S27E133: Earth's Mantle's Dual Blobs, China's Lunar Ambitions, and Crew 8's Return

[00:00:00] This is SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 133, for broadcast on the 4th of November 2024.

[00:00:07] Coming up on SpaceTime, new studies showing the Earth's mantle is actually composed of two different and very separate blobs of materials,

[00:00:15] China planning to host its first manned mission to the moon by 2030,

[00:00:20] and NASA's SpaceX Crew 8 astronauts return to Earth.

[00:00:24] All that and more coming up on SpaceTime.

[00:00:28] Welcome to SpaceTime with Stuart Gary.

[00:00:47] A new study has discovered that the Earth's mantle is actually composed of two different and very separate types of materials,

[00:00:55] resulting in independent African and Pacific domains.

[00:00:59] The new data shows that the rocks sourced from the Earth's mantle are linked to the formation and break-up of super-continents and super-oceans over the past 700 million years,

[00:01:08] resulting in the planet having two distinct faces.

[00:01:12] The findings, reported in the journal Nature Geoscience, examined the chemical and isotopic make-up of rocks sourced from thousands of kilometres below the planet's surface

[00:01:21] to better understand how the Earth's mantle responds to plate movements that occur near its surface.

[00:01:26] The study's lead author, Luke Serge Desai from Curtin University, says the Earth's mantle is currently divided into two main domains,

[00:01:33] African and Pacific, but little is known about their formation in history and they're commonly assumed to be chemically the same.

[00:01:40] Desai and colleagues use trace metals such as lead, strontium and neodymium from hotspot volcano islands,

[00:01:46] including the Hawaiian islands in the Pacific Ocean and the La Reunion island in the Indian Ocean,

[00:01:51] to examine whether these two domains have the same chemical make-up.

[00:01:55] They found that the African domain was enriched by subducted continental materials,

[00:01:59] which were linked to the assembly and break-up of the supercontinent Pangaea,

[00:02:03] whereas no such feature was found in the Pacific domain.

[00:02:06] So, that means the continents of the two mantle domains are not exactly the same as previously thought.

[00:02:12] Instead, the Earth appears to have two chemically very distinct hemispheric faces,

[00:02:17] with a Pacific ring of fire being the surface expression of the boundary between the two.

[00:02:22] The two chemically distinct hemispheres can best be explained by the distinct evolutionary histories

[00:02:27] of the two mantle domains during the Rodinia to Pangaea supercontinent cycles.

[00:02:32] The authors found that the African mantle domain contains continental materials

[00:02:36] which were brought down by the subduction system for at least the past 600 million years.

[00:02:41] However, the Pacific domain has been protected from the infiltration of such materials.

[00:02:46] The findings are significant because they show a dynamic relationship

[00:02:51] between plate tectonic processes that operate near the surface

[00:02:54] and the formation and evolution of Earth's deep mantle structures.

[00:02:58] So, this work helps scientists better understand what drives plate tectonics

[00:03:02] and the formation and reservation of global geotectonic features such as the Pacific ring of fire.

[00:03:08] De Sey says the dynamic and interactive nature of the entire Earth system has important implications

[00:03:13] for the formation of Earth's resources, the evolution of Earth's environment, and even the evolution of life itself.

[00:03:20] The research comes from the fact that when we look at the Earth, and so we know we have the crust,

[00:03:25] and then below the crust we have the mantle, and below the mantle at the center of the Earth you have the core, right?

[00:03:30] And it's very difficult to access the mantle because it's so far away, like very, very deep below the crust.

[00:03:35] And so we use indirect methods to image or understand what the mantle is about.

[00:03:40] So, we use seismic imaging or tomography, which is basically a way to do like MRI the mantle.

[00:03:46] And when you look at the mantle, we find those massive structures below the mantle at the core mantle binary,

[00:03:52] one below Africa and one below the Pacific.

[00:03:54] And those guys are called the large shared-velocity provinces or LLSVPs.

[00:03:58] So, we have a colleague over the East, Nicolas Lamont, who wants to call them blobs because first it's funnier and also more easy to understand.

[00:04:05] We have giant blobs below the mantle, and we just want to understand why the structure of the mantle is so complex and so heterogeneous.

[00:04:11] And so, interestingly, those blobs basically control how the mantle is convecting.

[00:04:15] To give an idea, basically, this is above those LLSVPs that we can have like the middle-ocean ridges,

[00:04:20] or basically where the plates will just like separate from each other.

[00:04:23] And in between them, we're going to have like where the plate is going back to the mantle.

[00:04:27] So, basically, if you look at the Earth, we have these giant blobs, and in between we have the pacifying ring of fire,

[00:04:32] which is basically the substitution zones going down and producing all the volcanoes.

[00:04:37] And the general idea was to understand if those structures have been there forever,

[00:04:42] or if they are moving through time and how they are connecting to continents,

[00:04:45] and especially where the continents move.

[00:04:47] So, that was the main topic because there is basically, until a couple of years ago,

[00:04:52] there is like basically two schools of thought saying that those structures stay there forever,

[00:04:55] and other schools of thought saying that, oh no, they have to move,

[00:04:58] they have to be related to what's going on to the surface, because Earth is an integrated system,

[00:05:02] and everything is interconnected.

[00:05:04] So, one way to test that would be to look at the rocks that would be generated because of those blobs, right?

[00:05:09] And if you look at the blobs, they are the main source, or actually they control the location

[00:05:14] where we're going to have the hotspot volcanoes.

[00:05:17] So like Hawaii, Iceland, La Reunion, we name it.

[00:05:21] But they also control where you have the mid-ocean ridges, where we produce the oceanic crust.

[00:05:25] So, one idea was saying, if the two mantle domains, which each contain the blobs, are the same,

[00:05:30] they should have the same composition.

[00:05:32] Because when you melt the mantle, you're going to produce a crust,

[00:05:34] but the composition of the crust will reflect the composition of the mantle.

[00:05:38] And so that's basically what we did.

[00:05:39] So we went to the databases, look at the composition of the oceanic crust,

[00:05:42] the composition of all the intra-apelate volcanoes we can find on the ocean,

[00:05:46] and then we compare the compositions using machine learning

[00:05:49] to see if the machine could see the difference between the two domains,

[00:05:52] and boom, we can find that they are different in composition.

[00:05:55] So if they are different in composition, meaning they must be explained by something,

[00:05:58] why they're different.

[00:05:59] And the best way we find to explain them, if you look at the structure,

[00:06:04] we see that we have an African blob, which sits basically below all the continental hemisphere,

[00:06:09] which once again, once upon a time was Pangea,

[00:06:12] while the other blob just sits below the Pacific,

[00:06:14] and back in the day was just like the super ocean of the planet when we have Pangea.

[00:06:17] So we have Pangea on one side, which is own blob,

[00:06:19] and we have Pacific blobs, which were just a super ocean.

[00:06:22] And they are interesting that there are chemical differences between the two,

[00:06:26] and how we can explain that.

[00:06:28] And again, just doing that geology and looking at the past of how you form super continents,

[00:06:33] we know that when you form super continents, you need to bring plates together.

[00:06:36] And the best way to do that is having subduction zones that basically have like plates going down,

[00:06:41] back to the mantle, and basically attracting two different plates together and smashing them together.

[00:06:46] But when you do that, you basically put a lot of sediments into the ocean,

[00:06:50] and all the sediments will go back in the mantle during the subduction zone or during the collision.

[00:06:54] And very interestingly, when you look at the composition of the basalts and the Rochene Cross from the African domain,

[00:07:00] compared to the Pacific domain, you see that the African domain,

[00:07:02] which is the continental hemisphere where Pangea was, it's more enriched in continental elements.

[00:07:07] And that's how we can say that, oh, maybe our theory like holds the water,

[00:07:11] because we could expand the composition by the formation of the large super continent Pangea.

[00:07:15] Is this in tension with the other hypothesis at the moment, which is that the mantle is uniform,

[00:07:19] and the only chemical changes that really occur are as magma rises up from the mantle

[00:07:24] and passes through volcanoes on the way to the surface?

[00:07:27] Yes. So there is this, but the thing is, when we, overall that's what's happening,

[00:07:32] because the volcanic processes and magnetic processes control a lot of the composition.

[00:07:37] The thing we have is when you look at rocks that go through the same processes.

[00:07:40] So we look at the oceanic crust that basically just experience melting and emplacements in the crust.

[00:07:45] And when you compare the rocks that went to the same processes,

[00:07:48] volcanic processes in the Pacific or in the African domain,

[00:07:51] so basically they form in the same way, they still have different geochemical compositions.

[00:07:54] So we tried in the study to compare what's comparable, because you're right,

[00:07:58] if you have a rock forming a different way, maybe they can have a different composition

[00:08:01] just based on the fact that they form a different way.

[00:08:04] But in our case, we focus on rocks that form in exactly the same, exactly not really exactly,

[00:08:08] but in very similar ways.

[00:08:09] So in a way the Earth has two faces.

[00:08:11] Yes, exactly. So in that case, it means that the mantle that solves those rocks

[00:08:15] has different compositions. Overall, they are overall different.

[00:08:18] And that's what's fascinating is because for a long time we thought, as you said,

[00:08:22] that the mantle was homogeneous, or at least part was homogeneous of the morphs,

[00:08:25] the mid-ocean ridges, the rocks we studied, were very homogeneous,

[00:08:28] and we can use that to make models about how they evolved.

[00:08:31] But if they are very different, then we need to take that into account

[00:08:34] to understand how the planet evolved.

[00:08:35] Where would you like to take this next?

[00:08:37] So next is really cool.

[00:08:38] Next is basically, now we have mapped out basically what's going on today,

[00:08:42] so looking at present day composition, and then we want to go back in time.

[00:08:45] So to do that, we need to look at ocean light, which are fragments of oceanic crust

[00:08:49] in place and continent during the formation of the supercontinent, for example.

[00:08:53] And we have a PhD student that's working on this and find very interesting results.

[00:08:56] And also another thing we want to do is do geodynamic modeling.

[00:09:00] So basically, we produce how the Earth mantle and the crust move

[00:09:03] for the last billion or two billion years,

[00:09:05] try to map out those mantle domains through time to see if the mantle domain today

[00:09:10] results from one cycle or two cycles or three cycles,

[00:09:13] which is something we still don't know yet.

[00:09:14] Yeah, because it's not just one supercontinent that existed before the continent broke up

[00:09:19] and subducted and came back up.

[00:09:21] There have been several cycles like this,

[00:09:23] and you'd think there would be some sort of chemical history of that.

[00:09:27] Exactly.

[00:09:28] So that's exactly the case.

[00:09:29] So what we see is like, we have a strong imprint on the mantle

[00:09:32] from the last supercontinent cycle, but there is still,

[00:09:35] if you look into the detail of the composition of the older islands

[00:09:38] and the oceanic crust, we see patches of things that are a bit different,

[00:09:41] and that doesn't necessarily match these hypotheses,

[00:09:43] even though at first order it works, at second order we see some problems.

[00:09:47] And maybe those problems rely on the previous cycles,

[00:09:50] the before Pangea.

[00:09:51] So when we had Rodinia or even the previous supercontinent when we had Nuna.

[00:09:54] That's things that are not resolved yet, and that's things we want to understand better.

[00:09:58] All this is implications for how life developed on Earth too, doesn't it?

[00:10:02] So that's one of the aspects is when you enrich the mantle,

[00:10:05] when you do that by seduction, you bring continental material back to the mantle,

[00:10:09] especially sediments.

[00:10:10] And some of the sediments, they are carbon rich.

[00:10:12] So the carbonates, for example, that form at the continental margin,

[00:10:16] if they're being seduced at some point, you're going to bring a lot of CO2 in the mantle.

[00:10:19] But if we're saying it's true, it means that you enrich the mantle in some way,

[00:10:22] in some places more than other places.

[00:10:24] So when you have volcanism, maybe you're going to release more carbon

[00:10:28] or more other volatiles locally, and that might have an impact on the local climate

[00:10:32] or local development of life.

[00:10:34] So that's one aspect we would try to understand as well.

[00:10:36] One question would be how confident we are in being able to map out,

[00:10:40] you know, like after this or Pangea, I would say very difficult.

[00:10:44] But something that's really exciting is there is a huge leap in technology,

[00:10:48] especially when we're using machine learning to understand reconstruction of supercontinent,

[00:10:52] because there are still models, and there are several models.

[00:10:55] But if we can link the geodynamic modeling, the geochemistry,

[00:10:58] and the supercontinent cycles models we have now,

[00:11:00] we're going to make huge progress, and the technology will probably help us.

[00:11:04] And that's very exciting.

[00:11:05] That's Luke Serge Desai from Curtin University.

[00:11:08] And this is Space Time.

[00:11:11] Still to come, China planning to undertake its first manned mission to the moon before 2030.

[00:11:16] And after seven months aboard the International Space Station,

[00:11:19] NASA's SpaceX crew 8 have returned to Earth,

[00:11:22] safely splashing down off the coast of Florida.

[00:11:25] All that and more still to come on Space Time.

[00:11:44] China has announced plans to have its first taekanauts walking on the moon before 2030.

[00:11:49] Beijing says it's accelerating its mission plans,

[00:11:52] following substantial progress in the development, testing,

[00:11:55] and construction of infrastructure associated with the program.

[00:11:59] The China manned space agency's strategy involves deploying its new super-heavy lift Long March 10 three-stage rocket

[00:12:06] to separately deliver the manned Meng-Zhu or dream vessel spacecraft,

[00:12:10] which will carry three taekanauts from the Earth to lunar orbit,

[00:12:13] and the Lang-Yu or embracing the moon manned lunar lander,

[00:12:16] which will transport two of those taekanauts down to the lunar surface.

[00:12:20] The two spacecraft will rendezvous in lunar orbit,

[00:12:23] with crews then transferring from one vehicle to the other.

[00:12:26] Prototypes of the new Long March 10 are already in production,

[00:12:29] with ground test validation underway and the first test flight slated for 2027.

[00:12:35] Beijing claims the new 93-metre-tall rocket will be able to transport up to 70 tonnes into low-Earth orbit,

[00:12:42] and 27 tonnes into translunar orbit.

[00:12:44] A new launch complex for the Long March 10 is also being developed,

[00:12:48] as are specialized dedicated ground stations for communications, telemetry, and mission control.

[00:12:53] As well as the lunar missions, the 21.6-ton reusable Meng-Zhu spacecraft

[00:12:58] will also replace the current Russian Soyuz-based Shenzhou capsules

[00:13:02] on low-Earth orbit flights to China's space station.

[00:13:05] Beijing says it's already undertaken integrated airdrop tests

[00:13:09] to validate the Meng-Zhu's performance.

[00:13:12] Meanwhile, we now know the Lang-Yu lunar lander will consist of separate descent and ascent stages.

[00:13:17] That's really similar in concept to the Apollo lunar modules of the 1960s and 70s.

[00:13:22] Beijing's also developing a lunar rover.

[00:13:25] That'll allow Taikonauts to cover greater area of terrain once they arrive on the Moon's surface.

[00:13:31] Like the NASA-led Artemis mission, China's looking at a landing site near the lunar South Pole.

[00:13:36] And Beijing's also working with Russia to develop a new joint manned space base on the lunar surface,

[00:13:42] which should be operational during the early 2030s.

[00:13:46] Needless to say, we'll keep you informed.

[00:13:49] This is Space Time.

[00:13:50] Still to come, NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 returns safely to Earth,

[00:13:55] splashing down off the coast of Florida.

[00:13:57] And later in the science report,

[00:13:59] Australia's weather and climate continues to change

[00:14:01] with more extreme heat events and extended fire seasons.

[00:14:05] All that and more still to come on Space Time.

[00:14:23] Well, after seven months in orbit aboard the International Space Station,

[00:14:27] NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 have finally returned back to Earth,

[00:14:31] safely splashing down off the coast of Florida.

[00:14:34] During their mission on station, the four crew members carried out more than 200 scientific investigations.

[00:14:40] These included demonstrating space-based manufacturing production processes,

[00:14:45] such as the in-space development of stem cells, which can then be matured into a wide variety of tissues.

[00:14:51] These could then be used for future large-scale in-space biomanufacturing of stem cell-derived products,

[00:14:57] which could then be used for new treatments for heart diseases, neurodegenerative issues and other conditions.

[00:15:02] Other studies were dedicated to crystallizing organic molecules in microgravity,

[00:15:08] an environment that alters many observable phenomena,

[00:15:10] thereby allowing scientists to study things in ways simply not possible on Earth.

[00:15:15] The crew also supported the third experiment in a series of products to improve ultrasensitive biosensors.

[00:15:22] These can be used to detect trace substances and liquids, including early cancer biomarkers.

[00:15:27] By using laser heating to control bubble formation in microgravity, they improved particle collection,

[00:15:34] a key step in boosting sensor sensitivity.

[00:15:37] Other research tested a new ultra-high-resolution single-sensor camera,

[00:15:41] validating the camera's function, operations and video downlink capabilities in microgravity.

[00:15:47] Crew-8 astronauts also investigated the effects of radiation in the space environment

[00:15:51] on mechanisms for gene editing.

[00:15:53] Those results could help develop new ways to better protect astronauts

[00:15:57] and shed light on genetic risk factors for certain diseases during space flight.

[00:16:02] Another investigation looked at how plants grow at different orbital altitudes.

[00:16:07] The results of this could provide new insights into the production of crops

[00:16:11] for long-duration missions in high radiation environments.

[00:16:15] We can see Crew-8 being joyfully welcomed aboard the International Space Station.

[00:16:20] It's just great to be back. There's such a sense of familiarity and homeness to the station.

[00:16:26] Can't wait to get back to work. I know that our flight's going to go by in a blink of an eye,

[00:16:29] and really anxious to start.

[00:16:32] It's pretty cool up here that our work is fun, and it's fun to work.

[00:16:37] Our daily schedule is awesome to me because it's different every single day.

[00:16:40] For example, today I got to put together a launcher that's going to launch satellites in a couple days.

[00:16:46] It's going to launch little baby satellites out into space.

[00:16:48] Tomorrow I might be doing experiments, all kinds of crazy things.

[00:16:51] And then I get to go look out the window and take pictures, so it's pretty awesome.

[00:16:56] Research is constantly changing. It's never the same thing.

[00:16:59] Like we have transparent alloys that we're working on, a lot of DNA sequencing.

[00:17:03] But for me, you know, one of the things that I've been a part of from the beginning is the immunity assay

[00:17:08] so that we can look at our immunity function while we're on board the station.

[00:17:12] The ISS is an incredibly well-equipped laboratory, and we are testing everything up here

[00:17:17] from the life support systems to exercise countermeasures, but also the ability to do science.

[00:17:23] Mike Huntsville on 3. We're liking the way it looks from this angle.

[00:17:25] Copy that. This is really nice hardware to work with.

[00:17:29] We are the hands and the eyes of all the researchers on the Earth.

[00:17:33] The other day I was working on something called the Code Atom Lab,

[00:17:36] where we can take materials and different particles,

[00:17:38] and we can cool them down to some of the coolest temperatures in the universe.

[00:17:47] So many nations work together to put together this international space station.

[00:17:51] I love the space station, and I love being on Earth.

[00:17:53] When you look out these windows and you look at Earth, it just blows you away with its beauty.

[00:18:04] This is Space Time.

[00:18:22] And time now to take a brief look at some of the other stories making news in science this week

[00:18:26] with a science report.

[00:18:27] The 2024 State of the Climate report has been issued,

[00:18:31] finding Australia's weather and climatic patterns have continued to change,

[00:18:35] with more extreme heat events, longer fire seasons, more intense heavy rainfall, and rising sea levels.

[00:18:41] The CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology produce these reports once every two years.

[00:18:47] They're designed to assess changes and long-term trends in Australia's climate and weather.

[00:18:52] The report found that greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are continuing to increase,

[00:18:57] and eight of the nine warmest years on record in Australia have occurred since 2013.

[00:19:02] All this has led to an increase in extreme fire weather and longer fire seasons across large parts of the country.

[00:19:10] Reduced rainfall in southwestern Australia between April and October is now likely to become a permanent feature of the local climate.

[00:19:17] At the same time, heavy rainfall events are becoming more intense, especially in the north of the country.

[00:19:23] Oceans around Australia are also continuing to warm, contributing to longer and more frequent heat waves and coral bleaching.

[00:19:31] And the oceans are also becoming more acidic, especially in parts of southern Australia.

[00:19:36] Rates of sea level rise continue to vary across the country,

[00:19:39] with the largest increases in the north and southeast of the Australian continent.

[00:19:44] There was some good news, with Australian greenhouse emissions declining since 2005.

[00:19:50] However, because of global implications, the warming is projected to continue to increase over coming decades.

[00:19:56] The World Meteorological Organization says China remains the world's biggest carbon dioxide polluter,

[00:20:03] producing more than a third of the total global output.

[00:20:06] That amounts to more than 10.2 million tonnes annually.

[00:20:10] That's about double that of the United States, which is the second worst polluter on the planet,

[00:20:14] and four times that of India, which holds third place.

[00:20:17] They're followed by Russia, Japan, Iran, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and South Korea in 10th place.

[00:20:25] Next comes Canada, then Brazil, Turkey, South Africa, Mexico, Australia is in 16th place.

[00:20:31] It's followed by the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, and Vietnam rounding off the worst 20.

[00:20:38] A new study claims vitamin K2 could help avoid painful leg cramps at night.

[00:20:43] The findings, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, are based on a trial of people aged over 65.

[00:20:51] Some 200 people with regular night cramps participated in the trial.

[00:20:55] They were monitored for two weeks before the trial commenced in order to assess how frequently they had leg cramps.

[00:21:01] Half were then given vitamin K2 supplements for eight weeks, while the remainder were given a placebo.

[00:21:07] The authors found that while both groups had the same average frequency of cramps before they were given the supplements,

[00:21:13] those in the vitamin K2 group on average had fewer cramps and of lower severity and duration compared to the placebo group over the eight-week trial period.

[00:21:23] The Australian Defence Force has taken delivery of the first of 40 new next-generation Blackhawk helicopters from the United States under a $3 billion deal.

[00:21:34] At the same time, the ADF has also confirmed a new $21 billion contract to ramp up local guided missile production.

[00:21:41] The new projects come in the shadow of growing regional aggression by China, raising concerns among Pacific Island and Asian nations.

[00:21:49] The new missile deal will see an increase in domestic missile munitions manufacturing, including the development of a new long-range strike capability.

[00:21:57] The project includes a new plan for manufacturing one 55mm M795 artillery ammunition.

[00:22:04] The announcement comes just a week after Australia confirmed plans to purchase $7 billion worth of American Standard Missile Block 3Cs and Standard Missile 6s.

[00:22:14] And of course, there's last month's announcement of a new guided missile manufacturing plant to be built near Newcastle in New South Wales.

[00:22:22] The new long-range strike capabilities will improve the range of Australian weaponry from 200km to more than 2,500.

[00:22:30] Meanwhile, the Army's just taken delivery of the first 10 U8-60M Blackhawk helicopters in a move which will see the return of what was once a trusted warhorse.

[00:22:40] At the same time, it'll bring a long-awaited end to the fiasco of the often-grounded Taipan fleet.

[00:22:46] The $3 billion contract with Lockheed Martin will see 40 of the choppers enter service by later next year.

[00:22:52] Meanwhile, the disposal of Australia's 46 grounded MRH-90 Taipans, which Ukraine tried unsuccessfully to acquire, should be complete by the end of this year.

[00:23:02] In January 2021, the ADF announced plans to replace its aging Tiger attack helicopters with 29 new Apache A864Es.

[00:23:11] And that's a recommendation that this program made to the then Defence Minister more than 10 years ago.

[00:23:17] Pity they didn't listen.

[00:23:20] A new documentary has been released looking at a failed attempt to produce a movie about Point Pleasant's infamous Mothman monster.

[00:23:27] The doco, Mothman the film that never was, explains why the Mothman movie was never completed.

[00:23:33] Now, this is not to be confused with the 2002 movie The Mothman Prophecies starring Richard Gere.

[00:23:39] Filming for the unfinished Mothman movie dates back to 1997.

[00:23:44] Tim Mendham from Australian Skeptic says,

[00:23:46] The new documentary includes never-before-seen footage from the Mothman movie

[00:23:50] and lets listeners hear first-hand accounts from the cast and crew during the filming of the original movie.

[00:23:56] I'm trying to think how long Mothman has been around.

[00:23:58] I think every place needs to have its monster of some sort, whether it's a lake monster or whether it's coming in the forest.

[00:24:03] The Jersey level was apparently made up by a real estate agent.

[00:24:06] Believe it or not, it's a deer standing up on its hind legs eating stuff as it is.

[00:24:10] But yeah, apparently it was made up by a real estate agent to try and get some interest in an area.

[00:24:14] Anyway, Mothman, I'm not quite sure of what the anti-seasons of Mothman are.

[00:24:17] It's been around for a little while.

[00:24:18] There's a story recently that the film released called Mothman, the film that never was.

[00:24:23] Mothman is supposed to be this sort of large humanoid, muscly sort of figure that looks like a moth.

[00:24:28] It has wings most of the time.

[00:24:30] It's a bar.

[00:24:30] It has glowing eyes.

[00:24:31] Yeah, okay, thank you.

[00:24:32] A bar now.

[00:24:33] It has glowing eyes, of course, all these things have glowing eyes.

[00:24:36] And it does terrible things.

[00:24:37] Now, I'm not quite sure about the bridge collapsing that came from the film, The Mothman Prophecies.

[00:24:41] Anyway, but yeah, there was this film made called The Mothman, the film that never was.

[00:24:44] There was going to be a film of Mothman made in the town of Point Pleasant in West Virginia.

[00:24:49] Point Pleasant is a place where there's a lot of Mothman sightings.

[00:24:53] And they're going to make a film about Mothman, not the one with Richard Gere, but a different one.

[00:24:56] And they were all going ahead and a lot of the residents were having a good time, excited to be playing extras, et cetera.

[00:25:01] And suddenly, a handful of Point Pleasant residents who did not want this to happen started threatening the crew members.

[00:25:07] And they were worried about their personal safety.

[00:25:09] And because the area around Point Pleasant supposedly had rumoured ties to organised crime.

[00:25:15] And so if that was the case, there's an organised criminal who didn't exactly want a lot of publicity about their area because they would interfere with their activities.

[00:25:23] So this film that was going to be made was stopped halfway through because the crew got threatened and everyone got a bit worried.

[00:25:30] So that was in the late 90s.

[00:25:32] So someone now has made a documentary about the film that wasn't made and is showing it at Point Pleasant in the Mothman Festival.

[00:25:38] So Point Pleasant has changed from being criminal based and frightening people off to actually embracing the Mothman legend.

[00:25:44] So we've got a Mothman museum and all sorts of stuff.

[00:25:46] So Point Pleasant is now your Mothman venue of choice.

[00:25:50] It's one of these classic sort of monsters that builds up and up and up in reputation as time goes on.

[00:25:55] That's Tim Indom from Australian Skeptics.

[00:26:13] And that's the show for now.

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