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00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Stuart Gary: This is space Time Series 29 Episode
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 119 Full broadcast on 5
00:00:05 --> 00:00:07 October 2026 Coming up on
00:00:07 --> 00:00:10 spacetime, Starship Test Flight
00:00:10 --> 00:00:13 14 successfully achieves orbit for the first
00:00:13 --> 00:00:15 time. How Earth's weather changes the
00:00:15 --> 00:00:18 planet's centre of gravity and work about
00:00:18 --> 00:00:21 to begin on the world's first orbital power
00:00:21 --> 00:00:24 station. All that and more coming up
00:00:24 --> 00:00:25 on, uh, Space Time.
00:00:26 --> 00:00:29 Welcome to Space Time with Stuart
00:00:29 --> 00:00:30 G.
00:00:46 --> 00:00:48 The world's largest and most powerful rocket.
00:00:48 --> 00:00:51 SpaceX's Starship Super Heavy has
00:00:51 --> 00:00:53 successfully achieved orbit insertion during
00:00:53 --> 00:00:55 its latest test flight out of Texas.
00:00:56 --> 00:00:59 The massive 124 metre tall stainless
00:00:59 --> 00:01:02 steel spacecraft blasted into orbit from its
00:01:02 --> 00:01:04 launch pad at Starbase Texas in a thundering
00:01:04 --> 00:01:07 roar, climbing quickly into an almost clear
00:01:07 --> 00:01:10 blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds.
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 Stuart Gary: 9, 8, 7,
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 6, 5, 4,
00:01:16 --> 00:01:19 3, 2, 1.
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 33 out of 33 engines lit on
00:01:29 --> 00:01:32 Super Heavy. The windows shaking a bit here.
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 Commentator: Booster and chip avionics, power and
00:01:34 --> 00:01:35 telemetry nominal.
00:01:35 --> 00:01:38 Stuart Gary: Coming up on max Q. Maximum aerodynamic
00:01:38 --> 00:01:40 pressure on the rocket. Stress is going to
00:01:40 --> 00:01:42 come down now as we start flying through the
00:01:42 --> 00:01:44 upper parts of Earth's atmosphere.
00:01:45 --> 00:01:47 Stuart Gary: This 14th test flight used Super Heavy Block
00:01:47 --> 00:01:50 3 version 3 Booster 21 and Block 3
00:01:50 --> 00:01:53 version 3 Starship 41. New heat
00:01:53 --> 00:01:56 shield upgrades. Experiments employed for
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 this flight included the first ever reuse of
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 pre flown heat shield tiles.
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 They'd been taken off ship 40 used on test
00:02:04 --> 00:02:06 flight 13 which splashed down in the Indian
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 Ocean off the Western Australian coast and is
00:02:08 --> 00:02:11 now being transported back to Texas aboard
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 the semi submersible vessel Forte. With
00:02:13 --> 00:02:16 arrival time dockside in Brownsville expected
00:02:16 --> 00:02:19 this week, Test Flight 14 also
00:02:19 --> 00:02:21 employed some new hardware and software
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 tweaks in order to address ice clogging and
00:02:23 --> 00:02:25 relight issues experienced on the last test
00:02:25 --> 00:02:28 flight. No return to launch pad
00:02:28 --> 00:02:30 tower catches were planned for this mission,
00:02:31 --> 00:02:32 but while the mission was generally
00:02:32 --> 00:02:35 successful, it didn't all go smoothly. While
00:02:35 --> 00:02:38 all 33 of the rocket super heavy booster's
00:02:38 --> 00:02:40 Raptor engines ignited on liftoff, one
00:02:40 --> 00:02:43 unexpectedly shut down during the climb to
00:02:43 --> 00:02:45 orbit, with the others taking up the slack.
00:02:45 --> 00:02:48 The ascent was followed by a successful hot
00:02:48 --> 00:02:50 staging manoeuvre where the booster's engines
00:02:50 --> 00:02:52 gradually shut down in sequence with the
00:02:52 --> 00:02:55 upper Starship stage igniting its six Raptor
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 engines while some of the booster's engines
00:02:57 --> 00:03:00 were still burning. Only then were the
00:03:00 --> 00:03:02 clamps released and the booster separated
00:03:02 --> 00:03:04 from Starship, performing a directional flip
00:03:04 --> 00:03:07 manoeuvre and reigniting 31 of the planned
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 33 Raptor engines for the boostback burn to
00:03:09 --> 00:03:10 uh, Earth.
00:03:10 --> 00:03:13 Now, uh, on this particular test flight, the
00:03:13 --> 00:03:15 Boostback burn manoeuvre was intentionally
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 designed to burn through the remaining liquid
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 oxygen inside the booster's main tank to test
00:03:19 --> 00:03:22 the limits of booster performance ahead of
00:03:22 --> 00:03:24 future return to launch site missions.
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 Commentator: Although we're not doing a tower catch today,
00:03:26 --> 00:03:29 we are going to simulate the same way that we
00:03:29 --> 00:03:31 would. So we'll do a 13 engine
00:03:31 --> 00:03:34 landing burn to slow down. We'll then
00:03:34 --> 00:03:37 transition to five and then transition down
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 to three for the final hover.
00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 Stuart Gary: After descending through the atmosphere, the
00:03:41 --> 00:03:43 super heavy booster reignited 11 of the
00:03:43 --> 00:03:45 planned 13 engines for the high thrust
00:03:45 --> 00:03:47 portion of the landing burn before
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 deliberately cutting down to five engines for
00:03:49 --> 00:03:52 trajectory fine tuning and then down to three
00:03:52 --> 00:03:54 engines before making a soft splashdown, uh,
00:03:54 --> 00:03:57 in the warm Gulf waters just seven minutes
00:03:57 --> 00:03:58 after launching.
00:03:58 --> 00:04:01 Elon Musk: So we are just about landing burn start. So
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 that's where we'll first ignite the centre 13
00:04:03 --> 00:04:06 engines, bring that down to five and
00:04:06 --> 00:04:08 then finally down to three landing burn
00:04:08 --> 00:04:08 startup.
00:04:09 --> 00:04:10 Commentator: Down to five.
00:04:14 --> 00:04:15 That looks like a pretty soft splashdown.
00:04:15 --> 00:04:18 Stuart Gary: Uh, following splashdown and landing burn
00:04:18 --> 00:04:19 shutdown, the super heavy's flight
00:04:19 --> 00:04:22 termination system was deliberately triggered
00:04:22 --> 00:04:24 to destroy the booster in a demonstration of
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 the safety hardware. Now, while
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 this was going on the upper stage Starship
00:04:29 --> 00:04:32 continued its climb to orbit with all six of
00:04:32 --> 00:04:34 its Raptor engines burning.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 Commentator: Ship there still accelerating with
00:04:37 --> 00:04:39 six out of six engines under power. That is
00:04:39 --> 00:04:42 great to see. Just crossed over
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 10 kilometres per hour.
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 Tim Mendham: Ship is on a nominal trajectory and
00:04:46 --> 00:04:48 Elon Musk: we just heard that call out that ship is on
00:04:48 --> 00:04:51 nominal trajectory. So that's great news.
00:04:51 --> 00:04:52 Things are going pretty well so far.
00:04:52 --> 00:04:55 Stuart Gary: However, once again one of the Raptor vacuum
00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 engines unexpectedly shut down early.
00:04:58 --> 00:05:01 Stuart Gary: We just had Engine 6, one of the RVACs shut
00:05:01 --> 00:05:03 down early. We were planning on that one
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 going for probably another 30 seconds. So
00:05:05 --> 00:05:08 similar to Flight 12 kind of
00:05:08 --> 00:05:11 scenario here where we had an RVAC out on the
00:05:11 --> 00:05:13 first flight of E3. So we do have engine out
00:05:13 --> 00:05:14 capability.
00:05:14 --> 00:05:16 So the ship adjusts for this. So still
00:05:16 --> 00:05:18 running on five out of this six
00:05:19 --> 00:05:22 and we should be getting to ship. Engine
00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 cutoff in about the next 10 seconds.
00:05:24 --> 00:05:26 Stuart Gary: Now, Starship still achieved its planned
00:05:26 --> 00:05:29 passive safe suborbital altitude. However,
00:05:29 --> 00:05:31 the loss of one of the vacuum Raptors
00:05:31 --> 00:05:33 triggered a review looking at a possible
00:05:33 --> 00:05:36 early return to Earth rather than the planned
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 continuation of full orbit.
00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 Stuart Gary: All right, so we are in space.
00:05:40 --> 00:05:43 Now comes the next step. So the team
00:05:43 --> 00:05:45 obviously going to take a quick look at that.
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 Uh, we've said it repeatedly, we're only
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 going to commit to orbit if everything's
00:05:49 --> 00:05:51 looking really healthy and an engine out on
00:05:51 --> 00:05:53 ascent Even though you're not going to use it
00:05:53 --> 00:05:55 for, for the rest of time on orbit could
00:05:55 --> 00:05:56 drive us to not commit.
00:05:56 --> 00:05:59 Stuart Gary: Eventually a go no go poll for
00:05:59 --> 00:06:01 continuation of orbit was undertaken and
00:06:01 --> 00:06:04 approval given for that final 22nd orbital
00:06:04 --> 00:06:07 insertion burn, pushing Starship to over
00:06:07 --> 00:06:10 26 kilometres per
00:06:10 --> 00:06:12 hour and lifting the spacecraft to a roughly
00:06:12 --> 00:06:15 276 kilometre high orbit for the first
00:06:15 --> 00:06:16 time ever.
00:06:16 --> 00:06:18 Stuart Gary: Uh, waiting for a final, final
00:06:18 --> 00:06:20 confirmation on if we're going to make the
00:06:20 --> 00:06:22 attempt to go to orbit today or not. Little
00:06:22 --> 00:06:25 extra drama as we go through this position,
00:06:25 --> 00:06:28 go through this decision. The go no go poll
00:06:28 --> 00:06:31 for orbit has finished
00:06:31 --> 00:06:34 and we are go for orbit. Here we go. We are
00:06:34 --> 00:06:37 coming up on our orbital insertion
00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 burn again. We're looking for just a single
00:06:39 --> 00:06:42 Raptor to light one of those sea levels
00:06:42 --> 00:06:44 it's going to burn for
00:06:45 --> 00:06:48 uh, burn two is started. Single Raptor still
00:06:48 --> 00:06:50 lit, doing the work to push us into orbit.
00:06:50 --> 00:06:53 Two shut down, Burn two shut down. Insertion
00:06:53 --> 00:06:55 Starship is orbital all ah, right.
00:06:55 --> 00:06:58 Successful orbital insertion burn.
00:06:58 --> 00:07:01 Starship is in orbit. Huge
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 milestone for the Starship teams, one that
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 we've been looking to get to for a couple of
00:07:05 --> 00:07:06 years now.
00:07:06 --> 00:07:08 Stuart Gary: Then after a brief orbital coast phase, the
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 payload bay doors were opened and the first
00:07:11 --> 00:07:13 of 26 new version 3 Starlink High
00:07:13 --> 00:07:16 Capacity high speed broadband satellites were
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 deployed into orbit at a rate of roughly one
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 per minute. Three of the satellites were
00:07:21 --> 00:07:23 equipped with cameras allowing mission
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 managers to survey Starship's heat shield as
00:07:25 --> 00:07:28 they moved out of the payload bay. The first
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 of the 26 Starlink satellites were launched
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 as the ship flew over South Africa, with the
00:07:33 --> 00:07:35 last flying free over Indonesia.
00:07:36 --> 00:07:39 The satellite train formed a trailing arc
00:07:39 --> 00:07:41 behind and below the spacecraft, stretching
00:07:41 --> 00:07:44 out into orbit. Uh, the orbital mechanics of
00:07:44 --> 00:07:46 their deployment behind Starship meant they
00:07:46 --> 00:07:47 were travelling at a planned lower orbital
00:07:47 --> 00:07:50 speed, which meant they also dropped slightly
00:07:50 --> 00:07:52 in altitude again, just as expected.
00:07:54 --> 00:07:55 Once the satellites were all deployed,
00:07:55 --> 00:07:58 mission managers decided to end the flight
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 early just to be safe and bring Starship
00:08:00 --> 00:08:02 home, um, after less than two orbits rather
00:08:02 --> 00:08:05 than the initially planned six. But because
00:08:05 --> 00:08:07 of the decision to return early, that would
00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 have meant firing one of the main Raptor
00:08:09 --> 00:08:11 engines close to and possibly affecting the
00:08:11 --> 00:08:14 orbits of the just deployed satellites.
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 So instead the decision was taken to use
00:08:16 --> 00:08:19 Starship's reaction control system jets to
00:08:19 --> 00:08:21 gently lower the spacecraft down to below the
00:08:21 --> 00:08:24 orbital altit of the just released Starlinks.
00:08:25 --> 00:08:27 And only once this had been achieved was the
00:08:27 --> 00:08:30 go ahead given to fire one of the main sea
00:08:30 --> 00:08:32 level Raptor engines for what was to be
00:08:32 --> 00:08:35 Starship's first ever deorbit burn,
00:08:35 --> 00:08:37 slowing the vehicle down and beginning
00:08:37 --> 00:08:40 atmospheric re entry. The manoeuvre wouldn't
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 have been necessary if the original 6 orbit
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 plan had been followed as there then would
00:08:44 --> 00:08:46 have been sufficient separation between
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 Starship and the Starlink satellites.
00:08:48 --> 00:08:51 Stuart Gary: We are in deorbit startup burn startup.
00:08:51 --> 00:08:53 Single Raptor ignited. All right, good burn.
00:08:53 --> 00:08:55 Nominal descent coast trajectory burn
00:08:55 --> 00:08:57 shutdown and shut down. That means
00:08:58 --> 00:09:01 Starship is headed home. It is headed
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 towards the ocean. So good deorbit burn.
00:09:03 --> 00:09:06 Again that's just a really critical
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 moment. We need to slow Starship down enough
00:09:09 --> 00:09:12 so its path is going to naturally now take it
00:09:12 --> 00:09:14 through the Earth's atmosphere and for a
00:09:14 --> 00:09:17 reentry and splashdown in the
00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 Northern Pacific. So deorbit burn
00:09:19 --> 00:09:20 complete.
00:09:20 --> 00:09:23 Stuart Gary: Reentry entry went just as planned with
00:09:23 --> 00:09:25 Starship reigniting all three of the Raptor
00:09:25 --> 00:09:27 sea level engines in the landing burn and
00:09:27 --> 00:09:29 flip manoeuvre before undertaking a soft
00:09:29 --> 00:09:32 splashdown landing on target in the North
00:09:32 --> 00:09:33 Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 Stuart Gary: Final approach, Starship landing burn
00:09:36 --> 00:09:38 startup. Hearing chatter on the loops,
00:09:38 --> 00:09:40 everything's sounding pretty good on the
00:09:40 --> 00:09:41 engines right now.
00:09:41 --> 00:09:43 We are going to look to light all three for
00:09:43 --> 00:09:45 this initial landing burn. Eventually going
00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 down to two as we get closer to the water. Go
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 down to one for kind of a constant velocity
00:09:50 --> 00:09:52 hover and then splash down.
00:09:52 --> 00:09:54 Commentator: Seeing all three lit down to two.
00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 Stuart Gary: Starship has landed and
00:09:59 --> 00:10:01 Starship has landed.
00:10:01 --> 00:10:04 Stuart Gary: This mission was a key step in efforts to get
00:10:04 --> 00:10:06 the Starship super heavy ready for regular
00:10:06 --> 00:10:09 commercial, military and scientific missions.
00:10:10 --> 00:10:13 Eventually, SpaceX boss Elon Musk envisaged
00:10:13 --> 00:10:15 its Starship as a fully reusable colonial
00:10:15 --> 00:10:18 transport system, carrying up to 100 people
00:10:18 --> 00:10:21 or 150 tons of cargo and supplies at a time
00:10:21 --> 00:10:23 into space, allowing humans to establish new
00:10:23 --> 00:10:26 colonies on the Moon, Mars and beyond.
00:10:26 --> 00:10:29 Musk sees Starship doing for space travel
00:10:29 --> 00:10:31 what airlines are now doing for global air
00:10:31 --> 00:10:34 transport. Fast, reliable travel with
00:10:34 --> 00:10:36 frequent turnarounds at reasonable prices.
00:10:37 --> 00:10:39 And of course, NASA has already contracted
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 SpaceX's Starship and one of its competitors,
00:10:41 --> 00:10:44 Blue Origin, to provide lunar lander shuttle
00:10:44 --> 00:10:46 services between visiting Artemis Orion
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 missions from Earth, uh, and manned bases on
00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 the lunar surface. However, before any of
00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 that happens, Starship will need to
00:10:53 --> 00:10:55 successfully demonstrate several key
00:10:55 --> 00:10:58 milestones, including an ability to refuel in
00:10:58 --> 00:11:00 space and the capability of docking with
00:11:00 --> 00:11:03 NASA's manned Orion spacecraft. The
00:11:03 --> 00:11:05 first of these tests, the docking capability,
00:11:06 --> 00:11:08 will be trialled next year on the Artemis 3
00:11:08 --> 00:11:11 mission, which will see both Starship and
00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 Blue Origin dock with a manned Orion capsule
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 in low Earth orbit. Once certified for
00:11:16 --> 00:11:19 human spaceflight, Starship Super Heavy will
00:11:19 --> 00:11:21 begin replacing SpaceX's existing and very
00:11:22 --> 00:11:24 reliable workhorses, the Falcon 9 and Falcon
00:11:24 --> 00:11:27 Heavy launch vehicles and the crew Dragon and
00:11:27 --> 00:11:30 cargo Dragon capsules. Opening up a new
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 chapter in space travel in the process
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 changing man's spaceflight forever.
00:11:35 --> 00:11:38 This is space time still to come.
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 How Earth's weather changes the planet's
00:11:40 --> 00:11:43 centre of gravity and work about to begin on
00:11:43 --> 00:11:46 the world's first orbital power station. All
00:11:46 --> 00:11:49 that and more still to come on uh, space
00:11:49 --> 00:11:49 time.
00:12:03 --> 00:12:05 A new study has shown uh, that changes in
00:12:05 --> 00:12:08 seasonal weather patterns like snowfall,
00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 monsoons and oceans actually physically
00:12:10 --> 00:12:13 shift Earth's uh, centre of mass every year.
00:12:14 --> 00:12:16 The findings reported in the Geophysical
00:12:16 --> 00:12:18 Journal International are based on detailed
00:12:18 --> 00:12:21 satellite tracking showing that these changes
00:12:21 --> 00:12:23 redistribute enough water around the planet
00:12:23 --> 00:12:25 to shift the Earth's centre of mass back and
00:12:25 --> 00:12:28 forth relative to its geometric centre.
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 The difference only amounts to a few
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 millimetres. But tracking these oscillations
00:12:32 --> 00:12:35 is a crucial reference point for satellite
00:12:35 --> 00:12:37 navigation and elevation measurements. The
00:12:37 --> 00:12:40 new study paints a vivid picture of
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 springtime thaws, churning oceans and
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 dense winter air shifting massive surface
00:12:45 --> 00:12:48 loads from season to season. The
00:12:48 --> 00:12:51 research hasn't been the first attempt to pin
00:12:51 --> 00:12:53 down Earth's real centre of mass. Over the
00:12:53 --> 00:12:56 decades scientists have pioneered many space
00:12:56 --> 00:12:59 based techniques to define and locate the
00:12:59 --> 00:13:01 centre of mass. But it's a moving goalpost.
00:13:02 --> 00:13:04 If the Earth were a hard blue marble, its
00:13:04 --> 00:13:06 centre of mass would simply overlap, uh, its
00:13:06 --> 00:13:09 geometric centre. Problem solved. But
00:13:09 --> 00:13:12 in reality the planet is sloshing and sagging
00:13:12 --> 00:13:14 under its own weight of water, air and ice.
00:13:14 --> 00:13:17 And because of this, Earth's centre of mass
00:13:17 --> 00:13:19 continually swivels around its geometric
00:13:19 --> 00:13:21 centre by as much as several millimetres.
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 Previous estimates in 2017 and
00:13:24 --> 00:13:27 2023 differed by as much as 7 millimetres,
00:13:27 --> 00:13:29 which is almost as large as the motion
00:13:29 --> 00:13:32 itself. So to reduce this
00:13:32 --> 00:13:34 uncertainty, Donald Argus from NASA's Jet
00:13:34 --> 00:13:37 Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena California
00:13:37 --> 00:13:39 developed a new technique based on ultra
00:13:39 --> 00:13:42 precise satellite tracking. Driven by
00:13:42 --> 00:13:44 gravity, satellites naturally orbit the
00:13:44 --> 00:13:47 Earth's uh, centre of mass as if bound by
00:13:47 --> 00:13:48 invisible tethers.
00:13:48 --> 00:13:51 Tiny changes in the distance between the
00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 satellites and ground stations reflect
00:13:53 --> 00:13:56 Earth's shifting centre of mass. But of
00:13:56 --> 00:13:57 course, using satellites to locate Earth's
00:13:57 --> 00:14:00 uh, centre of mass isn't a new idea. In
00:14:00 --> 00:14:03 fact, dense metal satellites launched in 1976
00:14:03 --> 00:14:06 and 1992 were exclusively dedicated
00:14:06 --> 00:14:09 to this very task. Resembling
00:14:09 --> 00:14:12 408 kilogramme disco balls, the two laser
00:14:12 --> 00:14:14 geodynamic satellites are uh, studded with
00:14:14 --> 00:14:16 reflective prisms and are then tracked with
00:14:16 --> 00:14:19 lasers from ground stations across more than
00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 20 countries. However, one limitation
00:14:21 --> 00:14:24 of satellite laser ranging is the uneven
00:14:24 --> 00:14:26 distribution of ground stations around the
00:14:26 --> 00:14:29 Earth. The new technique improves
00:14:29 --> 00:14:32 accuracy by adding GPS tracking into the mix
00:14:32 --> 00:14:34 along with orbital data from several
00:14:34 --> 00:14:36 satellites in low Earth orbit in order to
00:14:36 --> 00:14:39 provide a diverse array of targets. And it
00:14:39 --> 00:14:41 also considers how the weight of water and
00:14:41 --> 00:14:43 ice physically deforms the Earth's, uh,
00:14:43 --> 00:14:45 crust, taking ground stations along for the
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 ride. Agus says his team are now
00:14:48 --> 00:14:50 estimating the size of the m movement of
00:14:50 --> 00:14:53 Earth's mass back and forth every year. And
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 they're finding it's actually about half of
00:14:55 --> 00:14:57 what they previously thought. And the mass of
00:14:57 --> 00:14:59 Earth's water and air moving between the
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 hemispheres is also smaller than previously
00:15:01 --> 00:15:02 thought.
00:15:02 --> 00:15:04 The authors tracked Earth's centre of mass as
00:15:04 --> 00:15:07 it oscillated seasonally, and they attributed
00:15:07 --> 00:15:09 this movement to three categories oceans,
00:15:10 --> 00:15:12 atmosphere and continental water, made up of
00:15:12 --> 00:15:15 land ice, snow, lake and river water, as well
00:15:15 --> 00:15:18 as soil moisture and groundwater. They found
00:15:18 --> 00:15:20 that snow accumulation in North America and
00:15:20 --> 00:15:23 Eurasia reaches its maximum in March and
00:15:23 --> 00:15:25 shifts Earth's centre of mass by about 3
00:15:25 --> 00:15:28 millimetres towards the North Pole. But then
00:15:28 --> 00:15:30 a month later in April, rainwater in the
00:15:30 --> 00:15:33 Apple river basin peaks at around 2
00:15:33 --> 00:15:36 gigatons, swinging Earth's centre of mass
00:15:36 --> 00:15:39 some 2.2 millimetres towards South America.
00:15:39 --> 00:15:42 And then the monsoon weather of Southeast
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 Asia comes in, attaining a maximum of 600
00:15:44 --> 00:15:47 gigatons six months later in November, adding
00:15:47 --> 00:15:49 to the annual oscillation. It doesn't end
00:15:49 --> 00:15:52 there. Between August and October, the oceans
00:15:52 --> 00:15:55 swirl with meltwater and rain and Earth's
00:15:55 --> 00:15:57 centre of mass shifts towards the South
00:15:57 --> 00:16:00 Pacific Ocean. See, the Pacific Ocean is so
00:16:00 --> 00:16:02 large that mass changes there overshadow, uh,
00:16:03 --> 00:16:05 the loss or gain in other oceans. Those
00:16:05 --> 00:16:08 seasonal dynamics in the Mediterranean, Red
00:16:08 --> 00:16:11 North Baltic and Barents Sea also help shift
00:16:11 --> 00:16:13 Earth's centre of mass in their own small
00:16:13 --> 00:16:16 way. The authors also used a
00:16:16 --> 00:16:18 model developed by the European Centre for
00:16:18 --> 00:16:20 Medium Range Weather Forecasting to estimate
00:16:20 --> 00:16:23 how atmospheric changes affect Earth's centre
00:16:23 --> 00:16:24 of mass throughout the seasons.
00:16:25 --> 00:16:27 Fascinatingly, they found that cold, dense
00:16:27 --> 00:16:30 winter air helps to tip the scales over
00:16:30 --> 00:16:32 Arabia, Asia and North Africa around
00:16:32 --> 00:16:35 December 2021 each year and around South
00:16:35 --> 00:16:38 America and South Africa around June 21.
00:16:39 --> 00:16:42 The new mass calculations are consistent with
00:16:42 --> 00:16:44 observations made by Grace Foe the
00:16:44 --> 00:16:47 Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment
00:16:47 --> 00:16:49 Follow on mission. Launched in 2018,
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 this mission's twin satellites map monthly
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 fluctuations in the Earth's gravitational
00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 pull due primarily to mass m movement of
00:16:56 --> 00:16:59 water above and below ground. The two
00:16:59 --> 00:17:02 satellites fly in a precise formation and
00:17:02 --> 00:17:04 when the lead satellite passes over a dense
00:17:04 --> 00:17:07 body like say, a swollen river valley, the
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 extra gravitational tug changes the distance
00:17:09 --> 00:17:12 to its twin by a small but measurable amount.
00:17:13 --> 00:17:15 This report from NASA tv.
00:17:22 --> 00:17:24 Frank Webb: Water is one of the main indicators of how
00:17:24 --> 00:17:27 the planet is responding to our evolving
00:17:27 --> 00:17:30 climate. We built our civilization
00:17:30 --> 00:17:32 around the climate that we had and the water
00:17:32 --> 00:17:34 resources that we had. And if those are
00:17:34 --> 00:17:36 changing, that can have a profound impact on
00:17:36 --> 00:17:38 how we operate our society.
00:17:39 --> 00:17:42 Phil Morton: Grace and Grace Follow on measure the motion
00:17:42 --> 00:17:44 of water around the Earth and they measure
00:17:44 --> 00:17:46 that in all forms of water. Water that's
00:17:46 --> 00:17:48 stored underground, water in the ocean, water
00:17:48 --> 00:17:50 that's frozen in the form of glaciers. So all
00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 of that together, uh, Grace can measure.
00:17:55 --> 00:17:57 Frank Webb: Grace Follow on is a mission to
00:17:57 --> 00:18:00 measure how water is distributed on the
00:18:00 --> 00:18:02 planet and how that changes from month to
00:18:02 --> 00:18:02 month.
00:18:02 --> 00:18:05 Phil Morton: GRACE stands for Gravity Recovery and Climate
00:18:05 --> 00:18:07 Experiment. And it's a follow on mission to
00:18:07 --> 00:18:08 this mission called Grace that uh, we
00:18:08 --> 00:18:11 launched in 2002 and that mission ended. And
00:18:11 --> 00:18:12 Grace Fallen is going to continue that
00:18:12 --> 00:18:13 science legacy.
00:18:13 --> 00:18:16 Frank Webb: Even though grace flew for 15 years. Climate
00:18:16 --> 00:18:18 is one of those things which takes place on
00:18:18 --> 00:18:20 decadal time scale scales. It's really
00:18:20 --> 00:18:21 important that we look at these trends over
00:18:21 --> 00:18:24 longer time periods so we can establish the
00:18:24 --> 00:18:25 forces which are driving them.
00:18:26 --> 00:18:29 Phil Morton: One follows the other, and between them they
00:18:29 --> 00:18:32 accurately track the distance between the two
00:18:32 --> 00:18:34 satellites and as they fly over
00:18:35 --> 00:18:38 changes in mass on the Earth, they
00:18:38 --> 00:18:40 move back and forth and we track those little
00:18:40 --> 00:18:42 changes very accurately. And we do that with
00:18:42 --> 00:18:45 Global Positioning System satellite
00:18:45 --> 00:18:47 information and, and with STAR cameras that
00:18:47 --> 00:18:49 are onboard the two spacecraft.
00:18:51 --> 00:18:53 I think there's an increasing awareness
00:18:53 --> 00:18:56 and consciousness around the Earth that water
00:18:56 --> 00:18:59 is a critical resource and that uh, the sea
00:18:59 --> 00:19:01 level is rising, the polar caps are melting,
00:19:02 --> 00:19:04 and that all these have long term
00:19:04 --> 00:19:06 ramifications on how we live.
00:19:07 --> 00:19:10 Frank Webb: The Grace Follow on measurements give us very
00:19:10 --> 00:19:12 clear and tangible information so we can make
00:19:12 --> 00:19:14 sound decisions in the future of how we
00:19:14 --> 00:19:15 manage our resources.
00:19:17 --> 00:19:20 Stuart Gary: And in that report from NASA tv, we heard
00:19:20 --> 00:19:22 from Grace project scientists Frank Webb,
00:19:22 --> 00:19:25 Phil Morton and Michael Watkins from NASA's
00:19:25 --> 00:19:27 Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,
00:19:27 --> 00:19:30 California. This is space
00:19:30 --> 00:19:33 time still to come. Work
00:19:33 --> 00:19:35 about to begin on the world's first orbital
00:19:35 --> 00:19:37 power station. And later in the science
00:19:37 --> 00:19:40 report, the United States military follows
00:19:40 --> 00:19:42 Israel's lead and begins deploying new high
00:19:42 --> 00:19:45 energy laser weapons into the field. All that
00:19:45 --> 00:19:48 and more still to come on, um, space time.
00:20:04 --> 00:20:06 The United States military is moving forward
00:20:06 --> 00:20:08 with plans to build an orbital power station
00:20:08 --> 00:20:10 in order to beam energy down to the Earth's,
00:20:10 --> 00:20:13 uh, surface. The Pentagon has awarded
00:20:13 --> 00:20:16 Catalyst Space a contract to build a robotic
00:20:16 --> 00:20:18 spacecraft to help assemble an orbital power
00:20:18 --> 00:20:21 plant under the Asgard programme.
00:20:21 --> 00:20:23 Catalyst Nexus spacecraft will carry
00:20:23 --> 00:20:26 modular tiles developed by the U.S. naval
00:20:26 --> 00:20:28 Research Laboratory and place them in low
00:20:28 --> 00:20:31 Earth orbit. Its automated robotic arms
00:20:31 --> 00:20:33 will then assemble the tiles into a large
00:20:33 --> 00:20:35 solar array, which will then collect the
00:20:35 --> 00:20:37 converted sun like energy into microwaves and
00:20:37 --> 00:20:40 transmit that to receivers on the ground.
00:20:41 --> 00:20:43 Now, uh, if the technology can be scaled up,
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45 it could deliver power to remote bases, to
00:20:45 --> 00:20:48 unmanned systems as well as war zones,
00:20:48 --> 00:20:50 without the need to be entirely dependent on
00:20:50 --> 00:20:53 vulnerable power grids or fuel convoys.
00:20:53 --> 00:20:55 An orbital assembly would let these systems
00:20:55 --> 00:20:58 grow beyond the size constraints of a single
00:20:58 --> 00:21:01 launch vehicle. The platform will be designed
00:21:01 --> 00:21:04 to be resupplied, expanded and upgraded as
00:21:04 --> 00:21:06 needed. The Naval Research Laboratory has
00:21:06 --> 00:21:08 already tested solar to microwave conversion
00:21:08 --> 00:21:11 aboard its X37B space shuttle and
00:21:11 --> 00:21:14 it has transmitted 1.6 kilowatts of power
00:21:14 --> 00:21:16 across a distance of more than a kilometre on
00:21:16 --> 00:21:19 the ground. But this will be the first
00:21:19 --> 00:21:22 project combining power beaming with robotic
00:21:22 --> 00:21:24 orbital construction, potentially laying the
00:21:24 --> 00:21:26 groundwork for future orbital energy
00:21:26 --> 00:21:28 infrastructure supporting not just military
00:21:28 --> 00:21:30 operations, but also satellites and in
00:21:31 --> 00:21:34 manufacturing processes. It's an exciting
00:21:34 --> 00:21:36 new uh, horizon and one which is destined to
00:21:36 --> 00:21:39 grow. This is space, time.
00:21:54 --> 00:21:56 And time. Now to take a brief look at some of
00:21:56 --> 00:21:58 the other stories making news in Science this
00:21:58 --> 00:22:01 week with a Science report. A new
00:22:01 --> 00:22:04 study claims a combination of unhealthy
00:22:04 --> 00:22:06 lifestyles and pre existing illnesses could
00:22:06 --> 00:22:08 be the main reason why men are more likely to
00:22:08 --> 00:22:11 get cancer than women. The findings by
00:22:11 --> 00:22:13 Chinese researchers reported in the Journal
00:22:13 --> 00:22:15 of the American Medical association could
00:22:15 --> 00:22:17 explain most of the discrepancy between
00:22:17 --> 00:22:20 Chinese men and women. But these differences
00:22:20 --> 00:22:22 appear to be less important when
00:22:22 --> 00:22:24 investigating why cancer affects more British
00:22:24 --> 00:22:27 men than women. The authors analysed health
00:22:27 --> 00:22:30 Data on nearly 135 Chinese
00:22:30 --> 00:22:32 people and uh, over 455
00:22:32 --> 00:22:35 Brits. Looking at 34 cancers and
00:22:35 --> 00:22:37 lifestyle factors including smoking, heavy
00:22:37 --> 00:22:40 drinking, physical inactivity and diet, as
00:22:40 --> 00:22:42 well as any pre existing health conditions
00:22:42 --> 00:22:45 including chronic liver disease, diabetes and
00:22:45 --> 00:22:48 obesity. They found that together, uh,
00:22:48 --> 00:22:51 these Factors accounted for 84% of the
00:22:51 --> 00:22:53 male female gap in China, but just
00:22:53 --> 00:22:55 26% of the gap among Britons.
00:22:57 --> 00:22:59 The United States military have now followed
00:22:59 --> 00:23:01 Israel's lead and commenced deploying high
00:23:01 --> 00:23:04 energy laser weapons in the Strait of Hormuz
00:23:04 --> 00:23:06 in order to shoot down Iranian drones and
00:23:06 --> 00:23:09 cruise missiles. The new directed energy
00:23:09 --> 00:23:12 weapons are easy to operate with some being
00:23:12 --> 00:23:14 controlled by modified Xbox style game
00:23:14 --> 00:23:15 consoles.
00:23:15 --> 00:23:17 The new weapons systems are being used
00:23:17 --> 00:23:19 against the Islamic Republic at a fraction of
00:23:19 --> 00:23:21 the cost of conventional interceptor
00:23:21 --> 00:23:24 missiles. American laser weapon systems had
00:23:24 --> 00:23:27 previously been demonstrated using gamepad
00:23:27 --> 00:23:29 style controls designed to make them easier
00:23:29 --> 00:23:31 for soldiers to learn and operate. The United
00:23:31 --> 00:23:34 States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth tested
00:23:34 --> 00:23:36 one of the systems during a uh, June
00:23:36 --> 00:23:38 demonstration at the White Sands Missile
00:23:38 --> 00:23:40 Range in New Mexico, where directed energy
00:23:40 --> 00:23:42 weapons were used against aerial targets.
00:23:43 --> 00:23:46 The lasers are invisible to the unaided eye,
00:23:46 --> 00:23:48 but they are capable of disabling targets by
00:23:48 --> 00:23:51 concentrating energy in a small area until
00:23:51 --> 00:23:53 critical components overheat, uh, or fail.
00:23:54 --> 00:23:56 Their deployment highlights the growing link
00:23:56 --> 00:23:58 between space and missile defence systems,
00:23:58 --> 00:24:00 increasingly providing both warning and
00:24:00 --> 00:24:03 tracking data that helps terrestrial systems
00:24:03 --> 00:24:05 identify and engage incoming threats.
00:24:05 --> 00:24:08 The IDF has been deploying similar directed
00:24:08 --> 00:24:10 energy weapons systems against missiles,
00:24:10 --> 00:24:13 mortars and rockets fired by Hamas, Hezbollah
00:24:13 --> 00:24:15 and Islamic Jihad terrorist groups since the
00:24:15 --> 00:24:18 start of the year. A new
00:24:18 --> 00:24:21 study shows countries with more cats tend
00:24:21 --> 00:24:24 to be happier the findings, reported in the
00:24:24 --> 00:24:26 journal PLOS One, are based on data from
00:24:26 --> 00:24:29 93 countries, including Australia and New
00:24:29 --> 00:24:31 Zealand. The study looked at economic
00:24:31 --> 00:24:34 factors such as gross domestic product,
00:24:34 --> 00:24:36 family income and health costs.
00:24:36 --> 00:24:39 They found that domestic cat density was
00:24:39 --> 00:24:41 strongly correlated with positive happiness
00:24:41 --> 00:24:44 scores worldwide, consistent with studies on
00:24:44 --> 00:24:47 the benefits of pet ownership. However,
00:24:47 --> 00:24:49 countries with higher levels of the parasitic
00:24:49 --> 00:24:52 disease toxoplasmosis, which can be spread by
00:24:52 --> 00:24:54 cats, tended to be less happy.
00:24:54 --> 00:24:57 The authors say this paradox could be
00:24:57 --> 00:24:59 explained by higher numbers of cats in
00:24:59 --> 00:25:01 wealthier countries, where the cats are more
00:25:01 --> 00:25:03 likely to be kept indoors, more likely to be
00:25:03 --> 00:25:06 vaccinated and more likely to be fed pet
00:25:06 --> 00:25:08 food, giving them a greatly reduced chance of
00:25:08 --> 00:25:10 catching or spreading the disease.
00:25:12 --> 00:25:15 Scientists have finally created a true blue
00:25:15 --> 00:25:17 coloured rose Researchers from the
00:25:17 --> 00:25:20 Suntory Global Innovation Centre in Kyoto
00:25:20 --> 00:25:22 first developed a sort of blue rose back in
00:25:22 --> 00:25:25 2004 using a gene for an enzyme
00:25:25 --> 00:25:27 called Delphine Philodin that produces a blue
00:25:27 --> 00:25:30 pigment, but that turned um, the rose more
00:25:30 --> 00:25:33 mauve or lavender rather than a distinct true
00:25:33 --> 00:25:36 blue. So now Centauri scientists have
00:25:36 --> 00:25:38 added four CO pigmentation genes from three
00:25:38 --> 00:25:40 different blue flower species into a light
00:25:40 --> 00:25:43 pink coloured rose. These include a
00:25:43 --> 00:25:45 gene from the flower Canterbury bells that
00:25:45 --> 00:25:48 provides the vivid blue pigment malvidin, two
00:25:48 --> 00:25:50 genes from wishbone flowers which produce key
00:25:50 --> 00:25:53 helper molecules and a gene from gentian
00:25:53 --> 00:25:56 flowers which produces a specific CO pigment
00:25:56 --> 00:25:59 called isaoreantin, which deepens the blue
00:25:59 --> 00:26:02 shade and the resulting rose bushes have
00:26:02 --> 00:26:05 reliably produced unique violet blue flowers
00:26:05 --> 00:26:07 across seven years of greenhouse testing in
00:26:07 --> 00:26:10 Japan and three years of field trials in
00:26:10 --> 00:26:12 Colombia. And time out
00:26:12 --> 00:26:15 A brush up um on the truth behind a lot of
00:26:15 --> 00:26:17 those common myths and misinformation you
00:26:17 --> 00:26:19 might have trusted, but which scientists show
00:26:20 --> 00:26:22 are clearly wrong. The sceptics Timms
00:26:22 --> 00:26:25 Mendham says there's a lot of old persons
00:26:25 --> 00:26:26 tales out there that have been around for
00:26:26 --> 00:26:29 ages, but the truth is very different.
00:26:29 --> 00:26:32 Tim Mendham: Common myth. This was just almost like a
00:26:32 --> 00:26:34 survey done. There was a crowd sourcing thing
00:26:34 --> 00:26:35 that was done. They set up all these sort of
00:26:35 --> 00:26:37 common myths. People reacted to them. First
00:26:37 --> 00:26:39 one they turned up with is the taste zones on
00:26:39 --> 00:26:41 the human tongue. One side is salty, one side
00:26:41 --> 00:26:43 is sweet, down the front is this and the
00:26:43 --> 00:26:45 other etc. And then they wear Umami. Fits in,
00:26:45 --> 00:26:47 but never mind. But no, these little maps are
00:26:47 --> 00:26:50 wrong. There's no such thing. Doesn't exist.
00:26:50 --> 00:26:52 Do you wait 24 hours before reporting a
00:26:52 --> 00:26:53 missing person? No, you don't have to. If
00:26:53 --> 00:26:55 someone's missing, you can do it whenever you
00:26:55 --> 00:26:57 like. There's no legal requirement. Do dogs
00:26:57 --> 00:26:58 see in black and white? No, they do see
00:26:58 --> 00:27:00 colour. They just got a bit of a problem with
00:27:00 --> 00:27:02 red and green. So they're colour blind, but
00:27:02 --> 00:27:04 they do see colour. Is there an elf wolf that
00:27:04 --> 00:27:07 puts everything and everyone in line? There's
00:27:07 --> 00:27:09 a leading wolf that might be a guiding
00:27:09 --> 00:27:11 spirit, but not necessarily to try and make
00:27:11 --> 00:27:12 everyone toe the line. There's. That happens
00:27:12 --> 00:27:14 in chickens. The amount of spiders you eat
00:27:14 --> 00:27:16 while being asleep. That's a fascinating one
00:27:16 --> 00:27:17 because there was a story going around that
00:27:17 --> 00:27:19 you eat about 12 spiders in your life or
00:27:19 --> 00:27:21 something, your mouth is open and spiders
00:27:21 --> 00:27:23 crawling. It was actually invented by a tech
00:27:23 --> 00:27:25 journalist to prove how fake news travels
00:27:25 --> 00:27:27 around the Internet, which is interesting.
00:27:27 --> 00:27:29 Someone made up a story and see how far it
00:27:29 --> 00:27:31 would go. And it went a long way, except that
00:27:31 --> 00:27:33 the journalist never existed and neither did
00:27:33 --> 00:27:34 the magazine they claim that she wrote for.
00:27:34 --> 00:27:36 So in other words, someone made up, uh, a
00:27:36 --> 00:27:39 fake story about a fake story. And how far
00:27:39 --> 00:27:41 back it goes, you don't know. But who was the
00:27:41 --> 00:27:42 journalist who made up the story in the first
00:27:42 --> 00:27:44 place or made up the theory in the first
00:27:44 --> 00:27:46 place, saying that there was a journalist who
00:27:46 --> 00:27:49 made up a story about the spiders. There's
00:27:49 --> 00:27:51 urban legends within urban legends. Don't get
00:27:51 --> 00:27:52 up too close to a baby bird. The mother will
00:27:52 --> 00:27:55 smell it and abandon the nest. No, don't
00:27:55 --> 00:27:56 touch them. But not necessarily. They won't
00:27:56 --> 00:27:58 abandon the nest. Shaving makes your hair
00:27:58 --> 00:28:01 grow back thicker. No, just like when you get
00:28:01 --> 00:28:03 older, you get more hairs coming through.
00:28:03 --> 00:28:04 Shaving doesn't have a lot to do with it,
00:28:04 --> 00:28:07 apart from evening out the length of the hair
00:28:07 --> 00:28:10 and making them look thicker. Red flag to a
00:28:10 --> 00:28:12 bull. No, uh, bulls are partially colorblind,
00:28:12 --> 00:28:14 but it's the matter of waving the cape that,
00:28:14 --> 00:28:16 um, upsets the bull. They don't like people
00:28:16 --> 00:28:17 waving a flag at them.
00:28:17 --> 00:28:19 It doesn't have to be red. Looks good, but it
00:28:19 --> 00:28:21 doesn't have to be. Albert Einstein failed
00:28:21 --> 00:28:24 his math suggestion. No. That there was a
00:28:24 --> 00:28:26 confusion between the way they mark exams in
00:28:26 --> 00:28:28 Germany versus Switzerland, the scoring
00:28:28 --> 00:28:31 system. But it to five best to worst or one
00:28:31 --> 00:28:33 to five worst to best. They actually did
00:28:33 --> 00:28:35 quite well. In math, you only use 10% of your
00:28:35 --> 00:28:36 brain. Now, this is one that settled the
00:28:36 --> 00:28:38 time. I always thought it was a good excuse
00:28:38 --> 00:28:39 to actually drink too much because then you
00:28:39 --> 00:28:41 clear away the parts of the brain that don't
00:28:41 --> 00:28:43 work. But no, you use your whole brain to get
00:28:43 --> 00:28:45 the 10%. Heaven knows where that came from,
00:28:45 --> 00:28:47 but people still believe it. No, you use your
00:28:47 --> 00:28:48 brain all the time. Even when you're
00:28:48 --> 00:28:51 sleeping, the little brain bits are working
00:28:51 --> 00:28:52 away quite happily. Thank you.
00:28:52 --> 00:28:54 All over the place. So no sugar makes kids
00:28:54 --> 00:28:57 hyperactive? No, the tests have shown that
00:28:57 --> 00:28:59 it doesn't. The issue is it might have been
00:28:59 --> 00:29:01 the circumstances where they get lots of
00:29:01 --> 00:29:03 sugar, they become hyperactive, such as a
00:29:03 --> 00:29:05 birthday party or something like that, where
00:29:05 --> 00:29:06 if someone doesn't get sweets very often and
00:29:06 --> 00:29:08 you give them one, they get all excited. So,
00:29:08 --> 00:29:10 uh, it's a situation rather than the sugar.
00:29:10 --> 00:29:12 Lightning never strikes the same place twice?
00:29:13 --> 00:29:15 No. Obviously a lot of buildings have
00:29:15 --> 00:29:16 lightning rods. Some buildings have lightning
00:29:16 --> 00:29:18 laboratories built into them to try and
00:29:18 --> 00:29:20 measure how often lightning strikes and what
00:29:20 --> 00:29:22 force it is. You often don't get lightning
00:29:22 --> 00:29:23 hitting the same place twice, but it can.
00:29:23 --> 00:29:26 No reason why not. Great Wall of China is
00:29:26 --> 00:29:28 visible from space. No. One of the problems
00:29:28 --> 00:29:30 is that the Great Wall of China is not that
00:29:30 --> 00:29:32 wide. It's about a single line roadway and
00:29:32 --> 00:29:33 it's not 1m.
00:29:33 --> 00:29:34 Stuart Gary: It's a whole bunch of walls.
00:29:34 --> 00:29:36 Tim Mendham: It's a whole bunch of walls. Yeah, because
00:29:36 --> 00:29:37 it's decayed and all sorts of things like
00:29:37 --> 00:29:38 that. But I mean, it's.
00:29:38 --> 00:29:40 Stuart Gary: Technically you can see it from space now,
00:29:40 --> 00:29:43 but only because the spy satellites are so
00:29:43 --> 00:29:44 good in resolution now.
00:29:44 --> 00:29:46 Tim Mendham: Yeah, that's right. Yes. I mean, but yeah,
00:29:46 --> 00:29:48 not for the human eye. Not to the human eye.
00:29:48 --> 00:29:49 And doesn't matter whether you're in the
00:29:49 --> 00:29:51 space station or what. It's not that wide. I
00:29:51 --> 00:29:53 mean, you've got three or four people walking
00:29:53 --> 00:29:54 abreast and that's about how wide it is.
00:29:54 --> 00:29:57 Napoleon Bonaparte was. No, he was average.
00:29:57 --> 00:29:59 It might have just been a publicity, a
00:29:59 --> 00:30:01 pejorative thing put out by the Brits. Five
00:30:01 --> 00:30:02 foot seven, which was average. It's not that
00:30:02 --> 00:30:04 unusual at the time. People are getting
00:30:04 --> 00:30:06 taller over the Years. Even in the last 200
00:30:06 --> 00:30:07 years, people are getting taller. The little
00:30:07 --> 00:30:09 corporal, they referred to him as. That was
00:30:09 --> 00:30:11 sort of saying almost putting him down.
00:30:11 --> 00:30:13 Similar way you sort of criticise the Nazi
00:30:13 --> 00:30:15 leaders based on their, um, testosterone
00:30:15 --> 00:30:17 level. But anyway, yeah, so he was. He was.
00:30:17 --> 00:30:19 He wasn't tall by. Necessarily by our
00:30:19 --> 00:30:21 standards these days. Cracking your knuckles
00:30:21 --> 00:30:23 causes arthritis now. Certainly annoying.
00:30:23 --> 00:30:25 Stuart Gary: I've never been cracking my knuckles.
00:30:25 --> 00:30:27 Tim Mendham: It doesn't cause arthritis. It said that.
00:30:27 --> 00:30:29 Yeah. It's popping fluid in the joints,
00:30:29 --> 00:30:31 forming bubbles. Form, blow up. Yeah.
00:30:31 --> 00:30:33 You have to wait three hours after eating to
00:30:33 --> 00:30:35 go for a swim. Apparently you don't. But they
00:30:35 --> 00:30:37 suggested that it is designed to stop kids
00:30:37 --> 00:30:39 throwing up if they've eaten too much. It's
00:30:39 --> 00:30:41 the same as eating a bit of food with 32
00:30:41 --> 00:30:43 chewing or something. I don't think anything
00:30:43 --> 00:30:45 lasts 32 chews on a particular food.
00:30:45 --> 00:30:47 Certainly not. Sue. Cats kill babies. They
00:30:47 --> 00:30:49 take the breath away, which is just out and
00:30:49 --> 00:30:51 out. Silly story. Also that cats used to lie
00:30:51 --> 00:30:53 on top of babies and suffocate them. No
00:30:53 --> 00:30:55 evidence. But it's a story that goes around.
00:30:55 --> 00:30:57 And lemmings don't. Suicide lemmings don't,
00:30:57 --> 00:30:59 uh, go rushing around when they over breed
00:30:59 --> 00:31:01 breeding season, get forced off and run away
00:31:01 --> 00:31:03 and fall over a cliff. No, that was made up.
00:31:03 --> 00:31:04 There was actually suggestion. There was a
00:31:04 --> 00:31:07 Disney documentary. No, it's made up. And,
00:31:07 --> 00:31:09 um. Convincing that it's made up. All those
00:31:09 --> 00:31:12 things. Common beliefs that are sort of sound
00:31:12 --> 00:31:13 like fun and some people believe them.
00:31:13 --> 00:31:15 Seriously. Some people might believe them
00:31:15 --> 00:31:17 too. Seriously. And they organise their life
00:31:17 --> 00:31:18 according to them. Sorry to disappoint you.
00:31:18 --> 00:31:20 There's a lot of falsehoods out there,
00:31:20 --> 00:31:22 Stuart Gary: people who misunderstand average life
00:31:22 --> 00:31:23 expectancy.
00:31:23 --> 00:31:25 Tim Mendham: Yes. This is a wonderful thing, actually,
00:31:25 --> 00:31:28 that people say that way back when the
00:31:28 --> 00:31:30 average life expectancy was 40 years. So
00:31:30 --> 00:31:31 aren't we doing a lot better? What we're
00:31:31 --> 00:31:33 doing better as is that babies don't die as
00:31:33 --> 00:31:36 often. So your average is a very poor
00:31:36 --> 00:31:37 indication of how long people live.
00:31:37 --> 00:31:40 People in the past lived till 80. Right. But,
00:31:40 --> 00:31:41 uh, there's also a lot of babies died under
00:31:41 --> 00:31:43 one year old, a lot more than now. So,
00:31:43 --> 00:31:46 therefore your average age between babies
00:31:46 --> 00:31:48 dying and people living to 80 was 40,
00:31:48 --> 00:31:50 roughly. Whatever. And these days your
00:31:50 --> 00:31:52 average age is in the 70s because part of the
00:31:52 --> 00:31:55 population is not dying at a very young age.
00:31:55 --> 00:31:57 So, uh, that pushes the average up. So it's a
00:31:57 --> 00:32:00 bit of a statistical anomaly or a statistical
00:32:00 --> 00:32:02 lie or a falsehood or wrong impression. It is
00:32:02 --> 00:32:04 accurate, but it gives a false impression as
00:32:04 --> 00:32:06 to how long people lived. The problem was how
00:32:06 --> 00:32:08 many babies died. And therefore living to
00:32:09 --> 00:32:11 average age 40 doesn't mean when you turn 40,
00:32:11 --> 00:32:12 you can't in the old days.
00:32:12 --> 00:32:14 Stuart Gary: And that brings you on to, um, do women live
00:32:14 --> 00:32:16 longer than men or is it just that men are in
00:32:16 --> 00:32:19 more dangerous environments and so they're
00:32:19 --> 00:32:21 more likely to die? And so the proportion of
00:32:21 --> 00:32:24 men compared to women living to a rope old
00:32:24 --> 00:32:24 age is lower?
00:32:24 --> 00:32:26 Tim Mendham: Yeah, well, that women nag me.
00:32:26 --> 00:32:29 Stuart Gary: Men just want to die. Earlier, a sexist would
00:32:29 --> 00:32:30 say this, would
00:32:30 --> 00:32:33 Tim Mendham: say, okay, was it lies, damned lies and
00:32:33 --> 00:32:35 statistics. And you got to look behind the
00:32:35 --> 00:32:37 statistics all the time about any survey you
00:32:37 --> 00:32:39 see. Look behind the statistics
00:32:40 --> 00:32:41 questions which put
00:32:41 --> 00:32:42 Stuart Gary: your mind in that frame of mind.
00:32:42 --> 00:32:44 Tim Mendham: Leading questions, leading analysis, all
00:32:44 --> 00:32:46 sorts of things. Yeah, statistics is a funny
00:32:46 --> 00:32:49 business, actually. And, um, I think 97% of
00:32:49 --> 00:32:50 statistics are wrong.
00:32:50 --> 00:32:53 Stuart Gary: That's the skip Timms Mendham. And
00:32:53 --> 00:32:54 this is Space Time.
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