On Sunday, March 8, 2026, at 6:55 p.m. Central European Time (7:00 p.m. Kyiv time), as most Europeans were preparing to end their weekend, a dazzling flash lit up the night sky. The object, moving from southwest to northeast, was visible for approximately six seconds.

During this short period of time, the space traveler managed to leave behind a bright trail (“tail”) that was observed by thousands of people in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. The flight ended with a spectacular breakup into several fragments, accompanied by a sound effect similar to distant thunder or an explosion, which was clearly audible on the surface. 

Thanks to an extensive network of special meteor observation cameras, in particular the European AllSky7 system, the flight was recorded with high accuracy. In addition to professional equipment, the internet is filled with hundreds of amateur videos shot on smartphones and dashcams.

VARIOUS CITIES, SPAIN – AUGUST 12: Meteors are seen along the Milky Way in the sky on August 12, 2024 in Madrid, Spain. The Perseid meteor shower is reaching peak visibility in the coming days.

(Photo by Aldara Zarraoa/Getty Images)

A spiralling smoke trail lingered in the sky for minutes after the blast.

Credit:  Marcel W. via IMO

“Space landing” in Koblenz

Although most such objects burn up completely in the atmosphere, this case turned out to be special. Small pieces of debris — meteorites — were reported to have fallen in Koblenz-Güls (Germany). One of them pierced the roof of a private house, according to DW.

Despite the dramatic nature of the situation, there were no reports of casualties or significant damage. However, the very fact that the debris reached the surface in a densely populated area aroused great interest among meteorite researchers.

Why were the telescopes silent?

The most interesting question in this story is: why did none of the large survey telescopes that scan the sky around the clock for asteroid threats warn of the approach of this object?

The answer lies in the physics and geometry of lighting. The object approached Earth from the “bright part of the sky,” which made it virtually invisible to ground-based optical instruments. The situation was exacerbated by the time of the event — almost dusk, when atmospheric illumination is at its maximum for detecting dim celestial bodies.

To date, astronomers have only managed to detect 11 objects before they entered the atmosphere. This shows that small bodies measuring several meters remain an extremely difficult target for modern astronomy, especially if they are “hidden” in the sun’s rays.

The scale of the planetary defense problem

From a global security perspective, objects of this size (up to 5-10 meters) do not pose an existential threat. They usually disintegrate in the upper layers of the atmosphere, turning into dust and small debris. However, as the case in Koblenz shows, even small fragments can reach the ground.

ESA notes that such events are part of the natural life cycle of our planet. Space rocks of this size enter Earth’s atmosphere quite frequently — from once every few weeks to once every few years. However, most of them fall into oceans or desert areas, remaining unnoticed.

Scientists are now collecting data from all available sensors to determine the mass and composition of the meteorite. The debris found in Koblenz will be sent for laboratory analysis. This will allow us to learn more about the object’s origin: whether it came from the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, or was a fragment of a comet.

Earlier, we reported on how a meteorite older than Earth exploded and fell on a house.

• According to ESA

• Posted in News, Science

RELATED VIDEOS

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

10-03-2026 om 22:54 geschreven door peter  

What Flew Over Dubnica, Slovakia? 25 Feb 2026, UAP Or TR3B? UFO Sightings Daily.

Location: Dubnica nad Váhom, Trenčiansky kraj, Slovakia 

Date of sighting: February 25, 2026

Source: NUFORC

• https://nuforc.org/

Wow did you see that? This security cam footage caught a triangle UFO flying over the area of Slovakia toward the mountains. They heard it, but didn't see it...why? Because the infrared security camera can see things the human eye cannot. We can't see infrared, it's just a fact. This is not three orbs, it's a single craft and it's big! About the size of two city buses or more. 

 

Scott C. Waring - UFO Sightings Daily, now back in Taiwan

Eyewitness states: 

I was with two other friends on a hill in Prejta, and when I was next to the car, I heard something from the village that sounded like something disturbing the local geese. But when I walked towards the car, the sound grew louder and was still like geese, but it was also synchronized and artificial, and it passed over us and was loud, but we didn't see anything, even though we kept looking at the sky, we didn't see anything, even though it was a clear night and the moon was shining, so everything was clearly visible. This happened at 11:15 p.m. on February 25, 2026.

 

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

10-03-2026 om 22:35 geschreven door peter  

Enkele tientallen meters zijn voldoende voor een asteroïde om heel wat schade te veroorzaken.

© iStock

“Plots veegt een asteroïde je stad weg en niemand zag het aankomen”: waarom we volgende keer misschien minder geluk hebben

Zondag explodeerde een metersgroot stuk ruimterots onverwacht in onze atmosfeer. Een deel van deze meteoriet veroorzaakte zelfs schade in Duitsland. Maar het had erger kunnen aflopen. HLN-wetenschapsexpert Martijn Peters legt uit waarom niemand dit zag aankomen, hoe het komt dat wetenschappers de hemel halsstarrig afspeuren naar gevaarlijke asteroïden en wat de kans is dat zo’n exemplaar ons treft. “De ‘kleintjes’ vormen meer gevaar.”

Martijn Peters

Op zondag 8 maart trok een vuurbol – ook wel bolide genoemd – een vurig spoor door de hemel. Veel mensen waren getuigen van dit zes seconden durende spektakel. Volgens ruimtevaartagentschap ESA was het stuk ruimterots dat in onze atmosfeer uiteenspatte en grotendeels opbrandde, groter dan een meter. Enkele brokstukken wisten de aarde te bereiken in Duitsland en zorgden voor schade aan huizen. Dit keer raakte niemand gewond, maar in de toekomst hebben we misschien minder geluk.

Want ons zonnestelsel is niet bepaald netjes: al miljarden jaren zweven er restjes rond. De meest tot de verbeelding sprekende zijn ongetwijfeld kometen. Die zijn honderden tot duizenden meters groot en bestaan uit stof, gruis en ijs. Wanneer ze in de buurt van de zon komen, verschijnt plots hun staart. Maar dat zijn er slechts enkele duizenden. Talrijker zijn de asteroïden. Wetenschappers schatten hun aantal op bijna anderhalf miljoen. Deze relikwieën van rots en metaal bestaan in alle maten en gewichten, van enkele meters tot honderden kilometers groot.

Bij verwoesting denken velen meteen aan reusachtige, kilometersgrote exemplaren. Dat is volkomen terecht. Een asteroïde van 1 kilometer veroorzaakt wereldwijde problemen. Eentje van 10 kilometer of meer, zoals degene die het einde van de dinosauriërs inluidde, vertelt haast niemand meer na. Maar over deze ‘joekels’ maken wetenschappers zich weinig zorgen. Dat heeft twee redenen. De kans op zo’n inslag is bijvoorbeeld ongelooflijk klein: minder dan één keer per half miljoen jaar, afhankelijk van de grootte. Daarnaast hebben we ze zo goed als allemaal (meer dan 90%) in kaart gebracht. Een wereldwijde ramp is dus extreem zeldzaam.

{ https://www.hln.be/nieuws/ }

10-03-2026 om 21:05 geschreven door peter  

Marc Van den Broeck van Volkssterrenwacht Urania legt uit wat die vuurbol aan de hemel was. 

© rv / Tessa Kraan

• Marc Van den Broeck van Volkssterrenwacht Urania legt uit wat die vuurbol aan de hemel was.

5 vragen

Vuurbal die gisteravond door de hemel kliefde, richtte ook ravage aan in Duitsland: wat was dat precies? En kan er nog iets volgen?

“Ik wist niet wat ik zag. Een fel brandend object met een witte staart aan de hemel.” Onze tiplijn 4040 stond zondagavond omstreeks 19 uur roodgloeiend. Van Langemark tot Lummen staarden Vlamingen vol ongeloof naar de hemel, waar een vuurbol te zien was. Wat was dat vreemde object? Is het gevaarlijk? En moeten we vrezen voor een nog grotere inslag? Marc Van den Broeck van Volkssterrenwacht Urania legt uit: “Mogelijk ging het om een steen ter grootte van een voetbal.”

Ingrid De Vos - Journalist bij HLN

“Dit was duidelijk geen klassieke vallende ster zoals we die in augustus zien. Dat is vaak maar een stofje van een komeet dat in een fractie van een seconde verdwijnt. Nu waren mensen getuige van een spektakel van vijf seconden, vol gloed en uiteenspattende lichtdeeltjes. Dat wijst erop dat een brokstuk ruimtepuin — een overblijfsel uit de tijd dat onze wereld miljarden jaren geleden werd gevormd — de dampkring is binnengedrongen. In eerste instantie dacht ik aan een kiezelsteentje, maar omdat er ook een luide knal is gehoord, gaan we er nu van uit dat het eerder een steen ter grootte van een voetbal was.”

Aanvankelijk werd gedacht dat het om een meteoor ging:

“Omdat die steen met een waanzinnige rotvaart op onze dampkring beukte. Ter vergelijking: de spaceshuttle remt af tot 10.000 kilometer per uur voor hij de atmosfeer induikt. Dit brokstuk vloog naar binnen met een snelheid van 100.000 kilometer per uur. Door de enorme wrijving met de lucht op 70 kilometer hoogte werd de steen zó heet dat hij begon te gloeien en uiteindelijk met een klap uiteenspatte. Dat is de flits die iedereen zag.”

“Deze vuurbol was uniek vanwege het tijdstip. Dergelijke vuurbollen zien we een paar keer per jaar, maar meestal ’s nachts, als iedereen nog in bed ligt, of in de vroege ochtend. Dat het zich ’s avonds voordoet, is veel zeldzamer. Voor mij is het al tien jaar geleden dat ik het nog eens meemaakte. Dat heeft te maken met de hoek waarin het ruimtepuin op ons af komt vliegen. Stel je de aarde voor als een auto die door een sneeuwstorm rijdt: als chauffeur zie je de vlokken op je voorruit afkomen, terwijl ze in je achterruit net van je wegvliegen. De ochtendhemel is de voorruit van de aarde, de avondhemel de achterruit. Gisteravond keken we dus door de achterruit en zagen we toch een voltreffer.”

“De lichtflits die we zagen was een stuk krachtiger dan we gewend zijn. En in Duitsland hebben ze het geweten: volgens de politie zijn daar meteorieten door daken geboord bij Koblenz, in de Hunsrück en in de Eifel in de regio Rijnland-Palts. Dat is voor onze contreien uiterst uitzonderlijk. Als er effectief brokstukken de grond raken, spreken we van een meteoriet. Meestal is zo’n steen al tot stof verpulverd voor hij de aarde raakt. Dan blijft het bij een mooi schouwspel en spreken we van een meteoor. Elke dag valt er zo’n ton kosmisch stof op onze planeet, maar dat gebeurt vrijwel altijd geruisloos.”

“Absoluut niet. Dit was puur gruis, materiaal dat al miljoenen jaren in de ruimte rondvliegt. Dat het gisteren onze baan kruiste, is puur toeval. Meteorieten die de grond raken, komen meestal in de oceaan of in onbewoond gebied terecht. Slechts 10 procent van de aarde is dichtbevolkt. We zijn gisteravond vooral getuige geweest van een zeldzaam en krachtig natuurverschijnsel.”

LEES OOK.

• Vuurbal boven de hemel in Vlaanderen, richt schade aan in Duitsland: “Gat zo groot als een voetbal”

• KIJK. Opvallende vuurbal te zien boven Vlaanderen

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

10-03-2026 om 20:38 geschreven door peter  

On modern battlefields, speed and unpredictability increasingly determine survival, and as we’ve seen in the current U.S.-Iran conflict, fixed airbases and long concrete runways that once enabled airpower are starting to look like strategic vulnerabilities.

On Monday, DARPA revealed its newest X-plane, the X-76, an experimental aircraft designed to combine the “go anywhere” flexibility of vertical lift with cruise speeds typical of conventional fixed-wing aircraft.

The X-76 is the centerpiece of DARPA’s Speed and Runway Independent Technologies program, or “SPRINT,” a joint effort with U.S. Special Operations Command. The program is designed to overcome one of aviation’s oldest trade-offs. Helicopters and other VTOL aircraft can reach tight spaces, but they are slower. Meanwhile, traditional fixed-wing aircraft are faster, but they require runways, which limit their operating range and survivability in contested environments.

DARPA has announced that, following a critical design review, Bell Textron has been selected to begin building the X-76 demonstrator, marking the program’s transition into manufacturing, integration, and ground testing ahead of a planned flight-test phase in early 2028.

“For too long, the runway has been both an enabler and a tether, granting speed but creating a critical vulnerability,” DARPA SPRINT program manager, Commander Ian Higgins, said in a press release. “With SPRINT, we’re not just building an X-plane; we’re building options.”

Concept art rendering of the X-76.

(Image Source: Bell Textron)

DARPA’s public renderings reveal the X-76 is not an operational aircraft meant to be fielded as-is. Rather, it is a proof-of-concept technology demonstrator meant to show that the underlying engineering can work at full scale, and to generate real-world data that could shape what comes next.

According to DARPA, the X-76 is intended to mature technologies needed for runway-independent operations while cruising at speeds exceeding 400 knots. The aircraft would also be capable of hovering and operating from unprepared surfaces. Together, those capabilities would blur the line between the roles traditionally filled by helicopters, tiltrotors, and fixed-wing aircraft.

SPRINT’s ambitions are also a window into how the U.S. military’s priorities have shifted as precision weapons and long-range surveillance proliferate.

As we saw in the opening days of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, fixed airfields can be mapped, targeted, and logistics hubs can become predictable choke points. Given this reality, having vertical lift capabilities is no longer about convenience. It is about dispersal, resilience, and keeping forces moving even when the infrastructure they once depended on becomes an enemy 

The X-76 announcement is also notable for what it signals about the program’s maturity. SPRINT began Phase 1 in late 2023, then moved to Phase 1B in 2024 with contracts to two performers: Aurora Flight Sciences and Bell.

In 2025, DARPA selected Bell for the next stages, awarding it the contract for Phases 2 and 3 to complete design, build the X-plane, and move toward flight testing. The Critical Design Review completed this year marks a milestone that often separates promising concepts from hardware that can actually be assembled, tested, and flown.

In a release by Bell Textron, the company emphasized the symbolic and practical weight of the experimental plane’s designation. “Bell is honored to receive the X-76 designation and continue the spirit of American innovation, honoring the founding of the United States in 1776,” Bell’s senior vice president of engineering, Jason Hurst, said.

That 1776 reference is not subtle. DARPA says the X-76 designation was chosen specifically to coincide with the United States’ 250th anniversary, framing it as a “deliberate nod to the revolutionary spirit of 1776.”

So what exactly is the X-76 trying to prove?

Publicly, DARPA and Bell are focused on the outcomes rather than the engineering schematics.

DARPA’s announcement highlights the aircraft’s target performance envelope. The demonstrator is designed to hover in austere environments and take off and land without prepared runways. At the same time, it is expected to sustain cruise speeds above 400 knots—roughly the territory of many turboprops and some regional jets, but far beyond conventional helicopter performance.

“The goal of the program is to provide these aircraft with the ability to cruise at speeds from 400 to 450 knots at relevant altitudes and hover in austere environments from unprepared surfaces,” DARPA’s SPRINT program description reads.

Bell, for its part, points to a specific enabling approach using “stop/fold” technology. In a statement, the company describes the X-76 build phase as a move toward a “brand-new X-plane with first-of-its-kind stop/fold technology,” intended to support runway independence with jet-like speeds.

A wind tunnel model of one of Bell’s fold-away rotor design concepts. 

Bell

Concept art of the X-76 shows an aircraft equipped with folding rotor blades that can be stowed after transitioning to forward flight, reducing drag and enabling higher cruise speeds than traditional rotorcraft.

That basic idea—getting the lift of rotors without paying the aerodynamic penalty of carrying them through high-speed cruise—has been a recurring theme in vertical-lift engineering for decades. Rotors are incredibly efficient at hovering and low-speed flight, but they become a drag and vibration problem as speed climbs.

Crewed and uncrewed design concepts utilizing fold-away proprotor technology that Bell unveiled in 2024 as part of its work on DARPA’s SPRINT program. 

Bell

Tiltrotors like the V-22 Osprey pushed that boundary, yet still live with compromises because the rotors remain a dominant feature at all speeds. If initial renderings are any indication, the X-76 demonstrator will be built around a more radical transition—vertical lift when you need it, streamlined cruise when you don’t—which could open a new design space.

DARPA’s own messaging puts it in operational terms. When Cmdr. Higgins calls the runway a “tether,” he is highlighting a modern vulnerability: speed is valuable, but speed tied to predictable basing can be strategically limiting.

By aiming for runway-independent operation, DARPA is implicitly pursuing a future in which aircraft can disperse, relocate, and operate from austere locations—complicating an adversary’s targeting problem while improving response times for time-sensitive missions.

The SPRINT’s partnership structure also hints at where this could matter first. Special operations forces routinely operate at the edge of infrastructure—short on time, long on distance, and often constrained by where aircraft can safely land.

A platform that could move people or critical cargo quickly without relying on long runways could, in theory, compress timelines for infiltration, resupply, or medical evacuation, while expanding the number of usable launch and recovery sites.

DARPA’s program description stresses that the demonstrator is meant to validate integrated concepts that “can be scaled to different-sized military aircraft,” suggesting that the endgame is not a single airframe, but a portfolio of possible derivatives.

An earlier (2021) Bell rendering showing three related design concepts with fold-away rotor blades. 

Bell

There are good reasons DARPA is pursuing this as an X-plane effort rather than a direct acquisition program. “Runway-independent” and “high speed” are not especially difficult goals on their own. The challenge is combining them in a single aircraft with useful payload capacity, manageable complexity, and a transition mode that is both safe and repeatable.

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

10-03-2026 om 17:02 geschreven door peter  

An interstellar comet packed with alcohol? What ALMA found in 3I/ATLAS

by Jill Malusky, National Radio Astronomy Observatory

10-03-2026 om 16:22 geschreven door peter  

For a long time, space was considered a static and cold place, where huge chunks of rock flew through the void without any changes for millions of years. However, a recent study by astronomers at the University of Maryland (UMD) paints a very different picture. It turns out that binary asteroid systems are veritable “cosmic sandboxes” where objects constantly interact, exchanging material in a remarkable way reminiscent of a slow game of snowballs.

Do you know that approximately one in six asteroids, or about 15%, flying past Earth are not actually “lone wolves”? These are binary systems where a smaller companion orbits a larger object. Previously, scientists believed that these pairs simply existed side by side under the influence of gravity, but data published in the Planetary Science Journal proves that there is a fairly close connection between them. 

The research team discovered that asteroids constantly “throw” rocks and dust at each other. These are not catastrophic collisions that tear celestial bodies apart, but gentle, almost delicate touches. These “cosmic kisses” gradually change the landscape of both bodies, transforming their surface into a dynamic environment that is constantly evolving.

Photographic evidence: a fan of dust and rocks

The key to the discovery was unique footage taken by a NASA spacecraft as part of the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission in 2022. Before deliberately crashing into the asteroid Dimorphos, the spacecraft managed to transmit extremely clear images of the surface to Earth. 

While analyzing these images, Professor Jessica Sunshine and her team noticed something strange — bright fan-shaped stripes stretching across the entire surface of Dimorphos. At first, scientists blamed camera defects or errors in data processing. But after carefully cleaning up the images, it became clear: what they were looking at was the first visual confirmation in history of the natural transfer of material from one asteroid to another.

“It looked as if someone had thrown space snowballs at the asteroid,” Professor Sunshine shares his impressions. These stripes are nothing more than “scars” from low-speed impacts left by material flying in from a neighboring asteroid.

Solar engine

Where does this “traveling rock” come from? Scientists explain this phenomenon as the YORP effect (the Yarkovsky–O’Keefe–Radzievsky–Paddack effect). This is a complex term for a fairly simple process: solar radiation heats the uneven surface of a small asteroid, causing it to spin faster and faster. 

When the rotational speed becomes critical, centrifugal force begins to exceed the weak gravity of the asteroid. Rock fragments, dust, and boulders lying on the surface of Didymos’ parent body simply fly off into open space. And since Dimorphos is nearby, a significant portion of this “debris” falls into its gravitational trap and gently settles on its surface. Thus, the Sun acts as an invisible engine, spinning asteroids into cosmic sprinklers.

Detective work with pixels

Finding these stripes was a real challenge. In the original DART images, they were almost invisible due to complex lighting and the play of shadows from numerous boulders. Tony Farnham and Juan Rizos from the University of Maryland have developed special algorithms to “remove” excess light and shadows.

The probe’s flight itself complicated the task: it approached its target in almost a straight line, which meant that the angle and lighting angle remained virtually unchanged. This created the illusion that the stripes might just be an optical effect. However, the creation of a 3D model of the asteroid put everything in its place. The more accurate the model became, the clearer the fan-shaped structures appeared. They were concentrated along the equator of Dimorphos — precisely where, according to the laws of physics, the material ejected from Didymos should have landed.

Physics of “soft” collisions

We are used to cosmic speeds of thousands of kilometers per hour, but in the world of double asteroids, everything is different. Harrison Agrusa’s research showed that debris from Didymos traveled toward the moon at a speed of only 30.7 cm/s. This is three times slower than a person walking at a normal pace in a park.

It is precisely thanks to this “turtle-like” speed that unique patterns are formed. Instead of creating huge craters, the rocks gently sink into the loose soil (regolith), leaving long rays of deposits. This is not destruction, but a gradual “increase” in the mass of the moon due to its “big brother.”

Checking the theory with sand

To finally confirm their hypothesis, scientists led by Esteban Wright conducted a series of experiments on Earth. At the UMD Institute of Physical Sciences and Technology, a special setup was created: balls were thrown at different angles into a container filled with sand mixed with colored gravel (simulating the surface of Dimorphos). 

High-speed cameras captured an incredible resemblance: when the “stranger” hit the boulders on the surface, some of the matter was deflected, while other matter penetrated through the cracks, forming the very fan-shaped rays that we see in photographs from space. Computer modeling at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory confirmed these results.

Next stop: the Hera mission

This discovery radically changes our understanding of how to protect Earth from asteroid threats. If we want to change the trajectory of an asteroid, we need to understand how dynamic it is and how it exchanges mass with its moons.

 

The next major event will take place in December 2026, when the European Space Agency (ESA) mission called Hera will arrive at the Didymos-Dimorphos system. It will conduct a thorough “inspection of the scene” after the DART impact. Scientists hope to see the very stripes that may not have been completely destroyed by the explosion and gain new insights into how this amazing cosmic conveyor belt works.

Earlier, we reported on how Hubble photographed the double tail of the asteroid Dimorphos.

• According to NASA JPL

• Posted in News, Science

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

09-03-2026 om 23:15 geschreven door peter  

The energy crisis is not just a global problem. If there are civilizations in the Universe that are thousands or millions of years ahead of us, their appetite for energy should be enormous. Instead of building thousands of thermonuclear reactors in an attempt to reproduce the processes inside stars, they could have taken a simpler and more logical approach: take a ready-made star and “wrap” it in a giant solar battery. New research by astronomers suggests that such objects should be sought not near bright giants, but near the modest “babies” of our Universe.

The Legacy of Freeman Dyson

The very idea of megastructures surrounding stars belongs to the outstanding theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson. Back in the 1960s, he suggested that any sufficiently developed civilization would sooner or later face a shortage of resources on its planet. One solution could be a “Dyson sphere” — a colossal structure made of mirrors or solar panels rotating around the sun, intercepting almost 100% of its radiation. 

Interestingly, Dyson himself initially referred to his idea as a “little joke” in conversations with journalists. However, over the years, he changed his mind, recognizing the concept as entirely viable and logical from a thermodynamic point of view. Today, the search for such structures is one of the priorities of SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence project), since a Dyson sphere is the most striking “technosignature” that can be detected from a distance of many light years.

Why are white and red dwarfs ideal candidates? 

In a new study published in Nature, astronomer Amirnezam Amiri from the University of Arkansas has revisited traditional views on where exactly to look for these megastructures. Most previous theories have focused on solar-type stars, but Amiri suggests turning our attention to low-mass stars: white dwarfs and red dwarfs.

Red dwarfs are the most common stars in our galaxy. They burn extremely slowly, providing energy to the surrounding space for trillions of years. White dwarfs are the remains of stars that have already “retired,” but they continue to steadily emit heat over enormous periods of time. 

According to Amiri’s calculations, these stars are the best sources for long-term energy supply to megastructures. They are stable, not prone to frequent catastrophic outbursts (like some massive stars), and allow for the creation of an energy system that will operate almost indefinitely. 

Compactness – the key to saving resources

One of the main problems with building the Dyson sphere is the incredible amount of materials required. To encircle the Sun at the distance of Earth’s orbit, it would be necessary to literally break down several planets the size of Jupiter into atoms. However, the rules of the game change for red and white dwarfs.

The habitable zone (where temperatures allow water to remain liquid) around a red dwarf is located very close to the star, typically between 0.05 and 0.3 astronomical units. For a highly developed civilization, this is the ideal place:

• Material savings. The sphere will have a much smaller radius, which means it will require significantly fewer resources to build.
• Efficiency. The closer the panels are to the light source, the more compact and manageable the entire energy farm is.
• Stability. A compact sphere is more easily held in place by the star’s gravity, reducing the risk of structural failure.

James Webb in search of alien engineers

The most practical part of Amiri’s research is devoted to how we can detect such objects from Earth. According to the laws of physics, the Dyson sphere cannot simply absorb energy — it has to release it somewhere (discharge excess heat), otherwise it will simply melt. This heat is emitted in the form of infrared light.

To an outside observer, a star in a “wrapper” will look very strange:

1. Abnormal dimness. The star will appear significantly fainter than it should be based on its mass.
2. Spectrum change. Instead of visible light, the observer will see a uniform “black” spectrum of infrared radiation.
3. Artificial signals. If the sphere consists of separate panels (a so-called “Dyson swarm”), they can create unusual flickering or radiation bursts that cannot be explained by natural processes.
4. No dust. Building the sphere requires a huge amount of matter, so the aliens will most likely “clean” the system of dust and asteroids, using them as raw materials.

Amiri claims that modern observatories, such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), already have sufficient sensitivity to detect such infrared anomalies. We already have the tools to detect aliens — we just need to know what to look for.

Are we alone in the Universe?

Of course, Dyson spheres remain pure theory for now. Any such prediction is based on a number of assumptions: that aliens exist, that they develop according to similar physical laws, and that they want to build such large-scale objects in the first place. Perhaps they have found even more sophisticated ways of obtaining energy that we cannot even imagine.

However, such studies make us think about the future of humanity. If we want to survive as a species in the long term, we will have to become a “Type II civilization” on the Kardashev scale — one that completely controls the energy of its star. Studying possible Dyson spheres around white dwarfs is not only a search for “little green men,” but also an attempt to glimpse our own future millions of years from now.

Freeman Dyson once said that “The Universe is far more interesting than we can imagine.” And if somewhere in the depths of the Milky Way a red dwarf suddenly began to shine unusually dimly, it is possible that someone’s giant energy farm has been operating there for millions of years.

We previously reported that Jupiter should be destroyed to build a Dyson sphere around the Sun.

• According to Gizmodo

• Posted in News, Tech

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

09-03-2026 om 22:55 geschreven door peter  

All you need to know about missing former Air Force General with 'UFO secrets'

Retired US Air Force General William Neil McCasland vanished from his New Mexico home, with FBI joining search as journalist warns disappearance poses grave national security concerns

William Neil McCasland's disappearance has sparked major concerns 

(Image: United States Air Force)

NEED TO KNOW: UFO Expert and Ex-US Air Force General Vanishes

• Former US Air Force General William Neil McCasland has mysteriously vanished from his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, sparking fears over national security.
• The 68-year-old, who has unprecedented knowledge of UFO sightings, disappeared without a trace after leaving his house on foot. He left his mobile phone behind and is believed to have medical issues.
• Local police have issued a Silver Alert and the FBI has joined the desperate search for the missing general.
• McCasland's disappearance has raised serious concerns due to his potential knowledge of highly classified extraterrestrial information. During his Air Force career, he oversaw research at the secretive Wright Patterson Air Force Base, long linked to UFO conspiracies and the infamous Roswell incident.
• Investigative journalist Ross Coulthart warned the situation amounts to a "grave national security crisis". "This is a man with some of the most sensitive secrets of the United States in his head," he said on his Reality Check podcast.
• Coulthart believes the timing is suspicious, coming after President Trump's recent comments about possible government knowledge of extraterrestrial contact. "The fact that Gen. Neil McCasland has disappeared off the face of the earth is a grave national security crisis for the United States of America," he added.
• However, neither law enforcement nor the FBI have publicly acknowledged the disappearance as suspicious or linked it to McCasland's former military position.
• READ THE FULL STORY: Disappearance of US Airforce General with 'top-secret UFO knowledge' is 'national crisis'

Disappearance of US Airforce General with 'top-secret UFO knowledge' is ‘national crisis'

A former US Airforce General has vanished after leaving his New Mexico home this week, sparking concerns about his well-being as well as the release of secrets he might know

The disappearance of a former US Airforce General who is believed to have unprecedented knowledge on reported UFO sightings has gone missing from his home in Alberquerque, New Mexico, sparking serious concerns for his safety.

Law enforcement in the area report that William Neil McCasland vanished without a trace after leaving his home on foot. A 'Silver Alert' has been made by the local County Sheriff’s Office, who have also asked the public to come forward with any information that may help find the retiree, who is believed to have "“medical issues", according to reports

Since the initial alert made, the FBI are believed to have joined the search efforts for the 68-year-old.

It is unknown why McCasland decided to leave his house or where he was heading, although he is believed to have his mobile phone behind before his unexplained departure.

The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office issued a Silver Alert for the missing retiree, seeking help from the public in locating him

(Image: Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office)

McCasland's disappearance has sparked national security concerns, with some stressing that the former Airforce general may have secret and highly sensitive knowledge relating to UFO sightings.

Investigative journalist Ross Coulthart told listeners to his “Reality Check” podcast that the incident ammounted to a "grave national security crisis", especially if McCasland has knowledge of supposed "extraterrestrials".

“This is a man with some of the most sensitive secrets of the United States in his head", warned Coulthart.

At one point during his illustrious Airforce career McCasland is believed to have overseen research at the secretive Wright Patterson Air Force Base, a site long associated by conspiracists with classified space weapons programmes as well as possible extraterrestrial sightings such as the infamous Roswell incident.

Coulthart also postured that the disappearance may be connected to recent comments by President Donald Trump on the possibility of the US Government having knowledge of extraterrestrial contact.

Trump has told the US Pentagon to "release" files related to aliens and UFOs

(Image: Getty)

“The timing is screechingly relevant,” Coulthart said. “The fact that Gen. Neil McCasland has disappeared off the face of the earth is a grave national security crisis for the United States of America."

"This is a man with some of the most sensitive secrets of the United States in his head."

While Coulthart is not alone in believing McCasland's disappearance to be suspicious, neither law enforcement nor the FBI have publicly acknowledged it as being so.

There has also been no official links made to McCasland's former position in the Airforce.

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{ https://www.dailystar.co.uk/latest/ufo }

09-03-2026 om 22:34 geschreven door peter  

Will Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Shock Humanity?

How humans might respond if the U.S. government confirms nonhuman intelligence.

 Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

Key points

• If governments confirm nonhuman intelligence, research suggests reactions will vary widely.
• People with high intolerance of uncertainty may struggle more when familiar assumptions about reality change.
• Preparing mental health systems to support vulnerable individuals will be important if disclosure occurs.

Source: Greg Rakozy / Unsplash

{ https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb }

09-03-2026 om 22:15 geschreven door peter  

See stunning photos of the Atacama Desert — the driest on Earth — blooming in winter for 1st time in a decade

For the first time in a decade, plants in the Atacama Desert have started flowering in the middle of winter, covering a portion of the driest desert on the planet in white and violet hues. 

The rare bloom is the result of rain in northern Chile during the Southern Hemisphere's fall. About 0.4 inches (11 millimeters) fell in mid-April, which combined with the morning fog known locally as "camanchaca" to activate vegetation that can remain dormant for up to 15 years. 

Two of the first species to color the landscape this year were the "pata de guanaco" (Cistanthe grandiflora), with its bright fuchsia-colored flowers, and the white "sighs of the field" (Nolana baccata).

The flowering has occurred in an area covering between 115 and 155 square miles (300 to 400 square kilometers), said César Pizarro, head of the Biodiversity Conservation section and Scientific Research at the National Forestry Corporation (Conaf) in Atacama. A full flowering desert, which occurs in spring (September to October) due to winter rains, can extend over about 5,800 square miles (15,000 square km), with more than 200 species in bloom.

Typically, the desert flowers bloom in spring in years when at least 0.6 inches (15 mm) of rain falls between June, July and August. This is related to the El Niño phenomenon — which increases precipitations in Chile above average.

Related: 

• Rainforest of super trees descended from lost supercontinent Gondwana being created in Australia

In 2015, the rains fell in March, activating the vegetation in winter, just as is happening now. 

That year it also rained in July and August, causing the desert to explode with flowers in spring. 

But it's unclear if the same thing will occur this time. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecast indicates that current ENSO-neutral conditions — a period when neither El Niño or La Niña are happening — will likely persist for one more month before transitioning to La Niña . This means that the drought will return, and the Atacama Desert will not have enough humidity to reactivate the vegetation during the cycle.

If precipitation occurs in the coming weeks, atmospheric humidity would be higher than normal, potentially causing a flowering desert in September. However, this is not forecast.

Alternatively, if La Niña occurs soon, the flower patches blooming this winter are probably the last ones that will be seen this decade (because of the El Niño, La Niña cycles), and there will not be a huge flowering next spring, Francisco Squeo, president of the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB) and researcher in the Department of Biology at the University of La Serena, told Live Science.

The rare winter flowering of the Atacama Desert is not without problems. The main one, according to María Fernanda Pérez, associate professor of ecology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile , is that pollinators do not arrive as quickly as the plants react to rain. "If the seeds germinate and flower but the pollinators do not arrive, the seeds run out," she told Live Science.

This is likely happening now, as there are currently no bees, moths, beetles or other pollinators present due to low temperatures, according to Pizarro. Only mites and a few reptiles, birds and mammals have been seen.

Herbaceous plants — like those flowering in the Atacama Desert — have a self-pollination mechanism that activates if a pollinator does not arrive in a given year. But this backup occurs late in flowering. 

A major scientific unknown is what happens if this decoupling between flowering and pollinators caused by anomalous events , persists over time, as no seeds would be added to the reserve of those that remain dormant for the next reactivation.

"This very arid soil houses a treasure. [A] seed bank that has been resilient," she said.

With climate change, anomalous events like this year's winter bloom could become more frequent, potentially meaning annual plants do not reproduce. The flowering desert would only be left with bulbous plants, drastically reducing its diversity, or leaving room for invasive species, Pizarro said.

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{ https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth }

09-03-2026 om 17:50 geschreven door peter  

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

09-03-2026 om 16:43 geschreven door peter  

UFOs Seen Leaving Ocean Near Virgin Islands Feb 24, 2026, UFO UAP Sighting Paranormal News

Date of sighting: Feb 24, 2026

Location of sighting: Virgin Islands

Source: NUFORC

 

Guys this is rare, I mean really really rare. This is several small glowing UFOs coming out of the ocean off the coast of the Virgin Islands. You can see the water and myst rising from all around it and the lights rising up and out of our atmosphere. Since the earth is 75% covered in water, it makes sense that 75% or more of the alien bases on Earth are also underwater. Here is absolute proof of that. 

Scott C. Waring - UFO Sightings Daily

 

Eyewitness states: 

{ https://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/ 0

09-03-2026 om 16:14 geschreven door peter  

Geophysicist Stefan Burns has reported a recent surge in sightings of Oarfish, often nicknamed the “doomsday fish” because of their alleged connection to major natural disasters. These unusual deep-sea creatures have reportedly been spotted or washed ashore in several places recently, including California, Mexico, and Vietnam. 

Oarfish, known in Chinese as a dizhenyu or, earthquake fish, can grow to more than 30 feet in length and typically inhabit the deep ocean, far below the surface. Because they rarely appear near shore, beach stranding's are considered extremely uncommon. Some theories suggest they rise toward the surface when they somehow sense seismic activity before an earthquake, 

Kiyoshi Wadatsumi, a scientist who studies earthquakes at the nonprofit organization e-PISCO, said, “Deep-sea fish living near the sea bottom are more sensitive to the movements of active faults than those near the surface of the sea.” 

According to Kiyoshi Wadatsumi’s explanation, the recent sightings of oarfish in California, Mexico, and Vietnam may indicate that unusual activity is occurring in the deep waters of these regions. 

In a recent example, two rare oarfish, both still alive, washed ashore near Cabo San Lucas in Mexico, drawing attention from locals and researchers alike. (The second video shows an oarfish that had washed ashore in Mexico and was still alive.)

   

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

09-03-2026 om 16:04 geschreven door peter  

By Crisnel Longino

The emails organising the meeting involved redacted participants and an outside source, raising fresh questions about who was involved and why a supposedly closed programme was still being discussed at the highest levels of government. 

PHOTO Pixabay

For years the Pentagon insisted its secret UFO study programme quietly ended in 2012. But newly released Navy records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act have reignited the mystery.

The documents reveal that a classified briefing about the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, or AATIP, took place in March 2022 at a secure military facility in Washington.

The Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) was a classified initiative within the U.S. Department of Defense focused on studying unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). Established in 2007, AATIP was spearheaded by the former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who advocated for its creation based on concerns that these unexplained sightings could pose national security risks. The program was funded through a budget allocation linked to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and operated largely outside public view.

How a Secret UFO Programme First Began

AATIP first emerged publicly in 2017 when reports revealed that the United States Department of Defense had quietly funded a programme to study unidentified aerial phenomena, commonly called UFOs. The initiative began in 2007 unde

The effort was strongly supported by former Nevada senator Harry Reid, who believed unusual aerial encounters reported by military personnel deserved serious investigation. The programme focused on incidents involving aircraft and objects performing manoeuvres that appeared to defy known technology.

Many of these encounters involved Navy pilots who reported observing mysterious craft moving at extreme speeds or changing direction in ways conventional aircraft could not achieve. The best known example is the famous 'Tic Tac' incident involving the USS Nimitz carrier strike group in 2004.

The programme was reportedly run by counterintelligence officer Luis Elizondo, who later resigned from the Pentagon in 2017 and became a public figure in the push for greater transparency on UFO investigations.

Although the Department of Defense later acknowledged AATIP existed, officials maintained the programme had a limited scope and was closed years earlier.

What FOIA Emails Reveal About the 2022 Briefing

The newly released Navy records tell a more complicated story. Two separate FOIA requests submitted nearly a year apart both produced the same responsive document. It was a chain of emails arranging a 23 March 2022 briefing covering AATIP and another Pentagon office called the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronisation Group, known as AOIMSG.

The event was divided into three sessions. One was unclassified and scheduled to last about 50 to 55 minutes followed by a short question session. Two other presentations were classified at the TS SCI level, meaning Top Secret Sensitive Compartmented Information.

Those classified discussions took place inside a secure facility known as a SCIF located in Roosevelt Hall at the National War College on the Fort McNair campus in Washington.

Perhaps the most striking detail in the released records is that the original invitation email was labelled as coming from a non Department of Defense source. This suggests the briefing was arranged through communication between government officials and at least one outside individual or organisation.

However the identities of the participants remain hidden. All names and contact details were removed from the documents under FOIA privacy rules.

Redacted Names Hint at Possible Key Figures

Although the released documents conceal the names involved, the structure of the FOIA requests provides clues.

One request specifically searched for emails sent to or from Brennan P McKernan, who has previously been reported as a director connected to the Pentagon's UAP task force. Another request required the keyword 'Elizondo' and sought communications involving Luis Elizondo as a private citizen.

The fact that the email chain was considered responsive to both searches strongly suggests those names appear somewhere within the redacted header fields such as the sender or recipient lines.

This does not prove either individual attended the briefing. But it indicates that their names were at least mentioned in connection with the planning or communication surrounding the event.

All identifying information was removed under FOIA exemption rules protecting personal privacy.

Why the Briefing Raises New Questions About AATIP

The March 2022 presentation is notable because it took place years after AATIP was officially said to have ended.

The briefing itself was described as an 'AATIP AOIMSG Presentation,' suggesting that the earlier programme was being discussed alongside its successor office. AOIMSG was established in 2021 to coordinate the Pentagon's approach to unidentified airborne objects.

The presentation reportedly included discussion of congressional reports and multiple 'Tic Tac' incidents. That wording is significant because public attention has largely focused on a single encounter involving the USS Nimitz. The use of the plural term suggests that other similar events may have been examined during the classified briefing.

While the released emails do not confirm who attended or what information was presented behind closed doors, they show that AATIP remained part of official discussions within secure military settings.

{ https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/trending }

08-03-2026 om 22:38 geschreven door peter  

Can we grow life on Mars? Experiments show potential in simulated extraterrestrial soil

by Texas A&M University

Life's capacity to survive in simulated lunar and Martian soils has been explored in two papers published in Scientific Reports. Treating simulated lunar soil with both symbiotic fungi and worm-produced compost can significantly improve the likelihood of reproduction for chickpea plants growing in the soil, indicates one study. A separate paper suggests that some microbes may be able to absorb enough water from the atmosphere to grow in simulated Martian soil at atmospheric humidity levels comparable to those on the planet.

Lunar soil—known technically as lunar regolith—does not support healthy plant growth, as it contains high concentrations of certain metals such as aluminum and zinc, does not allow water to filter through easily, and lacks the microbiome found in Earth soils. Previous research has investigated several ways to improve the fertility of lunar soil, although plants grown in these treated soils typically display various signs of stress, including stunted growth and leaf yellowing.

Jessica Atkin and colleagues grew chickpea plants (Cicer arietinum) in samples of simulated lunar soil that they treated in two ways: by adding vermicompost—produced by red wiggler earthworms (Eisenia fetida) as they decompose biowaste—at different concentrations; and by inoculating half of the soil samples at each concentration with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). On Earth, AMF improve the nutrient circulation properties of soil, reduce the quantity of potentially toxic metals available for absorption by plants, and produce a protein that helps bind soil together to reduce erosion. The authors then measured the quantity and weight of chickpea seeds produced, along with the plants' heights and root mass.

The authors found that chickpeas could only flower and produce seeds in samples treated with both AMF and vermicompost. Compared with control plants grown in 100% commercial potting mix, the treated plants in simulated lunar soil produced a significantly lower number of seeds. However, the average seed weight was comparable between plants grown in 25% and 50% vermicompost and the control plants. AMF-treated plants also had a significantly greater dry shoot and root mass than untreated plants, indicating improved plant growth.

The authors therefore suggest that soil regeneration strategies from Earth may be viable on the moon. However, they caution that all plants grown in some percentage of lunar soil simulant showed signs of stress compared to the control plants.

In a separate study, Jyothi Raghavendra and colleagues investigated growing conditions for microbes in simulated Martian soil. For 60 days, they measured the mass of DNA present in 500 milligrams of simulated soil, kept in a sterile environment at 34% atmospheric humidity—comparable humidity to conditions on Mars.

The authors found that the DNA mass increased up to day 30, indicating that microbes already present in the soil grew despite the inhospitable conditions. However, the measured DNA mass had decreased back to zero by day 60. Raghavendra and co-authors argue that their results could inform experiments to determine habitability conditions for microbes on Mars.

{ https://phys.org/space-news/ }

08-03-2026 om 21:33 geschreven door peter  

Story by Joe Hindy

©Bfk92/Getty Images

12 Of The Fastest Fighter Jets In The World, Ranked
Fighter jets are some of the most popular types of aircraft with enthusiasts. They look cool, they go fast, and their dogfighting is super entertaining to watch. Fighter jets are also featured in video games such as the "Ace Combat" series, and several fighter jets were featured in "Top Gun". Not only are they quick, but they're also agile, pulling off all kinds of crazy moves midair. In addition, fighter jets are also some of the most expensive vehicles in any given military, often costing billions of dollars to design, develop, and ship.

Agility, technology, and weapon systems are often used to measure the strength of a fighter jet. However, speed is also crucial. There are a variety of fast aircraft out there, including the SR-71, which can eclipse Mach 3 speeds at incredibly high altitudes. Prototype planes such as the Lockheed YF-12 have reportedly gone as fast as Mach 3. However, not a lot of data exists on prototype aircraft. Modern fighter jets can't go that fast, but many can do Mach 2 without issue.

Unfortunately, jet speeds are not always exacting rates you can figure out. Not only can planes fly faster at higher altitudes, but Mach values change depending on how far up you are above sea level. Mach 1 is roughly 760 mph at sea level and drops to 659 mph at 60,000 feet. The less dense air at higher altitudes allows planes to move faster while colder air causes sound to move slower. Thus, it's not unusual for most aircraft to have multiple reported speeds.

©vaalaa/Shutterstock

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 Foxbat
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 Foxbat travels at a top speed of Mach 2.8, or roughly 2,150 mph at high altitude. That makes it the second fastest jet on Earth behind only the SR-71. The fighter jet has been deployed by multiple militaries since its first flight in 1964. MiGs are primarily used in Russia. These days, only two remain in service and both of them belong to the Syrian Air Force. In addition to fighting, the MiG-25 was also commonly used for recon work. Iraq used the fighter jet often during the Gulf War, specifically for reconnaissance.

It was designed primarily to fly as fast and as high as possible. Its speed is truly impressive, but don't overlook its 67,000-foot maximum altitude. That's what really gives it an advantage over other fighters. The downside is that the jet was quite difficult to maneuver, and it required tons of maintenance to remain effective. In fact, it required a engine replacement every 150 flight hours. It was eventually phased out for the MiG-31, which was slower overall, but featured more advanced technology and better maneuverability.

The MiG-25 Foxbat set several speed and altitude records in its early days. It also had a huge effect on aerospace technology moving forward. The U.S. created the F-15 to counter the MiG-25, but ultimately, the MiG-25's high maintenance costs and focus on speed over agility caused it to age poorly.

©Andreas Stroh/Shutterstock

North American XB-70 Valkyrie
The North American XB-70 Valkyrie is a unique bomber-style of fighter jet. Most stat sheets put this jet as having a top speed of around 2,050 mph, which, depending on the altitude, is about Mach 3. It wasn't able to cruise at those speeds and spent most of its time in the sky at a slower, but still impressive Mach 2.5. It was experimental its entire lifetime, but there is enough speed data to know how fast it could go. The plane achieved these speeds by way of six jet engines and being made of lighter, more heat-resistant materials.

In addition to its high speed, the aircraft could also go as high as 70,000 feet, which is much higher than most fighter jets. It was developed in the 1950s and 1960s, and it was meant as a replacement to the iconic B-52 bomber. It never officially went into production, but the U.S. Air Force got its hands on two of them to test the aerodynamics of large supersonic aircraft.

This is where things get really interesting. The bomber's design was eventually switched to recon work where it was rebranded as the RS-70. A few more design tweaks and a former President Lyndon B. Johnson naming flub later, and the RS-70 would finally go into production as the legendary SR-71. Of course, the SR-71 can go faster than the XB-70, but it also isn't a fighter jet.

©Nero59/Shutterstock

Mikoyan MiG-31
The Mikoyan MiG-31 Foxhound is the fighter jet that officially replaced the MiG-25 Foxbat. It has a top speed of roughly 1,900 mph. It can do faster bursts for short periods of time, but it risks permanent damage when doing so. The replacement had some notable improvements over the outgoing MiG-25. It was easier to fly at lower altitudes, had improved agility, could fly longer ranges, and its engines didn't need replaced as frequently. The MiG-31 was also made of stronger, lighter materials along with better overall technology. The only downside was that it couldn't go as fast as its predecessor.

The MiG-31 is still used today in several countries. Russia sent it out to Finland, Syria, Kazakhstan, and other places. There are also multiple variants, such as the MiG-31F, MiG-31B, and MiG-31M. These hosted different types of technology, improvements from the original, and other weapons to perform multiple types of missions. There is even an experimental version, dubbed the MiG-31LL, that Russia uses for aircraft testing.

Unlike its predecessor, this one is still widely used. Russia intends to fly them until at least 2030. These days, the Russian Air Force predominately uses the MiG-31BM variant, which is the most recent production model with several improvements over the original. The Russians are in the process of modernizing their fighter jets so that they can deploy as long as possible.

©Alastair T. Gardiner

Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-152
The Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-152 is part of the Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-150 family of fighter jets initially designed for the Soviet Air Defense Forces. Among the family, which includes over half a dozen major variants and even more subvariants, the Ye-152 is the fastest one with a top speed of roughly 1,880 mph at an altitude of 50,525 feet. That's fast enough to put in the upper echelon of quick fighter jets. The jet was powered by a Tumansky R-15B-300 turbojet engine. That is of note because it was the same engine as the MiG-25 Foxbat, except the MiG-25 had two of them. The Ye-152 only had one.

The Ye-152-1 in particular set multiple FAI-recognized speed and altitude world records. That puts it leagues above most other fighter jets. Unfortunately, due to a variety of factors, the Ye-150 series of fighter jets never reached production. Reports state that electronic issues, engine reliability problems, and developmental delays ultimately led to the project being abandoned in the early 1960s. Those same engine reliability problems plagued the MiG-25 Foxbat as well.

Only four Ye-150 family models were ever produced. Today, only the Ye-152M remains. It lives in the Central Air Force Museum in Monino, Russia. Its legacy carries on in other ways. The R-15 series of turbojet engines would eventually get some much needed upgrades. A variant of the engine was put into a Ye-266M, which is an experimental variant of the MiG-25. That lone jet currently holds the world altitude record for ground-launched aircraft at 123,523 ft.

©Robhowarth/Getty Images

McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle
The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is one of the best fighter jets in the U.S. Air Force arsenal. It blends an excellent mix of maneuverability and speed, and some variants can reach speeds of up to 1,875 mph. In general, the base models aren't as fast, but can still do about 1,650 mph. The jet was produced in the 1970s in response to Russia's MiG-25 and MiG-31. Variants were produced throughout the jet's run, including some newer ones for the Persian Gulf War in the early 1990s. The fighter jet is still in service today in a few countries, including the U.S., Japan, and Israel.

The jet has a number of variants, including the F-15E Strike Eagle. Most of them are capable of the same 1,650 mph that the standard version has. In addition, the F-15 has some cool technology. The aforementioned F-15E, for example, can accelerate from idle to maximum power in just four seconds. It also houses a heads-up display that displays a video picture at night that makes everything look like it does during the day. The F-15 series in general was the first U.S. aircraft to have thrust that exceeded the jet's weight, allowing it to accelerate while 100% vertical.

It doesn't have the pop culture relevance of other fighter jets like the F/A-18 Super Hornet from "Independence Day" or the F-14 Tomcats from "Top Gun: Maverick", but it's every bit as awesome as its movie star brethren. Some variants of the F-15 are heading toward retirement, but they are expected to remain in use by the U.S. Air Force for at least a while longer.

©Png Studio Photography/Shutterstock

Convair F-106 Delta Dart
The Convair F-106 Delta Dart is the beginning of a series of fighter jets that have very similar speeds. This one has a top speed of roughly 1,587 mph. It uses the same engine as the F-105 Thunderchief, and the two can go roughly the same speed depending on the altitude. The F-105 was a bomber whereas the F-106 was an interceptor. The aircraft went into production in 1956 and became fully operational for the U.S. Air Force in 1959, just in time for the Vietnam War. It would eventually retire from service in the late 1980s after more powerful fighter jets took its place.

Convair's F-106, a single engine jet fighter, was quite quick for its day. The F-106A variant of the aircraft broke world speed records back in 1959. It was beaten in 1971 by the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom, which housed a dual-engine design. The single engine record would stand for one more year before it was beat by the Ye-152. Enthusiasts dispute that the Ye-152 eclipsed the record, but even if it did, the F-106 was still one quick fighter jet.

There are still some F-106s around today. Most of them are in museums. There is at least one fun story about the F-106. In 1970, a pilot was flying one in Montana. The pilot lost control and ejected from the jet. For some reason, this caused the jet to cease its spinning and the unpiloted F-106 landed itself in a snow-covered field. After minor repairs, that F-106 re-entered service where it would spend another 16 years before retiring to a museum.

©Kirkikis/Getty Images

Grumman F-14 Tomcat
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is another iconic jet used by the United States armed forces — this time with the U.S. Navy. Its top speed is roughly 1,554 mph. It's perhaps best known as one of the fighter jets used in the original "Top Gun" movie. The jet was excellent even outside of cinema. It could guide six missiles against six different targets while keeping track of 18 additional enemy aircraft up to 195 miles away. In fact, it was such a technological marvel in the 1970s that Russia tried to fish one out of the ocean to figure out how it worked.

The dual-engine jet is certified as a Mach 2 class fighter and joins several others in the 1,500-mph club. While its speed didn't set it apart from others all that much, the fact that it could do so many things did. It was developed as the successor to the popular F-4 Phantom II. Some of its features included variable wings that adjusted based on speed and altitude along with a rotary cannon for up close dogfighting.

Grumman's F-14 got even more advanced over the years. For example, it was fitted with laser-guided bombs during NATO's 1995 intervention in Bosnia. The jet was eventually retired in the early 2000s with the U.S. destroying most of its stock to keep its design secret. The remaining stock are predominately in museums these days. It was replaced by the F/A-18 Super Hornet, which saw its own cinema action in "Top Gun: Maverick".

©Dawid Lech/Shutterstock

Sukhoi Su-27
The Sukhoi Su-27 is a legendary fighter jet often compared to the F-15 Eagle. The Su-27 has a top speed of about 1,550 mph, which translates to Mach 2.35 at altitude. The reason for the comparison is that the Soviet Union specifically designed this fighter jet in response to the F-15. It's not quite as quick but matches the F-15 in other areas. It can fly as high as 59,000 ft and it can fly for more than 1,800 miles before needing to refuel. Those are impressive numbers.

The Su-27 officially entered service in 1982 and were immediately implemented in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, and a few others. India joined the Su-27 party in 2002. China also ordered some in 2004 while Mexico added some in 2006. The Su-27 has seen combat as recently as 2023 after Russian forces invaded the Ukraine in 2022.

Powering the Su-27 are two AL-31F turbofan engines. Modern versions have some tweaked engines for performance boosts as well. It's only natural that a jet fighter in production as long as the Su-27 gets some mechanical modifications over the course of its life. It's likely that these will remain in service for decades if it adheres to the notion that military aircraft tend to last about 50 years. However, the Su-35 and Su-57, the successors to the Su-27 with similar top speeds, are already out, so the Su-27's days may be numbered.

©David Colman/Getty Images

Shenyang J-15
The Shenyang J-15 Flying Shark is an interesting piece of military technology. The base speed of the J-15 is Mach 2.4, or about 1,550 mph depending on altitude. It's one of the newest fighter jets on the list as it was introduced to the world in 2013. It's used exclusively by the People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force in China. As such, it's a little difficult to nail down the full spec sheet of this fighter jet. It's a cousin of the Shenyang J-11 that was released in 1998. However, the J-15 is not technically based on the J-11 despite their similar names.

Instead, the J-11 and J-15 are China's versions of the Sukhoi Su-27 and Su-33, respectively. Thus, it makes sense that these fighter jets are about as fast and well equipped as their Sukhoi counterparts. Early models even used the same AL-31 powerplant as their Su counterparts before switching to the Chinese-made WS-10 in 2022. There are some differences outside of the engine, but at a distance, you'd be forgiven for mistaking one for the other.

The only question mark is how fast the WS-10 engines are. The Chinese have reported the rated speed was Mach 2.4 back in 2017. That's before the WS-10 engines came into service, so there isn't a lot of documentation about how fast the newer engine is with the J-15. Given the dates, the rated speed is most likely with the older AL-31 engine, so newer J-15s may be even faster. There are roughly 50 in operation right now and the jet is still in production today.

©Bbevren/Getty Images

Chengdu J-20
The Chengdu J-20 is the newest jet fighter on this list courtesy of China. It has a rated speed of Mach 2, which is roughly 1,320 mph depending on altitude. However, Popular Mechanics lists the J-20 as achieving a top speed of Mach 2.55, which is roughly 1,650 mph at altitude. That makes the J-20 the fastest fighter jet that China has right now, but it also doesn't seem like it can sustain flight at that speed for very long. The jet was built with the Chinese-made WS-10 engine, but later variants are getting the newly made WS-15 engines in 2023. The new engines would make its top speed similar to the F-22 Raptor's 1,550 mph. That means there are three potential rated speeds for this jet.

For most fighter jets, almost the complete history is available, including variants, experimental versions, and prototypes. The Chengdu J-20 is right at the beginning of what will likely be a decades-long trek through the Chinese military industrial complex, so there are a lot of things that can still happen with it. There are already a few variants, including the J-20B which is the variant equipped with the new engines. There will be more, so it may end up being even faster by the time it retires.

For now, the Chengdu J-20 is in production and service right now. China seems to have north of 200 of them in service right now, and they make up a decent percentage of China's jet fighters.

©Johnnypowell/Getty Images

Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor
The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor was pressed into service in 2005 when it went into full production. It's rated top speed is somewhere around 1,550 mph, which is more or less the norm for Mach 2-class fighter jets. In addition to its excellent speed, the F-22 Raptor also boasts some serious hardware and technology, including the ability to cruise at Mach 1.5 without using afterburners. In addition, it can carry over 2,000 pounds of munitions and detect enemies well over 200 miles away. There isn't much this fighter can't do when compared to its peers.

While the F-22 is still in U.S. Air Force service today, there is a push to retire some of them early. They are expensive to maintain, and some of the older ones in the fleet would require costly preparation to make them combat ready again. Congress has blocked it so far, but it seems the Air Force is trying each year to get the job done. The broken-down F-22s only make up about 20% of the total number in the fleet, so the U.S. will still have F-22s flying around after some of them are retired.

Other than the older models being retired, the F-22 has caused other problems in military circles. They are quite expensive at $125 million per jet, and the Air Force already has a weighty budget. Additionally, the U.S. is already working on the next generation of fighter jets for its arsenal.

©VanderWolf Images/Shutterstock

Dassault Mirage 2000
The Dassault Mirage 2000 is last on the list, but it is by no means a slow fighter jet. It boasts a maximum speed of Mach 2.2 at high altitude, which translates to roughly 1,450 mph. It began life in 1978 with some variants distributed as recently as 1991. This one is still in use in many countries around the world, including Abu Dhabi, Egypt, France, Greece, India, and Taiwan. The most recent variants came out in the mid-2010s, so this is very much a modern jet fighter.

As such, it has a lot of modern amenities. It can attach up to nine weapons and includes two internally mounted machine guns. There is also digital weapons and navigations systems, something older fighters don't have. The original version was built for the French Air Force, which uses the upgraded models today. It's so popular that there are over 500 of them in operation, which is quite a large number for military aircraft. There are also single- and double-seater versions of the jet along with a variant specifically designed to carry nuclear weapons.

It's hard to say how long the Dassault Mirage 2000 will be in service, but it'll likely be a while. They're still being actively manufactured and air forces on multiple continents use them for a variety of purposes. This one never broke any speed or altitude records like others on this list, but it's still pretty quick overall.

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08-03-2026 om 21:19 geschreven door peter  

Scientists tracked faint signals from the stars — and may have turned up hundreds of undiscovered planets

An illustration of the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets. Astronomers have proposed a new method that could swiftly uncover hundreds of new alien worlds. 

(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Scientists have found a potential shortcut for identifying stars that host planets. The technique, based on specific signals in starlight, could make it easier to search for exoplanets, according to a new study.

The team has already used their new method to turn up half a dozen previously undiscovered planets — but because most of the alien worlds are very close to their stars, they are unlikely to be habitable, the study authors say.

Many of the 6,000-plus known exoplanets are located extremely close to their host stars. This proximity often doesn't turn out well for such close-in worlds, whose surfaces get whipped up by the stars' intense radiation and form comet-like tails of debris. This includes exoplanets like K2-22b, which was analyzed by the James Webb Space Telescope in 2025. The debris typically remains, for millions of years, as a cloud circling the planet's host star.

{ https://www.livescience.com/space }

08-03-2026 om 20:43 geschreven door peter  

Ancient 'alien-like' skulls have been found on every continent but Antarctica. Anthropologists are starting to figure out why.

Humans have practiced head shaping for tens of thousands of years, and anthropologists are beginning to uncover clues as to why.

For millennia, people have shaped the skull during infancy. Archaeologists are starting to unpack why. 

(Image credit: Nabeel Nezzar)

When the Spanish first reached the Andes, they found something surprising: Many of the locals had long, pointy heads. They discovered that the Collagua, an indigenous group in Peru that was conquered by the Inca, had a practice of shaping the head starting in infancy, before the skull bones fused and soft spots disappeared.

The Spanish jumped to the worst conclusions.

"They said it was this horrible thing and brains bled out of ears," Christina Torres, a bioarchaeologist at the University of California, Riverside, told Live Science. "But that doesn't seem to be the case."

A pre-Inca skull from Paracas that dates to around 1000 B.C. When the Spanish encountered people in the Andes, they found head shaping was common.

Credit: DEA / G. DAGLI ORTI via Getty Images

Prehispanic Indigenous groups were not the only ones to practice head shaping. For centuries, archaeologists have found skulls on every continent except Antarctica that show evidence of "cranial vault modification" — heads shaped to be either flatter or more conical than they would be if left alone.

Given that babies cannot bind their own heads, experts think head shaping was done by caregivers. Now, archaeologists are beginning to uncover clues about why people performed this practice for millennia, particularly in places like the Andes, where the practice has been documented the best.

Through systematic analysis, what experts are uncovering is a profusion of practices and explanations, some of which are baffling or contradictory. In some places, a shaped head may be a marker of group status, while in other places, head shapes differ even among close family members. And in other places, the feature used to identify it — the unusual head shape — may not even have been the intent of the practice, researchers are finding.

"Something as ostensibly shocking as cranial modification may have been almost a routine practice for some children in some time periods," Matthew Velasco, a bioarchaeologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who studies head shaping in the Peruvian Andes, told Live Science.

What's more, it likely originated very deep in human history — and emerged in many times and places, Velasco said. "I think we have to start from the assumption that the meaning varies across time and space."

How are heads shaped?

Bone remodels easily when children are young, so a simple strip of wrapped cloth can control how the head grows, much like how a bonsai tree can be shaped and pruned, Torres said. For example, nowadays, babies with plagiocephaly — a flat spot caused by sleeping in one position — are often prescribed helmet therapy to change their head shape.

This was a slow and gradual process done with fabric and pillows.

Christina Torres, bioarchaeologist at the University of California, Riverside

Experts have identified more than two dozen apparatuses that were used to create different head shapes, but "the most typical method would be just wrapping the baby's head circumferentially and making a longer, more conical shape," Torres explained, as this technique requires the least equipment and the least training.

Based on historical records from groups that practiced it, head wrapping began by around 6 months of age in most cultures and ended within a year or two, Tyler O'Brien, a forensic anthropologist at the University of Northern Iowa, wrote in "Boards and Cords" (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024), a book about the worldwide history of cranial modification. The shaping was likely done by a mother or midwife.

There's not a lot of information, though, on whether this practice was painful, but it does not appear to have had any major consequences for brain development, Torres said.

Early, biased accounts suggested head shaping could make eyes bug out. However, this baby with a shaped skull likely has bulging eyes because of anemia, one expert suggested.

Credit: Collectie Wereldmuseum (v/h Tropenmuseum), part of the National Museum of World Cultures, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

"There's one instance where [bioarchaeologists] think a child died because of cranial modification, where the head was compressed too much," she said. "That is anomalous, as far as I can tell. This was a slow and gradual process done with fabric and pillows."

So, although Spanish explorers in the Andes said they were shocked by "brains coming out" and explorers in Borneo and Vanuatu said kids' eyes "bulged from their sockets," these subjective accounts are probably greatly exaggerated, O'Brien wrote. In reality, the child likely adapted quickly to any discomfort, and the brain would have conformed to the shape of the skull, resulting in no ill effects on cognition or intelligence.

If not done properly, however, head shaping that involved overly restrictive or infrequently changed bindings could cause infection. "I think the worst thing you could have is a [skin] ulcer that gets infected and then eats through the bone, which does happen," Christine Lee, a bioarchaeologist at the University of Mississippi, told Live Science. Scalp infections and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) issues also may have occurred, Torres said.

Archaeological evidence for head shaping

To identify a shaped head, archaeologists sometimes used visual inspection as well as human skull measurements, known as craniometry. Craniometry has been around since the 19th century, when American naturalist and eugenicist Samuel Morton used cranial traits to create racial hierarchies that have since been debunked.

Although there is no standardized, agreed-upon method to determine if a head has been shaped, archaeologists often use a 3D, mathematical analysis of cranial measurements to see whether the ratio of certain measurements, such as the width, length and height of the skull, are outside the range of what is expected as part of natural variation and are thus likely to have been intentionally shaped.

That analysis suggests that head shaping is widespread in the archaeological record. Cranial modification has been found in skulls from Europe, the Near East, Africa, Asia and Oceania, and it is most strongly associated with the Americas. But that doesn't necessarily mean it was more common there; rather, evidence of shaped heads may have been better preserved in the Andes, where the cool, dry conditions did not degrade mummified remains as quickly, Velasco said.

In fact, the oldest archaeological evidence of head shaping comes from Australia. Two artificially flattened skulls were discovered in the southern state of Victoria at the site of Kow Swamp, which is at least 13,000 years old.

And ancient skulls reveal the practice boomed in the Neolithic period, appearing in Europe around 12,500 years ago, in China around 11,000 years ago, and in what is now Iran around 10,000 years ago, according to O'Brien.

Three examples of types of head shaping apparatuses used by pre-Hispanic people in the Andes.

(Illustration based on: M.J. Allison et al., 1981. La práctica de la deformación craneana entre los pueblos andinos precolombinos. Chungara: Revista de Antropología Chilena 81(7): 250.) | Credit: Quinn Reynolds

Early accounts

Some of the earliest explanations for head shaping, which come largely from Spanish explorers in the Americas, are some of the most suspect. That's because few explorers bothered to ask practitioners why they engaged in head shaping. Instead, these wild stories were often based on rumor or hearsay.

For instance, Christopher Columbus first reported head shaping among the Indigenous people of Hispaniola, the island that encompasses the Dominican Republic and Haiti, in 1492. He illogically guessed that the islanders had flat heads because their mothers pressed them tightly between two wooden planks, causing the skull bones to thicken like helmets and protect them from Spanish blows, according to Pilar Zabala Aguirre, an anthropologist at the Autonomous University of Yucatán in Mexico, who has compiled more than 100 Spanish historical records on the practice.

Other explorers invented different possible explanations: ethnic grouping; high military rank; attributes such as courage, bravery or obedience; the ability to carry heavier loads strapped around the forehead; health improvements; and beauty ideals, Zabala found.

These explanations are even more suspect because they were often tied to racism or beliefs in the superiority of Western culture or even used to explicitly make that argument.

For instance, English physician John Bulwer cataloged various types of body modification in his 1650 book "Anthropometamorphosis," condemning them as disfiguring and an affront to God, according to O'Brien.

It wasn't until the early 20th century that anthropologists moved away from "studying abnormal head shape in the living 'other' and describing it as hideous, frightful, and disgusting," O'Brien wrote, and toward a less-biased understanding of cranial variation.

Changing understanding of the practice

Using those robust, less biased methods, archaeologists are gradually unwrapping some of the mystery surrounding the practice, mostly in the Americas. And what they're finding is not an overarching trend, but a range of reasons and practices.

For instance, the Collagua in Peru ostensibly "told the Spanish that they shaped the heads of their children like the mountain from which they come," Velasco said.

Among the Indigenous Caddo people of Oklahoma, meanwhile, different kinds of shaping reflected membership in different clans, Lee said.

Yet head shaping differed not only within cultures but even within families. Velasco's ongoing research, which involves analyzing the DNA of extended families buried together in the Andes, has revealed that the heads of biologically linked people were often shaped in different ways — so one family member might have an elongated head, while another might have an unmodified, rounded head.

In fact, in some cultures or families, the shapes of the heads may have been the unintended result, rather than the goal, of a practice that was more important to them, such as binding.

"The shape itself might actually be collateral to the practice" in the Andes, Torres said.

In the same way that some people swaddle their children, the same way that there's religious circumcision, you bind the heads of your children because that is what we do to our children.

Christina Torres, bioarchaeologist at the University of California, Riverside

Instead, in some parts of the Americas, head shaping may have lingered simply as a tradition. For instance, in the Andes, the practice may be part of a rite of passage for either the infant or the mother, Torres said. If head shaping began around 6 months of age, that is a time when the baby's first teeth were coming in and weaning foods may have been introduced. There, head shaping may be similar to putting jewelry on a child or baptizing them to protect them, she said.

Among the pre-hispanic people of the Andes, "it's basically a child-rearing practice," Torres said. "In the same way that some people swaddle their children, the same way that there's religious circumcision, you bind the heads of your children because that is what we do to our children."

While the most common form of head shaping made the skull conical, other methods made the head flatter. In some areas of the Americas, people in the same family had different head shapes.

Credit: VW Pics via Getty Images

A natural conclusion

In fact, the idea of shaping a head into a conical form may have been presented by birth itself. The infant cranium naturally deforms when it passes through the birth canal, Velasco said.

"When my child was born, for example, he had a slightly conical head," he said. "Birthing presents this possibility to every parent, and it doesn't take much of a leap to feel the supple head of a child and to wrap it, to clothe it."

Thus, it's not surprising that many cultures might have stumbled upon head shaping, given that "anyone who has observed or assisted a human birth will recognize that the human head is malleable," Velasco added.

This recognition of the plasticity of a baby's head may have spurred a need to protect it. For example, among the Maya, modifying an infant's head was likened to putting a roof on a house and was thought to protect the child.

That protection may have then become more metaphorical than physical. In some places, it has "an almost talismanic aspect to it," Lee said, as if something bad might happen to the child if the shaping were not done. "That implies there must be almost a fear of not doing it."

Beauty and 'in-group' status

Outside the Americas, few historical records describe head shaping, but "it seems to have been independently invented in multiple places," Torres said.

Each of these places may have had different justifications for the practice. In prehistoric China and Japan, for instance, head shaping was likely a status marker tied to the elite. Lee thinks it's likely that in ancient Asia, head shaping — similar to foot binding in more recent times — represented an extreme way of achieving a beauty standard.

Similarly, during the fourth to seventh centuries in Europe, head shaping surged in popularity among the Huns, skeletons reveal. Without historical evidence from the Huns detailing the reason for this practice, experts have conjectured that it was a "fashion wave" in the Eurasian steppe that conferred higher social status.

The Mangbetu people of the Congo practiced "lipombo," which made the head long and conical, into the 1900s. The Belgian colonial government outlawed the practice. 

Credit: Michel HUET via Getty Images

But head shaping often leaves subtle traces, meaning people who engaged in the practice may not have looked much different from those who didn't. That suggests the practice was not necessarily a striking visual marker of in-group status, which raises questions about whether that was its purpose.

"Hair hides a lot," Lee said. "There are people today with unusually shaped skulls, and it just doesn't show depending on their haircut." For example, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and political consultant Roger Stone both have (presumably naturally) pointier-than-average heads.

Modern cases of head shaping

Although cranial vault modification has been going on for tens of thousands of years, it persisted well into the 20th century in parts of Africa, Oceania and Europe.

The Arawe people in Papua New Guinea practiced head shaping as late as the 1930s, according to a study of several villages in 1955. The Arawe used bark-cloth bandages to create what they considered an aesthetically pleasing "long-headed" style.

Among the Mangbetu people of the Congo, the practice of "lipombo" involved tightly wrapping an infant's head with cloth bandages to encourage a long, conical shape thought to be beautiful and powerful. The Belgian colonial government outlawed the practice, which died out in the 1950s.

And in early 20th-century France, some parents chose to band their newborns' heads immediately after birth for up to four years in a practice called "bandeau," which practitioners thought protected babies from injury. The "Toulouse deformity," named after the region where it was practiced, has been captured in a series of historical photos, but bandeau declined in popularity and disappeared by World War I.

"This is not something that is simply a brute barbarian practice that people evolved out of," Velasco said. "It is fairly independent of social complexity."

Head shaping, or "bandeau," was practiced in Toulouse into the 20th century. 

Credit: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

RELATED STORIES

• 9 ways people have modified their bodies since the dawn of time, from foot binding to castration
• Why did these medieval European women have alien-like skulls?
• Deformed skulls and ritual beheadings found at Maya pyramid in Mexico

The practice of shaping an infant's head to look like an "alien's" may seem foreign or bizarre to us in the 21st century. But the human body has long been a canvas for cultural, spiritual and personal expression.

The earliest known tattoos date back at least 5,000 years in Copper Age Europe, tooth filing and "grills" go back 2,000 years to the Maya, and neck elongation was practiced 1,000 years ago in Southeast Asia. Today, we tend to modify the soft tissues of our bodies through common practices like ear piercing and circumcision, but also more uncommon procedures like horn implants, eyeball tattooing and Brazilian butt lifts.

"Cranial modification is part of a practice that is universal: body modification and presentation," Velasco said. "We all invest our future in our children in different ways. That's how I think about cranial modification. It's like an investment in the future of a child. And when you put it in that way, it's hard not to relate to it."

{ https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth }

08-03-2026 om 20:26 geschreven door peter  

08-03-2026 om 18:33 geschreven door peter