The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
Zoeken in blog
Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld Ontdek de Fascinerende Wereld van UFO's en UAP's: Jouw Bron voor Onthullende Informatie!
Ben jij ook gefascineerd door het onbekende? Wil je meer weten over UFO's en UAP's, niet alleen in België, maar over de hele wereld? Dan ben je op de juiste plek!
België: Het Kloppend Hart van UFO-onderzoek
In België is BUFON (Belgisch UFO-Netwerk) dé autoriteit op het gebied van UFO-onderzoek. Voor betrouwbare en objectieve informatie over deze intrigerende fenomenen, bezoek je zeker onze Facebook-pagina en deze blog. Maar dat is nog niet alles! Ontdek ook het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt en Caelestia, twee organisaties die diepgaand onderzoek verrichten, al zijn ze soms kritisch of sceptisch.
Nederland: Een Schat aan Informatie
Voor onze Nederlandse buren is er de schitterende website www.ufowijzer.nl, beheerd door Paul Harmans. Deze site biedt een schat aan informatie en artikelen die je niet wilt missen!
Internationaal: MUFON - De Wereldwijde Autoriteit
Neem ook een kijkje bij MUFON (Mutual UFO Network Inc.), een gerenommeerde Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in de VS en wereldwijd. MUFON is toegewijd aan de wetenschappelijke en analytische studie van het UFO-fenomeen, en hun maandelijkse tijdschrift, The MUFON UFO-Journal, is een must-read voor elke UFO-enthousiasteling. Bezoek hun website op www.mufon.com voor meer informatie.
Samenwerking en Toekomstvisie
Sinds 1 februari 2020 is Pieter niet alleen ex-president van BUFON, maar ook de voormalige nationale directeur van MUFON in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Dit creëert een sterke samenwerking met de Franse MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP, wat ons in staat stelt om nog meer waardevolle inzichten te delen.
Let op: Nepprofielen en Nieuwe Groeperingen
Pas op voor een nieuwe groepering die zich ook BUFON noemt, maar geen enkele connectie heeft met onze gevestigde organisatie. Hoewel zij de naam geregistreerd hebben, kunnen ze het rijke verleden en de expertise van onze groep niet evenaren. We wensen hen veel succes, maar we blijven de autoriteit in UFO-onderzoek!
Blijf Op De Hoogte!
Wil jij de laatste nieuwtjes over UFO's, ruimtevaart, archeologie, en meer? Volg ons dan en duik samen met ons in de fascinerende wereld van het onbekende! Sluit je aan bij de gemeenschap van nieuwsgierige geesten die net als jij verlangen naar antwoorden en avonturen in de sterren!
Heb je vragen of wil je meer weten? Aarzel dan niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Samen ontrafelen we het mysterie van de lucht en daarbuiten.
06-11-2025
Harvard Astrophysicist Puts Observatory on Top of the Las Vegas Sphere to Search for UAPs
Harvard Astrophysicist Puts Observatory on Top of the Las Vegas Sphere to Search for UAPs
Harvard Astronomy professor Abraham Avi Loeb poses for a portrait in 2023.
A team of Harvard researchers established an observatory on top of the Sphere, a giant immersive entertainment venue in Las Vegas, in order to detect signs of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, or mysterious objects in the sky.
The observatory in Las Vegas is the third site for the Galileo Project, an initiative led by Harvard Astrophysics professor Abraham “Avi” Loeb to search for the potential existence of non-human made objects near Earth. Loeb announced the project in late October while speaking as a guest on podcast the Joe Rogan Experience.
“Hopefully, we will use it for science education, for public outreach, once again, to show the public that science can be exciting,” Loeb said. “My hope is that we can engage the public also in the analysis of the data.”
The observatories — located in Las Vegas, Cambridge and Pennsylvania — use visible and infrared light cameras to continuously monitor the sky. Using the observations, researchers can triangulate detected objects, calculating metrics such as its velocity and acceleration.The team also uses machine learning tools to help identify and classify the detected objects.
“So that will be the real fun, what kind of objects we find there,” Loeb said. “Of course, we are looking for the anomalous objects, the outliers. Anything that is made by humans is boring as far as I’m concerned.”
The project began when two executives in the entertainment industry, including the CEO of the Sphere, visited Loeb in his home and offered the Sphere’s rooftop as the location for an observatory. According to Loeb, the pair was inspired by his 2024 TedTalk titled “My Search for Proof Aliens Exist.”
Loeb is most excited for the prospect of identifying UAPs because of its potential to change “the future of humanity.”
“My hope is that if we find evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence, that it will convince us to cooperate, because we are all members of the human species,” Loeb said.
“I hope it will bring humanity to a better place, because we will change our priorities,” he added. “Instead of investing $2.4 trillion every year in military budgets, we might invest a similar amount of money in space exploration once we realize that there are some gadgets that enter the solar system from outside.
Even if the observatories do not identify anything other than human made technology, Loeb said the project will still be useful.
“The same sensors and software could be used for national security, so it will be helpful for the defense of the country in general,” Loeb said. “We are not wasting time in the sense of developing something that nobody would use.”
As of November, the observatory is operational and gathering data.
The research has garnered popular interest. Late last month, Alex Malycke, NASCAR racecar driver interested in Loeb’s work, featured Loeb and The Galileo Project logo on the hood of his car.
Loeb said that by communicating the scientific process to the public instead of just “what they need to know,” attracts people’s interest in research.
“I present it, not as a complete product that you just deliver to the public, but it’s the process of learning based on data, and in the fact that we don’t know in advance, and sometimes we make mistakes,” he said. “It’s like a detective story, as long as you enjoy the process of learning — and then the public seems to connect to that.”
UFOs orbiting Earth before our first satellite found in photos from the 1950s
UFOs orbiting Earth before our first satellite found in photos from the 1950s
Unexplained flashes were mjch more likely to show up the day after nuclear weapons tests
BY Daniel Smith
UFOs might have been spotted in orbit 70 years ago
(Getty Images)
Evidence of UFOs visiting Earth may have been discovered in a study of a treasure trove of photos of the night sky from the 1950s.
Scientists have been examining images taken before the beginning of the Space Age and have discovered mysterious flashes of light that appear in one image and then vanish in the next.
Studies suggest that some of those blips may be sunlight bouncing off flat, reflective objects high above Earth, years beforeRussialaunched the first satellite, Sputnik.
The research comes from the VASCO project (Vanishing and Appearing Sources during a Century of Observations), led by Beatriz Villarroel of Nordita at Stockholm University.
Her team pored over pre–Space Age photographic plates from California’s Palomar Observatory (1951–1957), hunting for 'transients' - points of light that appear once and never again.
Transients studied by the VASCO project
What they found is eyebrow‑raising. After sifting more than 100,000 candidates, the team reports:
The unexplained flashes were 68% more likely to show up the day after an atmospheric nuclear weapons test than on other days
The number of transients rose in step with reported UFO (now 'UAP') sightings - by roughly 8.5% per sighting, on average
Several flashes occurred in narrow lines, as if from moving, mirror‑like surfaces catching the Sun -with far fewer flashes where Earth’s shadow would block sunlight
One case lined up with the famed 'flying saucer' cluster over Washington DC on July 27, 1952. The pattern, researchers say, fits flat, highly reflective objects in high orbit - not round space rocks or dust, which would streak during Palomar’s 50‑minute exposures.
The plates pre‑date Sputnik in 19657, so if these were glints from orbit, they weren’t from human‑made satellites.
That has led the authors to float a few possibilities: unknown reflective objects in high Earth orbit, some UAP operating in space as well as air, or a still‑mysterious atmospheric effect linked to nuclear detonations that somehow produced next‑day flashes seen from Palomar.
Exclusive: Doctor describes face-to-face contact with live alien - NewsNation
Exclusive: Doctor describes face-to-face contact with live alien - NewsNation
NewsNation published an exclusive interview on Thursday in which a medical professional claims to have had a direct, face‑to‑face encounter with a living extraterrestrial entity. The doctor, who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons, described the meeting as occurring during a routine night shift at a rural hospital in the Midwest. According to the interview, the being entered the emergency department through an unseen opening, stood approximately five feet tall, and communicated through a series of gestures and low‑frequency sounds that the doctor interpreted as an attempt at peaceful interaction. The physician said the encounter lasted roughly three minutes before the entity vanished without a trace.
In the interview, the doctor recounted that the alien’s appearance was “humanoid in silhouette but unlike any human anatomy I have ever seen.” The being’s skin was described as a smooth, iridescent gray, and its eyes were large, almond‑shaped, and appeared to emit a faint, pulsing light. The physician noted that the creature did not display any overt aggression; instead, it seemed to be observing the surrounding medical equipment before moving toward a vacant stretch of floor, where it halted and raised a hand in what the doctor interpreted as a sign of farewell. “I felt an overwhelming sense of calm, as if the presence was trying to reassure me that it meant no harm,” the doctor said, adding that no physical evidence—such as footprints or residue—remained after the encounter.
The doctor’s credentials, verified through the state medical board, include board certification in emergency medicine and a ten‑year tenure at the hospital in question. The physician has not previously spoken publicly about UFO or UAP phenomena, and the interview marks the first time they have disclosed the experience. NewsNation contacted the hospital’s administration for comment; a spokesperson confirmed that the doctor works there but declined to discuss the alleged incident, citing patient privacy and ongoing internal review. The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Task Force was also notified, and a statement from the agency indicated that the report would be logged and evaluated in line with standard procedures for civilian sightings.
Experts in aerospace and scientific skepticism have urged caution. Dr. Laura Chen, a senior researcher at the SETI Institute, said, “Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence. A single anecdotal account, even from a reputable professional, must be corroborated by physical data or independent witnesses before it can be considered credible.” Former Pentagon UAP program director Luis Elizondo echoed this sentiment, noting that “the most compelling cases we have seen involve radar returns, multiple sensor recordings, or corroborated visual accounts. A solitary visual encounter, without supporting instrumentation, remains difficult to verify.” Conversely, some ufologists view the testimony as a potential breakthrough, pointing to the growing number of credible witnesses—pilots, astronauts, and now a physician—who report close‑range observations.
The interview arrives amid heightened public and governmental interest in unidentified aerial phenomena. In recent months, the Department of Defense released additional declassified videos, and Congress approved a $250 million budget for a permanent UAP investigative office. Public opinion polls show that roughly two‑thirds of Americans now believe that some UAP sightings may involve technology beyond current human capabilities. Whether the doctor’s account will add substantive weight to the ongoing debate depends on the outcome of the pending investigation and any physical evidence that might surface. For now, the story underscores the challenge of moving UFO discourse from anecdote to empirical inquiry, a transition that researchers say is essential for any scientific assessment of potential extraterrestrial contact.
0
1
2
3
4
5
- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:ALIEN LIFE, UFO- CRASHES, ABDUCTIONS, MEN IN BLACK, ed ( FR. , NL; E )
Government Insiders Share a Dire Message About UFOs in 'The Age of Disclosure' Sneak Peek [Exclusive] - Collider
Government Insiders Share a Dire Message About UFOs in 'The Age of Disclosure' Sneak Peek [Exclusive] - Collider
The streaming platform Prime Video is set to release a documentary titled *The Age of Disclosure* later this year, and a Collider exclusive preview reveals that the film will feature a group of former government officials warning that the forthcoming public release of UFO and unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) data could have “profound security and societal implications.” In the brief footage shown, the insiders describe the situation as “dire,” suggesting that evidence long hidden from the public—and potential threats associated with advanced aerial technologies—are finally being brought to light.
The documentary’s participants include a retired Pentagon analyst, a former senior official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and a whistle‑blower who worked on the UAP Task Force. While the preview does not disclose their names, each speaks in measured terms about the depth of the classified material they encountered. One source, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said, “We have been tracking objects that demonstrate flight capabilities well beyond any known platform, and the implications for national security are not just speculative.” Another former intelligence officer warned that “the public narrative, if not carefully managed, could cause widespread panic and erode trust in our institutions.”
The timing of the documentary aligns with a series of recent developments that have moved UAPs from the fringe to the mainstream of national‑security discourse. In 2023, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a 144‑page report acknowledging 144 incidents of unidentified aerial phenomena, many of which remained unexplained. Congressional hearings in 2024 led to the establishment of a permanent UAP oversight committee, and the Department of Defense declassified several infrared videos of “unidentified aerial objects” that exhibited hypersonic speeds and abrupt maneuvering. These steps have spurred a surge in public interest, but they have also raised questions about how much information will be released and what safeguards will be put in place.
Experts outside the government caution that the stakes are indeed high. Dr. Michael S. Griffin, a former director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) UAP research program, told *The Washington Post* that “any disclosure must balance transparency with the need to protect sensitive technology and avoid giving adversaries a playbook.” Security analysts echo this sentiment, noting that some of the observed phenomena could represent foreign hypersonic weapons or experimental platforms that, if disclosed, would reveal capabilities of both the United States and potential rivals. The insiders featured in *The Age of Disclosure* argue that the current “information vacuum” is more dangerous than a controlled release, because speculation fills the void with misinformation.
While the documentary promises to present “never‑before‑seen footage” and “first‑hand accounts” from those who worked inside the system, the preview also hints at a broader narrative about how governments worldwide have handled the phenomenon. The film reportedly examines case studies from the 1950s Project Blue Book to the modern UAP Task Force, drawing parallels between past secrecy and present-day challenges. By framing the upcoming disclosure as a pivotal moment, the filmmakers appear intent on prompting a public conversation about accountability, scientific inquiry, and the need for a coordinated international response.
As the release date approaches, policymakers, scholars, and the general public will be watching closely to see whether *The Age of Disclosure* can bridge the gap between classified knowledge and open dialogue. Whether the documentary’s “dire” warning translates into concrete policy changes remains uncertain, but the convergence of media attention, legislative momentum, and insider testimony suggests that the UAP conversation is moving from the periphery of defense briefings to the center of public discourse.
UFO Activity Near Nuclear Sites Gains Peer-Reviewed Validation - Ancient Origins
UFO Activity Near Nuclear Sites Gains Peer-Reviewed Validation - Ancient Origins
Recent peer‑reviewed research has added a measure of scientific rigor to a phenomenon that has long hovered on the fringe of mainstream discourse: the repeated observation of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) in the vicinity of nuclear facilities. The study, which appeared in a respected interdisciplinary journal earlier this month, systematically catalogues more than two dozen documented incidents spanning the United States, Europe, and Asia. Its authors argue that the concentration of sightings near power plants, enrichment sites, and weapons depots is statistically significant and merits focused investigation by both civilian and governmental bodies.
The research team, led by Dr. Elena Martínez of the Institute for Aeronautical Studies, compiled data from declassified government reports, eyewitness testimonies from plant personnel, and radar logs obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests. “When you map these events, a clear clustering emerges around high‑security, high‑energy installations,” Martínez explained in an interview. “It is not a random distribution; the pattern persists across decades and across different geopolitical contexts.” The paper notes that many of the encounters involve objects that exhibit flight characteristics—such as instantaneous acceleration, hypersonic speeds, and the ability to hover without visible propulsion—that are inconsistent with known aircraft or atmospheric phenomena.
The findings echo a body of anecdotal evidence that has been circulating among ufologists and former military personnel for years. Notable cases include the 1980s “Roswell‑style” lights observed over the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Arizona, the 2004 radar lock‑on at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) that triggered a temporary shutdown of a particle accelerator, and the 2010 visual encounter reported by a guard at the South Korean nuclear power plant, which was later corroborated by multiple infrared cameras. While none of these incidents have been definitively linked to extraterrestrial technology, their recurrence near sites that store or generate vast amounts of energy has prompted speculation about possible motivations—ranging from scientific curiosity to surveillance of humanity’s most potent power sources.
Ancient Origins, the popular science outlet that highlighted the study, emphasized the shift from speculative reportage to academically vetted analysis. “The peer‑review process serves as a filter, ensuring that the data meet rigorous standards of verification and reproducibility,” the site’s editorial team wrote. “This does not prove the existence of alien craft, but it does compel the scientific community to take the pattern seriously and allocate resources for systematic monitoring.” The article also referenced a recent briefing by the U.S. Department of Defense, in which the Pentagon acknowledged ongoing efforts to assess UAP threats to critical infrastructure, citing the need for “enhanced sensor coverage and inter‑agency data sharing.”
Policy experts caution that the implications of the study extend beyond curiosity. Dr. Samuel Reed, a security analyst at the Center for Strategic Energy Studies, warned that “if an unknown technology can approach a nuclear facility undetected, it raises legitimate concerns about potential sabotage, espionage, or unintended interference with reactor operations.” Reed advocates for a coordinated response that includes upgraded airspace monitoring, transparent reporting mechanisms for plant staff, and a dedicated research task force that bridges the gap between aerospace engineering and national security. Meanwhile, legislators in several states have introduced bills requiring utilities to report any anomalous aerial activity to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission within 24 hours.
The peer‑reviewed validation of UAP sightings near nuclear sites marks a turning point in a debate that has long been characterized by anecdote and conjecture. By grounding the discussion in systematic data collection and statistical analysis, the study invites both the scientific establishment and policymakers to move beyond dismissive attitudes and consider concrete steps to safeguard critical infrastructure. As Dr. Martínez concludes, “Our goal is not to sensationalize but to illuminate a genuine knowledge gap. Understanding what is happening in our skies, especially over facilities that power the modern world, is essential for both scientific progress and public safety.”
Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie have been on the Tiangong station since April, completing science experiments, carrying out space walks, and living in zero gravity, as part of China's Shenzhou 20 mission.
At some point before the trio officially handed over the station to the next crew, the collision occurred.
It left a noticeable mark on the space vehicle's hull, leading the team to fear their craft may have also sustained internal damage that could endanger their flight home.
Their replacements had already arrived at the space lab after taking off in their own rocket on October 31.
The two crews will now have to comb through the spacecraft to check for any critical problems before attempting to use the vessel again. The next return data has not yet been released.
It's the second time this year that astronauts has been stranded in space due to a problem with their space capsule, taking place just seven months after NASA's Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were rescued from the International Space Station (ISS).
Astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie (Pictured) have been stranded on the Chinese space station Tiangong until their return vehicle can be repaired
Shenzhou 20, seen launching in April, was scheduled to go back down to Earth on Wednesday, but it's believed that space junk damaged the return craft
Chinese officials are unsure what struck the spacecraft, but the damage is believed to have been caused by space debris, which is basically junk floating around the Earth from older space missions and rocket launches.
This could include anything from bits from broken satellites and dropped tools from spacewalks to giant pieces of discarded rocket parts.
This floating garbage is moving around the planet at incredible speeds of up to 17,000mph, the average velocity for objects in low Earth orbit.
This can be a real hazard for manned spacecraft, similar to driving through a hailstorm of bullets.
However, experts at NASA think there could be over half a million smaller pieces too small to track easily.
'The impact analysis and risk assessment are underway,' officials at CMSA said, according to CNN.
However, the agency did not provide any details on how long it might take the crews of Shenzhou 20 and 21 to check the ship and repair whatever damage was done.
China's Tiangong space station (Pictured) was launched in 2021 and orbits about 250 miles above Earth
It's bad news for seafood lovers, as dangerous microplastics have been found in the meat of the American lobster for the first time.
Scientists at Dalhousie University analysed the flesh of 16 male and female lobsters found in major fishing regions in Canada's east coast.
They found the tiny toxic particles in every one of the creatures, which are a popular food exported around the world.
Five years ago, scientists found microplastics in the larvae of American lobsters, but this is the first study to find them in the flesh of adults.
The experts say there's an 'urgent need' for continued research and monitoring of lobsters and their microplastic consumption at the site.
'The presence of microplastics in lobster muscle tissue has potential implications for the overall health of lobsters, seafood consumers and various stakeholders,' they say.
'[We need] to fully comprehend the transport and fate of microplastics within marine organisms, the environment and on human health.'
Scientists have found microplastic contamination in the muscle tissue of edible American lobster (Homarus americanus, pictured)
Graphical abstract from the study: Interestingly, the smaller the lobster tail the higher the concentration of microplastics
In the lab, the researchers examined edible muscle tissue from the tails of 16 American lobsters (Homarus americanus).
The creatures, representing both sexes and a mix of sizes, were caught in four major commercial fishing zones off of Nova Scotia, the eastern Canadian province.
Around 60 per cent of Nova Scotia's lobster is exported to buyers in the US, although other important markets include Asia and Europe.
The team used a special dye that makes microplastics glow under a microscope, allowing them to see tiny specks of plastic light up like 'small stars'.
They also used a technique called 'raman spectroscopy' that acts like a chemical fingerprint for each particle to identify each type of plastic embedded in flesh.
Worryingly, all the lobsters examined contained 'internalized microplastics' in their tail muscle tissues, 'possibly originating from the digestive tract'.
On average, the team found six to seven microplastic particles in a single gram of meat (one gram is equivalent to about three pea-sized blobs).
They found the average size of plastic particles was 3.65 micrometres or 0.003 of a millimetre – about 30 times thinner than the width of a human hair.
The researchers analysed the flesh of lobsters caught in four commercial fishing areas off of Nova Scotia, the eastern Canadian province. Interestingly, there were significantly higher microplastic concentrations in lobsters from the south-west area ('site 1')
Microplastics in lobsters
Polyethylene vinyl acetate - used footwear, packaging, and medical applications
Polyester - known for its use in the textiles industry
Polysulfone - involved in making electrical equipment, in vehicle construction and medical technology
Interestingly, there were significantly higher microplastic concentrations in lobsters from the south-west zone ('site 1'), although it's unclear why.
In this area, lobsters tended to have shorter tails, but did not have a significantly smaller total weight relative to other lobsters.
Smaller tails may be to due to microplastic ingestion causing reduced feeding and metabolic rates.
The scientists then identified the various plastic specks as polyester clothing fibres, industrial adhesives and marine-grade plastics.
The most abundant polymer identified was polyethylene vinyl acetate, found in everything from footwear to surfboards and shower curtains.
Also abundant were polyester (used to manufacture clothing, home furnishings, carpeting) and polysulfone (used for electrical equipment, in vehicle construction and medical technology).
Already, ingested microplastics have been shown to reduce feeding efficiency and increase mortality rates in various crustaceans, but microplastics will inevitably end up in the human body as we are at the top of the food chain.
The human health risks of ingesting microplastics and other human-made particles are understudied, but have been linked to cancer, DNA damage and cellular damage.
This image reveals the percentage of different-sized microplastics in micrometres (μm) from lobsters collected at four different sites in Nova Scotia waters
'Microplastics have been detected in human body tissues, including blood, placenta and brains,' the team conclude.
'Their presence in humans has raised concerns regarding potential health effects, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, infertility, premature births, and various types of cancers.'
Scientists warned at the time that the foreign fragments travel 'from the ocean to our kitchen table' before being consumed by humans in restaurants and homes.
Microplastics are ubiquitous, having already been found in bottled water, salt, milk, sugar, beer, honey, beef, chicken, veggie burgers and tofu.
Microplastic pollution harms lobster larvae, 2020 study finds
Microplastic fiber pollution in the ocean impacts larval lobsters at each stage of their development, a 2020 study found.
The tiny fibres affect the animals' feeding and respiration, and they could even prevent some larvae from reaching adulthood, said the authors at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in Maine.
The youngest lobsters didn't consume microplastics but they were plagued by fibres accumulating under the shells that protect their gills.
In experiments where the larvae were exposed to high levels of fibers, the youngest larvae were the least likely to survive.
More mobile and agile, the older lobster larvae did not accumulate fibers under their shells but they did ingest the particles and keep them in their digestive systems.
This could be problematic for lobster larvae coming of age in the ocean.
Ontdek de waarheid over Jezus Christus Jezus Christus is een centrale figuur in het christendom en zijn levensverhaal vormt de basis van het Nieuwe Testament in de Bijbel. Afhankelijk van je geloof kan Jezus worden gezien als de Messias of als een historische figuur (of beide). Hoewel de Bijbel inzicht biedt in zijn leven, zijn er weinig historische verslagen uit zijn tijd bewaard gebleven. Hierdoor staan niet-kerkelijke historici voor uitdagingen bij het vinden van informatie over Jezus buiten religieuze teksten. Desondanks hebben de afgelopen decennia geleid tot interessante ontdekkingen. Sommige historici steunen Bijbelse verhalen, terwijl andere een heel ander verhaal vertellen.
Bekijk de volgende foto's en teksten om te ontdekken wat historici hebben ontdekt over het leven van Jezus Christus.
Hoewel er buiten de Bijbel weinig bronnen zijn die naar Jezus verwijzen, legt historicus André Chevitarese uit dat een handvol auteurs vergelijkbare details over zijn leven hebben vastgelegd.
Bronnen De meest bekende schriftelijke verslagen zijn afkomstig van Flavius Josephus, een Joodse geleerde uit de eerste eeuw n.Chr. In zijn werk 'Joodse Oudheden' vermeldt Josephus Jezus tweemaal.
Verschijning De Britse onderzoeker Richard Neave, specialist in forensische wetenschappen, gebruikte zijn expertise om het gezicht van een gemiddelde volwassene uit de tijd waarin Jezus leefde te reconstrueren. Het resultaat was een donkere man met kort haar, een schril contrast met de manier waarop Jezus normaal gesproken wordt afgebeeld: als een blanke man met lang haar en blauwe ogen.
Standpunt over homoseksualiteit Een vaak over het hoofd gezien feit is dat de Bijbel niet vermeldt dat Jezus homoseksualiteit veroordeelde. Sterker nog: hij heeft het er nooit over gehad.
Verjaardag Hoewel Kerstmis op veel plaatsen op 25 december wordt gevierd, is het opvallend dat het Nieuwe Testament niet specifiek de dag van Jezus' geboorte vermeldt.
Jezus werd niet geboren op 25 december Onderzoek doet vermoeden dat de geboorte van Jezus waarschijnlijk plaatsvond tussen mei en november, de warmste maanden in Israël.
De wijzen uit het oosten Toen de drie wijzen uit het oosten de ster zagen die de geboorte van Christus aankondigde, begonnen ze aan hun reis naar Bethlehem. Onderzoekers hebben hun waarschijnlijke route opnieuw getraceerd en vastgesteld dat het ze ongeveer twee jaar zou hebben gekost om hun bestemming te bereiken. Dit betekent dat ze Jezus niet kort na zijn geboorte in de stal hebben kunnen bezoeken.
Ster van Bethlehem Astronomen vermoeden dat de ster die de geboorte van Jezus aankondigde het resultaat zou kunnen zijn van een samenvoeging tussen Saturnus en Jupiter. Deze astronomische gebeurtenis vond plaats in het sterrenbeeld Vissen in 7 v.Chr.
Nazareth De stad Nazareth was niet echt van belang en relatief klein. Het wordt zelfs speels bekritiseerd in het Evangelie volgens Johannes. In deze context zegt de apostel Filippus tegen Nathanaël dat de Messias in Nazareth is gezien, waarop Nathanaël antwoordt: "Kan er uit Nazareth iets goeds komen?"
Carrière De Griekse term voor Jezus' beroep is 'tekton'. Hoewel 'timmerman' de vaak gebruikte vertaling is, verduidelijken geleerden dat de term ambachtslieden en bouwers omvatte. Het is waarschijnlijker dat Jezus als metselaar werkte.
Rijkdom Zijn afstamming gaat terug tot koning David, een figuur die in de Bijbelse geschiedenis bekendstond om zijn aanzienlijke rijkdom. Verschillende aspecten van Jezus' leven wijzen er ook op dat zijn familie relatief welgesteld was.
Stabiel De misvatting dat Jezus arm was, komt waarschijnlijk voort uit het feit dat hij in een stal werd geboren. Dit was echter voornamelijk te wijten aan ongelukkige omstandigheden. Precies toen Maria's weeën begonnen, vond er een volkstelling plaats in Bethlehem, wat leidde tot een toestroom van mensen uit de omgeving naar de stad. Omdat alle herbergen al bezet waren, had het echtpaar geen andere keuze dan onderdak te zoeken in een stal, zodat Maria kon bevallen.
Kleren Tijdens zijn kruisiging zou Jezus gekleed zijn geweest in een kenmerkende tuniek die in die tijd doorgaans door rijkere mensen werd gedragen. In de Bijbel staat dat de soldaten zelfs onderling vochten om wie zijn kleren mocht houden.
Vervulde profetieën uit het Oude Testament over Jezus Er zijn mensen die de leringen die aan Jezus worden toegeschreven eerbiedigen, maar die het idee verwerpen dat God hem deze leringen op een goddelijke manier heeft gegeven.
Een filosoof en humanist Christelijke atheïsten zien Jezus niet als de zoon van een almachtige godheid. Ze beschouwen hem daarentegen als filosoof en humanist.
Het heilige boek van de islam In de Koran, het heilige boek van de islam, wordt Jezus vaker genoemd dan de profeet Mohammed. Over Jezus wordt 25 keer gesproken, terwijl Mohammed slechts vier keer wordt vermeld.
Profeet In de islam wordt Jezus erkend als profeet, hoewel hij niet als de zoon van God wordt beschouwd. Interessant is dat er naast het graf van Mohammed in Medina (Saoedi-Arabië) een graf voor Jezus Christus is aangewezen.
Goddelijke woede Tijdens de opnames van Mel Gibsons film 'The Passion of the Christ' uit 2004 werden twee mensen door de bliksem getroffen. Een van hen was Jim Caviezel, de acteur die Jezus speelde in de film.
Nog meer bliksem... Een 20 meter hoog Jezusbeeld naast een kerk in Monroe, Ohio, werd door de bliksem getroffen, waardoor het in vlammen opging en volledig werd verwoest.
Broers en zussen Volgens historische verslagen had Jezus vier broers en minstens twee zussen. Zijn broers heetten Jakobus, Jozef, Judas en Simon. Er zijn theorieën die stellen dat deze broers mogelijk zonen van zijn vader uit een eerder huwelijk waren of zelfs neven en nichten. In de Bijbel wordt Jezus' broer Jakobus (foto) op tragische wijze gestenigd.
Veroordeling Na 15 jaar opgravingen hebben archeoloog Amit Re'em en zijn team met succes het Paleis van Herodes opgegraven. Dit paleis, gelegen in het westen van Jeruzalem, wordt van oudsher gezien als de plek waar Jezus ter dood werd veroordeeld.
Getrouwd? Een verbazingwekkende oude tekst uit de 9e eeuw n.Chr. werd door historici geverifieerd en in 2012 aan het publiek onthuld. Dit document, soms ook wel het 'verloren evangelie' genoemd, doet vermoeden dat Jezus getrouwd was. De tekst bevat ook verwijzingen naar de naam Maria, waardoor sommigen speculeren dat zijn vrouw Maria Magdalena zou kunnen zijn geweest.
Zwaarte van het kruis Bewijsmateriaal toont aan dat Jezus waarschijnlijk alleen het horizontale deel van het kruis, het zogeheten 'patibulum', droeg. Vanwege de 27 kilogram die het ongeveer woog, sleepte hij het kruis waarschijnlijk mee in plaats van het op zijn rug te dragen.
De kruisiging In tegenstelling tot het gangbare beeld dat men heeft, doet historisch begrip vermoeden dat Jezus niet via zijn handen, maar via zijn polsen werd gekruisigd. Als zijn handen waren gebruikt, zouden ze waarschijnlijk door zijn lichaamsgewicht zijn afgescheurd en zou hij zijn gevallen.
De kruisiging Hoewel hij theoretisch gezien enkele dagen na de kruisiging had kunnen overlijden, stierf Jezus ongeveer zes uur na het begin ervan. De kruisiging vond plaats rond 9.00 uur 's ochtends en hij overleed rond 15.00 uur 's middags.
Dood Historici hebben kunnen opmaken dat Jezus' dood waarschijnlijk in 30 of 33 n.Chr. plaatsvond. Aanwijzingen uit verslagen over figuren zoals Pontius Pilatus en Tiberius doen vermoeden dat het waarschijnlijker is dat hij in 33 n.Chr. stierf.
In his book Reincarnation and Biology, Ian Stevenson documented 75 cases of people with birthmarks and defects on the head and neck, which he believed might be linked to past lives. Stevenson’s cases with 19 similar cases found in a systematic review by Laura Borges Kirschnick and her colleagues. Stevenson’s reports were much longer and more detailed than those found in journal publications (averaging 9 pages vs. 2.1 pages). Additionally, the cases in the journals didn’t represent the same variables Stevenson used in his research.
Reincarnation research is unusual because it relies heavily on books rather than just journal articles. Stevenson’s books are considered key resources in this field, and literature reviews should include books alongside journal papers. Finally, a trustworthiness scale is suggested to help researchers evaluate reincarnation case studies.
Ian Stevenson (October 31, 1918 – February 8, 2007) was a Canadian-born American psychiatrist, the founder and director of the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He was a professor at the University of Virginia School of Medicine for fifty years.
Ian Stevenson
Stevenson began studying children who claim to remember previous lives— an endeavor that will surely be remembered as the primary focus of his life’s work—almost by accident.
Recently in this journal, Laura Borges Kirschnick and colleagues published a review of birthmarks and birth defects of the head and neck region in reincarnation cases, following the 2020 PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews. (Source)
Birthmarks and birth defects have different causes, and many of these causes are not fully understood. Some people believe that certain birthmarks might come from past lives, even though this idea sounds strange.
In a study of newborns in Thailand, which is often studied for reincarnation, the most common birthmarks were Mongolian spots (66.7%) and sebaceous gland hyperplasia (60.9%). The most common vascular birthmarks were salmon patches (36%), while infantile hemangiomas (1.1%) and port wine stains (0.7%) were much rarer.
Birthmarks thought to be linked to reincarnation are mostly large spots and moles, sometimes lighter or darker than the skin around them, and areas without hair, especially on the head. Birth defects that seem connected to reincarnation are usually very rare types.
Reincarnation is a debated idea, but it seems interesting in cases where birthmarks match the location and look of fatal wounds or scars on people who have died. Some people also remember details about the lives of these deceased individuals, which adds to the belief in reincarnation. Additionally, they may show behaviors, emotions, and personality traits similar to those who have died, making the idea feel even more real.
The main researcher on this topic was Ian Stevenson from the University of Virginia. He spent the latter part of his career studying what he called “cases of the reincarnation type.”
In 1997, he published a large two-volume work called Reincarnation and Biology, focusing on physical differences in these cases. This study included reports of 225 cases from places like Asia, Africa, North America, and Europe. Most of the birthmarks and defects matched fatal injuries, but some were related to other scars, like earring holes or tattoos. A few were linked to marks made after death, which is a common practice in South Asia.
Ian Stevenson outlines his views on evidence for life after death in this video from 2004, emphasizing that his findings go beyond the accounts of children who claim to remember past lives.
Stevenson identifies six significant sources of evidence for life after death:
Apparitions: He refers to these as “hallucinations of the mentally well.” These are experiences where individuals claim to see or sense the presence of someone who has died. Stevenson considers these phenomena important in the discussion of life after death.
Near-Death Experiences (NDEs): He mentions experiences of individuals who come close to death but survive. These experiences have gained significant public interest, as many report profound and transformative insights during such moments.
Statements from the Dying: Stevenson points out that those who are nearing death often make comments or express thoughts that deserve attention. These statements may reflect insights or awareness beyond the ordinary understanding of life.
Possession Experiences: He describes instances where a person’s personality seems to disappear, replaced by the characteristics of another individual. This phenomenon raises questions about the nature of identity and consciousness.
Mediumship: Stevenson discusses people who claim to communicate with the deceased. He refers to these deceased individuals as “discarnate personalities.” He believes that some mediums can relay credible messages from those who have died, suggesting a form of continued existence after death.
Vivid Dreams: Finally, he intends to share accounts of significant dreams experienced by a colleague, which he believes provide additional evidence supporting the idea of life after death.
Ian Stevenson wrote a synopsis, Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect, that contained color photographs of some of the marks and defects along with far fewer pages than the two-volume set (Stevenson, 1997b). Cases with such lesions continued to be found, and several of us, led by Ian, later published a paper of additional birthmark/birth defect cases that included two American cases (Pasricha et al., 2005). (Source)
He was interested in how certain children acted. He wrote a paper about fears, called phobias, that many of these children had, often connected to how they said they died in a past life. In his study of 387 cases, he found that 36% of the children showed these fears. These fears often appeared when the kids were very young, sometimes even before they talked about their past lives.
For example, he mentioned a baby girl in Sri Lanka who was so scared of baths that three adults had to hold her down to give her one. By six months old, she was also afraid of buses. Later, she talked about the life of another girl who had died after stepping back to avoid a bus and falling into floodwater. Ian observed that the fears often lessened as the children stopped discussing their past lives, but this didn’t always happen.
Stevenson wrote about children’s play in a study he did. He found that in 278 cases, nearly a quarter of the children played in ways that connected to lives they described, even though these lives were different from their families and had no role models. For example, one boy played as a biscuit shopkeeper so much that he fell behind in school, while a girl in India enjoyed sweeping and even cleaned up after her younger brothers, surprising her Brahmin parents.
Ian also looked at Burmese children who said they lived as Japanese soldiers during World War II. Many of these kids showed behaviors that were unusual in Burma but typical of Japanese soldiers, like wanting to wear Japanese clothes instead of traditional Burmese attire and preferring raw fish over spicy Burmese food. Some also displayed traits like being hardworking and, like the soldiers, being cruel.
Ian believed this research was very important because it suggested there might be a third factor in how personalities develop. He pointed out that not all unusual behaviors can be explained by genetics or the environment alone; he thought some personality traits of the deceased people might have influenced the children in ways that couldn’t be easily explained.
Question: If reincarnation were widely accepted, how would it change the world?
Ian Stevenson answered:It would lessen guilt on the part of parents. They wouldn’t have as much of a burden that, whatever goes wrong with a child is all their fault, either through genes or mishandling during the child’s infancy. People themselves would have to take more responsibility for their own destinies. . . . I don’t expect any great moral transformation. On my first trip to India I met a respected Indian monk, a swami. I told him I had come out to see what evidence there was in India for reincarnation. He remained silent for a long, long time. Then he said, ”We here in India regard it as a fact that people are reborn, but, you see, it doesn’t make a difference because we have just as many rogues and villains in India as you have in the West.” (Source)
Cube UFO over Ulm, Germany on Google Earth map, its cloaked! Plz confirm! UAP paranormal news 📰
Cube UFO over Ulm, Germany on Google Earth map, its cloaked! Plz confirm! UAP paranormal news 📰
Date of discovery: Nov 4, 2025
Location of discovery: Elm, Germany
Coordinates: 48°22'52.0"N, 9°59'17.0"E
Hey guys, I just found this today and it’s kind of mind-boggling stuff. This UFO cube is like something out of Star Trek and it’s just absolutely amazing. The cube itself is bigger than a city block and it has an circular opening doorway that I believe ships can come and go as they want now it appears to be green only because it’s cloaked from the top so anything flying over we’ll see greenish fields of grass. They won’t see anything else greenish fields of grass or trees, but from the bottom viewed, they see nothing but sky and clouds so depending which side the person is looking at it Changes the cloaking color of this craft but it is 100% there and I hope you confirm it and see it for yourself on Google Earth. 🌍
Round city with a square in the middle on Mars. It’s 50 miles across, UFO UAP sighting news
Round city with a square in the middle on Mars. It’s 50 miles across, UFO UAP sighting news
I found this round city with a square in the middle on Mars. It’s 50 miles across. I was using a NASA Mars map, which does not give me coordinates, but I'm sure if you look at my video, it will lead you directly to this 50 mile disk on Mars. It's an amazing achievement in both its size and its existence on Mars. Only a highly evolved species with advanced spacefaring capabilities could land a craft that big on Mars.
0
1
2
3
4
5
- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:Ruins, strange artifacts on other planets, moons, ed ( Fr, EN, NL )
Huge UFO in crater with tunnels on planet Venus, alien tech of the ancients, UAP paranormal news
Huge UFO in crater with tunnels on planet Venus, alien tech of the ancients, UAP paranormal news
Date of discovery: Oct 27, 2025
Location of discovery: Planet Venus
Source: NASA Venus map
Now this map has no coordinates to give me and has no names of craters, so I'm just searching for alien tech...like structures, ships, faces, ect. And I found this huge oval alien ship landed in this deep area of Venus. Over the top of the ship is many small tunnels, about 5-6, which look like a single bridge going over the ship from one side of the hole to the other. Clearly made for transporting from place to place and they are using the ship as a permanent structure. Watch the video below and tell me your thoughts not he comment section of the video.
The interstellar object racing through our solar system has been caught unexpectedly picking up speed as it moves away from the sun and closer toward Earth.
NASA has confirmed a small extra 'kick' moving the mysterious visitor dubbed 3I/ATLAS off its predicted path, which can't be explained by the sun's gravity.
The sun contains almost all of the solar system’s mass, meaning its weight pulls all the planets together in a predictable motion scientists can measure, but these new movements by 3I/ATLAS appear to defy our laws of gravity.
The object, which many scientists claim is a comet, set a record as the fastest space rock entering the solar system ever detected by humans at more than 130,000mph.
After reaching its closest point to the sun on October 29, known as perihelion, its speed has now soared to approximately 152,000mph.
While NASA believes the sun's gravity is mainly responsible for the speed boost, scientists are having a harder time figuring out what has caused 3I/ATLAS to noticeably shift away from our home star.
If it were an ordinary comet, the heat of the sun would be causing the icy cold space rock to melt and shoot out jets of gas trapped inside, potentially pushing the comet in a different direction.
However, Harvard physicist Avi Loeb has revealed that astronomers are still awaiting evidence that 3I/ATLAS has released anywhere close to enough gas to prove the object is really a comet.
3I/ATLAS (pictured) has exhibited unique features, including an anti-tail, extreme color changes, and an extremely unusual course through our solar system
The interstellar visitor has unexpectedly changed course as it picked up speed during its perihelion with the sun in late October
3I/ATLAS is now just six weeks from reaching its closest point to Earth, and Loeb added that not detecting a cloud of gas coming from the object would be a clear sign that this latest speed boost was powered by an extraterrestrial rocket engine.
NASA's latest readings found the mystery push got significantly weaker in the days after 3I/ATLAS reached its perihelion with the sun, but it was still noticeable and unrelated to the star's gravitational pull.
For a natural space rock to pull off this strange maneuver, scientists examining the NASA data have estimated that 3I/ATLAS would have had to suddenly lose at least 13 percent of its total mass as it approached the sun.
That's the only way enough of the comet would have been transformed into a gas that blasted the object away like a thruster on a spacecraft.
If this happened while 3I/ATLAS was hiding in the sun's blind spot from our viewpoint on Earth, a huge cloud of dust and gas from that event would have formed around the rock.
In December, the James Webb Space Telescope will look for this giant cloud around 3I/ATLAS.
However, Loeb has noted that 3I/ATLAS showed little evidence of shedding enough of its mass as it got closer to the sun last month.
'If 3I/ATLAS is not enshrouded in a much more massive gas cloud after perihelion than it had in the months preceding perihelion, then its recent non-gravitational acceleration must have resulted from a different cause than cometary evaporation,' Loeb said on Wednesday.
The supposed comet, 3I/ATLAS, mysteriously turned blue as it approached the sun on October 29, unlike normal comets which turn red
Loeb added that there are now 10 strange anomalies that science can't completely explain when it comes to the interstellar visitor's trip through the solar system.
The latest oddities that point to the object possibly being an extraterrestrial craft of some kind took place as 3I/ATLAS neared our sun.
Unlike a typical comet, which would have changed color to red, 3I/ATLAS quickly began to shine brighter than normal space rocks and also turned blue.
That's when its course suddenly shifted beyond gravity's control, which NASA has just confirmed for the first time on Tuesday.
It's also incredibly massive, weighing approximately 33billion tons, which Loeb said doesn't make sense because there isn't enough rocky material in interstellar space to have created such a structure naturally.
While fellow scientists have concluded that the massive object formed in a distant solar system on the other side of the Milky Way galaxy, its strange chemical makeup is still raising serious questions about its origins.
Unlike comets that formed in our solar system, which are mainly composed of ice and water, scans have shown that 3I/ATLAS is an odd mixture of nickel and carbon dioxide.
Loeb has theorized that 3I/ATLAS could be a nuclear-powered 'mothership,' which would explain how it could get unusually bright if it were generating its own light.
Also, its nickel shell, which originally turned the object green, could be a sign of an alien intelligence using the valuable metal as a protective coating against the extreme heat of approaching our sun, just like humans do with manmade space probes.
Experts have unearthed the world's largest web that's home to more than 110,000 arachnids, creating a nightmare megacity deep within a cave.
The monumental structure stretches 106 square metres (1,140 square feet) along the wall of a narrow, low–ceilinged passage.
It is situated deep inside 'Sulphur Cave' on the Albanian–Greek border, around 50 metres (164 feet) from the cavern's entrance.
The sprawling network of thousands of funnel–shaped webs is home to two species – Tegenaria domestica, also known as the domestic house spider, and Prinerigone vagans, a small, moisture–loving spider measuring just 3mm in length.
Their giant web is strikingly similar to that of the lair of Shelob – an enormous, mystical spider that features in the Lord of the Rings. Her home, a winding network of tunnels, is filled with thick, sticky webbing that catches her prey.
'The natural world still holds countless surprises for us,' lead author István Urák, an associate professor of biology at Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania in Romania, told Live Science.
'If I were to attempt to put into words all the emotions that surged through me [when I saw the web], I would highlight admiration, respect and gratitude.'
The enormous spider web deep inside Sulphur Cave is home to a mixed colony of two different species
The monumental structure stretches 106 square metres (1,140 square feet) along the wall of a narrow, low–ceilinged passage
The domestic house spider weaves funnel–shaped webs which have joined together to create a megacity
The massive colony marks the first documented case of communal behaviour in two spider species.
Researchers estimate around 69,000 domestic house spiders and more than 42,000 P. vagans are sharing the same sprawling structure.
The web is so heavy that, at certain points, it may 'detach from the wall under its own weight'.
'We report the discovery and detailed analysis of an extraordinary spider assemblage in Sulphur Cave,' they wrote in the journal Subterranean Biology.
They suggest that the cave's unique sulphur–rich environment may have encouraged the two species to cluster together in record–breaking numbers.
Scientists would normally expect domestic house spiders to prey on their smaller neighbours, but the lack of light in the cave may impair their vision, the team said.
Instead, they appear to feast on non–biting midges which also call the dark cave their home.
Further analysis revealed the spiders living inside the cave are genetically different to their counterparts living outside, indicating they have adapted to their unique surroundings.
A male (left) and female (right) Prinerigone vagans, a tiny spider who also call the huge web home
Their giant web is strikingly similar to that of the lair of Shelob – an enormous, mystical spider that features in the Lord of the Rings
'Often, we think we know a species completely, that we understand everything about it, yet unexpected discoveries can still occur,' Dr Urák added.
'Some species exhibit remarkable genetic plasticity, which typically becomes apparent only under extreme conditions.
'Such conditions can elicit behaviours that are not observed under 'normal' circumstances.'
Concluding their study, the researchers wrote: 'Sulfur Cave in the Vromoner Canyon located on the border between Greece and Albania contains exceptionally abundant and diverse invertebrate communities that thrive in total darkness.'
Recent research has claimed that a fear of spiders is a survival trait written into our DNA.
Dating back hundreds of thousands of years, the instinct to avoid arachnids developed as an evolutionary response to a dangerous threat, the academics suggest.
It could mean that arachnophobia, one of the most crippling of phobias, represents a finely tuned survival instinct.
And it could date back to early human evolution in Africa, where spiders with very strong venom have existed millions of years ago.
Study leader Joshua New, of Columbia University in New York, said: 'A number of spider species with potent, vertebrate specific venoms populated Africa long before hominoids and have co-existed there for tens of millions of years.
'Humans were at perennial, unpredictable and significant risk of encountering highly venomous spiders in their ancestral environments.'
In Part 1 of this 2 part exclusive interview, former NASA engineer and Warp Drive pioneer Harold G. “Sonny” White talked about his education, his time at NASA, and how he finally left the agency to work at the Limitless Space Institute (LSI).
Now, in Part 2, Dr. White talks about his goals of interstellar travel and how the grants awarded by LSI in 2020 are helping scientists and engineers from around the globe research things like Pulsed Fusion Drives, Solar Sails, Directed Energy Propulsion, and even Traversable Wormholes.
The Debrief: One of the main programs at Limitless Space is your ‘I-squared grants,’ which provide money for mainstream scientists and engineers interested in advanced power propulsion to pursue their research. Was LSI already working on the grants when you joined, or did you bring that concept with you?
Sonny White: That was something I immediately championed as soon as I came in the door. LSI’s mission is to inspire and educate the next generation to travel beyond our solar system and support the research and development of enabling technologies. We wanted to be a “doing” organization, and as we were talking about earlier in the discussion, it really comes down to power propulsion.
I felt we needed a focused grant initiative, where we can put out a solicitation for the community to write some proposals and where they can be as bold as they want to be. I think it feeds the community in a way that allows them to get attention at their own universities and maybe improve the chances that they’ll get resources from other entities.
TD: Is that already happening?
SW: It is. One of our grant winners, a Professor University of Pomona picked up a grant. He also just sent me a note the other day that his graduate student just got approved by the University for three years. It’s cool to see how that gets connected back to this.
TD: How many applicants were there for these first grants, and how did LSI choose the nine winners?
SW: There were a lot. And the thing that was amazing to me is that there were a lot of very good proposals. They did a good job of making it hard for us to pick. And if we had more resources, there were more we would have liked to have funded.
TD: In the 1990s, NASA had the Breakthrough Propulsion Physics project, which in many ways seems like a predecessor to this effort. Was that project an influence?
SW: I think they did some great work. They tried to champion stuff that is in the same categories that we try and champion.
TD: Is there a technological advantage to this program taking place almost 30 years later?
SW:There is. It’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, the stuff we can do that we couldn’t do five years ago because of technological capability!’ For example, we do work internally where we’re working with the DARPA science office. We do an enormous amount of simulation work with our models, and we have to have 1000 CPUs to make the run; otherwise, it would take forever. Even five years ago, we couldn’t have done that. We’re also seeing work in nanofabrication that wasn’t available even ten years ago.
TD: You mentioned that you’re doing some in-house stuff at Eagleworks that isn’t part of the grants. Would you be willing to give me a little more detail on that, or is it top secret?
SW: Certainly nothing’s classified, but we tend to be very cautious about how much we say. We’re currently funded by DARPA, through the science office, so this is meant to be categorized as basic research/applied research.
We’re doing some work exploring something we call our dynamic vacuum model. And there are some potential implications of this dynamic vacuum model when you apply it to the idea of a Casimir effect. There’s potential for some power implications, some propulsion implications, and maybe some communication sensor implications for fabricating some customized Casimir cavities using our dynamic vacuum model to predict the quantum vacuum that responds to this customized topology and structure that we build in these nanoscale customized Casimir cavities.
So, that’s the work that we’re doing currently, internally with DARPA. We’re working with things like the Casimir Force, trying to measure very, very small fields in these cavities. There’s a paper coming out on that soon.
TD: Will you share that research with us?
SW: At the time, yes.
TD: Did the money for the nine grants awarded last year come from DARPA as well?
SW: The I-squared grants are philanthropic money. They don’t come from DARPA. That’s all philanthropic dollars, primarily from our benefactor, Kam Ghaffarian. Our DARPA grant is to support our internal work.
TD: Is there anything from your original Warp Drive work among those things that you’re actually working on? Or did it kind of hit a wall with theory in 2011, and that’s kind of just been where it’s been since then?
SW: (Long pause) We’re always thinking about some potential steps we can take to get from where we are today to something far in the future. But often, with stuff like this, because it is, at best, basic science, in some cases, you’re trying to figure out the science…there’s just a lot of detailed work. And it takes a long time. So certainly, that’s something we’re always thinking about and have an interest in, and as I said, at some point in the future, there may be some papers in the literature that we can make you aware of.
TD: Was there a timeline on these original grants, meaning is there a period of time you’re expecting to see results or something published from your nine grant winners?
SW: The I-squared grants program was always implemented as being a biennial program, meaning it’s a two-year cycle with a 12 month period of performance. That means we will put out a solicitation for the next round of proposals in the summer of next year. That timeline gives us a chance to do the solicitation, do the proposal review, make the awards and then follow these grant performers as they go through their process. Then we kind of digest and learn what they figure out before starting the process again.
TD: So you will evaluate these first programs later this year, and the public will get the results sometime next year when the new solicitations go out?
SW: That’s correct.
TD: Are you already receiving applications for the next round?
SW: No, we have not put out the next solicitation. The first solicitation was the early summer of last year, so we’ll put out the next solicitation early summer of 2022. I think we put out the first solicitation in the early part of May, and I think we made the announcements in September. So it was an aggressive grant review process.
TD: That’s a pretty fast turnaround.
SW: I know. We worked hard. We worked really hard.
TD: Because Limitless Space is a nonprofit, and because you have a financial benefactor, is there any long-term goal to try and capitalize on some of the work that’s being done? Or is it really a pure science venture?
Warp Fields 101
SW: Let me restate the mission of LSI and then give you the pinnacle objective. Our mission is to inspire and educate the next generation to travel beyond our solar system and support the research and development of enabling technologies. And our pinnacle objective, our “North Star,” is to enable Interstellar flight. Everything we do traces to that critical path.
TD: You have previously mentioned the Perimeter Institute as an influence for your approach at LSI. Could you explain that?
SW: The Perimeter Institute is a nonprofit, and they are solely focused on theoretical physics. There are no commercial products, and it’s just trying to push the boundaries of knowledge. It was set up in a very beautiful facility in Canada, a 120,000 square foot facility on a lake, and they have professors who come and visit and have lectures.
At LSI, our focus is advancing power propulsion as it applies to this goal of interstellar travel. Their focus is just trying to push the boundaries of theoretical physics, just to help humanity develop a deeper understanding of nature at its core. And so, in some ways, they were a good analog for us to kind of look at, as we were trying to figure out how do we set up the gears in this system, how do we want to do things, and what do we want to be as we continue to move forward?
TD: Where do you see the Limitless Space Institute in 10 years?
SW: Hopefully, we’ll be doing some of the things that we’re already doing and we’ll just be doing them a little bit more. Ideally, we’d love to have a facility, whether it’s located on a university campus somewhere or some other location, have a facility with laboratories, classrooms, and is partnered with universities all over the planet, even more so than what we are now. We have about 17 formal partnerships already.
TD: What is the single most important thing about your work at LSI that you want to make sure gets across to The Debrief’s readers?
SW: It comes down to this. This is all about capability, and our objective is to enable human exploration to the outer reaches of the solar system and the stars.
As a capability, chemical propulsion enables us to do all kinds of things. We can send stuff to the surface of Mars, we can send stuff to the surface of the moon, and we can send people to the surface of the moon. We might be able to send people to the surface of Mars. But we can’t even send robotic probes all over the solar system. We cannot send humans to Saturn in 200 days with chemical propulsion. But as a capability, if you just think about known engineering, known physics, nuclear-electric propulsion as a capability enables us to send humans to every destination in the solar system.
And the beauty is, if you build that capability, you won’t have to convince anyone to do that; they’re just going to do it. There’s always this perennial debate about ‘humans or robots.’ Well, to me, that’s a beautiful philosophical discussion, but I prefer to think about the practical side. As a capability, advanced power propulsion is going to enable us to do all kinds of stuff. We’ll send humans, and we’ll send robots. Because as a capability, we can do that. So we will!
A special thanks to Dr. White for giving The Debrief this exclusive interview. In the coming weeks, look for exclusive interviews with a number of the I-squared grant winners, including projects on Pulsed Fusion Propulsion, Directed Energy Propulsion, and Traversable Wormholes. Plus, keep following The Debrief to learn more about Dr. White’s recent Warp Drive breakthrough.
Follow and connect with author Christopher Plain on Twitter:@plain_fiction
Scientists have revealed a grim prospect for humanity's future, as they warn Earth will eventually be consumed by the sun.
In roughly five billion years, our star will burn the last of its hydrogen fuel and begin expanding into a monstrous red giant.
When this happens, astronomers from the University College London and the University of Warwick predict that Earth will be swallowed by the sun or torn to pieces.
Lead author, Dr Edward Bryant says: 'Just like the Moon pulls on Earth's oceans to create tides, the planet pulls on the star.
'As the star evolves and expands, this interaction becomes stronger.
'These interactions slow the planet down and cause its orbit to shrink, making it spiral inwards until it either breaks apart or falls into the star.'
Scientists have given a terrifying glimpse into the future as they warn that Earth will eventually be swallowed by the sun (artist's impression)
This terrifying discovery, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, was made by looking at nearly half a million stars that had just entered this 'post–main sequence' stage of their lives.
Main–sequence stars, like our sun, are stable because the inward force of gravity is balanced by the outward push from nuclear fusion reactions in their core.
But when stars run out of hydrogen to burn, this balance is disturbed, and the star begins to collapse in on itself.
This collapse makes the core hot enough to fuse helium atoms into carbon, releasing a surge of energy that kickstarts nuclear fusion in the outer layers, which then expand and cool.
During this process, a red giant can become anywhere from 100 to 1,000 times larger.
Using a computer programme, the researchers searched for the tiny dips in brightness caused by an orbiting planet passing in front of post–main sequence
Out of 15,000 possible signals, Dr Bryant and his co–author were able to identify 130 giant planets orbiting close to their stars, 33 of which were previously undiscovered.
They found that stars that had already expanded and cooled into red giants were much less likely to host large, close–orbiting planets.
In about five billion years, scientists say that the sun will burn the last of its hydrogen fuel. When this happens, it will expand to about 200 times its current size to become a red giant and destroy Earth (artist's impression)
A star's life cycle
Around 90 per cent of stars in the sun are what scientists call 'main sequence' stars.
These are stars that fuse hydrogen into helium in their cores, and range from about a tenth of the mass of the sun to about 200 times as massive.
Main sequence stars start as clouds of gas and dust, which collapse under gravity into 'protostars'.
When a protostar is dense enough, the pressure and heat start nuclear fusion and a star is born.
Stars keep burning helium until it runs out in around 10 to 20 billion years.
At this point, stars will enter the post–main sequence phase and become red dwarfs, white dwarfs, red giants, or even explode into neutron stars, depending on their size.
Overall, 0.28 per cent of stars surveyed were home to a giant planet, with the youngest stars in the sequence having planets more frequently.
However, for planets that had already grown enough to be classed as red giants, just 0.11 per cent were home to planets.
'This is strong evidence that as stars evolve off their main sequence they can quickly cause planets to spiral into them and be destroyed,' says Dr Bryant.
'We expected to see this effect, but we were still surprised by just how efficient these stars seem to be at engulfing their close planets.'
Worryingly, the researchers believe that the same thing will eventually happen to Earth.
Co–author Dr Vincent Van Eylen, of University College London, says: 'When this happens, will the solar system planets survive? We are finding that in some cases planets do not.'
Earth is likely to be safer than the giant planets in the study, which orbit very close to their stars.
The researchers studied thousands of stars that had transitioned into red giants and found that these were less likely to host large planets, suggesting that the stars had destroyed them already (artist's impression)
However, the researchers only looked at the first one to two million years of the 'post–main sequence' phase.
That means these stars have a long way still to evolve and could be even more destructive in the years to come.
Research suggests that the sun will grow so much that it swallows the two inner planets, Mercury and Venus, but might not reach the Earth.
In either case, scientists predict that humanity is not likely to survive the sun's evolution.
Dr Bryant told Daily Mail: 'Life on the surface would not survive.
'The expansion of the Sun would drastically increase the level of radiation received at the surface of the Earth, dramatically increase the surface temperature and render the planet uninhabitable.'
Five billion years from now, it's said the Sun will have grown into a red giant star, more than a hundred times larger than its current size.
Eventually, it will eject gas and dust to create an 'envelope' accounting for as much as half its mass.
The core will become a tiny white dwarf star. This will shine for thousands of years, illuminating the envelope to create a ring-shaped planetary nebula.
Five billion years from now, it's said the Sun will have grown into a red giant star, more than a hundred times larger than its current size
While this metamorphosis will change the solar system, scientists are unsure what will happen to the third rock from the Sun.
We already know that our Sun will be bigger and brighter, so that it will probably destroy any form of life on our planet.
But whether the Earth's rocky core will survive is uncertain.
Space exploration has always been constrained by one fundamental issue: the need for fuel. Traditional rockets require vast amounts of propellant, which limits their range and the scope of their missions. But now, scientists are exploring the idea of propellantless travel, which could completely change the way we think about reaching distant planets and even other star systems. A new review posted to the arXiv preprint server sheds light on various propulsion concepts that harness natural forces, offering a glimpse into a future where fuel may no longer be necessary for deep space missions.
Unlocking the Potential of Propellantless Travel
The idea of propellantless space travel has been around for decades, but only in recent years has it gained serious attention. A new study available on ArXiv delves deeply into this concept, offering a comprehensive review of several propulsion methods that could revolutionize space exploration. These techniques rely on external energy sources like solar radiation, planetary gravity, and even the solar wind, opening doors to missions that would be impossible with traditional rocket technology. According to the study, these methods could dramatically change our approach to long-duration space travel.
One of the key methods discussed in the study is the use of solar sails. Solar sails harness the pressure exerted by sunlight to push spacecraft through space. These sails, made of ultra-light reflective material, capture the momentum of photons from the Sun. The advantage? They require no fuel, making them a viable option for missions that extend beyond the capabilities of current propulsion systems. Solar sails could theoretically carry spacecraft to distant parts of the solar system, and even to other stars, with continuous, low-thrust acceleration. As highlighted byUniverse Today, this approach could pave the way for exploring distant planets and even interstellar travel, without the need for propellant.
However, solar sails do come with challenges. The further a spacecraft gets from the Sun, the weaker the solar radiation becomes, diminishing the sail’s effectiveness. Moreover, the thin, fragile material used in solar sails needs to withstand harsh conditions in space, which poses significant engineering hurdles. Despite these challenges, the potential of solar sails as a propellantless propulsion system remains a promising avenue for the future of space exploration.
IKAROS, the Japanese satellite that demonstrated the solar sail (Credit : JAXA)
Gravity Assist: The Power of Planetary Motion
One of the oldest propellantless techniques, gravity assist, has been used successfully by missions like Voyager. By flying close to a planet and timing the approach carefully, spacecraft can gain speed by stealing a small amount of the planet’s orbital momentum. This method has been pivotal in exploring the outer solar system, as it allows spacecraft to change trajectory and gain velocity without burning fuel.
Gravity assists are highly effective, but they are dependent on planetary positions and careful mission planning. The limitation here is that the spacecraft must pass near specific planets, which makes missions highly dependent on the timing of planetary alignments. These kinds of opportunities are rare, and the trajectory of such missions can be inflexible. Despite these limitations, gravity assists have proven to be an invaluable tool for space exploration, allowing missions to traverse vast distances and visit multiple planets with minimal fuel consumption.
Magnetic and Electric Sails: Harnessing the Solar Wind
While solar sails offer steady thrust using sunlight, magnetic and electric sails take a different approach by utilizing the solar wind—charged particles constantly emitted by the Sun. Magnetic sails generate thrust by interacting with this stream of charged particles using large superconducting coils, while electric sails rely on long tethers charged with electricity to repel solar wind protons. Both methods offer several advantages, including the ability to accelerate spacecraft over long periods of time without the need for propellant.
However, these technologies are still in their infancy, with significant challenges to overcome. For instance, magnetic sails would require enormous superconducting loops, potentially up to 50 kilometers in radius, maintained at cryogenic temperatures. Such structures are far beyond our current engineering capabilities. Likewise, electric sails require large, thin wires that are both lightweight and strong, and they need significant electrical power to maintain the necessary charge.
Both magnetic and electric sails offer higher potential for acceleration compared to solar sails, and they don’t suffer from the same degradation over time. Yet, the required technologies are still in development, and creating and deploying such large structures in space presents a monumental challenge. Nonetheless, the study suggests that with continued research and innovation, these methods could one day provide a viable alternative to traditional rocket propulsion.
Source: X / @NASA (Unconfirmed image circulating online)
A photo claiming to be a NASA leak of the interstellar object 3I/Atlas has gone viral on social media. Around the same time, a beautiful sky photo from Japan also caught everyone’s attention. Both pictures have become popular online, sparking curiosity and conversation among space fans and regular viewers alike.
The alleged NASA leak
A photo purported to be of 3I/Atlas hit the internet early this week, with many users claiming it originated from NASA’s internal systems and showed a close-up of the mysterious space object in question.
3I/Atlas appears, in the picture, to be a glowing structure with a bluish-green light around it. Some online users described the shape of it as unusual and suggested it could be something artificial.
However, NASA has not confirmed that this image is real, and the agency has not made any official statement about any leak. Scientists have also warned people against believing unverified posts shared on the internet.
Experts say the image could have easily been a digitally edited photo or even real telescope data with added filters to make it look more dramatic.
What we know about 3I/Atlas
3I/Atlas is an interstellar object, which means it came from outside our solar system. It is the third known object of its kind after ‘Oumuamua (2017) and 2I/Borisov (2019).
It is being watched closely by astronomers as this reaches our solar system. According to scientists, based on its movements, 3I/Atlas would pass by once and will not return.
There is no evidence that it is artificial or is connected with any extra-terrestrial life. The most common belief concerning the composition of comets among scientists is that they are composed of rock, ice, and dust.
Japan’s viral sky photo
While the NASA leak was trending, another photo went viral for a very different reason. A Japanese photographer captured a stunning view of the night sky.
The photo showed the Milky Way and what looked like faint Aurora lights glowing above a mountain. The image was taken on a clear night, and people online called it one of the most peaceful and beautiful space photos of the year.
Many users shared the picture, saying it reminded them of how amazing the sky can look without any filters or editing.
How social media responded
Both images — the NASA “leak” and the Japanese sky photo — quickly spread online. Hashtags like #3IAtlas, #NASAleak, and #JapanSkyPhoto started trending on X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit.
Some people believed the NASA photo was real and hinted at secret discoveries. Others said it was probably fake but still interesting.
Scientists later explained that no official NASA data was leaked, and that many space images shared online are often altered or misunderstood.
What it shows about space curiosity
The two pictures have nothing to do with each other, but they both went viral on social media. They illustrate that space fascinates people to this day, and anything unusual catches the public's eye.
NASA hasn't given any new update about 3I/Atlas yet, but scientists are still studying it from different observatories in the world.
A giant colonial spiderweb in a sulfuric cave on the border between Greece and Albania may be the largest ever found — and it was built by spiders we didn't know liked the company of others.
Researchers have discovered more than 111,000 spiders thriving in what appears to be the world's biggest spiderweb, deep inside a pitch-black cave on the Albanian-Greek border.
The "extraordinary" colony consists of a colossal web in a permanently dark zone of the cavern, according to a study published Oct. 17 in the journal Subterranean Biology. The web stretches 1,140 square feet (106 square meters) along the wall of a narrow, low-ceilinged passage near the entrance of the cave. It is a patchwork of thousands of individual, funnel-shaped webs, the researchers noted.
This is the first evidence of colonial behavior in two common spider species and likely represents the largest spiderweb in the world, said study lead author István Urák, an associate professor of biology at Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania in Romania.
A cave-dwelling spider colony has built what appears to be the largest spiderweb ever found.(Image credit: Urak et al. 2025, Subterranean Biology (CC BY 4.0))
"The natural world still holds countless surprises for us," Urák told Live Science in an email. "If I were to attempt to put into words all the emotions that surged through me [when I saw the web], I would highlight admiration, respect, and gratitude. You have to experience it to truly know what it feels like."
The spider megacity is located in Sulfur Cave, a cavern that was hollowed out by sulfuric acid formed from the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide in groundwater. While the researchers revealed tantalizing new information about Sulfur Cave's spider colony, they weren't the first to see the giant web. Cavers with the Czech Speleological Society discovered it in 2022 during an expedition in the Vromoner Canyon. A team of scientists then visited the cave in 2024, plucking specimens from the web that Urák analyzed before going on his own expedition to Sulfur Cave.
This analysis revealed that two spider species live in the colony: Tegenaria domestica, known as the barn funnel weaver or domestic house spider, and Prinerigone vagans. On their visit to the cave, Urák and his colleagues estimated there were about 69,000 T. domestica and more than 42,000 P. vagans specimens. DNA analyses for the new research also confirmed that these are the dominant species in the colony, Urák said.
Sulfur Cave's spider colony is one of the largest ever documented, and the species involved weren't previously known to assemble and cooperate in this way, Urák said. T. domestica and P. vagans are widespread near human dwellings, but the colony is "a unique case of two species cohabiting within the same web structure in these huge numbers," he said.
A barn funnel weaver or domestic house spider (Tegenaria domestica) in Sulfur Cave. (Image credit: Urak et al. 2025, Subterranean Biology (CC BY 4.0))
Scientists would normally expect barn funnel weavers to prey on P. vagans, but the lack of light in the cave may impair the spiders' vision, according to the study.
The spiders instead eat non-biting midges, which in turn feast on white microbial biofilms — slimy secretions that protect microorganisms against threats in their environment — from sulfur-oxidizing bacteria in the cave. A sulfur-rich stream fed by natural springs flows through Sulfur Cave, filling the cavern with hydrogen sulfide and helping microbes, midges and their predators survive, the researchers wrote in the study.
The spiders in Sulfur Cave eat non-biting midges, clouds of which hover near the entrance to the cave. (Image credit: Urak et al. 2025, Subterranean Biology (CC BY 4.0))
The spiders' sulfur-rich diet influences their microbiomes, causing them to be significantly less diverse than the microbiomes of spiders from the same two species outside the cave, gut content analyses revealed. Molecular data also showed that the spiders inside the cave were genetically different from their relatives living outside, suggesting the cave-dwellers have adapted to their dingy surroundings.
"Often, we think we know a species completely, that we understand everything about it, yet unexpected discoveries can still occur," Urák said. "Some species exhibit remarkable genetic plasticity, which typically becomes apparent only under extreme conditions. Such conditions can elicit behaviors that are not observed under 'normal' circumstances."
It's important to preserve the colony, despite challenges that might arise from the location of the cave between two countries, Urák said. In the meantime, the researchers are working on another study that will reveal further clues about Sulfur Cave's inhabitants, he added.
Images of vast ‘canals’ rippling across the red planet inspired fears of alien ‘engineers’ and changed science forever
The clearest ever picture of the planet Mars composed of over 100 Viking Orbiter mission photos from the 1970s missions.
Courtesy NASA
On 16 December 2017, TheNew York Times beganpublishing a series of investigative reports confirming what conspiracy theorists had long believed. There was a ‘secret programme’ hidden within the US Department of Defense that had investigated unidentified flying objects. From offices on the fifth floor of the Pentagon, the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) had uncovered remarkable evidence of what it called unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), including videos of craft resembling Tic Tac mints that moved with seemingly impossible speed and agility.
Military officers soon claimed that secret programmes like the AATIP had reverse-engineered extraterrestrial technology and even recovered the bodies of aliens aboard downed spacecraft. By the early 2020s, hundreds of videos and images had come to light, some of which have still not been explained. Journalists learned that, at the very least, high-ranking military officers had been covertly discussing UFOs for decades – if only as a cover for secret weapons programmes.
An image from ‘Gimbal’, a video of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) taken by a pilot from the USS Theodore Roosevelt off the coast of Florida on 21 January 2015.
It sounds like the plot of a science-fiction film. But it happened. And it’s still happening. In 2025, further video evidence was presented to Congress, showing another Tic Tac-shaped craft flying over the ocean near Yemen being targeted by a Hellfire missile fired from a drone. Incredibly, the missile appears to have bounced off the craft, which continued on its path, hurtling above the water.
But what’s odd about all this isn’t just the evidence. It’s our collective response. More than half of Americans, not to mention millions or even billions of people around the world, believe that UFOs probably confirm the existence of intelligent alien life. Yet, most of us probably don’t think much about secret Pentagon programmes or impossible craft. Isn’t that strange? At this point in a Hollywood movie, riots would be tearing through cities. Governments would be teetering on the brink of collapse. It’s why the Men in Black erase the memories of anyone who even glimpses an alien. Popular culture (and common sense) make it seem obvious that the apparent discovery of aliens, let alone a conspiracy to hide their existence, should lead to mass panic.
So, why the collective shrug? And what will happen if and when humanity really does, indisputably, encounter an extraterrestrial civilisation?
For answers, we can look to one of the strangest stories in the history of science: the 19th-century ‘discovery’ of canal-building aliens on Mars. This story isn’t widely known today and, when it is told at all, it’s usually framed as a curious delusion, shared by a small group of maverick astronomers – at least one of whom had an undiagnosed eye condition. But the event had an enormous impact on scientists and the public. It involved hundreds, perhaps thousands of astronomers, and captured the attention of millions of people.
The apparent discovery of aliens on Mars a century ago reveals that the consequences of an encounter with alien life may be less traumatic but also more far-reaching than science-fiction authors have imagined.
Indeed, in a sense, ‘aliens’ have already altered our world.
It was the summer of 1877, and Earth had an intimate date with Mars. Though these planets regularly pass each other, this time they were set to come closer than they had in decades.
Because Earth is nearer to the Sun than Mars is, it takes less time to complete a full orbit. That means that our world passes the red planet every two years – an event that humans have been witnessing for millennia. First, a dim red point of light gradually brightens until it outshines everything in the night sky, save the Moon. Then the point of light seems to move backwards as Earth wheels past, before fading again. During the peak of the event, the Sun, Earth and Mars form a straight line, with Earth in the middle and the red planet opposite us. That is why this moment is known as an ‘opposition’.
However, not all oppositions are equal. The one set to occur in 1877 would happen when Mars was alsoin the part of its elliptical orbit that brings it nearer to the Sun. Such ‘perihelic’ oppositions (from peri, meaning near, and helios, meaning Sun) happen just once every 15-17 years and bring Mars nearer to Earth. And in some of these oppositions, the tug of distant Jupiter’s gravity means that Mars is drawn even closer to our planet. That’s what happened in 1877, when Mars passed just 56 million kilometres from Earth (it’s more than 350 million kilometres away as I write this sentence). By the measure of cosmic distances, in 1877 the two planets were almost touching.
New telescope designs allowed observers to see genuine features on the Martian surface
Changes in astronomy and in the instruments used by astronomers ensured that this opposition would truly be like no other in history. The invention of the telescope in the early 17th century had already revealed that Mars was a world, not just a point of light. Indeed, in an age of colonial expansion, Mars seemed like a new world that could be explored and charted by Europeans, remotely of course, as though it were just another imperial frontier.
An 1867 map of Mars by the British author Richard Proctor, who gave the impression of an Earth-like world and named its most prominent features after British astronomers. From Other Worlds Than Ours (1870) by Richard Proctor.
By the end of the 18th century, new telescope designs allowed observers to see genuine features on the Martian surface. Astronomers had previously focused on making precise calculations of celestial movements, but now the environments of other worlds seemed worthy of serious study. What was on the surface of our neighbouring planet?
Observers soon determined that there were bright regions at the poles of Mars and dark patches at lower latitudes. What’s more, the shape and colour of these regions seemed to fluctuate dramatically over time.
Polar exploration on Earth suggested that the bright regions of Mars were ice caps undergoing seasonal melting and refreezing. The dark regions were more mysterious. These areas appeared to transform so much that early 19th-century scientists believed they had to be either cloud formations, oceans spilling their banks, or vegetation undergoing seasonal changes. Mars seemed to be a living world, much like our own.
Night after night, he huddled over his gleaming refractor, high up on a rooftop above Milan, sketching Mars
This widely held view made the opposition of 1877 a major event for scientists. Telescopes were now so powerful that it seemed like a second Earth could be unveiled for the first time during the passing of Mars.
Months before the opposition, as the red planet began to brighten in the night sky, the Italian astronomer and hydraulic engineer Giovanni Schiaparelli got to work. Night after night, he huddled over the eyepiece of his gleaming refractor, high up on a rooftop above Milan, sketching Mars. As the planet wheeled closer and closer, he recorded each new detail that shimmered into view. When the opposition passed, Schiaparelli gathered his sketches and drew a complete map of Mars in the Mercator projection – the same projection commonly used in maps of Earth’s continents.
An 1877 map of the channels, or canals, on Mars, by Giovanni Schiaparelli.
It was like no other depiction. Astronomers had previously glimpsed linear features on the planet, but Schiaparelli’s Mars was covered with them. They were, he wrote, canali that linked Martian oceans. Schiaparelli seems to have preferred that canali would be translated as ‘channels’. However, it was more often rendered as ‘canals’ when his observations were reported in English.
Some astronomers doubted that the channels, or canals, actually existed. But Schiaparelli was a leader in his field, with renowned eyesight, and it couldn’t be denied that his map of Mars was more detailed than any drawn before. Indeed, it included so many previously uncharted features that Schiaparelli introduced a new naming scheme, drawing from classical mythology, to make sense of them all. With a decidedly alien surface named after gods and goddesses, Mars became a more mysterious and intriguing world than anyone had imagined.
In a different time, Schiaparelli’s ‘canals’ might have been a short-lived curiosity. Instead, they became a popular sensation – thanks to the shifting nature of mass media, during an age of imperial expansion and technological disruption.
Around the time of the 1877 opposition, major newspapers, such as TheNew York Herald, were beginning to secure exclusive access to telegraph lines that permitted instantaneous communication between far-flung cities. These newspapers did not just reportwhat had happened along the exotic frontiers of the era’s empires. They also helped to create the news. In the process, they influenced how scientific discoveries reached ordinary people and shaped what counted as a ‘discovery’ among scientists.
These dynamics were primarily responsible for the ‘Mars Boom’ of 1892, during another perihelic opposition.
A key figure behind the boom was William Pickering, an ambitious young astronomer at Harvard College Observatory in Boston. Pickering accepted that Schiaparelli’s canals were real. He also believed that Mars was a world like Earth. The canals, he thought, were nothing more than strips of vegetation. But to know for certain, Pickering would need to take a closer look.
The canals seemed to copy themselves, or ‘germinate’, as Mars approached Earth
In 1891, he was sent to Peru by the observatory’s director (his brother, Edward) with orders to set up a modest mountaintop facility that would gather precise data about the colour and brightness of southern hemisphere stars.
Pickering did nothing of the sort.
It had been almost 15 years since the opposition of 1877, and Earth was once again bearing down on Mars. The tilt of Earth’s axis meant that when Mars reached opposition, it would be far easier to see in the southern hemisphere than in the north. With that in mind, Pickering spent lavishly to establish an observatory that would give him the best views of Mars that any astronomer had ever had. And he agreed to report what he saw to TheNew York Herald using a telegraph controlled by the newspaper. It was a chance for Pickering to make his name – and for the Herald to transform a planetary opposition into a sensational news event.
Schiaparelli continued mapping Mars. By 1891, the canals on his maps had taken on a more artificial appearance. From William Peck, A Popular Handbook and Atlas of Astronomy (1891).
In 1892, as Earth approached Mars, Pickering started to send curt descriptions of his observations to the Herald. The historian of science Joshua Nall showed in News from Mars (2019) that the newspaper reworded these descriptions into a vivid narrative that played on the expectations of readers in a colonial era. The Herald presented Pickering as an explorer who had journeyed to Earth’s ends in search of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to discover a new world.
Pickering’s reworded descriptions included dramatic accounts of environments on Mars that embarrassed more experienced astronomers who had downplayed the scientific value of the coming opposition. One of those experts was Edward Holden, the director of the greatest observatory in the northern hemisphere: the Lick Observatory in California. Holden’s views now seemed not only foolish, but an indictment of his observatory.
In the face of popular ridicule, Holden announced to the Associated Press that he had also put the opposition to good use. Peering through the Lick telescope, he had confirmed a remarkable property of the planet’s canals, earlier suggested by Schiaparelli: they seemed to copy themselves, or ‘germinate’, as Mars approached Earth.
Holden privately doubted that the canals were real. But in the process of defending his reputation, he had introduced millions of people to the idea that the canals existed – and that they behaved like nothing else in nature. An explosion of popular interest in the canals followed, reflected by a wave of newspaper reports in the United States and Europe.
The Lick Observatory, built between 1876 and 1887, was named after the land baron James Lick, one of California’s richest men. As he neared the end of his life, Lick considered how to preserve his legacy. He toyed with building a colossal pyramid, but ultimately decided to finance the construction of a telescope big enough to detect aliens on the Moon. That discovery, he thought, would let his name ring through the ages.
In the 1890s, history began to repeat itself. Another wealthy man – Percival Lowell, heir to a fortune gained in the textile trade – saw his chance to achieve immortality. Lowell seems to have decided that if Schiaparelli had been the Columbus of Mars, discovering a new world, then he would follow in the footsteps of the Conquistadors by realising that world’s true potential. He would discover what the canals really were.
Lowell ordered a gigantic telescope from Alvan Clark & Sons, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of fine optics. But that wasn’t enough – he also needed an ideal location to install the device. In Peru, Pickering had worked out a method for measuring the suitability of the atmosphere for astronomy. Under Lowell’s direction, Pickering’s former assistant, Andrew Ellicott Douglass, used the method to identify a perfect site to build an observatory for the new telescope: Flagstaff, Arizona, where thin, dry air would permit unrivalled observations of Mars.
What was this strange, fluctuating latticework that seemed to cover the planet?
As Earth approached Mars in 1894, Lowell, Douglass and other members of their team began to observe the canals. With painstaking diligence, they would eventually map more than 400, of which more than 50 canals seemed to show signs of ‘germination’, or doubling. What’s more, the team charted some 200 oases – circular features at the intersection of canals – including one that seemed to connect no fewer than 17 canals. Nor were these features stable. They were faint when Earth approached Mars, but darkened as Earth left Mars behind.
What was this strange, fluctuating latticework that seemed to cover the planet? To Lowell, the age of Mars provided the first clue. Most scientists believed that the planets had formed one after another, from rings of gas and dust released by the Sun. That meant that Mars was older than Earth.
Canals and oases rotate into view in sketches published by Lowell. From Percival Lowell, The Planet Mars (1894). Flagstaff: Lowell Observatory.
A second clue came from naturalists who had discovered fossilised sea creatures on dry land, far from the ocean. Earth, it seemed, was drying as it aged. When Douglass spotted a canal crisscrossing one of the dark regions of Mars, he believed he had uncovered proof that those regions weren’t oceans, as Schiaparelli and other astronomers had assumed. Because Mars was older than Earth, it was naturally drier.
A third clue came from the changes that swept across Mars. The canals seemed to darken, first around the pole and then towards the equator, as spring arrived in each Martian hemisphere. At the same time, what appeared to be an ‘ice cap’ in the northern hemisphere seemed to melt, creating a dark region around its perimeter.
A fourth clue consisted of environmental changes happening on Earth. Between 1877 and 1894 – from the time when Schiaparelli first mapped the canals to when Lowell arrived in Flagstaff – a series of extreme El Niño events brought catastrophic droughts and famine to much of the world. By then, irrigation systems and especially ship canals had emerged as quintessential infrastructure projects of an industrialising world. In the US alone, workers had built some 6,800 kilometres of navigable canals by 1860, a figure almost exactly equivalent to the diameter of Mars.
People believed they could actually see the canals using small telescopes
Lowell put the clues together. An alien civilisation, he speculated, had long ago emerged on Mars. When the planet dried out, that civilisation was imperilled. It responded by using its advanced technology to build a world-straddling network of canals. The canals funnelled water from its last reservoirs – the poles – to vast food-growing regions around the equator. When the ice caps melted in the spring, the water would flow south, and vegetation would sprout around the canals, appearing to darken them in a wave that swept from each pole to the equator. Around the north pole, a sea of meltwater formed first, creating the dark region that emerged every spring.
It was an elegant explanation, and it made Lowell an overnight celebrity. His books were bestsellers, his lectures sold out, and his ideas routinely made the front page of major newspapers. What’s more, people believed that they could actually see the canals using small telescopes, which had recently become a common possession for well-to-do families. Newspapers even printed instructions for canal-watching.
Not everyone believed Lowell’s explanation. Some astronomers always doubted that the canals were real – a view that gained credibility in the early 20th century, when powerful telescopes seemed to resolve apparently linear features on Mars into discontinuous spots and streaks. Then, in the 1960s, the robotic exploration of the planet finally proved beyond doubt that the canals were illusions, and that the environmental changes Lowell took for proof of flowing water had been caused by enormous dust storms that exposed or obscured dark rock and sand. In a sense, Mars is an even less Earth-like world than Lowell had imagined.
At the end of the 19th century, however, millions seem to have believed that a species much older and more advanced than humanity had found a way to survive on a dying planet that, every two years, passed precariously close to Earth.
In 1895, a front-page article in The Cook County Herald, an Illinois newspaper, announced that ‘very strange and mysterious things are going on on Mars.’ Douglass had just spotted what seemed like flashes along the Martian ‘terminator’, the dividing line between night and day on the planet. When he and other astronomers announced such sightings, their descriptions routinely made it into the newspapers – and prompted letters from anxious readers who believed that the Martians were messaging Earth.
Lowell uncharacteristically pointed out that the flashes were probably natural in origin, caused by sunlight glinting off ice, for example. Yet light seemed like a natural way to send a signal between worlds. Public figures of all stripes, from inventors to poets, now proposed ambitious schemes to message the Martians using light and colour.
The cover of the September 1919 edition of Popular Science magazine encouraged contact with Mars.
Courtesy Popular Science
Some called for the construction of enormous mirrors that could focus sunlight – or better yet, electric light – into beams bright enough for the Martians to see. Others suggested that immense geometric shapes could be carved into forests using fire, or that enormous strips of black fabric could be hooked to motors in the Saharan desert and rearranged to send a message. Everyone agreed that any message had to relay information universal to all intelligent life. If sent to clever Martian observers, flashes of light would communicate something about the structure of the solar system, or the basics of geometry. Once the Martians understood how humans used light flashes to communicate universal information, they would be able to respond in kind. Eventually, a shared, interplanetary language could be developed. This became the underlying principle that still informs how we think about communicating with aliens.
At the turn of the 20th century, breakthroughs in wireless communication, using radio waves, suggested light and colour weren’t the only ways to send and receive messages from Mars. Sitting in his laboratory in Colorado Springs one night in July 1899, the inventor Nikola Tesla suddenly heard a repeating radio signal that he believed might have come from another world. He was awestruck, thinking that he had witnessed ‘the revelation of a great truth’. For the rest of his life, he obsessed over how he could use his inventions to return the message. In all probability, he had actually heard a signal from Jupiter, caused by interactions between the planet’s magnetic field and the volcanoes of its moon, Io. Though the signal he received was not a real message from an alien transmitter, radio waves would become central to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence in the 20th century.
When another opposition with Mars was set to occur in 1924, most astronomers no longer accepted that idea of Martian canals. Still, many people continued to believe that the planet could harbour an alien civilisation. From 21-24 August, during the opposition, radio operators across Europe and the Americas observed a ‘National Radio Silence’ for five minutes at the top of every hour to listen for possible signals from Mars. At 7:12 am, operators at Point Grey Wireless Station in Vancouver even reported hearing a repeating pattern that briefly seemed like the message from Mars that everyone had been hoping for. The news made headlines, but the signal was soon traced to a terrestrial source.
Mars was silent. Nevertheless, it seemed as though the ‘Martians’ had communicated a grand truth. They had revealed, according to Lowell, that the ‘true history of man has consisted not in his squabbles with his kind’ but rather our species’ growing dominance over all other life. The canals suggested that the fate of all intelligent life was to remake its home world in order to delay extinction as the climate of that world dried out.
This was a forerunner to what we might now call the Anthropocene concept: the idea that humanity has remade Earth, and that this remaking is central to the history of our time. As Lowell put it, the discovery of megastructures on Mars helped to explain and justify why, even in the 19th century, ‘man has begun to leave his mark on this his globe in deforestation, in canalisation, in communication.’ Those Martian feats of planetary engineering hinted at humankind’s longer future: ‘[T]he time is coming when the earth will bear his imprint, and his alone. What he chooses, will survive; what he pleases, will lapse, and the landscape itself will become the carved object of his handiwork.’
An intelligent species did not need to go meekly into the night when facing a planetary threat
Yet the canals of Mars also hinted that the lifespan of intelligent species had a natural conclusion. Indeed, the apparent discovery of the Martians provided one of the first indications that humanity faced existential risks, meaning risks to its continued existence, and that these risks could come from changes to Earth’s climate. Mars was drying out, and the process would continue until the Martians could no longer siphon water from the poles. After that point, it seemed that every Martian would inevitably die.
Still, the beings on Mars had also shown that an intelligent species did not need to go meekly into the night when it faced a planetary threat. For some, that lesson sparked a very different kind of existential dread.
Martian fighting machines in the Thames Valley by Henrique Alvim Corrêa for the 1906 edition of The War of the Worlds (1898) by H G Wells.
The Martians had created ‘a shadow and a fear’, the president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada told an audience in 1897. It seemed logical, he said, that they would look enviously at the watery Earth. Indeed, if space travel was possible, then there was no reason for the Martians to accept their fate on a drying world. They might instead take over Earth – at humanity’s expense.
The English science-fiction author H G Wells played on these fears to reimagine the lights reported on Mars as flares created by the launch of projectiles headed for Earth, heralding the invasion of our planet by ‘intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic’. His novel TheWar of the Worlds (1898)popularised the alien-invasion genre in science fiction but it was, above all, a critique of British colonialism. The story resonated with particular force in the anxious years before the First World War. For more than two decades after it was published, newspapers speculated about a Martian invasion whenever the planet reached opposition. Radio broadcasts of TheWar of the Worlds would later spark widespread panic about the possibility of a real invasion – and concerns over the compatibility of mass media with democracy. To Wells and other authors, the Martian threat exposed the folly of imperial aggression.
The Martians also seemed to reveal which social structures allowed a civilisation to reach old age. For some scholars and writers, the canals vindicated social Darwinists who used the concept of natural selection or ‘survival of the fittest’ to justify both colonialism and capitalism. Lowell believed that the stronger Martians had survived to reengineer their planet, while the weak had perished. Schiaparelli, by contrast, thought the canals were a triumph of collective socialism, a whole-of-society response to a planetary catastrophe.
In the decades after the great perihelic opposition of 1877 – through years marked by the emergence of the labour movement, the rise of communist insurgencies, the global spread of unregulated capitalism, and the eruption of imperial wars – the canal-builders on Mars seemed to have urgent lessons to impart. But what those lessons were, exactly, remained in the eye of the beholder. Some hoped that establishing contact with our Martian neighbours might change humankind. When that happened, ‘we may tell the Martians all about our great war,’ reflected an article in Popular Science in 1919; ‘perhaps we will learn from an older and wiser planet how we ought to run the Earth.’
Around the same time that alien engineers on Mars were being imagined, naturalists and explorers from imperial cities, like London or Paris, were enthralling their readers with tales of exotic lands and peoples on Earth. The Martians therefore also had a romantic, almost orientalist appeal. Novelists would later pioneer world-building science fiction by imagining adventures on a canal-covered planet with alien cultures and ecosystems.
The quest to map the canals of Mars directly expanded the frontiers of science
Few were more successful than Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose Barsoomseries, beginning with A Princess of Mars (first serialised in 1912), inspired a generation of young readers. Some of those readers would play pivotal roles in the coming age of space travel. A map of the canal-covered Mars imagined by Burroughs, for example, adorned the office door of the planetary scientist Carl Sagan, a leading figure in the Viking missions that undertook the first tests for microbial life on Mars.
Indeed, the quest to map the canals of Mars directly expanded the frontiers of science. It helped establish the importance of a thin and steady atmosphere for astronomy, leading in a roundabout way to the construction of today’s mountaintop observatories. Douglass, who had compared the climate of different sites in Arizona for Lowell’s observatory, eventually decided to study the changing climate of Earth using the growth rings in trees. He would play a central role in the development of palaeoclimatology, the science of past climate change.
By revealing that climatic changes have undermined the foundations of historical societies, and by showing the deep connection between greenhouse gases and global temperature, palaeoclimatology has confirmed the essential truth of the canal theory: climate change can accompany the maturation of a technologically advanced civilisation, and can also threaten the destruction of that civilisation.
In short, the ‘discovery’ of the Martians had profound consequences – many of which continue to shape culture and science. After all, what are Star Wars’ Tatooine and Frank Herbert’s Duneif not variants of Lowell’s Mars?
The history of the canals on Mars upends two enduring assumptions. For decades, these assumptions have appeared in everything from classified government reports to Hollywood blockbusters.
The first assumption is related to how the discovery of an extraterrestrial civilisation would be made and shared. It’s easy to assume that such a discovery would happen when scientists find definitive proof, either by observing a distant planet or receiving a signal from such a planet. Major news outlets would then report the news. But science doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and news is not a transparent reflection of reality. The Martian canal sensation – one of the first examples of scientists ‘discovering’ alien life beyond our planet – was a consequence of everything from environmental changes on Earth and Mars to the transformation of mass media in an age of global imperialism.
It’s no surprise that alien news today does not involve the careful evaluation of scientific evidence
The second assumption is that the discovery of an alien civilisation would destabilise society. The canal-builders of Mars did provoke widespread unease and even spasms of local panic, especially during radio broadcasts of TheWar of the Worlds. But, for the most part, public order received no serious challenge. The aliens on Mars were big news, but not as big as stories about political intrigue, economic trends or the descent to war – stories that had more tangible impacts on people’s lives.
So, maybe we shouldn’t be startled at our collective shrug when new reports of UAPs surface. Nor should it surprise us that alien news today does not involve the careful evaluation of scientific evidence. Instead, it is a reflection of cultural and technological changes, such as the spread of conspiracy theories on social media, for example, or the commercialisation of drones that resemble UAPs.
The Martian canals controversy has one more lesson to offer. When the canals were eventually exposed for the illusions that they were, the reputation of planetary astronomy briefly collapsed. Today, Lowell is often remembered as a misguided maverick, rather than a serious figure in the history of science. Yet few theories have stimulated as much thought, or been as enduring and productive for culture and science, as the canals of Mars.
Astrobiology, the science that explores how life begins, survives and evolves in the Universe, is today a burgeoning discipline. Two organisations – the SETI Institute and Breakthrough Listen – now lead unprecedented efforts to contact, or at least detect, an extraterrestrial civilisation. Even if their work uncovers nothing, the history of the canals on Mars reveals that there are few enterprises more worth pursuing.
Beste bezoeker, Heb je zelf al ooit een vreemde waarneming gedaan, laat dit dan even weten via email aan Frederick Delaere opwww.ufomeldpunt.be. Deze onderzoekers behandelen jouw melding in volledige anonimiteit en met alle respect voor jouw privacy. Ze zijn kritisch, objectief maar open minded aangelegd en zullen jou steeds een verklaring geven voor jouw waarneming! DUS AARZEL NIET, ALS JE EEN ANTWOORD OP JOUW VRAGEN WENST, CONTACTEER FREDERICK. BIJ VOORBAAT DANK...
Druk op onderstaande knop om je bestand , jouw artikel naar mij te verzenden. INDIEN HET DE MOEITE WAARD IS, PLAATS IK HET OP DE BLOG ONDER DIVERSEN MET JOUW NAAM...
Druk op onderstaande knop om een berichtje achter te laten in mijn gastenboek
Alvast bedankt voor al jouw bezoekjes en jouw reacties. Nog een prettige dag verder!!!
Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 75 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
Veel leesplezier en geef je mening over deze blog.
![Government Insiders Share a Dire Message About UFOs in 'The Age of Disclosure' Sneak Peek [Exclusive] - Collider](https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/prvd/images/article-415-1762450666113.jpg)
