Ontdek de Fascinerende Wereld van UFO's en UAP's: Jouw Bron voor Onthullende Informatie!
Ben jij ook gefascineerd door het onbekende? Wil je meer weten over UFO's en UAP's, niet alleen in België, maar over de hele wereld? Dan ben je op de juiste plek!
België: Het Kloppend Hart van UFO-onderzoek
In België is BUFON (Belgisch UFO-Netwerk) dé autoriteit op het gebied van UFO-onderzoek. Voor betrouwbare en objectieve informatie over deze intrigerende fenomenen, bezoek je zeker onze Facebook-pagina en deze blog. Maar dat is nog niet alles! Ontdek ook het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt en Caelestia, twee organisaties die diepgaand onderzoek verrichten, al zijn ze soms kritisch of sceptisch.
Nederland: Een Schat aan Informatie
Voor onze Nederlandse buren is er de schitterende website www.ufowijzer.nl, beheerd door Paul Harmans. Deze site biedt een schat aan informatie en artikelen die je niet wilt missen!
Internationaal: MUFON - De Wereldwijde Autoriteit
Neem ook een kijkje bij MUFON (Mutual UFO Network Inc.), een gerenommeerde Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in de VS en wereldwijd. MUFON is toegewijd aan de wetenschappelijke en analytische studie van het UFO-fenomeen, en hun maandelijkse tijdschrift, The MUFON UFO-Journal, is een must-read voor elke UFO-enthousiasteling. Bezoek hun website op www.mufon.com voor meer informatie.
Samenwerking en Toekomstvisie
Sinds 1 februari 2020 is Pieter niet alleen ex-president van BUFON, maar ook de voormalige nationale directeur van MUFON in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Dit creëert een sterke samenwerking met de Franse MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP, wat ons in staat stelt om nog meer waardevolle inzichten te delen.
Let op: Nepprofielen en Nieuwe Groeperingen
Pas op voor een nieuwe groepering die zich ook BUFON noemt, maar geen enkele connectie heeft met onze gevestigde organisatie. Hoewel zij de naam geregistreerd hebben, kunnen ze het rijke verleden en de expertise van onze groep niet evenaren. We wensen hen veel succes, maar we blijven de autoriteit in UFO-onderzoek!
Blijf Op De Hoogte!
Wil jij de laatste nieuwtjes over UFO's, ruimtevaart, archeologie, en meer? Volg ons dan en duik samen met ons in de fascinerende wereld van het onbekende! Sluit je aan bij de gemeenschap van nieuwsgierige geesten die net als jij verlangen naar antwoorden en avonturen in de sterren!
Heb je vragen of wil je meer weten? Aarzel dan niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Samen ontrafelen we het mysterie van de lucht en daarbuiten.
Berichten van 1 februari 2026 tot 28 februari 2026
The next pandemic could come from an ancient underground ice cave, scientists have warned.
Researchers from the Romanian Academy have discovered a bacterial strain that has been frozen in Romania's Scarisoara Ice Cave for 5,000 years.
Carefully extracting a sample, the researchers tested it against 10 common antibiotics, including those used to treat tuberculosis, colitis, and UTIs.
Their results showed that, despite dating back five millenia, the strain is already resistant to all 10 antibiotics.
Worryingly, the researchers predict the bacteria will wreak havoc if it manages to escape the ice.
And as global temperatures continue to rise, this terrifying prospect becomes more realistic by the day.
'The Psychrobacter SC65A.3 bacterial strain isolated from Scarisoara Ice Cave, despite its ancient origin, shows resistance to multiple modern antibiotics and carries over 100 resistance–related genes,' said study author Dr Cristina Purcarea.
'If melting ice releases these microbes, these genes could spread to modern bacteria, adding to the global challenge of antibiotic resistance.'
Researchers from the Romanian Academy have discovered a bacterial strain that has been frozen in Romania's Scarisoara Ice Cave for 5,000 years
The researchers sequenced the bacteria's genome, and found 11 genes that are potentially able to kill or stop the growth of other bacteria, fungi, and viruses. In addition, they uncovered almost 600 genes with unknown functions
From the International Space Station to the acidic soil around volcanoes, bacteria have evolved to surive just about anywhere.
Worryingly, the bacteria was found to be resistant to all 10 – including trimethoprim, clindamycin, and metronidazole.
These antibiotics are routinely given to patients to treat UTIs, infections of lungs, skin, blood or the reproductive system.
'The 10 antibiotics we found resistance to are widely used in oral and injectable therapies used to treat a range of serious bacterial infections in clinical practice,' Dr Purcarea said.
The researchers then sequenced the bacteria's genome, and found 11 genes that are potentially able to kill or stop the growth of other bacteria, fungi, and viruses.
In addition, they uncovered almost 600 genes with unknown functions.
According to the experts, this suggests the superbug uses a 'yet untapped source for discovering novel biological mechanisms'.
While most pandemics have been caused by viruses, scientists have previously warned that the next one could be sparked by an antibiotic-resistant bacteria like this one.
'These ancient bacteria are essential for science and medicine, but careful handling and safety measures in the lab are essential to mitigate the risk of uncontrolled spread,' Dr Purcarea concluded.
KILLER VIRUSES COULD BE RELEASED FROM MELTING ICE IN THE ARCTIC, STUDY WARNS
Glaciers that are melting amid rising global temperatures could be the cause of the next deathly pandemic, a study said.
Scientists investigated how climate change may affect the risk of 'spillover' – a virus jumping to another species – by examining samples from Lake Hazen in the Arctic.
Lake Hazen, seen from above in this NASA image, is the largest High Arctic freshwater lake in the world
They found that the chance of a spillover event increases with the melting of glaciers, as the meltwater can transport pathogens to new hosts.
A warming climate could bring viruses in the Arctic into contact with new environments and hosts, increasing the risk of this 'viral spillover', the experts warn.
'Spillover risk increases with runoff from glacier melt, a proxy for climate change,' say the researchers in their paper, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
'Should climate change also shift species range of potential viral vectors and reservoirs northwards, the High Arctic could become fertile ground for emerging pandemics.'
Psychrobacter SC65A.3 is a 5,000-year-old cold-adapted bacte ..
The US Air Force has received its second B-21 Raider test aircraft, which arrived at Edwards Air Force Base on September 11, 2025. This addition marks a major step in the bomber’s development, enabling more advanced mission systems testing, weapons integration and sustainment planning.
The second aircraft was delivered from Northrop Grumman’s facility in Palmdale, California, to join the first B-21, which is already undergoing flight trials at Edwards.
Testing momentum increases
With two test aircraft available, the program can now expand beyond basic flight performance checks into more advanced phases of evaluation.
“With the arrival of the second B-21 Raider, our flight test campaign gains substantial momentum,” US Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said. “We can now expedite critical evaluations of mission systems and weapons capabilities, directly supporting the strategic deterrence and combat effectiveness envisioned for this aircraft.”
Air Force Chief of Staff General David Allvin added: “By having more assets in the test environment, we bring this capability to our warfighters faster, demonstrating the urgency with which we’re tackling modernization.”
In parallel with flight trials, preparations are underway at the bomber’s future operating bases. During fiscal year 2026, major construction projects will advance at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, the first base slated to receive operational B-21s, as well as at Dyess AFB in Texas and Whiteman AFB in Missouri.
Having more than one aircraft in the test program also allows maintainers to trial technical data, tools and logistics processes, ensuring that sustainment can support operational readiness once the Raider enters service.
Strategic role of the B-21 Raider
Developed by Northrop Grumman under the oversight of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, the B-21 Raider is designed to carry both conventional and nuclear payloads. It is intended to replace the B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit, serving as a cornerstone of the United States’ long-range strike and nuclear deterrence capabilities.
The program is progressing through low-rate initial production while testing continues. The addition of a second test aircraft signals growing momentum toward eventual operational capability before the end of the decade.
Antarctica is home to many mysteries, but one of the strangest is an enormous 'gravity hole' deep beneath the ice.
Gravity might feel stable and constant wherever we go, but its strength actually varies over the Earth's surface.
Antarctica has a gravity hole under its surface
Getty
Where the gravity is weaker, the ocean's surface can actually dip well below the average as water rushes towards regions with higher gravity.
Scientists have known for years that gravity is at its weakest in an area of Antarctica's Ross Sea, where sea levels dip 420 feet (130 m) below the surrounding water.
Now, a pair of researchers claim they finally know why.
The vast gravity hole, known as the Antarctic Geoid Low (AGL), is the product of incredibly slow rock movements, according to the experts.
Starting 70 million years ago – a time while dinosaurs still roamed the Earth – less–dense rock built up beneath the frozen continent and weakened the pull of gravity.
The gravity hole started small before rapidly growing in strength between 50 and 30 million years ago – creating the strange ocean dip that we see today.
Scientists have known for years that there is a mysterious 'gravity hole' in Antarctica where the sea level is 420 feet (130 m) below the surrounding water. Now, scientists think they know why
When astronauts on the International Space Station look down on Earth, it might look like a smooth blue marble.
However, in reality, our planet is shaped a bit more like a 'bumpy potato'.
This lumpy surface is due to areas of non–uniform gravity, caused by the uneven distribution of material beneath the surface.
In regions where hot rock from within the Earth's mantle rises towards the surface, the lower density of rock means that gravity is weaker.
Since the 1940s, scientists have known that these gravitational anomalies cause deep depressions across large areas of the ocean.
However, figuring out how and why these gravitational anomalies form hundreds of miles beneath the surface is much harder.
To map how the Antarctic gravity hole formed, the researchers combined earthquake recordings from around the world with a computer model of the planet.
Co–author Dr Alessandro Forte, of the University of Florida, says: 'Imagine doing a CT scan of the whole Earth, but we don't have X–rays like we do in a medical office. We have earthquakes.
Using a computer model, researchers found that the gravity hole was weak around 70 million years ago (left) but started to go stronger between 50 and 30 million years ago (right)
The strengthening of the gravity hole over under the Ross Sea coincided with the rapid advancement of Antarctica's ice sheets, including the Ross Ice Shelf (pictured). Researchers believe these events may be connected
'Earthquake waves provide the "light" that illuminates the interior of the planet.'
By looking at how earthquakes travelled through different densities of rock, Dr Forte and his co–author constructed a map of the planet's inner workings.
Using a computer model, they then worked out where the gravity would be stronger and weaker based on the different types of rock.
Once their predictions matched the best current data from gravity–sensing satellites, they wound back the clock and watched as the gravity hole formed over aeons.
They discovered that the gravity formed slowly at first, before gaining strength in a period known as the Eocene Epoch – beginning 50 million years ago.
Interestingly, this coincided with enormous changes in Antarctica's climate, including the rapid advance of the continent's ice sheets.
Although it is not yet proven, the researchers suspect that there could be a connection between the formation of the gravity hole and the formation of Antarctica's glaciers.
Dr Forte says: 'If we can better understand how Earth's interior shapes gravity and sea levels, we gain insight into factors that may matter for the growth and stability of large ice sheets.'
Scientists have previously found other gravity holes, including the Indian Ocean geoid low (IOGL), which is one of the deepest geoids on Earth
In the future, the researchers want to hunt for a causal connection between the gravity hole and the ice sheets by creating new mathematical models of the climate.
Tectonic plates are composed of Earth's crust and the uppermost portion of the mantle.
Below is the asthenosphere: the warm, viscous conveyor belt of rock on which tectonic plates ride.
The Earth has fifteen tectonic plates (pictured) that together have moulded the shape of the landscape we see around us today
Earthquakes typically occur at the boundaries of tectonic plates, where one plate dips below another, thrusts another upward, or where plate edges scrape alongside each other.
Earthquakes rarely occur in the middle of plates, but they can happen when ancient faults or rifts far below the surface reactivate.
These areas are relatively weak compared to the surrounding plate, and can easily slip and cause an earthquake.
China's humanoid robots have demonstrated a brand new skill – kung fu.
Dozens of Unitree bots took to the stage at the CCTV Spring Festival gala, which is China's most–watched TV show.
Wearing red vests, the robots performed kicks, flips, and even moves with nunchucks, swords, and poles.
Amazingly, their daring performance took place just metres away from human children performers.
Incredible footage from the show, released by Unitree, has been highly praised across social media.
Taking to the comments on YouTube, one fan wrote: 'Five years ago, this would have been science fiction.'
Another added: 'If I weren't watching directly from the Unitree Robotics channel, I'd say it was AI. Incredible!'
And one joked: 'This is so cool. Maybe I was too harsh on these clankers before.'
China's humanoid robots have demonstrated a brand new skill – kung fu. Amazingly, their daring performance took place just metres away from human children performers
Wearing red vests, the robots performed kicks, flips, and even moves with nunchucks, swords, and poles
Incredible footage from the show, released by Unitree, has been highly praised across social media
Four humanoid robot startups – Unitree Robotics, Galbot, Noetix and MagicLab – demonstrated their products at the gala, which was held on Monday in Beijing.
During Unitree's segment, dozens of its G1 robots took to the stage, clad in what Unitree calls the 'Monkey King's heavy armor'.
The fight sequences included a technically ambitious one that imitated the wobbly moves and backward falls of China's 'drunken boxing' martial arts style.
This particular sequence allowed Unitree to show off its innovations in multi–robot coordination and fault recovery – where a robot can get up after falling down.
'Dozens of G1 robots achieved the world's first fully autonomous humanoid robot cluster Kung Fu performance (with quick movement), pushing motion limits and setting multiple world firsts!' Unitree explained in the description of its YouTube video.
The G1 humanoid robot weighs 35 kilograms (77lbs), stands at 1.32 metres (4.33ft) tall, and boasts 23 degrees of freedom in its joints, which gives it more mobility than an average human.
Behind its blank face, the robot is hiding an advanced perception system which includes a 3D LiDAR sensor and a depth–sensing camera.
This makes it one of the most advanced commercially available humanoid robots in the world.
The fight sequences included a technically ambitious one that imitated the wobbly moves and backward falls of China's 'drunken boxing' martial arts style
The G1 humanoid robot weighs 35 kilograms (77lbs), stands at 1.32 metres (4.33ft) tall, and boasts 23 degrees of freedom in its joints, which gives it more mobility than an average human
Unitree G1: Specs
Height: 4.3ft (132cm)
Price: $16,000/£12,000
Weight: 35kg
Arm span: 1.4ft
Speed: 2m/s (5mph)
Power supply: Lithium battery
Manual controller: Yes
At last year's gala, 16 Unitree robots performed a much simpler routine, twirling handkerchiefs and dancing.
'It's been just one year – and the performance jump is striking,' said Georg Stieler, Asia managing director and head of robotics and automation at technology consultancy Stieler.
He added that the robots' impressive motion control showed Unitree's focus on developing robot 'brains' – the AI–powered software that enables them to complete fine motor tasks that can be used in real–world factory settings.
The improvement on last year was also noticed by many viewers on YouTube.
'As a professional in robotics, I am again suprised by the advancement over last year,' one viewer commented.
Another added: 'Insaneeee, last year the robot is just spinning plates, and now they can do Kung Fu on live TV.'
And one said: 'Wow, HUGE upgrade from last year's display. Thumbs up Unitree!'
Unitree's humanoid robots have previously gone viral for their bizarre behaviour.
Behind its blank face, the robot is hiding an advanced perception system which includes a 3D LiDAR sensor and a depth–sensing camera
If alien signals have already reached Earth, why haven't we seen them?
Story byNik Papageorgiou
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain
For decades, scientists have searched the skies for signs of extraterrestrial technology. A study from EPFL asks a sharp question: if alien signals have already reached Earth without us noticing, what should we realistically expect to detect today?
Since the first SETI experiment in 1960, astronomers have scanned the Milky Way for signs of advanced extraterrestrial civilizations. These searches have covered radio waves, optical flashes, and infrared heat signatures.
So far, they have found nothing confirmed. That silence is often explained by saying we have only searched a tiny part of the cosmic landscape. But what if signals did reach Earth and slipped past us?
A technosignature is any measurable signal or physical trace that points to the existence of advanced technology beyond Earth, for example, artificial radio transmissions, laser flashes, or excess heat from large-scale engineering projects.
For a technosignature to be detected, two things must happen. First, the signal must physically reach Earth. Second, our instruments must be sensitive enough to detect it, pointed in the right direction, and able to distinguish it from natural signals. This means that a signal can satisfy the first condition and still fail the second. It could be too weak, too brief, sent at the wrong wavelength, or lost in background noise.
It is often suggested that this may have already happened: alien technosignatures may have reached Earth during the past six decades but have gone unnoticed. If that is true, it suggests that more signals could be passing by right now, just waiting to be detected as our instruments improve.
A new study challenges that assumption. EPFL theoretical physicist Claudio Grimaldi, from the Laboratory of Statistical Biophysics, has now examined what undetected past contacts would mean for today's SETI searches. Using a statistical approach, Grimaldi asked how many alien signals must have crossed Earth since 1960 for there to be a high chance of detecting one today, and how far from Earth those signals would most likely come from. The study is published in The Astronomical Journal.
Grimaldi modeled technosignatures as emissions from distant technological species or their artifacts somewhere in the Milky Way. These emissions spread at the speed of light and, in this model, can last from very short periods such as days to very long ones lasting thousands of years.
Earth is "contacted" if such a signal passes through our location in space. Detection only happens if the source lies within a range where its signal is strong enough for our telescopes to detect, a distance that stands in for both signal strength and instrument sensitivity.
Grimaldi used a Bayesian statistical approach, a method that updates estimates as new information is taken into account, to link three elements:
the number of past contacts with Earth,
the typical lifetime of technosignatures, and
the distance range that current or near-future instruments can probe.
He considered both omnidirectional signals, such as waste heat from large structures, and highly focused ones, such as beacons or laser flashes. The analysis treats these cases on equal footing.
Challenging the current view
The theoretical study's findings challenge a common optimistic view. If scientists want a high probability of detecting technosignatures within a few hundred or even a few thousand light-years today, this would require that a very large number of technosignals must have passed Earth unnoticed in the past. In many scenarios, this number becomes implausibly large, sometimes exceeding the number of potentially habitable planets in that region of the galaxy, which makes such scenarios highly unlikely rather than strictly impossible.
This changes only when searches extend much farther out. If technosignatures are long-lived and spread across the Milky Way, detection becomes more plausible at distances of several thousand light-years or more. Even then, only a few detectable signals at most would be expected across the entire galaxy at any given time.
A long and broader road ahead
The study suggests that the fact that signals may have remained unnoticed in the past does not mean detection is just around the corner. If extraterrestrial technologies exist and have contacted Earth, they are more likely to be rare, distant, or long-lasting rather than nearby and frequent.
This reframes the search as a patient, long-term effort rather than a waiting game for obvious signals. It also strengthens the case for deep, wide surveys that scan large parts of the Milky Way instead of focusing only on our cosmic neighborhood.
More information:
Claudio Grimaldi, Undetected Past Contacts with Technological Species: Implications for Technosignature Science, The Astronomical Journal (2026). DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/ae394b
Provided by Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
Barack Obamadeclared that aliens are 'real' before firmly dismissing long-running conspiracy theories that extraterrestrials are being hidden at Area 51.
The candid exchange offered a rare glimpse into what presidents may know when it comes to one of America's most enduring mysteries.
Obama's answer was direct: 'Uh, they're real, but I haven't seen them,' he said, before immediately addressing speculation surrounding Area 51, the secretive US military facility in Nevada that has long been at the center of extraterrestrial conspiracy theories.
'And they're not being kept in uh what is it? Area 51!' Obama continued. 'There's no underground facility unless there's this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States.'
His comments — delivered with a mix of humor and authority — amounted to a clear rejection of claims that the U.S. government is secretly housing alien life forms at the classified base.
Area 51 has fueled decades of speculation, particularly since the Cold War, when its remote desert location and classified operations made it a natural target for rumors about UFOs and extraterrestrial cover-ups.
The US government has acknowledged the facility's existence but has consistently said it is used for testing advanced military aircraft.
Barack Obama said aliens are 'real' but said he never personally saw any evidence of them
Obama said any alien cover-up would have required information being hidden from the president himself. Pictured, a still from a previously released unclassified U.S. government video appearing to show unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP)
Cohen then asked what question he most wanted answered upon entering the White House.
'Where are the aliens?' Obama replied with a laugh.
The exchange came as part of a wide-ranging interview in which Obama reflected on his presidency and post-White House life.
Later in the interview the former president admitted that any return to elected office would likely cost him his marriage, joking that his wife Michelle would leave him if he ever attempted a political comeback.
The former president made the candid admission during a wide-ranging interview in which he faced up to the fact his days in politics are firmly behind him.
'First of all, I'm not a politician anymore and I can't be, right?' Obama began.
'I mean, I guess technically I could run for, you know, city council or something, but I'm not in elected office. I don't have levers of power. I'm term limited out. And by the way, I believe in the Constitution and also I believe in my marriage and Michelle would divorce me if I even if I could run again.'
The remark, delivered with Obama's trademark humor, offered a rare public window into the influence Michelle Obama holds over her husband's decisions.
Obama dismissed claims that extraterrestrials are being hidden at Area 51, pictured above, saying there is 'no underground facility'
Barack Obama said he and wife, Michelle, are focused on inspiring young people through their post-presidential work
It also highlighted the toll years at the center of American political life took on their family.
Obama has long acknowledged the sacrifices Michelle made during his ascent from Illinois state senator to back-to-back terms in the Oval Office.
Michelle has repeatedly spoken about the strain political life placed on their family, and has remained both his closest confidante throughout. Obama said that she is also a powerful force guiding over what comes next.
During the interview he emphasized that the couple's post-presidential mission is a shared one focused less on reclaiming power and more on cultivating the next generation.
'Michelle and I still have the capacity, not just here in the United States, but globally, to inspire and motivate young people and invite them in to this process,' Obama explained, describing their work through the Obama Foundation.
He framed the mission as essential at a moment when younger Americans face mounting challenges, from economic uncertainty to social isolation.
He argued that the role of him and his wife is to help empower others rather than lead from the front.
'That's going to come from the 20, 30-year-old's who know firsthand what it means to not be able to buy a house,' he said. 'They're the ones who are going to remake our institutions so that they are consistent with the values that are, I think, timeless.'
The Obamas' new presidential center in Chicago set to open in June will serve as the physical embodiment of that vision: part museum, part civic hub, and part training ground for emerging leaders.
Obama also acknowledged what may be a particular draw for some visitors.
'There will be a museum with Michelle's dresses since that's what people want to see,' he said with a laugh, referring to the fashion that helped make his wife one of the most admired and recognizable First Ladies in modern history.
The former president said their foundation works to empower the next generation of leaders globally. The couple are pictured in August 2024 at the Democratic National Convention
Michelle is pictured with her daughters back in 2008 when Democrats crowned Barack Obama as the first black presidential election nominee
Michelle Obama has previously spoken publicly about the personal and family sacrifices she made during Barack Obama's eight years in the White House. The family is pictured in 2015
Her wardrobe choices became cultural touchstones during their eight years in the White House, symbolizing not just her personal style but a broader sense of representation, accessibility, and cultural influence.
But Obama made clear that beyond the dresses and memorabilia, Michelle's deeper legacy lies in her continued role as a global inspiration.
He credited both of them with using their post-presidential platform to elevate others - particularly young leaders who might otherwise never have access to power.
'Our job as leaders is to lift up other leaders,' Obama said. 'To empower others to find their gifts and help them exercise those gifts.'
That philosophy has guided their foundation's work, which has trained thousands of emerging leaders from across the United States and around the world - including grassroots organizers, teachers, healthcare professionals, and activists.
Obama joked the Obama Presidential Center, scheduled to open in June 2026, will include a section dedicated to Michelle's dresses 'since that's what people want to see'
Obama said he and Michelle continue to work together through the Obama Foundation. He described inspiring young people as a central mission of their post-White House life
Barack Obama said he and Michelle Obama are now focused on inspiring young people and shaping future leaders through their joint work after leaving the White House. The former First Couple are pictured alongside daughters Malia, 27, and Sasha, 24
Earlier in the half-hour long interview, Obama unleashed a blistering warning about America's collapsing political standards after President Donald Trump shared a video depicting him and Michelle Obama as apes.
Obama said that American political discourse had descended into a degrading 'clown show' that most Americans still find 'deeply troubling.'
Such imagery has long held racist overtones and sparked bipartisan condemnation, forcing the White House into damage control.
Asked directly about the episode during an interview with Brian Tyler Cohen, Obama did not mention Trump by name in his response, but delivered a sweeping rebuke of the tone and tactics that now dominate modern politics.
'First of all, I think it's important to recognize that the majority of the American people find this behavior deeply troubling,' Obama said.
'It is true that it gets attention. It's true that it's a distraction… you meet people… they still believe in decency, courtesy, kindness, and there's this sort of clown show that's happening in social media and on television.'
His intervention marked his most direct public comments since Trump shared the incendiary video, which some critics described as one of the most racially offensive social media posts shared by the president.
The President received widespread backlash over accusations of racism after he posted a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes
The pro-Trump meme video centered on 2020 election fraud conspiracy claims - allegations that have been repeatedly debunked and litigated.
But the clip ended with an AI-style segment that flashed the Obamas' faces superimposed on ape bodies, set to The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
The White House initially tried to wave the uproar away.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the outrage as performative.
'This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.'
A White House official later gave a more serious explanation stating, 'A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down.'
Trump's post was later deleted.
But the condemnation, including from Republicans, was already on the record.
Trump said he 'didn't watch the whole video' before reposting it online and has refused to apologize
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt initially doubled down on the President's post
Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina called it 'the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House,' adding that the president should remove it.
Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi wrote: 'This is totally unacceptable. The president should take it down and apologize.'
Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska argued that 'a reasonable person sees the racist context,' and said the White House should remove it and apologize.
California Governor Gavin Newsom's press office blasted the post as well: 'Disgusting behavior by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now.'
A White House insider previously told the Daily Mail that the clip was posted by mistake and was accidentally included in a screen recording of a different video about election fraud.
Senator Tim Scott called the video 'the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House'
'It's an obvious screen recording and the boomer who posted it on X didn't trim off the excess when the next reel started to auto play,' the Trump official shared.
'The aide didn't notice that one second portion at the end of the video and it was never seen by the president.'
Trump told reporters that he didn't watch the whole video before it was shared online and maintained that he didn't do anything wrong.
'What I saw in the beginning was really strong. It was about fraudulent elections. Anytime I see that stuff and it's credible, you put it up. I didn't do it. This was done by someone else. It was a re-truth but that was a very strong truth,' he said.
Consciousness exists beyond death and the process of dying should be considered a ‘negotiable condition’, a bombshell study claims.
Traditionally, death has been defined as the irreversible loss of brain and circulatory function.
But experts are beginning to challenge this view – arguing that consciousness can persist even when the brain stops working.
A researcher from Arizona State University carried out a large-scale review of dozens of studies that focused on what happens when people ‘die’.
This included publications on near-death experiences, research on the electrical brain activity of dying patients and clinical studies of conscious awareness during heart attacks.
Analysis revealed that across heart attack studies, 20 per cent of survivors recall conscious experiences during periods when the brain had stopped working.
Brain recordings in dying humans and animals document surges of activity surpassing baseline waking levels, they found.
Meanwhile some patients who have experienced ‘complete circulatory standstill’ – when the heart stops beating – later demonstrated implicit recall of what was going on around them.
Some experts argue that consciousness persists even after the heart has stopped beating. Pictured: A gamma surge following a heart attack
Laboratory work has also demonstrated that metabolism, brain activity and blood flow can be restored in mammal brains and organs ‘well beyond accepted limits’.
This reveals that ‘biological death is not immediately irreversible’, Anna Fowler, from Arizona State University, said.
‘Emerging evidence suggests that biological and neural functions do not cease abruptly,’ she told the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) conference in Phoenix.
‘Instead, they decline from minutes to hours, suggesting that death unfolds as a process rather than an instantaneous event. Elements of consciousness may briefly exist beyond the measurable activity of the brain and death, long considered absolute, is instead a negotiable condition.’
She added that the findings ‘invite a redefinition of death as a gradual, interruptible process, one that science may increasingly learn not just to delay but to challenge outright.’
Ms Fowler, whose research is forming part of her thesis, said the findings could have significant implications for resuscitation windows and organ donation timings.
‘After death…they’ve got to procure those organs right away so that they can save the life of another person,’ she explained.
‘But there have been studies that have shown that up to 90 minutes after the declaration of death, that those neural firings are still going off in the brain.’
Analysis revealed that across heart attack studies, 20 per cent of survivors recall conscious experiences during periods when the brain had stopped working
She believes that death should be more ‘process driven’, with phases rather than a singular event.
‘Death, once believed to be a final and immediate boundary, reveals itself instead as a process - a shifting landscape where consciousness, biology and meaning persist longer than we once imagined,’ she concluded.
‘Consciousness may not vanish the moment the brain falls silent. Cells may not die the moment the heart stops. This research proposes that death is not the sudden extinguishing of life, but the beginning of a transformation, one that medicine, philosophy and ethics must now approach with deeper humility and renewed clarity.’
Earlier this week Dr Sam Parnia, director of critical care and resuscitation research at NYU Langone School of Medicine in New York, revealed that some people may even hear their death being announced as the brain remains active after the heart stops.
Dr Parnia has not only studied what happens to the human brain when you die but has also spoken to patients who survived near-death experiences.
That research revealed many occurrences where patients who were clinically dead, noted as when the heart stops beating, who were later revived and described conversations and events taking place in their room with remarkable accuracy.
The reason doctors only look at the heart when determining the time of death is because that's the moment when blood flow to the brain stops.
However, a study led by Dr Parnia in 2023 discovered spikes in brain waves associated with higher cognitive function up to an hour into CPR. It uncovered spikes in brain waves linked to thinking, memory and awareness showing up to 60 minutes after a person’s heart stopped.
The hunt for life beyond Earth has taken an unexpected twist as President Barack Obama claims that aliens are real, but that he doesn't know where they are.
The former president said in an interview that extraterrestrials were 'not being kept' in Area 51, a US Air Force base that has long featured in alien theories.
Obama told interviewer Brian Tyler Cohen: 'There's no underground facility unless there's this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States.'
So, with conspiracy theorists' favourite choice ruled out, where might aliens really be hiding?
Scientists generally believe that the best candidates for alien life are 'Earth–like' worlds orbiting distant stars in other parts of the galaxy.
One such contender is the Earth–sized planet TRAPPIST–1e, located just 40 light–years from Earth, which is located safely within its star's habitable 'Goldilocks zone'.
But astronomers also believe we don't need to look so far from home to hunt for alien life.
President Obama has said that aliens are 'real' but that he has not seen them, adding that they were not being kept in Area 51
In a statement on his official Instagram account, Obama clarified his points about aliens, writing: 'Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there's life out there.
'But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we've been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!'
Obama's argument is a variation of a principle which actually plays a key role in the search for alien life.
Professor Mark Burchell, of the University of Kent, told the Daily Mail: 'The idea is there are so many stars, so many have planets, so many planets are in the habitable zone where the solar heating is enough to permit liquid water on the surface, that something magic happens in a certain per cent of the time and life emerges.'
This is why astronomers focus on looking for solar systems that have worlds with water, since there is a small chance of life emerging on any world where it is present.
TRAPPIST–1e
One of the best examples is TRAPPIST–1, an extremely small and cool red dwarf star, with a diameter of just 52,300 miles (84,180 kilometres) and a surface temperature less than half that of the sun's.
Three of the solar system's closely orbiting planets fit within the star's Goldilocks zone – so called because the temperature is just right for liquid water to exist.
TRAPPIST–1e (artist's impression) is a planet located just 40 light–years from Earth that likely has liquid water and an atmosphere similar to that of Earth
The worlds with the best chance of having alien life
TRAPPIST–1e sits extremely close to its star, but TRAPPIST–1 is so cool that liquid water could still exist on the planet's surface – making it a great candidate for life.
In a recent study, scientists used the James Webb Space Telescope to measure light filtering through the planet's atmosphere.
This revealed that TRAPPIST–1e likely has an atmosphere similar to that of Earth, making it more likely that it has managed to hold on to liquid water.
Located 124 light–years from Earth in the constellation of Leo, K2–18b is a giant world covered entirely by oceans – making it what scientists call a 'Hycean world'.
The planet orbits its cool red dwarf star closely, completing an orbit in 33 Earth days, placing it squarely within the Goldilocks zone.
K2–18b (artist's impression) is a massive water world covered in oceans that orbits a red dwarf star 124 light–years from Earth. Scientists have found chemicals in its atmosphere that could be a sign of life
Most importantly, scientists have used the JWST to detect huge quantities of chemicals that are made by living organisms on Earth.
The researchers picked up the chemical fingerprints of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) – chemicals usually made by microscopic life, like marine phytoplankton.
Speaking at the time of the discovery, lead researcher Professor Nikku Madhusudhan, of Cambridge's Institute of Astronomy, said: 'Given everything we know about this planet, a Hycean world with an ocean that is teeming with life is the scenario that best fits the data we have.'
Unfortunately, scientists have since cast some doubt over these exciting claims.
Dr David Armstrong, an expert on exoplanet detection from the University of Warwick, told the Daily Mail: 'The evidence for life on K2–18b is weak and disputed by a lot of scientists.
'That's not to say it's impossible, but K2–18b is a 'sub–Neptune', a planet unlike the Earth, and we still have a lot to learn about even the fundamentals of planets like that before we could confidently claim a detection of life.'
Kepler–62e and Kepler–62f
The twin worlds Kepler–62e and Kepler–62f are another example of astronomers following the water to find alien life.
Kepler–62 is a seven–billion–year–old dwarf star around two–thirds the size of the sun, located 1,200 light–years from Earth. Scientists believe two planets, Kepler–62e and Kepler–62f, could be habitable
Located about 1,200 light–years from Earth, Kepler–62 is a seven–billion–year–old dwarf star around two–thirds the size of the sun.
Kepler–62f orbits the star every 267 days and is only 40 per cent larger than Earth, while Kepler–62e orbits every 122 days and is about 60 per cent larger than Earth.
Since both sit inside their stars' habitable zone, there is a good chance that they are home to liquid water and, therefore, have a chance of hosting life.
In 2015, a NASA research document called Kepler–62f one of the ''most promising planets discovered' for supporting alien life.
Enceladus
Although it might come as a surprise, scientists actually believe some of the most likely places to find alien life are in our own solar system.
Dr Armstrong says: 'On Earth, we find life almost everywhere there is liquid water, so the easiest place to look for extraterrestrial life is the same.
'The most likely place to find it would be in the subsurface oceans of some of the moons orbiting Saturn and Jupiter.'
Saturn's moon Enceladus is a particularly good candidate for the search for alien life due to'tiger stripes' (bottom right) near its south pole that allow a plume of ice to escape into space
NASA's Cassini spacecraft found molecules in ice from Enceladus that could be part of the chain of reactions that ultimately lead to life. Pictured: Artist's impression of Enceladus' surface
Saturn's moon Enceladus is seen as a particularly promising candidate to look for extraterrestrial life because of plumes of liquid water constantly spewing from its South Pole.
With a diameter of 310 miles (500 km) – about as wide as Arizona – Enceladus is Saturn's sixth–largest moon.
On the surface, conditions are exceptionally cold with temperatures as low as –201°C (–330°F).
However, beneath the frozen surface, there is a vast ocean of liquid water that could provide a home for life.
In 2008, NASA's Cassini spacecraft flew directly through Enceladus' icy polar spray and collected samples of ice crystals.
Based on these findings, researchers have suggested that the moon now 'ticks all the boxes' to be a candidate for supporting alien life.
Titan
Scientists think that Saturn's moon Titan (pictured) has a network of 'slushy' tunnels beneath its icy surface that could be the perfect place for simple life to form
Titan, another of Saturn's icy moons, has also been put forward as a strong candidate in the search for extraterrestrial life.
Scientists used to think that Titan had a wide, open ocean beneath its surface ice, which would mean that heat and nutrients were spread out over the whole planet.
However, recent studies have shown that this is not the entire story.
Using data collected by the Cassini spacecraft, scientists have revealed that Titan has 'slushy tunnels' beneath the surface.
This 'slushy high–pressure ice layer' is similar to the melting Arctic with a network of aquifers and sea ice.
Lead author Professor Baptiste Journaux, of the University of Washington, told Daily Mail at the time: '[This] has implications for what type of life we might find, the availability of nutrients, energy and so on.'
Analyses indicate that the pockets of freshwater on Titan could reach 68°F (20°C) – which is the optimal temperature for life on Earth to thrive.
Any available nutrients would be more concentrated in a small volume of water, compared to an open ocean, which could facilitate the growth of simple organisms.
The Drake Equation is a seven-variable way of finding the chance of active civilizations existing beyond Earth.
It takes into account factors like the rate of star formation, the amount of stars that could form planetary systems, the number potentially habitable planets in those systems.
The equation includes recent data from Nasa's Kepler satellite on the number of exoplanets that could harbor life.
Researchers also adapted the equation from being about the number of civilizations that exist now, to being about the probability of civilization being the only one that has ever existed.
Researchers found the odds of an advanced civilization developing need to be less than one in 10 billion trillion for humans to be the only intelligent life in the universe.
Unless the odds of advanced life evolving on a habitable planet are astonishingly low, then humankind is not the only advanced civilization to have lived.
But Kepler data places those odds much higher, which means technologically advanced aliens are likely to have existed at some point.
1. De Bermudadriehoek De Bermudadriehoek, gelegen in het westelijke deel van de Noord-Atlantische Oceaan, is een fenomeen dat wordt beschouwd als een stedelijke legende. Het betreft een gebied waar volgens de verhalen een aantal vliegtuigen en schepen onder mysterieuze omstandigheden zijn verdwenen. Het idee van dit gebied als een plaats waar verdwijningen plaatsvinden, ontstond in het midden van de 20e eeuw.
Ongedefinieerd driehoekig gebied Terwijl verschillende schrijvers de punten van de driehoek hebben geplaatst in Miami, San Juan (Puerto Rico) en Bermuda, hebben anderen andere grenzen en hoekpunten gesuggereerd, waaronder zelfs de kust van Ierland. Hierdoor is de verslaglegging van welke incidenten zich binnen de driehoek hebben voorgedaan afhankelijk van de schrijver die ze heeft gerapporteerd.
Kompassen werkten niet meer Volgens sommige schrijvers stopten kompassen met werken, werden schepen meegesleurd door stromingen en verslonden wolken vliegtuigen bij het passeren van de Bermudadriehoek.
Door La Ilustracion Espanola y Americana, 30 april 1880 / Wikimedia
De verdwijning van Atalanta Het eerste grote incident dat vaak wordt genoemd in verband met de Bermudadriehoek is de verdwijning van het schip Atalanta. Op 31 januari 1880 vertrok het schip vanaf de Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda en verdween het samen met de gehele bemanning.
Volg ons op MSN om elke dag de beste artikelen te ontvangen
Vlucht 19 Er is ook veel aandacht besteed aan Vlucht 19, een trainingsvlucht die in 1945 vanaf de basis in Fort Lauderdale, Florida vertrok, en nooit meer terugkeerde. Bovendien verdween een van de zoek- en reddingsvliegtuigen die werden ingezet om hen te zoeken ook.
Het boek dat de mythe populair maakte In 1973 publiceerde Charles Berlitz een boek waarin hij de Bermudadriehoek introduceerde. Hij verzamelde mysterieuze verhalen van piloten en matrozen die het gebied als "vervloekt" beschouwden. Hij verzamelde de verhalen en bundelde ze tot een verzameling van raadselachtige gebeurtenissen die werden geassocieerd met de Bermudadriehoek.
Het concept van tijd is anders binnen de driehoek In een interview met The New York Times in 1977 legde Charles Berlitz uit hoe het weer veranderde wanneer men de Bermudadriehoek betrad. Hij merkte op dat sommige piloten dachten dat ze slechts enkele minuten hadden gevlogen, maar ontdekten dat hun brandstoftank leeg was omdat er in werkelijkheid uren waren verstreken.
Waar is de tijd gebleven? Volgens Berlitz, "kwamen vliegtuigen soms twee uur eerder dan verwacht aan op hun bestemming, terwijl in andere gevallen schepen en vliegtuigen nooit op hun bestemming arriveerden."
De Bermudadriehoek: de film Deze angstaanjagende verhalen dienden als inspiratie voor de film 'The Bermuda Triangle', geregisseerd door de Mexicaanse filmmaker René Cardona Jr., met in de hoofdrol John Huston, bekend als regisseur van klassiekers zoals 'The African Queen', 'The Asphalt Jungle' en 'Annie'.
Verdwijningen komen niet meer voor Deze legende, die ooit prominent aanwezig was in de mysterieuze folklore van de jaren zestig en zeventig, is echter geleidelijk aan naar de achtergrond verdwenen. Er zijn tegenwoordig geen meldingen meer van schepen en vliegtuigen die verdwijnen in de Bermuda Driehoek. Als er zich incidenten voordoen, kunnen deze worden verklaard op basis van wetenschappelijke inzichten.
De Golfstroom en andere verklaarbare verschijnselen Een voorbeeld van natuurlijke magnetische variaties die in verband staan met de polen, is dat kompassen op diverse locaties plotseling van positie veranderen. Bovendien wordt de Bermudadriehoek beïnvloed door de Golfstroom, wat de navigatie kan beïnvloeden.
2. De verloren stad Atlantis Charles Berlitz verwees in zijn interview met The New York Times naar de mogelijkheid dat de verloren stad Atlantis zich onder de wateren van de Bermudadriehoek bevindt. Wat als deze hypothese waar zou zijn?
Het verloren continent De oorsprong van de Atlantis-mythe kan worden teruggevoerd op een tekst van Plato. Al jarenlang wordt er gespeculeerd over het bestaan en de mogelijke locatie van Atlantis. Sommige theorieën wijzen naar de Spaanse Canarische Eilanden als het laatste overblijfsel van Atlantis onder de wateren. Recentelijk waren er zelfs mensen die beweerden bewijs te hebben gevonden van het bestaan van Atlantis.
The Sun kondigde de "ontdekking" van Atlantis aan In 2009 beweerde The Sun, op basis van een afbeelding van Google Ocean (het mariene equivalent van Google Earth), dat bepaalde lijnen op de bodem van de oceaan de ruïnes waren van menselijke constructies, wat als bewijs diende voor het bestaan van Atlantis.
Google verduidelijkt Het duurde niet lang voordat Google duidelijk maakte dat de groeven op de afbeelding simpelweg veroorzaakt werden door bootnavigatie en een optische illusie, wat betekende dat de theorie van Atlantis opnieuw werd afgedaan als een legende.
3. Yeti: De verschrikkelijke sneeuwman Vóór de opkomst van de globalisering was de yeti een veelbesproken onderwerp, een wezen dat vermeend werd aangetroffen te worden in het Himalayagebergte en aangeduid werd als een aapachtig schepsel.
Een aapachtig beest voor elke regio Er zijn ontdekkingsreizigers die beweren de yeti te hebben waargenomen tijdens sneeuwstormen. In Tibet wordt dit legendarische wezen Jigou genoemd. Vergelijkbare wezens zijn te vinden in andere delen van de wereld, zoals de Australische Yowie, de kunk in de Zuid-Amerikaanse Andes en de Siberische chuchunga.
Yeti-waarnemingen zijn onbetrouwbaar Waarnemingen van de yeti waren altijd afkomstig van individuen en vonden plaats onder extreme weersomstandigheden. Vanwege deze factoren hecht de wetenschap weinig waarde aan dergelijke waarnemingen. Volgens een artikel in The Washington Post uit 2017 werd uit een DNA-onderzoek met vermeende overblijfselen van een yeti geconcludeerd dat het om beren ging.
Bekendheden Sir Edmund Hillary en Sherpa Tenzing Norgay (afgebeeld) behoren tot de opmerkelijke getuigen van de yeti. Zij waren de dappere ontdekkingsreizigers die als eersten de top van de Mount Everest bereikten. Evenzo heeft Reinhold Messner, die zonder zuurstof 14 toppen in de Himalaya bedwong, gesproken over de aanwezigheid van de yeti.
4. Big Foot: Noord-Amerikaanse folklore De Amerikaanse tegenhanger van de yeti, bekend als Bigfoot, is een vergelijkbare legende. Het verhaal gaat dat Bigfoot een wezen is dat lijkt op een kruising tussen een beer en een gorilla, en dat hij leeft in de bossen van Noord-Amerika.
Een echte Bigfoot foto? In de 20e eeuw waren er nog ongerepte en onbekende gebieden in de Verenigde Staten waar volgens de legende Bigfoot zijn toevlucht zou hebben gezocht. In Eureka, Californië, werd een beeld vastgelegd dat zogenaamd grafisch bewijs zou zijn van het vermeende bestaan van dit mythische wezen.
Bigfoot waarnemingen Gedurende de 20e eeuw verspreidden waarnemingen van Bigfoot zich over heel Noord-Amerika. In de 21e eeuw zijn er echter nauwelijks of geen meldingen van waarnemingen geweest.
5. Het monster van Loch Ness Bij het monster van Loch Ness in Schotland is er een vergelijkbaar patroon waar te nemen. Voorheen beweerden mensen foto's van het monster te hebben gemaakt, zoals deze, maar tegenwoordig worden er geen meldingen meer gemaakt van waarnemingen.
6. Graancirkels Een ander mysterie is dat van graancirkels. In de jaren zestig en zeventig waren ze bekend en werden ze vaak toegeschreven aan buitenaardse wezens. Vooral in Australië en het Verenigd Koninkrijk waren graancirkels opvallend. In 1991 gaven de Britten Doug Bower en Dave Chorley aan dat ze gedurende meer dan twee decennia ongeveer 200 graancirkels hadden gemaakt.
7. Nazca-lijnen De beroemde Nazca-lijnen in Peru zijn niet gemaakt door twee excentriekelingen. Het zijn zeer oude geogliefen. Deze tekeningen kunnen alleen vanuit de lucht, op aanzienlijke hoogte, worden gezien. Ze worden beschouwd als vermeende boodschappen aan de goden, gemaakt door de Nazca-cultuur (een pre-Columbiaanse cultuur), tussen 200 en 600 voor Christus.
8. Op zoek naar de ark van Noach Zelfs in 2010 was er bij National Geographic sprake van de vraag: "Is de Ark van Noach gevonden in Turkije?" Het idee dat er ergens een overblijfsel verborgen zou zijn van het bijbelse schip is iets waar mensen graag in willen geloven.
De berg Ararat In het eerder genoemde artikel uit 2010 werd verwezen naar een expeditie die beweerde overblijfselen te hebben ontdekt van de ark van Noach op de berg Ararat, gelegen in het grensgebied tussen Turkije, Armenië en Iran. Deze berg wordt doorgaans genoemd als de plek waar Noach volgens de overlevering strandde na de zondvloed.
De ark De expeditie van 2010 onthulde aan The Daily Mail dat er zeven grote houten compartimenten waren ontdekt, begraven op een hoogte van 4.000 meter nabij de top van de berg Ararat. De ontdekking werd echter niet wetenschappelijk onderbouwd en, zoals vaak het geval is bij mysteries, raakte het geleidelijk in de vergetelheid.
9. Geesten Spoken hebben inmiddels een moderne transformatie ondergaan. Het iconische witte laken heeft plaatsgemaakt voor andere verschijningsvormen. Al in 1982 toonde de beroemde horrorfilm 'Poltergeist' hoe de geestenwereld zich manifesteert aan de levenden.
Een raadselachtige wereld Mythen, folklore, populaire overtuigingen, fantasieën of mogelijk zelfs mysterieuze werkelijkheden. De onbekende facetten van het universum worden soms samengevat in raadsels, die soms een fabelachtige en poëtische vorm aannemen. Op andere momenten vervagen deze raadsels door de tijd, zonder dat we precies weten waarom.
The stunning underwater sinkhole holds mystery for scientists (Picture: Getty)
There’s an underwater sinkhole off the coast of Belize that is so deep, scientists aren’t sure how far down it goes.
In Chetumal Bay, sinkhole Taam ja’, a ‘blue hole’, has proved to be a challenge for researchers trying to measure its depth.
Using sonar to map the hole, they found Taam ja’ is roughly 900 feet deep – but those measurements might be inaccurate, due to temperature and salinity changes in each layer of water.
Divers were sent into the hole, roughly 30 metres down, and found that the walls of the hole were squishy and uneven, before turning into firmer rock.
After anchoring a boat above the hole’s opening, a research team lowered a massive cable, measuring 1,640 feet, into the hole, but it wasn’t long enough to reach the bottom.
Researchers noted that the instrument could have been pushed sideways by currents and thrown off the measurements, but the mystery remains: how deep is Taam ja’?
Its unknown just how deep the massive hole goes (Picture: Frontiers in Marine Science)
Despite repeated attempts to measure the hole with long cables, there’s been no definitive measure of its depth.
For years, the Sansha Yongle Blue Hole, in the South China Sea, was believed to be the deepest blue hole in the ocea
If scientists can measure the depth of Taam ja’, it could replace the Sansha Yongle hole as the deepest measured sinkhole in the ocean.
It’s believed Taam ja’ could have a network of underwater caves and tunnels, making its measurement even more difficult.
Earlier this year, scientists were able to extract a sediment core from the bottom of the marine sinkhole that provided a 5,700-year storm archive.
The layers of sediment showed that over the past six millennia, on average, between four and 16 tropical storms pass over the hole per 100 years.
The Great Blue Hole lies around 60 miles off the coast of Belize City and is part of the Belize Barrier Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It was formed at the end of the last Ice Age when rising seawaters flooded a series of enormous caverns.
It’s thought the caves were formed about 153,000 years ago and completely submerged around 15,000 years ago.
The Hole is populated by several shark species, including Caribbean reef sharks, nurse sharks, hammerheads, bull sharks, and black-tip sharks.
RELATED VIDEOS
Scientists Found a Hole in the Ocean… And It Shouldn’t Exist/The Ocean’s Dark Hole Mystery🌊Explained
Aliens are real, says Barack Obama. Former US President breaks his silence about 'Area 51' conspiracy
Synopsis
Former US President Barack Obama said in a recent podcast interview that aliens are “real”, though he added that he has never seen them. Speaking to Brian Tyler Cohen, Obama dismissed long-standing conspiracy theories that extraterrestrials are being secretly held at Area 51, saying there is no underground facility unless an enormous conspiracy was hidden even from the president.
Barack Obama addresses alien life debate
Former US President Barack Obama has stirred fresh debate around extraterrestrial life after saying that aliens are “real”, while at the same time rejecting long-running claims that they are being hidden at the secretive Nevada military base known as Area 51. Obama made the remarks during an appearance on the ‘No Lie’ podcast hosted by YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen. When asked directly whether aliens exist, Obama replied, “They’re real, but I haven’t seen them.” He then addressed the popular conspiracy theory linked to Area 51, adding, “They’re not being kept in – what is it? There’s no underground facility, unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States.”
At one point in the conversation, when Cohen asked what question he most wanted answered after taking office, Obama laughed and said, “Where are the aliens?”
Area 51, located at Groom Lake in Nevada, has for years been at the centre of speculation about UFOs and alien life. The US government officially acknowledged the base only in 2013. It is widely believed to be a testing ground for advanced military aircraft0
According to The Independent and other international reports, conspiracy theories have claimed that alien spacecraft and even extraterrestrial remains are stored at the facility. Some stories trace back to the 1947 Roswell incident in New Mexico, where debris from a crashed object led to widespread rumours about a UFO cover-up.
Other unproven theories suggest that secret projects at the base include reverse engineering alien technology, developing futuristic weapons, time travel experiments and even weather control systems. None of these claims have been backed by verified evidence.
Renewed attention on UFO sightings
Interest in Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs), the official term now used by the US government for UFOs, has increased in recent years. In 2021, the Pentagon released three declassified US Navy videos showing fast-moving aerial objects. In one clip, an object appeared to rotate while flying against strong winds.
Obama had earlier spoken about such sightings during a 2021 appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden. At that time, he said there was footage and records of objects in the sky that could not be fully explained, including their movement and trajectory. He stressed that investigations were being taken seriously.
The Department of Defense has since set up the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) to examine UAP reports, and lawmakers have pushed for greater transparency around such incidents.
During the same recent podcast interview, Obama also criticised federal immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota, calling certain operations “rogue behavior” and expressing concern over the way agents were deployed. He said such actions resembled conduct seen in authoritarian countries rather than in America.
He further commented on the current state of political discourse, describing what he called a “sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television.” He said there appeared to be a loss of decorum and respect for public office compared to earlier times.
Earliest Homo Looked Nothing Like A Human, Skeleton Suggests
For decades, Homo habilis has been treated as the “starter” version of our genus - more humanlike skull and teeth, plus the stone tools often found in the same broad time range. But a newly described partial skeleton is now pushing back hard on the idea that early Homo would have looked recognizably human from the neck down.
The fossil assemblage, found at Koobi Fora on the eastern side of Lake Turkana in Kenya, includes around 100 bones from the upper body and parts of the pelvis, associated with a near-complete lower jaw and teeth. Together, they make up the most complete H. habilis skeleton yet described, known as KNM-ER 64061, reports Science.
What has emerged in the recent study report published in The Anatomical Record, is a hominin that still carried a surprisingly “primitive” build: long, powerful arms and thick bone walls that echo earlier australopiths. In other words, early Homo may have been equipped with a more modern head while keeping a body that wouldn’t pass for human at a distance.
The Koobi Fora skeleton: what was found, and why it matters
The Koobi Fora remains were first recovered in 2012, beginning with a tooth and then a substantial set of lower teeth; additional bones lay scattered downslope. A key hurdle was proving that the jaw and the limb bones belonged to the same individual - a recurring problem in sites where fossils can be moved and mixed over time.
Researchers report that CT scans revealed matching mineral “fingerprints” (including barite) on the jaw and arm bones, strengthening the case that the pieces belong together. That allowed the team to treat KNM-ER 64061 as a single individual and, critically, to interpret proportions rather than isolated fragments.
The characteristics of Homo habilis were previously only estimated from skulls and a few fragmentary skeletons.
In the technical description, the authors emphasize that the skeleton includes clavicle and shoulder-blade fragments, both upper arms, both forearms, plus part of the sacrum and hip bones - rare coverage for H. habilis, which has long been known mostly from cranial and dental material.
Long arms, thick bone - and a body built differently than H. erectus
The new skeleton reinforces an uncomfortable point for the classic narrative: the tall, long-legged, “human body plan” seems to arrive later than many textbook summaries suggest. The team reports that H. habilis retained relatively long forearms compared with Homo erectus, and that its upper-limb bones have strikingly thick cortices (dense outer bone walls), a trait more reminiscent of australopiths, explains the study.
That does not automatically mean KNM-ER 64061 was swinging through trees like an ape - researchers caution against turning anatomy into simple lifestyle storytelling. Still, long arms and robust upper limbs hint that climbing or heavy upper-body loading remained important in its daily life, even while stone tools were spreading across the landscape.
At the same time, a small but telling detail in the pelvis - an ischium fragment - suggests more efficient hip mechanics for upright walking than in australopiths. It’s a mosaic: not “human,” not “ape,” but a blend that complicates any straight-line march toward modern human anatomy.
Homo habilis would NOT have stood and looked like this.
One reason this fossil matters is timing. H. erectus appears around 2 million years ago, while H. habilis persists much later, meaning they overlapped for a long time rather than forming a neat ancestor–descendant chain. That overlap makes it harder to argue that habilis simply “became” erectus through gradual body reshaping.
Instead, the new skeleton supports an increasingly common view: early Homo was diverse, and different lineages may have tested different solutions - some emphasizing brain and dental changes, others moving toward the long-legged form suited to long-distance walking. The Anatomical Record paper even provides estimates that highlight the physical gap: about 160 cm tall, but only roughly 31–33 kg in body mass for this individual, noticeably lighter than typical estimates for H. erectus.
If so, the truly “human-looking” body may not have been a starting feature of our genus at all, but a later evolutionary package, one that appeared after early tool use had already begun, and after multiple hominin species shared the same East African landscapes.
Top image: Bangkok, Thailand, Homo habilis reconstruction at Rama9 museum.
Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) colorised topographic map of the western hemisphere of Mars, showing the Tharsis region of volcanoes (Credit : NASA / JPL-Caltech / Arizona State University)
When you look at a volcano, you’re seeing the tip of a vastly more complicated system. The mountain itself is just the exit point for processes that have been happening deep underground, perhaps for millions of years. Magma doesn’t simply appear at the surface ready to erupt it rises, stalls, cools, changes, and evolves in underground chambers before finally breaking through.
We’ve known this about Earth’s volcanoes for a long time, but it turns out Mars has been playing the same game. New research published in the journal Geology shows that some of the Red Planet’s youngest volcanic systems had far more intricate histories than anyone realised. An international team of scientists studied a volcanic system south of Pavonis Mons, one of Mars’ giant shield volcanoes in the Tharsis region. Using high resolution images and mineral data from orbiting spacecraft, they essentially performed detective work from space, piecing together clues left behind in the rocks.
Infrared image mosaic showing the shield volcano Pavonis Mons, the central of three peaks in the Tharsis Montes chain, in the central part of the Tharsis region of Mars
(Credit : NASA / JPL-Caltech / Arizona State University)
What they discovered was fascinating. Rather than forming in a single, straightforward eruption, this volcanic system went through multiple distinct phases. Early on, lava poured out through long cracks in the ground, what geologists call fissure eruptions. Later, the style changed completely, with lava erupting from concentrated point sources that built up cone shaped vents.
Here’s the clever bit: although these different lava flows look quite different on the surface, they all came from the same underground plumbing system. Think of it like a house with several taps (and I should know as recently done a load of plumbing in my house, mostly successful!) the water comes from the same pipes, but it emerges in different places and different ways.
The real revelation came from analysing the minerals in each lava flow. Each eruption left behind a distinct mineral fingerprint, and these signatures tell us that the magma itself was evolving over time. The magma was probably coming from different depths, or spending varying amounts of time stored underground before erupting.
Lava rafts and flows, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. Location is the Elysium quadrangle on Mars
(Credit : NASA/Jim Secosky)
This matters because we can’t exactly pop over to Mars and chip off a rock sample. Everything we know about the planet’s interior has to come from studying what’s visible on the surface. These volcanic systems are like windows into Mars’ deep interior, revealing processes happening kilometres below ground.
This all suggests that even during Mars’ most recent volcanic period, the planet’s subsurface remained geologically active and complex. The volcano didn’t just erupt once and fall silent, it evolved as conditions beneath the surface shifted and changed. It’s a reminder that Mars, though smaller and colder than Earth, has led a rich geological life. The planet’s volcanic history isn’t a simple story of early activity followed by steady decline. Instead, it’s a tale of ongoing processes, of magma systems that remained dynamic for millions of years, shaping the surface we see today.
A low-altitude demonstration and verification flight test for the Long March-10 carrier rocket and the Mengzhou crewed spaceship system. Credit: Xinhua]
China has achieved several impressive milestones in its space program in recent years. As part of their plan to build an outpost on the Moon that will compete with NASA's Artemis Program - the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) - they are busy developing a super-heavy launch system and a crew-capable spacecraft that will take taikonauts to the Moon by the end of the decade. That is the plan, at any rate, and recent tests indicate that they are on track to achieve that goal. On Wednesday, Feb. 11th, the China Manned Spaceflight Agency (CMSA) completed a major test of itsLong March-10 rocket and the Mengzhou spacecraft.
The test took place at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province. It combined a low-altitude demonstration of the Long March-10 and an in-flight abort test of the Mengzhou spacecraft. This was the first ignition flight of the Long March-10 rocket and saw the spacecraft power through the most dangerous phase of ascent - maximum dynamic pressure (or Max Q). This phase occurs as the vehicle accelerates in the lower, denser atmosphere into the thinner upper atmosphere, when aerodynamic stress peaks.
An in-flight abort test, meanwhile, evaluates the crew capsule's safety system, which separates from the rocket in case of emergency. Both the capsule and the rocket's first stage were successful and landed in their designated recovery zones. Key moments in the flight test are featured in the video below, via the state-owned China Global Television Network (CGTN):
Said Ji Qiming, the CMSA spokesperson, during an interview with CGTN:
The test represents the five 'first-times,' as we call it. It's the inaugural ignition flight of the Long March-10 carrier rocket. It's the country's first maximum-dynamic-pressure escape test for a spacecraft. It's the first sea landing and recovery of a crewed spacecraft's return capsule. It's the first sea landing of the rocket's first-stage body. And it's the first ignition launch mission for the newly constructed launch pad for lunar missions.
The Long March-10* is a next-generation partially reusable launch system designed for crewed lunar missions. The rocket comes in two configurations, the first with three stages and two strap-on boosters, similar to SpaceX's Falcon 9 or the ULA's Vulcan and Atlas V rockets. The second, the 10A, has two stages and no boosters. The rocket is powered by seven liquid oxygen (LOX) and kerosene engines in parallel. The Mengzhou* spacecraft (Chinese for 'Dream Vessel') is a reusable vehicle capable of carrying 6 to 7 taikonauts.
After the spaceship separated, the rocket continued ascending until the first stage reached its predetermined height and speed, when its engines were shut down. The rocket then commenced its glide phase and changed its orientation several times, shifting from nose-forward to tail-forward. At an altitude of about 110 km (68 mi), the rocket deployed its four grid fins to prepare for landing. Two of its engines were then reignited for the powered deceleration phase, which was followed by the aerodynamic deceleration phase that relied solely on its grid fins to slow down and adjust its position.
During the final landing phase, three engines were reignited, and the rocket maneuvered toward its landing site. When it was just a few meters above sea level, the rocket hovered in place while ground crews tested an onboard tether mechanism to simulate a recovery using a ground-based net system. The rocket then splashed down in the ocean, where recovery crews retrieved it.
The first stage of the Long March-10 carrier rocket safely splashes down in the predetermined sea area in a controlled manner as planned, Feb. 11, 2026.
[Photo/Xinhua]
Said Zhu Pingping of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation:
After completing this test flight, we can say that both the ascent profile of the Long March-10 series' first stage and the return profile of the Long March 10A have been validated. This means that the risks associated with subsequent formal mission flight tests can be effectively eliminated and controlled.
This test places China a step closer to its goal of landing astronauts on the Moon by 2030 and sending crews to other locations in deep space - like Mars. Combined with their planned expansion of the Tiangong space station, robotic missions to explore a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA), a Main Belt comet, and a Mars Sample Return (Tianwen-2 and -3, respectively), China is assuming a leadership role in space.
Glowing Orbs Over Ault, Colorado, USA Feb 8, 2026, UFO UAP Sighting News.
Date of sighting: February 8, 2026
Location of sighting: Ault, Colorado, USA
Source: NUFORC
Now this raw footage just came in yesterday and its two short videos showing not one, but three to five orbs glowing over the city of Ault. The city of Ault has a population of less than 2,000 so few eyewitnesses probably recorded this event. Colorado is famous for it sightings of huge white spheres near the edges of the Rocky Mountains and Ault is just a few miles from these mountains. Compounded by the fact that they were in triangle military formation just tells me that there is an intelligence controlling them. These are alien craft, there is no denying that fact.
Scott C. Waring - UFO Sightings Daily, Taiwan
Eyewitness states:
We were driving on hwy 14 east towards hwy 85 in between county roads 29 and 27, I think. Then we looked towards Loveland/Denver/ South and we saw 1 really bright light, looking like it was carrying, other bright light. I say, hey whats that, and as we're looking on, they seperate into a uniformed curved line. Then they begin to get very bright and some dim at the same time. All while in this curved line for like 10 minutes. At this point I had pulled over and were facing the 3 lights.
So, the light on the right of this curved line, dims itself and drops down below the other 2 lights and starts moving to the left and under the other 2 and then gets back into the lone but on the left side! Then it brightens up again. They stayed like this for 5 minutes and the light that was the middle light but now is the right light (bc the other light moved to the left) decides to do the same move as the 1st bright light. It's so hard to explain. I hope someone else saw this!
UFO in Google Earth Map Libya, the Sahara Desert, UAP paranormal sighting alien news. 👽
Date of discovery: Feb 14, 2026
Location of discovery: 24°08’56”N 23°25’25”E
Source: Google Earth Map
I found this strange craft on Google map this week. Obviously a UFO landed with a glowing doorway and a person moving towards its entrance. To see it, you must drop the person icon into the center of the crop formation and it shows a google earth 360 degree view. Is it real or just an ai photo inserted by a Google employee? AI is running rampant out of control across the internet and clearly this has a high possibility of being AI, however I feel that this could be real, it may have been cloaked at the time of the recording and may have gone overlooked by the employee posting the photo. Cameras without an ir filter can see cloaked UFOs, due to the infrared light revealing the craft, a light the human eye cannot see, but is emitted by our sun across our planet. I also notice the shadows and sky around it show zero sign of being ai (ai makes thing 100% focused) this was not, appearing to be untouched, original lighting a fading along edges. So yes, it may be real, and yes, this shape of UFOs does exist. We are left with a mystery. One thing I guarantee, Google will delete it within the next 30 days, because Google is involved with the UFO cover-up in America.
A UFO was seen in a recent video from Feb 2 in El Paso that is stirring up US gov investigations into UFOs over El Paso this week. Texas tried to shut down the El Paso airport for several weeks, but in its first hour of announcement, it was taken back due to the large amounts of travelers protesting. This UFO was caught on video in the distance and I took a screenshot of it and tried to focus it. I didn't use AI but instead did it myself. I show the steps of me adding contrast and sharpness to it. It's clear in the 4th screenshot that this object in the sky is disk with an upper and lower hump. From the distance and shape, I can estimate its size to be that of two city buses. When the US gov reacts so drastically...its a 100% guarantee its an a real UFO.
Scott C. Waring - UFO Sightings Daily, Taiwan
Eyewitness states:
According to the witness recording the hovering craft, it appeared on video 'like a dot' after moving off far into the distance, but the object was allegedly incredibly large and looked somewhat like 'a blob.'
While most of the world's glaciers are retreating as the climate warms, a small but significant population behaves very differently—and the consequences can be severe. A team of international scientists, led by the University of Portsmouth, has carried out a comprehensive global analysis of surging glaciers, examining the hazards they cause and how climate change is fundamentally altering when and where these dramatic events occur.
Glacier surges—when a glacier suddenly moves much faster than normal—rapidly transport ice to the glacier front and often cause advances. These events typically last for several years, with many glaciers experiencing repeated surges separated by decades of relative inactivity.
The study, published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, compiled a database of more than 3,100 glaciers that have surged. Rather than being scattered globally, these glaciers cluster in dense groupings across the Arctic, High Mountain Asia and the Andes.
It includes the key features and basic processes controlling glacier surges, characterizes the wide range of surging behaviors, and maps the global locations of surge-type glaciers and the climate conditions that cause them to cluster in specific areas.
"Surge-type glaciers are very unusual and can be troublesome," said lead author Dr. Harold Lovell, Senior Lecturer and glaciologist from the University of Portsmouth's School of the Environment and Life Sciences. "As a friend and fellow glaciologist once put it, they save up ice like a savings account and then spend it all very quickly like a Black Friday event. But while they only represent 1% of all glaciers worldwide, they affect just under one-fifth of global glacier area, and their behavior can result in serious and sometimes catastrophic natural disasters that affect thousands of people."
Contrary to what you might expect, the researchers found surging makes glaciers more vulnerable to climate change. When they surge, these glaciers are responsible for a large proportion of ice mass loss in some regions.
Six major hazards identified
The research identified six main types of hazards caused by glacier surges that affect communities in high mountain regions, which can result in damage to infrastructure and in some cases loss of life:
Glacier advance—ice overruns buildings, roads and farmland
River blockages—surging glaciers dam rivers, creating dangerous lakes that can release devastating floods
Meltwater outbursts from beneath the glacier—these also release potentially devastating floods
Sudden detachments of glaciers—cause large ice and rock avalanches
Widespread crevassing—high ice velocities fracture glacier surfaces, making travel extremely hazardous in regions where glaciers serve as highways between settlements and are used for tourism activities, and affecting climbing routes where glaciers provide access to mountain peaks
Iceberg hazards—when glaciers surge into the sea, they release numerous icebergs in a short time, creating risks for shipping and marine tourism
Using this data, the research team identified 81 glaciers that pose the greatest danger when they surge. The majority are in the Karakoram Mountains in High Mountain Asia, where populated valleys and critical infrastructure lie directly below surging glaciers. These glaciers are large, close to communities, and most have histories of repeated surging behavior.
Climate change is making surges increasingly unpredictable
Perhaps most concerning is the growing evidence that climate warming is fundamentally changing how glacier surges behave—making them harder to predict just when better forecasting is most needed for hazard management.
"By drawing on previous studies, we have been able to piece together the growing body of evidence that shows how climate change is affecting glacier surges, including where and how often they happen," Dr. Lovell said. "This includes instances of extreme weather such as heavy rainfall events or very warm summers triggering earlier than expected surges, suggesting an increasing unpredictability in their behavior."
The picture emerging from the research is complex and regionally varied. Some glaciers are now surging more frequently than they did several decades ago, while in other regions surge activity is declining. There is evidence that some glaciers have thinned so much they can no longer build sufficient ice to surge in the future.
Surge behavior may also shift to new regions entirely. It is known that surging glaciers are currently concentrated in the Arctic and sub-Arctic (48%) and High Mountain Asia (50%), where specific climate conditions make surges more likely. But ongoing climate warming may change this distribution dramatically.
Surges might largely stop in places like Iceland, where glaciers are shrinking rapidly and struggling to accumulate enough ice. Meanwhile, they could become more frequent in parts of High Mountain Asia and in the Canadian and Russian Arctic due to warmer temperatures and increased meltwater. It's even possible that glaciers might begin surging in the Antarctic Peninsula and other areas where surge-type glaciers are not currently known to exist.
Co-author Professor Gwenn Flowers, from Simon Fraser University in Canada, said, "The challenge we face is that just as we're starting to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms behind glacier surges, climate change is rewriting the rules. Extreme weather events that might have been rare even 50 years ago could become triggers for unexpected surges. Given that surges cause hazards in some settings, this makes protecting vulnerable communities much more difficult."
Dr. Lovell added, "This research is extremely important because understanding which regions have concentrations of surging glaciers helps us plan monitoring efforts and understand future behavior. Knowing which specific glaciers pose the greatest risks can help protect communities, especially those most at risk. But the increasing unpredictability means we need much better surveillance and forecasting capabilities."
The findings emphasize the urgent need for continued satellite monitoring, expanded on-the-ground observations of conditions during surges, improved computer models of surge processes, and projections of how surging glaciers will respond to ongoing climate warming.
Publication details
Harold Lovell et al, Glacier surging and surge-related hazards in a changing climate, Nature Reviews Earth & Environment (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s43017-025-00757-9
While many of the world's glaciers are in rapid retreat, scientists have been baffled to find 3,100 that are 'surging'.
While this might sound like a good thing, the experts warn that it could be even more 'troublesome' than glacial retreat.
During a surge, a glacier sends large amounts of ice built up over decades racing downhill, where it rapidly melts in the warm lower-altitude weather.
Surge–prone glaciers make up a large proportion of lost ice in some regions, and experts warn that some are even 'surging themselves to death'.
While this is bad news for the glaciers themselves, the outlook is even worse for the people who live beside them.
Unlike most glaciers, which move gradually forward, surging glaciers shift in short bursts of rapid movement lasting a few years, followed by decades-long periods of quiet.
Lead author Dr Harold Lovell, a glaciologist from the University of Portsmouth, says: 'They save up ice like a savings account and then spend it all very quickly like a Black Friday event.
'But while they only represent one per cent of all glaciers worldwide, they affect just under one–fifth of global glacier area, and their behaviour can result in serious and sometimes catastrophic natural disasters that affect thousands of people.'
Scientists have discovered 3,100 glaciers that are not retreating but surging (illustrated), as they warn that this could be even more 'troubling'
Scientists aren't entirely sure what triggers surges, but research suggests they are probably related to conditions in the glacier's underside, where ice meets the ground
These glaciers store massive reserves of ice until heavy rainfall or hot weather trigger a buildup of water beneath the ice, reducing friction and allowing the glacier to slide downhill.
Although it might temporarily look like the glacier is advancing, the results are often catastrophic for the glacier.
Dr Lovell told the Daily Mail: 'When glaciers surge, they very quickly spend all the ice they have built up over a long period of time. This ice then melts away in warmer temperatures at lower elevations, leaving the glacier very vulnerable.
'There are examples of glaciers "surging themselves to death" - losing so much ice during a surge that they cannot recover in the current warmer climate.'
Surging glaciers are also highly concentrated in just a few dense clusters in the Arctic, High Mountain Asia, and the Andes, where there is the right balance of temperature and precipitation.
The problem is that these surges result in huge changes to the environment around the glacier, which can be devastating for nearby settlements.
Glacier surging creates serious hazards for people living near the ice, as the advance threatens to swallow homes, trigger flooding, create landslides, and fill waterways with dangerous icerbergs
The threat posed by the world's surge–prone glaciers (illustrated) is made worse by the fact that these events are so unpredictable
Why are surging glaciers dangerous?
Glacier advance: Ice overruns buildings, roads and farmland.
River blockages: Surging glaciers dam rivers, creating dangerous lakes that can release devastating floods.
Meltwater outbursts from beneath the glacier: These also release potentially devastating floods.
Sudden detachments of glaciers: Cause large ice and rock avalanches.
Widespread crevassing:High ice velocities fracture glacier surfaces, making travel extremely hazardous in regions where glaciers serve as highways between settlements and are used for tourism activities, and affecting climbing routes where glaciers provide access to mountain peaks.
Iceberg hazards: When glaciers surge into the sea, they release numerous icebergs in a short time, creating risks for shipping and marine tourism
Glacier advances can overrun roads, farmland, and even buildings, as well as blocking rivers, creating lakes that can release dangerous floods.
During a surge, meltwater that has built up beneath the glacier can suddenly be released in the form of a devastating flash flood.
The rapid movement forward also makes the glacier less stable, creating a network of widespread crevasses that can be perilous for anyone travelling over the ice.
In extreme cases, the glacier may begin to break up, releasing hazardous icebergs or suddenly detaching in a large ice and rock avalanche.
In their paper, published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, the researchers identified the 81 glaciers that pose the greatest danger when they surge.
Most of these are in the Karakoram Mountains, which span China, India, and Pakistan, where populated valleys and critical infrastructure sit directly below surging glaciers such as the Shisper and Kyagar.
However, they can also be found all over the world, with serious threats posed by the Tweedsmuir Glacier in Alaska-Yukon and the Kolka Glacier in the Caucasus.
This risk is made worse by the fact that surges are very hard to predict, and climate change is only making them less reliable.
Of the 81 most dangerous glaciers in the world, most are in the Karakoram mountain range, where inhabited valleys sit directly below surging glaciers such as the Shisper glacier (pictured)
In some areas, glaciers are now so thin that they don't have the ice to surge, but others are now surging more than ever.
Dr Lovell says: 'We have been able to piece together the growing body of evidence that shows how climate change is affecting glacier surges, including where and how often they happen.
'This includes instances of extreme weather such as heavy rainfall events or very warm summers, triggering earlier than expected surges, suggesting an increasing unpredictability in their behaviour.'
Surges might stop altogether in places like Iceland, where glaciers are shrinking rapidly and struggling to build up ice.
But they could become more frequent in parts of High Mountain Asia and in the Canadian and Russian Arctic due to warmer temperatures and increased meltwater.
The researchers even suggest that surges could be seen in the Antarctic Peninsula, where surging glaciers have never been seen before.
Co–author Professor Gwenn Glowers, of Simon Fraser University in Canada, says: 'Just as we're starting to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms behind glacier surges, climate change is rewriting the rules.
'Extreme weather events that might have been rare even 50 years ago could become triggers for unexpected surges. Given that surges cause hazards in some settings, this makes protecting vulnerable communities much more difficult.'
30 misvattingen die moderne ‘feiten’ zijn geworden Koffie wordt gemaakt van bonen, pinguïns paren voor het leven en kameleons veranderen van kleur om bij hun omgeving te passen... Dit zijn allemaal 'feiten' waarvan je waarschijnlijk denkt dat ze waar zijn. De meeste mensen geloven tenslotte dat dit zo is. Deskundigen hebben er echter op gewezen dat veel zogenaamde 'feiten' eenvoudige misvattingen zijn. Dan zijn er enkele die gewoon regelrechte mythen zijn!Wat zijn enkele veelvoorkomende ‘feiten’ die eigenlijk misvattingen zijn? Lees verder om erachter te komen.
Mount Everest is de ‘hoogste’ berg ter wereld Hoewel de Mount Everest wordt beschouwd als de hoogste berg ter wereld, beweren experts dat dit technisch gezien niet waar is. De top van de Mount Everest ligt officieel hoger boven zeeniveau dan de top van welke andere berg dan ook. Mauna Kea is echter de hoogste, gemeten van basis tot top.
Via je hoofd verlies je je lichaamswarmte het snelst Hoewel algemeen wordt aangenomen dat dit waar is, zeggen sommige experts dat het slechts een mythe is, en dat mensen het net zo koud zouden hebben als ze zonder hoed zouden gaan, als wanneer ze zonder broek zouden gaan.
Eén mensenjaar komt overeen met zeven hondenjaren Hoewel het voor sommige honden waar kan zijn, is het geen vuistregel. Het hangt allemaal af van de grootte en het ras van de hond.
Sushi betekent ‘rauwe vis’ Hoewel een van de meest voorkomende ingrediënten rauwe vis kan zijn, vertaalt sushi zich eigenlijk van het Japans naar 'zure smaak'.
Vikingen droegen gehoornde helmen Hoewel dit misschien wel waar is, zeggen historici dat er feitelijk geen bewijs is dat Vikingen ooit gehoornde helmen droegen.
Vitamine C is een effectieve behandeling tegen verkoudheid Grieppatiënten worden vaak aangemoedigd om hun vitamine C-dosering te verhogen, maar de meeste deskundigen hebben verklaard dat er weinig tot geen bewijs is dat de vitamine kan helpen bij de behandeling van verkoudheid. In plaats daarvan wordt aangenomen dat het helpt bij het opbouwen van het immuunsysteem om potentiële griepvirussen af te weren.
Mensen gebruiken slechts 10% van hun hersenen Neurologen zeggen dat dit volkomen onwaar is. Mensen gebruiken bijna elk deel van hun hersenen, en het grootste deel van de hersenen is altijd actief.
Koffie wordt gemaakt van bonen Hoewel velen aannemen dat koffie uit koffiebonen komt, zeggen experts dat ze eigenlijk zijn gemaakt van zaden die boon worden genoemd.
Gelukskoekjes zijn een Chinese traditie Gelukskoekjes waren oorspronkelijk een Japans-Amerikaanse uitvinding voordat ze op grote schaal werden overgenomen door de Chinese cultuur.
Verschillende delen van je tong detecteren verschillende smaken Dit werd wetenschappelijk weerlegd, omdat onderzoekers ontdekten dat alle smaaksensaties uit alle delen van de tong komen. Verschillende delen zijn echter gevoeliger voor bepaalde smaken, en dit is wellicht de reden waarom dit populaire geloof ontstaat.
Als je een babyvogeltje vastpakt, zal de moeder het afwijzen De meeste vogels hebben een zeer slecht reukvermogen, dus in de meeste gevallen kunnen ze de menselijke geur op een babyvogel niet eens opmerken.
Kameleons veranderen van kleur om bij hun omgeving te passen De waarheid is dat kameleons feitelijk van kleur veranderen als reactie op stemming, temperatuur, communicatie en licht, in plaats van op het object dat ze aanraken.
Er is een donkere kant van de maan Omdat de maan voortdurend om zijn eigen as draait, is er geen enkel deel van de planeet dat in permanente duisternis verkeert.
Bloed is blauw voordat het zuurstof krijgt Hoewel velen geloven dat zuurstofarm bloed blauw is, is dit feitelijk een mythe, omdat menselijk bloed altijd rood is. De mate van roodheid verschilt echter afhankelijk van hoe zuurstofrijk het is.
Wakkere slaapwandelaars zijn schadelijk voor hen Het wakker maken van een slaapwandelaar zal geen lichamelijk letsel veroorzaken, maar het kan ervoor zorgen dat hij schrikt of gedesoriënteerd raakt.
Pinguïns paren voor het leven Pinguïns zijn meestal monogaam, maar er zijn enkele soorten, zoals de keizerspinguïn, die alleen serieel monogaam zijn. Ze paren een seizoen lang met één pinguïn en gaan het volgende seizoen over op een andere pinguïn.
Als je je beenhaar scheert, groeit het sneller terug Velen geloven dat het scheren van lichaamshaar ervoor zorgt dat het sneller teruggroeit, maar het scheren van haar verandert niets aan de dikte, kleur of groeisnelheid. Het kan een tijdje grof aanvoelen als het uitgroeit.
De Chinese Muur is vanuit de ruimte te zien De Apollo-astronauten bevestigden dat je de Chinese Muur vanaf de maan niet kunt zien. In feite is het enige wat je vanaf de maan kunt zien het witte en blauwe marmer van de aarde.
Cafeïne droogt je uit Hoewel cafeïnehoudende dranken een mild diuretisch effect hebben, zeggen experts dat ze het risico op uitdroging niet lijken te vergroten.
Stieren zijn woedend over de kleur rood Het is een bewezen feit dat stieren alleen blauw en geel zien. Alleen tijdens stierengevechten reageren ze vanwege de bewegingen op de rode cape.
Vingernagels blijven groeien nadat je sterft De uitdroging van het lichaam na de dood kan ervoor zorgen dat de huid rond haar en nagels terugtrekt, waardoor de illusie ontstaat dat ze zijn gegroeid. Alle weefsels hebben echter energie nodig om hun functies te behouden, wat niet mogelijk is als ze dood zijn.
Een goudvis heeft een geheugenspanne van drie seconden Dit is niet waar, aangezien goudvissen zeer goede herinneringen aan vissen hebben. Ze kunnen worden getraind om op verschillende manieren te reageren op bepaalde kleuren licht en verschillende soorten muziek.
Microgolfstraling kan kanker veroorzaken De meeste deskundigen zijn van mening dat magnetrons niet genoeg energie afgeven om het genetisch materiaal in de cellen te beschadigen en dus geen kanker kunnen veroorzaken.
Kaas eten voor het slapengaan zal je nachtmerries bezorgen Er wordt aangenomen dat kaas je meer emotioneel geladen dromen bezorgt, maar niet noodzakelijkerwijs nachtmerries.
Struisvogels steken hun kop in het zand als ze bang zijn Struisvogels slikken zand en kiezelstenen in om het voedsel in hun maag te vermalen. Dit betekent dat ze moeten bukken en hun hoofd kort in de aarde moeten steken om de steentjes op te vangen. Het heeft niets te maken met hun angst.
Alcohol houdt je warm Alcohol zorgt ervoor dat je bloedvaten verwijden, waardoor warm bloed dichter bij het huidoppervlak komt. Hierdoor kun je je tijdelijk warmer voelen. Diezelfde aderen die het bloed dichter naar het huidoppervlak pompen, zorgen er echter ook voor dat je lichaamswarmte verliest.
De aardkern heeft mogelijk negen keer zoveel waterstof als alle oceanen op aarde bij elkaar.
Deze waterstof is waarschijnlijk ontstaan tijdens de vorming van de aarde en niet door latere inslagen van kometen.
Onderzoekers hebben een nieuwe techniek gebruikt, atoomprobetomografie genaamd, om individuele atomen in ijzermonsters die de omstandigheden in de kern van de aarde nabootsen, rechtstreeks te observeren, wat tot deze baanbrekende schatting heeft geleid.
De aardkern bevat mogelijk enorme reservoirs aan waterstof, mogelijk negen keer zoveel als alle oceanen op aarde samen. Volgens recent onderzoek in Nature Communications zou de aardkern wel waterstof kunnen bevatten ter hoeveelheid van 45 oceanen.
Vroege waterverwerving
Wetenschappers denken dat deze waterstof tijdens de eerste vorming van de aarde in de aarde is opgenomen, en niet door latere kometeninslagen die water op het oppervlak zouden hebben afgezet. Dit betekent dat de aarde het grootste deel van haar water vroeg in haar geschiedenis heeft gekregen, waarbij de mantel en de korst minder water bevatten dan de kern.
De aardkern, die voornamelijk bestaat uit ijzer en nikkel, genereert het beschermende magnetische veld van de planeet. Inzicht in het waterstofgehalte in deze kern is cruciaal voor het begrijpen van de vorming van planeten en de evolutie van het leven. Het is echter onmogelijk om de kern rechtstreeks te observeren vanwege de enorme diepte en de extreme druk.
De kern van de aarde bestaat voornamelijk uit de metalen ijzer en nikkel, maar bevat ook lichtere elementen zoals waterstof, zuurstof en silicium.
CharlesC via Wikimedia Commons onder CC-BY-3.0
Nieuwe observatietechniek
Eerdere pogingen om de waterstof in de kern te meten gebruikten indirecte methoden. Ze analyseerden bijvoorbeeld de structuur van ijzerkristallen. Dit leidde tot sterk verschillende schattingen. In het nieuwe onderzoek gebruiken de wetenschappers een techniek genaamd Atoomprobe-tomografie. Daarmee kunnen ze individuele atomen in een monster direct bekijken. Dit gebeurt onder hoge druk en temperatuur, zoals in het binnenste van de aarde.
De onderzoekers smolten ijzermonsters in een diamant-aambeeldcel. Daarna gebruikten ze Atoomprobe-tomografie om te zien hoe waterstof, silicium en zuurstof waren verdeeld. Zo konden ze de verhouding tussen waterstof en silicium ongeveer op 1:1 schatten. Door dit te combineren met eerdere schattingen van het siliciumgehalte in de kern, konden ze ook de totale hoeveelheid waterstof benaderen.
Onzekerheden blijven bestaan
De nieuwe methode geeft waardevolle inzichten in de samenstelling van de kern. Ook helpt het te begrijpen hoe warmte wordt afgegeven, wat bijdraagt aan het magnetisch veld van de aarde. Onderzoekers geven wel aan dat er nog onzekerheden zijn. Zo kan er tijdens het decompressieproces waterstof verloren gaan, waardoor de hoeveelheid waterstof misschien wordt onderschat.
Meer onderzoek is nodig om deze schattingen te verbeteren. Ook willen wetenschappers de complexe chemische interacties in de kern beter begrijpen. Toch laat het onderzoek zien dat waterstof belangrijk is voor de ontwikkeling van de aarde. Het speelde al een grote rol in een vroeg stadium van de vorming van planeten.
Everything Trump Has Said About UFOs, Aliens in Speeches
By Joe Edwards
President Donald Trump has alternated between skepticism and curiosity about unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and aliens, discussing pilots’ sightings, government secrecy, and his own access to information during interviews and appearances.
A 2021 survey by Pew Research Center found that almost two-thirds (65 percent) of Americans believe that intelligent life could exist on other planets.
Trump’s evolving remarks offer a window into how a former and current president talks about alleged sightings.
Donald Trump looks on during Turning Point USA's AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center on December 22, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Rebecca Noble/Getty Images
In June 2019, Trump said he had been briefed on Navy UFO reports and expressed doubt, stating to ABC News: “I did have one very brief meeting on it,” adding that “people are saying they’re seeing UFOs. Do I believe it? Not particularly.”
Also in 2019, he told Tucker Carlson he wasn’t convinced in the existence of UFOs. “Well, I don't want to really get into it too much. But personally, I tend to doubt it," Trump said. "I'm not a believer, but you know, I guess anything is possible.”
In June 2020, when his son Donald Trump Jr. asked him about revealing “what’s really going on with Roswell,” Trump answered, per The Hill: “I won’t talk to you about what I know about it, but it’s very interesting.”
Major Jesse Marcel, pictured below in 1947 with crash debris, was the first military officer to investigate the Roswell Incident, one of the most famous examples of the supposed recovery of crashed extraterrestrial technology and biological entities.
On Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast in June 2024, Trump said he had met with pilots who described seeing "things you wouldn’t believe,” reiterating he was not a believer himself.
“But I have met with people, serious people, that say there are some really strange things flying around out there,” he said.
Pressed on whether he had access to files about aliens and UAPs, Trump added: “I have access...and I speak to people about it, I’ve had actually meetings on it,” also saying he had heard of aircraft “round in form, going like four times faster than my super jet fighter plane.”
Everything Trump has said about UFOs, aliens in speeches
President Donald Trump has alternated between skepticism and curiosity about unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and aliens, discussing pilots’ sightings, government secrecy, and his own access to information during interviews and appearances.
A 2021 survey by Pew Research Center found that almost two-thirds (65 percent) of Americans believe that intelligent life could exist on other planets.
Trump’s evolving remarks offer a window into how a former and current president talks about alleged sightings.
In June 2019, Trump said he had been briefed on Navy UFO reports and expressed doubt, stating to ABC News: “I did have one very brief meeting on it,” adding that “people are saying they’re seeing UFOs. Do I believe it? Not particularly.”
Also in 2019, he told Tucker Carlson he wasn’t convinced in the existence of UFOs. “Well, I don’t want to really get into it too much. But personally, I tend to doubt it,” Trump said. “I’m not a believer, but you know, I guess anything is possible.”
In June 2020, when his son Donald Trump Jr. asked him about revealing “what’s really going on with Roswell,” Trump answered, per The Hill: “I won’t talk to you about what I know about it, but it’s very interesting.”
Major Jesse Marcel, pictured below in 1947 with crash debris, was the first military officer to investigate the Roswell Incident, one of the most famous examples of the supposed recovery of crashed extraterrestrial technology and biological entities.
On Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast in June 2024, Trump said he had met with pilots who described seeing “things you wouldn’t believe,” reiterating he was not a believer himself.
“But I have met with people, serious people, that say there are some really strange things flying around out there,” he said.
Pressed on whether he had access to files about aliens and UAPs, Trump added: “I have access…and I speak to people about it, I’ve had actually meetings on it,” also saying he had heard of aircraft “round in form, going like four times faster than my super jet fighter plane.”
A live‑streamed congressional hearing held on Tuesday afternoon featured former President Donald J. Trump and former Department of Defense (DoD) official Luis Elizondo, who is widely recognized for his role in bringing the Pentagon’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) program to public attention. The session, convened by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, was billed as an opportunity for lawmakers to question senior officials about the status of UAP investigations and any potential national‑security implications. During his remarks, Trump alluded to “shocking” information he had received about unidentified objects, prompting a flurry of media coverage and speculation about the depth of government disclosure.
Key Points Discussed
Trump’s Assertions: The former president claimed that, during his tenure, the administration received “credible briefings” on UAP encounters that were “far more advanced than anything we have publicly acknowledged.” He emphasized that the intelligence community had “kept many details classified” and suggested that a broader release could be forthcoming.
Elizondo’s Testimony:Luis Elizondo, who formerly led the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), reiterated that the DoD has collected “hundreds of validated sightings” from military pilots and radar operators. He cited recent declassified videos released by the Pentagon as evidence of “objects that demonstrate flight characteristics beyond known technology.”
Committee’s Response:Chairwoman Rep. Jamie Rogers (R‑AL) pressed both witnesses on the timeline for further disclosures, asking whether a formal report to Congress had been completed. Both Trump and Elizondo indicated that a “comprehensive briefing” is slated for the upcoming month, pending security reviews.
Key Figures
Donald J. Trump: Former President (2017‑2021); participant in the hearing, offering personal insight into classified briefings received while in office.
Luis Elizondo: Former DoD official and founder of the To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science; testified on the Pentagon’s UAP data collection and analysis efforts.
Rep. Jamie Rogers (R‑AL): Chair of the House Oversight Committee; moderated the hearing and directed questions toward transparency and accountability.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D‑AZ): Former astronaut and co‑sponsor of the 2023 UAP Disclosure Act; referenced earlier legislative milestones during the session.
Chronology & Context
The hearing follows a series of legislative and executive actions aimed at increasing transparency around UAPs. In late 2022, the DoD released three short videos—dubbed “Gimbal,” “GoFast,” and “FLIR”—showing unidentified objects captured by Navy pilots. The 2023 UAP Disclosure Act mandated the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to produce an annual report on UAP investigations, a requirement that was fulfilled in March 2024. The current session marks the first time a former president has publicly addressed the matter in a congressional setting, occurring just weeks after the Intelligence Community’s “Preliminary Assessment” report, which acknowledged “multiple unexplained aerial phenomena” but stopped short of attributing them to extraterrestrial sources.
Conclusion
While the hearing did not produce concrete new evidence, it underscored the growing pressure on the U.S. government to move beyond limited, classified briefings toward broader public disclosure. **
Jeremy Corbell Showed Us UAP Footage That Changes Everything
Overview
In a recent interview on the Talia program, investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker Jeremy Corbell unveiled a previously unreleased thermal video that captures an unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP) over Syria in 2021. The footage, which Corbell says was originally recorded by a military sensor, shows an object accelerating instantaneously, disappearing without any visible propulsion or exhaust plume. According to Corbell, the video represents “some of the most compelling evidence to date of technology that defies known laws of physics,” and he argues that its release marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing public discourse on UAPs.
The 2021 Syria Footage
The centerpiece of the discussion is a thermal‑imaging clip that depicts a luminous object moving at an extreme rate of acceleration before vanishing from view in a fraction of a second. Corbell stresses that the video was analyzed by U.S. government officials, and that the accompanying technical breakdown reflects the agency’s own assessment rather than third‑party speculation. He notes that the object exhibits “no visible means of propulsion or exhaust,” and that the rapid change in velocity appears to contradict conventional understandings of inertia and aerodynamics. While Corbell refrains from labeling the phenomenon as extraterrestrial, he emphasizes that the data “survives scientific scrutiny” only if it can be reproduced and examined under controlled conditions.
Historical Context and Related Cases
Corbell situates the Syrian incident within a broader pattern of UAP encounters reported by military and civilian observers over the past two decades. He references several well‑documented cases, including:
USS Omaha, where a craft entered water without creating a splash, suggesting “trans‑medium” capabilities.
USS Russell, which recorded pyramid‑shaped objects on radar and infrared sensors.
The “Tic‑Tac” UAP, famously discussed during 2020 congressional hearings and witnessed by Navy pilots.
Additional sightings such as the Mosul Orb, Baghdad Phantom, Syria Dome, and the “Jellyfish” UAP.
By linking these incidents, Corbell argues that the phenomena are not isolated anomalies but part of a persistent, physical reality that repeatedly appears in restricted airspace.
Scientific and Technical Implications
When pressed on the survivability of such rapid acceleration for a human occupant, Corbell responded that “according to modern physics, a human would be turned to jelly.” He hypothesizes that the craft may generate a localized “time‑space bubble” that shields its interior from extreme inertial forces, a concept that, if verified, would have profound implications for physics and aerospace engineering. Corbell also rejects the notion that the sightings are simply “black projects” of the U.S. defense establishment, pointing out that documented UAP reports predate the Department of Defense and modern aerospace programs. He cites congressional testimony suggesting the recovery of “non‑human” biological material from crash sites, though he acknowledges that such claims remain unverified.
Calls for a Data‑Driven Approach
Moving beyond speculation, Corbell urges the scientific community to adopt a “data‑driven” stance toward UAPs. He contends that the current era of “catastrophic disclosure”—characterized by increasing whistleblower releases and declassified material—requires rigorous analysis rather than dismissal. In his view, physicists and engineers should engage with the expanding dataset, applying established methodologies to evaluate performance envelopes, sensor signatures, and potential propulsion mechanisms. Corbell’s broader objective, he says, is to “weaponize curiosity” so that the public gains access to what he describes as the “fundamental nature of reality” that has long been concealed.
Outlook and Next Steps
The release of the Syrian UAP footage adds another data point to an already sizable collection of anomalous aerial observations. While the video has not yet undergone peer‑reviewed publication, its provenance—military‑originated thermal imaging and government‑level analysis—provides a degree of credibility that distinguishes it from many prior claims. Future steps will likely involve independent verification by scientific institutions, potential replication of sensor signatures, and continued congressional oversight. As Corbell concludes, “the dam is breaking” on disclosure, and the onus now lies on researchers, policymakers, and the public to determine how this emerging evidence reshapes our understanding of aerial phenomena and, possibly, the limits of physics itself.
Surprise, surprise: all that climate stuff scientists have been warning us about is coming back to bite us. And by us, of course, we mean all of humanity.
As reported by the Guardian, scientists just published a warning that Earth is approaching a point of no return. A new study in the journal One Earth shows multiple climate systems — the Greenland ice sheet, the West Antarctic ice sheet, boreal permafrost, the Amazon rainforest — are all much closer to collapse than previously thought.
Will the Earth become uninhabitable? New experiment predicts interesting future
“Research shows that several Earth system components may be closer to destabilising than once believed,” the researchers urged. “While the exact risk is uncertain, it is clear that current climate commitments are insufficient.”
The analysis is based on climate “tipping points,” meaning collapses of environmental systems that lead other climate systems beyond their own tipping points, creating a snowball scenario where the planet spirals into a worst-case-scenario known as “hothouse Earth.” Under this scenario, the long-term temperature is projected to rise about 9 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial averages — which would be really bad.
“Crossing even some of the [tipping point] thresholds could commit the planet to a hothouse trajectory,” said Christopher Wolf, a scientist at the environmental group Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Associates. “Policymakers and the public remain largely unaware of the risks posed by what would effectively be a point-of-no-return transition.”
What makes this all particularly insulting is the fact that the poor people of the world — those who will suffer the earliest and deepest losses as a result of climate change — are powerless to stop these tipping points from boiling over. And not for lack of will: the global climate movement is growing steadily, as Americans have perhaps never been more aware that climate change will impact the low-income people of the world the most.
Will the Earth become uninhabitable? New experiment predicts interesting future
Unfortunately, the power to reverse these decisions doesn’t belong to the people, but to a small cabal of the ultra-rich. The future of the planet is so far out of our control that some environmental experts argue not even the world’s most powerful governments can stop the collapse.
As University of Manitoba professor David Camfield and author of the 2022 book “Future on Fire: Capitalism and the Politics of Climate Change” has explained, the level of political power held by the ultra-rich and their corporations is so immense that even a government with popular support and commitment to emissions cuts would struggle under the weight of corporate investment strikes, pressure from credit agencies, and catastrophic market disruption.
“To weaken those political obstacles sufficiently that a government could get a just transition underway would take massive pressure of the kind that only movements can unleash,” Camfield asserts.
The math, in other words, is brutal. Capitalism’s logic demands unending accumulation of wealth, leading to a world in which corporations must grow or die, no matter the consequences. To transition out of this mess would mean weakening capital’s entire grip on power — something which has only ever been achieved when the great masses of toiling people come together to demand a better world.
For over two decades, millions of people volunteered the computational capacity of their computers to help UC Berkeley scientists in their search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).
The goal of the project, called SETI@home, was to trawl through data collected by the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico for signs of unusual radio signals from the cosmos. It was a powerful example of “distributed computing,” which relies on a huge network of individual computers — but whether the search has borne any fruit remains unclear as scientists continue to analyze the wealth of data.
A screenshot of the SETI@home user interface on a desktop computer in 2009. The software ran on millions of home computers worldwide, analyzing radio data from space in search of signals from extraterrestrial civilizations.
Credit: Robert Sanders/UC Berkeley
SETI@home concluded after 21 years in 2020, producing a whopping 12 billion detections, according to a UC Berkeley press release, making it “one of the most popular crowd-sourced research projects ever.”
Over the years, researchers whittled down the data to just 100 signals that were “worth a second look” by eliminating radio frequency interference and noise with the help of a supercomputer. Since July, they’ve been using China’s Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), in the hopes of catching another glimpse of the identified targets.
Unfortunately, the Arecibo Observatory — once the world’s largest radio telescope — collapsed during a storm in 2020, and is being decommissioned.
Even if the project never leads to first contact with an intelligent extraterrestrial species, it doesn’t mean SETI@home was a waste of time. Researchers are still trawling through the FAST data, but early conclusions of the project and its effectiveness have already resulted in twopapers that were published last year in The Astronomical Journal.
“If we don’t find ET, what we can say is that we established a new sensitivity level,” said project cofounder David Anderson in a statement. “If there were a signal above a certain power, we would have found it.”
The team is hoping to inspire a successor to the crowdsourced research project, while applying what they’ve learned.
“Some of our conclusions are that the project didn’t completely work the way we thought it was going to,” Anderson said. “And we have a long list of things that we would have done differently and that future sky survey projects should do differently.”
Astronomer and project director Eric Korpela also pointed out that the considerable amount of radio interference, which can emanate from other sources, including radio and TV broadcasts and even microwave ovens, could seriously mess with the data.
David Anderson, co-founder of SETI@home, discusses the distributed computing project in 2003.
Credit: Robert Sanders/UC Berkeley
“We have to do a better job of measuring what we’re excluding,” he said. “Are we throwing out the baby with the bath water? I don’t think we know for most SETI searches, and that is really a lesson for SETI searches everywhere.”
Given the lack of a smoking gun after trawling “billions and billions” of stars in the Milky Way, the project left the alien-hunting organizers somewhat deflated.
“We are, without doubt, the most sensitive narrow-band search of large portions of the sky, so we had the best chance of finding something,” Korpela explained. “So yeah, there’s a little disappointment that we didn’t see anything.”
However, the researcher hasn’t given up on the idea, particularly given the immense advancements in computer power and improved internet connections.
“I think that you could still get significantly more processing power than we used for SETI@home and process more data because of a wider internet bandwidth,” Korpela said. However, “the biggest issue with such a project is that it requires personnel, and personnel means salaries. It’s not the cheapest way to do SETI.”
And plenty of what-ifs remain, especially considering the limitations of the SETI@home project.
“There’s still the potential that ET is in that data and we missed it just by a hair,” he pondered.
Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek: Mogelijke Verstopplaatsen voor BuitenAardse Levensvormen in de Multiversumtheorie
Image: Getty
Inleiding
Het bestaan van buitenaardse beschavingen vormt al decennia een intrigerend vraagstuk binnen de astrofysica en de zoektocht naar het leven buiten de aarde. Traditioneel wordt deze zoektocht ondersteund door de Drake-vergelijking, een wiskundig model dat is ontworpen om het aantal intelligente beschavingen in onze Melkweg te schatten. Echter, recente theoretische ontwikkelingen suggereren dat misschien niet alle bewijzen of het ontbreken daarvan eenvoudig te verklaren zijn binnen het beperkt kader van ons eigen universum. In plaats daarvan zou het kunnen dat buitenaards leven zich verschuilt in andere, parallelle universa binnen een multiversum.
De Drake-vergelijking en haar beperkingen
De klassieke Drake-vergelijking werd in de jaren zestig door de astronoom Frank Drake geïntroduceerd met het oog op het schatten van het aantal beschavingen dat communicatie met ons zou kunnen onderhouden. Deze vergelijking houdt rekening met verschillende factoren zoals de stervormingssnelheid, de gemiddelde omvang van planetenstelsels, de kans op het ontstaan van leven en de ontwikkeling van intelligentie. Hoewel nuttig, is er bewustzijn dat deze formule gebaseerd is op aannames en gegevens die slechts voor ons eigen universum geldig zijn.
De invoering van multiversumtheorie
Recente modellen in de theoretische fysica en kosmologie brengen het concept van een multiversum naar voren. In deze theorieën bestaan er talloze universa, elk met eigen natuurkundige parameters, waarvan sommige mogelijk afwijkingen vertonen die de ontwikkeling van leven bevorderen of belemmeren.
Revisie van de Drake-vergelijking: Een multiversum-benadering
In een baanbrekend artikel gepubliceerd in het Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, presenteert een team onder leiding van astrofysicus Daniele Sorini van de Universiteit van Durham een vernieuwde interpretatie van de Drake-vergelijking. Deze herziening houdt rekening met het potentieel dat de meeste beschavingen zich niet binnen ons eigen universum bevinden, maar elders in het multiversum, waar fysische condities wellicht meer gunstig zijn.
Dark Energie en universele condities
Een essentieel onderdeel van deze nieuwe theorie betreft de rol van donkere energie, een mysterieuze component die de versnelde uitdijing van het universum verklaart. Sorini en collega’s ontdekten dat universa met een hogere donkere energiedichtheid, waardoor het creëren van sterrenstelsels efficiënter wordt, wellicht een grotere kans op het ontstaan van intelligent leven bieden.
Specifiek suggereren ze dat een universum waarin ongeveer 27 procent van de gewone materie wordt omgezet in sterren, veel gunstiger zou zijn voor de ontwikkeling van leven, dan ons eigen universum met een geschatte 23 procent. Dit impliceert dat onze kosmische omgeving niet optimaal is voor de emergentie van geavanceerd leven, wat de mogelijkheid opent dat leven elders in het multiversum zich bevindt onder andere fysieke condities.
Implicaties en wetenschappelijke vooruitzichten
Sorini’s conclussie dat hogere of andere varianten van donkere energie-compatible universa nog steeds levens mogelijk maken, leidt tot provocatieve vragen over onze plaats in de kosmos. “Het is verrassend dat een hogere dichtheid van donkere energie nog steeds compatibel kan zijn met leven”, aldus Sorini. Dit wijst erop dat onze universele condities mogelijk niet representatief zijn voor de meest waarschijnlijke of gunstige condities voor het ontstaan van intelligent leven.
Hoewel het idee dat buitenaardse beschavingen zich in parallelle universa verbergen absurd lijkt op het eerste gezicht, biedt deze theorie een fascinerend raamwerk om de beperkingen van onze observaties en de grenzen van onze kennis te overbruggen. Het model dient niet alleen ter verklaarding van het ontbreken van contact, maar ook als een experimentale basis om onze zoektocht uit te breiden naar een multiversum.
Wetenschappelijke relevantie en toekomstige onderzoeksmogelijkheden
Het onderzoeken van de parameters die het ontstaan van leven in verschillende universe vormen, wordt door de onderzoekers beschreven als een van de grootste uitdagingen binnen de kosmologie en fundamentele fysica. Door het aanpassen van de variabelen zoals donkere energie, kunnen theoretici simulaties en modellen ontwikkelen die ons inzicht bieden in hoe leven zich mogelijk ontwikkelt onder uiteenlopende kosmologische condities.
Leuk, gehecht aan het concept van de multiversum, is de mogelijkheid dat de zoektocht naar buitenaards leven niet beperkt is tot onze eigen kosmos. In plaats daarvan openen nieuwe theoretische kaders mogelijkheden om dat zoekproces uit te breiden en te verdiepen, bijvoorbeeld door het kijken naar “labels” van verschillende universa en hun specifieke fysische eigenschappen.
Kritisch perspectief en wetenschappelijke uitdaging
Hoewel de theorie dat aliens zich mogelijk in het multiversum bevinden, buitengewoon fascinerend is, blijft het een speculatieve hypothese. Het ontbreken van direct bewijs betekent dat deze ideeën uiteindelijk binnen de puristische paradigma’s in de fysica en kosmologie als controversieel worden beschouwd. Toch kan de verkenning van deze hypothesen nieuwe wegen creëren voor onze wetenschappelijke vragen en experimenten.
Conclusie
De herziening van de Drake-vergelijking met een multiversum-oriëntatie biedt een intrigerend perspectief op de zoektocht naar buitenaards leven. Door de fysische parameters te variëren, vooral die rondom donkere energie, kunnen we modelleren onder welke omstandigheden leven mogelijk zou kunnen voorkomen in universa die afwijken van onze eigen kosmos. Hoewel we niet meteen bewijs hebben dat aliens daadwerkelijk in andere universa huizen, opent deze aanpak het kader voor een paradigmaverschuiving: onze zoektocht naar het exotische leven mogelijk te richten op meerdere kosmologische realiteiten.
Literatuur en toekomstige ontwikkelingen
Naast de bijdragen van Sorini en zijn team, wordt de multiversumtheorie verder ondersteund of uitgedaagd door inzichten over donkere materie en de hypothese dat deze misschien een spiegeluniversum vertegenwoordigt. Met het toenemende vermogen van telescopen en detectoren, en de ontwikkeling van kwantumtechnologieën, kunnen onderzoekers mogelijk toekomstige bewijslijnen vinden die deze theorieën ondersteunen of weerleggen.
Kortom, het onderzoeken van het multiversum als een locatie voor buitenaards leven blijft een boeiend en potentieel revolutionair veld in de wetenschappelijke gemeenschap, dat ons dwingt onze eigen kosmische plaats opnieuw te overwegen en te herdefiniëren.
Notitie: Dit artikel bevat een uitgebreide, wetenschappelijk onderbouwde interpretatie gebaseerd op de publicaties en hypothesen omtrent het multiversum en de zoektocht naar buitenaards leven, met een focus op recente theoretische modellen en hun implicaties voor de kosmologie en astrobiologie.
Last year, NASA’s Curiosity rover made a fascinating discovery after boring into a suspected ancient lake bed on Mars: long-chain organic molecules, called alkanes, that could serve as a potential chemical relic of ancient life on the Red Planet.
The molecules, researchers suggested at the time, could have derived from fatty acids, which are common building blocks of cell membranes on Earth, once again strengthening the case that Mars could’ve been teeming with life billions of years ago.
It was just another tantalizing clue in our search for extraterrestrial life, not the smoking gun we’ve all been waiting for.
Nonetheless, scientists continue to be fascinated by the finding. In a paper published in the journal Astrobiology last week, a team led by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Alexander Pavlov argues that the presence of these molecules — despite the millions of years of destructive radiation that pummeled the Martian surface after it lost much of its atmosphere — “cannot be readily explained” by non-biological processes alone.
One theory is that carbon-rich dust particles and meteorites could have deposited these long-chain organic molecules on the surface, with the ancient Martian atmosphere allowing the organics to accumulate billions of years ago.
However, Pavlov and his colleagues aren’t convinced. After studying how 80 million years’ worth of pelting radiation could have affected these molecules, they concluded that prior to the loss of the planet’s atmosphere, the concentration of these alkanes was likely much higher than previously thought. To help explain their findings, they took into account other non-biological processes in an attempt to arrive at their inferred original abundance — but couldn’t, even after combining all of them.
In other words, biological processes like the ones observed on Earth are still a leading theory, even after researchers’ best efforts to find a non-life explanation.
“We argue that such high concentrations of long-chain alkanes are inconsistent with a few known abiotic sources of organic molecules on ancient Mars,” they wrote.
Nonetheless, they stopped well short of making any definitive statements about life on the Red Planet. After all, there could be still-unknown, non-biological processes we don’t know about that could have resulted in the observed concentration of long-chain carbon molecules on Mars.
“We agree with Carl Sagan’s claim that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence and understand that any purported detection of life on Mars will necessarily be met with intense scrutiny,” they concluded in their paper. “In addition, in practice with established norms in the field of astrobiology, we note that the certainty of a life detection beyond Earth will require multiple lines of evidence.”
Nonetheless, it’s a tantalizing waypoint in our longstanding efforts to determine whether Mars, a planet that was once covered in huge oceans, rivers, and lakes, could have supported life.
Pavlov and his colleagues are now calling for further research into how radiation degraded these intriguing molecules under Mars-like conditions to shed more light on the matter.
Imagine opening up to someone about your most treasured memory or your deepest vulnerabilities—only to later discover that the attentive listener on the other end wasn’t a person at all, but a machine.
According to new research published in Communications Psychology, artificial intelligence can be surprisingly good at fostering emotional connections, and in some cases, even outperforming humans.
However, there’s a catch: it works best when people believe they’re talking to another human.
In two double-blind, randomized controlled trials involving 492 participants, researchers found that large language model (LLM)-generated responses fostered equal—and sometimes greater—feelings of interpersonal closeness than human responses.
The effect was especially pronounced during emotionally intense “deep-talk” conversations. Yet, when participants were told they were interacting with an AI, those feelings diminished, revealing what the researchers describe as an “anti-AI bias.”
These findings suggest that not only can AI form the basis of meaningful social interactions, but under certain circumstances, it may be particularly well-suited to emotionally engaging exchanges—raising profound implications for psychotherapy, healthcare, and the future of digital companionship.
“With the increasing accessibility of large language models to the public, questions arise about whether, and under what conditions, social-emotional interactions with artificial intelligence (AI) can lead to human-like relationship building,” researchers write. “We found that people felt even closer to AI than to fellow humans after emotionally engaging interactions.”
To examine how relationships form between humans and AI, researchers at the University of Freiburg adapted a well-established psychological tool, the “Fast Friends Procedure.” Originally designed to rapidly generate interpersonal closeness between strangers, the method relies on escalating mutual self-disclosure through structured questions.
Participants—German university students between 18 and 35—engaged in 15-minute, text-based interactions. Unbeknownst to them, their “partner” responses had been pre-generated either by real human participants in a lab or by a minimally prompted large language model (Google’s PaLM 2, accessed via Bard in early 2024). In some conditions, participants were told they were interacting with a human. In others, they were informed they were speaking with an AI.
The researchers also manipulated emotional intensity. Some interactions involved light small talk. Others required deeper disclosures, including treasured life memories and core personal values. The core measure of relationship building was perceived interpersonal closeness, assessed using a widely used psychological scale.
The results revealed that when participants believed they were interacting with a human, AI-generated responses actually led to greater feelings of closeness than genuine human responses—but only during emotionally engaging deep-talk exchanges.
“AI-generated content outperformed human-generated content in establishing feelings of closeness during emotionally engaging deep-talk interactions,” researchers report. “Moreover, participants disclosed more information themselves in interactions with AI, and self-disclosure levels of both parties were associated with each other.”
Importantly, this was not because theAI wrote longer responses or displayed obvious stylistic advantages. Instead, linguistic analysis revealed that AI partners exhibited significantly higher levels of self-disclosure—sharing personal emotions, experiences, and social reflections.
That increased self-disclosure appeared to drive the effect. Participants reported feeling closer to partners who revealed more about themselves. In turn, participants also disclosed more about their own lives when interacting with the AI, suggesting a reciprocal dynamic.
In other words, the AI’s willingness to “open up” encouraged humans to do the same.
The finding challenges a common assumption that emotional communication is a uniquely human domain where AI inevitably falls short. Instead, the study suggests that LLMs—at least in text-based settings—can effectively simulate the vulnerability and emotional transparency that fosters rapid intimacy.
However, the advantage disappeared when the illusion was removed.
In the second study, participants were explicitly told whether their interaction partner was human or AI. Even when interacting with identical AI-generated responses, participants who believed they were speaking to an AI reported lower levels of closeness.
This label effect was statistically significant. Being told the partner was an AI reduced ratings of interpersonal closeness compared to human-labelled interactions.
Crucially, the drop in closeness was not due to AI responses changing. The content remained constant. What shifted was the participant’s mindset.
Researchers found that people wrote shorter responses when they believed they were interacting with AI, suggesting reduced emotional engagement. Those shorter responses were themselves associated with lower perceived closeness.
In short, people invested less in the relationship when they knew it involved a machine.
Yet, even with the anti-AI bias, relationship building still occurred. Closeness increased significantly from baseline in AI-labelled conditions, demonstrating that awareness of artificiality dampens—but does not eliminate—the capacity for emotional connection.
One interpretation of the findings is paradoxical: AI’s lack of genuine emotional experience may free it from the social risks humans face during vulnerable conversations.
Humans often hesitate to disclose deeply personal information, especially to strangers. Emotional self-disclosure carries social risk—rejection, judgment, misuse of personal details. However, an AI cannot experience embarrassment, rejection, or betrayal.
Researchers suggest that this lack of emotional stakes may allow AI to consistently display high levels of openness in emotionally charged discussions. That openness, in turn, invites reciprocal vulnerability from human partners.
Still, the researchers caution against concluding that AI is broadly superior in emotional communication. The advantage appeared only in masked deep-talk scenarios. Once labeled as AI, its relative strength declined.
That said, there may also be an important caveat to the so-called “anti-AI bias.” While participants in this controlled experiment reported lower levels of closeness when they knew they were interacting with a machine, real-world behavior suggests that awareness of artificiality does not necessarily prevent deep attachment.
As previously reported by The Debrief, other recent research has documented individuals forming intensely personal bonds with AI chatbots—some even describing romantic partnerships or “marriages” and having fictional “babies” with their digital companions. All while fully aware that the entity on the other end was not human.
In those cases, the label “AI” did not dampen emotional investment. If anything, the chatbot’s consistency, availability, and nonjudgmental nature appeared to strengthen it.
Together, the findings suggest that anti-AI bias may be highly context-dependent—more pronounced in brief experimental encounters, yet potentially diminished in ongoing, immersive interactions where emotional reliance has time to deepen.
Ultimately, these findings point to AI’s potential in overstretched social sectors such as mental health care, elder care, and patient support. As researchers note, conversational AI could assist in settings where relationship building and emotional engagement are critical—so long as safeguards are in place.
On the other hand, the results underscore ethical risks.
If AI can foster genuine feelings of closeness—especially when disguised as human—it could be misused for manipulation, deception, or exploitation. Emotional trust is powerful. In the wrong hands, it becomes a vector for social engineering, fraud, and psychological harm.
Importantly, generative AI systems have already grown more advanced—far beyond the 2024-era model used in this study—so the stakes have only increased.
“These findings highlight AI’s potential to relieve overburdened social fields while underscoring the urgent need for ethical safeguards to prevent its misuse in fostering deceptive social connections,” researchers warn.
Researchers say the findings do not imply that machines are superior to people. Rather, it reveals something subtler: human perceptions and expectations shape AI’s emotional power.
When we believe we’re talking to another person, AI can mirror—and even amplify—the dynamics of emotional connection. When we know it’s a machine, skepticism creeps in, altering our willingness to engage.
For now, the boundary between human and artificial companionship remains psychologically meaningful. However, that line is beginning to blur.
In their conclusion, the researchers emphasize AI’s increasingly familiar dual role—as both a powerful societal tool and a potential source of risk.
“On one hand, AI shows great promise in alleviating strain in overburdened social fields such as psychotherapy, medical care, and elder care. To foster acceptance in these areas, we recommend transparent human-led introduction, continuous monitoring, and systematic evaluation of human-AI Interactions,” researchers write. “On the other hand, our results underscore the risk of AI being misused for manipulation by fostering deceptive emotional connections.”
Tim McMillan is a retired law enforcement executive, investigative reporter and co-founder of The Debrief. His writing typically focuses on defense, national security, the Intelligence Community and topics related to psychology. You can follow Tim on Twitter:@LtTimMcMillan. Tim can be reached by email: tim@thedebrief.org or through encrypted email:LtTimMcMillan@protonmail.com
Widespread cell phone disruptions are set to hit thousands of Americans across Texas just as the state recovers from chaos in El Paso this week.
Military personnel at Fort Hood are scheduled to test anti-drone systems that can interfere with satellite navigation signals across a wide area, potentially degrading GPS accuracy for aircraft, drones, and consumer devices.
The interruptions, which began February 2, are expected to continue on Friday and Saturday mornings through February 27, with the final round scheduled from February 23 to 27.
The affected zone spans major cities, including Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and extends as far as Oklahoma City.
Operators of aircraft, drones, and other GPS-reliant systems are being warned to plan for degraded navigation and consider alternative methods.
The testing comes just days after US airspace was abruptly shut down in El Paso following a security incident involving what was later identified as a party balloon.
In the hours before the shutdown, an eyewitness near El Paso International Airport reported seeing a large object releasing smaller objects, footage that was shared with the crowdsourced UFO-reporting platform Enigma.
The sighting occurred shortly before the FAA closed a large swath of airspace for 'special security reasons' at 11:30 p.m. MT on February 10.
Widespread GPS disruptions are affecting Central Texas and parts of the surrounding region, caused by military testing of anti-drone systems near Fort Hood
Magnified images of the craft revealed a large object appearing near the sight of a major FAA shut down which was issued on February 10
Pilots experiencing problems with GPS-reliant equipment are urged to report anomalies following standard FAA procedures.
The disruptions could also affect cars, phones, tablets, watches, and other GPS-dependent devices across an area more than 190 miles wide, though not all systems are expected to be impacted.
The tests are likely being conducted with support from electronic warfare units to simulate a degraded GPS environment.
The US Army regularly conducts counter-unmanned aircraft training and technology demonstrations at Fort Hood, using a mix of radar, kinetic interceptors, and electronic warfare tools designed to detect and defeat drones.
The scheduled GPS disruption tests are described by the FAA as 'GPS interference testing,' typically meaning the military is intentionally creating GPS-denied conditions to train forces and evaluate how systems perform when signals are blocked or unreliable.
Although the FAA has not specified the hardware being used, such exercises generally involve radio-frequency jamming or spoofing systems designed to overwhelm or confuse GPS receivers.
The testing comes amid growing concern over military counter-drone activity after the FAA abruptly closed airspace over El Paso late Tuesday night.
The mysterious shutdown was originally announced to last for ten days and included all commercial, cargo, and general flights within a ten-mile-wide area roughly five miles southwest of El Paso, from the ground up to 18,000 feet.
In a dramatic example of the risks, the FAA abruptly closed El Paso airspace on Wednesday after the military targeted what turned out to be a party balloon with an anti-drone laser system
However, the chaotic shutdown by the FAA was quickly called off, with the Trump Administration changing the story of what triggered the alert multiple times within a matter of hours on Wednesday.
White House officials initially announced the US had taken down a Mexican cartel drone flying across the southern border, only to claim hours later that the object struck by a high-powered laser was a party balloon.
Now, UFO researchers and witnesses in the area have alleged that something other than a balloon or drone was spotted on multiple days near the US-Mexico border before the FAA warning.
'Looks like the mothership. It's huge. And there is stuff coming out from the bottom of it and going off to the left a little bit as it landed,' the driver on Tuesday said.
According to the witness recording the hovering craft, it appeared on video 'like a dot' after moving off far into the distance, but the object was allegedly incredibly large and looked somewhat like 'a blob.'
Enigma, which allows people to report sightings and share pictures or videos of UFOs on an app, also revealed that two other witnesses submitted strange sightings in the El Paso area, one on February 8 and another at 5.46pm ET on the same day as the FAA shut down.
Both sightings involved what the witnesses described as floating orbs high in the sky which were clearly not normal planes or any type of military aircraft.
'Every time I use my drones in this area, especially in a certain frequency I always have orbs run by,' the witness on February 8 reported in a video on the Enigma app.
However, the driver traveling by El Paso International Airport on Tuesday supplied the clearest evidence that what the military encountered was not a simple balloon.
'They are reporting today that it wasn’t drones but a party balloon! It never ceases to amaze me how stupid they think the public is,' one commenter on X wrote.
'I feel like I’ve seen this story before…' one person on social media wrote next to a picture of the weather balloon debris the military claimed was actually the Roswell UFO in 1947.
However, many skeptics criticized the video for being so out of focus that it made a clear identification of the object impossible.
We grew up with gods, beings who created worlds, wielded thunder, shaped history, and demanded worship. What if these gods weren’t supernatural at all, but powerful visitors from far-off worlds hidden behind the cloak of divinity? What if beings from distant planets shared advanced technology and abilities so far beyond human understanding that ancient people called them gods, and we’re only now piecing together the clues through myth, archaeology, and speculation?
Let’s explore this bold idea: what if gods were really advanced aliens watching over, guiding, or even genetically engineering humanity?
What if ancient gods were really alien beings with advanced technology?
Think about descriptions of gods descending from the sky in chariots of fire, wielding weapons that could destroy armies instantly, or speaking in voices that echoed across valleys. Some myths span cultures: Sumerian Anunnaki, Egyptian Ra, Hindu Vimana charioteers, Greek Prometheus bringing divine fire. These stories could be retellings of real encounters with extraterrestrial visitors, advanced, immortal-seeming beings whose technology blended into myth.
Maybe they left genetic legacies in humans, built pyramids with technology we can’t replicate, or created holy laws that later became ethics. If our ancestors saw hovering ships, glowing suits, or energy-based “miracles,” it’s no surprise those events were recorded as divine acts. To ancient societies without electromagnetism, a spaceship would be a god descending.
Our Thoughts
At EdgyThoughts, we find this hypothesis fascinating, not because we claim literal belief, but because it reframes our stories. If gods were aliens, mythology becomes a kind of history, and faith becomes encoded anthropology. Even if no spaceship lands tomorrow, the idea invites us to listen more deeply: what if the real miracle was not divine power, but visitors from distant worlds offering knowledge we still interpret as magic?
Pros and Cons of Alien Gods Theory
Pros
Cons
Unifies similar myths across cultures.
Largely speculative, no artifact labeled “alien god.”
Offers explanations for sudden cultural leaps (astronomy, architecture).
Could be seen as undermining spiritual traditions.
Inspires imaginative reinterpretation of ancient texts.
Nostalgia-driven interpretations may skew evidence.
Makes myth feel rooted in physical encounters.
Lacks widely accepted scientific or archaeological validation.
Sparks creative thinking in science, philosophy, and storytelling.
Risks trivializing deeper symbolic meanings of myths.
Could we detect if gods were alien beings?
Possibly. A few lines of evidence might include:
Ancient structures aligning with advanced astronomical math.
Texts describing devices or materials that don’t exist (e.g., “divine laser light”).
Legends of long-lived rulers with lifespans beyond a thousand years, possibly military/biotech-enhanced beings.
Cultural patterns of worship across continents with no contact, suggesting a shared origin.
In 2025, cross-disciplinary researchers in archaeoastronomy, ancient DNA, epigraphy, and physics are quietly exploring these overlaps, more cautiously than conspiracy YouTubers, but with open curiosity.
Key Points You Should Know
Myths of gods as visitors span cultures globally.
Descriptions often match what extraterrestrials might look like.
Advanced structures/assets could reflect alien tech or instruction.
No confirmed proof yet, just intriguing correlations.
The concept reframes divinity as cosmic, not supernatural.
Explaining Each Point
1. From the Anunnaki to the Feathered Serpent, multiple cultures describe gods coming from above.
2. Bright chariots, human-like figures glowing, voices on the wind, early descriptions of aliens in mythic terms.
3. The Great Pyramid, Stonehenge, and Angkor Wat required astronomical precision that ancient humans achieved, perhaps with guidance.
4. While there’s no verified spaceship artifact, there are many collectable anomalies and respected scholars asking important questions.
5. By seeing gods as alien beings, myth becomes a record of first contact, humanity’s ancient encounter with the cosmic.
What We Think
We’re not saying this is a fact. We are saying: what if it is? The “gods as aliens” model solves puzzles, connects legends, and honors spiritual traditions by grounding them in historical encounters. Whether or not you accept the hypothesis, it invites careful inquiry and challenges us to ask: if a seed of truth lies in myth, how would we know? That’s a question we’re thrilled to explore.
On Monday, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announced the launch of a new project aimed at finding scientific proof for the existence of extraterrestrial technology. Dubbed the Galileo Project, the international team of researchers says part of their hunt for ET technology will include examining reports of “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” (UAP), more commonly known as UFOs.
“The goal of the Galileo Project is to bring the search for extraterrestrial technological signatures from accidental or anecdotal observations and legends to the mainstream of transparent, validated, and systematic scientific research,” a press release issued by the Galileo Project reads.
Heading up the program is one of the most well-known advocates of searching for intelligent alien life within our Solar System, Harvard professor of astronomy, Dr. Abraham “Avi” Loeb. Flanking Loeb is a team of researchers and advisors that hail from a staggering list of prestigious academic institutions including, Harvard, Princeton, Cambridge, Caltech, Yale, Arizona State, University of North Carolina, and Stockholm University.
The Debrief has previously provided extensive coverage on the scientific community’s growing interest in targeting alien technology, including NASA funding research specific to locating extraterrestrial “technosignatures.” However, these endeavors are almost exclusively focused on detecting alien technology lurking deep out in the cosmos.
In contrast, the Galileo Project is the first scientific endeavor to explicitly say not only does it intend to explore possible alien artifacts in our near Solar System, but the program also intends to examine the recent resurgence of UFO or UAP reports as potential evidence that advanced alien life may already be here on Earth.
According to press materials provided by the Galileo Project, the impetus for exploring whether UFO sightings here on Earth could represent advanced alien technology is primarily spurred by the U.S. Department of Defense’s renewed interest in the subject of “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.”
According to the ODNI report, task force investigators could only identify one incident out of 144 military reports of claimed UAP encounters as having a prosaic explanation. Of those nearly 150 reports, ODNI said, 18 incidents or 21 reports demonstrated “unusual UAP movement patterns or flight characteristics.” The report authors described some of these unusual characteristics as “remaining stationary in winds aloft, moving against the wind, maneuver abruptly, or moving at considerable speed, without discernible means of propulsion.”
“After the recent release of the ODNI report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), the scientific community needs the determination to systematically, scientifically, and transparently look for potential evidence of extraterrestrial technological equipment,” said Dr. Loeb in a press release. “The impact of any discovery of extraterrestrial technology on science, our technology, and on our entire world view would be enormous.”
With over three decades of Ivy League professorship, Loeb boasts a gaudy academic pedigree, including having served as the longest-reigning chair of Harvard’s Department of Astronomy (2011-2020), contributions to over 900 peer-reviewed academic papers, and being a member of the President’s Trump’s 2020 Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. In 2012, Loeb was recognized by Time magazine as one of the “25 Most Influential People in Space,” his photograph appearing alongside Elon Musk.
Loeb also bears the distinction of being one of the most controversial figures in space science.
In 2018, Loeb caused quite a stir in the scientific community when he and co-author Shmuel Bialy published a paper in the Astrophysical Journal Letters asserting that the first interstellar object ever to be detected passing through our solar system in October 2017, ‘Oumuamua, could have been an artificial extraterrestrial object.
The greater scientific community has primarily criticized Loeb for claiming that ‘Oumuamua could have originated from some advanced ET civilization. In a prior interview with The Debrief, Dr. Paul M. Sutter, a research professor at the Institute for Advanced Computational Science at Stony Brook University and author of How to Die in Space: A Journey Through Dangerous Astrophysical Phenomena, said, “Dr. Loeb is making a giant claim based on no evidence. Just because we don’t understand something, it doesn’t mean we get to declare it’s aliens. Lack of evidence does not give you the license to assert whatever you want. That’s not how science works.”
In response to these criticisms, Loeb has only become more entrenched and vocal in his views on ‘Oumuamua.
In 2020, Loeb and Harvard Ph.D. candidate Thiem Hoang published another paper in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, disputing one explanation that ‘Oumuamua was a large chunk of Hydrogen ice. In his recently published book, Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth, Loeb outlines his reasoning for affirming ‘Oumuamua could be humanity’s first evidence for not being alone, while simultaneously chastising the scientific community for being dogmatically closed-minded to the idea.
In addition to the Pentagon’s interest in mysterious objects seen flying about U.S. airspace, the Galileo Project ties in some of the still unresolved aspects of ‘Oumuamua in justifying serious scientific scrutiny of “unidentified aerial phenomena.”
“The existing data on UAP and ‘Oumuamua are sufficiently anomalous to motivate the collection of additional data on UAP or ‘Oumuamua-like objects and to test whether such objects may be Astro-archeological artifacts or active technological equipment produced by one or more putative, existing or extinct extraterrestrial civilizations (ETCs),” the press release by the Galileo Project reads.
Artist’s concept of interstellar object 1I/2017 U1 (‘Oumuamua) as it passed through the solar system. The aspect ratio of up to 10:1 is unlike that of any object previously seen in our own solar system.
Image Credit: European Southern Observatory / M. Kornmesser
The goal of the Galileo Project will be to “identify the nature of UAP and ‘Oumuamua-like interstellar objects using the standard scientific method based on a transparent analysis of open scientific data to be collected using optimized instruments.”
Currently, the team of scientists says they plan on following three primary avenues of research in their pursuit of finding evidence of alien technology.
The first scientific thrust will involve obtaining “high-resolution, multi-detector UAP images” in hopes of “discovering their nature.” Researchers say they plan on achieving this goal by searching for UAP using a network of high-fidelity telescopes and detector arrays that will be distributed in select locations.
Additionally, press materials from the Galileo Project say, “We anticipate extensive Artificial Intelligence/Deep Learning (AI/DL) and algorithmic approaches to differentiate atmospheric phenomena from birds, balloons, commercial or consumer drones, and from potential technological objects of terrestrial or other origin surveying our planet, such as satellites.”
While many have criticized the Department of Defense’s unwillingness to share evidence collected by military sensors on UAP, the Galileo Project says their data “will be open to the public and the scientific analysis will be transparent.”
The Galileo Project says it also intends to “design advanced algorithmic and AI/DL object recognition and fast filtering methods in hopes of discovering “potential one meter-scale or smaller ETC [extraterrestrial civilization] satellites that may be exploring Earth.
Finally, peering a little further out into space, the Galileo Project says it aims to use existing and future astronomical surveys to discover and monitor potential “‘Oumuamua-like interstellar objects” that might pass through the solar system.
In an email to The Debrief, Loeb clarified that the new project’s main goal will be examining possible extraterrestrial technologies that come within or near the Earth’s atmosphere. “The search for technosignatures on planets around other stars by telescopes like JWST [James Webb Space Telescope] involve detection of signals carried by light, such as industrial pollution or flashes from light beams. Instead, the Galileo Project focuses on physical objects that arrive close to Earth,” said Loeb.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array.
(Image Source: The European Space Agency)
Although the Galileo Project is not shying away from studying “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena,” a topic that is considered still largely taboo by many in mainstream science, researchers say they will not be engaging in any retroactive analysis of existing images, radar data, observations, or anecdotal reports of past claimed UAP events. “These are not conducive to cross-validated, evidence-based scientific explanations,”said Galileo Project co-founder, Frank Laukien.
Similarly, during a press conference on Monday, Loeb and Laukien, both seemingly dismissed the idea of working with the Pentagon’s ongoing UAP investigations. “Most of the [military] data is not available because it has been collected by classified systems,” explained Loeb. “We don’t want access to classified data. We want to be transparent and provide data that is completely open to the public.”
Another prominent advocate for the serious study of UAP, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, Christopher Mellon, told The Debrief there was benefit to seeing coordination between the U.S. Government and independent scientific groups like the Galileo Project.
“Although this is first and foremost a national security issue,” said Mellon in a text message, “ an independent scientific panel should be formed and given access to the classified information to help broaden the discussion and overcome the unfortunate but inevitable distrust many people have of information supplied by the USG on this issue”
Adding to this point, in a recent blog post Mellon said, “The involvement of renowned mainstream scientists could be useful both for understanding what is occurring and helping the press, public and academia grasp the significance. Once again, the costs are small and the potential benefits are great.”
“We’re not making extraordinary claims,” said Laukien. “All of those advocating for extraordinary evidence before they look through these telescopes, I think that’s misguided. I think we should look and dare to look through new telescopes and agnostically record and interpret the data according to the scientific method.”
“If you say, ‘I need extraordinary evidence before I engage in this activity,’ then you will never find it,” added Loeb. “What I say is, extraordinary conservatism leads to extraordinary ignorance.”
On Monday, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announced the launch of a new project aimed at finding scientific proof for the existence of extraterrestrial technology. Dubbed the Galileo Project, the international team of researchers says part of their hunt for ET technology will include examining reports of “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” (UAP), more commonly known as UFOs.
“The goal of the Galileo Project is to bring the search for extraterrestrial technological signatures from accidental or anecdotal observations and legends to the mainstream of transparent, validated, and systematic scientific research,” a press release issued by the Galileo Project reads.
Heading up the program is one of the most well-known advocates of searching for intelligent alien life within our Solar System, Harvard professor of astronomy, Dr. Abraham “Avi” Loeb. Flanking Loeb is a team of researchers and advisors that hail from a staggering list of prestigious academic institutions including, Harvard, Princeton, Cambridge, Caltech, Yale, Arizona State, University of North Carolina, and Stockholm University.
The Debrief has previously provided extensive coverage on the scientific community’s growing interest in targeting alien technology, including NASA funding research specific to locating extraterrestrial “technosignatures.” However, these endeavors are almost exclusively focused on detecting alien technology lurking deep out in the cosmos.
In contrast, the Galileo Project is the first scientific endeavor to explicitly say not only does it intend to explore possible alien artifacts in our near Solar System, but the program also intends to examine the recent resurgence of UFO or UAP reports as potential evidence that advanced alien life may already be here on Earth.
According to press materials provided by the Galileo Project, the impetus for exploring whether UFO sightings here on Earth could represent advanced alien technology is primarily spurred by the U.S. Department of Defense’s renewed interest in the subject of “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.”
According to the ODNI report, task force investigators could only identify one incident out of 144 military reports of claimed UAP encounters as having a prosaic explanation. Of those nearly 150 reports, ODNI said, 18 incidents or 21 reports demonstrated “unusual UAP movement patterns or flight characteristics.” The report authors described some of these unusual characteristics as “remaining stationary in winds aloft, moving against the wind, maneuver abruptly, or moving at considerable speed, without discernible means of propulsion.”
“After the recent release of the ODNI report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), the scientific community needs the determination to systematically, scientifically, and transparently look for potential evidence of extraterrestrial technological equipment,” said Dr. Loeb in a press release. “The impact of any discovery of extraterrestrial technology on science, our technology, and on our entire world view would be enormous.”
With over three decades of Ivy League professorship, Loeb boasts a gaudy academic pedigree, including having served as the longest-reigning chair of Harvard’s Department of Astronomy (2011-2020), contributions to over 900 peer-reviewed academic papers, and being a member of the President’s Trump’s 2020 Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. In 2012, Loeb was recognized by Time magazine as one of the “25 Most Influential People in Space,” his photograph appearing alongside Elon Musk.
Loeb also bears the distinction of being one of the most controversial figures in space science.
In 2018, Loeb caused quite a stir in the scientific community when he and co-author Shmuel Bialy published a paper in the Astrophysical Journal Letters asserting that the first interstellar object ever to be detected passing through our solar system in October 2017, ‘Oumuamua, could have been an artificial extraterrestrial object.
The greater scientific community has primarily criticized Loeb for claiming that ‘Oumuamua could have originated from some advanced ET civilization. In a prior interview with The Debrief, Dr. Paul M. Sutter, a research professor at the Institute for Advanced Computational Science at Stony Brook University and author of How to Die in Space: A Journey Through Dangerous Astrophysical Phenomena, said, “Dr. Loeb is making a giant claim based on no evidence. Just because we don’t understand something, it doesn’t mean we get to declare it’s aliens. Lack of evidence does not give you the license to assert whatever you want. That’s not how science works.”
In response to these criticisms, Loeb has only become more entrenched and vocal in his views on ‘Oumuamua.
In 2020, Loeb and Harvard Ph.D. candidate Thiem Hoang published another paper in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, disputing one explanation that ‘Oumuamua was a large chunk of Hydrogen ice. In his recently published book, Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth, Loeb outlines his reasoning for affirming ‘Oumuamua could be humanity’s first evidence for not being alone, while simultaneously chastising the scientific community for being dogmatically closed-minded to the idea.
In addition to the Pentagon’s interest in mysterious objects seen flying about U.S. airspace, the Galileo Project ties in some of the still unresolved aspects of ‘Oumuamua in justifying serious scientific scrutiny of “unidentified aerial phenomena.”
“The existing data on UAP and ‘Oumuamua are sufficiently anomalous to motivate the collection of additional data on UAP or ‘Oumuamua-like objects and to test whether such objects may be Astro-archeological artifacts or active technological equipment produced by one or more putative, existing or extinct extraterrestrial civilizations (ETCs),” the press release by the Galileo Project reads.
Artist’s concept of interstellar object 1I/2017 U1 (‘Oumuamua) as it passed through the solar system. The aspect ratio of up to 10:1 is unlike that of any object previously seen in our own solar system.
Image Credit: European Southern Observatory / M. Kornmesser
The goal of the Galileo Project will be to “identify the nature of UAP and ‘Oumuamua-like interstellar objects using the standard scientific method based on a transparent analysis of open scientific data to be collected using optimized instruments.”
Currently, the team of scientists says they plan on following three primary avenues of research in their pursuit of finding evidence of alien technology.
The first scientific thrust will involve obtaining “high-resolution, multi-detector UAP images” in hopes of “discovering their nature.” Researchers say they plan on achieving this goal by searching for UAP using a network of high-fidelity telescopes and detector arrays that will be distributed in select locations.
Additionally, press materials from the Galileo Project say, “We anticipate extensive Artificial Intelligence/Deep Learning (AI/DL) and algorithmic approaches to differentiate atmospheric phenomena from birds, balloons, commercial or consumer drones, and from potential technological objects of terrestrial or other origin surveying our planet, such as satellites.”
While many have criticized the Department of Defense’s unwillingness to share evidence collected by military sensors on UAP, the Galileo Project says their data “will be open to the public and the scientific analysis will be transparent.”
The Galileo Project says it also intends to “design advanced algorithmic and AI/DL object recognition and fast filtering methods in hopes of discovering “potential one meter-scale or smaller ETC [extraterrestrial civilization] satellites that may be exploring Earth.
Finally, peering a little further out into space, the Galileo Project says it aims to use existing and future astronomical surveys to discover and monitor potential “‘Oumuamua-like interstellar objects” that might pass through the solar system.
In an email to The Debrief, Loeb clarified that the new project’s main goal will be examining possible extraterrestrial technologies that come within or near the Earth’s atmosphere. “The search for technosignatures on planets around other stars by telescopes like JWST [James Webb Space Telescope] involve detection of signals carried by light, such as industrial pollution or flashes from light beams. Instead, the Galileo Project focuses on physical objects that arrive close to Earth,” said Loeb.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array.
(Image Source: The European Space Agency)
Although the Galileo Project is not shying away from studying “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena,” a topic that is considered still largely taboo by many in mainstream science, researchers say they will not be engaging in any retroactive analysis of existing images, radar data, observations, or anecdotal reports of past claimed UAP events. “These are not conducive to cross-validated, evidence-based scientific explanations,”said Galileo Project co-founder, Frank Laukien.
Similarly, during a press conference on Monday, Loeb and Laukien, both seemingly dismissed the idea of working with the Pentagon’s ongoing UAP investigations. “Most of the [military] data is not available because it has been collected by classified systems,” explained Loeb. “We don’t want access to classified data. We want to be transparent and provide data that is completely open to the public.”
Another prominent advocate for the serious study of UAP, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, Christopher Mellon, told The Debrief there was benefit to seeing coordination between the U.S. Government and independent scientific groups like the Galileo Project.
“Although this is first and foremost a national security issue,” said Mellon in a text message, “ an independent scientific panel should be formed and given access to the classified information to help broaden the discussion and overcome the unfortunate but inevitable distrust many people have of information supplied by the USG on this issue”
Adding to this point, in a recent blog post Mellon said, “The involvement of renowned mainstream scientists could be useful both for understanding what is occurring and helping the press, public and academia grasp the significance. Once again, the costs are small and the potential benefits are great.”
“We’re not making extraordinary claims,” said Laukien. “All of those advocating for extraordinary evidence before they look through these telescopes, I think that’s misguided. I think we should look and dare to look through new telescopes and agnostically record and interpret the data according to the scientific method.”
“If you say, ‘I need extraordinary evidence before I engage in this activity,’ then you will never find it,” added Loeb. “What I say is, extraordinary conservatism leads to extraordinary ignorance.”
In 1966, the Soviet Union made history when its Luna 9 mission placed the first object built by humans on the surface of the Moon, broadcasting imagery back to Earth following its successful soft landing.
Despite the safe touchdown of Luna 9’s lander capsule, some questions have lingered about the Soviet spacecraft’s historic mission: namely, its final resting place, which remains unknown.
That could be about to change, however. With the help of artificial intelligence, an international team of researchers has identified several locations on the Moon they believe could finally reveal the location of the “lost” spacecraft.
Among these possible landing sites, one location near lunar N latitude 7.02907° and longitude -64.32867° is particularly promising, revealing a large crater with a bright area near one of its edges, which is surrounded by several other impact features, which researchers say may represent “potential spacecraft hardware objects” left behind by the 1966 mission. The team’s findings were published in npj Space Exploration.
A Cold War-Era Mystery
Luna 9’s historic 1966 lunar landing marked the first instance where a piece of human-built hardware had been placed on the surface of a celestial body beyond Earth.
By modern standards, the Luna 9 landing was hectic, with the spacecraft tumbling along the lunar surface on built-in shock absorbers before finally settling in its final resting place, where it remained operational for only a matter of days. During that roughly 36-hour window, the spacecraft successfully transmitted important information back to Earth, setting the pace for space exploration in the coming years that would eventually bring the first humans to the Moon.
Above: A replica of the Luna 9 spacecraft, as seen in the Museum of Air and Space in Paris, France
(Image Credit: Wikimedia/Pline/CC 3.0)
Despite high-resolution imagery of the lunar surface that has been readily available since the deployment of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) in 2009, no confirmed detection of the Luna 9 landing site has been made. One reason for this involves the original calculations made about the spacecraft’s 1966 landing, which were far from exact. By some estimates, the location of Luna 9 could be as much as several dozen kilometers away from the general area where the spacecraft is believed to have landed.
Rediscovering a Lost Soviet Spacecraft
In recent research led by Lewis Pinault at University College London, along with colleagues Hajime Yano and Ian Crawford, artificial intelligence was used to narrow down possible locations of the “missing” Luna 9 lander.
Enter the intriguingly-named “You-Only-Look-Once – Extraterrestrial Artefact” (YOLO-ETA), which the researchers describe as a lightweight computer imaging system adapted from TinyYOLOv2, an architecture designed to detect human-built objects, such as spacecraft, in high-resolution LROC images.
Training YOLO-ETA using the well-known landing sites of NASA’s Apollo missions, the team says they reached an overall confidence score for possible spacecraft detections of around 80%, which enabled them to then train the imaging system on the general region where Luna was believed to have touched down.
Above: possible locations where artificial objects, detected using YOLO-ETA, may indicate the landing site of the Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft
(Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University/npj Space Exploration, Pinault, et al)
“Applying the model to a 5 × 5 km region surrounding the historically uncertain Luna 9 landing area yielded several high-confidence detections of artificial objects near 7.03° N, –64.33° E,” the researchers report. “Topographic analysis indicates that the candidate site’s horizon geometry is potentially consistent with Luna 9 surface panoramas.”
Notably, the team was able to determine a primary impact feature, in which a luminous area can be discerned, which they believe may be the final landing place of Luna 9. In the surrounding area, several additional impacts or other features can also be seen, which may be secondary “hardware objects”—essentially debris left over from the 1966 mission.
The locations Pinault and his colleagues identified appear to be consistent with the kinds of features associated with known spacecraft landings and the disturbances they have caused to the Moon’s surface during past lunar missions.
“These findings identify promising locations for follow-up imaging and demonstrate that compact, edge-deployable machine-learning models can support future orbital surveys of lunar artefacts and surface assets,” the team writes in their paper.
Going forward, Pinault and colleagues believe they YOLO-ETA may be useful “in detecting known lunar artefacts and can assist in the search for undetected historical spacecraft.” Such capabilities, they argue, are of great importance as they will help to support various space agencies’ ability to monitor the lunar surface in the coming years, especially as exploration of Earth’s natural satellite is expected to increase.
For now, the team’s findings remain to be confirmed, though they believe such an opportunity will likely occur as soon as next month, when India’s Chandrayaan-2 orbiter passes over the region. If YOLO-ETA’s assessment turns out to be correct, it will finally bring a resolution to one of the great unanswered questions of Cold War-era space exploration.
Pinault, Crawford, and Yano’s recent study, “Possible identification of the Luna 9 Moon landing site using a novel machine learning algorithm,” appeared in npj Space Exploration.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached atmicah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.
Scientists have captured the astonishing moment a supergiant star collapsed into a black hole.
The now–deceased star, dubbed M31–2014–DS1, was located around 2.5 million light–years from Earth in the neighbouring Andromeda Galaxy.
In 2014, NASA telescopes recorded the distant star brightening briefly before fading out of existence over the next three years.
Now, scientists have realised they had inadvertently watched as the star died, collapsed, and transformed into a black hole.
What makes this observation so exciting for astronomers is that this isn't how black holes were thought form.
Until now, experts have widely believed that black holes form when supermassive stars collapse and die with supernova explosions.
However, M31–2014–DS1's gradual decline into oblivion suggests that stars can actually create a black hole without the enormous explosion.
Lead author Dr Kishalay De, a researcher from the Flatiron Institute, says: 'It comes as a shock to know that a massive star basically disappeared – and died – without an explosion and nobody noticed it for more than five years.'
Scientists have captured the astonishing moment a supergiant star collapsed into a black hole
Instead of exploding into a supernova like other stars of its size, this star failed to explode and was crushed into a small stellar black hole
When a star is born, it is held in a state of balance as the outward pressure from burning hydrogen matches the inward push of gravity.
But as the star begins to run out of fuel after billions of years, that outward pressure falters, and the star begins to collapse under its own gravity.
At the same time, a wave of energy released from the collapsing core blasts remaining outer layers into space in a supernova explosion – leaving the neutron star behind.
Only stars about 20 times the size of the sun are big enough to form black holes in this way, but scientists have long suspected that there could be a way for smaller stars to form black holes as well.
If something were to stop the star from producing a supernova to blast the outer layers away, all that extra material might fall into the neutron star and turn it into a black hole.
This is exactly what Dr De and his colleagues think they have just seen at M31–2014–DS1.
When this star was born, it was around 13 times the mass of the sun, dwindling to around five solar masses by the end of its life.
The researchers looked through data collected by various telescopes (pictured) and found that the star briefly got brighter in 2014 and then rapidly dimmed below its initial luminosity in 2016
According to our understanding of stellar life cycles, a star of this size should have exploded with a supernova and produced a neutron star – but this doesn't appear to be what happened.
In their study, the researchers looked at light from M31–2014–DS1 collected by various telescopes between 2005 and 2023.
The star briefly glowed with infrared light in 2014, then suddenly dropped below its original brightness in 2016.
When telescopes looked again in 2022 and 2023, the star was barely visible in most parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
The star had essentially vanished in visible and near–infrared light, becoming one ten–thousandth as bright in these wavelengths, and could only be seen in mid–infrared, where it is one tenth as bright.
'This star used to be one of the most luminous stars in the Andromeda Galaxy, and now it was nowhere to be seen,' says Dr De.
'Imagine if the star Betelgeuse suddenly disappeared. Everybody would lose their minds!'
Instead, the researchers argue that the data collected from the star's prolonged fading perfectly matches what we would expect to see from a 'direct collapse' black hole.
The now–deceased star, dubbed M31–2014–DS1, was located around 2.5 million light–years from Earth in the neighbouring Andromeda Galaxy
After the newborn black hole forms, the gases near the core are very hot, while those on the outer edges are relatively cool.
This temperature difference creates a convection current, like the ones you get by turning on the radiators in a cold room.
That current pushed the outer layer of material further from the black hole, where it cooled into a layer of dust that slowly swirls around the core.
As it orbits the black hole, friction causes the dust to gently warm over time, producing the telltale mid–infrared glow spotted by the researchers.
Like water circling the plug hole, this ensures only a little stellar material can enter the black hole at a time, dragging out its formation over years.
Co–author Morgan MacLeod, of Harvard University, says: 'Instead of taking months or a year to fall in, it's taking decades.
'And because of all this, it becomes a brighter source than it would be otherwise, and we observe a long delay in the dimming of the original star.'
In the future, the researchers hope that this discovery will help astronomers spot more of these elusive black holes.
Already, they have used their data to re–examine a strange object in the galaxy NGC 6946, some 25.2 million light–years from Earth.
This object's behaviour baffled scientists when it was spotted in 2010, but the researchers now think it could have been another star collapsing into a black hole.
'It really impacts our understanding of the inventory of massive stellar deaths in the universe,' says Dr De.
'It says that these things may be quietly happening out there and easily going unnoticed.'
Black holes are so dense and their gravitational pull is so strong that no form of radiation can escape them - not even light.
They act as intense sources of gravity which hoover up dust and gas around them. Their intense gravitational pull is thought to be what stars in galaxies orbit around.
How they are formed is still poorly understood. Astronomers believe they may form when a large cloud of gas up to 100,000 times bigger than the sun, collapses into a black hole.
Many of these black hole seeds then merge to form much larger supermassive black holes, which are found at the centre of every known massive galaxy.
Alternatively, a supermassive black hole seed could come from a giant star, about 100 times the sun's mass, that ultimately forms into a black hole after it runs out of fuel and collapses.
When these giant stars die, they also go 'supernova', a huge explosion that expels the matter from the outer layers of the star into deep space.
Verreweg de bekendste ondergrondse stad is Derinkuyu in Turkije, onderdeel van het schitterende Cappadocië. In Cappadocië stikt het van de ondergrondse schatten, maar Derinkuyu is met 85 meter de diepste. Het complex bestaat uit verschillende kamers, kerken en wijnkelders, en biedt plek aan maar liefst 20.000 mensen. Ga met een gids naar beneden om het indrukwekkende gangenstelsel te bekijken.
Cappadocië stad, gelegen in het centrum van Turkije, is de thuisbasis van niet minder dan 36 ondergrondse steden, en op een diepte van ca., 85 m, Derinkuyu is de diepste. Ontdekt in 1963, het ondergrondse netwerk van tunnels en kamers omvatten alle instellingen en kamers die u zou vinden in een reguliere stad: woonvertrekken, stallen, kerken, opslagruimtes, refter, en wijnhuizen – en de ondergrondse wordt gezegd dat mogelijk gehouden meer dan 20.000 mensen.
Geopend voor het publiek in 1965, is slechts 10% van de ondergrondse stad toegankelijk voor bezoekers. Uniek aan Derinkuyu is de kruisvormige kerk gelegen tussen het derde en vierde niveau en het gewelfde plafond, aangezien er ter plaatse niet veel informatie rondhangt, boek dan een rondleiding en begin met verkennen.
2.Dixia Cheng, China
Dixia Cheng is de naam van de ondergrondse stad in Beijing en werd aangelegd tijdens de Koude Oorlog. In de jaren 70 werd hier een reusachtig netwerk aan gangen aangelegd, dat toegankelijk was via meer dan 100 geheime ingangen. Het complex bestaat grotendeels uit slaapzalen, ziekenhuizen en scholen en tot voor kort kon je er als toerist een kijkje nemen. Helaas is deze ondergrondse stad nu gesloten voor het publiek en het is onduidelijk wanneer je er weer een kijkje kan nemen.
De ondergrondse stad van Peking, Dixia Cheng, werd gebouwd in de jaren 1970 om te dienen als schuilplaats tijdens invasies, bomaanslagen en nucleaire aanvallen. Het lange netwerk van tunnels, vaak aangeduid als de ondergrondse grote muur, omvatte bijna 100 verborgen ingangen en, naar verluidt, werden gebouwd met complete diensten zoals scholen, ziekenhuizen en slaapzalen voor het geval burgers nodig hadden om hun toevlucht te zoeken voor een langere periode van tijd., Gelukkig was er nooit een gelegenheid voor deze enorme ondergrondse schuilplaats om zijn doel te bereiken, en in 2000 werd de plaats geopend voor het publiek. Een tour omvat slechts een klein rond stuk van het complex, maar is nog steeds het aantrekken van reizigers uit de hele wereld. Dixia Cheng is onder renovatie sinds 2008 en daarom gesloten voor bezoekers, maar zorg ervoor dat u het op uw bucket list te controleren wanneer het heropent op een onbepaalde datum in de toekomst.,
De ingang van de Ondergrondse Stad in Beijing.
3. Wieliczka Zoutmijn, Polen
Op steenworp afstand van de Poolse stad Krakau vind je de Wieliczka Zoutmijn, een van de bekendste attracties van het hele land. Deze 18de eeuwse zoutmijn bestaat uit schitterende kamers en ruimtes vol details en rijkdommen, zoals kroonluchters en beelden. Om er te komen moet je 378 traptreden afdalen en eenmaal beneden nemen gidsen je mee op sleeptouw door dit bijzondere complex.
De Wieliczka zoutmijn ligt in de stad Wieliczka, iets meer dan 9 mijl buiten Krakau.deze ondergrondse zoutstad, een van de grootste toeristische trekpleisters van Polen, is geëvolueerd van een reeks donkere grotten tot een complex labyrint dat nu meer dan 185 indrukwekkende mijl aan galerijen, ongeveer 3000 kamers en negen verdiepingen omvat, waarvan de eerste drie voor het publiek toegankelijk zijn.,
Zodra u de houten trap met 378 treden afdaalt, wordt u begroet met een grote verscheidenheid aan begeleide rondleidingen: als u geïnteresseerd bent in de geschiedenis van de zoutmijn, neem dan de Mijnwerkerstour en krijg inzicht in het moeilijke beroep van een zoutmijnwerker. Als u meer wilt weten over de religieuze aspecten, kunt u ook deelnemen aan de Pelgrimstour met een bezoek aan het zoutbeeld van Johannes Paulus II en een Heilige Mis aan het einde van de tour.,
Ondergrondse Zoutmijn Polen
4. Seattle, Verenigde Staten
De ondergrondse stad van Seattle is ontstaan toen het straatniveau halverwege de 19de eeuw een paar meter werd verhoogd. De voordeuren werden naar boven geplaatst en de benedenverdiepingen gingen dienst doen als een kelder. Tijdens een Underground Tour kun je een kijkje nemen op het vroegere straatniveau en krijg je een goed beeld van hoe de huizen er vroeger hebben uitgezien. Een boeiende tocht die leidt langs historische gevels die elk hun eigen versie van de geschiedenis vertellen.
5. Réso, Canada
Houd je niet zo van stoffige en slecht verlichte ruimtes? Dan kun je beter koers zetten naar Réso in de Canadese stad Montreal. Dit is een van de meest geavanceerde ondergrondse complexen ter wereld en de perfecte plek om te schuilen op een druilerige dag. Het hypermoderne Réso omvat een reusachtig ondergronds complex, bestaande uit winkelcentra, musea, theaters, schoolgebouwen en hotels. De totale lengte is 33 kilometer en beslaat een gebied van 12 vierkante kilometer.
RÉSO, afgeleid van het Franse woord réseau, wat netwerk betekent, is een van de hoekstenen van Montreal. Dit gigantische doolhof loopt onder de straten van Montreal in en rond het centrum en herbergt een breed scala aan winkels, restaurants, hotels, galeries, zeven metrohaltes, bioscopen, een bibliotheek en zelfs appartementengebouwen.,
de eerste onderling verbonden trajecten werden in 1962 aangelegd met als doel het verkeer te verlichten en een beschut vervoer te bieden, vooral handig tijdens het barre winterseizoen. Sinds de metro van Montreal in 1966 in gebruik is genomen, zijn er meer verbindingen toegevoegd en vandaag de dag bestaat RÉSO uit 20 mijl tunnels met meer dan 120 externe toegangspunten. Naast winkelen kunt u ook de permanente kunstwerken, openbare pleinen en culturele centra bekijken. Als u alle verborgen plekken wilt ontdekken, boek dan een rondleiding en begin te wandelen.,
Reso, Canada
6. Shanghai Tunnels, Portland, Verenigde Staten
Portland heeft zijn eigen ondergrondse stad bekend als de Shanghai Tunnels, of de minder voorkomende naam: de Portland Underground. Dit ingewikkelde netwerk zou ooit bestaan uit tunnelgangen die Portland ‘ s Old Town, ook bekend als Chinatown, verbinden met het centrale centrum., Helaas zijn veel van deze ondergrondse ruimtes opgevuld tijdens verschillende openbare werken projecten, maar een paar van hen zijn er nog steeds en open om te verkennen.vroeger waren de kelders van vele bars en hotels via deze tunnels verbonden met de rivier de Willamette, waardoor voorraden van aangemeerde schepen direct naar kelders konden worden verplaatst voor opslag, waardoor regen en zwaar verkeer werden vermeden. Hoewel nog steeds een controversieel onderwerp, het gerucht gaat dat de tunnels zijn ook gebruikt voor de praktijk van “shanghaiing”: het ontvoeren van mensen voor hen om te dienen als matrozen.,maar, vrees niet, vandaag kunt u een veilige wandeling maken en een deel van de Shanghai Tunnels verkennen om een idee te krijgen van het complexe netwerk van tunnels, en een begrip van de zeemijl geschiedenis rond Portland.
7. Coober Pedy, Australië
De Cappadociërs groeven zich in voor de veiligheid, maar in Australië gingen mensen de diepte in voor geld. Opaal, om precies te zijn. In het roestrode landschap rond Coober Pedy, 846 kilometer boven Adelaide, bleek je die edelsteen gewoon uit te kunnen graven.
’s Zomers kan het in deze woestijn wel 45 graden Celsius in de schaduw worden (en succes met schaduw vinden), maar ondergronds hangt de temperatuur het hele jaar rond de 24 graden. Dat was zo comfortabel, dat de opaaldelvers voor zichzelf woonvertrekken uitgroeven (‘dug-outs’), en daarna tunnels, winkels, opslag en zelfs een kapel. Nog steeds woont ongeveer de helft van de 1762 bewoners ondergronds.
Naast opaal draait het ondergrondse dorp natuurlijk ook op toeristen. Geen wonder dat de oorspronkelijke Kokatha-bewoners deze rare zandhoop kupa piti noemden: ‘witte man in een gat in de grond’.
Ondergrondse servisch-orthodoxe kerk in Coober Pedy.
Onder de straten van de Schotse hoofdstad ligt een donkere en vochtige wereld, daterend uit de 18e eeuw. De Edinburgh Vaults, ook bekend als de South Bridge Vaults, zijn een reeks kamers gevormd binnen de 19 bogen van South Bridge.,geopend in 1788, een periode van grote expansie en groei, de gewelven dateren uit de tijd dat Edinburgh een bijgelovige plaats was. Vandaag de dag stralen ze nog steeds een gevoel van gore en afgrijselijkheid uit. Oorspronkelijk gebouwd om tavernes, schoenmakers, Snijders, smelters en andere handelaren te huisvesten, en om illegale materialen op te slaan, geruchten gaan dat seriemoordenaars Burke en Hare ook verschillende lichamen hier beneden opbergen, die ze verkochten voor medische experimenten., Later, toen de bedrijven verhuisden, werden de gewelven de thuisbasis van de armste zielen van de stad, een achterbuurt compleet met pubs en bordelen verspreid over de natte kamers. Een plek zo grimmig dat elke rosse buurt van vandaag mooi en knus lijkt.duik onder Edinburgh ‘ s sierlijke oppervlak en luister naar de rillende verhalen van de gids over de spoken die nog steeds rondzwerven.,
9. Setenil de las Bodegas, Spanje
In tegenstelling tot sommige van de andere plaatsen op deze lijst, is Setenil de las Bodegas, een pueblo (kleine stad) in Zuid-Spanje, geen ondergrondse stad op zich, maar ligt het onder massieve overhangen van rotsen. Gelegen langs een smalle rivierkloof die is geërodeerd door de rivier de Rio Trejo, zijn de huizen gebouwd in en onder de muren van de kloof zelf., Mensen vestigden zich hier eigenlijk om praktische redenen: om de zomerhitte en de kou in de winter buiten te houden, bouwden ze alleen de gevel van het huis, terwijl de achterkant door de natuur werd afgeschermd.hoewel het klein is, heeft Setenil de las Bodegas een groot aanbod: bezoek de kleine tapasbars die onder de kloof liggen en proef lokale lekkernijen zoals chorizo, olijfolie, honing, jam en Andalusische wijn. En als je een natuurliefhebber bent, wandel dan langs El Escarpe de Río Trejo, een gebied van natuurlijke diversiteit, of Ruta De los Bandoleros, die vele romantische legendes inspireerde.,
10. Pilsen Historical Underground, Czech Republic
De stad Pilsen, in het westelijke deel van het land, is de thuisbasis van Pilsen Historical Underground, een labyrint van 12.5 mijl lang met gangen, kelders en putten die onder de stad zijn gebouwd straten in de 14e eeuw. Deze kelders dienden ooit als opslagruimte voor voedsel en vaten bier en, sommigen zeggen, als een ontsnappingsroute in geval van een aanval., Volgens de legende is er een schat begraven binnen de keldermuren, hoewel plundering wordt afgeraden.
Neem een rondleiding en verken dit ingenieuze ondergrondse systeem; hoogtepunten zijn onder andere de Ijskelder, de watertoren en de tentoonstelling over middeleeuwse boekbinden. De tour eindigt bij het Brouwerijmuseum, waar u het beroemde lokale Pilsner Urquell bier kunt proeven.,
SpaceX launches space station crew on 8-month mission
Story by William Harwood
NASA and SpaceX launched a new mission to the International Space Station with four crew members on board to replace the team that returned last month due to a medical issue with one member. Mark Strassmann has more.6h ago
With NASA's delayed Artemis II moon mission on hold, SpaceX pressed ahead with a Friday the 13th launch of four fresh crew members to the International Space Station in a mission to replace four fliers who came home early last month because of a medical issue one was having.
Crew 12 commander Jessica Meir, pilot Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, strapped into a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket, blasted off from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 5:15 a.m. EST.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Dragon spacecraft on top launches from Space Launch Complex 40 for the Crew-12 mission at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Feb. 13, 2026.
Credit: Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images
Lighting up the pre-dawn sky, the Falcon 9 streaked away on a northeasterly trajectory aligned with the space station's orbit, on course for docking Saturday around 3:15 p.m. to boost the lab's crew from three back to a full complement of seven.
"It turns out Friday the 13th is a very lucky day," SpaceX Launch Control radioed once the crew reached orbit.
"That was quite a ride," Meir responded.
Crew 12 originally expected to take off after four other astronauts ventured to the moon and back in NASA's Artemis II mission. But the moonshot was delayed to early March because of hydrogen fuel leaks in that crew's huge Space Launch System rocket. That, in turn, cleared the way for NASA to move up Crew 12's launch to Feb. 11.
But high winds off shore in the Atlantic Ocean, where the Crew 12 fliers would have to splash down in an ascent emergency, then prompted NASA to stand down until Friday, when calmer seas and lower winds were predicted.
While Crew 12 made final preparations to fly, engineers ran another test at nearby pad 39B Thursday to check the effectiveness of new seals in an umbilical connecting fuel lines to the SLS moon rocket. The seals are intended to prevent the sort of hydrogen leakage seen during a "wet-dress rehearsal" countdown Feb. 2.
NASA did not publicize the test, but the agency said later it did not go as planned because of what sources described as a frozen filter in ground equipment.
The trouble will have to be addressed before engineers can attempt a re-test of the new seals, followed by another full-up dress rehearsal fueling test to clear the way for launch as early as March 3.
Replacement crew sets sights on space station, boosting staff back to seven
In the near-term, Crew 12 has its sights set on joining space station commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, fellow cosmonaut Sergey Mikaev and NASA astronaut Chris Williams, who were launched to the lab last November aboard a Russian Soyuz ferry ship. They will help the new crew get up to speed on the intricacies of station operations.
Meir and Fedyaev won't need much help because both are station veterans. Their crewmates are making their first trip to orbit, but Hathaway and Adenot bring a wide variety of operational experience to the table.
Crew 12 during training at SpaceX's Hawthorne, CA, rocket manufacturing facility. Left to right: Andrey Fedyaev, Jack Hathaway, Jessica Meir and Sophie Adenot.
Credit: SpaceX
Hathaway is a veteran F/A-18E fighter pilot with more than 500 aircraft carrier landings to his credit while Adenot is a French air force helicopter test pilot with more than 3,000 hours flying time under her belt. She's also an experienced sky and SCUBA diver and a certified yoga instructor.
Meir holds a Ph.D. in marine biology and participated in three all-female spacewalks during her first station stay in 2019-20. She and Fedyaev are looking forward to helping their rookie crewmates quickly get up to speed when they get to the ISS.
"Both of us are really excited to bring our past experiences and expertise to the very first flight for (Hathaway and Adenot)," she said. "We love this kind of balance that we have, of two veterans and two rookies, to hit the ground running when we get aboard the International Space Station."
Fedyaev, who flew to the space station aboard a Crew Dragon in 2023, was added to Crew 12 in December after veteran cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev was removed. reportedly for violating security restrictions during training at SpaceX's Hawthorne, Calif., headquarters. Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, said only that Artemyev was reassigned to other work.
Fedyaev's prior experience and training with SpaceX and NASA enabled him to join Crew 12 with little impact on launch preparations.
Early return of one station crew prompts accelerated launch of replacements
Crew 12 is replacing Crew 11 commander Zena Cardman, co-pilot Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. Crew 11 originally was expected to return to Earth around Feb. 20, after a "handover" with their Crew 12 replacements.
But NASA ordered Cardman and company back to Earth on Jan. 15 after one of the Crew 11 fliers experienced an undisclosed medical issue. Crew 11 came down safely and all four crew members appeared healthy and in good spirits at a post-flight news conference.
But their departure left the station with a single NASA astronaut aboard -- Williams -- to operate systems in the U.S. segment of the complex. It also brought NASA research to a virtual standstill.
"What it means is, really, there's just fewer hands on board to do some of the work," said space station Program Manager Dina Contella.
"On the U.S. operating segment, if we were to have a major failure, then we would like to have a second USOS crew member to be able to go out and perform a complex spacewalk."
At present, she said, there are no major problems aboard the space station. Even so, NASA asked SpaceX to move the Crew 12 launch up by a few days to get the station crew back to full strength as soon as possible.
Before the Artemis II launch was delayed, NASA was planning a ship-to-ship call between the moon-bound astronauts and the space station crew. That should still be possible despite the moon mission delay.
Crew members face busy schedule in orbit
Meir certainly hopes so, because her partner during those all-female spacewalks was Artemis II crew member Christina Koch. And her astronaut class included Artemis II pilot Victor Glover, and she said she's close friends with commander Reid Wiseman and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
"I would be really excited to be able to talk to Christina, and also my classmate Victor Glover and kind of my astronaut uncles, Reid Wiseman and Jeremy Hansen," she said before the moon mission slipped to March. "We're all very excited to be all in space at the same time."
Jessia Meir poses in the space station's multi-window cupola during her first stay aboard the outpost in 2019-20.
Credit: NASA
But mostly, Meir is looking forward to the science her crew will conduct during a roughly eight-month stay aboard the space station.
"We will do experiments ranging from bone and muscle health, (studying) our blood flow, what's going on in all of these systems during the changes that we experience in microgravity," she said.
"There's an experiment that's looking at the small muscles in our necks and how they can support us in different gravitational phases. There will be images of our brains taken pre- and post-flight to look at any changes to the brain that happened during microgravity and space missions."
The astronauts will continue ongoing studies of how microgravity affects the vision of some long-duration fliers, apparently by changing the shape of the eye over time. Interestingly, those changes are not always for the worst.
Meir said she needed glasses before her first flight, but her vision improved to 20-15 over the course of her stay in space.
"Pretty interesting for me, it actually turned out to be quite advantageous," she said. "But of course, we're studying this really thoroughly, because we want to make sure that we don't have any long-term damage to astronauts' vision, or to the eyes themselves.
"The good thing is, we haven't seen any deficits long-term that exist beyond the missions, but we need to collect more data."
The crew will also test a new exercise machine developed by the European Space Agency that's designed to help astronauts stay fit during future flights to the moon and Mars. And they will work with landing simulator software to learn more about how microgravity might affect astronauts setting down on the moon or Mars.
Jessica Meir encourages her three-year-old daughter to launch a
"We even have a new experiment called Relax Pro that Sophie and I will be participating in that's looking at meditation and mindfulness and how that can benefit astronauts on space missions," Meir said.
But it won't be all work. Meir is bringing a piccolo with her and Fedyaev plans to play a harmonica he brought aboard on his first flight.
Along with the harmonica, "there were three guitars during our previous mission on board, Fedyaev said. "We used to sing together, and it was like karaoke.
"We sang different languages, or I would play the guitar, and everybody would sing the words from the song they looked up online. So we will probably meet and play our musical instruments and maybe actually give a concert!"
Adenot will be the second French woman to fly in space. Physician Claudie Haigneré, one of seven French astronauts chosen in 1985, spent 16 days aboard the Russian Mir space station in 1996. Adenot said Haigneré has acted as a sort of mentor for her and planned to attend the Crew 12 launch.
"I remember very well the first launch of Claudie Haigneré," Adenot said. "I was 14 years old, and that day it kind of clicked in my mind. She was the first French woman astronaut flying to space and before, only men.
"And you know, when you're a teenager, you're just looking for inspiration, and if someone has done it already, then it clicks in your mind: say, if a woman has done it already, then why not me?"
Meir also dreamed of spaceflight when she was a child and said she can't wait to get back aboard the space station.
"When I flew last time, I did not have a husband and a child, and now I have both," she said. "At the end of my seven months, last time, I actually wanted to stay longer, I wasn't ready to come home. And this time, perhaps will feel a little bit different since I'll be leaving my three-year-old back here.
"But everything that we're doing on board the space station is so exciting, it keeps us going, keeps us invigorated, and it's easy to not miss things back at home.
"I hope that what we're doing will be exciting enough and important enough, noteworthy enough, that one day when she's old enough, she'll appreciate that time away."
Major questions the Bible leaves unanswered The Bible remains the best-selling book of all time, but to this day scholars and theologists debate on a number of inconsistencies. Indeed, many parts of the Bible have been confirmed to be true by science. As for others, well, not quite. In fact, some parts of the Bible remain a complete mystery. Curious to learn what the biggest unanswered questions in the Bible are? Then click through!
1. The location of the Garden of Eden The original home of Adam and Eve, from where they were cast out by God, remains one of the mysterious locations in the Bible.
The location of the Garden of Eden It is true that the whole story can be interpreted as a metaphor, but what if one interprets it literally? Where would the Garden of Eden be located, after all? We can find some hints in Genesis 2.
The location of the Garden of Eden Genesis 2:10 says that, “A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers” (the specific wording depends on the Bible translation). And then it mentions their names: Pishon, Gihon, Hiddekel (the Tigris), and Phirat (the Euphrates).
The location of the Garden of Eden This hint has led to speculations that the Garden of Eden was located either in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and Kuwait), or modern-day Turkey or Armenia. Though the specific location has, thus far, not been located.
2. There are two creation stories In Genesis 1, God creates male and female at the same time. But then, in the very next chapter, Genesis 2, God created a woman from a man’s rib.
There are two creation stories Not only that, but even God himself is described as having two different names: Elohim in the first account, and YHWH in the second.
Metaphorical interpretation aside, there are indeed two different versions of the creation story. Sure, these may have been an editorial mistake when putting the Bible together, but still, which story should we trust and why?
3. Who were the "sons of God?" Genesis 6:2 says that, “The sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.” So who were these “sons of God,” after all?
Who were the "sons of God?" There are various interpretations of who the "sons of God" were. Some theories point to fallen angels, while others say they might be the descendants of Seth (one of Adam and Eve's children). The Bible, however, doesn’t really tell us who they were for sure.
4. What really happened to the Ark of the Covenant? The Ark of the Covenant, which is mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments, contains the Ten Commandments tablets. But whatever happened to such an important piece of Biblical history?
What really happened to the Ark of the Covenant? There is a theory that the Ark ended up in Ethiopia and it’s in Aksum today, where it’s guarded by a monk. Other theories point to the Ark being hidden somewhere beneath Jerusalem. To this day, no one has found it.
5. Who is Lucifer? He’s Satan, right? Well, there’s more to it, actually. Isaiah 14:12-17 mentions the story of Lucifer, however, you won’t find any connection to Satan or the Devil. Just that he’s a fallen angel who was cast down to earth by God for wanting to be above him.
Who is Lucifer? But then Luke 10:18-20 mentions Satan falling "like lightning from heaven." So, yes, it seems like Lucifer and Satan fell down from heaven, but are they the same? It is possible that the connection between the two was made after the Bible was written.
Who is Lucifer? So, who is Lucifer, after all? Some theories point to the hypothesis that Lucifer was a reference to a Babylonian ruler. Another theory says that Lucifer was simply the Latin word for “morning star,” but the truth is that no one knows for sure
6. What happened during the "lost years" of Jesus? Not much is documented in the Bible about Jesus’ so-called "lost years." So what was Jesus up to between the ages of 12 and 30, after all?
What happened during the "lost years" of Jesus? Some theories say Jesus stayed in Nazareth, while others say he went to study elsewhere. Locations range from Alexandria, in Egypt, to India.
What happened during the "lost years" of Jesus? It is possible that Jesus studied with the Jewish mystic group the Essenes, or that he traveled as far as Britain with his uncle Joseph of Arimathea, who was a tin trader. The truth is that there is no solid evidence of any of these hypotheses.
7. How did humanity multiply? Okay, so Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden and went on to have babies. But then for humans to multiply they had to intermarry, right? After all, there were no other humans around.
How did humanity multiply? Not only does it sound wrong, but scientifically speaking this wouldn’t have worked out. We need genetic diversity to thrive as healthy humans. So what gives?
How did humanity multiply? Well, one theory says that God either prevented genetic disorders that would likely happen from incestuous relationships, or that, indeed, he created more than two humans.
8. What happened to the lost tribes of Israel? Both the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah were formed by 12 tribes of Hebrew people. While there is historical evidence of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin (which formed the Kingdom of Judah and are considered the ancestors of modern Jews), the remaining 10 tribes are not well documented.
What happened to the lost tribes of Israel? The tribes were reportedly overtaken by Assyria and exiled from the Kingdom of Israel. But where did they go? Some theories say they traveled to Persia, the Arabian Peninsula, Ethiopia, and even as far as Asia and North America.
What happened to the lost tribes of Israel? It is also possible that they merged with other non-Hebraic cultures and their traditions faded away over the years. Despite all the theories, no one knows for sure what happened to the lost tribes of Israel.
9. Where is Noah’s Ark? It is true that the Great Flood might have happened (though not on a global scale as the Bible mentions). But if Noah’s Ark did, too, what happened to it?
Where is Noah’s Ark? Over the years, numerous theories have emerged, and 'evidence' has been found, though none was robust enough or indeed conclusive.
Where is Noah’s Ark? One example includes wooden fragments discovered on Turkey's Mount Ararat. Being made of wood, it’s very possible that if the Ark ever existed, it rotted and disappeared over the years.
10. What happened to Enoch and Elijah? The Bible says that Enoch (the father of the 969-year-old Methuselah), one of the 'two witnesses,' "walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away." But what does that mean? Did he die? Did he join God in heaven?
What happened to Enoch and Elijah? According to Kings 2 2:1, Elijah, the other witness, who was a prophet, “Went up by a whirlwind into heaven” in a chariot of fire. If indeed this was a description of his death, why did he ascend to heaven? He was a man, after all.
Amazing close-up footage of a Dark UFO Over Dundee, OR, USA Feb 9, 2026, UAP Sighting Paranormal News.
Date of sighting: February 9, 2026
Location of sighting: Dundee, Oregon, USA
Source: NUFORC
Hey guys, check this out. This is a dark UFO seen over Oregon this week and it's the most amazing 20 seconds ever! The object has two fork like arms sticking out and it follows in the direction those arms are pointing. Also this was caught in broad daylight so wow! Such rare footage, but I wonder...could it be a high tech US military drone or an alien ship sent to scan and record the inhabitants of Oregon? I feel it's alien...thats my personal opinion. Tell me your thoughts of this on my video by clicking the video below and writing on Youtube comments what you think is going on in Oregon.
Scott C. Waring - Back in Taiwan
Eyewitness states:
Was walking out to our cars and noticed a very low slow object above us in the sky it was seeming to be like a drone maybe having somewhat controlling it, but then it would turn and then would go straight up and then turn other directions and then flatten out and then fly away towards Newberg, Oregon.
We komen allemaal uit Afrika, maar wanneer bereikten we andere continenten? Heb je je ooit afgevraagd hoe en wanneer mensen zich voor het eerst over de wereld verspreidden, in een tijd voordat er auto's, vliegtuigen en boten bestonden?
Van de woestijnen van Afrika tot de ijzige vlaktes van Noord-Amerika, de reis van onze voorouders is er een van avontuur, overleven en ontdekken. Vandaag de dag zijn wetenschappers nog steeds bezig om de puzzel van de menselijke migratie in elkaar te passen. Ze gebruiken oude artefacten, genetische gegevens en zelfs voetafdrukken om te achterhalen waar we vandaan kwamen en hoe we elke uithoek van de aarde bereikten.
Benieuwd naar de ongelooflijke weg die onze voorouders hebben afgelegd? Klik verder om de fascinerende geschiedenis te ontdekken van hoe mensen de wereldburgers werden die we nu zijn.
Waar het allemaal begon Homo sapiens evolueerde ongeveer 300.000 jaar geleden voor het eerst in Afrika, waardoor het continent de geboorteplaats werd van de moderne mens.
Meerdere oorsprongen Het idee dat moderne mensen gelijktijdig in meerdere regio's, zoals Europa en Azië, evolueerden, was ooit een populaire theorie die de multiregionale of candelabra-hypothese werd genoemd.
De 'Out of Africa'-theorie De meeste wetenschappers denken dat Homo sapiens uit Afrika kwamen en zich daarna over de wereld verspreidde, waarbij ze andere hominiden vervingen of zich ermee mengden. Zoals Petraglia zegt: "Alle bewijzen wijzen naar de oorsprong en beweging van Homo sapiens uit Afrika".
Wanneer verlieten mensen voor het eerst Afrika? Ongeveer 200.000 jaar geleden begonnen Homo sapiens hun migratie uit Afrika, eerst naar nabije gebieden, en hun wereldwijde verspreiding gebeurde in de daaropvolgende duizenden jaren.
Oversteekpunt Een van de eerste routes uit Afrika liep misschien via het Sinaï-schiereiland, een nu droge regio tussen Egypte, Jordanië en Israël. Toen de eerste mensen daar trokken richting het oostelijke Middellandse Zeegebied, was het veel groener dan nu.
Lopend Een theorie zegt dat de eerste mensen via een landbrug van Afrika naar Arabië liepen, via de Bab el-Mandeb (of Bab al-Mandab) zeestraat, die ligt tussen de Hoorn van Afrika en het zuidelijke puntje van het Arabisch Schiereiland.
Met een peddel over Maar een studie uit 2006 sprak het idee van een landbrug tegen en stelde dat de eerste mensen misschien peddelend of drijvend de oversteek maakten.
Naar Azië Meer dan 100.000 jaar geleden verspreidden Homo sapiens zich naar Azië. Er zijn aanwijzingen dat ze de kustlijnen volgden en daarna langzaam het binnenland introkken.
Rondtrekken en mengen Zo’n 54.000 tot 44.000 jaar geleden kwamen moderne mensen de Denisovans tegen, een andere oude mensensoort, en vermengden zich met hen.
Denisova-erfenis Daardoor zeggen onderzoekers dat er nog steeds sporen van Denisova-DNA te vinden zijn in de genen van sommige Aziatische bevolkingsgroepen van vandaag.
Aankomst in Europa De eerste bewijzen van Homo sapiens in Europa zijn zo’n 210.000 jaar oud, met fossielen gevonden in de Apidima-grot in Zuid-Griekenland.
Eerste golf Maar als deze datering klopt, denkt Martin Richards, evolutionair geneticus aan de University of Huddersfield in Engeland, dat het misschien gaat om een vroege golf migrerende Homo sapiens die uitstierf of zich terugtrok tijdens een ijstijd (wanneer gletsjers zich uitbreiden).
Dichte verwanten Na deze periode denken wetenschappers dat Homo sapiens zich blijvend vestigde in Europa, zo’n 50.000 tot 60.000 jaar geleden. In die tijd vermengden ze zich met de Neanderthalers, een andere oude mensensoort, en vervingen hen uiteindelijk.
Aankomst in Oceanië In die tijd waren grote delen van Zuidoost-Azië en Australië met elkaar verbonden door land, en verspreidden mensen zich over deze gebieden.
Door de Stille Oceaan Zo’n 50.000 jaar geleden bereikten moderne mensen Nieuw-Guinea, wat blijkt uit archeologische vondsten. Van daaruit verspreidden ze zich in meerdere migratiegolven over de eilanden van de Stille Oceaan, waarbij ze zich aanpasten aan de unieke omstandigheden van elke eilandengroep.
De Lapita-expansie Door het bestuderen van Lapita-aardewerk hebben wetenschappers vroege menselijke aanwezigheid in Nieuw-Guinea en omliggende gebieden kunnen traceren. Volgens UNESCO markeren Lapita-locaties de eerste menselijke kolonisatie van Tonga, zo’n 2.800 jaar geleden.
Polynesische expansie Vergelijkbare locaties in de Bismarck-archipel, de Salomonseilanden, Vanuatu, Nieuw-Caledonië, Fiji en Samoa laten grote culturele veranderingen zien in de westelijke Stille Oceaan, zo’n 3.000 jaar geleden. Deze veranderingen worden gekoppeld aan de migratie van Austronesisch sprekende volkeren van Zuidoost-Azië naar de verder gelegen eilanden van Oceanië.
Polynesische zeereizen Zo’n 1.500 jaar geleden begonnen de Polynesiërs aan grote zeereizen over de Stille Oceaan en bereikten afgelegen eilanden zoals Hawaï, Paaseiland en Nieuw-Zeeland.
Op weg naar Noord-Amerika De traditionele theorie over menselijke migratie naar Noord-Amerika zegt dat vroege Homo sapiens zo’n 13.000 jaar geleden vanuit Siberië een landbrug overstaken, genaamd Bering (of Beringia).
Oorspronkelijke bewoners Nomadische inheemse groepen uit Siberië, zoals de Tsjoektsjen (op de foto), zijn de dichtstbijzijnde levende link met de vroege kolonisten in de regio. De Tsjoektsjen worden ook gezien als de nauwste Aziatische voorouders van de inheemse volkeren in Amerika.
Eerste Noord-Amerikanen Archeologen hebben bewijs gevonden van pre-Clovis nederzettingen en zelfs oudere menselijke voetafdrukken in New Mexico. Dit suggereert dat de eerste Noord-Amerikanen via deze route—en mogelijk langs de Pacifische kust—al minstens 23.000 jaar geleden aankwamen.
Zuid-Amerika Homo sapiens bereikte Zuid-Amerika zo’n 15.000 jaar geleden. Archeologische sites zoals Monte Verde in Chili bewijzen menselijke nederzetting van ongeveer 14.550 jaar geleden.
Ver terug Hoewel er discussie is over de tijdlijn van de vroege menselijke aankomst in Zuid-Amerika, wijst bewijs van meerdere sites erop dat Homo sapiens veel eerder arriveerde dan eerder werd gedacht.
Oude kolonisten De Uros zijn een van de oudste inheemse groepen van Peru, met wortels die teruggaan tot ongeveer 3.700 jaar geleden, toen de centrale Andes voor het eerst werden bewoond.
Genetische verbinding Volgens geneticus José Raúl Sandoval, die hun DNA heeft bestudeerd, "zijn de overgrote meerderheid van de inheemse Zuid-Amerikanen genetisch verwant, omdat ze afstammen van dezelfde groep voorouders die oorspronkelijk op het continent aankwam", ongeacht de route die ze namen.
Laatste stop: Antarctica Mensen bereikten Antarctica later dan elk ander continent. Hoewel de landing van de Amerikaan John Davis in 1821 officieel als de eerste wordt geregistreerd, zijn er aanwijzingen voor eerdere bezoeken.
Nog niet zeker Zelfs de bewering dat de Noren Henrik Bull en Carsten Borchgrevink (op de foto) eind 1800 als eersten voet aan wal zetten, wordt betwist.
Een andere theorie Sommige studies suggereren dat de Māori uit Nieuw-Zeeland mogelijk al in de 7e eeuw naar Antarctica zeilden, hoewel dit idee niet breed wordt geaccepteerd door historici.
Ever since we’ve had the capability, humanity has been desperately trying to make contact with other life in the universe.
While we’ve been beaming out information passively through our television and radio broadcasts, we’ve also sent more intentional messages.
Looking at these messages tells us how humanity wants to think of itself and what kind of relationship we hope to have with alien life.
We’ve loudly been broadcasting our presence on Earth out to the broader universe for decades. At first, these attempts were accidental. In Carl Sagan’s book Contact, he speculated that any aliens watching the stars with at least as keen an interest as we do would pick up high-powered television broadcasts — the first of which would have been Hitler’s Nuremberg rallies.
Fortunately, we’ve also been sending more intentional messages into space that E.T. may pay more attention to. These deliberate messages often contain information on our technological advancement; our understanding of mathematics, which is likely the only shared form of communication we would have with an alien species; and our culture and art. Together, they represent how humanity wants to be seen. Here’s a selection of some of the most noteworthy messages we’ve been sending to space in the hopes that somebody is listening.
The Arecibo Message with added color information.
Wikimedia Commons
1. The Arecibo Message
On November 16th, 1974, we sent a 2,380 MHz radio message pointed at the Messier M13 globular cluster 25,000 light years away. Over the course of its 3 minutes, the radio message sent 1,679 binary digits by shifting the radio’s signal frequency slightly for a 1 or a 0. When visualized, the Arecibo Message looks a little bit like discarded artwork from Space Invaders.
Like most of these messages, we tried to pack as much meaning in as little space as possible. Frank Drake (creator of the famous Drake equation) and Carl Sagan collaborated on what should go into it. From top to bottom, the message contains the numbers 1 through 10, information on the elements in our DNA, their atomic numbers, the nucleotides that constitute our DNA, and the double-helix structure. Below it, we listed the average height of a human, a simple graphic depicting our form, and our population at the time (4.3 billion). Then, there’s a simple model of our solar system, and the last part contains a depiction of a telescope.
It’ll take 25,000 years for the message to reach its destination, so it’s unlikely that we’ll ever know if it made contact. However, its intended purpose was rather to demonstrate our capability; the possibility of contact is just the cherry on top.
The Voyager Golden Records prior to being affixed to the Voyager probes.
NASA/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
2.The Voyager Golden Records
Probably the most famous communication attempt on this list, the Voyager Golden Records were contained inside the two Voyager probes launched in 1977. Once again, the contents were selected by Carl Sagan and a committee he helmed.
The records contain instructions on how they should be played. If aliens get past that step, they’ll be greeted by the sounds of planet Earth, like wind, thunder, and whale and bird song. They’ll also hear spoken greetings in 55 different languages, music from different cultures, footsteps, and Sagan’s laughter.
The Golden Records also contain instructions for how to produce images from their contents. These depict people eating, planets in our solar system, locations on Earth, animals, insects, human evolution and physiology, and chemistry-related images.
The most interesting component, though, is the hour-long recording of a human’s brainwaves; specifically, Sagan’s wife, Ann Druyan. While her brain was being recorded, Druyan thought of a variety of topics, like Earth’s history and — having just gotten engaged to Carl Sagan — the experience of falling in love.
The Voyager probes were primarily meant to observe our solar system as they passed through, but they will be floating through space for quite some time. Maybe some aliens will have the opportunity to see how Druyan felt about falling in love or hear the many sounds from Earth we included. You can listen to the Golden Record’s audio recordings on Soundcloud here and here.
The Yevpatoria Planetary Radar.
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
3. The Teen Age Message
This message was initially proposed to be sent via the Arecibo Observatory, the same radio telescope used to send the Arecibo Message, but was rejected over growing concerns that maybe it isn’t such a hot idea to broadcast humanity’s presence in the universe. The Dark Forest theory states that the reason why the universe appears empty is because all other alien life is hiding out fear of other, hostile civilizations — sending messages out to the stars has always been a contested proposition because of our ignorance about the friendliness of alien life.
But human perseverance and our desire to make contact with others has usually won out, and the Teen Age Message was eventually sent out from the Yevpatoria Planetary Radar in 2001. Alexander Zaitsev, the project’s leader, described his conception of the message:
There are two interconnected, inverse and direct, problems in concept of extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) — Search for ETI by terrestrial intelligence (SETI) and Messages to ETI from terrestrial intelligence (METI). The key element of SETI is the Object of search, namely [the] Universe, where we hope to detect the ETI and then to decode theirs [sic] Messages, and so the essence of SETI is Space Science. In turn, the key element of METI is the intellectual Subject, who creates new messages for potential ETI and hope that They will detect and perceive these Messages, and so the essence of METI is Space Art.
In an attempt to make “space art,” the Teen Age Message contained the first live recording of a theremin concert for aliens. Seven songs were performed, and the total message was sent to six target stars, both of which were selected by teenage students (hence, the Teen Age Message). Depending on the star, the messages should reach their target destination between 2047 and 2070. (Far quicker than the 25,000 years the Arecibo Message will take!)
As an interesting side note, teenagers have played a fairly important role in our attempts at contacting alien life. When Sagan included “Johnny B. Good” on the Voyager Golden Records, critics complained that rock music was too adolescent. Sagan replied, “There are a lot of adolescents on the planet.”
Copy of the original computer printout, with the signal in the bottom left
The Wow! signal represented as "6EQUJ5". The original printout with Ehman's handwritten exclamation is preserved by Ohio History Connection.[1]
Wikimedia Commons
4. The Wow! Reply
In 1977, the Big Ear radio observatory at Ohio State University picked up a signal coming from the constellation Sagittarius that was 30 times as powerful as the average background radiation of space. The signal was so striking that astronomer Jerry Ehman circled it in red ink on a printout and wrote “Wow!” in the margins, giving the signal its name.
To date, this is the strongest candidate for an intentional alien communication that we’ve received on Earth. For one, the signal’s frequency was beamed at around 1,420 MHz. Hydrogen, the most common element in the universe, also emits radiation at 1,420 MHz, making it an easily recognizable signal to any sufficiently advanced civilization. What’s more, when we studied alternative sources of the signal (i.e., an Earth-made signal reflected off of space debris, a signal emitted by distant comets), no theoretical sources matched the nature of the signal particularly well.
So, in 2012, 35 years after the first signal was detected, humanity sent a response. Ten thousand Twitter messages, including one from Stephen Colbert, were beamed back at the signal’s source.
Since alien life isn’t likely to be able to read Earth languages and may not even possess eyes to view the many videos and pictures included in the response, each message contained a repeating-sequence header to mark it as an intentional communication from intelligent life. The nearest sources of the Wow! signal were between 338 and 1,000 light years from Earth, however, so when the messages are finally received, both the hypothetical source civilization and humanity will be very different.
An aerial view of the Arecibo Observatory, which some may recognize from the 1997 film GoldenEye.
We’ve come along way since 1974, so it makes sense to send out more messages as we progress technologically and culturally. Currently, the Arecibo Observatory has challenged students to develop a new Arecibo Message. The observatory is asking teams of 10 students to create a message for alien civilizations, including the target stars and the energy of the signal. The Arecibo Observatory has also asked teams to in some way address the ongoing concerns over the risk of exposing humanity to unknown alien civilizations and communicate our peaceful intentions. After selecting the winners in September 2019, the new Arecibo Message will be beamed out to the broader universe in celebration of the 45th anniversary of the original message.
What messages did people send to extraterrestrial civilization
World Radio Day is celebrated on February 13. It was on this day in 1946 that UN Radio began its work. It tells people on all continents about peace and security. But radio waves can carry messages further than to the other side of the Earth. For 60 years now, people have been purposefully sending signals into space from powerful transmitters.
The message of the Arecibo telescope. Source: displate.com
Our radio near other stars
Technically, radio waves can propagate in a vacuum indefinitely. But as the signal moves away from the source, its power decreases. Those transmitters with which the inventors conducted their experiments had extremely low signal intensity. In order to catch them at least on the Moon, a radio telescope was needed.
In addition, the first radio broadcasts did not carry words. It was just a flashing “there is a signal — there is no signal”. The premiere of the transmission of a voice radio signal took place in 1906, the first radio station began broadcasting in the USA in 1920, and the debut television company was launched in 1929.
Guglielmo Marconi demonstrates one of the first radio transmitters.Source: Wikipedia
The signal of all these transmitters was strong enough for people to hear messages at a distance of hundreds and thousands of kilometers. But it was not directional, and therefore, at a distance of a hundred light-years, it would hardly be possible to hear it.
Radio transmitters that radiated a signal with a narrow beam appeared in the forties and quickly became more and more powerful. Their call signs could already be heard hundreds of light-years away. However, if anyone tried to listen to them, they wouldn’t have heard anything interesting. Because they were military radars, their signal carried no message and was perceived as noise.
How the idea of communication with space was born
The first signal purposefully sent into space should be considered the radar of the Moon, independently conducted by Hungarian and American scientists in 1946. Then the focused pulse was reflected from our moon and was picked up by an antenna on the Earth. Thanks to this experiment, the researchers learned many facts about the distance to the nearest celestial body and its physical characteristics.
The idea to send a meaningful message appeared in 1959. The scientific community had just accepted the idea that intelligent extraterrestrial life could really exist somewhere, and it could be contacted. This theory was expressed by the Italian physicist Giuseppe Cocconi and the American — Philip Morrison.
Giuseppe Cocconi and Philip Morrison. Source: Wikipedia
American scientists who took an interest in this idea were faced with a very simple question. How alien life forms will understand what we want to say. Spoken words, signs on paper and just mathematical symbols make sense only to those who know their meaning. It took scientists a decade and a half of discussions to solve this problem.
Soviet message to Venus
But where the question of the understandability of words and ideas did not arise, it was in the USSR. On November 19, 1962, the word “Mir” (which means peace or world in Russian) was sent from the Yevpatoria Center for Deep Space Communications in the direction of Venus in Morse code.
By that time, scientists did not know whether any life could exist under a dense layer of clouds. But Soviet scientists were sure that the inhabitants of the second planet from the Sun would understand not only Morse code, but also the Russian language. Their conviction in this was so high that they decided to introduce the aliens to both the “most advanced in the world” Soviet state and its founder. On November 24, the words “Lenin” and “SSSR” (the Russian abbreviation for the Soviet Union) flew to Venus.
Radio complex in Yevpatoria. Source: arc.construction
Arecibo Message
By the mid-1970s, Americans had finally decided on the content of the message and the tool for sending it. The giant Arecibo radio telescope on the island of Puerto Rico was ideal for this. The diameter of its plate is 305 meters. At that time, it was the most powerful of the directional transmitters created by man.
The message was sent into space on November 16, 1974. The globular cluster M13 was chosen as the target for it. The signal will reach its destination about in the year 25974. If at this time a representative of intelligent life turns out to be near one of its giant luminaries and responds to the message in the same way, then the signal will be sent to Earth for another 25 thousand years.
Arecibo’s message consisted of 1,679 prime numbers. 1 could be considered a point, 0 — a void. There were only two ways to make a rectangle out of them. And only in one of them the points of 1 formed a meaningful picture. In this picture, numbers from one to ten, information about the atoms of some chemical elements and other information were encrypted. The authors of the message were astronomers Carl Sagan and Francis Drake.
After the Arecibo message, people cooled down to the topic of messages to aliens for 25 years. In 1999, Yevpatoria became the main location of communication with space again. The international Cosmic Call project involved sending a much longer message to the stars, consisting of 1.7 million binary numbers. The coding principle was the same as that of Sagan and Drake.
The message included a small image of an encyclopedia and messages from earthlings. Anyone who paid USD 15 could get into their list. More than 50 thousand such people gathered, thanks to which it took place. Scientists have chosen four fairly close stars as the destination: 16 Cygni, HD 178428, 15 Sagittae and Gliese 777. The signal will reach the target between 2050 and 2070.
Messages of the XXI century
In 2001, scientists sent a so-called The Teen Age Message into space. It got its name because of the age of the participants. The signal had a complex structure. In addition to digital images, it also contained an analog recording of a theremin concert. They sent messages again from Yevpatoria.
In 2003, the second Cosmic Call took place. In total, during it and the The Teen Age Message, the signal was sent to 11 different stars. If they have intelligent life, then its representatives will receive these messages between 2045 and 2070.
Theremin-concert sent into space
After that, the scientists sent messages several more times. For example, A Message from Earth and Hello From Earth, which were sent in 2008 and 2009. They were interesting because more than half a million earthlings took part in their sending. From this mass, with the help of a contest on the Bebo social network, 501 messages were selected, which were sent into space.
Their target was the star Gliese 581 in the constellation Libra. One of the planets in this system is similar to Earth and is located in a habitable zone. The signal will get it already in 2029. Perhaps there will be someone who likes to listen to the radio.
“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence,” as the saying often attributed to the late astronomer Carl Sagan goes. However, new research involvingorganic compounds discovered on the Red Planet has led one team of researchers to what is indeed an extraordinary possibility: that their presence cannot be fully explained by non-biological sources.
Since the initial discovery of small amounts of organic compounds in a rock sample collected by the Curiosity rover, interest in the potential for ancient Martian life has remained high. Now, with the publication of a new study in the journal Astrobiology, researchers at NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center have put forward intriguing new data that furthers the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life.
Theories of Life on Mars
While humanity may be eager to discover an intelligent species with which we can meaningfully interact, there is a strong chance that our first glimpse of extraterrestrial life will instead involve either a simple organism or a species long extinct, having existed at a distant point on the cosmic timeline.
Mars presents a scenario in which the planet is a wasteland, with only the faintest chance that extremophiles may still persist in its harsh environment. Scientists believe that Mars was not always like this, though. Billions of years ago, during its Noachian period, the Red Planet was likely much warmer, with a fuller atmosphere and bodies and liquid water on its surface. This is supported by present-day surface features, such as dry riverbeds and sediment layers, which provide evidence of lakes and even flowing water in the distant Martian past.
Curiosity Discovers Organic Compounds
In March 2025, researchers reported that three alkanes: decane, undecane, and dodecane—the largest organic compounds ever discovered on Mars—were found in rock samples collected and analyzed by the Curiosity rover. They came from samples of mudstone collected in the Gale Crater, an impact basin also believed to be a dry lake. Even then, astrobiologists hypothesized that the alkanes found in Gale Crater could be degraded fatty acids.
While such fatty acids can be produced by geological processes, here on Earth, their appearance is much more commonly associated with living organisms.
The data recovered from analyzing the samples in Curiosity’s onboard lab are insufficient to clearly determine whether the molecules were created by living beings or by geological processes. To come closer to answering that question, researchers decided to focus on the geological processes that may be at play, rather than the samples themselves.
Science, in other words, often comes down to being a process of elimination. By studying whether alternative explanations fit the samples—in this case, ideas such as whether meteorite impacts might have deposited the alkanes—researchers could better assess the potential likelihood of ancient life as an explanation.
Searching for Life on Mars
Based on the team’s extensive research, they have reached an intriguing conclusion: that non-biological processes cannot fully explain the presence of alkanes, suggesting that life on ancient Mars is a reasonable alternative hypothesis.
For their studies, the team synthesized a variety of data streams that included Curiosity’s data, laboratory radiation experiments, and mathematical modeling. Their goal was to glimpse what the Martian surface would have been like over the last 80 million years, accounting for the entirety of the rock’s suspected surface exposure time.
From this, the team developed estimates for the amount of organic material that likely existed in the stone before it was destroyed by cosmic radiation, based on the amount of alkanes there today. They discovered the amount required would far exceed what non-biological processes could produce, indicating that life very well could have played a role.
“We argue that such high concentrations of long-chain alkanes are inconsistent with a few known abiotic sources of organic molecules on ancient Mars,” the researchers write, “namely delivery of organics by IDPs and meteorites, atmospheric fallout and deposition from photochemical haze, and organic production from serpentinization and Fischer–Tropsch reactions on the Red Planet.”
The Perseverance rover sampled Cheyava Falls, a rock with "leopard spots," on Mars last year.
NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS
“In contrast,” the team adds, “it is not unreasonable to hypothesize that an ancient martian biosphere would be capable of producing this level of complex organic enrichment in martian mudstone deposits, and that allochthonous delivery of hydrothermally synthesized organics could have contributed to the abundance of alkanes found in the Cumberland mudstone.”
Life on Mars is Increasingly Likely but Still Unproven
Overall, the team acknowledges the extraordinary nature of their position, once again evoking Sagan’s famous aphorism.
“We agree with Carl Sagan’s claim that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence,” the researchers conclude in their paper, adding that they “understand that any purported detection of life on Mars will necessarily be met with intense scrutiny.”
“In addition, in practice with established norms in the field of astrobiology, we note that the certainty of a life detection beyond Earth will require multiple lines of evidence.”
While the team’s result is hopeful for Mars having once been home to life, more work remains to be done in order to support their claim. For instance, questions linger about how quickly organic molecules decay on Mars, given the planet’s unique conditions.
To that end, the team recommends further studies of radiolytic degradation rates to further test whether life most likely produced the alkanes, which the team nonetheless presents as being a “not unreasonable” hypothesis.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.
This animation depicts water disappearing over time in the Martian river valley Neretva Vallis, where NASA’s Perseverance Mars takes the rock sample named “Sapphire Canyon” from a rock called “Cheyava Falls,” which was found in the “Bright Angel” formation.
The $80 billion mission to save the Doomsday Glacier: Scientists reveal wacky plan to build a 50-mile WALL around Thwaites to stop it collapsing and raising global sea levels by 2ft
Dubbed the Seabed Curtain, scientists claim this ambitious project could halt the Doomsday Glacier's retreat and avert the devastating consequences of global warming.
Scientists have found that the main cause of its retreat is a current of warm water creeping into the gap between the glacier and the continental shelf – melting the ice from below.
The Seabed Curtain would anchor in front of the glacier's most vulnerable sections and prevent this warm current from reaching the ice.
While the potential costs could reach well over $80billion (£58.7billion), the scientists say this is nothing compared to the destruction their wall could help prevent.
The Seabed Curtain is currently in its initial phase of development, and the researchers haven't yet finalised the design.
However, the basic plan is to use a reinforced tensile fabric suspended by buoyant elements and anchored to the seafloor by a heavy foundation.
This would stretch all the way around the Antarctic glacier like a colossal beach windbreak, preventing warm water from coming in and trapping cold water near the ice.
In one possible design, this would be a single structure, while others suggest using multiple fragmented sections to prevent the wall from acting like an enormous parachute.
Early modelling conducted by a group of glaciologists in 2024 tentatively suggested that this approach could slow glacial melting by a factor of 10 in some locations.
However, this has never been tested in practice, and researchers don't really know whether this would work or what the consequences would be.
To learn more, scientists plan to install a 492ft-long (150m) and 132ft-tall (40m) section of curtain at the Fjord Ramfjorden in mainland Norway.
The researchers are also conducting an ecological study at the Fjord Mijenfjorden in Svalbard.
The Thwaites Glacier (pictured) is a vast, slow–moving river of ice roughly the size of the UK that traps enough fresh water to raise sea levels a staggering 2.1ft (65cm)
Why is it nicknamed the 'Doomsday Glacier'?
Thwaites Glacier – which is around the size of Great Britain or the US state of Florida – has been nicknamed the Doomsday Glacier.
With ice up to 2,000 metres thick in places, if the glacier were to collapse, global sea levels would rise by 65cm.
This would plunge entire communities underwater, forcing millions of people out of their homes to safer inland areas.
This fjord is protected by a large island near the mouth, so comparing it to nearby fjords should tell researchers what kinds of impact a large barrier might have on a polar ecosystem.
However, given the astronomical costs of creating the wall, critics may well wonder why scientists would bother investigating the solution at all.
According to the leaders of the Seabed Curtain Project, these costs are totally justified by the enormous threat posed by the Thwaites Glacier.
The Doomsday Glacier traps an enormous amount of fresh water and holds it on land, so that it doesn't contribute to sea level rise.
If it were to collapse, all of that water would be dumped directly into the ocean, and global sea levels would increase dramatically.
Additionally, scientists believe that this would destabilise the entire Antarctic ice sheet, which could lead to several metres of sea-level rise over the coming centuries.
Marianne Hagen, co–lead of the Seabed Curtain Project and former deputy minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway, told IFLScience: 'For me, it's kind of a no–brainer.
Previous studies have found evidence of storm–like circulation patterns beneath Antarctic ice shelves that are causing aggressive melting beneath the 'Doomsday Glacier'
'If it's possible to take 65 centimetres of global sea level rise off the table for everybody, with one single targeted intervention in one location, I'm willing to explore it. I think we have an obligation to do so.'
Worryingly, the scientific evidence suggests that Thwaites may already be on its way to collapse.
Current estimates suggest that it could totally collapse within the next few decades if nothing is done to slow climate change or prevent it from melting.
Ms Hagen adds: 'If you compare [the project costs] with the coastal repair and damage cost, it's a fraction. The cost of this project will run in billions. The cost of the damages will run into trillions.'
However, the project is not without its critics, and other scientists have accused the Seabed Curtain of being a 'distraction' from the real issue of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In a paper published last year, scientists from Monash University slammed the untested idea for risking 'intrinsic environmental damage.'
The researchers added that the wall could not be built at a sufficient scale or speed to tackle the crisis in time.
The Thwaites glacier is slightly smaller than the total size of the UK, approximately the same size as the state of Washington, and is located in the Amundsen Sea.
It is up to 4,000 metres (13,100 feet thick) and is considered a key in making projections of global sea level rise.
The glacier is retreating in the face of the warming ocean and is thought to be unstable because its interior lies more than two kilometres (1.2 miles) below sea level while, at the coast, the bottom of the glacier is quite shallow.
The Thwaites glacier is the size of Florida and is located in the Amundsen Sea. It is up to 4,000 meters thick and is considered a key in making projections of global sea level rise
The Thwaites glacier has experienced significant flow acceleration since the 1970s.
From 1992 to 2011, the centre of the Thwaites grounding line retreated by nearly 14 kilometres (nine miles).
Annual ice discharge from this region as a whole has increased 77 percent since 1973.
Because its interior connects to the vast portion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet that lies deeply below sea level, the glacier is considered a gateway to the majority of West Antarctica’s potential sea level contribution.
The collapse of the Thwaites Glacier would cause an increase of global sea level of between one and two metres (three and six feet), with the potential for more than twice that from the entire West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Message Sent Into Space (And What We've Heard Back)
At the turn of the 20th century, a quest for signals was initiated due to the possibility of life and civilizations on Mars. As radio technology advanced, a much more effective method of searching for and communicating with extraterrestrials became possible.
On November 16th, 1974, the Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico sent out the strongest signal ever sent into space. The broadcast's goal was to showcase humanity's technical advancement. Renowned SETI researcher Frank Drake and famous scientific communicator Carl Sagan created it. The Arecibo Message has remained the most widely publicized effort to contact extraterrestrial intelligence in the forty-eight years since its transmission.
Due to the current technological advancement, the possibility of making contact with extraterrestrial life is higher than ever. However, we won't have to wait too long for an answer when we finally make that call to ET, And the plans of finally placing that call are already in place. Researchers worldwide, led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Jonathan H. Jiang, have created a new signal called "The Beacon in the Galaxy" message. Every METI attempt to date, including the Voyager Golden Records, Pioneer Plaques, and Evpatoria Transmission Messages, is combined with elements of the revised Arecibo Message to create this new signal.
Also, sending a message into deep space is now available to everyone, thanks to Celestis Memorial Spaceflights. "The Enterprise Flight," the inaugural Celestis Voyager Memorial Spaceflight, will take off from Earth and journey three million kilometers into deep space. So it's now possible for you to take part in that endless space voyage and go "where no one has gone before"! For those who wish to join the Star Trek legendary explorers (Nichelle Nichols, the Roddenberrys, and "Scotty" Doohan) remains as they journey into deep space, all you need to do is add your names or messages to the Celestis MindFile™.
The Arecibo Message
The Arecibo Observatory, also known as the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC)
The transmission was part of a celebration to commemorate the completion of a three-year upgrade to the 305m Radio Telescope at Arecibo. A graphic message was sent to our alleged cosmic neighbors in the M13 globular star cluster. About a third of a million stars make up this cluster, located about 21,000 light-years away towards the Milky Way's outskirts. The usage of Arecibo's megawatt transmitter coupled with its 305-meter antenna gave the broadcast a tremendous signal. When using the antenna, the transmitter's power was focused on a specific sky area. This emission was equal to broadcasting at a power level of 20 trillion watts. It could be picked up by an antenna the size of Arecibo just about everywhere in the galaxy.
The deep-space message comprised 73 lines with 23 characters each, totalling 1679 bits. And the purpose of these two prime numbers was to aid the aliens in deciphering the message. Frequency shifting at 10 bits per second was used to broadcast the "zeroes" and "ones." The duration of the transmission was under three minutes. This message was illustrated in a graphic that was reproduced there. It included the Arecibo telescope, DNA, our solar system, a stick representation of a human, and various biochemicals found on Earth. Even though it's doubtful that this brief inquiry would ever elicit a response, the exercise was beneficial in forcing us to consider the challenges of communicating over extreme distances, time, and a potentially substantial cultural divide.
Other Messages Attempts
Center for Deep Space Communications. Evpatoria Planetary Radar. RT-70. Photo: US gov KH-9
Since the start of the Space Age, several attempts to send a message to space with the hope of contacting extraterrestrial life have been attempted. The Morse Message, transmitted in 1962 from the Ukrainian Evpatoria Planetary Radar, was the first radio communication consciously beamed into space. This transmission consisted of a series of short radio transmissions to Venus, each of which was encoded with the phrases "Mir," "Lenin," and "USSR" in Morse code. There were also further attempts to send signals to stars 17 to 69 light-years away from Earth between 1999 and 2016.
The illustration on the Pioneer plaque
The Pioneer Plaques, installed aboard the first crewless missions sent beyond the Solar System's outskirts, are another example of an attempt to communicate with alien life. Carl Sagan conceived of sending these signals as the first message from Earth to the stars. This message to outer space featured the position of Earth in our galaxy, two circles that stand in for neutral hydrogen, and drawings of a naked woman and man standing next to a spaceship. Then came the Voyager Golden Records, which were more of a time capsule in nature and were also created by Carl Sagan and his associates at Cornell University. Instructions for playing the record were shown on the front of the record, with sounds and visuals representing Earthly life and culture. Voyager Golden Records also included a pulsar map and a picture of neutral hydrogen on the original Pioneer Plaques. Despite the many attempts to DM the ET, we are still waiting for a response. Perhaps the messages are still boldly journeying the vast space and have yet to reach a system inhabited by intelligent species.
The Sounds of Earth Record Cover - GPN-2000-001978
Photo: NASA/JPL
A New Message to the Aliens "Beacon in the Galaxy"
In its essence, the concept of a Beacon in the Galaxy message is relatively straightforward. The scientists will broadcast this binary-coded message towards the direction of our Milky Way's galactic core through radio waves. These scientists, like their predecessors, believe that physics and mathematics provide humanity's best chance of establishing contact with alien civilizations. Although human language and culture are essential to understanding who we are as individuals and how we interact with others, extraterrestrial intelligence might struggle to make sense of them. These researchers claimed that using binary to transmit a message will be understood by every form of intelligence in the universe.
The message is divided into 13 sections, 25,500 bytes, or around 204,000 effective binary digits. These same scientists decided that the SETI Telescope in California and the FAST telescope in China would be in a good position to send a message into space based on the best time during a specific year. The message will contain the following information in particular:
Mathematical operations.
Prime numbers include the highest prime number, decimal systems, and binary.
Representation of the solar system highlighting Earth
The position of our solar system as determined by globular clusters
Earth's map
The most prevalent elements
Earth's makeup and features
An invitation for a response
There's also a timestamp encoded corresponding to when it was sent into space, relative to a chronology that begins with the Big Bang.
While we have yet to engage in meaningful conversation with potential life outside of Earth's origin, our scientists, philosophers, artists, and everyday curious continue to look for new ways to let the universe know that we are here and our existence is open to meeting other beings from space.
Soviets ran secret investigation into glowing 'jellyfish' UFO seen above Russian city
USSR's own X-Files also collected eye-witness reports of humanoid figures tied to unexplained lights in the sky
BY Daniel Smith Interim Head of Operations - Content Hub & GAU
The UFO remained in the sky for more than an hour before vanishing
A 'jellyfish' UFO crowned by shifting coloured lights hovered above a Russian city for an hour before disappearing in the 1980s.
The strange case is among a newly shared bundle of Soviet-era documents that lift the lid on how officials in the former USSR quietly recorded and assessed strange objects in the sky- even as they publicly dismissed visiting alien craft as Western nonsense.
The material, translated into English and published by journalist George Knapp, spans around 70 pages and pulls together reports from the 1970s and 1980s.
According to Knapp, the archive was removed from Russia in the early 1990s and has only now been made widely accessible, offering the public a rare window into how Soviet institutions catalogued what they called 'Abnormal Atmospheric Phenomena'.
One of the most striking entries is dated February 13, 1989, and describes a large aerial object over Nalchik, in southern Russia. Witnesses reported a 'jellyfish'-like form that they said remained in the sky for more than an hour before vanishing from view.
Other accounts include a young man reporting luminous streaks across the sky followed by a brush with humanoid figures, reports IBT.
Investigators note the claims and details but stop short of declaring what, if anything, the witness encountered. A separate 1979 incident in Kazakhstan describes campers who said they saw tall, dark figures near a wooded area. Again, recollections were consistent - but there was no physical evidence to pin anything down.
The files reference sightings logged by civilians, soldiers, and technical specialists, as well as the procedures for taking testimony, filing reports, and weighing possible explanations.
While the documents don’t offer hard proof of anything extraterrestrial, they do show an organised effort to track cases that didn’t fit neatly into known boxes.
Jellyfish-like UFO seen above a Soviet city in the 1980s
Many entries propose Earth-bound explanations like atmospheric effects, sensor quirks or even experimental aircraft. Some files consider whether certain sightings might have involved foreign technology - a live concern in the Cold War years - or simply rare natural phenomena.
One of the most infamous cases of a Russian UFO was in 1993, when state media reported the military had downed an extraterrestrial craft in Siberia using a surface-to-air missile.
This supposedly led to an encounter with five humanoid entities who emerged from the wreckage. These beings reportedly merged into a singular, glowing sphere that emitted a catastrophic burst of light, instantly transforming 23 nearby soldiers into stone pillars.
The soldiers were turned into stone pillars, accoording to reports
The report suggests that only two witnesses survived the event, while the resulting limestone remains and wreckage were transported to a clandestine research facility near Moscow.
US intelligence officials at the time noted that if these accounts were authentic, they represented a highly dangerous threat from advanced alien technology.
A tiny copper-alloy tool long overlooked in a museum collection is reshaping what archaeologists know about the origins of human engineering.
Researchers said the artefact shows ancient Egyptians were using a mechanically sophisticated rotary bow drill more than 5,300 years ago.
The object, cataloged as 1924.948 A in the University of Cambridge's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, has now been identified as the earliest known metal drill.
The finding pushes back the timeline for advanced drilling technology by more than two millennia, forcing scholars to rethink when complex mechanical tools first emerged.
First excavated a century ago from a cemetery at Badari in Upper Egypt, the tool shows wear consistent with rotary drilling.
The tool contained arsenic and nickel, with notable amounts of lead and silver, suggesting deliberate engineering choices and pointing to early material trade or shared technical knowledge across the ancient Mediterranean.
Lead author Dr Martin Odle from Newcastle University said: 'This re-analysis has provided strong evidence that this object was used as a bow drill, which would have produced a faster, more controlled drilling action than simply pushing or twisting an awl-like tool by hand.
'This suggests that Egyptian craftspeople mastered reliable rotary drilling more than two millennia before some of the best-preserved drill sets.'
Researchers said the artefact shows ancient Egyptians were using a mechanically sophisticated rotary bow drill more than 5,300 years ago, far earlier than previously believed
When archaeologist Guy Brunton first documented the object in the 1920s, he described it simply as a small copper awl with leather wrapped around it.
The brief classification led the artefact to be largely overlooked for nearly a century.
Microscopic analysis revealed wear patterns inconsistent with simple puncturing or scraping. Fine striations, rounded edges, and a subtle curve at the tip indicate the tool was repeatedly rotated, pointing to sustained rotary drilling rather than basic piercing.
Researchers also found six coils of extremely fragile leather thong still wrapped around the shaft, which they said provides direct evidence of a bow drill system.
In such a mechanism, a string wound around the drill shaft is driven back and forth by a bow, rapidly spinning the tool to cut into material.
'Behind Egypt's famous stone monuments and jewelry were practical, everyday technologies that rarely survive archaeologically,' Odle said.
'The drill was one of the most important tools, enabling woodworking, bead production, and furniture making.
Bow-powered drills appeared frequently in New Kingdom tomb scenes, and several complete examples from that era survive.
Pictured is the Khufu Pyramid, also known as the Great Pyramid, in Giza Pyramid Complex, dating to about 1,000 years after the ancient drill was crafted
The Badari discovery is far older, dating to Naqada IID, and suggests Egyptians had perfected fast, controlled rotary drilling nearly two millennia before those later depictions.
Naqada IID, a late Predynastic period around 3300 to 3200 BC, saw the inception of kingship, writing, and organized religion, which would become the basis of the classical Egyptian civilization.
A study released in December revealed a discovery that changes what we know about ancient Egypt.
The New Kingdom, which lasted from 1550 to 1070 BCE, was Egypt's peak of power, wealth, and territorial expansion, the era of famous rulers like Tutankhamun.
It began with the 18th Dynasty, founded by Pharaoh Ahmose I, who reunited Egypt and expelled the Hyksos invaders, restoring central authority after a period of fragmentation.
Now, scientists have confirmed that the massive Santorini (Thera) volcanic eruption occurred before the reign of Ahmose, meaning the 18th Dynasty, and the New Kingdom itself, rose later than previously believed.
Until now, historians had often assumed the eruption might have coincided with the early New Kingdom, and some researchers even tried to link it to specific pharaohs, including Hatshepsut, Thutmose III or Ahmose I.
The breakthrough comes from radiocarbon dating of Egyptian artifacts from the 17th and early 18th Dynasties.
Researchers examined a mudbrick stamped with Ahmose's name, a linen burial cloth, and wooden funerary figures called shabtis, all of which were directly tied to known pharaohs and their temples.
Because these objects are anchored to specific historical contexts, their ages provide a reliable snapshot of the period.
The study shows that the eruption predates these artifacts, reshaping how historians understand the rise of Egypt's most powerful period.
Tapes containing the original, high-quality transmission of the Apollo 11 moon landing were wiped after being quietly shelved in an unmarked storage area byNASA.
While other recordings of the historic 1969 mission survived, the revelation that at least some moon landing video disappeared has fueled wild conspiracies that NASA has been covering up what astronauts saw or even that the whole mission was faked.
1969 moon landingEFE
Now, the truth about these 'erased' tapes has been revealed by Tim Dodd, better known as the 'Everyday Astronaut' on YouTube, who said the lost footage was only a set of backup magnetic tapes containing the raw transmission from space.
Dodd explained that the backup tapes were considered by NASA to be less critical since all the essential data, video, and radio signals were successfully transmitted to Houston and broadcast live on TV.
The backup copies of Apollo 11's historic mission were mistakenly taped over when NASA reused older magnetic tapes due to a shortage of those specific film reels in the 1970s and 1980s.
Speaking on the Danny Jones Podcast, Dodd said no one at the time anticipated future technology would be able to upscale or enhance the resolution (upres) of the raw footage for better quality, which is now possible today.
However, NASA still possesses thousands of hours of data proving the first moon landing really took place, including lower-quality versions of telemetry data, audio, and video from Houston's recordings.
Dodd added that the space agency also still has shockingly clear 70 millimeter film from the cameras the Apollo astronauts used on the moon, a grade of film that is still used in IMAX movies 57 years later.
Crystal clear images taken by the Apollo 11 astronauts during the original 1969 moon landing, captured on 70 millimeter film and shared in a 2019 documentary by director Todd Miller
Tim Dodd, known as the 'Everyday Astronaut' on YouTube, revealed the fate of the original backup recordings of the Apollo 11 moon footage on the Danny Jones Podcast
Dodd, who creates educational videos about rockets, space exploration, and NASA's history, broke down exactly what happened to the erased moon landing tapes, starting with how the signal was sent back from Apollo 11 to Earth.
The live transmission from the moon was sent to receiving stations, including one in California's Mojave Desert, and then split into two feeds.
One feed went to Mission Control in Houston for real-time monitoring, where all telemetry on the spacecraft's condition, audio and video were recorded.
The video at Mission Control was converted from the moon's 'slow-scan' format to standard NTSC TV format using a 'kinescope' method, which means the space agency filmed a monitor with a camera to make it usable on TV broadcasts.
This converted version was what the public saw at home in 1969, which was of lower quality than the video on the magnetic tapes but 'good enough' at the time, according to Dodd.
The other feed contained the raw backup, recorded directly onto the large magnetic tapes, which were roughly a foot wide and looked similar to giant cassette tapes.
NASA viewed the tapes as a safety net in case the link between Apollo 11 and Houston failed. During a crisis, the space agency might have needed to analyze raw data to understand what went wrong, but none of that happened.
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin unfurl the US flag on the moon in 1969
Neil Armstrong (Pictured) captured on 70 millimeter film before the Apollo 11 mission. This grade of film is still used to produce IMAX-quality movies six decades later
'They're like, "It would be great if we had that still, you know, hold on to those tapes. Make sure we have those backups. We had this 45-minute blackout because our dish went down or something." They didn't have that,' he continued.
'They didn't imagine a world where we could take and re-scan and up you know up-res the hell out of that footage as well because it would have been a lot cleaner in that raw format.'
Dodd called the claims that NASA deliberately erased the moon landing recordings 'misconstrued.'
However, the podcaster and YouTube host admitted that skeptics have one difficult argument to counter when it comes to debating whether the moon landings were real - that being the mystery of why the missions stopped in 1972.
Dodd told Jones the real reason America's moon missions stopped was the massive economic cost of building and launching Saturn V rockets to the moon.
'I understand the frustration of, you know, we did this thing 54 years ago, and we lost that ability to do it. But we also spent $300 billion in today's money to get us there,' he said.
'We had three other rockets and hardware built and the crew to do so, and we just said, "Eh, not worth it." Like that's what I'm frustrated with.'
The team used their new printing method to encode a photo of the Mona Lisa onto their smart skin material (left). The photo, which can initially appear hidden in the material, can be revealed by stretching, exposure to heat, exposure to liquid or by adjusting the material from a 2D to a 3D shape (right).
Provided by Hongtao Sun. All Rights Reserved.
Octopuses and their cephalopod cousins have long fascinated biologists with their seemingly supernatural shapeshifting. The cephalopods rapidly change color and texture, blending into their surroundings and evading predators. This natural camouflage is a remarkable bit of biology that engineershave tried to replicate, albeit with limited success. But that may be changing.
Researchers at Penn State say they’ve developed a new hydrogel material inspired by octopus skin that can encode images directly into its structure. The imprinted images then disappear and reappear when the skin is exposed to subtle changes in temperature or a surrounding solvent. The result is a “4D” synthetic smart skin capable of revealing hidden images and shifting surface patterns.
Smart Skin
To demonstrate the technology, the team encoded a black-and-white image ofLeonardo Da Vinci’s“Mona Lisa” into the material. At room temperature, the image is essentially invisible. However, when heat is applied the hidden contrast sharpens until the image becomes clear. Though still early in development, the material could lay the foundation forsynthetic adaptive camouflage, with potential military applications and beyond. The findings were published this week in the journalNature Communications.
It’s an impressive engineering feat that also highlights the elegant complexity nature has refined through millions of years of evolution. Even with all our resources and combined brian power, humans still can’t best nature’s innate artistry.
How octopuses hide
Scientists are starting to really understand the complexity of octopus brains and their unique capacity for problem-solving. When it comes to shapeshifting though, the process appears to be more instinctual than deliberate.
Biologically, cephalopods rely on specialized neuromuscular organs called chromatophores to perform their evolutionary magic trick. The chromatophores expand and contract in response to neural signals triggered by environmental cues. They also use muscular hydrostats to rapidly alter the texture of their skin. Together, these features give octopuses an extraordinary dynamic range of appearance, allowing them to seamlessly blend into their surroundings.
“This intricate system of nerves and muscles grants soft-bodied organisms the remarkable ability to simultaneously alter their optical appearance, surface texture, and shape,” the team on this new study writes.
Printing a ‘newspaper’ on skin
To try and replicate how octopuses camouflage and shape shift in a lab, the Penn State team needed a way to alter both appearance and shape using a single, soft synthetic material. They started by 3D-printing a hydrogel that would serve as their canvas. Using a process called halftone-encoded printing, the researchers first translated an image into a binary grid of pixels, where different patterns of 1s and 0s corresponded to regions of the material with distinct physical properties. Much like newspaper printing, the density and distribution of these pixels create the illusion of light and dark areas.
Once the image was converted into a binary pattern, the team encoded it directly into the hydrogel using controlled UV light during the printing process. In other words, the image was “seared” directly onto the hydrogel canvas. Rather than adding ink or pigment like a tattoo, the UV exposure programmed subtle differences into the material’s internal structure. Under normal conditions, these differences are invisible to the naked eye.
A common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) in the waters of San Giovanni di Sinis, Sardinia, Italy. Image: Emmanuele Contini/NurPhoto via Getty Images.
But when the material is heated up, the areas corresponding to the 0 and 1 patterns respond differently, gradually increasing their visual contrast. The previously hidden image then emerges as the material reacts to its environment. The process is somewhat similar to how invisible ink is exposed when a revealing solution or special light is applied. The researchers describe this as a form of 4D printing because it takes a three dimensional object and alters its appearance over time via exposure to external stimuli. They were also able to demonstrate the same effect by changing the surrounding solvent, which caused the hidden image to reappear.
“We’re printing instructions into the material,” Penn State industrial engineer and study co-author Hongtao Sun said in a Penn State blog post. “Those instructions tell the skin how to react when something changes around it.”
To demonstrate this effect, they first encoded the letters “PSU” into the hydrogel film. After altering the film’s temperature, the letters revealed themselves. Upping the difficulty, they then repeated the process with a grayscale image of the “Mona Lisa.” In theory, they say the same approach could work with any image. It simply needs to be converted into a binary pattern and encoded onto the hydrogel.
This isn’t the first time scientists have taken inspiration from octopus anatomy. In 2021, engineers at Rutgers University created a 3D printed synthetic muscle that subtly changed its shape when exposed to light. More recently, researchers at Stanford developed a flexible, synthetic material that would swell and change size when targeted with a beam of electrons. Elsewhere, roboticists have even developed octopus-like, slightly terrifying “Tentacle Bot” outfitted with mechanical armies and suckers that helps it move around and grab objects.
Meer van UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
Prehistoric killer superbug discovered in 5,000–year–old ice is resistant to 10 modern antibiotics, study warns
![The first stage of the Long March-10 carrier rocket safely splashes down in the predetermined sea area in a controlled manner as planned, Feb. 11, 2026. [Photo/Xinhua]](https://www.universetoday.com/article_images/118333642_9d71b2c8-7c17-493e-ad9f-58e5f23f91a1_20260214_222829.JPG)
:focal(395x395:396x396)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/92/96/9296b51b-94e4-4c66-930e-af4b44172205/earth_cutaway.png)
:focal(824x596:825x597)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/10/23/102335b8-9359-488a-8f18-ff937554b693/pia26368orig.webp)
