From UAP Mysteries to Cosmic Dipoles: Your Daily Space Update

0:00 Avery: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily,

0:03 the podcast that brings you the latest news

0:06 from across the cosmos. I'm your host,

0:09 Avery.

0:09 Anna: And I'm Anna. It's great to be with you.

0:12 Avery: Today we'll be looking at the slow but steady

0:14 progress in UAP research and a new

0:17 discovery that suggests our universe might be

0:20 surprisingly lopsided.

0:22 Anna: We'll also journey to Mars to see the largest

0:24 fresh impact crater ever confirmed, witness

0:27 a rare cosmic dance of three supermassive

0:30 black holes, and explore the innovative ways

0:33 scientists are trying to protect future

0:35 astronauts from cosmic rays.

0:37 Avery: So let's get started. Our first story

0:40 brings us back to Earth's atmosphere.

0:43 After years of headlines, whistleblower

0:46 testimonies, and even congressional hearings.

0:49 Unidentified anomalous phenomena, or

0:51 UAPs, are still being reported in

0:54 America's skies. But getting to the bottom of

0:56 it all has been slow going in 2025.

1:00 Anna: Right. And experts agree that the only way

1:02 forward is with disciplined scientific study.

1:05 The holdup, according to Michael Cifoni of

1:08 the Society for UAP Studies, isn't a lack of

1:11 interest, but a reluctance to invest serious

1:13 time and money into what many still see as a

1:16 wild goose chase.

1:18 Avery: Exactly. The good news is that the focus

1:21 is finally shifting away from old flying

1:23 saucer cold cases and towards

1:26 observational and experimental science. But

1:28 that requires real funding and institutional.

1:31 Anna: Support, and we're starting to see that

1:33 happen. Institutions like the University of

1:36 Wurtzburg in Germany and the Galileo Project

1:38 at Harvard are developing sophisticated

1:41 sensor arrays to collect high quality real

1:44 time data on UAPs.

1:46 Avery: But it's a massive undertaking. Robert

1:48 Powell of the Scientific Coalition for UAP

1:51 Studies says that if you want to seriously

1:53 test the hypothesis that science some UAPs

1:56 are extraterrestrial, you need high precision

1:59 scientific gear that could cost hundreds of

2:02 millions of dollars.

2:03 Anna: Mhm. And this isn't just an academic

2:05 question. Former Navy pilot Ryan Graves,

2:08 who now chairs an aerospace committee on

2:10 UAPs, emphasizes the national security

2:13 implications. He states that these objects

2:16 are operating in sovereign airspace and could

2:19 be collecting intelligence.

2:21 Avery: That's the angle that seems to be getting the

2:23 most traction. There's even a bipartisan

2:25 bill, the Safe Airspace for Americans act,

2:29 designed to support civilian UAP reporting.

2:32 Anna: Between that and the Department of Defense's

2:34 own All Domain Anomaly Resolution Office,

2:37 it feels like momentum is building. Graves

2:40 says he's optimistic that we may finally get

2:42 some closure on this topic.

2:44 Avery: It will be fascinating to see what they find.

2:47 Anna: From the skies above Earth to the very fabric

2:50 of the cosmos.

2:51 Our next story challenges one of the most

2:53 fundamental assumptions in cosmology. A

2:56 new study in the reviews of modern physics

2:58 suggests the universe may not be as

3:01 symmetrical as we've always thought.

3:03 Avery: Not symmetrical? What does that mean exactly?

3:06 I thought the cosmological principle was that

3:09 the universe looks the same in all directions

3:11 from any vantage point.

3:13 Anna: That principle is called isotropy, and this

3:16 new evidence directly challenges it. The

3:19 phenomenon is known as the cosmic dipole

3:21 anomaly, and it was discovered through

3:24 precise measurements of the cosmic microwave

3:26 background, or cmb.

3:28 Avery: Right. The CMB is the afterglow of the

3:31 Big Bang. The oldest light in the universe.

3:34 Anna: Exactly. And while it's incredibly uniform,

3:37 it does have tiny temperature variations.

3:40 What's strange is that these variations seem

3:43 to be biased. The CMB is slightly

3:46 hotter in one direction and slightly cooler

3:48 in the opposite direction. It suggests our

3:51 entire galaxy might be moving through space

3:53 in a preferred direction at a very high

3:56 speed, which shouldn't.

3:58 Avery: Be happening if the universe expanded

4:00 uniformly. So this throws a wrench in the

4:03 standard model of cosmology.

4:05 Anna: It certainly could. If this anomaly

4:08 is confirmed to be a real large scale

4:10 feature of the universe, it would have

4:13 profound implications. It could change

4:16 our understanding of cosmic inflation,

4:18 dark energy and dark matter. It might

4:21 point to entirely new physics, an

4:24 undiscovered cosmic force, or

4:26 even require us to revise our theory of the

4:29 Big Bang itself.

4:31 Avery: Wow. That is a truly cosmic

4:34 mystery.

4:35 Anna: And as you know, we love a, uh, good mystery

4:38 here on Astronomy Daily.

4:40 Avery: From that grand scale, let's zoom in on our

4:43 planetary neighborhood, Mars. NASA's

4:46 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered

4:48 the largest fresh impact crater ever

4:50 confirmed on the Red Planet.

4:52 Anna: That's fantastic. How big is it and

4:55 how did they spot it?

4:57 Avery: The crater is about 50 meters wide,

4:59 roughly half the length of a football field.

5:02 And the way they found that is quite clever.

5:04 Bruce Cancer of Mallon Space Science Systems

5:07 was using the Mars Color Imager, a camera

5:10 primarily used for weather monitoring, which

5:12 when he noticed an unusual dark spot that

5:14 appeared between March 27th and 28th,

5:18 2012.

5:19 Anna: So he found it by noticing something had

5:21 changed in the daily weather maps.

5:24 Avery: Precisely. The crater itself is relatively

5:27 shallow, and scientists believe it was caused

5:29 by an asteroid only about 10 to 18ft

5:32 long. When they pointed the high resolution

5:34 HiRISE camera at the spot, they not only

5:37 confirmed the crater, but also saw smaller

5:39 nearby craters and even landslides caused

5:42 by the impact's shockwave.

5:44 Anna: And studying a fresh crater like this must be

5:47 incredibly valuable.

5:49 Avery: Absolutely. It provides crucial data on

5:52 current impact rates on Mars and gives us a

5:54 pristine look at the subsurface materials

5:57 that were blasted out. A powerful reminder

6:00 that the solar system is still A very active

6:02 place.

6:04 Anna: Speaking of active places, our next story

6:07 involves a, uh, truly rare and dynamic

6:09 system. Astronomers have confirmed the first

6:12 known triple system where all three

6:15 merging galaxies host actively feeding

6:18 radio bright supermassive black holes.

6:22 Avery: A triple black hole system. That

6:25 sounds like something out of science fiction.

6:27 How far away is it?

6:28 Anna: This system, known as J1218

6:31 35, is about

6:34 1.2 billion light years from Earth.

6:37 You. Using high resolution observations from

6:40 radio telescopes like the Very Large Array,

6:43 scientists confirmed that all three galaxies

6:45 have active galactic nuclei, or

6:48 agn, which are powered by these growing

6:51 black holes.

6:52 Avery: And um, you said this is a first. What makes

6:55 this so unique?

6:56 Anna: While a few other tripleagn

6:58 systems have been found, this is the first

7:01 confirmed triple radioagna,

7:04 meaning all three black holes are blasting

7:07 out powerful jets of radiation detectable

7:10 in radio wavelengths.

7:11 Avery: That makes sense. And I imagine this tells us

7:14 a lot about how galaxies evolve.

7:16 Anna: Exactly. Finding these systems is a key

7:19 prediction of the hierarchical model of

7:21 galaxy evolution where large galaxies

7:24 grow by merging with smaller ones. This

7:27 discovery provides a perfect natural

7:29 laboratory for testing how these galactic

7:32 encounters drive gas into the galactic

7:35 centers and ignite the black holes, causing

7:38 them to grow.

7:40 Avery: Finally, today, let's turn our attention to

7:42 the human element of space exploration. One

7:45 of the single biggest obstacles for future

7:47 long duration missions to the moon and Mars

7:50 is the constant threat of cosmic rays.

7:53 Anna: Right. These aren't like the rays from our

7:55 sun. Cosmic rays are high energy

7:58 particles from distant exploding stars.

8:01 And they are incredibly damaging to

8:03 biological tissue. They they can shred

8:06 DNA, damage proteins, and

8:08 significantly increase the risk for things

8:10 like cancer.

8:12 Avery: Here on Earth, our magnetic field and thick

8:14 atmosphere protect us. But in deep space,

8:17 astronauts are completely exposed. And

8:19 physical shielding, like lining a spacecraft

8:22 with polyethylene, can only do so much. The

8:25 most energetic rays can punch right through.

8:28 Anna: Mm mhm. And they can even create a shower

8:31 of secondary radiation inside the ship

8:33 when they hit the shielding material, which

8:36 can sometimes be be worse.

8:38 Avery: So with shielding limitations, scientists are

8:40 turning to biology for creative new

8:42 solutions. What are they looking into?

8:45 Anna: Several strategies are being explored. One is

8:48 the use of powerful antioxidant drugs,

8:51 which have been shown to reduce cognitive

8:53 damage in mice exposed to simulated cosmic

8:56 radiation. Another fascinating area is

8:58 learning from radio resistant organisms

9:01 like tardigrades.

9:02 Avery: The little water bears that can survive

9:04 almost anything.

9:06 Anna: Exactly. By studying how tardigrades and even

9:09 hibernating animals protect their cellular

9:11 components from damage, we might be able to

9:14 develop treatments that do the same for

9:15 astronauts. A third approach is to activate

9:18 the body's own cellular stress responses

9:21 through specific diets or drugs,

9:23 essentially preparing the cells for the harsh

9:26 environment of space.

9:27 Avery: So the answer probably isn't just one thing.

9:30 Anna: That's the consensus. It will likely require

9:33 a combination of improved physical shielding

9:35 and a cocktail of these biolog strategies

9:38 to make long duration space travel truly safe

9:41 for humans.

9:42 Avery: And that's all the time we have for today on

9:45 Astronomy Daily. From the ongoing search for

9:47 answers about UAPs to the fundamental nature

9:50 of our universe, and from new craters on Mars

9:53 to protecting the next generation of

9:55 explorers.

9:56 Anna: It'S been an episode that shows us once again

9:59 how much there is still to discover out

10:01 there.

10:01 Avery: Absolutely. A, uh, huge thanks to all of you

10:04 for tuning in. Be sure to join us next time

10:07 for more news from across the cosmos.

10:09 Anna: Until then, keep looking up.