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...
23-07-2022
Astronomers Have a New Way to Find Exoplanets in Cataclysmic Binary Systems
Astronomers Have a New Way to Find Exoplanets in Cataclysmic Binary Systems
Have you heard of LU Camelopardalis, QZ Serpentis, V1007 Herculis and BK Lyncis? No, they’re not members of a boy band in ancient Rome. They’re Cataclysmic Variables, binary stars that are so close together one star draws material from its sibling. This causes the pair to vary wildly in brightness.
Can planets exist in this chaotic environment? Can we spot them? A new study answers yes to both.
Cataclysmic Variables (CVs) undergo large increases in brightness. All stars vary in brightness to some degree, even our own sun. But CVs increased brightness is much more pronounced than stars like our Sun, and they happen irregularly.
There are different types of cataclysmic variables: classical novae, dwarf novae, some supernovae, and others. All types share the same basic mechanic. A pair of stars orbit each other closely, and one of the stars is more massive than the other. The more massive one is called the primary star, and it draws gas from the lower mass star, which astronomers call the donor star. The primary star in a CV is a white dwarf, and the donor star is usually a red dwarf. The red dwarf stars are cooler and less massive than the white dwarfs. They have masses between 0.07 and 0.30 solar masses and a radius of about 20% of the Sun’s. White dwarf primary stars have a typical mass of around 0.75 solar masses but much smaller radii, about the same as Earth’s.
When the primary star draws material from the donor star, the material forms an accretion disk around the primary star. The material in the accretion disk heats up, and that causes increased luminosity. The increase can overpower the light from the pair of stars. If there’s a dim third body—a planet—in the system, then its gravity can affect the transfer of material from the donor to the primary star. These perturbations affect the system’s brightness, and that’s at the heart of the new study.
This is an image of the cataclysmic variable AE Aquarii, which isn’t part of this study. The smaller yet more massive white dwarf is drawing material away from its main-sequence companion, usually a red dwarf. Image Credit: By Casey Reed / NASA – Nasa – White Dwarf Pulses Like a Pulsar, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4282713
Material drawn to the primary star gathers in an accretion ring and heats up, creating increased luminosity. But the material transfer to the disk isn’t steady; it rises and falls as the stars in the CV orbit each other. Chavez and his colleagues examined four cataclysmic variables in their study: LU Camelopardalis, QZ Serpentis, V1007 Herculis and BK Lyncis. The four CVs exhibit very long photometric periods (VLPPs), which are periods of enhanced luminosity that don’t conform to the binary’s orbital periods.
There’s a point between both stars and the third body called the L1 point, or Lagrangian One point. It’s a gravitational equilibrium point between the stars. The L1 point is dynamic, and its position changes as the stars move. Lead author Chavez showed in a previous paper that a third body, a planet, can cause oscillations in the L1 point.
As the L1 point changes, the amount of material drawn into the primary star—the mass transfer rate—changes. A change in the mass transfer rate creates a change in the luminosity of the entire three-body system.
By measuring the changes in brightness of the four CVs, the researchers calculated the distances and masses of potential third bodies in the systems based on the brightness changes in each system. Their calculations show that the variations have much longer periods than the orbital periods of the stars. According to the team, two of the four CVs they studied have “bodies resembling planets” orbiting them.
“Our work has proven that a third body can perturb a cataclysmic variable in such a way that can induce changes in brightness in the system,” Dr. Chavez said in a press release. “These perturbations can explain both the very long periods that have been observed – between 42 and 265 days- and the amplitude of those changes in brightness. Of the four systems we studied, our observations suggest that two of the four have objects of planetary mass in orbit around them.”
This isn’t the first time scientists have tackled CVs and tried to find an explanation for the variations in the luminosity. In 2017 a separate team of researchers published a paper presenting the four CVs and their VLPPs. They suggested that planets were the cause. But they said that “… the third-body orbital plane should be greater than 39.2 degrees for this mechanism to be effective in disturbing the inner binary effectively.”
“Here we explore a new possibility, namely that the secular perturbation by a low eccentricity and low inclination third object explains the VLPP and also the change of magnitude observed in these four CVs,” Chavez and his co-authors write in their paper. They say that “… a third body on a close near-circular planar orbit could produce perturbations on the central binary eccentricity.”
According to Chavez, their work amounts to a new way to detect exoplanets. Planet-hunters find most exoplanets using the transit system. As an exoplanet transits in front of its star, there’s a detectable dip in starlight. While effective—we’ve found thousands of planets this way—the transit method has limitations. It only works when things are lined up right. We have to be looking at it from the side, as it were, or else the planet doesn’t transit the star from our point of view, and there’s no dip in starlight.
But the method Chavez and his colleagues developed doesn’t depend on planetary transits. It relies on the intrinsic change in luminosity that’s observable from different angles.
NASA's James Webb Telescope (JWST) has uncovered a 13.5 billion-year-old galaxy that is now the oldest in the universe seen by human eyes.
The galaxy, called GLASS-z13 (GN-z13), formed just 300 million years after the Big Bang that occurred 13.8 billion years ago.
The previous record holder, discovered by the Hubble Telescope in 2015, was GN-z11 that dates back 400 million years after the universe birthed.
JWST captured a look at GN-z13 using its Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) instrument, which is capable of detecting light from the earliest stars and galaxies.
This telescope uses a broad range of infrared light to 'see' back in time, which is done by analyzing the time it takes for light to travel through space.
Scroll down for video
The galaxy, called GLASS-z13 (GN-z13), was formed just 300 million years after the Big Bang that occurred 13.8 billion years ago, making it the oldest in the universe
While investigating the area are GN-z13, JWST also spotted GN-z11.
Scientists from the Harvard and Smithsonian Centre of Astrophysics in Massachusetts note that although they are both old, each of the galaxies are very small, New Scientist reports.
GN-z13 is around 1,600 light years across and GLASS z-11 is 2,300 light years.
This is compared to our own Milky Way that is around 100,000 light years in diameter.
The paper, published in arXiv, notes that both galaxies have a mass of one billion suns, which is because they formed shortly after the Big Bang occurred.
While investigating the area near GN-z13 (top), JWST also spotted GN-z11 (bottom)
The previous record holder, discovered by the Hubble Telescope in 2015, is GN-z11 (pictured) that dates back 400 million years after the universe birthed
The team suggests this occurred as the galaxies were growing and gobbled up stars in the region.
'These two objects already place novel constraints on galaxy evolution in the cosmic dawn epoch,' researchers shared in the paper.
'They indicate that the discovery of GNz11 was not simply a matter of good fortune, but that there is likely a population of UV luminous sources with very high star-formation efficiencies capable of compiling.'
Gabriel Brammer at the Niehls Bohr Institute in Denmark, part of the GLASS team and a co-discoverer of GN-z11, told New Scientist that further analysis will be needed to confirm the distance to the two galaxies.
'They're very convincing candidates,' he said. 'We were pretty confident that JWST would see distant galaxies. But we're a little bit surprised how easy it is to detect them.'
Brammer made headlines this week when he released a never-before-seen image snapped by the JWST.
The paper notes that both galaxies have a mass of one billion suns, noting this is because they formed shortly after the Big Bang occurred. Pictured are the galaxies locations
Gabriel Brammer, part of the GLASS team and a co-discoverer of GN-z11, said further analysis will be needed to confirm the distance to the two galaxies. Brammer made headlines this week when he released a never-before-seen image snapped by the JWST
(pictured)
The astronomer shared a stunning photo of the spiraling arms of the 'phantom galaxy,' formally known as NGC 628 or Messier 74, which sits 32 million light years from Earth.
Webb took the image of NGC 628 on July 17 and sent the data back to Earth where it was stored in the Barbara Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes, (MAST), which is open to the public.
Brammer's image caught the attention of other astronomers and space enthusiasts, who wanted to learn more about how he made the image and what it was that they are looking at.
'For a tiny bit more context, the purple color cast here is actually 'real' in the sense that emission from interstellar cigarette smoke (PAH molecules) makes the filters used for the blue and red channels brighter relative to the green,' Brammer wrote in a tweet.
THE JAMES WEBB TELESCOPE
The James Webb telescope has been described as a 'time machine' that could help unravel the secrets of our universe.
The telescope will be used to look back to the first galaxies born in the early universe more than 13.5 billion years ago, and observe the sources of stars, exoplanets, and even the moons and planets of our solar system.
The vast telescope, which has already cost more than $7 billion (£5 billion), is considered a successor to the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope
The James Webb Telescope and most of its instruments have an operating temperature of roughly 40 Kelvin – about minus 387 Fahrenheit (minus 233 Celsius).
It is the world's biggest and most powerful orbital space telescope, capable of peering back 100-200 million years after the Big Bang.
The orbiting infrared observatory is designed to be about 100 times more powerful than its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope.
NASA likes to think of James Webb as a successor to Hubble rather than a replacement, as the two will work in tandem for a while.
The Hubble telescope was launched on April 24, 1990, via the space shuttle Discovery from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
It circles the Earth at a speed of about 17,000mph (27,300kph) in low Earth orbit at about 340 miles in altitude.
JWST Finds Galaxies Just 300-400 Million Years After the Big Bang, and It’s Just Getting Started
Jinds Galaxies Just 300-400 MilWST Flion Years After the Big Bang, and It’s Just Getting Started
By now, almost everyone has seen the first-release images from JWST and marveled at these amazing views of the infrared universe the telescope was launched to explore. The view of SMACS 0723 seen above illustrates the promise JWST holds. While there are many more early-release images in the observation pipeline, we’re starting to see the first research papers come out. As expected, studies of distant galaxies are grabbing headlines already.
Wow, are these findings amazing! In the last couple of days, websites and social media have been alive with images of a blob that, in reality, is one of the oldest (earliest) galaxies ever seen. It’s one of two—GL-z11 and GL-z13—that show us what they looked like when the Universe was extremely young, about 300 million years after the Big Bang. When confirmed, they’ll mark a milestone in studies of the infant Universe.
A Look back in Time and Across Space
Thanks to JWST and its high-resolution infrared instruments, astronomers can now observe the earliest epochs in cosmic history. Of course, Hubble Space Telescope paved the way for some of this. For example, it provided the first look at galaxy GNz11. Now, JWST is following up with a study of that galaxy and the discovery of another one called GL-z13.
GL-z13 is a galaxy in the early universe that appears as seen by JWST when the universe was only a few hundred million years old. Courtesy: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
These galaxies exist at a time that has been, until now, largely unexplored. So, a consortium of astronomers (led by Rohan P. Naidu of the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian) proposed a JWST search for luminous galaxies in the first several hundred million years after the Big Bang (at a redshift of z > 10). This work was done as part of the JWST Early Release program and the exploration will likely continue for quite some time.
The search revealed that the two galaxies—GL-z11 and GL-z13—are likely billion-solar-mass galaxies. That’s pretty remarkable given their presence in the early Universe, especially since the first stars began forming around one to two hundred million years after the Big Bang. These galaxies are also bright enough that astronomers will be able to do follow-up spectrographic studies to determine more about them. Computer modeling indicates that these galaxies are somewhat small and may well have disks in place, even at their young age.
Based on the early observations with JWST, it seems very likely GL-z11 and GL-z13 have a population of hot, young stars (which would be very bright in ultraviolet light), and that each galaxy could be bursting with star-formation regions. These stars and regions should be very good candidates for follow-up observations using JWST’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph.
Are There More of These Galaxies Out There?
One exciting implication of this discovery is that these two distant galaxies in the early Universe may be just the tip of the iceberg. There could be many more in every direction JWST looks. Remember the excitement when Hubble Space Telescope (HST) performed its first deep-field study? It pointed at what looked like a fairly vacant area of the sky, looking to see what was “out there.” The observations revealed distant galaxies out as far as HST could see. Other deep-field observations in other directions in the sky delivered the same result. It turns out the universe is galaxies all the way out.
So, if these two galaxy discoveries are any indication, JWST is about to explode our view of the infant Universe the same way HST did with its deep field observations. Of course, astronomers will work to confirm these galaxies spectroscopically. And, if what they promise plays out across the sky—with the discovery of at least two (and maybe more) galaxies at redshifts between 11 and 13 in every direction JWST looks—then we’ll be in for some interesting times. At the very least, this amazing infrared observatory is pushing the cosmic frontier much farther out, peeking beyond what we currently know. In the very near future, it could look all the way out to the brink of the Big Bang itself. Stay tuned!
Energy Entity Shoots Out Of Storm July 20, 2022, Greer, Ohio UFO Sighting News.
Energy Entity Shoots Out Of Storm July 20, 2022, Greer, Ohio UFO Sighting News.
Date of sighting: July 20, 2022
Location of sighting: Greer, Ohio, USA
Guys, did you notice at one point a dark object comes out of the glowing object? Its like it produced something...a baby? Then this glowing object turns dark and flys back into the cloud. Very odd, some kind of energy entity living in our atmosphere among us. I have seen many reports of such phenomenon and long ago I got into world news when I noticed a video contained hundreds of similar glowing objects during a storm over a football game, sadly that video has long since been deleted by the uploader. Still, this close up is the best ever example I have ever seen since doing this blog over the last 15 years. Notice how the object stops glowing but continues to fly and move the same way but dark and black? Wow!
Scott Waring
Eyewitness states:
Capturing storm video on my phone when a flash of light flew through the clouds and was gone in an instant.
Check this out! NASA just posted a picture of the day that happens to show an object which might suggest life exists on Mars. The object looks like a ball of strings, similar to a tumbleweed or worm-like animal. Its hard to say because this is only a photo not a video. We need video of this thing lasting a day so that we can determine what this is 100% but to me, my professional opinion is that this is some sort of tiny lifeform. The shape, color and fine testure all suggest this is not string since it has no tattered ends. It has a thin tangled body as if it is protecting itself while sleeping. Awesome discovery for sure whatever it is.
Kinda looks like a giant parasite, let me post a video below of some similar life forms. Video is below.
0
1
2
3
4
5
- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:Ruins, strange artifacts on other planets, moons, ed ( Fr, EN, NL )
Another Facelift for the UFO Coverup 'Same Playbook' Again!
Another Facelift for the UFO Coverup 'Same Playbook' Again!
On the 70th anniversary of the famous UFO fly-overs of Washington, DC in 1952, our culture has finally come back to the level of "openness" of UFOs that existed at that time.
After all, even then the U.S. military acknowledged that something was being reported, but they had it all under control. This is exactly where we are now in 2022. The Pentagon knew the truth about UFOS back in 1952 but now in 2022 they use the same playbook again, it is just another facelift for the UFO cover-up.
And despite the DoD's July 15, 2022 announcement regarding the establishment of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) with the mission to synchronize efforts across the Department of Defense, and with other U.S. federal departments and agencies, to detect, identify and attribute objects of interest in, on or near military installations, operating areas, training areas, special use airspace and other areas of interest, and, as necessary, to mitigate any associated threats to safety of operations and national security. This includes anomalous, unidentified space, airborne, submerged and transmedium objects, their plan is NEVER to reveal any more than what's already come out, and in fact the military is trying to "put the toothpaste back in the tube."
NASA wil op 29 augustus weer naar de Maan te vliegen
Artemis-1, de eerste missie waarmee de Amerikanen terug naar de Maan reizen, kan op 29 augustus vertrekken, zo heeft de NASA meegedeeld, uitgerekend de dag waarop 53 jaar geleden voor het eerst een mens voet zette op de Maan. Alternatieve data zijn 2 of 5 september.
Het Artemis-programma beoogt, ten vroegste in 2025, opnieuw mensen op de Maan neer te zetten en terug te halen, waarbij voor het eerst een vrouw en een kleurling. Het Amerikaanse ruimtevaartbureau NASA wil dit, naar analogie van het Apollo-programma, stapsgewijs bereiken. Artemis zal dus een onbemande missie zijn, in het bijzonder om de gigantische nieuwe draagraket te testen, net als de Orion-capsule die in 2024 bij de tweede missie wel bemand zal zijn.
De lancering vindt plaats op Cape Canaveral. De SLS-draagraket moet de Orion naar onze natuurlijke satelliet slingeren. De capsule komt in een baan rond de Maan en komt dan naar de Aarde terug. Naargelang de precieze lanceringsdatum zou de vlucht 39 tot 42 dagen duren.
De Orion is in 2014 al eens in de ruimte getest, na lancering met een Delta-IV draagraket. De capsule maakte twee omlopen rond onze planeet, om in het bijzonder het hitteschild uit te testen.
De laatste keer dat een mens over het oppervlak van de Maan wandelde was met Apollo-17 in 1972.
0
1
2
3
4
5
- Gemiddelde waardering: 0/5 - (0 Stemmen) Categorie:HLN.be - Het Laatste Nieuws ( NL)
21-07-2022
Japanese Researchers Show how Microgravity Affects Astronauts’ Muscles and Nerves
Japanese Researchers Show how Microgravity Affects Astronauts’ Muscles and Nerves
It’s well-known that spending long periods in microgravity can adversely affect astronaut health and physiology. According to decades of research performed aboard the International Space Station (ISS), like NASA’s much-popularized Twins Study, these effects include the loss of muscle mass and bone density, as well as changes to cardiovascular health, eyesight, organ function, and gene expression. There’s even the possibility that astronauts will experience mood swings and psychological problems while in space or during recovery here on Earth.
According to a recent study by a team of Japanese researchers, one of the lesser-studied effects is how long periods spent in microgravity can damage the skeletal muscles that are important to maintaining our posture. This group of muscles – located mostly in our limbs, back, and neck – are rightly known as our “anti-gravity” muscles because they are load-bearing and allow us to stand upright and move against the force of gravity. This research and the countermeasures they propose could have significant implications for astronauts returning from long-term stays in space.
The research was led by Dr. Yoshinobu Ohira, a Professor of space medicine at Doshisha University’s Research Center for Space and Medical Sciences (RCSMC) in Kyoto, Japan. He was joined by fellow researchers with the RCSMC, the Organization for Research Initiatives and Development (ORID) at Doshisha University, the Kindai University Faculty of Medicine (Osaka), Matsumoto University (Nagano), and Toyohashi SOZO University (Aichi). The paper that describes their findings recently appeared in the journal Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.
Expedition 38/39 astronaut Koichi Wakata (JAXA) uses the advanced Resistive Exercise Device (aRED) in the Tranquility module of the International Space Station in February 2014. Credit: NASA
As they indicated in their study, the team reviewed the neuromuscular properties of the soleus and adductor longus muscles (and their respective dorsal ganglia) in astronauts who had spent extended periods in space. These muscles are located in the calf and inner thigh (respectively) and are responsible for load-bearing and helping us remain upright in normal gravity. When subjected to microgravity, these muscles are “unloaded” and have nothing to work against, leading to the gradual atrophy of their fibers and nerves.
Their study considered how the neuromuscular system’s morphological, functional, and metabolic properties respond to gravitational unloading in microgravity and lower gravity environments. This consisted of running human and rodent simulation models and examining how motoneuron signals between the skeletal muscle and central nervous system (afferent and efferent activity, respectively) regulated neuromuscular properties. Their research appeared in a special issue titled “Space Neurosciences” that commemorates the Moon Landing (NASA’s Apollo 11mission).
Their analysis confirmed that these signals play a key role in regulating muscle properties and brain activity. This consists of a decrease in the structural unit of muscles (sarcomeres), resulting in a decrease in their development, eventually leading to muscular atrophy – as seen in the soleus and the adductor longus muscles. Their results indicate that exposure to low-gravity environments affects the muscles and nerves, leading to the deterioration of motor control.
This is consistent with symptoms reported by astronauts upon returning to Earth, where they experienced difficulty walking despite regular exercise aboard the ISS – using treadmills, cycles, and resistance training. Their work also showed that additional challenges might arise when astronauts are exposed to microgravity for six months or more, such as they would be while in transit to Mars. In summary, their review indicates that existing countermeasures are inadequate when combatting the effects of gravitational unloading.
Habitats grouped together on the rim of a lunar crater known as the Lunar Village. Credit: ESA
Luckily, their research also points the way toward some possible solutions. For starters, they recommend stimulating the soleus muscle during exercise, which can be done by running or walking slowly on a treadmill with a rear foot-strike landing. Adding bungee cords for added resistance and periodic passive stretching of the soleus muscle also appears to reduce the risk of atrophy. This research could play an important role in developing appropriate countermeasures for future long-duration space missions.
These include continued operations aboard the ISS, which were recently extended to January 2031 (according to NASA’s latest announcement). It will also come in handy as astronauts begin to conduct long-term missions to the Moon, which will entail the creation of lunar habitats – like Artemis Base Camp, the International Moon Village, and the Sino-Russian International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). Then there are the crewed missions that NASA and China plan to send to Mars in the next decade, which will involve 6 to 9-month transits.
Ensuring the long-term health of astronauts is part of a constellation of research that will help ensure the health and safety of astronauts as we venture farther from Earth. This research is especially important considering that someday (perhaps sooner other than later) civilians and potential settlers will follow. If humanity’s future does lie in space, every aspect of living and working beyond Earth must be taken into account, and potential solutions devised.
A Dormant Black Hole has Been Discovered Just Outside the Milky Way
A Dormant Black Hole has Been Discovered Just Outside the Milky Way
What happens when a massive star dies? Conventional wisdom (and observational evidence) say that it can collapse to form a “stellar-mass” black hole. Astronomers detect black holes by the X-ray emissions they emit.
But, what if the black hole isn’t giving off high levels of X-ray emissions? Then, it could be a very rare object indeed: a dormant black hole. Not many of these have been seen. So, it’s exciting to know that a team of astronomers has found one. It’s called VFTS 243. They detected it in Very Large Telescope observations of stars in the Tarantula Nebula, in the neighboring Large Magellanic Cloud.
Finding a Needle in a Galactic Haystack
VFTS 243 is the first dormant black hole to be unambiguously detected outside the Milky Way Galaxy. While there are likely billions of stellar-mass black holes out there, dormant ones are much harder to find. “We identified a ‘needle in a haystack’,” said team leader Tomer Shenar, a Marie-Curie Fellow at Amsterdam University, the Netherlands.
It’s not for lack of looking, and astronomers have searched. “It is incredible that we hardly know of any dormant black holes, given how common astronomers believe them to be”, said team member Pablo Marchant of KU Leuven.
This newly found dormant black hole is at least nine times the mass of our Sun. It’s in a 10.4-day orbital dance with a hot, blue star 25 times the mass of the Sun. The black hole itself has about 9 solar masses. It’s considered dormant because it’s not emitting large amounts of X-rays. Normally, that would happen as material spirals into its accretion disk from the nearby companion star.
This artist’s impression shows what the binary system VFTS 243 might look like if we were observing it up close. The sizes of the two binary components are not to scale: in reality, the blue star is about 200 000 times larger than the black hole. Note that the ‘lensing’ effect around the so-called “dormant” black hole is shown for illustration purposes only, to make this dark object more noticeable in the image. The inclination of the system means that, when looking at it from Earth, we cannot observe the black hole eclipsing the star. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada
Implications for Black Hole Formation
Although astronomers know the general story about how a massive star evolves to become a stellar-mass black hole, there are many details of the process to explore. This discovery gives the team a new way to look at the black hole “factory”. Typically, a stellar-mass black hole forms as the core of a dying massive star collapses. However, for a dormant black hole, it’s not clear if the collapse was followed by a powerful supernova explosion. This new one may have taken a very different route to “black hole-hood”. In fact, there are some interesting clues that point to an alternate evolutionary path. First, it’s in a near-circular orbit and its motions indicate there was little ejected material from an explosion. In addition, there’s no evidence of a form of rebound called a “black hole kick” as the object collapsed. So, what happened?
“The star that formed the black hole in VFTS 243 appears to have collapsed entirely, with no sign of a previous explosion,” said Shenar, who noted that the team’s discovery has implications for understanding the properties of core-collapse supernovae as well as gravitational-wave detections. “Evidence for this ‘direct-collapse’ scenario has been emerging recently, but our study arguably provides one of the most direct indications. This has enormous implications for the origin of black-hole mergers in the cosmos.”
Calling the Black Hole Police
There’s more than a bit of irony in this discovery since team members are sometimes referred to as the “black hole police.” That’s because Shenar and other colleagues have frequently debunked proposed sightings of other black holes. So, the fact that they searched for and found this dormant black hole is an interesting experience. And, their search took a while and a lot of data.
To find VFTS 243, the collaboration used observations of nearly a thousand massive stars in the Tarantula Nebula. The data came from the VLT FLAMES Tarantula Survey, and team members used it to identify stars that might have black holes as companions. Because alternative explanations exist for such objects, identifying these companions as dormant black holes is extremely difficult.
“As a researcher who has debunked potential black holes in recent years, I was extremely skeptical regarding this discovery,” said Shenar. His skepticism was shared by co-author Kareem El-Badry of the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard, in the USA. Thanks to El-Badry’s reputation as a skeptic, Shenar calls him the ‘black hole destroyer’. “When Tomer asked me to double check his findings, I had my doubts,” said El-Badry. “But I could not find a plausible explanation for the data that did not involve a black hole.”
Next Steps
Despite the nickname ‘black hole police’, the team expects very active scrutiny of their dormant black-hole discovery. They also hope that their work will enable the discovery of other stellar-mass black holes orbiting massive stars. As an example of just how plentiful these objects are, the team predicts thousands of them exist in Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds.
“Of course I expect others in the field to pore over our analysis carefully, and to try to cook up alternative models,” said El-Badry. “It’s a very exciting project to be involved in.”
The Animal Kingdom is full of surprising creatures. There’s millions of crazy critters and some nightmarish animals swiftly crawling around the face of earth we don’t know about. Some of the animals are fearsome whereas others may just look normal. Some of these may seem outrageous for having gigantic size and others may possess distinct features that make them look like aliens. Some animals possess sharp teeth or fangs or numerous legs while other can slither away at super speed. Most of these animals are considered to harmless to mankind.
Here’s M74 Like You’ve Never Seen it Before, Thanks to Judy Schmidt and JWST
Here’s M74 Like You’ve Never Seen it Before, Thanks to Judy Schmidt and JWST
The JWST is grabbing headlines and eyeballs as its mission gains momentum. The telescope recently imaged M74 (NGC 628) with its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI.) Judy Schmidt, a well-known amateur astronomy image processor, has worked on the image to bring out more detail.
M74 is a large spiral galaxy that holds somewhere in the neighbourhood of 100 billion stars. It’s about 32 million light-years away from us and is a great example of a Grand Design Spiral Galaxy. The JWST imaged the galaxy as part of the PHANG Survey. PHANG (Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS) studies nearby galaxies in high resolution and is intended to “… understand the interplay of the small-scale physics of gas and star formation with galactic structure and galaxy evolution,” according to the PHANG website.
The survey uses several telescopes to study galaxies, but now that the JWST is operating, it’s making a huge contribution to the effort.
This is the original JWST image of M 74 that made the rounds on social media before Judy Schmidt processed it. Image Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STSCI
Judy Schmidt (Judy Schmidt@SpaceGeck on Twitter) is involved with the Planetary Society and is one of those rare people who looks at an astounding image from the JWST and thinks, “Hmmmm…Not bad, but I can improve it.” (We’re just kidding and don’t mean to speak for her.) But it does speak to her rare skill set.
In the image description on Judy’s Flickr page, she writes, “Squeezing some color out of the various filters showing all the glowing dust in the center of NGC628.”
She lists the filters as:
Red (screen layer mode): MIRI F2100W
Orange: MIRI F1130W
Cyan: MIRI F770W
Extra overall brightness in grayscale: MIRI F1000W
To understand the impact the JWST is having, compare a Hubble image of M74 to Judy’s processed JWST image. The Hubble image is a composite of the telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys data taken in 2003 and 2005.
On the left is a composite Hubble image of M 74 made with the space telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. On the right is the JWST image processed by Judy Schmidt. Image Credit: (l) NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration;Acknowledgment: R. Chandar (University of Toledo) and J. Miller (University of Michigan). (r) NASA/ESA/CSA/STSCI/JUDY SCHMIDT CC BY 2.0
Visit Schmidt’s Flickr feed for more of her work. She’s also on Twitter as @SpaceGeck, and her website is https://geckzilla.com/.
“A very processed (maybe even over-processed) version of Jupiter from JWST,” Schmidt writes in her description. “Here, we’re viewing the planet only in infrared, and the ring, usually invisible, is plain for all to see. The colors are definitely unusual.”
“There is some discussion over what the red blip at the south pole and the disconnected layer of atmosphere on the eastern limb are. Real? Artifacts? We’ll wait for the scientists to figure it out, but I’m leaning toward real. ”
An incredibly realistic footage of a 'UFO' Goes Viral. A bewildered TikTok user believes she spotted a UFO in plain sight.
Nesha Higgins (@neshahiggins) shared the viral footage of the 'unidentified object' on the platform, leaving over 3 million viewers as baffled as her.
The video shows Nesha driving along a highway in Arizona when she spots a peculiar-looking object near the clouds in the shape of a UFO spaceship.
"What the f**k is that? That is the craziest thing I've ever seen in my life, bro," she said, as her friend responded: "That's so cool."
Thousands of viewers headed to the comments to debate what it could, or could not, be. Creative theories were rife, with many comparing its appearance to a portal.
"I would’ve stood under it bc I’m done with this planet," one joked, while another added: "They really pulled up this time."
Some realists shut it down, claiming that if it were a UFO, the plane wouldn't have flown near it. The airport tower would have had the plane standby if something is in its airspace," one said.
While we admire the creativity in the comments, it does appear to be a lenticular cloud which often looks like a flying saucer .
The Met Office defines lenticular cloud as "lens-shaped orographic wave clouds form when the air is stable and winds blow across hills and mountains from the same or similar direction at different heights through the troposphere."
The man who revealed the existence of UFOs in Area 51 in the 1970s has gained a lot more credibility
The man who revealed the existence of UFOs in Area 51 in the 1970s has gained a lot more credibility
Bob Lazar has provided information that has now been verified, decades after he blew the whistle. The UFO phenomenon is no longer taboo to talk about. People like this deserve to be heard now without ridicule.
When Josefin Stiller was growing up in Berlin, she loved reading about Greek gods in an encyclopedia of mythology. She often lost track of their relationships, however—their feuds, trysts, and betrayals—as she flipped among the entries. Frustrated, she wrote each name on a card and started to arrange children beneath parents on a desk in her bedroom. As lineages became clear, so did family dramas. Sons killed fathers; uncles kidnapped nieces; siblings fell in love. “I wonder if this experience of reconstructing a family tree primed me to appreciate trees and the powerful insights they hold,” Stiller told me in a recent e-mail.
Years later, as a graduate student in biology, Stiller worked on an evolutionary tree for seahorses and their relatives, using DNA to understand the ancestry of different species. Then, in 2017, she moved to the University of Copenhagen and joined B10K, a scientific collaboration that aims to sequence the genome of every bird species—more than ten thousand in all—and to reveal their connections in a comprehensive tree. The amount of data and computing power required for this mission is almost unfathomable, but the final product should be as simple in principle as the diagram Stiller had assembled as a child. “Everything in biology has a history, and we can show this history as a bifurcating tree,” she said.
Birds are the most diverse vertebrates on land, and they have always been central to ideas about the natural world. In 1837, a taxonomist in London told Charles Darwin that the finches he had shot and carelessly lumped together in the Galápagos Islands were, in fact, many different species. Darwin wondered whether the finches might have shared a common ancestor from mainland South America—whether all of life might have evolved through a process of “descent with modification”—and he drew a rudimentary tree in his private notebook, beneath the words “I think.” The tree showed how a single ancestral population could branch into many species, each with its own evolutionary path. “On the Origin of Species,” published twenty-two years later, includes only one diagram: an evolutionary tree. The tree of life became for biology what the periodic table was for chemistry—both a foundation and an emblem for the field. “The time will come I believe, though I shall not live to see it, when we shall have fairly true genealogical trees of each great kingdom of nature,” Darwin wrote to a friend.
The rise of genome sequencing, at the turn of the twenty-first century, seemed to bring Darwin’s dream within reach. “It is now realistic to conceive of reconstructing the entire Tree of Life—eventually to include all of the living and extinct species,” Joel Cracraft, the curator of birds at the American Museum of Natural History, wrote, in 2004. The naturalist E. O. Wilson predicted that such a tree could unify biology. Its value to such fields as agriculture, conservation, and medicine would be incalculable; evolutionary trees have already deepened our understanding of sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes covid-19. By mapping a major branch on the tree of life, B10K aims to light the way.
When Stiller joined the project, her colleagues were combing through museums and laboratories to sample three hundred and sixty-three bird species, chosen carefully to represent the diversity of living birds. With help from four supercomputers in three different countries, they began to compare each bird’s DNA to figure out how they were related. “I think there was always this idea that, once we sequence full genomes, we will be able to solve it,” Stiller told me. But, early in the process, she encountered an evolutionary enigma called Opisthocomushoazin. “I was completely amazed by this bird,” she said.
Hoatzins, which live along oxbow lakes in tropical South America, have blood-red eyes, blue cheeks, and crests of spiky auburn feathers. Their chicks have primitive claws on their tiny wings and respond to danger by plunging into water and then clawing their way back to their nests—a trait that inspired some ornithologists to link them to dinosaurs. Other taxonomists argued that the hoatzin is closely related to pheasants, cuckoos, pigeons, and a group of African birds called turacos. Alejandro Grajal, the director of Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo, said that the bird looks like a “punk-rock chicken,” and smells like manure because it digests leaves through bacterial fermentation, similar to a cow.
DNA research has not solved the mysteries of the hoatzin; it has deepened them. One 2014 analysis suggested that the bird’s closest living relatives are cranes and shorebirds such as gulls and plovers. Another, in 2020, concluded that this clumsy flier is a sister species to a group that includes tiny, hovering hummingbirds and high-speed swifts. “Frankly, there is no one in the world who knows what hoatzins are,” Cracraft, who is now a member of B10K, said. The hoatzin may be more than a missing piece of the evolutionary puzzle. It may be a sphinx with a riddle that many biologists are reluctant to consider: What if the pattern of evolution is not actually a tree?
Fossils that resemble hoatzins have been found in Europe and Africa, but today the birds can be found only in the river basins of the Amazon and Orinoco of South America. I live in Germany, so I visited them in Berlin’s Museum of Natural History, where cabinets are filled with thousands of stuffed birds. Sylke Frahnert, the bird curator, kept two taxidermy hoatzins on a shelf near the cuckoos and turacos, which seems as good a place as any. Over the years, there have been so many conflicting trees of birds, she told me. “You would have been crazy to change the collection with every one.” One of the museum’s hoatzins was shot in Brazil more than two centuries ago, and the years have drained the color from its face. I had heard that even the specimens smell like manure, but Frahnert warned me not to sniff them, since birds were once preserved with arsenic.
In the eighteenth century, natural-history museums started using anatomical similarities to classify plants and animals into increasingly specific categories: class, order, family, genus, species. Darwin realized that species share traits because their ancestors were one and the same. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals all have spines, but not because God had given them to each creature separately; rather, the spine suggested a “common parent” living long ago. The construction of evolutionary trees was dubbed “phylogeny,” literally meaning “the generation of species,” by the zoologist Ernst Haeckel. The more traits two species shared, the theory went, the more recently they had shared a common ancestor. Human beings and other great apes evolved from a common ancestor millions of years ago, but even human beings and bacteria have a common ancestor—the first known living organisms, which date to three and a half billion years ago.
Hoatzins—“in some respects the most aberrant of birds,” according to one Victorian ornithologist—were a problem from the beginning. Early European naturalists described them as pheasants, and the first major tree for birds, published in 1888 by Max Fürbringer, placed them on the fowl branch. But, by the early nineteen-hundreds, some scientists were comparing hoatzins and cuckoos on the basis of traits such as jaws and feathers, and others were noting similarities between hoatzins and turacos, pigeons, barn owls, and rails. Even the hoatzin’s parasites defied classification: they hosted feather lice found on no other birds.
One crucial problem in phylogeny was convergent evolution. Sometimes natural selection nudges two organisms toward the same trait. Birds and bats independently evolved the ability to fly. Swifts and swallows each evolved into aerodynamic insectivores with nearly identical silhouettes, but traits such as their vocal organs and foot bones reveal that they are only distantly related. Because taxonomists often disagreed about things such as how to distinguish common ancestry from convergent evolution, the literature grew thick with conflicting trees, to the point that some twentieth-century biologists seemed ready to give up. “The construction of phylogenetic trees has opened the door to a wave of uninhibited speculation,” one wrote in 1959. “Science ends where comparative morphology, comparative physiology, comparative ethology have failed us.”
Phylogeny made a comeback in the seventies and eighties, after the German entomologist Willi Hennig developed more rigorous criteria for identifying common ancestry and drawing evolutionary trees. These innovations laid a foundation for a new wave of research that did not rely solely on physical specimens but, rather, on the emerging science of DNA. “Organisms are related to one another by the degree to which they share genetic information,” two ornithologists wrote in the early nineties, adding that genetics could reveal “a different view of the process of evolution and its effects.” The typical bird genome is a string of more than a billion base pairs that mutate randomly over time. Scientists can compare the same parts of the genome across multiple species to estimate their evolutionary closeness. Typically, species that share mutations have a more recent common ancestor, and species that do not are more distantly related.
Early sequencing was expensive and tedious, but, by the beginning of the twenty-first century, a signal was emerging from the noise. The journal Nature published an article about the promise of a single unified tree of life. But its author also identified a complication: each genome contains many different genes, and each one could generate a different evolutionary tree.
In 2001, a paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Society identified a pair of bird siblings as unlikely as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito: the flamingo’s closest relative was a little diving bird called a grebe. “That was probably the single most astounding result that anybody’s ever gotten,” Peter Houde, an avian biologist from New Mexico State University, told me. Ornithologists had always reasoned that grebes were closely related to short-legged loons, whereas tall wading birds such as flamingos, storks, and herons probably had a long-legged common ancestor.
That was the first domino to fall. In 2008, Science published a new avian tree based on DNA. Research led by Shannon Hackett, Rebecca Kimball, and Sushma Reddy, scientists affiliated with the Field Museum and the University of Florida, examined nineteen parts of the genomes of a hundred and sixty-nine avian species. The “root” of their tree resembled trees based on physical specimens: large, flightless birds such as ostriches, emus, and kiwis—known collectively as ratites—were first to diverge from all the others, followed by land fowl and waterfowl. The remaining ninety-five per cent of living birds, from parrots to penguins and pigeons, are known as “modern birds” and descended from a common ancestor, probably around the time that an asteroid hit the earth, sixty-six million years ago, and the dinosaurs went extinct. The youngest order—passerines, which include all songbirds—branched out into a staggering six thousand species in the span of tens of millions of years. The genetic tree for modern birds was decked with relationships that few, if any, taxonomists had guessed from anatomy; key groups such as parrots, owls, woodpeckers, vultures, and cranes shifted places.
Scientists had long assumed, for example, that daytime hunters such as hawks, eagles, and falcons all descended from a single bird of prey. But, in the genetic tree, hawks and eagles shared a branch with vultures, yet falcons turned out to be closer relatives of passerines and parrots. This meant that the peregrine falcon is more closely related to colorful macaws and tiny sparrows than to any hawk or eagle. The traditional explanation for flightlessness in ratites—that a common ancestor diverged into ostriches, emus, rheas, cassowaries, and kiwis after the southern continents split apart—also collapsed. DNA showed that the ratites also included flying birds called tinamous, suggesting that the group evolved flightlessness at least three separate times. “That study revolutionized our understanding of how the major groups of living birds are related to each other,” Daniel J. Field, an avian paleontologist at the University of Cambridge, said. Bird-watching guides had to reorganize their contents to reflect the new relationships.
What the study could not settle was the early evolution of modern birds. It was easy to tell when pheasants and ostriches turned off the highway of avian evolution, but modern birds did not follow a simple off-ramp. They seemed to zoom off in different directions, as though each kind of bird took a different exit from a busy roundabout. From their common ancestor—perhaps a little ground bird that pecked seeds and insects out of the ash that the asteroid left behind—modern birds split quickly into more than half a dozen branches. But the fastest computers of the time weren’t fast enough to disentangle them. All but one of these branches diversified into about ten thousand bird species. The last belonged to the hoatzin alone. The strange bird likely made the journey to the present day all by itself. “The enigmatic Opisthocomus (hoatzin) still cannot be confidently placed,” Hackett’s team wrote.
The first human genome sequences required hundreds of scientists and billions of dollars, but the costs fell quickly as the technology improved. In 2010, Tom Gilbert, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Copenhagen who previously studied mammoth and ancient human DNA, turned his attention to the pigeon genome. “I’m really interested in how regular city pigeons have spread around the world and done so well,” he told me. When he read the Hackett group’s study, he became curious about how the pigeon genome might fit into the larger picture of avian evolution. He wondered, “What if you had the perfect data set—all of the genome and not just parts of it?”
With the neurobiologist Erich Jarvis and the evolutionary geneticist Guojie Zhang, Gilbert assembled a team to pick up where researchers like Hackett had left off. The team, which grew to more than a hundred and twenty researchers, used nine supercomputer processing centers to sequence and analyze the genomes of forty-eight birds. (They got the hoatzin DNA sample from Houde, in New Mexico.) The tree they developed—featured on the cover of Science, along with an image of the hoatzin, in 2014—confirmed many of the Hackett group’s findings, challenged others, revealed new relationships, and used fossils to estimate the dates of divergences. Within fifteen million years of the extinction of dinosaurs, all the major lineages of modern birds emerged. The hoatzin’s long branch connected to the ancestor of cranes and shorebirds. “It kind of is a marshy waterbird,” Jarvis reasoned. But he and the other researchers couldn’t get strong statistical support for the hoatzin branch. He compared the bird’s origins with some of the most difficult questions he has faced in neurobiology. “Studying consciousness or language is the equivalent of figuring out where the hoatzin belongs,” he said.
The next year, the rival journal Nature published yet another tree. The Yale ornithologist Richard Prum argued that forty-eight species were too few, so his team compared a hundred and ninety-eight, sequencing a much smaller portion of their DNA. In this tree, several branches changed places around the time that the dinosaurs went extinct, suggesting new relationships for doves and pigeons; hummingbirds, swifts, and their relatives; and, of course, the hoatzin. Instead of yielding an authoritative tree of life, DNA had entrenched disagreement in the part of the tree most crucial to understanding the diversity of living birds. “There may be no amount of sleuthing or data or analysis that is going to resolve the placement of some of these lineages of birds,” Hackett told me. The conflicting signals in the hoatzin genome may not be analytical errors but biological realities—and they may require a different paradigm than the tree.
The tree is so ingrained in evolutionary biology that scientists encourage “tree thinking.” By learning to think in terms of trees, students can avoid the common fallacy of reading evolution as a ladder in which simpler organisms become more complex, as in the famous image “The Ascent of Man,” which shows a knuckle-walking ape evolving into an upright human. For all its pedagogical value, however, the tree also embeds subtle assumptions about evolution. The tree tends to downplay the genetic variation within species, which can obscure the fact that common ancestors are actually diverse populations that can pass on different versions of a gene to different descendants. It tells a story of endless partition and diversification, with branches that diverge and never reticulate.
While preparing their paper, Gilbert and his team had fiddled with their data set to understand the differences between gene trees. When they told their tree-building software to focus only on regions of the genome that Prum’s team used, it produced a tree that looked like Prum’s. When they shifted focus to other regions, a very different tree emerged. When they divided their bird genomes into thousands of different parts and ran each through their software, they got thousands of different trees, and not one completely matched the “species tree” they had constructed from large portions of genomes. “Different parts of the genome have different stories,” Gilbert realized. Genes do not stay in the lanes of common ancestry but can move much more unpredictably, like zigzagging pieces on a Plinko board. Scientists call this kind of genetic scrambling “incomplete lineage sorting,” and it is especially common during rapid bursts of evolution, such as the one that gave rise to modern birds.
In 2016, Alexander Suh, a biologist on the forty-eight-genome team, superimposed all the different gene trees they had generated. The resulting image of the early evolution of modern birds, around the time the dinosaurs went extinct, was not a tidy series of diverging branches but a kind of web or fishnet, whose contours constantly crossed paths. In a paper, Suh urged his colleagues to consider other patterns of evolution—to argue “less about which species tree is ‘correct,’ and more about if there is such a thing” as a traditional tree of life for modern birds.
As a girl, Stiller sometimes ran into trouble with her mythological family tree. “Placing Zeus was a nightmare because he interacted with everyone at some point,” she remembered. Relatives often shacked up, braiding their separate lineages back together. Something similar happens in nature when one species mates with another, producing a hybrid. Although tree-thinking biologists used to think that hybridization was extremely rare, genetic studies have shown that it actually happens all the time. Human DNA indicates that early Homo sapiens interbred with Neanderthals and other extinct hominins. Conservative estimates suggest that at least ten per cent of birds hybridize; among South America’s largest group of birds, that number is thirty-eight per cent, according to one recent study.
Hybridization may have been rampant in the aftermath of the asteroid strike, when modern-bird lineages first emerged. Interbreeding would have passed genes from one branch of the tree to another, adding another layer of complexity on top of incomplete lineage sorting. “Lineages that split and never talk to each other again—that’s not how biology works,” Stiller said. Still, she remains hopeful that one day we may build an authoritative diagram of the past. “Our models are still comparatively simple,” she told me. “We should be able to reconstruct evolutionary history if we have the right models and the right data.”
The outlines of animal evolution still look a lot like a tree in many places, which is why scientists continue to spend so much time developing and debating different branches. But, if tree thinking taught biologists that everything is connected, genes are suggesting that the connections can run even deeper than a tree can capture. To gain a more complete picture—and to answer questions like how such an unusual mix of traits came together in the hoatzin—scientists may need to think outside the tree. B10K grew out of the forty-eight-genome group and now includes computer scientists who specialize not in trees but in networks; they try to track the movement of genes between branches, and they often find that even supercomputers aren’t yet up to the job.
In B10K’s preliminary analyses, the hoatzin again winds up closely aligned with cranes and shorebirds, but the conclusion lacks a hundred per cent statistical support. “There’s still a lot of conflict in the data,” Stiller said. “Depending on how you analyze it, you will get different placements.” After B10K finishes its tree for three hundred and sixty-three birds, it’ll move on to the more than two thousand avian genuses, and eventually to every species of bird. These genomes will create a much more complete portrait—but, even then, they may not be able to solve the mystery of the hoatzin, or reconstruct every crook in the early evolution of modern birds.
“If the evolutionary history of the hoatzin conformed to processes we already understand well, then we’d probably have already figured out what it is most closely related to,” Houde wrote via e-mail. “The fact that we don’t know its nearest relative suggests that there were processes involved that we still do not understand.” He indicated that the hoatzin could have more than one set of closest relatives—which he called “an unsettling prospect in the context of existing classification and in the minds of many contemporary biologists.”
This strange-sounding state of affairs is not unique to the hoatzin; we see it in our own DNA. Human beings share their most recent common ancestor with chimpanzees and bonobos, but more than ten per cent of the human genome is actually more closely related to the gorilla genome. Another tiny fraction of the human genome also seems to be most closely shared with an even more distant relative: the orangutan. “This implies that there is no such thing as a unique evolutionary history of the human genome,” a team of molecular biologists wrote in 2007. “Rather, it resembles a patchwork of individual regions following their own genealogy.”
Darwin ended “On the Origin of Species” with a famous description of “an entangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth.” Molecular biologists hoped that genes would reveal the true and final shape of Darwin’s tree. Instead, they found a new kind of entangled bank, in which species are connected in unexpected ways. “There is grandeur in this view of life,” Darwin wrote of his scene. There is grandeur, too, in the view of life that is encoded in DNA. ♦
Today, we come to one of the most dangerous and terrifying of all monsters: the Skinwalker of Native American lore and legend. And, to those who dare to investigate such phenomena they should tread carefully. Very carefully. Indeed, one only has to ask George Knapp, Colm A. Kelleher and James T. Lacatski, the authors of the recently published book, Skinwalkers at the Pentagon. Accounts of the deadly, shapeshifting Skinwalkers date back a very long time. Indeed, they have been provoking mayhem, chaos, and even death, in their collective paths for absolute centuries. Skinwalkers are often portrayed in Native American history as classic crones – wizened, old witches, in other words. The fact is, however, that the Skinwalkers can transform themselves into multiple forms; one of them being that of a wolf. Or, perhaps more correctly, something that superficially resembles a wolf. I say all of the above because in the last few years there has been a growing amount of interest in the subject. But, what, exactly, what are they? There is no doubt that is the key question to be asked. And to be answered, too.
Some might suggest – and have suggested – that the creatures take on forms that are far less like regular wolves and far more akin to classic werewolves: large and powerful beasts that can walk and run on both two limbs and four. Others, today, refer to them as the Dog-Men. Other forms that the Skinwalkers can mutate into include coyotes, birds, and bears. Indeed, they are supernatural masters of camouflage and subterfuge. The process by which a witch can take on a completely new form is very complicated, to say the very least. Magical rites and rituals can allow a person to morph into an animal – by seeking to emulate the beast that he or she desire to become. In the bulk of such shape-changing, however, a witch will wrap around their body the hide of the very animal they wish to become. The more the witch wears the hide, the more she or he is likely to successfully transform. It’s important to note that it's not just the form that changes: a person who becomes a Skinwalker also takes on the keen senses of smell and sight that so many animals have and that we don't. The same goes for their senses of hearing. And, there are their incredibly fast speeds, too. In other words, these undeniably, deadly creatures are nothing less than lethal killing machines.
(Nick Redfern) Beware of the wolfish Skinwalker
Without doubt the most dangerous aspect of the Skinwalker is its ability to supernaturally infect people with deadly diseases and life-threatening illnesses. Strangely, on more than a few occasions, those who have found themselves in the direct, close presence of a Skinwalker have – no less in than mere days - succumbed to very rare medical conditions. Precisely how the Skinwalker can perform such a hostile thing still remains unknown. It is, however, worth noting that the Skinwalker is said to have an expert knowledge of medicine, and both ancient and modern. The answer, somewhere, just might be found in that issue of those medicines. It’s no wonder that many Native Americans avoid these malevolent things at all costs. Who can blame them? Hardly anyone. Of course, there is one critical issue we that have yet to touch upon: namely, why on Earth would anyone even want to become a Skinwalker in the very first place, at all? The answer, as you may have already deduced, is not a good one. Adopting the guise of an animal can, quite literally, allow a person to get away with cold-hearted murder. After all, if the target of the Skinwalker is violently slaughtered by a rampaging bear or a savage wolf, then who would even – or ever - dream of the possibility that the beast was actually a transformed human? Almost certainly not many, that is to be sure!
Although the phenomenon of the Skinwalker has been with us for a very long time, there is absolutely no doubt, at all, that much of the modern day knowledge and understanding of the creatures comes from the publicity that was given to it by Colm A. Kelleher and George Knapp in their hugely popular book of 2005, Hunt for the Skinwalker - a definitive classic of its time. It tells of an absolute myriad of paranormal phenomena at a certain ranch located in Utah. As the description for the Knapp-Kelleher book states: “For more than fifty years, the bizarre events at that remote Utah ranch have ranged from the perplexing to the wholly terrifying. Vanishing and mutilated cattle. Unidentified Flying Objects. The appearance of huge, otherworldly creatures. Invisible objects emitting magnetic fields with the power to spark a cattle stampede. Flying orbs of light with dazzling maneuverability and lethal consequences. For one family, life on the Skinwalker Ranch had become a life under siege by an unknown enemy or enemies. Nothing else could explain the horrors that surrounded them – perhaps science could.” And, as George Knapp noted in Hunt for the Skinwalker, with regard to the many and varied phenomena that caused chaos and mayhem on the ranch: “…reality isn’t what it used to be.” You can say that again!
Now, we come to my very own experiences. I cannot say that I am someone who has come face-to-face with a Skinwalker. I haven't. I have, though, had experiences that could be termed as on the fringe of the phenomenon. As someone who spends a lot of time in the field – so to speak – investigating reports of strange creatures, UFOs, M.I.B., and more, I was very excited when in August 2010 I had the opportunity to head out to the site of a spate of Skinwalker sightings - and for a full week, no less . The location was the desert of California, specifically in Joshua Tree. I was there to be filmed for a new TV show on VH1 that was called Real and Chance: The Legend Hunters. The stars were brothers Kamal and Ahmad Givens. It was a fun, excited, well-executed show that saw the two guys heading around the United States – in road-trip style – and investigating a myriad of mysteries; one of them being the Skinwalker controversy. But, you probably guessed that, right?
(Nick Redfern) The site of the filming where a huge wolf appeared in the dead of night
On the second day of the shooting, the film crew and I headed out to a local animal sanctuary – that specialized in caring for, and rehabilitating, nothing less than wolves. In doing so, I quickly learned just how much the Skinwalker phenomenon was feared in and around Joshua Tree - and in Utah, too. And, in all likelihood, it still is feared. I also saw for myself a deep reluctance on the part of the staff of the sanctuary to ever utter that dreaded “S word.” By now, you know the word I mean. Then, on the third night – around 1:00 a.m. – we encountered nothing less than a huge wolf staring down at us - from a hilly area - as the film-crew captured us on camera. No, I am not joking. In fact, no-one was. The wolf was only in view for a minute or two, but it was an undeniably bone-chilling situation. Here we were looking for Skinwalkers and we almost walked into a huge wolf that, I suspect, seemed to be waiting for us. And no-one else. Was the whole thing just a really bizarre coincidence? I have to say that I seriously doubted it. More than a decade later, my views have not really changed. I still think that something very strange happened on that night - in the California desert - when the skies went dark and a huge wolf loomed out of the darkness. Sadly, in 2015 Ahmad died at the very young age of thirty-three from cancer.
It's a baffling fact that although the sea serpents of earlier times were seen here, there and everywhere, today they are just about completely gone. As to why, we simply don't know. Fortunately, however, we do have the testimony of sailors, and of the captains of ships. Their reports amount to a huge number.
(Nick Redfern)
With that said, let's have a look back in time, an era when giant monsters almost ruled the waves. For example, the port of Gloucester, Massachusetts was thesite of repeated encounters with massive, dangerous leviathans in the early 17th century. From a man named John Josselyn, we have these words to muse upon: “They told me of a sea serpent, or snake, that lay quoiled [sic] up like a cable upon the rock at Cape Ann; a boat passing by with English on board, and two Indians, they would have shot the serpent, but the Indians dissuaded them, saying that if he were not killed outright, they would all be in danger of their lives.” Obadiah Turner, also in the same time-frame, stated of the creature, in old English style of writing: “Some being on ye great beache gathering of calms and seaweed wch had been cast thereon by ye mightie storm did spy a most wonderful serpent a shorte way off from ye shore. He was big round in ye thickest part as a wine pipe; and they do affirm that he was fifteen fathoms more in length. A most wonderful tale. But ye witnesses be credible, and it would be of no account to them to tell an untrue tale. Wee have likewise heard yt Cape Ann ye people have seene a monster like unto this, whch did there come out of ye land mch to ye terror of them yt did see him.”
It should be stressed that the 19th century was the period in which sea serpents were really in their element, we might say. From 1817, we have the following, notable report from Amos Story: “It was between the hours of twelve and one o’clock when I first saw him, and he continued in sight for an hour and a half. I was setting on the shore, and was about twenty rods from him when he was the nearest to me. His head appeared shaped much like that of the sea turtle, and he carried his head from ten to twelve inches above the surface of the water. His head at that distance appeared larger than the head of any dog I ever saw. From the back of his head to the next part of him that was visible, I should judge to be three or four feet. He moved very rapidly through the water, I should say a mile or two or, at most, in three minutes. I saw no bunches on his back. On this day, I did not see more than ten or twelve feet of his body.” Story’s account was swiftly followed by that of Solomon Allen III, a shipmaster. He said of the incredible beast he spied: “His head formed something like the head of a rattlesnake, but nearly as large as the head of horse. When he moved on the surface of the water his motion was slow, at times playing in circles, and sometimes moving straight forward.”
A particularly detailed account came days later from one Cheever Felch, whose sighting of the Gloucester sea serpent was made when he, Felch, was aboard a U.S. schooner, the Science. He said of the monstrous thing: “His color is dark brown with white under his throat. His size we could not accurately ascertain, but his head is about three feet in circumference, flat and much smaller than his body. We did not see his tail; but from the end of the head to the farthest protuberance was not far from one hundred feet. I speak with a degree of certainty, behind much accustomed to measure and estimate distances and length. I counted fourteen bunches on his back, the first one say ten or twelve feet from this head, and the others about seven feet apart. They decreased in size towards the tail. These bunches were sometimes counted with and sometimes without a glass. Mr. Malborne counted thirteen, Mr. Blake thirteen and fourteen, and the boatman the same number...His motion was partly vertical and partly horizontal, like that of fresh water snakes. I have been much acquainted with snakes in our interior waters. His motion was the same.”
And still the reports kept on coming, as seafarer John Brown noted: “I discovered something about three or four miles distant, about two points on the weather bow, which appeared as a mast, as it rose and sunk in a perpendicular manner, once in about eight or ten minutes. I kept the vessel directly for it, and after look at it with my glass, I observed to my mate that it was a wreck, as I could see timbers sticking up, but as we approached nearer, I found what appeared like timbers to be a number of porpoises and black fish playing and jumping around a large Sea-Serpent, which we had supposed to be the mast.” While there certainly have been sightings of sea serpents in the waters of Gloucester since 1817, none of them – in terms of their frequency, number of witnesses, and credibility – has ever come close to matching those tumultuous, early 19th century days when the people of Gloucester were plagued by a monster.
Nick Redfern
Then, there is this account, which appeared in the British Literary Gazette on August 1, 1818: “Captain Joseph Woodward of the schooner Adamant reported an encounter off the coast of Cape Ann in May, 1818. He said he shot a cannon at the monster. He was quoted as saying that after the cannon shot: ‘The serpent shook its head and its tail in an extraordinary manner and advanced toward the ship with open jaws; I had caused the cannon to be reloaded, but he had come so near that all the crew were seized with terror, and we thought only of getting out of his way. He almost touched the vessel and, had I not tacked as I did, he would certainly have come on board. He dived, but in a moment we saw him come up again with his head on one side of the vessel and his tail on the other as if he was going to lift up and upset us. However we did not feel any shock. He remained five hours near us, only going backward and forward.”
We’ll now take a look at some more, incredible claims of encounters with monsters; cases that amazed and terrified the crews and passengers of ships and boats on the high seas. Rather notably, a number of such reports have been declassified under the terms of the U.K. government’s Freedom of Information Act. They demonstrate something remarkable and illuminating: namely, that highly incredible sources had seen huge, monsters of the oceans and who were willing to attest to the truth of the amazing incidents. Just such a case can be found in the 19th century-era archives of the Admiralty, which was the U.K. equivalent of the United States Navy. The first report that has been declassified by government personnel dates back to 1830, specifically May 9, 1830. As for the crew that had the amazing encounter, they were aboard the Rob Roy, which was a military craft, and while navigating the Atlantic Ocean. Little did the crew know that when the day began, they would soon come face-to-face with a terrifying monster of the mysterious depths. We have the captain of the ship, one James Stockdale, to thank for having the guts to inform senior naval personnel the incredible creature that had been seen.
I will now share with you the unedited words of Captain Stockdale: “About five p.m. all at once while I was walking on the poop my attention was drawn to the water on the port bow by a scuffling noise. Likewise all the watch on deck were drawn to it. Judge my amazement when what should stare us all in the face as if not knowing whether to come over the deck or to go around the stern – but the great big sea snake! Now I have heard of the fellow before – and I have killed snakes twenty-four feet long in the straits of Malacca, but they would go in his mouth. I think he must have been asleep for we were going along very softly two knots an hour, and he seemed as much alarmed as we were – and all taken aback for about fifteen seconds. But he soon was underway and, when fairly off, his head was square with our topsail and his tail was square with the foremast. My ship is 171 feet long overall – and the foremast is 42 feet from the stern which would make the monster about 129 feet long. If I had not seen it I could not have believed it but there was no mistake or doubt of its length – for the brute was so close I could even smell his nasty fishy smell." There's more to come:
“When underway he carried his head about six feet out of water – with a fin between the shoulders about two feet long. I think he was swimming about five miles an hour – for I watched him from the topsail yard till I lost sight of him in about fifty minutes. I hope never to see him more. It is enough to frighten the strong at heart.” The report of Captain Stockdale and his crew was not the only one that ended up in U.K. military files. There was yet another. This one dated from December 13, 1857. Commander George Henry Harrington was so impressed – and worried – by the extraordinary sighting that he quickly put together a full report on the encounter with the giant beast. It reads like this: “While myself and officers were standing on the lee side of the poop – looking toward the island – we were startled by the sight of a huge marine animal which reared its head out of the water within twenty yards of the ship – when it suddenly disappeared for about half a minute and then made a reappearance in the same manner again – showing us its neck and head about ten or twenty feet out of the water.
“Its head was shaped like a long buoy – and I should suppose the diameter to have been seven or eight feet in the largest part with a kind of scroll or ruff encircling it about two feet from the top. The water was discolored for several hundred feet from the head, so much so that on its first appearance my impression was that the ship was in broken waters, produced, as I supposed, by some volcanic agency, since I passed the island before. But the second appearance completely dispelled those fears and assured us that it was a monster of extraordinary length and appeared to be moving slowly towards the land. The ship was going too fast to enable us to reach the masthead in time to form a correct estimate of this extreme length – but from what we saw from the deck we conclude that he must have been over two hundred feet long. The Boatswain and several of the crew, who observed it from the forecastle, state that it was more than double the length of the ship, in which case it must have been five hundred feet. Captain Harrington signed off: “I am convinced that it belonged to the serpent tribe.”
Special reports are: Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and UFOs, Saturn’s Moon Titan Looks Like Earth, Possible Life on Titan, Astronaut Sheppard Golf’s on the Moon, Intelligent Intervention, Congress Discusses UFOs/UAPs, Strange Craft and Carbon 60.
Unidentified Aerial Phenomena sightings were reported over Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Washington.
Unidentified Aerial Phenomena sightings were reported over Belgium, Canada, France, Mexico, Romania, and England in the United Kingdom.
The Filer Research Institute feels the scientific study of UFOs is for the benefit of humankind and is an important endeavor. The US Air Force and DOD investigated UFOs for more than forty years; and I continue this advanced research. I believe the God of the universe has spread life throughout the cosmos and UFOs are visiting us in ever-increasing numbers. The weekly intelligence report provides you with information on the latest sightings and UFO news that you need to understand the world situation.
Forward these files to your friends and neighbors.
Special Projects
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and UFOs
Former Prime Minister Margat Thatcher of Great Britain states,
Margaret Thatcher, who was Britain’s Prime Minister during at the time of the Rendlesham incident in 1980. Thatcher, who died on 8 April aged 87, was 19 months into her first term as Prime Minister in 1980 when US airmen at the nuclear-armed twin airbase RAF Bentwaters-Woodbridge reported ‘unexplained lights’ (UFOs) hovering above Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk.
The ‘Rendlesham Forest’ incident happened at the height of the Cold War when tensions in Poland – then behind the Iron Curtain -were reaching crisis point. In the years that followed, the Ministry of Defence drew up secret plans to base US cruise missiles at RAF Greenham Common and US airbases in eastern England and was keen to avoid drawing attention to a persistent story about a UFO landing near one of them.
The military revealed their conclusion that ‘it was highly unlikely that any violation of UK airspace would be heralded by such a display of lights…[we] think it equally likely that any [Soviet] reconnaissance or spying activity would be announced in this way. ‘
Georgina Bruni revealed that she had quizzed Thatcher face-to-face about her knowledge of UFOs and Rendlesham.
The bizarre conversation took place in London at a charity cocktail party when Bruni was working on a book about Britain’s Roswell.
Bruni asked Thatcher het opinion on UFOs. She received this response:
‘“You must have the facts and you can’t tell the people
“You have to know the whole story, and never tell the public. There is only one answer here; Fear of aPanic.” These craft are 300 years ahead of us in technology; we are I believe playing a game of catch-up at Area 51 and Nellis AFB and this has been going on since 1947. Truman knew and so did MJ-12 with General McArthur.
Bill Sell writes, “Frank Edwards has some remarkable evidence recorded in his book Flying Saucers Serious Business and this book should be a mandatory reading for any true Ufologist. The US Government classified this subject two points above the Hydrogen Bomb according to Wilbert Smith.”
Brett Allen writes,“For some reason they (UFOs) seem to have an affinity where there is loss of life.” I just Googled “top states for UFO sightings” and 8 were the scene of Civil War death, one-the top in population, i.e.: deaths, and the other, gold. of course, top countries are in the war-torn Middle East.”
It amazes me so many “researchers” continue to miss the big picture, but then academia ignores the existence of our soul and so, what we are told in our most precious ancient texts is also ignored. So many today also offer opinions like “the Bible is all nonsense,”
Even the fact that (Wild Men, i.e.: Sasquatch) were included on Cathedral walls for a good reason they knew they were heavenly beings! But little by little, the truth is breaking through. Had you heard of last year’s Bigfoot revelation by top Bigfoot researchers who swore they watched a portal open up just like on the Skinwalker Ranch) during a Sasquatch investigation. They swore they could with a flashlight see another world inside.
Chewbacca of Star Wars movie fame looks a lot like Bigfoot.
The Native Americans have long used the same words to describe Sasquatch as Genesis uses to describe Nephilim – part man, part animal, part spirit – beings made by the “fallen” or descended Angels. They have long recounted these creatures as “spirit beings” even connected with the “noseless ones,” and often accompanied by light anomalies. Thanks to Brett Allen.
Saturn’s Moon Titan Has Structures and Life
Saturn’s Moon Titan Looks Like Earth with possible base at 2 above.
Saturn’s largest moon looks remarkably like Earth with a landscape of rivers, lakes, mountains, and volcanoes says Brigham Young’s University’s planetary science professor Jani Radebaugh. However, Titan, is inhospitable — the surface temperature is negative 289 degrees and the liquid isn’t water. It’s thought to be methane. Radebaugh has wrapped up a NASA-commissioned study that focused on radar images to map dunes on Titan’s surface and determine the prevailing winds. It was the first-time scientists have peered through Titan’s thick atmosphere to see the surface, and Radebaugh says they were surprised by the Earth-like features. Titan is the second largest moon in the Solar System and has an atmosphere. Huge craft have been photographed in the Rings of Saturn and life may exist on some of its Moons. the only moon known to have a dense atmosphere and the only object other than Earth for which unmistakable evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found
Titan has atmosphere, methane lakes and structures
Titan is the largest moon of Saturn and the second-largest natural satellite in the Solar System. It is the only moon known object in space other than Earth on which clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found.
Humanity could colonize Titan and NASA Hs spent probes to Titan which could be humanity’s best chance at a hospitable planet in our galaxy! Its temperature is very cold but could be warmed. Some sharpening and deepening were added to the Titan moon photos, bringing out detail structures on January 14, 2022. Could it be that Titan was an ancient space station? I noticed that this area was labeled maze or Labyrinth on the Titan map. A labyrinth is a complicated irregular network of paths in which it is difficult to find one’s way, a maze. By labeling this Titan area a maze or labyrinth, NASA has actually confessed to these structures existing!
Titan Moon Blowup Showing structures
Moons orbiting planets create their own heat due to gravity because the moon is on an inclined (tilted) orbit, passing above and below the equator of the planet, will have its tidal bulge constantly moving up and down. The movement of the bulge leads to friction and heat. Heat and water generally explain life as likely on Titan.
The radius of Titan is 2,574 km (1,600 miles) and that would put the width of this maze at about 70 km (43 miles) and the length to be over 400 km (250 miles) long. The walls of some parts of the maze very from .25-75 km (16 to 437 Miles) high. Thanks to Scott C. Waring – map:
Because Titan’s surface is mostly made of water ice, which is abundant in moons of the outer solar system, scientists believe Titan’s ocean underneath is likely mostly liquid water.
NASA Reveals First-Ever Photo of Liquid on another World
NASA scientists revealed a first-of-its-kind image from space showing reflecting sunlight from a lake on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. It’s the first visual evidence of liquid on the northern hemisphere of the moon, scientists said, and the first-ever photo from another world showing a “specular reflection” — which is reflection of light from an extremely smooth surface and in this case, a liquid one. “This is the first-time outside Earth we’ve seen specular reflection from another liquid from another body,” said Ralf Jaumann, a scientist analyzing data from the Cassini unmanned space probe. Photos are from the Cassini Spacecraft orbiting Saturn about a billion miles from Earth.
“It was great because if you look at photos of planets, you mostly see nothing is happening. But in two hours we saw a glint of light getting brighter. “Titan’s similarities to Earth have attracted NASA’s attention for decades. It’s the only body besides our own in the solar system that is believed to have liquid on its surface. Like Earth, Titan has an atmosphere which is mostly nitrogen. Experts believe the presence of liquid on a planet or moon improves the chances that some kind of life could develop there. The glint appears to be coming from the southern edge of a lake called Kraken Mare — a massive body of methane that covers about 150,000 square miles at minus-180 degrees Celsius. That’s larger than the Caspian Sea, which is the largest lake on Earth. Thanks to Thom Patterson,
Possible Life on Titan
Titan is the largest moon of Saturn and the only natural satellite known to have a dense atmosphere, and the only object other than Earth for which clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found. It is a planet-like moon with a diameter roughly 50% larger than moon. His planet has methane lakes that likely have life.
The Cassini-Huygens mission in 2004 discovered liquid hydrocarbon lakes in the moon’s Polar Regions that likely have methane-based life. The atmosphere is dense and opaque.
During a Cassini flyby in February 2007, radar and camera observations revealed several large features in the north polar region interpreted as large expanses of liquid methane and/or ethane, including one sea (Ligeia Mare) with an area of over 100,000 km (larger than Lake Superior), and another incompletely imaged region potentially the size of the Caspian Sea.
Lake on Titan Compared to Lake Superior at right
The surface is geologically young, although mountains and several possible cryovolcanoes have been discovered, it is smooth and few impact craters have been found. The atmosphere of Titan is largely composed of nitrogen; minor components lead to the formation of methane and ethane clouds and nitrogen-rich organic smog. Methane is formed during Methanogenesis a form of anaerobic respiration used by organisms that occupy landfills, termites, and various animals like cattle and deer. The methane indicates life is functioning on Titan.
Overall, the Cassini radar observations have shown that lakes cover only a few percent of the surface and are concentrated near the poles, making Titan much drier than Earth. The high relative humidity of methane in Titan’s lower atmosphere could be maintained by evaporation from lakes covering only 0.002 – 0.02% of the whole surface. A flyby of Titan’s southern Polar Regions revealed similar, though far smaller, lake like features. It is uncertain if plants are a source of methane emissions.
The moon is thought to be a possible host for microbial extraterrestrial life.
It’s thought to have a prebiotic environment rich in complex organic chemistry with a possible subsurface liquid ocean serving as a biotic environment. Thanks to NASA
Mel Riley 1987 Remote Viewing training
Description of Personnel Associated with ET Bases
Remote viewing (RV) is the practice of seeking impressions about a distant or unseen subject, purportedly sensing with the mind usually drawing pictures of the scene. Typically, a remote viewer is expected to give information about an object, event, person, or location that is hidden from physical view and separated at some distance.
Remote viewers have run into three types of alien entities associated with bases at various location within the Solar System.
TITAN Moon BASE All personnel observed at this based on 20 November 1986 appeared to be no different than native earthlings. There were two male technician types sitting at a control panel of some kind. Behind them stood and attractive female with brown shoulder length hair, wearing a pale green lab coat or smock. She appeared to be in some sort of supervisory role.
HAYES– is the highest mountain in the eastern Alaska Range. There appeared to be two types of entities associated with this site. The two entities located outside of the structure were accomplishing some sort of routine task. Unable to contact them or gain information of any sort. Inside the structure were two entities. One sitting at some sort of circular console with a round screen like object. The other was busy doing something in the background. The entity at the console appeared human in form. He seemed friendly enough and invited me to observe his actions at the console.
SOUTH AMERICA: There appeared to be two types of entities associated with this site also. The first had an exceptionally large, round shaped head on a slender neck with very unhuman in appearance. Almost robot like and unable to contact this being. The other entity was almost human like in appearance. His face was devoid of any hair, his complexion was very pale, facial features were very indistinct with the exception of a sharp, slender nose. This entity seemed friendly enough and appeared to (unreadable) CIA-RPD96-00789R003800110001-8
Titan Moon Has a River
River in Titan with color added to photo
This image from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft shows a vast river system on Saturn’s moon Titan. It is the first-time images from space have revealed a river system so vast and in such high resolution anywhere other than Earth. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI Stretching more than 200 miles from its headwaters toward a large and mysterious sea. It’s an incredible image–it has Earth-like meanders, oxbows, and general curvature, indicating it follows the trace of a fault line. This doesn’t necessarily mean Titan has plate tectonics like Earth does, but there are enough fractures in its bedrock to help form large basins. The Titan River is filled with liquid hydrocarbons, which scientists can tell because it appears dark throughout its length. This indicates it has a smooth surface.
Titan is the only other place in our solar system with a hydrologic cycle. Instead of water, it has liquid methane and ethane. It rains methane on Titan, and there are lakes made of ethane–the only other place where liquid exists in a stable form.
Astronaut Sheppard Golf’s on the Moon
Sheppard became the first and only golfer
Their mission was popular because Shepard became the first and only golfer on the moon, while Edgar Mitchell watched from the rover. Mitchell tossed a metal rod making the only “javelin” throws on the moon. Shepard later wrote that Mitchell remained “Mr. Unflappable” during the landing scare.”
Mitchell conducted a telepathy experiment he claimed a success on the three-day ride home that would give Mitchell notoriety. He thought humans weren’t the only intelligent life in the universe. Mitchell wrote in his 1996 autobiography. “It occurred to me that the molecules of my body and the molecules of the spacecraft itself were manufactured long ago in the furnace of one of the ancient stars that burned in the heavens about me.”
He left NASA in 1972 and founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences, which is dedicated to exploring the mysteries of the human mind and the universe. Later he devoted his life to exploring the mind, physics, and unexplained phenomena.
During a Television program with the Disclosure Project at the National Press Club, I was introduced by Astronaut Edgar Mitchell who told the audience to listen to what I had to say about UFOs. After the show, we were alone talking and Mitchell told me, “I signed a NASA strict security contract that I had seen no evidence of aliens; therefore, I didn’t see any evidence of aliens on the moon, but all my astronaut friends had.” I asked what was the UFO situation all about? He told me,
“The answer is in the Dead Sea Scrolls. I suggested the War Scroll of the war between the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness. He smiled and said, “That’s the one.”
He told me many of those involved in the Roswell UFO crash came to him because lived nearby, and he was sixth of twelve men who walked on the moon. They all told him the alien crash at Roswell was real. He stated, “I have met with credible professionals within two governments who have testified to their own firsthand experiences with close encounters. They include members of military, intelligence, and government whose official duties involved the extraterrestrial presence. As is expected, they were all bound by strict security oath agreements which prevented them from disclosing any of this.”
He claimed the U.S. government covered up evidence that aliens had landed here and even most generals, admirals and even presidents were not privy to the information. Mitchell courageously spoke out for the Disclosure of the truth, and I consider it a pleasure to have known him.
He may now learn the secrets of eternal life and the universe. He walked on the moon and now will explore heaven.
Intelligent Intervention
Intelligent Intervention www.examiner.com/Robert Steven Thomas has authored an excellent book entitled “Intelligent Intervention The missing link in human evolution.” Robert is a retired Executive and Multi-disciplined Historian and of course author. He delves into the creation of humanity and the evidence. As well as an advanced alien presence which includes the Anunnaki legacy. I like his approach to close minded individuals and I really enjoyed this interview and his book. I hope you do to. Presenting.
Tomas states. “The history of the last 200,000 years currently being taught in the schools of advanced nations is fundamentally flawed and outdated.” There are major missing chapters. Ironically, the information and knowledge which form these chapters is becoming increasingly evident as a result of new discovery during the last fifty years. To the detriment of mainstream science and education ignore knowledge of UFOs and aliens and refuse to deal with it in an honest, open exchange
One missing chapter involves the fact that Darwinism Evolutions does not provide a scientifically acceptable beginning for biological life on Earth. Science’s current explanation for the emergence of the first living, self-reproducing cell is a fairy story. The hypothesis of Random Formation is unacceptable and has been mathematically shown to be a statistical impossibility. The reason? Unimaginable complexity confirmed in a cell and in its DNA has been clearly recognized by many of the world’s leading cellular-biologists as self-evidently well beyond statistical random-chance. The development of eyes alone is a miracle.
Science’s Alleged Human Evolution
In another major area, science’s explanation for human evolution from Homo erectus to modern people (or roughly the last 200,000 years of evolution) is fatally flawed. There hasn’t been enough time for the rapid changes we have undergone described as “natural selection” and there simply are no missing links in the fossil record between the alleged animals as predicted and expected by science. None will ever be found because the theory is wrong.
In each of these two examples some form of intelligence is demanded and therefore “intervened” with human evolution – hence, Intelligent Intervention.
. In my book I refer to this concept of God as “Universal Intelligence” or (UI) for short. My years of research have led me to see UI as a scientifically recognizable force of nature. I expect Universal Intelligence will ultimately be established as one of the eleven dimensions predicted by String Theory.
Universal Intelligence was present in the Singularity which preceded the Big Bang and is the matrix upon which everything in the visible-material universe we see around us is formed. How we visualize Universal Intelligence depends on the words we use to describe it and the mental images those words convey. Use the correct modern words and Universal Intelligence is a logical, reasonable concept, not supernatural as both religion and science choose to claim. They each maintain their dogma in opposition to the overwhelming evidence to the contrary … because it is politically expedient for both.
Panspermia
The most scientifically sensible explanation for the existence of life on Earth is Panspermia. Tiny, hibernating, biological microbes finding their way to Earth embedded in the debris from another part of our Galaxy and taking seed here. And/or early life may have been sent and planted by a space-probe when the Earth’s surface was appropriate to sustain it by advanced beings from a nearby star. If we make it through the next century or so, humankind will discover there are intelligent, biological, life-forms dispersed throughout the Universe, all being infused with UI. Everything that experiences biological life has a dilute amount of the same force UI is composed of. The specific amount is based on the level of accumulated knowledge and intellect our soul accrues through the experiences of many past bio-forms and lifetimes. From my research,
I have concluded that advanced aliens are most certainly the ones which correctly explains how man evolved from a hairy beast to being able to travel to the moon and make plans to terraform Mars. Ancient aliens are the missing link. There is an overwhelming amount of solid evidence becoming known which substantiates alien intervention on Earth during the last 200,000 years.
Sumarian writing held by Zecharia Sitchin
The evolution of modern people only could have occurred with help as science, logic and direct evidence shows us. When you get right down to it, there are only four possibilities that have ever been presented in all of human history which account for the impossibly rapid evolution of humanity over the last 200,000 years, and also explain the existence of the archeological anomalies which we find all over the planet. They are:
1) Religious Creation Theology (A supreme Almighty God did it all)
2) Mainstream Scientific Materialism (It all happened by accident, randomly)
3) The Atlantis Theory (An unknown ancient culture evolved to a technologically high state naturally through the processes described by evolution and Scientific Materialism in remote history, then mysteriously vanished from the planet.
‘According to Sumerian writing advanced humanoid aliens visited and colonized Earth in early history. They upgraded our human genome and eventually mentored early humanity, teaching us some advanced skills, and also intermarrying with us. Modern humans are their children. Thanks to Roger Thomas
Congress Discusses UFOs/UAPs
With June comes increasing temperatures, and things are really heating up in the UFO world. Last month we saw the first congressional hearing concerning UFOs—now called UAPs—in over 50 years. ‘After many years of being taboo, discussions regarding UAPs are becoming mainstream. The hearing held on May 17 was the first congressional hearing since a push by then-Congressman Gerald Ford led to an Air Force report and a 1968 congressional hearing. In advance of the hearing, we spoke with numerous congressional officials, including those on the congressional panel, providing them with information and answering any questions they might have on UAPs. As an organization, we have long investigated UAP (unidentified aerial phenomena) sightings and have collected the critical data needed to educate the public on UAPs and their potential impact on society.
We applaud members of the United States House of Representatives and, specifically, the House Intelligence Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counter-proliferation (C-3) Subcommittee for holding a hearing on unidentified aerial phenomena. MUFON is dedicated to the scientific study of UFOs and UAPs in order to benefit humanity.
I am excited that Congress is taking this critical first step in disclosing what is known. Through our knowledge and database of sightings, we know that there are many unanswered questions. Averaging over 6,000 incoming reports per year, MUFON has been able to explain the preponderance of the sightings—although not all of them, of course. We hope that Congress and the Department of Defense continue to be transparent with the American people. We stand ready to assist the government in any capacity that will add to transparency and full disclosure. Thanks to MUFON.
Strange Craft
The True Story of an Air Force Intelligence Officer’s Life with UFOs
U.S. Air Force Major George Filer belongs to the generation of pilots and aviators who first became aware of the strange aircraft showing up in the Earth’s atmosphere after World War II. These men – military professionals who flew planes, served as radar operators and air traffic controllers at airfields around the world – began to whisper amongst themselves about encounters with suspected extraterrestrial aircraft.
During secret debriefings at U.S. bases, pilots and air crew told their commanders of seeing UFOs off their plane’s wings. Award-winning investigative author John Guerra spent four years interviewing Filer, a decorated intelligence officer.
From objects in the skies over Cold War Europe to a UFOs over during the Cuban Missile Crisis to lights over the DMZ in Vietnam Filer leaves nothing out about his Air Force UFO encounters,
Filer’s most memorable case – the shooting of an alien at Fort Dix Army Base in 1978 – is fully recounted for the first time in this book. As a member of the Disclosure Project, military experts, astronauts, and scientists urge the U.S. government to release all it knows about UFOs to the public.
Filer describes his UFO encounters in this incredible book, by John L. Guerra.
Special reports are: Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and UFOs, Saturn’s Moon Titan Looks Like Earth, Possible Life on Titan, Astronaut Sheppard Golf’s on the Moon, Intelligent Intervention, Congress Discusses UFOs/UAPs, Strange Craft and Carbon 60.
Unidentified Aerial Phenomena sightings were reported over Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Washington.
Unidentified Aerial Phenomena sightings were reported over Belgium, Canada, France, Mexico, Romania, and England in the United Kingdom.
The Filer Research Institute feels the scientific study of UFOs is for the benefit of humankind and is an important endeavor. The US Air Force and DOD investigated UFOs for more than forty years; and I continue this advanced research. I believe the God of the universe has spread life throughout the cosmos and UFOs are visiting us in ever-increasing numbers. The weekly intelligence report provides you with information on the latest sightings and UFO news that you need to understand the world situation.
Forward these files to your friends and neighbors.
UFO Sightings in the United States
Sightings are from MUFON CMS
Arizona Lights
Yumaon February 5, 2022, I stood outside my house to take a picture and did not see the UFO when picture was taken.
Note:One of the other lights in the photo could be Jupiter. I am not sure of the identity of the other light. I am not sure of the identity of the multiple lights highlighted in the above photo. Thanks to Will Pucket/www.ufosnw.com/newsite/
California Object
Irvineon May 28, 2022. I am a 26-year-old male who frequently does CE5 with my six-year-old daughter who noticed there were two enormous, shaped discs hovering directly southeast. My daughter said, “They were here for us.” We observed them for eight minutes.
Colorado Light
Auroraon June 16, 2022, m y fiancé and I looked up and saw a little white orb bouncing around and blinking. I went through my photos finding some extremely fast-moving objects. I noticed an odd-looking shaped object just hovering with no sound, just lights.
Florida Disc
Fort Lauderdale on July 10, 2022, I was taking a picture of a cool cloud formation near my home. I did not see the object and saw it in the picture.
Illinois Object
Gurneeon June 26, 2022, at 3 pm I was driving down Rollins Road near the corner of 45 & 132 when I noticed a bright shiny object in the sky. After 5 minutes I pulled over and started shooting pics of it. It started to move very slowly to the Southwest and flew away
Indiana Object
Lafitte on June 30, 2022, I saw 4 to 6 blinking orbs traveling back and forth in the sky with all red lights. it had white lights at tip like headlights with a red tail following. A loud airplane came through the sky and the object flew under the plane
Kansas Lights
Lovewellon June 19, 2022, I went to night fish at Lovewell Lake at 1 am. I look up and there’s a cloud with a bright floodlight inside it lighting up the cloud as it flew south till it disappeared. We saw a spinning physical vehicle that went down into the water.
Montana Tic Tac
Lake Blaineon June 29, 2022, I was driving west on the valley floor on Foothill Road. I witnessed a bright light floating low in the sky, so I turned my car around and began filming. This light cruised silent over a few house tops, and over me.
New Jersey Lights
Columbiaon June 18, 2022, I was searching a field for four leaf clovers with my 9-year-old niece. She pointed up and said, “Uncle Scott what is that?”. I saw a red, Tic Tac shaped object hovering at 400 feet high. It was oriented vertically and spinning along its axis.
Ohio Light
Delawareon July 5, 2022, I found this craft in 20 meters of shallow water. I have been researching UFOs since I was a kid. I’m 54 years old now, but when in recess at school we walked into a field and my friend pointed at a small person whose eyes were huge, we took off running from a typical grey alien.
Pennsylvania Light
Philadelphiaon July 3, 2022, I was at the Phillies game taking random pictures during the game. I was looking through my pictures later and I saw the object light. The photo is time stamped at 9:50 pm. The fireworks show didn’t start until well after 10 pm.
Tennessee Lights
Guld on July 3, 2022, multiple TicTac shaped UFOs found in personal photograph of skyline over Tennessee river. This occurred just before the fireworks display on July 3rd, 2022. Also in the photograph are “black holes.”
Washington Lights
Marysvilleon June 30th, 2022, at 11 PM I was in my hot tub and saw 2 separate orange orbs traveling at different paces and both seeming to appear and disappear instantly. I have a 1-minute-long video attached. Both orbs traveled o south along the same flight path. Note: The witness could have seen Chinese Lanterns. The winds aloft were from the north suggesting that the orbs were drifting with the wind. The description, video and still images suggest that the orbs were Chinese Lanterns. Thanks to Will Pucket/www.ufosnw.com/newsite/
Worldwide UFO Sightings
Belgium Disc
April 25, 2014 – Disc shaped UFO filmed passing near a passenger plane over Belgium in an amazing video. It was filmed by Eric Giavedoni’s 300 mm lens and published on UFOvni2012’s YouTube channel.
Canada Object
Montréal on July 1, 2022, very black dot flying in a straight line. It was very dark and no other shape or light visible. Might have been a drone but unlikely.
France Object
Vilsberg on October 15, 2014, motorist independently of the first, reports driving into the town at 11:45 p.m. She saw lights and a circular shape which puzzled. Reporting the facts, the two motorists will come into contact.
Mexico Object
Playa Del Carmen Qroo on July 2, 2022, walking down Colosio Avenue, I realize that it is not a plane, or kite. I take a couple of photos and it moves very strangely after 30 minutes. It gets dark and lights start flashing when it suddenly disappears
Romania Lights
Bucharest on July 11, 2022, bright orb that kind of blinked, it was just silent, pure white, glowing, and an exceptionally smooth motion, with varying flying speed.
UK/England Orb
London on June 26, and July 10, 2022, orb was spotted above Brixton Hill.
Mexborough on June 16, 2022, some of the videos are zoomed in and slowed down to capture the object passing by. First video the object passes by too quickly for the naked eye
Support Earth Changing Research
Help us increase our reach
Our outreach relies on the generosity of our supporters. Join us today. I have put together a DVD or flash drive of the last twenty years of Filer’s Files for you with hundreds of great photographs and UFO sightings that will explain the phenomena and the importance to your life and your family. Additionally, I have included my book within the DVD that includes George Ritter’s exciting abduction story told by Linda Moulton Howe. Broadcaster David E. Twichell joined me to write the book. We are asking for a donation of only $50 that includes next year’s subscription and our book. Please include your e-mail address and mailing address.
Buy a Great DVD
I have put together a DVD of the last twenty years of Filer’s Files for you with hundreds of great photographs and UFO sightings that will explain the phenomena and the importance to your life and your family. Additionally, I have included my book within the DVD that includes George Ritter’s exciting abduction story told by Linda Moulton Howe. Broadcaster David E. Twichell joined me to write the book. We are asking for a donation of only $50 that includes next year’s subscription and our book. Please include your e-mail address and mailing address.
Our research is uncovering amazing truths by solving challenging projects deemed too difficult by other firms. We have had some success in finding missing persons. We could use your help in getting more results from our research. I have put together a DVD of the last seventeen years of Filer’s Files for you with hundreds of great photographs and UFO sightings. Additionally, I have decided to include my book within the DVD that includes George Ritter’s exciting abduction story told by Linda Moulton Howe. Broadcaster David E. Twichell joined me to write the book. We are asking for a donation of only $50 that includes next year’s subscription and our book. Please include your e-mail address and mailing address.
Have been digging through the giant DVD you sent recently. As a relatively recent joiner, I was unaware of the years’ worth of consistent reports of the same types of objects all over. This has been very educational. Just wanted to thank you for all you’ve done. Bruce W. Freeman Attorney at Law
Sign me up right now for Filer’s Files.
JOIN MUFON!
Become a MUFON member today! Benefits of membership include a subscription to the monthly UFO Journal that contains current investigations, sightings reports, articles by world-renowned researchers and more. To join now, click here JOIN NOW
Filer’s Files is copyrighted 2015 by George A. Filer, all rights reserved. Readers may post the COMPLETE files on their Web Sites if they credit the newsletter and its editor by name, and list the date of issue. These reports and comments are not necessarily the OFFICIAL MUFON viewpoint. Send your letters to Majorstar Sending mail automatically grants permission for us to publish and use your name. Please state if you wish to keep your name or e-mail confidential. CAUTION MOST OF THESE ARE INITIAL REPORTS AND REQUIRE FURTHER INVESTIGATION. If you wish to stop receiving these files, please send a message to Majorstar
Filer’s Files salutes our fighting men and women; God Bless Our Troops, and Georgie, Elizabeth, and Victoria Filer, and Eddie Pedrick. May the Angels be your guide and take you to paradise.
Put another way, a young person in the U.S. is nearly 11 times as likely to die in a swimming pool than in a school shooting. Few public officials would say pools are doing a poor job protecting swimmers, but the statistics suggest that we need “more lifeguards at pools, as opposed to guards at schools,” Fox said
The Filer Research Institute feels the scientific study of UFOs is for the benefit of humankind and is an important endeavor. The US Air Force investigated UFOs publicly for more than twenty years under Project Blue Book; and I continue this advanced research. I believe the God of the universe has spread life throughout the cosmos and UFO’s are visiting us in ever-increasing numbers.
CAUTION MOST OF THESE ARE INITIAL REPORTS AND REQUIRE FURTHER INVESTIGATION. If you wish to stop receiving these files, please send a message to Majorstar@verizon.net.
Filer’s Files salutes our fighting men and women Georgie Filer and Eddie Pedrick my grandsons who both drowned. We pray that God will bless those who read these files spiritually.
Beste bezoeker, Heb je zelf al ooit een vreemde waarneming gedaan, laat dit dan even weten via email aan Frederick Delaere opwww.ufomeldpunt.be. Deze onderzoekers behandelen jouw melding in volledige anonimiteit en met alle respect voor jouw privacy. Ze zijn kritisch, objectief maar open minded aangelegd en zullen jou steeds een verklaring geven voor jouw waarneming! DUS AARZEL NIET, ALS JE EEN ANTWOORD OP JOUW VRAGEN WENST, CONTACTEER FREDERICK. BIJ VOORBAAT DANK...
Druk op onderstaande knop om je bestand , jouw artikel naar mij te verzenden. INDIEN HET DE MOEITE WAARD IS, PLAATS IK HET OP DE BLOG ONDER DIVERSEN MET JOUW NAAM...
Druk op onderstaande knop om een berichtje achter te laten in mijn gastenboek
Alvast bedankt voor al jouw bezoekjes en jouw reacties. Nog een prettige dag verder!!!
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.
New James Webb image of the 'phantom galaxy' that looks...
Solar storm creates stunning auroras across the northern US...
”
