Overview

The latest episode of The Proof Is Out There, released on November 16, 2025, tackles a range of visual material that has circulated among UFO and ancient‑technology enthusiasts for decades. The program’s host, a researcher known as “UFOs‑Disclosure,” frames the investigation as a side‑by‑side comparison of grainy vintage footage and cutting‑edge digital analysis, asking whether modern tools can confirm or refute long‑standing claims of anomalous technology. A 10‑minute video accompanying the article (linked in the VibeWire post) presents the raw clips, while the episode walks viewers through frame‑by‑frame examinations, spectral imaging, and AI‑based pattern recognition.

Ancient Dodecahedrons

One of the focal points is a series of black‑and‑white films from the 1970s that appear to show perfectly formed dodecahedrons hovering over archaeological sites in the Mediterranean. Proponents have argued that the shapes indicate a lost advanced civilization or even extraterrestrial engineering. Using contemporary photogrammetry software, the show’s technical team reconstructed the objects’ geometry and found that the apparent edges align with known lens flare artifacts common in low‑light film. Dr. Elena Marquez, a historian of ancient engineering at the University of Barcelona, was consulted:

“The dodecahedron is a mathematically elegant shape, but there is no archaeological record of such objects being manufactured in antiquity. When we apply modern image‑enhancement methods, the ‘solid’ appearance dissolves into a combination of light scattering and film grain.”

The segment concludes that, while the footage is intriguing, the evidence does not meet the threshold for claiming an unknown technology.

Flying Cars and Ocean Flights

The episode also revisits a 1992 news reel from a coastal town in Brazil that captured what looks like a sleek, disc‑shaped craft skimming the ocean surface before accelerating upward. The original broadcast described the sighting as a “flying car” and sparked numerous speculative articles. In the new analysis, engineers employed high‑resolution frame interpolation and spectral signature testing to determine the craft’s material composition. Results showed a reflective surface consistent with conventional aluminum alloy, and the motion profile matched that of a known experimental hydro‑foil vehicle tested by a private aerospace firm in the early 1990s.

“When you overlay the flight path with the firm’s test logs, the correlation is striking,” says aerospace analyst James Liu of the Australian Defence Research Institute. “There is no need to invoke UFOs when a terrestrial prototype explains the observed dynamics.”

The segment emphasizes that the footage, while dramatic, is best understood within the context of emerging VTOL (vertical take‑off and landing) technologies rather than extraterrestrial craft.

Brain‑Implant Allegations

A third segment examines a controversial 2008 interview in which a self‑identified whistleblower claimed that neural implants were being covertly installed to facilitate “mind‑to‑craft” communication. The original video, recorded on a consumer camcorder, featured the subject pointing to a faint scar behind his ear. The show’s investigators used infrared imaging and AI‑driven facial analysis to verify the presence of any subdermal hardware. The analysis detected no anomalous density or metallic signature beyond normal tissue variation.

Dr. Priya Nair, a neuro‑ethicist at the University of Melbourne, cautioned:

“Claims of secret brain‑implant programs have circulated for years, but without verifiable physical evidence they remain speculative. The tools we have today—high‑resolution imaging, spectral analysis—are capable of detecting implants of the size described, and they found nothing.”

The segment underscores the importance of evidence‑based scrutiny when evaluating extraordinary medical claims.

Context and Outlook

The Proof Is Out There aims to bring a scientific lens to material that often fuels sensational headlines. By applying modern analytical software, AI pattern recognition, and expert testimony, the episode demonstrates that many iconic UFO and ancient‑technology clips can be explained through known physical phenomena or historical context. Nonetheless, the program acknowledges that some footage remains “unexplained” due to poor quality or insufficient data, a stance echoed by Dr. Marquez:

“Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, but it does remind us to remain cautious before leaping to extraordinary conclusions.”

The VibeWire article invites readers to watch the full video for a deeper dive and encourages further submissions of raw footage for independent review. As the field of UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) research continues to professionalize, such transparent, methodical examinations are likely to become the standard for separating fact from folklore.

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16-11-2025 om 21:48 geschreven door peter  

Mysterious Skies and Seas: New UFO and USO Sightings Spark Global Curiosity

Unidentified objects are no longer just a phenomenon of the skies. Increasingly, witnesses from around the world are reporting strange activity beneath the ocean’s surface as well—introducing many people to a lesser-known category of encounters: USOs, or unidentified submersible objects. From luminous shapes gliding through dark waters to craft seemingly transitioning from sea to air without disturbance, the newest cases are igniting worldwide fascination and questions about what might be lurking both above and below us.

A Surge of Unusual Sightings

Recent global reports highlight a pattern: mysterious objects are no longer confined to distant skies or remote military zones. In places like Oklahoma City, unexplained lights have captivated observers; along the coasts of Florida and California, glowing formations under the sea have startled boaters. According to investigators, these sightings show remarkable consistency—strange illumination, silent movement, and behavior that doesn’t align with known technology.

During a recent NewsNation segment, Ben Hansen, host of UFO Witness and a veteran field investigator, described the latest viral footage from the waters off Fort Lauderdale. The clip shows two bright green lights moving beneath the ocean surface at night.

Hansen’s first reaction: not divers.
A certified master diver himself, he emphasized the absence of essential safety indicators—no dive boat, no flags, and no surface support that would make a night dive safe. And while night diving is possible, the behavior and characteristics observed in the video don’t match typical diver lights or movement.

“It’s not phosphorescent algae, it’s not light refraction, and it doesn’t behave like a natural phenomenon,” Hansen explained.

USOs: A Long History, Not a New Trend

Many people assume underwater UFO sightings are a new topic, simply because public interest has recently shifted from the skies to the sea. But according to Hansen, submersible anomalies have been part of reports for decades.

He pointed to earlier incidents near Catalina Island, where pilots and air-traffic controllers reported enormous glowing structures beneath the water—some estimates describing them as “the size of a city.” Witnesses noted the light appeared to activate suddenly, like someone flipping a switch.

Other boaters have reported traveling across pitch-black waters when, without warning, a massive illuminated zone appeared directly beneath their vessel, spanning the length of a football field.

These observations echo testimonies from naval personnel, including the infamous USS Omaha thermal-camera incident, where an object was tracked moving from air to sea without any visible splash or impact—behavior known as transmedium travel.

Fast Movers and High-Speed Anomalies

The U.S. military has acknowledged tracking objects that behave far outside the capabilities of known human technology. Former Navy Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet previously testified about a military program informally referred to as monitoring “Fast Movers.”

These objects, often detected on classified underwater sensors, reportedly travel at speeds no torpedo could survive—sometimes exceeding 100 miles per hour underwater, a feat impossible given current propulsion technology and hydrodynamic limitations.

Some Fast Movers are fleeting blurs. Others appear stationary for long periods. And a small but persistent group behaves unpredictably, transitioning between air and water with no splash, no turbulence, and no detectable propulsion system.

Not Enough Data—But Enough to Raise Questions

Former U.K. Ministry of Defence UFO analyst Nick Pope also weighed in on the latest sightings. While he agrees the Fort Lauderdale footage is intriguing, he cautions that the data remains insufficient to determine a definitive explanation.

As Pope reiterates, the Pentagon itself often concludes that available evidence in such cases lacks critical details: distance to object, speed, sensor quality, atmospheric conditions, and other context necessary for firm identification.

But unclear footage doesn’t erase the larger pattern. Across oceans and continents, witnesses continue describing:

• Objects illuminating the sea from below
• Craft entering water without displacement
• High-speed underwater movement
• Lights with no visible source
• Sudden “switch-like” activation of massive illuminated zones

Patterns repeated independently in multiple countries, decades apart, by civilians and military personnel alike.

The New Frontier of Unexplained Phenomena

The shift from UFOs to USOs expands the mystery dramatically. If some of these objects truly operate in both air and sea, they challenge everything we know about physics, engineering, and propulsion.

Investigators stress that the phenomenon is far larger than any single video. What’s emerging is a global mosaic of strange sightings—glowing shapes in deep water, fast-moving aerial anomalies, and objects effortlessly transitioning between the two environments.

Whether these represent unknown natural phenomena, advanced technology, misidentification, or something truly extraordinary remains unknown. But one thing is certain: the ocean, which covers 70% of Earth and remains largely unexplored, may be holding secrets as complex as those of the skies.

As new sightings continue to surface, scientists, military analysts, and civilian researchers are calling for deeper investigation—not just of our atmosphere, but of our oceans as well. The next major discovery in the UFO mystery might not come from above, but from the depths below.

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

16-11-2025 om 21:31 geschreven door peter  

Story by Shane Galvin

 

NASA is set to release the much-anticipated images of the Manhattan-sized interstellar object 3I/ATLAS within days, an agency source told The Post.

The snaps of the mysterious object were taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s HiRISE camera as it passed by the Red Planet from Oct.1 to Oct. 7 were not released because of the government shutdown, which ended late Wednesday.

The source said the release of the snaps — expected to be the highest resolution of any image of 3I/ATLAS yet — come come as early as next week.

New images of 3I/ATLAS released earlier this week in the Astronomer’s Telegram showed.

David Jewitt / Jane Luu / The Astronomer's Telegram

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Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, who has conjectured that the object could potentially be an alien spaceship, panned the long-delayed release as a symptom of government inefficiency. 

“Science should have been prioritized over bureaucracy,” Loeb told The Post. “The truth about the nature of 3I/ATLAS will be revealed by the sharing of data, not by the storyline of gatekeepers.”

The HiRISE camera images will be the clearest yet, surpassing the snaps taken by the Hubble Space Telescope on July 21, which to date have provided the most stark pictures of 3I/ATLAS.

Loeb stated that the HiRISE images will present one of the best opportunities to learn about the nucleus of the massive object, which will reveal its true nature.

Loeb has previously sounded the alarm over the mysterious anti-tail of 3I/ATLAS, which is a unique extension in the direction of the Sun, and not seen in normal, everyday comets.

“The HiRISE image would give us a side-view as well as a spatial resolution that is three times better than that of the Hubble Space Telescope,” he said.

The new images set to be released by NASA in a “matter of days” will be the best of the object taken during its pass through our inner solar system.

David Jewitt / Jane Luu / The Astronomer's Telegram

“Even though the image is unlikely to resolve the solid nucleus itself, it can set a tight constraint on its diameter based on the brightest pixel,” he said, adding, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

Sky watchers celebrated earlier this week when, after speculation that the object had broken apart, 3I/ATLAS emerged fully intact after its close encounter with the Sun.

The object is now hurtling towards Jupiter where it will be surveilled by NASA’s Juno space probe and the European Space Agency’s JUICE spacecraft until it exits our solar system on in March.

For him, the upcoming images are not just another dataset; they are a potential turning point in a debate that ranges from conservative comet models to ideas straight out of science fiction.

{ New York Post }

16-11-2025 om 21:21 geschreven door peter  

Top fighter pilot breaks 45-year silence to reveal bombshell UFO encounter with '50ft triangular craft' at nuclear base

By JOSH BOSWELL, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER and CHRIS SHARP

A former Top Gun pilot has come forward as a new witness linked to a 1980 UFO incident dubbed 'the British Roswell'.

Decorated US fighter pilot Dan Isbell, 69, broke a 45-year silence to reveal his encounter with a 50ft triangular craft surrounded by multicolored 'plasma' light near a nuclear base he was stationed at in England on December 26, 1980.

The incident is significant as it occurred on the same day that US Air Force personnel at another English nuclear base, RAF Woodbridge, in Suffolk, saw a similar craft descending into neighboring Rendlesham Forest – then got so close they could touch the metallic object.

The Rendlesham UFO incident was captured on audio tape by a senior officer, written up in reports released three years later, and became the UK's most famous out-of-this-world encounter.

Isbell's sighting adds to the theory by UFO researchers that the strange objects were targeting military bases housing nuclear weapons, a pattern which has been highlighted in reports by the Department of Defense's UFO-monitoring office.

That night in 1980, Isbell was a 24-year-old first lieutenant working Christmas shifts as a pilot of nuclear-capable fighter jets at RAF Upper Heyford in Oxfordshire, while his superiors with families took time off.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, he said that around 10pm on December 26, he was driving his imported red Corvette along a country road between the airbase and the US servicemen's accommodation when he saw something he couldn't explain.

'In my rear view mirror I saw some unusual multicolored lights traveling very rapidly, just over the trees to the side of the road,' he said. 'As it zipped past me, it just stopped instantaneously.'

US fighter pilot Dan Isbell spoke publicly for the first time about his encounter with a massive UFO while he was stationed at RAF Upper Heyford in Oxfordshire in 1980 

Isbell, pictured sitting in a flight-test-modified F-16A at the Hill Aerospace Museum in 2018, was a 24-year-old first lieutenant working a shift on the nuclear base when he witnessed the rare event 

Isbell said he pulled over and watched what appeared to be a silent, floating, 50ft craft.

'It was triangular, but it had sort of a curved nose. Around the bottom, there were multi-colored changing lights, almost like a plasma,' he said.

'We were very well trained before we were declared mission-qualified, on how to identify every type of aircraft and helicopter that belonged to NATO or the Soviet Union. It was quite clear this was not conventional.'

Isbell said he started to make his way across a golf course on the side of the road towards the object, getting within 150ft.

'As I walked toward it, it began to slowly descend down,' he said.

'But then I began to realize that the stigma of a UFO sighting was death to a pilot's career. So I quickly reversed course.

'I hurried back to my car and went home. I didn't tell anyone for 45 years,' Isbell added.

In the early hours of the same day, about 110 miles away on the east English coast in Suffolk, American officers at another USAF base holding nuclear weapons saw a similar object.

The former fighter pilot shared an FBI Forensic Artist Drawing of his UFO encounters in 1980 

At the time of the supposed UFO sighting, Isbell was working at night at the RAF Upper Heyford (pictured) a former Royal Air Force and US Air Force base in Oxfordshire, England 

Isbell is pictured during his time as 514th Flight Test Squadron Commander between June 1994 to June 1997

After seeing a strange light descend into Rendlesham Forest, two USAF security patrolmen were sent to investigate.

According to a memo written by deputy base commander Lt. Col. Charles Halt, they saw an apparent nine-foot craft, 'metallic in appearance and triangular in shape', which 'illuminated the entire forest with a white light'.

'The object itself had a pulsing red light on top and a bank(s) of blue lights underneath,' said Halt's memo, released under the Freedom of Information Act in 1983.

'The object was hovering or on legs. As the patrolmen approached the object, it maneuvered through the trees and disappeared. At this time the animals on a nearby farm went into a frenzy.'

Two days later, while investigating marks on the trees and ground believed to be left by the craft, Halt himself witnessed strange lights and recorded his reaction on an audio tape, which was also released to researchers in 1984.

Skeptical researchers, including Ian Ridpath, say the marks on trees were foresters' axe cuts, indentations in the ground were animal burrows, and the lights were from a nearby lighthouse.

But one of the patrolmen sent out on December 26, Sgt. Jim Penniston, claims he saw the craft up close, and even sketched it in a notepad a few days later.

In 2015 the other patrolman, Airman First Class John Burroughs, received medical disability benefits for alleged radiation poisoning linked to the event, with the help of Senator John McCain, after a yearslong battle with the Pentagon which had strangely classified his medical records. 

Isbell's encounter would've occurred on the same day that US Air Force personnel at another base 110 miles away at RAF Woodbridge on England's east coast reported seeing a similar craft descending into the nearby Rendlesham Forest – where a sculpture of the reported UFO now stands 

This photograph shows police examining the alleged landing site of another 'triangular craft' in Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk, England, the morning of the alleged sighting on December 26, 1980

Deep marks and indentations on the trees and ground at the Rendlesham Forest were believed to be left by the UFO, however, this was disputed by skeptical researchers, including Ian Ridpath, who say they were from foresters' axe cuts

Former British police detective and UFO researcher Gary Heseltine, who wrote a book on the incident and helped Isbell come forward, says the pilot's sighting the same day as the Rendlesham incident at another UK nuclear base is significant.

'Dan Isbell is as credible a witness you could ever wish for,' Heseltine, who wrote the book Non-Human: The Rendlesham Forest UFO Incidents, told the Daily Mail.

He described Isbell as 'someone with a stellar flight career' giving 'high caliber witness testimony'.

'His account offers a remarkable circumstantial link to Britain's most famous case, the Rendlesham Forest Incident that occurred in late December 1980.'

Heseltine now runs a site for UK pilots to report UAP (unidentified anomalous phenomena) incidents, ukpilotsreportinguap.co.uk. 

Isbell said it was the first, but not the last, time he had a UFO encounter.

Later in the 1980s he became a test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California. One night in 1990, he drove out on his motorbike to a secluded area near the base to stargaze.

'Suddenly this large wedge-like shape started blanking out the stars above my head,' he said.

'There were no lights anywhere on it. It was absolutely solid black, but huge… Hundreds of feet across.

In a January 1981 memo of the Rendlesham Forest incident, Deputy Base Commander Lt. Col. Charles Halt documented the December 26 sighting (reported as December 27 by Halt) describing the craft as 'metallic in appearance and triangular in shape'

UFO researcher Gary Heseltine wrote a book on the Rendlesham Forest UFO incident, Non-Human, which included Isbell's account 

'I felt a little electrostatic on my skin.

'I certainly wasn't going to tell anybody about that,' he added. 'I did not hang around long enough to see the back end of it.'

Then two decades later in 2014, the now-retired pilot was in the hot tub in the back yard of his home in Silver Springs, Florida, when he said the night was lit up with a bright blue-green glow.

'It encompassed me and the hot tub,' Isbell told the Daily Mail. 'The beam came to a point above me, probably 2-300ft high.'

He said the bright light prevented him from making out the object. But then the alleged encounter got even stranger.

'The beam went out, but immediately a large sphere of plasma enveloped whatever it was,' he said.

The sphere doubled, then quadrupled in size, then vanished, he said.

'The acceleration was so fast, it just disappeared,' Isbell said.

After retiring from the Air Force, Isbell became a consultant with a security clearance, working on lasers and directed energy weapons.

He said he has decided to finally come forward with his UFO stories now, after leaving his classified role.

'I have nothing else to worry about. I have retired out of all that. They can take away my security clearance, it doesn't matter anymore,' he said.

 { https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

15-11-2025 om 23:13 geschreven door peter  

Top fighter pilot breaks 45-year silence to reveal bombshell UFO encounter with '50ft triangular craft' at nuclear base - Daily Mail

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15-11-2025 om 22:59 geschreven door peter  

The von Neumann probe is one of the most daring concepts related to space exploration. It is a hypothetical unmanned spacecraft that can travel between stars and create copies of itself. And this idea is even crazier than it might seem.

Self-replicating machines

The arrival of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS in the Solar System has prompted many people to recall the concept of a von Neumann probe. This is not surprising, given that any object approaching us from outer space that we have not yet been able to identify properly could potentially be one of these.

This has nothing to do with 3I/ATLAS specifically. Over the past few months, this comet has been studied many times with all possible telescopes, and we know for sure that it consists only of ice and rocks. However, it is still necessary to know what exactly to be afraid of.

The von Neumann probe is a hypothetical spacecraft designed to explore the Galaxy. It must be capable of exploring a star system, have a complete set of equipment for extracting resources in space, converting them into parts and mechanisms, and an engine capable of interstellar flight.

Source: phys.org

The flights themselves take place at pre-light speed, meaning they take at least decades. But once it reaches a star system, the machine finds resources and begins to build copies of itself, which fly off to surrounding star systems and repeat the cycle there until they have explored the entire Milky Way.

From the title, one might think that the author of this idea is someone named von Neumann. But in fact, the Hungarian mathematician János Lajos Neumann, or John von Neumann, as he was known in the United States, never wrote anything about automatic spaceships.

He is indeed one of the authors of the very concept of computing and automation, and all our computers are built based on a scheme called “von Neumann architecture.” It was precisely this research into how complex a machine’s response to different input conditions could be that led him in 1949 to the concept of self-replicating machines.

The idea may seem revolutionary even now, but its fundamentals are quite simple. In industrial construction, machines are capable of manufacturing individual parts and assembling them, creating systems of any complexity without human involvement, provided that all processes are well thought out.

So why not create a copy of the assembly line that can make its own copies? Von Neumann’s early work focused solely on the assembly process. However, by the 1950s, it became clear that the process could be expanded to include the extraction of raw materials. In theory, copies of all this could be built according to a predetermined program.

Von Neumann probe and Fermi paradox

Von Neumann himself called such machines simply self-replicating, but as these ideas gained popularity after he died in 1957, they became known as “von Neumann machines.” It is not known for certain who first attempted to put one of them on board a spacecraft and called it a “von Neumann probe.”

The only thing that can be said with certainty is that this term was already well known among English-speaking fans of science fiction and futurology when, in 1981, American physicist Michael Hart applied this concept in his work on the Fermi paradox and the related Drake equation.

The Fermi paradox can be formulated as follows: if Earth is a typical planet in the universe and it gave rise to humans, then why don’t we see aliens who should have emerged on some other planet in the Milky Way? There are many approaches to solving this problem, but they all ultimately rely on unverified assumptions, so any of them could be right or wrong.

The Drake equation is a mathematical embodiment of the Fermi paradox, which, in theory, should tell us how many intelligent civilizations we should encounter while exploring the Milky Way, but in practice, it contains too many variables that are unknown to us.

However, the known data, such as the rate of star formation and the total number of stars in the Galaxy, was enough for Hart to calculate that von Neumann’s wave of probes would have to travel the Milky Way from end to end in just 640,000 light-years, meaning that if there were at least one advanced civilization other than ours, we would have already encountered its probes right here in the Solar System.

And since we see nothing of the sort, the Fermi paradox is relatively easy to solve: we do not know the reason, but there are no intelligent species in the Galaxy other than us. This conclusion immediately drew criticism from renowned scientist and science popularizer Carl Sagan.

He stated that Hart was correct, but underestimated the power of self-repairing machines. If they functioned as he believed, they would have long ago not only reached the Solar System, but also dismantled Earth, us, and even their own creators and their home world for raw materials for their copies. Therefore, no truly intelligent civilization would create such machines. Consequently, the absence of von Neumann probes is not a sign of the absence of life in the Galaxy.

Since then, science and science fiction enthusiasts have repeatedly revisited Hart and Sagan’s arguments, inventing various restrictions on the replication of probes, but ultimately, it all boiled down to yet another set of theories about the Fermi paradox.

Development of the idea

The main reason why von Neumann probes are so popular is that this method of conquering the Galaxy seems to be the simplest and cheapest. Traveling faster than light is still the stuff of science fiction. To avoid a journey lasting thousands of years, the ship must be accelerated to a tenth of the speed of light. This requires an incredible amount of energy, so it is better to make it as light as possible. The payload should not exceed tens of tons.

At the same time, the von Neumann probe itself does not necessarily have to have full-fledged artificial intelligence. However, beyond the task of “flying and copying,” other functions can be assigned to it. For example, it can simultaneously be a so-called Bracewell probe. This is another concept of an interstellar drone, whose main task is to establish contact with other civilizations.

But there could be a much worse scenario. In 1967, American science fiction writer Fred Saberhagen described a berserker – a variant of the von Neumann probe, which is armed and designed to destroy any intelligent life it encounters. It is a radical way to get rid of competitors once and for all.

There is also a concept that is radically opposed to the berserker – the seeder ship. In this case, the von Neumann probe carries biological material from its home planet or the embryos of the creatures that created it. When it reaches a world that has no biosphere or civilization, it uses its reserves to create intelligent or non-intelligent life, and only then sends out copies of itself. In this way, the Galaxy could be completely populated in a couple of million years.

There is also a lighter version of von Neumann’s probe. It is called an astro-chicken. Its author is the famous physicist Freeman Dyson, the same one who invented giant spheres. The idea is to use a very small device to explore the solar system, whose main payload will be a system for extracting resources and manufacturing parts from them. Just as a chick moves around the yard and, pecking at seeds, grows into a hen, so this device must “grow” its own equipment for movement and exploration of the planets.

Is the von Neumann probe a form of life?

Behind all this lies a much more interesting question. We are now accustomed to thinking that if a machine is capable of performing some complex task, it must have some kind of highly intelligent control system. That is, when we think of the von Neumann probe flying to another star system, we most often imagine it with full-fledged AI.

However, Don von Neumann himself, working on the theory of self-replicating machines, thought in the opposite direction. How simple do they have to be to still retain the ability to create their own kind?

This is indeed a significant question. We are already seeing machines that have very little intelligence but are capable of effectively adapting to an extremely wide range of conditions. We are talking about biological life: RNA (including viruses), bacteria, and multicellular organisms. Human machines still cannot match them in terms of the efficiency of converting matter, in terms of the effort spent on decision-making.

A truly effective von Neumann probe is not a supercomputer in a jar, but a virus. Something like the protomolecule from James Corey’s Expanse series of novels. On the other hand, even a very cumbersome system in which a single ship cannot reproduce itself but can be rebuilt into a stationary factory already has a set of characteristics in terms of resource and energy consumption, behavior, reproduction, and information inheritance, with the possibility of changes according to the given conditions.

Altogether, this is the definition of life. It is the best we have, because even on Earth, it demonstrates an incredible variety of forms and mechanisms that are difficult to describe in more narrow terms. So, is it possible to draw a line between a self-reproducing mechanism and an organism? Especially if the former is made not of metal but of polymers.

And if von Neumann probes are equipped with artificial intelligence, will they be able to build their own civilization? Will it be a mind alien to us, or a continuation of our own? What will happen if machines created by two completely different biological species meet somewhere? Will they find more in common than their creators would have found?

There are no answers to all these questions. But searching for them is extremely interesting.

• Posted in Articles, QuestionsTagged

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{ https://universemagazine.com/en/articles-en/ }

15-11-2025 om 22:20 geschreven door peter  

Unusual inventions throughout history

©Getty Images

Unusual inventions throughout history
Thousands of patents are granted for new inventions every year in the hope they will change the world. And while many inventions have over the decades, from computers to domestic appliances, made life easier, numerous inventions ended up being pointless, and some even dangerous.

Intrigued to check out some bizarre inventions? Then click through this gallery.

©Getty Images

Illuminated tires
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. wanted to brighten up tires with 18 internal light bulbs. Despite being well received, the flashy tires were too costly and impractical to produce on a large scale.

©Getty Images

Siamese dancing shoes
Designed for ballroom dancing, these Siamese dancing shoes could help couples stay in sync on the dance floor, whether it was mastering the foxtrot or waltz.

©Getty Images

Horse gas mask
Developed by Our Dumb Friends League, a humane society in London, England, the horse gas mask was meant as a precaution against gas attacks during World War II.

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Family bicycle
Invented by Charles Steinlauf, this four-person bicycle was made so that the whole family could enjoy the pleasures of a bike ride. It even had a dedicated seat for a seamstress to continue her sewing work on the go!

©Getty Images

Rolling bridge
The rolling bridge was a British invention that emerged during the Victorian era. The invention served as an alternative to the traditional bridge, and enabled the user to move across water on a rolling platform that was attached to rails. Not very practical at all!

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Pramobile
In the 1920s, parents and their baby could hit the streets with the pramobile. Modern-day versions of this design allow parents to tow their youngsters in trailers that clip on behind bicycles.

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Massage helmet
If you wanted a head massage back in the 1960s, then you could slip on a massage helmet for the ultimate air-powered scalp relaxation.

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Spaghetti aid
Sorry to any Italian! If swirling spaghetti around the fork got tricky, this invention was there to help with just that.

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Mass shaving machine
Men were flocking to barbershops in the 19th century, and to manage the high demand this unusual invention allowed barbers to shave several costumers simultaneously.

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The face glove
Developed in the US, the face glove mask was designed to refine and preserve youthful skin. Resembling something from a creepy horror film, the main problem was the treatment didn't result in anything...

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Urban window baby cage
The urban window baby cage was used in the 1930s to give infants plenty of fresh air. Doctors believed that this would boost their immune systems and help them stay healthy. However, there were some obvious risks of dangling a baby above a city street!

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Doughnut dunker
Dunking a doughnut into a cup of coffee without getting your fingers wet was a real challenge. But with this gadget, it became a problem of the past..

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Cat-mew machine
For anyone who needed a mousetrap, this 1963 mechanical cat from Japan was an option. To scare away rodents, its eyes would light up, and it would meow 10 times every 60 seconds.

©Getty Images

Cyclomer
Don't want to abandon your bike when entering the ocean? The cyclomer is just for you! Invented in 1932 in Paris, the bike worked both on land and sea.

©Getty Images

Hip trimmer
Forget the gym! Back in the '20s, the hip trimmer was the go-to for anyone looking to trim a few inches off their waistline by simply jiggling fat away.

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Mustache shield
The mustache shield was designed to keep facial hair out of the way when drinking and eating. It was patented by Virgil A. Gates in 1876.

©Getty Images

Rain goggles for race drivers
Wipers were not just on racecar windshields in the 1930s. They also came on special rain goggles that drivers would wear in open cars.

©Getty Images

©Getty Images

Dynasphere
The dynasphere was invented by John Purves as an alternative road vehicle in the 1930s. Drivers, however, may have gone head over heels if they tried to brake too hard!

©Getty Images

Butter protector
In the 1950s, no one wanted to accidentally drag their sleeves through a stick of butter while reaching across the table. So inventor Russell E. Oakes solved that problem with this spider-like gadget.

©Getty Images

Churchill’s pressure egg
Aircraft pressurization hadn’t yet become a thing during the time of Winston Churchill, so the Institute of Aviation Medicine built him his very own pressurized pod for safer flying. Unfortunately, it was rejected for its size and weight.

©Getty Images

Rubber bumper
The first few decades of the 20th century were a dangerous time to be on the road, with thousands of deaths and injuries. Inventor A.J. Grafham tried to make it safer in the 1930s with a rubber bumper that promised to protect pedestrians from injuries if they were hit by a speeding car.

©Getty Images

Anti-bandit briefcase
This anti-bandit bag would release its contents all over the ground if a thief tried to steal it. It wasn't as frighting as a similar bag of the time, which would release a smoking chemical vapor if someone tried to steal it.

©Getty Images

Yodel meter
Before auto-tune, there was the yodel meter! The device, photographed here in 1925, could measure the pitch of a singer’s voice. A bizarre but interesting gadget.

©Getty Images

Water taxi
For travelers who needed to cross the rivers around Somerville, Massachusetts, they could hail this water taxi for on-demand service.

©Getty Images

Ornithopter
In 1963, engineer Alan Stewart created the ornithopter, a human flight machine designed to flap its wings like a bird. Smaller versions are now used at some airports to scare away pigeons and seagulls.

©Getty Images

Amphibocycle
Lakes and rivers didn't have to interrupt a blissful bike ride. In the early 1900s, the amphibocycle allowed cyclists to keep going over water.

©Getty Images

Ice age-resistant boats
Back in the 1600s in the Netherlands, there was a fear of an impending ice age. So they designed a boat that they believed had the capacity to transport goods over frozen rivers and lakes.

©Getty Images

Portable hat radio
Decades before the Walkman, iPod, and smartphones in general, listening to the radio on the move became a reality with a portable hat radio.

©Getty Images

The gas-resistant stroller
When World War II hit, gas-resistant strollers were designed to protect babies and toddlers from gas attacks during possible air raids.

Sources:

• (All That's Interesting)
• (Insider)
• (History Hit)

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{ Stars Insider }

15-11-2025 om 22:00 geschreven door peter  

Lost Medieval City Discovered Under Kyrgyzstan Lake

Gary Manners

Archaeologists have made a remarkable discovery beneath the shimmering waters of Lake Issyk-Kul in eastern Kyrgyzstan, uncovering traces of a medieval city that vanished after a catastrophic earthquake in the 15th century. The submerged settlement, once a thriving commercial hub on the legendary Silk Road, offers a haunting glimpse into a civilization that disappeared in an instant, drawing comparisons to the fate of ancient Pompeii.

The discovery represents one of the most significant underwater archaeological finds in Central Asia, shedding light on the region's medieval past and the devastating natural forces that shaped its history. The researchers from the Russian Academy of Sciences believe the city served as an essential stopover for merchants traveling between China and the Mediterranean, facilitating the exchange of silk, spices, precious metals and cultural ideas that defined the medieval world, reports the Daily Mail.

• Treacherous Trading: Dangers of the Silk Road
• Ten Incredible Underwater Discoveries That Have Rewrote History

Shallow Depths Reveal Medieval Treasures

The excavation focused on the Toru-Aygyr complex at the northwestern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul, where researchers surveyed four underwater zones at remarkably shallow depths of just three to thirteen feet below the surface. According to Heritage Daily, these accessible depths have allowed archaeologists to document an extensive array of medieval structures and artifacts that paint a vivid picture of daily life in this lost city.

In the first zone, divers discovered numerous fired-brick structures, including one containing a massive millstone used for crushing and grinding grain into flour. The presence of this industrial equipment suggests the settlement supported a sophisticated economy with specialized facilities for food production. Collapsed stone structures and wooden beams scattered across the lake floor provide additional evidence of the city's sudden demise.

Perhaps most intriguing are the remains of what researchers believe was a public building that possibly served as a mosque, bathhouse or madrassa, reflecting the Islamic character of the medieval settlement. Valery Kolchenko, researcher at the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic and expedition leader, described the site as "a city or a major trading hub on a key section of the Silk Road."

• Ancient Submerged Cities: Rethinking Our Ancestry
• Challenges and Triumphs in Underwater Archaeology

The millstone found in the medieval city in shallow water beneath Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan.

(Russian Academy of Sciences)

A Muslim Necropolis and Sacred Burial Traditions

The second underwater zone revealed a 13th to 14th century Muslim necropolis, where burials have preserved signs of traditional Islamic rituals. The skeletons face north with their faces turned toward the Qibla, the direction Muslims turn during prayer, providing compelling evidence of the settlement's religious practices. According to the Russian Geographical Society, which funded the project, "all this confirms that an ancient city really once stood here."

The third zone showed evidence of the settlement's later expansion, including additional buildings and an earlier burial ground that was eventually overbuilt by new structures as the city grew. This layering of construction suggests the settlement flourished for several generations before its sudden destruction.

In the fourth zone, archaeologists uncovered round and rectangular structures made of mudbrick, along with layers of buried soil that chronicle the city's development over time.

Samples from the site have been sent for accelerator mass spectrometry dating, a highly accurate method that can determine the age of organic materials down to specific decades. This analysis will provide definitive answers about when the city was built and how long it thrived before disaster struck.

Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan, where archaeologists have discovered traces of a medieval city submerged beneath its waters.

(Dan Lundberg/CC BY-SA 2.0)

Catastrophe Strikes a Thriving Silk Road Settlement

Lake Issyk-Kul, located in the western Tianshan Mountains, is an enormous saline lake with a maximum depth of 2,192 feet, making it the eighth-deepest lake in the world. The lake has no known outflow, although some experts claim it connects to a local river through an underground channel. Surrounded by dramatic mountain peaks, the lake level has risen dramatically since ancient and medieval times, which explains why the ruins now lie underwater.

The city met its end at the beginning of the 15th century when a devastating earthquake struck the region. Kolchenko explained that the disaster was comparable to the catastrophe that befell Pompeii, causing the settlement to sink beneath the rising waters. "According to our assessment, at the time of the disaster, the residents had already left the settlement," he noted, suggesting that warning signs may have prompted an evacuation before the final destruction.

The earthquake fundamentally changed the region's demographics and economic structure. "After the earthquake disaster, the region's population changed drastically, and the rich medieval settlement civilization ceased to exist," Kolchenko said. Nomadic peoples replaced the urban civilization, and today the shoreline of Lake Issyk-Kul is dotted with small villages rather than the prosperous trading cities that once flourished there.

The discovery adds to our understanding of how natural disasters have shaped human civilization throughout history. Similar to other submerged cities around the world, the settlement beneath Lake Issyk-Kul serves as a sobering reminder of nature's power to erase even the most prosperous communities. The excavation, conducted jointly by the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences with the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan, will form the basis for future research and scientific publications aimed at preserving Issyk-Kul's underwater heritage.

• Top image: Marine archaeologist holds up one of the finds under the water of Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan.  
• Source: Russian Academy of Sciences

By Gary Manners

References

• Heritage Daily. 2025. Traces of submerged city discovered beneath Lake Issyk-Kul. Available at: https://www.heritagedaily.com/2025/11/traces-of-submerged-city-discovered-beneath-lake-issyk-kul/156372
• Mail Online. 2025. The real Atlantis? Scientists discover traces of a submerged city hidden beneath the surface of a lake in Kyrgyzstan. Available at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-15290723/Atlantis-traces-submerged-city-lake-Kyrgyzstan.html

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{ https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-0 }

14-11-2025 om 23:34 geschreven door peter  

However, decades later, a fresh academic review of the seminal work raises significant questions about many of its claims. In a new paper published in the Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, independent researcher Thomas Kelly examines contemporary periodicals, one of the author’s original notes about the study, and further investigation of the subjects’ later lives, now arguing that the work’s conclusions were inaccurate and derived from the original researchers’ unethical behavior.

Anatomy of a UFO Cult

The story, as told in When Prophecy Fails, is that a UFO cult sprang up around a Chicago housewife, Dorothy Martin, who claimed to channel messages from extraterrestrials. Supporting Martin were her closest lieutenants, Charles Laughead and his wife Lillian, as the cult grew to a small circle of diehard followers.

After Martin’s prediction that a great flood would destroy much of the Earth on December 21, 1954, appeared in newspapers, psychologists from the University of Minnesota joined the group as participant observers.

In the resulting book based on their experiences, the authors of When Prophecy Fails claimed that when the date came and went, the cult members began to experience cognitive dissonance, which they dealt with by doubling down on their beliefs and increasing their proselytization efforts. The work was immensely successful and was followed a year later by Festinger’s A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, another important work in the field of psychology, which more broadly defined the phenomenon of cognitive dissonance while making many references to the UFO cult events. 

Reconsidering When Prophecy Fails

Researcher Thomas Kelly is a political scientist by training, with a PhD from UC Berkeley, and has previously published on health policy. He explained to The Debrief how, after reading When Prophecy Fails for personal interest, he became concerned with the influential work’s accuracy.

“When I read the book, alarm bells went off in my head because the authors made sweeping claims while offering anecdotes that often seemed to undermine their main thesis,” Kelly explained. “For example, they would discuss how the cult rarely proselytized in one chapter, and in the next introduce a book publisher that they were hoping would print a book of their teachings.”

“As I read more about the case, each document made When Prophecy Fails look worse,” Kelly continued. “For instance, Festinger’s book A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance offered an account of the events of When Prophecy Fails, but he altered the account in several ways even though they were only published a year apart.”

Kelly noted his greatest surprise was at how often the researchers documented their active encouragement of the cult’s beliefs during moments of doubt, which he discovered in Festinger’s newly released papers.

Kelly traces Martin’s later career as “Sister Thedra,” a period marked by claims that she channeled both Jesus and extraterrestrial beings. At the same time, the Laugheads continued to promote their beliefs in prophecy and alien contact. When Kelly notes that Martin eventually recanted, the reality appears more nuanced than a simple admission of error. Martin suggested that her belief that the followers would be taken up in a spaceship might have referred not to a literal ascent, but to a spiritual uplifting—though she later conceded that no one can make precise, date-specific predictions. Interestingly, some of Sister Thedra’s subsequent followers seem to have been unaware of the original 1954 events that gave rise to her earlier notoriety.

Fundamentally, Kelly’s work clearly illuminates many ethical breaches in When Prophecy Fails, and underscores the authors’ narrow focus on how groups respond to falsified predictions. However, not everyone feels that Kelly’s arguments completely upend the decades-old research, and it is important to note that Kelly’s paper offers a relatively narrow and specific refutation of the ideas in When Prophecy Fails and its claims regarding cognitive dissonance.

“I think it’s an interesting take, which could have been fleshed out a bit more with additional examples and evidence,” commented Aaron Gulyas, a historian specializing in UFO and conspiratorial beliefs, regarding Kelly’s new perspectives on the work, though arguing that it may not entirely refute the primary argument of When Prophecy Fails. 

“The focus on the ‘proselytization’ angle seems a bit narrow to me,” Gulyas told The Debrief. “I thought that Kelly might have paid more attention to the way that Martin’s and the Laugheads’ commitment to UFO belief deepened despite the failure of the ‘prophecy.’”

“I’ve always had serious concerns about the ‘infiltration’ angle of the study, and Kelly’s article indicates that there were certainly ethical issues at play here,” Gulyas concedes. “At the same time, I don’t think flaws in the study undermine the concept of ‘cognitive dissonance’ as much as Kelly seems to!”

Mythologizing When Prophecy Fails

Still, Kelly argues that there should have been more careful criticism of When Prophecy Fails closer to its publication. “Neither the cult leader, Dorothy Martin, nor her key followers, Charles and Lilian Laughead, were obscure; they were discussed in mainstream newspapers and UFO magazines,” Kelly says.

It would have been easy, he says, “for supporters of When Prophecy Fails to interview them or pick up a copy of already published magazines that would have cast doubt on When Prophecy Fails as soon as it was published.”

Despite the work’s influence, a few earlier critics did question some of its methodology. From a direct reading of When Prophecy Fails, even without Festinger’s recently released papers, many today would indeed conclude that the researchers were too closely involved in the cult’s activities, with the authors and additional paid observers accounting for a third of its membership. Additionally, the group’s high public profile and media attention likely influenced their behavior to persist with their UFO beliefs.

This isn’t the first time that events underlying some of the most dramatic psychology studies have been questioned. In 2019, Thibault Le Texier published Investigating the Stanford Prison Experiment: History of a Lie. In his book. Le Texier investigated how Philip Zimbardo’s famous 1971 psychology experiment, which cast participants as guards and inmates in a mock prison, was deeply flawed and explicitly designed to produce a desired outcome. Despite serious issues with the study, it went on to become a highly influential work of psychology, even appearing as evidence in the trial of a former Abu Ghraib prison guard.

Overall, Kelly’s research offers new clarity regarding the flawed methodology present in When Prophecy Fails, and a much-improved understanding of the subjects and their subsequent lives within the UFO and occult communities.

“The standards and norms of every field of study change over time, and reappraisals like this are useful,” Gulyas said.

The paper, “Debunking ‘When Prophecy Fails’,” appeared in the Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences on November 4, 2025.

• Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.

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

14-11-2025 om 23:20 geschreven door peter  

Overview

Ars Technica recently sat down with particle physicist Daniel Whiteson, co‑author of the newly released book Do Aliens Speak Physics? And Other Questions About Science and the Nature of Reality. Illustrated by cartoonist Andy Warner, the volume uses speculative scenarios to probe how humanity might—or might not—communicate with an extraterrestrial intelligence. The conversation, conducted shortly after the book’s launch, highlights Whiteson’s long‑standing interest in the philosophical limits of physics and his concern that the “universal” nature of scientific laws may be more human‑centric than commonly assumed.

Physics Beyond the Human Lens

Whiteson, a researcher on the ATLAS experiment at CERN, explains that his curiosity stems from a “implicit promise” that physics reveals truths that hold everywhere. He cautions, however, that this promise may be oversold. “None are fundamental, and we don’t understand why anything emerges,” he told Ars Technica. The book therefore asks whether the mathematical frameworks we rely on—geometry, calculus, quantum theory—would be recognizable to a species whose sensory apparatus and evolutionary pressures differ radically from ours. By framing each chapter around a concrete, fictional first‑contact vignette, the authors illustrate how even basic concepts such as “force” or “mass” could be alien to an intelligence that perceives the universe through a completely different set of constants.

Linguistic and Cultural Barriers

Beyond the abstract question of shared mathematics, the authors delve into linguistic and cultural obstacles. An alien language would likely be shaped by its environment—gravity, atmospheric composition, or the presence of a magnetic field could dictate the range of perceivable frequencies. Moreover, cultural constructs such as time, individuality, or even the notion of “science” may be absent. Whiteson notes, “Their language will be shaped by their home environment, broader culture, and even how they perceive the universe.” The book explores scenarios where attempts at symbolic exchange break down because the underlying semantic frames are incompatible, echoing real‑world challenges faced by human linguists when deciphering undocumented languages.

SETI, Consciousness, and Alternative Physics

The work also touches on ongoing SETI strategies, which typically assume that an advanced civilization would transmit signals rooted in universal mathematics (e.g., prime number sequences). Whiteson argues that this assumption may be naïve if alien cognition operates on principles outside current physical theory—such as emergent consciousness that directly manipulates spacetime, a notion occasionally floated in fringe discussions of quantum mind‑matter interactions. While the book does not endorse speculative physics, it treats these ideas as boundary conditions for thinking about communication: if an extraterrestrial species harnesses “alternative physics,” our detection methods might miss them entirely. The authors thus call for a broader, interdisciplinary approach that includes philosophy, biology, and even art to anticipate non‑standard modes of contact.

Reception and Future Outlook

Do Aliens Speak Physics? has been praised for its blend of rigorous scientific insight and accessible storytelling. The collaboration between Whiteson and Warner, who “cold‑emailed” each other to combine expertise with whimsical illustration, results in a volume that is both educational and entertaining. Early reviewers highlight the book’s ability to make abstract concerns—like the potential distortion of observation by a “human lens”—tangible through imagined dialogues with alien scientists. As humanity continues to scan the cosmos for technosignatures, the authors suggest that preparing for communication failures may be as crucial as the search itself. Their final message: the path to first contact will likely require humility, interdisciplinary dialogue, and a willingness to rethink what we consider “universal” in science.

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{ https://usubjects.com/ }

14-11-2025 om 23:06 geschreven door peter  

Comet C/2025 K1 ATLAS has broken up. Its nucleus has split into several fragments, as shown in recent images taken on November 13.

Not that comet ATLAS

C/2025 K1 ATLAS should not be confused with the much more famous interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, which is currently the focus of global attention. Both were discovered in 2025 by the ATLAS system, a network of robotic telescopes designed to search for small near-Earth objects and warn of possible collisions with Earth. This is why the word ATLAS appears in the designation of both comets.

As for the alphanumeric designations, they are deciphered as follows. In the case of C/2025 K1/ATLAS, the letter “C” means that the comet is long-period (its orbital period around the Sun exceeds 200 years), 2025 is the year of its discovery, the letter “K” is the half-month of discovery (the second half of May), and the number 1 indicates that it is the first comet discovered during that half-month.

In turn, in the case of comet 3I/ATLAS, the letter “I” means that it is an interstellar object, and the number 3 means that it is the third such object found. In the future, as the number of interstellar objects found increases, changes may be made to their designation system.

Golden Comet

Although C/2025 K1 ATLAS is not an interstellar visitor, it is still a rather curious object. The comet arrived from the Oort Cloud, a cluster of icy bodies located at the far reaches of the Solar System. This means that its material has never been exposed to solar radiation.

On October 8, C/2025 K1 ATLAS passed the perihelion of its orbit at a distance of 0.33 AU (50 million km) from the Sun. The comet surprised scientists by acquiring a very rare golden color. Subsequent studies revealed that C/2025 K1 ATLAS contained very few carbon-containing molecules, such as dicarbon, carbon monoxide, and cyanide. In the absence of these compounds, light is reflected differently, creating a golden glow effect. This peculiarity in the chemical composition is probably due to the fact that the comet originated in the Oort cloud.

Initially, astronomers believed that due to its fragility and small size, C/2025 K1 ATLAS would not survive perihelion. However, to the surprise of many, the comet passed through it intact. Nevertheless, the encounter with the Sun did not remain without consequences. Images taken on November 10 showed that the comet’s nucleus had begun to fragment. Three days later, astronomers confirmed the fragmentation of C/2025 K1 ATLAS. Its nucleus broke up into at least three fragments.

Before its demise, comet C/2025 K1 ATLAS was moving along a hyperbolic trajectory. This means that if any of its fragments manage to survive, they will be ejected from the Solar System forever, after which they will continue their journey through interstellar space.

{ https://universemagazine.com/en/articles-en/ }

14-11-2025 om 20:42 geschreven door peter  

The European Space Agency has published images taken by the Mars Express spacecraft. They show traces of the Martian ice age.

Over the past 2.5 billion years, our planet has experienced several ice ages. These were part of an ancient geological cycle caused mainly by changes in the Earth’s orbit around the Sun and fluctuations in its axis of rotation. The last glaciation peaked about 20,000 years ago, lowering the planet’s average temperature to 7–10 °C (8 °C lower than today).

But Earth is not the only planet to have experienced glaciation. Ice ages also occurred on Mars, as clearly demonstrated by images taken by the Mars Express spacecraft. They show an area known as Coloe Fossae.

Coloe Fossae is crisscrossed by long parallel lines resembling scratches. These are the remains of glaciers that repeatedly advanced and retreated, gradually carving out deep depressions and trenches. Like other parts of Mars, this region is covered with numerous craters of varying degrees of erosion. At their bottom, you can see another sign of the glacial period: spiral patterns.

These patterns provide insight into the climate of the Red Planet in the past. They were formed when ice flows covered with a thick layer of rock material slowly flowed across the surface of Mars (something similar happened on Earth).

The area photographed by Mars Express is located at 39° north latitude, which is very far from the north pole and raises the obvious question of how ice could have reached such low latitudes. The answer lies in the pulsation of advancing and retreating glaciers. Although Mars is currently dry, throughout its history it has experienced alternating periods of warming and cooling, freezing and thawing, caused by changes in the tilt of its axis.

During cold periods, ice spread from the poles of Mars to the mid-latitudes, and when it got warmer, it receded, leaving behind characteristic traces. Spacecraft have discovered valleys and craters filled with glacial deposits across this entire latitudinal band, evidence of global climate change on the planet. This area may have been covered in ice as recently as half a million years ago, when the last ice age ended on Mars.

Earlier, we reported on how Mars Express photographed a potential landing site for a manned expedition.

• According to ESA

• Posted in News, Science

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{ https://universemagazine.com/en/articles-en/ }

14-11-2025 om 20:32 geschreven door peter  

Story by Ally Webb

 

X - The Economic Times© X - The Economic Times

A colossal comet, 3I/ATLAS, is making headlines as it streaks through our solar system at more than 124,000 miles per hour. Discovered on July 1, 2025, this interstellar visitor—originating from beyond our Sun’s gravitational reach—is the third confirmed object from outside our solar system. Scientists are captivated by its size, speed, and unusual behavior, marking it as a rare opportunity to study the building blocks of distant star systems.

Unprecedented Size and Speed

X - Atlas CTO© X - Atlas CTO

3I/ATLAS stands out for its sheer scale. With a core estimated at 3.4 miles wide, it dwarfs previous interstellar visitors like 1I/’Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov. Some experts suggest it could be millions of times more massive than ‘Oumuamua if both were solid rock, though the exact composition remains uncertain. Its velocity and trajectory confirm it is not bound to our solar system, traveling on a hyperbolic orbit with an eccentricity of about 6.1—the highest ever recorded for such objects. This means 3I/ATLAS is just passing through, having spent most of its existence frozen in deep space before being warmed by the Sun’s approach.

Global Discovery and Tracking

Photo by Typical-Plantain256 on Reddit

© Photo by Typical-Plantain256 on Reddit

The comet’s detection was a triumph of international collaboration. First spotted by the ATLAS telescope in Chile, astronomers quickly identified earlier images from June 2025 at observatories around the world. By pooling data, scientists reconstructed its path before its official discovery, showcasing the power of rapid global teamwork. Major observatories in Chile, Hawaii, California, and Australia have since joined the effort, making 3I/ATLAS the most closely studied interstellar object to date.

Surprising Behavior Near the Sun

Photo by Cosmos Prodigy on YouTube

© Photo by Cosmos Prodigy on YouTube

As 3I/ATLAS neared the Sun in late October 2025, it exhibited baffling changes. It accelerated faster than gravity alone could explain, a phenomenon known as “non-gravitational acceleration,” likely caused by jets of gas and dust erupting from its surface. Simultaneously, its color shifted from reddish to blue, and it brightened at an extraordinary rate. These behaviors are unlike those of typical solar system comets, raising questions about its origins and composition.

Scientific Stakes and Theories

Photo by Yuri Beletsky Nightscapes on Facebook© Photo by Yuri Beletsky Nightscapes on Facebook

The comet’s unique chemistry—particularly its high ratio of carbon dioxide to water, about 8 to 1—suggests it formed under conditions very different from those in our solar system. NASA scientist Charles Lisse described its composition as “well baked and boiled,” indicating it may have originated close to its parent star before being ejected into space billions of years ago. Some researchers, including Harvard’s Avi Loeb, speculate that its odd movements could hint at an “internal engine” beyond simple outgassing, though most scientists favor natural explanations. 

Public and Industry Impact

3I/ATLAS has sparked widespread public interest, with social media abuzz and hashtags like #AlienComet trending. NASA’s Sean Duffy has clarified there is “no aliens and no threat to Earth,” while physicist Michio Kaku has warned against misinformation and deepfake videos. The event also highlights the growing relevance of space monitoring for both scientific research and commercial ventures, such as asteroid mining. As the comet moves away, its legacy will likely influence future missions and planetary defense strategies, offering a rare glimpse into the chemistry and dynamics of distant worlds.

NASA Confirms 3I/ATLAS Accelerates Without Gravity And Heads For Earth’s Line Of Sight

{ Amaze Lab }

14-11-2025 om 18:32 geschreven door peter  

Shocking evidence puzzles astronomers about what mysterious interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS could be

By CHRIS MELORE, US ASSISTANT SCIENCE EDITOR

The interstellar visitor blazing through our solar system shows startling signs that it may not be a comet, but something truly alien. 

The object, known as 3I/ATLAS, recently survived a scorching flyby of the sun completely intact, something no natural comet should be able to do.

A Harvard professor had said that humans would learn the truth about the visitor's origins after it reached its closest point to the sun on October 29, when it should have begun to melt and a huge cloud of dust should have formed around it.

However, the latest data has revealed that 3I/ATLAS is still a single, bright object with no pieces breaking off and no cloud of fragments or debris, further supporting Loeb's theory that the object could be an alien mothership maneuvering around the sun.

Instead of a shattered mess, astronomers David Jewitt and Jane Luu found an intact body surrounded by a glowing coma, a fuzzy envelope of gas that is stretched out in two directions, one pointing toward the sun and another away from it.

The new images captured by the Nordic Optical Telescope in Spain also revealed that 3I/ATLAS still has a mysterious 'anti-tail' pointing toward the sun, despite the object now moving away from our home star. Scientists have argued this could be an optical illusion.

A comet's tail is a trail of dust and debris behind it as the rocks are blasted by sunlight and solar wind.

However, the new photos taken on Tuesday also spotted two giant jet-like streams blasting out for hundreds of thousands of miles from the object's surface, which defy the laws of science.

New images of 3I/ATLAS taken by the Nordic Optical Telescope in Spain have just been released and show the alleged comet has not broken apart

The object has also developed an anti-tail point toward the sun and two massive jets shooting material out into space

One has been shooting material out into space in the direction of the sun, while the other is nearly three times as long and appears to be pointing in the opposite direction.

Based on the size of 3I/ATLAS, which is roughly 3.5 miles across, Harvard professor Avi Loeb has said these jets can't be naturally explained as water vapor pouring out of the comet because there isn't enough ice there to produce such massive streams.

'Technological thrusters which point their exhaust towards the sun would accelerate away from the Sun,' Loeb said.

'This post-perihelion maneuver might be employed by a spacecraft that aims to gain speed rather than slow down through the gravitational assist from the sun.'  

Loeb's theory that 3I/ATLAS has a technological origin has been met with scrutiny by many in the scientific community.

Astronomers throughout the world have maintained since its discovery in July that the object is a comet with an unusual chemical makeup from a distant solar system that formed under conditions far different from our own.

This includes shooting out streams of frozen carbon dioxide (CO₂) instead of normal water vapor, like comets that formed within our solar system.

However, the images revealed that the unexplained jet pointing toward the sun is 620,000 miles long, while the stream facing away from the sun is 1.86 million miles in length.

3I/ATLAS passed the sun on October 29, but new images show it has remained in one piece, which is unusual for a comet

Optical images captured on November 9 (pictured) reveal that 3I/ATLAS is ejecting enormous jets of material both toward and away from the sun

The presence of those giant jets means 3I/ATLAS was spitting out an enormous amount of material as it passed the sun in late October and early November, roughly five billion tons per month.

For a natural comet to release that much gas and dust, it would need a huge amount of ice being vaporized by the sun's heat, and the three-mile-long 3I/ATLAS simply isn't that large.

Loeb calculated the supposed comet would have needed an icy surface at least 14 miles across if it was composed of CO₂ ice and a staggering 32 miles across if 3I/ATLAS was venting water ice into space.

'This raises a new anomaly of 3I/ATLAS that must be explained by those who wish to shove the anomalies of 3I/ATLAS under the carpet of traditional knowledge on solar system comets rather than consider alternatives,' Loeb explained.

On Wednesday, Florida congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, chairman of the House Oversight Committee investigating reports of UFOs and extraterrestrials, said some information gathered on 3I/ATLAS was still being withheld from the public.

Luna revealed that she was denied access to classified information on the interstellar object by the Pentagon, and also alleged that members of the US intelligence community were actively blocking the truth of 3I/ATLAS from being released.

'I do believe it's a passing through comet, and so I don't think we are going to have any contact with any non-human intelligence yet, but the ruling is still out there on what this is,' the congresswoman told NewsMax.

3I/ATLAS is expected to make its closest approach to Earth on December 19

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14-11-2025 om 18:13 geschreven door peter  

The real Atlantis? Scientists discover traces of a submerged city hidden beneath the surface of a lake in Kyrgyzstan

• READ MORE: Astonishing evidence of Atlantis reveals advanced civilization

By JONATHAN CHADWICK, ASSISTANT SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR 

The legend of Atlantis tells us that the world may be dotted with lost settlements – and scientists may have just discovered one. 

Explorers at the Russian Academy of Sciences have found 'traces of a submerged city' beneath Lake Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan. 

The massive salt lake has a maximum depth of 2,192 feet (668 metres), making it the eighth-deepest lake in the world, but the remains are remarkably shallow. 

These telling pieces of evidence include the remains of a medieval burial ground, large ceramic vessels and parts of a building made of baked bricks. 

t's thought the city housed Muslim prayer houses, schools, bathhouses and possibly even a grain-milling operation for making bread. 

Expedition leader Valery Kolchenko, researcher at the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, said it was an 'important' commercial settlement. 

But in the 15th century it was lost to a terrible tragedy that can be 'compared to the Pompeii' disaster in scale. 

'The site we are studying was a city or a major trading hub,' Kolchenko said. 

Traces of a lost city at relatively shallow depths have been discovered by archeologists beneath Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan

Scientists have reportedly uncovered a 'medieval necropolis' with fired-brick structures and ceramic vessels at the northwest of the lake

Appearing from space as a stunning blue void, Lake Issyk Kul is nearly 500,000 feet (182km) long and just under 200,000 feet (60km) wide. 

The mysterious Issyk-Kul has no known outflow, although some experts claim it is linked to a local river by a channel deep underground. 

Surrounded by the dramatic Tianshan mountains, it has risen dramatically since ancient and medieval times, which is why the ruins now lie underwater.

As reported by Heritage Daily, excavations have taken place at the the flooded Toru-Aygyr complex at the lake's northwest, an important point on an ancient trade route. 

Archeologists surveyed four underwater zones at very shallow depths of three feet to 13 feet (one to four metres) near the lake's shoreline. 

In the first one, they discovered numerous fired-brick structures including one containing a millstone – a huge circular stone used for crushing and grinding grain – plus collapsed underwater stone structures and wooden beams. 

Researchers think they've uncovered traces of a public building that possibly served as a mosque, bathhouse or a school, known as a madrassa. 

The three other zones also revealed evidence of an early burial ground, a 13th century Muslim necropolis, and round and rectangular structures made of mudbrick. 

Archaeologists and divers are pictured at the site, surrounded by the dramatic Tianshan mountains

Burials have also been found that have preserved signs of traditional Islamic rituals – the skeletons face north with their faces turned towards the Qibla, to which Muslims turn at prayer. 

According to the Russian Geographical Society, which funded the project, 'all this confirms that an ancient city really once stood here'. 

Eve so, the samples have already been sent for analysis and accelerator mass spectrometry dating – a highly accurate method that can determine the age of organic materials. 

This lost settlement at Toru-Aygyr was a 'city or a large commercial agglomeration' on one of the important sections of the Silk Road, the historic network that connected Europe and Asia.

Active from the second century BC until the mid-15th century, the Silk Route facilitated the exchange of silk, spices, precious metals and ideas between China and the Mediterranean and played a key role in the spread of industry, art and religion. 

But the city at Lake Issyk-Kul was devastated by a 'terrible earthquake' at the beginning of the 15th century, causing the settlement to go under, according to Kolchenko. 

'According to our assessment, at the time of the disaster, the residents had already left the settlement,' he said. 

'After the earthquake disaster, the region’s population changed drastically, and the rich medieval settlement civilization ceased to exist.' 

Issyk-Kul (pictured) has a maximum depth of 2,192 feet (668 metres), making it the eighth-deepest lake in the world

It's generally believed the story about the world of Atlantis was first told 2,300 years ago by the Greek philosopher Plato who made it up, but some history fans persist with the idea that it actually existed (artist's impression)

Once the civilization fell, nomadic people took its place and today the shoreline of the lake is dotted with small villages.

Land sinking to the seafloor is not unusual; in fact Britain is also surrounded by former islands and coastal spots that are now submerged, many sunk by wild weather events.

One of these is Ravenser Odd, a short-lived medieval city on an island in the Humber Estuary, described as 'Yorkshire's Atlantis' in reference to the world's most famous fictional island. 

It's generally believed the story of Atlantis was first told 2,300 years ago by Greek philosopher Plato who made it up, but some fans persist with the idea that it actually existed. 

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14-11-2025 om 17:51 geschreven door peter  

This Russian Woman Claimed to Have Super Psychokinetic Powers, Could Move Objects with Her Mind, Magnetize Items, and Affect Organs.

Nina Kulagina was particularly interesting to the United States government, which possessed unbelievable telekinesis abilities. Stranger still, her supernatural achievements are detailed in multiple US federal reports.

Nina was born in St. Petersburg in 1926. At 14, she was recruited to fight against the Nazis in World War II. During her service in the Red Army, she was seriously injured, ending her military career. Afterward, she got married and had children. But soon, strange things started happening to her.

One day, when she was furious, Nina noticed objects around her moving on their own. She thought it might be a poltergeist. Over time, she realized that these movements were linked to her strong emotions.

Curious, Nina began practicing to control this strange ability, known as psychokinesis. At first, she struggled to move objects at will. But with persistence, she managed to move small items like matchsticks just by thinking about it.

As her confidence grew, she could move heavier objects and even develop other psychic abilities, such as sensing what was in a stranger’s pocket or identifying colors while blindfolded.

However, the intense mental training started to affect her health, and she ended up in the hospital for exhaustion. While there, the medical staff witnessed her strange powers. Soon after, the state authorities took an interest in her.

Nina attracted the attention of parapsychologists and doctors across Russia. Many were doubtful about her supposed supernatural abilities. Forty scientists, including two Nobel Prize winners, studied the mysterious housewife and conducted various strict experiments. To the experts’ surprise, she repeatedly succeeded in many tests under controlled conditions, showing impressive skill.

After confirming her telekinetic abilities, doctors examined her. They found that her heartbeat, brain waves, and electromagnetic field changed during psychokinesis. Each session was closely monitored by researchers. Here are some of the intriguing paranormal accomplishments they recorded and filmed:

• Physically moving objects & altering their rotation.
• Cracking an egg, then reassembling the shell fragments.
• Imprinting images on undeveloped film. Magnetizing or demagnetizing things.
• Altering living cells and organic tissue. Modifying essential physiological functions.
• Affecting internal organs such as the heart.

On March 10, 1970, Nina Kulagina, a housewife and former member of the Red Army tank regiment, stopped a frog’s beating heart using only her mind.

According to the Soviet doctors monitoring her, Kulagina’s own heart rate increased dramatically during the seven minutes it took her to mentally stop the frog’s heart. It had taken her 20 minutes to prepare for the exercise.

Dr. Genady Sergeyev claimed that normally frog hearts remain active in solution up to 1.5-2 hours after removal from the frog. In the first of the experiments, the electrocardiogram (EKG) indicated activity ceased about 7 minutes after Kulagina began concentrating on “stopping the heart.” The heart had been in a ceramic container.

In the second experiment, with the heart in a metallic container, heart activity ceased after 22 minutes. In both these experiments, Kulagina was 1.5 meters from the “target” hearts. (U) Sergeyev measured weak electric and magnetic fields at the target heart that correlated with some of Kulagina’s physiological activity.

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This may have been responsible for the effect noted on heart activity. (U) In another experiment, Kulagina attempted to increase the heart rate of a skeptical physician.

Electroencephalogram, electrocardiogram, and other parameters were measured in both. Abrupt changes in these parameters were noted in both people within 1 minute after the experiment began. After 5 minutes, Sergeyev judged that the heart activity of the physician had reached dangerous levels, and the experiment was terminated.

Subsequent analysis indicated a definite synchronous effect was noted between certain heart parameters for both the physician and Kulagina. Sergeyev apparently views psychokinetic-type phenomena as being closely related to healing-type phenomena and apparently has done (and is doing) considerable investigations in this direction. (Source)

As the arms race unfolded and the atmosphere of deep suspicion intensified, both the U.S. and the USSR focused enormous resources on innovating ever-stranger and more sophisticated modes of spycraft. One of them was psychic power.

It was an odd turn for the Soviets, considering that they saw mysticism the same way they saw religion: as an “opiate of the masses,” in Marxist terms. As historian Annie Jacobsen writes in her book Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government’s Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis, the Soviets had outlawed anything in the realm of the paranormal — that is, until they realized they might be able to use mysticism to spy on their enemies, and did an ideological about-face.

But first, they had to couch their activities in more scientific terms. In a 1963 edict, “Soviet nomenclature around ESP was rewritten to sound technical,” writes Jacobsen, “thereby severing all ties to ESP’s occult past.” She goes on to list some of the notable terminological changes this entailed: telepathy became “long-distance biological systems transmissions.” Psychokinesis (moving physical objects with the mind) became “non-ionizing, in particular electromagnetic, emissions from humans.” (Source)

In the 1960s, the Soviets studied energy around humans to control physical systems. They believed understanding this energy could be as powerful as atomic energy.

Meanwhile, the US discovered strange signals coming from a Moscow apartment, aimed at the US Embassy. This led the Pentagon to start a secret program to duplicate the signals. Later, the US studied Soviet psychic powers, like a woman who could move objects with her mind.

A report concluded that the Soviets were developing ways to control human behavior through hidden means, and their interest in psychic powers was huge. In 1978, the CIA started a secret program called StarGate to develop psychic abilities, especially “remote viewing”. This meant using psychic powers to describe places far away, like Soviet military bases, just by knowing their coordinates.

The results were often surprisingly accurate. The CIA called this unusual way of gathering information “anomalous cognition”. Some of the strange activities of StarGate were documented in the book “The Men Who Stare At Goats”, which was later made into a film.

The psychic programs always had their detractors, but they persisted into the 1990s and possibly beyond. In 1984, The Washington Post reported that the CIA continued to take psychic research seriously, adding that “Former CIA director Stansfield Turner told critics their skepticism about the CIA’s psychic projects was healthy, but that research should keep pace with their skepticism.”

For her part, Kulagina was suspected by magicians and other skeptics of rigging her supposedly psychic feats. She was called out by the Russian newspaper Pravda as a fraud. She sued for defamation in 1987 and was granted a partial victory. But her exposure didn’t change the Soviet and even post-Soviet pursuit of a psychic advantage.

Officials involved in the program report that groups of military psychics were employed by Russia as recently as the Chechen wars. (Source)

Nina struggled much to prove her psychic abilities and would have given many such experiments. But, near the end of her life, in her late seventies, she seems to have lost her powers, and her health did not support conducting scientific tests to prove her abilities. According to some reports, her psychic abilities were the root cause of her heart attack.

So, the truth behind Nina’s abilities wied along with her. At her funeral, the Soviets praised Nina Kulagina as a “Hero of Leningrad” who fought for her people and her country. But, till now, some Russians believe in her psychic abilities that are yet to be proven genuine even today.

Whether or not the Soviet Union faked Kulagina, or if she really did have profound psychokinetic abilities, remains a mystery.

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13-11-2025 om 21:12 geschreven door peter  

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13-11-2025 om 21:04 geschreven door peter  

UFO lights 12:30 AM Bensalem, Pennsylvania, USA Nov 6, 2025 UAP paranormal sighting news, alien 👽

Date of sighting: Nov 6, 2025

Location of sighting: Bensalem, Pennsylvania, USA

Source: NUFORC

 

A person recorded a glowing sphere around the back yard. It was cloaked, however its outer surface can be partly seen above in two different location, revealing two UFOs. Fantastic catch, very rare, but the UFO did give itself away by accident. 

Scott C. Waring 

 

Eyewitness states: 

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

13-11-2025 om 20:54 geschreven door peter