[applause, music starts] John: It’s 9pm, and you know what that means! Coming to you live from the Staples Stadium - it’s Sky Jazz!!! [Skyjazz theme] Wendy: Hello and welcome to SkyJazz! Its Monday, October 07, 2024, and were coming to you tonight from Yongzhou - its my favourite place here in China . John: Good evening everyone, and thank you Wendy! As ever, we are going to start the show by taking a question from a listener about stargazing and general aspects of astronomy! Uh, so Wendy, what have you picked out randomly from our mailbag today? Wendy: We have an email from Benjamin Dover - someone living right here in Yongzhou John: Fantastic! Isnt it great to hear from a local skygazer? They say, "Hi Skyjazz - Ive got a question for Wendy". Oh. Ok. "Wendy - wheres Uranus?" Wendy: Wendy: That’s a great question. Well, Benjamin, it’s interesting you chose this planet. If you look to the east, youll see mars - Also a perfectly good planet for the amateur astronomer to view. Mars is home to Olympus Mons, the largest volcaino in the solar system. It was created by Sir Edmund Hillary on his famous expedition to the planet in 1888. jupiter is there in the west. The big red spot has been raging for hundreds of years. It’s a hell of a storm. And yet you chose to ask me a question about the seventh planet of the solar system. humans call it the sideways planet. Has it ever struck you that its actually human beings that are looking at things wrong? Im pretty sure this beautiful planet doesnt have structural inequality, or pasta salad. This planet rules over technology. Its the caretaker of change, of a new world. In a sense, in a trite quantum mechanical sense Every little decision we make brings about a new world Everything we do, or choose not to do By action, or omission, creates a new universe. A universe exactly identical to our own, except for a tiny change, like what I chose to wear this morning, or whether you remembered to bring an umbrella with you today. Maybe, just now, in this parallel universe, I walked over to the other side of the stage, or maybe I took a little drink of water. Something small, something inconsequential. It probably makes no huge difference in the scheme of things whether I took a sip from this glass of water, or not. But that’s a different universe, living its life, without us. Maybe that universe is just the same as ours in every other way. But there are other universes. Maybe there’s a universe in which I never came to Yongzhou, and Benjamin never wrote me that email. Or maybe we came on a different night, and we didn’t get his email in time. Or maybe there’s another person that calls themselves Benjamin Dover, and thought it would be a good idea to write me a letter like this Maybe, whatever city I’m inn, I received this same letter from a different Benjamin. Sometimes even large decisions we make get lost on the waves of a world made up of millions of ripples, ripples other people create. But sometimes those tiny ripples grow. Sometimes the beating of a butterfly’s wings, or a finger hovering too long over a “send” button, can have huge consequences. And by the time we realise, those little eddies... spiral into something much larger, something we can no longer control. And sometimes, more often, change isn’t something we do. Change happens to us. If there’s one thing you can say about change, Benjamin, it’s that it’s hard. Change is painful. And, I get the sense from your email, you’re trying to use humour to cover some kind of pain. To ease it for yourself, and for others. Is that what you’re doing, Benjamin? Are your afraid? Is it change that you fear? Audience member with poor judgment: Woo! Wendy: I suppose you can’t answer. But I should answer your question. Step outside into the street. Look to the west. Look up above the horizon. About 48 degrees. Can you see a little green spot? It looks like a star. Maybe a little closer, and a little colder. Was that what you were afraid of? Do you feel a little silly now? Being afraid of that tiny spot, billions of miles away? That planets light takes over two hours to reach the earth. So if change is coming, you wouldn’t know. Not yet. Maybe not until you close your eyes at the end of the day. Don’t close your eyes, Benjamin. Keep looking. You can’t predict change. You can accept it. You can reject it. But... How? How do you reject the sky, Benjamin? Is that what you want? To reject the sky? How do you reject the reality of a planet fourteen times the mass of earth, and sixty times its volume, spinning on its own axis in defiance of your normie expectations of what a planet is supposed to look like, how it’s supposed to behave Wait. That’s weird. Does it seem like it’s got a little bit bigger? John: Well, thats about all we have time for - but well be back tomorrow, broadcasting from a completely new city, with a brand new episode of Skyjazz! [Skyjazz theme] --- Neutrinowatch is generated daily, so this text will change every day. This version was generated on Tuesday, 08 October 2024, at 00:10 UTC/GMT