This episode is brought to you with the support of Insta360 - for incredible 360 degree videos you really need to check their cameras out. To see the range and claim your free offer, visit store.insta360.com and use the coupon code SpaceTime at checkout.
In this episode of SpaceTime, we explore some mind-bending revelations about the universe, including a new estimate for its ultimate fate, the peculiar gravity of the asteroid Bennu, and India's ambitious plans for its first manned spaceflight.
The Universe's Unexpected Expiration Date
A groundbreaking study suggests that the universe could meet its end in a mere 10^78 years, significantly sooner than the previously estimated 10^1100 years. This revelation, based on calculations involving Hawking radiation, sheds light on how black holes and other celestial bodies lose mass over time. We discuss the implications of this research and the fascinating mechanics behind black hole evaporation, including the surprising equivalence in decay rates between neutron stars and black holes.
Gravity's Quirks on Asteroid Bennu
Astronomers have uncovered bizarre gravitational dynamics at play on the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, based on data from NASA's Osiris Rex mission. This small celestial body exists in a delicate balance between gravity and centrifugal forces, creating a unique environment that could lead to its eventual disintegration. We delve into how Bennu's increasing rotation might impact its structural integrity and potential future interactions with Earth.
India's Manned Spaceflight Ambitions
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has announced plans for its first manned spaceflight, set to launch in early 2027. This historic mission will follow an unmanned test flight of the Gaganyan spacecraft, which is designed to carry a crew into low Earth orbit. We discuss the training and preparations of the selected Indian Air Force pilots and the technical challenges ISRO faces as it embarks on this new frontier in space exploration.
www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com
✍️ Episode References
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
https://www.cosmos.esa.int/cosmology
Nature Astronomy
https://www.nature.com/natastronomy/
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/spacetime-space-astronomy--2458531/support.
00:00 This is Space Time Series 28, Episode 63 for broadcast on 26 May 2025
01:00 New estimates on the universe's end
12:30 The strange gravity of asteroid Bennu
22:45 India's plans for its first manned spaceflight
30:00 Science report: Herpes virus linked to Alzheimer's disease
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Stuart Gary: This is space Time Series 28, episode
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 63 for broadcast on 26 May
00:00:05 --> 00:00:08 2025. Coming up on SpaceTime,
00:00:08 --> 00:00:11 the universe to end sooner than thought.
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 The weird, wild wacky gravity of the
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 asteroid Bennu and India to undertake
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 its first manned spaceflight within two years.
00:00:20 --> 00:00:23 All that and more coming up on, Space Time.
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 Tim Mendham: Welcome to Space Time with Stuart
00:00:27 --> 00:00:27 Gary Gary.
00:00:44 --> 00:00:47 Stuart Gary: A new study claims the universe could end in
00:00:47 --> 00:00:50 10 to the power 78 years from now. That's
00:00:50 --> 00:00:53 a one with 78 zeros behind it, and
00:00:53 --> 00:00:55 it is much sooner than previously thought.
00:00:55 --> 00:00:58 The findings reported in the Journal of Cosmology and
00:00:58 --> 00:01:01 Astroparticle Physics, are based on the calculations of
00:01:01 --> 00:01:04 three Dutch scientists looking at so called Hawking
00:01:04 --> 00:01:06 radiation. They calculate that the
00:01:06 --> 00:01:09 universe's last stellar remnants will take about
00:01:09 --> 00:01:12 10 to the power of 78 years from now to
00:01:12 --> 00:01:15 evaporate. And that's much shorter than the 10 to the
00:01:15 --> 00:01:17 power 1 years previously
00:01:17 --> 00:01:20 postulated. Hawking radiation, proposed
00:01:20 --> 00:01:23 by Stephen hawking back in 1974, is a
00:01:23 --> 00:01:26 phenomenon where black holes emit thermal radiation due
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 to quantum effects near the event horizon, the point
00:01:29 --> 00:01:32 of no return beyond which an object falls
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 forever into a black hole singularity. This
00:01:34 --> 00:01:37 radiation reduces a black hole's mass,
00:01:37 --> 00:01:40 eventually leading to its disappearance. Now,
00:01:40 --> 00:01:43 it works like this. Quantum physics predicts that the
00:01:43 --> 00:01:46 vacuum of space isn't truly empty, but rather
00:01:46 --> 00:01:49 it contains constantly fluctuating pairs of virtual
00:01:49 --> 00:01:52 particles and antiparticles that literally pop in and
00:01:52 --> 00:01:55 out of existence. Now, near a black hole's event
00:01:55 --> 00:01:58 horizon, these virtual particles can be separated
00:01:58 --> 00:02:00 by the singularity's intense gravity.
00:02:01 --> 00:02:03 If one of these virtual particles falls into the black hole, the
00:02:03 --> 00:02:06 other can escape and be observed as radiation,
00:02:06 --> 00:02:09 becoming real and effectively, evaporating the
00:02:09 --> 00:02:12 black hole. The escaping particle carries
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 or radiates away energy, thus reducing the black
00:02:15 --> 00:02:18 hole's mass. And the rate of this evaporation would depend
00:02:18 --> 00:02:21 on the black hole's mass. Larger black holes
00:02:21 --> 00:02:24 have lower Hawking temperatures and evaporate more slowly,
00:02:24 --> 00:02:26 while smaller black holes have higher Hawking temperatures and
00:02:26 --> 00:02:29 therefore evaporate faster, over time. The
00:02:29 --> 00:02:32 continuous emission of Hawking radiation would
00:02:32 --> 00:02:35 theoretically lead to the gradual evaporation of the
00:02:35 --> 00:02:38 black hole itself. And taking that to its
00:02:38 --> 00:02:40 natural conclusion, eventually the black hole's mass
00:02:40 --> 00:02:43 will reach zero. It will no longer exist.
00:02:43 --> 00:02:46 The new research by black hole expert Hina Falki,
00:02:46 --> 00:02:49 quantum physicist Michael Wondrake, and mathematician
00:02:49 --> 00:02:52 Walter Van Zulkram, all from the University of
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 Radbound, is a follow up to an earlier
00:02:54 --> 00:02:57 2023 paper by the same trio
00:02:58 --> 00:03:01 now, back in that paper, they showed that not only black
00:03:01 --> 00:03:03 holes, but also other objects such as neutron stars,
00:03:03 --> 00:03:06 can also evaporate through Hawking radiation.
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 Now, after that publication, the authors received heaps of
00:03:09 --> 00:03:12 questions from scientists about how long the process
00:03:12 --> 00:03:15 would take, and they've now answered that question
00:03:15 --> 00:03:18 in this new study. And as we mentioned at the
00:03:18 --> 00:03:21 top of the story, the authors have calculated that the end of the
00:03:21 --> 00:03:24 universe is about 10 to the power of 78 years
00:03:24 --> 00:03:27 away, if only Hawking like radiation is taken into
00:03:27 --> 00:03:29 one account. They base this on the time
00:03:29 --> 00:03:32 they calculated it would take for a white dwarf star, the
00:03:32 --> 00:03:35 most common persistent type of celestial bodies in the
00:03:35 --> 00:03:38 universe, to decay through Hawking like radiation.
00:03:38 --> 00:03:41 The problem is, previous studies didn't take this into account.
00:03:41 --> 00:03:44 Putting the lifetime of white dwarves at 10 to the power of
00:03:44 --> 00:03:47 1100 years, the researchers
00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 calculated that the process of Hawking radiation
00:03:50 --> 00:03:52 theoretically also applies to other objects with a
00:03:52 --> 00:03:55 gravitational field. The calculations further
00:03:55 --> 00:03:58 showed that the evaporation time for an object depends
00:03:58 --> 00:04:01 only on its density. To the author's surprise,
00:04:01 --> 00:04:04 neutron stars and stellar mass black holes took
00:04:04 --> 00:04:07 the same amount of time to decay, 10 to the power of
00:04:07 --> 00:04:10 67 years. This was unexpected
00:04:10 --> 00:04:13 because black holes have stronger gravitational fields than
00:04:13 --> 00:04:15 neutron stars, which should cause them to evaporate
00:04:15 --> 00:04:18 faster. But the thing is, black holes have
00:04:18 --> 00:04:21 no surface, so they reabsorb some of their own
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 radiation and that inhibits the process. It's
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 a fascinating study. All purely hypothetical, of
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 course, but nevertheless fascinating.
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 This is space time still to
00:04:32 --> 00:04:35 come. The weird, wild, wacky gravity of the
00:04:35 --> 00:04:38 asteroid Bennu and India to undertake its first
00:04:38 --> 00:04:41 manned spaceflight within two years. All that
00:04:41 --> 00:04:42 and more still to come on, space.
00:04:55 --> 00:04:56 Speaker C: Foreign.
00:04:59 --> 00:05:02 Stuart Gary: Astronomers have examined the weird Alice in Wonderland
00:05:02 --> 00:05:05 like physics that govern gravity near the surface
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 of the asteroid Bennu. The new findings
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 are based on data gathered by NASA's Osiris Rex
00:05:10 --> 00:05:13 spacecraft, which undertook a sample return mission to the
00:05:13 --> 00:05:16 half kilometer wide near Earth asteroid. The probe
00:05:16 --> 00:05:19 was launched back in 2016, arriving at Bennu
00:05:19 --> 00:05:22 in 2018. It then spent two years
00:05:22 --> 00:05:25 studying the carbonaceous Apollo group space rock before
00:05:25 --> 00:05:28 before swooping down to the surface and grabbing some samples or
00:05:28 --> 00:05:31 returned to Earth in 2023. During the
00:05:31 --> 00:05:34 mission's study of Bennu, scientists examined and mapped its
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 topography, its structure, its composition, and
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 importantly for this story, its gravitational pull.
00:05:40 --> 00:05:42 A report in the journal Nature Astronomy found the
00:05:42 --> 00:05:45 asteroid has a mass of 73 billion
00:05:45 --> 00:05:48 kg. And the authors also found that
00:05:48 --> 00:05:51 Bennua exists in a delicate balance between two
00:05:51 --> 00:05:53 competing forces, the result of the asteroid's
00:05:53 --> 00:05:56 spin. See Bennu completes a Full
00:05:56 --> 00:05:59 rotation around its axis once every four hours.
00:05:59 --> 00:06:02 That's quite fast. Study's lead author,
00:06:02 --> 00:06:05 Daniel Shears from the University of Colorado Boulder,
00:06:05 --> 00:06:08 says those forces play an important role in the asteroid's
00:06:08 --> 00:06:11 long term evolution and potential demise.
00:06:11 --> 00:06:14 He says when you spin an asteroid up, you create a
00:06:14 --> 00:06:17 competition between gravity that's holding things together
00:06:17 --> 00:06:20 and centrifugal acceleration, which is trying to pull
00:06:20 --> 00:06:23 things apart. To study those forces,
00:06:23 --> 00:06:26 Scheers and colleagues used Osiris Rex's navigational
00:06:26 --> 00:06:28 instruments to measure the minute tug that the
00:06:28 --> 00:06:31 asteroid exerts on the spacecraft. And in the process,
00:06:31 --> 00:06:33 they dug up a lot more than they expected.
00:06:34 --> 00:06:37 Based on the group's calculations, it appears the region around
00:06:37 --> 00:06:40 Bernou's equator is trapped within a gravitational
00:06:40 --> 00:06:43 feature known as a rotational Roche lobe. And that's
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 something scientists haven't yet clearly observed on an
00:06:45 --> 00:06:48 asteroid. The Roche limit is the point
00:06:48 --> 00:06:51 at which the gravitational tidal effects of a large body
00:06:51 --> 00:06:54 on a smaller one become so powerful. Powerful as to
00:06:54 --> 00:06:57 overcome the smaller body's, own internal gravity,
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 causing it to fling apart. And she's found that
00:06:59 --> 00:07:02 that's when things get weird with Bennu.
00:07:02 --> 00:07:05 So now, if you're standing inside the boundaries of Bennu's
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 Roche lobe and you slipped on, say, banana peel, for
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 example, then not much would happen. You'd be captured by
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 the lobe and fall back onto the surface. But if
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 you were outside the Roche lobe and slipped on that same
00:07:17 --> 00:07:20 banana peel, you'd end up rolling towards the
00:07:20 --> 00:07:23 equator and you could theoretically gain enough energy
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 to quite literally roll off the equator and up into
00:07:25 --> 00:07:28 orbit and then into outer space. Shiz
00:07:28 --> 00:07:31 admits it all sounds like the sort of environment Lewis Carroll would
00:07:31 --> 00:07:34 have appreciated. But it does matter in real life,
00:07:34 --> 00:07:36 especially for the lifespan of Bennu.
00:07:37 --> 00:07:40 See, that's because radiation from the sun is causing
00:07:40 --> 00:07:43 Bennu to spin faster and faster over time.
00:07:43 --> 00:07:46 And as the asteroid's rotation builds up speed,
00:07:46 --> 00:07:49 its Roche limit might also be shrinking along with the forces
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 that are holding the whole thing down together. And as
00:07:52 --> 00:07:55 the Roche lobe narrows further around the equator, it becomes
00:07:55 --> 00:07:57 easier for the asteroid to lose material.
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 SRI says that so far, that material has been trapped by
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 gravity. But at some point, if the asteroid keeps spinning
00:08:03 --> 00:08:06 faster, then you would wind up falling off the cliff.
00:08:06 --> 00:08:09 In other words, Bennu could well be in the process of
00:08:09 --> 00:08:12 spinning itself into pieces. And SRI
00:08:12 --> 00:08:15 says that's important because Bennu is one of those
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 asteroids which, which could one day impact the
00:08:18 --> 00:08:18 Earth.
00:08:18 --> 00:08:21 Speaker C: The main role of the University of Colorado on the Osiris
00:08:21 --> 00:08:24 Rex mission is in the radio science
00:08:24 --> 00:08:27 experiment. When we send a spacecraft out
00:08:27 --> 00:08:29 to this asteroid millions, billions
00:08:29 --> 00:08:32 of kilometers away from the Earth, the only way
00:08:32 --> 00:08:35 we can command it, control it, see what it's doing is
00:08:35 --> 00:08:38 by sending radio waves out to the spacecraft.
00:08:39 --> 00:08:42 The main result from radio science is actually to measure the
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 mass in the gravity field of this asteroid.
00:08:45 --> 00:08:48 Pristine material from the very dawn of the solar
00:08:48 --> 00:08:50 system, Bennu has a, non
00:08:50 --> 00:08:53 negligible probability of impacting the Earth,
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 a few hundred years in the future. We take our
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 very precise measurements and determine its location
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 accurately enough so we can say, oh,
00:09:02 --> 00:09:04 okay, it's gonna miss the Earth by a far distance in the
00:09:04 --> 00:09:07 future. If in fact that's not the case,
00:09:08 --> 00:09:10 then we need to start thinking about, well, how would we actually
00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 push this asteroid out of the way?
00:09:13 --> 00:09:15 You need time and you need to understand
00:09:16 --> 00:09:18 the properties of the asteroid.
00:09:18 --> 00:09:21 Stuart Gary: That's Daniel Shreiz from the University of Colorado,
00:09:21 --> 00:09:24 Boulder. And this is space time
00:09:24 --> 00:09:27 still to come. India to want to take its first manned
00:09:27 --> 00:09:30 spaceflight within two years. And later in the science report,
00:09:30 --> 00:09:33 archaeologists, excavating the ancient Iraqi city of
00:09:33 --> 00:09:36 Nineveh have discovered the royal palace's throne room.
00:09:36 --> 00:09:38 All that and more still to come on, space time.
00:09:54 --> 00:09:57 The Indian space research organization ISRO says
00:09:57 --> 00:10:00 it'll attempt to launch its first manned space mission in
00:10:00 --> 00:10:03 early 2027. The historic
00:10:03 --> 00:10:05 flight will follow an unmanned test flight of the nation's
00:10:05 --> 00:10:07 Gaganyan spacecraft later this year.
00:10:08 --> 00:10:11 The 5.3-ton capture was designed to carry a
00:10:11 --> 00:10:14 crew of three into low earth orbit. The
00:10:14 --> 00:10:16 spacecraft will be sent into orbit using an updated version
00:10:16 --> 00:10:19 of the 59 metre tall GSLV
00:10:19 --> 00:10:21 Mk3 rocket. GSLV standing for
00:10:21 --> 00:10:24 Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. Although these days it's
00:10:24 --> 00:10:27 also being known as Launch Vehicle Mark three or
00:10:27 --> 00:10:30 LVM three. So far, four Indian Air
00:10:30 --> 00:10:33 Force pilots have been selected for the flight and they've already
00:10:33 --> 00:10:36 undertaken their cosmonaut training in Russia and are now
00:10:36 --> 00:10:39 undergoing further mission specialist training back in India.
00:10:39 --> 00:10:42 And the Indian Navy has also been rehearsing conducting
00:10:42 --> 00:10:44 sea recovery trials for the mission with more
00:10:44 --> 00:10:47 simulations planned prior to the flight.
00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 Meanwhile, an Indian rocket carrying a new Earth Observation
00:10:51 --> 00:10:54 Satellite has failed to reach orbit. The
00:10:54 --> 00:10:56 PSLV C61 launch vehicle
00:10:56 --> 00:10:59 blasted off from the Shirakota Space center on the Bay of
00:10:59 --> 00:11:02 Bengal coast carrying the EOS09
00:11:02 --> 00:11:05 spacecraft. ISRO says there was a sudden
00:11:05 --> 00:11:07 fall in chamber pressure during the third stage rocket
00:11:07 --> 00:11:10 burn, preventing the payload from reaching orbit.
00:11:10 --> 00:11:13 An investigation is now underway.
00:11:13 --> 00:11:14 This is
00:11:14 --> 00:11:20 spacetime
00:11:20 --> 00:11:20 Foreign.
00:11:32 --> 00:11:35 Look at some of the other stories making news in science this week
00:11:35 --> 00:11:38 with the Science Report. A new study
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 has found that herpes simplex 1, the virus
00:11:40 --> 00:11:43 responsible for cold sores, may also have a key role to
00:11:43 --> 00:11:46 play in the development of Alzheimer's disease.
00:11:46 --> 00:11:49 The findings, reported in the British Medical Journal, suggest
00:11:49 --> 00:11:52 that treatment with antiviral therapy might be linked to
00:11:52 --> 00:11:55 a lower risk of the condition. The authors
00:11:55 --> 00:11:58 matched up close to 350 pairs of people,
00:11:58 --> 00:12:01 one diagnosed with Alzheimer's and the other without.
00:12:02 --> 00:12:04 Overall, they found the likelihood of an
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 HSV1 diagnosis was 80%
00:12:07 --> 00:12:10 higher among those with Alzheimer's. They also
00:12:10 --> 00:12:12 found that people who used antiviral medication after their
00:12:12 --> 00:12:15 diagnosis were 17% less likely to develop
00:12:15 --> 00:12:18 Alzheimer's compared to those who didn't use the treatment treatments.
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 Additionally, the authors also looked at the role of other
00:12:21 --> 00:12:24 herpes viruses and suggest that both
00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 HSV2 and varicella rooster virus
00:12:26 --> 00:12:29 infections were also associated with a heightened risk
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 of getting Alzheimer's.
00:12:32 --> 00:12:35 Archaeologists excavating a dig site in the ancient
00:12:35 --> 00:12:38 Iraqi city of Nineveh have discovered the royal throne
00:12:38 --> 00:12:41 room of the north palace of King Ashurbanipal.
00:12:41 --> 00:12:44 The find includes large portions of a monumental
00:12:44 --> 00:12:47 stone slab some five and a half meters long by three
00:12:47 --> 00:12:49 meters high, weighing around 12 tons.
00:12:49 --> 00:12:52 It features a carved relief depicting the ruler of the
00:12:52 --> 00:12:55 Assyrian empire from the 7th century BCE along
00:12:55 --> 00:12:57 with two important deities and other figures.
00:12:58 --> 00:13:01 Shown in the center of the recently discovered relief is King
00:13:01 --> 00:13:03 Ashurbinipal, the last great ruler of the
00:13:03 --> 00:13:06 Assyrian Empire. He is flanked by two
00:13:06 --> 00:13:09 supreme deities, the gods Asshur and Ishtar the
00:13:09 --> 00:13:12 patron goddess of Nineveh. Archaeologists
00:13:12 --> 00:13:15 believe the figures suggest that a massive winged sun disc
00:13:15 --> 00:13:17 was probably originally mounted above the relief.
00:13:18 --> 00:13:20 The ancient city of Nineveh located near the modern Iraqi city of Mosul
00:13:20 --> 00:13:23 M is considered to be one of the most important cities of
00:13:23 --> 00:13:26 north Mesopotamia and under King
00:13:26 --> 00:13:28 Sennacherib became the capital of the Assyrian
00:13:28 --> 00:13:31 Empire in the late 8th century BCE.
00:13:32 --> 00:13:35 A new study has found that native Australian bees
00:13:35 --> 00:13:38 living in areas where European honeybees are prevalent wind
00:13:38 --> 00:13:41 up having fewer female offspring and a higher death
00:13:41 --> 00:13:44 rate in their first years of life. The
00:13:44 --> 00:13:46 findings, reported in the Journal of the Frontiers in Bee
00:13:46 --> 00:13:49 Science, studied native bees living in bee
00:13:49 --> 00:13:52 hotels, wooden boxes designed for native bees to
00:13:52 --> 00:13:55 rest and breed in. They looked at 14 sites
00:13:55 --> 00:13:57 around Perth looking at whether their proximity to
00:13:57 --> 00:14:00 introduced bees impacted various signs of
00:14:00 --> 00:14:03 fitness. The authors say it takes fewer resources to
00:14:03 --> 00:14:06 produce male bees compared to female bees, so the
00:14:06 --> 00:14:09 change in sex ratio they observed among native bees
00:14:09 --> 00:14:12 could be a sign that the natives are struggling to compete for a
00:14:12 --> 00:14:14 resources which in turn makes it harder for the next
00:14:14 --> 00:14:17 generation to reproduce because there are fewer females in
00:14:17 --> 00:14:18 the area.
00:14:19 --> 00:14:22 While a source of eternal frustration for those of
00:14:22 --> 00:14:25 us fascinated by the wonders of a universe of science
00:14:25 --> 00:14:28 fact, for many others, the mysteries of the
00:14:28 --> 00:14:31 supernatural retain a sort of magical
00:14:31 --> 00:14:34 allure. Now, whether it's the Bermuda Triangle
00:14:34 --> 00:14:37 personality test, ghost hunting, crop circles, the Loch
00:14:37 --> 00:14:39 Ness monster or Bigfoot, they all have one thing in common.
00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 They simply don't live up to the rigors of actual
00:14:42 --> 00:14:45 scientific testing. Nevertheless, they
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 all attract passionate supporters. And in
00:14:48 --> 00:14:51 fact, even when people know they're not real, they're still often
00:14:51 --> 00:14:53 fascinated by the idea. And Tim
00:14:53 --> 00:14:56 Mendham from Australian Skeptics says there's a whole range of
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 reasons why this is such a common human quirk.
00:14:59 --> 00:15:02 Tim Mendham: Various reasons have been suggested. One is that people want
00:15:02 --> 00:15:05 a world to be more exciting, more glamorous, more weird,
00:15:05 --> 00:15:08 mysterious. That's one thing is the excitement level, the other
00:15:08 --> 00:15:10 one is the fear level that the world's a pretty scary
00:15:10 --> 00:15:13 place, things happen to you without any apparent reason. I'd like
00:15:13 --> 00:15:16 there to be some more reliable information in
00:15:16 --> 00:15:19 the world. And if I don't feel that the world as it is, as
00:15:19 --> 00:15:22 I know if he's reliable, I'll tune into something else which is
00:15:22 --> 00:15:25 sort of UFOs exist or the world is flat or
00:15:25 --> 00:15:28 the stars can decide my future, etc. That's another one,
00:15:28 --> 00:15:31 that fear factor. The other one is a conspiracy factor, that anything which
00:15:31 --> 00:15:34 is associated with established fact or science or
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 policy must be false because obviously they're campaigning
00:15:36 --> 00:15:39 against us. Whether it's big government, big pharma, big science,
00:15:39 --> 00:15:42 whatever. Anything they say is inherently false according
00:15:42 --> 00:15:45 to some people and therefore will go go to the opposite if I don't trust the
00:15:45 --> 00:15:48 government. Therefore something which is anti government must be true, which
00:15:48 --> 00:15:51 is poor logic, but never mind. That's never been a major
00:15:51 --> 00:15:54 issue. So the governments are trying to block UFOs, governments
00:15:54 --> 00:15:56 are trying to block this knowledge or that knowledge.
00:15:56 --> 00:15:59 Stuart Gary: Therefore that knowledge has hiding the truth about Bigfoot.
00:15:59 --> 00:16:02 Tim Mendham: Well, they are. Well, I don't understand that one actually. I don't know why a
00:16:02 --> 00:16:05 government would actually cover up Bigfoot. I thought, you know, tourism, etcetera, would be
00:16:05 --> 00:16:05 a good thing.
00:16:05 --> 00:16:08 Stuart Gary: It's the latest Animal Planet Bigfoot story that's doing
00:16:08 --> 00:16:09 the rounds.
00:16:09 --> 00:16:11 Tim Mendham: Yeah, it probably is. I mean, yeah, the inventiveness of people
00:16:11 --> 00:16:14 to find conspiracies is never ending. So there's various
00:16:14 --> 00:16:17 reasons why we like pseudo one is fun. It might be a fun
00:16:17 --> 00:16:18 thing like this monster.
00:16:18 --> 00:16:20 Stuart Gary: That's why we cover it on this show. Because it is.
00:16:20 --> 00:16:23 Tim Mendham: That's right, yeah. It's fun elements, it's exciting,
00:16:23 --> 00:16:26 it's. Yeah, it's interesting. It's as interesting as Harry Potter.
00:16:26 --> 00:16:29 I don't believe Harry Potter is real. I don't believe the Loch Ness Monster is
00:16:29 --> 00:16:32 real. It doesn't stop you enjoying them. But then, yeah, it also.
00:16:32 --> 00:16:34 Stuart Gary: You've been there three times. Come on.
00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 Tim Mendham: I have been there three times. Not a Harry Potter, I should say actually, but the Loch
00:16:36 --> 00:16:39 Ness. Loch Ness. I have been. Yeah, it's great fun. It's a lovely place too. I recommend
00:16:39 --> 00:16:42 that. Nice little restaurants and things. But just by thing
00:16:42 --> 00:16:45 is fun doesn't mean it's true. And if you believe it's true, it can actually
00:16:45 --> 00:16:48 start influencing you in what you do in life.
00:16:48 --> 00:16:51 Like astrology is not true. Your listeners,
00:16:51 --> 00:16:54 always interested in astronomy would probably know that there's
00:16:54 --> 00:16:57 nothing in astrology. There's nothing in the flat earth theory as well.
00:16:57 --> 00:17:00 Probably nothing in UFOs, UAPs, whatever. No evidence
00:17:00 --> 00:17:03 certainly. But people follow astrology. People definitely follow
00:17:03 --> 00:17:06 astrology and use it to make their life decisions. People
00:17:06 --> 00:17:09 are interested in UFOs and can use that as part of their
00:17:09 --> 00:17:12 philosophy of anti government everything. And that UFOs are
00:17:12 --> 00:17:15 here to save us or destroy us, depending on your point of view. Flat Earth
00:17:15 --> 00:17:18 is a classic conspiracy theory. They're trying to cover it up. It's one of
00:17:18 --> 00:17:21 the silliest conspiracy theories out there. But I mean, there
00:17:21 --> 00:17:23 are things which are dangerous to people and those things that are fun,
00:17:23 --> 00:17:26 fine, have fun. But what the skeptics say, unfortunately, is
00:17:26 --> 00:17:29 these things extending into other areas. Conspiracy about
00:17:29 --> 00:17:32 UFOs might be a conspiracy about health as well. Might be a
00:17:32 --> 00:17:34 little lean to the same mindset.
00:17:34 --> 00:17:36 Stuart Gary: That's Tim Mendham from Australian Skeptics.
00:17:52 --> 00:17:55 And that's the show for now. Space Time is
00:17:55 --> 00:17:57 available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple
00:17:57 --> 00:18:00 Podcasts, itunes, Stitcher, Google
00:18:00 --> 00:18:02 Podcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify,
00:18:03 --> 00:18:04 acast, Amazon Music,
00:18:05 --> 00:18:07 bytes.com, soundcloud, YouTube Music,
00:18:07 --> 00:18:10 your favorite podcast download provider, and from
00:18:10 --> 00:18:13 spacetimewithstuartgarry.com
00:18:13 --> 00:18:16 Space Times also broadcasts through the National Science
00:18:16 --> 00:18:18 foundation on Science Zone Radio and on both
00:18:18 --> 00:18:21 iHeartradio and TuneIn radio. And
00:18:21 --> 00:18:24 you can help to support our show by visiting the SpaceTime
00:18:24 --> 00:18:27 Store for a range of promotional merchandising goodies,
00:18:28 --> 00:18:31 or by becoming a SpaceTime patron, which gives you
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 access to triple episode commercial free versions of the
00:18:33 --> 00:18:36 show, as well as lots of bonus audio content which doesn't
00:18:36 --> 00:18:39 go to air, access to our exclusive Facebook group
00:18:39 --> 00:18:42 and other rewards just go to
00:18:42 --> 00:18:44 spacetimewithstuartgarry.com for full
00:18:44 --> 00:18:45 details.
00:18:45 --> 00:18:48 Tim Mendham: You've been listening to Space Time with Stuart Gary Gary.
00:18:49 --> 00:18:51 This has been another quality podcast production from
00:18:51 --> 00:18:53 bytes.com.
Related Episodes
Interstellar Discoveries: The Arrival of Comet 3I Atlas and the Mars Sample Race
In this episode of SpaceTime , we dive into the latest astronomical discoveries and the implications for future space exploration. New Interstellar Visitor: Comet 3I Atlas Astronomers have identified...
Stellar Encounters: A Second Collision of Galaxy Giants
Sponsor Details: This epiosode is broght to you by NordVPN... the official VPN service of SpaceTime. Get online security at a special SpaceTime price. Details at www.nordvpn.com/stuartgary or use the ...
Eris Rocket Launch Delays, Venus's Tectonic Secrets, and Scotland's Billion-Year-Old Impact
This episode of SpaceTime covers a range of exciting topics, including the delayed launch of Gilmour Space's Eris rocket, groundbreaking discoveries on Venus, and a billion-year-old asteroid impact in...