AI Finds New Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA Mutations in Human Genome

Scientists affiliated with the GLOBE Institute’s GeoGenetics Centre at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark have created an Artificial Intelligence program that is helping them identify ancient mutations in the human genome. As they explain in an article in the online journal eLife, they are using this program to find out more about the genetic materials modern humans inherited from archaic hominin species, particularly noting the DNA inherited from our long-extinct cousins the Neanderthals and the Denisovans.

The scientists use the term “adaptive introgression” to describe this type of cross-species inheritance. Introgression refers to the process by which outside genetic material is absorbed into the human genome, while adaptive refers to the evolutionary advantage humans gain from possessing such material.

This new AI program is uniquely suited for identifying instances of adaptive introgression. In the years ahead, it may dramatically expand our knowledge about the relationships that were formed between ancient Homo sapiens (modern humans) and their nearest living relatives.

Early human migrations from Africa and onwards across planet Earth, measured in thousands of years ago (kya), included Homo sapiens, Neanderthals and Denisovans. And now we know the modern human genome, as a result of hominin species interbreeding, has a lot of genetic material from Neanderthals.

( designua / Adobe Stock)

The Human Genome: Early Human Migrations and Interbreeding

When humans migrated from Africa to Europe, Asia, and beyond more than 60,000 years ago, they met the Neanderthals, who were already living in those areas. Moving eastward they eventually encountered the mysterious Denisovans, who resided in what is now southern and eastern Asia and in Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, and the nearby islands of Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia).

• Do You Have a Low Pain Threshold? Blame Your Neanderthal Genes
• AI Bot Will Sniff Out Historic Smells to Recreate Ancient Smellscapes

While these were separate species, they were closely related to Homo sapiens , close enough to make interbreeding possible. Neanderthals and Denisovans went extinct tens of thousands of years ago, but at least some of their genetic material has survived inside human DNA because of the interactions that took place in prehistoric times.

Only a few traces of Denisovan DNA are likely to be found in the collective human gene pool. But scientists believe that up to 40 percent of Neanderthal DNA may have survived inside the genomes of humans. It is widely spread out, meaning that Neanderthal DNA makes up no more than two percent of any individual’s total genetic material.

An image of the DNA helix that hints at the powers of AI or deep learning methods in learning more about the evolution of the human genome.

( Siarhei / Adobe Stock)

Deep Learning AI Insights Into the Human Genome

Those 40 percent and two percent figures are estimates, not precise measurements. Scientists don’t know for certain exactly how much Neanderthal or Denisovan DNA human beings have inherited, or how it might be distributed ethnically or geographically. They also aren’t sure where all of it is located inside the human genome. Most importantly, they still aren’t sure which functions it performs. These are the issues the GLOBE Institute scientists are trying to remedy.

"We developed a deep learning method called 'genomatnn' that jointly models introgression, which is the transfer of genetic information between species, and natural selection,” Fernando Racimo, a GeoGenetics Centre geneticist and the co-author of the eLife paper, told the author of a University of Copenhagen article about this new study. “The model was developed in order to identify regions in the human genome where this introgression could have happened."

“Deep learning” is a general form of artificial intelligence (AI). The specific form of AI applied in this case is known as a convolutional neural network (CNN), which is a type of deep learning program used for image recognition .

In this experiment, the researchers ran hundreds of thousands of simulations as a way to teach the CNN to identify patterns in genomes that would be created by adaptive introgression. The AI network was specially trained to spot mutations traceable to interactions with Neanderthals or Denisovans.

“Our method is highly accurate and outcompetes previous approaches in power,” Racimo said. “We applied it to various human genomic datasets and found several candidate beneficial gene variants that were introduced into the human gene pool.”

DNA sequences in colored letters on a black background containing the word "mutation." Based on the recent AI study of the human genome at the University of Copenhagen, researchers are now focusing on mutations more and more to understand the evolution of the modern human genome.

( Catalin / Adobe Stock)

Twists and Turns in Our Genetic Roadmap

So far, some of what the scientists have discovered confirms existing theories about where Neanderthal DNA could be found. But in the process they uncovered some new and surprising information as well.

“We recovered previously identified candidates for adaptive introgression in modern humans, as well as several candidates which have not previously been described,” said GeoGenetics Centre researcher Graham Gower, the lead author of the eLife article.

Some of the newly discovered candidates involve mutations that impact human metabolism and immunity system functioning.

“In European genomes, we found two strong candidates for adaptive introgression from Neanderthals in regions of the genome that affect phenotypes related to blood, including blood cell counts,” Gower explained. “In Melanesian genomes, we found candidate variants introgressed from Denisovans that potentially affected a wide range of traits, such as blood-related diseases, tumor suppression, skin development, metabolism, and various neurological diseases.”

Gower is quick to point out that these are preliminary findings. As of now, the scientists aren’t completely sure what impact these mutations might have on those who carry them. They might cause positive responses, negative outcomes, or have no significant effect at all.

In general, scientists assume that when mutations last for tens of thousands of years, they will do so because they are in some way beneficial. Humans who interbred with their archaic cousins likely improved the gene pool overall, adding new genetic material from species that had been surviving in environments that were relatively new to African-born Homo sapiens .

A Neanderthal skull (left) next to a Homo sapiens skull. Though the skulls are very different, it turns out that the modern human genome is almost 40% related to interbreeding and mutations related to Neanderthals.

( procy_ab / Adobe Stock)

Finding Prehistoric Facts with Future Technologies

As their study continues, the University of Copenhagen researchers hope to learn more about the actual effects of the mutations they’ve found (and those they’ve yet to find, but soon will) in the human genome.

• Inbred Neanderthals Left Humans with a Genetic Burden
• Google AI Decodes Broken Greek Texts Better than Humans

Also, they plan to work backward from the mutations to trace the histories of the ancient people who introduced them into the gene pool. By studying which mutations developed in which population groups, they may be able to determine where Neanderthal, Denisovan, and Homo sapiens interactions occurred in the distant past, and where they were the most extensive.

This type of knowledge will give anthropologists, evolutionary biologists, and archaeologists a better idea about where fossilized remains of various species might be found, along with any artifacts they might have created and left behind. 

• Top image: A drawing of a Neanderthal man looking to the horizon and wondering if he will meet another "human" and, if so a human woman. The human genome it turns out has a lot of Neanderthal genes and now a Danish AI program is proving it.               
• Source: ginettigino / Adobe Stock

By Nathan Falde

{ https://www.ancient-origins.net/ }

29-06-2021 om 00:27 geschreven door peter  

Aliens May Already Have Discovered Us

Our planet’s shadow against the Sun could have been seen from thousands of nearby solar systems.

Usually it’s we who are searching for planets outside our own Solar System. Lisa Kaltenegger from the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University and Jackie Faherty from the American Museum of Natural History in New York looked at it the other way around. Assuming aliens have the same level of technology that we do, would they be able to detect us?

To try to answer that question, the authors consulted a huge data set of precise star positions, from the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission. Taking into account the past, present, and future locations of stars and changing viewing geometry, they determined how many star systems would be in position for observers to see Earth transiting in front of the Sun—an important technique for deducing the presence of life. Their analysis identified 1,715 stars within 100 parsecs (about 326 light years) from the Sun that were in the right position to have spotted life over the past 5,000 years, with an additional 319 stars entering this special vantage point in the next 5,000 years.

Most of these stars can be assumed to host planets, many of which could be in the habitable zone, and perhaps could even be Earthlike. The authors estimate that 29 potentially habitable worlds might exist within 100 light years from us. All of them would, in theory, be able to detect radio signals from our planet, which we started to send out about 100 years ago.

We already know that some of the stars in this sample have exoplanets, including the Ross 128 system, the Teegarden’s star system, and the Trappist-1 system, with an astounding seven terrestrial-size exoplanets. Ross128 is only about 11 light years away, and is the 13^th closest system to ours. From there, an Earth transit would have been observable for 2,158 years, up until 900 years ago. From the Teegarden’s star system we are currently not observable, but we will be starting in 2050, for another 410 years.

Life has existed on our planet for four billon years, and widespread oxygen-breathing life has been here since the Great Oxidation Event about 2.6 billion years ago. So, in principle, many more star systems could have detected life on our planet before humans came along by analyzing the gases in our atmosphere during transit events. And even within our cosmic neighborhood, a substantial number of alien civilizations could have been watching as life evolved on Earth.

In the end, all such speculations come down to the prevalence of life in the Universe. Based on some estimates, life—and perhaps even complex life—could certainly exist on some of the planets that have been swept by radio signals from Earth or may have seen our planet transiting against the Sun. Whether intelligent, technologically advanced life exists on these worlds is much more questionable. But it remains a possibility.

{ https://www.airspacemag.com/ }

29-06-2021 om 00:10 geschreven door peter  

RUSSIA AND CHINA ARE RACING TO BEAT NASA BACK TO THE MOON

A new space race is now underway.

IN THE COMING YEARS, MULTIPLE SPACE AGENCIES will be sending astronauts to the Moon for the first time since the closing days of the Apollo Program.

For NASA, this will represent the long-awaited “return to the Moon,” while every other space agency will see it as a tremendous step for their space programs.

One thing they all have in common is that this time around, the goal is to build the necessary infrastructure that will allow for a long-term human presence.

However, amid all the excitement of this approaching moment in history are concerns about the lack of an international framework that will ensure our efforts are for the sake of “for all humankind.”

Whereas NASA is seeking partners for its Artemis Program through bilateral agreements, Russia and China are pursuing an agreement of their own. They call it the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), and they too are looking for partners in this endeavor.

The detailed plan for the ILRS was made public with the release of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) Guide for Partnership, a document prepared by the China National Space Agency (CNSA) on June 16.

As the first volume in what is clearly an evolving mission architecture, the Guide lays out the purpose and intent of the Sino-Russian agreement and establishes a roadmap and a timeline for the ILRS’ development.

According to the Guide, the ILRS represents a merger of Russia and China’s plans for lunar exploration, something that has been in the works for many years.

• In 2019, the two countries signed bilateral agreements to establish a common data center for lunar and deep-space exploration.
• They also agreed to cooperate with their respective Chang’e 7 and Luna 26, both of which will explore the Moon’s South Pole-Aitken Basin in 2024.

As is stated in the Preface to the Guide:

“Considering the fruitful experience from the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation in the areas of space technology, space science and space application, China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the State Space Corporation “Roscosmos” (ROSCOSMOS) jointly initiated the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) based on their [respective] existing lunar exploration plan.

“The most efficient and productive investigation, exploration and use of the Moon can be achieved only in a broad international partnership with an attraction of other countries, international organizations and international partners. CNSA and Roscosmos jointly invite all interesting international partners to cooperate and contribute more for the peaceful exploration and use of Moon in the interests of all humankind, adhering to the principles of equality, openness and integrity.”

In this respect, the Guide constitutes the official reply of China and Russia to the Artemis Accords, the series of bilateral agreements designed to establish common principles for lunar exploration.

The Accords are grounded in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, the historic charter that established that “the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind.”

To date, twelve countries have signed the Accords:

1. the United States
2. the United Kingdom
3. Canada
4. Australia
5. New Zealand
6. Italy
7. Japan
8. Luxembourg
9. South Korea
10. Ukraine
11. the United Arab Emirates
12. Brazil

However, when the Accords were first announced in May of 2020, Roscosmos director-general Dmitry Rogozin stated they were “US-centric” and strayed too far from the framework for the ISS. As such, Russia would not participate.

The following October, during the International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Rogozin went on to say:

“The most important thing here would be to base this program on the principles of international cooperation that we’ve all used. If we could get back to considering making these principles as the foundation of the program, then Roscosmos could also consider its participation.”

On March 3^rd, 2021, Russian and China made it clear they intended to follow when they announced that they would be partnering to create an ILRS, which they described as “a comprehensive scientific experiment base with the capability of long-term autonomous operation, built on the lunar surface and/or on the lunar orbit.” With the release of the Guide, Russia and China have made the details of their plan public for the first time.

Similar to the Artemis Program, the ILRS calls for the creation of multiple facilities to enable long-term missions to the lunar surface. For Artemis, one of the most vital components is the Lunar Gateway, an orbital habitat that will provide a dock for the Orion spacecraft.

The next is the Human Landing System (HLS), a reusable lunar lander that will carry astronauts to and from the surface. Last, there is the Artemis Base Camp that will support the long-term exploration of the surface.

China and Russia have a similar idea in mind for the ILRS, which is defined thusly in the Guide. [Note: some corrections appear in brackets due to translation issues]:

“[The] ILRS is a complex experimental research [facility] to be constructed with [the] possible [involvement] of partners on the surface and/or in orbit of the Moon. [It is] designed for multi-discipline and multi-purpose scientific research activities, including exploration and use of the Moon, moon-based observation, fundamental research experiments[,] and technology verification, with the capability of long-term unmanned operations with the prospect of subsequent human presence.”

According to the design, five facilities will make up the ILRS, starting with the Cislunar Transportation Facility (CLF) — an orbital station that mirrors the purpose of the Gateway.

The second is the Support Facility on a lunar surface (similar to the Artemis Base Camp) that will include a command center, a global Telemetry, Tracking, and Command (TT&C) network, an energy supply system, a thermal management system, and various support modules.

The third is the Lunar Transportation and Operation Facility (LTOF), where lunar vehicles will be stowed and maintained when not in use. This will include transporting cargo to other facilities, conducting exploration missions on the surface, or missions to explore the interior of stable lava tubes.

The fourth is the Lunar Scientific Facility, which will support lunar science operations on the surface, in-orbit, or in deep space.

The fifth and final facility mentioned is the Ground Support and Application Facility (GSAF), which is intended to offer operational support to communications and missions. It will also serve as a data center for lunar and deep-space missions, which China and Russia previously agreed to establish as part of their joint lunar efforts.

TIMELINE & OBJECTIVES — Overall, the Guide lays out the eight objectives for the ILRA, which are similar to what NASA hopes to accomplish with the Artemis Program. They include the characterization of lunar topography, geomorphology, and the geological structure of the surface.

In addition, the joint Chinese-Russian program will seek to characterize the physics and chemistry of lunar materials and the body’s internal structure to get a better understanding of its geological record.

Beyond that, the IRLS will serve as a base for conducting lunar astronomy and Earth observation, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), and vital biological and medical researcher.

These objectives and the development of the ILRS itself are to be met during a three-phase process that will unfold between today and 2035. These include the Reconnaissance, Construction, and Utilization phase, and each incorporates future missions into their planning.

PHASE I — RECONNAISSANCE (2021 TO 2025)

This is currently underway and is expected to last until mid-decade. The objectives in this phase include exploring the South Pole-Aitken Basin for potential sites for the ILRS, as well as refining the design of the base itself.

Another important objective is the verification of technologies that will allow for precise soft landings in the southern polar region. Past and future missions that will (have) contributed are also indicated.

On the Chinese side, these include the Chang’e-4, Chang’e-6, and Chang’e-7 missions. The Chang’e-4 mission, which arrived on the Moon in 2018 and is still operational, consists of the Chang’e Lander, the Yutu 2 (Jade Rabbit 2) rover, and the Queqiao relay satellite. The missions will be launched sometime in 2023/2024 and will return samples from the Moon’s southern polar region and scout out locations for a base.

On the Russian side, missions related to the ILRS include the Luna-25, Luna-26, and Luna-27, consisting of two landers and one orbiter (Luna 26). These missions will launch beginning in October 2021 (Luna-25), followed by the second and third in 2024 and August 2025 (respectively). If all goes well, China and Russian will be able to begin the next phase of operations by the middle of this decade.

PHASE II — CONSTRUCTION (2025 TO 2030)

At this point, one of the main goals will be the verification of technologies related to the command center of the ILRS. Similarly, the samples obtained by the Chang’e-6 and Chang’e-7 missions will be returned to Earth for analysis, which will give mission planners a better idea of where the safest and richest resource environment can be found. This will be followed by the delivery of massive amounts of cargo to build the base and the commencement of joint operations.

Missions of note in this phase include China’s Chang’e-8 mission that will launch by 2027. This mission will test technologies like 3D regolith printing and others necessary for the construction of the ILRS. Russia will also be sending its Luna-28 mission that year, a sample return mission that (like Chang’e 6 and 7) will obtain regolith from the southern polar region to determine its composition and the presence of resources.

PHASE III — UTILIZATION (2030 TO 2035)

This final phase will involve the completion of all in-orbit and surface facilities that provide energy, communication, research, exploration, and transport services. It will also involve the verification of all ISRU-related and other potential technologies. Once the ILRS is complete, China and Russia hope to maintain and expand it as needed. This phase will involve five jointly-developed IRLS missions to establish the base architecture:

• IRLS-1: establishment of the command center, basic energy, and telecommunications facilities
• IRLS-2: establishment of lunar research exploration facilities (sample collection, lunar physics, geology, lava tubes)
• IRLS-3: establishment of lunar ISRU technology verification facilities
• IRLS-4: verification of general technologies like biomedical experiments, sample collection, and return
• IRLS-5: establishment of lunar-based astronomy and Earth observation facilities

PARTNERSHIPS — The Guide also establishes that partner organizations will have the opportunity to conduct their own missions as part of each phase.

Those missions are to conform to the objectives of each phase in question, with possible roles ranging from assisting with exploration to the construction of necessary infrastructure in orbit and on the surface, and the creation of base facilities. As it is summarized in the Guide:

“All Partners are encouraged to join ILRS project based on their own situation. Any Partner willing to contribute to the ILRS, through a jointly coordinated negotiation with China and Russia, can participate including co-lead status in any part of the project. The objective, plan, interface, standards, interoperability and scientific application of the participating project(s) or missions shall be aligned with generation architecture and functions of ILRS.”

The Guidelines and Opportunities for these partnerships are laid out in the last two sections of the Guide. The duties of prospective partners are spelled out using a five-tiered alphabetic classification system.

1. For Category A: Space Mission Cooperation, partners are asked to contribute to the “development of the general architecture, scientific objectives, road-map of ILRS, and participate with scientific or engineering missions of ILRS.”

2. Those partners classified as Category B: Space System Cooperation, must cooperate with China and/or Russia on one or more space systems based on the general architecture and functions of the ILRS.

Examples include the ILRS’s power system, a launcher system for another party’s spacecraft, or an independent lunar probe to piggyback on a CNSA or Roscosmos mission. Alternately, they can choose to participate in one or more of the missions led by the CNSA or Roscosmos.

3. For Category C: Subsystem Cooperation, partners will be required to develop one or more space subsystems depending on the specific mission or ILRS system.

4. Much the same is true for Category D: Equipment Cooperation, where partners will provide one or more sets of equipment based on the defined mission or ILRS subsystem.

5. Last, Category E: Ground and Application Cooperation applies to partners cooperating on the building of the CLF, LTOF, and/or GSAF.

Overseeing these partnerships is the Joint Working Group established by the CNSA and Roscosmos, which has designated subgroups for handling legal affairs, scientific objectives, and engineering objectives. Specific opportunities for collaborating on various missions are also laid out, as is a list of contacts for interested parties.

One thing that is abundantly clear from this Guide is the similarities it has to the Artemis Program and the Artemis Accords. These are evident in terms of the mission architecture, but also in terms of the stated purpose of the joint venture and the desire to forge partnerships.

As noted, the language used in the preface is indicative of the Outer Space Treaty, especially where it states that the overall aim is “the peaceful exploration and use of the Moon in the interests of all humankind.”

As a comparison, consider Section 1 of the Artemis Accords (Purpose & Scope):

“Adherence to a practical set of principles, guidelines, and best practices in carrying out activities in outer space is intended to increase the safety of operations, reduce uncertainty, and promote the sustainable and beneficial use of space for all humankind.”

Illustration of Artemis astronauts on the Moon.

Credits: NASA

In both cases, the language is an attempt to call forth the spirit of the Outer Space Treaty. However, as many critics have stated, the Artemis Accords suffer from the fact that they are tied to a specific space agency and program. This was certainly the basis of Rogozin and Russia’s resistance when the Accords were first announced, hence why Russia and China have come together to do the same.

In short, they have decided to establish a set of bilateral agreements that would allow others to participate in their program of lunar exploration. While it’s not clear what the long-term implications of this will be, it could possibly lead to tensions and territorial disputes down the road. After all, one of the hallmarks of the current era of space exploration is its plurality, where multiple space agencies (and commercial space) are involved instead of two competing superpowers.

But when three of the five major space powers create two competing frameworks and ask others to join them, one can be forgiven for concluding that there’s a new Space Race in town!

It also makes the need for a truly international legal framework — as advocated by the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) — all the more pressing. If we truly want our future in space to be “for the good of all humankind,” steps need to be taken to prevent it from becoming the Wild West 2.0.

• This article was originally published on Universe Today by MATT WILLIAMS. Read the original article here.

{ https://www.inverse.com/ }

28-06-2021 om 23:59 geschreven door peter  

Evidence on UFOs 'largely inconclusive': US intelligence report

28-06-2021 om 23:40 geschreven door peter  

Ovni : des scientifiques français dressent l'état des lieux

INFOGRAPHIE - En publiant une étude après huit ans de recherche, les experts français de la commission Sigma2 apportent un regard scientifique sur des cas inexpliqués observés dans le monde entier.

• Ovni : comment s'explique l'inexplicable

• Le Pentagone déclassifie des vidéos semblant montrer des ovnis (28/04/2020)

28-06-2021 om 23:28 geschreven door peter  

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-01738-w

{ https://www.nature.com/ }

28-06-2021 om 22:06 geschreven door peter  

 Suzanne Rowan Kelleher * Forbes Staff

The government’s highly anticipated report on unexplained aerial phenomena (UAPs) finally dropped yesterday, but the truth remains out there. “The limited amount of high-quality reporting on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) hampers our ability to draw firm conclusions about the nature or intent of UAP,” concludes the unclassified report compiled by the Office of the Directorate of National Intelligence (ODNI).

After examining nearly 150 reports of UAPs, also known as UFOs, intelligence officials say they don't know what the vast majority of the phenomena are — though they have a handful of theories. Among the possibilities offered: airborne debris, natural atmospheric conditions, technology from foreign adversaries or top-secret U.S. government technology. There is also a catch-all miscellaneous category that the report’s authors simply call “other.” The verdict is that there is simply not enough data to identify these objects.

The ODNI report focuses on unidentified objects spotted by U.S. Navy pilots and other military sources from 2004 to 2021, and notes that a UAP task force is currently working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

“The FAA generally ingests this data when pilots and other airspace users report unusual or unexpected events to the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization,” says the report.

That may be news to the FAA. The agency that operates air traffic control and navigation for both civil and military aircraft insists it does not deal directly with UAP sightings from commercial pilots. “The FAA doesn’t track these reports. The National UFO Reporting Center is your best source,” an FAA spokesperson told Forbes. The FAA website also steers the general public to report UFO sightings to NUFORC.

“It has always struck me is very telling that the Federal Aviation Administration itself actually tells pilots to contact a civilian UFO organization,” says Micah Hanks, whose popular eponymous science podcast often discusses unexplained phenomena like UFOs.

“The FAA and the government took the position that people like me were crazy,” says Peter Davenport, a commercial pilot and a former flight instructor who has run NUFORC since 1994. “But they were nevertheless willing to hand over the and over the information coming to them to me.” 

“We serve as a clearinghouse for sightings of suspected UFOs — whether it be a senior pilot for an airline or whether it be grade-school kid — we take their calls over our hotline,” explains Davenport. “And then I encourage them to submit a written report, and the report you see on our website is the result of that process.”

The work keeps Davenport extremely busy. Since 1998, when he set up the NUFORC website, “I have succeeded in collecting — I'm estimating now — about 280,000 written reports,” he says.

Davenport says he regularly receives reports of UAP sightings from FAA headquarters in Virginia, estimating that he received six to eight reports between November 2020 and May 2021.

Some incidents made headlines. For example, in February, the FAA could not explain a UAP sighting by an American Airlines pilot over the New Mexico desert. The agency referred the incident to Davenport, who in turn noted in NUFORC’s database: “On Feb 21, 2021 at 1918 zulu American 2292 was at the TBE180030 (lat 36.8/ long -103.56) at FL360 westbound. The pilot observed a long cylindrical, cruise missile looking thing, fly right over the top of them eastbound. The report was reported to air traffic control who showed no traffic above the aircraft.”

For Davenport, reports from pilots hold special value. “They give excellent reports,” he says. “That's why they're of very great interest to me.”

For UFO-curious civilians interested in delving deeper into sightings by pilots, Hanks also recommends the National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena (NARCAP), which has documented confidential reports by aviation professionals since 1999. Many pilots wait until they retire to report UAP incidents because of a prevalent stigma of reporting such events, according to the NARCAP website, which states bluntly that the FAA “offers no leadership or guidance to civil or commercial aviation.”

“[NARCAP has] logged probably more pilot and aviation related reports than any other organization and also attempt to very cautiously analyze these kinds of reports,” says Hanks. “Based on the collection of similar incidents by those two civilian agencies, that tells me quite evidently that there are more incidents being reported by pilots who are willing to come forward in various capacities.”

In addition to NUFORC and NARCAP, there’s a third organization where commercial pilots can confidentially report UAP incidents. NASA runs the Aviation Safety Reporting System, which also captures anonymous reports from pilots, dispatchers, air traffic control, cabin crew and other aviation professionals, then analyzes the data and disseminates the information to the aviation community.

A search of its database, filtered for airline pilots reporting unusual sightings, returned over 2,400 results, comprising everything from flocks of birds, clusters of helium balloons, hang gliders, freefalling skydivers and, yes, a number of UAPs.

In one event tagged as “inflight event/encounter other/unknown,” a pilot reported cruising at 36,000 feet in an Airbus A320 when a bright light caught his eye. “It went from dim to extremely bright in just a few seconds. It was above the horizon about 20 degrees inclination and around my 12:30 o’clock position. It was not close to us, but seemed out there a bit. I have never seen such intense, bright, white and silver light in my life. It actually had a very defined 360 degree halo around it at one point. Then it made a 45 degree sharp change in direction and faded away as it went out of view in about 3 seconds time. During the next 50 minutes, we experienced almost the exact same scenario 4 more times,” wrote the pilot. “Object started out as a very weak-looking star, but would move slowly left to right and grow much brighter than any star I have ever seen.”

Hanks suspects he knows why FAA takes a hands-off approach to investigating UFOs. “It is seen as beneficial to have the NASA-maintained ASRS data database outside of the FAA — but run for the FAA — so that pilots would be more likely to come forward,” he says.

And to that end, it appears to be working. “As you dig into the database, you will find from time to time reports of very unusual things,” says Hanks.

{ https://www.forbes.com/ }

28-06-2021 om 21:34 geschreven door peter  

NASA Administrator: 'Are we alone? Personally, I don't think we are'

Source: CNN

{ https://edition.cnn.com/ }

28-06-2021 om 21:24 geschreven door peter  

THE UAP STORY: THE SETI INSTITUTE WEIGHS IN

June 25, 2021, Mountain View, CA – The report from intelligence agencies to be delivered to the U.S. Congress on the subject of UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) has generated speculation that we may soon see compelling proof of the existence of extraterrestrial beings.

The observations to be discussed in the report – photographic, witness testimony, and radar – are sometimes conflated with a research discipline known as SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence).  The latter involves looking for non-natural radio or light signals coming from deep space, as well as observations that might uncover non-natural phenomena (so-called “technosignatures”) in the course of conventional astronomical research.

Since the UAP analysis and SETI research have a region of overlap – the possibility of alien beings – there is frequent confusion by the public and media regarding the degree to which they are similar.  We hope to mitigate this lack of understanding by pointing out differences in the assumptions, data, and verification methodologies for both UAPs and SETI.

UAPs

UAP is a relatively new term to categorize what have been called UFOs (Unidentified Flying Object) since the 1950s. At that time, the latter term replaced “flying saucer.”  At least some of the objects in this category are believed by the public to be alien spacecraft.  The evidence consists of visual and photographic imaging, as well as occasional radar reflections.  Numerous sightings have been noted since the 1940s, and the rate of reports to the (private) National UFO Reporting Center is currently in excess of 7,000 per year.

Note that, because such sightings cannot be predicted, or are seldom anticipated, they do not constitute a deliberate observing program.

Recently, interest in UAPs has increased following the release of videos made from a Navy ship and by infrared cameras mounted on F 18 fighter jets.  Objects seen in these videos appear to move in ways that imply exceptionally large accelerations and speeds that are beyond the capabilities of known aircraft.  However, little can be said about such motions without knowledge of either the distance or the intrinsic size of whatever has been seen or photographed.  Nonetheless, there are many people who interpret these videos as direct visual evidence for alien spacecraft.  Herewith the assumptions made in this interpretation of UFOs/UAPs:

Assumptions

• The aliens are here, in Earth’s airspace.
• They are airborne (although some sightings of landed craft have been reported).
• The putative intruders are most reliably seen by the U.S. Navy’s F 18 Hornet fighters.  At least one pilot has said they can be observed every day. But as a general rule, sightings of UFOs/UAPs cannot be predicted.
• The federal government has, until recently, elected to keep this evidence, as well as its understanding of what it might show, secret from the public.

SETI

SETI has been an intermittent activity of a small group of researchers, mostly radio astronomers, since 1960.  In the mid-1970s, it became a modest program within NASA, although that effort was cancelled by the U.S. Senate in 1993.  Since that time, SETI has been a privately funded activity. However, the discovery of exoplanets that are found in nearly every star system of the Galaxy has prompted both Congress and NASA to reconsider the use of federal funds for SETI endeavors. 

Unlike for UAPs, in which unplanned observational evidence is evaluated, SETI conducts deliberate experiments. In this it is similar to many other science investigations (e.g., the hunt for the Higgs boson).  SETI also applies a series of tests to any received signal to verify that it is truly coming from deep space, and is not misidentified terrestrial interference or an equipment or software fault.

Assumptions

• The aliens reside in solar systems that are (typically) within a few hundred light-years of our own.
• Some extraterrestrials have the technical ability to construct powerful radio transmitters or lasers, or to build very large structures that would be visible with our astronomical telescopes.
• Earth is in the “beam” of such signal emitters during the time of a SETI observation.  SETI experiments are largely incapable of finding brief, non-repeating signals.
• No detection claims would be made until a signal is confirmed by others.
• The experiment is completely “open” (there is no secrecy).

So, while the UAP investigation relies on the interpretation of chance observations, SETI relies on deliberate experiments. There is a vast divide in the assumptions made for the two activities, and they are fundamentally dissimilar.

Will the first compelling evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence be found in the atmosphere of our planet, or in the hundreds of thousands of star systems that pepper the nearest reaches of our galaxy?

We still don’t know.  But if the pending government report indicates that there is a possibility that at least some UAPs might, indeed, be of extraterrestrial origin, then perhaps there will be an effort to pursue their study using the precepts of well-designed science experiments.

• DOWNLOAD FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE.

About the SETI Institute
Founded in 1984, the SETI Institute is a non-profit, multidisciplinary research and education organization whose mission is to lead humanity’s quest to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the Universe and share that knowledge with the world. Our research encompasses the physical and biological sciences and leverages expertise in data analytics, machine learning and advanced signal detection technologies. The SETI Institute is a distinguished research partner for industry, academia and government agencies, including NASA and NSF.

Contact:
Seth Shostak
650 960-4530
seth@seti.org

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://www.seti.org/ }

28-06-2021 om 21:06 geschreven door peter  

Anyone with interest in the search for intelligent life in the universe has undoubtedly heard of the Fermi paradox – the dilemma described by physicist Enrico Fermi after pondering the existence of billions of stars with billions of planets capable of sustaining intelligent life, some far superior to us that could travel across space. If that’s true, why haven’t we encountered any of them? Recently, another scientist pondered the Red Sky paradox. What? You’ve never heard of the Red Sky paradox?

“Red dwarf stars are the most numerous and long-lived stars in the cosmos, and recent exoplanet discoveries indicate an abundance of rocky, temperate planets around them. This presents an apparent paradox as to why we do not see a red dwarf in our sky.”

Would it look like this?

If red dwarfs are the most abundant stars in the universe, with the most rocky planets seemingly capable of supporting life orbiting them, why isn’t the only planet with life that we are aware of orbiting one too? That is the question pondered in a new study, published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, by David Kipping, an astronomy professor at Columbia University. Is our life on a planet orbiting a yellow-leaning-towards-white dwarf a fluke or is the theory that more red dwarfs means more life around them wrong?

“It’s just a question that has always perplexed me. If they’re so numerous, so long-lived, potentially trillions of years, and so they really seem to have everything going for them … it’s kind of odd then that we don’t live around a red dwarf.”

In an interview with Inverse, Kipping sounds a little like Fermi as he explains why he set up a team to ponder the Red Sky paradox and attempt to resolve it. They came up with three scenarios – 1) human life orbiting a yellow star is an exception; 2) something in the development of red dwarfs stops life from developing; 3) red dwarfs develop too slowly for life to happen. The first possibility runs into the Copernican principle – named for Nicolaus Copernicus and his hypothesis that Earth is not the center of the universe and instead is nothing special – which would make Earth a special exception in the universe.

Is it just me or is it getting hot here?

Instead, the team thinks red dwarfs are causing their own problems that kill their chances for spawning life. The ones with exoplanets we’ve been able to study (like Proxima Centauri and its two known planets) have frequent planet-toasting flareups that would cook life before it could escape. If the flares miss, the planets are generally in tidally-locked orbits — one side always faces the red dwarf, a position also not conducive to life. Finally, that abundance of rocky planets is pelted by life-killing asteroids because there are no giant gas planets like Jupiter to pull them into its own orbit.

Not only does Kipping’s theory seem to solve the Red Sky paradox, it does a good job on the Fermi paradox as well. If red dwarfs, which are the majority of stars, can’t spawn or support life, then the probability of life on the universe goes down dramatically. In other words, they’re not here because they’re not there either.

This paper was released just in time for the Pentagon UFO report. It didn’t find any aliens either. Would Fermi agree? Copernicus?

Our blue world moves through space around the Sun, one of the more rare stars in the sky.

Credit: Getty Images / 1xpert

Artwork depicting a potentially habitable planet orbiting the nearby red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1.

Credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser

Artwork of a red dwarf in a binary system undergoing a flare.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/S. Wiessinger

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

28-06-2021 om 20:38 geschreven door peter  

At first glance, the 2006 court case carried out by the Santa Barbara County district attorney’s office in Santa Barbara, California, looks pretty mundane, for some boring even. It involved an action against the Greka Energy Corp., which is the county’s largest land-based oil and gas producer, for alleged health-and-safety violations at its refinery operations, as well as numerous environmental violations. While most of the counts in the lawsuit were eventually settled for $600,000, some stubbornly remained, and one of the key witnesses brought in was a former public safety officer with the company by the name of Gary Lowrey, who alleged that he had on numerous occasions pointed out safety violations that were ignored by his bosses. So far it just sounds like a dull, legal slog involving a big oil company and environmental concerns and safety protocols, more yawn inducing than anything else, but the eyebrows do pop up a bit when it gets to the part where Lowrey starts talking about horned aliens in his closet and visitations by alien forces terrorizing his family.

During the trial, Lowrey began to come out with some rather outlandish claims, to say the least. The claims were not made directly to the DA’s office, but were rather uncovered online, where it seems Lowrey was claiming that aliens had been regularly trespassing into his home and holding his family, his wife and kids, under siege. Lowrey claimed that bizarre horned, alien-like, vaguely insectoid entities were emerging from his closet at night to poke him and his family with needles as they slept, after which they would awaken with needle holes on their bodies,  often forming diamond-shaped patterns.  He himself stops short of labeling them as “aliens,” but is quick to point out that they are definitely not human. He would say of this to a Greka attorney, who was rather strangely none other than Bela G. Lugosi, son of the actor best known for playing Count Dracula:

They were bothering me. I don’t think I said they terrorized me. But I said they were bothering me. You can see his little eyes looking at you, and the horns and the eyebrow. I’m not sure that they’re — you know, that you’d call them aliens. I know they’re not human-looking. I don’t remember a lot of it because, you know, you’re asleep when it’s happening to you.

But don’t just take his word for it, as Lowrey would claim to have plenty of evidence to back his story up. In addition to recording footprints of the beasts with a sheet of aluminum foil that he had laid out, he also claimed to have found a claw from one of the creatures hanging from a towel in his closet, and even claimed to have captured video footage of them. This footage was seen by Deputy District Attorney Jerry Lulejian, who found it to be very compelling. After seeing the tapes, Lulejian would make a statement saying:

I’m going to argue in court that there is something going on in these videos that substantiates what Gary Lowrey is talking about. But I can’t tell you what that is. I can’t give away the juicy part. There are things that look really, really strange. It sort of put the hair on the back of my neck up when I saw them. He’s shown me he’s rational, he’s shown me that there are things going on outside of him, and he’s shown me proof that they’re there. Everything he’s said in his deposition so far checked to be true based on what he’s said in his – or what I’ve seen on the videos and what’s in the reports.

Images from the videos would eventually be released, but they are rather underwhelming, showing what may, kind of sort of look like a misshapen head if you squint your eyes. As to why the picture quality is so bad, one UFO researcher had this to add:

If these beings move between frames, detected on pause, on the camera as he says, they may have a sort of cloaking device, to fool our sense of vision, or their slightly out of phase with our 3-dimensions, as the camera can capture what the un-enhanced eye can’t, but not being seen as continuing motion on the videocam, that is strange. A high-speed infra-red cam plus a night vision cam, and a taser to disable the being, triggered by the cameras would sent about 50,000 volts into whatever, and maybe able to capture it, as it has mass, as exhibited by the indentation of the aluminum foil where fast-walker appeared, in the closet I think he said.

Lowrey also enlisted the help of notable UFO researcher, podiatrist, and expert on alien implants, Dr. Roger Leir, who also believed his story. Amazingly, none of this seemed to disqualify Lowrey as a credible witness in the case against Greka, despite the company seeking to use his stories of aliens as a reason to discredit him and have him booted as a reliable witness in the case. Greka attorney Lugosi would lament the court’s decision to allow Lowery to continue his involvement in the case, saying:

Don’t you find a witness who claims that he’s being visited by aliens at night and getting punctured at night rather a whacky thing to be claiming? Obviously, credibility is important. It’s not every day you have a code enforcement matter which involves aliens in the closet, mysterious claws and a podiatrist who removes alien implants. Here’s their most important witness, and the D.A. is buying into it, saying that none of this affects his credibility. We’re very surprised. Yes, there are people who believe in aliens, but we’re talking about the Santa Barbara district attorney’s office here!

As all of this was going on, Lowrey was becoming a sort of minor celebrity in the UFO field, appearing on the paranormal radio program Coast to Coast AM with host Mike Seigel, but then he began to go silent on his story, according to some because he was being told not to speak of these things, sparking tales of conspiracies going beyond even the court case. Peter A. Gersten, Executive Director of Citizens Against UFO Secrecy, would say of it all:

Several weeks before the Bay Area Expo in August, Gary Lowrey, a Bakersfield Fire Safety Officer, contacted me after numerous failed attempts to get the attention of other well-known organizations and persons in the UFO field. After listening to his story about his ongoing encounters with strange insectoid-type creatures in his home, and based upon his possession of certain physical evidence, I agreed to represent him both as an attorney and also in a joint venture to get the truth out. Though Lowrey was forthcoming in stating that he wants to help his family financially with the information and evidence he possesses, he assured me that his primary motivation is to share his ongoing encounters with the world and hopefully learn some answers as to what he and his family are experiencing. My part of our agreement included my successful efforts to get him national attention through my organization CAUS, my workshop at the Bay Area UFO Expo, and my frequent appearances on Mike Siegel’s Coast to Coast Radio show as well as other projects and forums that were being planned.

After speaking with Lowrey over the course of several weeks, I came to believe that the Bakersfield California family represents one of the best cases of contact because of the confirmatory physical evidence, the believability of the witnesses and the continuous nature of the experiences. Unfortunately because of the greed and selfishness of several people, Lowrey is temporarily silenced and his credibility forever compromised. Last Saturday, give or take a day, Gary Lowrey, after being told by a self-styled “Hollywood producer” that there was no need for him to consult me or any other attorney, signed a contract for the exclusive print and movie rights to his story. According to Lowrey, the contract prohibits him from talking to anyone about his past and present experiences. The producer even deceptively composed an e-mail for Lowrey to send to me in which he states that he can no longer appear on Mike Siegel’s Coast to Coast radio show and if I have any questions I should consult his attorney, Mark Commerford, who I later determine is actually the producer’s attorney and not Lowrey’s. Sadly, though Lowrey appeared with me on the radio show this past Monday night, he refused to talk about his experiences, which he had originally agreed to share before the producer’s gag order. 

What makes the Lowrey debacle even more unpalatable is the fact that the perpetrators of this travesty are members of the UFO community. In fact the producer is none other than Christopher Wyatt, founder, President and CEO of UFO Community.com, a company, which, as evidenced by Wyatt’s callous disregard for both the public’s right to know and the significance of Lowrey’s interaction with other life forms, is quite inappropriately named. Why Wyatt, after signing Lowrey to an exclusive contract, would want to silence him on the eve of his national coming-out-party thereby avoiding a Coast to Coast listening audience of millions and the free promotion inherent in such exposure, is very strange and suspicious. Christopher Wyatt has used the tools of deception, misrepresentation, and coercion to silence an individual who is presently interacting with a non-human form of intelligence. On Siegel’s show, Lowrey stated he was “coerced” by Wyatt into signing the contract. Wyatt has now convinced Lowrey that he has no choice but to honor their contract and that Wyatt will sue him if he shows the contract to me. I am not surprised that there are those within the UFO community who are more interested in money than in our right to know the truth. But to compromise something we all have been waiting years for, the opportunity to record and verify evidence of ongoing contact, is unconscionable and requires exposing the true nature of the beast.

Indeed, during the coming court appearances, Lowrey would freeze up and refuse to mention the aliens again, allowing the whole thing to resolve in mundane fashion. Was he silenced, and if so, by who exactly? What in the world was going on here? What are we to make of all of this? A big court case, a lawyer who is the son of the actor who played Dracula, and aliens? I seems as if it could not possibly get more absurd, and yet this all did happen and is there on the record. It is all a very bizarre case, and certainly adds some spice to the otherwise dry and humdrum business of a court case.

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

28-06-2021 om 20:20 geschreven door peter  

Over the years, controversial claims have been made about a highly-classified facility located in Wiltshire, England:  the U.K.’s Ministry of Defense’s Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL). It is better known as Porton Down. Over the years, claims have been made about a connection between Porton Down and UFOs. Before we get to the matter of UFOs, let’s first take a look at Porton Down. Dr. Robert M. Wood’s book, Alien Viruses states: “Although work at Porton Down had originally begun in March 1916, it was not until 1940 that the installation became the central hub of British interest in biological warfare. Following the start of the Second World War, a highly secret and independent group – the Biology Department, Porton – was established by the War Cabinet, with a mandate to investigate the reality of biological warfare and to develop a means of retaliation in the event that biological warfare was utilized against the United Kingdom. By 1946, the name of the wartime group had become the Microbiological Research Department. A decade later, the biological warfare research of Porton Down’s staff had become solely defensive in nature; and in 1957 it was re-named the Microbiological Research Establishment.”

The BBC say: “Porton Down was set up in 1916. It was a center designed to test chemical and biological weapons. Nerve gases such as Sarin and CS gas were tested on volunteer servicemen. Servicemen were offered around £2 and three days leave as an incentive to take part in tests. Very few servicemen knew what they were volunteering for and some were even told it was research into the cure for the common cold. In 1953 it is alleged that serviceman Ronald Maddison died after taking part in a Sarin gas experiment. In 1962, one of Porton Down’s own scientists, Geoffrey Bacon died of the plague. Since the end of WWII, 20,000 people have taken part in experiments at Porton Down.”

Now, let’s get to the UFO angle of Porton Down. It was in January 2001 that the then-retired – and now late – British Admiral of the Fleet, Lord Hill-Norton, decided to get into the Rendlesham Forest controversy – without doubt the most famous “UFO” event in the U.K. Having had an interest in UFOs for decades, he used his considerable clout to try and figure out what occurred in 1980. It was hardly an easy task for Hill-Norton to achieve. Of specific interest to Hill-Norton were the claims of a Rendlesham  connection to the activities of the Porton Down staff. He wanted to know “whether personnel from Porton Down visited Rendlesham Forest or the area surrounding RAF Watton in December 1980 or January 1981; and whether they are aware of any tests carried out in either of those two areas aimed at assessing any nuclear, biological or chemical hazard.” As time progressed, more and more data surfaced and suggested that the “UFO landing” was really a sophisticated hologram-driven experiment designed to determine the extent to which the military personnel in the forest could have their minds meddled. “Mind-control, in other words.

Berwyn Mountains

Of course, most people in Ufology don’t want to hear one of their most famous cases destroyed. Too bad. Now, let’s jump back to 1974. Andy Roberts states in his book UFO Down!: “In 1958 Gavin Gibbons wrote a children’s science-fiction novel By Space Ship to the Moon,which featured a UFO landing on Moel Sych in the Berwyn Mountains of North Wales. Sixteen years later, in a surreal case of life imitating art, those very same mountains would again be the focus for a story involving a downed UFO. But this time, some said, the story was for real.” Indeed, there have been claims for years of a crashed UFO on the mountains. Not only that, in 1996 an anonymous soldier came forward, claiming to know that the remains of dead aliens were held at Porton Down. Of course, this has not been confirmed. But, we do have the fascinating story of a man named Robert Bolton.”

I first interviewed Bolton by phone, and then met him in person, in Norwich, England, in 2000. He told me: “I spent thirty years in the Royal Air Force as an aircraft engineer. I had various postings, including at Akrotiri in Cyprus, RAF Honnington, and at RAF Valley in North Wales from 1971 to 1974. My wife and her family came from Corwen. At the time that the thing on the Berwyns happened, they lived up on the side of the mountain and her mom still lives there to this day. Corwen is part of the Berwyn range. From where their house is, if you walk up the path that goes behind the houses up and onto the top of the mountains, you’re talking perhaps a mile and a quarter away from where it all occurred; so it’s not very far away at all.

“She still remembers what happened on the night of 23 January. She said to me when I spoke to her about it just recently: ‘I saw aircraft and heard aircraft shot down during the Blitz and it was like an aircraft coming down, but the sound was louder, bigger, heavier that anything you could imagine to do with an aircraft.’ They didn’t know what it was. They heard the noise first of all and ran out into the road. They weren’t the only ones: all their neighbors ran out as well. It got louder and louder and louder and they couldn’t see anything in the sky but then they felt the impact where the houses shook and she had things fall off the mantle-piece in the house.

“It was my wife’s dad, who told me the story about bodies being found on the mountain. His name was Harold Smith. But everyone called him Mick. He had a full-time job with Vauxhall at Elsmere Port; he was a local councilor and was also a part-time Sub-Fire Officer at Corwen. One day we got talking and got on to the subject of UFOs and he said to me: ‘Oh, well, you obviously don’t know about the incident up on the Berwyn Mountains.’ “I first heard the story from him around 1976. At that time he only told me that bodies had been brought down from the mountain and didn’t say anything more. Nothing about who brought them down or where they were taken. But from 1979 to 1982 I was posted to Germany and Mick and my wife’s mother came out to stay for a month and it was here that he told us a lot more.

“I remember that the information that he told us had apparently come from another person in the North Wales Fire Service whose son was in the Army. But it’s not surprising that he would have been told: Mick was a well-respected man and knew people throughout the North Wales Fire Service including at Bala and Wrexham. Mick told me that while the police weren’t involved, the Army was – heavily. I can’t give you an exact date when they visited and he told us this, but it was definitely between 1979 and 1982. He said that there were definitely [trucks] from Porton Down at the scene; that there was a lozenge-shaped object on the mountainside; and that bodies were taken off the mountain and driven to Porton. And to this day, his wife can also confirm that Mick told her the story about Porton Down and bodies too – either in the late 1970s or the early 1980s [italics mine].”

Robert signed off: “I do remember Mick saying that when he had first told me this story in 1976, he didn’t know that it was the Army who had taken the bodies off the mountain and he didn’t know at the time that they’d been taken to Porton Down. So he must have learned that between 1976 and when he came to see us in Germany.” Dead aliens at Porton Down? A Rendlesham Forest connection to Porton Down? All we have right now are rumors. Maybe, things are destined to stay like that. On the other hand, though, just perhaps something incredible might one day surface.

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

28-06-2021 om 18:51 geschreven door peter  

Studie bewijst dat 7 soorten dino’s permanent op Noordpool leefden

WETENSCHAP Er hebben minstens zeven dinosaurussoorten permanent geleefd op de Noordpool. Wellicht gebruikten ze technieken zoals de winterslaap of kregen ze veren tegen de kou. Dat zegt een nieuwe studie die vorige week is verschenen in het tijdschrift Current Biology.

  Bron: Belga

Meer dan tien jaar lang werden fossielen opgegraven voor het onderzoek. De resultaten tonen aan dat de dino’s niet alleen leefden op plaatsen met een zachter klimaat.

Lees ook

• 

  PREMIUM

  "Onze musea zijn stukken goedkoper dan buitenlandse"

• 

  PREMIUM

  Hoe ‘Jurassic Park’ de bottenbusiness deed exploderen (en waarom dat slecht nieuws is voor wetenschappers)

“Een deel van de nieuwe vindplaatsen heeft opzienbarende zaken aan het licht gebracht, met name botten en tanden van dinosaurusjongen”, zegt Patrick Druckenmiller van de Universiteit van Alaska. “Dat is ongelofelijk, want het toont aan dat die dinosaurussen niet alleen konden leven in het poolgebied, maar dat ze er zich ook konden voortplanten.”

Wetenschappers ontdekten in 1950 voor het eerst resten van dinosaurussen in het gebied. Lange tijd gingen ze ervan uit dat het arctische gebied niet geschikt was voor reptielen. Er werden toen twee hypotheses geformuleerd: ofwel leefden de dino’s er permanent, ofwel migreerden ze ernaar in het warmste seizoen.

Zeven soorten

De nieuwe studie bewijst nu voor het eerst dat minstens zeven soorten dinosaurussen in staat waren zich voort te planten op de zeer hoge breedtegraden. Het gaat onder meer over de Hadrosauridae, Ceratopia en Tyrannosaurussen. Hun jongen zouden niet in staat geweest zijn om meteen lange afstanden af te leggen.

Het Noordpoolgebied was in de tijd van de dinosaurussen niet zo koud als nu, maar de omstandigheden waren toch al erg veeleisend. De jaartemperatuur lag rond 6 graden Celsius, maar in de wintermaanden was het een stuk kouder en sneeuwde het.

Het feit dat de dinosaurussen het hele jaar op de Noordpool bleven, is een nieuwe aanwijzing dat ze warmbloedig waren. Andere recente studies suggereerden dat ook al. 

GERELATEERDE VIDEO'S, uitgekozen en gepost door peter2011

Dinosaur species large and small, passed and live in ancient Arctic, study says.

(Representational)

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

28-06-2021 om 18:19 geschreven door peter  

LATEST UFO SIGHTINGS AND VIDEOS - 28 - 06 - 2021

UFO Sighted Over Tamasopo, Mexico ( June 25, 2021 )

UFO Sighted Over Tamasopo, Mexico on June 25, 2021

STATEMENT : Ovnis en tamasopo UFO in tamasopo

• credit : Inwy Rea

UFO Sighted Over Las Vegas, Nevada ( June 27, 2021 )

STATEMENT : I sent the video to a friend and the first thing he told me that a drone wasn't because it measures about 10 meters and drones like this, not that we know, and a helicopter is not because noise doesn't make... , so, otherwise the video is from here in Las Vegas Nevada US where I live and remind you that I have the area 51 next to it.

• credit : Cristian Alonso

UFO Sighted Over Barnoldswick, Lancashire, England. ( June 27, 2021 )

The Original Unedited Complete Video !!! The Barnoldswick Lancashire, UK UFO

• credit : Paranormal Research and Evaluation Team

UFOs Sighted Over Lumby, Canada ( June 23, 2021 )

STATEMENT : I have seen this a couple of times within the last weeks : I have been seeing this for the past few weeks. Randomly. It’s after the sun has gone down completely.

• credit : Mutual UFO Network : MUFON SUBMISSIONS

Date Submitted : 2021-06-24

Date of Event : 2021-06-23  / 9:38PM

MUFON SUBMITTER FILES :

• trim.AFA459C6134F4F5B8D25FB93897FDA60.MOV :
• trim.C80A1095F91A4021A8A0E17F52032680.MOV

UFO Sighted Over Puglia, Italy ( June 23, 2021 )

UFO sighted over Puglia, Italy on June 23, 2021

STATEMENT : GIUGNO 2021, Puglia, Italy

TRANSLATE : JUNE 2021, Puglia, Italy

• credit : Moonreflex Informations

UFOs Sighted Over Switzerland ( June 27, 2021 )

STATEMENT : This Saturday we were having a bbq near my house I live in Suica and my daughter made this video when she saw these lights in the sky can you help me understand what is this please

• credit : Susana Jacome
• note : no audio

{ https://www.youtube.com/ }

28-06-2021 om 17:50 geschreven door peter  

Ancient Tomb Of Alien Found On Mars, With Writing On It! Photos, UFO Sighting News.

Date of discovery: June 27, 2021

Location of discovery: Mars Sol 1429-B

Source photo: 

• http://www.gigapan.com/galleries/13476/gigapans/201809

I found some alien artifacts in a Mars photo today. The artifacts all lead me to believe that this was all part of an elaborate tomb. I found a grave stone on its side and near it is a large square slab that has alien writing on it. What does it say? It's the name of the person who died. Near it is another part of a coffin with engravings on its side and one meter away is a long upper and lower leg with the knee area very visible and seems to have insect like exoskeleton ridges on it. Very unique and defiantly worth looking at close by the rover, although I don't feel that NASA would ever do so and share those close ups. NASA has the intention to entertain the public with the Remote control toy helicopter to distract the public from thinking about searching for life or evidence of life on Mars. Instead they fly a toy helicopter around Mars and tell the public its amazing...although such toys have been around on Earth for over 40 years! This discovery of the ancient artifacts of a broken tomb of an alien is real science. 

Scott C. Waring - Taiwan 

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by  peter2011

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

28-06-2021 om 16:29 geschreven door peter  

Are aliens watching us? Astronomers identify 29 potentially habitable exoplanets where extraterrestrials could have been observing Earth for 5,000 years

• Researchers looked at star-systems that could see Earth transit over the Sun

• This would allow them to detect signs of life in the atmosphere of our planet

• It would also put the Earth in a position where they could listen to radio waves

• There are an estimated 29 potentially habitable worlds within a 100 light years of the Earth allowing them to listen to broadcasts from the past century 

By RYAN MORRISON FOR MAILONLINE 

There could be as many as 29 potentially habitable worlds 'perfectly positioned' to observe the Earth if they hold an intelligence civilisation, according to a new study.

Exploring ways in which we find exoplanets, that is worlds outside the solar system, the team from Cornell University reversed the process to see which could spot us.

Working alongside the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, astronomers identified 2,034 star-systems in our galactic neighbourhood - within 326 light years of the Earth - that could watch our planet cross the sun. 

Out of those stars, 1,715 could have spotted Earth since human civilisation blossomed about 5,000 years ago, and 319 will be added over the next 5,000 years.

The number of stars varies depending on their location in space relative to the solar system and changes due to the fact we live in a dynamic universe.

While exoplanets haven't been detected around all of the stars that can observe the Earth, the team estimate 29 will have a rocky world in the habitable zone that are well positioned to also detect radio waves emitted by humans over 100 years ago. 

A view of Earth and Sun from thousands of miles above our planet. Stars that enter and exit a position where they can see Earth as a transiting planet around our Sun are brightened

Working alongside the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, astronomers identified 2,034 star-systems in our galactic neighbourhood - within 326 light years of the Earth - that could watch our planet cross the sun

'From the exoplanets' point-of-view, we are the aliens,' said Lisa Kaltenegger, professor of astronomy and director of Cornell's Carl Sagan Institute.

'We wanted to know which stars have the right vantage point to see Earth, as it blocks the Sun's light,' she said. 

Because stars move in our dynamic cosmos, this vantage point is gained and lost over time, so they were able to pin-point specific star systems.

The transit method is one of the main ways astronomers use to detect planets in other star systems - they look for 'dips' in the light coming from the star.

It requires specific positioning for the exoplanet the star it is orbiting and the Earth for us to be able to view it as it passes by and this changes over time. 

Kaltenegger and astrophysicist Jackie Faherty, a senior scientist at the American Museum of Natural History used positions and motions from the European Space Agency's Gaia catalog to determine which stars enter and exit the Earth Transit Zone.

'Gaia has provided us with a precise map of the Milky Way galaxy,' Faherty said, 'allowing us to look backward and forward in time, and to see where stars had been located and where they are going.'

Of the 2,034 star-systems passing through the Earth Transit Zone over the 10,000-year period examined, 117 objects lie within about 100 light-years of the sun.

Of these 75 objects have been in the Earth Transit Zone since commercial radio stations on Earth began broadcasting into space about a century ago.

The Kepler mission has spotted thousands of exoplanets since 2014, with 30 planets less than twice the size of Earth now known to orbit within the habitable zones of their stars

Out of those stars, 1,715 could have spotted Earth since human civilisation blossomed about 5,000 years ago, and 319 will be added over the next 5,000 years

Current telescopes aren't able to detect signs of life within an exoplanet atmosphere or whether it is truly habitable, but future observatories including the NASA James Webb space telescope will delve deeper into these distant worlds than ever before

'Our solar neighbourhood is a dynamic place where stars enter and exit that perfect vantage point to see Earth transit the Sun at a rapid pace,' Faherty said.

Included in the catalog of 2,034 star-systems are seven known to host exoplanets.

Each one of these worlds has had or will have an opportunity to detect Earth, just as Earth's scientists have found thousands of worlds orbiting other stars.

By watching distant exoplanets transit - or cross - their own sun, Earth's astronomers can interpret the atmospheres backlit by that sun. 

If exoplanets hold intelligent life, they can observe Earth backlit by the sun and see our atmosphere's chemical signatures of life including oxygen.

The number of stars varies depending on their location in space relative to the solar system and changes due to the fact we live in a dynamic universe

While exoplanets haven't been detected around all of the stars that can observe the Earth, the team estimate 29 will have a rocky world in the habitable zone that are well positioned to also detect radio waves emitted by humans over 100 years ago

Any inhabitants of this world could have seen Earth transit our own sun for 2,158 years, starting about 3,057 years ago but lost that ability 900 years ago. 

The Trappist-1 system, at 45 light-years from Earth, hosts seven transiting Earth-size planets - four of them in the temperate, habitable zone of that star. 

While we have discovered the exoplanets around Trappist-1, they won't be able to spot us until their motion takes them into the Earth Transit Zone in 1,642 years.

Potential Trappist-1 system observers will remain in the cosmic Earth transit stadium seats for 2,371 years once they finally enter the cosmic vantage point.

Whether humans will still be on Earth, or whether Earth is still habitable for humans by that point is unknown. 

'Our analysis shows that even the closest stars generally spend more than 1,000 years at a vantage point where they can see Earth transit,' Kaltenegger said. 

'If we assume the reverse to be true, that provides a healthy timeline for nominal civilisations to identify Earth as an interesting planet.'

Estimates of the number of rocky planets in the habitable zone of their star depend on the radius of the planet and the size and type of the host star. 

New estimates place the number of planets per star within the habitable zone at 1.28 - or between one and two per system. 

This matches the Solar System with the Earth as the only habitable planet, but Venus and Mars both at the outer edge of the habitable zone. 

The concept of an empirical habitable zone limit is actually based on the amount of sunlight a young Venus and Mars would have received early in the solar system.

As we haven't identified habitable worlds or even rocky worlds around all nearby stars, the team decided to estimate how many there would likely be. 

The discussion on the occurrence rate of rocky planets surrounding other stars is ongoing, according to the researchers.

However, they wanted to estimate how many there would be so used pessimistic predictions of 25 per cent of all stars having at least one rocky world to create a rough estimate.

The Ross 128 system, with a red dwarf host star located in the Virgo constellation, is about 11 light-years away and is the second-closest system with an Earth-size exoplanet - its world is about 1.8 times the size of our planet

Estimates of the number of rocky planets in the habitable zone of their star depend on the radius of the planet and the size and type of the host star.

THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE CAN PEER INTO ALIEN ATMOSPHERES

This led to the figure of 508 rocky worlds in the habitable zone of the full sample of more than 2,000 star systems able to view the Earth within 100 light years.

That is roughly the area radio waves will have travelled - so at the outer edge people living on that world may be hearing test messages from Guglielmo Marconi. 

Within that limit they determined there would be about 29 potentially habitable worlds that 'could' host an alien civilisation capable of listening in to our radio. 

However, communication could be difficult as a civilisation 82 light years away would just be hearing broadcasts from the start of WW2, and we wouldn't get a reply until 2101 if they sent it today. 

The James Webb Space telescope - expected to launch later this year - is set to take a detailed look at several transiting worlds to characterise their atmospheres.

Doing so will allow astronomers to ultimately search for signs of life as we may be able to spot tell-tale chemical signatures only created by living creatures.

The Breakthrough Starshot initiative is an ambitious project underway that is looking to launch a nano-sized spacecraft toward the closest exoplanet detected around Proxima Centauri - 4.2 light-years from us - and fully characterise that world.

'One might imagine that worlds beyond Earth that have already detected us, are making the same plans for our planet and solar system,' said Faherty. 

'This catalog is an intriguing thought experiment for which one of our neighbours might be able to find us.'  

The 29 world estimate is also heavily human centric, based on the idea of life as we know it - requiring water and a rocky world. 

However, despite the prediction of 29 planets, we don't actually know if those stars have worlds capable of housing intelligent civilisations. 

Study author, Lisa Kaltenegger told MailOnline: 'There are not stars with known exoplanets that could have seen us in the last 100 years - we have not found them yet because we have not searched this region of the sky for them yet.'

It doesn't mean they are not there, just that the number of star systems visible from the Earth is so vast that we haven't got round to looking yet. 

The findings have been published in the journal Nature.  

Scientists study the atmosphere of distant exoplanets using enormous space satellites like Hubble

Distant stars and their orbiting planets often have conditions unlike anything we see in our atmosphere. 

To understand these new world's, and what they are made of, scientists need to be able to detect what their atmospheres consist of.  

They often do this by using a telescope similar to Nasa's Hubble Telescope.

These enormous satellites scan the sky and lock on to exoplanets that Nasa think may be of interest. 

Here, the sensors on board perform different forms of analysis. 

One of the most important and useful is called absorption spectroscopy. 

This form of analysis measures the light that is coming out of a planet's atmosphere. 

Every gas absorbs a slightly different wavelength of light, and when this happens a black line appears on a complete spectrum. 

These lines correspond to a very specific molecule, which indicates it's presence on the planet. 

They are often called Fraunhofer lines after the German astronomer and physicist that first discovered them in 1814.

By combining all the different wavelengths of lights, scientists can determine all the chemicals that make up the atmosphere of a planet. 

The key is that what is missing, provides the clues to find out what is present.  

It is vitally important that this is done by space telescopes, as the atmosphere of Earth would then interfere. 

Absorption from chemicals in our atmosphere would skew the sample, which is why it is important to study the light before it has had chance to reach Earth. 

This is often used to look for helium, sodium and even oxygen in alien atmospheres.  

This diagram shows how light passing from a star and through the atmosphere of an exoplanet produces Fraunhofer lines indicating the presence of key compounds such as sodium or helium 

Read more:

• Past, present and future stars that can see Earth as a transiting exoplanet | Nature

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

28-06-2021 om 16:00 geschreven door peter  

Are aliens watching us? For decades humans have searched and wondered about extraterrestrial and planet life beyond earth. Well now, scientists have created a list of planets where, if they exist, curious aliens could view our planet. 

There could be as many as 29 potentially habitable worlds 'perfectly positioned' where extraterrestrials could have been observing Earth for 5,000 years, according to a new study. 

This would allow the aliens to detect not only signs of life in the atmosphere of our planet but allowing them to listen to broadcasts from the past century since commercial radio stations on Earth began broadcasting into space about a 100 years ago. which means that an alien race 82 light years away would just be hearing broadcasts from the start of WW2, read more here.

  

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

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

28-06-2021 om 15:25 geschreven door peter  

Pop Culture’s Impact On UFO’s Ahead Of US Intelligence Report

NBC News’ Daniel Arkin reports on how some of Hollywood’s most well-known sci-fi filmmakers are reacting to the upcoming U.S. intelligence report on UFOs.

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

28-06-2021 om 15:02 geschreven door peter  

Siberia: Meet the strange “metallic spheres” of unknown origin

Siberia is a frozen land, full of mysteries and enigmas that have dazzled the scientific world. One of these questions is metal spheres that baffle experts.

Located in Russia, Siberia is a region endowed with mysteries ; the area has been linked to multiple UFO sightings, habitat of lost civilizations, strange phenomena or rare explosions.

An example is the strange case of Tunguska ; mystery that little by little has become more related to an unidentified flying object.

Siberian Metal Spheres

North of Russia is Yakutia, a region of 3,083,523 square kilometers. This area has been explored very little since, being surrounded by swamps, it is practically impassable.

The natives know it as ” The Valley of Death ” and avoid approaching the area at all costs. Local stories assure that whoever enters, never returns .

It is in this frozen valley, where there are testimonies of the existence of some strange metallic spheres that nobody knows how they appeared or what function they fulfill there.

The locals assure that the origin of the spheres is not terrestrial , although there is no type of scientific research to corroborate it.

Obviously this whole area of ​​Siberia seems to be a magnet for mysterious and strange phenomena ; A small list of unfortunate events in the area are the Tunguska, in 1908, Chulum in 1984, and Vitim, in 2002.

People who live in the vicinity say that the fear they feel is due to the number of diseases and deaths of people who went through it or were in the vicinity of the metal.

Hence, the legend of the “Ancient Taiga Demons” is born, quite popular among the natives.

Testimonials of people who went to the place

The renowned explorer R. Maak, was one of the first people to explore the region in 1853 . His story tells of Algy timirbit, a river that flows through the upper part of the Viliuy mountain . In that place there is a kind of “copper cauldron” that he could not measure , since only the edges were visible sticking out of the ground.  

A geologist, in 1936 he ignored the legends of the area and entered the vicinity of the Olguidakh river , guided by native elders. There he found a sphere buried in the ground, reddish in color and extremely smooth . He said the edges were sharper than any material he has ever known and the outer walls were barely 2 centimeters thick.

All this information was sent to the Yakutia regional center.

In 1979 , an expedition of native archaeologists tried to locate the spheres mentioned in different legends.

The person who guided them claimed to have seen them in his youth, but the topography of the place was totally different compared to those days.

ND Arkhipov, a researcher who studied Yakutia culture, had this to say:

«Among the population of the Viliuy basin there is an ancient legend about the existence in the upper parts of this river of bronze cauldrons or olgis.

This legend deserves attention since the areas that are the supposed location of the mythical calderas contain several streams with the name Olguidakh ».

Other testimonies with less documentation come from hunters who claimed to have seen them. Some protruded from the ground and others covered by vegetation or under water.

What can be deduced is that these strange spheres are made of an unknown metal, very similar to copper. It is believed that its strength and toughness is far superior to what is known.

The curse of the spheres

The few tests that have been done have not been taken into account by the laboratories, since they do not know their origin or composition .

Local explorers assure that as time passes the spheres sink deeper into the ground until they disappear.

A strange fact is that in their surroundings, strange blackish spots appear on the ground and the vegetation does not grow . Reason why the elders of the area curse them.

Related to this is the testimony of Mikhail Koretsky from Vladivostok, who claimed to have been in the place where the spheres are found.

He said that up to 3 times he visited the place; the first time with his father at the age of 10 in 1933. Then he returned in 1947 with a group of young people.

His interest in visiting the place was the possibility of finding gold in the valleys. On the spheres, he managed to make out up to 7 spheres or cauldrons .

The size and the metal were powerfully conspicuous. They tried to scratch them with a fine, sharp chisel on several occasions, without success. The metal they are made of is not damaged .

The little vegetation that existed around the spheres was totally strange , of disproportionate sizes or peculiar colors.

They spent the night in the area and did not immediately feel any strange effects. However, 3 months later, one of the 6 young men lost all his hair and 3 strange sore spots appeared on the left side of Vladivostok’s head . Coincidentally, that side was the one that rested on the ground to sleep.

• So far there is no scientific study on the spheres, beyond testimonies made by adventurers. But the spheres of Siberia continue to generate intrigue. Where do they come from or what is their origin? Nobody seems to know.

{  https://mysteriousthing.com/ }

28-06-2021 om 01:42 geschreven door peter  

NASA’s Search for Life: Astrobiology in the Solar System and Beyond

{ https://www.nasa.gov/ }

28-06-2021 om 01:25 geschreven door peter