A series of statements attributed to British astronomers and astronauts have sparked speculation the JWST has found evidence for alien life. Those quoted are respected names‚ but since at least one of them has been misquoted‚ there’s probably more smoke than fire. Even if something has been found‚ it’s almost certainly hints of little green microbes‚ not a message from little green men. According to The Spectator‚ three prominent figures with links to the British astronomical community marked the change of year by dropping hints of a big 2024 announcement in the quest for life beyond the Earth. Even that article acknowledged none had gone into detail. The most explicit quote was attributed to astrophysicist and science communicator Dr Becky Smethurst‚ who they claim said: “I think we are going to get a paper that has strong evidence for a biosignature on an exoplanet very‚ very soon. Let’s just say it’s on my bingo card for 2024.”However‚ the video they linked to doesn’t contain this quote. Meanwhile‚ what Smethurst did say has been seriously misrepresented.         IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.So far neither astronaut Tim Peake‚ nor Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock‚ the other two figures mentioned‚ have commented. However‚ if Smethurst knew something‚ even if she couldn’t talk about it just yet‚ it’s unlikely she would want to issue such a clear denial. So‚ it looks like if anyone does think they have found evidence of alien life‚ they’re not waving it under the noses of prominent astronomers.In a previous video‚ Smethurst did say: “Hopefully you will agree with me that now we have the JWST‚ I don’t think it’s a case of if we’ll detect biosignatures in an exoplanet’s atmosphere‚ I think it’s a case of when.” However‚ this video was made more than a year ago. If Smethurst knew something then that the rest of us didn’t‚ it would almost certainly have come out by now.The article didn't just leave it at twisting/inventing the words of respected scientists. Instead‚ it linked in UFO conspiracy theorists‚ the type that are not only convinced aliens are visiting us‚ but the powers that be know and are keeping the truth from the public. Let’s say it again – the more people a conspiracy requires‚ the harder it is to keep secret. The idea that politicians‚ public servants‚ and astronomers are all working together to keep the biggest story of all time quiet‚ and have done so for years‚ is just silly.Ars Technica picked up The Spectator’s story. On the one hand‚ they were keen to put to rest any association with alien technological civilizations. On the other hand‚ they gave a further boost to the idea of a major JWST finding on the way. “The rumors have been out there for a while now‚ percolating through respectable corners of the astronomy and astrobiological community‚ that the James Webb Space Telescope has found a planet with strong evidence of life‚” the article claims‚ before firmly attaching these to K2-18b‚ the planet where last year the JWST found methane‚ carbon dioxide and what might conceivably be dimethyl sulfide‚ (CH3)2S.K2-18b transits in front of its star every 33 days‚ and is considered such a priority that the JWST watches when it does. Consequently‚ it now has a larger bank of data than it had at the time that paper came out. This means it’s likely someone processing the data knows either that the dimethyl sulfide find is wrong‚ or somewhat more solid than it looked based on just two transits.One difficulty with rumors is that it’s hard to know who to ask for comment. Like most scientific fields‚ the astronomical community is large enough that just because someone doesn’t know anything about a soon-to-be-released discovery doesn’t mean it isn’t there. It could just be a different team involved. Ars Technica sought comment from NASA. They quote JWST’s deputy project scientist Knicole Colón as saying: "JWST has not found definitive evidence of life on an exoplanet. It is anticipated that JWST observations may lead to the initial identification of potential biosignatures that could make habitability more or less likely for a given exoplanet. Future missions will be needed to conclusively establish the habitability of an exoplanet."That sounds like a “nothing yet” to us‚ but Ars Technica‚ called it “not a hard no”. You can be the judge on that‚ but it’s very unlikely the JWST has collected enough evidence for confidence of life on K2-18b. Even if we found solid evidence of dimethyl sulfide‚ which is probably years away‚ it would be far from proof of life. On Earth‚ dimethyl sulfide only seems to be made by living things‚ but it’s a simple enough molecule that it might form in other ways under the right conditions. Other gases are considered more reliable biosignatures‚ but are probably beyond the JWST’s capacity to find.If we want to find life this way‚ rather than picking up a clear radio signal from an advanced civilization‚ we’re unlikely to get anything close to certainty from the JWST. For that‚ as former IFLScience writer Jonathan O’Callaghan noted‚ we have to wait at least for the Grace Roman Observatory‚ which will not be launching until 2027 at the earliest. More likely both the JWST and Roman will‚ in this area at least‚ simply act as precursors for the Habitable Worlds Observatory‚ which is decades away and could use what other telescopes find to guide its path.Other planets are even less likely prospects. K2-18b was targeted because it’s a large Hycean world‚ making its atmosphere relatively easy to study‚ and therefore a stepping stone to smaller worlds. JWST isn’t even looking at most of the rocky planets considered the best prospects for life because‚ for all its great powers‚ it lacks the sensitivity to find signs of life around them.It’s hard to find something where you’re not looking. On the other hand‚ as The Spectator article shows‚ it’s very easy to report something that’s not there if you want it badly enough.

Here's a fun fact to annoy people with; depending on how pedantic you are as a person‚ you could call the Sun blue-green. In fact‚ you have NASA's permission to do so."So‚ the sun actually emits energy at all wavelengths from radio to gamma ray. But‚" NASA explained ahead of the 2017 eclipse‚ "it emits most of its energy around 500 nm‚ which is close to blue-green light. So one might say that the sun is blue-green!"Of course‚ we don't see it like that‚ thanks to how our eyes work."Though the sun emits strongest in the green part of the spectrum‚ it also emits strongly in all the visible colors – red through blue‚" NASA continued. "Our eyes which have three color cone cell receptors‚ report to the brain that each color receptor is completely saturated with significant colors being received at all visible wavelengths. Our brains then integrate these signals into a perceived white color."Now that we've got the fact that the Sun is blue-green but perceived as white out of the way‚ why are sunsets and sunrises red?When the Sun hits our atmosphere‚ light in the blue spectrum is scattered more efficiently than red light by particles within it‚ known as Rayleigh scattering. With less blue light hitting your eyes‚ you will perceive the Sun as tinted slightly yellow. The more atmosphere the light has to travel through – say at sunrise and sunset – the more blue light gets scattered‚ making the Sun appear yellower or red.Conversely‚ when the Sun is directly above you it will appear whiter‚ as the blue light has less atmosphere to scatter through in order to reach your eyes.  IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.On Mars‚ with a far thinner atmosphere filled with carbon dioxide and dust‚ red light scatters more efficiently‚ meaning all the robots we have sent there look out on an eerie blue sunset‚ contrasting nicely with all the red.

What did the galaxies in the early universe look like? Researchers now think they have a clearer idea‚ and like many of us in the Northern Hemisphere are battling with freezing temperatures and dreaming of summer. So‚ in their beach-themed analogy‚ galaxies at the edge of what we can see are close in shape to pool noodles and surfboards.The occasional frisbee or volleyball-shaped galaxy appears in the data‚ with frisbees becoming more and more common with time. Most of these objects are flatter compared to the galaxies we see today‚ most of which have either got a spiral structure or an elliptical one (like those volleyballs but much bigger).Shapes of galaxies seen by JWST.Image Credit: NASA‚ ESA‚ CSA‚ Joseph Olmsted (STScI)“Roughly 50 to 80 percent of the galaxies we studied appear to be flattened in two dimensions‚” explained lead author Viraj Pandya‚ a NASA Hubble Fellow at Columbia University‚ in a statement. “Galaxies that look like pool noodles or surfboards seem to be very common in the early universe‚ which is surprising‚ since they are uncommon nearby.”Elongated galaxies were already spotted in the deep Hubble data. JWST confirmed those observations and showed that even more distant galaxies have those characteristic shapes – important insights into how these early galaxies formed.“In the early universe‚ galaxies had had far less time to grow‚” said Kartheik Iyer‚ a co-author and NASA Hubble Fellow also at Columbia University. “Identifying additional categories for early galaxies is exciting – there’s a lot more to analyze now. We can now study how galaxies’ shapes relate to how they look and better project how they formed in much more detail.”The current beachware range might not be all that there is out there. Researchers admit that there are still major gaps in our knowledge of these distant cosmic objects. JWST will continue to see deeper and wider and find many more of these early galaxies.“These are early results‚” said co-author Elizabeth McGrath‚ an associate professor at Colby College in Waterville‚ Maine. “We need to delve more deeply into the data to figure out what’s going on‚ but we’re very excited about these early trends.”A paper with these results is submitted to The Astrophysical Journal and available on the Arxiv.

Imagine a scene straight out of a storybook‚ set in the lush southern Indian jungle. Here‚ a touching story unfolds‚ much like a children’s tale‚ but filled with the authentic charm of nature. Our story stars a young elephant calf‚ merely four to five months old‚ who finds herself in a predicament. She’s lost‚ separated... The post Mama elephant can’t contain emotions when she finally reunites with missing baby appeared first on Animal Channel.

Fostering dogs is a heartwarming journey many animal lovers embark on. It’s about opening your home to a homeless dog from a shelter‚ providing them with love‚ care‚ and attention as if they were your own. This was the path chosen by Julie Harrison-Harney‚ who decided to foster Chips Ahoy‚ a shelter dog‚ with the... The post Rescue dog is ‘heartbroken’ when she’s returned to foster family 2 days after being adopted appeared first on Animal Channel.

The Washington Post should know that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Continuing to tell voters they’re ignorant for not appreciating the Biden economy is case in point. “The economy is improving under Biden. But many voters aren’t giving him credit‚” read The Post’s condescending Jan. 14 headline. But that was just the start of The Post’s nonsense‚ which took six authors to spit out. It proceeded to cite data points without context to prop up President Joe  Biden’s cadaver of an economy: “By many measures‚ the U.S. economy is a great success story — recession fears have fallen‚ along with gas prices and the unemployment rate‚ while manufacturing construction is up along with nominal wages and the stock market.”   Except‚ JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon just warned that the U.S. economy looks like the dreaded stagflation era of the 1970s; Reuters reported in December that U.S. manufacturing was “mired in weakness” and forecasted the economy as “heading for slowdown.” In fact‚ the New York Federal Reserve’s Empire State business-conditions index "sank in January to the lowest level since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020‚ perhaps a sign of trouble brewing for the U.S. economy‚" according to MarketWatch. In addition‚ American households are having to spend an extra $11‚434 a year just to maintain the standard of living they had in January 2021. Housing is also suffering. CNN reported in November that this was “the least affordable housing market since 1984. It’s getting worse.” With regards to the unemployment rate‚ Heritage Foundation economist EJ Antoni already noted that between five and eight million people are now missing from the labor force‚ “artificially reducing the unemployment rate.”  If that wasn’t bad enough‚ “One quarter of American[s’] retirements savings -- $30‚000 -- are gone since Joe Biden took office. Enough to delay millions of Americans' retirement for a decade‚” wrote Heritage Foundation economist Peter St. Onge in an X post.  Credit card debt is also at a record $1.08 trillion‚ with a whopping 56 million Americans swimming in credit card debt for at least a year. In addition‚ the New York Post just reported that the U.S. government had “overstated” job growth in 2023 by a whopping 439‚000 jobs. This indicated that the gross overstatement meant the “job market is not as healthy as the government suggests.”  All of this somehow spells a “great success story‚" but those dumb plebeians just aren’t getting it‚ implied The Post in its propaganda. “Despite the statistics‚ the kitchen-table experience of Biden’s first term has meant that many voters have experienced the last few years as a time of relative economic hardship.” But don’t despair‚ proclaimed The Post. Biden is supposedly due for a Reaganesque comeback and the voters will soon come to their senses: Biden’s polling on the economy has fallen with consumer confidence since he got into office‚ only recently stabilizing as confidence has begun to rebound. Wages are up‚ but the sting of higher grocery‚ coffee and restaurant bills remain. The president is still looking for credit from the budding manufacturing renaissance brought about by recent bipartisan legislation‚ though relatively few projects have been announced or begun production yet. White House advisers are optimistic that the American public will soon internalize the good news and give the president credit before November. His political advisers note that other presidents who won reelection‚ like Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama‚ overcame challenging first-term economic conditions‚ [emphasis added.] What a joke. Journalist Roger Lowenstein pointed out in a Jan. 15 guest essay for The New York Times that “Inflation has snatched away the gains from even a very strong labor market.” Lowenstein’s analysis proceeded to showcase why propagandists at The Post are doing readers no favors by repeatedly gaslighting them over their economic struggles: Over [Biden's] first two years‚ as price hikes outran wages‚ real median household income fell 2.7 percent. The census has yet to report median income for 2023‚ but given that real wages were up about 1 percent through November‚ the cumulative change in household median income‚ adjusted for inflation‚ over Mr. Biden’s first three years is likely to be in the range of mildly negative to very mildly positive. In other words‚ in the all-important category of improving living standards‚ the country did not make progress. Conservatives are under attack. Contact The Washington Post at 202-334-6000 and demand it stop gaslighting Americans on their economic struggles.

Dear readers‚ It's our pleasure to announce the winners of the 2023 Survival Story contest that we've ran during the holiday period. The post Survival Story Contest Winners Reveal! appeared first on Survivopedia.

Democrats in Maine are poised to advance legislation that would grant the state emergency jurisdiction over children whose parents refuse to subject them to sex-change mutilations and other confusion-affirming medical interventions. Additionally‚ it would prevent authorities from reuniting runaways with parents out of state if they traveled to Maine to have their genitals removed. A judiciary committee hearing was originally scheduled for Wednesday morning to discuss whether to advance LD 1735‚ the so-called "Act to Safeguard Gender-affirming Health Care." However‚ the review has reportedly been postponed on account of bad weather and will now be held at 3:00 p.m. on Jan. 25. The bill resembles "kidnapping" legislation in various Democratic-run states‚ including Democratic California state Rep. Scott Wiener's SB 107‚ which made California a so-called sanctuary for child sex-change mutilations. Should the act pass: courts would be prohibited from considering the abduction of a child from a parent or guardian who has legal custody "if the taking or retention was for obtaining gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming or gender-affirming mental health care"; courts will be authorized to "take temporary jurisdiction because a child has been unable to obtain gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming mental health care"; and law enforcement would be barred from participating in the "arrest or extradition of an individual pursuant to an out-of-state arrest warrant" based on laws against the sexual mutilation of children. "Gender-affirming health care" is defined as "medically necessary health care that respects the gender identity of the patient‚ as experienced and defined by the patient." This so-called "care" includes genital mutilations; sterilizing chemical interventions and hormone therapies; and cosmetic surgeries "to align the patient's appearance or physical body with the patient's gender identity." "Gender-affirming mental health care" is defined thusly: "Mental health care or behavioral health care that respects the gender identity of the patient‚ as experienced and defined by the patient‚ including‚ but not limited to‚ developmentally appropriate exploration and integration of identity‚ reduction of distress‚ adaptive coping and strategies to increase family acceptance." Children taken from their parents and rendered wards of the state would thereafter have access to state-funded programs that pay down the cost of the irreversible and disfiguring procedures. — (@) The bill's primary sponsor is state Rep. Laurie Osher‚ the leader of the legislature's LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus. Its cosponsors are Democratic state Reps. Erin Sheehan‚ James Worth‚ Matthew Moonen‚ Nina Azella Milliken‚ and Suzanne M. Salisbury and state Sen. Anne Carney. Ahead of the state judiciary committee's now-postponed meeting Wednesday‚ the parental rights group Courage Is a Habit ramped up its pressure campaign to "take a chunk out of the Transgender Cult‚" providing the email addresses of the committee members. Alvin Lui‚ president of Courage Is a Habit‚ told the Post Millennial‚ "If you're wondering how you got there in Maine‚ wherever you live ... it's because over time‚ you've allowed your kindness to be weaponized against you and they kept moving that goalpost and now‚ even when they're proposing a transgender trafficking bill‚ they're still using emotional blackmail to try to get you to accept this." Libs of TikTok highlighted this legislation prioritizing the medicalization of children over parental rights‚ prompting significant backlash. Megyn Kelly wrote on X‚ "This is SICK! Bombard them with emails. This cannot pass." This is SICK! Bombard them with emails. This cannot pass — (@) Mike Davis of the Article III Project noted‚ "This is clearly unconstitutional under the U.S. Constitution. And the most monstrous bill I've seen in a long time." Political scientist and legal scholar Carol Swain asked‚ "Do we really want the state making medical decisions for our children or elderly parents? I don't think so." "Demonic‚" wrote Tom Fitton‚ president of Judicial Watch. Other critics suggested LD1735 amounted to a Democratic effort to increase medical tourism to the state and to increase the profits pharmaceutical companies. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Former President Donald Trump (R) picked up an endorsement from United States Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Tuesday‚ Fox News Digital reported.Cruz announced his support for Trump following his "dominating victory" in the Iowa caucuses earlier this week. The Republican senator told Fox News' Sean Hannity that the results from the caucuses were "decisive." It is time for Republicans to unite.\n\nI am proud to support President Donald J. Trump in his effort to take back the White House and send Joe Biden to the retirement home. — (@) "It was a dominating victory for Donald Trump. I got to say‚ there's no place like the Iowa caucuses. I know it intimately. The men and women of Iowa‚ they take their responsibility incredibly seriously. They scrutinize the candidates. It's an amazing process and I'm a big believer in letting democracy play out‚" stated Cruz‚ who beat Trump in the 2016 Iowa caucuses."Well‚ last night it played out‚" he continued. "Trump's victory was across the board. He won 51% of the vote. He won 98 of the counties."Cruz congratulated Trump on his landslide win in Iowa on Monday evening. The former president secured a 30-point victory over Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R)‚ who eked out a second-place win against former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley."At this point‚ I believe this race is over. So I am proud to endorse Donald Trump for President of the United States. I look forward to supporting him enthusiastically because I think it's time for the Republican Party to unite‚" Cruz added.He stated that the GOP needs to come together to beat President Joe Biden (D) and his party's "disastrous cultural Marxist agenda." Cruz said he does not see a path to victory for any of the other Republican candidates. "With the results last night‚ the people have spoken. It's time to move onward to victory in November‚" Cruz remarked. He predicted Trump would score another decisive win in South Carolina. Cruz‚ who is up for re-election‚ stated that he is one of the top targets of the Democratic Party."I wear that as a badge of honor‚" he commented."If you are a left-wing Democrat‚ after Donald Trump‚ there's nobody in the country you want to beat more than me. And Chuck Schumer has made clear I am his number-one target in the country‚" Cruz added. "The Democrats are going to spend $100 million this year trying to beat me and trying to flip Texas blue. Now‚ that ain't going to happen."Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out of the race following the results from the Iowa caucuses and placed his support behind Trump. The former president also recently captured endorsements from North Dakota Republican Governor Doug Burgum and U.S. Republican Senator Marco Rubio from Florida‚ Blaze News previously reported.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

While the Democrats are still yelling about the 2020 election‚ they’re doing as much as they can to alter the course of the next one. Mark Levin pins this interference on “Joe Biden personally‚ and his surrogates at the Department of Justice‚ and his party members in the judgeships and the unelected prosecutors and the would-be unelected jurors should there be trials in these Democrat cities.” It’s “monumentally outrageous‚” he adds‚ noting that Biden has “interfered up and down.” Levin is of course referring to the attacks on Donald Trump‚ which he says are “undermining our voting system.” Trump is currently at the mercy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit‚ where a three-judge panel will debate the limits of presidential immunity. The panel‚ which features “two radical leftists‚” is set to decide whether or not the former president should be granted immunity from a four-count criminal indictment that charges him with plotting to overturn the 2020 presidential election and inciting a violent riot at the Capitol. Levin doesn’t believe the panel of judges is promising. “The worst of the bunch was appointed by Biden‚” Levin says‚ referring to Judge Florence Pan. “This was done to try and impact and interfere with the election and to get Joe Biden re-elected‚” Levin warns. Want more from Mark Levin?To enjoy more of "the Great One" — Mark Levin as you've never seen him before — subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America‚ defend the Constitution‚ and live the American dream.