NASA Returns to the Moon in 2026

NASA’s Artemis II mission will get the year off to an early start with current plans for an early-February launch for the first crewed lunar flyby since the Apollo program ended in 1972. Over the course of 10 days, it will bring astronauts around the Moon and back. During that time, Artemis II will test essential systems ahead of future moon landings under the Artemis program. These include the Orion life support system and optical communications between Earth and the Moon. Additionally, the mission will deploy cubesats from several countries, including Argentina, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea.

Through NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, the space agency will send essential materials to the lunar surface this year through two missions with private commercial partners. These missions will serve as important steps toward a crewed Artemis III Moon landing and, eventually, a permanent lunar base.

Intuitive Machines IM-3

The Intuitive Machines IM-3 mission builds on the IM-2 mission, which was cut short in 2025 due to touchdown errors, leaving the Athena lander unable to generate sufficient power. IM-3 will include multiple landers, a rover, robotic explorers, and an environmental monitor, with a particular focus on investigating the Reiner Gamma lunar swirl. The strange spiraling features known as lunar swirls are linked to magnetic anomalies that have long been observed on the Moon. IM-3 will investigate their nature and, ideally, provide scientists with new insights into how they form. 

Meanwhile, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 2, set for late 2026, and its Elytra Dark orbital vehicle will deploy both Blue Ghost and the ESA’s Lunar Pathfinder satellite. After Blue Ghost sets down on the far side of the moon, Elyta will stay in orbit to provide communications relay and radio frequency calibration support for five years. The mission will lay the groundwork for permanent habitation by identifying helpful resources, testing lunar power network technologies, and improving lunar communications.

This year, SpaceX hopes to make Starship’s first orbital flight

(Credit: SpaceX)

From the Moon to Mars with SpaceX

SpaceX plans to continue operations with its twelfth Starship launch, which is expected to reach suborbital altitude. The booster stack for the launch has already been assembled, keeping the mission on track for February or March. Following that, flight thirteen may achieve Starship’s first orbital flight, proving the vehicle’s spaceworthiness. 

Later in the year, SpaceX has even more ambitious plans for Starship, including testing and demonstrating its Human Landing System for a crewed Artemis III mission and possibly launching uncrewed upper stages to Mars. From October to December, the 2026 Mars launch window will be open, a period when the two planets are optimally positioned for the shortest, most fuel-efficient journey between them every 26 months.

In 2024, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk outlined a plan to send five Starships loaded with Optimus robots to scout resources and prepare infrastructure for crewed missions scheduled for later windows. By May 2025, Musk estimated a 50% chance of meeting this goal. Later in the year, he admitted it was looking increasingly unlikely, but there was still a chance. Notably, the SpaceX website still states that the next launch window is in 2026, with no clear indication whether this goal will be met.

Another American aerospace company, Vast, is targeting a 2026 launch for the first-ever commercial space station. They will turn to SpaceX to launch the Haven-1 space station in May with a Falcon 9 rocket, followed by a 14-day crewed mission in June, arriving via a SpaceX Crew Dragon. Haven-1 will host a 10-slot microgravity research and manufacturing platform, along with amenities for a crew of four, available to paying customers

NASA Launches in 2026

Musk isn’t the only one taking advantage of the 2026 Mars window. In November, NASA launched the ESCAPADE mission into Earth orbit. Once the launch window opens, ESCAPADE, using Earth’s gravity, will slingshot to the red planet, where its two identical satellites will study how space weather affects the strange Martian magnetosphere.

To establish long-term habitability, the mission will explore how space weather, the planet’s thin atmosphere, and its magnetic crust interact. Scientists hope this new data will conclusively reveal how Mars lost its thick atmosphere. Data from the project will be essential to long-term safe habitation on the Red Planet, as it will enable mission planners to mitigate the effects of dangerous space weather in an environment that depends on artificial life support systems.

Several other NASA missions will make progress this year. The Discovery Program’s Psyche spacecraft will use a Mars gravity assist this summer to catapult it on its journey to the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche. The Europa Clipper Mission will use another gravity assist from Earth in December to fling it on its way to its final destination. In 2030, once it arrives at Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, it will assess whether the moon is habitable.

Over the summer, NASA will launch a group of small cubesats about the size of toasters as part of its SunRISE (Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment) mission. Focused on space weather, the mission will monitor solar radio bursts and map the Sun’s magnetic field. As NASA extends human missions to the Moon and beyond to Mars, a better understanding of how the Sun’s charged particles can affect spacecraft will be essential to mission safety.

China’s previous lunar mission, Chang’e-6, returned samples from the far side of the Moon.

Credit: CNSA

Chinese Space Exploration in 2026

America is not the only country with grand space ambitions for 2026. China’s Chang’e 7 is anticipated to launch toward the end of the year. Named for the Chinese moon goddess, the Chang’e series has focused on investigating the lunar surface, which will continue with Chang’e 7’s exploration of the lunar south pole.

This area is particularly interesting for its cold traps: the shadowy craters that never receive enough direct sunlight to become illuminated. Their perpetual darkness leaves them with stores of frozen water and other minerals that could make them an essential supply for future permanent bases. The mission includes an orbiter, a relay satellite, a lander, a rover, and a mini-flying probe. While NASA has already sent missions such as LRCROSS to the area, future missions, including Artemis III, will revisit it.

To investigate another rocky body in space, the Chinese Tianwen-2 sample-return mission will rendezvous with the asteroid 469219 Kamo’oalewa in July for exploration and sample collection.

China’s Space Telescope

In addition to another lunar mission, China will add a new companion to its Tiangong space station, which launched in three sections between 2021 and 2022. Tiangong is China’s first long-term space station and has been used to host numerous experiments in low Earth orbit. The new addition is a space telescope named Xuntian, expected to capture 40% of the sky during its mission, with a field of view approaching 350 times that of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Initially, the telescope was to be part of the Tiangong itself, but concerns about light pollution, vibration, and the space station obstructing the view led China to decide to launch Xuntian as a free-standing object in the same orbit as the space station. The mission is planned to last 10 years. It will utilize five onboard instruments: a survey camera, a terahertz receiver, a multichannel imager, an integral-field spectrograph, and a cool-planet imaging coronagraph.

These images will allow researchers to measure the positions, shapes, and brightnesses of nearly one billion galaxies, providing new context for their growth and evolution. To capture them, Xuntian features a two-meter-wide aperture, which enables a field of view 350 times that of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

JAXA’s Hayabusa-2 will continue its mission to investigate asteroids in 2026.

Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser. Asteroid: T. Santana-Ros et al. Hayabusa2 model: SuperTKG (CC-BY-SA).

International Missions in 2026

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) also have major plans for the year. Working together, the ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission will enter Mercury orbit in November 2026, after which it will split into the Mercury Planetary Orbiter and the Mercury Magnetic Orbiter.

As the closest planet to the Sun, the mission will provide new insights into how hot planets near their stars evolve, with particular attention to their magnetic fields and magnetospheres. Additionally, mission measurements of Mercury’s motion will provide essential new data to evaluate Einstein’s general theory of relativity within the post-Newtonian formalism.

On its own, JAXA has two notable events planned. In July, Japan’s Haybusa-2 will conduct a flyby of the asteroid 98943 Torifune as part of its extended mission. More importantly, the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) will launch in 2026 to perform a sample-return mission on the Martian moon Phobos and a flyby of the Martian moon Deimos. The return sample should reach Earth for study sometime in 2031.

Planetary defense will receive some significant attention in 2026 with the ESA HERA mission’s arrival at the asteroid Didymos in November. HERA will follow up on the 2022 NASA DART mission. DART was a practical planetary defense test that used a kinetic impactor to alter the course of an asteroid. With its two cubists, HERA will rendezvous with the binary asteroid Didymos to observe the aftermath of DART’s impact up close.

2026 will not just be a year of beginnings but also of endings. The ESA’s Solar Orbiter mission is scheduled to conclude in 2026, with a possible 2030 extension under consideration.

With a plethora of launches, gravity slingshots, tests, landings, flybys, and sample return missions slated for the upcoming year, don’t expect the space news to slow down in 2026.

• 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.

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01-01-2026 om 18:12 geschreven door peter  

Mysterious Dead Sea Scrolls code finally cracked revealing 2,000-year-old biblical writings

• READ MORE: 'Lost' books of the Bible expose secrets the Church is hiding about Jesus

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

After more than 70 years, a scientist has finally decoded one of the last undeciphered writing systems among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The breakthrough centers on the so-called Cryptic B manuscripts, two heavily damaged fragments labeled 4Q362 and 4Q363 that were long considered 'impossible' to read because they used an unfamiliar alphabet.

Researcher Emmanuel Oliveiro of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands determined that each cryptic symbol corresponded consistently to letters in Hebrew. 

Once deciphered, the fragments revealed familiar biblical phrases and themes about the end of days, including divine judgment, the coming of a Messiah and the ultimate destiny of Israel. 

Among the phrases is Yisrael (meaning 'Israel'), along with references to Judah, Jacob, and Elohim (meaning 'God').

The manuscripts were produced by the Qumran, a Jewish sect that lived near the Dead Sea more than 2,000 years ago. Known for preserving religious texts, the Qumran community's writings shed light on early Jewish beliefs, ritual practices and prophetic traditions.

The Dead Sea Scrolls, uncovered in caves near the West Bank between 1947 and 1956, include some of the oldest surviving biblical manuscripts, written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and occasionally Greek. 

While Cryptic A was successfully deciphered in 1955, Cryptic B remained a mystery for decades. Its strange symbols, inconsistent handwriting, and tiny surviving fragments made it exceptionally difficult to decode. 

The Dead Sea Scrolls, uncovered in caves near the West Bank between 1947 and 1956, include some of the oldest surviving biblical manuscripts, written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and occasionally Greek 

Only two manuscripts, 4Q362 and 4Q363, use this cipher exclusively, and many pieces of these texts are damaged, with some fragments measuring just a few millimeters across. 

The surviving fragments are tiny, fragile and worn. The leather is cracked, darkened or frayed, and some pieces show margins, stitching holes or wrinkles. 

Letters were written in black ink using fine- or medium-tipped pens, but their shapes, proportions, and spacing are inconsistent, with occasional corrections or double-tracing. 

Overall, the manuscripts show significant variation both within each fragment and between the two texts, highlighting the irregular scribal execution of Cryptic B.

The content of 4Q362 appears religious in nature, employing several biblical idioms.

Fragment 21 references 'Elohim' and 'your glory,' while fragment 18 mentions 'the tents of Jacob,' echoing phrases found in Jeremiah 30:18 and Malachi 2:12. 

In these passages, Judah also plays a role. Jeremiah 30:18, for instance, promises the restoration of Israel after judgment, with God bringing back their fortunes and rebuilding their cities, signaling hope and future renewal. 

Malachi 2:12 warns against unfaithfulness in marriage, emphasizing the importance of remaining loyal to the Hebrew community. 

The breakthrough centerson the so-called Cryptic B manuscripts, two heavily damaged fragments labeled 4Q362 and 4Q363 that were long considered 'impossible' to read because they used an unfamiliar alphabet. Pictured are pieces Pieces of Dead Sea Scroll with Cryptic B

Among the phrases is Yisrael, meaning 'Israel',' (PICTURED) along with references to Judah, Jacob, and Elohim (meaning 'God')

While 4Q362 does not directly quote these passages, its idiomatic language and thematic focus suggest an affinity with prophetic judgments and eschatological promises in biblical traditions.

The fragments also included references to dates and rulers. 

For example, the use of 'the second year' and 'the fifth month' may reflect specific historical or prophetic dating conventions, similar to those found in other biblical and sectarian texts.

One of the most enigmatic features of 4Q362 is the mention of a grave in fragments 2 and 14. 

While graves appear elsewhere in the Bible, none match the details described here. Oliveiro suggested that the word for 'signposts' in fragment 14 could also mean a tombstone, hinting at a possible connection.

4Q363 is even more fragmentary and difficult to interpret, as a repeated phrase appears twice, though it is unclear whether it refers to 'her daughters' or 'her villages.' 

A common name, Benayahu, also appears, but its frequency in other texts prevents a precise identification.

Pictured is a fragments of 4Q363

The reason these messages were encoded remains uncertain, but Oliveiro proposed that the unusual scripts may have served a symbolic or ritual purpose. 

By writing in an unfamiliar alphabet, the scribes could indicate that the content was intended for a select audience, such as priestly elites or scribal initiates, enhancing the text's sacred status without altering its meaning. 

The complexity of Cryptic B lies less in the cipher itself, which is relatively simple, and more in the deliberate distortion of letter shapes, which made it appear undecipherable for decades despite containing no hidden or mystical messages.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

01-01-2026 om 17:43 geschreven door peter  

EXCLUSIVE - The five unsolved mysteries of 2025 that captivated the world... from a UFO surviving a hellfire missile to a 'vast city' under Egypt's pyramids

By CHRIS MELORE, US ASSISTANT SCIENCE EDITOR

As 2025 comes to a close, several mysteries that left the world in stunned disbelief still have yet to be fully explained.

The past 12 months have read like a science-fiction novel, with thousands of UFOs swarming over the US East Coast, an interstellar visitor invading our solar system, and the potential discovery of giant columns under the Egyptian pyramids.

Moreover, scientists and government officials have been unable to disprove all of the wild theories surrounding many of these jaw-dropping events, including one respected scientist's claim that the giant space rock 3I/ATLAS may be an alien craft.

This roller-coaster year actually got off to a running start with the mysterious appearance of drone swarms over the US starting in late 2024, including over then-candidate for president Donald Trump's golf course in New Jersey.

1. The New Jersey drone sightings 

The bizarre drone sightings along the East Coast started in November 2024, with hundreds of people issuing reports to the UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) tracking website Enigma Labs before 2025 even began.

Once the new year rang in, the concerning sightings continued, causing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to put a temporary ban on flying drones in 22 New Jersey towns in January.

The ban did little to stop the sightings, with many Americans spotting 'car-sized drones' making no noise as they invaded the airspace of local military bases and Trump's property.

On his first day back in the Oval Office, Trump said he would start investigating the mysterious drone activity and put his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, on the case. 

Thousands of reports of large, silent drones (Pictured) over New Jersey and sensitive sights along the East Coast started in November 2024 and carried into 2025

The eventual reveal by the White House raised more questions than answers, as the president declared that the drones were 'not the enemy' and had been authorized by the US government to conduct 'research.'

In fact, the FAA failed to mention that drones had been cleared to conduct this alleged research and claimed the objects were 'lawful commercial drones and helicopters.'

To this day, the origin of the drone swarms, their targets over New Jersey and the rest of the East Coast, and their research remain a mystery.

However, an unnamed private firm contracted by the US military eventually took responsibility for the mysterious drone swarms, claiming they were conducting tests of their advanced aerial craft, according to off-the-record comments at an Army summit in August 2025.

2. The Buga sphere

Just weeks after the US drone swarm crisis, an alleged alien probe in South America was not only caught on video, but was recovered from a crash site in Colombia.

Named the Buga sphere, after the city it flew over in March, the strange hovering object was seen striking a power line and landing in a field, where local David Velez el Potro found it and refused to hand it over to the Colombian government.

Scientists who examined the alleged space probe found that it contained a maze of fiber-optic wires and emitted some form of energy that killed the soil and grass it touched and made people sick.

It was also covered in symbols that researchers compared to ancient scripts, including runes, Ogham, and Mesopotamian writing systems - although some skeptical scientists have dismissed the object as an elaborate art project.

The Buga Sphere (Pictured) was recovered by local residents in Colombia in March and has been in the care of scientists in Mexico ever since

Eventually, the Buga sphere was taken to Mexico City for further study by ufologists and other scientists. 

In June, Dr Steven Greer, an American ufologist and retired physician, claimed on X that 'fake policemen' attempted to enter the vault where the suspected UFO was being kept.

Since then, little information has been released about the Buga sphere, which researchers have called the first UFO recovered by private citizens and solely controlled by non-government scientists.

3. Interstellar object 3I/ATLAS

In the summer of 2025, another alleged alien visitor quickly moved into our solar system, marking only the third recorded object to enter our system from elsewhere in the cosmos.

The interstellar object 3I/ATLAS was discovered in early July, with most astronomers quickly moving to declare the visitor a comet, a fast-moving ice ball from a distant solar system.

NASA and the European Space Agency have both declared 3I/ATLAS a comet, but have been criticized for their lack of high-quality images of the space rock compared to photos taken by amateurs using backyard telescopes. 

Moreover, esteemed Harvard physicist Avi Loeb pointed out that the object was no ordinary comet, revealing at least 12 different abnormalities that suggested that the three-mile-long object may have been artificially created by an alien intelligence.

Those clues included having a comet's tail which is facing in the wrong direction of the sun, known as an anti-tail, suggesting the stream is actually exhaust from an engine that's guiding the object through space.

'There are still many unresolved anomalies of 3I/ATLAS. Each of these anomalies has less than a percent random chance and no explanation so far,' Loeb told the Daily Mail on Wednesday.

Loeb added that there's still more time to find out the true origins of 3I/ATLAS, which will pass Jupiter on March 16, 2026.

It has strangely shifted its course to perfectly align with the Lagrange points of Jupiter, a 'parking spot' in space where the gravity of the sun and Jupiter cancel each other out, so the object is not pulled apart.

'It would be interesting to check whether 3I/ATLAS releases any devices as satellites at the Lagrange points,' Loeb added.

Stargazers recently captured brand new clear images of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS (Pictured) using lower quality telescopes compared to those used by NASA

4. 'Vast city' under Egypt's Giza pyramids

A discovery that has been unfolding all year may rewrite the origins of the ancient Egyptians forever. 

In March, Italian researchers claimed to have uncovered 'a vast underground city' which stretches more than 4,000 feet directly underneath the Pyramids of Giza, making them 10 times larger than the pyramids themselves.

The bombshell claim, which many experts claim to have already debunked, came from a study that used radar pulses to create high-resolution images deep into the ground beneath the structures, the same way sonar radar is used to map the depths of the ocean.

In July, the same team identified a colossal vertical shaft leading to two chambers below the Sphinx.

While mainstream archaeologists have slammed the work as unscientific and speculative, the team insists their latest scans point to something extraordinary.

However, the physical proof that these structures really exist has not been presented yet, and answers to what their mysterious purpose may have been did not come in 2025.

Heading into 2026, the research team is hoping to receive permission to dig under both major structures to find traces of the hidden city. They've also submitted a formal proposal for non-invasive access, such as clearing existing shafts at the site.

Scientists used advanced technology to see beneath the three pyramids at Giza, finding evidence of a 'vast underground city' beneath

5. US government weighs UFO and alien disclosure

This year also brought multiple bombshells when it comes to the discussion over UFOs and extraterrestrial life, with the US government reportedly moving closer than ever before to full disclosure of classified reports on aliens.

In September, a panel of US military veterans testified before Congress as whistleblowers into the activities of secret government programs that allegedly had proof that UFOs and extraterrestrials were real.

In one shocking video, the public was shown a US military drone actually firing a Hellfire missile at a UFO, only to see the weapon harmlessly bounce off the extremely advanced craft. 

Congressman Eric Burlison of Missouri revealed video of a US military drone striking an orb-shaped UFO with a missile, which bounced off and did not stop the craft

Since the hearing, Vice President JD Vance doubled down on a promise to 'get to the bottom of' the existence of alien life.

In November, a bombshell documentary called 'The Age of Disclosure' was released, which interviewed a plethora of high-ranking government officials, detailing the alleged 80-year global cover-up of alien life and the technology humans have created using pieces of crashed UFOs.

While the US military has maintained that America has no evidence aliens or UFOs exist, the odds of President Trump revealing what he knows about the topic suddenly skyrocketed in December, leading experts to believe full public disclosure is just days away.

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01-01-2026 om 17:29 geschreven door peter  

Could Ancient Aliens Really Have Existed?

Ancient aliens have become a meme and a tongue-in-cheek sci-fi trope, but could ancient aliens really have existed?

By Riley Raul Reese

"Aliens, dude."

Everyone knows that meme with the stoned-looking historian smiling as he waves his arms in the air. The Ancient Aliens series, which aired on the History Channel, was one of the first television shows to really look into the possibility that humans may not be the only species to have found earth.

Unlike other people who have claimed aliens came to settle earth, the History Channel television series suggested that aliens led to the dinosaurs's extinction. This, of course, is insane. Ancient Alienswas blasted by historians, scientists, and archeologists as psuedo-scientific and revisionist in nature.

However, many people do believe that ancient aliens could have existed and they have some kind of contribution to human history - and sometimes, it's hard to deny something odd is going on.

Truth be told, there are many pieces of archeological evidence and strange mishaps that can't really be explained without some serious questions at hand. Here's some of the biggest arguments for the case of ancient aliens, per those who believe in it.

Alien Statues

Quite a few statues exist across the world that depict creatures that look a lot like grey aliens, astronauts, and other similarly sci fi creatures. The artwork always looks the same, with minor stylistic differences, which makes it even stranger.

The statues and paintings in question always either have heads that look like "space helmets" or large, black eyes and large heads reminiscent of the classic grey alien type.

Most recently, the artifacts that archeologists have found matching this description were discovered in an ancient Mayan city in Mexico. One has to wonder what inspired people to create these works of art, considering that sci-fi wasn't exactly a genre back in those days.

Additionally, the Mayan site in question also had artifacts that apparently depict a flying saucer beaming people up into a ship. Could this be a sign that extraterrestrial visitors actually did come to Earth thousands of years ago?

Ancient Geoglyphs

Geoglyphs are massive works of art that are only visible if you are thousands of feet up in the air. They take loads of planning, and, depending on the kind of geoglyph, could also require advanced technology.

So, how, then, did so many different civilizations create geoglyphs? Moreover, why would they do such things when they themselves would not be able to see the works of art they did? Who were they making these strange marks in earth for? And ultimately, does answer the questions whether of not could ancient aliens really have existed?

Evidence On Mars

For years, the Curiosity rover has been taking amazingly detailed photos of the Martian landscape and sending them back to us. A lot of the photos seem to have things that look like humanoid remains, shiny tubes that come out of the ground, and other eyebrow-raising shots that make us wonder what happened all those years ago.

As of now, scientists are 100 percent sure that Mars used to have more water on it than its current ice caps. However, they aren't sure that there was vegetation or actual life on there. Additionally, if societies lived there, many experts noted that there's not much chance that their technology survived.

Due to the markings left on rocks and other items in the Martian landscape, some scientists believe microbes may still live on Mars - or at the very least, once lived on the planet's surface. We must ask, could ancient aliens really have existed on Mars?

That being said, scientists have also noted that Mars has extremely high levels of radiation at certain points. Though these emissions could be explained through natural means, scientists are beginning to believe that these may have been caused by a war between two factions.

But, if this was the case, where were the cities - and where did the archeological evidence go?

Pyramids, Everywhere

It's kind of fascinating to think about pyramids. Historians aren't quite sure how Egyptians made them - or really, why so many different other civilizations have had them as status symbols.

South American cities had them, Egypt had them, many parts of the Middle East had them, and even ancient China had one or two pyramids that were found by archeologists trying to uncover what life was really like.

Though the pyramids alone don't have anything to do with aliens, people are saying that all of the similarities in the architecture may have something to do with visitors from another planet. Imagine our pyramids were proof that ancient aliens could have existed.

Anachronistic Technology

In Egyptian tombs, there are visible depictions of what appears to be a helicopter and a laptop computer on the walls. There are moments where iron pots have been found in the rocks at Stone Age excavation locations. What appear to be sneaker prints have been found in rocks dated to hundreds of millions of years old.

These discoveries have been so commonplace that they now fall under a category of their own called Out-Of-Place Artifacts, or OOPAs. Who's to say that we aren't just getting a glimpse of some items that visitors may have left behind? Who's to say this doesn't prove that ancient aliens could have really existed.

Even if the anachronism is just depicted in art, it makes you wonder, doesn't it?

The Blunt Truth

While there are definitely some head-scratching moments where archeologists can't explain what's going on, the fact is that the truth is often way less interesting than we want it to be. A lot of this could just be due to cultural shifts, or due to happenstance.

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01-01-2026 om 16:53 geschreven door peter  

Scientists discover the strangest planet ever found in our universe

©The Daily Digest

What did researchers discover now?
The universe is packed with strange cosmic secrets that are often hard for researchers to explain. However, that isn’t the case with the latest bizarre discovery that a group of scientists made while scanning data from the night sky.

©The Daily Digest

A planet full of diamonds
Scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope observed what they described as a ‘lemon-shaped planet’ that could be overflowing with diamonds in its core. How this very strange planet came to be is still a mystery.

©The Daily Digest

Photo Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)

Meet PSR J2322-2650b
PSR J2322-2650b, the official name given to the lemon-shaped diamond world, is what astronomers call an exoplanet, or a planet outside of our solar system. This weird world has about the same mass as Jupiter, but it’s very different.

©The Daily Digest

Photo Credit: Unsplash by Jan Huber

A very exotic atmosphere
NASA noted that PSR J2322-2650b has a very exotic atmosphere that is dominated by helium and carbon. Soot clouds could conceivably be floating through the air across the planet, which in turn could condense near the planet’s core and form diamonds.

©Provided by The Daily Digest

The planet was a surprise
"This was an absolute surprise," Peter Gao, a staff scientist at the Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory in Washington, and co-author of a paper about PSR J2322-2650b published in ‘The Astrophysical Journal Letters’ in early December.

©The Daily Digest

“What the heck is this?”
"I remember after we got the data down, our collective reaction was 'What the heck is this?'" Gao explained. His reaction makes a lot of sense since the strange makeup of PSR J2322-2650b is one of the least bizarre things about the planet.

©The Daily Digest

Photo Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)

Orbiting a pulsar star
PSR J2322-2650b is orbiting what is known as a pulsar star, which NASA noted is a type of rapidly spinning neutron star. Pulsars shoot out a beam of electromagnetic radiation at regular intervals, which will prove to be a big benefit for researchers.

©The Daily Digest

Studying the planet
According to a press release from the University of Chicago, researchers will be able to study the strange lemon-shaped planet across its whole orbit, something that would be very difficult since stars generally outshine their planets.

©Provided by The Daily Digest

A unique system
“This system is unique because we are able to view the planet illuminated by its host star, but not see the host star at all,” explained Maya Beleznay, a graduate student at Stanford University who worked on modelling PSR J2322-2650b’s orbit.

©The Daily Digest

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By NASA/JPL-Caltech, Public Domain

Learning about planet formation
“We get a really pristine spectrum. And we can better study this system in more detail than normal exoplanets,” Beleznay added. Further study of PSR J2322-2650b is very important since it challenges much of what we know about planet formation.

©The Daily Digest

A mystery for now
How the weird lemon-shaped planet came to be is reportedly a mystery. University of Chicago researcher Michael Zhang, the principal author on the recently released study about PSR J2322-2650b, noted that the planet could not have formed normally because of its strange compositon.

©The Daily Digest

The mass of the Sun
“The planet orbits a star that's completely bizarre — the mass of the Sun, but the size of a city,” Zhang explained. “This is a new type of planet atmosphere that nobody has ever seen before.”

©The Daily Digest

The planet is unlike any other
Zhang added that the data showed the planet did not have the normal molecules they expected to see on an exoplanet like water, methane, and carbon dioxide, but rather molecular carbon like C3 and C2.

©Provided by The Daily Digest

Not formed normally
“It's very hard to imagine how you get this extremely carbon-enriched composition. It seems to rule out every known formation mechanism,” Zhang said. However, despite not understanding how this strange planet formed, we do have an idea about how the planet came to take a similar shape to a lemon.

©The Daily Digest

Photo Credit: Unsplash by Eléonore Bommart

How did it get its weird shape?

PSR J2322-2650b is abnormally close to its star. According to the scientists, the planet sits just one million miles away from the pulsar it orbits. Earth, for reference, is roughly 100 million miles away from our Sun. This close distance results in PSR J2322-2650b having a tight 7.8-hour orbit and puts the planet under a lot of gravitational stress.

©Provided by The Daily Digest

Gravity is twisting the planet
The gravitational pressure from being so close to its heavier pulsar star is what has pulled the Jupiter-mass planet into its strange lemon shape that has become the feature of this bizarre exoplanet. The press release from the University of Chicago reported that PSR J2322-2650b and its pulsar are what is known as a “black widow” system

©The Daily Digest

What is a Black Widow system?
“Black widows are a rare type of system where a rapidly spinning pulsar is paired with a small, low-mass companion,” the University of Chicago press release explained.

©The Daily Digest

Photo Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)

PSR J2322-2650b is strange indeed
“In the past, material from the companion would have streamed onto the pulsar, causing it to spin faster over time, which powers a strong wind. That wind and radiation then bombard and evaporate the smaller and less massive star,” the press release added.

 

{ The Daily Digest }

01-01-2026 om 15:37 geschreven door peter  

31-12-2025 om 23:35 geschreven door peter  

Our ancestors were CANNIBALS: Scientists discover grisly evidence ancient human species ate Neanderthal children 45,000 years ago

• READ MORE: Experts reveal what a Neanderthal–human hybrid would look like 

By XANTHA LEATHAM, EXECUTIVE SCIENCE EDITOR

Early humans may have feasted on Neanderthal children 45,000 years ago, according to a grisly new study.

Researchers have analysed bones found in a Belgian cave where cannibalism was known to have taken place.

Scientists find evidence that ancient humans ate children 850,000 years ago.

They revealed the six victims were children and young women who may have been cooked before being eaten.

And while the identity of the cannibals remains unknown, there's the possibility it could have been early Homo sapiens preying on rival Neanderthals, the scientists said.

The Goyet caves, first excavated in the 19th century, have yielded the most important collection of Neanderthals in northern Europe.

A 2016 study showed that a third of the 101 bones uncovered there – mainly from the lower limbs – showed traces of cannibalism with cut marks and notches.

'The composition – women and children, without adult men – cannot be coincidental: it reflects a deliberate selection of victims by the cannibals,' Isabelle Crevecoeur, research director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, said.

'The fact that the cannibalized women and children came from elsewhere indicates "exocannibalism" – the consumption of individuals belonging to one or more external groups.'

The bones of at least six individuals were unearthed at the Goyet caves. Here, XX indicates the females – most likely adults or adolescents – while XY indicates the younger male children

The Goyet caves, first excavated in the 19th century, have yielded the most important collection of Neanderthals in northern Europe

The team combined genetics, isotope analysis and a detailed study of morphology to sketch a biological portrait of the cannibalised individuals.

Analysis of their DNA showed that the four adult or adolescent victims were women of small stature – around 1.5m tall – who were not from the local area. There were also two male children, one infant and one child between 6.5 and 12.5 years old.

A close look at their remains also showed evidence of circular impacts, made to break the bone in order to extract the highly calorific marrow.

All these indications have led to the conclusion that these Neanderthal women and children from elsewhere were brought to Goyet and consumed, the researchers said.

This type of behaviour is already observed in chimpanzees, with the purpose of weakening a neighbouring population or asserting territorial control.

'The Goyet site provides food for thought', Patrick Semal, another of the study's authors from the Royal Belgian Institute of National Sciences, said.

'The results indicate possible conflicts between groups at the end of the Middle Paleolithic, a period when Neanderthal groups were dwindling and Homo sapiens was in full expansion in Northern Europe.

'We cannot rule out that the cannibals were Homo sapiens, but we rather think they were Neanderthals. Some of the fragmented bones were also used to retouch stone tools, and this practice is known mainly among Neanderthals.'

An overview of the cannibalism marks found on the bones, with most appearing on the lower limbs (left) while cut marks and notches are clearly visible on these bones (right)

While the identity of the cannibals remains unknown, there's the possibility it could have been early Homo sapiens preying on rival Neanderthals Pictured: A reconstruction of the face of the oldest Neanderthal found in the Netherlands

Writing in the journal Scientific Reports the team said: 'At Goyet, the unusual demographic mortality profile of the cannibalised individuals (adolescent/adult females and young individuals) cannot be considered natural.

'Nor can it be explained solely by subsistence needs, especially given the abundant associated faunal remains that show similar butchery marks.

'At a minimum, it suggests that weaker members of one or multiple groups from a single neighbouring region were deliberately targeted.

'Although the precise causes of inter–group tensions in Pleistocene contexts remain difficult to establish, the regional chronocultural context is consistent with the hypothesis that conflict between groups played a role in the accumulation of the cannibalised individuals at Goyet.'

They said that even though Homo sapiens are not yet documented in the region at the same time as Neanderthals, there is evidence they were present at around the same time some 600km to the east in Germany.

And while the Homo sapiens predator hypothesis 'cannot be entirely ruled out', they said the most likely explanation for the cannibalism is conflict between Neanderthal groups.

Scientists have long speculated what caused the downfall of the Neanderthals, but a recent study suggests they never truly went extinct at all. 

Scientists in Italy and Switzerland claim the ancient group of archaic humans didn't experience a 'true extinction' because their DNA exists in people today.

Over as little as 10,000 years, our species, Homo sapiens, mated and produced offspring with Neanderthals as part of a gradual 'genetic assimilation'. 

'Our results highlight genetic admixture as a possible key mechanism driving their disappearance,' experts said. 

Our species, Homo sapiens, existed at the same time as Neanderthals for several thousand years, before we became dominant. 

This ancient relative had large noses, strong double–arched brow ridge and relatively short and stocky bodies, skeletal evidence shows. 

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{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

31-12-2025 om 22:42 geschreven door peter  

Octopuses could ‘take over the world and build underwater cities’ one day

Professor Tim Coulson could never imagine his dog inheriting the Earth, building a city of kennels with bones as currency.

But he could easily imagine octopuses squirming on land wearing breathing gear, rifle in hand (tentacle?) to hunt deer and sheep.

As much as this sounds like a cheesy sci-fi movie, this is what the University of Oxford biologist has suggested could be in Earth’s future.

But on one condition – humanity is extinct.

Coulson tells Metro that if humans were to be wiped off the map, it would pave the way for another species.

‘The fate of all species is extinction,’ The Universal History of Us author says. ‘In fact, 99.9% of all species that have ever existed are extinct. So humans will go extinct.’

If we don’t cause our own extinction first, the Earth’s dwindling CO2 or the sun’s inevitable explosion in a few billion years will get us first.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though (except for, well, us). ‘Imagine if that asteroid hadn’t crashed into Earth 66 million years ago,’ Coulson says.

‘Dinosaurs would still be around, and mammals would still be kind of rat-sized animals running around their feet.’

What would an octopus civilisation look like?

In much the same way that the dinosaurs’ dying off paved the way for us, our own vanishing act could pave the way for another species.

Coulson doubts it will be primates who will inherit the Earth. ‘My money is on octopus, they’re going to be the next civilisation builders,’ Coulson says.

An octopus society could use tidal power as an energy source, farming crustaceans and looking up and dreaming of what life is like on land.

‘They could make reverse scuba gear,’ Coulson says.

‘They’d need to create robots to help them move around. You never know, they could be hunting deer.

‘I’m not quite sure how they’d cook it underwater…. maybe a thermal vent.’

Are octopuses really that smart?

Octopuses, with their doughnut-shaped brain and hundreds of millions of neurons, have demonstrated intelligence in many ways.

Studies have shown them wriggling out of mazes, building carts and even stealing fish from laboratory containers and covering their tracks.

Evolution can be thought of as creatures adapting to their environment, with intelligence being less about getting an A on a test and more about the cognitive skills that help an animal survive.

Piero Amodio, a researcher in animal intelligence at Italy’s Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn research centre, tells Metro that no one knows why octopuses are smart.

‘There’s a lot of hype around them. They’re not smarter than a pig or a dolphin but we’re eager to make these comparisons,’ he says.

Among the explanations as to why animals become smart is the social intelligence hypothesis: a dolphin fares better in a pod than solo.

Or there’s the ecological intelligence hypothesis, that critters are forced to become savvy to avoid predators or know where to find food.

Yet, octopuses tend to be loners and don’t live long enough to form bonds. It’s not the size of their brains either, with most neurons being in their tentacles.

Amodio suggests that octopuses’ intelligence was years in the making.

About 275 million years ago, their ancestor lost their shell, which it used to stay buoyant. This allowed them to slither into cracks and hunt for prey.

It also meant other predators could hunt them more easily, forcing them to develop large brains to outsmart their foes.

Amodio warns that octopuses will always be limited, as they don’t have ‘overlapping generations’ like people do.

‘The life humans live today does not stem from a single brain,’ he says. ‘We didn’t learn from scratch how to light a fire or go to space – it took generations.’

So Coulson says that octopuses may evolve to live longer.

Humans evolved at a breakneck speed after Africa dried up a few million years ago. A similar environmental push could happen to octopuses.

How did humans get so smart?

Believe it or not but humans are intelligent, Dr Emma Bird, a palaeoanthropologist at the Natural History Museum, tells Metro.

Our ancestors appeared about seven million years ago, when some apelike creatures in Africa began to walk on two legs. We used to be one of many human species, like Neanderthals.

‘While aspects of our cognition played a part in our ultimate survival over all other human species, the story is much more complex and probably has elements of sheer luck,’ says Dr Bird.

While some human species struggled to survive, Homo sapiens used their ‘intelligence’ to chisel crude tools and form long-lasting bonds.

‘These more subtle and complex aspects of intelligence would have allowed them to more rapidly innovate and adapt their behaviour and culture as well as share cultural knowledge between groups,’ she says.

Dr Bird stresses that humanity is not a story of dominance – for one, we’re 20% Neanderthal because of interbreeding.

‘In that sense, Neanderthals have not vanished entirely; they have shaped who our species is today,’ she adds.

If not octopuses, what else could succeed us? A Planet of the Apes-style world is too boring. Dolphins, meanwhile, lack the dexterity to make tools.

His next bet would be crabs, as ‘you can imagine them doing all sorts of stuff with their pincers’, but they would need to work on their intelligence.

‘It’s fun to speculate about,’ Coulson adds, ‘and the great thing about it is, we’ll be extinct.

‘So when all of this happens, no one can prove me wrong.’

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{ https://metro.co.uk/news/ }

31-12-2025 om 21:41 geschreven door peter  

Alien 'Hoaxes' That Went Viral From Roswell's Flying Saucers to Mexican & Australian X-Files

By SPYSCAPE

When it comes to aliens, the truth is out there... just not necessarily on YouTube, TikTok or Facebook. 

Both the CIA and the Pentagon have released information on ‘unidentified’ flying objects, however, so The X-Files enthusiasts can be forgiven for acting a bit smug these days. We examine 10 of the world’s top alien ‘hoaxes’, searching for signs of intelligence.‍

1. Dead alien found after UFO sighting in Russia ‍

Two Russian men were out for a walk in 2011 when they came across what appeared to be a frozen corpse in the snowy countryside near Irkutsk, in eastern Siberia. But this wasn’t just any old corpse – it was an alien, or was it? Only a month earlier, villagers swore they’d seen bright orange lights in the sky. Could the two incidents be related? Perhaps there had been an extraterrestrial crash? Nyet. More than 12m people viewed the YouTube video and police investigated. It was at this point the men sheepishly confessed: they’d actually made the ‘alien’ out of breadcrumbs and stuffed it into chicken skin as a practical joke. 

2. New Jersey spacecraft stops traffic

A large, threatening spacecraft crept slowly across New Jersey’s sky in 2020 and it wasn’t long before the Twitter and TikTok videos went viral. The extraterrestrial ship with blue flashing lights slowed traffic on the turnpike – some people even got out of their cars to take a better look. Turns out, a Goodyear blimp was passing over New Jersey at the time, getting an aerial television shot of an NFL game at the MetLife Stadium, just west of New York City. And yes, the blimp came in peace. 

3. UFO visits India‍

A ‘spaceship’ hovering precariously close to buildings in Uttar Pradesh, in northern India, created panic in 2016, with photos of the large object spreading feverishly. The UFO photographer quickly disappeared (beamed up?) and the cell phone number couldn’t ever be traced. Despite the mystery, experts decided the UFO was probably created by an app, noting it bore a striking resemblance to a UFO in the movie Independence Day. 

4. UFOs terrify Haiti

An eerie, realistic home video captured 'UFOs' soaring over Haiti in 2007. A woman can be heard gasping. A dog barks. Surely the video must be real? A second video from the Dominican Republic seemed to provide independent corroboration. The Los Angeles Times decided to track down the videographer and others who immediately re-posted the ‘evidence’ and got a swift response from barzolff814 – aka Heather, a 17-year-old Irish girl who’d racked up 2.2m YouTube hits (now 20m!): “Umm yeah. Whatever. You people are stupid. Find something better to do with your time. And get a life.” The Times finally found the source, a professional animator who’d spent 17 hours creating the UFO videos on his MacBook and didn’t want to reveal his name. It seems the animator was just testing his work, thinking he might get a few likes... ‍

5. Six ‘spaceships’ land in England

Wiltshire in southwest England has always been a draw for the alien conspiracists – it is, after all, the home of the legendary Stonehenge, multiple crop circles and a UFO hotspot since the 17th century. But even the locals were astounded when six UFOs landed in Wiltshire, London and four other locations across England in 1967, bleeping, hissing and triggering a major police and military response. The hoax was conjured up by the engineer apprentices at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (later part of the Ministry of Defense) who scattered them overnight. The pranksters wanted to know if the government had a plan if aliens invaded. The Army responded by blowing up one saucer, dropping another and brushing themselves off when one imploded. Police decided not to take action against the apprentices, with one officer saying authorities were “taking it like gentlemen”.

‍

6. Australia’s X-Files

Melbourne’s Kelly and Andrew Cahill said they were driving in August 1993 when they spotted a weird object in the sky with circular orange lights, but that isn’t the shocking part of the story. The couple said they were abducted by tall, skinny aliens with red eyes who burned a triangle into the skin around Kelly’s navel.

The couple ‘awoke’ in their car having lost an hour’s time. “I felt this blow to my stomach and went flying in the air and I heard my husband say ‘Let go of me’, and this male voice that said, 'I mean you no harm'," she told journalists. The Cahills’ story was such a sensation it was mentioned by agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) on The X-Files. Ms Cahill published a bestselling book, did the rounds of the talk shows, then went quiet. The UFO experts at Phenomena Research Australia (PRA) investigated the claims and compiled a 300-page report. In 2020, 27 years after the ‘abduction’, PRA said they were considering releasing their findings - just not any time soon.‍

7. Canada’s closest encounter

Canada has big skies and plenty of land so it should be fertile ground for an alien landing. In May, 1967, amateur geologist Stefan Michalak was prospecting in Manitoba when he spotted two glowing objects. One of the silver crafts landed and Michalak said he had a look inside at the blinking lights.

The craft took off quickly, knocking him on his back, and an opening appeared in the upper portion of the 35-foot disc that hissed and smelled of sulfur. (Luckily, the craft hovered long enough for Michalak to sketch the spaceship above). The UFO spotter became ill afterwards, displaying signs of a radiation burn. Years later, a twisted piece of metal was recovered from the site, which was radioactive. Was it a hoax, military test or an alien landing? Neither Canadian nor the US military have been able to explain the event. Tour guides swear it was a UFO sighting, however, and include it on their trips. The Royal Canadian Mint has even issued a commemorative silver coin that retails for $129.95. The one-ounce coin comes with a black light that can be shone on the currency to reveal a yellowish blast resembling the one that (supposedly) burned Michalak.

‍

8. South Korea is a UFO magnet

‍For a small country, South Korea has a lot of extraterrestrial activity. There have been sightings of ‘Tic Tac’ UFOs (bullet-shaped spacecraft with no wings) and videos showing discs with domed tops hovering over cities and mountain ranges. South Korea’s military took UFO reports rather more seriously in 2019, however, when radar detected ‘traces of flight by an unidentified object’ heading across the frontier from North Korea. Jet fighters were scrambled. Helicopters buzzed over the demilitarized zone separating north and south. Former US president Donald Trump was in the region to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, so the world’s media covered the updates in real time. The frenzy ended minutes later with an announcement from the US Joint Chiefs of Staff: the UFO was a flock of about 20 birds.‍

9. Mexico’s Mulder

There have been so many UFO sightings at Volcán Popocatépetl, Mexico's largest volcano, it has a UFO-spotting camera trained on it 24-7. 'Spaceships' have been seen floating behind it, hovering above, flirting with the flames and even flying directly into its mouth. So it should come as no surprise that UFO-mad Mexico also has its own celebrity UFO-ologist, Jaime Maussan. Maussan visited Peru in 2017, hoping to analyze mummies discovered near the UNESCO World Heritage Nazca Lines (there’s speculation aliens created the lines too).

At least one of Peru’s mummified bodies apparently had an elongated skull and hands with only three fingers, so Maussan teamed up with a TV crew to gather evidence of alien life. Unfortunately, the alien theory was debunked. Snopes, the fact-checking website, pointed out that the website that streamed Maussan’s documentary charges just under $100 a year for videos about alien abductions, crop circles and contact with angels.

10. Roswell, New Mexico’s flying saucer

‍The Roswell Daily Record newspaper headline was clear: ‘RAAF Captures Flying Saucer On Ranch in Roswell Region’. It was July 8, 1947, and the Roswell UFO was the best evidence so far that aliens existed. At first, the Roswell Army Air Field announced that a flying disk had landed on a ranch in a thunderstorm but then changed the story, calling it a ‘weather balloon’. In fact, a rancher may have gathered debris related to a classified US military project to detect atomic bomb tests in the Soviet Union, but that information wasn’t immediately released. UFO believers suspected a cover-up. More than 40 years after the crash, an ex-mortician named Glenn Dennis remained adamant that a Roswell Army nurse had walked in on doctors who were bent over three creatures with small frames and huge, bald heads. (Dennis ran Roswell’s International UFO Museum at the time.) Roswell now hosts a UFO festival and science fiction ‘Galacticon’ celebration each July, inviting visitors from around the world to decide for themselves.

{ https://spyscape.com/articles }

31-12-2025 om 18:30 geschreven door peter  

Alien Encounters: Five Shocking UFO Space Secrets & Cover-up Claims

1. ‘Non-human’ bodies were recovered from a UFO crash site

Whistleblower David Charles Grusch testified under oath at a national security subcommittee hearing that 'non-human biologics’ were found at an alleged UFO crash site. In a remarkable exchange, South Carolina Republican Nancy Mace asked Grusch to elaborate on his knowledge of ‘non-terrestrial bodies’ and ‘biologics’ to which Grusch responded: "Biologics came with some of these recoveries."
‍
Were they human or non-human? "Non-human, and that was the assessment of people with direct knowledge on the program I talked to," Grusch said.

Separately, he confirmed he had not personally seen alien bodies or aircraft but based his testimony on compelling evidence in the form of photography, official documentation, and classified testimony. Grusch said he interviewed 40 witnesses over four years.

Grusch: US aware of non-human intel in the ‘30s

Who is David Grusch? For 14 years, Grusch was an intelligence officer in the US Air Force at the rank of Major and, from 2021-2023, a civilian at the National-Geospatial Intelligence Agency with the military equivalent rank of a full-bird Colonel. He was previously the Agency’s co-lead in UAP - Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena - as well as reporting to UAP Task Force and All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office.

2. The Pentagon is hiding evidence of alien spacecraft from Congress

The US government is accused of conducting a ‘multi-decade’ program that collected and attempted to reverse-engineer crashed UFOs. Grusch also claimed the Pentagon is hiding evidence of alien spacecraft from Congress which he described as “non-human origin technical vehicles”.

Furthermore, Grusch said that while he was on the intelligence community’s task force, he became aware of secret US government programs in charge of unsanctioned technological research related to UFOs.

He explained that much of the information is classified and responded several times: “I can’t discuss that in an open session.”

The Pentagon’s view: In a statement, the Pentagon said it hasn’t discovered “any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse-engineering of extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or exist currently”.

3. US employees who come forward about UFOs and government practices are punished‍

Grusch, who filed a whistleblowing claim two months before the heading, said he had support from colleagues but was also subjected to reprisal: "I do have knowledge of active, planned, reprisal activity against myself and other colleagues."

Grusch said the blowback is coming from 'certain senior leadership at previous agencies I was associated with.' He described some of the behavior as ‘administrative terrorism’ including threats to his colleagues’ career paths. He offered to provide further details in a ‘closed environment’ such as a SCIF - a secure, sound-proofed room where officials with security clearances can examine sensitive intel.

Burchett asked if Grushch had personal knowledge of people who have been harmed or injured in efforts to cover up or conceal extraterrestrial technology. “Yes,” Grusch replied.

“Anyone been murdered that you would - that you know of or have heard of?” Burchett added.

“I have to be careful asking that question,” Grusch responded. “I directed people with that knowledge to the appropriate authorities.”

Asked at one point where the committee could find corroborating information about possible cover-ups, Grusch said he could not answer but encouraged the committee to thoroughly investigate: “As I stand here under oath now, I am speaking to the facts as I have been told

4. UFOs pose a national security threat

Representative Glenn Grothman asked if the witnesses believed UAPs - Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena - posed a threat to US national security.

On Aug. 4, 2020, the U.S. Department of Defense approved the establishment of an Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force (UAPTF). "The mission of the task force is to detect, analyze and catalog UAPs that could potentially pose a threat to U.S. national security," according to the DoD website. 

HowStuffWorks

“Yes," former US Navy Commander David Fravor responded. "The technology that we faced was far superior than anything that we had. If you had one, you captured one, you reverse engineered it, you got it to work.” 

Representative Robert Garcia told the bipartisan committee that more reports should be encouraged: "UAPs, whatever they be, may pose a serious threat to our military and our civilian aircraft, and that must be understood.

5. US Navy pilots David Fravor and Ryan Graves say they've personally seen UFOs

David Fravor, a former commanding officer in the US Navy, and former Navy pilot Ryan Graves have previously gone public with allegations about UFOs but it was breathtaking to hear their first-hand accounts at the House Oversight Committee hearing.

Regarding a 2004 incident, Fravor (pictured right) described a UFO caught on camera that resembled a Tic Tac breath mint: “As all four looked down we saw a small white Tic Tac-shaped object with the longitudinal axis pointing N/S and moving very abruptly over the white water. There were no rotors, No rotor wash, or any visible flight control surfaces like wings,” he testified. “This Tic Tac object… was far superior in performance to my brand new F/A-18F and did not operate with any of the known aerodynamic principles that we expect.”

Graves (pictured left), a former F-18 pilot, said that in 2014 - after the radar system was upgraded - he saw a craft without exhaust plumes or a visible engine ‘almost daily’ flying over the East Coast.

He added that at one point two jets were forced to make evasive maneuvers to avoid a ‘dark gray cube inside of a clear sphere’ that stood motionless against the wind.

Graves' squadron submitted a safety report, but there was no official acknowledgment of the incident.

“Over time, UAP sightings became an open secret among our aircrew,” Graves testified. “They were a common occurrence, seen by most of my colleagues on radar and occasionally up close. The sightings were so frequent that they became part of daily briefs.”

‍

{ https://spyscape.com/articles }

31-12-2025 om 17:41 geschreven door peter  

The Amazon is shifting into a 'hypertropical state' not seen for MILLIONS of years, scientists warn

• READ MORE: 2025 is on track to become the UK's hottest year on RECORD

By SHIVALI BEST, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR 

The Amazon rainforest is shifting into a 'hypertropical state' that has not been seen for tens of millions of years, scientists have warned.

This new, hotter climate could be commonplace by 2100, and will see the rainforest experience more frequent and intense droughts.

Worryingly, experts from the University of California, Berkeley, say this could lead to widespread tree die–off.

In turn, this will impair Earth's ability to remove carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, since tropical rainforests absorb more carbon emissions than any other biome.

The only way to prevent the hypertropical state from occurring is to curb greenhouse gas emissions, according to Jeff Chambers, lead author of the study.

'It all depends on what we do,' he said.

'It's up to us to what extent we're actually going to create this hypertropical climate.

'If we're just going to emit greenhouse gasses as much as we want, without any control, then we're going to create this hypertropical climate sooner.'

The Amazon rainforest is shifting into a 'hypertropical state' that has not been seen for tens of millions of years, scientists have warned. This new, hotter climate could be commonplace by 2100, and will see the rainforest experience more frequent and intense droughts

Usually, the dry season in the Amazon lasts from July to September and brings hotter–than–normal conditions.

However, in hypertropical conditions, the dry season is extended – putting more stress on trees.

'When these hot droughts occur, that's the climate that we associate with a hypertropical forest, because it's beyond the boundary of what we consider to be tropical forest now,' explained Professor Chambers.

Worryingly, the study found that by 2100, hot drought conditions could occur as many as 150 days each year.

In turn, this could increase tree mortality by 0.55 per cent.

'We showed that the fast–growing, low wood–density trees were more vulnerable, dying in greater numbers than high wood–density trees,' Professor Chambers said.

'That implies that secondary forests might be more vulnerable to drought–induced mortality, because secondary forests have a larger fraction of these types of trees.'

Since the annual tree mortality is slightly more than one per cent, an extra 0.55 per cent may not seem like much.

Usually, the dry season in the Amazon lasts from July to September and brings hotter–than–normal conditions. However, in hypertropical conditions, the dry season is extended – putting more stress on trees

However, Professor Chambers explained that it has a cumulative impact on the forest – meaning over time, it could be catastrophic.

What's more, the researchers say that hypertropical conditions are also likely to appear outside the Amazon in rainforests in western Africa and across Southeast Asia.

As global temperatures continue to rise, extreme droughts will increasingly occur throughout the entire year, the researchers added.

'Present–day hot droughts are harbingers of this emerging climate, providing windows of opportunity to better understand tropical forest responses to increasingly extreme future conditions,' the authors wrote.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

31-12-2025 om 15:13 geschreven door peter  

Blind psychic Baba Vanga's prophecy reveals the exact year of humanity's 'absolute doomsday'

• READ MORE: Blind psychic Baba Vanga's prophecies for 2026 hint at humanity facing a mysterious new civilization 

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

A blind psychic who allegedly foretold 9/11 and the Covid pandemic gave an exact date the world would end before her death nearly 30 years ago.

Baba Vanga, known as the 'Nostradamus of the Balkans,' predicted humanity's ultimate demise in the year 5079, when a cosmic event of 'unimaginable' proportions would bring about the complete destruction of the universe.

Her vision follows a detailed timeline depicting humanity's evolution, technological advancements, conflicts and eventual extinction. 

According to multiple reports, her prophecy showed humans expanding across the solar system, achieving immortality and even interacting with extraterrestrial civilizations before facing a final, catastrophic event.

Key milestones in the centuries leading up to 5079 include a war on Mars in 3005, a Moon-collision in 3010 and the extinction of life on Earth in 3797, by which point humans have already colonized a new planet. 

By the 4300s, humanity is advancing technologically and morally, curing all diseases and even increasing brain capacity to eliminate concepts like evil and hatred.

Civilization reaches its peak in 4674, with a population of 340 billion across planets and early integration with alien species.

In the final years, humans discover the boundary of the known universe and debate whether to venture beyond it. By 5079, this decision, or some associated catastrophe, triggers 'absolute doomsday,' ending human civilization and the universe.

Baba Vanga, known as the 'Nostradamus of the Balkans,' predicted humanity's ultimate demise in the year 5079, when a cosmic event of 'unimaginable' proportions would bring about the complete destruction of the universe

Baba Vanga left no written records of her predictions. Most of the accounts come from her niece, Krasimira Stoyanova, or other followers who documented her alleged visions after her death, and who have been accused of misinterpreting what she said.

Born in 1911 as Vangeliya Pandeva Dimitrova, she was a famous blind Bulgarian mystic, clairvoyant and herbalist.

She lost her sight at age 12 after being caught in a tornado, an event that coincided with the emergence of her purported psychic abilities.

After turning 30, her powers of foresight, healing, and fortune-telling became prominent, attracting believers who sought her guidance.

She made numerous prophecies, often vague, about natural disasters, political shifts and future technologies, some of which supporters claim foretold events like the Kursk submarine disaster, Brexit and the rise of ISIS.

One of her most famous predictions was the attack on New York City's Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.

'Two metal birds will crash into our American brothers, wolves will howl from the bushes and the blood of the innocent will flow in the rivers,' she predicted.

While she has legions of followers, experts warn her prophecies are speculative and not grounded in fact.

Key milestones in the centuries leading up to 5079 include a war on Mars in 3005, a Moon-collision in 3010 and the extinction of life on Earth in 3797, by which point humans have already colonized a new planet

According to Baba Vanga's alleged prophecies, humanity's path toward its ultimate end begins far beyond Earth. 

By the year 3005, humans are said to have expanded into space to such an extent that war erupts on Mars, a conflict so severe it alters planetary trajectories. 

Just five years later, in 3010, a comet or asteroid is believed to collide with the moon, sending debris into orbit and forming a visible ring around Earth, dramatically changing the planet's night sky.

Read More

EXCLUSIVE

• Living Nostradamus issues doomsday warning about 'the global order' 

By 3797, all life on Earth is said to be extinguished, forcing humanity to survive by establishing colonies on a new planet elsewhere in the cosmos. 

That survival, however, comes at a high cost. Between 3803 and 3805, scarce resources spark devastating wars among the remaining population, wiping out more than half of humanity and pushing civilization toward collapse, according to Baba Vanga's predictions.

In the aftermath, progress grinds to a halt. From roughly 3815 through 3878, humanity regresses into tribal societies, living

 in scattered groups until the emergence of a new prophet who restores moral order. This figure is said to have founded a powerful church that not only spreads religious teachings but also revives forgotten scientific knowledge, laying the groundwork for a slow recovery.

By the early 4300s, civilization enters a renewed golden age. 

New cities rise, scientific breakthroughs accelerate, and humanity succeeds in curing all known diseases. 

Advances in genetics and neuroscience allow humans to dramatically expand their brain capacity, eliminating concepts such as hatred and evil altogether. 

By 4509, humanity reaches what the prophecy describes as an unprecedented moral state, enabling direct communication with God.

The timeline grows even more extraordinary by the late 45th century. 

In 4599, humans are said to achieve immortality, fundamentally reshaping society. 

Civilization reaches its absolute peak in 4674, with an estimated population of 340 billion spread across multiple planets, and early stages of assimilation with extraterrestrial beings already underway.

In the final years before the end, humans make a discovery that ultimately seals their fate. 

Between 5076 and 5078, explorers locate the boundary of the known universe, a mysterious edge whose true nature remains unknown. 

The revelation divides humanity, with a significant portion opposing attempts to move beyond it. 

Despite the warnings, humanity presses forward, and in 5079, Baba Vanga's prophecy culminates in what she described as 'absolute doomsday,' bringing about the destruction of human civilization, and possibly the universe itself.

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{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

31-12-2025 om 15:00 geschreven door peter  

Blind psychic Baba Vanga's prophecy reveals the exact year of humanity's 'absolute doomsday'

• READ MORE: Blind psychic Baba Vanga's prophecies for 2026 hint at humanity facing a mysterious new civilization 

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

A blind psychic who allegedly foretold 9/11 and the Covid pandemic gave an exact date the world would end before her death nearly 30 years ago.

Baba Vanga, known as the 'Nostradamus of the Balkans,' predicted humanity's ultimate demise in the year 5079, when a cosmic event of 'unimaginable' proportions would bring about the complete destruction of the universe.

Her vision follows a detailed timeline depicting humanity's evolution, technological advancements, conflicts and eventual extinction. 

According to multiple reports, her prophecy showed humans expanding across the solar system, achieving immortality and even interacting with extraterrestrial civilizations before facing a final, catastrophic event.

Key milestones in the centuries leading up to 5079 include a war on Mars in 3005, a Moon-collision in 3010 and the extinction of life on Earth in 3797, by which point humans have already colonized a new planet. 

By the 4300s, humanity is advancing technologically and morally, curing all diseases and even increasing brain capacity to eliminate concepts like evil and hatred.

Civilization reaches its peak in 4674, with a population of 340 billion across planets and early integration with alien species.

In the final years, humans discover the boundary of the known universe and debate whether to venture beyond it. By 5079, this decision, or some associated catastrophe, triggers 'absolute doomsday,' ending human civilization and the universe.

Baba Vanga, known as the 'Nostradamus of the Balkans,' predicted humanity's ultimate demise in the year 5079, when a cosmic event of 'unimaginable' proportions would bring about the complete destruction of the universe

Baba Vanga left no written records of her predictions. Most of the accounts come from her niece, Krasimira Stoyanova, or other followers who documented her alleged visions after her death, and who have been accused of misinterpreting what she said.

Born in 1911 as Vangeliya Pandeva Dimitrova, she was a famous blind Bulgarian mystic, clairvoyant and herbalist.

She lost her sight at age 12 after being caught in a tornado, an event that coincided with the emergence of her purported psychic abilities.

After turning 30, her powers of foresight, healing, and fortune-telling became prominent, attracting believers who sought her guidance.

She made numerous prophecies, often vague, about natural disasters, political shifts and future technologies, some of which supporters claim foretold events like the Kursk submarine disaster, Brexit and the rise of ISIS.

One of her most famous predictions was the attack on New York City's Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.

'Two metal birds will crash into our American brothers, wolves will howl from the bushes and the blood of the innocent will flow in the rivers,' she predicted.

While she has legions of followers, experts warn her prophecies are speculative and not grounded in fact.

Key milestones in the centuries leading up to 5079 include a war on Mars in 3005, a Moon-collision in 3010 and the extinction of life on Earth in 3797, by which point humans have already colonized a new planet

According to Baba Vanga's alleged prophecies, humanity's path toward its ultimate end begins far beyond Earth. 

By the year 3005, humans are said to have expanded into space to such an extent that war erupts on Mars, a conflict so severe it alters planetary trajectories. 

Just five years later, in 3010, a comet or asteroid is believed to collide with the moon, sending debris into orbit and forming a visible ring around Earth, dramatically changing the planet's night sky.

Read More

EXCLUSIVE

• Living Nostradamus issues doomsday warning about 'the global order' 

By 3797, all life on Earth is said to be extinguished, forcing humanity to survive by establishing colonies on a new planet elsewhere in the cosmos. 

That survival, however, comes at a high cost. Between 3803 and 3805, scarce resources spark devastating wars among the remaining population, wiping out more than half of humanity and pushing civilization toward collapse, according to Baba Vanga's predictions.

In the aftermath, progress grinds to a halt. From roughly 3815 through 3878, humanity regresses into tribal societies, living

 in scattered groups until the emergence of a new prophet who restores moral order. This figure is said to have founded a powerful church that not only spreads religious teachings but also revives forgotten scientific knowledge, laying the groundwork for a slow recovery.

By the early 4300s, civilization enters a renewed golden age. 

New cities rise, scientific breakthroughs accelerate, and humanity succeeds in curing all known diseases. 

Advances in genetics and neuroscience allow humans to dramatically expand their brain capacity, eliminating concepts such as hatred and evil altogether. 

By 4509, humanity reaches what the prophecy describes as an unprecedented moral state, enabling direct communication with God.

The timeline grows even more extraordinary by the late 45th century. 

In 4599, humans are said to achieve immortality, fundamentally reshaping society. 

Civilization reaches its absolute peak in 4674, with an estimated population of 340 billion spread across multiple planets, and early stages of assimilation with extraterrestrial beings already underway.

In the final years before the end, humans make a discovery that ultimately seals their fate. 

Between 5076 and 5078, explorers locate the boundary of the known universe, a mysterious edge whose true nature remains unknown. 

The revelation divides humanity, with a significant portion opposing attempts to move beyond it. 

Despite the warnings, humanity presses forward, and in 5079, Baba Vanga's prophecy culminates in what she described as 'absolute doomsday,' bringing about the destruction of human civilization, and possibly the universe itself.

RELATED VIDEOS

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

31-12-2025 om 15:00 geschreven door peter  

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30-12-2025 om 22:12 geschreven door peter  

Activist and researcher Amanda Nguyen, who flew on Blue Origin’s all-female spaceflight in April 2025, has admitted to suffering from severe psychological distress after the mission. After months of battling depression, she has reported feeling better and shared her experience of overcoming severe trauma.

Dream that turned into a challenge

In her Instagram post, Amanda revealed the deep depression that overwhelmed her after returning to Earth.

“Another dream turned into a nightmare,” she wrote. Nguyen described feeling that all her achievements – her scientific work, her historic status as the first Vietnamese woman in space – were “buried under an avalanche of misogyny” and hostile comments in the media.

A 34-year-old woman, the child of refugees who fled Vietnam by boat, felt like a “collateral victim.” She couldn’t get out of bed for weeks, and a month after the flight, she couldn’t speak through her tears during a call from a Blue Origin employee.

Despite her experiences, Amanda emphasized the positive outcomes of the mission. The flight drew attention to her breast cancer research and helped achieve the goal of using science as a tool for diplomacy. She recalled the symbolism: when Neil Armstrong was on the moon, bombs were falling on Vietnam, and now her family had seen a Vietnamese woman in space.

“We arrived in boats, and now we are in spaceships,” she wrote.

The road to recovery

Eight months later, Nguyen felt that “the fog of grief had begun to lift.” In her diary, she wrote, “I am happy to report that my depression is gone.” She concluded that the past never completely leaves us, but she is proud that she kept her promise to fight for her dreams and focus on kindness.

“The best gift this season is that I feel the fog lifting. I can say that it won’t take years,” Amanda Nguyen summed up.

Earlier, we reported on how a space tourist “saw death” after flying on New Shepard.

• Provided by eonline.com

• Posted in Business, News, Tech

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30-12-2025 om 21:56 geschreven door peter  

The Star of Bethlehem might have actually been a comet described in an ancient Chinese text

by Krystal Kasal, Phys.org - edited by Stephanie Baum, reviewed by Andrew Zinin

Many researchers have spent decades attempting to decode biblical descriptions and link them to verifiable historical events. One such description is that of the Star of Bethlehem—a bright astronomical body that was said to lead the Magi to Jesus shortly after his birth.

Although many attempts have been made to link the Star of Bethlehem to astronomical bodies, the unique motion of the "star" did not quite fit any known object. However, a new research study, published in Journal of the British Astronomical Association, describes a likely candidate for the bright object seen above Bethlehem over 2000 years ago—a comet described in an ancient Chinese text.

Nonsensical motion

The biblical text in question occurs in the book of Matthew and describes a "star," which the authors of the study suggest may be any celestial object. The text says that the star "went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was." The star is described as being in the eastern sky. The study authors meticulously analyzed the context and potential meaning of the story.

They write, "The passage indicates that after the Star appeared to precede the Magi on their short journey to Bethlehem, it reached a position over the town, perhaps overhead near the zenith, where its motion came to a noticeable stop for a period coincident with their arrival."

Of course, this motion is not typical of most astronomical objects, like stars and planets. Instead, most astronomical objects simply appear to rise in the east and set in the west, due to the rotation of Earth. This led to three interpretations: the story is simply a myth used to make a point and no such object existed, it was an actual miracle or there is a natural (although, rare) astronomical event that explains the motion.

Some researchers held onto the idea that there is a physical explanation. After all, there are some situations where an object might appear to stop temporarily in the sky. In particular, an object that is in geosynchronous motion with Earth will appear to be motionless in the sky. This can theoretically occur with a comet if it is in the right place and moving at the right velocity.

A few different comets have been suggested, such as Halley's Comet, but these did not fit the timing or placement needed for the Star of Bethlehem. And so, the authors of the new study conducted a search of many historical documents to find mention of any other observed astronomical events during the time period.

A potential match

A passage in a Chinese document known as the Han Shu (History of the Former Han Dynasty), caught the attention of the study authors with the mention of a "broom star"—known to be a term for a comet—in the "second month" of the "second year."

"The 'second month' of the 'second year' corresponds to the Chinese lunar month spanning 5 BCE [from] March 9 to April 6, which falls neatly within the estimated window for Jesus's birth. Being visible 'for over 70 days' suggests that the object was likely bright," the study authors explain.

The researchers also say that period fits with the life of King Herod, who ordered a massacre of male children under two years old in an attempt to kill Jesus. Herod ruled Judea as a Roman client king from 37 BCE to 4 BCE.

Simulations were conducted to generate possible comet orbits fitting the observations. The numerical modeling showed that this comet could have passed close enough to Earth in June of 5 BCE, to exhibit the "temporary geosynchronous" motion needed to make it appear to pause overhead for several hours. The best-fit orbit showed the comet would have appeared nearly stationary over Bethlehem for about two hours.

Positive omens and Magi motivations

The team also asked the question: "How could a comet appearing in Capricornus in March/April of 5 BCE have convinced the Magi that a king had been born in Judea, prompting them to undertake a long journey?"

To attempt to better understand their motivations, the researchers examined ancient astrological and cultural beliefs that the Magi may have been exposed to in order to explain why they would interpret the comet as a sign indicating the birth of Jesus. They found mentions of comets signifying both good and bad omens in both Greco-Roman and Mesopotamian texts.

"A major criticism of the comet hypothesis is that ancient astrologers interpreted the omens associated with their appearance as harbingers of evil, rather than as signs of good tidings such as a new king. However, closer examination of comet omens will show that interpretations of comet appearances were not always negative," the study authors explain.

They found that some omens in Mesopotamian texts could even have been interpreted to link a comet's appearance with events in the royal families of client kingdoms and that it is possible that this influenced the Magi's belief that the birth of a new Judean king had occurred.

Whether or not the comet mentioned in the Han Shu was the same celestial body witnessed over Bethlehem, the study authors say that this study has proven that such an object could exist that would explain the event.

They conclude by saying, "This study shows that it is no longer justifiable to claim that 'no astronomical event' could possibly have behaved in the manner described by Matthew."

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{ https://phys.org/space-news/ }

30-12-2025 om 21:42 geschreven door peter  

The star described in the Gospels, which heralded the appearance of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem, behaves extremely strangely for a celestial body. However, scientists have calculated that under certain conditions, a comet could exhibit similar behavior. They even found a possible candidate.

The Star of Bethlehem

Recently, the Journal of the British Astronomical Association published an article in which scientists attempted to explain the nature of the star that, according to the Bible, heralded the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem and guided the three wise men from the East to him. Surprisingly, they found a completely rational explanation for it.

This is not the first time scientists have tried to understand whether there is any real astronomical event behind the Gospel myth. And it is clear that the word “star” can actually mean any celestial body. However, in the Gospel of Matthias, where it is described in the most detail, its behavior seems too strange.

Based on the text, the star of Bethlehem was initially somewhere in the east, then, overtaking the Magi, it flew west and hovered somewhere at the zenith above the city where Jesus was born. And it is precisely its stopping in one place that seems most strange. Whether it is a planet, a comet, or something else in space, its rotation should be affected by the rotation of our planet; that is, one way or another, it should rise and set during the day.

But in reality, there is one object that truly seems to hover above one place – a satellite in geostationary orbit. Of course, it actually moves, but its linear velocity is such that its angular velocity coincides with the Earth’s rotation.

Comet from Chinese sources

And now scientists have calculated that the same suspension effect could have occurred when a comet flew close to Earth. Of course, it did not enter geosynchronous orbit. But it moved much faster than a satellite in geostationary orbit. This means that at some point, it could have actually hovered over Bethlehem for a couple of hours.

And the most interesting thing is that the authors have already found a good candidate for the role of the Star of Bethlehem – a comet mentioned in the Chinese chronicle “Han Shu,” also known as the History of the Former Han Dynasty. According to this document, the comet appeared in the second month of the second year and was visible for 70 days. This means that it was indeed very bright.

The specified time period is March-April 5 BC. And this coincides perfectly with assumptions about the true date of Jesus’ birth. After all, King Herod, the same one who is credited with the mass murder of infants, ruled Judea from 37 to 4 BC. So, from this point of view, everything is indeed reliable.

However, opponents of the “comet” theory have another argument. In the tradition of Eastern mystics, which theoretically included the three wise kings, the comet was associated with something bad. However, researchers have recently discovered that this is not entirely true, as its appearance could also be linked to events in the royal family. So it could indeed have been perceived as a sign of the birth of a new king.

• Provided by: phys.org

• Posted in News, Science

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

30-12-2025 om 21:30 geschreven door peter  

NASA scientists have proposed a new, unexpected source of energy that could sustain life in the deep ocean of Jupiter’s moon Europa. It may not be deep heat, but radioactive elements seeping from the ocean floor.

A revolutionary model was presented at the annual conference of the American Geophysical Union. It suggests that the key to life may lie not in the moon’s interior, but in the rocks at the bottom of its ocean. Radioactive decay of uranium and potassium in these rocks could provide the energy necessary for biology.

The scale of the possible biosphere

Researchers were inspired by terrestrial ecosystems in deep-sea hydrothermal vents, where microorganisms exist thanks to chemosynthesis – the process of obtaining energy from chemical reactions. A similar process may occur on Europa. Radioactive decay splits water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen ions, which can become “fuel” for microbes.

A team led by planetary scientist Ngoc Tuan Truong has modeled the concentration of radioactive isotopes in Europa’s ocean. Calculations showed that the energy released is sufficient to sustain biomass equivalent to a thousand blue whales. This discovery is particularly important in light of new data on Europa’s thick ice crust, which may insulate the ocean from the heat of the core.

Checking the theory

Evidence for this theory may be found by NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, which will reach Jupiter’s system in 2030. The spacecraft will study the composition of the ice and the deep processes of the moon. If the hypothesis is confirmed, Europa will be revealed as a world where life can feed on the energy of radioactive decay – a rather original scenario for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

Earlier, we explained whether Europa will be habitable when the Sun becomes old and red.

• Provided by science.org

• Posted in News, Science

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30-12-2025 om 21:22 geschreven door peter  

It is quite possible that Mars was the first planet in the solar system where life originated. And only later did microorganisms from Mars reach Earth. So, from a certain point of view, we may be all Martians.

A bold hypothesis

How did life begin on Earth? While scientists have theories, they don’t yet fully understand the precise chemical steps that led to biology, or when the first primitive life forms appeared.

But what if Earth’s life did not originate here, instead arriving on meteorites from Mars? It’s not the most favored theory for life’s origins, but it remains an intriguing hypothesis. Here, we’ll examine the evidence for and against.

Timing is a key factor. Mars formed around 4.6 billion years ago, while Earth is slightly younger at 4.54 billion years old. The surfaces of both planets were initially molten, before gradually cooling and hardening.

Life could, in theory, have arisen independently on both Earth and Mars shortly after formation. While the surface of Mars today is probably uninhabitable for life as we know it, early Mars probably had similar conditions to early Earth.

The possibility of life forming on Mars

Early Mars seems to have had a protective atmosphere and liquid water in the form of oceans, rivers, and lakes. It may also have been geothermally active, with plenty of hydrothermal vents and hot springs to provide the necessary conditions for the emergence of life.

However, about 4.51 billion years ago, a Mars-sized, rocky planet called Theia crashed into proto-Earth. This impact caused both bodies to melt together and then separate into Earth and its moon. If life had begun before this event, it certainly would not have survived it.

Mars, on the other hand, probably didn’t experience a global remelting event. The red planet had its fair share of impacts in the violent early solar system, but evidence suggests that none of these would have been large enough to destroy the planet, and some areas could have remained relatively stable.

So if life arose on Mars shortly after the formation of the planet 4.6 billion years ago, it could have continued evolving without major interruptions for at least half a billion years. After this time, Mars’ magnetic field collapsed, marking the beginning of the end for Martian habitability. The protective atmosphere disappeared, leaving the planet’s surface exposed to freezing temperatures and ionizing radiation from space.

The time required for life to emerge

But what of Earth: how soon did life appear after the impact that formed the moon? Tracing the tree of life back to its root leads to a microorganism called Luca – the last universal common ancestor. This is the microbial species from which all life today is descended. A recent study reconstructed Luca’s characteristics using genetics and the fossil record of early life on Earth. It is inferred that Luca lived 4.2 billion years ago – earlier than some previous estimates.

Luca was not the earliest organism on Earth, but one of multiple species of microbe existing in tandem on our planet at this time. They were competing, cooperating, and surviving the elements, as well as fending off attacks from viruses.

If small but fairly complex ecosystems were present on Earth around 4.2 billion years ago, life must have originated earlier. But how much earlier? The new estimate for the age of Luca is 360 million years after the formation of Earth and 290 million years after the moon-forming impact. All we know is that in these 290 million years, chemistry somehow became biology. Was this enough time for life to originate on Earth and then diversify into the ecosystems present when Luca was alive?

A Martian origin for terrestrial life circumvents this question. According to the hypothesis, species of Martian microorganism could have traveled to Earth on meteorites just in time to take advantage of the clement conditions following the moon’s formation.

The timing may be convenient for this idea. However, as someone who works in the field, my hunch would be that 290 million years is plenty of time for chemical reactions to produce the first living organisms on Earth, and for biology to subsequently diversify and become more complex.

Surviving the journey

Luca’s reconstructed genome suggests that it could live off molecular hydrogen or simple organic molecules as food sources. Along with other evidence, this suggests that Luca’s habitat was either a shallow marine hydrothermal vent system or a geothermal hot spring. Current thought in the origin of life field is that these kinds of environments on early Earth had the necessary conditions for life to emerge from non-living chemistry.

Luca also contained biochemical machinery that could protect it from high temperatures and UV radiation – real dangers in these early Earth environments. However, it’s far from certain that early life forms could have survived the journey from Mars to Earth. And there’s nothing in Luca’s genome to suggest that it was particularly well adapted to space flight.

To have made it to Earth, microorganisms would need to have survived the initial impact on Mars’ surface, a high-speed ejection from the Martian atmosphere, and travel through the vacuum of space while being bombarded by cosmic rays for at least the best part of a year.

They would then have needed to survive the high-temperature entry through Earth’s atmosphere and another impact onto the surface. This last event may or may not have deposited it in an environment to which it was even remotely adapted.

The chances of all of this seem pretty slim to me. However difficult the transition from chemistry to biology may appear, it seems far easier to me than the idea that this transition would occur on Mars, with life forms surviving the journey to Earth, and then adapting to a completely new planet.

The resilience of microorganisms in space

It’s useful to look at studies of whether microorganisms could survive the journey between planets. So far, it looks like only the hardiest microorganisms could survive the journey between Mars and Earth. These are species adapted to preventing damage from radiation and capable of surviving desiccation through the formation of spores.

But maybe, just maybe, if a population of microorganisms were trapped in the interior of a sufficiently large meteorite, they could be protected from most of the harsh conditions of space. Some computer simulations even support this idea. Further simulations and laboratory experiments to test this are ongoing.

This raises another question – if life made it from Mars to Earth within the first 500 million years of our solar system’s existence, why hasn’t it spread from Earth to the rest of the solar system in the following four billion years? Maybe we’re not the Martians after all.

• Provided by: phys.org

• Posted in News, Science

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30-12-2025 om 21:08 geschreven door peter  

For several weeks, residents across multiple Cincinnati neighborhoods have reported a persistent and unusual eerie sound that appears to have no clear point of origin. 

This is not the first time people have reported hearing strange sounds. Over the years, unexplained noises have been documented around the world, from mysterious sky booms and trumpet-like blasts to The Hum, a persistent low-frequency tone heard by only a small percentage of the population. 

Such phenomena are often tentatively linked to geological activity, industrial operations, or unusual atmospheric conditions. Some have even suggested a connection to unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP/UFO) in our skies. Despite decades of reports, these sounds continue to baffle both scientists and residents alike, and to this day, no definitive explanation for their sources exists.  

The noise Cincinnati is described as an oscillating, siren-like tone rising and falling in pitch, sometimes lasting for extended periods, sometimes stopping abruptly. Those who hear it say it is impossible to locate, yet difficult to ignore. 

While unexplained sounds are not uncommon in dense urban environments, what has drawn attention in this case is the lack of a confirmed explanation despite weeks of reports. 

One potential explanation involves aging locomotive equipment operating at a nearby rail yard. Certain engines are known to produce low-frequency acoustic effects that can travel considerable distances under specific atmospheric conditions. 

However, a spokesperson for the rail company has stated that they are unable to confirm the rail yard as the source of the sound. 

As of now, no person, agency or company has publicly identified the origin of the mysterious noise.

{ http://ufosightingshotspot.blogspot.com/ }

30-12-2025 om 20:58 geschreven door peter