Fire Opal

Hello, everyone! You are listening to the Red Shift - your connection to your piece of the sky. I'm your host, Emma Miller!

Hi, everyone! How's everyone doing today? Hello hello! I like the “in the inflatable house.” I wish I was on Mars, that'd be amazing! Hello, hello, hello. Hi, Andrius. Hi, Tony. Hi, Rerouted. Hi, Keren. Hello, Tronity. Hello, Petro. HI, Tempkurr. Hi, CHRNV. Hello, MaDAleN. Hello, BrightEyes. Hi, Manja. Hi, Galdwin. Hi, Owalskip. Hi!

How is everyone doing this week? I hope you have all had a wonderful, wonderful week. I'm excited to be able to share the Red Shift episode with you all today! It will be fantastic to get to hang out with you all. We have a fun activity game planned for you all - hi, Maximo - and I'm just really excited to hop right in. I hope you all are too!

ISA Announcements

So, first things first. I know it's been a little bit light on our ISA announcements the past couple of weeks, but it’s, you know… They're gearing up for the next mission to land so I know that there's been not a lot, necessarily, to mention, but this week we do have a very exciting announcement.

So, if you remember, of course, the ISA introduced their prototype that allows you to interact with our astronauts on Mars and help to recover resources from the surface of the planet. You actually get to help to guide those astronauts out on the planet's surface. Now, of course, it's been very busy, you can imagine, with everything that's happened in the past few weeks, so what the ISA has created, actually, is a way for you to experience what that would feel like, but as a simulation, effectively allowing you to get some practice without actually having to get an astronaut out on the surface of the planet.

So to do that, you'll just go to the ISA website, the same portal that you would typically use. Just make sure that you don't sign into your ISA account, because if you sign it in, it will try to run through an actual experiment, or an actual expedition, not experiment. Then you just go ahead and start your expedition and it gives you a way to virtually get some training while our astronauts are a little bit more busy. So if you are looking for a way to try out this new prototype without having to use any kind of Earth funds to do that, you're able to do that instead of having to spend anything to get the astronauts out on the planet. So it is a simulation. It does let you try it out. And I would recommend it!

I've actually been doing it a little bit in my free time so that I have a chance to kind of learn a little bit more so that when I take the astronauts out on the planet, I won't necessarily have them not get what they're looking for, or what I'm looking for. I was getting a little bit sad when I missed resources, you know? I don't think Korey will ever forgive me for taking him out and missing the third resource that I was looking for. Maybe one day…

With that said, that wraps up our ISA announcements, which means we can step pretty much right into our astronaut letter! I do also want to say ‘hi’ to Fearbone - hello, Fearbone!

So! We're stepping right into our astronaut letter. Last week, of course, we had a letter from Korey Leonard who shared an experience that he had on the surface of Mars last week. And Korey actually went out with our other astronaut, Maksym, and so Maksym is the one who we're going to hear from this week, which is pretty awesome, actually. I'm super excited to get a chance to hear Maksym’s actual experience of what happened last week.

So with that, we're going to step right into the astronaut letter. I hope you all are very excited and ready. And then afterwards I will just say we are going to have our typical sponsor message and our weather report, but then we have a very exciting, kind of nifty, activity for us all to take part in, and we're going to have to work together again to make sure that we win. So stay tuned for that. More explanation of that soon.

With that, this is Maksym’s letter and his words.

Maksym’s letter

“My name is not Maximum Sok. Thank you for liking my game last week.

I am Maksym. I think you will have heard some things about me this past week from Korey Leonard. I do not think he will have represented everything with entire truth. Or, maybe he just does not know entire truth to be shared, so Mithi tells me it is my turn this week. Maybe I am just being punished still. No matter what, I am here now and writing. 

Korey last week told a bit about my life. He told you about my time in Karakum Desert. I was proud of that time. Working to reverse many years of damage to the environment due to climate change. This is what I always thought was my purpose. But there was always another thing in the back of my head. A little voice, maybe. It kept telling me to think bigger, farther out.

Terraforming is something many people talk about today. Is it a good idea? Is it a waste of time? We reverse damage to Earth and then we have our planet forever, right? Why would we need to think beyond that?

I don't like this way of thinking. It is short sighted, stupid. There will always be something else, some other danger, some other catastrophe. One day you are living your normal life, the next a bomb in your backyard - only thing that is predictable is that life is unpredictable. 

Terraforming is future for humanity. It has to be. The only way to ensure survival is to spread, to make places habitable, to make them safe. That is what I want for Mars, you understand? Perhaps you want for this too. 

I’m not alone on the planet. Patricia and I both agree about what the future truly looks like. Not just finding a way to live here, colonize here. We want humanity to thrive, to grow. It is not a quick project, there is no immediate pay off, maybe. But in the end it is worth it.

Korey is maybe not so patient. Which is okay. America is a very young country still. They are not used to the long view.

Now, on the topic of Korey. Last week was perhaps not my finest moment in the colony. I will admit this. I was grouchy, tired. I was not in good spirits after the week when we were sick.

Last week, Korey told you I was upset because the lichens had died. This is not entirely true. The experiment failed, but the lichens did not die. Lichens are impressive. They are very durable, able to manage high and low temperatures at extremes. If a plant will survive on Mars, it is lichens.

The experiment was to see how the lichen could protect key important bacteria in soil from harsher conditions - extreme cold mainly - so we can grow out on the Mars surface. A lot of time planning, a lot of time gone to waste.

The thing with science is that this is maybe a set back, but it is not the end of the world. I know this. I am not usually one to become upset by a failed experiment, especially one out of my control. But after that week, that work wasted felt awful. The lichens can be brought back, the experiment done again. I know this now, I knew this then. It did nothing to make my anger go away.

Then, I get sent out with Korey.  

You know this part of the story maybe. Korey goes to check on the tanks for liquid methane and liquid oxygen. These tanks are needed to supply return flights to Earth. They are incredibly important to the continuation of the colony here for supplies and missions between planets. We cannot afford a mistake or an explosion. 

Korey sets up monitors for me. I hadn’t been out of the surface in weeks, it was nice to be back with my feet on Martian ground, looking at the readings of the world around me, the world of humanity’s future.

I am behind a ridge with the monitors. I check readings. I take out an optical scanner to look for any trace of unusual leaks or heat exchange… and I see a glint of something in the corner of my eye, a shiny dot against the Martian landscape. Maybe it was covered by dust before, but the wind uncovered it. 

On Earth you might not give it another thought - a flash of quartz, maybe, nothing so special. But on Mars? I grabbed my binoculars to see what it could be. 

So yes, I shouldn’t have looked as long as I did. I didn’t notice the dust devil. If Korey had died, it would have been my fault.  There are no excuses. 

But later, yes, when there was time, I went searching for that shining thing. A few hundred meters away, this is what I found.”

And this is now Emma speaking. They’ve actually sent me an image of what they found, so I’m gonna go ahead and share the image of what Maksym found on the surface:

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And now back to the letter.

“If you found this on Earth, you would say it was a fire opal. 

Opals are mineraloids, formed when there is silica in water over a long period of time. A very long period of time. This hydrated silica rests somewhere, undisturbed, and begins to form. Eventually, millions of years later, you have an opal. If there is iron in them, they turn a little red, as if they were on fire, so we call them fire opals. Opals have beautiful structure… they have the play of light they do because of this structure on the nano-scale. Technically they are natural photonic crystals.”

And, again, this is Emma and I’m sharing another image that was sent to me by the astronauts. So this is from Maksym. So this is the crystal on the nano-scale:

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Back to his letter.

“There is evidence of silica on Mars from ancient volcanos, evidence of water. It is not surprising, possibly, to find an opal here. Yet, this is the first that I have seen. And it is not quite an Earth opal, either. It is harder, its structure seems more complex – just how complex I need a lot of study to figure out.

And look again. If you found this on Earth, you would say someone had shaped it. Polished it. Made it.

It was so beautiful, I confess there was a part of me that wanted to keep it, to hide it. But of course that would be wrong.

So the next day I showed everyone what I had found and what they thought it might be.

Aurore said it was nothing unexpected, a naturally silicate polished by the wind. She might be right. 

Patricia said she thought it was beautiful. This is a simple reaction to the opal, but somehow better than Aurore’s more scientific one. Patricia sees the future of this planet the way I do, sees that it can be something beautiful, maybe that it already is. 

I asked Korey what he thought it was and he said he thought it was about ten million dollars - this big grin, you know, how we should sell it as the first Space Gem from Mars and all retire on the money, and then Mithi said she thought technically it might belong to the ISA instead of us, and Tetyana said, “Hell no, Maksym found it, it’s his rock, or maybe it belongs just to the Ukrainians on Mars because a Ukrainian found it.” Then lots of people started to argue about the profit sharing language in our astronaut contracts.

Alex says it is too perfectly shaped to be natural. He thinks this is the best evidence yet there has been someone here before us. Perhaps there was a colony here a million years ago, and this was a part of their ship, an ornament, something to focus specific wavelengths of radiation through.

My brain knows that over millions of years the wind can cut even rocks into the strangest shapes… but when I have the opal in my hand, so smooth and perfect - how do I say this? - it is hard to believe I am the first person to hold it. 

Sometimes, I think of the Vikings who sailed to the New World, hundreds of years before Columbus was born. Their sagas tell that Erik the Red with a hundred and fifty men found a land to the far west and made camp there on the edge of a new world. They called it Vinland, and thought perhaps there could be a new settlement, a kingdom even, for south a way and a way it was so warm that sometimes snow might not fall in the winter.

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But the seas were treacherous, and several times their boats were dragged away by contrary winds with all crew lost. There were native people there, too, called skraelings, who had no iron tools but knew much about the land. At first the Vikings and skraelings traded with one another, but suspicion and finally war came between them. After three years, the sagas say, Erik and his people left Vinland, never to return.

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In 1960, some nine years after the Saga of Erik the Red was first sung… Some nine hundred,” I apologise, that’s me. “Some nine hundred years after the Saga of Erik the Red was first sung archaeologists found a Norse camp on the coast of Newfoundland at a place called L’Anse aux Meadows. Scattered through the camp, archaeologists found four pieces of jasper, a hard silicate stone the Vikings used for fire-strikers. How could I not think of that, with the fire opal in my hand?

Perhaps Alex is right and another Erik the Red smoothed the opal into this shape ages before we arrived, to make a fire striker, a jewel, a component for a faster-than-light ship’s drive. But now Mars is empty and dry, and this gleaming gem is all that remains of his hundred and fifty men.

This is what I didn’t have the words to say to Korey last week. Why terraform Mars? Because if we don’t, nothing we do here will matter. The Vikings put their boots upon a new world…but it did not matter, because what they built did not last and when they left, nothing was changed. 

When I was a boy, it looked as if the Moon would be just another Vinland. No human foot touched the Moon for more than fifty years after Apollo 17 in 1972.

So what is our Mars colony, then? Will it be Vinland, abandoned in three years, leaving no trace but a few archaeological curiosities to be discovered by curious scientists an age from now?

Or are we here at the dawn of a new world, a new chapter in human history?

For now, there is too much work to do for Mission Four to worry about the fire opal. But there is a Canadian geologist coming on Mission Four who is already obsessing on what little data we can send. For now, it must be her puzzle, while I help clean tanks and repair rovers.

But at least I don’t have to think of a game this week. This time it is Korey’s turn.

One rule I give to him - it must be scientific. Let’s see. Hopefully you will learn something new. Maybe you will also have fun. 

***

I loved that letter. I… I don't know, there's something so… moving about the idea of terraforming Mars, and I kind of do think it is the future. I think it has to be, right? Like… I just think it will be… I don't know. I think it has to be the future. So I'm honestly in Maksym’s camp. Maksym , Patricia, I agree with them, being the future. What do you guys think? Do you guys think terraforming Mars is the way to go?

I also had no idea about the story of Vinland and after I received the letter and read through it the very first time, I ended up doing a bunch of, like, research onto Vinland because I was fascinated. It's kind of an almost terrifying idea that so many many years in the past this situation happened. People explored this new world and then left, and we maybe would have never known about it. It didn’t… It was just a blip in the history of our world. It's kind of a fascinating story. I love linking history with the future. I think we have to, right? We have to look back at what's happened in the past to see what could happen in the future. It's really a remarkable thing to think about.

So with that being said, as Maksym said, this week it is Korey's turn to have made a game, and Korey has sent me some images to use for that game, which will be very exciting.

Speaking of images, how cool is it to see the fire opal from Mars? I'm so excited about that, very, very excited that I got a chance to see that and then I got a chance to share that all with you as well.

With that being said, we are going to hop right on over to our sponsor message. As a very fun fact - this sponsor message is for one of the ISA training locations that Maksym actually spent two years at, so I think it's a really fitting sponsor message that we have this week. Very exciting! And maybe it'll speak to you all and you can go and do some studying at this ISA trading location, as well. So with that, we're going to hop right into our sponsor message and our weather and I will be back with you shortly for our game. 

Commercial break

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How do you walk on two legs and yet fly to the stars? Answer the riddle for yourself at ISA-Sphinx!

Weather report 

And now the weather.

There are cooler temperatures this week, with lows of -115 degrees Celsius to highs of -10 degrees Celsius.

The winds are calm, from about 5 meters/second on average, with gusts to 50 meters/second, which is about 20-55 kilometers/hour, predominantly from 165 degrees east of north.

Atmospheric capacity is down to 0.55.

***

Alright, are you all ready for our game set up by Korey this week? I'm super excited. I'm super, super excited. I had a chance to see this game, obviously, as I got the information and I'm really excited to play it with you all.

So basically, the way that the game is going to work is each round - there will be seven rounds - each round I will present an image to you and then it will be followed up with four options of what the image could be. So, for instance, I could post an image of a dog and say “cat, elephant, dog, rat,” and then you'll vote on what you think the image is of.

It's going to be a little bit more difficult than posting an image of a dog, though. These images are all images that were taken under a microscope, so the items have been blown up beyond recognition. It will be up to you all to reach a majority before the time is up, and then I will tell you what the image actually is. So we're going to use our spooky timer music again that we used a few weeks back as a way to tell the minute that you have in between each round. I hope you're ready.

I will just say - some of these are a little bit odd-looking, so this is your tiny disclaimer that they might make you feel a little bit icky, so there it is. This is your warning. There’s only– There's nothing inherently gross, but everything that's blown up under a microscope can be a little bit odd-looking, so keep that in mind. I just wanted to make sure that you guys were aware.

If you do get the majority of answers correctly as a team, you do win. There are seven rounds, so that means that you have to win four of the seven rounds at a minimum in order to win.

With that, we're going to get started. I'm going to post our first image and it'll be followed up with another image that will give you the options, and then you guys will be able to vote on what you think it is.

So here is our first image…

So there are four options. It could be cork, it could be soil erosion in the Karakum Desert, a sea pen polyp, or Jupiter's colored band.

So is it a very blown up image of A - a corl, B - soil erosion in Karakum Desert, C - a sea pen polyp, or D - Jupiter's colored band? And you'll just click on the letter that is underneath that image.

What are we thinking? It seems like A is taking the lead, so we think it's a cork. You don't think it's soil erosion in the Caricum Desert or a sea pen polyp? Could be just a very close-up image of Jupiter's colored band… What are we thinking?

All right, it seems like you guys are holding fast with A!

It seems like you're holding fast with A…

Alright, so A is what you guys have gone with. You guys got the correct answer. A is the correct answer. It is, in fact, a cork, so congratulations, you all did a fantastic job there! So you have gotten one round correct. Well done! Well done. So that is a microscopic view of what a cork looks like on the inside.

Alright, let's get ready for our second one, our second round.

Alright, our second round is this image. Is this A - a human tongue? Is it B - Drosophila Notum? Is it C - laminating crystals? Or is it D - sugared radishes?

What are we thinking? Do we think it's A, B, C, or D? Is it A - a human tongue, B - the Drosophila Notum, C - laminating crystals, or D - sugared radishes?

Looks like you guys are leaning towards A. Pretty strongly leaning towards A.

Hmm… Laminating crystals, Drosophila Notum, sugared radishes, human tongue…Lots of interesting options. Andrius, you have a taste healing, for taste ceiling. “I hope it's not A cause that's gross,” oh.

Alright, let's see what it is!

So the answer was, as you said, A - a human tongue! So that is the image of a microscopic view of what the human tongue looks like! I did warn you guys that there was a… I agree! There were a couple that were a little bit icky, maybe. So hopefully that's not too bad.

Alright, so we are going to go to our next image…

So, round three. What do we think? “What do you have against tongue, Maximo and Emma? It's just a body part.” It's just… I don't know, there's something about it that's a little bit unsettling.

Alright, this is round three. Round three. Is this A - wiring storage? Is it B - a football jersey? Is it C - respiratory epithelium cilia? Or is it D - passion flower tendrils? I'm going to start the timer right now, even though you won't hear the music.

Is it A - wiring storage, B - a football jersey, C - a respiratory epithelium cilia, or D - passion flower tendrils?

What are we thinking? How are we feeling? Wiring storage, football jersey, respiratory epithelium cilia, or passion flower tendrils.

Seems like B is taking a pretty rapid lead. I do note that it is football and not football. So American football versus standard football, though I wonder if that would make a difference. I bet all jerseys would be made the same.

Wiring storage - A, B - football jersey, C - respiratory epithelium cilia, or D - passion flower tendrils?

Alright, that is one minute! So, the correct answer was, as you guessed, B - a football jersey!  Very, very well done. I am very proud of you all. So you have three out of seven rounds done correctly. Very, very well done. “I went with the football because it's the only thing I know of those options,” fair. That's fair. Well, in the end it paid off. It definitely paid off, Reaper, so well done. Correct.

Alright, we're on to round four! Let's see if you guys can guess what round four is.

So, round four, is it A, - dynamic transit map, B - contemporary artwork, C - crystallized orange juice, or D - temperature resistant concrete? A, B, C or D…

A, - dynamic transit map, B - contemporary artwork, C - crystallized orange juice, or D - temperature resistant concrete. What do we think this odd-looking image is?

This is one of my favorite ones. This one threw me for a loop. A - dynamic transit map, B - contemporary artwork, C -  crystallized orange juice, or D - temperature resistant concrete.

You have about 20 seconds left… It looks like currently C is in the lead but D is not far off. Oh, maybe it's moving around. It looks like someone pulled their vote off of D. We could be going to C instead…

Hmm, let's see. Alright, that's time! The answer was… C - crystallized orange juice. This one really blew my mind. I had no idea that that's what orange juice would look like like that! That's so cool! I am thoroughly impressed. Very, very well done. I do kind of think it looks like contemporary artwork, though. I'd hang it on my wall. That's such a cool looking piece of artwork. So well done. I'm very proud of you all. Good guessing, good work! That was round four. You guys definitely have the majority now. I'm very proud of you all.

Alright, we're going to head to round five. Round five. Let's see if you can keep your streak alive. 

This is round five. Is it A - a coffee bean? Is it B - vacuoles in scar tissue? Is it C - dead coral? Or D - volcanic glass?

Is it A - a coffee bean, B - vacuoles in scar tissue, C - dead coral, or D - volcanic glass?

What are we thinking? A - a coffee bean, B - vacuoles in scar tissue, C - dead coral, D - volcanic glass.

Ooh, C is taking a very rapid lead. C has a ton of votes for it! The closest to C is A at five, C has 19 votes right now. That's a lot of votes. 20 votes. There's a lot of votes for C.

You have about 20 seconds left. Let’s see, let’s see.

One last time, is it A - a coffee bean, B - vacuoles in scar tissue, C - dead coral, or D - volcanic glass?

Alright, you have 5 seconds. A, B, C or D? Looks like now A and D are tied.

Alright, that is it for round five! The correct answer to number five was… A - a coffee bean! So that image that you saw is a microscopic view of the inside of a coffee bean. So that's the first one in our game that you guys haven't gotten correctly. That's okay! You still have the majority, so at this point, we're just playing for fun. I'm really proud of you guys getting this far anyways. But now you know what the inside of a coffee bean looks like, which is pretty awesome, right? Pretty exciting.

On to round six! Let's see if we can get back our winning streak.

Round six. Is this A - a beef steak? B - a ringworm cross section? C - asbestos? Or D - wood, decay fungus?

A - beef steak, B - ringworm cross-section, C - asbestos, or D - wood decay fungus? What are we thinking?

This one's hard. I'm telling you, they got a little bit more difficult as they went. Almost like they were intended to become more difficult the longer you went on.

A - beef steak, B - ringworm cross-section, C - asbestos, or D - wood decay fungus? What do we think?

“I see steak, I vote yes.” [Emma laughs]

This one's pretty close. A and D are pretty close to ties. A has a little bit of a lead. You have about 20 seconds left to make your decision. “Is it burned?” Well, I don't know. Tempkurr sharing pictures of steak. Alright, let's see. You have 2 seconds left. It looks like, in the end, A wins.

The answer to round six is… A - beef steak! So you are correct! It is, in fact, steak! That is the microscopic view of what beef steak looks like. So congratulations! You've all done a great job. That was around six. We're back at our winning streak, which means that we're down to our final, final one, our final round. Round seven. I think you’ve got this. I think you’ve got this. “Where is the beast?”

Alright, this is round seven. This is for all the marbles. You've already won, but this is for all the marbles. This is round seven.

Is this A - retinal afterimage, B - quantal neurotransmitter release, C - soap bubbles, or D - an insect's wing?

What do we think it is? Is this A - retinal afterimage, B - quantal neurotransmitter release, C - soap bubbles, or D - an insect's wing? What do we think?

A, B, C or D? A - retinal afterimage, B - quantal neurotransmitter release, C - soap bubbles, or D - insect wing…

Hmm, what do we think?

[Emma laughs] Galdwin, It's actually funny, that image that you've just shared, that GIF is me pretty much all the time. It's a very relatable GIF.

Alright, it looks like C is pulling ahead. There's about five seconds left. Get your final votes in…

And with that, that concludes round seven. So the answer to round seven is, in fact, C! It's soap bubbles! Well done, well done. You all did a phenomenal job. You ended up getting six out of the seven rounds correct. I am so proud of you all.

Did you guys think that those items would look like that under the microscope? You are the champions, that's true! “Yes, I admit, I’m in the ISA.” Manja, I knew it! I am so proud of you all.

There were a couple that, like, really surprised me when we got the images from Korey, or when he told me to look them up, or look up for him. I honestly didn't think that a football jersey would look the way that it did. The tongue one, really… I wouldn't have guessed that, so I’m– Guessed that. So I'm glad that you all did. Congratulations! I'm very, very proud of you all. I'm pleased that you guys have won the game. I will pass along to Maksym that you all did a great job and hopefully learned something too.

With that being said, I think we're going to wrap up the Red Shift broadcast for the week. Thank you all so much for joining us. I hope you've all had a great time. I look forward to chatting with you all next week! Super excited!

Oh, “How long does it take to send messages to Mars?” It's about a five minute delay both ways, so if I sent a message to Mars, it would take about five minutes and it would take another five minutes to get back. So in total, round trip, it's about a ten minute delay, so. That's why we don't usually have the astronauts necessarily live on the show with me. I just think this is an important question to answer. We can't really have the astronauts live on the show, or, like, answering questions directly to me because we'd be sitting here for ten minutes for every question. So instead, I get to collect the information and I get to share it with all of you.

With that being said, you are all wonderful. I am, in fact, maybe a wizard. And I will see you all next week on our next Red Shift.

Bye, everybody!