Latest / Space News Today / Theia Unveiled: Tracing the Origins of Earth’s Moon and Lucy’s Journey to Jupiter’s Trojans

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Theia Unveiled: Tracing the Origins of Earth’s Moon and Lucy’s Journey to Jupiter’s Trojans · Space News Today

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This is Spacetime Series 28, episode 142
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for broadcast on the 3rd of December,
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2025.
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Coming up on Spaceime, a new study has
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found that the small planet that
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collided with the Earth to create our
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moon also originated from the inner
0:15
solar system. An update on Lucy's
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mission to Jupiter's Trojan asteroids.
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And NASA rules that Starlininer's next
0:23
mission to the International Space
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Station will be limited to cargo only.
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All that and more coming up on Spaceime.
0:32
>> Welcome to Spaceime with Stuart Garry.
0:51
A new study has found that the small
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planet that collided with the earth to
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create our moon also originated from the
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inner solar system about 4 1/2 billion
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years ago. The most momentous event in
1:02
the history of our planet occurred. A
1:05
huge celestial body about the size of
1:07
the planet Mars, which astronomers have
1:09
now named Thea, collided with a young
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proto Earth, creating a vast magma
1:14
ocean, which eventually coalesed,
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differentiated, and then solidified to
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form the Earth as we know it today.
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Meanwhile, some of the debris ejected
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from that impact was flung up into
1:25
orbit, eventually coalesing to form the
1:27
moon. Exactly how that collision
1:29
unfolded and what precisely happened
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afterwards has not been conclusively
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clarified. What is certain, however, is
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that the size, composition, and orbit of
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the Earth changed as a result, and that
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the impact marked the birth of our
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constant companion in space, the moon.
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But there are lots of questions yet to
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be answered. What kind of body was this
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Thea that so dramatically altered the
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course of our planet's development? How
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big was Thea really? We think it was
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about a third the size of the earth.
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What was it made of? And from which part
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of the solar system did it come crashing
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into the earth? The problem is finding
2:06
answers to these questions is difficult.
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After all, Theoa was completely
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destroyed in that collision.
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Nevertheless, faint traces of it can
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still be found today in the composition
2:16
of the Earth and Moon. Now a report in
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the journal science by researchers at
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the Maxplank Institute in the University
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of Chicago have worked out a possible
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list of ingredients that may have made
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up thea and thus helps to point us in
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the direction of its place of origin.
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You see the ratio of certain metal
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isotopes present in a body can be
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especially revealing. Isotopes are
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varants of the same element that differ
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only in the number of neutrons in their
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atomic nucleus and thus in their mass.
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In the early solar system, the isotopes
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of certain given elements were unlikely
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to be evenly distributed. At the outer
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edge of the solar system, for example,
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isotopes occurred in a slightly
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different ratio than what they did near
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the sun. So, information about the
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origin of a body's original building
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blocks is thus stored in its isotopic
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composition. To reach their conclusions
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in this study, the authors determine the
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ratio of different iron isotopes in
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Earth and moon rocks with unprecedented
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precision. They examined 15 terrestrial
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rocks and six lunar rock samples which
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were brought back by the Apollo
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missions. Earlier measurements of the
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isotope ratios of chromium, calcium,
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titanium, and zirconium had already
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shown that the Earth and Moon are
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indistinguishable in terms of their
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composition. So that clearly doesn't
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allow for any direct conclusions about
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the simply too many possible collision
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scenarios. Now most models assume that
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the moon was formed almost exclusively
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from ejected material which was flung
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off from thea but it's also possible
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that it consists primarily of material
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from the early earth's mantle or that
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the rocks from the earth and thea were
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mixed together. Now in order to learn
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more about thea the authors applied a
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kind of reverse engineering for planets
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based on the matching isotope ratios in
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today's terrestrial lunar rocks. They
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looked at which compositions and sizes
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of thea and which composition of the
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early earth could have led to the two
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bodies current compositions. In their
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investigations, the authors looked not
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only at ion isotopes but also at those
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of chromium, malebinum and sacconium.
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The different elements give access to
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different phases of planetary formation.
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Long before the devastating encounter
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with Thea, a kind of sorting process had
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already taken place inside the early
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Earth. With the formation of the
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planet's iron core, some elements such
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as iron and malebdinum accumulated
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there. So afterwards, they were largely
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absent from the rocky mantle above. The
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iron found in Earth's mantle today could
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therefore only have arrived after the
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core had formed. It may have come from
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Thea. Other elements such as zaconium,
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which didn't sink to the core, document
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the entire history of our planet's
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formation. Of the mathematically
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possible compositions of Thea and the
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early Earth that result from the
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calculations, some can be ruled out as
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implausible. While the composition of
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the early Earth can be represented
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predominantly as a mixture of known
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meteorite classes, this isn't the case
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with Thea. Different meteorite classes
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originate from different areas of the
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outer solar system. They therefore serve
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as references for the building material
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that was available during the formation
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of both the early earth and Thea. In the
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case of Thea, however, previously
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unknown material may also have been
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involved. And the authors believe that
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this material's origin lies closer to
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the sun than the orbit of the earth. The
5:36
calculations therefore suggest that the
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itself must have originated closer to
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the sun than Earth's orbit. This is
5:44
spacetime. Still to come, an update on
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Lucy's mission to Jupiter's Trojan
5:49
asteroids, and NASA rules that the
5:52
trouble plague Starlininer's next
5:53
mission to the International Space
5:55
Station will be limited to cargo only.
5:57
All that and more still to come on
6:00
Spaceime
6:16
One of the many exciting missions
6:18
currently underway is NASA's Lucy
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spacecraft, which is on its way to study
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Jupiter's Trojan asteroids. Lucy was
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launched back in October 2021.
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It's on a 12-year mission to study the
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Trojans, two clusters of asteroids that
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share the gas giant's orbit around the
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sun. Trojans are families of asteroids
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kept in gravitationally stable bound
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groups at the lrangeian L4 and L5
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positions located 60° ahead and 60°
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behind Jupiter's orbit around the sun.
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Lrangeian points are named in honor of
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the Italian French mathematician Joseph
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Lewis Lrange who was working on the
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general free body problem in orbital
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mechanics. The grungian points are
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places in space where a gravitational
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pull of two bodies such as in this case
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between the sun and Jupiter tend to
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cancel each other out thereby allowing
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smaller objects such as asteroids or
7:10
spacecraft to remain there for extended
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periods of time. There are five lrangian
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points known as L1 2 3 4 and 5. Now L1 2
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and 3 are all along a line connecting
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the two bodies. Let's say it's the Earth
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and the Sun. In that case, L1 is between
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the Earth and the Sun is often used by
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spacecraft needing an uninterrupted view
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of the sun, such as the Solar and
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Heliospheric Observatory satellite SOHO.
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The L2 position is on the opposite side
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of the Earth to the Sun. It's home to
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spacecraft like the web space telescope
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because it's ideal for astronomy as
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spacecraft are still close enough to
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communicate with the earth and can keep
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the sun, earth, and moon behind them,
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allowing them to gain solar power while
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still providing a clear dark view of
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deep space for their telescopes. The L3
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position is on the opposite side of the
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sun to where the Earth is. Because L3 is
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always hidden from the Earth by the Sun,
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it's become popular in science fiction
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as the location for any hypothetical
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second Earths. But it's the L4 and L5
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positions which provide stable orbits
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around 60° in front of and 60° behind
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Earth's orbit around the Sun. And it's
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at these locations where Trojan
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asteroids, such as those orbiting with
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Jupiter, are commonly found.
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Jupiter's Trojans are distributed into
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two elongated curved regions around
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these lrangian points with an average
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semic-ircular axis of around 5.2
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astronomical units. An astronomical unit
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is the average distance between the
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Earth and the Sun. 150 million
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kilometers or 8.3 light minutes. The
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first Jovian Trojan discovered 588
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Achilles was spotted in 1906 by German
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astronomer Max Wolf. So far, more than
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15,300 Jovian Trojans have been
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detected. Now, by convention, they're
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each named from Greek mythology after a
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figure of the Trojan Wars, hence the
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name Trojan. It later became convention
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to name Jupiter's L4 Trojan asteroids
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after Greek characters and the L5
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asteroids after Trojan characters.
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Astronomers estimate there are more than
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a million Jovian Trojans larger than a
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kilometer in size. Now that's about the
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same as the number of asteroids larger
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than a kilometer in the main asteroid
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belt between Mars and Jupiter. Many
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Jovian Trojans appear to be dark bodies
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with reddish featureless spectra. No
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firm evidence of the presence of water
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or any other specific compound on their
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surfaces has ever been obtained. But it
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is thought that they're coated in
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tholines organic polymers formed by the
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sun's radiation. The Jovian Trojans are
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thought to have been captured into their
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orbits during the early stages of the
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solar systems formation or at the most
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slightly later during the late heavy
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bombardment during the migration of the
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giant planets. Mind you, Jupiter isn't
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alone to have Trojan asteroids. They've
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been found orbiting many of the other
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planets in our solar system as well,
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including Mars, Neptune, Uranus, and
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even the Earth. No spacecraft has ever
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visited a Jovian Trojan. That's where
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the Lucy mission comes in. Lucy is
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covering some 6 and 12 billion
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kilometers, visiting a record-breaking
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seven asteroids, one in the main
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asteroid belt, and six Trojans. The
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mission's principal investigator, Harold
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Leverson, from the Southwest Research
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Institute in Boulder, Colorado, says
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Trojans are leftovers from the early
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days of our solar system. Effectively,
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they're fossils of planetary formation
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and therefore hold vital clues about
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deciphering the solar systems early
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history. He says, "Like Lucy, the human
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ancestor fossil after which it's named,
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the Lucy spacecraft will revolutionize
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science's understanding of the solar
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systems origins. The mission will
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provide an unparalleled glimpse of the
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formation of the solar system, helping
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astronomers better understand the source
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of volatiles and organics on terrestrial
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planets, as well as the evolution of the
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planetary system as a whole. This report
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from NASA TV. We are going to an amazing
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variety of objects with this mission.
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>> The Lucy mission is going to fly past
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seven asteroids in 12 years with one
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spacecraft.
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>> And it's really almost pure luck that
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allowed us to get as many rich targets
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as we are. Literally, the planets were
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aligning to allow us to do this mission.
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The Lucy mission is named after the Lucy
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fossil, the Australopythecus fossil that
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was discovered in the 1970s in Ethiopia.
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And just like the Lucy fossil
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transformed our understanding of
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homminid evolution, the Lucy mission
11:41
will transform our understanding of
11:43
solar system evolution. Trojan asteroids
11:45
are an interesting population of small
11:48
bodies that are left over from the
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formation of the planets and they lead
11:53
or follow Jupiter in its orbit by
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roughly 60°. If you just look at the
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gravitational attraction of the sun and
12:01
Jupiter and put something exactly 60° in
12:04
front of Jupiter, it's stable forever.
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So as a result, these objects are really
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the leftovers of planet formation. The
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stuff that went into growing Jupiter and
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Saturn are now trapped in these
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locations.
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>> The very first asteroid we get to is a
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main belt asteroid named Donald
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Johansson. We named that asteroid in
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honor of the researcher who found the
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Lucy fossil. We're use that asteroid to
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do a rehearsal on our spacecraft to make
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sure everything is working properly so
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that when we get to the Trojan
12:36
asteroids, we're ready to go.
12:38
>> We're visiting both of the Trojan
12:39
swarms. In the first orbit, we're going
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into the leading swarm and we're going
12:44
to encounter four Trojan targets.
12:46
>> Earbies, Palm, Lucas, and Orus. And from
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this, we're going to sample the
12:51
diversity in sizes and colors and
12:54
compositions. The first two flybys
12:56
happened just about 30 days apart. So,
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it's going to be a pretty busy kickoff
13:01
to the season of exploring the asteroids
13:04
in the L4 swarm. And then we'll fly past
13:07
Earth again and out to the L5 swarm.
13:10
>> The final object we're visiting, which I
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must admit is my favorite, is a binary
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object.
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>> So, that's two Trojans that orbit a
13:17
common center of mass. It's called
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Petroas and Menishius.
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>> These objects are nearly identical in
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size that orbit one another. From the
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Lucy mission, we're going to study the
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diversity of our targets because that
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tells us something about their origin
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and where they came from.
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>> The interesting thing about small bodies
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in general is they are the leftovers of
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planet formation. If you look at the
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eight planets that we know about, for
13:41
example, they are highly processed
13:43
because of internal processing. These
13:45
asteroids are objects that really
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haven't changed much from when the
13:51
planets assembled themselves. And as a
13:53
result, by studying them, we can figure
13:56
out the physical conditions of the early
13:59
solar system, as well as how the planets
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grew and how they moved around early on.
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>> All of that will help us form a detailed
14:08
picture of what these objects really
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look like. Because right now, our best
14:13
images are just a point of light. Even
14:16
using the Hubble Space Telescope or
14:19
adaptive optics on large groundbased
14:21
telescopes, we can't see surface
14:24
details. And it's going to take the Lucy
14:26
mission to go to these targets and see
14:28
what they're really made of and what
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they look like.
14:38
And in that report from Massa TV, we
14:40
heard from Lucy principal investigator
14:42
Hal Leverson and Lucy deputy principal
14:44
investigator Kathy Olen, both from the
14:47
Southwest Research Institute in Boulder,
14:49
Colorado. This is Spaceime. Still to
14:53
come, NASA says Boeing's trouble plague
14:55
Starlininer spacecraft won't be carrying
14:57
any astronauts on its next flight to the
14:59
International Space Station. And later
15:01
in the science report, neurologists have
15:03
identified the five major epochs of
15:06
brain structure over the course of a
15:08
human lifetime. All that and more still
15:10
to come on Spaceime.
15:27
NASA says Boeing's trouble plagued
15:29
Starlininer spacecraft won't be carrying
15:31
any astronauts on its next flight to the
15:34
International Space Station. Instead,
15:36
the mission will be limited to cargo and
15:38
supplies only. The decision comes 8
15:41
months after the first and only man
15:43
starliner flight saw the capsule
15:45
returned to Earth empty with its crew
15:47
left stranded on the International Space
15:49
Station for more than 9 months. That
15:51
followed a series of issues with the
15:53
vehicle's propulsion and orbital
15:54
maneuvering systems, as well as its
15:56
helium pressurization system. And it's
15:58
not the first time Starliner suffered
16:01
issues. Faulty computer programming
16:04
prevented the first Starlininer mission
16:05
to the space station from even reaching
16:07
its target. And more faulty computer
16:09
programming, which luckily was corrected
16:11
in time, would have caused the Star
16:13
Liner to be destroyed during its
16:15
re-entry. There have been other problems
16:17
with corrosion in the spacecraft's
16:18
propulsion system as well. Issues with
16:21
the strength of the parachute webbing,
16:22
the concerns over the safety of
16:24
insulation on the spacecraft's wiring
16:26
harness, and problems with environmental
16:29
controls inside the spacecraft's cabin.
16:32
For Starlininer, it's been a case of one
16:34
problem after another, and it seems
16:36
NASA's had enough. As well as limiting
16:39
its next flight to cargo only, NASA's
16:41
also slashed the total number of
16:42
Starlininer missions down from six to
16:45
four. As for Starlininer's next flight,
16:47
that's the cargo mission, it's currently
16:49
slated for April next year. If that goes
16:51
well, then a man mission could happen
16:53
towards the end of the year. The
16:55
remaining two flights will also carry
16:57
crew to the International Space Station
16:59
until the orbiting outpost is
17:00
decommissioned in 2030.
17:03
Starlininer was one of two spacecraft
17:05
selected by NASA back in 2014 as part of
17:08
the AY's commercial crew program to
17:10
transport astronauts to and from the
17:12
space station. But unlike the other
17:15
successful applicant, SpaceX's Dragon
17:17
spacecraft, which has performed
17:18
flawlessly, Boeing Starlininer has
17:21
suffered from continuous failures and
17:22
quality control blunders. It's been a
17:25
costly disaster for Boeing. SpaceX
17:28
launched its first man Dragon mission to
17:30
the space station for NASA in 2020. It's
17:33
now completed 12 crew change missions as
17:36
well as several private missions into
17:38
orbit. This is spacetime.
17:56
And time now to take another brief look
17:57
at some of the other stories making news
17:59
in science this week with a science
18:01
report. Neuroscientists have identified
18:04
five major epochs of brain structure
18:06
over the course of a human lifetime. The
18:09
findings reported in the journal Nature
18:11
Communications show how human brains
18:13
rewire themselves to support different
18:16
ways of thinking as people grow, mature,
18:19
and ultimately decline. The study led by
18:22
Cambridge University compared the brains
18:24
of 3,82 people between 0 and 90 years of
18:27
age using MRI scans which map neural
18:30
connections by tracking how water
18:32
molecules move through brain tissue.
18:34
They found the brain structure for an
18:36
average human life is split up into four
18:38
pivotal turning points between birth and
18:40
death. It seems childhood brain topology
18:43
runs from birth until a turning point at
18:46
around age nine. That's when it
18:48
transitions to an adolescent phase.
18:50
That's an error that lasts up until the
18:52
age of around 32 on average. The brain's
18:55
neural wiring then shifts into a more
18:57
adult mode. This is the longest era
18:59
which can last over three decades. A
19:02
third turning point around the age of 66
19:04
marks the start of an early aging phase
19:07
of brain architecture. And finally, the
19:09
late aging brain takes shape around the
19:12
age of 83 years old.
19:14
So what's going on inside the noggin?
19:17
Well, during the early childhood phase,
19:19
the brain underos network consolidation
19:21
as a wealth of synapses, that's the
19:23
connections between neurons over
19:24
produced in a baby's brain are
19:26
whittleled down with only the more
19:28
active ones surviving. Across the whole
19:30
human brain, connections rewire in the
19:32
same pattern from birth until about 9
19:34
years of age. Meanwhile, gray and white
19:37
matter grow rapidly in volume. So that
19:40
cortical thickness that's the distance
19:41
between the outer gray matter and the
19:43
inner white matter reaches a peak and
19:45
cortical folding that's the
19:46
characteristic ridges on the outer brain
19:48
stabilizes by the first turning point at
19:51
around the age of nine the brain is
19:53
experiencing a step change in cognitive
19:55
capacity as well as an increased risk of
19:58
mental health disorders. The second
20:00
epoch of the brain that's the adolescent
20:02
era sees white matter continue to grow
20:04
in volume. So organization of the
20:06
brain's communications network is
20:08
increasingly refined as measured by the
20:11
diffusion of water in the scans. This
20:13
era is defined by the efficiency of
20:15
connections both within specific regions
20:17
as well as rapid communication right
20:19
across the whole brain which is related
20:21
to enhanced cognitive performance.
20:23
Neural efficiency is well connected by
20:26
short pathways and the adolescent era is
20:28
the only one in which this efficiencies
20:30
increasing. The authors say these
20:32
developments of the brain peak in the
20:34
early 30s which is the strongest
20:36
topological turning point for the entire
20:38
lifespan. At age 32, the longest era
20:41
that of adulthood begins. Brain
20:44
architecture stabilizes compared to
20:46
previous phases with no major turning
20:47
points for 30 years and corresponds with
20:50
a plateau in intelligence and
20:51
personality. They also found segregation
20:54
is more noticeable during this epoch as
20:56
different regions of the brain slowly
20:58
start to become more compartmentalized.
21:00
The turning point at age 66 sees reduced
21:04
connectivity as white matter starts to
21:06
degenerate. The last turning point comes
21:08
around the age of 83 when the brain
21:11
structure shifts from global to local
21:13
regions as neural connectivity declines.
21:17
A long-term study has shown that water
21:19
fluidation doesn't have any negative
21:21
effects on brain development. In fact,
21:23
the findings reported in the journal
21:25
Science Advances actually found a slight
21:27
boost in cognition in children. Previous
21:30
studies looked at exposure to very high
21:32
levels of fluoride far beyond
21:33
recommended standards. So, the authors
21:35
of this new research wanted to study
21:37
levels representative of what one would
21:39
usually find in their tap water. They
21:42
looked at language and math test results
21:43
from around 58,000 United States high
21:46
school kids in 1980 and the water
21:48
fluidation levels they would have
21:50
experienced since conception. After
21:52
accounting for other factors, they found
21:54
kids continuously exposed to at least
21:56
0.7 mg per liter of water fluoride had
21:59
better test results, followed by those
22:01
exposed to similar levels for just part
22:03
of their childhood.
22:05
China's People Liberation Army has
22:07
reported the successful test of a new
22:09
type of non-uclear hydrogen bomb. A
22:12
report in the Chinese Language Journal
22:14
of Projectiles, Rockets, Missiles, and
22:16
Guidance claims the new weapon generates
22:18
a white hot fireball that can last 15
22:21
times longer than a TNT blast. The 2 kg
22:24
device uses magnesium hydide, a
22:27
magnesium based solid state hydrogen
22:29
material, which generated a fireball of
22:31
over a,000° C. This material stores
22:35
considerably more hydrogen than a
22:36
pressurized tank and was originally
22:38
developed to bring the gas to off-grid
22:40
areas where it could then be used to
22:41
power fuel cells for clean electricity
22:43
and heat. When activated by conventional
22:46
explosives, the magnesium hydide bomb
22:48
underwent rapid thermal decomposition,
22:51
releasing hydrogen gas that ignited into
22:53
a sustained, rapidly spreading inferno.
22:56
The chain reaction begins when
22:58
detonation shock waves fracture
23:00
magnesium hydide into micron scale
23:02
particles exposing fresh surfaces. Under
23:05
constrained detonation, peak over
23:07
pressure reached 428.43 kilopascals at 2
23:10
m, about 40% that of TNT's blast force,
23:14
but with a far greater heat projection
23:16
range.
23:18
Well, the doomsday countdown to digital
23:20
ID is now on. This time next week,
23:24
Australia's controversial new social
23:26
media bans for children under the age of
23:28
16 will come into effect. The world
23:30
first legislation is being marketed as a
23:32
way to protect kids from bullying. But
23:35
it doesn't stop kids using left-wing
23:37
social media platforms like Blue Sky or
23:40
for that matter chat rooms in many of
23:41
the most popular computer games.
23:45
In reality, it's a thinly disguised
23:47
Trojan horse designed to force all
23:49
Australian adults to adopt a digital ID,
23:52
as if they want to retain access to
23:54
their own social media accounts. It's a
23:56
way around the public's objection to the
23:58
defeated Australia card ID scheme of the
24:00
1980s, which was overwhelmingly rejected
24:03
by the people. So, why the
24:06
fear-mongering? Well, digital ID will
24:09
allow faceless bureaucrats, security
24:11
organizations, and politicians to
24:13
develop a big brother style digital link
24:15
connecting everything, monitoring
24:17
everything you do, where you go, what
24:19
you look at, and even what you say. In
24:22
the process, providing fact-based
24:24
insights into what you're thinking. Then
24:26
there's the issue of security and how
24:28
easily your digital ID and all it
24:30
contains about you can be hacked. Your
24:33
digital ID will be the Australian answer
24:35
to Beijing's social credit scheme, where
24:38
those not considered worthy by China's
24:40
Communist Party face restrictions in
24:42
where they can live, where they can go,
24:44
what they have access to, how they can
24:46
travel, and where their children can go
24:48
to school. Australians saw the first
24:50
hints of what's to come during the COVID
24:52
pandemic when voluntary digital ID
24:54
schemes were repeatedly used by police
24:56
to track people's movements. Technology
24:59
editor Alex Haravo from techadvice.life
25:01
life says in simple terms this new
25:04
digital ID scheme will be a key step in
25:06
the erosion of people's rights. It's
25:09
only one small slice but step by step
25:12
those rights will disappear and it all
25:15
starts next week.
25:16
>> Look there seems to be this concerted
25:18
effort globally to want to set up
25:20
digital ID and this clearly is something
25:22
that will remove anonymity from the
25:24
internet. everything you do will be
25:25
tracked and it's all being done under
25:27
the guise of won't somebody protect the
25:29
children and you know Roblox for example
25:31
has algorithms you got to take a photo
25:32
of your face and they're looking at the
25:34
various things you've been doing in the
25:35
system but ultimately we're relying upon
25:37
algorithms to figure these things out
25:39
and the only real way of doing it is to
25:41
get some sort of an ID from a parent
25:43
from you know a passport something to
25:45
prove that you are of a certain age but
25:47
again this is going to remove anonymity
25:50
from the internet and everything that
25:52
you will do will be tracked and so there
25:53
is a movement now to not comply with
25:56
digital ID. But this is happening
25:58
globally around the world. Governments
26:00
are all coming together to put these
26:02
social media bans in place. Malaysia is
26:04
doing it. The UK wants digital ID. And
26:06
uh I don't know if VPNs are going to be
26:07
enough. There needs to be a push back
26:09
from the public to say no. And even in
26:11
Australia, we have a couple of young
26:12
kids who are taking the government to
26:14
the high court to have the digital ID
26:16
system blocked. So this seems to be a
26:18
watershed moment in um the modern
26:20
civilization. Is this really part of a
26:23
surreptitious effort by governments to
26:26
just gain control over everything you
26:28
have access to, all the information you
26:30
get?
26:30
>> Well, it look it certainly seems that
26:32
way. I mean, everything that the
26:33
governments have been trying to do, even
26:34
in Australia, we had conservative and
26:37
socialist governments and they tried all
26:39
sorts of firewalls and they tried
26:40
various things to to try and control
26:42
people.
26:43
>> Yeah, we had the attempt of an Australia
26:45
card years ago and uh the citizenry
26:48
resoundly said no to that. But it
26:50
doesn't stop the bureaucrats or or the
26:52
politicians from wanting to implement
26:53
that. We had a situation where we had
26:56
special ID for co that simply gave the
26:58
police a chance to to track everyone's
27:00
movements.
27:01
>> Yeah. Yeah. Papers, please. As we saw in
27:03
Nazi Germany. Look, the problem is that
27:06
the unelected deep state globally wants
27:08
control. They want to stay in power.
27:10
They want to do the things they have
27:11
been accused of doing um and maintain
27:13
power and debase the currency and do all
27:15
these things that some claim are
27:17
conspiracies. But it's clear that if you
27:19
can maintain your position of power and
27:21
you can worm your way through the
27:22
system, why wouldn't you do it? And
27:23
we've seen that time and again
27:25
throughout history and in the 21st
27:27
century with all of the digital
27:28
technologies now at the disposal of big
27:30
tech, but also government. Well, we're
27:32
seeing them work together and trying to
27:33
hold people down. I mean, thank goodness
27:35
for the United States and their first
27:37
amendment. The deep space is fighting
27:39
back and uh it's up to us as citizens,
27:42
global citizens to say no, we don't want
27:44
unelected people to usurp our privacy.
27:48
>> We're sort of seeing human rights
27:50
disappear one by one. And it's not that
27:52
they're being taken from us. The
27:54
citizenry are gladly giving them up, it
27:56
seems, for an easier life.
27:57
>> Benjamin Franklin said that if you give
27:59
up a little liberty for a little
28:01
security, then you deserve neither. And
28:03
this is where people abdicating their
28:06
responsibilities as human beings to big
28:09
brother is the fast track to dystopia. I
28:11
mean that's why we had Animal Farm.
28:12
That's why we had 1984 from George
28:14
Orwell. That's why we've had so many
28:16
movies and TV shows about dystopia
28:18
because people are worried. I mean these
28:20
are warnings to ourselves to not let
28:22
this sort of thing happen to us. We live
28:24
at a time where as Ronald Reagan said,
28:26
freedom and liberty is not passed down
28:28
through the bloodline but must be fought
28:30
for and protected by every generation.
28:32
And uh we stand at the point at which
28:34
the future generations of this planet
28:36
could be living under dystopia. Let's
28:38
hope that that doesn't happen.
28:39
>> That's Alex Aharavoy from
28:40
techadvice.life.
28:42
And just in case you think advanced
28:44
algorithms will circumvent all the
28:46
problems of digital IDs, think again.
28:48
Remember these are the same
28:50
sophisticated algorithms which keep
28:52
flagging up space-time posts displaying
28:54
astronomical images of exoplanets as
28:56
possible pornography. I mean, granted it
28:59
is space porn, but that's not what the
29:01
algorithms are thinking. This is
29:03
spacetime.
29:20
And that's the show for now. Spacetime
29:22
is available every Monday, Wednesday,
29:24
and Friday through bites.com,
29:26
SoundCloud, YouTube, your favorite
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podcast download provider, and from
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spacetime withstartgary.com.
29:34
Spacetime's also broadcast through the
29:36
National Science Foundation on Science
29:38
Zone Radio and on both iHeart Radio and
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TuneIn Radio. And you can help to
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support our show by visiting the
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Spacetime store for a range of
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promotional merchandising goodies, or by
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30:04
for full details.
30:06
>> You've been listening to Spacetime with
30:08
Stewartgary. This has been another
30:10
quality podcast production from
30:12
byes.com.