Why we’re seeing more flying objects over U.S. airspace

Make Me Smart February 14 2023 transcript

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Kai Ryssdal 

Okay, yes, let us begin. Is it my turn to start?

Kimberly Adams 

It is.

Kai Ryssdal 

Okay. Hey, everybody. I’m Kai Ryssdal. Welcome back to Make Me Smart, where we make the day makes sense. I can do that bit from memory.

Kimberly Adams 

You can. Hi, I’m Kimberly Adams, thank you for joining us. What do we say all the time? Audio professionals, audio professionals.

Kai Ryssdal 

That’s right. That’s right.

Kimberly Adams 

Thank you for joining us. It is Monday, happy Monday to all, Like us who you know, Mondays can be a little bit hard to get it going. We may not have it all together, we’re gonna survive the week. We’re gonna survive the week. We’re going to start off the week by diving into some stories of the day slash the weekend, also known as the news fix. And then we will talk about a story or two that made us smile and Kai, yours is kind of the news of the weekend. So why don’t you start?

Kai Ryssdal 

It’s amazing. So obviously, obviously, I’m talking about the balloon shoot downs, or the cylindrical objects shoot down or that we don’t really know what they are shoot downs. So I want to do two things. Number one is point out just how absolutely amazing it is that the Press Secretary to the President, United States has to get up at the lectern, or is it dais? lectern? podium? Nevermind, that’s not important right now. Has to it’s not important. I’m sure you know the answer. But

Kimberly Adams 

I don’t actually but I was gonna say I’m sure that someone will tell us

Kai Ryssdal 

Somebody does. Anyway, Karine Jean-Pierre stands up today and says “we have no indications that these are aliens.” Which, oh my god, right? So that’s number one. Number two, though, is why are we seeing them all now? And I think it would be really helpful if I spent literally less than 60 seconds, but just taking a minute to explain why we’re seeing them now. So we have an immense radar umbrella over North America. Thank you Cold War and the Soviet Union and all of that stuff, right? And we have radar sweeping the skies at all hours of the day and night. But those radars are not tuned. That is a layman’s term. But that’s what that’s an appropriate analogy here. Those radars are not tuned to see things that are moving really, really slowly. They’re tuned to see missiles. They’re tuned to see aircraft, that is to say things moving hundreds, perhaps thousands of miles per hour. So what happened after the the big not weather balloon over Montana last weekend that we could practically see with like a pair of binoculars is that NORAD adjusted what are called the “velocity gates” on their radars. And this is from the commander of NORAD, the more North American Aerospace Defense Command, right. He said this over the weekend, they adjusted their velocity gates, so that they can now… they have retuned their radars so that they are now looking for things that move 4,5,6,20 miles an hour. And that is why we’re seeing and shooting down so many more of these things. Because we can see them now. Now, of course, it’s mildly terrifying that they may have been there for years and years and years and years and years. And we hadn’t seen them. But that’s why we are seeing them now. If you’re wondering as I was, why are we seeing all these things now? That’s what’s going on.

Kimberly Adams 

That is wild. And how high up are these things? Because my thought was, you know, I get one of the commercial pilots might not have seen them. But what about all the recreational and like, you know, small craft pilots and things like that?

Kai Ryssdal 

Right. Right. So the one I think over like you’re on was 20,000 feet, the one over Alaska was 40,000 feet. And then obviously the big not weather balloon that started this whole thing was at 60,000 feet. So they are in varying altitudes.

Kimberly Adams 

They’re too high.

Kai Ryssdal 

Yeah, it’s too high for a lot of civilian aircraft, the 60,000 foot one, and you know, nobody in a Piper Cub is going up to 20,000 feet to poke around. Yeah, it’s just it’s so it’s, so weird.

Kimberly Adams 

They really found the sweet spot, didn’t they?

Kai Ryssdal 

They kind of did. They kind of did.

Kimberly Adams 

Yeah. We have an interview running on tech tomorrow with a former intelligence person who was saying how, you know, in many ways, this is like 9/11 and that it’s just revealed this wide open gap in security.

Kai Ryssdal 

Right, exactly. Yeah, exactly. That’s exactly right.

Kimberly Adams 

Yeah, because I mean, you think you’ve accounted for everything and it’s like, just kidding, not this thing. And you know, adjust, constantly adjusting and I do not envy the folks who have to, to do that work and are doing their best. Okay. Let’s see. So is your Twitter one also the same?

Kai Ryssdal 

That’s the same one. That’s that’s that’s the same one. That’s the source of the data. But yeah, that’s Dan Lamothe at the Washington Post who pointed out this velocity gate thing.

Kimberly Adams 

So my news fix is something that has sort of been, I’m not going to use the word percolating that’s terrible, but sort of going on over the last week or so but hasn’t gotten so much attention, but is actually deeply horrifying, which is this environmental disaster in Ohio. You may have sort of seen it, you know, kind of flashed by about the train derailment, right? And how these… this there was this big train derailment, it was carrying all these chemicals. They did, you know, sort of controlled burn, to try to burn off some of these chemicals. But this is actually, really, to an unknown extent of very serious environmental disaster affecting the people in this relatively low income area of Ohio. These chemicals are extraordinarily toxic, they’re burning off, they’re in the environment, people are saying their pets are dying. But you know, the local officials are saying, like, “you can drink the water”, and then they were like, “maybe you shouldn’t”, and they’re going back and forth about it. And, you know, it’s this area called East Palestine, Ohio. And now, you know, there’s all these scientists and different people talking to the local news, and people are just trying to figure out like, is it safe to breathe the air? Is it safe to breathe the water. And, you know, one of the experts that this local news channel WKBN-27 talked to said, “it’s possible that some of these chemicals could still be present in homes and objects, until you clean them thoroughly.” There’s a lot of what ifs we’re going to be looking at this thing, 5,10,15,20 years down the line and wondering, gee, cancer clusters could pop up and you know, well water could go bad. We’ve got, you know, chemicals like I’m not, I’m gonna butcher these pronunciations, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate. I mean, words that sound frightening, that have low boiling points, that are dangerous, that are a part of the lot of things we use everyday, but are not designed for us to be inhaling them or inheriting inhaling their fumes when they’re on fire, or, you know, when they contaminate water. And in the neighborhood where I grew up in St. Louis, not while I was still living there, but years later, there was a chemical plant that had a really bad fire. And it ended up like shooting, like many bombs into the neighborhood. And there were so many cancer cases. And you know, I’m not gonna say that those are direct cause because I’m sure that’s a liability thing and lawsuits that are still ongoing. But there were a lot of cancer cases where people sued the company, saying that these exposure to these chemicals, you know, caused their cancer later on, and it’s a bad situation, and isn’t getting a ton of attention, but it’s pretty scary. And the other story that I’m linking to, which is just weird, is a some of the residents of this area, were actually helped make this movie and be extras in a movie in 2021, called “White Noise”, which was a Netflix movie about a train derailment, sending chemicals into the air.  And, you know, it says, there’s “a freight train collided with a tanker truck triggering an explosion that fills the air with dangerous toxins.” And it was shot around Ohio and is based on a novel by Don DeLillo and it was published in 1985, shortly after a chemical disaster in India that killed nearly 4000 people. “The book and film follow the fictional Gladney family as they flee an airborne toxic event and then return home to try to resume their normal lives.” And a lot of the people in this area apparently were extras in this film, and now it’s happening to them.

Kai Ryssdal 

No way. Oh man. Oh man

Kimberly Adams 

It’s wild.

Kai Ryssdal 

That’s that is not great. That is not great.

Kimberly Adams 

No. It’s not.

Kai Ryssdal 

Oh sorry that’s Bonsai.

Kimberly Adams 

Oh, speaking of which I’m in the process of trying to bonsai a Wisteria.

Kai Ryssdal 

Really?

Kimberly Adams 

Yes, I got the. I ordered a vine and I wrapped it in wire last weekend and I’ve got its little shape. And I actually have it in a pot that Sabri made. I’m very excited about it.

Kai Ryssdal 

Oh, so so we should give Sabri a plug here right? He is in addition to being a great host and reporter he’s also an amazing I guess he’s a potter or ceramics artists. Yeah, he does amazing stuff. So..

Kimberly Adams 

Beautiful, beautiful work.

Kai Ryssdal 

Yeah, look them up on Instagram or we’ll put it on the show page.

Kimberly Adams 

I’m sure we can link to his handle or something. His work is really beautiful

Kai Ryssdal 

It’s crazy. It’s so good. Wait, doesn’t bonsai take like years to do and do you have that much time? Well, I mean, I guess you’re do have it.

Kimberly Adams 

Ideally, I hope wow Kai.

Kai Ryssdal 

That came out wrong!

Kimberly Adams 

I mean, unless you know something that I don’t. So yes, so the National Arboretum here in DC has an amazing Bonsai exhibit that’s just ongoing. And they’ve got trees there that are, you know, date back to the 1600s when they started getting trained, but you can bonsai just about any tree, apparently. And I’m not an expert, I’m sure there’s people listening who are. But basically, you can do it for as long as you grow the tree. But if you get something that’s like super fast growing, like, a Wisteria, as long as you get it into its shape, and keep up with the trimming and the watering, and the care and everything like that, you know, you can end up with something that looks decent in, you know, not decades. But you know, when shorter periods of time, but I don’t know, we’ll see. I’m just starting out and trying going down YouTube rabbit holes with it. So keep you updated.

Kai Ryssdal 

Fair enough. Good. Good.

Kimberly Adams 

All right. That’s a good segue to a smile.

Kai Ryssdal 

Oh there we go. Drew is like “whatever, let’s move along.” Okay, well,

Kimberly Adams 

It seems like you have all of them.

Kai Ryssdal 

You know it happens. Well, speaking of rabbit holes, I went down one today. And somehow this crossed my social media feed. It’s, it was a TikTok, but it showed up on my Instagram Reels, because that’s just the way these things work. The guy you’re about to hear is named Michael Oxton, and he’s one of the cofounders of a company called Night Shift Brewing. They are now in Everett, Massachusetts, I believe. And he was talking about AI and beer. Let’s hit that first clip drill.

Michael Oxton 

We asked ChatGPT to come up with some creative names for the beer. And it did. But they were a little boring. So we challenged it to come up with more self aware names that reference the fact that the beer was made by artificial intelligence. That’s when it spit out a AI-PA which is so good and a little terrifying.

Kai Ryssdal 

Right? AI-PA. I apologize for the sound effects in background there. I sort of didn’t didn’t compute on that one. But anyway, yeah. So he said, “Listen, we asked ChatGPT to come up with a beer recipe.” So it made them a beer recipe. It made them in a hazy IPA, it’s going to be called AI-PA, which is simply brilliant. It’s actually going to market he goes, he goes into this TikTok on how they came up with the can art, the label art for this thing. And then he closes with this

Michael Oxton 

We’re releasing AI-PA next week. Unless the robot say otherwise.

Kai Ryssdal 

“Unless the robot say otherwise.” It was super well done. If I were on the East Coast, I would get a can of AI-PA just because I could. It makes some sense, right? It makes some sense. But they’re in Massachusetts, they’re in Everett, Massachusetts, they’re available up and down the East Coast. But here’s here’s a broader pool.

Kimberly Adams 

I’ll see if I can get some for you and save it for your next DC trip.

Kai Ryssdal 

That would be very, very lovely of you to do. Here’s, here’s the bigger point though . So we did this whole show about AI and what it means and kids doing their homework assignments, and this and that. But look, if you’re gonna have AI make your beer, then why even bother, right? Because let’s set aside kids not only to do their homework. Part of what this replaces, is the creative process, right? And this guy and his friends literally built a company on their hobby of making beer at night after work. And now AI can do it. And is that any fun? I don’t know.

Kimberly Adams 

I don’t know. Is it a tractor?

Kai Ryssdal 

Am I being too serious? Am I being too serious? That’s entirely possible.

Kimberly Adams 

Well, no, I think you’re right. But I also think that there are lots of very creative and interesting things that have been replaced by technology that find a way to still survive. And the there’s an example close to mine, because the other day, not the other day, a couple of weeks ago, I took a calligraphy class, right? We do not need calligraphy in this world.

Kai Ryssdal 

That is true. That is true.

Kimberly Adams 

That is a technique and a skill that has been long replaced by technology. You know, you do not have to hand letter wedding invitations, or anything. You don’t have to know how to do calligraphy for any meaningful reason, other than it’s something you like to do and makes you feel fancy, right? But it still exists because it has gone from something that is a thing needed for work. Like if you wanted to invite 500 people to an event you used to need a calligrapher so you didn’t look like you know, somebody’s dumb and your stuff looked okay. You don’t need that anymore, which means rather than people having to do it for work, people choose to do it as an art form. So you can have beer that is made by a machine, made by an AI, the recipe comes from wherever or it could come from a team of research scientists who simply tailored the recipe to maximize the amount of money that they make off of the beer for the cheapest ingredients that will still sell based on people’s tastes interest, you know, and that’s not special or creative or nice. But then you have craft beers and people who do it for fun because they love it. And so I think as technology replaces some of these things, it shifts it from something you have to do that people choose to do. And then it can really be fun. Sabri makes beautiful pottery not because we need it to carry water, but because he likes it. That was a rant. Sorry. Yeah you’re right. No you’re good to go. Go. All right, fine. So speaking of things on Instagram that are also on TikTok, there is a chef on Instagram, who I follow named Britney Wang, who goes by Chef Baobae. And makes beautiful dumplings. And I love dumplings. And one of my pandemic activities was teaching myself how to make dumplings. And she has this lovely video about making rose dumplings for Valentine’s Day. And she basically uses, you know, the dough from the dumpling and the little filling to make the petals of the roses and uses food coloring and steams them and makes these really pretty dumplings that look like little rosebuds. And that just makes me happy. And I will eventually try this one day. Not this week. But eventually.

Kai Ryssdal 

Perhaps not. You do a lot of good extracurricular stuff. That’s kind of cool. That’s kind of cool

Kimberly Adams 

Yeah, it helps me turn my brain off from things.  Yeah I hear you, I hear you.  So it’s nice. Um, for extracurricular activities for this show, we’re going to talk about fundraising.

Kai Ryssdal 

All time segway, right there all time segway.

Kimberly Adams 

Yes, yes. Look for all of the random things that we bring to the show from Kai’s, you know, expertise about all things military and my random tangents on the role of technology and society. We only do this show because of you all and we would really appreciate your support with a monthly donation if you can. And if you’re able today. And in return now through Valentine’s Day, aka tomorrow, while I cannot promise you a rose shape dumpling, we do have investor T shirts, with our logo on the front and on the back it says “I’m invested in Marketplace”, and we are not going to be giving these out anywhere else. So it is available right now. And you can get it only on our donation form starting at $5 a month.

Kai Ryssdal 

Marketplace.org/givesmart is how to do that. Marketplace.org/givesmart and if you do, we’ll be your friends forever. And we’ll be here

Kimberly Adams 

You can show your love for Marketplace.

Kai Ryssdal 

Because if you don’t do this, we can’t be here. That’s righrt.

Kimberly Adams 

Yes. That is true. All right, one more time. Marketplace.org/giftsmart

Kai Ryssdal 

Make Me Smart is produced by Courtney Bergsieker. Today’s program was engineered by Drew Jostad. Ellen Rolfes writes our newsletter. Our intern is Antonio Barreras.

Kimberly Adams 

Marissa Cabrera is our acting senior producer. Bridget Bodnar is the director of podcasts. And Francesca Levy is the executive director of Digital. You can tell that I have given deep thoughts to this AI thing right?

Kai Ryssdal 

Yeah well you know, that’s good for you. Good for you. That’s great.

Kimberly Adams 

I’ve been thinking about it a lot!

Kai Ryssdal 

Definitely worthy of a lot of thought, for sure.