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5. Downtime
34 Plays2 months ago
Harvey and Anisha take a break from astronaut duties to discuss their favourite movies and play "Science Fact or Science Fiction?". From frozen stars to teleportation, can you decipher science truth from fantasy? 🧠🔬
⚠️ POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR SCIENCE FACT OR SCIENCE FICTION BELOW
Show notes:
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Transcript
Welcome and Season Reflection
00:00:18
Speaker
Not really. Welcome back to Echo 9. Here we are, whizzing around as usual and it's just me and Nish today. How are you doing Nish? I am good, Hal. I am feeling happy about the new year. How are you doing? Yeah, I'm good. I'm
Comet, the Space Robot Dog
00:00:36
Speaker
good as well. I'm thinking, you know, we're halfway through the season. This is episode five. I know it's sort of flown by, hasn't it? um And, you know, just looking back on some of the conversations we've had already, we've talked rockets, food, space debris. I think it's been really good fun and quite educational journey too.
00:00:59
Speaker
Yeah,
Post-Holiday Reflections
00:01:00
Speaker
I think so. and And most importantly, we now have a space dog, a space robot dog. We do. Yeah. Don't forget about, yeah. Don't forget about, forget about little, little Comet running around. i I could never forget about Comet running around. and Yeah. This is my robot dog that you gave me for Christmas in our Christmas special episode, which funnily enough, do you know, we got hardly any downloads for that before Christmas. I guess like people were, were just like.
00:01:29
Speaker
um ah doing too busy yeah exactly it like I don't want to hear them talking. I want to drink, you know, mulled wine and and chill out. um But lots of people have downloaded it since.
Living and Working in Space
00:01:41
Speaker
everyone's Everyone's reminiscing over Christmas. Yeah, exactly. People want to go back to Christmas. Literally, like this week, people have been listening to to our Christmas special. So I thought that was that was quite strange, but good, good. So I was thinking, you know, we've been working, you know, having these conversations in the extraterrestrial communication habitat in orbiter.
Favorite Sci-Fi Movies
00:02:02
Speaker
So I thought halfway through the season, we'd do some downtime. um And you and I are both, you know, I'd say,
00:02:09
Speaker
sci-fi fans yeah so yeah so what are your top sci-fi movies oh that's a good question do they do they have to be pure sci-fi or can i can i go for like a fantasy sci-fi yeah i think fantasy sci-fi i can take that's fine okay first one's probably guardians of the galaxy ah oh oh yeah that i think it's just such a good film i mean the first one and i'm also a little bit obsessed with gamora um are you who is who is is that karen gillan The green one. The green girl. No, no. But Karen's the blue one. Oh, okay. Sorry, I haven't seen it. Oh my god. How have you not seen Guardians of the Galaxy? The green one with like, with dark black hair and it's dip dyed red. Okay. My top one's Guardians of the Galaxy. And then I'd probably go maybe the Martian.
00:03:04
Speaker
The Martian. Yeah, I just find it really comforting. You and I have spoken about the Martian before. What is it you love about the Martian? I've seen it once, I quite enjoyed it, but ah it didn't stick with me too much. Okay, I just, I love the fact that he's kind of so innovative in what he's doing. And you just think he's in like this, I don't know, I mean, I'm a bit of a romantic. So I get lost in the story a little bit, but he, um He's in this hopeless situation where he's stuck on Mars, right? And no one's coming to get him.
00:03:38
Speaker
anytime soon and you just think, you know, this is it, that the poor man's gonna die out there. And, you know, he just he just displays all of these kind of capabilities and skills and he brings it all together and he turns it around and he he learns how to survive on Mars. And I don't know why, just I just love that kind of story of hope and resilience and endurance and yeah. No, I like that. And then the other one, and which, you know, how can I not put on the list is,
00:04:05
Speaker
Star Wars, but just generally Star Wars. I can't pick a specific one. All of Star Wars? Okay. You can't pick a specific one. If you were on a desert island and you had to only have one Star Wars film, what would you go for? Oh gosh.
Sci-Fi Preferences and Personality
00:04:20
Speaker
That's really hard, but I think because I didn't necessarily grow up with the Star Wars. I've become sort of later in life. Star Wars, The Force Awakens. Oh my God.
00:04:31
Speaker
which I know will be like people will think I need to go sick hold on but but because that's what retriggered my my love for star wars that's what made me get go back into it it wasn't um yeah again I just enjoy I enjoy the story and the characters and the whole concept of it all you know all of these different planets and then technology as well there's loads of cool things in those um in all of those films actually So so what's your what's your top three three or four then? I think I've got quite different from you. so so It's going to be like interstellar in gravity or something, isn't it? No, it would never be either of those either. My all-time favourite, I think, is Alien. Yeah, that is that is a great choice. i I completely forgot about that. sort of
00:05:17
Speaker
category subcategory of sci-fi like horror sci-fi yeah alien and predator predators great alien versus predator is great i mean oh god it's fun spinning it's fun no it's spinning great choice um yeah i think alien is brilliant for film like just the creature design and the sets and stuff and that sort of retro future where they're typing things into computers and they've got all these massive computer monitor screens and stuff. Like imagining that that's what the future looks like from what technology we had in the 70s. I love that aesthetic.
00:05:57
Speaker
yeah It's really unique. So I'd say that was my favourite. And then in a similar vein, second on my list would probably be John Carpenter's The Thing.
Science Fact or Science Fiction Game
00:06:06
Speaker
I don't think I've seen that. Oh, man. it's ah So another like creature feature. Okay, all right. it it's and It's another horror film. Basically an Antarctic base, a US Antarctic base gets infected by an alien creature that can assimilate organisms.
00:06:25
Speaker
So it looks just like people and it starts to hide within the group. So oh wow people on the bay. That sounds scary. It is quite scary. ah Nobody knows who is like real and who is a thing. And the thing just gets more and more people until it gets almost, you know, nobody's trusting anybody. There's this real sense of paranoia.
00:06:49
Speaker
And the special effects are just all organic puppets and disgusting blood spraying all over the place. It's so good. Wow. Okay.
De-Extinction and Cold Stars
00:07:00
Speaker
Yes. click Continue. Continue. And then if I had to choose the third, I think I'd go for Ex Machina.
00:07:06
Speaker
Oh, ah okay. I haven't seen that in a long time. No, me neither. But it left such an impression on me. So about a guy who's hired to do a Turing test with a female Android. And I think it it takes takes that sort of idea in some quite unpredictable directions. I think the whole thing is so beautifully shot. It looks incredible. Again, like, there's that theme of isolation being in this, you know, building in the middle of nowhere with a robot. It's a bit scary at times. Yeah. Love it. It's interesting, isn't it? Because your top three are quite, are quite dark.
00:07:51
Speaker
Yeah, well, yours is quite light. Guardians of the Galaxy. Well, exactly. Mine are quite playful and, you know, and almost fun. Yours are like, just survive. Yeah. What does that say about our psyche? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What does that say about your inner child half? I'm slightly concerned. The poor thing.
00:08:14
Speaker
That's true, that's true. Anyway, okay, well, well, it's good to know, good to know what what films you and I like. Maybe we can put one on this evening in the... yeah cinema module, um maybe one of yours actually, now that we're out here. um' I don't mind Alien, I can handle that. The other two are probably a bit more scarier for me. I think Alien, like being trapped on a spacecraft with... I've always probably the worst one for a lot of things. Yes, that's true. Is the airlock closed? It's well and truly closed, I think, yeah. Might need to double check that one. Double lock it. Deadbolt, yeah. double deadbol yeah
00:08:54
Speaker
Well, I thought, um you know, talking about science fiction and being up here on a real spacecraft, there's quite a lot of overlap between, um you know, real science and ah the science of of movies and books and fantasy worlds. So to keep you entertained today, Nish, I've pulled together a little game. Science fact or science fiction?
00:09:19
Speaker
Oh, this sounds great. Oh, I can't wait to play. Yeah. Okay. So I've got five questions. Okay. And all you've got to do is tell me whether you think they are science facts or science fiction. Oh God, you're testing my knowledge and everyone's going to hear it now. Well, you but you're a very smart person, Nish, so... Oh, stop it. And ah if you get all five, um I'll go outside and fix the solar panels next time they break. Oh, OK. Right, but if I lose, does that mean I have to do it? Yeah, for the for the for the rest of the duration of of us. Oh, gosh, all right, fine. Game on, game on. All right, are you ready for fact number one? Or fact or suggestion number one? I'm ready, I'm ready.
00:10:01
Speaker
Okay, let's play Science Fact or Science Fiction. It's Number one. Using tissue samples from extinct animals, scientists have successfully resurrected organisms and brought them back from extinction.
00:10:28
Speaker
What do you think, science fact or science fiction? Oh gosh, this is actually such a cool one. Obviously I'm thinking Jurassic ju drasstic Park and Jurassic World, but I did see an article about a company who is trying to do this with a woolly mammoth. Oh yeah. And I don't know if it's, I mean, I don't know if it's been done in the past with something else, but I think it could be. So I'm going to say fact.
00:10:52
Speaker
You're going science fact. Yeah, I'm going to go science fact. Okay. Well, look Jurassic Park, you're absolutely right was my inspiration for this one. And in that one, the scientists use genetic info stored in insects preserved in and tree resin to bring back yeah dinosaurs. Now, obviously we haven't done that, but you are correct. It's science fact.
00:11:15
Speaker
Oh, what have we brought back? So, very good question. So in the year 2000,
Cordyceps and The Great Attractor
00:11:21
Speaker
the last Pyrenean ibex was found dead, having been crushed by a fallen tree. So this is a type of goat, the Pyrenean ibex. Have you ever heard of it? It's a goat. Okay, no, no, no idea what that is.
00:11:34
Speaker
Looks like a goat, big horns, like curly horns and lives in there in the Pyrenees, so on the border of of France and Spain in the mountains. Anyway, this last Pyrenean ibex, she had a name um because people knew she was the last one. and She was called Celia. And because she was the final member of the species, she was the Endling. That's the name. When you're the last one, you're an Endling.
00:12:00
Speaker
Isn't that awful to be and no tragic? I know, very sad. But anyway, so so she died, got crushed by a tree, very sad, um and then scientists collected tissue samples from her and three years later they cloned Celia, um transferring nuclei from her cells into domestic goat eggs.
00:12:22
Speaker
and then impregnating over 200 female goats with these clones. I think it was 260 or something. Only one of them came to term. A baby ibex that unfortunately only survived seven minutes after birth. It had a lung defect, which is very sad. But for seven minutes, that was bringing an animal back from extinction.
00:12:52
Speaker
that That's pretty cool. That's nuts, isn't it? It's called de-extinction.
00:12:58
Speaker
that Wow, what a term. What do you think of that? I think that's insane. I mean, I was kind of sceptical. I wasn't sure about my answer because I know it's something that's going on with this woolly mammoth case. But yeah, the fact that it's actually happened But also it's slightly tragic that it didn't survive. That's a bit upsetting because we de-extinct it for like seven minutes and then it's extinct again. It's extinct again. Yeah, exactly. Double extinct. It's gone extinct twice. Oh God, and it's our fault, isn't it? I think that that would make it the only animal that's ever gone extinct twice.
00:13:35
Speaker
Well, usually when you go extinct, that's it. It's game over. can But that that is some pretty cool science right there. Cool. And it's sad, but there is happier news. Okay. There's actually some other organisms that have been successfully extincted, okay including the Judean date palm.
00:13:57
Speaker
Do you like dates? I do like dates, yes. I love dates, absolutely delicious. So this is a species of date that was brought back to life after 500 years. It went extinct in like the 15th century. yeah And then we discovered some preserved seeds in ah an old palace and got them to germinate. And now it is, one's growing in Israel now.
00:14:21
Speaker
that that That is very cool because I've never associated, you know, plants, plant extinction. Really? In that sort of category. Yeah, I just, I don't think that we would ever, I didn't realise we could ever kill off a plant completely. That's a shame. How have we managed that? I know. Well, yeah, human activity, of course. Yeah. Yeah.
00:14:42
Speaker
Yeah, I bet you are right that that does that feels strange to me because like for animals to reproduce you generally need an animal to be alive to you know then reproduce however an animal reproduces but for plants, they do leave these seeds that could then germinate, in this case, hundreds of years in the future. So it's it's actually hard to define what extinction would be. Is extinction when the final plant dies? Or is it when its seeds are completely, like, inviolable? Oh, look at you getting all philosophical now. Exactly. We might get even more philosophical later. Oh, no. ah there so And there's another species I wanted us to mention, the Floriana giant tortoise.
00:15:27
Speaker
um which has allegedly been brought back, not from tissue samples and cloning and in the lab, but by selectively breeding the descendants of this species, which had hybridized with another ah species of giant tortoise.
00:15:43
Speaker
I don't know if that counts but yeah does that count because that's not the original animal yeah and yeah exactly the IUCN have not those are the guys who categorize who's been extinct or not they have not said that this has been de-extincted they still consider it extinct because last time they checked the genome's gone But, i but that was in 2017. So you never know, maybe they'll change their
Teleportation: Fact or Fiction?
00:16:08
Speaker
minds. We'll see. Yeah. And then of course, there are lots of other potential candidates, like you mentioned the woolly mammoth, um the dodo, some people have proposed the Tasmanian tiger and our good friend, the Pyrenean Ibex could make a comeback in the future. So we wish them good luck.
00:16:30
Speaker
Yes, very interested in hearing more about those stories as well, actually. Yeah. Could we do it in space? Do you think that's the factor? Let's do it. Maybe if we do it in microgravity environment. Microgravity as a de-extinction service. I love that. Yes. Right, patent that. Yeah. All these patents we've got for how we use space, I love it. Okay.
00:16:53
Speaker
All right, next next one for you. I'm ready. Science facts or science fiction. Scientists have discovered a star that burns cold, meaning that unlike most stars which
Sci-Fi's Influence on Technology
00:17:06
Speaker
emit heat, this one causes temperatures to go down as you approach it. That sounds very cool. I think, gosh, you have like cold fusion.
00:17:21
Speaker
and stuff, which, you know, I studied a long time ago and I don't really remember how it works now. But based on that fact, I think I'm going to go with science fact. You're going science fact. I'm going to go with science fact. This one is science fiction. Oh, no. Sorry, Neesh. I'm sorry, Neesh. It's so believable. It does sound believable that this is actually from an episode of Doctor Who. Did you ever watch Doctor Who?
00:17:47
Speaker
No, I haven't. But thanks for just um flushing my career down the top. Well, well, I don't think you should I don't think you should be too worried because right, let's let's talk about stars and temperatures. Care to guess the temperature of our favorite star, the sun. It's like 5000 degrees.
00:18:08
Speaker
centigrade? Fahrenheit? Centigrade. Kelvin? Centigrade. Okay. Let's go centigrade. You're actually, that's really good, Nish. I'm really impressed. Yes. It's 5,600. So there you go. Lovely. I knew it was roughly that. You've absolutely brought your career back from the dead there. Yes, there we go. Next interview, ask me how hot the sun is. I've got this one. So 5,600 centigrade, which is 10,000
Connecting with Listeners on LinkedIn
00:18:31
Speaker
Fahrenheit or 5,700 Kelvin. Who the hell is using Kelvin though? What the hell? all of the scientists. Yeah, all right. All of them. Yeah, maybe it's useful for things like that, but it's not useful for like your daily temperatures, is it? No, probably not. That is the surface, of course, of the sun. The centre is much, much hotter. 15 million degrees centigrade and 27 million Fahrenheit. I mean, once you're in the millions, who cares what the number before it is? That's hot. Yeah, that's hot.
00:19:05
Speaker
um Name me some types of stars. A red, what's called a red star? Red star, red giant, red giant. Red giant, that's the one. Red giant, let's get back to that. You get giants, you get red dwarfs, you get white dwarfs, neutron stars, lots of different stars. Okay, yes. But let me introduce you to the brown dwarf.
00:19:28
Speaker
Some people refer- Are you referring to me? That's not okay.
00:19:37
Speaker
No, no, I am not referring to you. This is a this is so some people refer to these as failed stars. And I wouldn't refer to you as a failed star either. You are very much burning bright. Oh, thank you. um And they are roughly the same size as Jupiter.
00:19:55
Speaker
Oh, that's massive, okay, that's big. It's massive, but not as massive as a you know proper star. Although massive is the right term actually, because they have a lot more mass than Jupiter, but not enough to achieve steady nuclear fusion that you would find in a regular star. So because of this, they're not so hot.
00:20:15
Speaker
In fact, the coolest brown dwarf has a temperature of just 285 Kelvin, which is 12 degrees centigrade. Sounds lovely. Sounds sounds like you.
00:20:29
Speaker
to it does so it outside I actually wish it was 12 degrees centigrade on a January day in in Britain but and yeah 53 Fahrenheit for our American listeners so yeah quite cool actually quite cool so it doesn't make things colder but it it certainly wouldn't warm you up very much I don't think no um no okay okay number three cordyceps is a parasitic fungus that infects a host and turns it into a zombie. Fact or fiction? So I'm guessing the question is off the program, the series that was released last year and I've forgotten what it's called now. The Last of Us. The Last of Us, that was it. And that was the one where there was a fungus doing exactly that.
00:21:20
Speaker
hu But I'm pretty sure I saw at the time, there were articles about fungus or fungi in the world that could have that kind of effect on your, not necessarily turning you into a zombie, but have an effect on your brain or your nervous system, which then, for lack of a better words, kind of make you a zombie. o So I'm still sticking with science fact.
00:21:48
Speaker
You're going science fact. Nice. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to say this one's hard to call. I'm going to give it to you. I'm going to say you can have that, but I would have accepted fiction as well and I'll explain why. Cordyceps is a real genus of fungus and it's over 260 species and many of those reproduce through parasitism.
00:22:10
Speaker
Different species specialize in different insects, so and sometimes that involves invading their bodies and bursting out of them with these spectacular, you know, fruiting bodies. The most famous of these is a species commonly known as the zombie ant fungus.
00:22:28
Speaker
And it's technically not in the Cordyceps genus for any mycologist who is shouting at me right now. yeah yeah right I get that, but for the purposes of this. yeah Anyway, this is the species that is in The Last of Us and has mutated to ah now affect humans. Did you like The Last of Us?
00:22:51
Speaker
I have you've heard my movie choices. It's not it's not aligned to my to my to my inner inner being, you know, I need something slightly light hearted. And it was very dark and very, very deep.
00:23:06
Speaker
You've heard my movie Choices. and Oh yeah, it's perfect for you. yeah just no No doubt in my mind. So ah the life cycle of this fungus looks somewhat like this. So a spore attaches to an ant's exoskeleton. Oh god, it sounds so gross already. It then penetrates the ant's body and begins consuming the ant's non-essential tissues.
00:23:31
Speaker
it then secretes molecules that invade the ant's central nervous system and which manipulate the ant into climbing a plant in this case and attaching itself via what they call a death grip with its mandibles um and then once the conditions are favorable it will produce a fruiting body that bursts out of the ant and then that fruiting body matures and releases spores. So the fungus essentially controls the ant, makes the ant go somewhere where it can more easily infect more ants and reproduce.
00:24:09
Speaker
which a lot of journalists call zombification. um But while I was researching this one, I discovered a paper written by some disgruntled scientists who were really not happy with the fact that people were calling them zombies. They were like, yes, it does all this, but there's not they're not actually taking over the central nervous system. This is sensationalism, blah, blah, blah.
00:24:31
Speaker
It sounds pretty zombie-ish to me, I have to say, but but I'm finding it hard to call. That's why I'm going with facts or fiction, letting it all go. Okay. And you've got to respect the science, you know, and the scientists. They know what they're doing, so. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, thanks thanks for giving me that point.
00:24:49
Speaker
I'm two out of three so far. You are two out of three. I'll let you i'll let you have, let's let's consider you still on track, all right? if you get If you get these last two, correct, I'll do the solar panels. Oh, the pressure is on. All right, okay, come on. All right, number four. The Milky Way and thousands of other galaxies are slowly being drawn towards a region of intergalactic space called the Great Attractor. And we have no idea what's there.
00:25:19
Speaker
It just sounds so insane. I don't know. I have no idea. I have no idea. yeah So, I mean, the the universe is is continually growing, I'm aware of that one. Expanding, yep. Yes, expanding. But at the same time, are these galaxies, including our own, being drawn towards this region of intergalactic space called the Great Attractor?
00:25:46
Speaker
I'm, it sounds, ah it doesn't sound believable to me, I think. I'm going to go with science fiction on this one. I'm I'm sorry, but this's a chapterctor this is a science fact. Yeah. I i only discovered this for my, um, when I was researching this, so I ah don't think you should feel silly. Well, I've lost the, uh, the solar panel. ah You have, you are going to have to, I'm not giving you another yeah another chance after this. Fine, fine.
00:26:16
Speaker
So way back in 1986, scientists discovered that our galaxy and others within our local group were not moving in accordance with the predictions for the universe's expansion, like you mentioned. Instead, these galaxies are being drawn towards the Virgo cluster.
00:26:34
Speaker
which is being drawn towards the Virgo super cluster, which is moving towards the center of an even larger super cluster called Laniakea. I hope I've pronounced that correctly. And it's at the center of this super cluster that you find this great attractor, right? Now, what is there is impossible to say because we can't see it. Because it's it's within, you might've heard of this, the zone of avoidance.
00:27:04
Speaker
heard of this before? I mean, I've heard of that when you know, when you're like driving a car or something. ah you know universe I think a better name for it and this is an alternative name is the zone of galactic obscuration. Wow. Did you come up with that? No, I didn't sadly. i like that one Okay, essentially that sounds, yeah, so that sounds insane. this This zone of space is blocked to us by the light of the Milky Way galaxy. We can't see it. All of that light is in the way. So we can't see through all that noise to to look at this zone. So we know something's there. We know that it's pulling on our our galaxies. But we can't see it. But we we can't see it.
00:27:49
Speaker
ah Isn't that just wild how there's like that much light pollution in space? Yeah. Well, the further you look, right, the more more light you get. If you look far enough, you literally see the big bang. And that's all light. Well, yeah, yeah. I mean, i did I did like the part about the the Virgo constellation or whatever, because i'm maybe I'm biased, but I'm a Virgo. So I was like, yes, perfect. The world does center around Virgos then.
00:28:19
Speaker
ah Just like I thought it did. They should make a movie about that. Yeah. It does sound science fiction, doesn't it? Yep. Who do we need to pitch to? Come on, half. You must have some creative friends. Steven Spielberg. Oh, I knew you knew him. Yeah. he's a very good friend Perfect. right yeah Right. Are you ready for the final fact? I'm... orfa Or fiction. Sorry. I keep calling them facts, but that doesn't mean they are.
00:28:49
Speaker
Okay. I'm, I'm ready, but I'm a bit nervous again now because I've got so many wrong. Final one. Okay. Yeah. Scientists have successfully managed to teleport an organism over short distances.
00:29:06
Speaker
God have. I just, I don't know. I want to say, I want to say fact because I feel like someone in the world is looking at this, this, you know, vital problem that we have.
00:29:18
Speaker
but also fiction because I haven't heard any big breakthroughs about it. And maybe I just missed that miss that one. You think it would be bigger news? Yeah, I think it would be bigger news. So wait, so you're saying scientists have teleported like a living organism. A living organism over short distances. I just don't understand how you would reassemble it on the other end. I'm going to go with fiction. Go in science fiction. Yeah.
00:29:49
Speaker
So we're very familiar with this, ah you know, beaming technology from things like Star Trek. Yes. But you're right. This is very much science fiction. Good. Good. If that had been proven, I am like, why am I sitting on 10 hour flights but around the world when I can be there much sooner? Yeah, and unfortunately, ah human teleportation is is just not feasible and actually pretty unlikely to ever happen in the future from what I understand. yeah However, teleportation itself has been shown to be possible. Even as far back as the 90s, researchers at the California Institute of Physics and the University of Wales
00:30:32
Speaker
Okay. Shout out to Wales. Yeah. Shout out to Wales. Uh, teleported a photon. So a light particle, um, a meter through some cable. Um, I don't really understand what that means. I've tried to read this, but essentially yeah they've been transferring a quantum state from one photon and then replicating that state at another photon. I don't really understand how that's teleportation. Yeah. I'm not sure that, well, this is, this is the question, right? Because then.
00:31:02
Speaker
you're replicating it. So is that second photon the same as the first photon? Exactly. Exactly. just is it like ah Is it like a copy copy and paste? Exactly. And what happened to the first one? Did it just disintegrate?
00:31:15
Speaker
So it's um it's kind of the ship of Theseus problem. Do you know about this? Oh, yes, but do tell. It's a good story. Theseus was a Greek hero, ah famously defeated the Minotaur on Crete. And he had a boat, obviously. you know They all did, the Greeks, because Ireland's getting around. And gradually over time, the wooden planks on this boat needed to be replaced. Once all of the planks have been replaced, is it the same boat?
00:31:46
Speaker
What would you say? Um, oh gosh. I mean, based on the questioning that I posed earlier, it's not the same boat. It's not the same boat. It's a new boat. It's a new boat. Okay. And then what if you took all of the wood that you'd removed from the boat or the original planks and built a new boat?
00:32:06
Speaker
That's just recycling. Would that boat be the original boat though? No, that's not the original boat. No, that's not the original boat. Okay. Even though you've made it from the exact same materials it was originally made from. Where's the new boat gone? Where's the original boat gone? The old boat is gone. Yeah, it's just gone. Okay. It's not there anymore.
00:32:29
Speaker
All right, well then the thing people say is, our bodies get replaced, don't they? Your cells live shorter lives, can you? Why are you breaking that down? Yes, yes, I'm aware. So I become a new person every, what, seven years in my life? Something like that, yeah. And 98% of the atoms in your body get replaced every year.
00:32:47
Speaker
interesting so i'm literally a new person are you a new person yeah but i but i identify as the same person yeah but but just because you identify as the same person does that make you you oh what is you what what am i yeah uh scary Anisha, that's your five facts. You've got a three out of five, 60%. I think that's pretty good. ah That's probably one of the lowest scores I've ever had in my life. so I think that's all right, isn't it? That's like a two, one, isn't it? in the In university, I think you'd be all right. If we use the uni speak. Okay, so I passed. You passed. You passed with flying colours. Okay, great. Thank you.
00:33:27
Speaker
I mean they they were difficult and some of them had me you know questioning myself but it's cool to see that actually the link between science fiction and science fact is kind of decreasing or there are there are more sort of opportunities to join them up and Yeah, I'm waiting for the day that we get a real lightsaber. That would be pretty cool. ha I did look into lightsabers impossible, unfortunately, because light just doesn't behave like that. You couldn't have it stop, you know, like a like a lightsaber stops, you know, you it stops at a certain point and then you can boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. But it's basically a laser, isn't it? the Yeah, but a laser keeps on going to infinity. A laser doesn't stop. You'd need a mirror at the top to bounce it back. And then it's not lightsaber anymore. It just looks weird.
00:34:14
Speaker
Well, you've got to ruin it with physics, don't you? Thanks, thanks of. But you're you're right, like, there are certain technologies that, you know, we came up with in science fiction a long time ago, and now they very much are a reality. Things like video conferencing, seeing somebody when you talk to them. I think that was in like 2001, Space Odyssey. And um even an alien, you know, speaking with an AI,
00:34:42
Speaker
that yeah runs the ship and stuff. ah that That's totally what people do now daily with chat GPT and stuff. So these technologies that we come up with in fantasy worlds do become, or at least shape reality. It's quite interesting to think about. Well, I hope you enjoyed that. I'm i'm getting some notifications on on the screen here. Ground control want us to get back to work. And there's some solar panels for you to go and fix, I'm afraid.
00:35:10
Speaker
Oh great, thanks. Well no, thanks for the quiz, I did really enjoy that and hopefully all of our listeners will will get to play along. Yeah let us know, let us know how you did and in fact that's a good point. um Before we go I wanted to mention our social media presence.
00:35:26
Speaker
Oh okay. Social media I think is a very weird place right now, um January 2025. And LinkedIn has emerged as one of the least toxic platforms. Who would have thumped it? So we are we are on LinkedIn.
00:35:42
Speaker
um Echo 9, of course. So please find us, subscribe or whatever it is you do on LinkedIn. And that's where we share, you know, video clips and stuff. And we'd love to get people's feedback and yeah, people chatting, asking us questions that we're more than happy to answer in future episodes.
00:35:58
Speaker
As always, thank you to you, Nish, for spending some time with me here. um Thanks to our lovely listeners down there on planet Earth. And yeah, we wish everybody down there on a beautiful, big, big, big, blue marble. Oh, did you hear that?