It’s been the subject of books and films, and it’s destructive potential impact on the future of humankind is not only deadly, it’s also very real.

In William R. Forstechen’s best-selling novel One Second After, an unidentified enemy of the United States launches a nuclear missile into the upper stratosphere over the United States, creating an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) which knocks out the electrical grid in most–if not all–of the United States.

John Matherson, a resident of the small town of Black Mountain, North Carolina, struggles daily to protect his family and find food and other resources in a world where automobiles relying on solid state components, as well as computers, telephones, and anything else electronic is rendered useless. After months of depleting resources, the limits of human desperation begin to ensue, and the residents are ultimately forced to fight for their lives in an effort to survive the horrors of new and unexpected dark age. Even more terrifying than the mere story Forstchen outlines is the fact that this scenario could actually happen.

Having known Forstchen for several years, I caught up with him briefly at our local radio station, since the setting for his novel is his real life hometown of Black Mountain, a mere 30 minutes drive from where I reside. I told him his book scared the living crap out of me, and just grinning, he took a slight bow as he stood facing me in the doorway, and said “welcome to my nightmare.”

“No Bill,” I corrected him. “Our nightmare.”

What is most important about this nightmare scenario has less to do with the simple fact that an EMP could in fact wipe out the electrical grid in any vicinity affected by such phenomenon. Instead, the most chilling factor is that it would take far less than a nuclear attack to cause an EMP with the sort of destructive potential described in Forstchen’s book; Earth’s Sun, through the release of a massive concentration of heliospheric radiation, could do this easily if a powerful solar storm were to occur. In the event such a storm took place, would it be possible to predict when it would occur, and how potentially destructive such an act of nature might be?

Although there is much speculation regarding the latter of these, NASA has in fact predicted that the Sun has recently emerged from a period of inactivity it likens to “a deep slumber,” and that a strong likelihood exists for a potentially devastating solar storm to occur by 2013 that would make Hurricane Katrina look like a flash flood, with 20 times more destructive power.

The British Times Online reported on the story, quoting NASA scientist Dr. Richard Fisher about the destruction a solar storm of such magnitude might have:

He said large swathes of the world could face being without power for several months, although he admitted that was unlikely.

A more likely scenario was that large areas, including northern Europe and Britain which have “fragile” power grids, would be without power and access to electronic devices for hours, possibly even days.

So how do we protect ourselves from this kind of trouble… or can we? Fortunately, it is expected that many cars, and perhaps even a few homes, would act as natural Faraday Cages, protecting sensitive electronic components within. However, gas pumps, which are fueled electronically, would likely become inoperable, as would most broadcast and communications systems, unless measures are taken now to harden electrical infrastructure so that these sorts of things can be dealt with in preemptive ways. Still, even if there is a potential to protect against this sort of thing, will world leaders take the threat seriously, whether devastation lasts only a few days, or potentially several months, and mobilize an effort to ward off the threat in any ways we can? If not, one can only imagine the consequences… and what kind of a world we might have in the absence of modern conveniences we’ve grown so dangerously used to.

Could a Heliospheric Hellstorm Knock Out Earth’s Electricity? is a post from: Mysterious Universe

Most people who know me well are aware that I haunt used book stores, thrift shops, flea markets, or any other place I might find a deal on unique old books. I just love ‘em… and from time to time, I find that rather serendipitous circumstances begin to develop when I’m looking for certain titles. Lately, my fix has been Stephen Hawking.

Seriously, I’ve speculated as to whether the guy might be a time traveler or something, and along with John Titor, John Connor, and all the other “Johns” of the future, whether he might have purposely placed copies of his famous book, A Brief History of Time, in random locales knowing that I’d later discover them. Okay, maybe that’s just a bit far fetched sounding, but it seems that recently Hawking himself has opened up considerably to the idea.

In an article appearing in the UK’s The Daily Mail, Hawking admitted recently to his obsession with time. “Time travel was once considered scientific heresy,” he says. “I used to avoid talking about it for fear of being labeled a crank. But these days I’m not so cautious.” Likening himself to those who, centuries ago, built the famous Stonehenge monument, Hawking says he is “obsessed by time,” claiming he’d visit Marilyn Monroe or “drop in on Galileo as he turned his telescope to the heavens” if only he had a vehicle that would get him to such lost eras. “Perhaps I’d even travel to the end of the universe to find out how our whole cosmic story ends.”

The entire article, which can be read by clicking here, is a lively and interesting read, especially on the heels of yet another cosmic controversy the famous physicist recently drummed up, after various news outlets seized on the notion proposed by Hawking that aliens, if they do ever visit Earth, likely won’t be very friendly. This prompted a rebuttal from former Canadian defense minister Paul Hellyer, who says Hawkins is engaging in disinformation.

“I think he’s indulging in some pretty scary talk there,” Hellyer commented to the Canadian Press over the weekend. “I would have hoped (this) would not come from someone with such an established stature,” Hellyer said.

So is Hawking right in his theories regarding time travel and hostile aliens, or are his theories as empty as a wormhole-brain? Hawking argues that aliens, in order to harness tremendous technological prowess that might enable them to travel through time and space, would also be inordinate resource hogs. “If so, it makes sense for them to exploit each new planet for material to build more spaceships so they could move on. Who knows what the limits would be?” But don’t worry about such aliens–or even our future descendants–traveling here from the past to steal our sunshine. Hawking also cites what physicists call “The Grandfather Paradox” to explain why such epoch-skipping hijinks would be relegated to another dimensional reality, as well as the theory of a radiation-loop that presumably occurs within wormholes used for time travel. This further hinders party-goers from a hypothetical future where time travel exists from crashing get togethers at the Hawking home today, and the physicist cites it as “the real reason no one could come back in time to my party.” Wait… he has parties?

In lieu of all this, I say, “who wouldn’t want to party with Stephen Hawking?” Even if folks from the future seem to have better, maybe more “timely” things going on (sorry, I couldn’t resist), I’d go to a Big-Bang Bash at the Hawking household any day. Hope I make the guest list!

Time Traveller: Stephen Hawking is Everywhere! is a post from: Mysterious Universe

In a recent NASA press release, officials state that the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has acquired new capabilities that allow it to “make its own choices about whether to make additional observations of rocks that it spots on arrival at a new location.”

What technology, you may ask, could have provided for such developments? Has prolonged exposure to the red sands of Mars caused the humble little droid to evolve, or is something else at play?

Indeed, it appears that new software was uploaded remotely over the winter, which enables new capabilities for the Red Rover, by “taking advantage of the twin Mars rovers’ unanticipated longevity for real Martian test drives of advances made in robotic autonomy for future missions.”

Guy Webster, with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif, has more:

Now, Opportunity’s computer can examine images that the rover takes with its wide-angle navigation camera after a drive, and recognize rocks that meet specified criteria, such as rounded shape or light color. It can then center its narrower-angle panoramic camera on the chosen target and take multiple images through color filters.

“It’s a way to get some bonus science,” said Tara Estlin of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. She is a rover driver, a senior member of JPL’s Artificial Intelligence Group and leader of development for this new software system.

Thus, the NASA team in charge of the Rover Opportunity have managed to get a little more than they bargained out of this mission. Indeed, advances in modern science are constantly presenting us with a variety of different ways to get the best bang for our buck, and robotics are no exception to such profound science. Recently at my blog, The Gralien Report I provided a bit of commentary on CIA drone programs, as well as new military technology that seeks to make robots that will capitalize on the adaptations of insects and other members of the animal kingdom to benefit special operations and risk injury in field operations.

We may not be there just yet, but at the rate that technology is growing, we might finally be very close to finding those droids we were looking for…

While Roving the Red Planet, NASA’s Mars Rover is “Getting Smarter” is a post from: Mysterious Universe

Many times throughout history, especially in recent times as modern technological advances continue to push the boundaries of our capabilities as humans, we have asked, “if other civilizations exist out there in the cosmos, are they like us?”

Less frequently do we ponder whether this is something that should concern us; with humanity’s history of conquest, capture and colonialism, if alien beings were anything like us, what if they decided to act in this manner toward humans if they visited Earth?

Sadly, looking at things in terms of economics, we may have at least one assurance: if aliens are indeed like humans, there’s a good chance they’ve gone through recessions too, as well as the inevitable budget cuts that result from strenuous economic times such as those we face globally at present. Thus, it could be reasoned (albeit lightheartedly) that if aliens were really that much like us, they wouldn’t have been able to get their spacecraft off the ground in order to get here!

Take into consideration the current state of human space exploration as an example. Recently US President Barack Obama made a special VIP call to crew members aboard the International Space Station and the space shuttle Endeavour that various media outlets are now calling just plain awkward. The President promised that his commitment to NASA’s operations “is unwavering,” and that he is “committed… to continuing human space exploration in the future.” However, many astronauts feel less than certain, especially after the White House announced plans to squelch a new spaceship proposed by NASA only weeks ago. At least for now, since budget cuts and the recession are preventing space organizations from getting off the ground with future projects, it looks like we might be staying earthbound for a while!

Indeed, taking the argument in this direction is a bit tongue-in-cheek, although it could become an item of concern again once we take the approach of the speculative physicist. What if we consider that civilizations advanced enough to travel through space and reach us here might also have evolved more as a society, learning better ways to cope with scarcity? Still, there’s also the lingering possibility that they might have coped with lacking resources in more confrontational ways, like conquering other neighbors in their galactic regions and claiming their resources.

As suggested by Stephen Hawking in his book A Brief History of Time, using communications systems like the SETI program to signal brothers from outer space could be more likened to flagging down intergalactic bullies. Rest assured, if this were the case, they’d likely be interested in more than just stealing our lunch money! Let’s just hope, as stated earlier, that maybe aliens in neighboring galaxies are enduring periodic global recessions like us… and that these might keep a few of them “on the ground!”

Like Minds, Like Times: Would Recessions Affect Aliens Too? is a post from: Mysterious Universe

Earlier this week, we reported that billionaire aerospace magnet Robert Bigelow had funded a rapid response team for MUFON.  This week his new(ish) firm Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) has purchased the Houston, British Columbia, Canada UFO (HBCC UFO) websites.  Here’s the announcement on the website, which is a repository for eyewitness accounts of UFO sightings from around the world:

“Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS), administered by Robert T. Bigelow, has purchased the HBCC UFO websites. BAASS will investigate, analyze and periodically publish updates of UAP cases that the public submits. Please continue to serve our community well and support the HBCC UFO websites by submitting your reports as you have in the past”

The domain names of the four websites were put up for sale for $800.00 by their owner Brian Vike who retired from the UFO business in June citing his family and his health as reasons for his retirement.  In one of his final posts on his personal blog, The Vike Factor, Into the Paranormal, he offers a history of his personal experience with UFOs, MIB, and other unexplained phenomena that began at age one and continue throughout until today. Here is a excerpt that involved a silvery disk that hovered above a boat while he and two friends were fishing in June of 2002, and which may explain the health problems he suffers now.

The craft then started to move slowly..for two to three seconds and then in an instant shot off straight up..and disappeared into the blue sky. The speed was very fast. It could travel many miles in one tenth of a second.

I stood there for a few seconds, still in shock and still trying to grasp what had just happened. I looked at my friends who seemed to be coming out of a different state and they looked almost confused. I tried to talk to them about what had happened, but they either do not know or they refuse to speak of it. It was a quiet ride back to shore.

That encounter was now over, but the effects were still there for me. For the next month I fell ill and lost appetite. I began to lose hair as never before and my teeth started to loosen. I was feeling very ill.

The effects I was enduring was what I thought to be a type of radiation sickness and I very quickly realized that being directly under the craft had caused the effects. I was sure I was going to die and felt that I could not go to a doctor and tell him as I would be seen as crazy. So, quietly I sat with my secret and said nothing to anyone, enduring the pain and agony and fear of what was happening.

For a month I tried to make sense of what had happened with the silver disc. Maybe it was me that was in the energy from the craft and it was not my friends falling in slow motion, but me in slow motion. What ever the case, I was not in sync with them. It would explain their not appearing to have ill effects from the encounter. What ever the case, I was more ill then I had ever been.

It was some time that passed, at least a month or maybe two and the effects began to subside slowly until I was as close to back to normal. Well, as close to normal as I will ever be again. I now know better than to find myself under one of those crafts.

It was then, after I started to feel better that I began my search for the truth to UFOs and ET.

As reported in the previous story about Goat Starers, Bigelow is suspected of deep, dark ties to Black Ops, CIA, and other shady operations. Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) is only the latest, created in late 2008. As he explained on Coast to Coast,  “his research into UFOs has convinced him that the phenomenon is real and that the goal of BAASS is to find technologies akin to UFO propulsion methods. As an example of what the company would be searching for, he said, ‘we would love to find something that levitates.’”

So that probably answers the questions about where Hal Putoff is getting the funding for his work in propulsion and energy at EarthTech.  Bigelow’s interest in a UFO sighting network is not so clear, however. After all, isn’t that what MUFON does? So, why does he need his own Canadian-based website to” investigate, analyze and periodically publish updates of UAP cases that the public submits”?  It seems odd, but then, so do many of Bigelow’s other projects, so why should this one be any different?

Update: Bigelow Beams Up Canadian UFO Websites is a post from: Mysterious Universe

Sky watchers were treated to a startling sight as the space shuttle Discovery crossed the night sky earlier this week. A comet-like plume of light suddenly began streaming from the space shuttle, prompting observers to speculate on its cause.

Unexplained flares emanating from a space shuttle is definitely something to worry about, but NASA had reassuring news. The shuttle was not malfunctioning, it was merely jettisoning an unusually large amount – nearly 70 kg or 150 lbs – of urine and waste water in preparation for landing. NASA added that space dumps are not uncommon sights among Earthbound observers because waste water freezes into clouds of ice droplets when ejected into space.

Why such a huge amount of waste on this trip? According to NASA, waste water dumps were not allowed during the shuttle’s 10-day visit to the International Space Station because they might have contaminated a new external platform on the station that is used for science experiments.

(Thanks to Stonehead )

[Spaceweather.com] [Space.com]

Mysterious Light Plume from Shuttle Perplexes Observatory is a post from: Mysterious Universe

For five years Martin Stubbs, a Canadian Cable TV Station Manager, used his own satellite dish to access NASA’s downlink transmissions from numerous space shuttle missions, and went on to collect over 2500 hrs of footage. Footage which he claims to be the “smoking gun” of UFO evidence.

He is best known for the release of The Secret NASA Transmissions: ‘The Smoking Gun’ DVD in 2000 but has recently been gathering plenty of viewers on his Youtube page where he continues to release new footage.

Space junk or intelligently controlled craft? Hit the jump for the latest videos.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

via [Real UFOs]

New NASA UFO Footage is a post from: Mysterious Universe

In May this year, NASA sent astronauts on a mission to upgrade the well worn Hubble Telescope. The mission was considered a success and now NASA has released a flurry of new images from their “fully rejuvenated observatory”.

Among the list of spectacular new images are views of colorful multi-wavelength pictures of far-flung galaxies, a densely packed star cluster, an eerie “pillar of creation,” a “butterfly” nebula, and a cosmic “Dragon”.

“This marks a new beginning for Hubble,” said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The telescope was given an extreme makeover and now is significantly more powerful than ever, well-equipped to last into the next decade.”

According to NASA’s press release the new instruments on board are more sensitive to light and will improve Hubble’s observing efficiency significantly.

Keith Noll, leader of a team at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, said “The targets we’ve selected to showcase the telescope reveal the great range of capabilities in our newly upgraded Hubble.”

[Hubble Gallery]

Upgraded Hubble Reveals Cosmic “Dragon” is a post from: Mysterious Universe

We think of the universe in terms of what we can see. The stars, galaxies, gas clusters and particles that light up our night have intrigued and fascinated us since the beginning of time. However it is the dark universe, what we cannot see and what we cannot fathom, that makes up the majority of our sky. If we cannot see it and we don’t know what it is, how do we know dark matter exists and who really cares anyway?

The story of our dark and mysterious universe begins with Fritz Zwicky. Like many “brainiacs” before him, he had nothing better to do one day than to contemplate the universe or his navel or both at the same time. He found through complex and extremely boring math stuff, that the universe has a lot more mass than what can be accounted for by what we see. This “missing mass” problem was the birth of the idea of dark matter or as I prefer to call it “awesome nothingness”!!

“There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the universe is for and why it is here, it will be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.” – Douglas Adams

The Universe is a Jar of Jellybeans

We think of space as a vacuum, so where does all this awesome nothingness that is dark matter fit in? Just think of the universe as a jar of jellybeans filled up mostly with black ones and a few of the coloured variety. The yummy colours are the baryonic matter we see and the black ones are our dark matter. They may taste yuk but they hold the universe together and may ultimately decide the fate of the jar.
What exactly are these black jellybeans? Many more brainiacs have come up with a number of speculations or what I call “untheories”, that is, through lots of careful observations and more wiggy math stuff, you have no idea what it actually is, but you have a really good idea what it isn’t.

M.A.C.H.Os vs W.I.M.Ps

Dark matter is not the baryonic matter of protons and neutrons that we know and feel comfortable with. It does have to be something and there are a few ideas. Dark matter could be made up of M.A.C.H.Os also known as Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo Objects, or a complicated way of saying brown dwarf stars and black holes. Now I am as fond of a good singularity as the next person, but black holes are so last millennium. In my opinion M.A.C.H.Os get beaten up by W.I.M.Ps also known as Weakly Interacting Massive Particles that are subatomic in nature, have a low mass and rarely interact with normal matter. Wouldn’t you know it wimps take over the universe. Next geeks shall inherit the earth!

Dark Fluid, not Just a Good Cup of Coffee

So we accept the existence of dark matter and it may seem pretty wimpy, but that is not the end of the story. Our universe is not static but expanding. The Big Bang may explain this expansion, but how do we account for this expansion accelerating?

This is where Dark Matter could be gravitationally repulsive, which creates a form of Dark Energy. Dark Matter and the subtle effects of this energy act as a kind of Dark Fluid that fuels the universe itself; pretty much like coffee keeps us going.

Get Warped

The repulsive gravitational effects of dark energy has implications for us beyond just powering the expansion of the universe. That’s right my pointy eared trekkie fans, Dark fluid could make warp speed and interstellar travel a reality. Two physicists from Baylor University have suggested that utilizing dark energy generated from the manipulation of dimensions, can create a bubble that can propel us at faster than light speeds. The basis of this innovative theory is that rather than moving an object at incredible speeds, you manipulate space-time to expand behind and shrink in front of it. This effectively moves space around the object. I just love people who think outside the space ship.

The Ultimate Fate

Dark matter and Dark energy may just be the most fundamental stuff in the universe. It will take eons for us mundane humans to get our heads around the concepts and implications and it is easy to say “So what?” Dark matter and its behavior, may give us a greater understanding of the origins of the universe and it’s ultimate fate. The amount of Dark energy generated is accelerating the universe but where does it all end? When thinking of Dark Fluid we have to ask, “how much is really being generated and will it end with the universe being Open, or expanding forever, or will gravity catch up and be pulled back into a Big Crunch?”

Maybe the universe is so elegant that there is just enough energy to balance out and stop the universe expanding at some point, also known as a Flat universe. Whatever the ending, you and I will not be here to see it, but it is fabulous to contemplate anyway.

Sources

[Science Daily] [Space.com] [Harvard.edu] [Dapla.org] [Dark Energy] [Warp Technology]

Dark Matter: The Real Mysterious Universe is a post from: Mysterious Universe

This week NASA began releasing more than 1500 high resolution images taken from the HiRISE camera on their Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Each image covers a strip of Martian landscape 6 kilometers wide showing details as small as 1 meter across.

Continue reading for my favorites of the batch. Some of these are simply stunning!

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been studying Mars with an advanced set of instruments since 2006. It has returned more data about the planet than all other past and current missions to Mars combined.

[HiRISE Full Catalog]

NASA Releases Thousands of New Mars Images is a post from: Mysterious Universe