World's biggest spiderweb discovered inside 'Sulfur Cave' with 111,000 arachnids living in pitch black
Researchers have discovered more than 111,000 spiders thriving in what appears to be the world's biggest spiderweb, deep inside a pitch-black cave on the Albanian-Greek border.
The "extraordinary" colony consists of a colossal web in a permanently dark zone of the cavern, according to a study published Oct. 17 in the journal Subterranean Biology. The web stretches 1,140 square feet (106 square meters) along the wall of a narrow, low-ceilinged passage near the entrance of the cave. It is a patchwork of thousands of individual, funnel-shaped webs, the researchers noted.
This is the first evidence of colonial behavior in two common spider species and likely represents the largest spiderweb in the world, said study lead author István Urák, an associate professor of biology at Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania in Romania.
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"The natural world still holds countless surprises for us," Urák told Live Science in an email. "If I were to attempt to put into words all the emotions that surged through me [when I saw the web], I would highlight admiration, respect, and gratitude. You have to experience it to truly know what it feels like."
The spider megacity is located in Sulfur Cave, a cavern that was hollowed out by sulfuric acid formed from the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide in groundwater. While the researchers revealed tantalizing new information about Sulfur Cave's spider colony, they weren't the first to see the giant web. Cavers with the Czech Speleological Society discovered it in 2022 during an expedition in the Vromoner Canyon. A team of scientists then visited the cave in 2024, plucking specimens from the web that Urák analyzed before going on his own expedition to Sulfur Cave.
This analysis revealed that two spider species live in the colony: Tegenaria domestica, known as the barn funnel weaver or domestic house spider, and Prinerigone vagans. On their visit to the cave, Urák and his colleagues estimated there were about 69,000 T. domestica and more than 42,000 P. vagans specimens. DNA analyses for the new research also confirmed that these are the dominant species in the colony, Urák said.
Sulfur Cave's spider colony is one of the largest ever documented, and the species involved weren't previously known to assemble and cooperate in this way, Urák said. T. domestica and P. vagans are widespread near human dwellings, but the colony is "a unique case of two species cohabiting within the same web structure in these huge numbers," he said.
Scientists would normally expect barn funnel weavers to prey on P. vagans, but the lack of light in the cave may impair the spiders' vision, according to the study.
The spiders instead eat non-biting midges, which in turn feast on white microbial biofilms — slimy secretions that protect microorganisms against threats in their environment — from sulfur-oxidizing bacteria in the cave. A sulfur-rich stream fed by natural springs flows through Sulfur Cave, filling the cavern with hydrogen sulfide and helping microbes, midges and their predators survive, the researchers wrote in the study.
The spiders' sulfur-rich diet influences their microbiomes, causing them to be significantly less diverse than the microbiomes of spiders from the same two species outside the cave, gut content analyses revealed. Molecular data also showed that the spiders inside the cave were genetically different from their relatives living outside, suggesting the cave-dwellers have adapted to their dingy surroundings.
"Often, we think we know a species completely, that we understand everything about it, yet unexpected discoveries can still occur," Urák said. "Some species exhibit remarkable genetic plasticity, which typically becomes apparent only under extreme conditions. Such conditions can elicit behaviors that are not observed under 'normal' circumstances."
It's important to preserve the colony, despite challenges that might arise from the location of the cave between two countries, Urák said. In the meantime, the researchers are working on another study that will reveal further clues about Sulfur Cave's inhabitants, he added.
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More than half of Antarctica's ice shelves could collapse by 2300 – sparking 32 FEET of irreversible global sea level rise, scientists warn
Cities and towns around the world could be plunged underwater in just 275 years, a new study has warned.
Scientists from Sorbonne University in Paris predict that up to 59 per cent of Antarctica's ice shelves could collapse by 2300.
If this happens, it will result in up to 10 metres (32ft) of irreversible global sea–level rise.
Here in the UK, Hull, Glasgow, and Bristol would be submerged, while over in the US, people living in Houston, New Orleans, and Miami would be forced to move inland.
This might sound like something from the latest science fiction blockbuster.
However, the experts say it could become a reality if greenhouse gas emissions continue to skyrocket.
'Our results show that current choices to change emission pathways could significantly affect the likelihood of the long–term loss of most Antarctic ice shelves,' the researchers explained.
'The viability of ice shelves strongly depends on the emission scenario, as only one ice shelf becomes likely or very likely non–viable by 2300 in the low–emission scenario compared with 59% in the high–emission scenario.'
Scientists from Sorbonne University in Paris predict that up to 59 per cent of Antarctica's ice shelves could collapse by 2300
Cities and towns around the world could be plunged underwater in just 275 years, a new study has warned. Pictured: impression of London underwater
Antarctica is home to 15 major ice shelves and many smaller ones.
As the floating margins of the Antarctic ice sheet, these ice shelves are crucial for controlling ice loss.
'As they restrain the ice flow from the grounded ice sheet to the ocean through so–called buttressing, they represent a safety band around Antarctica,' the researchers, led by Clara Burgard, explained in their study, published in Nature.
'Their thinning and eventual collapse hence accelerates ice discharge into the ocean.'
In their study, the team conducted simulations to understand how the melting of 64 ice shelves could change as emissions continue to rise.
Their results revealed that, under a low–emissions scenario in which global warming is kept below 2°C by 2300, only one of the 64 ice shelves would be at risk.
However, under a high–emissions scenario, we face a bleak future.
The simulation found that if global warming reaches 12°C by 2300, 38 (59 per cent) of the ice shelves could disappear – contributing to 10 metres (32ft) of sea–level rise.
The simulation found that under a high-emissions scenario, by 2300, 38 (59 per cent) of the ice shelves could disappear – contributing to 10 metres (32ft) of sea–level rise
If sea levels do rise by 32ft (10 metres), entire cities around the world will be plunged underwater, according to Climate Central's Coastal Risk Screening Tool
And though 2300 feels quite far away, we'd begin feeling the impacts much sooner, according to the researchers.
'The period between approximately 2085 and 2170 marks the period with the highest rate of ice shelves that would reach likely non–viability,' they explained.
While this all feels quite dramatic, the researchers actually say that their estimate is 'conservative'.
'This estimate is on the most conservative side, and actual thinning, retreat or collapse could occur sooner depending on the vulnerability of a given ice shelf to other processes such as damage, rifting, hydrofracturing or calving,' they added.
If sea levels do rise by 32ft (10 metres), entire cities around the world will be plunged underwater, according to Climate Central's Coastal Risk Screening Tool.
In the UK, people living in Portsmouth, Southend-on-Sea, Hull, Middlesbrough, Blackpool, Bristol, and Cardiff will be submerged.
Huge swathes of London along the River Thames will also be underwater, including Hammersmith, Greenwich, Southwark, and Westminster.
In Europe, the entire coast from Calais in France to Ringkobing in Denmark will be underwater, while Venice, Montpellier, Seville, and Lisbon will also be impacted.
In the US, the entire coast of Florida, Louisiana, and Texas faces life underwater if sea levels rise by 32ft (10 metres)
Over in Asia, much of Bangladesh will be affected, along with cities like Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh City, and Karachi.
And in the US, the entire coast of Florida, Louisiana, and Texas faces life underwater.
Overall, the researchers hope the findings will highlight the need for urgent action to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
'Our results show that current choices to change emission pathways could significantly affect the likelihood of the long-term loss of most Antarctic ice shelves,' they concluded.
Revealed: What the world will look like in 2100 - so, can you guess where each location is?
Climate change has previously been described as 'the greatest threat to our existence'.
Now, an online game lets you see the damage climate change will do to the world in just 75 years' time.
The free game, called FutureGuessr, presents hundreds of AI-generated locations as they're expected to look in 2100.
According to scientists who created the game, FutureGuessr shows what will happen if no action is taken' to stop carbon emissions.
From flooding to wildfires and drought, heatwaves and storms, global warming will change the face of the planet as we know it.
'Showing the future of recognisable places we care about might be powerful in building support for climate action,' they say in The Conversation.
'Games can create space for serious conversations about how to tackle climate change.'
Six locations from the game are included below – so, can you guess where they are? Scroll down for the answers!
An online game lets you see the damage climate change will do to the world in just 75 years' time. Pictured: what London could look like in 2100
The free game, called FutureGuessr, presents hundreds of AI-generated locations as they're expected to look in 2100. Pictured: New Orleans in 2100 as imagined by the game
Image 1
Firstly, this image If a location in North America (below) is currently considered the world's largest intact forest ecosystem.
Measuring 270 million hectares, it stores carbon, purifies the air and water, and regulates the climate.
But 75 years from now, FutureGuessr shows it to be a fiery landscape burnt to the ground with hellish orange skies and toxic smoke.
According to experts, the whole territory 'will be reshaped by frequent wildfires, invasive insects and a reduced ability to absorb carbon'.
'Wildfires will release millions of tons of CO2, weaken natural carbon sinks, and further accelerate global warming.'
Image 2
Today this serene oasis, a UNESCO world heritage site, comprises an abundance of palm trees, stunning waters and imposing cliffs.
IMAGE 1: This forest in North America is reduced to a hellish landscape ravaged by wildfires in the year 2100
IMAGE 2: This UNESCO world heritage site will be a desiccated dessert landscape where vegetation cannot grow
But according to experts, this green sanctuary will be slowly buried under sand due to droughts and rising temperatures.
The image shows cracked ground due to lack of rainwater and freshwater, leading to the loss of vegetation.
'Agriculture will become impossible and inhabitants may be forced to leave,' the site says.
Image 3
Today, this area of Europe is packed with rolling golden hills, historical architecture, luscious vineyards and century-old olive trees.
But by 2100 these treasured features, which draw tourists from around the world, will turn reddish and cracked under the sun.
Rainfall will decline, but arrive in more violent bursts here, which means vineyards will struggle with low yields of poorer quality – which is bad news for wine lovers.
Experts say this part of the nation's countryside may 'lose its fertility and its charm' if summer temperatures here rise by just 4°C/7.2°F.
Image 3: Rolling golden hills, once lined with century-old olive trees and terraced vineyards, will turn reddish and cracked under the sun
IMAGE 4: This location will be a withered 'landscape of ashes and scorched trunks' because of frequent uncontrollable wildfires
Image 4
Today it's a national park covering over 1.1 million acres, with grand conifers reaching more than 200 feet tall.
But by 2100, this next location will be a withered 'landscape of ashes and scorched trunks' because of frequent uncontrollable wildfires.
These vulnerable trees described as 'ancient giants' will be trapped in a climate that is too dry and too hot – factors known to make wildfires more intense.
Smoke from the fires will also worsen air pollution and negatively impact public health.
Researchers warn that by as soon as 2050, nearly half of the forest could be at risk.
Image 5
This Asian 'megacity' will be 'fighting to stay above water' by 2100 when global warming has melted Earth's glaciers and ice sheets.
IMAGE 5: This Asian 'megacity' facing a northern coast will be 'fighting to stay above water' by 2100, experts predict
IMAGE 6: Experts say this region will be 'only cracked soil swept by scorching winds and abandoned greenhouses glinting under a now-hostile sun'
Currently home to around 10 million residents, the northern part of the city nearer to the coast will already have vanished beneath the waves.
Experts say it will be largely 'uninhabitable' with saltwater from the seas eroding soil, forcing thousands of families to flee.
Image 6
Lastly, this image looks more like from the surface of Mars than anywhere on Earth, with sandy particles filling the air.
But according to experts, this agricultural region shows what is already one of the driest places in Europe.
By 2100, it will be a otherworldly desert zone with no more orchards or fields, but only cracked soil 'swept by scorching winds' under a hostile sun.
It will be 'stripped of its resources and its people' as the land will be to try to farm.
Locations that will be drastically altered by 2100 due to climate change - so did you guess them correctly?
2026 volgens Nostradamus het Westen valt in de schaduw en drie vuren uit het Oosten ontwaken
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2026 volgens Nostradamus het Westen valt in de schaduw en drie vuren uit het Oosten ontwaken
Nu de wereld zich opmaakt voor een nieuw jaar, vragen velen van ons zich af wat de toekomst voor de mensheid in petto heeft. En met die vraag komen de woorden van Nostradamus weer naar boven, misschien om te waarschuwen voor rampzalige gebeurtenissen die nog moeten plaatsvinden.
De Franse astroloog en beroemde ziener deed vele voorspellingen over de toekomst, en deze cryptische verzen blijven nieuwsgierigheid en onrust opwekken. Wat zou de oude arts voor onze planeet in 2026 hebben voorzien? Klik verder om het te ontdekken.
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Het jaar 2026
Volgens veel interpretatoren springt 2026 in de voorspellingen van Nostradamus eruit als een bepalend jaar. Het wordt niet alleen gezien als een apocalyptische mijlpaal, maar ook als een periode van onrust, zuivering en mogelijke wedergeboorte voor de mensheid.
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Een dichter van voorspellingen
Nostradamus was veel meer dan alleen een profeet van vernietiging. Hij was een observator van menselijk gedrag die patronen van angst, macht en ambitie omzette in voorspellingen die nog steeds door de eeuwen heen weerklank vinden.
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De architect van de profetie
In het midden van de 16e eeuw schreef Nostradamus meer dan 940 kwatrijnen (gedichten bestaande uit vier regels) in een boek met de titel 'Les Prophéties'. Zijn gedichten waren bewust doorspekt met symboliek en verwijzingen naar astrologie, zodanig dat ze een raadsel vormen dat mensen al lang proberen te ontrafelen.
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Uitgebreide voorspelling
Volgens sommige complottheoretici bevat het boek van Nostradamus voorspellingen die ver in de toekomst reiken. Velen geloven zelfs dat de gedichten gebeurtenissen voorspellen tot het jaar 3797.
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Collectieve spanning
De wereld die we vandaag om ons heen zien, weerspiegelt vermoedelijk de spanningen die Nostradamus in zijn kwatrijnen beschrijft. Politieke crises, milieurampen, technologische desoriëntatie en een diepe spirituele leegte in de samenleving maken zijn oude profetieën griezelig actueel.
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Het raadsel van 2026
Nu de speculaties over 2026 toenemen, worden de woorden van de Franse mysticus met nieuwe urgentie opnieuw onder de loep genomen. Zijn poëtische waarschuwingen lijken een echo te zijn van de huidige onzekerheden van de mensheid en roepen zowel fascinatie als angst op. Wat voorspelde Nostradamus voor volgend jaar?
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1. Mars heerst over de hemel
In een kwatrijn domineert Mars (de planeet die symbool staat voor oorlog, agressie en vuur) de hemel. Astrologisch gezien voorspelt deze stand verhoogde spanningen, mogelijke conflicten en wereldwijde onrust in verband met politieke of ideologische herschikkingen.
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Meer dan fysieke oorlogsvoering
Terwijl velen bang zijn voor oorlog, zien anderen de invloed van Mars als een metafoor voor een ingrijpende wereldwijde herstructurering. Oude machten kunnen instorten, nieuwe kunnen opkomen en de mensheid zou getuige kunnen zijn van een radicale herverdeling van de wereldorde.
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Geopolitieke breuklijnen
De huidige spanningen tussen de Verenigde Staten en China, een hernieuwde rivaliteit tussen Oost en West en AI-gedreven militarisering weerspiegelen allemaal de vurige 'heerschappij van Mars'. Maar de mensheid staat mogelijk voor een transformatie door machtsverschuivingen en niet door een daadwerkelijke totale oorlog.
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2. Venus verliest haar kracht
De voorspellingen van Nostradamus zeggen dat Venus, de planeet van liefde en verbinding, in 2026 haar invloed zal verliezen. Dit betekent dat empathie en emotionele verbondenheid snel zullen afnemen door de digitale afstandelijkheid.
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De kille intimiteit van een digitale samenleving
Terwijl kunstmatige intelligentie gedichten en liefdesliedjes schrijft, worden menselijke relaties steeds meer bemiddeld door schermen. Ondanks hyperconnectiviteit zal eenzaamheid toenemen naarmate intimiteit bezwijkt onder het gewicht van technologische vooruitgang.
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Culturele erosie
De afnemende invloed van Venus duidt op een culturele malaise: het verval van mededogen, kunst en echte schoonheid in ruil voor algoritmisch gemak. De samenleving wordt efficiënt maar emotioneel verarmd, en blijft voortdurend verlangen naar betekenis.
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3. De 'drie vuren' uit het Oosten ontwaken
Nostradamus' beeld van 'drie vuren die oprijzen uit het Oosten' symboliseert nieuwe krachten die het mondiale evenwicht hervormen. Deze kunnen staan voor de opkomende machten China, India en Zuidoost-Azië, die een technologische renaissance leiden.
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De opkomst van Azië
De dominantie van China op het gebied van kunstmatige intelligentie en biotechnologie, de demografische en digitale expansie van India en de innovatie van andere Aziatische landen wijzen erop dat het mondiale leiderschap gestaag naar het oosten verschuift en de moderne beschaving herdefinieert.
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De technologische brand
Naast de politiek kan het derde vuur ook verwijzen naar technologie zelf (met name AI) als de transformatieve vlam die samenlevingen verenigt en destabiliseert, economieën verandert en het gevoel van controle van de mensheid op de proef stelt.
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4. De dominantie van AI
Hoewel kunstmatige intelligentie in 2025 aan belang heeft gewonnen, heeft Nostradamus voorspeld dat deze technologie in 2026 de wereld zal gaan domineren. De snelle ontwikkeling van AI zal een belangrijk keerpunt betekenen.
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Verlies van roeping
Blijkbaar zullen mensen in 2026 in nog grotere mate hun baan verliezen, aangezien AI-technologie belangrijke sectoren begint te veroveren en te domineren. En dit kan zelfs gelden voor technologie die verder gaat dan eenvoudige AI.
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Tesla's robotica
Elon Musk is al van plan om in 2026 humanoïde robots op de markt te brengen, met een waarde van ongeveer 21.000 euro per stuk. Deze 'universele assistenten' zouden in staat zijn om te helpen bij allerlei taken, waaronder huishoudelijke klusjes, kinderopvang en gezelschap.
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5. Het vervagende licht van het Westen
Een van de profetische kwatrijnen van Nostradamus spreekt over het Westen dat zijn licht verliest en in de schaduw valt. Dit voorspelt hoogstwaarschijnlijk de ondergang en vernietiging van de westerse wereld. Dit betekent niet noodzakelijkerwijs dat westerse landen fysiek in verval zullen raken, maar eerder moreel en cultureel.
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De uitholling van westerse idealen
De tanende dominantie van Amerika en de gestage afglijding van Europa naar bureaucratische stagnatie laten zien hoe de liberale democratieën in de westerse wereld, ooit symbolen van vrijheid, aan het instorten zijn.
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Op zoek naar vernieuwing
Maar het goede nieuws is dat de crisis in het Westen misschien minder te maken heeft met achteruitgang dan met transformatie. De voorspellingen van Nostradamus suggereren dat het Westen in 2026 een morele afrekening te wachten staat, een kans voor vernieuwing en herontdekking.
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6. Een belofte van hoop
Te midden van chaos eindigen de verzen van Nostradamus niet in wanhoop, maar in vernieuwing. Hij schreef: "Schaduwen zullen vallen, maar de man van het licht zal opstaan, en de sterren zullen hen leiden die naar binnen kijken."
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Chaos overstijgen
De mysticus suggereert dat de mensheid door zelfonderzoek en zelfbewustzijn in 2026 de duisternis kan overstijgen in plaats van erdoor te worden verteerd. De boodschap dringt aan op persoonlijke transformatie in plaats van collectieve verlossing.
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Spirituele wedergeboorte
Nostradamus suggereert dat de verlossing van de mensheid niet zal komen van regeringen of goden, maar van mensen die hun innerlijke kracht en spirituele helderheid herontdekken.
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Meditatie als modern verzet
In de huidige wereld vol lawaai, afleiding en ontkoppeling wordt introspectie een vorm van rebellie. Praktijken als meditatie en mindfulness kunnen in 2026 opnieuw opkomen als essentiële hulpmiddelen voor emotioneel overleven en het herwinnen van menselijke aanwezigheid.
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Het licht van hoop
In een eeuw die wordt gekenmerkt door angst, wordt hoop revolutionair. De voorspellingen voor 2026 herinneren ons eraan dat licht niet iets is dat we simpelweg van jaar tot jaar meedragen. Het wordt juist gecultiveerd, vaak in de donkerste tijden van onzekerheid.
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De morele uitdaging
Afgezien van politiek en oorlog zal de echte test van 2026 een morele zijn: of de mensheid in staat is om medelevend, ethisch en zelfbewust te blijven te midden van snelle veranderingen en sluipende ontmenselijking.
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De eeuwige vraag
Als alle voorspellingen terzijde worden geschoven, blijft één vraag over: zullen we mee evolueren met de wereld die verandert? De echte uitdaging van Nostradamus is misschien wel de eenvoudigste: kunnen we er nog steeds voor kiezen om mens te blijven in een wereld die dat steeds minder wordt?
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The Brain’s Hidden Radar: How Theta Waves Sweep the Mind to Spot the Unexpected
(Image Credit: Pixabay/The Debrief)
New research from MIT suggests that brainwaves sweep across the cerebral cortex much like radar scans the sky, helping the brain detect unexpected visual anomalies.
Neuroscientists at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, led by Hio-Been Han in Professor Earl K. Miller’s lab, made the discovery while studying how the brain stores and processes visual information in the short term—a process known as visual working memory.
The cerebral cortex maps what the brain perceives in space. When we focus on our surroundings, theta-frequency waves sweep across them, searching for visual anomalies that might demand attention. Using animal subjects, the researchers sought to understand why performance in visual working memory tasks varies and why memory capacity appears limited.
Their work builds on previous studies identifying theta waves as being strongly correlated with attention—particularly during tasks requiring the brain to track multiple points at once. Miller’s earlier research supported the theory that different brainwave frequencies act as carriers for distinct forms of neural computation. The new study takes this a step further, revealing how those traveling waves may actively drive such computations.
“It shows that waves impact performance as they sweep across the surface of the cortex,” said Professor Miller, also of MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. “This raises the possibility that traveling waves are organizing, or even performing, neural computation.”
For their experiments, the team trained animals to play a simple video game: an array of colored squares appeared briefly on-screen, followed by a second array in which one square had changed color. The animals’ task was to look at the altered square as quickly as possible. Researchers tracked their eye movements and reaction times while recording brainwave activity in the frontal eye fields—a region of the cortex responsible for mapping visual information from the retina.
After analyzing hundreds of trials, the researchers found that both theta brainwave activity and the vertical location of the changed square were strongly correlated with how accurately and quickly the animals detected changes. Certain horizontal bands of the cortex appeared tuned to specific theta frequencies, meaning that a subject’s performance depended on whether the brain’s internal rhythm aligned with the position of the visual change.
“The optimal theta phase for behavior varied by retinotopic target location, progressing from the top to the bottom of the visual field,” the researchers wrote in Neuron. “This could be explained by a traveling wave of activity across the cortical surface during the memory delay.”
From this data, the team concluded that the brain’s ability to spot visual changes follows a distinct rhythm. The closer a visual change occurred to a band’s optimal theta phase, the faster it was recognized. The team says continued research will be needed to understand how this rhythmic mechanism evolved.
The researchers also observed interactions among other frequency bands that reinforced their model of wave-driven computation. Earlier work from the Miller Lab showed that alpha waves help encode task context, while beta waves regulate how gamma waves encode sensory input. The new study adds that theta waves appear to modulate both beta and gamma, synchronizing neural activity across regions. When theta waves became excited, beta activity was suppressed and spikes in neural firing—associated with visual processing—peaked. As theta waned and beta strengthened, spiking decreased.
Going forward, the team is now developing a closed-loop analog feedback system designed to amplify specific brainwave frequencies. Their long-term goal is to enhance visual memory capacity by strengthening theta wave power.
The paper, “Working Memory Readout Varies with Frontal Theta Rhythms,” appeared in Neuron on October 20, 2025.
Boeing Unveils New “CxR” Tiltrotor: A Drone Wingman Aiming to Redefine Army Aviation
At the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) 2025 conference on October 13, Boeing unveiled its new Collaborative Transformational Rotorcraft (CxR) concept, underscoring the defense giant’s bold gamble on the future of unmanned rotorcraft warfare.
The rendering of a large unmanned tiltrotor, intended to act as a “wingman” to crewed helicopters, suggests Boeing is seeking to reshape how armies think about blends of manned and unmanned aviation.
Boeing is pitching a new class of unmanned vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft — a modular, high-speed tiltrotor — that could operate alongside, support, and even protect crewed platforms like the AH-64 Apache and CH-47 Chinook.
By unveiling the CxR, Boeing is entering a high-stakes race to supply the next generation of collaborative rotorcraft, with the potential to shift tactical aviation paradigms.
According to Aviation Week, the CxR is projected to weigh between 5,000 and 7,000 pounds and will be powered by a single turboshaft engine driving a pair of tilting propellers, enabling speeds of 200 to 250 knots. The aircraft is also expected to have a maximum gross weight between 5,000 and 7,000 pounds, with a payload capacity of 1,000 to 2,000 pounds.
This configuration would make the CxR roughly twice the size of the MQ-1 Predator, giving it significantly more heft and operational flexibility than many of the smaller unmanned systems in the U.S. Army’s current arsenal.
Despite its size, Boeing emphasizes that the CxR is designed to be expeditionary, fitting compactly inside a C-130 Hercules transport to allow for rapid deployment to remote or contested theaters.
Boeing is presenting the CxR as part of a “family of systems” tailored to the Army’s future vertical lift ecosystem, with two specific variants already envisioned to address distinct mission needs.
One variant, dubbed the “Collaborative Combat Rotorcraft” (CCR), would be designed for front-line combat operations. In this configuration, the CxR would be equipped with weapons, sensors, and electronic warfare systems, allowing it to perform strike, reconnaissance, or escort missions.
It could also serve as a “mothership” for smaller launched effects (LEs) — miniature drones that can be deployed mid-flight for surveillance, jamming, or precision attacks deep within enemy territory.
Boeing suggests the CCR variant of the CxR could be specifically designed to integrate seamlessly with the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, extending its reach and capabilities on the battlefield.
Under the Army’s Manned-Unmanned Teaming-Extended (MUMT-X) architecture, Apache crews can already control sensors and flight paths of assets like the MQ-1C Gray Eagle drone. Boeing aims to extend that control paradigm to the CxR, making it a “true wingman” rather than an autonomous sidecar.
“Our customers understand that winning on the modern battlefield means transforming proven capabilities at the pace of change and ensuring interoperability across the force structure,” Boeing’s vice-president of Attack Helicopter Programs, Christina Upah, said in a statement. “The Apache is critical to securing the future of battlefield dominance, and we’re demonstrating how we can make it even more dominant through integration with autonomous Launched Effects systems and interoperability with other evolving capabilities.”
A second variant, called the “Collaborative Logistics Rotorcraft” (CLR), reconfigures the platform for resupply and transport roles. Instead of a weapons bay, the CLR would feature a modular cargo fuselage, enabling rapid delivery of ammunition, equipment, or medical supplies into contested areas where traditional helicopters might be too vulnerable.
Together, these two initial designs showcase Boeing’s modular vision for the CxR. This single tiltrotor platform could be rapidly adapted for a multitude of missions on the battlefield.
Boeing is leveraging its experience with tiltrotor systems, namely its V-22 Osprey. Engineers acknowledge that lessons from the Osprey program on transition control and switching between vertical lift and forward flight are being applied in the CxR’s design.
That said, significant challenges lie ahead in bringing the CxR from concept to reality. Tiltrotor aircraft are notoriously complex, requiring intricate mechanisms, high-maintenance interfaces, and advanced control systems to manage transitions between hover and forward flight. The V-22 Osprey program, in particular, offers a sobering reminder of the technical and logistical hurdles such designs can face.
To succeed, Boeing will also need to demonstrate that the CxR is not only feasible but also cost-effective, reliable, and resilient in contested environments. And because it’s designed to operate in close coordination with crewed aircraft, the company must also master challenges in cybersecurity, autonomy, bandwidth, and sensor fusion—factors that may ultimately prove just as critical as propulsion or aerodynamics.
Last year, the U.S. Army shelved its Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program to focus more intently on unmanned systems. Meanwhile, the Army continues to promote its Future Vertical Lift (FVL) roadmap, including implementation of the MV-75 tiltrotor for assault missions. The CxR could find a role in this evolving architecture, particularly as a sensor and strike multiplier that extends reach without risking crewed assets.
For now, the CxR is firmly at the conceptual stage. Boeing says it is actively soliciting feedback from the U.S. Army to refine performance requirements, operational trade-offs, and mission design. No prototype or firm timeline has been disclosed so far.
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Native Americans Had Their Own Tales to Tell About Space Aliens — and Here's a New One
Centuries before the Roswell UFO Incident, Native Americans had their own stories to tell about alien visitations — for example, about the “Sky People” who traveled from the Pleiades star cluster to Earth and have a special bond with the Cherokee Nation.
In a newly published novel titled “Hole in the Sky,” Cherokee science-fiction author Daniel H. Wilson blends those stories with up-to-date speculation about UFOs, now also known as unidentified anomalous phenomena or UAPs, to deliver a fresh take on the classic tale of first contact with an alien civilization.
Wilson says the typical alien-invasion tale tends to parallel the real-life story of European settlement in the Americas. “I love robot uprisings and alien invasions, and the more I thought about it, you realize that in an alien invasion, the aliens show up, and they usually want to extract our resources, take our land, our water, destroy our culture, enslave us,” he says in the latest episode of the Fiction Science podcast. “That’s kind of a really thinly veiled fear projection that what colonizers have done to Indigenous people will be done to our society. And so I started from there.”
He also managed to weave in other elements of Cherokee mythology, such as a supernatural being known as Tsul ‘Kalu or Judaculla. In tribal lore, the Judaculla is a giant with slanted eyes — something like the legendary Bigfoot or Sasquatch. The Judaculla plays a brief but pivotal role in “Hole in the Sky.”
“If you think about the human embodiment of Indigenous technology, it would be the Judaculla,” Wilson says, “because among the Cherokee at that time, the most advanced technological problems would have been keeping the ecosystem in balance to support all the people in perpetuity, without overexploiting it and doing what we’ve been doing for the last 200 years or more in North America.”
In Wilson’s novel, there’s a good deal of Cherokee-style magic at work, centered on Spiro Mounds, a complex of earthworks that was built centuries ago in eastern Oklahoma. But there are also lots of references to the U.S. military’s renewed interest in UFOs/UAPs. That part of the story draws upon a different phase in Wilson’s life.
“I had been writing threat assessments for the Air Force, which is where they find science-fiction authors, and they pair you with an analyst,” he says. “They brief you on some kind of potentially dangerous tech or interesting technology. And then you write a story, something fun that’s fictional, that demonstrates these sorts of threat capabilities. Higher-up people read these fictional accounts in order to get a better idea of what the threat could be.”
Wilson was amazed to learn that military officials have serious concerns about unidentified aerial phenomena.
“Nobody’s saying they’re aliens, but we don’t know what they are, and we’re intensely interested in learning more because it is a major defense issue for our country,” he says. “Walking away from that, I was thinking, ‘My God … This sounds crazy, but we could be in a situation in our lifetimes where first contact will be a real thing.'”
What would we do if the aliens arrived? Wilson imagines the actions that might be taken by intelligence experts, military leaders, scientists and regular folks — including a Cherokee oilfield worker and his daughter — and weaves them into a deliciously tangled tale.
“Hole in the Sky” is the latest science-fiction novel by Daniel H. Wilson. (Cover Design by Oliver Munday;
Photo © Brenton Salo / Published by Doubleday Penguin Random House)
A couple of the plot twists in “Hole in the Sky” capitalize on far-out aspects of space science, such as the real-world odysseys of NASA’s Voyager spacecraft beyond our solar system’s heliopause — that is, beyond the boundary where the outward-flowing solar wind is stopped by the faint pressure of the surrounding interstellar medium.
“If you think of our sun as a fire in the infinite night, this is where the light of the fire dies out, and you get out there into the real nitty-gritty between stars,” Wilson says. “And I thought, what better place to wake up something in the night than whenever you set foot outside the light of our own fire.”
Wilson drew upon recent observations of interstellar objects to describe how the aliens make their arrival. “We’ve gained this capability to observe interstellar objects, and they just keep getting more interesting, and frankly, more scary and creepy,” he says.
Turning real-life science into science fiction is nothing new for Wilson. Before he became a novelist, he was a robotics researcher with a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University. That expertise came in handy when he sat down to write books like “How to Survive a Robot Uprising,” “How to Build a Robot Army,” “Robopocalypse” and “Robogenesis.”
“This is what I do with my writing,” he says. “I mean, I was a scientist.”
A film adaptation of “Robopocalypse” has been in the works for 15 years. “I still hold out hope that we’ll see a ‘Robopocalypse’ movie someday, but I’m not holding my breath,” Wilson says. In contrast, there’s a chance that “Hole in the Sky” will be coming to a screen near you. Wilson says he’s adapting the story for Netflix.
“We have Sterlin Harjo attached to direct,” he says. “If you haven’t seen ‘The Lowdown,’ which is a TV show he just made with Ethan Hawke, you gotta watch it, it’s incredible. He of course did ‘Reservation Dogs’ before that. Sterlin is an incredible Native director and writer, and working with him on that has been really fun.”
Wilson is in the midst of a nationwide book tour that includes stops in Seattle and in several Oregon cities. I’ll be the moderator for the Oct. 16 event at the Seattle Public Library, featuring a conversation between Wilson and Seattle science-fiction author Nisi Shawl. The event is being presented by the library in partnership with Clarion West and Third Place Books. It’s free to attend in person, or to watch via streaming video, but registration is required.
My co-host for the Fiction Science podcast is Dominica Phetteplace, an award-winning writer who is a graduate of the Clarion West Writers Workshop and lives in San Francisco. To learn more about Phetteplace, visit DominicaPhetteplace.com.
Fiction Science is included in FeedSpot’s 100 Best Sci-Fi Podcasts. Stay tuned for future episodes of the Fiction Science podcast via Apple, Spotify, Player.fm, Pocket Casts and Podchaser. If you like Fiction Science, please rate the podcast and subscribe to get alerts for future episodes.
The US government urges greater focus on developing hypersonic weapons
A group of former US Defense Department experts has called on the current Pentagon leadership to pay more attention to the development of hypersonic weapons. They say that the United States is already significantly behind Russia and China in this area due to road development.
Hypersonic aircraft.
Source: spacenews.com
Hypersonic weapons include aircraft capable of traveling at speeds of several thousand kilometers per hour, i.e., 6, 8, or even 10 times faster than the speed of sound. Only recently, experts who previously worked for the US Department of Defense stated that the country was moving too slowly in developing such systems and risked falling behind its competitors.
These specialists are now part of the so-called Task Force, i.e., they are consultants who conduct independent external assessments of the situation in the military department. Their latest report suggests that the US has significant problems in the field of hypersonic weapons, even though officials may not think so.
In the modern world, hypersonic aircraft are predominantly unmanned, because suborbital bombers have never been put into practical use. That is, these are missiles, but their development faces a number of problems.
Hypersonic missiles and drones are being fully developed by the United States’ main competitor, China, and have already reached the practical testing stage. Russia is also attempting to use them in its war against Ukraine. All of this could pose a direct threat to the United States.
Experts note that, in general, military engineers in the United States are not sitting idly by. There are projects for hypersonic weapons, but they are progressing extremely slowly. And the main reason for this is the price. The cost of one such unit is estimated at several tens of millions of dollars. This means that even a rich country like the US can only order them in small batches.
At the same time, China and Russia are trying in every way to reduce the cost of their hypersonic missiles, while large American companies, which are the main partners of the Department of Defense, are not interested in this at all. No one is interested in bringing discipline to the organizational chaos that exists in this area.
The structure of enterprises and subcontractors in the missile industry is far from optimal for the mass production of hypersonic missiles. Experts suggest drawing on the experience of the space program, which partially overcame this problem by involving private companies. In addition, they believe that attention should be paid to missile defense.
Hidden, supercharged 'thermostat' may cause Earth to overcorrect for climate change
Earth may respond to the huge quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) that humans are pumping into the atmosphere by "overcorrecting" the imbalance, which could result in the next ice age arriving on time instead of being delayed by tens of thousands of years, as had previously been predicted.
This is due to a newfound "thermostat" that buries mountains of carbon beneath the seafloor so efficiently, it could do away with human carbon emissions within 100,000 years, researchers have discovered.
That's several times quicker than scientists assumed would happen with a previously described "lazy thermostat" that locks away carbon on timescales of 500,000 to 1 million years, the team reported in a study published Sept. 25 in the journal Science.
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With both thermostats working in tandem, it's possible that the next ice age could start on time, instead of being delayed by the effects of climate change, study co-author Andy Ridgwell, a professor of geology at the University of California, Riverside, told Live Science.
The newfound thermostat does not protect humans living now from the effects of global warming, said study co-author Dominik Hülse, a mathematician and biogeochemical modeler at the University of Bremen in Germany. "It's not to say that we will be safe from global warming in the next 100 or even 1,000 years," he told Live Science.
Scientists have long suspected that Earth regulates its climate on geological timescales. Since the 1980s, researchers have theorized about a mechanism called the silicate weathering feedback, which occurs when rain captures CO2 from the air and sprays it onto silicate rocks — rocks with minerals made of oxygen and silicon that constitute about 90% of the planet's crust. CO2 reacts with these rocks, dissolving them and forming molecules that leach into the ground and eventually end up in the ocean. Once there, what was once CO2 forms limestone and chalk, meaning it is locked away for millions of years.
The silicate weathering feedback is like a thermostat because the more CO2 that is in the atmosphere, the warmer Earth gets and the more the water cycle intensifies. As precipitation increases, silicate weathering accelerates, meaning more CO2 is transferred to the ocean and atmospheric CO2 sinks to background levels again.
The feedback also works the other way around. "If you get too cold and CO2 is too low, then the thermostat is consuming too little CO2 compared with a background of constant release of CO2 from the mantle, from volcanoes and other magma features," Ridgwell said. In this scenario, less CO2 ends up in the ocean and atmospheric levels slowly increase back to average levels, he said.
But the silicate weathering feedback moves slowly; it can take up to 1 million years after a perturbation to rebalance CO2 levels. As a result, there are climate events it can't explain, including Earth's glacial and interglacial cycles, which are characterized by huge fluctuations in CO2 levels and temperature that occur roughly every 100,000 years, Ridgwell said.
Silicate weathering also can't explain snowball Earth events, which completely cover the planet in ice, Hülse said. If silicate weathering were the only thermostat regulating Earth's climate, its smooth balancing act would prevent it from tipping into such extreme conditions, Hülse explained.
The new research was inspired by Hülse's doctoral dissertation, in which he calculated how much organic carbon was preserved in ocean sediments during past climatic events. His results showed that after periods of intense volcanic activity and warming, mountains of organic carbon were deposited onto the seafloor. This finding suggested there might be a link between atmospheric CO2 levels and organic carbon burial in the ocean.
"There are definitely times in Earth's history when a lot of organic carbon has been deposited," Ridgwell said. "We've sort of known that there must be other things going on [besides silicate weathering], but it's much more complex to put in a model."
But Hülse and Ridgwell tackled this challenge in the new study by amalgamating their individual projects into a single global climate carbon cycle model that accounted for organic carbon burial in the seafloor. Their results revealed a second "thermostat" rooted in Earth's phosphorus cycle, which starts on land with rocks containing minerals such as apatite, the researchers said.
Weathering of these rocks due to precipitation releases phosphorus, which leaches into the ground, enters streams and rivers, and eventually ends up in the ocean. There, phosphorus is a key nutrient for tiny photosynthetic creatures known as phytoplankton, which use it to fuel cellular processes. When phytoplankton die, they sink to the ocean bottom, where they deposit organic carbon, phosphorus and other nutrients.
In a warmer world, more phosphorus is washed into the ocean and phytoplankton proliferate, meaning more organic carbon and phosphorus reach the seafloor. However, warmer oceans also hold less oxygen because oxygen becomes less soluble as temperatures increase. This deoxygenation releases deposited phosphorus back into the water column while burying organic carbon in sediments.
"Exactly how that happens is not mechanistically entirely known, but we know it happens," Ridgwell said. "Where we've had these events in the past where we see massive amounts of organic carbon being buried after a warming event, there's very, very, very little phosphorus in that material compared with normal material. If it's not being buried, it must have been returned to the ocean."
As phosphorus gets recycled, it reenters the food chain and phytoplankton continue to proliferate as they feast on phosphorus from both the land and the ocean. This leads to a phytoplankton boom, which sucks more and more CO2 out of the atmosphere and deposits more and more organic carbon onto the seafloor, which brings down global temperatures.
So, the warmer the world gets, the more productive the oceans become and the more carbon is locked away, which cools the climate. But the difference between phosphorus and silicate weathering is that phosphorus in the ocean doesn't decline as soon as Earth cools, because it continues to be released at the seafloor.
"The organic carbon thermostat is a little bit like the silicate thermostat, except it has this supercharger," Ridgwell said. "You end up with so many nutrients in the ocean — and they're being recycled very efficiently — that it's very difficult to get rid of them again."
The phosphorus cycle eventually regains its balance, but the planet can "overcorrect" in the meantime, triggering events like snowball Earth, the researchers said. It's unclear how this second thermostat will respond to climate change now, but the ocean is so rich in oxygen compared with in the past that a snowball Earth is unlikely, they said.
Instead, it's possible that the organic carbon thermostat will make up for the delay expected for the next ice age. Climate change is disturbing Earth's natural cycles, and previous research suggests it could push back the next glacial period, which is due in about 11,000 years, by tens of thousands of years. But if the organic carbon thermostat activates, atmospheric CO2 could return to background levels much faster, ensuring that the next ice age arrives on time.
"Whatever delay we'll end up with for the next ice age ... thinking about this mechanism might bring it back forward again," Ridgwell said. "One is going to start at some point for sure; it's all about when it starts."
Is Earth on track for a mass extinction? More than 48,000 animals are now at risk of being wiped out, report warns
From the dodo to the Tasmanian tiger, many majestic creatures have become extinct over the years.
Now, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has warned that 48,646 animals that could be next.
The IUCN has updated its 'Red List', revealing that three species of Arctic seal have moved closer to extinction.
The update also warns that the majority (61 per cent) of bird species globally are in decline – a huge increase on the 44 per cent at risk in 2016.
However, it's not all doom and gloom.
The green sea turtle has increased in population by approximately 28 per cent, thanks to decades of conservation action.
'Today's Red List update, launched at the IUCN Congress in Abu Dhabi, shines a light on both the urgent challenges and the powerful possibilities before us,' said Dr Grethel Aguilar, IUCN Director General.
'While species like Arctic seals and many birds face growing threats, the recovery of the green turtle reminds us that conservation works when we act with determination and unity.'
The IUCN has updated its 'Red List', revealing that three species of Arctic seal have moved closer to extinction.
Pictured: a bearded seal pup
The update also warns that the majority (61 per cent) of bird species globally are in decline – a huge increase on the 44 per cent at risk in 2016.
Pictured Schlegel's asity
Species on the IUCN Red List are animals of the highest conservation priority that need 'urgent action' to save.
This year's list includes 172,620 animals – 48,646 of which are threatened with extinction.
Three species of Arctic seal have moved closer to extinction, with the hooded seal now listed as Endangered, and the bearded seal and harp seal now listed as Near Threatened.
These animals are under a variety of pressures, including shipping, noise, oil and mineral exploitation, hunting, and bycatch in fisheries.
However, the biggest threat to these seals is climate change, according to Dr Kit Kovacs, Co–Chair of IUCN's Species Survival Commission Pinniped Specialist Group.
'Each year in Svalbard, the retreating sea ice reveals how threatened Arctic seals have become, making it harder for them to breed, rest and feed,' she explained.
'Their plight is a stark reminder that climate change is not a distant problem – it has been unfolding for decades and is having impacts here and now.
'Protecting Arctic seals goes beyond these species; it is about safeguarding the Arctic's delicate balance, which is essential for us all.'
However, it's not all doom and gloom. The green sea turtle has increased in population by approximately 28 per cent, thanks to decades of conservation action
The Red List update also revealed that 61 per cent of all birds have declining populations – with species living in Madagascar, West Africa, and Central America most at risk.
This is mostly due to habitat loss, driven by agricultural expansion and logging, according to the IUCN.
'That three in five of the world's bird species have declining populations shows how deep the biodiversity crisis has become and how urgent it is that governments take the actions they have committed to under multiple conventions and agreements,' said Dr Ian Burfield, BirdLife's Global Science Coordinator (Species) and Bird Red List Authority Coordinator.
The green sea turtle, on the other hand, has actually improved in status, from Endangered to Least Concern.
Since the 1970s, populations have increased by around 28 per cent, thanks to conservation efforts focusing on protecting nesting females and their eggs on beaches.
'The ongoing global recovery of the green turtle is a powerful example of what coordinated global conservation over decades can achieve to stabilise and even restore populations of long–lived marine species,' said Roderic Mast, Co–Chair of IUCN's Species Survival Commission Marine Turtle Specialist Group.
Sadly, the Red List update also sees six species moved to the Extinct category.
This includes the Christmas Island shrew, the slender–billed curlew, and the south–eastern striped bandicoot.
The update comes just one month ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference, which will be held in Belém, Brazil, from 10–21 November.
'As we look ahead to the Climate COP in Belém, governments and communities have a pivotal opportunity to accelerate action that protects biodiversity, stabilises our climate, and builds a future where people and nature flourish together,' Dr Aguilar added.
You can explore the full IUCN Red List here.
