The Most Interesting Science News Articles of the Week

Each week we uncover the most interesting and informative articles from around the world, here are 10 of the coolest stories in science this week.

Big statue

Archaeologists unearthed fragments of a colossal statue possibly showing Pharaoh Ramesses II.

Credit: Dietrich Raue

Archaeologists have discovered a colossal statue, possibly depicting Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses the Great, in a muddy pit in a Cairo suburb, Egypt's antiquities ministry announced today (March 9).

Split in fragments, the quartzite statue was found by Egyptian and German archaeologists in the heavily populated Ain Shams and Matariya districts, where the ancient city of Heliopolis — the cult center for sun-god worship — once stood. [Read more about the discovery.]

Losing it all

Young men who take drugs to treat hair loss or an enlarged prostate may experience an unwanted side effect — erectile dysfunction — and the problem can persist long after these men stop taking the drugs, a new study finds.

One of the drugs in the study was finasteride, which is sold under the brand names Propecia and Proscar. Finasteride affects how cells make testosterone; it may be taken for hair growth or to shrink the prostate. [Read more about the long-lasting effect.]

It's in the details

Scientists recently created five synthetic chromosomes in yeast, a step towards a completely synthetic yeast genome.

Credit: Chris Bickel/Science 2017

The world is one step closer to a new synthetic organism.

Scientists have created five synthetic yeast chromosomes and placed them inside yeast cells. The chromosomes are composed of the normal letters, or base pairs, that make up DNA, but the sequence is slightly different from those found naturally in yeast. [Read more about the new creations.]

Neanderthal teeth

The upper jaw of a Neanderthal from El Sidrón in Spain. The dental calculus on the rear molar indicated that this individual ate poplar, a source of aspirin.

Credit: Paleoanthropology Group MNCN-CSIC

Neanderthals once dined on woolly rhinoceroses and wild sheep, and even self-medicated with painkillers and antibiotics, according to a new analysis of their dental plaque.

But the diets of Neanderthals — the closest known extinct human relative, which co-existed and sometimes bred with humans before going extinct about 40,000 years ago — varied depending on where they lived. [Read more about our ancient relatives.]

Discovering new things

Scientists have recently succeeded in creating a mysterious state of matter known as a time crystal. This exotic state of matter seems to suspend the laws of thermodynamics indefinitely.

Credit: E. Edwards/JQI

A bizarre new state of matter known as a time crystal seems to suspend the laws of thermodynamics almost indefinitely, two new experiments suggest.

The newly created matter joins a host of other exotic states of matter, such as superconductors, quantum-spin liquids and superfluids. [Read more about the law-breaking creation.]

Concept car

The passenger capsule can be driven like a car, flown by a drone or integrated into a transit system like a hyperloop.

Credit: Italdesign/Airbus

George Jetson can eat his heart out. A new flying-car concept can do more than just take to the skies. In fact, the futuristic vehicle takes more cues from "Transformers" than "The Jetsons" in imagining how humans might get around in the future. [Read more about this unique vehicle.]

Decorated tomb

Temperatures on the Antarctic continent reached a record-breaking high of 63.5 degrees Fahrenheit (17.5 degrees Celsius) in 2015, according to a new report of balmy records for the bottom of the world.

And the tomb isn't just big. It also has a rare example of rock art carved into its ceiling. [Read more about the rock art.]

The future is near

The Hyperloop One test track, dubbed the DevLoop, will be made up of a series of tubes that will extend 1,640 feet (500 meters).

Credit: Hyperloop One

Though it sounds like a transportation system straight out of a science-fiction novel, the "Hyperloop" is inching closer to reality, and new images offer a first look at the Hyperloop One project's test track.

Though it sounds like a transportation system straight out of a science-fiction novel, the "Hyperloop" is inching closer to reality, and new images offer a first look at the Hyperloop One project's test track. [Read more about the ultra-fast system.]

Odd effects

Easter eggs aren't the only things that are turning pink this spring: Some people are reporting that the special-edition "Peeps-flavored" Oreo cookies are turning their poop pink.

The cream's color, sandwiched between two vanilla cookies, is similar to the color of the iconic marshmallow treats that are especially popular around Easter. But how does the dye go from a colorful cookie to a perhaps unwanted pink stool? [Read more about the strange connection.]

Happy living

The title of the nation's happiest community once again goes to the city of Naples, Florida, and its surrounding area, according to a new poll.

In this most recent poll, residents of the Naples metro area scored a 66.3 out of 100 on the survey's measure of well-being. The Naples area previously claimed the top spot in this same poll conducted in 2014 to 2015. [Read more about happy places to live.]

Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+.

{  http://www.livescience.com/ }

ANTARCTICA: NASA IMAGES REVEAL TRACES OF ANCIENT HUMAN SETTLEMENT UNDERNEATH 2.3 KM OF ICE

WASHINGTON |

Recently released remote sensing photography of NASA’s Operation IceBridge mission in Antarctica led to a fascinating discovery when images revealed what some experts believe could be the existence of a possible ancient human settlement lying beneath an impressive 2.3 kilometers of ice.

The intriguing discovery was made during aircraft tests trials of NASA’s Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) lidar technology set to be launched on the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) in 2017, that aims to monitor changes in polar ice.

“There’s very little margin for error when it comes to individual photons hitting on individual fiber optics, that is why we were so surprised when we noticed these abnormal features on the lidar imagery,” explains Nathan Borrowitz, IceBridge’s project scientist and sea ice researcher with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

“As of now we can only speculate as to what these features are but the launching of ICESat-2 in 2017 could lead to other major discoveries and a better understanding of Antarctica’s geomorphological features” he adds.

Although NASA scientist Nathan Borrowitz claims the infrared images are definitely intriguing, other experts claim they are clearly the proof of ancient human engineering

A human settlement buried under 2.3 km of ice

Leading archeologist, Ashoka Tripathi, of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Calcutta believes the images show clear evidence of an ancient human settlement beneath the ice sheet.

“These are clearly features of some sort of human-made structure, resembling some sort of pyramidal structure. The patterns clearly show nothing we should expect from natural geomorphological formations found in nature. We clearly have here evidence of human engineering. The only problem is that these photographs were taken in Antarctica under 2 kilometers of ice. That is clearly the puzzling part, we do not have any explanation for this at the moment,” he admits.

“These pictures just reflect a small portion of Antarctica’s total land mass. There are possibly many other additional sites that are covered over with ice. It just shows us how easy it is to underestimate both the size and scale of past human settlements,” says Dr Tripathi.

Remnants of a lost civilization

Historian and cartographer at the University of Cambridge, Christopher Adam, believes there might be a rationnal explanation.

The map of Turkish admiral Piri Reis in 1513 AD shows the “ice less” coastline of Antarctica

“One of histories most puzzling maps is that of the Turkish admiral Piri Reis in 1513 AD which successfully mapped the coastline of Antarctica over 500 years ago. What is most fascinating about this map is that it shows the coastline of Antarctica without any ice. How is this possible when images of the subglacial coastline of Antarctica were only seen for the first time after the development of ground-penetrating radar in 1958? Is it possible Antarctica has not always been covered under such an ice sheet? This could be evidence that it is a possibility” he acknowledges.

« A slight pole shift or displacement of the axis of rotation of the Earth in historical times is possibly the only rational explanation that comes to mind but we definitely need more research done before we jump to any conclusion.”

ICESat-2 (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite 2), part of NASA’s Earth Observing System, is a planned satellite mission for measuring ice sheet mass elevation, sea ice freeboard as well as land topography and vegetation characteristics, and is set to launch in may 2017.

{https://worldnewsdailyreport.com/ }

HUGE UFO LEAVES THROUGH PORTAL: Footage of flying diamond over sea goes viral

A STRIKING video which appears to show a huge bizarre diamond-shaped UFO hovering over the sea before it disappears "through a portal" has gone viral.

Two Identical UFOs Filmed Over Florida and New York

Various reports suggest that a significant number of people witnessed a UFO in Homestead, Florida on February 15, 2017. The UFO was so mysterious as an aircraft mechanic with many years in aviation could not explain the video of the alleged mass UFO sighting.

Interestingly, a second video showing the same UFOs surfaced on March 3, 2017, and made the rounds online. The unnamed witness was in his room fixing the blinds. He usually looked out of his window to see the moon. He was surprised to see lights beaming from a distance. The sighting took place in Jamaica, NY.

The witness was sure they were not airplanes because he had been seeing planes from a distance during the night and he knew they did not beam as bright or as big as the mysterious lights that he could not explain.

The witness went on to say that he noticed the objects many months, but not paid attention to it as he thought they were just from the JFK airport on the right side.

Airplanes or helicopters are a regular sight around the area with JFK airport stationed nearby.

The witness also initially thought they were just motorbike headlights that appeared flashing when a tree was in front of them while the wind blew the leaves around. He observed on the last beam of light on the right side continually drifted off to the right and reappeared a few seconds again.

The witness claimed to be into cosmology, and his UFO sighting could be his wonderful, amazing discovery yet.

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

Eyewitness Baffle To See An Apparent Decloaked V-Shaped UFO

TV News recently presents the UFO case seriously, and the MUFON investigator appears to handle it very well. It has been reported that UFO can materialize out of thin air, not by magic but by decloaking technology.

Debunking a UFO sighting is not that easy as most think. It needs evidence and not just mere words to do such thing. Without proof, debunking is just a bluff to make false news and profits to those networks who want to earn money out of it.

The annual UFO sighting report in Mutual UFO Network in Houston average around 80 speculated sightings. The data did not include the ones that are not reported. Fletcher Gray, one of the renowned UFO experts, offers a reason why most UFO sightings are not involving UFOs. However, there’s one case that baffles him big time.

An orange light was spotted over the Katy territory, coasting around. Tourists in the ground speculated it was a UFO. Gray said that it was glinting as it traveled during that time in the sky.

FAIRE POUSSER DES PATATES SUR MARS ?

Three Glowing Lights Seen Over Ontario, Canada On Feb 27, 2017, UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: Feb 27, 2017
Location of sighting: Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Source: MUFON #82604

This UFO was seen over Ontario last week. It does have three lights which could mean its a TR3B military craft, but its hard to tell at night. Sometimes similar UFOs have been reported to suddenly split up and shoot away in opposite directions. I wonder if this would have happened if the eyewitness had watched longer?
Scott C. Waring

Eyewitness states:

I pulled onto my street heading home and i noticed 3 bright lights in the sky. 2 red and one white flashing very fast. I recorded it for a few seconds from my car, until the video went out of focus, then pulled into my driveway and went inside to tell people to come look. My borther in law came outside and seen it as well. I started to record again and as i did it changed its white light to red and began pulsating slowly with the other 2 lights now turned off. It then flickered its lights and changed the red pulsating light back to white, continued to pulsate, and then went back to flashing again for the remainder of the time i watched. It eventually vanished.

{ http://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ }

UFO Over Mount Shasta Is Supply Ship For 12,000 Year Old Alien Base! March 2017, UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: March 2017

Location of sighting:  Mount Shasta, California, USA

Source: 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/9924729/Winners-of-Nasas-Let-It-Snow-photography-contest.html?frame=2507016

This UFO showed up over Mount Shasta, a famous religious mountain where many have claimed to see people surrounded by an aura around there body. Many who have climbed the mountain trails have said they encounter beings along the way that claimed to be from an underground city below the mountain that is over 12,000 years old! One appeared to be Saint Germain. (click here on more info on that encounter). This UFO over the mountain was there to pick up and deliver goods, supplies and passengers to this ancient city. I am sure you have heard of these stories before. I myself first heard about them over 35 years ago. 

Scott C. Waring

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

NASA offers glimpse into newly discovered 'second Earth' offering hope of alien life

NASA has revealed first pictures of the newly discovered star system where a group of new planets could harbour alien life.

By Jess Bell 

-

GETTY

The space agency made the huge announcement last month, with experts calling the discovery of Trappist -1 one of the most important developments in the hunt for aliens.

The seven Earth-like dwarf planets have opened up the possibility for discovering an entirely new solar system.

Now NASA has released raw images from the Kepler space telescope, showing a pixelated first look at the fascinating discovery.

“Finding a second Earth isn't a matter of if but when”

Thomas Zurbuchen

It comes after scientists offered a look into what life could be like on a "second Earth", as they created an interactive look around the exoplanets.

Three of the planets discovered are thought to contain pools of water, suggesting life could be thriving.

The Kepler telescope has been observing the new star system since December and the new data gives scientists a more detailed look at the planets.

NASA AMES/W STENZEL

NASA

Geert Barentsen, K2 research scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center, said: "Scientists and enthusiasts around the world are invested in learning everything they can about these Earth-size worlds.

"Providing the K2 raw data as quickly as possible was a priority to give investigators an early look so they could best define their follow-up research plans.

"We’re thrilled that this will also allow the public to witness the process of discovery."

Trappist -1 was discovered by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope with help from ground-based machinery.

Talking about the discovery, NASA's associate administrator Thomas Zurbuchen said: "This discovery could be a significant piece in the puzzle of finding habitable environments, places that are conducive to life.

“Finding a second Earth isn't a matter of if but when."

• Aliens, black holes and life on Mars: Conspiracy theories scientists STILL can’t explain
• Lost in space: NASA uncovers mystery behind spacecraft that vanished EIGHT YEARS ago
• Life on Venus? NASA reveals plans for joint Russia mission to explore Earth's 'evil twin'

{ http://www.dailystar.co.uk/ }

Did an extraterrestrial object wipe out Paleo-Americans? Traces of platinum at US archaeological sites suggest an asteroid or comet might have caused disappearance of Clovis people

• Researchers analyzed 11 archaeological sites associated with Clovis peoples
• The Clovis peoples arrived in Americas more than 13,000 years ago and mysteriously disappeared 12,800 years ago
• Around the same time, more than 35 ice-age animals went extinct 
• Scientists found traces of platinum from California to the Carolinas and Virginia
• Platinum is common in extraterrestrial objects such as asteroids and comets
• North America experienced mini ice-age called 'Younger Dryas' around this time
• Evidence suggests Clovis people were maybe wiped out by comet-like object

By Forrest Hanson For Dailymail.com

Traces of platinum discovered at archaeological sites across the US may help scientists determine why the Clovis people disappeared thousands of years ago.

Platinum is found in asteroids and comets, which has led researchers to speculate that an extraterrestrial object could explain the disappearance.

The Clovis people, who inhabited the modern-day contiguous United States more than 13,000 years ago along with beasts such as the mastodon and mammoth, disappeared 12,800 years ago. More than 35 ice-age animals also went extinct.

An extraterrestrial object such as an asteroid (pictured) or comet could have struck North America around 12,800 years ago, when the Clovis peoples disappeared and 35 ice age animals went extinct

The contiguous United States had been inhabited by the Clovis people, pictured in a drawing battling a woolly mammoth, more than 13,000 years ago

Researchers from the University of South Carolina, whose work was published in Scientific Reports, found 11 Clovis sites from California to the Carolinas and Virginia had platinum, which was previously found in Greenland in 2013.

Archaeologist Albert C. Goodyear told WLTX: 'We found in our study from California to the Savannah River, higher than ordinary concentrations of platinum.'

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While no impact site has been found, platinum's dating coincided with the 'Younger-Dryas' period, a sort of mini ice-age lasting 1,400 years that began 12,800 years ago, Science Daily reported.

The study's lead author, Christopher Moore, said: 'Platinum is very rare in Earth's crust, but it is common in asteroids and comets.'

Moore added: 'The presence of elevated platinum in archaeological sites is a confirmation of data previously reported for the Younger-Dryas onset several years ago in a Greenland ice-core.'

Clovis sites from California (pictured as 1) to the Carolinas and Virginia (pictured 5-11) yielded traces of platinum

The Clovis peoples were known for the fine-fluted stone points they made for weapons, pictured. For a time, they were believed to be the first peoples in the Americas

He said that unlike the dinosaur extinction 65million years ago which was caused by a large extraterrestrial object impact, the Younger-Dryas impact would have been caused by a smaller one.

Questions such as how exactly peoples and animals would have been affected by such an environmental change remain, and the study concludes that more research into the theoretical impact is necessary.

The Clovis people were a prehistoric Native American group of hunter-gatherers who, for 40 years, were assumed to have been the first people to arrive in the Americas.

An archaeologist at the El Fin del Mundo Clovis site in northwestern Mexico excavates the culture which mysteriously disappeared 12,800 years ago

The Clovis people shared the land with ice-age animals such as the woolly mammoth, pictured, and the mastodon. Such animals are now extinct

These early humans were distinguished by the fine-fluted stone points they made for weapons.

But in early 2016, anthropologists in Southern Chile discovered a completely different type of a much older stone tool technology believed to be up to 19,000 years old.

David Meltzer, a Southern Methodist University archaeologist, said: 'There is compelling evidence that Clovis was preceded by an earlier and possibly separate population.'

{ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ }

Crop circles: They're real and contain hidden messages, scientist says

By Megan Palin

Crop circlesin Wiltshire, England. Photo / Getty Images

It all started with a UFO sighting.

Dr Horace Drew, 61, was just 10 years old when he allegedly saw an unidentified, silver, windowless craft hovering in the sky near his suburban home, in Jacksonville, Florida. The encounter lasted only moments but led to a lifelong fascination with the extraterrestrial.

"I saw a UFO, so I knew they were real from an early age," Dr Drew told news.com.au.

The scientist, who holds a PhD in Chemistry from Caltech, the California Institute of Technology, and worked for CSIRO as a molecular biologist, has been researching crop circles and aliens for 20 years. Dr Drew relocated to Australia in the 1980s but most of his work has taken him overseas, predominantly to Europe.

"They're quite rare in Australia," he said.

He, along with many conspiracy theorists, believe crop circles are the work of aliens or human time travellers. Sceptics say most are probably man-made.

A crop circle is typically defined by standing wheat stems that have been flattened in the shape of a circle or more complex pattern. They tend to appear mainly in developed Western or secularised countries - including Japan.

The cause of many of the circles is unknown despite various natural and unorthodox explanations having been put forward. Some crop circles have been proven to be hoaxes.

But according to Dr Drew, a number are legitimate and contain puzzles that can be decoded and linked to time travel and alien life.

He told news.com.au he had visited about "two dozen crop circles" around the globe in his career. Typically, they were between 50-500m in length, he said.

"For the past 20 years I have been studying UFOs or crop circles. Just as other mainstream scientists study conventional subjects," Dr Drew told guests at the March UFO & Paranormal Research Society of Australia (UFO-PRSA) seminar in Sydney on Wednesday night.

"This has led to at least one major breakthrough the discovery of a more advanced binary code than our computers currently use."

Dr Drew claimed that aliens or human time travellers have been leaving the crop circles on Earth as messages to "us or themselves".

WHY ARE THERE CROP CIRCLES?

Dr Drew said he was one of a handful of scientists around the world who had worked to successfully decode some of the messages in crop circles.

According to him, some crop circles provide general descriptions of the future.

"Other crop (circles) show schematic images of the future for astronomical or human events," he said.

He said some of the decoded messages read: 'Much pain but still time. Believe. There is good out there'; 'Beware the bearers of false gifts and their broken promises'; 'We oppose deception. Conduit closing'.

Dr Drew has developed at least two theories as to the purpose of the circles by reading their "advanced (version of) binary codes".

"One theory is that they are trying to introduce themselves to us peacefully, like we do using bubbles with dolphins," he said.

"When (humans) want to talk with dolphins we put little bubble circles under the ocean with a generator. We watch the dolphins come up and play and investigate, and we study them.

"This is called the 'dolphin communication project'."

He said the dynamic between the way humans interact with dolphins and whales was likely comparable to how extraterrestrials communicate with us.

"Barack or Trump have never said to a dolphin: 'take me to your leader I want to sign a treaty with you'," he said.

"And (the extraterrestrials are) not interested in making a treaty with us.

"They are ahead of us like we are ahead of the dolphins and the whales."

His second theory was that the messages "are not even for us".

Crop circle near Avebury, Wiltshire. Photo / Getty Images

Dr Drew said human time travellers from the distant future could be creating the circles as directional markers, to help them navigate "in their distant past, which is our present".

"There are definitely humans living there in about 5000 years with time travel capability," he said.

"They're coming back and flying all over Earth.

"They seem to just say 'this is a certain day' and mark it.

"So the trouble is we don't know space time physics enough to understand what's happening. It's beyond our knowledge.

"Maybe they don't want us to know about it. It might be just for them."

It's a theory shared by many in his field of work.

HOW ARE THEY MADE?

Dr Drew said the circles appeared to be created by an "unknown energy that heats the crops up".

"It's like microwave energy but is something beyond earth's science," he said.

"It can pattern the wheat.

"No one sees or hears anything and that's why its so hard to prove. If there's a craft, it's silent, noiseless."

But there's nothing to fear, according to him.

"Don't be afraid," he said.

REAL OR A HOAX?

Telling the difference between a real crop circle and a hoax is like differentiating between an original painting and a fake, according to Dr Drew.

"There are some things to look for," he said.

Crops that are bent "halfway up" their stems, rather than on the ground ,is one telltale sign "cereologists", or someone that advocates paranormal explanations of crop circles, look for to determine that it's not a hoax.

"You can't absolutely prove a crop circle wasn't a hoax but you can give a high probability and judgment," he said.

"If there's a hoax the word of it gets around very fast, people are aware, people are not that easily fooled."

In 1991, English pranksters Doug Bower and Dave Chorley took credit for most of the crop circles across southern England made since 1978. They were inspired by the Tully "saucer nest" case in Australia, where a farmer found a flattened circle of swamp reeds after observing a UFO.

Using basic tools including a plank of wood, rope, and a baseball cap fitted with a loop of wire to help them walk in a straight line, they said they made complex crop circles in England - which others then copied all over the world into the 1980s.

They made a circle for journalists, which was later declared authentic by a cereologist.

They then revealed their hoax to the world, spurring on even more copycats.

Dr Drew said there was a lot of scientific evidence to show that some crop circles were made by human time travellers or extraterrestrial beings. "Laboratory results on plant or soil samples taken from a crop circle in Brazil in October of 2016 show that it was formed by unknown sterilising images," he said.

The earliest mention of a crop circle dates back to the 1500s. A woodcut from the time showed a "mowing devil" making the pattern.

GOVERNMENT SECRETS?

Earlier this month, US TV host Jimmy Kimmel asked former US President George Bush if he went through "secret files, the UFO documents" when he was in office.

But instead of laughing off the question, the former commander in chief replied: "Maybe."

Crop circles adorn wheat fields in Wiltshire, England. Photo / Getty Images

Mr Kimmel then asked him if there were "any great secrets you know that you can't share with people?"

"Yeah, there are," Mr Bush said. "But I'm not telling you."

Many conspiracy theorists and some scientists, including Dr Drew, argued that Mr Bush's comments indicated the US government knows much more about extraterrestrial life than it has publicly revealed.

"The politicians are scared they'll lose votes if they talk about it," Dr Drew said.

He said international media had also played a part in causing the public to doubt the legitimacy of crop circles and aliens.

But according to him, its important for humans to keep seeking answers.

"The ET visitors have technologies which would benefit us greatly, for example, how to make safe, clean energy without burning oil, coal or gas," Dr Drew said.

"Ultra-fast propulsion systems, based on gravity and inertia, could carry us safely to distant planets or stars.

"We may also need to upgrade our planetary defences soon, to protect against ET's who may not be friendly."

There's still a lot more to be understood but Dr Drew's hope is that he one day gets a closer look at what was inside the UFO he believes he saw as a child.

"I'd like to meet (the extraterrestrials or human time travellers) in person," he said.

"But I don't think they're going to do that.

"Whichever scientific team is doing this I don't think we're supposed to have full knowledge of it because it will interrupt their program, whatever they're doing."

- news.com.au

{ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ }

Saturn's Tiny Moon Pan Looks Like A UFO, A Ravioli, An Empanada - But It's Not Weird At All In Space

{ http://www.techtimes.com/ }

What is the bizarre UFO which is appearing above cities ALL ACROSS Europe?

A SPATE of similar UFO sightings at different locations across the UK and Europe has convinced some that aliens really ARE visiting Earth.

(FOX 10 Phoenix)

{ https://flipboard.com/topic/ufos }

Alien Footacge & UFO Sightings with Alien Craft In NASA Footage - Docum...

I was fascinated with some of the Genuine UFO Footage most of which I had NEVER

even seen before!!

Make some quality time, relax and enjoy!!

Aardappelen kweken op Mars zoals in de film? Moet kunnen, denken wetenschappers - HLN.be

© ap.

Aardappelen kweken om te overleven op Mars: Matt Damon deed het ons al voor in 'The Martian'. Maar mogelijk kan het ook in werkelijkheid, zo concludeert een onderzoek van het International Potato Center in Peru na een jaar experimenteren.

Lees ook

• Elon Musk stelt Mars-missie uit
• Wetenschappers hebben nieuwe theorie over hoe oppervlak van Mars werd gevormd
• Bewijs van leven op Mars mogelijk al gevonden in 2007
• SpaceX onthult ruimteschip en raket voor kolonisatie van Mars

De wetenschappers in Lima zetten een reeks experimenten op touw waarbij ze de omstandigheden op de rode planeet zo goed mogelijk probeerden na te bootsen. Verschillende aardappelsoorten werden uitgezet. Bedoeling was niet enkel te onderzoeken of de mens in de - verre - toekomst de knollen zou kunnen kweken op Mars, maar ook welke soorten het best geschikt zijn om op aarde in barre klimatologische omstandigheden te kweken.

CubeSat

Het aardappelcentrum werkte samen met ruimtevaartorganisatie NASA en gebruikte grond uit de Pampas de La Joya, een woestijn in het zuiden van Peru. Die grond, droog en rijk aan zout, lijkt het felst op wat er zich in de bodem van Mars bevindt. Daarbovenop werd een hermetisch afgesloten ruimte gebouwd, de zogenaamde CubeSat. Die kan extra voeding aan de grond toevoegen en de temperatuur, luchtdruk, en het zuurstof- en koolstofdioxidegehalte regelen om de omgeving op Mars zo goed als mogelijk na te bootsen. Ook op Mars zouden de aardappelen enkel in een afgesloten serre gekweekt kunnen worden.

Niet alle aardappelvariëteiten bleken tijdens het experiment even succesvol. Maar de wetenschappers konden wel een soort die het goed doet in een zoute en harde omgeving ook in de CubeSat tot volwaardige aardappelen laten uitgroeien.

"Als de aardappelen de extreme condities waaraan wij ze onderwerpen, kunnen weerstaan, is er een goede kans dat ze ook op Mars kunnen groeien", zegt Julio Valdivia-Silva van het onderzoekscentrum.

Livestream

Wie de aardappelen live wil zien groeien, kan trouwens terecht op de livestream van het Potato Center:

{ http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/961/Wetenschap/index.dhtml }

Konijnenhol op Engelse platteland leidt naar eeuwenoud gangenstelsel - HLN.be

 Bron: AD.nl

Archeologen denken dat de grot werd gebruikt door late volgers van de Orde van de Tempeliers.

 © Michael Scott / Caters News.

Een konijnenhol op het Engelse platteland heeft geleid naar een eeuwenoud gangenstelsel. De grot werd door fotograaf Michael Scott op camera vastgelegd.

Het ondergrondse stelsel werd ontdekt door een boer vlakbij het dorpje Shifnal, in de buurt van de stad Birmingham. Archeologen denken dat de grot werd gebruikt door late volgers van de Orde van de Tempeliers, een christelijke kruisridderorde die vocht ten tijde van de kruistochten in het Midden-Oosten in de 12de eeuw.

Het stelsel ligt amper één meter onder de grond en bestaat uit tientallen smalle gangetjes. Bogen die zijn uitgehouwen uit zandsteen houden de boel overeind. De enige manier om toegang te krijgen tot de grot is via het konijnenhol. Het gangenstelsel lijkt volledig intact.

Lees ook

• Schattenjager vindt 3 ton goud in Atlantische Oceaan. Nu zit hij in de gevangenis tot hij vertelt waar de buit ligt
• "Grootste goudschat uit de Vikingtijd" gevonden in Denemarken
• De wereldkaart van de grootste verborgen schatten

Zwarte magie

Waarvoor de grot werd gebruikt en hoe oud het stelsel precies is, is nog onduidelijk. Archeologen van Historic England beschrijven de ondergrondse ruimte als een zogenoemde 'grotto': een natuurlijke of aangelegde grot die wordt of werd gebruikt door de mens. Ook denken ze dat de grot werd gebruikt voor het uitvoeren van rituelen van zwarte magie.

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