OVNIs lumineux à Nassau aux Bahamas

PAR MAXIME BOUCHER · JUILLET 10, 2014

11-02-2017 om 18:05 geschreven door peter  

NASA Maps Out Possible Lander Mission to Jupiter Moon Europa

A potential NASA life-hunting mission to the surface of Jupiter's ocean-harboring moon Europa is really starting to take shape.

The stationary Europa lander would use three different instrument suites to search for signs of alien life in samples collected from just beneath the moon's icy surface, according to a new report by the 21-member "Science Definition Team" (SDT) for the possible mission.

These primary instruments would include an "organic compositional analyzer," a microscope system and a "vibrational spectrometer," stated the report, which was submitted to NASA on Tuesday (Feb. 7). [Europa May Harbor Simple Life-Forms (Video)] 

"The science return possible from the model payload is such that, if life is present in Europa's ice at a level comparable to one of the most extreme and desolate of environments on Earth (Lake Vostok ice), then this mission could detect life in Europa's icy surface," the report's authors wrote. (Lake Vostok lies beneath the surface of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.)

Hunting for alien life would be the mission's primary goal. But it would also seek to assess the habitability of the huge ocean of liquid water that sloshes beneath Europa's icy shell, and to characterize the moon's surface and near-surface environments to help enable future robotic missions.

Astrobiologists regard the 1,900-mile-wide (3,100 kilometers) Europa as one of the solar system's best bets to host alien life. Not only does the satellite host an ocean, but that ocean is thought to be in contact with Europa's rocky mantle, making possible all sorts of interesting chemical reactions. (Saturn's moon Enceladus appears to be the only other "ocean world" beyond Earth where this is the case, astronomers have said.)

NASA is already developing a flyby mission to Europa, which is scheduled to launch in the 2020s. This solar-powered spacecraft will orbit Jupiter and assess the moon's habitability during the course of 45 close encounters with Europa.

In late 2015, Congress ordered NASA to add a surface component to the Europa mission. The agency is currently studying the best ways to make this happen; the new SDT report is part of that process.

The current vision for the lander calls for it to be launched separately from the Europa flyby probe, according to the SDT report. The lander and a "carrier relay orbiter" (CRO) would lift off atop NASA's in-development Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket as early as 2024.

The mission would reach Jupiter about five years later, then perform a series of Jovian moon flybys over the next 1.5 years to prepare for arrival at Europa, the SDT report's authors wrote.

Once the mission got there, the CRO would stay in Europa orbit. The lander would touch down on the Jovian moon using retrorockets and a "sky crane" like the one that lowered NASA's Curiosity rover onto the Martian surface in August 2012. (Parachutes are not part of the plan, since Europa has no appreciable atmosphere.)

The lander would operate for at least 20 days, until its batteries died. The craft would collect samples from at least 4 inches (10 centimeters) beneath the Europan surface, to get material that hadn't been destroyed or transformed by the harsh radiation bombarding the moon. It would then relay the data back to Earth via the CRO.

The Europan radiation environment would likely limit the CRO's lifetime to about 30 days, according to the SDT team's report, "thus making a longer-lived lander mission difficult to justify."

The lander would be quite busy during its brief operational life, as its proposed instrument payload indicates.

"Along with the analytical suite for detailed analyses of samples, the Europa Lander model payload also includes a pair of color stereo imagers for examining the landing site in 3D (including capabilities for characterizing surface composition), and a seismic package for determining Europa's ice shell and ocean thickness through acoustic monitoring of cracking events in the ice shell," the SDT report states.

The SDT report is far from the last word on the Europa lander mission, which remains just a concept at the moment. For example, NASA will host town hall meetings at two upcoming scientific conferences — one in March and one in April — to get feedback from researchers about the SDT team's findings and recommendations.

You can read the full 264-page SDT report here: 

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/docs/Europa_Lander_SDT_Report_2016.pdf

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.

EDITOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS

• Photos: Europa, Mysterious Icy Moon of Jupiter
• NASA To Probe Europa For Signs Of Life | Video
• Fish Under Ice-Cap Suggest Europa Life May Be Possible | Video

{ http://www.space.com/ }

11-02-2017 om 17:54 geschreven door peter  

Mercury's Water Ice Deposits Have a Mysterious Origin

Although Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, some of its craters hide water ice in their shaded depths — but how much ice is there, and where exactly did it come from?

A new study has part of the answer, suggesting that the ice is around 50 meters thick on average, but there is considerable uncertainty with that measurement. What kind of comets deposited the water there in the first place, however, is a mystery.

The researchers based their information on the Mercury Laser Altimeter instrument on the now-complete NASA MESSENGER mission, which crashed into Mercury as planned in 2015. Previously, a combination of Earth-based radar and neutron data suggested water ice deposits that were at least one to two meters thick. The new data suggests an ice thickness of 50 meters, possibly up to 85 meters.

But what's possibly most intriguing is figuring out the source of this ice. The researchers aren't quite sure if the ice came from long-period Halley-type comets (which originate from the Oort Cloud, a collection of icy objects far out in the solar system) or short-period Jupiter-family comets (which originate from the Kuiper Belt, an icy group of objects beyond Neptune's orbit).

"If we had found a lower limit for the ice depth that was significantly greater than zero, which we didn't quite, then we would have been able to rule out the possibility of Halley-type comets or asteroids being responsible for delivering Mercury's water," said Vincent Eke, a reader in the department of physics at Durham University, U.K., in an email to Seeker. Eke is the lead author of a paper published in the journal Icarus.

RELATED: Weird Landscape Shows That Mercury's No 'Dead' Planet

"The models for the micrometeorite flux reaching Mercury are quite uncertain," Eke Some of the more modern models could manage to bring 50 meters of ice to the polar craters, as could Jupiter-family comets. Also, if the ice depth is as thick as 50 meters in all the polar craters, then it would rule out the possibility that the ice was all brought by a single recent impact. One other study did consider that the impactor that created Hokusai crater might have been responsible for the polar water ice deposits."

When asked what was the significance of the results, Eke added they were "still a little bit too tantalizing" because the ice depth was not defined as precisely as he would like. Eke said he plans to use the final MESSENGER MLA data to provide better sampling of the polar regions, allowing him to see more craters — perhaps including smaller ones — to give a tighter constraint on the ice depth.

Failing that, there's another Mercury mission called BepiColombo that is headed to Mercury in the 2020s. The European mission should be carrying a laser altimeter, and Eke said he is hopeful the methods in his team's paper could improve the constraint on the ice thickness.

"If BepiColombo flies low over the south pole, rather than the north pole like MESSENGER, then this would also be helpful to increase the number of well-measured polar craters. I'm not sure that the orbit has yet been decided," he said.

RELATED: Mercury Transit: How We Scaled the Cosmos

"The limiting factor is not how accurately an individual altitude is measured, because both the MLA and [BepiColombo laser altimeter] do this to better than 1 meter. However, craters have departures from axisymmetry of up to 100 meters due to subcratering impacts. We need to average over enough craters to ensure that the height difference we're measuring is caused by ice, rather than just being intrinsically rough craters."

Originally published on Seeker.

EDITOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS

• 10 Strange Facts About Mercury (A Photo Tour)
• Most Enduring Mysteries of Mercury
• Water Ice on Mercury: How It Stays Frozen (Infographic)

{ http://www.space.com/ }

11-02-2017 om 17:44 geschreven door peter  

Space Weather: Sunspots, Solar Flares & Coronal Mass Ejections

Though the sun lies 93 million miles (149 million km) from Earth, its unceasing activity assures an impact on our planet far beyond the obvious light and heat. From a constant stream of particles in the form of solar wind to the unpredictable bombardment from solar flares and coronal mass ejections, Earth often feels the effects of its stellar companions. Less noticeable are the sunspots crossing the solar surface, though they are related to the more violent interactions. All of these fall under the definition of "space weather."

Sunspots

Studying the surface of the sun can reveal small, dark areas that vary in number and location. These sunspots, which tend to cluster in bands above and below the equator, result from the interaction of the sun's surface plasma with its magnetic field. According to NASA, sunspots are "the most visible advertisement of the solar magnetic field."

Sunspots are cooler regions that cap some of the intense energy below them. Here’s how they form:

The material at the solar equator travels significantly faster than the material at the poles. The magnetic field lines become warped. When the magnetic field is strong enough — and twisted enough — jet streams of flowing currents create ropes of magnetism. Most of the rope, or filament, lies inside the sun, but part of it may break through the visible layer, where it is viewed in the form of two sunspots. The pair are polar opposites, literally; think of them as magnetic north and south, with the rope acting as the magnet in between. [Photos: Sunspots on Earth's Closest Star]

At temperatures of 3,800 kelvins (6,380 degrees Fahrenheit or 3,527 degrees Celsius), sunspot temperatures are nearly 2,000 K (3,140 F / 1,727 C) less than the rest of the sun. But don't let the numbers fool you. If a single sunspot stood alone in the night sky, it would be 10 times brighter than the full moon.

Similarly, sunspots might seem small when compared to the 865,000-mile (1.392 million kilometers) diameter of the sun, because they typically cover less than 4 percent of its visible disk. However, ranging from 1,500 miles to 30,000 miles (2,500-50,000 km) in size, they can reach the width of the planet Neptune, the smallest of the gas planets. But with a lifetime of anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, sunspots are far less permanent.

Sunspots do not appear in random locations. They tend to be concentrated in two mid-latitude bands on either side of the equator. They begin appearing around 25 to 30 degrees north and south of the center. As the solar cycle progresses, new sunspots appear closer to the equator, with the last of them appearing at an average latitude of 5 to 10 degrees. Sunspots are almost never found at latitudes greater than 70 degrees.

According to NASA, it takes approximately 11 years for the sun to move through the solar cycle that is defined by an increasing and then decreasing number of sunspots. As it reaches the close of a cycle, new sunspots appear near the equator, while a new cycle produces sunspots in higher latitudes. The cycles overlap; sunspots from the previous cycle can still develop even after sunspots from the new cycle appear. So solar scientists have a very difficult time saying exactly when one cycle ends and the next begins.

As of early 2015, solar cycle 24 was under way. The 11-year cycle began in January 2008 and peaked in 2013, the weakest solar maximum in 100 years, according to NASA. Despite the low level of activity, one of the largest sunspot regions ever was observed in November 2014, reaching approximately the size of Jupiter.

Scientists measure the activity of the sun by keeping track of the number of sunspots appearing on its surface. Since the invention of the telescope, sunspot counts have been relatively constant. In 1849, astronomers at the Zurich Observatory began observing and counting sunspots on a daily basis. The Solar Influence Data Analysis Center in Belgium and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration are responsible for monitoring sunspot activity today.

Solar flares

The high magnetic fields in the sunspot-producing active regions also give rise to explosions known as solar flares. When the twisted field lines cross and reconnect, energy explodes outward with a force exceeding that of millions of hydrogen bombs. [The Sun's Wrath: Worst Solar Storms in History]

Temperatures in the outer layer of the sun, known as the corona, typically fall around a few million kelvins. As solar flares push through the corona, they heat its gas to anywhere from 10 to 20 million K, occasionally reaching as high as a hundred million. According to NASA, the energy released in a solar flare "is the equivalent of millions of 100-megaton hydrogen bombs exploding at the same time."

Because solar flares form in the same active regions as sunspots, they are connected to these smaller, less violent events. Flares tend to follow the same 11-year cycle. At the peak of the cycle, several flares may occur each day, with an average lifetime of only 10 minutes. The enormous sunspot of 2014 fired off several powerful solar flares.

The largest, X-class flares, have the most significant effect on Earth. They can cause long-lasting radiation storms in the upper atmosphere, and trigger radio blackouts. Medium-size M-class flares can cause brief radio blackouts in the polar regions and the occasional minor radiation storms. C-class flares have few noticeable consequences. [Solar Flares: A User's Guide (Infographic)]

When the energized particles exploding from solar flares race toward us, they arrive in only eight minutes. Astronauts in space risk being hit by these hazardous particles, and manned missions to the moon or Mars must take this danger into account. Everyone else is shielded by the Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field. Sensitive electronic equipment in space can also be damaged by these energetic particles.

Absorbing X-rays affects the atmosphere. The increase in heat and energy result in an expansion of the Earth's ionosphere. Man-made radio waves travel through this portion of the upper atmosphere, so radio communications can be disturbed by its sudden unpredictable growth. Similarly, satellites previously circling through vacuum-free space can find themselves caught in the expanded sphere. The resulting friction slows down their orbit, and can bring them back to Earth sooner than intended.

Despite their size and high energy, solar flares are almost never visible optically. The bright emission of the surrounding photosphere, where the sun's light originates, tends to overshadow even these explosive phenomena. Radio and optical emissions can be observed on Earth. However, since X-rays and gamma rays fail to penetrate the atmosphere, only space-based telescopes can detect their signatures.

Coronal mass ejections

The magnetic field lines that twist up to form solar flares occasionally become so warped that, like rubber bands under tension, they snap and break, then reconnect at other points. The gaps that form no longer hold the sun's plasma on its surface. Freed, the plasma explodes into space as a coronal mass ejection (CME). [Stunning Photos of Solar Flares & Sun Storms]

It takes several hours for the CME to detach itself from the sun, but once it does, it races away at speeds of up to 1,000 km (more than 7 million miles per hour). One of the fastest recorded CMEs, registered in 2012, traveled about 6.48 million to 7.92 million mph (10.43 million and 12.75 million kph). 

"Seeing a CME this fast, really is so unusual," Rebekah Evans, a space scientist at Goddard's Space Weather Lab, said in a statement. "And now we have this great chance to study this powerful space weather, to better understand what causes these great explosions, and to improve our models to incorporate what happens during events as rare as these."

The cloud of hot plasma and charged particles may be up to 100 billion kilograms (220 billion pounds) in size.

As with solar flares, if the CME is aimed in our direction, it takes the particles eight minutes to reach Earth. However, the particles take anywhere from one to five days to travel the distance to our planet. The solar wind, a constant stream of charged particles ejected by the sun, acts on the cloud like a current on a boat. Faster CMEs feel the drag of the wind and slow down, while those with low initial velocities speed up.

Auroras (Northern Lights): 

When the energy from a solar storm reaches the vicinity of Earth, charged particles in our planet’s upper atmosphere interact with air molecules to create auroras. These Northern Lights, as they are also called, can be fantastic displays of color. The solar wind also generates a near-constant but less spectacular display.

Many solar storms aren't aimed toward us. At the high point of the solar cycle, the sun may produce as many as five CMEs in a given day; even at the low point, it averages one a day. The spherical shape of the sun means that most of them miss the Earth completely. In fact, we can't even observe all of the ejections; those emerging directly opposite our planet are undetectable.

However, when the sun does eject a cloud of plasma and gas directly toward us, the incoming matter seems to surround the sun. Much like a baseball falling from the direction of the sun can seem to grow larger and dwarf the star, the so-called "halo coronal mass ejection" can appear to overshadow its source. Such ejections cause the most problems for the people on Earth.

Like solar flares, CMEs bring an increase in radiation to astronauts and electronics in space. But unlike flares, they also bring charged particles of matter that interact with the field surrounding our planet. The results vary depending on the size, speed and magnetic strength of the particles.

When the particles reach the Earth's magnetic sphere, they stretch and distort. Much like a tree in a strong wind, the day side — the first side affected — is compressed, while the night side is stretched out like a tail. When it reconnects on the night side, it releases the energy found in a bolt of lightning. While lightning lasts on the order of microseconds, however, the magnetic storm created lasts far longer. It races back toward Earth's upper atmosphere.

The sudden increase in power can damage sensitive electronic equipment. Power transformers can overload, causing long-lasting blackouts. Long metal structures like oil and gas pipelines can carry currents, which can enhance their corrosion over time and lead to devastating effects if proper safety measures are not in place. The resulting variations in the ionosophere can disrupt GPS signals, giving inaccurate readings.

On Sept. 1, 1859, Richard Carrington and Richard Hodgson, both amateur English astronomers, independently made the first observations of a solar flare, one that resulted in the largest geomagnetic storm ever recorded. Auroras, which normally occupy the polar regions, were visible in tropical latitudes. Telegraph operators reported being shocked — literally — by their instruments. Even after unhooking them from the power supply, messages could still be transmitted, powered by the currents in the atmosphere.

The so-called Carrington Event would be far more devastating if it happened today, given the greater reliance on electronics and the expanded power supply. However, thus far, it is the strongest storm yet recorded, though scientists think that a powerful CME from 2012 that missed Earth would have wrecked havoc for several years had it collided with the planet.

"I have come away from our recent studies more convinced than ever that Earth and its inhabitants were incredibly fortunate that the 2012 eruption happened when it did," Daniel Baker at the University of Colorado, who led a study of the storm in Space Weather, said in a statement.

Observing the sun

NASA is currently implementing Project Solar Shield to provide warnings to vital systems after an Earth-affecting CME occurs. This allows satellites and power transformers to be shut down if necessary for a short period of time. The result is a short- term, controlled blackout rather than a longer one caused by the destruction of vital equipment. [Amazing New Sun Photos from Space]

Similarly, several satellites keep the entire sun under constant observation. NASA’s Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft studies the sun, while the Solar Dynamic Observatory(SDO) focuses on solar atmosphere. And the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) samples particles from the sun as they stream toward our planet. These programs will help bring a greater understanding of the subject of space weather on Earth.

Additional resources

• NASA: Space Weather
  • NASA: Solar Cycle 24 Begins
    • NASA: Project Solar Shield

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11-02-2017 om 17:35 geschreven door peter  

INSIDE UFOS

TRUE ACCOUNTS OF CONTACT WITH EXTRATERRESTRIALS

Hello, fellow UFO researchers!

I’m super-excited to announce that I have a new book out, and I thought you might be interested.

Blue Giant Books, 2017        

ISBN: 9781539700029 

175 Pages

6 x 9 Inches

$14.95

INSIDE UFOS

TRUE ACCOUNTS OF CONTACT WITH EXTRATERRESTRIALS

By Preston Dennett

While most UFO books are re-hashes of old cases, “Inside UFOs” presents the cutting edge of UFO research with ten all new original cases of extensive contact. A wide variety of ETs are presented, including various types of grays, Praying Mantis-type ETs, humanoids and Nordics. The witnesses are normal everyday people who suddenly find themselves in very unusual situations. The unique and unusual nature of the cases in this book will surprise even those well-versed in the UFO literature.

• A Navy Corpsman is invited aboard a UFO by his shipmate, only to meet fifteen-foot-tall, friendly Praying Mantis-type ETs.
• A young child experiences an encounter with Nordic ETs that marks a lifelong series of contacts.
• A paperboy encounters a UFO and has missing time, leaving him with an undiagnosed illness and a mystery that remained unsolved for years.
• An office-worker is confronted by a nine-foot-tall Praying Mantis, only to discover that she’s also having contact with gray-type ETs too.
• a teacher stops on the road when a huge metallic sphere drops from the sky, and out steps a handsome-looking spaceman.
• A new mother is shocked to see an alien right outside her window, staring intently at her newborn son.
• a desperately ill housewife is transported from her home into an unknown base and cured by an eight-foot-tall, orange-haired humanoid.
• A young farm-boy encounters UFOs on his family’s farm, beginning a very close and lifelong relationship with ETs.
• A Navy Electronics Specialist has a complex UFO encounter aboard a Navy Ship, and is taught by the ETs about alternative energy sources.
• A nursing assistant experiences a life-long series of missing time incidents culminating in a fully conscious encounter with gray-type ETs who attempt to answer all his questions.

Why are the aliens here? What is their agenda on our planet? Are they hostile or benevolent? This book answers these questions and more, directly from the witnesses’ themselves. This is not just another book about abductions by grays. This collection of true UFO stories shows how fascinating and bizarre extraterrestrial contact can be.

 If you want to read more, the book is now live on Amazon.com at the below link.

• INSIDE UFOS: TRUE ACCOUNTS OF CONTACT

If you’d like to read an excerpt, here’s a link to my website:

• Preston Dennett

Also, check out my video about the book I just posted on facebook.

Thanks for reading my email. I hope you get a chance to check out my book. It recently hit #1 in UFO books on Amazon!

My very best to you,

Preston Dennett

{ prestone@pacbell.net }

11-02-2017 om 17:09 geschreven door peter  

Mystery messages carved into Scotland's rocks up to 5,000 years ago may soon be revealed using 3D scans

• New project will use 3D scanners to record and analyse 5,000-year-old art
• There are more than 2,000 pieces of carved rock art across Scotland 
• One amateur archaeologist George Currie has discovered 670 of them
• The scans could help to reveal new connections between the carvings

By Richard Gray for MailOnline

Their meaning has been lost in ancient history but the distinctive marks on rocks by our ancestors thousands of years ago provide a unique link to our prehistoric past.

Now a new project has been launched in an attempt to finally unravel some of the mysteries of the prehistoric rock art carved into stones in Scotland.

Experts are to create a new digital database using 3D scanning to record and study more than 2,000 carvings across the country.

Archaeologists are now hoping to unravel some of their secrets with a new project that will use 3D scanners to record the carvings (an extensive cup and ring carting at  Achnabreck in Kilmartin Glen pictured)

Helping them will be amateur archaeologist George Currie, 66, who has tracked down an incredible 670 examples of the ancient carvings, which can be up to 5,000 years old.

Over the past 13 years he has painstakingly searched, photographed and logged the location using GPS of a wide collection of different pieces of rock art.

Most are cup and ring carvings – a deep depression surrounded by concentric rings – and horseshoe shapes.

But the ancient artworks also include shapes that resemble human footprints etched into the solid rock.

Speaking to MailOnline, Mr Currie, a musician from Dundee, said: 'The idea is to cover the whole of Scotland to record all of the rock art in 3D where ever possible.

'It is going to be challenging getting the equipment into some quite awkward places, but once we have done it the next stage will be to analyse it.

'We will be able to locate these motifs in the landscape and compare how they vary from one area to another.

'It will also be possible to look at how motifs were used through time – many have symbolism that date backs thousands of years and we know little about why they were created.

'But in some places they have been reused thousands of years later in Pictish carvings or incorporated into hill forts.'

There are an estimated 6,000 cup and ring carvings known across Britain with at least a third of these located in Scotland.

There are more than 2,000 pieces of rock art carved into stones around Scotland (cup and ring carving at Gallow Hill near Dundee pictured)

George Currie, a musician from Dundee, says he has found and recorded the locations of 670 rock carvings (pictured) dating back to almost 4000BC 

Researchers have few ideas about what the significance of the carvings are. Many have been used in burial mounds but others are hidden alone on patches of hillside or moor (cup and ring marks at Beinn Ghlas, Kinlochleven pictured) 

The distinctive shapes, however, are found all across Europe, but their significance is still poorly understood.

Historic Environment Scotland has now been awarded £807,000 by the Arts and Humanities Research Council to run the project, called 'Scotland's Rock Art in context'.

The five year project is due to be launched in January 2017.

Mr Currie said while some of the carvings can be found on stones embedded in the ground, others are buried within burrows alongside ancient burials.

Most of the rock art found around Scotland take the form of cup and rings (extensive cup and rings at Achnabreck in Kilmartin Glen pictured), but there are often other shapes such as horseshoes and even carved footprints etched into the rock

One of the oldest carved rocks to be found in association with a burial dating to 3,400BC was already well worn. 

'It suggests the carving was already much older than the burial,' he said.

'It may be that these carvings held some significance long after they were created in much the same way we value old and historic items today.' 

Dr Tertia Barnett, a researcher at the University of Edinburgh who will lead the project, said it could help to unravel some of the mysteries of the cup and ring symbols.

She said it could help to explain some of the connections between prehistoric communities across Europe.

Rebecca Bailey, from Historic Environment Scotland, said: 'We look forward to the teams getting out into the field, making new discoveries, generating new knowledge, and sharing that on an international stage.'

{ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

11-02-2017 om 16:58 geschreven door peter  

Mystery messages engraved into Scotland’s rocks up to 5,000 years ago might soon be unveiled using 3D scans

Although their meaning has been lost to history, distinctive marks on Scottish rocks from ancient peoples provide a link to our past.

Recently, a new project has launched an attempt to finally solve the mysteries of prehistoric stone carvings. Using 3D scanning to record and examine more than 2,000 carvings around the country, specialists are creating a new digital database of the mysterious etchings.

Ring and cup marks are a form of ancient art that found widely around the world. The symbols date back to the early Neolithic, through the Bronze Age, and into the Iron Age.

Many of these carvings have been discovered on outcrops and boulders that overlook ancient travel and trade routes. Their association with water holes and hunting grounds suggests the possibility that they were used to mark these places. They may also have been marks of territorial ownership.

Later examples have been discovered in association with ceremonial or burial locations, implying that the markings might have held sacred significance.

Amateur archaeologist George Currie assists with the database project. He has tracked 670 examples of the ancient engravings which they think could be up to 5,000 years old.For the past 13 years, archaeologists have photographed, searched, and logged the locations of cup-and-ring markings. Ancient artworks as well include forms that resemble human footprints that are etched into the solid rock.

There are an estimated 6,000 rings and cup engravings known across Britain, a third of which are located in Scotland. However, their significance is still not well understood.

The Art and Humanities Research Council has awarded £807,000 to the Historic Environment Scotland to run the project that is called Scotland’s Rock Art.

This five-year project is set to be launched in January of 2017. Archaeologists say that some carvings have been discovered on stones embedded in the ground, while others were found buried in ancient grave sites.

One of the oldest of the carved rocks was found in association with a burial ground that dates back to 3,400 BC. It was already well worn, which proposes that the carvings were much older than the actual burial.

It might have been that these carvings held some importance long after they were created, Mail Online reported.

This project that is set to be launched will help unveil some of the mysteries of the ring and cup symbols.

Here is another story from us: Mystery surrounding a massive woolly mammoth graveyard

Perhaps it can also help to explain some of the links between ancient communities across the countries of Europe.

The team is looking forward to getting out into the field, creating new findings, getting new knowledge, and sharing this on an international stage.

{ https://www.thevintagenews.com/ }

11-02-2017 om 16:48 geschreven door peter  

The Strange Medallion Found in a Tombs of the Ancient Egypt.

{ http://ufomania.cz/ }

11-02-2017 om 16:33 geschreven door peter  

Atlantis in Japan, The Dragon's Triangle Mystery | Ancient Aliens

{  https://www.youtube.com/ }

11-02-2017 om 15:23 geschreven door peter  

11-02-2017 om 14:37 geschreven door peter  

Extraterrestrial Sighting: Woman Claims To Have Seen UFOs Twice In The Last Week

Las Vegas is a UFO hotspot and known for a lot of strange activities. Some conspiracy theorists suggest that the Nellis Air Force Base, located just on the outskirts of Las Vegas, is where the Tall Whites are basing, particularly near the old firing range area. Nellis is said to be taking up to 1,350 square miles, and its size is believed to be enough for aliens to build underground bases.

Tall White aliens allegedly go for the outside walk sometimes, so the USAF apparently provides them space for them not to accidentally encounter a person. Tall Whites are known to be killing hungry and even aggressive to U.S. soldiers. Some UFO researchers believe that the woman saw Tall White UFOs near the Nellis AFB.

A woman claimed that she had seen similar mysterious light two times over her home near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Carey Avenue, North Las Vegas. Gwendolyn Mathews believed it was a UFO.  She stated her sighting started on Sunday at around 7:30 pm when she noticed a light not moving while recording a video on Facebook Live for over an hour.

The woman further claimed that she observed it having legs coming out of it when she zoomed in with her binoculars. She said that similar light appeared again on Tuesday night. Mathews is convinced that she witnessed a UFO activity.

Mathews reportedly contacted the North Las Vegas Airport and McCarran Airport to ask about the UFO. However, they referred her to the FAA, who told her that they had no any strange aircraft activity in the area.

{  http://www.latest-ufo-sightings.net/ }

11-02-2017 om 14:12 geschreven door peter  

Daytime video: UFO fleet over South Gate, California

Location: South Gate, CA
Date: 1/30/17
Submitted by Jay

Witness report:

Daniel captures the spectacular fleet of UFOs in South Gate, California, on January 30, 2017. This batch of UFOs compliments an actual flying saucer he filmed last week. The fleet was captured in his backyard at 9:59am with his Nikon P900. Daniel just looked up in the sky and saw a 2 inch cluster array of white orbs. He immediately ran into his house, grabbed his camera and tripod and began to fill this incredible sight. This one is for the history books. Notice how the orbs maintained an equidistance from each other except for one, possibly the commander that moved among them. This one is a sight to behold. Don’t deny or dismiss what is obvious to see.

{ http://www.latest-ufo-sightings.net/ }

11-02-2017 om 14:12 geschreven door peter  

The Future Belongs to Flying Robots

 

Adam Vilimek/Shutterstock

IN BRIEF

The University of California system’s Center of Excellence on Unmanned Aircraft System Safety is hard at work looking into the future of unmanned aircraft. The director sees a lot of potential in the technology for agriculture, environmental, and even social opportunities.

The once-small community of drone hobbyists has transformed into a worldwide phenomenon. In 2016 especially, significant technology improvements and regulatory clarity have paved the way for even more dramatic changes in the coming years.

Among the biggest adopters of drones, and experimenters with them, have been universities. As the director of the University of California system’s Center of Excellence on Unmanned Aircraft System Safety – effectively the drone headquarters of our whole 10-campus system – I have an excellent view of the drone industry’s past, present and future.

The truly surprising details are about how wide and diverse a range of purposes drones are serving on our campuses – and what’s coming next. As we begin exploring what drones can do, and identifying what social and commercial uses they might serve, the work provides a glimpse into the future of drone flight across the country, and throughout our economy.

ENGINEERING RESEARCH

Drones have only recently reached the commercial mainstream. However, university engineering departments have been designing and building them for decades. For years, engineering students, for instance, have studied the advanced control algorithms that keep drones flying level and straight. Their work has helped bring us to the point where drones are even available for sale in toy stores.

It is no surprise that our engineers are still working on drones and related technology such as sensors, automation and innovative platforms. Some introductory engineering classes involve students building and flying drones; more advanced students learn about flight dynamics and algorithms that help drones stay aloft.

In recent years, though, our engineering departments are focusing less on building the aircraft and more on improving safety, navigation and ability to carry equipment that allows drones to help with different tasks.

For example, researchers are developing navigation systems that don’t rely on GPS satellites. This could help allow drones to navigate autonomously inside buildings, in deep canyons, underground or other places where GPS signals are unavailable or unreliable. Whether delivering packages to remote locations or handling emergency tasks in hazardous conditions, this type of capability could significantly expand drones’ usefulness.

Another research group is working on ways for drones to help detect gas leaks from oil pipelines. With millions of miles of pipelines across the country, that is a monumental task. Attaching methane-sniffing sensors to drones could make it much easier: Autonomous drones could fly the routes of every pipeline nearly constantly, registering the location and volume of leaks, and alerting repair and cleanup crews.

GROWTH IN AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL WORK

Our largest use of drones has been out in the fields. Two-thirds of the UC system’s drone flights, which encompass thousands of flights and hundreds of flight hours, have been for agricultural and environmental research. This suggests that those areas could provide breakout opportunities for drone uses.

Some scholars have found many ways drones can replace existing manned aircraft, like with a pesticide-spraying helicopter that could reduce time and costs and provide safer operations. But the biggest factor has been how easy drones make it to collect data that were extremely difficult, or even impossible, to collect before.

For example, drones with special thermal cameras are allowing researchers to investigate water consumption rates of several varieties of crops in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The drones’ data collection is so detailed that the scholars can count individual melons, allowing much better estimates of crop yield. When farmers know much more precisely how big the harvest will be, they can better estimate how much money they’ll make – and can make better budget decisions with the information.

Drones are also proving themselves useful in high-resolution aerial coastal survey mapping. In the past, researchers walked along the coast and took pictures to survey areas. This was difficult to do without disturbing wildlife. In addition, surveyors would take pictures from small planes to model and predict coastal erosion and flooding. With drones, they’re able to collect data more frequently with greater detail, and do a better job mapping and analyzing environmental data. That helps improve our understanding of coastal ecology, and prepares local residents and communities for possible disasters because the drones are able to get closer to certain environments which scientists will be able extract more information from.

For instance, when monitoring giant sequoias, a team of five to seven people would have to map the area, which would take about a week. A drone flight has been able to replace that work with a two-minute flight. That makes it easier to track how the trees are growing and responding to changes in their environment.

BEYOND THE ACADEMIC REALM

To meet the demand from people with no experience in drone technology, we have developed special workshops for students, staff, faculty and UC research partners to learn about drone technology, regulations and flight instruction.

Campus film and media departments regularly use drones to make sweeping images of our scenic campus locations for promotional videos and reports. Beyond that, though, university facilities workers have been using drones to monitor construction sites, inspect building areas that are hard to get to (like roofs) and keep an eye on the university’s sizable landholdings. All of these uses can significantly improve worker safety, productivity and cost savings.

Students are also using drones recreationally, which has raised safety and privacy concerns on our campuses, just as it has off-campus. With plenty of green spaces, many students want to fly their drones and other model aircraft on campus, even near dorms or other housing. We’ve addressed this need with respectful solutions like helping students form clubs and organizing flying events, either on campus fields reserved for the day, or at off-campus parks. We are also seeing what may be the beginnings of a collegiate Drone Racing League.

This sort of just-for-fun experimentation can make it challenging to regulate drone flights based on what the drone is doing. But universities are often test locations for new technologies. Our work – both formal and recreational – encourages creativity and can foster an entrepreneurial spirit. We can expect that at least some of these early uses for drones will eventually spill into the commercial and consumer markets.

 Read more articles from The Conversation

References: The Conversation

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11-02-2017 om 01:34 geschreven door peter  

Japan Has Created Black Mirror-Inspired Bee Drones

 

DRAPER

IN BRIEF

• Researchers in Japan have created insect-sized drones capable of artificial pollination, thanks to the help of horse hair and an ionic sticky gel.
• As bees enter the endangered species list in the United States, these natural pollinators will need all the help they can get.

ACCIDENTALLY REDISCOVERED

In the final episode of Netflix’s Black Mirror, the government claims to be using Autonomous Drone Insects to counteract the collapse of the bee population. Spoiler alert: they’re lying.

It’s soon discovered that these bee drones are actually being used for mass public surveillance. Worse, the drones are programmed to kill. The deaths are linked to a website promoting a ‘Game of Consequence’ where Twitter users can vote to kill one hated public figure using the hashtag ‘#DeathTo.’

Now, similar drones are coming to Japan, without all the government secrets and Twitter deaths (we assume). Japan’s insect-sized drones were turned into artificial pollinators with the help of a coating of horse hair and an ionic sticky gel. The drones work like bees and use their hairs to pick up pollen from one flower and deposit it into another.

Researchers from Japan actually discovered this ionic gel accidentally, and then published their work in the journal Chem. Back in 2007, one of the researchers, chemist Eijiro Miyako, was working on possible liquid electrical conductors. One attempt to do so produced a wax-like sticky gel. The gel was shelved after Miyako considered it a failure. It was rediscovered after a decade during a lab cleanup and, to Miyako’s surprise, the gel remained unchanged.

“This project is the result of serendipity,” Miyako said. “We were surprised that after 8 years, the ionic gel didn’t degrade and was still so viscous. Conventional gels are mainly made of water and can’t be used for a long time, so we decided to use this material for research.”

Miyako tested the pollen-grasping abilities of the gel by coating ants with it, which he then left to roam free in a box of tulips. Researchers observed that ants coated with the gel were able to collect more pollen than those that weren’t. In addition, a separate test applying the gel to houseflies revealed that it changes color when exposed to different sources of light — potentially giving it a camouflage effect that can help artificial pollinators avoid predators.

DRONES HELPING NATURE

With the gel tested and proven to be sticky enough, the next thing to do was to look for the artificial pollinator. Miyako found a $100-four propeller drone and gave it a fuzzy, bee-like exterior. It was the team’s AIST colleagues Masayoshi Tange and Yue Yu who decided to use horse hair on the drone’s surface. These bristles gave more surface area for pollen to attach to, and at the same time, provided electric charge that kept the pollens in place.

The drones were tested on Japanese lilies, with the team flying them by remote control. The drones would pick up pollen from one flower, and then flew to another flower to deposit the pollen.

“The findings, which will have applications for agriculture and robotics, among others, could lead to the development of artificial pollinators and help counter the problems caused by declining honeybee populations,” Miyako said. “We believe that robotic pollinators could be trained to learn pollination paths using global positioning systems and artificial intelligence.”

As bees enter the endangered species list in the United States, these natural pollinators will need all the help they can get. Artificial pollinators can lessen the burden of modern agricultural demand, giving the bees breathing space to recover their numbers. Hopefully, these drones won’t turn out to the way their Black Mirror counterparts did, but we can worry about that later. For now, getting these drones out there to see just how much they could help will keep the world pollinated.

References: 

• Eurekalert, 
• Chem

{ https://futurism.com/ }

11-02-2017 om 01:22 geschreven door peter  

How to Watch Tonight's Penumbral Lunar Eclipse and Comet 45P

Cassie Kelly

If you haven’t heard of a penumbral lunar eclipse, now’s the time to learn. Because on Friday night, February 10, North Americans will have a front-row seat for the penumbral lunar eclipse is different than a total lunar eclipse. Instead of the sun, Earth, and moon aligning perfectly, a penumbral eclipse involves the moon passing through the outer part of Earth’s shadow, so only a small sliver of sunlight bounces off.

The eclipse lasts for about four and a half hours and will occur in the early evening hours if you’re on the East Coast. The best time to watch will be between 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Eastern. The peak of the effect will be around 7:45 p.m., when the moon is almost fully immersed in the penumbra shadow.

The moon will be blocked by Earth's outer shadow, the penumbra. 

Earth’s shadow has two dimensions: the umbra and the penumbra. The umbra is the stronger, denser shadow, which blocks the moon entirely during a total eclipse, offering up a few moments of complete darkness. But, the penumbra shadow is very faint, so the moon will simply just look dimmer.

No special equipment is needed to see the show, just look toward the eastern sky and watch as the moon becomes duskier. It should be easy to see as Friday night is also a full moon, known as the “Snow Moon.”

Penumbrals occur two to four times a year, making them fairly common for our celestial calendar. Total lunar eclipses are much more rare and the next one won’t be until January 2018.

Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova will make a close pass traveling at 22.91 km/second, to the Earth-Moon system, at 3:23 a.m. Eastern time.

If you stay up late enough on Friday, you can look to the Western sky for Comet 45P/Honda–Mrkos–Pajdušáková — but you won’t see it, which streaks by by around 3 a.m. Eastern, but if you’re up, know that it will be a pale green color (from its fluorescent carbon gas).

“You will need an extremely dark sky and optical aid (at least binoculars, probably a telescope) to see this comet,” advises Deborah Byrd of EarthSky, about Comet 45P.

So, if you’re looking for a change of pace this Friday night, ditch the TV and watch the night sky. If you can’t make it outside, watch the “Full Snow Moon Eclipse” broadcast.

Photos via timeanddate.com, Flickr / blobrana2, Flickr / MarkGregory007

{https://www.inverse.com/ }

11-02-2017 om 01:11 geschreven door peter  

This Star Is So Bright, Scientists Can't Even See It

Cassie Kelly

Alittle thing in outer space known as AG Carinae is one of the brightest objects ever observed. That’s saying a lot for a universe that has about one billion trillion stars and counting. But this particular star is so bright, scientists can’t even visualize it. The extreme glare coming from this Hubble Space Telescope image completely shrouds the star itself — a small pinpoint compared to the monstrous light it gives off. The criss-cross pattern is also just a glare-like effect caused by the telescope.

AG Carinae is one of the brightest objects in the universe.

The star is classified as a luminous blue variable star — the equivalent of being on the varsity team for star brightness competitions. There are about twenty known LBVs in the universe, one of which is also located in the constellation Carina along with AG. Though scientists are still unraveling the mysteries of variable stars, they do know that the powerful light signifies the beginning of the end for this blue supergiant.

In a process of decay, AG Carinae has already shed 15 times the mass of the sun in a massive outburst of stellar material about 10,000 years ago, which has formed a beautiful celestial ring around the star. The cavity between the gaseous ring and the star itself is void. Scientists think this is because strong pressurized winds moving at almost five million miles an hour are keeping the dust at bay.

For AG Carinae, the end is nigh. In a few million years it will reach supernova stage and burst into one of the brightest explosions the Milky Way has ever seen.

Photos via ESA/Hubble & NASA

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{ https://www.inverse.com/ }

11-02-2017 om 01:03 geschreven door peter  

Here’s Our Plan If We Meet Aliens

 

Getty Images

11-02-2017 om 00:53 geschreven door peter  

WHY HAVEN'T WE FOUND ALIENS?

{ https://futurism.com/ }

11-02-2017 om 00:53 geschreven door peter  

EVIDENCE: Extraterrestrial civilizations visited the Earth in the distant past. Ancient civilization – UFO and Extraterrestrial civilization.

Extraterrestrial civilization visited the Earth in the distant past and there is evidence all around us. It isn’t a question anymore, whether or no ancient man was visited by intelligent extraterrestrial beings in the distant past.

A great amount of evidence has been gathered that proves that in the distant past, human beings were visited by beings from another planet. These visitors were misinterpreted by our ancestor as “Gods,” because our ancestor did not understand technology as we do today.

Almost all ancient civilizations that have been studied by researchers and archaeologists point to “myths” and texts of “divine” beings that came from the stars and got involved, in one way or another, with ancient humans on Earth. Ancient Aztecs, Mayas, Incas, and many other ancient civilization make reference to “otherworldly” beings that descended from the sky, considered as divine, since ancient man, did not have the knowledge to explain in another way, these mysterious visitations.

Ancient texts from the Bible are perhaps the best evidence that point to the existence of “otherworldly” beings in the remote past of human history. The myths of creation, the mysterious light that guided the Israelites on the long journey through the desert, the description of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the union of children of the Gods with daughters of men, the power of the Ark of the Covenant and the trip to “heaven” of Elijah and Enoch are just some of the many biblical stories that involve divine beings who come from the skies, incredible technology of the past that was considered by ancient man as being “heavenly” or “divine”.

{ http://ufomania.cz/ }

11-02-2017 om 00:36 geschreven door peter  

DONALD KEYHOE, THE US MAJOR THAT WARNED US OF INTERPLANETARY WAR - UFO'S ARE REAL!

This video shows us the moment Major Donald Keyhoe exposes the truth on the UFO subject and states that UFO's are real. He is a true patriot and was one of the pioneers in exposing the cover-up by government agencies.

In 1956, Major Donald Keyhoe co-founded NICAP whose goal it was to stop the secrecy surrounding the UFO phenomenon. It became the largest and most prominent UFO research group in the US. Former CIA director Hillen Koetter and other military officers and prominent scientists like James McDonald were in ts board of directors.

Major Keyhoe sought congressional hearings, and in 1958 he made efforts to use Senator John McCiellan's committee to start public congressional hearings regarding the UFO mystery. All his attempts were blocked by high-ranking Air Force officials.

In 1958 Keyhoe was invited to join a live broadcast on CBS-TV. The Air Force officials tried to use this broadcast to manipulate the minds and hearts of the American public, which there was no truth in the UFO phenomenon. But they never anticipated to the fact that Keyhoe would use this opportunity to speak out on the UFO subject and publicly state that UFO's are real. Keyhoe tried his best to take the truth to the American public.

Keyhoe releases some interesting details on the United States military and how they handle reports of UFO sightings. He sums up the different theories explaining UFOs, how the government is covering up certain sightings and how this could lead to interplanetary war.

Major Keyhoe put his job on the line to speak out on the subject. This was the reason he was ousted out of NICAP in 1969.

This article (Donald Keyhoe, The US Major That Warned Us Of Interplanetary War - UFO's Are Real!) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with full attribution and a link to the original source on Disclose.tv 

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{ http://www.disclose.tv/ }

10-02-2017 om 18:15 geschreven door peter