Starting a business can be overwhelming. You're juggling multiple roles, designer, marketer, logistics manager, all while bringing your vision to life. Shopify helps millions of business sell online. Build fast with templates and AI descriptions and photos, inventory and shipping. Sign up for your one euro per month trial and start selling today at shopify.nl. That's shopify.nl. It's time to see what you can accomplish with Shopify by your side. This is Space Time Series 29, Episode 15, full broadcast on the 4th of February, 2026. Coming up on Space Time, streaks on the surface of Mercury suggesting it's not quite a dead world yet, how NASA's Dragonfly Rotocopter mission to Titan will fly, and warnings about the dangers posed by space fuel pollution. All that and more coming up on Space Time. Welcome to Space Time with Stuart Garry A new study has discovered a large number of bright streaks, known as lignée, on the surface of the planet Mercury, the nearest rock to the Sun. A report in the journal Nature Communications, Earth and Environment, suggests that this lineage could be caused by the outgassing of volatile materials from the planet's interior. Now if correct, it would indicate that Mercury isn't quite the dead planet previously assumed, and instead is still geologically active. The findings provide important new insights into the evolution of Mercury and its volatiles, and it will be further investigated by the joint European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, BepiColombo mission, which will achieve Mercury orbit insertion in November this year. Although Mercury was geologically active in its early days, today the planet's surface appears almost completely static. That's why it's often perceived as a dead and dry planet. The study's lead author, Valentin Bikel from the University of Bern, says this is the first systematic analysis of the so-called slope streaks or lineae on Mercury. The abundance and distribution of these streaks are providing new insights into the geological activity of the innermost and smallest planet in our solar system. To reach their conclusions, the authors first used machine learning to create a systematic inventory of the lineae on Mercury. With a geostatistical analysis of this inventory, McKell and colleagues were able to show that these bright lineae streaks, which can be seen on slopes right across the planet, was probably being driven by the outgassing of subsurface volatile material from beneath the crust. And this indicates a continuous release of volatiles from Mercury into space even today. The authors analysed around 100,000 high-resolution images taken by NASA's Messenger spacecraft, which explored Mercury between 2011 and 2015. They mapped the overall distribution and morphological properties of around 400 bright streaks on Mercury. Until now, linier on Mercury had not been systematically mapped or studied, and really only a small handful of streaks were actually known. Interestingly, the inventory shows that the brighter streaks mainly occur on the sun-facing slopes of young impact craters that penetrated volcanic activity and into potentially volatile-rich bedrock underneath. The fact that the linier accumulate in these particularly exposed and temporarily warm regions indicates solar radiation is playing an important role in the activation of the lineae formations. McKell says volatile material could reach the surface from deeper layers through a network of cracks in the rock caused by impact events. Most of the streaks appear to originate from bright depressions called hollows. These hollows are probably also formed by the outgassing of volatile material and are usually located in the shallow interior or along the edges of large impact craters. Either way, the study indicates that planet Mercury is far more geologically active than previously thought. The role of these lineae as potential indicators of the outgassing of volatiles on Mercury provides important insights into the geological dynamics and composition of the planet as a whole. Needless to say, BepiColombo will provide us with new insights. This is Space Time. Still to come, how NASA's Dragonfly Rotocopter mission to the moon Titan will fly, and new studies show that burning rocket fuels such as kerosene damages the Earth's ozone layer. All that and more still to come on Space Time NASA developing a car rotocopter called Dragonfly which will explore Saturn moon Titan The Dragonfly mission will undertake an unprecedented voyage of scientific discovery to a world which in many ways is probably very similar to the early Earth. Titan is the only world in our solar system other than Earth where it rains, which then forms streams and rivers that flow into lakes and seas. But unlike Earth, where the rain is formed by liquid water, on Titan, its liquid is methane and ethane. That's because Titan's so cold, water there is frozen solid, forming much of the moon's bedrock. The car-sized Dragonfly Rotocopter is based on the tiny tissue-box-sized Ingenuity Rotocopter, which explored the surface of the red planet Mars as part of the 2021 Perseverance rover mission to Jezero Crater. The autonomous 1.8kg Ingenuity was built using off-the-shelf components and was designed purely as a proof-of-concept idea intended to just undertake five test flights on the Red Planet's surface, just to show you could fly on Mars. Amazingly, Ingenuity kept flying for some 72 missions over three Earth years, often scarting ahead for perseverance, finding the best route forward and searching for interesting new geology. It was the success of Ingenuity which led to NASA's decision to develop Dragonfly to explore the Saturnian moon Titan. Set for launch in 2028, the Dragonfly will be designed and built at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in L'Oreal, Maryland. On arrival in 2034, Dragonfly will exploit Titan's dense atmosphere and low gravity to fly to dozens of locations, exploring varied environments from organic equatorial dunes to impact craters where liquid water and complex organic materials, essential for life as we know it, may have existed together. When full Dragonfly Rotocraft integration and testing begins later this month, scientists and engineers will tap into a trove of data gathered through critical technical trials conducted over the past three years, including most recently two campaigns at the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel Facility at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia. Over some five weeks during August and September last year, the team evaluated the performance of Dragonfly's rotor system. That's what's going to provide lift for the lander to fly and enable it to manoeuvre. The testing in the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel Facility allowed scientists to test the system in Titan-like conditions, looking at aeromechanical performance factors such as stress on the rotor arms and the effects of vibration on the rotor blades and lander body. Dave Piatek, Chief of Aerial Elasticity at NASA's Langley, says when Dragonfly enters the Titanian atmosphere and the parachutes deploy after the heat shield does its job, the rotors are going to have to start working perfectly first time every time. There's simply no room for error. This report from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. Dragonfly is a rotorcraft mission to Warner's handers moons Titan. We're really curious in understanding how life evolved on Earth, how we came to be, and we see Titan as sort of a precursor to what it takes for life to form. Titan has an atmosphere. That's why the rotorcraft is a good option for the Dragonfly program. By doing these hops and flying to these different regions, we can get a broader sense of the makeup of Titan. It's an octocopter, so it's got eight propellers, rotors, that power it. The rotors are one of the most important parts of the craft. Without the rotors, it doesn't fly. then we can't get the information that we need. Dragonfly is going to be slamming into the upper atmosphere of Titan, and immediately the rotors are going to have to work the first time. There's no room for error here, so any concerns with structural dynamics or aero rotor performance would need to be known now. We are machining eight rotors for the wind tunnel test. All the fixturing had to be custom made. We're removing so much material, we're going from 350 pounds down to six and a half pounds. We didn't have extra material or the time to make an extra. So everything had to be perfect every time. Why the blade looks the way it does, that was actually an overlap of where we're very efficient on Titan, where we can find venues on Earth to test it. As a rotor engineer, the wind tunnel testing is one of the most important venues for us to prove out the design. The Transonic Dynamics Tunnel is the nation's flutter tunnel. We do structural dynamic and flutter testing of aircraft at transonic supersonic conditions. We can pump the tunnel down to low pressures, but then also fill it with a heavy gas. We can control the density of the test medium and therefore simulate precisely the conditions on Titan. On this particular test, the focus is primarily aeromechanics. All of the data will be combined to create very high fidelity representations of loads forces dynamics we can use that to predict the performance on Titan with a high degree of confidence We're going to be acquiring gigabytes of data that will help determine the structural capabilities of the rotor blades, of the arms, and of the vehicle. You have to understand all of these boundaries in order to ensure a safe light for that project that's going to take humanity all the way to Titan. This was a very successful test campaign. Without the ability to get to NASA Langley, we couldn't accomplish this incredibly ambitious mission. Using some of those resources is what's going to get us to the finish line and to Kennedy ready for launch. It is so kind of out there in terms of a concept. You know, we're going to launch a 2,000-pound vehicle to go fly around another moon. It's just kind of beyond the realm of what most people think about science fiction. We got a huge crew of very brilliant and intelligent people. There isn't too much that we can't overcome. And in that report from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, we heard from rotor lead engineer Felipe Ruiz, wind tunnel test lead Rick Heisler, experimental machinist Corey Pennington, and Aero Elasticity Assistant Branch Chief Dave Piatak. This is Space Time. Still to come, new studies showing that burning rocket fuel such as kerosene damages the SOZone layer. And later in the science report, new research showing that T-Rex took longer to reach full size than previously thought. All that and more still to come on Space Time. A new study shows that burning rocket fuels such as kerosene damages the Earth's ozone layer, and the burgeoning rocket launch industry is making that problem far worse. A report in the journal Climate and Atmospheric Science claims Antarctica, New Zealand and parts of Australia appear to be the worst off under the current space industry growth scenario. It seems the ozone damage is being caused by chlorine and black carbon from propellants used in the launchers, and so researchers are now calling for restrictions on how often these types of fuels can be used. This is Space Time. starting a business can be overwhelming you're juggling multiple roles designer marketer logistics manager all while bringing your vision to life shopify helps millions of business sell online Build fast with templates and AI descriptions and photos, inventory and shipping. Sign up for your one euro per month trial and start selling today at Shopify.nl. That's Shopify.nl. It's time to see what you can accomplish with Shopify by your side. And time out of tech, another brief look at some of the other stories making news in science this week with the Science Report. A new study claims cyberattacks by nations like China and Iran not only threaten the technical systems they target, but can also spark extensive social media discussions which can escalate into broader community crises. The findings, reported in the journal Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, reveals that public reactions to cyberattacks can be intense, emotional and wide-ranging. The authors examined a 2021 cyber attack on a water treatment plant in Florida as a case study. In that incident, a hacker gained remote access to the facility's control systems in the bid to significantly raise concentrations of sodium hydroxide into the water supply. Now, although the intruder initially succeeded in altering the chemical levels, a plant operator noticed the unauthorized changes in real time and quickly reversed them, thereby preventing what could have been a serious public health threat. A new prostate cancer treatment that aims to target the cancer without as many side effects has shown promise in a trial of 100 patients. Treating the whole prostate can lead to long-term side effects, and the new technology aims to leave the unaffected areas of the prostate gland untouched while still treating the cancer itself. A report in the British Journal of Urology found that 84 of the initial 100 trial patients showed no clinically significant prostate cancer three months after their treatment, a similar result to other treatments of this type under development. And they say the treatment appears safe with fewer side effects. For decades now, paleontologists have been counting annual growth rings, similar to tree rings, inside fossilized leg bones of Tyrannosaurus rex, in order to estimate how old these giant carnivores were when they died, and how quickly they grew to adulthood The best estimates from previous studies suggested that T rex typically stopped growing at an age of around 25 But now a new study of 17 tyrannosaur specimens ranging from early juveniles to massive adults, has found that the lizard king actually took some 40 years to reach its full-grown size of around 8 tonnes and 14 metres in length. The new analysis, reported in the journal Pierre J, was able to assemble a complete and more accurate picture of the carnivorous theropod's growth by using advanced statistical algorithms and examining slices of fossilized bone under circularly polarized and cross-polarized light, which revealed hidden growth rings not counted in previous studies. Apple Music, which has long prided itself on free speech and individual rights, has displayed its own hypocrisy by banning the anti-woke Holly Volant song Kiss Kiss My Ass. The song, which is currently number one on the iTunes music charts, is the theme for Pauline Hanson's animated film, A Super Progressive Movie, which itself is a satirical takedown on what conservatives see as the woke hypocrisy, gaslighting and revisionist history of the virtue-signalling culture and politics of the left. Technology editor Alex Zaharov-Royt from TechAdvice.life says the decision will reflect poorly on Apple's credibility. Well, look, I mean, Apple has been very strong in defending, you know, privacy and freedom, but it only does so in the countries where it believes it can do that. The US is one place. I mean, they've been asked by other countries to take down VPNs and Apple says they have to abide by the countries they're in. But to take this down in Australia, I mean, Apple shouldn't be stifling free speech. Yeah, Apple are not commenting, but Apple should not be stifling free speech. I mean, that's sort of against its supposed values. I'm disappointed in that and hope that they reverse it because what are we doing here, Apple? Why are we censoring things? It's interesting to see whether or not it affects Apple's sales in the future. With the One Nation Party headed by Paul and Hanson rising in the polls. I mean, look, they always say that it's more... It's not too right now, just like reforms taken over the UK polls. I think it was game on in Australia, and it's a bit of a shame to see Apple take this stance. They should be questioned. And we're questioning them right now. We're raising the issue about it, but that's not really a welcome development. It's not the sign of a friend of freedom, Apple. Hello. Apple have made some announcements this week. Look, they have indeed. I mean, in slightly, you know, well, in much more positive news for, you know, Apple users and the world, they have now had the hypertension notifications authorised by the TGA and released. And this is not the case where you get a cuff and you get a reading within a minute or two. It is using its light sensing technologies to look at blood flow, measure it against an algorithm that has been created through the various trials that Apple has done, other technologies with medical studies. And they can, over a period of 30 days, determine whether you have elevated hypertension or not. And they can tell you. And then, look, at least you're being told about it. Now, Samsung has had the ability to check blood pressure, but you have to originally give it a baseline with a real cuff measurement and then regularly recalibrate it with a real cuff. And Huawei has a watch where the actual wristband inflates like an actual blood pressure cuff, which is the most accurate of all in a portable device that you wear on your wrist. One day it'll be used against us to track us. But until that happens, it's a way for us to measure our own health and take action, whatever action we see fit when notified of potential things going wrong. There are definitely good things for this sort of technology. I wonder how long it will be before they use this sort of technology to act as a surreptitious lie detector. Well, I'm sure they're working on the algorithm to do that right now. Somewhere in the background, maybe the military is doing it rather than Apple. But I mean, I'm sure they have other ways of already doing that. That's Alex Harov-Royt from techadvice.life. And this is Space Time. And that's the show for now. Space Time is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Bytes.com, SoundCloud, YouTube, your favorite podcast download provider and from SpaceTimeWithStewartGary.com. Space Time is also broadcast through the National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio and on both iHeart Radio and TuneIn Radio. And you can help to support our show by visiting the Space Time store for a range of promotional merchandising goodies. or by becoming a Space Time patron, which gives you access to triple episode commercial free versions of the show, as well as lots of bonus audio content which doesn't go to air, access to our exclusive Facebook group and other rewards. Just go to spacetimewithstuartgary.com for full details. You've been listening to Space Time with Stuart Gary. This has been another quality podcast production from Bytes.com.
