Sun's Fiery Embrace, First Stars' Mystery, and Mars Rover's Triumph

[00:00:00] This is SpaceTime Series 27, Episode 126, for broadcast on the 18th of October 2024.

[00:00:07] Coming up on SpaceTime, NASA's Parker Solar Probe completes its 21st flyby of the Sun.

[00:00:14] The Webb Space Telescope discovers a potential missing link to the Universe's first stars.

[00:00:20] And mission managers have fixed a key science instrument aboard NASA's Perseverance rover.

[00:00:26] All that and more coming up on SpaceTime.

[00:00:30] Welcome to SpaceTime with Stuart Gary.

[00:00:49] NASA's Parker Solar Probe has completed its 21st close encounter with the Sun.

[00:00:54] The flyby equalled its own previous distance record, swooping to within 7.26 million kilometres of the solar surface.

[00:01:02] The close perihelion approach occurred at a record speed of 635,300 kilometres per hour,

[00:01:09] again matching its previous record encounter speed.

[00:01:12] After the flyby, the spacecraft checked in with mission managers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Larell, Maryland,

[00:01:20] using a beacon turn to indicate that it was in good health and all systems were operating nominally.

[00:01:26] A close encounter set the probe up for another close flyby of Venus.

[00:01:29] This close approach marked the last time that Parker will fly around the Sun at this distance and speed

[00:01:36] before it makes the first of three final closest approaches.

[00:01:40] They'll begin on December the 24th.

[00:01:43] Now at this point, with its orbit being shaped by the mission's final Venus gravity assist on November the 6th,

[00:01:48] the spacecraft will swoop down to just 6.1 million kilometres from the solar surface,

[00:01:53] moving at over 692,000 kilometres per hour.

[00:01:57] That's the fastest any man-made object has ever travelled at.

[00:02:02] Launched aboard a Delta IV Heavy from Space Launch Complex 37 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force base in Florida

[00:02:08] back in August 2018,

[00:02:09] the Parker Solar Probe is on a seven-year mission studying the Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona.

[00:02:16] The mission's undertaking 24 highly eccentric orbits around the Sun, flying deep into the corona.

[00:02:22] It'll trace the flow of energy that heats up the corona and accelerates the solar wind,

[00:02:27] the constant stream of charged particles flying out from the Sun and bathing the entire solar system.

[00:02:33] As well as detecting the sources of the solar wind,

[00:02:35] it'll also determine the structure and dynamics of the Sun's magnetic fields,

[00:02:39] and it will work out the mechanisms which are accelerating and transporting energetic particles.

[00:02:45] The $1.5 billion spacecraft carries four scientific instrument suites

[00:02:50] designed to study magnetic fields, plasma and energetic particles,

[00:02:54] and capture images of the solar wind.

[00:02:56] This report from NASA TV.

[00:02:59] Liftoff of the mighty Delta IV heavy rocket.

[00:03:02] In August 2018 in Cape Canaveral, Florida,

[00:03:05] NASA launched Parker Solar Probe to touch the Sun.

[00:03:09] Parker Solar Probe is touching the Sun.

[00:03:11] This is Noor Rawafi, the project scientist of the mission.

[00:03:15] He has been waiting for this moment since the beginning of his career.

[00:03:18] This is a dream come true.

[00:03:20] One of the major goals for the Parker Solar Probe mission

[00:03:23] is to fly through the solar corona, and we are doing that now.

[00:03:26] So what does it mean to touch the Sun?

[00:03:28] To answer that, we need to look at the Sun's structure.

[00:03:32] Unlike Earth, the Sun doesn't have a solid surface.

[00:03:36] It's a giant ball of hot plasma that's held together by its own gravity.

[00:03:41] Solar material flows out from the surface,

[00:03:44] but around the Sun, it's bound by the Sun's gravity and magnetic field.

[00:03:48] This material forms the Sun's atmosphere, the corona.

[00:03:52] Eventually, some of this hot and fast solar material escapes the pull of the Sun

[00:03:56] and gushes out into space as solar wind.

[00:04:00] The boundary that marks the edge of the Sun's atmosphere

[00:04:02] is known as the Alfvén critical surface.

[00:04:05] We didn't know exactly where this boundary was,

[00:04:08] but for the first time in history, a spacecraft has crossed it.

[00:04:13] Parker Solar Probe ventured into the corona,

[00:04:15] touching solar material still bound to the Sun.

[00:04:19] The wispy corona is too faint to see most of the time,

[00:04:23] but it's revealed during total solar eclipses.

[00:04:26] For centuries, we've been studying the Sun's atmosphere during eclipses

[00:04:30] because it's important for understanding

[00:04:32] how our star influences life in the solar system.

[00:04:36] But much about the corona remains a mystery.

[00:04:38] Two of the most challenging scientific mysteries in astrophysics

[00:04:42] occur in a region that we call solar corona.

[00:04:44] The first mystery is about the temperature.

[00:04:47] The corona is about 300 times hotter than the photosphere,

[00:04:51] the visible surface of the Sun below.

[00:04:54] Secondly, there's a constant stream of particles flowing from the Sun,

[00:04:58] known as the solar wind.

[00:04:59] It accelerates up to millions of miles per hour out of the corona,

[00:05:03] and we don't know how.

[00:05:05] Solar wind can disrupt our satellites and technology.

[00:05:08] To better protect them,

[00:05:09] we need to go where the solar wind starts in the corona.

[00:05:14] So heading there has been a key goal of NASA's for a while.

[00:05:16] We first proposed the idea of sending a spacecraft to the Sun in 1958.

[00:05:23] We didn't have the technology to withstand the journey until the 2000s.

[00:05:27] Since its launch in 2018, Parker has been heading towards our star.

[00:05:32] Then, in April 2021, during Parker's eighth orbit around the Sun,

[00:05:36] the spacecraft was around 20 solar radii, or 8 million miles from the Sun's surface,

[00:05:42] when it crossed into the corona.

[00:05:44] This is a huge milestone.

[00:05:46] It took us over six decades to come to this point.

[00:05:50] As Parker entered the corona, its whisper instrument took images.

[00:05:54] Streams of plasma surrounded the spacecraft,

[00:05:56] and Parker's other instruments detected that the magnetic conditions had changed.

[00:06:02] Outside the corona, solar wind gushes out,

[00:06:05] pushing solar material away at high speeds

[00:06:08] so that it can't return back to the Sun's surface.

[00:06:11] Inside the corona, the Sun's magnetic field becomes much stronger.

[00:06:16] Solar material is slower and tethered to the Sun.

[00:06:20] Instead of a smooth divide,

[00:06:22] Parker found that the boundary between these two sides is wrinkly.

[00:06:26] These bumpy ridges are created from huge flows of plasma

[00:06:29] travelling out of the corona.

[00:06:31] Scientists are not sure why this happens,

[00:06:34] but as Parker gets closer, we're finding more clues.

[00:06:37] Before entering the corona,

[00:06:39] Parker had seen kinks in the solar wind

[00:06:41] where it would momentarily double back on itself.

[00:06:44] Scientists called these features in the solar wind switchbacks,

[00:06:47] but no one knew how or where they formed.

[00:06:51] In 2021, the spacecraft finally tracked switchbacks

[00:06:55] to one of their origins.

[00:06:56] As Parker got even closer to the Sun,

[00:06:59] it detected bursts of switchbacks.

[00:07:02] Scientists trace these bursts

[00:07:03] all the way to the visible surface of the Sun.

[00:07:07] As heat rises beneath,

[00:07:09] these convection cells churn

[00:07:10] and create funnels of magnetic energy above the surface.

[00:07:15] Scientists found that switchbacks form inside of these funnels

[00:07:19] before rising into the corona and beyond.

[00:07:22] This is only one piece of the switchbacks puzzle, though.

[00:07:26] Exactly how they form is still unknown.

[00:07:30] Over the next few years,

[00:07:31] Parker will keep looking for clues

[00:07:33] as it explores our Sun,

[00:07:34] the only star we can study up close.

[00:07:38] The Sun is also the only star known to support life.

[00:07:41] So understanding it is critical

[00:07:43] as we search for life beyond our solar system.

[00:07:46] That will link directly into the question,

[00:07:48] are we alone in this universe?

[00:07:50] And that is one of the biggest questions

[00:07:53] for humanity to answer.

[00:07:59] This is space-time.

[00:08:01] Still to come,

[00:08:03] NASA's Webb Space Telescope

[00:08:04] finds a potential missing link

[00:08:05] to the first stars in the universe.

[00:08:07] And mission managers have fixed

[00:08:09] a faulty science instrument

[00:08:11] aboard the Mars Perseverance rover.

[00:08:13] All that and more still to come

[00:08:15] on Space Time.

[00:08:32] Astronomers looking deep into the early universe

[00:08:34] with NASA's Webb Space Telescope

[00:08:36] have found something unprecedented,

[00:08:38] a galaxy with an unusual light signature

[00:08:40] which they're attributing to gas

[00:08:42] outshining the stars.

[00:08:44] Found approximately a billion years

[00:08:46] after the Big Bang,

[00:08:47] the galaxy GSNDG 9422

[00:08:50] may be a missing link phase

[00:08:52] of galactic evolution

[00:08:53] between the universe's first stars

[00:08:55] and the familiar well-established galaxies

[00:08:57] we see today.

[00:08:59] The study's lead author,

[00:09:00] Alex Cameron from Oxford University,

[00:09:02] says his first thought

[00:09:03] in looking at the galaxy's spectrum

[00:09:05] was, that's weird.

[00:09:06] So Cameron reached out

[00:09:07] to his colleague Harley Katz,

[00:09:09] a theoretical physicist,

[00:09:11] in order to determine the strange data.

[00:09:13] Working together,

[00:09:14] they developed computer models

[00:09:16] showing that cosmic gas clouds

[00:09:17] heated by very hot massive stars

[00:09:20] to the extent where the gas

[00:09:21] would shine brighter

[00:09:22] than the stars themselves

[00:09:23] was nearly a perfect match

[00:09:25] for the Webb observations.

[00:09:27] Study co-author Katz,

[00:09:28] also from Oxford,

[00:09:29] says it looks like these stars

[00:09:30] must have been far hotter

[00:09:31] and more massive

[00:09:32] than what we see

[00:09:33] in our local universe today.

[00:09:35] And that makes sense

[00:09:36] because the early universe

[00:09:37] was a very different environment.

[00:09:40] In the local universe,

[00:09:41] typical hot massive stars

[00:09:42] have temperatures ranging

[00:09:43] from between 40,000

[00:09:45] and 50,000 degrees Celsius.

[00:09:47] Now, according to these new observations

[00:09:49] reported in the monthly notices

[00:09:51] of the Royal Astronomical Society,

[00:09:52] galaxy GSNDG 9422

[00:09:55] has stars hotter than

[00:09:56] 80,000 degrees Celsius.

[00:09:58] The authors suspect

[00:10:00] that this galaxy

[00:10:01] must have been in the midst

[00:10:02] of a brief phase

[00:10:03] of intense star formation

[00:10:04] deep inside a cloud

[00:10:06] of dense gas,

[00:10:07] and that's what's producing

[00:10:08] the large number

[00:10:08] of massive hot stars.

[00:10:10] The gas cloud is being hit

[00:10:12] with so many photons of light

[00:10:13] from these stars

[00:10:14] that it's shining extremely brightly.

[00:10:17] Now, in addition

[00:10:18] to its novelty value,

[00:10:19] nebula gas outshining stars

[00:10:21] is intriguing

[00:10:21] because it's something

[00:10:22] predicted in the environments

[00:10:24] of the universe's

[00:10:24] very first generation of stars,

[00:10:27] which astronomers refer to

[00:10:28] as Population 3 stars.

[00:10:30] Now, Katz says

[00:10:31] this galaxy

[00:10:32] does not have

[00:10:33] Population 3 stars.

[00:10:34] That's because

[00:10:35] the web data shows

[00:10:36] it's got far too much

[00:10:37] chemical complexity.

[00:10:39] However,

[00:10:39] its stars are definitely

[00:10:40] different from what

[00:10:41] we're familiar with today.

[00:10:43] And so the exotic stars

[00:10:44] in this galaxy

[00:10:45] could be a guide

[00:10:46] for understanding

[00:10:47] how galaxies transition

[00:10:48] from primordial stars

[00:10:50] to the types of galaxies

[00:10:51] we know today.

[00:10:52] Now, at this point,

[00:10:54] this galaxy is just

[00:10:54] one example

[00:10:55] of this phase

[00:10:56] of galactic development.

[00:10:57] And so there are many

[00:10:59] questions which still

[00:11:00] need to be answered.

[00:11:01] For example,

[00:11:02] are these conditions

[00:11:02] common in galaxies

[00:11:03] from this time period?

[00:11:05] Or is this a rare occurrence?

[00:11:06] And what more

[00:11:07] can galaxies like this

[00:11:08] tell us about this

[00:11:09] earlier phase

[00:11:10] of galactic evolution?

[00:11:11] So Cameron Katz

[00:11:13] and colleagues

[00:11:14] are now actively

[00:11:15] identifying more galaxies

[00:11:16] like this

[00:11:17] to try and add

[00:11:17] to this population

[00:11:18] in order to better

[00:11:19] understand what's

[00:11:20] happening in the universe

[00:11:21] within the first

[00:11:22] billion years

[00:11:23] after the big bang

[00:11:24] of creation.

[00:11:26] This is space time.

[00:11:28] Still to come,

[00:11:29] mission managers

[00:11:30] have repaired

[00:11:30] a major science instrument

[00:11:32] that had broken down

[00:11:33] on the Mars

[00:11:34] Perseverance rover.

[00:11:35] And later in the

[00:11:36] science report,

[00:11:37] a new study

[00:11:38] has confirmed

[00:11:39] that people simply

[00:11:40] don't know

[00:11:41] how much they

[00:11:42] really don't know.

[00:11:43] All that and more

[00:11:44] still to come

[00:11:45] on Space Time.

[00:12:00] Well, after more

[00:12:01] than six months

[00:12:02] of efforts,

[00:12:03] NASA mission managers

[00:12:04] and technicians

[00:12:05] have finally been able

[00:12:06] to bring one of

[00:12:07] the Mars Perseverance rover's

[00:12:08] most important

[00:12:09] scientific instruments

[00:12:10] back online.

[00:12:12] Sherlock,

[00:12:13] the scanning

[00:12:13] habitable environments

[00:12:14] with raymond

[00:12:15] and luminescence

[00:12:16] for organics

[00:12:17] and chemicals

[00:12:17] stopped working

[00:12:18] back in January.

[00:12:20] This key spectroscope

[00:12:22] uses fine-scale imaging

[00:12:23] and an ultraviolet laser

[00:12:25] to determine

[00:12:25] detailed mineralogy

[00:12:27] and to detect

[00:12:28] organic compounds.

[00:12:29] Sherlock was so important

[00:12:31] because it would be used

[00:12:32] to help assess

[00:12:33] the habitability potential

[00:12:34] of rocks and soil samples

[00:12:36] and their aqueous history.

[00:12:38] And that means

[00:12:39] it would help scientists

[00:12:40] determine if there were

[00:12:41] potential bias signatures

[00:12:42] preserved in Martian rocks.

[00:12:44] And it would also

[00:12:45] provide organic

[00:12:46] and mineral analysis

[00:12:47] for selective

[00:12:48] sample caching,

[00:12:49] helping to select

[00:12:50] the rocks

[00:12:50] that would be brought

[00:12:51] back in a sample

[00:12:52] return mission.

[00:12:53] And it doesn't end there.

[00:12:55] Sherlock was also designed

[00:12:57] to examine the availability

[00:12:58] of key elements

[00:12:59] and energy sources

[00:13:00] for life on Mars,

[00:13:01] including carbon,

[00:13:03] hydrogen,

[00:13:03] nitrogen,

[00:13:04] oxygen,

[00:13:05] phosphorus

[00:13:05] and sulfur.

[00:13:06] However,

[00:13:07] all that came

[00:13:08] to a crashing halt

[00:13:09] back in January

[00:13:10] when one of the

[00:13:11] instrument's

[00:13:12] key motors

[00:13:12] suddenly caused

[00:13:13] its dust cover

[00:13:14] an autofocus mechanism

[00:13:16] to become inoperative.

[00:13:17] This was an important

[00:13:19] piece of scientific

[00:13:20] equipment aboard

[00:13:21] the car-sized

[00:13:22] robotic rover,

[00:13:23] and its sudden failure

[00:13:24] was a serious blow

[00:13:26] to the Perseverance

[00:13:27] mission in Jezero

[00:13:28] crater.

[00:13:30] Now, fortunately,

[00:13:31] a motion by the

[00:13:32] robotic arm

[00:13:32] two months after

[00:13:33] the initial issue

[00:13:34] occurred resulted

[00:13:35] in the dust cover

[00:13:36] moving nearly

[00:13:37] to the full open

[00:13:37] position.

[00:13:38] And as a result

[00:13:39] of that,

[00:13:40] mission managers

[00:13:40] began to look at

[00:13:41] new ways to try

[00:13:42] and focus the optics

[00:13:43] and operate Sherlock

[00:13:44] with the dust cover

[00:13:45] left permanently

[00:13:45] in its open position.

[00:13:47] Now, these efforts

[00:13:48] involved numerous

[00:13:49] trials and errors

[00:13:50] and multiple rounds

[00:13:51] of diagnostic examinations,

[00:13:53] analysis and troubleshooting.

[00:13:55] After a lot of hard work

[00:13:56] and persistence,

[00:13:57] the team were able

[00:13:58] to successfully bring

[00:14:00] Sherlock back online

[00:14:01] with a successful

[00:14:02] observation of

[00:14:03] the rock target

[00:14:04] Wahala Glades.

[00:14:06] And since then,

[00:14:07] Sherlock's

[00:14:07] ramen capabilities,

[00:14:08] whose destiny

[00:14:09] was uncertain a month ago,

[00:14:11] before multiple

[00:14:11] calibration scans

[00:14:12] and observations

[00:14:13] of another rock,

[00:14:14] Sheaava Falls.

[00:14:15] And scientists

[00:14:16] were thrilled

[00:14:17] to discover

[00:14:17] what is now

[00:14:18] the most compelling

[00:14:19] evidence for organics

[00:14:20] in Jezero Crater.

[00:14:22] See, organic compounds

[00:14:23] are important

[00:14:23] because although

[00:14:24] they can be formed

[00:14:25] by non-biological

[00:14:26] processes,

[00:14:27] they can also be formed

[00:14:28] through biological

[00:14:28] processes.

[00:14:29] And the organics

[00:14:30] that Sherlock's

[00:14:31] observed in

[00:14:31] Sheaava Falls

[00:14:32] would need to be

[00:14:33] studied in laboratories

[00:14:34] back here on Earth

[00:14:35] for their origins

[00:14:36] to be determined.

[00:14:37] Regardless of

[00:14:38] how they were formed,

[00:14:39] the Sheaava Falls

[00:14:40] organics will tell

[00:14:41] scientists a great deal

[00:14:43] about the red planet's

[00:14:44] past and present

[00:14:45] carbon inventory,

[00:14:46] a possible early

[00:14:47] carbon cycle,

[00:14:48] and the precursor

[00:14:49] conditions for life

[00:14:50] as we know it.

[00:14:51] This is Space Time.

[00:15:09] And time now

[00:15:10] to take another look

[00:15:11] at some of the other

[00:15:11] stories making

[00:15:12] news in science this week

[00:15:13] with a science report.

[00:15:15] A new study has shown

[00:15:16] that consuming more caffeine

[00:15:18] may improve your heart health.

[00:15:20] A report in the journal

[00:15:21] Rheumatology has found

[00:15:22] that caffeine,

[00:15:23] which is present in coffee,

[00:15:25] tea and coca,

[00:15:25] actively helps

[00:15:27] endothelial progenitor cells.

[00:15:29] There are a group of cells

[00:15:30] that help regenerate

[00:15:31] the linings in blood vessels

[00:15:32] and are involved

[00:15:33] in vascular growth.

[00:15:35] Vascular disease,

[00:15:36] damage of blood vessels

[00:15:37] and their resulting

[00:15:38] consequences,

[00:15:39] such as heart attack

[00:15:40] and stroke,

[00:15:40] are among the leading

[00:15:41] causes of death

[00:15:42] in the general population.

[00:15:44] And in patients

[00:15:45] with inflammatory

[00:15:45] rheumatic diseases,

[00:15:47] such as lupus

[00:15:47] and rheumatoid arthritis,

[00:15:49] these risks

[00:15:49] are even greater.

[00:15:51] Researchers

[00:15:51] investigated

[00:15:52] 31 lupus patients

[00:15:53] without traditional

[00:15:54] cardiovascular risk factors

[00:15:56] using a seven-day

[00:15:57] food questionnaire.

[00:15:58] After a week,

[00:15:59] the investigators

[00:16:00] took the patient's blood

[00:16:01] in order to measure

[00:16:02] their blood vessel health.

[00:16:03] They found that

[00:16:04] patients who consume coffee

[00:16:06] had far better

[00:16:07] vascular health

[00:16:08] as measured through

[00:16:08] their endothelial cells.

[00:16:11] A new study has found

[00:16:13] that 35 years

[00:16:14] of satellite observations

[00:16:15] have shown that

[00:16:16] plant cover

[00:16:17] is increasing

[00:16:18] along the northernmost

[00:16:19] part of Antarctica.

[00:16:20] The researchers found

[00:16:22] that areas of vegetation

[00:16:23] on the Antarctic Peninsula

[00:16:25] have increased

[00:16:26] from less than

[00:16:26] 0.9 square kilometres

[00:16:28] to almost 12 square kilometres.

[00:16:30] That's a roughly

[00:16:31] 14-fold increase

[00:16:32] between 1986 and 2021.

[00:16:35] The findings,

[00:16:36] reported in the journal

[00:16:37] Nature Geoscience,

[00:16:38] show that the rate

[00:16:39] of greening

[00:16:39] was higher in 2016 to 2021,

[00:16:42] which could be linked

[00:16:43] to lower sea ice cover,

[00:16:44] causing warmer,

[00:16:45] wetter conditions.

[00:16:46] The authors say

[00:16:47] their observations

[00:16:48] could be explained

[00:16:49] by the spread

[00:16:49] of existing

[00:16:50] moss-dominated vegetation,

[00:16:52] but that mosses

[00:16:53] help convert

[00:16:53] rocky surfaces

[00:16:54] into soil,

[00:16:55] which could make it

[00:16:56] easier for other plants,

[00:16:57] including invasive species,

[00:16:59] to spread in the future.

[00:17:01] Well, over the past year,

[00:17:03] the ward's been horrified

[00:17:04] by news reports

[00:17:05] full of protests

[00:17:06] by people concerned

[00:17:07] about the Middle East,

[00:17:08] but who it turns out

[00:17:09] have absolutely

[00:17:10] no knowledge or facts

[00:17:11] about the history

[00:17:12] behind the events.

[00:17:13] In many cases,

[00:17:14] they don't even understand

[00:17:16] that they would be

[00:17:16] the first to be shot,

[00:17:18] stoned,

[00:17:18] or thrown off tall buildings

[00:17:19] were they to actually

[00:17:20] visit the groups

[00:17:21] they're often violently

[00:17:22] supporting,

[00:17:23] a syndrome which is

[00:17:24] jokingly now known

[00:17:25] as chickens for KFC.

[00:17:27] Now, a new study

[00:17:29] has explained

[00:17:29] what's going on.

[00:17:30] It turns out

[00:17:32] people simply

[00:17:33] don't know

[00:17:33] that they don't know

[00:17:34] what they don't know.

[00:17:36] A report in the journal

[00:17:37] Plus One

[00:17:38] has shown that people

[00:17:39] are biased to assume

[00:17:40] that they're not

[00:17:40] missing crucial information

[00:17:42] when it comes to them

[00:17:43] forming an opinion

[00:17:44] about any given situation.

[00:17:46] To reach their conclusions,

[00:17:47] the authors recruited

[00:17:48] more than a thousand

[00:17:49] participants

[00:17:49] and presented them

[00:17:50] with a hypothetical scenario

[00:17:52] where they needed

[00:17:53] to recommend

[00:17:53] whether two schools

[00:17:55] should be merged or not.

[00:17:57] Some were given

[00:17:57] information about

[00:17:58] the benefits of the merger,

[00:18:00] others were given

[00:18:00] information about

[00:18:01] the benefits of not merging,

[00:18:02] and some were given both.

[00:18:05] The researchers say

[00:18:05] participants in all groups

[00:18:07] were equally likely

[00:18:08] to think that they had

[00:18:09] enough information

[00:18:10] to make a call,

[00:18:11] and they were heavily

[00:18:11] influenced by the information

[00:18:13] they received

[00:18:13] when making their decision.

[00:18:14] But none bothered

[00:18:16] to seek out

[00:18:17] more information

[00:18:17] in order to gain

[00:18:18] a more informed opinion.

[00:18:20] The researchers say

[00:18:21] this assumption

[00:18:22] that people know enough

[00:18:23] to form an opinion

[00:18:24] may be the source

[00:18:25] of much of the conflict

[00:18:26] in our lives today.

[00:18:29] A new study

[00:18:30] has again confirmed

[00:18:31] that when placed

[00:18:32] under strict

[00:18:33] scientific testing,

[00:18:34] astrologers are no better

[00:18:35] than chance

[00:18:36] at determining

[00:18:37] someone's character,

[00:18:38] their past,

[00:18:39] or their future life.

[00:18:40] The findings come

[00:18:41] despite clear evidence

[00:18:43] that astrology is very popular,

[00:18:45] with both Gallup

[00:18:45] and YouGov polls

[00:18:46] showing that some 25%

[00:18:48] of Americans

[00:18:49] believe that the position

[00:18:50] of stars and planets

[00:18:51] really can affect

[00:18:52] their lives,

[00:18:54] and an additional 20%

[00:18:55] being unsure

[00:18:56] of its legitimacy

[00:18:57] and not willing

[00:18:58] to rule it out.

[00:18:59] The latest study

[00:19:00] by clearthinking.org

[00:19:01] wanted to see

[00:19:02] if astrologers

[00:19:03] could use

[00:19:03] astrological charts

[00:19:05] to understand

[00:19:05] a person's character

[00:19:06] and life.

[00:19:08] Tim Mendham

[00:19:08] from Australian Skeptic

[00:19:09] says 152

[00:19:11] experienced astrologers

[00:19:12] took part

[00:19:13] in the study,

[00:19:13] yet not a single

[00:19:14] astrologer

[00:19:15] got more than

[00:19:16] 5 out of 12

[00:19:17] questions right,

[00:19:18] making their performance

[00:19:20] indistinguishable

[00:19:20] from pure random guessing.

[00:19:22] There was a recent

[00:19:22] study done

[00:19:23] of astrologers

[00:19:24] to see if they

[00:19:24] could actually

[00:19:25] match up

[00:19:25] birth information,

[00:19:27] time, day,

[00:19:28] date, place,

[00:19:29] that sort of information

[00:19:29] and character assessment

[00:19:30] as well,

[00:19:31] and see if they

[00:19:32] could do a blind test.

[00:19:33] So they're given

[00:19:34] a character assessment

[00:19:35] of someone

[00:19:35] and see if they

[00:19:36] can match it up

[00:19:36] with the birth

[00:19:36] astrological information.

[00:19:38] This sort of thing

[00:19:38] is done every

[00:19:39] generation or so.

[00:19:40] It comes up

[00:19:41] with the same result.

[00:19:42] No, they can't do it.

[00:19:43] They're no better

[00:19:44] than chance.

[00:19:45] They're given

[00:19:45] 5 different

[00:19:46] character assessments

[00:19:47] or 1 character

[00:19:48] assessment of 5

[00:19:48] different astrological

[00:19:49] charts or vice versa

[00:19:51] and if they pick it

[00:19:52] so you've got

[00:19:52] 1 chance in 5

[00:19:53] of getting it right

[00:19:54] just purely by chance

[00:19:55] and lo and behold

[00:19:56] what these astrologers

[00:19:57] and these are serious

[00:19:58] astrologers and ones

[00:19:59] who always say

[00:19:59] I'm going to get

[00:20:00] 10 out of 12

[00:20:00] or something like that

[00:20:01] they get 1 out of 5

[00:20:02] right or thereabouts.

[00:20:03] Most of them

[00:20:03] were purely

[00:20:04] aligned with chance

[00:20:05] and so what they

[00:20:06] said they can do

[00:20:07] and what they thought

[00:20:07] they were doing

[00:20:08] while they were doing it

[00:20:09] they were saying

[00:20:09] we're going really well

[00:20:10] this happens all the time

[00:20:11] but they turned out

[00:20:12] that they weren't

[00:20:12] and apparently

[00:20:13] there's about

[00:20:13] a whole lot of

[00:20:14] different types

[00:20:15] of astrology

[00:20:15] and this test

[00:20:16] was pretty decent

[00:20:17] test

[00:20:17] and they go to

[00:20:18] great lengths

[00:20:18] to explain how it was

[00:20:19] all these different

[00:20:20] types of astrology

[00:20:21] they all came out

[00:20:22] with the same result

[00:20:23] chance

[00:20:23] pure chance

[00:20:24] you can't do

[00:20:25] what you say

[00:20:25] you can do

[00:20:26] and this is what

[00:20:26] the sceptics are all

[00:20:27] about

[00:20:27] testing people

[00:20:28] we've got a

[00:20:28] $100,000 challenge

[00:20:29] show us what you can do

[00:20:30] if you can do it

[00:20:31] under strict

[00:20:31] scientific conditions

[00:20:32] you're going to get

[00:20:33] 100 grand

[00:20:34] and people

[00:20:34] therefore come out

[00:20:35] and we've done

[00:20:36] a lot of tests

[00:20:36] for people

[00:20:37] and none of them

[00:20:38] have ever been able

[00:20:38] to show us

[00:20:39] that they can do

[00:20:40] what they say

[00:20:40] they can do

[00:20:41] it takes a pretty

[00:20:42] undiscerning audience

[00:20:43] to think they're genuine

[00:20:44] and the sceptics

[00:20:45] are quite the opposite

[00:20:46] we're very discerning

[00:20:47] if you like

[00:20:47] but keen to find out

[00:20:48] we've got $100,000

[00:20:49] real money

[00:20:50] keen to find out

[00:20:51] let's do it

[00:20:51] we've tested astrologers

[00:20:52] we've tested

[00:20:53] water diviners

[00:20:54] psychics

[00:20:54] palm readers

[00:20:55] all sorts of

[00:20:56] different things

[00:20:56] all sorts of

[00:20:57] technologies

[00:20:57] and things

[00:20:58] and none of them

[00:20:59] have actually been able

[00:21:00] to do what they say

[00:21:01] they can do

[00:21:01] and of course

[00:21:02] people see that

[00:21:02] say yeah okay

[00:21:03] and then they go away

[00:21:04] and say well the test

[00:21:05] was wrong

[00:21:05] even though the test

[00:21:06] was not wrong

[00:21:06] you've always got to

[00:21:07] find some sort of

[00:21:08] self-justification

[00:21:09] they always find a

[00:21:10] solution within hours

[00:21:11] normally

[00:21:11] perhaps even less

[00:21:12] that either we cheated

[00:21:13] or the test was

[00:21:15] always agreed to

[00:21:16] beforehand

[00:21:16] and then they say

[00:21:17] the test was unfair

[00:21:18] if astrologers

[00:21:19] whether they gave

[00:21:20] reasons for it

[00:21:20] they probably would

[00:21:21] have just a bad day

[00:21:22] but no

[00:21:23] a lot of astrologers

[00:21:24] were tested

[00:21:25] 152

[00:21:25] tested with these charts

[00:21:27] and they got no

[00:21:27] better than chance

[00:21:28] you and I

[00:21:29] could do just as well

[00:21:30] as they did

[00:21:31] that's Tim Mindham

[00:21:32] from Australian Skeptics

[00:21:33] and that's the show

[00:21:50] for now

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