Europe’s ExoMars Rover Will Likely Miss This Year’s Launch Window Because of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

As countries around the world respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with sanctions aimed at crippling Moscow and Vladimir Putin, the global cooperation in space exploration that has been forged over the past 30-plus years will certainly be impacted.

One example: the European Space Agency said the launch of the ExoMars 2022 mission, scheduled for September of this year, is “very unlikely,” due to sanctions on Russia. ExoMars is supposed to launch on a Russian Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Russia is also supposed to supply the landing and science platform for the Rosalind Franklin rover, and if the conflict continues, the oft-delayed mission will likely have to wait for the next launch window to Mars in 2024.

In a statement issued by ESA, officials said, “We deplore the human casualties and tragic consequences of the war in Ukraine. We are giving absolute priority to taking proper decisions, not only for the sake of our workforce involved in the programmes, but in full respect of our European values, which have always fundamentally shaped our approach to international cooperation.”

“We are fully implementing sanctions imposed on Russia by our Member States,” the statement continued. “We are assessing the consequences on each of our ongoing programmes conducted in cooperation with the Russian state space agency Roscosmos and align our decisions to the decisions of our Member States in close coordination with industrial and international partners (in particular with NASA on the International Space Station).”

Meanwhile, the head of the Russian agency appears to be burning every bridge that’s been built with various space entities around the world. In a series of bizarre rants on Twitter over the past several days, Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, suggested future Atlas 5 launched by ULA (United Launch Alliance) will fail because they won’t have technical support for the Russian components on the rockets. Rogozin even said that the sanctions could result in the International Space Station crashing into the U.S., Europe, India, or China. He erroneously said the ISS doesn’t fly over Russia, “so all the risks are yours.”

Officially, Roscosmos announced it was suspending cooperation with Europe on Soyuz launches from the European spaceport in French Guiana (CSG), and they have removed Russian personnel from the site. That will likely delay several upcoming launches scheduled to launch on a Soyuz rocket from CSG, including two pairs of Galileo navigational satellites, Euclid, a visible to near-infrared space telescope scheduled to launch in early 2023, the EarthCARE (Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer) satellite, a cooperative effort between ESA and Japan’s space agency JAXA to improve understanding of the cloud  and aerosol processes that affect the Earth’s climate. Other governmental satellites are in the queue as well.

The indication of threats to the ISS are most concerning since humans are on board. During a press briefing on February 28, Kathy Lueders, NASA associate administrator for space operations, said ISS operations have not been affected by the sanctions so far.

“We are not getting any indications, at a working level, that our counterparts are not committed to ongoing operation of the International Space Station,” she said. “We’re operating just like we were operating three weeks ago. Our teams are still talking together, we’re still doing training together, we’re still working together.”

Lueders added that, “It would be a sad day for international operations that we can’t continue to peacefully operate in space,” and that it would be very difficult to operate the ISS without the international cooperation that the project was founded on.

“I actually feel like this is a good message for us – that we are operating peacefully in space now and moving forward,” she said, but added, “That said, we always look for how do we get more operational flexibility.”

In an signal of that, NASA said they are discussing cargo and crew transportation options with Northrop Grumman and SpaceX, and in an announcement late yesterday, NASA announced they have awarded SpaceX additional crew flights to the space station.

• Lead image caption: Artist’s impression of ESA’s ExoMars rover (foreground) and Russia’s science platform (background) on Mars.

The post Europe’s ExoMars Rover Will Likely Miss This Year’s Launch Window Because of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine appeared first on Universe Today.

Source: 

• https://www.universetoday.com/154751/europes-exomars-rover-will-likely-miss-this-years-launch-window-because-of-russias-invasion-of-ukraine/

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UFO Spotted While At Work In Calhoun, Georgia Feb 24, 2022, UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: Feb24, 2022

Location of sighting: Calhoun, Georgia, USA

 

Wow! Check out this fantastic raw footage of some guys who were at work and noticed a black triangle craft moving slowly over the area. A friend calls out to them to come outside and check out the UFO in the sky. When they get outside...they can't believe their own eyes. This black triangle object is moving in the sky, slowly, silently. This one is very far up and is twice the size of the average car. This looks really similar to the UFO video recorded by the US Navy plane and released to the public in 2020. This is only 180 miles away from US President Jimmy Carters UFO sighting at Leary, Georgia when he saw a UFO when he was governor of Georgia back in 1969. That UFO was time traveling...visiting a US president before he was president. So...I wonder...what if this is the same exact UFO...and its there to visit someone important, but at an easier point in their life? Maybe a future president in this video. 

Scott C. Waring - Taiwan 

 

Eyewitness states: 

UfO spotted at work by my friend Nate, I started filming using a iPhone.The city is Calhoun, the state is Georgia. I’m just trying to find someone to analyze this video. The original is on my phone and it’s ever more bizarre when you zoom in on it.

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

A“mermaid mummy” kept at a temple has been an object of worship.Now, for the first time, a project has started to scientifically analyze the mummified creature, which has the upper body of a human and the lower body of a fish. 

On Feb. 2, 2022 Kozen Kuida, 60, chief priest at Enjuin temple in Asakuchi in the prefecture, removed the 30-centimeter-long treasured specimen from a paulownia box in the CT scanning room of the university’s veterinary hospital. 

Laying face up on an examination table, the mummy appeared to be locked in a scream while holding its hands to its mouth. In addition to nails and teeth, the mummy has hair on its head and scales on the lower body. 

According to asahi.com, a note contained in the same box of the “dried mermaid,” the creature was caught in a fishing net on the coast of Tosa Province (present-day Kochi Prefecture) between 1736 and 1741.

 

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Enhanced Memo Reveals US Government LIED About Roswell

An enhancement of a Roswell press photo reveals that the US government knew it was lying about the weather balloon and how they showed off this fact in plain sight.

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It’s dangerous to say in a headline that an asteroid is heading towards Earth because asteroid trackers define ‘potentially hazardous objects’ (PHO) as an asteroid or a comet large enough to cause significant regional damage in the event of impact – but 99% of them won’t get close for at least 100 years and ‘close’ can be 0.05 astronomical units or 19.5 lunar distances away. That wasn’t the case in January 2022.

“In January this year, we became aware of an asteroid with the highest ranking on the Palermo scale that we’ve seen in more than a decade, reaching -1.5.”

Don’t warn them — did they warn us?

The Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale referred to in a recent press release by Marco Micheli, an astronomer at ESA’s Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre (NEOCC), assigns ratings to NEOs. Asteroid 2022 AE1 was above -2 which made it an object that merited serious monitoring. (Photo here.) Discovered on January 6, 2022, the first calculations showed it was 0.09 AU (13 million km or 8 million miles) from Earth, large enough to do damage, and having a serious possibility of making a potential Earth impact on July 4, 2023 – that’s next year!

Asteroid 2022 AE1 observed with the Calar Alto Schmidt telescope in Spain on the evening of 19 January 2022. The image is a composite of 124 frames, each one minute long, combined on the motion of the asteroid, and processed in order to remove the background stars. The asteroid is visible as the dot at the center of the image, inside the red box. Stack produced using Tycho.

Credit: ESA/NEOCC

The Torino Scale used to quantify the impact hazard of a certain NEO. Credit: European Space Agency

“In my almost ten years at ESA I’ve never seen such a risky object.”

Micheli sounded the alarm and all NEO-watching eyes focused on 2022 AE1 for the next seven days as it was flagged by the Asteroid Orbit Determination (AstOD) automated system flagged it for a potential future impact. Astronomers watched as the risk potential increased daily until the seventh day when 2022 AE1 … disappeared. Wait … what?

“We just had to wait.”

The Moon entered a waxing gibbous phase – growing to full moon status while just 3 degrees from the asteroid – and basically blinded those trying to observe 2022 AE1. Finally, the moon moved out of the way … and the astronomers experienced a shock.

“The data was clear, confirmed the next morning by our counterparts at NASA—asteroid 2022 AE1 poses no impact risk.”

That’s right — 2022 AE1 went from full “Don’t Look Up” to “move along, nothing to see here” in seven short days. Recalibrating the numbers, the forecast is for 2022 AE1 to fly by Earth in July 2023 at a distance of about ten million km (6.2 million miles) or over 20 times the distance of the moon. What happened?

“As is often the case, the overlap with Earth remains even while the risk corridor gets smaller due to further observations and so the risk appears to increase. More often than not, as the hazard zone narrows, the small potential corridor moves off Earth and the risk suddenly drops.”

The “risk corridor” is the moving spotlight on Earth where the asteroid is most likely to hit. That spotlight is recalculated each time a new reading is taken on the asteroid — the spotlight gets smaller as it hones in on the target area. However, it can also move … and that’s what happened to 2022AE1 while the lights were out. Luca Conversi, Manager of the NEOCC, says this actually happens all the time.

“Yet, I wasn’t too concerned as we get notifications like this – though at a lower level – a few times per year.”

Well, that’s reassuring … NOT!

Initial uncertainties in asteroid 2022 AE1’s orbit meant its ‘risk corridor’ extended across Earth. When the 70-metre asteroid seemed most likely to impact (a scenario now ruled out entirely), its possible path saw a potential strike over many inhabited regions on Earth. The red region forms the core of the more probable impact points, the orange surrounding bands show areas that were less likely but could not be excluded.

Credit: European Space Agency

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

Cosmic shock! Astronomers create detailed images of the largest shockwave in the universe, finding it is 6.5 MILLION light years across - about 60 times larger than the Milky Way

• Astronomers made use of the MeerKAT radio telescope array in South Africa

• They were able to capture images of the massive cosmic shockwave Abell 3667 

• These shockwaves are produced from the collision of two large galaxy clusters 

• These clusters can hold up to thousands of galaxies, each with billions of stars
• When they collide it produces the largest events since the start of the universe 

By RYAN MORRISON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM 

A massive cosmic shockwave, stretching 6.5 million light years across, has been studied by a team of astronomers, explaining it is the largest visible from Earth.

These gigantic shock waves are larger than our entire galaxy, and form when clusters of galaxies collide, according to the researchers led by the University of Hamburg.

Our universe is populated by galaxies that are not uniformly spread but concentrated in vast structures, with the largest containing thousands of galaxies.

Sometimes, two galaxy clusters start attracting each other via the force of gravity, leading to an inevitable collision - generating spectacular 'fireworks' that can be observed using modern radio telescopes, such as MeerKAT in South Africa.

A pair of combined galaxy clusters produce cosmic shockwaves that travel through the newly formed cluster, and astronomers, led by the University of Hamburg in Germany, have produced images of the largest ever observed.

It originated from galaxy cluster Abell 3667, and can provide insights into the structure of shock waves and galactic clusters, according to the astronomers.

A zoom-in on the largest of the two shock waves, where the complex filamentary structure is evident. Most of the visible galaxies are not part of the cluster, being either in the background or in front of it

These gigantic shock waves are larger than our entire galaxy, and form when clusters of galaxies collide, according to the researchers led by the University of Hamburg

The two galaxy clusters that produced the gigantic shockwave came together about a billion years ago, producing one of the most energetic events since the Big Bang. 

Modern radio telescopes can witness the propagation of a pair of gigantic shock waves, produced by the two galactic clusters, as they pass through the newly formed cluster, similar to the sonic booms from supersonic aircraft.  

'These structures are full of surprises and much more complex than what we initially thought', said Professor Francesco de Gasperin, lead author of the study. 

The shock waves act as giant particle accelerators, similar to the Large Hadron Collider, where electrons are sped up close to the speed of light. 

Our universe is populated by galaxies that are not uniformly spread but concentrated in vast structures, with the largest containing thousands of galaxies

Sometimes, two galaxy clusters start attracting each other via the force of gravity, leading to an inevitable collision - generating spectacular 'fireworks' that can be observed using modern radio telescopes, such as MeerKAT in South Africa

When these fast electrons cross a magnetic field they emit the radio waves that we see from the Earth using telescopes like MeerKAT. 

The shocks are threaded by an intricate pattern of bright filaments that trace the location of both giant magnetic field lines, and the regions where the electrons are accelerated within the wave.

These shock waves are still propagating through the galaxy cluster that formed from the collision at an incredible 932 miles per second, or 3.3 million miles per hour. 

This means that the shock front would cross the entire Earth in the time needed to read this sentence, Prof de Gasperin explained.

The size of the main shock wave is impressive, spanning the entire width of the galaxy cluster for a total size of 6.5 million light years. For comparison, the Milky Way, the galaxy we live in, is more than 60 times smaller than this shock wave.

'The presence of the shocks in Abell 3667 is detected using sharp changes in the properties of the hot gas, traced by its X-ray emission,' added Professor Alexis Finoguenov at the University of Helsinki, who assisted the research by analysing the X-ray data, collected by the XMM-Newton observatory. 

The findings have been published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. 

Read more:

• Multi-scale deep learning for estimating horizontal velocity fields on the solar surface | Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

Cosmic shock waves are created when clusters of galaxies collide. This image shows one of the two shock waves observed in the galaxy cluster Abell 3667. It is about 60 times the size of the Milky Way.

Credit: Francesco de Gasperin, SARAO

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What’s Going on Inside a Black Hole? The Answers Could be Written on its Surface

Both quantum computing and machine learning have been touted as the next big computer revolution for a fair while now.  However, experts have pointed out that these techniques aren’t generalized tools – they will only be the great leap forward in computer power for very specialized algorithms, and even more rarely will they be able to work on the same problem.  One such example of where they might work together is modeling the answer to one of the thorniest problems in physics: how does General Relativity relate to the Standard Model?

A team led by researchers at the University of Michigan and RIKEN think they might have developed just such an algorithm.  There aren’t many places where the two great physics models collide, but around a black hole is one of them.  Black holes themselves are massive gravity wells ruled entirely by the physics defined by General Relativity.  However, innumerable particles are swirling around their event horizons that are effectively immune to gravity but do fall under the Standard Model structure, which deals directly with the physics of particles.

There has been a long-standing theory that the motions and accelerations of the particles directly above a black hole might be a two-dimension projection of what the black hole itself is doing in three dimensions.  This concept is called holographic duality and might offer a way to look for that critical interface between relativity (i.e., black hole physics) and the Standard model (i.e., particle physics).

Holographic duality itself is challenging to model with modern-day computing algorithms, though.  So Enrico Rinaldi, a physicist at the University of Michigan and RIKEN, attempted to develop a new model that utilized those two very hyped computing architectures – quantum computing and machine learning.

Quantum computing itself can be helpful in modeling particle physics, as some of the physics underlying the computing platform itself are subject to those physical laws that are so foreign to us at a macro scale.  In this case, Dr. Rinaldi and his team used an algorithm running on a quantum computer to simulate the particles that make up the project part of the holographic duality.

To do so, they utilized a concept called a quantum matrix model.  As with many physics simulations, the end goal of the simulation was to find the lowest energy state of the system.  Quantum matrix models would help effectively solve the optimization problems that would find the lowest energy state of the particle systems projected above a black hole.

Algorithms utilizing a quantum computer aren’t the only way to find those “ground states,” as the lowest energy state of the system is called. Another method would be to utilize a type of AI technique called a neural network. These are based around using systems similar to those found in human brains.  

The team applied these algorithms to a type of matrix model still based on quantum ideas but not requiring quantum computing.  Known as a quantum wave function, these again represented the activity of the particles on the surface of the black hole.  And once again, the neural network algorithm was able to solve the optimization problem and find its “ground state.”

According to Rinaldi, these new techniques represent a significant improvement upon other previous efforts at solving these algorithms.  “Other methods people typically use can find the energy of the ground state, but not the entire structure of the wave function,” Rinaldi said in a press release. 

What this means for understanding the inside of a black hole, or the interface between the standard model and general relativity, is still a bit of a black box.  Theoretically, there should be a way to model the inside of a black hole using the types of quantum wave functions defined by these algorithms. But that work, which could lead to an underlying quantum theory of gravity according to Rinaldi, remains to be done.  As these hyped computing architectures continue to gain in popularity, though, it’s almost a certainty that someone will attempt to shine some light on that black box.

Learn More:

• University of Michigan – What’s inside a black hole? U-M physicist uses quantum computing, machine learning to find out
• Space.com – Is our universe a holographic projection? Scientists are using black holes and quantum computing to find out.
• Vice – Scientists Are Data Mining Black Holes to See If They Are Holog
• rams
  
• Quanta – How Our Universe Could Emerge as a Hologram

Lead Image:

• Graphical representation of the models used in the research.
  Credit – Enrico Rinaldi / U-M, RIKEN and A. Silvestri

The post What’s Going on Inside a Black Hole? The Answers Could be Written on its Surface appeared first on Universe Today.

Source: 

• https://www.universetoday.com/154730/whats-going-on-inside-a-black-hole-the-answers-could-be-written-on-its-surface/

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Ancient Alien Hieroglyphs Found On Mars, Photos, UFO Sighting News.

Date of discovery: Feb 28, 2022

Location of discovery: Mars

Source photo: 

• http://gigapan.com/gigapans/228676

I found an arrow carved in the side of a stone in a Mars photo today. The arrow is big, about half a meter and its very deeply carved. The rock its on is looks similar to a Xbox controller, but its huge...about 2.5 meters across and 1.5 wide. It also has four other round and oval holes cut into it. It must have meaning. This seems similar to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. One thing is for sure, it was created by intelligent life, because it's a language of the ancients. 

Scott C. Waring - Taiwan 
 

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

Tic-Tac UFO Over Seoul, South Korea Feb 27, 2022, UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: Feb 27, 2022
Location of sighting: Seoul, South Korea

 

The eyewitness was busy driving on a freeway in Seoul when he saw a white tic-tac UFO in the sky over him. He holds his phone the best he can while driving, catch some raw footage as proof of his sighting. The object has no tail, no wings, no window...and looks similar to that of a rocket more than anything else. The video is 100% authentic. I put it into slow motion to see if the UFO went behind or in front of the highway signs...it went behind. Had it gone in front I would know instantly it was fake, its not. This is 100% real UFO raw footage. 

Scott C. Waring - Taiwan 

 

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

Awesome UFO Sighting During Sunset In Arizona, Feb 27, 2022, Video, UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: Feb 27, 2022

Location of sighting: Arizona, USA

 

This awesome catch happened in the desert of southern Arizona yesterday. A dark orb is hovering in the sky in a location where no city exists. No homes, no roads, no telephone poles...just pure Arizona desert. This is fantastic and I believe its along the Extra Terrestrial Freeway, a freeway known for its UFO sightings. OMG I love this one! Also the fact that it was caught during sunset, which really helps this UFO stand out. This eyewitness must have stopped his car and started recording it. He has a very steady hand, very focused phone. Perfectly recorded sighting. If we get more evidence like this...full disclosure of aliens will come sooner than you think. 

Scott C. Waring - Taiwan 

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

Two huge UFOs enter Mount Fuji Volcano On Feb 27, 2022, Video, UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: Feb 27, 2022

Location of sighting: Mount Fuji, Japan

 

Watch this great catch on a live cam by a UFO hunter that goes by the name of "Rafael Navarro Ferrari," on Youtube. He caught not one, but two huge craft falling from the sky and into the mouth area of Mount Fuji. I often say that UFO bases are created in places that are difficult or dangerous for humans to get there. Here again is such a place, Mount Fuji has an alien base 5-6km below the surface. Absolute fantastic catch! 100% proof that aliens exist. 

Scott C. Waring - Taiwan 

 

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

Low Flying UFO Cloaked In Cloud Seen Over Indonesia, Feb 27, 2022, Video, UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: Feb 27, 2022

Location of sighting: Indonesia 

 

Most people overlook such clouds like this...however this is more than just a cloud. Its a 1/2 km alien ship cloaked in a cloud. UFOs often create such clouds around themselves to hide from the public. The lower they fly, the higher the need to hide. This UFO is flying very low over the city and looks like they are scanning the inhabitants for information or tapping into communication networks. 

Awesome capture. Absolute proof aliens are watching! 

Scott C. Waring - Taiwan 

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

Astrange triangular shaped object was seen hovering over Islamabad, Pakistan, for over 2 hours on February 22, 2022. 

According to theSun, Gobsmacked Arslan Warraich who recorded the UFO said he spent a lengthy two hours watching the triangular shape, which was solid black and had no sharp edges and it wasn't reflecting too much light and no lights were emanating from it, hovering above the capital city.

  

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

UFOs in the sky above Portland, Oregon!?

These bright unidentified flying objects were maneuvering in the sky above Portland in Oregon on 20th November 2021. What do you think about this UFO sighting?

Witness report: 

I was driving to me area I deliver in for doordash and saw these lights hovering in the sky over Portland Oregon.

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

Chelyabinsk meteor that exploded over Russia in 2013 may have also been involved in the giant impact that formed the MOON, study reveals

• Chelyabinsk meteor could also have been involved in impact that formed moon

• The 60 ft-wide space rock exploded over Russia in 2013, injuring 1,000 people

• University of Cambridge think it may have been been part of an ancient collision

• Impact may have broken off a chunk of Earth to form moon 4.5 billion years ago 

By SAM TONKIN FOR MAILONLINE

The Chelyabinsk meteor that exploded over Russia in 2013 may also have been involved in the massive impact that formed the moon, a new study suggests.

Researchers led by the University of Cambridge think it may have been been part of an ancient collision that broke off a chunk of baby Earth to form the moon 4.5 billion years ago.

A Mars-sized body is thought to have smashed into our planet during the formation of the solar system, ejecting a bunch of material into space which then coalesced to form the moon.

Nine years ago the 60ft (19 metre) wide Chelyabinsk hit the Earth's atmosphere with energy estimated to be equivalent to 500,000 tonnes of TNT, sending a shockwave twice around the globe. 

It caused widespread damage and injured more than 1,600 people. 

The Chelyabinsk meteorite (pictured) that exploded over Russia in 2013 may also have been involved in the massive impact that formed the moon, a new study suggests

Using uranium-lead dating scientists previously found that the Chelyabinsk meteorite had undergone two impact events, one around 4.5 billion years ago, and the other about 50 million years ago

The discovery has come to light thanks to a new way of dating collisions between rocks in space, based on microscopic analysis of minerals within meteorites. 

Further research is still needed but scientists hope the technique could help them to learn more about the early history of the solar system and how it evolved into its current shape.

'Meteorite impact ages are often controversial,' said geoscientist Craig Walton, of the University of Cambridge.

'Our work shows that we need to draw on multiple lines of evidence to be more certain about impact histories — almost like investigating an ancient crime scene.'

When the solar system was forming from dust and gas, planets were created through repeated collisions of smaller rocks.

However, it is difficult to trace the history of Earth and other bodies like it back to the beginning because geological and weather processes have overwritten it. 

That is not the case with asteroids and meteorites.

They have remained largely unchanged while floating through space, meaning they act as an excellent time capsule to peer back to the origins of the solar system. 

One of the ways of doing this is to study ancient collisions in the minerals found in meteorites that have crashed down to Earth, using uranium-lead dating in zircon crystals. 

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The scientists studied the microscopic details of how the phosphate minerals had shattered and found that the earlier impact had blasted them into small pieces and subjected them to high temperatures

The later impact, they found, seemed lesser with lower pressures and temperatures, so likely took place less than 50 million years ago. They also believe this was the impact that broke the meteorite off its larger parent body and sent it on a collision course with Earth

When it is forming, zircon incorporates uranium, but rejects lead. 

This means that any lead that is found in zircon has to be the product of the radioactive decay of uranium, so because experts know how long uranium takes to decay they can work out the age of the zircon from the lead component.

Not only that but an impact can also partially or entirely 'reset' the radioisotope mineral ages. 

Using this analysis scientists previously found that the Chelyabinsk meteorite had undergone two impact events, one around 4.5 billion years ago, and the other about 50 million years ago. 

Walton and his fellow researchers wanted to confirm these dates by studying the way phosphate minerals in the meteorite had shattered over successive impacts.

'The phosphates in most primitive meteorites are fantastic targets for dating the shock events experienced by the meteorites on their parent bodies,' said geophysicist Sen Hu, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in China.  

The researchers now want to revisit the timing of the moon's formation in an attempt to shed more light on their theory

The scientists studied the microscopic details of how the phosphate minerals had shattered and found that the earlier impact had blasted them into small pieces and subjected them to high temperatures.   

The later impact, they found, seemed lesser with lower pressures and temperatures, so likely took place less than 50 million years ago. 

They also believe this was the impact that broke the meteorite off its larger parent body and sent it on a collision course with Earth.

'The fact that all of these asteroids record intense melting at this time might indicate solar system reorganisation, either resulting from the Earth-Moon formation or perhaps the orbital movements of giant planets,' Walton said.

The researchers now want to revisit the timing of the moon's formation in an attempt to shed more light on their theory. 

The study has been published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

When you’re looking to buy a used car, the various dents, dings, rust spots and crinkles can tell as much about its history as its mechanical records – the key is being able to read and interpret them. Asteroids can be considered the used cars of our solar system – they’ve been bouncing around for millions of years, colliding with planets and each other and picking up dents that can reveal what they hit and when. The meteorite that crashed in Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013 is one such well-traveled space rock and a new way of studying its dents has revealed that it hit Earth before … and may have been part of the early massive impact that formed the Moon.

What would the dents tell us?

“Asteroids provide an alternative record of collisional events in the inner Solar System. Unlike planets, asteroids have been thermally quiescent (cold) since around 4500 Ma (millions of years ago). Therefore, any mineral ages younger than the end of parent body metamorphism should faithfully record impact-induced metamorphism.”

In a paper published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, researcher from the University of Cambridge describe why asteroids don’t lie — their surfaces are cold and static and retain their collision craters and dents, along with evidence of what caused them, for millions of years. Craig Walton of Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences department, who led the research, says in a press release this sounds like common sense but is actually a radical view among his peers.

“Meteorite impact ages are often controversial: our work shows that we need to draw on multiple lines of evidence to be more certain about impact histories – almost like investigating an ancient crime scene.”

Early studies of the Chelyabinsk meteorite using uranium-lead dating, which looks at the time elapsed for one isotope to decay to another, show two major impacts — one roughly 4.5 billion years ago and another within the last 50 million years. However, smaller impacts and age make exact figures difficult to determine. To fix that, the new study looked at how phosphate minerals inside the meteorite were shattered and how collision-induced heat affected their crystal structures. Depending on the changes in the minerals, the collisions could be put on a more accurate timeline.

The change in the minerals also can determine the size of the impact that affected them. The team found that the impact of 50 million years ago was probably a minor collision that knocked the Chelyabinsk meteorite off its host asteroid and sent it to Earth like a multi-car collision. The 4.5-billion-year old impact dent is more interesting because this occurred about the time some scientists estimate a small planet collided with Earth and formed the Moon. Research on other asteroids shows similar impact evidence between 4.48 – 4.44 billion years ago – making this a chaotic time.

Asteroid rush hour

“The fact that all of these asteroids record intense melting at this time might indicate Solar System re-organization, either resulting from the Earth-Moon formation or perhaps the orbital movements of giant planets.”

Will this new evidence convince skeptics that the Chelyabinsk meteorite was once part of a bigger space rock that formed the Moon? They’ll undoubtedly need more evidence.

Would you buy a banged-up used meteorite or wait for the new models to come out?

{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

Over the decades numerous people in the UFO field have investigated the Roswell affair of July 1947. It was, however, the first hours and days of the event that are the most important. And that’s the theme of today’s article: focusing on the case from the moment it began and when everything was shut down and presented as nothing stranger than a weather-balloon. When it comes to the issue of what really happened on what was once known as the Foster Ranch, Lincoln County, New Mexico in early July 1947, there are things we know, things we suspect, and things we will probably never know. But, that something happened – something which caused the U.S. Air Force to offer multiple explanations for the event – is not a matter of any doubt at all. It was an incident that clearly concerned elements of not just the military, but the government, too, and to a highly significant degree. Eye-witnesses – both military and civilian – were warned not to talk about what they had seen and / or heard. More than a few of those warnings crossed the line and can only accurately be described as death threats. People were plunged into states of fear. Lives were changed forever; even scarred. Some lives may have ended; as in terminated.

(Nick Redfern)

Dummies, Aliens or Human Guinea-Pigs at Roswell?

It was on July 8, 1947 that the strange event surfaced publicly. Associated Press (among many other news outlets) reported on the startling, then-breaking news: “The many rumors regarding the flying disc became a reality yesterday when the intelligence office of the 509^th Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force, Roswell Army Air Field, was fortunate enough to gain possession of a disc through the cooperation of one of the local ranchers and the sheriff’s office of Chavez County. The flying object landed on a ranch near Roswell sometime last week. Not having phone facilities, the rancher stored the disc until such time as he was able to contact the sheriff’s office, who in turn notified Major Jesse A. Marcel of the 509^th Bomb Group Intelligence Office. Action was immediately taken and the disc was picked up at the rancher’s home. It was inspected at the Roswell Army Air Field and subsequently loaned by Major Marcel to higher headquarters.”

(Nick Redfern)

The old ranch: Where it all happened

The story was quickly picked up not just across the United States, but across the planet, too. In barely no time at all, however, the flying disc angle was blown out of the sky: the whole thing was nothing but a huge, embarrassing mistake. The materials found on the massive ranch – by rancher William Ware “Mack” Brazel – were not the remains of a disc, after all. What had really been found, and subsequently collected and brought to the Roswell Army Air Field, was weather-balloon debris. Or, so the military was careful to try and assure everyone. With Brazel at the time of the discovery – that had actually occurred days earlier – was a young boy named Dee Proctor. He would go on to be one of the most important people in the Roswell story. We also know for sure that three, key military men, all of whom were destined to become part and parcel of the Roswell affair, were also present at the ranch – and specifically before a veritable battalion was on-site and ordered to recover the massive amount of whatever-it-was. They were Major Jesse Marcel, the intelligence-office of the 509^th Bomb Group at Roswell; Captain Sheridan Cavitt, of the Counter-Intelligence Corps; and CIC Master Sergeant Lewis S. “Bill” Rickett. All three were at ground-zero. They all saw the wreckage. Years later Marcel would open up wide on the matter of the debris he saw and collected. Cavitt and Rickett may have seen more than debris. Way more. Possibly bodies, strange bodies. Brazel and little Dee may have seen one or more of those bodies, too.

(Nick Redfern)

The expansive area near where “something” came down

When the media revealed the weather-balloon explanation, something amazing happened: Roswell was largely, and very quickly, forgotten. Granted, those implicated in the affair never forgot what they saw and experienced. But, the media certainly moved on to other things. Plus, back in 1947 there were no UFO research groups around to look into the case. The result? Aside from a few, occasional, brief references in books and magazines in the 1950s and 1960s, Roswell was for all intents and purposes dead and buried – which is precisely how those charged with keeping the disturbing secret wanted it. Things changed, however, in the mid-to-late 1970s. Both William Moore and Stanton Friedman were eagerly pursuing the Roswell story by then; it was a story that was slowly but surely destined to be resurrected. It was Friedman who found the now-elderly Jesse Marcel. The long-retired major had a most interesting story to tell: “I saw a lot of wreckage but no complete machine. It had disintegrated before it hit the ground. The wreckage was scattered over an area about three quarters of a mile long and several hundred feet wide. I was pretty well acquainted with most everything that was in the air at that time, both ours and foreign. I was also acquainted with virtually every type of weather-balloon or radar-tracking device being used by either the civilians or the military. What it was we didn’t know. We just picked up the fragments…it certainly wasn’t anything built by us.”

Mack Brazel’s son, Bill, would later say that what was found on the Foster Ranch was “…something on the order of tinfoil except that [it] wouldn’t tear…You could wrinkle it and lay it back down and it immediately resumed its original shape. Quite pliable, but you couldn’t crease or bend it like ordinary metal. Almost like a plastic, but definitely metallic in nature.” When Friedman spoke with Bill Rickett, in 1985, the also-long-retired Counter-Intelligence Corps man revealed a few snippets of information on what happened, but practically froze like a deer caught in headlights when Friedman brought up the matter of bodies. It was clearly an issue Rickett had no intention of discussing – and he didn’t. As for Sheridan Cavitt, he proved to be one of the most intriguing figure in the entire story. He revealed very little of substance. On occasion, he even denied having ever been at Roswell or at the crash site. Cavitt may even have withheld what he knew of the incident when, in 1994, the Air Force came knocking on his front-door, wanting answers – as will become clear later on.

Since the days of the late 1970s and the 1980s, Roswell has risen to stratospheric proportions. Researchers  Don Schmitt and Tom Carey have investigated the mystery to significant degrees. They continue to do so. The Air Force and the Government Accountability Office have both published reports on the case. Numerous non-fiction books and novels, television documentaries, and a movie have been made on the world famous affair. The number of people who have spoken out about their knowledge of what happened – whether first-, second-, or third-hand – is now well into the hundreds. The case, however, still remains the enigma it always has been

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Pillar UFO Over Japan Volcano Live Cam, Feb 27, 2022, UFO Sighting News.

Date of sighting: Feb 27, 2022

Location of sighting: Japan

Source cam: 

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j63H-8tojHA

I was hunting UFOs using live cams. This is an essential tool that allows a researcher to watch worldwide at any given moment. Sadly live cams are under used by researchers. Here I found two craft that are cylydrme shaped. One stands out well above the mouth of the volcano. The other is less obvious...its in front of the volcano and lower. This object is huge, about the size of a 747 standing on end! Clouds are seen passing over the UFO...this is 100% proof that it is real. At times the UFO disappears behind the clouds, other times its in front of them. Absolute amazing and brings back memories of a movie called Arivals. Wow! Just wow! 

Scott C. Waring - Taiwan 

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