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Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your go

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to podcast for the latest and greatest

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news from across the cosmos.

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Avery: I'm Anna and I'm um, Avery. We're

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so glad you could join us today for another

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exciting dive into the universe's most

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captivating stories.

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Anna: We've got a jam packed episode for you

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today full of fascinating

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developments. We'll be starting close to

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home discussing the recent Space SpaceX

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Crew 11 launch scrub and

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why those pesky cumulus clouds caused

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a delay.

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Avery: Then we're gonna venture much, much further

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out into the galaxy as we uncover some

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incredible new findings from the James Webb

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Space Telescope which has exposed dormant

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black holes in the act of devouring stars.

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It's truly like nothing we've ever seen.

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Anna: And speaking of things we've never seen,

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we'll be tackling the thrilling idea

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of chasing down an interstell,

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the newly discovered Comet

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3I

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ATLs. Could we actually

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send a mission to intercept it?

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We'll break down the feasibility.

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Avery: Finally, we're taking a leap into the realm

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of science fiction turned potential reality

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warp drives. We'll explore the cutting edge

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research that suggests faster than light

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travel might just be possible within the next

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century. It's a mind bending topic that could

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redefine space exploration. So let's

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get started.

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Anna: Alright, let's kick things off with some news

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from our very own planet. Specifically

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Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX

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unfortunately had to scrub the recent launch

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attempt of their Crew 11 astronaut

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mission for NASA.

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Avery: That's right, this happened on July 31, just

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a over a minute before liftoff. The culprit?

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A bank of cumulus clouds that appeared right

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over NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

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Anna: It sounds like the weather just didn't want

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to cooperate with the excitement of the Crew

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11 launch. NASA commentator

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Darrell Mail explained during the coverage

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that they could literally see the clouds

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moving over the pad.

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Avery: And it's not just about visibility. It's a

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critical safety issue. Neil elaborated that

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there's a 10 mile radius standoff area around

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the launch pad for these dark cumulus clouds.

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You absolutely do not want to send the rocket

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through a tall cloud like that as it could

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generate energy from the rocket passing

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through it, which is obviously a significant

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risk.

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Anna: Absolutely. Safety always comes first,

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especially when human lives are on the line.

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But there's good news. SpaceX will

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be trying again. The next attempt is

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Scheduled for Friday, August 1 at

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11:43am M

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EDT. With another chance

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on Saturday, August 2 at

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11:21am M EDT.

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Avery: When it does launch, the Crew 11 mission will

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see a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lift off

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from Launch Complex 39A at KSC.

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It's carrying the Crew Dragon Endeavour

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spacecraft which is making its sixth flight,

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setting a new reuse record for Crew Dragon

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vehicles.

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Anna: The four person crew is an international

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one featuring NASA astronauts

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Zena Cardman and Mike Finke,

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Kamiya Yui from the Japan

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Aerospace Exploration Agency or

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JAXA, and Oleg Plaitnov

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of Russia's space agency Roscosmos.

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Avery: Once launched, the Crew 11 will embark on an

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approximate 40 hour journey to catch up to

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the International Space Station which orbits

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at a remarkable speed of about

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17,500 miles per hour or

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28,000 kilometers per hour, roughly

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248 miles or 400 kilometers above

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Earth's surface. This will be SpaceX's

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11th operational astronaut mission for NASA

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through its commercial crew program

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highlighting the growing role of private

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spacecraft in space travel.

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Anna: From launch delays, we now pivot to

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some truly mind bending discoveries

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courtesy of the James Webb Space Space

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Telescope. Prepare yourselves for

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a cosmic horror story because

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the JWST has caught

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dormant black holes in the act of

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devouring stars.

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Avery: Nothing like we've ever seen is how lead

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author Megan Masterson from MIT describes

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these findings. Unlike the active galaxies we

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usually hear about where black holes are

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constantly gorging on nearby matter, these

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are dormant black holes. They mostly slumber,

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stirring only for a brief spectacular feast

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on an unlucky passing star.

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Anna: This new study, published in

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Astrophysical Journal Letters,

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details how astronomers from

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mit, Columbia and other

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institutions used

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JWST to peer

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through thick layers of dust in

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nearby galaxies. They were looking

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for the aftermath of what are called

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tidal disruption events, or

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TDEs.

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Avery: These are incredibly rare cosmic occurrences.

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Imagine a galaxy's central black

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hole pulling in a nearby star,

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tearing it apart with immense tidal forces

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and then releasing a massive burst of energy.

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Since the 1990s, only about a hundred

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TDE's have been documented, mostly in

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galaxies with little dust, making the ray

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or optical light easier to observe.

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Anna: But the brilliance of JWST

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as uh, the world's most powerful infrag

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detector is that it can see through

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that obscuring dust. Previous work

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by the MIT team showed that while

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a uh, TDE's, X ray and optical

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light might be hidden, that same

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burst of light heats up the surrounding

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dust that generating a new signal in the

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form of infrared light.

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Avery: Exactly. And with JWST,

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they've now studied signals from four dusty

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galaxies where they suspected TDEs

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occurred. Inside the dust, JWST

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detected clear fingerprints of black hole

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accretion. That's the process where Material

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like stellar debris spirals and eventually

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falls into a black hole.

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Anna: What's fascinating is that the patterns

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detected by JWST were

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strikingly different from the dust around

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active galaxies, where the central black hole

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Is always pulling in material.

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This confirmed that a tidal disruption event

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did indeed occur in each of the four

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galaxies. And critically, they were products

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of dormant black holes, which had little

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to no activity and until a star

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wandered too close.

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Avery: This really highlights JWST's

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incredible potential to study these otherwise

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hidden events in detail. It's helping

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scientists understand the key differences in

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environments around active versus dormant

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black holes. Megan Masterson emphasized that

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they've learned these events are powered by

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black hole accretion, but they don't look

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like environments around normal active black

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holes.

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Anna: To get a, uh, bona fide signal, as

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Masterson put it, they specifically looked

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for a peak in infrared light that could only

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be produced by black hole accretion.

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This process is so intense that it

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can blast electrons out of atoms

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like neon, which then release infrared

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radiation At a very specific

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wavelength that JWST can

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detect.

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Avery: There's nothing else in the universe that can

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excite this gas to these energies except for

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black hole accretion. Masterson explained.

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This was their smoking gun. They then used

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JWST to detect another infrared

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wavelength, Indicating silicates, or dust,

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Mapping its patterns to differentiate between

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a temporary TDE and a

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constantly active black hole.

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Anna: The results definitively showed

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patterns Unlike typical active galaxies,

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confirming these were dormant black holes

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that only flared up Due to a star

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being disrupted. This research is

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just the beginning. The team plans to

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uncover many more hidden TDEs,

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which can then serve as powerful probes

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to understand fundamental black hole

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properties, like their mass and spin

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and how long they take to consume stellar

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material that's truly wild.

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Speaking of rare cosmic occurrences, We've

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had a few close encounters of our own Here in

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the solar system recently.

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Avery: You're talking about interstellar objects,

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aren't you? It's a tantalizing prospect.

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The idea of visitors from beyond our sun's

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reach.

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Anna: Exactly. Since 2017,

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we've spotted three 1i

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Oumuamua, 2eye

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Borisov. And just this month,

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3i Atlas this latest

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one, Discovered by the Asteroid

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Terrestrial Impact Last alert Survey

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is zipping through the inner solar system in

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the Latter Half of 2025.

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Avery: And of course, the immediate question is

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always, can we get a closer look?

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All assets on the ground and in space Will be

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turned towards 3i Atlas. But what would

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it look like up close? Can we even consider

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Chasing down such a speedy visitor?

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Anna: Well, A recent study from Michigan State

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University published on the ARXIV

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Preprint server actually explored the

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feasibility of just that. It's titled

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the Feasibility of a Spacecraft

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Flyby with the third interstellar object

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3I Atlas from Earth or Mars.

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The study could serve as a template for

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future missions to these enigmatic

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objects.

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Avery: Lead author Atsuhiro Yaginuma told

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Universe Today that a close flyby would

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enable measurements impossible from Earth.

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We could get direct compositional and

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isotopic analysis of ISIS dust

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and organics in situ, plus high

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resolution imaging of its nucleus, revealing

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its shape, size, size, spin state and

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active jets. All of this would offer critical

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insights into planetary formation and

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evolution in an alien system.

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Anna: We already know a bit about 3i

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atlas. It's a very old object

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hailing from the thick galactic disk of the

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Milky Way. Gemini north gave us a close

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up view mid month, confirming its

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cometary in nature. It's currently

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shining at AH 17th magnitude,

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but is expected to brighten 100 fold

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to 12th magnitude as it reaches

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perihelion about

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1.356

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astronomical units from the sun on

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October 29th.

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Avery: Unlike Oumuamua, we're seeing 3I

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Atlas on its inbound leg, which is a big

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advantage for planning an intercept. However,

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it's really moving at a speedy 58

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km per second relative to the Sun.

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Catching up would be a whirlwind mission.

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The study looked at various scenarios with an

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Earth or Mars departure between January

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2025 and March 2026.

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Anna: An Earth departure would demand a high

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initial Delta V around

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24km per second, which is

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a huge amount of thrust, although the dawn

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spacecraft almost matched this in its post

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launch phase. Interestingly, a

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Mars departure would need much less,

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only about 5 kilometers per second in early

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2025. This is because 3i

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Atlas makes a much closer pass by

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Mars at 0.2 au

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on October 3 compared to its

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closest Earth passage at 1.8

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au on December 19.

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Avery: Yaginuma pointed out that Mars orbiters could

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image 3i Atlas when it's not observable

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from Earth, especially around its perihelion.

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This would be crucial for understanding its

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activity. Repurposing existing Mars

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orbiters like Maven or Odyssey might even be

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possible if they have enough fuel.

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Anna: The study also considered missions already

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built but looking for a new destination

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like the Janus Duo, two small

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simplex spacecraft that were shelved

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after delays forced the Psyche mission to

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take an alternate path. Being relatively

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light, they might be candidates if we could

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launch them sooner rather than later.

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NASA's Osiris apex. A

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repurposed Osiris Rex is also

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set to perform an Earth gravity assist in

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September 2025, and could make long

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range observations of 3i Antlis

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start in November.

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Avery: Despite these possibilities, intercepting

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something Moving at over 60 km per

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second would make imaging during such a fast

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encounter incredibly tricky. For

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comparison, New Horizons pass Pluto, charon

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at only 14 kilometers per second.

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Anna: The future, however, looks promising for

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high speed flybys. The European Space

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Agency's proposed comet interceptor,

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planned for launch in 2029, will be

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parked at the Sun Earth L2 point,

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awaiting a target. While designed for new

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comets, it could potentially chase down an

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interstellar object if it happens to pass by.

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Avery: The key takeaway from the study is the

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earlier we can spot incoming interstellar

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objects, the more options we'll have, and the

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less energy will be required to go after

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them. A new generation of all sky

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surveys, like the recently commissioned Vera

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C. Rubin Observatory, promises to do

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just that, spotting these cosmic

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interlopers early and helping us study them

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like never before.

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Anna: From chasing interstellar comets, we now

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turn to a concept that has truly captured

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the human imagination. For

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warp drive. We're talking about the ability

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to travel through faster than the speed of

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light, a concept that started in the realms

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of Star Trek and Star wars, but is now

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being seriously investigated by scientists.

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Avery: That's right, Anna. Scientists are actively

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researching whether bending spacetime itself

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could allow us to reach distant stars,

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quickly, turning what was once pure science

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fiction into a potential scientific reality.

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Anna: The fundamental idea of warp drive doesn't

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involve rockets burning fuel. Instead, it

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involves bending spacetime. Physicist

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Miguel Alcabierre first described this

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concept in 1994. He proposed

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creating a bubble around a spacecraft that

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compresses space in front of it and expands

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space behind it.

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Avery: And the clever part is, inside this bubble,

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your ship doesn't actually move faster than

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light. It stays still while space time

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itself shifts around it. This ingenious

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loophole allows the bubble to exceed light

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speed when, without breaking Einstein's

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universal speed limit, which states that

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nothing with mass can travel at or faster

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than light speed.

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Anna: Within spacetime, however, there's a

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massive catch. Creating this bubble

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requires something called negative energy or

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negative mass, which are strange materials

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that push space outward rather than pulling

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it in. Alcavieri's original theory

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suggested you'd need negative energy

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equivalent to Jupiter's mass, which is

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far beyond anything we can currently achieve.

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Avery: But some researchers are working on this.

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NASA physicist Dr. Harold Sunny White, for

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example, believes that by tweaking the

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bubble's shape, this mass requirement could

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be reduced to about 700 kg,

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making the idea slightly more feasible.

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White even leads a NASA team Developing the

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Whyte Jude warp field interferometer,

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A, uh, device intended to detect tiny warp

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bubbles. While it's nowhere near enabling

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00:16:38.110 --> 00:16:40.510
actual space travel, it's a crucial step,

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and we.

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Anna: Have some hints of negative energy. Small

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00:16:44.500 --> 00:16:46.660
amounts have appeared in experiments like the

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Casimir effect, where two metal plates placed

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close together Create negative energy. But

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these tiny quantities Are still a far cry

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from what's needed for warp drives.

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Avery: Scientists are still debating the

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practicality of warp drives. Calculations

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suggest quantum fields at the warp bubble's

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edges Might become infinitely large and

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unstable. Other simulations indicate

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exotic matter Might escape the bubble Faster

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than light, Quickly destroying it. Even the

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smallest viable warp bubble, roughly 30ft

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00:17:17.420 --> 00:17:19.380
wide, would demand negative energy,

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Surpassing all positive energy in our

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universe. It's a truly immense challenge.

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Anna: Professor Tim Dietrich from Potsdam

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00:17:27.540 --> 00:17:30.180
University Also highlighted another serious

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issue, Causality paradoxes.

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He explained that using a warp drive might

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cause paradoxes Once it crosses light speed,

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Potentially disrupting our understanding of

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cause and effect. It's like traveling into

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the past.

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Avery: Yet despite these significant hurdles, Warp

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drives haven't been dismissed entirely.

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Professor Geraint Lewis of the University of

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Sydney Believes we might discover exotic

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00:17:54.630 --> 00:17:56.670
matter within the next century. He

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00:17:56.670 --> 00:17:58.990
optimistically stated that Einstein's theory

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is a hundred years old, but we've only

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00:18:01.150 --> 00:18:03.700
scratched the surface, Suggesting hyper fast

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00:18:03.700 --> 00:18:06.020
travel Might become achievable in the next

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00:18:06.020 --> 00:18:07.860
100 or 1000 years.

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Anna: Dr. White from NASA supports the idea that

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initial warp journeys could combine warp

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drives with traditional propulsion. Ships

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00:18:16.220 --> 00:18:18.100
could leave Earth with standard rockets,

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Engage warp drives one safely away and

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deactivate them close to their destination. A

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trip to Alpha Centauri, which currently takes

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centuries, could then potentially take just

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00:18:28.500 --> 00:18:28.820
months.

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Avery: Um, and interestingly, even if humans can't

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build warp drives, Detecting aliens using

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this technology might be possible. Dr.

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Katie Kloe, a, ah, cosmologist at Queen Mary

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University of London, Suggests that

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collapsing warp bubbles would emit

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gravitational waves. If these exist,

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Earth based detectors could potentially spot

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00:18:49.640 --> 00:18:49.920
them.

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Anna: Dietrich and Klauf have studied scenarios

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where the exotic matter's containment field

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00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:57.760
collapses, Creating ripples propagating

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00:18:57.760 --> 00:19:00.520
outward. Detecting these gravitational waves

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00:19:00.520 --> 00:19:03.440
would be confirmation that someone else has

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00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:06.280
already mastered warp drive. Dr. Clough

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00:19:06.520 --> 00:19:09.440
even praised Star Trek beyond for

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00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:12.440
its more accurate depiction, Noting

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00:19:12.440 --> 00:19:15.280
that the bullet shot was loosely

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00:19:15.280 --> 00:19:18.000
based on how light curves around a warp

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00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:18.360
bubble.

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Avery: The visual depiction of warp travel in movies

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00:19:21.640 --> 00:19:24.400
like Star wars with dazzling bursts of

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00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:26.640
streaking stars, and is also likely

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00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:29.200
incorrect. According to Dr. Clough,

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looking forward would show objects shifted

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00:19:31.640 --> 00:19:34.200
toward blue, While backward views would turn

447
00:19:34.200 --> 00:19:36.720
red due to warped like wavelengths.

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00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:39.040
Shapes would appear distorted, similar to

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00:19:39.040 --> 00:19:41.919
viewing through curved glass. Research by

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00:19:41.919 --> 00:19:43.480
physics students at the University of

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Leicester suggests passengers would instead

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00:19:46.200 --> 00:19:48.920
witness a glowing disk due to cosmic

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00:19:48.920 --> 00:19:51.400
background radiation shifting into visible

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light.

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Anna: Dr. Clough even praised Star Trek

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00:19:55.470 --> 00:19:57.830
beyond for its more accurate

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00:19:57.830 --> 00:20:00.830
depiction, noting that the bullet

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00:20:00.830 --> 00:20:03.470
shot was loosely based on how light

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curves around a, uh, warp bubble.

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Avery: Warp drive remains speculative and distant,

461
00:20:08.910 --> 00:20:11.590
but history teaches us not to dismiss such

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concepts lightly. Touchscreens, voice

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assistants, and 3D printing all began as

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improbable ideas from fiction. Star

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Trek famously predicted warp travel by

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2063. While ambitious scientists

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agree that breakthroughs could bring us

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closer, faster than we imagine.

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Anna: Continued exploration in physics,

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quantum mechanics, and engineering could

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one day make warp drives a reality.

472
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Whether humanity ever travels at warp

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speed remains uncertain, but the pursuit

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itself enriches our understanding of the

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universe and pushing scientific boundaries.

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Perhaps someday, space journeys lasting

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mere moments instead of lifetimes might

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transition from science fiction into

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our everyday reality.

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Well, that brings us to the end of another

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fascinating episode of Astronomy Daily.

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What a ride it's been today.

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Avery: Absolutely, Anna. It's always inspiring to

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see how far our understanding of the universe

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has come and how much more there is to

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explore.

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Anna: Indeed. Thank you so much for tuning in to

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Astronomy Daily. We hope you enjoyed

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00:21:21.370 --> 00:21:23.370
exploring the cosmos with us today.

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Avery: You can find more episodes of Astronomy Daily

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00:21:26.530 --> 00:21:28.930
and stay updated on the latest space and

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00:21:28.930 --> 00:21:31.370
astronomy news by simply visiting our website

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00:21:31.449 --> 00:21:33.690
at, uh, astronomydaily.IO.

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Anna: We'Ll be back tomorrow with more stories from

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across the universe. Until then, keep looking

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up