I have always found Mariana’s Trench fascinating, it’s like an alien world right on our doorstep. Any visitor to the oceans or seas of our planet will hopefully get to see fish flitting around and whilst they can survive in this alien underwater world they still need oxygen to survive. Breathing in oxygen is a familiar experience to us, we inflate our lungs and suck air into them to keep us topped up with life giving oxygen. Fish are different, they get their oxygen as water flows over their gills. Water is full of oxygen which at the surface comes from the atmosphere or plants. But deep down, thousands of meters beneath the surface, it is not so easy. Now a team of scientists think that potato-sized chunks of metal called nodules act like natural batteries, interacting with the water and putting oxygen into the deep water of the ocean. 

Thanks to robotic underwater explorers the sight of life teeming around thermal vents on the bottom of the deep ocean is not unusual. At those depths, no sunlight can penetrate to facilitate photosynthesis in plants. Somehow though, oxygen is present in the dark, deep regions of the ocean and its the rocks that a team of scientists led by Andrew Sweetman have been exploring.

The production of oxygen by plants is well understood. Light is captured by a pigment known as chlorophyll where it is then converted into chemical energy and stored in the glucose. During photosynthesis, carbon dioxide from air and water from soil are combined in a series of chemical reactions to produce glucose and oxygen that we use to breathe. This oxygen from the plants plays a role in maintaining levels in the atmosphere and the oceans and seas. The study challenges this somewhat simplified explanation. 

The team focussed on measuring how much oxygen was being consumed by organisms in the depths of the ocean. Water sampled from the deep showed a surprising rise in oxygen levels instead of an anticipated decline. The study was repeated a few years later from the same location in a study commissioned by a mining company. Again they saw a rise in oxygen levels. Clearly something in the deep ocean was creating oxygen, but what?

Lab tests ruled out the possibility of microbes but the region being studied was peppered with lumps of rock known as polymetallic nodules. The nodules are known to form when manganese and cobalt precipitate out of water and form around shells. The nodules where theorised to be the source of the oxygen but the mechanism was not understood. 

The answer came when Sweetman heard a reporter calling the nodules ‘a battery in a rock’. Putting batteries in saltwater results in bubbles of hydrogen and oxygen which is the result of a process known as electrolysis. The team measured the voltage on the nodules and found just one of them to be 0.95 volts – a little lower than the required 1.5 volts for saltwater driven electrolysis but the team were onto something, suspecting multiple rocks could cluster together to increase voltage. 

The discovery of rocks on the bottom of the ocean generating oxygen is fascinating on its own but it has profound impacts on the search for life elsewhere in the universe. We have already discovered ice covered water worlds among the moons around some of the outer planets. It’s likely there will be others in planetary systems around other stars. If these worlds are common then it is quite likely that oxygen is being released through electrolysis from similar metallic nodules and perhaps, supporting entire ecosystems.  

Source :

• Evidence of dark oxygen production at the abyssal seafloor

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

31-07-2024 om 22:50 geschreven door peter  

Now, if this story were true, then even in the modern day we should have found that our cranial capacities are gradually increasing over time. Instead, dozens of elaborate studies have revealed the exact opposite! The human brain has been consistently shrinking in volume over the past 12,000-odd years, since the end of the last Ice Age. We are dumber today than any time before in the Holocene era!

In one of the early studies titled, “Decrease of Human Skull Size in the Holocene”, published in the Human Biology journal in 1988, scientists computed cranial capacity (CC) for nearly 9500 male crania and 3300 female crania, originating from Europe and North Africa. The study found,

“Among male samples the peak CC (cranial capacity) occurred in the Mesolithic (1593 cc), the lowest value falls in modern times (1436 cc); in females sample timing is the same: Mesolithic maximum of 1502 cc and modern minimum of 1241 cc. For both males and females the decrease through time is smooth, statistically significant and inversely exponential. A decrease of 157 cc (9.9 % of the larger value) in males and of 261 cc (17.4 %) in females is a considerable one, of the order of magnitude comparable to the difference between averages for H. Erectus and H. Sapiens.”[1]

Separate studies conducted on large samples from Europe, the Near East, Africa, Japan and Australia have confirmed this general trend. Human cranial capacity has decreased by approx. 10% of its average value (i.e. 100-150 cc) since the Late Pleistocene until the early 20th century.[2]

If evolution by natural selection is consistently making us smarter then why did we lose such a large chunk of brain volume at a time when, supposedly, for the first time, humans transitioned from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to settled, agricultural communities that allowed the first great civilizations of the world to flourish?

One of the first recognizable members of the genus Homo is called Homo erectus (meaning “upright man”), whose earliest appearance in the fossil records occurred around 2 million years ago. Homo erectus is thought to have been the earliest human ancestor capable of using fires, hunting and gathering in coordinated groups, caring for injured or sick group members, seafaring, and possibly art-making. The difference between the average cranial volume of Homo erectus and Homo sapiens is roughly the same as the amount of cranial volume that has been lost in the past 12,000 years in the Holocene period. 

Allow that to sink in. In just 12,000 years, we have lost the same amount of intelligence that, purportedly, took nearly 2 million years to develop! How does that happen? And why has the cranial volume been declining at a time when the most significant advancements in human civilization supposedly took place?

Clearly, something is amiss here. The data does not lie. Certain unfounded assumptions appears to have been made about human evolution and the origins of civilization that does not accord with the precipitous decline in human cranial capacity during the Holocene period. One of the thoughts that struck my mind when I came across this stunning data is, how do evolutionists and anthropologists explain it? 

I had a hard time finding a well-written paper or article on this topic until I came across this piece in the Discover Magazine titled, “If Modern Humans Are So Smart, Why Are Our Brains Shrinking?”[3], in which, science writer Kathleen McAuliffe, tells us that she was utterly dismayed when anthropologist John Hawks of the University of Wisconsin told her that, over the past 20,000 years, the average volume of the human male brain has decreased from 1,500 cc to 1350 cc, losing a chunk the size of a tennis ball. “This happened in China, Europe, Africa - everywhere we look,” Hawks informed her. 

When Kathleen contacted other experts to find out if they knew about the shrinking human brain, she came to a startling realization. It was a closely guarded secret. “Only a tight-knit circle of paleontologists seem to be in on the secret, and even they seem a bit muddled about the matter,” she wrote to her utter surprise. 

One of the experts she consulted was Christopher Stringer, a paleoanthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London. Stringer told her something quite stunning: “Scientists haven’t given the matter the attention it deserves. Many ignore it or consider it an insignificant detail”. I could hardly believe this. This absolutely jaw-dropping piece of scientific data, which turns the Darwinian theory of gradual evolution by natural selection on its head, is treated by some scientists as an “insignificant detail”. What really is significant then? How the Homo erectus learned to pick his nose?

Besides, why is there so much secrecy around this information? Why is it that only a “tight-knit circle of paleontologists” knows about this, and everyone else seems to be in the dark? Isn’t it the duty of scientists, academia and the media to widely disseminate this kind of shocking information and invite debates and discussions over it? 

The truth is that, and many have written about it, scientists and academics do not earn any brownie points by ruffling the calm surface of “Lake Consensus”, as John Anthony West put it. There is a strong tendency to adhere to the status quo, and very often, errant academics who do not toe the official line, are put in their place by being denied grants, positions and other academic privileges. As a result, even if grave anomalies are observed in a theory that has achieved consensus, they are ignored or quietly filed away from the public eye. This kind of knowledge filtering goes on continuously, and what we know as the truth is simply a “consensus”, and nothing more.

Kathleen went on to write that, some scientists have tried to explain why our brains are shrinking, but their explanations are vague, muddled and inconsistent. According to Christopher Stringer, the reduction in cranial volume may be due to the decline in human stature since the Holocene period, since a larger brain is required to control a bigger body mass. However, John Hawks has contested this, claiming that the brain has shrunk much faster than the body. “For a brain as small as that found in the average European male today, the body would have to shrink to the size of a pygmy”, Hawks said. Besides, the scientific data indicates that human height declined till the end of the Bronze Age, after which it has been steadily increasing. But, brain volume has continued to decline till the modern period. This means there cannot be any cause-effect relationship between body size and brain size. 

Cognitive scientist David Geary of the University of Missouri believes that people actually became dumber in the Holocene period. According to him, as population density increased and complex societies emerged, people did not have to be as smart to survive; they could get by with the help of others. This created the selection pressure for the brain to become smaller. However, historical facts do not support his contention. It is only around c. 5000 BCE in the Eastern Mediterranean that we see a jump in population densities, followed by the emergence of complex Bronze Age societies. In many other parts of the world, complex societies arose even later than that. By that time, there had already been a substantial reduction in cranial volume. What this implies is that, only after humans became substantially stupid they began to form large, complex societies, and, as a result, some people were able to get by without possessing any specific skill or sufficient gray matter.

John Hawks put a different twist on the situation. He believes that humans may be getting smarter due to a re-wiring of the brain. The brain is an energy guzzler; it consumes nearly 20 percent of our calorie intake. A bigger brain uses up more energy. So, optimally, we need a brain that packs the most intelligence for the least energy. Hawks believes that, over the past 10,000 years, due to a series of advantageous brain-related mutations, the neural connections of the brain may have become streamlined and the molecular activity at the synapses improved, thereby making us more intelligent than our Paleolithic ancestors, even though we have smaller brains.

So, what Hawks is essentially saying is that, after moving in the wrong direction for nearly 2 million years, turning itself into an energy-guzzling SUV, the brain went through a sudden awakening at the end of the last Ice Age and decided to change course and transform itself into a Tesla. Hawks himself admits that such a course correction would require a large number of very rare, beneficial mutations, the chances of which are extremely slim. The fact is that random new mutations are more likely to reduce than to raise intelligence. A course correction for the human brain after 2 million years of evolution in the wrong direction, due to the sudden appearance of extremely rare beneficial mutations, is wishful thinking at best. 

Besides, there is no tangible evidence that the neural connections in the brain suddenly became more efficient after the onset of the Holocene Period. Nor is it likely that any such evidence will ever be found since brain tissue is not preserved for such long periods of time. If they were, we might have found that even the neural connections have degraded! 

The truth is very simple. Our declining cranial capacity indicates that we have been getting dumber over the course of the past 12,000 years. Our memories have declined substantially compared to our ancestors who could remember massive volumes of data, and transmit them orally to the next generation. Our powers of judgment and discrimination have declined because of which we cannot distinguish between the truth and lies, or discern what truly serves our welfare as opposed to what takes us down the path of misery. Our ethics and morality have nosedived, along with all the subtle abilities of the brain that we possessed in the bygone ages such as intuition, telepathy, clairvoyance, etc. 

Unfortunately, most people have been brought up to believe otherwise. They think that we are the smartest generation of people that ever lived since that is the idea that is pushed down their throats from an early age. The problem is, once people have been indoctrinated with a specific belief or ideology, no amount of evidence is enough to overturn that. The hardest things to get rid of are deeply held biases, and scientists are no exceptions to this.

Although the decline in cranial capacity during the Holocene period is at odds with Darwinian evolution, it is perfectly aligned with the doctrine of the Yuga Cycle or Great Year. The last 12,000 years comprise the descending arc of the Yuga Cycle, when human consciousness, memory and intelligence are supposed be in a state of continuous degradation. In the Mahabharata, the sage Markandeya told Yudhisthira, “Know, O Yudhisthira, that the period of life, the energy, intellect and the physical strength of men decrease in every Yuga!”[4] These statements, which have been generally brushed away as fanciful notions, are amply borne out by the scientific data collected over the past few decades. 

Since we are now approaching the end of the Kali Yuga, the shrinking of the human brain has already started tapering off in some populations. We can expect that, once we come out of the Kali Yuga, our cranial capacity will again start increasing gradually and attain their peak value in the next Golden Age or Satya Yuga, after another 12,000 years evolution along the ascending arc of the Yuga Cycle. 

So, what does all of this mean for human evolution? It means that the sinusoidal fluctuation in cranial volume, height and lifespan has been going on for millions of years, ever since man first appeared on the earth. Over a period of roughly 25,800 years, the cranial volume goes up and down with a 10% - 15% fluctuation in its value. 

Contrary to oft-repeated claims, there has not been a gradual increase in cranial volume over the past 2 million years. That is an assumption and not a fact. We have found less than 200 pre-Holocene hominin skulls. 200 skulls in a span of 2 million years! How can such a scanty collection of pre-Holocene crania reveal the pattern of human evolution? A regression line was fitted through these data points assuming that cranial volume must have increased linearly. That is an unacceptable assumption. Any kind of curve can be drawn through a scatter of 200 data points over a 2 million-year time period. There are hundreds of thousands of years in the graph without a single data point! 

On the other hand, tens of thousands of Holocene crania have been found, and that data indicates that cranial volume has been decreasing over the past 12,000 years and gradually flattening out. Surely, the true nature of the cranial capacity curve will be revealed where the data density is the highest. 

The only sensible conclusion to be drawn from this is that human cranial capacity fluctuates in a sinusoidal manner over a 25,800-year cycle. I propose that all the available Homo sapiens cranial specimens can be plotted on this sinusoidal curve. Since I do not have access to a well-dated set of human skulls I cannot test it out myself. But, there is a well-known set of cranial specimens belonging to the Cro-Magnon, which supports this argument.

The Cro-Magnons were one of the earliest examples of modern Homo sapiens in Western Europe. Cro-Magnons were taller than modern humans, had more robust bones, with a cranial capacity of around 1600 cc, which is comparable to the peak cranial capacity of the Mesolithic period.[5] Their fossils have been found between 30,000 to 40,000 years ago, which straddles the peak of an earlier Golden Age at around 38,676 BP (Before Present) or 36,676 BCE. 

This can be easily calculated from the Yuga Cycle timeline. The peak of the last Golden Age was reached around 10,876 BCE, and we need to add 25,800 years to get the previous peak i.e. 36,676 BCE. This means that the Cro-Magnons lived in an earlier Golden Age and some part of the descending Yuga Cycle. This is why, their morphology and cranial capacities are larger than that of modern humans and comparable to the peak cranial capacities of the Mesolithic period i.e. the most recent Golden Age.

What this means is that, over the past 2 million years, since the first hominin fossils began to appear, our cranial volume has been oscillating over a 25,800-year cycle, without a net increase or decrease in any direction. This is true not only for Homo sapiens crania but is likely to be equally applicable to all the extinct members of the human family, including the Neanderthals and Homo erectus. 

For instance, the Neanderthals had a bigger skull than modern humans with an average cranial capacity of around 1500 cc, which is comparable to the cranial volume of humans who lived at the end of the last Ice Age. However, even Neanderthal skull capacities vary between 1300 to 1600 cc, and it is quite possible that this variation occurs in tandem with the 25,800-year precession cycle. No one has tested for this till now, but if we plot out the available Neanderthal skulls on this curve, we may be taken by surprise.

However, cranial specimens need to be accurately dated before plotting on the 25,800-year sinusoidal curve, because even a small percentage error in dating can make things go haywire. The difference between the peaks and troughs of the curve is only 12,900 years, which is very small in geological terms. Ideally, the hominin cranial specimens which have been discovered in the past 100,000 to 200,000 years should be used for plotting this curve, so that the error in dating is not very significant.

In case you are wondering what could be responsible for the decline in our cranial capacity during the Holocene period, certain studies indicate that genetics is the main driving factor. Over the past 12,000 years, we have been acquiring harmful gene mutations, and passing them on to our children, leading to the gradual degeneration of the human race. In a couple of papers published in the journal Trends in Genetics (2012), Professor Gerald Crabtree of Stanford University showed that, as a species, we are gradually declining in average intellect because we are accumulating mutations that deleteriously affect brain development or function.[6]

Professor John Sanford of Cornell University firmly believes that the human race is devolving and that there is no evidence of human evolution being directed by the forces of natural selection. In the book Genetic Entropy & the Mystery of the Genome (2008), he argued that the minimal rate of human mutation is estimated to be 100 new mutations per generation. While most mutations do not have any effect, some of them are deleterious. This causes a genetic degradation that leads to the gradual extinction of a species through time. In an interview with Jim Cantelon, he explained the new findings in the field of genetics:

“It’s kind of a trade secret amongst population geneticists - any really well-informed population geneticist understands that man is degenerating…what’s happening is that, every gene in every chromosome of every cell in my body is mutating, and so that guarantees my aging and my death. But the problem is that - these mutations that are accumulating in my body - some of them are transmitted to my children. I take all the mutations that I inherited from my ancestors – tens of thousands of deleterious mutations in my body – and I add my own contribution to that – about 100 new mutations at least – and pass it on to the next generation…It means we are a perishing people living in a dying world…there is no circle of life where things just continue staying the same, and it’s not an upward spiral of evolution where things keep getting better and better, it is a downward spiral. ”[7]

A downward spiral indeed! In other words, the descending arc of the Yuga Cycle or Great Year in which human intellect gradually declines. The wisdom of the ancients is now being validated by different scientific disciplines. But why is there so much secrecy? 

John Sanford said that the degeneration of man is a “trade secret amongst population geneticists”, while Kathleen McAuliffe had noted that the phenomenon of the shrinking human brain is a secret known to “only a tight-knit circle of paleontologists.” Why is this knowledge being concealed from the people at large? Why not just come out and say, “It's confirmed guys. We are idiots, and we are getting dumber, and that’s why we are messing up the world.” Is that too much to ask? 

I believe that John Sanford’s statement that we are “a perishing people in a dying world” is a bit too pessimistic, for it seems to imply that there is no hope for the world. That is not exactly true. Had the deterioration of the human brain been going on ceaselessly for the past 2 million years, then we would have transformed into chimps by now. Or become extinct. But we didn’t, right? This means that the process of degeneration is not unidirectional, but reverses itself at periodic intervals. Humanity is not headed towards extinction but towards transformation. 

At some point after the completion of the Kali Yuga, the harmful genetic mutations will get replaced by beneficial genetic mutations, which will then keep on accumulating and drive the upward spiral of evolution till the next Golden Age. This is how the Cycle of the Ages operate, and it is a shame that this essential wisdom has been discarded by the modern civilization. But, then, this is exactly what happens in the Kali Yuga, the age of ignorance and darkness, when, in spite of having so many advanced technologies, humanity remains completely oblivious of its origins and purpose.

One might naturally wonder what could be causing the harmful and beneficial genetic mutations to fluctuate over a 25,800-year cycle. Could the radiation from some powerful cosmic source be driving this phenomenon? The answer is yes, and I have explored this idea in my book Yuga Shift, and I shall write about it in future articles.

References

[1] Maciej Henneberg, “Decrease of Human Skull Size in the Holocene”, Human Biology, June 1988, Vol.60, No.3, pp. 395-405, https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol60/iss3/5/
[2] Christopher B. Ruff et al, “Body mass and encephalization in Pleistocene Homo”, Nature, 1997, Vol.387, pp. 173 - 176.
[3] Kathleen McAuliffe, “If Modern Humans Are So Smart, Why Are Our Brains Shrinking?” Discover Magazine, 20 January 2011, https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/if-modern-humans-are-so-smart-why-are-our-brains-shrinking
[4] Mahabharata 3.189, https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03189.htm
[5] “Cro-Magnon”, Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cro-Magnon
[6] Gerald R. Crabtree, “Our fragile intellect. Part I” and “Our fragile intellect. Part II”, published in Trends in Genetics. Taken from Kevin J. Mitchell, “Genetic entropy and the human intellect”, Trends in Genetics, 2013, Vol.29, No.2, pp. 59-60.
[7] Dr. John Sanford, author of “Genetic Entropy and the Mystery of the Genome”, in an interview with Jim Cantelon, on the YouTube channel 100huntley, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8KbM-xkfVk

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

31-07-2024 om 22:40 geschreven door peter  

A group of tourists were peacefully watching the sunset when a strange white 'orb' floated into their field of vision. In a matter of seconds, the strange entity vanishes, leaving some people convinced it's a 'UFO'

By Lauren Haughey

Tourists claim to have spotted a UFO in Ibiza

(stock image) (Image: Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF)

When jetting off to sunny Ibiza, UFOs are probably the last thing on your mind.

Yet, one group of tourists believe they spotted exactly this while soaking up a stunning sunset by the sea - and it's left the internet utterly baffled. Now a clip of the mysterious aerial entity came to light on Pubity's Instagram.

The UFO was spotted in Ibiza, Spain.

It captures a crowd relaxed on a cliff, before one woman suddenly runs to the edge. The air is then thick with gasps, yells and confused questions as all eyes lock on to something next to the moon.

READ MORE: 

• Microsoft outage could be 'linked to higher life,' expert says after UFO sighting near Luton

Eagle-eyed viewers will clock a white blob, slightly out of focus, floating in the sky. But just as the lens zooms in, it shoots off and vanishes.

Unsurprisingly, this strange footage racked up countless comments online, with many viewers dishing out their own theories on what this might be. Unconvinced by the sighting, one person said: "It’s probably just a drone," as another sceptic joked: "Bro that UFO took a pill in Ibiza."

Meanwhile, someone else quipped: "They saw the bottled water prices n zoomed," while one more scoffed: "Ohhh yes because every video starts with 'hey I’m going to run towards the edge and scream look look look' nice try."

According to the Majorca Bulletin, this isn't the first time a UFO has been spotted in the region. Incredibly, Sóller - a town in neighbouring Mallorca - was allegedly a hotspot for UFO sightings in the 1970s to 1990s.

The Ibiza sighting also comes less than a year after US Congress passed legislation that demands its government to disclose some UFO records, under certain conditions.

Maria Calafat, who is reportedly working on a UFO-based project for Netflix, believes this alone is motivating more people to come forward with their own personal experiences.

She told the Majorca publication: "The recent declassification of thousands of UFO files by US Congress, has made these cases fashionable again."

• What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below...

{ https://www.dailystar.co.uk/ } 

31-07-2024 om 21:25 geschreven door peter  

UFO Sightings Caught On Video In The United Kingdom And Brazil Baffle Witnesses

ISTOCKPHOTO

A mysterious UFO above a town in the United Kingdom was recently captured on camera and the object appeared to change shape as it moved through the sky.

The UFO was spotted by a resident of Bellshill in Lanarkshire on Friday, July 26.

“The skies have been beautiful lately with bright colours and when I heard the helicopter for the third time that day, I did look up and i caught a glimpse out the corner of my eye of it,” the witness told Glasgow Live.

 { https://brobible.com/ }

31-07-2024 om 21:00 geschreven door peter  

UFO Encounter Interview Clips with Navy Pilots from History’s Unidentified

 Alejandro Rojas

{  https://openminds.tv/category/articles/ }

31-07-2024 om 16:51 geschreven door peter  

31-07-2024 om 16:41 geschreven door peter  

NASA’S DART MISSION SNAPPED PICTURES UNTIL IT CRASHED INTO AN ASTEROID. HERE’S WHAT THOSE IMAGES REVEAL

NASA got up close and personal to an asteroid pair near Earth.

BY DORIS ELÍN URRUTIA

 

JHU Applied Physics Laboratory

The footage is a treasure trove. On Tuesday, teams published five scientific papers in the journal Nature Communications. Each contains new insights into what these rocks are like, and how tricky it may be for future planetary defense missions to strike another asteroid to avoid an impact’s calamity on Earth.

Here are five discoveries about this binary asteroid system so briefly encountered on September 26, 2022.

1. THE LARGER ASTEROID HAS AN OLDER SURFACE THAN THE LITTLE MOON.

Didymos and its moonlet Dimorphos are related to one another. But scientists still don’t know exactly how. One investigation looked at 16 craters on the larger asteroid, Didymos.

DRACO, the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for OpNav scientific camera, was one image source. It took many photos of Didymos and smaller Dimorphos before impacting the latter’s surface.

The craters suggest that the Didymos surface is about 12.5 million years old. But the Dimorphos surface is a fraction of that, only about 90,000 years to 300,000 years old.

2. DIDYMOS IS A PILE OF RUBBLE.

Observations confirmed theoretical expectations: It’s essentially a clump of leftovers from a catastrophic event in the ancient past.

Scientists noticed Didymos boulders appear too large to have been excavated by whatever made the craters. Something grander was responsible, and its mess, rounded up through gravitational attraction, is now Didymos. The large boulders are heirlooms passed down from an ancient parent rock.

3. WE NEED TO KNOW MUCH MORE ABOUT FRACTURES ON DIMORPHOS’ BOULDERS.

Asteroid boulders live in an airless environment. But, they can be altered through thermal fatigue. As the Sun shines on them, cracks form.

The Dimorphos fractures were identified with the help of independent contributors who located them across boulders of different sizes. This work adds to what’s already been gleaned about the Near-Earth asteroid population from previous NASA, Japanese, and European missions.

The picture emerging from the data is that, should a kinetic impactor like DART slam into another space rock, the thermal cracks “may contribute to an enhancement in the ejected mass,” one study says.

4. ECLIPSES MAY BE ONGOING.

On the flip side, eclipses could be having an opposite effect: cooling rocks down.

Based on limited data about how Dimorphos now spins after DART struck it, scientists think the moonlet remains tidally-locked to Didymos. This means Dimorphos shows the same face to Didymos, like the Moon does with Earth. If this relationship is fostering eclipses, a periodic drop in temperature could be happening on the asteroids.

Like thermal fatigue from solar radiation, the cooling effect of eclipses must also be factored into deflection techniques. This asteroid duo provides a unique chance to investigate this. Other closely-studied asteroids and comets have no companion to block out light.

5. THE DIDYMOS SURFACE IS WEAKER THAN DRY SAND ON EARTH.

One major thing researchers want to know before visiting any celestial object is how much weight you can put on it. This is called bearing capacity. It reveals a lot about the formation history of the Solar System. And in the case of planetary defense, bearing capacity also informs how to build something that can effectively knock a space rock off a collision course with Earth.

“The low surface strength of Dimorphos likely contributed to DART’s significant impact on its orbit,” NASA officials wrote in an announcement published Tuesday. This also seems to be a trait of the larger asteroid, Didymos.

Researchers looked at DRACO’s final full image of Didymos before it slammed into the moonlet Dimorphos. DART didn’t touch Didymos. But boulders on its surface left tracks. Scientists studied nine of these paths. They determined that the bearing capacity of Didymos is “at least 3 orders of magnitude less than the bearing capacity of dry sand on Earth, or lunar regolith [dirt].”

Researchers have already learned so much about Near-Earth asteroids from the DART mission. Thanks to the European Space Agency’s upcoming Hera mission to survey the duo in October 2026, even more discoveries could emerge.

{ https://www.inverse.com/ }

31-07-2024 om 16:31 geschreven door peter  

Een reis naar lokale legendes over de hele wereld - DEEL I

©Getty Images

Een reis naar lokale legendes over de hele wereld
Etherische figuren, die doen denken aan eeuwenoude legendes, komen op subtiele wijze tevoorschijn uit het tapijt van culturen en wenken nieuwsgierigen en dapperen om de blijvende kracht van folklore te ontdekken. Deze verhalen zijn het gefluister van generaties, die de essentie van het mysterieuze en magische vastleggen, en in deze galerij worden ze gevierd als de schatten van ons gedeelde menselijke erfgoed.

LEES VERDER door de galerij om de verhalen van weleer te ontdekken!

©Shutterstock

Het fluisterende bamboe (China)
In het hart van het oude China fluistert een verhaal over twee geliefden, getransformeerd in bamboe, voor altijd samen zwaaiend in de wind. Deze legende, diep geworteld in de Chinese folklore, spreekt over de blijvende kracht van de liefde die echoot door de ritselende bamboebladeren. Het is een herinnering aan de veerkracht van de liefde en de eeuwige aanwezigheid in de natuur.

©Shutterstock

Anansi's Web (West-Afrika)
Onder de Afrikaanse hemel weeft Anansi de Spin meer dan alleen maar webben; hij weeft verhalen over wijsheid. Deze bedrieger, een prominent figuur in West-Afrikaanse verhalen, leert levenslessen door zijn sluwe en avontuurlijke heldendaden. Elke streng van zijn web symboliseert de complexiteit van de beslissingen in het leven en de wijsheid die hij door ervaring verkrijgt.

©Shutterstock

Het noorderlicht (Scandinavië)
Terwijl je in de Scandinavische nacht staart, ben je getuige van de etherische dans van de Aurora Borealis. Folklore vertelt over deze lichten als een hemels fenomeen, waar de geesten van de overledenen in de hemel spelen, verhalen van verwondering weven en het aardse rijk overbruggen met het mystieke.

©Shutterstock

Het monster van Loch Ness (Schotland)
Gehuld in de mist van de Schotse folklore ligt Loch Ness, de thuisbasis van Nessie, het ongrijpbare monster. Deze legende geeft de essentie weer van de enigmatische charme van Schotland, waarbij Nessie de mysteries symboliseert die op de loer liggen in de diepten van onze verbeelding en in de donkere wateren van het meer.

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Baba Yaga's Hut (Rusland)
In het hart van de Russische folklore staat de hut van Baba Yaga, een bijzondere verblijfplaats op kippenpoten. De enigmatische heks, die vaak een cruciale rol speelt in verhalen over heldendom en speurtochten, belichaamt de dualiteit van de natuur – soms een helper, soms een belemmering, maar altijd een belangrijke figuur in het rijke tapijtwerk van de Slavische mythologie.

©Shutterstock

De Feniks (Midden-Oosten)
Uit de as van oude verhalen uit het Midden-Oosten rijst de Feniks op, een prachtige vogel die vernieuwing en het eeuwige leven symboliseert. Dit mythische wezen, helder brandend en herboren uit zijn eigen ondergang, vertegenwoordigt de eindeloze cyclus van leven, dood en wedergeboorte, een krachtig embleem van veerkracht en hoop in de folklore.

©Shutterstock

Kraken (Noordse Zee)
In de diepe, koude wateren van de Noordse Zeeën schuilt de Kraken, een legendarisch zeemonster dat gevreesd wordt door zeilers. Dit enorme wezen, vaak vergeleken met een reuzeninktvis, belichaamt de mysteries en verschrikkingen van de oceaan, een bewijs van de eeuwenoude fascinatie en angst van de mensheid voor de onbekende diepten van de zee.

©Shutterstock

El Dorado (Zuid-Amerika)
Diep in het hart van Zuid-Amerika fascineert de legende van El Dorado, de stad van goud, ontdekkingsreizigers al eeuwenlang. Dit prikkelende verhaal spreekt over grenzeloze rijkdom en ambitie en weerspiegelt de eindeloze zoektocht van de mensheid naar ontdekkingen en de ongrijpbare aard van onze grootste verlangens.

©Shutterstock

De Banshee (Ierland)
In de Ierse folklore is het treurige gejammer van de Banshee onder het maanlicht een voorbode van de dood. Deze spookachtige figuur, gehuld in mysterie, belichaamt de Keltische eerbied voor de overgang van leven naar dood, een aangrijpende herinnering aan de dunne sluier tussen het levende en het spirituele rijk.

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Tengu (Japan)
Hoog in de Japanse bergen wonen de Tengu: mystieke wezens die deels mens en deels vogel zijn. Deze wezens staan ​​bekend als zowel beschermers als bedriegers van de bossen en symboliseren de complexiteit van de natuur en menselijke interactie, waarbij ze kattenkwaad en wijsheid vermengen in het rijke tapijtwerk van de Japanse folklore.

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Bigfoot (Noord-Amerika)
In de uitgestrekte, onbekende bossen van Noord-Amerika roept de legende van Bigfoot, een mysterieuze reus, nieuwsgierigheid en debat op. Dit ongrijpbare wezen, vaak omschreven als een torenhoge, harige figuur, belichaamt de wilde en onbekende aspecten van de natuur. Bigfoot dient als symbool voor de mysteries die nog steeds verborgen liggen in de afgelegen wildernis.

©Shutterstock

De regenboogslang (Australië)
Centraal in de Aboriginal mythologie wordt de Regenboogslang vereerd als een krachtige scheppende godheid. Dit levendige, slangachtige wezen, geassocieerd met water en leven, weeft door de verhalen van de inheemse bevolking en symboliseert de schepping, vruchtbaarheid en de onderlinge verbondenheid van alle levende wezens.

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La Llorona (Mexico)
Het verhaal van La Llorona, gefluisterd langs de rivieroevers, spreekt over een spookachtige vrouw, die eeuwig rouwt om haar verdronken kinderen. Dit aangrijpende verhaal, doordrenkt van Mexicaanse folklore, dient als een waarschuwend verhaal over liefde, verlies en de gevolgen van iemands daden, dat door de eeuwen heen weerklinkt.

©Shutterstock

De Djinn (Midden-Oosten)
In verhalen uit het Midden-Oosten zijn de Djinn bovennatuurlijke wezens, noch geheel goed, noch slecht. Deze raadselachtige wezens worden vaak geassocieerd met het vervullen van wensen en weerspiegelen de dubbele aard van menselijke verlangens en de complexe gevolgen die de vervulling ervan met zich meebrengt.

 { https://www.msn.com/nl-be/ }

31-07-2024 om 16:06 geschreven door peter  

Een reis naar lokale legendes over de hele wereld - DEEL II

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De Krampus (AlpenEuropa)
In de ijskoude Alpengebieden vormt de Krampus een schril contrast met de feestelijke vreugde van Kerstmis. Deze gehoornde figuur, bekend om het straffen van zich misdragende kinderen tijdens de kerstperiode, belichaamt de oude gebruiken en duistere aspecten van wintervieringen en herinnert aan de balans tussen welwillendheid en discipline.

©Shutterstock

Valkyries (Noorse mythologie)
In de Noorse mythologie kozen Walkuren, goddelijke vrouwelijke figuren, het lot van krijgers in de strijd. Deze krachtige wezens, die door de lucht vliegen, vertegenwoordigen de concepten van het lot en het hiernamaals, een integraal onderdeel van de Viking-overtuigingen en -cultuur.

©Shutterstock

De rattenvanger (Duitsland)
De rattenvanger, een mysterieuze figuur uit de Duitse folklore, staat erom bekend een stad van ratten te bevrijden en later zijn kinderen weg te lokken. Zijn verhaal is een waarschuwend verhaal over beloften en gevolgen, dat door de eeuwen heen weerklank vindt.

©Shutterstock

De Nian (China)
Het angstaanjagende beest Nian zou in de Chinese folklore zijn verslagen met behulp van rode lantaarns en vuurwerk. Deze legende symboliseert de triomf over angst en tegenspoed, gevierd tijdens het Chinese Nieuwjaar.

©Shutterstock

De Golem (Joodse folklore)
In de Joodse folklore werd de Golem, een tot leven gewekt kleifiguur, gecreëerd om de gemeenschap te beschermen. Dit krachtige verhaal onderzoekt thema's als creatie, controle en de onbedoelde gevolgen van onze acties.

©Shutterstock

Kappa (Japan)
De Kappa, waterwezens uit de Japanse folklore, staan ​​bekend om hun kattenkwaad, maar toch zijn ze gebonden aan een beleefdheidscode. Deze wezens symboliseren de genuanceerde relatie tussen mensen en de natuurlijke wereld en weerspiegelen het delicate evenwicht van co-existentie.

©Shutterstock

The Selkie's Secret (Schotse en Ierse folklore)
Selkies, zeehondenmensen uit de Schotse en Ierse overlevering, belichamen de thema's identiteit en vrijheid. Hun verhalen, vaak romantisch en tragisch, spreken over de transformerende aard van selkies en hun diepe verbinding met zowel land als zee, en reflecteren op het universele verlangen naar iemands ware thuis.

Bronnen:

• (Invaluable.com)
• (TheTravel)
• (World of Tales)

{ https://www.msn.com/nl-be/ }

31-07-2024 om 16:04 geschreven door peter  

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

31-07-2024 om 01:40 geschreven door peter  

31-07-2024 om 01:31 geschreven door peter  

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

30-07-2024 om 23:52 geschreven door peter  

The entrance to Leang Karampuang cave, where some of the oldest cave art has been found.

Google Arts & Culture

Recent studies involving advanced laser ablation techniques examined the images on the cave’s walls, which include ancient depictions of animals like pigs and bovines along with stick renderings of anthropomorphic shapes. The new analysis reveals that the art is likely several thousands of years older than previously thought.

However, the extreme age of the art within the cave may point to another intriguing possibility: that its creators were not modern humans, and instead may have been one of our ancient hominin cousins. Such a discovery, if proven, would have profound implications for the origins of figurative art and the cognitive capabilities of our now-extinct hominin relatives.

THE ENIGMA OF SULAWESI

Renowned for its ancient cave paintings, Sulawesi has long fascinated archaeologists. Among the island’s most notable works of cave art include a 14-foot-wide panel that depicts crude imagery of early humans hunting what are commonly believed to be warty pigs and dwarf bovines with spears.

Past work had already revealed the presence of what archaeologists recognized as some of the world’s oldest rock art on the island. A process known as solution uranium-series (or U-series) was used to analyze calcite deposits that had formed over the art on the walls of Maros-Pangkep, a rock art location on the southern portion of the island. This technique, which scans rock walls without taking physical samples, provides a more accurate estimate by distinguishing between layers of sediment.

Cave art found at Maros-Pangkep on southern Sulawesi

(Credit: Cahyo/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0).

However, in their recent study, researchers led by Indonesian archaeologist Adhi Augus Oktaviana used what they describe as “a novel application of this approach,” called laser-ablation U-series imaging, which allowed them to more accurately date some of the earliest cave art in the area.

In a recent study detailing their work, the researchers write, “This method provides enhanced spatial accuracy,” resulting in older minimum ages for previously dated art.

The scene, covered with calcium carbonate deposits, shows three human figures and a pig.

Dominic Julian/BRIN Google Arts

Three human-like figures and a large pig are drawn on a limestone cave wall. Griffith University

REDATING THE WORLD’S OLDEST CAVE ART

The new analysis revealed remarkable results. A hunting scene found at the Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 location, previously dated to at least 43,900 years ago during previous analysis, has now been revealed to have a minimum age closer to 51,200 years ago, making the art at the location at least 4,040 years older than initial estimates had placed it.

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

30-07-2024 om 23:20 geschreven door peter  

Then, as Renata’s handler taps her on the chin, the chimpanzee is shown saying the word “mama” several times.

The footage, likely viewed as little more than a novelty at the time, represented something potentially extraordinary: evidence of a non-human primate displaying the ability to speak, albeit crudely. Despite Renata’s unique talent, the footage was largely forgotten, and prevailing wisdom continued to insist that humans were the only primates with the required neural circuitry capable of speech.

However, Renata was not the only known example of a chimpanzee who displayed a limited ability to learn and speak human words. Decades later, in a video uploaded to YouTube on August 17, 2007, a chimpanzee named Johnny was also shown saying “mama,” seemingly in response to requests from his owner, after which he was awarded a treat.

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

30-07-2024 om 22:45 geschreven door peter  

SR-91 Aurora: A Highly Classified American Aircraft

For decades, the US military has pursued the dream of dominating the skies with hypersonic platforms, a dream that China and Russia are also striving to become a reality. In this scenario of fierce competition, a disturbing question arises: is it possible that a Mach 5 aircraft, the mythical SR-91 Aurora, already existed and that its existence has been hidden from us?

The classified SR-91 Aurora project

Whispers about the Aurora, a supposedly classified hypersonic aircraft, have resonated in aviation circles since the 1980s. Yet evidence of this enigmatic triangular craft is as elusive as the wind. Is it conceivable that the United States not only managed to develop and operate a fleet of these aircraft at Mach 5+ during the 1980s but also kept this achievement in the shadows to this day? The truth could be more labyrinthine than we imagine.

The Pentagon, known for its “black programs,” has secretly funded the development of advanced technologies throughout history. Today, the most clandestine efforts are grouped under Special Access Programs, or SAPs, which restrict information to even those with the highest security clearances. Some of these recognized SAPs are never fully revealed, and others remain eternally anonymous.

After examining historical reports, declassified documents, testimonies and discussion forums, it is extremely unlikely that the United States has ever secretly operated a fleet of hypersonic aircraft. However, this does not rule out that such technological marvels have once touched the imposing doors of the hangars of Area 51.

Technology cost-benefit analysis for the SR-91 Aurora

It is vital to remember that there is a vast difference between technology that is mature and reliable enough for mass production and combat operation and that which, although within reach, is not sustainable from economic, resource or even political perspectives.

For example, the iPhone in your pocket is not necessarily the most advanced smartphone in the world; It is simply technology that can be mass-produced for a specific price and consumer. The latest communications technology would probably be much more expensive, potentially less reliable, and capable of leaving you in awe.

Aeronautical programs are advancing in a similar way: an extraordinary plane can be built for $2 billion, but that does not mean that mass production can begin immediately. Technology demonstrations, prototypes and limited production of exotic aircraft are a reality at facilities such as the Lockheed Martin plant in Palmdale or Area 51.

SR-91 Aurora: A response to the need to see without being seen

Sometimes, these efforts do not produce the expected results, are too costly, or require excessive maintenance. And sometimes, America‘s deepest secrets are buried in the desert, condemned to oblivion.

The SR-91 Aurora, if it ever existed, was conceived in response to a strategic need for aerial reconnaissance, a testament to the relentless quest for technological supremacy in a world where secrets and shadows play a crucial role.

Lockheed‘s SR-71 Blackbird, an unrivaled aerial beast and aviation’s fastest gem, laughed in the faces of more than 4,000 missiles with its dazzling speed during its golden era as a sky spy. This colossus, capable of challenging Mach 3 as if it were child’s play, made the most sophisticated surface-to-air missiles and elite fighters useless. So, when the Air Force decided to retire this very expensive technological marvel in the late 1980s, the world could only speculate: the United States must have something even more impressive in its arsenal.

It was not for less. The secret corridors of the Pentagon and Congress whispered about an heir to the Blackbird throne. But now, decades later, fact and fiction have become intertwined in a labyrinth of classified theories and programs, real or imagined, including those that may still lurk in the shadows.

Among whispers and rumors, there was talk of Aurora, a hypersonic, triangular plane taken from the bowels of science fiction, which seemed to be a first cousin of Lockheed Martin‘s SR-72 project, announced with great fanfare before this began. New era of hypersonic arms race.

Despite the rise of satellites, the need for aerial reconnaissance never died, as did the legend of the SR-71, which was even briefly resurrected in the 1990s to satisfy the hunger for aerial intelligence. The popular belief was that the Air Force would not let the SR-71 die without already having a worthy successor ready, warming up its engines in some secret location.

SR-91 Aurora: Many have followed its thread without finding its skein

And maybe they weren’t wrong. There are clues, threads of a larger plot, that point to evidence of an extraordinarily fast plane in those years, possibly related to Aurora.

In April 1992, on two separate occasions, journalist Steve Douglass, scanning the skies over Southern California, captured radio conversations that defied logic. A mysterious plane, with the callsign “Gaspipe,” coordinated with Edwards Air Force Base. The words captured by Douglass suggested that this craft flew at otherworldly altitudes and speeds. “You are at sixty-seven thousand [feet], eighty-one miles,” the controller indicated, and then, “Seventy miles, thirty-six thousand. Above the glide slope. Words that conjure images of a machine challenging the limits of the sky.

Was the SR-91 Aurora a real US military project?

There is no concrete evidence to confirm the existence of the SR-91 Aurora. Although it has been the subject of speculation and conspiracy theories, the lack of tangible evidence and the absence of official information suggests that it could be more of a myth or legend within the realm of military aviation.

What capabilities would a hypersonic aircraft like the SR-91 Aurora have?

If the SR-91 Aurora had existed, it is expected that it would have reached speeds exceeding Mach 5, which would have allowed it to perform reconnaissance and surveillance missions at extremely high speeds, making it difficult to detect and track by enemy air defense systems.

How is the SR-91 Aurora related to the SR-71 Blackbird?

The SR-91 Aurora is often considered the hypothetical successor to the SR-71 Blackbird, a spy plane that was a technological marvel of its time. It is speculated that the Aurora would have been designed to exceed the Blackbird’s capabilities, especially in terms of speed and operating altitude.

What advanced technologies would be expected on the SR-91 Aurora?

The SR-91 Aurora, had it been developed, would likely have incorporated advanced technologies such as high-temperature resistant composite materials, innovative propulsion systems to achieve hypersonic speeds, and stealth technologies to reduce its visibility to enemy radars.

Why do rumors about the SR-91 Aurora persist despite the lack of evidence?

Rumors about the SR-91 Aurora persist due to the public’s fascination with secret and advanced military technology. The story of the Aurora feeds into the culture of the Pentagon’s 

{https://militaryview.com/ }

30-07-2024 om 22:32 geschreven door peter  

Not many aircraft in military aviation history have been shrouded in mystery and conjured as much speculation as the SR-91 Aurora. First appearing in the 1980s, “Aurora” was listed in a black program spy plane request, and ever since, this mysterious airframe has remained cloaked in secrecy. It was an attempt by military engineers to come up with a hypersonic plane design that would clock over Mach 5.0; no other aircraft has been reported to do so.

The SR-91 Aurora entered public awareness through the Los Angeles Times and Aviation Week & Space Technology reports in the mid-1980s. All the reports made the point that “Aurora” had been included inadvertently in the budget for 1995, which the U.S. government had submitted for “black aircraft production,” insinuating a clandestine project with funding greater than nearly $1 billion for the B-2 Spirit. By 1986, funding for the black project had swelled to about $2.7 billion, according to a procurement document obtained by Aviation Week.

In the 1980s, with the world’s fastest plane, the SR-71 Blackbird, reaching the end of its service life, a replacement had to be taken into consideration. That very impressive flying machine was powered by Pratt & Whitney J58 engines and represented an early effort at stealth design that could break Mach 3.2. According to analysts, the U.S. was capable of fielding a Mach 5.0 airframe and probably did so with the SR-91 Aurora.

Over the years, several reports and sightings have been viewed as a confirmation of the existence of the Aurora. One such sighting was reported by an engineer in 1989 over the North Sea, which claimed that the Aurora was a triangular-shaped aircraft. However, considering the speed at which the aircraft is supposed to fly, such sightings do not seem very credible. When the Aurora was supposedly flying, the Air Force’s B-2 bomber and F-117 Nighthawk were operational and would have accounted for the sightings.

In 2000, Nic Outterside of the Aberdeen Press and Journal cited anonymous sources that RAF/USAF Machrihanish in Kintyre, Argyll, served as a base for Aurora airframes. The long runways would be suitable for high-altitude experimental aircraft. More evidence appeared in the form of an answer to a parliamentary question in 2006 which stated that the British Ministry of Defense had been told by the United States that the U.S. Air Force had plans to produce a Mach 4.0-6.0 supersonic airframe, though no evidence conclusively proved that such a project existed.

So-called “sky quakes” over Los Angeles, first observed in the early 1990s, have also been attributed to the Aurora. In 1993, Bill Sweetman of Jane’s Defense Weekly reported that U.S. Geological Survey seismologists had recorded tremors consistent with a sonic boom from a high-altitude supersonic aircraft. These tremors were not in line with any known aircraft, suggesting something faster and more advanced.

Though countless claims and sightings have been made, the SR-91 Aurora has not been confirmed by U.S. officials. If it does exist, it would shatter the Blackbird’s speed record into minute pieces, truly heralding a new era in hypersonic flight.

The SR-91 Aurora has seldom failed to impress the imagination of aircraft enthusiasts and military analysts. From fact to fiction, and through internet myth, Aurora is what aerospace ambition and the mysterious represent.

• The post SR-91 Aurora: The Hypersonic Enigma of the Skies first appeared on BuzzHint.

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30-07-2024 om 22:24 geschreven door peter  

WARP DRIVES IN SCIENCE FICTION

Although the warp drive concept was arguably made famous by its appearances in Star Trek, the idea has its origins much earlier. One of the earliest known fiction works to feature warp drive propulsion was a 1931 novel by John W. Campbell, Islands in Space. However, the term “space-warp drive” would not appear until almost two decades later in Fredrick Brown’s 1949 story “Gateway to Darkness.” Decades after that, the idea would also become a mainstay of interstellar transportation in the fictional universes of Star Trek, Star Wars, and other science fiction franchises.

Hypothetically, warp drive propulsion could actually exist, although bringing the technology to fruition would first require overcoming hurdles that include finding exotic sources of energy to power it, as well as relativistic issues that arise from implementing travel under such conditions.

According to Dr. Katy Clough of Queen Mary University of London, the lead author of the recent study, warp drives still look good on paper despite such problems.

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

30-07-2024 om 22:12 geschreven door peter  

UFO ‘Sighting’ In Ibiza Goes Viral

PEXELS: Grooveland Designs / Es Vedra island off the coast of Ibiza, Spain

KAY SMYTHE - NEWS AND COMMENTARY WRITER

Footage went viral Monday of an alleged UFO flying through the skies over Ibiza.

Video shared on Twitter shows a group of people sitting on what appears to be a cliffside during a gorgeous sunset on the Mediterranean island off the coast of Spain. A woman and whoever is filming then start running and pointing at the skies as a blurry white object flies over them.

The thing appears to hold still for a moment as it comes into focus … except, what you’re looking at isn’t a UFO. It’s the moon, shining brightly over the ocean. Things seem silly for a second. Then the reflection under the moon zooms off at speeds unknown in any type of human technologies.

I’ve seen my fair share of UFO videos in my life, but this one actually kind of freaked me out. 

• (RELATED: Multiple People Believe They Saw A UFO Over One State, And No One Has Debunked It Yet)

It’s the type of click-baity stuff they show at the start of a found footage horror film. A woman appears to yell “Look! Look! Look!” while pointing at something in the skies. The group gasps in unison as the thing zooms off into the atmosphere. The clip has everything in the horror story recipe book.

So this is either one of the best staged UFO encounters ever … or its real.

{ https://dailycaller.com/ }

30-07-2024 om 22:00 geschreven door peter  

Psychologist Carl Jung’s Fascination with UFOs

 Alejandro Rojas

 

Some view Carl Jung as a UFO debunker, others as a UFO believer, but the truth is he was somewhere in the middle. Either way, it is certain that Jung was an avid UFO researcher and fascinated with the topic. He wrote a book about the psychological symbolism and the role the UFO mythos plays in the unconscious mind.  Moreover, on several occasions Jung complained that his studies would have been much easier if the UFO phenomenon was not real.

Jung the Psychologist

Jung was born in Switzerland in 1875. His father was a pastor in the Swiss Reformed Protestant Church, and his mother was from a wealthy Swiss family. He was the Jungs’ fourth child, but was the only child who survived into his childhood. As such, he grew up as an only child. Later, he wrote that he remembered enjoying his solitude.

His first experience with neurosis was at the age of twelve when a fellow student shoved him, causing him to fall and hit his head on the ground very hard. He remembered associating this experience with schoolwork, and whenever he had to go to school or do schoolwork he would faint. Overhearing his parents’ concern that this condition would cause him to be unable to support himself as an adult, Jung fought to overcome the problem and eventually returned to academics.

Although Jung had a profound interest in spirituality, his experiences triggered an interest in psychology and he decided to pursue a career in medicine. It wasn’t long before he realized that studies in psychology would allow him to combine his interests in medicine and spirituality, and in 1902, he completed his doctoral dissertation, which was titled “On the Psychology and Pathology of So-Called Occult Phenomena.” He graduated with a medical degree from the University of Basel.

After graduating, Jung went to work with psychiatric patients at the University of Zurich asylum. He wrote a paper on word association that he sent to Sigmund Freud. Freud was impressed with Jung’s work, and they quickly became very close. Freud considered Jung his successor. However, after several years, Jung began to develop his own ideas beyond the work of Freud, and due to their disagreements, the relationship turned adversarial.

Freud’s work with the ego and unconscious served as a foundation for Jung’s work. They both felt that disconnects between the conscious and unconscious minds caused neurosis in people. They also both relied on dream interpretation to explore a person’s unconscious mind as a method for subsequently resolving neurosis. In fact, one story holds that Jung and Freud interpreted each other’s dreams and both completely disagreed with the other’s analysis, thus hastening the dissolution of their friendship.

A major area of disagreement between the two was that Jung did not believe a person’s unconscious was driven solely by sexual desires, as Freud did. Jung believed other strong emotions such as fear and aspiration were just as influential. He also conceived of a deeper level of the unconscious called the collective unconscious, which he believed is a part of our unconscious mind that holds ideas and concepts shared by all humankind. He believed these base ideas are then shaped by our cultural perceptions and personal experience. For example, we all have ideas around the notions of mothers, fathers, wise elders, etc. Jung called these shared notions archetypes. Jung felt that these archetypes not only would manifest in dreams, but could be seen in people’s creative works and behavior, including art, religion, and mythology.

Jung’s contributions to psychology are numerous. Even today his ideas of extraversion and introversion are a mainstay in personality psychology. He also came up with the idea of psychological complexes and synchronicities. All of these ideas and terms are commonly used in everyday conversation today, and all were made popular by Jung.

Jung and Alchemy

It is the idea of the archetype that brought Jung to have a particular interest in UFOs. When Jung interpreted psychological meaning he would search for archetypal figures. As mentioned earlier, such figures could be a mother or father.  But, in a mythological story, the archetype may be the hero, a dragon, or even a planetary entity such as the sun. However, Jung also had an interested in alchemy.

Alchemy is typically connected to legends of ancient mystics attempting to unravel the secret of turning lead into gold. The work of alchemists is credited with the development of modern chemistry. However, another side of alchemy is spiritual in nature, relating to personal transformation. Jung had a passion for alchemy in this sense, and felt that the metal lead was a metaphor for an impure soul, whereas gold was a metaphor for a perfected soul. Jung’s interest in alchemy was thus as a method of purifying the soul.

Jung wrote a couple of books focused on interpreting alchemical symbolism and processes as different stages of personal growth that mirrored his ideas. He felt these symbols were archetypes that were unconsciously manifesting in the work of alchemists. Although he acknowledged the physical goals of alchemy (an attempt to transmute lead into gold), Jung did not give it much attention in his writing and focused on the non-physical aspects that related to his psychological theories. This is very similar to the way he approached the topic of UFOs.

Jung and UFOs

In 1951, Jung wrote to a friend in the United States: “I am puzzled to death about the phenomena, because I haven’t been able yet to make out with sufficient certainty whether the whole thing is a rumour with concomitant singular and mass hallucination, or a downright fact.” 

Although Jung showed an interest in the mystery of the physical reality of the UFO phenomenon, professionally he stated, “As a psychologist, I am not qualified to contribute anything useful to the question of the physical reality of Ufos.” However, Jung could contribute by analyzing the unmistakable psychological side to the UFO phenomenon. In 1958, several of Jung’s papers regarding the psychology of UFOs were published in a book. It was originally published in German, but in 1959 it was translated to English under the title, Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies.

In the book, Jung argued that although there may be a physical reality to UFOs, there is certainly a portion of the phenomenon that is fantasy. He examined the difficulty many have in accepting fantastical stories of UFOs, even when they come from pilots, and points out, “What is worse, most of the stories come from America, the land of superlatives and of science fiction.”

For the sake of argument, and to examine the psychological aspects of the phenomenon, Jung presumed that UFOs are fantasy. This is an important aspect that many critics overlook when they characterize Jung as dismissive of the phenomenon altogether. UFO researchers also tend not to appreciate the portions of Jung’s book in which he examined the UFO phenomenon in regards to archetypal imagery and alchemic symbolism. Jung himself assures his readers that although his work may appear to be “unbridled fantasy” to those unfamiliar with psychology, it is actually based on “thorough research into the history of symbols.”

In his book, Jung observed that most UFO sightings describe the objects as disc shaped, which is a symbol that is often seen in alchemy and existed in the mythology of other cultures. For example, the Hindu and Buddhist symbol of the mandala is a circular disc-shaped symbol. Jung believed that the mandala is a protective sphere, which is elicited in the unconscious in times of emotional tension. Jung noted that, around the time of many of the UFO sightings, the world was under a collective stress due to “Russian policies and their still unpredictable consequences.” In short, he felt that perhaps UFOs were appearing in visions at the time because of the world’s Cold War jitters, and that the UFOs were a manifestation of a need for protection and salvation.

Jung’s book also provided detail of the analysis of particular sightings and art. One of the significant contributions to ufology made by the book is a focus on two historical broadsheets, a type of ancient newspaper, that recorded mysterious apparitions that many have speculated to be UFO related. Although Jung asserted that these reports were in the UFO literature prior to the publication of his book, Jung clearly made them popular as potential ancient UFO sightings.

The first is referred to as the Basel Broadsheet, and it dates back to 1566. It was written by Samuel Coccius and is a report of “many large black globes” that were seen flying in front of the sun “with great speed.” The Basel Broadsheet notes, “Some of them became red and fiery and afterwards faded and went out.” Jung noted the similarity of this phenomenon to modern UFO accounts.

The second report is called the Nuremberg Broadsheet and dates back to 1561. This report chronicles a “very frightful spectacle” that was witnessed by several people. Again, “globes” were seen near the sun, “some three in a row, now and then four in a square, also some standing alone.” There were also “two great tubes.” Jung noted that in UFO literature large tubes are considered “motherships,” and have been reported to have smaller discs that appear to fly out of them.

The Physical Reality of UFOs

In his book, Jung also examined the possibility of the physical reality of UFOs. He noted that, “unfortunately,” UFOs cannot be dismissed as purely psychological in nature. He pointed to numerous sightings, some of which have been caught in photographs and on radar. Jung even poked fun at astronomer Donald Menzel, a UFO debunker, saying that he “has not succeeded, despite all his efforts, in offering a scientific explanation of even one authentic UFO report.” 

Jung was well-versed on UFO research. He wrote, “since 1947 I have collected all of the books I could get a hold of on the subject.” He was also a member of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), an early civilian UFO organization that included many credible members. In fact, in his book, Jung often referred to the work of Major Donald Keyhoe, a cofounder and director of NICAP.

Prior to releasing his book, Jung was considered by UFO researchers to be a proponent of the physical reality of UFOs. In 1955, he wrote an article on UFOs for a British journal called the Flying Saucer Review. In the article, Jung stated that he had never seen a UFO himself, but that “I can only say for certain: these things are not a mere rumour: something has been seen.”

He went on to argue that the U.S. Air Force “despite its contradictory statements,” considers the phenomenon to be real and they conduct official investigations. He warned that, by concealing information on the topic, the military is making it more likely that people will panic since the public is denied “an adequate picture of what is happening.”

Jung also stated that “the ‘disks’ (that is, the objects themselves) do not behave in accordance with physical laws, but as though without weight, and they show signs of intelligent guidance, by quasi human pilots, for their accelerations are such that no normal human could survive.”

Not much was made of Jung’s 1955 article until it was reprinted in 1958 by the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) in the organization’s bulletin in July 1958. APRO posted the story as part of an announcement that Jung had agreed to become an official consultant for the organization. The New York Herald Tribune quickly picked up on the report and printed a story with the headline, “Dr. Jung Says ‘Flying Disks’ Suggest Quasi-Human Pilots.”

Jung was not happy with the implication that he believed UFOs represented a physical phenomenon and later wrote a letter to United Press International news agency clarifying his position. He wrote: “I expressly state that I cannot commit myself on the question to the physical reality or unreality of the UFOs since I do not possess sufficient evidence either for or against.” He then stated, “Something is seen, but it isn’t known what.” Jung later repeated this statement in his 1958 book and in several letters.

Although Jung was clearly embarrassed by the public perception that he conclusively believed flying saucers were physical in nature, he later reiterated his prior statements and earlier criticisms of the U.S. Air Force’s handling of the matter in very strong words. He wrote:

In spite of the fact that I hold my judgment concerning UFOs—temporarily let’s hope—in abeyance, I thought it worthwhile to throw a light upon the rich fantasy material which has accumulated round the peculiar observations in the skies. Any new experience has two aspects: (I) the pure fact and (2) the way one conceives of it. It is the latter I am concerned with. If it is true that the [American Air Force] or the Government withholds telltale facts, then one can only say that this is the most unpsychological and stupid policy one could invent. Nothing helps rumours and panics more than ignorance.

It is no wonder that many have been confused as to Jung’s official stance on UFOs. He seems to have believed the phenomenon and sightings to be real, but is uncertain whether UFOs are a physical reality or are limited to a psychological phenomenon. He stated that although “by all human standards it hardly seems possible to doubt this any longer,” in the decade or more he had been studying the topic, neither he nor anyone else seems to have learned much from the study of the physical aspect of UFOs. Jung said that this is precisely why he found it much more fruitful to study the psychological aspects of UFOs, an area in which he felt he had gained an abundance of knowledge.

Jung may be right. Concrete physical proof of UFOs continues to elude us to this day. Yet, Jung is another example of a luminary who garners a great amount of respect in his field of study, who also had the vision to seriously consider the UFO phenomenon. His UFO interest is a story that should not be forgotten, and his insights into the phenomenon may help guide us today, just as his insights into the human mind continue to be a part of the bedrock of modern psychological understanding.

• A version of this article originally appeared in Open Minds UFO Magazine. Back issues can be found here.

{ https://openminds.tv/category/articles/ }

30-07-2024 om 21:46 geschreven door peter  

Leaked UFO video captured by Homeland Security analyzed

 Alejandro Rojas

 

A group of UFO researchers with backgrounds in science have come together to analyze an alleged UFO video they have confirmed comes from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The object in the video was captured by a thermal imaging camera on a DHS aircraft, and according to the researchers, it exhibits characteristics that cannot be explained by any known aircraft or natural phenomenon.

The video is overlaid with the sort of telemetry one would expect from a military or law enforcement thermal image video. It shows an object apparently moving very quickly over land and then into the ocean. It seems to be tumbling or changing shape. It moves over buildings, through trees, and eventually over the ocean. Then things get weird. The object appears to go in and out of the ocean without slowing down, and at the end of the video is either joined by another object or breaks in two.

All of the primary witnesses have requested anonymity. However, several communications from alleged DHS employees indicate that the video caused quite a stir on the base.

Research on the video began when an acquaintance to the pilot of the aircraft that captured the video contacted Daina Chaviano, a famous Cuban-born fantasy and science fiction author. She is also a volunteer with the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) in Florida, where in her spare time she investigates UFO reports. She took the UFO case to her colleague, Morgan Beall, who runs the Florida MUFON chapter.

Chaviano and Beall were so impressed by what they saw they assembled a small group of skeptical researchers with backgrounds in various fields of science and technology. The pilot’s acquaintance requested strict control of the information provided and that knowledge of the investigation be limited to a very few people, so until now, the researchers have not shared any information regarding their investigation.

Today, the group released a 161-page report detailing their findings.

They are vague when it comes to the identity of Chaviano’s informant. They say this person and others who provided information wanted to remain anonymous “to ensure no issues arise with the source’s employers.”

However, the group says: “The source of this video evidence was vetted and identified.”

They say they are absolutely certain that the information comes from sources on board the DHS aircraft and the video is genuine. Their investigation also confirmed what they were told.

Their sources told them that the UFO incident began at about 9:20 pm on the evening of April 25, 2013 at the Rafael Hernandez Airport in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. It involved the crew of a DHC-8 Turboprop aircraft from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a division of DHS.

The DHC-8 took off on a routine flight and soon after takeoff they noticed “a pinkish to reddish light over the ocean that was in their vicinity and approaching toward the south.”

The crew was concerned the tower had not told them about the incoming traffic, so they called it in. The tower told them they also had a visual on the object, but they were unsure of its identity.

Once the object got close to land, its lights turned off, but at this time the DHC-8 was able to begin tracking and filming the object with their onboard thermal imaging system. The DHC-8 did not approach the object, but circled the area and filmed it.

The DHC-8 did not pick up the object on radar. However, their radar was looking downward to track ships on the ocean, not objects in the sky.

According to the source, a flight was delayed by the presence of the object. The research group was able to confirm from airport records that a FedEx flight scheduled to leave at 9:10 pm was delayed until 9:26 pm.

The researchers also confirmed the flight time and path of the DHC-8 via radar data they obtained from a Freedom of Information Act Request to the U.S. Air Force 84th Radar Evaluation Squadron (RADES) group. The radar data confirmed that the DHC-8 took off at approximately 9:16 pm and circled the airport twice before leaving the area about 10 minutes later.

The researchers note that there was an unknown object or objects tracked on radar a few minutes prior to the DHC-8’s take off,  but it is not known for certain that this was the same object that was later caught on video. The unidentified radar strikes were just off the shore to the north and northwest of the airport and lasted about 16 minutes from 8:58 pm to 9:14 pm.

When reading the times, the radar data is presented in a different time zone than the local times. The researchers explained this on their website: “Aviation times reflect  Zulu time which corresponds to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The video displays the Zulu time April 26th at 1:22 AM at the top left of the initial frames. Converting this Zulu time to Puerto Rico’s local time gives April 25th at 9:22 PM. Puerto Rico uses  Atlantic Standard Time and does not use daylight savings time.”

The research group also thoroughly analyzed the video to determine the nature of the object in the film. They consulted thermal imaging experts to determine the capabilities of the system used for the filming, and broke the film down frame by frame to determine the object’s approximate size, speed, temperature and flight path.

The video (seen at the top of the story) is just under 4 minutes long, but the unknown object was tracked for about 2 1/2 of those minutes. Although it was difficult for the group to calculate the exact location of the object on the first half of its flight, they are confident of its position in the second half.

They have determined that the object came in from the ocean, from the north or northwest of the airport’s airstrip, and then flew over the airstrip, then turned back to the north and headed back out into the ocean.

During this time the DHC-8 was circling the airport. As can be seen in the map created by the researchers, the aircraft was moving along the shore, turning to the south, and eventually lost site of the object over the ocean as they continued south.

The report states: “The object was between three to five feet in length and its speed varied between approximately 40 mph to 120 mph. Its median speed was roughly 80 mph.”

The report goes on to note that an interesting characteristic at the end of the flight was when it apparently submerged into the ocean, traveled for over half a mile, and then flew back out.

According to the report: “Its speed through the water reached a high of 95 mph and average 82.8 mph.”

One suggestion has been that the object was merely a balloon. However, the researchers reject this idea for several reasons. They say the wind speeds at the time were 8 to 13 mph at ground level and 12 to 18 mph at 400 to 3200 feet. This means the object was moving too fast to be carried by wind currents. It also changed directions from heading south back to the north, and it went underwater with minimal loss of speed.

Another possibility is that the object was actually a bird. The object appears dark on the screen, and for this type of thermal imaging that would mean it was warmer than the ambient air. This is how a bird would appear. However, the researchers note that the object was moving much too fast to be a bird. They note that peregrine falcons, which do occasionally visit Puerto Rico, have an average horizontal speed of 40 to 56 mph, and a maximum of 65 to 69 mph.

The researchers also examined the possibility that the object was a drone. Their research did discover that the Navy is working on a drone that can fly through the air and dive into the ocean and become a submarine. It is called a “Flimmer.”

They found that current Flimmer drones have not been tested underwater and have an airspeed of 68 mph. They also noted that the fastest known underwater battery powered torpedo travels at 50 mph.

The researchers do acknowledge that it could be possible that the Navy is secretly testing a Flimmer drone that is much more advanced. However, they question why the military would so recklessly test it over a civilian area and airport runways.

In conclusion they state: “There is no explanation for an object capable of traveling under water at over 90 mph with minimal impact as it enters the water, through the air at 120 mph at low altitude through a residential area without navigational lights, and finally to be capable of splitting into two separate objects. No bird, no balloon, no aircraft, and no known drones have that capability.”

They do not profess to know what the object was, and they welcome “reasonable” suggestions.

However, as to be expected, there are those who have suggested that “they know” the object is extraterrestrial in nature, and at least one of those suggestions has come from an anonymous source who has intimate knowledge of this event.

An anonymous letter was sent to one of the researchers that is very similar to one that was sent to John Greenewald, owner of the website TheBlackVault.com. The only thing Greenewald knew about the video was related to a low resolution copy that was leaked to a Puerto Rican UFO researcher. Many assumed the video was taken from a helicopter.

The letter references the exact type of thermal system and aircraft that was used to capture the video. The message was accompanied by a high resolution version of the thermal video, which was then posted on YouTube by Greenewald. The anonymous letter states: “Alien technology is no doubt under the ocean near Puerto Rico!”

Is alien technology being demonstrated in this video? This careful report, which the researchers say took over 1000 man hours to complete, indicates that whatever took place, it is certainly unusual. The entire report is 161 pages long, and thoroughly explains their work, and how they came to the conclusions they did.

Even if the report had come to a mundane conclusion, the effort put into the investigation is remarkable. However, the fact that they could not determine what the object was, and have determined that it displayed characteristics that cannot be explained, makes the report remarkable.

Robert Powell, a retired engineer who worked in the semiconductor industry, who helped author the research paper, says although they have finally released their report, “work on this video will continue.”

Powell, Beall, Chaviano, and the rest of the researchers working on the report posted a high resolution version of the video, their report, and an animation of the radar data they obtained on a website called the Scientific Coalition for Ufology.

Powell says they have reached out to other scientific organizations that have shown an interest in the UFO phenomenon,  including 3AF Sigma2, a group that is part of the French National Aeronautical and Astronautical Association. The French scientists have agreed to review their work and provide input.

Powell says, “We hope that this report will generate ideas and thoughts from other scientists that may provide more insight into the characteristics of the object seen in the video.”

• To download the report, view the video, and find out more about the investigation, visit: ExploreSCU.org.

{ https://openminds.tv/category/articles/ }

30-07-2024 om 21:46 geschreven door peter