August 30th 2026

Things from Today:

• Jupiter - We discussed a few interesting features of the planet Jupiter.
  Firstly, it's size... Jupiter is almost 11 times wider than the Earth; meaning Jupiter could fit in over 1300 Earths. If the Earth was the size of a pea (approx 1cm), Jupiter would be about the size of a large cooking apple (approx 11cm).
  Secondly, it's structure... Although we call Jupiter a 'gas giant', only about 0.1% of the planet's mass is in a true gaseous state. The deeper down into the planet's atmosphere you go, the higher the pressure becomes. At these ultra-high pressures, the physical properties of hydrogen (the element that makes up around 75% of Jupiter's mass) changes quite dramatically - transitioning into a metallic hydrogen fluid. At this pressure, hydrogen becomes highly electrically conductive (like a metal), and thanks to Jupiter's extremely fast rotation (one Jovian day is only 10hrs long!); the planet has an extremely strong magnetic field.
  One consequence of this strong magnetic field, is that Jupiter has a pair of stunning permanent aurora (Northern and Southern lights) at its poles. These aurora are permanent because rather than being caused by interactions with the solar wind (the stream of high energy particles from the sun, responsible for aurora on the Earth), Jupiter's aurora come from interactions with the material thrown into orbit from volacnic eruptions on the surface of Io, the innermost of Jupiter's four large moons.
  Jupiter is an extremely fascinating planet. One I am sure we will discuss again in future Spacetime Sundays!

• Slime Moulds & Fungi - 

• Venus' Atmosphere - 

• Quantum Computers and Encryption - 

Extra Reading:

• [Article] The Four-Color Theorem Gets a Rare New Proof - Gregory Barber (Quanta Magazine)

• [Article] AI Has Solved One of Math’s $1 Million Millennium Prize Problems - Konstantin Kakaes (Quanta Magazine)

• [Article] Next-Gen Gravitational Wave Detectors Could Spot the First Black Holes - Andy Tomaswick (Universe Today)

• [Article] Extraterrestrial lights: How other worlds experience auroras - Asa Stahl (The Planetary Society)

Extra Watching / Listening:

• [Video] Brainless [BBC Radio piece on Slime Moulds] - (Sideways, BBC Radio 4)

• [Video] IRON (new video) - (Periodic Videos)

• [Video] The Insane Biology of: The Elephant Seal - (Real Science)

Homework

This 'homework' is recurring, and one I like to set my own students (and try to stick to myself!):

1. Learn something new everyday.

2. Share what you know with someone else.

3. Look at the world and "think like a Martian".

If you learn something interesting, I would love to hear about it! Tell me about it next time or drop me an email!

spacetime-sundays@science-on-sea.com