The European Space Agency’s (ESA) ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has made an intriguing discovery on Mars: the presence of unusual spider-like formations. However‚ this striking visual is merely an optical illusion‚ attributed to seasonal changes occurring on the Red Planet. Captured images from the south polar region of Mars depict dark spots scattered across the surface. Initially resembling giant spiders‚ these spots vary in size from 45 meters to 1 kilometer in diameter. Yet‚ the reality behind these formations lies in the ice dynamics during the transition from Martian winter to spring. As sunlight penetrates the layers of carbon dioxide deposited during the dark winter months‚ the underlying carbon dioxide ice transforms into gas. This gas accumulates beneath the surface‚ causing it to rupture through the overlying ice layers. During this process‚ dark material is uplifted to the surface‚ resulting in the destruction of ice layers up to a meter thick. Subsequently‚ as the gas dissipates‚ dark spots emerge on the Martian surface‚ as evidenced in the captured photographs. The semblance to spiders in these patterns can be attributed to a psychological phenomenon known as pareidolia‚ wherein familiar images are perceived in random patterns. Evolutionarily‚ this tendency to swiftly recognize potential threats‚ such as snakes or bears‚ was crucial for survival. Our brains are adept at discerning patterns in our surroundings to facilitate decision-making and appropriate responses. However‚ this propensity can occasionally lead to misinterpretations‚ such as perceiving random images as recognizable objects. In the case of Mars‚ the scattered debris on its surface contributes to the illusion of giant spiders. This serves as a poignant reminder that even within the remotest reaches of our solar system‚ nature can craft astonishing and deceptive spectacles. The post Black spiders: unusual formations on the Mars captured by the ESA orbiter appeared first on Anomalien.com.

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) joined me on my show earlier this week for a lively chat about House Speaker Mike Johnson’s three disastrous betrayals to the Republican Party and why he needs to resign. Here is an edited transcript of our discussion.Thomas Massie: Let’s talk about the three big betrayals that we’ve seen in the last few weeks. The first was the omnibus. It was bigger than any omnibus that Nancy Pelosi passed. It got a majority of Democrats and got only a minority of Republicans on the roll call. It didn't fund the border. It was atrocious. Yet‚ it sailed through‚ and Mike Johnson pushed it through. That's the first betrayal.You cannot let a man like Mike Johnson‚ who has betrayed us three times in a row in just a few weeks‚ stay in power.Let’s go to the second betrayal‚ where‚ again‚ people say‚ &;quot;Mike's got such a slim majority. It’s too hard to get anything. We just had to take what we could get.&;quot; That story doesn't work on FISA because FISA was going to get reauthorized. … We had reformed it. We had a warrant provision. If you want to put Americans' names into the database and search through their private records that you've collected‚ you should have to get a warrant. The stars were lined up‚ and Mike Johnson supported the warrant provision until he became speaker.People will argue that Johnson wasn't the tiebreaker and the deciding vote‚ but I will argue that he was‚ and I'll tell you why: The speaker doesn't often vote on bills or amendments. In fact‚ he didn't vote on the other amendments that were on the floor for FISA that day. He went out of his way to do something that he doesn’t frequently do. He voted on an amendment‚ and he voted against a Republican amendment. The vote ended up being 212-212.I took a picture of the tie vote and noted that he’s the one who broke the tie.A majority of Republicans voted for the warrant requirement‚ and a majority of Democrats voted with Mike Johnson against the warrant requirement. That’s how we ended up with a tie vote‚ and it failed. Don’t tell me‚ “Oh‚ poor Mike Johnson. He's such a religious conservative man‚ and he’s got such a slim majority. It's hard to get anything done.” That’s his excuse‚ because ideologically‚ he was for the warrant requirement before he became speaker. It wasn’t some slim majority that kept us from getting the FISA warrant requirement. It was Mike Johnson himself.Daniel Horowitz: So‚ now‚ it’s a values issue.Massie: Yes‚ his values are against the majority of the conference.So‚ now on to the third betrayal‚ which just happened. They spent $100 billion on the foreign aid package. The foreign aid supplemental started out as HR 815 in the House of Representatives‚ and it passed with unanimous support because it expanded eligibility for veterans to get reimbursement for emergency care. … It went to the Senate‚ and the Senate stripped every word out of it and put their foreign aid supplemental into it. The irony is‚ they're bringing us to the brink of war in places around the globe by the vehicle they’re using that started out as a veterans' benefits bill.Now‚ here's what happened Saturday that most of my colleagues didn’t realize. My staff told me‚ “Boss‚ we think you’re not going to believe this. We think Mike Johnson is actually in the room. He’s going to take up the Senate bill. He’s trying to say he's doing a different set of four bills and sending them to the Senate‚ but he’s actually just taking up the Senate bill.”That’s what we did. We pretended to vote on four separate bills that were going to go to the Senate. But the rules committee I serve on voted against this rule because I saw what was going on. They said that as soon as these four bills pass‚ we’re going to deem them as amendments to the Senate bill that they sent us.Other members were like‚ “Mr. Speaker‚ please don't make us go back to our constituents and tell them that we just sent $100 billion overseas and did nothing on the border.”Mike Johnson wanted Ukraine as fervently as the left‚ but a majority of Republicans did not want Ukraine. He’s kind of the cause and the symptom at the same time. But he’s at the center of this problem. We're doing nothing to show our constituents that we really are working for them.Horowitz: So‚ looking forward‚ you cosigned the motion to vacate.Massie: I think there is value in exposing the uni-party. I hope people can see it now‚ and they can see that Mike Johnson is part of it. But there’s no better way than to force the vote to vacate the chair and see where folks line up.We’re trying to convince the speaker to resign‚ and that’s why we’re cosponsoring the motion to vacate. If five or six people would additionally cosponsor the motion to vacate‚ then it’s obvious that Johnson doesn’t have the votes without Democrats. The honorable thing for him to do would be to resign.That’s if Johnson cared about this country‚ if he cared about our conference. I'm convinced he doesn't at this point. But if he did‚ he would do the honorable thing. He's got to taste the power. He can’t let go‚ even though he’s incompetent at the job. You know‚ he's gone into every negotiation and given Democrats what they want with extra special features. He’s gotten nothing for conservatives. You cannot let a man like Mike Johnson‚ who has betrayed us three times in a row in the course of just a few weeks‚ stay in power.

Marvel has had a rough go of it lately. By MCU standards‚ last years' &;quot;Ant-Man &; The Wasp: Quantumania&;quot; flopped. Follow-up &;quot;Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3&;quot; was a modest hit‚ despite grumblings about a dip in quality‚ and raised hopes that Marvel was finally heeding the cautionary maxim &;quot;go woke‚ go broke.&;quot;Those hopes were dashed by the November release of &;quot;The Marvels‚&;quot; a goofy paean to girl power that all but confirmed the triumph of DEI over good storytelling. Audiences stayed away‚ resulting in the lowest-grossing movie in the studio's history. Since then‚ the mood of the average Marvel fan has been bleak. Then came Monday's release of the brand-new &;quot;Deadpool &; Wolverine&;quot; trailer.The universal praise and excitement greeting this glimpse of the much-anticipated collab is easy to understand. I feel it‚ too. However‚ I can't help but worry that we're in for a rehashing of 2023.Will the movie be good&;#63; Yes‚ I believe so. Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool has been consistently entertaining over two films. Director Shawn Levy (&;quot;Night at the Museum&;quot; and the Reynolds-starring &;quot;Free Guy&;quot;) gets a chance to bring his knack for big‚ crowd-pleasing family films to the superhero genre and seems determined to deliver the kind of joyous‚ fan-focused popcorn fare we got in &;quot;Spider-Man: No Way Home&;quot; (which had great fun blending three different eras of &;quot;Spider-Man&;quot; movies).To top it all off is the triumphant return of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Jackman famously retired the character with the beautifully made &;quot;Logan‚&;quot; the James Mangold-directed sci-fi Western that finally gave us the &;quot;Old Man Logan&;quot; version of the character we've been wanting to see for years. Jackman has said in the past that he'd be willing to return if Wolverine were to join the Avengers. Whether that is on the table remains to be seen‚ but for now he's putting on the claws again to fulfill another fanboy dream: Wolverine and Deadpool. Together. On the big screen.As you've probably gathered‚ there's A LOT to be excited about when it comes to this movie‚ not to mention the Fox X-Men cameos and multiverse rumors galore. Oh‚ and Secret Wars&;#63; If you know‚ you know. But if this film is a hit (and by all accounts it will be)‚ will it signal that Marvel is going back to prioritizing entertaining its audience and staying true to the source material or will it be a fleeting rush of adrenaline in the perpetually declining legacy of Marvel and Disney&;#63; In other words‚ will &;quot;Deadpool &; Wolverine&;quot; be the &;quot;Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3&;quot; of 2024&;#63; Only time will tell.For now‚ we can only savor the anticipation. In a world where Marvel die-hards have had little to look forward to‚ that will have to do.

Thankfully‚ in 2024‚ we’re broadly all enlightened enough to recognize Half-Life 2 as a genre-defining modern FPS. Generally‚ in the decades since its release‚ its entirely deserved status as one of the greatest games of all time (not to mention one of the most influential) has arguably obscured some critical judgment of Valve’s creation. Continue reading Half-Life 2’s vehicle levels suck‚ and it’s time we all admit it MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best old games‚ Best FPS games‚ Best VR games

Everyone needs more storage for their handheld gaming PC from time to time‚ whether it's on a Steam Deck‚ ROG Ally‚ or Nintendo Switch. With this microSD deal‚ you can add 1.5TB of storage to your device for just $110‚ which will open up your handheld to a ton of extra possibilities when it comes to downloading your favorite games. The SanDisk Ultra sits one class below the Extreme‚ which is our pick as one of the best MicroSD cards for Steam Deck. However‚ due to the Steam Deck and most other handheld gaming PCs having a transfer limit imposed on MicroSD cards‚ you won't see any noticeable performance difference between this 1.5TB Ultra card and the 1TB. Extreme. Continue reading Grab a 1.5TB microSD for just $110‚ and expand your Steam Deck library MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best graphics card‚ Best gaming PC‚ Best SSD for gaming

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