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The truth is not out there. After spending tens of millions of dollars funding dodgy efforts to determine if little green men have visited Earth, the US government has formally acknowledged its multi-decade mission to boldly go where no man has gone before has been a bust. A bombshell Pentagon review released Friday confirms The Post’s exclusive reporting from last year that the Pentagon had developed a distracting and ultimately pointless fixation on chasing UFOs. The Pentagon report examined all US government investigatory activity of “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena” (formerly known as UFOs) since 1945, concluding that neither aliens nor their...

New details involving a military pilot UAP incident over the Gulf of Mexico revealed by a U.S. Representative last summer have come to light, following the release of documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The incident, first described by Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) last year during a widely viewed Congressional hearing on unidentified anomalous phenomena, reportedly occurred on January 26, 2023, during a test mission operated out of Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. Now, additional confirmation of the incident has been obtained by Abbas Michael Dharamsey through documents he obtained through a FOIA request, copies...

Computer simulations reveal that the close flyby of Apophis, the "God of Chaos" asteroid, in 2029 still poses no risk to Earth, even when a worrying, previously unrecognized factor is taken into account. There is almost zero chance that the infamous city-killer asteroid "Apophis" will hit Earth when it zips closely past our planet in 2029 — even when a previously unconsidered factor is taken into account, a new study shows. Apophis is a peanut-shaped space rock spanning around 1,100 feet (340 meters) across that was left behind by the formation of the solar system around 4.6 billion years ago....

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have made a groundbreaking discovery: a galaxy that ceased forming new stars over 13 billion years ago, making it the oldest ‘dead’ galaxy ever observed. The galaxy, which existed a mere 700 million years after the Big Bang, is odd by galactic standards. Now, based on recent findings, it’s also challenging our understanding of early galaxy evolution. In research led by Tobias J. Looser and an international team of astronomers, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has discovered an ancient quiescent galaxy. At a redshift of z=7.3, it is the oldest galaxy...

From the AI apocalypse to a full-blown nuclear war, it seems that there is an almost endless list of things that might cause the end of the world. But, if those terrifying fates gest us, there is one doomsday event that Earth can't avoid. A terrifying graphic reveals how the Sun will grow into a vast 'red giant' star, becoming so large that it will be the end of the solar system as we know it. Although this might seem utterly petrifying, you don't need to start worrying just yet. Dr Edward Bloomer, senior astronomer at Royal Observatory Greenwich, said:...

Greenland start-up is being accused of doing titanic damage to the environment by shipping ice from glaciers over 100,000 years old to be used in cocktails served at high-priced bars in Dubai. Arctic Ice, which started this year, touts its product as the “oldest and purest” ice in the world as it is harvested from icebergs in Greenland — a distance of more than 4,730 miles from the Middle Eastern megalopolis. Though the makers say they hope to highlight global warming’s effects on ice sheets with the their business model — and even stop sea levels from rising — the...

Explanation: In 46 BC Julius Caesar reformed the calendar system. Based on advice by astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria, the Julian calendar included one leap day every four years to account for the fact that an Earth year is slightly more than 365 days long. In modern terms, the time it takes for the planet to orbit the Sun once is 365.24219 mean solar days. So if calendar years contained exactly 365 days they would drift from the Earth's year by about 1 day every 4 years and eventually July (named for Julius Caesar himself) would occur during the northern hemisphere...

An artist's impression of the experiment. (University of Southampton) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Acting on a tiny particle levitating in a magnetic trap, physicists have just measured the smallest gravitational pull ever recorded. The particle weighed just 0.43 grams. And the strength of the gravitational force at play was on the scale of attonewtons (10-18 newtons). That's small enough to be right on the verge of the quantum realm, teasing the possibility of finally figuring out how classical physics and quantum mechanics interact. "For a century, scientists have tried and failed to understand how gravity and quantum mechanics work together," says physicist Tim...

Titan, as seen by Cassini. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. Arizona/Univ. Idaho ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anew study looking at impact cratering on Titan has found bad news in the search for life on the moon, and potentially other icy moons of the Solar System as well. Titan, Saturn's largest moon, is often thought of as a potential candidate for life. The moon is the only place in the Solar System – other than Earth – where liquids are known to be present on the surface, making up rivers, lakes and seas. These water features are made of liquid hydrocarbons, the bulk of which is...

Using the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have characterised a bright quasar, finding it to be not only the brightest of its kind, but also the most luminous object ever observed. Quasars are the bright cores of distant galaxies and they are powered by supermassive black holes. The black hole in this record-breaking quasar is growing in mass by the equivalent of one Sun per day, making it the fastest-growing black hole to date. The black holes powering quasars collect matter from their surroundings in a process so energetic that it emits vast amounts of light....

"This is the first time we've been able to verify that metals heavier than iron and silver were freshly made in front of us." An illustration of two neutron stars colliding and merging to create a kilonova blast. (Image credit: Robin Dienel/Carnegie Institution for Science) Scientists have analyzed an unusually long blast of high-energy radiation, known as a gamma-ray burst (GRB), and determined that it originated from the collision of two ultradense neutron stars. And, importantly, this result helped the team observe a flash of light emanating from the same event that confirms these mergers are the sites that create...

Astronomers have detected water molecules on the surface of asteroids for the first time, a surprising find given that the space rocks were thought to be “completely dry.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Water molecules have been detected on the surface of asteroids for the first time, proving that these remnants from the formation of our solar system aren’t just dried-up space rocks. Astronomers believe that the impact of asteroids crashing into our planet may have helped deliver water and other elements to early Earth, so finding evidence of water on asteroids could support that theory, according to a new study. The data was...

Explanation: What's happening near the Sun? To help find out, NASA launched the robotic Parker Solar Probe (PSP) to investigate regions closer to the Sun than ever before. The PSP's looping orbit brings it nearer to the Sun each time around -- every few months. The featured time-lapse video shows the view looking sideways from behind PSP's Sun shield during its 16th approach to the Sun last year -- from well within the orbit of Mercury. The PSP's Wide Field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR) cameras took the images over eleven days, but they are digitally compressed here into about...

Chinese New Year 2024 will fall on Saturday, February 10, 2024. This means the Year of the Rabbit ends on February 9, and the Year of the Dragon (which coincidentally, this author is a member of) starts on February 10 according to the Chinese zodiac. Unlike the Gregorian calendar where New Year’s Day consistently occurs on January 1, the date of Chinese New Year changes every year, but it always falls between January 21 and February 20, usually the second new moon after the winter solstice. And unlike the usual one-day holiday for New Year’s (or two days for New...

Explanation: Heading for its next perihelion passage on April 21, Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is growing brighter. The greenish coma of this periodic Halley-type comet has become relatively easy to observe in small telescopes. But the bluish ion tail now streaming from the active comet's coma and buffeted by the solar wind, is faint and difficult to follow. Still, in this image stacked exposures made on the night of February 11 reveal the fainter tail's detailed structures. The frame spans over two degrees across a background of faint stars and background galaxies toward the northern constellation Lacerta. Of course Comet 12P's April...

Explanation: A cosmic dust grain plowing through the upper atmosphere much faster than a falling leaf created this brilliant meteor streak. In a serendipitous moment, the sublime night sky view was captured from the resort island of Capri, in the Bay of Naples, on the evening of February 8. Looking across the bay, the camera faces northeast toward the lights of Naples and surrounding cities. Pointing toward the horizon, the meteor streak by chance ends above the silhouette of Mount Vesuvius. One of planet Earth's most famous volcanos, an eruption of Mount Vesuvius destroyed the city of Pompeii in 79...

Explanation: Is this one galaxy or two? This question came to light in 1950 when astronomer Arthur Hoag chanced upon this unusual extragalactic object. On the outside is a ring dominated by bright blue stars, while near the center lies a ball of much redder stars that are likely much older. Between the two is a gap that appears almost completely dark. How Hoag's Object formed, including its nearly perfectly round ring of stars and gas, remains unknown. Genesis hypotheses include a galaxy collision billions of years ago and the gravitational effect of a central bar that has since vanished....

The universe is expanding faster and faster, but not all scientists agree that dark energy is the cause. Perhaps, instead, our universe keeps colliding with and absorbing smaller 'baby universes,' a new theoretical study suggests. Our universe is expanding at an ever-accelerating rate — a phenomenon that all theories of cosmology agree upon but none can fully explain. Now, a new theoretical study offers an intriguing solution: Perhaps our universe is expanding because it keeps colliding with and absorbing "baby" parallel universes. Studies of the cosmic microwave background, the afterglow of the Big Bang, have revealed that our universe is...

NEO 2003 SD220 on screen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ How can humans protect the Earth from "devastating asteroid and comet impacts?" According to the National Academies and their 2023-2032 Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey, ground based astronomical radar systems will have a "unique role" to play in planetary defense. There is currently only one system in the world concentrating on these efforts, NASA's Goldstone Solar System Radar, part of the Deep Space Network (DSN). However, a new instrument concept from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) called the next generation RADAR (ngRADAR) system will use the National Science Foundation's Green Bank Telescope...

Over a 17-year period, an international team of astronomers monitored Neptune’s atmospheric temperatures. They discovered that Neptune’s global temperatures dropped unexpectedly, followed by a dramatic warming at its south pole. Credit: ESO/M. Roman ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Using ground-based telescopes, including the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), an international team of astronomers track Neptune’s atmospheric temperatures over a 17-year period. They found a surprising drop in Neptune’s global temperatures followed by a dramatic warming at its south pole. “This change was unexpected,” says Michael Roman, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Leicester, UK, and lead author of the...