In the first half, astronomy professor Chris Impey talked about the latest in exoplanet research as well as the existential threats that we face here on Earth, which lend urgency to the search for other habitable planets that we could migrate to. Telescopes like the Kepler don't directly see exoplanets (planets orbiting other stars), but their presence is inferred through observing transits or dips in the star's brightness. Hundreds of Earth-like planets have been discovered so far, he noted, and appear to be in temperate zones, though it is difficult to measure their atmospheres. Our options in the solar system aren't good, as it would take an enormous effort to make Mars habitable, he pointed out, but on the other hand, exoplanets are millions of times further away and currently inaccessible. A viable colony would need at least 120-130 people, Impey added, and Elon Musk has said his large spaceship could take that many to Mars.
An experimental project called Breakthrough Starshot plans to develop fleets of tiny nanobot interstellar probes powered by solar sails that could journey to the nearby star Proxima Centauri, though it may take 50-60 years to perfect the technology, Impey reported. Liquid water appears to be a common element in a significant number of exoplanets, with some of the worlds having more oceans than Earth. As far as finding extraterrestrial life in our solar system, the moon Europa is the likeliest candidate with its salty sea, which may at least harbor primitive forms of life, he commented. He also shared an intriguing fact that when many solar systems are young, their planets can be unstable, and some get ejected and then travel through the galaxy as "rogue" planets, possibly harboring life without orbiting a star.
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Having survived 12+ years with a demonically possessed mother, musician Michael Gagliardi set out to understand the nature of the possession phenomenon. In the latter half, he recounted the terror of what happened to him and his family. As a small child in Canada, his mother poured hot soup on him in 1971, and he was hospitalized. Her condition deteriorated over time to the point that she was growling, laughing to herself, seeing little people running around her, speaking incoherently in other languages, and constantly falling into trance states, he detailed. Gagliardi believes his mother may have become possessed gradually after her father died, and she and her sister had used occult methods to try and communicate with his spirit.
His mother's violence continued, culminating in trying to kill his sister with a butcher knife. Gagliardi said he always pushed his bedroom armoire against the door so she couldn't enter his room while he was sleeping. She was obese, her teeth were broken, and her tongue was serrated on both sides, he continued. "She'd be sitting in this chair at daybreak, and she'd be singing, whistling, laughing, talking in very aggressive and manly voices [and] answering herself with many voices and many different languages. She started at that point to hit herself with a log" and sometimes set fires in the home, he revealed. After she died at age 47, Gagliardi suffered from extreme PTSD, which he has to this day, but has found some comfort as a born-again Christian. He suggests calling upon the name of Jesus when dealing with a possessed individual.
News segment guests: Howard Bloom, Mish Shedlock