Ameya Paleja

The discovery of stem cells and their ability to take the form of any cell type in the body has opened many doors in the field of medicine. From curing baldness to curing HIV, stem cells can be used everywhere.

However, sourcing stem cells has raised major ethical concerns. Found abundantly in the embryonic stages of cell growth, harvesting these cells requires the embryo to be destroyed before it is implanted in the female womb. So, researchers have been looking for an alternative way to source them and have even been successful in their search.

Making stem cells more "naive"

Studies have shown that stem cells are also present in small numbers in organs like the skin, which constantly undergoes renewal throughout our life. The process requires cells of different types, and that's where the multi-potency of stem cells comes in handy.

Jacob Hanna, a professor at the Molecular Genetics Department at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, however, developed a method that would take back such stem cells to a previous step, where they are more "naive". In a previous study, Hanna and his team demonstrated that their technology could make human stem cells so "naive" that they could even be injected into mice, where they would function as if they were mice's own.

In separate work, Hanna's team also developed a special incubator that has all the necessary conditions for the growth of an embryo. In 2021, a group of researchers grew 250 mouse embryos into fetuses with fully formed organs inside this artificial womb. What Hanna and his team wanted to know was if the incubator could also grow embryos that were sourced from stem cells.

Embryos from stem cells

The researchers then used naive stem cells that had been cultured for years in a petri dish in the lab. Before placing them into the special incubator, these cells were divided into three groups. While one was left untreated to grow into embryonic stem cells, the other two were pretreated for a period of 48 hours to express genes that were master regulators of either the placenta or yolk sac.

The cells were once again mixed together in the incubator and allowed to grow. While most failed to develop properly, 0.5 percent, or 50 of 10,000 cells, went on to become spheres, which then took the elongated form of embryos.

The researchers had labeled each group of cells differently, so they could the growth of the placenta and yolk sac outside the embryo. At day 8.5, nearly half of the normal gestation of 20 days in mice, these embryos displayed early organs such as the beating heart, blood stem cell circulation, a brain with well-shaped folds, a neural tube,, and an intestinal tract, a university press release said.

This is the first instance of a research group using stem cells to make advanced embryos, Hanna told the Times of Israel. "Our next challenge is to understand how stem cells know what to do – how they self-assemble into organs and find their way to their assigned spots inside an embryo."

Apart from helping reduce the use of animals in stem cell research, the techniques developed in his lab could one day also help become a reliable source of cells, tissues, and organs for transplantation.

The findings of the study were published in the journal Cell.

Abstract

In vitro cultured stem cells with distinct developmental capacities can contribute to embryonic or extra-embryonic tissues after microinjection into pre-implantation mammalian embryos. However, whether cultured stem cells can independently give rise to entire gastrulating embryo-like structures with embryonic and extra-embryonic compartments, remains unknown. Here we adapt a recently established platform for prolonged ex utero growth of natural embryos, to generate mouse post-gastrulation synthetic whole embryo models (sEmbryos), with both embryonic and extra-embryonic compartments, starting solely from naïve ESCs. This was achieved by co-aggregating non-transduced ESCs, with naïve ESCs transiently expressing Cdx2- and Gata4- to promote their priming towards trophectoderm and primitive endoderm lineages, respectively. sEmbryos adequately accomplish gastrulation, advance through key developmental milestones, and develop organ progenitors within complex extra-embryonic compartments similar to E8.5 stage mouse embryos. Our findings highlight the plastic potential of naïve pluripotent cells to self-organize and functionally reconstitute and model the entire mammalian embryo beyond gastrulation.

{ https://interestingengineering.com/ }

03-08-2022 om 23:36 geschreven door peter  

{ https://www.hln.be/ }

03-08-2022 om 23:21 geschreven door peter  

Beijing holds live fire naval drills opposite Taiwan after threatening to SHOOT DOWN US Speaker Nancy Pelosi as her Asia tour begins

• China is conducting live-fire military exercises in the waters around Taiwan

• The aggressive move comes as US Speaker Nancy Pelosi flies to the region

• She is slated to visit to Taiwan, first visit by high-ranking US official in 25 years

• Beijing reacted furiously, warning 'those who play with fire will be perished by it'

By WALTER FINCH FOR MAILONLINE

The Chinese military conducted live-fire exercises Saturday off its coast opposite Taiwan amid reports that US Speaker Nancy Pelosi is in the air on her way to the region.

The powder keg situation comes as China indicated it may shoot Pelosi's plane down if she attempts to land on the disputed island democracy, which Beijing claims as part of its territory.

Pelosi is thought to have set off late on Friday for her upcoming Asian tour, which may or may not include a visit to Taiwan, something that Beijing warned the US would 'bear all consequences' for.

If it goes ahead, it could precipitate the largest crisis in the Straits of Taiwan for almost 40 years. 

Beijing has reacted furiously to the prospective visit of the third ranking official in the US government to Taiwan. Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned President Joe Biden on Thursday that 'those who play with fire will perish by it.' 

'It is hoped that the US will be clear-eyed about this.'

The People's Liberation Army was conducting 'live-fire exercises' near the Pingtan islands off Fujian province, the official Xinhua News Agency announced. The Maritime Safety Administration warned ships to avoid the area.

US Speaker Nancy Pelosi is reported to be in the air on her way to the Asia-Pacifc region for the start of Japan, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia in August amid threats by China to shoot her down if she visits the island of Taiwan

Two vessels identified as a Chinese Type 052D destroyer and a Type 054A frigate were seen 27km and 23km away from the Taiwan Strait. Both are armed with surface-to-air missiles (file photos)

Xi warned Biden on the call, according to Chinese state media: 'Those who play with fire will only get burnt. Hope the US side can see this clearly'

President Joe Biden posted an image to his Twitter from a two-hour call Thursday morning with Chinese President Xi Jinping – the fifth between the two since Biden took office

Such exercises usually involve artillery. The one-sentence announcement gave no indication whether Saturday's exercise also might include missiles, fighter planes or other weapons.

Two other vessels - identified by Vietnam-based maritime observer Duan Dang as a Chinese Type 052D destroyer and a Type 054A frigate - were seen 27km and 23km away from the Taiwan Strait. Both are armed with surface-to-air missiles.

Meanwhile the Chinese navy was conducting military exercises off its southern coast near Guangdong, following exercises in nearby Hainan province. 

It is all seen as a show of force to dissuade Pelosi from visiting the island. As the leader of the co-equal legislative branch of the US government, Joe Biden has no authority to order her to abandon the visit.

Biden said last week the Pentagon thought a Taiwan trip was 'not a good idea.' 

'Well, I think that the military thinks it's not a good idea right now,' Biden said in response to a question about Pelosi's reported trip. 'But I don't know what the status of it is.' 

China has been ratcheting up the rhetoric as the crisis reaches boiling point, with the Chinese state-affiliated Global Times crowing, 'don't say we didn't warn you!' 

It is a phrase that China apparently used before fighting both India in 1962 and Vietnam in 1979.

And a commentator with Beijing mouthpiece the Global Times, Hu Xijn, called US fighter jets escorting Pelosi's plane into Taiwan an 'invasion'.

'The PLA has the right to forcibly dispel Pelosi's plane and the US fighter jets, including firing warning shots and making tactical movement of obstruction. If ineffective, then shoot them down,' he wrote on Twitter.

The visit, which a member of the House foreign affairs committee seemed to have confirmed will go ahead, will be the first visit by such a high-ranking American elected official in 25 years. 

Pictured: Taiwanese navy launches a US-made Standard missile from a frigate during the annual Han Kuang Drill, on the sea near the Suao navy harbor in Yilan county on July 2

China says Taiwan has no right to conduct foreign relations. It sees visits by American officials as encouragement for the island to make its decades-old de facto independence official. 

The PLA has flown growing numbers of fighter planes and bombers near Taiwan and has in the past fired missiles into shipping lanes to the island. 

In a Thursday phone call between the leaders of the two superpowers, the Chinese premier said he firmly opposes Taiwan independence and the interference of external forces. 

Biden expressed the US stance on the issue has not changed, according to a read out of the meeting.

'On Taiwan, President Biden underscored that the United States policy has not changed and that the United States strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,' the readout states.

'If she goes, there will definitely be a Taiwan Strait crisis, and it will definitely exceed the last one in 1995-1996,' Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, told the Financial Times. 

'That is because China's military capabilities by far exceed those of 26 years ago.'

Even so, most analysts believe China would be keen to avoid open military conflict with the US, which has military bases dotted around the region and the USS Ronald Reagan carrier group in the South China Sea. 

In spite of this reticence, the PLA has flown growing numbers of fighter planes and bombers near Taiwan and has in the past fired missiles into shipping lanes to the island.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war that ended with a communist victory on the mainland.

The two governments say they are one country but disagree over which is entitled to national leadership. They have no official relations but are linked by billions of dollars in trade and investment.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

03-08-2022 om 22:48 geschreven door peter  

The next 12-24 hours China will start military drills around Taiwan with live rounds, World News.

Me being a USAF vet I can't help be a little irritated that China is going to do this. Because Nancy Pelosi visited for about 24 hours, China announced punishment military drills with live rounds will take place. Well, she left a few hours ago and I expect I may be woken by Chinese or Taiwan military jets overhead again. Over the years, Chinese bombers armed with nukes have flown over us, daily Chinese fighter jets have come into Taiwan airspace, sometimes over cities, but Taiwan gov denies that. Also every time a Chinese jet shoots down a Taiwan jet, Taiwan gov announces it was pilot error, even though a pilot came out and said he was shot down by a fighter jet on Taiwan TV news...the gov retracted his statement. Taiwan tries to keep low key, but the time has come. Tomorrow is going to be bad. 

I will post updates to whats taking place. If I see dog fighting in the skies I will post video and keep you up to date. 

Everyone is a bit stressed out. Worried, that this may be the big one...where China takes over Taiwan. I hope Pelosi meant what she said about the US supporting us, otherwise, we are lost tomorrow. Taiwan cannot stand alone, and everyone here knows that too. 

Scott C. Waring - Taiwan 

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

03-08-2022 om 22:29 geschreven door peter  

People who saw it falling from the sky said that the orb emitted a sound but there was no fire. (A CCTV footage shows the orb moving through the sky before falling down - See video below.)

Luna, who posted several pages on this event on his Facebook account, suggests that it appears to be made of a very hard plastic or an alloy of various metals and apparently it has an antenna. 

Small holes are observed which are a kind of undecipherable codes, but no hole or slit through which it could be opened. This orb has a timing mechanism that, at a certain time, it will open on its own, showing the valuable information inside, Luna said. 

It is reported that early morning (03.15 am.) this Monday August 1, 2022 (which is just 3 and a half hours after the impact) a highly trained team of the secretary of the Navy of Mexico and/or the secretary of National Defense arrived on the spot with specialized equipment, encapsulating the orb with all precaution measures and protocols and transported the orb to an unknown destination beyond the borders of Mexico. 

Some people suggest that the orb is part of the Chinese rocket that fell to earth on July 30, 2022 but that seems impossible as the re-entry of the rocket was one day before the Mexico event as well as most of the rocket debris has fallen into the ocean close to Malaysia, even rocket debris have been found in Kalimantan, Indonesia and in Sarawak, Malaysia. 

It is clear that something has fallen from the sky in Mexico that the authorities want to keep secret.

The public will never hear about this mysterious orb again.

National Security issue: Closed!

  

03-08-2022 om 22:10 geschreven door peter  

LATEST UFO SIGHTINGS AND VIDEOS

Large UFO Seen Leaving What Appears to be The Moon's Atmosphere?

Large UFO caught leaving the moon, It appears to be punching through what little atmosphere the moon has as it leaves check it out and give me your opinion.

Video Source

• https://www.tiktok.com/search?lang=en...

(Did You Know) The Moon does have an atmosphere The three primary gases in the lunar atmosphere are neon, helium, and hydrogen, in roughly equal amounts. Small amounts of methane, carbon dioxide, ammonia, and water were also detected.

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://www.youtube.com/ }

03-08-2022 om 21:31 geschreven door peter  

What were those mysterious lights seen across San Diego?

What were those mysterious lights seen across San Diego?

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

NOTE PETER2011

San Diego flashing lights mystery finally has an explanation

The puzzling phenomenon was reportedly seen in San Diego and Tijuana

The mysterious lights floating over San Diego finally have an explanation.

On Monday evening, strange patterns of moving lights were seen floating above the city. Images and videos of the phenomenon quickly garnered attention on social media.

Strange lights in the San Diego sky prompted questions from social media users on Monday. 

( Sam Zarate / Local News X / TMX)

The levitating lights, described as orange in hue and in a definitive pattern, baffled observers who were left unconvinced that they were of natural origins — some others even suspected unidentified flying objects (UFOs) or alien origins, but the U.S. Coast Guard said they were actually from flares fired from a ship off the coast, KABC reported.

The puzzling pixels were reportedly from naval crews conducting flare training with expired flares, the Coast Guard said, per KGTV.

• SAN DIEGO SKIES LIGHT UP WITH MYSTERY LIGHTS, PROMPTING QUESTIONS FROM LOCALS

The lights were also reportedly seen in nearby Tijuana.

A witness told KGTV that she saw planes in the sky and boats in the water. She said the strange lights were brighter than the lights on the planes and those on the boat.

The witness, Natasha Reichart, also said the lights were definitively moving.

"These were coming back and going, moving different directions, and all of a sudden coming as a cluster together," Reichart told the outlet. "It was definitely not of this world."

Many people similarly online claimed to see the lights move or change formation

"Multiple floating lights over the ocean. Very still, very bright. Orange, reddish light. Patterns of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6," the user wrote.

Despite an official explanation, some people are still speculating the lights were not flares.

source: https://www.foxnews.com/ 

{ https://www.latest-ufo-sightings.net/ }

03-08-2022 om 21:10 geschreven door peter  

The universe keeps dying and being reborn, claims Nobel Prize winner

Sir Roger Penrose claims our universe has been through multiple Big Bangs, with more coming. Sir Roger Penrose, a mathematician and physicist from the University of Oxford who has just shared this year's Nobel Prize in physics, claims our universe has gone through multiple Big Bangs, with another one coming in our future.

• Updated version of the previous article.

Penrose received the Nobel for his working out mathematical methods that proved and expanded Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, and for his discoveries on black holes, which showed how objects that become too dense undergo gravitational collapse into singularities – points of infinite mass.

As he accepted the Prize, Penrose reiterated his belief in what he called "a crazy theory of mine" that the universe will expand until all matter will ultimately decay. And then a new Big Bang will bring a new universe into existence.

"The Big Bang was not the beginning," Penrose said in an interview with The Telegraph. "There was something before the Big Bang and that something is what we will have in our future. "What proof does the physicist have for this theory he dubbed "conformal cyclic cosmology" (CCC) that goes against the current Big Bang dogma? 

He said he discovered six "warm" sky points (called "Hawking Points") which are all about eight times larger than the diameter of the Moon. The late Professor Stephen Hawking, whose name they bear, proposed that black holes "leak" radiation and would eventually evaporate. As this might take longer than the age of the universe we are currently inhabiting (13.77 billion years old), spotting such holes is very unlikely.

Penrose (89), who collaborated with Hawking, thinks that we are, in fact, able to observe "dead" black holes left by previous universes or "aeons". If proven correct, this would also validate Hawking's theories.

The physicist's 2020 paper, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, offers evidence of "anomalous circular spots" in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) that have raised temperatures. The data revealing the spots came from Planck 70 GHz satellite and was confirmed by up to 10,000 simulations. Penrose's 2018 paper pinpointed radiation hot spots in the CMB as possibly being produced by evaporating black holes.

 A 2010 paper by Penrose and Vahe Gurzadyan from the Yerevan Physics Institute in Armenia found support for cyclic cosmology in the uniform temperature rings within the CMB. The scientists proposed then that the rings were caused by signatures of gravitational waves from colliding black holes in a universe that preceded ours.

These ideas are controversial within the cosmologist community, with some pointing to the difficulty of conforming an infinitely big universe in one aeon to a super-small one in the next. This would necessitate making all particles lose mass as the universe gets old.

Check out Penrose's most recent paper, titled "Apparent evidence for Hawking points in the CMB Sky" here.

For another fascinating Penrose theory, check out his views on the quantum-level origins of our consciousness.

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://www.thespaceacademy.org/ }

03-08-2022 om 00:54 geschreven door peter  

'Climate endgame' warning: Scientists warn global warming could trigger nuclear war, financial crisis or an extinction-level pandemic as soon as 2070

• Researchers used modelling to estimate the consequences of 3°C warming

• They suggest areas of extreme heat will cover two billion people by 2070

• These areas are some of the most politically fragile and most densely populated

By SHIVALI BEST FOR MAILONLINE 

With global temperatures continuing to rise, a new study has warned that we are inching dangerously close to a 'climate endgame'.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge claim that global heating could trigger nuclear war, financial crisis or an extinction-level pandemic as soon as 2070.

Based on their findings, the researchers are calling for authorities to start preparing for such events.

'There are plenty of reasons to believe climate change could become catastrophic, even at modest levels of warming,' said Dr Luke Kemp, lead author of the study.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge claim that global heating could trigger nuclear war, financial crisis or an extinction-level pandemic as soon as 2070 

'Climate change has played a role in every mass extinction event. It has helped fell empires and shaped history. Even the modern world seems adapted to a particular climate niche.

'Paths to disaster are not limited to the direct impacts of high temperatures, such as extreme weather events. 

'Knock-on effects such as financial crises, conflict, and new disease outbreaks could trigger other calamities, and impede recovery from potential disasters such as nuclear war.'

In the study, the team used modelling to estimate the consequences of 3°C (5.4°F) warming and beyond.

Their estimations indicate that areas of extreme heat where annual average temperatures are over 29°C (84°F) will cover two billion people by 2070.

Worryingly, these areas are some of the most politically fragile, as well as the most densely populated, according to the team.

'Average annual temperatures of 29 degrees currently affect around 30 million people in the Sahara and Gulf Coast,' said co-author Chi Xu of Nanjing University.

'By 2070, these temperatures and the social and political consequences will directly affect two nuclear powers, and seven maximum containment laboratories housing the most dangerous pathogens.

'There is serious potential for disastrous knock-on effects.'

The researchers propose that research is needed in four key areas, which they call the 'four horsemen' of the climate endgame.

These are famine and malnutrition, extreme weather, conflict, and vector-borne diseases.

This map shows the overlap between state fragility, extreme heat, and nuclear and biological catastrophic hazards

Co-author Professor Kristie Ebi from the University of Washington said: 'We need an interdisciplinary endeavour to understand how climate change could trigger human mass morbidity and mortality.' 

Global food supply is at threat amid rising temperatures, with increasing risk of 'breadbasket failures' as the world's most agriculturally productive areas suffer 'collective meltdowns', according to the researchers.

More extreme weather could also create conditions for new disease outbreaks, as habitats for both people and wildlife shift and shrink.

Meanwhile, the risk of 'interacting' threats such as democratic breakdowns and new forms of destructive AI weaponry is also likely to increase alongside rising temperature.

For example, the researchers say that 'warm wars' could become common, in which technologically enhanced superpowers fight over both dwindling carbon space and giant experiments to deflect sunlight and reduce global temperatures.

'The more we learn about how our planet functions, the greater the reason for concern,' said co-author Prof Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

'We increasingly understand that our planet is a more sophisticated and fragile organism. 

'We must do the math of disaster in order to avoid it.'

Professor Kemp concluded: 'We know that temperature rise has a "fat tail", which means a wide range of lower probability but potentially extreme outcomes. 

'Facing a future of accelerating climate change while remaining blind to worst-case scenarios is naive risk-management at best and fatally foolish at worst.'

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ }

03-08-2022 om 00:21 geschreven door peter  

{ https://www.theguardian.com/ }

02-08-2022 om 23:49 geschreven door peter  

02-08-2022 om 23:37 geschreven door peter  

Former Navy Fighter Pilot Ryan Graves Speaks on Fighter Jets, UFOs and Aliens - Lex Fridman Video Podcast 308

Lt. Ryan Graves is a former Navy fighter pilot, who has worked on advanced research and development programs for DARPA, Office of Naval Research and Air Force Research Labs.

For this 1 August 2022 video, Lt. Graves talks on topics of multi-agent collaborative autonomy, AI-assisted air-to-air combat and manned-unmanned teaming technologies. He and other people in his squadron have detected and engaged with UFOs on multiple occasions, and Lt. Graves remains one of the few fighter pilots willing to speak publicly about these experiences. 

• https://youtu.be/qLDp-aYnR1Y

OUTLINE:

0:00 – Introduction
1:18 – Top Gun analysis
14:23 – Fighter jets
1:01:50 – UFO sightings
1:28:18 – Congressional hearing
1:36:19 – Tic Tac UFO & Gimbal UFO
1:50:45 – Alien life
2:04:07 – Autonomous weapon systems
2:21:15 – Advice for young people
2:29:30 – Meaning of life

RELATED VIDEOS, selected and posted by peter2011

{ https://beforeitsnews.com/ }

02-08-2022 om 22:22 geschreven door peter  

Caught U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi Plane Landing, Taipei, Taiwan, Video, Aug 2, 2022 World News.

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

02-08-2022 om 21:52 geschreven door peter  

On July 27, 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope released an image of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot using one of its infrared cameras. 

 The image above contains a cylindrical-shaped object floating high above Jupiter’s atmosphere that appears to be more than a thousand miles long. The image corroborates claims of giant spacecraft recently arriving in our solar system and parking in the vicinity of Jupiter. 

These giant motherships are not only arriving and parking near Jupiter, they are also seen near other planets like Saturn and even the Sun as well as other places in space. 

Below images show some of these huge motherships captured near the Sun and in Space which are comparable in size to the UFO floating high above Jupiter’s atmosphere. 

There is clear evidence of the existence of interstellar alien spacecraft, but the US government and NASA are still silence about these giant motherships traveling through our solar system.

  

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

02-08-2022 om 21:38 geschreven door peter  

Astronautics Expert Reacts to UFO Videos

As the United States military releases new unseen footage of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, or UAPs, otherwise known as UFOs, the general public has questions. USC lecturer Madhu Thangavelu breaks down the videos and helps us make sense of what we are seeing.

{ https://www.latest-ufo-sightings.net/ }

02-08-2022 om 21:23 geschreven door peter  

MICAH HANKS

In June, China announced the detection of high-pressure minerals in regolith samples recovered by its Chang’e-5 lunar exploration mission, evidence that points to impact ejecta near craters where the probe collected its samples.

As China’s first sample-return mission and its fifth lunar exploration effort, the minerals detected by the Chang’e-5 mission are helping scientists determine the origins of impact features on the Moon. According to the state-run Global Times, researchers with the Institute of Geochemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences detected fragments of two minerals—stishovite and seifertite—in samples collected.

“This marks the first time for seifertite to be found in the samples from outside the Earth,” the Times reported, adding that silicon dioxide and silica glass were also found in the samples. Based on heat and pressure application that simulated conditions of an impact, the scientists were able to narrow down the likely source of the silicon dioxide debris to one of Chang’e-5’s most interesting sampling areas: the Aristarchus crater.

One of the brightest features visible on the lunar surface, the Aristarchus crater exists on the northwesternmost portion of the Moon’s Earth-facing side. Comprising an impact feature that is deeper than the Grand Canyon, this region has long been a target of astronomers for its high albedo—that is, the amount of light it reflects—which is close to double the brightness of other features visible on the Moon.

However, the Aristarchus crater is known for more than just its unusually high albedo. Since the early 19th century, astronomers have reported observations of peculiar flashes of light that periodically emanate from near the center of the large impact feature, the source of which has long remained a mystery.

Wide Angle Camera (WAC) images captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter of the Aristarchus crater, showing distinct color differences in the ejecta from the impact event which created it. Note the particularly bright area along the central peak, indicated by the arrow in the image above

(Credit: NASA/GSFC/ Arizona State University).

THE ARISTARCHUS ANOMALY: A BRIEF HISTORY OF AN ASTRONOMICAL PUZZLE

In 1836, Captain W. Smyth published a letter in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society where he told of seeing “a light, resembling that of a star of the 9th or 10th magnitude,” which he said, “appeared by glimpses, but at times was brilliant, and visible for several seconds together.” In his letter, Smyth remarked that “there can be no doubt of its being the identical spot mentioned by Cassini, Sir W. Herschel, and Captain Kater; and also that described by Dr. Maskelyne,” noting similar earlier observations dating back more than a century earlier.

Sightings of anomalous luminosity around or from within the Aristarchus crater have occurred in more recent times, also. In an account detailed by Ron Emanuel in the November 1965 edition of Understanding, the author noted observations of a single bright point of light, likened in appearance to a star, that seemed to originate from the center of the crater.

So what is the source of the unusual, “star-like” luminosity that so many astronomers have spotted while peering through telescopes at the Aristarchus crater?

When an impact occurs on the Moon, the peaks of craters are formed as the lunar crust rebounds following the immense pressures that such events produce. “The energies of impacts are so high that rocks no longer behave as brittle solids,” according to data included with a 2010 NASA Image Feature on the website of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, “but rather as deformable plastic.” This almost fluid-like behavior of the Moon’s crust causes the bottom of the crater to rebound, driving up material from deep below the surface and forming the central peak present within many lunar craters.

According to NASA, “In the case of Aristarchus crater, the central peak contains rocks with three very different albedos. As these materials erode out of the central peak they slide downslope, creating contrasting stripes.”

“The highest albedo material reflects about four times as much light as the lowest albedo rocks,” the NASA FAQ page says, describing conditions that very likely can account for the appearance of a much brighter region within the Aristarchus crater that, under the right conditions, might even appear to be star-like in its bright appearance.

And as it turns out, some of the mineralogical data collected by the Chinese Chang’e-5 mission may be able to offer additional insights into the phenomenon behind the centuries-old Aristarchus anomaly.

NEW PERSPECTIVES ON A CENTURIES-OLD MYSTERY

According to the NASA data, “The high albedo material is most likely a common lunar rock type, anorthosite,” a material that is already known to form most of the lighter areas of the lunar crust, while darker areas are formed from basaltic material.

“On the other hand,” the article suggests, “perhaps we are seeing a more silicic rock akin to granite? Such silica-rich rocks are known to form on the Moon, we just do not know much about their origin and locations.”

Intriguingly, in the recent samples collected by China’s Chang’e-5 probe, “it was determined that the silicon dioxide debris may have come from the Aristarchus impact crater in the Chang ‘e-5 sampling area,” the Global Times reported. Based on the likelihood that the silicon dioxide debris recovered by the Chinese probe has its origins from within the Aristarchus crater, it would appear to lend weight to NASA’s previous speculations about the presence of silicic rock accounting for some of the high albedo observed in the center of the crater.

Another clue regarding the conditions that may give rise to the peculiar light effects of the Aristarchus crater involves the central uplift area within the crater, where much of the higher albedo material is exposed. When sunlight strikes these lighter areas—which, as has been suggested, may be rich in both bright silica-rich rocks and minerals, as well as darker (but potentially reflective) pyroclastic glasses—the effect under proper conditions might indeed produce what resembles a bright flash of light from the center of the crater.

The central peak located within the center of the Aristarchus crater

(Credit: NASA/GSFC/ Arizona State University).

Although humans have yet to visit Aristarchus during manned Moon missions, the prominent crater was considered as a possible landing site during the Apollo era, and the same would no doubt hold true for future missions to Earth’s natural satellite. Fortunately, learning about the unique geology of the crater may not require astronauts to have to actually climb the massive central peak of the crater to learn more about this unique region of the lunar surface.

“Future astronauts exploring Aristarchus crater could easily sample materials from the highest point of the central peak without actually having to climb to the summit,” reads a NASA FAQ page. Rather, astronauts on such missions “will simply browse the samples delivered to the base!”

RED MOON RISING: OTHER ARISTARCHUS ANOMALIES

Interestingly, the Aristarchus crater is host to more than one unusual luminous phenomenon that astronomers have observed over the years. There are also several recorded observations of an odd, reddish haze or glow that astronomers have witnessed around the crater. One such instance occurred on October 13th, 1959, as astronomer E.H. Rowe was observing the moon at approximately 7 PM from near Devon, UK.

“While observing the Moon with a 36-inch telescope my attention was directed to the crater Aristarchus,” Rowe said, describing a flash of light he said was “brilliantly white in color.” However, following his sighting of the bright flash, Rowe observed something even more spectacular.

“I was surprised to see a delicate yet bright reddish-amber glow in or near Aristarchus clearly outlined against the white background,” Rowe later wrote of his observation. “It was visible for only a few seconds. After it disappeared no trace remained to show it had been there.”

Rowe was not the last observer who would describe seeing red or amber-colored lights appear near the Aristarchus crater. Just four years later, clusters of red lights were observed by astronomers at the Lowell Observatory between October 29 and November 27 over the nearby Herodotus crater, followed by a series of reddish spots observed “clustered in an oval formation along the south rim of the crater Aristarchus” on the evening of November 27.

The following month, a similar observation was made by astronomer T. Sato at the Rakurakuen Planetarium in Hiroshima, Japan. Sato’s observation followed a similar observation by seven astronomers who similarly described seeing a pinkish haze over the southern edge of Aristarchus, which they said began to drift in the direction of the Herodotus crater. Then, less than a year later, Saul Genatt, at the time the station manager of the on-site optical research facility at Goddard Space Flight Center, along with an electronic technician named Edwin Reid, observed similar bands of colored light that appeared over Aristarchus.

Aristarchus crater (left) and the nearby Herodotus crater (right), located near the southernmost edge of the Cobra head, a feature produced by an ancient volcanic vent

(Credit: NASA/GSFC/ Arizona State University).

“Mr.Genatt said that through a 16-inch telescope they saw two distinct reddish bands over the southern part of the crater and a bluish band over the northern part,” read an account of their observations in the November 1965 edition of Understanding. “The bands were roughly parallel and the reddish bands were of equal thickness – about four or five miles. The longest reddish band was about 35 miles in length.”

The colors were very prominent at first,” Genatt was quoted saying. “The reddish bands were really red and the other was quite blue. As time passed the intensity of the colors weakened.”

The cause behind these peculiar, colorful observations likely also has their source in the unique mineral content of the Aristarchus crater. “The area has long been known to be among the reddest spots on the Moon,” reads a FAQ page with data about the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC), “meaning its reflectance strongly increases from short to long wavelengths.” Wide Angle Camera (WAC) images obtained by the LROC have offered excellent color images in recent years featuring this red-hued region of the crater, which, like the crater’s highly reflective central peak, “is largely blanketed by the glass-rich products of explosive volcanic eruptions.” (Editor’s Note: For another possible explanation of these and other transient lunar phenomena, or TLPs, see this FAQ page made available at the website of Columbia University which proposes lunar outgassing as another possible mechanism for such events).

While the Moon certainly keeps a few mysteries that will serve as fodder for future explorations—both of the manned variety, and those carried out remotely—it seems that our expanding knowledge of lunar geology is helping us close in on the peculiar Aristarchus anomalies, which have captured the imaginations of curious astronomers now for centuries.

• Micah Hanks is Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. Follow his work at micahhanks.com and on Twitter: @MicahHanks. 

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02-08-2022 om 00:42 geschreven door peter  

Footprints of 88 adults and children dating back 12,000 years to the ICE AGE are discovered in salt flats of Utah desert

• Ghost tracks are given to ancient footprints that only appear when there is enough water in the ground, but then disappear when the area becomes dry again

• These footprints were discovered in the Utah desert on an Air Force base and were made 12,000 years ago

• Researchers found a total of 88 human footprints that belonged to both adults and children ages five to 12 

• The team found two open-air fire pits and evidence of the earliest human tobacco use just a half-mile away 

By STACY LIBERATORE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Approximately 88 human 'ghost tracks' have been discovered in salt flats of Utah's Great Salt Lake desert that are believed to be more than 12,000 years ago and only appear when there is just the right amount of moisture – and then disappear when there it is not.

A team of researchers led by Cornell University determined the prints belonged to adults and children who were walking through shallow water during the Ice Age, when the now dry landscape was cloaked in wetlands. The sand in the water quickly filled in their footprints, but mud underneath kept the prints intact.

Because the sand holds more moisture than the surrounding sediment, the right amount of water will make the footprints stand out among the tan colored ground - but then disappear again when the ground dries up.

However, the group found much more than they bargained for – a half-mile away was the oldest evidence of human tobacco use.

Scroll down for video 

Pictured are a set of the ghost tracks. The prints can be seen moving away from the closest and are visible in a darker shade than the ground

Ghost tracks in the sand: The 12,000-year-old human footprints were discovered on a US Air Force base in Utah. Experts say they were made by both adults and children 

About 33 percent of Utah is desert and is the second driest state in the US after Nevada, but thousands of years ago the area was damp and even after the end of the last Ice Age when glaciers retreated the area was still wetter than it is today.

A shift in climate turned the wetlands into a wasteland, along with Utah's landlocked location that cut off moisture-laden ocean winds.

The change in landscape, however, is what kept the 12,000-year-old ghost tracks preserved.

Cornell's Thomas Urban was called to the US Air Force's Utah Testing and Training Range when someone spotted bizarre formations appearing on the ground.

The ancient humans were walking through shallow waters at the time. Their prints were filled in by sand, but mud at the bottom kept the formation. Because the sand holds more moisture than the surrounding sediment, when there is enough water in the ground the prints become darker on the surface

Experts investigated the subsurface of the ground and when dug out the prints when they could confirm their location. Pictured on the right is Daron Duke with the Far Western Anthropological Research Group. He confirmed the prints were made by adults and children

Urban instantly knew he was looking at ancient prints because he had previously investigated the earliest known human footprints in the Americas that were unearthed at White Sands National Park in New Mexico.

The researchers deployed a ground-penetrating radar survey, which provides a non-invasive way of investigating the subsurface, on two visible sets of tracks.

Daron Duke, of Far Western Anthropological Research Group, who worked alongside Urban, carefully excavated a subset of the prints.

The team used a method to investigate the subsurface without disturbing this, allowing them to locate the prints. Pictured is a model the technology created

Afterwards, Duke confirmed the individuals were barefoot and included young children from the age of five through 12.

Urban was working at the request of Duke, who had previously found two open-air hearths, the floor of a fireplace, on the military base that also dated to the end of the Ice Age - and one is where he discovered evidence of human tobacco use. 

'We have long wondered whether other sites like White Sands were out there, and whether ground-penetrating radar would be effective for imaging footprints at locations other than White Sands, since it was a very novel application of the technology,' Urban said in a statement. 'The answer to both questions is 'yes.''

While the Utah site is not as old and may not be as extensive as White Sands, Urban said there may be much more to be found, and the team said they will release a full study in the near future.

The New Mexico footprints were discovered in 2021 and dated to be 23,000 years old.

While the Utah site is not as old and may not be as extensive as White Sands (pictured), Urban said there may be much more to be found, and the team said they will release a full study in the near future. The New Mexico footprints were discovered in 2021 and dated to be 23,000 years old

British and American archaeologists uncovered the prints in soft mud adjoining Alkali Flat, a dry lakebed in the southern region of the state.

Using radiocarbon dating of seed layers above and below the tracks, experts from the U.S. Geological Survey dated the footprints as having been made over a period of at least 2,000 years.

For decades it's been generally held that homo sapiens first entered North America between 13,000 and 16,000 years ago — after the melting of the North American ice sheets opened up migration routes and much later than study co-author Sally Reynolds and her colleagues suggest.

Few archaeologists have claimed reliable evidence for human habitation older than about 16,000 years.

Read more:

• Ice Age human footprints discovered in Utah desert | Archaeology Program

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01-08-2022 om 23:37 geschreven door peter  

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01-08-2022 om 23:17 geschreven door peter  

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01-08-2022 om 23:01 geschreven door peter  

Planet 9 is Running out of Places to Hide

We have a pretty good idea of what lurks within our solar system. We know there isn’t a Mars-sized planet orbiting between Jupiter and Saturn, nor a brown dwarf nemesis heading our way. Anything large and fairly close to the Sun would be easily spotted. But we can’t rule out a smaller, more distant world, such as the hypothetical Planet 9 (or Planet 10 if you want to throw down over Pluto). The odds against such a planet existing are fairly high, and a recent study finds it even less likely.

Many astronomers have wondered about the existence of planets that might hide at the edge of our solar system, particularly when the power of our telescopes were fairly limited. But as large sky surveys started to scan the heavens they found nothing beyond asteroid-sized worlds. But the orbits of the worlds we did find seemed to be clustered in a statistically odd way, as if they were being gravitationally perturbed by a larger object. If that were the case, this “Planet 9” would have a mass of about five Earths, and an orbital distance of a few hundred to a thousand astronomical units. In other words, just small enough and distant enough that it wouldn’t be easily seen in sky surveys.

Naturally, this motivated folks to search for the world, but it isn’t easy. Planet 9 would be too distant to be seen by reflected light, so you’d have to look for it by its faint infrared glow. And with a mass of only five Earths, it wouldn’t give off much heat. Adding to this is the fact that such a distant planet would orbit very slowly, such that within a single set of observations you wouldn’t notice it move at all. This is where this new study comes in.

To look for distant planets, the team used two infrared sky surveys, one from the InfraRed Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and one from the AKARI Space Telescope. The two surveys were taken more than twenty years apart, giving any hypothetical planet plenty of time to move to a slightly different part of the sky. They assumed any distant planets would be fairly close to the equatorial plane, then combed through the data taking note of potential planets.

Surprisingly, they found more than 500 candidates. Based on the energy distribution of their spectra, most of these candidates had orbital distances less than 1,000 AU, and masses less than Neptune, which is exactly the range expected for Planet 9. But you shouldn’t get too excited. When the team looked at the infrared signatures by hand, they found none of them were that compelling. Most of them tended to be either within or near a faint integrated flux nebula, also known as galactic cirrus. They are diffuse clouds of interstellar gas that aren’t easily seen at visible wavelengths, but rather emit infrared light.

So it turns out these candidates aren’t planets, but rather the echoes of a faint nebula. Which pretty much rules out Planet 9. Hopes of another planet lost in the clouds.

Reference: 

• Sedgwick, Chris, and Stephen Serjeant. “Searching for giant planets in the outer Solar System with far-infrared all-sky surveys.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2207.09985 (2022).

The post Planet 9 is Running out of Places to Hide appeared first on Universe Today.

Source: 

• https://www.universetoday.com/156975/planet-9-is-running-out-of-places-to-hide/

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01-08-2022 om 21:42 geschreven door peter