Latest / Brainwaves / Space Got Weird. Mercury’s Involved.

Transcript

Space Got Weird. Mercury’s Involved. · Brainwaves

0:08
It's another Tuesday, it's another couple of shots and it's
0:11
two guys. That's your two shot Tuesday
0:14
advantage. My name is Jason Riley.
0:17
I'm here with Barry T Nixon and I tried something a little
0:19
different on our intro. Would you think, Barry?
0:22
Fantastic, Jay. I'll be tuning in next week just
0:25
to find out what it is you come up with.
0:27
Then it's. Very exciting, isn't it?
0:28
Yeah. After.
0:30
Five years and six. Seasons.
0:32
Unbelievable. You know, we, we got to keep
0:34
things fresh. Speaking of fresh, I've got a
0:36
couple of fresh shots here. I assume you have as well.
0:39
Why don't we start off with shot #1?
0:43
What do you have for our listeners?
0:45
I'm sticking with a classic and we do use that word perhaps ad
0:50
nauseam around here, but I don't care.
0:52
It is a classic. It is Bushmills 12 year and it's
0:55
in your honor, Jay. Nice.
0:57
I'm sticking with a true classic.
0:59
I went back and dugout some classic Jamison.
1:03
The original, you might say. Barry, what a coincidence.
1:06
This one happens to be in your honor.
1:08
Cheers. Cheers.
1:11
Oh, that is strong. That's where Jameson came from.
1:15
The real strong roots. They've softened it, but the
1:19
original can still peel some paint.
1:21
How's the 12? Yeah, it's nice.
1:23
It's it's a, it's a little chunky at first.
1:27
It usually is. This is how how it goes.
1:29
But yeah, I suspect that Shot 2 will be more velvety.
1:32
Yeah, well, we'll find out in due course.
1:35
We're going to kick off the show a little bit different this
1:37
time. We're going to start with a RIP
1:39
from the headlines, one that you sent to me.
1:41
Neither one of us has gone beyond the headline because
1:44
that's what we do here on the show.
1:45
We give you the news one headline at a time.
1:47
We read it. We go deeper in.
1:49
Are you ready for this? I'm ready.
1:51
OK. I want to hear your thoughts on
1:53
this one. Mercury, the planet that
1:56
shouldn't exist. It's not a question, it's a
1:59
statement. It's very definitive.
2:01
What do you think about that? It sounds a little hostile, if I
2:04
may. I mean, who are we to tell a
2:07
planet it shouldn't exist? What is happening, Jay?
2:10
We did it with Pluto. You remember Pluto?
2:13
It exists, but it's. Not demoted, yeah.
2:16
To to rock. What did it get to a moon?
2:19
Is it a moon? It's a good question.
2:21
Is it an asteroid? Is it a comet?
2:23
But Mercury? But yeah.
2:25
Like mercury is so much more, it's closer, it's bigger.
2:29
Why shouldn't it exist? I wonder?
2:32
Is it just a an act of God that it exists?
2:34
Do we think? Is that?
2:35
What do you think it means? Jay, there are so much to unpack
2:38
here. We know, we know so little about
2:40
our own solar system. We don't even know when it
2:42
started. So to think that Mercury has no
2:45
business being part of it is kind of arrogant.
2:48
If I may, I don't know who wrote the article, but whoever it was,
2:51
I, I don't know, I'm not sure where they're where that came
2:54
from. Maybe that's some.
2:55
Maybe. It's a deeper issue that they're
2:57
working through. I have no idea.
2:58
I think it came from the Saturnites, you know, those that
3:01
really believe in Saturn because it's got the ring.
3:04
It's pretty fancy. And I wouldn't be surprised if
3:07
in this social media age, Saturn is somehow trying to push out
3:11
some of these other planets by just essentially calling them
3:13
fake news. They shouldn't be.
3:15
And so while they're there, they're denying their existence.
3:18
So do you. Think that could be something?
3:20
I think you're onto something and you definitely are right
3:22
when you say that Saturn, it's a sexier world because of the
3:26
rings. Yeah, I have been watching ABBC
3:29
documentary recently about planets hosted by Professor
3:33
Brian Cox. Not the actor that this guy's a
3:36
a proper scientist and yeah, like you.
3:40
Know tell me about it. I'm let's go.
3:41
It's kind. Of cool because we're talking
3:43
about rings. So he has, he theorizes that one
3:46
day there's like this small moon that orbits Mars that every year
3:52
gets closer and closer. It's not really a full moon,
3:54
it's like a mini moon, but it's getting closer and closer and
3:58
being pulled in by the gravity of Mars.
4:00
That one day it's going to fracture and part of it will
4:04
land on Mars surface and the rest is going to be spread out
4:08
around the planet. And Mars one day will be a what
4:11
he calls a ringed world. And I thought, wow, imagine how
4:16
cool that is. And then you say, well, one day
4:18
in the not too distant future of 50 million years.
4:21
I was going to say it's this isn't 2030 we're talking about.
4:24
This is. It never is with the universe.
4:26
It never is. Completely different time scale,
4:30
but one day our ancestors will hopefully be able to see that
4:34
Mars has joined the sexier planets and has a ring of its
4:38
own. So I thought that was kind of
4:39
neat. Yeah.
4:40
OK. Well, that's interesting.
4:42
Yeah, now did Professor Cox. Is he a professor?
4:46
Doctor. Doctor Cox.
4:47
Professor, PhD. Did he get into at this point in
4:51
the show? Have you watched the whole
4:53
thing? No, no, I haven't.
4:54
OK, so we're getting to it. Good.
4:55
I hope you'll keep us updated. Has he gotten into Mercury at
4:58
all? And potentially some clues that
5:00
might take us beyond the headline as to why it
5:02
definitively should not exist, according to the writer of this
5:05
piece. Yeah, he has not gotten into
5:06
Mercury. The the, this episode's actually
5:09
called Dark Worlds. So they're talking about things
5:12
like asteroids and in smaller worlds that we don't really know
5:15
much about that are usually like, you know, you somewhat
5:18
moons. There's a whole whack of moons
5:20
out there, Jay. We, it's not just our moon, As I
5:23
learned, I thought our moon was the only moon in town.
5:25
As as it turns out, it's, it's one of well, not really, but you
5:28
know what I'm saying? Like that's that's the more
5:30
famous moon because it's ours, because it's out of the
5:32
mountain. Yeah, I well, I know.
5:35
Like, I mean, just think about it.
5:37
And I, and I'm obviously not a professor of, of space in any
5:40
way, but like you just look out like we're orbiting one sun and
5:44
every star you see in the sky is a sun with things orbiting that
5:49
like, and we're just like one, we're like, isn't that crazy?
5:52
Yeah, yeah. Tell me more about this.
5:55
So is this a series that you've gotten into?
5:57
Is it? It's on 4 Ki Bet you've added it
5:59
part of the physical media. No, it's not available for sale.
6:02
No, I've just been watching it on BBC Earth, which is a channel
6:05
that I subscribe to and it was an HD, not 4K, but still looks
6:09
so fantastic. And, you know, it's documentary
6:11
series about the solar system and they, you know, they covered
6:14
ice worlds, which was another really interesting one.
6:17
Yeah. And I didn't know as well that
6:19
we have an asteroid belt that separates, you know, Mars and
6:23
the outer planets. There's like this, you know,
6:26
like they think there there could be as many as a million of
6:29
these asteroids that are some of them are as big as Earth.
6:33
It's crazy to think about. And they're constantly colliding
6:35
with one another. And that's why every now and
6:37
again, something falls to Earth. It's because of, you know, a,
6:41
you know, a collision in space and it's crazy.
6:45
There's so much going on out there, Jay.
6:46
I mean, you know, I, you know, you and I are very much
6:49
concerned with what's happening at home.
6:51
And we should be and we should be.
6:52
Our home is actually quite a lot larger if you really want to put
6:56
your mind out there because we're all part of this crazy
6:59
universe. It's wild.
7:00
It's really interesting stuff. I love this really reflective
7:03
Berry that I'm hearing about that is, well, you know, you
7:06
know, concern. Your new me Jay.
7:08
Yeah, and concerned about the, you know, not just Mars, but
7:11
like the asteroid belt around Mars, which I haven't ever heard
7:16
about before, so. Neither of us.
7:17
Between Earth and Mars? Or it's somewhere else?
7:20
I'd love to know more about the asteroid.
7:22
It's like on the other side of Mars.
7:24
It's kind of like what separates backside.
7:26
Yeah. It's like you have to go through
7:28
the asteroid belt to get to Saturn, to get to Jupiter, to
7:31
get to those outer planets. And I didn't know it was there
7:34
either, but it's apparently it's quite vast and there's
7:37
collisions happening all the time, and that's why
7:40
occasionally things fall to Earth.
7:41
OK. How often are these collisions
7:43
happening? When you say all the time like
7:45
every 50 million years or is it like every couple months?
7:48
Yeah, that again, they don't really.
7:50
No, we don't. They don't drill down to that
7:52
level, right. Like they, there's only so many
7:54
satellites that we have to record this stuff.
7:56
Yes. And by the time it gets back,
7:58
you know, might be old news, but I don't think it's hourly.
8:01
Otherwise it'd be we wouldn't exist, probably because like a
8:04
big chunk might come down and you know, and the and the
8:08
planet. But thankfully, you know, we are
8:10
kind of protected in a way because there's a lot of space
8:13
out there, Jay. So not everything that does
8:15
collide and breaks apart is heading towards us.
8:18
Thankfully there there's there's other targets.
8:21
In the area, I love that there's a lot of space out there.
8:24
Jay the Truly. That could be the title of the
8:26
episode. Potential.
8:27
Yeah, we'll see. Real estate is a plenty.
8:29
True, that could be the next big real estate frontier it.
8:33
Really. Is, and you mentioned this, it
8:35
is a tourist frontier. Why don't we do shot #2 let's
8:38
come back, let's talk about space potential because we're
8:41
basically, it's our final, this is our final frontier episode.
8:43
We've, we've just dubbed it that because we're just, we're going
8:46
in that direction. But before we do that, let's go
8:48
in the direction of a shot. I'll tell you what I've got.
8:52
Same thing as the first. Surprise, surprise, it's classic
8:55
Jameson Berry. What have you got?
8:57
Exactly the same thing I had to kick off the broadcast, Jay, and
9:00
I'm delighted to be enjoying Bushmills 12 year.
9:03
It's a premium item. Get yourself some today.
9:06
Cheers. Cheers, you're really fantastic.
9:11
Suck that air in like a straw. Did that help you savor some of
9:14
the flavors in the notes or just pure reflex?
9:17
Yeah, pretty much reflex. I'm still trying to figure out
9:20
your technique of being able to toss a shot directly over the
9:23
tongue. It's something I'll be working
9:24
on throughout 26. Yeah, please master it.
9:27
You got to really exercise that tongue to lashes right up there.
9:30
But let's talk about the future potential of space and space
9:35
tourism. It's already starting to happen
9:36
among the billionaire class and some of the more famous
9:39
entertainers who have gone up to space because they really should
9:42
be the first group up there. Because if anyone gets a head
9:44
start, it should go to the celebrities.
9:47
Yeah, I agree. Barry, what do you think about
9:49
space tourism? I think it's a very cool idea.
9:52
I don't know whether it'll be affordable in our lifetime.
9:55
I mean, even if it got down to say, 30 grand, that is still
9:59
quite a chunk of dough for something that lasts about 8
10:02
minutes, right? The.
10:04
True. The tour, you don't actually go
10:06
into orbit and dock with this space station.
10:09
And it's not that. It's like you get about as high
10:11
as you can before you start coming back.
10:14
Like it's apparently very short. Like you're only up there for I
10:17
think it's only 8 minutes. Minutes.
10:18
Yeah, yeah. I mean, probably you, you have
10:21
to ride a bull. You could ride a bull longer
10:23
than it would take you know you to go into orbit.
10:26
I don't wonder. That I could, I mean, I don't
10:27
think it'll be affordable in our lifetime.
10:29
I agree. And I don't know that it's, I'm
10:32
not sure if it's kind of the future.
10:34
I think it's there now. This is my what I think it seems
10:38
to be. It draws a lot of attention.
10:40
It's getting some attention towards some of these rockets
10:42
and all of that. And the ultra rich always.
10:44
Yeah. And the ultra rich will always
10:46
want to do something and they've got the money to to spend on it.
10:49
But I feel it's like, it's like, you know how laser discs were on
10:52
the way to VHS. It didn't take off even if it
10:54
was a superior format. Betamax to VHSI don't know why
10:58
everything is going to VHS, but it's like, I feel like something
11:00
else is happening. But in the meantime, we're going
11:02
to put some billionaires in space and some celebrities in
11:05
space. That's kind of something cool.
11:06
It's actually gets us talking about it.
11:08
But I think it'll be short lived and then maybe we'll be
11:10
investing in more exploration, like deeper exploration.
11:13
We can actually send qualified people to like Mars or maybe
11:17
Mercury to find out why it shouldn't exist.
11:20
I think we should at least send someone there.
11:22
Yeah, I mean, check it out. How do we know?
11:24
Yeah. I mean, the, I think 1
11:26
application that might be really interesting is how much you
11:30
might be able to cut down travel time between, say, North America
11:34
and Australia. Beautiful.
11:35
If you were to go up high enough, you might be able to cut
11:38
that trip to say, I don't know, an hour instead of 24 hours just
11:42
because of how high you were able to get up there.
11:43
I love that. That has interesting
11:45
applications. So space as a supposed to space
11:48
tourism in its own, you know, and it's as like a means to an
11:52
end. It's like space as a way to get
11:54
tourism happening around the world, maybe a little.
11:56
Quicker. Faster, yeah.
11:58
Because you met. If we close the gap on
11:59
Australia, like watch out, we're gonna be there.
12:02
I'm in. We'll crowd the beaches like
12:04
crazy. Can you imagine if we want You
12:06
were able to get there in an hour and now it would probably
12:09
still be very expensive, far more than any, you know,
12:12
conventional flight. But instead of being in transit
12:15
for 24 hours and multiple connections, to be able to be
12:19
there in an hour would be crazy. And if you could experience that
12:23
8 minutes of weightlessness while you're on the way, like if
12:26
that was a perk to getting there, that's it.
12:30
Because when you go up and you come back where you were, who
12:32
cares? You've been there for 8 minutes.
12:33
But to get there and then you're in Australia.
12:36
Ow, this is something Barry would we?
12:39
Trademark this. I mean, it's a good idea.
12:41
You'd have to be able to stay up there at least long enough to
12:43
get one drink or meal served because people are going to feel
12:48
ripped off if you're going to be spending, say, 40 grand to go to
12:51
Australia and you bring your family.
12:53
Yeah, and you're up there and it's only 8 minutes.
12:56
Although I guess because it is so short, you could just get
12:59
something at the Sydney airport. I mean, what the hell?
13:02
Just get something when you land.
13:04
I mean, you don't want sandwiches floating through the,
13:06
the, you know, the fuselage anyway.
13:08
I mean, you don't want that through the cabin.
13:10
It's dangerous and it's just unprofessional is really what it
13:13
is. Yeah, and your rum and diet
13:15
would be going all over the place.
13:16
Yeah. You'd have to have a little
13:18
sippy cup on it or something to hold it in.
13:20
Yeah, it would. Maybe an hour is not even
13:22
practical, but maybe like 5 hours to Australia because that
13:26
then you get the sense that it's you're there.
13:28
It seems a little bit more appropriate.
13:30
I think an hour is pretty quick. I can get to Sudbury from
13:32
Toronto in just about an hour. Yeah.
13:35
I would get there cheap 5 seconds if it's imagine they
13:39
shoot, you're ready, put the space it come down just to go to
13:41
Sudbury from Toronto to Sudbury it's like 400 kilometers or
13:45
whatever and just like boom, boom.
13:46
And that seems like almost wasteful.
13:49
It seems a. Bit wasteful?
13:50
Yeah, but also why not if you can do it?
13:53
And the question is, like, again, what kind of fuel is
13:56
being used to power these vessels, Right.
13:59
I mean, this is a time when everyone is hyper focused on
14:03
climate change and, you know, whatever.
14:05
Yeah. You'd think that that would
14:06
probably not be good for the overall environment, zipping up
14:10
to like, whatever the ionosphere, whatever that last
14:13
layer of sphere is before you get into, you know, actual the
14:17
vacuum of space. Yeah, if you're going up there.
14:20
I mean, imagine it gets to a point where they're able to like
14:22
use it for shipping cargo for example.
14:24
Oh, also good. How expensive would it be to and
14:27
what kind of propulsion fuel would you would you need to be
14:30
able to blast up there? I don't know.
14:32
Yeah. Won't be batteries.
14:33
It ain't going to be batteries. You need something far more
14:35
powerful. What did Professor Cox think
14:37
about that? Did he get into that?
14:39
He didn't get into that. Not yet, anyway.
14:42
Not yet, but I look forward to watching the rest of Dark
14:44
Worlds, and I'll be sure to report back.
14:46
How many more episodes is there do you know?
14:48
Or does it just keep you watching it live like it's just
14:50
it'll be on until it stops running or?
14:52
Yeah, it's just kind of on, and I've just been recording when I
14:55
was like, oh, I haven't seen dark worlds, I haven't seen ice
14:58
worlds. He did one on gravity, which was
14:59
really interesting, and I did see that.
15:01
It was fantastic. It's fascinating.
15:03
He was talking about gravity being like the sculptor of the
15:05
universe, like basically all the pushing and pulling, OK forces
15:09
happening on planets and everything that's floating up
15:12
there is like things are constantly being, you know,
15:14
shaped, sculpted, as he, as he puts it.
15:17
So it's, it's fascinating. And, and he's a, you know, he's
15:19
an interesting guy to listen to, but he does come off as sort of
15:22
like your classic bookworm nerd, but he also has like that proper
15:26
sort of British presentation about him.
15:29
And so he's easy to listen to. That always, that always helps
15:32
when they're British. Yeah, I have, totally.
15:34
I was thinking of one thing before we wrap up.
15:36
Yeah, to kind of wrap things up on space.
15:38
A couple of days from when this episode is released, we are
15:42
going to be treated to the first episode of Starfleet Academy.
15:46
The newest Star Trek series will be available on space.
15:49
I believe January 15th is the air date.
15:52
So that's something you're going to set your PVR for.
15:54
I will. I just saw a commercial for it.
15:56
What do you think about Starfleet Academy?
15:58
Berry, Jay, you've. Caught me completely flat
16:01
footed. I had no idea that this series
16:02
was even happening. This is the first really even
16:05
hearing about it. Starfleet Academy?
16:07
I had no idea. OK.
16:08
Filmed in Toronto. It's sort of taking the place, I
16:10
guess, of Strange New Worlds now that that's going to be ramping
16:13
down. I believe Robert Piccardo is in
16:17
it as the hologram Doctor, I believe.
16:20
I'm not sure from Voyager, but it's sort of like.
16:23
Young one of my least favorite character.
16:25
Him and Nelix were my least favorite of these Star Trek
16:28
character. Well, I'm not selling this for
16:30
you. I think he's in it.
16:31
I can't say that 100%, but it is a younger cast.
16:34
It's like Starfleet goes to school.
16:36
It's like it follows the young Starfleet cadets as they are in
16:40
Starfleet Academy. I mean, I assume you're going to
16:41
at least check it out for the continent.
16:44
Yeah, it'd be great if they had like a Rodney Dangerfield back
16:47
to school type character, like a bumbling oaf trying to make his
16:51
way through Starfleet Academy. I think that'd be funny.
16:53
I'll check it out. Yeah, sure.
16:55
It's been a pleasure as always, Jay.
16:57
I think we learned something today.
16:58
And if you haven't, well, you can always listen to more on the
17:01
BBC Earth Channel and check it out.
17:04
Professor Brian Cox, he's got a lot of really interesting the
17:07
documentaries and primarily it's about, as he puts it, the
17:11
universe. So if you're into that and when
17:14
we are a check it out. In the meantime, I hope 2026 has
17:18
begun well for everyone out there, and we look forward to
17:21
being with you again next week. Thank you for listening to Two
17:26
Shot Tuesday. The show was produced by Barry
17:28
and I and edited by me. If you have yet to rate and
17:31
review the show on Apple Podcasts, please take a second
17:33
to do so now. It helps us grow and it helps
17:35
new audiences. To find the show.
17:37
You can find us on Facebook and Instagram at Two Shot Tuesday
17:40
and on Twitter at Two Shot Tuesday Podcast.
17:42
Stop by, give us a follow, leave us a comment and share your
17:45
favorite episodes. If you have a question you'd
17:48
like featured on the show, you can send us a text at 647.
17:51
4864848. Thanks for listening.
17:54
We'll see you next week.