Transcript

1.29.26 · Science Show KY

0:01
Speaker 1: Hello, this is Kelly Taylor. I'll be your host for
0:04
Radio Wized Diary of Science and Nature, and we'll share
0:09
some articles on those topics. But first a reminder that
0:12
Radio WI is a reading service intended for people who
0:16
are blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult
0:20
to read printed material. From Scientific American, we have an
0:24
article dated January sixteenth, and the headline is NASA's historic
0:29
Artemis II moon mission is almost ready to launch Artemis two,
0:37
Humankind's first crude lunar mission in more than fifty years,
0:42
is finally nearing reality. At a press conference on Friday,
0:46
I guess this past Friday, NASA officials laid out the
0:50
timeline for what will happen both on the days before
0:53
the mission lifts off and during Artemis II and immediately afterward.
0:58
Astronauts safety is the paramount priority, and the timeline for
1:02
launch could change, said John Honeycut, Artemis two's mission management
1:08
team chair. I will tell you we're going to fly
1:12
when we're ready, Honeycut said. Artemis two is a test flight.
1:17
It truly is exploration, said Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist
1:23
at NASA's Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate. Quote there will
1:29
be a number of firsts that we will be proving
1:32
out on this flight. I like to say that during exploration,
1:35
science is our toolbox for survival. The update came a
1:42
day before one of the first major steps to getting
1:45
Artemis to off the ground. On Saturday, after years of work,
1:48
delays and anticipation, engineers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in
1:53
Cape Canaveral, Florida, will begin rolling out the fully stacked
1:57
Space launch System rocket and our spacecraft. The journey from
2:02
the vehicle assembly building to launch Pad thirty nine B
2:05
will be a slow, stately crawl over roughly four miles
2:10
that will take up to twelve days, culminating in easing
2:15
the mission's hulking hardware onto the launch pad. Once there,
2:20
focus will turn to a series of important pre launch tests.
2:25
A critical milestone is a wet dress rehearsal that's in
2:30
during which flight teams will load more than seven hundred
2:33
thousand gallons of cryogenic propellant and practice the countdown sequence,
2:38
pushing the spacecraft to its limits without astronauts on board.
2:43
During similar preparations for Artemis two's uncrued predecessor, Artemis I,
2:49
persistent problems with hydrogen leaks ultimately delayed that mission's launch
2:54
for months. This time, NASA is hoping the process will
2:58
be much smoother. The earliest date in the mission's launch
3:03
window is February six. If all goes according to plant,
3:07
Artemis two will lift off on its historic journey, carrying
3:10
four astronauts, NASA's Reed Wiseman Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and
3:18
Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a ten day
3:23
flight around the Moon and back. The Orion spacecraft will
3:26
follow a free return trajectory that uses the Moon's gravity
3:31
to loop the crew around and back toward Earth, reaching
3:35
about four thousand, seven hundred miles beyond the lunar far side.
3:39
The crew will go the farthest from Earth any humans
3:43
have ever voyaged, ensuring not only rigorous system checks but
3:47
also redtaking views of our home planet and of course,
3:51
the Moon. During the mission, the crew will wear sensors
3:55
to monitor their health in physiological responses to the deep
3:59
so space environment beyond the Moon, and Among the myriad
4:03
experiments packed into Artemis two's science payloads will be AVATAR.
4:10
That's an acronym for a virtual astronaut tissue analog response,
4:16
a system designed to mimic individual astronaut Organs. Artemis two
4:23
will be the first time Avatar has been tested so
4:26
far from Earth. All that will help ensure future astronauts
4:30
can survive and thrive in deep space, Bleacher said, quote,
4:35
Artemis two's science is the science of us. The mission's
4:40
most breathtaking highlight, however, will probably be the view. The
4:45
crew will dedicate about a day to observing the Moon,
4:48
especially its far side, which can't be seen from Earth.
4:53
As the Orion capsule swoops around our natural satellite, the
4:58
Moon will appear to the astronauts as about the same
5:01
size as of basketball held at arm's length, and depending
5:05
on the spacecraft's timing in trajectory, he added, it's possible
5:08
they'll see parts of the Moon that have never been
5:11
viewed by human eyes. The mission is the strongest stress
5:15
test yet of NASA's Artemis program to return humans to
5:20
the Moon. Artemis two will demonstrate Oriyan's life support, navigation,
5:25
and operational systems in a deep space environment, the first
5:29
such test since NASA's Apollo program ended more than a
5:33
half century ago. Quote. We want to put Oriyan through
5:37
its paces, said Artemis two's lead flight director Jeff Rattigan,
5:42
This is a test flight, and there's things that are
5:44
going to be unexpected. You know, I think we've prepared
5:47
for those as much as we can. Of particular concern
5:52
is the orion capsule's heat shield. During the uncrude Artemis
5:56
one test, the heat shield shed larger and more new
6:00
humorous chunks of oblative material than expected, raising safety concerns
6:05
for future missions. NASA officials change the plan for Artemis
6:10
two's atmospheric re entry on its way back to Earth
6:13
so that its oriyancapsule heat shield will experience a shorter
6:17
but more intense period of extreme heating. This tweak, officials say,
6:23
should help insure cruse safety. After the nail biting reentry,
6:28
Artemis two's crew will splash down off the coast of
6:30
San Diego, California, But these astronauts mission won't end there.
6:35
Among the plethora of postlight tests that await them in
6:39
the days after they return will be an obstacle course
6:43
in simulated space walks in pressurized spacesuits to test the
6:49
suit's functionality after going through a gravity transition. These tests
6:55
will help gauge a CRU's readiness for lunar surface opat
7:00
operations that work, said NASA's Landing and Recovery director for
7:04
Artemis to Lillian Villa Real villarrial quote prepares us for
7:10
landing on the moon with Artemis three and eventually down
7:13
the road going to destinations such as Mars. Turning now
7:19
to USA today. Dated January seventeenth, This article is headlined
7:25
icy Greenland is anything but green? How did he get
7:29
that name? The mostly icy island of Greenland has been
7:33
a part of centuries long marketing campaign, resulting in a
7:37
puzzling name with a fascinating history. The Danish territory is
7:41
again in the news as President Donald Trump says Greenland
7:44
should become part of the United States. But don't be confused.
7:49
The island is anything but green. Greenland is mostly covered
7:53
by a massive ice sheet, as it has been for
7:55
the better part of the past several millennia. The story
7:59
of Greenland's name weaves together slam marketing, climate change, and
8:03
the vikings. Well. Eric the Red selected the name and
8:07
hopes that it would attract more people to the icy island.
8:11
Now the island is actually getting a little more green
8:14
as its ice sheet melts. Quote the origin of Greenland's
8:19
name is the result of pure commercial marketing, said Arizona
8:22
State University geography professor Randall Servinni in one of the
8:28
quote In one of the Icelandic sagas, their preserved historical
8:31
documents dating back a thousand years, it is written that
8:35
the Icelandic discoverer of Greenland, Eric the Red, left to
8:39
settle in the country he had found, which he called Greenland,
8:42
as he said people would be attracted there if it
8:44
had a favorable name. According to Discover Iceland quote, Eric
8:50
the Red wanted more people to settle there, so thought
8:54
if it had a pleasant sounding name, people would be
8:56
more likely to move there. That was around one thousand AD,
9:00
Serviti sid. However, in the island's native language, the name
9:04
of the island is Kalait Nunyat Nunat, or land of
9:10
the Kalalite. The Kalalite are the native Inuit who inhabit
9:15
the territory's western region. On one twist in the Greenland
9:20
naming saga, the island likely wasn't quite as icy when
9:23
it was named. While it's been mostly icy for millennia,
9:27
Greenland experienced localized greening during the medieval warm period around
9:31
nine hundred to thirteen hundred, ady Bind Vikings settled there,
9:36
but even at the height of the medieval warm period,
9:38
the vast majority of Greenland was still ice covered, as
9:41
much as eighty percent now. New research published in twenty
9:45
twenty five said that because of global warming, Greenland's ice
9:49
sheet is melting fast and is being replaced by vegetation. Indeed,
9:54
parts of Greenland are becoming more green again for the
9:56
first time since the Vikings visited nearly one thousand years ago,
10:01
according to study co author Jonathan Karravic, an earth scientist
10:05
at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, and
10:08
where there was once snow and ice just a few
10:11
decades ago, there are now areas of shrub along with
10:14
barren rock and wetlands. Twenty twenty four study reported an
10:19
estimated eleven thousand square miles of Greenland's ice sheet and
10:23
glaciers have melted over the past three decades. Overall, the
10:27
total area of ice loss in the past thirty years
10:31
is slightly greater than the size of Massachusetts and represents
10:35
about one point six percent of Greenland's total ice and
10:39
glacier cover. Interestingly, neighboring Iceland was named by Vikings for
10:46
actually being icy, even though Greenland is arguably far more desolately.
10:52
One of the Icelandic sagas declares that the name of
10:54
the ice the name of Iceland, originated from floky ville Gorse,
11:00
the first Viking to intentionally travel and stay on Iceland
11:05
around eight point fifty eight. According to one of the sagas,
11:10
Floky coined the name after a long harsh winter camp
11:14
there when he climbed a mountain and saw a huge,
11:17
icy filled fiord and named the island Accordingly, the two
11:22
names really don't match climatological reality. For example, Greenland set
11:28
the coldest recorded temperature in the Northern Hemisphere at an
11:31
unimaginably cold ninety three degrees below zero fahrenheit. It's also
11:37
covered by a massive ice sheet that some two miles
11:40
thick at some point. Meanwhile, Iceland, though it has glaciers,
11:45
benefits from warmer ocean currents, and is far more habitable
11:48
than green around populated lowlands. Greenland covers more than eight
11:53
hundred thirty six thousand square miles, three times the size
11:57
of Texas, with about eighty percent covered by a mile
12:00
massive ice cap. The limitations of flat maps mean the
12:04
island appears on paper smaller or larger than it is
12:08
on some maps, it looks similar in size to Africa.
12:12
Why is this Greenland looks huge on some maps, especially
12:16
standard Mercador projections, because it's near the North Pole and
12:21
these maps stretch polar regions to fit the spherical Earth
12:25
onto a flat surface, making high latitude land masses appear
12:30
disproportionately huge compared to their actual size. And now back
12:39
to Scientific American from January fourteenth, twenty twenty five wasn't
12:46
the hottest year on record? Earth is still barreling to
12:49
the climate brink. Global warming surpassed one point five degrees
12:56
celsius for the past three years, meaning Earth is currently
12:59
on track to breach the Paris Climate Agreement by the
13:03
end of the decade. First, the good news, twenty twenty
13:06
five was not the hottest year on record. Now the
13:09
bad news. Last year was the third hottest on record,
13:13
just a hair behind twenty twenty three. More importantly, it
13:16
caps three years when global temperatures have surpassed one point
13:20
five degrees celsius above pre industrial levels. The data released
13:25
by the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service suggests that
13:30
we stand on a climate precipice. These three years stand
13:35
apart from those that came before, said Samantha Burgess, Diputy Director,
13:40
in a press conference last Monday. The past eleven years
13:45
have been the eleven hottest on record, underscoring a global
13:48
warming trend driven by rising levels of greenhouse gases in
13:52
the atmosphere. If this trajectory doesn't rapidly change, the world
13:56
is on track to breach the landmark twenty fifteen Paris
14:00
Climate Agreement, which enjoins countries to limit warming to below
14:04
one point five degrees c and well below two degrees c.
14:09
The global average temperature for twenty twenty five was one
14:12
point four to seven degrees c above the average from
14:16
eighteen fifty to nineteen hundred. That's just point zero one
14:21
degree c cooler than twenty twenty three. Twenty twenty four
14:25
retains the title of hottest year on record at one
14:27
point six degrees see above the pre industrial global average,
14:32
the first year to exceed one point five. The Paris
14:36
Agreement considers temperatures temperature averages over many years. That's why
14:42
hitting a three year warming milestone and having the hottest
14:46
years bunched over the past decade is crucial evidence to
14:50
show we are nearing a breach, likely by the end
14:53
of this decade. That's more than a decade sooner than
14:57
was predicted when the agreement was first negotiated. Quote. The
15:01
world is rapidly approaching the long term temperature limit set
15:04
by the Paris Agreement. We are bound to pass it.
15:07
The choice we now have is how to best manage
15:09
the inevitable overshoot and its consequences on societies and natural systems.
15:16
This says Carlo Wontempo, the director of C three S,
15:22
in a statement. Achieving the goals the Paris Agreement has
15:25
been made all the harder by the Trump administration, which
15:28
has sought to curtail US climate action at home and abroad.
15:32
As his current term began one year ago, President Trump
15:36
moved to pull the US out of the agreement and
15:39
action he had taken in his first administration. In just
15:42
a week ago, Trump announced that he would go one
15:44
step further, taking the US out of the climate treaty
15:48
under which the Paris Accord was negotiated, as well as
15:51
several other related agreements. Now we'll go to popular or science.
16:01
This article is headlined why do cats lick you. An
16:05
expert explains, this is January sixteenth. If you've ever been
16:10
around a cat, you know they can get the sudden
16:12
urge to groom themselves at just about any moment. You're
16:15
petting them on the couch. They're purring, everything seems lovely
16:18
and content. Then they lose all interest in you and
16:21
start licking their butt. But some feelines don't just lick themselves,
16:26
they also lick you. A cat will be busy grooming themselves,
16:29
then without warning, they'll turn their spiky tongues on their
16:32
unsuspecting humans. Other cats can't be bothered and won't ever
16:36
groom or lick their human friends or other kitty friends
16:39
for that matter. So why do some cats lick their owners?
16:44
Are they trying to clean you too? We asked an
16:46
animal behaviorist and cat expert to help us sort out
16:49
exactly what is going on when your cat licks you.
16:53
For a mother, cat grooming is an important part of
16:56
child rearing. When a mama cat licks her kittens, it
16:59
serves two important purposes, keeping her kittens clean and promoting
17:04
social bonds. Christian Vital Animal behaviorists at the Malaise Cat
17:10
Science Education tells Popular Science on the one hand, mother
17:16
cats are going to groom their kittens to help keep
17:18
them clean and healthy, says Vital. Kittens can be especially
17:23
susceptible to diseases, and anybody who's raised young kittens knows
17:27
how dirty they can get. And a mother cat is
17:29
not going to obviously bathe their kitten in a tub,
17:32
They're going to use their tongue to clean them in quote.
17:36
But grooming also helps a mother cat's strengthen her relationship
17:39
with her kittens, says Vital. A mother licking her babies
17:43
is quote one of the kittens first forms of social interaction.
17:48
It's essentially a way for mothers to say I love
17:50
you and I care for you. Kittens learn to groom
17:53
from their mom and usually start grooming themselves when they're
17:57
around four weeks old. Pretty soon after that, cats begin
18:01
to reciprocate their mother's grooming, and they'll groom their siblings
18:04
or other unrelated cats and also preferred people in the house.
18:09
If your cat grooms other cats, animal behaviorists like Vitao
18:12
call those cats their preferred associates. For instance, bonded cats
18:18
often groom each other as a way to reinforce their
18:21
besty status. For cats, grooming other cats becomes a very
18:26
important social behavior that helps build bonds between the individuals.
18:31
We also see the same behavior in wildcats, where mothers
18:34
groom their cubs to keep them clean and strengthen their connection.
18:38
In adulthood, wildcats might continue to groom others. You don't
18:42
have to search hard to find adorable videos online of
18:45
lions and tigers licking their besties. But Vitaal says there
18:51
is one big difference here. A lot of wildcats, like tigers,
18:55
or even the closest relative of domestic cats, the African wildcat,
19:00
don't live in social groups the way the same way
19:04
that domestic cats do, so they don't always have the
19:07
same opportunities to shower their buddies with love, because well,
19:10
they just don't really have many buddies. So why then
19:14
do some cats lick their owners? In general, if your
19:16
cat licks you, it's them saying in so many licks
19:20
that they love you. Vital says when her cat licks her,
19:24
she sees it as them engaging in a social behavior
19:27
with me that's strengthening our relationship. Quote. I'm thinking in
19:32
my mind that they're just in a happy mood and
19:34
looking to hang out together and interact a little bit. Quote.
19:38
While all cats groom themselves, which is why you don't
19:41
really need to worry about baths for most cats. Not
19:44
all cats groom other cats or their human friends. But
19:48
should you feel bad if your cat doesn't lick you.
19:50
Doesn't mean they don't love you, no, says vital Quote.
19:55
Licking's just one social behavior they could engage in. If
19:58
your cat just sits in your lap or sits near you,
20:01
or your cat's rubbing up against you, or your cat
20:04
plays with you, those are all other social behaviors that
20:07
show there's a bond. She says. Cats show love for
20:10
their owners in all sorts of ways. She emphasizes licking
20:14
is just one thing a cat could do. By Tal
20:17
has three cats, and of the threes, she says, only
20:19
one licks her very very sparingly, like once or twice
20:22
a month. So don't worry whether they're a liquor or not.
20:25
Your cat loves you. They might just have a different
20:28
way of showing it. Now we'll go to the Washington Post.
20:35
The headline for this article is a scientist questioned new
20:39
microplastics findings, then other researchers fired back. This is from
20:44
January seventeenth. Over the past year, scientists have searched brain,
20:50
tissue arteries and even joints for the presence of microplastics.
20:54
The tiny particles they have found are ubiquitous in the
20:58
human body, littering testicles, placentas, blood, and the brain, or
21:04
are they Earlier this week, a researcher in Germany du
21:08
San Matuique question the science of microplastics in the body,
21:12
and a lengthy article in The Guardian arguing that more
21:15
than half of the very high impact papers in the
21:18
field have serious doubts associated with it. Many scientists quickly responded,
21:23
saying that there is no doubt that the tiny particles
21:26
are entering human bodies, but Matiriq's comments underscored how there
21:31
are still questions about how much plastic is accumulating in
21:35
human organs, largely due to critiques of one particular method
21:39
of analysis. The article came as hundreds of scientists studying
21:43
microplastics were gathered in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to refine
21:47
techniques and share research in a newly developing field. Researchers
21:52
emphasize that despite uncertainties, they have confidence that human tissues
21:57
contain microplastics. The body of evidence across all organisms supports
22:03
that micro and nanoplastics are accumulating in animals in humans,
22:08
said Suzanne Brander, exotoxicologists at Oregon State University, quote, we
22:15
might not have all the details boiled down yet, but
22:18
that's not disputable. Researchers pointed to the fact that multiple methods,
22:23
from infrared spectroscopy where researchers shine infrared light on particles
22:28
to identify their chemistry, to a system called pyrolysis gas
22:33
chromatography where researchers burn the sample and then test the
22:38
remaining particles, have shown that plastic has entered the organs
22:42
of the human body. For example, microplastics have been found
22:48
in the brain, both in the frontal cortex using a
22:51
pyrolysis method and in the olfactory bulb, part of the
22:55
brain that processes smells using infrared spectroscopy. The same is
22:59
true the liver and other organs. Quote. The basic facts
23:03
of microplastic exposure are incontrovertible, regardless of measurement techniques, says
23:09
Megan Wolf, executive director of p SNAP, a physician and
23:13
scientist group that examines the links between plastic and health. Quote.
23:18
Microplastics are present throughout the human body, from our blood
23:21
to our brains to our bones. In the field has
23:25
wrestled over the past year, however, with questions about the
23:28
pyrolysis method. That method was most prominently used earlier this
23:32
year when researchers at the University of New Mexico found
23:36
high concentrations of plastic in the human brain. The researchers
23:40
estimated that across the brain the plastics could be equivalent
23:43
to about the weight of a plastic spoon, but emphasized
23:46
at the time that result was very preliminary. In the
23:50
pyrolysis method, researchers burn the tissue and then examine the
23:54
resulting vapors for various chemicals. They can match the signature
23:59
of plastic chemicals to the vapors they find. The method
24:02
has many positives, including the fact that it can give
24:05
an estimate of the mass of plastics in the given organ,
24:09
unlike many other methods, but some scientists, including Mataik, have
24:14
argued that other substances in the brain fats, for instance,
24:18
could create false positives. Fats can give results that mimic polyethylene,
24:23
one of the most commonly used plastics in the world.
24:26
A study by Australian researchers earlier this year found that
24:29
testing for both polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride could cause overestimates
24:35
in the method. Matthew Kempen, professor of toxicology at the
24:39
University of New Mexico and one of the authors of
24:42
the brain paper, said that he is the first to
24:45
acknowledge that the method could be improved, but he pointed
24:48
out the results also showed many other plastics in the
24:51
brain that can't be confused with brain fat. The study,
24:55
for example, also found nylon and polypropylene particles in the
24:59
brain to other types of plastic. Quote. I agree that
25:03
polyethylene is probably overrepresented, he said. We're constantly working on
25:08
better ways to do this, but the outcomes hold up
25:10
against animal studies organ studies. The real observations from that
25:14
paper go so much deeper than any discussed weaknesses. Researchers
25:20
pointed to the fact that animal studies show clearly that
25:22
tiny plastics can reach the brain. Researchers have exposed rats
25:26
and mice to fluorescently tagged nanoplastics in their food and
25:33
found those same tiny plastics deep in the brain. Several
25:37
researchers said that they welcomed the discussion on methods and
25:40
added that while it's certain that microplastics reached the body,
25:44
the exact amount is still unclear. Quote the science is
25:48
absolutely clear. We are exposed to micro and nanoplastics every
25:52
day through the air we breathe and the food we
25:54
eat it, says Chrystos sem semionidy I Guess, a developmental
26:03
pediatrician at Royal Children's Hospital of Melbourne. Quote. What we
26:07
don't know is how much micro and nanoplastic gets through
26:10
the linings of our lungs and gut and into our body.
26:15
Researchers worry that as plastic production rises, people may be
26:19
exposed to more and more of the tiny particles. Quote.
26:22
We do know that levels of micro and nanoplastics are
26:26
increasing drastically on the planet, says Elizabeth Riznar, professor of
26:31
medicine at Saint George's University, so it's reasonable to assume
26:35
that our dose of exposure will increase too. And finally,
26:42
from Scientific America on January sixteenth, it's so cold in Florida,
26:46
iguanas might rain from the skies. Florida's iguanas are in
26:51
for a rude surprise. Temperatures have plummeted across the southeastern US,
26:55
overnight lows forecasts to drop into the mid thirties Fahrenheim,
27:00
or even into the twenties. Green iguanas are not native
27:03
to the US, but brought to Florida in the nineteen sixties,
27:06
where they have flourished except when temperatures have dropped below
27:10
fifty degrees fahrenheit. These chilly, daily or chili conditions can
27:15
cause a cold shock in the lizards, and because iguanas
27:19
tend to sleep in trees, getting cold shocked can sometimes
27:23
cause animals to fall from the skies in an infamous
27:26
Florida phenomenon. These animals, which can reach more than five
27:31
feet in length, or native to rainforests in Central and
27:34
South America, these tropical lizards experience conditions they've never experienced
27:39
in their entire evolutionary history before. Says James Stroud, evolutionary
27:45
biologists at Georgia Institute of Technology, quote, we don't have
27:50
a great grasp on what happens when species or entire
27:54
populations are confronted with brand new climates that they've never
27:58
experienced before. That's why Stroud and his colleagues studied such
28:02
critters during a twenty twenty cold Strap cold snap, where
28:07
they found that lizards had experienced the chill became more
28:10
tolerant of cold temperatures. Well, that's it for today's Diary
28:15
of Science and Nature. Your reader was Kelly Taylor. Now
28:18
stay tuned for further programming on RADIOI