Is ons leven op aarde afkomstig van buitenaardse wezens?

©The Daily Digest

Een theorie die ter discussie staat
Volgens de overheersende theorie ontstond het leven op aarde ongeveer 4 miljard jaar geleden uit organische moleculen, die zich ontwikkelden van eencellige micro-organismen tot de diversiteit aan levende wezens die we nu kennen. Toch zijn er steeds meer geluiden die deze opvatting bevragen.

©The Daily Digest

Abiogenese: anorganisch materiaal als basis
Deze hypothese, bekend als abiogenese, stelt dat leven is ontstaan uit niet-levend, dus anorganisch, materiaal. Eenvoudige verbindingen ontwikkelden zich tot complexe zelfreplicerende systemen (die zichzelf konden kopiëren met behulp van grondstoffen uit hun omgeving) dankzij verschillende chemische processen.

©The Daily Digest

Proces naar de eerste levensvormen
De omstandigheden waarin abiogenese plaatsvond kwamen overeen met de vroege ontwikkeling van de aarde. Ongeveer 4,5 miljard jaar geleden ontstond de planeet, en tijdens deze periode, tussen de door meteorietinslagen gevormde kraters gevuld met water en het hete magma van de mantel, ontstonden hydrothermale bronnen die het ideale milieu vormden voor het ontstaan van het eerste leven.

©The Daily Digest

Recent onderzoek werpt twijfels op
In juli 2025 publiceerde onderzoeker Robert G. Endres van Imperial College London een wetenschappelijke studie op arXiv getiteld 'The Irrational Probability of Being', waarin hij het onderwerp abiogenese analyseert. Hoewel hij deze mogelijkheid niet uitsluit, concludeert hij dat deze theorie vrijwel onmogelijk is.

©The Daily Digest

Toepassing van wiskundige modellen
Endres gebruikte verschillende wiskundige modellen om te berekenen hoeveel tijd het zou kosten voordat uit niet-levende elementen op natuurlijke wijze de eerste levende cel zou ontstaan.

©The Daily Digest

De tijden komen niet overeen
Op basis van deze veronderstelling ontdekte de Britse wiskundige dat de moleculen die essentieel zijn voor het creëren van leven zich veel sneller tot microbieel leven hadden moeten samenvoegen dan eigenlijk mogelijk is, aangezien ze normaal gesproken zouden afbreken voordat dit zou kunnen gebeuren.

©The Daily Digest

Te lang om aannemelijk te zijn
Voor Endres gaven de gebruikte modellen aan dat deze theorie uiterst onwaarschijnlijk is, vooral omdat het proces van trial-and-error dat hiervoor nodig zou zijn veel langer zou duren dan wat blijkt uit de bekende fossiele gegevens.

©The Daily Digest

Chemische reacties die leven veroorzaakten
Ook in zijn experimenten voor de studie kwam hij tot de conclusie dat de benodigde tijd niet overeenkwam, zelfs niet als, zoals abiogenese veronderstelt, katalysatoren betrokken zouden zijn die de reeks chemische reacties op gang brachten die nodig zijn voor het ontstaan van leven.

©The Daily Digest

Ongestructureerde systemen
Hieraan voegt hij het wetenschappelijk bewijs toe dat systemen de neiging hebben om chaotischer te worden in plaats van meer geordend, wat een duidelijk obstakel vormt voor het ontstaan van complexe en sterk georganiseerde structuren die essentieel zijn voor het ontstaan van leven.

©The Daily Digest

Onvoldoende onderbouwing
Endres sluit zijn onderzoek af met het in twijfel trekken van de abiogenese-theorie. Volgens hem kunnen we niet uitsluitend vertrouwen op deze natuurlijke chemische processen en toeval om afdoende te verklaren hoe leven op onze planeet ontstond in de context van de vroege aarde.

©The Daily Digest

Een grote uitdaging voor de biologische fysica
Desondanks benadrukt de wiskundige in zijn studie dat het ontstaan van leven niet onmogelijk is, maar dat er nog onvoldoende kennis is om dit volledig te begrijpen. Hiervoor zouden de onderliggende natuurkundige principes ontdekt moeten worden, wat een grote uitdaging blijft voor de biologische fysica.

©The Daily Digest

Wat als onze oorsprong buitenaards is?
Mocht de theorie dat leven door abiogenese ontstond worden weerlegd, dan overweegt Endres een alternatieve, niet nieuwe hypothese: wat als leven op aarde werd gebracht door buitenaardse wezens die de planeet aanpasten aan het leven?

©The Daily Digest

Buitenaardse interventie op aarde
"Is de aarde geterraformd of ontstond orde uit chaos onder het stille bestuur van de natuurkunde? Tegenwoordig overwegen mensen serieus het terraformen van Mars of Venus in wetenschappelijke tijdschriften. Als er geavanceerde beschavingen bestaan, is het niet onwaarschijnlijk dat zij soortgelijke ingrepen zouden proberen, uit nieuwsgierigheid, noodzaak of ontwerp," stelde Endres in zijn studie, zoals gerapporteerd door Popular Mechanics.

©The Daily Digest

Wat is terraforming?
Dit hypothetische proces, dat door sommige deskundigen wordt voorgesteld, bestaat uit het opzettelijk aanpassen van de omstandigheden van een planeet (zoals temperatuur, oppervlak, atmosfeer, enz.) om deze geschikt te maken voor leven en bewoonbaar te maken. Iets vergelijkbaars met wat sommigen vandaag met Mars willen doen.

©The Daily Digest

Al decennia aanwezig in sciencefiction
Dit onderwerp is niet alleen door de wetenschap behandeld, maar komt ook veelvuldig voor in films en boeken binnen het sciencefictiongenre. 'Star Trek' en '2001: A Space Odyssey' zijn daar goede voorbeelden van.

©The Daily Digest

Theorie van Francis Crick en Leslie Orgel
De theorieën over terraforming en gerichte panspermie (het doelbewust verspreiden van leven door buitenaardse wezens) ontstonden in de jaren 70 dankzij Leslie Orgel en Francis Crick (op de afbeelding één van de wetenschappers die hielp bij de identificatie van DNA). Zij suggereerden dat een buitenaardse beschaving die op het punt stond uit te sterven, leven op verschillende planeten zou hebben verspreid om zijn voortbestaan te waarborgen.

©The Daily Digest

Gerichte panspermie
Panspermie is een wetenschappelijke theorie die stelt dat leven de aarde kan hebben bereikt vanuit de ruimte, hetzij op natuurlijke wijze via moleculen of micro-organismen die door meteorieten, kometen of interstellair stof op aarde terechtkwamen, hetzij doelbewust overgebracht door een buitenaardse beschaving.

©The Daily Digest

Een radicale breuk met het bekende
"Hoewel het idee dat de aarde is geterraformd door geavanceerde buitenaardse wezens wellicht indruist tegen het principe van Occams scheermes uit de conventionele wetenschap, blijft gerichte panspermie, oorspronkelijk voorgesteld door Francis Crick en Leslie Orgel, een speculatief maar logisch openstaand alternatief", aldus Endres volgens Popular Mechanics.

©The Daily Digest

Een complexe, maar mogelijke optie
In dit opzicht onderschrijft Endres deze theorie met enige terughoudendheid. In zijn studie maakt hij duidelijk dat, hoewel een buitenaardse oorsprong van het leven onwaarschijnlijk is, het technisch gezien niet onmogelijk is en daarom niet volledig uitgesloten zou moeten worden binnen de wetenschappelijke gemeenschap.

{ The Daily Digest }

How did the ancient Egyptians create objects of such extraordinary precision — thousands of years before modern machinery, power tools, and computer-controlled manufacturing? 

Across Egypt, archaeologists have discovered hard-stone vessels with remarkably thin walls, perfectly polished surfaces, circular grooves, and astonishingly symmetrical forms. Massive granite sarcophagi appear to have been shaped and finished with a level of precision that seems, at first glance, almost impossible for their time. 

Then there are the drill cores, mysterious machining-like marks, and complex stone forms that raise an even deeper question: What tools were the ancient Egyptians actually using? 

Were these objects created entirely with the tools and techniques known from the archaeological record, using copper, stone abrasives, sand, pounding, grinding, and enormous amounts of time and skilled labor? Or do some of these artifacts preserve evidence of techniques that we have yet to fully understand? 

Modern experiments have demonstrated that surprisingly sophisticated stoneworking can be achieved using relatively simple tools when combined with abrasive materials, patience, skill, and careful technique. Yet some examples continue to provoke debate because of their extraordinary precision and the difficulty of reproducing certain features. 

In this documentary, we go beyond the mystery and examine the physical evidence. 

We will look closely at the sarcophagi, hard-stone vessels, Schist Disk, drill cores, circular grooves, thin walls, and geometric surfaces, comparing them with both ancient-tool experiments and modern manufacturing techniques. 

The question is not simply whether the ancient Egyptians were capable of remarkable craftsmanship but how such precision could have been achieved without modern machinery, were these techniques uniquely Egyptian or could ancient civilizations have received knowledge, guidance, or even direct assistance from an unknown intelligence, perhaps an advanced extraterrestrial civilization?

 

RELATED

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

The computer that can read your mind: Scientists reveal AI that can recreate exactly what you're looking at

By XANTHA LEATHAM, EXECUTIVE SCIENCE EDITOR

The days of keeping your thoughts to yourself may be numbered.

Scientists have unveiled a groundbreaking ‘mind-reading’ AI that can recreate images people are looking at simply by analysing their brain scans.

As part of a study, participants were asked to look at photos ranging from images of a baseball game to a dog leaning out of a car and a group trekking across a snowy plain.

The AI programme analysed their brain activity patterns through a scan and reproduced the pictures – which it had never seen before – with remarkable accuracy.

‘There exist nowadays models that translate brain activity into images, and they can even produce impressive reconstructions that preserve the semantic meaning of the image reasonably well,’ Professor Michal Irani, from the Weizmann Institute of Science, said.

‘However, they tend to make mistakes in basic features such as composition and colour.

‘The new model we developed outperforms them in reconstructing both the content of the image and its details.

‘What’s more, while every other model requires dozens of hours of brain scans to learn to “read” a new person, our model needs only one hour.’

Scientists have unveiled a groundbreaking ‘mind-reading’ AI that can recreate images people are looking at simply by analysing their brain scans. Pictured: The photos people viewed (left) and the AI reconstruction (right)

The AI programme analysed their brain activity patterns through a scan and reproduced the pictures – which it had never seen before – with remarkable accuracy (referred to as RECON here)

To build the system, called Brain-IT, the scientists fed it thousands of brain scans collected while eight volunteers looked at different images.

This allowed the programme to learn how specific patterns of neural activity correspond to colours, shapes and objects.

It was so accurate that it even learned to predict what a brain scan would look like from an image.

By combining data from multiple studies, the researchers identified brain regions that appear to perform similar functions across different people.

For example, one area consistently responded to images of food while another was activated by pictures of sport.

‘During training, the encoder naturally identified 128 functional regions that are shared by all people and perform specific roles in image processing,’ Professor Irani said.

‘Some of them are familiar to neuroscientists, but others are entirely new.

‘For example, we discovered a division of roles within the brain region that processes images of places – the PPA – with one part responding to indoor scenes and another to outdoor scenes.’

When given a new brain scan, the AI was able to generate a remarkably accurate reconstruction of the original image. 

The system was fed thousands of brain scans collected while eight volunteers looked at different images. When it was then tested, it could recreate a set of new images (RECON) the participants were looking at

Participants were asked to look at photos ranging from images of a baseball game (left) to a dog leaning out of a car and a group trekking across a snowy plain. Brain-IT could then reproduce the picture (right)

Other AI ‘mind reading’ tools require about 40 hours of brain scan data on anyone new before they can be used to predict what a person is seeing.

But this new decoder only needs 60 minutes of data, the team explained.

To prove this, they compared the images generated by Brain-IT when trained with one hour of data compared to the same system trained with 40 hours, and the results are remarkably similar.

They also compared their system’s image recreation results with those of other programmes, revealing it generated much more accurate reconstructions.

Professor Irani’s lab is now working to extend these ‘mind-reading’ methods to the decoding of auditory information as well.

Video could be another frontier.

‘What remains especially challenging is decoding video – for example, during dreaming,’ she explained.

‘Dozens of images change every second, while an fMRI scan takes about two seconds. If we overcome all these obstacles, it’s possible that in the future we may even be able to read dreams.’

The team compared the images generated by Brain-IT when trained with one hour of data compared to the same system trained with 40 hours, and the results are remarkably similar

They also compared their system’s image recreation results with those of other programmes, revealing it generated a much more accurate reconstructions

The team are also working towards similar systems that decode brain activity recorded using electroencephalography (EEG).

This technique measures the brain's electrical signals through sensors placed on the scalp, sometimes via a cap or even specially designed headphones.

As AI models become more sophisticated, scientists expect it will become increasingly easy to interpret the brain data collected in this way, rather than through MRI scans.

The findings were presented at the Cognitive Computational Neuroscience conference in New York last month.

{ https://www.dailymail.com/sciencetech/index.html }

Waar worden UFO's het vaakst gesignaleerd?

©Shutterstock

Waar worden UFO's het vaakst gesignaleerd?
UFO’s worden al lang geassocieerd met buitenaards leven. Elk jaar melden duizenden mensen over de hele wereld dat ze vreemde objecten door de lucht hebben zien vliegen, en recente trends laten zien dat dit aantal zelfs toeneemt door de groeiende belangstelling van het publiek.

Maar sommige landen spannen echt de kroon wat betreft het aantal gemelde waarnemingen. Terwijl de meeste landen wereldwijd slechts een paar UFO-meldingen hebben, zijn er andere waar hele databases ermee overspoeld worden. Beniewd in welke landen de meeste UFO's worden gesignaleerd? Klik dan verder.

©Getty Images

Wat zijn UFO's?
De afkorting UFO staat voor ‘ongeïdentificeerd vliegend object’, terwijl UAP staat voor ‘ongeïdentificeerde abnormale verschijnselen’. Beide termen verwijzen in feite naar iets dat iemand in de lucht, op zee of in de nabije ruimte waarneemt en dat nog niet is geïdentificeerd.

©Getty Images

Waarom de naam is veranderd
De term UFO was ooit alomtegenwoordig, maar veel instanties geven tegenwoordig de voorkeur aan ‘UAP’, omdat die term breder klinkt en minder beladen is. De term omvat niet alleen objecten in de lucht, maar ook vreemde waarnemingen op verschillende gebieden.

©Shutterstock

Onbekend betekent niet buitenaards
Het sleutelwoord is ‘niet-geïdentificeerd’. Dat betekent niet automatisch dat er buitenaardse wezens in het spel zijn. Het All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) zegt dat het geen bewijs heeft gevonden voor buitenaardse technologie, en veel gevallen blijven onopgelost.

©Shutterstock

Het land dat bovenaan staat
Er worden in de Verenigde Staten de meeste UFO’s gemeld. In de wereldwijde database van Enigma Labs, een onderzoeksgemeenschap die zich bezighoudt met UAP’s, staan de VS met een enorme voorsprong op de eerste plaats, gevolgd door Canada, het Verenigd Koninkrijk, Australië en Frankrijk.

©Shutterstock

Het huidige wereldwijde klassement
In de Verenigde Staten zijn er ongeveer 252.100 meldingen van UFO’s geweest, terwijl dat aantal in Canada 15.300 bedraagt, in het Verenigd Koninkrijk 14.638, in Australië 5.531 en in Frankrijk 5.010.

©Getty Images

Waarom Amerika de statistieken domineert
De Verenigde Staten staan waarschijnlijk bovenaan, deels omdat het een groot land is met een hoge bevolkingsdichtheid, een levendige luchtvaartindustrie, een uitgebreide internetverbinding en de bakermat van enkele van ’s werelds beroemdste UFO-verhalen. Meer mensen die omhoog kijken en meer plekken om waarnemingen te melden, betekent doorgaans ook meer waarnemingen.

©Shutterstock

De belangrijkste staat van de VS
Binnen de Verenigde Staten is Californië veruit koploper wat betreft het totale aantal meldingen in de belangrijkste openbare databases. Volgens het National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) zijn er in Californië ongeveer 17.100 waarnemingen gemeld.

©Shutterstock

Andere staten
Na Californië zijn de Amerikaanse staten met de meeste meldingen van UAP’s Florida (met 8.800 meldingen), Washington (7.600 meldingen), Texas (6.700) en New York (met 6.600 meldingen).

©Shutterstock

Het halve verhaal
Het is ook belangrijk om te bedenken dat een staat met een grote bevolking veel waarnemingen oplevert zonder dat dit per se opvallend is. Daarom zijn kaarten per hoofd van de bevolking van belang: die laten namelijk zien waar meldingen vaak voorkomen in verhouding tot het aantal inwoners.

©Shutterstock

Washington en Vermont
Uit een voor de bevolkingsomvang gecorrigeerd overzicht op basis van NUFORC-gegevens blijkt dat Washington en Vermont bovenaan staan, met elk bijna 1.000 waarnemingen per miljoen inwoners. Dat wijkt sterk af van de ranglijst op basis van de ruwe totalen.

©Shutterstock

Wat onderzoekers op nationaal niveau hebben vastgesteld
Uit een in de VS gepubliceerd, door vakgenoten beoordeeld onderzoek, waarbij meer dan 98.000 openbare meldingen werden geanalyseerd, bleek dat er in het westen van de Verenigde Staten en in het uiterste noordoosten veel meer waarnemingen werden gedaan, gecorrigeerd voor de bevolkingsomvang, dan in het grootste deel van de rest van het land.

©Shutterstock

Washington, D.C.
Uit het onderzoek bleek ook dat er verspreide concentraties te zien waren rond Washington D.C. en in het drielandengebied van Illinois, Indiana en Kentucky, in de buurt van Evansville. Uiteindelijk bevinden niet alle significante concentraties zich in het verre westen.

©Shutterstock

Waarom er in het Westen wellicht meer wordt gemeld
Onderzoekers hebben vastgesteld dat het aantal meldingen toeneemt op plaatsen waar mensen beter zicht op de lucht hebben en waar zich boven hun hoofd meer objecten kunnen bevinden, zoals vliegtuigen en militaire installaties.

©Shutterstock

Lichtvervuiling
Uit het onderzoek bleek dat er een verband bestaat tussen meer lichtvervuiling en minder meldingen. Een helderdere hemel kan sterren, satellieten, meteoren en andere vreemd uitziende verschijnselen doen vervagen voordat mensen ze opmerken.

©Shutterstock

Bomen en zichtbaarheid
In het nationale onderzoek bleek er ook een verband te bestaan tussen een dichter bladerdak en een lager aantal meldingen. Een belemmerd uitzicht betekent dat er minder dingen aan de hemel worden opgemerkt, dat er minder mysteries ontstaan en dat er minder gelegenheid is voor mensen om een officiële UFO-melding in te dienen.

©Getty Images

Luchtverkeer
Er werd een verband gelegd tussen meer vliegverkeer en meer meldingen, aangezien een druk luchtruim meer kansen biedt dat vliegende objecten verkeerd worden geïdentificeerd. In een druk luchtruim krijgen mensen te maken met meer onbekende lichtverschijnselen en bewegingen die ze moeten interpreteren.

©Shutterstock

Militaire gebieden
In datzelfde onderzoek werden militaire installaties als een van de factoren genoemd. In de publieke opinie wordt al lang gewezen op strategische militaire locaties (zoals Area 51) als plekken waar het aantal UFO-waarnemingen sterk toeneemt. Dit bewijst echter niet dat er in militaire gebieden iets vreemds aan de hand is.

©Shutterstock

Wat de regering vaak besluit
Van alle door AARO geregistreerde UFO-meldingen werd ongeveer 75% van de afgesloten zaken toegeschreven aan ballonnen, 16% aan drones, 6% aan vogels en telkens 1% aan vliegtuigen, satellieten en andere oorzaken.

©Shutterstock

Wat mensen het vaakst zeggen te zien
Volgens AARO meldden mensen in ongeveer 46% van de gevallen dat ze 'lichtjes' hadden gezien, terwijl er in ongeveer 31% van de gevallen sprake zou zijn geweest van lichtbollen, ronde vormen of bollen.

©Shutterstock

Waarom eenvoudige dingen er vreemd kunnen uitzien
De waarheid is dat vogels, puin, ballonnen, vliegtuigen, drones, satellieten, raketlanceringen, Venus, Jupiter en meteoren allemaal vaak als UAP’s worden gemeld. Onder vreemde hoeken of bij slechte zichtomstandigheden kunnen gewone dingen er buitengewoon uitzien.

©Shutterstock

Beweging kan het oog bedriegen
Een andere reden waarom mensen in de war kunnen raken, is bewegingsparallax: een stilstaand of langzaam bewegend object kan snel lijken te bewegen omdat de waarnemer zelf snel beweegt. Dat verklaart mede waarom sommige spectaculaire waarnemingen vanaf de grond uiteindelijk heel alledaags blijken te zijn.

©Shutterstock

Satellieten
De toename van satellietverkeer, met inbegrip van felle lichtflitsen en schitteringen, draagt waarschijnlijk bij aan het huidige aantal UFO-meldingen. Onderzoekers hebben inderdaad herhaaldelijk vastgesteld dat satellieten vaak voor verwarring zorgen.

©Shutterstock

Ballonnen
Ballonnen (met name die welke door meteorologen worden gebruikt) verdienen een speciale vermelding omdat ze op onvoorspelbare wijze kunnen afdrijven, op grote hoogte blijven hangen, zonlicht weerkaatsen en geen duidelijke markeringen hebben.

©Shutterstock

Rapportage versus voorval
De plekken waar de meeste UFO’s worden gemeld, zijn niet per se de plekken waar de meeste vreemde gebeurtenissen plaatsvinden. Het kan gewoon zijn dat mensen daar vaker omhoog kijken, dat de lucht daar helderder is, of dat ze weten waar ze een melding kunnen doen.

©Shutterstock

Canada
Canada is veruit de belangrijkste speler buiten de VS als het gaat om meldingen van UAP’s, wat waarschijnlijk te danken is aan een combinatie van het uitgestrekte grondgebied van het land, de weidse lucht, een actieve cultuur van burgermeldingen en een goede zichtbaarheid in minder dichtbebouwde gebieden.

©Getty Images

Verenigd Koninkrijk
Het Verenigd Koninkrijk onderscheidt zich niet alleen door de omvang, maar ook door zijn buitengewoon rijke officiële archief. Het Nationaal Archief bewaart tientallen jaren aan UFO-documenten, correspondentie en beleidsdossiers die verband houden met de manier waarop de overheid met meldingen omgaat.

©Shutterstock

Frankrijk
Frankrijk valt vooral op omdat het binnen het Franse ruimteagentschap een officiële, aan de staat gelieerde instantie heeft, genaamd GEIPAN (Groep voor Onderzoek en Informatie over Onbekende Lucht- en Ruimteverschijnselen). GEIPAN verzamelt, analyseert en archiveert casusmateriaal en maakt dit openbaar, waarbij de anonimiteit van getuigen wordt gewaarborgd.

©Shutterstock

Australië
Australië komt veelvuldig voor in internationale databases en beschikt bovendien over een omvangrijke gedocumenteerde geschiedenis. Uit openbaar archiefmateriaal en latere berichtgeving blijkt dat waarnemingen soms zo serieus werden genomen dat ze in de nationale archieven werden opgenomen.

©Shutterstock

Uitgebreide aardrijkskunde
De enorme omvang van Australië, de relatief donkere hemel in veel regio’s en de grote afstanden tussen bevolkingscentra kunnen helpen verklaren waarom er daar steeds weer meldingen van UFO’s worden gedaan. Omstandigheden die het zicht verbeteren, kunnen het mysterie ook vergroten.

©Shutterstock

Andere brandhaarden wereldwijd
Maar afgezien van deze landen zijn er ook diverse gebieden in andere delen van Noord-Amerika, het oostelijke Middellandse Zeegebied tot Zuid-Azië en Oost-Azië waar veel UFO-waarnemingen worden gemeld. Het lijkt erop dat het zien van UFO’s een wereldwijd verschijnsel is.

Bronnen:

1. (AARO)
2. (Enigma Labs)
3. (NASA)
4. (National Institutes of Health)
5. (National UFO Reporting Center)

{ Stars Insider }

Radio signals detected from a planet beyond our Solar System. Landmark discovery could help us search for habitable worlds

Radio signals detected at a planet beyond our Solar System

BY Iain Todd

Researchers have captured direct radio wave emissions originating from a planet outside our Solar System.

Using South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope array, an international team of astronomers successfully detected variable radio bursts coming directly from Beta Pictoris b, a massive gas giant exoplanet located about 63 lightyears away.

But while many of us may hear of radio signals detected at a distant planet in our Galaxy and instinctively imagine a detection of alien life, in this case the discovery is not a sign that E.T. has been detected.

The discovery is, however, a landmark find that will help astronomers learn more about the types of planet that exist beyond our Solar System – and where we might find life.

More signals in deep space

• Scientists detected a signal from deep space lasting seven hours
• The story of the strange Wow! signal and what it could be
• Three signals we thought were aliens – and two that still could be

Credit: honglouwawa / Getty

Chasing signals across the cosmos

For decades, scientists have hunted for radio emissions in deep space.

When it comes to exoplanets – planets beyond our Solar System – astronomers are interested in detecting radio waves similar to those produced by the large gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Scientists say Jupiter is the strongest auroral radio source in our Solar System.

So, learning more about radio waves emitted by other Jupiter-like planets across the Galaxy could reveal more about what those planets are like, what their magnetic fields are like and whether they produce visual displays of aurora like the Northern and Southern Lights on Earth.

It could also tell us whether those planets have protective magnetic fields that could protect emerging life from the ferocious power of their host stars.

However, separating an individual planet's faint signal from the radio signal of its host star is difficult.

Targeting a distant system

The team behind this study targeted planet Beta Pictoris b, which orbits star Beta Pictoris, 63 lightyears from Earth. That's just a stone's throw in cosmic terms.

Beta Pictoris made headlines in July 2026 when astronomers photographed one of its other orbiting planets, Beta Pictoris d, making it the faintest exoplanet ever directly imaged from Earth.

The subject of this study, however, is Beta Pictoris b, which is about 10–12 times the mass of Jupiter.

Crucially, the star it orbits is magnetically quiet, say the researchers, which enabled them to isolate a particular radio signal to Beta Pictoris b.

It's the first time a radio signal has been confirmed as coming from a single planet, rather than from the whole star system in general.

Magnetism and aurorae across the Galaxy

The team say the physics behind the signals is the same as the mechanisms that power aurora displays on the planets in our Solar System.

As energetic, charged particles from the Sun spiral down along magnetic field lines toward a planet's polar regions, they excite particles in the atmosphere, creating the colourful aurora displays we see on Earth.

And because the aurora correlates with the planet's magnetic field strength, the detection has allowed the team to calculate the strength of Beta Pictoris b's magnetic field. It's thousands of times stronger than our planet's.

A new era for exoplanet science?

The discovery is a milestone in the study of distant planets and the search for life beyond our Solar System.

Because magnetic fields play a vital role in protecting planetary atmospheres from being stripped by stellar winds – just as Earth's magnetic field protects us from the power of the Sun – understanding them is crucial in the search for habitable worlds beyond our Solar System.

And with more powerful radio observatories on the horizon, astronomers may be able to use the lessons learned from this study to target other gas giant planets.

That could give us a new, unique way of learning more about the types of planets orbiting stars scattered across our Galaxy and whether they might be able to host life.

• Read the full paper via arxiv

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

Scientists have detected radio signals from a planet beyond our Solar System

First time a radio signal has been confirmed as coming from a single planet rather than an entire system

BY  Iain Todd

• Giant exoplanet: The targeted planet is a massive gas giant located about 63 lightyears away from Earth.
• Magnetic fields: Studying these radio waves could reveal details about the magnetic fields of other Jupiter-like planets across the Galaxy.
• Quiet star: Because the star it orbits is magnetically quiet, the researchers were able to isolate the particular radio signal.
• First confirmation: This marks the first time a radio signal has been confirmed as coming from a single planet rather than an entire system.
• Habitable worlds: Understanding planetary magnetic fields is crucial in the search for habitable worlds because they protect atmospheres from stellar winds.

Credit: Rytis Bernotas / Getty Images

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

Milky Way may have begun as thousands of galaxies, new simulations suggest

by Louise Lerner, University of Chicago

In the early days of the universe, our home looked very different from how it does today. Back then, the region in our universe that would eventually become our Milky Way neighborhood was a collection of thousands of smaller galaxies—some pumping out tons of new stars, others filled only with gas or littered with dead stars and black holes.

You can watch how these galaxies coalesced over time and formed the familiar spiral disk we see today, thanks to a new set of simulations by a group of scientists led by Harley Katz, assistant professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Chicago.

The simulations, which took three years to run even on high-powered supercomputers, are the most detailed model to date of how a galaxy like the Milky Way might have evolved over the first several billion years of its existence.

"What does the Milky Way look like at what we call cosmic dawn?" said Katz. "For the first time, we can directly predict what the early Milky Way would have looked like to telescopes like Hubble or the James Webb Space Telescope."

The six papers from the project, which is named MEGATRON, provide new insight into the makeup of early galaxies and how the elements formed over time. The papers are published in The Open Journal of Astrophysics.

How the Milky Way evolves over time

Since we cannot travel to the dawn of the universe to study it, one of the only ways we have to understand how space evolved over time is to build detailed computer models based on what we know about the laws of nature.

"Essentially, we put in all of the physics we think is relevant—gravity, hydrodynamics, radiation, chemistry, etc.—and then let it evolve and see if it reproduces what we actually see when we look around us today," said Katz.

New data coming in from the powerful James Webb Space Telescope has added a new dimension to our understanding of the universe. So three years ago, a team of scientists undertook a project to incorporate this newfound knowledge into a model of what our galaxy might have looked like back in the first billion years of its existence. Now they can compare it to the readings Webb gets today to see what matches and what's missing.

If you run the clock back, the scientists said, you see a web of large and small galaxies of all different types, which will eventually merge into the modern Milky Way.

"We follow thousands of subsystems in the model and directly compute what they all would have looked like with our most powerful space telescopes, which is many orders of magnitude more than what had been simulated before," said Katz. "Within those you see an incredible diversity. Some of them are bursting out in star formation, others are dead, others are in the process of dying."

One unique finding was that the model predicts the existence of "galaxies" that don't have any stars at all but still shine. Some of these might have once had stars that exploded or collapsed directly into black holes; others might have only ever contained gas.

Another discovery addresses a long-standing puzzle in stellar astrophysics. In our Milky Way, we typically see that smaller and fainter galaxies have less iron. However, this trend breaks down in extremely faint systems where the amount of iron appears constant, independent of mass. Thus far, simulations have been unable to reproduce this behavior.

The culprit, the simulation suggests, is explosions from an exotic type of star left over from right after the Big Bang. These stars, known as Population III stars, are so old that they are made of only the first elements that existed in the universe—hydrogen and helium—and when they explode, they can produce more iron than other supernovae do. If a galaxy is large enough, it will have enough gravity to hold on to this iron; but if it's too small, the iron will be lost to space.

These Population III stars, in fact, are so old that none have ever been directly seen by telescopes. Another paper in the set is the first to show how these stars form in an environment like the Milky Way and predicts where these stars would be most likely to exist if any still do—which may help astronomers search for them.

The physics of stars and elements

A hallmark of these simulations is that they are much more complex than anything attempted before.

"What's unique about our simulation is that it's the first time we have modeled the enrichment of individual chemical elements from individual stars after the Big Bang, coupled to detailed models for gravity, chemistry, radiation and stellar processes," said Katz.

This model, for example, was the first large-scale simulation to include a detailed computation of "non-equilibrium physics." Most physics models assume, for the sake of simplicity, that a system's chemistry is more or less in equilibrium. But of course, in the real universe, galaxies are constantly evolving, which often breaks this key assumption.

Scientists weren't sure how much this would affect the end result—and including it in a simulation slows down the computation significantly.

However, two of the papers that are part of the study show that adding non-equilibrium physics made a real difference—especially when dealing with flows of gases around galaxies, known as the circumgalactic medium.

Adding this complexity allows scientists to more accurately interpret observations and to put limits on the number of possible answers to many questions about the formation of the universe.

"Looking at these results, it's very clear that the physics happening right after the Big Bang has a direct impact on what we see today in the local universe," said Katz.

"But there are also things we're not getting right, which is interesting too—what are the parts we're still missing? That can lead you into new directions and new questions."

{ https://phys.org/space-news/ }

NASA chief Jared Isaacman wants to stay 'open-minded' about UFOs: 'If it's aliens, I think NASA should have a seat at the table'

NASA Administrator  Jared Isaacman delivers remarks at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) ASCEND 2026 Conference on May 19, 2026 in Washington, DC.

(Image credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Could unidentified anomalous phenomena — a new catch-all term for unidentified objects in the sky, oceans or space — be pushing the United States towards another "Sputnik Moment"?

That's the belief of NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who compared the uptick in reported unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) sightings in recent years to the Cold War paranoia stirred up when the former Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to circle Earth in 1957.

Isaacman made the comments in a recent interview with Blake Burman, host of NewsNation's "The Hill" broadcast on Sept. 25 that touched upon a range of space-related issues. And one of those was probing the space agency chief about he thinks UAP might be.

Flight characteristics

Burman made note of pilot reports and videos released of objects with flight characteristics unlike anything previously seen.

"When you watch these videos," Burman asked Isaacman, "do you believe that anything that we've seen in any of this is potentially extraterrestrial. Is it military? What is it?"

'This is unprecedented': Why the Pentagon's recent UFO file releases are so important

The US government is 'sincere in its efforts to understand UAP', new White House council chair says

White House appoints Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb to lead new UFO study group

Isaacman said that NASA has had "a seat at the table" since U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this year called for releasing Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) and UAP files. That call is now officially known as the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE).

"My position going into every one of these: one, be open-minded. I mean, it is kind of our job to go out and try to answer the question 'are we alone?' And I said look, if it's aliens, I think NASA should have a seat at the table in this for sure," Isaacman said.

The NASA Administrator also said that, "if it's a Sputnik moment, we did really well the last time that happened. Which means, is this potentially red technology? Is this an adversary that's testing some next generation propulsion? It's certainly in the realm of the possible." (In military exercises, adversary forces are generally referred to as "red.")

TV host Burman then asked Isaacman, "but what does your gut tell you?"

"I would say I would lean toward it's either some phenomenon that can happen," Isaacman responded. "There are things that can happen just like natural phenomena that can be observed. I also think there's a good chance that there could be a Sputnik Moment that's happening and people are testing new stealthy or next generation type technologies," he said.

'We Want to Believe' book explores the reality of UFOs: 'It's always going to be more likely that someone is wrong about what they saw' (interview)

'That's going to come back and bite us': Former NASA chief questions Artemis moon lander plans

Trump is proposing a US Space Academy — if created, it could blur the lines between NASA and the military (op-ed)

Our own backyard

Isaacman continued by noting that space missions have barely explored our own backyard.

"Do you know there are moons out there […] Saturn's moon Enceladus has an ocean. Europa has an ocean. It has complex chemistry. We couldn't tell you conclusively that there isn't life in our own backyard let alone the billions of other stars in the Milky Way galaxy, or the two trillion other galaxies out there. It's why NASA's mission is so important," Isaacman concluded.

Whistleblower woes

In a related UAP side saga, in early September, the U.S. Department of War issued a "legal waiver" for those wishing to disclose information regarding UAP, a hybrid term also linked to Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs).

Military service members, civilian personnel, and contractors are purportedly green-lighted to disclose once protected information, such as under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).

What's old news is that this waiver is not really new, said Robert Powell, an executive board member for the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies in Austin, Texas. This same protection was provided to whistleblowers if they reported UAP information to the U.S. government's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).

"This was established via the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which stated that, 'Individuals with current or previous access to UAP-related information subject to a U.S. government NDA are authorized to provide that information to AARO representatives.' This waiver simply adds a second agency that can collect information," Powell told Space.

PURSUE and release

It is important to note that this is not permission for a whistleblower to talk to the press, a researcher, or the public," said Powell. "The same is true of this latest whistleblower waiver."

The new waiver states, "This waiver removes those barriers by explicitly authorizing covered disclosures to PURSUE representatives without triggering breach-of-agreement penalties or standard NDA violations."

"The NDA relaxation is only if the whistleblower reports their information to PURSUE representatives," said Powell.

"However, the waiver does not state how a whistleblower can identify the PURSUE representatives or how to reach them. So will anything change? It will take a year or two to determine if any whistleblower stories are made public or if a whistleblower realizes that an individual's story will go no farther than the PURSUE representative," Powell said.

He said/she said

Furthermore, Powell points out, this new waiver does not clearly waive criminal statutes, for example Espionage Act/unauthorized disclosure of classified information.

"How does a whistleblower know if their information violates criminal statutes versus civil statutes? The new waiver does not protect a whistleblower from an NDA with a civilian corporation," said Powell.

Let's assume someone comes forth and says that they know that there is an alien spacecraft being held at Edwards Air Force Base in California, said Powell. How is that claim verified?

"If it is not verified then there is little value in the efforts put forth by the whistleblower. To date, Congress has not seemed willing to use its subpoena powers to force a military branch to provide information, concluded Powell, and until Congress is willing to push the point and investigate claims, "it just remains 'he said, she said.'"

{ https://www.space.com/space-exploration }

Strange lights over Cyprus: what are people seeing?

From a 1985 sighting off Chlorakas to reports involving Starlink and military activity, specialists say most unusual sightings over Cyprus have ordinary explanations

Most things people see in the skies above Cyprus have perfectly ordinary explanations. Every night, satellites pass overhead, meteors streak across the night sky, and aircraft fly back and forth over one of the busiest regions in the world. Yet from time to time, something catches someone’s attention that they can’t immediately explain. For decades, those moments have given rise to reports of unusual aerial phenomena across the island.

One of the most well-known cases occurred in September 1985, when fishermen off the coast of Chlorakas reported seeing a bright white glow on the horizon that gradually expanded into a rainbow like arc. According to Dr Georgios Florides co-founder of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Cyprus Centre, the phenomenon lasted around 35 minutes and coincided with a power cut in nearby Kissonerga. At around the same time, commercial pilots flying between Cyprus and the Aegean also reported an unusual luminous object. The incident was covered by local press and attracted the attention of aviation authorities, but no definitive explanation was established.

Nearly four decades later, reports of unexplained aerial phenomena continue to capture public attention. International interest has grown following US government disclosures and a renewed willingness among scientists to discuss the subject openly. But behind the headlines there’s a more intriguing question. What do those who dedicate their lives to studying the skies over Cyprus really think about the island’s reports of unexplained phenomena?

What people are seeing in Cyprus skies

For Chief Operating Officer of the Troodos Observatory Agapios Elia reports of unusual lights are a familiar part of the job.

“This happens very frequently,” he says. “Often people write or call in to report strange sightings or they mention things they have seen at one time or another during our public sessions. Nowadays a lot of people just post online about unusual lights they see and they are frequently directed to us for clarifications”.

More often than not, those sightings have ordinary explanations. Many recent reports have involved SpaceX’s Starlink satellites or military activity in the Middle East, Elia says. Other common explanations include missile plume cones, high altitude aircraft reflecting the setting sun, unusual cloud formations and meteors.

“I have to say no,” he says when asked if he’s ever found a phenomenon that ultimately defied explanation. “Any strange looking phenomenon ultimately turns out to be one of two things: man-made and nature-made.”

This is not to say that people are imagining what they see. Instead, Elia says, many unusual sightings come down to perspective. “From a practical standpoint, the biggest misconception is a lack of understanding regarding scale and distance,” he says. “People often struggle to judge how large, how fast, or how far away a light in the dark sky truly is.”

How UAP reports are investigated

But explaining what people see is only part of the story. Just as important is what happens after someone reports an unexplained sighting.

For Florides, every report begins the same way: with an investigation. Established in 2022, the centre investigates unexplained aerial phenomena in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean from a scientific perspective. When a report is received, investigators visit the location where possible, interview the witnesses, measure distances and viewing angles, analyse photographs and compare the location and time of the sighting with flight paths, satellite movements and astronomical data.

The centre receives numerous reports each year, but Florides says all those investigated so far have had conventional explanations. “Most submissions consist of either a photograph of a distant, undefined speck of light or a written account describing such a light,” he says. In some instances where higher quality images or more detailed observations were available, they ultimately ended up being Venus, military drones, distant aircraft, Starlink satellites or meteors.

For Florides, the biggest misconception isn’t witnessing something unusual; it’s the assumption that “unidentified” means “unexplainable”.

“Based on the received reports and the work the centre is doing, we believe the single biggest misconception people have about UAP is that any unidentified light in the sky is inherently extraordinary or ‘otherworldly’,” he says. “In reality, the vast majority of reports have mundane explanations”.

Why scientists are still interested

Nonetheless, conventional explanations doesn’t mean that the subject lacks scientific value. For president of the Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation (CSEO) George A Danos, unexplained aerial phenomena are worth investigating precisely because science is driven by curiosity and evidence.

Cyprus’ location may also make it particularly interesting for UAP reporting. Danos points to UAP reporting maps published by the US Department of Defense’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which show concentrations of reports in the broader Middle East and eastern Mediterranean region.

“Science ultimately requires empirical evidence to reach results,” he says. “Right now, that conclusive evidence regarding UAPs as non-human technology isn’t yet readily available or conclusive, but the scientific community is now establishing the rigorous, objective frameworks necessary to properly investigate these anomalies.”

Danos believes that, regardless of where the evidence ultimately leads, asking questions is fundamental to scientific progress. “Scientists constantly seek to expand the frontiers of knowledge,” he says. “If there are objects in our skies performing maneuvers we don’t understand, we need to investigate and learn rather than being afraid to study the data due to the professional stigma that historically surrounded the topic.”

For Danos, curiosity remains one of science’s greatest strengths. “The cosmos is limited only by our capacity to wonder.”

Find out more

• Troodos Observatory: https://www.troodosobservatory.com/,
• UAP Cyprus Centre: https://www.uapcy.org/,
• Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation (CSEO): https://www.spaceexploration.org.cy/#!/Home,
• All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO): https://www.aaro.mil/

 { https://cyprus-mail.com/category/cyprus }