1 00:01:26,280 --> 00:00:24,340 [Music] 2 00:02:07,560 --> 00:01:35,440 professor's fine thank you yeah about 3 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:11,730 oh good morning to you as well and thank 4 00:02:23,410 --> 00:02:28,780 Shh 5 00:02:37,690 --> 00:02:36,039 oh yes certainly I had I've always been 6 00:02:43,660 --> 00:02:37,700 interested in the UFOs since I was a 7 00:02:47,110 --> 00:02:43,670 young teenager and a few years ago I had 8 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:47,120 been teaching a class in astronomy and 9 00:02:50,759 --> 00:02:49,010 was spending some time on on 10 00:02:53,830 --> 00:02:50,769 astrobiology and thought it would be 11 00:02:55,990 --> 00:02:53,840 interesting to discuss the possibility 12 00:02:59,979 --> 00:02:56,000 of beings traveling here and what that 13 00:03:02,589 --> 00:02:59,989 would be like so I had started 14 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:02,599 researching UFOs a little bit looking 15 00:03:07,210 --> 00:03:04,370 into it in a little more detail and and 16 00:03:09,190 --> 00:03:07,220 found some of the some of the 17 00:03:16,089 --> 00:03:09,200 information compelling and interesting 18 00:03:19,390 --> 00:03:16,099 and that lecture over over about two 19 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:19,400 years morphed into a one-hour talk that 20 00:03:22,899 --> 00:03:21,530 I had given to our actually more like a 21 00:03:27,879 --> 00:03:22,909 two-hour talk that I'd given to our 22 00:03:30,309 --> 00:03:27,889 physics department and and the response 23 00:03:32,110 --> 00:03:30,319 was very positive from from the other 24 00:03:37,420 --> 00:03:32,120 professors and the students and I was I 25 00:03:40,689 --> 00:03:37,430 was kind of surprised by that and and I 26 00:03:42,759 --> 00:03:40,699 had thought that you know what this is 27 00:03:44,289 --> 00:03:42,769 interesting maybe if you know we 28 00:03:46,990 --> 00:03:44,299 scientists learned a little bit more 29 00:03:48,729 --> 00:03:47,000 about this phenomenon and saw some of 30 00:03:51,309 --> 00:03:48,739 the interesting correlations that appear 31 00:03:53,610 --> 00:03:51,319 to be observed then you know maybe maybe 32 00:03:57,460 --> 00:03:53,620 this should be studied more carefully 33 00:04:01,569 --> 00:03:57,470 and so a few weeks ago I was approached 34 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:01,579 by our media department the the online 35 00:04:04,719 --> 00:04:03,290 magazine the conversation they were 36 00:04:08,349 --> 00:04:04,729 looking for someone to write an article 37 00:04:09,430 --> 00:04:08,359 about UFOs for world UFO day which 38 00:04:14,309 --> 00:04:09,440 happened 39 00:04:21,729 --> 00:04:18,039 and so they were they it was funny they 40 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:21,739 had as the media often often does they 41 00:04:26,439 --> 00:04:24,650 they they kind of spun it this way they 42 00:04:30,550 --> 00:04:26,449 said we'd like somebody to talk to write 43 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:30,560 an article about UFOs and why UFOs are 44 00:04:34,420 --> 00:04:33,050 so interesting to people despite the 45 00:04:36,879 --> 00:04:34,430 fact that there's no evidence for them 46 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:36,889 so so I thought about this and I thought 47 00:04:41,230 --> 00:04:38,570 well you know that's not quite right and 48 00:04:42,250 --> 00:04:41,240 so I you know so I came back and I said 49 00:04:43,690 --> 00:04:42,260 well you know I would 50 00:04:47,140 --> 00:04:43,700 interested in writing an article but I 51 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:47,150 would have I would you know take this 52 00:04:51,580 --> 00:04:49,130 different approach and and they were 53 00:04:54,010 --> 00:04:51,590 actually very excited by that they you 54 00:04:56,640 --> 00:04:54,020 know the editor I spoke to said well you 55 00:05:00,670 --> 00:04:56,650 know we took the stance we you know that 56 00:05:02,740 --> 00:05:00,680 we took because the we made that 57 00:05:04,900 --> 00:05:02,750 proposal because we expected that an 58 00:05:08,230 --> 00:05:04,910 academic would not be not look at these 59 00:05:09,940 --> 00:05:08,240 favorably so and I said well I don't I 60 00:05:11,950 --> 00:05:09,950 don't know exactly how to look at them 61 00:05:13,030 --> 00:05:11,960 but I think that you know this is 62 00:05:16,630 --> 00:05:13,040 something that should be carefully 63 00:05:18,580 --> 00:05:16,640 studied and so I wrote the article and 64 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:18,590 so far the response has been rather 65 00:05:46,630 --> 00:05:44,570 positive well I was certainly I'm taking 66 00:05:49,570 --> 00:05:46,640 a risk and I and I worried about that I 67 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:49,580 I told them before actually accepting 68 00:05:56,350 --> 00:05:54,170 the the assignment I I said well give me 69 00:05:58,960 --> 00:05:56,360 a day or two to to try writing something 70 00:06:02,380 --> 00:05:58,970 up and seeing you know so I can see what 71 00:06:03,820 --> 00:06:02,390 I could do and and and after I felt 72 00:06:05,860 --> 00:06:03,830 confident that I could write something 73 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:05,870 that was you know pretty level-headed 74 00:06:11,580 --> 00:06:09,410 and and careful then I you know that I 75 00:06:14,740 --> 00:06:11,590 said alright I'm willing to try this so 76 00:06:16,870 --> 00:06:14,750 yeah but I was very I was very pleased 77 00:06:20,470 --> 00:06:16,880 by the positive response I've had many 78 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:20,480 academics and even even an astronaut 79 00:06:25,300 --> 00:06:23,690 contact me and say you know this is you 80 00:06:27,010 --> 00:06:25,310 know Bravo for doing this you know this 81 00:06:28,660 --> 00:06:27,020 should be studied we should we agree 82 00:06:47,340 --> 00:06:28,670 this should be carefully studied it 83 00:06:47,350 --> 00:07:16,810 yes 84 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:19,240 oh I would agree with that yeah 85 00:07:27,730 --> 00:07:23,930 certainly the the I think the big 86 00:07:29,380 --> 00:07:27,740 difficulty is that the radar systems you 87 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:29,390 know in those situations aren't being 88 00:07:35,250 --> 00:07:32,210 operated by scientists so the scientists 89 00:07:37,630 --> 00:07:35,260 aren't as able to assess the equipment 90 00:07:41,620 --> 00:07:37,640 make sure there's no glitches occurring 91 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:41,630 and and other other anomalies so I think 92 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:45,130 that makes you know the use of such data 93 00:08:08,550 --> 00:07:48,530 in difficult but but I I would agree 94 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:14,940 just 95 00:08:14,950 --> 00:08:25,990 [Music] 96 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:32,940 Shh 97 00:08:39,969 --> 00:08:34,870 well that's a good question 98 00:08:42,279 --> 00:08:39,979 I'd regarding scientists reactions to 99 00:08:51,310 --> 00:08:42,289 this are very funny and I find that 100 00:08:54,009 --> 00:08:51,320 curious I especially when we see cyan't 101 00:08:56,380 --> 00:08:54,019 a scientist misrepresenting information 102 00:08:59,860 --> 00:08:56,390 about UFOs I think that you know I'm not 103 00:09:01,540 --> 00:08:59,870 sure what exactly what the situation is 104 00:09:04,509 --> 00:09:01,550 and it probably varies from case to case 105 00:09:06,910 --> 00:09:04,519 or situation to situation but you know 106 00:09:08,889 --> 00:09:06,920 some of it is perhaps from the 107 00:09:11,829 --> 00:09:08,899 scientists not not doing their homework 108 00:09:15,519 --> 00:09:11,839 and not looking into this properly and 109 00:09:22,060 --> 00:09:15,529 and and I'm not going to be too critical 110 00:09:24,100 --> 00:09:22,070 of that because the as a scientist 111 00:09:26,410 --> 00:09:24,110 we're often working on other projects 112 00:09:28,180 --> 00:09:26,420 that are you know much more you know 113 00:09:32,139 --> 00:09:28,190 immediately profitable and much more 114 00:09:36,310 --> 00:09:32,149 interesting in some cases so so you know 115 00:09:38,319 --> 00:09:36,320 looking into UFOs is time-consuming and 116 00:09:40,660 --> 00:09:38,329 and you know we also have other things 117 00:09:42,790 --> 00:09:40,670 to do so that I can see that that can 118 00:09:44,949 --> 00:09:42,800 happen but but in that case if that's 119 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:44,959 the situation then you should be very 120 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:47,810 careful about you're you know expressing 121 00:09:57,730 --> 00:09:52,490 your professional opinion so I suspect 122 00:09:59,680 --> 00:09:57,740 that one of the problems especially I 123 00:10:03,730 --> 00:09:59,690 you know as somebody who's taught 124 00:10:08,079 --> 00:10:03,740 astronomy I see that we our society 125 00:10:12,610 --> 00:10:08,089 still has this very strange belief in 126 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:12,620 things like astrology and you know and 127 00:10:19,660 --> 00:10:15,770 pseudoscience is like this so one of the 128 00:10:23,650 --> 00:10:19,670 things that you tend to try to do as a 129 00:10:25,780 --> 00:10:23,660 scientist is you want to educate people 130 00:10:29,230 --> 00:10:25,790 as the difference between pseudoscience 131 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:29,240 and science and you know so in the case 132 00:10:33,220 --> 00:10:31,250 of astrology this is you know this is 133 00:10:35,530 --> 00:10:33,230 done you know we'd we'd handle this an 134 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:35,540 astronomy class is quite a bit 135 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:41,330 and I suspect that for many scientists 136 00:10:46,150 --> 00:10:43,010 who don't know much about the UFO 137 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:46,160 phenomenon they well it falls it rather 138 00:10:56,020 --> 00:10:49,970 than being a fringe science they view it 139 00:10:59,200 --> 00:10:56,030 as a pseudoscience and so you're the the 140 00:11:01,960 --> 00:10:59,210 perceived job the the job we perceive is 141 00:11:06,700 --> 00:11:01,970 that that we have is to educate the 142 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:06,710 public about pseudoscience and to to do 143 00:11:13,150 --> 00:11:09,650 not promote this so so I think that when 144 00:11:15,670 --> 00:11:13,160 people when scientists view this topic 145 00:11:17,860 --> 00:11:15,680 as soon as pseudoscience they then 146 00:11:22,060 --> 00:11:17,870 operate to basically shut it down which 147 00:11:24,580 --> 00:11:22,070 is which is problematic because they you 148 00:11:26,860 --> 00:11:24,590 know and that sometimes I think that you 149 00:11:28,420 --> 00:11:26,870 know the short they take shortcuts so 150 00:11:32,140 --> 00:11:28,430 the short cut is basically let's just 151 00:11:33,430 --> 00:11:32,150 shut this down and and I think they 152 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:33,440 sometimes get a little sloppy and 153 00:11:49,870 --> 00:11:39,530 misrepresent facts and and that's 154 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:49,880 unfortunate I think that's difficult one 155 00:11:54,250 --> 00:11:52,010 of the biggest problems with something 156 00:11:57,490 --> 00:11:54,260 like this is that it's a phenomenon 157 00:12:01,900 --> 00:11:57,500 that's not controllable so you can't 158 00:12:05,650 --> 00:12:01,910 control it and it's not assured to be 159 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:05,660 repeatable so you know in science we 160 00:12:10,870 --> 00:12:07,850 study things that you can control and 161 00:12:13,270 --> 00:12:10,880 repeat and that are that are repeatable 162 00:12:14,650 --> 00:12:13,280 or that you can somehow control and 163 00:12:17,860 --> 00:12:14,660 that's typically what we study in 164 00:12:23,140 --> 00:12:17,870 science that's the way we verify our 165 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:23,150 hypotheses so the the fact that that the 166 00:12:28,750 --> 00:12:25,010 phenomenon is and controllable means 167 00:12:30,730 --> 00:12:28,760 that it's it's not easy to verify your 168 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:30,740 hypothesis that you know so if you've 169 00:12:34,570 --> 00:12:31,970 got a hypothesis that it's an 170 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:34,580 extraterrestrial spacecraft then how do 171 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:35,930 you verify that well you have to wait 172 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:37,970 till another one shows up and you can't 173 00:12:42,100 --> 00:12:40,010 control the situation in which they show 174 00:12:45,940 --> 00:12:42,110 up so it's very difficult to handle 175 00:12:47,090 --> 00:12:45,950 things like this a similar example that 176 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:47,100 happened you know 177 00:12:52,070 --> 00:12:49,890 two centuries ago was that of meteorites 178 00:12:56,060 --> 00:12:52,080 the theory of meteorites that the idea 179 00:12:58,670 --> 00:12:56,070 that rocks fall from space and this was 180 00:13:01,550 --> 00:12:58,680 considered ridiculous for a long period 181 00:13:03,530 --> 00:13:01,560 of time and you know how do you prove 182 00:13:05,150 --> 00:13:03,540 that rocks fall from space well you have 183 00:13:08,660 --> 00:13:05,160 to wait for one to fall and then you 184 00:13:11,780 --> 00:13:08,670 have to find it and that's extremely 185 00:13:14,090 --> 00:13:11,790 difficult and and it really was a big 186 00:13:18,260 --> 00:13:14,100 problem until I think it was burrow in 187 00:13:20,330 --> 00:13:18,270 1802 where you had a meteorite came over 188 00:13:23,390 --> 00:13:20,340 a small town in France and broke into 189 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:23,400 several small several pieces and there 190 00:13:26,810 --> 00:13:25,290 were many witnesses in this town that 191 00:13:29,780 --> 00:13:26,820 witnessed it falling into several pieces 192 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:29,790 and and landed and I think it was about 193 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:31,410 four different places in town and 194 00:13:37,300 --> 00:13:34,610 started fires each of those places so 195 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:37,310 the in those that case they were able to 196 00:13:45,350 --> 00:13:43,650 find the rocks and and a geologist you 197 00:13:47,780 --> 00:13:45,360 know geologists then showed up and 198 00:13:50,870 --> 00:13:47,790 looked at the rocks and they knew about 199 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:50,880 the the geography of the region and you 200 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:52,410 know could easily tell these rocks did 201 00:13:57,620 --> 00:13:55,770 not come from this region so you know 202 00:13:59,210 --> 00:13:57,630 with that many witnesses in the in the 203 00:14:01,820 --> 00:13:59,220 town and having the physical evidence 204 00:14:04,490 --> 00:14:01,830 that actually changed changed the tide 205 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:04,500 and you know the theory that rocks fall 206 00:14:09,220 --> 00:14:06,810 from the sky or rocks can fall from the 207 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:09,230 sky became something that's accepted so 208 00:14:14,090 --> 00:14:11,970 so there are other examples in science 209 00:14:17,170 --> 00:14:14,100 where you know there were hypotheses 210 00:14:19,490 --> 00:14:17,180 that were very difficult to validate and 211 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:19,500 that eventually were eventually it 212 00:14:24,140 --> 00:14:21,930 turned around no now if you kind of 213 00:14:26,060 --> 00:14:24,150 turned this whole topic on on edge and 214 00:14:28,850 --> 00:14:26,070 imagine well what would it look like if 215 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:28,860 we did have an alien probe or a 216 00:14:34,010 --> 00:14:31,650 spacecraft with full of explorers come 217 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:34,020 to earth you know you would have some 218 00:14:41,210 --> 00:14:37,410 craft you know a you know flying over 219 00:14:42,770 --> 00:14:41,220 some region on the planet and probably 220 00:14:45,170 --> 00:14:42,780 going to be seen by somebody eventually 221 00:14:46,580 --> 00:14:45,180 and those witnesses are gonna come 222 00:14:48,110 --> 00:14:46,590 forward and describe something very 223 00:14:52,460 --> 00:14:48,120 strange and nobody's going to believe 224 00:14:55,130 --> 00:14:52,470 them so so now you have exactly the 225 00:14:56,580 --> 00:14:55,140 situation that we have occurring so so 226 00:14:58,470 --> 00:14:56,590 it's very hard to 227 00:15:01,260 --> 00:14:58,480 you know immediately discount some of 228 00:15:02,940 --> 00:15:01,270 this especially when you have we need to 229 00:15:05,220 --> 00:15:02,950 have data like radar data that 230 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:05,230 corroborates eyewitness reports and and 231 00:15:27,020 --> 00:15:08,890 such so I think that it is I think it's 232 00:15:38,390 --> 00:15:35,420 I think most most UFOs that are observed 233 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:38,400 are not not extraterrestrial spacecraft 234 00:15:44,300 --> 00:15:39,810 I think most people would agree to that 235 00:15:45,710 --> 00:15:44,310 and you know especially especially cases 236 00:15:51,110 --> 00:15:45,720 where you have lights in the sky those 237 00:15:53,420 --> 00:15:51,120 are those are very very difficult it's 238 00:15:55,460 --> 00:15:53,430 very difficult to assess and and I don't 239 00:15:57,320 --> 00:15:55,470 really find those cases very interesting 240 00:16:01,850 --> 00:15:57,330 I'm more interested in the situation 241 00:16:03,470 --> 00:16:01,860 where somebody was able to identify the 242 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:03,480 object as being some kind of 243 00:16:08,450 --> 00:16:06,210 unidentified structured craft and I 244 00:16:11,990 --> 00:16:08,460 think that's one of the big problems and 245 00:16:15,380 --> 00:16:12,000 maybe it's an unfortunate you know fact 246 00:16:18,350 --> 00:16:15,390 of the terminology that we have come to 247 00:16:21,770 --> 00:16:18,360 think of identified and unidentified as 248 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:21,780 being a binary situation and that's not 249 00:16:28,100 --> 00:16:24,770 precisely accurate I'm a bird watcher so 250 00:16:30,500 --> 00:16:28,110 there are there many cases if you go 251 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:30,510 through my my bird-watching notes you 252 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:31,650 know especially when I'm in a foreign 253 00:16:36,710 --> 00:16:34,290 country so I was in Brazil recently and 254 00:16:40,790 --> 00:16:36,720 I might have some notes that says I done 255 00:16:44,420 --> 00:16:40,800 unidentified well it's not completely 256 00:16:46,490 --> 00:16:44,430 identified I know it was a bird and I 257 00:16:48,860 --> 00:16:46,500 might know okay it's not a great blue 258 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:48,870 heron and it's not a bald eagle so I can 259 00:16:53,690 --> 00:16:50,730 rule out certain situations certain 260 00:16:57,500 --> 00:16:53,700 cases and so something being 261 00:17:00,800 --> 00:16:57,510 unidentified is not it's not black and 262 00:17:03,660 --> 00:17:00,810 white and and I think those those cases 263 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:03,670 the UFO cases where 264 00:17:09,900 --> 00:17:08,650 you have witnesses who were able to you 265 00:17:12,270 --> 00:17:09,910 know where they're able to describe the 266 00:17:16,590 --> 00:17:12,280 objects they saw they recognize them as 267 00:17:19,500 --> 00:17:16,600 objects and and in some cases identified 268 00:17:40,230 --> 00:17:19,510 them as structured craft those I find 269 00:17:42,510 --> 00:17:40,240 those I find very interesting let's see 270 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:42,520 I mean I've been I've been doing 271 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:44,770 research in astrophysics for several 272 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:47,530 years now since before I worked at NASA 273 00:17:52,289 --> 00:17:49,450 so I was at and that's a research 274 00:17:57,659 --> 00:17:52,299 scientist for four years before coming 275 00:18:02,730 --> 00:17:57,669 to the University at Albany and I got 276 00:18:04,669 --> 00:18:02,740 into the exoplanet work just after the 277 00:18:09,330 --> 00:18:04,679 Kepler space telescope started producing 278 00:18:14,460 --> 00:18:09,340 results Bilborough key he was the PI of 279 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:14,470 the Kepler project he had published a 280 00:18:20,430 --> 00:18:17,490 paper in science that I was reading and 281 00:18:23,010 --> 00:18:20,440 the one of the figures showed the light 282 00:18:25,260 --> 00:18:23,020 curves from the exoplanet and and I 283 00:18:26,990 --> 00:18:25,270 noticed some you know some curious you 284 00:18:29,789 --> 00:18:27,000 know there were some curves to this 285 00:18:31,590 --> 00:18:29,799 curves on this light curve it was kind 286 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:31,600 of curvy around the edges they were most 287 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:33,250 people are interested in the transits so 288 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:35,770 so basically what you do is the Kepler 289 00:18:41,039 --> 00:18:37,570 space telescope watched a patch of sky 290 00:18:44,370 --> 00:18:41,049 and recorded the light coming from about 291 00:18:46,919 --> 00:18:44,380 a hundred fifty thousand stars and if 292 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:46,929 you plot the if you watch how the light 293 00:18:51,690 --> 00:18:48,970 from the stars vary over time sometimes 294 00:18:54,570 --> 00:18:51,700 you see these dips these periodic dips 295 00:18:55,770 --> 00:18:54,580 occur and these tips are from planets 296 00:18:57,330 --> 00:18:55,780 passing in front of the star and 297 00:18:59,789 --> 00:18:57,340 blocking out a little bit of starlight 298 00:19:01,650 --> 00:18:59,799 and these are called transits and that's 299 00:19:04,919 --> 00:19:01,660 what most people typically had been 300 00:19:06,330 --> 00:19:04,929 focusing on but while I was looking at 301 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:06,340 this I could see well there was some 302 00:19:14,070 --> 00:19:11,410 wavy type behavior going around going on 303 00:19:15,630 --> 00:19:14,080 around the transits and and I realized 304 00:19:17,490 --> 00:19:15,640 wait a minute that's reflect that's 305 00:19:21,990 --> 00:19:17,500 probably reflected light from the plane 306 00:19:25,020 --> 00:19:22,000 it and I thought I bet you could you 307 00:19:26,940 --> 00:19:25,030 could use this reflected light to learn 308 00:19:28,290 --> 00:19:26,950 much learn more about the planets and 309 00:19:29,820 --> 00:19:28,300 you might even be able to detect planets 310 00:19:31,230 --> 00:19:29,830 that aren't transiting that aren't 311 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:31,240 passing in front of the star just by 312 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:35,410 looking for reflected light so my chance 313 00:19:42,810 --> 00:19:38,890 I had been well I had been giving a 314 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:42,820 lecture on astrophysics and one of our 315 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:44,410 new graduate students came up to me and 316 00:19:47,340 --> 00:19:45,610 said he wanted to do something with 317 00:19:49,620 --> 00:19:47,350 astrophysics and wanted to know if I had 318 00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:49,630 any projects to work on and at the time 319 00:19:54,780 --> 00:19:51,810 I did and I told him I'm sorry I don't 320 00:19:57,660 --> 00:19:54,790 have any ideas for projects right now 321 00:20:00,270 --> 00:19:57,670 and he looked rather disappointed and 322 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:00,280 and walked away and and I was thinking 323 00:20:04,290 --> 00:20:02,050 about it I thought about that paper that 324 00:20:06,990 --> 00:20:04,300 I had just read I thought well what if 325 00:20:09,270 --> 00:20:07,000 we tried looking at reflected light you 326 00:20:11,580 --> 00:20:09,280 know and tried studying that reflected 327 00:20:15,630 --> 00:20:11,590 light from exoplanets using the Kepler 328 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:15,640 data and so I caught up with the student 329 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:18,850 I said you know I do have an idea and 330 00:20:23,310 --> 00:20:20,770 the problem is that it's risky it's not 331 00:20:24,810 --> 00:20:23,320 been done yet and there's a chance that 332 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:24,820 it might not work but here's what the 333 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:27,610 here's the idea and I want you to go you 334 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:29,410 know read about this think about it and 335 00:20:34,500 --> 00:20:30,850 then get back to me to see if you want 336 00:20:36,300 --> 00:20:34,510 to do that and and so so a couple days 337 00:20:37,770 --> 00:20:36,310 later he he got back to me and said he 338 00:20:39,180 --> 00:20:37,780 really wanted to work on this project so 339 00:20:49,470 --> 00:20:39,190 we basically took it on and that's how 340 00:20:59,280 --> 00:20:56,850 ah that's possible I don't know what the 341 00:21:16,169 --> 00:20:59,290 exact numbers are but II but yes but the 342 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:28,049 oh yeah I totally agree I think the 343 00:21:32,820 --> 00:21:30,450 Kepler mission was a huge success and 344 00:21:34,850 --> 00:21:32,830 and I'm looking forward to some of the 345 00:21:37,799 --> 00:21:34,860 new missions like tests which is the 346 00:21:42,149 --> 00:21:37,809 transiting exoplanet survey satellite 347 00:21:44,430 --> 00:21:42,159 and and so we have several new missions 348 00:21:46,109 --> 00:21:44,440 coming up which will be giving us a lot 349 00:21:48,629 --> 00:21:46,119 more information about exoplanets so 350 00:21:50,369 --> 00:21:48,639 we're we're really entering a new era of 351 00:21:52,109 --> 00:21:50,379 astronomy where we're beginning to learn 352 00:21:53,580 --> 00:21:52,119 about planets around other stars and 353 00:22:03,360 --> 00:21:53,590 what these other worlds are actually 354 00:22:06,980 --> 00:22:05,010 yeah I don't know exactly what the 355 00:22:11,250 --> 00:22:06,990 status is and when they're planning to 356 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:11,260 release data but but it's it it yeah 357 00:22:32,330 --> 00:22:56,139 and lira yep 358 00:23:06,980 --> 00:23:04,850 hum parallel I think that's right I 359 00:23:09,529 --> 00:23:06,990 think that's correct yeah and and the 360 00:23:12,070 --> 00:23:09,539 the if you hold your hand up in that 361 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:12,080 region you know with arm extended 362 00:23:16,370 --> 00:23:14,210 basically the area of your palm 363 00:23:19,879 --> 00:23:16,380 represents that patch of sky that it's 364 00:23:21,769 --> 00:23:19,889 looking at so the 150,000 stars that has 365 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:21,779 been studying in the several thousand 366 00:23:25,669 --> 00:23:23,250 planets that have been discovered all or 367 00:23:37,470 --> 00:23:25,679 behind your pub palm when your hand 368 00:23:37,480 --> 00:24:20,090 okay yeah 369 00:24:24,930 --> 00:24:22,860 right yeah I think it's been repurposed 370 00:24:30,570 --> 00:24:24,940 and what they're calling the k2 mission 371 00:24:32,010 --> 00:24:30,580 right now so they because they they had 372 00:24:36,930 --> 00:24:32,020 problems with some of the gyroscopes 373 00:24:39,870 --> 00:24:36,940 abled so they couldn't maintain maintain 374 00:24:42,390 --> 00:24:39,880 the pose to to watch that one patch of 375 00:24:43,620 --> 00:24:42,400 sky so now they're they they repurposed 376 00:24:44,970 --> 00:24:43,630 it and they're doing things a bit 377 00:25:26,939 --> 00:24:44,980 differently now but still collecting 378 00:25:34,329 --> 00:25:29,609 yeah that's that's exactly right we had 379 00:25:35,799 --> 00:25:34,339 the my former graduate students were the 380 00:25:39,459 --> 00:25:35,809 one who I had been speaking of actually 381 00:25:43,719 --> 00:25:39,469 who got got some started as being 382 00:25:47,649 --> 00:25:43,729 involved in this dr. Ben phasic he he 383 00:25:52,029 --> 00:25:47,659 developed this this software which we 384 00:25:54,430 --> 00:25:52,039 call eczema stand so and that's what we 385 00:25:58,779 --> 00:25:54,440 basically use to analyze the data from 386 00:26:01,359 --> 00:25:58,789 the Kepler space telescope and the oh 387 00:26:03,189 --> 00:26:01,369 I'm sorry in that yeah this other so 388 00:26:05,829 --> 00:26:03,199 this software not only models the 389 00:26:09,249 --> 00:26:05,839 transits it describes the uses 390 00:26:11,709 --> 00:26:09,259 information about the what happens to 391 00:26:14,069 --> 00:26:11,719 starlight as planet passes in front of 392 00:26:16,689 --> 00:26:14,079 the star but it also takes into account 393 00:26:19,599 --> 00:26:16,699 the fact that you can have reflected 394 00:26:21,459 --> 00:26:19,609 light the fact that the planet could be 395 00:26:25,269 --> 00:26:21,469 very close to the star and be very hot 396 00:26:30,189 --> 00:26:25,279 so you might get thermal emissions you 397 00:26:33,669 --> 00:26:30,199 see can get radiation due to due to the 398 00:26:35,169 --> 00:26:33,679 heat from the planet and there are two 399 00:26:37,689 --> 00:26:35,179 other effects that it takes into account 400 00:26:39,369 --> 00:26:37,699 to that one of them having to do with 401 00:26:41,259 --> 00:26:39,379 the fact that if the planets close to 402 00:26:42,729 --> 00:26:41,269 the star the gravitational force from 403 00:26:45,519 --> 00:26:42,739 the planet can actually distort the 404 00:26:49,149 --> 00:26:45,529 shape of the star slightly and you can 405 00:26:51,159 --> 00:26:49,159 see that that effect the light that you 406 00:26:57,219 --> 00:26:51,169 record as well so we can use several 407 00:26:59,319 --> 00:26:57,229 different effects to to obtain more 408 00:27:11,700 --> 00:26:59,329 information about what you know the 409 00:27:11,710 --> 00:27:37,250 you see 410 00:27:44,420 --> 00:27:40,190 most of the date has been been pre 411 00:27:47,170 --> 00:27:44,430 processed you and you can down the 412 00:27:51,350 --> 00:27:47,180 download the data from a portal which 413 00:27:52,940 --> 00:27:51,360 describes the format that it's in so off 414 00:27:54,950 --> 00:27:52,950 the top of my head I don't know how 415 00:27:57,410 --> 00:27:54,960 different the formats are from each 416 00:27:59,720 --> 00:27:57,420 other there's there's usually at least 417 00:28:02,750 --> 00:27:59,730 usually small differences at the very 418 00:28:04,580 --> 00:28:02,760 least so you have to do have to spend a 419 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:04,590 little time reading about how the data 420 00:28:12,620 --> 00:28:10,290 is formatted and and and and often have 421 00:28:14,420 --> 00:28:12,630 to reformat it a bit to put it into the 422 00:28:18,590 --> 00:28:14,430 form that your software is ready for but 423 00:28:20,630 --> 00:28:18,600 but that information is all available on 424 00:28:46,810 --> 00:28:20,640 the download sites so that's not a 425 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:49,810 Yeah right now they're mostly written 426 00:28:58,279 --> 00:28:53,730 written as basically as subroutines that 427 00:29:01,129 --> 00:28:58,289 you you can insert or utilize within the 428 00:29:04,879 --> 00:29:01,139 main software so so each each of these 429 00:29:08,810 --> 00:29:04,889 subroutines computes a photometric 430 00:29:10,940 --> 00:29:08,820 effect which basically is some some 431 00:29:12,169 --> 00:29:10,950 physical effect that changes the the 432 00:29:16,759 --> 00:29:12,179 amount of light that you're getting from 433 00:29:18,139 --> 00:29:16,769 the star so or that system so each one 434 00:29:21,980 --> 00:29:18,149 of these has written up as a subroutine 435 00:29:24,619 --> 00:29:21,990 and then you know for additional or 436 00:29:29,149 --> 00:29:24,629 future effects or refinements to these 437 00:29:31,669 --> 00:29:29,159 effects you you would basically rewrite 438 00:29:33,590 --> 00:29:31,679 the code for for a refinement you would 439 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:33,600 you would edit the code for that 440 00:29:37,879 --> 00:29:36,450 subroutine or you if you wanted to take 441 00:29:41,060 --> 00:29:37,889 into account a new effect you would 442 00:29:42,350 --> 00:29:41,070 introduce a new subroutine which you 443 00:29:52,499 --> 00:29:42,360 basically just linked to the main 444 00:29:52,509 --> 00:30:10,380 Shh 445 00:30:15,210 --> 00:30:12,750 oh I think I think that's basically the 446 00:30:17,460 --> 00:30:15,220 situation that's been you know revealed 447 00:30:20,190 --> 00:30:17,470 from this data set I think the 448 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:20,200 statistics the the last last time I 449 00:30:29,010 --> 00:30:24,210 looked at this the statistics were that 450 00:30:32,310 --> 00:30:29,020 one out of five stars in the sky would 451 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:32,320 have a planet in the zone we call the 452 00:30:36,180 --> 00:30:34,810 habitable zone where you can have where 453 00:30:39,510 --> 00:30:36,190 the temperatures are just right to have 454 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:39,520 liquid water so III think that's really 455 00:30:43,230 --> 00:30:41,530 exciting because that you go outside and 456 00:30:45,150 --> 00:30:43,240 just count out go outside and I count 457 00:30:47,820 --> 00:30:45,160 out five stars and one of those stars 458 00:30:49,350 --> 00:30:47,830 will have a planet that's within the 459 00:31:19,120 --> 00:30:49,360 right range to be able to have liquid 460 00:31:24,140 --> 00:31:22,040 now well the whole idea of a habitable 461 00:31:27,169 --> 00:31:24,150 zone is it's a little tricky because 462 00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:27,179 they buy that what's typically meant is 463 00:31:31,010 --> 00:31:29,250 that the surface temperatures of the 464 00:31:33,169 --> 00:31:31,020 planets would be such that you could 465 00:31:35,060 --> 00:31:33,179 have liquid water but that doesn't mean 466 00:31:37,850 --> 00:31:35,070 that the planet is necessarily habitable 467 00:31:39,770 --> 00:31:37,860 and and as you're saying just like 468 00:31:41,390 --> 00:31:39,780 you're saying there are other worlds you 469 00:31:43,910 --> 00:31:41,400 know that lie outside that zone where 470 00:31:45,530 --> 00:31:43,920 you can have still have liquid water and 471 00:31:59,690 --> 00:31:45,540 it still could be still could be 472 00:31:59,700 --> 00:32:26,070 that's right 473 00:32:43,049 --> 00:32:40,950 right well I wouldn't say hundred 474 00:32:45,539 --> 00:32:43,059 percent confident I would I would say 475 00:32:47,399 --> 00:32:45,549 that the probabilities are rather high 476 00:32:49,799 --> 00:32:47,409 that there's you know life elsewhere in 477 00:32:51,899 --> 00:32:49,809 the galaxy but you know like ice like 478 00:32:53,639 --> 00:32:51,909 weed at this point we don't know yet so 479 00:32:57,840 --> 00:32:53,649 we don't really know we don't really 480 00:33:00,090 --> 00:32:57,850 know what you know how life you know in 481 00:33:04,860 --> 00:33:00,100 what situations life can arise and and 482 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:04,870 how long it can last and it's there's 483 00:33:20,580 --> 00:33:06,490 there's still a lot of uncertainty in 484 00:34:04,509 --> 00:33:27,340 Shh that's right yeah it is a big step 485 00:34:10,789 --> 00:34:08,389 well yeah I don't I don't necessarily 486 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:10,799 see the two is being related directly 487 00:34:16,609 --> 00:34:14,970 but I I do you know one of the other 488 00:34:18,950 --> 00:34:16,619 hats I wear as I do do work in 489 00:34:21,049 --> 00:34:18,960 theoretical physics looking at either 490 00:34:25,099 --> 00:34:21,059 foundations of physics basically where 491 00:34:26,839 --> 00:34:25,109 where do why does why do we have the 492 00:34:28,940 --> 00:34:26,849 physical laws that we have and not other 493 00:34:30,260 --> 00:34:28,950 laws that's you know one way to look at 494 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:30,270 it where do the laws of physics come 495 00:34:53,260 --> 00:34:32,970 from why why is why is physics the way 496 00:35:01,840 --> 00:34:59,060 sure yeah the I really started thinking 497 00:35:04,790 --> 00:35:01,850 about this because you know when we 498 00:35:07,100 --> 00:35:04,800 learn physics we learn you know you're 499 00:35:08,900 --> 00:35:07,110 first you're taught about a set a set of 500 00:35:12,950 --> 00:35:08,910 concepts you know you have position 501 00:35:16,840 --> 00:35:12,960 velocity energy mass momentum things 502 00:35:23,530 --> 00:35:16,850 like this and these are all empirically 503 00:35:26,090 --> 00:35:23,540 defined concepts so so you know 504 00:35:28,190 --> 00:35:26,100 sometimes you wonder well what what is 505 00:35:30,980 --> 00:35:28,200 what is you know what are these what do 506 00:35:32,930 --> 00:35:30,990 these things really represent and and we 507 00:35:35,090 --> 00:35:32,940 become familiar with them and their 508 00:35:36,950 --> 00:35:35,100 relationships to one another and that's 509 00:35:41,990 --> 00:35:36,960 one of the essential steps of becoming a 510 00:35:44,540 --> 00:35:42,000 physicist but but at some point you know 511 00:35:47,510 --> 00:35:44,550 reflecting back I realized well we often 512 00:35:49,850 --> 00:35:47,520 talk about you know say a billiard ball 513 00:35:51,680 --> 00:35:49,860 or an electron or something has a 514 00:35:56,270 --> 00:35:51,690 certain amount of energy and we say this 515 00:35:58,340 --> 00:35:56,280 all the time and and one day it really 516 00:36:01,430 --> 00:35:58,350 occurred to me that I really sank in 517 00:36:05,240 --> 00:36:01,440 that well isn't really right to say that 518 00:36:07,250 --> 00:36:05,250 something has energy and because if you 519 00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:07,260 had another observer racing volley in a 520 00:36:11,390 --> 00:36:09,810 spacecraft looking at it they would they 521 00:36:13,970 --> 00:36:11,400 would say that it has a different energy 522 00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:13,980 than the energy that I would assign to 523 00:36:20,090 --> 00:36:17,970 it so these a lot of these physical 524 00:36:21,860 --> 00:36:20,100 concepts that we are familiar with our 525 00:36:29,210 --> 00:36:21,870 observer base they depend on the 526 00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:29,220 observer and so so if the inter if 527 00:36:32,510 --> 00:36:30,690 something like the energy of an object 528 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:32,520 depends actually depends on the observer 529 00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:34,050 then it doesn't really represent 530 00:36:38,690 --> 00:36:36,330 something that the object possesses it 531 00:36:40,790 --> 00:36:38,700 represents a description of the 532 00:36:44,060 --> 00:36:40,800 relationship between that object and the 533 00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:44,070 observer and so I really started 534 00:36:49,100 --> 00:36:46,890 pondering well what well what is the 535 00:36:52,850 --> 00:36:49,110 nature of this relationship between an 536 00:36:55,100 --> 00:36:52,860 object and an observer such that we use 537 00:36:57,980 --> 00:36:55,110 these fees what we think of as physical 538 00:37:00,780 --> 00:36:57,990 quantities to describe this so 539 00:37:03,630 --> 00:37:00,790 so we started playing around with with 540 00:37:05,910 --> 00:37:03,640 troy models trying to describe how you 541 00:37:08,099 --> 00:37:05,920 know if we can come up with a very 542 00:37:09,809 --> 00:37:08,109 simplified picture of what could be 543 00:37:12,359 --> 00:37:09,819 going on and see if we can drive the 544 00:37:14,220 --> 00:37:12,369 laws of physics this way so he came up 545 00:37:17,099 --> 00:37:14,230 with this model we're not calling it 546 00:37:22,730 --> 00:37:17,109 influence theory this idea that things 547 00:37:26,540 --> 00:37:22,740 influence one another and that and we're 548 00:37:30,660 --> 00:37:26,550 looking to see how one could possibly 549 00:37:34,079 --> 00:37:30,670 describe these the fact that things are 550 00:37:35,730 --> 00:37:34,089 influencing you as you're you know is 551 00:37:38,010 --> 00:37:35,740 there an observer in the universe and 552 00:37:39,780 --> 00:37:38,020 we've been able to show that you know 553 00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:39,790 with this very simple model that you can 554 00:37:45,630 --> 00:37:43,930 actually derive several you know some of 555 00:37:50,550 --> 00:37:45,640 the laws of physics this way basically 556 00:37:51,750 --> 00:37:50,560 that the laws of physics then that you 557 00:37:57,720 --> 00:37:51,760 know that we've been able to work with 558 00:37:59,760 --> 00:37:57,730 here basically are describing are just 559 00:38:04,260 --> 00:37:59,770 describing your relationship to the rest 560 00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:04,270 of the universe and so so I think that 561 00:38:09,109 --> 00:38:06,010 this is this is a very different 562 00:38:12,270 --> 00:38:09,119 perspective and it's very new and and 563 00:38:14,359 --> 00:38:12,280 and we're still making developments in 564 00:38:16,349 --> 00:38:14,369 this in this direction so but it's a 565 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:16,359 different way of thinking about the 566 00:38:21,720 --> 00:38:19,930 physical laws it's not that from this 567 00:38:23,550 --> 00:38:21,730 perspective it's not that you have laws 568 00:38:25,800 --> 00:38:23,560 of nature and you have energy and 569 00:38:28,050 --> 00:38:25,810 momentum and these these physical 570 00:38:31,050 --> 00:38:28,060 concepts that are are somehow important 571 00:38:32,940 --> 00:38:31,060 it's it turned its instead that you know 572 00:38:37,230 --> 00:38:32,950 these concepts are actually descriptions 573 00:38:40,220 --> 00:38:37,240 are optimal descriptions of of how 574 00:39:01,990 --> 00:38:40,230 things interact with each other and and 575 00:39:09,770 --> 00:39:04,910 sure yeah that that's related to this 576 00:39:13,130 --> 00:39:09,780 idea and the well what we were able to 577 00:39:15,790 --> 00:39:13,140 do in one paper that I that I wrote with 578 00:39:19,820 --> 00:39:15,800 one of my former graduate students 579 00:39:25,090 --> 00:39:19,830 dr. Nisha bahraini and I we were looking 580 00:39:27,500 --> 00:39:25,100 at how an observer would be able to 581 00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:27,510 mathematically describe events that are 582 00:39:35,140 --> 00:39:30,890 happening that are causally related and 583 00:39:37,790 --> 00:39:35,150 and we were able to derive the 584 00:39:39,830 --> 00:39:37,800 mathematics of relativistic space-time 585 00:39:42,200 --> 00:39:39,840 the space-time that that Einstein had 586 00:39:43,790 --> 00:39:42,210 come up with and we were able to show 587 00:39:46,790 --> 00:39:43,800 that that's the only way you could 588 00:39:49,690 --> 00:39:46,800 possibly the only way an observer could 589 00:39:52,640 --> 00:39:49,700 possibly describe such events and so 590 00:40:01,880 --> 00:39:52,650 that was kind of exciting and strange 591 00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:01,890 because we we realized that that the 592 00:40:06,830 --> 00:40:04,770 implication was that space and time need 593 00:40:09,070 --> 00:40:06,840 not be physical things but we're 594 00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:09,080 basically just a description of events 595 00:40:16,520 --> 00:40:14,970 and so in some ways I guess this is a 596 00:40:19,850 --> 00:40:16,530 pun in some ways this changes the 597 00:40:26,750 --> 00:40:19,860 landscape of how to think about space 598 00:40:28,610 --> 00:40:26,760 and time and and so one way to think 599 00:40:30,020 --> 00:40:28,620 about it is that you know if you looks 600 00:40:32,540 --> 00:40:30,030 at look at something on the other side 601 00:40:35,300 --> 00:40:32,550 of the room you know you you're 602 00:40:38,300 --> 00:40:35,310 basically thinking about it as being at 603 00:40:40,340 --> 00:40:38,310 the other side of the room but it's but 604 00:40:42,830 --> 00:40:40,350 that is really representing is your 605 00:40:46,820 --> 00:40:42,840 relationship between you and that object 606 00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:46,830 and your relationship between you and 607 00:40:50,240 --> 00:40:48,690 something far away is different than 608 00:40:53,900 --> 00:40:50,250 your relationship to you and something 609 00:40:58,100 --> 00:40:53,910 close by and so this object this concept 610 00:41:02,240 --> 00:40:58,110 of closeness or far away or of distance 611 00:41:06,890 --> 00:41:02,250 is really a way of describing your 612 00:41:09,020 --> 00:41:06,900 relationship to things so so that's it's 613 00:41:11,510 --> 00:41:09,030 a different perspective and so with with 614 00:41:13,250 --> 00:41:11,520 a different perspective you know now can 615 00:41:18,050 --> 00:41:13,260 ask more interesting questions well 616 00:41:20,030 --> 00:41:18,060 let's say we take you know so so if this 617 00:41:21,680 --> 00:41:20,040 whole idea of way over there is really 618 00:41:25,490 --> 00:41:21,690 just a description of something well 619 00:41:27,410 --> 00:41:25,500 then maybe how do you then think about 620 00:41:28,910 --> 00:41:27,420 motion what does it mean to move from 621 00:41:30,020 --> 00:41:28,920 one point to another well what you're 622 00:41:34,490 --> 00:41:30,030 doing is you're changing your 623 00:41:35,930 --> 00:41:34,500 relationship to objects and so you know 624 00:41:37,970 --> 00:41:35,940 what is that what does that tell you 625 00:41:42,290 --> 00:41:37,980 about motion is an interesting question 626 00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:42,300 that we've been looking at so so I think 627 00:41:47,170 --> 00:41:44,130 it's a it's a new perspective it's so 628 00:41:49,910 --> 00:41:47,180 far it's so far it's been successful and 629 00:41:52,430 --> 00:41:49,920 whether we can can the theory can 630 00:41:54,020 --> 00:41:52,440 continue to be successful and will 631 00:41:56,780 --> 00:41:54,030 continue to work or it remains to be 632 00:42:18,750 --> 00:41:56,790 seen but that's something that we're 633 00:42:38,790 --> 00:42:34,790 oh well this is kind of difficult I I 634 00:42:43,260 --> 00:42:38,800 tried to avoid talking about specific 635 00:42:45,600 --> 00:42:43,270 cases for a simple reason usually you 636 00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:45,610 know if you if I pick a favorite case or 637 00:42:51,720 --> 00:42:48,330 something that I found to be compelling 638 00:42:53,670 --> 00:42:51,730 it doesn't take very long until somebody 639 00:42:57,090 --> 00:42:53,680 jumps in and says oh look but so-and-so 640 00:42:59,100 --> 00:42:57,100 debunked that case well what does that 641 00:43:01,740 --> 00:42:59,110 mean that so-and-so debunked that case 642 00:43:04,020 --> 00:43:01,750 and and and so you know and very often 643 00:43:06,810 --> 00:43:04,030 I've gone back and looked and see how so 644 00:43:09,780 --> 00:43:06,820 and so is debunked the case and the 645 00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:09,790 proposed explanation the proposed 646 00:43:16,710 --> 00:43:13,450 prosaic explanation is very often kind 647 00:43:21,180 --> 00:43:16,720 of ridiculous so I never sure what to 648 00:43:22,590 --> 00:43:21,190 make of this I think that maybe I can 649 00:43:31,140 --> 00:43:22,600 talk a little more generally I think 650 00:43:33,480 --> 00:43:31,150 there are there are cases where where 651 00:43:35,850 --> 00:43:33,490 you have especially you've had pilots or 652 00:43:38,250 --> 00:43:35,860 multiple pilots have seen large objects 653 00:43:40,170 --> 00:43:38,260 and some of these objects are very you 654 00:43:44,270 --> 00:43:40,180 know perceived to be very large you know 655 00:43:47,400 --> 00:43:44,280 in some cases ranging from 300 feet to 656 00:43:49,260 --> 00:43:47,410 you know to 800 feet however half a mile 657 00:43:52,590 --> 00:43:49,270 across or something like this various 658 00:43:56,150 --> 00:43:52,600 descriptions now you know I as a 659 00:43:58,770 --> 00:43:56,160 scientist I would ask myself well you 660 00:44:01,020 --> 00:43:58,780 you would be tempted in saying well how 661 00:44:03,150 --> 00:44:01,030 do you know you know judging distances 662 00:44:04,530 --> 00:44:03,160 or sizes at distances is a very 663 00:44:06,930 --> 00:44:04,540 difficult thing so how do you really 664 00:44:08,250 --> 00:44:06,940 know it was a half a mile across so 665 00:44:09,990 --> 00:44:08,260 that's an easy thing to say of course 666 00:44:13,470 --> 00:44:10,000 they don't know precisely that it was a 667 00:44:14,790 --> 00:44:13,480 half mile across but but I in a lot of 668 00:44:17,460 --> 00:44:14,800 my research I deal a lot with 669 00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:17,470 uncertainty so really the question ask 670 00:44:24,210 --> 00:44:19,570 is well how wrong could the person be 671 00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:24,220 right and you know so now here let's say 672 00:44:29,160 --> 00:44:26,410 we have a pilot who estimates the size 673 00:44:31,620 --> 00:44:29,170 of this craft as being 300 feet across 674 00:44:32,620 --> 00:44:31,630 well how wrong could the person be I 675 00:44:35,650 --> 00:44:32,630 don't know 676 00:44:36,790 --> 00:44:35,660 and it depends on the situation but but 677 00:44:38,830 --> 00:44:36,800 when you have a pilot that says 678 00:44:40,510 --> 00:44:38,840 basically that I looked out the front 679 00:44:42,790 --> 00:44:40,520 window and all I could see was this 680 00:44:45,610 --> 00:44:42,800 craft well they're not that wrong I mean 681 00:44:49,210 --> 00:44:45,620 they're the things obviously large and 682 00:44:54,160 --> 00:44:49,220 so so I so I find those cases 683 00:44:56,230 --> 00:44:54,170 interesting I you know I and clearly in 684 00:44:58,210 --> 00:44:56,240 those cases they saw something that was 685 00:45:00,460 --> 00:44:58,220 large whether you know large is a 686 00:45:03,130 --> 00:45:00,470 hundred feet across or 300 feet across I 687 00:45:06,390 --> 00:45:03,140 don't know but you know it's bigger than 688 00:45:07,540 --> 00:45:06,400 zero perches and which has I've been 689 00:45:19,860 --> 00:45:07,550 interesting 690 00:45:24,970 --> 00:45:22,630 the motion of the craft where you can 691 00:45:28,810 --> 00:45:24,980 make some inferences about the rates of 692 00:45:31,540 --> 00:45:28,820 acceleration and in especially in cases 693 00:45:35,590 --> 00:45:31,550 where you have this corroborated by 694 00:45:37,180 --> 00:45:35,600 radar data so so I've you know there are 695 00:45:39,010 --> 00:45:37,190 a few cases where exist where you can 696 00:45:41,140 --> 00:45:39,020 make estimates of the accelerations of 697 00:45:43,270 --> 00:45:41,150 these objects and they range anywhere 698 00:45:45,910 --> 00:45:43,280 from I've found them to range anywhere 699 00:45:49,690 --> 00:45:45,920 from 40 G the acceleration 40 times the 700 00:45:52,780 --> 00:45:49,700 acceleration of gravity to you know in 701 00:45:55,510 --> 00:45:52,790 one case up to over a thousand G of 702 00:45:56,320 --> 00:45:55,520 acceleration now and that and that's 703 00:46:05,950 --> 00:45:56,330 insane 704 00:46:07,420 --> 00:46:05,960 that's an exam acceleration and 25 G 705 00:46:09,940 --> 00:46:07,430 would kill a person yeah 706 00:46:15,700 --> 00:46:09,950 almost almost nothing biologically is 707 00:46:17,710 --> 00:46:15,710 gonna survive 25 G yeah so now so now 708 00:46:21,190 --> 00:46:17,720 some of these UFOs are accelerating at a 709 00:46:22,840 --> 00:46:21,200 hundred G or a thousand G well you know 710 00:46:25,330 --> 00:46:22,850 of course now you ask how wrong the 711 00:46:27,910 --> 00:46:25,340 person could be so you know in some 712 00:46:29,320 --> 00:46:27,920 cases I you know I basically went 713 00:46:31,870 --> 00:46:29,330 through and said well they're probably 714 00:46:33,910 --> 00:46:31,880 they're probably within 10 percent here 715 00:46:35,470 --> 00:46:33,920 or 50 percent there and you can actually 716 00:46:38,230 --> 00:46:35,480 redo the calculations and figure out 717 00:46:40,120 --> 00:46:38,240 what the uncertainties are so but still 718 00:46:41,320 --> 00:46:40,130 these and these accelerations are large 719 00:46:46,270 --> 00:46:41,330 so 720 00:46:49,060 --> 00:46:46,280 thing accelerated anywhere between 30 G 721 00:46:52,780 --> 00:46:49,070 and 70 G you know of acceleration but 722 00:46:56,530 --> 00:46:52,790 that's still a crazy acceleration and so 723 00:46:58,150 --> 00:46:56,540 what I what I like to ask is you know as 724 00:47:01,690 --> 00:46:58,160 a scientist you know it comes down to 725 00:47:04,420 --> 00:47:01,700 testing hypotheses so if I'm going to 726 00:47:07,090 --> 00:47:04,430 test this hypothesis that it's an 727 00:47:08,560 --> 00:47:07,100 interstellar spacecraft well what what 728 00:47:10,600 --> 00:47:08,570 do I expect an interstellar spacecraft 729 00:47:13,720 --> 00:47:10,610 to be able to do well you better be able 730 00:47:16,210 --> 00:47:13,730 to accelerate rapidly and at least and 731 00:47:17,710 --> 00:47:16,220 so because you have to get up to high 732 00:47:21,070 --> 00:47:17,720 speeds if you're gonna get anywhere 733 00:47:24,550 --> 00:47:21,080 within a reasonable period of time so 734 00:47:26,500 --> 00:47:24,560 it's very easy to sit and say well would 735 00:47:31,030 --> 00:47:26,510 you know what a hundred g of 736 00:47:34,750 --> 00:47:31,040 acceleration be something reasonable for 737 00:47:36,430 --> 00:47:34,760 an interstellar spacecraft well so you 738 00:47:41,260 --> 00:47:36,440 can actually do those calculations and 739 00:47:43,630 --> 00:47:41,270 so the the the result is if you were to 740 00:47:45,970 --> 00:47:43,640 accelerate at a hundred G which would of 741 00:47:48,430 --> 00:47:45,980 course kill you but so I don't know 742 00:47:50,860 --> 00:47:48,440 physically how anybody would pull this 743 00:47:53,800 --> 00:47:50,870 off or it probably would destroy most 744 00:47:55,930 --> 00:47:53,810 equipment that we could make as well but 745 00:47:59,280 --> 00:47:55,940 if you could do that which would be an 746 00:48:02,920 --> 00:47:59,290 engineering problem then you could 747 00:48:04,390 --> 00:48:02,930 literally traverse the galaxy one side 748 00:48:08,890 --> 00:48:04,400 of the galaxy to the other in about a 749 00:48:11,290 --> 00:48:08,900 hundred and twenty days ship time so the 750 00:48:13,930 --> 00:48:11,300 idea that what would basically you'd be 751 00:48:15,820 --> 00:48:13,940 happening is that the that when you get 752 00:48:19,360 --> 00:48:15,830 up to very high speeds relativity works 753 00:48:21,040 --> 00:48:19,370 with you as the traveler relative to the 754 00:48:24,250 --> 00:48:21,050 rest of the galaxy your time is going 755 00:48:26,200 --> 00:48:24,260 more slowly so you can actually traverse 756 00:48:29,280 --> 00:48:26,210 larger just you know great distances in 757 00:48:32,170 --> 00:48:29,290 short periods of time you know for you 758 00:48:34,660 --> 00:48:32,180 so let's imagine you have a ship that 759 00:48:36,520 --> 00:48:34,670 takes off at a hundred G and accelerates 760 00:48:38,170 --> 00:48:36,530 halfway and then decelerates at a 761 00:48:41,160 --> 00:48:38,180 hundred G the rest of their way and 762 00:48:43,810 --> 00:48:41,170 makes it to the other side of the galaxy 763 00:48:45,520 --> 00:48:43,820 the the inhabitants of the ship there 764 00:48:47,800 --> 00:48:45,530 their clocks are going slower with 765 00:48:49,690 --> 00:48:47,810 respect to the rest of the galaxy so the 766 00:48:54,200 --> 00:48:49,700 rest of us looking at the ship would see 767 00:48:57,960 --> 00:48:54,210 that they could do it in 768 00:48:59,490 --> 00:48:57,970 about four months their time whereas for 769 00:49:03,510 --> 00:48:59,500 us it would take about a hundred fifty 770 00:49:05,430 --> 00:49:03,520 thousand years for them to do this so so 771 00:49:08,730 --> 00:49:05,440 this is why this is why in 772 00:49:12,930 --> 00:49:08,740 science-fiction spaceships don't just go 773 00:49:15,059 --> 00:49:12,940 fast because if you could accelerate a 774 00:49:18,000 --> 00:49:15,069 hundred G and race across the galaxy and 775 00:49:20,579 --> 00:49:18,010 then turn around and come back by the 776 00:49:22,079 --> 00:49:20,589 time you got back about three hundred 777 00:49:26,339 --> 00:49:22,089 thousand years will have passed on earth 778 00:49:30,420 --> 00:49:26,349 and even though for you the the 779 00:49:33,299 --> 00:49:30,430 round-trip voyage would just take 780 00:49:35,670 --> 00:49:33,309 something like two times four months 781 00:49:37,020 --> 00:49:35,680 which would be eight months so so you 782 00:49:39,450 --> 00:49:37,030 could make the trip in less than a year 783 00:49:41,250 --> 00:49:39,460 but three hundred thousand years would 784 00:49:43,530 --> 00:49:41,260 pass on earth and of course you wouldn't 785 00:49:45,299 --> 00:49:43,540 be able to see your loved ones you know 786 00:49:55,980 --> 00:49:45,309 probably America wouldn't be here 787 00:49:59,730 --> 00:49:55,990 anymore most of the countries people and 788 00:50:03,870 --> 00:49:59,740 so so that doesn't make for a very good 789 00:50:06,089 --> 00:50:03,880 science fiction story but that but what 790 00:50:09,539 --> 00:50:06,099 it does highlight is that the physics 791 00:50:11,549 --> 00:50:09,549 doesn't stop you from traveling through 792 00:50:19,260 --> 00:50:11,559 interstellar space 793 00:50:22,710 --> 00:50:20,910 yeah you can't share your information 794 00:50:24,120 --> 00:50:22,720 with anybody so you can't tell anybody 795 00:50:24,630 --> 00:50:24,130 what you found on the other side of the 796 00:50:27,330 --> 00:50:24,640 galaxy 797 00:50:29,580 --> 00:50:27,340 now of course there are a whole whole 798 00:50:31,890 --> 00:50:29,590 set of engineering problems how do you 799 00:50:34,380 --> 00:50:31,900 continue to accelerate it you know at a 800 00:50:36,390 --> 00:50:34,390 rate like that how do you survive 801 00:50:38,820 --> 00:50:36,400 accelerating at a hundred G how do you 802 00:50:41,160 --> 00:50:38,830 well you can you can do it at a 803 00:50:42,840 --> 00:50:41,170 comfortable 1g and it would still you 804 00:50:44,640 --> 00:50:42,850 could traverse the galaxy and it would 805 00:50:46,370 --> 00:50:44,650 still it would take you a bit longer but 806 00:50:48,690 --> 00:50:46,380 you could do it within your lifetime so 807 00:50:50,790 --> 00:50:48,700 but how do you keep accelerating a 808 00:50:53,880 --> 00:50:50,800 spacecraft you know our our technology 809 00:50:56,520 --> 00:50:53,890 works by throwing hot gasses out the 810 00:50:58,680 --> 00:50:56,530 back right and so conservation of 811 00:51:01,290 --> 00:50:58,690 momentum is what moves the craft forward 812 00:51:03,720 --> 00:51:01,300 but eventually you run out of stuff to 813 00:51:06,240 --> 00:51:03,730 throw out the back your ship so you run 814 00:51:07,440 --> 00:51:06,250 out of fuel so we can only accelerate 815 00:51:10,430 --> 00:51:07,450 for short periods of time with our 816 00:51:14,160 --> 00:51:10,440 technology and then the other the other 817 00:51:17,609 --> 00:51:14,170 huge problem is that as you're racing 818 00:51:20,760 --> 00:51:17,619 through intergalactic space at close to 819 00:51:23,130 --> 00:51:20,770 the speed of light you space isn't empty 820 00:51:26,849 --> 00:51:23,140 you've got about one hydrogen atom per 821 00:51:30,090 --> 00:51:26,859 cubic meter so you're going to be and 822 00:51:31,560 --> 00:51:30,100 and of course relativity from your 823 00:51:34,109 --> 00:51:31,570 perspective relativity is going to 824 00:51:35,940 --> 00:51:34,119 shorten distances so so all of this 825 00:51:37,380 --> 00:51:35,950 hydrogen gas is going to be compressed 826 00:51:39,690 --> 00:51:37,390 and you're basically flying through a 827 00:51:41,010 --> 00:51:39,700 hydrogen cloud at close to the speed of 828 00:51:44,609 --> 00:51:41,020 light and that would tear your ship 829 00:51:47,990 --> 00:51:44,619 apart in short order so so there are you 830 00:51:50,580 --> 00:51:48,000 know while there are some enormous and 831 00:51:54,270 --> 00:51:50,590 difficult to imagine engineering feats 832 00:51:56,940 --> 00:51:54,280 that you'd have to have to accomplish to 833 00:51:58,920 --> 00:51:56,950 do something like this it's important to 834 00:52:00,930 --> 00:51:58,930 recognize that the physics doesn't stop 835 00:52:03,480 --> 00:52:00,940 it from happening you know there's no 836 00:52:06,780 --> 00:52:03,490 law of nature that says this is 837 00:52:10,109 --> 00:52:06,790 impossible to do in your lifetime and so 838 00:52:11,520 --> 00:52:10,119 I find that I find that interesting now 839 00:52:13,500 --> 00:52:11,530 then you can go a step further and you 840 00:52:15,120 --> 00:52:13,510 can imagine well what would a what would 841 00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:15,130 a let's assume that you have a 842 00:52:20,660 --> 00:52:17,290 civilization that pulled this off that 843 00:52:23,299 --> 00:52:20,670 could could do the engineering 844 00:52:25,640 --> 00:52:23,309 you know so you've got a bunch of people 845 00:52:28,010 --> 00:52:25,650 or beings that are traveling across the 846 00:52:32,270 --> 00:52:28,020 galaxy of these very high accelerations 847 00:52:34,700 --> 00:52:32,280 and very high speeds well they can't go 848 00:52:35,960 --> 00:52:34,710 back home because they go from one side 849 00:52:39,620 --> 00:52:35,970 of the galaxy the other and come back 850 00:52:42,380 --> 00:52:39,630 and 300,000 years will have passed so so 851 00:52:43,970 --> 00:52:42,390 you literally will have the only way you 852 00:52:46,160 --> 00:52:43,980 could do it is to form a breakaway 853 00:52:49,970 --> 00:52:46,170 Society of travelers where you have 854 00:52:51,980 --> 00:52:49,980 beings that they travel the galaxy and 855 00:52:54,710 --> 00:52:51,990 that's what they do and they don't go 856 00:52:56,690 --> 00:52:54,720 home they if they're clever they could 857 00:52:59,390 --> 00:52:56,700 meet up with their friends as long as 858 00:53:00,770 --> 00:52:59,400 their friends keep travelling so I'm 859 00:53:02,270 --> 00:53:00,780 gonna go to this side of the galaxy you 860 00:53:05,030 --> 00:53:02,280 go to this side of the galaxy and we'll 861 00:53:07,190 --> 00:53:05,040 both meet back here you know in in in 862 00:53:10,160 --> 00:53:07,200 nine months and we could arrange that 863 00:53:13,250 --> 00:53:10,170 and and if we do it right when we meet 864 00:53:16,690 --> 00:53:13,260 back here you can tell me what you found 865 00:53:19,670 --> 00:53:16,700 I can tell you what you what I found and 866 00:53:21,829 --> 00:53:19,680 it'll be you know 300 thousand years 867 00:53:24,980 --> 00:53:21,839 later but but we don't care we'll just 868 00:53:26,450 --> 00:53:24,990 keep traveling and so you'd end up with 869 00:53:29,599 --> 00:53:26,460 you know you could end up with this 870 00:53:30,890 --> 00:53:29,609 Society of nomads nomadic explorers 871 00:53:33,109 --> 00:53:30,900 where that's what they do they just 872 00:53:38,059 --> 00:53:33,119 explore and I don't know I think that 873 00:53:40,760 --> 00:53:38,069 would be quite fun but then it also 874 00:53:43,400 --> 00:53:40,770 which it would change it would be that 875 00:53:45,910 --> 00:53:43,410 you know we often think that an advanced 876 00:53:48,530 --> 00:53:45,920 technologically advanced society would 877 00:53:50,589 --> 00:53:48,540 have a very different perspective of 878 00:53:54,010 --> 00:53:50,599 things and that's true but if you had 879 00:53:56,150 --> 00:53:54,020 somebody who was traveling you know 880 00:53:57,349 --> 00:53:56,160 performing interstellar travel in this 881 00:53:59,480 --> 00:53:57,359 way 882 00:54:02,680 --> 00:53:59,490 they're basically racing forward into 883 00:54:04,430 --> 00:54:02,690 the future constantly so so their 884 00:54:06,470 --> 00:54:04,440 perspective of things would be very 885 00:54:09,920 --> 00:54:06,480 different than somebody who lived on a 886 00:54:15,589 --> 00:54:09,930 planet basically everything becomes 887 00:54:17,510 --> 00:54:15,599 ephemeral and and so I can imagine you 888 00:54:19,160 --> 00:54:17,520 know so when I hear people say why why 889 00:54:21,470 --> 00:54:19,170 don't I lian's land on the White House 890 00:54:22,569 --> 00:54:21,480 lawn and my whole thing is what's the 891 00:54:24,920 --> 00:54:22,579 point 892 00:54:26,809 --> 00:54:24,930 why bother because the next time you 893 00:54:28,880 --> 00:54:26,819 come back it could be 300,000 years 894 00:54:30,920 --> 00:54:28,890 later or something depending on how far 895 00:54:33,660 --> 00:54:30,930 you travel and how you know where you're 896 00:54:37,240 --> 00:54:33,670 going to and what your plans are 897 00:54:39,040 --> 00:54:37,250 so I think that that I think it really 898 00:54:40,660 --> 00:54:39,050 is true that it's hard to imagine what 899 00:54:45,040 --> 00:54:40,670 the perspective of an interstellar 900 00:54:47,350 --> 00:54:45,050 traveler would be but I think it's fun 901 00:54:49,240 --> 00:54:47,360 too it's important to realize that you 902 00:54:52,900 --> 00:54:49,250 don't have to go faster than light to do 903 00:55:07,570 --> 00:54:52,910 it but there are huge engineering 904 00:55:12,620 --> 00:55:10,220 yeah I still think it's a hard limit I 905 00:55:14,930 --> 00:55:12,630 think that you know for for a few 906 00:55:20,000 --> 00:55:14,940 reasons first they you know there's 907 00:55:21,740 --> 00:55:20,010 nothing in that there's there's no 908 00:55:23,870 --> 00:55:21,750 experiments have been performed that 909 00:55:26,330 --> 00:55:23,880 suggests that you can you can break 910 00:55:28,610 --> 00:55:26,340 break this limit and the theoretical 911 00:55:33,170 --> 00:55:28,620 work that we've developed reproduces 912 00:55:35,510 --> 00:55:33,180 Einstein's work on relativity so I which 913 00:55:42,820 --> 00:55:35,520 which says that the speed of light is 914 00:55:42,830 --> 00:56:17,150 of course he was a genie yes yep 915 00:56:36,960 --> 00:56:19,829 I'm at warp space-time according to 916 00:56:48,809 --> 00:56:46,410 oh we could it depends on yeah it 917 00:56:53,069 --> 00:56:48,819 depends on what ideas we would possibly 918 00:57:00,859 --> 00:56:53,079 have that we could that we could 919 00:57:15,380 --> 00:57:03,569 no I think I think we've covered most of 920 00:57:25,530 --> 00:57:22,829 yes several this is my sis is my second 921 00:57:38,490 --> 00:57:25,540 one I did I think yeah I did 922 00:57:40,859 --> 00:57:38,500 the API case files last night so no not 923 00:57:42,780 --> 00:57:40,869 at all I loved my day job and I love 924 00:57:44,609 --> 00:57:42,790 looking at exoplanets and I love the 925 00:58:17,900 --> 00:57:44,619 theoretical work we're doing and it's