Astronomy, Earth, Moon, Mars & Beyond and Mysteries

120,000-year-old discovery made in cave hidden under historic Welsh castle may rewrite history as we know it


At Pembroke Castle in Wales, archaeologists have uncovered something extraordinary: a cave system containing evidence of life stretching back around 120,000 years, including the remains of a hippopotamus, Ice Age animals, and possible early human activity. The site, known as Wogan Cavern, is now being described as one of the most significant prehistoric discoveries in Britain.
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Researchers believe they finally figured out how the Great Pyramids were built - and no, it's not aliens


For decades, the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza has sparked one of history’s biggest mysteries and plenty of wild theories. From secret lost civilizations to alien intervention, many people have struggled to believe that ancient humans alone could build something so massive and precise.

But new research suggests a far more grounded and equally fascinating answer.

The breakthrough theory

A recent study using advanced 3D modeling suggests the pyramid wasn’t built with massive external ramps, as previously believed. Instead, researchers, including computer scientist Vicente Luis Rosell Roig, think the ancient Egyptians used a hidden internal ramp system built directly into the structure.

This “integrated edge ramp” would have spiraled upward inside the pyramid as it was being constructed. Workers could move massive stone blocks along this internal path, leaving gaps in the outer layers that were later filled in, effectively erasing evidence of the ramp once construction was complete.

The theory helps explain several long-standing mysteries:

  • How over 2.3 million stone blocks were moved and placed
  • How construction stayed so precise without modern tools
  • How the pyramid could have been completed in roughly 20–30 years
Even more impressive, simulations suggest workers could place a block every few minutes, making the timeline far more realistic than previously thought.

So ... Why Did People Think Aliens Built Them?

The alien theory didn’t come out of nowhere. The pyramids are astonishing feats of engineering:

  • Perfectly aligned with cardinal directions
  • Built with massive stones weighing up to tens of tons
  • Constructed over 4,500 years ago without modern machinery
Because of this, some people assumed ancient civilizations lacked the technology or knowledge to build them. But in reality, ongoing research continues to show that ancient Egyptians were incredibly advanced engineers, capable of complex planning, mathematics, and large-scale labor organization.
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Simone411 said:
Researchers believe they finally figured out how the Great Pyramids were built - and no, it's not aliens

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The pyramid article brings up why folks think the Von Danikken theory about ancient aliens has merit.
The alien theory didn’t come out of nowhere. The pyramids are astonishing feats of engineering:

  • Perfectly aligned with cardinal directions
  • Built with massive stones weighing up to tens of tons
  • Constructed over 4,500 years ago without modern machinery
Because of this, some people assumed ancient civilizations lacked the technology or knowledge to build them.
Click to expand...
The ancient alien thing is driven by modern western culture bias. Essentially what von Danikken was saying is Western European culture is the apex of civilisation and the ancient peoples were too primitive, too unsophisticated to have built these structures. Therefore, because the intellectually superior Western Europeans weren’t there to help them, they had to have help from someone else like advanced extraterrestrial aliens.
And he then reinforces his conclusion by misinterpreting ancient art and writings to promote his racist theories.
 
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Ancient Egypt secrets emerge from breakthrough Giza discovery


This is a slideshow.

Egyptian officials declared a significant archaeological breakthrough in 2023 with the discovery of a previously unknown corridor within the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. This marks the first such find in a millennium, potentially paving the way for further revelations about this ancient structure.
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Slide show 3:

At the north entrance of the pyramid

At a press conference in front of the Pyramid of Giza in early March of 2023, Egypt's Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Ahmed Issa, said that the tunnel was discovered on the north side of the pyramid.
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Slideshow 4

What does the tunnel look like

Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in the statement that the mysterious tunnel was nine meters long or 30 feet long and more than two meters or six feet wide.
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Slideshow 5

Groundbreaking technology

Thanks to an endoscopic camera with a diameter of 5 mm, which penetrated between the stones without causing any damage, scientists were able to take pictures. These show a stone cavity with a gabled roof.
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Slideshow 6

An international scientific mission

This secret room was discovered as part of an international research project called ScanPyramids. Since 2015, German, French, Japanese and Canadian universities have been collaborating with Egyptian archaeologists to study the pyramids and learn more about the construction methods used to build the pyramids more than 4,500 years ago.
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@eu-science.bsky.social

Scientists Puzzled by Huge Shadowy Blight Spreading Across Surface of Mars https://www.europesays.com/uk/912478/ Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech A…
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Alarming discovery in the Grand Canyon challenges a century of silence


In April 1909, the Arizona Gazette published a story that would echo for more than a century. It described an explorer named G.E. Kincaid who claimed to have discovered a vast, man-made cavern deep in the Grand Canyon, filled with carved chambers, copper tools, hieroglyphic tablets and mummified remains. The article named a Smithsonian-backed expedition and suggested links to ancient civilizations from the “Orient,” language that reflected the reporting style of its time.

The claims were dramatic. According to the original newspaper account, the cave sat nearly 1,500 feet down a sheer canyon wall. Inside were carved passageways, cross-halls, and a central idol described as resembling Buddha. The report detailed granaries, copper weapons, and shelves holding mummies wrapped in bark fabric. It even cited a Smithsonian figure, “Professor S.A. Jordan,” as overseeing further excavations.

Yet within days, another Arizona paper, the Coconino Sun, cast doubt on the entire narrative, calling it “a splendid piece of imagination” and suggesting it resembled the tall tales of Joe Mulhattan, known at the time as “the great liar.” Modern researchers have described the episode as a classic early 20th-century newspaper hoax, noting that no evidence of the cave or its artifacts has ever surfaced in museum records or verified archives.

The Canyon's Documented Past

Long before rumors of hidden chambers, the Grand Canyon had a well-documented human history. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of human habitation dating back nearly 12,000 years. Large stone spear points and split-twig figurines found in canyon caves point to Ice Age communities that hunted mammoths and other megafauna. Later, Ancestral Pueblo people, followed by Paiute, Navajo, Zuni and Hopi tribes, lived in and around the canyon.

The Havasupai people trace their presence in the canyon back more than 800 years. Tribal history holds that they have lived within its walls and side canyons for generations. In the 20th century, much of their ancestral land was incorporated into public lands when the Grand Canyon became first a forest reserve and then a national park. After decades of advocacy, Congress restored a significant portion of that land to the Havasupai in 1975.

The canyon’s physical history is equally layered. Scientists estimate it formed five to six million years ago as the Colorado River carved through rock layers that reveal nearly two billion years of Earth’s crust. These exposed strata have made the canyon a living textbook for geologists. The National Park Service emphasizes that its archaeological and geological record already provides a deep and continuous story of human and natural history, one grounded in excavations, peer review and documented collections.
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A lost biblical landmark may have just been found after three millennia


An ancient city, long studied and debated, has revealed a new piece of its past. Recent excavations in Jerusalem have uncovered a monumental rock-cut moat that is reshaping how historians understand the city’s defenses during biblical times. For decades, archaeologists suspected the existence of such a structure, yet its full form remained elusive.

The discovery, located in the historic City of David, exposes a trench carved directly into bedrock, measuring approximately nine meters deep and thirty meters wide. This scale suggests not only technical sophistication but also a highly organized society capable of executing ambitious construction projects nearly 3,000 years ago.

What makes this finding particularly compelling is how it aligns with ancient textual descriptions of Jerusalem’s layout. References found in biblical passages, including mentions of large-scale construction like the Millo, now appear to correspond more closely with physical evidence, offering new layers of interpretation for both historians and readers of these texts.

A Long Search for a Missing Defensive Structure

For generations, scholars attempted to piece together clues pointing to Jerusalem’s ancient northern defenses. Fragmented findings hinted at a significant man-made cut in the rock, but its full extent remained unclear, leaving a noticeable gap in the archaeological map.

Excavations in the Givati Parking Lot area provided the missing link. As new sections of the trench were uncovered and compared with earlier discoveries, researchers were able to connect the dots, revealing a continuous defensive feature that had gone unrecognized in its entirety for over a century.

This breakthrough illustrates how archaeology often depends on patience and accumulation. A single discovery rarely tells the whole story, but when combined with previous findings, it can transform scattered evidence into a coherent narrative.
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NASA says asteroid Apophis to safely pass by Earth in 2029

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10 days ago

NASA says the “God of Chaos” asteroid Apophis will pass within 20,000 miles of Earth on April 13, 2029, but poses no impact risk.
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2026 Breakthrough Prize Ceremony Hosted by James Corden: Hollywood Honors Scientific Achievement

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LOS ANGELES — April 18, 2026 — Under the lights of Hollywood, the twelfth Breakthrough Prize ceremony honored scientists responsible for landmark advances in gene therapy, neurodegenerative disease, theories of fundamental particles and forces, and the mathematics of critical systems.

Known around the world as “the Oscars® of Science,” the gala gathered prominent figures from across science, technology, business, entertainment and the arts — alongside current and past Breakthrough Prize laureates — for an evening devoted to celebrating scientific progress and the people who make it possible. After walking the red carpet, scientists were welcomed onstage by celebrity presenters to receive their awards.

The ceremony was held in Los Angeles, with actor and Emmy Award winner James Corden returning for the fourth time to host the evening.

Academy Award-winning actors Octavia Spencer and Sean Penn awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences to Stuart H. Orkin and Swee Lay Thein for research that transformed sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia from incurable conditions to treatable ones through gene-editing therapy. Their work identified BCL11A as the master switch controlling fetal hemoglobin, leading directly to the development of Casgevy — the first CRISPR-based medicine approved for any disease. Thein recalled her unlikely path: “As a kid playing on old railway tracks in Malaysia, I never dreamed that I would be here today.” Orkin reflected on five decades of research, saying, “There is no better story to refute those who doubt the value of science.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and AirBNB co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky presented the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics to the Muon g–2 Collaborations at CERN, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Fermilab, recognizing decades of work by scientists and engineers from dozens of countries who pushed experimental precision to extraordinary levels in measuring the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon — a key test for undiscovered particles and forces. In a creative flourish, a ballerina appeared onstage, pirouetting and circling to demonstrate the muon’s spinning magnetic moment. As Chesky invoked the “magnetic moment” of the celebratory evening, physicist David Hertzog, accepting the prize on behalf of 383 scientists and engineers, held up the experiments as “a wonderful example of cross-disciplinary international collaboration in science.”

A new physics prize, the Vera Rubin New Frontiers Prize, was announced by NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang and Breakthrough Prize co-founder Yuri Milner. After a tribute to the great astronomer Vera Rubin, who discovered key evidence for dark matter, and in homage to whom NVIDIA’s new chip platform is named, they introduced inaugural laureate Carolina Figueiredo. The new prize recognizes women physicists who have recently completed their PhDs and already made important contributions to science – in this case revealing hidden relations among quantum field theories.

Supermodel Gigi Hadid and Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana presented the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences to Katherine A. High and husband-and-wife team Jean Bennett and Albert Maguire. They were recognized for developing the first FDA-approved gene replacement therapy, which has restored sight to patients born with Leber congenital amaurosis, a rare inherited retinal disease that typically leads to total blindness in early adulthood. Before the laureates were introduced, Hanna Reif, who received the treatment as a seven-year-old, took the stage to describe how it changed her life and even enabled her to develop a passion for horseback riding. Bennett spoke of the moment their work crossed from laboratory to clinic: “After witnessing blind puppies develop vision after treatment, it became a moral imperative to bring gene therapy to blind people.” Maguire drew a laugh from the audience, recounting that the project began when he and Bennett were dating: “I thought I was just making clever conversation. Little did I know she was taking me seriously.” High spoke of the treatments made possible by the Human Genome Project, for conditions including blindness and spinal muscular atrophy, stating, “Each of these novel treatments have dramatically altered the lives of people born with these conditions.”

Following this, Corden returned to the stage to join YouTube sensation Mark Rober, who demonstrated to the delighted audience how to create a massive cloud using liquid nitrogen and boiling water.
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Also, there is a playlist of the 2026 Breakthrough Prize Ceremony for anyone who wishes to watch it.

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Long-lost rivers of the Bible found in satellite images point to the Garden of Eden


For centuries, the Garden of Eden has been a symbol of paradise in the Bible, a lush, perfect world where Adam and Eve once walked.

Many have dismissed it as a myth, but now, resurfaced satellite images have suggested that the story may have a very real geographical basis.

A series of orbital scans has revealed an ancient, now-dry riverbed in Saudi Arabia that some scholars believe aligns with the biblical description of Eden's main river, the Pishon.

The Book of Genesis describes Eden as a paradise watered by a single river that split into four: Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates.

While the Tigris and Euphrates are well-known rivers in modern-day Iraq, the Pishon and Gihon have long been lost to history, until now.

The dry riverbed, called Wadi al-Batin, stretches from the western highlands of Hejaz near Medina northeast to the northern Persian Gulf near Kuwait.

Its winding course corresponds closely with the biblical description of the Pishon, which Genesis states 'compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.'

Modern satellite imagery spotted Wadi al-Batin's delta near the Gulf, with dunes and depressions marking the river's former grandeur.

Complementing this, Iran's Karun River, a twisting waterway flowing through the Zagros Mountains, may correspond to the Gihon. The Hebrew word 'sabab,' meaning to circle or twist, aptly describes the Karun's meanders.
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Like many of you my age (give or take a few years), we were taught in science classes that Pluto was the ninth planet. It took me a long time to adjust to the fact that scientists changed that and made Pluto a dwarf planet.

And now we have this, and I can't help but use this emoticon. :D :D

Head of NASA calls for Pluto to be made a planet again


NASA administrator Jared Isaacman is necroposting about an age-old debate in astronomy that was considered officially settled two decades ago: whether Pluto should be counted as a planet.

“I am very much in the camp of, ‘Make Pluto A Planet Again,'” Isaacman said during a Tuesday Senate hearing, as quoted by Space.com.
While “MPAPA” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as his president’s political slogan, it’s a position that Isaacman is apparently serious enough about to mobilize the minds at NASA over.

During the hearing, he teased that the space agency is “doing some papers right now” on a “position that we would love to escalate through the scientific community to revisit this discussion and ensure that Clyde Tombaugh gets the credit he received once and rightfully deserves to receive again.”

Isaacman is referring to the American astronomer who discovered Pluto in 1930, classifying it as a planet. But that was nearly ninety years ago, and the definition of planet subsequently shifted.

In 2006, the International Astronomical Union formally defined what a planet was using three primary criteria: a planet must orbit the Sun, be massive enough to be spherical, and it must “clear the neighborhood,” meaning that it has no objects of similar size along its orbit, pushing or deflecting contenders out of the way, other than its own natural satellites — moons, in other words — that it has gravitational dominance over. (It’s worth noting that before the IAU agreed on one, there was no consensus definition on what a planet actually was.)
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This is the truth behind Noah's Ark -- found in clay tablets, not on a mountain -- | Watch


Long before Genesis was written, ancient Mesopotamians told flood stories about heroes like Ziusudra, Atrahasis, and Utnapishtim—men warned by the gods to build massive boats and save life from a divine catastrophe. These stories, recorded on clay tablets as early as 1900–1700 BCE, describe arcs very unlike Noah’s: circular coracles made of reeds, cube-shaped vessels, and ships coated in natural bitumen. Even small details—sending out birds, surviving seven days of storm, offering sacrifices afterward—appear centuries before the biblical version.
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Questions re the existence of aliens is again in the news (I think Trump released some files? Not sure though).

When one thinks of the magnitude of the universe, it seems probable there are alien forms somewhere out there.

However, is it scientifically possible for any species to travel as far as it would take to reach earth?? I mean science is science and if it can be proven that the maximum distance would be X, Y, or Z, then maybe that would exclude the possibility of visiting ETs? Assuming there are no life forms in our galaxy.
 
Winnipeg said:
Questions re the existence of aliens is again in the news (I think Trump released some files? Not sure though).

When one thinks of the magnitude of the universe, it seems probable there are alien forms somewhere out there.

However, is it scientifically possible for any species to travel as far as it would take to reach earth?? I mean science is science and if it can be proven that the maximum distance would be X, Y, or Z, then maybe that would exclude the possibility of visiting ETs? Assuming there are no life forms in our galaxy.
Click to expand...
I wasn't sure if I should post about it here or the political thread because of Trump, but I don't think it matters. I mean why not. He, to me, is in the mystery category because he's like a box of chocolates. You never know what you may find inside.

I found the government website where he released the classified files and will share it here, too.

 
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NASA’s Next-Gen Near-Earth Asteroid Space Telescope Takes Shape - NASA Science

The Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor — NASA’s first infrared space telescope purposely designed to discover potentially hazardous asteroids and comets — is
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The Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor — NASA’s first infrared space telescope purposely designed to discover potentially hazardous asteroids and comets — is undergoing integration and testing. With launch set for no earlier than September 2027, teams across the United States are hard at work building the spacecraft’s components, planning the kind of survey and science it will do, and developing the software to process the huge quantity of data the mission will generate.

In 2005, Congress tasked NASA with discovering potentially hazardous near-Earth objects, or NEOs, but many of these objects are difficult to find with ground-based surveys. Some are as dark as charcoal, others are tiny, and many lurk in the glare of the Sun, where ground-based optical telescopes can’t see. To mitigate this, NEO Surveyor is being custom-built to scan the solar system to detect objects that will glow in the infrared as they are heated by the Sun — as opposed to the optical light they reflect, which is what ground-based surveys measure — to provide enough advance warning for humanity to do something about them, if necessary.
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