Learn about a new discovery about STEVE, the weird streak of color in the Canadian skies; how a “wind phone” in Otsuchi, Japan, helped thousands cope with grief after losing their loved ones; and why we judge others more harshly than we judge ourselves.
Learn about a new discovery about STEVE, the weird streak of color in the Canadian skies; how a “wind phone” in Otsuchi, Japan, helped thousands cope with grief after losing their loved ones; and why we judge others more harshly than we judge ourselves.
There's a new discovery about STEVE, the weird aurora discovered by citizen scientists by Grant Currin
A "Wind Phone" Consoles Disaster-Stricken Japan by Anna Todd
We judge others more harshly than we judge ourselves originally aired May 2, 2018: https://omny.fm/shows/curiosity-daily/how-laundry-machines-work-bill-gates-recommended-r
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Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/a-new-discovery-about-that-weird-aurora-named-steve
CODY: Hi! You’re about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from curiosity-dot-com. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about a new discovery about a weird streak of color in the Canadian skies; how a “wind phone” helped thousands cope with their grief after losing loved ones; and why we judge others more harshly than we judge ourselves.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
Have you seen STEVE? STEVE is huge in Canada. I mean, STEVE is huge, period. But STEVE is also pretty mysterious. And I should probably add that STEVE is green, purple, and drop-dead gorgeous. And new research suggests that STEVE is even more special than scientists thought.
You… probably guessed this by now, but STEVE isn’t a human. No, STEVE is the nickname for an unexplained glow in the sky that appears south of the northern lights. (STEVE stands for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement). Scientists understand the northern lights pretty well, but the more they learn about STEVE, the more puzzling the phenomenon becomes.
STEVE’s main feature is a huge purple arc that extends high into the sky, sometimes accompanied by bright green vertical stripes. Those stripes are why professional and amateur astronomers sometimes call that portion the “picket fence.” It looks sort of like the wavy curtains of light we associate with the northern lights, or aurora, so some researchers thought STEVE’s picket fence might be a type of aurora.
But a new discovery makes it clear that STEVE stands on its own. Researchers and citizen scientists recently noticed another feature in STEVE. There are smaller streaks — feet, if you will — that stick out from the base of some lines in the green picket fence. That’s “lights out” for the theory that STEVE might be an aurora, because physics just doesn’t allow for the processes that form auroras to also form those green feet.
So what’s the deal with STEVE?
Well, researchers don’t know for sure, but they have a few ideas. First of all, they know that STEVE’s purple streak is different from the phenomenon that causes an aurora. It’s really a westward-flowing stream of plasma. Plasma atoms with a positive charge are able to flow smoothly without much interference from the atmosphere, so they probably form the long purple arc. The electrons in the plasma are a different story. Electrons are super light and a lot more likely to tangle with Earth’s magnetic field. That might cause them to get swept up in tiny tornadoes that form on the fringes of the plasma stream, where they excite pockets of oxygen molecules to form those little green feet.
But that’s just one theory! Researchers still have a lot of work to do before they can say for sure what’s up with STEVE. There are a couple of approaches that scientists can use to solve the mystery. Like, they could make a computer simulation of that plasma-flowing scenario to see if it’s even possible. But what researchers really need is satellite data. With the right observations, maybe one day they can fully understand the beautiful, colorful mystery that is STEVE.
If you've ever lost someone, then you've probably felt that desire to have one last conversation — to say what might have been unsaid, or to let them know how much they're missed. In Japan, there’s a phone that — in a way — has helped people do just that. And it’s brought relief to thousands of families touched by disaster.
It’s called kaze no denwa [pronunciation], or “phone of the wind.” It’s simply a disconnected rotary phone inside a glass-paneled phone booth on top of a hill in Otsuchi [oat-SUE-chee], Japan. The wind phone was originally built by Itaru Sasaki after his cousin died in 2010. But just a year later, Japan was shaken by a triple disaster: an earthquake, a tsunami, and a nuclear meltdown. Otsuchi was one of the hardest hit areas in the Great East Japan earthquake. The town was struck with 30-foot waves, leading to the deaths of 1,400 people — a full 10 percent of the town’s population.
Since Sasaki's wind phone had helped him cope with his own grief, he opened it to the public. Word traveled fast, and mourning Japanese journeyed from all over the country to make their calls. Over the first three years post-earthquake, more than 10,000 people dialed their loved ones. Sasaki's booth provided comfort as the community sought to rebuild itself.
Since then, more than 30,000 people have used the phone for one-way conversations with their dearly departed. And what they’re doing is hardly superstition: studies have found that talking to a deceased loved one is a sign of healthy coping after their death.
The wind phone is still open to visitors, but considering pandemic travel restrictions, your best bet is to visit through your screen or speakers: the 2020 film “Voices in the Wind” by Nobuhiro Suwa is based on the wind phone, and the phone was also featured in a 2016 episode of This American Life. We’ll link to both of them in the show notes.
But wind phone or no wind phone, don’t let that stop you talking to your departed loved ones wherever you are. Even if they don’t hear you, it’ll give you comfort.
You know how we remastered some of Cody’s classic Curiosity Daily clips when he was on paternity leave? Well I have some old stories too, ya know! [ad lib with Cody]
Here’s one of MY classic clips about how we judge other people.
[CLIP 2:41]
One quick note: you can find the study I mentioned about building empathy by reading novels in today’s show notes.
Let’s do a quick recap of what we learned today
[ad lib optional]
CODY: Today’s stories were written by Grant Currin and Anna Todd, and edited by Ashley Hamer, who’s the managing editor for Curiosity Daily.
ASHLEY: Scriptwriting was by Cody Gough and Sonja Hodgen. Today’s episode was produced and edited by Cody Gough.
CODY: Join us again tomorrow to learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY: And until then, stay curious!