PREMIUM

Beeld ter illustratie. © AP

Dit waren de vijf wetenschappelijke hoogtepunten van 2020

Nu 2021 uit de startblokken is geschoten, is het moment aangebroken om de balans op te maken van het afgelopen jaar. Wat waren dé wetenschappelijke nieuwsfeiten van 2020? Wij stelden alvast onze lijst samen.

Martijn Peters 

De niet-aflatende speurtocht naar nieuwe kennis heeft ook dit jaar ervoor gezorgd dat er weer wat minder mysteries in ons universum zijn. Op zich niets verwonderlijk, ware het niet dat een pandemie tegelijkertijd de wereld in zijn greep hield. 2020 zal de geschiedenisboeken ingaan als het jaar waarin we kennismaakten met het nieuwe coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. En dat heeft ook zijn weerslag op de wetenschap gehad.

Het jaar van SARS-CoV-2

Voor velen was 2020 het jaar waarin het normale dagelijkse leven even op pauze werd gezet. Maar in de wetenschap kwam alles in een stroomversnelling terecht. Eind 2019 hoorden we voor het eerst iets over een nieuwe mysterieuze longziekte in het tot dan toe onbekende Wuhan. Eind 2020 krijgt de 96-jarige Jos Hermans als eerste een vaccin toegediend. Een ongeziene prestatie. In een jaar waarin politieke leiders hun grenzen sloten hebben wetenschappers hun grenzen - figuurlijk - aan diggelen geslagen, wat leidde tot een imposante wereldwijde samenwerking en drastische veranderingen in de manier waarop er aan wetenschap werd gedaan.

Slechts enkele dagen na de ontdekking van de uitbraak van dit nieuwe virus werd de genetische code al ontrafeld en met de wereld gedeeld. De ellenlange administratieve processen die gepaard gaan met de publicatie van onderzoeksresultaten in een wetenschappelijk tijdschrift werden gewoon aan de kant geschoven en alles werd meteen online geplaatst. De opgedane kennis was plots voor iedereen toegankelijk en die werkwijze werd ook aangehouden gedurende de hele coronacrisis. Wat volgde was een tsunami aan informatie. Nooit eerder probeerden zoveel experten samen eenzelfde vijand te verslaan. Concurrenten sloegen plots de handen in elkaar. De wetenschappelijke wereld kwam samen zoals nooit tevoren.

Enkele maanden gevuld met wetenschappelijke innovaties en het verleggen van grenzen gaven ons meerdere kandidaat-vaccins. Die werden niet alleen ontwikkeld met een snelheid die die van het licht leek te benaderen, maar ook aan een verbazingwekkend tempo onderworpen aan klinische testen. En dat alles zonder in te boeten aan kwaliteit. Het ultieme bewijs dat als er genoeg geld en hersenen - met de goedkeuring van regeringen, industrie, academie,... - tegen een probleem worden aangegooid, er héél veel mogelijk is. In dit geval leidde deze revolutionaire wereldwijde inspanning tot de snelste ontwikkeling van een vaccin ooit (een record dat tot 2020 toebehoorde aan het bof-vaccin dat in 4 jaar het daglicht zag). Dankzij die historische gebeurtenis krijgen we nu stilaan, spuitje per spuitje, ons leven terug.

CRISPR-Cas9 in de praktijk

Het mag dan misschien lijken alsof het gisteren was, maar de ontdekking van CRISPR-Cas9 vond ondertussen al bijna een decennium geleden plaats. Toch haalt deze revolutionaire techniek waarmee snel en goedkoop veranderingen aangebracht worden in het DNA van om het even welk organisme nog jaarlijks het nieuws, ook in 2020. Zo ging de Nobelprijs voor Scheikunde dit jaar naar de ontdekkers van de DNA-schaar, Emmanuelle Charpentier en Jennifer Doudna.

Maar daar bleef het niet bij. Er werd ook aangetoond dat de techniek kan ingezet worden om gewassen te verbeteren zonder dat er sprake is van genetisch gemodificeerde organismen. Hierdoor kan men planten voorzien van gunstige eigenschappen, zoals een verhoogde weerbaarheid tegen droogte en insecten of een verhoogde opbrengst, zonder al de vooroordelen. En CRISPR-Cas9 vindt ook steeds vaker zijn weg naar de ziekenhuizen. De resultaten van verschillende wetenschappelijke studies werden in 2020 bekendgemaakt waarin de techniek gebruikt werd tegen aandoeningen zoals kanker, sikkelcelziekte en een overerfbare vorm van blindheid.

Tot slot vond, niet geheel onverwacht tijdens deze pandemie, de techniek ook zijn weg terug naar zijn originele toepassing: het vernietigen van virussen. De inspiratie voor de DNA-schaar kwam namelijk van het eeuwenoude afweersysteem van bacteriën die het gebruikten om virussen onschadelijk te maken door in hun genetisch materiaal te knippen. Verschillende onderzoeksgroepen zijn nu op zoek naar het antwoord op de vraag of de revolutionaire techniek ook gebruikt kan worden om ons lichaam tegen virale indringers te beschermen.

Dit zijn nog maar de eerste stappen die wetenschappers zetten als het op de mogelijkheden van CRISPR-Cas9 aankomt. Allicht zullen we in de komende jaren er nog veel horen en zal de impact op onze levens ongetwijfeld groot zijn.

Artificiële intelligentie in de bres voor onze gezondheid

Tesla-oprichter Elon Musk mag dan beginnen huiveren als het over artificiële intelligentie (AI) gaat, de wetenschappers van Google’s Deepmind onderzoeksgroep hebben in 2020 meermaals bewezen dat AI zeker ook zijn nut heeft. In de afgelopen jaren lieten zij al zien dat het ingezet kan worden om een niertrauma maar liefst 48 uur vroeger te detecteren en voor een betere analyse van onze genetische samenstelling. Dit jaar werd die lijst nog wat uitgebreid. Een door hen ontwikkelde AI zorgde voor een verbetering in het opsporen van borstkanker bij mammografieën.

Maar hun grootste verwezenlijking was het oplossen van een raadsel waar biologen al een halve eeuw hun tanden op stuk bijten: het eiwit-vouwprobleem. Eiwitten hebben verschillende functies in ons lichaam. Het zijn bouwstoffen, ze spelen een rol bij onze afweer en ze maken verschillende processen mogelijk. Dit biologisch molecuul bestaat uit een ketting van bouwstenen, genaamd aminozuren, die zich vervolgens opvouwt tot een 3D structuur. Tot nu toe hadden wetenschappers er het raden naar hoe de volgorde van die bouwstenen de uiteindelijke opvouwing en 3D-structuur van een eiwit bepaalt. Maar dat was buiten het nieuwe AI-systeem, AlphaFold, van Deepmind gerekend. Het kan namelijk dit soort voorspellingen maken én dat in slechts enkele dagen tijd en met een lagere kostprijs dan vele andere technieken.

Deze doorbraak kan wetenschappers in de toekomst helpen om nieuwe medicijnen te ontwikkelen en ziektes beter te begrijpen. Maar niet enkel onze gezondheid heeft er voordeel bij. Synthetische eiwitten kunnen bijvoorbeeld ook gebruikt worden voor afvalverwerking (zo werd er dit jaar een eiwit gemaakt dat plastic kan afbreken), de productie van biobrandstof en in de landbouw. Voorlopig dus nog geen ‘Terminator’-toestanden, maar wel een dikke hoera voor de AI.

Ruimte-exploratie schakelt een versnelling hoger

Als het hier op aarde niet meer plezant is, dan misschien wel daarbuiten. Dat moet door de hoofden van heel wat onderzoekers gespookt hebben tijdens deze pandemie, want er werden namelijk weer veel opmerkelijke ontdekkingen buiten onze atmosfeer gedaan. Zo werd niet enkel het onderzoek naar zwarte gaten van Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel en Andrea Ghez beloond met de Nobelprijs voor Natuurkunde, maar ontdekte astronomen ook een zwart gat dat zo groot was (142 keer de massa van onze zon) dat het eigenlijk niet zou mogen bestaan.

En er werd nog meer ontdekt in ons universum. Na een speurtocht van meer dan 10 jaar kwamen onderzoekers eindelijk te weten wat de oorzaak was van korte snelle radiogolven uit verre sterrenstelsels. Tal van verdachten passeerden de revue, maar in 2020 zorgde het Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment voor het verlossende antwoord. Het bleek om een magnetar te gaan, een neutronenster met een zeer krachtig magnetisch veld. Het mysterie van wie het gedaan heeft is nu opgelost, maar hoe blijft wel nog een onopgeloste vraag. Het spelletje ruimte-‘Cluedo’ gaat dus gewoon door.

Astronomen troffen in 2020 ook water aan op de maan en merkten op dat Mars zoemt. En ze maakten met behulp van de Solar Orbiter missie de dichtste foto ooit bij de zon en verzamelde materiaal van een asteroïde. Daarnaast vond ook de eerste commerciële vlucht naar het internationaal ruimtestation plaats, met dank aan SpaceX. Tot slot werd er ook nog een ‘ruimte’-ontdekking gedaan hier op aarde. Tijdens de analyse van de Murchison-meteoriet bleek dat die stukjes sterrenstof met zich meedroeg die miljarden jaren oud zijn. We hebben dus iets op onze planeet gevonden dat ouder is dan ons zonnestelsel zelf.

De natuur blijft ons verbazen

Er kan natuurlijk geen lijst zijn zonder een aantal wapenfeiten waarin de fauna en flora van onze planeet zich van hun beste kant laat zien. Dat mag u letterlijk nemen in dit geval. 2020 bleek het jaar van de lichtgevende beestjes te zijn. De meest spraakmakende was de wombat, een dier bekend voor zijn hoge aaibaarheidsfactor en vierkante stoelgang. Plaats er één onder een UV-lamp en zijn vacht licht helder op. Ook zijn vogels intelligenter dan gedacht. Sommige, zoals kraaien, zijn zelfs misschien in staat tot bewuste gedachten.

Vaak wordt er gezegd dat we meer weten over het universum rondom ons dan over wat er zich in onze eigen oceanen afspeelt. Dat werd dit jaar nog eens bevestigd toen Australische wetenschappers een torenhoog koraal ontdekte, dat met 500 meter 5 keer groter is dan het Atomium. Het was al meer dan een eeuw geleden sinds er nog zo’n vrijstaand rif ontdekt werd.

Minder vrolijk nieuws kwam er van de klimaatwetenschappers. Zo documenteerden zij vele records in 2020, waaronder het warmste decennium ooit. Het afgelopen jaar kreeg ook de titel mee van ‘meest actieve orkaanseizoen’ van de Atlantische oceaan. Tot slot zijn ze er ook in geslaagd, met behulp van heel wat wetenschappelijke vooruitgang, om de voorspellingen met betrekking tot de opwarming van de aarde door broeikasgassen nauwkeuriger te maken. Zo’n 40 jaar geleden werd dit geschat op 1,5 tot 4,5 °C indien de hoeveelheid koolstofdioxide in onze atmosfeer verder toeneemt. Dat werd nu bijgesteld naar 2,6 tot 3,9 °C. Nog meer dan voldoende voor verschroeiende hittegolven en het verdwijnen van kuststeden.

BONUS: wetenschap wordt alsmaar populairder

Wetenschap wint aan populariteit. Mensen raken steeds meer geboeid door deze wondere wereld. Dat bleek ook uit Spotify’s meest beluisterde lijsten van 2020. Zo was de populairste podcast in België van het afgelopen jaar de ‘Nerdland’-podcast. Daarin geven een hele hoop enthousiastelingen onder leiding van Lieven Scheire elke maand een overzicht van het wetenschapsnieuws dat je zeker niet mag missen. Een aanrader voor 2021 als entertainende discussies over wetenschap iets voor jou zijn.

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

07-01-2021 om 21:12 geschreven door peter  

If you’re one of those who believes that Area 51 is hiding secret and possibly extraterrestrial  aircrafts, this story is for you. If you’re not, you may be after seeing and hearing what an experienced private pilot and aerial photographer with thousands of photos of the base found in a recent picture. Would you believe an unusually long triangular craft that may have been hastily pulled into an equally unusual hangar known as a scoot-and-hide shelter? One that caught the eye not just of the usual tabloids but also experienced Area 51 and military aircraft watchers?

“One of the large hangars south of the main complex appears to have open doors. It is hard to determine what, if anything is inside due to the distance from Zeifman’s plane.”

That’s the analysis from Mystery Wire, which first published the story and the pictures taken by Gabriel Zeifman on his Christmas Day flight around Area 51. Specifically, Zeifman spent a long time in the air, flying his plane past the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR), past Papoose Dry Lake, and past Groom Lake and Area 51. Most of the photos (Mystery Wire shows both individual and composites) are extremely high quality because of Zeifman’s equipment and experience. And, in case you’re wondering:

“Similar to two previous flights, Zeifman was not breaking any laws. He is a trained air traffic controller (ATC) and had permission to fly through this restricted government airspace.”

Unfortunately, the photo of the mysterious craft and hangar is of lesser quality due to distance – you didn’t expect the government to put their secret stuff where anyone could see it, did you? Many of the tabloids that subsequently reported on the photos linked them to the possibility that the U.S. government is under obligation to release UFO information within the next six months – that’s not guaranteed. And this isn’t necessarily an ET spacecraft. Fortunately, the good (and militarily experienced) folks at The Drive (Tyler Rogoway and Joseph Trevithick) did a detailed analysis of the photo. But first, they gave some background on the so-called scoot-and-hide hangar.

“The structure is not really just a hangar in the traditional sense. Scoot-and-hide shelters help conceal flying test articles from prying eyes, most notably from satellites above. This also provides a site closer to the runway where personnel can perform last-chance checks and troubleshooting, as well as arming any explosives, while the aircraft remains concealed.”

Based on that, whatever Zeifman photographed is being hidden from prying eyes. The Drive noted that it was unusual for this facility to leave its doors open, and Area 51 doesn’t normally do any test flights over the holidays. At that point, the authors did their best at detailing what it might be.

“To our eye, it looks like a very low-slung dagger-shaped object, similar to the low-observable endcaps and some test articles that have been placed atop radar cross-section (RCS) testing poles at RCS test facilities, although this one has a rise towards its rear, which one could speculate may be a cockpit. So, could this object be a similarly shaped stealthy or high-speed test article? It’s possible. If it is, it sits extremely low to the ground.”

How about an educated guess as to what it is?

“If we are to go down the rabbit hole in regards to the general shape that we think we are seeing here, at least based on the very limited photographic evidence provided, the closest thing we can find with regards to an actual known aircraft is the Martin Marietta X-24B lifting body.”

The Drive provides some excellent images of this long-and-pointy craft, which was designed in the 1950s and flew into the 1970s. Could the craft in the hangar be a hypersonic updated replacement for the X-24B? Who knows?

Kudos to Mystery Wire and The Drive, as well as Gabriel Zeifman, for giving us far more information that the government. Will it keep its promise to change in six months? We’ll wait and see.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

07-01-2021 om 20:43 geschreven door peter  

Mystery 'triangle shape' is spotted in Area 51 hangar by pilot who took 1,000 photos during Christmas Day flypast of secretive military base in Nevada

• Gabe Zeifman, a private pilot and amateur photographer, spent Christmas Day flying his Cessna 150 plane over the Nevada Test and Training Range

• The hangar is just south of the main NTTR complex at Area 51 and the object looks large, although it is unclear

• It does appear to be the only hangar that is open. 

• Zeifman, a trainer air traffic controller (ATC) has flown over the area on three separate occasions 

By DAILYMAIL.COM REPORTER

A private pilot captured stunning visuals of the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) and Area 51, showing a mysterious triangle shape inside an open hangar.

Gabe Zeifman, a private pilot and amateur photographer, spent Christmas Day flying his Cessna 150 plane over the area and snapping just over 1,000 photos. 

The hangar is just south of the main NTTR complex at Area 51 and the object looks large, although it is unclear.

It does appear to be the only hangar that is open.

The hangar is just south of the main Nevada Test and Training Range complex at Area 51 and the object looks large, although it is unclear

Gabe Zeifman, a private pilot and amateur photographer, spent Christmas day flying his Cessna 150 plane over the NTTR

Zeifman, a trainer air traffic controller (ATC, has flown over the area on three separate occasions, Mystery Wire reports.

In the videos of his flights, posted to YouTube, Zeifman can be heard getting clearance for his route over the restricted area.  

For this particular flight, Zeifman had higher quality photography gear that allowed him to capture better photos. 

For this particular flight, Zeifman had higher quality photography gear that allowed him to capture better photos

Area 51 is just one of the sensitive military facilities located within the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR), a vast military training area in Nevada's Mojave Desert

RELATED ARTICLES

• New York AG warns scammers are targeting lonely grandparents...
• Furious delivery driver walks off with customer's food...
• Death row inmate, 70, has his execution in Tennessee halted...

Area 51 is just one of the sensitive military facilities located within the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR), a vast military training area in Nevada's Mojave Desert.

Details of everything that takes place at Area 51 are classified as top secret, and the intense secrecy around the facility has led to widespread conspiracy theories that it is used to store captured or crashed UFOs.

What is officially acknowledged is that Area 51 was founded by the CIA in 1955 as a testing facility for the secretive U-2 spy plane, and that it has likely been used ever since to test highly classified and experimental aircraft.

As for any national security implications of sharing the images, it is worth noting that Russia can and does fly directly over Area 51 with sophisticated reconnaissance planes under the Open Skies Treaty. 

A composite of several of the photos taken by Zeifman

What is officially acknowledged is that Area 51 was founded by the CIA in 1955 as a testing facility for the secretive U-2 spy plane 

In the videos of his flights, posted to YouTube, Zeifman can be heard getting clearance for his route over the restricted area

• www.mysterywire....

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

07-01-2021 om 20:40 geschreven door peter  

Laura Eisenhower: Amazing ET Disclosures, Starseed Mission & Val Thor!

ABOUT BOOK ~ This is the ultimate field guide to the 82 extraterrestrial species that populate the universe. ET enthusiast Craig Campobasso explores the origins, physical characteristics, technological and consciousness abilities, dimensional capacities, belief systems, and cosmic agendas of each of the species.

The species fall into two categories:

•  1. benevolent races, which function as the guardians of humanity, whose goals include helping people overcome duality, healing, and

protecting;

and

• 2. malevolent races, which are responsible for abductions, cloning, and ultimately domination.

This intergalactic expose will entertain all those interested in UFOs, aliens, ETs. Sci-fi and fantasy fans of the Marvel universe; Star Trek, Star Wars, and other popular TV shows like Ancient Aliens; Roswell, and Project Blue Book are prime targets for this book that delves deep into who the real extraterrestrials are and what they want with the people of Earth. CRAIG CAMPOBASSO BIOGRAPHY Multiple award-winning filmmaker and Emmy-nominated casting director Craig Campobasso was fifteen when he started in the entertainment business.

His young acting career was off to a great start; he landed his first national commercial for McDonald’s chicken sandwich, and spoke his first line of dialogue to Tuesday Weld in a MOW. After graduating high school at age seventeen, Craig went to work behind-the-scenes on such blockbuster film classics as Frank Herbert’s Dune directed by David Lynch; and two Arnold Schwarzenegger movies Conan The Destroyer and Total Recall. He began his casting career on Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories. He received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Casting for a Series on David E. Kelley’s Picket Fences. Craig’s casting career spans three decades. Craig’s mother Marie Donna King Campobasso told him from the time she was pregnant with him, that she knew he would become a writer.

He fulfilled that prophecy when he was twenty-six, after he experienced a life-changing spiritual awakening. That’s when The Autobiography of an ExtraTerrrestrial Saga book series was born. His passion is to write stories that provoke the reader to think, to raise their consciousness, to expand their mind about Creation, while still entertaining in the Hollywood tradition. Craig directed, wrote and produced the short film Stranger at the Pentagon, which was adapted from the popular UFO book authored by the late Dr. Frank E. Stranges. After production, the short film collected accolades. In September 2014, it won Best Sci-Fi film at the Burbank International Film Festival, selling out all 275 seats—a first for the festival. In 2015, it won a Remi Award at the Worldfest Houston International Film Festival for Best Sci-Fi Short. 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗮 𝗘𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿: Laura Eisenhower is a Global Alchemist, Researcher and Medical and Intuitive Astrologist.. She is an internationally acclaimed speaker who has presented her work world wide.

Laura is the great-granddaughter of President Dwight David Eisenhower and she reveals Exopolitical information about his administration, that has been largely held in secrecy. She is considered by many to be one of North Americas leading researchers on: Health, Exopolitics, Alchemy, Metaphysics, and Galactic History. Laura works to free us from the 3-D holographic time-loop, False Archonic systems and Military Industrial Complex and exposes hidden agendas so we can take our power back.

Feeling a calling regarding her mission since she was a child, she has gained incredible insight through her wilderness adventures, psychic development and has been connecting major dots about how to guide us into higher Earth energies. She has a deep understanding of Gaia-Sophia and our Divine Blueprint and how they connect to the Venus transits, Earth grids, Global Alchemy, DNA & ET races. Her passion is to inspire unity consciousness and bring us back to the Zero point/Unified field, the totality of our divine powers.

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/ }

07-01-2021 om 18:47 geschreven door peter  

Beyond The Extraterrestrial Firewall

Steve Boucher has had experiences with non-terrestrial beings since he was a baby. The bulk of his experiences were buried in his subconscious mind for many years until he began to have brief flashes of conscious memory after reading Budd Hopkins’ book ‘Missing Time’. Steve then wrote to Budd Hopkins and informed him of the memories he was having. Budd then contacted Steve and invited him to come to New York and stay at his art studio in Manhattan for a week.

Steve accepted the invitation and during that week in 1984, he underwent 3 hypnosis sessions which revealed that he had experienced repeated visitations from short grey-skinned beings approximately 4 feet tall with large eyes and large heads.

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/ }

07-01-2021 om 18:44 geschreven door peter  

Two UFOs Enter Volcano Popocatépetl In 4 Minutes! Dec 20, 2020, UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: Dec 20, 2020
Location of sighting: Volcano Popocatepetl, Mexico

What you are looking at here is not one but two UFOs entering a volcano near Mexico City, Mexico. After the first UFO enters the mouth of the volcano, a second UFO is seen four minutes later coming from an opposite trajectory. Both entering the mouth of Popocatepetl. The odds of two meteors this big falling into the mouth of the volcano in four minutes from different directions...would be astronomical in size. You got a better chance of wining a pick six lottery than seeing such an event happen. So we know its not meteors. This is 100% proof that an alien base sits 6-8km below the volcano. A city thats over 10,000 years old. 

Scott C. Waring - Taiwan 

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

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

07-01-2021 om 18:20 geschreven door peter  

Ex-military man shares experience with highly advanced ORB – SPECIES aka UFOs

Here’s one really interesting testimony from an ex-military man and his experience with UFOs.

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

07-01-2021 om 17:32 geschreven door peter  

Let’s check the best recent UFO videos from 2021!

Year has just started but people are already experiencing some great UFO sightings!

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

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

07-01-2021 om 17:28 geschreven door peter  

NASA's new space telescope set to unravel secrets of the Big Bang

It's called SPHEREx and it's one step closer to launch.

 Mark Serrels

The Big Bang theory is a cosmological model describing how our current, observable universe came to be. But there is still much to learn about the concept, particularly when it comes to what occurred in those early microseconds after the big bang itself. What happened in that split second when our universe appeared? NASA wants to find out.

To do so, the space agency has designed a space telescope that will be able to probe the universe for evidence of those earliest moments. 

Currently bearing the extremely cool moniker SPHEREx (short for "Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer") NASA has announced it's moving along nicely with its plan to build the telescope. 

Next steps: Begin work on a final design and start to build the thing, with a view to launching between 2024 and 2025.

The SPHEREx space telescope is expected to be the size of "subcompact car" and, according to a recent NASA release, will "map the entire sky four times, creating a massive database of stars, galaxies, nebulas (clouds of gas and dust in space), and many other celestial objects."

If all goes to plan, SPHEREx will be the very first NASA mission to create a "full-sky spectroscopy map in near-infrared," observing a total of 102 near-infrared colors.

"That's like going from black-and-white images to color" explained Allen Farrington, project manager of SPHEREx.

The first priority of SPHEREx is to search for evidence of something NASA says "might have happened less than a billionth of a billionth of a second after the big bang." 

By mapping billions of galaxies across the universe NASA hopes to find statistical patterns that can help explain what happened immediately after the big bang, when the universe rapidly expanded. The newly created map will also help search for water ice and frozen organic molecules around newly forming stars. 

SPHEREx is also hoping to discover more about galaxy formation and may be able to discover how some of the first galaxies created stars. 

You can find out more about the SPHEREx mission here.

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://www.cnet.com/ }

07-01-2021 om 16:33 geschreven door peter  

Astronomers agree: Universe is nearly 14 billion years old

by Linda B. Glaser, Cornell University

From an observatory high above Chile's Atacama Desert, astronomers have taken a new look at the oldest light in the universe.

Their observations, plus a bit of cosmic geometry, suggest that the universe is 13.77 billion years old—give or take 40 million years. A Cornell University researcher co-authored one of two papers about the findings, which add a fresh twist to an ongoing debate in the astrophysics community.

The new estimate, using data gathered at the National Science Foundation's Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), matches the one provided by the standard model of the universe, as well as measurements of the same light made by the European Space Agency's Planck satellite, which measured remnants of the Big Bang from 2009 to '13.

The research was published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics.

The lead author of "The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: A Measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background Power Spectra at 98 and 150 GHz" is Steve Choi, NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, in the College of Arts and Sciences.

In 2019, a research team measuring the movements of galaxies calculated that the universe is hundreds of millions of years younger than the Planck team predicted. That discrepancy suggested a new model for the universe might be needed and sparked concerns that one of the sets of measurements might be incorrect.

"Now we've come up with an answer where Planck and ACT agree," said Simone Aiola, a researcher at the Flatiron Institute's Center for Computational Astrophysics and first author of one of two papers. "It speaks to the fact that these difficult measurements are reliable."

• New research of oldest light confirms age of the universe

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://phys.org/ }

07-01-2021 om 16:01 geschreven door peter  

White House proposes ‘Andromeda Strain’ protocols for space returns

Space germs.

 By Scott Powers

{ http://floridapolitics.com/ }

07-01-2021 om 01:11 geschreven door peter  

Researchers Uncovered a 5,000-Year-Old Crystal Dagger Buried in Spain

By Jessica Stewart 

Archeologists have discovered many tools left behind by prehistoric civilizations. Most of these are made of stone, but in Spain, researchers have found incredible weapons made of rock crystal. Dating back to at least 3000 BCE, these weapons include an incredible crystal dagger that would have taken enormous skill to carve.

The crystal weapons were discovered inside the Montelirio tholos.

Copyright: ipolca (ARTURO DEL PINO RUIZ)

The incredible find was discovered in the megalithic tomb of Montelirio tholos, which is located in southwestern Spain. This enormous site is made from large slate slabs and stretches over 143 feet. It was excavated between 2007 and 2010; five years later, researchers from the University of Granada, the University of Seville, and the Spanish Higher Research Council published their study of the crystal tools. In addition to the dagger, they found 25 arrowheads and cores for making the weapons.

According to the study, rock crystal is commonly found in late prehistoric Iberian sites but is rarely studied in depth. To understand what purpose these special weapons may have had, we must first look at the context in which they were found.

What was found in the Montelirio tholos?

A: Ontiveros arrowheads; B: Montelirio tholos arrowheads; C: Montelirio dagger blade; D: Montelirio tholos core; Montelirio knapping debris; F: Montelirio micro-blades; G: Montelirio tholos microblades.

Photograph: Miguel Angel Blanco de la Rubia.

The remains of at least 25 individuals were found within Montelirio tholos. Previous analysis has suggested that at least one male and several females died from ingesting poison. The remains of the women were seated in a circular fashion in a chamber next to the bones of whom may have been the chief.

The tombs also contained many grave goods, including “shrouds or clothes made of tens of thousands of perforated beads and decorated with amber beads,” as well as ivory objects and fragments of gold blades. The crystal arrowheads were found together in a cluster, which leads the researchers to believe that they may have been a ritual offering.

The crystal dagger blade.

© Morgado, A., et al.

And the dagger? It was found on its own in a separate chamber, “in association with an ivory hilt and sheath.” Measuring nearly 8.5 inches long, it's similar in shape to other daggers of the period. (Of course, the difference is that those daggers were made of flint and this one is formed from crystal.)

The Meaning of Crystal Weapons

Since there were no crystal mines nearby, the materials for these items would have been sourced from far afield. This contributes to the idea that they were intended for an elite few who would have been able to afford to gather such materials and have them shaped into weapons. It's also interesting to note that none of the weapons were ascribed to a single individual, but appear to have been for collective use.

“They probably represent funerary paraphernalia only accessible to the elite of this time period,” write the researchers. “On the other hand, rock crystal must have had a symbolic significance as a raw material invested with special meanings and connotations. The literature provides examples of societies in which rock crystal and quartz as raw materials symbolize vitality, magical powers, and a connection with ancestors.”

Though we can't be certain of their exact purpose, the discovery and study of these weapons continue to give a fascinating insight into the prehistoric cultures that roamed the Earth over 5,000 years ago.

h/t: [Daily Grail, Ancient Origins]

• All images via Miguel Angel Blanco de la Rubia.

Related Articles:

• 2,500-Year-Old Chinese Sword Still Looks and Cuts Like New
• 6 Incredible Facts About the Prehistoric Altamira Cave Paintings
• Legendary 1,000-Year-Old Katana Still Looks as Flawless as When It Was First Constructed
• Scientists Reconstruct Neolithic Girl ‘Lola’ From DNA Found on 5,700-Year-Old Chewing Gum

{ https://mymodernmet.com/ }

07-01-2021 om 00:40 geschreven door peter  

Liquid glass discovered as new state of matter

By Michael Irving

Or at least, that’s how it usually goes. In the new study, the researchers discovered a form of glass where the atoms exhibit a complex behavior that’s never been seen in bulk glass before. Essentially, the atoms can move but aren’t able to rotate.

The team made this discovery in a model system of colloidal suspensions. These mixtures are made up of large solid particles suspended in a fluid, making it easier for scientists to observe the physical behavior of atoms or molecules. Normally these particles are spheres, but for this experiment the team used elliptical ones so they could tell which direction they were pointing.

A diagram showing the positions and orientation of the team's elliptical particles in the liquid glass state

Research groups of Professor Andreas Zumbusch and Professor Matthias Fuchs

The researchers tested different concentrations of particles in the fluid, tracking how well they could move and rotate. Eventually they found that at higher concentrations, the particles blocked each other from rotating, but they could still move, forming a liquid glass state.

“At certain particle densities orientational motion froze whereas translational motion persisted, resulting in glassy states where the particles clustered to form local structures with similar orientation,” says Andreas Zumbusch, lead author of the study.

The team says that the observed behavior comes from two competing glass transitions interacting with each other. Liquid glass has been predicted for decades, and the new observation suggests that similar processes could be at work in other glass-forming systems.

“This is incredibly interesting from a theoretical vantage point,” says Matthias Fuchs, senior author of the study. “Our experiments provide the kind of evidence for the interplay between critical fluctuations and glassy arrest that the scientific community has been after for quite some time.”

• The research was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Source: 

• University of Konstanz

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://newatlas.com/ }

07-01-2021 om 00:17 geschreven door peter  

Using measurements taken using the SOPHIE spectrograph and the TESS exoplanet-hunting space telescope, an international team of researchers led by astronomer Nathan Hara of the University of Geneva in Switzerland were able to precisely calculate the orbits of each planet.

They're all very tight. Starting closest to the star - the super-Earth, revealed by TESS to be around twice the mass of Earth - the orbits are 2.17, 3.4, 5.2, 7.9, 12, and 17.4 days.

These produce period ratios of 1.57, 1.51, 1.53, 1.51, and 1.44 between each pair of planets. That's not quite perfect resonance - but it's close enough to classify HD 158259 as an extraordinary system.

And this, the researchers believe, is a sign that the planets orbiting the star did not form where they are now.

"Several compact systems with several planets in, or close to, resonances are known, such as TRAPPIST-1 or Kepler-80," explained astronomer Stephane Udry of the University of Geneva.

"Such systems are believed to form far from the star before migrating towards it. In this scenario, the resonances play a crucial part."

That's because these resonances are thought to result when planetary embryos in the protoplanetary disc grow and migrate inwards, away from the outer edge of the disc. This produces a chain of orbital resonance throughout the system.

Then, once the remaining gas of the disc dissipates, this can destabilise the orbital resonances - and this could be what we're seeing with HD 158259. And those tiny differences in the orbital resonances could tell us more about how this destabilisation is occurring.

"The current departure of the period ratios from 3:2 contains a wealth of information," Hara said.

"With these values on the one hand, and tidal effect models on the other hand, we could constrain the internal structure of the planets in a future study. In summary, the current state of the system gives us a window on its formation."

• The research has been published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
• A version of this article was first published in April 2020.

ALL RELATED VIDEOS, selected  and posted by peter2011

{ https://www.sciencealert.com/ }

06-01-2021 om 23:48 geschreven door peter  

2020: A year of UFO news almost too strange to believe

The Pentagon played a huge role in the release of unclassified documents

06-01-2021 om 23:26 geschreven door peter  

“Advanced” Human Societies before our Historical Records?

In this article from the UFO Conjectures site , he raises the possibility of the existence of advanced human societies prior to historical records.

Graham Hancock , the author of several best sellers, is considered a connoisseur when it comes to “advanced human societies before the one we know,” that is, the ” mother culture ” that preceded later ancient civilizations.

Although the issue of ancient civilizations and their possible technology is considered by some to be “pseudoscientific”, there are many indications that reveal a possible use of advanced technological mechanisms in the remote past.

If we eliminate the idea of aliens who came to instruct our ancestors, some of the ideas that Hancock has contributed over time remain as a result.

Graham Hancock. Credit: Cpt.Muji / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0) Official history tells us that primitive humans were not advanced enough, but when observing the megaliths, found artifacts and ancient knowledge; they seem to indicate a lack of synchronicity between what ancient man could do.

So, if we take into account the archaeological findings that show a high degree of knowledge, it can be argued that thousands of years ago civilizations were capable of performing these feats.

Various subterranean and underwater constructions may be an indication of the “forgotten knowledge” that ancient civilizations once had.

It should also be taken into account that many of the ancient advances, unrecorded by history, could have been erased by natural or environmental catastrophes, by incidents such as the fire of the Library of Alexandria (48 BC) and even by the great flood recorded in various ancient texts and may have destroyed the known world.

A simple example: Göbekli Tepe shows the remains of a society before 10,000 BC with important knowledge and present before other societies such as Sumeria.

As stated in previous paragraphs, if we replace Erich von Däniken’s alien “theories” in Chariots of the Gods with the thought of Graham Hancock, the result would be that an earlier and much more advanced humanity than we can imagine existed in the world. Land.

But what could happen to that brilliant and amazing ancient human civilization? It is a very difficult answer to give; However, as in any society that reaches a high point, problems arise: environmental, overpopulation, wars, etc.

And although we do not have an answer to this enigma, we can sketch some possibilities by observing the current scenario and complementing it with past findings. Possibly history repeats itself, the history of our civilization.

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://mysteriousthing.com/ }

06-01-2021 om 23:02 geschreven door peter  

UFO crashes aren’t something you’d think there would be that many of. After all, if aliens have come across the vast sea of stars to get here, you’d think they’d have their technology locked down, and that they would be sure that they weren’t dropping out of the sky all of the time. Yet there is a pretty surprisingly high number of such alleged incidents that show that maybe the alien vehicular safety standards are maybe not up to scratch. It seems like you hear the “(Insert country name here) Roswell” thrown around all of the time, with these crashes being both spectacular and eyebrow-raising at the same time. Here we will be looking at the more obscure “Chilean Roswell,” the time when a UFO allegedly crashed into a mountain in Chile and spawned all of the requisite tales of cover-ups and conspiracies in its aftermath.

It all supposedly began on October 7, 1998, when the normally clear, peaceful day at the small Brazilian village of Paihuano was intruded upon by an anomalous event that none of the rural residents could explain. Locals noticed up in the sky a bright, shiny orange or golden cylindrical metallic object, an estimated 50 feet across, shining brightly in the sunlight and hovering over a nearby hill called Las Mollacas. The eerie object stayed there for a time before rising and then suddenly going into a jagged, abrupt turn that saw it break into two distinct parts, with one falling near the summit of the hill and the other descending lower to smash into the trees behind it. Many people saw this happen, including the town’s own mayor, Lorenzo Torres, and the puzzled witnesses could only guess at what was going on.

It would soon turn out that the appearance and crash of the object had been orbited with other strange phenomena, such as minor earthquakes and blackouts throughout the region, which only served to exacerbate the growing panic among the rural, superstitious populous. It came to the attention of a detachment of a unit of Chilean military police called the Carabineros, who headed out to the area of the supposed crash by horseback, a journey which turned out to be quite the chore considering the steep, treacherous terrain. They would apparently reach the area where the supposed object had come down, but reported that there was nothing there, which is odd because even as they reported this over the highest security connection other military personnel were swarming to the area, with the entire village reportedly under military control within mere hours. In the meantime, a press conference was set up to comment on the event, during which they purportedly received a mysterious phone call from an official at NASA who implored them to cancel the conference until more information was known. The mayor complied by postponing the press conference, but there was no further word from the contact, or even any idea of who it actually had been.

As all of this was going on, on the very same evening of the incident, many residents complained that there was the steady drone of helicopters in the area all night long, which when witnessed appeared to be all black and unmarked. There would also be reports of military trucks headed up the hillside, and even those who claimed they saw helicopters lifting off with something very large in their possession covered with canvas. This mysterious military activity was reported from all around the village, including into neighboring areas such as of Pisco Elquí and Monte Grande, and another oddity was that local hotels and inns were suddenly deluged with foreigners who claimed to be tourists. There were also reported military police patrols who were keeping out curiosity seekers and trespassers, even resident farmers and goat herders, making it seem all very strange for what the authorities were saying was nothing.

This went on for several days, after which the military presence dispersed as quickly as they had come, to leave the villagers in their quiet peace once again. What was the meaning of all of this? What had transpired? No one knew. Some brave locals went up the hillside the next day to investigate with their own eyes, and while they found some evidence that something had disturbed the area, there was not a single shred left behind as to what it could have been. Other explorers would claim to find some strange things, such as the tire tracks of military trucks and “a large cleft, measuring some 5 meters long and some 40 centimeters deep, surrounded by boot prints and heavy vehicle tracks,” as well as stones oddly painted in what looked like aluminum. As this was going on, there were efforts being made to discredit the growing rumors that this had been a crashed ship from another world.

The nearby El Tololo astronomical observatory claimed that this was nothing more than a weather balloon that had gone down, yet there could be provided no evidence that such a balloon had ever been anywhere near the area. The Chilean Air Force totally ignored the incident and refused to even comment on it, although there was one witness who claimed he had been visited by a captain in the Chilean Air Force who had interrogated him on what he had seen that evening. Other scrambled attempts to explain the incident by the government included a down satellite or probe, a remote-controlled drone, an experimental American aircraft, or a meteor, but many of those who had actually seen it weren’t buying any of these explanations. What was going on here?

One observation made about the area itself is that not only does it have a history of UFO sightings, but it also happens to haver a rather unique soil composition that typically turns up large amounts of uranium. There was also a joint Chilean-American military exercise happening in the days around the incident, which may or may not have had had any connection to what transpired. The case has then sort of slipped into obscurity, despite its rather spectacular nickname of “The Chilean Roswell,” and we are left with a lot of questions and few answers.

RELATED VIDEOS ( portuguese and spanish ), selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

06-01-2021 om 22:38 geschreven door peter  

There are several magnificent canyons right here on Earth with the Grand Canyon in Arizona being one of the most well known. The “greatest” canyon on Earth is Yarlung Tsangpo which is located in Tibet and China. The deepest ravine on our planet is the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean which goes down approximately 36,000 feet underwater. And while these are all very impressive, the largest canyon in our entire Solar System is actually located on Mars.

The Valles Marineris stretches out almost a quarter of Mars’ circumference around its equator at over 2,500 miles long. To put this into better perspective, it is almost ten times longer than the Grand Canyon and three times deeper. In addition to being the biggest canyon in our Solar System, it is also one of the most mysterious as scientists are unsure as to how it was formed.

Valles Marineris

It is highly unlikely that the canyon was formed by billions of years of rushing water because Mars is so dry and hot. On the other hand, researchers from the European Space Agency (ESA) have stated that there is evidence that some of the canyon’s channels could have been made deeper by flowing water on the planet hundreds of millions of years ago.

According to the ESA, most of the canyon was more than likely opened up billions of years ago when a group of volcanoes called the Tharsis Montes region first formed. That region measures about 4,000 kilometers across (almost 2,500 miles), 10 kilometers in height (6.2 miles) and has 12 large volcanoes including Olympus Mons which is the largest in the Solar System. When the magma bubbled up underneath the volcanoes, the crust of the planet may have stretched, causing the ground to collapse which ultimately created the large canyon known as Valles Marineris. Additional evidence indicates that magma flows, landslides, and ancient rivers more than likely had some effect on the development of the canyon although how much is unclear.

Valles Marineris is almost ten times longer than the Grand Canyon and three times deeper.

A high-resolution camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter called HiRISE has been taking photographs of the Red Planet’s features since 2006 which includes some close-up images of the gigantic canyon. The pictures can be seen here as well as on the HiRISE website.

A close-up photo of part of Mars' Valles Marineris, the single largest canyon in the solar system.

(Image: © NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

The Tithonium Chasma (part of Mars’ Valles Marineris) is slashed with diagonal lines of sediment that could indicate ancient cycles of freezing and melting. 

(Image credit: NASA/JPL/UArizona)

Experts still have a lot more work to do in order to conclude for sure how the canyon was formed and the high-resolution photos will certainly help with their research.

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

06-01-2021 om 22:14 geschreven door peter  

Exposing the Mysteries of Antarctica... A Scientific Evaluation

Over the last 20 years there have been numerous articles, news items and lectures about the mysterious land of Antarctica. Mysteries often surface such as, strange pyramid shaped mountains, alleged secret underground bases, a gaint hole leading to inner earth, extraterrestrial facilities, ancient lost civilizations, UFO acivity, strange creatures and so on and so on. But what are the real truths behind this location.

Currently there are a few thousand people living and stationed there who rarely report anything out of the norm. So what’s going on? Do any of these mysteries really hold their weight? This channel is managed by Zohar Entertainment Group UK, Zohar Entertainment Group International Inc, USA and AdRev, USA.

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/ }

06-01-2021 om 20:43 geschreven door peter  

Asteroid Impact in Antarctica Leaves Smoldering 2 Mile Long Burn Scar!

Asteroid Impact in Antarctica leaves SMOLDERING 2 mile long BURN Scar!

We are living in very unique, changing times and during these times I have become more than intrigued by these changes and what is causing them. I’m referring to the earth changes, changes in our sun and how the earth’s atmosphere manages this what I believe to be a much different sunlight.

Over the last 10 years I have become very familiar with our planet, the mechanics of it and how it reacts to many different aspects of space weather and many other things as well. I monitor everything from the sea floor to the cosmos and everything in between. I am a full-time Watchman and as these uncertain times move forward I’ve got your back. When you really need to know…you’ll know.

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/ }

06-01-2021 om 20:31 geschreven door peter