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Long before the 1947 Roswell incident brought “little green men” into the public consciousness and prompted an explosion in UFO sightings, writers and scientists have speculated about the existence of life beyond our planet. H. G. Wells laid the groundwork for modern science fiction with novels like The War of the Worlds (1898), one of the first books to imagine an extraterrestrial invasion. Before Wells, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli (1835-1910) sparked the imagination by discovering “canals” on Mars. But for the first recorded instance of humanity pondering the possibility of alien life, we have to go all the way back to ancient Greek and Roman times. In the first century B.C., Roman poet Lucretius wrote, “Nothing in the universe is unique and alone and therefore in other regions there must be other earths inhabited by different tribes of men and breeds of beast.” Not exactly a controversial supposition; still, whether or not such tribes have come to our planet remains impossible to prove, and those who claim to have encountered alien beings have long been dismissed.
That said, in recent years, the concept of otherworldly visitors has begun to shift toward the mainstream. In 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense established the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, the latest governmental entity devoted to investigating unexplained sightings. Even the term of choice, “UFO,” has given way to “UAP”—unidentified aerial (or anomalous) phenomenon. And just this June, former U.S. Air Force officer and intelligence official David Grusch claimed that the U.S. government had retrieved remains of several aircraft of “non-human” origin. The fallout from Grusch’s claims is yet to be determined—as is their veracity—but it seems likely that, in the end, the world will settle back into the binary of believers and skeptics, with no concrete evidence to settle the debate. Regardless of which camp you fall into, some of us will always look skyward with hope; we may never be able to scour the entirety of the universe, but it’s hard not to thrill to Lucretius’ logic. In the meantime, the longform articles collected here offer a fascinating glimpse into the UFO community and the stories that have shaped our modern understanding of the topic.
For me, what makes alleged alien encounter testimony so compelling is that—regardless of whether I believe the person’s interpretation of events—the incident had an undeniable and profound effect on their lives. This may not be true in every case, but even if you write off many accounts as delusion or whimsy or simply fiction, you’re still left with a legion of people who have been dramatically changed by their perceived experiences. It’s comforting to know, then, that for those such as Jason Guillemette, a character in this piece about amateur ufologists, communities exist where one can share their experiences without judgment.
In Guillemette’s case, that community is the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), a non-profit, volunteer-run organization active in more than 40 countries—and one whose members are as rigidly skeptical as Guillemette. For most MUFON alumni, this is a quest for truth, not validation; members work rigorously to find earthly explanations for reported sightings. And as Badelt widens his scope to other folks in other organizations, you can’t help but be moved by people’s stories. After all, if you were to have a life-changing close encounter, with whom would you share that knowledge?
Most of the time, he’s able to find an explanation, he says. He often sends videos to other volunteers at MUFON who specialize in analyzing computer images. He refers to websites that track the flight patterns of satellites and planes and the International Space Station—the usual suspects when it comes to UFO sightings, he says. Guillemette described a recent case in which a couple reported seeing strange lights hovering above a nearby lake. The lights circled above the lake and then dropped down into the water, only to rise up a moment later and zip away. It turned out to be a plane, he says—filling up with water to fight a nearby forest fire. “Not everybody likes what we come up with,” he says, “but sometimes it’s really evident.”
The history of UFO sightings in New Zealand dates back to the early 20th century. It seems such a tranquil and unassuming country—cinematic hobbit history notwithstanding—which perhaps makes the events recounted here even more unsettling. These are all-too-human tales of altered lives. Some cases, such as that of Iris Catt, a self-proclaimed alien abductee whose nightmarish encounters go back to her childhood, are heartbreakingly tragic. Others follow more positive narratives, believing that aliens are beaming down rays of positivity and openness, gradually bringing humanity to a point where it is ready for formal communication.
When I was at university in the 1990s, “regression therapy” became big news, with countless stories of trauma-blocked memories and past-life remembrances unearthed through hypnosis. Just as suddenly, regression therapy drowned in a flood of peer-reviewed criticism, relegated to yet another pseudoscience. The concept never went away entirely and it pops up again in Vaughan Yarwood’s story, cautiously approved by academic institutions for its utility in specific circumstances. It’s complex territory, but Yarwood navigates it with clarity and sensitivity.
Iris Catt, a mild-mannered, unprepossessing woman in her 40s, then introduces herself. She is an abductee. It appears certain aliens have had their eye on her from an early age. She recounts her night horrors calmly, the way people do who have learned to accept their scars, to make their hurt and anguish a part of themselves.
“It is happening every day, and it is happening in New Zealand,” says Iris. “It is not going to go away. I truly believe that more and more people are beginning to remember what is happening to them because the time is getting closer when we are going to have to recognise that we are not the only intelligent form of life in the universe.”
Her audience understands. She is among friends.
Harvard Medical School psychiatrist John Edward Mack spent many years engaging with people who claimed to have been abducted by extraterrestrials, in the process becoming a pioneer in his field. Not surprisingly, he attracted resistance from the scientific community—less because of his work than because, over time, he came to the startling and highly controversial conclusion that a number of alleged abductees were telling the truth. Mack’s research may be little remembered by his profession at large, but his warmth, humanity, and faith continue to inspire hope in a small community that gathers annually in Rhode Island. They prefer the term “experiencer” to “abductee,” and in this Vanity Fair feature Ralph Blumenthal interweaves their stories with Mack’s.
For more about one of the characters in Blumenthal’s story, a 1994 feature in Omni details Linda’s alleged experience.
Once again, for me, the fascination of this piece lies in the stories of these everyday folks. To some degree, it doesn’t matter what they actually experienced. What counts, as Mack understood, is they have experienced something, and that something left a profound mark on their lives. In seeking to apply rigor and structure to the stories he was collecting, Mack plowed a hard path with poise and compassion. As this piece eloquently shows, his work was not in vain.
“Nothing in my nearly 40 years of familiarity with psychiatry prepared me,” Mack later wrote in his 1994 best-seller, Abduction: Human Encounters with Aliens. He had always assumed that anyone claiming to have been abducted by aliens was crazy, along with those who took them seriously. But here were people—students, homemakers, secretaries, writers, businesspeople, computer technicians, musicians, psychologists, a prison guard, an acupuncturist, a social worker, a gas-station attendant—reporting experiences that Mack could not begin to fathom, things, he reflected, that by all notions of reality “simply could not be.”
I have long been fascinated with the so-called Wow signal, received in 1977 by Ohio University’s Big Ear radio telescope, which was then being used to search for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. The tale of the signal makes for a great story in itself, but Keith Cooper’s piece sees that as merely a starting point. His narrative finds a central character in a man named Robert Gray: While the scientific community, including SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), gradually lowered the Wow signal to the status of “interesting curio,” Gray remained convinced that there was more to uncover.
Gray’s tenacity and belief in the face of mounting opposition is remarkable. Struggling for funding, unsuccessfully attempting to enlist help, and bartering for much-needed time on a limited number of radio telescopes, the frustrations he must have experienced make the twists in his story all the more poignant. Just when his enthusiasm began to wane, his work seemingly at a dead end, an exoplanet scientist reached out to Gray with a fresh idea, breathing new life into the man’s relentless quest. There is no neat, satisfying definitive end to this tale, but perhaps therein lies the true glory of Gray’s work. In the face of uncertainty, he carried on until the very end.
Nobody knows what the Wow signal was. We do know that it was not a regular astrophysical object, such as a galaxy or a pulsar. Curious the frequency that it was detected at, 1,420 MHz, is the frequency emitted by neutral hydrogen atoms in space, but it is also the frequency that scientists hunting for alien life listen to. Their reasoning is that aliens will supposedly know that astronomers will already be listening to that frequency in their studies of galactic hydrogen and so should easily detect their signal – or so the theory goes. Yet there was no message attached to the signal. It was just a burst of raw radio energy.
If SETI had a mythology, then the Wow signal would be its number one myth. And while it has never been forgotten by the public, the academic side of SETI has, by and large, dismissed it, quite possibly because it hasn’t been seen to repeat, and therefore cannot be verified—the golden rule of a successful SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) detection.
Celebrities who have copped to believing in UFOs are numerous enough to populate a listicle. Politicians? Not so much. Yet, the U.S. Congress’ House Oversight Committee has announced plans for a hearing regarding UAP reports, and if you trace the conversation back a few years, you’ll find that this shift is at least partly thanks to the protagonists in this story: former U.S. senator Harry Reid and Tom DeLonge, a founding member of pop-punk band Blink 182.
There’s a lot to digest here. It’s a wonderful example of hidden history: a small group of like-minded individuals working behind the scenes to advance their cause, with potentially wide-ranging repercussions. That history would be far less engaging, however, were it not for Tom DeLonge’s gregarious personality and indefatigable belief in alien visitors. His company, To The Stars, devotes considerable time and money to researching UAPs and extraterrestrial matters in general; Bryan Bender’s feature tells the story of how the singer managed to recruit experts and politicians to his cause.
Hanging on DeLonge’s wall was what might be considered the medals he’s collected in his struggle: a display case filled with dozens of commemorative coins from his meetings with generals, aerospace contractors and secret government agencies. They trace his visits to the CIA, to the U.S. Navy, to the “advanced development programs” division at Lockheed Martin’s famously secretive “Skunk Works” in Southern California, where some of the world’s most advanced spy planes were designed.
Chris Wheatley is a writer and journalist based in Oxford, U.K. He has too many guitars, too many records, and not enough cats.
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"Researchers have only so many hours in a day; if they can spend one less hour on a research article because we have implemented improved workflows and better technology, that’s one more hour they can spend on research to try to save my life, and the lives of all ALS patients." In today's post, Bruce Rosenblum shares his experience as a clinical trial participant and how that contributed to scholarly publications.
The post Guest Post — Being Research Data appeared first on The Scholarly Kitchen.
Medical workers treating patients with Covid-19 at the Brooklyn Hospital Center in January 2022, when the Omicron wave was in full force.
NASA has launched an innovative air quality monitoring instrument into a fixed-rotation orbit around Earth. The tool is called TEMPO, which stands for Tropospheric Emissions Monitoring of Pollution instrument, and it keeps an eye on a handful of harmful airborne pollutants in the atmosphere, such as nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde and ground-level ozone. These chemicals are the building blocks of smog.
TEMPO traveled to space hitched to a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. NASA says the launch was completed successfully, with the atmospheric satellite separating from the rocket without any incidents. NASA acquired the appropriate signal and the agency says the instrument will begin monitoring duties in late May or early June.
Spacecraft separation confirmed! The Intelsat satellite hosting our @NASAEarth & @CenterForAstro#TEMPO mission is flying free from its @SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and on its way to geostationary orbit. pic.twitter.com/gKYczeHqV5
— NASA (@NASA) April 7, 2023
TEMPO sits at a fixed geostationary orbit just above the equator and it measures air quality over North America every hour and measures regions spaced apart by just a few miles. This is a significant improvement to existing technologies, as current measurements are conducted within areas of 100 square miles. TEMPO should be able to take accurate measurements from neighborhood to neighborhood, giving a comprehensive view of pollution from both the macro and micro levels.
This also gives us some unique opportunities to pick up new kinds of data, such as changing pollution levels throughout rush hour, the effects of lightning on the ozone layer, the movement of pollution related to forest fires and the long-term effects of fertilizers on the atmosphere, among other data points. More information is never bad.
TEMPO is the middle child in a group of high-powered instruments tracking pollution. South Korea's Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer went up in 2020, measuring pollution over Asia, and the ESA (European Space Agency) Sentinel-4 satellite launches in 2024 to handle European and North African measurements. Other tracking satellites will eventually join TEMPO up there in the great black, including the forthcoming NASA instrument to measure the planet's crust.
You may notice that TEMPO flew into space on a SpaceX rocket and not a NASA rocket. This is by design, as the agency is testing a new business model to send crucial instruments into orbit. Paying a private company seems to be the more budget-friendly option when compared to sending up a rocket itself.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nasa-launches-powerful-air-quality-monitor-to-keep-an-eagle-eye-on-pollution-170321643.html?src=rss
NASA TEMPO launch
The NASA TEMPO launch seen at night from a distance, with the rocket blazing as it takes off.
SpaceX’s Crew-5 mission has safely returned to Earth. On Saturday evening, the company’s “Endurance” Dragon spacecraft splashed down off the coast of Florida following a five-month stay at the International Space Station. The capsule was carrying NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Nicole Mann, Japan’s Koichi Wakata and Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina.
The four spent 157 days in orbit during an ISS rotation that was one for the history books. As Space.com points out, the Crew-5 mission saw Mann, a member of the Wailaki people, become the first Native American woman to fly in space. It was also the first time a Russian cosmonaut flew aboard a private American spacecraft, a milestone made possible after NASA and Roscosmos signed a seat-sharing agreement last year amid increasing US and Russian tensions due to the war in Ukraine.
Splashdown!#Crew5 is back on Earth, completing a science mission of nearly six months on the @Space_Station. Their @SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft touched down at 9:02pm ET (0202 UTC March 12) near Tampa off the coast of Florida. pic.twitter.com/nLMC0hbKY4
— NASA (@NASA) March 12, 2023
For Wakata, the flight was his fifth return from space, a Japanese record. The mission also marked the second orbital trip for Endurance after the capsule successfully carried the Crew-3 crew back to Earth last fall. The spacecraft will now return to SpaceX’s Dragon Lair facility in Florida for safety checks and refurbishment ahead of its next flight.
Not on the flight was NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, who flew to the ISS on MS-22, the Russian Soyuz spacecraft that sprung a coolant leak late last year following an apparent micrometeoroid strike. The Endurance crew temporarily retrofitted their ride to carry Rubio in case of an emergency evacuation from the ISS after Roscomos determined MS-22 could only safely transport two people. They later removed those modifications after Russia sent a replacement Soyuz spacecraft to bring Rubio and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin back to Earth.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spacexs-crew-5-mission-safely-returns-to-earth-after-five-months-in-space-184759470.html?src=rss
SpaceX Crew-5 Mission
Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina, left, NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Nicole Mann, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata, right, are seen inside the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship Shannon shortly after having landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tampa, Florida, Saturday, March 11, 2023.
One of the most compelling aspects of DJI's Mini 3 drone, a stripped-down version of the Pro model, is the price, which was already fairly reasonable. It usually costs $559, but if you've had your eye on the drone, now might be the time to snap it up. The price has dropped to $469, which is $90 off.
The Mini 3 has the same Type 1/1.3 (9.6 x 7.2 mm) f/1.7 sensor as the Mini 3 Pro. While you'll still be able to take 12MP still photos, video is restricted to 30 frames per second at 4K instead of 60 frames per second at the same resolution on the higher-end model. As for 2.7K and full HD recordings, those are limited to 60fps. Still, there's a neat trick as the camera can flip 90 degrees to capture vertical video for the likes of TikTok and Snapchat.
DJI says you'll get up to 38 minutes of flight time in ideal conditions with the foldable Mini 3. It also weighs less than 249 grams, which means you won't need to secure a dedicated permit to fly it in certain territories (it's always worth checking local drone regulations before buying one, though). Despite the small size, DJI claims the Mini 3 is resistant to winds of 38 KPH (23.6 miles per hour).
An automated video feature called QuickShots sees the drone fly automatically on certain paths, such as moving around a subject. There are some features that could come in handy for novice flyers, such as automatic takeoff and functions that bring the drone back to its departure point in certain circumstances, such as when the battery is running low or the signal cuts out. On the downside, unlike on the Mini 3 Pro, there are no forward and rear obstacle detection sensors, which could particularly become an issue when the return to home function is engaged when the drone's out of your line of sight.
For those who'd prefer to take charge of the Mini 3 with a controller that has a built-in 5.5-inch screen (rather than the regular RC-N1 one that you'd likely have to use in combination with your smartphone), it's worth noting that the RC model is on sale as well. That version is also $90 off at $609.
Meanwhile, bundles with two additional Intelligent Flight Batteries, a two-way charging hub and a shoulder bag have been discounted. The Fly More Combo for the Mini 3 with the RC-N1 controller has dropped from $718 to $758. The bundle with the RC controller is down from $858 to $798.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/djis-mini-3-drone-is-currently-90-off-154851138.html?src=rss
DJI's Mini 3 drone is cheaper, but more limited than the Pro model it's based on
DJI's Mini 3 drone is cheaper, but more limited than the Pro model it's based on
Horse paste has struck out again: even at high doses, ivermectin is "futile" as a treatment for Covid 19, according to a large double-blind trial published in JAMA.
— Read the restThe median time to sustained recovery was 11 days in both the ivermectin and placebo groups (hazard ratio [HR], 1.02).
Amazon is getting closer to being able to deploy Project Kuiper's broadband satellites. The company has just received key approval from the Federal Communications Commission, which it needs to be able to officially send 3,236 satellites to orbit and to begin Kuiper's satellite internet operations. As SpaceNews notes, Amazon secured an initial approval from the agency in 2020. The FCC gave it permission to launch thousands of Low Earth Orbit satellites, so long as it later secures regulatory approval for an updated orbital debris mitigation plan.
In the order (PDF), the commission said the updated plan satisfies the condition it gave the company when it granted its request back in 2020. This additional approval "will allow Kuiper to begin deployment of its constellation in order to bring high-speed broadband connectivity to customers around the world."
As part of its updated orbital debris mitigation plan, the FCC will require Amazon to submit a a semi-annual report "concerning the number of satellites launched and disposal reliability." If Amazon experiences disposal failure with satellites within a single year, it has to report that fact to the FCC, as well. In addition, the commission is requiring Project Kuiper to ensure that it will be able to deorbit its satellites after their seven-year mission is done. Making sure the decommissioned satellites are out of orbit is necessary to prevent them from colliding with the International Space Station and other inhabitable stations.
Late last year, Amazon revealed that the first two Project Kuiper satellites will head to orbit aboard the maiden flight of United Launch Alliance's new Vulcan Centaur rocket. Vulcan Centaur is still currently under testing, but if all goes to plan, it'll fly for the first time in the next few months.
Las Vegas Hosts Annual CES Trade Show
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JANUARY 07: Amazon’s description of Project Kuiper, an initiative to build a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation capable of providing reliable, affordable broadband service to unserved and underserved communities around the world, is displayed on a screen at CES 2023 at Venetian Expo on January 07, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs through January 08 and features about 3,200 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to more than 100,000 attendees. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The rumors were true, DJI is releasing a new Mini 2 SE drone that features a couple of upgrades over the company’s existing entry-level drone. Most notably, DJI has equipped the Mini 2 SE with its in-house OcuSync 2.0 transmission system, meaning the drone can now effectively fly more than twice as far away as the original Mini SE. That model’s “Enhanced WiFi” system limited its range to up to 4km. The new system should also maintain a more stable video feed at greater distances. That said, the addition of OcuSync 2.0 might not be as valuable as the numbers suggest. Most jurisdictions require that you maintain a visual line of sight with your drone, and with a UAV as small as the Mini 2 SE, it’s very likely you’ll lose sight of it long before you get a chance to fly it 10km away.
Additionally, DJI says the Mini 2 SE can fly for 31 minutes on a single battery charge, a modest upgrade from the previous model’s maximum 30-minute flight time. Aside from those changes, the Mini 2 SE is nearly identical to the model it’s about to replace. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Like its predecessor, the Mini 2 SE weighs less than 249 grams, meaning you’re not required to register it with the Federal Aviation Administration. The new drone also carries over the aging but decent camera system found on the Mini SE. It comes with a three-axis gimbal and a 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor capable of capturing 2.7K video and 12-megapixel stills.
The DJI Mini 2 SE will cost $369 when it arrives next month. In addition to selling the drone on its own, DJI will offer the Mini 2 SE as part of a “Fly More Combo” bundle that comes with additional batteries, replacement propellers and a carrying case for $519.
DJI Mini SE 2
DJI's new Mini SE2 drone sitting on someone's palm.
My friend Kevin Kelly, a co-founder of Wired and my partner at Recomendo, says, "I have some strongly-stated, loosely-held hunches about the probability of life elsewhere in the universe. My certainty about these beliefs is quite low, but it is much higher than my belief in the alternatives." — Read the rest
The search for life on other planets has been based on what we already know. But what if extraterrestrial life does not look like any beings we’re used to on Earth? It may even be unrecognizable to the scientists searching for it. In this essay, Sarah Scoles meets Sarah Stewart Johnson, who has been looking for “aliens” from a different perspective.
Even when scientists do discover biology unfamiliar to them, they tend to relate it to something familiar. For instance, when Antonie van Leeuwenhoek saw single-celled organisms through his microscope’s compound lens in the 17th century, he dubbed them “animalcules,” or little animals, which they are not.
FreshRSS 