14. Evidence of Martian Algae/Cyanobacteria

Several investigators, based on an examination of photos of Martian specimens, have suggested that what appears to be algae may be present on Mars (Joseph 2014; Krupa 2018 Levin, Straat, & Benton, 1978). Levin et al (1978) upon closely examining photos from the 1976 Viking mission, observed what appeared to be green patches on Mars rocks which, over time, changed in size. Levin, Straat and Benton (1978) argued that changes in the green patches could represent biological activity and evidence of life (e.g. algae), or alternatively, green-colored dirt and dust.

In 2017, T. A. Krupa presented evidence at the Lunar and Planetary Society of what may be green photosynthetic organisms, e.g. algae. Krupa performed a detailed analysis of low albedo, "anomalous" images from Columbia Hills in Gusev Crater, and those photographed by the Spirit Rover's Pan Cam in an area of Mars dubbed "Larry's Outcrop/Larry's Lookout." These photos were initially analyzed by employing "red," "blue," and "green" filters, which were "radiometrically corrected with the radiance correction parameters found in the image file header." These images were analyzed next with a computer Geographic Information System, SAGA.

Krupa (2017) reported the analysis revealed what appears to be water pathways which may intermittently fill with water and that "the hillside at Larry's outcrop is covered by a very thin layer of green material" and "green spherules" which clearly resembles algae in the soil. Krupa (2017) concluded "that these spherules are a life form supported by that water.... and their green color suggests that the spherules contain a photosynthetic compound similar to green chlorophyll...The distribution of these spherules in a single layer...is also consistent with the hypothesis that the spherules are photosynthetic life forms," e.g., algae/cyanobacteria.

Krupa's (2017) computerized analyses which revealed possible water pathways that may intermittently fill with water, is, of course an unproven hypothesis, but which is nevertheless consistent with findings of Martian water by Renno et al., (2009) and other investigators. Specifically, in 2004 the European Space Agencies' Mars orbiter found evidence of water ice and detected vapors of water molecules via an infrared camera aboard the Mars Express spacecraft which was circling the Red Planet's south pole whereas additional "water" "anomalies" were reported in 2015 (Villanueva et al. 2015).

15. Biology of Seasonal Fluctuations in Martian Methane

If prokaryotes and fungi contributed to the formation of Martian sedimentary structures billions of years in the past, the accumulation of these decaying organisms should also be a source of sedimentary and atmospheric methane. As based on simulation studies (Tarasashvili et al., 2013), methanogens can flourish in a Mars-like environment. If methanogens have colonized Mars, they too would be a source of methane. In fact, high levels of methane have been detected at ground level and in the atmosphere of Mars and which varies in concentration depending on the season and which is continually replenished (Formisano et al. 2004; Mumma et al. 2004, 2009; Webster et al. 2013, 2015, 2018).

Specifically, it has been determined that Martian atmospheric methane levels are punctuated by major spikes in concentration which later decline, only to later increase again (Formisano et al. 2004; Mumma et al. 2004, 2009; Webster et al. 2018). Three separate methane plumes consisting of 19,000 metric tons of methane gas were detected in the Martian atmosphere by Europe's Mars Express spacecraft in 2003 (Formisano et al. 2004). Employing infrared spectrometers on three Earth-based telescopes several possible methane emission sources were found in the vicinity of Syrtis Major, Arabia Terra, and Nili Fossae in the southern and northern hemispheres (Formisano et al. 2004; Mumma et al. 2004).

In July of 2013, "an upper limit of 2.7 parts per billion of methane" was detected in the vicinity of the Gale Crater fluctuating between a value of 0.18 ppbv to 1.3 ppbv as measured on September of 2013 (Webster et al. 2013). A "tenfold spike" in methane levels followed with increases in late 2013 and early 2014, averaging "7 parts of methane per billion in the atmosphere" (Webster et al. 2015).

In 2018, Webster and colleagues reported that "in situ measurements at Gale crater made over a five-year period by the Tunable Laser Spectrometer on the Curiosity rover "revealed a strong, repeatable seasonal variation...which is greater than that predicted from either ultraviolet degradation of impact-delivered organics on the surface or from the annual surface pressure cycle." According to Webster et al (2018), the findings "are consistent with small localized sources of methane released from Martian surface or subsurface reservoirs."

On Earth, 90% of methane is produced biologically by living and decaying organisms (U.S. Department of Agriculture 2017; U.S. Department of Energy, 2017) and released as a waste product by prokaryotes (Bruhn et al. 2012; Kepler et al. 2006) and certain species of fungi (Lenhart et al. 2012; Liu et al 2015; Mukhin & Voronin, 2007). Terrestrial atmospheric methane levels also vary with the seasons and are directly attributed to biological activity.

For example, Rasmussen and Khalil (1981) found "stable seasonal cycles with peak concentrations in October and minimum concentrations in July." In 1983 these investigators reported that in the southern hemisphere the lowest concentrations are found during the late Australian summer and fall; likewise, there is less atmospheric methane in the northern hemisphere during summer. These seasonal variations have as their source biological activity in wetlands (Chen et al. 2008; Whalen 2005) and on farms and in rice paddies, just prior to harvest (Chen et al. 2008; Cicerone et al. 1983).

Chen et al. (2008) report a direct correlation between atmospheric methane and the growing seasons (14.45 mg CH₄ m^-2 h^-1 [0.17 to 86.78 mg CH₄ m^-2 h^-1) vs non-growing seasons (0.556 mg CH₄ m^-2 h^-1 (0.002 to 6.722 mg CH₄ m^-2 h^-1). Major contributing factors include surface temperatures, standing water depths, and the degree of plant growth, whereas in anerobic environments the absence of oxygen and the amount of degradable material are controlling influences.

Based on a thorough review of the evidence, Whalen (2005) determined that "emission from wetlands is also a significant component of the atmospheric CH₄ budget...about 25% of total emissions from all anthropogenic and natural sources." Much of "this methane is produced by subsurface, anaerobic methanogenic bacteria and surficial oxidation by methanotrophic bacteria."

As documented in this report, methanogens, cyanobacteria, fungi, and lichens can easily survive in a Mars-like environment. Further there is evidence that these same species of prokaryote and eukaryotes have colonized Mars and that there is water beneath and above the surface.

Although considered controversial, NASA's 1976 Viking Labeled Release (VLR) studies, at two landing sites 4,000 miles apart on Mars, detected evidence of surface biological activity that could be attributed to fungi, lichens, algae, and a variety of prokaryotes (Levin & Straat, 1976, 1977, 1979a,b, 2016). In 2009 Levin and Straat also argued that perhaps 25% of the gasses released during the experiments could have been methane attributed to methanogens. 

It is also well established that fungi and stromatolite-building cyanobacteria (algae) produce and are sources of methane (Hansson 1983; Klassen et al. 2017; Lenhart et al. 2012). Fungi and other eukaryotes generate methane via interactions with methanogenic archaea (see Olsson et al. 2017).

Algae and Saprotrophic fungi also produce methane independently of archaea (Hansson 1983; Klassen et al. 2017; Lenhart, et al. 2012) whereas fungal (and archaea) methane production is inhibited by the presence of oxygen and increases with increased levels of carbon dioxide (Lenhart, et al. 2012)--a finding which is true for most methane-producing species. Therefore, Mars is an ideal habitat for methanogens as there are minimal levels of free oxygen and the atmosphere is 96% carbon dioxide (Mahaffy et al. 2013), whereas the electron acceptor in methanogenesis is carbon dioxide.

Martian radiation may also promote the biological production of methane. It has been established that saprotrophic micro-fungi biologically decompose carbon-based radioactive debris from the damaged Chernobyl nuclear reactor (Zhdanova et al., 1991). Saprotrophic fungi are even adapted for accumulation and uptake of radiocesium fallout (Dighton et al. 1991) and, as noted, are a source of methane (Lenhart, et al. 2012). As indicated by Figures 8, 9, 10, 12, there is evidence of Martian fungal growth. Hence, it would be expected that the growth and biological activity of any Martian organisms might wax and wane, thereby resulting in a waxing and waning of Martian methane and contributing to seasonal variations.

Using Earth as an example, the most probable contributors to seasonal variations in Martian methane emissions are variations in water availability, temperature, degradable and methanogen biomass and the growth and decay of various organisms. As there no evidence of any significant abiotic methane production on Mars (Khayat et al. 2017; Roos-Serote et al. 2016; Webster et al. 2018), and given that 90% of terrestrial methane is biological in origin, it is reasonable to assume biological activity is the primary source of fluctuating levels of and seasonal variations in Martian methane.

16. Geology of Martian Methane?

Certainly, and as most investigators insist, it is possible that Martian methane is produced geologically and through abiogenic processes. Perhaps Martian methane is vented periodically and naturally released via gas permeable fissures; faults and fractures in rocks; sandstone and sediment; and the leakage of deep gas reservoirs through geothermal activity, and especially through vents leading deep beneath the surface from inactive mud-volcanoes as these are the source of abiogenic methane on Earth (U.S. Department of Energy, 2017; Etiope & Klusman 2002; Vanneste et al. 2001).

Khayat and colleagues (2017), however, searching for geological sources found none. Khayat et al. (2017) examined two volcanic districts via a high resolution spectrometer at NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility and using the high resolution heterodyne receiver at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope facility, and "no active release of such gasses was detected."

Organic molecules are also a source of terrestrial methane (U.S. Department of Energy, 2017) and several investigators have reported what may be trace amounts of organic molecules on the surface of Mars (Ming et al. 2009; Sutter et al. 2016) which has been attributed to material deposited by meteors and dust drifting down from space (Frantseva et al. 2018; Moores & Schuerberg 2012; Schuerger et al. 2012). Therefore, it's been argued, Martian methane is produced by comets and meteors and via the UV photolysis of the minimal amounts of organic carbon drifting down upon the surface (Fries et al. 2015; Keppler et al. 2012).

However, as determined by Webster et al. (2018) these scenarios cannot account for the variations, levels and amount of methane so far detected which are far "greater than that predicted from either ultraviolet degradation of impact-delivered organics on the surface or from the annual surface pressure cycle." Furthermore and as summed by Roos-Serote, Atreva, Webster and colleagues (2016), "We find no compelling evidence for any correlation between atmospheric methane and predicted meteor events."

Moreover, UV photolysis of Martian organic carbon is carbon-limited and constrained by the accretion rate of IDP organics (Moores & Schuerberg 2012). There is insufficient carbon on the surface (Bieman et al. 1976; Ming et al. 2009) to account for the varying and large concentrations of methane which are periodically pumped into the Martian atmosphere (Moores & Schuerberg 2012). And, organics buried one to two mm below ground would not be subject to UV photolysis, and any methane could only be liberated biologically (U.S. Department of Energy, 2017; U.S. Department of Agriculture 2017).

Certainly there is a likely abiogenic contribution to Martian methane. However, as on Earth, that contribution appears to be minimal. By contrast, there is evidence of biological activity, including the growth of what appears to be fungi, algae and lichens, on the Martian surface; and on Earth 90% of methane is biological in origin. Thus, the most logical, scientific explanation for the replenishment of and seasonal fluctuations in Martian methane is biological activity--the first evidence of which may have been discovered by the Viking Labeled Release experiments (Klein et al. 1976; Levin 2010; Levin & Straat 1976, 2009, 2016).

17. The Viking Labeled Release Experiment Detects Biological Activity on Mars?

As summarized by Levin (2010; Levin & Straat 2016), the Viking Labeled Release (LR) experiments were designed to detect biological activity on Mars. Thousands of field tests were performed and it was proved the LR experiment was capable of accurately detecting a very wide range of microorganisms including aerobic, anaerobic, and facultative bacteria, as well as lichens, fungi, and algae.

Once on Mars a nutrient containing radioactive carbon was added to a Martian soil sample and the presence of radioactivity in the gasses released served as evidence of active metabolism. A control experiment heat-treated a second sample to kill microorganisms. Positive results including evidence of biological metabolism were obtained from the raw sample which was not subject to extreme heat-sterilization. By contrast, when soil samples were heated to 50°C, biological activity decreased by 65%. When Martian soil was pre-heated to 160°C there was no evidence of biology. When two samples of Martian soil were stored at approximately 10°C for long time periods there was a 90% and 100% reduction in activity. When not subject to sterilization, robust evidence of biological metabolism and increases in activity were obtained (Klein et al. 1976). As described by Levin and Straat (2016), the LR instruments operated flawlessly on Mars. Both Viking landing sites, some 4,000 miles apart, produced strong responses and met the pre-mission criteria for the detection of life.

To distinguish between non-biological and biological agents, additional experiments were executed via commands from Earth. Each such ad hoc series of tests again demonstrated on-going Martian metabolism. Four different LR experiments were conducted, each of which yielded positive results, and five controls, all of which supported the positive results as biological.

Levin concluded that the "amplitudes and kinetics of the Mars LR results were similar to those of terrestrial results, especially close to those of soils in, or from, frigid areas," and that the LR experiment had found evidence of biological activity on Mars (Levin 2010; Levin & Straat 1976, 1979a,b, 2016).

The results, however, were rejected by NASA administrators who argued that since the addition of more nutrients into the soil temporarily decreased the level of biological activity "the LR therefore had not detected life on Mars, but had detected a chemical or physical agent that had produced false positive results" (Levin 2010). NASA's arguments (detailed on the NASA/Mars website), though interesting, are not based on factual evidence, but post-hoc theorizing and the interested reader is encouraged to review NASA's claims to arrive at their own conclusions. In fact, according to Levin (2010) "NASA-bonded Antarctic soil 664 had reacted to its second injection as had the Martian soils" and "the decline in gas level was caused by re-adsorption of the evolved gas into the dampened soil." That only trace amounts of carbon and organic molecules have been detected on Mars (Bieman et al. 1976, 1977; Ming et al. 2009; Sutter et al. 2016) also does not support NASA's physical-chemical-false-positive hypothesis.

Subsequently, Bianciardi, Miller, Straat, and Levin (2012) performed a mathematical complexity deep analysis of the Viking LR data, employing seven complexity variables. It was determined that the Viking LR positive responses demonstrated a different pattern from control responses which resembled near-random noise. By contrast, the active experiments exhibited highly organized responses typical of biology.

18. Caveats and Conclusions

We have presented a body of observations and evidence which supports the hypothesis Mars may have been, and may still be, a living planet.  Although disagreements and differing interpretations and hypotheses abound, there is no factual, scientific evidence proving or even strongly supporting a purely abiotic explanation for the data and observations presented here which we believe favors biology. Thus, the null hypothesis is rejected.

Admittedly, abiogenic factors can't be ruled out. Conversely, at present, there is no microscopic evidence depicting cells or intra-cellular structure and thus no definitive proof of Martian life.  Moreover, although organisms can survive in space or in simulated Mars-like environments, there is no proof they can flourish on Mars. It is also very difficult to distinguish, with a high level of confidence, between what may be living organisms vs sedimentary structures. Similarities in morphology are not proof. In many respects the observations presented here could be described as circumstantial and do not rise to the level of "extraordinary evidence" thus precluding "extraordinary claims." Although, collectively, the evidence, in total, weighs in favor of biology, we can only conclude that the question of life on Mars remains unanswered.

Peer Review and Recommendations 


Fourteen qualified experts (eight Senior Editors and six independent
scientists) refereed and peer reviewed "Evidence of Life on Mars?" Eleven
experts in total recommended publication and of the eight Editors three
rejected the article. The experts have a publication history in the
following areas of science: Microbiology, Biochemistry, Biogeology,
Mars Viking Experiments, Fungi, Lichens, Methanogens, Extremophiles,
Mars-Simulated Environments, Martian Atmosphere, Martian Meteors,
Radiation Biology.

TOTAL: 11 Yes / 3 No

Supervised and Verified by the Managing Editor

D. Anderson
February 28, 2019
Journal of Astrobiology and Space Science Reviews

http//JournalofAstrobiology.com

{ http://journalofastrobiology.com/LifeonMarsPressRelease.html }

26-03-2019 om 21:23 geschreven door peter  

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{ http://journalofastrobiology.com/LifeonMarsPressRelease.html }

26-03-2019 om 21:21 geschreven door peter  

26-03-2019 om 20:17 geschreven door peter  

Power outages are nothing new in Venezuela – they seem to be happening weekly and often occur cross multiple states. UFO sightings over Venezuela are infrequent but happening more often, but it still seems improbable that a recent one recorded on video by a motorist in the state of Trujillo is related to the blackout he was driving through, yet that’s one of the explanations given by a reporter who investigated it. Is there really a connection? Are Venezuelans and leaders around the world pointing their fingers at the wrong cause for that country’s problems – at least its electrical power ones? And why are there so many recent UFO sightings there … including one with a crop circle?

“At first I did not pay much attention because I thought it was a reflection of the sun, but suddenly I realize that the sun was to the left, and much lower. (Immediately) the light began to move in a zigzag pattern. I called my cousin who was sleeping and I told him: record, and he started recording while I took the pictures.”

That video (watch it here) was given Friman Rodríguez to reporter Hector Escalante, a loca UFO investigator. Rodríguez saw and recorded the video with his cousin on February 16, 2019, as they were driving back to Cabimas on the Pan American Highway (Troncal 1) at about 5 pm after finding out their destination was blacked out. He apparently stopped the vehicle on the highway and recorded the UFO zigzagging across the sky, descended and then stopped. Although it’s not apparent from the video, Rodríguez claimed they were close to where the UFO hovered and possibly landed, but he didn’t want to get out and pursue it since it appears they just stopped in the middle of the highway and needed to move.

“I felt happy to record it and continue. I was not confident to return and stay to see something I do not know what could end.”

Does Friman or his DNA attract UFOs? He admits this is his first sighting but reveals his father has seen a similar object twice. Also, both he and his cousin say they were unusually exhausted and sleepy after the encounter, and the cousin had a headache that needed medical attention. While it was hot, Friman says they were in a new truck that kept them cool. Coincidences?

At this point, Escalante brings in another recent UFO sighting in La Lorena Venezuela on March 7 which also occurred during a blackout. A video (watch it here and here in a video that also incudes the possible UFO) taken in La Lorena shows people inspecting what appears to be a crop circle that the uploader says matches the shape of the UFO that reportedly hovered over it.

“Large circular signs on the vegetation left two presumed UFOs on the night of March 7, 2019. I was in the scene and it is amazing as you can see the circular shape of two alleged ships that locals say they saw the night before the video . They report that two large circular lights perched on the vegetation of the lagoon for a few minutes, then climbed the stars at an unspeakable speed. As a curious fact I must tell you that under that straw there is water … people walked on the straw that was molded by the UFOs on the water.”

Another journalist, Nelsored González, confirmed on Twitter that there was a blackout in Lake Lorraine (this appears to be a Google translation of La Lorena), and then added a couple of political dots in an attempt to connect everything to Russia!

“For those who are not aware, the day of the national blackout at 4:55 pm, on March 7, reported an alleged sighting and extraterrestrial landing on Lake Lorraine City Bolivar presumably was the cause of the blackout that Maduro does not know how to explain and for which he blames the USA. The Russians who arrived yesterday are a unit of communications, scientists and the Russian Federal Space Agency, confirms a colleague in Ciudad Bolivar who is already part of the Russian team there, created a perimeter in Lake Lorraine, where the alleged landing occurred UFO.”

But wait … there’s more! González refers to yet another recent UFO sighting (and possibly more) in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. One is a triangular set of lights that some commenters attribute to flares or military planes.

Which brings us back to the current state of affairs — paranormal, normal and abnormal — in Venezuela. The sighting in Trujillo is unusual enough that it can’t easily be written off as a refection or lens flare. The crop circle doesn’t look like the typical British countryside variety of geometric shapes and no one seems to have a logical or natural explanation. Government problems can definitely be blamed for the blackouts and military operations for at least some of the UFOs. But not all … at least not yet.

Could it be that extraterrestrials are more concerned about Venezuelans than the rest of the world? Wouldn’t that be nice?  Keep an eye on the skies and the ground for more clues.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

26-03-2019 om 18:41 geschreven door peter  

In late 2018, geologists and seismologists were baffled by a mysterious seismic event unlike anything seen before. Some type of massive event literally shook the entire Earth, and scientists still aren’t quite sure what it could have been. A team of French researchers published a study of the seismic anomaly this week which offers a few clues about its origins, but the study ultimately poses more questions than it answers. What’s happening deep within the Earth?

The epicenter for the 2018 seismic anomaly was just off of the coast of Mayotte, a small archipelago in the Indian Ocean presided over by France. The event consisted of long pulses of extremely low frequency waves far below the threshold of human perception but quite powerful enough to register on seismological instruments.  The pulses did not appear to be caused by earthquakes – at least any type of earthquake we know of – yet also did not appear to be man made.

Petite-Terre, Mayotte.

To add to the mystery of the 2018 seismic anomaly, geologists have found that Mayotte is sinking by as much as 9 mm or .35 inches a month as well as drifting eastward at twice that rate. That observation seems to support the new hypothesis that the 2018 event was caused by an underwater volcanic event the likes of which we’ve never seen.  In the new study of the event, researchers write that this event could be “the offshore eruption with the largest volume ever documented.”

The event is thought to have been caused over a cubic kilometer of magma 28 km (17 miles) below the ocean surface somehow flowed outward into surrounding sedimentary layers as opposed to flowing upward, hence why nothing was observed on the surface. If that’s true, though, it leaves a lot of unanswered questions about the event. In the months since the seismic anomaly, large fish kills have been observed; if all of the magma remained underground, what’s killing the fish? What is causing the high frequency pulses which were recorded alongside the low frequency rumbles? And could this activity be related to the island’s eastward and downward migration?

Map of recent cracks forming in eastern Africa.

The 2018 seismic anomaly is only one example of recent disquieting developments in eastern Africa which suggest something big may be happening below the Earth’s surface. Last year, a massive crack was found to have formed in eastern Africa running through Kenya and Somalia, a crack which is pulling away from the rest of the continent at 2.5 cm or 1 inch per year. A few months earlier, scientists published a study of the so-called “South Atlantic Anomaly,” a strange and unexplained disturbance in the Earth’s magnetic field which suggests “there’s something unusual about the core-mantle boundary under Africa that could be having an important impact on the global magnetic field.”

The South Atlantic Anomaly

Could all of these events and phenomena be related? What exactly is happening deep within the Earth under Africa? Do we really want to know, or is it better to be surprised in the middle of your breakfast burrito by the massive wall of magma rushing to engulf you and everyone you know? At least it wasn’t a good breakfast burrito. That new girl on the taco truck always puts the cheese in a big clump right in the middle instead of spreading it out evenly throughout the whole burrito.

Life is just a series of disappointing burritos. Bring it on, magma. End it already.

If there’s one thing humans aren’t prepared for, it’s new curveballs thrown at us by the angry Earth.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

26-03-2019 om 18:20 geschreven door peter  

Cube-shaped anomaly filmed in the sky over Ohio

Another square cloud or cube-like anomaly has been filmed in the sky over Ohio.

The witness was driving home in Ohio we he saw the strange anomaly in the clouds.

He said that it was very weird and wonders what the object could be.

  

{ http://ufosightingshotspot.blogspot.com/ }

26-03-2019 om 17:55 geschreven door peter  

Video – Who Lived on Earth 100,000 Years Ago

Who Lived on Earth 100,000 Years Ago

Attribution:Youtube - ETupdates 

{ https://www.etupdates.com/ }

26-03-2019 om 01:28 geschreven door peter  

Symbolism of the Mythical Phoenix Bird: Renewal, Rebirth and Destruction

www.Ancient-Origins.net – Reconstructing the story of humanity’s past

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/v3/ }

26-03-2019 om 01:18 geschreven door peter  

Jon Fingas, @jonfingas

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have to exercise and alter their diet to endure extended stays in microgravity, but NASA and the ESA hope to find a better way. They're about to start a study that will explore how artificial gravity might keep astronauts in good shape. Volunteers at the German Aerospace Center will spend 60 days in bed starting on March 25th at an incline that will send blood away from their heads. Once a day, a "selection" of the subjects will take a spin in the Center's short-arm centrifuge in a bid to send blood back toward their legs.

The scientists can tweak the intensity of the centrifugal force as well as decide whether to spin around a person's head or chest, but it's not clear just what will work. That's partly what the experiment is for -- they'll have a better sense of what gravitational effects would be necessary to prevent muscles from weakening.

Whatever the conclusions, you probably won't see 2001-style rotating habitats any time soon. You're likely to see something resulting from studies like this, however. If humanity is going to embark on trips to Marsor send more than a handful of people into orbit for extended periods, it will likely want some kind of simulated gravity to maintain the fitness of future spacefarers.

Via: Space.com

Source: ESA

{ https://www.engadget.com/ }

26-03-2019 om 01:05 geschreven door peter  

This giant storm has remained a nearly constant feature of Jupiter’s turbulent atmosphere for at least 300 years. How can a storm persist for so long?

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.

Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstädt/Seán Doran.

By Donna Pierce, Mississippi State University

The Great Red Spot, a storm larger than the Earth and powerful enough to tear apart smaller storms that get drawn into it, is one of the most recognizable features in Jupiter’s atmosphere and the entire solar system. The counterclockwise-moving storm, an anticyclone, boasts wind speeds as high as 300 miles (483 km) per hour. This prominent feature, observed since 1830, and possibly as far back as the 1660s, has long been a source of great fascination and scientific study.

Much about the Great Red Spot is still unknown, including exactly when and how it formed, what gives it its striking red color and why it has persisted for so much longer than other storms that have been observed in the atmosphere of Jupiter. However, astronomers think that its position in latitude, consistently observed to be 22 degrees south of Jupiter’s equator, is connected to the prominent cloud bands in Jupiter’s atmosphere.

As a planetary astronomer who studies the atmospheres of comets, I’m normally not investigating massive storms. But I still want to know about the features seen in the atmosphere of other bodies in the solar system, including Jupiter. Studying atmospheres of all kinds deepens our understanding of how they form and work.

Unlike Jupiter, the Earth has land masses that cause major storms to lose energy due to friction with a solid surface. Without this feature, Jupiter’s storms are more long-lasting. However, the Great Red Spot is long-lived, even by Jupiter standards. Researchers don’t quite understand why, but we do know that Jupiter’s storms that are located in cloud bands with the same direction of rotation tend to be longer lasting.

The planets of the solar system to size scale. Jupiter is 5 times further from the sun than the Earth.

These colorful alternating bands, called belts (dark bands) and zones (light bands), run parallel to Jupiter’s equator. Researchers aren’t sure what causes the coloration of the bands and zones, but differences in their chemical composition, temperature and transparency of the atmosphere to light have all been suggested as contributing factors. These bands are also counter-rotating, meaning that they move in opposite directions with respect to their neighbors. The boundaries between the bands and zones are marked by strong winds called zonal jets.

The Great Red Spot is confined by an eastward jet to its north and a westward jet to its south, confining the storm to a constant latitude. However, the Great Red Spot has undergone considerable changes in longitudeover time, and recent evidence suggests that its rate of westward longitudinal motion is increasing.

Like the Great Red Spot, the bands have undergone little change in latitude over the time during which they have been observed. Researchers don’t entirely understand the banded structure, but we do have evidence suggesting that the light colored zones are regions of rising material, and the dark belts are regions of material sinking into the atmosphere.

On Earth, there is a well-defined boundary between the atmosphere and the surface of the planet, which is largely covered by liquid water. However, there are no known large oceans of water under Jupiter’s clouds. Based on what researchers do know, the atmosphere smoothly transitions to a liquid hydrogen interior within the planet. There may be a solid core to Jupiter, but it is most likely buried very deep under a thick layer of liquid metallic hydrogen, a form of hydrogen that acts as an electrical conductor.

What else do we know about the Great Red Spot that is changing dramatically? Its size, shape and color. An analysis of historical and recently obtained data on the Great Red Spot has shown that it is shrinking and becoming both rounder and taller, and its color has also varied over time. What is driving these changes, and what do they mean for the future of the Great Red Spot? Researchers aren’t sure.

However, NASA’s Juno spacecraft, currently orbiting Jupiter, is gathering more data on the cloud bands and the Great Red Spot. These new data will likely provide insights into many of the features in Jupiter’s atmosphere.

Donna Pierce, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Mississippi State University

• This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
• Bottom line: Why is Jupiter’s Great Red Spot so long-lived?

{ https://earthsky.org/ }

26-03-2019 om 00:42 geschreven door peter  

Insights about secret scientific research in the US

Come Carpentier de Gourdon

Screenshot of Bob Lazar’s website.

It shows the existence of a two-tier scientific culture, of which the upper tier would be a domain for clandestine R&D, unknown to democratically elected authorities.

Many investigators and whistleblowers in the United States have, over the last 40 years, called attention upon unacknowledged scientific and technical programmes being carried out in various publicly and privately funded laboratories and research centres, affiliated to military and intelligence agencies, in “exotic” areas that are officially not regarded as deserving of serious attention in civilian institutions such as universities. The existence of such programmes, now being proven, would demonstrate the existence of a two-tier scientific culture in the US at least, if not in the rest of the world, of which the upper tier would be a domain for clandestine R&D, unsupervised by, and unknown to, democratically elected authorities. If only for this reason, finding out the truth about the situation is of great value to society.

What do we know about the long suspected “special access” programmes hiding within the American military-industrial-intelligence complex and what is backed by material evidence?

Among the first whistleblowers, who emerged in the 1980s (1989 in his case), Bob Lazar is noteworthy because of the extensive information he provided in videotaped talks about research he had carried out in Area S-4 close to the since notorious Area 51 in the Nevada desert’s atomic testing range, around the dry Groom lake riverbed.

Lazar claimed to have being recruited by the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), through defence contractor EG&G, to work as part of a team on a highly classified project which involved examining and reverse engineering a 52 feet wide saucer-shaped craft that he quickly realised was not built by humans. He further explained that it was made of some unknown ceramic-like material, could sit three small sized (3 feet tall) crew members and was powered by a hitherto undiscovered super-heavy element, eventually identified as number 115 on the periodic table, which generated its own gravitational field and enabled the craft to reach fantastic speeds. Lazar further explained that the retrieved space vehicle was being test flown in Area 51/S-4 although neither its materials nor its propulsion systems could be figured out or reproduced. However, he warned that the US military had somehow gotten hold of a substantial quantity of Element 115, stored at Los Alamos and intended for weaponisation. His report was supported by well connected investigators, including John Lear, son of the Learjet inventor and a veteran CIA operative who testified that he was also exposed to covert research into “alien” technologies.

Lazar’s testimony (retraced and updated in a recent documentary by Jeremy Corbell entitled Bob Lazar, Area 51 and Flying Saucers) was one of many that were more or less publicised in the following decades despite stubborn denials from official quarters. In 1997, former Pentagon intelligence officer (foreign technology desk) and White House staffer Colonel Philip Corso’s bestselling book, The Day After Roswell, purported to lift the veil on much of the clandestine research pursued since 1947 by various branches of the federal government and compartmentally outsourced to defence contractors such as Lockheed, Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, Martin Marietta, Northrop, Grumman, Raytheon, General Dynamics and others. However, the results of those advanced investigations remained largely undisclosed, although Corso alleged that major technical breakthroughs such as microtransistors, superconductors, fibre optics, Kevlar and night vision goggles had been developed through reverse engineering of alien materials. Since then aeronautics engineer Edgar Fouché, who reports having worked for the Aurora Project at Area 51 which built the secret Tr3-B triangular mercury plasma fuelled spacecraft, Dr Robert Wood from McDonnell Douglas, Corey Goode, Wlliam Tompkins also formerly at McDonnell Douglas and the more controversial Dan Burisch, are among the alleged “insiders” who have blown the whistle on various “black” programmes. Some like Goode claim to have served on an SSF (Secret Space Fleet), a branch of the US Navy which began operating in the 1960s or 1970s under the Solar Warden code name. Their accounts have been extensively reported and analysed by veteran researchers such as Linda Moulton Howe as part of her Earthfiles series, Paola Harris, Dr Steven Greer (in his widely publicized Disclosure Project) and Dr Michael Salla, co-founder of the Exopolitics Institute.

Additionally, in June 2017, a 47-page top secret briefing document was leaked and analysed by various experts. It appears to be a briefing dictated by a member of the clandestine MJ-12 agency (set up to deal with UFO related issues in 1954) for Dr Philip Morrison, an eminent MIT physicist. It contains detailed descriptions of alien craft and their recovery, transcripts of communications with alien beings and spells out the measures taken by concerned agencies to keep the entire subject secret, even to the highest elected authorities.

Back in 2007, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, in which Area 51 is located, and who then chaired the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, set up a new study group with the support of fellow Senators, Inouye and Stevens, under the name of AATIP (Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program) at the suggestion of his friend, billionaire Robert Bigelow, chairman of Bigelow Aerospace, a contractor to NASA which conducted research on UFOs and collected substantial evidence of the extraterrestrial presence.

Senator Reid wished to gather information on the secret work being carried out outside the purview of Congressional authorities and got an appropriation of $22 million for a five-year budget. The investigations were entrusted to Bigelow’s aerospace research division and coordinated by Earthtech of Austin, Texas, an R&D centre in frontier areas of science headed by Dr Harold Puthoff, formerly at Stanford Research Institute. AATIP under the stewardship of high-ranking intelligence officer Luis Elizondo, commissioned a still unissued 490-page report and collected 38 classified papers from a number of universities and research centres reflecting some of the goals pursued at the behest of the DIA (as Defense Intelligence Research Documents or DIRD) and other military intelligence bodies.

AATIP remained unknown to the public until both the New York Times and the Washington Post on 16 December 2017 published articles about it with the mandatory sceptical rumblings. They both, however, provided online links to a film taken in 2004 by Super Hornet jet pilots from the USS Nimitz, off the coast of Southern California, of a fleet of extremely fast flying objects, exhibiting performances far beyond the abilities of the most advanced aircraft, whose shapes suggested “tictacs” which became their moniker.

Physicist Jack Sarfatti, formerly at San Diego State University, has gone on record to say he is doing research on the propulsion system of the “tictac” by studying “alien” recovered metamaterials in the custody of Dr Puthoff’s Earthtech. The existence of those materials of non-earthly origin has been officially confirmed.

In January of this year a Freedom Of Information Act request from Steven Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists against Government Secrecy, led to the release by the DIA of the list of titles of above mentioned 38 government-funded research reports gathered by AATIP as part of the process to “read in” on a need-to-know basis, officials in the military and civilian administrations. They include two papers leaked earlier by Corey Goode, respectively entitled Traversable Wormholes, Stargates and Negative Energy (number 8 in the list) and Warp Drive, Dark Energy and the Manipulation of Extra-Dimensions (number 19). Others are dedicated to invisibility cloaking technologies, propulsion systems from space vacuum, anti-gravity, space communication based on Quantum Entanglement and Non-Locality, programmable matter, negative mass propulsion and other such topics not publicly recognised as being within the realm of realistic possibilities.

Cynics who alleged that all this is speculative mumbo-jumbo amounting to a waste of public money did not consider that the disclosure from AATIP seems to be what the CIA calls a “limited hangout”: i.e. a superficial glimpse of a much larger secret cloaked in “plausible deniability”.

Since the alleged closure of AATIP in 2012, a private initiative called TTSA (To the Stars Academy) has been set up with the participation of some of the staffers of AATIP, including its former director Luis Elizondo. TTSA is working with retired military and civilian officials to further disclose the extensive and long-standing secret military R&D pursued between government agencies and private contractors involved in what is commonly called the Deep State. Its executive director Tom DeLonge has produced a new documentary series for the History Channel relying on military insider testimonies and entitled Unidentified.

How much more time and effort will it take for certain agencies in the US government to confess to the many ominous or mind-boggling secrets they have kept from the public, often in violation of constitutional principles and legal norms and procedures?

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

26-03-2019 om 00:19 geschreven door peter  

A Physicist Says He's Found the Solution to the Fermi Paradox—And It's Terrifying

The idea is that the first civilization to attain interstellar travel would start gobbling up as many resources as it could to drive its own expansion and ensure a future for itself. This would eventually cause it to start stripping worlds that already have life on them, leading it to destroy alien civilizations as it went.

This wouldn't be out of malice, Berezin argues:

"I am not suggesting that a highly developed civilization would consciously wipe out other lifeforms," Berezin says.

"Most likely, they simply won't notice, the same way a construction crew demolishes an anthill to build real estate because they lack incentive to protect it. ...This problem is similar to the infamous 'Tragedy of the commons'. The incentive to grab all available resources is strong, and it only takes one bad actor to ruin the equilibrium, with no possibility to prevent them from appearing at interstellar scale.

All right, so this is pretty much the 'Big Bad Alien Civilization' hypothesis, but with some economic reasoning behind it, right?

No, actually—it's the Big Bad Human Civilization hypothesis. 

Berezin believes the answer to the Fermi Paradox, the reason we haven't picked up on alien signals or observed evidence of this steamroller alien civilization, is because we're the first ones to have made it this far.

With Berezin's logic in mind, we're also going to be the first civilization to attain interstellar space travel, and our expansion beyond the solar system is going to inevitably wipe out alien life on other plants.

And this, Berezin admits, "would be hard to accept, as it predicts a future for our own civilization that is even worse than extinction."

That future, it appears, is utter loneliness.

{ https://www.outerplaces.com/ }

25-03-2019 om 23:54 geschreven door peter  

The Universe's Dark Secret: Where Did All the Antimatter Go?

By Paul Sutter

It's a cosmic whodunit.

Electrons and their antimatter counterparts, positrons, interact around a neutron star in this visualization. Why is there so much more matter than antimatter in the universe we can see?

(Image: © NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center)

• Paul M. Sutter is an astrophysicist at The Ohio State University, host of Ask a Spaceman and Space Radio, and author of Your Place in the Universe. Sutter contributed this article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

So there's this stuff called "antimatter." You may have heard of it. It's just like normal matter, with all the same properties and all the same abilities to make up atoms and molecules, except for one crucial difference: It has an opposite charge. Take the humble electron, for example. Mass of 9.11 x 10^-31 kg. Quantum spin of 1/2. Charge of 1.6 x 10^-9 coulombs.

It has an antimatter evil twin, the positron. The positron has a mass of 9.11 x 10^-31 kg. Quantum spin of 1/2. Charge of … -1.6 x 10^-9 coulombs.

• Related: Will Antimatter Engines Power the First Starships? (Video)

It's the same for every other particle out there. There's a dark-side twin for the top quark, the neutrino, the muon and on and on and on. All the fundamental particles that make up our daily lives have a partner, living just on the other side of the charge fence.

That's all well and dandy and no big deal at all, except for one thing, which is a tiny bit of a big deal. As far as we can understand the theory and see in the observations, not only are matter and antimatter paired up like this, they're symmetric. Every particle of normal matter produced in a reaction comes paired with its antimatter sibling. 

The only conclusion: Our universe ought to be swimming with antimatter, existing in equal parts with normal matter. Whole planets, stars and galaxies made of antimatter! Or at the very least, loads of antimatter particles just floating around in space, minding their own business.

But when matter and antimatter meet, it's bad news. Just as the pairs are produced in perfect symmetry in fundamental interactions, they are destroyed in symmetry as well. When a particle finally gets to meet and shake hands with its antiparticle best friend, they end up like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: going down in a blaze of glory.

All their combined matter is converted into energy, usually in the form of high-energy gamma-ray radiation. 

A disturbance in the force

We don't see signs of abundant free-floating carefree antimatter, because we don't see the aftermath of its inevitable destruction upon meeting regular matter. The universe is filled with constantly-interacting stuff. High-energy particles zipping across light-years. Fountains of material escaping from galaxies and new junk drifting in. Stars colliding. In our universe, stuff mixes with stuff all the time. If some decent proportion of that was antimatter, the universe ought to be a lot more … energetic … than it is.

So if the antimatter isn't here anymore, where the heck did it go? 

One possibility is that our universe was simply born this way, with an abundance of matter and a severe lack of antimatter. While that's certainly an excuse, it isn't much of an explanation. "That's just the way it is, folks" isn't the most compelling argument in scientific circles. So while you could always say that, let's move on to other, more productive lines of inquiry.

Perhaps something in the early universe caused an imbalance between matter and antimatter. 

It's not that crazy of an idea. The early, early, early days of the universe were pretty funky times, with all sorts of crazy physics and exotic interactions at play that are now, thankfully, merely a cosmic memory. So maybe something happened. Maybe the universe was rolling along just fine, with each particle met with an equal and opposite antiparticle. 

And then … a shift. An imbalance. A strange process that produced more matter than antimatter. Most of the pairs would be annihilated, but a few normal particles would remain. It wouldn't have to be much: Just one particle in a billion would be enough to lay the foundations for all the stars and galaxies that we see today.

• Related: The Universe: Big Bang to Now in 10 Easy Steps

Strength through weakness

It would indeed have to be a very peculiar set of conditions to cause such an imbalance. Our universe is governed by rules of how particles and forces should interact and behave. It's these rules that lay the framework for all the wonderful interactions that make up the richness of everyday life.

But sometimes rules need to be broken, as in the case of the early universe. After all, it's those same rules that say that the divergence between matter and antimatter ought not to be in the first place.

Whatever interaction, whatever process, led to matter's ultimate victory had to be strange indeed. It had to start with producing not just an excess quantity of regular matter, but also an excess quantity of charge to counterbalance it. Otherwise, because total charges must stay the same throughout a process, that matter-loving route would've been perfectly balanced by a twin antimatter-loving road.

Plus, this process had to happen during a sharp boundary, when the infant cosmos was transforming rapidly from one state to another. It's only there that the physics would permit such a rule-breaking violation to take place; otherwise a universe in equilibrium would just end up balancing all interactions out anyway.

Is there anything in all of known physics that could make the antimatter go away? Well, maybe. There are some hints and suggestions buried in rare particle interactions involving the weak nuclear force. We understand these interactions only dimly, especially the way they would occur in the early universe, but even there our best guess for its matter-favoring ability put it far, far below the minimum needed to explain our present situation.

The origins of the asymmetry between matter and antimatter is an outstanding problem in physics. A problem that pushes the boundaries of current knowledge and pushes our understanding of the universe into some of its earliest moments. A problem that, you could say, really matters.

• Why Physicists Are Planning to Drive Antimatter Around in a Moving Van
• Laser Experiment Helps Unravel Mystery of Antimatter 
• First Solid Sign that Matter Doesn't Behave Like Antimatter

Learn more by listening to the episode "Hey, who took all the antimatter?" on the Ask A Spaceman podcast, available on iTunes and on the Web at http://www.askaspaceman.com. Thanks to 185transformer, William G., Matthew A., Bogdan V., dave B., Eric D., Kent B., and Kahandran for the questions that led to this piece! Ask your own question on Twitter using #AskASpaceman or by following Paul @PaulMattSutter and facebook.com/PaulMattSutter. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. 

{ https://www.space.com/ }

25-03-2019 om 23:40 geschreven door peter  

How 3-D Printing Could Break into the Building Industry

Imagine a single trained operator making a bridge, home or barracks

25-03-2019 om 23:04 geschreven door peter  

Grootste tyrannosaurus rex ter wereld ontdekt - HLN.be

Bron: afp

Paleontologen ontdekten resten van de grootste tyrannosaurus rex ooit in de Canadese provincie Saskatchewan. Dinosaurus Scotty, die ongeveer 66 miljoen jaar geleden leefde, was ongeveer 13 meter lang en woog maar liefst 8.800 kilogram. 

Lees ook

Perfect bewaarde sporen van dinosaurussen ontdekt in Amerikaans natuurpark

“Dit is de rex der rexen,” aldus de Canadese onderzoeker Scott Persons. “Er zijn aanzienlijke verschillen tussen tyrannosaurussen. Sommige individuen waren forser dan anderen. Scotty is een voorbeeld van zo’n fors exemplaar. Zorgvuldige metingen van de benen, heupen en zelfs schouders wijzen uit dat Scotty langer was dan elke andere tyrannosaurus rex (die tot op heden is teruggevonden, red.).” 

De vorige recordhouder was Sue, een tyrannosaurus rex met een lengte van 12,3 meter. Deze dino woog zo’n 5.654 kilogram. 

Scotty is niet alleen de grootste tyrannosaurus rex ter wereld. “Hij is ook de oudst bekende”, aldus de Canadese wetenschapper. “Je kunt een idee krijgen van hoe oud een dinosaurus is door in de beenderen te zagen en de groeipatronen te bestuderen”. Uit de onderzoeksresultaten bleek dat Scotty ongeveer dertig jaar oud was toen hij 66 miljoen jaar geleden stierf. “Dat is uitzonderlijk lang”, aldus Persons. 

De grootste dino ter wereld wordt bewaard in het Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Canada.

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

25-03-2019 om 22:15 geschreven door peter  

Archeologen stoten op schat in Mexico en denken dat ze allereerste graftombe Azteekse keizer op spoor zijn - HLN.be

De ontdekking gebeurde niet in een afgelegen of onontgonnen gebied, maar midden in het centrum van het drukke Mexico-Stad. Meer bepaald aan de voet van de bekende Templo Mayor. Dat was 500 jaar geleden de belangrijkste tempel van de Azteekse hoofdstad Tenochtitlan, in de periode dat de machtigste heerser van het rijk aan de macht was.

Lees ook

Aardbeving in Mexico leidt tot ontdekking van 900 jaar oude tempel

Heiligdommen

De tempel was een gigantisch complex van 60 meter hoog, dat beschouwd werd als het middelpunt van de aarde. Bovenaan stonden twee heiligdommen: een voor de oorlogsgod Huitzilopochtli en een voor de regengod Tlaloc. Bij een van de vele uitbreidingen van de tempel - in 1487 - zou een van de grootste massaoffers plaatsgevonden hebben uit de geschiedenis van de beschaving, waarbij naar schatting 4.000 mensen het leven lieten. De tempel werd uiteindelijk verwoest tijdens de verovering van Mexico door Hernán Cortés in 1521.

De resten kwamen in 1978 tevoorschijn tijdens een verbouwing op het centrale plein van Mexico-Stad. En het is aan de voet van de tempel dat archeologen nu hun ongeziene vondst hebben gedaan: rijkelijke offergaven die zouden kunnen wijzen op een koninklijke begraafplaats. (lees hieronder verder)

Het gaat onder meer om de resten van een luxueus versierde jaguar, verkleed als krijger, een kleine jongen van een jaar of negen die gekleed is als Azteekse oorlogs- en zonnegod - met een jaden ketting en vleugels van havikbeenderen - en een set vuursteenmessen die versierd zijn met parelmoer en edelstenen. De offergaven werden vijf eeuwen geleden neergelegd door Azteekse priesters op een cirkelvormig platform voor de tempel, een plek waar zich volgens de vroegste overleveringen de rustplaats zou bevinden van Azteekse keizers.

“We hebben nu enorme verwachtingen”, zegt het hoofd van de groep archeologen die er aan het werk is - Leonardo Lopez Lujan - aan persbureau Reuters. “Naarmate we dieper graven, zullen we vermoedelijk nog veel meer rijkelijke objecten vinden.” (lees hieronder verder)

REUTERS 

Op dit beeld is de jaguar te zien, met het cirkelvormige embleem van oorlogsgod Huitzilopochtli. Er zijn ook resten van koraal en zeesterren achtergebleven.

 REUTERS 

Leonardo Lopez Lujan.

Vooral de vondst van de jaguar blijkt opwindend. Die zat in een grote stenen doos, waarvan nog maar een tiende is opgegraven en die nu al een ware schatkist blijkt te zijn. Het dier draagt een houten gravure op de rug met het embleem van de god Huitzilopochtli. Bovenop liggen offergaven uit de zee, zoals schelpen, zeesterren en koraal. Die kunnen verwijzen naar de onderwaterwereld waar de zon volgende de Azteken ’s nachts doorheen reisde. De rode lepelaar – een vogel uit de familie van de flamingo’s – die gevonden is, wordt dan weer geassocieerd met heersers en krijgers en zou hun geest voorstellen in hun tocht naar de onderwereld.

Broers

Tientallen jaren na de verovering van Mexico, brachten enkele geschiedschrijvers verslag uit van de begrafenisrites van drie Azteekse heersers: drie broers die heersten van 1469 tot 1502. Volgens die verslagen werden hun gecremeerde resten neergelegd op of vlakbij het cirkelvormige platform aan de tempel, voorzien van rijkelijke offergaven en de harten van geofferde slaven.

13 jaar geleden werd vlakbij het platform een gigantische monoliet gevonden van een aardgodin. Daarop stond een inscriptie die overeenkwam met het jaar 1502, het jaar waarin de jongste broer en machtigste heerser die de Azteken ooit kenden – Ahuitzotl – stierf. (lees hieronder verder)

 REUTERS 

De kleine jongen die aangekleed werd als Azteekse oorlogs- en zonnegod, met een jaden ketting en vleugels van havikbeenderen.

 REUTERS 

De schedel van de geofferde jongen.

Volgens Elizabeth Boone – een expert in het oude Mexico aan Tulane University in New Orleans – zou de dood van Ahuitzotl gepaard gegaan zijn met een grootse begrafenis en zou de jaguar de koning kunnen voorstellen als onbevreesd krijger. “Hij kan goed in die stenen kist begraven liggen”, klinkt het.

De offergaven werpen ook een blik op hoe mobiel de Azteken waren. Ze zouden een beschaving van krijgers geweest zijn die naburige koninkrijken binnenvielen en onderwierpen, een beetje zoals de Spartanen in het oude Griekenland. Zo kwamen de zeesterren bijvoorbeeld uit de Stille Oceaan, terwijl het jade van Centraal-Amerika afkomstig was, ter hoogte van het huidige Honduras.

Budget

Verwacht wordt dat de opgravingen nog zeker enkele maanden zullen duren. De wetenschappers zullen het daarbij niet makkelijk krijgen, want de nieuwe regering van Mexico heeft het budget van het project met 20 procent verminderd voor dit jaar, dixit de archeologen. Bijna iedereen van het 25-koppige team is al niet meer betaald sinds december.

 REUTERS

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

25-03-2019 om 22:07 geschreven door peter  

DE LIJST MET BUITENAARDSE OFFICIEREN ( VIDEO )

Hoeveel bewijs is er nog nodig, voordat men in mainstream land gaat toegeven dat er buitenaards leven is (geweest) op Mars en andere locaties. 

De lijst met buitenaardse officieren van NASA met bijbehorende ruimteschepen bewijst dat wij maar met een fractie  bekend zijn met wat er werkelijk in de ruimte gebeurt.

Het beste bewijsmateriaal voor leven op Mars is nog altijd afkomstig van NASA. 

Soms is het even gemakkelijk te ontdekken, omdat een gecrasht ruimteschip meestal niet altijd mooi aan de oppervlakte ligt, maar gedeeltelijk begraven. 

Maar, voor ervaren ufologen zoals Scott Waring, is het mogelijk om deze objecten op te sporen op de foto’s van NASA en het object op de foto voor een deel scherper zichtbaar te maken. 

Het begint met een foto van één van de Rovers die er als volgt uit ziet. 

Het bekende Mars landschap, met in de verte iets dat uitsteekt boven de heuvelrand.

Wanneer we dat object wat dichterbij halen, dan krijgt het een bekende vorm.

En als Scott klaar is met het verbeteren van de foto, dan ziet het er uiteindelijk als volgt uit en zien we dat we hier te maken hebben met een klassieke of retro ufo.

En als dit nu het enige gecrashte ruimteschip op Mars zou zijn, dan zou je misschien nog kunnen twijfelen, maar er zijn in de loop der jaren meer objecten waargenomen op de rode planeet die niet anders uitgelegd kunnen worden dan als gecrashte ruimteschepen. 

In 2016 publiceerden wij de volgende opnames van een gecrasht ruimteschip op Mars.

Beelden die later viraal gingen en werden opgepikt door de wereldpers.

Een jaar later, in 2017, duikt er weer een NASA foto op waarop duidelijk een soort gecrasht ruimteschip op Mars is te zien.

Het wordt zo langzamerhand een onhoudbare zaak voor NASA om nog langer te ontkennen dat er geen tekenen van leven worden gevonden op Mars. Zoals wij eerder deze week een artikel publiceerden met daarop een object, gevonden op Mars, dat onmogelijk natuurlijk kan zijn waarmee door NASA eigenlijk al is toegegeven dat buitenaards leven bestaat. 

Bij dat alles komt natuurlijk ook ander soort bewijs zoals dat geleverd is door de Engelse hacker Gary McKinnon. We hebben eerder al uitgebreid geschreven over deze man en de zaken die  hij ontdekte.

Eén van de meest opmerkelijke dingen die Gary ontdekte was een lijst met buitenaardse officieren en schepen met namen die nergens op aarde zijn te traceren. En dat ze onvindbaar zijn is omdat het namen zijn van ruimteschepen van degeheime ruimtevloot.

Naast bovengenoemde lijsten kwam Gary ook afbeeldingen tegen. Echter, omdat dit alles plaatsvond een kleine 20 jaar geleden toen wij nog geen snel internet hadden en Gary verbinding had via een 56k modem, was het niet mogelijk om afbeeldingen van 2 mb of groter te downloaden.

De oplossing die Gary toen bedacht is om controle te nemen over een computer in de NASA gebouwen en daar op een scherm een afbeelding te downoaden. Hij was een heel eind op weg en zag wat er op stond toen iemand bij NASA in de gaten kreeg dat er iets vreemds met die computer aan de hand was omdat de muis vanzelf over het scherm bewoog en werd de verbinding verbroken.

Maar, wat Gary zag was een groot cilinder-/sigaarvormig schip dat er ongeveer uit zag als op de volgende afbeelding die is gemaakt op basis van de beschrijvingen van Gary. Deze vorm ruimteschepen komen we ook vaak tegen op aarde.

Tegenwoordig hoor je weinig meer van Gary McKinnon en daarom is het volgende interview wat Gary enkele dagen geleden deed met Richard Dolan heel bijzonder en hier is precies te horen hoe Gary te werk ging om de lijst met buitenaardse officieren te bemachtigen. 

{ http://niburu.co/ )

25-03-2019 om 18:27 geschreven door peter  

The recent spate of anomalous noises heard worldwide continues this month as residents of a small town in Michigan report hearing and even feeling a strange, unexplained hum. The hum or vibration is reportedly strong enough to rattle homes, cause glasses of water to ripple Jurassic Park-style, and even crumble the foundations of homes. What could be causing such a powerful vibration throughout Michigan?

Hopefully not a wayward Tyrannosaur.

For now, there are very few theories as to what could be causing the mysterious vibration which seems to be centered around the township of Canton, just west of the former post-apocalyptic dystopia and current mid-gentrification dystopia of Detroit. The U.S. Geological Survey has verified that there has been no seismic activity in the area which could explain the vibration or hum, leaving city officials in Canton to guess the mysterious tremor and noises could be related to either utilities, a nearby landfill, or even traffic on local highway I-275. However, Canton residents don’t buy any of those explanations and say the mysterious vibration sounds different from usual industrial noises and has been increasing in frequency and prevalence lately.

The Canton township municipal complex which includes town hall.

Longtime Canton resident Mackey Howell says in his twenty years in the township, he’s heard and felt the vibrations from local transportation arteries for years but this latest hum somehow seems different:

I’m familiar with all those sounds – the airport, the train, and (the sound) I-275 makes – this is something is very different. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced it during the daytime. Its disturbing. We’ve had pictures actually fall off the wall.

The hum has been reported since the 1970s, but many Canton residents agree with Howell that this latest iteration is anomalous and seems to be getting louder in recent weeks. Some people have even reported feeling pressure changes in their inner ears at the same time they hear and feel the mysterious vibration. Oddly enough, some North Carolina residents reported the same sensation in conjunction with good ol’ fashioned mystery booms in the area just a few weeks prior. 

I’ve been tracking and researching these anomalous, Earth-rattling noises for over two years now, and like city officials and public safety agencies everywhere, I’m at a complete loss to explain what forces or phenomena may be behind these events. Are these unknown natural occurrences, or are they caused by some man made activity? Reports of anomalous noises and mysterious booms date back centuries, but the unbelievably high number of reports lately suggests either that the phenomenon is increasing or intensity or that a new cause is afoot. What’s behind all of these anomalous noises? Is the Canton hum related in any way to more well-known hums like the Taos hum or Windsor hum?

Stay tuned.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

25-03-2019 om 18:12 geschreven door peter  

'Project Blue Book' Season 2 Possible Air Date, Plot, Other Story Details Unveiled

25-03-2019 om 14:46 geschreven door peter