What information does the Kardashev scale provide us?

Oleksandr Burlaka

When it comes to how much more advanced extraterrestrial civilizations may be than us, the Kardashev scale is often mentioned. It suggests the possibility of civilizations that can control the energy of entire galaxies. But does that mean they are truly advanced?

How powerful could extraterrestrial civilizations be?

Aliens

The science of extraterrestrial civilizations is still in its infancy. This is not surprising, given that no representative of such civilizations has ever been seen or heard. However, several concepts have already been developed in this field, which are widely used both in research and in popular presentations of the state of affairs in this area.

One of them is the Kardashev scale, which describes how advanced civilizations we may encounter. They are divided into three types based on the total power of all their activities (machines, power plants, etc.). Type I – those that operate with all the energy of their own planet, 1.74·10¹⁷ W. Type II – those that operate with energy comparable to a star (3.828·10²⁶ W for the Sun). Type III – those that operate with energies comparable to an entire galaxy, 8·10³⁶ W.

As you can easily see, the difference between types I and II is nine orders of magnitude, or approximately one billion times, and between types II and III it is ten orders of magnitude, or 10 billion times. Earth’s civilization does not even reach the first type, and this always shocks people who see this picture for the first time.

Kardashev scale. Source: Wikipedia

The Kardashev scale is often presented as something that really helps us understand how far ahead of us aliens whose civilizations existed millions or even billions of years ago might be. But is this really the case? Let’s figure it out together.

Signal transmission over distance

The main thing to know about where the scale of civilization development came from and why it is the way we know it is that Nikolai Kardashev, its author, was an astrophysicist. He was not a historian, a robotics expert, or a biologist, but rather a person who was accustomed to looking at distant lights in the sky and constructing theories about what they were.

The scale itself was presented in the report “Transmission of information by extraterrestrial civilizations,” presented at the 1964 Byurakan Conference, which took place at the observatory of the same name in Armenia. On the one hand, this meant that the concept very quickly became known to all leading world experts in the study of extraterrestrial life. On the other hand, it was a report read by an astrophysicist for astrophysicists.

Nikolai Kardashev. Source: kardashev.fandom.com

Kardashev began by asking himself at what distance an extraterrestrial civilization could send a signal to everyone else in such a way that a meaningful response could be heard, and what would be required to do so. To do this, he uses the Shannon-Hartley theorem, which links the speed of information transmission to the signal-to-noise ratio. In simpler terms, it describes how many bits can be transmitted per second so that most of them are not lost on the way to the recipient.

Kardashev showed that the noise level in a signal traveling through millions of light-years of space is related to the temperature of background radiation. And it depends on the frequency at which the transmission is carried out. That is why the lowest noise level and the highest channel capacity are possible in the centimeter and decimeter ranges. That is, approximately where radio, television, and Wi-Fi operate, and slightly into the operating range of microwave ovens. It is no coincidence that the latter have played a cruel joke on alien hunters at least once.

In fact, it was this part of Kardashev’s Burakan report that had the greatest impact on the search for extraterrestrial civilizations, as it determined the frequencies at which it is best to send signals in space, regardless of biological origin and way of thinking. The most popular wavelength turned out to be 21 cm, but scientists have not yet heard anything about it.

Noise levels for different frequencies.
Source: Kardashev, Nikolai S. (1964). “Transmission of information by extraterrestrial civilizations”

The original Kardashev scale

However, Kardashev did not stop there and moved on from the question of frequency to the required transmitter power. He did not delve into the technical details of its design, simply setting its upper limit as all the energy available to civilization – almost the only figure on Earth that can be estimated without speculation, not only in absolute terms, but also in terms of annual growth.

During Kardashev’s time, these figures were 4×10¹² W and 3-4%, respectively. Currently, the total amount of energy used by humans is approximately 24×10¹³, which is still very little compared to the 1.74·10¹⁷ W that our planet receives from the Sun. As for the growth rate of Earth’s civilization, it has changed several times since the Byurakan Conference, but now, with Asia and Africa in a phase of active industrial growth, it is roughly the same as in the 1960s.

Be that as it may, Kardashev resorted to linear extrapolation of the figures available to him in his work and found that with steady growth in energy consumption, in 3,200 years, we will reach a level of energy consumption comparable to that of the Sun, and in 5,800 years, to that of the entire Milky Way. He called these states civilizations of types II and III and continued to consider them, because we were talking about truly cosmic distances.

The Milky Way galaxy. Source: phys.org

Kardashev calculated that if a Type II civilization used all its energy to transmit a signal, useful information from it could be received at any point in our galaxy, even with the antennas that were available to humans in the second half of the 20th century.

At the same time, the maximum speed of information transfer, calculated using the Shannon theorem, is so high that aliens could transmit 10,000 medium-sized volumes of their scientific knowledge every 100 seconds. A Type III civilization could do the same for the entire visible part of the universe.

Where to look for aliens

Based on his own calculations, Kardashev even gives recommendations on how other astrophysicists should search for extraterrestrials. In his opinion, attention should be paid to very powerful but point sources of radiation, i.e., those whose area in the sky is tiny, but which emit an extremely large amount of energy.

Of course, the peak of this energy should fall precisely in the centimeter and decimeter ranges, meaning that it should be best visible using radio telescopes. In addition, the radiation must be polarized, meaning that its oscillations will occur in a single plane.

Scientists now know that CTA 102 is an active galactic nucleus. Source: phys.org

Kardashev himself was convinced that if not Type II, then Type III civilizations must exist in places where we can currently receive their signals. In particular, he considered the recently discovered CTA 102 source, which was extremely powerful and demonstrated variability, as a candidate for their transmitter.

Unfortunately, Kardashev underestimated the diversity of cosmic objects. We now know of many point sources that exhibit the behavior he described and are completely natural. In particular, STA 102 turned out to be an active galactic nucleus – a quasar that absorbs matter and changes brightness due to the unevenness of this process.

Will energy consumption really grow at a constant rate?

The Kardashev scale became popular thanks to American astrophysicist Carl Sagan. We also owe him the fact that it has changed from a purely rank-based scale, i.e., one with three marks, to a discrete scale, i.e., one that can accept fractional values.

This helped, in particular, to reconcile the numbers named by Kardashev with the amount of energy that the Earth receives from the Sun. It is now believed that humanity has a rating of 0.73 on the energy consumption scale. On the one hand, this makes the situation clearer, but on the other hand, it creates the impression that we are almost three-quarters of the way to reaching “one,” but in reality this is not the case, because the scale is logarithmic, meaning that the further you move, the more watts of power you need to add to the total treasury to add another hundredth. Therefore, in reality, all of human civilization still consumes a fraction of a percent of what the Earth receives from the Sun.

Carl Sagan. Source: Wikipedia

All this raises a much more important question: can our civilization’s energy consumption really reach the levels predicted by Kardashev? Observations of its growth rates over the 60 years since the astrophysicist made his report do not provide a clear answer to this question.

Now scientists, including renowned futurologist Michio Kaku, say that we are still 100-200 years away from Type I civilization, a millennium away from Type II, and hundreds of thousands of years away from Type III. For comparison, it is worth noting that only 10,000 years have passed since the beginning of the Neolithic Revolution, when agriculture began to play a greater role than hunting for people in the Middle East for the first time on Earth. So it turns out that our civilization is at the very beginning of an incredibly long journey.

Does development really mean an increase in power?

In fact, nothing is surprising in the fact that the path to Type III civilization can take hundreds of thousands or even millions of years. Kardashev himself suggested that for some time (thousands of years) the exchange of information would be one-sided, i.e., signals from Type III to Type I would reach their destination, but not vice versa. But eventually, all intelligent beings will get to the point where they can signal across the entire galaxy like a flashlight.

Growth in energy consumption on Earth. Source: Wikipedia

But this view is very one-sided, as Sagan himself pointed out. It is clear that Kardashev was an astrophysicist and, of all the models of extraterrestrial civilization behavior, he chose the one that would be easiest for him and his colleagues to detect. Because if aliens do not use most of their civilization’s power to signal to the entire universe that they are here and they are intelligent, then they remain invisible.

On the other hand, this view of the essence of civilization was very characteristic of the 1950s and 1960s in general. The Cold War was in full swing, and the US and the USSR were spending a lot of resources on demonstrating their power. After all, the Tsar Bomb was tested just three years before the Byurakan Conference.

But as time went on, the situation where an overdeveloped civilization spent most of its enormous power on sharing knowledge with other forms of life that were millions of years behind it seemed increasingly strange. This was because questions arose about the expediency of such activity.

The explosion of the Tsar Bomb. Source: Wikipedia

Currently, Liu Cixin’s “dark forest” theory is considered one of the main antitheses to Kardashev’s idea and a possible explanation for the Fermi paradox. Civilizations sit silently because telling everyone around you that you exist and are intelligent means inviting attacks from all sides, because there are no friends in space, only competitors.

In fact, the dark forest theory is no better than Kardashev’s idea of civilizations gushing knowledge throughout the universe, because instead of peaceful megalomaniacal projects, they envisage spending most of a civilization’s power on military projects of no less absurd scale.

In reality, it is much simpler: neither the first nor the second civilizations are really necessary, because most of their members live their own lives and are not interested in other civilizations. Even large-scale projects such as generation ships, space stations for millions of inhabitants, or even terraforming planets require a lot of power, but significantly less than that needed to support Type II and Type III civilization transmitters.

The activities of Type II and Type III civilizations will almost certainly be accompanied by the creation of megastructures similar to Dyson spheres. Source: www.space.com

Ultimately, even the very thesis of increasing machine power as the essence of civilization’s development can be questioned. The fact is that 60 years have passed since the Burakan Conference, and the Tsar Bomb remains the most powerful explosion ever created by humans. Moreover, the increase in the power of nuclear reactors essentially stopped several decades ago.

Instead of power, technological development specialists are increasingly talking about efficiency. And in most cases, this means “emitting less energy where it is not needed.” This is particularly evident in the example of information transmission systems. In the 1960s, the main devices used for this purpose were television and radio towers.

The principle behind their effectiveness was simple: raise the most powerful transmitter as high as possible. However, the advent of communication satellites made transmitters capable of sending signals further than 500 km unnecessary. Then, the emergence of various cable networks and automatic data routing systems revolutionized the field of information transmission. Modern cellular networks are generally based on transmitters with a range of several hundred meters. Why would you need more than that if data packets can simply be passed along like a baton?

Kardashev made his calculations for undirected signal radiation, and his followers have long since calculated that it is extremely ineffective at cosmic distances. Our terrestrial television is difficult to receive even near Alpha Centauri, and beyond that, it is lost in noise. But a directional signal can travel much greater distances with less transmitter power.

A mesh network does not require tall towers and powerful transmitters.
Source: pervasivecomputinginfo.blogspot.com

That is why space communications now increasingly rely on messages sent by a narrow beam, ideally a laser beam, and the problem is that it is practically impossible to intercept them accidentally in space. The argument that “aliens must communicate with each other somehow, and we will definitely hear it” falls away by itself.

Every day, on any city bus, dozens of people communicate with someone outside the bus, and other passengers have no idea what they are talking about. They only know that their neighbor, like themselves, is looking at a smartphone screen.

And in other industries, everything is moving in the same direction. A quadcopter has ridiculous power compared to a ballistic missile from the 1960s. At the same time, to the designers of that missile, it would have looked like a true creation of an extraterrestrial civilization. This is because it uses automatic control and feedback systems that were considered impossible just a couple of decades ago, especially on such a small machine.

All our experience over the past decades shows that power is not unnecessary. It is not the main thing. It is much better to improve the efficiency, reliability, and sophistication of our machines. In many ways, the fact that energy consumption continues to grow is explained by the fact that the world’s population continues to grow, and now even in countries that we are accustomed to calling the “third world,” people want to live according to energy consumption standards that even residents of developed countries in the 1960s would have considered luxurious.

A quadcopter is significantly less powerful than a rocket, but it can do things that a rocket cannot.
Source: phys.org

No one knows how energy consumption will change when people across the planet satisfy their needs for the wonders of consumer electronics and electrical engineering, and when these technologies themselves become even more efficient. It is entirely possible that in the coming centuries we will not even reach Type I on the Kardashev scale.

It is quite possible that the future is not a stairway to heaven powered by clean energy, but a house built, at first glance, in the same way as houses were built centuries ago, but in fact filled with clever technology that surpasses a smartphone in functionality as much as a smartphone surpasses a rotary dial telephone.

Ultimately, Kardashev’s theory does not take into account even a more traditional scenario for the development of civilization: settlement within its own star system and beyond. In that case, intelligent beings could indeed have a total machine power comparable, if not to all solar radiation, then to the fraction that reaches Earth. But it would be scattered across a dozen star systems and mainly concentrated on ships flying between them. And there would be no question of any megastructures.

However, Kardashev himself should not be blamed for anything. He was a man of his time and, from the very beginning, did not claim to be anything more than a describer of the characteristics of civilization, the signals of which he could pick up as an astrophysicist. All other interpretations of his scale are later interpretations, and who is to blame for the fact that people continue to repeat them even though the experience of the development of Earth’s civilization increasingly diverges from his assumptions?

• Posted in Articles, Questions 

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As NASA’s astronaut crew, engineers, and mission specialists prepare to make history with the forthcoming launch, here are five things you should know about Artemis II, its crew, and what its scientific missions will include while in orbit.

The Artemis II Mission

A focal point of the Artemis II mission involves the fact that this will be the first time NASA has launched a crew aboard its foundational deep space rocket, the SLS (Space Launch System), and the agency’s new Orion spacecraft.

While in orbit, the mission will provide NASA with the first real opportunity to test the operability of the spacecraft’s systems while having a space-bound crew on board. Not only that, but the mission’s trajectory will carry its astronaut crew farther than any human has traveled into space.

Fundamentally, Artemis II will offer a proving ground for NASA’s most state-of-the-art space exploration capabilities, while setting the pace for future missions that will travel to the lunar surface and, if all goes according to plan, establish a long-term presence on the Moon. This will not only support ongoing lunar science and exploration but will mark an important steppingstone on the path toward eventual crewed explorations of Mars. 

The Crew: First of “The Artemis Generation”  

NASA has selected a team of four astronauts for the Artemis II mission. The crew consists of Commander Reid Wiseman, a former Naval aviator and Chief of the Astronaut Office; Pilot Victor Glover, also a former Naval aviator who previously served as a pilot on the SpaceX Crew-1 mission; Mission Specialist Christina Koch, who currently holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman; and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, a Canadian Space Agency astronaut.

(Left to Right): CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Christina Koch, will comprise the Artemis II crew (Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett).

Notably, this foursome will be the first crew to carry NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft in a journey around the Moon, offering the first full systems test of the spacecraft’s capabilities in a full-scale space mission.

Astronaut Health Experiments

The Artemis II crew will perform a range of science experiments during their mission, many of which will focus on astronaut health to provide NASA with an unprecedented look at the impact of deep space travel on humans. Here’s a quick look at several of the health-related experiments the Artemis II crew will be conducting.

• ARCHeR: NASA’s Artemis Research for Crew Health and Readiness (ARCHeR) will focus on monitoring the crew’s sleep patterns, activity while on board, and overall well-being, which will inform future planning efforts to ensure optimal human health and performance in space.

NASA image depicting the actigraphy device that certain Artemis II astronauts will wear during their mission around the Moon. The device will measure the crew members’ motion, sleep patterns, and exposure to light

(Image Credit: NASA/Helen Arase Vargas).

• AVATAR: The A Virtual Astronaut Tissue Analog Response (AVATAR) study will comprise investigations into the effects of increased exposure to radiation and microgravity that the Artemis II crew will experience, monitored using organ-on-a-chip devices.
• Immune Biomarkers: During Artemis II, blood and saliva samples will also be monitored to study the impact of deep space travel on the immune system.
• Artemis II Standard Measures: Ongoing health information will be provided by each Artemis II astronaut, which will be stored in a data bank for use in future studies related to astronaut health.
• Radiation Studies: Additional monitoring of radiation levels within and outside the Orion capsule will allow NASA’s science team to characterize the deep space environment.

Lunar Science Studies

Since Artemis II marks the first time humans have journeyed to the Moon in more than 50 years, marking what NASA has dubbed “The Artemis Generation” of space exploration, the mission will collect large volumes of data related to lunar science.

During the crew’s passage by the far side of the Moon, the NASA astronauts will perform a three-hour analysis and image collection operation to photograph the Moon’s ancient lava flows, impact craters, and geological features.

Preparation for this portion of their mission included studies on Earth in moonlike environments like deserts and rocky landscapes, which help to inform them about many of the features they will document.

Above: Cindy Evans (left), the Artemis geology training lead at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, appears alongside NASA astronaut and Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch, as they study geologic features in Iceland during Artemis II crew geology training in August 2024 (Image Credit: Robert Markowitz / NASA-JSC).

Other Artemis II Mission Objectives

• CubeSats: A range of other scientific studies will during the Artemis II mission, which will enable further studies that will be undertaken remotely by several of NASA’s international partners around the world, which include the transport of CubeSats aboard Artemis II.

“Space agencies from Germany, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Argentina will fly CubeSats aboard Artemis II,” NASA’s Artemis II website states. “The CubeSats, which have their own distinct objectives from NASA’s primary mission of sending four astronauts around the Moon, will be deployed in high Earth orbit.”

“In addition to the CubeSats, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) will conduct radiation research,” NASA’s statement reads.

• Payload Management: While the Artemis II astronauts are hard at work in deep space, back on Earth at the Payload and Mission Operations Division at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, NASA’s flight control team will be continuously monitoring the crew’s progress, while also managing several additional science priorities aboard the spacecraft from the facility’s Lunar Utilization Control Area.
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• Real-Time Science Operations: Additionally, NASA will have a team specializing in the study of impact craters, lunar ice, tectonic activity, and volcanism on hand to provide real-time analysis and additional resources to the Artemis crew, all of which will be transmitted from the Science Evaluation Room located in the mission control facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
• Space Weather Studies: Since Artemis II will be carrying humans far beyond Earth’s magnetosphere, the magnetic bubble that shields our planet from potentially harmful space weather emanating from the Sun, scientists at NASA, as well as its partners at NOAA, will be offering ongoing space weather forecasting to the Artemis II mission manager, flight director, and console operators throughout the duration of the mission.

Earth’s aurora as seen from space (Image Credit: NASA).

Specifically, the NASA and NOAA teams will be watching for potential coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar flares, which have the potential to impact not only certain capabilities of the systems on board the spacecraft but also could potentially have a harmful impact on human health.

One Step Beyond

Once the official launch window for Artemis II has been determined, NASA will begin final preparations for launching the astronaut crew on its roughly 10-day mission from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

From there, the Artemis II crew will spend its first couple of days testing Orion’s systems, as well as undertaking a targeting demonstration while still close to Earth. From there, the team will begin their journey toward the Moon.

A burn from Orion’s European-built service module will propel the spacecraft into a four-day-long outbound trajectory, which will carry the Artemis II astronauts around the Moon’s far side on a figure-eight path that will extend more than 230,000 miles from Earth, and about 4,600 miles beyond the Moon at its farthest point.

Following the crew’s loop around the Moon, the mission will then enter a fuel-efficient free-return path that will rely on the gravitational properties of the Earth and the Moon to help bring Orion back home, which will eliminate any significant requirement for propulsion on the crew’s way home.

Official NASA portrait of the Artemis II astronauts (Image Credit: NASA).

In the final phase of their return, the crew will endure a high-speed, high-temperature reentry not unlike past crewed missions have undergone before they splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. There, recovery teams comprised of NASA and Department of Defense personnel will retrieve the Artemis II astronauts.

In the days ahead, NASA will provide ongoing details as its teams continue preparations for the forthcoming launch, marking a major leap for human space exploration in the twenty-first century, and the initiation of the Artemis Generation of crewed deep space missions to study the Moon and beyond.

• Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com
  

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Out-of-control Chinese rocket smashes into the South Pacific Ocean - after Britain was put on red-alert over the potential of falling debris

• READ MORE: Step–by–step graphic reveals what will happen during Artemis II

By WILIAM HUNTER, SENIOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY REPORTER

An out-of-control Chinese rocket has crashed into the Southern Pacific Ocean, after Britain readied the emergency alert system over fears of falling debris. 

Earlier today, the UK government asked mobile network providers to ensure the alert system is operational, in preparation for a potential impact.

However, the rocket has now safely landed in the ocean some 1,200 miles (2,000 km) southeast of New Zealand. 

The rocket, a Chinese Zhuque–3 launched in early December, crashed to Earth at 12:39 GMT, according to the US Space Force. 

With an estimated mass of 11 tonnes, the EU's Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) agency had cautioned that ZQ–3 R/B was 'quite a sizeable object deserving careful monitoring.' 

While the vast majority of space debris which falls on Earth either burns up in the atmosphere or is never found, experts say we can be certain this rocket fell safely. 

Dr Marco Lanbroek, a debris tracking expert from the Delft University of Technology, says he 'strongly suspects' that the US Space Force observed the re-entry fireball using a space-based satellite. 

This puts an end to intense uncertainty over the rocket's potential landing site, after predictions suggested it could hit Northern Europe and the UK. 

The government asked mobile network operators to ensure the national emergency alert system is ready, as an out–of–control Chinese rocket (pictured) hurtles to Earth 

The rocket was launched by private space firm LandSpace from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China's Gansu Province on December 3, 2025.

The experimental rocket, dubbed ZQ–3 R/B, successfully reached orbit, but its reusable booster stage, modelled after the SpaceX Falcon 9, exploded during landing.

The upper stages and its 'dummy' cargo, in the form of a large metal tank, have been slowly slipping out of orbit.  

The rocket's shallow angle of re–entry had made it extremely difficult to predict exactly where any of the pieces might fall.

At the time, Professor Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer from the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and expert on tracking space debris, told the Daily Mail: 'It will pass over the Inverness–Aberdeen area at 1200 UTC, so there's a small – a few per cent – chance it could re–enter there, otherwise it won't happen over the UK.'

It is not uncommon for pieces of rocket and satellite debris to fall to Earth, with debris passing over the UK about 70 times a month.

The overwhelming majority of the material is burned up upon re–entry due to friction with the atmosphere.

Despite earlier predictions that the rocket could land over Europe and the UK, observations now show that it has landed safely in the ocean  

The UK government asked mobile network providers to ensure the alert system is operational, in preparation for the possibility of an alert being issued 

In some cases, very large pieces of debris or fragments of heat–resistant materials, such as stainless steel or titanium, can make it to Earth.

However, these pieces generally disperse over the oceans or unpopulated areas.

The government also stresses that the 'readiness check' conducted by the mobile network providers is a routine practice that does not indicate that an alert will be issued.

A UK government spokesperson told the Daily Mail: 'It is extremely unlikely that any debris enters UK airspace.

'As you'd expect, we have well rehearsed plans for a variety of different risks including those related to space, that are tested routinely with partners.'

While there is almost no chance that this falling rocket will cause damage to life or property, researchers have warned that the risk of space debris is increasing.

The only recorded case of someone being hit by space debris occurred in 1997, when a woman was struck but not hurt by a 16–gram piece of a US–made Delta II rocket.

The rocket was launched by private space firm LandSpace from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China's Gansu Province on December 3, 2025. It has been slowly falling out of orbit since and has now crashed back to Earth

This is not the first time that a Chinese rocket has fallen to Earth. In 2024, fragments of a Long March 3B booster stage fell metres from homes in China's Guangxi province 

As the number of commercial launches increases, so too does the volume of 'uncontrolled' re–entries.

A recent study by scientists at the University of British Columbia suggested that there is now a 10 per cent chance that one or more people will be killed by space junk in the next decade.

Likewise, researchers have increasingly warned that falling debris could pose a threat to air travel, with a 26 per cent chance of something falling through some of the world's busiest airspace in any given year.

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The actual chances of a plane being hit are currently very small, but a large piece of space junk could lead to widespread closures and travel chaos.

However, a 2020 study estimated that the risk of any given commercial flight being hit could rise to around one in 1,000 by 2030.

Nor is this the first time that a large Chinese–made rocket has unexpectedly crashed out of orbit.

In 2024, an almost complete Long March 3B booster stage fell over a village in a forested area of China's Guangxi Province, exploding in a dramatic fireball.

WHAT IS SPACE JUNK? MORE THAN 170 MILLION PIECES OF DEAD SATELLITES, SPENT ROCKETS AND FLAKES OF PAINT POSE 'THREAT' TO SPACE INDUSTRY

There are an estimated 170 million pieces of so-called 'space junk' - left behind after missions that can be as big as spent rocket stages or as small as paint flakes - in orbit alongside some US$700 billion (£555bn) of space infrastructure.

But only 27,000 are tracked, and with the fragments able to travel at speeds above 16,777 mph (27,000kmh), even tiny pieces could seriously damage or destroy satellites.

However, traditional gripping methods don't work in space, as suction cups do not function in a vacuum and temperatures are too cold for substances like tape and glue.

Grippers based around magnets are useless because most of the debris in orbit around Earth is not magnetic.

Around 500,000 pieces of human-made debris (artist's impression) currently orbit our planet, made up of disused satellites, bits of spacecraft and spent rockets

Most proposed solutions, including debris harpoons, either require or cause forceful interaction with the debris, which could push those objects in unintended, unpredictable directions.

Scientists point to two events that have badly worsened the problem of space junk.

The first was in February 2009, when an Iridium telecoms satellite and Kosmos-2251, a Russian military satellite, accidentally collided.

The second was in January 2007, when China tested an anti-satellite weapon on an old Fengyun weather satellite.

Experts also pointed to two sites that have become worryingly cluttered.

One is low Earth orbit which is used by satnav satellites, the ISS, China's manned missions and the Hubble telescope, among others.

The other is in geostationary orbit, and is used by communications, weather and surveillance satellites that must maintain a fixed position relative to Earth. 

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Opinion by Michael Levanduski

 

Humans’ learning about nuclear concepts that led to nuclear energy and nuclear bombs was one of the most important turning points in human history.

This represented the first time that humanity started ‘playing’ with technology that could literally destroy our whole species (not to mention the whole world). In addition, nuclear technology meant the potential for almost limitless clean energy, even if we haven’t yet taken full advantage.

So, if nuclear technology is such an important point in our evolution, it would make sense if aliens (if they exist) would take an interest.

Since the earliest days of nuclear testing and development, there have been reports of strange lights and unidentified objects up in the atmosphere around nuclear facilities. A group of researchers decided to gather up all the data on this subject (there is a lot) and put it together to try to see if it could be determined what was really causing the unidentified aerial phenomena.

The study was published in Scientific Reports, and while they definitely cannot confirm that it was aliens, they also can’t completely rule it out.

The team looked at transient ‘star-like’ objects that were reported or even seen in images, often taken from cameras at these facilities. The Vanishing & Appearing Sources During a Century of Observations project has been around since 2017, working on compiling all of these reports.

In the paper, the team writes:

“These short-lived transients (lasting less than one exposure time of 50 min) have point spread functions and are absent in images taken shortly before the transients appear and in all images from subsequent surveys. In some cases multiple transients appear in a single image, exhibiting characteristics not easily accounted for by prosaic explanations (e.g., gravitational lensing, gamma ray bursts, fragmenting asteroids, plate defects).”

Given the fact that this all happened over half a century ago makes it hard to identify exactly where the lights or sightings came from. The researchers wrote in the paper:

“From 1951 until the launch of Sputnik in 1957, at least 124 above-ground nuclear tests were conducted by the United States (US), Soviet Union, and Great Britain. In some circumstances, nuclear radiation is known to cause a visible glow (i.e., Cherenkov radiation). […] Consistent with this concept, glowing ‘fireballs’ in the sky were reported in multiple instances to occur shortly after nuclear tests in locations where significant nuclear fallout was expected.”

There is no confirmed explanation for these events. Not surprisingly, many will say that they could be either aliens or drones sent by aliens to investigate the fact that humans have entered a nuclear age.

Another option is that nuclear tests could cause an atmospheric phenomenon that is not yet fully understood. Since nuclear tests are pretty rare (thankfully), it is not something that is easy to study.

While they may not know what caused these types of signings, it does seem clear that something happened around the nuclear testing sites during that time period, given all the evidence.

• James Webb Just Spotted City Lights on a Nearby Alien Planet

{ https://twistedsifter.com/category/stories/}

OVER A LARGE BOX of untouched donuts in Washington’s Longworth House Office Building, Congressional representatives sat rapt as a visiting Brazilian neurosurgeon described what it was like to stare back at the large lilac-colored eyes of a highly intelligent, nonhuman being.

So, not your usual Capitol Hill meeting.

Archival image of witnesses Liliane Silva, 14 (left), Valquira Silva, 16 (center), and their friend Katia Xavier, 21, after encountering the creature on Jan. 30, 1996 (Image Credit: Copyright © Falcon Scout Media. Image used with permission).

In her statement, the mother of the Silva sisters, Luiza Helena da Silva, said she went back with Katia about twenty or thirty minutes later to find the creature gone. But she said it left behind a footprint with three large toes and an acrid odor that remained in her nose for several weeks.

Sometime later, the mother said she was visited by four strange men dressed in black, offering a briefcase filled with cash if her daughters would go on television and lie by describing the creature as a calf, a sick dog, or a sick human. She refused, saying she was very frightened by the visit.

Yet another videotaped witness, unnamed and his face obscured, said he was in the army in 1996 and helped transport the being from the hospital in Varginha to Três Corações and from there to Campinas, where other soldiers took over. Upon returning to Três Corações, he said, “There was talk the Americans had the creature, having transported it to an undisclosed location.”

At the news conference, Dr. Italo was questioned about his contact with the nonhuman being in the Varginha hospital room. Was it bleeding? Agitated?

“It was initially OK, it just looked out the window,” Dr. Italo replied. He said that instantly, “I was not there as a doctor anymore. The being was looking straight at me. The more he looked at me, the more I had a feeling of peace; it was transmitting peace. It looked at everything happening as if it was taking notes, like a great observer of everything happening around it.”

Asked if he had had any subsequent contacts with nonhuman intelligence, the doctor replied simply, “No.”

Fox said the videos of the entities are held by people too afraid to release them, but that for the first time, he may have the help of Brazilian Senator Girão and Representative Burlison, who is currently working on strengthening whistleblower protection for UAP witnesses.

In Varginha, individuals continue to come forward. On Jan. 26, Rosangela Ramos appeared on camera with James Fox, saying that her late husband, Pedro Luiz Aguiar, the chief of police in Três Corações in 1996, who had been on duty during the incident, claimed he had also witnessed the creature, although she had no further details. Aguiar died in December.

At the news conference, Burlison called for international transparency.

Dr. Italo Venturelli (left) shakes hands with Rep. Eric Burlison during an emotional moment during Burlison’s spontaneous remarks at the press conference,  as Carlos de Sousa looks on (Image Credit: Copyright David E. West Photography. Image used with permission).

“If there’s any government that’s holding information about the knowledge of whether or not we are alone or not alone in the universe, that is not for any government, no matter how powerful it is, to withhold from the rest of humanity,” Burlison said, to general applause.

Dr. Italo says he has no regrets about coming forward.

“The truth is, I saw the being,” he said. “He was not a being from our planet. We are talking about something that changes the concept of humanity.”

“It’s important for people to know.”

•  Additional materials related to this story, including written statements and video recordings of testimony from Brazilian witnesses, can be found here.
• A Portuguese language translation of this article will soon be published by The Debrief.
• Ralph Blumenthal and Leslie Kean, with Helene Cooper, co-authored the 2017 New York Times exclusive that revealed the secret Pentagon unit investigating UFOs, the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. Blumenthal and Kean broke the story of whistleblower David Grusch in The Debrief in 2023. Blumenthal was a staff reporter for The New York Times from 1964 to 2009 and is the author of The Believer: Alien Encounters, Hard Science, and the Passion of John Mack (2021, University of New Mexico Press). Kean has reported on UFOs for twenty-five years and is the author of UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go on the Record (2010, Harmony Books/Crown), a New York Times bestseller.
• Images featured in this article have been provided courtesy of their respective creators and may not be reproduced elsewhere without express written permission. 

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

Something Is Moving Under the Oceans – and Navies Know It

For decades, unexplained encounters with unidentified objects have not been limited to the skies. Beneath the ocean’s surface, military submarines from multiple nations have reported interactions with fast-moving, intelligent, and technologically superior objects commonly referred to as Unidentified Submerged Objects (USOs). These encounters, discussed in detail on Jim Harold’s Paranormal Podcast, raise serious questions about what may be operating in Earth’s oceans and why official acknowledgment remains minimal.

Why Submarine Encounters Are Uniquely Concerning

Submarines operate in extreme isolation, with little margin for error. A single hull separates the crew from crushing ocean pressure, and in the case of ballistic missile submarines, these vessels carry nuclear weapons capable of triggering global catastrophe. Any unidentified object interacting with such platforms represents not only a mystery but a significant strategic and security concern.

Reports from submariners are especially notable because these individuals rely on advanced sonar, navigation systems, and strict operational protocols. When unexplained objects are detected repeatedly under such conditions, dismissing the encounters becomes increasingly difficult.

Soviet Navy Encounters and the “Croakers”

During the 1970s and early 1980s, the Soviet Navy documented numerous underwater encounters involving strange acoustic signals. These sounds resembled croaking or frog-like noises, leading Soviet crews to nickname the objects “Kavaki,” meaning “croakers.”

• Richard Dolan Intelligent Disclosure with Jim Harold: The Submarine UFO Encounters the Military Refuses to Acknowledge:

According to the accounts, these submerged objects demonstrated extraordinary capabilities:

• They could rapidly approach and withdraw from submarines
• They circled vessels in a deliberate manner
• They displayed speeds far exceeding known underwater technology

Initially, Soviet analysts suspected advanced American devices. However, the performance of these objects quickly ruled out known U.S. technology. The conclusion was troubling: whatever these objects were, they did not belong to any recognized military power. Although studies were reportedly conducted, their findings remain classified, and public information largely disappeared following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Chinese Military Observations and Silent Documentation

Public information about Chinese encounters with UFOs and USOs is scarce, but evidence suggests that China has quietly taken the phenomenon seriously. Since the late 1970s, particularly after China began opening up to the world, the country has reportedly collected and analyzed a large number of UFO reports, comparable in volume to those in the United States.

China’s military is said to operate a structured, multi-level reporting system that gathers sightings from across the country and subjects selected cases to deeper analysis. While underwater sightings are rarer than aerial ones, China’s heavy naval presence in strategic waterways such as the South China Sea makes it highly likely that USO incidents are monitored, even if never publicly discussed.

A Pattern That Predates Modern Technology

One of the most compelling aspects of submarine and maritime UFO encounters is their historical consistency. Accounts stretching back centuries describe objects emerging from or interacting with the ocean in ways that closely resemble modern reports.

A well-documented case from August 12, 1825, recorded by Royal Navy ship physician Andrew Bloxom, describes a glowing orange orb rising from the ocean at night. The light was so intense that objects on the deck were clearly visible. The object submerged, re-emerged, and eventually disappeared. This account predates modern aviation and submarine technology by generations.

A similar incident occurred nearly 150 years later in 1971, involving the USS John F. Kennedy. A glowing orange object appeared near the aircraft carrier, coinciding with system disruptions and a rapid shift to battle stations. The similarities between these two events suggest a long-standing phenomenon rather than isolated anomalies.

Shapes, Behavior, and Possible Changes Over Time

Most reported USOs appear to maintain their shape and structure while transitioning between water and air. Spherical objects are among the most frequently described, often glowing orange or appearing metallic gray when unilluminated.

Triangular objects represent a notable development. While rare or uncertain in earlier reports, triangular USOs begin appearing more consistently from the late 1970s onward. This raises questions about whether the phenomenon has evolved or whether earlier observers lacked the means to accurately identify such shapes.

Even in the 19th century, sailors reported mechanical-looking objects over open oceans. An 1870 account from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean describes a structured craft flying beneath cloud cover at a time when no known human technology could explain such behavior.

Transmedium Capabilities: The Defining Feature

Perhaps the most significant finding discussed in the source material is that most USO encounters are transmedium in nature. Based on a dataset of over 670 carefully selected cases:

• More than half involved objects entering or exiting the water
• Roughly one-fifth were observed exclusively underwater
• A smaller percentage hovered just above the water’s surface

These objects appear capable of moving between air and water without visible propulsion, without slowing down, and without changing shape. Such performance defies conventional engineering and challenges current understanding of physics.

Why Militaries Remain Silent

The lack of official acknowledgment may not stem from disbelief but from uncertainty. Admitting the presence of unidentified objects capable of outperforming submarines and disabling systems would raise profound questions about national security, technological superiority, and defense readiness.

For military institutions, acknowledging such encounters without an explanation may be seen as more destabilizing than remaining silent.

Submarine UFO encounters represent one of the most overlooked yet potentially significant aspects of the unidentified phenomena. Reported by multiple nations, spanning centuries, and involving trained military personnel, these incidents display remarkable consistency in behavior and capability.

Whether the explanation lies in unknown natural processes, undisclosed technology, or something entirely beyond current understanding, one fact remains clear: the oceans may conceal advanced phenomena that humanity has yet to fully comprehend, and militaries around the world may know more than they are willing to admit.

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

Afgetapt Bloed, Medisch Nauwkeurige Sneden, En Onbeantwoorde Vragen: De Verminkingen van Runderen (Cattle Mutilations }

Zijn zij de slachtoffers van een onbekend buitenaards experiment...

Inleiding

Sinds de jaren zeventig van de twintigste eeuw hebben mysterieuze en macabere gebeurtenissen de aandacht getrokken van onderzoekers, wetenschappers en wetshandhavers wereldwijd: de zogenaamde koeienmutilaties. Wat begon als sporadische incidenten in de Verenigde Staten, groeide uit tot een archetype van het onverklaarbare en het bovennatuurlijke, met meldingen die zich verspreidden over meerdere continenten. Ondanks decennia van onderzoek en talloze theorieën blijft het fenomeen onduidelijk en omgeven door speculatie.

In dit artikel zullen we het fenomeen van de koeienmutilaties gedetailleerd analyseren vanuit een wetenschappelijk perspectief. We onderzoeken de aard van de mutilaties, de gebruikte methoden, de mogelijke oorzaken, de bestudeerde gevallen en de relevante vragen die nog altijd onbeantwoord zijn. Daarbij zullen we voorbeelden aanhalen, bewijsstukken bespreken en verschillende hypothesen evalueren, zowel natuurlijke als bovennatuurlijke.

De aard en kenmerken van de mutilaties

Medisch en forensisch profiel

Een kenmerkend aspect van koeienmutilaties is de uiterst precieze en doelgerichte wijze waarop de dieren gestript worden van bepaalde lichaamsdelen. Vaak zijn de volgende kenmerken waarneembaar:

• AFGETAPT bloed: Het lichaam is bijna geheel bloedeloos, vaak met duidelijke bloeduitstortingen rondom de wondranden.
• Precisie sneden: De wondpatronen vertonen chirurgische precisie. Sneden zijn recht, relatief glad en oppervlakkig, wat suggereert dat ze met een zeer scherp scherpmes of instrument zijn gedaan.
• Verwijdering van specifieke organen: Vooral de ogen, tong, hart, longen, genitale organen, en gespeende spieren worden vaak verwijderd. De essentiële organen zoals het hart en de longen ontbreken meestal.
• Geen tekenen van geweld of gescheurd: De wonden vertonen geen tekenen van vechtpartijen, beten of scherpe tanden. Er zijn geen sporen van ongevallen of roofdieren, oftewel dieren die dergelijke mutilaties zouden kunnen veroorzaken.
• Ontbreken van bloedstolsels en sporen: Het bloed lijkt uit het lichaam te zijn gehaald met een chirurgische precisie, zonder dat sporen van bloedstolsels of gebruik van traditionele snijwapens zichtbaar zijn.

Voorbeeld van een mutilatie

Een van de bekendste gevallen vond plaats in 1975 in Colorado, Verenigde Staten. Een rund werd gevonden in een weide, met een kleine, gladgesneden wond rond de nek en zonder enige tekenen van strijd. Het dier was bijna volledig ontladen van bloed, en zijn onderlichaam was leeggehaald: de ogen, tong en organen van de romp waren verdwenen. De wond was zo perfect dat sommige onderzoekers dachten aan de werkwijze van een chirurg.

Deze twee verminkte koeien werden woensdag gevonden door boeren uit de omgeving van Parker en Wilford, terwijl het aantal verminkingen in het gebied blijft toenemen. De dode jaarling, die achtergelaten is, werd woensdag in de omgeving van Wilford gevonden en was al enkele dagen dood. Het jaarling had zijn oren, tong en geslachtsorganen niet. Fremont County-deputy Terry Thompson controleert het lichaam van een dode koe, rechts, gevonden op de Margaret McMinn-boerderij in Parker. De koe werd woensdagochtend vroeg gedood en haar geslachtsorganen werden verwijderd en een deel van haar bloed was afgevoerd. Het kantoor van de sheriff heeft geen aanwijzingen over wie de verminkingen uitvoert. Onderschrift gedateerd 2 oktober 1975. | Met dank aan Idaho Falls Post Register

Verzameld bewijs en onopgeloste details

Naast de fysieke kenmerken biedt het bewijs dat vaak wordt verzameld, vragen op die nog altijd niet volledig beantwoord zijn:

• Bloedanalyse: Het bloed dat werd gevonden, vertoonde vaak tekenen van ernstiger bloedverlies dan mogelijk met conventionele methoden te veroorzaken is. Soms was het bloed verder afgeleid van het lichaam door een soort “drainage.”
• DNA-onderzoek: In sommige gevallen werden DNA-monsters uit de wonden gehaald. De resultaten toonden geen sporen van menselijke aanwezigheid of bekende parasieten of bacteriën.
• Elektrisch en chemisch bewijs: Er zijn aanwijzingen dat sommige mutilaties met behulp van geavanceerd technisch of chemisch materiaal worden uitgevoerd, hoewel dit nietconsistent in alle gevallen wordt gevonden.

Mogelijke oorzaken en hypothesen

Omdat de mutilaties zo minutieus en doelgericht lijken, hebben onderzoekers verschillende hypothesen aangevoerd, variërend van natuurlijke tot bovennatuurlijke verklaringen.

Natuurlijke en biologische oorzaken

Predator- of roofdier-aanvallen

Een eerste en voor de hand liggende verklaring is dat roofdieren of andere dieren verantwoordelijk zijn. Echter, afgezien van de duidelijke sporen van dergelijke dieren — tanden, krassen, of sporen op het lichaam — ontbreken in veel gevallen bewijs dat een ander dier de mutilatie heeft uitgevoerd. Bovendien, de chirurgische precisie en het ontbreken van bloedstolsels zijn inconsistent met natuurlijke roofdier-aanvallen.

Infectie of ziekte

Sommigen suggereren dat bepaalde ziekten of parasieten kunnen leiden tot gedragsveranderingen die tot lichamelijke schade leiden. Maar dit verklaart zelden de specifieke sneden en verwijderde organen.

Toegepaste landbouwbehandelingen en medische ingrepen

In de jaren 80 werd gesuggereerd dat boeren of onderzoekers met militaire of farmaceutische technologieën experimenteren, bijvoorbeeld het gebruik van lasers of geavanceerde medische apparatuur, om dieren te markeren of te bestuderen.

Mysterieuze verminkingen teisteren deze ranch in Colorado

Technologische en buitenaardse theorieën

Ufo's en buitenaardse wezens

De meest iconische hypothese is dat buitenaardse wezens betrokken zijn bij de mutilaties. Volgens deze theorie zouden UFO’s of buitenaardse onderzoekers de dieren gebruiken voor experimenten, waarbij zij organen wegnemen voor genetisch onderzoek zonder de rest van het lichaam te beschadigen.

Voorbeeld: In de jaren 70 en 80 werden meerdere meldingen gedaan van Ufo’s die in de buurt van mutilatieplaatsen werden waargenomen. Sommige getuigen meldde dat ze lichtverschijnselen zagen of zelfs buitenaardse wezens.

Militair en geheime experimenten

Een andere verklaring is dat overheids- of militaire instanties geavanceerde technologieën testen, bijvoorbeeld laser- of plasmatechnologieën, en dat de mutilaties onderdeel zijn van experimenten met biologische en genetische technieken. Deze hypothese wordt ondersteund door het feit dat sommige mutilaties lijken op technische experimenten die niet voor het publiek bekend zijn.

Paranormale en bovennatuurlijke verklaringen

Naast de bovengenoemde theorieën bestaan er ook meer onconventionele overtuigingen dat de mutilaties verband houden met bovennatuurlijke factoren, zoals geesten, energieweerstanden of kosmische krachten. Echter, wetenschappelijk bewijs voor dergelijke verklaringen ontbreekt grotendeels.

Analyse van belangrijke casussen

De aard en complexiteit van de mutilaties maken ze tot intrigerende problemen voor wetenschappers en onderzoeksgroepen. Hier volgen enkele belangrijke casussen die illustreren hoe het fenomeen zich voordoet en waarom het nog steeds mysterieus blijft.

Case 1: The Carmichael Ranch (New Mexico, 1979)

In dit geval werd een koe gevonden met een bijna chirurgische snede rond de nek, zonder verwondingen die doen denken aan een aanval door roofdieren. Het bloed was bijna volledig verdwenen. Lab-analyses toonden een afwezigheid van DNA dat overeenkwam met menselijke of dierenlijke bronnen, behalve dat van het dier zelf. De politie concludeerde dat geen natuurlijke oorzaak kon worden vastgesteld.

Case 2: The Norton Farm (Verenigde Staten, 1980)

Een kalf werd gevonden met organen verwijderd onder chirurgisch schone omstandigheden. Dit en soortgelijke gevallen veroorzaakten een golf van publieke angst en media-aandacht. Desondanks bleven de onderzoekers ongelukkig met de afwezigheid van bewijs dat een natuurlijke verklaring konden ondersteunen.

Wetenschappelijke en praktische vragen

Ondanks uitgebreide onderzoeken blijven veel vragen onbeantwoord:

• Hoe worden de wonden zo precies en doelgericht gemaakt?
• Waarom worden organen verwijderd zonder enige zichtbare verwonding of bloedvergissing?
• Welke technologie of middelen zouden hiervoor nodig zijn?
• Hoe kunnen we de afwezigheid van bewijs voor menselijke of dierlijke betrokkenheid verklaren?
• Zijn er overeenkomsten tussen verschillende mutilatiegevallen die op een gemeenschappelijke dader of oorzaak wijzen?

Conclusie

De koeienmutilaties blijven een raadsel dat vele theorieën oproept, van natuurlijke oorzaken tot bovennatuurlijke verklaringen. Hoewel de bewijsstukken vaak wijzen op een uiterst doelgerichte en chirurgisch precieze uitvoering, ontbreekt het aan overtuigend bewijs dat een natuurlijke of menselijke actor verantwoordelijk is.

Wat de ware oorzaak ook moge zijn, het fenomeen benadrukt onze beperkte kennis van biologische, technologische en misschien zelfs bovennatuurlijke processen. Het blijft een onderwerp van fascinerende speculatie en onderzoek, met de wetenschap zeker nog niet klaar met het ontrafelen van dit mysterie.

Aanbevelingen voor verder onderzoek

Om het onbegrijpelijke fenomeen van koeienmutilaties verder te kunnen doorgronden, worden de volgende aanpakken aanbevolen:

• Gedetailleerde forensische analyse van nieuwe gevallen
• Gebruik van geavanceerde DNA- en chemische testingstechnieken
• Monitoring en observatie van mogelijke locaties met behulp van camera’s en drones
• Interdisciplinair onderzoek dat nauwer samenwerkt tussen biologen, ingenieurs, forensisch experts, en astronomen
• Bewustwording en educatie onder betrokken agrariërs en het publiek

In zekere zin biedt het fenomeen niet alleen een uitdaging voor de wetenschap, maar ook een diepere reflectie op onze kennis van de wereld en onze plaats daarin. Het blijft een waarachtig mysterie dat ons echoot dat sommige vragen mogelijk nooit volledig beantwoord zullen worden, tenzij er nieuwe technologieën of baanbrekende inzichten opdoemen.

• OPMERKING PETER2011 : Deze uitgebreide analyse tracht zowel de bewezen feitelijke gegevens als de verschillende interpretaties te belichten, om zo een evenwichtig en informatief beeld te scheppen van de complexe en intrigerende kwestie van de koeienmutilaties.

{  PETER2011 }

Ominous warning for humanity as insects mysteriously 'fall silent'

• READ MORE: Americans warned about rise of evil ladybugs 

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

The world's insects are falling silent at an alarming rate, a development a critical care physician has warned may signal a looming crisis for humanity.

Dr Joseph Varon, a Houston-based doctor, issued the stark warning this week, saying insects, including beetles, butterflies, moths, flies, mosquitoes and bees, are disappearing at dramatic rates, a 'critical red flag for ecological instability.'

Varon likened the growing quiet to a dangerous moment in medicine, when a patient suddenly goes silent just before a system failure.

'In medicine, silence can be more alarming than noise,' he wrote in The Defender. 'A patient who abruptly stops voicing discomfort or a monitor that ceases activity may signal system failure rather than resolution.'

'Ecology presents a similar scenario,' Varon added. 'And right now, the silence is deeply concerning.'

This disappearance threatens the foods humans rely on most, including fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes. 

Key nutrients, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants would also disappear, potentially weakening immune resilience, increasing chronic disease risk, and altering the balance of human health in ways scientists are only beginning to understand. 

'The current silence should not be interpreted as stability. It is a warning,' said Varon.

The doctor warned that without insects, humans will not only loose essential food, but be exposed to an increased risk of chronic diseases

A pivotal warning came from a German study that tracked flying insect biomass in protected areas over nearly 30 years. 

By 2016, researchers found populations had collapsed by more than 75 percent, even in regions shielded from industrial activity.

Global assessments indicate that over 40 percent of insect species are currently in decline. 

Looking ahead, predictions suggest that by 2030, up to a quarter of insect species could be lost or at high risk, highlighting a continued, rapid downward trend.

The losses were documented not in industrial landscapes, but in nature preserves intended to shield wildlife from harm.

'Without insects, food systems collapse not just quantitatively, but qualitatively. Nutrient diversity declines. Resilience vanishes. Dependency on industrial inputs increases,' Varon wrote in The Defender.

From a physician's perspective, the disappearance of insects is a warning signal, a population-level biomarker of environmental stress and toxicity.

'The rise in chronic disease, metabolic dysfunction, and immune dysregulation cannot be cleanly separated from the ecological context in which humans now live,' Varon said.

Dr Joseph Varon, a Houston-based doctor, issued the stark warning this week, saying insects, including beetles, butterflies, moths, flies, mosquitoes and bees, are disappearing at dramatic rates, a 'critical red flag for ecological instability'

'Clinicians may observe these impacts as patients present with increased allergic reactions, resistance to antibiotics, and nutritional deficiencies. 

'For instance, a patient experiencing recurrent respiratory infections could be linked to pollen shifts due to changing insect populations.'

In medicine, when a sensitive system falters first, it signals early danger. Insects occupy that sentinel role in biology. 

Their short lifespans, high metabolisms, and reliance on environmental cues make them exceptionally vulnerable to chemical, nutritional, and electromagnetic disruptions, often long before humans show obvious signs of illness, explained Varon.

Increasing evidence links many of these same exposures to human endocrine disruption, immune dysfunction, neurodevelopmental effects, and metabolic disease. 

Neonicotinoid pesticides, for instance, are designed to target insect nervous systems, yet analogous pathways exist in mammals, influencing neurodevelopment and autonomic function. 

Low-level chronic exposures may not trigger immediate toxicity, but medicine has repeatedly shown that the absence of acute symptoms does not equal safety.

'Imagine a diabetic patient struggling with persistent slow-healing ulcers,' said Varon. 

'These wounds, resistant to typical treatment, become a vivid illustration of micronutrient decline due to pollinator loss.'

Deficiencies in vital nutrients like vitamin C and zinc, essential for immune defense and tissue repair, show how pollinator loss translates into real-world health consequences, he added.

'It is essential for medical professionals to integrate environmental health assessments into their practice, amplifying the connectivity between ecological and human health,' said Varon.

By acting now, clinicians can help avert an ecological crisis and ensure a sustainable future for both the planet and human life.

'Civilizations do not fall only from war or economics. They fall when the living systems that sustain them are quietly dismantled.'

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

{ https://medium.com/ }

Op zo’n 5 miljard lichtjaar afstand heerst de immense sterrenstelselcluster MACS J1149. De James Webb-ruimtetelescoop legt dit kosmische zwaargewicht nu met ongekende scherpte vast en onthult hoe zijn verpletterende zwaartekracht het licht van het vroege heelal buigt en vervormt.

Diep in het sterrenbeeld Leeuw (Leo), op een duizelingwekkende afstand van ongeveer 5 miljard lichtjaar, heerst een ware titan: sterrenstelselcluster MACS J1149.5+2223. Deze verzameling van honderden sterrenstelsels, bijeengehouden door de allesbepalende zwaartekracht, is nu vastgelegd in verbluffend detail door de James Webb-ruimtetelescoop. Het nieuwe beeld onthult niet alleen de indrukwekkende inwoners van de cluster zelf, maar ook hoe dit kosmische zwaargewicht fungeert als een natuurlijke telescoop voor het observeren van de verste uithoeken van het universum.

De James Webb-ruimtetelescoop legde deze opname van MACS J1149.5+2223 vast met zijn Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), een compositie van zes verschillende golflengten van 0,9 tot 4,44 micrometer, om de structuur en samenstelling van de sterrenstelsels in ongekend detail te onthullen. Foto: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, C. Willott (National Research Council Canada), R. Tripodi (INAF – Astronomical Observatory of Rome). Klik hier om de foto zoombaar te openen, hier om deze te bekijken in ESASky browser of hier om deze (printbaar .tif-bestand) op de hoogste resolutie te downloaden.

Een natuurlijk zwaartekrachtlens laboratorium

De werkelijke kracht van MACS J1149 schuilt in zijn kolossale massa. De zwaartekracht van deze cluster is zo immens dat ze de structuur van ruimtetijd rondom zich vervormt. Licht van sterrenstelsels die nog eens véél verder weg staan, moet op zijn miljarden jaren durende reis naar de aarde door dit vervormde gebied reizen. Het gevolg is een fenomeen dat astronomen gravitationele lensing noemen: het licht wordt afgebogen en versterkt, alsof het door een kosmisch vergrootglas gaat. Op Webbs opname (hierboven) is dit overal zichtbaar, van subtiel uitgerekte sterrenstelsels tot bizarre, gerekte vormen.

Een kosmische celebrity onder de loep

Deze eigenschap maakt MACS J1149 tot een ware ‘celebrity’ voor astronomen. De cluster was eerder al één van de zes nauwlettend onderzochte regio’s door het baanbrekende Frontier Fields-programma van de Hubble-ruimtetelescoop, specifiek geselecteerd vanwege zijn sterke lenswerking. Ook de Very Large Telescope van de Europese Zuidelijke Sterrenwacht (ESO) heeft zijn blik op de cluster gericht, maar ook radiogrondtelescopen en orbitale röntgentelescopen zoals Chandra hebben MACS J1149 vaker onderzocht. Recent onderzoek gebruikt deze voorgaande waarnemingen in combinatie met nieuwe gegevens om de massa-verdeling binnen dergelijke clusters en hun rol in de evolutie van sterrenstelsels verder te duiden.

Deze eerdere opname van de Hubble-ruimtetelescoop toont MACS J1149 en benadrukt de ontdekking van het zeer verre sterrenstelsel MACS1149-JD, wiens licht door de cluster werd versterkt. Foto: NASA, ESA, W. Zheng (JHU), M. Postman (STScI), and the CLASH Team Een combinatie van Hubble- en VLT-waarnemingen (2015) legde een supernova vast in een verder gelegen achtergrondstelsel, wiens licht door MACS J1149 werd afgebogen en in viervoud als ‘Einstein kruis’ oplichtte. Afbeelding: NASA, ESA, S. Rodney (John Hopkins University, USA) and the FrontierSN team; T. Treu (University of California Los Angeles, USA), P. Kelly (University of California Berkeley, USA) and the GLASS team; J. Lotz (STScI) and the Frontier Fields team; M. Postman (STScI) and the CLASH team; and Z. Levay (STScI)

Deze Hubble-opname toont een volgende ontdekking die mogelijk werd gemaakt door de lenswerking van MACS J1149: de ster LS1, ook wel Icarus genoemd. Het licht van deze blauwe superreus werd maar liefst 2.000 keer versterkt, waardoor hij – hoewel zijn licht er bijna 9 miljard jaar over deed om ons te bereiken – kon worden waargenomen. Destijds (studie uit 2018) was dit de verst en oudst gelegen individuele ster gekend door astronomen. Het is een baanbrekend voorbeeld van gravitationele microlensing door een cluster een object van slechts enkele zonsmassa’s tijdelijk extra uitvergroot, zoals te begrijpen valt uit de rechter details; de ster lichtte slechts tijdelijk op in observaties uit 2016. Afbeelding: NASA & ESA and P. Kelly (University of California, Berkeley) Deze composietopname van MACS J1149 toont hoe verschillende telescopen samen één beeld vormen. Röntgenstraling (blauw) van NASA’s Chandra-observatorium onthult heet gas van miljoenen graden. Optisch licht (rood, groen, blauw) van Hubble toont de sterrenstelsels, terwijl radiogolven (roze) van de Very Large Array schokgolven en turbulentie in kaart brengen – tekenen van botsende clusters. Gecombineerde informatie uit een legio van telescopen doorheen meerdere jaren staan toe onder andere de zwaartekrachtwerking van de clusters goed in kaart te brengen. Foto: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/STScI; Radio: NSF/NRAO/AUI/VLA.

Webbs uitzonderlijke gevoeligheid in het infrarood gaat nu een stap verder. Zijn instrumenten, zoals NIRSpec en NIRCam, worden ingezet in programma’s zoals CANUCS om via clusters als MACS J1149 de allervroegste sterrenstelsels te bestuderen. Ze ontrafelen hun stervorming, chemie en de rol die ze speelden tijdens het tijdperk van de reïonisatie, toen de eerste lichtbronnen de kosmische duisternis doorbraken na de oerknal.

Het infrarood licht doorheen verschillende filters van de uiterst krachtige James Webb ruimtetelescoop (links) permitteert onderzoekers sterke zwaartekrachtlenzen zoals MACS 1149 in hun voordeel te gebruiken. Alwaar de vorm en zwaartekrachtwerking van MACS 1149 gekend is en gemodelleerd in een ‘bCGs model’ (midden), kan deze van de oorspronkelijke opname worden weggefilterd om een beeld te vormen van wat zich daarachter bevindt (rechts) om nader onderzocht te worden. Afbeelding: Ghassan T. E. Sarrouh et al (2025) CC BY 4.0

We schreven vaker over dit onderwerp, lees bijvoorbeeld ook ‘Eén jaar na de lancering van James Webb kunnen astronomen hun geluk niet op: de telescoop maakt het onzichtbare en ondenkbare zichtbaar‘ of ‘De eerste sterrenstelsels in het universum waren veel helderder dan verwacht‘.

Een venster op het vroege heelal

De nieuwe James Webb-opname is dus meer dan een adembenemend plaatje. Het is het begin van een nieuw hoofdstuk in de studie van deze kosmische reus. Door het lensvermogen van MACS J1149 te combineren met Webbs ongeëvenaarde scherpte, kunnen astronomen verder terugkijken in de tijd dan ooit tevoren. Op deze manier blijft deze cluster, een reus op 5 miljard lichtjaar afstand, ons een uniek venster bieden op de geboorte en evolutie van de eerste structuren in ons universum.

• De afgelopen decennia zijn er prachtige foto’s gemaakt van interstellaire nevels, sterrenstelsels, planeten, andere hemellichamen en in de ruimtevaart. Ieder weekend halen we een indrukwekkende ruimtefoto uit het archief. Genieten van alle foto’s? Bekijk ze op deze pagina. Heb je zelf bijzondere (astro)foto’s die je wil delen met ons? Stuur ze in via ons mailadres o.v.v. ‘Ruimtefoto’!

Bronmateriaal

• "A celebrity cluster in the spotlight" - ESA/Webb
  
• "Hubble uses cosmic lens to discover most distant star ever observed" - ESA/Hubble
  
• "Galaxy cluster MACS j1149.5+223 and a supernova four times over" - ESA/Hubble
  
• "Galaxy cluster MACS J1149+2223" - ESA/Hubble
  
• "Icarus (MACS J1149+2223 Lensed Star 1)" - NASA/Hubble
• "MACS J1149.5+2233: A Fusion of Galaxy Clusters" - Harvard/Chandra
  
• Afbeelding bovenaan dit artikel: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, C. Willott (National Research Council Canada), R. Tripodi (INAF - Astronomical Observatory of Rome)

Laatst aangepast op: 29 januari 2026

{ https://scientias.nl/nieuws/astronomie-ruimtevaart/  }

UFOs, a Mother With Supernatural Powers, and Rap Battles With a Third Eye: Rotterdam Sets HBF+Brazil Pilot Projects

The Hubert Bals Fund has taken “a long-lasting interest in Brazilian cinema … from the success of ‘I’m Still Here’ to the outstanding path currently trailed by ‘The Secret Agent’.”

NASA

NASA is gearing up for the first crewed journey to the Moon in over half a century, a mission that could launch as soon as two weeks from now.

And next year, the agency will finally attempt to return astronauts to the lunar surface itself as part of its Artemis 3 mission, which will dramatically increase the already considerable stakes.

Particularly when it comes to stepping out of the spacecraft — the agency has yet to pick between Blue Origin and SpaceX’s offerings in that regard — staying protected from the extreme temperature swings, space radiation, and lack of atmosphere is extremely challenging.

That’s not to mention the physical limitations of an extremely bulky spacesuit, which could physically tax astronauts even more than stepping outside of the International Space Station during a spacewalk.

As Ars Technica reports, former NASA astronaut and microbiologist Kate Rubins, who retired last year and has logged 300 days in space, recently voiced her concerns over the Moon suit that private space company Axiom Space has been developing for NASA as part of a $228 million contract.

“What I think we have on the Moon that we don’t really have on the space station that I want people to recognize is an extreme physical stress,” she said during a recent meeting of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Besides not getting any sleep, Rubin warned that people will be “in these suits for eight or nine hours” and doing extravehicular activities (EVAs) “every day.”

Compared to the suits NASA astronauts wore during the Apollo missions, the Axiom Space suit is considerably heavier. While a sixth of gravity will greatly alleviate some of that heft, they still weigh in at 300 pounds. At the same time, Moon walkers will enjoy greatly enhanced flexibility, allowing them to kneel down to pick up objects, for instance.

“I think the suits are better than Apollo, but I don’t think they are great right now,” Rubin warned, noting “flexibility issues” and the reality that “people are going to be falling over.”

In remarks directly to Ars, Rubin elaborated, emphasizing that the suits are “definitely much better than Apollo,” but remain “still quite heavy.”

Even something as simple as getting back up after a fall — as demonstrated by the many Apollo astronauts who took a tumble while on the Moon — involves a type of “jumping pushup,” as Rubins told Ars, which is a “non-trivial” and “risky maneuver.”

Not everybody is as concerned about the Axiom Space suit. Current NASA astronaut and physician Mike Barratt argued in remarks during the committee meeting that the “suit is getting there,” pointing out that “we’ve got 700 hours of pressurized experience in it right now.”

“Bending down in the suit is really not too bad at all,” he added.

NASA still plans to conduct plenty of tests involving the suit, including parabolic flight, which can simulate the partial gravity of the Moon’s surface. The agency has already put the suit through its paces underwater at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab.

The agency has until sometime next year to finalize the design for its long-awaited Artemis 3 mission to the lunar surface. At the same time, NASA still has plenty of decisions to make, including how to get down to the lunar surface in the first place.

More on Artemis: 

• Experts Warn That There’s Something Wrong With the Moon Rocket NASA Is About to Launch With Astronauts Aboard

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NASA shared an unusual photo taken by the Curiosity mission. It shows the rover’s “night shift.”

The Curiosity rover uses a lamp to illuminate the hole it has drilled. Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

The Curiosity rover is equipped with LED lights. They are part of the MAHLI camera mounted at the end of its robotic arm. Sometimes scientists use them during the day to illuminate areas that are in shadow, such as the interior of boreholes and intake tubes leading to instruments at the bottom of the rover.

In the earlier stages of the mission, the Curiosity team also used these LEDs at night to search for layers or other features on the walls of drill holes that would help them better understand the composition of the rock. But since the mission changed its drilling method, the holes have become too rough and dusty to see any details. 

However, Curiosity recently used LEDs again at night. This happened after drilling a rock called Nevado Sajama on November 13, 2025. After studying the images, the mission specialists noticed that the walls of the borehole were smooth enough to attempt to find layers, and decided to try illuminating the borehole at night. It is this operation that is captured in the image presented.

The drilling at Nevado Sajama was carried out during an exploration of a region full of geological formations known as “boxworks.” These formations crisscross the surface for many kilometers and, when viewed from space, look like giant spider webs.

• According to NASA

• Posted in News, Tech

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A momentous event in the history of space exploration is about to take place: for the first time in 54 years, humans will return to the Moon. As part of the Artemis II mission, four astronauts will orbit the Moon and then return to Earth. The entire journey will take ten days.

The Artemis II mission would not have been possible without Artemis I. As part of Artemis I, NASA launched the super-heavy SLS rocket for the first time and tested the Orion spacecraft in deep space. The experience gained during its implementation laid the foundation for the further development of the lunar program. With the launch of Artemis II fast approaching, let’s take a look back at how the predecessor mission went and admire some of its best photos.

Launch of the SLS rocket. Source: Bill Ingalls / NASA

Artemis I was launched into space on November 16, 2022. This launch marked the debut of the super-heavy SLS rocket, which is capable of carrying up to 95 tons of cargo into orbit. Incidentally, its first-stage engines, boosters, and side boosters were inherited from the Space Shuttle program.

SLS rocket engines in operation. Source: ULA

Eight hours after launch, the upper stage of the SLS performed a maneuver that directed Orion toward the Moon, after which it separated from the spacecraft and was directed into Earth’s atmosphere.

Separation of Orion from the upper stage of the SLS rocket. Source: NASA

Selfie of the Orion spacecraft. Source: NASA

There were no humans aboard Orion. Three mannequins equipped with sensors that measured radiation, acceleration, and vibration levels during flight played the role of the crew. One of them, dressed in a flight suit, was seated in the commander’s chair.

Mannequin seated in the Orion crew commander’s chair during the Artemis I mission. Source: NASA

The journey to the Moon took five days. On November 21, Orion performed a close flyby of the Moon, after which it activated its main engine, entering a distant retrograde orbit around the satellite.

Orion leaves Earth’s vicinity. The photo was taken on the first day of the Artemis I mission. Source: NASA

The meeting of the Orion spacecraft and the Moon. Source: NASA

Image of the cratered lunar surface taken by the Orion spacecraft’s navigation camera. Source: NASA

While Orion was in a distant orbit around the Moon, NASA engineers monitored the spacecraft’s behavior and collected data on the radiation environment. The spacecraft also took a series of selfies showing it against the backdrop of Earth and the Moon.

Orion and the Moon. Source: NASA

Orion and Earth. Source: NASA

On November 28, Orion reached a distance of 432,210 km from Earth. This is the maximum distance achieved during the Artemis I mission.

A selfie of the Orion spacecraft with Earth and the Moon in the background, taken on the 13th day of the Artemis I mission. Source: NASA

On December 1, the spacecraft reactivated its engine and left its distant retrograde orbit, beginning its journey home.

Orion approaches the Moon to perform a maneuver that will put it on a return course. The crescent Earth can be seen in the background. The photo was taken on the 20th day of the Artemis I mission.
Source: NASA

On December 5, Orion flew 128 km above the surface of the Moon and performed a maneuver that allowed it to leave the Moon’s gravitational influence.

Orion and the Moon. Source: NASA

Image of the lunar surface taken by the Orion onboard camera. Source: NASA

Image of the lunar surface taken by the Orion onboard camera. Source: NASA

In the following days, the spacecraft made several course corrections while mission specialists prepared for its landing.

The main engine of the Orion spacecraft. Source: NASA

On December 11, 2022, Orion entered Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of 11.2 km/s, which is much higher than missions returning to Earth from the ISS. The spacecraft’s heat shield sustained more damage than expected, but still reliably protected the contents of the crew capsule.

Parachute landing of the Orion spacecraft. Source: NASA

The Orion capsule successfully splashed down west of the California coast near Guadalupe Island. It was soon picked up by a ship and then taken to port. This marked the official end of the Artemis I mission.

The Orion capsule after splashdown. Source: NASA

You can find out more about the Artemis II mission flight plan in our article.

• Posted in Articles, Questions

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With the first launch window for Artemis II now just days away, NASA has shared a glimpse inside the cramped quarters of the Orion spacecraft.

Four astronauts – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen – will spend 10 days living inside the capsule as they whizz around the moon.

During that time, the crew will stay in a tiny, equipment–filled space, no larger than the back of a Ford Transit.

While NASA says it will use the mission to learn how crews adjust to tight quarters, space fans have pointed out one very obvious problem.

Although Orion is equipped with a toilet and washing facilities, many commenters wondered just how hygienic the capsule will be after a week and a half in space.

On X (formerly Twitter), one sceptical commenter wrote: 'No mention of how they will be in extremely close quarters and will have to change each other's diapers and wipe.

'The smell would be intolerable.'

Another concerned commenter asked: 'Do they change their clothes at all and if so, since there is a woman in the crew, is there privacy for that and toileting?'

Four astronauts will spend 10 days living inside the cramped confines of the Orion spacecraft 

Although Orion has 30 per cent more habitable volume than the Apollo capsule, it is still smaller than the back of a Ford Transit. Pictured (left to right): Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Christina Koch

On X, some space enthusiasts had serious concerns about the smell that could be caused by four astronauts living, exercising, and using the bathroom in such a small space 

During the Artemis II mission, the four–person crew will launch from Kennedy Space Centre on a round trip passing around the far side of the moon.

Once their Space Launch System (SLS) rocket has pushed the astronauts out into orbit, the early stages will detach and leave Orion to drift by itself through space.

While Orion has 30 per cent more space than the Apollo capsule, it is still absolutely tiny for four people.

Measuring just 3.35 metres (11 feet) in height and five metres (16.5 feet) in diameter at the base, Orion has a habitable volume of just 9.34 cubic metres (330 cubic feet).

For comparison, a Ford Transit van typically has 10 cubic metres (353 cubic feet) of storage in the back.

Conditions are so cramped that NASA wants to study how the crew physically and psychologically adapt to their time in space.

In a video posted to X, NASA explains: 'To better understand how isolation, confinement, and other aspects of spaceflight affect human health and performance, Artemis II crew members will evaluate their activity levels, sleep patterns, movements and interactions for a study called Artemis Research for Crew Health and Readiness – or ARCHR for short.'

The astronauts will wear sports–watch–like wristbands to measure their movements and sleep patterns in real time, as well as completing surveys and motor control tests before and after flight.

Other concerned space fans were worried that there might not be privacy for washing, changing, or using the toilet in the tiny confines of the Orion capsule 

Despite the obvious challenges, a number of commenters on social media were bizarrely unimpressed by the technological and human achievements of spaceflight 

The crew will sleep for eight hours per day in sleeping bag–like hammocks that attach to handrails (pictured) 

In the biggest upgrade over Apollo, Orion features a separate toilet compartment hidden behind a panel in the floor (circled in red)

The Artemis II crew

Reid Wiseman – Commander 

- A US Navy aviator and test pilot with 27 years of experience.

- Wiseman has previously spent 165 days in space onboard the ISS

Victor Glover – Pilot

- A US Navy aviator and test pilot with 3,500 flight hours in more than 40 aircraft 

- Glover served as Flight Engineer on the ISS during a 168–day mission

Christna Koch – Mission specialist

- An engineer and scientist specialising in electrical engineering

- Holds the record for longest spaceflight by a woman, spending consecutive days on the ISS

Jeremy Hansen – Mission specialist

- Selected by the Canadian Space Agency to join Artemis II

- A Canadian Armed Forces fighter pilot, physicist, and experienced aquanaut

However, despite these obvious challenges, some space enthusiasts remained bizarrely unimpressed.

One commenter wrote on X: 'Relax. Once you get used to it, it'll be fine. I could do the trip to Mars in a freakin' Apollo capsule.'

Another said: 'So NASA's gonna put Fitbits on the astronauts? Cool, I've been wearing one for over three years.'

Despite the small amount of space, NASA has managed to fit in a few comforts that should make the journey more bearable.

For those concerned about the smell, Orion is fitted with a modified version of the toilet from the International Space Station known as the Universal Waste Management System.

This is essentially an elaborate vacuum cleaner with a seat and a specialised nozzle that operates by 'using air flow to pull fluid and solid waste away from the body'.

Compared to the toilet on the ISS, Orion's lavatory has been modified to fit in an even smaller space and to be more practical for female astronauts.

Perhaps most importantly, NASA has even found enough space on Orion to fit the toilet in its own tiny room.

The toilet room will also allow astronauts to wash in relative privacy, using liquid soap, flannels and rinseless shampoo to stay clean. Pictured: A training mockup of the Artemis II toilet used to practice on Earth 

The crew will use a similar toilet to the one found on the ISS, known as the Universal Waste Management System (pictured), that uses 'air flow to pull fluid and solid waste away' 

Orion even has room for a compact gym with a flywheel system (pictured) that allows for simple resistance exercises 

On Apollo, astronauts had to simply float in a corner while doing their business, but Artemis II's crew have the luxury of a tiny cabin in the 'floor' of the capsule.

Read More

• Step-by-step graphic reveals exactly what will happen during NASA's Artemis II mission to the moon 

Speaking in a video blog, Artemis II crewmember Jeremy Hansen described this as 'the one place we can go during the mission where we can actually feel like we're alone for a moment.'

This hygiene bay also offers the crew a place to wash in relative privacy, using liquid soap, flannels, and rinseless shampoo to remain clean.

To stay healthy and prevent muscle atrophy while in microgravity, Orion even packs in a compact gym for the astronauts to use.

The crew will use a flywheel device for simple resistance exercises like rowing, squats, and deadlifts for 30 minutes every day.

Artemis II: Key facts

Launch date: NASA has identified three possible launch windows for Artemis II in the coming months: From February 6 to February 11, from March 6 to March 11, and from April 1 to April 6.

Mission objective: To complete a lunar flyby, passing the 'dark side' of the moon and test systems for a future lunar landing.

Total distance to travel: 620,000 miles (one million km)

Mission duration: 10 days 

Estimated total cost: $44 billion (£32.5 billion)

• NASA Space Launch System rocket: $23.8 billion (£17.6 billion)
• Orion deep–space spacecraft: $20.4 billion (£15 billion)

Crew: 

• Commander Reid Wiseman
• Pilot Victor Glover
• Mission Specialist Christina Koch
• Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen

Mission Stages:

1. Launch from Kennedy Space Centre Launch Pad 39B
2. Manoeuvre in orbit to raise the perigee using the Cryogenic Propulsion Stage
3. Burn to raise apogee using the Cryogenic Propulsion Stage
4. Detach from Cryogenic Propulsion Stage and perform translunar injection
5. Fly to the moon over four days
6. Complete lunar flyby at a maximum altitude of 5,523 miles (8,889 km) above the moon's surface
7. Return to Earth over four days.
8. Separate the crew module from the European Service Module and the crew module adapter
9. Splashdown in the Pacific Ocean  

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Is THIS where aliens are hiding? NASA discovers an exoplanet 146 light–years away that's 'remarkably similar to Earth' – and it could be habitable

• READ MORE: Scientists baffled by a LEMON-shaped planet

By SHIVALI BEST, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR 

It's one of the biggest unanswered questions in science: are there aliens out there, and if so, where are they hiding?

Now, a discovery by NASA raising the tantalising possibility that we're not alone after all. 

The US space agency has discovered an exoplanet 146 light–years away that is 'remarkably similar to Earth'. 

Dubbed HD 137010 b, the planet might fall just within the outer edges of its star's 'habitable zone', meaning there could be liquid water on its surface and a suitable atmosphere for life. 

However, any potential aliens living on this planet would need to be well adapted for cold weather. 

'Although of a stellar type similar to our Sun, the star, HD 137010, is cooler and dimmer,' NASA explained. 

'That could mean a planetary surface temperature no higher than –90°F (–68°C). 

'By comparison, the average surface temperature on Mars runs about –85°F (–65°C).'

Dubbed HD 137010 b, the planet might fall just within the outer edges of its star's 'habitable zone', meaning there could be liquid water on its surface and a suitable atmosphere for life

NASA's scientists discovered the rocky exoplanet using data gathered by the Kepler Space Telescope.

This discovery comes from a single 'transit' – the planet crossing its star's face – which was detected during Kepler's second mission, K2. 

While one transit doesn't sound like much, this was enough for the scientists to estimate the exoplanet's orbital period. 

By tracking the time it took for the planet's shadow to move across its sun's face, the team estimated that the planet has an orbital period of 10 hours, compared to Earth's 13 hours. 

Their calculations also suggest it's probably freezing, although there is a chance HD 137010 b could turn out to be a temperate or even a watery world, according to NASA. 

'It would just need an atmosphere richer in carbon dioxide than our own,' the team explained. 

Based on modelling of the planet's possible atmospheres, NASA says there is a 40 per cent chance that the planet falls within the 'conservative' habitable zone around the star, and a 51 per cent chance that it falls within the broader 'optimistic' habitable zone.

'The planet has about a 50–50 chance of falling beyond the habitable zone entirely,' the experts cautioned. 

To confirm whether or not the planet is habitable, the researchers will now conduct follow–up observations – although they admit this is going to be 'tricky'. 

'The planet's orbital distance, so similar to Earth's, means such transits happen far less often than for planets in tighter orbits around their stars (it's a big reason why exoplanets with Earth–like orbits are so hard to detect in the first place),' NASA explained. 

'With luck, confirmation could come from further observation by the successor to Kepler/K2, NASA's TESS (the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), the still–functioning workhorse for planetary detection, or from the European Space Agency's CHEOPS (CHaracterising ExOPlanets Satellite).

'Otherwise, gathering further data on planet HD 137010 b might have to wait for the next generation of space telescopes.'

KEY DISCOVERIES IN HUMANITY'S SEARCH FOR ALIEN LIFE

Discovery of pulsars

British astronomer Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell was the first person to discover a pulsar in 1967 when she spotted a radio pulsar.

Since then other types of pulsars that emit X-rays and gamma rays have also been spotted.

Pulsars are essentially rotating, highly magnetised neutron stars but when they were first discovered it was believed they could have come from aliens.

'Wow!' radio signal

In 1977, an astronomer looking for alien life in the night sky above Ohio spotted a radio signal so powerful that he excitedly wrote 'Wow!' next to his data.

In 1977, an astronomer looking for alien life in the night sky above Ohio spotted a radio signal so powerful that he excitedly wrote 'Wow!' next to his data

The 72-second blast, spotted by Dr Jerry Ehman through a radio telescope, came from Sagittarius but matched no known celestial object.

Conspiracy theorists have since claimed that the 'Wow! signal', which was 30 times stronger than background radiation, was a message from intelligent extraterrestrials.

Fossilised Martian microbes

In 1996 Nasa and the White House made the explosive announcement that the rock contained traces of Martian bugs.

The meteorite, catalogued as Allen Hills (ALH) 84001, crashed onto the frozen wastes of Antarctica 13,000 years ago and was recovered in 1984. 

Photographs were released showing elongated segmented objects that appeared strikingly lifelike.

Photographs were released showing elongated segmented objects that appeared strikingly lifelike (pictured)

However, the excitement did not last long. Other scientists questioned whether the meteorite samples were contaminated. 

They also argued that heat generated when the rock was blasted into space may have created mineral structures that could be mistaken for microfossils. 

Behaviour of Tabby's Star in 2005 

The star, otherwise known as KIC 8462852, is located 1,400 light years away and has baffled astronomers since being discovered in 2015.

It dims at a much faster rate than other stars, which some experts have suggested is a sign of aliens harnessing the energy of a star.

The star, otherwise known as KIC 8462852, is located 1,400 light years away and has baffled astonomers since being discovered in 2015 (artist's impression)

Recent studies have 'eliminated the possibility of an alien megastructure', and instead, suggests that a ring of dust could be causing the strange signals.

Exoplanets in the Goldilocks zone in 2017 

In February 2017 astronomers announced they had spotted a star system with planets that could support life just 39 light years away.

Seven Earth-like planets were discovered orbiting nearby dwarf star 'Trappist-1', and all of them could have water at their surface, one of the key components of life.

Three of the planets have such good conditions, that scientists say life may have already evolved on them. 

Researchers claim that they will know whether or not there is life on any of the planets within a decade, and said: 'This is just the beginning.' 

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On January 27, 2026, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved the symbolic Doomsday Clock forward once again, now just 85 seconds before midnight, the closest humanity has come in nearly eight decades and for anyone paying attention, the message is hard to miss: something is off. 

The latest update pointed to an expanding set of destabilizing forces — from nuclear stockpiles and accelerating climate breakdown to disruptive AI capabilities and advances in synthetic biology. Taken together, these technologies and geopolitical tensions form what the group calls a high risk landscape with almost no guardrails. 

“Every second counts and we are running out of time,” warned Alexandra Bell, the organization’s president. 

The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947, at a moment when nuclear brinkmanship between two superpowers kept the world permanently on edge. Today, the picture is far more complex. 

Multiple nations, corporations, and private labs are racing into fields once reserved for classified programs and black budget research. Technologies that barely existed a decade ago are now capable of destabilizing entire systems without a sound. 

Until 2020, the clock had never surpassed the two-minute mark. Now, only seconds remain. 

Daniel Holz, chair of the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board, noted that last year’s warnings produced not cooperation, but secrecy and escalation: “The opposite has happened.” 

Whether we actually cross the threshold is beside the point. The message in 2026 is unmistakable: the window is closing, and those who know aren’t waiting for public consensus. 

The only question now is whether this countdown remains symbolic or serves as advance notice before midnight arrives for real.

Created in 1945 by Manhattan Project Scientists, the 'Doomsday Clock' is a constant reminder of impending global catastrophe. In 2026, the clock ticked closer to midnight than ever before. 

(Image credit: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)

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

Military 3D Printing: How is Additive Manufacturing Changing the Defense Industry

Imagine that essential parts for military equipment are produced not in months, but in days, or even hours, directly on the battlefield.

This isn’t a glimpse into a distant future; it’s happening right now. Armed forces from various nations are rapidly adopting 3D printing, drawn by its potential to slash costs and dramatically boost operational readiness.

Take, for example, the remarkable achievement of constructing a submarine hull in just four weeks using 3D printing, slashing costs by up to 90%. It’s advancements like these that have propelled the global military 3D printing market from $0.88 billion in 2021 to an expected $7.5 billion by 2031.

This rapid growth is not just about economics or innovative solutions; it reflects a profound transformation in military logistics and manufacturing, recognized by 70% of industry leaders.

In this article, we’ll focus on exploring how this game-changing technology is making such a significant impact and what it means for the future of military strategies.

How Does 3D Printing Help the Military?

In military operations, 3D printing is making a statement particularly in repair and maintenance. Over 40% of defense sector users now rely on additive manufacturing for these purposes, with expectations to double this usage as metal additive technologies evolve.

Armies are leveraging 3D printing to consolidate upwards of 70 different parts into a single component, which streamlines both logistics and maintenance workflows. This capability is crucial, especially in conflict zones where traditional supply chains are disrupted, enabling field-deployable printers to significantly accelerate equipment repairs.

The strategic use of 3D printing also reduces supply chain costs considerably. Many organizations report that integrating 3D printing into their operations has enabled them to merge multiple parts into single assemblies, reducing complexity and cost.

The distributed manufacturing capability of 3D printing proves essential for rapid deployments and efficient on-site repairs, underscoring its importance in maintaining continuous military readiness in remote locations.

How is 3D Printing Used in the Military?

3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is revolutionizing the military and defense industries by providing unprecedented flexibility and efficiency in the production of critical components.

Additive manufacturing technology enables on-demand manufacturing of parts, significantly reducing lead times from months to just hours or days, even in remote or combat zones. As a result, military forces can maintain higher levels of operational readiness, with the ability to produce necessary parts directly at field bases, on ships, or via mobile units.

One of the most transformative aspects of 3D printing in the military is its ability to digitally scan broken parts and produce exact replicas or improved versions with minimal downtime. This not only ensures the sustainability of essential equipment but also allows for rapid adaptation to changing battlefield conditions.

The integration of 3D printing has become so profound that it affects the entire product lifecycle within the military—from initial design to field sustainment. This shift has prompted over 90% of existing military users to plan further expansions of their additive manufacturing capabilities.

In addition to creating spare parts for drones and unmanned systems, 3D printing plays a crucial role in sustaining older or out-of-production military equipment.

By allowing for the production of parts that are no longer available, 3D printing helps keep vital vehicles and systems operational.

Field printers, often ruggedized for use in harsh environments, are now standard equipment for units needing to perform battle damage repairs quickly and efficiently near the front lines.

Key Qualification, Certification, and Quality Assurance Considerations

In the military and defense sectors, the adoption of 3D printing technologies goes hand in hand with rigorous qualification, certification, and quality assurance processes to ensure that components meet stringent standards.

Each part produced must consistently demonstrate the required strength, flexibility, and be free from defects to qualify for use in military-grade applications.

Certification processes are critical to establishing trust in the efficacy and reliability of 3D printed parts. These processes often involve extensive testing, including X-ray and CT scanning, to verify the integrity and internal structure of components.

Moreover, maintaining repeatable quality across different printing locations necessitates standardized equipment calibration, secure digital file transfers, and the use of approved materials that meet defense specifications.

The military sector is also pioneering the development of standardized best practices for additive manufacturing.

This includes ongoing research aimed at defining robust testing protocols for both metal and composite parts. Such standardization efforts are crucial for facilitating broader adoption of 3D printing technologies, ensuring interoperability between different military units, and supporting coalition operations.

What are the Different Types of 3D Printing Technologies Used in the Military and Defense Industry?

In the military and defense sectors, several advanced 3D printing technologies are tailored to meet specific operational needs. These include:

• Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF): Ideal for creating durable and heat-resistant components. FFF is widely used for printing portable spare parts and tools directly in the field.
• Metal Powder Bed Fusion: This technology is crucial for manufacturing robust and complex components such as large metal vehicle hulls. It uses a laser to selectively melt metal powder layer by layer, creating parts that are both strong and lightweight.
• Directed Energy Deposition: Used for repairing or adding material to existing components. This method is particularly useful for restoring damaged parts quickly, as it can deposit materials directly onto specific sections of an object.
• Large-scale Concrete Printing: Increasingly used for constructing fortifications such as explosion-proof barriers and bunkers close to or within conflict zones. This technology allows for rapid building of robust structures essential for military operations.

Additional innovative techniques include:

• Cold-spray Methods: These involve spraying a powdered material onto a surface at high velocity to build up shapes. It’s especially beneficial for repairing parts without the high heat typically involved in other 3D printing methods, thus preserving the integrity of the original materials.
• Laser-based Multi-nozzle Systems: Capable of producing large or complex metal parts, such as aircraft brackets and satellite components, these systems with an electroformed inkjet nozzle plate offer precision and scalability, critical for aerospace and defense applications.

What Are The Different Military Branches Leveraging 3D Printing?

3D printing technology has significantly transformed operations across various military bases, enhancing their capabilities in maintenance, logistics, and combat readiness:

• Army: The Army has been a pioneer in adopting 3D printing for field operations, using it to manufacture spare parts and tools on-demand. This reduces logistics burdens and enhances operational efficiency. Additionally, the Army research laboratory is now focused on evaluating thousands of vehicle and electronic components for their suitability to be 3D printed, streamlining maintenance processes and reducing costs.
• Navy: The Navy uses 3D printing to produce complex parts for ships and submarines, reducing lead times and costs. They have also explored the printing of entire submarine sections, which can be assembled to significantly shorten construction timelines and decrease manufacturing costs.
• Air Force: The Air Force has implemented 3D printing for manufacturing parts for aircraft repair and maintenance. This includes critical components that are often no longer available through traditional supply chains. They also use 3D printing for creating customized tools that improve the efficiency of their maintenance processes.
• Marines: Similar to the Army, the Marines employ portable 3D printers in field settings to produce replacement parts and repair damaged equipment quickly. This capability is crucial for maintaining the readiness of their units, especially in remote locations where traditional logistics and supply methods are impractical.

How Does the Army Use 3D Printing?

The Army has integrated 3D printing into its logistics and maintenance strategies with significant success:

• Spare Parts Manufacturing: Deployed 3D printers in 2019 to produce essential spare parts on-demand, dramatically reducing dependency on extensive inventories and improving operational efficiency.
• Equipment Maintenance: French Army installations now include 3D printers for rapid production of parts necessary for maintaining and operating equipment effectively.
• Innovative Research: Army research teams are actively scanning thousands of vehicle and electronics parts to determine their suitability for 3D printing, which can drastically cut costs and lead times.
• Cost Reduction and Efficiency: High-cost items, such as hatch plugs for combat vehicles, which typically have long lead times and high costs, are now being printed in days at a fraction of the cost.
• Construction Projects: The Army is exploring the use of 3D printing to construct large structures like bunkers or shelters quickly using materials like fast-setting concrete.
• Field Repairs: Portable 3D printers are being tested in field conditions, allowing for immediate repairs of battle damage, which is crucial during combat operations.
• Protective Gear: Experiments are underway to use 3D printing for on-demand production of ballistic or protective components, enhancing soldier safety dynamically.

How Does the Navy Use 3D Printing?

The Navy has embraced 3D printing to enhance operational efficiency and logistical capabilities across its fleet. Here are specific examples of how 3D printing is utilized:

• Submarine and Ship Component Production: The production of 3D-printed submarine hull sections within four weeks significantly cuts manufacturing time, traditionally spanning several months, and reduces costs by up to 90%. For instance, a 30-foot submarine hull can be printed in six sections, each at a fraction of the cost of traditional manufacturing methods.
• Propeller Manufacturing: 3D-printed metal propellers, weighing up to 200 kg per blade, are now installed on active-service naval vessels, drastically reducing production lead times.
• Onboard Printing Capabilities: Some ships are equipped with onboard 3D printing labs, enabling the crew to print essential replacement parts like filters and specialized brackets within hours, enhancing self-sufficiency at sea.
• Rapid Construction: The technology is used to rapidly construct durable bunkers and other essential structures using quick-drying concrete, often in less than 36 hours.
• Custom Part Production: There is an increasing use of 3D printing for on-demand production of diverse items, from belt buckles to customized drone parts, which can be tailored to specific needs without waiting for resupply.
• Support and Logistics: « Help desk » style support lines are available for Marines to request custom solutions or share digital files for printing necessary components directly in the field.
• Distributed Manufacturing Trials: Some fleets are experimenting with distributed manufacturing concepts, where vital parts are printed directly at sea, thereby reducing dependency on dockside supply chains and enhancing operational readiness.

Can Ships Be 3D Printed?

Yes, naval branches worldwide are actively testing large-format 3D printing for creating ship hull components and even entire vessel prototypes. This innovative approach not only tests the limits of existing 3D printing capabilities but also paves the way for future advancements in shipbuilding technology. By printing large structural elements, naval forces can significantly shorten production timelines and reduce the logistic complexity involved in ship construction and repair.

Air Force Advancements with 3D Printing

The Air Force is leveraging 3D printing to maintain and enhance its technological edge, especially in the areas of component manufacturing and repair:

• Component Manufacturing for Aircraft: Utilizing 3D and 4D printing technologies, the Air Force produces parts such as overhead panels, reading light covers, window reveals, and gasper panels for C-5 Galaxy transport jets.
• Advanced Material Use: Titanium cockpit parts for stealth jets are now being 3D printed, offering advantages over traditional aluminum parts with extended durability and corrosion resistance.
• Engine Component Production: The first tests of 3D-printed metal engine components on large transport aircraft have been successful, significantly enhancing the responsiveness of the supply chain to maintenance demands.
• Legacy Aircraft Maintenance: Manufacturing spare parts for legacy fighter jets, which are often challenging and costly to source, has become more feasible and efficient with 3D printing.
• Research and Development: Air Force research labs are exploring the use of additively manufactured lightweight drone frameworks and other composite materials, which can reduce aircraft empty weight by up to 55% in some experimental designs, drastically altering the dynamics of aircraft design and functionality.

What Are the Core Applications of 3D Printing in the Defense and Military Industry?

Core applications of 3D printing include the rapid production of complex parts that traditional manufacturing struggles to produce, and the on-site fabrication of critical components, reducing dependency on extensive supply chains. Furthermore, 3D printing contributes significantly to the research and development of new military applications, from advanced weaponry components to protective gear, showcasing its impact on modernizing national defense systems.

Manufacturing Spare Parts On-Demand

The ability to print spare parts on demand revolutionizes logistical operations within the military, particularly in remote or harsh environments. Here are typical examples of spare parts produced through 3D printing:

• Hatch plugs and filters: Essential for vehicle and aircraft maintenance, easily produced on-site.
• Engine brackets and cold water valves: Custom parts that are costly and time-consuming to source traditionally.
• Propulsion components: Critical for the maintenance of air and sea vehicles, these can be printed directly on carriers or at forward operating bases.

Building Military Infrastructure

3D printing also plays a pivotal role in constructing robust military infrastructure swiftly and efficiently. Here are some notable infrastructure projects facilitated by 3D printing:

• Bunkers and Barracks: Printed using advanced, quick-drying concrete, these structures are capable of withstanding extreme conditions and can be erected almost overnight.
• Runways and Bridging Systems: Large-scale 3D printing technology enables the construction of vital infrastructure in otherwise inaccessible locations, significantly enhancing military mobility and response capabilities.

Prototyping New Defense Technologies

3D printing accelerates the development and testing of new military technologies, making rapid prototyping a strategic asset in defense manufacturing:

• Drone Development: Quick iteration of various drone models to enhance surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
• Body Armor: Tailoring advanced body armor to improve protection and mobility for troops.
• Weapons Systems: Developing lighter, more efficient weapon systems with complex geometrical designs not possible with traditional manufacturing.
• Smart Helmets: In 2021, Rice University was awarded a $1.3 million contract to develop a printable « smart helmet » that integrates critical monitoring tech.
• Portable Printing Facilities: ExOne’s introduction of a mobile 3D printing factory in a shipping container exemplifies how units can fabricate parts directly in conflict zones or remote locations, drastically reducing logistic challenges and enhancing mission flexibility.

Creation of Custom Tools and Equipment

The customization capacity of 3D printing allows for tailored solutions that meet specific military needs, improving both efficiency and effectiveness:

• Repair Tools: Custom jigs and fixtures for aircraft and vehicle maintenance, drastically cutting downtime and enhancing field serviceability.
• Mounting Brackets: On-demand printing of brackets for securely mounting communication devices and other equipment on military vehicles.
• Specialized Tools: Production of tools like turbine wrenches, which traditionally are costly and take time to procure, now produced at a fraction of the cost and time.

Medical Applications and Devices

3D printing’s role extends into medical models and applications, providing tailored healthcare solutions that enhance soldier care:

• Prosthetics and Orthotics: Custom-fitted devices that offer improved comfort and functionality, crucial for rehabilitation and enhanced mobility in field conditions.
• Surgical Tools and Implants: Quick production of medical devices like sterile surgical tools and patient-specific implants for use in mobile military medical teams.

Building Military Infrastructure (Extended)

Large-scale 3D printing is also revolutionizing the construction of military infrastructure:

• Protective Structures: Rapid construction of bunkers, barriers, and other protective structures that can be erected to enhance defense readiness within hours.
• Facilities and Housing: Printing of barracks and other essential structures directly in theatre, reducing the need for transport and enabling rapid establishment of operational bases.
• Logistical Support Structures: Potential for constructing storage facilities and even runways using large-format printers, which could transform deployment logistics and operational strategies.

What Materials are Commonly Used in Military and Defense 3D Printing?

In military and defense, 3D printing utilizes a variety of materials tailored to meet stringent requirements for durability, flexibility, and lightness. These materials include:

• Polymers: Reinforced with carbon or glass fibers, these polymers are prized for their strength and lightweight properties, making them ideal for components that require both durability and mobility.
• Metals: Titanium and magnesium alloys are frequently explored for their exceptional strength-to-weight ratios, essential for next-generation vehicles and protective gear. These metals contribute significantly to the operational readiness and agility of military forces.
• Composites: Blending materials like carbon fiber reinforced polymers enables the production of parts that are robust yet significantly lighter than traditional materials, enhancing the mobility of military personnel and equipment.
• Recycled Materials: Initiatives to repurpose plastic waste, such as water bottles, into filament for 3D printers support in-theater manufacturing capabilities, reducing logistic complexities and promoting sustainability within military operations.

Advanced techniques are also in development to optimize these materials for military use:

• Multi-laser Metal Additive Processes: These processes increase the efficiency of fusing titanium powder, cutting production time without sacrificing the quality of parts.
• Cold-Spray Techniques: This method applies metals like aluminum and titanium at high velocities without the high thermal input required by other methods, preserving the integrity of parts that are sensitive to heat.

What are the Benefits of Using 3D Printing in the Military and Defense Industry?

3D printing brings multiple strategic advantages to the military and defense sectors:

• Logistical Efficiency: It simplifies complex supply chains by enabling the local production of parts, reducing dependency on traditional supply lines and minimizing part lead times.
• Weight Reduction: Lighter parts improve fuel efficiency and vehicle mobility, crucial for operational effectiveness in diverse environments.
• Maintenance of Aging Equipment: The technology allows for the economical production of parts for aging platforms that would otherwise be costly or impossible to replace.
• Rapid Prototyping and Innovation: Facilitates the swift development and testing of new defense technologies, significantly speeding up innovation cycles.
• Enhanced Readiness: Printing parts on-demand directly in the field or at remote locations enhances military readiness and operational capability by ensuring that equipment can be maintained and repaired without waiting for replacement parts to be shipped.

What Challenges Face 3D Printing in Military Applications and How Are They Overcome?

Despite its advantages, 3D printing in military applications presents specific challenges that require strategic solutions:

• Material Certification and Quality Control: Ensuring that every printed part meets military standards is critical. Implementing rigorous testing and quality assurance protocols ensures consistency, even in harsh environments.
• Cybersecurity for Digital Files: Protecting the integrity of 3D printing files is paramount to prevent hacking or sabotage. Employing advanced encryption methods and secure communication channels mitigates these risks.
• Training and Adaptability: Training personnel to operate and maintain 3D printers is essential, especially in remote or combat zones. Tailored training programs and robust support systems are crucial for adoption.
• Supply Chain for Specialized Materials: Establishing reliable supply chains for high-quality printing materials can be challenging. Strategic stockpiling and developing relationships with multiple suppliers help mitigate these risks.
• Protecting Intellectual Property: As 3D scanning and reverse engineering become more accessible, safeguarding proprietary designs and repair data is crucial. Utilizing watermarking and other digital protection strategies helps secure intellectual property.

Is 3D Printing Used in the Military and Defense Industry Expensive?

The cost of 3D printing in the military and defense industry varies widely but can often lead to significant savings compared to traditional manufacturing methods. While the initial setup and investment in 3D printing technology can be substantial, the ability to consolidate multiple parts into a single print reduces both material waste and assembly labor, leading to substantial cost reductions over the lifecycle of the manufactured parts.

For instance, real-world applications have demonstrated substantial cost benefits. A submersible hull, traditionally costing between $600,000 to $800,000, was 3D printed for just around $60,000. Such examples underscore the technology’s potential to revolutionize cost structures within the defense sector.

However, potential hidden costs do exist. These include the availability and cost of specialized materials, ongoing machine maintenance, and the need for highly skilled operators. Despite these challenges, the overall cost benefits, including drastically reduced lead times and the simplification of supply chains, often justify the initial investments.

Regulatory and Standardization in Military 3D Printing

Regulatory and standardization processes in military 3D printing are crucial to ensuring that the technology safely integrates into the defense sector. These guidelines focus on maintaining high standards of quality and consistency, essential in a field where the performance and reliability of printed parts can directly impact operational readiness and safety.

Main considerations involve the standardization of materials used, the certification of printed components, and adherence to stringent military specifications and standards. Efforts to standardize 3D printing practices ensure that components are reliable and that production methods meet the rigorous demands of military use.

These regulations not only help in maintaining the integrity of printed materials but also in fostering innovation by setting clear guidelines for material properties, production processes, and part performance.

What Are the Ethical and Security Implications of 3D Printing in the Military and Defense Industry?

The ethical and security implications of 3D printing in the military and defense industry are significant and multifaceted. One of the primary concerns is cybersecurity. The digital nature of 3D printing files makes them susceptible to hacking and unauthorized access, which could lead to the proliferation of sensitive military designs or the creation of unauthorized weapon components.

To counter these risks, stringent security protocols and regulations are essential to prevent unauthorized reproduction and ensure that all printed materials are accounted for and protected. Encryption of 3D printing files and secure transmission methods are crucial in safeguarding these designs from potential adversaries. Additionally, ethical considerations must guide the deployment of this technology, especially in terms of the potential for creating lethal autonomous weapons systems, which must be regulated to prevent misuse.

Compliance Challenges

Navigating the compliance landscape in military 3D printing presents a complex challenge that varies by country but consistently hinges on stringent regulatory standards. These regulations ensure that 3D-printed components rigorously meet military specifications, which are critical for maintaining operational readiness and safety. Additionally, there are import and export controls on certain high-tech materials like advanced metal powders and reinforced filaments, which are crucial for printing durable military-grade parts. Countries actively participate in setting these standards to maintain a balance between innovation and security, ensuring that the advancements in military 3D printing contribute positively to national defense capabilities without compromising control over sensitive technologies.

Standardization of 3D Printing Processes

Standardization in military 3D printing is necessary for ensuring the reliability and interoperability of components across various global locations. Efforts to standardize these processes involve creating common protocols that enhance « build portability, » allowing military organizations to replicate parts in different settings without loss of fidelity. This is particularly relevant in joint operations involving NATO or EU members, where consistent standards are vital for maintaining the compatibility of parts and systems. The pursuit of greater collaboration among these entities emphasizes the need for a unified approach to 3D printing in defense, ensuring that all printed materials adhere to the highest performance and quality standards to support military operations effectively.

How Can Military Organizations Implement 3D Printing Technology Effectively?

Integrating 3D printing into military operations can enhance efficiency and adaptability across various aspects of logistics and manufacturing. Here’s a step-by-step guide to effectively implement this transformative technology:

1. Assessment of Equipment: Evaluate both legacy and current equipment to identify components that can be effectively produced using 3D printing. This step helps in pinpointing which parts can be optimized for 3D printing to reduce costs and improve supply chain resilience.
2. Training Programs: Develop comprehensive training programs for personnel that cover both the design aspects of 3D printing and ongoing printer maintenance. This ensures that the staff is well-equipped to handle the technical demands of additive manufacturing.
3. Digital Libraries: Establish secure, digital libraries for storing 3D design files. These libraries should have robust cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive information and prevent unauthorized access.
4. Material Management: Implement strict procedures for the storage and transport of materials, such as humidity-controlled environments for spool storage. Proper handling of materials is crucial to maintain the integrity and quality of print outputs.
5. Industry Partnerships: Forge partnerships with leaders in the 3D printing industry. Collaborations can lead to advanced training opportunities and joint research and development projects on new materials and printing technologies, further enhancing the military’s capabilities.
6. Data Security: Incorporate rigorous data security measures to handle sensitive designs and protect against cyber threats. This includes encrypted file storage and secure transmission protocols to maintain operational security.

What are the Future Trends and Developments in Military 3D Printing?

The future of military 3D printing is marked by several promising trends and developments that are set to expand its capabilities significantly:

• Advanced Materials: There is a growing focus on metal 3D printing and the development of novel composite materials, which are crucial for producing more durable and lightweight military components.
• Mobility: The continued deployment of mobile, field-deployable additive manufacturing units enables military forces to perform on-site production of essential parts, enhancing operational flexibility and reducing dependency on long supply chains.
• Extraterrestrial Applications: Looking forward, the potential for on-demand manufacturing for space exploration and the establishment of off-planet bases represents an exciting frontier. This includes using local resources for construction, such as moon dust, which could revolutionize the way military and exploratory missions are conducted.

Emerging Technologies in 3D Printing

In the realm of emerging technologies, 3D printing is set to take a significant leap forward with several innovations:

• Metal and Bioprinting: Advancements in metal 3D printing are being complemented by explorations in bioprinting, which could lead to new medical applications beneficial for military personnel.
• AI Integration: The integration of AI with 3D printing technologies allows for real-time adjustments in print parameters, improving the quality and reliability of printed components significantly.
• Local Resource Use: Research into using local planetary materials for building structures on other planets is progressing, potentially enabling the construction of habitats in environments like Mars or the moon using in-situ resources.

Conclusion

As we embrace 3D printing in military strategies, we’re witnessing a game-changing evolution in how we manage logistics and streamline manufacturing processes. This isn’t just about cutting costs or simplifying supply chains; it’s about opening up a world of possibilities for design and production that can keep pace with the demands of modern warfare. Imagine being able to rapidly prototype and roll out essential parts directly in the field, wherever you are. Looking ahead, the future shines bright with potential for innovative materials and revolutionary printing techniques. Together, these advancements are set to boost the efficiency, safety, and adaptability of military operations, making 3D printing a key player in shaping the future of national defense.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Purpose of Creating 3D Printed Food for the Army?

The development of 3D-printed food for the army aims to meet specific nutritional needs with high efficiency. This technology allows for the customization of meals based on the dietary requirements of military personnel, ensuring optimal nutrition. Additionally, 3D printing can produce these rations quickly and potentially on-site in remote areas, which is vital for maintaining the health and readiness of troops deployed around the globe.

Can You 3D Print An Aircraft?

Yes, parts of aircrafts, including lightweight drones and components like wings and fuselage sections, are currently being manufactured using 3D printing technologies. These methods enable the production of complex, lightweight structures that are crucial for modern aviation design. Research is ongoing in large-format metal 3D printing, which is expected to expand capabilities further, allowing for bigger and more complex parts to be efficiently produced with reduced lead times and costs.

{ https://www.raise3d.com/fr/ }

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NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope continues to reveal the secrets of the universe, three and a half decades after its launch, as a new AI technique from the European Space Agency (ESA) identifies more than 800 previously unreported space objects.

Launched in 1990 and still in operation, the Hubble Space Telescope has amassed a vast archive of data over its decades spent scanning the universe. Now, a recent paper in Astronomy & Astrophysics reports the identification of 1,300 unusual objects by AI in just two and a half days, many of which have never appeared in the astronomical literature.

Hubble Image Analysis

The astronomers behind the new research fed their AI neural network 100 million image cutouts from the Hubble Legacy Archive. These cutouts are tiny—only dozens of pixels wide—yet the AI was able to meaningfully determine what they contained.

Galaxies accounted for most of the anomalous cutouts, typically undergoing mergers or other unusual interactions that distorted their morphologies or left them trailing long streams of stars and gas. Other cutouts were identified as spacetime distortions that bent light from distant galaxies into arcs or rings before it reached Hubble.

Small image cutouts from the Hubble Legacy Archive revealed strange anomalies when analyzed by AnomalyMatch.

Credit: NASA, ESA, David O’Ryan (ESA), Pablo Gómez (ESA), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Hubble)

More unusual cosmic features were also identified, including galaxies resembling jellyfish with strange tentacle-like streams of gas, and edge-on planet-forming disks that appear like hamburgers in the images (several of which can be seen above).

Perhaps most notably, dozens of the objects were so bizarre that they did not fit any existing classification.

Developing AnomalyMatch

The sheer scale of data amassed in the continually expanding archives of Hubble and other telescopes has become so large that it defies traditional human-led analysis. These advanced space observatories generate data at a rate far exceeding that of earlier eras in astronomy. Prior attempts to open the data to citizen scientists have met with some success, but the backlog has grown too large for those initiatives to fully address. Until now, astronomers have relied on manual analysis and the occasional fortunate discovery made while examining specific targets.

While Hubble was constructed by NASA, ESA researchers David O’Ryan and Pablo Gómez developed the solution leveraged by the team for its analysis of this torrent of data. Specifically, the pair created a neural network called AnomalyMatch, which is designed to examine collections of imagery far more quickly than humans can. Still, AnomalyMatch was trained to perform pattern recognition similar to that of humans, allowing it to “learn” to identify rare and unusual objects hidden in the data.

“Archival observations from the Hubble Space Telescope now span 35 years, offering a rich dataset in which astrophysical anomalies may be hidden,” said lead author David O’Ryan.

Among the objects discovered was a collision ring galaxy, a type of disrupted or bent ring-shaped galaxy.

Credit: NASA, ESA, David O’Ryan (ESA), Pablo Gómez (ESA), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Hubble)

Exploring Hubble and Other Telescopes

Although the team’s initial paper focuses on data retrieved using the Hubble Space Telescope, the technique can be applied more broadly as well. Other platforms, such as ESA’s Euclid mission, are generating vast amounts of data that AnomalyMatch could help process. Crucially, O’Ryan and Gómez’s neural network results have been manually reviewed by astronomers, who have so far confirmed 1,300 of the anomalies flagged by AnomalyMatch.

“This is a powerful demonstration of how AI can enhance the scientific return of archival datasets,” co-author Pablo Gómez said. “The discovery of so many previously undocumented anomalies in Hubble data underscores the tool’s potential for future surveys.”

Future advanced space observatories will also benefit from the implementation of AnomalyMatch. For instance, NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will provide a wider field of view than the James Webb Space Telescope, offering yet another enormous data set for astronomers to search through in the years ahead.

The paper, “Identifying Astrophysical Anomalies in 99.6 Million Source Cutouts from the Hubble Legacy Archive using AnomalyMatch,” appeared in Astronomy & Astrophysics on December 16, 2025.

• Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.

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

EXCLUSIVE - I've seen possessed children scream like beasts and strung up like puppets... these chilling exorcism cases PROVE hell is real

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

There is a hidden battlefield within our world, where forces of light and darkness collide, believers say, in a conflict that sometimes spills into everyday life. 

In its most extreme form, the clash is described as possession: a person seemingly seized by demonic beings, their body overtaken, their voice and movements warped into something not quite human. 

For Anglican reverend Chris Lee, 43, this is not a theological abstraction but a reality he has lived with for nearly two decades. 

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Lee said he first began witnessing exorcisms after moving to rural Tanzania aged 24 for mission work while training to become a priest. 

It was there, he said, that he encountered what he described as 'profound things, miracles and movements of darkness and light' that convinced him he was being called into ministry. 

Within just a month of arriving, Lee said he received an urgent call about a student who was violently ill, screaming, vomiting and convulsing in a way he believed went far beyond any normal sickness. 

Other encounters followed, as Lee recalled a teenage boy inside a church who suddenly 'leapt up into the sky,' screamed like a beast, and bolted into the woods, his body moving in a 'puppet-like' way, as if controlled by an unseen force. 

In another case, one that left a deep impression on him, Lee said a girl from a Muslim family began convulsing and speaking in a male voice, declaring, 'I'm one of nine here… this is my house,' as pastors struggled to drive out what they believed was an entity. 

Reverend Chris Lee shared chilling exorcism causes, detailing how the experiences gave him a purpose since giving his life to God at the age of 24

Despite the intensity of these encounters, Lee said he does not feel afraid. Instead, he described feeling purposeful, and at times angry, at what he sees as an invasion of something sacred. 

'It's like a burglar in a house,' he said. 'Get out. You don't have this right.' 

For Lee, prayer and faith are not symbolic gestures but sources of authority, and he believes he is standing on the side of Christ in a spiritual battle he says is as real as any physical one.

His early spiritual awakening began after he abandoned a conventional life at age 21 and moved to Tanzania. 

'I was 24 when I was ordained, so I was one of the youngest in the Church of England at the time,' Lee said, explaining how quickly his calling took root. 

He left a career in property development, sold his house and moved into a remote Maasai region without electricity or running water. 

While his new home was far from a lap of luxury, it was where he knew he wanted to dedicate his life to the ministry. 

'It was there that I was able to ask big, profound questions of life, and it was there that I discovered my love for God, and felt His presence so much more in my life,' said Lee. 

He moved from England to Tanzania for mission work and within only a month, he performed his first exorcism (stock) 

When he asked his bishop if he could begin theological training, he was told to start almost immediately. 'He said, yes, you can start on Thursday,' Lee recalled, noting this moment marked the beginning of a long ministry in which he repeatedly confronted spiritual forces he believes are very real.

His first encounter came when he was in charge of students in Tanzania, and was called to see a student who was very ill. 

'I came into the room of this person, and I was expecting them to be lying down and being sick, but the person was screaming around the room and vomiting at the same time,' he said. 

The sight caught Lee completely off guard, as he was not witnessing a normal sickness. 

'I didn't have a spectrum of understanding of what was going on,' the reverend admitted. 'So in that moment I just prayed, "Lord, give me what I need to help this girl."'

After praying in the room, Lee contacted a German missionary who was in the area, hoping to get assistance. 

'When he arrived, just before we went in, I said, "Be aware, it's very disturbing. She's screaming, moving around the room, and vomiting,"' said Lee. 

'He said, "Okay, fine." We walked in, and she was suddenly completely normal. She was sitting up and talking. I was actually quite embarrassed. I thought, "What is going on?"'

He believes possession come after some kind of trauma that opens a dark door into the person's life, allowing demonic beings to take over 

The German missionary asked other students about the girl, who said she was someone afflicted by the demonic. 

Lee believes this was his first encounter with evil, but by no means his last. 

He recalled another chilling case that occurred while he was traveling to another church in the area, a church made of sticks. 

The bishop at the time was performing baptisms for the children, laying his hands on their heads for a blessing. 

'He was going along the line, laying his hands to bless the children,' said Lee. 'It was a teenage boy who suddenly leapt up into the sky just before the bishop was about to lay his hands on him.

'He started screaming, like a beast, like a lion, and then he ran into the wall.'

The boy was taken out of the church and placed on the ground with a blanket pulled over his head. 

As Lee and others approached quietly across the sand to pray, he said the boy began to tremble. Lee said the shaking intensified the closer they came, which he interpreted as a sign that whatever was afflicting the child was aware of their presence and reacting to it. 

'He picked up and ran away from us, screaming, into the woods. As he was running, it was very strange, because the way he moved was not like a normal person,' Lee said.

'It was as if he were one of those puppets on strings, his limbs were being used, but not in the correct way. 

'It was a very surreal experience, watching him flee in this almost puppeteered way, as if something inside him was controlling him, but not the way a normal human being would be controlled.'

The boy was brought back to the church, where the crowd surrounded him in prayer.

'I remember his eyes burning, with a real blackness, a darkness in his eyes, and we were commanding the spirit in him to leave, and he was growling, and barking at us,' the reverend recalled. 

Lee and the bishop laid their hands on the boy, commanding the demonic entity leave his small body, and in a moment, the child fell to the ground and began hyperventilating.

Then there was his experience with the young Muslim girl who would stay at his church.

 One day, the girl mysteriously fell to the floor and began shaking and screaming. 'What was interesting was that voices were speaking out of her,' Lee said. 

'The main voice was a male voice speaking in Swahili to the pastor who was leading the deliverance at that moment. 

'It said, "I'm one of nine here, and she's let us in." The language the demon used was, "This is my house. You have no claim over her. She's ours." 'We were saying, "No, in the name of Jesus, you need to get out."'

Another pastor came, telling Lee and the others to stop the exorcism. 

'He said she hadn't yet accepted Christ in her heart, and if we delivered her now, it could be made worse,' said Lee. 

'Biblically, he explained, if you clear the house, seven more can come back in unless the person has received Christ. His concern was that we might clear space for more to enter her. 

'So it was stopped in that moment. Her parents were informed, and they collected her. 

'My understanding is that she returned to school a few weeks later, which suggests her parents took her to a deliverance expert in Dar es Salaam or Morogoro, where I believe she was delivered. 

'She was an interesting case because she would come off the ground in violent surges, then stand up and contort, speaking in a male voice. That was one of the more severe cases.'

Lee suggested that these children may have suffered some kind of trauma in their lives, which opened a dark door for the demonic entities. 

'These experiences have made the realities of what I read in the Bible more real to me, the realities of the spiritual realm and the fact that we aren't just physical beings,' he explained. 

'We are spiritual beings, and our spirit is wrapped up in the physical. We are both of these things held as one.'

'The realities of darkness and light became more pronounced. In a world where we're struggling to seek and find truth, and where people say 'my truth' and 'your truth,' this cuts through that. It's quite clear: there is evil, there is good, there is truth, and there are lies.'

'I think it wakes you up to that reality, and it makes my faith more pronounced in myself. In a way, it strengthened my faith rather than wounded it.'

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Lost tomb of the mysterious 'cloud people' unearthed after 1,400 years in 'discovery of the decade'

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

It has been hailed as 'the most significant archaeological discovery in a decade.'

Archaeologists in Mexico have uncovered a 1,400-year-old tomb in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca that had been lost to history.

The stone structure, built by the Zapotec culture, known as Be'ena'a, or 'The Cloud People', is adorned with sculptures, murals and carved symbols that suggest ritual significance.

The Zapotec believed their ancestors descended from the clouds and that, in death, their souls returned to the heavens as spirits.

At the entrance sits a massive carved owl, its open beak revealing the face of a Zapotec lord, a symbol the National Institute of Anthropology and History said represented death and power.

The doorway is framed by a stone threshold and lintel, above which a frieze of engraved slabs displays ancient calendrical names.

Flanking the entrance are carved figures of a man and woman wearing headdresses and holding ritual objects, likely guardians of the tomb.

Inside the burial chamber, preserved sections of a vibrant mural remain intact, showing a procession of figures carrying bundles of copal as they move toward the tomb's entrance.

Archaeologists in Mexicohave uncovered a 1,400-year-old tomb in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca that had been lost to history

At the entrance sits a massive carved owl, its open beak revealing the face of a Zapotec lord

Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, said: 'It is the most important archaeological discovery of the last decade in Mexico due to its level of preservation and the information it provides.'

The Zapotecs have a history spanning over 2,500 years. 

They established a major pre-Columbian civilization centered at Monte Albán, which featured advanced agriculture and writing.

The Zapotec civilization mysteriously declined in the area around 900 AD.

However, the people did not completely disappear, as there are at least 400,000 living today.

Mexico's Secretary of Culture, Claudia Curiel de Icaza, said the 'exceptional discovery' of the tomb was due to its preservation. 

She added that it reveals how the Zapotec culture was a social organization with funerary rituals.

'It is a compelling example of Mexico's ancient grandeur, which is now being researched, protected, and shared with society,' she continued.  

The stone structure, built by the Zapotec culture, known as Be'ena'a, or 'The Cloud People', is adorned with sculptures, murals and carved symbols that suggest ritual significance

Pictured is the giant owl above the tomb's entrance

An interdisciplinary team from the INAH Oaxaca Center is currently working to conserve and protect the tomb, focusing on stabilizing the fragile mural painting. Experts say the mural’s condition is delicate due to root growth, insect activity, and sudden shifts in temperature and humidity.

At the same time, researchers are conducting ceramic, iconographic and epigraphic studies, along with physical anthropology analyses, to better understand the rituals, symbols and funerary practices connected to the tomb.

In 2024, archaeologists announced the discovery of tunnels that the ancient Zapotec civilization believed to be the 'entrance to the underworld' had been found beneath a centuries-old church.

Mitla, meaning place of the dead, was a city in southern Mexico known for its association with Pitao Bezelao, the Zapotec god of death.

But the Spanish arrived in the 16th Century and razed the city, building a church on the ruins of its most important temple.

A priest later wrote that 'the back door of hell' lay under the city – huge caverns believed to be the entrance to the Zapotec underworld.

But they were walled up, he said, and later excavations failed to find anything matching the scale of his description – until now.

Using non-invasive techniques, archaeologists recently revealed a series of chambers and tunnels beneath the city.

Five different sets of ruins were probed: the church group, the arroyo group, the adobe group, the south group, and the group of the columns.

Pictured is the face of the Zapotec god inside the owl's mouth

In 2024, archaeologists announced the discovery of tunnels that the ancient Zapotec civilization believed to be the 'entrance to the underworld' had been found beneath a centuries-old church 

Using non-invasive techniques, archaeologists recently revealed a series of chambers and tunnels beneath the city

Marco Vigato, founder of the ARX Project, which is leading the search, said: 'Some of the tunnels and chambers extend to a considerable depth, in excess of 50 feet.

The underground tunnels were revealed using a combination of ground penetrating radar, electric resistivity tomography, and seismic noise tomography. 

The first method uses radar waves to model the subsurface, while the second detects buried structures by measuring the flow of electricity through the earth.

Instead of electricity, the final method measures the speed at which seismic waves move through the ground.

Just how old the tunnels are is yet to be established.

'Natural caves in the area of Mitla have been occupied and partially modified by humans for thousands of years,' Vigato said:

'The earliest evidence of crop domestication in the area of Mitla dates back almost 10,000 years.

'There is no indication at the moment as to the possible age of the tunnels under the church or the other groups of structures at Mitla.

'They may have been created by the Zapotecs, or they could be much older.'

He added: 'The findings from the geophysical scans will have to be confirmed with archaeological methods.

'This could determine the nature of the cavities identified under the site and whether they contain any artifacts of archaeological significance.'

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A military‑grade device capable of projecting a deafening, focused sound was deployed during a tense anti‑ICE protest in Minnesota Monday night.

State patrol troopers faced off with activists outside the SpringHill Suites in Maple Grove, where demonstrators believed federal immigration agents were staying.

Officers threatened to engage a long‑range acoustic device (LRAD), giving the crowd a countdown before deployment. 

The system, a highly directional loudspeaker, can emit piercing deterrent tones or amplified voice commands over long distances and was originally developed for military and crowd‑control use.

Experts warn that exposure to the device at close range can cause permanent hearing loss, ruptured eardrums, constant ringing in the ears, migraines, nausea, balance problems and even panic responses.

Marine Colonel Mark Cancian, a senior adviser for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said, 'We used it in Iraq … if you're in the cone, it sounds like the voice of God is speaking to you.'

State patrol officials said they checked the device's volume, issued dispersal notices and did not actually use tones or sirens, despite reports circulating on social media.

The night ended with 26 arrests, whom the police said were allegedly taking part in 'unlawful assembly and riotous conduct.'

Minnesota police threatened protesters on Monday with a long‑range acoustic device (LRAD), giving the crowd a countdown before deployment

Monday's demonstration came on the heels of a shooting on Saturday.

Alex Pretti, 37, was killed shortly after 9am local time after an altercation involving multiple federal officers. 

The protest in the Minneapolis suburb came as federal law enforcement leadership in the state was in flux, with Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino and some agents expected to soon leave Minnesota after intense public scrutiny of recent actions by immigration authorities.

It was not immediately clear whether Bovino or other federal agents were staying at the hotel where demonstrators gathered. 

The department issued a statement saying: 'While we respect First Amendment rights, we will not tolerate property damage or violence in our community.'

The protest was declared unlawful after demonstrators caused property damage and engaged in violent behavior, which is not protected under the First Amendment. Officers deployed the LRAD after the crowd failed to comply with a dispersal order.

The military-grade loudspeaker can project spoken commands at intense volumes or emit piercing tones designed to get attention and deter movement. 

Even when only issuing voice commands, the device can be overwhelming.

State patrol troopers faced off with protesters outside the SpringHill Suites in Maple Grove, where demonstrators believed federal immigration agents were staying

'I think we saw that in the video there of the system, because it's so loud, I mean, it pushes you back,' Cancian told CBS News.

The system was developed as a non-lethal alternative to traditional crowd-control methods such as pepper spray, tear gas, and rubber bullets. 

'In some situations where you might end up using force, kinetic force, or even lethal force, you know this can avoid that and avoid permanent damage to people,' said Cancian. 

LRAD uses an array of high-frequency speakers to produce highly directional sound, concentrating audio into a narrow beam rather than dispersing it broadly.

This technology allows sound to travel long distances while maintaining clarity, so spoken messages or warning tones can be heard over ambient noise.

The LRAD system can switch between voice communication and a high-decibel deterrent tone, with volume and frequency precisely controlled by the operator.

The device is portable and can be mounted on vehicles, tripods or handheld platforms, and operators can adjust range, angle, and intensity depending on the situation.

It has been suggested that this is the same 'secret sonic' weapon President Donald Trump said US special forces used during the daring capture of the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month.

Police did not active the system but used voice commands to deter the crowd

The night ended with 26 arrests, whom the police said were allegedly taking part in 'unlawful assembly and riotous conduct'

Trump bragged last week that 'nobody else' has it, while glorifying the capabilities of the US military.

The exact nature of the weapon and how it was used is unknown. Trump was coy when giving details during an interview with NewsNation anchor Katie Pavlich.

Pavlich asked Trump whether Americans should be 'afraid' of these sonic devices.

'Well, yeah,' Trump responded.

He then added that only the US military has access to the sonic weapons by noting, 'It's something I don't wanna… nobody else has it.'

'But we have weapons nobody else knows about.' Trump continued. 'And, I say it's probably good not to talk about it, but we have some amazing weapons.'

Following the capture of Maduro, reports surfaced that special forces used unknown sonic weapons to disable the Cuban bodyguards assigned to protect the Venezuelan dictator.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt took to X to share an interview with an unnamed security guard who claimed to be working the night the US struck Venezuela and took Maduro on drug trafficking charges.

'Stop what you are doing and read this,' she wrote, alongside five American flag emojis.

The interview saw the security guard reveal the terrifying capabilities of the mysterious new US military weapon, which he described as a 'very intense sound wave' that disabled Venezuelan forces. 

'Suddenly I felt like my head was exploding from the inside,' the security guard reportedly said. 'We all started bleeding from the nose. Some were vomiting blood. We fell to the ground, unable to move. 

'We couldn't even stand up after that sonic weapon or whatever it was.' 

The security guard claimed moments before the raid that snatched Maduro, 'all our radar systems shut down without any explanation.' Then eight helicopters arrived and around 20 soldiers descended.

'They didn't look like anything we've fought against before,' the guard claimed.

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Researchers Use AI To Find Astronomical Anomalies Buried In Archives

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

Asteroid 2024 YR4 Has a 4% Chance of Hitting the Moon. Here’s Why That’s a Scientific Goldmine.

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The Doomsday Clock, which has been ticking down to the end of the world for decades, is now officially closer to annihilation than ever before. 

On Tuesday, scientists with the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved the symbolic clock four seconds forward to 85 seconds to midnight.

It's also the closest the clock has ever been to midnight in its 79-year history, meaning experts believe humanity has never faced a more dire threat of a world-ending catastrophe than it does in 2026.

The group, which decides where the hands are set annually, cited multiple threats to global stability, including nuclear weapons, climate change, disruptive technologies like AI, and the creation of synthetic biological substances called 'mirror life.'

Alexandra Bell, president and CEO of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, said: 'Every second counts and we are running out of time. It is a hard truth that this is our reality. This is the closest our world has ever been to midnight.'

The Chicago-based nonprofit created the Doomsday Clock in 1947 during the Cold War as tensions between the US and the Soviet Union brought the constant fear of a nuclear apocalypse.

This is the second year in a row that the Doomsday Clock has moved closer to midnight - the hypothetical point where the world will end. Until 2020, the clock had never been closer than two minutes to midnight.

Daniel Holz, chair of the Bulletin's Science and Security Board, said: 'Last year, we warned that the world was perilously close to catastrophe and that countries needed to change course towards international cooperation and action on the most critical and existential risks. Unfortunately, the opposite has happened.' 

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved the 'Doomsday Clock' four seconds closer to midnight - the theoretical point of world annihilation

The US, Israel, Iran, and Russia all warned in 2025 that a catastrophic global war could be nearing as the crisis in the Middle East and Ukraine reached a breaking point 

Holz added that nuclear-armed nations became even more adversarial and nationalistic in 2025 and influenced the four-second jump, the largest move forward since 2023 when scientists cut it from 100 to 90 seconds to midnight.

'The latest remaining treaty governing nuclear weapon stockpiles between the US and Russia expires next week. For the first time in over half a century, there will be nothing preventing a runaway nuclear arms race,' Holz revealed. 

Any time the Doomsday Clock has moved forward has been said to signify humanity's failures to make progress in solving the global threats of the past 12 months.

Every year, the Doomsday Clock has been updated based on how close humanity theoretically is to total annihilation.

If the clock goes forward and gets a few minutes or seconds closer to midnight (compared with where it was set the previous year), it suggests humanity has moved closer to self-destruction.

If it moves further away from midnight, it suggests humanity has lowered the risks of global catastrophe since the same point last year.

In some years, the hands of the clock don't move at all, suggesting global tensions and threats worldwide haven't changed for better or worse.

It has been moving steadily closer to the predicted end of the world since 2011, when it was still six minutes from midnight. 

In 2025, the US, Iran, and Israel were involved in a deadly conflict in the Middle East, with the US sending a precision bombing mission to attack Iran's nuclear facilities

Rhe Bulletin's Science and Security Board added that climate change has also escalated over the last year, with global sea levels reaching record highs.

'Droughts, floods, fires, and storms continue to intensify and become more erratic, and this will only get worse,' Holz predicted.

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Additionally, the expert warned of 'mirror life,' which are synthetic organisms built completely backwards compared to normal DNA, which scientists believe could help develop advanced medicines.

However, many scientists fear the threat posed by these lab-made substances, as they are totally incompatible with normal DNA, raising the threat of an unstoppable pandemic.

'Despite repeated warnings from scientists worldwide, the international community has no coordinated plan and the world remains unprepared for potentially devastating biological threats,' Holz said. 

As for so-called 'disruptive technologies,' the security board's chair singled out artificial intelligence (AI) for 'supercharging mis- and disinformation.' 

Dr Leonard Rieser, Chairman of the Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, moves the hand of the Doomsday Clock back to 17 minutes before midnight at offices near the University of Chicago on November 26, 1991

Last year, the Bulletin moved the clock to 89 seconds to midnight, citing the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, conflicts in the Middle East, the threat of nuclear war, climate change, a potential bird flu pandemic, and the so-called 'arms race' to develop AI.

Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine has led to Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II, with unconfirmed estimates estimating the death toll reaching one million people in 2026.

Meanwhile, multiple conflicts involving the US broke out in the last year, as the Trump Administration launched a bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities and arrested Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife during a covert raid in Caracas.

Tensions have even flared between the US and its allies in NATO, as President Trump vies to take control of Greenland, a current territory of Denmark, citing its importance to national security against Russia and China.

'If the world splinters into an "us versus them" zero-sum approach, it increases the likelihood that we all lose,' Holz warned. 

Although symbolic and not an actual clock, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists unveiled a physical 'quarter clock' model at an event on Tuesday when they delivered the news of their estimate for 2026.

After the unveiling, the model can be found located at the Bulletin offices in the Keller Center, home to the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. 

The Doomsday Clock goes back to June 1947, when US artist Martyl Langsdorf was hired to design a new cover for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists journal 

Every January, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists reveals its annual update to the Doomsday Clock – even if the hands are not moved.

The Doomsday Clock officially came into existence in June 1947, when US artist Martyl Langsdorf was hired to design a new cover for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists journal.

With a striking image on the cover, the organization hoped to 'frighten men into rationality' as the Cold War seemed destined to go nuclear, according to Eugene Rabinowitch, the first editor of the journal.

The clock was initially set at seven minutes to midnight because 'it looked good to my eye,' Langsdorf later said.

On the cover of later issues, the hands of the clock were adjusted based on how close civilization was estimated to be to catastrophe.

After the Soviet Union successfully tested its first atomic bomb in 1949, Rabinowitch reset the clock from seven minutes to midnight to three minutes to midnight.

Since then, it has continued to move forward and backwards, now moving within a minute and a half of total destruction.

In 2009, the Bulletin ceased its print edition, but the clock has still been updated once a year on its website and is now a much-anticipated highlight of the scientific community.

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The footprints that rewrite the evolution of flight: Ancient tracks suggest birds could be 60 MILLION years older than thought

• READ MORE: Evolution debate reignited after 'missing human link' is found

By SHIVALI BEST, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR 

A new AI app is helping to rewrite the evolution of flight. 

The app, developed by researchers from the University of Edinburgh, has been used to analyse footprints made by dinosaurs more than 200 million years ago.

The results show that several tracks share 'uncanny' features with both extinct and modern birds. 

According to the researchers, this suggests that birds could have originated 60 million years earlier than we thought. 

'This study is an exciting contribution for paleontology and an objective, data–driven way to classify dinosaur footprints – something that has stumped experts for over a century,' said Professor Steve Brusatte, an author of the study. 

'It opens up exciting new possibilities for understanding how these incredible animals lived and moved, and when major groups like birds first evolved. 

'This computer network might have identified the world's oldest birds, which I think is a fantastic and fruitful use for AI.'

A new AIapp is helping to rewrite the evolution of flight. The app, developed by researchers from the University of Edinburgh, has been used to analyse footprints made by dinosaurs more than 200 million years ago

While dinosaur footprints are an important indicator of our evolution, they've proved difficult to interpret. 

Until now, scientists have largely relied on manual methods, which introduce an element of bias. 

To rectify this issue, the team developed a new AI app dubbed the DinoTracker, which uses advanced algorithms to recognise dinosaur footprints. 

To train the app, the researchers fed it nearly 2,000 fossil footprints alongside millions of variations to mimic changes such as compression and edge displacement. 

Amazingly, tests have revealed that DinoTracker can now identify dinosaur footprints with 90 per cent accuarcy – even for contentious species. 

One of the most interesting discoveries by the app was the resemblance between several dinosaur tracks and those left by birds. 

According to the researchers, this either suggests that birds originated tens of millions of years earlier than thought, or that some dinosaurs had feet that resembled birds by coincidence. 

The researchers also fed the AI app images of footprints from the Isle of Skye in Scotland, which have left scientists baffled. 

One of the most interesting discoveries by the app was the uncanny resemblance between several dinosaur tracks and those left by birds

Its analysis suggests that the tracks may have been left around 170 million years ago by some of the oldest relatives of duck-billed dinosaurs.   

Looking ahead, the researchers hope the tool will help to improve our understand of how dinosaurs lived and moved around the Earth.  

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Dr Gregor Hartmann of Helmholtz–Zentrum research centre, and co-author of the study, said: 'Our method provides an unbiased way to recognize variation in footprints and test hypotheses about their makers. 

'It's an excellent tool for research, education, and even fieldwork.'

WHAT WAS THE 'CAMBRIAN EXPLOSION'?

Scientists have long speculated that a large oxygen spike during the 'Cambrian Explosion' was key to the development of many animal species. 

The Cambrian Explosion, around 541 million years ago, was a period when a wide variety of animals burst onto the evolutionary scene.

Before about 580 million years ago, most organisms were simple, composed of individual cells occasionally organised into colonies.

Over the following 70 or 80 million years, the rate of evolution accelerated and the diversity of life began to resemble that of today.

It ended with the Cambrian-Ordovician extinction event, approximately 488 million years ago. 

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Prophecy from apocalyptic 'messiah' warns of death so widespread 'even birds won't escape'

• MORE:  Wild theory claims the world actually ended in 2012

By CHRIS MELORE, US ASSISTANT SCIENCE EDITOR

A poem written over 120 years ago by a revered religious figure has resurfaced as some fear its prediction of an apocalyptic event could be coming true today. 

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, also known as the Promised Messiah and the Imam Mahdi, wrote a 1905 poem describing massive earthquakes and destruction across the world, which some have now interpreted as a warning of World War III. 

In the poem, published around the time of his death in 1908, Ahmad predicted streams of blood flowing from widespread death, entire regions being wiped out, a massive earthquake, and even strange sky events beyond scientific explanation.

It mentions of calamity befalling the Czar of Russia has been seen by some as foreshadowing modern conflicts involving Russia, such as the war in Ukraine and continued tensions with the US and NATO. 

'A sign will come some days hence, which will turn over villages, cities and fields. Wrath of God will bring a revolution in the world, the undressed one would be unable to tie his trousers,' Ahmad's 1905 poem described.

'Suddenly, a quake will severely shake, mortals, trees, mountains and seas, all. In the twinkling of an eye, the land shall turn over, streams of blood will flow like rivers of water.'

Ahmad, born in 1835 in Qadian, India, founded the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam and dedicated his life to defending his faith against criticisms from other religions, such as Christianity. He also claimed to receive multiple divine revelations.

Ahmad's followers believe he was divinely appointed as the guided leader expected in Islamic End Times prophecies.

A 1905 poem and prophecy of global destruction by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad has resurfaced as some believe it is close to coming true

(Stock Image)

The poem described a devastating earthquake which would shake 'mortals, trees, mountains and seas,' just as recent natural disasters, like the March 2025 quake in Myanmar

(Pictured)

There is some skepticism about the potential ties to current world tensions, as Russia no longer has a Czar in 2026 and some believers have suggested that Ahmad's predictions referred to a major earthquake in India before his death.

In his book Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, written in the late 1800s, Ahmad wrote that a 'warner came unto the world, but the world accepted him not,' which believers have suggested meant disasters and wars would break out after a divine messenger was rejected by the people.

In The Philosophy of Divine Revelation from the early 1900s, Ahmad warned of a terrible earthquake coming.

'There will be death on such a large scale that streams of blood will flow. Even birds and grazing animals will not escape this death,' the religious leader foretold.

'Those days are near, indeed they are at the door, when the world shall witness the spectacle of a doomsday.'

He also spoke of 'mighty assaults' from God and heaven that seemed to depict the launching of missiles in a global war, and the immense distress this would cause the leader of Russia.

'The terror of it will exhaust everyone, the great and the small, even the Czar will be at that hour in a state of the utmost distress,' Ahmad wrote in the poem.

'It will be a glimpse of wrath, that heavenly sign, the sky shall draw its dagger to attack.'

The poem also described the wrath of God assaulting from heaven and the sky drawing 'its dagger to attack,' similar to the image of a missile flying through the air (Stock Image)

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (Pictured) was the founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam and promoted the religion as a peaceful and tolerant faith

Despite his dire warnings of the future, Ahmad's main goal for the founding of the Ahmadiyya Movement was to present Islam as a peaceful, tolerant, and rational religion based on the Quran and the example of the Prophet Muhammad.

After Ahmad's death in 1908, the Ahmadiyya movement split into two main branches due to disagreements over their late leader's exact religious status.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement operate independently from one another, with their key doctrinal difference being how they view Ahmad.

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community sees him as a subordinate prophet under Muhammad, while the Lahore branch views him strictly as a reformer without prophethood.

However, both acknowledge the existence of the 1905 poem and its prophecy of a cataclysmic event following Ahmad's death, which both branches suggest includes events that have already taken place.

Specifically, Lahore interpreted Ahmad's warning to be about World War I, which began in 1914. Meanwhile, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has suggested that the quake mentioned by Ahmad described major seismic events in India.

However, the prophecy has resurfaced in 2026 as scientists in the US prepare to update the so-called Doomsday Clock, which is said to show how close the world is to a man-made global catastrophe, such as nuclear war.

As of last year, the clock has sat at 89 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever come in its 78-year history of reaching the presumed End Times.

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High-resolution map shows dark matter's gravity pulled normal matter into galaxies

Scientists have created the highest resolution map of the dark matter that threads through the universe—showing its influence on the formation of stars, galaxies and planets.

The research, including astronomers from Durham University, UK, tells us more about how this invisible substance helped pull ordinary matter into galaxies like the Milky Way and planets like Earth.

The findings, using new data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (Webb), are published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

The study was jointly led by Durham University, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and the École Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland.

The new map confirms previous research and provides new details about the relationship between dark matter and the normal matter from which we—and everything we can touch or see—are made.

When the universe began, dark matter and normal matter were probably sparsely distributed.

Scientists think dark matter clumped together first and then pulled in normal matter, creating regions where stars and galaxies began to form.

How dark matter shaped the universe

In this way, dark matter determined the large-scale distribution of galaxies we see in the universe today.

By prompting galaxy and star formation to begin earlier than they would have otherwise, dark matter also played a role in creating the conditions for planets to eventually form. Without it we might not have the elements in our galaxy that allowed life to appear.

Research co-lead author Dr. Gavin Leroy, of the Institute for Computational Cosmology, Department of Physics, Durham University, said, "By revealing dark matter with unprecedented precision, our map shows how an invisible component of the universe has structured visible matter to the point of enabling the emergence of galaxies, stars, and ultimately, life itself.

"This map reveals the invisible but essential role of dark matter, the true architect of the universe, which gradually organizes the structures we observe through our telescopes."

Understanding dark matter's elusive nature

Dark matter does not emit, reflect, absorb, or block light, and it passes through regular matter like a ghost.

However, it does interact with the rest of the universe through gravity, something the new map shows with a new level of clarity.

Evidence for this interaction lies in the degree of overlap between maps of dark matter and normal matter.

According to the research, Webb's observations confirm that this close alignment cannot be a coincidence. Instead, the astronomers say it is due to dark matter's gravity pulling normal matter toward it throughout cosmic history.

Research co-author Professor Richard Massey, in the Institute for Computational Cosmology, Department of Physics, Durham University, said, "Wherever you find normal matter in the universe today, you also find dark matter.

"Billions of dark matter particles pass through your body every second. There's no harm, they don't notice us and just keep going.

"But the whole swirling cloud of dark matter around the Milky Way has enough gravity to hold our entire galaxy together. Without dark matter, the Milky Way would spin itself apart."

Mapping the universe with Webb

The area covered by the new map is a section of sky about 2.5 times larger than the full moon, in the constellation Sextans.

Webb peered at this region for a total of about 255 hours and identified nearly 800,000 galaxies, with many detected for the first time.

The scientific team then looked for dark matter by observing how its mass curves space itself, which in turn bends the light traveling to Earth from distant galaxies—as if the light of those galaxies has passed through a warped windowpane.

The map contains about 10 times more galaxies than maps of the area made by ground-based observatories and twice as many as the Hubble Space Telescope.

It reveals new clumps of dark matter and captures a higher-resolution view of the areas previously seen by Hubble.

Sharper images and future research

Research co-lead author Dr. Diana Scognamiglio, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said, "This is the largest dark matter map we've made with Webb, and it's twice as sharp as any dark matter map made by other observatories.

"Previously, we were looking at a blurry picture of dark matter. Now we're seeing the invisible scaffolding of the universe in stunning detail, thanks to Webb's incredible resolution."

To refine measurements of the distance to many galaxies for the map, the team used Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).

Durham University's Center for Extragalactic Astronomy was involved in the development of MIRI, which was designed and managed through launch by JPL.

The wavelengths detected by MIRI make it adept at detecting galaxies obscured by cosmic dust clouds.

The team next plans to map dark matter throughout the entire universe, using the European Space Agency's (ESA) Euclid telescope and NASA's upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

They will learn more about dark matter's fundamental properties and how dark matter might have changed over cosmic history.

However, that patch of sky studied in this latest research will be the reference on which all future mapping will be fine-tuned and compared.

More information: 

• Diana Scognamiglio, An ultra-high-resolution map of (dark) matter, Nature Astronomy (2026). 

DOI: 10.1038/s41550-025-02763-9. www.nature.com/articles/s41550-025-02763-9

• Provided by Durham University

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