THIS NEW 3D PRINTER STRAIGHT OUT OF STAR TREK USES LIGHT TO MATERIALIZE OBJECTS

University of California, Berkeley has developed a new type of 3D printer that uses rays of light to turn liquids into solids in a matter of minutes. Dubbed the ‘The Replicator’ by its creators referencing the famous Star Trek technology; the new device can form objects, smoother, faster and with more complex than traditional 3D printers.

https://i.makeagif.com/media/5-28-2016/UabBmB.gif

It also has the ability to add new materials to existing objects, for example adding a handle to a cup.

The UC Berkeley researchers say the printer could completely change the way products are imagined and prototyped.

“I think this is a route to being able to mass-customize objects even more, whether they are prosthetics or running shoes,” said Hayden Taylor, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at UC Berkeley and senior author of a paper describing the printer, which appears online today (Jan. 31) in the journal Science.

Printer opens possibilities for new types of design ideation

“The fact that you could take a metallic component or something from another manufacturing process and add on customizable geometry, I think that may change the way products are designed,” Taylor said.

Traditional 3D printers build up objects layer by layer in either plastic or metal.

The Replicator uses a gooey liquid that turns to a solid when exposed to different thresholds of light. It works when carefully calibrated light waves are projected onto a rotating cylinder of liquid which transforms the object ‘all at once’.

“Basically, you’ve got an off-the-shelf video projector, which I literally brought in from home, and then you plug it into a laptop and use it to project a series of computed images, while a motor turns a cylinder that has a 3D printing resin in it,” Taylor explained.

“Obviously there are a lot of subtleties to it — how you formulate the resin, and, above all, how you compute the images that are going to be projected, but the barrier to creating a very simple version of this tool is not that high.”

3D printing becomes truly 3D

In a series of test prints, Taylor and his team made several small objects including a tiny replica of Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’. The printer can currently make objects up to four inches in diameter.

“This is the first case where we don’t need to build up custom 3D parts layer by layer,” said Brett Kelly, co-first author on the paper who completed the work while a graduate student working jointly at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

“It makes 3D printing truly three-dimensional.”

The printer’s design was inspired by CT scans used by doctors to locate tumors, CT scans work by projecting X-rays into the body from all different angles. By analyzing the patterns of transmitted energy exposes the geometry of the object.

Taylor said they took this idea and basically reversed it.

“We are trying to create an object rather than measure an object, but actually a lot of the underlying theory that enables us to do this can be translated from the theory that underlies computed tomography.”

The Replicators inventors have filed a patent but hope to share their knowledge with other researchers who will continue to develop the technology.

{ https://thetruthrevolution.net/ }

09-03-2019 om 22:58 geschreven door peter  

Lake Michigan UFO sightings still unsolved 25 years later

The eerie lights filled the sky along nearly 200 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, from Ludington south to the Indiana border. 

On March 8, 1994, calls flooded 911 to report strange sightings in the night sky. The reports came in from all walks of life — from police and a meteorologist to residents of Michigan's many beach resorts. Hundreds of people witnessed what many insisted were UFOs — unidentified flying objects.

Cindy Pravda, 63, of Grand Haven remembers that night in vivid detail — four lights in the sky that looked like "full moons" over the line of trees behind her horse pasture.

"I got UFOs in the backyard," she told a friend on the phone.

Today, the mystery of one of the largest UFO sightings in Michigan history remains unsolved, but it continues to fascinate extraterrestrial researchers, psychologists and history buffs alike.

Pravda still believes the lights were UFOs.

Read more: 

Think you've seen a UFO? Here's how to report it

"I watched them for half an hour. Where I'm facing them, the one on the far left moved off. It moved to the highway and then came back in the same position," Pravda told the Free Press on Thursday. "The one to the right was gone in blink of an eye and then, eventually, everything disappeared quickly."

She still lives in the same house and continues to talk about that night.

"I'm known as the UFO lady of Grand Haven," Pravda laugh.

The Detroit News and Free Press, March 20, 1994. The newspapers printed a combined Saturday and Sunday paper at the time.

Detroit Free Press

Where it started

Daryl and Holly Graves and their son, Joey, told reporters in 1994 they witnessed lights in the sky over Holland at about 9:30 p.m. on March 8.

"I saw six lights out the window above the barn across the street," Joey Graves told the Free Press in 1994. "I got up and went to the sofa and looked up at the sky. They were red and white and moving."

Others gave similar accounts, including Holland Police Officer Jeff Velthouse and a meteorologist from the National Weather Service Office in Muskegon County. What's more, the meteorologist recorded unknown echoes on his radar the same time Velthouse reported the lights.

"My guy looked at the radar and observed three echoes as the officer was describing the movement," Leo Grenier of the NWS office in Muskegon said in 1994. "The movement of the objects was rather erratic. The echoes were there about 15 minutes, drifting slowly south-southwest, kind of headed toward the Chicago side of the south end of Lake Michigan."

In 1995, The Free Press published the conversation between the National Weather Service and Velthouse.

"What do you think it is?" said the weather service radar operator.

Velthouse described witnesses seeing five to six objects, some cylindrical with blue, red, white and green lights.

The radar operator said, "There were three and sometimes four blips, and they weren't planes. Planes show as pinpoints on the scope, these were the size of half a thumbnail. They were from 5 to 12,000 feet at times, moving all over the place. Three were moving toward Chicago. I never saw anything like it before, not even when I'm doing severe weather."

Hundreds of reports of suspected UFOs were called in not only to 911 dispatchers but also to the Mutual UFO Network's (MUFON) Michigan chapter. 

MUFON, an all-volunteer nonprofit organization founded in 1969, bills itself as the "world's oldest and largest civilian UFO investigation and research organization."

In 1994, the network received UFO reports from Ludington south to the Indiana state line, spokeswoman Virginia Tilly told the Free Press in 1994.

"We're getting 10 or 15 new sightings a day," Tilly said. "We have probably 20 people in various stages of investigating these reports."

The reported UFO sightings was the largest since March 1966, Bill Konkolesky, Michigan state director of MUFON, told the Free Press this week.

The Detroit Free Press, March 8, 1995

Detroit Free Press

"It was one of the big ones in the state. We haven't seen a large UFO (reported sighting) wave since that time," Konkolesky said.

Konkolesky joined the network in 1993. He was not part of the investigation team but still has a copy of an article about the sightings with a picture of the Graves family on the front cover.

MUFON interviewed dozens of witnesses, Konkolesky said, many of whom remain in contact with the organization.

"There was a lot of enthusiasm into the UFO field (then) because of the amount of press coverage. It was outstanding," he said. "They were paying attention to the phenomenon."

Konkolesky said the flying objects reported in 1994 are characterized as "unexplained" and the sightings remain a mystery.

Not so far-fetched

The idea of alien life isn't as farfetched as once thought, with a number of recent discoveries pointing raising the possibility.

In a series of reports from USA TODAY, researchers have studied whether life could exist on a recently discovered "Super Earth" about 30 trillion miles away.

Villanova University astrophysicists Edward Guinan and Scott Engle told USA TODAY that the planet, known as Barnard b, has a temperature of 274 degrees below zero, but "niches of life" may be possible under the ice.

Another group of researchers is studying whether a mysterious object entering the Earth's solar system from interstellar space at a high rate of speed actually is a probe intentionally sent here by an alien civilization. Scientists later decided that the weird object actually was a comet.

And another study reports that more “fast radio bursts" – bright, short-lived pulses of radio waves that come from across the universe — have been detected by astronomers. Some researchers have considered the idea that these bursts could be signals from intelligent aliens, according to Science News.

Other mysteries 

The UFO frenzy of 1994 was one in a string of unexplained phenomena in Michigan history.

In 2016, a mysterious phenomenon known as the Paulding Light was reported in the western Upper Peninsula.

Witnesses reported seeing a bright white light, glowing deep inside the woods, changing size and shape before fading into the darkness. Although many individuals believed the flickering lights was because of a car driving over a hill, others believed it to be something supernatural and too bright to be headlights.

A light shines off in the distance seen off of Robbins Pond Road in Paulding, MI where the mysterious Paulding Light appears on Wednesday June 13, 2016 in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press

That same year, a photo of a furry creature in the Upper Peninsula surfaced, sparking conversation about a possible Bigfoot. At that time, the Upper Peninsula Bigfoot/Sasquatch Research Organization also reported a sighting near the community of South Branch in Ogemaw County.

In December 2016, the organization led a search for the beast in the Seney National Wildlife Refuge.

{ https://eu.freep.com/ }

09-03-2019 om 22:36 geschreven door peter  

MYSTERY SOLVED: ‘Alien’ signal from deep space DECIPHERED by astronomers

SCIENTISTS have spotted the origin of one mysterious signal from deep space which some had believed was sent by aliens.

09-03-2019 om 21:48 geschreven door peter  

NASA ISS SHOCK: How strange ‘illuminating' object left Mission Control BAFFLED

NASA Mission Control was left stumbling for words after a strange object flew past the ISS, sparking wild claims from conspiracy theorists, it was revealed during a documentary.

09-03-2019 om 21:35 geschreven door peter  

Alien BOMBSHELL: Martian species went extinct as the males IGNORED females - shock claim

AN ancient alien species once roamed Mars – but it was wiped out because of a shortage of women, a bizarre claim suggests.

“I find very few female faces and most the faces I find are male with beards, crowns, moustaches, aged older males with wrinkles.

{ https://www.express.co.uk/ }

09-03-2019 om 21:18 geschreven door peter  

UFO news: Aliens 'already visited' for THIS reason explains Harvard professor

ALIENS may have already visited Earth without us even noticing, according to a top Harvard professor.

09-03-2019 om 21:09 geschreven door peter  

Watch the Moon Yo-Yo Across the Sun in This Bizarre Video

09-03-2019 om 20:57 geschreven door peter  

Nikola Tesla Discovered The Black Knight Satellite

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/v3/ }

09-03-2019 om 16:53 geschreven door peter  

Over the last several months, a series of mysterious anomalies spotted on civilian radar systems have baffled observers and may suggest that the Air Force is testing something they don’t want the public to see. The anomalies began in December 2018 when a strangely dense cloud-like formation appeared on weather radar in Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky. A few days later, similar radar anomalies were observed in Maine and Florida, and last month the same phenomenon turned up in Australia.

While most observers are confident that these anomalies are some new type of chaff, a common anti-radar countermeasure deployed by military aircraft to fool radar, the frequency and distribution of these anomalies worldwide is somewhat puzzling. What is being hidden in plain sight?

The latest radar anomaly appeared on radar on March 5th, 2019 around 12:20 pm local time in partly cloudy skies with no precipitation anywhere on weather radar. The anomaly appeared as a large, mostly stationary plume in the skies just to the west of Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico, about 100 miles north of Roswell, curiously enough. As Tyler Rogoway of The War Zone points out, Cannon Air Force Base is home to the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) which operates a number of cutting-edge unmanned aerial vehicles like the MQ-1 Predator, MQ-9 Reaper, RQ-11 Raven, Scan Eagle, and Wasp III. AFSOC conducts infiltration and exfiltration operations for US Special Forces as well as surveillance and reconnaissance missions and even psychological warfare.

While tests of new aircraft and aerospace technologies are nothing new to the desert, this plume and the others like it over the past few months display behavior not typically seen in known chaff systems. These plumes have persisted much longer than known chaff countermeasures and somehow remain mostly in place unlike traditional chaff which tend to be carried by the wind more easily.

A pair of B-1B Lancers deploy chaff and flares during a military exercise.

These radar anomalies could just be the Air Force testing new countermeasures, although I’m left to wonder why these tests would be conducted above civilian areas as in the Australia and Indiana cases. Is the Air Force hiding something stranger than a new type of chaff inside these plumes? If I were to guess, I would say these are most likely tests of the long-rumored drone swarms Air Forces around the world have been testing – maybe even the telepathically-controlled swarms DARPA has recently successfully developed. That’s all my conjecture, though. So far, Cannon Air Force Base has yet to respond to requests for comment on the incident.

HUGE anomaly appears on radar over Texas!

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

09-03-2019 om 16:40 geschreven door peter  

On the development of the Incubus and the Succubus, St Augustine, a noted philosopher and Christian theologian, who was born in 354 and died in 430, commented on this issue.  Kevin Knight, in an article titled “Whether the angels have bodies naturally united to them?” quotes the words of St. Augustine: “Many persons affirm that they have had the experience, or have heard from such as have experienced it, that the Satyrs and Fauns, whom the common folk call incubi, have often presented themselves before women, and have sought and procured intercourse with them. Hence it is folly to deny it.” As this particular extract demonstrates, the term “Incubi” was around millennia ago, as was the connection between the Incubi and sex. Such things were also being talked about more than a thousand years later.

Malleus Maleficarum is a book that was written in the latter part of the 15^th century by Heinrich Kramer. A priest, Kramer said: “At first it may truly seem that it is not in accordance with the Catholic Faith to maintain that children can be begotten by devils, that is to say, by Incubi and Succubi: for God Himself, before sin came into the world, instituted human procreation, since He created woman from the rib of man to be a help meet unto man. But it may be argued that devils take their part in this generation not as the essential cause, but as a secondary and artificial cause, since they busy themselves by interfering with the process of normal copulation and conception, by obtaining human semen, and themselves transferring it.”

Kramer added: “Moreover, to beget a child is the act of a living body, but devils cannot bestow life upon the bodies which they assume; because life formally only proceeds from the soul, and the act of generation is the act of the physical organs which have bodily life. Therefore bodies which are assumed in this way cannot either beget or bear. Yet it may be said that these devils assume a body not in order that they may bestow life upon it, but that they may by the means of this body preserve human semen, and pass the semen on to another body.”

Moving on, Paul Carus, in 1900, penned The History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil. He offered his readers the following words: “Satan is supposed to serve first as a succubus (or female devil) to men, and then as an incubus (or male devil) to women; and St. Thomas declares that children begotten in this way ought to be regarded as the children of the men whom Satan served as succubus. They would, however, be more cunning than normal children on account of the demoniacal influence to which they were exposed in their pre-natal condition. Matthæus Paris mentions that within six months one such incubus-baby developed all its teeth and attained the size of a boy of seven years, while his mother became consumptive and died.”

It’s important to note that such creatures are not limited to just one or two parts of the planet – or even to specific time-frames. Incubi and Succubi are everywhere – exactly as they were in the distant past. In Newfoundland, there is the Old Hag – a female monster that, just like Lilith, straddles the unwary in the dead of night and steals semen from terrified men. South Africa has the monstrous Tokoloshe. Scandinavia is home to the Mare – which, rather notably, is from where the word “nightmare” comes. Popobawa creates fear and dread for the people of Zanzibar. The Karabasan is a Turkish version. The Boto haunts the cities and jungles of Brazil. And, the Lidérc plagues the people of Hungary. While the names are many and varied (the list above is just the beginning…), the key component of a sexual encounter in the dead of night, in which the victim is unable to stop the experience, is worldwide.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

09-03-2019 om 16:32 geschreven door peter  

'Angelic' Stranger touched his shoulder and saved his life

Shopkeeper Serdar Binici'yi in the city of Adana Turkey was preparing to close his store for the night when a stranger reaches the shopkeeper and taps him on the shoulder, and keeps walking.

Wondering who just touched him, Binici'yi turns around, but only sees a white van rumbling down the street. Suddenly, from the back of the vehicle, a rather sizeable metal grate swings around and narrowly misses the shaken shopkeeper, who ducks at the last minute to avoid being struck.

Binici'yi looks up and down the road, ostensibly trying to figure out who had alerted him to the imminent danger, yet there is no one to be found. It was only later, when he looked at the CCTV video of the incident, did the shopkeeper fully comprehend how miraculous the encounter had been.

The stranger who tapped his shoulder simply vanished.
source

09-03-2019 om 16:06 geschreven door peter  

UFO Seen In Two Locations In Indonesia Over Mountains, March 2019, UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: March 8 and 23, 2019

Location of sighting: Mount Lawu, Indonesia and Bali island. 

New Source: 

• http://www.tribunnews.com/section/2019/03/08/warga-kabarkan-gunung-lawu-dihiasi-fenomena-awan-lenticular-bak-piring-raksasa-atau-ufo

This round cloud in the photo is more than it seems. Its actually a UFO that has created the cloud around it to hide from human eyes. Aliens do not wish to cause alarm or panic for humanity so they must hide from us. This ship is over an old volcano which very well could have an underground alien base below it about 4-6km down. Aliens want to come close, they have work to do, bases to visit, intel gathering on humans to do, so coming as close as possible to the ground is often essential. Created a cloud around the UFO is a logical and intelligent way to hide from humanity and keep the status quo. 

I've been to Bali island once. Its a culture thats seems like you stepped one hundred years back in time. Its amazing, beautiful, peaceful with ancient temples all over the place. Even the locals often bath in the running water near the roads. I met a man there who had five wives, all working while he relaxes. Very strange and unique culture. I could see why aliens would want to visit here. Less alien believers and more god believers here. Perfect place to come and go unnoticed in UFOs hidden in clouds. 
Scott C. Waring

News states: 

Unusual scenery decorates around the peak of Mount Lawu in Karanganyar, Central Java on Friday (03/08/2019) afternoon. Is the phenomenon of Lenticular clouds, namely clouds resembling giant plates or UFOs. This phenomenon occurs on top of Mount Lawu . Not a few citizens who preach it through social media such as Twitter and Instagram. Even the phenomenon of the Lenticular cloud is also seen from the east side of Mount Lawu from Magetan, East Java. 

Regions Potential to Experience Extreme Weather Today to the Day of 8-10 March 2019 A similar phenomenon has also occurred at Gunung Agung, Bali, on Wednesday (1/23/2019) Quoted from Tribun Bali, on Thursday (1/24/2019) the scene was seen very clearly by the naked eye. Information from the Head of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) of the Region III Center for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics, Denpasar, Mohamad Taufik Gunawan, the phenomenon is known as the Altocumulus Lenticularis cloud. Artikel ini telah tayang di Tribunnews.com dengan judul Warga Kabarkan Gunung Lawu Dihiasi Fenomena Awan Lenticular Bak Piring Raksasa atau UFO Residents Report Lawu Mountain Decorated with Cloud Lenticular Phenomenon Bak Giant Plate or UFO.

{ https://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ }

09-03-2019 om 15:48 geschreven door peter  

Alien Figure Found On Mars Near Weapon In Mars Photo, NASA Source, March 9, 2019, UFO Sighting News.

Date of discovery: March 9, 2019

Location of sighting: Mars, Sol 1591

NASA source: 

• https://marsmobile.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=NLB_538749409EDR_F0602346NCAM00653M_&s=1591

I found a standing statue in a NASA Mars Curiosity Rover photo today. The figure is a bit chubby and almost looks like one of those garden gnome statues often seen in peoples yards. The figure is naked and I can easily make out its left hand above its head waving and its right arm with its hand on his hip. The face is huge and as is his belly and upper thighs. 

 

I also found a tool of some sort not far from it. The two sides are connected by two other pieces that are perfect 45 degree angles. There is a hole in one end of the object...which makes me believe that this tool is a weapon. 

Scott C. Waring

{ https://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ }

09-03-2019 om 15:43 geschreven door peter  

Peruvian Corporation of Airports and Commercial Aviation Issues an Official Report On UFOs Spotted Over Lima International Airport

Two UFOs were spotted moving over Jorge Chavez International Airport at 6:30 am UTC on February 27, 2019. The sighting quickly reached to Peruvian media. According to the airport’s control tower, the mysterious objects stayed for nearly an hour above the Lima sky. The incident prompted delays to several flights.

Peruvian Corporation of Airports & Commercial Aviation (Corpac) staff saw the UFOs above the airport and photographed as well as videotaped them. Corpac eventually issued an official report, the first time it provided a detailed description of unidentified flying objects over international airport.

According to the report, the UFOs were positioned on runway 33.

One of the UFOs appeared on the radar for a few moments, but both vanished from the view of the airport staff moments later.

Official report of Corpac was made available online, which was signed by technician Jose Zarabia Salas.

UFO sightings over airports are not something new. Such sightings over airports were reported in different parts of the world. History Channel even featured a documentary on UFO sightings above airports.

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

09-03-2019 om 15:34 geschreven door peter  

Former NASA Consultant Finds Evidence Of Alien Civilisation on Mars

A former NASA advisor has shockingly claimed that Mars was the home of ancient alien civilisation until they were all wiped out with a devastating nuclear war.

A conspiracy theorist and a former NASA consultant Richard C Hoagland said that extra-terrestrials once existed on Mars and other planets in the solar system. He argued his claim could be proven with ample of photographic evidence from Viking missions of NASA. He explained that NASA photos from the Cydonia region of Mars show pyramids, ancient habitats, and organised structures. He stressed the destructive power of nuclear warfare cut short the thriving alien civilisation in the Red Planet.

The conspiracist said the Viking lander discovered evidence of anomalous isotopes, which are known as Xenon 129. He pointed out that these isotopes strongly point towards nuclear detonations on the surface of the planet.

Mr Hoagland, together with plasma physicist John Brandenburg and a team of investigators, explored the possibility of Mars’ ancient alien civilisation. They came out with the idea that a global Martian nuclear war destroyed the civilisations they have been looking.

The theory comes from large concatenations of radioactive Xenon 129 on the Red Planet.

The radioactive isotope is usually found on Earth around the fallout from nuclear explosions and near nuclear fission reactors.

Mr Hoagland strongly believes that the entire solar system was colonised at one point and the evidence is out there to collect.

However, the likes of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) suppressed the information from the last 50 years of space exploration, according to researchers like Mr Hoagland.

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

09-03-2019 om 15:25 geschreven door peter  

Ex-Ministry of Defence UFO investigator publishes novel so sensitive it needed ‘security clearance’ 

Jasper Hamill

He spent three years investigating mysterious sightings over Britain as head of the Ministry of Defence’s official UFO desk.

Now the defence chief-turned author Nick Pope has written a book so sensitive it had to undergo a ‘security clearance’ process which resulted in the removal of several passages.

Pope worked for 21 years at the MoD but became known around the world for his research and writing on UFOs after leaving public service.

In this latest book, Blood Brothers, he draws on the worldly experience he gained during a Whitehall career which saw him named deputy director at the Directorate of Defence Security.

Nick Pope is a UFO expert who also has a background in counter-terrorism

The novel deals with the threat posed by radical Islamist terrorists and is a is a ‘homage to the incredibly brave and dedicated men and women who serve in our Armed Forces and our intelligence agencies’.

It deals with topics explosive enough to make the author submit it to the MoD, where it was checked to make sure it didn’t break the Official Secrets Act.

Pope was even asked to remove certain passages.

‘I’m not sure I’m supposed to say much about the security clearance process,’ he told Metro.

‘However, I don’t want anyone to think I’m in any way disloyal or a whistleblower, so I can confirm that I did have to send the MoD an advance copy of the manuscript prior to publication, and it did ask me to make some changes, which I made.

‘Much of the book is about the SAS and MI5 taking on violent jihadis, so clearly the book delves deep into the secret and highly-classified world of Special Forces, intelligence and counter-terrorism.

”I consider myself a patriot and fully support the UK, US and other Western governments in the ongoing war on terror.

‘I wanted to make it realistic, but needed to be absolutely sure that nothing I wrote about in terms of strategy, doctrine, tactics, equipment issues or anything else was going to offer the slightest bit of assistance to any of the bad guys out there.’

This is the cliched view of a UFO

(Image: Getty)

But real-life UFO investigations often involve the uncovering of secret military aircraft designs, such as the craft depicted in this mysterious Boeing patent from the 1980s

It wasn’t all UFOs for Pope when he was at the MoD, because he spent several years focusing on counter-terrorism after 9/11.

”Counter-terrorism is something I know a lot about – and they say you have to write what you know,’ he continued.

‘Many action thrillers concentrate on car chases and gun battles, but I want readers to see how things are done for real – not that there’s any shortage of action in Blood Brothers.

‘My book deals with the policy issues, giving readers an insight into how political decisions on counter-terrorism are made at the highest level.

‘So in one scene we have the Prime Minister chairing a Cobra emergency committee, in the next scene we have MI5 analysts cracking a problem and then we cut to the SAS going in hard and fast, all guns blazing.

‘It’s about as different as you could get from UFOs.’

A member loyal to the Islamic State waves the black flag of jihad in Raqqa (Image: Reuters)

The book unflinchingly portrays the rival worlds of the intelligence services and extremist terrorists.

‘One of the reasons Blood Brothers is likely to be controversial is that it deals with the threat posed by ISIS and other extremist groups,’ Pope added.

”The most sensitive issues in Blood Brothers are race and religion.

‘Blood Brothers doesn’t demonize Islam, but shows how – like all religions – it can be misinterpreted and misrepresented by people with hate in their hearts.’

So does the former UFO hunter and high-ranking defence official believe the nightmare scenarios of his novel are going to happen in the real world?

‘Sadly, many of the things portrayed in Blood Brothers are already coming true, such as lone-wolf marauding terror attacks using vehicles and drones at airports – I’ve long warned about the terror implications of that,’ he said.

‘And of course, it’s no secret that terrorists want to get their hands on either a nuclear weapon or failing that, material to make a dirty bomb.

‘Western intelligence agencies are dedicated and highly capable, but the terrorists only have to be lucky once. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was an act of nuclear terrorism in my lifetime.

‘I don’t think this would lead to a Third World War, but there would certainly be a devastating response not just against the terrorists, but against any nation found to have helped the terrorists.’

Blood Brothers is now available to buy on Amazon.

{ https://metro.co.uk/}

09-03-2019 om 01:47 geschreven door peter  

This Colorful Shot of the Moon Uses Data Extracted from 150,000 Photographs

Photo credit: Andrew McCarthy

Photographer and astronomy enthusiast Andrew McCarthy extracted color data from 150,000 moon photos to show all the different colors of the minerals found on its surface. “The color was already in that picture, hidden behind the glare of the moon’s albedo, and represents the mineral content of our moon. While my previous images showed you the detail you could see if your eyes were sharper, this one shows you what the moon could look like if our eyes and brain were much more sensitive to color,” said McCarthy. Read more for a cropped shot that really makes the colors stand out.

“McCarthy shot all the images with the Orion XT10 telescope, a Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro computerized equatorial mount, a ZWO ASI224MC color astronomy camera, and the Sony a7 II full-frame mirrorless camera. After shooting 142,000 images with the ZWO, 2,000 with the Sony, and hundreds more with a 300mmm lens, McCarthy stacked and stitched the images in AutoStakkert! and Photoshop, respectively. And to turn the color ‘up to 11’, McCarthy adjusted saturation, contrast, and sharpening,” reports Peta Pixel.

{ https://www.techeblog.com/ }

09-03-2019 om 01:28 geschreven door peter  

What it's like to fly above Mars: Finnish filmmaker painstakingly puts together thousands of NASA images to create stunning video

• Mars was once covered with oceans, ice sheets and erupting volcanoes that towered over the planet
• The surface of the planet is filled with fascinating bumps and scratches revealing its geological history
• The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been orbiting and capturing pictures of the surface since 2006
• Finnish filmmaker Jan Fröjdman transformed images imagery into a dynamic, three-dimensional, overhead view of the Red Planet 

By MARK PRIGG FOR DAILYMAIL.COM 

It is an incredible glimpse of a trip on the red planet.

A Finnish filmmaker has revealed a stunning three minute video painstakingly made from NASA images from the red planet.

Jan Fröjdman transformed images from HiRISE, a camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, into a video using over 33,000 reference points - and did it without the aid of AI software.

Scroll down for video 

The stunning video reveals the incredible landscapes on Mars. This oval mesa is a remnant of a geological unit that once covered this area, similar to the mesas and buttes in Monument Valley, in Arizona and Utah. This is a small remnant of a much larger unit of similar material that caps Ganges Mensa to the west. As can be seen in the sides of this small mesa, this remnant consists of a layered stack of rock. Prior to the massive erosion that left this a high-standing mesa, a more gentle phase of erosion created the small hills and whorls on the upper surface of the mesa.

'There is a feeling that you are flying above Mars looking down watching interesting locations on the planet,' he explained.

'There are really great places on Mars! 

'I would love to see images taken by a landscape photographer on Mars, especially from the polar regions. 

'But I'm afraid I won't see that kind of images during my lifetime.

 The powerful HiRISE camera has snapped 50,000 spectacular, high-resolution stereo images of the Martian terrain from the planet's orbit, creating anaglyphs that anyone can view in 3D using special glasses.

However, Fröjdman decided to improve them by turning them into video. 

Instead of using automated softweare, he decided to make the video painstakingly by hand.

'It has really been time-consuming making these panning clips,' he admitted.

'In my 3D-process I have manually hand-picked reference points on the anaglyph image pairs. 

'For this film I have chosen more than 33.000 reference points! 

'It took me 3 months of calendar time working with the project every now and then.' 

Mars has extremely large temperature changes from winter to summer compared to the Earth. It gets cold enough to freeze carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere during the winter, but this ice is unstable when the warmer summer arrives and forces it to sublimate (transform directly back into a gas) away. Near the South pole though, it stays cold enough for some of this seasonal ice to stick around all year and even accumulate from year to year. This image shows a portion of this permanent carbon dioxide ice cap. This slab of ice is a few meters (about 10 feet) thick and is penetrated by the flat-floored pits shown here. The quasi-circular pits in the center of the scene are about 60 meters (200 feet) across. The distinct color of the pit walls may be due to dust mixed into the ice. For most of the year these walls are covered with bright frost, but they defrost and show their true colors at the end of the summer.

The colors in this film are false because the anaglyph images are based on grayscale images. 

'I have therefore color graded the clips,' he admits.

'But I have tried to be moderate doing this. 

'The light regions in the clips are yellowish and the dark regions bluish. 

The clips from the polar regions (the last clips in the film) have a white-blue tone.' 

To create the panning 3-D effect, he stitched the images together along his reference points and rendered them as frames in a video.  

Finnish filmmaker Jan Fröjdman transformed images imagery into a dynamic, three-dimensional, overhead view of the Red Planet  

'There might be software that does this work, but I haven't found it,' Fröjdman told Wired. 

The surface of the red planet may be a desolate land with little geological activity now, but it is filled with fascinating bumps and scratches from frozen poles to deep basins, all hinting at a geologically active past.

This complicated area contains various types of channels, pits and fractures. We can determine the relative ages of the pits and channels based on which features cross-cut others. Older channels appear smooth-edged and shallow. Younger channels and pits are deeper and more sharp-edged, as well as less sinuous than the shallower channels.

Changing landscapes: This images show a 'Transition Boundary' between the Isidis Basin and Libya Montes regoing on the Martian surface

Earlier this months a team at Nasa has released more than 600 images of Mars, showing a range of gullies, dunes, craters, geological layering and other features. 

Each feature teaches us something new about the history of our mysterious neighbour, which used to be covered with oceans, ice sheets and erupting volcanoes. 

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been circling the red planet, capturing pictures using its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, since 2006. Now the team behind the orbiter has published hundreds of new images. Hyblaeus Dorsa, one of the ridges on the planet, is shown

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been circling the red planet, capturing pictures using its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, since 2006.

The team behind the orbiter, led by Nasa's Jet Propulsion Lab in Passadena and the University of Arizona, has now published hundreds of new images taken by the instrument. 

Among the images are hundreds showing one of its most fascinating features: craters.

There are hundreds of thousands of impact craters on Mars, caused by encounters with other objects such as asteroids, but only some of them have names.

Other craters were formed in different ways, through volcanic activity, for example.

Some of these craters have provided clues to the most fascinating history of the Martian surface. 

Other craters were formed in different ways, through volcanic activity, for example. Some of these craters have provided clues to the most fascinating history of the Martian surface. Concave fagged features in the Tempe Fossae region, a group of troughs in the Arcadia quadrangle of Mars, shown

Among the images are hundreds showing one of its most fascinating features: craters. This picture shows a crater in the Chryse Planitia region, a relatively smooth, circular plain. Some think the plain is an ancient impact basin, in the north equatorial region of Mars

The surface of Mars is a well worn place in the solar system, heavily pounded by countless meteor impacts. And some of these craters are hundreds of millions of years old. So it's unusual for there to be a completely fresh impact on the surface. A recent impact site is pictured

Mesa-Forming layered materials pictured. A mesa is an elevated area of land with a flat top and sides that are usually steep cliffs 

Mars is now a frozen desert, but geological studies of rocks by previous missions to the surface have suggested the planet used to be warmer and wetter. 

The polar caps on the planet spend much of their time, during the pole's winter, in continuous darkness.

When the poles are again exposed to sunlight, the frozen carbon dioxide sublimes into gas, creating enormous winds that sweep off the poles as fast as 250 mph (400 km/h).

The caps at both poles are mainly made of water ice. 

Frozen carbon dioxide accumulates as a thin layer about one metre thick on the north cap in the northern winter only, while the south cap has a permanent dry ice cover about 26 feet (8 metres) thick.

Both polar caps have spiral-shaped troughs (pictured), which analysis of ice penetrating radar has shown are a result of spiralling winds. 

The polar caps on the planet spend much of their time, during the pole's winter, in continuous darkness. When the poles are again exposed to sunlight, the frozen carbon dioxide sublimes into gas, creating enormous winds that sweep off the poles as fast as 250 mph (400 km/h). The south polar residual cap is pictured

Cerberus Fossae (pictured) is a long fracture system in the southeastern part of Elysium. The system has acted as a conduit for the release of both lava and water onto the surface of the planet. Mars is now a frozen desert, but geological studies of rocks by previous missions to the surface have suggested the planet used to be warmer and wetter

The total volume of ice in the south polar cap, including nearby layered deposits, is around 380,000 cubic miles (1.6 million cubic km). Both the north and south polar caps  have spiral-shaped troughs (south pictured), which analysis of ice penetrating radar has shown are a result of spiralling winds

At one point, Mars was covered with oceans, ice sheets and erupting volcanoes that created the mountains that tower over the planet. 

Some of these remain, like Olympus Mons - the largest-known volcano in the solar system, measuring 15 miles (24 km) high.

Olympus Mons, the solar system's biggest volcano, three times higher than Mount Everest, is thought to have had its last major eruption as recently as 25 million years ago.

At one point, Mars was covered with oceans, ice sheets and erupting volcanoes that created the mountains that tower over the planet. Some of these remain, like Olympus Mons - the largest-known volcano in the solar system, measuring 15 miles (24 km) high. Olympus Mons (pictured) is the solar system's biggest volcano, three times higher than Mount Everest

Groundwater moving beneath a massive tectonic rift zone helped carve some of Mars' deepest basins. A study published earlier this year claimed these basins may have been habitable, suggesting that life once existed on the red planet. A valley in the Northern Hellas Planitia, pictured

Billions of years ago Mars might have been home to even larger volcanoes.

Evidence collected by Nasa's Curiosity rover earlier this year showed these ancient volcanoes might have been a lot more powerful than we had thought.

Curiosity's instruments found a substance called tridymite - a kind of crystal that only forms on Earth as a result of extremely hot, silcic volcanoes.

The tridymite was found in the Gale crater, a crater that spans 96 miles (154km) in diameter and holds a mountain rising from the crater floor.

Silicic volcanism is a highly explosive form of volcanic activity, which happens as tectonics plates move from the Earth's outer shell into the Earth's mantle and force water into the molten depths. 

The plates melt into magma, which is ejected out into the surface in a powerful eruption.

There has been no evidence found for plate tectonics on Mars so far, so how the silcic volcanism occurred is a mystery.

Coprates Chasma, is a major trough in the Valles Marineris canyon system, pictured. Evidence collected by Nasa's Curiosity rover earlier this year showed these ancient volcanoes might have been a lot more powerful than we had thought

Isidis Planitia, pictured, is a plain inside a giant impact basin on Mars. Groundwater moving beneath a massive tectonic rift zone helped carve some of Mars' deepest basins. A study published earlier this year claimed these basins may have been habitable, suggesting that life once existed on the red planet

Groundwater moving beneath a massive tectonic rift zone helped carve some of Mars' deepest basins. 

A study published earlier this year claimed these basins may have been habitable, suggesting that life once existed on the red planet.

The discovery could help future exploration missions decide where to look for evidence of Martian life. 

'The temperature ranges, presence of liquid water, and nutrient availability, which characterize known habitable environments on Earth, have higher chances of forming on Mars in areas of long-lived water and volcanic processes,' said lead author Alexis Palmero Rodriguez. 

Sand dunes are among the most widespread features on Mars, serving as unique indicators of the interaction between the atmosphere and surface. 

On a planetary body, dunes accumulate where a supply of sand-sized grains exists or may be abraded, is carried downwind by winds, and is subsequently deposited where these winds weaken below the threshold for sand transport.

Dunes can be preserved in rock over time. This means the deposits can reveal insights into the evolution of Mars' atmosphere from a more hospitable realm to the harsh, dry climate there today. 

As a result, the study of dune processes contributes to both atmospheric and sedimentary science.

It might look more like bacteria growin in a petri dish, but this picture actually shows frosty dunes on Mars' surface. Sand dunes (pictured) are among the most widespread features on Mars. Dunes form where a supply of sand-sized grains exists or may be abraded then carried downwind by winds 

The surface of Mars is also covered with narrow, deep channels known as gullies.

Martian gullies carved into hill slopes and the walls of impact craters were discovered several years ago.

Exactly how these gullies formed is not fully understood - previous research had suggested the structures were a result of flowing liquid water, because water makes similar structures on Earth.

Polar ice caps were discovered on the planet four decades ago, and erosion patterns on the surface strongly suggest rivers and oceans may have existed there in its early years.

With low gravity and a thin atmosphere, it was thought that this water largely evaporated out into space, instead of falling back down, as it would have done on Earth.

But new research shows water is not behind the Martian gullies, instead suggesting they could be created by carbon dioxide freezing and thawing.

INDIAN SPACE PROBE SNAPS NEW IMAGES OF THE RED PLANET

India's space agency has released a new series of beautiful images, beamed back from its Mars orbiter, revealing our closest planetary neighbour in all its glory

The spotlight surrounding research on Mars is often on the US, European and Russian space agencies.

But while it may be overlooked, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) remains one of only three national space programmes to have reached the red planet to date.

To celebrate its achievements, the space agency has released a new series of beautiful images using data beamed back from its Mars orbiter, revealing our closest planetary neighbour in all its glory.

India's Mars Orbiter Mission, called 'Mangalyaan', reached the red planet in September 2014. 

Since then it has been taking measurements, collecting data and capturing images from orbit.

Last month, ISRO released its first full year's data from the orbiter – covering the period up to September 2015 – with its incredible images beamed back in a stream of pixels.

A spacecraft designed to search the atmosphere of Mars for clues of life on the surface of the red planet successfully blasted off in March this year.

The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a heavy lift Proton rocket on 14 March to begin a seven-month, 300 million-mile (483 million km) journey to the red planet.

It is due to analyse Mars' atmosphere to search for low levels of gases such as methane that may betray the presence of alien life on the planet's surface.

ExoMars 2016 is the first phase of an historic €1.2 billion (£924 million) joint European-Russian mission to search for biochemical 'fingerprints' of past or present life high above Mars and on its surface. 

Scientists believe the probe has the potential to find 'very strong evidence' of alien life when it arrives at Mars on 19 October.

Scientists hope to land the ExoMars rover in Oxia Palus, a plain located on the north east of Mars.

However, any new data won't be shared until the end of next year at the earliest, because the probe has to spend a year decelerating so it can graze the atmosphere at a slow enough speed.

In 2018, a robotic probe built by Lockheed Martin for Nasa, the Mars InSight mission, will set off for red planet.

It forms part of wider efforts to glean information about the planet's rich geological past. 

Read more:

• HiRISE | PDS Release: October 2016 Images
• A Stunning Video of Mars That Took Three Months to Stitch Together¿by Hand | WIRED

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09-03-2019 om 01:18 geschreven door peter  

NASA Will Need Your Help Mapping Asteroid Bennu

09-03-2019 om 00:47 geschreven door peter  

Colossal asteroid will approach Earth on Friday, but we’ll be fine

Mike Wehner @MikeWehner

NASA is always keeping an eye on space rocks that get anywhere near Earth, and 2019 has been a relatively calm year in terms of close passes. A recently discovered asteroid is going to make a not-super-close pass of Earth later this week, and while it doesn’t pose much of a threat to our planet it’s worth mentioning simply because of its size.

The rock, known as 2019 DN, is slated to arrive at its closest point to Earth this coming Friday, March 8th. At its nearest distance the asteroid will still be around 13 lunar distances away. One lunar distance is equal to the space between the Earth and our Moon, so it’s clear the asteroid has little chance of disrupting Earth during its flyby, and that’s a very good thing considering its size.

NASA estimates the asteroid to be between 91 and 200 meters wide. That’s a pretty sizable chunk of space debris as far as the Earth is concerned. It’s not the kind of rock that would pose a threat to humanity’s existence, but it would definitely cause some commotion if it were to come down above a populated area.

For the sake of comparison, the large Chelyabinsk meteor that streaked across the skies of Russia back in 2013 was around 20 meters wide. The asteroid became a fireball which exploded in the atmosphere with a force equivalent to over 400 kilotons of TNT, damaging thousands of buildings and injuring some 1,500 people.

In contrast, the rock that created the dinosaur-killing Chicxulub impact in Mexico was thought to be as large as 50 miles in diameter. If 2019 DN made a surprise appearance we wouldn’t be wiped out, but we’d definitely hear about it.

NASA takes every single space rock seriously, and it keeps an up-to-date record of close Earth approaches that it forecasts months and even years ahead of time. You can even browse the entire list online, if that’s your kind of thing.

{ https://bgr.com/ }

09-03-2019 om 00:31 geschreven door peter