A HaLIUween Special

Happy Halloween! In this special episode of The LIUniverse, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome back archaeology expert Hannah Liu, MEd to bring a scientific eye to the holiday and some of its most familiar denizens: witches, werewolves, zombies, black cats and even the Great Galactic Ghoul!

As always, though, we start off with the day’s joyfully cool cosmic thing: Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS). You’ll learn all about this visitor from the Oort Cloud, including how we know where it came from. Hannah talks about how ancient people responded to the arrival of a comet, including how leaders have used them for their own political purposes, and Charles brings up the inclusion of Halley’s Comet on the Bayeux tapestry.

Then it’s time for Chuck to introduce our theme for this special episode: how the superstitions of the past interact with the mysteries of science.

You’ll hear from Hannah about the history of Halloween and its beginning as the Druidic celebration of Sawen (or Samhain) marking the end of the harvest season.

Jumping ahead in history, we look at the Salem Witch Trials of the 17th Century, and the “science” that was used to condemn innocent young women to death for behaviors the powers that be disapproved of.

You’ll also get serious answers to spooky questions like “Do full moons affect behavior?” (We’re talking the behavior of moths, sea turtles and humans, rather than werewolves, although we do actually get into the possible origins of the wolfman myth as embodied in the Greek myth of Zeus and Lycaon with a minor digression into D&D and legendary DJ Wolfman Jack.)

After witches and werewolves, what else could we talk about next than zombies? In this case, natural zombie spiders created by the sting of a parasitic Tarantula Hawk wasp, or zombie ants that have been infected by the fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis. And yes, somehow The Walking Dead and The Last of Us shamble into the discussion, although regarding the latter, Allen explains why cordyceps probably couldn’t survive in a human host.

Next up, we look at the connection between black cats and the holiday. Hannah brings up the traditions of cats as “Witch’s Familiars” and shapeshifters, and Chuck reminds us of the moment when we saw a cat transform into Professor McGonagall in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. You’ll hear about how STS-13, which was slated to be the thirteenth mission of the Space Shuttle, was renamed STS-41-C, in an attempt to avoid any superstition or reminder of the ill-fated Apollo 13. There was an alternate mission patch that featured an illustration of the shuttle landing under a giant black cat, referencing the mission's original designation, STS-13; and that the day the mission returned was April 13, 1984, which was a Friday the 13th.

Speaking of space, Hannah asks Chuck about the concept of “The Great Galactic Ghoul,” the fictitious space monster blamed for the failure of nearly every probe sent to Mars by the Soviet Union, Japan, and even NASA between 1988 and 1999. Out of 10 missions, only 2 US probes landed successfully on the Red Planet. Since then, while the Ghoul did claim a few more victims including two missions by the UK, it seems to have gone into hiding, since the US has had multiple successful missions, as has China with their Tianwen lander and Zhurong rover, India, Russia, the European Space Agency, and the UAE.

Finally, to end our special HaLIUween episode, Chuck brings up Albert Einstein’s term, “Spooky Action at a Distance,” which he coined derisively to describe the physics concept known as quantum entanglement that he dismissed but has since been proven to exist.

We hope you enjoyed this special episode of The LIUniverse, and, if you do, please support us on Patreon.

Credits for Images Used in this Episode:

• Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas – AlexL1024, Public Domain
• Diagram of the Oort Cloud – NASA, Public Domain
• Halley's Comet on the Bayeux tapestry – 11th century English embroiderers, Public Domain
• Irish hero Fionn fighting Aillen on Samhain – Beatrice Elvery, Public Domain
• Later depiction of the Salem Witch Trials – Joseph E, Public Domain
• Painting of the Aos Sí – John Duncan, Public Domain
• Ant infected with Ophiocordyceps unilateralis – Denis Zabin
• Tarantula Hawk wasp – Davehood, Public Domain
• STS-13 alternate mission patch –  Bp1222
• Mars Climate Orbiter, unit error victim – NASA/JPL, Public Domain
• Purported face on Mars – Viking 1, NASA, Public Domain
• Better image of the same feature – NASA / JPL / Malin Space Science Systems, Public Domain
• China’s Tianwen lander and Zhurong rover – China News Service

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