Human brain cells grown in a lab learn to play Pong: Incredible footage shows mini-brains mastering the classic video game after just five MINUTES of training

• Pong is a classic table tennis-themed video game, first released in 1972
• Researchers took human brain cells and grew 800,000 neurons in a dish
• They demonstrated that the brains cells could master Pong in just five minutes 
• In the future, the researchers hope the findings could pave the way for treatments for neurodegenerative conditions like dementia

By SHIVALI BEST FOR MAILONLINE 

It's the classic table tennis-themed video game that tasks players with moving a paddle vertically across a screen to hit a ball.

And now even human brain cells grown in a lab have mastered Pong.

Researchers from Melbourne-based start-up, Cortical Labs, have shown for the first time that 800,000 brain cells can perform goal-directed tasks – in this case, Pong.

The findings suggest that even brain cells in a petri dish can exhibit inherent intelligence, modifying their behaviour over time.

'This new capacity to teach cell cultures to perform a task in which they exhibit sentience – by controlling the paddle to return the ball via sensing – opens up new discovery possibilities which will have far-reaching consequences for technology, health, and society,' said Dr Adeel Razi, an author of the study.

'We know our brains have the evolutionary advantage of being tuned over hundreds of millions of years for survival.

'Now, it seems we have in our grasp where we can harness this incredibly powerful and cheap biological intelligence.'

Scientists have previously been able to grow brain cells in the lab and read their activity. 

However, until now, it's not been possible to stimulate the cells in a structured and meaningful way. 

Dr Brett Kagan, who led the study, explained: 'In the past, models of the brain have been developed according to how computer scientists think the brain might work.

'That is usually based on our current understanding of information technology, such as silicon computing.

'But in truth we don't really understand how the brain works.' 

In the new study, the team took mouse cells from embryonic brains as well as some human brain cells, and grew 800,000 neurons in a dish, in what they're calling 'DishBrain'.

The neurons were connected to a computer in such a way where they received feedback on whether their paddle was hitting the ball.

Electrodes on the left or right of one array were fired to tell DishBrain which side the ball was on, while distance from the paddle was indicated by the frequency of signals. 

Using electric probes that recorded 'spikes', the researchers monitored the neuron's activity and responses to this feedback.

In the new study, the team took mouse cells from embryonic brains as well as some human brain cells, and grew 800,000 neurons in a dish, in what they're calling 'DishBrain'

(pictured)

Pong is a classic table tennis-themed video game that tasks players with moving a paddle vertically across a screen to hit a ball

Spikes became stronger the more a neuron moved its paddle and hit the ball.

And when neurons missed the ball, their playstyle was critiqued by a software programme.

This shows that neurons can adapt their activity to a changing environment in a goal-oriented way, in real time.

Professor Karl Friston, a theoretical neuroscientist at UCL, and co-author of the study, said: 'Remarkably, the cultures learned how to make their world more predictable by acting upon it.

'This is remarkable because you cannot teach this kind of self-organisation; simply because — unlike a pet — these mini brains have no sense of reward and punishment.'

Pong wasn't the only game the team tested.

'You know when the Google Chrome browser crashes and you get that dinosaur that you can make jump over obstacles (Project Bolan),' said Dr Kagan. 

'We've done that and we've seen some nice preliminary results, but we still have more work to do building new environments for custom purposes.'

The team will now try to see what happens when DishBrain is affected by medicines and alcohol.

'We're trying to create a dose response curve with ethanol – basically get them "drunk" and see if they play the game more poorly, just as when people drink,' said Dr Kagan.

In the future, the researchers hope the findings could pave the way for treatments for neurodegenerative conditions.

'DishBrain offers a simpler approach to test how the brain works and gain insights into debilitating conditions such as epilepsy and dementia,' said Dr Hon Weng Chong, Chief Executive Officer of Cortical Labs.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

13-10-2022 om 17:18 geschreven door peter  

Menselijke hersencellen gekweekt in labo leren videogame Pong spelen in 5 minuten

Wetenschappers hebben het videospelletje Pong uit de jaren 70 in amper vijf minuten tijd leren spelen aan menselijke hersencellen gekweekt in een laboratorium. Volgens de onderzoekers kan hun “minibrein” voelen en reageren op de omgeving. Op termijn is de hoop dat de technologie kan worden ingezet om behandelingen te testen voor ziektes als Alzheimer.

Joeri Vlemings 

 Bron: BBC, The Guardian

Brett Kagan van het bedrijf Cortical Labs beweert dat hij met zijn team onderzoekers uit het Australische Melbourne voor het eerst een “gevoelig” brein op een schaaltje in een labo heeft gekweekt. Andere experten vinden die omschrijving te ver gaan, al noemen ze het onderzoek wel “opwindend”. “We konden geen betere term vinden om dit te beschrijven”, zegt Kagan. “Het is in staat om informatie van een externe bron op te nemen, die te verwerken en er vervolgens in real time op te reageren.” Neurowetenschapper Dean Burnett, die verbonden is aan de Cardiff Psychology School, geeft toch de voorkeur aan de term “denkend systeem”. “Er wordt informatie doorgegeven en duidelijk gebruikt, waardoor veranderingen ontstaan, dus over de stimulus die zij ontvangen wordt op een elementaire manier ‘nagedacht’”, zegt Burnett.

Het creëren van een minibrein is op zich niet nieuw. Het eerste werd al in 2013 gekweekt, toen om microcefalie te bestuderen, de genetische aandoening waarbij de schedelomvang te klein is en ook de hersenen zich niet volledig kunnen ontwikkelen. Sindsdien worden minibreinen vaker gebruikt in hersenonderzoek.

De primeur van dit onderzoek bestaat erin dat de hersenen werden verbonden met een externe omgevingsfactor, in dit geval een videogame, en dat er interactie was. Eerst werden menselijke hersencellen gekweekt uit stamcellen en enkele ook uit embryo’s van muizen. In totaal bestond het minibrein uit zo’n 800.000 cellen. Via elektroden werden de hersencellen verbonden met Pong, een van de allereerste videospellen, daterend uit de jaren 70.

Wat is Pong?

Het spel is gebaseerd op pingpong. De twee spelers staan elk achteraan hun eigen helft van het speelveld en hebben elk een bat, dat enkel horizontaal kan bewegen en dat tegen een balletje kan kaatsen. Aan de boven- en onderkant van het speelveld zijn er twee muren, die het balletje wegkaatsen telkens als dat de muur raakt. De bedoeling is om het balletje achter het bat van de tegenstander te krijgen en zo te scoren.

Bij de proef met het minibrein gaven de elektroden aan aan welke kant het balletje was en hoe ver het verwijderd was van de batjes. Als reactie daarop produceerden de cellen hun eigen elektrische activiteit. Naarmate het spel vorderde, gebruikten ze minder energie. Maar wanneer er ‘gescoord’ werd en het spel dus opnieuw begon met het balletje op een willekeurig punt, verbruikten ze meer energie om zich aan te passen aan de nieuwe spelsituatie.

In vijf minuten tijd leerde het minibrein Pong spelen. De bal werd vaak gemist, maar het succespercentage lag ver boven wat nog toeval is, ook al - zo benadrukken de onderzoekers - heeft het minibrein geen bewustzijn en weet het niet dat het Pong aan het spelen is zoals een menselijke speler dat zou beseffen.

Kagan hoopt dat deze technologie uiteindelijk zal kunnen worden gebruikt om behandelingen voor neurodegeneratieve ziekten zoals Alzheimer te testen. Kagan wil verder gaan dan alleen maar kijken of de hersenen in een schaaltje al dan niet activiteit vertonen. “Het doel van hersencellen is om informatie in real time te verwerken”, zegt hij. “Het aanboren van hun ware functie ontsluit zo veel meer onderzoeksgebieden die uitgebreid kunnen worden onderzocht.” Kagan is nu van plan om te testen welke invloed alcohol heeft op de capaciteit van het minibrein om Pong te spelen. Hij wil nagaan of de hersencellen reageren zoals een menselijk brein, wat van het systeem een efficiënte stand-in voor experimenten zou maken.

De studie is na peer-review gepubliceerd in het tijdschrift ‘Neuron’.

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

13-10-2022 om 17:04 geschreven door peter  

Phew, NASA’s CAPSTONE is no Longer Tumbling in Space

Engineers with the trouble-plagued CAPSTONE mission to the Moon have made progress in stabilizing the spacecraft. A month ago, the microwave-oven-sized CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) began tumbling and lost its orientation in space. But now, after weeks of painstaking and patient troubleshooting, team members successfully executed an operation to stop the spacecraft’s spin. NASA says this clears a major hurdle in returning the spacecraft to normal operations.

The mission for small satellite is to conduct tests to make sure the unique lunar orbit for NASA’s future Lunar Gateway is actually stable.  It launched on June 28, 2022 from New Zealand on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket. In early July, after conducting a course correction burn, the spacecraft lost contact with the Deep Space Network; however, communications were reestablished after about 24 hours.

But on September 8th, at the end of another course correction maneuver, the spacecraft’s attitude started to deviate. CAPSTONE’s reaction wheels were unable to counter the spacecraft’s oscillations, and the vehicle entered into an uncontrolled spin. With its antenna no longer pointed at Earth, communications were lost again.

Even though engineers were soon able to re-establish a weak communications link, data indicated the spacecraft’s solar arrays weren’t producing enough energy to charge the batteries, which was causing the spacecraft to reset frequently from lack of power. Most worrying was that without energy to run the onboard heaters, the thrusters needed to stop the tumble could freeze. But the mission team was able to put CAPSTONE into safe mode, which allowed the solar panels to focus on supplying power to heat the spacecraft. Then the team could focus attempting to solve the tumbling problem. They were able to determine the problem arose from a thruster valve that was partially stuck open.

In reviewing the telemetry data, one encouraging bit of data was that CAPSTONE was on course for eventually reaching its desired orbital trajectory. The unusual lunar orbit, called a near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO), is an elongated polar orbit that brings a spacecraft within 1600 km (1,000 miles) of one lunar pole on its near pass and 70,000 km (43,500 miles) from the other pole every seven days. Since the orbit uses a balance point in the gravities of Earth and the Moon, it is theorized that spacecraft in this type of orbit require less propulsion capability for spacecraft flying to and from the Moon’s surface than other circular orbits and requires minimal energy to maintain. This is CAPSTONE’s goal, to determine how stable and energy-saving this orbit actually is.

Last week Friday, on October 7, recovery commands were executed and the initial telemetry from CAPSTONE points to a successful maneuver, indicating the spacecraft has stopped its spin and regained full 3-axis attitude control. This means CAPSTONE’s position is controlled and its solar arrays are pointing towards the Sun and the communications antenna is pointing towards Earth.  

The team is now monitoring the spacecraft status and making any needed adjustments to procedures in order to account for and mitigate the effects of the partially open thruster valve. The mission team also will work to design possible fixes for this valve-related issue in order to reduce risk for future maneuvers. CAPSTONE remains on track to insert into its targeted near rectilinear halo orbit at the Moon on Nov. 13.

Further reading: 

• NASA CAPSTONE blog post

The post Phew, NASA’s CAPSTONE is no Longer Tumbling in Space appeared first on Universe Today.

Source: 

• https://www.universetoday.com/158025/phew-nasas-capstone-is-no-longer-tumbling-in-space/

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/ }

13-10-2022 om 16:23 geschreven door peter  

SpinLaunch Completes its 10th Test, Hurling Payloads for NASA and Other Companies Into the air

There has been no shortage of exciting developments in the commercial space industry (aka. NewSpace) in recent years. These include the ability to retrieve and reuse rockets (in part or whole), new configurations that reduce expendability, and new engines. But beyond making rocket launches more cost-effective, several cutting-edge ideas have been brought forward to make space more accessible. These include SpinLaunch‘s concept for an electric kinetic launch system (aka. a space catapult) that can propel payloads of up to 200 kg (440 lbs) to space.

On September 27th, 2022, SpinLaunch announced the results of its tenth successful flight test of its Suborbital Mass Accelerator (SMA) at Spaceport America, New Mexico. This time, SpinLaunch sent four partner payloads to space with its Suborbital Accelerator Flight Test Vehicle, which provided valuable data about the launch environment and payload integration process. This latest successful test has placed the company and its launch system one step closer to providing low-cost and sustainable launch services for satellites and other small payloads.

Based in Long Beach, California, SpinLaunch was founded in 2014 by Jonathan Yaney, an aerospace enthusiast and self-described “serial entrepreneur” with a long history of co-founding startups. Before founding SpinLaunch, Yaney spent 15 years establishing companies involved in consulting, IT, construction, and aerospace. By 2014, he began working on a new launch technology that would enable a low-cost and sustainable means of sending constellations of satellites to Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

Another Successful Launch

The company’s 12-meter (39.37 ft) Suborbital Mass Accelerator (SMA), located at Spaceport America in New Mexico, operates on a pretty straightforward principle. The accelerator spins payloads up to 10,000 g and then releases them from its launch tube towards space. Once the launch vehicle reaches orbit, its protective outer casing (similar to a rocket fairing) breaks away, releasing the second stage. This vehicle then ignites its single engine and carries payloads to the desired orbit, where they are released.

This method does away with the need for propellant burns to achieve escape velocity, making it far more environmentally friendly since it does not leave excess carbon emissions in our atmosphere. This latest flight is the tenth test conducted by the company in the eleven months since the SMA became operational in late 2021. Whereas the previous flights, which took place in October 2021 and May 2022, consisted of launch tests that saw test vehicles launched to higher and higher altitudes.

Flight Test 10 was the first flight to include cargo and was witnessed by more than 150 partners, government officials, and commercial space industry advocates. The test saw the Flight Test Vehicle (FTV) deploy all six of its payloads successfully (which were also recovered) and provided critical flight data. Moreover, it demonstrated that standard satellite components used by commercial partners are inherently compatible with the SMA launch system. Said Founder & CEO Yaney in a recent interview with BusinessWire:

“Flight Test 10 represents a key inflection point for SpinLaunch, as we’ve opened the Suborbital Accelerator system externally for our customers, strategic partners, and research groups. The data and insights collected from flight tests will be invaluable for both SpinLaunch, as we further the development of the Orbital Launch system, and for our customers who are looking to us to provide them with low-cost, high-cadence, sustainable access to space.”

As part of the pre-flight qualification process, SpinLaunch accelerated payloads up to 10,000 g using its 12-meter (39.37 ft) Lab Accelerator at its Long Beach headquarters. After clearing the qualification test, the payloads were inspected and integrated into the FTV in preparation for Flight Test 10 at the SMA at Spaceport America.

Launch Partners

The six payloads carried by the FTV included two instrumentation payloads that collected data on the flight, plus four partner payloads contributed by NASA, Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Cornell Engineering, and Outpost. Each was responsible for testing systems vital to the SMA and FTV and gauged the system’s ability to safely launch satellites and other payloads to suborbital altitude and beyond. NASA contributed a Data Acquisition Unit (DAQ) for its payload designed to evaluate the kinetic launch method for future commercial launch opportunities.

This payload was included as part of a NASA Space Act Agreement signed by SpinLaunch to develop, integrate, and fly a sensor suite to space. The DAQ gathered launch environment data using two accelerometers, a gyroscope, a magnetometer, and sensors for pressure, temperature, and humidity. Airbus U.S. Space & Defense provided their satellite sun sensor, a device typically used by spacecraft for attitude control and positioning. As a global leader in satellite systems, Airbus’ payload was intended to see if the extreme loads generated by the launch would impact the sensor signal.

To test this, a team of engineers monitored the sensor’s output signal during the high-g centrifuge test, the pre-flight test, and Flight Test 10. They then compared the output signal during all three phases to the pre-flight data and were pleased with the result. According to their findings, the sensor’s output signal was unaffected during the pre-flight, flight, or recovery phases. This success was a major step in certifying subsystems (like sensors or onboard laboratories) that are more delicate than other flight components for use on SpinLaunch’s orbital launch system.

“Our Airbus U.S. engineering team is excited to work with SpinLaunch in support of this significant advancement of a new accelerated launch concept,” said Airbus U.S. CTO Armen Askijian. “We look forward to continued collaboration and future success.”

The next payload was contributed by the Space Systems Design Studio (SSDS), which is part of the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University. The SSDS is responsible for designing next-generation satellites substantially smaller than CubeSats (called ChipSats) that will provide distributed in-situ measurements of Earth’s upper atmosphere and other planets. As part of Test Flight 10, the SSDS contributed some of their ChipSats, which were released during the flight to test the SpinLaunch-designed payload deployment system.

The payload deployment system is vital to SpinLaunch’s services, which are likely to include satellites of every shape and form. Future tests with SSDS may include high-altitude ChipSat deployments to verify their ability to reenter the atmosphere and follow a trajectory that will cause them to burn up. Said Hunter Adams, a lecturer in Cornell Engineering’s school of electrical and computer engineering:

“Centimeter-scale spacecraft will be a critical tool in future planetary science missions. Deployed en masse from orbit, ChipSats will descend through the atmosphere and down to the surface of this planet and others, gathering spatially distributed datasets as they fall. To plan these missions, we must understand the chaotic trajectories that low-mass and high-surface-area objects take from the top of the atmosphere to the surface of the planet. By conducting experiments with SpinLaunch’s Suborbital Accelerator, we can gather critical information for planning future planetary science missions involving ChipSats. It is absolutely a game-changer for centimeter-scale spacecraft research.”

The fourth payload was contributed by Outpost, a Los Angeles-based aerospace company developing reusable satellites capable of returning to Earth. Their payload consisted of an onboard computer for testing and qualifying the launch system, which validated both and proved that the flight computer is compatible with SpinLaunch’s launch environment. This represents a big step towards broader verification and testing of the kinetic launch system, and Outpost and SpinLaunch plan to continue collaborating in this respect. Said Michael Vergalla, co-founder and CTO at Outpost:

“Outpost and SpinLaunch share the same mission of providing customers with low-cost, rapid launch – which means rethinking the way we access space. Testing our hardware with SpinLaunch’s mass accelerator gives us optionality and provides valuable engineering data for developing our hardware to be compatible with their launch system and unlock the upside of low-cost and high-cadence launch.”

The success of this latest test has effectively demonstrated SpinLaunch’s capability to launch satellites and small payloads to suborbital altitude. It also means the company is on track for sending satellites to orbit and delivering payloads for other missions by 2026. It is also another step on the path toward SpinLaunch realizing its next-generation launcher, the Orbital Mass Accelerator (OMA). As the name suggests, this system will be larger, more powerful, and will be able to send heavier payloads to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), greatly expanding the types of mission profiles the company can provide.

Equally interesting is the wider implications this latest successful test will have for commercial space. The kinetic launch method is part of a growing constellation of services that are changing how we think about going to space. In terms of rockets, most commercial providers offer at least partially-reusable vehicles, single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicles, and air-launch vehicles. Beyond rockets, space agencies and entrepreneurs are pushing the boundaries of orbital balloons, electric rails, mass drivers, and spaceplanes.

The net effect of these low-cost and sustainable launch systems will likely be tremendous, enabling everything from megaconstellations (that don’t cause space debris) to the creation of private space stations and habitats and the commercialization of LEO. Who knows? Such diverse methods for sending payloads to orbit could even pave the way towards some of the most ambitious methods for sending payloads and people to space – like Slingatrons, Sky Hooks, and Space Elevators!

Further Reading: 

• Businesswire

The post SpinLaunch Completes its 10th Test, Hurling Payloads for NASA and Other Companies Into the air appeared first on Universe Today.

Source: 

• https://www.universetoday.com/158014/spinlaunch-completes-its-10th-test-hurling-payloads-for-nasa-and-other-companies-into-the-air/

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/ }

13-10-2022 om 16:08 geschreven door peter  

Two Tic-Tac Crashed In Antarctica, Google Earth Map, Video, UFO Sighting News.

 

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

13-10-2022 om 15:50 geschreven door peter  

Short UFO video from Nesles la Vallée, France 7-Oct-2022

I just received this short UFO video of a sighting that happened over Nesles la Vallée in northern France on Friday, 7th October 2022.

Witness report (translated from French): 

What I saw on Friday October 7 at 10:11 p.m. from Nesles la Vallée in the 95.

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

13-10-2022 om 15:19 geschreven door peter  

3 UFO lights in formation over Scottsdale, Arizona 2-Oct-2022

These 3 huge lights were seen and recorded in the sky above Scottsdale, a desert city in Arizona east of state capital Phoenix. Filmed on 2nd October 2022.

Witness report: 

At or about 6:30 pm on October 2, 2002, I was on a 2 nd story rooftop facing south. I began to see 3 lights traveling from the southeast to north over phoenix. The lights travelled as far north to Scottsdale and became stationary. The lights were a bright white and pulsating. After a minute the 3 lights were aligned in a straight line, then the 3rd light at the bottom took off the south. The second light about another minute later moved south then moved back toward the northwest . The Top light of the three remained stationary . I recorded about 3 minutes of video and took a two photos.

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

13-10-2022 om 14:57 geschreven door peter  

Dark Side of the Universe is Way More Mysterious Than the Light Side

In “Star Wars” lore, there’s a constant struggle between the dark side and the light side of the Force. Fans debate endlessly about which side is stronger. While such debates might seem futile, given that they pertain to a fictional universe, there’s a real life analogue of sorts.

Our universe, too, contains both light and dark components. On the one hand, there’s the light side, which consists of all that’s visible and interacts with radiation — stars, quasars, planets, etc. On the other hand, a dark side looms, full of theoretical entities like dark matter and dark energy.

We know a lot more about the light side, of course. But observations of the light side reveal hints about the nature of the dark, and the more evidence we gather about this mysterious realm, the more we’re realizing that understanding it isn’t going to be easy.

Perhaps the biggest evidence we have that there’s more to the dark side than meets the eye is the fact that our observations of the expansion rate of our universe — otherwise known as the Hubble constant — are becoming increasingly inconsistent. Different techniques we have for measuring the rate of expansion can’t seem to agree.

For instance, if we measure the expansion rate by looking directly at the speed by which distant objects like supernova are moving away from us, we come up with a rate of about 73.2 kilometers per second per megaparsec (a “megaparsec” being a unit of distance equal to 3.26 million light-years). But if we attempt to calculate the expansion rate by studying the most detailed map ever compiled of the early universe — the so-called cosmic background radiation that permeates the universe in all directions — the numbers fall to between 67 and 68 kilometers per second per megaparsec.

It’s also possible that Knox’s dark turbo is really just another form of dark energy — the term scientists use to describe how the universe is expanding at an accelerated rate. This would mean that dark energy is way more complicated than previously thought, but that wouldn’t be surprising. Knox points out that the light side of the universe contains many different types of particles and forces, and asks: Why couldn’t the dark side also have complex elements?

Of course it’s probably complicated. This is the universe, after all. The good news is, scientists tend to prefer questions over answers. That’s just the nature of the game.

“It’s much more interesting if it turns out to be fundamental new physics — but it’s not up to us wanting it to be one way or another,” exclaimed Wendy Freedman of the University of Chicago, who has been laboring away on the Hubble constant problem for more than three decades. “The universe doesn’t care what we think!”

{ https://fancy4work.com/ }

13-10-2022 om 01:26 geschreven door peter  

CALVINE UPDATE

After reviewing further information and the similarity to other UFO encounters, the possibilty of the Calvine object being a hoax becomes less likely.

RELATED 

{ https://www.youtube.com/c/ufodata }

13-10-2022 om 01:15 geschreven door peter  

Enigmatic Symbols and Carvings in Man-Made Royston Cave

The Royston Cave is an artificial cave in Hertfordshire, England, which contains strange carvings. It is not known who created the cave or what it was used for, but there has been much speculation. Some believe that it was used by the Knights Templar, while others believe it may have been an Augustinian store house. Another theory posits that it was a Neolithic flint mine. None of these theories have been substantiated, and the origin of Royston Cave remains a mystery.

Detail of Royston Cave, Royston, Hertfordshire. 

(Cruccone / CC BY-SA 3.0 )

The Discovery of Royston Cave

Royston Cave was discovered in August 1742 by a worker in the small town of Royston digging holes to build footing for a new bench at a market. He discovered a millstone while he was digging, and when he dug around to remove it, he found the shaft leading down into a man-made cave, half-filled with dirt and rock.

At the time of discovery, efforts were made to remove the dirt and rock filling the artificial cave, which was subsequently discarded. Some believed that treasure would be found within Royston Cave. However, removal of the dirt did not reveal any treasure. They did however discover sculptures and carvings within the cave. It is worth noting that had the soil not been discarded, today’s technology could have allowed for a soil analysis.

• Ten Amazing Caves of the Ancient World
• More than a Dozen Mysterious Prehistoric
• Tunnels in Cornwall, England, Mystify Researchers

Located below the crossroads of Ermine Street and Icknield Way, the cave itself is an artificial chamber carved into chalk bedrock, measuring approximately 7.7 meters high (25 ft 6 in) and 5.2 meters (17 ft) in diameter. At the base o the cave is a raised octagonal step, which many believe was used for kneeling or prayer. Along the lower part of the wall there are unusual carvings. Experts believe that these relief carvings were originally colored, although due to the passage of time only very small traces of color remain visible.

The carved relief images are mostly religious, depicting St. Catherine , the Holy Family, the Crucifixion, St. Lawrence holding the gridiron on which he was martyred, and a figure holding a sword who could either be St. George, or St. Michael. Holes located beneath the carvings appear to have held candles or lamps which would have lit the carvings and sculptures. Several of the figures and symbols have yet to be identified, but according to Royston Town Council , a study of the designs in the cave “suggest that the carvings were likely made in the mid-1300s.”

Plate I from Joseph Beldam's book The Origins and Use of the Royston Cave, 1884 showing some of the numerous carvings. 

( Public domain )

Theories Related to Royston Cave

One of the main theories as to the origin of Royston Cave, especially for those who like conspiracy theories , is that it was used by the medieval religious order known as the Knights Templar , prior to their dissolution by Pope Clement V in 1312. Bad Archaeology criticizes the way websites across the web have repeated this association between the Royston Cave and the Knights Templar, “despite the weakness of the evidence in favor of the hypothesis and the arguments in favor of a later date.”

Some believe that the cave had been split into two levels using a wooden floor. Figures near a damaged section of the cave depict two knights riding a single horse, which may be the remains of a Templar symbol. Architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner has written that the date of the carvings "is hard to guess. They have been called Anglo-Saxon, but are more probably of various dates between the C14 and C17 (the work of unskilled men)."

Plate III from Joseph Beldam's book The Origins and Use of the Royston Cave, 1884 showing the shape and floor plan of the cave. 

( Public domain )

Another theory is that Royston Cave was used as an Augustinian store house. As their name implies, the Augustinians were an Order created by St. Augustine , Bishop of Hippo, in Africa. Founded in 1061 AD, they first came into England during the reign of Henry I . From the 12th century, Royston in Hertfordshire was a center of monastic life and the Augustinian priory continued without break there for nearly 400 years. It has been said that local Augustinian monks used Royston Cave as a cool storage space for their produce and as a chapel.

Finally, some speculate it may have been used as a Neolithic flint mine as early as 3,000 BC, where flint would have been gathered for making axes and other tools. However, the chalk in this area only provides small flint nodules, generally unsuitable for axe making, so this may cast some doubt on this theory.

Relief carving of St. Christopher at Royston Cave.

(picturetalk321 / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 )

Unravelling the “Mysteries” of Royston Cave

To this date there remains much mystery as to who created Royston cave and for what purpose. It is always possible that whichever group originally created the cave may have abandoned it at some point, allowing it to be used by another group. The mystery surrounding the cave and the sculptures within makes the cave an interesting location for visitors who would like to speculate as to the origins of this ancient wonder.

• The Wemyss Caves: Ancient Pictish History and the Writing on the Walls
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Royston Cave has required regular maintenance and restoration, as it was discovered that insect larvae and worms were damaging the walls and structure of the cave. By August 2014, work to prevent such damage was deemed successful. Rather than using insecticides, the preservation workers removed some of the earth, thereby eliminating the worms’ food supply. Hopefully subsequent repair work to pipes to avoid flooding, and other work to prevent vibration damage from the traffic above, will help to preserve the cave into the future. 

Depiction of the crucifixion at Royston Cave.

(picturetalk321 / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 )

Visiting the Royston Cave

Just 8 minutes walking from Royston train station, visits are organized by Royston Town Council and tickets must be booked online . Their opening hours of Royston Cave are limited to Saturdays and Sundays from April to September. Each tour is limited to 15 people and lasts about 30 minutes.

• Top image: The mysterious and elaborately carved walls of Royston Cave.
• Source: Sizbut /  Flickr

By M R Reese

{https://www.ancient-origins.net/ }

13-10-2022 om 01:00 geschreven door peter  

Were Cyclopes Legends Inspired by Ancient Elephant Skulls?

Ancient Greek mythology is full of fantastic beasts and monsters. One of the most famous examples is the brutal one-eyed race of giants, the cyclopes. Several different cyclopes appeared in various myths. One group was instrumental in helping Zeus overcome the Titans, while another had a nasty habit of feasting on mortals. But where did the Greeks get their inspiration from? Were the cyclopes just a figment of their imaginations, or was something else at work?

What Were the Cyclopes?

In Greek mythology, there were three distinct groups of cyclopes, all appearing in different myths. The most well-known are the Homeric cyclopes that appear in the Odyssey. When we think of the cyclopes that are prevalent in pop culture today, it is the Homeric cyclopes we are thinking of.

These cyclopes were a group of one-eyed, savage giants who were man-eating shepherds. Odysseus and his men ended up on the cyclopes’ island looking for supplies during their long and eventful journey home. One of the cyclopes, Polyphemus (son of Poseidon), captured Odysseus and his men. He began eating Odysseus’s men one by one. Using his wits, Odysseus got the cyclops drunk and blinded him, before fleeing with his remaining men.

• Polyphemus - Whose Prayer for Revenge Was the Origin of the Odyssey
• Is There Any Truth to Legends of Mighty Cyclopes from Greek Mythology?

Statue depicting The Blinding of Polyphemus

(Carole Raddato / CC BY SA 2.0 )

The second most famous group was the Hesiodic cyclopes. These fit the same physical description, but are quite different. In the Theogony, Hesiod described three cyclopes: Brontes, Steropes, and Arges. These were the children of Uranus and Gaia. They were also brothers to the Titans and the Hundred-Hander giants.

In the Theogony, these cyclopes were banished to Tartarus (Greek hell), but they were rescued by Zeus. They played a key role in the Greek succession myth by arming Zeus with his thunderbolts, which became his primary weapon throughout Greek mythology. They also crafted Hades’ helm of invisibility and Poseidon’s trident. Rather than savage monsters, these cyclops were subservient master craftsmen.

A first century AD head of a Cyclops, one of the sculptures adorning the Roman Colosseum

(Steven Lek / CC BY SA 4.0 )

The third group was the cyclopean wall builders. The Greeks believed that the great walls of Mycenae, Tiryns, and Argos were all built by primordial cyclopes. Besides being master craftsmen, not much is known about these cyclopes. They were just used to explain something the Greeks struggled to explain otherwise - giant walls made of stone no man could lift.

• Battle of the Gods, When Titans Took on Zeus
• The Cyclopean Problem: Who Built Italy’s Astounding Ancient Walls?

Elephant Fossils and the Cyclopes

In the early 21st century, the remains of a Deinotherium giganteum were found in Crete for the first time. The Deinotherium giganteum was an ancient relative of the modern elephant. It was 15 feet (4.6 meters) tall, with tusks 4.5 feet (1.3 meters) long.

Its skull showed it to be much more primitive and bulkier than its modern counterpart. Most importantly, it also had an extremely long nasal opening in the center of its skull. To paleontologists today, or anyone who has seen an elephant, the large hole points to a big trunk.

But what about the scientifically uneducated? A giant skull with a large hole in the center? Found close to large bones? That could sound a lot like a cyclops skull.

Adrienne Mayor, a historian of ancient science and a classical folklorist, believes that's what the Greeks thought when they first found a Deinotherium giganteum skull. She has argued that Greeks and Romans had a long history of using fossil evidence to support existing myths and even create new ones.

The idea that mythology and religion have been used throughout history to explain the unknown is nothing new. As a species, humans crave explanations and answers. The Greeks were farmers and would come across fossils from time to time. When a person with no understanding of evolution came across a giant bone that they couldn’t otherwise explain, it makes sense that they would reconstruct them in their minds as giant monsters.

In her book The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times , Mayor took this idea and ran with it. She pointed out that the areas where many of the myths took place are home to lots of fossil beds. Furthermore, according to Mayor, many myths involve monsters coming out from beneath the ground after storms. It is not uncommon for a bad storm to erode soil and reveal the underlying fossils.

Deinotherium skull from Oxford University Museum of Natural History

(Ballista / CC BY SA 3.0 )

Debunking the Pygmy Fossil Claim

Mayor wasn’t the first person to connect elephant fossils with the cyclops myth, however. A century before, the Austrian paleontologist Othenio Abel first proposed the idea. He suggested the cyclops myth had been birthed with the Greek discovery of fossilized pygmy elephant skulls.

It all seemed to line up. Pygmy elephant skulls have eye sockets that are very small when compared to the large nasal cavity left by the trunk. The fossils are also usually found with other fossilized bones. To the Greeks, this could have appeared to be evidence of the cyclops' savage diet.

Abel also claimed that the Greek writer Empedocles had seen pygmy elephant remains in caves in Sicily. There was only one problem; according to Mayor, Abel was mistaken. Empedocles made no such claim and never saw pygmy elephant fossils. So Abel was on the right track, but was perhaps wrong on the specific type of elephant fossil that inspired the myth.

Elephant skull at Serengeti National Park. 

( CC BY-SA 2.0 )

Conclusion

We’ll never know whether Mayor and Abel are right or not. Without a time machine, there is no scientific way to confirm how the Greeks came up with the myth. The theory does make sense though. How else would the ancient Greeks explain their seemingly strange fossil discoveries other than coming up with tall tales to explain them?

The Greeks weren’t alone either. Other civilizations have done the same. Take the dragon for example. The dragon appears in the mythology of cultures all over the world. What else can be found all over the world? Dinosaur fossils. It is likely no coincidence that many depictions of dragons resemble our modern understanding of what a dinosaur looked like.

Even today, some creationists still point at fossil evidence and use it to argue that fossils are proof of creatures like the Leviathan, which appear in the Bible, rather than evidence of animals millions of years old. So in the end, it isn’t that surprising that the Greeks might have seen an old elephant skull and confused it with that of a cyclops.

• Top image: The cyclopes were one-eyed mythological giants of ancient Greece. But did the myth originate from elephant skulls like this?   
• Source: Left; John Cummings, CC BY-SA 3.0 , Right; bigjom/ Adobe Stock

By Robbie Mitchell

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter011

{ https://www.ancient-origins.net/ }

13-10-2022 om 00:00 geschreven door peter  

Astronomers can't explain a black hole "burp" years after it ate a star

By Michael Irving

Black holes have been seen to chow down on stars that wander too close, resulting in a bright stellar show. But now a black hole has been seen doing something nobody’s ever seen before – it “burped up” material several years after eating a star, leaving astronomers baffled.

Black holes are famously ravenous objects, swallowing up everything that gets too close, including light itself. When stars are on the menu, the intense gravitational forces stretch the material out into long strands in an event known as “spaghettification” or more officially, a tidal disruption event (TDE). This produces clear signals of light, radio and other waves that astronomers can detect as bursts that last a few weeks or months.

In October 2018, astronomers detected and studied a TDE known as AT2018hyz. It seemed to be pretty average for this kind of event – a star just one-tenth the mass of the Sun was being swallowed by a black hole about 665 million light-years away. The light show faded over a few months, and astronomers didn’t really give it much thought after that.

That is until June 2021, when the black hole suddenly fired back up with radio signals. This emission appears to be an outflow, the result of material thrown back into space as the black hole shredded the star – but this usually shows up within days or weeks of the initial event, not years later.

“This caught us completely by surprise – no one has ever seen anything like this before,” said Yvette Cendes, lead author of the study. “It’s as if this black hole has started abruptly burping out a bunch of material from the star it ate years ago.”

These burps have a lot of power behind them, too. The team calculated that they’re traveling at around half the speed of light, which is about five times faster than most TDE outflows.

So far the astronomers can’t explain why it took so long for these radio signals to show up. But studying the feeding habits of black holes has revealed some unexpected anomalies in the past – one was seen to be slowly snacking on a star over 10 years, while another would slurp a layer off each time the star swung past, producing flashes that repeat like clockwork. More detailed observations of these events could help unravel how regular they may be occurring.

{ https://newatlas.com/ }

12-10-2022 om 23:13 geschreven door peter  

The mysteries of Mount Roraima: evidence of artificial cuts?

Blue Book Project: The witness tells that a UFO landed at the “airport” that forms the top of Roraima, causing a major blackout throughout the region.

Known as a geological curiosity, full of mysteries and inexplicable phenomena, Mount Roraima has become one of the most important points for researching UFOs and paranormals.

Also known as Tepuy Roraima, Cerro Roraima or simply Roraima, it is located on a plateau at the crossroads between Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil. Some people are sure that this work was done naturally, a “whim of nature.” However, due to its height and its almost perfectly flat peak, many theories indicate that, perhaps, it could be an artificial construction from really very old times.

Could Mount Roraima be built artificially?

Mount Roraima, which in the past was virtually unknown to researchers, has become one of the most important points for those studying UFO phenomena. Its fascinating shape has attracted attention for decades, as the mound appears to have been carved out of a single gigantic monolithic piece of rock.

Its walls are completely vertical and all surfaces are smooth. The sides of the mountain are also perfectly straight. The height at the top of the vertical walls reaches 400 meters. The sloping corners seem to create a kind of “defence” for those who want to reach the surface, forming very sharp protrusions that cover the entire mountain. The mountain range measures about 170 meters and, in total, the structure exceeds 1,150 meters in height.

The mythology of Roraima

The Pemón, Capone and several other indigenous peoples found in South America have a very extensive mythology, where the Roraima plays a very important role, especially in cosmogony.

In the Pemón language, “Rorai” means “greenish-blue” and “ma” means “large”. This means that the name Roraima, translated from the Pemon language, means “the great blue-green mountain”. According to their beliefs, the mountain is a kind of remnant of a majestic and mighty tree from which all the food in the world was born.

A legendary hero known as Makunaina, which means “Work at night”, although many others know him simply as “God” or “Great Spirit” cut down the tree and its trunk, and when it fell to the ground, it caused a terrible flood.

Mount Roraima: The Lost World – theOrangeMango

UFO sightings

Many stories have been told about this great mountain. In addition to local legends and myths, tourists from all over the world witnessed strange events. Delia Hoffman de Mier, a woman who, along with many others, witnessed a “third-degree” contact when they were in the town of Santa Elena de Uairén.

She says that a UFO landed at the “airport” that forms the top of Roraima, causing a major blackout throughout the region. This case was even studied by the US Congress, which was looking into the mystery of “Unidentified Flying Objects”.

The event was included in the well-known Project Blue Book, which is responsible for collecting all the testimonies of extraterrestrials and UFOs that NASA was unable to explain. Thus, many other “extraordinary” events have already been told by various expeditions, tourists and researchers who ventured to visit Mount Roraima.

{ https://mysteriesrunsolved.com/ }

12-10-2022 om 18:48 geschreven door peter  

Electric vehicles can fully charge in just FIVE MINUTES using NASA technology designed to improve heat transfer for systems set to for missions to the moon and Mars

• Researchers at Purdue University modeled a system after NASA technology to charge electric vehicles in just five minutes
• The new system uses a liquid coolant to capture heat passing from the charge and through the cable to the vehicle
• This allows them to release an intense current that can quickly power the car
• The NASA technology was tested on the International Space Station and is set to be used to efficiently transfer heat in systems set to got to the moon and Mars 

By STACY LIBERATORE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

A NASA technique developed for missions to the moon, Mars and beyond can also charge an electric vehicle on Earth in just five minutes by ‘cooling’ heat generated by the current-carrying conductor.

Using NASA’s Flow Boiling Module as a blueprint, researchers at Purdue University dramatically reduced the amount of heat traveling through wires to push 1,400 amperes, the unit of electric current through cables. This is compared to the 520 amperes delivered by the most advanced chargers. 

Because it can take at least 20 minute to power a vehicle at a station, many people have opted to stick with their gas guzzlers because of the convenience. But this new system charges a car faster than it takes to fuel up at the pump.

This technology would be welcomed by states like California and New York that are banning the sales of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035.

Using NASA’s Flow Boiling Module as a blueprint, researchers at Purdue University dramatically reduced the amount of heat in traveling through wires to push 1,400 amperes, the unit of electric current through cables

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The NASA-made system was initially built for the International Space Station, where it has been tested in microgravity to ensure its success on future space missions.

The idea is that the orbiting laboratory, and other craft, will need technology that can efficiently transfer heat throughout systems - otherwise the mechanics could burn up.

This sparked the interest of Issam Mudawar, a professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue, who constructed a prototype in 2021 that was announced on Tuesday to be successful in powering electric vehicles.

This allowed them to create a charging system that powers vehicles in just five minutes

Using an alternative cooling method, Purdue researchers designed a charging cable that can deliver a current 4.6 times that of the fastest available EV chargers on the market today by removing up to 24.22 kilowatts of heat.

The module also resembles a real-world charging station, as it includes a pump, a tube with the same diameter as an actual charging cable, the same controls and instrumentation, along with the same flow rates and temperatures.

‘Application of this new technology resulted in unprecedented reduction of the time required to charge a vehicle and may remove one of the key barriers to worldwide adoption of electric vehicles,’ NASA shared in a statement.

As US states beat the drum to ban new gas cars, many are weary about how the plan will be carried out with the uncertainty of the number of charging stations needed to provide tens of thousands of new electric vehicles with enough power to ensure they get from Point A to Point B.

California was the first to implement the mandate last month that requires 35 percent of new passenger vehicles sold in the state by 2026 produce zero emissions, then 68 percent by 2030 and ultimately 100 percent five years after.

However, more than 17 million vehicles registered in the state are those after 2010, 3.2 million are hybrids and at least 700,000 are all-electric.

New York, which joined the west coast state last week, is following the same quota to reach a total ban in 2035.

But how it plans to charge thousands of electric vehicles in a city that lacks private driveways still remains a mystery.

There are just 677 charging stations spread across the five boroughs and although the city is set to add 10,000 curbside chargers by 2030, it may not be enough to power the thousands that will be cruising around by 2030 - 68 percent of all new cars sold this year will be electric.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

12-10-2022 om 18:11 geschreven door peter  

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

12-10-2022 om 17:42 geschreven door peter  

Eerste ruimtetoerist ooit gaat nu met SpaceX rondje rond de maan vliegen

De eerste ruimtetoerist ooit gaat opnieuw de ruimte in. Dennis Tito (intussen 82) betaalde in 2001 als eerste om onze planeet even te mogen verlaten en gaat nu samen met zijn vrouw Akiko een toertje rond de maan maken. Hij zal dat doen met SpaceX, het ruimtebedrijf van Elon Musk. Hoeveel de Tito’s hebben betaald voor de trip, is niet bekendgemaakt.

 Bron: ANP

Het echtpaar zal samen met tien andere passagiers ongeveer een week in de ruimte verblijven. Wanneer ze precies vertrekken, is nog onduidelijk. Het ruimtevaartuig Starship is nog niet af. Er worden nog testvluchten mee uitgevoerd en het is nog niet buiten de dampkring geweest. Ook is nog niet duidelijk wie de andere passagiers zullen zijn.

Lees ook

• 

  Oude satellieten moeten sneller worden opgeruimd uit de ruimte, zegt communicatiewaakhond

• 

  Historisch: deze Italiaanse beroemdheid is de eerste Europese vrouw die het ISS leidt

Tito werkte ooit kort bij het Amerikaanse ruimtevaartbedrijf NASA en richtte in 1972 investeringsmaatschappij Wilshire Associates op. Daarmee werd hij rijk en in 2001 betaalde hij Rusland 20 miljoen dollar voor een verblijf van een week in het internationaal ruimtestation ISS.

Blue Origin

Sindsdien is ruimtetoerisme een stuk gangbaarder geworden en brengen bedrijven als Blue Origin en Virgin Galactic mensen tegen betaling naar de rand van de ruimte.

De inmiddels 82-jarige Tito bezocht SpaceX vorig jaar met zijn 57-jarige vrouw. Daar werd hem gevraagd of hij zo’n ruimtevlucht of een nieuwe trip naar het ISS zou willen maken. Tito zei daarop dat hij naar de maan wilde en zijn vrouw beaamde dat. “Zo is het begonnen.”

Lees ook: 

• Elektrische wagen opladen in amper 5 minuten? Het kan volgens NASA dankzij nieuwe ruimtetechnologie

• Test om aarde te redden geslaagd: DART-satelliet van NASA heeft koers van ruimterots succesvol veranderd

Bekijk ook:

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

12-10-2022 om 17:33 geschreven door peter  

UFO changing directions over Palm Desert, California 9-Oct-2022

This bright UAP was filmed in the sky above Palm Desert in California on Sunday, 9th October 2022. It was changing the path of flying. Let me know in the comment section what you think about this sighting!

Witness report: 

Was viewing rise of full moon and noticed Venus star then a second star that suddenly started traveling in numerous directions and changing paths. I am a film and TV director and recording artist. When I saw the object, I started filming with an iPhone. I was talking to someone on the phone when I witnessed the event. The object moved away from the moon, ascended, then descended making right and left turns, and seem to go straight towards the moon then quickly turned and moved away from it. I lost it after a couple of minutes due to it disappearing behind some high cloud coverage.

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

12-10-2022 om 16:38 geschreven door peter  

Dutchman Stefan Denaerde talks about his alien encounter after his boat hit a USO/UFO

In 1969, Stefan Denaerde came across an encounter with eight extraterrestrials after accidentally stumbling across a UFO. His book about this incident became an instant bestseller (Amazon link).

Based on the author’s encounter with the aliens, Alien Civilization was released in 1969. Through his encounter with the aliens, the author was able to see their environment through their computers and film images. According to Denaerde, he was surprised by how advanced and high-level technical knowledge is used to determine life on a planet that has a population of 5000 people per square kilometer.

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

12-10-2022 om 16:32 geschreven door peter  

12-10-2022 om 01:33 geschreven door peter  

Loeb Says Artillery Shells, West Says Insects

{ "André Skondras" <andrskondras@gmail.com>;  }

12-10-2022 om 01:19 geschreven door peter