early dementia.

[00:23:49] The findings reported in the British Medical Journal

[00:23:52] looked at the mental abilities of chat GPT versions 4 and 4.0,

[00:23:57] Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Gemini versions 1 and 1.5,

[00:24:01] using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test

[00:24:03] often used to detect early signs of dementia in humans.

[00:24:07] Scoring was evaluated by a neurologist,

[00:24:10] with 26 out of a possible 30 points generally considered normal.

[00:24:13] Chat GPT 4.0 achieved the highest score with 26 out of 30.

[00:24:19] That was followed by Chat GPT 4 and Claude, 25 out of 30,

[00:24:23] and Gemini 1.0 scoring the lowest at 16 out of 30.

[00:24:28] The bots all performed worst on visual and empathy tests.

[00:24:31] Now, while this study is observational,

[00:24:34] the authors say the findings highlight essential differences

[00:24:36] between human brains and large language models,

[00:24:39] adding that rather than AI replacing doctors,

[00:24:42] doctors might one day have new virtual patients to treat.

[00:24:46] There are growing warnings about failures

[00:24:49] with Apple's AI summarization feature,

[00:24:51] and Chat GTP has just been made free for all.

[00:24:55] With the details, we're joined by technology editor Alex Saharov-Reut

[00:24:58] from TechAdvice.Life.

[00:25:00] The AI summarization feature that we see in Apple's notification summaries.

[00:25:07] Now, I've noticed that sometimes it seems to give an incorrect summary.

[00:25:10] Like it's clearly, you have to open up the notification to see what it's talking about.

[00:25:14] But when you see the notification summary telling you that somebody shot themselves,

[00:25:18] well, you want to hope that the summarization done by AI was correct.

[00:25:23] In this case, Luigi Mangione, the young man who allegedly shot the United Healthcare CEO in the back in New York before he was caught,

[00:25:31] the notification summary said that he had shot himself.

[00:25:34] And this was underneath a summarization of BBC news headlines.

[00:25:38] Now, the BBC complained.

[00:25:39] I mean, two of the headlines were summarized correctly.

[00:25:41] But of course, the allegation that this young man had shot himself is pretty serious.

[00:25:46] And if you didn't bother to look at the notification, you would just have taken that at face value and thought it was real.

[00:25:52] I can assure you, I take nothing the BBC says as being real.

[00:25:56] They have some of the worst journalism in the world.

[00:25:58] Of course, they think they're the bee's knees.

[00:26:00] So, you know, as with everything in life, I mean, originally these hallucinations, as they're called,

[00:26:05] when AI gets completely wrong, they were called hallucination.

[00:26:08] And we had to get a notification at the bottom of the page where you went to search for things that,

[00:26:13] hey, the AI could get it wrong, please double check and verify.

[00:26:16] And this is proving to be the case.

[00:26:19] I mean, you shouldn't take these things at face value.

[00:26:21] I mean, journalists and lawyers and countless school children and even people at work using AI have been caught out by the fact that they took

[00:26:28] what AI said at face value and didn't check.

[00:26:30] So you've got to double check.

[00:26:31] There were plenty of articles that were saying that even Abraham Lincoln was warning not to believe anything on the internet,

[00:26:36] which is a clear reference to the fact that Abraham Lincoln was not alive during the time the internet was around.

[00:26:41] I heard that about Albert Einstein saying the same thing.

[00:26:43] Well, there you go.

[00:26:44] There you go.

[00:26:45] So don't take everything at face value.

[00:26:47] Judge for yourself.

[00:26:48] Be wise about it.

[00:26:49] Don't just believe it because Wikipedia said it.

[00:26:51] And remember, the AI is only as good as the goofballs to program it.

[00:26:55] Okay, ChatGPT has made its search engines free for all.

[00:26:59] They have indeed.

[00:27:00] Now, if you go to chatgpt.com, you can now use the search engine which will give you links to actual results.

[00:27:07] And this is something that was originally only for those who were paid members of ChatGPT,

[00:27:11] but it's now available to anybody that has an account and the account is free.

[00:27:14] So you can't use it anonymously.

[00:27:16] You still have to be signed in, but you don't have to pay for that.

[00:27:18] And there's been some other news this week where if you're in the US, you can actually dial 1-800-CHAT-GPT.

[00:27:25] So you don't even need a computer.

[00:27:26] Yeah.

[00:27:26] Well, if you are somebody that doesn't use computers, doesn't use a smartphone,

[00:27:30] you can pick up the phone and you can talk to ChatGPT.

[00:27:32] Now, I've heard recordings of this and it's in melodious ChatGPT voice of which you can choose several.

[00:27:36] Not sure if you get a choice when you ring on the phone,

[00:27:38] but if you've ever used the spoken capability with the ChatGPT app where you can just have this natural flowing conversation,

[00:27:44] well, you just happen to be doing it through a telephone.

[00:27:47] And look, if you didn't know any better, you would probably think it was the person that you were speaking to.

[00:27:50] Now, I tried this in Australia.

[00:27:52] It just comes up with this number is not connected.

[00:27:55] You can send a chat message via WhatsApp to 1-800-2428-478-1800-CHAT-GPT

[00:28:03] and you'll get up to 15 minutes of free back and forth text chatting.

[00:28:07] Why precisely you would do that when you can just download the ChatGPT app and have endless conversations?

[00:28:12] I'm not sure, but the video that ChatGPT had about this said that they would allow you to sign in and have longer conversations.

[00:28:20] And look, some people are just more used to chatting via WhatsApp than they are using some other app.

[00:28:24] That's technology editor Alex Saharov-Royt from TechAdvice.Life.

[00:28:29] And that's the show for now.

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