The astrophysics community is celebrating the conclusion of a landmark event. The Dark Energy Spectroscopy Instrument (DESI), based at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, has officially completed its five-year primary mission. The result of this meticulous work is the largest and most accurate three-dimensional map of the Universe in human history.

A section of the massive 3D map of the Universe created by DESI

Last night, DESI recorded its latest data, bringing the total count to an incredible figure: more than 47 million galaxies and quasars, as well as about 20 million stars in our galaxy and its vicinity. This huge amount of data spans an enormous period of time—more than 11 billion years of cosmic history—allowing scientists to see how our Universe has evolved practically from the moment of its birth. 

How DESI operates

The technological complexity of DESI is just as impressive as the data it collects. The device is equipped with 5,000 tiny fiber-optic “robot eyes.” Each of these manipulators is capable of targeting a separate galaxy with pinpoint accuracy, allowing the spectra of thousands of objects to be recorded simultaneously. At least 80 GB of data was made available to the researchers every night.

The light received is analyzed by ten spectrographs, which determine not only the object’s position but also its chemical composition and the rate at which it is receding from us. It is precisely because of this efficiency that DESI has managed to collect six times more cosmological data than all previous similar projects combined. Over the course of five years of observations, the instrument has scanned two-thirds of the northern sky, creating a detailed “map” of the cosmic structure.

Mystery of Dark Energy

The primary goal of DESI is to unravel the nature of dark energy, the mysterious force that accounts for about 68.7% of the universe’s total mass and is causing it to expand at an ever-increasing rate. Understanding this force is the key to answering the question of how our Universe will come to an end: whether it will freeze in endless expansion or, perhaps, tear itself apart into atoms.

A 3D map of the Universe, as seen through the “eyes” of the Dark Energy Spectroscopy Instrument

Until recently, it was believed that dark energy was a constant—an unchanging quantity that remained uniform over time. However, in 2025, the initial results of the DESI analysis caused a veritable scientific earthquake. Preliminary analysis of data from the instrument’s first three years of operation suggested that dark energy may evolve and change over time. If this is confirmed by a complete set of data, we will have to reevaluate the fundamental laws of cosmology and the entire standard model of the universe.

Crisis or revolution?

Although the official registration of the sites has been completed, the real work for the scientists is only just beginning. Adam Myers, one of DESI’s operations managers, notes that the team is incredibly proud of the project, which many have been working on for over a decade. Cosmologists around the world are now focused on deciphering the “subtle details” in the final dataset.

The “full picture” is now available, but the volume of data is so vast that scientists haven’t even finished analyzing the first set of results yet. However, one thing is already clear: there are surprises in store for us. Additional datasets and advanced analytical methods will make it possible to identify even the slightest deviations from existing theories.

Beyond the plan

Although the initial survey has been completed, DESI is not “retiring.” Scientists have already launched a parallel project, the Bright-Time Survey, which studies the effect of moonlight on distant objects, and plan to continue their observations until at least 2028.

Plans include a follow-up survey of hard-to-reach regions of the sky and the study of dark matter. In addition to addressing global cosmological questions, DESI will help us study the Milky Way’s “neighbors” in detail: dwarf galaxies and stellar streams—the remnants of smaller star systems that our galaxy once absorbed.

As the participants in the collaboration say, we are venturing into uncharted territory. We don’t know exactly what we’ll find in the depths of this massive data archive, but it will certainly change our understanding of humanity’s place in the vastness of space. Stay tuned—space is just beginning to reveal its true nature.

We previously reported on how dark energy evolves and weakens.

• According to newscenter.lbl.gov

• Posted in News, Science

Fly through DESI's 3D map of the Universe

Visualisation showing how DESI’s map of the Universe accumulated over five years

Time-lapse video showing the sky over Kitt Peak National Observatory, 12–13 February 2024. During that time, DESI observed around 200,000 galaxies

{ https://universemagazine.com/en/news-en/science-en/ }

Close to 9,000 years ago, humans who once thrived on a land bridge that existed in a now submerged region deep within Lake Huron were assembling campsites, hunting pits, and “drive lanes” to aid in hunting caribou using the region’s local stone.

Following their discovery nearly two decades ago, researchers at the University of Michigan have continued to document these remarkable archaeological features, which are regarded as the earliest evidence of human activity ever discovered at the bottom of the Great Lakes.

Lost World of the Ancient Caribou Hunters

Since their initial detection, John O’Shea, curator of Great Lakes Archaeology in the Museum of Anthropology and professor in the Department of Anthropology, has become something of an evangelist for the remarkable discoveries preserved at the bottom of Lake Huron, frequently giving talks to historical societies and archaeology groups about their significance.

“We have been working continuously out in Lake Huron since 2008, and will be continuing the work this summer,” O’Shea recently told The Debrief. Since the initial detection of stone structures on the lake’s bottom, O’Shea says that several additional features have been identified, adding to the expanding picture of what the lives of the region’s ancient caribou hunters must have been like.

“To date, we have identified 80 locations with likely stone constructions,” O’Shea says. Most of these newly identified structures include drive lanes like those initially discovered in 2008, in addition to hunting blinds, and also caches of stone where ancient hunters had left behind material that could later be used to fashion lithic tools needed for hunting and processing caribou.

O’Shea says these 9,000-year-old features are mainly associated with the Lake Stanley low stand in Lake Huron.

“A summary of the research current to 2015 is published in the Museum of Anthropology Memoir series,” O’Shea told The Debrief. “I recently presented an update of developments since that time at the recent Society for Historical Archaeology meetings in Detroit this past January.”

A Sunken World Resurfaces

Involved since their initial discovery in the early 2000s, O’Shea said in a statement in 2009 that the discovery marked “the first time we’ve identified structures like these on the lake bottom,” adding that they were of great importance “because the entire ancient landscape has been preserved and has not been modified by farming, or modern development.”

“That has implications for ecology, archaeology and environmental modeling,” O’Shea said.

Reflecting on how the research initially came about during a 2023 lecture, O’Shea said the two factors that led to the discoveries had been the initial publication of data about the subsurface features of the Great Lakes by NOAA. Around this same time, O’Shea had been reading a book about the methods used by modern-day Siberian reindeer herders.

“In that book they were talking about how do these very small groups of families manage a herd of thousands of semi-domesticated reindeer?” he said. “And it turns out when they wanted the reindeer to move from one pasture to another, they went out … and cut brush, and laid it on the ground, and this was enough to deflect the movement of the animals.”

“And it was kind of seeing these two things together,” O’Shea says. “You know, out there, there’s gonna be rock. Maybe they were doing this.” What followed was a high-risk National Science Foundation-funded research effort, and soon afterward, the confirmation that such practices had indeed once occurred on portions of the ancient landscape now submerged.

Those discoveries also led to the publication of a paper, in which O’Shea and his co-author Guy Meadows, the director of the Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratories and a professor in the departments of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, and Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences at the University of Michigan, detailed the ancient features which had been preserved on the lake bottom for thousands of years.

One of the most significant features of their study was a 1,148-foot structure that appears to be the remnants of an ancient caribou drive lane, not unlike the Siberian varieties O’Shea had read about, and also similar to ones still seen today on Victoria Island and in other locations in subarctic Canada.

A Lost Land Bridge is Revealed

Stretching for more than 100 miles between Presque Isle, Michigan, and Point Clark, Ontario, the 9000-year-old features are located on the surface of an ancient ridge that was still exposed many thousands of years ago.

This ten-mile-wide feature, formally known as the Alpena-Amberley ridge, once formed a natural bridge across the region, where water from melting glaciers at the end of the last Ice Age steadily began filling the region’s basins more than 10,000 years ago. For a time, the ridge offered a unique opportunity for the region’s ancient hunters, whose mark was left in stone on the ancient landscape long before it was consumed by Lake Huron’s rising waters.

Many similar sites from this period are believed to exist along coastal regions as well, although, unlike the Great Lakes, those areas have been so covered by sediment over time that their rediscovery now would be almost impossible. By contrast, the archaeological features on the base of Lake Huron are almost devoid of the sediments that entomb their coastal counterparts and are also remarkably well preserved.

It was long suspected that the ancient Alpena-Amberley ridge would be a prime candidate for preserved archaeological remains, but their discovery had remained elusive until 2008. By narrowing their search based on models of the ridge as it would have appeared before Huron’s water levels began rising between 10,000 and 7,500 years ago, reconstructions of the ancient land bridge soon produced several candidate locations to begin their search.

That educated guesswork paid off, and with the assistance of computer science professor Robert Reynolds from Wayne State University, the team discovered archaeological features during scans of their three primary candidate locations using sonar technologies and remote-controlled underwater vehicles equipped with cameras.

Answers to Ancient Questions

For many years, very little was known about the earliest inhabitants of the region, primarily because the archaeological evidence of their presence had been submerged by the rising waters that became the Great Lakes.

Thanks to the ongoing efforts of O’Shea and his colleagues, some of the previously unanswered questions about this mysterious period in America’s prehistory have gradually come into focus. Much of this work was chronicled in the 2015 volume Caribou Hunting in the Upper Great Lakes: Archaeological, Ethnographic, and Paleoenvironmental Perspectives, for which O’Shea was an editor, and which offers a comprehensive overview of the underwater Paleoindian archaeology of the Great Lakes.

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

After thinking about this topic over the past six years since the discovery of `Oumuamua’s anomalies, I now respectfully disagree with Hawking on this matter.

First, our modern science and technology are only a century old. The basic principles of Quantum Mechanics, which establish the foundation for our electronic devices, computer technology, and artificial intelligence (AI), were discovered merely a century ago. This period represents merely one part in a hundred million of the typical age of habitable exoplanets in the Milky Way galaxy.

Other civilizations are unlikely to be synchronized to the precision of a century with our phase of technological development because their stars formed billions of years before the Sun. If they were seeking terrestrial resources, they would have reached Earth long before we developed our modern science. Moreover, we did not reach them as of yet, and so by reaching us first – they would demonstrate that they are farther along in their technological progress. From a cosmic perspective, they are likely to have benefitted from thousands, millions or even billions of years of scientific progress. The slow spacecraft that they launched early on were overtaken and outnumbered by advanced probes that they manufactured subsequently.

Given these cosmic circumstances, advanced extraterrestrials would not be threatened by our current scientific knowledge. Our species would look as insignificant as an ant colony in the crack of a pavement appearing to the eyes of a fast biker.

Since extraterrestrial technologies will likely be far more advanced, we can benefit greatly from encountering them. For that reason, we must proactively search for technological probes near Earth as a learning opportunity about our cosmic neighbors. This is the rationale behind the Galileo Project that I lead. The Project’s team assembled a new observatory on Harvard University property, which is already providing fresh data that AI software is analyzing in search of extraterrestrial technological objects near Earth.  We also plan an expedition to study the composition of the fragments left over from the first interstellar meteor, IM1, which was tougher than all other meteors in the CNEOS catalog of NASA, including those made of iron.

An encounter with a superior form of extraterrestrial technology would offer humanity the opportunity to acquire new scientific knowledge that goes beyond what we had learned over the past century. It would also provide us with a glimpse at our own technological future, offering a quantum leap if we will be wise enough to import its innovative content into our terrestrial life. By using our own AI systems to interpret extraterrestrial AI probes, entrepreneurs could manufacture new products in our future economy. At the very least, our own AI systems may learn how to imitate extraterrestrial AI astronauts, giving the traditional “imitation game” of Alan Turing a new meaning. The discovery of interstellar visitors may also inspire new aspirations of humans for interstellar space travel.

Second, my take on `survival of the fittest’ in interstellar space favors a wise, peace-seeking, space-exploring species, because aggressive or militaristic versions are likely to get bruised by conflicts and therefore have a shorter lifespan.

Encountering a peaceful neighbor would be a teaching moment for us. We might be reminded of John Lennon’s words: “Imagine all the people living life in peace,” and choose to re-allocate our current global military budget of 2 trillion dollars per year to space exploration, allowing us to send tens of billions of probes towards every star in the Milky Way galaxy by the end of the 21^st Century. The most successful space explorers from the billions of habitable Earth-size exoplanets could have accomplished this goal by now. Most Sun-like stars formed billions of years before the Sun, and it takes less than a billion years for an interstellar probe using chemical propulsion, like Voyager 1, Voyager 2, Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, and New Horizons, to travel across the disk of stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

The question of whether we live in a reality where interstellar probes are visiting the inner solar system can be answered by looking through our telescopes, the way Galileo Galilei realized that the Earth is not at the center of the Universe. Confirming that they do would remove any centrality we assign to our technological achievements within the Universe.

Based on our own spacecraft, most interstellar probes will likely be smaller than a football field, the size of `Oumuamua. Such small objects would be too faint for our survey telescopes, including the forthcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory, to detect them from their reflection of sunlight within the Earth-Sun separation. Probes with non-conventional propulsion might not be detectable because they are moving too fast, potentially up to a fraction of the speed of light. The Starshot project, for which I chair the scientific advisory board and which Hawking celebrated in his 2016 speech at my home, aims to do just that. Any Starshot-like probes moving through the solar system at semi-relativistic speeds would be missed by the current software employed by astronomers to monitor our sky.

Altogether, I hold the optimistic view that encountering extraterrestrial probes would promote our scientific knowledge and, through that, advance our status in the class of intelligent civilizations. The Webb telescope shows us that the sky is full of stars and galaxies in every direction, with plenty of potential hubs for neighbors.

And there are also societal benefits to extraterrestrial encounters. Recognizing smarter kids in our cosmic neighborhood should convince us that the differences among us Earthlings are insignificant, and we should treat each other as equal members of the human species. Perhaps this will finally lead us to fulfill Lennon’s wish. Here’s hoping that searching through the third dimension of space will bring us more wisdom than exhibited by our bruising history of wars on the two-dimensional surface of the rock we call Earth.

Perhaps I am naïve, but I believe that life is often a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we do not search for new knowledge, we will never find it. And if we do not imagine a mutually-beneficial relationship with our neighbors, we will miss the opportunity to benefit from them.  In my forthcoming book Interstellar, I outline how our future might be better than our past thanks to the inspiration we draw from extraterrestrials. It is up to us to imagine scientific prosperity rather than terror in humanity’s future.

• Avi Loeb is the head of the Galileo Project, founding director of Harvard University’s – Black Hole Initiative, director of the Institute for Theory and Computation at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and the former chair of the astronomy department at Harvard University (2011-2020). He chairs the advisory board for the Breakthrough Starshot project, and is a former member of the President’s Council of Advisors onScience and Technology and a former chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies. He is the bestselling author of “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth” and a co-author of the textbook “Life in the Cosmos”, both published in 2021. His new book, titled “Interstellar”, is scheduled for publication in August 2023.

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

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

This humanoid robot does all your housework for you ‪—‬ and its makers say it's ready for your home

UniX AI's humanoid Panther robot cooks breakfast in the kitchen. 

(Image credit: UniX AI)

Could a humanoid robot perform household chores for you? Soon, that might be the case. Chinese robotics company UniX AI has announced the release of Panther, a humanoid service robot designed to help with common household tasks.

The robot ‪—‬ which weighs 176 pounds (80 kilograms) and stands 5 feet, 3 inches (1.6 meters) tall ‪—‬ can operate for up to 12 hours on a charge, its engineers announced in a statement. In addition to releasing a promotional video showing Panther performing chores like making the bed, cleaning countertops and toilets, and cooking breakfast, UniX AI has started commercial deliveries of the model — suggesting it's ready to be deployed in a real-world setting.

"UniX AI is not only building advanced technology and products, we are bringing robots into homes, hotels, public spaces, and security operations, making them reliable productivity tools for society," Fred Yang, founder and CEO of UniX AI, said in the statement.

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A stable service robot

To accomplish household chores, Panther uses two of the world's first mass-produced 8-DoF bionic arms, which give the robot joints with 34 degrees of freedom, UniX AI representatives said.

At the end of its arms are intelligent "grippers" that adapt to different shapes and sizes of items that the robot can grab. In the promotional video, Panther is seen holding a plastic spatula when frying an egg and a toilet brush when cleaning the toilet. The robot even washes its hands in the sink at the end of the video, drying off its grippers on a bath towel.

Panther's body can extend vertically by 31 inches (80 centimeters) to access hard-to-reach areas from tall shelves to ground level. It uses binocular vision and a webcam to see its surroundings.

Whereas other humanoid robots rely on legged locomotion and thus have a higher tendency of falling, Panther uses an omnidirectional four-wheel steering and four-wheel drive (4WS+4WD) chassis, allowing it to smoothly maneuver varying indoor environments.

It uses both lidar and ultrasonic sensors to determine its spatial position and moves around 6 feet (1.89 m) per second — roughly the speed of a brisk walk. UniX AI representatives noted in the statement that engineers focused less on building the "most human-like robot" and more on making sure the model could accomplish a variety of tasks with stability and flexibility.

Taking on multiple tasks

In early tests and demonstrations, Panther handled multiple prompts, including making tea, cleaning the kitchen, and operating a washing machine. To do this, Panther runs on UniX AI's integrated technology stack, which includes imitation learning and long-term task planning so that it can perform tasks seamlessly one step at a time.

Engineers designed Panther for a wide range of applications in addition to housework, including assistance in retail, reception, guided tours, elderly care, companionship, research and education.

The price of this model could not be found on UniX AI's website.

{ https://www.livescience.com/space }

A senior cybersecurity official at one of America's most secretive nuclear laboratories died several years ago, leaving behind files that an insider claimed reveal classified UFO studies that were never intended to become public.

The documents, described as containing internal memos, scientific reports and historic images, were allegedly discovered among the belongings of the former head of cybersecurity at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

After the official's death, his son Johnny was sorting through personal effects when he reportedly stumbled upon files labeled with references to 'atmospheric anomalies.' The identities of the deceased staff member and his son are being withheld to protect their privacy and safety. 

What initially appeared to be routine paperwork quickly raised alarm when the material appeared to detail classified scientific research into unidentified flying objects.

The discovery was later passed to investigative journalist Jeremy Corbell, who said the contents shocked even him. 'This is a real scientific study at the classified level within our military of UFOs,' he told the Daily Mail.

Corbell, who featured the details in his new documentary Sleeping Dog, set for release on May 12, claimed the material included records of high-level government meetings and scientific studies linked to UFO propulsion systems.

He described the documents as evidence that the US government had been studying unidentified craft far earlier than publicly acknowledged.

'Los Alamos was always a place where there were elements of the study of the UFO phenomenon… these documents are 100 percent proof that Los Alamos was taking it very seriously,' Corbell said.

A senior cybersecurity official at one of America's most secretive nuclear laboratories died, leaving behind files that an insider claimed reveal classified UFO studies that were never intended to become public

The documents, described as containing internal memos, scientific reports and historic images, were allegedly discovered among the belongings of the former head of cybersecurity at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)

The case is now drawing renewed attention to LANL, a laboratory long associated with nuclear weapons development and deep government secrecy.

The lab, located in northern New Mexico, approximately 35 miles northwest of Santa Fe, is linked to UFO lore primarily through its proximity to New Mexico's 'Nuclear Triangle' and reported sightings of 'green fireballs' near atomic sites in the late 1940s. 

As a premier nuclear research facility, it has been connected to Cold War atmospheric surveillance, classified aerial research and conspiracy theories regarding retrieved technology, including unverified worker claims of alien materials stored at TA-33. 

According to Corbell, the discovery began when the cybersecurity chief's son began reviewing stored materials left behind after his father's death.

'This kid, after his dad passed away, starts going through and realizes, "oh, this is some heavy stuff,"' Corbell said.

In Corbell's Sleeping Dog, a film by Michael Lazovsky, he receives a package from Johnny, bursting with files reportedly from LANL.

Johnny told Corbell on the phone that the files included 'official documents from the lab that talk about meetings they had about atmospheric anomalies.'

'There's also some information in there about Russian sightings,' Johnny can be heard saying to Corbell over the phone.

The lab, located in northern New Mexico, approximately 35 miles northwest of Santa Fe, has a historical and ongoing connection to UFOs

A cylinder-shaped UFO from the files sent to Corbell

Corbell told the Daily Mail: 'I mean, everything from original Polaroids of very studied UFO cases throughout history, to internal memos and documents of when they have meetings and they're discussing this at a high-level government capacity.'

Corbell shared several pages with the Daily Mail showing what appeared to be mysterious saucer-like craft, crop circles etched across fields and a cylinder-shaped UFO.

There was also a document titled Illustrations and Photos by the Gulf Breeze Witness, which contains dozens of witness sketches and photographic enlargements depicting unidentified flying objects repeatedly seen over the coastal Florida town between 1987 and 1991.

The files pointed to a sustained pattern of sightings rather than isolated incidents. 

Many witnesses described disc-shaped craft with rows of bright white lights, red and green flashing lights and visible 'portholes,' with some objects estimated to be 10 to 20 feet tall and up to 120 feet wide, hovering silently above homes, shorelines and wooded areas.

Several photographs attributed to key witness Ed Walters show glowing objects with overexposed white centers surrounded by red or blue-green halos.

Later images appear to show ejected material or protrusions from the craft, details that investigators highlighted as unusual visual characteristics.

Across multiple pages, the appendix documents repeated sightings of glowing red, white and yellow objects moving across the sky, sometimes leaving thick luminous trails or streaks, reinforcing claims from residents that the sightings occurred frequently and over several years.

There was also a document from 1987 titled Illustrations and Photos by the Gulf Breeze Witness, which contains dozens of witness sketches and photographic enlargements depicting unidentified flying objects repeatedly seen over the coastal Florida town between 1987 and 1991

Several photographs attributed to key witness Ed Walters show glowing objects with overexposed white centers surrounded by red or blue-green halos

Corbell claimed that some of the names listed in the documents were recognizable to him as scientists he had encountered during previous investigations.

'I start noticing, I know some of the names. I know some of the scientists personally. They've never told me that they did these studies on UFOs,' he said.

He further suggested that the material pointed to decades of government attention on unexplained aerial phenomena.

Los Alamos National Laboratory, located in New Mexico, played a central role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II and continues to support US national security and nuclear research programs.

The facility has long been associated with high-level classified work, making any claims of additional secret research particularly sensitive.

Corbell said he spent years verifying the authenticity of the materials before discussing them publicly, noting that intelligence agencies often attempt to identify or pressure sources connected to UFO-related investigations.

The files included several pictures of crop circles from undisclosed locations

The files were obtained by the son of a deceased lab cyber chief, who sent them to investigative journalist Jeremy Corbell, above

'I've researched them down… I've gone to every single author that I could find that's still alive, and I said, "Can you talk about this now?"' he said.

Despite his claims, Corbell acknowledged that the documents alone may not convince skeptics but insisted they confirm longstanding suspicions about government secrecy surrounding UFO programs.

'There's nothing I would say revelatory to me in these documents, but it's confirmation that I'm on the right track,' he said.

He also warned that whistleblowers connected to classified programs often fear retaliation, adding that some individuals have reported threats after speaking publicly.

'There have been some situations that give everybody pause… whistleblowers have been squeezed,' Corbell said.

The release of the material is expected to coincide with the upcoming documentary, which Corbell said aims to bring hidden information into public view and spark renewed debate over what governments may know about unidentified aerial phenomena.

For now, the claims remain controversial, but the alleged discovery of files linked to a senior Los Alamos official has added another chapter to the growing public fascination with UFO secrecy and national security.

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

The immense power of black holes has been revealed, as scientists make the first accurate measurements of a distant void.

Using a radio telescope scanning the entire planet, scientists recorded the 'dancing jets' erupting from a black hole 7,000 light–years from Earth.

These jets unleash power equivalent to the output of 10,000 suns and travel at 150,000 km per second – nearly half the speed of light.

However, the terrifying fountains of superheated matter only use about 10 per cent of the energy gobbled up by the black hole as it feeds.

These incredible discoveries come from a binary system called Cygnus X–1, which is home to a supermassive star and a black hole.

The supermassive star creates enormous solar winds, kicking out 100 million times more mass every second than our sun at speeds three to four times as high.

Those winds are so powerful that they actually bend the jets by about two degrees, like wind buffeting the water emerging from a fountain.

Co–author Professor James Miller–Jones, of Curtin University, told the Daily Mail: 'Since we know how strong the wind from the star is, we know how much force it creates on the jet. This allows us to figure out how powerful the jet is.'

Scientists have revealed the immense power of a black hole as they make the first accurate measurements of the jets emerging from a void around 7,000 light–years from Earth

Black holes are some of the strangest objects in the entire universe, containing matter so dense that not even light can escape their gravitational pull.

However, while these super–dense objects absorb light, they also create a spectacular burst of energy in the form of black hole jets.

As matter is pulled in, it orbits the black hole like water circling the drain, accelerating to velocities approaching the speed of light.

Professor Miller–Jones says: As matter spirals in towards a black hole, it carries magnetic fields with it, and as these magnetic field lines get wound up, they help launch the jet.'

The jets from the biggest black holes can stretch several light–years out from the black hole, pumping vast amounts of energy into the surrounding area.

Understanding how powerful these jets really are is extremely important if you want to work out how fast a black hole is really feeding and growing.

Scientists can work out how fast it is eating by measuring X–rays released by the matter falling in, but they also need to know how much matter is being shot out in the jets.

Together, these measurements would give astronomers the black hole's 'energy budget', which Professor Miller–Jones says is 'a bit like counting calories, only for a black hole'.

These incredible discoveries come from a binary system called Cygnus X–1, which is home to a supermassive star that bends the 'dancing jets' emerging from its neighbouring black hole with solar wind

Scientists measured how much the solar wind bent the black hole jets over time to work out how much energy these contained, revealing that they release the power of 10,000 suns

The issue is that scientists have only been able to measure the average energy going into the jets over tens of thousands of years.

This is done by looking at how the jets inflate bubbles in surrounding gases, but it isn't the most reliable method.

'We can’t accurately compare that to the black hole feeding rate from the X–rays, since we don’t have measurements of how fast it was feeding thousands of years ago,' says Professor Miller–Jones.

'This new measurement finally allows us to accurately determine what fraction of the energy available from the matter falling in is able to be channelled into the jets.'

This is great news for astronomers because our best theories about how black holes work suggest that the physics should be the same no matter how big the black hole is.

That means this one accurate measurement can 'anchor' future studies of black holes, whether they are 'five or five billion times the mass of the Sun'.

In turn, that discovery should help astronomers get a better understanding of how the universe as a whole reached its current state.

The jets from supermassive black holes play a key role in determining how planets, stars, and galaxies form.

Using a series of images, the scientists also worked out that the jets are travelling at a velocity of 150,000 metres per second – about half the speed of light 

In some cases, black hole jets can even inflate bubbles of gas that exceed the size of the host galaxy itself, exerting a profound impact on the galaxy's evolution. 

Lead author Dr Steve Raj Prabu, of the University of Oxford, told the Daily Mail: 'This process, known as “feedback”, plays a crucial role in regulating how galaxies grow and evolve.

'In large–scale simulations of the Universe, scientists have had to assume how efficient black holes are at converting infalling energy into jets.'

'Our result provides the first direct observational measurement of this efficiency, giving these simulations a much firmer observational foundation.'

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

The White House has broken their silence on the disturbing string of deaths and disappearances involving scientists with knowledge of America's biggest secrets.

During Wednesday's briefing at the White House, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked for the first time about the ten people linked to space or nuclear secrets who have mysteriously died or vanished without a trace since 2023.

When asked if the Trump Administration was aware of the incidents and if the US intelligence community was already investigating whether they were connected, Leavitt did not have a definitive answer for reporters.

The press secretary said: 'I haven't spoken to our relevant agencies about it. I will certainly do that, and will get you an answer.'

'If true, of course, that's definitely something I think this government and administration would deem worth looking into. So let me do that for you,' Leavitt continued.

The comments have been immediately met with criticism from the public, who claimed without evidence that federal officials have not been taking the pattern seriously or have been working to cover it up.

'Does that infer that they’re not looking into it now? For crying out loud there was a general involved,' one person said, referring to retired Air Force General William Neil McCasland, who vanished on February 27.

McCasland's disappearance set off a flurry of activity by independent investigators looking for clues. What they found was a series of links to multiple nuclear officials who have gone missing and a string of scientists who were either murdered or found dead.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt spoke about the ten missing or dead people tied to US nuclear or space secrets since 2023

'Truly sad that somebody has to bring it up before they look into it. Scientists with sensitive information that many of our enemies would absolutely love to have and do have now. They were NOT abducted by aliens,' one person posted on social media.

'That's code for stop noticing and shut up,' another skeptic claimed.

'FINALLY! You mean she didn’t know until today??? I call B*******!!' one X user commented. 

Among the most prominent voices dissatisfied with the government's response to the alleged national security threat has been Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett, who has claimed McCasland was deeply tied to the country's secret UFO programs.

Burchett previously told the Daily Mail he had been demanding answers regarding the search for the retired general and others, but had received no answers from the US intelligence community - including the so-called 'alphabet agencies' such as the FBI.

'I've been constantly ran down different rabbit holes with them, so I don't have any need to talk to them at all,' the congressman said in March.

'The numbers seem very high in these certain areas of research. I think we'd better be paying attention, and I don't think we should trust our government.'

The Daily Mail has reached out to Burchett's office for comment on the White House response on Wednesday.

McCasland, 68, was the most recent official to disappear, as he was last seen leaving his New Mexico home without his phone, wearable devices or glasses less than two months ago. He was only carrying a pistol and his wife told 911 dispatchers that it appeared he was trying 'not to be found.'

William Neil McCasland, 68, was last seen around 11am on February 27 near Quail Run Court NE in Albuquerque, the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office said

Read More

EXCLUSIVE

• Several scientists are missing or dead. Now ex-FBI boss reveals chilling plot likely unfolding 

The strange circumstances surrounding the general's disappearance were almost identical to four other missing person cases taking place between May and August 2025 in the Southwest. 

Concerningly, all four have been tied to McCasland through his work overseeing the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which has been rumored to study extraterrestrial technology since the 1947 Roswell UFO crash.

While at Wright-Patterson, McCasland oversaw and reportedly approved the funding for scientist Monica Jacinto Reza's work on a space-age metal for rocket engines called Mondaloy.

Reza, 60, disappeared while hiking with friends in California on June 22, 2025. She had just become the director of the Materials Processing Group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The three other disappearances all involved workers at some of America's most important nuclear facilities, and all three were last seen walking out of their homes without their phones or keys, just like McCasland.

Anthony Chavez (Left) and Melissa Casias (Right) were both employees at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Both disappeared within weeks of each other in 2025

Steven Garcia (Pictured) was last seen leaving his New Mexico home with a handgun and no phone, keys or wallet

Steven Garcia, 48, vanished without a trace on August 28, 2025. He was last seen leaving his Albuquerque, New Mexico home on foot, carrying only a handgun.

An anonymous source told the Daily Mail that Garcia was a government contractor working for the Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC), a major facility in Albuquerque that manufactures more than 80 percent of all the non-nuclear components that go into building the military's nuclear weapons.

Anthony Chavez and Melissa Casias both worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), one of the nation's most important nuclear research sites.

Chavez, 79, worked at the lab until his retirement in 2017, although his role there has not been made clear. Casias, 54, was an active administrative assistant at the facility and is believed to have had top security clearance.

All three were last seen leaving their homes in New Mexico on foot, leaving behind their cars, keys, wallets and phones before disappearing without a trace. Police have not had any updates in the cases since last year.

In addition to the string of disappearances, five scientists in key areas of research have died over the last three years, including two who were murdered in their own homes.

Nuclear physicist Nuno Loureiro and Astrophysicist Carl Grillmair were both shot to death in their homes in recent months. 

Independent investigators have noted that Loureiro's revolutionary work in nuclear fusion may have made him a target of a greater conspiracy against US scientists, as his work may one day upend the energy industry.

Grillmair's work with NASA's NEOWISE and NEO Surveyor has also been linked to the Air Force, as the telescopes used the same systems the military relies on to track satellites and missiles.

Scientists Nuno Loureiro (left) and Carl Grillmair (right) were both murdered in their own homes after making significant progress in the fields of nuclear fusion and astrophysics

Meanwhile, NASA scientists Michael David Hicks and Frank Maiwald, who also worked at the Jet Propulsion Lab, died from unknown circumstances at early ages. 

Maiwald, 61, was the lead researcher on a breakthrough that could help future space missions detect clear signs of life on other worlds just 13 months before he died in 2024.

Hicks, who passed away just a year after leaving JPL at age 59, had been involved with the DART Project, NASA’s test to see if humans could deflect dangerous asteroids away from Earth.

NASA JPL has not commented on the deaths of Maiwald or Hicks, and did not reply to the Daily Mail's inquiries into the nature of the scientists' work before their deaths.

In another mysterious incident, Jason Thomas, a pharmaceutical researcher testing cancer treatments at Novartis, was found dead in a Massachusetts lake on March 17, 2026, after disappearing without a trace in December 2025. Local police have claimed there was no foul play suspected.

RELATED VIDEOS

10 US Scientists Go Missing: White House Vows To Find Truth Behind Missing Researchers | GRAVITAS

US Scientists Missing Since 2023?, White House Reacts To Reports Of 'Disappeared' Nuclear Scientists

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

Unknown evidence in Antartica, Reptilian Face Found! April 15, 2026, UFO Sightings Daily

Date of discovery: April 14, 2026

Location of discovery: Antarctica

Source: Google map at 79°56'17.82"S 81°45'55.59"W

Hey all, I found this last week and just got around to posting it. Been busy this week. 

 

This is a reptilian face of a thin human/reptile alien hybrid species. Yes, even reptilians want in on controlling and benefiting from high and powerful positions in the human culture. This is proof that they were succeeding already thousands of years ago. Reptilians are the one species of alien that really gets upset about humans and would much rather eat a human than invite it over to have dinner with. 

This is 100% proof reptilians did hybrid programs and succeeded in Antarctica. 

Scott C. Waring - UFO Sightings Daily 

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

Mysterious Objects Over Naples, Italy April 12, 2026 UFO Sightings Daily

Date of sighting: April 12, 2026

Location of sighting: Naples, Italy

Source: Email report at scwaring @yahoo.com 

 

This just in to my email this morning. A young lady in Italy captured this breathtaking display of lights that are UFOs entering the earths atmosphere but are letting off gasses to try to hide who and what they are from humans watch on the ground. These objects are obviously going too slow to be e meteor but aliens give the old college try anyways. Nailed them again! 

Scott C. Waring - UFO Sightings Daily 

 

Eyewitness states: 

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

Discover the truth about Jesus Christ

©Shutterstock

Discover the truth about Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is a central figure in Christianity, with his life story forming the foundation of the New Testament in the Bible. Depending on your beliefs, Jesus can be viewed as either the Messiah or a historical figure (or both). While the Bible provides insights into his life, there are few surviving historical records from his era. As a result, secular historians face challenges in sourcing information about Jesus beyond religious texts. Nonetheless, recent decades have seen intriguing findings. Some corroborate biblical narratives, while others tell a very different story.

Read through the gallery to find out what historians have uncovered about the life of Jesus Christ.

©Getty Images

Sources
Although references to Jesus beyond the Bible are limited, historian André Chevitarese explains that a handful of authors have recorded comparable details about his life.

©Getty Images

Sources
The most recognized written accounts are associated with Flavius Josephus, a Jewish scholar from the 1st century CE. In his work 'Antiquities of the Jews,' Josephus mentions Jesus on two occasions.

©Getty Images

Appearance
A specialist in forensic science, British researcher Richard Neave used his expertise to reconstruct the face of an average adult from the era in which Jesus lived. The outcome revealed a dark-skinned man with short hair—a stark contrast to the conventional portrayal of Jesus as a fair-skinned individual with long hair and blue eyes.

©Shutterstock

God's messenger
The Gospel of Luke highlights that Jesus possessed considerable knowledge from a young age.

©Shutterstock

Stance on homosexuality
An often overlooked fact is that the Bible does not record Jesus condemning homosexuality. In fact, he never even mentioned it.

©Shutterstock

Birthday
Despite the widespread celebration of Christmas on December 25, it's worth noting that the New Testament doesn't specify the actual day of Jesus' birth.

©Shutterstock

Jesus wasn't born on December 25
Based on research, it is suggested that Jesus' birth is more likely to have occurred between May and November—the hottest months in Israel.

©Shutterstock

Three Wise Men
Upon spotting the guiding star signaling the birth of Christ, the Three Wise Men embarked on their journey to Bethlehem. Researchers have retraced their probable route and determined that it would have taken them approximately two years to reach their destination. This means that they couldn't have visited Jesus in the stable shortly after his birth.

©Getty Images

Star of Bethlehem
Astronomers theorize that the star that heralded Jesus' birth could have resulted from a conjunction between Saturn and Jupiter. This astronomical occurrence took place in the Pisces constellation in 7 BCE.

©Shutterstock

Nazareth
The town of Nazareth held little significance and was relatively small. It's even playfully criticized in the Gospel of John. In this context, Philip the Apostle informs Nathanael that the Messiah has been discovered in Nazareth, to which Nathanael responds, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"

©Shutterstock

Career
The Greek term for Jesus's occupation is "tekton." While "carpenter" is the frequently used translation, scholars clarify that the term encompassed craftsmen and builders. It's more probable that Jesus worked as a mason.

©Getty Images

Wealth
His lineage can be traced back to King David, a figure known for his considerable wealth in biblical history. Various aspects of Jesus' life also indicate that his family was relatively affluent.

©Shutterstock

Stable
The misconception of Jesus being poor likely stems from the fact that he was born in a stable. However, this was primarily due to unfortunate circumstances. A census was underway in Bethlehem precisely when Mary was going into labor, leading to an influx of people from nearby areas to the town. With all the inns already occupied, the couple had no choice but to seek shelter in a stable for Mary to give birth.

©Getty Images

Clothes
During his crucifixion, Jesus is mentioned to have been clothed in a distinctive tunic that was typically worn by wealthier individuals of that era. The Bible says that the soldiers even fought amongst themselves over who got to keep his clothes.

©Getty Images

Fulfilled Old Testament prophecies about Jesus
There are those who hold reverence for the teachings attributed to Jesus but reject the notion that these teachings were divinely bestowed upon him by God.

©Shutterstock

A philosopher and humanitarian
For Christian atheists, Jesus isn't seen as the offspring of an omnipotent deity; instead, he's regarded as a philosopher and humanitarian.

©Getty Images

The sacred book of Islam
In the Quran, the holy text of Islam, Jesus is referenced more frequently than the Prophet Muhammad. Jesus is mentioned 25 times, whereas Muhammad is mentioned only four times.

©Shutterstock

Prophet
In Islam, Jesus is acknowledged as a prophet, although he is not considered the son of God. Interestingly, there is a designated tomb for Jesus Christ next to Muhammad's tomb in Medina, Saudi Arabia.

©BrunoPress

Divine rage
While filming Mel Gibson's 2004 movie, 'The Passion of the Christ,' two people were struck by lightning. One of them was Jim Caviezel, the actor who portrayed Jesus in the film.

©Shutterstock

More lightning...
A 65 ft (20 m) statue of Jesus situated beside a church in Monroe, Ohio, was hit by lighting, which caused it to burst into flames. It was completely destroyed.

©Getty Images

Siblings
According to historical accounts, Jesus had four brothers and at least two sisters. The names of his brothers were James, Joseph, Jude, and Simon. There are theories suggesting that these brothers might have been his father's sons from a previous marriage or even cousins. In the Bible, Jesus' brother James (pictured) is tragically stoned to death.

©Shutterstock

Sentencing
Following 15 years of excavation efforts, archaeologist Amit Re'em and his team successfully unearthed Herod's Palace. Situated in the western region of Jerusalem, this palace is historically recognized as the site where Jesus was condemned to death.

©Getty Images

Married?
An astonishing ancient text originating from the 9th century CE was verified by historians and revealed to the public in 2012. This document, sometimes called the "lost gospel," suggests that Jesus was married. The text also contains references to the name Mary, prompting some to speculate that his wife could have been Mary Magdalene.

©Getty Images

Burden of the cross
Evidence indicates that Jesus likely bore only the horizontal component of the cross, known as the patibulum. Due to its weight of approximately 60 pounds (27 kg), he probably dragged the cross instead of carrying it on his back.

©Shutterstock

The crucifixion
Contrary to common depictions, historical understanding suggests that Jesus was not crucified through his hands but rather through his wrists. If his hands had been used, they likely would torn due to his body weight and he would have fallen.

©Shutterstock

The crucifixion
While the process of death by crucifixion could theoretically last for days, Jesus died around six hours after it began. The crucifixion took place around 9 am, and he passed away at approximately 3 pm that same afternoon.

©Getty Images

Death
According to the Bible, Jesus' death is believed to have taken place on Good Friday.

©Shutterstock

Death
Historians have deduced that Jesus' death likely took place in either 30 or 33 CE. Clues derived from records on figures such as Pontius Pilate and Tiberius suggest that 33 CE is more likely the year of his death.

Sources:

• (Britannica)
• (History)
• (Live Science)
• (Deseret News)
• (CNN)
• (NPR)

See also: 

• Famous religious relics and their histories

RELATED

{ Stars Insider }

Huge hidden cave under castle with prehistoric hippo bones 'once in a lifetime' find

Rosie Mercer - BBC Wales

A cave hidden beneath an 11th Century castle in Pembrokeshire is a "truly remarkable site" which could rewrite Britain's prehistory, researchers say.

Pembroke Castle has long been an important archaelogical area

 (Image: University of Aberdeen)

Small digs of the cave under Pembroke Castle, known as Wogan Cavern, have so far uncovered "extremely rare" evidence of early humans and animals - including the bones of a hippopotamus which roamed Wales 120,000 years ago.

The University of Aberdeen will now lead a larger five-year exploration of the site, which archaeologists hope could reveal "a great deal about our early prehistoric forebears".

"There is no other site like it in Britain – it is a once in a lifetime discovery," said Dr Rob Dinnis from the University of Aberdeen.

Wogan Cavern, thought to have been dug out by the Victorians, is accessed via a spiral staircase from the castle.

Measuring 23m (75ft) in length, with a height of up to 10m (32ft), the cave has been described as "enormous".

It was long assumed that there was little archaeological material left at the site, but small excavations between 2021 and 2024 uncovered evidence of both humans and animals over more than 100,000 years - including stone tools and mammoth, hippo and woolly rhinoceros bones.

Archaeologists say the site is a "once in a lifetime discovery"

(Image: University of Aberdeen)

The bones have been described as well preserved, and researchers said the cave was emerging as one of the most important prehistoric archives in Britain.

Dinnis, who directed the initial digs and will lead the new excavation project, said he was optimistic about what they would uncover.

"Despite the limited work done so far, we can already say that Wogan Cavern is a truly remarkable site," he said.

"Not only is there extremely rare evidence for early Homo sapiens, there are also hints at even earlier human occupation, probably by Neanderthals.

"There is no other site like it in Britain – it is a once in a lifetime discovery. With this new project we can learn a great deal about our early prehistoric forebears, about how they lived and what their worlds looked like.

"We are optimistic that the cave can chart a long sequence of human activity, from hunter-gatherers living there immediately after the last Ice Age around 11,500 years ago, back to Britain's earliest Homo sapiens between 45,000 and 35,000 years ago, and maybe also earlier traces likely left by Neanderthals.

"We have also found hippo bones, which probably date to the last interglacial period, around 120,000 years ago. The site could therefore tell us about how multiple changes in climate and environment affected people living there over 100,000 years or more."

The university will lead on the exploration supported by the Pembroke Castle Trust, which said the finds from Wogan Cavern would be curated and kept in Pembroke.

For Pembroke Castle – the birthplace of Henry Tudor and a popular tourist attraction – the project represents an exciting new chapter in its history.

"This is incredibly exciting news for everyone at the castle," said manager Jon Williams.

"We have watched with great interest as Wogan Cavern has started to reveal its secrets – it's very different from the medieval history we usually deal with at the castle."

The new excavations are scheduled to begin at the end of May.

{ https://www.bbc.com/ }

Roswell Revisited 2026 (The Ultimate Historical Pictorial timeline)

Michael Schratt

Roswell Revisited 2026
(The Ultimate Historical Pictorial timeline)

In this presentation, Michael Schratt (Military Aerospace Historian) re-visits the Roswell case of July 1947. Using new technology along with the book Witness to Roswell (Don Schmitt and Tom Carey), every significant event/scene has finally been illustrated to make this famous UFO Crash/Retrieval case “come alive”.

• YouTube link: https://youtu.be/Gqh6_O7zme8?si=aFSgEjOUdQT4vsdA

Overview

In a newly released video, independent researcher Michael Schratt presents an illustrated chronology of the 1947 Roswell incident that expands on the earlier investigations of historians Paul Schmitt and Kevin Carey. The 30‑minute presentation, titled Roswell Revisited 2026, combines newly digitised photographs, declassified documents and a series of eyewitness testimonies to construct what Schratt describes as “the most complete timeline to date.” While the mainstream narrative continues to attribute the debris to the classified Project Mogul balloon, Schratt argues that the pattern of military actions, material descriptions and subsequent testimonies point to an “extraterrestrial or extradimensional” event that has been systematically concealed.

Chronology of Key Events

Schratt’s timeline begins on July 2, 1947 at 11:59 p.m., when a lightning strike allegedly caused an “egg‑shaped” craft to explode over the Foster Ranch near Corona, New Mexico, scattering debris that included a metallic “tin‑foil” material, a memory‑metal that re‑formed after being crushed, and I‑beams bearing what he calls “purple, Asian‑like hieroglyphics.” The following day, rancher Mac Brazel and a local boy, Timothy Dee Proctor, discovered the field. Between July 4 and July 6, Brazel showed fragments at a rodeo and a bar before reporting the find to Chaves County Sheriff George Wilcox on July 6.

On July 7, Major Jesse Marcel and CIC officer Sheridan Cavitt arrived, and an “archaeologist and students” reportedly located a 13‑foot escape pod 35 miles north of Roswell, containing two deceased entities and a survivor. The next day, Colonel William Blanchard issued the famous press release announcing the capture of a “flying saucer.” By July 9, General Roger Ramey publicly re‑characterised the debris as a weather balloon, and the alleged alien bodies and pod were moved to Hangar P‑3 (Building 84) at Roswell Army Airfield. Schratt notes that the military allegedly employed industrial‑vacuum equipment to remove all trace evidence from the site.

Witnesses and Testimony

The video highlights several individuals whose statements have resurfaced in recent declassification efforts. Mac Brazel is portrayed as having been “quietly compensated” after his discovery, a claim supported by a 1952 purchase record for a new truck. Major Jesse Marcel, who handled the material, maintained that the alloys were “not of this world,” a sentiment echoed by his son, Jesse Marcel Jr., who recalled childhood memories of the hieroglyphic symbols. Former 509th Bomb Group sergeant William “Bud” Taylor described the interior of the pod as containing “fiber‑optic cables, flat‑screen monitors and humanoid corpses.”

Additional testimony cited includes pilot Oliver “Pappy” Henderson, whose wife Sappho Henderson later confirmed his private admissions of transporting the craft to Wright Field, and Colonel Philip Corso, who alleged that recovered technology was deliberately “seeded” into corporations such as IBM and Hughes Aircraft. While these accounts have not been independently verified, they form a core part of Schratt’s argument that the incident had long‑term technological ramifications.

Evidence, Counter‑Claims, and Context

Schratt confronts the official Project Mogul explanation by pointing to the “memory metal” and the hieroglyphic markings, which he argues lack any known terrestrial analogue. He also references the **full‑body cavity searches of

{ https://www.vibewire.com.au/ }

NASA’s Latest Rover Images Reveal Possible Winged Insect and Predator Life Forms on Mars

By Evelyn Hart

Ohio University entomologist examines NASA Curiosity rover images and claims they reveal insect and reptile forms on the Martian surface.

© NASA Rover Photos Show Objects Resembling Insects And Reptiles.

Image credit: CBSI/CNET

The bees appear to vary in size. Some show wings. Others display segmented bodies and what look like jointed legs frozen mid-stride across the rust-colored regolith of Gale Crater.

William Romoser, an entomologist who spent decades studying arthropods, has spent years examining publicly available imagery from NASA’s Curiosity rover. What he sees is unambiguous: insect-like creatures in flight, arthropod forms sheltering in burrows, and the fossilized remains of reptile-like organisms scattered across the Martian surface.

His analysis, presented at the 2019 National Meeting of the Entomological Society of America, has recently resurfaced in science media coverage, reviving a debate about what the rover’s cameras may have actually captured.

NASA rover captures possible insect-like life on Mars, showing wings and legs.

Credit: William Romoser

Romoser’s claims are not subtle. He identifies specific anatomical features across multiple rover images, including what he describes as compound eyes, wing venation patterns, and specialized appendages consistent with terrestrial arthropods.

“The ‘bees’ appear to vary in size and type,” Romoser stated during his presentation. “Several characteristic insect/arthropod anatomical features were identifiable, not all on the same individual, but as a mosaic among individuals.”

One image sequence, he contends, captures an organism performing an acrobatic flight maneuver that begins with a steep dive and ends with a level trajectory, a motion pattern familiar to anyone who has watched insects navigate open air. He further argues that the insect-like fauna he has catalogued appear to be sheltering in caves, nesting in burrows beneath the surface, and occupying specialized structures carved into the Martian terrain.

Flight Maneuvers and Fossilized Predators in Rover Imagery

The Curiosity rover images that Romoser analyzed extend beyond winged forms. He points to additional photographs that he interprets as reptile-like fossils, including one specimen that bears what he describes as a distinct head structure with bilateral symmetry resembling an Eastern King Snake. The fossilized form, according to his presentation, shows evidence of a large mouth capable of gaping, a feature he associates with predatory behavior.

In some of the rover photographs he examined, Romoser suggests the reptile-like organisms appear to be preying upon the smaller insect-like forms. This interpretation implies a functioning ecosystem with trophic relationships, a claim that would require extraordinary evidence to substantiate.

The entomologist acknowledged that his findings could open new avenues of scientific inquiry. “Given evidence for the presence of insect/arthropod and reptile-like organisms beyond the confines of Earth, perhaps ‘astroentomology’ and ‘astroherpetology’ will emerge as important topics within the field of astrobiology,” he said.

The researcher behind the claims joined the Ohio University faculty in 1965 and built a career focused on medical entomology and tropical disease research. His documented expertise does not include planetary geology or remote sensing analysis. The Mars research represents a departure from the mosquito and arbovirus work that defined his academic career.

What Curiosity Actually Found in Gale Crater

Curiosity landed in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012, carrying the most sophisticated suite of scientific instruments ever deployed to another planet. The rover’s 10 instruments include 17 cameras, a laser that vaporizes rock from a distance to analyze chemical composition, and a drill that has now collected 42 powdered rock samples from the Martian surface.

The mission’s core objective is straightforward: determine whether Gale Crater ever possessed environmental conditions suitable for microbial life. Curiosity has delivered definitive answers. It found ancient streambeds, identified long-lived lake systems, and detected organic molecules preserved in billion-year-old mudstone. In February 2026, researchers reported that non-biological processes could not fully explain the abundance of organic compounds detected in Martian samples.

NASA rover images show possible insect-like creatures on Mars, with labeled features such as wings, thorax, and abdomen.

Credit: William Romoser

Nowhere in Curiosity’s published scientific findings does the mission team report visual confirmation of macroscopic organisms. The rover continues its traverse across Gale Crater, recently spending six months examining boxwork formations, a type of fractured geologic structure that resembles spiderwebs when viewed from above. The rover’s cameras have captured thousands of images showing sedimentary layers, wind-sculpted rocks, and mineral veins left behind by ancient groundwater.

Pareidolia and the Search for Patterns in Martian Rocks

Scientists who evaluate claims of Martian life in rover imagery consistently point to pareidolia as the most plausible explanation. The phenomenon describes the brain’s tendency to impose familiar patterns on random visual information. It explains why people see faces in electrical outlets, animals in cloud formations, and, in this case, insects in wind-eroded rocks.

Mars possesses no shortage of oddly shaped geology. Billions of years of volcanic activity, impact cratering, ancient water flow, and relentless wind abrasion have sculpted the surface into forms that can trick the eye under certain lighting conditions. Features that appear organized or biological in one rover image often resolve into ordinary rock when photographed from a different angle or with higher-resolution instruments.

Readers responding to the resurfaced research noted the pattern recognition phenomenon at work. One observer remarked that seeing shapes in Martian rocks is “like seeing sheep in the clouds.” Others drew comparisons to blurry Bigfoot photographs, where ambiguous visual information invites the mind to fill in missing details.

{ https://indiandefencereview.com/category/science/ }

There were 'audible screams of delight': Why Artemis II sightings of meteor flashes on the moon have scientists giddy

Pentagon slammed over secret UFO 'cover-up' as 46 clips of alien formations kept hidden

The Pentagon faces claims of hiding bombshell footage after defying a deadline to release 46 secret UFO videos showing possible alien activity near military bases

BY Liam Randall News Reporter

The Pentagon has been accused of a calculated "cover-up" after dodging a deadline to hand over 46 top-secret UFO videos.

Furious lawmakers are demanding answers after defence chiefs failed to produce the bombshell footage, which reportedly shows "Tic Tac" shaped objects and eerie formations over global hotspots, by the April 14 cut-off. The ultimatum was triggered by Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who issued a direct order to US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at the start of the month.

But as the deadline lapsed on Tuesday, the Florida congresswoman revealed she had been met by a wall of silence from military top brass.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna says she has been met by a wall of silence

(Image: AP)

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), she said: "No-one from the Pentagon had responded until we reached out and it appears that someone did not pass the letter to the appropriate authorities."

The snub is particularly explosive given that President Donald Trump has reportedly greenlit the declassification.

Luna added: "How convenient. The president has authorized the release, so whoever is trying to be cute at the Pentagon can take a hike."

The 46 missing clips are said to be a holy grail for UFO hunters, featuring "Tic Tac," cigar-shaped and spherical crafts, along with high-speed manoeuvres over the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan and the East China Sea.

They are also said to show co-ordinated formations buzzing US warships and nuclear submarines, as well as the 2023 shootdown of a mystery object over Lake Huron. One specific file, dated November 23, 2020, allegedly shows a "massive disc" weaving through clouds over the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

The footage was previously teased by investigative truth-seekers Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp. Lawmakers fear the alien formations pose a "national security threat" to restricted airspace and military zones.

In her letter, Luna, who chairs the House Federal Secrets Task Force, said: "The continued lack of transparency surrounding these anomalies and the potential national security threat they pose is troubling."

She noted that whistleblowers have confirmed the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) is sitting on even more recordings that the public has never seen.

The news has sparked anger online, with taxpayers accusing "rogue federal employees" of hiding the truth to protect their budgets.

One user wrote: "The American people want all this declassified. There's zero reason for any of it to be kept secret."

Another hit out at the stalling, saying: "Isn't it amazing, how our government won't listen to itself? Or the will of the people?"

Back in February, Trump took to Truth Social to promise a new era of transparency, vowing to release files on "alien and extraterrestrial life."

Rumours of a massive data dump have only grown louder following reports that the White House has officially registered the domain Aliens.gov. While the site currently remains a blank page, it has been flagged by federal domain trackers as an active government asset.

Despite the digital infrastructure being laid, officials have yet to confirm a release date, leaving the public in a frustrating state of limbo.

{ https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/ }

What Will the UFO Files Reveal? 3 Possibilities

With the U.S. government poised to release a tranche of UFO‑related files, experts are weighing what the documents might reveal.

What’s Been Said About the File Release?

Interest in otherworldly phenomena skyrocketed earlier this year following remarks made by both President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama.

Trump announced in February that he would be directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other relevant departments and agencies to start identifying and releasing UFO-related government files. The announcement came after Obama told political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen, “they’re real, but I haven't seen them,” when asked about the existence of alien life during a rapid-fire portion of an interview.

Obama soon after clarified his comments, however, writing on social media: “Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there. But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we’ve been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us.”

"President Trump directed the Department of War to begin the process of identifying and releasing government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena, and unidentified flying objects because he is the most transparent President in history. Stay tuned," White House press secretary Anna Kelly told Newsweek.

Hegseth told reporters in February he did not have a timeline for the file release requested by Trump.

“I don't want to oversell how much time it will take, right? We're digging in. We're going to be in full compliance with that executive order, eager to provide that for the president. So, there'll be more coming on that as far as the process of what we'll do,” he said.

Florida Republican Anna Paulina Luna hit out at the Pentagon on Tuesday after a deadline for handing over dozens of videos documenting apparent encounters with UFOs, also referred to as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs), passed.

A letter signed by Luna and dated March 31, had requested over 45 video files that reportedly include spherical, cigar-shaped and "Tic Tac"-like objects recorded by U.S. military platforms over war zones, oceans and restricted airspace, with incidents said to include activity near Iran, Syria, U.S. bases and airports and a 2023 incident over Lake Huron. 

“No one from the Pentagon had responded until we reached out, and it appears that someone did not pass the letter to the appropriate authorities. How convenient,” Luna wrote on X on Tuesday. “Nonetheless, we will be getting the requested list. We are not waiting for a briefing at some unspecified future date.”

A video of an alleged UAP is played as (L-R) witness U.S. Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Alexandro Wiggins, UAP journalist George Knapp, witness U.S. Air Force veteran Dylan Borland, and Senior Policy Counsel at the Project On Government Oversight Joe Spielberger testify before the House Oversight Committee on September 9, 2025.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Satellite Imagery and Alleged Crash Site Materials

Harvard physicist Avi Loeb told Newsweek that the most anomalous data has thus far remained obscured to the public, “and may include high-resolution satellite imagery or materials from alleged crash sites.”

“Determining the nature of that evidence is extremely important for national security. It could indicate technological developments by adversarial nations. Even if that turns out not to be the case, studying the evidence is never a waste of time. It strengthens our ability to protect our nation.”

Loeb said he hopes lawmakers will have an opportunity to review evidence previously held in secrecy.

“The images and videos released publicly so far are not of high scientific quality. Without precise distance measurements, it is difficult to determine velocities or accelerations. However, the underlying data may contain clues that scientists can analyze rigorously," he said.

“For example, if materials were recovered from a crash site, it would be straightforward to test whether they originated beyond the solar system. Even a gram of material is sufficient for isotope analysis using a mass spectrometer. All materials in our solar system formed from the same reservoir. Material from another star would likely exhibit isotopic signatures shaped by a different stellar environment,” Loeb said.

“Science can help the government and Congress determine whether any evidence collected over the past century may be of interstellar origin.”

Clues to Other Life in the Universe

Janna Levin, a professor of physics and astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University, told CBS News that astronomers are “very excited” at the possibility that the released documents could contain clues about life in the universe, which “still seems rare.”

Levin clarified that astronomers are interested in microbes—organisms responsible for the origin of life on Earth.

"If there is anything in them, it would be really thrilling," Levin said, but added, "If there are claims of actual technologies from other civilizations—I don't think anyone is actually expecting that, scientifically. I think if you're expecting that, you're going to be disappointed."    

Sighting Reports...but a Lot of Administrative Files

Like Levin, other experts have also indicated that those hoping for more shocking revelations may be in for disappointment.

Greg Eghigian, a historian of science and medicine and professor at Penn State University, told CNN that while the release may include military or civilian sighting reports, as well as information on how extensively agencies investigated reported sightings, it will likely include many documents considered “unbelievably boring” to most.

“It’s going to be a lot of administrative files: Who does what? How much did we spend on paper clips?” he said.

Former director of the Department of Defense's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which investigates UFOs, Sean Kirkpatrick told CBS News that anyone hoping for evidence of alien life on Earth could be frustrated.

“There are going to be unsatisfied people," he said. “You're going to have a bunch of people who are going to continue to cry conspiracy, they're going to say there's a cover-up.”

Kirkpatrick said that during his tenure leading AARO, investigators found no evidence of extraterrestrial life or alien technology on Earth. While he indicated he would have welcomed discovering alien technology, Kirkpatrick concluded that the likelihood of intelligent extraterrestrials on Earth is “little to none,” though he believes life likely exists elsewhere in the universe.

{ https://www.newsweek.com/ }

What is dark matter? Elusive substance could be made of black holes from a different UNIVERSE, scientist claims

• READ MORE: NASA reveals one of the most detailed maps

By WILIAM HUNTER, SENIOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY REPORTER

Dark matter could be even weirder than we thought, as a scientist claims the elusive substance could be made of black holes from a different universe.

Astronomers believe that dark matter makes up around 27 per cent of the universe's mass and holds galaxies together like gravitational glue.

Most scientists believe the strange material is made of an undiscovered particle that doesn't absorb or reflect normal light.

But a new theory suggests that dark matter might really be made of ancient black holes that existed before the Big Bang.

These 'relic' black holes from another universe are small, packed with mass, and would be totally invisible except for their gravitational tug.

According to Professor Enrique Gaztanaga, from the University of Portsmouth, this makes them the prime suspect in the search for dark matter.

The key to this bold suggestion is the suggestion that there was a universe before our current one, and the Big Bang was just the transition between the two.

Professor Gaztanaga says: 'The idea is that dark matter may not be a new particle, but instead a population of black holes formed in a previous collapsing phase and bounce of the Universe.'

The mysterious substance known as dark matter could really be made up of black holes from another universe, according to a scientist 

According to the most common theory, the universe began as an infinitely dense point known as a 'singularity'.

This singularity then exploded out in a rapid phase of expansion known as inflation, the lingering energy from which we can still see as the Cosmic Microwave Background.

However, some scientists don't like the idea of a singularity because their infinitely dense interiors appear to break down the fundamental rules of physics as we know them.

To get around this issue, Professor Gaztanaga suggests we might live in a 'bouncing' universe.

According to this view, the universe collapsed in on itself at the end of its previous phase, falling inwards to an enormously, but not infinitely, dense point.

As the universe became more and more dense, it eventually hit a point where it 'bounced', rushing outwards in a period of inflation to form the universe we currently live in.

'The Big Bang corresponds to a bounce from a previous collapsing phase, rather than the absolute beginning of everything,' Professor Gaztanaga told the Daily Mail.

'So it is the start of the expansion we observe, but not necessarily the beginning of time itself.'

According to this theory, the Big Bang was not the start of the universe but simply a transition from a previous universe's collapse to our current one. Black holes from the earlier might have survived this transition and now make up dark matter 

What makes this idea so important for dark matter is that Professor Gaztanaga says that black holes might have survived the collapse.

That means the black holes formed by the collapsing galaxies of the last universe could still be floating around our universe today.

Professor Gaztanaga says: 'These 'relic' black holes would survive into the expanding phase we observe today and behave exactly like dark matter: they interact gravitationally, but do not emit light.'

Although this sounds far–fetched, it actually helps avoid some thorny problems plaguing our current theory.

Scientists neither need to explain away the infinite density of the singularity nor add any mysterious extra particle to explain dark matter.

Likewise, the relic black hole theory could help explain some of the most puzzling discoveries made by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

While peering back to capture some of the earliest light in the universe, the JWST found a group of very bright, red dots only a few hundred million years after the Big Bang.

Scientists think that these are rapidly growing black holes, potentially even ones that would become supermassive black holes in the hearts of galaxies.

The existence of these 'relic' black holes could explain the mysterious 'little red dot' black hole discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope, just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang 

Our current understanding of the universe can't explain how they would have gotten so big, so fast.

But if relic black holes were already there at the very start of the universe, they would have had a massive head start that allowed them to grow much larger than expected.

Read More

• The universe is expanding 'too fast' - and scientists have no idea why 

Professor Gaztanaga admits there is still a lot of work to be done before his idea can be confirmed.

Scientists will need to test this theory against the data from the gravitational wave backgrounds and precise measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background.

Professor Gaztanaga says: 'The key question is which idea matches observations — and that's something we can test.'

But if this theory could be proven, it would simultaneously solve two of the biggest puzzles facing scientists today.

Dark matter: The mysterious substance that makes up 27% of the universe that scientists cannot confirm

Dark matter is a hypothetical substance said to make up roughly 27 per cent of the universe.

The enigmatic material is invisible because it does not reflect light, and has never been directly observed by scientists.

Astronomers know it to be out there because of its gravitational effects on known matter.

The European Space Agency says: 'Shine a torch in a completely dark room, and you will see only what the torch illuminates.

Dark matter is a hypothetical substance said to make up roughly 27 per cent of the universe. It is thought to be the gravitational 'glue' that holds the galaxies together (artist's impression)

'That does not mean that the room around you does not exist.

'Similarly we know dark matter exists but have never observed it directly.'

The material is thought to be the gravitational 'glue' that holds the galaxies together.

Calculations show that many galaxies would be torn apart instead of rotating if they weren't held together by a large amount of dark matter.

Just five per cent the observable universe consists of known matter such as atoms and subatomic particles.

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

Pentagon accused of 'cover-up' after failing to release UFO videos by deadline

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

The US Pentagon has been slammed for missing a strict deadline to release Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) videos, with critics calling it a 'cover-up.'

Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna penned a letter to the US Secretary of Defense on April 1, ordering Pete Hegseth to deliver 46 specific clips no later than April 14, 2026.

Lawmakers said the videos could reveal patterns of activity near sensitive military sites and help determine whether the objects pose a potential national security threat.

The requested footage includes dozens of military-recorded encounters showing spherical, cigar-shaped and Tic Tac-like objects spotted over war zones, oceans and sensitive airspace around the world.

Some clips reportedly captured UAP formations near Iran and Syria, incidents near US bases and airports and even a 2023 shootdown over Lake Huron.

The threats extend beyond mysterious sightings, highlighting the danger unidentified objects pose when they appear near restricted airspace, military bases and active training zones.

Luna, however, said Tuesday afternoon on X that 'no one from the Pentagon had responded until we reached out, and it appears that someone did not pass the letter to the appropriate authorities.'

'How convenient,' the Florida representative added, noting that while she considers Hegseth a friend and supporter of President Donald Trump, 'the president has authorized the release, so whoever is trying to be cute at the Pentagon can take a hike.'

Some clips reportedly captured UAP formations near Iran and Syria, incidents near US bases and airports and even a 2023 shootdown over Lake Huron (stock)

The announcement has been met with fury online, with many saying the world deserves to know the truth.

'The American people want all this declassified. There's zero reason for any of it to be kept secret,' one user commented.  'Zero valid reason other than to justify spending money on an annual budget for a bunch of rogue federal employees.'

Another user shared: 'Yep, sounds like normal government protocol… “what letter? “' 

Commenting on Luna's statement that Trump had ordered the release, one user said: 'Isn't it amazing, how our government won't listen to itself? 

'Or the will of the people? I'm sorry, I must've been mistaken when I was taught that this was the entire point of government in the first place.'

In February, Trump directed federal agencies, including the Pentagon, to begin identifying and releasing files related to UFOs, also known as UAPs, and potential extraterrestrial activity.

'Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War... to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs),' Trump wrote on Truth Social on February 19.

Luna has taken a prominent role in advocating for transparency regarding UAPs.

One of the videos requested was 'Spherical UAP over AFG in and out of clouds' captured in 2020. The footage was leaked by Investigative journalists Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp last year 

She chairs a House Federal Secrets Task Force focused on investigating UAPs, declassifying federal records and protecting whistleblowers.

In the early April letter, she wrote: 'The continued lack of transparency surrounding these anomalies and the potential national security threat they pose is troubling.'

She added that the Task Force held a hearing on September 9, 2025, to discuss those concerns.

'Whistleblowers informed the Task Force that AARO possesses additional video records of potential UAP sightings,' she wrote.

'To continue its investigation, the Task Force requests certain video files related to UAP sightings.'

Anna Paulina Luna chairs a House Federal Secrets Task Force focused on investigating UAP, declassifying federal records and protecting whistleblowers

The requested footage reportedly shows spherical objects weaving through clouds, hovering over open water and repeatedly appearing near US warships and submarines.

Several clips were captured by fighter jets, surveillance aircraft and drones operating in regions such as the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan and the East China Sea.

In multiple cases, more than one object was tracked moving at high speeds at the same time, raising concerns about possible coordinated activity near sensitive military operations.

One of the requests: 'Spherical UAP over AFG in and out of clouds, 11/23/20,' is a video reportedly showing a massive disc weaving in and out of cloud cover.

Investigative journalists Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp, who leaked parts of the clip, said the footage was recorded by government personnel over the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in November 2020.

The object was spotted during a reconnaissance mission by a high-altitude Air Force platform.

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