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.
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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 Ontdek de Fascinerende Wereld van UFO's en UAP's: Jouw Bron voor Onthullende Informatie!
Ben jij ook gefascineerd door het onbekende? Wil je meer weten over UFO's en UAP's, niet alleen in België, maar over de hele wereld? Dan ben je op de juiste plek!
België: Het Kloppend Hart van UFO-onderzoek
In België is BUFON (Belgisch UFO-Netwerk) dé autoriteit op het gebied van UFO-onderzoek. Voor betrouwbare en objectieve informatie over deze intrigerende fenomenen, bezoek je zeker onze Facebook-pagina en deze blog. Maar dat is nog niet alles! Ontdek ook het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt en Caelestia, twee organisaties die diepgaand onderzoek verrichten, al zijn ze soms kritisch of sceptisch.
Nederland: Een Schat aan Informatie
Voor onze Nederlandse buren is er de schitterende website www.ufowijzer.nl, beheerd door Paul Harmans. Deze site biedt een schat aan informatie en artikelen die je niet wilt missen!
Internationaal: MUFON - De Wereldwijde Autoriteit
Neem ook een kijkje bij MUFON (Mutual UFO Network Inc.), een gerenommeerde Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in de VS en wereldwijd. MUFON is toegewijd aan de wetenschappelijke en analytische studie van het UFO-fenomeen, en hun maandelijkse tijdschrift, The MUFON UFO-Journal, is een must-read voor elke UFO-enthousiasteling. Bezoek hun website op www.mufon.com voor meer informatie.
Samenwerking en Toekomstvisie
Sinds 1 februari 2020 is Pieter niet alleen ex-president van BUFON, maar ook de voormalige nationale directeur van MUFON in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Dit creëert een sterke samenwerking met de Franse MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP, wat ons in staat stelt om nog meer waardevolle inzichten te delen.
Let op: Nepprofielen en Nieuwe Groeperingen
Pas op voor een nieuwe groepering die zich ook BUFON noemt, maar geen enkele connectie heeft met onze gevestigde organisatie. Hoewel zij de naam geregistreerd hebben, kunnen ze het rijke verleden en de expertise van onze groep niet evenaren. We wensen hen veel succes, maar we blijven de autoriteit in UFO-onderzoek!
Blijf Op De Hoogte!
Wil jij de laatste nieuwtjes over UFO's, ruimtevaart, archeologie, en meer? Volg ons dan en duik samen met ons in de fascinerende wereld van het onbekende! Sluit je aan bij de gemeenschap van nieuwsgierige geesten die net als jij verlangen naar antwoorden en avonturen in de sterren!
Heb je vragen of wil je meer weten? Aarzel dan niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Samen ontrafelen we het mysterie van de lucht en daarbuiten.
29-01-2026
Military 3D Printing: How is Additive Manufacturing Changing the Defense Industry
Military 3D Printing: How is Additive Manufacturing Changing the Defense Industry
Imagine that essential parts for military equipment are produced not in months, but in days, or even hours, directly on the battlefield.
This isn’t a glimpse into a distant future; it’s happening right now. Armed forces from various nations are rapidly adopting 3D printing, drawn by its potential to slash costs and dramatically boost operational readiness.
How 3D Metal Printers Are Changing Modern War in Ukraine
Take, for example, the remarkable achievement of constructing a submarine hull in just four weeks using 3D printing, slashing costs by up to 90%. It’s advancements like these that have propelled the global military 3D printing market from $0.88 billion in 2021 to an expected $7.5 billion by 2031.
This rapid growth is not just about economics or innovative solutions; it reflects a profound transformation in military logistics and manufacturing, recognized by 70% of industry leaders.
In this article, we’ll focus on exploring how this game-changing technology is making such a significant impact and what it means for the future of military strategies.
How Does 3D Printing Help the Military?
In military operations, 3D printing is making a statement particularly in repair and maintenance. Over 40% of defense sector users now rely on additive manufacturing for these purposes, with expectations to double this usage as metal additive technologies evolve.
Armies are leveraging 3D printing to consolidate upwards of 70 different parts into a single component, which streamlines both logistics and maintenance workflows. This capability is crucial, especially in conflict zones where traditional supply chains are disrupted, enabling field-deployable printers to significantly accelerate equipment repairs.
The strategic use of 3D printing also reduces supply chain costs considerably. Many organizations report that integrating 3D printing into their operations has enabled them to merge multiple parts into single assemblies, reducing complexity and cost.
The distributed manufacturing capability of 3D printing proves essential for rapid deployments and efficient on-site repairs, underscoring its importance in maintaining continuous military readiness in remote locations.
How Additive Manufacturing is Changing the Defense Industry | Markforged & Gamma Rotors
How is 3D Printing Used in the Military?
3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is revolutionizing the military and defense industries by providing unprecedented flexibility and efficiency in the production of critical components.
Additive manufacturing technology enables on-demand manufacturing of parts, significantly reducing lead times from months to just hours or days, even in remote or combat zones. As a result, military forces can maintain higher levels of operational readiness, with the ability to produce necessary parts directly at field bases, on ships, or via mobile units.
One of the most transformative aspects of 3D printing in the military is its ability to digitally scan broken parts and produce exact replicas or improved versions with minimal downtime. This not only ensures the sustainability of essential equipment but also allows for rapid adaptation to changing battlefield conditions.
The integration of 3D printing has become so profound that it affects the entire product lifecycle within the military—from initial design to field sustainment. This shift has prompted over 90% of existing military users to plan further expansions of their additive manufacturing capabilities.
In addition to creating spare parts for drones and unmanned systems, 3D printing plays a crucial role in sustaining older or out-of-production military equipment.
By allowing for the production of parts that are no longer available, 3D printing helps keep vital vehicles and systems operational.
Field printers, often ruggedized for use in harsh environments, are now standard equipment for units needing to perform battle damage repairs quickly and efficiently near the front lines.
Key Qualification, Certification, and Quality Assurance Considerations
In the military and defense sectors, the adoption of 3D printing technologies goes hand in hand with rigorous qualification, certification, and quality assurance processes to ensure that components meet stringent standards.
Each part produced must consistently demonstrate the required strength, flexibility, and be free from defects to qualify for use in military-grade applications.
Certification processes are critical to establishing trust in the efficacy and reliability of 3D printed parts. These processes often involve extensive testing, including X-ray and CT scanning, to verify the integrity and internal structure of components.
Moreover, maintaining repeatable quality across different printing locations necessitates standardized equipment calibration, secure digital file transfers, and the use of approved materials that meet defense specifications.
The military sector is also pioneering the development of standardized best practices for additive manufacturing.
This includes ongoing research aimed at defining robust testing protocols for both metal and composite parts. Such standardization efforts are crucial for facilitating broader adoption of 3D printing technologies, ensuring interoperability between different military units, and supporting coalition operations.
What are the Different Types of 3D Printing Technologies Used in the Military and Defense Industry?
In the military and defense sectors, several advanced 3D printing technologies are tailored to meet specific operational needs. These include:
Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF):Ideal for creating durable and heat-resistant components. FFF is widely used for printing portable spare parts and tools directly in the field.
Metal Powder Bed Fusion: This technology is crucial for manufacturing robust and complex components such as large metal vehicle hulls. It uses a laser to selectively melt metal powder layer by layer, creating parts that are both strong and lightweight.
Directed Energy Deposition: Used for repairing or adding material to existing components. This method is particularly useful for restoring damaged parts quickly, as it can deposit materials directly onto specific sections of an object.
Large-scale Concrete Printing:Increasingly used for constructing fortifications such as explosion-proof barriers and bunkers close to or within conflict zones. This technology allows for rapid building of robust structures essential for military operations.
Additional innovative techniques include:
Cold-spray Methods:These involve spraying a powdered material onto a surface at high velocity to build up shapes. It’s especially beneficial for repairing parts without the high heat typically involved in other 3D printing methods, thus preserving the integrity of the original materials.
Laser-based Multi-nozzle Systems:Capable of producing large or complex metal parts, such as aircraft brackets and satellite components, these systems with an electroformed inkjet nozzle plate offer precision and scalability, critical for aerospace and defense applications.
What Are The Different Military Branches Leveraging 3D Printing?
3D printing technology has significantly transformed operations across various military bases, enhancing their capabilities in maintenance, logistics, and combat readiness:
Army: The Army has been a pioneer in adopting 3D printing for field operations, using it to manufacture spare parts and tools on-demand. This reduces logistics burdens and enhances operational efficiency. Additionally, the Army research laboratory is now focused on evaluating thousands of vehicle and electronic components for their suitability to be 3D printed, streamlining maintenance processes and reducing costs.
Navy:The Navy uses 3D printing to produce complex parts for ships and submarines, reducing lead times and costs. They have also explored the printing of entire submarine sections, which can be assembled to significantly shorten construction timelines and decrease manufacturing costs.
Air Force: The Air Force has implemented 3D printing for manufacturing parts for aircraft repair and maintenance. This includes critical components that are often no longer available through traditional supply chains. They also use 3D printing for creating customized tools that improve the efficiency of their maintenance processes.
Marines: Similar to the Army, the Marines employ portable 3D printers in field settings to produce replacement parts and repair damaged equipment quickly. This capability is crucial for maintaining the readiness of their units, especially in remote locations where traditional logistics and supply methods are impractical.
How Does the Army Use 3D Printing?
The Army has integrated 3D printing into its logistics and maintenance strategies with significant success:
Spare Parts Manufacturing: Deployed 3D printers in 2019 to produce essential spare parts on-demand, dramatically reducing dependency on extensive inventories and improving operational efficiency.
Equipment Maintenance: French Army installations now include 3D printers for rapid production of parts necessary for maintaining and operating equipment effectively.
Innovative Research: Army research teams are actively scanning thousands of vehicle and electronics parts to determine their suitability for 3D printing, which can drastically cut costs and lead times.
Cost Reduction and Efficiency: High-cost items, such as hatch plugs for combat vehicles, which typically have long lead times and high costs, are now being printed in days at a fraction of the cost.
Construction Projects: The Army is exploring the use of 3D printing to construct large structures like bunkers or shelters quickly using materials like fast-setting concrete.
Field Repairs: Portable 3D printers are being tested in field conditions, allowing for immediate repairs of battle damage, which is crucial during combat operations.
Protective Gear:Experiments are underway to use 3D printing for on-demand production of ballistic or protective components, enhancing soldier safety dynamically.
How Does the Navy Use 3D Printing?
The Navy has embraced 3D printing to enhance operational efficiency and logistical capabilities across its fleet. Here are specific examples of how 3D printing is utilized:
Submarine and Ship Component Production: The production of 3D-printed submarine hull sections within four weeks significantly cuts manufacturing time, traditionally spanning several months, and reduces costs by up to 90%. For instance, a 30-foot submarine hull can be printed in six sections, each at a fraction of the cost of traditional manufacturing methods.
Propeller Manufacturing: 3D-printed metal propellers, weighing up to 200 kg per blade, are now installed on active-service naval vessels, drastically reducing production lead times.
Onboard Printing Capabilities: Some ships are equipped with onboard 3D printing labs, enabling the crew to print essential replacement parts like filters and specialized brackets within hours, enhancing self-sufficiency at sea.
Rapid Construction: The technology is used to rapidly construct durable bunkers and other essential structures using quick-drying concrete, often in less than 36 hours.
Custom Part Production: There is an increasing use of 3D printing for on-demand production of diverse items, from belt buckles to customized drone parts, which can be tailored to specific needs without waiting for resupply.
Support and Logistics: « Help desk » style support lines are available for Marines to request custom solutions or share digital files for printing necessary components directly in the field.
Distributed Manufacturing Trials: Some fleets are experimenting with distributed manufacturing concepts, where vital parts are printed directly at sea, thereby reducing dependency on dockside supply chains and enhancing operational readiness.
Can Ships Be 3D Printed?
Yes, naval branches worldwide are actively testing large-format 3D printing for creating ship hull components and even entire vessel prototypes. This innovative approach not only tests the limits of existing 3D printing capabilities but also paves the way for future advancements in shipbuilding technology. By printing large structural elements, naval forces can significantly shorten production timelines and reduce the logistic complexity involved in ship construction and repair.
Air Force Advancements with 3D Printing
The Air Force is leveraging 3D printing to maintain and enhance its technological edge, especially in the areas of component manufacturing and repair:
Component Manufacturing for Aircraft: Utilizing 3D and 4D printing technologies, the Air Force produces parts such as overhead panels, reading light covers, window reveals, and gasper panels for C-5 Galaxy transport jets.
Advanced Material Use: Titanium cockpit parts for stealth jets are now being 3D printed, offering advantages over traditional aluminum parts with extended durability and corrosion resistance.
Engine Component Production: The first tests of 3D-printed metal engine components on large transport aircraft have been successful, significantly enhancing the responsiveness of the supply chain to maintenance demands.
Legacy Aircraft Maintenance: Manufacturing spare parts for legacy fighter jets, which are often challenging and costly to source, has become more feasible and efficient with 3D printing.
Research and Development: Air Force research labs are exploring the use of additively manufactured lightweight drone frameworks and other composite materials, which can reduce aircraft empty weight by up to 55% in some experimental designs, drastically altering the dynamics of aircraft design and functionality.
What Are the Core Applications of 3D Printing in the Defense and Military Industry?
Core applications of 3D printing include the rapid production of complex parts that traditional manufacturing struggles to produce, and the on-site fabrication of critical components, reducing dependency on extensive supply chains. Furthermore, 3D printing contributes significantly to the research and development of new military applications, from advanced weaponry components to protective gear, showcasing its impact on modernizing national defense systems.
Manufacturing Spare Parts On-Demand
The ability to print spare parts on demand revolutionizes logistical operations within the military, particularly in remote or harsh environments. Here are typical examples of spare parts produced through 3D printing:
Hatch plugs and filters:Essential for vehicle and aircraft maintenance, easily produced on-site.
Engine brackets and cold water valves: Custom parts that are costly and time-consuming to source traditionally.
Propulsion components: Critical for the maintenance of air and sea vehicles, these can be printed directly on carriers or at forward operating bases.
Building Military Infrastructure
3D printing also plays a pivotal role in constructing robust military infrastructure swiftly and efficiently. Here are some notable infrastructure projects facilitated by 3D printing:
Bunkers and Barracks:Printed using advanced, quick-drying concrete, these structures are capable of withstanding extreme conditions and can be erected almost overnight.
Runways and Bridging Systems:Large-scale 3D printing technology enables the construction of vital infrastructure in otherwise inaccessible locations, significantly enhancing military mobility and response capabilities.
Prototyping New Defense Technologies
3D printing accelerates the development and testing of new military technologies, making rapid prototyping a strategic asset in defense manufacturing:
Drone Development: Quick iteration of various drone models to enhance surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
Body Armor: Tailoring advanced body armor to improve protection and mobility for troops.
Weapons Systems:Developing lighter, more efficient weapon systems with complex geometrical designs not possible with traditional manufacturing.
Smart Helmets: In 2021, Rice University was awarded a $1.3 million contract to develop a printable « smart helmet » that integrates critical monitoring tech.
Portable Printing Facilities: ExOne’s introduction of a mobile 3D printing factory in a shipping container exemplifies how units can fabricate parts directly in conflict zones or remote locations, drastically reducing logistic challenges and enhancing mission flexibility.
Creation of Custom Tools and Equipment
The customization capacity of 3D printing allows for tailored solutions that meet specific military needs, improving both efficiency and effectiveness:
Repair Tools: Custom jigs and fixtures for aircraft and vehicle maintenance, drastically cutting downtime and enhancing field serviceability.
Mounting Brackets: On-demand printing of brackets for securely mounting communication devices and other equipment on military vehicles.
Specialized Tools:Production of tools like turbine wrenches, which traditionally are costly and take time to procure, now produced at a fraction of the cost and time.
Medical Applications and Devices
3D printing’s role extends into medical models and applications, providing tailored healthcare solutions that enhance soldier care:
Prosthetics and Orthotics: Custom-fitted devices that offer improved comfort and functionality, crucial for rehabilitation and enhanced mobility in field conditions.
Surgical Tools and Implants: Quick production of medical devices like sterile surgical tools and patient-specific implants for use in mobile military medical teams.
Building Military Infrastructure (Extended)
Large-scale 3D printing is also revolutionizing the construction of military infrastructure:
Protective Structures: Rapid construction of bunkers, barriers, and other protective structures that can be erected to enhance defense readiness within hours.
Facilities and Housing:Printing of barracks and other essential structures directly in theatre, reducing the need for transport and enabling rapid establishment of operational bases.
Logistical Support Structures: Potential for constructing storage facilities and even runways using large-format printers, which could transform deployment logistics and operational strategies.
What Materials are Commonly Used in Military and Defense 3D Printing?
In military and defense, 3D printing utilizes a variety of materials tailored to meet stringent requirements for durability, flexibility, and lightness. These materials include:
Polymers: Reinforced with carbon or glass fibers, these polymers are prized for their strength and lightweight properties, making them ideal for components that require both durability and mobility.
Metals:Titanium and magnesium alloys are frequently explored for their exceptional strength-to-weight ratios, essential for next-generation vehicles and protective gear. These metals contribute significantly to the operational readiness and agility of military forces.
Composites: Blending materials like carbon fiber reinforced polymers enables the production of parts that are robust yet significantly lighter than traditional materials, enhancing the mobility of military personnel and equipment.
Recycled Materials: Initiatives to repurpose plastic waste, such as water bottles, into filament for 3D printers support in-theater manufacturing capabilities, reducing logistic complexities and promoting sustainability within military operations.
Advanced techniques are also in development to optimize these materials for military use:
Multi-laser Metal Additive Processes: These processes increase the efficiency of fusing titanium powder, cutting production time without sacrificing the quality of parts.
Cold-Spray Techniques: This method applies metals like aluminum and titanium at high velocities without the high thermal input required by other methods, preserving the integrity of parts that are sensitive to heat.
What are the Benefits of Using 3D Printing in the Military and Defense Industry?
3D printing brings multiple strategic advantages to the military and defense sectors:
Logistical Efficiency: It simplifies complex supply chains by enabling the local production of parts, reducing dependency on traditional supply lines and minimizing part lead times.
Weight Reduction: Lighter parts improve fuel efficiency and vehicle mobility, crucial for operational effectiveness in diverse environments.
Maintenance of Aging Equipment: The technology allows for the economical production of parts for aging platforms that would otherwise be costly or impossible to replace.
Rapid Prototyping and Innovation: Facilitates the swift development and testing of new defense technologies, significantly speeding up innovation cycles.
Enhanced Readiness: Printing parts on-demand directly in the field or at remote locations enhances military readiness and operational capability by ensuring that equipment can be maintained and repaired without waiting for replacement parts to be shipped.
What Challenges Face 3D Printing in Military Applications and How Are They Overcome?
Despite its advantages, 3D printing in military applications presents specific challenges that require strategic solutions:
Material Certification and Quality Control:Ensuring that every printed part meets military standards is critical. Implementing rigorous testing and quality assurance protocols ensures consistency, even in harsh environments.
Cybersecurity for Digital Files: Protecting the integrity of 3D printing files is paramount to prevent hacking or sabotage. Employing advanced encryption methods and secure communication channels mitigates these risks.
Training and Adaptability: Training personnel to operate and maintain 3D printers is essential, especially in remote or combat zones. Tailored training programs and robust support systems are crucial for adoption.
Supply Chain for Specialized Materials: Establishing reliable supply chains for high-quality printing materials can be challenging. Strategic stockpiling and developing relationships with multiple suppliers help mitigate these risks.
Protecting Intellectual Property: As 3D scanning and reverse engineering become more accessible, safeguarding proprietary designs and repair data is crucial. Utilizing watermarking and other digital protection strategies helps secure intellectual property.
Is 3D Printing Used in the Military and Defense Industry Expensive?
The cost of 3D printing in the military and defense industry varies widely but can often lead to significant savings compared to traditional manufacturing methods. While the initial setup and investment in 3D printing technology can be substantial, the ability to consolidate multiple parts into a single print reduces both material waste and assembly labor, leading to substantial cost reductions over the lifecycle of the manufactured parts.
For instance, real-world applications have demonstrated substantial cost benefits. A submersible hull, traditionally costing between $600,000 to $800,000, was 3D printed for just around $60,000. Such examples underscore the technology’s potential to revolutionize cost structures within the defense sector.
However, potential hidden costs do exist. These include the availability and cost of specialized materials, ongoing machine maintenance, and the need for highly skilled operators. Despite these challenges, the overall cost benefits, including drastically reduced lead times and the simplification of supply chains, often justify the initial investments.
Regulatory and Standardization in Military 3D Printing
Regulatory and standardization processes in military 3D printing are crucial to ensuring that the technology safely integrates into the defense sector. These guidelines focus on maintaining high standards of quality and consistency, essential in a field where the performance and reliability of printed parts can directly impact operational readiness and safety.
Main considerations involve the standardization of materials used, the certification of printed components, and adherence to stringent military specifications and standards. Efforts to standardize 3D printing practices ensure that components are reliable and that production methods meet the rigorous demands of military use.
These regulations not only help in maintaining the integrity of printed materials but also in fostering innovation by setting clear guidelines for material properties, production processes, and part performance.
What Are the Ethical and Security Implications of 3D Printing in the Military and Defense Industry?
The ethical and security implications of 3D printing in the military and defense industry are significant and multifaceted. One of the primary concerns is cybersecurity. The digital nature of 3D printing files makes them susceptible to hacking and unauthorized access, which could lead to the proliferation of sensitive military designs or the creation of unauthorized weapon components.
To counter these risks, stringent security protocols and regulations are essential to prevent unauthorized reproduction and ensure that all printed materials are accounted for and protected. Encryption of 3D printing files and secure transmission methods are crucial in safeguarding these designs from potential adversaries. Additionally, ethical considerations must guide the deployment of this technology, especially in terms of the potential for creating lethal autonomous weapons systems, which must be regulated to prevent misuse.
Compliance Challenges
Navigating the compliance landscape in military 3D printing presents a complex challenge that varies by country but consistently hinges on stringent regulatory standards. These regulations ensure that 3D-printed components rigorously meet military specifications, which are critical for maintaining operational readiness and safety. Additionally, there are import and export controls on certain high-tech materials like advanced metal powders and reinforced filaments, which are crucial for printing durable military-grade parts. Countries actively participate in setting these standards to maintain a balance between innovation and security, ensuring that the advancements in military 3D printing contribute positively to national defense capabilities without compromising control over sensitive technologies.
Standardization of 3D Printing Processes
Standardization in military 3D printing is necessary for ensuring the reliability and interoperability of components across various global locations. Efforts to standardize these processes involve creating common protocols that enhance « build portability, » allowing military organizations to replicate parts in different settings without loss of fidelity. This is particularly relevant in joint operations involving NATO or EU members, where consistent standards are vital for maintaining the compatibility of parts and systems. The pursuit of greater collaboration among these entities emphasizes the need for a unified approach to 3D printing in defense, ensuring that all printed materials adhere to the highest performance and quality standards to support military operations effectively.
How Can Military Organizations Implement 3D Printing Technology Effectively?
Integrating 3D printing into military operations can enhance efficiency and adaptability across various aspects of logistics and manufacturing. Here’s a step-by-step guide to effectively implement this transformative technology:
Assessment of Equipment: Evaluate both legacy and current equipment to identify components that can be effectively produced using 3D printing. This step helps in pinpointing which parts can be optimized for 3D printing to reduce costs and improve supply chain resilience.
Training Programs: Develop comprehensive training programs for personnel that cover both the design aspects of 3D printing and ongoing printer maintenance. This ensures that the staff is well-equipped to handle the technical demands of additive manufacturing.
Digital Libraries: Establish secure, digital libraries for storing 3D design files. These libraries should have robust cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive information and prevent unauthorized access.
Material Management: Implement strict procedures for the storage and transport of materials, such as humidity-controlled environments for spool storage. Proper handling of materials is crucial to maintain the integrity and quality of print outputs.
Industry Partnerships: Forge partnerships with leaders in the 3D printing industry. Collaborations can lead to advanced training opportunities and joint research and development projects on new materials and printing technologies, further enhancing the military’s capabilities.
Data Security: Incorporate rigorous data security measures to handle sensitive designs and protect against cyber threats. This includes encrypted file storage and secure transmission protocols to maintain operational security.
What are the Future Trends and Developments in Military 3D Printing?
The future of military 3D printing is marked by several promising trends and developments that are set to expand its capabilities significantly:
Advanced Materials: There is a growing focus on metal 3D printing and the development of novel composite materials, which are crucial for producing more durable and lightweight military components.
Mobility: The continued deployment of mobile, field-deployable additive manufacturing units enables military forces to perform on-site production of essential parts, enhancing operational flexibility and reducing dependency on long supply chains.
Extraterrestrial Applications: Looking forward, the potential for on-demand manufacturing for space exploration and the establishment of off-planet bases represents an exciting frontier. This includes using local resources for construction, such as moon dust, which could revolutionize the way military and exploratory missions are conducted.
Emerging Technologies in 3D Printing
In the realm of emerging technologies, 3D printing is set to take a significant leap forward with several innovations:
Metal and Bioprinting: Advancements in metal 3D printing are being complemented by explorations in bioprinting, which could lead to new medical applications beneficial for military personnel.
AI Integration: The integration of AI with 3D printing technologies allows for real-time adjustments in print parameters, improving the quality and reliability of printed components significantly.
Local Resource Use: Research into using local planetary materials for building structures on other planets is progressing, potentially enabling the construction of habitats in environments like Mars or the moon using in-situ resources.
Conclusion
As we embrace 3D printing in military strategies, we’re witnessing a game-changing evolution in how we manage logistics and streamline manufacturing processes. This isn’t just about cutting costs or simplifying supply chains; it’s about opening up a world of possibilities for design and production that can keep pace with the demands of modern warfare. Imagine being able to rapidly prototype and roll out essential parts directly in the field, wherever you are. Looking ahead, the future shines bright with potential for innovative materials and revolutionary printing techniques. Together, these advancements are set to boost the efficiency, safety, and adaptability of military operations, making 3D printing a key player in shaping the future of national defense.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Purpose of Creating 3D Printed Food for the Army?
The development of 3D-printed food for the army aims to meet specific nutritional needs with high efficiency. This technology allows for the customization of meals based on the dietary requirements of military personnel, ensuring optimal nutrition. Additionally, 3D printing can produce these rations quickly and potentially on-site in remote areas, which is vital for maintaining the health and readiness of troops deployed around the globe.
Can You 3D Print An Aircraft?
Yes, parts of aircrafts, including lightweight drones and components like wings and fuselage sections, are currently being manufactured using 3D printing technologies. These methods enable the production of complex, lightweight structures that are crucial for modern aviation design. Research is ongoing in large-format metal 3D printing, which is expected to expand capabilities further, allowing for bigger and more complex parts to be efficiently produced with reduced lead times and costs.
How 3D Printing Will Change Everything?
What is 3D Printing/Additive Manufacturing? | Types and Applications Explained
The future of military rations may move beyond the iconic plastic-sealed MREs, replaced by meals printed layer by layer, tailored to each Soldier’s needs, and prepared on demand near the battlefield.
A new study conducted by researchers at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) suggests that while many Soldiers initially recoil at the idea of eating 3D-printedfood, hands-on exposure and tasting experiences can rapidly shift attitudes—potentially paving the way for a new era of personalized military nutrition.
Set to be published in the June 2026 edition of Future Foods, the research offers one of the first direct looks at how U.S. Army personnel actually perceive food made through additive manufacturing.
The findings are significant not only for military logistics but also for the broader future of food technology, where customized nutrition, reduced supply burdens, and decentralized production are becoming strategic priorities.
Beyond the novelty of 3D-printed food is the reality that modern warfare increasingly demands mobility, endurance, and sustained cognitive performance under extreme conditions. Feeding Soldiers efficiently—without weighing them down—remains a persistent logistical challenge. The Pentagon believes that 3D-printed food rations could help solve that problem.
“Initially, Soldiers showed skepticism and reluctance towards use of the technology,” the researchers behind the recent study note. “However, after 3DFP technology was explained and 3D-printed prototypes were provided, Soldiers’ acceptance increased considerably.”
The Army-led research team conducted focus groups and tasting sessions with 17 U.S. Army Combat Medics to examine their reactions before and after encountering 3D-printed food prototypes.
Initially, most participants were skeptical, associating printed food with artificial, overly processed products or bland “calorie blocks.” However, attitudes evolved as Soldiers learned more about the technology and sampled 3D-printed food themselves.
One Soldier summed up a key concern voiced early in discussions, saying 3D food printing “takes the identity out of food,” explaining that “When you’re eating chicken, you see that it’s chicken. But if it’s just a brick, it almost makes the feeding process monotonous.”
Essentially, soldiers echoed a broader public sentiment: when food no longer resembles its original ingredients, the experience becomes less satisfying and more tedious.
This reaction captures a central challenge to technologically engineered meals. Food is not just fuel. It is cultural, emotional, and psychological. This can be especially true in high-stress operational environments that warfighters face.
The Army’s interest in 3D printing food stems from long-standing logistical realities. Traditional Meals Ready-to-Eat (MREs) are durable and calorie-dense, but they are also heavy and standardized. A Soldier on a week-long mission without resupply might carry more than 30 pounds of food alone, often prompting troops to cut rations and risk undernutrition.
Additionally, standard rations cannot easily account for individual differences. Soldiers vary in metabolic demands, mission intensity, climate exposure, and dietary preferences. Many end up modifying or discarding parts of their meals, a practice known informally as “field stripping,” to get something closer to what they actually need.
However, 3D printed food offers an alternative. Meals can be produced near the point of need, customized nutritionally and structurally for each Soldier. Instead of shipping finished meals across the globe, raw ingredients or shelf-stable printing materials could be transported and transformed into tailored meals in the field.
That possibility makes understanding acceptance critical. Technology is useless if Soldiers refuse to eat what it produces.
To study reactions, researchers organized focus groups and sensory panels, first asking Soldiers about their impressions of 3D-printed food and then showing them printed prototypes. Participants handled non-edible printed nutrition bar shapes before sampling an edible cocoa-based printed snack finished with a Nutella topping.
At first, many Soldiers expected something resembling flavorless paste. Concerns centered on texture, ingredient quality, and monotony. Participants worried that printed food would feel synthetic or overly processed, like foods they already disliked.
But once the technology and its benefits were explained—and especially after tasting samples—opinions shifted.
Appearance turned out to matter greatly. Bars shaped like lightning bolts or twisted geometric rings scored much higher than plain rectangular designs. Soldiers appreciated designs that conveyed meaning, such as shapes suggesting energy or stability. Bars embossed with words like “PWR” or “REST” were preferred twice as much as bars without messaging.
Texture and flavor reactions were mixed, but participants were often pleasantly surprised. One Soldier described expecting something crunchy but instead finding a cookie-like interior, while others appreciated contrasts between firm exteriors and softer centers. Comments included comparisons to familiar snack foods rather than laboratory creations.
“I think it tasted a lot better than I thought it would… The texture was really good! It was kind of crispy, a lot better than I figured it would be,” one soldier commented.
By the end of the sessions, the research team’s sentiment analysis showed a clear trend. Skepticism softened into cautious optimism after Soldiers physically interacted with the technology and sampled printed food.
In other words, exposure matters.
The study also highlighted another subtle insight. Soldiers do not necessarily reject novel foods, but they resist foods that feel disconnected from familiar culinary identity. Designs that retained recognizable shapes or textures performed better than those that appeared abstract or overly engineered.
Naming also influenced perceptions. Some participants found the term “3D-printed food” sounded industrial, while others appreciated its transparency. Alternative terms like “processing” or “synthetic food” were rejected because they sounded worse.
From a defense perspective, personalized food production could allow future military units to deploy mobile food printers capable of producing customized meals or energy bars matched to mission demands—higher caffeine or carbohydrate content during intense operations, recovery nutrients after missions, or tailored dietary accommodations.
It could also reduce logistical strain by decentralizing food production. Instead of hauling finished meals, forces could carry compact ingredient cartridges or powders, printing food as needed closer to operations.
Importantly, printed food does not have to look artificial. 3D-printed food with features such as ridges or layering could be deliberately used to improve texture or even tactile identification of food items in low-visibility environments.
Still, challenges remain. Printing food currently takes time. Ingredient handling must remain safe and practical in operational conditions, and broad acceptance will require education and familiarity.
Researchers suggest introducing Soldiers to automated and printed food systems earlier in training could help normalize the technology. Similar exposure could also shape civilian acceptance as personalized nutrition technologies expand commercially.
Ultimately, the research underscores that technological breakthroughs alone will not determine whether 3D-printed food succeeds in military settings.
Acceptance ultimately depends on whether Soldiers view these foods as familiar, satisfying, and worth eating under demanding operational conditions. Designs that preserve recognizable textures, flavors, or visual cues appear far more likely to gain traction than foods that feel abstract or disconnected from traditional meals.
For researchers and military planners, the lesson is that food remains deeply psychological, even on the battlefield. No matter how advanced production technology becomes, meals must still connect with expectations shaped by culture, habit, and memory.
“Ultimately, we don’t just ‘eat with our eyes’—we eat with our memories,” the researchers conclude.
Tim McMillan is a retired law enforcement executive, investigative reporter and co-founder of The Debrief. His writing typically focuses on defense, national security, the Intelligence Community and topics related to psychology. You can follow Tim on Twitter:@LtTimMcMillan. Tim can be reached by email: tim@thedebrief.org or through encrypted email:LtTimMcMillan@protonmail.com
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope continues to reveal the secrets of the universe, three and a half decades after its launch, as a new AI technique from the European Space Agency (ESA) identifies more than 800 previously unreported space objects.
Launched in 1990 and still in operation, the Hubble Space Telescope has amassed a vast archive of data over its decades spent scanning theuniverse. Now, a recent paper in Astronomy & Astrophysics reports the identification of 1,300 unusual objects byAI in just two and a half days, many of which have never appeared in the astronomical literature.
Hubble Image Analysis
The astronomers behind the new research fed their AI neural network 100 million image cutouts from the Hubble Legacy Archive. These cutouts are tiny—only dozens of pixels wide—yet the AI was able to meaningfully determine what they contained.
Galaxies accounted for most of the anomalous cutouts, typically undergoing mergers or other unusual interactions that distorted their morphologies or left them trailing long streams of stars and gas. Other cutouts were identified as spacetime distortions that bent light from distant galaxies into arcs or rings before it reached Hubble.
Small image cutouts from the Hubble Legacy Archive revealed strange anomalies when analyzed by AnomalyMatch.
Credit: NASA, ESA, David O’Ryan (ESA), Pablo Gómez (ESA), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Hubble)
More unusual cosmic features were also identified, including galaxies resembling jellyfish with strange tentacle-like streams of gas, and edge-on planet-forming disks that appear like hamburgers in the images (several of which can be seen above).
Perhaps most notably, dozens of the objects were so bizarre that they did not fit any existing classification.
Developing AnomalyMatch
The sheer scale of data amassed in the continually expanding archives of Hubble and other telescopes has become so large that it defies traditional human-led analysis. These advanced space observatories generate data at a rate far exceeding that of earlier eras in astronomy. Prior attempts to open the data to citizen scientists have met with some success, but the backlog has grown too large for those initiatives to fully address. Until now, astronomers have relied on manual analysis and the occasional fortunate discovery made while examining specific targets.
While Hubble was constructed by NASA, ESA researchers David O’Ryan and Pablo Gómez developed the solution leveraged by the team for its analysis of this torrent of data. Specifically, the pair created a neural network called AnomalyMatch, which is designed to examine collections of imagery far more quickly than humans can. Still, AnomalyMatch was trained to perform pattern recognition similar to that of humans, allowing it to “learn” to identify rare and unusual objects hidden in the data.
“Archival observations from the Hubble Space Telescope now span 35 years, offering a rich dataset in which astrophysical anomalies may be hidden,” said lead author David O’Ryan.
Among the objects discovered was a collision ring galaxy, a type of disrupted or bent ring-shaped galaxy.
Credit: NASA, ESA, David O’Ryan (ESA), Pablo Gómez (ESA), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Hubble)
Exploring Hubble and Other Telescopes
Although the team’s initial paper focuses on data retrieved using the Hubble Space Telescope, the technique can be applied more broadly as well. Other platforms, such as ESA’s Euclid mission, are generating vast amounts of data that AnomalyMatch could help process. Crucially, O’Ryan and Gómez’s neural network results have been manually reviewed by astronomers, who have so far confirmed 1,300 of the anomalies flagged by AnomalyMatch.
“This is a powerful demonstration of how AI can enhance the scientific return of archival datasets,” co-author Pablo Gómez said. “The discovery of so many previously undocumented anomalies in Hubble data underscores the tool’s potential for future surveys.”
Future advanced space observatories will also benefit from the implementation of AnomalyMatch. For instance, NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will provide a wider field of view than the James Webb Space Telescope, offering yet another enormous data set for astronomers to search through in the years ahead.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.
Exploring the new anomalies: Gravitational lenses and more
Among the anomalies found by AI, gravitational lenses stand out for both their scientific value and visual intrigue. These occur when a massive galaxy or cluster bends and magnifies the light of a more distant background object. In one such example recently uncovered, a compact, reddish elliptical galaxy bends light from a blue spiral galaxy behind it into a graceful arc. The blue arc curve clearly shows how spacetime itself has bent the light.
Another lens shows a striking arc wrapped around the core of a massive foreground galaxy. The background galaxy’s light is stretched into a shape that almost encircles the lensing galaxy. In each case, the warped appearance is a cosmic fingerprint of gravity at work.
These lensing systems help astronomers do more than make pretty pictures. They provide natural magnification that reveals very distant galaxies otherwise too faint to see. They also allow researchers to map the distribution ofdark matter, a mysterious substance that does not emit light but exerts gravitational influence on visible matter.
This image depicts a gravitational lens, where the enormous mass of one galaxy distorts, bends and magnifies light from another galaxy behind it, resulting in a warped image of the background galaxy.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. O’Ryan, P. Gómez (European Space Agency), M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble)
There is a hidden battlefield within our world, where forces of light and darkness collide, believers say, in a conflict that sometimes spills into everyday life.
In its most extreme form, the clash is described as possession: a person seemingly seized by demonic beings, their body overtaken, their voice and movements warped into something not quite human.
For Anglican reverend Chris Lee, 43, this is not a theological abstraction but a reality he has lived with for nearly two decades.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Lee said he first began witnessing exorcisms after moving to rural Tanzania aged 24 for mission work while training to become a priest.
It was there, he said, that he encountered what he described as 'profound things, miracles and movements of darkness and light' that convinced him he was being called into ministry.
Within just a month of arriving, Lee said he received an urgent call about a student who was violently ill, screaming, vomiting and convulsing in a way he believed went far beyond any normal sickness.
Other encounters followed, as Lee recalled a teenage boy inside a church who suddenly 'leapt up into the sky,' screamed like a beast, and bolted into the woods, his body moving in a 'puppet-like' way, as if controlled by an unseen force.
In another case, one that left a deep impression on him, Lee said a girl from a Muslim family began convulsing and speaking in a male voice, declaring, 'I'm one of nine here… this is my house,' as pastors struggled to drive out what they believed was an entity.
Reverend Chris Lee shared chilling exorcism causes, detailing how the experiences gave him a purpose since giving his life to God at the age of 24
Despite the intensity of these encounters, Lee said he does not feel afraid. Instead, he described feeling purposeful, and at times angry, at what he sees as an invasion of something sacred.
'It's like a burglar in a house,' he said. 'Get out. You don't have this right.'
For Lee, prayer and faith are not symbolic gestures but sources of authority, and he believes he is standing on the side of Christ in a spiritual battle he says is as real as any physical one.
His early spiritual awakening began after he abandoned a conventional life at age 21 and moved to Tanzania.
'I was 24 when I was ordained, so I was one of the youngest in the Church of England at the time,' Lee said, explaining how quickly his calling took root.
He left a career in property development, sold his house and moved into a remote Maasai region without electricity or running water.
While his new home was far from a lap of luxury, it was where he knew he wanted to dedicate his life to the ministry.
'It was there that I was able to ask big, profound questions of life, and it was there that I discovered my love for God, and felt His presence so much more in my life,' said Lee.
He moved from England to Tanzania for mission work and within only a month, he performed his first exorcism (stock)
When he asked his bishop if he could begin theological training, he was told to start almost immediately. 'He said, yes, you can start on Thursday,' Lee recalled, noting this moment marked the beginning of a long ministry in which he repeatedly confronted spiritual forces he believes are very real.
His first encounter came when he was in charge of students in Tanzania, and was called to see a student who was very ill.
'I came into the room of this person, and I was expecting them to be lying down and being sick, but the person was screaming around the room and vomiting at the same time,' he said.
The sight caught Lee completely off guard, as he was not witnessing a normal sickness.
'I didn't have a spectrum of understanding of what was going on,' the reverend admitted. 'So in that moment I just prayed, "Lord, give me what I need to help this girl."'
After praying in the room, Lee contacted a German missionary who was in the area, hoping to get assistance.
'When he arrived, just before we went in, I said, "Be aware, it's very disturbing. She's screaming, moving around the room, and vomiting,"' said Lee.
'He said, "Okay, fine." We walked in, and she was suddenly completely normal. She was sitting up and talking. I was actually quite embarrassed. I thought, "What is going on?"'
He believes possession come after some kind of trauma that opens a dark door into the person's life, allowing demonic beings to take over
The German missionary asked other students about the girl, who said she was someone afflicted by the demonic.
Lee believes this was his first encounter with evil, but by no means his last.
He recalled another chilling case that occurred while he was traveling to another church in the area, a church made of sticks.
The bishop at the time was performing baptisms for the children, laying his hands on their heads for a blessing.
'He was going along the line, laying his hands to bless the children,' said Lee. 'It was a teenage boy who suddenly leapt up into the sky just before the bishop was about to lay his hands on him.
'He started screaming, like a beast, like a lion, and then he ran into the wall.'
The boy was taken out of the church and placed on the ground with a blanket pulled over his head.
As Lee and others approached quietly across the sand to pray, he said the boy began to tremble. Lee said the shaking intensified the closer they came, which he interpreted as a sign that whatever was afflicting the child was aware of their presence and reacting to it.
'He picked up and ran away from us, screaming, into the woods. As he was running, it was very strange, because the way he moved was not like a normal person,' Lee said.
'It was as if he were one of those puppets on strings, his limbs were being used, but not in the correct way.
'It was a very surreal experience, watching him flee in this almost puppeteered way, as if something inside him was controlling him, but not the way a normal human being would be controlled.'
The boy was brought back to the church, where the crowd surrounded him in prayer.
'I remember his eyes burning, with a real blackness, a darkness in his eyes, and we were commanding the spirit in him to leave, and he was growling, and barking at us,' the reverend recalled.
Lee and the bishop laid their hands on the boy, commanding the demonic entity leave his small body, and in a moment, the child fell to the ground and began hyperventilating.
Then there was his experience with the young Muslim girl who would stay at his church.
One day, the girl mysteriously fell to the floor and began shaking and screaming. 'What was interesting was that voices were speaking out of her,' Lee said.
'The main voice was a male voice speaking in Swahili to the pastor who was leading the deliverance at that moment.
'It said, "I'm one of nine here, and she's let us in." The language the demon used was, "This is my house. You have no claim over her. She's ours." 'We were saying, "No, in the name of Jesus, you need to get out."'
Another pastor came, telling Lee and the others to stop the exorcism.
'He said she hadn't yet accepted Christ in her heart, and if we delivered her now, it could be made worse,' said Lee.
'Biblically, he explained, if you clear the house, seven more can come back in unless the person has received Christ. His concern was that we might clear space for more to enter her.
'So it was stopped in that moment. Her parents were informed, and they collected her.
'My understanding is that she returned to school a few weeks later, which suggests her parents took her to a deliverance expert in Dar es Salaam or Morogoro, where I believe she was delivered.
'She was an interesting case because she would come off the ground in violent surges, then stand up and contort, speaking in a male voice. That was one of the more severe cases.'
Lee suggested that these children may have suffered some kind of trauma in their lives, which opened a dark door for the demonic entities.
'These experiences have made the realities of what I read in the Bible more real to me, the realities of the spiritual realm and the fact that we aren't just physical beings,' he explained.
'We are spiritual beings, and our spirit is wrapped up in the physical. We are both of these things held as one.'
'The realities of darkness and light became more pronounced. In a world where we're struggling to seek and find truth, and where people say 'my truth' and 'your truth,' this cuts through that. It's quite clear: there is evil, there is good, there is truth, and there are lies.'
'I think it wakes you up to that reality, and it makes my faith more pronounced in myself. In a way, it strengthened my faith rather than wounded it.'
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It has been hailed as 'the most significant archaeological discovery in a decade.'
Archaeologists in Mexicohave uncovered a 1,400-year-old tomb in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca that had been lost to history.
The stone structure, built by the Zapotec culture, known as Be'ena'a, or 'The Cloud People', is adorned with sculptures, murals and carved symbols that suggest ritual significance.
The Zapotec believed their ancestors descended from the clouds and that, in death, their souls returned to the heavens as spirits.
At the entrance sits a massive carved owl, its open beak revealing the face of a Zapotec lord, a symbol the National Institute of Anthropology and History said represented death and power.
The doorway is framed by a stone threshold and lintel, above which a frieze of engraved slabs displays ancient calendrical names.
Flanking the entrance are carved figures of a man and woman wearing headdresses and holding ritual objects, likely guardians of the tomb.
Inside the burial chamber, preserved sections of a vibrant mural remain intact, showing a procession of figures carrying bundles of copal as they move toward the tomb's entrance.
Archaeologists in Mexicohave uncovered a 1,400-year-old tomb in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca that had been lost to history
At the entrance sits a massive carved owl, its open beak revealing the face of a Zapotec lord
Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, said: 'It is the most important archaeological discovery of the last decade in Mexico due to its level of preservation and the information it provides.'
The Zapotecs have a history spanning over 2,500 years.
They established a major pre-Columbian civilization centered at Monte Albán, which featured advanced agriculture and writing.
The Zapotec civilization mysteriously declined in the area around 900 AD.
However, the people did not completely disappear, as there are at least 400,000 living today.
Mexico's Secretary of Culture, Claudia Curiel de Icaza, said the 'exceptional discovery' of the tomb was due to its preservation.
She added that it reveals how the Zapotec culture was a social organization with funerary rituals.
'It is a compelling example of Mexico's ancient grandeur, which is now being researched, protected, and shared with society,' she continued.
The stone structure, built by the Zapotec culture, known as Be'ena'a, or 'The Cloud People', is adorned with sculptures, murals and carved symbols that suggest ritual significance
Pictured is the giant owl above the tomb's entrance
An interdisciplinary team from the INAH Oaxaca Center is currently working to conserve and protect the tomb, focusing on stabilizing the fragile mural painting. Experts say the mural’s condition is delicate due to root growth, insect activity, and sudden shifts in temperature and humidity.
At the same time, researchers are conducting ceramic, iconographic and epigraphic studies, along with physical anthropology analyses, to better understand the rituals, symbols and funerary practices connected to the tomb.
In 2024, archaeologists announced the discovery of tunnels that the ancient Zapotec civilization believed to be the 'entrance to the underworld' had been found beneath a centuries-old church.
Mitla, meaning place of the dead, was a city in southern Mexico known for its association with Pitao Bezelao, the Zapotec god of death.
But the Spanish arrived in the 16th Century and razed the city, building a church on the ruins of its most important temple.
A priest later wrote that 'the back door of hell' lay under the city – huge caverns believed to be the entrance to the Zapotec underworld.
But they were walled up, he said, and later excavations failed to find anything matching the scale of his description – until now.
Using non-invasive techniques, archaeologists recently revealed a series of chambers and tunnels beneath the city.
Five different sets of ruins were probed: the church group, the arroyo group, the adobe group, the south group, and the group of the columns.
Pictured is the face of the Zapotec god inside the owl's mouth
In 2024, archaeologists announced the discovery of tunnels that the ancient Zapotec civilization believed to be the 'entrance to the underworld' had been found beneath a centuries-old church
Using non-invasive techniques, archaeologists recently revealed a series of chambers and tunnels beneath the city
Marco Vigato, founder of the ARX Project, which is leading the search, said: 'Some of the tunnels and chambers extend to a considerable depth, in excess of 50 feet.
The underground tunnels were revealed using a combination of ground penetrating radar, electric resistivity tomography, and seismic noise tomography.
The first method uses radar waves to model the subsurface, while the second detects buried structures by measuring the flow of electricity through the earth.
Instead of electricity, the final method measures the speed at which seismic waves move through the ground.
Just how old the tunnels are is yet to be established.
'Natural caves in the area of Mitla have been occupied and partially modified by humans for thousands of years,' Vigato said:
'The earliest evidence of crop domestication in the area of Mitla dates back almost 10,000 years.
'There is no indication at the moment as to the possible age of the tunnels under the church or the other groups of structures at Mitla.
'They may have been created by the Zapotecs, or they could be much older.'
He added: 'The findings from the geophysical scans will have to be confirmed with archaeological methods.
'This could determine the nature of the cavities identified under the site and whether they contain any artifacts of archaeological significance.'
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A military‑grade device capable of projecting a deafening, focused sound was deployed during a tense anti‑ICE protest in Minnesota Monday night.
State patrol troopers faced off with activists outside the SpringHill Suites in Maple Grove, where demonstrators believed federal immigration agents were staying.
Officers threatened to engage a long‑range acoustic device (LRAD), giving the crowd a countdown before deployment.
The system, a highly directional loudspeaker, can emit piercing deterrent tones or amplified voice commands over long distances and was originally developed for military and crowd‑control use.
Experts warn that exposure to the device at close range can cause permanent hearing loss, ruptured eardrums, constant ringing in the ears, migraines, nausea, balance problems and even panic responses.
Marine Colonel Mark Cancian, a senior adviser for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said, 'We used it in Iraq … if you're in the cone, it sounds like the voice of God is speaking to you.'
State patrol officials said they checked the device's volume, issued dispersal notices and did not actually use tones or sirens, despite reports circulating on social media.
The night ended with 26 arrests, whom the police said were allegedly taking part in 'unlawful assembly and riotous conduct.'
Minnesota police threatened protesters on Monday with a long‑range acoustic device (LRAD), giving the crowd a countdown before deployment
Monday's demonstration came on the heels of a shooting on Saturday.
Alex Pretti, 37, was killed shortly after 9am local time after an altercation involving multiple federal officers.
The protest in the Minneapolis suburb came as federal law enforcement leadership in the state was in flux, with Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino and some agents expected to soon leave Minnesota after intense public scrutiny of recent actions by immigration authorities.
It was not immediately clear whether Bovino or other federal agents were staying at the hotel where demonstrators gathered.
The department issued a statement saying: 'While we respect First Amendment rights, we will not tolerate property damage or violence in our community.'
The protest was declared unlawful after demonstrators caused property damage and engaged in violent behavior, which is not protected under the First Amendment. Officers deployed the LRAD after the crowd failed to comply with a dispersal order.
The military-grade loudspeaker can project spoken commands at intense volumes or emit piercing tones designed to get attention and deter movement.
Even when only issuing voice commands, the device can be overwhelming.
Join the debate
Should police use military-grade sonic weapons to control protests?
State patrol troopers faced off with protesters outside the SpringHill Suites in Maple Grove, where demonstrators believed federal immigration agents were staying
'I think we saw that in the video there of the system, because it's so loud, I mean, it pushes you back,' Cancian told CBS News.
The system was developed as a non-lethal alternative to traditional crowd-control methods such as pepper spray, tear gas, and rubber bullets.
'In some situations where you might end up using force, kinetic force, or even lethal force, you know this can avoid that and avoid permanent damage to people,' said Cancian.
LRAD uses an array of high-frequency speakers to produce highly directional sound, concentrating audio into a narrow beam rather than dispersing it broadly.
This technology allows sound to travel long distances while maintaining clarity, so spoken messages or warning tones can be heard over ambient noise.
The LRAD system can switch between voice communication and a high-decibel deterrent tone, with volume and frequency precisely controlled by the operator.
The device is portable and can be mounted on vehicles, tripods or handheld platforms, and operators can adjust range, angle, and intensity depending on the situation.
Police did not active the system but used voice commands to deter the crowd
The night ended with 26 arrests, whom the police said were allegedly taking part in 'unlawful assembly and riotous conduct'
Trump bragged last week that 'nobody else' has it, while glorifying the capabilities of the US military.
The exact nature of the weapon and how it was used is unknown. Trump was coy when giving details during an interview with NewsNation anchor Katie Pavlich.
Pavlich asked Trump whether Americans should be 'afraid' of these sonic devices.
'Well, yeah,' Trump responded.
He then added that only the US military has access to the sonic weapons by noting, 'It's something I don't wanna… nobody else has it.'
'But we have weapons nobody else knows about.' Trump continued. 'And, I say it's probably good not to talk about it, but we have some amazing weapons.'
Following the capture of Maduro, reports surfaced that special forces used unknown sonic weapons to disable the Cuban bodyguards assigned to protect the Venezuelan dictator.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt took to X to share an interview with an unnamed security guard who claimed to be working the night the US struck Venezuela and took Maduro on drug trafficking charges.
'Stop what you are doing and read this,' she wrote, alongside five American flag emojis.
The interview saw the security guard reveal the terrifying capabilities of the mysterious new US military weapon, which he described as a 'very intense sound wave' that disabled Venezuelan forces.
'Suddenly I felt like my head was exploding from the inside,' the security guard reportedly said. 'We all started bleeding from the nose. Some were vomiting blood. We fell to the ground, unable to move.
'We couldn't even stand up after that sonic weapon or whatever it was.'
The security guard claimed moments before the raid that snatched Maduro, 'all our radar systems shut down without any explanation.' Then eight helicopters arrived and around 20 soldiers descended.
'They didn't look like anything we've fought against before,' the guard claimed.
Terrifying moment police allegedly use a banned sonic weapon on protesters
The first humans created by God Genesis begins with the creation of Adam from dust and Eve from Adam’s rib, providing the biblical account of the origin of humanity. This divine creation is a clear departure from other creation myths, as it stresses that human beings were the only beings created by God. Moreover, this lesson on Adam and Eve presents a unique perspective on human origins, emphasizing a divine meaning.
Many scholars, as cited in the Journal of Creation and The Bible and Science Journal, argue that this narrative suggests that humans were created with inherent dignity and a unique purpose that sets them apart from other creatures.
Although the evolution and scientific findings on the human genome have painted a new picture of how human beings developed biologically, the religious interpretation has maintained that the creation story holds the ultimate truth about how we developed spiritually and about our relation with the divine.
The first humans created by God Genesis begins with the creation of Adam from dust and Eve from Adam’s rib, providing the biblical account of the origin of humanity. This divine creation is a clear departure from other creation myths, as it stresses that human beings were the only beings created by God. Moreover, this lesson on Adam and Eve presents a unique perspective on human origins, emphasizing a divine meaning.
Many scholars, as cited in the Journal of Creation and The Bible and Science Journal, argue that this narrative suggests that humans were created with inherent dignity and a unique purpose that sets them apart from other creatures.
Although the evolution and scientific findings on the human genome have painted a new picture of how human beings developed biologically, the religious interpretation has maintained that the creation story holds the ultimate truth about how we developed spiritually and about our relation with the divine.
Made in God's image According to Gen 1:27, human beings are created in the image of God, a reality with far-reaching consequences. This verse means that Adam and Eve, and by extension everyone in the world, have something in common with God- they possess qualities like reason, creativity, and the ability to make moral judgments. The idea of creating in the image of God is still central to the equality and dignity of the entire human race in the modern world.
This lesson addresses contemporary challenges in human rights, social justice, and equality. According to theologians like Alister McGrath and articles in Psychology Today, it is these divine attributes that place humans in a special position in the created world and identify them as bearers of moral responsibility and ethical consciousness.
Placed in Eden Adam and Eve began their lives in the Garden of Eden, a paradise described in Genesis 2:8 as full of beauty and abundance. The garden was a physical place, but above all, it represented harmony between man and creation. It is this ideal environment that gives the impression of how the world should have been as a harmonious, peaceful, and communicative place with God.
Nowadays, this biblical story can be heard in terms of environmental and sustainability conversations. The fact that humanity was initially put in a garden to enjoy the fruit and take care of it is consistent with contemporary ecological stewardship programs. Indeed, environmental groups, such as the World Wildlife Fund, state that biblical ideas of stewardship can serve as a helpful guide for current conservation efforts.
Given responsibility God assigned Adam the duty of taking care of the earth by giving him the responsibility to work and maintain the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15). This notion is not limited to physical work. Still, it extends to the greater duty that human beings have to the creation and to one another. This concept of stewardship in a modern context can be applied to preserving the environment and conducting ethical business.
ResearchGate reports that society is increasingly aware of the importance of living obligingly, in which responsibility and ethical conduct are essential to the well-being of future generations. The religious appeal to human beings to defend and care for the earth is a timeless call that still resonates in the new debates over sustainable practices, urban planning, and social responsibility.
Marriage covenant The Bible mentions in Genesis 2:22-24 the story of the creation of Eve from Adam’s rib, and this was always understood as a representation of equality and unity in marriage. The text emphasizes the value of companionship, implying that human relationships should be defined by mutual respect, partnership, and love. Even today, marriage is considered one of the most important social institutions, but attitudes toward it have shifted.
A Pew Research Center study found that half of U.S. adults believe that marriage is a vital social institution. Still, website trends indicate that a significant segment of the population is delaying marriage or choosing other forms of cohabitation. Nevertheless, even with the changes to these values, the biblical concept of marriage as the unity and equality still serves as a reference point in religious circles and affects the modern debate concerning gender roles and family units.
Command of obedience God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but they disobeyed. This is a turning point (Genesis 2:17) when the concept of free will and moral decision-making in human existence was introduced. The order to obey was not a limitation but a challenge to have faith in God’s wisdom. The tension between individual responsibility and societal responsibility is discussed in modern ethical discourse, including law and psychology.
According to The Atlantic, the desire and duty conflict, and being in this situation is not new; the case of Adam and Eve is when they chose to listen to their desire rather than God’s order. This motif of obedience remains prominent in the human experience, particularly in moral decision-making today.
Temptation and fall The temptation of Eve by the serpent and her consequent decision to taste the forbidden fruit and the involvement of Adam is what is popularly known as the Fall of Man (Genesis 3:1-6). This is a fundamental incident in Christian theology: the introduction of sin into the world. It has been viewed as an allegory of human nature: being tempted to choose something that results in something not so good.
This is corroborated by studies in behavioral science, such as those conducted by psychologist Roy Baumeister, who demonstrate that human beings are generally prone to temptation, particularly when it comes to short-term gratification rather than long-term rewards.
Consequences of sin After being disobedient, Adam and Eve were severely punished with pain and suffering, and they were later sent to their deaths (Genesis 3:16-19). The effects of these repercussions brought a new reality to humankind, in which work, pain, and death became part of the human condition. Theologically, this is usually regarded as the cause of human suffering.
Recent sociological research, including that published in The Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, indicates that suffering is a global experience that prompts us to question the meaning of life and its purpose. The Bible insists that this was not the end of the world; even in light of the dismal outcomes of their deeds, the human race could still be redeemed.
Promise of redemption Although this was already anticipated in the Fall, Genesis 3:15 outlined the promise of redemption, stating that God would triumph over evil in the future. The verse has been believed to be the first prophecy of the messiah coming to bring back the lost. The Christians view this promise as fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The issue of redemption remains one of the principal themes of contemporary Christian theology and has been applied to numerous cultural stories concerning how to triumph over evil. According to The Gospel Coalition, the idea of redemption resonates with individuals seeking meaning in their difficulties, which explains its continued relevance today.
Parents of humanity Adam and Eve were the parents of all humanity, and Eve is also referred to as the mother of all living (Genesis 3:20). The concept emphasizes the interconnectedness of all individuals, regardless of background or race. The similarity in the origin of all humans is supported by scientific research in genetics and anthropology, thus providing a scientific basis for this biblical fact.
Scientists, such as those at National Geographic, have discussed the idea of the most recent common matrilineal ancestor of all modern humans, known as mitochondrial Eve, which highlights the relationship between the Bible’s stories and scientific discoveries.
Key takeawayf The Adam and Eve narrative offers profound insights into the human condition, the creation of humanity, the fall, and the promise of redemption. These biblical realities are still applicable in the modern world and help us understand what it means to be responsible human beings, to build relationships, and to make moral decisions that define our humanity.
The story of Adam and Eve still reverberates, whether in environmental stewardship, marriage, or the repercussions of sin. Through these facts, we are reminded of the common cause we share and of our ability to be redeemed and renewed.
Disclosure: This article was developed with the assistance of AI and was subsequently reviewed, revised, and approved by our editorial team.
Disclaimer – This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information. It is not intended to be professional advice.
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Ancient Martian beach discovered, providing new clues to red planet's habitability
Ancient Martian beach discovered, providing new clues to red planet's habitability
Story by Gege L
Perseverance looks upstream along Neretva Vallis, the ancient river valley which once fed water into Jezero crater, over 3.5 billion years ago. The light-toned rocks in the foreground comprise fine-grained mudstones of the Bright Angel formation.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
New findings from NASA's Perseverance rover have revealed evidence of wave-formed beaches and rocks altered by subsurface water in a Martian crater that once held a vast lake—considerably expanding the timeline for potential habitability at this ancient site. In an international study led by Imperial College London, researchers uncovered that the so-called "Margin unit" in Mars's Jezero crater preserves evidence of extensive underground interactions between rock and water, as well as the first definitive traces of an ancient shoreline.
Perseverance views potential shoreline deposits in the Eastern Margin Unit with Mastcam-Z on Sol 934.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
These are compelling indicators that habitable, surface water conditions persisted in the crater (home to a large lake around 3.5 billion years ago) further back in time than previously thought. "Shorelines are habitable environments on Earth, and the carbonate minerals that form here can naturally seal in and preserve information about the ancient environment," said lead author Alex Jones, a Ph.D. researcher in the Department of Earth Science and Engineering (ESE) at Imperial.
"Our findings therefore have exciting implications for Mars's past climate and habitability, while providing new insights into a geologic unit which has long had a debated origin." The work is published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.
From rock to beach
Deployed on Mars since 2021 to search for signs of past life, NASA's Perseverance rover spent nearly a year extensively exploring the "Margin unit," a geologic unit lining the inner rim of Jezero crater between 2023 and 2024. The unit was a critical target for exploration since it is rich in carbonate minerals; these precipitate from liquid water and often trap organic molecules on Earth, making them excellent at preserving any potential biosignatures that are present in the environment.
Before Perseverance's arrival, the origin of the unit was contested—some scientists proposed that it formed as a sedimentary deposit along the edge of the ancient Jezero lake, while others argued it was an igneous rock later altered by water.
The study analyzed a multitude of high-resolution outcrop and grain-scale images captured by Perseverance's cameras to confirm that both hypotheses are in fact true to some degree.
It showed that much of the unit's structure and grain-scale texture is consistent with an altered igneous rock, likely formed from a large magma chamber or lava lake in the crater. After it cooled and solidified, crystals of olivine within the unit were heavily altered by circulating carbon dioxide-rich subsurface water, transforming into iron- and magnesium-carbonates. These findings therefore offer exciting evidence of sustained water-rock activity deep beneath the surface.
"This transformation, which builds on recently published work we also contributed to, indicates that water circulated below the surface of the Margin unit, altering the rock over vast timescales," said study author Professor Sanjeev Gupta of Imperial's Department of Earth Science and Engineering. "On Earth, this kind of subsurface hydrothermal environment is known to support microbial life."
Revealing the shoreline
Perhaps the most intriguing discovery lay in the lower-elevation regions of the Margin unit. Here, the team identified clearly layered sandstones containing rounded, sand-sized grains of olivine and carbonate. These sedimentary rocks have structures that are textbook indicators of waves acting in a shoreline environment.
"We are looking at what was once a beach," said Jones, who carried out the work during the first year of his Ph.D., with Professor Gupta and Dr. Rob Barnes, a Research Associate in the Department. "The waves of the Jezero lake eroded and reworked the local, igneous bedrock, rounding the grains and depositing them as a sandy layer along the shore."
He added, "The fact that this ancient beach sits underneath the Jezero river delta also tells us that the calm lake conditions that are hospitable for life existed here even earlier than we previously thought."
Extending the habitability window at Jezero
The evidence of water-rich conditions extending further back into the history of Jezero crater builds on Jones's recent work which found evidence of a comparatively young, perched lake at Jezero crater.
The international study, led by the group at ESE, investigated a series of rocks (called the "Bright Angel" formation) in the upstream reaches of the dried-up river valley which once fed water into the former Jezero lake.
Surprisingly, rather than the sandy or gravelly deposits typically left behind by rivers, the team found thick layers of mudstone: evidence that this part of the valley was once underwater. Their work suggests that billions of years ago, the valley was blocked, forming a dammed lake upstream.
Both these studies drew on crucial skills that Jones first gained from his undergraduate degree in the Department, including geologic mapping, sedimentology, stratigraphy and igneous petrology. "This fittingly showcases how our core teaching is exploited on real space missions that are striving to answer some of life's most fundamental and pertinent questions," said Professor Gupta.
Return to Earth
Now, three core samples collected by Perseverance from the Margin unit, and one from the Bright Angel formation, are awaiting return to Earth by the forthcoming Mars Sample Return mission. Laboratory analyses of these samples will allow scientists to precisely date igneous and sedimentary events at the crater, decode the climate conditions from carbonate chemistry, and search for signs of any potential biosignatures preserved in the samples.
"These findings show that the history of water in Jezero crater was far more complex in both time and space than we imagined," said Jones, who is also a student collaborator on NASA's Mars 2020 mission. "Jezero crater continues to prove it is the ideal place to investigate past habitability on Mars, and to help answer the question of whether life ever emerged."
More information:
Alexander J. Jones et al, Stratigraphy of Carbonate‐Bearing Rocks at the Margin of Jezero Crater, Mars: Evidence for Shoreline Processes?, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets (2026). DOI: 10.1029/2025je009111
These six galaxies were among the almost 1,400 anomalous objects buried in the Hubble Legacy Archive. Researchers used AI tools to comb through the vast archive and detect anomalous objects. The discovered objects include a ring-shaped galaxy, a bipolar galaxy, a group of merging galaxies, and three galaxies with warped arcs created by gravitational lensing. Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. O’Ryan, P. Gómez (European Space Agency), M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble)
AI faces daily criticism from people worried about its ill-effects. But the type of AI that draws this ire are Large Language Models (LLMs). There are other types of AI with specialized functions that don't make it onto the front pages. Combing through vast troves of astronomical data is a perfect task for AI that is unlikely to be replicated by human minds.
Our powerful collection of astronomical telescopes are creating a mass of data. The JWST contributes about 57 GB of data every day, depending on what observations are scheduled. The Vera Rubin Observatory, with the largest digital camera ever built, will vastly outpace that. It will generate about 20 terabytes of raw data each night and requires special infrastructure just to handle it. With powerful new telescopes like the Giant Magellan Telescope and Extremely Large Telescope coming online soon, the amount of astronomical data needing scientific scrutiny is growing into a deluge.
These vast quantities of data are bound to hold many hidden surprises. Our technology has outpaced the capacity of organic brains to process it all. But technological AI is catching up to astronomy's mass data-generation capability.
“Archival observations from the Hubble Space Telescope now stretch back 35 years, providing a treasure trove of data in which astrophysical anomalies might be found,” said co-lead author O’Ryan.
"Astronomical archives contain vast quantities of unexplored data that potentially harbour rare and scientifically valuable cosmic phenomena," the authors write. "We leverage new semi-supervised methods to extract such objects from the Hubble Legacy Archive."
Astrophyscial anomalies are important because they can be outliers that present a different side of nature. A trained scientist might be attuned to them and find them relatively easy. But there's just too much data.
The researchers used a recently-developed anomaly detection framework named AnomalyMatch to rapidly search through almost 100 million image cutouts from the Hubble Legacy Archive. The archive contains images going back aboutt 35 years.
AnomalyMatch is different AI than the type the techno-oligarchs are trying to cram into every piece of consumer software. It's a neural network, a machine learning tool inspired by the human brain. "AnomalyMatch is tailored for large-scale applications, efficiently processing predictions for ≈100 million images within three days on a single GPU," the authors wrote in a previous paper that presented the AnomalyMatch tool.
It took AnomalyMatch only 2 to 3 days to process this much data, a fraction of the time it would take human minds. It's the first time the Hubble Legacy Archive has undergone such a systematic search for anomalies. AnomalyMatch generated a list of likely anomalies. That list contained almost 1,400 anomalous objects, a number that's handled much more easily by human minds. O'Ryan and Gomez went through these 1,400 objects manually and determined that 1,300 of them were in fact anomalies, and that more than 800 of them have never been documented.
Merging and interacting galaxies were the most common type of anomaly detected in the Archive. There were 417 of them.
This group of gravitationally interacting galaxies is one of the anomalous the researchers found in the Hubble Legacy Archive. The distorted shapes and tidal tails illustrate the gravitational effects.
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. O’Ryan, P. Gómez (European Space Agency), M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble)
The researchers also found 86 new potential gravitational lenses. These are important because they bring objects that are otherwise too distant to observe into reach. They also help scientists study the distribution of dark matter in the Universe, measure distances and cosmic expansion, and test general relativity. "We identify many gravitational lenses that are already identified in the literature – but many candidate new lenses," the authors write.
This is one of the gravitational lenses found in the Hubble Legacy Archive. The reddish elliptical galaxy is the foreground lens and a blue spiral galaxy in the background is magnified and distorted by the elliptical galaxy. These types of alignments bring distant objects into observational reach.
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. O’Ryan, P. Gómez (European Space Agency), M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble)
There were other anomalies in the Archive, too. AnomalyMatch found other rare objects like jellyfish galaxies. These are found in galaxy clusters where ram pressure is stripping gas from the galaxy, leaving a long tail lit up with star formation. There were 35 of them found in the Archive.
The research also turned up some anomalies with uncertain natures. One of them is a strange sight, a galaxy with a swirling core and open lobes.
This galaxy highlights the anomalous nature of some difficult-to-categorize objects. It's a bi-polar galaxy with a compact swirling core and an open lobe at each side. This object was newly-discovered and previously unknown. It's not clear what type of galaxy it is, and if it's strange morphology is related to a merger. Its discovery highlights the utility of AI tools to search through astronomical archives.
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. O’Ryan, P. Gómez (European Space Agency), M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble)
Finding hidden surprises in vast quantities of astronomical data is an admirable use of AI. Along with the previously mentioned anomalies, the researchers also uncovered overlapping galaxies, clumpy galaxies, ring galaxies, and even high-redshift galaxies so close to detection limits they're difficult to discern. They also found jetted galaxies and AGN-hosting galaxies.
*This figure from the research shows five examples of every anomaly sub-class for which we found at least five objects, not including lensed quasars. These were selected as representative of each sub-class.
Image Credit: O'Ryan and Gomez 2026. A&A*
If all astronomical observations stopped tomorrow, the discoveries wouldn't stop. Capable AI tools are destined to become more and more powerful. Massive existing datasets from the Hubble and from other missions like the ESA's Gaia are feeding grounds for future tools.
Who knows what's waiting to be discovered in all that data?
“This is a powerful demonstration of how AI can enhance the scientific return of archival datasets,” Gómez said. “The discovery of so many previously undocumented anomalies in Hubble data underscores the tool’s potential for future surveys.”
Oribtal path of Asteroid 2024 YR4. Credit - ESA Orbit Visualization Tool
There’s a bright side to every situation. In 2032, the Moon itself might have a particularly bright side if it is blasted by a 60-meter-wide asteroid. The chances of such an event are still relatively small (only around 4%), but non-negligible. And scientists are starting to prepare both for the bad (massive risks to satellites and huge meteors raining down on a large portion of the planet) and the good (a once in a lifetime chance to study the geology, seismology, and chemical makeup of our nearest neighbor). A new paper from Yifan He of Tsinghua University and co-authors, released in pre-print form on arXiv, looks at the bright side of all of the potential interesting science we can do if a collision does, indeed, happen.
On December 22nd, 2032, Asteroid 2024 YR4 has a 4% chance of actually striking the Moon. If it does, it will release enough energy to be the equivalent of smacking our nearest neighbor with a medium-sized thermonuclear weapon. It would be 6 orders of magnitude more powerful than the last major impact on the Moon, which happened back in 2013 and was caused by a much smaller meteoroid.
If it does hit the Moon, it will prove a serendipitous event for physicists who study high energy impacts. While they can simulate models of how the impact will go all they want, monitoring it as it happens will provide them with never-before collected actual data that is infeasible to get any other way. The impact will vaporize rock and plasma, and clearly be visible from the Pacific region, where it will be night during the impact.
Fraser discusses whether we should simply destroy Asteroid 2024 YR4.
Even days after the impact, the melt pool of the impacted material will still be cooling, allowing infrared observers like the James Webb Space Telescope to capture plenty of data on how that cooling process works, as well as how craters are actually formed on the Moon. It should form a crater roughly 1 km wide and 150-260 m deep, with a 100m pool of molten rock at the center. Comparing it in size to other craters scattered around the Moon will help us understand its bombardment history.
The impact will also set off a global “moonquake” of magnitude 5.0. That would be the strongest moonquake yet detected by any seismometer on the Moon, and there expected to be plenty more before that impact timeline as space agencies rush back to the Moon and begin to cover it with scientific equipment. Watching the propagation of the moonquake caused by the impact will shine a light on the Moon’s interior and help researchers understand its composition without having to blast it with anything artificial.
A final piece of the scientific puzzle will be the debris field created by the blast. Up to 400kg of it is expected to survive reentry to Earth, creating essentially a free “large scale” lunar sample return mission for astronomers. Despite the fact that the samples would be charred to a crisp by their atmospheric reentry. But if you’ve ever seen the episode The Eye in the show Andor or read the book Seveneves by Neal Stephenson, then you know how spectacular such a display can be. At its peak right around Christmas of 2032, simulations expect up to 20 millions meteors per hour to hit our atmosphere, and least on the “leading edge” of the planet - most of them with naked-eye visibility. Those would include some 100-400 fireballs (i.e. larger pieces) per hour.
VideofromSpace video showing the orbits of Asteroid 2024 YR4.
Credit - VideofromSpace YouTube Channel
But there is a downside to all of this. That 400kg of meteors have to land somewhere, and it looks like the cross-hairs fall squarely on South American, North Africa, and the Arabian peninsula. Not exactly the most built up areas of the world, but a few kg of space rock falling on Dubai could certainly cause some damage. But perhaps more dangerous is the risk to the satellite mega-constellations that plan such an important role in our modern-day navigation and internet systems. Such an event could trigger “Kessler Syndrome” and bring the entire network down over the span of a few short years, while also locking us out from being able to get anything else safely into orbit for much longer.
Due to the risks, some space agencies are already considering a deflection mission that would bump Asteroid 2024 YR4 out of the way of a potential lunar collision, but that has not been set in stone yet. Neither, for that matter, has the actual impact itself. It will only have a 4% chance of happening - not the same astronomical odds as winning the lottery, but not as high as a chance of rolling a Nat 20 in a D&D game. If the odds of that increase over the coming years, eventually we as a species will have to decide whether it's worth the effort to deflect it or not. And if we do, we might miss out on a whole bunch of cool science - but we almost might save our entire orbital infrastructure and a few lives directly to boot.
A bipartisan measure aiming to disclose U.S. government records related to UFOs has come under fire from top politicians in Washington, as advocates continue working against time to save the imperiled transparency effort, The Debrief has learned.
Earlier this year, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) united with Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) to introduce a 64-page proposal to bring about the disclosure of official information on what the U.S. government now calls unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). Dubbed the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Act of 2023 (UAPDA), the proposal was cut from the same mold of an earlier law in 1992, which outlined the disclosure of records related to the JFK assassination in 1963.
The act was introduced as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), an annual piece of legislation that authorizes funding for the U.S. Armed Forces and outlines the budget and operations for the Department of Defense in accordance with Article 1 Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. Among the key components included in the legislation is a provision concerning eminent domain, whereby the U.S. government could effectively confiscate and appropriate any UAP technologies that are revealed to exist, as well as the creation of a presidential records review board similar to the one outlined in the 1992 law.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, who co-sponsored the UAP Disclosure Act
(Credit: Perisha Gates/Wikimedia Commons CC 2.0).
In July, the Senate version of the bill, which included the UAP legislation, was approved in an 86-11 vote, following a House vote that approved its version by a 219-210 vote. After each version of the bill was passed, the two chambers entered a formal conference process to negotiate between the two versions of the bill.
However, late last week, it was learned that Representatives Mike Turner (R-OH) and Mike Rogers (R-AL) were ramping up efforts to eliminate or significantly change the wording in the UAP Disclosure Act during negotiations in the NDAA conference.
The new developments, first reported by the Liberation Times last week, indicated that Turner, Chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Rogers, Chair of the House Armed Services Committee, had leveraged support from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA), a move which cast significant doubts over whether the UAP Disclosure Act would make its way into the final version of the NDAA signed into law by President Biden.
A source close to the negotiations tells us that the NDAA conference is wrapping up. The outcome of The UAP Disclosure Act is uncertain and key terms like the civilian review board are at risk. The time to contact Congress is NOW.
Despite the grim forecast that emerged over the weekend, concerted efforts by a bipartisan coalition of advocates in recent days have resulted in a final push to leverage pressure against lawmakers to save the UAP Disclosure Act. The result has been a uniting of forces between players on opposite ends of the political spectrum, who are now fighting for a common goal: ending decades of U.S. government stonewalling on the issue of UAP.
The UAP Disclosure Act: ‘Must-Pass Legislation’
“The Schumer-Rounds UAPDA is must-pass legislation,” says Kevin Wright, Founder of Solve Advocacy, a Washington-area public relations and issue advocacy consulting firm. For more than two decades, Wright has worked in public relations involving everything from national issue campaigns and nonprofit statewide ballot initiatives to Presidential Super PACs.
However, with the introduction of the UAP Disclosure Act earlier this year, Wright, who also works as a volunteer with the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (SCU), a nonprofit group of scientists and other professionals devoted to the scientific investigation of UAP, has devoted most of his time to advocacy related to aerial mysteries.
Kevin Wright, founder of Solve Advocacy
(Credit: K. Wright/X).
“The UAPDA provides a pathway for the government to finally free itself of what it has discovered over the past 80 or more years,” Wright told The Debrief. “It is a win for the public, thirsty for an honest and transparent government, and it is a win for a return to Constitutional constraints, providing elected officials and authorities delegated through public law to regain control of the government, including appropriate Congressional oversight.”
However, for Wright and the like-minded advocates he works with, the UAP Disclosure Act, if it were to pass, would not represent the end of the transparency campaign.
“As with any legislation, there are several foreseeable problems. We will all have to continue to advocate for greater transparency,” Wright says, no matter the outcome of the current battle, which many believe could significantly impact the Senate’s UAP provision if not halt it altogether.
The circumstances involving the embattled UAP Disclosure Act have led Wright, who in his professional career has worked mainly for Republican candidates, to join forces with colleagues on the opposite end of the political spectrum in their efforts to push for recognition among lawmakers of the significance of UAP transparency.
Fortunately for Wright, he finds himself in very good company.
Constitutional Law and UAP
A Harvard College, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Divinity School–trained Constitutional Litigation and Appellate Attorney, the events spanning Daniel Sheehan’s five decades as a constitutional and public interest lawyer read almost like a textbook on U.S. history, if not a Hollywood screenplay.
From the Pentagon Papers and Watergate to the Karen Silkwood case, the La Penca bombing, and the Iran Contra affair, Sheehan has litigated several of the 20th century’s landmark American legal cases. However, Sheehan’s advocacy involving what the U.S. government now calls unidentified anomalous phenomena has been his primary focus in recent years.
Attorney Daniel P. Sheehan is one of the leading advocates fighting for the UAP Disclosure Act and its inclusion in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act
(Credit: www.danielsheehan.com).
Arguably, tat unwavering focus on applying constitutional law toward resolving mysteries in the skies also may never have been quite so significant as it has become in 2023, a year of similar landmarks in the effort to advance government transparency on UAP, all of which now appear to hang in the balance.
Sheehan’s professional journey began in 1968 when he co-founded the Harvard Civil Rights Law Review. Early in his career, alongside co-founder Mark Greene, Sheehan also initiated a case that would have significant ramifications for the way journalists report on government issues.
“One of the first cases that we actually did was the case that ended up establishing the rights of journalists to protect their confidential sources,” Sheehan told The Debrief. “This went all the way to the United States Supreme Court while we were still in law school. And because of that, I was retained by one of the top Wall Street corporate litigation law firms.”
That firm represented NBC News, a development that helped cement Sheehan’s role in several pivotal moments in U.S. legal history, including the 1971 leak of the Pentagon Papers and the Watergate scandal.
“We ended up being the ones that got called when The New York Times got the Pentagon Papers,” Sheehan remembers. “We had all the meetings and discussions with the New York Times board of editors about how we would go about publicly revealing what had been registered as top secret by the government, and over the top of the active resistance on the part of the Nixon administration, to stop us from getting the right to publish this.”
“Because of that, I developed a very positive relationship with a lot of investigative journalists,” Sheehan said. “And they began to reveal things to me.”
It was through his involvement with the Pentagon Papers and Watergate that Sheehan was exposed to the darker side of operations within the U.S. government, primarily the use of government authority to wage covert wars and maintain access to strategic raw materials for American corporations, often in violation of constitutional and ethical principles.
Seeking to address these systemic issues, he leveraged his background in foreign policy and comparative social ethics, ultimately becoming General Counsel at the U.S. Jesuit Headquarters. This role put him at the center of policy development in response to major government departments and agencies. His work also led to involvement with the Carter administration. At that time, Sheehan says he was tasked with working on classified UFO studies for the President, whose interest in the subject stemmed from a sighting of an unusual light one evening near Leary, Georgia, in 1969.
“I was contacted by the head of the Science and Technology Division of the Congressional Research Service, Dr. Marsha Smith, who had been asked by President Carter to prepare two originally classified reports to him,” Sheehan said. “One was on the potential likelihood of there being an extraterrestrial civilization, and the second one was whether or not any of at least some of these UFO encounters in sightings might actually be a vehicle from an extraterrestrial civilization.”
Sheehan said it had been in that context that he was given access to classified portions of Project Blue Book, the United States Air Force’s investigation into UFOs during the 1950s and 1960s.
“It was there that I saw actual photographs of a crash retrieval project that was underway,” Sheehan says.
Although the images would be the most compelling thing he observed during his time working with the Carter Administration, it was only the beginning of Sheehan’s professional involvement with UFOs. He would go on to represent the late Dr. John Mack at Harvard University, who, prior to his untimely death in 2004, had been one of the most prominent proponents of human encounters with the unexplained. Sheehan also became counsel for the Disclosure Project, the Citizens Hearings on UFO Disclosure, and more recently, he has represented individuals like Lue Elizondo, who came forward with information about the U.S. government’s secret UFO programs and faced retaliation.
For Sheehan, the efforts to bring transparency and constitutional oversight to the issue of UFOs and the possible existence of extraterrestrial life have benefited greatly from the involvement of figures like Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fl) and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), two of the more prominent elected officials within a bipartisan coalition aiming to protect whistleblowers and, more fundamentally, help to broaden our view of the world around us.
“What we’re experiencing right now is a coalition of true patriots and true Americans who are trying to resuscitate and reestablish the constitutional oversight authority of our government over this extraordinary issue of whether or not we actually exist in the midst of a much larger interstellar culture,” Sheehan told The Debrief.
From civil rights advocacy and challenging covert government operations to the question of whether the U.S. government is withholding significantly more about its involvement with UFOs than has been publicly acknowledged, the common threads running throughout all of Sheehan’s work are a dedication to constitutional governance, ethical transparency, and the pursuit of a more informed and expansive human perspective.
“This is an extraordinary subject, which requires the development of a new human worldview,” Sheehan says. “That’s why our New Paradigm Institute is been designated as one of the groups that is to recommend nominees for a presidential panel to be appointed to oversee this process.”
“And that’s where we find ourselves today.”
Trouble on Capitol Hill
Despite the efforts of advocates like Sheehan, Wright, and countless others on the issue of UAP transparency, the fate of the UAP Disclosure Act currently remains in question.
During a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, David Grusch, a former intelligence officer turned whistleblower who alleges the U.S. has recovered craft of non-human origin and illegally withheld that information from Congress, as first reported by The Debrief in June, addressed the current pushback from House lawmakers on the UAP Disclosure Act.
Former U.S. intelligence official David Grusch came forward with allegations about U.S. involvement in the retrieval of a craft of unknown origin in June 2023
(Credit: David Grusch).
“For one, they’re saying it duplicates the DoD AARO’s activities,” Grusch told Rogan during the podcast, naming Representatives Mike Rogers and Mike Turner among those who are blocking the UAP Disclosure Act. Grusch also emphasized Turner’s proximity to Wright Patterson Air Force Base, the headquarters of the Air Force Materiel Command with a deep history in aerospace innovation in Dayton, Ohio. Notably, Wright Patterson had also been the home of Project Bluebook, the Air Force’s official investigation into UFOs throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
According to data made available by OpenSecrets.org, the website of the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-profit, non-partisan research group that tracks money in U.S. politics, Rep. Mike Turner’s largest 2023-2024 campaign contributors are listed as “Misc Defense” at $62,350, followed by “Defense Aerospace” at $46,300.
During the 2022 election cycle, Rep. Mike Rogers was the largest recipient of funding from the defense sector by a wide margin, according to data made available by OpenSecrets.org (see below). Similarly, listed among the largest contributions to Rep. Rogers in 2023-2024 were “Misc Defense” at $121,200, down significantly from the $282,350 he received in the previous election cycle, during which the largest contribution from a single contributor had been $60,750 from Lockheed Martin.
“So, I have a problem with Mike and Mike right now,” Grusch told Rogan on the podcast. Grusch also specifically named Lockheed Martin as a possible recipient of portions of the exotic technologies that he learned of during his tenure as an intelligence officer, further describing visits with the late Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who had expressed similar views in the past.
“I was told for decades that Lockheed had some of these retrieved materials,” Reid told The New Yorker in April 2021. “And I tried to get, as I recall, a classified approval by the Pentagon to have me go look at the stuff. They would not approve that.” Reid, speaking with journalist Gideon Lewis Krauss, said he was repeatedly denied clearance to view these materials. Attempts by The New Yorker to obtain a statement from Lockheed Martin about the alleged issue at that time were declined.
In July, following a Congressional hearing where Grusch testified alongside former U.S. Navy pilots David Fravor and Ryan Graves about U.S. government issues related to UAP, Rep. Turner expressed doubts when asked by Fox News host Maria Bartiromo to comment on testimony Grush provided about biologics he said were recovered along with alleged past acquisitions of exotic craft.
“Maria, I always love it when you have somebody who comes forward and testifies about things that they don’t know anything about,” Turner told Bartiromo on July 30, 2023. “I mean… the most striking aspect of all the testimony was, repeatedly over and over again, the whistleblowers had to say, actually, I don’t have any knowledge of this. Somebody else told me that.”
Rep. Mike Turner during a visit to Ukraine in April
(Public Domain).
“I mean, really, this would take thousands and thousands of people for such an unbelievable coverup to be occurring, and for people to speak with such, um, you know, confidence over something that they do not know is, I think, something that certainly everybody needs to be concerned about,” Turner added.
“I certainly can’t tell you that there are no aliens here,” Turner told Bartiromo. “I can tell you that, certainly, there’s no evidence that what the gentleman is testifying about he has, he said himself personally, he has no direct knowledge of.”
Rep. Turner has consistently downplayed the UAP issue in interviews and, in some instances, appears to have refused to respond to questions about the subject altogether. However, while insinuations that pressure from defense contractors could be motivating lawmakers like Turner and Rogers to work against the current UAP legislation, it is noteworthy that several other House Republicans have continued to demand funding cuts to portions of the bill that are unlikely to pass the Senate, which include items unrelated to UAP such as climate, environment and nuclear energy programs.
Whatever the true motivations of lawmakers who are currently working to block the UAP disclosure provisions in the Senate version of the bill might be, Sheehan argues that the recent allegations made by whistleblowers like David Grusch nonetheless point to the existence of a bureaucratic element within the U.S. government, which has effectively worked to conceal the full extent of the U.S.’s involvement with the acquisition of UAP materials over the decades.
If the UAPDA were to pass, Sheehan says the nine-person panel it would establish would “have the power to extract this information from the deep state elements that have it and bring it into the hands of the United States Congress.”
“There appears to be solid and believable evidence that somehow this technology has been secretly and unlawfully turned over to private industry,” Sheehan told The Debrief. “[It] has been turned over to the high-tech aerospace industries, such as Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.”
“This is an extraordinarily important issue that our American people need to weigh in on, about whether or not we believe that that’s an appropriate use of this information,” Sheehan says.
Sheehan also says that two specific provisions within the UAPDA—those involving eminent domain and subpoena power—were key targets for those in the House who have recently opposed the amendment.
“Mike Turner first attacked those two elements,” Sheehan told The Debrief. “[He said] we want the eminent domain provision out of here, and we want the subpoena power out of here. And when our people that were working on this responded to the statute by saying, ‘Why would you be so worried about the eminent domain provision if you don’t have any of the technology, as you keep on insisting?’ At which point they retreated to an abstract argument on behalf of libertarian values of not having to state, you know, overreach, and to be able to seize private property.”
“Our response was, how many other issues have you raised on this on, you know, being opposed to the entire concept of eminent domain?”
“None. Just this one,” Sheehan told The Debrief. “Then they retreated and said, ‘Okay, well, then we’re going to take a position to oppose completely allowing anything in this bill to be put into the National Defense Authorization Act.’”
“What we’ve got to do is concentrate on not only all of the other members of the House Intelligence Committee, virtually all of whom support this bill other than the chairman, who comes from the Wright Patterson Air Force Base, basically. And then there’s one other person who is Michael Rogers, the head of the House Armed Services Committee. And he’s from the second congressional district down in Alabama, right next door to the Redstone Arsenal.”
Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama
(Public Domain).
“People in both of those districts, the 10th Congressional District in Ohio, and the Second Congressional District down in Alabama, need to write to them, send cables to them, send emails to them… go sit in their office to talk to them, you know, to get them to back off this,” Sheehan told The Debrief.
“They have a constitutional duty, as the chairs of those committees in the Congress, to get this information, and they are absolutely placing their own personal financial campaign contributions above getting this information into the hands of the Congress, which is constitutionally mandated to exercise oversight over this program.”
“So that’s where the bill is right now.”
The UAP Disclosure Act: An Unprecedented Bipartisan Issue
For UAP advocates like Sheehan and Wright, as well as several members of Congress and others in Washington, efforts toward achieving broader government transparency on the UAP issue have helped to unite individuals from opposing political backgrounds in an unprecedented way, bringing them together to focus on a common cause.
“Government transparency is an issue that cuts across party lines,” Wright told The Debrief. “Regardless of political persuasion, people expect their government to be honest and transparent.”
“That is also true for lawmakers,” Wright says. “In fact, it might be even more important for them, regardless of party, when they find out they are being lied to and denied proper oversight. The UAP angle makes it even more compelling given the subject matter of possible non-human intelligence (NHI), [of] which polls show a heightened level of interest and a high level of distrust when it comes to the government.”
“What difference does it make if you are a Republican or a Democrat, if the government knows more than it has admitted, and if there is an NHI involved? People simply want, and have a right, to know,” Wright says.
Wright admitted that his work with Sheehan might never have occurred if had not been for their mutual advocacy of UAP, given the usual partisanship that occurs in Washington; a divisiveness in American politics that now could well prevent the UAP Disclosure Act from ever becoming law.
“There would likely never be an issue or cause that would find Danny and me working together,” Wright tol The Debrief.
“We stand at different ends of the political spectrum in most instances, except for government transparency, and believing the people have a right to know the truth about UAP and NHI.”
“And this issue is too important to let political affiliations get in the way.”
The Doomsday Clock, which has been ticking down to the end of the world for decades, is now officially closer to annihilation than ever before.
On Tuesday, scientists with the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved the symbolic clock four seconds forward to85 seconds to midnight.
It's also the closest the clock has ever been to midnight in its 79-year history, meaning experts believe humanity has never faced a more dire threat of a world-ending catastrophe than it does in 2026.
The group, which decides where the hands are set annually, cited multiple threats to global stability, including nuclear weapons, climate change, disruptive technologies like AI, and the creation of synthetic biological substances called 'mirror life.'
Alexandra Bell, president and CEO of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, said: 'Every second counts and we are running out of time. It is a hard truth that this is our reality. This is the closest our world has ever been to midnight.'
The Chicago-based nonprofit created the Doomsday Clock in 1947 during the Cold War as tensions between the US and the Soviet Union brought the constant fear of a nuclear apocalypse.
This is the second year in a row that the Doomsday Clock has moved closer to midnight - the hypothetical point where the world will end. Until 2020, the clock had never been closer than two minutes to midnight.
Daniel Holz, chair of the Bulletin's Science and Security Board, said: 'Last year, we warned that the world was perilously close to catastrophe and that countries needed to change course towards international cooperation and action on the most critical and existential risks. Unfortunately, the opposite has happened.'
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved the 'Doomsday Clock' four seconds closer to midnight - the theoretical point of world annihilation
The US, Israel, Iran, and Russia all warned in 2025 that a catastrophic global war could be nearing as the crisis in the Middle East and Ukraine reached a breaking point
Holz added that nuclear-armed nations became even more adversarial and nationalistic in 2025 and influenced the four-second jump, the largest move forward since 2023 when scientists cut it from 100 to 90 seconds to midnight.
'The latest remaining treaty governing nuclear weapon stockpiles between the US and Russia expires next week. For the first time in over half a century, there will be nothing preventing a runaway nuclear arms race,' Holz revealed.
Any time the Doomsday Clock has moved forward has been said to signify humanity's failures to make progress in solving the global threats of the past 12 months.
Every year, the Doomsday Clock has been updated based on how close humanity theoretically is to total annihilation.
If the clock goes forward and gets a few minutes or seconds closer to midnight (compared with where it was set the previous year), it suggests humanity has moved closer to self-destruction.
If it moves further away from midnight, it suggests humanity has lowered the risks of global catastrophe since the same point last year.
In some years, the hands of the clock don't move at all, suggesting global tensions and threats worldwide haven't changed for better or worse.
It has been moving steadily closer to the predicted end of the world since 2011, when it was still six minutes from midnight.
In 2025, the US, Iran, and Israel were involved in a deadly conflict in the Middle East, with the US sending a precision bombing mission to attack Iran's nuclear facilities
Rhe Bulletin's Science and Security Board added that climate change has also escalated over the last year, with global sea levels reaching record highs.
'Droughts, floods, fires, and storms continue to intensify and become more erratic, and this will only get worse,' Holz predicted.
Additionally, the expert warned of 'mirror life,' which are synthetic organisms built completely backwards compared to normal DNA, which scientists believe could help develop advanced medicines.
However, many scientists fear the threat posed by these lab-made substances, as they are totally incompatible with normal DNA, raising the threat of an unstoppable pandemic.
'Despite repeated warnings from scientists worldwide, the international community has no coordinated plan and the world remains unprepared for potentially devastating biological threats,' Holz said.
As for so-called 'disruptive technologies,' the security board's chair singled out artificial intelligence (AI) for 'supercharging mis- and disinformation.'
Dr Leonard Rieser, Chairman of the Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, moves the hand of the Doomsday Clock back to 17 minutes before midnight at offices near the University of Chicago on November 26, 1991
Last year, the Bulletin moved the clock to 89 seconds to midnight, citing the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, conflicts in the Middle East, the threat of nuclear war, climate change, a potential bird flu pandemic, and the so-called 'arms race' to develop AI.
Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine has led to Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II, with unconfirmed estimates estimating the death toll reaching one million people in 2026.
Meanwhile, multiple conflicts involving the US broke out in the last year, as the Trump Administration launched a bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities and arrested Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife during a covert raid in Caracas.
Tensions have even flared between the US and its allies in NATO, as President Trump vies to take control of Greenland, a current territory of Denmark, citing its importance to national security against Russia and China.
'If the world splinters into an "us versus them" zero-sum approach, it increases the likelihood that we all lose,' Holz warned.
Although symbolic and not an actual clock, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists unveiled a physical 'quarter clock' model at an event on Tuesday when they delivered the news of their estimate for 2026.
After the unveiling, the model can be found located at the Bulletin offices in the Keller Center, home to the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.
The Doomsday Clock goes back to June 1947, when US artist Martyl Langsdorf was hired to design a new cover for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists journal
Every January, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists reveals its annual update to the Doomsday Clock – even if the hands are not moved.
The Doomsday Clock officially came into existence in June 1947, when US artist Martyl Langsdorf was hired to design a new cover for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists journal.
With a striking image on the cover, the organization hoped to 'frighten men into rationality' as the Cold War seemed destined to go nuclear, according to Eugene Rabinowitch, the first editor of the journal.
The clock was initially set at seven minutes to midnight because 'it looked good to my eye,' Langsdorf later said.
On the cover of later issues, the hands of the clock were adjusted based on how close civilization was estimated to be to catastrophe.
After the Soviet Union successfully tested its first atomic bomb in 1949, Rabinowitch reset the clock from seven minutes to midnight to three minutes to midnight.
Since then, it has continued to move forward and backwards, now moving within a minute and a half of total destruction.
In 2009, the Bulletin ceased its print edition, but the clock has still been updated once a year on its website and is now a much-anticipated highlight of the scientific community.
A new AI app is helping to rewrite the evolution of flight.
The app, developed by researchers from the University of Edinburgh, has been used to analyse footprints made by dinosaurs more than 200 million years ago.
The results show that several tracks share 'uncanny' features with both extinct and modern birds.
According to the researchers, this suggests that birds could have originated 60 million years earlier than we thought.
'This study is an exciting contribution for paleontology and an objective, data–driven way to classify dinosaur footprints – something that has stumped experts for over a century,' said Professor Steve Brusatte, an author of the study.
'It opens up exciting new possibilities for understanding how these incredible animals lived and moved, and when major groups like birds first evolved.
'This computer network might have identified the world's oldest birds, which I think is a fantastic and fruitful use for AI.'
A new AIapp is helping to rewrite the evolution of flight. The app, developed by researchers from the University of Edinburgh, has been used to analyse footprints made by dinosaurs more than 200 million years ago
While dinosaur footprints are an important indicator of our evolution, they've proved difficult to interpret.
Until now, scientists have largely relied on manual methods, which introduce an element of bias.
To rectify this issue, the team developed a new AI app dubbed the DinoTracker, which uses advanced algorithms to recognise dinosaur footprints.
To train the app, the researchers fed it nearly 2,000 fossil footprints alongside millions of variations to mimic changes such as compression and edge displacement.
Amazingly, tests have revealed that DinoTracker can now identify dinosaur footprints with 90 per cent accuarcy – even for contentious species.
One of the most interesting discoveries by the app was the resemblance between several dinosaur tracks and those left by birds.
According to the researchers, this either suggests that birds originated tens of millions of years earlier than thought, or that some dinosaurs had feet that resembled birds by coincidence.
The researchers also fed the AI app images of footprints from the Isle of Skye in Scotland, which have left scientists baffled.
One of the most interesting discoveries by the app was the uncanny resemblance between several dinosaur tracks and those left by birds
Its analysis suggests that the tracks may have been left around 170 million years ago by some of the oldest relatives of duck-billed dinosaurs.
Looking ahead, the researchers hope the tool will help to improve our understand of how dinosaurs lived and moved around the Earth.
Dr Gregor Hartmann of Helmholtz–Zentrum research centre, and co-author of the study, said: 'Our method provides an unbiased way to recognize variation in footprints and test hypotheses about their makers.
'It's an excellent tool for research, education, and even fieldwork.'
A poem written over 120 years ago by a revered religious figure has resurfaced as some fear its prediction of an apocalyptic event could be coming true today.
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, also known as the Promised Messiah and the Imam Mahdi, wrote a 1905 poem describing massive earthquakes and destruction across the world, which some have now interpreted as awarning of World War III.
In the poem, published around the time of his death in 1908, Ahmad predicted streams of blood flowing from widespread death, entire regions being wiped out, a massive earthquake, and even strange sky events beyond scientific explanation.
It mentions of calamity befalling the Czar of Russia has been seen by some as foreshadowing modern conflicts involving Russia, such as the war in Ukraine and continued tensions with the US and NATO.
'A sign will come some days hence, which will turn over villages, cities and fields. Wrath of God will bring a revolution in the world, the undressed one would be unable to tie his trousers,' Ahmad's 1905 poem described.
'Suddenly, a quake will severely shake, mortals, trees, mountains and seas, all. In the twinkling of an eye, the land shall turn over, streams of blood will flow like rivers of water.'
Ahmad, born in 1835 in Qadian, India, founded the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam and dedicated his life to defending his faith against criticisms from other religions, such as Christianity. He also claimed to receive multiple divine revelations.
Ahmad's followers believe he was divinely appointed as the guided leader expected in Islamic End Times prophecies.
A 1905 poem and prophecy of global destruction by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad has resurfaced as some believe it is close to coming true
(Stock Image)
The poem described a devastating earthquake which would shake 'mortals, trees, mountains and seas,' just as recent natural disasters, like the March 2025 quake in Myanmar
(Pictured)
There is some skepticism about the potential ties to current world tensions, as Russia no longer has a Czar in 2026 and some believers have suggested that Ahmad's predictions referred to a major earthquake in India before his death.
In his book Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, written in the late 1800s, Ahmad wrote that a 'warner came unto the world, but the world accepted him not,' which believers have suggested meant disasters and wars would break out after a divine messenger was rejected by the people.
'There will be death on such a large scale that streams of blood will flow. Even birds and grazing animals will not escape this death,' the religious leader foretold.
'Those days are near, indeed they are at the door, when the world shall witness the spectacle of a doomsday.'
He also spoke of 'mighty assaults' from God and heaven that seemed to depict the launching of missiles in a global war, and the immense distress this would cause the leader of Russia.
'The terror of it will exhaust everyone, the great and the small, even the Czar will be at that hour in a state of the utmost distress,' Ahmad wrote in the poem.
'It will be a glimpse of wrath, that heavenly sign, the sky shall draw its dagger to attack.'
The poem also described the wrath of God assaulting from heaven and the sky drawing 'its dagger to attack,' similar to the image of a missile flying through the air (Stock Image)
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (Pictured) was the founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam and promoted the religion as a peaceful and tolerant faith
Despite his dire warnings of the future, Ahmad's main goal for the founding of the Ahmadiyya Movement was to present Islam as a peaceful, tolerant, and rational religion based on the Quran and the example of the Prophet Muhammad.
After Ahmad's death in 1908, the Ahmadiyya movement split into two main branches due to disagreements over their late leader's exact religious status.
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community sees him as a subordinate prophet under Muhammad, while the Lahore branch views him strictly as a reformer without prophethood.
However, both acknowledge the existence of the 1905 poem and its prophecy of a cataclysmic event following Ahmad's death, which both branches suggest includes events that have already taken place.
Specifically, Lahore interpreted Ahmad's warning to be about World War I, which began in 1914. Meanwhile, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has suggested that the quake mentioned by Ahmad described major seismic events in India.
However, the prophecy has resurfaced in 2026 as scientists in the US prepare to update the so-called Doomsday Clock, which is said to show how close the world is to a man-made global catastrophe, such as nuclear war.
As of last year, the clock has sat at 89 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever come in its 78-year history of reaching the presumed End Times.
High-resolution map shows dark matter's gravity pulled normal matter into galaxies
High-resolution map shows dark matter's gravity pulled normal matter into galaxies
The James Webb Space Telescope in space near Earth.
Credit: NASA/dima_zel
Scientists have created the highest resolution map of the dark matter that threads through the universe—showing its influence on the formation of stars, galaxies and planets.
The research, including astronomers from Durham University, UK, tells us more about how this invisible substance helped pull ordinary matter into galaxies like the Milky Way and planets like Earth.
The findings, using new data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (Webb), are published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
The study was jointly led by Durham University, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and the École Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland.
In 2007, astronomers produced the first detailed map of the hidden dark matter of the COSMOS field. By measuring how gravity from unseen matter bends the light of background galaxies, the map shows how dark matter is distributed and acts as the hidden framework on which visible galaxies are built.
Credit: NASA, ESA and R Massey (California Institute of Technology).
The new map confirms previous research and provides new details about the relationship between dark matter and the normal matter from which we—and everything we can touch or see—are made.
When the universe began, dark matter and normal matter were probably sparsely distributed.
Scientists think dark matter clumped together first and then pulled in normal matter, creating regions where stars and galaxies began to form.
How dark matter shaped the universe
Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have produced one of the most detailed maps to date of dark matter. By measuring how gravity from unseen matter bends the light of background galaxies, the map shows how dark matter acts as the hidden framework on which visible galaxies are built. The overlaid contours mark regions of equal dark-matter density, highlighting where this invisible matter—shown here in a blue color—is most strongly concentrated.
Credit: Dr. Gavin Leroy/COSMOS-Webb collaboration.
In this way, dark matter determined the large-scale distribution of galaxies we see in the universe today.
By prompting galaxy and star formation to begin earlier than they would have otherwise, dark matter also played a role in creating the conditions for planets to eventually form. Without it we might not have the elements in our galaxy that allowed life to appear.
Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have produced one of the most detailed maps to date of dark matter. By measuring how gravity from unseen matter bends the light of background galaxies, the map shows how dark matter acts as the hidden framework on which visible galaxies are built. Here the Dark matter map from the JWST telescope is framed inside the original HST map from 2007.
Credit: Dr. Gavin Leroy/Professor Richard Massey/COSMOS-Webb collaboration.
Research co-lead author Dr. Gavin Leroy, of the Institute for Computational Cosmology, Department of Physics, Durham University, said, "By revealing dark matter with unprecedented precision, our map shows how an invisible component of the universe has structured visible matter to the point of enabling the emergence of galaxies, stars, and ultimately, life itself.
Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have produced one of the most detailed maps to date of dark matter. By measuring how gravity from unseen matter bends the light of background galaxies, the map shows how dark matter acts as the hidden framework on which visible galaxies are built.
Credit: Dr. Gavin Leroy/Professor Richard Massey/COSMOS-Webb collaboration.
"This map reveals the invisible but essential role of dark matter, the true architect of the universe, which gradually organizes the structures we observe through our telescopes."
Understanding dark matter's elusive nature
This map shows the Dark Matter distribution in the COSMOS field observed by the Hubble Space Telescope (left) and by the James Webb Space Telescope (right). The overlaid contours mark regions of equal dark-matter density, highlighting where this invisible matter—shown here in a blue color—is most strongly concentrated.
Credit: Dr. Gavin Leroy/Professor Richard Massey/COSMOS-Webb collaboration.
Dark matter does not emit, reflect, absorb, or block light, and it passes through regular matter like a ghost.
However, it does interact with the rest of the universe through gravity, something the new map shows with a new level of clarity.
Evidence for this interaction lies in the degree of overlap between maps of dark matter and normal matter.
According to the research, Webb's observations confirm that this close alignment cannot be a coincidence. Instead, the astronomers say it is due to dark matter's gravity pulling normal matter toward it throughout cosmic history.
The Dark Matter distribution in the COSMOS field observed by the Hubble Space Telescope (left) and by James Webb Space Telescope (right).
Credit: Dr. Gavin Leroy/Professor Richard Massey/COSMOS-Webb collaboration.
Research co-author Professor Richard Massey, in the Institute for Computational Cosmology, Department of Physics, Durham University, said, "Wherever you find normal matter in the universe today, you also find dark matter.
"Billions of dark matter particles pass through your body every second. There's no harm, they don't notice us and just keep going.
"But the whole swirling cloud of dark matter around the Milky Way has enough gravity to hold our entire galaxy together. Without dark matter, the Milky Way would spin itself apart."
Mapping the universe with Webb
The area covered by the new map is a section of sky about 2.5 times larger than the full moon, in the constellation Sextans.
Webb peered at this region for a total of about 255 hours and identified nearly 800,000 galaxies, with many detected for the first time.
The scientific team then looked for dark matter by observing how its mass curves space itself, which in turn bends the light traveling to Earth from distant galaxies—as if the light of those galaxies has passed through a warped windowpane.
The map contains about 10 times more galaxies than maps of the area made by ground-based observatories and twice as many as the Hubble Space Telescope.
It reveals new clumps of dark matter and captures a higher-resolution view of the areas previously seen by Hubble.
Sharper images and future research
Research co-lead author Dr. Diana Scognamiglio, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said, "This is the largest dark matter map we've made with Webb, and it's twice as sharp as any dark matter map made by other observatories.
"Previously, we were looking at a blurry picture of dark matter. Now we're seeing the invisible scaffolding of the universe in stunning detail, thanks to Webb's incredible resolution."
To refine measurements of the distance to many galaxies for the map, the team used Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).
Durham University's Center for Extragalactic Astronomy was involved in the development of MIRI, which was designed and managed through launch by JPL.
The wavelengths detected by MIRI make it adept at detecting galaxies obscured by cosmic dust clouds.
The team next plans to map dark matter throughout the entire universe, using the European Space Agency's (ESA) Euclid telescope and NASA's upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
They will learn more about dark matter's fundamental properties and how dark matter might have changed over cosmic history.
However, that patch of sky studied in this latest research will be the reference on which all future mapping will be fine-tuned and compared.
More information:
Diana Scognamiglio, An ultra-high-resolution map of (dark) matter, Nature Astronomy (2026).
Underground shelters for the chosen, silence for the masses
Underground shelters for the chosen, silence for the masses
Back in 2013, we reported on the so-called elite survival bunkers and the notorious Deep Underground Military Bases — the D.U.M.B.s. Curiously, the rumors never faded. If anything, they feel more relevant today than ever.
Despite the public silence, world powers may already be aware of a looming global crisis, yet choose to say nothing. While the masses are distracted, preparations appear to continue behind closed doors.
Mainstream media keeps its spotlight fixed on geopolitical tension, conveniently ignoring escalating environmental and planetary risks. Governments offer no clear explanation. Scientists remain reserved. The pattern speaks for itself.
Evidence suggests the world’s major governments have been preparing for catastrophe far longer than most people realize.
Across continents, state agencies, defense contractors, and major corporations have accelerated underground construction to unprecedented levels. In the United States, massive subterranean complexes are being excavated in remote and restricted regions, well beyond public oversight. China has quietly built unusually deep subway networks beneath key cities, resembling a crash infrastructure program. Russia went public in 2011 with plans for roughly 5,000 new nuclear shelters for Moscow alone, while newer metro lines were designed to double as hardened bunkers.
More recently, former HUD official Catherine Austin Fitts alleged that the U.S. has been covertly constructing an underground “breakaway” civilization for the elite, designed for near extinction-level scenarios. She claimed trillions in unaccounted federal funds were diverted into subterranean infrastructure, including an underground command grid for continuity of government during nuclear war or worse, as well as advanced transit systems.
One acknowledged D.U.M.B. is the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, arguably America’s most secure and secretive military fortress. Imagine what else they've built. ( Video : take a look at the inside the Cheyenne Mountain Complex.)
Economist Mark Skidmore of Michigan State University reviewed federal financial discrepancies and concluded in 2017 that roughly $21 trillion in “unauthorized expenditures” occurred between 1998 and 2015 within the Department of Defense and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. One Army report alone listed $6.5 trillion in unsupported adjustments for fiscal year 2015 — fifty times its official budget.
After examining the missing trillions, Fitts estimated that at least 170 underground installations exist within U.S. territory, some rumored to extend beneath oceans and interconnect via classified high-speed transit systems. According to her, these would function as sanctuaries if governments anticipated a civilization level collapse.
Hollywood has long been accused of predictive programming, quietly introducing future technologies, events, or disclosures into films and entertainment well before they surface in reality. In the context of underground survival infrastructure, the film Greenland is frequently cited. Its storyline depicts an extinction-level disaster in which ordinary citizens are abandoned while selected individuals are quietly evacuated to fortified subterranean facilities, including a base beneath Greenland.
Confirmed or not, the pattern is hard to ignore: powerful institutions appear to be preparing for contingencies the public is not being informed about. And if the worst comes, one uncomfortable possibility emerges, the general population may be left to fend for itself.
In 2026, NASA will move from long-running development and testing into a phase defined by action, readiness, and progress. After years shaped by delays, redesigns, and risk reductions, many of NASA's most ambitious programs are finally lining up for execution. The result will be a year that could redefine how humans explore space and how science missions are delivered. Human spaceflight is once again the central focus.
After more than 50 years, humans are planning to return to the Moon. At the same time, the agency is testing new ways to communicate across deep space, manage crews, and operate complex systems from Earth. Meanwhile, the next-generation Nancy Grace Roman telescope is finished and preparing to launch, while NASA continues to build strong partnerships with commercial companies to improve its means to search for life outside Earth. Together, these efforts make 2026 more than just another year of planning. It represents a moment when planning turns into progress.
In 2026, NASA plans to take a major step in returning humans to the Moon with the Artemis II mission. This flight will be the first time astronauts reach the moon since the final Apollo mission concluded in 1972. A crew of four astronauts aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft will leave Earth from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission is planned to launch no later than April 2026, but NASA is actually aiming for a possible launch even sooner.
The trip will last only 10 days, during which the spacecraft will loop around the Moon and return to Earth. The astronauts won't land on the Moon because the true purpose of the Artemis II mission is to test life support, navigation, communication, and other systems with humans aboard in a deep-space environment. That said, Artemis II is more than just a technical tryout. It's a confidence builder for the later Artemis missions planned to take astronauts to the lunar surface, Mars' surface, and beyond. The excitement for Artemis II is global. NASA invited the public to sign up and have their names fly around the Moon during the mission. Projects like this can help people around the world feel more connected to space exploration in 2026.
2. NASA hones in on search-for-life missions
Artist's concept of the Habitable Worlds Observatory
In early January 2026, NASA announced that it was hearing proposals from companies who could help advance technology on the successor to James Webb, the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). NASA plans to have HWO serve as a space telescope designed to image Earth-like planets orbiting distant suns and analyze their atmospheres for signatures of life. This new flagship telescope will push beyond what Hubble and James Webb can do. While these existing telescopes also have coronagraphs, or devices that block starlight so that scientists can get a better look at orbiting planets, HWO is expected to have one that is thousands of times more powerful.
NASA awarded three-year contracts to seven companies to build the technical foundations for HWO. Among these are some major players including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and BAE Systems. In a statement, NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said humanity is ready to find life beyond Earth and that he believes developing such technology is a matter of urgency. HWO is NASA's boldest step yet in answering the question: Are we alone in the universe?
3. Laser-based communication is implemented
Illustration depicting transmits between NASA's Psyche spacecraft and Earth-based observatories
In recent years, NASA has been pushing the limits of how space communication works. Until now, spacecraft were using traditional radio waves to communicate with Earth. Now, new technologies are laser-based. They use pulses of light to send information, packing far more data in each transmission. This breakthrough could transform how missions share high-definition images, video, and scientific data across millions of kilometers.
NASA already successfully demonstrated how Deep Space Optical Communication (DSOC) works. The Psyche spacecraft, launched in October 2023, is equipped with this new technology, and it already received laser-encoded data over record-breaking distances. The first stream was, funnily enough, a video of a cat chasing a laser pointer. Throughout 2024 and 2025, the DSOC onboard Psyche continued to beat distance records.
This successful demonstration lays the groundwork for the operational use of laser communication in crew-supported missions like Artemis II. NASA will fly the Orion Artemis II Optical Communication System (O2O) aboard the Orion spacecraft. The Artemis crew will be able to send 4K ultra-high definition video, voice, procedures, images, and science data for the duration of the mission.
The Nancy Grace Roman telescope finishes its final tests
An engineer inspecting the primary mirror for NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
NASA's next great space telescope, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has officially moved from construction to completion. After years of development, the spacecraft's physical build is finished, and all major components have been assembled and integrated. Roman is NASA's next flagship telescope that combines Hubble-like resolution with a field view 100 times larger. That means it's capable of capturing huge cosmic areas in a single image.
The next step is to launch this space telescope. Final testing and preparations are ongoing as engineers simulate the launch vibrations, cold of space, and long-term operations far from Earth to make sure this next-generation telescope will be fully operational before the launch. The telescope is scheduled to go online in May 2027, but as the work progresses fast, there are indications that the launch could be moved to September 2026. While the launch preparations continue, the scientific community is already gearing up. In 2025, NASA ca }ed for research proposals using the Ronan telescope. It could be that 2026 sees some of these come to life.
Mars contains water, though mostly as subsurface permafrost. Surface water is readily visible at some places, such as the ice-filled Korolev Crater, near the north polar ice cap (Credit : ESA/DLR/FU)
Scientists have known that Mars has water for some years, documenting ice beneath the surface, moisture locked in soil, and vapour drifting through the thin atmosphere. The challenge facing future human missions isn't finding water on the Red Planet, it’s figuring out how to actually extract and use it.
Dr Vassilis Inglezakis at the University of Strathclyde has tackled this practical problem in a new study that compares the various technologies capable of recovering Martian water. While previous research focused on identifying where water exists, this analysis examines the crucial next step which is the evaluation of how effectively each extraction method would work under authentic Martian conditions.
Reliable water access would prove essential not just for drinking but for producing oxygen and fuel, dramatically reducing dependence on supplies shipped from Earth at enormous expense. A self sufficient Mars base needs local water, and it needs extraction systems that actually function in an environment far harsher than anywhere on Earth.
Gullies, similar to those formed on Earth, are visible on this image from Mars Global Surveyor and are thought to be formed by transient running water on the surface of Mars.
Inglezakis compared three primary water sources and their associated technologies. Subsurface ice emerges as the most promising long term option, offering substantial quantities of relatively pure water once drilling or excavation equipment reaches deposits typically buried beneath meters of dry soil and rock. The energy costs of melting ice pale in comparison to the water yield, making this approach economically viable for permanent settlements.
Soil moisture presents a trickier proposition. Martian regolith contains water molecules chemically bound to minerals, which can be liberated through heating. However, the process demands significant energy to extract relatively modest amounts of water, making it better suited as a supplementary source or emergency backup rather than a primary supply.
Atmospheric water harvesting represents perhaps the most intriguing possibility, particularly for missions exploring regions far from known ice deposits. Mars's atmosphere contains water vapour, though in concentrations far lower than Earth's driest deserts. The study proposes new harvesting approaches that could capture this atmospheric moisture, offering a potentially valuable water source when nothing else is accessible. The technology would need to operate continuously, compensating for the atmosphere's stinginess through persistent collection over extended periods.
This map shows the ice thickness at Mars’s Medusae Fossae Formation (MFF) if we assume that the dust is 1000 feet thick. In this case, the total volume of water ice contained within the MFF deposits, if it melted, would be enough to cover Mars in an ocean of water approximately 3 metres deep (Credit: ESA)
The analysis evaluates each method across multiple criteria; energy requirements, equipment complexity, scalability from small exploration missions to large settlements, and reliability under varying Martian conditions. Temperature extremes, dust storms, and equipment degradation from the planet's corrosive soil all factor into determining which technologies would prove practical rather than merely theoretically possible.
As Inglezakis notes, much of Mars remains unexplored, and the search for accessible water continues. But understanding which extraction technologies could realistically function on the Red Planet proves equally crucial for planning sustained missions and eventual permanent settlement. The research provides a roadmap for making future Mars missions more self sufficient, transforming the planet's scattered water resources from tantalising discoveries into practical assets for human survival.
Moisture extracted from the atmosphere of Mars could provide a valuable alternative water supply if humans are ever to inhabit the red planet, a study has found.
However, the research from a Strathclyde University academic found that ice located beneath the surface of Mars would provide the most viable long-term solution.
Dr Vassilis Inglezakis examined the various ways of obtaining water on Mars in a paper in the Advances In Space Research journal.
The planet has several potential sources of H2O - including underground ice, soil moisture, and atmospheric vapour.
While underground ice could provide a long-term solution, Dr Inglezakis's research noted there are unlikely to be any accessible deposits near locations where explorers would land.
Harvesting water from the atmosphere is challenging as it requires more power and energy - but he suggested it could provide an alternative in areas were subsurface ice is inaccessible, or as a backup supply.
Dr Inglezakis, from the university's Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, said: 'Reliable access to water would be essential for human survival on Mars, not only for drinking but also for producing oxygen and fuel, which would reduce dependence on Earth-based supplies.
'This study is one of the first to compare the various technologies that could be deployed to recover water in a Martian environment.
Mars has several potential sources of H20 - including underground ice, soil moisture, and atmospheric vapour
'It also puts forward new ideas for atmospheric water harvesting, offering potentially valuable alternatives where other sources are inaccessible.'
The paper discusses each method in terms of energy demands, scalability, and suitability for different Martian conditions.
The analysis suggests subsurface ice is the most viable long-term water source.
The study examined ways of obtaining water on Mars
Nasa/ESA
Dr Inglezakis added: 'While the search for water continues and much of Mars remains unexplored, a clear understanding of available technologies and their realistic applications will be key to supporting sustained missions and eventual settlement.
'The research offers insights for future space exploration missions, supporting efforts to make them more self-sufficient and sustainable.'
Joe Rogan's latest podcast guest delved into controversial scans showing an enormous underground structure beneath the Great Pyramid of Giza, potentially rewriting ancient history.
The scans were conducted by Italian scientist Filippo Biondi and the Khafre Project team using synthetic aperture radar. This satellite imaging technology maps subsurface features by bouncing radio waves off the ground.
More than 200 scans from multiple satellites, including Italy's Cosmo-SkyMed and the US-based Capella Space, showed uniform results suggesting massive pillars about 65 feet in diameter wrapped in spirals and plunging nearly 4,000 feet deep.
Those pillars appear to end in 260-foot cubic chambers beneath all three pyramids and the Sphinx, which Biondi described as 'huge chambers' measuring roughly 260 feet in length and width.
The scans also highlighted shafts descending about 2,000 feet that intersect horizontal corridors roughly 10 feet tall, leading Biondi to speculate the pyramids may not be tombs but ancient power plants or vibration devices for out-of-body experiences.
Rogan echoed the radical implications, saying: 'They're not tombs,' and adding that if the data is accurate, the pyramids may be 'just the tip of the iceberg.'
Biondi dated the underground structures to 18,000 to 20,000 years ago, linking them to Zep Tepi, the mythic 'First Time' when gods first ruled and civilization began.
He also pointed to salt residues from ancient seawater flooding as evidence of a great flood event that could support the theory of a far older civilization beneath Giza.
The researcher team has released a model of the structures hiding below the Giza plateau, which includes three pyramids and the Great Sphinx
Italian scientist Filippo Biondi was the latest guest on the Joe Rogan Experience, where he discussed the scans showing the hidden megastructure
However, the Khafre Pyramid team believes the structures are much older and are hiding an underground world built by a lost civilization.
The key driver of the controversy is the credibility of the technology, which Biondi said he developed through 'top secret projects for the Italian military' and has applied to sites like the Mosul Dam and Italy's Grand Sasso laboratory.
It's patented, peer-reviewed, and built for precision, yet when the scans are applied to Giza, the reaction is fierce. Mainstream archaeologist Dr Zahi Hawass has called the scans 'This is bulls***.'
Biondi admitted that he and Armando Mei, who is part of the team, initially doubted the data, holding the results for six months, suspecting processing artifacts.
'My opinion was that it was not real. I was thinking that maybe it was noise or some artifacts due to our processing procedures,' he said.
Confirmation came from multiple satellite systems and benchmarks, including exact mapping of Italy's Grand Sasso particle collider, which lies about 4,600 feet deep inside a mountain.
Biondi said the consistency across datasets was what ultimately convinced him the findings were real.
The scans captured enormous shafts descending from the pyramids
The Giza complex consists of three pyramids, Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, built 4,500 years ago on a rocky plateau on the west bank of the Nile River in northern Egypt
After initially relying only on Italy's Cosmo-SkyMed satellites, the team expanded its analysis to US-based Capella Space satellites and others, seeking confirmation through diversity of sources.
'Once we had the same results while we were using American satellites… and also other satellites always the same results, we decided to disclose,' he said.
In total, more than 200 scans returned the same structural patterns.
Rogan pointed out that the technology has already been validated elsewhere, including its ability to precisely map Italy's underground Gran Sasso laboratory, a particle physics facility buried roughly 4,600 feet inside a mountain. '
We know it's accurate, we know it works,' Rogan said, calling resistance to the findings 'confirmation bias.'
Biondi emphasized that his work does not involve penetrating the ground with radar beams, a common online criticism.
Hawass has used that argument to dismiss the claims, telling the Daily Mail: 'They used topographic radar.
'They claim it reaches more than 1,000 feet down to a city. But any scientist who understands tomographic radar knows it only reaches about 60 feet. Their theory is completely wrong.'
However, Biondi explained that the method analyzes mechanical vibrations naturally present on Earth's surface and reconstructs subsurface features through tomographic inversion.
'We are not penetrating anything,' he said. 'We are just grabbing the entropy that is on the surface of the earth.'
The scans indicated not only vertical structures but horizontal corridors roughly nine feet tall that connect the shafts and chambers beneath the plateau.
The scans also captured large rooms at the bottom of the shafts
After gathering the data, researchers used a special algorithm that turned the information into vertical images of the ground beneath the pyramid, capturing the first look at the hidden structures. Pictured are the eight wells under the pyramid
According to Biondi, existing shafts between the pyramids, currently blocked by debris, may already provide access points to the underground system.
'Those shafts go down, down, down… and they reach chambers that are below,' he said, estimating depths of about 1,968 feet.
Biondi argued that physical excavation may not even be necessary to confirm the findings.
He has proposed a project to Egyptian authorities that would focus on clearing debris from existing shafts and deploying robotic drones, rather than digging new tunnels.
'We want to use machines, not humans,' he said, estimating the cost of such an effort at roughly $20 million.
Rogan repeatedly returned to the scale of the implications. If the data holds up, he said, the pyramids, long considered among humanity's greatest architectural achievements, may be only the visible remnants of something far larger.
'Those immense structures that have baffled mankind forever are just the tip of the iceberg,' Rogan said.
Biondi agreed, stressing that the measurements are the only subsurface data currently available for the Giza Plateau.
'What we found is something that has been confirmed by our measurements,' he said. 'At the moment, these are the only data that we have.'
Despite the controversy, Biondi said he welcomes replication by other research groups and remains open to scrutiny.
'I am happy if somebody can replicate things,' he said. 'If other research groups can replicate the things that I'm showing, I'm happy.'
For now, the scans remain unverified by direct exploration, suspended between radical possibility and entrenched skepticism.
But as Rogan put it, ignoring the data outright would be a mistake. 'If you're skeptical, we should probably explore it,' he said. 'And if it's wrong, okay. But if it's right, it's a crime not to investigate.'
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Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 75 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
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