TYB
>Do Anons Understand What Is About To Be Unleashed?
Red pill cupcakes!
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-scratches-beyond-surface-of-cats-paw-for-3rd-anniversary/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYez0Ighysg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEKsn19fCmQ
NASA’s Webb Scratches Beyond Surface of Cat’s Paw for 3rd Anniversary
Jul 10, 2025
It’s the cat’s meow! To celebrate its third year of revealing stunning scenes of the cosmos in infrared light, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has “clawed” back the thick, dusty layers of a section within the Cat’s Paw Nebula (NGC 6334).
Focusing Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) on a single “toe bean” within this active star-forming region revealed a subset of mini toe beans, which appear to contain young stars shaping the surrounding gas and dust.
Webb’s look at this particular area of the Cat’s Paw Nebula just scratches the surface of the telescope’s three years of groundbreaking science.
“Three years into its mission, Webb continues to deliver on its design – revealing previously hidden aspects of the universe, from the star formation process to some of the earliest galaxies,” said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
“As it repeatedly breaks its own records, Webb is also uncovering unknowns for new generations of flagship missions to tackle.
Whether it’s following up on the mysteries of dark matter with NASA’s nearly complete Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, or narrowing our search for life to Earth-like planets with the Habitable Worlds Observatory, the questions Webb has raised are just as exciting as the answers it’s giving us.”
Star Formation Flex
The progression from a large molecular cloud to massive stars entails multiple steps, some of which are still not well understood by astronomers.
Located approximately 4,000 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius, the Cat’s Paw Nebula offers scientists the opportunity to study the turbulent cloud-to-star process in great detail.
Webb’s observation of the nebula in near-infrared light builds upon previous studies by NASA’s Hubble and retired Spitzer Space Telescope in visible- and infrared-light, respectively.
With its sharp resolution, Webb shows never-before-seen structural details and features: Massive young stars are carving away at nearby gas and dust, while their bright starlight is producing a bright nebulous glow represented in blue.
It’s a temporary scene where the disruptive young stars, with their relatively short lives and luminosity, have a brief but important role in the region’s larger story. As a consequence of these massive stars’ lively behavior, the local star formation process will eventually come to a stop.
Opera House’s Intricate Structure
Start with the toe bean at top center, which is nicknamed the “Opera House” for its circular, tiered-like structure.
The primary drivers for the area’s cloudy blue glow are most likely toward its bottom: either the light from the bright yellowish stars or from a nearby source still hidden behind the dense, dark brown dust.
Just below the orange-brown tiers of dust is a bright yellow star with diffraction spikes. While this massive star has carved away at its immediate surroundings, it has been unable to push the gas and dust away to greater distances, creating a compact shell of surrounding material.
Look closely to notice small patches, like the tuning fork-shaped area to the Opera House’s immediate left, that contain fewer stars.
These seemingly vacant zones indicate the presence of dense foreground filaments of dust that are home to still-forming stars and block the light of stars in the background.
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Spotlight on Stars
Toward the image’s center are small, fiery red clumps scattered amongst the brown dust. These glowing red sources mark regions where massive star formation is underway, albeit in an obscured manner.
Some massive blue-white stars, like the one in the lower left toe bean, seem to be more sharply resolved than others. This is because any intervening material between the star and the telescope has been dissipated by stellar radiation.
Near the bottom of that toe bean are small, dense filaments of dust. These tiny clumps of dust have managed to remain despite the intense radiation, suggesting that they are dense enough to form protostars.
A small section of yellow at the right notes the location of a still-enshrouded massive star that has managed to shine through intervening material.
Across this entire scene are many small yellow stars with diffraction spikes. Bright blue-white stars are in the foreground of this Webb image, but some may be a part of the more expansive Cat’s Paw Nebula area.
One eye-catching aspect of this Webb image is the bright, red-orange oval at top right. Its low count of background stars implies it is a dense area just beginning its star-formation process.
A couple of visible and still-veiled stars are scattered throughout this region, which are contributing to the illumination of the material in the middle.
Some still-enveloped stars leave hints of their presence, like a bow shock at the bottom left, which indicates an energetic ejection of gas and dust from a bright source.
Further explore this subset of toe beans by embarking on a narrated tour or getting closer to the image. We also invite you to reminisce about Webb’s three years of science observations.
Video A (Narrated Visualization): Cosmic Caverns in the Cat's Paw Nebula
This visualization explores a subset of toe bean-reminiscent structures within a section of the Cat’s Paw Nebula, a massive, local star-forming region located approximately 4,000 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius.
This image by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in near-infrared light was released in honor of the telescope’s third science operations anniversary. Since it began science operations in July 2022, Webb’s observations of our universe have wowed scientists and the public alike.
Glide into the lower left toe bean, moving past many small yellow stars along the way, where filaments of gas and dust frame the cavernous area. The region’s nebulous glow, represented in blue, is from the bright light of massive young stars.
Float toward the top toe bean, which is nicknamed the “Opera House” for its circular, tiered-like stucture. As you move, you’ll pass plumes of orange-brown dust that vary in density and small, fiery red clumps where star formation is occurring, albeit in an obscured manner.
Video B: Zoom into the Cat's Paw Nebula
This zoom-in video shows the location of the Cat’s Paw Nebula on the sky. It begins with a ground-based photo by the late astrophotographer Akira Fujii, then shows views from the Digitized Sky Survey.
The video then hones in on a select portion of the sky to reveal a European Southern Observatory image of the Cat’s Paw Nebula in visible light.
The video continues to zoom in on a section of the Cat’s Paw, which gradually transitions to the stunning image captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in near-infrared light.
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NASA Aircraft, Sensor Technology, Aid in Texas Flood Recovery Efforts
Jul 09, 2025
In response to recent flooding near Kerrville, Texas, NASA deployed two aircraft to assist state and local authorities in ongoing recovery operations.
The aircraft are part of the response from NASA’s Disasters Response Coordination System, which is activated to support emergency response for the flooding and is working closely with the Texas Division of Emergency Management, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the humanitarian groups Save the Children and GiveDirectly.
Persistent cloud-cover has made it difficult to obtain clear satellite imagery, so the Disasters Program coordinated with NASA’s Airborne Science Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to conduct a series of flights to gather observations of the impacted regions.
NASA is sharing these data directly with emergency response teams to inform their search and rescue efforts and aid decision-making and resource allocation.
The high-altitude WB-57 aircraft operated by NASA Johnson departed from Ellington Field on July 8 to conduct aerial surveys.
The aircraft is equipped with the DyNAMITE (Day/Night Airborne Motion Imager for Terrestrial Environments) sensor.
The DyNAMITE sensor views the Guadalupe River and several miles of the surrounding area, providing high-resolution imagery critical to assessing damage and supporting coordination of ground-based recovery efforts.
This system enables real-time collection and analysis of data, enhancing situational awareness and accelerating emergency response times.
In addition, the agency’s Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) is flying out of NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, aboard a Gulfstream III.
Managed by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the UAVSAR team is planning to collect observations over the Guadalupe, San Gabriel, and Colorado river basins Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Because UAVSAR can penetrate vegetation to spot water that optical sensors are unable to detect, the team’s goal is to characterize the extent of flooding to help with understanding the amount of damage within communities.
Flights are being coordinated with FEMA, the Texas Division of Emergency Management, and local responders to ensure data is quickly delivered to those making decisions on the ground.
Imagery collected will be sent to NASA’s Disaster Response Coordination System.
Additionally, the Disasters Program, which is part of NASA’s Earth Science Division, is working to produce maps and data to assess the location and severity of flooding in the region and damage to buildings and infrastructure.
These data are being shared on the NASA Disasters Mapping Portal as they become available.
https://www.nasa.gov/earth/nasa-aircraft-sensor-technology-aid-in-texas-flood-recovery-efforts/
https://www.kurv.com/nasas-houston-resources-assist-with-flood-recovery-efforts/
Light Duty Day Amid Space Research and Crew Swap Preps
July 9, 2025
A portion of the Expedition 73 crew as well as the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) quartet had a light duty day on Wednesday.
There was still time aboard the International Space Station for a variety of research activities and preparations for an upcoming crew swap.
NASA Flight Engineers Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers relaxed for half-a-day on Wednesday following a week-and-a-half of supporting their Ax-4 visitors.
McClain began her shift collecting her saliva samples for analysis while Ayers recorded her cardiovascular and respiratory data.
Next, McClain deactivated a Kubik incubator following several days of blood and saliva processing. Ayers documented her reactions on a computer to an experimental lighting system that helps astronauts maintain their circadian rhythms in space.
NASA Flight Engineer Jonny Kim had a mostly off-duty day taking timeout for his daily exercise routine working out on the Tranquility module’s advanced resistive exercise device and pedaling on the Destiny laboratory module’s exercise cycle.
Kim, at the end of his shift joined McClain, Ayers, and station Commander Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and called down to Earth and talked to the four SpaceX Crew-11 members as they count down to their mission to the orbital outpost.
NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke along with JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov are preparing to launch aboard the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft at the end of July to begin a seven-month space research mission.
Program managers and the Crew-11 quartet will discuss the upcoming mission during a pair of news conferences set to begin a 12 p.m. EDT Thursday on YouTube.
Onishi stayed busy on Wednesday spending the first part of his shift setting up communications gear in the Kibo laboratory module preparing for an upcoming conference with Japanese high school students.
After lunch, Onishi completed several days of blood and saliva sample work removing the specimens from incubation, spinning them in a centrifuge, then stowing them in a science freezer for preservation and later analysis.
Scientists will analyze the biological samples to learn how space affects cellular immunity and potentially treat space-caused immunity symptoms.
The four Ax-4 private astronauts cleared their schedule on Wednesday for a break after several days of continuous research duties since they arrived on June 26 aboard the SpaceX Dragon.
However, there was time for processing cyanobacteria samples to test recycling carbon dioxide and nitrogen on spacecraft.
The astronauts also exercised using specialized bands of different tensions for a variety of upper and lower body exercises to stretch, activate muscles, and minimize back pain in the space environment.
The three flight engineers from Roscosmos had a full day on Wednesday staying busy with human research, life support maintenance, and cargo transfers.
Veteran cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov on his third spaceflight kicked off his day checking out the Zarya module’s thermal control system.
He then joined cosmonaut Alexey Zubritskiy for a blood pressure study then swapped out a lens on a student-controlled Earth observation camera. Zubritskiy tested new tablet computers delivered recently aboard the Progress 92 cargo craft.
Cosmonaut Kirill Peskov began his shift downloading recently captured Earth imagery then spent the rest of his day collecting carbon dioxide measurements and on orbital plumbing tasks.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2025/07/09/light-duty-day-amid-space-research-and-crew-swap-preps/
NASA, International Astronauts Answer Questions from Florida Students
Jul 09, 2025
Students in Big Pine Key, Florida, will have the chance to have NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station answer their prerecorded questions.
At 10:05 a.m. EDT on Monday, July 14, NASA astronaut Nicole Ayers and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi will answer questions submitted by students.
Watch the 20-minute Earth-to-space call on NASA STEM’s YouTube Channel.
The event is hosted by the Seacamp Association of Big Pine Key, Florida, which provides immersive science lessons for youth interested in discovering the sea.
The event will be attended by local Monroe County students, as well as national and international campers ages 10-17 years old.
The goal of the event is to help students make connections between astronauts training in space and scientists working in the sea.
Media interested in covering the event must RSVP by 5 p.m. EDT, Friday, July 11, to Judy Gregoire at: 305-872-2331 or email at: info@seacamp.org.
For nearly 25 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing skills needed to explore farther from Earth.
Astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through SCaN’s (Space Communications and Navigation) Near Space Network.
Important research and technology investigations taking place aboard the space station benefit people on Earth and lay the groundwork for other agency missions.
As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars; inspiring Golden Age explorers and ensuring the United States continues to lead in space exploration and discovery.
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-international-astronauts-answer-questions-from-florida-students/
https://www.youtube.com/@NASASTEM/live
https://www.iflscience.com/nasas-parker-solar-probe-finds-evidence-of-barrier-in-the-suns-2-million-kelvin-atmosphere-79933
https://journals.aps.org/prx/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevX.15.031008#s4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkUqX1TkiZo
NASA's Parker Solar Probe Finds Evidence Of "Barrier" In The Sun's 2 Million Kelvin Atmosphere
July 9, 2025
A study looking at data from NASA's Parker Solar Probe has found evidence for a "helicity barrier" in the atmosphere of the Sun.
In 2018, NASA launched the Parker Solar Probe on a trajectory that would eventually have it dive into the Sun's atmosphere (corona), getting seven times closer to our host star than any other spacecraft so far.
In June 2025, the probe completed its 24th close approach to the Sun, whilst equaling its record for the fastest a human-made object has ever traveled, at a zippy 692,000 kilometers per hour (430,000 miles per hour).
The probe is aimed at studying the Sun's atmosphere and will hopefully shed light on a few long-standing mysteries, such as how the solar wind is accelerated.
One puzzle, first discovered in 1939, is that the Sun's corona is far hotter than the solar surface. And not just by a little.
"The hottest part of the Sun is its core, where temperatures top 27 million °F (15 million °C). The part of the Sun we call its surface – the photosphere – is a relatively cool 10,000 °F (5,500 °C)," NASA explains.
"In one of the Sun’s biggest mysteries, the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona, gets hotter the farther it stretches from the surface. The corona reaches up to 3.5 million °F (2 million °C) – much, much hotter than the photosphere."
This is known as the "coronal heating problem". The basic problem is this: why is the atmosphere far hotter than the surface, when the surface is much closer to the core, where energy is generated through the fusion of hydrogen into helium?
There have been suggestions that the extra heat in the corona is caused by turbulence, or a type of magnetic wave known as "ion cyclotron waves".
"Both, however, have some problem—turbulence struggles to explain why hydrogen, helium and oxygen in the gas become as hot as they do, while electrons remain surprisingly cold; while the magnetic waves theory could explain this feature, there doesn't seem to be enough of the waves coming off the sun's surface to heat up the gas," Dr Romain Meyrand, author on the new paper, explained in a previous statement.
While both ideas have problems, together with a "helicity barrier", they show some promise for explaining the coronal heating problem.
“If we imagine plasma heating as occurring a bit like water flowing down a hill, with electrons heated right at the bottom, then the helicity barrier acts like a dam, stopping the flow and diverting its energy into ion cyclotron waves,” Meyrand added.
"In this way, the helicity barrier links the two theories and resolves each of their individual problems."
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Essentially, the helicity "barrier" alters turbulent dissipation, changing how fluctuations dissipate and how the plasma is heated. The team has now analyzed data from the Parker Solar Probe, and it appears to show evidence for the helicity barrier.
"The barrier can form only under certain conditions, such as when thermal energy is relatively low compared to magnetic energy.
Since fluctuations in the magnetic field are expected to behave differently when the barrier is active versus when it is not, measuring how these fluctuations vary with solar wind conditions relevant to the barrier’s formation—including the thermal-to-magnetic energy ratio—provides a way to test for the barrier’s presence," the team explains in their paper.
"By analyzing solar wind magnetic field measurements, we find that the fluctuations behave exactly as predicted with changes in solar wind parameters that characterize these conditions.
This analysis also allows us to identify specific values for these parameters that are needed for the barrier to form, and we find that these values are common near the Sun."
Further analysis is necessary, but the approach looks fairly promising for explaining the problem.
"This paper is important as it provides clear evidence for the presence of the helicity barrier, which answers some long-standing questions about coronal heating and solar wind acceleration, such as the temperature signatures seen in the solar atmosphere, and the variability of different solar wind streams," Dr Christopher Chen, study author and Reader in Space Plasma Physics at Queen Mary University of London, said in a statement.
"This allows us to better understand the fundamental physics of turbulent dissipation, the connection between small-scale physics and the global properties of the heliosphere, and make better predictions for space weather."
While conducted on our own Sun (we are far from ready to plunge spacecraft into the atmosphere of other stars), the study has implications for other stars, and other parts of the universe, in other collisionless plasmas.
"This result is exciting because, by confirming the presence of the 'helicity barrier', we can account for properties of the solar wind that were previously unexplained, including that its protons are typically hotter than its electrons," said Jack McIntyre, lead author and PhD student from Queen Mary University of London.
"By improving our understanding of turbulent dissipation, it could also have important implications for other systems in astrophysics."
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NASA astronauts speak with CNN's Wolf Blitzer from the International Space Station
Jul 9, 2025
NASA astronauts Nichole Ayers and Anne McClain join CNN's Wolf Blitzer in the "Situation Room" to discuss what a typical day is like on the International Space Station, the science experiments they're working on, and the importance of space exploration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad5QxEGEUXY
Pulsar Fusion set to conduct UK's first fusion space test
10 July 2025
Following successful vacuum and thermal tests here in the UK, it has just been revealed that the hardware is on track for a test launch from Florida in early 2026, likely using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, in what experts describe as a major step forward for the UK aerospace industry.
It will be the first time a UK company has tested hardware of this kind in space - an important step in the development of technology with the potential to revolutionise space travel.
This week, five senior members of the Pulsar Fusion team, including scientist Dr Bilge Kacmaz and CEO Richard Dinan (above), were invited to Parliament this week to meet with Shadow Economic Secretary to the Treasury Mark Garnier MP, who congratulated them on the announcement which highlights the government’s interest in the UK’s role in space exploration.
The event marked a moment of national recognition for Pulsar’s leadership as they formally announced Pulsar’s first In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD) mission, which will test its proprietary Power Processing Unit (PPU) in space in the first quarter of 2026.
The PPU is a compact, high-efficiency power system designed to drive electric propulsion and ultimately fusion technologies.
This mission represents the first in-space demonstration of Pulsar’s core power platform, a key building block in its development of high-ISP propulsion solutions.
Pulsar’s PPU technology forms the foundation for a larger, supercapacitor-based system being developed for Sunbird, the company’s flagship fusion-powered transfer vehicle designed to support high-efficiency missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
The test will likely blast off from SpaceX in Florida using a Falcon 9 rocket very early in 2026. Pulsar has been working on a space engine for several years and this test is a significant milestone on that journey.
Their scientists have created a special kind of 'brain + battery' called a PPU (Power Processing Unit).
This PPU is like the engine control box. It takes electricity and turns it into the exact form of energy needed to fire a space thruster - whether it’s a small electric engine like a Hall Effect Thruster, or part of a much bigger fusion propulsion system.
This newly announced space test will allow the PPU to be put through its paces in space and follows successful vacuum and thermal tests of the unit here in the UK.
If the test is successful Pulsar will prove the 'heart' of its propulsion systems actually works in orbit, not just in the lab.
Once proven, this same technology can then be used to not only drive small spacecraft using Hall Effect Thrusters (already used by satellites today), but also to scale up to handle the extreme power needed for experimental fusion engines - like Pulsar’s future Sunbird rocket.
A successful test will prove that Pulsar is on track to revolutionise space travel making missions to the moon and Mars much faster and potentially less expensive.
Pulsar Fusion CEO Richard Dinan said: “We were delighted to be invited to attend Parliament to meet with the Shadow Economic Secretary to the Treasury Mark Garnier MP this week.
“It’s hugely exciting to be able to announce this important step forward in Pulsar’s capability as we put our PPU to the test, not just here on earth but up there in space orbit where it really matters.
“Pulsar’s test will prove it can control and power a real space engine in orbit. If that works, the same tech can grow into a power source for future fusion rockets. That’s how today’s small test could unlock the future of deep space travel.”
Pulsar Fusion is a UK-headquartered propulsion company developing electric and fusion-based propulsion systems for space logistics and interplanetary missions.
With advanced facilities in the UK and a new US presence in Texas, Pulsar is building the Sunbird: a reusable fusion-powered space tug capable of drastically reducing transit times to the Moon and Mars.
https://www.adsadvance.co.uk/pulsar-fusion-set-to-conduct-uk-s-first-fusion-space-test.html
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/david-cronin/space-agency-heads-venus-help-genocide-profiteer
Space agency heads to Venus with help from genocide profiteer
10 July 2025
Some people are making a lot of money from Gaza’s obliteration.
The weapons makers Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries feature prominently in a new report on the “economy of genocide.”
It was compiled by Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, prior to this week’s announcement that the US is sanctioning her.
Albanese’s report stresses that the ongoing genocide has proven to be a “profitable venture” for those firms.
They benefited massively from the 65 percent surge in Israeli military spending from 2023 to 2024. At $46.5 billion, the war budget for last year put Israel among the world’s largest per capita military spenders, Albanese notes.
Her report leaves no doubt that Elbit – Israel’s largest weapons firm – is a direct participant in the genocide.
Elbit has “cooperated closely” on military operations, Albanese notes, “embedding key staff” in the defense ministry and been rewarded with the 2024 Israeli Defense Prize.
With Elbit contributing to genocide – the crime of crimes – the firm and its international wings ought to be ostracized.
The European Space Agency (ESA) is among the bodies which have continued to deal with Elbit’s business network during the genocide.
Just last month, OIP – an Elbit subsidiary based in Belgium – gloated that it had been selected by the agency to develop a “high-resolution thermal infrared dispersive spectrometer.”
Potential uses of this “novel technology” include “target identification” and air quality monitoring, OIP stated.
In May, OIP shared what it called “hot and exciting news.” The firm was hyping up how the European Space Agency had chosen it to develop a spectrometer for a “mission to Venus.”
Before setting out for Venus, OIP headed toward the sun. In December last, the firm bragged that it had been “entrusted” with contributing “critical components” to an ESA project, which involves sending two spacecraft to observe the sun’s corona.
Headquartered in Paris, the European Space Agency is a publicly-funded body. This means that a subsidiary of Elbit, an Israeli weapons giant, is benefiting from activities financed by taxpayers without their consent.
Although the ESA is not a European Union institution, it has a partnership with the EU on Copernicus, an “Earth observation” satellite program.
Earlier this year, OIP trumpeted that it had signed a contract with France’s Thales to deliver a “cloud imager” for Copernicus.
Coy
OIP is coy about its Israeli connections.
The announcement about the Venus mission stated that its objective was to understand how that planet “evolved so differently from Earth and became so uninhabitable.”
There was no mention of how OIP’s parent Elbit Systems has played a huge role in ensuring that Gaza is unlivable.
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For some time, OIP has promoted its products as “made in Belgium.”
When Elbit and other Israeli weapons makers were banned from exhibiting at last month’s Paris Air Show, its subsidiary OIP was able to sidestep the ban by presenting as a Belgian firm.
Awareness that OIP is owned by Elbit has nonetheless grown considerably. One Flemish media outlet has even branded OIP “Belgium’s most reviled company” because of the relationship.
After its main plant was blockaded in the early stages of the genocide, OIP initiated proceedings against activists for alleged financial damage.
The lawsuit has not deterred further protests. Another OIP site was blockaded by numerous campaigners in the past few weeks.
Despite the firm’s attempts to distance itself from Israel, it has clearly employed people who have also worked for its parent firm, Elbit.
Marc Allegaert, a former OIP director, is now a Netherlands-based finance adviser to Elbit, judging by his LinkedIn profile.
The software engineer Wim Coelus specifies on his résumé that he has been responsible for “knowledge transfer” between Elbit and OIP (where he worked for five years).
Gilad Weitman moved from being a vice president with Elbit to a comparably similar position with OIP in Belgium.
There, he “spearheaded and executed new business development programs and [the] penetration of new markets,” according to his LinkedIn page.
Bought by Elbit in 2003, OIP was the Israeli firm’s first European subsidiary. As Weitman hints, OIP has been instrumental in allowing Elbit to expand.
Today, Elbit is Israel’s largest weapons exporter, with Europe accounting for 27 percent of its total revenue.
The firm is doing well, yet it is not complacent.
Elbit’s latest annual report notes that boycott actions have increased since the “Swords of Iron War” – Israel’s codename for the Gaza genocide – began.
“Restrictive laws, policies or practices directed towards Israel or Israeli businesses or a decision to reduce trade with Israeli businesses could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition, results of operations and cash flow,” the report says.
The anxiety about damage to Elbit’s reputation should be contextualized. If the firm has been able to fuel a genocide without such damage, that is because clients and collaborators have kept on dealing with it.
Palestinians are being killed and maimed with Elbit weapons and they do not give a damn.
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Noctilucent clouds: Spectacular rare space phenomenon sighted in UK - When can I see noctilucent clouds?
July 9, 2025
An incredible photograph shows noctilucent clouds in the UK.
Sachiko Hamada caught the stunning space phenomenon at 2:10am on July 8.
Rebecca Coates managed to photograph noctilucent clouds as she flew into the UK on June 28.
What are noctilucent clouds?
According to the Met Office, noctilucent clouds (“night-shining” clouds) are extremely rare collections of ice crystals that occasionally appear in late clear summer evenings after sunset, but before it gets completely dark.
Noctilucent clouds often stay visible after dark with them still reflecting sunlight due to how high they are.
They are higher up than any other clouds, occupying the layer of atmosphere known as the Mesosphere, near the edge of space, and are only seen at latitudes between 45°N and 80°N.
Why are noctilucent clouds so rare?
Noctilucent clouds need water vapour, dust, and very low temperatures to form. Low temperatures are easily attainable in the Mesosphere, however water vapour and dust are in short supply.
What do noctilucent clouds look like?
The Met Office says they often closely resemble thin streaky cirrus, though other shapes are often seen. They are usually blue or silver in colour, but are sometimes orange or red.
When can I see noctilucent clouds?
In the Northern Hemisphere, noctilucent clouds can be visible from the end of May to the start of August, with sightings more likely in June and July.
Royal Museums Greenwich advise you look up an hour or two after sunset or before sunrise from a place with a flat horizon and a clear view of a wide area of sky.
In the evening, look west around 40 minutes after the Sun has set. In the early morning, look towards the northeast where the Sun will soon be rising, and aim your gaze high up in the sky.
https://www.expressandstar.com/news/2025/07/10/incredible-rare-space-phenomenon-sighted-in-uk-when-to-see-noctilucent-clouds/
Europe looks to Nordic space race to scale back US dependence
July 9, 202511:30 PM PDT
KIRUNA, Sweden - Two small spaceports in the far north of Sweden and Norway are racing to launch the first satellites from mainland Europe into space as the region looks to reduce its reliance on U.S. players.
U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" policies and the war in Ukraine have prompted Europe to ramp up its independent capabilities in a variety of areas, including defence and space operations.
Amid fears that Elon Musk - Trump's one-time ally - could limit Ukraine's access to SpaceX's 7,000 Starlink satellites that are vital for the country's communications, Europe has been rushing to find alternatives.
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/europe-looks-nordic-space-race-scale-back-us-dependence-2025-07-10/
https://gizmodo.com/mysterious-signals-from-deep-space-expose-aftermath-of-failed-cosmic-eruptions-2000626850
https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.08886
Mysterious Signals From Deep Space Expose Aftermath of Failed Cosmic Eruptions
July 9, 2025
Whenever we study space, we’re usually talking about long-lasting objects, like our own solar system or faraway galaxies that occasionally catch our attention when something extraordinary happens.
But sometimes, the universe sends us quick, random bursts of energy that are usually too far away and too ephemeral for scientists to make any sense of—like fast X-ray transients (FXTs), whose elusive origins have long evaded astronomers.
Recently, however, astrophysicists had a lucky strike: spotting an FXT flashing unprecedentedly close to Earth and for a marginally longer time than usual.
Not only that, but the X-ray burst, later named EP 250108a, seemed to be a faint spillover signal—likely the result of a cosmic jet—that barely escaped the powerful gravitational binds of a supernova.
Using multiple space telescopes around the world, an international team of astrophysicists from Northwestern University and the University of Leicester in England found compelling evidence that EP 250108a may have originated from the “failed” jets of a gamma-ray burst, likely triggered by the explosive death of a star around 2.8 billion light-years from Earth.
Their results—presented in two papers set for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters—offer some of the best evidence yet for at least one potential origin for fast X-ray transients (FXTs are distinct from fast radio bursts (FRBs), brief, extremely energetic bursts of radio waves with wavelengths much longer than those of X-rays).
When a star explodes in a fiery supernova, it swallows almost everything in its vicinity, eventually collapsing into a black hole.
In this process of accretion, the star takes on an onion-like form, with different layers of gas, dust, and other cosmic material jostled around by gravitational forces.
Some of this material escapes, usually in the form of jets that generate gamma-ray bursts, a class of the most powerful and luminous explosions in the universe.
But sometimes, the outer layers of an “onion-shaped” supernova exert a strong gravitational barrier on the gamma-ray bursts.
In the case of this FXT, the tiny bits of energy that managed to leak through probably created EP 250108a, explained Jillian Rastinejad, a PhD student at Northwestern University and lead author of the new paper, in a video call with Gizmodo.
“As the jet is being launched, that extra material from the star that didn’t collapse into the black hole [interacts] with the jet in such a way that sort of suppresses the jet from actually breaking out of the outer layers,” she said.
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Rastinejad and colleagues first spotted EP 250108a in January using data from the Einstein Probe, a collaborative project between China and Europe tasked specifically with the observation of FXTs and other “fleeting” cosmic phenomena.
Einstein Probe detects on average “maybe one [FXT] every three days or so,” Rastinejad recounted, but some of her collaborators followed it up with optical telescopes and found that this particular transient was unusually close to Earth.
“When something’s really nearby, it means that it’s going to be a lot brighter,” she explained. “So we can do a really detailed, beautiful, comprehensive, super exciting study of what else is going on at the location of the fast X-ray transient.”
Keck Observatory was one of several huge space telescopes Rastinejad and colleagues pointed toward EP 250108a, allowing the team to capture a high-resolution view of the ephemeral object before it fades to oblivion.
Unlike most astronomical phenomena of interest to scientists—which lie on timescales that far exceed human lifespans—fast X-ray transients are part of the rare family of cosmic phenomena that evolve on a “human timescale,” Rastinejad said.
“If you took a picture of our Milky Way today, and you took a picture of it maybe a thousand years ago, it would look the same,” she explained.
“But if you studied one type of massive star like we studied here, it changes a lot in what it looks like across the wavelengths on very human timescales.”
“It’s always very exciting when there’s a transient object, just because it’s like there’s this sound of the record stopping, and you’ve got to stop what you’re doing and move over there,” said John O’Meara, deputy director and chief scientist at the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii, during a video call with Gizmodo.
“The universe keeps trying to tell us very interesting things,” added O’Meara.
But the universe “doesn’t care what telescope you build, but [EP 250108a] is a good example of proving that we’re ready to rise to the challenge of whatever the universe wants to throw at us—and I hope we get to keep doing that into the coming decades.”
In fact, Rastinejad, who just finished defending her PhD thesis, already has her eyes on another odd signal from the universe.
“Just a few days ago, [Einstein Probe] saw a fast X-ray transient that occurred in the same part of the sky at the same time as a signal from neutron star mergers,” she said excitedly.
“Astronomy is like art. It doesn’t really affect our day-to-day lives. But it answers these questions that humans have always wondered about: where we come from and where we’re going.”
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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 Mission Overview News Conference
July 10, 2025
Watch as NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission leadership discuss final preparations.
The Crew-11 mission, targeted to launch in late July/early August, will carry NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov to the International Space Station.
The crew will launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A.
Participants:
Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate representative
Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA Kennedy
Bill Spetch, operations integration manager, International Space Station Program, NASA Johnson
Sarah Walker, director, Dragon Mission Management, SpaceX
Mayumi Matsuura, vice president and director general, Human Spaceflight Technology Directorate, JAXA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74QlPxkFV7I
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/nasas-spacex-crew-11/
Scientists discover ice in space isn't like water on Earth after all
July 10, 2025
Water ice is everywhere in space, from frozen moons to frosty dust grains in interstellar clouds.
However, researchers at University College London (UCL) and the University of Cambridge have recently discovered that ice in space isn't like what we thought it was.
On Earth, the relatively warm temperatures in which ice exists gives the water molecules enough energy to form an ordered, crystalline structure akin to the symmetry of snowflakes.
However, in space, temperatures plunge much lower, down to –148 or –328 degrees Fahrenheit (–100 or –200 Celsius) and colder, and it wasn't thought that water-ice could crystallize under such conditions.
Instead, water ice in space was thought to be purely amorphous; in other words, no crystallization and no ordered structure between molecules.
When plumes of water vapor from Saturn's moon Enceladus spew into space, that water vapor freezes and snows back onto the icy moon's surface, but those snowflakes would, according to previous theories, not have the intricate structure of snowflakes on Earth.
But now, new research suggests that it could, at least to a degree. Matching computer simulations of how amorphous ice freezes to X-ray diffraction measurements of real amorphous ice suggest that in some cases, up to a quarter of amorphous ice can be made up of crystals.
"We now have a good idea of what the most common form of ice in the universe looks like at an atomic level," said Michael B. Davis of UCL and Cambridge, in a statement.
"This is important as ice is involved in many cosmological processes, for instance in how planets form, how galaxies evolve, and how matters moves around the universe."
Low-density amorphous ice was discovered in the 1930s by condensing water vapor onto a metal plate cooled to –166 degrees Fahrenheit (–110 degrees Celsius).
High-density amorphous ice was found to be possible in the 1980s when researchers crushed amorphous ice at –328 degrees Fahrenheit (–200 degrees Celsius).
And in 2023, Davis' team learned how to create medium-density amorphous ice for the first time.
This medium-density amorphous ice has the peculiar property of having the same density as liquid water, so it neither floats nor sinks.
Low-density amorphous ice is most common in the universe, though, and that's what Davis' team used to conduct their experiments.
First, they ran two different simulations. One created virtual ice cubes by cooling water to –120 degrees Celsius (–184 degrees Fahrenheit), but at varied rates so that they froze differently.
The other simulation started with large cubes of ice molecules packed together with equal spacing, and then randomly disordered those molecules.
The first simulation produced ice that was not purely amorphous, but was up to 20% crystalline, with the ice crystals measuring just 3 nanometers across and embedding into the disordered gaps within the amorphous ices' structure.
The second simulation managed an even higher percentage of ice crystals, up to 25%.
However, these are still simulations, so how do they stack up to reality?
By firing beams of X-rays through supposedly amorphous ice formed through a variety of methods, and watching for how those X-rays were deflected by the molecular structure of the ice, Davis' team found that the amorphous ice's real structure matched that produced by the simulations.
To confirm matters, Davis' team then 're-crystallized' the amorphous ice that they had created, and found that the crystal structure that the ice adopted varied depending upon how the amorphous ice had been formed in the first place.
Purely amorphous ice that is totally disordered should retain no memory of its earlier form, unless there is some crystalline structure remaining.
"Ice is potentially a high-performance material in space," said Davis. "It could shield spacecraft from radiation or provide fuel in the form of hydrogen and oxygen.
So we need to know about its various forms and properties." The findings also potentially place constraints on the search for the origins of life, particularly how the building blocks for life came to be on Earth.
Some of those organic ingredients for life are thought to have been transported to Earth on icy dust grains, and while these new findings about amorphous ice don't rule that out, they do limit what's possible.
"This is because a partly crystalline structure has less space in which these ingredients could become embedded," said Davis.
"The theory could still hold true, though, as there are amorphous regions in the ice where life's building blocks could be trapped and stored."
https://www.space.com/astronomy/scientists-discover-ice-in-space-isnt-like-water-on-earth-after-all
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/jul/space-ice-less-water-we-thought
https://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.112.024203
Russia prefers peaceful solution to Ukraine conflict – Kremlin
10 Jul, 2025 14:16
Russia remains open to a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.
He warned that conditions on the ground are rapidly evolving as Kiev hesitates to continue direct negotiations.
Two rounds of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine have taken place this year in Istanbul – in mid-May and early June – but a third has yet to be scheduled.
Peskov addressed the stalled diplomatic efforts during a routine press briefing.
”We should wait for some signals from the Kiev regime, who should say whether they want to hold a third round of direct talks or not,” Peskov said.
“We have repeatedly said that we would prefer achieving our goals through peaceful political-diplomatic means.”
He added, “As long as this outcome is impossible, the special military operation continues, and realities on the ground are changing every day.”
His comments came as the United States reportedly resumed weapons deliveries to Ukraine following a brief pause.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “throwing a lot of bullsh*t” at Washington – remarks the Kremlin characterized as rhetorical flourishes typical of the American leader.
Trump maintains his interest in brokering a compromise to resolve the conflict. Initially Kiev agreed to resume direct talks with Moscow after the White House signaled support for renewed diplomacy.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgiy Tikhiy said in an interview this week that Kiev's consent to negotiations was partly driven by a desire to avoid being blamed by Western leaders for obstructing Trump’s peace agenda.
On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during the ASEAN forum in Malaysia.
The two officials spoke for nearly an hour, after which Rubio downplayed the earlier pause in US military aid and urged European nations backing Kiev to increase their support.
”One of the things that the Ukrainians need is more Patriot batteries,” Rubio said, referencing the US-made long-range air defense systems. “
There are Patriot batteries available in multiple countries in Europe, yet no one wants to part with them.”
He argued that countries prioritizing Ukraine’s defense should be willing to send Kiev equipment that is currently not being used.
https://www.rt.com/russia/621305-kremlin-ukraine-peaceful-resolution/
In Kherson Region, enemy drone strikes vehicle delivering bread
10.07.2025 18:30
In Kherson Region, a Russian drone attacked a vehicle delivering bread to Chervonyi Maiak village, injuring a 39-year-old employee of the Novoraisk Village Military Administration.
According to Ukrinform, the Kherson Regional Military Administration reported this on Facebook.
“The photo shows the vehicle damaged by Russian occupying forces while delivering bread to Chervonyi Maiak,” the statement said.
It was noted that the drone dropped an explosive device, damaging the vehicle and injuring the 39-year-old worker.
A paramedic team provided him with medical assistance on site.
The Kherson Regional Military Administration also reported an increase in the number of people wounded as a result of shelling in Kherson the previous day.
Two Kherson residents sought medical care after being injured in Russian shelling. A 60-year-old man was wounded on the morning of 9 July, and a 73-year-old man sustained injuries in the evening.
Both suffered blast trauma and shrapnel wounds. After receiving medical assistance, they will continue treatment as outpatients. Their condition is reported as mild.
The Kherson City Military Administration further reported that a 62-year-old woman required medical attention after being injured in the Dniprovskyi District at approximately 23:30 on 9 July.
She sustained blast trauma and a shrapnel wound to her leg following a drone-dropped explosive.
As reported earlier by Ukrinform, in the vicinity of the settlement of Chervonyi Maiak, a 39-year-old man was injured as a result of a drone attack.
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/4013724-in-kherson-region-enemy-drone-strikes-vehicle-delivering-bread.html
https://www.facebook.com/khoda.gov.ua/posts/1135602468601581
Lithuania scrambles NATO jets after airspace breach
10.07.2025, 07:10
Lithuanian officials were rushed to shelters on Friday after an unidentified flying object entered the country’s airspace from Belarus, initially believed to be a Shahed drone.
The Lithuanian Ministry of Defence later confirmed the object resembled a makeshift aircraft and posed no threat to national security.
https://tvpworld.com/87769069/lithuania-scrambles-nato-jets-after-airspace-breach
Top Lithuanian Officials Sheltered After Russian Drone Breach—So What Really Crossed the Border?
Jul 10, 2025 13:51
A Russian drone entered Lithuanian airspace from Belarus briefly, triggering a security alert in Vilnius, forcing top government officials into bomb shelters—only for it to be identified minutes later as a homemade plywood-and-foam drone, likely launched as a decoy or reconnaissance tool, Lithuania’s BNS news agency reported on July 10.
Lithuania’s BNS at 12:15 local time claimed that a Russian-made Shahed drone had violated Lithuanian airspace, sparking immediate concern given ongoing drone incursions in Ukraine.
By 12:30, however, Lithuania’s Border Guard Service (VSAT) clarified that the object detected near the closed Šumskas border crossing was not a high-tech loitering munition, but rather a crude, improvised aircraft that crashed about a kilometer inside Lithuanian territory.
The drone, lacking any payload or explosives, posed no direct threat and carried no transponder signal.
Nevertheless, the initial alert prompted swift protective action. Lithuanian Seimas Speaker Saulius Skvernelis and Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas were evacuated to shelters under emergency protocols.
Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė later stated that the object was “most likely an accidental incursion,” but confirmed that an investigation is ongoing.
Lithuanian border officials noted that similar drones and makeshift aerial vehicles are often used to smuggle cigarettes across the Belarusian border, sometimes even using helium balloons or hand-assembled aircraft.
This, they suggested, was the most likely explanation.
However, military expert Yan Matveyev, who resides in Vilnius, offered a starkly different assessment.
In an interview with Russian-speaking Lithuanian media Volna, Matveyev argued that the drone strongly resembled a Russian-made “Gerbera”—a lightweight, one-time-use Shahed decoy used by Russian forces in Ukraine to overload enemy air defenses and identify radar and missile system positions.
“This looks much more like a Gerbera than a smuggling drone,” Matveyev said. “It’s not just a piece of plywood—it can carry a small warhead.”
The Gerbera is a cost-effective imitation of Iran’s Shahed-136 (rebranded “Geran-2” in Russia), designed to saturate air defenses and waste expensive interceptors.
Built with a plywood frame and foam body, it is powered by a small gas or electric model aircraft engine.
It’s smaller than the Shahed-136 (roughly 2.2–2.5 meters in wingspan, 2.8 meters in length), but far cheaper—reportedly $5,000–10,000 per unit compared to the $40,000–50,000 price tag of a Geran-2.
While the base Gerbera carries only imitation electronics, the upgraded “Gerbera+” version can be fitted with up to 10 kilograms of explosives or electronic warfare equipment.
Russia is currently producing Shahed clones at a facility in Yelabuga, with plans reportedly underway to transfer some production capacity to Belarus.
Earlier, Russia had threatened to “neutralize” NATO activities it views as hostile, as the alliance kicks off a series of major military exercises in Lithuania.
https://united24media.com/latest-news/top-lithuanian-officials-sheltered-after-russian-drone-breach-so-what-really-crossed-the-border-9771
Russia launches massive overnight attack on Ukraine with 400 drones, 18 missiles – Zelensky
10.07.2025 10:35
Russia carried out a massive combined overnight strike on Ukraine, launching 18 missiles, including ballistic ones, and approximately 400 attack drones, nearly 200 of which were Shahed-type.
President Volodymyr Zelensky reported this on Telegram, according to Ukrinform.
“Last night, Russia launched a massive combined strike that lasted nearly 10 hours. 18 missiles, including ballistic ones, and around 400 attack drones were used — nearly 200 of them were Shaheds,” Zelensky stated.
According to the President, the main target was Kyiv and Kyiv region, but other areas were also hit, including Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava, Kirovohrad, and Kharkiv regions.
“Sadly, two people were reported killed in Kyiv — my condolences to their families and loved ones. As of now, we know of 16 people injured,” he added.
“This is a clear escalation of terror by Russia — hundreds of Shaheds every night, constant strikes, and massive attacks on Ukrainian cities.
This demands that we speed things up. Sanctions must be imposed faster, and pressure on Russia must be strong enough that they truly feel the consequences of their terror.
There’s a need for quicker action from our partners in investing in weapons production and advancing technology,” the President stressed.
The head of state also announced upcoming talks with international partners within the Coalition of the Willing.
“Today, I will be speaking with partners — in particular within the Coalition of the Willing — about additional funding for the production of interceptor drones and the supply of air defense systems for Ukraine.
The objectives are absolutely clear. Such Russian attacks must be met with a tough response. And that is exactly what we will deliver,” Zelensky stressed.
As previously reported by Ukrinform, Kyiv was heavily bombarded overnight on July 10, with missile and drone debris falling in multiple districts. At least two people were killed and 16 injured in the assault.
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/4013469-russia-launches-massive-overnight-attack-on-ukraine-with-400-drones-18-missiles-zelensky.html
https://t.me/V_Zelenskiy_official/15040
Injury toll from Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv rises to 16photos10.07.2025 08:45
10.07.2025 08:45
The number of people injured in an overnight Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv has increased to 16. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko shared the update on Telegram, according to Ukrinform.
"There are now 16 injured in the capital following the enemy's massive attack. Ten of them have been hospitalized, while others received assistance on site or were treated as outpatients," he wrote.
The mayor also reported that an outpatient clinic of Primary Health Care Center No. 1 in the Podilskyi district was nearly completely destroyed due to the strike.
Kyiv came under attack from Russian drones and missiles on the night of July 9 to 10. Initial reports said that two people had been killed and 14 injured in the attack.
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/4013418-injury-toll-from-russian-drone-and-missile-attack-on-kyiv-rises-to-16.html
The Pentagon’s Ghostbusters | Rogue military officials hunted UFOs, ghosts and monsters
July 10, 2025 | 12:00pm
A rogue group of paranormal true believers inside the US government have spent the last few decades hunting UFOs, ghosts and all kinds of monsters.
Some say they are pioneers that will change the world. Others say they are simply "crazy".
New government documents reveal more shocking stories about this group of spooky hunters, who want American tax dollars to fund their supernatural crusade.
https://nypost.com/video/the-pentagons-ghostbusters-rogue-military-officials-hunted-ufos-ghosts-and-monsters/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCYNvH_Y2So