The discovery is in a new article in Nature titled “Earth’s ambipolar electrostatic field and its role in ion escape to space.” The lead author is Glyn Collinson from the Heliophysics Science Division at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

The Space Age gained momentum back in the 1960s as the USA and USSR launched more and more satellites. When spacecraft passed over the Earth’s poles, they detected an outflow of particles from Earth’s atmosphere into space. Scientists named this the polar wind, but for decades, it was mysterious.

Scientists expect some particles from Earth to “leak” into space. Sunlight can cause this. But if that’s the case, the particles should be heated. The wind is mysterious because many particles in it are cold despite moving at supersonic speeds.

“Something had to be drawing these particles out of the atmosphere,” said lead author Collinson.

Collinson is also the Principal Investigator for NASA’s “Endurance” Sounding Rocket Mission. “The purpose of the Endurance mission was to make the first measurement of the magnitude and structure of the electric field generated by Earth’s ionosphere,” NASA writes in their mission description. Endurance launched on May 22nd, 2022, from Norway’s Svalbard Archipelago.

“Svalbard is the only rocket range in the world where you can fly through the polar wind and make the measurements we needed,” said Suzie Imber, a space physicist at the University of Leicester, UK, and co-author of the paper.

Svalbard is key because there are open magnetic field lines above Earth’s polar caps. These field lines provide a pathway for ions to outflow to the magnetosphere.

After it was launched, Collinson said, “We got fabulous data all through the flight, though it will be a while before we can really dig into it to see if we achieved our science objective or not.”

Now, the data is in, and the results show that Earth has a global electric field.

Prior to its discovery, scientists hypothesized that the field was weak and that its effects could only be felt over hundreds of kilometres. Even though it was first proposed 60 years ago, scientists had to wait for technology to advance before they could measure it. In 2016, Collinson and his colleagues began inventing a new instrument that could measure the elusive field.

At about 250 km (150 mi) above the Earth’s surface, atoms break apart into negatively charged electrons and positively charged ions. Electrons are far lighter than ions, and the tiniest energetic jolt can send them into space. Ions are more than 1800 times heavier, and gravity draws them back to the surface.

If gravity were the only force at work, the two populations would separate over time and simply drift apart. But that’s not what happens.

Electrons and ions have opposite electrical charges. They’re attracted to one another and an electric field forms that keeps them together. This counteracts some of gravity’s power.

The field is called ambipolar because it’s bidirectional. That means it works in both directions. As ions sink down due to gravity, the electrical charges mean that the ions drag some of the electrons down with them. However, at the same time, electrons lift ions high into the atmosphere with them as they attempt to leave the atmosphere and escape into space.

via GIPHY

The result of all this is that the ambipolar field extends the atmosphere’s height, meaning some of the ions escape with the polar wind.

After decades of hypothesizing and theorizing, the Endurance rocket measured a change in electric potential of only 0.55 volts. That’s extremely weak but enough to be measurable.

“A half a volt is almost nothing — it’s only about as strong as a watch battery,” Collinson said. “But that’s just the right amount to explain the polar wind.”

Hydrogen ions are the most plentiful particles in the polar wind. Endurance’s results show that these ions experience an outward force from the magnetic field that’s 10.6 times more powerful than gravity. “That’s more than enough to counter gravity — in fact, it’s enough to launch them upwards into space at supersonic speeds,” said Alex Glocer, Endurance project scientist at NASA Goddard and co-author of the paper.

Hydrogen ions are light, but even the heavier particles in the polar wind are lifted. Oxygen ions in the weak electrical field effectively weigh half as much, yet they’re boosted to greater heights, too. Overall, the ambipolar field makes the ionosphere denser at higher altitudes than it would be without the field’s lofting effect. “It’s like this conveyor belt, lifting the atmosphere up into space,” Collinson added.

“The measurements support the hypothesis that the ambipolar electric field is the primary driver of ionospheric H+ outflow and of the supersonic polar wind of light ions escaping from the polar caps,” the authors explain in their paper.

“We infer that this increases the supply of cold O+ ions to the magnetosphere by more than 3,800%,” the authors write. At that point, other mechanisms come into play. Wave-particle interactions can heat the ions, accelerating them to escape velocity.

These results raise other questions. How does this field affect Earth? Has the field affected the planet’s habitability? Do other planets have these fields?

Back in 2016, the European Space Agency’s Venus Express mission detected a 10-volt electric potential surrounding the planet. This means that positively charged particles would be pulled away from the planet’s surface. This could draw away oxygen.

Scientists think that Venus may have once had plentiful water. However, since sunlight splits water into hydrogen and oxygen, the electric field could’ve siphoned the oxygen away, eliminating the planet’s water. This is theoretical, but it begs the question of why the same thing hasn’t happened on Earth.

The ambipolar field is fundamental to Earth. Its role in the evolution of the planet’s atmosphere and biosphere is yet to be understood, but it must play a role.

“Any planet with an atmosphere should have an ambipolar field,” Collinson said. “Now that we’ve finally measured it, we can begin learning how it’s shaped our planet as well as others over time.”

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

31-08-2024 om 23:23 geschreven door peter  

Story by mmcfalljohnsen@businessinsider.com (Morgan McFall-Johnsen)

 

A giant hole in the earth is breaking open the land in Siberia, and photos from space show it's growing rapidly.

It resembles a stingray, a horseshoe crab, or a giant tadpole. It started as a sliver, barely visible in declassified satellite imagery from the 1960s.

Now it's a chasm with steep cliffs, clearly visible from space.

The hole tripled in size between 1991 and 2018, according to the US Geological Survey.

Satellite images from 1999 and 2017 show how much the Batagay megaslump has grown (and how much satellite imaging has improved). NASA Earth Observatory/Jesse Allen/Landsat data from the US Geological Survey

© NASA Earth Observatory/Jesse Allen/Landsat data from the US Geological Survey

The Batagay crater, sometimes referred to as Batagaika or the "gateway to hell," represents a much larger, often invisible problem that affects the entire planet.

What is this hole in Siberia?

The Arctic is heating up faster than the rest of Earth, and that's quickly thawing the permafrost, which is a thick layer of soil that's permanently frozen — at least, it used to be.

The Batagay crater isn't actually a crater at all. It's the world's largest "retrogressive thaw slump," a pit that forms when permafrost thaw causes the ground to cave in, creating a landslide as the earth at its edges slumps into the pit.

There are thousands of thaw slumps across the Arctic. But the size of the Batagay "crater" has earned it the title of megaslump. It's named for the nearby town of Batagay.

"Permafrost is not the most, let's say, photogenic of subjects," Roger Michaelides, a geophysicist at Washington University in St. Louis, told Business Insider. "You're talking mostly about frozen dirt underground, which by definition you often can't see unless it's been exposed somehow, like in this megaslump."

That makes the Batagay pit a bit of a permafrost celebrity and an omen of what lies ahead.

The Batagay megaslump could help decode our planet's future

The Batagay crater in 2020, imaged in near-infrared. contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2020), processed by ESA© contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2020), processed by ESA

As permafrost thaws, all the dead plants and animals that have been frozen inside it for centuries start to decompose, belching carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.

Those are powerful heat-trapping gases, which cause global temperatures to rise even more, triggering even faster permafrost thaw.

This vicious cycle could have dire effects. Permafrost covers 15% of the land in the Northern Hemisphere and contains twice as much carbon as the atmosphere.

One study estimated that permafrost thaw could emit as much planet-warming gases as a large industrial nation by 2100 if industries and countries don't aggressively rein in their own emissions today.

"There's a lot we don't know about this feedback loop and how it will play out necessarily, but the potential is there for very large changes to the climate system occurring over very, very fast geologic timescales," Michaelides said.

In short, permafrost thaw could quickly make the climate crisis much worse. But it's still a mysterious process. Studying extreme sites like the Batagay megaslump can help scientists understand permafrost thaw and see into the future.

In a study published in the journal Geomorphology in June, researchers used satellite and drone data to construct 3D models of the megaslump and calculate its expansion over time.

They found that about 14 Pyramids of Giza's worth of ice and permafrost had thawed at Batagay. The crater's volume increases by about 1 million cubic meters every year.

"These values are truly impressive," Alexander Kizyakov, the study's lead author and a scientist at Lomonosov Moscow State University, told BI in an email.

"Our results demonstrate how quickly permafrost degradation occurs," he added.

The researchers also calculated that the megaslump releases about 4,000 to 5,000 tons of carbon each year. That's about as much as the annual emissions from 1,700 to 2,100 US homes' energy use.

Michaelides said those numbers didn't surprise him, but they can help inform models of future permafrost thaw and emissions.

"I think there is a lot we can learn from Batagaika, not only in terms of understanding how Batagaika will evolve with time, but also how similar features might develop and evolve over the Arctic," Michaelides said. "Even if they're a tenth or a hundredth the size of Batagaika, the physics is fundamentally the same."

• If you enjoyed this story, be sure to follow Business Insider on Microsoft Start.

{ https://www.msn.com/en-us/ }

31-08-2024 om 23:00 geschreven door peter  

Nu is het mogelijk om wetenschappers te helpen zwarte gaten te vinden: je hebt alleen een telefoon-app nodig

door Janine

University of Warwick/Mark Garlick/Wikimedia Commons - CC BY 4.0

Zwarte gaten vormen een van de meest fascinerende en complexe mysteries van het heelal. We weten dat ze bestaan, maar we kunnen ze niet zien, behalve door de invloed die ze uitoefenen op de omringende ruimte, wat hun zoektocht complexer maakt. Daarom heeft het nieuwe project Black Hole Finder besloten om alle liefhebbers van de astronomie te betrekken bij de ontdekking van nieuwe zwarte gaten in het heelal. Hoe? Door middel van een smartphone-app: laten we eens kijken hoe het werkt!

Op zoek naar zwarte gaten

Met de Black Hole Finder, ontwikkeld door het Dutch Black Hole Consortium, kunnen liefhebbers een app gebruiken om astronomen te helpen zwarte gaten in het heelal te vinden. Het doel is in werkelijkheid veel complexer, namelijk het identificeren van kilonova’s, krachtige stellaire explosies van elektromagnetische straling die ontstaan wanneer twee ongelooflijk dichte objecten met elkaar in botsing komen. We hebben het dan over botsingen tussen twee neutronensterren of bijvoorbeeld tussen een neutronenster en een zwart gat. Maar waarom zouden we kilonova’s bestuderen?

Onderzoekers gebruiken het BlackGEM-netwerk van telescopen om de nachtelijke hemel af te speuren naar deze enorme explosies. Naast het identificeren van het moment van botsing tussen een neutronenster en een zwart gat, kunnen kilonova’s leiden tot de vorming van een nieuw zwart gat met stellaire massa. Het idee is simpel: door kilonova's te detecteren, kunnen nieuwe zwarte gaten worden geïdentificeerd. Mits je onderscheid kunt maken tussen echte en fake beelden, natuurlijk.

Waar of niet waar

ESA/Hubble - CC BY 4.0

Enthousiastelingen die de Black Hole Finder-app gebruiken, kunnen helpen kilonova’s en dus potentiële nieuwe zwarte gaten te lokaliseren. De bijdrage van gebruikers is van fundamenteel belang, omdat sommige door telescopen gemaakte beelden echte explosies laten zien, terwijl andere vervormd kunnen zijn als gevolg van licht dat wordt gereflecteerd door satellieten en andere interferentie. Hoe onderscheid je echte beelden van fake? Op dit moment kunnen algoritmen voor kunstmatige intelligentie niet concurreren met menselijk ingrijpen, dus wordt het noodzakelijk om liefhebbers van de astronomie om hulp te vragen. Steven Bloemen, projectmanager bij BlackGEM, bevestigt:

Mensen zijn nog steeds veel beter in het identificeren van patronen dan onze algoritmes. Met behulp van de app kunnen burgers over de hele wereld helpen onze AI-algoritmes te trainen om onderscheid te maken tussen echte en fake bronnen  en sneller de meest interessante kandidaat-fondsen te identificeren.

Het gebruik van de applicatie is zeer intuïtief: de gebruiker bekijkt drie afbeeldingen van hetzelfde deel van de hemel en moet vaststellen of dit een echte bron is of niet. Een spel van waar of niet waar, zo je wilt. Uiteraard biedt de app alle informatie om kilonova’s te herkennen, die meestal verschijnen als ronde en witte vormen, met een diameter van ongeveer 5-10 pixels.

Waar dient de Black Hole Finder voor

Zoals we in de inleiding al zeiden, is het niet eenvoudig om zwarte gaten te detecteren. Ten eerste zijn ze niet allemaal zoals Sagittarius A*, het superzware zwarte gat in het centrum van de Melkweg. Er zijn ook enkele middelzware zwarte gaten bekend, maar de meeste zwarte gaten hebben een stellaire massa en zijn dus vrij klein. Toch weten we dat ze kunnen ontstaan als gevolg van kilonova’s, explosies die veel helderder zijn dan klassieke nova’s maar veel minder helder dan supernova’s. Hoe kunnen we ze detecteren?

Er komen liefhebbers van de astronomie aan te pas, die experts kunnen helpen bij het analyseren van het hemelgewelf op zoek naar nieuwe zwarte gaten. Elke goed geïdentificeerde kilonova stelt astronomen in staat om hun onderzoek te beperken tot veel kleinere delen van de ruimte. En we weten: het vinden van een zwart gat is niet eenvoudig, maar met de hulp van iedereen is het vandaag de dag iets gemakkelijker.

Source:

• https://www.dbhc.nl/
• https://app.blackholefinder.org/tutorial
• https://play.google.com/store/apps/details

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

31-08-2024 om 22:39 geschreven door peter  

The intersection of religious belief and extraterrestrial life has long intrigued both theologians and enthusiasts of the unexplained. This curiosity often leads to the question: could the Bible contain references to what we now describe as UFOs or extraterrestrial beings? A recent discussion, featuring U.S. Congressman Tim Burchett and theologian Dr. Paul Thigpen, delved into this very topic, exploring the possibility that some biblical accounts could be interpreted as encounters with non-human intelligence, perhaps even extraterrestrial.

Biblical References to Anomalous Phenomena

Several passages in the Bible describe events that, to a modern reader, might seem reminiscent of UFO sightings. For example, the book of Ezekiel recounts a vision in which the prophet sees a “whirlwind coming out of the north, a great cloud with a raging fire engulfing itself” (Ezekiel 1:4). Within this cloud were creatures with an extraordinary appearance, leading some to speculate whether this could be an ancient description of a UFO encounter.

VIDEO:

• Rep. Burchett: Believing UFOs are in the Bible is not anti-Christian | Reality Check

• https://youtu.be/c5iPtsQy2cg

Similarly, the account of Elijah being taken up into heaven in a “whirlwind” with “chariots of fire” (2 Kings 2:11) has also been cited as a possible reference to extraterrestrial technology. The imagery used in these passages—wheels within wheels, flying chariots, and bright lights—bears a striking resemblance to descriptions of unidentified flying objects in modern times.

Theological Interpretations

Congressman Burchett, a devout Christian, expressed that he has no difficulty reconciling his faith with the possibility of extraterrestrial life. He argues that the vastness of God’s creation could easily encompass other life forms beyond Earth, and that such beings might have been referenced in the Bible using the language and understanding of the time. For Burchett, the idea that Ezekiel’s vision could describe a UFO does not weaken his faith; rather, it broadens his perspective on the universe’s complexity.

Dr. Paul Thigpen, on the other hand, approaches the subject with caution. He acknowledges that the Bible does describe non-human intelligences, such as angels and demons, but he is hesitant to equate these beings with extraterrestrials as understood in contemporary UFO lore. Thigpen emphasizes that biblical references to angels and other supernatural entities should be interpreted within the context of their religious significance, not necessarily as evidence of alien encounters.

The Debate Over Angels and Aliens

The conversation between Burchett and Thigpen highlights a broader debate within both religious and UFO communities: are angels and other biblical beings simply manifestations of divine power, or could they be visitors from other worlds? The traditional Christian view holds that angels are purely spiritual beings created by God, distinct from any physical extraterrestrial life forms. These beings do not have bodies and do not exist within our space-time in the way that humans or hypothetical aliens might.

However, the overlap between descriptions of angels and modern UFO encounters has led some to speculate that biblical accounts could be ancient interpretations of alien visitations. This theory posits that the “angels” seen by biblical figures might have been beings from another planet, whose advanced technology and abilities were interpreted as divine or supernatural.

UFOs and the Vatican

The discussion also touched on the Catholic Church’s stance on extraterrestrial life. Historically, the Vatican has shown a keen interest in astronomy, and some Popes have even entertained the possibility of life beyond Earth. Pope John Paul II, when asked about aliens, responded that “they are God’s children too,” suggesting an openness to the idea that other intelligent beings could exist within God’s creation.

Additionally, there have been claims, such as those mentioned by David Grusch, a former U.S. intelligence officer, that the Vatican might have been involved in secret activities related to UFOs, including the transfer of alleged extraterrestrial technology during World War II. While these claims remain unproven, they add another layer of intrigue to the conversation about religion and extraterrestrial life.

Conclusion: A Broader Perspective on Faith and the Universe

The idea that the Bible might contain references to UFOs or extraterrestrials is a fascinating one that challenges traditional interpretations of religious texts. For some, like Congressman Burchett, this possibility enhances the awe of God’s creation, suggesting that humanity is not alone in the universe. For others, like Dr. Thigpen, it is important to maintain a distinction between spiritual beings as described in the Bible and the physical entities that might exist elsewhere in the cosmos.

Ultimately, the discussion about angels, aliens, and UFOs in the Bible invites believers and skeptics alike to explore the mysteries of faith and the universe with an open mind. Whether these biblical passages are read as metaphorical, spiritual, or literal accounts, they continue to inspire curiosity and wonder about our place in the vastness of creation.

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

31-08-2024 om 21:37 geschreven door peter  

The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) has fascinated us for decades. Now a team of researchers have used the Murchison Widefield Array in Australia to scan great swathes of sky for alien signals. Unusually for a SETI project, this one focussed attention on 2,800 galaxies instead of stars within our own. They have been on the lookout for advanced civilisations that are broadcasting their existence using the power of an entire star. Alas they weren’t successful but its an exciting new way to search for alien intelligence. 

Our first attempts to search for alien intelligence began back in 1960 with Project Ozma. It was led by astronomer Frank Drake and used the 85 foot radio telescope at Green Bank in West Virginia. The aim was to try and detect alien radio signals from Epsilon Eridani and Tau Ceti, should they have existed. Alas they found nothing but it marked the first step in a scientific approach to search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Typically SETI tends to focus on electromagnetic signals such as radio waves an in particular unusual patterns that could suggest intentional communication. 

This recent attempt to try out a new approach was led by Dr Chenoa Tremblay of the SETI Institute and Prof. Steven Tingay from the Curtin University. The approach was to utilise the magnificent field of view of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) which allows one observation to cover 2,800 galaxies. Among them, there are 1,300 galaxies that we know the distance too. The MWA in Western Australia utilises low frequencies (100MHz) to probe the distant galaxies. 

By searching these galaxies for signs of alien signals we are actually looking for advanced civilisations. It’s one thing to be able to send radio signals across interstellar space, indeed we have been doing that for decades since the advent of radio communication. As radio signals propagate across space, they weaken and certainly could not traverse the immense distances between the galaxies. It’s just possible that advanced civilisations might have the technology to harness the power of their Sun and perhaps other stars in their galaxy to send signals powerful enough to travel the millions of light years between galaxies. 

I quite love the idea of advanced civilisations that may have developed the technology to transmit ‘technosignatures’ or signs of alien technology across the Universe but alas the study did not find any. Queue sad emoji 🙁  It did however provide valuable insight into just how we may be able to widen our search for alien intelligence beyond the Milky Way. 

The MWA uses thousands of dipole antennae that are spread across several kilometres giving it a wide 30 degree field of view. It has been designed to operate between 70 and 300 MHz allowing it to participate in studies of the early universe, mapping the cosmos, and detecting solar activity. It helped advance radio and interferometry technology facilitating the development of the Square Kilometre Array. 

Using MWA and other radio installations to study the properties of stars and galaxies also allows for the search for technosignatures. It’s a new approach and it highlights the importance of continuing the development of new technology to open up new ways to search for ET.

Source : 

• First low frequency search for alien technology in distant galaxies

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

31-08-2024 om 21:04 geschreven door peter  

“By studying how Salsa burns up, which parts might survive, for how long and in what state, we will learn much about how to build ‘zero debris’ satellites,” says Tim Flohrer, (ESA-Space Debri Office) in a recent press release.

A Pioneering Mission

ESA designed the Cluster mission to explore space weather interactions with the Earth’s magnetic environment as the four spacecraft fly in a tetrahedral configuration through the planet’s magnetosphere. The four spacecraft fly out to a distant apogee of about 117,000 kilometers (over three times farther out versus geosynchronous orbit), and orbit the Earth once every 54 hours.

Launched in the summer of 2000, the Cluster satellites had a 5-year nominal mission, which lasted well over two decades. The missions have since proven to be pioneers in space weather research. The mission also escaped glitches and software failures over the years, including a bug requiring a “dirty hack” in 2010. Cluster II was also a replacement for the original set of Cluster satellites, which were lost on the inaugural launch of the Ariane-5 rocket on June 4^th, 1996 from the Kourou Space Center. The mission ended in an explosion 37 seconds after liftoff.

Controlling Reentries

This sort of ‘targeted reentry’ for a long duration mission is one of the first of its kind for ESA. The zero-debris conclusion to the mission exceeds international standards. Furthermore, it also addresses issues surrounding the mitigation of debris in low Earth orbit. On Earth, ESA’s worldwide Estrack network will follow Salsa during its final orbits, and an airborne campaign is underway to spot the final reentry. ESA made a similar effort to image the Aeolus satellite in 2023, shortly before reentry.

Engineers will apply a similar technique to the SMILE (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) and Proba-3 missions. These are also set to enter a similar far-ranging orbit around the Earth. SMILE is the follow-on mission to Cluster, and is launching in late 2025. ESA will launch the Proba-3 solar observatory next month. The mission will feature a free-flying, solar eclipsing disk.

You can spot the cluster satellites including Salsa on their final days. Salsa is COSPAR ID 2000-041A/26411in the NORAD satellite catalog, and listed in Heavens-Above. The satellites reach naked eye visibility on a good perigee pass.

After the demise of Salsa, Rumba will also reenter in November of next year, followed by Tango and Samba in August 2026.

While this is the ‘Last Dance’ for Salsa, the efforts to study space weather and come to terms with space debris continue.

• Follow @ESAOperations and @ESA_Cluster on Twitter for the latest updates on Salsa leading up to reentry.

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

31-08-2024 om 18:25 geschreven door peter  

Artikel door Dominique Dewitte

 

Iets meer dan een jaar geleden bracht het in San Francisco gevestigde OpenAI zijn chatbot ChatGPT op de markt, wat een goudkoorts veroorzaakte voor kunstmatige intelligentie en het eeuwenoude debat over de effecten van automatisering op het welzijn van mensen weer op gang bracht.

De angst voor verdringing door machines gaat terug tot de Industriële Revolutie in de 19e eeuw, toen groepen Engelse handwevers, bekend als Luddites, begonnen met het vernietigen van de elektrische weefgetouwen die hun levensonderhoud bedreigden. De beweging, die een hoogtepunt bereikte tussen 1811 en 1817, werd uiteindelijk onderdrukt door de regeringstroepen en de leiders werden geëxecuteerd of verbannen naar Australië.

Luddieten zaten ernaast

Maar de argumenten van de Luddieten vonden een onverwachte (en enigszins ironische) voorvechter in de beroemde econoom David Ricardo, die in zijn boek On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation uit 1817 betoogde dat “de mening van de arbeidersklasse dat het gebruik van machines vaak schadelijk is voor hun belangen, niet gebaseerd is op vooroordelen en fouten, maar in overeenstemming is met de juiste principes van de politieke economie”. De Britse econoom Nassau Senior adviseerde de wevers om “uit die productietak te stappen”.

Uiteindelijk deden ze precies dat: 250.000 banen op handweefgetouwen verdwenen tussen 1820 en 1860. Maar terwijl de mechanisatie uiteindelijk de menselijke arbeiders ten goede kwam – de bevolking en het reële inkomen per hoofd van de bevolking in het Verenigd Koninkrijk verveelvoudigden in dezelfde periode – had het een nadelige invloed op de paarden, wier aantallen sterk daalden toen treinen (en later gemotoriseerde voertuigen) het door paarden getrokken vervoer vervingen.

Meer waardevolle bezigheden

Sinds de Industriële Revolutie is het overheersende pro-machine argument dat door het verhogen van de arbeidsproductiviteit, automatisering het reële inkomen verhoogt, waardoor meer mensen van een hogere levensstandaard kunnen genieten zonder dat er banen verloren gaan. Bovendien heeft de bevrijding van vervelende ondergeschikte taken ons in staat gesteld onze energie te richten op meer waardevolle bezigheden.

De hedendaagse tegenhangers van de Luddieten benadrukken daarentegen de nadelen van automatisering, vooral het potentieel om bestaansmiddelen en gemeenschappen te vernietigen. Een rechtvaardige verdeling van inkomen en macht is volgens hen cruciaal om op lange termijn de vruchten te kunnen plukken van technologische vooruitgang. Technopessimisten zoals Martin Ford en Daniel Susskind hebben beweerd dat opkomende technologieën zoals AI te weinig nieuwe banen zullen creëren, wat zal leiden tot meer armoede en “technologische werkloosheid”.

Menselijk werk uitbreiden in plaats van vervangen

De opkomst van generatieve AI en de verwachte komst van kunstmatige algemene intelligentie – een AI die in staat is om elke cognitieve taak uit te voeren die mensen kunnen uitvoeren – hebben het debat tussen techno-optimisten en techno-sceptici op scherp gezet. In de gezondheidszorg bijvoorbeeld, een schijnbaar eindeloze bron van tech-hypes, belooft AI betere diagnoses, geavanceerde telegeneeskunde, effectievere medicijnen en minder administratieve rompslomp voor artsen en verpleegkundigen, waardoor er meer tijd overblijft voor patiëntenzorg.

Dit lijkt de heersende opvatting onder mainstream experts te weerspiegelen dat generatieve AI menselijk werk zal uitbreiden in plaats van vervangen. Door routinetaken te automatiseren, belooft het mensen vrij te maken voor creatiever werk. Om zeker te zijn, zal deze transformatie levenslang leren vereisen, waardoor voortdurende educatie een voorwaarde wordt, niet alleen om deel te nemen aan de arbeidsmarkt, maar ook om toegang te krijgen tot een groeiend aanbod van online diensten.

Een superintelligentie die op hol slaat

Met de komst van generatieve AI is de bezorgdheid verschoven van door automatisering veroorzaakt banenverlies naar het vooruitzicht van een superintelligentie die op hol slaat – een angst die teruggaat tot Mary Shelley’s roman Frankenstein uit 1818; of, De moderne Prometheus. In navolging van deze gevoelens merkte voormalig Google CEO Eric Schmidt onlangs op dat, hoewel de huidige AI-modellen “onder menselijke controle” blijven, er een reëel risico bestaat dat een AI het vermogen ontwikkelt tot “recursieve zelfverbetering”, autonomie verwerft en “zijn eigen doelen begint te stellen”. Uiteindelijk, waarschuwde hij, zou een “computercluster” zich kunnen ontwikkelen tot een “echt bovenmenselijke expert” die in staat is om zelfstandig te handelen.

Nu experts en wetenschappers zich steeds meer zorgen maken over het vermogen van AI om de wereld te vernietigen, gaan er steeds meer stemmen op om de ontwikkeling van AI af te stemmen op menselijke doelen en waarden. Er zijn twee manieren om dit te bereiken. De eerste is om de beschikbaarheid en verkoop van potentieel schadelijke AI-gebaseerde producten te beperken, zoals beleidsmakers in Europa en elders hebben geprobeerd door strenge regels op te leggen aan opkomende technologieën zoals autonome auto’s en gezichtsherkenning.

Regulering komt vaak te laat

Een duidelijk probleem met deze aanpak is dat het moeilijk is om een consensus te bereiken over wat schade is in een wereld waarin moreel relativisme de norm is. Omdat het steeds onduidelijker wordt wie de “eigenaar” is van inhoud die als schadelijk wordt beschouwd, is het vrijwel onmogelijk om verkopers of providers aansprakelijk te stellen. Bovendien komen pogingen om het gebruik van technologie te reguleren vaak te laat.

De tweede manier om AI te beteugelen is om de ontwikkeling van potentieel gevaarlijke producten volledig te beperken. Maar het inperken van de vraag is ingewikkelder dan het beperken van het aanbod, vooral in moderne samenlevingen waar concurrerende krachten – zowel commercieel als geopolitiek – het vertragen van technologische innovatie buitengewoon moeilijk maken.

Onrust bij OpenAI

De recente onrust bij OpenAI is hier een goed voorbeeld van. In november ontsloeg de raad van bestuur van het bedrijf CEO Sam Altman kortstondig, naar verluidt uit bezorgdheid dat AI op een dag zou kunnen leiden tot het uitsterven van de mensheid. Hoewel Altman slechts enkele dagen later weer werd aangesteld, onderstreepte het schandaal de snelheid waarmee ogenschijnlijk nuttige technologieën existentiële risico’s kunnen worden. Nu snelle commercialisering het blijkbaar wint van voorzichtigheid en concurrentie de ontwikkeling van steeds krachtigere hulpmiddelen versnelt, lijkt een door AI veroorzaakte apocalyps steeds aannemelijker.

Neo-Luddisme

De onontkoombare conclusie is dat het reguleren van AI alleen niet genoeg is. Maar door concepten als neo-Luddisme en herverdeling in het publieke debat te introduceren, kunnen we de politieke en intellectuele woordenschat ontwikkelen die nodig is om de bedreigingen van deze opkomende technologieën te beperken.

Een neo-Luddiet zou zich bijvoorbeeld kunnen afvragen: Waarom zijn welvarende samenlevingen, die al meer dan genoeg produceren voor hun burgers om comfortabel te leven, nog steeds gefocust op het maximaliseren van de groei van het bbp? Eén antwoord zou kunnen zijn dat er geen eerlijke verdeling van rijkdom en inkomen is die ervoor zorgt dat de voordelen van productiviteits- en efficiëntiewinsten breed worden gedeeld.

Een andere verklaring is dat technologie zelf niet intrinsiek goed of slecht is; het is een middel om een doel te bereiken. En in de huidige politieke economie is “technologische innovatie” vaak een eufemisme om de rijken en machtigen in staat te stellen kapitaal om te leiden van de industrie naar de financiële sector, waardoor ze de voordelen van automatisering monopoliseren en alle anderen immiseriseren.

• Robert Skidelsky, lid van het Britse Hogerhuis, is emeritus hoogleraar politieke economie aan Warwick University. Hij is de auteur van een bekroonde biografie van John Maynard Keynes en The Machine Age: Een idee, een geschiedenis, een waarschuwing (Allen Lane, 2023).
• © Project Syndicate, 2023.
• www.project-syndicate.org

{ https://www.msn.com/nl-be/ }

31-08-2024 om 17:54 geschreven door peter  

AI Repairs Three UFO Photos From 1990s Italy, Orbit, Mexico, UAP Sighting News. VIDEO!

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

30-08-2024 om 23:26 geschreven door peter  

China transformeerde maangrond in water: de eerste stap naar echte kolonisatie?

door Janine

Dat China plannen heeft om de maan en haar grondstoffen te gebruiken is zeker geen mysterie. Tegelijkertijd heeft het Aziatische land de afgelopen jaren verschillende sondes naar onze satelliet gestuurd, waaronder naar de verborgen kant. Meer recent is echter het nieuws dat een team van Chinese wetenschappers enkele monsters die door de Chang'e 5-missie naar de aarde zijn teruggebracht, heeft gebruikt om water te produceren. Zou dit de eerste stap kunnen zijn naar een toekomstige menselijke aanwezigheid op de maan? Laten we het samen uitzoeken!

Chang'e 5 en de maanmonsters teruggebracht naar de aarde

Zoals de naam al doet vermoeden, is de Chang'e 5-missie zeker niet de eerste die op de maan is gearriveerd. Het bijzondere aan deze missie is dat er voor het eerst in 44 jaar monsters van de maanbodem naar de aarde zijn teruggebracht. Ondanks de daaropvolgende Chang'e 6-missie, waarbij in plaats daarvan de verborgen kant van onze satelliet werd betrokken, zijn de resultaten van Chang'e 5 simpelweg buitengewoon. Zoals te lezen is in een recente studie gepubliceerd in het tijdschrift The Innovation, hebben Chinese wetenschappers ontdekt dat de mineralen waaruit de bodem van de maan bestaat rijk zijn aan waterstof en kunnen worden gebruikt om ter plekke water te produceren. Maar hoe?

De methode waarmee je water uit eenvoudige grond kunt halen, vereist het verwarmen van de mineralen waaruit het bestaat tot extreem hoge temperaturen, om een ​​chemische reactie van de elementen met waterstof te veroorzaken en daardoor tot de vorming van waterdamp te leiden.

Hoe je water van de Maan krijgt

Chen et al./The Innovation - 2024

Dankzij de innovatieve methode van Chinese wetenschappers kan uit elke ton maangrond ongeveer 50 liter water worden gewonnen. Het lijkt misschien niet veel, en het is ongetwijfeld een proces dat om verschillende redenen op aarde geen zin zou hebben. Op de maan verandert dit echter: 50 liter water kan voorzien in de dagelijkse behoeften van de leden van een hypothetische menselijke missie op een hypothetische maanbasis. De maanbasis vormt een concreet doel van de Chinese ruimteverkenning: het ter plekke kunnen produceren van water zou een enorm voordeel betekenen.

In feite wil China vòòr 2035 een permanent onderzoeksstation op de maan bouwen, terwijl China vòòr 2045 een ruimtestation in een baan rond de satelliet wil bouwen. Als Chang'e 5 na 44 jaar de eerste missie was die maanmonsters terugbracht, is de Chang'e 6-missie de eerste die monsters van de andere kant van de maan terugbracht. Kortom: China lijkt het serieus te nemen.

Naar een toekomstige maanbasis... en verder

Dat het mogelijk is om water rechtstreeks uit de maanbodem te halen is buitengewoon nieuws dat echter ook een aantal overwegingen met zich meebrengt. Allereerst moeten we begrijpen hoeveel energie er nodig is om de bodem te verwarmen en welke andere elementen betrokken zijn bij het proces van waterdampvorming. Ten tweede mogen we de geopolitieke implicaties niet vergeten van de belangstelling die China toont voor onze satelliet: de concurrentie om maanbronnen zal in de toekomst steeds levendiger worden. En mogelijk ook heviger.

Kortom, de resultaten van de Chinese Academie van Wetenschappen laten zien hoe het mogelijk is om steeds dichter bij het idee van een permanente aanwezigheid van de mens op de maan te komen. Aan de andere kant zijn er tientallen jaren verstreken sinds de laatste keer dat een astronaut een wandeling maakte op onze satelliet. De volgende zou wel eens een ruimtestation op de maan kunnen bewonen, op haar grond kunnen lopen... en haar water kunnen drinken.

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

30-08-2024 om 22:29 geschreven door peter  

Het “echte” Atlantis bestaat en bevindt zich in Griekenland: een stad die al 2400 jaar onder water staat

door Janine

Pexels

Bijna alle culturen zijn gefascineerd door verhalen over grote overstromingen of compleet verzonken beschavingen. Een van de bekendste mythen is ongetwijfeld die over Atlantis, de legendarische stad die volgens Plato in de golven verdween en waarvan het bestaan nog steeds wordt onderzocht. Misschien is Atlantis alleen maar een fantasie, maar het is mogelijk dat juist een oude stad verhalen over verzonken beschavingen heeft geïnspireerd. Het verschil is dat het een plaats is die echt heeft bestaan en waarvan de overblijfselen ook zijn gevonden.

Het verhaal van Helike, een stad verzonken in de golven

We bevinden ons in de Peloponnesos aan het begin van de vierde eeuw voor Christus: Helike is een bloeiende stad en zetel van de Achaeïsche Liga, een alliantie van verschillende Griekse poleis. In 373 v.Chr. werd echter binnen een paar uur een hele stad onder water gezet door de golven als gevolg van een sterke aardbeving, en verdween met haar tempels, huizen en inwoners. Het lijkt een verhaal dat we al eerder hebben gehoord, en dat miljoenen mensen vanaf dat moment zullen horen, zij het onder een andere naam.

De verdwijning van Helike moet in de eerste plaats gevolgen hebben gehad voor de burgers van de Griekse poleis, waaronder verschillende schrijvers die de gebeurtenissen beschreven of zich herinnerden. Later wekten de literaire getuigenissen echter een ander soort nieuwsgierigheid: eeuwen na het verhaal van Helike vroegen veel geleerden zich af waar deze stad verdwenen zou kunnen zijn en vooral of het mogelijk is om haar terug te vinden.

Archeologische opgravingen: de herontdekking van Helike

Drekis/Wikimedia Commons - CC BY-SA 3.0

Om te begrijpen waar de overblijfselen van de stad Helike konden rusten, analyseerden onderzoekers de geologische veranderingen die de noordelijke Peloponnesos troffen. En na eeuwen van vergetelheid leverden de onderzoeken eindelijk enkele resultaten op: aan het begin van de 21e eeuw werden overblijfselen gevonden die verenigbaar waren met de klassieke stad, niet ver van de positie die in de bronnen wordt vermeld. Daarnaast hebben archeologen in het gebied ook een nederzetting gevonden die dateert uit de late bronstijd.

De Helike Foundation en het Helike Project houden zich al jaren bezig met de ontdekkingen, met doelstellingen variërend van onderzoek naar de oude Griekse stad en de verschijnselen die de verdwijning ervan veroorzaakten, tot de verspreiding en bescherming van de opgravingslocaties. Om deze reden is Helike opgenomen in de lijst van sites die het meeste risico lopen van het World Monuments Fund.

Is Helike Atlantis?

Ja en nee. Naast de voor de hand liggende overeenkomsten die ook door het verhaal van hun verdwijning worden gegeven, zouden Helike en Atlantis meer met elkaar verbonden kunnen zijn dan we denken, althans op narratief niveau. Naast de wetenschappelijke pogingen om het oude Helike te identificeren, mogen we de datum van de gebeurtenis niet vergeten: deze vond plaats in dezelfde periode waarin Plato zijn dialogen schreef, inclusief die waarin hij spreekt over de mythe van Atlantis.

Natuurlijk kunnen mythen uit het verleden, zoals de Minoïsche uitbarsting die leidde tot de ondergang van het eiland Santorini, hebben bijgedragen aan het verhaal van de filosoof. Maar Plato kan ook geïnspireerd zijn geraakt door het fenomeen dat de verdwijning van Helike veroorzaakte. Per slot van rekening is dat van Atlantis ook om deze reden een mythe: het lijkt op veel echte gebeurtenissen, maar kan niet tot één daarvan worden herleid.

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

30-08-2024 om 22:04 geschreven door peter  

UFO myth-buster reveals the crazy encounter even he cannot explain

• READ MORE: UFO expert's verdict on 2ft 'alien' mummies found in Peru 

By Alyssa Guzman For Dailymail.Com

A top UFO debunker has revealed the bizarre case that still puzzles him to this day. 

Scores of people, including military experts, have recorded eerie videos appearing to show UAPs - unidentified aerial phenomena - over the years and often seek answers by posting them online.

Mick West, of Sacramento, California, uses a range of tools to help explain these mysteries - but has been stumped by one Navy video of a UFO that was leaked by The New York Times. 

The footage released in 2017 had been taken by a Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet pilot two years earlier and appears to show a UFO following the jet from the USS Theodore Roosevelt after the object had been detected by radar off the East Coast. 

In the infrared cockpit video, the incredible high-speed object seemingly breaks the laws of physics - with the two pilots heard debating whether or not it was a drone. 

Mick West, of Sacramento, California, uses several tools to debunk random flying objects, including FlightAware, Flight Radar 24, and Invisor. But his biggest help is Sitrec that integrates flight data, video, and satellite imagery 

One case that piqued West's interest is footage taken by Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet pilot Ryan Graves.  West wants to review the original video files himself to better understand their data

Combing over the footage, West, who often relies on data surrounding the video to debunk recorded events, investigated the clip and tried to work out the rotation of the camera and the glare on the lens. Still, he was left with no answers. 

West is now hoping to gain access to the original radar data instead of the analysis the government released so he can recreate the phenomenon - and rule out any reasonable explanations.

As part of his approach, West uses multiple tools including FlightAware, Flight Radar 24 and Invisor, an app that gives information on video, audio, and photos such as resolutions and the date they were taken. 

But his biggest resource is Sitrec - a tool he designed himself that stands for 'situation recreation' - which integrates flight data, video and satellite imagery to paint a full picture, he told Popular Mechanics. 

'You have to be very careful about what you're looking at...for me, that's the very first step in investigating a case,' West, who has investigated around 1,000 UFO cases, told the outlet. 

Last month, the former video game programmer spotted a white, elongated object from a plane window while he was flying to Pasadena and took a quick video of it. 

'It’s not an intuitive thing, and if you don’t delve too deeply into it, [you’ll be wrong],' said West, who programmed Tony Hawk's Pro Series games

'It can be very difficult to figure out…but you have no choice,' he added (Pictured: Sitrec) 

Read More

EXCLUSIVE

•  UFO hunters claim to be in possession of debris from alien space craft that is lighter than a petal 

He thought was just another airplane - a conclusion he would be right about - but he found himself needing to investigate the matter personally, he told Popular Mechanics. 

When he got to his hotel room, he used Photoshop to closely look at the image and downloaded the GPS routes from his flight and a few others in the area from FlightAware.com. 

In order for West to find an answer, he has to look at simultaneous events and see how they all fit into the bigger picture.

His plane wasn't the only in the air, so he had to look at other flight paths, as well as  weather phenomenon and satellite data. 

He also looks closely at the video angle, In his case, he knew the video he took was several thousand feet above ground and the object was below him.  

He used Flight Aware 24 to configure where other nearby planes were so he could 'figure out what’s actually in the air at a particular time,' he told Popular Mechanics. 

West then zoomed in on his own flight and found the exact location of his plane when he took the video. 

'I knew I was sitting on the right side of the plane,' he told the outlet. 

The map showed him a 'likely contender' - a plane that had taken off from LA's Van Nuys Airport. 

'That matches what we see in the video,' he told Popular Mechanics. 

He then used Sitrec - which an unidentified organization paid him to develop and make publicly accessible - to point the camera from his plane directly down onto where the other plane was traveling. 

'I set the camera to point from my plane to the other two. One of them matched exactly. It was a small Cessna,' he told the outlet. 'This confirms that this was the plane I was actually looking at.'

One Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UPA) - the term that took over for UFO in 2023 - that piqued West's interest appeared in footage the Chilean Navy caught of a black blob leaving streaks behind it in 2014, he told Popular Mechanics. 

The Chilean military investigated the footage for roughly two years and boldly determined it to be aliens. 

He determined the black blob seen by Chilean authorities was just a plane that had just departed from Santiago Airport, and the reason it appeared black in the footage their Navy had captured was because it was taken on a thermal camera and the plane was hotter than the surrounding area

However, West, thanks to Sitrec, came to a more reasonable conclusion and documented his investigation on YouTube. 

He determined the black blob to be a plane that had just departed from Santiago Airport. He claimed the reason it appeared black in the footage captured by the Navy was because it was taken on a thermal camera and the plane was hotter than the surrounding area. 

'It’s not an intuitive thing, and if you don’t delve too deeply into it, [you’ll be wrong],' West, who programmed Tony Hawk's Pro Series games, told the outlet. 

As for the streaks the Navy recorded, he explained that these were just the airplane's engines leaving contrails. 

West claimed that the Chilean Navy also got the flight path wrong.

'They thought they were looking at an object that was moving left to right.

'In fact, what they were looking at was this plane, just departed from Santiago Airport that had looped around to gain height over the mountains,' he said. 

Using his program, he was able to successfully simulate the plane's movements by accounting for the camera angle and matched it to flight records. 

West thinks his video game programming days helped condition him for the life of debunking UFOs as he spent 'an inordinate amount of time on this trivial little thing, this one intractable little bug that is just causing this problem' during his former profession. 

West thinks his video game programming days helped condition him for the life of debunking UFOs as he spent 'an inordinate amount of time on this trivial little thing, this one intractable little bug that is just causing this problem' during his former profession

UFO sightings over America's nuclear arsenal appeared to shift their interest from the making of the bombs to silos and bomber bases as the Cold War arms race grew (above)

'It can be very difficult to figure out… but you have no choice,' he told Popular Mechanics. 

He finds debunking claims of alien sightings has the same rigor as programming a game and tied with his fascination with conspiracy theories, it ignited his passion for investigating UAP. 

However, other experts remain convinced that UFO activity is real and seemingly has some connection to nuclear sites. 

The former head of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, Lue Elizondo, agreed that there 'seems to be a lot of correlation' between UFO appearances and nuclear sites.

And independent researcher Robert Hastings, who has been working toward full government disclosure of UAP activity, said in 2010, 'Declassified US government documents and witness testimony from former or retired US military personnel confirm beyond any doubt the reality of ongoing UFO incursions at nuclear weapons sites.'

Now, new research — in the form of three studies helmed by a retired US Air Force staff sergeant, Larry Hancock, and a data analyst affiliate with Harvard's UFO-hunting Galileo Project, Ian Porritt — shows that not only has there been unusual activity around nuclear weapons and facilities, it has shifted over the years.

At first seemingly interested in the production of nuclear weapons, UFO sightings later sprang up around silos and bomber bases.

'You would see this interest at silos when they were being installed before 'the activity would drop off,' Porritt previously told the DailyMail.com.

Eerily similar to these encounters are the instances of UAPs following fighter jets that were disclosed by the UAP Task Force, including a 'giant Tic Tac' UFO witnessed by Navy veteran fighter pilot Commander David Fravor in 2004.

Fravor's fellow co-pilot Chad Underwood witnessed the 'perfectly white' wingless oblong captured by his cockpit's in-flight video.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

30-08-2024 om 21:45 geschreven door peter  

• READ MORE: I lived like an astronaut stuck on the ISS for a day  

By Ellyn Lapointe For Dailymail.Com

A fiery explosion of a Space X rocket this week could spell even more misery for the two NASA astronauts stranded in space.

The unmanned Falcon 9 rocket failed to land successfully after launching satellites into space, bursting into flames before toppling over on its side. 

This is bad news for the two astronauts that Boeing's faulty Starliner left stranded aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for almost three months.

Their only hope is to return to Earth on SpaceX's Dragon capsule, which will take off using the Falcon 9 rocket, and is supposed to get them home by February 2025.

But the latest setback threatens to push that date back even further.

A full timeline of Boeing's Starliner program, from the singing of their massive contact to the incident that left two astronauts stranded aboard the ISS. 

The FAA now has to launch an investigation into what went wrong with Falcon 9, which could interfere with SpaceX's rescue mission schedule, and ultimately delay Crew Dragon's launch date significantly.

'Depending on circumstances, some mishap investigations might conclude in a matter of weeks. Other more complex investigations might take several months,' the agency's website states. 

Read More

• SpaceX's historic private spacewalk is DELAYED at the eleventh hour: Daring Polaris Dawn mission is pushed back to Wednesday after a leak is discovered - as Elon Musk claims 'we are triple-checking everything' 

What's more, SpaceX plans to use Falcon 9 to launch the Crew Dragon spacecraft, which means the Starliner crew's return to Earth is incumbent upon the booster actually working. 

But the booster's recent technical issues suggest that a successful launch in September isn't exactly guaranteed. 

The worst case scenario - a lengthy FAA investigation followed by more issues with Falcon 9 - could delay Crew Dragon's launch even further. 

NASA will want to be certain the rocket is flawless before allowing it to carry a manned crew, which could mean several more tests between now and that rescue mission.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment about a time frame.

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore launched toward the ISS aboard Boeing's Starliner on June 5.

The scandal-laden Starliner - which was built and developed using over $4 billion of taxpayer money - had been plagued by helium leaks and thruster issues in the weeks leading up to launch, and even on the day of. 

The spacecraft safely delivered Williams and Wilmore to the ISS, but by the time it got there, it had sprung more helium leaks and five of its 28 thrusters had failed.

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft was plagued by technical issues even before in launched on June 5. NASA ultimately deemed it unsafe to return its crew to Earth. 

Williams and Wilmore were originally supposed to spend only eight days on the ISS, but the technical issues with their spacecraft have left them stuck up there for nearly three months now. 

In a press conference on August 24, NASA officials announced that it would be too risky to bring the astronauts home on faulty Starliner. 

Instead, they will return home on SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft, which is scheduled to launch NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov toward the ISS on September 24, according to a NASA statement released today. 

The means that Williams and Wilmore will remain on the ISS until February 2025 at the earliest. 

The decision was humiliating for Boeing, which has struggled for years to get their Starliner program off the ground only to be bailed out at the eleventh hour by their biggest competitor. 

'We have had so many embarrassments lately, we're under a microscope. This just made it, like, 100 times worse,' one employee anonymously told the New York Post. 

'We hate SpaceX,' he added. 'We talk s*** about them all the time, and now they're bailing us out.'

At this point, it's unclear whether Starliner will ever be able to complete a crewed mission to the ISS.  

NASA is planning to decommission the ISS by 2030, giving Boeing just five years to fix Starliner's technical issues and successfully send and return astronauts to space.

To put that in perspective, it's already been five years since Starliner's first failed uncrewed test flight. 

But it's possible that Boeing could retire Starliner before they even hit that deadline, as the company has already sunk $1.6 billion into the spacecraft's development.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 burst into flames in a landing mishap that occurred after a launch that delivered 21 Starlink Satellites to low-Earth orbit. The FAA plans to investigate the incident

The Falcon 9 booster failed after a successful launch from Cape Canaveral Florida early Wednesday morning as part of a mission to deliver 21 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit. This was the rocket's 23rd launch. 

The launch went smoothly, and the booster was able to separate from the upper stage before beginning its return to Earth. But it was all downhill from there. 

The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket failed to properly land on its intended target: an uncrewed drone ship named 'A Shortfall of Gravitas.' 

Instead, the booster exploded into flames and then tumbled onto its side. 

Although the overall mission was a success, the Federal Aviation Administration has halted any more Falcon 9 launches until it determines the cause of the mishap.

'A return to flight of the Falcon 9 booster rocket is based on the FAA determining that any system, process or procedure related to the anomaly does not affect public safety,' FAA officials said in written statement. 

The launch of the SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission (pictured) has been delayed indefinitely pending an FAA investigation into a Falcon 9 landing mishap

The crew for the Polaris Dawn mission are (from left to right) billionaire Jared Isaacman, SpaceX engineers Anna Menon, and Sarah Gillis, and Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Scott Poteet

This is the second time the FAA has grounded Falcon 9 in the last two months. 

The agency halted Falcon 9 launches for two weeks in July after one of the rocket's  upper-stage liquid oxygen tanks leaked, preventing a batch of satellites from deploying properly and causing them to burn up in Earth's atmosphere.

It's unclear how long this new investigation will take. In the meantime, a crew of four SpaceX astronauts awaits the launch of the Polaris Dawn mission, in which Falcon 9 will carry them to orbit for five days. 

The mission, funded and crewed by entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, is expected to make history by reaching higher altitudes than humans have traveled since NASA's Apollo program in the 1970s, and performing the first commercial spacewalk. 

Life on board the ISS is very cramped, and astronauts Barry Wilmore (left) and Sunita Williams (right) will endure another six months on board

But Polaris Dawn has already been delayed several times due to unfavorable weather conditions and technical issues. It was originally scheduled to launch on Tuesday.

Friday would have been the earliest date that Polaris Dawn could launch, but the FAA's investigation has now put the mission in limbo. 

As for the stranded Starliner crew, they'll just have to hope that the FAA investigation drag on, and that Falcon 9 successfully launches the Crew Dragon mission in September. 

Meanwhile, Boeings Starliner is set to return to Earth uncrewed on September 6, according to NASA. 

NASA officials have reported that the astronauts are 'doing fine' and keeping busy with day-to-day tasks and science experiments. 

But it's only plausible that they're feeling some frustration after a mission that was supposed to last about a week transformed into an eight-month-long nightmare.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

30-08-2024 om 21:14 geschreven door peter  

NASA’s Endurance Mission Measures Earth’s Ambipolar Electric Field for First Time

First hypothesized more than 60 years ago, the ambipolar electric field is a key driver of the polar wind, a steady outflow of charged particles into space that occurs above Earth’s poles. This electric field lifts charged particles in our upper atmosphere to greater heights than they would otherwise reach and may have shaped our planet’s evolution in ways yet to be explored.

Collinson et al. report the existence of a +0.55 ± 0.09 V electric potential drop between 250 km and 768 km from a planetary electrostatic field generated exclusively by the outward pressure of ionospheric electrons; they experimentally demonstrate that the ambipolar field of Earth controls the structure of the polar ionosphere, boosting the scale height by 271%.

Image credit: NASA.

Since the 1960s, spacecraft flying over Earth’s poles have detected a stream of particles flowing from our atmosphere into space.

Theorists predicted this outflow, which they dubbed the polar wind, spurring research to understand its causes.

Some amount of outflow from our atmosphere was expected. Intense, unfiltered sunlight should cause some particles from our air to escape into space, like steam evaporating from a pot of water. But the observed polar wind was more mysterious.

Many particles within it were cold, with no signs they had been heated — yet they were traveling at supersonic speeds.

“Something had to be drawing these particles out of the atmosphere,” said Endurance principal investigator Dr. Glyn Collinson, a researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

The hypothesized electric field, generated at the subatomic scale, was expected to be incredibly weak, with its effects felt only over hundreds of miles.

For decades, detecting it was beyond the limits of existing technology.

In 2016, Dr. Collinson and colleagues got to work inventing a new instrument they thought was up to the task of measuring Earth’s ambipolar field.

The team’s instruments and ideas were best suited for a suborbital rocket flight launched from the Arctic.

In a nod to the ship that carried Ernest Shackleton on his famous 1914 voyage to Antarctica, the researchers named their mission Endurance.

They set a course for Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago just a few hundred miles from the north pole and home to the northernmost rocket range in the world.

“Svalbard is the only rocket range in the world where you can fly through the polar wind and make the measurements we needed,” said Dr. Suzie Imber, a space physicist at the University of Leicester.

On May 11, 2022, Endurance launched and reached an altitude of 768.03 km (477.23 miles), splashing down 19 minutes later in the Greenland Sea.

Across the 518.2-km (322-mile) altitude range where it collected data, Endurance measured a change in electric potential of only 0.55 volts (V).

“A half a volt is almost nothing — it’s only about as strong as a watch battery. But that’s just the right amount to explain the polar wind,” Dr. Collinson said.

Hydrogen ions, the most abundant type of particle in the polar wind, experience an outward force from this field 10.6 times stronger than gravity.

“That’s more than enough to counter gravity – in fact, it’s enough to launch them upwards into space at supersonic speeds,” said Endurance project scientist Dr. Alex Glocer, a researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Heavier particles also get a boost. Oxygen ions at that same altitude, immersed in this half-a-volt field, weigh half as much.

In general, the scientists found that the ambipolar field increases what’s known as the scale height of the ionosphere by 271%, meaning the ionosphere remains denser to greater heights than it would be without it.

“It’s like this conveyor belt, lifting the atmosphere up into space,” Dr. Collinson said.

Endurance’s discovery has opened many new paths for exploration.

The ambipolar field, as a fundamental energy field of our planet alongside gravity and magnetism, may have continuously shaped the evolution of our atmosphere in ways we can now begin to explore.

Because it’s created by the internal dynamics of an atmosphere, similar electric fields are expected to exist on other planets, including Venus and Mars.

“Any planet with an atmosphere should have an ambipolar field. Now that we’ve finally measured it, we can begin learning how it’s shaped our planet as well as others over time,” Dr. Collinson said.

• The team’s results appear in the journal Nature.
• G.A. Collinson et al. 2024. Earth’s ambipolar electrostatic field and its role in ion escape to space. Nature 632, 1021-1025; doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07480-3
• This article is a version of a press-release from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

{ https://www.sci.news/ }

29-08-2024 om 22:56 geschreven door peter  

This Mexican Scientist Claimed We Live in a Holographic Matrix, Disappears Mysteriously After It

His theory proposes that through the process by which the human brain decodes perceptual reality, it is possible to establish links with the Lattice and thereby make changes in space-time. He postulated that we live in an informational matrix, which he called “the hologram,” where it is possible to interact with perceptual reality not just as spectators but as active participants in constructing that reality.

From his brain experiments, Dr. Grinberg developed the syntergic theory, a term formed from the Spanish words síntesis (synthesis) and energía (energy).

Dr. Grinberg also explored the implications of the EPR paradox, which asserts that if quantum theory is a complete model of reality, non-local interactions should exist between particles. He aimed to prove that a quantum system in the brain creates a non-local EPR correlation among human brains. He called this phenomenon transferred potential (TP), suggesting that a brain, suitably prepared through meditation, can interact with other brains, both near and far, by directly involving consciousness without sensory transmission or local effects.

“When consciousness is free, when sensitivity is optimal, we are what the universe is. Ultimately everything is a manifestation of the brain structure, which in turn is a model of the entire universe. When we see the other, we see ourselves,” said Jacobo Grinberg.

Dr. Grinberg further proposed that his syntergic theory could explain the emergence of conscious experience, which he saw as the result of complex multidimensional interactions. The brain initiates an interaction between an energetic field (neuronal field) and space structure, thus giving rise to consciousness.

Contrary to naïve realism, which suggests that reality exists externally to the observer, Dr. Grinberg, adopting an ideological stance, proposed that perception is neuropsychologically constructed, with information existing in space as “complex patterns of energy.” Conscious experience, he believed, occurs when we synthesize this information-energy in space, thereby becoming syntergic. Neuronal changes in the brain cause micro-distortions in the framework of the space-time continuum, which then interact to create a “hypercomplex macro-distortion” of the neuronal field. The outcome of this process is perceptual experience.

Regarding vision, the neuronal and quantum fields’ components “fit together” in experience, minimizing the noise produced by their interaction through a specific, emergent interference pattern (IP). This pattern represents the structure of experience and contains the perceptual components perceived as lines and geometric forms, conceived as energetic forms of high complexity. The percepts, or images, we “objectively” see as colors and objects are ultimately products of the IP.

Dr. Grinberg’s ideas are related to the implicate order theory developed by American physicist David Bohm, in which space is conceived as a holographic “sea of potentialities” from which the universe and consciousness unfold explicitly. Here, the quantum wave/particle duality paradox is resolved, while the “principle of nonlocality”—the capacity of one particle to influence another instantaneously—is preserved.

During the 1980s, Dr. Grinberg traveled extensively across Mexico to interview shamans and psychic healers, hoping to recover the “native psychology” and “original wisdom” of the Mexican people. From his case studies, he concluded that shamans have highly neurosyntergic brains, enabling them to activate experiences in multiple locations in space and manipulate reality to create immediate, astounding effects, most notably materializations.

The syntergic theory both reaffirms and challenges quantum physics by reinterpreting the concept of the Lattice. Dr. Grinberg suggested that, through consciousness, the human brain could control the universe in which we live.

He explained that a person with a highly syntergic neuronal field—meaning a brain with greater coherence links—would have the ability to modify the hologram at will, achieving feats that defy the known laws of physics, much like the shaman Pachita did in her surgeries.

This theory opens the door to investigating other phenomena, such as telepathy. Grinberg conducted various experiments in which, through meditation, he demonstrated synchrony between two brains exposed to different stimuli, producing similar results.

This theory intersects with some fundamental ideas like the law of attraction, the influence of thought on reality, and linguistic relativity, among others.

The most enigmatic aspect of this theory suggests that if consciousness allows us to influence the informational matrix, and if everything is connected through the energetic interaction of atoms and thoughts, then we might inhabit a plane that is not the total reality—essentially, a Matrix into which we have been plTaced, with a brain capable of understanding its physical laws but not its origin.

Read also:

• his Woman Nearly Died & Found Humans Are a Temporary Symbiosis Between TWO Beings: One Mortal, One Immortal. Death Does Not Exist, Only Transition
• This Swiss Scientist Claims There is Portal Underneath CERN from where Beings Coming In & Out
• This Salt Lake City Tech CEO Found Dead After Eerie Calls: ‘It’s All a Game… We’re in the Matrix’

This idea gives rise to the concept of an awakening—of taking consciousness further and mastering the hologram. Under this premise, by fully understanding the matrix’s operation, we would simply disappear and reach a state of purity within the true reality.

Science often rejects new ideas because they don’t fit into what is currently understood. People like Jacobo Grinberg and Nikola Tesla, who were ahead of their time, are often criticized and disrespected because their ideas are not accepted by the scientific community. Even when there is evidence to support their work, they may still lose their reputation.

Dr. Grinberg tried to change the way we understand the connection between science and consciousness. He used the scientific method to explore this relationship. However, science should not be too proud to think it knows everything. It should not dismiss the unknown just because it doesn’t understand it.

This theory could not be verified, and like his studies on extraocular vision in children or telepathy, Dr. Grinberg’s projects remained unfinished after he disappeared at the most momentous point of his prodigious career.

Dr. Jacobo Grinberg disappeared on December 8, 1994, and all his work vanished with him. People have been trying to figure out what happened to him. Here are some ideas:

1. Some think he was hurt by his wife, Teresa, because of a personal problem. But then she disappeared too.
2. Others believe the CIA took him away to work for them. A judge found a clue that suggested Dr. Jacobo Grinberg was in North America, but the judge was suddenly removed from the case.
3. Dr. Jacobo Grinberg’s brother thinks he might have escaped from the world, just like in one of his own theories.

It’s strange that it’s easier to make someone disappear than to recognize their work.

{ https://www.howandwhys.com/ }

29-08-2024 om 22:44 geschreven door peter  

AI focuses asteroid and moon photo, whats this white structure? UFO UAP Sighting News.

1st source: 

• https://us.yahoo.com/news/nasas-dart-asteroid-crash-really-203122619.html 

2nd source:

• https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Juice/First_views_from_Juice_s_science_camera 

Guys this is crazy cool. I was looking at an asteroid photo that was released this week and it had an alien ship that looked like nothing I have ever seen before...only visible with ai focusing. 

 

Also I found an intestine huge structure I estimate to be 1600 meters across on the moon. This moon photo was taken by the NASA JUICE mission also from this week. I put it though ai, but even without ai focusing...its still visible! Mind-blowing detail either way and 100% proof of intelligent aliens on Earths moon. 

Scott C. Waring 

  

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

29-08-2024 om 21:56 geschreven door peter  

AI Corrects Three UFO Photos, Colorado, Florida, California 1995-6, UAP Sighting News.

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

29-08-2024 om 21:42 geschreven door peter  

Hoe waarschijnlijk is het om intelligente levensvormen in het heelal te vinden? Een nieuwe studie probeert een antwoord te geven

door Janine

ESO/José Francisco Salgado/Wikimedia Commons - CC BY 4.0

Een van de existentiële vragen die we ons soms stellen, betreft de mogelijkheid dat er intelligent leven in het universum is. Geen andere levensvormen, ongeacht hun complexiteit, maar buitenaardse wezens die kunnen bogen op een intelligentieniveau dat gelijk is aan het onze... of hoger. In de loop der jaren heeft de zoektocht naar buitenaardse intelligentie, of SETI, verschillende critici en voorstanders opgeleverd, maar nooit enige bevestiging. Daarom hebben twee onderzoekers onlangs besloten om een nieuwe interpretatie naar voren te brengen: hoe waarschijnlijk is het om intelligente levensvormen in het heelal te vinden?

De zoektocht naar buitenaards leven tussen Drake en Jaynes

De hedendaagse zoektocht naar buitenaardse levensvormen is onlosmakelijk verbonden met de vergelijking van Drake, die in 1961 werd geformuleerd door de astronoom Frank Drake. Het is echter meer dan een feitelijke vergelijking, het is een maatstaf voor de uitdagingen waarmee onze onderzoekers worden geconfronteerd bij het zoeken naar buitenaardse beschavingen. Aan de ene kant bevat de formule parameters zoals de mate van stervorming, systemen met bewoonbare planeten, de waarschijnlijkheid van de ontwikkeling van intelligent leven, enzovoort. Maar aan de andere kant maakt de onzekerheid van de parameters elke berekening zinloos: zoals we al zeiden, dient de vergelijking alleen als filosofische horizon voor het onderzoek.

In hun studie besloten de twee onderzoekers ook gebruik te maken van de bevindingen van een andere academische figuur, de natuurkundige Edwin Jaynes. Door de verdeling van een onbekende chemische stof in water te bestuderen, laat Jaynes zien dat het onmogelijk is om waarschijnlijkheden te formuleren bij afwezigheid van gegevens. Bijgevolg kan een gebeurtenis ofwel bijna altijd ofwel bijna nooit voorkomen, zonder middenweg. Zou dit het geheim kunnen zijn van de zoektocht naar buitenaardse intelligentie?

Oorsprong en verdwijning van... buitenaardse beschavingen

Unsplash

Volgens David Kipping en Geraint Lewis, auteurs van de nieuwe studie, is het daarom mogelijk om het experiment van Jaynes toe te passen op de zoektocht naar intelligent buitenaards leven. In de praktijk is het onmogelijk dat dit laatste meer of minder vaak voorkomt: of het komt heel vaak voor of het is extreem zeldzaam. In het eerste geval zouden we een van de vele voorbeelden in het universum zijn; in het tweede geval zouden we een van de weinige zijn: het is niet eenvoudig om te zien welke van de twee hypotheses het meest verontrustend is.

Bovendien hebben de twee onderzoekers een nieuw formalisme voorgesteld dat de vergelijking van Drake bruikbaarder zou maken en de structuur ervan zou vereenvoudigen. De enige echt bruikbare parameter zouden de geboorte- en sterftecijfers van beschavingen zijn, waarmee hun ontstaan en verdwijnen wiskundig zou kunnen worden weergegeven. Maar zelfs dan is tertium non datur: ons universum moet vol intelligent leven zijn, of bijna leeg.

Hoe te zoeken naar buitenaardse levensvormen

Welke benadering ook wordt gekozen, we komen altijd terug bij de Fermiparadox, een impasse waar astronomen heel bekend mee zijn. Volgens sommigen weten buitenaardse wezens misschien al dat we bestaan, maar kunnen ze het ons niet vertellen of zitten ze misschien zelfs gevangen in hun eigen werelden. Geconfronteerd met de mogelijkheid dat zelfs zijn oplossing niet effectief is, blijft Kipping optimistisch:

Ik denk dat mijn favoriete uitweg is dat onze Melkweg gewoon rustig is. In plaats daarvan zijn de meeste druk en vol, maar wij zijn de eersten in de Melkweg. Het lijkt onwaarschijnlijk, maar misschien is geboren worden in een druk sterrenstelsel onmogelijk omdat de bewoonbare ruimte al is opgeslokt.

Kortom, het onderzoek van Kipping en Lewis bevestigt ook hoe moeilijk het niet zozeer is om intelligente levensvormen in het universum te vinden, maar om de parameters te definiëren voor onderzoek dat tot concrete resultaten leidt. Misschien bestaan ​​er al buitenaardse wezens, maar we kunnen niet weten of, waar en in welke mate: een fascinerende en niet noodzakelijkerwijs teleurstellende uitkomst.

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

29-08-2024 om 21:28 geschreven door peter  

Time slips; a curious phenomena where individuals unexpectedly find themselves transported across time, be it minutes, days, or even years, without any intention or control over the experience. Those who experience time slips often report feeling as though they’ve been transported to a different point in time. 

Imagine walking down a familiar street when suddenly everything changes. The asphalt beneath your feet transforms into cobblestone, cars vanish, replaced by horse-drawn carriages. The air fills with the scent of coal smoke and horse manure. 

People in Victorian-era clothing hurry past, glancing at you suspiciously. Panic sets in as you realize you're no longer in your own time. Then, just as quickly, you're back in the present day. 

You’ve just experienced a time slip, and you’re not alone. 

Thousands of people worldwide have reported similar experiences, brief moments of traveling through time, witnessing scenes from the past or future, only to return to the present moment. 

But what exactly are these experiences? Are they vivid hallucinations, or could time slips be real, offering us glimpses into the true nature of time and reality? 

Some theories suggest that if a portal existed between our universe and a parallel one, time slips could theoretically occur. However, it’s crucial to note that there is no concrete evidence to support the idea that we live in a multiverse. 

In the video below, we’ll explore a few famous time slip stories and the scientific theories that might help explain these mysterious events.

  

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

28-08-2024 om 22:59 geschreven door peter  

This Salt Lake City Tech CEO Found Dead After Eerie Calls: ‘It’s All a Game… We’re in the Matrix’

Erin Valenti was a highly accomplished 33-year-old CEO of a tech company called Tinker, which develops websites and smartphone apps. She was known for being very smart and kind (she worked as a volunteer to fight human trafficking) with a great sense of humor and a successful career. Originally from Fairport, NY, she resided with her husband in  Salt Lake City, UT.

Her company, with 120 employees mainly in Pakistan, designed, developed, and scaled technology products built for iOS, Android, and the web. Tinker built over 700 products, including mobile apps, SaaS applications, tech-enabled marketplaces, and consumer websites for Facebook, Skullcandy, LiveNation, Pearson, MetroPCS, and emerging startups.

Before founding Tinker, she was Director of Product Development at Overstock.com, supervising a team of 250 engineers. Her company website linked to CTRL- labs, Thomas Reardon’s “neuroscience and behavior” center.

CTRL-labs assembled scientists and technologists:

• PhDs in computational neuroscience;
• Biomechanics paired with hackers and coders;
• Experts in signal processing, machine learning, and human-computer interaction;
  
• Industrial designers.

CTRL- labs published: 

“The future of brain-machine interfaces is non-invasive. Instead of surgical implants, CTRL- labs uses state-of-the-art detection and machine learning to read your neurons from outside the body. The first step will be technology precisely picking up the signals from inside your body to control devices outside of it with little more than natural gestures. The next step – and we are already closer than most people realize – will be reading the intention directly from your brain.” (Source)

Valenti had no history of mental-health disorders or substance abuse. Scott Rafferty, a Utah entrepreneur, told Business Insider that Valenti spoke of quitting her million-dollar business, but never meant it. She told him she felt responsible for the welfare of more than 130 engineers and their families on the other side of the world. She also planned to finance a startup accelerator inside her company and start a clothing line for professional women. In late summer, Valenti spoke to Rafferty about wanting an executive coach. Rafferty’s coach was about to hold a retreat in California.

On October 1, 2019, Valenti flew from Salt Lake City to California to attend a three-day seminar called Create Powerful. The seminar was held in Laguna Niguel, a beach town, and was designed to help business owners grow personally and professionally.

The seminar was an intense, immersive experience that helped people connect with their personal power and overcome fears. It cost $6,500 and promised to change participants’ lives. After the seminar, Valenti flew to the Bay Area on October 3 to attend a two-day conference in Monterey for tech founders and investors.

Erin Valenti last words: We’re in the Matrix

Valenti is believed to have been last seen by Dean Jacobson, a former manager of hers at Summit Partners, in Palo Alto, on Monday, October 7, in the afternoon.

After the seminar, Valenti called her parents and said she couldn’t find her rental car, a gray Nissan Murano. Later, she found the car and started driving to the airport, but her parents noticed she sounded “manic and confused” on the phone. She talked about Thanksgiving plans, but wasn’t making sense and spoke fast and erratically.

Valenti also mentioned that she had refueled the car just 10 minutes prior, but now it was running out of gas, and she exclaimed, “I’m going to miss my flight!”

Her mother became concerned and called Valenti’s husband, Harrison Weinstein, asking him to contact her immediately.

For the next few hours, Valenti’s family took turns speaking with her on the phone, trying to calm her down and understand what was going on. However, Valenti continued to be agitated and disconnected.

At one point, she said something strange: “It’s all a game. It’s a thought experiment. We’re in  the Matrix.”

This statement further concerned her family, who didn’t know what to make of it. They continued to talk to her until almost midnight, trying to help her calm down and make sense of her situation.

“Matrix” is a mathematical term used in the movie  The Matrix to illustrate the code used to make up simulated reality. What is the “matrix”? It is a world created by computers, built to control and transform humans.

According to reports, Valenti asked her mother, “Are you in on it?” Her mother, a retired nurse, asked if she was drunk, had taken any drugs, or had somebody given her something. Valenti responded no. Weinstein also asked the police to conduct a welfare check.

According to the family, the police called Valenti on the phone, and she told an officer she was just joking around. The phone appeared to have died at some point, and calls went to voicemail.

On Saturday, October 12, a volunteer found Valenti’s rental car parked a few blocks from where her phone was last located – on the 6500 block of Bose Lane, a residential street near the Sam Jose airport.

Looking inside, the volunteer discovered Valenti’s body in the back seat. An investigation by San Jose police found no evidence of foul play, authorities said. There were no outward signs of trauma or physical harm.

Blood tests were negative for common prescription drugs and other substances. Her parents spoke to the media and said they believed she had suffered some kind of manic episode.

“Her thoughts were disconnected. She talked a mile a minute. She’d say ‘I’m coming home for Thanksgiving,’ then in the next she was saying she’s in the Matrix,” her mom, Whitey Valenti, said.

Valenti’s husband said she had no history of mental illness.

“There’s never any history of anything like this, no mental health diagnosis, no hospitalization, no substance use, no arrests — as clear of a record as you can get. This is incredibly unlike her. She is an extremely high-achievement, successful person,” he said.

It took months for the autopsy report. The San Jose medical examiner’s office’s autopsy report determined she died of “sudden death in the setting of an acute manic episode.” Though the report did not explain what killed her, other than she died of “natural causes.”

A manic episode, characterized by feelings of euphoria, racing thoughts, and feelings of connectedness, is typically followed by a period of depression or irritability.

Valenti had a previous diagnosis of a thyroid condition treated with medication. The autopsy report noted that her condition could have contributed to her death. Blood samples, however, were not satisfactory for analysis.

It took months for the autopsy report. The San Jose medical examiner’s office’s autopsy report determined she died of “sudden death in the setting of an acute manic episode.” Though the report did not explain what killed her, other than she died of “natural causes.”

A manic episode, characterized by feelings of euphoria, racing thoughts, and feelings of connectedness, is typically followed by a period of depression or irritability.

Valenti had a previous diagnosis of a thyroid condition treated with medication. The autopsy report noted that her condition could have contributed to her death. Blood samples, however, were not satisfactory for analysis.

A police review of Valenti’s electronic communications in the days before her scheduled return showed symptoms of a “manic episode,” according to the San Jose medical examiner’s office.

Authorities also said a review of her medical records “suggests that the etiology of her final manic episode was related to an emerging, previously undiagnosed psychiatric disorder.”

A healthy 33-year-old woman, who was a successful tech CEO with no history of mental illness, attended an intense course meant to change her life and help her manage fear.

After telling her family she was excited to return home, she suddenly experienced a mental breakdown while driving to the airport. She went missing for days and was later found dead in her car, which was parked on a street where searchers had previously looked.

There are questions about what happened—whether the course triggered her breakdown, whether brain-machine interfaces were involved, or if she died from a sudden onset of mental illness as the autopsy suggests.

Notably, why did Valenti continue to mention in her last phone call that this was a thought experiment and that we are all living in a matrix Surprisingly, there are current-day scholars who do believe that the world is simulated.

In fact, humans have been trying to create a simulated world since long ago. If it is possible that humans could eventually create a “simulated world”, then how can we be sure that we are not already living in one?

-Professor Nick Bostrom from Oxford University who proposed a Simulation Hypothesis in 2003.
-NASA physicist Thomas Campbell also said he believes the world is definitely simulated and even Einstein once said: “Reality is merely an illusion.”
-Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, once said: “There’s a one in a billion chance we’re in base reality.”

Why are the leading figures of society making such absurd arguments? Are they suspecting and questioning that perhaps we have never lived in a “real” world?

Consider the following story. About 2,300 years ago, Zhuangzi, a renowned Chinese philosopher, entered into a dream and became a butterfly flying freely among the flowers. Suddenly, he woke up and a terrifying question arose in his mind: How can I be sure that I have really woken up? Could I actually be a butterfly dreaming that I am a human? The dream was so “real”!

Famous past-life regressionist Dolores Cannon once said that there are Akashic records in the universe that stores all life experiences. Some can use hypnosis to connect to the Akashic database to retrieve information about their past lives. Nikola Tesla, a genius Serbian-American inventor, also believed in the existence of the “Akashic database.” He claimed to have connected with it in his dreams, to see machines that are yet to be invented. Perhaps that was why he was able to invent machines without too much experimentation. (Source)

If what the above scientists stated is true, then could it be possible that we are actually living in a simulated world? The only question is, if one day you were given a choice, would you choose to learn the truth?

{ https://www.howandwhys.com/ }

28-08-2024 om 00:00 geschreven door peter  

Was the moon a blisteringly hot world? Our lunar neighbour was once covered with an ocean of molten rock, data from India's Chandrayaan-3 rover suggests

• India's Chandrayaan-3 moon mission has revealed the moon's mineral makeup
• This supports the theory that the moon was once covered in an ocean of magma 

By Wiliam Hunter

While the moon might now seem like a cold, dusty, desert, new evidence from India's Chandrayaan-3 mission has revealed this was not always the case.

Analysis of the lunar surface shows that the moon's south pole was once completely covered by an ocean of molten magma. 

When Chandrayaan-3 landed near the moon's south pole in August last year, India's space agency gathered 23 measurements of a never-before-studied region.

Their measurements discovered a uniform layer of ferroan anorthosite, a white rock believed to have floated to the surface of the molten rock during the moon's formation. 

This supports the 'Lunar Magma Ocean' (LMO) theory which claims the whole of the moon's surface was formed from a cooling layer of magma that formed 4.5 billion years ago.

New analysis of data from Indian's Chandrayaan-3 mission has revealed the moon was once covered in an ocean of molten lava

(pictured: artist's impression) 

Read More

• Has the mystery of how the moon formed finally been solved? Scientists find new evidence our lunar satellite was created during a giant impact between Earth and a Mars-sized planet 4.5 billion years ago 

The LMO theory is not new – it dates back to the 1970s – but the new findings now bolster the theory with evidence of molten rock at another region of the moon (its south pole).  

On August 23, 2023, the Vikram lander successfully touched down on a region of the moon's south pole as part of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

Vikram's landing site, at about 70 degrees south, was the furthest south any landing craft had ever been.

Over 10 days, Vikram's smaller Pragyaan rover travelled over the lunar landscape, constantly recording and transmitting data back to Earth.

That data included 23 measurements from a device called the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.

This lightweight instrument used a radioactive source to bombard the lunar surface with radiation, exciting the atoms in the ground, and measuring the energy they release.

By recording that emitted energy, researchers have been able to calculate the mineral composition of the lunar soil.

After landing in August last year at a site near the Moon's south pole (illustrated in yellow) the Vikram lander deployed a rover which collected data about the moon's mineral composition 

That analysis revealed that the area around the Chandrayaan-3 landing site was relatively uniform and composed largely of ferroan anorthosite.

The researchers also found that the mineral composition at the Chandrayaan-3 site was similar to that found by NASA's Apollo 16 and the Soviet Luna-20 mission.

What is unusual about that finding is that those two landing sites are both in the moon's equatorial region, a long way away from where Chandrayaan-3 touched down.

The fact that these three distant sites all have roughly the same material composition suggests that they might have all come from the same lunar magma ocean.

The moon is believed to have been formed 4.5 billion years ago when a Mars-sized planet collided with Earth and knocked a chunk of material out into space.

As that material coalesced, the intense energies involved melted the rocks into a vast ocean of magma which covered the entire moon.

As the surface cooled over tens to hundreds of millions of years, the cooler ferroan anorthosite rose to the surface while heavier minerals like olivine and pyroxene sank deep below to form the moon's mantle.

The current lunar highlands are believed to be what remains of this ancient crust after billions of years.

The Pragyaan (pictured) found that the area around the landing site was uniform and made of ferroan anorthosite, a white rock believed to have formed the ancient moon's crust 

Experts believe the moon was formed when a Mars-sized planet called Theia collided with the Earth and knocked material out into space 

The data collected by Chandrayaan-3 (pictured) suggests that the moon was once covered by an ocean of lava. As it cooled the lighter ferroan anorthosite rose to the surface and formed the ancient crust 

The Moon theories 

Co-author of the paper Dr Santosh Vadawale from the Physical Research Laboratory, told the BBC: 'The theory of early evolution of the moon becomes much more robust in the light of our observation.'

Alpha particle x-ray data also provides evidence for an enormous meteor strike near the lunar south pole.

The data gathered by the rover showed that the area around the landing site was much higher in magnesium than would have been expected for pure ferroan anorthosite.

In their paper, published in Nature, the researchers argue that this material could have been blasted out of the ground by a huge impact which excavated the magnesium-rich materials deep in the mantle.

The researchers believe that magnesium in the soil was deposited by the same impact which formed the South Pole-Aitken basin over 217 miles (350 km) away. This magnesium was then further mixed into the area by impacts like the Schomberger crater (impact illustrated) 

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• First EVER elements are discovered on the Moon's South Pole: India's Chandrayaan-3 rover confirms the presence of sulphur in the lunar surface 

This impact could have been the same meteor strike which formed the 1,600-mile (2,500km) wide South Pole-Aitken basin over 217 miles (350 km) away from the Chandrayaan-3 landing site.

The mineral findings are consistent with the idea that magnesium-rich rocks were scattered over the site before being mixed by further meteor impacts.

These findings are also important to the future of India's space research because they provide a basis for future observations.

Previously, the Indian space agency had made observations of the lunar surface from orbit on Chandryaan-1 and 2.

However, without measurements from the ground, interpreting those observations required some scientific guess work.

Beautiful: Image provided by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) taken by the Pragyan rover shows the Vikram lander. Photo released on August 30, 2023

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27-08-2024 om 23:14 geschreven door peter