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SPEAKER_02

👤 Person
3680 total appearances

Appearances Over Time

Podcast Appearances

Short Wave
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms

I love doing it.

Short Wave
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms

Yeah, and how the brain might fill in missing information.

Short Wave
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms

And lastly, you'll love this, Ari, the wiggly world of octopus arms.

Short Wave
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms

So when scientists were looking far back into the dawn of the universe, they noticed these very strange red objects in these images of space.

Short Wave
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms

They debated whether the dots were big black holes or galaxies.

Short Wave
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms

But the weird thing was, if they were galaxies, they were much older than they should have been.

Short Wave
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms

It would be like checking on your little kid and finding a fully grown adult.

Short Wave
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms

So they needed a new model to explain this specific red dot's features.

Short Wave
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms

And the study's claiming this new model points to a new kind of black hole.

Short Wave
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms

One surrounded by a dense cloud of cooler gas, kind of like an atmosphere, but it's not a planet or a star.

Short Wave
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms

It means that this could be a stage in black hole growth that scientists have never seen before.

Short Wave
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms

It could also be a new clue as to how supermassive black holes at the centers of almost all galaxies are made.

Short Wave
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms

But astrophysicists aren't really sure.

Short Wave
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms

So the brain is wired to fill in visual gaps.

Short Wave
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms

For example, Ari, maybe an animal sees the tail of a lion hiding behind a bush, but their brain alerts them as if they've seen the entire lion.

Short Wave
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms

Exactly.

Short Wave
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms

And in that case, that brain feature is really helpful.

Short Wave
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms

But

Short Wave
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms

Sometimes in the case of things like optical illusions, the brain perceives objects that aren't actually there.

Short Wave
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms

So, Ari, I want you to look at an example of what the researchers showed the mice.

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