An ocean of lava4/27/2018 The image above is a composite of Jupiter's closest moon, Io, made from 6 photos taken by Voyager 1 as it passed by the moon in March of 1979. The unique features of this landscape and its painted quality are a direct result of Io's volcanic activity which releases plumes and lava flows to color its surface. Io is actually the most geologically active object in the solar system which is due to the gravitational friction generated as Io is pulled back and forth between Jupiter and the outer moons of Europa as well as Ganymede. This special position in the solar system makes Io a very inhospitable place as, in addition to the constant volcanic activity, the radiation on the moon is 1000x stronger that what would be required to kill a human. With all of this information, I still thought to ask Google: "Is there life on Io?" I was expecting the answer to be a straightforward "NO, there has never been life on Io and there never will be" and also that I would read some theories about aliens having colonies on Io or other unfounded speculation about life on this particular moon. I was a bit surprised by both erronious expectations. In regards to the former, some scientists believe that Io could have held life a long time ago and that it could still persist today beneath the surface. Computer simulations of the formation of Jupiter's moons, suggest that Io formed with a large quantity of liquid water which was evaporated and sucked into Io's lava-tubes within 10 million years after its coalescence. So the chances for life on Io are poor, but there is still a possibility that microbes inhabit the turbulent moon. Recent findings also suggest that Io may be hiding a sub-surface ocean of molten rock, caused by the gravitational friction between it and Jupiter...this does not help the claim for life on the hellish moon but it does suggest that one of Jupiter's other moons, Europa, could have a warm and habitable ocean beneath its surface. While all of this is incredibly interesting, Io is probably one of the last places where we will send a autonomous surveying robot primarily because it is not a place where finding life is likely.Europa and Enceladus are the places in our solar system most likely to harbor life so, if we choose to explore for the purpose of learning as much as possible, then we will probably send a probe to one of these two moons to maximize our research-to-expense ratio. Perhaps we will never investigate Io and instead we will use our resources for our moon, Mars and Europa. Perhaps we will never become the multi-planet species that some of us hope for. It is certainly possible that we will make a critical error before we ever reach that point in our collective history. If we ever stopped fighting among each other, perhaps we could put all of that wasted energy into searching for the truths of our planet, our solar system and beyond. By the time we are able to reach out and touch something beyond our own moon, the truth might have evaporated into the solar winds and burned up in the cosmic radiation. Is the truth still out there? Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/... https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/... https://theplanets.org/... https://www.theguardian.com/... https://www.space.com/... https://www.smithsonianmag.com/... http://www.spacedaily.com/... http://mysteriousuniverse.org/... https://www.quora.com/... http://www.dailygalaxy.com/... https://www.forbes.com/... http://journalofcosmology.com/... https://www.seeker.com/... https://gizmodo.com/... https://www.centauri-dreams.org/...
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Voice of Aquarius Time4/26/2018
"...is the worldwide headquarters of FIGU, the Free Interest Association for Border and Humanities and Ufology Studies.The Semjase-Silver-Star-Center, with all its facilities, teaches creative laws and commandments as well as spiritual teaching." Additionally, FIGU says that their main purpose is: "The aim of the FIGU is the worldwide dissemination of the truth, together with Billy and with the help of the Pleiadians / Plejaren and other life forms of non-earthly origin, but the truth are knowledgeable and since time immemorial after the universal truth and live their lives according to the peaceful criteria and implications of the same. The goal of the FIGU is further, that through the doctrine of truth, the life of all human beings according to creative laws and commandments is designed, and that the application of the truth and its laws and commandments in a creative-orderly and creative way, successful application to find the earthman." Though the headquarters of FIGU is based in Switzerland, they have organizations in 12 other countries. They are funded by their membership system which, at their lowest tier, is required to pay the following:
So, for example, if you were a Swiss member of FIGU then you would have to pay (30 + 30 + 90 + 466.83 + 210) 826.83 CHF in your first year, if you have an average monthly salary in Switzerland and were not able to work at the Semjase Silver Star Center (SSSC) for your required 3 days. This is just over 1% of your total average annual salary that you would be paying to FIGU, for the least expensive membership. Oh, and if you work your required 3 days at the SSSC then you have to camp on-site or book a hotel because "We do not offer any accommodation facilities at the center." and though breakfast is provided while you are working at the center, there is a charge of CHF 10.00 for lunch and dinner. It is not publicly available how many members they have worldwide. So FIGU is supposed to be this egalitarian, open, and voluntary society (definitely not a cult) BUT membership is limited to those who can pay for it and those who "choose" to become members are likely already indoctrinated into the teaching of Billy Meier, the figurehead and core-philosopher of the organization. FIGU, in addition to being highly invested in "UFOlogy" is also an advocate of population control through state sanctioned regulation whereby women are restricted to having 3 children, so long as they follow a long list of rules, and alternating 7 year periods where procreation is allowed and then 7 years when it is not, and so on. According to this anti-overpopulation plan, written by Christian Frehner who is a FIGU Core Group member, the penalties for breaking these rules are that the child you conceived will be taken from you and put for adoption as well as that both parents will be sterilized. Certainly no one is FOR overpopulation but what FIGU proposes as a solution which is essentially a eugenics program: people are selected due to their favorable characteristics such as age, status, income, and lack of hereditary diseases and "mental handicaps". If anyone reading this has seen the bio-punk movie Gattaca, FIGU's plan to curb overpopulation may seem eerily familiar as the movie describes a "future society driven by eugenics where potential children are conceived through genetic selection to ensure they possess the best hereditary traits of their parents". In this text written by Christian Frehner, it is very careful to lure the reader in so as not to scare them off with the proposed eugenics program: "The fight against overpopulation is only one of many important issues that are pursued by FIGU or its members, and presented to the public. One the one hand, the focus of our activities lies on the fulfillment of one’s own self-responsibility in connection with performing and developing one’s own intrinsic values and realizations (virtues, character, striving for the truth, etc.)..." It seems to me, according to their manifesto, that this kind of strict program does not adhere to their ideals regarding education as well as for fulfilling one's own self-responsibility. It is an extreme measure and is highly unlikely to ever be taken seriously but it gives insight into the organization. This is one example where their ultimate goal is noble, in that they want to create a more sustainable world but where the way of reaching that goal is morally questionable (at best). This example can give us some insight into their written organizational principals also, as most or all of them are noble at face-value but there are hints, when reading about them or watching their videos and when getting deeper into their dogma, that there is something more nefarious happening. Even if FIGU does not actually fit all of the criteria of a cult, it is certainly cult-ish. As an another example, they say that "We fight against all women's discrimination and the abuse of women." but in their document on curbing overpopulation, they relegate the woman back to traditional gender norms. So, within the organization there are these lofty progressive ideas but then they are underpinned by conservatism. Everything about the organization, the mythology surrounding Billy Meier and their current practices are interesting and complicated and cult-ish. As an outsider/non-member to the organization there is a lot of information available regarding their philosophies but it is impossible to know how exactly they function as their is still a veil of exclusion which exists between non members and members. At least superficially, they are very reminiscent of Scientology, just smaller and based out of Switzerland. There are certain people who exist as public figures and political actors who are able to create a false mythology surrounding themselves in order to lure supporters. Through their doctrines they create an alternate-reality which is accepted as the truth while the actual reality is regarded as fake. Such chicanery plays on the desires held by some to believe in something, which then benefits those at the top of the pyramid. There's probably no solution to this problem but perhaps it can curbed by humanizing people, empathizing with them, and learning about their beliefs so that there can be a discussion about it, rather than an argument. The only way to find the truth is to cross-reference sources and to examine all of the positions, especially when you don't agree with them, and treat each one with equal scrutiny and skepticism. The appealing illustration at the top of this post led me on a journey to research FIGU, the Semjase Silver Star Center (SSSC), and Billy Meier by investigating the content they've made available. Through this, I have concluded that they are an organization which profits a few few individuals while taking advantage of their membership and sometimes acts contrarily to their manifesto. I suppose the point of all of this is that we have to learn about the things which we don't understand, through a great deal of inquiry, in order to eventually reach a semi-accurate conclusion. Is the truth still out there? Sources:
http://www.figu.org/ (About FIGU)... http://www.figu.org/ (About the SSSC)... http://www.figu.org/ (Photos from the SSSC)... http://www.figu.org/ (Membership application form)... http://www.figu.org/ (Voulentary work application)... http://au.figu.org/ (overpopulation)... https://www.worlddata.info/ http://www.futureofmankind.co.uk/... http://theyfly.com/... http://www.csj.org/... http://www.figu.org/ (E.T.visits to the SSSC)... A love letter for Hubble4/25/2018
I think we both remember that you had some problems at the beginning, it was worth it though because those first pictures you took inspired a generation of scientists, and others, to search for answers to the mysteries of the universe. In all of the years of our collective relationship, you have shown us the history of our universe and thereby, our own history. You have told us when the cosmic birthday is. You have shown us what our universe looked like when it was, relatively, a newborn. You have proved us wrong in our assumption that the expansion of the universe was slowing down, when in fact it is speeding up. We have learned about supermassive black holes and exoplanets from you. You haven't restricted your lessons to distant space either, as you have also taught us about our own solar system. You've showed us liquid water on the moons of Jupiter in Ganymede's sub-surface ocean and the liquid plumes that shoot into space from Europa. We also know how many moons Pluto has because of you and that Eris, the dwarf-planet in the Kuiper belt, even exists. Galaxy cannibalism, protoplanetary disks, and clumpy dark matter are all discoveries that we can attribute to your presence in our lives. You were not our first space-telescope, and you won't be our last, but the influence you have had on how we perceive/imagine the vastness of space, cannot be overstated. During moments when the political-climate is anti-science, the images that you have produced can still induce wonder in even the staunchest anti-expert and give reason for the expansion of our scientific knowledge. You have given humanity so much and we can never repay that service. I only hope that more people can appreciate your efforts the way that I do. Please keep doing what you do because it makes the world a better place. Love, M.P. Bronstein Sources:
http://bigthink.com/... http://www.spacetelescope.org/ (spacecraft images)... https://www.spacetelescope.org/ (28th birthday)... http://hubblesite.org/... http://mentalfloss.com/... https://news.nationalgeographic.com/... https://globalnews.ca/... https://www.space.com/... https://en.wikipedia.org/... Astounding stories & more...4/22/2018
Believing what we want or expect true rather than what we can prove is no different than any other religious zeal. Carl Sagan, an active searcher for intelligent extraterrestrial life, once made famous the phrase "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence".
If, for example, we believe that intelligent aliens do exist and are visiting us, then we will go looking for evidence of that with an innate bias towards finding it while ignoring contrary evidence. We may search through manlyy sources but we will find those which corroborate our initial feelings. Our ego refuses to acknowledge that our past beliefs were always fallacies as this would cause our emotional investment to be in vain. To support this situation, we stubbornly propagate misinformation as we enable others in the same situation. Conspiracy theories, fake news, hoaxes and events perceived incorrectly within a culture looking to escape reality creates a situation where large swathes of the population believe in things which do are not true. If we started fact-checking all of our sources of information, what would it be like to live in the unbiased reality? Is the truth still out there? Sources:
http://time.com/... https://www.theguardian.com/... https://www.scientificamerican.com/... https://www.youtube.com/... https://www.nationalgeographic.com/... https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/... http://nationalpost.com/... http://www.pbs.org/... https://www.livescience.com/... http://blog.stephenwolfram.com/... https://sputniknews.com/... http://discovermagazine.com/... To the moon, maybe4/19/2018 The moon is our closest extraterrestrial body. It has protected us from meteoric impacts and regulated life here on earth. If we manage to become a multi-planetary species, it will be the first step in extending our reach towards that goal. The ESA has plans to create a permanent settlement on the moon called "Moon Village", NASA is looking to use the moon as a launching point to get to Mars on the Orion spacecraft. NASA has even scheduled a test launch for Orion as early as 2019 but reaching Mars is not likely until at least the 2030s. The previous American presidential administration hadn't planned on returning to the Moon, and was going to shoot directly for Mars, but the current administration changed the plans... This photo is from the index page of the stunning book 'Lunar Panorama' by Lowman which is located at the Bibliothek Andreas Zust. Two other recent American presidential administrations have planned to get to the moon (the Space Exploration Initiative during the George H.W. Bush presidency in 1989 as well as the Constellation Program during the George W. Bush presidency in 2004) though neither resulted in boots on the lunar terrain as the last human crew departed the moon in 1972. Luckily though, if the American government doesn't come through, again, there are plenty of other national and private organizations who are looking to take advantage of the vacuum in endeavors for space colonization. For example, private startups from India, Israel, and Japan, along with a Silicon Valley-backed space-exploration company called 'Moon Express' are all shooting for the Google Lunar XPrize, big companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin are also working on concepts, and governmental organizations for Russia, China and the ESA are all working towards returning to the moon and beyond. The ESA's 'Moon Village' (mentioned above) is particularly interesting as they plan to use inflatable structures and 3D printing with regolith (lunar soil). With all of this being said: the future plans, the present efforts and the history, there are still many people who don't believe that the original moon landings happened...According to a 1999 Gallup Poll, approximately 6% of Americans believe that it was a hoax and 5% are undecided. Of course some of these conspiracy theorists sound ludicrous but others propose sound arguments for why they do to believe that it never happened. For an example of some pretty convincing arguments, check out this video by a mustachioed gentleman. This TIME article even looks to it as one of the world's most enduring conspiracy theories and there is even a Wikipedia page for it. Even though people have tried to document the sites of the Apollo landings, conspiracy theorists hold strong to their belief. One example is Marcus Allen who has said that 'photographs of the lander would not prove that America put men on the Moon'. When does our skepticism stop being healthy and start being detrimental to society? Is it that our egos get in the way, as we refuse to accept that there are people who know more than us and that such knowledge is potentially trustworthy. When we don't trust people who have spent their entire lives in search for the truth on the environment/climate, astrophysics, biology, quantum mechanics, whatever...doesn't it hurt all of humanity for us to ignore these people? And why do some of us refuse to believe them while those same people choose to believe individuals who obviously know nothing? Is the truth still out there? Some links to provide more information on future travel to the moon: https://www.popularmechanics.com/... https://www.space.com/... https://news.nationalgeographic.com/... http://www.iflscience.com/... https://www.nbcnews.com/... http://www.esa.int/... Links to provide information on conspiracy theories: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/... http://content.time.com/... https://en.wikipedia.org/... https://www.telegraph.co.uk/... Broken pillars4/15/2018
Each Nebula is a nursery which becomes a factory, exploding to become another nursery and so on. We don't see them as they are, we see them as they were, and so we can't see their truth, or any truth outside of our localized region of space/time. Stars go nova, planets are broken, celestial bodies are created, and perhaps life begins again but we can only see things as they were. So how do we find the truth without first hand experience? Either we devise ways of gaining first hand experience or we calculate the most probable outcome based on what we can devise with currently available knowledge, expecting that the prediction is the likely truth. ... Image from page 104 of 'Das Hubble Universum' by Fischer, located in the Bibliothek Andreas Zust. For example, take the "Pillars of Creation" from the Eagle Nebula shown in the image above. According to data from the Spitzer Telescope, the pillars may have been destroyed by an exploding supernova however the visual evidence (light) of that cosmological event will not reach us on Earth for another millennium.
Maybe we wont always be able to discover the absolute truth, but through curiosity, investigation, perseverance as well as space/time, regardless of our position on earth or in the universe, there is no reason why we cannot deduce the truth which aligns closest with reality in all facets of life. Is the truth still out there? The mystery of a flying jellyfish4/14/2018 I found the photo below, of what appears to be a giant flying jellyfish, while browsing through the archives today. It's from page ~253 of the book 'Geheimsache UFO' located in the Bibliothek Andreas Zust. The image was taken by Mr. H. Lauersen in the early morning on November 17th, 1974 while he was walking his dog in Viborg, Jutland, Denmark. According to the second source below: "the sighting was investigated by Major Hans Petersen from the Danish Air Force. Scientists concluded that the vaporizing effect as being the result of the surface of the UFO being cooler than -180 degrees Celsius, resulting that the surrounding air becomes liquid and flows toward the Earth" The third source has the same subject captured but from a different perspective. The fourth source link is the skeptical of the image, citing Ole Henningsen, of SUFOI (Scandinavian UFO Information), who investigated the case and determined the flying jellyfish to be a ring of water vapor rising from the Houlkærvænget heating center, located directly below the object in the photo. The fourth source also references one contemporary artist, Ned Kahn, who was making very similar clouds as part of his art practice. The fifth link references the flying jellyfish photo in the column on the right of the page. The text about it describes the event, the critical investigation into it and then attempts to explain the image as a possibly true event by referencing similar accounts of sightings. The simplest answer is usually the correct one so probably it is just water vapor. Is the truth still out there? Links to some sources which provide further information on the image: From the vaccum of space4/13/2018 The photo is from page 192 of 'The History of Rocketry and Space Travel' found in the Bibliothek Andreas Zust and added to the Z Files archives. The picture depicts a alien, floating above our planet and using a compressed air gun to propel himself through the vacuum.
We can assume this photo is real, because we trust the source that it comes from. Our understanding of the indifferent truth is reliant on the trustworthiness of experts and witnesses to it. Truth and trust are therefor deeply intertwined as the former is defined by the later. Trustworthy sources come as unbiased and without ulterior motive. For example, the majority of scientists have concluded that human induced climate change is the truth however there are some which deny this truth who do so because it benefits them to hold that position. Ulterior motives can come in many forms; keeping one's job or funding, pushing one's agenda, spectacle and attention, political benefit and so on. So when we look for the truth in order to try to understand reality, we not only have to understand what is being presented to us but to be aware of what is behind that presentation. The relationship between the two is how we can determine the trustworthiness of the source and therefor the truth of reality. Between skeptics and supporters4/10/2018 The photo above is by "Billy" Meier, taken from page 155 of the book 'Light Years' by Kinder located in the Bibliothek Andreas Züst.
I've Been looking into other peoples investigations into this photo, and others, taken by Meier. It seems unbelievable that one person could make so much documentation of UFOs. It seems more believable that one person could make a career out of hoaxing photos and videos. Between the skeptics and supporters, there is no definitive answer to whether Meier is a fraud or not...both seem to have some good points. Those who want to believe, find reasons to do so and those who don't, also don't. Maybe they are all right to some degree; maybe some of what Meier captured was real and some was a hoax in order to keep up appearances. Perhaps only "Billy" knows what really happened in all of the moments he captured on film and in video. Is the truth still out there? Below are many pages which provide evidence for or against the "Billy" Meier claims:
And some interviews with "Billy" Meier:
The wikipedia page states that "Some of Meier's photos are claimed by him to show prehistoric Earth scenes, extraterrestrials, and celestial objects from an alleged non-Earthly vantage point. Meier's claims are widely characterized as fraudulent by scientists, skeptics, and most ufologists, who say that his photographs and films are hoaxes.In 1997, Meier's ex-wife, Kalliope, told interviewers that his photos were of spaceship models he crafted with items like trash can lids, carpet tacks and other household objects, and that the stories he told of his adventures with the aliens were similarly fictitious. She also said that photos of purported extraterrestrial women "Asket" and "Nera" were really photos of Michelle DellaFave and Susan Lund, members of the singing and dancing troupe The Golddiggers." I want to believe, but...4/9/2018 Been splitting time between the archive and social media as well as between science and pseudoscience in these days. Looking for overlapping material, looking for facts, cross-referencing content. Much of the materials, even in the archive, are presented as truthful but are ultimately false, speculative and/or sensationalist. Sometimes the beliefs we hold blind us to reality while other times people create misleading content to take advantage of people who believe. This practice harms the believability of any real observations that have arisen or which will arise.
Archive awakened4/7/2018 Been scouring the archives looking for evidence. Piles of books on the table, scanning images from each that seem useful or important. The sound of the scanner echoes in my ears. Found this diagram of different UFO profiles in the Das Geheimnis der unbekannten Flugobjekte by Adolf Schneider and Hubert Malthaner. I will keep it in mind as I look to the skies of Appenzelland. #IsTheTruthStillOutThere?
M.P.BronsteinA scientist who exists outside of the time-space continuum, looking for the truth, but unsure if it still exists or if it has become extinct. ArchivesCategories
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