When Johnny Carson was host of the Tonight Show, comedians knew that they had made it to the top when the iconic comedy figure laughed and invited them to sit on his couch and talk. That happened to Jerry Seinfeld, David Letterman and the comic who took Johnny’s place, Jay Leno. Today, the host is Jimmy Fallon and, while he’s not the designated bestower of success to comedians, he may be one to robots. On November 21st, Fallon sang a duet of “Say Something” with Sophia, the most sophisticated humanoid robot to date, and it was sufficiently impressive, creepy and frightening. Was this the sign that AI has made it? If not, how about the news from Houston that a scientist has created a HAL 9000, the villainous computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey? Has the takeover begun … or is it already over?

Say something, I’m giving up on you
I’m sorry that I couldn’t get to you
Anywhere, I would’ve followed you
Say something, I’m giving up on you

After watching a demonstration of the latest robotic animal doing back flips and being made a fool of by a robot feeding him a tomato while he’s jogging (yes, AI has already taken over Letterman’s Stupid Human Tricks — see the entire video here), Hanson Robotics’ Sophia rolled out. She’s not a walking robot but her facial expressions and human hand and arm motions more than make up for the option that will undoubtedly be available soon, if the Little Sophia which was also brought out is any indication. Fallon is of course a good actor and looked like he was enjoying his duet with Sophia … or was he covering up his realization of what was actually happening?

“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

Meanwhile, AI and robotics developer Pete Bonasso from Houston-based TRACLabs unveiled his new robot in the current edition of Science Robotics. In CASE: A HAL 9000 for 2021 and in an interview with Space.com, he explains how CASE — “cognitive architecture for space agents” – is “an intelligent agent, like HAL 9000, can plan and manage activities for a planetary base and can interact with users through a dialog management system.” And that’s just the prototype!

CASE is designed to plan and control activities and technological operations for a planetary colony base on three levels: hardware (life-support, power, transportation, pod bay doors), software (the AI for the hardware) and daily maintenance and emergencies (gas leaks, pod bay doors stuck, alien invasion). CASE is also able to interface with humans via visuals and speech and can make judgement calls (handy for refereeing Martian football games).

“Our colleagues and NASA counterparts are not concerned that our HAL might get out of control. That’s because it can’t do anything it’s not programmed to do.”

Bonasso has demonstrated CASE to NASA in a four-hour simulation of managing a planetary space station and no humans were harmed in the making of the model. However, it hasn’t yet been tried in the ultimate test … Beer Pong with Jimmy Fallon.

Should we be worried? Is it too late? If it is, who will help us fight back?

“I’m sorry, Jimmy. I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

27-11-2018 om 00:10 geschreven door peter  

Breaking: Touchdown on Mars! NASA's InSight Lands to Peer Inside the Red Planet

26-11-2018 om 23:51 geschreven door peter  

NASA's InSight Mars Lander: Full Coverage

Last Updated: an hour ago

InSight's 1st Mars Photo Explained

 Tariq Malik

NASA has released a high-resolution view of InSight's first photo of Mars. Space.com's Mike Wall explains the Mars photo here (including its innovative cubesat delivery).

2 hours ago

InSight's first photo!

 mbartels

InSight beamed its first photo from the surface of Mars back to Earth just minutes after landing, courtesy of the tiny MarCO relay satellites that accompanied the spacecraft on its journey. NASA is still waiting to hear whether the lander successfully deployed its solar arrays.Share

4 hours ago

Mars InSight Mania

 Tariq Malik

Anticipation is high here at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for today's InSight Mars landing. Check out this awesome fascinator hat made by space reporter Mika McKinnon!

@mikamckinnon has crafted the ULTIMATE @nasainsight fascinator for today's #MarsLanding ! Check it out (find her coverage @newscientist etc) @SPACEdotcom @NASAJPL pic.twitter.com/M8K1cCblNC

— Tariq J. Malik 🚀 (@tariqjmalik) November 26, 2018

26-11-2018 om 23:27 geschreven door peter  

No, Mars InSight Won't Be Searching for Alien Life. Here's What It IS Looking For.

26-11-2018 om 23:09 geschreven door peter  

NASA 'tried to DESTROY images of pyramids and statues' found on Mars by Curiosity Rover

THE MARS Curiosity Rover has unearthed images "statues" hidden in the rocks of the Red Planet which NASA has tried to "cover up", according to conspiracy theorists.

By Emmet McGonagle 

Ancient astronaut theorists – who believe aliens visited Earth in prehistoric times – have claimed to have spotted a range of religious icons, including a statue of Buddha and a cross.

Satellite imagery expert Joseph White says the Rover’s images have been tampered with in order to keep these statues from being discovered by the public.

Speaking to the History Channel as part of their Ancient Aliens series, he said: “They [NASA] do so much to destroy these images.

{ https://www.dailystar.co.uk/ }

26-11-2018 om 22:38 geschreven door peter  

Two CubeSats will send data back to Earth of the lander’s fate as they pass the Red Planet

BY LISA GROSSMAN 

BOLDLY GOING  Two briefcase-sized satellites, shown side by side in this artist’s rendering, will become the first tiny spacecraft to fly by Mars and act as communications relays for a lander.

JPL-CALTECH/NASA

The next spacecraft set to land on Mars is bringing its own communications team. InSight, a lander scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet on November 26, is accompanied by a pair of briefcase-sized spacecraft that will send details of the landing to Earth in almost real time.

The twin craft on this mission are CubeSats — tiny, inexpensive satellites that are easy to build and launch. Called Mars Cube One, or MarCO for short, they will fly past Mars as InSight lands, becoming the smallest spacecraft ever to be entrusted with a task as crucial as relaying landing information for a mission. Now nearing Mars, they are also already the first CubeSats to make it so far from Earth. If all goes well with InSight’s landing, future Mars missions could also be equipped with their own single-use comms team.

“A future where landers and rovers brought their own communications systems for landing, that would be fantastic,” says engineer Joel Krajewski of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and MarCO’s program manager.

InSight — short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport — will carry the first seismometer to Mars (SN: 5/26/18, p. 13). After touching down in a wide, flat plain called Elysium Planitia near Mars’ equator, the lander will sit perfectly still to listen to seismic waves and measure how heat flows through the Red Planet’s interior. The results will help scientists understand how Mars, and perhaps other rocky planets like Earth, formed around 4.5 billion years ago.

It will be only 6½ minutes between when InSight enters the Martian atmosphere, at a speed of nearly 1,000 meters per second, to the moment its legs touch the ground. The spacecraft will use a parachute and rockets aimed at the ground to slow to about 2.4 meters per second as it lands. Light-speed signals from the CubeSats or Insight itself will then take about eight minutes to travel between Earth and Mars, so by the time NASA engineers hear that InSight has entered Mars’ atmosphere, the spacecraft will be on the ground.

“Which is terrifying,” says engineer Farah Alibay, also of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “Whether it landed softly or pretty hard, we won’t know. But we’ll know when you get that first bit of data, InSight’s already landed.”

We’re listening

The MarCO CubeSats will watch InSight’s descent to the Martian surface (red line) and send details of the landing back to Earth, before continuing past the planet.

JPL-CALTECH/NASA

For most previous Mars landings, one of the large orbiters currently circling the Red Planet had to pause its data-taking to watch the event and send details to Earth. The orbiter that will be in the best position to watch InSight will be NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. While that spacecraft will observe the landing, it won’t be able to relay any details to Earth for at least three hours as its orbit takes the craft behind Mars from Earth’s point of view, blocking communications.

“Three to four hours is not long for most people, but it’s pretty long for us,” Alibay says. “Landing is the scariest part of your mission.” Waiting to hear about the spacecraft’s landing is like waiting for news about a loved one’s health, she says.

To avoid that waiting, the team sent the twin CubeSats. The spacecraft launched with InSight, but have been navigating through deep space on their own since May. The MarCO craft can change their trajectories by expelling compressed cold gas, similar to the way a fire extinguisher works — which earned them the nicknames Wall-E and Eve among the team, after the space-flying Disney robot characters. “We’ve demonstrated that a CubeSat can leave Earth orbit, survive the harsh environment of space and direct itself towards Mars,” Alibay says.

About five minutes before InSight hits the top of the Martian atmosphere, the two MarCO craft will position themselves to track the lander all the way to the ground, and send details back to Earth immediately. Each operates independently, backing each other up.

If all goes well, MarCO could set a precedent for future Mars missions. Existing Mars orbiters will be able to support two Mars missions launching in 2020 — NASA’s Mars 2020 rover and the ExoMars rover run by the European Space Agency and Russia’s space agency. But after that, the future is dim.

“Right now, there’s not an active plan for an orbiter beyond that time frame,” Krajewski says. Plus, existing orbiters have to burn fuel to get into the right position to watch other spacecraft land, which shortens the orbiters’ lives. Sending future spacecraft with their own CubeSat comms team could help scientists monitor landings without compromising the big orbiters’ science missions.

After InSight lands, MarCO’s job will be done. The tiny craft don’t have enough fuel or the right equipment to enter a long-term orbit around Mars. Instead, MarCO will “wave goodbye and continue along,” Krajewski says.

You can watch InSight’s landing online on NASA TV.

Citations

• NASA. Mars InSight Mission.

Further Reading

• L. Grossman. NASA gets ready to launch the first lander to investigate Mars’ insides. Science News. Vol. 193, May 26, 2018, p. 13.
• C. Crockett. Minisatellites could detect dangerous asteroids, researchers propose. Science News Online, April 3, 2015.

{ https://www.sciencenews.org/ }

26-11-2018 om 21:19 geschreven door peter  

The rover will cache rocks for a future mission to bring back to Earth

BY LISA GROSSMAN 

 

A RIVER RAN THROUGH IT  The next NASA Mars rover will land at Jezero crater, a former lake bed that includes the remains of an ancient river delta (seen above in this composite image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter).

JPL-CALTECH/NASA, JHU-APL, MSSS, BROWN UNIV.

The next NASA Mars rover will hunt for signs of ancient life in what used to be a river delta, the agency announced on November 19.

The rover is expected to launch in July 2020 and to land on Mars around February 18, 2021. It will seek out signs of past life in the sediments and sands of Jezero crater, which was once home to a 250-meter-deep lake and a river delta that flowed into the lake.

“This is a major attraction from our point of view for a habitable environment,” said Mars 2020 project scientist Ken Farley of Caltech in a news conference discussing the site. “A delta is extremely good at preserving biosignatures.” Any evidence of life that may once have existed in the lake water, or even evidence that came from the river’s headwaters and flowed downstream, could be preserved in the rocks that are there today.

The 2020 rover’s design is similar to that of the Curiosity rover, which has been exploring a different ancient crater lake, Gale crater, since 2012 (SN: 5/2/15, p. 24). But where Curiosity has an onboard chemistry lab for studying the rocks and minerals in its crater, Mars 2020 will have a specialized backpack for sample storage. A future mission will pick up the cached samples and return them to Earth for more detailed study, possibly sometime in the 2030s.

“The samples will come back to the best labs — not the best labs we have today, but the best labs we will have then,” said science mission directorate administrator Thomas Zurbuchen of NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Mars 2020 will also use a souped-up version of Curiosity’s landing system called Sky Crane, in which a hovering platform lowers the rover onto the ground with a cable. Mars 2020’s version will include a navigation system that will help it avoid hazards on the ground, like cliff faces and boulders.

Jezero crater is within striking distance of another site on scientists’ wish list. That region, called Midway, is just 28 kilometers away from Jezero and contains some of the most ancient rocks on Mars. At the final landing site selection workshop in October, scientists floated the idea of visiting both sites in one mission, a feat seen as ambitious but achievable. But a decision on that will have to wait until after the rover is safely on Mars, Farley said.

Citations

• NASA announces landing site for Mars 2020 rover. November 19, 2018

Further Reading

• L. Grossman. How to keep humans from ruining the search for life on Mars. Science News. Vol. 193, January 20, 2018, p. 22.
• A. Yeager. More hints of Martian hot springs may hold promise for Mars 2020 mission. Science News Online, July 26, 2017.
• A. Witze. The Martian diaries. Science News. Vol. 187, May 2, 2015, p. 24.

{ https://www.sciencenews.org/ }

26-11-2018 om 20:30 geschreven door peter  

Chinese scientists created the world’s first gene-edited babies

BY TIBI PUIU 

A group of Chinese researchers recruited couples in order to create the first gene-edited babies — a pair of twin girls born earlier this month. The controversial initiative aims to make babies resistant to certain diseases and pathogens, such as HIV infections.

The news was first reported by MIT Technology Review, which obtained official medical documents (1 and 2) filed by researchers at the Southern University of Science and Technology, in Shenzhen.

According to the documents, the Chinese researchers want to use the gene-editing tool CRISPR to modify human embryos and then transfer them into women’s uteruses. They plan to edit the CCR5 gene in such a way as to potentially make the offspring resistant to HIV, smallpox, and cholera. Using the

The team led by He Jiankui previously carried out tests on fetuses as late as 24 weeks, or six months, into the pregnancy. Their first tests on human embryos in a dish were carried in 2015, causing an ethical debate among the scientific community.

Although gene editing on humans is prohibited in most countries (China has banned cloning but not human embryo gene editing specifically), He and colleagues seem nevertheless bent on experimenting with gene editing and human cells. The major concern is that any edits will be passed on to offspring, thus making their way into the gene pool. As such, potentially troublesome mutations could become relatively widespread. On the other hand, even if the gene editing process is flawless, any beneficial gene edits — such as enhanced resistance to disease and even intelligence — could result in unfair advantages and may open the door for eugenic practices.

Jiankui He.

Credit: SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.

It’s all uncharted territory, and the long-term consequences of gene editing on humans can be unpredictable, which is why the scientific community advises caution. In stark contrast to this cautionary approach, He claimed that his team has “a strong responsibility that it’s not just to make a first, but also make it an example.”

He says that the aim of the trial is not to cure or prevent an inherited disease, but rather to bestow traits that few people naturally have. Specifically, the ability to resist an infection with HIV, which some individuals from Western European populations have due to a rare CCR5 genetic mutation. This gene forms a protein doorway that allows HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, to enter a cell; the mutation alters this doorway, physically blocking the virus from entering the cell.

According to the Associated Press, the Chinese researchers have altered embryos for seven couples during fertility treatments, with one pregnancy being carried to term thus far. All the men involved in the trial had HIV, while the women did not. This claim, however, is unverified, and the work has yet to be published in any journal.

SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

The gene editing occurred during the lab dish fertilization (IVF) stage. The researchers first separated sperm from semen, the fluid which may contain HIV. A single sperm cell was joined with a single egg to form an embryo, which was subjected to gene editing via CRISPR. Once the embryos were 3 to 5 days old, some cells were removed and checked for editing. Overall, the Chinese researchers edited 16 of 22 embryos, out of which 11 embryos were used in six implant attempts, resulting in a single twin pregnancy. The couples could choose whether to use edited or unedited embryos for their pregnancy attempts.

Tests suggest that one twin had both copies of the altered gene and the other twin had just one altered copy. There was no evidence that suggests harm to other genes, according to He. People with only one copy of the CCR5 gene can still get HIV. Further pregnancies are on hold until the twin pregnancy is deemed safe.

{ https://www.zmescience.com/ }

26-11-2018 om 20:15 geschreven door peter  

Alien hunters post SHOCK footage of 'triangle UFO feeding from energy' of lightning storm

A “BLACK triangle UFO” has been caught on video “feeding” on a lightning strike, according to conspiracists.

By Matt Drake 

Footage uploaded on Youtube UFO Today channel shows a “triangular object” hovering in the sky as it is hit by lighting several times, it is claimed.

The unknown object is supposed to be an alien spaceship “feeding” on the energy from the lightning strikes.

UFO Today said: "It clearly shows a triangular object floating in the sky during a major lightning storm.

{ https://www.dailystar.co.uk/ }

26-11-2018 om 19:05 geschreven door peter  

{ http://aliensdocs.com/ }

26-11-2018 om 18:38 geschreven door peter  

{ http://aliensdocs.com/ }

26-11-2018 om 18:34 geschreven door peter  

NASA houdt de adem in voor 
‘helse’ afdaling van Marslander InSight - HLN.be

Bron: AD.nl

TER INFO: Vanavond rond 21 uur zenden we de marslanding live uit via de stream van NASA.

Lees ook

NASA lanceert ruimtesonde (met Belgisch tintje) naar Mars

Pas als de InSight met drie poten op de rode grond staat, is het eerste deel van de missie geslaagd. Iedereen die betrokken is bij het internationale project, houdt de adem in. Ook onze Belgische Koninklijke Sterrenwacht (Lees ook: Belg weet als eerste of het lukt, red). De afdaling van InSight, een compleet laboratorium dat de komende twee jaar inzicht moet verschaffen in de diepste geheimen van Mars, is niet bepaald simpel.

Het kostbare apparaat komt met een snelheid van bijna 20.000 kilometer per uur de ijle atmosfeer van Mars binnen. In minder dan zeven minuten moet het ruimtetuig van die duizelingwekkende snelheid zien af te remmen naar bijna nul. De vluchtleiding op aarde kan slechts toekijken, ingrijpen is onmogelijk.

Helse afdaling

De capsule waarin InSight zijn helse afdaling richting het oppervlak maakt, lijkt op die waarmee in de jaren zestig en zeventig ook de maanmissies terugkeerden: een conische vorm, met daaronder een gladde vlakke bodem. De onderkant van de lander is van cruciaal belang om InSight te beschermen tegen de enorme hitte die ontstaat bij het binnendringen van de Mars-atmosfeer.

Afgezien van het hitteschild is ook de hoek waarin de landingscapsule de atmosfeer van Mars raakt, uiterst belangrijk. Die hoek moet exact 12 graden zijn. Is de hoek te klein, dan kaatst InSight af en duikt het de diepten van het heelal in. Is de hoek te groot, dan gaat de sonde door de wrijving met de lucht als een razende vuurbal ten onder. En de missie letterlijk in rook op.

Loodrecht omlaag

Ongeveer drieënhalve minuut nadat de capsule de Mars-atmosfeer raakt, gaat een parachute open die het ruimtevaartuig verder afremt. Vijftien seconden later blazen explosieven het hitteschild weg en maakt InSight zich op voor de daadwerkelijke landing. Na tien seconden strekt de sonde drie poten uit en bungelt nog een minuut of twee onder de parachute.

45 seconden voor de landing verlaat InSight de capsule en nemen zijn landingsraketten het laatste remwerk over. De boosters stoppen ook elke horizontale beweging van InSight, waardoor het ding uiteindelijk loodrecht omlaag komt. Met nog 15 seconden te gaan, is de snelheid dan nog slechts 2,5 meter per seconde en raakt het Marslab hopelijk soepel de grond.

Binnenkant

Komt InSight na intrede en afdaling met een vaart hoger dan 8 kilometer per uur op het oppervlak terecht, dan is het alsnog einde oefening. De sonde slaat te pletter en de missie is mislukt nog voor hij kan echt beginnen. Acht minuten na de, hopelijk geslaagde, landing komt het verlossende levensteken van InSight op Aarde aan.

De plek waar de InSight gaat landen, Elysium Planitia, is een kale vlakte net boven de evenaar van Mars. De vluchtleiding hoopt dat er weinig rotsen zijn of stenen liggen die een zachte landing kunnen dwarsbomen. Dat voor het weinig interessante landschap is gekozen, heeft nog een reden: het is InSight niet te doen om het oppervlak, zoals zijn voorgangers, maar om de binnenkant van Mars.

Metersdiep boren

InSight gaat metersdiep in de bodem van Mars boren, zodat wetenschappers kunnen leren wat er onder het oppervlak zit en inzicht kunnen krijgen in de geschiedenis van de rode planeet. Dat boren gaat eenvoudiger op een ondergrond die waterpas staat. Doordat er geen schaduwen zijn, kunnen de zonnepanelen van de lander bovendien meer energie opwekken.

Een tweede taak van InSight is het registreren van bevingen op Mars. Het vermoeden is dat die bevingen er wel zijn, alleen anders dan op Aarde. Mars heeft geen tektonische platen zoals onze planeet, maar onderzoekers denken de komende jaren toch tientallen tot honderden bevingen waar te kunnen nemen. Ook die trillingen kunnen iets vertellen over het binnenste van Mars.

Met het oog op toekomstige bemande Marsmissies is het ook belangrijk om te leren wat de temperatuur op een bepaalde diepte is. Als de temperatuur onder het oppervlak warm genoeg is, zou water er in vloeibare vorm aanwezig kunnen zijn. Tot nu toe werd altijd aangenomen dat water slechts als ijs voorkomt. Vloeibaar water zou een verblijf op Mars aanzienlijk eenvoudiger maken.

Maankolonie

NASA zet komend jaar de eerste stappen voor het stichten van een maankolonie. Een nieuw ruimtestation, The Gateway, moet als uitvalsbasis gaan dienen voor de eerste bewoners die ergens rond 2030 voet op de maan zullen zetten. De maankolonie kan de opmars zijn naar een kolonie op Mars, zoals techmiljardair Elon Musk graag wil. Een groot deel hangt af van wat InSights aan het licht gaat brengen. Mits hij veilig landt natuurlijk.

Ruimtekerkhof

NASA, dat in de jaren zestig de planeet al aandeed met de Mariner-missies, heeft overigens behoorlijk wat ervaring als het aankomt op Mars. Toch is het alweer zes jaar geleden dat de ruimtevaartorganisatie de rijdende verkenner Curiosity Rover op Marsiaanse bodem wist te zetten. Het succespercentage van sondes om heelhuids te landen, ligt op 40 procent.

Mars is vooral een waar kerkhof van mislukte missies. Diverse ruimtevaartorganisaties, waaronder naast Amerikaanse en Russische ook Europese, Indiase en Japanse bureaus, stuurden de afgelopen decennia 44 sondes naar Mars. Daarvan waren er 18 succesvol, met zeven geslaagde landingen. 23 missies mislukten en drie haalden wel de planeet zelf, maar faalden bij de landing.

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

26-11-2018 om 18:24 geschreven door peter  

Chinese wetenschapper beweert dat eerste genetisch gemanipuleerde baby’s al geboren zijn - HLN.be

Bron: ap

De Chinese wetenschapper zette een filmpje op YouTube waarin hij aankondigde dat de eerste gemanipuleerde kindjes al geboren zijn. In de video zegt hij dat de vader van de bewuste meisjes, Mark, hiv heeft. Dankzij de genetische aanpassing die Jiankui met zijn team doorvoerde bij de embryo’s tijdens de vruchtbaarheidsbehandelingen, zijn de baby’s nu zelf resistent tegen het hiv-virus.

Lees ook

Biotechnologische ‘atoombom’: Britse wetenschappers kunnen malariamug uitroeien

De ingreep gebeurde met de veelbelovende en erg precieze CRISPR-techniek. Die laat toe om een enkel ongewenst gen door te knippen en te vervangen door een ander gen. In het geval van de tweeling was het de bedoeling om te voorkomen dat de meisjes ziek zouden worden door een mogelijke hiv-besmetting. Maar de ethisch omstreden techniek zou ook kunnen gebruikt worden om een zogenaamde designerbaby samen te stellen. Dan kan je als ouder de kleur van ogen en van haar kiezen, tot zelfs het niveau van intelligentie. Van die mogelijke toepassingen distantieert He Jiankui zich uitdrukkelijk in het filmpje.

Het is koffiedik kijken of de beweringen van He Jiankui kloppen. Er is nog geen gepubliceerde studie van de case en dus ook geen onafhankelijke controle van andere experts. De ouders wensen niet in de pers te komen en blijven anoniem. De aankondiging gebeurde in Hong Kong aan de vooravond van een internationaal congres over genetische manipulatie. Aan AP zei Jiankui: “Ik voel een enorme verantwoordelijkheid om niet alleen de eerste te zijn maar ook als voorbeeld te dienen.” Over het al dan niet toelaten van de omstreden techniek zei hij: “Het is de maatschappij die zal beslissen over de volgende stappen.”

De collega’s van He Jiankui reageren verdeeld. Sommigen vinden het hiervoor nog veel te vroeg. Ze benadrukken dat het over de bouwinstructies van de mens gaat waarmee je niet zomaar wat kan gaan experimenteren. Maar de bekende geneticus van Harvard University, George Church, verdedigde de poging om de genen aan te passen in het geval van hiv. Hij noemde het “gerechtvaardigd”, omdat hiv een “grote en groeiende bedreiging voor de volksgezondheid” is.

Tot nu toe werd de CRISPR-techniek enkel toegepast op planten en dieren, en bij volwassen mensen om een dodelijke ziekte te bestrijden. De invloed van zo’n ingreep op menselijke patiënten bleef beperkt tot die persoon zelf. Maar de genetische aanpassingen die nu zouden gerealiseerd zijn bij embryo’s kunnen mogelijk erfelijk zijn voor nakomelingen. In de VS is dit soort van genetische modificaties daarom verboden. En omdat er een risico bestaat op schade voor andere genen. China verbiedt zelf ook het klonen van mensen, maar niet genetische manipulatie op zich. Bij de aangekondigde medische wereldprimeur was wel een Amerikaanse wetenschapper betrokken.

He Jiankui beweert dat hij zeven koppels van wie de man besmet is met hiv dezelfde behandeling gaf. Tot nu toe kwam het tot één zwangerschap. De andere pogingen zijn voorlopig on hold gezet omdat het team de tweelingmeisjes eerst verder wil opvolgen.

AP

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

26-11-2018 om 18:12 geschreven door peter  

Chinese wetenschapper beweert dat eerste genetisch gemanipuleerde baby’s al geboren zijn - HLN.be

Bron: ap

De Chinese wetenschapper zette een filmpje op YouTube waarin hij aankondigde dat de eerste gemanipuleerde kindjes al geboren zijn. In de video zegt hij dat de vader van de bewuste meisjes, Mark, hiv heeft. Dankzij de genetische aanpassing die Jiankui met zijn team doorvoerde bij de embryo’s tijdens de vruchtbaarheidsbehandelingen, zijn de baby’s nu zelf resistent tegen het hiv-virus.

Lees ook

Biotechnologische ‘atoombom’: Britse wetenschappers kunnen malariamug uitroeien

De ingreep gebeurde met de veelbelovende en erg precieze CRISPR-techniek. Die laat toe om een enkel ongewenst gen door te knippen en te vervangen door een ander gen. In het geval van de tweeling was het de bedoeling om te voorkomen dat de meisjes ziek zouden worden door een mogelijke hiv-besmetting. Maar de ethisch omstreden techniek zou ook kunnen gebruikt worden om een zogenaamde designerbaby samen te stellen. Dan kan je als ouder de kleur van ogen en van haar kiezen, tot zelfs het niveau van intelligentie. Van die mogelijke toepassingen distantieert He Jiankui zich uitdrukkelijk in het filmpje.

Het is koffiedik kijken of de beweringen van He Jiankui kloppen. Er is nog geen gepubliceerde studie van de case en dus ook geen onafhankelijke controle van andere experts. De ouders wensen niet in de pers te komen en blijven anoniem. De aankondiging gebeurde in Hong Kong aan de vooravond van een internationaal congres over genetische manipulatie. Aan AP zei Jiankui: “Ik voel een enorme verantwoordelijkheid om niet alleen de eerste te zijn maar ook als voorbeeld te dienen.” Over het al dan niet toelaten van de omstreden techniek zei hij: “Het is de maatschappij die zal beslissen over de volgende stappen.”

De collega’s van He Jiankui reageren verdeeld. Sommigen vinden het hiervoor nog veel te vroeg. Ze benadrukken dat het over de bouwinstructies van de mens gaat waarmee je niet zomaar wat kan gaan experimenteren. Maar de bekende geneticus van Harvard University, George Church, verdedigde de poging om de genen aan te passen in het geval van hiv. Hij noemde het “gerechtvaardigd”, omdat hiv een “grote en groeiende bedreiging voor de volksgezondheid” is.

Tot nu toe werd de CRISPR-techniek enkel toegepast op planten en dieren, en bij volwassen mensen om een dodelijke ziekte te bestrijden. De invloed van zo’n ingreep op menselijke patiënten bleef beperkt tot die persoon zelf. Maar de genetische aanpassingen die nu zouden gerealiseerd zijn bij embryo’s kunnen mogelijk erfelijk zijn voor nakomelingen. In de VS is dit soort van genetische modificaties daarom verboden. En omdat er een risico bestaat op schade voor andere genen. China verbiedt zelf ook het klonen van mensen, maar niet genetische manipulatie op zich. Bij de aangekondigde medische wereldprimeur was wel een Amerikaanse wetenschapper betrokken.

He Jiankui beweert dat hij zeven koppels van wie de man besmet is met hiv dezelfde behandeling gaf. Tot nu toe kwam het tot één zwangerschap. De andere pogingen zijn voorlopig on hold gezet omdat het team de tweelingmeisjes eerst verder wil opvolgen.

AP

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

26-11-2018 om 18:12 geschreven door peter  

Alle mensen zijn voortgekomen uit slechts twee volwassenen. Hebben Adam en Eva echt bestaan?

Alle moderne mensen stammen af van één enkel stel dat 100.000 tot 200.000 jaar geleden leefde, zo zeggen wetenschappers.

Ze analyseerden de genetische ‘barcodes’ van vijf miljoen dieren en kwamen tot de conclusie dat de mensheid is voortgekomen uit twee volwassenen na een catastrofe waarbij bijna alle soorten uitstierven.

Deze barcodes, stukjes DNA die in levende cellen kunnen worden gevonden, suggereren dat niet alleen mensen, maar ook negen op de 10 diersoorten in diezelfde periode zijn ontstaan.

Wetenschappers analyseerden de genetische "barcodes" van 5 miljoen dieren en 100.000 vershillende soorten

Vraagtekens

De wetenschappers, Mark Stoeckle en David Thaler, concludeerden dat 90 procent van alle diersoorten die vandaag de dag leven, zo’n 250.000 jaar geleden tegelijkertijd is ontstaan.

Ze trekken daarmee de menselijke evolutie in twijfel.

“Deze conclusie is erg verrassend en ik heb er zo hard tegen gestreden als ik maar kon,” zei Thaler.

Kort

De onderzoekers hebben geen idee waarom de mens zo ‘kort’ geleden weer overnieuw moest beginnen.

Mensen blijken niet alleen verrassend veel op elkaar te lijken, maar ook op alle andere soorten.

Vogels

Zo verschilt het mitochondriale DNA van duiven en mensen maar heel weinig van elkaar.

“In termen van cultuur, levenservaringen en andere dingen verschillen we van elkaar, maar als je naar de biologie kijkt lijken we heel erg op vogels,” zei dr. Stoeckle.

Het onderzoek is verschenen in het tijdschrift Human Evolution.

[Daily Mail]

© Copyright (c) NineForNews.nl

26-11-2018 om 18:02 geschreven door peter  

Comm. Sgt. Maj. Robert O. Dean – UFOs, ETs Among Us, Deep Underground Bases, & Disclosure

Robert “Bob” Dean is an officer and a gentleman. Bob discussed all aspects of his military career, contact with extraterrestrials and even described his experience aboard an alien ship. The UFO topic is proud to have Bob Dean as one of its most important ambassadors. Bob came disclosed a few stories that he has not shared before. We are honored to have Bob Dean on the show.

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

26-11-2018 om 17:42 geschreven door peter  

Deux OVNI brillants dans le ciel Californien le 21 novembre 2018 (vidéo)

Date de l’observation: 21 nov. 2018
Lieu de l’observation: Californie, États-Unis
Source: MUFON #96518

Scott C. Waring: 

Voici quelques images brutes d’un OVNI qui sort tout droit du ciel au-dessus de la Californie cette semaine. L’OVNI brille de mille feux et descend lentement du ciel. Au début, il ressemble à un météore, mais sa chute est trop lente pour en être un. Des images déconcertantes, c’est le moins que l’on puisse dire. Le fait est que deux ovnis existent et se succèdent, donc ils veillent l’un sur l’autre. Une sorte de copilote, comme ils l’ont fait dans l’US / Navy pour les pilotes afin de les tenir à l’écart des ennuis. Manifestement contrôlé intelligemment.

Le témoin oculaire déclare: 

Quelques amis à moi et moi étions assis sur mon porche en train de fumer des cigarettes quand nous avons remarqué quelque chose qui tombait du ciel, au début c’était un météore, mais ensuite nous avons remarqué qu’il s’est arrêté et a commencé à aller sur le côté après avoir plané pendant un moment. Un autre objet est apparu à côté.

Source: UFO Sightings Daily, le 24 novembre 2018 

• Traduction Nouvelordremondial.cc

Dans le même registre:

1. Un Ovni Changeur de Formes repéré à NEW YORK, le 16 novembre 2018 (vidéo)
2. Un OVNI en forme de Fusée sort directement du Soleil lors d’un Vent Solaire, 8 Novembre 2018 (Vidéo)
3. Un OVNI triangulaire repéré aux abords de la station spatiale lors de la récupération d’un satellite, 22 novembre 2018
4. Des OVNI blancs brillants repérés à Lansing, dans l’Illinois 1er Octobre 2018 (Vidéo)
5. Un OVNI avec deux “bras” repéré à Cedarhurst, New York, le 29 août 2018 (vidéo)

{ https://www.nouvelordremondial.cc/ }

26-11-2018 om 14:47 geschreven door peter  

{ https://theendlessnight.com/ }

26-11-2018 om 14:40 geschreven door peter  

Ken Christison wrote on November 18, 2018: “We had some beautiful iridescence in the clouds late this afternoon. Seen from northeastern North Carolina.” Thank you, Ken!

Sky watchers often report seeing rainbow colors in clouds. There are various kinds of halos and colored arcs and even true rainbows you might see associated with clouds, but – if the rainbow-like colors are randomly distributed, and if the sun is nearby – what you’re seeing is likely an iridescent cloud.

These sorts of clouds are caused by especially tiny ice crystals or water droplets in the air. Larger ice crystals produce lunar or solar halos, but tiny ice crystals or water droplets cause light to be diffracted – spread out – creating this rainbow-like effect in the clouds.

The images on this page are mostly via the EarthSky community. Our thanks to all who contributed!

By the way, it’s easy to confuse circumhorizon arcs with iridescent clouds. Here’s how to tell the difference.

• Read more about iridescent clouds on Les Cowley’s great website Atmospheric Optics

Kino Obusan caught these iridescent clouds – one on the right and one on the left – on July 15, 2016, from Batangas, Philippines. “It was my first time to see a rare cloud phenomenon like this.” Thank you, Kino!

Our friend Dave Walker in the UK caught another iridescent cloud in 2013. He wrote, “There’s been a lot of very high cloud recently, always a cue for me to look out for more atmospheric optics.”

The best way to see an iridescent cloud is to place the sun itself behind some foreground object, a building or mountain, for example. Other aids are dark glasses, or observing the sky reflected in a convex mirror or in a pool of water. EarthSky Facebook friend Duke Marsh captured this image in 2012 in New Albany, Indiana.

Charles Loyd wrote in 2014: “I was outside and my 9-year-old daughter looked up and asked why there was a rainbow in the clouds … “

The moon with Jupiter and iridescent clouds, seen over Greece in 2015 by Nikolaus Pantazis.

Bottom line: You might on occasion see a rainbow-like cloud. They’re fairly rare, but people do spot them, and we sometimes receive photos of them. They’re caused by the presence of very tiny ice crystals or water droplets in the air, which cause light to be diffracted (spread out).

{ https://earthsky.org/ }

26-11-2018 om 14:22 geschreven door peter  

Sprawled out across a portion of the northern Mojave Desert of California, in the United States, is the magnificent yet forbidding moonscape that is Death Valley. This is one of the hottest, most inhospitable places on the planet, boasting the highest ground temperature ever recorded on earth at 201 °F (93.9 °C), and in general a sun-scorched wasteland, devoid of water and pounded by relentless sun and heat. It is so inhospitable that it might as well be the surface of some remote, lifeless planet, and it is not called Death Valley for nothing. Yet, for how totally uninhabitable it may seem there have long been Native tribes living in this extreme land for thousands of years, and it some reports are to be believed there is even a mysterious lost civilization that lived under it all.

The tribe most associated with the Death Valley region is the Paiute, who like many other tribes throughout the world have their particular legends and myths about the land they inhabit. For the Paiute one of the most intriguing is that of a great underground city they call Shin-au-av, meaning “God’s Land” or “Ghost Land.” According to the lore, there was once a great chief who lost his wife to the clutches of death. Unable to cope without her, this chief took a journey to the land of spirits, during which he found himself in a vast subterranean world. In this land he was attacked by horrific monsters, which he barely managed to fend off as he retreated, finally crossing a rock bridge and coming to a peaceful land ruled by a chief called Shin-au-av.

Death Valley

This was apparently a land of lush green meadows, sweeping valleys, and dancing, happy people, and the chief who had stumbled across this magical place realized that is was a land of spirits, possibly even harboring his dead wife. He even asked if his wife was there, and one of his guides said that she indeed was, and that she would be presented to him with the caveat that he whisk her away as soon as possible without looking back. The chief was elated, but after waiting several days she did not materialize. He was about to give up but then she appeared and he did as promised, taking her by the hand and leading her across that stone bridge back to the land of the living, but he broke his pact by looking once more onto that sumptuous realm of green and his wife subsequently faded away once again. The heartbroken chief made his way back to his village, but he was never the same again, and his tale of that amazing underground domain became the stuff of legends.

Whether this fantastic fable is based in any way in reality or not, there have actually been explorers and adventurers who seem to have stumbled across this seemingly mythical place buried under the harsh hellscape of the Death Valley above, and whether connected to this legend or not there have been many who have claimed to have found something quite odd there under the parched earth. One of the earliest such accounts comes from the early 1900s, when two men named White and Thomason were said to have been hiking through Death Valley and one of them allegedly fell through the ground into an old mine shaft at a place called Wingate Pass.

It turned out that there underground was a gigantic cavern that they claim to have followed for 20 miles beneath the earth, where it penetrated out under the Panamint Mountains. According to them, this meandering, expansive cavern emptied out into a vast and ancient subterranean city, which had long since been abandoned but which still held much evidence of its past residents. White and Thomason said that they found perfectly preserved mummies wearing leather clothing and gold jewelry down there in the dank depths, as well as gold spears, a polished stone round table of some sort, golden statues, and just generally gold lying all over the place, as well as countless gemstones. Throughout all of it was an intricate lighting system that they speculated harnessed natural gases, and immense stone doors that seemed to have once been operated with elaborate mechanical systems.

The men claimed to have taken some of the treasure and relics out of there so that they could be studied, but that they had been subsequently stolen by an associate. They captured the attention of the Smithsonian Institute, and promised that they could show them where the entrance to this bizarre underground world was, but the men were unable to locate it again. Considering there is absolutely no evidence of these men’s claims, we are left to merely speculate as to how much truth any of it has.

In the 1920s there was another interesting account when a Native Guide named Tom Wilson came forward to claim that his prospector grandfather had also found some sort of underground city under Death Valley. Wilson said that his grandfather had followed a cave down into the earth, where he had come across a city of fair-skinned people living there underground, who spoke a language he could not understand and were decked out in leather clothing of some sort. This strange race had horses down there, and the whole city was lit up by some sort of lighting system he could not comprehend. Interestingly, Wilson would hear the earlier account of the explorer White and would go on to spend the rest of his life obsessively looking for the lost city without success until he passed away in 1968.

In 1947 the mysterious lost city of Death Valley captured the public imagination when a man named Howard E. Hill came forward with a rather bizarre tale of his own, which was circulated in the newspaper The San Diego Union. Hill told of a man named Dr. F. Bruce Russell and his colleague, an archeologist named Dr. Daniel S. Bovee. In 1931, Russell was claimed to have discovered a complex network of subterranean caves, which were stumbled across completely by accident while sinking for a mine shaft to make a claim on. The two men went on to explore these uncharted tunnels and found a series of spectacular caverns and catacombs down there in the gloom, which revealed some rather startling discoveries indeed.

According to the report, Russell and Bovee came across the mummified remains of three actual giants in the darkness, each measuring a purported 9 feet tall and wearing clothing that appeared to be jackets and knee length trousers made of some sort of unknown animal skin. The chamber that the giants were found in was allegedly full of relics that seemed to be some sort of mix of Egyptian and Native American design, and there were apparently hieroglyphics etched into the walls and ceiling. The men also found some sort of hall that they believed had been used for mysterious rituals, and within this hall were the remains of numerous animals presumably used for sacrifices, including both known and unknown animals, as well as the bones of extinct animals such as mammoths and even actual dinosaurs, as weird as that may seem.

Russell supposedly claimed that the remains were dated to be at least 80,000 years old, and that the whole complex meandered out into the unexplored dark for miles, with no telling what else lie within the unexplored murk. Although the two tried to get interest from the scientific community they were perhaps not surprisingly looked at with quite a bit of skepticism, with all of this talk of giant bones and dinosaur skeletons in an underground city. Yet they were apparently adamant that it was all real and that it was the discovery of the century. The two were finally able to draw some interest, but when they tried to find the entrance again they of course could not. Rather bizarrely, not long after this Dr. Russell and Bovee just suddenly vanished, and Russell’s car would supposedly be found abandoned in the desert of Death Valley several months later with no sign of its occupant.

There have been sporadic reports since of finding anomalous caverns and ruins down there in the earth below Death Valley, and we are left to wonder what it all means. Was there ever an ancient underground city here or is this all just myths and folklore? What of the findings of these explorers who have claimed to have been there? What is the significance of the mummies or the bones? It is a hard case to really get a bead on, and for now we are left to merely wonder if down in the depths below the unforgiving remote desert of Death Valley there is some ancient mysterious city lost to time.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

26-11-2018 om 14:06 geschreven door peter