Speeding Towards a Crucial Tipping Point

Here's why the old models got it so wrong.

BY LAUREN LEFFER

Moelyn Photos/Moment/Getty Images

“It’s incredibly worrying,” said Bethan Davies, lead study author and a glaciologist at Newcastle University in England in a statement. “The feedback processes this sets in motion [are] likely to prevent future glacier regrowth, potentially pushing glaciers beyond a tipping point into irreversible recession.”

More than 20 percent of global sea level rise results from mountain glaciers and ice cap melt and Alaska’s glaciers are already the largest single contributor among that portion. The new findings indicate that the state’s future contributions to rising tides may soon be baked-in, and impossible to prevent.

Davies and her co-authors combined historical aerial photographs, geologic data on the most recent glacial maxima, and satellite images to specifically quantify volume and area loss at one site, which likely carries implications for others. They focused their analysis on Juneau Icefield, a sprawling expanse composed of about 1,000 glaciers covering about 1,500 square miles on the Alaska/British Columbia border, and assessed how the formation changed between 1770 and 2020.

The scientists found some alarming trends. Following the end of the “Little Ice Age” that spanned from about 1300 to 1750, ice loss was relatively consistent between 1770 and 1979. During that period, Juneau Icefield lost between .65 and 1.01 cubic kilometers (0.16 to 0.24 cubic miles) of ice each year. Between 1979 and 2010, that rate increased to 3.08 to 3.72 cubic kilometers of ice loss annually. From 2010 to 2020, the rate of ice loss doubled in just a decade, rising to about 5.91 cubic kilometers per year. Zooming in on a narrower and more recent time period, losses accelerated even further between 2015 and 2020.

All of this has unfolded against the backdrop of increasing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations and rising average temperatures. Summer temperatures at Juneau Icefield were about 1 degree Celsus warmer, on average, from 2001 to 2020 than they were from 1941 to 1970. The mean winter temperature for the same time period is up more than 2 degrees C, lengthening the annual period of melt.

As of 2019, 100 percent of the glaciers mapped at Juneau Icefield were receding and 108 had disappeared completely. The total ice loss since the Little Ice Age maximum is estimated to be about 24.25 percent of the icefield’s volume. In addition to the loss of ice volume and area, the remaining ice field is becoming increasingly fragmented and vulnerable.

As the melt eats away at the ice field and its glaciers, several knock-on processes are triggered which can lead to feedback loops that, in turn, produce more melting. For one, Juneau Icefield (as with many Alaskan icefields) is relatively flat, so it’s losing volume all over. As this happens, it becomes less thick and, over time, the surface of the ice gets closer to sea level. At lower elevations, the air is warmer, and melting increases.

Another feedback loop occurs when fresh snow accumulation is reduced at lower altitudes, as the icefield surface gets farther away from the snowline. With less fresh snow, the icefield surface becomes dirtier and less reflective. These darker surfaces absorb more heat and additional melting ensues. Fragmentation that exposes rocks and gravel also reduces the reflectivity (or “albedo”) of the icefield, and enables hotter air to penetrate deeper into glaciers.

Each of these processes individually is “destabilizing”, write the study authors, and together they are even worse news. Scientists rely on mathematical and computer models to try to predict how ice losses are set to unfold under climate change. However, existing icefield models often don’t consider these sorts of feedback loops and fail to capture the depth, breadth, and speed of planetary modification underway.

Currently, models suggest that Juneau Icefield should be losing ice linearly through 2040, with losses only accelerating after 2070, but the new study indicates those models are flawed. “Current glacier projections may be too small and underestimate glacier melt in the future,” Davies said. If we want to understand what the coming decades hold, we’ll have to pay closer attention to the past.

{ https://www.inverse.com/ }

07-07-2024 om 16:14 geschreven door peter  

UFO Sighting Alert! 🚨 Unexplained Lights Over Roswell, NM Captured on Video!

On the evening of May 14, 2024, the skies over Roswell, New Mexico, once again played host to a bewildering spectacle that has left both skeptics and believers scratching their heads. A recent UFO sighting, documented by an everyday traveler, has reignited the ever-intriguing debate on unidentified flying objects.

The Sighting

A recent road trip took a couple through the iconic UFO hotspot of Roswell. They decided to camp out at an OHV area approximately 20 miles northeast of the city, on one of the region’s distinctive plateaus. As they set up camp and began preparing their evening meal, something unusual caught their eye.

The witness described seeing flares of light appearing in the valley below, seemingly at eye level with their elevated position. Despite being 20 miles away from the main city and situated in rough ranchland, these lights did not align with any known sources or activities.

Witness Account

According to the witness, the lights appeared to break through the clouds on the horizon, but closer examination revealed they were well below the clouds and away from the horizon. These flares, looking somewhat like fireworks, had no visible source. The video, recorded at 9:25 PM, captures these sporadic lights appearing and fading out, adding to the mystery.

The lights were observed in an area without major industrial buildings or populated zones, making their origin even more perplexing. Despite the video quality being low due to the zoom and lighting conditions, the mysterious nature of the lights is evident.

What Did They See?

In the video accompanying this report, you can observe sporadic bursts of light, seemingly emerging from nowhere and disappearing just as quickly. These lights, reminiscent of fireworks, had no discernible origin, a detail that further deepens the mystery. The witness has confirmed that the lights were far from the horizon and not within the clouds, adding another layer of intrigue to this enigmatic event.

Seeking Answers

The witness has reached out to various communities, including Reddit, in hopes of finding a natural explanation or encountering others who have experienced similar phenomena. The video quality, though not perfect, captures the eerie beauty of these unexplained lights. As this sighting gains traction, it poses the age-old question: Are we truly alone, or is there something more to these mysterious lights in the sky?

VIDEO:

• https://youtu.be/dRiF8wXinMU

This UFO sighting in Roswell, New Mexico, adds to the long list of unexplained phenomena that have captivated human curiosity for decades. As we continue to seek answers, the skies over Roswell remain a canvas of mystery, urging us to look up and wonder.

Stay tuned for more updates on UFO sightings and other unexplained phenomena. Don’t forget to watch the video and share your thoughts in the comments below!

• https://youtu.be/Qnym-ZcckYM

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

07-07-2024 om 16:04 geschreven door peter  

Unveiling the Hidden Kingdom: Secrets Beneath Antarctica’s Icy Surface

The documentary “ALIEN CHRONICLES – ANTARCTIC WORLDS BELOW | The Hidden Kingdom” offers a compelling exploration into the mysteries surrounding Antarctica, particularly focusing on the theory of a hidden kingdom beneath its icy surface. This sci-fi documentary presents a series of intriguing claims, historical anecdotes, and modern-day scientific findings that invite viewers to reconsider conventional understandings of Earth’s structure and the possibility of hidden realms within our planet.

The Hollow Earth Theory

At the heart of the documentary is the Hollow Earth theory, which posits that Earth might not be a solid mass but could instead have vast, habitable cavities within. This idea, although not widely accepted by the mainstream scientific community, has persisted throughout history. The documentary traces this theory back to prominent figures such as Edmund Halley and Leonhard Euler. Halley, famous for Halley’s Comet, proposed in the 17th century that Earth consists of a hollow shell with multiple inner layers, each capable of supporting life. Euler, in the 18th century, suggested that the center of Earth houses a small sun, providing light and warmth to inner civilizations.

Historical and Mythological References

The documentary delves into various historical texts and mythologies that seem to support the Hollow Earth theory. Ancient Buddhist texts speak of a race of superhumans living in subterranean realms, accessible through tunnels guarded by monks. Similarly, Hindu texts describe the legendary kingdom of Shambala, located deep within the Earth. These stories, while mythical, resonate with the idea of hidden, advanced civilizations beneath our feet.

Admiral Richard Byrd’s Expeditions

One of the most captivating segments of the documentary focuses on Admiral Richard Byrd’s Antarctic expeditions. In 1947, Byrd led Operation Highjump, a major military expedition to Antarctica. According to his reported accounts, during a flight over the South Pole, Byrd encountered lush green landscapes and prehistoric creatures, including mammoths, suggesting the existence of a verdant, hidden world. Byrd claimed that he was taken into this subterranean realm by advanced beings concerned about humanity’s use of nuclear weapons.

Modern Scientific Insights

The documentary also incorporates modern scientific findings to bolster its claims. For instance, recent satellite data and 3D maps have revealed complex geological formations beneath Antarctica’s ice, including ancient cratons and orogens that resemble the structures of other continents. These discoveries have reignited interest in Antarctica’s potential hidden features and the possibility of ancient civilizations.

Controversies and Conspiracies

Despite the fascinating narrative, the documentary does not shy away from the controversies surrounding its claims. It touches on conspiracy theories about secret Nazi bases in Antarctica and alleged UFO sightings near the continent. While these theories lack substantial evidence, they add to the mystique and allure of the hidden kingdom hypothesis.

The Scientific Community’s Stance

Mainstream science largely dismisses the Hollow Earth theory due to lack of empirical evidence. Studies involving seismic data and Earth’s gravitational field support the current understanding of Earth’s interior as consisting of a solid core, a molten outer core, and a solid mantle. However, the documentary suggests that not all scientific mysteries have been solved, and Antarctica remains a largely unexplored frontier.

VIDEO:

• ALIEN CHRONICLES – ANTARCTIC WORLDS BELOW | The Hidden Kingdom | Full SCI-FI Movie Documentary HD
• https://youtu.be/BnFPsc7P5xY

“ALIEN CHRONICLES – ANTARCTIC WORLDS BELOW | The Hidden Kingdom” presents a thought-provoking blend of historical myths, scientific anomalies, and speculative theories. While the idea of a hidden kingdom beneath Antarctica may seem far-fetched, it captures the imagination and underscores the enduring human fascination with the unknown. As scientific exploration of Antarctica continues, who knows what secrets this frozen continent might yet reveal? Whether fact or fiction, the documentary invites viewers to keep an open mind and explore the possibilities that lie beneath the surface of our world.

• https://youtu.be/JHQclGYhzaY

• https://youtu.be/lIkgD4U85qc

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

07-07-2024 om 15:51 geschreven door peter  

Het vreemde verhaal van de 'fake' NASA-missie naar Mars: astronauten na 1 jaar 'terug'

Vier vrijwilligers hebben in opdracht van de Amerikaanse ruimtevaartorganisatie NASA een jaar lang het leven op mars gesimuleerd, volledig afgesloten van de buitenwereld. 

Twaalf maanden lang verbleven Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell en Nathan Jones in de simulator Mars Dune Alpha. Deze hebben ze nu eindelijk kunnen verlaten.

Het viertal zat omgeven door rood zand en een koepel die hen afschermde van de wereld. Ze leefden gedurende liefst 378 dagen op zo’n 160 vierkante meter. Sinds zaterdagavond mogen ze eindelijk gaan en staan waar ze willen.

NASA voerde dit experiment uit om een missie naar de rode planeet te simuleren om zo kostbare informatie te verwerven om de echte missie uiteindelijk beter te kunnen laten verlopen. De 'fake' astronauten deden “Marswandelingen”, kweekten en oogsten verschillende groenten, onderhielden de apparatuur en opereerden onder stress, zoals op Mars kan gebeuren. Zelfs de communicatie met de aarde werd vertraagd, net zoals bij een echte missie. 

De NASA plant nog twee gelijkaardige studies in 2025 en 2027. Het wil in totaal twaalf personen testen.

• (FVDV by Tagtik/Illustration picture: Pixabay)

{ https://www.msn.com/nl-be/ }

07-07-2024 om 15:30 geschreven door peter  

Luis Elizondo: There Are UFO Photos With Entities Inside & Otherworldly Biological Samples

And there’s a lot that can be speculated. And so I try to avoid speculation as much as possible. But yes, I’ve spoken to enough people with firsthand knowledge that not only report the crafts that we know exists, but potentially some sort of intelligence inside these vehicles.”

Why isn’t this topic being discussed by everyone on the planet? Is it feasible that the majority of people are disregarding this news, even if they are aware of it? At what point does the truth and its mind-boggling consequences become too conspicuous to overlook?

UFO Occupancy Case

Keeping Elizondo’s words in mind, there is a UFO crash incident outside of Edwards Air Force Base involving a contactee survivor with at least one other witness. It happened to a young woman named Lorraine Dvorak Cordini in 1971. This case is mentioned in different books with minor changes.

According to the eyewitnesses, one summer evening in 1971, the calm Californian night was suddenly broken by a sharp unearthly roar, which ended with an equally frightening rumble. When people ran out of their houses, a large cloud and signs of flames were visible near Edwards Air Force Base in California. Several people stated that they had allegedly seen “three gray humanoids,” as well as a human woman in a strange, tight-fitting pink suit, among the ruins of some wrecked vehicle.

Read also:

• Pentagon Hides Footage Of Two Huge Bright UFOs Shadowing U.S. Warship, Claims Filmmaker
• Ex-US Sec. of Energy: ‘Aliens Are Real & I’ve Seen Them’; Briefed On UFOs In Underground Base
• Discovered 2-Min Footage Of ‘Phoenix Lights’ & Arizona Man Who Filmed Huge Solid UFO Vanished
• US Govt. Insider Contacts Neuroscientist And Tells Him ‘UFOs Are Non-Human Intelligence’

However, before anyone knew what had happened, a lot of military trucks and other vehicles arrived and quickly isolated the area. In addition, they removed the debris and any signs of the incident and took the humanoids and the woman with them. Some residents assumed they were taken to Edwards Military Base.

A witness named Debbie Clayton reported that she had heard a loud crashing noise. There was a cloud of dust outside her home. Ufologist Albert Rosales tracked down that mysterious woman in a pink bodysuit, and she agreed to undergo a hypnotherapy session to remember the events of that night.

Lorraine claimed that she had been abducted from her home, dressed in pink clothes, and taken to a large ship in Earth orbit for an inspection.

She was then put in a smaller ship – the one that crashed – and sent back to Earth with several strange creatures. She woke up already in the military hangar. Even stranger, at least according to the hypnosis sessions, while being there, she saw not only military personnel but also strange creatures with large heads, different from those that took her out of her room.

Needless to say, this whole story seems very strange and raises doubts about its veracity. Clayton was baffled when she found no newspaper written about the story and there was no news about it on TV as well.

It was the first case of the only human survivor found at a Crash Retrieval. Researcher Richard Geldreich Jr. has written details on this case and found the identity of the witness and contactee. Lorraine or Lori was working on her autobiography in 2009 but it never came out, perhaps she passed away before bringing it to the world.

Elizondo is certain about UFO occupancy and recovered alien biological samples. He even gave his candid take on the 1947 Roswell crash in New Mexico and more in an interview with the Roswell Daily Record.

He said he had conversations with so-called “graybeards” at the Pentagon who had been involved with UAPs since Project Blue Book. It was from these individuals that Elizondo learned what probably occurred at Roswell in 1947.

Elizondo said: ”These individuals were convinced that the events in New Mexico were not fiction. In fact that it was a, very much a real event and that some very exotic material was recovered… And then there was a subsequent effort to try to be very dismissive about what occurred in New Mexico.”

On UAP Phenomenon, Elizondo noted: “This is something we’ve been dealing with for a long time. Imagine the first person to get on a boat and sail over the horizon. There’s stories of sea monsters and Krakens that will devour you and destroy your boat. Yet, we did it anyways. We did sail, and we explored the world. It turns out, 500 years later, there really are sea monsters. We call them the Great Squid of the Pacific, and great white sharks and whales.

Now they’re just part of nature and have a  scientific name, but those sea monsters still exist. They’re there, we just learned to understand them. Maybe this is the same thing. Maybe this is just another expedition over the horizon where we’re going to realize what we thought were monsters are really just neighbors.”

{ https://www.howandwhys.com/ }

07-07-2024 om 01:18 geschreven door peter  

NASA's Juno probe reveals lava lakes across Jupiter's volcanic moon Io (image)

The leading hypothesis is that magma undergoes upwelling in these lava lakes, causing the lakes to rise and fall. When the crust touches the lake's walls — which can be hundreds of meters tall — the friction causes it to break, exposing the lava along the edge of the lake.

Related: 

• A 'snowball fight' may help scientists find life on Jupiter's moon Europa

A secondary hypothesis suggests that magma wells up in the middle of the lake, pushing the crust outward until it sinks along the edge of the lake, again exposing the lava and forming those lava rings.

Researchers still have much to study on Io, particularly when it comes to Juno's infrared imagery. "We are just starting to wade into the JIRAM results from the close flybys of Io in December 2023 and February 2024," Scott Bolton, principal investigator for Juno at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, said in the statement. "Combining these new results with Juno’s longer-term campaign to monitor and map the volcanoes on Io’s never-before-seen north and south poles, JIRAM is turning out to be one of the most valuable tools to learn how this tortured world works."

{ https://www.space.com/ }

07-07-2024 om 00:59 geschreven door peter  

There doesn’t seem to be an overall pattern to their appearance, but whoever is behind the monoliths (possibly the work of copycats, or maybe even a collective belonging to a larger organization), they do know how to get everyone’s attention with their unique construction and placement, resulting in waves of media attention following each appearance.

Monoliths also have fairly deep roots in science fiction, particularly as methods of communication from other (usually alien) societies, which further amplifies their intrigue. Given their cultural significance, before diving into the history of these mysterious monoliths, let me quickly clarify that I approach this topic with skeptical curiosity. I’m curious to know why someone would go to all the trouble to erect one of these structures, which appear to be made with everyday items like poured concrete and possibly sheet metal (sorry to burst anyone’s bubble that hoped this could be signs of alien contact, and yes, I’m an X-Files fan, too).

I pondered questions like these as I began to make my way north toward Bellvue.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MONOLITH APPEARANCES

In 2020, multiple different types of monoliths appeared across the globe. The structure seemed to be the same for the first three monoliths: a long, tall tower made of mirrored glass with all four vertical sides the same size.

In the case of the first three appearances, the monolith disappeared and then seemed to “reappear” somewhere else (though whether it was the same structure or something that looked similar is unknown).

It should also be mentioned that in several cases, the monoliths have seemingly “disappeared,” although in several instances it is known that they were dismantled and removed by authorities or landowners (as was the case with the monolith in Bellvue shortly after I visited it).

On November 18, 2020, the first monolith appeared in Utah’s Red Rocks County, creating a media circus of fascination mixed with speculation. This monolith quickly disappeared (with a YouTuber claiming to have removed the structure). The second monolith appeared nine days later, on November 27, 2020, in the Romanian city of Piatra Neamt. This second monolith also disappeared on December 1, leaving a large hole in the ground.

The third monolith quickly followed the first two, popping up in Pine Mountain in Atascadero, California, on December 2, 2020. According to a Vox article, the third monolith was disassembled and reappeared elsewhere on December 4, though I haven’t seen other articles mention the reappearance of the California monolith.

It’s important to note that each of the three appearances differed slightly. According to one article, the Romanian Monolith was covered with circles, while the Utah monolith had a smooth surface. They all generally seemed to be the same shape and size, which is why they are often grouped. I should note here that this does not mean they’re connected, though the structures are more similar than the ones that follow these three appearances.

After December 2020, the world seemed to go a bit monolith-crazy as copycat structures popped up around the globe, from Pennsylvania to the Netherlands to Joshua Tree and beyond. One headline after another showcased new monolith “appearances,” even if later they seemed to be proven as mimics or faked entirely. A Business Insider article claimed that December 2020 had over 87 monolith sitings.

Suddenly, all monolith sightings stopped, creating more of an aura of mystique around them as they faded from headlines.

Then, in March 2024, a monolith was spotted on the Welsh landscape. In mid-June 2024, another mysterious monolith appeared in the desert outside Las Vegas. Comparing photo images with the original three monoliths, it seems more similar to those structures than others, as it is a tall, uniformly shaped tower. Las Vegas authorities later took down this monolith. Less than two weeks later, the Colorado Monolith appeared.

Now, with more structures reappearing, the media and the general public are beginning to lean into monolith mania again, connecting these structures with science fiction references, perhaps to understand better why these monoliths are reappearing.

THE SCIENCE FICTION ROOTS OF MONOLITHS

With each monolith appearance, the media usually references extraterrestrials in some fashion. This is mainly due to the popular culture connotations of monoliths, such as Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Still from '2001: A Space Odyssey'

MGM

As a science journalist and science communicator, I am fascinated by the connections between science fiction and science fact, especially when we can utilize science fiction techniques to make science more digestible and accessible to all audiences.

However, in the case of the monoliths, little factual science is being communicated. Instead, awe, curiosity, and speculation swirl in an almost impenetrable fog as people wonder if aliens could have made these structures.

It’s easy to see why people may ask this, as 2001: A Space Odyssey is probably the most popular reference to monoliths and uses a monolith in the film as a way for aliens to communicate with humans. In a later interview, Kubrick stated that, “From the very outset of work on the film, we all discussed means of photographically depicting an extraterrestrial creature in a manner that would be as mind-boggling as the being itself.”

However, 2001: A Space Odyssey isn’t the only science fiction work that references or uses monoliths as plot devices. My personal favorite is science fiction writer Robert Charles Wilson’s use of the monolith in his 2001 book Chronoliths, where strange monoliths appear across the globe, made of an indestructible unknown material. The monoliths in Wilson’s book also bear an inscription to a mysterious warlord named Kuin, who had a military victory 20 years into the future. When I heard about the Nevada monolith,  I actually texted a single word to my husband, who introduced me to Wilson’s writings: “chronoliths.”

• Kenna Hughes-Castleberry is the Science Communicator at JILA (a world-leading physics research institute) and a science writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with her on X or contact her via email at kenna@thedebrief.org

{ https://thedebrief.org/category/science/ }

06-07-2024 om 23:30 geschreven door peter  

But the overarching reason was probably its composition. It’s a B-type asteroid, a subtype of carbonaceous asteroids, which means it contains organic molecules. Finding organic molecules throughout the Solar System is one way of tracing its origin and formation.

Returning samples to Earth is the best and most complete way to study asteroids. Asteroid fragments that fall to Earth are scientifically valuable. But much of their lighter material simply burns up when entering Earth’s atmosphere, leaving a huge crater in our understanding.

Space missions always seem to surprise us somehow. If they didn’t, there’d be less impetus to send them. In this case, the sample contains chemicals that OSIRIS-REx didn’t spot when it was studying Bennu.

New research in the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science presents these findings. It’s titled “Asteroid (101955) Bennu in the laboratory: Properties of the sample collected by OSIRIS-REx.” The co-lead author is Dante S. Lauretta, the principal investigator for the OSIRIS-REx mission and the Regents Professor of Planetary Sciences at the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. The paper is an overview of the sample and serves as a catalogue from which researchers can request sample material for their research.

“Finally having the opportunity to delve into the OSIRIS-REx sample from Bennu after all these years is incredibly exciting,” Lauretta said in a press release. “This breakthrough not only answers longstanding questions about the early solar system but also opens new avenues of inquiry into the formation of Earth as a habitable planet. The insights outlined in our overview paper have sparked further curiosity, driving our eagerness to explore deeper.”

“We describe the delivery and initial allocation of this asteroid sample and introduce its bulk physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties from early analyses,” the authors write in their paper. The 120-gram sample dates back billions of years. It’s pristine, meaning it hasn’t melted and resolidified since it was formed.

The astromaterials curation team at NASA’s Johnson Space Center used the Advanced Imaging and Visualization of Astromaterials (AIVA) procedure to document the condition of the sample and the sampling equipment. This was done while the sample was still inside its glovebox, which is highly reflective for this purpose. This is a meticulous process involving hundreds of images stacked together.

Overall, the sample is dark. But there are brighter materials interspersed in it. “Some stones appear mottled by brighter material that occurs as veins and crusts,” the authors write. The largest piece is about 3.5 cm long, but much of it is dust. Stones with hummocky morphologies have the lowest densities, and mottled stones have the highest densities.

“Some of the high-reflectance phases have a hexagonal crystal habit, whereas others appear as clusters of small spheres, platelets, and dodecahedral forms,” the authors write. The collection also contains some individual pieces that are highly reflective.

Overall, the material is grouped into three categories:

• Hummocky material with uneven surfaces. Their surfaces feature rounded mounds and depressions reminiscent of cauliflower. This material is generally dark but has some microscopic, brighter material.
• Angular particles that have been fractured and have sharper edges. They have hexagonal and polygonal shapes and have some layering. They’re generally dark, but some faces have a metallic lustre and specular reflections. They also have some highly reflective inclusions like the hummocky material.
• Mottled particles that are mostly darker but have layers of reflective material. The reflective material fills in small cracks in the darker material and also occurs as bright, individual flakes.

Representative samples were also analyzed at other institutions in the US using different instruments including a plasma mass spectrometer, an infrared spectrometer, and an X-ray computer tomographer. These examinations revealed other information, like particle densities and elemental abundances. In particular, it contains isotopic information for hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. It also compares these abundances to those of other asteroids.

But what jumps out from this initial analysis is the sample’s serpentine and other clay minerals. Their presence is similar to what’s found on Earth’s mid-ocean ridges, where Earth’s mantle encounters water.

On Earth, contact between mantle material and ocean water also creates clays and other minerals like carbonates, iron oxides, and iron sulphides. These were also found in the Bennu sample.

But one finding stands out among the rest: water-soluble phosphates. These compounds are found throughout Earth’s biosphere and are an important component of biochemistry.

JAXA’s Hayabusa 2 mission found a similar phosphate in its sample from asteroid Ryugu. But the phosphate from Bennu is different. Unlike any other asteroid sample, it has no inclusions and different-sized grains. The magnesium sodium phosphate in the Bennu sample suggests a watery past.

“The presence and state of phosphates, along with other elements and compounds on Bennu, suggest a watery past for the asteroid,” Lauretta said. “Bennu potentially could have once been part of a wetter world. Although, this hypothesis requires further investigation.”

In their paper, the authors outline several hypotheses for Bennu’s past. One of them states that “… the dominant lithologies on Bennu’s surface have mineralogical, petrological, and compositional properties closely resembling those of the most aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrites.”

The Bennu sample also shows that the asteroid is chemically primitive, meaning it has remained largely unchanged since its formation. The rocks have not melted and resolidified since their initial creation. The asteroid’s elemental properties also mirror that of the Sun.

“The sample we returned is the largest reservoir of unaltered asteroid material on Earth right now,” Lauretta said.

The initial research also shows that Bennu is rich in carbon and nitrogen, critical clues to the asteroid’s origins. These chemicals also play a role in the appearance of life, adding to the intrigue.

“These findings underscore the importance of collecting and studying material from asteroids like Bennu – especially low-density material that would typically burn up upon entering Earth’s atmosphere,” said Lauretta. “This material holds the key to unraveling the intricate processes of solar system formation and the prebiotic chemistry that could have contributed to life emerging on Earth.”

Harold Connolly is a co-author of the study and the mission sample scientist who leads the Sample Analysis Team. He’s also a professor at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, and a visiting research scientist at UArizona. “The Bennu samples are tantalizingly beautiful extraterrestrial rocks,” Connolly said. “Each week, analysis by the OSIRIS-REx Sample Analysis Team provides new and sometimes surprising findings that are helping place important constraints on the origin and evolution of Earthlike planets.”

And this is really just the beginning. With these evaluations in hand and the sample catalogued, research scientists around the world will request samples for their own research.

Further secrets will be revealed.

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

06-07-2024 om 22:49 geschreven door peter  

However, an investigation by The Debrief based on documents obtained through Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) requests, as well as interviews with investigators who probed the mysterious deaths, have revealed new details about the incidents that perplexed state officials and local cattle farmers on Colorado’s Western Slope last year.

AN UNSETTLING DISCOVERY

THE ORDEAL BEGAN in early October 2022, with the discovery of several calf carcasses strewn about the 13,000 contiguous deeded acres that comprise the family-owned and operated LK Ranch, located eight miles southeast of Meeker, Colorado.

Bordering Colorado’s scenic White River National Forest, one of the country’s most-visited national parks, the ranch is operated by the Klinglesmith family, a well-known and respected mainstay of the Meeker community and past recipients of a Wildlife Landowners of the Year recognition by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

“The Klinglesmiths are the epitome of the rural, hard-working cattle rancher,” said Baily Franklin, Meeker District Wildlife Manager at the time of the family’s recognition, “and they serve as tremendous role models in northwestern Colorado.”

On October 4, 2022, the family discovered a total of 19 calf carcasses on their property, along with the remains of one adult cow. Eighteen of the calves were all located within just 1.5 miles of one another, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Wildlife Services were quickly notified.

“We were first notified about October 4 of a livestock producer that had found some dead cattle,” said CPW Northwest Region Manager Travis Black in an interview with The Debrief. Black said a local CPW District Wildlife Manager and the USDA Wildlife Services control specialist were accompanied by another local officer from a neighboring region during an initial visit to the location where the remains were located.

“Several carcasses had tails missing and marks consistent with canine teeth,” the Klinglesmith family would later report in an update on the investigation that appeared on November 28, 2022. While the carcasses appeared to display hemorrhaging in locations where CPW investigators are trained to look for signs of depredation by canines, the possibility that wolves might have been involved presented unique challenges for investigators trying to determine whether an animal was responsible for some of the killings.

“Our district wildlife officers are trained in identifying depredation primarily from bears and [mountain] lions,” Black told The Debrief.

“Wolves [are] a new one for us,” Black said, although emphasizing that the neighboring CPW officer who assisted in the early investigations had recently undergone training specifically focused on recognizing wolf depredation.

“The local district wildlife officer had twenty-plus years doing this job,” Black said. “It’s not like this was a new guy that didn’t know what he was doing.”

Necropsies were carried out on several of the earliest calf discoveries to aid in determining their cause of death. On October 7, an additional calf carcass was discovered, this time in the Wilson Pasture area along the east fork of Flag Creek, according to a partially redacted document providing a timeline of the discoveries obtained by The Debrief through an Open Records Act request.

Two days later, on October 9, another carcass was discovered at West Miller Creek, and over the course of the next two weeks, the total number of dead calves would climb to 42, excluding two additional deaths resulting from sick calves found by the Klinglesmith family on October 9 believed to have been suffering from Brisket disease, a condition found in cattle residing at high altitudes that sometimes results in heart failure.

A map indicating locations of calf remains discovered near Meeker, Colorado, in October 2022

(Credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife).

However, as the investigation continued and additional cattle remains were discovered, one perplexing common trait began to emerge: only a handful seemed to show what CPW officials believed to be signs of wolf depredation.

“The three individuals involved, along with the landowner, decided that there were some injuries on a handful of these calves,” Black told The Debrief. “And I’m talking about four or five of them, not all eighteen.”

“A lot of those dead calves didn’t show any physical marks on the outside, but there were a handful of them that they determined were consistent with wolf depredation,” Black said.

“That does not mean that we said wolves did it.”

However, as investigators worked to understand what factors—or combinations of them—were behind the cattle deaths, the question over wolf involvement only promised to further aggravate a brewing storm that Colorado officials had long been dreading; one with roots that extend all the way back to the early 19th century, and the era of government-sanctioned wolf hunting in America.

OF WOLF AND MAN

DURING THE MIDDLE of the nineteenth century, beavers and other animal populations were in acute decline due to a demand for their pelts. As a result, many professional hunters turned their attention toward a new quarry that was capable of demanding comparable prices in the burgeoning fur trade.

Employing poison traps baited with elk, bison, or other natural prey of the canine predators to help ensure their pelts could be retrieved intact, between the years of 1870 and 1877 as many as 100,000 wolves were killed annually.

The era of the “Wolfers” had begun.

A Wolfer with his hounds, pictured near Amidon, North Dakota, in 1904

(public domain).

More than two centuries earlier, the first bounty systems on wolves were instituted in European settlements in America. A cash reward of a penny for each of the animals killed was instituted in Massachusetts Bay Colony as early as 1630, and by 1818 with the declaration of the “War of Extermination” against wolves and bears in Ohio, several more states began adopting bounty systems against wolves.

Shortly before its establishment as a state on August 1, 1876, a bounty system was established in what would become the State of Colorado in 1869. Similar bounty systems were established in Wyoming, Montana, and other states during the ensuing decades. By the turn of the century, wolf populations had declined significantly in many parts of America. In 1915, the first official government wolf hunters were hired, remaining in action until June 30, 1942. During this period, more than 24,132 wolves were killed under the direction of the United States government.

Artist’s depiction of former Presdient Theodore Roosevelt engaging in a wolf hunt in 1907

(public domain).

By the 1960s, wolf populations in the contiguous 48 states had reached record-low numbers, with scattered pockets of the remaining 350 to 750 animals existing in parts of extreme northeastern Minnesota. With the passing of the Endangered Species Preservation Act in 1966, the timber wolf became the first species of American wolf that officially became recognized as endangered under federal law.

The protection of this single wolf species didn’t stop the animals from being killed, however. Between 1969 and 1974, in response to ongoing depredation of livestock, a Directed Predator Control Program conducted by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources still resulted in the killing of an average of 64 wolves each year, with $50 incentives offered to designated trappers in various parts of the state who harvested wolves. It wasn’t until the Endangered Species Act of 1973 was enacted by Congress and implemented under the direction of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) that gray wolves and subspecies like the eastern timber wolf and Rocky Mountain wolf finally saw federal protection.

Recovery plans to help re-establish the decimated American wolf populations began in the late 1970s in various states, mostly undertaken by the USFWS, although the reinstatement of trapping resulting from the depredation of livestock continued for short periods in several states.

By the end of the century, work to manage wolf populations in various states continued. Throughout the early 2000s, the reclassification of gray wolf populations into three distinct population segments, as well as the proposed delisting of wolf species and other developments related to wolves in America, resulted in several legal controversies (an entire timeline of events detailing these events can be found at the website of the International Wolf Center).

Photo 1084F, taken in North Park, Colorado, depicts a wolf spotted in the wild in July 2019. The photo was later submitted anonymously to CPW

(Credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife).

In October 2020, the gray wolf was removed from the Endangered Species Act list of endangered animals in the contiguous 48 United States. In November of that same year, Proposition 114, a ballot initiative that sought to reintroduce wolves west of the continental divide in Colorado, went to vote and was passed. Now recognized as state statute 33-2-105.8, it directs the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission to develop a gray wolf reintroduction and management plan no later than December 31, 2023. It also allocates state funding to aid livestock owners “in preventing conflicts with gray wolves and pay fair compensation for livestock losses.”

Then, in October 2022 as dozens of dead calves were being found on the LK Ranch southeast of Meeker, Colorado, CPW officials realized they had a real problem on their hands.

That would especially be the case if wolves were found to be responsible.

CATTLE DEATHS AND CONSPIRACY CLAIMS

AS THE INVESTIGATIONS continued, Colorado officials remained baffled by the strange cattle deaths. Despite the questions that remained, a handful of the incidents did appear to present indications of canine activity. On October 7, 2022, CPW issued a news release revealing to the public that investigations into possible wolf depredations on U.S. Forest Service Land in the Meeker area were underway.

“This is an active investigation and CPW is working closely with the livestock producer to collect additional evidence, including looking for scat and tracks in the area,” the release stated. “If the depredations are confirmed as being caused by wolves, CPW will work in partnership with the livestock producer to implement approved hazing methods and respond to any damage claims submitted.”

“It is important to note,” the release added, “that no wolf reintroductions have taken place yet in Colorado and recent depredation incidents are not related to or a result of wolf reintroduction efforts in Colorado.”

Despite its careful wording, pushback following the CPW’s October news release came almost immediately.

“I received emails, mostly from wolf advocates, that were concerned that misinformation was being provided to the public and to ranchers,” Black told The Debrief, who said he became an easy target for parties who believed CPW was siding with local livestock producers worried about how the reintroduction of wolves could potentially impact their business.

“I was accused of collusion,” Black said, “and cooperation with livestock producers to try and stir up, you know, fear of wolves.”

“And it couldn’t be further from the truth,” Black said of the allegations. “We were just trying to follow an investigative process and figure out exactly what happened in a very unusual case.”

According to a copy of a livestock depredation guide produced for internal use by CPW officials that The Debrief obtained, wolf depredation is usually indicated by wounds inflicted to the hindquarters, flanks, throat, and front legs of large animals like cattle. Wolves also prefer most often to feed on the viscera and hindquarters of large livestock first, although large bones “may be chewed or broken while smaller bones may be consumed,” and such feeding patterns “are not always obvious on prey killed by packs.”

The guide also provides details on the spacing of puncture wounds left by canine teeth, noting the difference between those of wolves and coyotes generally involves a wider width when wolf depredation is involved. The spoor left by wolves is also larger than that of coyotes, with adult wolf tracks generally around 4.75 to 5 inches in length and 4 inches wide.

A Colorado Parks and Wildlife wolf support work summary dated October 24, 2022, states that biologists from the White River National Forest set up ten wildlife cameras in the area on October 11, 2022, just days after the initial group of dead calves were found.

“Reconyx cameras were used and placed on trees 7-9 meters across from another tree scented with a lure attractant,” read a copy of the document obtained by The Debrief. Additionally, a pair of howling stations were established along Forest Road 217 on the same day the cameras were installed.

“We removed all cameras on October 21st,” the document states. “No wolves were photographed on our cameras during the deployment window of October 11-21.”

Additionally, howling surveys conducted during the same period the cameras remained in use produced no audio recordings of wolves, and investigations along muddy areas near where one recently deceased calf body had been discovered “showed no canine tracks,” and “no scat was noted.”

At least a few scat samples collected and analyzed at other locations by CPW investigators “did not provide any DNA amplification,” according to emails reviewed by The Debrief, although a total of 14 hair samples were also collected during this period. One of the hair samples provided no amplification, and 12 were identified as bovine. Intriguingly, the final sample was determined to belong to a “wild canid,” although the research molecular biologist who performed the analysis said it had “a messy analysis and indicated coyote,” but added that “not much should be read into that as the sample was very degraded.”

The Debrief reached out to the biologist who provided these results, although the individual declined to comment further based on their limited involvement with the CPW’s investigation.

The question remained, then, as to what had been responsible for the deaths of more than 40 cattle around Meeker, Colorado, within a few short weeks. By now, with little evidence to support the presence of wolves in the area, some investigators were leaning toward the possibility that a very different kind of killer might have been involved.

A killer of the unseen kind.

ON THE TRACK OF AN INVISIBLE KILLER

AS THE DAYS wore on and more dead calves continued to be found, investigators were becoming convinced that the evidence in hand simply did not support the conclusion that wolves could have had any significant involvement. Eventually, a new possible explanation came to their attention: a soil-based pathogen called clostridium chauvoei associated with a condition called black leg, known to sometimes occur in both cattle and sheep.

“As we researched this clostridial disease and outbreaks in other regions of the world with large casualties, some similarities to this situation were recognized,” the Klinglesmith family wrote in their November 2022 update. Still, one of the prevailing questions involved what circumstances might have caused a large number of cattle to suddenly fall victim to this unseen pathogen.

According to one study cited in the family’s November update, “when the oxygen tension drops in areas of muscle in which spores are present, usually as a consequence of blunt trauma and associated tissue hemorrhage, degeneration, and necrosis, the spores germinate, proliferate, and produce toxins that are responsible for most clinical signs and lesions of black leg.” Such conditions would also seem to be consistent with the small number of initial cattle deaths around Meeker that displayed evidence of canine depredation.

Another possible factor involved a management decision among producers in the area to change the normal vaccination schedule, which usually entailed a spring and fall dose of 8-way vaccine, and instead administer a pair of fall doses. “The 8-way vaccine contains and protects against eight clostridial strains,” the Klinglesmith family wrote in their November update. “This change in vaccine protocol allowed us to focus spring immune responses on the four main respiratory viruses, and Pasteurella.”

“Our goal in changing vaccine protocol was to administer fewer antibiotics throughout the summer months for respiratory sicknesses,” the family wrote, “and we were successful in this aspect.”

However, the change in vaccine protocol may have also left several cattle that season susceptible to any forms of clostridium that might be present. In their update, the Klinglesmiths noted that “if in fact a clostridial was triggered by an attack, with a return to our original vaccine protocol we should be able to avoid the heavy casualties,” thereby reducing “our losses to a few depredation casualties,” and maintaining a strategy that “fits the research and experience consistently reported in the Northern Rockies.”

Ultimately, the results from pathology tests for the presence of clostridium chauvoei would be the final say in the matter. But before those tests could be completed, the sobering number of unexplained cattle deaths occurring around Meeker had already become the subject of significant attention from the media, which only further complicated an already uneasy situation for CPW officials.

It certainly didn’t help that among the speculations now in circulation were new claims of a “mysterious creature” that could have been responsible for the killings.

MYSTERIOUS MUTILATIONS AND KILLER CREATURES

THROUGHOUT THE EARLY 1970s, a wave of unsettling livestock deaths and mutilations captured the attention of people across the nation, deaths the likes of which Colorado had its fair share.

“Given the rate of human slaughter in any large American city, it might not seem too important that between April and September of this year 129 cattle were mutilated in the state of Colorado,” read an article by Alexander Cockburn in the December 1975 issue of Esquire. Similar stories appearing around the time drew attention from politicians like U.S. Senator from New Mexico Harrison Schmitt, as well as U.S. Senator Floyd Haskell of Colorado, who began to appeal to then-Attorney General Griffin B. Bell and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for help in the matter.

One of several FBI documents detailing cattle mutilation incidents reported in the U.S. during the 1970s

(Credit: FBI).

“If the FBI will not enter the investigation of mysterious livestock deaths in Colorado and some adjacent states, then Sen. Floyd Haskell, D-Colo., should take the matter to Congress for resolution,” read a Denver Post article on September 3, 1975. The FBI, citing the absence of “interstate transportation” that would warrant attention from federal authorities, advised that “Our jurisdiction was explained to Senator Haskell and he said that he understood our statutory limitations,” according to a September 12, 1975 memorandum (the FBI’s entire collection of files related to animal mutilations can be read online here).

Quite unlike the cattle deaths that occurred near Meeker, Colorado, last Autumn, the cattle mutilation incidents that peaked during the mid-1970s reportedly involved animals found dead with selected organs and other body parts removed, and often blood drained from their carcasses. Between 1973 and 1976 alone, more than 1500 alleged cattle mutilations in 22 U.S. states were reported, prompting speculations about everything from satanic cults and secretive government research efforts to UFOs.

Although many of the cattle mutilation incidents from throughout the decades remain unsolved, nothing that conclusively links them to cultists, government agencies, or aliens with a flavor for filet mignon has ever surfaced. However, the persistence of such stories throughout the decades—tales now legendary among many Colorado cattle producers—did little to help the situation when dead calves started appearing around Meeker last October.

Black recalled one phone call he received from a family member who “asked if we had aliens or something.”

“There were a lot of kinda wild theories thrown out there,” Black told The Debrief.

By the end of November 2022, characterizations of the Meeker cattle deaths as having involved an “elusive predator” or a “mystery killer” began appearing after the publication of an article in the New York Post which, although correct in most of the details about what was known at the time about the evolving investigations by CPW and other Colorado officials, built intrigue by attributed dozens of the cattle deaths to an unknown predator “that has left no tracks.”

The remains of another calf found during investigations into cattle deaths near Meeker, Colorado, last fall

(Credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife).

Based on emails from officials obtained by The Debrief through Colorado Open Records Act requests, the sensational media coverage of the situation did not go unnoticed by CPW investigators, who were growing increasingly frustrated by the elusive source behind the cattle deaths.

“I’m sure you’re aware of the consternation about the deaths of Lenny Klinglesmith’s cattle, and it seems to be getting worse,” read one email reviewed by The Debrief, where an official referred to an article by one news outlet as “not very good in multiple ways.”

“I’m sure you can appreciate that the press will write a story (both good and bad), and that is out of our control,” another email message read.

“If some want to jump to conclusions, that is their prerogative,” it continued. “Yes, the speculation isn’t helping,” the official wrote. “Neither will pushing for a final answer without due diligence.”

Another email exchange on November 30, 2022, noted that “The media continues to twist this story how they see fit,” adding that “One side wants to downplay wolf involvement. The other wants to blame wolves.”

Speaking with The Debrief, Black recalled his own frustrations over the media coverage the CPW’s investigation generated.

“We can’t control what the media says,” Black told The Debrief. “We tried to provide as detailed information as we could during this event, and they tend to pick and choose pieces of that or take some of it out of context and develop their own story.”

However, the details of that story would only become more complicated once the results of pathology tests for possible clostridium infection finally returned.

INCONCLUSIVE ANALYSIS  

ON OCTOBER 20, 2022, results from the Colorado State University Diagnostic Laboratory returned with pathology results from samples collected at the scene of several of the Meeker cattle deaths. While noting the presence of “significant autolysis in the skeletal muscle sections which makes interpretation difficult,” the results of the analysis nonetheless concluded that “there is no evidence of necrosis or active inflammation to suggest Black Leg,” the infectious bacterial disease associated with clostridium chauvoei.

Another series of samples tested by the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory yielded similar results on October 21, 2022, indicating “no microscopic lesions in the tissues examined that explain the cause of death in this animal.”

“This is frustrating,” Black wrote in an email to another CPW official dated Wednesday, November 30, 2022. “Initial assessments made by [District Wildlife Managers] and Wildlife Services staff said there were multiple injuries consistent with wolf depredation. I’ve seen some of the photos… I understand why they made that assumption. However, there is no other supporting evidence.”

Partially redacted theodolite image of cattle remains photographed during investigations in October, 2022, obtained by The Debrief through a Colorado Open Records Act Request

(Credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife)

“Then the possibility of Clostridium bacteria came up,” Black’s email continued. “This seemed to answer a lot of questions. Then samples and lab analysis failed to positively point to this as [the] cause of death.”

“It also creates a lot of room for conjecture,” Black wrote. “Did wolves chase the cattle or attack them initially and cause a low oxygen environment within tissue that exacerbated the bacteria and created a toxin? Or is this natural progression of the disease?”

“Nobody can seem to give us a definitive answer.”

THE INVESTIGATION ENDS, AND QUESTIONS REMAIN

ON FEBRUARY 7, 2023, four months after the first dead calves were discovered near Meeker, CPW announced that it was closing its investigation, despite there being no conclusive explanation that could account for all the cattle deaths.

“CPW investigators could not determine the exact cause of death for a few calves with hide damage and trauma consistent with a canine attack,” the news release stated

According to the CPW release, the discovery of a pack of nine dogs seven miles from where the cattle deaths occurred that were blamed for harassing wildlife, “cast doubt on whether wolves were in the area.”

“CPW is working with the Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s office on a call-by-call basis and will deal with any domestic dog issues according to legal processes,” the release added.

Black was quoted in the release saying that while some cattle displayed wounds that were “consistent with injuries from large canines,” there had been “no confirmation of wolves in the area,” adding that “we do not have specific evidence to determine what species of canid caused the depredations.”

In Colorado, a 90-day window is allotted for producers to present proof of loss when deaths suspected to be the result of animal depredation occur. Following last October’s cattle deaths, the investigation by CPW was officially closed after the expiration of this window period.

“The Klinglesmith family would like to thank the local DWMs and veterinary staff for the many hours spent in the field and in the office investigating this incident,” Lenny Klinglesmith was quoted saying in the release, which added that his family did not plan to pursue compensation for the losses “Due to lack of evidence of wolves in the area.”

One week later on February 14, The Humane Society of the United States reported that wolves had been ruled out as a cause behind the Meeker cattle deaths, admonishing CPW officials for assessments they said “led to anti-wolf hysteria” among residents and certain stakeholders on the Colorado Western Slope.

“A wildlife expert who examined photos of dead cows obtained by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) in an open records request has concluded that wolves are not to blame for the deaths of 41 cattle whose bodies were found near Meeker, Colorado in 2022,” the press release read.

According to a report based on a review of CPW documents provided by the HSUS, Carter Niemeyer, a former U.S. Department of Agriculture District Supervisor and Wolf Management Specialist wrote that there wasn’t any evidence that supported wolf involvement in the cattle deaths in Colorado last year.

“Based on the evidence in these photos,” Niemeyer wrote in his report, “it [is] my opinion that wolves had nothing to do with the death of Meeker cattle. I don’t really see any evidence of dog bites either. Although they can be less damaging, dogs can inflict serious injuries to the legs of cattle or even the faces/nose.”

“I believe the cattle died fairly quickly where they were standing,” Niemeyer continued, “and the cause had nothing to do with predation of any sort.” Niemeyer also raised the question of whether Brisket disease might have played a more significant role in the deaths, based on communications that referenced a pair of cattle deaths that were believed to have been caused by this condition.

“My question would be – If a couple of cattle died this way, it is reasonable to assume others did too,” Niemeyer wrote. “Brisket disease is a well-known and recognized condition in cattle that graze at high elevations in Colorado.”

“In conclusion, I did NOT see any evidence of wolf predation in any of the images provided,” Niemeyer wrote.

LINGERING QUESTIONS

FOR TRAVIS BLACK, what began as an investigation into how more than 40 cattle died in his home state last year blossomed into a controversy that eventually made its way into headlines around the world. At the heart of the investigation had been the concerns of a respected ranch family in Meeker, who felt an obligation to communicate with their neighbors in the region about the unsettling situation that had invaded their lives.

{ https://thedebrief.org/category/science/ }

06-07-2024 om 22:31 geschreven door peter  

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

06-07-2024 om 21:13 geschreven door peter  

“The three-body problem, which seeks stable orbit configurations among gravitating bodies, is a longstanding challenge in celestial mechanics,” Feng writes. Feng examines ? Centauri AB, our nearest binary neighbour, to understand if the system could host a super Jupiter and what orbit the giant planet could follow.

Feng isn’t the first astronomer to tackle the problem. “As the closest triple stellar system to Earth, Alpha Centauri system has attracted diverse studies in astronomy, including exoplanet stability,” Feng writes. Though the entire Alpha Centauri system is a triple star system, ? Centauri AB are far enough from the third star that they comprise a binary system.

There are some solutions to the three-body problem if one of the bodies has a negligible mass compared to the other two. ? Centauri AB is a pair of Sun-like stars. ? Centauri A is a class G star a little more massive than the Sun, and ? Centauri B is a class K star a little less massive than the Sun.

The study compares the ? Centauri AB system with a similar star system named GJ65AB (Gliese 65). It’s a binary pair known to host a Neptune-mass exoplanet. Though Gliese 65 is a pair of M-dwarfs, the comparison is still valuable because it “shares similar mass ratios and orbital eccentricities,” Feng writes. Gliese 65 is also close at only about 8.8 light-years from Earth. Feng also performed simulations of the ? Centauri AB system to test the idea of it hosting an exoplanet.

“The similarities between GJ65AB and Alpha Centauri AB, together with the newly detected stable super Neptune in the GJ65 system, suggest the stability of the corresponding potential super Jupiter in Alpha Centauri AB,” Feng writes. The Gliese 65 and the Alpha Centauri AB systems have nearly identical mass ratios and eccentricities. If GJ65 can host a planet in a stable orbit, can ? Centauri AB also host one?

Feng used the Mean Exponential Growth factor of Nearby Orbits (MEGNO) method to test the potential stability of a super Jupiter at ? Centauri AB. First, he used it to simulate the GJ65AB system and the newly discovered planet to verify the planet’s orbital stability. Then, he did the same with ? Centauri AB. “For this simulation, we restricted the semimajor axis of the planet to range from 0.1 to 5.0 au, and eccentricities less than 0.5,” Feng writes.

The MEGNO simulations for Gliese 65 showed that the newly discovered Neptune mass planet should be stable.

The next step was to find stable orbits for a planet orbiting ? Centauri AB. To do that, Feng used ? Centauri A as the primary star and injected a 350 Earth-mass planet at a distance of 23.336 AU. All of the other parameters were similar to GJ65 but scaled to ? Centauri AB. “We figured out the stable zone with ?
spanning from 0.1 to ~ 2.2 au, and ? ranges from 0 to 0.5,” Feng writes.

Feng says that the “potentially stable planet” should have ? about equal to 1.189 and ? about equal to 0.33. Those numbers place the planet in the stable zone in MEGNO results.

Of course, none of this means there is a planet there. It just shows that a potential stable orbit is available.

Feng’s work proposes that exoplanets in binary systems with nearly identical mass ratios and eccentricities can exhibit similar stability properties. “From this hypothesis, together with the newly detected Neptune-mass planet in the GJ65 system, which is similar to Alpha Centauri AB, we assume the existence of a potential Jupiter-mass planet with corresponding orbital parameters in Alpha Centauri AB should also be possible,” Feng writes.

No planets have been detected around ? Centauri AB, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one there. Our planet-hunting methods are far from absolute, and there are bound to be many planets in nearby systems that we haven’t been able to detect yet.

There are many proposals for missions to the region or for telescopes designed to probe the system more deeply. Their neighbour, Proxima Centauri, has two confirmed exoplanets. And there’ve been tantalizing hints that Alpha Centauri A hosts a planet, but it remains only a candidate.

A true detection or emphatic non-detection may be years or decades away. Who knows? But at least Feng’s work shows that there could be a stable orbital home for a super Jupiter in the system.

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

06-07-2024 om 21:04 geschreven door peter  

SOURCE : NASA

When looking up into the night sky, you can see millions of stars with the naked eye. When using high-powered telescopes, that number jumps up into the billions.

While most people cannot point out too many specific stars, they know they are always there. Throughout human history, people have even used the consistency of the stars to aid in navigation, planning, and much more.

Of course, today we know that stars do eventually die, often in brilliant explosions known as supernovae. Smaller stars can also simply fade out over time as they exhaust their fuel sources.

Over the past 70 years, however, scientists have documented another phenomenon with stars. They simply disappear without a trace. Astronomers look at the star at one point, then when they return (even just an hour later), and it is gone.

What makes this even more unusual is that the star never returns.

There have been over 800 cases of this documented so far, and they have largely left astronomers baffled.

New research from astronomers at the University of Copenhagen, however, has published a paper that may offer an explanation.

The study’s co-author, Alejandro Vigna-Gomez said in a statement:

“Were one to stand gazing up at a visible star going through a total collapse, it might, just at the right time, be like watching a star suddenly extinguish and disappear from the heavens. The collapse is so complete that no explosion occurs, nothing escapes and one wouldn’t see any bright supernova in the night sky.”

This can happen, they theorize, when massive stars collapse under their own gravity and become black holes, or extremely dense neutron star, immediately.

All detectable evidence that this occurred would be captured by the gravity and sucked back in, leaving nothing for us to see. From our perspective, it would look like the star simply disappeared.

The evidence that they used is from observing a binary star system that is called VFTS 243. In it, a star that is about ten times more massive than our sun is orbiting with a black hole. Vigna-Gomes says of this situation:

“The orbit of the system has barely changed since the collapse of the star into a black hole.”

One obvious problem with this type of theory is that it is difficult to gather any type of hard evidence for it.

All the energy, partials, and even light would be sucked back down into the black hole. in this type of case, scientists can theorize what would happen and compare it to the data that is available.

So far, it seems that things fit well.

Of course, more research is needed before the theory can be widely adopted.

Who knew that stars could disappear?

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about a second giant hole has opened up on the sun’s surface. Here’s what it means.

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• The post Astronomers Have Counted Over 800 Stars That Have Disappeared Without A Trace. Now They Think They Know What Happened. first on TwistedSifter.

{ https://www.msn.com/en-us/ }

06-07-2024 om 20:50 geschreven door peter  

Close encounters of the nerd kind: Smiling troopers in 2 states pull over 'out of this world' vehicle heading to UFO Festival

mage source: Oklahoma Highway Patrol

Smiling troopers in two states performed traffic stops in recent days on a spaceship-like vehicle heading to the UFO Festival in — of course — Roswell, New Mexico, Fox News reported.

A couple of close encounters of the nerd kind, one might say, to borrow from a sitcom episode from the last century.

The first took place in Missouri, as the Crawford County Sheriff's Office wrote in a Facebook post last Friday about a pair of "friendly humanoids, who have come in peace."

'He was also warned about our strict enforcement of warp speed on the interstate and to keep his phasers on stun only while traveling.'

The sheriff's office noted that the traffic stop "was a little out of this world," but law enforcement was assured that the vehicle's occupants — as the below dashcam image indicates — were "heading west to Roswell, NM for a festival."

Image source: Crawford County (Missouri) Sheriff's Office

The sheriff's office added in its post that "there was a brief conversation about his out of space, correction, out of state registration, but he assured us that he would take care of that issue when he returned to Krypton. He was also warned about our strict enforcement of warp speed on the interstate and to keep his phasers on stun only while traveling."

Image source: Crawford County (Missouri) Sheriff's Office

Fox News, citing an email from the sheriff's office, said the vehicle's driver was observed committing a lane violation; the vehicle's Indiana tag also was expired.

Considering the "wind/traffic of the interstate plus the size and aerodynamics of his vehicle, he understood that the potential for lane violations existed," a Crawford County Sheriff's Office official added in a statement to Fox News.

"Given the good nature of the driver and the interesting nature of the vehicle, we opted to provide a fun social media post for our community," the official added in the statement, the cable news network said. "It was a great interaction, and we wished him safe travels to his destination."

There was a second close encounter with same vehicle Monday in Oklahoma, Fox News said.

Image source: Oklahoma Highway Patrol

"It's not every day you pull over a UFO," the Oklahoma Highway Patrol wrote Tuesday on its Facebook page. "Trooper Ryan Vanvleck #722 pulled over this vehicle on the Turner Turnpike yesterday for an obstructed tag. They were on their way to a UFO festival in Roswell, New Mexico. Trooper Vanvleck let them go with a warning."

Image source: Oklahoma Highway Patrol

The event to which the vehicle's occupants apparently were headed looks to be the "UFO Festival" set to take place in Roswell from July 5 through July 7. The annual gathering promises attendees that they can participate in a "cosmic extravaganza filled with out-of-this-world events, including the renowned Roswell Galacticon, family fun at the AlienFest, the gripping Roswell Incident, the captivating Roswell Film Festival, and enlightening experiences at the International UFO Museum and Research Center."

{ https://www.theblaze.com/ }

06-07-2024 om 18:35 geschreven door peter  

Denisovans Survived on Tibetan Plateau until 48,000-32,000 Years Ago

Archaeologists have found a new hominin rib specimen in Baishiya Karst Cave, one of the only two places where Denisovans are known to have lived. Dated to 48,000-32,000 years old, the specimen also belongs to the Denisovan lineage, extending their presence at the cave well into the Late Pleistocene.

A portrait of a juvenile female Denisovan based on a skeletal profile reconstructed from ancient DNA methylation maps.

Image credit: Maayan Harel.

Denisovans are an extinct hominin group initially identified from a genome sequence determined from a fragment of a finger bone found in Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains in southern Siberia.

Subsequent analyses of the genome have shown that Denisovans diverged from Neanderthals 400,000 years ago and that at least two distinct Denisovan populations mixed with ancestors of present-day Asians.

In 2019, a 160,000-year-old jawbone from Baishiya Karst Cave, a limestone cave at the northeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau, was identified to be of Denisovan origin.

In 2020, archaeologists found Denisovan mtDNA in the sediments of this cave d indicating their presence at about 100,000 years ago, 60,000 years ago, and possibly 45,000 years ago.

The new rib bone of a Denisovan from Baishiya Karst Cave dates to approximately 48,000-32,000 years ago.

“Together, the fossil and molecular evidence indicates that Ganjia Basin, where Baishiya Karst Cave is located, provided a relatively stable environment for Denisovans, despite its high-altitude,” said Dr. Frido Welker, an archaeologist at the University of Copenhagen.

“The question now arises when and why these Denisovans on the Tibetan Plateau went extinct.”

In their research, Dr. Welker and colleagues studied more than 2,500 bones from Baishiya Karst Cave.

“We were able to identify that Denisovans hunted, butchered and ate a range of animal species,” said Dr. Geoff Smith, a zooarchaeologist at the University of Reading.

“Our study reveals new information about the behavior and adaptation of Denisovans both to high altitude conditions and shifting climates.”

“We are only just beginning to understand the behavior of this extraordinary human species.”

The Baishiya Karst Cave is revealing the resilience of the Denisovans who endured a harsh climate.

Credit...Dongju Zhang’s group/Lanzhou University

An artist's impression of the Stone Age landscape of Ganjia Basin where Baishiya Karst Cave is located, depicting some of the animals which were identified by archaeologists via bone analysis. 

Xia Li© Provided by CNN

Many of the bones recovered from Baishiya Karst Cave, like this spotted hyena vertebra, contain traces of human activities such as cut marks. 

Dongju Zhang’s group/Lanzhou University© Provided by CNN

Many of the bones recovered from the Baishiya Karst Cave, such as this hyena vertebra, have cut marks most likely made by Denisovans using stone tools.

Credit...Dongju Zhang’s group/Lanzhou University

Bone remains from Baishya Karst Cave were broken into numerous fragments preventing identification.

The researchers used a novel scientific method that exploits differences in bone collagen between animals to determine which species the bone remains came from.

“Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) allows us to extract valuable information from often overlooked bone fragments, providing deeper insight into human activities,” said Dr. Huan Xia, a researcher at Lanzhou University.

The scientists determined that most of the bones were from blue sheep, known as the bharal, as well as wild yaks, equids, the extinct woolly rhino, and the spotted hyena.

They also identified bone fragments from small mammals, such as marmots, and birds.

“Current evidence suggests that it was Denisovans, not any other human groups, who occupied the cave and made efficient use of all the animal resources available to them throughout their occupation,” said Dr. Jian Wang, also from Lanzhou University.

“Detailed analysis of the fragmented bone surfaces shows Denisovans removed meat and bone marrow from the bones, but also indicates the humans used them as raw material to produce tools.”

• This research is described in a paper in the journal Nature.
• H. Xia et al. Middle and Late Pleistocene Denisovan subsistence at Baishiya Karst Cave. Nature, published online July 3, 2024; doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07612-9

{ https://www.sci.news/ }

06-07-2024 om 18:20 geschreven door peter  

UFO Near Apollo 10...Focused With AI, NASA link, UAP Sighting News.

Below is a close up of an alien inside, chest, two arms head all visible. 

Source photo:

• http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/DatabaseImages/ISD/highres/AS10/AS10-35-5264.JPG 

Caught in orbit around Earth during an Apollo 10 mission, this UFO looks awfully close to the Apollo module. The photo was taken in July of 1969 and shows a solid craft in high orbit. Notice the bulging center of the craft...much like we hear about in classic UFO reports. AI is the new UFOlogist tool that everyone needs to start using. Did you also notice that the alien occupant of the UAP is visible in the dark dome cockpit of the UFO? It's true, check out the close up above and see. 

Scott C. Waring, please hit subscribe on my Youtube channel.

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

06-07-2024 om 18:00 geschreven door peter  

Tibetaanse grot vertelt over oude uitgestorven mensen: Denisoviërs leefden hier 100.000 jaar

Door Janine

Dongju Zhang/Wikimedia commons -

CC BY-SA 4.0

De Denisoviërs zijn oude, uitgestorven mensen die voor het eerst werden geïdentificeerd in 2010: een nieuw onderzoek heeft meer ontdekt op de plek waar ze meer dan honderdduizend jaar leefden.

De Denisoviërs zijn recenter dan gedacht

De wetenschap weet nog steeds niet veel over de oude Denisoviërs, mensen die duizenden jaren geleden uitstierven, maar een nieuwe studie heeft iets meer ontdekt: deze groep leefde meer dan 100.000 jaar op het Tibetaans Plateau. Archeologen onderzochten 2500 fossiele botfragmenten van verschillende diersoorten, die werden ontdekt in de karstgrot van Baishiya, in Tibet, op een hoogte van 3.280 meter. De grot ligt nabij Xiahe, in de Chinese provincie Gansu. Het is een van de slechts drie plaatsen ter wereld waar bewijs is gevonden van hun bestaan op aarde.

Uit het nieuwe onderzoek is gebleken dat de Denisoviërs in staat waren om te jagen en een grote groep dieren van verschillende grootte te verwerken voor consumptie en het maken van gereedschappen, waaronder vogels, wolharige neushoorns, marmotten en blauwe schapen. De onderzoekers vonden ook een menselijk fossiel overblijfsel van tussen 48.000 en 32.000 jaar geleden, het meest recente van de fossielen van Denisoviërs die tot nu toe zijn ontdekt. Dit betekent dat deze soort later uitstierf dan eerder werd gedacht.

De Denisoviërs van Tibet waren veerkrachtige mensen

Nature

De beperkte hoeveelheid fossiel bewijs heeft het moeilijk gemaakt om informatie te verkrijgen over deze mensen, maar dankzij het nieuwe onderzoek weten we nu dat de Denisoviërs die de karstgrot Baishiya bewoonden een grote veerkracht hadden en zich aanpasten aan een van de meest barre omgevingen op aarde. Dongju Zhang, hoofdauteur van het onderzoek, archeoloog en professor aan de Universiteit van Lanzhou, zei: "Ze gebruikten alle dieren die ze tot hun beschikking hadden, wat betekent dat hun gedrag flexibel was."

Het gevonden fossiel was hoogstwaarschijnlijk een tijdgenoot van de moderne mens en de Neanderthalers die destijds in Eurazië leefden, volgens Frido Welker, professor aan de Biomolecular Paleoanthropology Group van het Globe Institute aan de Universiteit van Kopenhagen en co-auteur van het onderzoek.

Denisoviërs: de ontmoeting met Neanderthalers en moderne mensen

Nature

Zoals we al zeiden, werden Denisoviërs voor het eerst geïdentificeerd in 2010 door DNA-sequenties te onderzoeken die in het laboratorium werden verkregen uit het eerste fossiele fragment dat werd gevonden. Sindsdien zijn er slechts een dozijn overblijfselen gevonden op de hele planeet, waarvan de meeste in de Denisova-grot in het Altaigebergte in Siberië, waar deze uitgestorven soort zijn naam aan te danken heeft.

Op basis van genetische analyse hebben wetenschappers ontdekt dat zij zich, net als de Neanderthalers, bij de moderne mens hebben gevoegd: zelfs vandaag de dag overleven sporen van Denisovan-DNA in de mens en dit duidt op hun geconcentreerde aanwezigheid in Azië. Het eerste fossiel buiten de grot werd in 2019 door een monnik ontdekt in de aartsgrot Baishiya, die door Tibetaanse boeddhisten als heilig wordt beschouwd en meer dan 160.000 jaar oud is. De duizenden fragmenten van dierlijke botten werden onderzocht met behulp van de meest recent uitgevonden techniek genaamd Archeozoölogie die erin slaagde individuele dieren te identificeren. Tegenwoordig herbergt dit gebied voornamelijk blauwe schapen, geiten en jakken.

Naast de Denisoviërs leefden er verschillende groepen mensen in de Denisova grot, waaronder de Neanderthalers en de eerste moderne mensen: in de karstgrot Baishiya  leefden echter alleen de eersten en hier zijn alle “geheimen” over hun uiterlijk, gedrag en de redenen voor hun uitsterven verborgen.

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

06-07-2024 om 17:55 geschreven door peter  

Artikel door Heleen Vander Beken

Rood zand, een koepel die je van de rest van de wereld afzondert, en 160 vierkante meter om met z'n vieren in te wonen en werken. Dat is de wereld waarin Anca Selariu, Nathan Jones, Ross Brockwell en Kelly Haston het afgelopen jaar leefden.

De 4 'valse' astronauten leefden om precies te zijn 378 dagen samen in isolatie. En die koepel mogen ze vanavond om 23 uur onze tijd verlaten. Voor het eerst in een jaar zullen ze terug kunnen gaan en staan waar ze willen, hun familie en vrienden vastpakken, en echt alleen zijn wanneer ze dat willen. 

De© Foto: NASA

Met het experiment wil het Amerikaanse ruimteagentschap NASA missies naar Mars voorbereiden, met een focus op de voedselvoorziening tijdens zo'n missie. En ook de gevolgen van die isolatie voor de crew kunnen ze zo onderzoeken, want eerder onderzoek toont aan dat mensen wel degelijk veranderen door een ruimtemissie.

De proefpersonen leefden in omstandigheden die lijken op die van een mogelijke missie naar Mars. Ze hebben geen vers voedsel, behalve de groenten die ze zelf telen, er werden geen nieuwe voorraden geleverd, ze hadden een beperkte hoeveelheid water...

Tomaten die de crew in isolatie gekweekt heeft

© Foto: NASA

Ook de communicatie met het thuisfront was gesimuleerd met een vertraging van 6 tot 22 minuten - zo traag zou het namelijk ook gaan naar Mars - en 2 keer met een black-out (radiostilte) van 2 weken. Ze zagen geen daglicht en werden blootgesteld aan stresssituaties, bijvoorbeeld technische problemen. Ze oefenden er ook op ruimtewandelingen.

Groepsdynamiek als grootste uitdaging

Eerder was er namelijk al een kortere versie van dit soort experiment. 6 mensen verbleven 4 maanden lang onder een plastic koepel op de flank van een berg: de Mauna Loa-vulkaan op Hawaï. In dat verlaten, rotsige landschap moesten ze onder meer ontdekken hoe je kan koken tijdens een marsmissie.

De Belg Angelo Vermeulen, een bioloog gespecialiseerd in ruimtevaart, was er toen bij als gezagvoerder.

Dat brengt ons meteen bij het allermoeilijkste van de missie: de groepsdynamiek. "Ik moest als gezagvoerder de groep bij elkaar houden. Die samenhang is de grootste uitdaging, maar ze is essentieel, niet alleen voor het welzijn van iedereen, maar ook om samen de uitdagingen te kunnen aanpakken die zich voordoen." Denk dan aan problemen met apparatuur, de barre omstandigheden, noem maar op.

Niet evident als je een jaar lang samen opgesloten zit. "Vaak zie je dat één iemand zich in zulke experimenten, of ook tijdens ruimtemissies, wat afzondert van de groep. Logisch, want je hebt behoefte aan wat privacy. Ook tussen de crew in het station en de crew in het controlecentrum ontstond er spanning, wat ook wel vaker gebeurt in ruimtemissies. Je kijkt anders naar de dingen als je daar zit." 

Vier 'astronauten' na fictieve marsmissie van 378 dagen terug in de echte wereld: wat doet 1 jaar isolatie met een mens?

© VRTNWS

Wat staat de 'valse' astronauten te wachten?

Hoe ze zullen reageren als de deur vanavond opengaat, is af te wachten. Maar Vermeulen herinnert zich wel nog wat het met hem deed. "Je kijkt er enorm naar uit, om terug te kunnen buitenstappen, zonder afspraken te maken en een ruimtepak te moeten aandoen. Ik dacht vaak aan het moment dat het voorbij zou zijn."

"Ik herinner me ook nog het uitgebreide ontbijt dat we kregen. We hebben ons allemaal op het verse fruit gestort. Dat trok ons het meeste aan, omdat we dat gemist hadden." Al hebben ze in de simulatie die nu beëindigd wordt een kleine plaats om verse groenten te telen, waarschijnlijk zal ook dit team naar vers voedsel snakken.

Maar de ervaring na de 'bevrijding' ging veel dieper voor Vermeulen, die zich echt had ingeleefd in de idee dat hij op een andere planeet leefde. "We stapten in een busje en zigzagden naar beneden. Het eerste wat je ziet, is de oceaan, nadat je lang in een dor lavalandschap hebt geleefd. Dat water terugzien, dat beroerde me enorm: het feit dat dat water is meegebracht door meteorieten in de geschiedenis van de aarde."

"Ik denk dat het wat lijkt op wat astronauten ervaren als ze de aarde zien vanuit de ruimte: je wordt je zo bewust van de kwetsbaarheid van onze aarde. En hoe uniek die groene planten hier zijn."

Geen daglicht en slapeloze nachten

Los van die emotionele ervaringen, heeft de isolatie ook effect op je lichaam. Vermeulen herinnert zich bijvoorbeeld dat iedereen in het team wel een of andere vorm van slaapproblemen had.

"Dat is zeker ook zo in de ruimte", zegt Angelique Vanomberen, wetenschapscoördinator bij het Europese ruimteagentschap ESA. "Je hebt geen normale blootstelling aan daglicht. In het internationaal ruimtestation ISS zie je bijvoorbeeld 16 keer per dag de zon opkomen, in een simulatie als deze zie je gewoon geen daglicht, terwijl dat de aanmaak van melatonine regelt, een slaaphormoon." 

"En dan heb je nog de psychologische stress van die isolatie. Als ik niet lekker in m'n vel zit, kan ik ook moeilijker slapen", legt Van Ombergen uit.

Verandering in hersenen en bloed

Of je je tijdens die lange maanden samen ook verveelt? "Het is niet zo saai als je zou denken. Je hebt heel veel onderzoek te doen, je moet 1 uur per dag fysieke oefeningen doen om gezond te blijven, en je organiseert samen ontspanningsmomenten zoals een filmavond", blikt Vermeulen terug. 

Maar je lichaam verandert wel door die eentonige isolatie. "We weten van eerder onderzoek, zowel bij dieren als bij mensen dat, wanneer je ze gaat isoleren in een monotone omgeving, dat dat impact heeft op hun brein", zegt Van Ombergen. Bij muizen en ratten veranderde de hippocampus in de hersenen, specifiek een stuk ervan dat belangrijk is voor het vormen van herinneringen en het verkennen van nieuwe omgevingen. 

Dat bleek ook al het geval te zijn bij mensen. Duitse wetenschappers hebben onderzocht wat een verblijf van 14 maanden deed met poolreizigers in het Neumayer-Station III op Antarctica, één van de meest afgelegen, geïsoleerde plekken op aarde. Ook bij hen was dat stukje gekrompen. En dat was ook te zien in hun bloed.

Neumayer-Station III is een afgelegen poolbasis op Antarctica.

© VRTNWS

"Toen ze anderhalve maand uit isolatie waren, was die bloedwaarde wel weer verbeterd, maar nog niet op het oorspronkelijke niveau", vertelt Van Ombergen. "Hoe die op lange termijn evolueert, moet nog blijken uit onderzoek."

Dat kan deze studie misschien prijsgeven, net als nog veel andere effecten van het samenleven in isolement. Maar het zegt niet alles over hoe een Marsmissie zal uitdraaien, want je hersenen veranderen ook door de extreme omstandigheden in de ruimte.

"Het interessante aan dit experiment is dat we nu kunnen zien welke veranderingen de isolatie en psychosociale stress precies geven in je brein. Bij astronauten die uit de ruimte komen, weten we niet wat er een specifieke verandering veroorzaakt."

En je kan in dit soort simulaties ook kritieke situaties nabootsen die op Mars zouden kunnen gebeuren. "Dat geeft al een eerste indruk van hoe mensen ermee omgaan. Al weten ze natuurlijk ergens in hun achterhoofd altijd wel dat het een simulatie is", besluit Van Ombergen.

De NASA plant nog 2 gelijkaardige studies de komende jaren, om in totaal 12 personen te testen, en ook de ESA doet vergelijkbaar onderzoek.

{ https://www.msn.com/nl-be/feed?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=u531 à

 

06-07-2024 om 17:18 geschreven door peter  

Ignatius shies away from calling the novel “science fiction.”

“All of my books really are drawn from my reporting,” he says. “I begin with the real world — the subjects that interest me — and if they seem bigger and more important than I can express in a newspaper column of 800 or 1,200 words, then I think maybe that might be a novel.”

The real-world reporting behind “Phantom Orbit” began in 2017, when Ignatius became intrigued by calls for the creation of the U.S. Space Force. Over the years that followed, he mapped out a spy-novel plot with a Russian satellite researcher as one of the main characters — and made plans for a research trip to Russia’s industrial heartland.

But before he could take that trip, the war in Ukraine broke out in February 2022 — and Russia put Ignatius on its list of banned travelers. “My journalist friends were envious,” he recalls.

Ignatius ended up stealing an assortment of plot points from real-life developments in the war in Ukraine — for example, how Russia jammed Viasat’s satellite internet network at the start of its offensive, how SpaceX’s Starlink network stepped into the breach to help Ukraine fight back, and how commercial satellite imagery contributed to Ukraine’s battlefield awareness.

In response, the Russians have escalated the space-based battle — by interfering with Starlink, scrambling satellite navigation systems and  camouflaging its military assets to hide them from satellite sensors.

If Space War I gets hotter, Ignatius worries that Russia may resort to measures that bring down entire satellite constellations. “We should be very scared about the vulnerability of space systems,” he says.

For more than two decades, policymakers have warned about the potential for a “space Pearl Harbor” — a sneak attack on America’s orbital assets. Ignatius points to U.S. Rep. Mike Turner’s recent warning about the potential for Russia to use nuclear weapons in space. Such weapons might destroy enough satellites to create a crippling debris field in orbit, or shut down electronics with an electromagnetic pulse.

“The Russians understand their vulnerability in space. They understand that the United States and its commercial companies would suffer asymmetric damage. We’d suffer a lot more than Russia or China,” Ignatius says. “So, they’re willing to go forward with this planning, and it ought to scare the heck out of people.”

What is to be done? “What I would say, first, is that our existing systems in space need to be hardened,” Ignatius says. “They need to be less vulnerable to all of the mischief that an adversary could attempt.”

The U.S. Space Force is already well into its effort to make satellite networks more resilient — and more replaceable in the event of an attack. That’s what its “Tactically Responsive Space” initiative is all about. Millions of dollars are being paid out to commercial ventures to demonstrate how they could help the U.S. military send up fresh assets to support existing networks in a matter of days, if not hours.

One rapid-response demonstration mission, known as Victus Nox, was conducted successfully last year with Firefly Aerospace and Millennium Space Systems serving as the Space Force’s commercial partners. Another demonstration, Victus Haze, is currently being readied by Rocket Lab and True Anomaly. In all, a dozen commercial launch providers are on the Space Force’s list for future rapid-response satellite missions.

The Space Force is even supporting the development of new space station architectures — such as the orbital system being built by Gravitics, a Seattle-area startup.

Keeping track of what’s going on in orbit — also known as space domain awareness — is another must-have for ensuring America’s space security. With Pentagon support, True Anomaly, Starfish Space and Northrop Grumman’s SpaceLogistics subsidiary are working on spacecraft that could approach other satellites in orbit to inspect them, refuel them, boost them into different orbits or deorbit them safely.

In the Fiction Science podcast, Ignatius hints that there may be bigger things to come. “I was just hearing about a company that’s going to radically change the way space and other big weapons systems are built,” he says. “It will revolutionize how weapons are built. The Russians and Chinese just don’t have anything remotely like that kind of creativity. So, there are a lot of reasons that I think people should be worried, but that’s a reason people should be reassured.”

Which begs the question: Which company is Ignatius talking about? If I had to guess, I’d put a bet down on a defense-tech startup called Anduril. But Ignatius isn’t telling. At least, not yet.

“It’s coming to a Washington Post near you,” he says with a laugh.

• “Phantom Orbit” is David Ignatius’ 12th novel. Check out DavidIgnatius.com for links to information about his books and about his columns for The Washington Post. He’ll participate in a live online chat with readers on July 15.
• For more about space security policy, check out the resources offered by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, including the center’s latest Space Threat Assessment. Ignatius also recommends resources provided by The Aerospace Corp.
• This report and the accompanying podcast were originally published on Alan Boyle’s Cosmic Log. Stay tuned for future episodes of the Fiction Science podcast via Apple, Spotify, Player.fm, Pocket Casts and Podchaser. If you like Fiction Science, please rate the podcast and subscribe to get alerts for future episodes.

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

06-07-2024 om 01:43 geschreven door peter  

Their results are in new research published in Nature Astronomy titled “An estimate of the impact rate on Mars from statistics of very-high-frequency marsquakes.” The lead authors are Géraldine Zenhäusern and Natalia Wójcicka, from the Institute of Geophysics, ETH Zurich, and the Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College, London, respectively.

Though SEIS was an effective instrument, it couldn’t always tell what each seismic event was. Only a handful of the events it detected were powerful enough to determine their location. However, six events in close proximity to the InSight lander were confirmed as meteorite impacts because they were correlated with acoustic atmospheric signals that meteors make when they enter Mars’ atmosphere. The six events belong to a larger group called very high-frequency (VF) events.

While the source process for a typical marsquake measuring magnitude 3 takes several seconds, an impact-generated quake takes much less time because of the collision’s hypervelocity. These are the VF events.

During about three years of recording time, InSight and SEIS detected 70 VF events. 59 of them had good distance estimates, and according to the researchers, a handful of them were “higher quality B VF events,” meaning their signal-to-noise ratios are strong. “Although a non-impact origin cannot be definitively excluded for each VF event, we show that the VF class as a whole is plausibly caused by meteorite impacts,” the authors explain in their paper.

This led to a new estimate of Mars’s impact frequencies. The researchers say that between 280 and 360 meteoroids about the size of basketballs strike Mars each year and excavate craters greater than 8 meters (26 ft) in diameter. That’s almost one every day at the upper end. “This rate was about five times higher than the number estimated from orbital imagery alone. Aligned with orbital imagery, our findings demonstrate that seismology is an excellent tool for measuring impact rates,” Zenhäusern said in a press release.

Impact rates on different bodies in the Solar System are one way of understanding the age of their surfaces. Earth’s surface is young because the planet is so geologically active. Earth is also much easier to study in greater detail, for obvious reasons. But for bodies like the Moon and Mars, impact rates can tell us the ages of various surfaces, leading to a more thorough understanding of their history.

Orbital images and models based on preserved lunar craters have been the main tools used by planetary scientists to infer impact rates. The data from the Moon was used to extrapolate Mars’ impact rate. But there are problems with that method. Mars has more powerful gravity and is closer to the source of most meteors, the asteroid belt.

That means more meteoroids strike Mars than the Moon, and that had to be calculated somehow. Conversely, Mars has widespread dust storms that can obscure craters in orbital images, while the lunar surface is largely static. Mars also has different types of surface regions. In some regions, craters stand out; in others, they don’t. Trying to accurately account for that many differences when extrapolating impact rates from the Moon to Mars is challenging.

This work shows that seismometers can be a more reliable way to understand impact rates.

“We estimated crater diameters from the magnitude of all the VF-marsquakes and their distances, then used it to calculate how many craters formed around the InSight lander over the course of a year. We then extrapolated this data to estimate the number of impacts that happen annually on the whole surface of Mars,” Wójcicka explained.

“While new craters can best be seen on flat and dusty terrain where they really stand out, this type of terrain covers less than half of the surface of Mars. The sensitive InSight seismometer, however, could hear every single impact within the landers’ range,” said Zenhäusern.

These results extend beyond Mars. Understanding Mars also helps us understand the wider Solar System. “The current meteoroid impact rate on Mars is vital for determining accurate absolute ages of surfaces throughout the Solar System,” the authors write in their paper. Without accurate surface ages, we don’t have an accurate understanding of the Solar System’s history.

Now we know that an 8-metre (26-feet) crater is excavated somewhere on Mars’ surface almost daily, and a 30-metre (98-feet) crater is a monthly occurrence. But it’s about more than just crater size. These hypervelocity impacts create blast zones that dwarf the crater itself. The blast zones can easily be 100 times larger than the crater. So, a better understanding of impact rates can make robotic missions and future human missions safer.

“The higher overall number of impacts and the higher relative number of small ones found in our study show that meteoritic impacts might be a substantial hazard for future explorations of Mars and other planets without a thick atmosphere,” the authors write in their conclusion.

This study is a win for InSight and SEIS and for the researchers who pieced this together.

“This is the first paper of its kind to determine how often meteorites impact the surface of Mars from seismological data – which was a level one mission goal of the Mars InSight Mission,” says Domenico Giardini, Professor of Seismology and Geodynamics at ETH Zurich and co-Principal Investigator for the NASA Mars InSight Mission. “Such data factors into the planning for future missions to Mars.”

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

06-07-2024 om 01:32 geschreven door peter  

{ https://scientias.nl/ }

05-07-2024 om 23:41 geschreven door peter