Jingszo !

Asteroid Bennu—the target of NASA's OSIRIS-REx sample return mission, led by the University of Arizona—is a mixture of materials from throughout, and even beyond, our solar system. Over the past few billion years, its unique and varied contents have been transformed by interactions with water and the harsh space environment.

These details come from a trio of newly published papers based on analysis of Bennu samples delivered to Earth by OSIRIS-REx in 2023. The OSIRIS-REx sample analysis campaign is coordinated by the U of A's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) and involves scientists from around the world. LPL researchers contributed to all three studies and led two of them.

Life Before the Great Dying

The Permian is the endpoint of what paleontologists call the Paleozoic Era. During this time, animal life — which evolved first in Earth’s oceans — began to colonize land, and complex terrestrial ecosystems developed. By the Permian, a diverse array of amphibian and reptile-like creatures roamed environments ranging from early forests to arid valleys. The end-Permian mass extinction — whose precise cause scientists are still debating — obliterated many of these ecosystems and ushered in the Mesozoic Era, which saw the evolution of dinosaurs, as well as the first birds, flowering plants, and mammals.

Source:

Introduction to vertebrate evolution in the Permian rift basins of Tanzania and Zambia

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2024.2446616

Using single-cell RNA sequencing, Brooks et al. assembled a two-dimensional map of the expression of thousands of genes during neural tube closure in the mouse embryo. Starting with a few well-known genes with localized expression patterns, they were able to predict the expression patterns of 870 genes during the process. This map matched known gene expression with high accuracy and predicted expression patterns for hundreds of previously uncharacterized genes. Moreover, they showed that activating a key developmental pathway, known as Sonic hedgehog signaling, dramatically reshaped gene expression along the width and length of the neural tube.

These findings give astronomers a hint at where and when to look for technosignatures; the periods during which extrasolar planets, or "exoplanets," in other star systems align with their stars are of particular interest.

Alignments between exoplanets and stars, called transits, that occur when these worlds cross the face of their parent star from our perspective on Earth, are particularly useful for detecting planets beyond the solar system.

Exoplanets, with their large volumes and low temperatures, are ideal celestial detectors for probing dark matter (DM) interactions. DM particles can lose energy through scattering with the planetary interior and become gravitationally captured if their interaction with the visible sector is sufficiently strong....

We explore the possibility of periodic BH formation within the unconstrained DM parameter space and discuss potential detection methods, including observations of planetary-mass objects, pulsed high-energy cosmic rays, and variations in exoplanet temperatures. Our findings suggest that future extensive exoplanet observations could provide complementary opportunities to terrestrial and cosmological searches for superheavy DM

Big cat expert Rick Minter, who hosts a podcast detailing such encounters, is investigating these sightings. He revealed: "A dog walker near Tetbury watched a black panther cornering a fox at dusk. Her three big dogs were on leads but they rumbled the cat, which rushed away and the fox emerged from its trapped situation and left the area keeping close to the walker and her dogs, seemingly wanting their company for safe escort."

Skeletons showing multiple instances of unhealed trauma and isolated skeletal segments of severed left upper limbs have been documented in the Neolithic sites of Achenheim and Bergheim (northeastern France, approximately 4300 to 4150 cal BCE), providing tantalizing evidence of war-related practices of overkill, mutilation, and/or trophy taking. 

The late Middle Neolithic of the Upper Rhine Valley provides one such context. The region witnessed a rapid substitution of local Bruebach-Oberbergen cultural traditions by western Bischheim (BORS, i.e., Bischheim Occidental du Rhin Supérieur) traditions brought by groups originating from the Paris Basin between approximately 4295 and 4165 cal BCE [modeled at 95.4% probability]. This, together with the appearance of fortifications, large aggregated settlements, and skeletal evidence for violence, suggests armed conflict, resembling a successful war of conquest , the consequences of which may have affected the lives of the region’s inhabitants for decades.

In this context, circular pits 124 at Achenheim “Strasse 2, RD 45” and 157 at Bergheim “Saulager” (Alsace region of northeastern France) were used for the haphazard deposition of the remains of a number of individuals (6 and 8, respectively) showing multiple instances of unhealed trauma and evidence of overkill (i.e., the use of unnecessarily excessive violence beyond that required to kill), as well as a number of supernumerary and isolated skeletal segments of severed left upper limbs.

While the debris shed from the asteroid amounted to less than 0.5% of its total mass, it was still 30,000 times greater than the mass of the spacecraft. The impact of the debris on Dimorphos’ trajectory was dramatic: shortly after the collision, the DART team determined that the flying rubble gave Dimorphos a shove several times stronger than the hit from the spacecraft itself.

“The plume of material released from the asteroid was like a short burst from a rocket engine,”

The important takeaway from the DART mission is that a small, lightweight spacecraft can dramatically alter the path of an asteroid of similar size and composition to Dimorphos, which is a “rubble-pile” asteroid — or a loose, porous collection of rocky material bound together weakly by gravity.

Psychologists have long considered how a tendency towards irrational thinking or particular personality traits might predict peoples’ interest in conspiracies. Yet these individual factors do not explain the group processes through which conspiracy theorists are extending their influence and impact.

Over five years, we sought out and got to know people on the cusp of becoming conspiracy theorists. And the results of our new study show that a sense of community activism is attracting people to these ideas.

Indeed, contrary to the stereotype of isolated keyboard warriors who have gone down the rabbit hole, conspiracy theorists are becoming organised, recruiting supporters, picketing vaccination centres and vandalising telecommunication and traffic infrastructures.

Our research examined the growing interest in conspiracy theories and how associated activism emerges

'Hostile': Why scientists believe alien spacecraft is headed for Earth

Summary

Common descent theory plays an influential role in shaping the search for extraterrestrial life by providing insights into evolutionary processes, universal biology, and potential biosignatures. Although it offers valuable guidance for identifying environments and characteristics favorable to life beyond Earth, scientists must remain open to discovering organisms fundamentally different from those known on our planet. Balancing expectations informed by Earth’s biology with the readiness to encounter unprecedented forms of life is essential for advancing the search for extraterrestrial organisms.

The vast, silent expanse of outer space, once the exclusive domain of scientific exploration and national prestige, has fundamentally transformed. It is now an indispensable theater for global commerce, communication, and modern warfare. The satellites orbiting Earth are no longer just tools for discovery; they are the central nervous system of 21st-century life. They provide the precise timing signals that underpin global financial…

A major aspect of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) involves searching for electromagnetic transmissions from extraterrestrial sources, often using our own transmissions as a guide. Previous studies have suggested that humanity’s most consistently detectable technosignatures were transmissions from our deep-space networks and interplanetary radar. In this study, we analyze NASA Deep Space Network logs to explore what strategies for selecting SETI targets and scheduling observations would enhance the chances of detecting such networks....

These findings quantify how SETI searches might benefit from prioritizing edge-on exoplanet systems and aligning observation windows with exoplanetary conjunctions or planet–planet occultations because they significantly improve the likelihood of intercepting transmissions from any civilizations employing deep-space networks similar to our own.

This review is an up-to-date account of the use of numerical relativity to study dynamical, strong-gravity environments in a cosmological context. First, we provide a gentle introduction into the use of numerical relativity in solving cosmological spacetimes, aimed at both cosmologists and numerical relativists. Second, we survey the present body of work, focusing on general relativistic simulations, organised according to the cosmological history—from cosmogenesis, through the early hot Big Bang, to the late-time evolution of the universe. We discuss the present state-of-the-art, and suggest directions in which future work can be fruitfully pursued.

In a rock art painting called Mother Ranaldi, for example, a series of goats/ibexes or deer are depicted surrounding what has been interpreted as a woman giving birth. Similarly, a carved image from Laussel rock shelter in Dordogne, France, depicts a Venus-figured woman holding a horn, presumably of an ibex.

Venus figures are typically depicted as women with exaggerated hips, breasts, and abdomens, typically associated with fertility. The recurrent ibex imagery alongside these feminine and fertility symbols may indicate an associated symbolic meaning.

While analyzing the Near Eastern depictions of ibex, a similar theme of fertility linked with the ibex was found. The fresh-water god Enki, who is also associated with the life-giving Tigris and Euphrates rivers, is often depicted together with goats or ibex figures.

It is possible this association with the life-giving, land-fertilizing rain, and thus the rain god Enki, and the ibex arose as the mating season of the ibex coincides with the rain season in Mesopotamia (October/November). Thus, the ibex's natural behaviors served not just as an inspiration for these myths and associations but also as a form of timekeeping or calendar.

We present new near-infrared polarimetric observations of M- and K-type asteroids. Our observations show changes from visible to NIR wavelengths that are consistent between these two classes, which indicate a mineralogical link between these populations. Further observations of more members of these populations and more complete near-infrared phase curves for the object shown here will help improve this link. The associations of these two populations with extreme collisions in the early solar system connect the evolution of these bodies as well as their composition. Taken together, these features paint a compelling story for small body evolution, with iron meteorites and M-type asteroids representing the interiors of partially differentiated, troilite-rich, collisionally disrupted protoplanets, and K-type bodies tracing the material that originated closer to the surface that was dispersed during these ancient collisions.

The replacement of hunter-gatherer lifestyles by agriculture represents a pivotal change in human history.

The initial stage of this Neolithic transition in Europe was instigated by the migration of farmers from Anatolia and the Aegean basin.

In this study, we modeled the expansion of Neolithic farmers into central Europe along the continental route of dispersal.

We used spatially explicit simulations of paleogenomic diversity and high-quality paleogenomic data from 67 prehistoric individuals to assess how population dynamics between Indigenous European hunter-gatherers and incoming farmers varied across space and time.

Our results demonstrate that admixture between the two groups increased locally over time at each stage of the Neolithic expansion along the continental route.

We estimate that the effective population size of farmers was about five times that of hunter-gatherers.

In addition, we infer that sporadic long-distance migrations of early farmers contributed to their rapid dispersal, while competitive interactions with hunter-gatherers were limited.

New NASA research has found that Ceres may have had a lasting source of chemical energy: the right types of molecules needed to fuel some microbial metabolisms. Although there is no evidence that microorganisms ever existed on Ceres, the finding supports theories that this intriguing dwarf planet, which is the largest body in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, may have once had conditions suitable to support single-celled lifeforms.

The oxygen isotopes revealed that the tooth captured roughly six months of growth, from winter to summer, whilst the carbon isotopes showed the animal’s diet changed with the seasons: woodland fodder in winter and open pasture in summer. Additionally, the strontium isotopes indicated the seasonal food sources came from different geological areas, suggesting that the cow either moved seasonally or that winter fodder was imported.

The lead isotopes revealed composition spikes during the late winter to spring, pointing to a lead source that was older than the lead in the rest of the tooth. The composition suggests the cow originated from an area with Palaeozoic rocks, such as the bluestones found in Wales, before moving to Stonehenge.

This is the first time that scientists have seen evidence linking cattle remains from Stonehenge to Wales, adding further weight to theories that cows were used in the transportation of the enormous rocks across the country.

On the afternoon of June 24, 1947, the world unknowingly stood on the precipice of a new era. The post-war sky, once a theater of conflict, was about to become a canvas for mystery. It was on this clear day that a private pilot named Kenneth Arnold embarked on a flight that would not only change his life but also introduce a new, captivating term into the global lexicon: the “flying saucer.”

Kenneth Arnold’s sighting is widely considered the watershed moment that triggered the modern era of UFO investigation. Before his report, accounts of unusual aerial phenomena were sporadic and easily dismissed. Afterward, the floodgates opened. His story provided a template for future sightings and forced a national conversation that continues to this day. The sighting’s enduring impact lies not just in the mystery of what he saw, but in its role as the foundational event that launched a global quest for answers, forever changing the way we look at the sky.

Summary

The Galileo Project represents a bold and systematic effort to address one of the most enduring questions in science and human culture: whether we are alone in the universe. Headquartered at Harvard University, its core mission is to move the search for evidence of Extraterrestrial Technological Civilizations from the periphery of anecdote and speculation into the mainstream of rigorous, transparent, and evidence-based scientific research.

The project pursues this goal through a unique, three-pronged strategy that focuses on finding physical technosignatures rather than listening for distant signals. It is building a global network of advanced, multi-modal observatories to conduct a continuous census of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in Earth’s atmosphere. It is leveraging the world’s most powerful astronomical surveys to watch for anomalous interstellar objects like ‘Oumuamua, with the long-term goal of launching an intercept mission. And it is developing sophisticated AI algorithms to search for potential extraterrestrial satellites hidden in orbit around our own planet.

Defined by its commitment to open data and peer-reviewed science, the Galileo Project stands as a transparent, academic alternative to classified government investigations. While it has faced considerable skepticism and controversy from within the scientific community, it continues to push forward, driven by private funding and a conviction that the potential for discovery warrants a dedicated search. Irrespective of whether it ultimately finds evidence of extraterrestrial technology, the project’s work is already contributing to science. It is pioneering new methods for atmospheric monitoring, developing innovative AI for data analysis, and generating vast, open datasets that will be a valuable resource for astronomers and atmospheric scientists for years to come. At its heart, the Galileo Project is an exercise in scientific curiosity, daring to look through new telescopes, both literally and figuratively, in a systematic search for answers.

Three new malleodectids (Malleodectidae, Marsupialia) are described from late Oligocene and early Miocene deposits of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland. Exosmachus robinbecki gen. et sp. nov. and Chitinodectes wessechresti gen. et sp. nov. share dental synapomorphies with Malleodectes species to the exclusion of other malleodectids. Protamalleus stevewroei gen. et sp. nov. is the most plesiomorphic malleodectid known, retaining several symplesiomorphies shared with plesiomorphic dasyuromorphians and australidelphians.

Morphofunctional analyses suggest Chitinodectes wessechresti and Exosmachus robinbecki were durophagous hypocarnivores like species of Malleodectes species, whereas Protamalleus stevewroei and B. wangala were more generalist carnivores, comparable to Dasyurus viverrinus but with enhanced durophagous capabilities.

In a groundbreaking advancement that merges materials science and energy technology, an international team of scientists from South Korea and Japan has unveiled a novel crystal capable of “breathing” oxygen. This exceptional property, marked by the crystal’s ability to reversibly release and absorb oxygen at relatively low temperatures, opens promising avenues in the development of next-generation clean energy devices, novel electronic components, and adaptive thermal technologies. Unlike previous materials that demand harsh conditions or degrade swiftly, this newly synthesized crystal maintains structural stability through repeated oxygen cycling, signaling a paradigm shift in smart material design.

Paper:

Selective reduction in epitaxial SrFe0.5Co0.5O2.5 and its reversibility

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-62612-1

Even if the vast majority can be written off as misidentifications, delusions, fantasies, mirages or outright hoaxes there still remain a kernel of cases that represent something beyond our realms of understanding. Like the Disclosure addicts of today, we at SUFORS wanted the public and the authorities to acknowledge that extraterrestrial craft and their occupants were visiting us on a regular basis.

From the sceptical point of view this is all tosh. Millions of witnesses can be wrong, because human witnesses are not very trustworthy especially when they view something unusual under stressful conditions. Venus can easily turn into a spacecraft full of tentacled aliens that seems to be following your car, or the Moon can look like an extraterrestrial vehicle landing in your back garden. I’ve had cases where people have excitedly told me they’ve seen UFOs in the sky only to discover they have seen laser displays, or particularly bright stars. Most ufologists get all types of reports that they can easily identify.

"These observations show that this explosion happened when the Universe was less than 10 per cent of its current age - the light has been travelling to us for 12 billion years,” says Professor Andrew Levan, of Radboud University, and first author of the study.

“The combination of the distance and the brightness means this explosion gave off more energy in a few seconds than the Sun will over its entire life.

“These extreme energies, along with the detection of gamma-rays by the Fermi satellite, suggest that the Fast X-ray Transients are related, at least sometimes, to the extremely powerful gamma-ray bursts that have been studied for half a century.”

"A real question is if all of the Fast X-ray Transients come from gamma-ray burst-like systems, or if there is much more diversity. Our paper shows that many of them might be gamma-ray bursts, but there are good reasons to think there is much more still to discover"