Zo mooi was de bloedmaan - HLN.be

De maansverduistering bereikte haar hoogtepunt om 22.22 uur. Ze was minstens gedeeltelijk te bewonderen in Europa, het Midden-Oosten, Afrika, Australië en het grootste deel van Azië en Zuid-Amerika. Van overal werd het spektakel met grote belangstelling gevolgd, met prachtige foto’s als resultaat.

Lees ook

Maan wordt vanavond bloedrood in langste totale maaneclips van de eeuw: zo kan je er maximaal van genieten

Het was een uitzonderlijk lange maansverduistering: ze was slechts vier minuten korter dan wat astronomisch mogelijk is. 

 REUTERS Caïro, Egypte.

REUTERS De tempel van Poseidon bij Athene (Griekenland).

Lang wachten

Op sommige plaatsen was het spijtig genoeg lang wachten tot de bloedmaan kwam piepen van achter het wolkendek. Bij de volkssterrenwacht Mira in Grimbergen bijvoorbeeld, waar verschillende honderden bezoekers waren opgedaagd om met behulp van telescopen de volledige maansverduistering van nabij te zien, moesten de aanwezigen tot 23.30 uur wachten om het fenomeen te aanschouwen. 

Didier Lebrun Bij de sterrenwacht van Grimbergen maakten jong en oud zich op om de eclips te bewonderen.

Tussen 21.30 en 23.15 uur was er een totale maansverduistering, maar die is in Grimbergen niet te zien geweest. “Op het ogenblik dat de maan door de wolken brak was de verduistering al wat aan het afnemen en was deze nog enkel aan de linkerkant van het hemellichaam te zien”, aldus Mollet.

Maar vanwege de regen die rond 23 uur in Grimbergen neerviel, had de volksterrenwacht op dit ogenblik al haar telescopen weer moeten binnenhalen en bedekken. 

Marksson Media@MarkssonMedia

#TIMELAPSE: De bloedmaan van vanavond in 20 seconden! #bloedmaan #bloodmoon #redmoon #moon #space #denbosch #shertogenbosch @shertogenbosch @ProvincieNB

2:02 AM - Jul 28, 2018

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EPA Kaapstad (Zuid-Afrika).

EPA De eclips is ook te zien in het Zwitserse Lucerne.

 REUTERS Thymari, Griekenland

 REUTERS Studenten astronomie in Singapore halen hun telescoop boven om de bloedmaan te bekijken.

 EPA De maan kleurt ook rood in Turkije.

AFP Netanya in Israël.

AP Ook boven Gaza siert de bloedmaan de hemel.

 AP Ankara, Turkije.

 AFP Gaza

 Ronny De Coster Gran Canaria.

 Ronny De Coster Gran Canaria.

 Ronny De Coster Gran Canaria.

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

28-07-2018 om 20:23 geschreven door peter  

By Michelle Basch | @MBaschWTOP

NORTHERN VIRGINIA — If evidence proving that extraterrestrials visited Earth has been squirreled away behind locked doors in Nevada, a former Pentagon official is calling for a big reveal.

Retired Air Force colonel talks UFOs, government investigations

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“Show it to the National Academy of Sciences. Don’t hide it. Show it! We’ve been waiting for it! We’ve been waiting for it forever,” retired Air Force Col. David Shea said, raising his voice. “But so far, that hasn’t happened, and I don’t know why.”

Shea, 80, was the Air Force’s press spokesman on UFOs at the Pentagon from 1967 to 1971. He considers himself an “agnostic” when it comes to whether some unidentified flying objects are ships piloted by intelligent beings from faraway worlds.

“I would believe if I saw some evidence that showed we were visited by alien spacecraft, but there hasn’t been evidence to my mind of such,” he said in an interview at his Northern Virginia home.

In 1969, Shea wrote the news release that announced the end of Project Blue Book, an Air Force investigation of more than 12,000 UFO reports.

It concluded that there was no threat to national security, no sign of advanced technology and no evidence that UFOs are extraterrestrial.

And with that, it appeared to the public that the government had washed its hands of UFOs.

But in December, almost 50 years after Project Blue Book ended, came explosive news.

The New York Times reported that Bigelow Aerospace had been storing material recovered from “unidentified aerial phenomena” in its buildings in Las Vegas as part of a secret Pentagon UFO investigation project called the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP).

Shea was not surprised by news of the project’s existence, but he thinks if more people were aware of the government’s history with UFOs, they would better understand why, in his opinion, the government should not get involved again.

“The UFOs never seem to go away,” he said.

Government investigations and scientific studies

What is considered the modern UFO era began as Americans’ Cold War fears of the Soviet Union were heating up.

In 1947, a veteran pilot flying near Mt. Rainier in Washington reported seeing nine strange objects flying in formation at incredible speeds.

The sighting made national news, and the same year, the Air Force (still the Army Air Forces at the time) began investigating — with intelligence officers in charge — reports of UFOs.

“They really weren’t sure what was going on. But by the end of ’49 they quickly became convinced that there was no threat, and there was no visitation, there was no advanced technology, and that was a good time to get out of the business, but they didn’t,” Shea said.

The work went on under several code names including “Project Sign,” “Project Grudge” and “Project Blue Book.”

Retired Air Force Col. David Shea was the Air Force’s press spokesman on UFOs at the Pentagon from 1967 until 1971. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)

Shea holds a comical sign that used to hang in his office. It was given to him by journalist and UFO skeptic Phil Klass. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)

The inscriptions on the back of that sign show how it was initially given to Klass, and then passed along to Shea. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)

Shea wrote the news release in 1969 that announced the end of the Air Force’s Project Blue Book. It studied more than 12,000 UFO reports, and is now the basis of an upcoming History Channel drama series. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)

Shea holds a photo of himself from his time in the Air Force. (WTOP/Ginger Whitaker)

Scientists were asked to evaluate if the work should continue, first by the CIA in 1952 and then by the Air Force in 1966.

The latter study was led by physicist Edward Condon of the University of Colorado. “He concluded that the continuation of Project Blue Book is of dubious value,” said Shea.

In all, Project Blue Book examined 12,618 sightings reported between 1952 and 1969. Over 5 percent of those sightings — 701 — remain unidentified. “Does that mean they were spacecraft from another civilization? No, not necessarily. It just means there was not enough data to verify what they were. So that’s the problem,” Shea said.

Interestingly, “Project Blue Book” is the name of a new drama series that will begin airing this winter on the History Channel.

“It would appear that it will be more fiction than fact,” Shea said after reviewing promotional materials.

The History Channel describes the series as “based on the true, top-secret investigations into Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) and related phenomena conducted by the United States Air Force.” It also says a central figure in the series, Dr. J. Allen Hynek, “is recruited by the U.S. Air Force to spearhead a clandestine operation called Project Blue Book.”

Shea said that Project Blue Book investigations were never top secret, and that in real life, Hynek was hired by the Air Force as a special consultant on UFOs, not to “spearhead” Project Blue Book.

Missteps and misunderstandings

Shea is a public relations pro who spent 29 years with the Air Force and another 20-plus years working for Hughes Aircraft and, later, Raytheon. To complete his master’s degree in mass communication from the University of Denver in 1972, he wrote his thesis about how, from a PR perspective, the Air Force handled reports of unidentified flying objects.

“The story of the Air Force and UFOs is essentially a tale of a credibility gap wider than the Grand Canyon,” Shea wrote. “During its more-than-20-year history of investigating flying saucers, the Air Force has been accused of almost every conceivable sin, and had been guilty of most.”

In the 1940s and ’50s, UFO sightings that got press attention would prompt a quick explanation from the Air Force. “In those early days, any explanation of a sensational case seemed preferable to the Air Force than simply saying, ‘We don’t know at this point, the case is still under investigation,'” wrote Shea.

And because Air Force intelligence was kept in charge of the investigations, Shea said, there was unnecessary secrecy. “You know the intelligence people won’t tell their mother anything. They keep things close to the vest,” he said.

Of course, the Air Force’s actions led to questions and skepticism.

“What was initially an intelligence matter quickly evolved into a PR problem of the greatest magnitude,” Shea wrote. “The Air Force, ignoring public opinion on the subject, failed to communicate its conviction that UFOs were no cause for alarm and consequently was unable to convince the American public that what it was saying about UFOs was true. As a result the Air Force’s integrity and credibility as a fighting force was seriously questioned.”

Asked if, to his knowledge, the government covered up evidence of alien visitation in the past, Shea answered: “Absolutely not. It would be impossible to do so in our environment of leakers and whistleblowers.”

In its defense, Shea points out that the Air Force was placed in the impossible position of trying to prove that aliens are not whizzing around above Earth. “You can’t prove that something doesn’t exist. Why doesn’t the other guy prove that it does exist?” he said.

He also thinks the Air Force has been misunderstood. “The Air Force has never said that UFOs aren’t spacecraft from another civilization. What the Air Force has said is that there’s no convincing evidence that they present a threat, or they advance scientific knowledge, or that they are alien spacecraft. Convincing evidence is the key, and that’s what we don’t have,” said Shea.

What evidence would convince him that extraterrestrials have visited this planet?

“It would be great if an alien were to knock on the door of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., but I don’t expect that to happen,” Shea said. “I would be convinced of extraterrestrial visitation should someone or some organization present to the National Academy of Sciences an ET piece of hardware that the NAS declares not of earthly origin.”

Should investigations continue?

Despite what he called “exhaustive” investigations and studies of UFOs, Shea said, the government has come up with nothing. “No eureka moment. No threat. No advanced technology. No alien spacecraft,” he said.

According to the Department of Defense, AATIP ended in 2012, but journalist Leslie Kean reports there’s evidence that the program is continuing without federal funding.

Shea doesn’t think that’s a good idea. “Why would the government want to do that again?” He asked. “We’ve been there, done that.”

Some argue that UFOs determined by Project Blue Book to be unexplained should be reinvestigated. “I submit it wouldn’t reveal anything new. There’s not enough data there to analyze and determine causes,” said Shea.

Regarding videos of UFOs apparently taken from military planes and reportedly studied as part of AATIP, Shea said: “What did they see? Who knows what they saw? Am I impugning their integrity? No. Not at all. They saw something, but we don’t know what it is, and we don’t have the evidence to suggest what it may be. So again, it comes back to the word ‘evidence.'”

Just because a military pilot spots or chases a UFO doesn’t mean the unidentified object should be considered a threat to national security, said Shea. “I would say we would be concerned if they were fired upon. We would be concerned if they started bombing our bases. None of that has happened, so whatever they’re seeing doesn’t seem to be hostile in nature. Not to worry, is what I would say.”

To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science — a public benefit corporation co-founded by musician Tom DeLonge and launched last year — is pursuing its own UFO research. It includes several former government higher-ups and is accepting money from investors.

“More power to them, I think they’re on a wild ghost chase. But I think we need to have some interest in that,” said Shea. “If they come up with something that the government hasn’t, great.”

Asked if he’s ever seen a UFO, Shea said no.

“You’d think with all my interest or experience in this, a friendly visitor would come visit me. Hasn’t happened,” Shea said, laughing.

Video produced by Ginger Whitaker.

{ https://wtop.com/ }

28-07-2018 om 19:55 geschreven door peter  

28-07-2018 om 19:27 geschreven door peter  

Google Maps user spots mysterious object submerged off the coast of Greece - and no-one knows what it is

The object is circular, with a small inner circle, and almost looks like a nipple

By Shivali Best

The mysterious object (Image: Google Earth)

One eagle-eyed Google Earth user has spotted an ‘unidentified submerged object’ ( USO ) off the coast of Greece, and no-one can work out what it is.

The user, called Underbelly, posted a video about the object on Disclose.tv .

He wrote: “This USO was spotted in The Aegean Sea off the coast of Greece and here are the Coordinates 40°27'4.62" 22°51'39.78" so you guys can check it out for yourself.

“I did also take some measurements using the ruler on google earth and this object is of 220 feet long.”

The object is circular, with a small inner circle, and almost looks like a nipple.

Many viewers were conflicted about what they thought the object could be.

Several suggested that it’s likely to be a volcanic cone - a triangle-shaped hill formed as material from volcanic eruptions piles up around the vent.

But others had slightly more bizarre theories.

One user commented: “I think it looks like an old light house - former foundations etc.. - on the coast as well sooooo.”

And rather hilariously, another suggested that it could be a ‘very large, freshly popped zit.’

{ https://www.mirror.co.uk/ }

28-07-2018 om 19:12 geschreven door peter  

28-07-2018 om 18:59 geschreven door peter  

10 Greatest Mysteries of Ancient China

There are some places in this world that are ancient, mysterious, and forbidden, closed off from the world for centuries or even millennia, and holding within them enigmas that we have yet to see. Many such locales come in the form of ancient tombs, sealed and buried since time unremembered, often with no intention of them ever being opened. There has been much news lately about the now famous black sarcophagus of Alexandria, but this is far from the only such place in the world, and there are numerous forgotten, unopened, unexplored tombs out there every bit as mysterious and much grander in scale. One of the largest tombs ever crafted by humankind lies in China, an ancient subterranean city possessing a vast unopened underground mausoleum which could hold enormous riches, incredible artifacts, deadly traps, and perhaps even a curse.

10 Greatest Mysteries of Ancient China

The story of one of the largest, most historically important, and indeed most mysterious tombs in Chinese history begins way back in 260 BC, when China was a place torn by civil war raged for centuries between no fewer than six different major feudal kingdoms, all of whom sought to be the one true ruler of the land. Rising up amongst these warring factions was the powerful state of Qin, which was briefly under control of a King Zhuangxiang, who died after 3 years on the throne to leave his kingdom to his first son, Ying Zheng, who ascended the throne in 246 BC at the tender age of 13.

Ying Zheng

Despite his young age, he proved to be a bold and fearless leader, fiercely fighting and winning campaign after campaign to dominate the region and defeat all other warring states, going on to manage something no one else had, the unification of China, so creating the first Empire of China in 221 BC and making Ying Zheng the first Chinese emperor. Under his rule his empire saw great strides in the sciences and in the development of roads, infrastructure, and notably the Great Wall of China, all while dodging numerous assassination attempts and grabs for power. It seems that this certainly went to the young ruler’s head, as he would go on to proclaim that he was fated to rule, renaming himself “Qin Shi Huang,” loosely “The Son of Heaven,” and declaring himself a veritable god, imbued with divine power and who would rule forever from the center of the universe.

This was a bold claim to make, and Qin Shi Huang became obsessed with the idea of immortality and making sure that he would live forever as he had said. To this effect, he issued an Imperial order for a search for an elixir of life, and forced scholars, alchemists, and magicians to work around the clock to somehow concoct a way to grant everlasting life. Various mysterious herbs and potions purportedly showed promise, but ultimately did little good, and Qin Shi Huang took to routinely drinking mercury, which he believed slowed the aging process. Realizing that his search for immortality was going nowhere, Qin Shi Huang also stepped up construction on a grand, opulent mausoleum that had been worked on since his first ascension to power, designed to resemble the capital of Qin, Xianyang, and to keep him comfortable and in power even in the afterlife.

He envisioned this sprawling tomb as a whole city unto itself, complete with its own army of warriors and everything he would ever need to rule forever, and it is said that he brought in 700,000 laborers and convicts to work on the vast structure. It indeed was an impressive and ambitious project, designed to be a full, working microcosm of the empire, and by the time it was finished, which would take 38 years and unfortunately not be completed until several years after his death, it was the most expansive tomb the world had ever seen.

According to records from Han dynasty historian, Sima Qian, included in the tomb were palaces and scenic towers, countless relics and priceless artifacts, streets and roads, and a vast ceiling painstakingly painted and inlaid with the stars and constellations of the heavens. Most bizarrely, there were also allegedly two rivers of mercury erected to flow through the mausoleum, meant to symbolize the great Yangtze and the Yellow Rivers and which were supposedly manipulated through wondrous mechanical devices to flow into the sea. Sima Qian would say of this place in his Records of the Grand Historian:

When the First Emperor first came to the throne, the digging and preparation work began at Mount Li. Later, when he had unified his empire, 700,000 men were sent there from all over his empire. They dug through three layers of groundwater, and poured in bronze for the outer coffin. Palaces and scenic towers for a hundred officials were constructed, and the tomb was filled with rare artifacts and wonderful treasure. Craftsmen were ordered to make crossbows and arrows primed to shoot at anyone who enters the tomb. Mercury was used to simulate the hundred rivers, the Yangtze and Yellow River, and the great sea, and set to flow mechanically. Above were representation of the heavenly constellations, below, the features of the land. Candles were made from fat of “man-fish”, which is calculated to burn and not extinguish for a long time.

There are also bronze cranes, swan and ducks with groups of musicians, bronze horses with full-sized chariots, numerous acrobats and other entertainers fashioned from terracotta, fully operational horse stables tended by terracotta caretakers, and even terracotta government officials. Most well-known and perhaps the most impressive of all was a full army of over 8000 life-sized terracotta warriors, with every single one painstakingly carved with incredibly intricate detail. Such is the detail that each warrior even has a different face, leading to speculation that each and every one of them may have been based on a real person. In addition to all of this, the entire complex consisted of an inner and outer city divided by walls, held at least 18 courtyard houses and a palace, and the whole thing in total measured a staggering 38 square miles (98 square kilometers) in area. All of this was reportedly loaded with treasure and set up with sophisticated traps designed to swiftly kill any trespassers, although what these entail remains a mystery.

The terracotta warriors

Ultimately, Qin Shi Huang could not cheat death, and he died in 210 BC at the age of 49, ironically from drinking the very mercury that he thought would keep him young, and an enormous funeral service was held. Upon the Emperor’s actual burial chamber, atop his thick bronze coffin, was supposedly built a hill which was planted with vegetation, and to keep the late Emperor company in the afterlife many of his concubines were killed and interred here as well. Many of the craftsmen were also callously locked away into the tomb complex when it was sealed, in order to make sure that none of the secrets of the complex or its inner workings would ever be revealed to the outside world. All of this was sealed shut, gated, and buried, and it would then disappear into the mists of time to lie forgotten for millennia.

It was not until March of 1974 that the first hints of this vast complex would be uncovered, when a local man named Yang Zhifa was out digging a well with his five brothers in Lintong county, at the village of Xiyang. As they were digging they came across terracotta fragments and bricks at a depth of around 6 feet, along with earthenware and bronze arrowheads. When archeologists arrived on the scene in May of that year they began excavations, which quickly started to uncover the mysterious terracotta army, and as the dig went on more and more of the complex was uncovered, with baffling new surprises popping up all of the time, and the excavation and nonstop discoveries have not stopped in the decades since, with the majority of this place still unexplored and unexcavated. Indeed, nothing like it has ever been seen before, and the necropolis of First Emperor Qin Shi Huang has gone on to become one of the most important archeological discoveries ever made.

As recently as 2012, one of the most striking and exciting discoveries was made when a massive Imperial Palace measuring 249 feet high (76-meters) and covering an area of 6,003,490 cubic feet (170,000 cubic meters) was discovered around 20-50 meters below the surface, holding an earthen pyramid at its center believed to be the tomb containing the actual bodies of the emperor and his concubines. This mega tomb has only been explored using 3-D imaging and ground penetrating radar, but as of yet it remains sealed down there in the bowels of the earth and unopened, inciting endless debate as to whether to open it and what treasures lie within it. As far as we know, no human eyes have seen this place in thousands of years, although it is unknown if has ever been looted in the past.

Location of the Qin Shi Huang mausoleum

There are many reasons that no one has tried to penetrate into this massive palace tomb. One is that we just don’t have the technology to conduct such a major archeological undertaking without irreparably damaging what lies within. Because it is so deep, to dig into there would be an invasive process, and there is simply no way to get into the chamber without seriously damaging the upper layer in order to get to the palace below it, as well as potentially causing landslides that could damage other areas of the tomb and the terracotta warriors.

There is also the fact that we lack the technology to preserve some of the irreplaceable cultural relics that might lie within the palace, and this has already been seen with damage to the terracotta figures caused by being exposed to the air and sunlight. Also, considering the vast size of the mausoleum it is all also an incredibly expensive proposition that could take several decades to carry out. In essence, to excavate such a vast tomb on such a sheer scale would be a prohibitively expensive, scarring and damaging procedure that could ultimately destroy this piece of history.

More mysterious is that we have no idea what sorts of dangers lie in wait down there in the dark. The written accounts speak of enormous rivers of mercury, and detection equipment has indeed picked up anomalously and dangerously high levels of mercury at the site, meaning that to open the complex could put many at risk of poisoning and also cause serious environmental pollution. There could also be potentially deadly bacteria living down there, and of course there are the traps. It is known that the burial palace was armed with intricate traps the nature of which we don’t have a clue. We also have no clue as to whether such traps would still be operational after millennia or not, so delving down into this subterranean realm could be a deadly proposition indeed. More paranormal-minded people have even suggested that the emperor had a curse placed over his burial chamber, although if it works as well as his immortality elixirs did then we’re probably safe on that front.

Statue of emperor Qin Shi Huang

The thing is, that tomb is seen as potentially holding incredible historical artifacts, vast treasures, and priceless cultural relics, to the point that many archeologists are fully prepared to risk the hurdles and potential dangers involved with getting to it. It could be the most important archeological find of the 20th century, or it may contain nothing but a looted chamber filled with skeletons and centuries of dust. There could be anything in there, we don’t know, and some think we need to find out. Others believe that it is best left alone, down there in that opulent city lair of the afterlife down in the depths of the earth just as the Emperor Qin Shi Huang originally intended, that we should not violate it and risk irrevocably damaging this ancient inner sanctum.

The debate rages, but for now that palace tomb remains quiet, free of the droves of tourists that flock through nearby to view the terracotta soldiers, and indeed free from human eyes altogether, perhaps to remain that way forever. That tomb lies there in the dark, still and silent as it has for millennia, perhaps with traps ready and poised to spring, flowing rivers of lethal mercury snaking around it and its many treasures. What lies there in the gloom of that massive ancient burial chamber? Does it hold cultural and literal riches beyond our wildest dreams? Does it carry within it the promise of learning more about that era and its people? Does it hold danger and death, traps, poison, and ancient curses? No one knows, and we won’t until it is finally opened.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

28-07-2018 om 18:52 geschreven door peter  

The Mysterious Pyramids of the Amazon—Spotted by A NASA Satellite In 1976

The satellite photograph, archived under number C-S11-32W071-03 showed a mysterious set of formations, in the middle of Peru’s southeastern jungle.

The satellite image revealed structures symmetrically spaced and uniform in shape, looking like a series of eight or more pyramids, in at least four rows of two.

The curious formation became known as the Pyramids of Paratoari, or as many authors would later call them, The Dots of Peru, or the Pyramids of Pantiacolla.

The satellite image sent explorers, authors, and researchers into a frenzy as to what the curious structures are.

The ‘pyramids’ became quite popular, especially since it is believed that the lost city of Paititi was located somewhere in that area.

The president of the South American Explorers Club, Don Montague wrote about the enigmatic structures in an article published in the South American Explorer Journal, where he described them as nothing other than odd geological formations.

However, many people who saw the satellite image were not convinced by Montague’s writing.

Proponents of the theory that the structure are not geological formation but in fact, manmade structures argue that the Pyramids were most likely built by a long-lost ancient civilization that inhabited the Amazonian rainforest thousands of years ago. The alleged structure, many argue, have been devoured by the surrounding rainforest and are covered with thousands of years of vegetation.

Despite the fact that the alleged pyramids structures are located in a remote part of the Amazonian rainforest, a number of expeditions have been mounted to explore, not only the alleged pyramids but the region in search for the lost city of Paititi.

The Lost city of Paititi is a legendary ancient Incan metropolis, said to be located somewhere east of the Andes, within the dense and remote rainforests of southeast Peru, northern Bolivia or southwest Brazil.

Numerous expeditions to search for the lost city of Paititi were established, and some of them even searched for the alleged pyramids of Paratoari.

Between 1984-2011 various expeditions were led by Gregory Deyermenjian, member of the explorer’s club and a Peruvian explorer. These included the documentation of Incan remains in Mameria, the exploration and documentation of the petroglyphs at Pusharo, exploration, and documentation of Manu’s Pyramids of Paratoari, and others.

Pyramid pyramid complex ( Amazon Earth from Google Earth )

Deyermenjian had discovered plenty of evidence of ancient Inca inhabitance in the area, including petroglyphs, paved roads, platforms, and plazas, but he did not find conclusive evidence that the mysterious structures spotted by NASA’s Landsat satellite were man-made structures. Deyermenjian argued that the structures were natural sandstone formations known as truncated ridge spurs, which can take the form of natural pyramids. Deyermenjian has since, in 1999 and 2006, seen and photographed various very similar sites in the area of the Río Timpía, with intriguingly pyramidal-shaped huge natural formations.

“In 1996, still without helicopter, we again ensconced ourselves within the steamy lower jungles of Manu, in an area just to the south of Pusharo, to reach and make the first definitive examination of the “Pyramids of Paratoari,” eight apparently evenly spaced and unnaturally symmetrical hillocks which had caused a flurry of speculation as to their origin and relation to Paititi since having been spotted on a NASA satellite photograph twenty years before…” (Source)

You can read more about Deyermenjian expeditions, and the search for Paititi and the Lost Realm of the Inca’s, here and here.

But people were still amazed by the formations.

In 2001, French explorer Thierry Jamin investigated the site of Pantiacolla, and is said to have investigated the pyramids, concluding that they are in fact natural formations. However, Jamin discovered several Inca artifacts in the same area.

In 2011, a British expedition to investigate the Pyramids of Paratoari with Kenneth Gawne, Lewis Knight, Ken Halfpenny, I. Gardiner and Darwin Moscoso as part of the documentary “The Secret of the Incas” took place.

Pyramid- like structure in Visoko, Bisnia ( Photo Internet )

{ https://www.ancient-code.com/ }

28-07-2018 om 01:41 geschreven door peter  

These Gun-Toting, Weight-Lifting Russian Robots Might Fly to Space in 2019

RT

✔@RT_com

Cyber cosmonaut or rescue robot? Russian android Fedor passes various tests https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUksbsvKuYM&t=5s …

6:13 PM - Dec 9, 2016

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The FEDOR program was created in 2014 with the goal of producing a robot that could replace humans in high-risk tasks and missions in space. Aside from shooting, these two androids are capable of driving, doing push-ups and lifting weights. It's unclear how these skills might assist them in space or what their specific mission might be. Rogozin has only stated that the robots would have "great practical significance in various fields," according to The Independent.

Sending robots to do jobs too dangerous for humans is not a new concept. NASA hopes that the agency’s robotic astronaut Robonaut 2, which is being repaired after its stint on the International Space Station, will work side by side with human crewmembers in space and complete tasks that are too high risk for humans.

CIMON The Flying AI - Behold The Future

Another space robot, CIMON — the first artificially intelligent assistance system designed for astronauts — is advancing robotic capabilities in space. CIMON, also known as a "flying brain," is not designed to navigate situations that might be dangerous for astronauts, but it is definitely pushing forward the performance of robots on the space station with human-like compatibility.

28-07-2018 om 01:19 geschreven door peter  

Europa Lander May Not Have to Dig Deep to Find Signs of Life

28-07-2018 om 00:58 geschreven door peter  

By: Nidhi Goya

{ http://www.industrytap.com/ }

28-07-2018 om 00:35 geschreven door peter  

Alien life could lurk just one centimeter below the surface of Jupiter's icy moon Europa

By jimmy

 

The test of extraterrestrial life could be found in the ice that covers the surface of Europe, according to NASA scientists.

The moon, the fourth largest in orbit around Jupiter, has long been considered the most likely place to house signs of extraterrestrial life in our Solar System.

Europe, which orbits around the largest planet in the Solar System, has no atmosphere and is constantly bombarded by the strong cosmic radiation of Jupiter and the sun, which makes it impossible for life to survive on its surface.

As a result of the strong radiation, the researchers believe that any living organism will be hidden in the depths of the planet, where it is believed that there is liquid water.

Nevertheless, New findings from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, California, evidence of life could be much closer to the surface than previously thought.

While scientists previously believed that future missions to Europe would have to dig several meters into the ice to find signs of life, the latest research suggests that microbial fossils are between one and three centimeters. [0.4 inches – 1.2 inches] under the ice

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The search for alien life on Jupiter's moon, Europa, continues as scientists discover that microbial life may be living just below its frozen surface. Europe has long been considered the most likely place, outside the Earth, to sustain life in our Solar System.

The latest research is a strong indicator that future missions to Europe will be able to find evidence of life on the moon.

Previous estimates stated that research crafts on the surface of Europe would have to dig a few meters to find any kind of evidence of life, which is impossible since no lander or spacecraft currently has the capacity to bury itself in that depth.

Dr. Tom Nordheim, icy-world habitability expert and researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, said: "These results indicate that future missions to the surface of Europe do not need to excavate material at great depths to investigate the composition of the material. and look for possible biofirms. & # 39;

NASA believes it will find evidence of extraterrestrial life in the next two decades.

The space agency is already planning two missions to Europe, including a flight called Europa Clipper, which will be launched in 2022 and will take images and measurements of the moon in its path.

This will be followed by a landing mission a few years later.

Previous research has found that Europe has a liquid ocean beneath its icy crust, which makes it a primary target in the search for extraterrestrial life within our Solar System.

NASA believes it will find extraterrestrial life in the next two decades and is already planning two missions to Europe (pictured). A flight called Europa Clipper could be launched in 2022, and be followed by a landing mission a few years later

NASA believes that microbial fossils of organisms that inhabit liquid water deep in the surface of the moon could survive up to 10 million years to less than three centimeters (1.18 inches) below the ice.

Dr. Nordheim and his team believe that they have identified the best place to look for evidence of life, which are regions in mid to high latitudes on the moon.

This is because Europe is immersed in hard radiation levels, sent from the sun and the large planets, including Jupiter. However, the largest doses come from galactic cosmic rays (GCR) that come from distant sources such as exploding stars.

Earth's atmosphere protects life from these rays, however, life in other worlds may not have been so fortunate.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT EUROPE AND WHY IS IT SO SPECIAL?

The icy moon of Europe, Jupiter, is slightly smaller than Earth's moon.

Europe orbits Jupiter every 3.5 days and is blocked by tides, just like the Earth's Moon, so the same side of Europe faces Jupiter at all times.

It is believed to have an iron core, a rocky mantle and a surface ocean of salt water, such as Earth.

Unlike Earth, however, this ocean is deep enough to cover the entire surface of Europe, and being far from the sun, the surface of the ocean is globally frozen.

Many experts believe that the hidden ocean that surrounds Europe, warmed by powerful tidal forces caused by the gravity of Jupiter, may have favorable conditions for life.

NASA scientists are about to explore the ocean moon of Jupiter, Europe, in search of signs of alien life.

Europe is our best option to find biological life in the solar system, researchers say.

The space agency is preparing two probes, including one that will land on its surface, to explore the distant moon in detail within the next decade, the agency says.

It is believed that Mars once had an atmosphere similar to Earth, but now it is thin. Meanwhile, Europe has practically none.

Both worlds are bombarded by high levels of radiation, which could condemn the destruction of fossils that once existed on the surfaces of worlds.

Dr. Nordheim modeled the effect of these particles on the surface of Europe.

The Jet Propulsion Lab team then compared these estimates with laboratory data on how quickly the radiation destroys amino acids, the building blocks of life.

Dr. Nordheim, who also works at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, said: "At mid to high latitudes, amino acids could persist at detectable levels of just one or three centimeters. [0.4 inches – 1.2 inches] below the surface of Europe on a time scale of ten million years.

However, Dr. Nordheim added: "In the most irradiated equatorial regions, however, this depth increases to several tens of centimeters."

This would be too deep for the current generation technology to deepen in Europe.

Dr. Nordheim and his team, whose findings are published in Nature Astronomy, said a future mission in Europe will not have to dig too hard to find signs of life, as long as NASA knows exactly where to land.

Dr. Nordheim said: "Observations of the surface of Europe made with an orbiter or approach flybys, such as those of NASA's Europa Clipper mission, will be key to identifying such regions."

Previous research has discovered that this moon has a liquid ocean beneath the icy crust of Europe (in the image), which makes it a primary target in the search for alien life. Young regions in medium to high latitudes could be the best locations to look for such signatures

Clipper will carry a payload of nine instruments, including a camera that will represent most of the surface.

They will use spectrometers to scan their composition, an ice penetration radar to map the shell in 3-D and find liquid water and a magnetometer to characterize the ocean.

Dr. John Cooper of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland says that a lander should probe more than ten centimeters from where it falls or make shallower measurements at high-latitude sites.

Dr. Cooper, who was not involved in the study, said: "The lander would be the final judge of whether we were smart or were lucky enough to find a biofirm, perhaps one that takes shelter from radiation within reach of a small block of ice, a sign of life that we can probably recognize as coming from our closest extraterrestrial cousin in the Universe of life. 

{ https://whatsnew2day.com/ }

28-07-2018 om 00:18 geschreven door peter  

‘UFO or Kremlin’s secret weapon’. Russians baffled over daytime blackout over Yakutia

A black cloud came to north-east Siberia on Tuesday at about 11:30. The sudden darkness lasted over two hours.

As the defense and meteorological officials failed to comment on the phenomenon, locals and media outlets started developing conspiracy theories.

The only thing head of Verkhoyansk town Yevgeny Potapov said was ‘Something strange happened on that day’.

Local media were the first to cover the situation; then The Sun and Daily Maildirected their attention to the interesting fact, while nationwide media focused on the problem only recently.

According to the British tabloids, the local residents came up with different versions of its origin, including dust from a meteorite strike, a secret Kremlin weapon test, a UFO and even the ‘work of the devil’.

The cloud of darkness hit three vast districts in Yakutia region. No meteorite strikes, solar eclipse or weapon tests were reported.

“Day suddenly turned into a dark night,” Daily Mail quotes a local resident.

Some also feared possible radioactive contamination and poisonous dust.

“We took torches and went out. But now nobody wants to be on the street, because we were short of breath then,” another inhabitant said.

The locals doubt that the authorities will ever tell them the truth.

• pj/belsat.eu, photos by The Siberian Times

Sky mysteriously turns black in the middle of the DAY in Russia

{ http://belsat.eu/en/ }

28-07-2018 om 00:00 geschreven door peter  

• Read more at: 
• https://phys.org/news/2018-07-scientists-rio-scale-alien-encounters.html#jCp

{ https://phys.org/ }

27-07-2018 om 23:19 geschreven door peter  

Star spotted speeding near black hole at centre of Milky Way

Chile’s Very Large Telescope tracks S2 star as it reaches mind-boggling speeds by supermassive black hole

Hannah Devlin - Science correspondent

USA: STRONG EVIDENCE OF A BLACK HOLE AT CENTRE OF MILKY WAY

{ https://www.theguardian.com/international }

27-07-2018 om 23:06 geschreven door peter  

{ https://cosmosmagazine.com/ }

27-07-2018 om 22:26 geschreven door peter  

Despite thousands of filed Freedom of Information Act requests, documents or videos generated during the secret Pentagon UFO study have been scarce to non-existent. Investigative Reporter George Knapp has obtained key documents related to the UFO inquiry. Here they are, so you can see them first.

Senator Harry Reid initiated the Pentagon UFO study back in 2007 yet kept it secret. Since his role was revealed last year, he has had calls from many others in Congress and believes there have likely been classified briefings involving military eyewitnesses. Reid fought hard to keep AATIP going, as revealed in a 2009 letter obtained by George Knapp. 

"It's about changing the paradigm in which our government can finally take this issue seriously without worrying about their political survival, right, allowing Congress to have a conversation in open or closed session saying, all right guys, gals, what do we do about this? What we can talk about now is, should this scientific study continue, that's already been started? That's huge, volumes and volumes of stuff, we now have the basis for doing it."

- Sen. Harry Reid, former Senate Majority Leader

Physicist Hal Puthoff recently made the first public presentation about the Pentagon UFO study. Puthoff was the chief scientist for BAASS (Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies), the Las Vegas company that won the Pentagon contract to study UFOs and related phenomenon. Puthoff said his group has studied unknown materials recovered from crash sites.

In Puthoff's presentation he listed subjects explored in the dozens of scientific studies initiated by BAASS. The titles and authors of these technical papers have not been released, that is until now. This list is being made public for the first time and includes subjects such as worm holes, warp drive, invisibility, antigravity, metamaterials and how to track hypersonic vehicles.

"You've got these advanced aerospace vehicles flying around, that we don't know where they come from, what the intent is, possibly off-world even."

- Dr. Hal Puthoff, physicist

The idea is that you can use this to find out more about the programs. Documents and descriptions below... happy hunting!

Jeremy Kenyon Lockyer Corbell
Creator, Extraordinary Beliefs

{ http://www.extraordinarybeliefs.com/ }

27-07-2018 om 22:09 geschreven door peter  

{ https://www.nexusnewsfeed.com/ }

27-07-2018 om 21:49 geschreven door peter  

Worms frozen during an ice age 42,000 years have been brought back to life by scientists, fuelling hope for human cryogenic freezing

• Two nematodes were found lying dormant in the ancient Pleistocene Age ice  
• They lived at the time of woolly mammoths and have since been dormant
• The worms came back to life in a Petri dish after being awoken in a laboratory  

By WILL STEWART FOR THE MAILONLINE

Worms frozen in permafrost for 42,000 years have sprung back to life, scientists say.

Experts managed to coax the two roundworms back to life after thawing the ice that had imprisoned them since the era of woolly mammoths.

The experiment could provide a breakthrough in the fields of astrobiology and cryonics, since it demonstrates the 'ability of multi-cellular organisms to survive long-term', the researchers claimed. 

Cryonics, which bridges the gap between science-fiction and reality, is a field that hopes to suspend people in time by freezing their bodies for years.

The end goal is to keep people on ice for centuries at the time, long enough to  allow for long-term interplanetary exploration.

Scroll down for video 

Two nematodes from Siberia are moving and eating again for the first time since the Pleistocene age 42,000 years ago 

The ancient roundworms - frozen since the era of woolly mammoths - started wriggling again in Petri dishes at a Russian institute (pictured)

The nematodes were coaxed back to life in a Petri dishes in a laboratory at the Institute of Physico-Chemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science, near Moscow.

Russian researchers team worked with geoscientists from Princeton University, New Jersey, USA to analyse more than 300 frozen worms to find suitable candidates.

According to researchers, only two ‘were shown to contain viable nematodes’. 

One of these was found in permafrost near the Alazeya River back in 2015, and believed to be around 41,700 years old.

The other was taken in 2002 from an prehistoric squirrel burrow in Duvanny Yar outcrop in the lower reaches of the Kolyma River, and is around 32,000 years old.

This location is close to the site of Pleistocene Park, an experimental project seeking to recreate the Arctic habitat of the extinct woolly mammoth.

Both sites are in Yakutia, which is renown for being the coldest region of Russia.  

The worms were coaxed back to life in Petri dishes in a laboratory at the Institute of Physico-Chemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science near Moscow. The breakthrough demonstrates the ability of multicellular organisms to survive long-term

Both specimens were found in the Yakutia region of Siberia, which is known to be the coldest region of the country

WHAT IS CRYONICS?

WHAT IS CRYONICS?

The deep freezing of a body to -196°C (-321°F). 

Anti-freeze compounds are injected into the corpse to stop cells being damaged. 

The hope is that medical science will advance enough to bring the patient back to life.

Two main US organisations carry out cryonics in the US: Alcor, in Arizona, and the Cryonics Institute, in Michigan.

Russian firm KrioRus is one of two facilities outside the US to offer the service, alongside Alcor's European laboratory in Portugal.

HOW IS IT MEANT TO WORK?

The process can only take place once the body has been declared legally dead. 

Ideally, it begins within two minutes of the heart stopping and no more than 15. 

The body must be packed in ice and injected with chemicals to reduce blood clotting. 

At the cryonics facility, it is cooled to just above 0°C and the blood is replaced with a solution to preserve organs. 

Cryonpreservation is the deep freezing of a body to - 196°C (-321°F). Anti-freeze compounds are injected into the corpse to stop cells being damaged 

The body is injected with another solution to stop ice crystals forming in organs and tissues, then cooled to -130°C. 

The final step is to place the body into a container which is lowered into a tank of liquid nitrogen at -196°C.

WHAT'S THE CHANCE OF SUCCESS?

Many experts say there is none. 

Organs such as the heart and kidneys have never been successfully frozen and thawed.

It is even less likely a whole body, and the brain, could be without irreversible damage.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

Charges at the Cryonics Institute start at around £28,000 ($35,000) to 'members' for whole-body cryopreservation.

Rival group Alcor charges £161,000 ($200,000) while KrioRus' procedure will set you back £29,200 ($37,600).

HOW LONG BEFORE PEOPLE CAN BE BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE?

Cryonics organisations claim it could be decades or even centuries. 

However, medical experts say once cells are damaged during freezing and turned to 'mush' they cannot be converted back to living tissue, any more than you can turn a scrambled egg back into a raw egg.'

After being defrosted, the nematodes showed signs of life – they started moving and eating,' said another report on the findings cited by The Siberian Times.  According to the international team of researchers, this latest breakthrough demonstrates 'the ability of multicellular organisms to survive long-term – tens of thousands of years' in a state of 'natural cryoconservation.'

'It is obvious that this ability suggests that the Pleistocene nematodes have some adaptive mechanisms that may be of scientific and practical importance for the related fields of science, such as cryomedicine, cryobiology, and astrobiology,' the researchers wrote in the report, published in journal Doklady Biological Sciences.

One of the worms was from a site near the Alazeya River (pictured), found in permafrost in 2015, and believed to be some 41,700 years old

A second worm was taken in 2002 from an prehistoric squirrel burrow in Duvanny Yar outcrop in the lower reaches of the Kolyma River (pictured), and is around 32,000 years old

Read more:

• Worms frozen in permafrost for up to 42,000 years come back to life

{ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

27-07-2018 om 21:26 geschreven door peter  

Roundworms brought back to life after spending 42,000 years iced in permafrost

 BY MIHAI ANDREI 

These creatures have set a new record for cryogenic survival.

The nematodes isolated from permafrost deposits of the Kolyma River Lowland. Image credits: Shatilovich et al.

The Kolyma River in north-eastern Siberia flows along over 2,129 kilometers (1,323 miles) before ultimately emptying into a part of the Arctic Ocean. For the most part (about 250 days each year), the Kolyma is frozen to depths of several meters. Similarly, most of the path it flows along is surrounded by thick ice — after all, this is the permafrost land we’re talking about.

A while back, Russian biologists dug up more than 300 samples of frozen soil from the area. They found that the samples are teeming with microscopic life: single-celled cyanobacteria, green algae, and yeasts. But among these samples, they also found some macroscopic organisms — namely, some nematodes (Panagrolaimus aff. detritophagus and Plectus aff. parvus) — or, as most people would call them, roundworms.

Some were found in what was likely a ground squirrel burrow some 32,000 years ago, but had since caved in and frozen over. The others were found in a bore sample at a depth of around 3.5 meters (about 11.5 feet). They were carbon dated and found to be 42,000 years old. There’s still the off chance of contamination, but researchers have detailed their strict practices, and peer-review also confirmed the sterility procedures.

After identifying the worms, biologists placed them in a room kept at a mellow temperature of 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit). It didn’t take long before they started showing signs of life. Within weeks, they were moving around and eating, setting a new record for how long animals can survive frozen in ice.

Two nematodes from Siberia are moving and eating again for the first time since the Pleistocene age 42,000 years ago 

Longest survival

In 2000, scientists found bacteria spores inside 250 million-year-old salt crystals, and after careful processing, were able to bring them back to life.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that the tricks bacteria pull off to survive so long cannot be applied to macroscopic creatures, which are much more complex. Roundworms are remarkably sturdy creatures (related to tardigrades), but they don’t even come close to bacteria. Yet even tardigrades, these incredibly resilient creatures, have “only” been known to survive for decades after preservation.

The worms were coaxed back to life in Petri dishes in a laboratory at the Institute of Physico-Chemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science near Moscow. The breakthrough demonstrates the ability of multicellular organisms to survive long-term

Both specimens were found in the Yakutia region of Siberia, which is known to be the coldest region of the country

Aside from the main story, — that the creatures survived for 42,000 years, frozen — there are two ways to look at this. The first is optimistic and upbeat: by studying the mechanisms which allowed them to survive, we can learn more about cryomedicine and how creatures (potentially, alien creatures) survive in extreme environments.

“It is obvious that this ability suggests that the Pleistocene nematodes have some adaptive mechanisms that may be of scientific and practical importance for the related fields of science, such as cryomedicine, cryobiology, and astrobiology,” the researchers write in their study.

But there’s a darker side to the story. As global warming takes its course and much of the permafrost continues to melt, it could release a string of pathogens currently frozen. What the consequences will be is anyone’s guess.

• This research was published in Doklady Biological Sciences.

{https://www.zmescience.com/ }

27-07-2018 om 21:10 geschreven door peter  

NASA eavesdropped on the Sun, and they made a video so you can hear it too

BY ALEXANDRU MICU 

With a bit of help from NASA, you can now hear the sun’s roar — and it’s glorious.

The Sun’s surface seen in ultraviolet light, colored by NASA.
Image credits NASA Goddard.

Although you never hear it, the Sun is actually pretty loud. This massive body of superheated, fusing plasma, is rife with ripples and waves generated by the same processes that generate is light and heat — and where there’s motion, there’s sound. We never get to hear it, however, as the huge expanse of nothing between the Earth and the Sun acts as a perfect acoustic insulator.

With some of ESA (European Space Agency) data and a sprinkling of NASA’s magic, however, you can now hear the Sun churn in all of its (surprisingly tranquil) glory.

Hear me roar (softly)

“Waves are traveling and bouncing around inside the Sun, and if your eyes were sensitive enough they could actually see this,” says Alex Young, associate director for science in the Heliophysics Science Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

What Young is referring to are seismic waves, a type of acoustic waves — the same kind of motion that causes earthquakes in rocky planets — that form and propagate inside the Sun. Hypothetically, if you were to look at the star with the naked eye, you could actually see these waves rippling through its body and surface.

Stars are formed of a much more fluid material than most planets, and so their bulk flows more readily under the sway of seismic waves — wiggling just like a poked block of Jell-O.

As most of us learned in early childhood, however, one cannot look directly into the Sun for long. Luckily for us, ESA recently embarked on a one-of-a-kind mission: they sent the Parker Solar Probe hurtling towards our star. Using its SOHO Michelson Dopler Imager (MDI) instrument, the probe recorded these motions inside the Sun. Researchers at NASA and the Stanford Experimental Physics Lab later processed into a soundtrack.

It’s not half-bad, as far as tunes go. I actually find it quite relaxing. Check it out:

It took a great deal of work to turn the readings from Parker into something usable. Alexander Kosovichev, a physicist at the Stanford University lab, processed the raw SOHO MDI data by averaging Doppler velocity data over the solar disc and then only keeping low degree modes. These low degree modes are the only type of seismic waves whose behavior inside stars is known and accessible to helioseismologists. Afterward, he cut out any interference, such as sounds generating by whizzing of instruments inside the craft. He then filtered the data to end up with uninterrupted sound waves.

While scientists probably enjoy a groovy track just as much as the rest of us, the soundtrack actually has practical applications. By analyzing the sounds, researchers can get a very accurate picture of the churnings inside of our Sun — much more accurate than previous observations could provide.

“We don’t have straightforward ways to look inside the Sun,” Young explains. “We don’t have a microscope to zoom inside the Sun. So using a star or the Sun’s vibrations allows us to see inside of it.”

A more comprehensive understanding of the motions inside the Sun could allow researchers to better predict space weather events.

Story via NASA.

{ https://www.zmescience.com/ }

27-07-2018 om 20:52 geschreven door peter