Our Guests This Week Professor Steve Madden from the Australian National University Blue Origin Exploration Systems Technical Program Manager Yuka Matsuyama Blue Origin Exploration Systems Vice President Kris Zacny NASA Perseverance Deputy Project Scientist Katy Stack Morgan NASA Perseverance Project Scientist Ken Farley NASA Perseverance Deputy Project Manager Matt Wallace NASA Perseverance Chief Engineer Adan Steltzner NASA Perseverance Mobility Team Member Farah Alibay Our regular guests: Alex Zaharov-Reutt from techadvice.life Tim Mendham from Australian Skeptics 🌏 Get Our Exclusive NordVPN deal here ➼ www.bitesz.com/nordvpn . The discounts and bonuses are incredible! And it’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee! ✌ If you’d like to support the podcast and gain access to bonus content by becoming a SpaceTime crew member, you can do just that through The Big Bang editions on Patreon, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Details on the Support page on our website https://www.bitesz.com/show/spacetime/support/
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Stuart Gary: This is space time series 29 episode
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 125 for broadcast on 19 October
00:00:06 --> 00:00:08 2026. Coming up on spacetime,
00:00:09 --> 00:00:11 a sample return mission to the Martian moon
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 Phobos. Our solar system's life
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 expectancy far shorter than previously
00:00:17 --> 00:00:19 thought. And NASA's SpaceX Crew
00:00:19 --> 00:00:22 13 mission arrives aboard the International
00:00:22 --> 00:00:24 Space Station for what will be a six month
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 mission on the orbiting outpost. All that and
00:00:27 --> 00:00:29 more coming up on, um, Space Time.
00:00:31 --> 00:00:34 Welcome to Space Time with Stuart
00:00:34 --> 00:00:34 Gary.
00:00:50 --> 00:00:53 Japan's Martian Moons exploration mission.
00:00:53 --> 00:00:56 The MMX is slated to launch today on the
00:00:56 --> 00:00:58 first ever sample return mission to the Red
00:00:58 --> 00:01:01 Planet's largest moon, Phobos. The flight
00:01:01 --> 00:01:04 aboard a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
00:01:04 --> 00:01:07 JAXA H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space
00:01:07 --> 00:01:09 Centre, 1 kilometres south of Tokyo, will
00:01:09 --> 00:01:12 take a year to reach Mars, returning to Earth
00:01:12 --> 00:01:14 and landing in the Australian outback in
00:01:14 --> 00:01:17 2031. Despite the
00:01:17 --> 00:01:20 large number of missions to Mars, its two
00:01:20 --> 00:01:22 moons, Phobos and Deimos, remain a
00:01:22 --> 00:01:25 mystery. There are huge open
00:01:25 --> 00:01:27 questions about how they formed and, and what
00:01:27 --> 00:01:30 they're made of. The most popular
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 hypothesis is that they're either captured
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 asteroids from the nearby main asteroid belt
00:01:34 --> 00:01:36 between Mars and Jupiter, or they're the
00:01:36 --> 00:01:39 remains of debris thrown up into orbit
00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 following a giant asteroid collision onto the
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 Martian surface. But to find out what
00:01:44 --> 00:01:46 really happened, scientists need to collect
00:01:46 --> 00:01:49 samples. And that's where the Martian moon's
00:01:49 --> 00:01:52 explorer mission comes in. MMX will
00:01:52 --> 00:01:55 be the first spacecraft to orbit Phobos, the
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 first to land on it and and the first to
00:01:57 --> 00:01:59 collect samples from its surface for return
00:01:59 --> 00:02:02 to Earth. The 4
00:02:02 --> 00:02:04 kilogrammes spacecraft will arrive at Mars in
00:02:04 --> 00:02:07 August, transferring to orbit around the 27
00:02:07 --> 00:02:10 kilometre wide moon a month later. And then
00:02:10 --> 00:02:12 it'll map the surface of the tiny moon to
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 identify a suitable landing site. After
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 studying both Phobos and Deimos from orbit,
00:02:17 --> 00:02:20 it'll deploy a small 25 kilogramme four
00:02:20 --> 00:02:22 wheeled lander rover called IDEFX in
00:02:22 --> 00:02:25 2029, which will descend down to the
00:02:25 --> 00:02:27 Phobian surface. The paving the way for the
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 MMX spacecraft which will land once or twice
00:02:30 --> 00:02:33 in 2030, collecting up to 10 kilogrammes of
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 regolith using a pneumatic sampling system.
00:02:36 --> 00:02:38 The samples will then be packed into a return
00:02:38 --> 00:02:40 module for the journey back to earth,
00:02:40 --> 00:02:43 arriving in 2031. On the way
00:02:43 --> 00:02:45 back, MMX will fly past Deimos, taking a
00:02:45 --> 00:02:47 closer look and it will also carry out
00:02:47 --> 00:02:50 observations of Mars itself. The
00:02:50 --> 00:02:53 MMX spacecraft is equipped with a radiation
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 monitor, high resolution narrow and wide
00:02:55 --> 00:02:58 field cameras, a LIDAR light detection and
00:02:58 --> 00:02:59 Ranging system system, a near infrared
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 spectrometer, a gamma ray and neutron
00:03:02 --> 00:03:05 spectrometer, a Martian dust monitor, a mass
00:03:05 --> 00:03:07 spectrum analyzer, a laser induced breakdown
00:03:07 --> 00:03:10 spectroscope, gravity gradiometer and two
00:03:10 --> 00:03:13 different sampling devices. The Artifice
00:03:13 --> 00:03:15 lander rover carries four of its own
00:03:15 --> 00:03:18 scientific instruments including two cameras,
00:03:18 --> 00:03:20 a radiometer and a Raman spectrometer
00:03:20 --> 00:03:22 providing information to prepare for the
00:03:22 --> 00:03:25 landing of the main spacecraft. Gravity
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 on Phobos is so low that Artifice will only
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 weigh the equivalent of 15 grammes on its
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 surface. And scientists want to see exactly
00:03:32 --> 00:03:35 how difficult it will be to operate with such
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 a small gravitational potential.
00:03:38 --> 00:03:40 While the MMX mission is led by jaxa,
00:03:40 --> 00:03:43 NASA, the French Space Agency, the
00:03:43 --> 00:03:46 German Aerospace Centre, uh, and the European
00:03:46 --> 00:03:49 Space Agency, ESA will also play key
00:03:49 --> 00:03:52 roles and Blue Origin subsidiary
00:03:52 --> 00:03:54 Honeybee Robotics developed the mission's all
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 important P sampler pneumatic sampling
00:03:56 --> 00:03:57 system.
00:03:57 --> 00:03:59 Chris Sackney: We're launching in October this year a
00:03:59 --> 00:04:02 pneumatic sampler for MMX and we're expecting
00:04:02 --> 00:04:05 to receive the sample back in 2031.
00:04:05 --> 00:04:08 Matt Wallace: It really took a village working for almost
00:04:08 --> 00:04:10 two decades to get it to this point, to get
00:04:10 --> 00:04:13 it to the launch pad. The primary purpose of
00:04:13 --> 00:04:15 a uh, pneumatic sampler is to capture uh,
00:04:15 --> 00:04:18 Phobos material. So by capturing
00:04:18 --> 00:04:21 regolith that sits on the surface of Phobos,
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 we also capturing Martian samples.
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 Chris Sackney: It carries high pressure gas, very
00:04:27 --> 00:04:30 clean ultra purity nitrogen gas and
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 then that gets released to kick up the
00:04:32 --> 00:04:33 regolith
00:04:33 --> 00:04:36 Matt Wallace: on the Phobos surface and then gas under
00:04:36 --> 00:04:38 the pressure moves the regolith into the
00:04:38 --> 00:04:41 container. This entire process happens in
00:04:41 --> 00:04:43 a fraction of a second. You blink and it's
00:04:43 --> 00:04:44 all done.
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 Chris Sackney: Um, once the canister
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 is ready to be stored, we'll release the
00:04:49 --> 00:04:51 canister from our mechanism and that gets
00:04:51 --> 00:04:54 stored into the sample return capsule and
00:04:54 --> 00:04:56 eventually gets returned to Earth.
00:04:57 --> 00:05:00 So the scientists are interested in how the
00:05:00 --> 00:05:03 two moons of Mars were formed and
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 based on the sample we collect, they can
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 analyse the sample to determine whether it
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 was captured asteroids or created due to
00:05:10 --> 00:05:11 giant impact.
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 Matt Wallace: The success of the pneumatic sampler is
00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 primarily due to the uh, collaborative
00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 efforts between NASA, uh,
00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 JAXA and Blue Origin.
00:05:21 --> 00:05:23 Stuart Gary: And in that report from Blue Origin we heard
00:05:23 --> 00:05:25 from the MMX Systems Technical programme
00:05:25 --> 00:05:28 Manager Yuka Masuyama and MMX
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 Exploration Systems Vice President Chris
00:05:30 --> 00:05:33 Sacney. This is space time
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 still to come. Our uh, solar system's life
00:05:36 --> 00:05:39 expectancy is far shorter than previously
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 thought. And NASA's SpaceX Crew 13
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 mission arrives aboard the International
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 Space Station for what will be a six month
00:05:46 --> 00:05:49 mission on the orbiting outpost. All that and
00:05:49 --> 00:05:51 more still to come on, um, space time.
00:06:04 --> 00:06:07 A new study warns that our solar system will
00:06:07 --> 00:06:09 end much sooner than previously thought,
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 thanks to massive gravitational perturbations
00:06:11 --> 00:06:13 and resonances, causing the planets to
00:06:13 --> 00:06:16 destabilise as our sun expands.
00:06:16 --> 00:06:19 The sun is 4.6 billion years old
00:06:19 --> 00:06:21 and current estimates suggest it has a total
00:06:21 --> 00:06:24 lifespan of around 12 billion years.
00:06:24 --> 00:06:27 That's about when it'll have used up its core
00:06:27 --> 00:06:29 hydrogen fuel supply, which it's been fusing
00:06:29 --> 00:06:32 into helium. When that happens, the Sun's
00:06:32 --> 00:06:34 core will contract, increasing in pressure
00:06:34 --> 00:06:36 and temperature until it gets hot enough to
00:06:36 --> 00:06:38 start fusing helium in its core into carbon
00:06:38 --> 00:06:41 and oxygen. Meanwhile, as the core
00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 contracts, hydrogen in the shell around the
00:06:43 --> 00:06:46 core will heat up and begin burning. At
00:06:46 --> 00:06:48 the same time, the Sun's outer gaseous
00:06:48 --> 00:06:51 envelope, which is now further away from that
00:06:51 --> 00:06:53 contracted core, will cool and expand,
00:06:53 --> 00:06:56 turning the sun into a bloated old red
00:06:56 --> 00:06:59 giant star. As the Sun's outer
00:06:59 --> 00:07:01 envelope expands, it will engulf the inner
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 planets Mercury and Venus and most likely the
00:07:03 --> 00:07:06 Earth as well. And even if the Earth doesn't
00:07:06 --> 00:07:08 get totally consumed, it'll be burned to a
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 crisp. All life will be gone. And as
00:07:11 --> 00:07:13 the outer envelope continues to expand, it'll
00:07:13 --> 00:07:16 detach from the Sun's core, becoming a
00:07:16 --> 00:07:18 planetary nebula and exposing the Sun's white
00:07:18 --> 00:07:21 hot stellar core as a white dwarf.
00:07:22 --> 00:07:24 And that's where this study begins. New
00:07:24 --> 00:07:27 simulations suggest that the orbits of the
00:07:27 --> 00:07:29 solar system's planets, including Earth, will
00:07:29 --> 00:07:31 destabilise as the sun expands into a red
00:07:31 --> 00:07:34 giant. The computations by
00:07:34 --> 00:07:36 Konstantin Batygin and colleagues from the
00:07:36 --> 00:07:38 California Institute of Technology are uh,
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 based on numerical experiments designed to
00:07:40 --> 00:07:42 analyse the orbital dynamics of outer solar
00:07:42 --> 00:07:45 system under different solar mass loss
00:07:45 --> 00:07:48 scenarios. And they show how our
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 solar system's planets will undergo massive
00:07:50 --> 00:07:52 gravitational perturbations and planetary
00:07:52 --> 00:07:54 resonances, causing their orbits to
00:07:54 --> 00:07:57 destabilise as the sun expands. And
00:07:57 --> 00:08:00 depending on how much of the Sun's mass is
00:08:00 --> 00:08:02 ejected during the red giant phase, it means
00:08:02 --> 00:08:05 our solar system will be disassembled on a
00:08:05 --> 00:08:07 far more rapid timescale than previously
00:08:07 --> 00:08:10 thought. The computer simulations suggest
00:08:10 --> 00:08:13 that about 40% of simulations will lead to
00:08:13 --> 00:08:15 the disruption or violent scattering of the
00:08:15 --> 00:08:17 planets while the sun is in its red giant
00:08:17 --> 00:08:20 phase. And roughly 90% will break down within
00:08:20 --> 00:08:23 3 billion years. That's much sooner than
00:08:23 --> 00:08:26 what was expected. It means instead of
00:08:26 --> 00:08:29 lasting some billion billion years, our solar
00:08:29 --> 00:08:31 system is now only likely to survive for just
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 a billion years after the sun transforms
00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 into, into a white dwarf.
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 This is space time still to come.
00:08:39 --> 00:08:42 NASA's SpaceX Crew 13 have arrived aboard the
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 International Space Station just seven hours
00:08:44 --> 00:08:47 and 50 minutes after blasting off from the
00:08:47 --> 00:08:49 Cape Canaveral Space Force Base in Florida.
00:08:49 --> 00:08:51 And later in the science report,
00:08:51 --> 00:08:53 archaeologists have discovered the earliest
00:08:53 --> 00:08:56 known evidence of ancient humans attacking
00:08:56 --> 00:08:58 each other with spears. Talk about Cain and
00:08:58 --> 00:09:01 Abel. All that and more still to come on
00:09:01 --> 00:09:02 space time.
00:09:18 --> 00:09:21 NASA's SpaceX Crew 13 have arrived aboard
00:09:21 --> 00:09:24 the International Space Station. The crew of
00:09:24 --> 00:09:26 four launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
00:09:26 --> 00:09:29 from Pad 40 of the Cape Canaveral Space Force
00:09:29 --> 00:09:31 Base in Florida to rendezvousing with the
00:09:31 --> 00:09:33 orbiting outpost seven hours and 50 minutes
00:09:33 --> 00:09:36 after liftoff. Their Dragon capsule
00:09:36 --> 00:09:38 Grace docked onto the forward port of the
00:09:38 --> 00:09:40 Harmony Module for a planned six month
00:09:40 --> 00:09:43 mission as part of the Expedition 75 crew.
00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 During their stay the team will work on some
00:09:46 --> 00:09:49 250 experiments, including using
00:09:49 --> 00:09:52 microgravity to produce human stem cells to
00:09:52 --> 00:09:54 improve personalised medicine, disease
00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 modelling and pharmaceutical testing for
00:09:56 --> 00:09:58 conditions such as heart disease and
00:09:58 --> 00:10:00 Parkinson's. They'll also explore crop
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 production through new mostly autonomous
00:10:02 --> 00:10:05 plant growth systems. And they'll test how
00:10:05 --> 00:10:07 plants grow outside dedicated facilities.
00:10:08 --> 00:10:10 They'll also undertech um, human health
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 studies examining factors linked to blood
00:10:12 --> 00:10:14 flow anomalies in microgravity. And they'll
00:10:14 --> 00:10:17 test a new in flight diagnostic device to
00:10:17 --> 00:10:20 monitor astronaut health. Just three
00:10:20 --> 00:10:22 hours after Crew 13 blasted off from Cape
00:10:22 --> 00:10:25 Canaveral, SpaceX launched another Falcon 9
00:10:25 --> 00:10:27 rocket, this time from Space Launch Complex 4
00:10:27 --> 00:10:29 East at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in
00:10:29 --> 00:10:32 California. Carrying more than 100 mini
00:10:32 --> 00:10:34 satellites on the Transporter 18 mission.
00:10:34 --> 00:10:37 These carry a range of experiments for
00:10:37 --> 00:10:39 government departments, universities and
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 private enterprise. That was
00:10:41 --> 00:10:43 followed by another SpaceX launch from
00:10:43 --> 00:10:46 Florida, this one from Pad UH39A at the
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 Kennedy Space Centre. Carrying a new spy
00:10:48 --> 00:10:50 satellite for the National Reconnaissance
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 Office. The highly classified
00:10:52 --> 00:10:55 NROl 97 mission flew aboard the
00:10:55 --> 00:10:58 Falcon Heavy rocket. The first use of this
00:10:58 --> 00:11:00 rocket by the spy agency Falcon
00:11:00 --> 00:11:03 Heavy is composed of three Falcon 9 boosters
00:11:03 --> 00:11:06 strapped side by side. The use of a
00:11:06 --> 00:11:08 Falcon Heavy suggests either a very high
00:11:08 --> 00:11:11 orbital target or an extremely heavy payload.
00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 The two side boosters return to Landing Zones
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 1 and 2 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force
00:11:16 --> 00:11:19 Station eight minutes after launch. But the
00:11:19 --> 00:11:21 core booster appears to have been expended
00:11:21 --> 00:11:24 during the mission, meaning no fuel for a
00:11:24 --> 00:11:26 boostback burn to Earth or a landing burn.
00:11:27 --> 00:11:29 And it doesn't end there. In what's been a
00:11:29 --> 00:11:32 really Busy week for SpaceX, just a week
00:11:32 --> 00:11:35 after Crew 13's arrival on station, NASA's
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 SpaceX Crew 12 undocked UM from the orbiting
00:11:37 --> 00:11:40 outpost Zenith Port of the Harmony module for
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 their return journey to Earth following their
00:11:42 --> 00:11:44 eight month mission on station, splashing
00:11:44 --> 00:11:46 down in the North Pacific Ocean off the
00:11:46 --> 00:11:49 California coast west of Los Angeles. It
00:11:49 --> 00:11:51 was an eventful mission for Crew 12.
00:11:52 --> 00:11:54 It began earlier than expected following the
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 earlier return to Earth of the Crew 11
00:11:56 --> 00:11:58 mission due to a medical evacuation of one of
00:11:58 --> 00:12:01 their crew members and it was also a late
00:12:01 --> 00:12:03 crew Replacement for Crew 12 with the
00:12:03 --> 00:12:06 original Russian cosmonaut intended to fly on
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 the mission, expelled from the United States
00:12:08 --> 00:12:11 following spying allegations. Apparently it
00:12:11 --> 00:12:12 was caught violating international
00:12:12 --> 00:12:14 Trafficking in Arms regulations by
00:12:14 --> 00:12:16 photographing SpaceX engines, classified
00:12:16 --> 00:12:19 documents and other technologies using his
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 phone at a SpaceX facility in Hawthorne,
00:12:21 --> 00:12:24 California. Dear, oh dear. Looks like old
00:12:24 --> 00:12:27 Cold War habits die hard. During
00:12:27 --> 00:12:30 their 237 days on station, Crew 12
00:12:30 --> 00:12:33 completed 3 orbits of
00:12:33 --> 00:12:35 the planet, undertaking four spacewalks and
00:12:35 --> 00:12:37 carrying out research, testing stem cell
00:12:37 --> 00:12:40 production for new therapies, demonstrating
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 on demand IV fluid generation for future
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 missions, and studying how the bacteria which
00:12:45 --> 00:12:47 causes pneumonia can lead to long term heart
00:12:47 --> 00:12:50 damage. They also conducted nutrition
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 focused research and examined how physical
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 characteristics may affect blood flow during
00:12:54 --> 00:12:56 spaceflight in order to help keep astronauts
00:12:56 --> 00:12:58 safe and healthy. Future long duration
00:12:58 --> 00:13:01 missions to the Moon and Mars More
00:13:01 --> 00:13:04 and more it's all becoming about Artemis
00:13:05 --> 00:13:06 this is space time.
00:13:13 --> 00:13:14 Tim Mendham: Foreign.
00:13:23 --> 00:13:25 Stuart Gary: Look at some of the other stories making news
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 in Science this week with a Science report.
00:13:28 --> 00:13:31 A new study claims men with deeper voices
00:13:31 --> 00:13:33 might seem stronger but are not more
00:13:33 --> 00:13:35 attractive to women. The findings, reported
00:13:35 --> 00:13:37 in the Journal of the Royal Society Open
00:13:37 --> 00:13:40 Science, modified videos of 17 white
00:13:40 --> 00:13:42 British males to give them deeper voices.
00:13:43 --> 00:13:45 American men watching the videos thought the
00:13:45 --> 00:13:47 men in the videos were stronger and better at
00:13:47 --> 00:13:50 fighting, but the deeper voices didn't make
00:13:50 --> 00:13:52 them any more attractive to American women
00:13:52 --> 00:13:54 watching the same videos. Interestingly,
00:13:54 --> 00:13:57 however, audio only recordings of the same
00:13:57 --> 00:13:59 men but with higher pitched voices did make
00:13:59 --> 00:14:02 them seem less attractive to the women. When
00:14:02 --> 00:14:04 men were asked to guess the weights of the
00:14:04 --> 00:14:06 men in the videos, they tended to guess that
00:14:06 --> 00:14:08 those with deeper voices weighed more.
00:14:09 --> 00:14:12 A new study claims fewer 15 year olds are now
00:14:12 --> 00:14:15 identifying as gay, lesbian or bisexual
00:14:15 --> 00:14:18 compared to two years ago. The analysis by
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 the Centres for Disease Control and
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 Prevention questioned ninth graders in
00:14:22 --> 00:14:24 American junior high schools. The study found
00:14:24 --> 00:14:27 that the overall number of junior high school
00:14:27 --> 00:14:30 freshmen identifying as LGB fell from
00:14:30 --> 00:14:32 17% in 2023 down to
00:14:32 --> 00:14:35 11% last year. That's interesting
00:14:35 --> 00:14:37 because historically 10% of the population
00:14:37 --> 00:14:40 identify as gay or lesbian. The authors found
00:14:40 --> 00:14:43 the most dramatic shift was among girls. In
00:14:43 --> 00:14:46 2021, 30% of ninth graders
00:14:46 --> 00:14:49 identified as lesbian or bisexual, but
00:14:49 --> 00:14:52 by 2025 that number had plummeted
00:14:52 --> 00:14:54 to 17%. The drop was largely
00:14:54 --> 00:14:57 driven by a reduction in girls identifying
00:14:57 --> 00:15:00 specifically as bisexual, which fell by half
00:15:00 --> 00:15:02 from 26% down to 13%.
00:15:02 --> 00:15:05 The shift was far less significant for 15
00:15:05 --> 00:15:07 year old boys, where identification shifted
00:15:07 --> 00:15:10 only slightly from 9% in 2021 to
00:15:10 --> 00:15:13 7% in 2025, and the
00:15:13 --> 00:15:14 authors found that a client is more
00:15:14 --> 00:15:17 concentrated among younger teens. Older
00:15:17 --> 00:15:19 students, such as seniors in 12th grade, saw
00:15:19 --> 00:15:22 little change, dipping only slightly from
00:15:22 --> 00:15:25 18% down to 16%. Uh, as
00:15:25 --> 00:15:27 for the reasons for the change, they're still
00:15:27 --> 00:15:29 being debated, with some researchers
00:15:29 --> 00:15:32 suggesting that the LGBTQ Alphabet
00:15:32 --> 00:15:34 Identification PE during the isolation of the
00:15:34 --> 00:15:37 COVID 19 pandemic, and that a
00:15:37 --> 00:15:39 stabilisation or correction following a
00:15:39 --> 00:15:41 decade of rapid growth was always expected.
00:15:41 --> 00:15:43 But others suggest that adopting certain
00:15:43 --> 00:15:46 labels may have simply been a passing trend
00:15:46 --> 00:15:49 popularised by the sociopolitical work
00:15:49 --> 00:15:50 targeting younger adolescents.
00:15:52 --> 00:15:54 The World Meteorological Organisation says
00:15:54 --> 00:15:56 that sea surface temperatures in the central
00:15:56 --> 00:15:59 and eastern tropical Pacific are now forecast
00:15:59 --> 00:16:01 to increase to record levels during the next
00:16:01 --> 00:16:04 three months. The new data reflects a
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 strengthening of the current Super El Nino.
00:16:07 --> 00:16:09 The WMO says that El Nino is firmly
00:16:09 --> 00:16:11 established and there's a near 100%
00:16:11 --> 00:16:13 likelihood that it will continue through
00:16:13 --> 00:16:15 until at least February next year,
00:16:15 --> 00:16:17 potentially making it one of the strongest
00:16:17 --> 00:16:18 since at least 1950.
00:16:19 --> 00:16:21 Scientists recorded an increase in
00:16:21 --> 00:16:23 temperatures from an average of 1.6 degrees
00:16:23 --> 00:16:26 Celsius above normal in June to 2.5
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 degrees above normal in August and is now
00:16:28 --> 00:16:31 forecast to reach approximately 3.7 degrees
00:16:31 --> 00:16:34 Celsius peaking around December. And for
00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 Australia that means hotter conditions and
00:16:36 --> 00:16:37 less rain.
00:16:38 --> 00:16:41 Anthropologists say a round hole in the
00:16:41 --> 00:16:43 shoulder blade of a 75-year-old
00:16:43 --> 00:16:45 Neanderthal fossil could be the earliest
00:16:45 --> 00:16:47 known evidence of ancient humans attacking
00:16:47 --> 00:16:50 one another with spears. The remains were
00:16:50 --> 00:16:53 found under 7.5 metres of rock and sediment
00:16:53 --> 00:16:55 in a cave in Iraqi Kurdistan and include a
00:16:55 --> 00:16:58 15 millimetre diameter circular hole created
00:16:58 --> 00:17:01 by a sharpened wooden spear that penetrated
00:17:01 --> 00:17:03 the left chest cavity from the front and
00:17:03 --> 00:17:05 travelled through the body, including a lun
00:17:05 --> 00:17:07 likely major arteries, before punching a hole
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 in the left scapula, which scientists say
00:17:09 --> 00:17:11 would have quickly ended the Neanderthal's
00:17:11 --> 00:17:14 life. The findings, published in the journal
00:17:14 --> 00:17:16 Scientific Reports, say tiny bone shards
00:17:16 --> 00:17:19 knocked out of place by the spear indicate it
00:17:19 --> 00:17:22 entered from above on a downward trajectory.
00:17:23 --> 00:17:26 Promoters of the pseudoscience of homoeopathy
00:17:26 --> 00:17:28 are making a concerted effort in the United
00:17:28 --> 00:17:29 States to limit the Food and Drug
00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 Administration's ability to regulate the
00:17:31 --> 00:17:34 swindle sceptics Timms Mendham says her
00:17:34 --> 00:17:36 murders of the phoney practice have now
00:17:36 --> 00:17:38 managed to convince a number of US Senators
00:17:38 --> 00:17:41 to sponsor a bill, despite all the peer
00:17:41 --> 00:17:43 reviewed scientific studies clearly showing
00:17:43 --> 00:17:45 homoeopathy doesn't work.
00:17:45 --> 00:17:48 Tim Mendham: Homoeopathy is a medical in quotes
00:17:48 --> 00:17:50 treatment developed in the late 1800s by a
00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 German named Hahnemann, Samuel Hahnemann,
00:17:52 --> 00:17:55 supposedly based on the idea that like
00:17:55 --> 00:17:57 cures like that's one aspect of it. So if
00:17:57 --> 00:17:59 you're suffering from colds and sniffles, you
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 should take a potion made up with onions,
00:18:01 --> 00:18:04 which makes you sniffle, cry, etc. So
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 obviously that has a link to cold. Also, the
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 preparation is very important for
00:18:08 --> 00:18:09 homoeopathy. You have to have continual
00:18:09 --> 00:18:12 dilutions to make it work. So basically you
00:18:12 --> 00:18:14 take your homoeopathic liquid which is made
00:18:14 --> 00:18:16 from supposedly from these particular
00:18:16 --> 00:18:19 chemicals, herbs, you name it rocks even in
00:18:19 --> 00:18:21 some cases, and you take a drop of that and
00:18:21 --> 00:18:24 you dilute it in a hundred drops of water
00:18:24 --> 00:18:26 and then you take a drop of that, the
00:18:26 --> 00:18:28 dilution to 100 and you drop it in another
00:18:28 --> 00:18:31 100. So now you're down to what, 10? And
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 then you take another drop of that and then
00:18:33 --> 00:18:35 you dilute it in another hundred and you're
00:18:35 --> 00:18:37 now down to in a million and you keep doing
00:18:37 --> 00:18:39 it. See that's like 1, 2, 3 dilutions. They
00:18:39 --> 00:18:42 take it up to about 20, 30, 40, 50, even
00:18:42 --> 00:18:44 100 dilutions, which means there's basically
00:18:44 --> 00:18:46 nothing left of the thing you were diluting
00:18:46 --> 00:18:47 in the first place. There are various other
00:18:47 --> 00:18:50 aspects to it. You're supposed to take your
00:18:50 --> 00:18:52 dilution each time, bang it on something in
00:18:52 --> 00:18:54 the test tube or whatever you've got to do.
00:18:54 --> 00:18:56 Usually bang it on a Bible, which is strange,
00:18:56 --> 00:18:58 but bang it on something hard, often
00:18:58 --> 00:19:00 something leather, so it's a bit softer, so
00:19:00 --> 00:19:01 it's not going to break the glass container.
00:19:01 --> 00:19:04 And then you sell it to people as a
00:19:04 --> 00:19:06 treatment, in some cases claimed to be a cure
00:19:06 --> 00:19:09 for you name it, any condition at all you
00:19:09 --> 00:19:12 want to name. Shyness, blockages. This is
00:19:12 --> 00:19:13 an actual one that's being sold that I've
00:19:13 --> 00:19:16 seen to treat blockages. Obviously blockages
00:19:16 --> 00:19:18 is like a wall that stops you doing things.
00:19:18 --> 00:19:20 If someone got a bit of the Berlin Wall,
00:19:20 --> 00:19:23 crushed it down, tried to dilute it and give
00:19:23 --> 00:19:25 that to people as a treatment for, um,
00:19:25 --> 00:19:27 emotional blockages. It's ludicrous. It's
00:19:27 --> 00:19:29 diluted to the extent where there's nothing
00:19:29 --> 00:19:32 left. The answer to that by the homoeopathic
00:19:32 --> 00:19:34 community is that the water retains a memory
00:19:34 --> 00:19:37 of this original subject, meaning that it
00:19:37 --> 00:19:39 doesn't actually have to have anything left
00:19:39 --> 00:19:41 in it, have a memory, which is a worry
00:19:41 --> 00:19:43 because every time someone goes to the toilet
00:19:43 --> 00:19:45 they add something to the water, which is a
00:19:45 --> 00:19:46 memory, therefore, of what you're drinking is
00:19:46 --> 00:19:49 what you put down the toilet. The Fukushima
00:19:49 --> 00:19:50 nuclear power station earthquake, some of
00:19:50 --> 00:19:52 that would have gone in the water. Nuclear
00:19:52 --> 00:19:54 action, it would have been diluted. Wouldn't
00:19:54 --> 00:19:55 matter how diluted it was, according to
00:19:55 --> 00:19:57 hydropaths, still impactful, effective. And
00:19:57 --> 00:19:59 so therefore everyone is digging radioactive
00:19:59 --> 00:20:01 water regardless of where you are. The whole
00:20:01 --> 00:20:04 notion is silly. The reality is silly.
00:20:04 --> 00:20:06 It's been tested to see if it actually works.
00:20:06 --> 00:20:08 The big issue for testing something like that
00:20:08 --> 00:20:11 is one, is it safe? And then two, does it
00:20:11 --> 00:20:13 actually work? Is it efficacious? Homoeopathy
00:20:13 --> 00:20:15 is probably safe. It's not going to. You're
00:20:15 --> 00:20:17 paying for water, so a little bit of sugar
00:20:17 --> 00:20:18 water perhaps to add some flavour to it. So
00:20:18 --> 00:20:20 it's expensive water, so it's not going to
00:20:20 --> 00:20:21 hurt you. It's probably safe. Is it going to
00:20:21 --> 00:20:24 work? No. The answer is simple. No. In many
00:20:24 --> 00:20:26 cases in the sceptical community, you say,
00:20:26 --> 00:20:28 yeah, might be a little bit, yes, no,
00:20:28 --> 00:20:30 whatever. Homoeopathy is one of those things
00:20:30 --> 00:20:32 where you can say, no, it certainly doesn't
00:20:32 --> 00:20:34 work better than placebos. And so many tests
00:20:34 --> 00:20:36 have actually tested it and systematic
00:20:36 --> 00:20:38 investigations have come out and said there's
00:20:38 --> 00:20:39 nothing there. But there's a couple of
00:20:39 --> 00:20:41 American senators who are now trying to get
00:20:41 --> 00:20:44 the Food and Drug Administration in the US to
00:20:44 --> 00:20:47 loosen up their, uh, controls on what could
00:20:47 --> 00:20:49 actually be tested and what works. They are
00:20:49 --> 00:20:51 obviously supporters of homoeopathy,
00:20:51 --> 00:20:53 therefore, and there's a bit of an outrage by
00:20:53 --> 00:20:55 the homoeopathic community as there would be.
00:20:55 --> 00:20:56 But this still doesn't change the evidence
00:20:56 --> 00:20:58 that it doesn't work. It doesn't do anything,
00:20:58 --> 00:21:00 perhaps makes people feel good. The trouble
00:21:00 --> 00:21:02 is that is, if they think it's working,
00:21:02 --> 00:21:03 they're not going to go to established
00:21:03 --> 00:21:05 medical practices. So they might be missing
00:21:05 --> 00:21:08 out on a cure for what may be a real
00:21:08 --> 00:21:10 condition. And therefore that's when it
00:21:10 --> 00:21:12 becomes dangerous. The substitution for
00:21:12 --> 00:21:14 things that work by things that don't work.
00:21:14 --> 00:21:16 Stuart Gary: So it's not just a case of these senators
00:21:16 --> 00:21:18 wanting to get rid of the nanny state.
00:21:18 --> 00:21:19 There's more to it than that. There's
00:21:19 --> 00:21:21 actually some real harm that can come.
00:21:21 --> 00:21:23 Tim Mendham: Yes. Yeah, it certainly might be a nanny
00:21:23 --> 00:21:25 state thing. They're not all tend to be sort
00:21:25 --> 00:21:27 of nanny state oriented or, uh, anti nanny
00:21:27 --> 00:21:29 state oriented politicians. Some of them come
00:21:29 --> 00:21:32 from states where homeopathies and the
00:21:32 --> 00:21:34 alternative medicine industry is a big thing.
00:21:34 --> 00:21:36 So maybe there's a bit of protection for the
00:21:36 --> 00:21:38 local industry. They just don't want people
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40 interfering in this particular industry,
00:21:40 --> 00:21:42 despite the fact that doesn't work.
00:21:42 --> 00:21:44 Stuart Gary: That's the sceptics. Tim Mendham and this
00:21:44 --> 00:21:45 is Space Time.
00:22:01 --> 00:22:04 And that's the show for now. Space Time
00:22:04 --> 00:22:06 is available every Monday, Wednesday and
00:22:06 --> 00:22:08 Friday through bytes.com, soundcloud,
00:22:09 --> 00:22:11 YouTube, your favourite podcast download
00:22:11 --> 00:22:12 provider, and from
00:22:12 --> 00:22:14 spacetimewithstuartgarry.com
00:22:15 --> 00:22:17 spacetime's also broadcast through the
00:22:17 --> 00:22:19 National Science foundation on Science Zone
00:22:19 --> 00:22:22 Radio and on both iHeartradio and
00:22:22 --> 00:22:24 TuneIn radio. And you can help to support our
00:22:24 --> 00:22:27 show by visiting the Space Store for a range
00:22:27 --> 00:22:30 of promotional merchandising goodies, or by
00:22:30 --> 00:22:32 becoming a Space patron, which gives you
00:22:32 --> 00:22:34 access to triple episode commercial free
00:22:34 --> 00:22:37 versions of the show as well as lots of bonus
00:22:37 --> 00:22:39 audio content which doesn't go to air, access
00:22:39 --> 00:22:42 to our exclusive Facebook group and other
00:22:42 --> 00:22:43 rewards. Just go to
00:22:43 --> 00:22:46 spacetimewithstuartgarry.com for full
00:22:46 --> 00:22:49 details. You've been listening to Space Time
00:22:49 --> 00:22:51 with Stuart Gary. This has been another
00:22:51 --> 00:22:54 quality podcast production from bytes.com.