5 Key Characteristics Unique to UFOs

Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs) have captivated the curiosity of experts and enthusiasts alike for many years, showcasing behaviors that challenge our conventional understanding of physics and technology.

by Ivan Petricevic

 

The presence of these five unique observations forces us to reevaluate our understanding of UAPs. To unravel the mystery, we need more data and comprehensive research to better comprehend what we are witnessing. 

{ https://curiosmos.com/ }

27-01-2025 om 21:40 geschreven door peter  

When searching for alien life, it’s not unusual to use Earth as a test bed for theories and even practice runs. Perhaps one of the most tantalising places in the Solar System to look for life is Saturn’s moon Enceladus. It has a liquid water interior and it is here that life may just be possible. A team of researchers want to test techniques for searching for life on Enceledaus by exploring the oceans of Earth. They have collected  water and ice samples and hope to find chemicals like methane and hydrogen. 

The search for alien life is one of that has fascinated humanity for decades. Scientists explore this vast question through various avenues, including the study of exoplanets within the habitable zones of distant stars but there is still hope that maybe, just maybe we will find life elsewhere in our own Solar System. Some of the moon’s of the outer planets offer tantalising possibilities such as Enceladus, a moon of Saturn. It’s an icy moon where, beneath the icy crust, there is the possibility of the global ocean of liquid water teeming with life.

When the Cassini-Huygens probe visited Saturn in 2004 it sampled the cryogenic plumes that had been ejected over the southern pole, Using its Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer and Cosmic Dust Analyser, research teams identified the presence of water ice, methane and other carbon based molecules. Molecular hydrogen, molecular nitrogen and other elements all of which suggest the sub-surface ocean was a salty composition with the necessary elements for primative life. However to date, no evidence has been found. 

It’s thought that the ice crust of Enceladus is anything form a few kilometres to up to 40 km thick. Beneath, and in the depths of the ocean are thought to be hydrothermal vents  which, just like oceans on Earth, are a source of energy that could drive entire ecosystems. With all the ingredients for life, missions have been discussed to explore the astrobiological aspects of Enceladus. Mission with mass spectrometers have been proposed to identify biosignatures within the ocean. 

In the paper published in Planetary and Space Science and written by a team led by F. French from the Università degli Studi di Bari in Italy, the team look at the technical possibility of detecting methane cycling on Enceladus. If it can be observed, then it would give a strong indication that the sub-surface ocean is currently, or has been habitable in the past. The conclusion can be quite reliably drawn since the methane cycle on Earth is often the result of biological and abiotic processes but is generally considered a byproduct of microbial activity. 

NASA and ESA have been discussing possible missions to Enceladus but ahead of that, one way of practicing the ability to detect geochemical signatures of life is to see if it can be detected on Earth using the same technology. The Arctic Ocean is a great analogy to the conditions on Enceladus with vents on the sea floor in an ocean covered with ice for the majority of the year. The team conducted experiments to simulate the processes and techniques future missions are likely to employ on Enceladus and other outer moons. 

The team found that they were able to detect and measure emitted concentrations of carbon dioxide, other carbon isotopies and other oxygen isotopes within the water. Their results suggest it will be possible to detect the necessary elements using a mass spectrometer at Enceladus. Further studies are appropriate to refine the processes ahead of a future mission. 

Source : 

• An Arctic Analogue for the Future Exploration of Possible Biosignatures on Enceladus

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

27-01-2025 om 18:40 geschreven door peter  

This led to the creation of the Constellation Program, which would see astronauts return to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Since then, NASA’s plans have evolved due to unforeseen circumstances like the Great Recession (2007-2009) and budget shortfalls. By 2010, NASA came back with a new plan known as the Moon to Mars mission architecture, which called for the development of the next-generation Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion spacecraft.

By 2017, the Artemis Program was inaugurated with the long-term goal of creating a “sustained program of lunar exploration and development.” This plan currently includes returning astronauts to the lunar surface by 2028, followed by the creation of a permanent base around the lunar south pole. Since then, they have enlisted the help of several space agencies and national governments through the Artemis Accords and multiple commercial partners through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) and Human Landing System (HLS) programs to realize this goal.

However, in 2021, China and Roscosmos declared a joint plan to establish their own permanent base in the Moon’s south pole region, the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). The program’s timetable calls for Russian cosmonauts and Chinese taikonauts to land on the Moon for the first time by 2030. In 2023, China announced this would consist of two Long March 10 rockets launching the Mengzhou spacecraft and the Lanyue lunar lander, the former carrying two taikonauts and the latter ferrying them to the surface and back.

The Gateway & Base Camp

In 2012, NASA proposed a cislunar station to facilitate its “Moon to Mars” mission architecture, dubbed the Deep Space Habitat. By 2018, the design and the program had matured considerably and was renamed Lunar Gateway. This station is now a multinational collaborative project between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the UAE’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC).

According to the current design, this station will consist of the “core elements”: the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), which will launch no sooner than 2027. Further modules will include the European System Providing Refueling, Infrastructure and Telecommunications (ESPRIT), the Lunar International Habitation Module (Lunar I-HAB Module), the Canadarm3 robotic manipulator arms, and the Crew and Science Airlock Module.

By 2020, the surface elements of the Artemis Program, known as the Artemis Base Camp, were announced. This camp was described in detail as part of NASA’s Lunar Surface Sustainability Concept. The plan includes three core elements that would enable a sustained lunar presence, emphasizing mobility and the ability to conduct extensive science operations.

• A Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) that will transport crewmembers around the landing zone
• A pressurized Habitable Mobility Platform (HMP) that will allow crews to take trips across the lunar surface for up to 45 days
• A lunar Foundation Surface Habitat (FSH) that will house as many as four crew members on shorter surface stays

The Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion spacecraft are vital to this program, which NASA has been developing since 2011. In 2018, then-Administrator Jim Bridenstine and VP Mike Pence directed NASA to expedite the timetable so astronauts would land on the Moon by 2024. This created a problem since the Lunar Gateway would not be ready in time, leading to the Human Landing Systems (HLS) contract. The resulting concepts include the Starship HLS developed by SpaceX and the Blue Moon Mk. 2 developed by Blue Origin.

The ILRS

In June 2021, the China National Space Agency (CNSA) announced they had partnered with the Russian State Space Corporation (Roscosmos). The detailed plan was made public with the release of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) Guide for Partnership, which explained how international partners could join. According to the design, five facilities will make up the ILRS. They include:

• Cislunar Transportation Facility (CLF): An orbital station that mirrors the purpose of the Lunar Gateway.
• Telemetry, Tracking, and Command (TT&C): An energy supply network, a thermal management system, and support modules.
• Lunar Transportation and Operation Facility (LTOF): A storage facility where lunar vehicles will be stowed and maintained when not in use.
• Lunar Scientific Facility: A support lunar science operations on the surface, in-orbit, or in deep space.
• Ground Support and Application Facility (GSAF): An operational support facility for communications and missions and a data center for lunar and deep-space missions.

The timeline for the base’s construction is divided into three phases. Phase I—Reconnaissance, which began in 2021 and will last until the end of 2025, consists of exploring the South Pole-Aitken Basin and sample return missions by the Chang’e missions to scout for potential ILRS sites and verify technologies that will allow for soft landings in the southern polar region. This phase has involved multiple launches using China’s Long March 3B (CZ-3B) and Long March 5 (CZ-5), and the Russian Soyuz-2 rocket.

Phase II—Construction is planned to last from 2025 to 2030. The goals of this phase include verifying technologies related to the ILRS command center, analyzing the Chang’e samples to narrow the selection of potential sites, and delivering cargo to build the base. Other objectives will include technologies related to ISRU, 3D printing, and others necessary for the construction of the ILRS. For Phase II and III, China and Russia would begin relying on the Long March 9, Long March 10, and the Angara 5M heavy launch vehicles.

Phase III – Utilization, which will run from 2030 to 2035, will involve the completion of all in-orbit and surface facilities that provide energy, communication, research, exploration, and transport services. This phase will consist of five IRLS missions to establish the base architecture:

• IRLS-1 – establishment of the command center, basic energy, and telecommunications facilities.
• IRLS-2 – establishment of lunar research exploration facilities (sample collection, lunar physics, geology, lava tubes).
• IRLS-3 – establishment of lunar ISRU technology verification facilities.
• IRLS-4 – verification of general technologies like biomedical experiments, sample collection, and return.
• IRLS-5 – establishment of lunar-based astronomy and Earth observation facilities.

Issues and Delays

Long before the Artemis Program was first announced, NASA was experiencing significant delays with the development of mission-critical elements. This includes the SLS, which began development in 2011 with a government-mandated launch set for late 2016. However, cost overruns, management issues, and other challenges delayed this for nearly six years. This also caused delays in the development of the Orion spacecraft, which performed its first successful test flight on December 5th, 2014. The next flight, Artemis I, did not occur until almost eight years later.

On November 16th, 2022, the SLS launched for the first time, sending the Artemis I spacecraft (without crew) on a circumlunar flight. This was to be followed by Artemis II, a crewed circumlunar flight, in 2023 and Artemis III in 2024. In November 2021, due to legal challenges over the HLS contract, NASA declared that Artemis III‘s launch date would be pushed until 2025. On January 2024, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced that Artemis II and III would launch no sooner than September 2025 and 2026.

However, by the end of the year, Nelson announced that these missions would be delayed due to the months of engineering investigations into issues with the life support system and heat shield, but should occur no later than April 2026 and mid-2027. There have also been delays on SpaceX’s end. While the company has made several impressive strides with the launch and recovery of the Starship, the first successful orbital test flight took place on June 6th, 2024 – a year after its first crewed launch was scheduled to take place (the dearMoon project) and the same year it was to assist the Artemis III mission.

The complex architecture for that mission also involves orbital refueling, which SpaceX anticipates hopes to test sometime this year. However, concerns have been raised about the number of refuelings needed to allow the Starship to make a Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) maneuver. At present, the Artemis III and IV missions will involve a Starship HLS docking with a refueling facility in orbit before making a TLI. This facility will be serviced by multiple Starship propellant tankers, but estimates vary on how many launches will be needed to refuel the HLS fully.

Whereas Musk has previously stated that it could be between 4 and 8, others estimate that 16 launches will be needed to fuel a single Starship HLS. SpaceX also hopes to conduct 25 launches with the Starship in 2025, including an orbital refueling followed by an uncrewed TLI and lunar landing in preparation for Artemis III. However, due to the recent loss of a Starship during the most recent flight (January 16th, 2025) and the resulting FAA penalties, these missions may not occur before the year’s end.

Keith Cowing, an astrobiologist and former rocket scientist, is currently the editor of the publications NASA Watch and Astrobiology. As he summarized to Universe Today via messenger:

“The main problem with Artemis as a whole has been poor cost projections, inadequate cost monitoring, bad contract oversight, and over-optimistic schedules that are driven by the need to look like you are making good progress. Any one of these can cause cost overruns and schedule delays. When you have all of them happening, you can have substantial problems.

“The main problems have had to do with the ground infrastructure for launch, issues with the Orion spacecraft, and the impact of earlier cost saving attempts. The most unusual of which was a decision to re-use the avionics from Artemis II Orion in the Artemis III Orion instead of simply building one set of avionics for each. It takes a lot of time to remove things, re-install them, and re-certify them for flight.”

Is Roscomos Out?

However, Roscosmos has also suffered serious setbacks due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. This includes Roscosmos terminating its involvement in the International Space Station (ISS) and the European Space Agency (ESA) suspending cooperation with Roscosmos for the ExoMars rover mission. Roscosmos has also seen a significant drop in revenue since 2022, reporting financial losses of 180 billion rubles ($2.1 billion) in February 2024 due to canceled contracts.

In addition, Roscosmos has experienced a significant drop in launches per year, a trend that began with the annexation of Crimea in 2014. This includes missions related to the ILRS, like the Luna-25 mission. After a two-year delay, the mission was lost when it crashed on the lunar surface in August 2023. This mission and the subsequent launch of Luna-26 and Luna-27, originally scheduled for 2024 and August 2025 (respectively), were a key part of Phase I of the IRLS’ development.

Since the loss of Luna-25, these missions have been delayed until 2027 and 2028. The Luna-28 mission, meant to play an important role in Phase II of the ILRS’ development, has also been pushed back to 2030. In addition, these three missions, and several payload deliveries in Phase II and III are dependent on Russia’s Angara A5 rocket. The design of this heavy-lift rocket was formalized in 2004, and the first test flight occurred in December 2014, but the next flight did not occur for another six years (December 2020).

The third followed in December 2021, which failed to deliver its payload to the intended orbit. The Angara 5M, unveiled in 2017 to address problems with earlier models, made its maiden flight in April 2024. While multiple launches are scheduled between 2025 and 2030s, none are associated with the Luna program or the ILRS. Said Cowing:

“Russia is cash-strapped and is still isolated from most of the world’s economic systems. In addition, their space sector was already suffering from draconian budget cuts, over-promising things that never happened, and increasingly shoddy workmanship from their contractors. The manufacturing problems with a Soyuz capsule and the malfunction of thrusters in the Nauka module, plus the aging of their part of the ISS, simply serve to exacerbate these challenges further.

Despite these setbacks, China continues to pursue the ILRS and there is little doubt that China will be able to continue without Russian involvement. The success of the Chang’e program to date and their progress with the Long March 9 (CZ-9) is certainly an indication of that.

“China, on the other hand, has a rather robust human spaceflight program of its own, including a large space station,” added Cowing. “They also have an ambitious lunar program that has chalked off one success after another. And their robotic and space station programs are all focused on methodically developing the ability to send their astronauts to the Moon. They really do not need the Russians, and the Russians cannot afford to do much anyway.”

Conclusions?

As it stands, China plans to send the first taikonauts to the Moon in 2030, and they appear to be on track to achieve that. This includes the first launch of the Long March 10, slated for 2026, and the successful test of the Mengzhou spacecraft in 2020. In April 2024, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced that the initial development of the Lanyue lander was complete. This was followed by an announcement in October that a separation test for the lander and its propulsion stage had been carried out. However, unforeseen delays may occur that could cause the target date to be pushed.

Meanwhile, NASA has experienced multiple delays and there are still logistical questions that need to be worked out with the Starship HLS. However, NASA and its commercial partners still have the lead regarding the major mission elements. For instance, they have already built and validated the SLS and Orion spacecraft, while SpaceX has successfully completed multiple orbital flights with the Starship. While the target date of mid-2027 may slip further, they could still make their original (pre-Artemis) target date of 2028.

What’s more, NASA has the benefit of experience, having already sent six missions and 12 astronauts to the Moon. In addition, NASA has launched over 1,000 uncrewed and 250 crewed missions into Earth orbit or beyond since its inception in 1958, plus thousands more through its commercial programs. As of January 23rd, 2025, China has conducted 558 launches using the Long March family of rockets and trails the U.S. significantly in terms of annual launches. As the saying goes, “There’s no substitute for experience.”

So… will China send its first taikonauts to the Moon before NASA can make its long-awaited return? In Cowing’s estimation, the chance of that happening is “doubtful.” However, there is little doubt that their robust space program will be a force to be reckoned with in the coming decades, be it in orbit, on the Moon, and (in all likelihood) on Mars!

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{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

27-01-2025 om 18:30 geschreven door peter  

Shapeshifters and Ancient Aliens: Unraveling Humanity’s Mysterious Origins

The enigmatic tales of shapeshifters and ancient alien origins have fascinated humanity for centuries, weaving a complex tapestry of myth, folklore, and speculative theories. From ancient shamanic rituals to modern interpretations of extraterrestrial influence, these mysteries challenge our understanding of reality and humanity’s place in the cosmos. Are shapeshifting legends and ancient alien theories connected? Could they reveal a hidden link between humanity and otherworldly beings? Let’s delve into these unsolved mysteries.

The Shapeshifter Phenomenon

Shapeshifters are beings capable of transforming their physical form, often taking on the appearance of animals, other humans, or even inanimate objects. This phenomenon appears in nearly every culture worldwide, suggesting a universal human fascination with transformation and the supernatural.

1. Cultural Roots of Shapeshifting:
   • The earliest depiction of a shapeshifter is found in a cave painting in France, showing a shaman transforming into a deer or elk. This ancient artwork suggests that shapeshifting has been part of human consciousness since prehistoric times.
   • In Native American traditions, skinwalkers are believed to be witches or shamans who can transform into animals, often for malevolent purposes.
   • European folklore is rich with tales of werewolves, humans who transform into wolves, often under the influence of a curse or a full moon.
   • Japanese folklore features yokai, supernatural beings that can shapeshift into animals, objects, or even other humans.
2. Voluntary vs. Involuntary Shapeshifting:
   • Voluntary shapeshifters, like skinwalkers or werewolves, are said to control their transformations, often using their abilities for specific purposes.
   • Involuntary shapeshifters, on the other hand, are transformed against their will, often as a result of divine punishment or curses, as seen in Greek and Roman myths where gods transform mortals into animals or objects.
3. Shamanic Rituals and Transformation:
   • Shamans in various cultures, such as the Kalahari Bushmen, use rituals involving dance, percussion, and hallucinogens to enter trance states. During these rituals, they believe they transform into animals, gaining their abilities and perspectives.
   • These practices suggest that shapeshifting may have roots in altered states of consciousness, where the boundaries between human and animal identities blur.

Ancient Alien Theories and Shapeshifting

The idea that shapeshifting legends might be connected to ancient alien origins has gained traction in recent years. Proponents of this theory argue that these myths could be evidence of extraterrestrial influence on human history.

1. The Ancient Astronaut Hypothesis:
   • Popularized by authors like Erich von Däniken (Chariots of the Gods) (Amazon link), the ancient astronaut hypothesis suggests that extraterrestrial beings visited Earth in ancient times, influencing human civilization and leaving behind clues in myths and religious texts.
   • Shapeshifting legends, such as gods transforming into animals or humans, could be interpreted as encounters with advanced beings capable of altering their appearance.
2. The Role of Folklore and Fiction:
   • The connection between ancient alien theories and shapeshifting can be traced back to the works of H.P. Lovecraft, whose horror fiction explored themes of ancient gods, extraterrestrial beings, and transformation.
   • Lovecraft’s stories, such as The Call of Cthulhu, inspired later writers and researchers, including Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier (The Morning of the Magicians), who in turn influenced von Däniken’s work.
3. Critiques and Skepticism:
   • While the ancient alien theory is compelling, it faces criticism from scholars who argue that it often misinterprets ancient texts and artifacts.
   • For example, Zecharia Sitchin’s claim about the planet Nibiru (Amazon link) lacks support from mainstream scholars, who argue that the term likely refers to the ancient city of Nippur rather than a celestial body.

Hybridization: A Recurring Theme

A recurring theme in both shapeshifting legends and ancient alien theories is the idea of hybridization—the blending of human and otherworldly traits.

1. Ancient Texts and Hybrid Beings:
   • The Book of Genesis (6:1-4) describes the “sons of God” (interpreted as spiritual beings) interbreeding with human women to produce the Nephilim, a race of giants.
   • The Book of Enoch expands on this narrative, suggesting that these hybrid beings were part of a larger plan to corrupt humanity.
2. Modern Interpretations:
   • Some researchers argue that modern accounts of alien abductions and hybridization experiments could be a continuation of this ancient phenomenon.
   • These theories propose that extraterrestrial beings are still interacting with humanity, possibly for genetic experimentation or other unknown purposes.

The Intersection of Myth and Reality

The mysteries of shapeshifters and ancient alien origins blur the line between myth and reality, inviting us to question the nature of existence and our place in the universe.

1. Psychological and Symbolic Interpretations:
   • Shapeshifting legends may symbolize humanity’s desire to transcend physical limitations or explore different aspects of identity.
   • Ancient alien theories, while speculative, reflect our fascination with the unknown and the possibility of life beyond Earth.
2. The Role of Modern Research:
   • Researchers like John Kachuba (Shapeshifters: A History) (Amazon link) and Derek Gilbert (Destination Earth) (Amazon link) explore these themes through a blend of historical research, folklore, and modern speculation.
   • Their work highlights the enduring appeal of these mysteries and their potential to reveal deeper truths about humanity’s past and future.

VIDEO:

The unsolved mysteries of shapeshifters and ancient alien origins continue to captivate our imagination, offering a glimpse into the unknown and the extraordinary. Whether rooted in ancient myths, shamanic practices, or encounters with otherworldly beings, these phenomena challenge us to explore the boundaries of reality and consider the possibility that we are not alone in the cosmos. As we continue to investigate these mysteries, we may uncover new insights into the nature of existence and humanity’s connection to the stars.

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

27-01-2025 om 17:00 geschreven door peter  

'Supersonic jetstream' with winds 130 times faster than a Category 5 hurricane spotted in the Milky Way

By Harry Baker

The record-breaking winds are circling the nearby "puffy" exoplanet WASP-127b, and are traveling six times faster than the alien world spins.

The record-breaking jetstream discovered on WASP-127b spins six times faster than the exoplanet does. 

(Image credit: ESO/L. Calçada)

Astronomers have spotted a "supersonic jetstream" on a nearby alien world, with winds reaching 20,500 mph (33,000 km/h) — the fastest planetary gusts detected anywhere in the cosmos.

The record-breaking weather is raging on WASP-127b, a "puffy" gas giant around 500 light-years from Earth that is slightly larger than Jupiter but has a fraction of the mass. The exoplanet, discovered in 2016, has a large band of strong winds, or jetstream, circling its equator — similar to the winds that cause the stripes seen on the solar system's gas giants. However, the speed of this jetstream had remained a mystery until now.

But in a new study, published Jan. 21 in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, researchers finally determined the jetstream's speed by measuring it against the rest of the exoplanet's spinning atmosphere, using data collected by the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile.

"Part of the atmosphere of this planet is moving towards us at a high velocity while another part is moving away from us at the same speed," study lead author Lisa Nortmann, an astrophysicist at the University of Göttingen in Germany, said in a statement. "This signal shows us that there is a very fast, supersonic, jet wind around the planet’s equator."

Related: 

• 7 solar system worlds where the weather is crazy

The winds on WASP-127b are traveling at 5.6 miles per second (9 kilometers per second), which is around 130 times faster than the threshold for a Category 5 hurricane or roughly 15 times faster than a speeding bullet.

It is also around 18 times faster than the winds in Neptune's largest jetstream, which can hit 1,100 mph (1,800 km/h) — the fastest gusts recorded in the solar system, according to NASA.

WASP-127b's jetstream is traveling roughly six times faster than the exoplanet spins. "This is something we haven't seen before," Nortmann said.

Complex weather

Researchers determined the composition of WASP-127b's clouds by analyzing the light that passed through the puffy planet's atmosphere. This showed that water vapor and carbon dioxide are both present in the spinning clouds. However, while these compounds are both associated with life on Earth, they can also be explained by abiotic processes so are not proof of extraterrestrial life.

Temperature data collected by the VLT showed that WASP-127b's polar regions are colder than the rest of the planet, and that there are slight temperature variations between the day and night sides of the planet. "This shows that the planet has complex weather patterns just like Earth and other planets of our own [solar] system," study co-author Fei Yan, an astronomer at the University of Science and Technology of China, said in the statement.

RELATED STORIES

• James Webb telescope spots wind blowing faster than a bullet on '2-faced planet' with eternal night
• Nearby exoplanet has grown a tail 44 times longer than Earth — and it's acting like a giant 'stellar windsock'
• James Webb telescope reveals rare, 'rotten egg' atmosphere around nearby hell planet

At the moment, only ground-based telescopes like the VLT can measure distant planetary winds because orbiting observatories, such as the James Webb Space Telescope, do not have the "necessary velocity precision," the researchers wrote.

New ground-based telescopes currently under construction, such as ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope, will "likely resolve even finer details of the wind patterns [on gas giants] and expand this research to smaller, rocky planets," Nortmann said.

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This animation shows supersonic jet winds pummeling the equator of the giant exoplanet WASP-127b, located about 520 light-years from Earth. With speeds up to 9 km per second (almost 33 000 km/h), it is the fastest jetstream of its kind ever measured in the Universe.

The Planet With Supersonic Winds | The Planets | Earth Science

Exoplanet with Atmosphere Discovered by Scientist WASP 127b

{ https://www.livescience.com/ }

26-01-2025 om 23:16 geschreven door peter  

Scientists baffled after discovering Earth has two secret mountains more than 100 times TALLER than Everest

• READ MORE: Scientists confirm the length of days on Earth is increasing 

By WILIAM HUNTER

Since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first reached the summit of Mount Everest in 1953, conquering the world's highest peak has been a goal of almost every serious mountaineer on the planet.

But this famous peak pales in comparison to two secret mountains, which are more than 100 times taller than Everest's 8,800-metre summit, scientists have discovered.

Reaching heights of around 620 miles (1,000km) these continent-sized 'islands' of rock dwarf anything else found on our planet.

However, confused adventurers can rest easy.

Scientists from Utrecht University have revealed that these gargantuan peaks are not found on our planet's surface.

Instead they are buried some 1,200 miles (2,000km) beneath our feet.

The researchers estimate that the mountains are at least half a billion years old but could date back to the formation of Earth four billion years ago.

Lead researcher Dr Arwen Deuss says: 'Nobody knows what they are, and whether they are only a temporary phenomenon, or if they have been sitting there for millions or perhaps even billions of years.'

Scientists have discovered two hidden mountains more than 100 times larger than Mount Everest (pictured)

These mountains (red) are hidden beneath the Earth on the boundary between the core and the mantle beneath Africa and the Pacific Ocean 

Earth is made up of three layers – the crust, the mantle and the core, which was later separated into 'inner' and 'outer'. These mountains exist in the region where the outer core meets the mantle 

The two monstrous structures sit on the boundary between Earth's core and the mantle, the semi-solid area beneath the crust, beneath Africa and the Pacific Ocean.

Around them is a 'graveyard' of sunken tectonic plates which have been pushed down from the surface in a process called subduction.

In a new study, researchers found that the islands are much hotter than the surrounding slabs of the Earth's crust and many millions of years older.

Scientists have known for decades that there are vast structures hidden deep within the Earth's mantle.

This is possible thanks to the way that the seismic shockwaves from earthquakes spread through the planet's interior.

When a powerful earthquake happens, it rings Earth like a bell, sending waves rippling from one side of the planet to the other.

But when these waves pass through something dense or hot, they are slowed down, weakened, or reflected altogether.

So, by listening carefully to the 'tone' that arrives on the other side of the planet, scientists are able to build up a picture of what lies beneath.

The mountains are called Large Low Seismic Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs) because they slow down passing seismic waves. They are located in an area called a 'slab graveyard' where pieces of the crust sink down towards the core. Since these slabs are colder, waves pass through them much faster 

Over the years, studies have revealed that there are two enormous regions of the mantle where shockwaves dramatically slow down, dubbed the Large Low Seismic Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs).

Dr Deuss says: 'The waves slow down because the LLSVPs are hot, just like you can't run as fast in hot weather as you can when it's colder.'

When waves pass through a region that is much hotter, they need to expend a lot more energy to make their way through.

Co-author Dr Sujania Talavera-Soza says: 'Just like when the weather is hot outside and you go for a run, you don’t only slow down but you also get more tired than when it is cold outside.' 

That means you would expect the tone of a wave passing through the hot LLSVPs to be both out of tune and quieter than other areas, an effect scientists call damping.

However, when the researchers examined the data, they were surprised to find a very different picture.

'Against our expectations, we found little damping in the LLSVPs, which made the tones sound very loud there,' says Dr Talavera-Soza. 

'But we did find a lot of damping in the cold slab graveyard, where the tones sounded very soft.'

Scientists used the shockwaves from earthquakes to make an image of the planet's interior. They found that waves passed slowly through the LLSVPs but weren't as quiet, or dampened, as they would expect. This suggests that the LLSVPs are both very hot and have a large grain structure which must have formed over billions of years 

The pieces of rock from the crust cause lots of damping because they recrystallise into a tight structure as they sink down towards the core. 

This suggests that the mountains are made up of much larger grains than the surrounding slabs since these wouldn't absorb so much energy from passing seismic waves.

'Those mineral grains do not grow overnight, which can only mean one thing: LLSVPs are lots and lots older than the surrounding slab graveyards,' says Dr Talavera-Soza.

At the low end, the researchers estimate that these underground mountains are at least half a billion years old.

But they could be much older, potentially even dating back to the formation of the Earth itself.

This goes against the traditional idea that the mantle is in a constant state of movement.

Although the mantle is not actually liquid, it does move like a liquid over extremely long time frames.

Previously, it had been thought that the mantle would, therefore, be 'well mixed' by flowing currents.

Some scientists think that the LLSVPs were formed when a Mars-sized planet called Theia collided with Earth 4.5 billion years ago. Some of Theia became the moon while the rest sunk into the Earth to form these structures 

But the fact that these structures are billions of years old shows that they haven't been moved or disrupted by mantle convection, meaning that the mantle is not well mixed after all.

Recently, scientists have suggested that the LLSVPs might be the remnants of an ancient planet which crashed into Earth billions of years ago.

Some researchers claim that the moon was formed when a Mars-sized planet called Theia collided with Earth, knocking molten chunks of both planets into orbit.

Since the Moon is much smaller than the suggested mass of Theia, this leaves the obvious question of where the rest of the planet has gone.

READ MORE

• Sunken worlds under the Pacific? Scientists are BAFFLED by massive structures found deep beneath the ocean that 'shouldn't exist'

Researchers from the California Institute of Technology have suggested that the LLSVPs could be the remains of the Theia collision.

After running a series of simulations, the researchers found that a significant amount of 'Theian' material - around 2 per cent of Earth's mass - would have entered the lower mantle of the ancient planet Earth.

That would explain why these regions seem to be so much denser, hotter, and older than the surrounding slab graveyard.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

26-01-2025 om 22:49 geschreven door peter  

Artifact found in footsteps of Jesus unveils new era of history

• READ MORE:  Scientists make new discovery in cloth 'Jesus was buried in'

By STACY LIBERATORE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Archaeologists have uncovered two lost settlements of ancient Rome, suggesting the empire's control stretched wider than previously believed.

They found an ancient slab of volcanic rock fashioned into a rectangular artifact, which was used to mark land borders in Galilee, between northern Israel and southern Lebanon.

Carved in Ancient Greek lettering, the stone proclaims that the previously unknown towns of Tirathas and Golgol were under the control of the Roman Empire, and featured the name of four governors in charge of managing the empire's territories abroad.  

The etchings date back 1,720 years ago during the reign of Caesar Marcus Aurelius Alexander, the ruler featured in the original 2000 Gladiator movie.

The location showed that people living within the boundary were under imperial rule, being taxed by the Roman Empire located 2,500 miles away in Italy.

But it also has religious significance. The stone was found in Upper Galilee believed to be where Jesus preached, walked on water and was baptized. 

The team, from the Hebrew University, emphasized that 'such discoveries provide a unique glimpse into the lives of ancient inhabitants, the pressures they faced and the enduring traces of their communities in the archaeological record.'

Professor Uzi Leibner said: 'Finding a boundary stone like this not only sheds light on ancient land ownership and taxation but also provides a tangible connection to the lives of individuals who navigated these complex systems nearly two millennia ago.'

Archaeologists uncovered a stone (left shows the inscription highlighted) in the region where 

The ancient Romans controlled a large portion of the Middle East, including Anatolia, the Levant, parts of Mesopotamia, and Arabia. They also had power over Israel from 63 BC until 135 AD.

The stone was found at the site of Abel Beth Maacah, an ancient city in the Upper Galilee region of Israel.

'The names Tirthas and Golgol are not known from any other boundary stones found in the area, nor from any ancient source,' the team shared in the study, saying that these are two new settlements of the vast Roman Empire.

Archaeologists speculated that a large ruin found in the area in the late 19th century could have resided in Tirthas. The previous excavation recorded the site as Kh. Turritha.

'The resemblance of the names Turritha – Tirthas, located in the same vicinity, can hardly be coincidental and it is likely that the former preserves the ancient name,' researchers wrote.

'The surveyors did not provide any description besides 'large heaps of basalt stones', and we could find no archaeological information on this site, located today on the Lebanese side of the border.'

However, the border stone was made of basalt which is a dark-colored, igneous rock that forms when lava cools quickly at the Earth's surface.

'If the suggestion to identify Tirthas with Kh. Turritha is correct, then the field(s) of Golgol/m could have been located anywhere to the west, south, or north of the original spot of the boundary stone,' reads the study. 

Archaeologists unearthed a boundary stone in Galilee that featured ancient Greek inscriptions of previously unknown territories, revealing the Roman Empire's control extended further and for longer than previously believed The stone was found at the site of Abel Beth Maacah 

Galilee, located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon, is mentioned in the Bible as the venue for most of Jesus' ministry and where he walked on water and was baptized

Archaeologists speculated that a large ruin found in the area in the late 19th century could have resided in Tirthas. The previous excavation recorded the site as Kh. Turritha

There are some sites with Roman-period remains west of tell Abel Beth Maacah, but none bear a name resembling Golgol.

'However, there is a low, round hill, standing less than a kilometer from the eastern slopes of Abel Beth Maacah that may be identified with it,' said the researchers.

They linked Golgol with Gilgal and Golgotha because of the linguistic, topographical and cultural similarities between the names.

Gilgal, mentioned in the Book of Joshua, was the eastern border of Jericho where the Israelites camped after crossing the Jordan River following their exodus from Egypt.

And Golgotha is the name of the hill in Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified, as described in the Bible's four Gospels. The name translates to 'place of the skull'. 

This discovery adds to a unique corpus of over 20 boundary stones concentrated in the northern Hula Valley and surrounding areas. 

The stones mark a period of heightened administrative control aimed at standardizing taxation and clarifying land ownership. 

This specific find highlights the interconnectedness of historical geography, economic policies and local settlement patterns. 

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

26-01-2025 om 21:56 geschreven door peter  

The tests were conducted by Rubin’s international commissioning team, composed of hundreds of engineers, scientists, and observing specialists. According to a statement issued by the Rubin Observatory, the test included verifying that the telescope’s complex systems were all working together, testing the early image quality in all six of the system’s filters, and running the data processing pipelines. They also verified that the system can transmit large amounts of data from the observatory to the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

They also confirmed the Active Optics System (AOS), which maintains the precise positions and shapes of the telescope’s three large mirrors. The Simonyi Survey Telescope, the camera, data systems, networks, and everyone involved in the engineering test were said to have performed exceptionally well. The test delivered high-quality images within the first hours, even though most of the detailed optical adjustments and environmental controls were not fully activated. Per the statement:

“Thanks to the dedicated efforts and talents of thousands of people over many years, the telescope had been assembled with all its complex parts positioned correctly to better than about one millimeter. Equally satisfyingly, the high-speed network connecting Chile and the data center at SLAC, the data systems, and the algorithms for analyzing the data worked well, too.”

The LSSTCam has 189 CCD sensors, giving it a field of view roughly 45 times the size of a full Moon – over 21 times that of the ComCam. For the final phase of construction, the LSSTCam will replace the ComCam on the Simonyi Survey Telescope. When coupled with this 8.4-meter (27.5-ft) telescope, the LSTTCam will capture images of very faint and variable objects at an unprecedented rate. The installation will take a few months, followed by the observatory capturing its “First Look” images of the cosmos.

“The success of the engineering test phase has given a surge of excitement and anticipation to the team,” said Deputy Director for Rubin Construction Sandrine Thomas. “Reaching this milestone has offered a small taste of what is to come once Rubin Observatory begins its 10-year survey.” Once the final testing and verification phase is complete, the Rubin Observatory will begin the most comprehensive data-gathering mission ever performed in the history of astrophysics.

The observatory is named in honor of American astronomer Dr. Vera C. Rubin, whose work was foundational to the theory of Dark Matter. By repeatedly scanning the southern sky with its cutting-edge instruments for a decade, Rubin will create an ultra-high-definition time-lapse record of the cosmos. This data will allow scientists to investigate Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and other mysteries facing astronomers, astrophysicists, and cosmologists today.

Further Reading: 

• Rubin Observatory

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{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

26-01-2025 om 16:18 geschreven door peter  

Don’t know about you but when I think of Earth my mind is filled with the diversity of life and the rich flora and fauna. In reality, about 99% of Earth is uninhabitable; deep underground places with high pressure and temperature where even the toughest bacteria cannot survive. There are places though where life thrives from tiniest toughest bacteria to the largest elephant. Then there are places that are habitable but devoid of life; lava flows are a great example and the space between microbes. A paper recently released looks at these uninhabited, habitable areas and wonders what we may learn as we search for life in the Universe.

Life on Earth has taken millions of years to evolve to the state we see today and has invaded nearly every corner of the planet. That is, except those places where the environment is so extreme that even the toughest extremophile cannot survive. These regions include places like the Atacama Desert in Chile, one of the driest places on Earth, where rainfall is so rare that even microbial life struggles to survive. Similarly, parts of Antarctica’s dry valleys feature subzero temperatures, minimal liquid water, and high salinity in some soils, creating an environment hostile to most life forms. It raises interesting questions and perhaps pose limitations on life’s ability to survive. 

We can learn a lot from life on Earth as we hunt for live elsewhere in the Universe. At the moment, there is just one place in the cosmos where we know life has evolved, that’s on Earth. A paper recently authored by Charles S Cockell from the University of Edinburgh explores what we might learn from the inhospitable places on Earth and how that might inform our search for extraterrestrial life. The paper discusses places where active microorganisms cannot be found in particular those places where the physical and chemical conditions are not far from areas that support life. 

The physical spaces where microbes cannot sustain the essential metabolic activity or even reproduce can be categorised into two groups: those with uninhabitable conditions and those with habitable but uninhabited spaces, also known as uninhabited habitats. You might need to read that a few times but it does make sense! Uninhabitable conditions occur in environments where life cannot exist due to extreme factors like intense heat, cold, salinity, or acidity. In contrast, uninhabited habitats are environments that are theoretically capable of supporting life but remain unoccupied, often due to barriers to colonisation or the absence of necessary organisms. The paper draws a strong differentiation between these ‘vacant niches.’

These uninhabited habitats, which form on both macroscopic and microscopic scales through diverse processes, offer opportunities for scientific investigation. They can act as negative control environments, helping to reveal how living organisms influence geochemical processes, and how they can provide a framework for studying processes like microbial succession and community development. Despite their potential significance, the occurrence of these habitats in environments at the physical and chemical extremes of life remain poorly understood.

As we continue our search for life across the universe, we may find many more locations like these. Doing so will help to expand our understanding of the distribution of habitable conditions and the potential for life across the universe. They may offer insights into the processes that make a location suitable for life, as well as the factors that have prevented life from arising or persisting there.

Source : 

• Where the microbes aren’t

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

26-01-2025 om 15:59 geschreven door peter  

Don’t know about you but when I think of Earth my mind is filled with the diversity of life and the rich flora and fauna. In reality, about 99% of Earth is uninhabitable; deep underground places with high pressure and temperature where even the toughest bacteria cannot survive. There are places though where life thrives from tiniest toughest bacteria to the largest elephant. Then there are places that are habitable but devoid of life; lava flows are a great example and the space between microbes. A paper recently released looks at these uninhabited, habitable areas and wonders what we may learn as we search for life in the Universe.

Life on Earth has taken millions of years to evolve to the state we see today and has invaded nearly every corner of the planet. That is, except those places where the environment is so extreme that even the toughest extremophile cannot survive. These regions include places like the Atacama Desert in Chile, one of the driest places on Earth, where rainfall is so rare that even microbial life struggles to survive. Similarly, parts of Antarctica’s dry valleys feature subzero temperatures, minimal liquid water, and high salinity in some soils, creating an environment hostile to most life forms. It raises interesting questions and perhaps pose limitations on life’s ability to survive. 

We can learn a lot from life on Earth as we hunt for live elsewhere in the Universe. At the moment, there is just one place in the cosmos where we know life has evolved, that’s on Earth. A paper recently authored by Charles S Cockell from the University of Edinburgh explores what we might learn from the inhospitable places on Earth and how that might inform our search for extraterrestrial life. The paper discusses places where active microorganisms cannot be found in particular those places where the physical and chemical conditions are not far from areas that support life. 

The physical spaces where microbes cannot sustain the essential metabolic activity or even reproduce can be categorised into two groups: those with uninhabitable conditions and those with habitable but uninhabited spaces, also known as uninhabited habitats. You might need to read that a few times but it does make sense! Uninhabitable conditions occur in environments where life cannot exist due to extreme factors like intense heat, cold, salinity, or acidity. In contrast, uninhabited habitats are environments that are theoretically capable of supporting life but remain unoccupied, often due to barriers to colonisation or the absence of necessary organisms. The paper draws a strong differentiation between these ‘vacant niches.’

These uninhabited habitats, which form on both macroscopic and microscopic scales through diverse processes, offer opportunities for scientific investigation. They can act as negative control environments, helping to reveal how living organisms influence geochemical processes, and how they can provide a framework for studying processes like microbial succession and community development. Despite their potential significance, the occurrence of these habitats in environments at the physical and chemical extremes of life remain poorly understood.

As we continue our search for life across the universe, we may find many more locations like these. Doing so will help to expand our understanding of the distribution of habitable conditions and the potential for life across the universe. They may offer insights into the processes that make a location suitable for life, as well as the factors that have prevented life from arising or persisting there.

Source : 

• Where the microbes aren’t

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

26-01-2025 om 15:59 geschreven door peter  

Scientists track intense radio signals from space to their origin – and are shocked by what they find

‘Just when you think you understand an astrophysical phenomenon, the universe turns around and surprises us,’ says scientist involved

26-01-2025 om 15:37 geschreven door peter  

New UFO documentary claims to expose a ‘cover-up’ of the ‘biggest discovery’ in human history

34 US government officials have contributed to it

In the UFO documentary it is claimed that for the past 80 years the existence of intelligent life beyond humans has been kept a secret and that governments around the world have been locked in a secret conflict with one another to use this alien technology for their own benefit.

Over in the US the UAP Disclosure Act was introduced in the senate, with the aim of this thing to publicly disclose what the US government knows about unidentified anomalous phenomena.

These are essentially things which happen in the air, sea or in space which can't be explained as being man made or occurring from some natural phenomenon that we know of.

If there are things happening which cannot be explained by what we know about ourselves and our planet then they're UAPs, and this act will release information about them which has been kept secret from us.

In the trailer for The Age of Disclosure, former Defense Intelligence Agency official Jay Stratton claims to have seen 'non-human craft and non-human beings' with his own eyes.

In the trailer he said: "The first country that cracks the code on this technology will be the leader for years to come. This is similar to The Manhattan Project; this is the atomic weapon on steroids."

He praised the documentary on social media, saying: "The Age of Disclosure is the most revelatory, credible, and historic documentary ever made about UAP, non-human intelligent life, the Government’s involvement, and the bi-partisan disclosure effort."

If that's true then this is pretty much what all those UFO hunters and true believers have been waiting for, someone saying they have been a first-hand witness to the evidence of non-human intelligent life.

Among the other contributors to the documentary are various high ranking US politicians including the director of national intelligence during Barack Obama's time in office.

Meanwhile, senior CIA official Jim Semivan claimed that 'UAPs are here, they are real and they are not human'.

Former Department of Defense official Christopher Mellon called it the 'biggest discovery in human history' while his fellow former DoD member Luis Elizondo said there was 'information being locked away that can change the trajectory of [our] species'.

{ https://www.ladbible.com/ }

26-01-2025 om 00:00 geschreven door peter  

While Coulson doesn’t think the people who claim to have seen Nessie are lying, he does think they are mistaken, that they have misidentified what they have observed. He is also dismissive of the photos and videos taken of the monster, which likewise have to be misidentifications (with the occasional hoax mixed in).

“In the case of the Loch Ness Monster they are either seeing bits of floating debris, or a bird such as a cormorant with a longish neck that sits low in the water. You might think that sounds unlikely, but I am always amazed at how bad people can be at judging size – particularly when they are hoping to see a particular animal,” he told the MailOnline, offering the expected response of the skeptic.

In Coulson’s case, though, he is not dismissing Nessie out of hand. He is doing so because he is convinced there is no scientific justification in believing in such a creature, based on what is known at this time.

• Mystery of the Stronsay Beast, Scotland’s Other Monster (Video)
• Have the Ancient Origins of Scotland’s Loch Ness Monster Been Identified on Film?

Examining the Evidence … Which Allegedly Doesn’t Exist

As part of his argument, Coulson points out that no skeletal remains of a deceased specimen have ever been found, and no one has ever caught a living one in a fishing net. This lack of evidence persists despite the fact that people have been organizing excursions seeking proof of Nessie’s existence for decades, often on boats equipped with sonar and underwater cameras designed to spot movement below.

Something solid and convincing should have been found by now, some sort of tangible evidence showing that a flesh-and-blood creature of impressive size and dimension is living in Loch Ness, Coulson insists. The only rational reason to explain this, he says, is that the creature doesn’t exist at all.

• Scientists Finally Closing in on Nessie, The Loch Ness Monster
• Slithering Through the Stories of Ancient Snake Deities: Serpent Gods of Ancient Mythology

Large Freshwater Loch Ness with Urquhart Castle in the foreground in Inverness Scotland. 

(Sam Fentress/CC BY-SA 2.0)

In a new article he wrote for The European (a publication he’s a science correspondent for), Coulson lays out his argument for the non-existence of Nessie, while also taking aim at Bigfoot and the Yeti, two other well-known cryptids (seemingly impossible creatures that are still said to exist).

“I would dearly love for Bigfoot, Yeti, the Loch Ness Monster and other cryptids to exist, but the scientific evidence says otherwise,” he wrote. “The likelihood of such beasts living undetected in forests, mountains and lakes, in great numbers, for thousands of years without leaving a single skeleton, fossil, bone fragment or skin sample is hard enough to swallow.”

He also asserts that from an evolutionary standpoint, there is no realistic scenario that would explain how such creatures could exist, if their home areas were so restricted and their population numbers so low that they could have somehow escaped verifiable detection for centuries.

{ https://www.ancient-origins.net/unexplained-phenomena }

25-01-2025 om 23:46 geschreven door peter  

This Man Claims Ex-Military Officer Worked At Area 51 Reveals UFOs Run on Space-Harnessed Electricity, Creating a “Void” for Travel

This Man claims a drunk ex-military officer from Area 51 revealed UFOs run on Space-Harnessed Electricity, creating a “void” for travel, not like combustion engines. He also said two stars in Orion’s Belt house “good aliens” (gray types), while a nearby star is home to “bad aliens” (tall, brown-skinned).

The person recounts a conversation he had with a drunk, ex-military neighbor, who allegedly worked at Area 51. According to the man, the discussion took place during a neighborhood blackout, when the stars were more visible due to the lack of light pollution. The neighbor pointed to a formation in the sky, identifying it as Orion’s Belt, and claimed that two of its stars were home to “good aliens,” while a nearby star housed “bad aliens.”

According to the neighbor, the “good aliens” resemble the stereotypical “grays”—small beings with large heads and oversized eyes. The “bad aliens,” in contrast, are tall, brown-skinned, emit a foul odor, and are somehow connected to the nearby star.

The ex-military officer provided a cryptic explanation when the man pressed his neighbor on how UFOs travel from these stars to Earth. He claimed that UFOs don’t rely on traditional propulsion systems like combustion engines. Instead, their technology supposedly harnesses electricity from space itself, enabling them to create a “void” in space. This void allows the UFOs to essentially “fall” through it, making travel extremely fast without the need for thrust-based motion. However, the explanation was vague and difficult to follow.

The man notes that the neighbor seemed genuine and convinced, despite being heavily intoxicated. This level of drunkenness casts doubt on the credibility of the story. The man also reflects on his own UFO sighting in the Mojave Desert, where he witnessed an object moving much faster than a plane. While he remains skeptical, he entertains the possibility that there might be some truth to these claims.

Interestingly, a month ago, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna posted this picture of the Constellation of Orion without a caption, and this man refers to the same place. In 2023, after the historic U.S. Congressional UAP hearings, she claimed she had seen [photo] evidence of UFO technology not made by any government

The Belt of Orion, an iconic constellation, is known for its three bright stars: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka. These celestial beacons, approximately 1344 light years away from Earth, have captivated the imaginations of astronomers and stargazers alike. Despite their luminous presence, the quest to find exoplanets orbiting these stars has been elusive. Current investigations have not confirmed any exoplanets, but intriguing signs suggest that there might be more to discover.

Alnitak stands out as the youngest of the trio at about 6.4 million years old. Observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope reveal a disk with intriguing structure and brightness variations, hinting at possible planetary formations or dust clumps.

Alnilam exhibits radial velocity variations that could indicate the gravitational influence of an orbiting planet. However, the evidence remains inconclusive, leaving room for further exploration.

Mintaka, sharing similar age and characteristics with Alnitak, also shows a Spitzer disk with intriguing variability. Its age is estimated to be between 6–7 million years, making it a relatively young star in the cosmic timeline.

Humanoid Beings from Orion????

On June 11, 2019, Colombia’s largest newspaper El Tiempo reported that strange tall creatures, whose height was more than 2 meters, had been regularly seen in Guasimal since 2012. The creatures always appear at night, they have a strange robotic voice and are dressed in black.

Guasimal is a small town near the west coast of Colombia. It is a quiet place, there are no prank-loving crowds of frivolous teenagers, but mostly ordinary poor people who raise cattle, work in sugar factories, make cheese, and plant fruit and vegetable crops.

Humanoids first appeared in December 2012 and have returned there every year since then. Each time, Guasimal became more and more popular among Colombian paranormal lovers. They come from all over the country to personally see the creatures. (Source °

Unfortunately, no one has managed to make a video or even a photo of the humanoids or their ship yet. There are only eyewitness accounts. Most often, all these stories are mistaken for ordinary urban horror stories. However, something happened in December 2018 that slightly changed the atmosphere around the alien visits to Guasimal.

Close contact was made between the aliens and local farmer Diego Mondragon. Until December 2018, aliens had also flown to his farm, but there were no close contacts then. At the same time, the aliens came very close to the farm buildings, and all the inhabitants of the farm got scared when they arrived. But Diego told them to calm down, saying that they were peaceful.

After that, Diego approached the five humanoids and they conveyed a message to him for all humanity. They said that people need to love each other, otherwise the human race will soon be destroyed.

They also said that they have lived in these places for 60 years and that they have a deep underground base near the village. They flew to Earth from the planet Orion.

On the same night, one of Diego’s neighbors called the police when he saw tall humanoids on the farm. And police officer Manuel Velandia Márquez responded to the call.

Read also:

• Tucker Carlson Says ‘There Are Forces That Are Not Human, Existing in a Spiritual Realm We Cannot See’
• CIA Built This Nuclear-Powered ‘Eagle’ Drone: Declassified in 2020, Developed in the ’60s at Area 51
• This New UFO Whistleblower Blowing The Lid Off Everything Says He Saw An “Egg-Shaped UAP” With No Visible Propulsion System

When he arrived, there were many people, and everyone was very nervous and shocked. He claimed to have seen dark silhouettes about two meters high. He said: “(They were) more human beings than we are. They will preserve something of humanity and prepare us for future events.” Velandia said his fellow police officers did not believe him, but he insisted that he had seen it all.

Diego first saw the humanoids when the dogs of his farm began barking loudly in the night and looked towards the chicken enclosure. At the same time, after seven years of observing aliens in Guasimal, he had never seen a UFO there. Other residents also saw only humanoids.

Ufologist Cristian Ramos from the Contact Ovni Colombia group became interested in this case in 2013, and according to him, he also saw those humanoids when he came there.

“In the distance, about 200 meters, there was a silhouette of about 2.30 meters, a thick build, black clothes, a black suit, boots. He wavered from left to right and never remained motionless. He watched us.”

Since then, police and journalists have interviewed many people in the Guasimal area, and many of them have told them stories of humanoids who could jump over the roof. Besides, they said that some people had also come into contact with them.

Orion’s Belt isn’t just beautiful to look at; it’s also inspired curiosity and stories in ancient cultures. The Egyptians, for example, aligned the Giza Pyramids with Orion’s Belt. This suggests they had advanced knowledge of the stars and possibly felt a spiritual connection to them. The way the pyramids were built, including the King’s and Queen’s Chambers, still sparked debates about their purpose and the Egyptians’ understanding of the universe.

The Dogon tribe has an impressive knowledge of astronomy. They connect Orion to twin gods called Nummo, who they say came from the stars to share knowledge and technology with humans. The Dogon also tells myths about Orion’s Belt, linking it to Amma, their supreme god and the creator of everything. To them, Orion’s Belt represents a special cosmic place where Amma’s order first appeared.

The Navajo people align their four sacred mountains in a way that some believe matches the pattern of Orion’s Belt. These mountains, such as San Francisco Peak, Blanca Peak, and Hesperus Mountain, are part of their spiritual beliefs.

RELATED VIDEOS

{ https://howandwhys.com/ }

25-01-2025 om 23:12 geschreven door peter  

The American Meteor Society website shared a video on their channel showing a fireball streaking across the skies of Michigan and Ohio on Sunday, January 19, 2025, around 01:31 UT. 

Though, Meteor Society noted that the video might not actually depict a fireball event, leaving some viewers curious about the meaning behind this statement. 

At the moment the fireball appears on camera, a strange object seems to materialize above it, expanding in size and partially obscuring the fireball before gradually fading out as the fireball continues its path through the sky. 

This phenomenon has sparked varied interpretations. Some suggest it might indicate alien intervention, while others offer a more plausible explanation: the "object" is likely a water droplet on the camera lens, creating the illusion of interaction with the fireball. 

However, since the Meteor Society suggested that it might not actually depict a fireball event, we might question whether it was truly a fireball, a meteor, including a water droplet, or something entirely different.

  

25-01-2025 om 22:26 geschreven door peter  

Republican Rep. Tim Burchett said in an interview Wednesday that an admiral — whom he did not identify — had told him of an unidentified craft moving at incredible speeds in the sea.

"They tell me something's moving at hundreds of miles an hour underwater... as large as a football field, underwater," the Tennessee congressman told former Republican congressman Matt Gaetz, who now hosts a show on right-wing news outlet One America News.

"This was a documented case and I have an admiral telling me this stuff."

Burchett, known for claims that the U.S. government is hiding existence of UFOs and other alien activity, said anything is possible given "the vastness of God's great universe."

However, he told Americans not to worry about the suspected extraterrestrials' extraordinary advances.

"I'm not worried about them harming me," he said. "I mean, with that capabilities, they would have barbecued us a long time ago." No evidence has been produced of intelligent life beyond Earth.

However, Congress has taken an increasingly serious look at reports of mystery flying objects, treating the once widely mocked topic of UFOs — now often dubbed Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs) — into a serious issue.

In March 2024, the Pentagon released a report that it had no proof of UFOs, saying that many suspicious sightings turned out to be merely weather balloons, spy planes, satellites and other normal activity.

The Pentagon rejected claims made at a congressional hearing in 2023 by a former Air Force intelligence officer that the U.S. government had recovered a series of crashed unidentified aircraft and even non-human "biologics" over the decades.

In November, the Pentagon office investigating reports of UAPs received 21 reports last year that contain enough data for the intelligence community to continue actively investigating. 

US Congressman Tim Burchett, R-TN, speaks during bipartisan press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on November 30, 2023, to discuss the US's lack of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) transparency.

JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

UAPs encompass a broad range of strange objects or data points detected in the air, on land or at sea. The most well-known UAPs have been reported by military pilots, who typically describe round or cylindrical objects traveling at impossibly high speeds with no apparent means of propulsion. Some of the objects have been caught on video.

The military has launched efforts to help pilots to report UAPs in recent years, and the Pentagon office dedicated to examining the encounters has received hundreds of reports in recent years. 

Many UAP reports have been shown to have innocuous origins, but a subset has defied easy explanation. The issue has gained renewed attention from lawmakers over the past few years, with heightened concerns about the national security implications of unidentified objects flying in U.S. airspace.

{ https://www.cbsnews.com/ }

25-01-2025 om 17:56 geschreven door peter  

• READ MORE:  Americans reveal who they think is behind NJ drone invasion
• PODCAST: Listen to Welcome to MAGAland for the latest insider Trump news & gossip

By ELLYN LAPOINTE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

A New Jersey Mayor has shared new footage of 'glowing orbs transforming into drones' over Long Island, adding more intrigue to this ongoing mystery. 

Michael Melham, the Mayor of Belleville, has been outspoken about the unexplained phenomena plaguing his state and the greater tri-state area since mid-November when the drones first appeared. 

He shared the bizarre footage on X, saying the clips 'appears to show glowing orbs turning into drones. Verified not to be planes via flight tracker. They hover. Glow. Then move.'

In a recent interview with NewsNation, Melham said he is still getting reports of drone sightings 'all over New Jersey, and even Long Island.'

'Here in New Jersey, we are about 500 mayors strong, we are still waiting for answers because our residents are still gravely concerned over what's flying just over our homes,' he said. 

In one of the videos, which appeared to have been shot with an infrared camera, a large ball of light can be seen slowly changing shape into what looks like a fixed-wing aircraft.

Another shows a bright white orb over the North Shore of Long Island, where the videographer told Melham that hundreds of drones can be seen nightly. This orb also gradually morphs into what appears to be a fixed-wing aircraft.

Melham emphasized the need for answers and expressed hope that President Donald Trump will shed light on the matter. Trump said Monday that he will 'tell the people' the truth about the drones. 

A video that appears to have been taken with an infrared camera shows an orb of light gradually changing shape into what looks like a fixed-wing aircraft 

Michael Melham, the Mayor of Belleville, has been outspoken about the unexplained phenomena plaguing his state and the greater tri-state area since mid-November when the drones first appeared

'Why don't we find out immediately,' Trump said while in the Oval Office. 'I can't imagine it's an enemy or there... people would've gotten blown up over [it].

'Maybe they were testing things. I don't know why they wouldn't have said what it was.'  

Trump had previously promised he would disclose the truth about the drones on day one of his presidency, but he has not shared any details as of yet. 

'The fact that he doesn't seem to have that many details... tells me that if he's not briefed on it yet, it's probably not a matter of national security, or certainly not an alien invasion or anything crazy like that,' Melham told NewsNation.

The mayor said it's 'more than likely' the aircraft are 'our own government or experimental drones that are up in the sky,' but added that residents are still concerned about the lack of answers from the government. 

'I do take the president at his word. I do think that we are gonna get some kind of disclosure,' he said, adding that it will 'come soon.' 

The videos Melham shared were taken by Dan Oliverio, who documents UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon) sightings through his Instagram account @OurStrangeSkies. Oliverio sent the footage directly to Melham.

Another video Melham shared showed a orb of white light over the North Shore of Long Island

This orb also morphed into what looks like a fixed-wing aircraft

Strangely, the video of the North Shore of Long Island shows a timestamp of January 28, 2025, which is six days after it was shared online by Melham. 

When asked about this, Oliverio told Melham that the incorrect timestamp was the result of faulty binoculars he used to take the video. 

Despite widespread public concern over sightings like these, the Biden administration had assured the public that the sightings were not a threat, brushing most off as hobbyist drones, commercial airplanes and even stars.

Melham is cautiously optimistic that the new administration could shed light on the mysterious aircraft, which he believes are definitely drones. 

'Our president-elect receives the same exact national intelligence briefing that our president does, so if it was a foreign adversary or something alien or extraterrestrial, I'm certain, as president-elect, he would have known,' he said. 

Some social media users who saw these videos are not convinced they are actually of orbs, drones or one morphing into the other.

'That's just a normal plane doing normal plane things,' one X user replied. 

'Its landing lights are facing the camera at first,' creating a lens flare, which is when light shone directly into a camera lens scatters and takes on an orb-like appearance.

'It then turns and the landing lights are facing away from the camera,' causing the lens flare to dissipate and allowing its true shape as a fixed-wing aircraft to become visible.

Others are still concerned that these are not 'normal' aircraft, and welcome Melham's continued push for answers. 

Numerous 'car-sized' drones first appeared over New Jersey in mid-November, and have since been reported by eyewitnesses all across the Northeast

'You are a hero to many Michael. Thanks for doing the essential work,' one X user replied. 

New Jersey still appears to be the epicenter of drone reports following the first sightings in November, when eyewitnesses reported 'car-sized drones' flying above a military base and President Donald Trump's golf course. 

But since then, hundreds of other reports have surfaced across the Northeast and even from several southern states, including Virginia, Kentucky and the Carolinas.

In December, Trump claimed 'the government knows what is happening' when asked about bizarre phenomenon during a news conference. 

Multiple Republican lawmakers echoed this claim and put forth theories that the drones were being operated by foreign adversaries such as China, Iran or Russia, as sightings were repeatedly reported over US military bases. 

But the White House said the sightings near or over Department of Defense (DoD) installations 'are not new.' 

'DoD takes unauthorized access over its airspace seriously and coordinates closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities, as appropriate,' the statement read.

The Department of Homeland Security, DoD, Federal Aviation Administration and the FBI said the sightings were 'a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones.'

READ MORE

• Drones 'the size of buses' are still invading New Jersey... as experts reveal why crisis has gone silent 

The UAP tracking website Enigma Labs has logged sightings as recently as January 7 in multiple Northeastern states, and their data suggests the reports have ramped up in recent weeks.

When the drones first started appearing in November, 22 people issued reports to Enigma starting on the 20th. But by December 31, that number dramatically increased to 347.

A drone ban was issued from December 18 to January 17, during which Enigma labs said the average number of reported sightings dropped by 43 percent.

Now, new data shows 36 sightings were logged the week of January 1, and nearly half were spotted in New Jersey.

Trump has yet to release the drone report he promised, and many Americans await new information about the alarming phenomenon they believe they have been experiencing. 

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

25-01-2025 om 17:00 geschreven door peter  

• READ MORE:

By ELLYN LAPOINTE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

UFO whistleblowers are set to expose an '80-year cover-up' of the existence of non-human existence in an upcoming documentary.  

Approximately 34 current and former senior members of the US government, military and intelligence community are also set to disclose details about a worldwide race to verse engineer alien technology.

'The Age of Disclosure,' by filmmaker Dan Farah, will premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas this March. 

The film claims there has been an 80-year cover-up of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence and a secret war among nations racing to reverse engineer UFO technology — one that the US has long been a key player in.

Newly confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former senior intelligence official Luis Elizondo, and former NASA administrator and member of the agency's UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) study team Mike Gold will give their testimonies. 

In the trailer, released Wednesday, former Staff Director of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Christopher Mellon said: 'This is the biggest discovery in human history.' 

These officials have served as prominent whistleblowers in the push for transparency about the federal government's supposed knowledge of and involvement with UAPs. 

Several of them testified at a Congressional hearing on the subject in November, arguing that the Department of Defense (DoD) has failed to inform the both Congress and the public of the existence and effectiveness of programs related to UAPs. 

A forthcoming UFO documentary will include interviews with dozens of current and former top US officials, including newly confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio

During the joint hearing, Elizondo, an ex-Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) official, said under oath that he managed a highly classified Special Access Program (SAP) for the White House under the National Security Council before quitting the Pentagon in 2017.

He also testified that he was compelled — or perhaps encouraged — to sign agreements that restrict him from speaking out about certain SAPs, such as key projects involving UFOs, crashes and reverse engineering. 

Following his departure from the Pentagon, Elizondo helped release three of the most famous UFO videos in history, and has previously said that the US government is 'in possession of UAP technologies, as are some of our adversaries.' 

Just for months prior to testifying before Congress, he gave an exclusive interview to DailyMail.com in which he discussed intriguing and previously unknown UFO incidents, many of which are also detailed in his book, 'Imminent.'

These events include UAP sightings by military personnel, damage to military vehicles that he perceived as extraterrestrial sabotage, and even 'implants' found in military service members who had a run-in with a UFO.

Now, he is speaking out again in The Age of Disclosure. In the film's trailer, Elizondo says: 'We learned that the US government was involved in a long-running, secret war with other nations to collect and reverse-engineer vehicles not made by humans.' 

Mike Gold, another key source in the film, testified before Congress alongside Elizondo.

Gold previously served as NASA's associate administrator of space policy and partnerships and as a member of the organization's independent UAP study team in October 2022.

Luis Elizondo, an ex-Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) official, testified before Congress that he previously managed a highly classified Special Access Program (SAP) for the White House 

In the November hearing, retired US Navy Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet (far left), ex-DIA official Luis Elizondo (center left) and former NASA administrator Mike Gold (far right) testified to the US Governments knowledge of UAP and extraterrestrial intelligence

The film trailer features clips of UAP activity obtained from the US government 

He now serves as the Chief Growth Officer at Redwire, an American aerospace manufacturer and space technology company. 

But while at NASA, he championed for an end of stigma surrounding UAPs within the American space agency due to its popularity and trust among the public. 

During the November hearing, he spoke to the seriousness and reality of UFOs as an unsolved mystery worthy of large-scale scientific investigation.

'NASA personnel stepping forward and participating in such discussions would make a powerful statement to the scientific community that UAPs should be taken seriously and researched accordingly,' Gold said. 

Tim Gallaudet, an American oceanographer and retired Rear Admiral in the US Navy, also testified at the hearing and will be featured in The Age of Disclosure.

In his written testimony, Gallaudet described an experience he had while serving as Commander of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command which confirmed that 'UAPs are interacting with humanity.'

Received an alarming email on the Navy's secure network from the operations officer of Fleet Forces Command in 2015, he wrote. At that time, his personnel were participating in a pre-deployment naval exercise off the US East Coast.

The email was addressed to all subordinate commanders, and the subject line read: 'URGENT SAFETY OF FLIGHT ISSUE.'

'Humanity is not the only intelligence in the universe,' Tim Gallaudet said in the trailer for The Age of Disclosure

In his written testimony, Tim Gallaudet recalled receiving an official email containing the 'Go Fast' video, a declassified US military UAP video taken aboard a Navy fighter jet from the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt off the Florida coast

The body of the email effectively said: 'If any of you know what these are, tell me ASAP. We are having multiple near-midair collisions, and if we do not resolve it soon, we will have to shut down the exercise.'

Attached to the email was what is now known as the 'Go Fast' video, Gallaudet wrote, which is a declassified US military UAP video taken aboard a Navy fighter jet from the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt off the Florida coast. 

The video shows an unidentified object moving at very high speed seemingly close to the ocean's surface. 

'The very next day, the email disappeared from my account and those of the other recipients without explanation,' Gallaudet wrote in his testimony.

But NASA has claimed it debunked any exotic or extraterrestrial theories put forth to explain the Go Fast video, stating their analysis 'reveals a less extraordinary interpretation.'

In a landmark advisory report released in 2023, the US space agency said — among other findings — that the Go Fast UFO was 'most likely' nothing more than a conventional object 'drifting with the wind.' 

Still, when speaking before Congress at the November 2024 hearing, Gallaudet said: 'There is a national security need for more UAP transparency. 

'In 2025, the US will spend over $900 billion on national defense, yet we still have an incomplete understanding of what is in our airspace.

'The failure of the Executive Branch to share UAP information with Congress is an infringement on the legislative branch that undermines separation powers and may be creating a constitutional crisis,' he added. 

Gallaudet is convinced that extraterrestrials and their technologies been present on Earth.

'Humanity is not the only intelligence in the universe,' he said in the trailer for The Age of Disclosure.

These officials, and many more, are set to reveal new details about the US government's records of UAP sightings, its involvement with these phenomena and the alleged cover-up that has kept this information secret for decades. 

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

25-01-2025 om 16:36 geschreven door peter  

The northern hemisphere is a vast, smooth plain with a thinner crust and fewer craters. It is also less magnetized than the south.

Scientists have been puzzling over this dichotomy and have proposed different reasons for it. One leading theory involves a massive impact. Some researchers using geophysical modelling have suggested that a Pluto-sized body struck Mars early in its history. The impact could’ve created the northern lowlands as a gigantic impact basin.

Other researchers have proposed that the planet’s internal (endogenic) processes created the dichotomy. Plate tectonics or mantle convection could’ve been behind it.

Either way, the dichotomy is fundamental to understanding Mars. We can’t understand the planet’s evolution without revealing the mystery behind the dichotomy. This is why NASA and the DLR launched the InSight lander, which reached the Martian surface in November 2018.

The lander’s name stands for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport. Among its instruments was SEIS, the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure. SEIS helped scientists better understand Marsquakes by detecting and measuring hundreds of them. It also helped them measure crustal thickness and investigate the mantle. InSight’s data also helped them constrain the size of Mars’ core.

Scientists are still working with InSight’s data, and a new research letter published in the AGU’s Geophysical Research Letters suggests that Mars’ convection is behind the Martian dichotomy. It’s titled “Constraints on the Origin of the Martian Dichotomy From Southern Highlands Marsquakes.” The authors are Weijia Sun from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Professor and geophysicist Hrvoje Tkalcic from the Australian National University.

The authors state the Martian dichotomy in clear terms: “The Martian hemispheric dichotomy is delineated by significant differences in elevation and crustal thickness between the Northern Lowlands and Southern Highlands.” The altitude difference is about equal to the height of the tallest mountains on Earth.

This research is based on a cluster of Marsquakes in the Terra Cimmeria region of the southern highlands. “We analysed waveform data from so-called low frequency marsquakes captured by NASA’s InSight seismograph on Mars,” Professor Tkalcic said. “In doing this, we located a cluster of six previously detected, but unlocated marsquakes in the planet’s southern highlands, in the Terra Cimmeria region.”

These quakes gave the researchers new seismic data from previously unstudied regions, which is significant because it allows them to compare the data to seismic data from other regions, especially from the Cerberus Fossae region in the northern lowlands.

Cerberus Fossae is a series of near-parallel fissures on Mars. Scientists think they were created by the Tharsis volcanoes to the east and Elysium to the west.

The researchers worked with InSight’s seismic data and improved the signal-to-noise ratio. That improvement allowed them to pinpoint the locations of the marsquakes. “Here, we improve the signal-to-noise ratios and determine the locations of the low-frequency marsquakes recorded during the InSight mission. We find a new cluster of marsquakes in Terra Cimmeria, Southern Highlands, in addition to those previously located in Cerberus Fossae, Northern Lowlands,” they write.

The researchers used what’s called the spectral ratio method to determine the quality of the waves. In this context, quality refers to how quickly seismic waves lose energy as they travel through the Martian interior. It’s expressed as a value for ‘Q’ which was different between the Cerberus Fossae region and the Terra Cimmeria region.

“Using the spectral ratio method, we estimate the quality factor Q in the range 481–543 for Terra Cimmeria versus 800–2,000 determined for Cerberus Fossae,” the researchers explain. A higher Q in the Southern Highlands’ Terra Cimmeria indicates that seismic waves there ‘attenuate’ or lose energy more quickly.

Such a large difference in Q between regions indicates that the subsurfaces are substantially different from one another. Temperature and mantle convection could be the key. “The attenuation difference might be linked to the temperature differences between the two hemispheres, along with more vigorous convection beneath the Southern Highlands,” the paper states.

“The data from these marsquakes, when compared with the well-documented northern hemisphere marsquakes, reveal how the planet’s southern hemisphere is significantly hotter compared to its northern hemisphere,” Professor Tkalcic said. “Understanding whether convection is taking place offers clues into how Mars has evolved into its current state over billions of years.”

Researchers’ primary goal in studying the Martian dichotomy has been to determine whether endogenic or exogenic processes or events are responsible. However, the impact theory is hampered by timing. There are significant geochronological constraints for giant impacts on Mars. Crater data, mineral distribution, and the presence of river channels all conflict with the impact hypothesis, which most researchers suggest had to have happened early in the Solar System’s history.

“These seismological observations, together with geochronological constraints of giant impacts, reinforce the “endogenic” hypothesis that mantle convection causes the crustal dichotomy,” they explain.

Are these findings a breakthrough in understanding the Martian dichotomy? Possibly. Compared to our seismic probings of Earth’s interior, Mars is practically undiscovered.

“On Earth, we have thousands of seismic stations scattered around the planet. But on Mars, we have a single station, so the challenge is determining the location of these marsquakes when you have only a single instrument,” Professor Tkalcic said.

It seems that the researchers have met that challenge.

“These findings, supported by geochemical analysis of Martian meteorites, provide valuable in situ seismological observations that support the “endogenic” hypothesis, suggesting that mantle convection plays a crucial role in forming the Martian crustal dichotomy,” the authors explain.

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

25-01-2025 om 01:31 geschreven door peter  

Posted by Mark Thompson

NASA is Testing Shape Memory Alloy Wheels

Rovers on alien worlds need to be built of strong stuff. The dry rugged terrain can be punishing on the wheels as they explore the surface. In order to prevent the damage to the wheels, NASA is testing a shape memory alloy material that can return to its original shape after being bent, stretched, heated or cooled.  NASA has already used this material for years but never in tires, in what may be its perfect application.

Rovers are a common sight now as they explore the surface of other planets. Their versatility and ability to respond to the environment and commands from mission controllers make them a valuable exploration tool. Cameras, sensors, collection instruments and analysis tools are common onboard systems that provide information about the local environment. There have been a number of well known examples such as the Mars rovers; Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity and Perseverance. They have helped us to learn about the geology, atmosphere, presence of water and habitability of the planet. Taken Mars as a case in point, we have only explored 1% so there is most certainly still a need for robotic rover exploration. 

Perhaps the most robust aspect of a rover is its wheels and tires. They must be capable of coping with rugged, uneven and rocky surfaces yet light enough not to cost a fortune to launch to the alien worlds. NASA has recently undertaken and completed a rigorous round of testing of a new tire using revolutionary shape memory alloys material. The tire technology was developed at the Glenn Research Center in partnership with Goodyear Tire and Rubber. 

The shape memory alloys have been used for numerous applications due to their unique feature of being able to return to their original shape after being deformed. They are typically made from combinations of metals like nickel and titanium which exhibit the property known as super-elasticity. The fascinating property allows the material to ‘remember’ its original shape and have been used in medical devices like stents, wires and various aerospace components. This is the first time NASA have explore their use in tyres. 

The idea about their use in rover wheels came about rather by chance. Dr. Santo Padula II, materials research engineer at NASA Glenn Research Center came across Colin Creager a NASA mechanical engineer while leaving a meeting. Creager explained about the work he was doing in the Glenn Simulated Lunar Operations Laboratory (a simulated lunar surface) to improve rover performance. Having enjoyed a tour of the facilities, Padula noticed the rover tyres were made of steel. Padula immediately realised that the steel wheels would get irreversibly damaged through use ultimately leading to their failure to provide traction. On discussing the matter, Creager explained it was the only problem they couldn’t solve. 

As a materials researcher Padula told him about his  work on a new alloy that would solve the problems with wheel irreversible deformations. The SMA tires concept was born. The two joined forces to develop the first nickel-titanium tires that would deform but return to their original shape and, after rigorous testing, the SMA tires became the solution to Creager’s problem. 

The team is now looking for other ways that SMAs can be used in other space exploration such as habitat protection. The extreme environment of space with meteoroid impacts being a regular occurrence make memory alloys the ideal solution. As robotic exploration continues apace and human exploration of our Solar System moves forward, SMAs look set to be a real game changer in ensuring safety and continued operation of a multitude of space hardware. 

Source :

• NASA Sets Sights on Mars Terrain with Revolutionary Tire Tech

Link :

• https://www.nasa.gov/technology/nasa-sets-sights-on-mars-terrain-with-revolutionary-tire-tech/

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

25-01-2025 om 01:04 geschreven door peter