The oldest roof tiles ever discovered in Israel may have sat atop a fortress that played a key role in the story of Hanukkah‚ which today is celebrated as the Jewish festival of lights. Lasting for eight days‚ the religious holiday commemorates the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucids‚ and archaeologists say the tiles were probably imported to Jerusalem by the latter around the time that the uprising occurred.Announcing the discovery‚ the Israel Antiquities Authority revealed that 16 Hellenistic-period roof tile fragments were found in the City of David National Park‚ close to the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. Thought to date back to the second century BCE‚ the tiles coincide with the invasion of the city by the Greek Seleucid king Antiochus IV in 168 BCE.To establish control over Jerusalem‚ Antiochus ordered the construction of a fortress that came to be known as the Acra and which served as a symbol of Greek authority. Commenting on the discovery in a statement‚ the researchers said that “The representatives of the Seleucid King Antiochus IV‚ who reigned over vast areas from Syria to Persia‚ brought the knowledge and tradition of constructing tiled roofs from Seleucid-controlled Syria.”“Tiles were very rare in our region during this period‚ and they were alien to local construction traditions‚ indicating that the technique of using tiles to roof parts of a tower or a structure inside that famous fortress was brought from Greek-controlled areas by foreign rulers‚” added Dr Ayala Zilberstein of the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel-Aviv University.Though not included in the Bible‚ the Books of the Maccabees describe the Jewish uprising against the Seleucid rulers. Hanukkah itself is a celebration of a miracle that is said to have occurred following the liberation of the Temple of Jerusalem‚ when a small pot containing enough oil to light the menorah for a day somehow lasted for eight days.  IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.“Until now‚ we had little material evidence for the presence of the Seleucid Greeks in Jerusalem‚” said Dr Filip Vukosavović of the Israel Antiquities Authority. “The new rooftiles discovered in the City of David provide tangible remains of the Seleucid Greek presence in the region‚ linking us with the story of Hanukkah.”Though the researchers can’t confirm whether the tiles were used on the Acra itself‚ their discovery does provide some tantalizing clues as to the exact location of this ancient fortress. According to Zilberstein‚ the new finds “strengthen the identification of the fortress on the City of David Hill.”

Among the menagerie of types of glowing upper atmospheric phenomena‚ one has been named the “green ghost”. The first spectral imaging of one such ghost reveals the presence of iron and nickel in dust falling on the planet at the right time for electrical storms to produce an other-worldly glow.Lights in the sky have been seen as long as there have been people to see them – whole religions have been dedicated to the gods considered responsible. Humanity’s expansion to higher latitudes exposed us to new types in the form of auroras. The development of flight enabled us to spot examples that can only be seen from above most of the atmosphere‚ and more widespread cameras have provided a chance to study what would once have just been travelers’ tales.As a result‚ since 1989 we’ve discovered a zoo of high-altitude transient luminous events (TLEs) – given names such as sprites‚ elves‚ and trolls – as well as the more prosaic-sounding STEVEs and high-tech blue jets. The brief red lights dubbed sprites sometimes give birth to green glows known as ghosts. Sprites can accompany electrical storms and often look like giant jellyfish. They’re caused by electrical discharges‚ or in other words a particularly high-altitude form of lightning – but the ghosts have remained a mystery.Representations of the different known types of transient luminous eventsImage Credit: Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC)Dr Maria Passas-Varo of Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia and colleagues have come not to bust these ghosts‚ but to explain them. That hasn’t been easy. Sprites are rare enough‚ and only a tiny fraction produce ghosts‚ leaving little opportunity to observe the phenomena. When they occur‚ ghosts usually last less than a second.Many different elements can produce green emissions when heated under the right conditions. It was initially anticipated ghosts’ color was a product of oxygen atoms energized by the spritely discharges. However‚ after years of hunting‚ when the researchers were able to get a spectral sample of a ghost‚ most of the color turned out to be a different shade of green‚ one associated with iron.“It comes from meteors that enter the atmosphere at high speed‚ burn up and [then] the metal atoms are left suspended. The iron layer is normally a little bit higher [than when the ghost was photographed]‚” Passas-Varo told El Pais.Iron’s contribution wasn’t obvious because the two main visible iron emission lines‚ at 528.0 and 583.5 nm‚ average out to be very close to the main atomic oxygen line (557.7nm).Some additional shades of green are provided by rarer metals in the asteroids‚ particularly nickel‚ with the emission line from atmospheric oxygen playing only a small part. Ironically‚ what light did come from the eighth element of the periodic table was mostly ionic molecular oxygen (590 and 599nm)‚ not the anticipated atomic oxygen.The reason Passas-Varo and colleagues had to photograph 42 sprites before they got one ghost is presumably because the atmosphere needs to have been recently seeded with asteroidal iron. Even when the iron is present‚ if it is sitting too high for the sprites to reach‚ a ghost won’t be seen.While some scientists are happy enough just to give names from folklore to phenomena that appear magical‚ others insist on creating backronyms‚ however twisted‚ to justify the designation. Thus‚ Steve became Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement. The term ghost was slightly different‚ only coming into use after photographer Paul Smith and the first person to photograph the glow‚ Hank Shycma‚ failed to come up with an acronym that spelled out goblin. They went with "Green emissions from excited Oxygen in Sprite Tops"‚ with the new paper proposing “GreenisH Optical emission from Sprite Tops” instead.The trailing h‚ technically making these GOSTs‚ is the least of the problems. As with many objects that get named before we really understand them‚ it turns out the original acronym is quite wrong‚ with Passas-Var showing oxygen plays little part in the green color. We humbly suggest that "Green emissions from exited Iron in Sprite Tops" gets to the “gist” of things‚ despite leaving out the contribution from nickel and other minerals‚ but we’re probably stuck with ghost.The study is published open access in the journal Nature Communications

After spending over two decades behind bars‚ Kathleen Folbigg’s convictions for killing her four children have now been quashed thanks to scientific evidence that suggested they died as a result of rare genetic conditions‚ not murder or manslaughter.Folbigg‚ now 56‚ is expected to seek one of the highest compensation payouts ever seen in Australia following the recent decision by the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal.The decision was widely welcomed by scientists who have followed the case‚ although they stressed that the legal system needs drastic reform to ensure miscarriages of justice like this don’t occur again. “The Australian Academy of Science welcomes today's decision by the Court of Criminal Appeal to squash the convictions of Kathleen Folbigg. But make no mistake‚ that without law reform‚ these sort of miscarriages of justice will continue‚” Anna-Maria Arabia‚ the Chief Executive of the Australian Academy of Science‚ said in a statement outside the court on December 14.Tabloid newspapers once branded Folbigg as "Australia's worst female serial killer.” In October 2003‚ she was sentenced to 40 years in prison after being found guilty of murdering her three infant children – Patrick Allen‚ Sarah Kathleen‚ and Laura Elizabeth – as well as the manslaughter of her fourth child‚ Caleb Gibson. The prosecution alleged Folbigg murdered her four young children between 1989 and 1999 by smothering them during periods of frustration.Many had their doubts about whether the court’s decision was correct‚ but the case was truly blown open in 2019 with a new scientific discovery: a rare genetic mutation in the CALM2 gene.In October 2018‚ the genomes of the Folbigg's deceased children were sequenced and it was revealed that the two girls‚ Sarah and Laura‚ had the CALM2 gene variant. As shown by previous research‚ the variant of the CALM2 gene affects the way calcium binds to cardiac cells and has been linked to heart arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death. Further research found that the two boys had another rare genetic variant in the gene BSN‚ linked to lethal epileptic seizures in mice.Scientists began to rally around the case‚ asking for this new evidence to be taken into account. In 2021‚ 90 top scientists and medical practitioners from around the world‚ including two Nobel laureates‚ signed a petition asking the Governor of New South Wales for the pardon and release of Folbigg. Their efforts eventually paid off. Following an independent inquiry‚ Folbigg was freed from prison in June this year and she received a pardon. Now‚ in the eyes of the law‚ the conviction has been wiped from the record. “I hoped‚ but never really believed I would see‚ justice finally served with Kath’s acquittal today‚” Associate Professor Xanthé Mallett from the School of Law and Justice at the University of Newcastle‚ said in a statement. “This case should rock the foundations of the criminal justice system in Australia‚ which has moved at glacial pace to acknowledge and then act upon irrefutable scientific evidence that Kath was innocent‚” added Mallett.“There is no way to compensate Kath for the years she has lost‚ the milestones she has missed‚ the memories she simply doesn’t have; but that she should be financially recompensed is beyond dispute‚” she continued. Folbigg’s lawyer‚ Rhanee Rego‚ has indicated that her client will be pursuing the state for  compensation. Rego declined to give an exact figure‚ but reportedly said it would be “bigger than any substantial payment that has been made before”.

In a recent summer hearing that captivated both skeptics and believers alike‚ David Grusch‚ a former intelligence officer turned whistleblower‚ seized the spotlight. Grusch stood resolute‚ asserting that the government harbored undisclosed information‚ specifically citing evidence of “non-human biologics” obtained from UFOs. His determination to unravel the truth propelled him to admonish Congress‚ accusing them of a “total failure” to achieve transparency regarding unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs). Amidst this controversy‚ lawmakers made strides toward openness by incorporating a provision into the annual defense funding bill. This provision aimed at mandating the disclosure of classified records related to UAPs However‚ the path to transparency was not without hurdles. Key sections of the measure were excised‚ including one crucial aspect: the establishment of an advisory board tasked with overseeing the disclosure of records. Regrettably‚ Grusch lamented this postponement‚ citing it as a definitive blow to what had been dubbed the “controlled disclosure campaign.” The failure of this initiative appeared rooted in a complex interplay of factors. Firstly‚ influential figures entrenched in positions of power held vested interests‚ vehemently opposing divulgence for fear of repercussions and potential erosion of their power‚ accrued through years of concealing the UFO conundrum. Additionally‚ certain senators obstructed the disclosure process‚ allegedly influenced by financial ties to the military-industrial complex and defense contractors. The implications of this impasse are profound. It not only questions the genuine extent of governmental transparency but also strongly insinuates a concerted effort to obfuscate the truth. At its core‚ the argument becomes stark: if there truly is nothing to conceal‚ why the reluctance toward transparency and disclosure? The post Transparency on UFOs: Grusch condemns congress for “total failure” appeared first on Anomalien.com.

In a heartwarming tale that blurs the line between the wild and the domestic‚ a video captures the unique story of a woman and her unexpected house guest – a baby beaver. This story is not just about the rescue of a wild animal but also about the surprising and often humorous challenges that come... The post Adorable rescued baby beaver turns a house into his own dam-building playground appeared first on Animal Channel.

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