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.
18-02-2022
Sea Level to Rise up to a Foot by 2050, Interagency Report Finds
Sea Level to Rise up to a Foot by 2050, Interagency Report Finds
Coastal cities like Miami, shown, already experience high-tide flooding. But a new federal interagency report projects an uptick in the frequency and intensity of such events in the coming decades because of rising seas. Credits: B137 (CC-BY)
NASA, NOAA, USGS, and other U.S. government agencies project that the rise in ocean height in the next 30 years could equal the total rise seen over the past 100 years.
Coastal flooding will increase significantly over the next 30 years because of sea level rise, according to a new report by an interagency sea level rise task force that includes NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and other federal agencies. Titled Global and Regional Sea Level Rise Scenarios for the United States, the Feb. 15 report concludes that sea level along U.S. coastlines will rise between 10 to 12 inches (25 to 30 centimeters) on average above today’s levels by 2050.
The report – an update to a 2017 report – forecasts sea level to the year 2150 and, for the first time, offers near-term projections for the next 30 years. Agencies at the federal, state, and local levels use these reports to inform their plans on anticipating and coping with the effects of sea level rise.
“This report supports previous studies and confirms what we have long known: Sea levels are continuing to rise at an alarming rate, endangering communities around the world. Science is indisputable and urgent action is required to mitigate a climate crisis that is well underway,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “NASA is steadfast in our commitment to protecting our home planet by expanding our monitoring capabilities and continuing to ensure our climate data is not only accessible but understandable.”
The task force developed their near-term sea level rise projections by drawing on an improved understanding of how the processes that contribute to rising seas – such as melting glaciers and ice sheets as well as complex interactions between ocean, land, and ice – will affect ocean height. “That understanding has really advanced since the 2017 report, which gave us more certainty over how much sea level rise we’ll get in the coming decades,” said Ben Hamlington, a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and one of the update’s lead authors.
NASA’s Sea Level Change Team, led by Hamlington, has also developed an online mapping tool to visualize the report’s state-of-the-art sea level rise projections on a localized level across the U.S. “The hope is that the online tool will help make the information as widely accessible as possible,” Hamlington said.
The Interagency Sea Level Rise Task Force projects an uptick in the frequency and intensity of high-tide coastal flooding, otherwise known as nuisance flooding, because of higher sea level. It also notes that if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, global temperatures will become even greater, leading to a greater likelihood that sea level rise by the end of the century will exceed the projections in the 2022 update.
“It takes a village to make climate predictions. When you combine NASA’s scenarios of global sea level rise with NOAA’s estimates of extreme water levels and the U.S. Geological Survey’s impact studies, you get a robust national estimate of the projected future that awaits American coastal communities and our economic infrastructure in 20, 30, or 100 years from now,” said Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, who directs the NASA Sea Level Change Team at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
“This is a global wake-up call and gives Americans the information needed to act now to best position ourselves for the future,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “As we build a Climate Ready Nation, these updated data can inform coastal communities and others about current and future vulnerabilities in the face of climate change and help them make smart decisions to keep people and property safe over the long run.”
Building on a Research Legacy
The Global and Regional Sea Level Rise report incorporates sea level projections from the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment, released by the United Nations in August 2021. The IPCC reports, issued every five to seven years, provide global evaluations of Earth’s climate and use analyses based on computer simulations, among other data.
A separate forthcoming report known as the Fifth National Climate Assessment, produced by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, is the latest in a series summarizing the impacts of climate change on the U.S., and it will in turn use the results from the Global and Regional Sea Level Rise report in its analysis. The Climate Assessment is slated to publish in 2023.
NASA sea level researchers have years of experience studying how Earth’s changing climate will affect the ocean. Their work includes research forecasting how much coastal flooding U.S. communities will experience in 10 years, helping to visualize IPCC data on global sea level rise using an online visualization tool, and launching satellites that contribute data to a decades-long record of global sea surface height.
Learn more about sea level and climate change here:
Fluoride (in yellow bucket) to be added to drinking water at a treatment plant in California.
Michael Macor/Hearst/SFC via Getty
Michael Connett had been preparing for this moment for four years. The California-based attorney was headed to court, where he would be suing the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Connett was slated to appear at the San Francisco federal courthouse on behalf of several individuals and advocacy groups. His contention: that supplemental water fluoridation is unsafe and should be halted. Immediately.
On the first day of the hearing, Connett woke up at 3.30 a.m. to put the finishing touches to his opening presentation. He downed a cup of coffee and an energy bar, then walked the two blocks from the hotel to his office, where he sat down, signed into Zoom and prepared to give his opening statement. The date was 8 June 2020, and the court had been closed to in-person business since March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. There was no bailiff, no audience sitting in the gallery. Instead of 50 onlookers in a physical courtroom, more than 500 people had signed in to view the virtual proceedings. They watched as Connett enumerated issues that have been bubbling up in the world of fluoride research.
The bulk of public opinion, based on decades of dental-health research, is against him — at least in the United States, where more than 63% of people have access to fluoridated water. One study after another, from the 1940s through to the 1970s, has pointed to fluoride as an important factor in preventing tooth decay, also known as caries. The mineral has become part of public-health lore, and has been hailed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as one of the ten greatest public-health achievements of the twentieth century. Most people who live in areas with fluoridated water on tap take the benefits for granted and view with suspicion those who question the supplementation.
Part of Nature Outlook: Oral health
Yet research over the past 50 years has sown a seed of doubt. Rates of tooth decay in some high-income countries with no fluoridation have declined at a pace similar to that seen in fluoridated US communities. And an increasing number of studies are indicating that fluoride — which occurs naturally in soil and therefore also in groundwater — might be a developmental neurotoxin, even at the level that the US Public Health Service has declared optimal for fluoridation.
Some toxicologists and epidemiologists are now questioning whether even low doses of fluoride can have systemic effects, including causing a dip in IQ in children who were exposed to it in utero. The first indications of this came from studies that compared unfluoridated villages and communities with fluoridated ones (where fluoride is either naturally occurring or added to water), followed by better-controlled studies that measured fluoride in individuals. In the United States, each new study was met with extreme criticism, ridicule and anger that, at times, threatened the careers of those involved.
Many dentists, having seen what life was like before fluoridation, have no interest in returning to the pre-fluoridation era of widespread cavities, abscesses, dentures and people in pain. But toxicologists worry that dental-health gains have come at a cost. Today, despite a shared goal of protecting public health, researchers on opposing sides of the fluoridation debate have trouble finding common ground.
Landmark in oral health
Fluoride has, without doubt, improved oral health and decreased rates of dental caries. Community water fluoridation has its roots in the 1940s, when a handful of trials were conducted after it was noticed that some communities with naturally fluoridated groundwater had a lower-than-average incidence of tooth decay. The first of these trials began in Michigan, New York state and Ontario, Canada, in 1945. In Michigan, researchers compared rates of tooth decay in Grand Rapids, where fluoride was added to the community water supply, and in Muskegon, where it was not1. When the five-year data were analysed and formally reviewed, the results were so striking that Muskegon abandoned the trial and began adding the mineral to its water, too. Over the following five decades, fluoridation was introduced in communities around the United States.
The practice remains common not only in the United States but elsewhere, including Australia (where 90% of municipal water supplies are fluoridated), New Zealand (47%), and Canada (39%), and has strong proponents in the United Kingdom (10%), where many dentists and public-health officials have been exerting pressure to start fluoridating the water in more communities.
Dental practitioners who remember the time before fluoridation know well what impact it has had. “My first practice was on the border of Birmingham, which was fluoridated, and Sandwell, which wasn’t,” says Nigel Carter, a paediatric dentist and chief executive of the Oral Health Foundation in Rugby, UK. It was clear from their charts, he says, that children with extensive tooth decay were almost always from Sandwell. In 1987, Sandwell began fluoridating its water, making it one of the most recent UK communities to do so. “Within five years, it went from the bottom ten, in terms of oral health, to the top five, purely due to fluoride being introduced in the water,” Carter says.
A resident of Birmingham, UK, shown in 1964 lining up bottles so that they can be filled with unfluoridated water.
Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty
Yet as research pushed forward in the late 1970s and 1980s, it became clear that the common understanding of how fluoride works was wrong. For decades, it was thought that fluoride was most effective at strengthening teeth when it was consumed, and that this would benefit a fetus exposed to fluoride during gestation. But it turns out although fluoride is incorporated into developing teeth in utero, it is protective against dental caries only after the teeth have emerged from the gums2.
In the mouth, fluoride ions incorporate themselves into plaque, a biofilm on teeth. When the environment becomes too acidic, the ions are released from the plaque and help pull minerals from the saliva to remineralize enamel surfaces and slow down tooth decay3. Fluoride ions can get into the mouth either by applying them directly to the teeth — with topical products such as toothpaste and varnish — or by ingesting fluoridated water and foods. The latter results in a tiny amount being constantly secreted in saliva. About 50% of ingested fluoride is absorbed and retained in bones and teeth, and the rest is excreted in urine; ingesting too much causes weakened bones and joints, in a condition known as skeletal fluorosis.
As research showing that topical fluoride was at least as effective as systemic doses piled up4, fluoridated toothpastes flooded the market. Children in primary schools were given fluoride tablets and told to swish and spit. Dentists incorporated fluoride varnishes and lacquers into their patients’ twice-yearly cleanings. And the incidence of dental caries in the United States and around the world continued to fall5.
Despite widespread adoption of topical fluoride, tap-water fluoridation continued. If topical fluoride has proven so effective, and rates of dental caries around the world have dropped without water fluoridation, then why is fluoride still being added to water supplies, opponents ask. Connett thinks it shouldn’t be. Others say that the answer is not so simple, and point to knottier issues of health inequities and environmental justice.
First, do no harm
Most of the research into water fluoridation’s protective effects was done before 1975, meaning that few studies directly address whether the widespread use of fluoridated rinses and toothpastes has made systemic fluoride unnecessary. But there are some clues that suggest this might be the case. Even in countries with no water fluoridation, such as Denmark, tooth decay has declined at rates comparable to those seen in US communities with fluoridation. That alone is enough to convince some researchers that adding fluoride to water is not necessary for cavity prevention, at least in societies with comprehensive public-health measures in place.
“We’re talking about a simple, highly electronegative anion. That’s it. That’s all fluoride is,” says Pamela Den Besten, a paediatric dentist who studies fluorosis and enamel formation at the University of California, San Francisco.
Den Besten has spent her career trying to work out the systemic effects of swallowing this anion. The fact that fluoride can affect ameloblasts, the cells that produce and deposit tooth enamel, suggests that it could affect other cells of the body. In fact, she notes, studies in animals and humans show that, in addition to fluorosis, cellular effects of fluoride also include inflammation and altered neurodevelopment. That, in turn, suggests that it could make its way into the brain. Den Besten says that means researchers should be looking into whether fluoride has potential effects on the central nervous system. “It should be a high priority to answer these questions. And yet, it’s not.” These potential effects of fluoride are important for individuals at all ages, she says.
The possibility of neurological effects is part of what Connett is trying to draw attention to in his lawsuit against the EPA. The finding that has garnered the most attention is a 2019 study in JAMA Pediatrics6, in which researchers compared the IQ of children who were born to women living in fluoridated areas and non-fluoridated areas. The data, which came from 512 mother–child pairs in 6 cities in Canada, indicated that, depending on how fluoride intake was assessed, exposure during fetal development was associated with as much as a five-point drop in IQ. A second study, led by public-health physician and epidemiologist Howard Hu at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, found a correlation between increased maternal urinary fluoride and decreased IQ in children born in Mexico City7.
“It’s not disputed that fluoride is toxic at high levels,” says Christine Till, a neuropsychologist at York University in Toronto, Canada, and lead researcher of the JAMA Pediatrics study. But what happens at lower levels, such as the 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per litre recommended in US fluoridation, is contested. That’s what Till and her colleagues have been working to tease out. “You have some weaker studies saying there’s no effect. And then you have our study, and the Mexico study, that are high quality, saying there is an effect,” she says.
On the basis of these two studies, Philippe Grandjean, a physician and environmental medicine researcher at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense, put together a benchmark-dose study on fluoride to document concentrations at which fluoride begins to have detectable adverse effects on IQ. According to the report, published in June8, that level is 0.2 milligrams per litre. That’s less than one-third of the recommended level for US water supplementation and one-twentieth of the US maximum allowable level of 4 mg l−1 (a level originally intended to prevent skeletal fluorosis). These numbers are just the beginning. More cohort studies are under way, and toxicologists and epidemiologists hope they’ll help to bring clarity to the fraught debate.
Earlier in his career, Grandjean had worked to prove the dangers of mercury exposure, and of lead exposure before that. Bruce Lanphear, an environmental neurotoxicologist at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada, was also involved in the lead toxicity studies and worked with Till on the Canadian fluoridation study. Both Lanphear and Grandjean testified during Connett’s lawsuit, noting that the data from their fluoride analyses are comparable to those used to limit the use of mercury and lead.
Over the past 30 years, researchers have shown that the developing brain is uniquely vulnerable to lead, mercury and other neurotoxins. “Low-level lead was contentious, but it doesn’t match up to fluoride,” Lanphear says. “I don’t think people have been sceptical enough about the benefits or the safety of [systemic] fluoride.”
Hard benefits
Some public-health dentists think the issue isn’t quite so clear cut. E. Angeles Martinez Mier, who studies dental public health at Indiana University’s School of Dentistry in Indianapolis, agrees that fluoride safety is worth investigating but says there’s not yet enough evidence to convince her that the risks outweigh the benefits. “Fluoridated water works for caries prevention,” says Martinez Mier, whose laboratory did the fluoride analysis on both the Canadian and Mexico cohorts, and who is an author of both papers.
But the magnitude of this benefit could be modest. Comparing fluoridated and non-fluoridated US communities, dentists see about one fewer cavity in baby teeth in fluoridated areas, and about 0.3 fewer cavities on average in adults9. “The size of the effect is not as much as people might think,” Till says.
Crystals of sodium fluoride.
Credit: NIH/SPL
Still, that benefit means something to those who can not afford dental care or to miss school or work because of poor oral health. “It’s not realistic, given the system that we have, that we’ll be able to reach every child with topical fluoride,” Martinez Mier says. “A lot of public-health dentists are adamant that fluoridated water is the only thing we have that reaches the public, regardless of access to care, regardless of public health.” If fluoridated water can help prevent so much hardship, public-health dentists argue, why wouldn’t people want it?
They also point out that although rates of tooth decay have gone down across the world, many of the countries studied have government-funded universal health-care programmes that educate citizens on the proper care of teeth and gums. The United States does not. “We are not Scandinavia. We are not Canada. Our public-health system, our infrastructure, is very different than those countries,” Martinez Mier says. “In Scandinavia, many countries have nurses who visit you at home, teach you how to brush, and you have access to fluoride through universal health care.” In the United States, she says, “it’s not realistic that we’ll be able to reach every child with topical fluoride.” Fluoridated water, however, reaches anyone who drinks or cooks with treated tap water. That’s insurance Martinez Mier is not yet willing to give up.
Hard questions
“If we’re looking at a practice that affects so many people, we want it to be scrutinized. We need transparency in the science,” says Brittany Seymour, a dentist who studies oral-health policy and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She thinks there are some who are so fixed in their views of fluoridation that they will not reassess their stance no matter what the latest research might show. But she also thinks that the questions Till, Lanphear and others are asking are important.
Seymour, who is also a spokesperson for the American Dental Association, studies online health misinformation and has seen all the ways in which fluoride has been demonized. For now, at least, she thinks it’s too early to consider revising a programme that has clearly made a difference to children’s oral health, especially when the data are limited to just a few cohorts. And while tooth decay might be down globally, she doesn’t think it’s because of fluoridated toothpaste alone. She points to two cities — Juneau in Alaska10, and Calgary in Canada11 — where the ending of water fluoridation seems to be directly correlated with a rise in dental caries. “If we remove something that we know has a protective benefit, we’re trading that for another problem,” she says.
Martinez Mier agrees. “It’s too early to be reactive and to cease water fluoridation without understanding the full scope of what that would mean for a community,” she says. If something designed to protect people’s oral health is removed, then new protective measures need to be put in place, she says.
It is difficult to ignore the importance of equity in these arguments. On the one hand, dentists think that fluoridated water most benefits those who lack access to dental services, oral-health education, or a steady supply of fluoridated toothpaste — the very people who are most susceptible to poor oral health and who experience the greatest financial hardship when dental problems strike. On the other hand, toxicologists worry about any impact of fluoridated water on IQ, especially in populations that are already vulnerable because of exposure to high rates of air pollution and elevated poverty rates, for example. And even if such populations are aware of the potential risks of fluoridation, they are least likely to be able to afford bottled water to use when formula-feeding infants, for instance.
“A couple of cavities and a couple of IQ points are both serious when you think about a population. If you’re in a place of privilege, and luck and environment is with you, and you have a child testing in the high percentile, a few IQ points may not be of great impact. But for others, in different conditions, it can be.” And, she says, “At a population level, it’s a big shift. Being in a disadvantaged position cuts across domains — health, economics, education, exposure. The most vulnerable populations are most vulnerable to a lot of things, not just dental caries and neurotoxicants.”
Back in the Zoom federal court, Connett closed his case. One scientist after another, specializing in epidemiology, toxicology and risk assessment, took to the virtual stand and testified that there was consistent evidence pointing to fluoride being a developmental neurotoxin. And Connett informed the judge of a draft report from the US National Toxicology Program (NTP), which reached the same conclusion in early 2019. Although the report wasn’t entered as evidence, Connett says, “its presence loomed large.” Today, the case is still open. Before the judge commits to a ruling, he wants to know the NTP’s conclusion — the third and final draft of the report is expected early in 2022.
Till is not holding her breath. “I don’t think they’ll ever come up with a consensus,” she says, noting that she doesn’t anticipate a scenario that will please dentists and toxicologists alike, at least not without the courts being involved. It has become a circular argument: The two groups can’t convince each other because they’re having different conversations, each siloed in their respective fields of study. “We’re in this odd situation where dental public health is in tension with environmental public health, and it’s really a dispute within the family,” Hu says.
Hu sees two big problems with how the dental public-health community has reacted. The first, he says, is that most of those in the dental community who are critiquing his and Till’s conclusions are doing so without a deep understanding of how they got them. “From the environmental epidemiology perspective, the methods employed in the most recent studies of prenatal fluoride exposure and neurodevelopment are exceptionally rigorous,” he says, and were put through stringent peer review. The second problem is a misplaced idea that decades of research on fluoride prove it is safe. “They are ignoring the fact that almost none of these ‘decades’ of research have focused on the very specific issue of prenatal fluoride exposure and neurodevelopment. The unfortunate result is that the two sides — environmental health and dental public health — keep talking past each other.” What they need, he says, is a neutral forum in which experts can dispassionately discuss and debate the evidence.
The other thing they need is more data. “There hasn’t been a single US study of fluoridation, prenatal exposure and natal development,” Hu says. He and his collaborators are starting one now, using data from past studies, and they aim to have answers in the next two years. Whether that study, or the anticipated revision of the NTP report, end up casting fluoride in a positive or negative light, their very existence will at least push the conversation forwards.
Fusion Scientists Say They Just Made a Major Breakthrough
Fusion Scientists Say They Just Made a Major Breakthrough
"We've demonstrated that we can create a mini star inside of our machine and hold it..."
Image by JET
Scientists at the UK-based Joint European Torus (JET) lab have smashed a fusion energy record for the first time in 25 years, producing 59 megajoules of energy over five seconds, the BBC reports. That’s 11 megawatts, enough to boil about 60 kettles worth of water, or the equivalent of 30 pounds of TNT.
The test more than doubles the previous record of just 21.7 megajoules, set in 1997 at the same facility.
The team behind the experiment say it’s a major breakthrough, and one that inches closer to a green form of energy that doesn’t run the risk of ending in a nuclear meltdown.
“The JET experiments put us a step closer to fusion power,” Joe Milnes, the head of operations at JET, told the BBC. “We’ve demonstrated that we can create a mini star inside of our machine and hold it there for five seconds and get high performance, which really takes us into a new realm.”
“These landmark results have taken us a huge step closer to conquering one of the biggest scientific and engineering challenges of them all,” Ian Chapman, the chief executive of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, said in a statement. “It’s clear we must make significant changes to address the effects of climate change, and fusion offers so much potential.”
The test involved heating up ionized gases to roughly ten times the temperature of the Sun’s core. In these conditions, atomic nuclei fuse and release copious amounts of energy.
The difficult part is producing more energy than has to be put in to kickstart the reaction, which remains the holy grail of fusion energy. The JET facility achieved a Q value, the fusion power output relative to power, of just 0.33. A value of one would mean the facility produced as much energy as it used.
That may not sound awfully impressive in and of itself, but the fact that it sustained such a value over five seconds represents a major leap in the field. The 1997 record may have achieved a Q value of 0.7 — but it did so for less than 4 billionths of a second, as Nature points out.
Still, the JET reactor won’t be powering homes any time soon.
“Five seconds doesn’t sound like much, but if you can burn it for five seconds, presumably you could keep it stable and keep it burning for many minutes, hours, or days, which is what you are going to need for a proper fusion power plant, Mark Wenman, nuclear materials research fellow at Imperial College London, told The Guardian.
“It’s the proof of that concept that they have achieved,” he added.
The landmark experiment sets the stage for the much larger ITER, a multi-billion dollar fusion reactor being built in France. JET uses the same deuterium-tritium fuel mix that ITER will be using as well.
While it’s a notable moment in the development of fusion energy, scientists still have a long way to go until we can use fusion reactors as a sustainable form of energy.
But, for now, it’s important to celebrate a step in the right direction.
“We didn’t jump up and down and hug each other — we were at 2 metres distance — but it was very exciting,” Fernanda Rimini, a plasma scientist at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE) where JET is based, told Nature.
Levels of methane found in the atmosphere are 'growing dangerously fast', scientists have warned, and it could be global warming causing the rapid increase.
A report, published in Nature, was compiled by an international team that examines data gathered by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) throughout 2021.
Methane is a dangerous, powerful greenhouse gas, with sources ranging from natural wetlands, to human activity, including livestock farming.
In the new study, the team found that methane in the atmosphere had raced past 1,900 parts per billion, which is triple levels found before the industrial revolution.
This 'grim new milestone' could be linked to global warming causing a rise in wetland areas, which then produce higher levels of methane, the team said.
Methane growth started to slow down around 2000, but there was a 'mysterious uptick' around 2007, which caused researchers at the time to worry global warming was creating a 'feedback mechanism'.
Levels of methane found in the atmosphere are 'growing dangerously fast', scientists have warned, and it could be global warming causing the rapid increase through more productive tropical wetlands.
Stock image
In the new study, the team found that methane in the atmosphere had raced past 1,900 parts per billion, which is triple levels found before the industrial revolution
As a greenhouse gas, methane is 28 times as potent as CO2, according to scientists, who said that if rising temperatures are causing more methane emissions, this will lead to ever greater, and faster, increases in global average temperatures.
'Methane levels are growing dangerously fast,' Euan Nisbet, an Earth scientist at Royal Holloway, University of London, in Egham, UK told Nature.
He said the emissions, which have been accelerating, are now a major threat the global efforts to limit global warming to 3.6F above pre-industrial levels.
Because of its potency, researchers have used aircraft and satellites to track levels of methane in the atmosphere, and built computer models to understand what is driving the increase.
One explanation was direct human activities, including the expanding use of oil and gas, emissions from landfill, larger livestock herds, and wetlands.
Trends have proved to be 'enigmatic', said atmospheric chemist, Alex Turner, from the University of Washington, adding that there are no conclusive answers.
This 'grim new milestone' could be linked to global warming causing a rise in wetland areas, which then produce higher levels of methane, the team said.
Stock image
METHANE: A POTENT GREENHOUSE GAS
In 2019, methane (CH4) accounted for about 10 per cent of all US greenhouse gas emissions from human activities.
Methane trapped in ice bubbles
Human activities emitting methane include leaks from natural gas systems and the raising of livestock.
Methane is also emitted by natural sources such as natural wetlands.
In addition, natural processes in soil and chemical reactions in the atmosphere help remove methane (CH4) from the atmosphere.
Methane's lifetime in the atmosphere is much shorter than carbon dioxide (CO2), but CH4 is more efficient at trapping radiation than CO2.
Pound for pound, the comparative impact of CH4 is 25 times greater than CO2 over a 100-year period.
Globally, 50-65 per cent of total CH4 emissions come from human activities.
Methane is emitted from energy, industry, agriculture, land use, and waste management activities, described below.
SOURCE: EPA
There are some clues, including through the isotpic signature of methane molecules - which normally contain carbon-12, but some have the heavier carbon-13.
Scientists found that methane produced by microbes, that have consumed carbon in the mud of a wetland, or gut of a cow, have less carbon-13 than methane produced by heat and pressure inside the planet - from fossil fuel extraction.
They compared this to the methane seen in the atmosphere, as well as methane trapped centuries ago in ice cores, or accumulated in snow.
For the two centuries after the start of the Industrial Revolution, the amount of methane containing carbon-13 has been increasing, but that reversed in 2007.
This was the year methane levels began to rise rapidly again, and scientists discovered the proportion of carbon-13 started to fall.
Researchers have put this down to an increase in microbial sources of methane over the past 15 years - which could be from livestock or more productive wetlands.
Xin Lan, from the NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory in Colorado, told Nature that this was a 'powerful signature' suggesting human activities alone aren't to blame.
They used the carbon-13 in the atmospheric methane to estimate that microbes are responsible for 85 per cent of methane emission growth over the past 15 years.
The rest is down to fossil fuel extraction, through natural gas and oil recovery.
After comparing the types of methane, they then had to discover which environmental system the microbes came from - wetlands, livestock or landfill.
This is still an unanswered question, according to the Nature report, but if it is coming from tropical wetlands, which have become more productive due to increasing global temperatures, then we could be in a feedback mechanism.
The warmer it gets, the more productive the wetlands get, the more methane they produce, which leads to more warmer, more productive wetlands and more methane.
However, uncovering the source is a 'challenging problem', according to Lan, whose team are running new atmospheric models to try to trace the methane to its source.
'Is warming feeding the warming? It's an incredibly important question,' Nisbet told Nature, adding that 'as yet, no answer, but it very much looks that way.'
Even if a feedback mechanism is at play in increasing methane levels, humans aren't completely free of blame, said Lan, who estimates that human sources such as livestock, agricultural waste, landfill and fossil fuels account for 62 per cent of all methane emissions from 2007 to 2016.
Human activities emitting methane include leaks from natural gas systems and the raising of livestock. Methane is also emitted by natural sources such as natural wetlands.
Stock image
The upward trend in methane emissions continued in the past four years, which researchers put down to microbes, rather than fossil fuels. Found in livestock, wetlands and landfill
To limit the impact of any feedback mechanism, scientists say more needs to be done to reduce overall methane emission levels.
This could be done through reductions in livestock activities, fewer fossil fuel extractions and finding alternative uses for agricultural waste.
More than 100 countries signed the Global Methane Pledge at COP26 in Glasgow, with the target of cutting emissions by 30 per cent from 2020 levels by 2040.
Riley Duren, leader of the non-profit Carbon Mapper, which tracks sources of methane, said the focus should be on cutting emissions in the global south, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF FARMING COWS
The livestock animals are notorious for creating large amounts of methane, which is a major contributor to global warming.
Each of the farm animals produces the equivalent of three tonnes of carbon dioxide per year and the amount of the animals is increasing with the growing need to feed a booming population.
Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases, trapping 30 times more heat than the same amount of carbon dioxide.
Scientists are investigating how feeding them various diets can make cattle more climate-friendly.
They believe feeding seaweed to dairy cows may help and are also using a herb-rich foodstuff called the Lindhof sample.
Researchers found a cow's methane emissions were reduced by more than 30 per cent when they ate ocean algae.
In research conducted by the University of California, in August, small amounts of it were mixed into the animals' feed and sweetened with molasses to disguise the salty taste.
As a result, methane emissions dropped by almost a third.
'I was extremely surprised when I saw the results,' said Professor Ermias Kebreab, the animal scientist who led the study.
'I wasn't expecting it to be that dramatic with a small amount of seaweed.'
The team now plans to conduct a further six-month study of a seaweed-infused diet in beef cattle, starting this month.
Tropical wetlands, such as the Pantanal in Brazil, are a major source of methane emissions.
Credit: Carl De Souza/AFP via Getty
Methane concentrations in the atmosphere raced past 1,900 parts per billion last year, nearly triple preindustrial levels, according to data released in January by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Scientists says the grim milestone underscores the importance of a pledge made at last year’s COP26 climate summit to curb emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas at least 28 times as potent as CO2.
The growth of methane emissions slowed around the turn of the millennium, but began a rapid and mysterious uptick around 2007. The spike has caused many researchers to worry that global warming is creating a feedback mechanism that will cause ever more methane to be released, making it even harder to rein in rising temperatures.
“Methane levels are growing dangerously fast,” says Euan Nisbet, an Earth scientist at Royal Holloway, University of London, in Egham, UK. The emissions, which seem to have accelerated in the past few years, are a major threat to the world’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5–2 °C over pre-industrial temperatures, he says.
Source: NOAA
Enigmatic patterns
For more than a decade, researchers have deployed aircraft, taken satellite measurements and run models in an effort to understand the drivers of the increase (see ‘A worrying trend’)1,2. Potential explanations range from the expanding exploitation of oil and natural gas and rising emissions from landfill to growing livestock herds and increasing activity by microbes in wetlands3.
“The causes of the methane trends have indeed proved rather enigmatic,” says Alex Turner, an atmospheric chemist at the University of Washington in Seattle. And despite a flurry of research, Turner says he is yet to see any conclusive answers emerge.
One clue is in the isotopic signature of methane molecules. The majority of carbon is carbon-12, but methane molecules sometimes also contain the heavier isotope carbon-13. Methane generated by microbes — after they consume carbon in the mud of a wetland or in the gut of a cow, for instance — contains less 13C than does methane generated by heat and pressure inside Earth, which is released during fossil-fuel extraction.
Scientists have sought to understand the source of the mystery methane by comparing this knowledge about the production of the gas with what is observed in the atmosphere.
By studying methane trapped decades or centuries ago in ice cores and accumulated snow, as well as gas in the atmosphere, they have been able to show that for two centuries after the start of the Industrial Revolution the proportion of methane containing 13C increased4. But since 2007, when methane levels began to rise more rapidly again, the proportion of methane containing 13C began to fall (see ‘The rise and fall of methane’). Some researchers believe that this suggests that much of the increase in the past 15 years might be due to microbial sources, rather than the extraction of fossil fuels.
Source: Sylvia Michel, University of Colorado Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research
Back to the source
“It’s a powerful signal,” says Xin Lan, an atmospheric scientist at NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, and it suggests that human activities alone are not responsible for the increase. Lan’s team has used the atmospheric 13C data to estimate that microbes are responsible for around 85% of the growth in emissions since 2007, with fossil-fuel extraction accounting for the remainder5.
The next — and most challenging — step is to try to pin down the relative contributions of microbes from various systems, such as natural wetlands or human-raised livestock and landfills. This may help determine whether warming itself is contributing to the increase, potentially via mechanisms such as increasing the productivity of tropical wetlands. To provide answers, Lan and her team are running atmospheric models to trace methane back to its source.
“Is warming feeding the warming? It’s an incredibly important question,” says Nisbet. “As yet, no answer, but it very much looks that way.”
Regardless of how this mystery plays out, humans are not off the hook. Based on their latest analysis of the isotopic trends, Lan’s team estimates that anthropogenic sources such as livestock, agricultural waste, landfill and fossil-fuel extraction accounted for about 62% of total methane emissions since from 2007 to 2016 (see ‘Where is methane coming from?’).
SOURCE: Ref. 5.
Global Methane Pledge
This means there is plenty that can be done to reduce emissions. Despite NOAA’s worrying numbers for 2021, scientists already have the knowledge to help governments take action, says Riley Duren, who leads Carbon Mapper, a non-profit consortium in Pasadena, California, that uses satellites to pinpoint the source of methane emissions.
Last month, for instance, Carbon Mapper and the Environmental Defense Fund, an advocacy group in New York City, released data revealing that 30 oil and gas facilities in the southwestern United States have collectively emitted about 100,000 tonnes of methane for at least the past three years, equivalent to the annual warming impact of half a million cars. These facilities could easily halt those emissions by preventing methane from leaking out, the groups argue.
At COP26 in Glasgow, UK, more than 100 countries signed the Global Methane Pledge to cut emissions by 30% from 2020 levels by 2030, and Duren says the emphasis must now be on action, including in low- and middle-income countries across the global south. “Tackling methane is probably the best opportunity we have to buy some time”, he says, to solve the much bigger challenge of reducing the world’s CO2 emissions.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00312-2
UPDATES & CORRECTIONS
Correction 08 February 2022: An earlier version of this story said that bacteria generate methane in wetlands and the guts of cows. Methane is emitted by microbes in these places.
References
Nisbet, E. et al.Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2021.0112 (2021).
MILITARY DESPERATELY TRYING TO RECOVER $100 MILLION STEALTH JET FROM BOTTOM OF OCEAN
MILITARY DESPERATELY TRYING TO RECOVER $100 MILLION STEALTH JET FROM BOTTOM OF OCEAN
WHOOPS.
LOCKHEED MARTIN/FUTURISM
$100 Million Rescue
Think you had a bad day at work? Just remember there’s a US Navy pilot out there who crashed a multimillion dollar jet — causing it to sink to the bottom of the ocean.
The US military is frantically searching for a $100 million F-35C fighter jet in the South China Sea after its pilot crashed into the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier while attempting to land, The Associated Press reports.
And that’s not exactly surprising, given the fact that the F-35, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, is the most expensive weapons system ever built, with an estimated lifetime cost of $1.6 trillion.
Luckily, the pilot was able to hit the eject button and safely yeet himself away from the crash.
His jet, however, ended up sinking.
“The US Navy is making recovery operations arrangements for the F-35C aircraft involved in the mishap aboard USS Carl Vinson in the South China Sea,” LT Nicholas Lingo said in a statement seen by The Independent.
Race Against Russia
The F-35C Lightning II jet reportedly carried advanced radar and stealth tech, which makes it a pretty big target for US adversaries. It’s now up to the US military to make sure countries such as Russia and China don’t beat them to it.
However, we still don’t know if other countries — most notably China, given the proximity — are actually looking for it. Lingo added in the statement that the military could not “speculate on what the People’s Republic of China intentions are on this matter.”
The jet is designated as a NATO Joint Strike Fighter. That means Moscow would likely love to get its hands on it, considering the saber rattling it’s doing against NATO forces outside of Ukraine. So the US may also be hoping to get there before Putin snatches it up.
The US Navy admitted to a F-35 crash while attempting to land on a US Navy aircraft carrier last week. The black box transponder has a ten day life and the Navy says that it's a race now to recover the jet before the Chinese do. It has the newest, hi tech devices in it, things highly classified and still top secret. Then...the US Navy announces it across all news media agencies around the world! Wait...they did what? Yeah...that gave it away right there. They wanted the news agencies to scream out the news so that China would go and recover the jet...thus satisfying China temporarily with the fake crash of the craft, which by the way...just happens to be 99.99% intact minus the cockpit pilot chair and canopy. Coincidence? I think not.
Do you remember back in April of 2001, when a US Navy EP-3E Aries II spy plane on routine surveillance mission over South China, was intercepted by several China fighter jets and was told to land in China or be shot down? So they flew to China...with the most high tech spy plane the US had and handed them the keys saying its yours, but we want it back in a few months...China gave it back...in boxes since they took everything apart and copied, every single item before eventually returning...most, minus software, computer chips, memory storage and so on. That was strange...like it was a gift all wrapped up for China to open. Not even a protest from the pilots before landing in China. Thats not normal for a US military pilot. I'm a USAF vet and I worked on may B-1 bombers and I can tell you, pilots are cocky and ready for a fight win or lose. They want it. They don't give in that easy in the US military unless ordered to do so.
So the US is making it look like its an accident to keep Taiwan safe from China since there must be a secret agreement with payment of aircraft every twenty years or so. But mostly its made to look like an accident to keep the US public out of it...keep the public in the dark so there is no protests, activist, anger over the who thing.
I totally get why the US is doing this, and honestly appreciate it since I'm living in Taiwan now, but...it does concern me...and makes me wonder...how many other secrets are US presidents giving away to the communists?
Thousands of Crows Take Flight Over Washington, Bad or Good Omen, Video, UFO Sighting News.
Thousands of Crows Take Flight Over Washington, Bad or Good Omen, Video, UFO Sighting News.
Date of video:January 25, 2022
Location of event: Bothell Washington, USA
Two different eyewitness videos of thousands of crows were recorded yesterday. Crows are often seen as a symbol of death or doom. If you see a crow, it is a sign that someone close to you may soon die. A bad omen if you will. Maybe so, maybe there is something to superstition...a grain of truth that keeps it passed down. But lets face it, birds are sensitive feeling things far easier than us. If something were about to happen, something big, life changing, dramatic and frightening...its highly possible some animal species would know beforehand. This is what it looks like in Bothell, Washington this week, when thousands of crows took flight over the city. It may very well may be a warning of something to come. Only time will tell. Scott C. Waring - Taiwan
An artist’s rendering shows Radian’s reusable space plane. (Radian Aerospace Illustration)
More than five years after its founding, Renton, Wash.-based Radian Aerospace is emerging from stealth mode and reporting a $27.5 million seed funding round to support its plans to build an orbital space plane.
The round was led by Boston-based Fine Structure Ventures, with additional funding from EXOR, The Venture Collective, Helios Capital, SpaceFund, Gaingels, The Private Shares Fund, Explorer 1 Fund, Type One Ventures and other investors.
Radian has previously brought in pre-seed investments, but the newly announced funding should accelerate its progress.
One of the company’s investors and strategic advisers, former Lockheed Martin executive Doug Greenlaw, said Radian was going after the “Holy Grail” of space access with a fully reusable system that would provide for single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) launches.
“What we are doing is hard, but it’s no longer impossible thanks to significant advancements in materials science, miniaturization and manufacturing technologies,” Livingston Holder, Radian’s co-founder and chief technology officer, said today in a news release.
Holder was part of the U.S. Air Force’s Manned Spaceflight Engineer program in the 1980s — and went on to become a program manager at Boeing, focusing on reusable space systems. The design for Radian’s space plane was inspired by Boeing’s 1970s-era concept for a Reusable Aerodynamic Space Vehicle, or RASP.
For the past few years, Radian has been working on rocket engine development at its Renton headquarters and at a testing facility near Bremerton, Wash. Ars Technica reported that the liquid-fueled engine is designed to provide about 200,000 pounds of thrust, and that the space plane would be powered by three of the engines. The current design would support carrying up to five people and 5,000 pounds of cargo into orbit, Ars Technica reported.
Radian says its space plane, called Radian One, would make sled-assisted takeoffs and airplane-like runway landings, with a turnaround time of as little as 48 hours between missions.
“Over time, we intend to make space travel nearly as simple and convenient as airliner travel,” said Richard Humphrey, Radian’s CEO and co-founder. “We are not focused on tourism, we are dedicated to missions that make life better on our own planet, like research, in-space manufacturing and terrestrial observation, as well as critical new missions like rapid global delivery right here on Earth.”
The company hasn’t announced a timetable for development or operations, but its founders hope to have the plane available to service commercial space stations that could be in orbit by the 2030s. Radian says it already has launch service agreements with commercial space station ventures as well as in-space manufacturers, satellite operators and cargo companies, plus agreements with the U.S. government and “selected foreign governments.”
For what it’s worth, one of Radian’s early-stage investors is Dylan Taylor, chairman and CEO of Voyager Space Holdings. Voyager Space is one of the partners in a commercial space station project known as Starlab.
“On demand space operations is a growing economy, and I believe Radian’s technology can deliver on the right-sized, high-cadence operations that the market opportunity is showing,” Taylor said. “I am confident in the team working at Radian and look forward to cheering them along in this historical endeavor.”
Update for 12:15 p.m. PT Jan. 20: In an emailed response to GeekWire’s questions, Radian CEO Richard Humphrey confirmed that there are 18 full-time employees in Renton, and that the latest funding round brings total investment to $32 million.
“This funding will primarily be used to support our next series of risk-reducing milestones that include main engine testing, composite tank testing, design maturation, aero analysis and customer development,” he said.
Humphrey said Radian is “planning to undergo an upgrade” at the Bremerton engine testing facility and expects to resume increased testing by midyear.
He declined to be more specific about Radian’s partners or potential customers. “Nearly all of our agreements are subject to NDA [non-disclosure agreements] so we are not able to share the specific names or values,” he said. “Notable is that we have a number of mission sets that we are focused on that include habitation, Earth observation, in-space servicing, downmass, launch and delivery, and over a dozen companies have signed on across all those areas.”
Catherine Austin Fitts: We're 'Headed for a Digital Concentration Camp'
Catherine Austin Fitts: We're 'Headed for a Digital Concentration Camp'
Catherine Austin Fits: "We have what we have been building for the last 20 or 30 years, and it's getting much more obvious, but it's been covert most of the time. They basically want digital control systems through the financial system, through the health system and government systems to implement control.
It's important to understand what they are trying to do. They are trying to create complete transaction control. If they don't want you going five miles from your home, your electric car will not work more than five miles from your home. . . .
If they don't want you to buy pizza, your credit card will not allow you to buy pizza. They are talking about putting in extraordinary digital control systems and literally turning your car and your home into a digital concentration camp."
Here is something to think about that no-one has ever mentioned. If China (CCP) really did plan the release of Covid-19 on purpose and this was all part of a bigger plan. Then China would have needed the head of the WHO to help them convince the world that it wasn't Chinas fault. So...this is the juicy part...China back in 2017 helped Tedros, a known head of the communist party in Ethiopia to secure his 5 year position in the WHO, on the condition that he helps convince the world to see China in a better light. Unbeknownst to Tedros...China was already planning the covid release back in 2017, but he thought it would be an easy road to travel with good pocket money from China...until covid was released in late 2019. Why else would China need the head of the World Health Organization in Chinas pocket? Also note the photo above...Tedros immediately met with the China Premier after he secured his WHO position.
This is only a theory, not definitive proof, however China has never been forthcoming about covid info from the start...and its up to the public to put the pieces of the puzzle together to find the true answers.
The USGS site returned back online and is no longer giving a 404 error code today. After I published a report about finding a 25km building in one of the photos, the USGS tried to prevent others from doing the same. However I downloaded all the pdf photos of the full mars map and released it to the public yesterday. Clearly they no longer saw a point to being down.
Carl Rogers once said, "the truth will set you free, but first it will hurt like hell." The USGS must be feeling it right now.
A massive icefish breeding colony, covering almost 100 square miles, has been discovered in Antarctica's Weddell Sea, with about 60 million active nests.
It is the world's largest breeding colony of fish, representing a biomass of more than 135 million pounds, and covers an area roughly the size of Birmingham.
Until now it was not known that such a thing existed.
Each of the nests include about 1,700 eggs, with a number of fish carcasses found within, or near the site - as it is thought to be a feeding ground for seals.
Also known as notothenioids, these fish play an important role in the wider food web, say experts from the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, Germany.
The discovery will play an important role in the conservation of Antarctica and surrounding oceans, the researchers claim, adding that they plan to return to the area later this year to survey more of the ocean floor for signs of nests.
A massive icefish breeding colony, covering almost 100 square miles, has been discovered in Antarctica's Weddell Sea, with about 60 million active nests
Each of the nests include about 1,700 eggs, with a number of fish carcasses found within, or near the site - as it is thought to be a feeding ground for seals
WHAT ARE ICEFISH (NOTOTHENIIDAE)?
Nototheniidae, the notothens or cod icefishes, live in the Southern Ocean.
They are a family of ray-finned fish first described in 1861, with the name meaning 'coming from the south'.
They are found around the Antarctic and have elongated bodies.
They typically have two dorsal fins and grow to up to 85 inches.
Researchers from Germany discovered more than 60 million icefish nests in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica.
The team used an underwater camera 'sledge' called Ocean Floor Observation and Bathymetry System (OFOBS) in the southern Weddell Sea, Antarctica.
The researchers were surveying the Filchner ice shelf, a vast slab that has floated off the land onto the sea, as well as the surrounding seafloor, which included an upwelling of water that was 3.6 F warmer than the surrounding area.
While they were able to examine the change in water temperature, finding the massive fish colony and breeding ground was 'rather unexpected'.
Their bodily fluids contain antifreeze proteins that enable them to survive the very cold temperatures of the Southern Ocean.
As a result, blood is less thick and sticky - increasing supply of oxygen to organs.
Lead author Dr Autun Purser said data revealed this area is a prime feeding ground for seals, with 'a great many spending their time in close proximity to the nests'.
'We know this from historical tracking data and fresh tracking data from our cruise. The nests are exactly where the warmer water is upwelling.
'These facts may be coincidence, and more work is needed, but the recorded seal data show seals do indeed dive to the depths of the fish nests, so may well be dining on these fish.'
'A few dozen nests ha$
ve been observed elsewhere in the Antarctic - but this find is orders of magnitude larger,' added Dr Purser.
The researchers used an underwater camera 'sledge', OFOBS, which is a large, towed device, weighing one ton and towed behind the icebreaker RV Polarstern.
'We tow this at a height of about 5ft to 8ft above the seafloor, recording videos and acoustic bathymetry data,' explained Dr Purser.
Live images were transmitted from 1,755ft to 1,377ft down to monitors aboard the research ship, and the longer the mission lasted, the more excitement grew.
The discovery will play an important role in the conservation of Antarctica and surrounding oceans, the researchers claim, adding that they plan to return to the area later this year to survey more of the ocean floor for signs of nests
The team used an underwater camera 'sledge' called Ocean Floor Observation and Bathymetry System (OFOBS) in the southern Weddell Sea, Antarctica
'Oasis of life' is discovered beneath Antarctica's Ekström Ice Shelf
Deep beneath the Antarctic ice shelves, the environment is about as harsh as it gets.
Extremely cold, perpetually dark and with food sources almost non-existent, it is not exactly conducive to life, even if Earth is home to some remarkably hardy and resolute creatures that exist in all corners of the world.
But surprisingly scientists have discovered 77 species living there, including evidence that this 'oasis of life' dates back some 6,000 years.
Among them were sabre-shaped moss animals and unusual worms, researchers in Germany found.
Using hot water, the team from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) drilled two holes through nearly 656ft (200 metres) of the Ekström Ice Shelf near Neumayer Station III in the South Eastern Weddell Sea in 2018.
Nest followed nest, the team said. Precise evaluations identified an average one breeding site per 33 square foot - with up to two per 10 square feet.
Mapping suggested it extended across a region roughly equivalent to an island the size of Malta - about 92 square miles.
Dr Purser said: 'The idea such a huge breeding area of icefish in the Weddell Sea was previously undiscovered is totally fascinating.'
The Polarstern icebreaker has been exploring it for four decades. Only individual Neopagetopsis ionah fish or small clusters of nests had ever been detected.
Dr Purser said: 'We did not know to expect any sort of fish nest ecosystem.' That part, he adds, came as a 'total surprise.'
Dr Purser said: 'After the spectacular discovery of the many fish nests, we thought about a strategy on board to find out how large the breeding area was - there was literally no end in sight.
'The nests are three quarters of a metre in diameter - so they are much larger than the structures and creatures, some of which are only centimetres in size, that we normally detect with the OFOBS system.
'So, we were able to increase the height above ground to about three metres and the towing speed to a maximum of three knots, thus multiplying the area investigated.
'We covered an area of [490,000 sq ft] and counted an incredible 16,160 fish nests on the photo and video footage.'
The round fish nests could be clearly identified - about six inches deep and two-and-a-half feet in diameter.
They stood out from the otherwise muddy seabed due to a circular central area of small stones. Several types were distinguished.
Some were 'active' with between 1,500 and 2,500 eggs and guarded in three-quarters of cases by an adult icefish of the species Neopagetopsis ionah.
Others contained only eggs. There were also unused nests, in the vicinity of which either only a fish without eggs could be seen, or a dead fish.
The researchers used OFOBS's longer-range but lower-resolution side scan sonars - which recorded over 100,000 nests - to work out distribution and density.
They were a popular destination for seals in search of food. Transmitters attached to the marine mammals showed 90 per cent of diving activities occurred there.
Nest followed nest, the team said. Precise evaluations identified an average one breeding site per 33 square foot - with up to two per 10 square feet
It's likely to be the most spatially extensive contiguous fish breeding colony discovered worldwide to date.
Bettina Stark-Watzinger, German Federal Research Minister, congratulated the researchers on their discovery, saying it makes an important contribution towards protecting the Antarctic environment.
The researchers have now deployed two camera systems to monitor the icefish nests until a research vessel returns.
The hope is that photographs taken multiple times a day will yield new insights on the workings of this newly discovered ecosystem.
Purser says he has plans to return in April 2022 for surveys of the seafloor in areas of the northeast Weddell Sea.
The findings have been published in the journal Current Biology.
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WEDDELL SEALS
Scientific name: Leptonychotes weddellii
Description: Weddell seals are large animals. Both adult males and females are about 3 metres long and weigh around 400–500kg. The head is small relative to body size and the colour is usually dappled grey and black on the back with a mostly white under-belly.
Distribution and abundance:Weddell seals have a circumpolar distribution and are coastal, staying around the fast ice and venturing only 9-12 miles (15–20km) into the Southern Ocean to feed. Weddell seals haul-out onto the fast-ice to rest and moult, and for females to pup.
Weddell seals are incredibly placid sedentary animals. They can be approached without much apparent stress to the animal. When they haul-out they remain close to their access hole on top of the ice. Underwater they remain relatively close to their breeding colonies, usually within 50–100km though occasional migrations of several hundred kilometres do occur, especially by juveniles.
Weddell seals are the most southerly ranging mammal to permanently inhabit the continent. Sightings of the seals have been made in New Zealand and Australia, though they are very rare here.
Threats: The under-ice environment is relatively safe from air breathing predators such as killer whales and leopard seals.
Special adaptations: Because Weddell seals breath air and live under the fast-ice, they must breath through cracks and holes in the ice cover. There are many cracks in the ice during the warmer summer months.
During winter these openings freeze over and Weddell seals use their canine and incisor teeth to rasp open the new ice and so maintain holes through which to breathe.
Conservation status:least concern
Breeding: Weddell seals haul-out onto the stable fast-ice to rest and moult, and for females to pup, returning to the same area each year. Females of 6 years and over give birth in October to 1 pup per year. Pups weigh 25–30kg at birth and mothers care for them for 6 weeks by which time they have grown to 110–140kg. Pups learn to swim and haul-out of the water from 1 week old.
During the breeding season males defend underwater territories from other males for access to breathing holes and females. Both male and female seals vocalise, males may do so to maintain established territories. The only observation of mating (Cline et al, 1971) reported that it took place under water for 5 minutes or more. The male maintained rhythmic body undulations at a rate of 160 per minute.
Diet and feeding:Weddell seals are carnivores. Their food varies with time and location but mid-water (pelagic) and bottom dwelling (benthic) fish, squid, octopus and prawns are common. One seal was repeatedly observed to capture a fish weighing more than 40kg. Weddell seals are very capable divers, remaining under water for up to 45 minutes and reaching depths as great as 720m in search of prey. Lengthy shallow dives are probably exploration dives for new ice holes and food sources.
SPACEX MARS CITY: LAUNCH SCHEDULE, KEY BUILD DATES, AND HOW TO GET THERE
SPACEX MARS CITY: LAUNCH SCHEDULE, KEY BUILD DATES, AND HOW TO GET THERE
Musk plans to build a self-sustaining city on Mars.
READY TO LIVE on Mars? It could become an option soon, if Elon Musk succeeds in his goals.
The SpaceX CEO has a long-standing vision of establishing a city on the Red Planet. It would be self-sustaining, would be home to 1 million people, and would transform humanity into a multi-planet species. It is perhaps Musk’s most ambitious goal, one that could keep him occupied for the next three decades.
“It's about believing in the future and thinking that the future would be better than the past,” Musk said at the International Astronautical Conference 2017 in Adelaide, Australia. “I can't think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among the stars.”
Want to find out more about Musk’s plans for a Mars city? Subscribe to MUSK READS+ for exclusive interviews and analysis about spaceflight, electric cars, and more.
Here is what you need to know about Musk’s mission.
WHAT IS THE MARS CITY?
Musk plans to build a full-size city on the surface of Mars. This would be a city open to regular people, not just scientists and researchers.
People interested in moving to Mars could pay for their flight with a loan. Once there, people would be able to pay off the loan by working in anything from iron foundries to pizzerias. Musk declared at a 2016 conference that there would be labor shortages for a long time.
This city would be free to govern itself on its own terms, as indicated by the Starlink internet service terms and conditions released in October 2020. This appears to stand in contradiction to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which states that the launch origin country is responsible for subsequent space activities. David Anderman, who served as SpaceX’s general counsel when the terms were released, suggested to Inversein 2021 that the two documents may be set on a collision course.
Mars: ready for a city?Shutterstock
Musk estimated in 2019 that it would take around one million tons of cargo to build a self-sustaining city on Mars. Assuming it costs $100,000 per ton to send cargo to Mars with the upcoming Starship, that would put a Mars city’s price at around $100 billion. At the high end, Musk estimates it could cost around $10 trillion.
WHY DOES ELON MUSK WANT TO BUILD A CITY ON MARS?
Musk’s stated aim is to transform humanity into a multi-planet species.
Over the years, he has listed reasons as to why humanity would want to expand into the universe. One theme he regularly lists is that a life-ending event on Earth could spell the end of humanity — but humanity could live on if it’s able to set up base on a new planet like Mars.
“Earth is ~4.5B years old, but life is still not multiplanetary and it is extremely uncertain how much time is left to become so,” Musk wrote on Twitter in November 2021. Beyond very worst-case scenario climate change, a surprise meteor strike could also wipe out humanity.
SpaceX concept art of a Starship taking off from Mars.SpaceX
Another reason, as he suggested in September 2018, is because it’s a reason to keep on living:
“There’s so many things that make people sad or depressed about the future, but I think becoming a space-faring civilization is one of those things that makes you excited about the future.”
Musk isn’t the first person to call for humanity to colonize another planet — professor Stephen Hawking said in 2017 that humans would need to expand out within 100 years if they hoped to survive. However, astrophysicist Martin Rees said in response to Hawking and Musk that the idea was a “dangerous delusion [...] dealing with climate change on Earth is a doddle compared to making Mars habitable.”
WHEN DID MUSK FIRST GET THE IDEA FOR A MARS CITY?
It’s hard to say when he first got this idea — Ashlee Vance’s 2015 biography claims that “by the middle of his teenage years” he’d come to see “man’s fate in the universe” as his “personal obligation.” He was inspired by science fiction novels like Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
The book also cites Terency Beney, who went to school with Musk. Beney claims that Musk was already thinking about colonizing other planets in his early years.
In 2001, Musk attended a meeting of the non-profit Mars Society group. During the event, Musk learned about the group’s plans to send mice into space to inspire people. Musk started considering the prospect of sending them to Mars instead, an idea that eventually led to him founding SpaceX.
In 2007, before SpaceX had even launched its first rocket to orbit, Musk told Wired that in 30 years there would be a base on the Moon and Mars.
The idea took on new form in 2016, when he gave a speech at the International Astronautical Congress about his idea to make humanity into a multi-planet species.
HOW WILL ELON MUSK BUILD A CITY ON MARS?
Central to the plan is the Starship. This fully-reusable rocket, currently under development in Texas, will enable SpaceX to send humans and cargo to Mars. The ship will be capable of launching over 100 tons or 100 people into space at a time.
Its use of liquid oxygen and methane as fuel, rather than the rocket propellant used in the Falcon 9, means explorers can fly to Mars, refuel using resources found on the planet, and fly back to Earth. The astronauts could even venture out further into space, building a planet-hopping network of refueling stations along the way.
DOES JEFF BEZOS AGREE WITH ELON MUSK’S MARS CITY IDEA?
Not everybody in the space industry agrees with Musk’s vision. Jeff Bezos, founder of rival firm Blue Origin, prefers to build giant orbiting cities near Earth to expand humanity.
In May 2019, Bezos cited research from physicist Gerard K. O’Neill. He asked a key question: is a planetary surface the best place for humans to expand into the solar system? O’Neill decided the answer was no for three key reasons:
The planetary surfaces aren’t that big. Humans would maybe, at best, double the amount of available land surface.
They’re a long way away. A round trip to Mars would take years — the Earth and Mars align once every 22 months, and the trip itself would take a few months depending on the rocket.
There won’t be any real-time communications with Earth because of the distance. It takes around 20 minutes to send a signal to Mars, much slower than the tens of milliseconds it takes to communicate over the internet.
Instead, Bezos prefers to build O’Neill-style colonies in Earth’s orbit. This, he claims, could support up to one trillion humans.
“Makes no sense. In order to grow the colony, you’d have to transport vast amounts of mass from planets/moons/asteroids. Would be like trying to build the USA in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean!”
WHAT IS THE DESIGN FOR THE MARS CITY?
During Musk’s 2017 International Astronautical Congress presentation, he revealed images of how the city may look:
SpaceX's Mars city design.SpaceX
The city would begin initially with a series of bases, gradually expanding out over time.
SpaceX's concept art for how a Mars city with a Starship may look.SpaceX
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST TO TAKE A SPACESHIP TO THE MARS CITY?
Musk claimed in 2019 that a return ticket could cost around $500,000 initially, dropping to $100,000 over time. Musk’s goal in 2016 was to reach a ticket price of around the median price of a house in the United States. That would suggest people could sell their house to move to Mars.
Another option, Musk suggested, would be a personal loan. Visitors would pay off the loan by getting a job to help fill the city’s labor shortages. It’s an idea that arguably bears resemblance to 19th-century American company towns, where employees lived in a city owned by their employer. Especially in the early days, Mars may not have many choices for local employment — and you’ll need to pay off that loan for your flight.
Guenter Lang, an economics professor at Kühne Logistics University in Germany, drew this plan into question in a May 2019 interview with Inverse. After all, if you’re rich enough to go, why would you give up that luxury?
WHEN WILL SPACEX BUILD A CITY ON MARS?
In 2017, Musk outlined an “aspirational” plan to send two cargo ships to Mars as early as 2022. It would then send four ships at the next closest approach — two crewed ships and two cargo ships — in 2024.
Mars and Earth are at their closest around once every 26 months. The distance between the two at this time reduces to around 33.9 million miles.
In March 2019, Musk wrote on Twitter that “it’s possible to make a self-sustaining city on Mars by 2050, if we start in 5 years & take 10 orbital synchronizations.” With 26 months between synchronizations, that would mean it would take around 22 years at a minimum to build the city.
Musk has set himself the deadline of a self-sustaining Mars city with 1 million people by 2050. Musk would turn 79 years old that year.
As SpaceX has yet to even host its first orbital flight with the Starship, it seems unlikely that it will send the first cargo ships this year.
WILL ELON MUSK TERRAFORM MARS?
Probably not in his lifetime, but he does have some ideas.
At SpaceX’s headquarters, next to the lobby, the company has two images that show a before and after of a terraformed Mars:
The current surface temperature on Mars is an average of minus 63 degrees Celsius, or minus 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Musk’s idea is to heat up the planet’s poles to release stores of frozen carbon dioxide. This would use a series of continuous, low fallout nuclear fusion explosions to act as artificial suns.
The idea would be to use the carbon dioxide stores to create a more hospitable atmosphere. Humans could then walk around the planet using just a breathing apparatus.
That’s the theory, at least. In practice, Bruce Jakosky and Christopher S. Edwards published a paper in the journal Nature Astronomyback in 2018 that drew that plan into question. It argued there is “not enough CO2 remaining on Mars to provide significant greenhouse warming were the gas to be emplaced into the atmosphere.”
The paper found that vaporizing Mars’ carbon-rich sedimentary rocks would release enough gas for around 12 millibars of atmospheric pressure. By comparison, Earth’s atmosphere is around 1,000 millibars at sea level.
Jakosky and Edwards publicly discussed with Musk as to whether there was enough carbon dioxide lurking beneath the surface. The three seemed to agree, however, that the technology to terraform Mars is some ways away yet.
Leonardo da Vinci is often considered one of the greatest geniuses in the history of mankind. He was a profound painter, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. His creative genius and his inventive spirit and have left a mark in different fields of study and art.
Da Vinci was a man with extraordinary caliber at everything he tried his hand at, almost defying human limits as we know them, with imagination unprecedented in history. But what made him supernaturally talented? Is there an explanation for the large number of controversies surrounding him? Why were those controversies formed? Was he using some sort of a supernatural source for his intellect and skill? Perhaps Da Vinci was using something natural that is still unknown to us in the 21st century. Perhaps, he was in contact with extraterrestrials?
The Egyptians didn't build The Pyramids & I can prove it!
The Pyramids and Sphinx of the Giza plateau are possibly thousands of years older than mainstream researchers suggest. In fact, these ancient structures could well predate the ancient Egyptian civilization by thousands of years.
Many researchers indicate there is enough evidence to suggest the Giza plateau was heavily flooded in the past. Interestingly, given the evidence found at the Giza plateau, the Pyramids and Sphinx could be some of the megalithic structures that survived the Great Deluge. Researchers suggest that the Sphinx, the Temple of the Sphinx, and the first 20 fields of the Great Pyramid of Giza exhibit erosion due to deep water saturation.
Scenes from History Channel's Ancient Aliens were used under Fair Use for educational purposes
The Terrible Story of Nikola Tesla!
Why one of the greatest inventors of all time died penniless.
THE TRUE PURPOSE BEHIND THE PYRAMIDS: FINALLY DISCOVERED
Mainstream historians will tell you that the Great Pyramid of Giza was a glorified tomb for the Egyptian pharaohs. The only original monument left of the original Seven Wonders of the World, this structure was created with impeccable mathematical precision, and is a unique, mysterious feat of construction and engineering.
There’s only one problem: the Great Pyramid has none of the characteristics of tombs: including extravagant artifacts, ornate wall art, sealed entrances, elaborate coffins, or even mummies themselves. It was, however, built with unique – the same materials that are used for electrical conductivity today. These facts are leading more and more historians to believe the pyramids may have had a far more useful purpose. ..that pyramid of Giza was not at all a tomb, but a power plant: generating and transmitting electricity to the civilization surrounding them. Sound impossible? Join the Universe Inside you for a closer look!
Starlink: The Secret reason Behind Creating a Global Internet Service
The ambitions of the SpaceX satellite internet service extend far beyond Earth.
The Anunnaki: They Created the first Human on Earth
445 000 years ago, “creator gods” – as they call it – came to Earth. They were called the Anunnaki, which means “Those Who from Heaven to Earth Came”. These beings inhabited a distant orbiting planet called Nibiru, which only entered our solar system every 3,600 years. They describe Nibiru as many times the diameter of Earth, and abundant with iron oxide, making its rivers and lakes appear red. A side note about Nibiru: according to the Sumerian tablets, Nibiru’s atmosphere began to deteriorate and became a hostile place for life, and in order to restore it, the Annunaki needed one important element for their atmosphere: gold.
Scenes from the following productions were used under Fair Use for educational purposes:
Everyone knows the story of Atlantis – the advanced civilization that disappeared in the ocean. But not everyone is aware of the similar legends other cultures tell of their own lost_cities – ones that were buried under the desert sand, or overgrown by dense vegetation in the jungle. While many of these stories were considered fiction, an increasing number of archeological discoveries have revealed these legends were more than mere myths- leaving us wondering how many more lost cities might just be awaiting discovery. We may never find the underwater grave of Atlantis, the golden streets of El Dorado, or the peaceful mountains of Shangri-La, but we have found the following 10 lost cities. Starting the countdown with number 10, here are the most spectacular lost cities archaeologists have uncovered.
Neuralink: Merging Humans with AI, Human 2.0!
How Elon Musk's company Neuralink could shape the future of humanity.
Na een jaar vol coronagolven, overstromingen en confronterende klimaatrapporten trakteert Hetty Helsmoortel je op wat luchtiger nieuws. Hier volgt voor elke maand van het jaar een al dan niet wetenschappelijk fait divers!
Januari
In januari lossen Zwitserse en Russische professoren een meer dan zestig jaar oude verdwijningszaak op met dank aan de Disney-film Frozen. Het computeralgoritme dat in de film gebruikt wordt om digitale sneeuw en ijs realistisch te laten overkomen, kan namelijk het ultieme bewijs leveren dat een groep avonturiers in 1959 door een sneeuwramp om het leven kwam. Het maakt meteen een einde aan vele complottheorieën, zoals dat ze ontvoerd zouden zijn door aliens, aangevallen door een yeti, of dat hun verdwijning een experiment was van de Russische overheid. Boodschap aan de samenzweerders: laat het los.
Februari
In februari maakt de nieuwe Mars-rover Perseverance een geslaagde landing. De parachute bestaat uit een chaotische aaneenschakeling van rode en witte vlakken. Maar NASA zou NASA niet zijn als in dat patroon geen code verstopt zit. Na een paar uur rekenen vinden puzzelaars het antwoord: ‘Dare mighty things’: durf machtige dingen doen.
Maart
In maart vindt een Amerikaanse podcaster een nieuwe pastavorm uit. Alle bestaande pastasoorten voldeden volgens hem nooit aan drie belangrijke criteria tegelijk: sausbaarheid (of ze precies de juiste hoeveelheid saus kan op- nemen), vorkbaarheid (of je ze makkelijk op je vork kunt prikken) en tandzinkbaarheid (of ze voldoening geeft om er je tanden in te laten zinken). Zijn gloednieuwe Cascatelli – Italiaans voor waterval – voldoen aan alle criteria. De eerste zevenhonderd dozen zijn binnen de twee uur uitverkocht. Zijn ‘mission impastable’ is geslaagd.
Bron: Wikipedia Commons
April
In april krijgt een Poolse dierenhulporganisatie een oproep binnen over een vreemd beest dat in een boom op de loer zou liggen. ‘Mensen openen hun ramen niet meer, omdat ze bang zijn dat het hun huis zal binnensluipen’, klinkt het. Nog maar een voorbeeld van diersoorten die oprukken naar het noorden op zoek naar een koelere habitat? Nee hoor, het blijkt uiteindelijk om een croissant te gaan.
Mei
In mei komt een onderzoeksbureau met het nieuws dat gummibeertjes en muntjes de grootste economische slachtoffers van de coronapandemie zouden zijn. De beertjes omdat mensen amper impulsaankopen doen bij online shoppen, de muntjes omdat mensen bij minder contact met vreemde ook minder nood hebben aan een frisse adem.
Jebulon op Wikipedia Commons.
Juni
In juni stellen Britse en Nieuw-Zeelandse onderzoekers een naar eigen zeggen revolutionair apparaat voor gewichtsverlies voor. Met de DentalSlim worden de boven- en ondertanden met magneten aan elkaar vastgemaakt, zodat patiënten hun mond niet verder dan 2 millimeter kunnen opendoen.
Juli
In juli, bij de start van de Olympische Spelen, leer ik dat al het metaal voor de bijna vijfduizend gouden, zilveren en bronzen medailles uit afgedankte elektronische apparaten gehaald werd, die in heel Japan werden ingezameld.
Turnster Nina Derwael won dit jaar een gouden turnmedaille op de brug met ongelijke leggers.
Augustus
Voor augustus vond ik – net als vorig jaar – niets. Het was dan ook alweer komkommertijd. De langste komkommer ter wereld dateert trouwens nog steeds van 2011 en is 107 centimeter lang.
September
Over komkommers gesproken: in september horen we dat het Gentse Universiteitsmuseum GUM een nieuwe expo voorbereidt over de fallus. Klein probleem wel: alle e-mails van medewerkers blijven vastzitten in de firewall. Aan de ICT-collega’s moet worden gevraagd of de spamfilter van de universiteit voor een paar maanden wél alle piemels kon doorlaten.
Oktober
In oktober lees ik dat twee Franse monniken twee 5G-masten in brand staken (zie ook ‘Monniken met illusies’, Eos nr. 11, 2021). Ze wilden naar eigen zeggen aandacht vragen voor gezondheidsrisico’s van 5G. Voor alle duidelijkheid: wetenschappelijk bewijs is daar niet voor. De kloosterorde staat achter de overtuiging van de monniken en ziet de brandstichting als ‘een losstaande actie en een fout van de jeugd’. De monniken zijn 39 en 40 jaar oud.
November
In november gaat mijn wetenschappelijk jaaroverzicht Missie 2021in première, waarin ik terugkijk op de verhalen die mij als wetenschapper én als mens het afgelopen jaar het meest geraakt hebben.
December
En vorige week werd de James Webb Space Telescope gelanceerd. De opvolger van de Hubbletelescoop zal ons de komende jaren moeten verbluffen met nieuwe beelden én kennis van ons machtige universum.
China Big Panic: Russia just gave its Navy hypersonic nuclear strike weapons and the target is not the US, it’s China
China Big Panic: Russia just gave its Navy hypersonic nuclear strike weapons and the target is not the US, it’s China
Russia has made a massive defence manoeuvre. The Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that the Russian Navy will be armed with hypersonic nuclear strike weapons and underwater nuclear drones. Putin has often spoken of Russia’s next-gen hypersonic missile weapons, which he has called “unequalled”.
These hypersonic missiles can hit any part of the world according to the Russian President. The Russian Navy plans to become a supreme naval power with these new generation arms and while it has generated a lot of fears in the United States due to anachronistic formulations of the Cold War-era, Moscow seems to be preparing itself against a more realistic threat posed by an expansionist China right in its backyard. From the Arctic to the South China Sea, Russia has a lot of interests to protect from China. Putin is thinking about how geopolitical equations will change in the medium-term and the long-term, while it will continue to share an “axis of convenience” with the Chinese Communist Party. In the medium-term, Russia is getting pulled into the Indo-Pacific by an increasingly assertive India, an old friend of Russia.
Russian policymakers continue to dismiss the Indo-Pacific as divisive and anti-China. At an official level, Russia claims to have nothing to do with the Indo-Pacific. But this official Russian stand is a mere eyewash at the best to keep China at bay. Russia has a lot to do with the Indo-Pacific as it shares a 4,500 kilometres-long Pacific coastline in the Russian Far East. Communist China has traditionally laid its eyes on the resource-rich Russian Far East.
In fact, recently Chinese wolf-warriors staked claim on the Russian Far East city- Vladivostok. India hasn’t let the opportunity go. New Delhi has been pushing a Chennai-Vladivostok sea route that passes through the South China Sea, which too China claims as its own. In this backdrop, the Indian envoy to Russia, D. B. Venkatesh Varma recently said that India wants Russia to be more involved in the Indo-Pacific to protect its own interests, amid the rising threat posed by China.
Paulina Peavy, Untitled (circa 1930s–1980s). Courtesy of Andrew Edlin Gallery and the Paulina Peavy Estate.
Many artists throughout history have claimed some sort of otherworldly inspiration (the muses, for instance). But the visionary American artist Paulina Peavy (1901–1999) may be one of the only to attribute her talents to communications with a U.F.O.—specifically one named Lacamo.
During Peavy’s lifetime, she enjoyed many early successes, including showing with Los Angeles’s Stendahl Gallery, studying with Hans Hofmann, and exhibiting work at the opening of the San Francisco Museum of Art—all before falling into art world obscurity.
The new exhibition “Paulina Peavy: An Etherian Channeler,” on view at the Beyond Baroque art center in Venice Beach, is hoping to reintroduce Peavy as a powerful and one-of-a-kind creative force in the nascent southern California art scene of a century ago.
Paulina Peavy, Untitled (circa 1930s–1980s).
Courtesy of Andrew Edlin Gallery and the Paulina Peavy Estate.
The fascinating show, curated by Laura Whitcomb, marks the first exhibition of Peavy’s work in California in 75 years, and traces her myriad creations —paintings, films, drawings, intricate masks—from the 1930s into the 1980s. Various ephemera related to theosophy and astroculture are also on view in a series of vitrines, along with some of Peavy’s own writings, which detail the elaborate occultist belief systems that informed her work.
Even before UFOs got involved (and we’ll get to that later), Peavy’s story was one against the odds. She was born in Colorado to a miner father and a Swedish immigrant mother. In 1906, the family moved to Portland following the Oregon Trail. Peavy’s mother would die tragically a few years later. In spite of the gender conventions of the time and her own humble origins, Peavy would attend Oregon State College (now Oregon State University), studying art with Farley Doty McLouth and Marjorie Baltzell. While a student there, she received recognition in a national competition hosted by the Art Students League in New York. After moving to Southern California, she received a scholarship to attend the Chouinard Art Institute, where she would later study with Hans Hofmann.
Paulina Peavy holding masks. Photo by Sam Vandivert.
Courtesy of Andrew Edlin Gallery.
In the 1920s, Peavy began to play a pivotal role in the emerging West Coast art scene. She established the Paulina Peavy Gallery, which also functioned as a salon and school, hosting classes for the Los Angeles Art Students League. Like many other artists of the age, Peavy had interests in the supernatural and was loosely affiliated with the occult-inclined art group the Group of Eight, as well as the Synchromists and a group of West Coast surrealists led by artist Lorser Feitelson.
But her true moment of breakthrough came in 1932, when Peavy, by now the mother of two and in the midst of a divorce, attended a seance at the Santa Ana home of Ida L. Ewing, a pastor of the National Federation of Spiritual Science. During a séance there, Peavy claimed to have encountered a discarnate entity she called Lacamo, which she later described as a “wondrous ovoid-shaped UFO.” It was an event that would have a profound impact on Peavy and her work for the rest of her life—because Lacamo, she said, revealed great universal truths which she attempted to convey through her art. (She sometimes co-signed her works with Lacamo.)
Paulina Peavy, Untitled (circa 1980).
Courtesy of Andrew Edlin Gallery and the Paulina Peavy Estate.
At the core of these revelations was a complex cosmology consisting of 12,000-year cycles with 3,000-year seasons. The summer of these seasons harkened a kind of utopia in which human beings transcended the limits of their earthly bodies to become spirits, freed from their sexes and entering “one-gender perfection,” as well as a singular cosmic race.
She also looked to other artists for inspiration. Peavy was fascinated by the Mexican muralists, particularly José Clemente Orozco who also shared a deep interest in hermetic and indigenous traditions, particularly philosopher José Vasconcelos’s belief that a great cosmic race would be born out of the Americas (Peavy exhibited 30 of her paintings at the Golden Gate International Exposition of 1939-40, where Diego Rivera exhibited mural work. She also painted a 14-foot mural titled The Eternal Supper, depicting a “Last Supper” filled with androgynous, racially ambiguous figures which had its debut at the San Diego Fine Arts Gallery (now San Diego Museum of Art) in 1941.)
In drawings and films on view in the exhibition, one sees Peavy alluding to pyramidal shapes and the icon of the Pharaoh, an image that would remain central to her visual lexicon. Within her complex cosmology, the Egyptian era stood as paramount, but one can also see these forms as drawings from the Maya and Aztec lineages heralded by the muralists.
Paulina Peavy, Untitled (circa 1930s–1980s).
Courtesy of Andrew Edlin Gallery and the Paulina Peavy Estate.
Undoubtedly, the most striking part of the exhibition are Peavy’s paintings, in which androgynous faces appear against darkened foregrounds, veils and wisps of colors hauntingly hovering above. For Peavy, who didn’t title or date her works, these paintings were ongoing revelations, and many are the result of 50 years of experimentation. Starting in the 1930s, Peavy employed a signature technique of layering translucent colors, then later, in the 1970s and ‘80s, she often returned to these paintings adding abstract crystal shapes that she believed would make viewers’ more receptive to transcendence and Lacamo’s unearthly wisdom.
“She was instructed [by Lacamo] that her painting could change viewers’ neural pathways so that the viewer could become, over time, a receiver. In other words, the paintings were meant to increase neuroplasticity that would make viewers more psychic and more receptive as channelers themselves,” said curator Laura Whitcomb.
Paulina Peavy, Ghazi Khan (circa 1950s).
Courtesy of Andrew Edlin Gallery and the Paulina Peavy estate.
Another fascinating portion of the exhibition includes a collection of intricately adorned masks that offer a window into Peavy’s practice as a channeler. As art objects, these many-layered masks, which she would wear while communicating with Lacamo, straddle both Surrealist objects and indigenous traditions. As with many women artists before her, Peavy also worked in costume design. In college, she had drawn Surrealist costumes for a campus magazine. Later, in New York, she helped support herself by making costume designs for a fashion house.
Still, everything Peavy created was primarily intended to celebrate her belief system. “Paulina considered herself a philosopher and wrote a number of manuscripts, but most poignantly made films which could elucidate her cosmology,” said Whitcomb. Yet, in her time, these beliefs cast Peavy out of the mainstream art world.
“She has this incredible pedigree where she showed with Delphic Studios—Alma Reed’s gallery—and at the same New York gallery where Agnes Pelton showed abstract works. Peavy was articulate, intelligent, very well educated in the arts, but when she identified her discarnate entity Lacamo, in the aftermath of the war, when there was this fear and anxiety over the UFO phenomenon and the Roswell incident, everyone dropped her and thought she was absolutely crazy,” explained Whitcomb. “These were dangerous ideas to be affiliated with and could get you in a lot of trouble, even on an FBI list.”
Peavy at work in her studio.
Courtesy of Andrew Edlin Gallery.
Peavy made her way henceforth by selling her work, not through galleries but through Albert Bender’s Space Review, one of the most important periodicals of UFO culture of the era, and showing work in astroculture conventions. “She became something of an astroculture celebrity,” said Whitcomb. “She realized the art world was very fearful.”
Now, times have changed and spiritualist women artists such as Hilma af Klint, Georgiana Houghton, and Agnes Pelton are widely celebrated. “In the lead up to the Second World War, many artists were experimenting with the occult—Artaud was casting spells against Hitler. And the past years have been very scary,” said Whitcomb. “I feel like recent interest in the occult had to do with creating a cosmic balance and then we’re reminded of artists’ roles as shamans.”
Ons leefgebied is in verval, de genetische variatie is klein, en de vruchtbaarheid taant: de val van Homo sapiens lijkt onvermijdelijk.
Mag ik u even meenemen terug in de tijd? Meer bepaald naar 1965, toen Tom Lehrer zijn livealbum That Was the Year That Was opnam. Lehrer leidde het nummer ‘So Long Mom (A Song for World War III)’ als volgt in: ‘Als er liedjes uit Wereldoorlog III moeten komen, dan beginnen we ze maar beter nu te schrijven.’ Het schrikbeeld van de nucleaire apocalyps beheerste de jaren 1960. Maar ook overbevolking baarde zorgen. Toen in 1968 de bestseller The Population Bomb van bioloog Paul Ehrlich verscheen, maakte de wereldbevolking een ongezien snelle groei door van meer dan 2 procent.
Een halve eeuw later is de dreiging van de allesvernietigende atoombom zo goed als verdwenen. En de bevolkingsbom? Er wonen vandaag meer dan dubbel zoveel mensen op aarde, en we leiden (in grote trekken) een comfortabeler, rijker leven dan iemand ook maar had kunnen vermoeden. De bevolking groeit nog steeds aan, maar het gaat maar met half zoveel vaart als in 1968.
De huidige voorspellingen lopen uiteen, maar de consensus is dat er, na een bevolkingspiek ergens halfweg deze eeuw, een scherpe daling wordt ingezet. Tegen 2100 zouden we wereldwijd al met minder kunnen zijn dan vandaag. In de meeste landen - ook in armere landen - ligt het geboortecijfer tegenwoordig ver onder het sterftecijfer. In sommige landen zal het huidige bevolkingscijfer in geen tijd gehalveerd zijn. Mensen beginnen zich stilaan zorgen te maken over onderbevolking.
"Als er liedjes over het uitsterven van de mensheid moeten komen, dan beginnen we ze maar beter nu te schrijven"
Als paleontoloog bekijk ik de dingen op de lange termijn. Zoogdiersoorten komen en gaan behoorlijk snel. Ze verschijnen op het toneel, vieren hoogtij, en gaan in rook op in pakweg een miljoen jaar tijd. Uit fossiele vondsten blijkt dat Homo sapiens al zo’n 315.000 jaar op aarde rondloopt, maar het gros van die tijd waren we een zeldzame soort. Zo zeldzaam zelfs dat de mens op de rand van uitsterven heeft gestaan - misschien zelfs meermaals. Daar ligt de kiem van de ondergang des mensen: de huidige populatie is in een verschroeiend tempo toegenomen. Daardoor is H. sapiens als soort uitzonderlijk monotoon. Er zit meer genetische variatie in een paar troepen wilde chimpansees dan in de voltallige mensenbevolking. Een gebrek aan genetische variatie is nooit goed voor de overlevingskansen van een soort.
Bovendien is het de afgelopen decennia sterk bergaf gegaan met de kwaliteit van het menselijke sperma. Dat zou de dalende geboortecijfers kunnen verklaren, en niemand weet goed hoe het komt. Vervuiling - een bijproduct van de door de mens veroorzaakte teloorgang van het leefmilieu - speelt mogelijk een rol. Ook stress is een mogelijke factor. Dat mensen zo lang zo dicht opeengepakt leven is daar volgens mij niet vreemd aan. Door zijn evolutie heen bewoog de mens zich met lichte tred over het land, en leefde hij verspreid in groepen. Het leven in steden, praktisch bovenop elkaar (en in appartementen zelfs letterlijk) is nog maar een erg recente gewoonte.
De afname van de bevolkingsgroei heeft ook economische oorzaken. Politici streven gestage economische groei na, maar dat valt niet vol te houden in een wereld met eindige hulpbronnen. H. sapiens legt nu al beslag op 25 tot 40 procent van de netto primaire productie, de biomassa die planten maken uit lucht, water en zonneschijn. Dat is niet alleen slecht nieuws voor de miljoenen andere soorten op onze planeet die daarvan leven; het zou ook funest kunnen zijn voor de economische vooruitzichten van de mens. De huidige generaties moeten harder en langer werken om de levensstandaard aan te houden die hun ouders hadden, als die standaard überhaupt haalbaar is. Steeds meer onderzoek wijst trouwens uit dat de economische productiviteit wereldwijd is stilgevallen de afgelopen 20 jaar, of zelfs is afgenomen. Dat zou mensen kunnen ontmoedigen om aan kinderen te beginnen, of dat ze het zo lang uitstellen dat hun eigen vruchtbaarheid begint af te nemen.
Een bijkomende factor in de krimpende bevolkingsgroei is iets wat we alleen maar kunnen toejuichen: de economische, reproductieve en politieke emancipatie van vrouwen. Die begon nauwelijks meer dan een eeuw geleden, maar heeft nu al de beroepsbevolking verdubbeld en het opleidingsniveau, de levensverwachting en de economische mogelijkheden van de mens in het algemeen omhoog gestuwd. Dankzij betere voorbehoedsmiddelen en gezondheidszorg hoeven vrouwen niet zoveel kinderen meer te dragen om te verzekeren dat ten minste enkele de gevaarlijke eerste levensmaanden overleven. Maar als we minder kinderen krijgen, en dat op latere leeftijd doen, dan valt te verwachten dat de bevolking zal krimpen.
De meest verraderlijke bedreiging voor de mens is iets wat we ‘extinctieschuld’ noemen. Op een zeker moment wordt uitsterven onontkoombaar, voor elke soort, hoezeer het ze ook voor de wind gaat, en wat die ook doet om het af te wenden. De oorzaak is doorgaans een vertraagde reactie op het verlies van habitat. Het risico is het grootst voor soorten die een specifieke biotoop domineren ten koste van andere soorten, die daardoor wegtrekken en dus meer verspreid leven. De mens bezet min of meer de hele planeet, en met ons onevenredig grote verbruik van wat die wereldwijde biotoop produceert, zijn wij de dominante soort. Het doodvonnis van H. sapiens is dus misschien al getekend.
De tekenen aan de wand zijn er voor zij die ze willen zien. Wanneer de habitat zozeer in verval raakt dat er minder hulpbronnen zijn voor iedereen; wanneer de vruchtbaarheid afneemt; wanneer het geboortecijfer onder het sterftecijfer zakt; en wanneer de genetische hulpbronnen beperkt zijn - dan is het eind in zicht. De enige vraag is hoe snel het zal komen.
Ik vrees dat de menselijke wereldbevolking niet louter een krimp te wachten staat, maar een complete instorting - en gauw. Om het vrij naar Lehrer te zeggen: als er liedjes over het uitsterven van de mensheid moeten komen, dan beginnen we ze maar beter nu te schrijven.
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Weird alien-like fish spotted in the ocean’s twilight zone off the coast of California
Weird alien-like fish spotted in the ocean’s twilight zone off the coast of California
Ispy with my barreleye, a new Fresh from the Deep! During a dive with our education and outreach partner, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the team came across a rare treat: a barreleye fish (Macropinna microstoma).
MBARI’s remotely operated vehicles Ventana and Doc Ricketts have logged more than 5,600 successful dives and recorded more than 27,600 hours of video—yet we’ve only encountered this fish nine times!
The barreleye lives in the ocean’s twilight zone, at depths of 600 to 800 meters (2,000 to 2,600 feet). Its eyes look upwards to spot its favorite prey—usually small crustaceans trapped in the tentacles of siphonophores—from the shadows they cast in the faint shimmer of sunlight from above.
But how does this fish eat when its eyes point upward and its mouth points forward?
MBARI researchers learned the barreleye can rotate its glowing green eyes beneath that dome (head) of transparent tissue.
Aquarist Tommy Knowles and his team were aboard MBARI’s R/V Rachel Carson with our ROV Ventana to collect jellies and comb jellies for the Aquarium’s upcoming Into the Deep exhibition when they spotted this fascinating fish. The team stopped to marvel at Macropinna before it swam away.
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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 74 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
Veel leesplezier en geef je mening over deze blog.
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