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THE MATERIAL WORLD
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Quentin Cooper reports on developments across the sciences. Each week scientists describe their work, conveying the excitement they feel for their research projects.
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PRESENTER |
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"For me science isn't a subject, it's a perspective. There are fascinating scientific aspects to everything from ancient history to the latest gadgets, outer space to interior decorating; and each week on The Material World we try to reflect the excitement, ideas, uncertainties, collisions and collaborations as science continues its never-ending voyage into the unknown".
Quentin Cooper |
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| Karl Atkinson, John Zarnecki and Quentin Cooper preparing a drop-test of the Titan penetrometer on Chesil Beach (Photo Martin Redfern) |
During the Autumn Material World is broadcasting听programmes made in association with the Open University.
For more information about this programme, click here
Programme Three:听Titan
On 14th of January 2005, a space probe parachuted down onto one of the strangest worlds in our solar system: one of Saturn鈥檚 moons, Titan.
It was the culmination of a seven-year voyage for the European space agency's Huygens probe aboard the US/European Cassini mission.
The first thing to touch the surface of Titan was a metal spike built by a team under Professor John Zarnecki of the Open University. After all their work it produced just 12 thousandths of a second of data as it sank into the surface. That brief burst of data has been the subject of the PhD of John鈥檚 colleague, Karl Atkinson.
To get the most out of this tiny dataset, Karl has been performing controlled drops of a similar instruments on a wide variety of different surfaces on Earth.
It just happens that Chesil Beach in Dorset provides a useful range of surfaces of finally sorted sand and gravel of different textures. So that鈥檚 why Quentin finds them there, testing their instrument on the beach.
The signals they recorded on Titan suggested a granular structure, which is why they鈥檙e testing the brobe on different grades of sand and gravel. But the surface of Titan is about 200掳C colder than Dorset and the pebbles are probably not stone but ice, which would be rock hard at such temperatures.
The indications are that the sands of Titan are damp. But not with water.
When it rains there it probably rains liquid methane, perhaps laced with other hydrocarbons from the photochemical smog in the thick atmosphere.
There are signs of river channels cut by such liquids, flowing into lakes and seas of petro-chemicals.
After that, even Dorset in November seems warm.
Next week - the contribution of the world's wetlands to global carbon emissions ...
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