Learn about how someone can change their identity (and their mind); and “mushballs” on Uranus and Neptune. Plus: trivia! More from Lee McIntyre: Pick up "How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason": https://www.amazon.com/How-Talk-Science-Denier-Conversations/dp/0262046105 Website: https://leemcintyrebooks.com/ Follow @leemcintyre on Twitter: https://twitter.com/leecmcintyre More on Jim Bridenstine changing his mind about climate change: Pomeroy, R. (2018, June 12). Trump’s NASA Chief Changed His Mind on Climate Change. Space.com; Space. https://www.space.com/40857-trumps-nasa-chief-changed-his-mind-on-climate-change-he-is-a-scientific-hero.html "Mushballs" may solve a mystery about the atmosphere on Uranus and Neptune by Briana Brownell Next-Generation NASA Instrument to Study Uranus & Neptune Atmospheres. (2019). NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/next-generation-nasa-instrument-advanced-to-study-the-atmospheres-of-uranus-and-neptune NASA thinks it’s time to return to neptune with its Trident mission. (2020). NASA thinks it’s time to return to Neptune with its Trident mission. Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-nasa-neptune-trident-mission.html Episodes referenced in this month’s Curiosity Challenge Trivia game: Aging trick: https://www.curiositydaily.com/blowhole-origins-weather-manipulation-how-to-slow-aging Emotional hangovers: https://www.curiositydaily.com/your-extra-artery-emotional-hangovers-leds-are-bad-for-bugs/ Painkillers: https://www.curiositydaily.com/pills-can-detect-radiation-metabolism-myth-waking-up-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-bed/ Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day withCody Gough andAshley Hamer. Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.
Learn about how someone can change their identity (and their mind); and “mushballs” on Uranus and Neptune. Plus: trivia!
More from Lee McIntyre:
Pomeroy, R. (2018, June 12). Trump’s NASA Chief Changed His Mind on Climate Change. Space.com; Space. https://www.space.com/40857-trumps-nasa-chief-changed-his-mind-on-climate-change-he-is-a-scientific-hero.html
"Mushballs" may solve a mystery about the atmosphere on Uranus and Neptune by Briana Brownell
Episodes referenced in this month’s Curiosity Challenge Trivia game:
Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer. Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/changing-someones-identity-mushballs-on-uranus-and-neptune-curiosity-challenge
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 why the best way to change someone’s mind might be to help them change their identity, with author Lee McIntyre; and how “mushballs” may solve a mystery about the atmosphere on Uranus and Neptune. Then, test your podcast knowledge with this month’s edition of the Curiosity Challenge trivia game.
CODY: Let’s satisfy AND CHALLENGE some curiosity.
Yesterday, Lee McIntyre told us how to talk to science deniers about scientific facts. Today, he's going to tell us about the reasons that might not always work — and why a person's identity might be even more important than their level of knowledge. Lee McIntyre is a Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University, and the author of the new book "How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason." We asked him about how you can convince someone of something when they've formed their identity against it.
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If Jim Bridenstine can change his mind, maybe there's hope for our loved ones. Again, that was Lee McIntyre, author of the new book "How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason." You can find a link to pick it up in the show notes.
Compared to the other planets in our solar system, the atmospheres of the ice giants Neptune and Uranus are a little bit strange: they don’t seem to have any ammonia. Scientists have long wondered why. And recently, a French scientist has suggested a plausible reason with an...implausible name. Mushballs.
See, ammonia is a really simple molecule: it’s made up of a single nitrogen atom bonded to three hydrogen atoms. Nitrogen and hydrogen are both abundant in the solar system now. They were also common in the primordial cloud that the planets formed out of. So it makes sense that all the rest of the planets, including Earth, have ammonia in their atmospheres. But why not Neptune and Uranus?
Two main theories tried to explain why. If the two ice giants formed with different matter from the rest of the planets, that could explain it. But there is no evidence for that. Instead, scientists reasoned that there could be a process that might move the ammonia out of the atmosphere.
By looking at Jupiter, scientists found a likely culprit. Mushballs.
Mushballs are made of water mixed with ammonia. Since ammonia has a much lower freezing point than water, they don’t quite freeze solid, even at really low temperatures. Instead, they form mushy balls, even far below water’s normal freezing point. That means that even in minus 90 degrees Celsius, these ammonia-rich hailstones are… well… to use the technical term... mushballs.
Mushballs form during violent storms. And the gas giants and ice giants have lots of extremely bad weather where the conditions for their formation are just about perfect.
On Jupiter, mushballs are responsible for pulling ammonia lower down in its atmosphere. But on the ice giants, they might be even more extreme. They may be pulling the ammonia even deeper down into the interior of these planets, where it’s invisible to our telescopes.
So far, simulations look like they match our observations of Neptune and Uranus. But we’ll have to have a closer look to validate this theory… and spot some mushballs up close.
It's time for the Curiosity Challenge! Every month, I call up a listener and put them to the test by asking them three questions about stories we ran on Curiosity Daily in the previous month. For this Curiosity Challenge, I talked to Danny in Chicago. Have a listen!
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He did his studying for sure. How did YOU do? If you’d like to play next month, OR if you have a question you’d like us to answer on the show, shoot us an email at curiosity at discovery dot com, or leave us a voicemail at 312-596-5208!
CODY: Before we recap what we learned today, here’s a sneak peek at what you’ll hear next week on Curiosity Daily.
ASHLEY: Next week, you’ll learn about why everything we assume about deep conversations with strangers is wrong;
A planet we found that’s orbiting three stars AT ONCE;
What evidence actually supports when it comes to cleaning your teeth;
Why researchers caught thousands of birds with their bare hands;
The best way to argue with your partner, according to research;
And more! Okay, so now, let’s recap what we learned today.
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ASHLEY: The writer for today’s Mushballs story was Briana Brownell.
CODY: Our managing editor is Ashley Hamer, who was also a writer and audio editor on today’s episode.
ASHLEY: Our producer and audio editor is Cody Gough.
CODY: Have a great weekend! [AD LIB SOMETHING FUNNY] Then, join us again Monday to learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY: And until then, stay curious!