• READ MORE: Loch Ness Monster finally solved...thanks to Prince William

By MICHAEL HAVIS FOR MAILONLINE

A monster hunter says 'the only possibility is Nessie' after catching a double-humped creature on camera in what's been called the first sighting of the year.

Eoin O'Faodhagain was watching Loch Ness via webcam when he spotted something rising and sinking in the water, estimated to be up to 20 feet long.

He said: 'I noticed a disturbance in the middle of Loch Ness, to the right of the screen.

'I saw a shape rise up out of the water, then submerge, four times in the same spot, which I considered to be highly unusual.'

He continued: 'I thought it could be Nessie, but first wanted to look at other options.

'I've ruled out a log – I've never seen a log emerging and submerging in the same spot, ever.

'And waves move along, they do not stay in the one place.

'It's far too large for any wildfowl or seals, and I've also ruled out divers or swimmers. The only possibility is Nessie.'

A monster hunter says 'the only possibility is Nessie' after catching a double-humped creature on camera in what's been called the first sighting of the year

Eoin O'Faodhagain was watching Loch Ness via webcam when he spotted something rising and sinking in the water, estimated to be up to 20 feet long

The footage, taken on Sunday around 1pm, was captured using a webcam at the Clansman Hotel maintained by Visit Inverness Loch Ness (VILN).

It's an unusually early time of year for the mythical monster to appear.

The Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register recorded only a handful of entries last year – the first of them in April.

'It could be the first genuine Nessie Sighting of 2025,' said Mr O'Faodhagain, 60.

'January would not be a popular month for Nessie sightings, maybe because there are fewer pleasure craft out on the loch.'

In Eoin's footage, which lasts only a few seconds, a pair of black humps can be seen rising and sinking in the water.

The monster hunter believes this could be the head and body of the beast.

He said: 'There was one long hump and a smaller hump to the right of this, which I surmised to be the possible head of the creature.

The footage, taken on Sunday around 1pm, was captured using a webcam at the Clansman Hotel maintained by Visit Inverness Loch Ness (VILN)

The Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register recorded only a handful of entries last year – the first of them in April

'That would mean it's positioned to move against the current.'

He added that the mysterious creature's behaviour, emerging and submerging repeatedly, was characteristic of other Nessie encounters.

He said: 'This type of behaviour has been documented in other live sightings at Loch Ness over the years, so you could call this a classic sighting.

'There is a strong resemblance to my only registered sighting last year, also captured on the Clansman webcam in July.

'That consisted of two humps as well – one small at the front, followed by a large hump behind it.'

Mr O'Faodhagain often logs on to watch the water from his home in County Donegal, Ireland.

Over the years, he's racked up multiple entries in the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register.

The VILN webcams can be watched live online at visitinvernesslochness.com

What IS the Loch Ness Monster?

Rumours of a strange creature living in the waters of Loch Ness have abounded over the decades, yet scant evidence has been found to back up these claims.

One of the first sightings, believed to have fuelled modern Nessie fever, came in May 2, 1933.  

On this date the Inverness Courier carried a story about a local couple who claim to have seen 'an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface'.

Another famous claimed sighting is a photograph taken in 1934 by Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson.

It was later exposed as a hoax by one of the participants, Chris Spurling, who, on his deathbed, revealed that the pictures were staged.

Other sightings James Gray's picture from 2001 when he and friend Peter Levings were out fishing on the Loch, while namesake Hugh Gray's blurred photo of what appears to be a large sea creature was published in the Daily Express in 1933.

Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London physician, captured arguably the most famous image of the Loch Ness Monster. The surgeon’s photograph was published in the Daily Mail on April 21, 1934 - however it was later proven to be a fake 

The first reported sighting of the monster is said to have been made in AD565 by the Irish missionary St Columba when he came across a giant beast in the River Ness.

But no one has ever come up with a satisfactory explanation for the sightings - although in 2019, 'Nessie expert' Steve Feltham, who has spent 24 years watching the Loch, said he thought it was actually a giant Wels Catfish, native to waters near the Baltic and Caspian seas in Europe.

An online register lists more than 1,000 total Nessie sightings, created by Mr Campbell, the man behind the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club and is available at www.lochnesssightings.com. 

So what could explain these mysterious sightings? 

Many Nessie witnesses have mentioned large, crocodile-like scutes sitting atop the spine of the creature, leading some to believe an escaped amphibian may be to blame.

Native fish sturgeons can also weigh several hundred pounds and have ridged backs, which make them look almost reptilian.

Some believe Nessie is a long-necked plesiosaur - like an elasmosaur - that survived somehow when all the other dinosaurs were wiped out.

Others say the sightings are down to Scottish pines dying and flopping into the loch, before quickly becoming water-logged and sinking.

While submerged, botanical chemicals start trapping tiny bubbles of air.

Eventually, enough of these are gathered to propel the log upward as deep pressures begin altering its shape, giving the appearance of an animal coming up for air.

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{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

EXCLUSIVE - Tim Peake reveals what life is REALLY like for NASA's astronauts stuck in space - and warns dirty laundry and cramped conditions are the least of their concerns

• READ MORE: Trump asks Musk to 'go get' the two stranded NASA astronauts

By WILIAM HUNTER

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were only meant to visit space for an eight-day round trip.

That brief excursion has stretched into a stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS) that is now likely to last 10 months.

While many of us back on Earth might be sympathetic to their situation, there are very few people who really know what they are going through.

However, one person who knows exactly what Williams and Wilmore are feeling is Tim Peake, Britain's first astronaut to live on the ISS.

After arriving on the ISS in December 2015, Peake spent more than six months living in the same conditions as NASA's stranded astronauts.

According to Peake, Williams and Wilmore will be more than ready to come back to Earth, having now spent seven months aboard the station.

Speaking exclusively with MailOnline, Peake says: 'They'll be loving their time in space, but it's a long time to spend up there.

'They'll probably be looking forward to coming home.'

Suni Williams (left) and Butch Wilmore (right) have now been stranded on the International Space Station for seven months, after planning to stay for just eight days 

Tim Peake, Britain's first astronaut to live on the ISS, says that Williams and Wilmore will now be 'looking forward to coming home'

Wilmore and Williams first landed at the ISS on June 5 last year aboard the Boeing Starliner spacecraft.

The plan was to launch the experimental capsule into space, perform some routine tests, and briefly dock with the station before returning to Earth.

However, issues almost immediately arose after Starliner experienced a series of helium leaks and engine failures.

By the time the capsule arrived at the station, it had sprung more helium leaks and five of its 28 thrusters had failed.

After weeks of tests, NASA ultimately decided that Starliner wasn't safe enough to carry humans back to Earth.

In September, the doomed spacecraft was sent back empty leaving Williams and Wilmore stranded aboard the ISS until a replacement crew could be sent to relieve them.

NASA was so confident that the pair would be home in a week that they were not even packed a spare change of clothes.

Although the ISS has an area of 520 metres squared (5,600 square feet) the seven astronauts share their space with laboratories, gyms, docking and cargo bays, and toilets.

After arriving on the Boeing Starliner capsule in June last year, a series of technical issues meant that the NASA astronauts were unable to return home on the same spacecraft

With only four phone booth-sized 'sleep stations' in the Harmony Module, the remaining astronauts have to sleep tethered to the walls wherever they can find space.

And with mandatory exercise, no showers, and fewer changes of clothes, life aboard the station can often be hot, smelly, and uncomfortable. 

However, Peake says that the dirty laundry and cramped conditions will not be the worst thing about life aboard the station.

Peake says: 'The things I missed most while I was in space were fresh air and nature.

'I love the outdoors and getting out into nature. I love going hiking and climbing; so that was very hard.'

With the ISS whizzing around the planet 16 times a day, astronauts are treated to a near-constant reminder of what they are missing out on.

'On the ISS I would look down and see this beautiful blue planet beneath me,' says Tim.

'I'm sure they'll be looking forward to coming back to Earth.'

Tim 

Peake (pictured during a spacewalk) told MailOnline that the things he missed most on the ISS were 'fresh air and nature' 

The only time Suni Williams (pictured) has stepped outside the station since her arrival was for a six-hour spacewalk earlier this month 

Despite all the difficulties of being in space, Peake maintains that Williams and Wilmore won't be feeling hard done by.

He says: 'I don't think they'll be regretting a single moment that they've had in space.'

Peake adds that the pair will be keeping busy 'mucking in' as part of the regular ISS crew, taking part in scientific work, maintenance, and even spacewalks.

After their arrival, Williams and Wilmore were rolled into the ISS Expedition 72 crew with Williams taking the role of commander and Wilmore stepping in as flight engineer.

That means the stranded pair's time in space will be far from a relaxing holiday.

ISS expedition members are expected to work 16-hour days starting at 6:00 am GMT which include two hours of mandatory exercise.

The gruelling realities of working out in space are something Peake is intimately familiar with, having run the London Marathon remotely from the ISS's treadmill.

Just as Peake did during his stay on the ISS, Williams and Wilmore will also be undertaking daring spacewalks to work on the outside of the station.

Tim Peake says that Williams (left) and Wilmore (right) will be 'mucking in' as part of the regular ISS crew. That means conducting scientific work, making repairs to the station, and carrying out mandatory exercise

While Tim Peake says that the pair of stranded astronauts will not regret having gone to space, he adds that seven months is a long time to spend away from friends and family 

Earlier this month, Williams was joined by NASA astronaut Nick Hague on a six-hour spacewalk to conduct repair work on the outside of the station.

Today, Williams and Wilmore will step outside of the space station together for the first time since their arrival.

The duo will spend about six and a half hours in the vacuum of space making repairs and collecting samples to see if bacteria are growing on the exterior of the ISS.

During his own expedition in 2016, Peake became the first British spacewalker when he made a four-hour and 43-minute spacewalk to make critical repairs to a failed power regulator.

Contrary to some claims, Williams and Wilmore are not strictly trapped aboard the ISS.

The SpaceX Dragon capsule scheduled to take them home has been docked with the ISS since September and could leave at any moment should an emergency arise.

However, before the pair leave, a relief crew needs to arrive on the ISS to take over the day-to-day operation of the station.

Under the original plans, that crew was supposed to arrive in February, but that mission has now been pushed back.

Williams and Wilmore are scheduled to return to Earth on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule (pictured) in March or April. Their return has been delayed while SpaceX prepares its next spacecraft

Musk vowed in a post to retrieve Butch Wilmore, 62, and Sunita Williams, 59, 'as soon as possible'. However, it is not clear how it would be possible to conduct the rescue mission any earlier than planned

NASA has revealed that the new SpaceX capsule isn't going to be ready in time to hit that deadline.

The capsule isn't expected to arrive at the SpaceX facility in Florida until early January and will still need more than a month of testing before it is ready.

NASA is now targeting no earlier than late March 2025 to launch the rescue crew, meaning Williams and Wilmore might not get back to Earth until April.

This week Donald Trump claimed he had asked Elon Musk to 'go get' the pair of astronauts.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: 'I have just asked Elon Musk and SpaceX to "go get" the two brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned by the Biden administration.

'Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe,' the president said.

In a post on X, Musk wrote: 'Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long.'

However, given that the SpaceX craft is not ready for flight it isn't clear how Musk plans to bring Williams and Wilmore home any sooner than planned.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

Strange Signal Coming From Dead Galaxy, Scientists Say

This makes no sense.

Getty / Futurism

{ https://futurism.com/the-byte }

UFO Whistleblower Claims Trump Is Being Lied To About Those Drones in New Jersey

"Someone is not presenting the whole story to our new president."

Just a week in, he seemingly kept good on that promise by having his inept press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, tell the public that there was nothing to see in the skies.

"After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the [Federal Aviation Administration]," Leavitt said during a briefing earlier in the week. "This information comes directly from the President of the United States."

Beyond its dismal sentence structure, the statement left much to be desired, including who did the "research and study" and whether that included similar drones seen flying in New York and elsewhere.

Dissatisfied with the White House's non-explanation, a user on X reached out to an Air Force veteran-turned-UFO-whistleblower named Jake Barber to ask for his thoughts.

"The activity there was not FAA approved. I know firsthand," Barber wrote. "I was assigned there specifically to look at the debacle from a FAA violation standpoint in order to give a basis to the FBI."

"Someone is not presenting the whole story to our new president," the whistleblower continued.

Considering that Trump is essentially trying to gut the entire government, it's certainly plausible that the FAA isn't telling him the whole truth.

But Barber's comments, especially about having worked on the Jersey drone investigation, should nevertheless be taken with a grain of salt.

Earlier in January, Barber took to the right-leaning NewsNation with an incredible story: that during his time in Air Force special ops, he encountered bizarre debris from UFOs, or "unidentified aerial phenomena" per Pentagon parlance.

"Just visually looking at the object on the ground, you could tell that it was extraordinary and anomalous," the former military official told the news station of the egg-shaped, SUV-sized objects he claims to have seen. "It was not human."

Like other ex-Pentagon-ers before him, Barber maintains that he worked for a secretive UFO retrieval office within the military. He said that after witnessing the massive and bizarre debris, it was confirmed to him that its origin was from "nonhuman intelligence."

As with everything, there should be no mutual exclusivity between the fishiness of the White House's drone "explanation" and the weirdness of Barber's UFO claims.

So who's telling the truth? Because this isn't "The X-Files," we probably won't ever know.

More on Trump contradictions: 

• Trump Said We Should Kill Drug Dealers. Then He Appointed One as Health Secretary

{ https://futurism.com/ }

How Many Dimensions Does Our Universe Really Have?

Does our Universe have extra dimensions, and how do they influence our reality?

 Matthew S. Williams

While this kind of talk may sound like something farfetched or purely speculative, it is actually a vital part of our understanding of how our Universe works. If and when we determine how many dimensions our Universe has (and what each of them does), we will finally have a Theory of Everything (ToE) and know how it all fits together.

Dimensions 101

To break it down, the term “dimension” refers to any mathematical measurement. This can generally refer to a physical measurement (an object or space) or a temporal measurement (time). There are three dimensions that we experience daily, which define the length, width, and depth of all objects in our Universe (the x, y, and z-axis, respectively).

However, scientists maintain that to understand the laws of nature, one must include a “fourth dimension,” which is time. Without this coordinate, the position, velocity, and acceleration of objects in our Universe cannot be properly measured. It’s not enough to know where an object is in terms of three spatial coordinates. You also need to know when the object was where.

Beyond these four dimensions, theoretical physicists have ventured that there may be more at play. The number of dimensions varies, but the purpose behind extra dimensions is to find ways of unifying the known laws of the Universe, which theoretical physicists have been trying to do for about a century.

• Electromagnetism
• Weak Nuclear Force
• Strong Nuclear Force
• Gravitation

The first three forces are all described by the field of Quantum Mechanics and are associated with specific subatomic particles. Electromagnetism is associated with electrons (a lepton), which are responsible for electricity, magnetism, and all forms of electromagnetic radiation. That includes visible light (color), heat, microwaves, radio waves, ultraviolet radiation, and gamma rays.

Source: NASA

The weak nuclear force deals with interactions between subatomic particles responsible for the radioactive decay of atoms and is associated with particles smaller than a proton (bosons). At higher energies, this force merges with electromagnetism, which has given rise to the unified term “electroweak force.”

The strong nuclear force governs particles that are the size of protons and neutrons (hadrons) and is so-named because it is approximately 137 times as strong as electromagnetism, millions of times stronger than the weak nuclear force, and 10³⁸ times as strong as gravitation. It causes quarks to come together to form larger protons and neutrons and binds them to create atomic nuclei.

Source: NASA

Superstring theory, a variation on ST, requires the existence of 10 spacetime dimensions. These include the four dimensions immediately apparent to us (length, width, depth, time) and six more that are not. 

These extra six dimensions are curled up into a compact space. On order the string scale (10^-33 cm) we wouldn’t be able to detect the presence of these extra dimensions directly because they’re just too small. 

According to the theory, the fifth and sixth dimensions deal with possible worlds that began with the same initial conditions. 

The fifth dimension encompasses worlds with slightly different outcomes than ours, while the sixth is where a plane of possible worlds would be visible. The seventh dimension is where one could see possible worlds that started with different initial conditions and then branched out infinitely — hence why the term “infinity” is used to describe them.

On its face, the first possibility seems highly unlikely. After all, ongoing particle experiments — like those conducted with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) — have confirmed that the Standard Model of particle physics is correct. Similarly, General Relativity has been confirmed many times over since Einstein formally proposed it in 1915.

Source: Wikimedia Commons/Jbourjai

That leaves us with the second possibility: that extra dimensions cannot be measured or characterized using current methods and experiments. A well-studied possibility is that dimensions are “curled up” at tiny scales, which means their properties and influence on spacetime could only be measured at subatomic levels.

Another possibility is “compactification,” where certain dimensions are finite or temporal in nature. In short, this theory posits that curled-up dimensions become very small or close in on themselves to form circles. If this is true, then the six extra dimensions would likely take the form of a Calabi–Yau manifold (these are shapes that satisfy the requirement needed for the six “unseen” spatial dimensions of string theory).

For astrophysicists and theoretical physicists, compactification and the idea that extra dimensions are tiny explains why the Universe still exists billions of years after its emergence. If these dimensions were larger, they would accommodate enough matter to trigger gravitational collapses and the formation of black holes (which would consume the rest of the Universe).

The fact that the cosmos still exists after 13.8 billion years, and shows no sign of being torn apart, would suggest that this theory is sound. Alternatively, the laws of physics may operate differently in these extra dimensions. Either way, there’s still the unanswered question of how we might observe and study them.

How do we find them?

So if the Universe really does have extra dimensions that are imperceptible to us, how are we going to find evidence of their existence and determine their properties? One possibility is to look for them through particle physics experiments, like those conducted by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) — the operators of the LHC — and other particle accelerator labs.

At CERN, scientists boost particles to high energies before smashing them together and measuring the resulting cascade of subatomic particles. Detectors gather clues about the particles, such as their speed, mass, and charge, which can be used to work out their identity.

Theories involving extra dimensions predict that there must be heavier versions of standard particles recurring at higher and higher energies as they navigate smaller dimensions. These would have exactly the same properties as standard particles (and so be visible to detectors like those at CERN) but at a greater mass. If evidence of these were to be found, this might suggest the presence of extra dimensions. 

To date, astronomers have been unable to see this far back in time since no telescopes have been sensitive enough. This will change in the near future, thanks to next-generation instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (RST), the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), and the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT).

Source: Suvendu Giri

This coincides nicely with existing Dark Matter and Dark Energy surveys that are observing early comic history in the hopes of measuring their influence on cosmic evolution. Since some theorists venture that the existence of extra dimensions could help explain the “Dark Universe,” these observations could address several mysteries at once.

This dual approach is not unlike our current understanding of the Universe, which scientists can only understand in one of two ways — the largest (GR) and tiniest of scales (QM). By observing the Universe with a very wide and very tight-angle lense, we may be able to account for all the forces governing it.

Much like other ToE candidates, the belief that the universe is made up of ten dimensions or more is an attempt to take all the physical laws we understand and find out how they fit together. In that respect, it’s like assembling a puzzle, where each piece makes sense to us, but we are unaware of what the bigger picture looks like.

It’s not enough to put pieces together wherever they appear to match. We also need to have an overall idea of what the framework is, a mental picture of what it will look like when it is finished. This helps to guide our efforts so we can anticipate how it will all come together.

{ https://interestingengineering.com/ }

Could we travel to parallel universes?

But how would we get to one of those parallel universes?

The trick is to build a time machine. It doesn't matter how you do it; you just need to go back in time. Normally, going back in time introduces all sorts of nasty paradoxes, like the infamous grandfather paradox, or, less violently, inconsistent histories. Try going back in time and destroying your time machine. Now it doesn't exist, which means you can't go back in time to destroy it, which means it should exist.

Related: 

• How long does it take to travel to the moon?

Perhaps time travel into the past is forbidden for exactly these reasons, according to Stephen Hawking's chronology protection conjecture. Or perhaps time travel into the past is allowed, but with one strict rule: You can't change the past. This is known as Igor Novikov's self-consistency conjecture. But how could you go into the past without changing it?

One possible answer is that when you travel into the past, you don't go into your own past. Instead, you slip into another history. If you go back in time and kill Hitler, you're not killing the Hitler of your past; you're killing somebody else's. And in that alternate universe, Hitler was always killed by a time-traveling assassin from another universe. When you return to the future, you come back home, with an unchanged past.

The many-worlds interpretation offers a natural platform for creating these alternate histories. If the universe is constantly splitting and branching anyway, then time travel simply moves you from one of those branches to another. Or, in another possibility, when you go back in time, you create a new branch that didn't exist before.

While this all sounds neat and tidy, it runs into the slight complication that nobody has ever gotten it to work. We don't know how this process actually unfolds or through what mechanism the alternate history emerges.

Attempts to navigate the issue by studying quantum mechanics have had mixed results. Left to their own devices, quantum fields tend to go haywire when time machines are involved. You can stabilize them — if you give up some of the core tenets of the theory, like the correspondence principle or unitarity, which say that quantum processes eventually lead to macroscopic behavior and that fundamental reactions are reversible. Nobody is really willing to give those up, since they seem central to the theory — so we're stuck on that front.

Besides, even classical, non-quantum systems run into issues. Let's say you have a switch that can turn your time machine on and off — say, by opening or closing a wormhole. We don't know how the alternate histories can accommodate changes in their space-time structures like that, regardless of whatever quantum processes are happening on a subatomic level.

However, if we could build a time machine, we could easily test whether alternate histories are created. All we'd have to do is change something in the past that you remember. If you're not allowed to do it (say, no matter how hard you try, you just can't kill Hitler), then you know there's only one timeline with a past that is locked in stone. But if you accomplish the mission, then you know that alternate histories are real and that the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics might be valid.

We don't know if any of this is possible. On the other hand, we can't exactly rule it out. Time travel into the past seems forbidden but for reasons we can't readily discern. Our past seems to be gone forever — but it's also possible that it's just one branch of many and that visiting alternate universes is as easy as … Well, it's not easy at all.

• Originally posted on Space.com.

{ https://www.livescience.com/space }

What Ancient UFO Sightings Reveal About Humanity’s Obsession With the Unknown

The earliest recorded observations of strange phenomena in the sky come from ancient civilizations. Sumerian and Babylonian cuneiform tablets, such as those in the Šumma ālu series from the second millennium B.C., describe shifting shapes and black meteors appearing in the heavens.

by Ivan Petricevic

 

Ancient Sky Events: Signs, Omens, or Something Else?

The earliest recorded observations of strange phenomena in the sky come from ancient civilizations. Sumerian and Babylonian cuneiform tablets, such as those in the Šumma ālu series from the second millennium B.C., describe shifting shapes and black meteors appearing in the heavens. These texts often interpreted such occurrences as divine omens rather than mysterious visitors from another world.

Chris Aubeck, director of the Magonia Exchange—an archival project dedicated to UFO history—emphasizes the challenges of defining ancient accounts as UFO sightings. “There is no consensus on what constitutes the first recorded UFO sighting in history,” Aubeck explained. He points out that while ancient records document strange celestial events, their meanings were often tied to spiritual beliefs.

Greg Eghigian, a historian and professor at Penn State, agrees, according to Live Science. He notes that ancient accounts must be viewed within their cultural context. “These stories are disconnected from the societies in which they were created,” he said. What appears puzzling or extraterrestrial today was often a symbol of divine intervention, religious significance, or natural phenomena like comets or meteors.

The Nuremberg “Sky Battle” of 1561

One of the most vivid historical accounts of an aerial phenomenon occurred on April 14, 1561, in Nuremberg, Germany. Witnesses described orbs, crosses, and other shapes battling in the sky, accompanied by a mysterious black arrow-like object. Hans Glaser, a local artist, even created a woodcut illustrating the event, depicting the objects as they “fell from the sky, burning as they hit the ground.”

Although dramatic, this event was interpreted at the time as a divine sign or apocalyptic warning. Modern researchers note that the imagery and interpretation reflect the religious worldview of the era rather than evidence of extraterrestrial visitors.

UFOs Enter the Modern Era

The narrative around UFOs shifted dramatically in 1947 when amateur pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine fast-moving objects near Mount Rainier, Washington. He described their movement as resembling a saucer skipping across water, leading to the now-iconic term “flying saucer.”

Arnold’s account captured public imagination, sparking a surge in reported sightings and the birth of modern UFO culture. At the time, many people believed these objects were advanced military aircraft rather than extraterrestrial visitors, reflecting Cold War-era anxieties.

“This sighting is widely regarded as the event that kick-started modern UFO culture,” Aubeck stated.

While UFO sightings continue to fascinate, they often reveal more about human culture than the mysteries of the cosmos. “Studying UFO sightings is valuable because they represent the urban legends of our time,” Aubeck explained. These stories demonstrate how cultural narratives and imagination shape the way we interpret the unknown.

Throughout history, people have gazed upward and wondered about the mysterious lights, shapes, and movements that defied explanation, weaving them into the fabric of their culture and beliefs. For ancient civilizations, these celestial events were often interpreted as messages from gods, warnings of impending events, or signs of divine favor. In more recent times, they’ve evolved into symbols of scientific intrigue, Cold War paranoia, and even hopes for extraterrestrial contact.

I believe that UFOs, in this sense, are far more than just strange objects in the sky. They represent the stories we tell ourselves about our place in the universe. Are we alone? Are there forces beyond our comprehension shaping our destiny? Every sighting, whether dismissed as a natural phenomenon or celebrated as a groundbreaking discovery, invites us to confront these timeless questions.

This enduring curiosity and creativity reveal something deeply human: our ability to turn the unknown into stories, myths, and hypotheses.

{ https://curiosmos.com/category/mysteries/ }

Astronomen zijn continu het heelal af aan het speuren op zoek naar verre werelden en andere interessante ruimte-objecten, maar het is zoeken naar een speld in een hooiberg. Australische wetenschappers hebben nu een nieuwe technologie ontwikkeld die mysterieuze hemellichamen opspoort door inkomende radiosignalen op bijzondere wijze te filteren. Deze innovatieve aanpak heeft in korte tijd al een aantal verrassende resultaten opgeleverd.

Astronomen en ingenieurs van CSIRO, het nationale wetenschappelijke agentschap van Australië, hebben hun krachten gebundeld en CRACO (CRAFT COherent detector) ontwikkeld. CRACO bestaat uit een cluster van computers en processoren die verbonden zijn met de ASKAP-telescoop, gelegen in het gebied van de Wajarri Yamaji-gemeenschap in West-Australië. Dit geavanceerde systeem is ontworpen om vliegensvlug raadselachtige verschijnselen, zoals fast radio bursts (FRB’s), op te sporen.

FRB’s en neutronensterren

De technologie is nu voor het eerst getest en een nieuwe studie laat zien dat CRACO al een aantal bijzondere ontdekkingen heeft gedaan: er zijn twee FRB’s geïdentificeerd, maar ook twee neutronensterren die met tussenpozen actief zijn, en het is gelukt om de locatiegegevens van vier pulsars sterk te verbeteren. Sindsdien zijn met het systeem nog eens meer dan twintig FRB’s opgespoord.

Hoofdonderzoeker Andy Wang van ICRAR maakt duidelijk dat de resultaten veel spectaculairder zijn dan het team ooit had kunnen denken. “Ons doel was om fast radio bursts te vinden, een mysterieus fenomeen, waaromheen een geheel nieuw onderzoeksgebied binnen de astronomie is ontstaan”, legt een enthousiaste Dr. Wang uit. “Met CRACO kunnen we deze flitsen beter detecteren dan ooit tevoren. Momenteel zoeken we naar signalen met een snelheid van 100 flitsen per seconde, en in de toekomst verwachten we dit te verhogen naar 1000 flitsen per seconde.”

Wajarri-kunstenaar, Judith Anaru, schilderde een fast radio burst als onderdeel van een serie in opdracht van CSIRO
Foto: Judith Anaru, CRAFT, 2019

Een kosmische zandzeef

CSIRO-astronoom Dr. Keith Bannister vergelijkt de schaal waarop CRACO waarnemingen doet met het zoeken naar een speld in een hooiberg. “CRACO benut ASKAP’s liveweergave van het heelal om FRB’s op te sporen. Het systeem verwerkt hierbij gigantische hoeveelheden data – zo’n 100 miljard pixels per seconde – om bursts te detecteren en hun locatie te bepalen”, legt Bannister uit. “Het is alsof je een heel strand afzoekt naar een muntje van vijf cent, en dat elke minuut opnieuw.”

Volgens Dr. Wang belooft CRACO een revolutie teweeg te brengen in de internationale astronomie, zodra het systeem op volle capaciteit werkt. De technologie is ontworpen om de triljoenen pixels die de telescoop ontvangt, te analyseren op zoek naar afwijkingen. Zodra iets ongewoons wordt gespot, geeft CRACO de wetenschappers direct een seintje, zodat zij snel extra gegevens kunnen verzamelen en de vondst verder kunnen analyseren.

Indrukwekkende technologie

Het onderzoeksteam zit niet stil: CRACO’s mogelijkheden worden continu uitgebreid om nog exotischere verschijnselen te detecteren. “Naast fast radio bursts van buiten ons sterrenstelsel detecteren we nu ook zogenaamde ‘langzame transiënten’. Dit zijn kortdurende hemelverschijnselen die door mysterieuze objecten binnen onze Melkweg worden veroorzaakt. Beide fenomenen zijn in Australië ontdekt, en het is geweldig dat we met deze indrukwekkende technologie verder kunnen gaan. Er liggen ongetwijfeld nog een aantal fantastische ontdekkingen in het verschiet”, zegt Wang.

Mysterieuze signalen uit het universum: fast radio bursts

Fast radio bursts (FRB’s) zijn korte, intense uitbarstingen van radiostraling die afkomstig zijn van onbekende bronnen in het universum. Ze duren slechts enkele milliseconden, maar in die korte tijd kunnen ze evenveel energie uitstralen als de zon in een heel jaar. Sinds hun ontdekking in 2007 blijven FRB’s astronomen fascineren. Veel FRB’s lijken eenmalig te zijn, maar sommige vertonen een repeterend patroon. Het is onduidelijk waar FRB’s vandaan komen. Mogelijke verklaringen zijn magnetars (extreem krachtige neutronensterren), gammaflitsen en botsingen tussen massieve objecten, zoals zwarte gaten of neutronensterren. Ook exotischere theorieën, zoals signalen van buitenaardse technologie, worden geopperd.

{ https://scientias.nl/ }

Niet enkel hadden te vroeg geboren baby’s meer micro- en nanoplastics in hun placenta zitten, de hoeveelheden waren ook aanzienlijk hoger dan eerder gemeten was in menselijk bloed.  © Getty Images

{ https://www.hln.be/weer-en-wetenschap/ }

Some of the Most Outlandish Alien Encounters Ever

Brent Swancer

The world of alien encounters can get pretty weird. It is something beyond the scope of our understanding and often floats off into the fringes of the bizarre. However, some cases are stranger than most, and here we will look at some of the more bonkers cases of alien encounters that really pushed the envelope of the odd. 

A curious early case takes us back to 1929 when a girl and her brother were playing in the garden at their home in Hertford, England, which brushed up against an orchard. As they played, they suddenly heard a curious sound like an engine coming from the orchard beyond their garden, and when they looked they could see a tiny biplane with a wingspan of just 12 inches come into view. The strange little plane landed, almost knocking down a dustbin in the process, and the two siblings could see a minuscule little man in the cockpit of the plane. This odd little gnome-like creature then waved at them before taking off into the air again and flying off out of sight.   

In later years there is a strange report from the year 1947, in Arrolaguetre, Rubiaco, Spain. On this day, four men, Marcelo Martin Sanchez, Fausto Dominguez Martin and Julian Sendin Martin were returning to their rural village when they stopped to take a breather in a nearby field. As they rested, their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of what seemed to be an intense clapping, which then mingled with a cacophony of what appeared to be the sounds of hundreds of faded voices chanting or murmuring together at the same time. Looking around in alarm, the men then saw something very bizarre indeed. An excerpt of the report cited on the site Extremadura Misteriosa says of it:   

“The men looked around and spotted a tremendously tall figure approaching their location on a nearby field. The bizarre figure seemed to swing its arms like a soldier. Even stranger, the bizarre figure was wearing a white shirt with a black stripe around the neck area and it appeared to be headless! The three stunned men watched as the headless giant walked by only about 5 meters from them, totally ignoring them. It disappeared quickly into the distance taking great strides as it did. Strangely the loud cacophony of sound seemed to originate from it.”   

What was this thing and what were those freaky noises all about? Who knows? The following year, in 1948, a resident of the Polish village of Wrzeszczyn by the name of Henryk Matczak was out in the woods collecting mushrooms when he saw quite a surreal sight. He would say of it:   

“I saw at a distance of maybe 30 meters a group of children dressed in green, maybe there were ten of them. At first I thought they were scouts, because they were dressed in green. Although this outfit, upon closer inspection, was not a scout uniform, as it was quite tight and more like some kind of sports swimmer's clothing. The outfit clung quite tightly to their bodies, and on their heads the “scouts” had hoods, slightly protruding over their heads. The outlines of the faces I could not see. Each looked the same and was about 1 m tall, the stature of a boy of eight years.   

I thought they were scouts, because not far away in those post-German warehouses the first scout conventions of the Polish Scouting Association had already been organized in the woods. But there was something wrong. These individuals were moving fast, bending down once, getting up, handing something to each other. I was stunned to see that they began to climb a large beech tree standing nearby, which had large branches spreading wide on the sides. “Scouts” began to climb the tree as if they had glue on their shoes and gravity did not apply to them at all.   

One climbed all the way up to the branch and disappeared into the leaves immediately followed by another. I recall that some of them waded all the way in and immediately retreated, going head down. This happened before I decided to get closer to simply talk to them and ask what they were doing here in the forest. Then these - let's say - five, who were standing on the ground, looked at me and began to watch me closely. I immediately turned around and started running away, because I no longer knew what I was dealing with.”   

Just what are we dealing with here? Aliens, interdimensional interlopers, or something else? An utterly perplexing case from the files of paranormal researcher Albert S. Rosales occurred in 1953, in the Ano Ilioupolis neighborhood, East Athens, Greece. The witness, a Vassaliki F, saw a strange woman in the streets of Ilioupolis while out taking a stroll, and it would only snowball into the bizarre from there. The odd report reads:   

“The witness –a woman with many paranormal experiences- saw a strange woman in the streets of Ilioupolis. She had large, protruding eyes, high forehead, incredibly thin waist and was wearing very old-fashioned gray clothes –a skirt and a jacket. Inside of this she was wearing tight transparent trousers. She was followed by a very small “dog”, actually a piece of shadow that was hovering very near the ground. She was holding the “dog” with a transparent thick cord. When the witness tried to ask her who she was and from when did she come, the strange woman glared at her and went away, vanishing in the Saint George site of antiquities. The next day, news was spread that in the nearby fields of Sain Nicholas, an “aluminium hut” came down from the sky and landed. It had “windows” through which a shepherd saw incredibly ugly dwarfs inside. Among them there was a dwarf with the head of an animal. In a few minutes, a door opened on the “hut” and a dwarf came out, holding something like a golden plate in his hands. Then, the strange woman Mrs. F. had seen the previous day made her appearance. The dwarf bowed to her, and she filled the “plate” with dirt. They both went into the “hut” and the latter took off and vanished in the sky with a loud bang.”   

What in the world was going on here? On the morning of July 13, 1959, a resident of Blenheim, New Zealand, went out onto her property to milk her dairy cows at around 5:30 am. Halfway across the paddock she saw a strange green glow through the low clouds, and then a green light broke through and split into two lights “like eyes or big lamps.” As this was happening, the whole area was bathed in an oddly colored light of “a horrid sort of colour,” as a circular craft about nine meters wide and with a curved glass cockpit silently descended towards her, with two shafts of green light beaming down from its underside and two rows of small, orange jets that shot outwards like spokes from the rim of the disc. Despite the witness’s fear, she thought it was all quite beautiful. A report on the incident from the APRO Bulletin and NOUFORS would say what happened next:   

“The air on this cold July morning became warm and she noticed a low hum. She was “scared stiff”, but curious and enchanted by the lights. It was an image she could still recall in detail decades later. “It was just imprinted indelibly on my mind. I just took it in. I saw everything in those few minutes.’’ Inside the curved glass cockpit, she could see two figures wearing shiny silver suits and helmets. The suits were tight like a wet suit and looked like they were made of aluminium foil. The men were seated one in front of the other. Both had their backs to her. A flickering light shone up from below them, reflecting off their suits. Then one of the silver suited men emerged from the craft and walked towards her. She could see his face through a small visor in the helmet. He was wearing a wide belt with a black disc at the centre. He had a harness on his chest that held a small dial and a series of tubes coming out of the helmet. His left hand was missing and was encased in a dark sheath. Then he shouted at her in a foreign language she did not recognise. He retreated back to the craft and got back on board.   

After a few moments, the jets starting shooting out from the craft again. It tilted at an angle and then shot up into the sky at great speed. As it retreated behind the clouds it made a soft, high-pitched whine. Then she was alone. Standing in a waft of hot peppery air. She was relieved that the attracting power of the green lights had gone, but didn’t know what to do next. Eventually, she finished milking the cows. “While I was milking I kept wondering and felt a bit shaken and puzzled, and did not quite know what to do about it.’’ She returned to the house and woke her husband Frederick to tell him what she had seen. She feared he would laugh at her, but he took her seriously and asked if she had called the police. She rang the police at 7am. Woodbourne commanding officer Arthur Gainsford visited the farm and interviewed Moreland later that day. Her husband Frederick had told Gainsford about his wife’s claims that morning. Gainsford found Moreland calm and rational. Local police told him she was ‘’a rational and stable person from their personal knowledge of her when she was of assistance to them on another matter.’’   

Moving on into the 60s we come to an outlandish case involving what can only be described as “space penguins.” On the morning of February 14th, 1967, farmer Claude Edwards was surprised to notice that all of his cattle were eerily staring off in the same direction. When he looked to see what was holding their attention, he saw a “large green-gray mushroom-shaped craft” about 70 feet away from him, which he described as smooth, metallic, covered in "shiny silk" and dotted with port holes through which a dazzling array of colors shone.  

This light show was mesmerizing, and Edwards found himself approaching the craft, where he noticed a group of very odd entities beneath it. He would say that they looked like penguins, and were 3 feet tall and green with no hands, neck, or visible form of locomotion, and beak-like protrusions instead of mouths. Edwards tried to get closer, but when he did he was stopped by some sort of invisible force field, which also happened to deflect some rocks he threw towards the ship. The space penguins then filed into the craft and shot away at high speeds. Edwards was so reluctant to talk about his bizarre experience that he told his story only on the promise that it would not be published until after his death.   

From the pages of Albert S. Rosales’ book “Humanoid Encounters 1970-1974: The Others amongst Us,” there is a weird encounter reported by a student at the University of Georgia by the name of Mars Walker. He claims that one evening he was reading in his modest apartment near the campus when he was startled by a “high-pitched, siren-like sound.” When he went to his window to find out the source of the eerie sound, he saw a glow emanating from outside, so he opened the door to check it out and was met with the sight of a round, smooth craft that slowly descended from the sky about fifty yards away. That’s when things would get really weird. The report continues:   

“After five minutes the pitch of the sound became sharper “and a thing took shape within the doughnut shape of the middle.” It required another minute before the form became clearly visible. According to Walker, “It was a human-like being standing erect,” and colored like “a sea green opaque, like a hologram.” The most prominent aspect of the creature was its “medusa-head,” composed of objects resembling tentacles that surrounded the head. Each hand had three or four fingers, but otherwise seemed human. “The odd thing to me” Walker continued, “is how little attention it paid me. No interest in communicating with me or threatening me or any other activity, besides observing.” The scene was surreal; the creature bathed in the pale-green light like “an electrical field,” the student thought. Perhaps it was a hologram. Apparently finished with its duties, the entity went back inside the craft. After a half hour the UFO departed.”   

From 1977 there ia a weird encounter in a place called Harrah. which is a tiny rural town in Yakima County, in the center of Washington State, in the United States, with a current population of less than 600 citizens. One frigid winter morning in January of 1977, a 9-year-old José Cantu woke up and went to the kitchen to make something for breakfast. As he did, his concentration was broken by glancing at what he at first thought to be a tiny little man walking past the window. He went to investigate and would soon see that not only was this not a little man, but that it was something far odder than anything he could have imagined.   

When Cantu went out into the yards, he was greeted by the sight of a quartet of otherworldly entities that defied classification. Each of the beings was rotund, greenish in color, standing three feet high, with no legs but rather merely wire and tube adorned wide based hovering rotating pedestals where legs would normally be. Perhaps even stranger still, each of the creatures had a pair of mushroom-capped antennas, coarse hair, pig-like noses and a single eye that peered out of round faces. The arms of the beings were described as floppy, tiny little protuberances that looked like they would be worthless for any sort of practical use.   

Cantu was so shocked by all of this that he hid himself, and that was when he noticed several metallic crafts, each with another little, green, pig-nosed, cyclops sitting within it. These crafts opened to reveal ramps that descended to the ground, after which the entities ascended into the crafts and they took ff with a puff of smoke. Shortly after this, the boy ran to tell his mother what had happened, but she didn’t believe him. He would also tell his teacher and classmates at school, and considering that he was considered to be an honest boy not prone to tall tales, his teacher and a teacher’s aide went with him to investigate the site where he claimed he had seen the bizarre creatures. There they found circular indentations in the ground and a spherical dent in the ground where one of the crafts had apparently sat. They also discovered that the uncut grass in the center of the circular patterns was swirled upward for reasons unknown. In the end, everyone present was convinced that the boy was telling the truth.   

The following year there was a report from Francavilla, Abruzzo, Italy in 1978. On this evening, Mr. Alfredo D'Aviero was returning home on his motorcycle, and since the road was in such poor condition and so riddled with potholes, he looked down to watch where he was going and avoid an accident. A report from Albert S. Rosales on the strange incident continues:   

“When he looked up again he found himself facing two unusual characters: they were two strange "little boys", with small, round eyes, arms behind their back and they seemed to laugh, and one of them seemed to have a slightly crooked jaw. They wore a silvery-white outfit tinged with green, zouaves and cuff. At the head,they wore tight hats that also tightened the chin covering the ears, on the left side of their heads,they wore a small "feather". Their legs didn't have any knees and were as stiff as two sticks. The beings also wore some kind of stilts so you can see the bone-free ankles. D'Aviero tried to offer the two cigarettes and persimmons, but they refused any offer, at which D'Aviero decided to "take them" to Francavilla as proof of his experience. He got closer, he got hit by a blinding flash of light, when he opened his eyes again, the two beings were gone.”   

What in the world? Just as eerie is a report from 1983, in Val Trebbia, Emilia Romagna, Italy. On a beautiful afternoon the witness, only known as Mr. A. was riding his ‘Aprilia’ trail motorbike on the dry bed of the Treibbia River when he suddenly noticed a “being of very unusual features.” A report on the matter from the files of Albert Rosales reads:   

“The witness described the figure as a sort of “flying nun” dressed in a long and dark-colored diving suit, apparently rigid and without folds. The figure also wore a sort of headdress or helmet that closely resembled the one worn by the nuns. The being flew faster than A’s motorbike and at a height of about twenty/thirty centimeters from the ground with its torso slightly bent forward. The bizarre flying figure covered a distance of one hundred and fifty/two hundred meters in about three or four seconds always remaining level to the ground, then it suddenly shot off into the nearby bush and disappeared from sight. It did not make any noise it did not disturb the waters of the river or dust from the ground. The whole encounter lasted about ten interminable seconds. Frightened, the witness immediately reversed and drove towards his house where he told his family what he had seen.”

These are all incredibly strange cases that really skirt the periphery of the bizarre. It is hard to know what we are dealing with in such unconventional accounts. Are these really aliens or do such encounters represent something else entirely? For now, the answers remain elusive, but the reports keep coming in. 

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{ https://mysteriousuniverse.org/ }

'City-killer' asteroid has a 1-in-83 chance of smashing into Earth in 2032, NASA says

Although the asteroid is currently moving away from us, Earth will have several close shaves with the space rock in the next half century. Its next sideswipe will occur in late 2028, followed by six more close approaches between 2032 and 2074. Of these, the one with the highest chance of impact will be on Dec. 22, 2032, according to NASA.

All of these factors place 2024 YR4 at Level 3 on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale, the system scientists use to determine an asteroid's threat level. For objects at this level, "attention by public and by public officials is merited if the encounter is less than a decade away." However, most asteroids in this category are eventually downgraded to Level 0, which means "the likelihood of a collision is zero, or is so low as to be effectively zero."

Threats like this are the reason NASA and other space agencies are interested in developing techniques to redirect asteroids, as demonstrated by the Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission. The chances of a catastrophic asteroid impact are usually very low, so it is crucial to continue monitoring objects of interest, astronomers say. Even though 2024 YR4 probably won't trigger a mass extinction like the dino-killing space rock that slammed into what is now Mexico 66 million years ago, astronomers will keep a close eye on the asteroid as it circles back toward our planet.

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{ https://www.livescience.com/ }

The Building Blocks for Life Found in Asteroid Bennu Samples

A poster depicting all the compounds discovered in the OSIRIS-REx sample. ©NASA

Their results represent the first in-depth analyses of the minerals and molecules in the Bennu samples. Among the most compelling detections (reported in the Nature Astronomy paper) were 14 of the 20 amino acids life on Earth uses to make up protein cells. They also detected five nucleobases vital to DNA and RNA, which most complex lifeforms on Earth use to store and transmit genetic instructions, including how to arrange amino acids into proteins. As Associate Administrator Nicky Fox of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters explained in a NASA press release:

“NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission already is rewriting the textbook on what we understand about the beginnings of our solar system. Asteroids provide a time capsule into our home planet’s history, and Bennu’s samples are pivotal in our understanding of what ingredients in our solar system existed before life started on Earth.”

The teams also reported exceptionally high abundances of ammonia in the Bennu samples and formaldehyde. Ammonia is an important component in biology since it can react with formaldehyde to form complex molecules like amino acids. These building blocks have previously been detected in other rocky bodies, including meteorites retrieved on Earth. However, the way OSIRIS-REx found them in pristine condition on an asteroid supports the theory that objects that formed far from the Sun could have delivered the raw material for life throughout the Solar System. Said Glavin:

“The clues we’re looking for are so minuscule and so easily destroyed or altered from exposure to Earth’s environment. That’s why some of these new discoveries would not be possible without a sample-return mission, meticulous contamination-control measures, and careful curation and storage of this precious material from Bennu.”

Illustration of the asteroid Bennu. Credit: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Glavin and Dworkin’s team analyzed the Bennu samples for hints of compounds related to life on Earth. Meanwhile, Tim McCoy and Sara Russell, the curator of meteorites at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington and a cosmic mineralogist at the Natural History Museum in London (respectively), looked for evidence of where these molecules formed. As they reported in the study appearing in Nature, they discovered hints that they came from an ancient prebiotic environment.

These included traces of 11 minerals ranging from calcite to halite and sylvite, compounds that form from salts dissolved in water that become solid crystals (brines) once the water dissolves. Evidence of similar brines have been detected on Ceres, Saturn’s moon Enceladus, and other bodies in the Solar System. While scientists have also detected brines in meteorites that fell to Earth, they have never seen a complete set created by an evaporation process that could have lasted thousands of years or more. Moreover, some minerals found in Bennu have never been detected in other extraterrestrial samples.

Another analysis was carried out by members of the OSIRIS-REx sample analysis team, including researchers from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Hokkaido University, Keio University, Kyushu University, and Tohoku University. Together, they analyzed a 17.75 mg sample using high-resolution mass spectrometry for organic molecules with a ring structure containing carbon and nitrogen (N-heterocycles). This revealed a concentration of N-heterocycles 5-10 times higher than that reported from the sample taken from Ryugu (~5 nmol/g) by the Hayabusa2 mission.

In addition to the five nitrogenous bases, their analysis showed evidence of the purines xanthine, hypoxanthine, and nicotinic acid (vitamin B₃). “In previous research, uracil and nicotinic acid were detected in the samples from asteroid Ryugu, but the other four nucleobases were absent,” said team member Dr. Toshiki Koga of JAMSTEC. “The difference in abundance and complexity of N-heterocycles between Bennu and Ryugu could reflect the differences in the environment to which these asteroids have been exposed in space.”

A mosaic image of asteroid Bennu, composed of 12 PolyCam images collected by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft from a range of 24 kilometers. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

While these findings have provided compelling evidence of where the building blocks of life on Earth came from, several unanswered questions remain. For starters, amino acids can be created in “mirror-image” versions, similar to how complex lifeforms have a left and right side – hands, feet, brains, lungs, heat chambers, etc. While life on Earth almost exclusively exhibits the left variety, the Bennu samples contain an equal mixture of both. This could mean amino acids started in equal mixtures on Earth billions of years ago but made a left turn along the way.

This is not unlike theories regarding matter and antimatter in the early Universe and how “normal” matter came to be predominant. In any case, these findings are a key piece in the ongoing study of how and where life may have emerged in the Solar System. “OSIRIS-REx has been a highly successful mission,” said Dworkin. “Data from OSIRIS-REx adds major brushstrokes to a picture of a solar system teeming with the potential for life. Why we, so far, only see life on Earth and not elsewhere, that’s the truly tantalizing question.”

Further Reading: 

• NASA, 
• Hokkaido University, 

• Nature Astronomy

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

Science Points Out Paths to Interplanetary Adventures

Trips to other worlds have been the stuff of science fiction for more than a century — going back to Jules Verne’s “From the Earth to the Moon” and continuing today with shows like “For All Mankind.” But most of those tales are told from the perspective of intrepid explorers who have to deal with life-threatening dramas.

In contrast, most of the stories in “Daydreaming in the Solar System” have to do with space travelers having fun, or handling the day-to-day challenges of living in an otherworldly locale.

John E. Moores and Jesse Rogerson tell tales of interplanetary adventures. (Credits: John E. Moores and York University)

“Often you’re visiting a place for the very first time, and of course it’s an amazing, awe-inspiring place, but you’re also very concerned about not dying,” Moores said. “So, we wanted to take that away — that bit of danger — so that people dive into the environment. Everywhere we went, we needed the right combination of an interesting activity, an interesting environment.”

Moores and Rogerson also use a second-person perspective. You’re the one riding a submarine through the hidden seas of Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter. You’re the one spelunking on Hyperion, a spongy Saturnian moon that appears to contain 40% empty space.

The end of each chapter takes a deeper dive into the peculiarities of each extraterrestrial environment. For example, riding a balloon around Venus makes sense because the surroundings at an altitude of 30 to 40 miles are similar to Earth’s when it comes to temperature and atmospheric pressure. In contrast, the surface of Venus is hellishly hot.

Ballooning on Venus is much more than a daydream. More than a decade ago, NASA engineers came up with a concept that called for sending habitable airships into the Venusian atmosphere. More recently, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been looking into a mission that would use robotic balloons to study the clouds of Venus.

“Daydreaming in the Solar System,” by John E. Moores and Jesse Rogerson. (Cover art by Michelle D. Parsons)

Similarly, the idea of sending mini-subs through Europa’s subsurface ocean is being considered as a follow-up to NASA’s Europa Clipper mission. A robotic submarine has also been proposed for exploring Titan’s hydrocarbon seas — although NASA’s Dragonfly mission to Titan, which relies on a rotorcraft, will be taking precedence.

The authors don’t shy away from the important issues: In one chapter, they describe in depth how to brew a delicious cup of coffee on Titan — and then explain why you could conceivably put on a pair of mechanical wings and flap your way through the Saturnian moon’s dense atmosphere after your morning cup of joe.

Will humans ever be able to experience the adventures described in the book? “I hope so,” Moores says.

“One thing that our publisher pointed out when we submitted our final manuscript, which wasn’t actually intentional, was that they felt that the book was actually very optimistic and very hopeful — just the framing of it, that you could imagine the future in a way that actually allows these things to happen,” he says. “So many other works are a little bit apocalyptic right now.”

• My co-host for the Fiction Science podcast is Dominica Phetteplace, an award-winning writer who is a graduate of the Clarion West Writers Workshop and lives in San Francisco. To learn more about Phetteplace, visit her website, DominicaPhetteplace.com.

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{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

These Bizarre Features on Mars are Caused by Carbon Dioxide Geysers

The warming ground sublimates frozen CO2 into vapour that accumulates under the solid CO2. Eventually, the gas escapes through weak spots in the ice. It can erupt into geysers that spread darker material out onto the frozen surface.

The HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of these geysers on Mars in October 2018. It has also captured other images of Martian CO2 geysers.

Some of Mars’ CO2 geysers erupt and create dark spots as large as 1 km across. They are fueled by considerable power and can erupt at speeds up to 160 km/h.

Sometimes the eruptions create dark regions under the ice which look like spiders.

Scientists are calling these features araneiform terrain or spider terrain. They are found in clusters that give the surface a wrinkled appearance. NASA scientists recreated these patterns in lab tests to understand the processes behind their formation. “The spiders are strange, beautiful geologic features in their own right,” said Lauren McKeown of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

The process that explains how the CO2 cycle creates these features is called the Keiffer model. Hugh Keiffer was with the US Geological Survey when he and his colleagues published a paper explaining the model in 2006 in Nature titled “CO2 jets formed by sublimation beneath translucent slab ice in Mars’ seasonal south polar ice cap.”

“We propose that the seasonal ice cap forms an impermeable, translucent slab of CO2 ice that sublimates from the base, building up high-pressure gas beneath the slab. This gas levitates the ice, which eventually ruptures, producing high-velocity CO2 vents that erupt sand-sized grains in jets to form the spots and erode the channels,” Keiffer and his co-authors wrote in their paper.

Maybe humans are biased, but there’s nothing as beautiful and splendorous as Earth. Generations of poets have acclaimed its beauty to the point where it borders on the spiritual. However, when it comes to CO2 geysers and the natural patterns they create, Mars has something that Earth doesn’t.

“These processes are unlike any observed on Earth,” the authors of the 2006 paper stated.

Source: 

• Geyser Season on Mars

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

ESA houdt de onlangs ontdekte ruimterots nauwlettend in de gaten.

Astronomen hebben een nieuwe ruimterots ontdekt die mogelijk op ramkoers ligt met de aarde. Deze planetoïde, 2024 YR4 genoemd, heeft een diameter van 40 tot 100 meter – groot genoeg om flink wat schade aan te richten als hij zou inslaan.

2032
2024 YR4 werd op 27 december 2024 door de ATLAS-telescoop aan het licht gebracht. Vlak na de ontdekking berekenden slimme waarschuwingssystemen dat de planetoïde, hoewel de kans miniem is, op 22 december 2032 de aarde zou kunnen raken.

Grootte
2024 YR4 heeft zoals gezegd een diameter van meer dan 50 meter. Ter vergelijking: een passagiersvliegtuig zoals een Boeing 747 is ongeveer 70 meter lang. Planetoïden van deze grootte slaan gemiddeld eens in de paar duizend jaar in op de aarde. Mocht 2024 YR4 inderdaad inslaan, dan zou dit niet per se catastrofale gevolgen hebben. Wel zal het ernstige schade kunnen aanrichten als hij bijvoorbeeld dicht bij een grote stad of dichtbevolkt gebied landt. Op dit moment is het nog te vroeg om te bepalen waar op aarde een eventuele inslag zou kunnen plaatsvinden.

Asteroid 2024 YR4 Is Level 3 On The Torino Scale, With A Very Close ...

Gevaarlijke planetoïde
Door dit risico staat de ruimterots nu bovenaan ESA’s lijst van gevaarlijke planetoïden. Sinds begin januari hebben astronomen prioriteit gegeven aan vervolgwaarnemingen met telescopen over de hele wereld. Wat we nu over de planetoïde weten, is dat zijn baan rond de zon ellipsvormig (excentrisch) is. Op dit moment beweegt de planetoïde zich bijna in een rechte lijn van de aarde weg, waardoor het moeilijk is om zijn exacte baan te bepalen. Nieuwe gegevens zullen echter helpen om de grootte en koers van de planetoïde nog nauwkeuriger in kaart te brengen.

Hoe wordt de baan van aardscheerders berekend?
De baan van planetoïden wordt berekend door het elliptische pad rond de zon te bepalen dat het beste past bij de beschikbare waarnemingen. Dat wil zeggen, het berekende pad van het object rond de zon wordt aangepast totdat de voorspellingen van waar de planetoïde op verschillende waargenomen tijdstippen aan de hemel had moeten verschijnen, overeenkomen met de posities waar het object daadwerkelijk op diezelfde tijdstippen werd gezien. Naarmate het aantal waarnemingen toeneemt, kan ook de exacte baan van de ruimtesteen verbeterd worden. Op die manier krijgen astronomen een goed beeld van waar het object zich in de toekomst zal bevinden.

Toch is er geen reden om in paniek te raken. ESA schat de kans dat 2024 YR4 op 22 december 2032 de aarde zal raken, namelijk op slechts 1,2 procent. Omdat de kans op inslag binnen de komende vijftig jaar meer dan 1 procent is, wordt de planetoïde nauwlettend in de gaten gehouden. Op dit moment heeft geen enkele andere grote planetoïde een inslagkans van meer dan 1 procent. Maar vergeet niet: er is ook een 99 procent kans dat 2024 YR4 ons voorbij zal schieten.

Risico neemt eerst toe, dan weer af
Toch kan een mogelijke inslag niet volledig worden uitgesloten. Daarom staat planetoïde 2024 YR4 op dit moment op niveau 3 van de Schaal van Torino: een nauwe passage die de aandacht van zowel astronomen als het publiek trekt. Het is goed om te weten dat de kans op inslag vaak eerst toeneemt, maar naarmate er meer waarnemingen zijn, meestal snel weer naar nul daalt. In het verleden zijn er meerdere objecten met een vergelijkbare beoordeling geweest die uiteindelijk van de lijst verdwenen naarmate er meer gegevens binnendruppelden. Wil je weten waarom? Bekijk dan de onderstaande video.

Bombardement uit de ruimte
Overigens is het niet heel zeldzaam dat onze aarde wordt geraakt door stof en gesteente vanuit de ruimte. Elke dag wordt de aarde gebombardeerd met meer dan 100 ton stof en deeltjes ter grootte van zandkorrels. Ongeveer één keer per jaar raakt een planetoïde ter grootte van een auto de aardse atmosfeer. Dit heeft weinig gevolgen, behalve dat ze als oplichtende vuurbollen kunnen worden gezien terwijl ze in onze atmosfeer opbranden. Elke 2000 jaar treft een steen ter grootte van een voetbalveld de aarde, wat wel aanzienlijke schade kan aanrichten. Slechts eens in de paar miljoen jaar komt er een object langs dat groot genoeg is om al het leven op aarde om te leggen (denk aan de planetoïde die een einde maakte aan het dino-tijdperk). Inslagkraters op de aarde, de maan en andere planetaire lichamen zijn hiervoor het bewijs.

Risicolijst
De komende maanden zal 2024 YR4 steeds moeilijker zichtbaar zijn vanaf de aarde. In die tijd zal ESA de waarnemingen blijven coördineren met steeds krachtigere telescopen. Uiteindelijk wordt ook de beroemde Very Large Telescope van de Europese Zuidelijke Sterrenwacht in Chili ingezet om zoveel mogelijk gegevens te verzamelen. Het is overigens ook mogelijk 2024 YR4 uit het zicht verdwijnt voordat we een inslag in 2032 volledig kunnen uitsluiten. Als dat gebeurt, zal de planetoïde waarschijnlijk op ESA’s risicolijstje blijven staan totdat hij in 2028 weer te zien is.

Hoewel het nog steeds uiterst onwaarschijnlijk is dat 2024 YR4 over zo’n zo’n zeven jaar op aarde neerstort, hebben we gelukkig een plan klaarliggen voor het geval het ergste scenario werkelijkheid zou worden. Zo bewees de DART-missie namelijk dat we in staat zijn de baan van een ruimterots te veranderen. Dit betekent dat we de koers van een gevaarlijke aardscheerder kunnen afbuigen, waardoor we de aarde kunnen beschermen. En dat is toch een geruststellende gedachte!

Bronmateriaal

• "ESA actively monitoring near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4" - ESA
  
• "NASA Shares Observations of Recently-Identified Near Earth Asteroid" - NASA

{ https://scientias.nl/ }

The Pudasjärvi UFO Wave: Finland’s Mysterious Encounters of 1969 

In the late 1960s, a quiet corner of northern Finland became the unlikely epicenter of one of the most perplexing UFO waves in history. The Pudasjärvi UFO wave, spanning from 1969 to 1971, left locals and researchers alike bewildered by a series of strange orbs, eerie lights, and unexplained encounters. Could these sightings have been the result of natural phenomena, top-secret government experiments, or even extraterrestrial visitors? The events that unfolded remain one of Finland’s greatest unsolved mysteries.

A Surge of Unexplained Sightings

Pudasjärvi, a remote region characterized by dense forests and rolling fells, became a focal point for UFO activity starting in September 1969. Over a period of several months, multiple witnesses, including farmers, teachers, taxi drivers, and entire families, reported seeing luminous objects in the night sky. These were not fleeting glimpses—some sightings lasted for hours, leaving behind eerie traces of light beams, magnetic disturbances, and inexplicable movements.

Eyewitnesses described the objects as:

• Glowing orbs that hovered over frozen lakes and tree lines.
• Pulsating lights that moved in intelligent patterns.
• Unidentified craft that appeared pear-shaped or disk-like.

The most remarkable encounter occurred on September 8, 1969, when a taxi driver, Ahti Kula, along with his passengers, observed a bright light in the distance. As they continued their journey, the light moved closer, displaying deliberate maneuvers that defied conventional aircraft behavior. Their observations were later corroborated by other witnesses, reinforcing the credibility of their experience.

Unexplained Magnetic Anomalies

The persistent sightings prompted scientific investigations, particularly due to reports of magnetic disturbances in the area. Researchers noted that compasses malfunctioned, and some locations displayed inexplicable fluctuations in the Earth’s magnetic field. Despite attempts to link these anomalies to known natural causes, no definitive explanation was found.

Professor Juhani Oksman, a leading Finnish electromagnetic expert, conducted research on the phenomenon and concluded that there was no current scientific explanation for what had been observed in Pudasjärvi.

The Gunshot Incident and Alleged Alien Contact

One of the most chilling accounts from the Pudasjärvi UFO wave occurred in 1971, when two brothers, Hugo and Seppo Kell Lampi, reportedly fired a rifle at a UFO after experiencing repeated sightings. The men, who worked as snowplow operators, had encountered strange lights multiple times and eventually felt threatened by their presence. One night, Seppo rushed inside their home in a panic, prompting Hugo to grab his hunting rifle and shoot at the unidentified object.

What happened next is both bizarre and unsettling. A local man, Unto Laine, later claimed that on the very night of the shooting, he was inside the UFO, interacting with its alien occupants. According to Laine, the beings—slender, approximately 160 cm tall, and dressed in protective suits—were shocked by the attack and asked, “Why are they shooting?” His only response was, “We are so primitive.”

Laine further asserted that the beings gave him the gift of healing, an ability he claimed to have used for the rest of his life, even stating that he had treated Boris Yeltsin, the future Russian leader. Strangely, shortly after the incident, both Kell Lampi brothers died unexpectedly, which fueled speculation that the UFO encounter had some deeper significance.

Theories and Explanations

The Pudasjärvi UFO wave remains one of the most well-documented and debated cases in Finland’s history. Theories attempting to explain the sightings include:

1. Natural Phenomena – Some researchers speculate that the glowing orbs may have been ball lightning, auroras, or atmospheric anomalies unique to Finland’s northern latitudes. However, this does not account for the intelligent movement patterns witnessed by multiple individuals.
2. Secret Military Projects – The late 1960s and early 1970s were rife with Cold War-era experimental aircraft and missile tests. Some believe that these sightings could have been classified military technology being tested in remote areas.
3. Extraterrestrial Visitors – The sheer volume and consistency of reports, coupled with accounts of direct interactions with beings, have led some UFO researchers to conclude that these events may indeed be evidence of extraterrestrial contact.

Legacy of the Pudasjärvi UFO Wave

Decades later, the events in Pudasjärvi continue to intrigue UFO enthusiasts, skeptics, and scientists alike. Despite extensive documentation and firsthand testimonies, no concrete explanation has been found. The mystery endures, reminding us that even in our technologically advanced world, there are still phenomena beyond our understanding.

Was the Pudasjärvi UFO wave a misunderstood natural occurrence, secret military technology, or genuine extraterrestrial contact? The answers remain elusive, but one thing is certain—something truly extraordinary happened in northern Finland in 1969, and its legacy continues to spark curiosity and debate to this day.

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

• READ MORE:  'Doomsday' fish found on beach sparks fears of looming disaster

By ELLYN LAPOINTE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and JONATHAN CHADWICK FOR MAILONLINE 

Humanity is officially one second closer to world annihilation, scientists say. 

The Doomsday Clock has been revealed – and it now sits at 89 seconds to midnight, one second closer than last year. 

It's also the closest the clock has ever been to midnight in its 78-year history, meaning we're nearer to world-ending catastrophe than ever before. 

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which decides where the hands are set, cited the Russia-Ukraine war, ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, the threat of nuclear war, climate change, a looming bird flu pandemic and AI arms race for the update. 

The Chicago-based nonprofit created the Doomsday Clock in 1947 during the Cold War tensions that followed World War II to warn the public about how close humankind was to destroying the world. 

'We set the clock closer to midnight because we do not see sufficient positive progress on the global challenges we face,' said Daniel Holz, board member and physicist at the University of Chicago.

'Setting the Doomsday Clock at 89 seconds to midnight is a warning to all world leaders,' he added. 

Since 2023, it has been set at 90 seconds to midnight, but this year scientists predicted it would move forward to reflect the troubling global outlook.

Scientists unveiled the 2025 update for the 'Doomsday Clock' today, revealing that it has moved one second closer to midnight. Pictured with the clock, former President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos (left) and Robert Socolow (right), professor emeritus at Princeton University and member of the Atomic Scientists' Science and Security Board

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which decides where the hands are set, cited the Russia-Ukraine war, ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, the threat of nuclear war, climate change, a looming bird flu pandemic and AI arms race

Why has the Doomsday Clock gone forward? 

Moving the Doomsday Clock one second closer on Tuesday signified humanity's failures to make progress from the global threats in the past 12 months. 

The Russia-Ukraine war, Israel's ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, and the threat of nuclear war, climate change and AI all mean the clock has gone forwards for the first time in two years. 

'The factors shaping this year's decision – nuclear risk, climate change, the potential misuse of advances in biological science and a variety of other emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence – were not new in 2024,' Holz said.

'But we have seen insufficient progress in addressing the key challenges, and in many cases this is leading to increasingly negative and worrisome effects.' 

Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine launched Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II, while there's a growing sense 'a nation may end up using nuclear weapons'.

'The war in Ukraine continues to loom as a large source of nuclear risk,' Holz said. 

'That conflict could escalate to include nuclear weapons at any moment due to a rash decision or through accident and miscalculation.'  

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View gallery

The Doomsday Clock was set at 89 seconds to midnight, the closest the Clock has ever been to midnight in its 78-year history. The symbolic clock edges closer to midnight to reflect human-made global catastrophes

An Israeli attack on al-Hudari family house reduces the building into rubble in Gaza City, Gaza on January 05, 2025

Harrowing fires in California this month were related to climate change, according to scientists. Pictured, a home is engulfed in flames, Los Angeles, January 8, 2025

President Donald Trump speaking in the White House's Roosevelt Room flanked by Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp; Larry Ellison, Executive Charmain Oracle and Sam Altman, CEO of Open AI on January 21, 2025, to announce $500B AI investment. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin in November lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a broader range of conventional attacks, a move the Kremlin described as a signal to the West. 

Russia's updated doctrine set a framework for conditions under which Putin could order a strike from the world's biggest nuclear arsenal.

The Middle East has been another source of instability with the Israel-Gaza war and broader regional hostilities involving countries including Iran. 

'We are watching closely and hope that the ceasefire in Gaza will hold,' Holz said.  

Meanwhile, nuclear-armed China has stepped up military pressure near Taiwan, and nuclear-armed North Korea continues with tests of various ballistic missiles.

Climate change poses another existential threat. Last year was the hottest in recorded history, according to scientists at the UN World Meteorological Organization. The last 10 years were the 10 hottest on record, it said.

'While there has been impressive growth in wind and solar energy, the world is still falling short of what is necessary to prevent the worse aspects of climate change,' Holz said.

Last year also saw staggering advancements in artificial intelligence, prompting increasing concern among some experts about its military applications and its risks to global security.

The 2025 Clock time signals that the world is on a course of unprecedented risk, and that continuing on the current path is a form of madness

2024 also saw advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) that have contributed to the decision to move the time forward (file photo)

2024 was the hottest year on record, beating the record set by 2023. The average global temperature in 2024 reached 15.1°C (59.2°F), 0.72°C (1.3°F) warmer than the 1991-2000 average

Governments have addressed the matter in fits and starts. In the US, then-President Biden in October signed an executive order intended to reduce the risks that AI poses to national security, the economy and public health or safety. 

His successor Donald Trump revoked it last week, and also announced a private-sector $500 billion investment in AI infrastructure.

'Advances in AI are beginning to show up on the battlefield in tentative but worrisome ways, and of particular concern is the future possibility of AI applications to nuclear weapons,' Holz said.

'In addition, AI is increasingly disrupting the world's information ecosystem. AI-fueled disinformation and misinformation will only add to this dysfunction.'

What is the Doomsday Clock?

The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic timepiece showing how close the world is to a human-made global catastrophe, as deemed by experts. 

Every year, the clock is updated based on how close we are to the total annihilation of humanity ('midnight').

If the clock goes forward and gets closer to midnight (compared with where it was set the previous year), it suggests humanity has got closer to self destruction.

Moving the Doomsday Clock one second closer on Tuesday signified humanity's failures to make progress from the global threats of 2024. Scientists noted that a looming pandemic was part of their decision

In 2024, the hands did not move to reflect an unchanging global situation 

But if it moves back, further away from midnight, it suggests humanity has reduced the risks of global catastrophe in the past 12 months.

On some years, such as 2024, the hands of the clock haven't moved at all – which suggests the global situation has not changed.

The clock is set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a nonprofit organization based in Chicago that publishes an academic journal.

Although symbolic and not an actual clock, the organization does unveil a physical 'quarter clock' model at an event when revealing if and how the hands have moved.

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.

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

When was the Doomsday Clock created?

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.

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 

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

With a striking image on the cover, the organization hoped to 'frighten men into rationality', according to Eugene Rabinowitch, the first editor of the journal.

It came amid a backdrop of public fear surrounding atomic warfare and weaponry, just two years after the Second World War ended.

Langsdorf initially considered drawing the symbol for uranium before sketching a clock to convey a sense of urgency.

She set it at seven minutes to midnight because 'it looked good to my eye', Langsdorf later said.

On the cover of later issues in subsequent years, the hands of the clock were adjusted based on how close we are 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 forwards and backwards.

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

The Doomsday Clock’s time is set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board (SASB) in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes nine Nobel Laureates. Factors included nuclear weapons threats, the climate crisis, biological threats, and disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence (file photo)

Who decides what time to set the Doomsday Clock at?

Shortly after it was first created, Bulletin Editor Eugene Rabinowitch decided whether or not the hands should be moved.

Rabinowitch was a scientist, fluent in Russian, and a leader in the conversations about nuclear disarmament, meaning he was in frequent discussions with scientists and experts all over the world.

After considering the discussions, he would decide whether the clock should be moved forward or backward, at least in the first few decades of the clock's existence.

When he died in 1973, the Bulletin's Science and Security Board took over, made up of experts on nuclear technology and climate science, and has included 13 Nobel Laureates over the years.

The panel meets twice a year to discuss ongoing world events, such as the war in Ukraine, and whether a clock change is necessary.

When were the hands furthest away from midnight?

In 1991, following the end of the Cold War, the Bulletin set the clock hands to 17 minutes to midnight.

The end of the war saw the US and the Soviet Union sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

This meant the countries would cut down their nuclear weapons arsenal, reducing the threat of nuclear war.

Unfortunately, the hands have not been as far away from midnight since then – and they do not look like moving back to this position any time soon.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

By SHIVALI BEST FOR MAILONLINE 

The existence of Scotland's legendary Loch Ness Monster has been hotly-debated for nearly a century. 

Affectionately referred to as Nessie, the large marine creature is said to inhabit the freshwater loch south of Inverness.

Now the mystery may have been finally been solved - by none other than Prince William. 

The Prince of Wales today visited Earthshot Prize finalist, Nature Metrics, at their Surrey HQ, where he was shown the Nature Intelligence Platform. 

This tool is able to identify individual species from small samples of soil, sediment, water, or air. 

During a demonstration of the technology, the Prince of Wales asked one of the researchers the million dollar question: 'Does this mean you could find the Loch Ness Monster?'

Unfortunately, the researcher poured cold water on any hopes that the monster is real.

'It might just be a very big eel,' she said. 

The Prince of Wales today visited Earthshot Prize finalist, Nature Metrics, at their Surrey HQ. The company's Nature Intelligence Platform is able to identify individual species from small samples of soil, sediment, water, or air

The existence of Scotland's legendary Loch Ness Monster has been hotly-debated for nearly a century. Now the mystery may have been finally been solved - by none other than Prince William 

During his visit, the Prince of Wales was shown Nature Metrics' eDNA Surveying Tool.

'All living things leave traces of their DNA in the environment (eDNA),' the company explains on its website. 

'We use this to identify individual species from small samples of soil, sediment, water and air.'

The demonstration sparked Prince William to ask the 'question that everyone is going to want to know' - does this mean we could find the Loch Ness Monster?

In response, the researcher said: 'Do you know what, people have tried. 

'People came from New Zealand to try that. They took about 500 eDNA samples in Loch Ness. 

'They said they found eels, and it might just be a very big eel, but that felt like it was clutching at straws a bit!

'All they needed to find was one bit of unidentified reptile DNA and they could have had a story.'

+5

Affectionately referred to as Nessie, the large marine creature is said to inhabit the freshwater loch south of Inverness

The Loch Ness monster isn't the only mythical creature that Nature Metrics has been asked to help find. 

'We've been asked to try and find the Yeti and Bigfoot - all sorts,' the researcher added.

The revelation comes shortly after naturalist Adrian Shine said people spotting 'long-necked' creatures on Loch Ness were actually misidentifying waterbirds in calm conditions.

While mysterious humps or loops in the water were really just boat wakes, he said, which are the 'largest cause of monster sightings'.

He added that the Nessie of popular imagination was simply the classic sea serpent depicted on old maps in a new inland setting.

Mr Shine, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and founder of the Loch Ness Project, says he is a 'sympathetic sceptic' when it comes to the monster.

But he offered few comforts to those who believe Nessie is real.

He said: 'Boat wakes are probably the number one cause of monsters sightings, and waterbirds are the long-necked ones.'

'Of course there are long-necked creatures on Loch Ness – we call them swans.

'And in calm conditions you can lose your ability to judge distance, and if you can't judge distance, you can't judge size.' 

What IS the Loch Ness Monster?

Rumours of a strange creature living in the waters of Loch Ness have abounded over the decades, yet scant evidence has been found to back up these claims.

One of the first sightings, believed to have fuelled modern Nessie fever, came in May 2, 1933.  

On this date the Inverness Courier carried a story about a local couple who claim to have seen 'an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface'.

Another famous claimed sighting is a photograph taken in 1934 by Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson.

It was later exposed as a hoax by one of the participants, Chris Spurling, who, on his deathbed, revealed that the pictures were staged.

Other sightings James Gray's picture from 2001 when he and friend Peter Levings were out fishing on the Loch, while namesake Hugh Gray's blurred photo of what appears to be a large sea creature was published in the Daily Express in 1933.

Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London physician, captured arguably the most famous image of the Loch Ness Monster. The surgeon’s photograph was published in the Daily Mail on April 21, 1934 - however it was later proven to be a fake 

The first reported sighting of the monster is said to have been made in AD565 by the Irish missionary St Columba when he came across a giant beast in the River Ness.

But no one has ever come up with a satisfactory explanation for the sightings - although in 2019, 'Nessie expert' Steve Feltham, who has spent 24 years watching the Loch, said he thought it was actually a giant Wels Catfish, native to waters near the Baltic and Caspian seas in Europe.

An online register lists more than 1,000 total Nessie sightings, created by Mr Campbell, the man behind the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club and is available at www.lochnesssightings.com. 

So what could explain these mysterious sightings? 

Many Nessie witnesses have mentioned large, crocodile-like scutes sitting atop the spine of the creature, leading some to believe an escaped amphibian may be to blame.

Native fish sturgeons can also weigh several hundred pounds and have ridged backs, which make them look almost reptilian.

Some believe Nessie is a long-necked plesiosaur - like an elasmosaur - that survived somehow when all the other dinosaurs were wiped out.

Others say the sightings are down to Scottish pines dying and flopping into the loch, before quickly becoming water-logged and sinking.

While submerged, botanical chemicals start trapping tiny bubbles of air.

Eventually, enough of these are gathered to propel the log upward as deep pressures begin altering its shape, giving the appearance of an animal coming up for air.

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{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

Scientists uncover the 'strongest evidence yet' for aliens: Breakthrough study confirms asteroid Bennu contains the building blocks of life

• READ MORE: Scientists come up with a way to save Earth from asteroid collision

By XANTHA LEATHAM DEPUTY SCIENCE EDITOR FOR THE DAILY MAIL

Experts have unearthed the 'strongest evidence yet' for aliens on other planets after pieces of an asteroid were found to contain the building blocks of life.

In 2020, a NASA spacecraft collected a sample from an asteroid called Bennu as part of a nail-biting mission that took place more than 200 million miles away.

Once it had returned to Earth samples of the dust were sent to laboratories around the world, including in the UK, to be studied by scientists.

Now, analysis has revealed that traces of ancient brine within the sample contain minerals crucial to life and which kicked off the chemical processes that led to a lush and fertile Earth.

And experts say this is the 'strongest evidence yet' that the building blocks for life as we know it are spread across the solar system – and have been there for billions of years.

The discovery has been published across two papers – one which indicates Bennu was part of a long-lost wet, salty world which originated at the dawn of the solar system, and another which reveals a 'suite' of organic materials that were detected in the sample.

Among them are all five nitrogenous bases - molecules required for building DNA and RNA - and amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins.

Professor Sara Russell, from the Natural History Museum, was one of the scientists studying the 'dust'.

Experts have unearthed the 'strongest evidence yet' for aliens on other planets after pieces of an asteroid were found to contain the building blocks of life

In 2020, a NASA spacecraft collected a sample from an asteroid called Bennu as part of a nail-biting mission that took place more than 200 million miles away. Once it had returned to Earth samples of the dust were sent to laboratories around the world, including in the UK, to be studied by scientists

Analysis has revealed that traces of ancient brine within the sample contain minerals crucial to life and which kicked off the chemical processes that led to a lush and fertile Earth

She said: 'One of the interesting things we found in there was a whole range of salts. That includes sodium chloride, which is what we put on our chips, and loads of other salts like phosphates and carbonates.

'We think these actually formed a briny, salty water that may have been underground in the asteroid.

'This sort of salty fluid would be a perfect place to make organic molecules. And in the early solar system there would have been millions of asteroids like Bennu, so it could have been really important for "seeding" the Earth and other planets with all these ingredients they can use for life.'

She said although there isn't any evidence for life elsewhere in the solar system yet, 'now we know there were there were all of these ingredients around'.

'I imagine that whatever rained down on Earth would have also rained down on Mars and on the moons of the giant planets, and they might have been really great environments for life to begin,' she added.

'I think it's likely that the fact we've found these things in abundance means that life may have begun elsewhere.

'This is really strong evidence that these building blocks for life were widespread throughout our solar system.'

The two new studies, which appear in the journals Nature and Nature Astronomy, are among the first published analyses of the Bennu samples.

Scanning electron microscope images of trona found in samples of the asteroid Bennu returned by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission

Earth-originating examples of minerals found in Bennu samples. Foreground, left to right: calcite, gaylussite, sylvite with halite, villiaumite

Some of these crucial 'building blocks' have not been detected in meteorites that have fallen to Earth – most likely because their composition would have been altered after burning through the atmosphere and they would have been easily contaminated after hitting the ground.

Bennu consists of pieces of a larger asteroid that formed nearly 4.6 billion years ago, around the same time as the solar system.

By understanding the composition of the Bennu samples, scientists can gain insights into the conditions of that time, helping answer questions about how the solar system - and Earth - formed.

'It's interesting that although Bennu had everything needed for life, it did not form,' Professor Russell added.

'The complex and delicate conditions needed to catalyse life really bring into focus the abundance of biodiversity here on Earth.'

Co-lead author Tim McCoy, curator of meteorites at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington said: 'This extraordinary work, done at the scale of microns, will help us understand what happens at the scale of planets.'

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

Asteroid Bennu contains the 'seeds of life,' OSIRIS-REx samples reveal

The two teams of researchers who made the discoveries published their findings Jan. 29 in two papers in the journal Nature Astronomy.

"We now know from Bennu that the raw ingredients of life were combining in really interesting and complex ways on Bennu's parent body," study co-lead author Tim McCoy, curator of meteorites at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, said in a statement. "We have discovered that next step on a pathway to life."

Bennu is a potentially hazardous asteroid that has a 1-in-2,700 chance of striking Earth in the year 2182 — the highest odds of any known space object. But scientists are more interested in what's trapped on the space rock: As a carbon-rich asteroid, it likely contains many of the primordial molecules present when life first emerged on Earth.

Related: 

• NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission almost bit the dust — then Queen guitarist Brian May stepped in

OSIRIS-REx launched in September 2016 and traveled 200 million miles (320 million kilometers) to reach Bennu.

Once there, the spacecraft orbited the asteroid for nearly two years as flight engineers searched for a landing site. Upon making contact with the space rock, OSIRIS-REx fired a burst of nitrogen from its Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism to stick the landing and prevent itself from sinking through the asteroid. The nitrogen burst captured a 4.29-ounce (121.6 grams) sample in the process.

In October 2023, the sample was brought to Earth aboard OSIRIS-REx's capsule, which reached speeds of up to 27,000 mph (43,000 km/h) before it deployed its parachute and landed safely in the Utah desert. To avoid contamination, the sample container was taken to a clean room before being opened.

The researchers behind the first study received slices of the Bennu sample, which they examined under a scanning electron microscope. This enabled the team to study features on the sample's surface with a resolution of one-hundredth the width of a human hair.

The scientists discovered sodium carbonate, typically found in evaporated lakes that once contained life on Earth, on the space rock's surface. Within the sodium carbonate, the team found 11 minerals that are important precursors for organic compounds. The mineral compositions differed subtly from those found on our planet; being rich in phosphorus and poor in boron, when the reverse is true in Earth’s lakes.

The researchers think brine similar to that found on Bennu could also exist on other bodies in the solar system, such as the dwarf planet Ceres and Saturn's icy moon Enceladus.

In the second study, conducted by scientists in Japan, a separate piece of the sample was also found to contain the five nucleobases — adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine and uracil — which combine with ribose and phosphate to form DNA and RNA, the ladder-like structures that make up the genetic code of all life on Earth.

This is the first time that scientists have found these nucleobases on a distant asteroid. In 2023, a sample taken from the Ryugu space rock by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft was found to contain uracil, yet the other nucleobases were missing.

It's unclear what this means for life beyond our planet. While the existence of these minerals on Bennu is a sure indication that the asteroid had the right ingredients for life, the researchers are unsure if the asteroid's environment was too harsh for the compounds to grow into complex organic structures. To further investigate, the scientists plan to reexamine meteorites in their collection for similar salts and compounds.

"We now know we have the basic building blocks to move along this pathway towards life, but we don't know how far along that pathway this environment could allow things to progress," McCoy said.

{ https://www.livescience.com/space }

Chinese astronauts make rocket fuel and oxygen in space using 1st-of-its kind 'artificial photosynthesis'

In this case, the astronauts created the hydrocarbon ethylene, which can be used as rocket fuel. But by using different catalysts in the reaction, the researchers believe they could instead produce methane, which could also be used for fuel; and formic acid, which can be used as a preservative, antibacterial agent or precursor to making sugars, Interesting Engineering reported.

"This technology mimics the natural photosynthesis process of green plants through engineered physical and chemical methods, utilizing carbon dioxide resources in confined spaces or extraterrestrial atmospheres to produce oxygen and carbon-based fuels," Chinese state television channel CCTV reported Jan. 19. "The work is expected to provide critical technical support for human survival and exploration in outer space."

Related: China plans to build enormous solar array in space — and it could collect more energy in a year than 'all the oil on Earth'

The researchers have not revealed details about the technology. However, it supposedly requires much less energy than the electrolysis technology used to create oxygen from water on the International Space Station (ISS), the South China Morning Post reported. Electrolysis uses up to a third of the ISS's power output, according to a 2023 study.

{ https://www.livescience.com/space }

{ https://curiosmos.com/ }

Why is Antarctica a Magnet for UFO Stories?

An illustration of Antarctica at night.

{ https://curiosmos.com/ }

White House says most New Jersey drones were authorized by FAA: 'This was not the enemy'

"After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons," Leavitt said at a briefing Tuesday.

Leavitt said that the issue grew worse "due to curiosity," as some of the drones also belonged to hobbyists and private citizens.

"This was not the enemy," she told reporters.

‘After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey, in large numbers, were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons,’ the new press secretary said 

AP

A wave of panic caused by the drones drew misinformation online, with Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., suggesting on Fox News that the drones belonged to Iran. The Department of Defense categorically denied the suggestion.

In December, New York Stewart International Airport was forced to close its runways for roughly an hour due to drone activity in the airspace. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul requested federal assistance, saying the problem had "gone too far."

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy wrote to several federal politicians, including former President Joe Biden, urging them to take action at the national level.

Murphy wrote that he wanted to “encourage Congress to pass legislation empowering state and local law enforcement entities to use advanced detection and mitigation technologies to deal with UAS.” 

Drones are often referred to as unmanned aerial systems (UAS) or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

John Kirby, who worked in the Biden administration's Defense Department, pressed Congress to pass legislation to "deal with that growing ecosystem of drones in U.S. airspace." He told NBC’s “TODAY” show last month that there was a gap in local, state and federal law on the matter.

"Our assessment leads us to conclude that these are lawful and legal aviation activities, manned and unmanned drones and civil aviation aircraft or commercial aircraft," Kirby said. “We know that there’s no national security threat."

{ https://www.nbcnews.com/ }

White House Press Secretary Leavitt revealed that the large number of drones spotted over New Jersey, military bases and other parts of the U.S. had been authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for research and various other reasons. 

She clarified that many of the drones were operated by hobbyists, recreational pilots, and private individuals. However, as public curiosity grew, so did concerns about their true purpose. 

Leavitt sought to reassure Americans, stating, "This was not the enemy." However, she stopped short of identifying the organizations conducting the research or disclosing the exact nature of the studies. 

Her vague response has done little to ease speculation, with many questioning why the government failed to disclose this information during the peak of public concern. 

It seems the U.S. government recently launched a drone replacement program for the 2024–2025 fiscal year, allocating funds to replace noncompliant drones with new, regulation-approved models. 

Independent reports have linked the mysterious drone sightings to the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to secure additional funding for drone programs. According to the media outlet Redacted, the widespread concern over these sightings may have been intentionally orchestrated to justify increased budget allocations, a so-called false flag operation. 

But was this truly a ploy to manipulate public fear in order to push for more drone funding? Would the DOD really need to stage such an event to secure the resources they want? 

If we talking about these drones, eyewitness reports describe these drones exhibiting flight capabilities far beyond conventional technology. Some accounts suggest that unidentified orbs often accompany them, raising the possibility that the explanation goes beyond mere funding, perhaps something more secretive, or even otherworldly, is at play. 

BUT, if these government or contractor operated drones are indeed conducting a search, it likely signifies a serious threat. Maybe an impending attack on the power grid? Such an event could lead to a complete blackout, triggering widespread panic and chaos with severe consequences. 

Moreover, the continuous flickering of streetlights, advertising boards, facade lamps across the U.S. suggests that something is already interfering with the power grid. This phenomenon raises even more concerns, certainly now recent reports indicate that drones have once again appeared over New Jersey, that the underlying issue may be more significant than what has been publicly disclosed by White House Press Secretary Leavitt so far. 

The above updated map showcasing all reported and recorded locations across the U.S. where flickering streetlights, advertising boards, and facade lamps have been observed.

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

First mouse with two biological FATHERS reaches adulthood - in breakthrough that could pave the way for gay men to have children

• READ MORE: Step-by-step graphic reveals how a 'virgin birth' is possible 

By WILIAM HUNTER

The first mouse with two biological fathers has survived until adulthood, a new study has revealed.

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences say they have succeeded in breeding mice using only genetic material from two males.

Through a technique called 'embryonic stem cell engineering’, scientists created eggs from the sperm of one father which could be fertilised by the other.

The stem cell technique used by the researchers is not entirely new, but all previous attempts faced seemingly insurmountable problems.

Mice bred using two sets of male genes either failed to grow at all or were born with severe developmental defects that prevented them from reaching adulthood.

However, by editing 20 different genes in the mice's stem cells, the researchers were able to prevent these issues.

Co-author of the study Dr Wei Li says: 'This work will help to address a number of limitations in stem cell and regenerative medicine research.'

While it is currently only possible in mice, this major breakthrough could pave the way for gay men to have children who are biologically related to both fathers. 

Researchers have successfully bred a mouse (right) that has two male parents (one pictured left) and can survive to adulthood by editing their genes to overcome developmental challenges 

In order to breed offspring which have two biological fathers, the researchers first needed to transform the male sex cells from one parent into female sex cells.

The scientists took sperm from a mouse and injected it into a type of cell called an oocyte - an immature egg cell that has had its genetic material removed in a process called enucleation.

This created a stem cell - a type of cell with the potential to become any other type of cell in the body - which contained only male DNA from the first parent.

The researchers then took one of these stem cells and a sperm cell from another male and injected both into another enucleated immature egg.

These male cells combined to create an embryonic stem cell containing the DNA of both parents, which was then used to create an embryo which could be implanted in a surrogate mother.

Once the embryo had developed, the mother gave birth to the offspring, which contained only genetic material from the two males.

Scientists have known for a long time that this is possible and have managed to create viable embryos using the technique.

However, no one has previously managed to create 'bi-paternal' mice that are actually capable of surviving to adulthood.

By changing genes which control how the parents' chromosomes combine, the bi-paternal mice lived much longer and could even survive weaning. Edited mice are shown by the dark blue line 

During heterosexual reproduction, genetic material from a male carried by the sperm combines with genetic material from a female contained in the egg, or ovum.

When this happens, a group of genes called 'homologous chromosomes' from the mother come together with those from the father and combine in a process called 'crossing over'.

But when both sets of homologous chromosomes come from either two males or two females, the genes don't copy over properly, leading to 'imprinting abnormalities'.

These abnormalities can cause developmental defects which prevent the offspring from living healthy lives.

Co-author Dr Qi Zhou says: 'The unique characteristics of imprinting genes have led scientists to believe that they are a fundamental barrier to unisexual reproduction in mammals.

'Even when constructing bi-maternal or bi-paternal embryos artificially, they fail to develop properly, and they stall at some point during development due to these genes.'

In this study, the researchers used a gene editing technology called CRISPR to make changes to mice's DNA in order to prevent imprinting abnormalities.

After creating stem cells from the first male's sperm, they inserted or removed sections of genetic code at 20 places in the mice's DNA that control imprinting.

Using a technique called CRISPR, the researchers modified 20 genes in one of the male mice. This prevented their offspring developing defects which led to earlier death (stock image) 

When these genetically modified stem cells were combined with the sperm from another male, they were much more likely to develop properly.

These changes resulted in mice with two fathers who were able to live until adulthood for the first time ever.

Study co-author Dr Guan-Zheng Luo, of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, says: 'These findings provide strong evidence that imprinting abnormalities are the main barrier to mammalian unisexual reproduction.

'This approach can significantly improve the developmental outcomes of embryonic stem cells and cloned animals, paving a promising path for the advancement of regenerative medicine.'

The authors do acknowledge some significant limitations to these findings.

Only 11.8 per cent of the viable embryos were capable of developing to birth and not every pup which was born lived to adulthood.

The mice that did live to adulthood showed altered growth, shortened lifespans, and were sterile.

However, these results show the first promising steps towards giving gay men the option to have children who are related to both of their fathers.

In the future, the development of this technique could allow gay men to have children who are genetically related to both partners. However, gene editing techniques are currently not permitted for use on humans (stock image)

In theory, it could be possible to use a similar technique to create an embryo using stem cells derived from one human partner and sperm from the other.

Although the child would still need to be carried to term by a female surrogate, they would have genetic material only from both of their fathers.

Currently, the researchers are planning to try this approach in larger animals like monkeys - and warn that the technological hurdles will be significantly larger.

That means getting the technique to work in humans could require years of effort. 

However, not everyone is convinced that scientists should try to pursue this technology in humans, even if it is possible.

Lukasz Konieczka, executive director of the LGBT+ charity Mosaic Trust, told MailOnline: ''I do understand that some might have a strong desire to have biological children as it offers some virtual immortality, as psychologists call it.

'I do not think it is necessary to spend time and resources on such technology as we still have children who are alive today, stuck in a care system due to neglectful or abusive biological parents.'

Since the technique requires editing the genome of the parent's stem cells, it is also prohibited in humans.

The International Society for Stem Cell Research's ethical guidelines for stem cell research do not allow heritable genome editing for reproductive purposes nor the use of human stem cell-derived gametes for reproduction because they are deemed as currently unsafe.

RELATED VIDEO

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• READ MORE: Visitor from outer space may have warped the solar system

By JONATHAN CHADWICK FOR MAILONLINE 

For millennia, humans have asked whether we are alone in the universe, yet the discovery of aliens still eludes us. 

But if extraterrestrials do exist, scientists have found a promising location for where they could be hiding. 

Researchers from the University of Oxford have discovered an exoplanet dubbed HD 20794 d that could have the right conditions for life. 

More than six times as massive as Earth, scientists are describing it as a 'super Earth'. 

It is located in the Eridanus constellation and is in the habitable zone of its star, meaning liquid water – and therefore life – could potentially exist. 

Best of all, it's just 19.7 light-years away from Earth. 

This raises the tantalizing possibility that we could snap pictures of any aliens lurking there.

'Excitingly, its proximity with us – only 20 light-years – means there is hope for future space missions to obtain an image of it,' said Dr Michael Cretignier, who first spotted signs of the planet in 2022. 

Pictured, an artist's impression of the new planet HD 20794 d orbiting its star. The planet is six times as massive as Earth and just 20 light-years away

Its orbit places it within the habitable zone of the system, meaning it is at the right distance from its star to sustain liquid water on its surface, a key ingredient for life as we know it

Researchers from the University of Oxford have discovered an exoplanet dubbed HD 20794 d that could have the right conditions for life (stock image)

HD 20794 d was found using the HARPS (High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher) spectrograph at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. 

Described as one of the most successful ever planet finders, HARPS spends most nights monitoring stars for signals that indicate the presence of 'exoplanets' – planets outside of our solar system. 

It uses a planet-detecting method called radial velocity, also known as the wobble or Doppler method, which can detect 'wobbles' in a star caused by the gravitational pull of an orbiting planet. 

Using HARPS, Dr Cretignier spotted distinct, periodic shifts in the spectrum of light emitted by host star HD 20794, which he thought could have been caused by the gravitational pull of a nearby planet. 

But due to the faintness of the signal, it was not clear whether this was caused by a planet or due to background 'noise' or a subtle instrumental error. 

To verify the signal, an international team analysed precise measurements recorded over two decades by HARPS and its successor ESPRESSO, also in Chile.

By combining the results from the two instruments, the discovery was finally confirmed – a 'relief' according to Dr Cretignier because the original signal was at the edge of the spectrograph’s detection limit. 

The discovery, detailed in a new study published in Astronomy & Astrophysics,also relied on data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). 

European Southern Observatory's (ESO) La Silla facility in La Higuera, Chile, home to the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) spectrograph

Described as one of the most successful ever planet finders, HARPS (pictured) spends most nights monitoring stars for signals that indicate the presence of 'exoplanets' - planets outside of our solar system

Planet HD 20794 d: Key facts 

Discovered: 2022

Star: HD 20794 (82 G. Eridani)

Orbital duration: 600 days

Constellation: Eridanus

Mass: 6 times that of Earth 

Distance away from us: 19.7 light years 

Dr Cretignier and colleagues know HD 20794 d has a mass six times that of Earth, but as yet they do not know the diameter. 

'The method we are using only provides the distance to the star (the orbital period) and the minimum mass of the planet and not the radius,' Dr Cretignier told MailOnline. 

Although the planet is located in the system’s habitable zone, it is too early to say whether it could host life. 

'It’s important to remember that having a planet in the habitable zone is not sufficient at all to have life on it,' he added.

'Both Mars and Venus are inside the habitable zone of the sun, but I highly don’t recommend you to go there on holiday.'

More questions will have to be answered about the planet first, such as whether it has water on it and if it has an atmosphere, according to the expert.

'The checklist is still long and we have decades of work in front of us,' Dr Cretignier told MailOnline.

Unlike most planets, HD 20794 d’s orbit around its star is 'elliptical' – elongated and not perfectly circular. 

This image shows the flux (the number of photons) on NASA's TESS detector while observing the star HD20794. TESS is a space mission measuring the photometry of the full sky from now a decade with the primary goal of detecting exoplanets using the transits method

Read More

• Visitor from outer space may have warped the solar system 

Its distance from its star changes significantly, causing the planet to move from the outer edge of the habitable zone to the inner edge throughout its year. 

The star is 'a naked-eye star', meaning you could even observe it if you are looking the sky in the south hemisphere, Dr Cretignier added. 

Ultimately, the discovery could eventually give us the first signs of life outside our solar system – although there are many other promising exoplanet candidates. 

'Such a target will be among the primary target list of future space missions with such a purpose that will be on sky the next decade,' Dr Cretignier said. 

Already, NASA has a webpage dedicated to an exoplanet called 'HD 20794 d', which was discovered in 2011.

Dr Cretignier points out that this planet has an outdated name and is actually a different planet in the same system – HD 20794 c. 

The HD 20794 star has three known planets orbiting around it – but there could potentially be more out there waiting to be found. 

The whole system is 19.7 light years away, which, although relatively close to us in the universe is 'desperately out of reach'.

'On the scale of the universe, this is our neighbourhood,' Dr Cretignier said.

'Such is the paradox of the universe – it can be observed, not visited.' 

NASA CONFIRMS THERE ARE MORE THAN 5,000 PLANETS BEYOND OUR SOLAR SYSTEM 

NASA has confirmed that there are more than 5,000 known planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. 

As of January 28, 2025, there are 5,830 confirmed exoplanets, according to NASA's online exoplanet archive.

The total reached a milestone of 5,800 in early 2022. 

Exoplanets found so far include small, rocky worlds like Earth, gas giants many times larger than Jupiter, and 'hot Jupiters' in scorchingly close orbits around their stars.  

The more than 5,000 exoplanets confirmed in our galaxy so far include a variety of types - among them a mysterious variety known as 'super-Earths' because they are larger than our world and possibly rocky

However, NASA stresses that only 'a tiny fraction' of all the planets in the Milky Way galaxy alone have been found.   

The majority of exoplanets are gaseous, like Jupiter or Neptune, rather than terrestrial, according to NASA's online database.     

Most exoplanets are found by measuring the dimming of a star that happens to have a planet pass in front of it, called the transit method. 

Another way to detect exoplanets, called the Doppler method, measures the 'wobbling' of stars due to the gravitational pull of orbiting planets.  

5,000 Exoplanets: Listen to the Sounds of Discovery (NASA Data Sonification)

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

Chinese researchers just built an open-source rival to ChatGPT in 2 months. Silicon Valley is freaked out.

For large language models, these data are text. For instance, OpenAI's GPT-3.5, which was released in 2023, was trained on roughly 570GB of text data from the repository Common Crawl — which amounts to roughly 300 billion words — taken from books, online articles, Wikipedia and other webpages.

Reasoning models, such as R1 and o1, are an upgraded version of standard LLMs that use a method called "chain of thought" to backtrack and reevaluate their logic, which enables them to tackle more complex tasks with greater accuracy.

This has made reasoning models popular among scientists and engineers who are looking to integrate AI into their work.

But unlike ChatGPT's o1, DeepSeek is an "open-weight" model that (although its training data remains proprietary) enables users to peer inside and modify its algorithm. Just as important is its reduced price for users — 27 times less than o1.

Besides its performance, the hype around DeepSeek comes from its cost efficiency; the model's shoestring budget is minuscule compared with the tens of millions to hundreds of millions that rival companies spend to train its competitors.

In addition, U.S. export controls, which limit Chinese companies' access to the best AI computing chips, forced R1's developers to build smarter, more energy-efficient algorithms to compensate for their lack of computing power. ChatGPT reportedly needed 10,000 Nvidia GPUs to process its training data, DeepSeek engineers say they achieved similar results with just over 2,000.

How much this will translate into useful scientific and technical applications, or whether DeepSeek has simply trained its model to ace benchmark tests, remains to be seen. Scientists and AI investors are watching closely.

{ https://www.livescience.com/ }

Het Tunguska-incident van 1908 in Siberië

Inleiding

Het Tunguska-incident, dat plaatsvond op 30 juni 1908 in Siberië, is een van de meest intrigerende en mysterieuze gebeurtenissen van de 20e eeuw. Het incident wordt vaak aangeduid als een van de grootste explosies in de recente geschiedenis en heeft geleid tot talrijke speculaties en onderzoeken. In deze analyse zullen we de achtergrond van het Tunguska-incident onderzoeken, de wetenschappelijke verklaringen, de impact op de regio en de bredere implicaties voor de wetenschappelijke gemeenschap en de samenleving.

Achtergrond van het Tunguska-incident

Geografische Context

Het Tunguska-incident vond plaats in een afgelegen gebied van het Siberische taiga, nabij de rivier de Tunguska. Deze regio is gekenmerkt door dichte bossen, een koud klimaat en een schaarse bevolking. De dichtstbijzijnde nederzetting was het dorp Vanavara, op ongeveer 60 kilometer afstand van de explosie.

Historische Context

In de vroege 20e eeuw was Siberië een praktisch onontgonnen gebied voor de meeste westerse wetenschappers. De Russische overheid had echter belangstelling voor de natuurlijke hulpbronnen van het gebied. Het Tunguska-incident vond plaats in een tijd waarin de wetenschap en technologie snel ontwikkelden, en er was een groeiende interesse in de studie van meteorieten en andere kosmische fenomenen.

De Explosie

Beschrijving van de Gebeurtenissen

Op de ochtend van 30 juni 1908, rond 7:17 lokale tijd, werd een enorme explosie waargenomen in de lucht boven het Tunguska-gebied. De explosie veroorzaakte een schokgolf die bomen omverblies over een gebied van ongeveer 2.000 vierkante kilometer. Het wordt geschat dat de kracht van de explosie gelijk was aan die van 10-15 megaton TNT. De explosie was zo krachtig dat het zelfs voelde als een aardbeving en werd geregistreerd door seismografen in Europa.

Getuigenverklaringen

De meeste getuigen van de explosie waren inheemse Evenki-jagers en Russische kolonisten. Hun beschrijvingen variëren, maar veel getuigen meldden een fel licht en een enorme hitte die hen deed rennen voor hun leven. Sommige getuigen dachten dat het een soort goddelijke straf was, terwijl anderen geloofden dat het een oorlog of een aanval van buitenstaanders was.

Picture from the Leonid Kulik expedition in 1927, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Wetenschappelijke Verklaringen

Tot op vandaag wordt de theorie van een meteorietexplosie aangevoerd om het incident te verklaren. De meteoriet zou ongeveer 6 à 10 kilometers boven het aardoppervlak geïmplodeerd zijn.

Meteoriet- of Cometimpact

De meest gangbare verklaring voor het Tunguska-incident is dat het werd veroorzaakt door de luchtontploffing van een meteoriet of een komet. Wetenschappers geloven dat een object met een diameter van ongeveer 50-60 meter de aarde binnendrong en explodeerde op een hoogte van 5 tot 10 kilometer boven de grond. Dit zou verklaren waarom er geen crater is gevonden, maar er wel aanzienlijke schade aan de flora en fauna is toegebracht.

Alternatieve Theorieën

Naast de meteoriet- of cometheorie zijn er verschillende alternatieve verklaringen voorgesteld, waaronder:

1. Nucleaire Explosie: Sommige onderzoekers speculeerden dat de explosie het gevolg was van een experiment met nucleaire wapens, hoewel dit onwaarschijnlijk is gezien de technologie van die tijd.

2. Vulkanische Activiteit: Er zijn ook suggesties gedaan dat de explosie verband hield met vulkanische activiteit, maar er zijn geen bewijsstukken die deze theorie ondersteunen.

3. Zwarte Gaten of Antimaterie: Een meer exotische theorie is dat de explosie het gevolg was van een klein zwart gat of een explosie van antimaterie, maar deze ideeën zijn niet breed geaccepteerd in de wetenschappelijke gemeenschap.

Impact op de Regio

Ecologische Gevolgen

De explosie had een significante impact op het lokale ecosysteem. Schade aan de vegetatie was op grote schaal zichtbaar, met duizenden bomen die omvielen en de grond bedekten. De natuur herstelde zich echter relatief snel, en na enkele jaren begon het bos zich weer te ontwikkelen.

Sociaal-Economische Impact

Voor de inheemse bevolking had het Tunguska-incident een grote impact op hun levensstijl en cultuur. De schokgolf en de daaropvolgende veranderingen in het milieu beïnvloedden hun jacht- en verzamelpraktijken. Naarmate het gebied meer werd onderzocht, begon de Russische overheid meer belangstelling te tonen voor de regio, wat leidde tot veranderingen in de demografie en economie.

Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek

De plaats van het onheil werd slechts in 1921 bezocht door een wetenschapper namelijk de mineraloog Leonid Kulik in opdracht van de Russische Wetenschappelijke Academie. Nadat hij verschillende getuigenissen had gehoord besloot hij dat dit incident te wijten moest zijn aan de inslag van een reusachtige meteoor. Zes jaar later kon hij de Russische regering overtuigen om een nieuwe expeditie te sturen op zoek naar meteorologische ertsen.

Eerste Expedities

De eerste wetenschappelijke expedities naar het Tunguska-gebied werden uitgevoerd in 1927, bijna twintig jaar na de explosie. Een team onder leiding van de Russische geoloog Leonid Kulik onderzocht het gebied en verzamelde gegevens over de effecten van de explosie. Ze ontdekten dat de bomen in een stralenpatroon waren omgevallen en ondervonden dat er geen impactcrater was.

Verdere Studies

Sinds de eerste expedities zijn er talloze studies uitgevoerd naar het Tunguska-incident. Wetenschappers hebben monsters van de bodem en de vegetatie verzameld en hebben gekeken naar de chemische samenstelling van materialen in het gebied. Deze studies hebben bijgedragen aan ons begrip van de explosie en de effecten ervan op het milieu.

Culturele Impact

Mythes en Legenden

Het Tunguska-incident heeft geleid tot een aantal mythes en legenden, zowel in de regio als wereldwijd. Inheemse bevolkingsgroepen vertelden verhalen over de explosie die door hun voorouders als een goddelijke gebeurtenis werd gezien. In de westerse cultuur ontstonden er speculaties over buitenaardse wezens en geheime experimenten.

Populaire Cultuur

Het Tunguska-incident heeft ook zijn weg gevonden naar de populaire cultuur, met verwijzingen in boeken, films en documentaires. Het incident wordt vaak gebruikt als inspiratie voor verhalen over UFO's, apocalyptische gebeurtenissen en mysterieuze fenomenen.

Conclusie

Het Tunguska-incident van 1908 blijft een fascinerend onderwerp voor wetenschappers en het grote publiek. De explosie heeft niet alleen een significante impact gehad op de regio, maar heeft ook geleid tot belangrijke wetenschappelijke ontdekkingen en discussies. Hoewel de meeste wetenschappers het erover eens zijn dat de explosie werd veroorzaakt door een meteoriet of komet, blijven er vragen over de exacte aard van het fenomeen.

Dit incident benadrukt ook de noodzaak van verder onderzoek naar de impact van kosmische gebeurtenissen op onze planeet. Het Tunguska-incident herinnert ons eraan hoe kwetsbaar de aarde is voor de krachten van het universum en hoe belangrijk het is om voorbereid te zijn op mogelijke toekomstige gebeurtenissen. De combinatie van wetenschappelijk onderzoek, culturele impact en ecologische veranderingen maakt het Tunguska-incident tot een onmiskenbaar belangrijk hoofdstuk in de geschiedenis van de aarde.

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Ex-DARPA Manager Claims Encounter with 7-Foot Humanoid Who Told him Human Body Is A Machine Designed To House Soul For Lifetime

He has a second master’s degree and a doctorate in cognitive psychology. He’s an open-minded cognitive scientist who has also served as a visiting professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy, as well as a consultant for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, NASA, and other agencies.

Throughout his military career, Dr. Blitch served in special operations and hostage rescue missions. After retiring from DARPA in 2002, he founded Blitz Solutions Inc. and established two non-profit organizations: CRASAR, responsible for the first robot-assisted humanitarian response after the September 11, 2001 attacks, and ARACAR, which provided support during the Hurricane Katrina response in 2005.

In an exclusive interview with journalist Ross Coulthart Blitch stated that he believes in the claims made by UFO whistleblower Jake Barber.

“I believe I was visited by Non-human Entities”

Dr. John Blitch recounted several traumatic experiences, both from childhood and later in life, that he believes are connected to encounters with non-human entities. He explained how these incidents left him paralyzed with terror, distinctly different from fear, and how they remain unforgettable due to their emotional intensity.

Dr. Blitch described seeing beings through his bedroom window as a child, staring at him with large dark eyes. These encounters were so frightening that he became paralyzed, unable to scream until the paralysis lifted. He shared that he would eventually scream, prompting his parents to come running and attempt to calm him down.

Despite his father’s assurances that monsters and aliens didn’t exist, Dr. Blitch found their explanations unconvincing. He likened his father’s reassurances to what he perceives as the government’s approach to downplaying the existence of such phenomena.

He acknowledged that, as a child, he tried to dismiss these events as dreams, influenced by his skeptical nature. However, in retrospect, he now believes these were real encounters with non-human intelligences.

Dr. Blitch highlighted the importance of emotion in distinguishing belief from knowledge, stating that while many childhood memories require belief due to lack of proof, his later experiences provide what he considers irrefutable evidence. He firmly stated that he knows he was visited by non-human entities, based on both his childhood and three key incidents as an adult.

His professional background in neuroscience and psychology added depth to his account, as he discussed the physiological responses to terror, such as paralysis and the “chicken skin” reaction. These experiences, he emphasized, went beyond simple fear, leaving a profound impact on him.

Physical Evidence!

Dr. John Blitch recounted waking up after a terrifying night to discover three dark bruises on the inside of his right bicep and another bruise higher up on his arm. The pattern of the bruises suggested a grasp by a three- or four-fingered hand, something he could not logically explain.

He emphasized that he repeatedly tried to determine how he might have caused the injuries but found no plausible explanation. Adding to the strangeness, he noted his uncharacteristic reaction upon waking: he immediately went downstairs to retrieve a video camera to document the bruises.

This behavior was highly unusual for him, as he typically had no inclination to record himself or take photos of his body. He suggested that this anomalous behavior, along with the unexplained bruises, strongly supported the idea of non-human engagement.

Abduction!

That experience leads me to believe that, yes, absolutely, because I clearly didn’t want to go. If something, somebody, or a non-human entity—I think it was a biological robot—wanted me to go somewhere I didn’t want to go, then technically, that is the definition of an abduction.

From my perspective, two species are visiting us, and I feel, like many other abductees, like a lab rat—that we are being prodded, poked, and experimented on as part of scientific discovery.

~Dr. John Blitch

Dr. John Blitch confirmed having held a Top Secret SCI clearance, particularly as a nuclear weapons delivery officer, which required an exceptional level of trust and stability.

He served as a Pershing II missile battery commander, responsible for nuclear missile operations, including leading troops in multiple command roles.

Despite his verified stability and military role, Dr. Blitch openly admitted to having encounters with non-human beings. He mentioned that he was not alone—at least four other peer-qualified military personnel with similar credentials had publicly shared their abduction experiences.

Dr. Blitch brought up notable figures like Terry Lovelace, Mario Woods, Jeff Goodrich, and Bob Jacobs, alongside Robert Hastings, who investigated such incidents. He argued that individuals like Terry Lovelace, who held high-security military roles and later achieved respected civilian positions, provide significant credibility to their claims.

He challenged Congress and skeptics to question the reliability of individuals like Lovelace if they doubt these accounts.

Dr. John Blitch firmly believes that such events are not dreams, emphasizing his inability to dismiss physical evidence like bruises on his body and the accounts of his family, who reported he was missing for about five hours following a supposedly one-hour bike ride.

He goes on to recount an intense, haunting incident that began after a traumatic experience in Oklahoma City, where he witnessed a severe amputation. To cope with the emotional toll, he began taking mountain bike rides to meditate, particularly to a remote area called Daniel’s Park in Denver. One day during his ride, while p assing a fenced area with a sign saying “Indian Burial Grounds,” Dr. Blitch felt an inexplicable urge to trespass. After an internal struggle about respecting the land, he climbed over the fence and started walking his bike through the area. As he ventured farther, he noticed blood on his hand, a bizarre and unexpected bloody nose that seemed unrelated to physical exertion.

He collapsed, later experiencing intense cold and disorientation. Upon regaining his senses, he found himself inexplicably drawn toward a light on a plateau, though he couldn’t explain why. Approaching the light, he observed what he believed was a fuel truck, though his memory was foggy. Strangely, when he attempted to interact with the truck, he felt fear and avoided further engagement.

The odd events continued as he frantically biked home but soon found himself disoriented, arriving hours later than expected. At a nearby 7-Eleven, while extremely dehydrated, he heard his name broadcasted over a police radio. The officer informed him that his wife had filed a missing persons report after his long absence. This was especially troubling because, according to his recollections, the bike ride, which should have taken a couple of hours, had inexplicably stretched out much longer. He felt exhausted as though he had run a marathon but couldn’t make sense of the lost time. The entire event, punctuated with physical and emotional disarray, only added to his growing certainty that extraterrestrial beings had involved themselves in his life.

Dr. John Blitch discussed his struggle with understanding experiences that challenge reality, particularly those involving altered perceptions. He questioned how one could determine the true nature—benevolent or malevolent—of something capable of manipulating perceptions.

He recounted an experience where he froze in fear upon seeing the cover of Whitley Strieber’s book Communion, which features the image of a gray alien. While walking through a Barnes & Noble with his youngest daughter, he glanced at the cover and was immediately overwhelmed by terror, feeling a deep, physiological response. His daughter, noticing he was paralyzed, tugged on his hand, breaking the spell. Despite his terror, he later purchased the book, immediately tore off the cover, and threw it away.

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• Tucker Carlson Says ‘There Are Forces That Are Not Human, Existing in a Spiritual Realm We Cannot See’
• This Man Claims Ex-Military Officer Worked At Area 51 Reveals UFOs Run on Space-Harnessed Electricity, Creating a “Void” for Travel
• This New UFO Whistleblower Blowing The Lid Off Everything Says He Saw An “Egg-Shaped UAP” With No Visible Propulsion System

Blitch linked this fear to memories from his childhood, particularly of seeing similar alien faces looking at him through a window. These experiences left lasting psychological effects, such as obsessive-compulsive behaviors, including repeatedly checking and locking doors and drapes at night. He highlighted how these incidents created a deep sense of unease that he could not shake, reinforcing the profound and unsettling impact they had on him.

Dr. John Blitch addresses the perception of malevolence in his abduction experiences compared to others interviewed on similar topics.

He acknowledges that while these beings tamper with memories, there may be a benevolent intent behind it. He explains that they bring abductees back safely to their original location, such as his return to his bedroom or being placed near his bike after one incident. He compares the memory tampering to methods humans already use in anesthesia, where specific drugs can erase memory around traumatic events. He believes these beings might employ directed energy tuned to the brain’s hippocampal and memory networks to achieve similar results, potentially out of consideration for the psychological trauma abductees might experience.

To illustrate the concept, Dr. Blitch draws a comparison to how he used to take his Labrador Retriever to the vet every three months. Despite the dog’s resistance and physical discomfort from being dragged into the clinic, Dr. Blitch insists it was for the dog’s benefit. He implies that the beings’ actions, even when uncomfortable or invasive, may similarly have a greater purpose rooted in assistance or improvement rather than harm.

Meeting Alien Abductor!

Dr. Blitch described encountering a tall, seven-foot creature resembling a praying mantis, which conveyed a strong male presence and seemed upset, even chastising him. This event occurred in his bedroom on the third floor of a split-level house, where the being entered through a sliding screen door that opened onto a deck with no stairs. Despite his terror and paralysis, Dr. Blitch noted the entity’s direct and intent focus as it telepathically communicated with him.

The being explained that the human body is merely a “soul housing group” or a machine designed to house the soul for a lifetime. It claimed that while they might manipulate, adjust, or even replace parts of the body, they could not take the soul or consciousness. Frustrated by his resistance, the being likened the situation to a surgeon or veterinarian needing cooperation from a reluctant subject. It urged him to stop resisting so they could proceed with their work.

To prove its message, the entity projected a terrifying image. It revealed its mandibles and simulated the sensation of ripping chunks from Dr. Blitch’s cheek, causing blood to spatter in his perception. Though he felt the physical tugging and saw the blood, he later realized it was a false memory—an intentionally planted, vivid visual meant to communicate their power over his body without any actual harm.

Dr. Blitch also addressed secrecy surrounding these encounters. He expressed admiration for those who have concealed the reality of non-human intelligence, comparing their actions to keeping the Manhattan Project secret during World War II. He believes many did so for the greater good, protecting society from truths they deemed destabilizing. He acknowledged the existence of crashes, deceased non-human intelligences—some of which he classified as sentient beings, like the “grasshopper” entity, while others, like the “little gray” creatures, were described as biological robots. He suggested that these revelations present such significant challenges that they were withheld because society might not be ready to comprehend or handle the implications.

{ https://howandwhys.com/ }

Ingenuity Measured Windspeeds on Mars During its Flights

One of my gripes with ‘The Martian’ movie was the depiction of the winds on Mars. The lower air density means that the sort of high speed winds we might experience on Earth carry far less of an impact on Mars. During its 72 flights in the Martian air, NASA’s ingenuity helicopter took meticulous records of the conditions. A new paper has been released and reports upon the wind speeds on the red planet at various altitudes. Previous models suggested wind speeds would not exceed 15 m/s but Ingeniuty saw speeds as high as 25 m/s.

Of all the planets in our Solar System, Mars is perhaps the most similar to Earth, similar but with stark differences. The weather on Mars is harsh and extreme, characterised by cold temperatures, a rarefied atmosphere and dust storms. The average temperature is around -60°C but it can reach a toasty 20°C in summer near the equator. It’s atmosphere is composed mostly of carbon dioxide and is about 100 times thinner than Earth’s so it offers little insulation or protection from solar radiation. On occasion, the winds on Mars whip up global dust storms that obscures the planet’s surface from view. 

Mars seen before, left, and during, right, a global dust storm in 2001. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS

Our model of the Martian atmosphere was believed to be fairly accurate, that is until Ingenuity arrived and completed more than 70 successful flights. As part of the Mars 2020 mission and the first aerial vehicle to successfully complete powered flight on another world, Ingenuity revealed some surprising conditions. Surprisingly too perhaps, the first attempt at powered flight was supposed to be a technology demonstration but instead, it provided high resolution images to help direct the ground based rover and collected data from the atmosphere and became a key part of Mars 2020. 

One of the outcomes from Ingenuity’s flights was a better understanding of Martian winds. In a paper written by Brian Jackson and team in the Planetary Society Journal, the team explained their rather ingenious approach. Knowing that the payload was severely limited on board, the decision was taken to use Ingenuity itself to confirm windspeeds. Previous studies had shown that the tilt of a stably hovering drone can be used to calculate speeds. Drones produce forward thrust by tilting in the direction they need to move, if they are stable and in a hover yet the wind is blowing, the drone will drift. Instead and to counteract the drift, the drone tilts flying into wind to maintain position relative to the ground, tilting more in a stronger headwind. 

Measuring the tilt is relatively straightforward thanks to a collection of engineering sensors, cameras and accelerometers. With all of the information gathered by these onboard pieces of equipment and returned to Earth, the analysis and calculation of the drone at different altitudes has enabled the wind speeds to be accurately calculated.

The results were a surprise, showing that the winds on Mars were generally higher than anticipated. Speeds were measured at altitudes from 3 to 24 metres and were found to be blowing at anything up to 25 m/s. This perhaps is a result of Ingenuity’s unique capability of being able to measure speeds at different altitudes over a period of time. Previous measurements have been achieved from probes as they have descent through the atmosphere or from probes on the ground. Taking the success of Ingenuity forward, mission specialists working upon the Dragonfly rotorcraft that will be visiting Titan hope to be able to replicate the results and gain a better understanding of its wind profile too. 

Source : 

• Profiling Near-surface Winds on Mars Using Attitude Data from Mars 2020 Ingenuity

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

 Terrifying study predicts exactly how many people will DIE from climate change by 2099

• READ MORE: Earth is 'off-track' to limit global warming to 1.5°C, scientists warn

By JONATHAN CHADWICK FOR MAILONLINE 

A terrifying new study has predicted just how many people in Europe will die from climate change by the end of the century. 

In total, 5.8 million Europeans will be killed by excess heat between 2015 and 2099, scientists at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine predict. 

However, the experts warn that their study doesn't include the effects of catastrophic weather events caused by climate change, such as wildfires and tropical storms – so the actual total will be even higher. 

While the team admit that rising temperatures will stop people dying of the cold, overall, the rise in heat deaths will outweigh fewer cold deaths. 

Barcelona will see the highest temperature-related death toll by the end of the century, they say, followed by Rome, Napes and Madrid. 

'Our results stress the urgent need to aggressively pursue both climate change mitigation and adaptation to increased heat,' said lead author Dr Pierre Masselot. 

'This is especially critical in the Mediterranean area where, if nothing is done, consequences could be dire. 

'By following a more sustainable pathway, we could avoid millions of deaths before the end of the century.' 

A terrifying new study reveals how many people in Europe will die from climate change by the end of the century (file photo)

According to the researchers, some people think that rising temperatures due to global warming will mean fewer people will die of the cold. 

This has created the assumption that climate change is 'beneficial' in that it will result in a 'net decrease' in temperature-related deaths.

In other words, the theory agrees that a certain number of people will die of heat, but a greater number of people who would otherwise have died of the cold will be saved. 

However, the new study shows that this theory – which is often cited in opposition to 'vital mitigation policies' – is not true, at least in Europe. 

'The increase in heat-related deaths consistently exceeds any decrease in cold-related deaths across all considered scenarios,' the experts say in their paper, published in Nature Medicine. 

For the new study, Dr Masselot and colleagues analysed temperature and mortality data to predict future temperature-related deaths in 854 European cities between 2015 and 2099. 

For each city, the researchers worked out a 'net' figure – the amount of deaths caused by heat minus deaths 'saved' from the cold.  

Under a scenario where there's high greenhouse gas emissions (where CO2 emissions double by 2100) and no adaption to heat there will be a total of 5,825,746 excess deaths in Europe due to heat, they found. 

Heat-related deaths include heat stress and severe dehydration, while cold-related deaths include hypothermia and frostbite. Pictured, heat in Rome in July 2023

The researchers say: 't. Questions remain as to whether climate change can result in a net decrease in temperature-related mortality'. Pictured, heatwave in Warsaw, Poland August 17, 2024

Top 10 European cities to see the highest temperature-related death tolls by 2099

1. Barcelona (Spain) - 246,082
2. Rome (Italy) - 147,738
3. Naples (Italy) - 147,248 
4. Madrid (Spain) - 129,716
5. Milan (Italy) - 110,131 
6. Athens (Greece) - 87,523 
7. Valencia (Spain) - 67,519 
8. Marseille (France) - 51,306 
9. Bucharest (Romania) - 47,468
10. Genoa (Italy) - 36,338 

Note: Figures are 'net' increase - so the amount of deaths caused by heat minus deaths 'saved' from the cold 

However, 3,480,336 deaths due to the cold will be avoided, giving an overall 'net' mortality rate in Europe by 2099 of 2,345,410. 

Researchers say the most vulnerable areas of Europe to heat deaths will be further south – namely the Mediterranean region and the Balkans. 

The European city with the highest temperature-related death toll by the end of the century will be Barcelona – at 246,082.

Next will be Rome with 147,738, followed by Naples (147,248), Madrid (129,716), Milan (110,131) and Athens (87,523).

On the other hand, most cities in the British Isles and Scandinavian countries, such as London, Copenhagen and Stockholm will see a 'net decrease' in deaths – meaning more people will be 'saved' from the cold than those killed by the heat. 

For example, in London 75,864 people will be killed by the heat but 103,320 will be saved from the cold – an overall net decrease of -27,455. 

'London and the UK generally tends to have high vulnerability to cold, and also a lower exposure to heat,' Dr Pierre Masselot told MailOnline. 

'In our model, this translates by a slight decrease of deaths in future climate.' 

These graphs plot net changes in temperature-related excess death rates from 2015 to 2099 under no adaptation to heat for three SSP scenarios across 854 cities

The new study focuses on daily mean temperature and does not account for specific weather events that could modify the estimated death toll - such as extreme nighttime temperatures and humidity conditions

However, with no adaptation to heat, the increase in heat-related deaths consistently exceeds any decrease in cold-related deaths across Europe, the study found. 

Read More

• The cities that will be 'submerged by global warming' 

Overall, the study shows that even when taking cold-related deaths into account, 2.3 million Europeans will perish due to the heat by 2099. 

It also focuses on daily mean temperature and does not account for specific weather events that could modify the estimated death toll. 

So the total number of European climate change deaths would likely be bigger once it includes events such as climate induced flooding and wildfires. 

It's worth noting the study does not look at the global picture, only Europe.  

'Our study, based on a comprehensive assessment of 854 European cities, provides clear evidence that net mortality will increase even under the mildest climate change scenario,' the team conclude in their paper. 

'This demonstrates the potential health benefits linked with the implementation of stringent mitigation strategies to strongly reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as adaptation strategies aimed at the most vulnerable countries and population groups.' 

Carbon emissions and the greenhouse effect: A primer 

The greenhouse effect is the reason our planet is getting too hot to live on. 

CO2 released by human activity is accumulating as an 'insulating blanket' around the Earth, trapping more of the sun's heat in our atmosphere.  

Without the natural greenhouse effect, heat would pass outwards from the Earth’s surface into space - making it too cold to live. But emissions of gases such as CO2 and methane push the greenhouse effect too far - acting as a blanket that traps heat

CO2 - and other greenhouse gases - are emitted by actions such as burning fossil fuels like coal for energy, burning forests to make way for livestock and 

Fertilisers containing nitrogen produce nitrous oxide emissions - another greenhouse gas.

Meanwhile, fluorinated gases are emitted from equipment and products that use these gases. 

Such emissions have a very strong warming effect, up to 23,000 times greater than CO2.

Sources: European Commission/BGS/NASA 

{  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

'We are creating the fire equivalent of an ice age': Humans have plunged Earth into the 'Pyrocene'

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• LA wildfires: How can wildfire smoke affect your health

Fire as organizing principle

Humanity and fire have been reforging the Earth since the end of the last glaciation, about 11,500 years ago. Generally, these changes have made landscapes more fire-receptive.

The scale is significant. Recent studies speculate that massive depopulation, especially in the Americas, which removed the torch and allowed forests to reclaim land and so sequester atmospheric carbon, may have even helped nudge the planet into the Little Ice Age from the mid-16th to mid-19th centuries.

Still, there were limits. Fire and life had coevolved across 420 million years, and ecological checks and balances limited how far humans could push and pull fire within the constraints of terrestrial landscapes.

The process unquestionably quickened and changed character with the wholesale burning of fossil fuels, or what we might term lithic landscapes. This combustion lies outside the old boundaries: It can burn anytime, anywhere, and its effluent isn't easily absorbed into the old ecology. By warming the atmosphere, it is a leading cause of climate change, which in turn is generally enhancing conditions for wildfires.

Equally important, the transition to a fossil-fuel civilization has affected how people live on the land, how they design cities and peri-urban communities, how they shape living landscapes with agriculture and nature preserves, how they generate and transmit energy, and what kind of fire practices they adopt.

Petrochemicals from fossil biomass replace, or try to substitute for, fire's ecological effects. Energy from fossil fuels displaces the heat, light and power of flame. Instead of challenging wildfire with tamed fire, modern societies fight landscape fire with the counterforce of industrial fire in the form of pumps, engines, bulldozers and aircraft.

This "pyric transition" in types of combustion forces the two different kinds of burning — fires in living landscapes and fires that burn lithic landscapes — to interact in ways that sometimes compete and sometimes collude. Like the power lines that have sparked so many disastrous wildfires, the two realms of fire are crossing, often with lethal consequences.

The prospect for worsening fires because of changing land use and fire practices was apparent before climate change became a serious consideration in the 1990s. U.S. land agencies recognized the ill consequences of removing fire and reformed policies to reinstate good fire over 50 years ago. Unfortunately, bad fire continues to outpace good fire.

As the world burns

No single factor drives fire: It synthesizes its surroundings. It's like a driverless car that barrels down the road, integrating whatever is around it.

Sometimes it confronts a sharp curve called climate change. Sometimes it's a tricky intersection where townscape and countryside meet. Sometimes it's road hazards left from past accidents, such as logging slash, invasive grasses or postburn environments.

Climate change acts as a performance enhancer, and understandably, it claims most of the attention because it's global and its reach extends beyond flames. But the argument over whether climate or land use is more critical is misguided: They both derive, independently, from the conversion to a fossil-fuel society. Megafires, it seems, feed on modernity as hurricanes feed on warm oceans.

In the U.S., the pyric transition sparked a wave of monster fires that rode the rails of settlement — fires an order of magnitude larger and more lethal than those of recent decades. Land clearing and logging slash fed serial conflagrations, which blew up in the late 19th and early 20th centuries — the waning decades of the Little Ice Age.

This havoc inspired the federal government to intervene to end the environmental wreckage, spare watersheds and shield communities, all under the aegis of conservation, which became a global project. Fire control was regarded as foundational; suppressing fires became an index of success. Led by foresters, the belief spread that fire on landscapes could be replaced, as was happening in cities, or caged, as it was in furnaces and dynamos.

With natural fire and traditional burning removed from the landscape, the population of fires fell to the point where flames could no longer do the ecological work required. Instead of reducing risk, landscapes became prone to more explosive burning as fuels accumulated on them over decades.

Now, too much fossil biomass is burned to be absorbed within ancient ecological bounds. Fuels in the living landscape pile up and rearrange themselves. The climate is unhinged. When flame returns, as it must, it too often comes as wildfire.

Welcome to the Pyrocene

Widen the aperture a bit, and we can envision Earth entering a fire age comparable to the ice ages of the Pleistocene, complete with the pyric equivalent of ice sheets, pluvial lakes, periglacial outwash plains, mass extinctions and sea-level changes. It's an epoch in which fire is both prime mover and principal expression.

Humanity's firepower underpins the Anthropocene, which is the outcome not just of anthropogenic meddling but of a particular kind of meddling, made possible by humans' species monopoly over fire. Even climate history has become a subset of fire history.

Fires in living landscapes, fires burning lithic landscapes — the interaction of these two realms of fire has not been much studied. It's been enough of a stretch to fully include human fire practices within traditional ecology. Yet humans — the keystone species for fire on Earth — are merging the two arenas of earthly burning with a give and take that is reshaping the planet in what resembles a slow-motion Ragnarok.

Add up all the effects, direct and indirect: the ice driven off by fire, the areas burning, the biogeographical migrations as biotas move to accommodate changed conditions, the collateral impacts with damaged watersheds and airsheds, the unraveling of ecosystems, the pervasive power of climate change, rising sea levels, a mass extinction, the disruption of human life and habitats. The result is a pyrogeography that looks eerily like an ice age for fire. You have a maturing Pyrocene.

If you doubt it, just ask California.

• This edited article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

{ https://www.livescience.com/ }

EXCLUSIVE: Sighting of hovering black triangular 'UFO' is DEBUNKED as simply flares slowly descending over California military base in 2021

• A black triangular shaped UFO with five red lights was seen hovering in the night sky at Camp Wilson in California on April 20, 2021 
• DailyMail.com can reveal the 'UFO sighting' has been debunked and the lights were simply flares 
• Smoke trails above the five lights indicate they were flares, and long exposure effects suggest they were not hovering but slowly descending, as flares do

By JOSH BOSWELL FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Videos of a 2021 incident some marines believed to be a triangular UFO hovering over their California base, have been debunked as simply flares.

UFO researcher John Greenewald Jr. obtained dozens of photos, video and documents from the Pentagon last week which appear to explain the lights filmed on April 20, 2021 at Camp Wilson near Twentynine Palms, California, mistaken for a triangular 'craft'.

In May, documentarian Jeremy Corbell and journalist George Knapp shared with DailyMail.com three photos and five videos from the 2021 incident, showing five lights appearing to hover in the sky.

One of the photos appeared to show a solid triangular shape around the lights, and two marines who witnessed the incident said they believed it was a craft.

Corbell and Knapp said they had investigated the incident for two years.

But videos and photos obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) this month by Greenewald – an expert in such requests – show smoke trails above the five lights indicating they were flares, and long exposure effects suggesting they were not hovering but slowly descending, as flares do.

A black triangular shaped UFO with five red lights was seen hovering in the night sky at Camp Wilson in California on April 20, 2021

DailyMail.com can reveal the 'UFO sighting' has been debunked and the lights were simply flares

Veteran debunker Mick West, who often appears on UFO shows voicing a skeptical view on alleged exotic incidents, managed to match with precision the alleged UFO lights to a confirmed video of flares shot during a training exercise that evening on the military base.

UFO researcher John Greenewald Jr. obtained dozens of photos, video and documents from the Pentagon last week which appear to explain the lights filmed on April 20, 2021 

In a video posted on YouTube, West explained the triangular shape around the lights in one of Corbell and Knapp's photos as 'just the color bleed, which you can see around other objects in the scene.'

Flares often stay lit for between four and seven minutes, and the parachutes they hang beneath can descend slowly enough that they appear from a distance to hover.

'The five lights start out in a nice formation that evokes a triangle, but they quickly separate into more random positions like flares do,' West said in his video.

'John found footage of five flares that looks very similar, I realized this looked like it was taken from the other side. So I flipped it and overlaid it, and it's a near perfect match.'

A mortarman who filmed some of the footage while serving at Camp Wilson spoke with Corbell days afterwards in 2021.

In a recorded interview, he said the lights stuck around for about 10 minutes and left him and his comrades 'baffled'.

'One of my buddies was outside. He was looking at the sky and said that it just kind of appeared out of nowhere,' he said. 'And we all came out and looked and then slowly like 50-plus people started coming out and looking. Those lights appeared out of nowhere.

'If you look at the picture, you can see a black triangular shape.

'With the picture I took with the black triangular shape underneath the lights, it's definitely not any type of flare thing or illumination rounds.'

In May, documentarian Jeremy Corbell and journalist George Knapp (pictured together) shared with DailyMail.com three photos and five videos from the 2021 incident, showing five lights appearing to hover in the sky

However, military press releases show there was a large training exercise with many flares, aircraft flyovers and drones in the sky on the night of April 20 2021.

The 'Night Air Assault' was conducted by '2nd Marine Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, and aircraft attached to Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1' according to a post published by the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) that day.

The matching footage of the flares, where a smoke trail is visible, was published in a compilation of background night vision video by DVIDS, and first unearthed by Greenewald.

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Veteran debunker Mick West, who often appears on UFO shows voicing a skeptical view on alleged exotic incidents, managed to match with precision the alleged UFO lights to a confirmed video of flares shot during a training exercise that evening on the military base

The marine witnesses told Corbell that flares were fired to try to light up the alleged triangle object.

Among the 128 photos Greenewald obtained this month via FOIA is a picture of two flares in the night sky, next to five smoke trails from extinguished flares which he believes were the source of the five mysterious lights – and could explain the marines' account.

In the May 22 episode of Corbell and Knapp's podcast Weaponized, where they first revealed the footage, Corbell said: 'This was an object. The object was sitting there. I'm not going to say object anymore. It was a craft.

'This is something that was a mass sighting of a UFO, an incursion over a military base. This was a craft.'

But in an episode the following week, they backed off their claims, characterizing the publication as 'an effort to generate additional information'.

'It was like a UFO crime not to have a case completely solved,' Corbell said in the May 29 episode. 'There are some great hypotheses that people have brought forward.'

Knapp joked that they had not 'declared our belief that this is an alien spaceship from the planet Krondak', adding: 'What sold it for me, that it was interesting, was the photos taken with low light features that really do look like they substantiated triangular form.'

In a statement to DailyMail.com this week, Corbell defended the marines' testimony as coming from 'trained military observers', but conceded that 'What appears to be smoke trails illuminated seems compelling and is now a leading theory.'

'We now owe it to our brave service members to fully investigate further based on this new information and further updates can be expected,' the filmmaker said.

Greenewald, who published the FOIA video and pictures on his website The Black Vault, told DailyMail.com that Corbell and Knapp have previously released footage of genuine unidentified objects that have been authenticated by the Pentagon, but that this incident was fully explained.

'I'm confident there is something to these phenomena and I'm not afraid to call out the stuff that is over hyped or potentially even damaging to the UAP conversation,' he said.

'There is ample evidence now the lights which matched the formation of the lights on the alleged 'UAP' were indeed flares.

'I'd love to know why all that is. How have we gone from legitimate and even confirmed evidence being leaked, to this? It's a bizarre progression, and one I feel is far from fully revealed.'

Electronics expert Craig Capel tweeted pointing out that the flares in one picture are purple, a color which can be created by burning cesium or potassium, but these are not usually used for military flares, which usually burn red using strontium

Despite the convincing debunk, others still argue that the lights have a different explanation.

Electronics expert Craig Capel tweeted pointing out that the flares in one picture are purple, a color which can be created by burning cesium or potassium, but these are not usually used for military flares, which usually burn red using strontium.

However, the colors may be affected by the iPhone camera adjusting for low-light conditions, and may not be an accurate depiction of their true color in the sky.

'Given the coincidences with date and location, and the fact that these lights look and act like flares, I think we can safely say that these are the actual flares that were misidentified as a UFO,' West said in his video.

'Military personnel are human, they are subject to the same illusions that we are. Sometimes when faced with something new, they might not be able to identify it. This happens perhaps more than we might like, but it's not something we should ignore, just because it seems impolite.

'When looking at a UFO video, keep an open mind. Consider all the possibilities.'

West writes about attempting to debunk alleged UFO incidents and other claimed conspiracy theories in his book, Escaping the Rabbit Hole: How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic, and Respect, first published in 2018 and re-released in a revised copy last month.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

Mojave’s Enigma: The Unexplained Giant Triangular UFO

Regarding its dimensions, the eyewitness gauged the airborne triangle's size in relation to the mountain it eclipsed, hinting at its enormity. "No less than 75 yards or two football fields in dimension,"

by  Ivan Petricevic

 

 

{ https://curiosmos.com/ }

An image of the UFO orb. AARO

Government Data Release and Resource Concerns

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), the panel chair, addressed the initial batch of government data disclosed after pressure from the late Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.). Regarding some of the airborne events revealed, Gillibrand expressed regret over the slow and insufficient response due to the UFO stigma. Additionally, she criticized the AARO’s lack of resources and the Pentagon’s apparent disregard for the office’s leadership role, particularly in the Chinese spy balloon incident.

Kirkpatrick acknowledged the need to analyze historical records of events from the past to the present, prioritizing those with defense information crucial to national security. He admitted that answering decades of UAP-related questions would not be possible all at once, but a starting point is necessary.

In his testimony, Kirkpatrick stated that most unidentified objects reported to AARO exhibit mundane characteristics, such as balloons, unmanned aerial systems, or natural phenomena. He pointed out that humans are susceptible to deception and illusion, while sensors can experience unexpected responses, failures, or even intentional interference. When asked about advanced technologies that China and Russia might be using, he mentioned “emerging capabilities” without attributing any specific unexplained sightings to Chinese technology.

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{ https://curiosmos.com/ }

5 Key Characteristics Unique to UFOs

Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs) have captivated the curiosity of experts and enthusiasts alike for many years, showcasing behaviors that challenge our conventional understanding of physics and technology.

by Ivan Petricevic

 

The presence of these five unique observations forces us to reevaluate our understanding of UAPs. To unravel the mystery, we need more data and comprehensive research to better comprehend what we are witnessing. 

{ https://curiosmos.com/ }

Researchers Practice Searching for Life on Enceladus, in the Arctic Ocean

When searching for alien life, it’s not unusual to use Earth as a test bed for theories and even practice runs. Perhaps one of the most tantalising places in the Solar System to look for life is Saturn’s moon Enceladus. It has a liquid water interior and it is here that life may just be possible. A team of researchers want to test techniques for searching for life on Enceledaus by exploring the oceans of Earth. They have collected  water and ice samples and hope to find chemicals like methane and hydrogen. 

The search for alien life is one of that has fascinated humanity for decades. Scientists explore this vast question through various avenues, including the study of exoplanets within the habitable zones of distant stars but there is still hope that maybe, just maybe we will find life elsewhere in our own Solar System. Some of the moon’s of the outer planets offer tantalising possibilities such as Enceladus, a moon of Saturn. It’s an icy moon where, beneath the icy crust, there is the possibility of the global ocean of liquid water teeming with life.

When the Cassini-Huygens probe visited Saturn in 2004 it sampled the cryogenic plumes that had been ejected over the southern pole, Using its Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer and Cosmic Dust Analyser, research teams identified the presence of water ice, methane and other carbon based molecules. Molecular hydrogen, molecular nitrogen and other elements all of which suggest the sub-surface ocean was a salty composition with the necessary elements for primative life. However to date, no evidence has been found.