Dit is ons nieuw hondje Kira, een kruising van een waterhond en een Podenko. Ze is sinds 7 februari 2024 bij ons en druk bezig ons hart te veroveren. Het is een lief, aanhankelijk hondje, dat zich op een week snel aan ons heeft aangepast. Ze is heel vinnig en nieuwsgierig, een heel ander hondje dan Noleke.
This is our new dog Kira, a cross between a water dog and a Podenko. She has been with us since February 7, 2024 and is busy winning our hearts. She is a sweet, affectionate dog who quickly adapted to us within a week. She is very quick and curious, a very different dog than Noleke.
DEAR VISITOR,
MY BLOG EXISTS ALREADY 12 YEARS AND 11 MONTHS.
ON 06/05/2024 MORE THAN 1.972.210
VISITORS FROM 134 DIFFERENT NATIONS ALREADY FOUND THEIR WAY TO MY BLOG.
THAT IS AN AVERAGE OF 400GUESTS PER DAY.
THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG AND HOPE YOU ENJOY EACH TIME.
The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
Zoeken in blog
Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld In België had je vooral BUFON of het Belgisch UFO-Netwerk, dat zich met UFO's bezighoudt. BEZOEK DUS ZEKER VOOR ALLE OBJECTIEVE INFORMATIE , enkel nog beschikbaar via Facebook en deze blog.
Verder heb je ook het Belgisch-Ufo-meldpunt en Caelestia, die prachtig, doch ZEER kritisch werk leveren, ja soms zelfs héél sceptisch...
Voor Nederland kan je de mooie site www.ufowijzer.nl bezoeken van Paul Harmans. Een mooie site met veel informatie en artikels.
MUFON of het Mutual UFO Network Inc is een Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in alle USA-staten en diverse landen.
MUFON's mission is the analytical and scientific investigation of the UFO- Phenomenon for the benefit of humanity...
Je kan ook hun site bekijken onder www.mufon.com.
Ze geven een maandelijks tijdschrift uit, namelijk The MUFON UFO-Journal.
Since 02/01/2020 is Pieter ex-president (=voorzitter) of BUFON, but also ex-National Director MUFON / Flanders and the Netherlands. We work together with the French MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP.
ER IS EEN NIEUWE GROEPERING DIE ZICH BUFON NOEMT, MAAR DIE HEBBEN NIETS MET ONZE GROEP TE MAKEN. DEZE COLLEGA'S GEBRUIKEN DE NAAM BUFON VOOR HUN SITE... Ik wens hen veel succes met de verdere uitbouw van hun groep. Zij kunnen de naam BUFON wel geregistreerd hebben, maar het rijke verleden van BUFON kunnen ze niet wegnemen...
23-11-2021
LATEST UFO VIDEOS - Belgisch UFO-meldpunt
LATEST UFO VIDEOS - Belgisch UFO-meldpunt
UFO Geel (Belgium) 18-11-2021
Beelden van UFO-waarneming gemaakt te Geel (België) op 18 november 2021.
UFO Zemst (Belgium) 02-11-2021
Beelden van UFO-waarneming gemaakt te Zemst (België) op 2 november 2021.
UFO Menen (Belgium) 16-10-2021
Beelden van UFO-waarneming gemaakt te Menen (België) op 16 oktober 2021.
UFO Rotselaar (Belgium) 14-10-2021
Beelden van UFO-waarneming gemaakt te Rotselaar (België) op 14 oktober 2021.
UFO Edegem (Belgium) 11-10-2021
Beelden van UFO-waarneming gemaakt te Edegem (België) op 11 oktober 2021.
UFO Aarschot (Belgium) 27-09-2021
Beelden van UFO-waarneming gemaakt te Aarschot (België) op 27 september 2021.
UFO Gent (Belgium) 21-09-2021
Beelden van UFO-waarneming gemaakt te Gent (België) op 21 september 2021.
UFO Kleine-Brogel (Belgium) 10-09-2021
Beelden van UFO-waarneming gemaakt te Kleine-Brogel (België) op 10 september 2021.
UFO Makes 90 Degree Turn Near Sun, Nov 10, 2021, UFO Sighting News.
UFO Makes 90 Degree Turn Near Sun, Nov 10, 2021, UFO Sighting News.
Date of sighting:Nov 10, 2021 Location of sighting: Earths Sun Source: Helioviewer.org
This may appear as nothing to most people, but to me, it's 100% proof that UFOs exist near our sun. You see, nothing made in nature could make a hard right turn in space, and yet, we see that here. Clearly there is only a single explanation for it...that it's an intelligently controlled spacecraft. Thats why I recorded it and posted it here. Its undeniable proof that intelligent space faring aliens exist in our solar system. And that is important to know.
Silent black mass 'boomerang shaped, slowly traveled southeast above Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Vector shaped object photographed over Santa Cruz, California and strange rotating lights in the sky caught on security camera in South Chesterfield, Virginia.
Ancient Aliens: UFO Captured on Camera in Puerto Rico (Season 16) | History
Ancient Aliens: UFO Captured on Camera in Puerto Rico (Season 16) | History
UFO experts confirm the origins of strange objects captured on camera by NASA during a 1996 mission in Puerto Rico, in this clip from Season 16, "The Space Travelers."
Watch all new episodes of Ancient Aliens, Fridays at 9/8c, and stay up to date on all of your favorite The HISTORY Channel shows at
In the twenty-first century, the world has been swamped with various accounts of extraterrestrial interaction with people on the planet Earth, and it has been suggested that there is perhaps too much information available for people to take the phenomenon seriously, particularly as so much of it is false.
According to several experts and conspirators, there are approximately 82 documented extra-terrestrial races that have developed direct or indirect communication with us. Proof such as declassified papers, photographs, and videos can be seen all over the world. Normally, while looking for any sort of evidence linked to extraterrestrial existence, we do this through three key channels. The first involves abductees and contactees, as well as observers to the UFO phenomena. The second arises from informants who might involve retired government employees or military officers.
Workers digging on the property of an old spinning factory in Turkey in an area that had not been used in over 30 years found a mysterious intact skeleton of a strange looking creature with long hind legs, short front ones, pointy nails instead of feet and extremely sharp teeth. Better yet (for investigators, at least), the skeleton had some flesh still intact. Dinosaur? Mutant? Or should we start the countdown … 3-2-1 … is this the first known skeleton of a Chupacabra (ignoring the fact that it was found in Turkey, not Texas or Puerto Rico)?
“We especially noticed that its hind legs are long. We informed the authorities that it might be an interesting species, since its feet are not hooves but nails and have sharp teeth. Controls will be carried out, we are also curious. I hope something interesting will come out and be useful to science.”
Sharp teeth did you say?
Yusuf Kıtay, the operating officer of the excavation, said the workers found the animal skeleton while they were working in an area that has not been used for the last 30-40 years outside a factory in Iğdır, a far eastern near the border with Armenia. The long-tailed skeleton was of a creature that would have stood about one meter (3.3 feet) tall and appears to have died recently. While the long hind legs might suggest it was a kangaroo, the head is the wrong shape entirely for it to be an Australian marsupial. Kitay did the right thing – he had the workers carefully remove the skeleton intact from the site and, after photographing it (a series of photos can be seen here), delivered the remains to the Iğdır University’s Biodiversity Application and Research Center.
It’s not THAT big
“Then we will ensure that this skeleton is preserved in a museum.”
So this is not just a deformed stray animal but something that is museum quality? That sounds strange. Which museum? Archeology World reports that Belkıs Muca Yiğit, a lecturer at Iğdır University, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that researchers there would attempt to identify the species of the animal and then donate it to a museum. That’s curious … it it’s an out-of-place animal like an escaped pet, why donate it to a museum? If it’s indeed the most well-preserved dinosaur skeleton complete with DNA-filled flesh, why not study it more? If it’s cryptid (note: there were no telltale dead livestock reported), why not announce the unique discovery in a three-part miniseries on some cable channel? And why have there been no further updates besides the initial report over a week ago? Is this the victim of some sort of radiation leak or worse – a strange experiment?
This could just be a misshapen common animal or an escaped pet. The secrecy makes it questionable. Let’s hope we get an update soon.
Something Weird Is Happening on the Moon's Far Side
Something Weird Is Happening on the Moon's Far Side
When we look at the Moon, we only see its one side. The other lunar hemisphere, known as the far side, or the dark side of the Moon, is always hidden from us. In 1969, the Apollo 10 astronauts heard something unusual on the far side of the Moon. Apollo 10 lost contact with the mission control and started receiving a mysterious radio signal.
This signal could not be from the Earth because Apollo was on the far side of the Moon, and no one on the planet could see or contact them. The astronauts heard the spooky sounds for about an hour until they emerged to the side of the Moon facing the Earth.
However, the astronauts did not report this to the mission control because they were scared and thought they would be grounded on mental health issues. For more than four decades, people believed that the mission went according to the plan. There was nothing weird about it. Then, finally, the incident came to light when the recorded transcripts were declassified. Now the question that everyone wanted an answer to was, What was there on the Moon’s far side?
Was someone really trying to contact the astronauts? What was the source of the unusual sounds? Before answering all these intriguing questions, let’s see what’s there on the far side of the Moon.
This is an absolutely mind-blowing photo of a UFO that had made a cloud cloak around it. The eyewitness states, "I was just a cloud, but it looked like a UFO." Well she might be in for a surprise because she recorded an alien disk hiding inside of cloud shield. You see, the metallic disk inside has an energy shield around it protecting it, but this shield can also hold smoke within it. Thus...alien ships that have to fly too low and are too big will put in the effort to hide from human eyes by hiding within a DIY cloud. Except humanity is getting wise to alien tactics and our cameras are snapping daily worldwide. This is an alien craft over the beach in UK. Its 100% proof that the UK is visited frequently by UFOs and that they often are headed to underwater bases on the ocean floor off the UK coast. Cant miss a 700 meter UFO passing overhead can you? Well, aliens think you will.
Recent UFO videos released by the US government tracking on infrared video a UFO...showed a UFO that tried to make a smoke trail in order to distract the military plane tracking it. Also in Sept 1957 a US Army private was on guard duty and took photos of a ring UFO...clearly showing the craft before during and after it made the clouds around it to hide within. Proof...we already have the proof.
Scott C. Waring - Taiwan
Eyewitness states:
It was at Seaham beach yesterday afternoon in northeast UK. It was just a cloud but I thought it looked like a UFO.
Lights Over Chesterfield, Virginia Nov 18, 2021, UFO Sighting News.
Lights Over Chesterfield, Virginia Nov 18, 2021, UFO Sighting News.
Date of sighting: November 18, 2021 Location of sighting: Chesterfield, Virginia, USA Source: MUFON
These bright lights were seen in Virginia a few days ago. They appear similar to searchlights but should not be mistaken for them. Such lights have been seen over the ocean by sailers, where there was nothing but water. These lights flew intentionally and were recorded at 11 pm when most people would be home sleeping. I have confidence that these were actual alien craft.
Scott C. Waring - Taiwan
Eyewitness states:
Similar lights were reported 30 miles away. Caught on security camera. First video shows one set of lights coming in from the right joining the set over the houses. The set appears to grow after that.
White Orb Over Paris, France On Nov 8, 2021, UFO Sighting News.
White Orb Over Paris, France On Nov 8, 2021, UFO Sighting News.
Date of sighting: November 8, 2021
Location of sighting: Paris, France
Source: MUFON
This week a white orb was recorded flying over Paris this week. The orb seemed to glow even during the day and move as if it were intelligently controlled. These orbs appear white when far away, taking on the color of clouds, and are easily seen when traveling between clouds with a blue sky behind them. Most often they hide within the edges of clouds, recording and observing.
Scott C. Waring - Taiwan
Eyewitness states:
Big lighting ball flying down the clouds. was just looking outside from my apartment, then i saw something like a flying.
Astronauts Confess about Mysterious Things They’ve Seen and Experienced in Space!
Astronauts Confess about Mysterious Things They’ve Seen and Experienced in Space!
Anyone who has ever had the indescribable good fortune to fly into space has always described the experience as incomparably memorable.
The majestic view of our home planet as it spins in space, so quiet and peaceful from a distance, is likely to have left a lasting impression on all astronauts.
However, not all reports of the space travelers' experiences paint such a peaceful picture. In fact, some astronauts have already reported inexplicable, sometimes eerie experiences that have happened to them in space.
Now you too can hear about the mysterious reports that have made our jaws drop!
Massive UFO: daytime sighting over Rome, Italy 16-Nov-2021
Massive UFO: daytime sighting over Rome, Italy 16-Nov-2021
Here’s one really interesting daytime footage of a huge UFO hiding in a clouds over Rome in Italy. It was taken on Snapchat as soon as the witness spotted it.
Scientists warn that without good biosecurity measures, 'alien organisms' on Earth may become a reality stranger than fiction.
Published in international journal BioScience, a team of scientists, including Dr. Phill Cassey, Head of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Adelaide, are calling for greater recognition of the biosecurity risks ahead of the space industry.
"In addition to government-led space missions, the arrival of private companies such as SpaceX has meant there are now more players in space exploration than ever before," said Associate Professor Cassey. "We need to take action now to mitigate those risks."
Space biosecurity concerns itself with both the transfer of organisms from Earth to space (forward contamination) and vice-versa (backward contamination). While the research points out that at present the risk of alien organisms surviving the journey is low, it's not impossible.
Dr. Cassey said: "Risks that have low probability of occurrence, but have the potential for extreme consequences, are at the heart of biosecurity management. Because when things go wrong, they go really wrong."
The research provides clear evidence of how humans have spread organisms to the remotest regions of the earth and sea, and even into space.
To address the risks of invasive species from space travel, the authors suggest the emerging field of 'invasion science', which deals with the causes and consequences of introducing organisms into new environments, could offer valuable learnings. This includes the fact that insular systems such as islands, lakes, and remote habitats, are most vulnerable to invasion threats.
Further insights that could be applied include protocols for early detection, hazard assessment, rapid response and containment procedures currently used in response to invasive species threats.
Dr. Cassey said: "It is far cheaper to prevent biological contamination by implementing protocols on Earth than it is on Mars, for example."
Both Dr. Cassey and co-author Dr. Andrew Woolnough from the University of Melbourne and the University of Adelaide suggest that with some of the best biosecurity in the world Australia is well-positioned to contribute expertise in this area.
"We have a fantastic opportunity to contribute to international policy and to develop biosecurity mitigation measures that can be used by the expanding private space industry. This is an untapped economic development opportunity," Dr. Woolnough said.
Despite the value to space biosecurity, the authors state that invasion biologists have yet to be involved in Committee on Space Research Planetary Protection planning. In the research they argue this should change because "greater collaboration between invasion biologists and astrobiologists would enhance existing international protocols for planetary biosecurity—both for Earth and for extraterrestrial bodies that could contain life".
One of the brutal truths about getting things off the Earth and into space is contained in something called The Tsiolkovsky rocket equation, which, to put it absurdly simply, means that most of the volume of a rocket leaving Earth will be needed for fuel. That’s why the rockets you see are huge towers of fuel and oxidizer with just a little area up top for the payload. A startup company calledSpinLaunchis hoping to work around this grim equation by spinning rockets really, really fast in a circle. That name may have given it away?
The process is known as “kinetic launching” and utilizes a huge electric motor-powered centrifuge called the Suborbital Accelerator, which looks kind of like a turbocharger the size of the Statue of Liberty.
The Suborbital Accelerator is a huge vacuum chamber (i.e. there’s no air to create aerodynamic drag) with a carbon fiber rotating-arm style centrifuge inside it. The arm spins the payload (which can include a second-stage rocket to potentially reach orbit) and then a high-precision mechanical release flings it out of that tube, where it then shoots out into space.
Image: SpinLaunch
The current Suborbital Accelerator is about one-third the scale of the planned final one, and for this test the accelerator was only spun up to about 20 percent of its capacity, which was all that was needed to send the 10 foot test payload up those tens of thousands of feet.
Plans for a much larger Orbital Accelerator show a bigger angled vacuum chamber and release tube:
Image: SpinLaunch
Essentially, the big spinner is taking the place of a conventional rocket’s massive and fuel-thirsty first stage, allowing for much smaller rockets with much better fuel-to-payload ratios to be developed.
Here’s a video SpinLaunch released of their test:
I’m guessing that membrane the rocket bursts through is there to maintain the vacuum chamber integrity, and is not just for dramatic effect?
Image: SpinLaunch
The proposed launch vehicle does have a pleasingly old-school aesthetic about it, looking like a carbon-fiber Buck Rogers kind of deal:
Image: SpinLaunch
The company claims that adapting satellites and other space hardware for the high-G spinning process is no big deal:
This engineering process has been used to develop high-g reaction wheels for 20kg and 200kg-class satellites, deployable solar arrays and electric propulsion modules. Even unmodified smartphones, action cameras, and telescope lenses have survived without damage. In comparison to mechanical systems, electronics are surprisingly simple to ruggedize for kinetic launch. Because of the relatively low mass of resistors, capacitors, and electronic chips, many existing designs can be flown without any substantial modifications.
I suspect that this method wouldn’t be suitable for crewed launches, though.
The company has already raised about $35 million, and they have a Department of Defense launch contract, so maybe we’ll be seeing more things yeeted into earth orbit in this massive mechanical discus style.
An emissions-free space launch system will be popular as the world strives to become more environmentally friendly. SpinLaunch claims that in the future, it will be able to launch complete constellations of satellites into the atmosphere’s most mission-critical layers.
The corporation also notes that in the future, when vast numbers of people are flying into space, structures, equipment, and supplies will need to be launched.
That comment appears to imply that SpinLaunch envisions a future in which it will be able to launch items heavier than 440 pounds satellites. The launch system’s development began in 2015. SpinLaunch’s accelerator achieved a record for the fastest spinning tip speeds two years after the project began. However, the launch last month was the most significant milestone in the project’s history.
It is uncertain how big the orbital-class accelerator should be. The suborbital accelerator is 50.4 metres tall, and the orbital-class accelerator would definitely be far larger. To put things into perspective, the Statue of Liberty is 46 metres tall. SpinLaunch claims that their suborbital technology will be valuable in the long run as a satellite qualifying facility.
The newly-discovered octopus species inhabits the shallow waters off southwest Australia and belongs to the Octopus vulgaris group, according to a new paper published in the journal Zootaxa.
The star octopus (Octopus djinda).
Image credit: Mark Norman / Amor & Hart, doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5061.1.7.
“Benthic shallow-water species are among the most studied and best understood octopods, and are, therefore, of high interest to researchers and fishers,” said Dr. Michael Amor from the Western Australian Museum and Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria and Dr. Anthony Hart from the Western Australian Fisheries and Marine Research Laboratory.
“This attention can lead to an improved understanding of species boundaries and distributions, including the potential identification of cryptic taxa.”
“Cryptic speciation is common among octopods and examples are prevalent throughout the order Octopoda.”
“Octopuses have few hard body parts or diagnostic taxonomic traits. Further, morphological plasticity that is linked to local environmental conditions and the limited utility of traditional molecular markers have compounded our likely underestimation of species richness among octopods.”
“Within Octopoda, perhaps the most iconic example of this phenomenon is observed among members of the Octopus vulgaris group,” they added.
“This species-group represents one of the greatest octopus fisheries targets, and are of broad scientific interest (e.g., cell biology, environmental science, fisheries research, neuroscience, physiology, robotics).”
The newly-discovered species is conspecific with another member of the Octopus vulgaris group — the common Sydney octopus (Octopus tetricus) from Australia’s east coast and New Zealand — but is morphologically and genetically distinct.
Named the star octopus (Octopus djinda), the marine creature is distributed along the southwest coast of Australia, from Shark Bay to Cape Le Grand.
“This distribution closely reflects the territory of the traditional custodians of this land, the Nyoongar people (‘a person of the southwest of Western Australia’),” the researchers said.
“To recognize their connection to this land, a Nyoongar translation of ‘star’ (djinda) was selected as a species name. This use of ‘star’ (luminous) reflects the shared recent ancestry with, and now-understood distinction from, Octopus tetricus.”
The new species is a medium to large octopus, with a mantle length of 10.9-17.7 cm (4.3-7 inches).
“Octopus djinda supports a highly productive fishery and is currently one of two octopod fisheries worldwide to have received sustainable certification from the Marine Stewardship Council,” the scientists said.
“Its taxonomic description provides formal recognition of the taxonomic status of southwest Australia’s common octopus, Octopus djinda, and facilitates appropriate fisheries catch reporting and management.”
_____
Michael D. Amor & Anthony M. Hart. 2021. Octopus djinda (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae): a new member of the Octopus vulgaris group from southwest Australia. Zootaxa 5061 (1): 145-156; doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5061.1.7
UFO Shoots Past Saturn, Aug 21, 2021, -VIDEO - UFO Sighting News.
UFO Shoots Past Saturn, Aug 21, 2021, -VIDEO - UFO Sighting News.
Date of sighting: August 21, 2021
Location of sighting: Saturn
This eyewitness was watching Saturn through his telescope when he caught a strange large object shoot past the northern pole of the planet. The object was huge, about the size of a moon, yet its not in orbit around the planet, but instead skims the polar region and then began to slowly pull up as it passed the pole. The object is thin, about 1/5th the thickness as it is long. What this is...is unknown, but its size, shape and speed all point to this being an alien craft.
Scott C. Waring - Taiwan
Eyewitness states:
This truly is REAL untouched footage of something unidentified captured on camera. most likely something natural within the realm of science. again this is just a video for clickbait meant to reach more people with an interest in authentic astronomical observations.
Scientists Warn of “Alien” Invasions and the Need for Planetary Biosecurity
Scientists Warn of “Alien” Invasions and the Need for Planetary Biosecurity
ByAMERICAN INSTITUTE OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
The danger isn’t from little green men arriving on flying saucers but, rather, from microbiological contamination of Earth from extraterrestrial environments and vice versa.
The era of space exploration brings with it a new risk: invasion. The peril comes not from little green men arriving on flying saucers but, rather, from microbiological contamination of Earth from extraterrestrial environments and vice versa. Writing in BioScience, Anthony Ricciardi, of McGill University, and colleagues describe the dangers posed by such organisms and outline an approach to address the threat.
The authors caution that biological contamination endangers both ecosystems and human well-being. “Owing to their massive costs to resource sectors and human health, biological invasions are a global biosecurity issue requiring rigorous transboundary solutions,” say Ricciardi and colleagues. And that threat may be more immediate than previously anticipated. Despite considerable microbial caution among space agencies, say the authors, “bacterial strains exhibiting extreme resistance to ionizing radiation, desiccation, and disinfectants have been isolated in NASA ‘clean rooms’ used for spacecraft assembly.”
The Earth against a sea of bacteria. Scientists have warned that space agencies must be aware of the potential contamination of our planet with bacteria from space.
However, outlined within the article is a possible approach to addressing this alarming scenario: the emergent field of invasion science, in which practitioners study the causes and consequences of organism introductions beyond their evolved ranges. “Research in invasion science has produced novel insights for epidemiology, rapid evolution, the relationship between biodiversity and community stability, and the dynamics of predator–prey and parasite–host interactions, among many other concepts,” say Ricciardi and colleagues. They go on to explain that “Protocols for early detection, hazard assessment, rapid response, and containment procedures currently employed for invasive species on Earth could be adapted for dealing with potential extraterrestrial contaminants.”
The authors highlight a number of insights from invasion science that could be brought to bear on issues of space biosecurity, such as the fact that insular systems such as islands, lakes, and remote habitats are most vulnerable to invasion threats. Similarly, invasion biology has delivered insights about the difficulty of invasion forecasting and the crucial importance of early detection in managing microbial threats. Ricciardi and colleagues suggest that portable real-time DNA sequencing technologies, coupled with databases of known organismal contaminants, could enable rapid responses.
Despite their value for space biosecurity, the authors state that invasion biologists have yet to be involved in Committee on Space Research planning. This should change soon, they argue, because “greater collaboration between invasion biologists and astrobiologists would enhance existing international protocols for planetary biosecurity—both for Earth and for extraterrestrial bodies that could contain life.”
Reference:
“Planetary Biosecurity: Applying Invasion Science to Prevent Biological Contamination from Space Travel” 17 November 2021, BioScience. DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biab115
We’re Constantly Battling Invasive Species Here on Earth. What Does That Teach us About Infecting Other Worlds With Earth Life?
Featured Image: Beavers are an invasive species in Tierra del Fuego, where they have a substantial impact on the landscape and local ecology through their dams.
Credit: User:IlyaHaykinson (Wikimedia Commons)
We’re Constantly Battling Invasive Species Here on Earth. What Does That Teach us About Infecting Other Worlds With Earth Life?
When Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins returned from the Moon in the summer of 1969, they spent three weeks isolated in quarantine to make sure that they hadn’t brought back any microbial lifeforms from the Moon, which could prove harmful to Earth life. Later, once the Moon had been unequivocally proved to be a dead world, future Apollo missions were allowed to skip quarantine. Elsewhere in the solar system, however, NASA still has to take planetary biosecurity seriously, because life could be out there. If we bring it back to Earth, it could be a danger to us and our ecosystems. Conversely, microbial Earth life could invade a fragile alien ecosystem, destroying a newly discovered lifeform before we have the chance to study it. Imagine discovering life on Mars, only to realize that it was life we had brought there with us.
To prevent these scenarios, planetary protection strategies are employed by NASA and other space agencies worldwide to minimize the risk of interplanetary cross-contamination. Mars rovers, for example, are all meticulously decontaminated before launch, ensuring that no Earth life makes its way to the surface of Mars.
For the moment, these practices are a safeguard against a purely hypothetical risk – no one knows if life exists beyond Earth. But if it does, we need to be ready for the consequences.
Technicians and engineers in clean-room garb monitor the first drive test of NASA’s Curiosity rover, on July 23, 2010. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
How do you prepare for something that might not exist? By examining something that does. Invasive species are a major problem worldwide. Human trade and travel imports species – often by accident – from one corner of the world to another. The effects can be devastating, wiping out local flora and fauna, reducing biodiversity, and forever altering ecosystems. What lessons can we learn from these very real challenges, to help us prepare for the possibility of an interplanetary equivalent?
A paper published in BioScience on November 17th by Anthony Ricciardi, Phillip Cassey, Stefan Leuko, and Andrew Woolnough examines this question and lays out several takeaways from the battle against invasive species here on Earth that apply to space exploration. Three highlights from the paper stand out:
Insular systems are the most vulnerable: Remote islands, small isolated lakes, or remote habitats are always hit hardest by invasive species. New predators can throw off the balance of these isolated ecosystems, destroying them quickly and ruthlessly. On a planetary scale, this means that we are more of a threat to small microbial ecosystems that might exist on Mars, Europa, or Titan, for example, then they are to us. Earth’s interconnected biodiversity is a safeguard that might protect us from an invasive alien species. But it is all the more important that we take care not to destroy any isolated lifeform we might find elsewhere in the Solar System, because it may not take much.
Invasions are often caused by the least secure human activities, so fix the weak links in our practices: Planetary protection practices (like disinfecting the Mars rovers) kill off less dangerous microbes, but the hardiest one can survive. It is these extremophiles who pose the most risk to alien ecosystems. In our attempt to sterilize the rovers, we put microbes through a life-or-death test. Any that survive sterilization face another test on route, being exposed to deep space radiation. Only the strongest microbes will ever make it to Mars. If we’re not careful, our incomplete attempts to clean the rovers might actually enhance an organism’s tolerance and invasion potential. This is bad news, and means we need to get better at detecting microbes to make sure our sterilization efforts are as rigorous as possible and eliminate even these super-resilient microbes.
Early detection and rapid response are crucial: When invasive species reach a new destination, they are easiest to stop if caught early. A delayed response only makes the problem worse. Research into new detection techniques will be vital to preventing cross-contamination of lifeforms, and to reduce the instances of misidentifying invasive species.
It’s clear that we need to take planetary protection seriously, but how worried about this problem should we be, especially as more and more missions travel to potentially habitable places in the Solar System in the coming years? Are interplanetary invasions likely?
Luckily, the answer is ‘not likely’. But that doesn’t mean we can let our guard down, because if it does happen, the outcome could be devastating. As the paper’s authors put it, “at present, these are considered to be highly improbable events…However, we suggest that these biological invasion scenarios are analogous to extreme natural or technological disasters (e.g., major earthquakes, nuclear meltdowns) that, although typically rare, have potential consequences that are unacceptable and therefore merit unique safeguards.”
If battling invasive species on Earth has taught us anything, its that transporting organisms to new ecosystems can have enormous unintended consequences. But by taking precautions and working together, we can minimize the risk, exploring the Solar System while keeping both ourselves, and any potential alien lifeforms, safe from each other.
ASTRONOMER: HUNT FOR ET CAN UNIFY SCIENCE AND RELIGION
ASTRONOMER: HUNT FOR ET CAN UNIFY SCIENCE AND RELIGION
Avi Loeb told The Hill that the Galileo Project, which looks for physical evidence of extraterrestrials, could answer religious questions as well as science ones
Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb, spoke at a recent Ignatius Forum on his differences with “the scientific mainstream” about the evidence for extraterrestrial life. Perhaps in part because the venue was the Washington National Cathedral, Loeb felt motivated to reflect on the religious as well as the science implications of a search for extraterrestrial life.
Avi Loeb
As a member of Harvard University’s Galileo Project which seeks to “bring the search for extraterrestrial technological signatures of Extraterrestrial Technological Civilizations (ETCs) from accidental or anecdotal observations and legends into the mainstream of transparent, validated and systematic scientific research,” he shared his thoughts with The Hill, which covers the U.S. Congress:
In finding advanced extraterrestrial intelligence, religion might simply reflect advanced science with a twist. Traditional religions described God as the creator of the universe and life within it. They also suggested that humans were made in the image of God. But these notions are not necessarily in contradiction with science. A sufficiently advanced scientific civilization might be able to create synthetic life in its laboratories — in fact, some of our terrestrial laboratories almost reached that threshold. And with a good understanding of how to unify quantum-mechanics and gravity, an advanced scientific civilization could potentially create a baby universe in its laboratories. Therefore, an advanced scientific civilization might be a good approximation to God.
Loeb told Cathedral Dean Randy Hollerith that he is not himself a “person of faith.” But one must assume that he means simply that he is not an adherent of a traditional religious belief system. The extraterrestrials he describes are currently as much a belief system as any other; they are not, of course, traditional.
In a proposal that might puncture the dreams of many young space cadets, he recommends sending artificial intelligence (AI) astronauts to explore space because “humans were selected by Darwinian evolution to survive on the surface of Earth and not in space.”
He also hopes that the hunt for ET will unify science and religion:
How can we unify religion and science? By finding AI-astronauts from a scientific civilization that is far more advanced than we are. The Galileo Project aims to search for extraterrestrial equipment near Earth.
The question remains: Did God — in its religious or scientific interpretations — create humans in its image or did humans imagine the concept of God in their mind? The Galileo Project can address the scientific context of this question.
So the Galileo Project, which looks for physical evidence of extraterrestrials, aims to answer religious questions as well as science ones. That’s clearly an alternative to refuting or replacing religious belief.
There seems to be something of a sea change going on in science these days. In neuroscience, we see the growth of panpsychism (everything participates in consciousness). And in cosmology, fewer scientists seem to think we can do without any source of intelligence at all. That would account for the growing popularity of the idea that advanced extraterrestrials created or fine-tuned our universe. As noted here earlier:
Nick Bostrom at Oxford’sFuture of Humanity Instituteis a key proponent of this view, best known to the public from the film The Matrix (1999). The term red pill is from that film.Elon Musk is certainly a supporter but Royal Astronomer Sir Martin Rees is sympathetic, as is Neil deGrasse Tyson At Vulture, a New York culture magazine, we are offered fifteen reasons why it might be true. An article appeared at Scientific American earlier this year, offering supportfor the simulation hypothesis because “here we are generating this product called consciousness that we apparently don’t have a use for, that is an experience and hence must serve as an experience. The only logical next step is to surmise that this product serves someone else.” The article was written by a senior editor at Nature Energy. A number of sources are looking for ways to test the hypothesis. (October 3, 2021)
In this specific area of research, speculation has been fueled by, for example, the recent Pentagon UAP (UFO) report, which acknowledged that conventional explanations could not account for all current observations. Overall, it’s a significant attitude change from the usual promissory skepticism.
At the meeting at which Loeb spoke, we learn that Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and NASA Administrator Bill Nelson were asked by David Ignatius of the Washington Post,
“What is the most exciting project in your organization?.” They both replied: “It is classified.”
Their projects may have nothing to do with extraterrestrials, of course. But the significance is that 1) they were at such a meeting at all and 2) that it was reported in The Hill with no snark and no slams at traditional religious beliefs. That would be much less likely two decades ago. It will be interesting to see where the new approach takes the researchers.
You may also wish to read: Harvard astronomer: Advanced aliens engineered the Big Bang Avi Loeb writes in Scientific American that when we humans are sufficiently advanced, we will create other universes as well. Avi Loeb’s hypothesis is not logically stranger than the many hypotheses that attempt to account for the Big Bang without underlying information/intelligence.
and
The Pentagon’s UAP (UFO) report signals a sharp attitude change. The brass have committed themselves to going “wherever the data takes us.” No, they didn’t report UFOs. But they reported enough mysteries to stop merely debunking and discrediting… and follow the evidence.
(RNS) — The release of “Dune” as a feature film has sparked again the conversation of Islamic motifs in many sci-fi novels and films. But Islam itself has an intriguing history of UFOs and belief in alien life, according to historian Jörg Matthias Determann.
“Many people think that Muslim cultures have been oriented toward the past,” said Determann, “holding on to old customs and traditions, adhering to the sharia, and nostalgic about a medieval Golden Age. In contrast, I would like to show Muslims who have been highly creative, imaginative, open-minded and future-oriented.”
In the Quran’s first verse, God is referred to as “rab al-Alamin” or the “lord of the worlds,” a phrase repeated by hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world in their daily prayers. Yet, there is more meant by the phrase than a reference to the afterlife, according to Determann.
“The Qur’an uses the plural rather than the dual form,” Determann wrote in an email to RNS, “Rabb al-‘Alamin” (Lord of the three or more Worlds) rather than “Rabb al-‘Alamayn” (Lord of the two worlds). This idea of plurality of worlds was picked up by Islamic writers over the centuries, Determann notes in the book, including Persian-speaking Islamic thinkers and writers such as al-Biruni, Nizami Ganjavi and Ibn Sina, or “Avicenna,” as he is referred to in the West.
Importantly, the Quran also refers to jinn as a parallel but sentient form of life. As Determann points out, the existence of jinn in the Quran has served as another potential theoretical framework for extraterrestrial life — and not only by some Muslims. UFO journals published in the West have highlighted certain sections of the Quran as further signs of the existence of extraterrestrial life.
In the United States, UFOs feature in the beliefs of the Nation of Islam, which the book describes as the “longest-lasting Muslim UFO movement.”
Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad taught his followers about a UFO called the Mother Wheel or Mother Plane, based in part on a biblical passage from the book of Ezekiel. His son and successor attempted to disband many aspects of the Nation of Islam and move its followers toward Sunni Islam. However, influential leader Louis Farrakhan rejected these moves and worked to re-establish the Nation of Islam in the late 1970s. As the new leader of the movement, Farrakhan later claimed he was taken aboard a UFO during a 1985 trip to Mexico, where he met Elijah Muhammad, who had been cured of his past ailments by the aliens on board.
Muslim pilgrims touch the Ka’aba stone, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, as they pray ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Friday, Aug. 17, 2018.
(AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Islam may have an even more direct link to the extraterrestrial, according to Determann. Many pilgrims to Mecca make an effort to touch or kiss a black stone encased in silver found in one corner of the Ka’aba. Many Muslim and non-Muslim researchers have long speculated the Black Stone of the Ka’aba may be either a meteorite or an impactite. Turkish UFO researcher Haluk Sarıkaya has gone one step further, suggesting the stone may have been sent to Earth by a spacecraft.
Fictional aliens have also enjoyed popularity in many Muslim cultures, notes Determann in several chapters of the book, including Malaysia, the Middle East, Iran and Turkey. American sci-fi films like “Star Wars” have had a deep cultural impact across the globe. In Malaysia, “Star Wars” was remade in the form of a traditional shadow puppet play. In Egypt, novelist Ahmed Khaled Tawfik used characters armed with lightsabers and even named a character Princess Leia in one of his novels. Tawfik’s universe also includes a spacecraft referred to as the “F-1600,” a reference to the F-16 fighter jets flown by Egyptian and American air forces. Determann points out that the F-16 was named the “Viper” by its early pilots — in reference to a vessel in the sci-fi television series “Battlestar Galactica” (itself partly inspired by Mormon ideas).
“Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’ series of novels and the ‘Star Wars’ films draw heavily on the Middle East in their building of plausible desert worlds like Arrakis or Tatooine and ideas within Islamic cultures,” Determann said. In both cases, Sufi Islamic religious ideas influenced the portrayal of the protagonists, be they Fremen in the case of “Dune” or Jedi knights in the case of “Star Wars.”
In the Middle East, in particular, science fiction became an outlet for political criticism. The thinly veiled troubled tyrants on distant worlds of many Arabic science fiction novels were stand-ins for the military dictators closer to home. Determann’s book includes one intriguing example of Muslim Brotherhood members, who, while in prison, embraced science fiction as a medium for dissent — even recording portions of a play about a journey of discovery to Mars on cigarette cartons.
“Muslims have been highly creative, imaginative, open-minded and future-oriented, as my book shows,” said Determann. “Whether as scientists probing the edges of what we know (by searching for life on other planets), worldbuilders (by creating science fiction books, films and video games), technology enthusiasts, geeks and, yes, nerds.”
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Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 73 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
Veel leesplezier en geef je mening over deze blog.
