Insta360 GOUltra
This episode of Space Nuts is brought to you with the support of Insta360. Capture your adventures with their latest game-changer, the GOUltra. For a special Space Nuts offer, visit store.insta360.com and use the promo code SPACENUTS at checkout. Help support Space Nuts and get a great deal. Win/win!
NordVPN:
This episode is brought to you with the support of NordVPN - for when your security online becomes paramount....get the best. For details on the special 4 Extra Months free deal for Space Nuts listeners, visit nordvpn.com/spacenuts or use the coupon code SPACENUTS at checkout.
Cosmic Questions: Black Holes, Dark Matter, and the Fermi Paradox
In this thought-provoking Q&A episode of Space Nuts, hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson tackle a series of intriguing listener questions that span the cosmos. From the nature of black holes and dark matter to the mysteries of extraterrestrial life, this episode is packed with fascinating insights that will leave you pondering the universe's biggest enigmas.
Episode Highlights:
- Do Black Holes Move? A listener's question sparks a discussion on the movement of black holes through space and time. Fred Watson Watson explains the concept of frame dragging and how black holes interact with the fabric of spacetime, addressing the fascinating idea of whether they leave trails behind them.
- Dark Matter and the Sun: Jared from Melbourne poses a question about dark matter's influence on the Sun. The hosts delve into the complexities of dark matter, its velocity, and its relationship with solar systems, while acknowledging the ongoing mysteries surrounding this elusive substance.
- The Fermi Paradox Explored: Robert from the Netherlands raises the classic question of why we haven't detected extraterrestrial life. Andrew and Fred Watson discuss various theories, including the rarity of Earth-like conditions and the potential for intelligent life to be exceedingly uncommon in the universe.
- Seeding Life in Space: Angela from Amsterdam proposes a controversial idea: sending life forms into space to potentially seed other planets. The hosts explore the ethical implications and practical challenges of such an endeavour, blending humour with serious scientific considerations.
For more Space Nuts, including our continuously updating newsfeed and to listen to all our episodes, visit our website. Follow us on social media at SpaceNutsPod on Facebook, X, YouTube Music, Tumblr, Instagram, and TikTok. We love engaging with our community, so be sure to drop us a message or comment on your favourite platform.
If you’d like to help support Space Nuts and join our growing family of insiders for commercial-free episodes and more, visit spacenutspodcast.com/about
Stay curious, keep looking up, and join us next time for more stellar insights and cosmic wonders. Until then, clear skies and happy stargazing.
Got a question for our Q&A episode? https://spacenutspodcast.com/ama
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support.
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 Andrew Dunkley: Hello again. Thanks for joining us. This is
00:00:03 --> 00:00:05 Space Nuts, where we talk astronomy and space
00:00:05 --> 00:00:08 science. And it's good to have your company
00:00:08 --> 00:00:10 on this Q and A edition.
00:00:10 --> 00:00:12 And what are we talking about today? Oh, uh,
00:00:12 --> 00:00:15 something completely different, new and
00:00:15 --> 00:00:17 unchallenged in the annals of Space
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 Nuts and the wider world of astronomy.
00:00:20 --> 00:00:22 Uh, somebody's got a black hole question,
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 and the next question is a dark matter
00:00:27 --> 00:00:29 question. These, they, they just dovetail
00:00:29 --> 00:00:31 beautifully, those two. And then we, uh,
00:00:31 --> 00:00:33 we've got a bit of a Dutch treat for you. Uh,
00:00:33 --> 00:00:35 Robert from the Netherlands is asking about
00:00:35 --> 00:00:38 the Fermi paradox, and Angela from the
00:00:38 --> 00:00:41 Netherlands has a, um, an idea to
00:00:41 --> 00:00:43 send bugs into space on purpose.
00:00:44 --> 00:00:46 We'll talk about all of that on this edition
00:00:46 --> 00:00:49 of space nuts. 15 seconds.
00:00:49 --> 00:00:51 Voice Over Guy: Guidance is internal. 10,
00:00:51 --> 00:00:54 9. Ignition sequence time.
00:00:54 --> 00:00:57 Space nuts. 5, 4, 3. 2. 1,
00:00:57 --> 00:01:00 2, 3, 4, 5. Very good one.
00:01:00 --> 00:01:03 Space nuts. Astronauts report it feels
00:01:03 --> 00:01:03 good.
00:01:04 --> 00:01:06 Andrew Dunkley: And joining us again to solve all of those
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 little riddles is Professor Fred Watson
00:01:08 --> 00:01:10 Watson, astronomer at large, still wearing
00:01:10 --> 00:01:12 the same shirt as he was last. Hello,
00:01:12 --> 00:01:12 Fred Watson.
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, I only. I only change my shirts
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 once a week, apparently.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, well, I do that on holidays because,
00:01:21 --> 00:01:22 uh.
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 Although, although on our, on our cruise we,
00:01:26 --> 00:01:28 um, we did all our own washing because.
00:01:29 --> 00:01:31 Well, they charge you to do washing on a, on
00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 a cruise ship if you, if you want them to do
00:01:33 --> 00:01:35 it. But, uh, they had laundries on this ship,
00:01:35 --> 00:01:38 so we did our own, which turned out to be a
00:01:38 --> 00:01:41 very good thing. So, um, it sort
00:01:41 --> 00:01:42 of, uh, were.
00:01:42 --> 00:01:44 Professor Fred Watson: Well on. You're on board for 13 weeks,
00:01:44 --> 00:01:46 weren't you? 13 weeks is a little bit long to
00:01:46 --> 00:01:47 keep the same shirt.
00:01:47 --> 00:01:50 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah. Basically it's pretty tough wearing the
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 same pair of undies for 13 weeks and
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 expecting people to actually sit down and
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 have dinner with you. It's,
00:01:58 --> 00:02:01 it's not. Not, uh, not advised. Not
00:02:01 --> 00:02:02 advised.
00:02:02 --> 00:02:04 Professor Fred Watson: No, this helps. We've tried it, actually.
00:02:07 --> 00:02:10 Andrew Dunkley: No, I haven't. No, I haven't.
00:02:10 --> 00:02:11 Professor Fred Watson: Your wife wouldn't let you do that?
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 Andrew Dunkley: No, uh, no. Uh, definitely not.
00:02:13 --> 00:02:16 Um, now, uh, we've got a bunch of questions
00:02:16 --> 00:02:17 to get through, and we.
00:02:17 --> 00:02:19 Professor Fred Watson: Might as well get the ball rolling.
00:02:19 --> 00:02:22 Andrew Dunkley: With Dave, who has a question
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 related to black holes.
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 Speaker C: Hey, Professor Fred Watson Watson, Andrew
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 and. Or Heidi, whoever this may be.
00:02:30 --> 00:02:32 Um, got a question about black holes, like
00:02:32 --> 00:02:35 all my other questions. I've been watching a
00:02:35 --> 00:02:38 lot of documentaries and something
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 that still questions me is
00:02:42 --> 00:02:44 black holes, do they move or are they
00:02:44 --> 00:02:46 stationary? And if they do move,
00:02:48 --> 00:02:50 do they move through space and time
00:02:51 --> 00:02:54 or space time, like the fabric of space?
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 And if so, are they eating the Fabric of
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 space? Or is it just going around the black
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 hole and then back into place? How come we
00:03:02 --> 00:03:05 don't see trails behind the black holes where
00:03:05 --> 00:03:06 they've just eaten away fabric of space?
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 Um, not quite sure how that works
00:03:10 --> 00:03:12 or anything like that.
00:03:14 --> 00:03:14 Professor Fred Watson: And if.
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 Speaker C: If they all do rotate, which we think they
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 do, do they
00:03:20 --> 00:03:23 rotationally pull on the fabric of
00:03:23 --> 00:03:23 space?
00:03:24 --> 00:03:25 Professor Fred Watson: Thank you.
00:03:26 --> 00:03:29 Andrew Dunkley: Okay, great, uh, question. Thank you, Dave.
00:03:29 --> 00:03:32 And, uh, we'll get a great answer. Now,
00:03:32 --> 00:03:34 although it's an interesting question. We,
00:03:34 --> 00:03:37 um, from my perspective, and I think we
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 have touched on this before,
00:03:40 --> 00:03:42 everything moves in space. Nothing is
00:03:42 --> 00:03:43 standing still, is it?
00:03:45 --> 00:03:46 Professor Fred Watson: No, you're right, Andrew. That's exactly the.
00:03:47 --> 00:03:48 That's exactly the answer I was about to
00:03:48 --> 00:03:48 give.
00:03:49 --> 00:03:50 Andrew Dunkley: Oh, okay. Thanks, Dave.
00:03:50 --> 00:03:51 Next question comes from.
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 Professor Fred Watson: Um, let's just, um, cover
00:03:55 --> 00:03:58 Dave's last part of that question first,
00:03:58 --> 00:04:00 which is trials. Do they.
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 It was where if black holes are rotating, do
00:04:03 --> 00:04:06 they. The space time kind of. Do
00:04:06 --> 00:04:09 they drag it round? And indeed they do. It's
00:04:09 --> 00:04:11 a process called frame dragging. Um, the
00:04:11 --> 00:04:13 Earth does it actually. So any rotating
00:04:13 --> 00:04:16 object, dragon, drags the framework of space
00:04:16 --> 00:04:18 time around with it. And I think the same
00:04:18 --> 00:04:20 happens with black holes. I think we covered
00:04:21 --> 00:04:23 a story, um, probably
00:04:23 --> 00:04:26 a couple of years ago, maybe, Andrew, which
00:04:26 --> 00:04:29 was about a demonstration that black
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 holes, rotating black holes do,
00:04:32 --> 00:04:35 um, exhibit frame dragging, that
00:04:35 --> 00:04:37 space time does sort of get dragged around
00:04:37 --> 00:04:39 with them. Uh, so
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 having said that, um,
00:04:43 --> 00:04:45 then the idea of black holes
00:04:46 --> 00:04:48 moving through space is not, I guess, that
00:04:48 --> 00:04:51 difficult. Uh, and indeed they do exactly as
00:04:51 --> 00:04:53 you've said, Andrew. Everything moves, uh,
00:04:53 --> 00:04:56 and it's twofold. One is that they're being
00:04:56 --> 00:04:58 carried along by space itself, what we call
00:04:58 --> 00:05:00 the Hubble flow, which is due to the
00:05:00 --> 00:05:02 expansion of the universe. And I think Dave
00:05:02 --> 00:05:05 touched on that by talking about, you know,
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 the fabric of space time. Yes, the fabric of
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 space time itself is moving and takes stuff
00:05:10 --> 00:05:12 along with it. Um, but,
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 uh, uh, galaxies we
00:05:15 --> 00:05:18 know, have what we call peculiar velocities.
00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 Uh, they actually move around, um,
00:05:21 --> 00:05:24 within the moving fabric of space.
00:05:25 --> 00:05:28 Excuse me. The analogue that we often give
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 is, uh, to liken the expansion of the
00:05:30 --> 00:05:33 universe to a river flowing. And the galaxies
00:05:33 --> 00:05:35 being like people zooming around the river
00:05:35 --> 00:05:37 on, um, boats, they're being carried along by
00:05:37 --> 00:05:38 the river flow, but they still move around
00:05:38 --> 00:05:41 with their own peculiar motion. And
00:05:41 --> 00:05:44 galaxies do that too. Not perhaps zipping
00:05:44 --> 00:05:47 around quite like boats do. Uh, but, uh,
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 they're drawn to one another by their own
00:05:49 --> 00:05:51 gravity. Uh, so they do move through space.
00:05:51 --> 00:05:54 And yes, um, a black hole
00:05:54 --> 00:05:56 will move through the space time that it's
00:05:56 --> 00:05:59 in, but it won't leave a trail behind it.
00:05:59 --> 00:06:02 Um, the space time bends around it
00:06:02 --> 00:06:05 just as Dave suggested. There. Uh, as
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 it goes through it's distorting the space
00:06:07 --> 00:06:10 time. But you, uh, know, the space time sort
00:06:10 --> 00:06:12 of recovers as it's gone past. So it's not
00:06:13 --> 00:06:15 like there'll be a wake that we could look
00:06:15 --> 00:06:17 for trailing behind supermassive, uh, black
00:06:17 --> 00:06:19 holes. Interesting idea though.
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 Andrew Dunkley: Yes. Yeah, it'd be. It'd be so easy to find
00:06:22 --> 00:06:23 them if they left trails.
00:06:23 --> 00:06:25 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, that's right, it would.
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 Andrew Dunkley: That's how you chase snails, you know, if
00:06:29 --> 00:06:30 you're a snail hunter.
00:06:31 --> 00:06:33 Professor Fred Watson: Well, I'm sure you do. Yeah. We get, um,
00:06:34 --> 00:06:36 on damp days, uh, we occasionally get invaded
00:06:36 --> 00:06:39 by slugs in our, in our laundry and bay
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 leaf trams as well, which are based.
00:06:45 --> 00:06:45 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah.
00:06:45 --> 00:06:46 Professor Fred Watson: Where were we the other day?
00:06:46 --> 00:06:48 Andrew Dunkley: Um, and walked outside because it had been
00:06:48 --> 00:06:51 raining and there were slugs the size of
00:06:51 --> 00:06:54 sausage dogs, uh, that
00:06:54 --> 00:06:56 were, they were enormous. Was in the United
00:06:56 --> 00:06:58 States somewhere up in, uh, up around
00:06:59 --> 00:07:00 Buffalo, I think, somewhere.
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah. Um, big boogers.
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 Andrew Dunkley: Oh, no. Was it Niagara Falls? There's Niagara
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 Falls. They were like this, like, you
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 know, you could wrap them around your head if
00:07:10 --> 00:07:11 you were so inclined, get a.
00:07:11 --> 00:07:13 Professor Fred Watson: Decent meal out of one of them.
00:07:13 --> 00:07:14 Andrew Dunkley: Oh yeah.
00:07:14 --> 00:07:14 Professor Fred Watson: Yes.
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 Andrew Dunkley: Yum. M. Um, although that reminds me,
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 while we were overseas, I think it was when
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 we were in Spain. Listen to me. Name
00:07:21 --> 00:07:24 dropping. Um, the, um, um.
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 One of the staff on the ship was doing a
00:07:27 --> 00:07:29 presentation about our next stop and she
00:07:29 --> 00:07:30 said, while you're there, go and get some of
00:07:30 --> 00:07:32 this stuff. And it was, it was like a skin
00:07:32 --> 00:07:35 cream and that had snail slime in it.
00:07:37 --> 00:07:40 My wife bought some and is still using it.
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 Uh, she thinks it's fabulous. So there you
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 are. There's something to that. Go and rub
00:07:45 --> 00:07:48 snails on your face. Uh,
00:07:48 --> 00:07:51 and by the way, that, uh, that store, that
00:07:51 --> 00:07:53 story you referred to from a couple of years
00:07:53 --> 00:07:56 ago, uh, was, uh, about frame
00:07:56 --> 00:07:58 dragging, uh, of supermassive black holes.
00:07:58 --> 00:08:01 Was uh. May 2024. There you are.
00:08:02 --> 00:08:04 Professor Fred Watson: Okay. Hm. There you go. The memory's not
00:08:04 --> 00:08:06 quite gone yet, but it will eventually.
00:08:08 --> 00:08:11 Andrew Dunkley: I do recall us talking about it. Uh,
00:08:11 --> 00:08:12 thanks, David, for your question.
00:08:14 --> 00:08:17 Today's episode of Space Nuts is brought to
00:08:17 --> 00:08:20 you by insta360, the clever folks who
00:08:20 --> 00:08:23 make those mind bending 360 cameras
00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 and action cams. And now
00:08:25 --> 00:08:27 they've gone pocket sized with their brand
00:08:27 --> 00:08:30 new Insta360 Go Ultra.
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 Now, when I say pocket sized, I mean it. This
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 thing is about the size of an oreo and yes,
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 I checked, you can still eat an Oreo in one
00:08:39 --> 00:08:42 bite. But don't try it with this
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 camera at, uh, just 53 grammes, it's
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 so light you'll forget it's even there until
00:08:47 --> 00:08:50 you see the footage. We're talking silky
00:08:50 --> 00:08:52 smooth 4K at 60 frames per
00:08:52 --> 00:08:54 second. Not bad for something that lives in
00:08:54 --> 00:08:57 your pocket. And it's not just small, it's
00:08:57 --> 00:09:00 smart. With a magnetic mounting system, you
00:09:00 --> 00:09:03 can clip it to your shirt, your hat, or even
00:09:03 --> 00:09:06 stick it on your bike, a street sign or your
00:09:06 --> 00:09:08 fridge if you're filming an action packed
00:09:08 --> 00:09:11 sandwich making tutorial. It's built to grab
00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 unique angles without the fuss. The upgraded
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 sensor means your shots look amazing, day or
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 night. It's also waterproof down to
00:09:19 --> 00:09:22 33ft, so you can take it swimming. Just
00:09:22 --> 00:09:24 don't expect it to rescue you if you drop it
00:09:24 --> 00:09:27 overboard. Battery life. The standalone
00:09:27 --> 00:09:30 camera gives you about 70 minutes. Add
00:09:30 --> 00:09:33 the action pod and you're up to 200 minutes.
00:09:33 --> 00:09:35 And here's the kicker. With fast charging,
00:09:35 --> 00:09:38 you can go from 0 to 80%
00:09:38 --> 00:09:40 in just 12 minutes.
00:09:41 --> 00:09:44 That's literally. Grab a coffee, come
00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 back, keep filming,
00:09:46 --> 00:09:49 lose it. No problem. It works with
00:09:49 --> 00:09:52 Apple. Find my. And here's the sweetener
00:09:52 --> 00:09:54 for the first 30 Space Nuts listeners.
00:09:54 --> 00:09:57 Insta360 is throwing in free
00:09:57 --> 00:10:00 sticky tabs so you can mount it pretty much
00:10:00 --> 00:10:03 anywhere. Jackets, backpacks, you name it.
00:10:03 --> 00:10:03 Just head to
00:10:03 --> 00:10:08 store.insta360.com
00:10:08 --> 00:10:11 use the code SPACENUTS and
00:10:11 --> 00:10:14 you're set. Links are, uh, in the show notes.
00:10:14 --> 00:10:17 Check it out. The Insta360G
00:10:17 --> 00:10:19 O Ultra small camera. Big fun
00:10:21 --> 00:10:23 Space Nuts.
00:10:23 --> 00:10:25 Our next question comes from Jared in
00:10:25 --> 00:10:28 Melbourne. Hi, Fred Watson, Heidi, Huw, Dave.
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 Just kidding, Andrew. Thank you. They haven't
00:10:30 --> 00:10:31 gotten the Dave thing, have they? They
00:10:31 --> 00:10:34 haven't let that one go three months away.
00:10:34 --> 00:10:36 That one would die its natural death. But no,
00:10:37 --> 00:10:39 it's just popped itself up again. Um,
00:10:40 --> 00:10:43 we talk about galaxies having halos of
00:10:43 --> 00:10:45 dark matter gravitationally bound to them,
00:10:45 --> 00:10:48 thus affecting their rotational rate
00:10:48 --> 00:10:50 as compared to the predicted rotation
00:10:50 --> 00:10:53 rates. Uh, centre edge.
00:10:54 --> 00:10:55 Yeah. Okay. Uh,
00:10:57 --> 00:10:59 so then, while wondering if the sun
00:10:59 --> 00:11:02 has a portion of dark matter gravitationally
00:11:02 --> 00:11:05 bound to it, I read that people think it's
00:11:05 --> 00:11:08 m. Not much of a halo at all for something
00:11:08 --> 00:11:11 like the sun. As dark matter particles are
00:11:11 --> 00:11:13 moving too fast to be captured by the sun.
00:11:13 --> 00:11:16 I'm very interested to know why people, uh,
00:11:16 --> 00:11:19 might expect dark matter to be moving too
00:11:19 --> 00:11:21 fast to be captured by the sun when we have
00:11:21 --> 00:11:24 so few insights about what it is at all.
00:11:24 --> 00:11:26 How do they conclude it's whizzing around
00:11:26 --> 00:11:29 faster than escape velocity.
00:11:30 --> 00:11:31 Uh, keen to get your thoughts. Keep up the
00:11:31 --> 00:11:34 great work. Jared from Melbourne.
00:11:37 --> 00:11:39 Professor Fred Watson: And a great question which doesn't um,
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 really have an answer. Uh, okay.
00:11:42 --> 00:11:45 Um, and that's because we know so little
00:11:45 --> 00:11:48 about dark matter. M
00:11:48 --> 00:11:49 It's certainly
00:11:51 --> 00:11:53 the thinking a few years ago
00:11:54 --> 00:11:55 was that dark matter
00:11:56 --> 00:11:59 halos have a minimum size or blobs of
00:11:59 --> 00:12:02 dark matter have a minimum size. And as
00:12:02 --> 00:12:04 Gerard suggests, that would be related to
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 the, the velocity of the dark matter
00:12:06 --> 00:12:09 particles. Um, you know what that minimum
00:12:09 --> 00:12:12 size would be, uh, if the, the
00:12:12 --> 00:12:13 faster the particles are moving, the bigger
00:12:13 --> 00:12:16 the blob of dark matter. I seem to
00:12:16 --> 00:12:19 remember a number being touted around which
00:12:19 --> 00:12:22 was about 100 parsecs and a parsec is,
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 was it 3.23 light years? I can never
00:12:25 --> 00:12:27 get the exact number. It's about three light
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 years. So roughly 300 light years.
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 However, I think there have been more recent
00:12:32 --> 00:12:35 observations that suggest that it might be
00:12:35 --> 00:12:37 clumpier than that it might clump together on
00:12:37 --> 00:12:40 smaller scales. Um, however, having
00:12:40 --> 00:12:43 said that, I think it is probably
00:12:43 --> 00:12:45 unlikely though that the sun itself
00:12:45 --> 00:12:48 would have uh, its own lump of dark
00:12:48 --> 00:12:51 matter. I think the, you know, the sun's
00:12:51 --> 00:12:53 neighbourhood and the spiral arms
00:12:54 --> 00:12:56 that were embedded in might,
00:12:57 --> 00:13:00 might have higher density chunks, uh,
00:13:00 --> 00:13:03 of dark matter than perhaps the outer halo
00:13:03 --> 00:13:06 of the galaxy. Uh, but
00:13:06 --> 00:13:08 if it's, you know, if those early
00:13:08 --> 00:13:09 measurements are anything like realistic,
00:13:09 --> 00:13:12 then it would be on a scale of hundreds of
00:13:12 --> 00:13:15 light years rather than um, hundreds of
00:13:15 --> 00:13:16 millions of kilometres, which is what you'd
00:13:16 --> 00:13:19 need for it to be within bound to the
00:13:19 --> 00:13:22 solar system. So uh, we don't really know the
00:13:22 --> 00:13:25 answer to your question, Gerard, but um,
00:13:25 --> 00:13:28 people do think about it. It's one of the big
00:13:28 --> 00:13:31 issues and uh, one of the challenges is how
00:13:31 --> 00:13:34 do you plot, how do you map the biggest
00:13:34 --> 00:13:37 or smallest chunk of dark matter? Um, when
00:13:38 --> 00:13:41 the best way to see it is
00:13:42 --> 00:13:44 um, to look at the
00:13:44 --> 00:13:47 distortion effect of say a cluster of
00:13:47 --> 00:13:49 galaxies in the foreground and look at how
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 that distorts the images of Galax is in the
00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 background because the distortion is due to
00:13:53 --> 00:13:56 all the mass in the cluster, not just the
00:13:56 --> 00:13:58 mass you can see that allows you to map the
00:13:58 --> 00:14:01 dark matter in a cluster. Um, but
00:14:01 --> 00:14:04 it doesn't really, unless you've got some
00:14:04 --> 00:14:07 very special circumstances, it doesn't
00:14:07 --> 00:14:10 really make it easy to say just how
00:14:10 --> 00:14:12 big or small the biggest lump of dark matter
00:14:12 --> 00:14:15 the characteristic lump size of
00:14:15 --> 00:14:18 dark matter might be. So we're still working
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 on it, uh, and maybe we'll get back to you
00:14:20 --> 00:14:21 when we know the answer.
00:14:22 --> 00:14:25 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, well you never know a parsec
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 is equal to 3.26 light years.
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 Professor Fred Watson: I think I said 3.23 didn't I? And that's
00:14:30 --> 00:14:33 wrong. Well it's close. 3.3. It's close.
00:14:33 --> 00:14:35 Yeah. I can never remember the last number in
00:14:35 --> 00:14:38 that. 3.26 should really, it's easy to
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 remember because three times two is six. So
00:14:40 --> 00:14:41 that should tell you, shouldn't it.
00:14:42 --> 00:14:43 Andrew Dunkley: On there, you know.
00:14:43 --> 00:14:45 Professor Fred Watson: Uh, well all I've got to do.
00:14:45 --> 00:14:47 Andrew Dunkley: Is remember that test you next week.
00:14:50 --> 00:14:52 Professor Fred Watson: Thanks. That's Dave. Thanks
00:14:52 --> 00:14:55 Dave. I always appreciate your tests.
00:14:57 --> 00:15:00 Andrew Dunkley: Okay, uh, thanks Jared for your question.
00:15:00 --> 00:15:02 This is Space Nuts Andrew Dunkley here with
00:15:02 --> 00:15:04 Professor Fred Watson Watson.
00:15:04 --> 00:15:07 Space Nuts. Uh, now uh, welcome
00:15:07 --> 00:15:10 to the Dutch part of our show where
00:15:10 --> 00:15:11 uh, all the questions come from the
00:15:11 --> 00:15:14 Netherlands and the first one is from Robert.
00:15:15 --> 00:15:16 Professor Fred Watson: Hey Professor.
00:15:16 --> 00:15:18 Andrew Dunkley: No it's not. This one is.
00:15:18 --> 00:15:20 Professor Fred Watson: Hello Fred Watson, Andrew and Heidi. This is
00:15:20 --> 00:15:23 Robert from the Netherlands. I have a
00:15:23 --> 00:15:26 question about the resolution to the Fermi
00:15:26 --> 00:15:28 paradox. What could be the most credible
00:15:28 --> 00:15:31 answer to this conundrum? Is it because the
00:15:32 --> 00:15:34 rare earth theory that their civilizations of
00:15:34 --> 00:15:37 aliens are very very rare? Are they very
00:15:37 --> 00:15:38 hostile and there's a destroy everything
00:15:38 --> 00:15:41 around us? Are they simply too far away and
00:15:41 --> 00:15:43 they stop expanding after a couple of planets
00:15:44 --> 00:15:47 or are we alone in the universe? I would love
00:15:47 --> 00:15:50 to hear the professor's opinion. Thank you so
00:15:50 --> 00:15:50 much.
00:15:52 --> 00:15:54 Andrew Dunkley: Thank you Robert. Um,
00:15:54 --> 00:15:57 it brings up that age old question which I'm
00:15:57 --> 00:16:00 sure you were going to ask question,
00:16:00 --> 00:16:01 where is everybody?
00:16:02 --> 00:16:04 Professor Fred Watson: Well that's right, that was the um, that's
00:16:04 --> 00:16:07 the basis of the Fermi paradox. Yeah, passed
00:16:07 --> 00:16:09 in 1950. And the logic, uh, Enrico
00:16:09 --> 00:16:12 Fermi's logic was if you
00:16:12 --> 00:16:15 have space faring
00:16:15 --> 00:16:18 civilizations um, which uh,
00:16:18 --> 00:16:21 evolved you know, maybe a few billion years
00:16:21 --> 00:16:24 ago, um, then there should be evidence for
00:16:24 --> 00:16:26 them everywhere. And
00:16:27 --> 00:16:30 we don't see it, uh, we don't see any
00:16:30 --> 00:16:32 evidence. Uh, that evidence might be in the
00:16:32 --> 00:16:35 form of artefacts. If
00:16:35 --> 00:16:37 they've sent things into orbit around, you
00:16:37 --> 00:16:39 know, the solar systems and there's at least
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 one person on our planet who thinks that's
00:16:41 --> 00:16:44 happened already. Avi Loeb with some of
00:16:44 --> 00:16:47 these um, extraterrestrial asteroids and
00:16:47 --> 00:16:49 comet comets, probably all three of them
00:16:49 --> 00:16:52 anyway. Ah so but we don't have
00:16:52 --> 00:16:55 any real evidence that that's the case. And I
00:16:55 --> 00:16:58 think I would lump together Robert's first
00:16:58 --> 00:17:00 and last options there
00:17:00 --> 00:17:03 where he spoke about the Earth being in
00:17:03 --> 00:17:06 incredibly or Earth like conditions being
00:17:06 --> 00:17:08 incredibly rare so that
00:17:08 --> 00:17:11 intelligent life might be incredibly rare or
00:17:11 --> 00:17:14 his Last option. That it's unique, that we
00:17:14 --> 00:17:17 are unique in the universe. Um, those two
00:17:17 --> 00:17:19 are not that different from one another.
00:17:20 --> 00:17:22 Um, because either way, you know, if, if
00:17:22 --> 00:17:25 you've only got one civilization,
00:17:25 --> 00:17:28 communicable civilization per galaxy,
00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 um, um, and then you might as well forget it.
00:17:31 --> 00:17:33 You're alone in the universe, basically.
00:17:35 --> 00:17:38 Which, um, I think is. I uh, think
00:17:38 --> 00:17:41 that is disturbing because it
00:17:41 --> 00:17:43 means, you know, if we wipe ourselves out
00:17:43 --> 00:17:46 or if we become extinct through whatever
00:17:46 --> 00:17:48 process, uh, we are,
00:17:49 --> 00:17:51 we are how the universe thinks about itself.
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 That's, I think that's a quote from Brian
00:17:53 --> 00:17:56 Cox. Life is what lets the universe
00:17:56 --> 00:17:59 understand itself. Um, and
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 um, if we, if we're
00:18:01 --> 00:18:04 gone and uh. Well, and we're the only species
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 in the universe that can understand it,
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 what's the rest of it for? Well,
00:18:08 --> 00:18:10 a bit of a, bit of a pain.
00:18:11 --> 00:18:13 Andrew Dunkley: Well, yeah, but it brings about,
00:18:14 --> 00:18:17 um, you know, you can get into areas of
00:18:17 --> 00:18:18 theology then. And um,
00:18:20 --> 00:18:21 then that's one
00:18:23 --> 00:18:26 um, idea that uh, is well documented and
00:18:26 --> 00:18:28 well supported. Uh, creationism.
00:18:29 --> 00:18:32 Uh, we could just be
00:18:32 --> 00:18:34 one freak accident that.
00:18:35 --> 00:18:36 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, that's fair.
00:18:37 --> 00:18:40 Andrew Dunkley: And the universe existing in
00:18:40 --> 00:18:42 itself is the greatest mystery. How is their
00:18:42 --> 00:18:44 existence? I think I've asked that question
00:18:44 --> 00:18:46 before and no one's ever told me the answer.
00:18:46 --> 00:18:49 Professor Fred Watson: It's a philosophical question. It is, yeah.
00:18:50 --> 00:18:53 Um, I mean it's uh, you know, there's um,
00:18:53 --> 00:18:55 there's a quantum physics answer to that as
00:18:55 --> 00:18:56 well.
00:18:56 --> 00:18:59 If, if um, if we
00:18:59 --> 00:19:01 weren't there to perceive the universe, would
00:19:01 --> 00:19:04 the universe still exist? Because, um,
00:19:04 --> 00:19:07 in quantum mechanics it looks as though the
00:19:07 --> 00:19:10 observer plays a significant role in the
00:19:10 --> 00:19:13 nature of reality. And that's why scientists
00:19:13 --> 00:19:14 are constantly looking for a theory that
00:19:14 --> 00:19:16 underpins both quantum physics, quantum
00:19:16 --> 00:19:19 mechanics and relativity. Uh,
00:19:21 --> 00:19:23 the grand unifying theory, which we haven't
00:19:23 --> 00:19:26 got yet, uh, that might tell us whether the
00:19:26 --> 00:19:29 observer is necessary, uh, in
00:19:29 --> 00:19:32 terms of the well being of the universe. This
00:19:32 --> 00:19:35 raises extraordinary questions. Uh, but I
00:19:35 --> 00:19:37 think it's certainly my thinking, and this
00:19:37 --> 00:19:39 comes from talking to astrobiologists who
00:19:39 --> 00:19:42 think, you know, that step from um, from
00:19:42 --> 00:19:45 single celled organisms to multi celled
00:19:45 --> 00:19:47 organisms could be a really rare
00:19:47 --> 00:19:50 step. Uh, then perhaps we are very rare.
00:19:50 --> 00:19:53 Perhaps we are a freak of nature.
00:19:53 --> 00:19:56 Um, it's uh. I would lean
00:19:56 --> 00:19:58 towards that rather than the idea that life
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00 is everywhere, uh, and think that the
00:20:00 --> 00:20:02 answer to the Fermi paradox. Where is
00:20:02 --> 00:20:04 everybody? Well, they're just not there, most
00:20:04 --> 00:20:06 of them. Yeah, yeah, they're not there.
00:20:06 --> 00:20:09 Andrew Dunkley: Well, there may not be peoples, but there may
00:20:09 --> 00:20:11 be bacterial life of some kind
00:20:11 --> 00:20:12 or.
00:20:12 --> 00:20:15 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, that's right. But. And that might turn
00:20:15 --> 00:20:17 out to be quite common, but it needn't
00:20:17 --> 00:20:19 necessarily evolve into anything more
00:20:19 --> 00:20:20 substantial.
00:20:20 --> 00:20:23 Andrew Dunkley: No, no, definitely not. And if you're looking
00:20:23 --> 00:20:25 for aliens, as you said, if they've been
00:20:25 --> 00:20:26 around long enough, we should see the
00:20:26 --> 00:20:29 evidence, uh, whether it be a, um,
00:20:29 --> 00:20:32 passing spacecraft or a, uh,
00:20:32 --> 00:20:34 megastructure of some kind that we
00:20:34 --> 00:20:37 might see around a planet or a star or
00:20:37 --> 00:20:39 a, um, uh,
00:20:40 --> 00:20:43 conspicuous gas in their atmosphere. That
00:20:43 --> 00:20:46 couldn't be natural, things like that. But we
00:20:46 --> 00:20:47 haven't found any of that.
00:20:47 --> 00:20:50 Professor Fred Watson: Airport radar. Uh, airport
00:20:50 --> 00:20:53 radar, yes. Square kilometre array able to
00:20:53 --> 00:20:55 detect airport radar at 50 light years. So
00:20:56 --> 00:20:59 once it comes on stream, we might
00:20:59 --> 00:21:00 know we're alone within 50 light years.
00:21:01 --> 00:21:03 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, well, that is it exactly.
00:21:04 --> 00:21:06 Uh, so, Robert. No, um, yes,
00:21:07 --> 00:21:09 we're still alone at this point in time. And,
00:21:09 --> 00:21:12 um. Yes, and we're feeling it. We really are.
00:21:14 --> 00:21:17 Um, but I, I sort
00:21:17 --> 00:21:19 of err on the side of caution when it comes
00:21:19 --> 00:21:20 to revealing our presence.
00:21:20 --> 00:21:21 Professor Fred Watson: I'm.
00:21:21 --> 00:21:22 Andrew Dunkley: I'm a little bit with, um,
00:21:23 --> 00:21:26 Stephen. Stephen Hawking. Uh, yeah, you
00:21:26 --> 00:21:29 don't want to make too big a noise just in
00:21:29 --> 00:21:31 case they go, oh, that's a lovely place.
00:21:31 --> 00:21:33 We'll have that. So the British and the
00:21:33 --> 00:21:36 Portuguese did so. And the Dutch.
00:21:36 --> 00:21:39 And the Dutch. Our last two people are Dutch,
00:21:39 --> 00:21:41 my wife's Dutch, so I can get away with
00:21:41 --> 00:21:42 things like that.
00:21:43 --> 00:21:45 Professor Fred Watson: The, um, yeah, the.
00:21:45 --> 00:21:47 Andrew Dunkley: And, uh, the French. I mean, the French did
00:21:47 --> 00:21:47 it too.
00:21:48 --> 00:21:51 Professor Fred Watson: We, we, um, we're already, you
00:21:51 --> 00:21:53 know, we've already given it away because
00:21:53 --> 00:21:55 we've got airport radar. Uh.
00:21:57 --> 00:22:00 Andrew Dunkley: Yes, we have. Yes, we have. Thanks, Robert.
00:22:00 --> 00:22:01 Great to hear from you.
00:22:02 --> 00:22:05 Time to take a break from the show to tell
00:22:05 --> 00:22:07 you about our story sponsor nor vpn. If
00:22:07 --> 00:22:10 you're online, your data is always at
00:22:10 --> 00:22:12 risk unless you take some sort of action
00:22:13 --> 00:22:16 to secure your exposure. And
00:22:16 --> 00:22:18 a virtual private network is the way to go.
00:22:19 --> 00:22:21 Uh, there are lots of hackers and trackers
00:22:21 --> 00:22:24 and unsecured networks out there that
00:22:24 --> 00:22:26 just, uh, make you an easy target. And it
00:22:26 --> 00:22:28 happens without your knowledge. It always
00:22:28 --> 00:22:30 happens very quietly and in the background.
00:22:30 --> 00:22:32 And that, that's what makes it so nasty.
00:22:33 --> 00:22:36 And that is also why using a trusted VPN
00:22:36 --> 00:22:39 like NordVPN is a pretty smart move.
00:22:39 --> 00:22:42 NordVPN keeps your Internet connection
00:22:42 --> 00:22:44 secure and private by
00:22:44 --> 00:22:47 encrypting your data and hiding your IP
00:22:47 --> 00:22:49 address. And that means you can browse, you
00:22:49 --> 00:22:51 can stream, you can shop, you can work online
00:22:51 --> 00:22:53 without worrying about who might be watching.
00:22:54 --> 00:22:57 It works seamlessly across all your devices,
00:22:57 --> 00:22:59 and it is one of the fastest VPN services
00:23:00 --> 00:23:03 Available so you won't sacrifice speed for
00:23:03 --> 00:23:05 security. And right now, as a Space
00:23:05 --> 00:23:07 Nuts listener, you can get an exclusive
00:23:07 --> 00:23:10 offer. Uh, big savings on NORDVPN
00:23:10 --> 00:23:13 plan. You get an extra four months for free.
00:23:13 --> 00:23:16 And uh, all you have to do is sign up. Uh,
00:23:16 --> 00:23:18 don't forget They've got a 30 day money back
00:23:18 --> 00:23:21 guarantee. So you can test this out for
00:23:21 --> 00:23:23 yourself before you fully commit. But
00:23:23 --> 00:23:25 I've been using it for years now and I've got
00:23:25 --> 00:23:27 no complaints. So go to
00:23:27 --> 00:23:29 nordvpn.com
00:23:29 --> 00:23:30 spacenuts
00:23:31 --> 00:23:32 nordvpn.com
00:23:33 --> 00:23:36 SpaceNuts take control of your online
00:23:36 --> 00:23:38 privacy today. Uh, easy to use,
00:23:38 --> 00:23:40 powerful protection, no hassles.
00:23:41 --> 00:23:43 Nordvpn.com/spacenuts
00:23:44 --> 00:23:46 spacenuts and don't forget the code word
00:23:46 --> 00:23:48 Spacenuts at the checkout.
00:23:48 --> 00:23:49 Now back to the show.
00:23:50 --> 00:23:52 Speaker C: Three, two, one.
00:23:53 --> 00:23:56 Andrew Dunkley: Spacenut Nuts. And our, uh, final question
00:23:56 --> 00:23:58 comes from the Netherlands. And
00:23:59 --> 00:24:01 uh, it's a text question from Angela. I
00:24:01 --> 00:24:03 learned from earlier episodes that any item
00:24:03 --> 00:24:06 sent to space must be sterile, free of
00:24:06 --> 00:24:09 bugs. This is to prevent contamination of the
00:24:09 --> 00:24:12 celestial bodies. However, could we consider
00:24:12 --> 00:24:15 the opposite? Send bugs, seeds, bacteria,
00:24:15 --> 00:24:18 etc, out into space on purpose. This
00:24:18 --> 00:24:21 will give life a small chance to evolve
00:24:21 --> 00:24:23 somewhere else and escape the
00:24:23 --> 00:24:26 potential one and only planet in our Milky
00:24:26 --> 00:24:28 Way that contains life. Kind regards,
00:24:28 --> 00:24:31 Angela from Amsterdam. She's sort of going
00:24:31 --> 00:24:34 on from what, um, Robert was talking
00:24:34 --> 00:24:37 about. Um, you know, we've got evidence of
00:24:37 --> 00:24:39 life on one planet, but she's saying, well,
00:24:39 --> 00:24:42 why don't we go seeding the other planets?
00:24:42 --> 00:24:44 Let's, you know, let's not keep uh, space,
00:24:45 --> 00:24:47 uh, craft clean. Let's just line people up.
00:24:47 --> 00:24:50 You can all hawk on the spacecraft and
00:24:51 --> 00:24:54 off it goes and we see
00:24:54 --> 00:24:57 the universe. Um, look, it worked
00:24:57 --> 00:25:00 in South America. The Spanish took all their
00:25:00 --> 00:25:02 nasties over there and nearly wiped the
00:25:02 --> 00:25:03 people out. So.
00:25:03 --> 00:25:06 Professor Fred Watson: Okay, yes, that's right, yeah.
00:25:07 --> 00:25:10 Uh, so, uh, I mean
00:25:10 --> 00:25:13 to some extent this has already happened, uh,
00:25:13 --> 00:25:16 because, uh, the, I think it was the
00:25:16 --> 00:25:19 Beersheba spacecraft, which was a
00:25:19 --> 00:25:22 private Israeli venture,
00:25:22 --> 00:25:24 which crashed on the moon, carried
00:25:25 --> 00:25:27 fruit flies, it carried tardigrades,
00:25:27 --> 00:25:30 carried a few other things. Um, they
00:25:30 --> 00:25:33 presumably perished in the accident. But
00:25:34 --> 00:25:37 the question I would have for Angela, I mean.
00:25:37 --> 00:25:39 Yes, okay, you fill a spacecraft full of
00:25:39 --> 00:25:41 earthly creatures. It's a bit like Noah's Ark
00:25:41 --> 00:25:44 really. Yeah, two by two, um,
00:25:45 --> 00:25:47 you seal it so that
00:25:48 --> 00:25:50 it's not gonna
00:25:51 --> 00:25:53 destroy another planet,
00:25:54 --> 00:25:57 uh, or seed another planet if it crashes. So
00:25:57 --> 00:25:59 you make it crash proof. But then you've got
00:25:59 --> 00:26:02 to sustain these organisms to keep them
00:26:02 --> 00:26:05 alive. And that's A, uh, tricky
00:26:05 --> 00:26:08 mission, you know, how do you. If
00:26:08 --> 00:26:11 you're talking about, um, lengths of time
00:26:11 --> 00:26:13 measured perhaps in millions or
00:26:13 --> 00:26:16 billions of years, which is how long it might
00:26:16 --> 00:26:18 take to land on another world,
00:26:18 --> 00:26:21 in another solar system. Uh, how do
00:26:21 --> 00:26:23 you keep things alive for that long?
00:26:23 --> 00:26:24 Andrew Dunkley: I've got the answer.
00:26:25 --> 00:26:25 Professor Fred Watson: You're good.
00:26:25 --> 00:26:27 Andrew Dunkley: I've got the answer. When I was growing up,
00:26:28 --> 00:26:30 they were selling sea monkeys
00:26:31 --> 00:26:33 at toys stores. Yeah.
00:26:33 --> 00:26:33 Professor Fred Watson: Yep.
00:26:33 --> 00:26:35 Andrew Dunkley: You bought. You bought the packet.
00:26:35 --> 00:26:36 Professor Fred Watson: Yep. You filled.
00:26:36 --> 00:26:39 Andrew Dunkley: You filled a, um, jar full of water, you
00:26:39 --> 00:26:41 tipped the packet in, and then all these
00:26:41 --> 00:26:43 things came to life. Uh,
00:26:43 --> 00:26:45 or sea monkeys.
00:26:45 --> 00:26:46 Professor Fred Watson: What were they?
00:26:46 --> 00:26:47 Andrew Dunkley: Don't know. Krill
00:26:49 --> 00:26:52 probably, something like that. There was some
00:26:52 --> 00:26:54 kind of little crustacean. Hang on, I'm going
00:26:54 --> 00:26:56 to look it up. I honestly can't remember what
00:26:56 --> 00:26:56 they mean.
00:26:56 --> 00:26:58 Professor Fred Watson: Tardigrades are a bit like that because
00:26:58 --> 00:27:01 tardigrades can dehydrate themselves
00:27:01 --> 00:27:03 completely. That's how they. They've survived
00:27:03 --> 00:27:05 on the outside of the space station.
00:27:06 --> 00:27:08 Um, but once you.
00:27:08 --> 00:27:10 Andrew Dunkley: Brian, I was right. They're shrimp. Brine
00:27:10 --> 00:27:13 shrimp. We're seeing monkeys. Yeah. Uh, they
00:27:13 --> 00:27:16 were developed in the United States in 1957,
00:27:17 --> 00:27:19 uh, by Harold Von Braunhutt,
00:27:19 --> 00:27:22 uh, and sold as eggs intended to be added to
00:27:22 --> 00:27:25 water. Um, and you used to buy them and
00:27:25 --> 00:27:27 take them home, put them in the water, and
00:27:27 --> 00:27:29 they'd hatch and you'd have sea monkeys.
00:27:29 --> 00:27:29 There you are.
00:27:32 --> 00:27:33 There's the solution.
00:27:34 --> 00:27:36 Professor Fred Watson: Now, how long did they last once you put them
00:27:36 --> 00:27:36 in water?
00:27:37 --> 00:27:38 Andrew Dunkley: Five minutes, usually. They did not.
00:27:41 --> 00:27:43 Professor Fred Watson: They didn't last long. Yeah. So it does.
00:27:45 --> 00:27:47 Okay. Yes. So it doesn't really give
00:27:47 --> 00:27:50 you much time to start a new population of
00:27:50 --> 00:27:53 species from planet Earth. Probably not if
00:27:53 --> 00:27:55 you find water on another world. Yeah. I
00:27:55 --> 00:27:57 mean, it's, uh. And of course, there's an
00:27:57 --> 00:28:00 ethical side to this as well. Um, my answer
00:28:00 --> 00:28:03 to. Well, it's the answer to, um,
00:28:03 --> 00:28:06 why we. Why we sterilise spacecraft going to
00:28:06 --> 00:28:08 Mars. Because we don't want to contaminate
00:28:08 --> 00:28:11 Mars with earthly microbes. If there are
00:28:11 --> 00:28:13 microbes there of Martian origin already,
00:28:14 --> 00:28:16 you don't want to intermix them.
00:28:17 --> 00:28:19 Andrew Dunkley: M. So, Angela, he had to do that. He just had
00:28:19 --> 00:28:22 to do the, um, the ethical thing.
00:28:23 --> 00:28:25 You and I are on a different page, but. Yeah,
00:28:26 --> 00:28:27 well, coming from Angela.
00:28:28 --> 00:28:28 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah.
00:28:30 --> 00:28:32 Andrew Dunkley: But, you know, if. If the Thermi paradox,
00:28:32 --> 00:28:35 Fermi paradox is what it is, then why are we
00:28:35 --> 00:28:36 worried? Anyway?
00:28:36 --> 00:28:38 Professor Fred Watson: It doesn't matter. That's right. Just doesn't
00:28:38 --> 00:28:41 matter. Yes. Can send anything
00:28:41 --> 00:28:43 anywhere. Well, that might be the way it ends
00:28:43 --> 00:28:45 up. If we never find any existence, any
00:28:45 --> 00:28:47 evidence of life somewhere else. But I think
00:28:47 --> 00:28:48 we're.
00:28:48 --> 00:28:50 This is a study that's still in its infancy.
00:28:50 --> 00:28:52 Astrobiology has only been around for 30
00:28:52 --> 00:28:55 years or something, so we've still got a long
00:28:55 --> 00:28:56 way to go.
00:28:56 --> 00:28:57 Andrew Dunkley: We have, yes.
00:28:57 --> 00:28:57 Professor Fred Watson: Um.
00:28:58 --> 00:29:01 Andrew Dunkley: Uh, yes, at this stage, we're playing
00:29:01 --> 00:29:04 it safe. I think the day will
00:29:04 --> 00:29:06 come, Angela, where we'll. We'll load up an
00:29:06 --> 00:29:09 ARC spacecraft and we will send them
00:29:09 --> 00:29:12 hither and thither and
00:29:12 --> 00:29:14 try to populate another planet.
00:29:15 --> 00:29:18 Who knows? Could happen. Uh, thanks, Angela.
00:29:18 --> 00:29:20 Great question, though. Really enjoyed
00:29:20 --> 00:29:21 mincing that one up.
00:29:22 --> 00:29:25 Uh, and, uh, that brings us to the end of the
00:29:25 --> 00:29:26 show, Fred Watson. Thank you.
00:29:27 --> 00:29:29 Professor Fred Watson: Um, thank you, Andrew. Thanks for your
00:29:29 --> 00:29:31 tolerance and patience and.
00:29:31 --> 00:29:32 Andrew Dunkley: I, um, think it's the other way around,
00:29:32 --> 00:29:33 Fred Watson.
00:29:33 --> 00:29:36 Professor Fred Watson: But anyway, thanks for not dropping
00:29:36 --> 00:29:36 out on me.
00:29:37 --> 00:29:39 Andrew Dunkley: Uh, yes, we've had a golden run today.
00:29:40 --> 00:29:42 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, yeah, it's been good after the.
00:29:42 --> 00:29:44 Andrew Dunkley: The massive full start, but, yes, we're all
00:29:44 --> 00:29:46 good. Thanks, Fred Watson. We'll catch you
00:29:46 --> 00:29:47 next time.
00:29:48 --> 00:29:49 Professor Fred Watson: Sounds great. Thanks, Andrew.
00:29:49 --> 00:29:51 Andrew Dunkley: Professor Fred Watson Watson, Astronomer
00:29:51 --> 00:29:54 Large, with us every week, uh, twice on
00:29:54 --> 00:29:56 Space Nuts. And thanks to Huw in the studio,
00:29:56 --> 00:29:57 who couldn't be with us today because he's
00:29:57 --> 00:29:59 just putting his Dutch nationality
00:29:59 --> 00:30:02 application in. He's sick of being a Kiwi. He
00:30:02 --> 00:30:05 wants to be Dutch because, you know, they're
00:30:05 --> 00:30:08 so cool. Well, I married one, so they must
00:30:08 --> 00:30:10 be. And from me, Andrew Dunkley. Thanks for
00:30:10 --> 00:30:12 your company. Catch you on the next episode
00:30:12 --> 00:30:13 of Space Nuts. Bye. Bye.
00:30:14 --> 00:30:16 Voice Over Guy: You've been listening to the Space Nuts
00:30:16 --> 00:30:19 Podcast. Available
00:30:19 --> 00:30:21 at Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
00:30:22 --> 00:30:24 iHeartRadio or your favourite podcast
00:30:24 --> 00:30:26 player. You can also stream on
00:30:26 --> 00:30:29 demand at bitesz.com Has been another
00:30:29 --> 00:30:32 quality podcast production from bitesz.com