TRASCRIZIONE 🔗
WEBVTT
0
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.384
Stuart Gary: This is space Time Series 29,
1
00:00:02.522 --> 00:00:04.880
episode 135 for broadcast on
2
00:00:04.880 --> 00:00:07.040
11 November 2026.
3
00:00:07.600 --> 00:00:10.400
Coming up on Space Time, a stellar
4
00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:12.400
graveyard discovered at the heart of the
5
00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:15.160
Milky Way galaxy, the mystery of the
6
00:00:15.160 --> 00:00:18.120
origin of Earth's water, and New Zealand's
7
00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:20.640
rocket lab to start flying from Alaska.
8
00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:23.680
All that and more coming up on um, Space
9
00:00:23.680 --> 00:00:24.080
Time.
10
00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:28.160
Stuart Gary: Welcome to Space Time with Stuart
11
00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:28.480
G.
12
00:00:44.780 --> 00:00:47.220
Stuart Gary: A new study has shown that gas orbiting the
13
00:00:47.220 --> 00:00:49.420
black hole at the centre of our galaxy is
14
00:00:49.420 --> 00:00:51.980
rich in metals from the corpses of dead and
15
00:00:51.980 --> 00:00:54.980
dying stars. The findings, reported in the
16
00:00:54.980 --> 00:00:57.580
Astronomical Journal, show that this gas is
17
00:00:57.580 --> 00:00:59.700
similar in composition to many of the stars
18
00:00:59.700 --> 00:01:02.060
in the black hole's orbit, suggesting the gas
19
00:01:02.060 --> 00:01:05.000
and stars form together. The
20
00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:07.040
supermassive black hole at the centre of our
21
00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:10.000
Milky Way galaxy, Sagittarius A, is
22
00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:12.760
located some 27,000 light years away
23
00:01:12.840 --> 00:01:15.840
and contains 4.3 million times the mass of
24
00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:18.680
our Sun. Um, Sagittarius A is
25
00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:20.800
closer to Earth and therefore easier to see
26
00:01:20.800 --> 00:01:23.400
and study than any other supermassive black
27
00:01:23.400 --> 00:01:25.720
hole. So the new findings could advance
28
00:01:25.720 --> 00:01:27.880
science's understanding of how metals are
29
00:01:27.880 --> 00:01:30.000
distributed around supermassive black holes
30
00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:32.250
in more distant galaxies, as well as the
31
00:01:32.250 --> 00:01:34.690
processes that supplied Earth with many of
32
00:01:34.690 --> 00:01:37.450
these elements. In astronomy,
33
00:01:37.450 --> 00:01:39.770
metals include any element heavier than
34
00:01:39.770 --> 00:01:42.450
helium and hydrogen, and their presence
35
00:01:42.450 --> 00:01:45.250
influences how quickly gases cool, which in
36
00:01:45.250 --> 00:01:47.689
turn influences how readily the gas can be
37
00:01:47.689 --> 00:01:50.250
drawn into a black hole. The
38
00:01:50.250 --> 00:01:52.690
study's lead author, Nicole Ford from McGill
39
00:01:52.690 --> 00:01:54.930
University, says astronomers know there's a
40
00:01:54.930 --> 00:01:56.570
black hole at the centre of our galaxy
41
00:01:56.570 --> 00:01:59.040
pulling material into itself, but it's eating
42
00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:01.400
a lot less material than other supermassive
43
00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:03.440
black holes, and it's doing so much more
44
00:02:03.440 --> 00:02:06.240
slowly. Part of understanding why this is
45
00:02:06.240 --> 00:02:08.360
happening means looking at the properties of
46
00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:10.280
the materials available for it to consume,
47
00:02:10.280 --> 00:02:12.880
including gas, dust, and the stars orbiting
48
00:02:12.880 --> 00:02:15.360
around it. So to work out what's going on,
49
00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:17.720
Ford and colleagues used data gathered by
50
00:02:17.720 --> 00:02:20.600
NASA's Webb Space Telescope. Webb
51
00:02:20.600 --> 00:02:23.040
measures infrared light over a wide range of
52
00:02:23.040 --> 00:02:25.160
wavelengths with unprecedented spectral and
53
00:02:25.160 --> 00:02:27.490
spatial resolution, and that allows
54
00:02:27.490 --> 00:02:29.050
astronomers to distinguish the heat
55
00:02:29.050 --> 00:02:31.250
signatures of multiple gas clouds orbiting
56
00:02:31.250 --> 00:02:34.010
near the black hole. It also enabled them to
57
00:02:34.010 --> 00:02:36.330
precisely measure the metal composition of
58
00:02:36.330 --> 00:02:39.210
each gas cloud. The new findings
59
00:02:39.210 --> 00:02:41.090
complement a recent study which tested
60
00:02:41.090 --> 00:02:43.010
whether gas preserved the evidence of
61
00:02:43.010 --> 00:02:44.970
previous bursts of energy coming from
62
00:02:44.970 --> 00:02:47.930
Sagittarius A. The results found that
63
00:02:47.930 --> 00:02:49.650
the gas emission was shaped by local
64
00:02:49.650 --> 00:02:51.930
conditions, making it difficult to isolate
65
00:02:51.930 --> 00:02:54.530
the black hole's influence. Rather than
66
00:02:54.530 --> 00:02:57.410
ruling out past outbursts, this shows that
67
00:02:57.410 --> 00:02:59.810
the surrounding gas cannot provide a reliable
68
00:02:59.810 --> 00:03:02.810
history of the black hole's activity, Ford
69
00:03:02.810 --> 00:03:04.610
says. Understanding how the black hole
70
00:03:04.610 --> 00:03:06.450
attracts material will therefore require
71
00:03:06.450 --> 00:03:08.930
comparing these observations with simulations
72
00:03:08.930 --> 00:03:11.850
of how gas evolves over longer timescales.
73
00:03:12.730 --> 00:03:15.490
This space time still to
74
00:03:15.490 --> 00:03:18.050
come, the mystery of the origin of Earth's
75
00:03:18.050 --> 00:03:20.990
life giving water supplies, and New Zealand's
76
00:03:20.990 --> 00:03:23.270
rocket lab about to start launching from
77
00:03:23.270 --> 00:03:25.990
Alaska. All that and more still to come
78
00:03:26.550 --> 00:03:27.670
on space time.
79
00:03:36.790 --> 00:03:39.510
A new study suggests planet Earth may have
80
00:03:39.510 --> 00:03:41.830
formed much of its water during its formation
81
00:03:41.830 --> 00:03:44.230
in the protoplanetary disc, rather than later
82
00:03:44.230 --> 00:03:46.350
from asteroid or
Load full transcript
cometary impacts is often
83
00:03:46.350 --> 00:03:49.350
speculated. The solar system's planets,
84
00:03:49.350 --> 00:03:51.070
including the Earth, were created by
85
00:03:51.070 --> 00:03:53.710
condensing out of a disc of spinning gas and
86
00:03:53.710 --> 00:03:55.950
dust called a protoplanetary disc, orbiting
87
00:03:55.950 --> 00:03:57.950
around the then still nascent Sun.
88
00:03:58.670 --> 00:04:01.390
Over time, these dust grains clump
89
00:04:01.390 --> 00:04:03.950
together through static electricity and later
90
00:04:03.950 --> 00:04:06.670
gravity, accreting to form protoplanets and
91
00:04:06.670 --> 00:04:09.550
eventually planets. Different elements and
92
00:04:09.550 --> 00:04:11.550
different materials condensed at different
93
00:04:11.550 --> 00:04:13.950
distances from the proto sun depending on
94
00:04:13.950 --> 00:04:16.800
temperature. Iron condenses closest to the
95
00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:19.520
sun, silicon a bit further away, and the ices
96
00:04:19.520 --> 00:04:22.040
such as water and methane and ammonia further
97
00:04:22.040 --> 00:04:24.200
out still, beyond what's known as the snow
98
00:04:24.200 --> 00:04:26.800
line, which lies between the orbits of Mars
99
00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:29.680
and Jupiter. So how planet Earth got its
100
00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:31.840
water, essential for life as we know it, has
101
00:04:31.840 --> 00:04:34.680
always been a mystery. Now, a
102
00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:36.560
new study reported in the journal Nature
103
00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:39.120
Geoscience suggests Earth may have produced
104
00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:41.640
its own water during its formation, as rocky
105
00:04:41.640 --> 00:04:43.520
pebbles reacted with the hydrogen rich
106
00:04:43.520 --> 00:04:45.520
atmosphere surrounding the young planet.
107
00:04:46.110 --> 00:04:47.870
These new findings offer a potential
108
00:04:47.870 --> 00:04:50.270
explanation for how Earth acquired one of the
109
00:04:50.270 --> 00:04:52.350
essential ingredients for life. And they
110
00:04:52.350 --> 00:04:53.910
suggest that similar water producing
111
00:04:53.910 --> 00:04:56.150
processes may have been common on the rocky
112
00:04:56.150 --> 00:04:58.110
planets throughout the inner solar system.
113
00:04:59.150 --> 00:05:01.669
The study used high temperature experiments
114
00:05:01.669 --> 00:05:03.950
to investigate how iron bearing silicate
115
00:05:03.950 --> 00:05:06.590
rocks react with atmospheric hydrogen under
116
00:05:06.590 --> 00:05:08.630
conditions similar to those found during the
117
00:05:08.630 --> 00:05:10.830
early stages of planetary formation.
118
00:05:11.560 --> 00:05:13.520
One of the study's authors, Zachary Sharp
119
00:05:13.520 --> 00:05:15.520
from the University of New Mexico, says
120
00:05:15.520 --> 00:05:17.800
previous ideas about the source of water on
121
00:05:17.800 --> 00:05:20.440
Earth relied on an external source, such as
122
00:05:20.440 --> 00:05:23.040
comets or meteors from colder regions in the
123
00:05:23.040 --> 00:05:25.680
early solar system. However, the problem is
124
00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:28.240
the hydrogen to deuterium ratios in comets
125
00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:30.640
and meteorites don't match those found in
126
00:05:30.640 --> 00:05:32.920
Earth's oceans. And that means another
127
00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:35.760
source. The new work shows that
128
00:05:35.760 --> 00:05:37.880
virtually any Earth sized planet could have
129
00:05:37.880 --> 00:05:40.200
water by this newly identified mechanism,
130
00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:42.520
Sharpe says. In order to evaluate the
131
00:05:42.520 --> 00:05:44.640
possibility of pebble rain being the source
132
00:05:44.640 --> 00:05:46.640
of water, the authors needed to construct and
133
00:05:46.640 --> 00:05:49.040
execute some very challenging experiments
134
00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:50.800
showing that water is produced in just
135
00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:52.200
minutes in very high temperature
136
00:05:52.200 --> 00:05:54.040
environments, such as the early Earth's
137
00:05:54.040 --> 00:05:57.000
atmosphere. As Earth, uh, formed, small
138
00:05:57.000 --> 00:05:59.720
rocky particles known as pebbles accumulated
139
00:05:59.720 --> 00:06:02.120
to build a larger planetary body A process
140
00:06:02.120 --> 00:06:04.520
called pebble accretion. When the growing
141
00:06:04.520 --> 00:06:06.720
planet becomes sufficiently massive, it could
142
00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:09.240
develop a hot, high pressure atmosphere rich
143
00:06:09.240 --> 00:06:12.200
in hydrogen. As the silicate pebbles fill
144
00:06:12.200 --> 00:06:14.200
through this atmosphere, iron oxide in the
145
00:06:14.200 --> 00:06:16.280
rocks could react with hydrogen, producing
146
00:06:16.280 --> 00:06:18.240
metallic iron and water vapour.
147
00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:21.440
To test this process, the authors heated
148
00:06:21.440 --> 00:06:23.520
silicate rock samples at temperatures between
149
00:06:23.520 --> 00:06:26.399
1200 and 1400 degrees Celsius in streams
150
00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:28.960
of hydrogen and for comparison, helium.
151
00:06:29.440 --> 00:06:32.240
The experiments lasted between 15 minutes and
152
00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:35.000
three hours. In the hydrogen experiments,
153
00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:37.840
nearly 80% of the iron oxide in the samples
154
00:06:37.840 --> 00:06:39.840
was converted into metallic hydrogen,
155
00:06:39.840 --> 00:06:42.420
producing water vapour as a byproduct in the
156
00:06:42.420 --> 00:06:45.220
process. But the same reaction didn't occur
157
00:06:45.220 --> 00:06:47.700
in the helium experiments, demonstrating the
158
00:06:47.700 --> 00:06:49.980
importance of hydrogen in the water producing
159
00:06:49.980 --> 00:06:52.620
process, and the authors were surprised how
160
00:06:52.620 --> 00:06:55.140
quickly water was produced and how large the
161
00:06:55.140 --> 00:06:58.100
quantities were. The study provides
162
00:06:58.100 --> 00:07:00.540
new insights into the chemical processes that
163
00:07:00.540 --> 00:07:02.850
shaped the early Earth and expand science's
164
00:07:02.850 --> 00:07:04.620
uh, understanding of the possible pathways
165
00:07:04.620 --> 00:07:06.860
through which water can develop on rocky
166
00:07:06.860 --> 00:07:09.470
planets. Water is Earth's most
167
00:07:09.470 --> 00:07:12.110
valuable resource, so knowing its origins and
168
00:07:12.110 --> 00:07:13.830
its hydrology is important.
169
00:07:14.630 --> 00:07:16.550
This report from MASATV
170
00:07:16.950 --> 00:07:19.830
NASA TV narrator: Water is the fundamental ingredient for life
171
00:07:19.830 --> 00:07:22.150
on Earth. Looking at our Earth from space,
172
00:07:22.390 --> 00:07:25.030
with its vast and deep ocean, it
173
00:07:25.030 --> 00:07:27.190
appears as though there is an abundance of
174
00:07:27.190 --> 00:07:29.350
water for our use. However,
175
00:07:29.910 --> 00:07:32.390
only a small portion of Earth's water is
176
00:07:32.390 --> 00:07:35.090
accessible for our needs. How much
177
00:07:35.090 --> 00:07:38.050
fresh water exists and where it is stored
178
00:07:38.290 --> 00:07:39.410
affects us all.
179
00:07:40.930 --> 00:07:43.410
Nearly two thirds of this fresh water is
180
00:07:43.410 --> 00:07:46.250
stored in the polar ice caps, snowpacks,
181
00:07:46.250 --> 00:07:49.130
and glaciers, making it inaccessible for
182
00:07:49.130 --> 00:07:50.690
long periods of time.
183
00:07:51.890 --> 00:07:53.970
The water cycle is dynamic.
184
00:07:55.170 --> 00:07:57.730
It describes the continuous movement of water
185
00:07:57.890 --> 00:08:00.850
on, above and below the surface of the Earth
186
00:08:01.560 --> 00:08:04.280
and the transitions from one state to
187
00:08:04.280 --> 00:08:06.440
another. Sea surface temperature,
188
00:08:06.760 --> 00:08:08.920
surface winds and air temperature
189
00:08:09.400 --> 00:08:11.600
influence the rate of evaporation at the
190
00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:14.520
ocean surface. In the tropics,
191
00:08:14.840 --> 00:08:17.560
warm ocean surface temperatures support high
192
00:08:17.560 --> 00:08:18.760
rates of evaporation.
193
00:08:20.520 --> 00:08:22.920
Wind also increases evaporation.
194
00:08:24.200 --> 00:08:26.680
When the air's temperature is warmer, it can
195
00:08:26.680 --> 00:08:29.580
hold more water. While the atmosphere
196
00:08:29.580 --> 00:08:31.900
does not store a large quantity of water
197
00:08:31.900 --> 00:08:34.660
compared to the ocean rivers and lakes, it
198
00:08:34.660 --> 00:08:37.660
can transport water quickly from one place to
199
00:08:37.660 --> 00:08:40.100
another. Low lying regions of the
200
00:08:40.100 --> 00:08:42.460
atmosphere with high moisture and strong
201
00:08:42.540 --> 00:08:45.420
winds can form atmospheric rivers
202
00:08:45.500 --> 00:08:47.820
to transport water horizontally.
203
00:08:48.300 --> 00:08:51.180
Clouds are formed
as water vapour cools and
204
00:08:51.180 --> 00:08:53.500
condenses into droplets and ice crystals.
205
00:08:53.980 --> 00:08:56.580
Clouds and water vapour act as insulators in
206
00:08:56.580 --> 00:08:59.340
the atmosphere. Clouds help shield the Earth
207
00:08:59.340 --> 00:09:01.900
from the sun and trap heat from below.
208
00:09:02.460 --> 00:09:04.780
When cloud particles grow large enough,
209
00:09:05.260 --> 00:09:07.580
they may fall out as rain or snow.
210
00:09:08.140 --> 00:09:10.580
Under the right conditions, areas of
211
00:09:10.580 --> 00:09:13.500
precipitation can grow into large storms
212
00:09:13.740 --> 00:09:16.460
as storms grow, they transfer heat
213
00:09:16.460 --> 00:09:18.700
vertically into the upper atmosphere.
214
00:09:19.430 --> 00:09:21.750
The migration of storms helps to distribute
215
00:09:21.750 --> 00:09:24.310
heat between the equator and poles,
216
00:09:24.790 --> 00:09:27.710
shaping wind patterns globally. How
217
00:09:27.710 --> 00:09:30.230
storms grow and intensify depends on
218
00:09:30.230 --> 00:09:32.830
atmospheric moisture, surface temperatures
219
00:09:32.830 --> 00:09:35.590
and wind patterns. Precipitation is
220
00:09:35.590 --> 00:09:38.150
concentrated in some parts of the world and
221
00:09:38.230 --> 00:09:40.710
scarce in others. It can vary
222
00:09:40.710 --> 00:09:43.590
substantially from season to season and
223
00:09:43.590 --> 00:09:46.590
from year to year. Water that falls
224
00:09:46.590 --> 00:09:48.950
on the land surface as precipitation is
225
00:09:48.950 --> 00:09:51.830
stored within snowpacks, lakes,
226
00:09:52.470 --> 00:09:55.270
reservoirs, soils and
227
00:09:55.350 --> 00:09:57.990
underground aquifers. Water availability
228
00:09:58.310 --> 00:10:00.950
varies from place to place and over time.
229
00:10:01.190 --> 00:10:03.790
The availability of water affects the type
230
00:10:03.790 --> 00:10:06.310
and abundance of vegetation, the
231
00:10:06.310 --> 00:10:09.110
primary source of food for animals and
232
00:10:09.190 --> 00:10:11.910
people. Extreme water cycle variability
233
00:10:12.070 --> 00:10:14.470
Unusually dry or wet conditions
234
00:10:14.870 --> 00:10:17.770
impacts humans worldwide each
235
00:10:17.770 --> 00:10:20.290
year. Hazards such as floods exact a
236
00:10:20.290 --> 00:10:23.010
costly economic and human toll.
237
00:10:23.170 --> 00:10:25.330
Most of the water that falls onto land
238
00:10:25.410 --> 00:10:27.970
remains stored there for weeks or more.
239
00:10:28.210 --> 00:10:30.930
Snowfall is stored as snowpack or ice.
240
00:10:31.170 --> 00:10:33.730
Meltwater and rainfall are stored in lakes
241
00:10:33.730 --> 00:10:36.730
and soils. Some of the water is absorbed by
242
00:10:36.730 --> 00:10:39.410
plant roots or drains into the water table.
243
00:10:39.490 --> 00:10:42.090
Eventually, the water will evaporate to the
244
00:10:42.090 --> 00:10:44.720
atmosphere or return to the ocean in
245
00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:47.440
streams and rivers, providing a
246
00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:50.080
source of nutrient rich water that
247
00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:53.080
supports ocean life. Sensors m on a suite
248
00:10:53.080 --> 00:10:55.920
of NASA satellites observe and measure water
249
00:10:55.920 --> 00:10:58.600
on land, in the ocean and in the
250
00:10:58.600 --> 00:11:01.200
atmosphere. These measurements are important
251
00:11:01.280 --> 00:11:03.560
to understanding the availability and
252
00:11:03.560 --> 00:11:06.320
distribution of Earth's water, which is
253
00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:09.150
both vital to life and vulnerable to
254
00:11:09.150 --> 00:11:12.070
the impacts of climate change and a growing
255
00:11:12.070 --> 00:11:13.110
world population.
256
00:11:13.910 --> 00:11:16.630
Stuart Gary: This is space time still to come.
257
00:11:16.870 --> 00:11:19.310
New Zealand's Rocket Lab to begin flying from
258
00:11:19.310 --> 00:11:22.230
Alaska and later in the science report a
259
00:11:22.230 --> 00:11:25.190
new study shows a derivative of vitamin B5
260
00:11:25.350 --> 00:11:27.510
used as a cholesterol lowering supplement can
261
00:11:27.510 --> 00:11:30.350
also stop psoriasis. All that and more
262
00:11:30.350 --> 00:11:32.390
still to come on uh, space time.
263
00:11:48.400 --> 00:11:50.640
New Zealand's Rocket Lab is building two new
264
00:11:50.640 --> 00:11:53.280
launch pads in Alaska. The new facilities
265
00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:55.840
will expand the company's ability to conduct
266
00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:58.200
rapid response launches and missile defence
267
00:11:58.200 --> 00:12:01.160
testing for the United States military. The
268
00:12:01.160 --> 00:12:03.040
facilities are planned for the Pacific
269
00:12:03.040 --> 00:12:05.560
Spaceport Complex on Kadiak island, with the
270
00:12:05.560 --> 00:12:07.480
company's first launch pad expected to be
271
00:12:07.480 --> 00:12:09.970
operational by January. The launch
272
00:12:09.970 --> 00:12:12.570
complex will support Rocket Labs Electron and
273
00:12:12.570 --> 00:12:14.850
Hasty rockets and will use the company's new
274
00:12:14.850 --> 00:12:16.970
Ghost transportable containerized launch
275
00:12:16.970 --> 00:12:19.850
system. Ghost packages complete rockets,
276
00:12:19.850 --> 00:12:21.730
launch infrastructure, ground support
277
00:12:21.730 --> 00:12:24.530
equipment and range control systems inside
278
00:12:24.530 --> 00:12:27.370
standard shipping containers. Rocket
279
00:12:27.370 --> 00:12:29.810
Lab previously secured a $266 million
280
00:12:30.130 --> 00:12:32.290
US Space Force contract covering 12
281
00:12:32.290 --> 00:12:34.690
suborbital launchers with options for a
282
00:12:34.690 --> 00:12:37.670
further six. The Alaska site
283
00:12:37.670 --> 00:12:39.630
will give the company additional flexibility
284
00:12:39.710 --> 00:12:41.710
to conduct national security missions
285
00:12:41.790 --> 00:12:44.550
alongside its existing operations in Virginia
286
00:12:44.550 --> 00:12:46.830
and New Zealand. Rocket Lab currently
287
00:12:46.830 --> 00:12:49.110
operates two launch pads at its Mahaya
288
00:12:49.110 --> 00:12:51.350
Peninsula launch Complex at Hawke's Bay on
289
00:12:51.350 --> 00:12:54.190
New Zealand's north island east coast. These
290
00:12:54.190 --> 00:12:56.830
are designed to launch its two stage electron
291
00:12:56.830 --> 00:12:59.070
rocket, which is capable of carrying payloads
292
00:12:59.070 --> 00:13:01.150
and small satellites up to 300 kilogrammes
293
00:13:01.150 --> 00:13:03.740
into low earth orbit. The company
294
00:13:03.740 --> 00:13:05.900
operates a third launch pad for electron
295
00:13:05.900 --> 00:13:08.340
orbital missions as well as Hastie suborbital
296
00:13:08.340 --> 00:13:10.500
rockets at NASA's Wallops island flight
297
00:13:10.500 --> 00:13:13.060
facility on the Virginia Mid Atlantic coast.
298
00:13:13.460 --> 00:13:16.140
Hastie is a modified variant of electron
299
00:13:16.140 --> 00:13:18.220
designed to carry payloads of up to 700
300
00:13:18.220 --> 00:13:20.860
kilogrammes on suborbital missions. The
301
00:13:20.860 --> 00:13:22.660
company is currently building a second launch
302
00:13:22.660 --> 00:13:25.020
pad at Wallops island for its new reusable
303
00:13:25.020 --> 00:13:26.940
neutron rocket, which will be capable of
304
00:13:26.940 --> 00:13:29.480
carrying payloads of up to 13 tons in a low
305
00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:32.280
Earth orbit. Neutron's maiden flight is
306
00:13:32.280 --> 00:13:35.080
slated for next year and needless to say,
307
00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:36.760
we'll keep you informed.
308
00:13:37.560 --> 00:13:39.000
This is space, time.
309
00:13:54.280 --> 00:13:56.320
And time now to take another brief look at
310
00:13:56.320 --> 00:13:57.920
some of the other stories making news in
311
00:13:57.920 --> 00:13:59.880
Science this week with a Science report.
312
00:14:00.920 --> 00:14:03.080
Scientists say a, uh, derivative of vitamin
313
00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:05.760
B5 called patothine, widely used as a
314
00:14:05.760 --> 00:14:07.560
cholesterol lowering supplement, has been
315
00:14:07.560 --> 00:14:10.360
shown to stop psoriasis, alleviating symptoms
316
00:14:10.360 --> 00:14:12.800
and limiting the activity of the immune cells
317
00:14:12.800 --> 00:14:15.320
behind the condition. The findings, reported
318
00:14:15.320 --> 00:14:17.280
in the Journal of Experimental Medicine,
319
00:14:17.280 --> 00:14:19.120
looked at dendritic cells, which are
320
00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:21.320
specialised immune cells thought to underlie
321
00:14:21.320 --> 00:14:23.640
a variety of autoimmune diseases, including
322
00:14:23.720 --> 00:14:26.520
psoriasis. The authors found cells in
323
00:14:26.520 --> 00:14:29.080
psoriasis patients had elevated levels of
324
00:14:29.080 --> 00:14:31.440
enzymes called vanines, which lowered the
325
00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:33.320
levels of pantethine, leading to higher
326
00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:35.680
cholesterol production and hyperactivation of
327
00:14:35.680 --> 00:14:38.480
the cells. Adding pantethine reversed this
328
00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:41.080
process, stopping psoriasis from developing.
329
00:14:41.400 --> 00:14:44.360
The authors tested pantothine in 24 psoriasis
330
00:14:44.360 --> 00:14:46.000
patients, half of whom were given the
331
00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:48.760
supplements in addition to normal care. They
332
00:14:48.760 --> 00:14:50.720
found the patients given the supplements
333
00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:52.960
showed improved symptoms compared to those on
334
00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:55.200
normal care alone, especially if they had
335
00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:57.460
elevated blood cholesterol to begin with.
336
00:14:58.820 --> 00:15:01.300
A study of nearly a million married couples
337
00:15:01.300 --> 00:15:04.060
in Taiwan has found that having a spouse with
338
00:15:04.060 --> 00:15:06.740
dementia may put you at greater risk of also
339
00:15:06.740 --> 00:15:09.100
developing the condition. The findings,
340
00:15:09.100 --> 00:15:10.500
reported in the Journal of the American
341
00:15:10.500 --> 00:15:12.900
Medical association, showed that the female
342
00:15:12.900 --> 00:15:15.700
spouses of people with dementia had a 74%
343
00:15:15.700 --> 00:15:17.940
higher risk of dementia, while male spouses
344
00:15:17.940 --> 00:15:20.740
had a 69% higher risk. The authors
345
00:15:20.740 --> 00:15:22.860
also found the risk was lower among people
346
00:15:22.860 --> 00:15:24.740
with higher incomes or more children,
347
00:15:24.980 --> 00:15:27.380
suggesting financial resources and family
348
00:15:27.380 --> 00:15:29.040
context may play a role.
349
00:15:30.560 --> 00:15:32.840
Scientists say northern Australia is a
350
00:15:32.840 --> 00:15:35.040
lifeboat for the critically endangered green
351
00:15:35.040 --> 00:15:37.720
sawfish. A UH report in the Journal's
352
00:15:37.720 --> 00:15:40.240
Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries Aims
353
00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:42.760
and Scope examined decades of research on the
354
00:15:42.760 --> 00:15:44.800
rare species showing that the northern
355
00:15:44.800 --> 00:15:47.200
Australian coast, especially around WA's
356
00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:49.280
Pilbara region, could be playing a crucial
357
00:15:49.280 --> 00:15:51.800
role in the species recovery. Green
358
00:15:51.800 --> 00:15:54.000
sawfish, distinguished by their long shark
359
00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:56.240
like body and tooth lined sore on the front
360
00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:57.960
of their heads, are on the verge of
361
00:15:57.960 --> 00:15:59.760
extinction, largely due to overfishing, uh,
362
00:16:00.540 --> 00:16:03.460
and habitat loss. A
363
00:16:03.460 --> 00:16:05.900
new study has shown that using a smartphone
364
00:16:05.900 --> 00:16:08.700
after 10pm is linked to teens falling
365
00:16:08.700 -->
00:16:11.380
asleep later, waking up later and sleeping
366
00:16:11.380 --> 00:16:13.780
less. The, uh, findings reported in the
367
00:16:13.780 --> 00:16:15.580
Journal of the American Medical association
368
00:16:15.740 --> 00:16:18.620
used Fitbit data on 425 teens
369
00:16:18.700 --> 00:16:20.940
measuring their evening phone activity and
370
00:16:20.940 --> 00:16:23.660
when and how long they slept. The authors
371
00:16:23.660 --> 00:16:25.940
found that using a phone in the final minutes
372
00:16:25.940 --> 00:16:28.500
before bed was linked to teens waking up more
373
00:16:28.500 --> 00:16:30.950
often after falling asleep, mostly during the
374
00:16:30.950 --> 00:16:33.950
first 30 minutes after nodding off. They say
375
00:16:33.950 --> 00:16:36.150
this wakefulness after falling asleep was
376
00:16:36.150 --> 00:16:38.510
triggered most by cell phone use in the final
377
00:16:38.510 --> 00:16:41.110
five minutes and became negligible if the
378
00:16:41.110 --> 00:16:43.670
kids put down their phones 20 minutes before
379
00:16:43.670 --> 00:16:44.590
going to bed.
380
00:16:46.029 --> 00:16:48.550
Australia's largest Telco has been forced to
381
00:16:48.550 --> 00:16:50.750
apologise after a yet to be explained
382
00:16:50.750 --> 00:16:52.590
technical glitch from its Message bank
383
00:16:52.590 --> 00:16:54.910
system, which sent out thousands of phantom
384
00:16:54.910 --> 00:16:57.230
missed calls and voicemail notifications
385
00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:00.080
because the system error queued up and then
386
00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:02.040
released years of severely delayed
387
00:17:02.040 --> 00:17:04.320
notifications all at once. Some customers
388
00:17:04.320 --> 00:17:06.840
shockingly received text alerts appearing to
389
00:17:06.840 --> 00:17:09.040
come from deceased relatives and loved ones.
390
00:17:09.040 --> 00:17:11.880
A message from the dead. With the details,
391
00:17:11.880 --> 00:17:13.820
we joined by technology editor Alex Saharov.
392
00:17:13.820 --> 00:17:16.520
Ah, Roy from tech Advice, Start life. Well,
393
00:17:16.520 --> 00:17:19.000
Alex Zaharov-Reutt: if your phone wasn't haunted, Telco's
394
00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:21.520
voicemail system just cleared its throat all
395
00:17:21.520 --> 00:17:23.080
at once. There was some sort of glitch in
396
00:17:23.080 --> 00:17:25.640
Message bank which was sending people text
397
00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:27.200
messages. There were no calls made, there
398
00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:28.920
were no messages sent. But this was previous
399
00:17:28.920 --> 00:17:31.660
messages, people in the family group. And
400
00:17:31.740 --> 00:17:33.660
look, it's, it's one of those weird things
401
00:17:33.660 --> 00:17:36.060
where people were getting messages, including
402
00:17:36.300 --> 00:17:38.500
reportedly from relatives who had passed
403
00:17:38.500 --> 00:17:41.180
away. Telstra hasn't published a detailed
404
00:17:41.180 --> 00:17:44.180
call. It
did have an apology. We're sorry
405
00:17:44.180 --> 00:17:45.700
for how confusing this must be.
406
00:17:45.700 --> 00:17:48.260
Stuart Gary: It is funny that, um, just after Halloween,
407
00:17:48.260 --> 00:17:48.620
but
408
00:17:48.700 --> 00:17:50.540
Alex Zaharov-Reutt: luckily there was a queue of notifications
409
00:17:50.540 --> 00:17:52.620
backed up. Somehow they got released all at
410
00:17:52.620 --> 00:17:54.380
once and some alerts were for calls never
411
00:17:54.380 --> 00:17:56.640
made, which some, which also suggests that
412
00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:58.320
some of the records were scrambled. So it's a
413
00:17:58.320 --> 00:18:00.280
bit of a question for Chelsea as to what is
414
00:18:00.280 --> 00:18:02.040
going on there. You know, what else is
415
00:18:02.040 --> 00:18:03.440
playing up that we don't know about? How
416
00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:04.800
often does this sort of thing happen? But
417
00:18:04.800 --> 00:18:06.360
look, it's a glitch. It's one of those
418
00:18:06.360 --> 00:18:06.680
things.
419
00:18:06.760 --> 00:18:08.560
Stuart Gary: Of course, the other big news right around
420
00:18:08.560 --> 00:18:11.040
the world has been the blue wave which has
421
00:18:11.040 --> 00:18:13.440
washed over the United States. What's that
422
00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:15.080
done to the stock market, especially when it
423
00:18:15.080 --> 00:18:16.320
comes to tech stocks?
424
00:18:16.320 --> 00:18:18.280
Alex Zaharov-Reutt: Well, I mean this route wiped out roughly
425
00:18:18.280 --> 00:18:21.000
2.5 trillion in market value.
426
00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:23.400
And this is on fears that Democrats midterm
427
00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:25.960
gains could slow the AI build uh out. Chip
428
00:18:25.960 --> 00:18:28.600
makers were hard. I mean, the Nasdaq was down
429
00:18:28.600 --> 00:18:31.400
5.5%. The S&P 500 fell
430
00:18:31.400 --> 00:18:34.200
4.36%, the Dow 3.44. All three
431
00:18:34.200 --> 00:18:37.160
had their worst day since April 2025. And the
432
00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:38.960
Nasdaq is now officially in a correction. The
433
00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:41.520
chip makers hit the hardest, Nvidia, which is
434
00:18:41.760 --> 00:18:44.160
massively successful. They dropped over 9%.
435
00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:46.560
The, uh, Philadelphia semiconductor index
436
00:18:46.560 --> 00:18:49.040
plunged 12%. Micron and AMD fell
437
00:18:49.040 --> 00:18:49.920
17% each.
438
00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:52.000
Stuart Gary: That's Alex Zaharov Freud from Tech.
439
00:18:53.820 --> 00:18:55.260
And this is Space Time.
440
00:19:10.700 --> 00:19:13.540
And that's the show for now. Space Time
441
00:19:13.540 --> 00:19:15.580
is available every Monday, Wednesday and
442
00:19:15.580 --> 00:19:18.460
Friday through bytes.com soundcloud,
443
00:19:18.460 --> 00:19:20.880
YouTube, your favourite podcast download
444
00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:22.080
provider, and from
445
00:19:22.080 --> 00:19:24.240
spacetimewithstuartgarry.com
446
00:19:24.800 --> 00:19:26.760
spacetime's also broadcast through the
447
00:19:26.760 --> 00:19:29.040
National Science foundation on Science Zone
448
00:19:29.040 --> 00:19:31.520
Radio and on both iHeartradio and
449
00:19:31.520 --> 00:19:34.400
TuneIn radio. And you can help to support our
450
00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:37.160
show by visiting the Space Store for a range
451
00:19:37.160 --> 00:19:39.880
of promotional merchandising goodies or by
452
00:19:39.880 --> 00:19:42.280
becoming a Space patron, which gives you
453
00:19:42.280 --> 00:19:44.320
access to triple episode commercial free
454
00:19:44.320 --> 00:19:46.800
versions of the show as well as lots of bonus
455
00:19:46.800 --> 00:19:49.160
audio content which doesn't go to air, access
456
00:19:49.160 --> 00:19:51.560
to our exclusive Facebook group and other
457
00:19:51.560 --> 00:19:53.360
rewards. Just go to
458
00:19:53.360 --> 00:19:55.800
spacetimewithstuartgarry.com for full
459
00:19:55.800 --> 00:19:56.480
details.
460
00:19:57.120 --> 00:19:59.040
Stuart Gary: You've been listening to Space Time with
461
00:19:59.040 --> 00:20:01.880
Stuart Gary. This has been another quality
462
00:20:01.880 --> 00:20:04.240
podcast production from bytes.com.