Latest / Space News Today / Uranus’ Ring Revelations, Africa’s Rapid Rift, and Eris Rocket Mishap

Transcript

Uranus’ Ring Revelations, Africa’s Rapid Rift, and Eris Rocket Mishap · Space News Today

0:00
This is Spacetime Series 29, episode 54
0:03
for broadcast on the 6th of May, 2026.
0:06
Coming up on Spacetime, new evidence
0:09
shows that the two outer rings of the
0:11
ice giant Uranus have starkly different
0:14
origins. Scientists warned that the
0:16
African continent is now breaking apart
0:19
much faster than previously thought, and
0:21
rocket engine issues have been blamed
0:24
for the failure of the maiden flight of
0:26
Gilmore Space's Aerys rocket. All that
0:29
and more coming up on Spaceime.
0:33
>> Welcome to Spaceime with Stuart Garry.
0:52
Astronomers have discovered that two of
0:54
the planet Uranus's outer rings have
0:56
very different compositions. and so must
0:58
have come from completely different
1:00
origins. The findings reported in the
1:03
journal geohysical research planets show
1:05
that the epsilon and the new rings have
1:07
different colors and are reflecting
1:09
light differently. The discovery is
1:11
based on new spectroscopical
1:13
observations by the KEK observatory on
1:15
Monay in Hawaii and by the Hubble and
1:17
web space telescopes. These two rings
1:21
are peculiar because they're extremely
1:23
faint and orbit within the planet's
1:25
crowded system of 14 inner moons. By
1:28
decoding the light from these rings,
1:30
astronomers can trace both their
1:31
particle size distribution and their
1:33
composition, and that in turn sheds
1:35
light on their origins, offering new
1:37
insights into how the uranian system and
1:40
other ice giant planets like it formed
1:42
and evolved. The studies lead author MK
1:44
Deattera from the University of
1:46
California, Berkeley says the findings
1:48
point to very different origin stories.
1:51
Though they orbit the same planet,
1:53
Uranus's epsilon and a new rings are
1:55
fundamentally different. Prior
1:57
observations with Ke and Hubble showed
1:59
that the epsilon ring appeared blue, a
2:01
signature characteristic of extremely
2:03
small particles, while the Anu ring's
2:05
reddish hue points to a more typical
2:07
dusty origin. However, exactly why the
2:10
rings were so different has remained a
2:12
mystery. But then when the web space
2:14
telescope came online and observed
2:16
Uranus, the authors used all its data
2:18
taken at different wavelengths in
2:20
combination with the KEK and Hubble data
2:22
to construct a new complete spectrum
2:24
from visible through to infrared. By
2:27
analyzing how sunlight reflects off the
2:29
rings, the authors identified a strong
2:31
absorption feature near a wavelength of
2:33
three microns, 3 millionth of a meter,
2:35
and it was visible in the infrared for
2:37
both rings. Beyond that shared feature,
2:40
the differences became clear when
2:42
simulating the detailed spectra. The
2:44
epsilon ring closely matches the
2:46
spectral signature for water ice while
2:48
the new ring is clearly composed of
2:50
rocky material mixed with approximately
2:52
10 to 15% carbonrich organic compounds
2:55
which are commonly found in the outer
2:56
solar system. The epsilon ring appears
2:59
to be made up of tiny ice grains knocked
3:02
off the planet's small 12 km wide moon m
3:05
as a result of micrometeorite impacts.
3:08
Interestingly, the icy composition of
3:10
the epsilon ring also confirms that the
3:12
moon map is also composed mostly of
3:14
water ice. The patter says in contrast,
3:17
the anu ring material is sourced from
3:19
micromedorite impacts and collisions
3:21
between unseen rocky bodies rich in
3:23
organic materials which must be in orbit
3:26
between some of Uranus's known moons.
3:29
One interesting question is why the
3:31
parent bodies sourcing these rings are
3:33
so different in composition.
3:35
Uranus's rings were first discovered
3:37
back in 1977 when astronomers observed
3:40
the star dim several times as the planet
3:43
passed in front or occulted it
3:45
indicating a surrounding ring system. At
3:48
that time only Saturn was known to have
3:50
rings making Uranus only the second
3:52
known ring planet in our solar system.
3:55
Since then we've discovered that all the
3:57
giants have rings Jupiter, Saturn,
3:59
Uranus, and Neptune. But unlike Saturn's
4:02
bright, easily visible rings, those on
4:04
the other giants, including Uranus's
4:06
rings, are faint and narrow, making them
4:08
far more difficult to study. Over the
4:11
decades, additional rings have been
4:13
identified using NASA's Voyager 2
4:14
spacecraft and Hubble observations,
4:17
gradually revealing a far more complex
4:19
system. The giant 10 m ke telescopes
4:22
together with Hubble played a key role
4:24
in science's understanding of the
4:25
uranian system. Hubble's observations
4:28
between 2003 and 2005 led to the
4:31
discovery of the epsilon and a new rings
4:33
and kek helped characterize them
4:35
including providing the first evidence
4:37
that the epsilon ring is blue whereas
4:39
the new ring appears red. These color
4:42
differences hinted at fundamental
4:43
variations in particle size and
4:45
composition. But the data was limited.
4:48
At the time the only ring in our solar
4:50
system that was blue was Saturn's
4:52
A-ring. And this ring is produced by
4:54
geyser activity on the Satnian ice moon
4:57
in Enceladus, which orbit Saturn in the
4:59
A-ring. And it's geysers that spew out
5:01
tiny icy grains from the moon's south
5:03
pole tiger stripes. These grains
5:06
originate in a global subsurface ocean
5:08
beneath Enceladus' frozen crust. But
5:11
Uranus's M appears too small to be
5:14
cryovanically active. And so the new
5:17
results raise an interesting question.
5:19
Why is M the source of the epsilon ring?
5:22
and why is it so different to Uranus's
5:24
other rockier inner moons? Needless to
5:26
say, ongoing studies of the system will
5:29
play a crucial role in answering this
5:31
mystery. This report on the many
5:33
mysteries of Uranus from NASA TV.
5:35
>> Uranus is the seventh planet from the
5:37
sun and the third largest planet in the
5:40
solar system.
5:42
It also may have the coldest interior,
5:44
emitting far less heat than its
5:46
counterparts Jupiter, Saturn, and
5:48
Neptune. It is known as an ice giant
5:51
because it contains more ices, including
5:53
water, methane, and ammonia, than
5:56
Jupiter or Saturn. And while NASA's
5:59
learned a great deal about this planet
6:00
over the last three decades, there's a
6:03
lot more waiting to be discovered.
6:06
Back in 1986, NASA's Voyager 2
6:09
spacecraft flew by Uranus, making it the
6:12
first and only spacecraft to visit this
6:14
distant planet.
6:16
Previous observations showed that Uranus
6:18
has a unique tilt of its axis, so it
6:20
rotates almost on its side, causing its
6:23
poles to actually face the sun. No other
6:25
planet in our solar system has this
6:27
feature.
6:29
In its quick sprint past Uranus, Voyager
6:32
discovered 10 new moons orbiting the
6:33
planet that had not been seen before.
6:35
And in the decades since, even more have
6:38
been found. During its encounter,
6:40
Voyager also saw new faint rings and
6:42
explored the complex magnetosphere.
6:47
Voyager only briefly viewed the planet's
6:49
five major moons, Ariel, Miranda,
6:52
Titania, Oberon, and Umbreal. These
6:56
moons have a wide variety of terrains
6:57
and geological features, some of which
7:00
indicate possible subsurface oceans.
7:03
Small Miranda has chaotic terrain with
7:05
deep canyons and tall mountains, but is
7:08
likely now frozen solid.
7:10
Ariel appears to have the youngest
7:12
surface with few impact craters. While
7:14
Titania has a very old surface, the lack
7:17
of large craters and presence of a large
7:19
canyon system may indicate ancient
7:21
resurfacing. Oberon is also covered with
7:24
craters and has valleys and large
7:26
mountains.
7:27
Umbreel's surface is the darkest of the
7:29
Iranian moons and it sports a strange
7:32
polar ring. The origin of this ring is
7:35
still a mystery, but scientists believe
7:37
that it may have been formed by an icy
7:39
impact.
7:41
Since Voyager, groundbased telescopes
7:44
and the Hubble Space Telescope have
7:46
played the leading role in our
7:47
understanding of Uranus. Since 1992,
7:51
Hubble has watched the slowly changing
7:53
uranian seasons, including changes in
7:55
its unusual pale blue color and polar
7:57
hazes.
7:59
Telescopes have also revealed that
8:00
Uranus has a complex weather system with
8:03
massive storms that can last for months
8:05
or even years with wind speeds over 500
8:08
mph.
8:12
The ongoing search for ocean worlds and
8:14
life beyond Earth makes Uranus an
8:16
exciting target for the James Web Space
8:18
Telescope and for future uplose
8:20
exploration.
8:22
New data will help scientists understand
8:24
the formation and evolution of Uranus as
8:26
well as its moons and rings and provide
8:29
clues as to whether liquid water may
8:30
reside beneath their icy crusts.
8:34
The fascinating properties of this
8:36
planet discovered in just the span of a
8:38
few decades reveal that unlocking
8:40
mysteries here can help scientists learn
8:42
even more about our solar system and our
8:44
place in it.
8:47
>> This is spaceime. Still to come, new
8:50
evidence show that Africa is breaking
8:52
apart much faster than scientists had
8:54
previously thought, and engine failure
8:57
has been blamed for the loss of the
8:58
Aries rocket on its maiden flight from
9:01
North Queensland. All that and more
9:03
still to come on Spaceime.
9:21
A new study claims Africa is much closer
9:23
to being physically torn apart into two
9:26
separate continents than previously
9:27
thought, possibly as soon as a few
9:29
million years from now. The findings
9:32
reported in the journal Nature show part
9:34
of the great East African rift valley
9:36
system known as the Takana rift is far
9:39
thinner than scientists had previously
9:40
understood. The Takana rift is a 500 km
9:44
wide low-lying region that spans Kenya
9:47
and Ethiopia which is splitting apart at
9:49
a rate of about 4.7 mm a year causing
9:52
the underlying planetary crust to thin
9:54
significantly. The Great East African
9:57
Rift System runs from the Afar
9:59
Depression in northeastern Ethiopia down
10:02
to Mosamb beek in the south with the
10:04
African Nubian tectonic plate on one
10:06
side and the Arabian and Somali plates
10:08
on the other. Along the rift's axis, the
10:11
crust, the rocky outermost layer of the
10:13
planet, which rests on the Earth's
10:14
shifting mantle, is just 13 km thick.
10:18
That's significantly thinner compared to
10:20
the more than 35 km thick crust further
10:22
away from the rift center and is a
10:24
telltale sign of a process geologists
10:27
call necking. Scientists believe that a
10:29
kind of rift began pulling apart about
10:32
45 million years ago and it's causing
10:34
the earth's crust to stretch
10:35
horizontally resulting in it buckling
10:37
and fracturing releasing magma from deep
10:40
below. The authors estimate that the
10:42
necking started after widespread
10:44
volcanic eruptions around 4 million
10:46
years ago. They say it may be just
10:48
several million years before the next
10:50
phase known as oceanization begins. At
10:53
that stage, magma will rise through the
10:55
fractures to form new seafloor and water
10:57
from the Indian Ocean to the north will
10:59
flood in. The authors also uncovered
11:02
signs of an earlier rifting episode that
11:04
didn't lead to a full continental split.
11:07
However, instead it left the crust
11:09
thinner and weaker, and that set the
11:11
stage for the current phase of activity.
11:14
This is spacetime. Still to come, engine
11:17
issues blamed for the failure of the
11:19
maiden flight of the Aries rocket. And
11:21
later in the science report, scientists
11:24
have discovered a new way for some
11:25
corona viruses to infect humans. All
11:28
that and more coming up on Spaceime.
11:46
The investigation into the failure of
11:48
the maiden flight of the Aerys rocket
11:50
last year has traced the problem to two
11:53
of the launch vehicles hybrid rocket
11:54
engines. The AIS1 launched from the
11:57
Bowen Spaceport on the Queensland
11:59
Pacific coast back on July the 30th last
12:02
year, marking what should have been
12:03
Australia's first orbital rocket launch
12:05
since flights from the warmer rocket
12:07
range in outback South Australia ended
12:09
in the early 1970s. The investigation by
12:12
Gilmore Space included that the vehicle
12:15
experienced an in-flight anomaly with
12:17
one of its four first stage rocket
12:19
engines which lost thrust just 9 seconds
12:21
after liftoff. Then a second rocket
12:24
engine exhibited a similar problem at
12:26
around t + 17 seconds. The combination
12:29
dramatically reduced vehicle performance
12:32
bringing the mission to an early end.
12:34
Investigators say they've identified two
12:36
independent failure modes originating
12:38
from the oxidizer pump subsystem.
12:41
Electrical and thermal faults were
12:42
observed in the electric pump motors and
12:44
associated inverters indicating
12:46
components sourced from an external
12:48
supplier. Mission managers say the
12:50
findings provide a clearer understanding
12:52
of the underlying causes. They say that
12:55
based on the findings of the
12:56
investigation, design, qualification,
12:58
and process improvements are now being
13:00
evaluated and implemented. As with all
13:03
first test flights, the Aries 1 mission
13:05
was designed to generate flight data and
13:08
uncover conditions which can't be fully
13:10
replicated in ground testing. Data from
13:13
flight test one will provide updates to
13:15
vehicle design and operations as Gilmore
13:17
Space prepares for a second Aries test
13:19
flight sometime later this year. A final
13:22
report based on the investigation's
13:24
findings has now been submitted to the
13:26
Australian Space Agency in coordination
13:28
with the Office of the Space Regulator.
13:31
This is spacetime.
13:48
And time now to take another brief look
13:50
at some of the other stories making news
13:51
in science this week with a science
13:53
report. Scientists have discovered a new
13:55
way for some corona viruses to infect
13:58
humans. The findings reported in the
14:00
journal Nature could be a potential new
14:02
threat to human health. Of all the types
14:05
of corona viruses, scientists know the
14:07
most about how beta corona viruses enter
14:10
human cells. That's the same group that
14:12
Chinese government scientists
14:13
genetically engineered resulting in the
14:15
CO 19 pandemic. However, researchers
14:18
know far less about alpha corona
14:21
viruses, although both rely on spike
14:23
proteins to get into human cells. The
14:26
authors were testing a variety of alpha
14:28
corona viruses and found that one virus
14:30
spike protein from a virus isolated from
14:32
heart-nosed bats in Kenya could enter
14:34
human cells using a receptor in the
14:36
human cells called CAM6.
14:40
Related alpha corona viruses from
14:42
Africa, Europe, and East Asia also use
14:44
the same receptor. While blood samples
14:47
from people living near the bat sampling
14:48
site showed no evidence of widespread
14:50
infection, the authors say these
14:52
findings do identify a potential threat
14:54
to human health, as well as identifying
14:56
one of the details needed to enhance
14:58
pandemic preparedness and prevention
15:00
efforts.
15:02
The Australian Army's acquiring an
15:04
additional 268 Bushmaster infantry
15:07
mobility vehicles under a new 1.2
15:09
billion contract. The armored troop
15:12
transports, which are built in the
15:13
Victorian town of Bendigo, will be
15:15
equipped with directed energy weapons,
15:17
in other words, laser cannons. And
15:19
they'll have more powerful engines
15:20
compared to earlier versions of these
15:22
vehicles, which were highly successful
15:24
in Australian Defense Force operations
15:26
in both Iraq and Afghanistan, thanks to
15:28
their ability to survive landmines and
15:30
IEDs. More than,300 Bush Masters are
15:34
already deployed with the Australian
15:36
Defense Force. They're fitted with a
15:38
range of weapons ranging from turret
15:39
mounted machine guns to rocket and
15:41
missile launchers. The vehicles are also
15:44
used by the defense forces of Britain,
15:45
the Netherlands, New Zealand, the
15:47
Ukraine, Fiji, Japan, Indonesia, and
15:50
Jamaica. The New Deal will also see the
15:53
Australian army purchase additional
15:54
Hawkeye light protection mobility
15:56
vehicles. There are,00 Hawkeyes already
15:59
in ADF service. While the 15tonon
16:03
Bushmaster is designed to carry 10
16:04
troops, the much smaller 7-tonon Hawkeye
16:07
carries four and is also designed to
16:09
withstand landmines and IEDs.
16:13
A new study has found that most
16:15
teenagers aged 16 and 18 have been sent
16:18
texting messages, often from strangers.
16:20
The findings reported in the journal
16:22
Sexual Behavior were part of a long-term
16:24
Norwegian study involving 743 teens.
16:28
Subjects were first asked how often they
16:30
had sent intimate images or videos of
16:32
themselves in which they were undressed
16:34
and exposed their breasts or genitalia.
16:37
The authors found that around 8% of 14y
16:40
olds, 31% of 16year-olds and 39% of
16:44
18year-olds had engaged in such texting,
16:47
usually to a romantic acquaintance. Most
16:50
teens texted on their preferred social
16:52
media platforms such as Snapchat or
16:54
Instagram. But the study also found it
16:57
was far more common for teens to receive
16:59
texting messages with 39% of 14y olds
17:03
and 70% of 16 and 18 year olds having
17:06
been sent such messages and these mostly
17:08
came from strangers. The authors say
17:11
girls were far more likely to receive
17:12
texting messages from strangers while
17:14
boys were more likely to get them from
17:16
friends.
17:19
Samsung are urgently trying to fix a bad
17:21
update that's affecting millions of
17:22
Samsung cell phones, causing their
17:24
batteries to drain quickly with reports
17:26
the batteries in some phones are also
17:28
overheating. With the details, we're
17:31
joined by technology editor Alex Sahara
17:33
from techadvice.life.
17:35
>> Yeah, this is for the Samsung Galaxy S24
17:37
and S25 and there was an April update
17:40
that had 47 bug patches and fixes
17:42
inside. You know, it's important to
17:43
install updates. Well, this particular
17:45
one is causing the battery to drain 30
17:48
to 50% in just a few hours. And the
17:50
phone is getting, according to people
17:51
who've got it, noticeably warmer.
17:53
Samsung has sadly had battery problems
17:55
before with the uh the Note 7 series,
17:58
which they had to recall because it was
18:00
exploding. Clearly, that's not something
18:01
we hear about too much with phones
18:03
anymore. I mean, there's been no major
18:04
scandal since. We do hear a lot about
18:06
exploding batteries in e- scooters, and
18:09
you know, it can be the case when an
18:11
electric vehicle crashes. If the battery
18:13
gets damaged, it can cause a runaway
18:14
thermal reaction that emits chemicals
18:17
like a jet. That's not happening here
18:18
with this update. There will obviously
18:20
be a fix at some point, but if you've
18:21
got a Samsung Galaxy S24, S25 and you
18:25
have installed the update and the
18:27
battery is draining really fast, you're
18:28
not imagining it. It's something that's
18:30
really happening and the users just have
18:32
to wait for the fix.
18:33
>> But that's a scary thing. If the battery
18:35
is overheating, there's always the
18:37
potential of failure.
18:38
>> Yeah, heat is the enemy of batteries.
18:40
That's why you shouldn't leave any
18:41
devices with batteries in a hot car
18:43
during summer for example. So battery
18:45
technology is one of those things where
18:47
the processing power of chips and the
18:50
amount of well the amount of transistors
18:52
that a chip has according to Moor's law
18:54
doubles every 18 months. I was in a uh
18:57
at an Intel event in 2007 in Beijing.
18:59
They had a a session there on batteries.
19:02
I mean this is nearly 20 years ago now.
19:04
They were talking at the time about
19:05
using silver in batteries. the silver
19:08
could be recycled and reused once the
19:10
battery had gone through enough charging
19:11
cycles. And what struck me was that they
19:13
said that battery technology doubles in
19:15
its performance and capability every 18
19:18
years. And of course, today's batteries
19:20
are far more advanced. But what we
19:22
really need to see is a change in
19:24
battery chemistry. Lithium titanate is a
19:27
alternative to lithium ion that can have
19:29
tens of thousands of recharge cycles. it
19:32
can operate in much colder and hotter
19:34
temperatures and if it's damaged it does
19:36
not explode. There's also technology
19:38
like sodium ion which is being used in
19:40
home batteries and it too is effectively
19:42
impervious to this sort of destruction.
19:43
So, we're in a a time where lithium ion
19:46
is more widely used than ever, but it
19:49
can be extremely dangerous. And
19:51
thankfully, over the next decade or so,
19:53
we're going to start seeing lithium ion
19:55
being phased out and these other better
19:58
battery technologies being introduced.
20:00
>> And they're already being used in the
20:01
military.
20:02
>> Well, yeah. I mean, uh, lithium
20:03
carbonate's actually been used in the
20:04
military for decades, but it was just
20:07
not commercially viable to be used in
20:09
phones at the time, and people were
20:11
using it in the military because it it
20:13
wouldn't easily be an internal bomb if
20:15
it was damaged. If military equipment
20:17
was being powered by lithium titanate
20:19
batteries, it was much safer. But now
20:21
that has changed, we're going to be
20:23
seeing home appliances that use lithium
20:25
titanate batteries.
20:27
>> That's Alex Zahara from techadvice.life
20:30
life and this is spaceime
20:48
and that's the show for now. Spacetime
20:50
is available every Monday, Wednesday,
20:52
and Friday through byittes.com,
20:54
Soundcloud, YouTube, your favorite
20:57
podcast download provider, and from
20:59
spacetime withstartgary.com.
21:02
Spacetime's also broadcast through the
21:04
National Science Foundation on Science
21:05
Zone Radio and on both iHeart Radio and
21:08
TuneIn Radio. And you can help to
21:11
support our show by visiting the
21:12
Spacetime store for a range of
21:14
promotional merchandising goodies, or by
21:17
becoming a Spacetime patron, which gives
21:19
you access to triple episode commercial
21:21
free versions of the show, as well as
21:23
lots of bonus audio content, which
21:25
doesn't go to air, access to our
21:26
exclusive Facebook group, and other
21:28
rewards. Just go to
21:30
spaceimewithstgarry.com
21:32
for full details.
21:34
>> You've been listening to Spacetime with
21:36
StewartGarry. This has been another
21:38
quality podcast production from
21:40
byes.com.