Open a tightly-sealed bottle that’s been hiding in the back of the office refrigerator for a year and the first thing you probably notice is the smell, followed by some weird stuff growing inside. Open a tightly-sealed container that’s been hiding underground for 2 billion years and a bad smell will come as no surprise. But stuff growing inside? That’s the hope of a group of researchers who put a drop of water taken from a sealed pocket in a 2-mile-deep gold mine in South Africa under an electron microscope and saw something that could be … that looks suspiciously like … life! If it is, a lot of other people are interested in it – especially NASA, which thinks this is the same way it will find life on Mars. Will anyone really notice or care if they also find gold on Mars?

“The recent discovery of near saturated brines 3 km below land surface in the South African gold mine, Moab Khotsong (26.98 S, 26.78 E), presents an opportunity to characterize microbial life in potentially ancient brines hosted within the 3.1-2.9 Ga Witswatersrand Supergroup.”

In a presentation at the recent Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union entitled “B11K-2202 – Abiotic (Prebiotic?) Organic Chemistry in a Potentially Ancient Hypersaline Brine: New Insights on the Limits of Microbial Life Inhabiting 3.1 km Deep Fracture Fluid in South Africa,” Princeton University graduate student Devan Nisson unveiled the results of the geophysical equivalent of opening a bottle hidden for a year in the back of your refrigerator. In this case, the ‘refrigerator’ is the Moab Khotsong gold and uranium mine, located in the northern part of South Africa, which claims to have the world’s deepest mine shaft at 3,000 meters (9,800 ft). From those depths, Nisson and her fellow researchers probed deeper with boreholes and eventually hit pockets of pressurized water. Samples were taken back to Princeton, where Inside Science reports that the electron microscope showed something unexpected:

“When they examined the material under a scanning electron microscope, they saw rodlike shapes that appeared to be bacteria or similar-looking microbes called archaea. One of the cells was pinched in the middle, apparently in the process of dividing.”

Did Nisson run out of the lab like Dr. Frankenstein yelling “It’s alive!”? Not yet. She admits that the shapes could be minerals and plans DNA testing to determine if they’re animal, vegetable or mineral. The tests will also verify whether the water has been untapped for 2 billion years or if it was contaminated recently by fissures from mining. What they do know already is that a pocket at that depth contains water that is about seven times saltier than seawater and reaches temperatures of up to 129 degrees Fahrenheit – really hot and salty but still capable of supporting life. It also contains small organic acids and nitrate and sulfate ions that could feed microbes and provide energy.

That’s the same environment NASA expects to find when deep boreholes are drilled into Mars on future missions – hence its interest in what Devan Nisson found when she dug deep into the depths of Moab Khotsong and opened a 2 billion-year-old bottle of salty water. Is it life, life-lite, life-like, like Mars … or just a really deep rabbit hole? We’ll soon find out.

There has been a long debate on whether brains can be fossilized and that question may finally have an answer. Scientists claim to have discovered incredibly well preserved fossilized brains in 500-million-year-old bug-like creatures.

The inky stains were found in fossils from an arthropod called Alalcomenaeus that lived during the Cambrian period – between approximately 543 million and 490 million years ago. The bug-like creature’s exoskeleton was well preserved in addition to the soft tissue from the brain and nerves. In their study, which was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B (and can be read in full here), researchers described finding two Alalcomenaeus fossils in which the brains were still preserved.

Co-author of the study, Javier Ortega-Hernández, who is an invertebrate paleobiologist at Harvard University and curator of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, explained, “What we are dealing with in the fossil record are exceptional circumstances. This is not common — this is super, super rare.”

Alalcomenaeus had a nervous system similar to scorpions.

Paleontologists previously found one Alalcomenaeus fossil which was believed to have had preserved nervous tissue; however, there was much controversy over the discovery. But now with two more specimens, it’s pretty convincing proof that nervous tissue in arthropod fossils from the Cambrian period can indeed be fossilized. In fact, all three specimens were discovered buried in similar deposits which allowed the brain tissue to fossilize.

The two Alalcomenaeus fossils were found in the Great Basin in Utah. Ortega-Hernández and his co-authors described the fossils as having symmetrical stains that were found along its mid-line that looked like the nervous system that’s found in modern arthropods like spiders, scorpions, and horseshoe crabs. Additionally, the stains contained carbon which is an important element found in nervous tissue. “The nervous system and the gut kind of cross each other, which is really funky but common in arthropods nowadays,” Ortega-Hernández told Live Science.  Pictures can be seen here.

But not everyone is convinced that they in fact found a fossilized brain. Jianni Liu, who is a professor at the Early Life Institute in the Department of Geology at Northwest University in Xi’an, China, wrote an email to Live Science and argued that the inky stains found in the fossils could have been a “slightly random effect of the decay process” instead of being brain tissue.

Liu and her colleagues studied around 800 fossilized specimens and discovered that almost 10% of them had inky stains around the head. They found that while nervous tissue decays quite rapidly, bacteria from the gut can persist and “produce these so-called biofilms as radiating [stains] which look a bit like parts of a nervous system,” they wrote in a 2018 study.

Nicholas Strausfeld, who is a regents professor in the department of neuroscience at the University of Arizona, explained that when the creatures are buried underneath strong pressure, the remains become flattened out. And since there is a lot of fat found in nervous tissue, it repels water and “have some resistance against decay”.

There is still a lot of work and studying that needs to be done in regards to brain and nervous tissue fossilizing, but these are definitely interesting developments.

Of the many and varied documents that have surfaced under the terms of the U.S. government’s Freedom of Information Act, one of the most fascinating is a 33-pages-long report on psychic phenomena titled “Paranormal Phenomena — Briefing on a Net Assessment Study.” Written in January 1973 by P.T. Van Dyke and M.L. Juncosa (of RAND) for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), it makes for notable reading. It should be noted that over the years and decades, U.S. military- and intelligence-agencies have (A) tried to use dogs to psychically locate landmines on battlefields; (B) studied out-of-body phenomena; (C) attempted to determine if both animals and people have souls; and (D) studied the possibility of that psychic phenomena can cause heart-attacks. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. But, now, let’s get back to that “Paranormal Phenomena — Briefing on a Net Assessment Study.”

Without doubt, the most intriguing section of the document is the one that is titled Possible Military Applications. The section is split into four different parts. The first is titled “Long- and Short-Distance Information Transfer.” It states: “For a variety of reasons, including apparent violations of some basic principles of communication theory, the probability of long-distance telepathic communication being confirmed as a real phenomenon appears rather low; however, these considerations may not apply with equal force to the possibility of short-range information transfer by telepathic means (of the order of a few meters). It should be noted, though, that long-distance telepathic phenomena occupy a paramount place in modern experimental research, but that their confirmation and theoretical explanation would require a modification of known laws of physics.”

The second part goes by the heading of “Equipment Control and System Damage.” It provides the following: “It would not be conceptually difficult, for example, to imagine the utility of psychokinesis (if feasible) in disrupting the electrical systems associated with an ICBM’s guidance program.” This is particularly intriguing as,  in some ways, it ties in with some of the incredible claims that have been made concerning how, in decades past, UFOs have been able to disable ICBMs and affect nuclear-missile-launch facilities. Now, let’s move on.

Part-three has an eye-opening title: “Man-Machine Interactions.” We are told that, “These entail an application of both telepathy and psychokinesis to produce a quasi-symbiotic relationship between man and, say, computing equipment on a more intimate basis than is presently feasible.” Although I don’t buy into the story that the late Philip J. Corso presented in his 1997 book, The Day After Roswell, he certainly addressed this matter: “Were all of this to be true, could it not be argued that the silicon wafers we recovered from Roswell were the real masters and space travelers and the EBE creatures their hosts or servants? Once implanted successfully on Earth, our culture having reached a point of readiness through its development of the first digital computers, would not the natural development stream, starting from the invention of the transistor, have carried us to the point where we achieve a symbiotic relationship [italics mine] with the silicon material that carries our data and enables us to become more creative and successful?”

“Body Control and Healing” is the title of part-four. In relation to those “possible military applications,” Van Dyke and Juncosa said: “One may envision an application of both autogenic phenomena (voluntary control of the autonomic nervous system) and what is traditionally known as ‘faith healing’ to battlefield injuries. There is, in fact, some evidence that certain individuals may accelerate organic healing processes through various psychosomatic effects. The ability to resist normally intolerable conditions, such as torture or brainwashing in captivity, might be another application of these phenomena.”

The conclusions were driven by the concerns that the Soviets might have gotten ahead of the U.S. The “general conclusions” of Van Dyke and Juncosa were as follows: “Over forty years of research in the United States have failed to significantly advance our understanding of paranormal phenomena; in several areas, U.S. research is beginning to track Soviet research; there is much Soviet interest in U.S. work, especially in possible military-oriented research; visible U.S. and Soviet levels of effort appear roughly equal;  there is some evidence of Soviet government funding of certain areas of research; published information on Soviet experimental design and analysis tends to be vague and incomplete; Soviet research is much more oriented toward biological and physical theorizing than is U.S. research; if paranormal phenomena do exist, the thrust of Soviet research appears more likely to lead to explanation, control, and application than is U.S. research.

As if Elon Musk needs yet another reason for people to hate his guts, here’s one more that has nothing to do with Teslas, Mars, cave rescues, politics or the dangers of artificial intelligence. Beginning in January, Musk’s SpaceX will conduct regularly-scheduled launches of batches of 60 communications satellites at a time, with a goal of about 1500 by the end of the year, joining the two batches of 60 launched in 2019. Those two raised the ire of astronomers and star-gazers – especially the second batch which are in a low 280 km orbit and clearly visible in the night sky. (Video here and here.) If astronomers think 60 is bad and 1,500 is worse, SpaceX already has approval for a total of 12,000 satellites and has filed paperwork to launch 30,000 more. THIRTY-THOUSAND! No wonder they’re angry.

Radio telescope

Dhara Patel, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, vented disdain to the BBC. Dr. Dave Clements, an astrophysicist from Imperial College London, explained that the moving satellites will mess with telescopes that are taking large surveys of the sky, comparing it to “like someone’s walking around firing a flashbulb every now and again.” The bright lights will also hide anything and everything behind them “whether that’s a nearby potentially hazardous asteroid or the most distant Quasar in the Universe.”

Musk’s mayhem in the midnight sky is already causing problems for ufologists. On December 23rd, a number of people in northern Italy reported seeing a line of at least 25 UFOs. Dr. Jen Golbeck of the Italian astronomical observatory actually sounded excited when she tweeted the explanation for the UFOs:

@jengolbeck
If you saw a row of UFO like lights in the sky in IL, IA, MI (like this but spaced out), that was SpaceX Starlink Satellites! You’ll be able to see them in the next few days, too!
Check here for a map (and set the time back to see their track today)
https://t.co/wtkU9xSFY9

This still sucks.

Who will win this fight for the skies? SpaceX claims it is working on a special coating to make the satellites less reflective, although less is still more when you’re talking 42,000 satellites. The UK company OneWeb is looking to put as many as 2,000 satellites in orbit. While touting its work with astronomers to minimize their influence on the skies, Ruth Pritchard-Kelly, vice president of OneWeb, may have given the best answer to the “Who will win?” question:

“There is no question that the entire world is entitled to be connected to the internet…. So it’s going to happen. And probably three or four of these systems are going to happen.”

So … it’s going to happen. Perhaps Musk can make peace with astronomers by giving them and their telescopes a free trip to nearly-satellite-free Mars.

Archaeologists found an ancient Mayan palace that was probably used by elite members of society over 1,000 years ago. The palace was discovered in the ancient city of Kuluba which is not far from Cancun, Mexico.

The large structure was found in the eastern part of the Kuluba archaeological zone which is a pre-Hispanic site located in the Yucatán state. Excavations at the site revealed the large palace that measured 180 feet long by 50 feet wide and 20 feet in height. According to the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), it was inhabited by locals during two lengthy time periods between 600 and 1050 A.D.

In addition to the palace, four other structures were discovered. They found an altar, remains of two residential buildings, and a round shaped structure which they think was an oven. There is still much more work that needs to be done, though. “This work is the beginning, we’ve barely began uncovering one of the most voluminous structures on the site,” archaeologist Alfredo Barrera said in a video statement.

Chichen Itza

According to the INAH, conservationists are looking to reforest certain parts of Kuluba in order to protect the site against sun and wind damage.

The ancient city of Kuluba had very important connections with other Maya cities like Ek’ Balam and Chichen Itza as it was part of their network of trade and territory.

The Mayan civilization prospered in Central America for approximately 3,000 years – reaching their peak between 250 and 900 A.D. Today, their descendants still live throughout different Maya areas. The Mayans created very advanced architecture and art in addition to having the only completely developed written language in that area during that time.

Mayan calendar

They are also famously known for their astronomical and mathematical systems. In fact, they had extensive knowledge of the stars and relied on astrological cycles in order to figure out when to plant their crops. It is believed that they even built their cities to coincide with the stars. The pyramid at Chichen Itza, for example, was constructed in accordance to the position of the sun during the spring and fall equinoxes. When the sun sets on those two days, the pyramid casts a shadow upon itself which aligns perfectly with the head carving of the Mayan’s serpent god. The serpent’s body is created by the shadow which makes it look as though it’s crawling towards the ground during the setting of the sun.

This new discovery of a Mayan palace is just one of the many astonishing remains that have been found throughout the years created by an incredibly fascinating civilization. Pictures of the palace can be seen here.

It looks like Russian President Vladimir Putin got what he wanted from Santa for Christmas – a working hypersonic missile that can travel at up to 27 times the speed of sound. At that speed (33339.6 km/h or 20716.3 mph), which arrived on Putin’s roof first – Santa or the missile?

“The Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Army General Sergei Shoigu, reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin on setting up on December 27 from 10:00 on combat duty the first missile regiment armed with the latest strategic missile system with the Avangard hypersonic planning winged warhead.”

Interfax reports that the first Avangard missile is in the Yasnensky Missile Division, which is deployed in the Orenburg region at the southern end of the Ural Mountains in southwestern Russia. That’s very close to Europe, although its range is likely to be farther than that. The Moscow Times reports that the Avangard was tested in December 2018 and hit a practice target 6,000 km (3,728 miles) away. But the Avangard is much more than just the world’s fastest missile. It’s a ‘boost-glide’ system, which means it’s launched like a ballistic missile but then quickly re-enters the atmosphere at a lower trajectory and glides unpowered for thousands of kilometers.

It was there a blink of an eye ago.

But wait … there’s more!

“It is not so much the speed of the hypersonic weapon alone that counts. It is its extraordinary maneuverability as it glides towards its target. This poses a huge problem for existing anti-missile defense systems. Indeed the glide vehicle’s trajectory, “surfing along the edge of the atmosphere” as one expert put it to me recently, presents any defensive system with additional problems. Thus, if Russia’s claims are true, it has developed a long-range intercontinental missile system that may well be impossible to defend against.”

Jonathon Marcus, the BBC’s defence correspondent says the Avangard could put Russia ahead of both China and the U.S. in this technology. As Vladimir Putin himself put it:

“Not a single country possesses hypersonic weapons, let alone continental-range hypersonic weapons. The West and other nations were “playing catch-up with us.”

Being the nice guy that he is, Putin allowed a team of U.S. inspectors to see a demonstration of the Avangard as part of transparency measures under the New START nuclear arms treaty with the U.S., which is up for renewal in 2021. According to Aljazeera, U.S. defense secretary Mark Esper says the Pentagon is working on the development of hypersonic weapons but it will be “probably a matter of a couple of years” before one is tested – after the New START treaty is renewed … or not renewed.

Say it again — who’s Number 1?

What does Russia’s deployment of the Avangard mean? Jonathon Marcus puts it bluntly.

“With a whole new generation of nuclear weapons at the threshold of entering service, many believe not just that existing agreements should be bolstered, but that new treaties are needed to manage what could turn into a new nuclear arms race.”

Merry Christmas from your pal Vladimir.