De la terre ferme découverte pour la première fois au-delà du système solaire

WASHINGTON - Des astronomes ont découvert pour la première fois une exoplanète rocheuse au-delà du système solaire, baptisée Corot-7b, sur laquelle il serait possible de marcher s'il n'y faisait pas une chaleur aussi étouffante. La température s'y élève en effet à environ... 2.000 degrés Celsius.

En cherchant des signes de vie du côté des étoiles, les scientifiques ont repéré plus de 300 planètes hors du système solaire. Mais il ne s'agissait jusqu'à présent que de boules de gaz. Ou alors il était impossible de prouver qu'elles étaient solides. Or une équipe d'astronomes européens vient de confirmer l'existence d'une exoplanète rocheuse, selon l'Organisation européenne pour la recherche astronomique depuis l'hémisphère sud (ESO).

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Viaje a prueba de incrédulos

Una tarde del verano de 1948, Lucas del Pozo, un joven de 18 años, trabajaba en la huerta de melones familiar en el área conocida como Pechofuerte, en el término municipal de Alameda. Una repentina humareda le sorprendió y, mientras investigaba lo que ocurría preocupado por el estado de sus melones, vio cómo descendía del cielo lo que describió como "una olla exprés" con capacidad para una persona. Mientras la manta de humo no dejaba de crecer, descubrió a su lado a una pequeña criatura humanoide, de poco más de un metro de altura, con la cabeza alargada y ojos tan pequeños "como dos puñaladas en un cartón", bocas y orejas grandes, brazos desproporcionadamente largos y piernas muy cortas, vestido con una especie de mono y calzado con sandalias. Del Pozo escuchó a aquella criatura hablar un idioma ininteligible pero comprendió que le preguntaba por la tarea que realizaba en el campo, así que le respondió que sembraba melones. Para ilustrar su explicación, entró a un pequeño almacén contiguo en el que guardaba los ejemplares recolectados y tomó uno en sus manos; al salir, comprobó que la humareda se había hecho más espesa y que tanto la olla exprés como el extraño ser habían desaparecido. El suceso, del que el mismo protagonista dio testimonio en varias ocasiones, puede sonar a cómico, pero se trata de todo un clásico en la ufología mundial y el primer encuentro en la tercera fase documentado de la Historia. Ahora, el periodista malagueño José Manuel Frías, colaborador habitual de programas de radio y televisión como Milenio Tres y Cuarto Milenio, responsable del programa Extremadura insólita en la televisión autonómica extremeña y articulista en revistas como Más allá y Año Cero, lo ha recogido junto a otros muchos episodios paranormales en su libro Málaga insólita. La ruta del misterio, que publica Círculo Rojo.

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L'Attraction de l'espace

L'Attraction de l'espace - Au fond de l'inconnu pour trouver du nouveau !

Autour du thème universel de la conquête de l'espace imaginaire ou réelle, l'exposition met en dialogue des œuvres d’artistes, de photographes, d'architectes, de designers avec des travaux ou des outils scientifiques. Cette invitation au voyage s'attache à l’éternelle poursuite d’absolu, aux tentatives incessantes d’exprimer l’inaccessible qui se manifestent dans les œuvres de certains parmi les plus grands artistes en regard des progrès scientifiques depuis la fin du XIXe siècle jusqu'à nos jours.


Expositions de rentrée
L’attraction de l’espace - Au fond de l’inconnu pour trouver du nouveau !

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Ear to the Universe starts listening

A large array of radio telescopes has begun its first sustained search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) and at rates faster than ever before. Even so, the project has scrambled to find money to stay open and reach its planned size. "We've had a chequered time here," says Don Backer, director of the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) in Hat Creek, California. "We're skating on thin ice."

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Stephen Hawking

L'astrophysicien Stephen Hawking raconte l'univers à Genève

Outre les pronostics sur l'élection au Conseil fédéral, la presse a livré ce mercredi une description émouvante de la leçon donnée mardi à Genève par le célèbre physicien Stephen Hawking, qui est revenu sur les questions existentielles de l'être humain. Le reptile à tête humaine trouvé au Mexique revient aussi sur le devant de la scène, et avec lui, l'ufologie.

Pourquoi sommes-nous là? D'ou venons-nous ? L'astrophysicien Stephen Hawking est sur le point de résoudre ces énigmes, relate la Tribune de Genève . Il était l'invité de l'Uni Dufour de Genève. Devant une salle comble, le théoricien du cosmos a évoqué devant une foule passionnée les progrès de la cosmologie qui permettent non seulement de comprendre la création de l'univers mais encore de le conceptualiser et de l'accepter. Aristote n'était-il pas convaincu que l'univers avait toujours existé? "Que faisait Dieu avant de faire le monde ?", demande avec humour Hawking. Ce besoin intense de savoir si d'autres être vivants existent se retrouve au Mexique avec cette découverte faite par un paysan en 2007 d'une créature attrapée dans un piège à rats. Apeuré, le paysan a tenté de le tuer. Il a dû s'y reprendre à trois fois avant de le noyer. Ce n'est qu'un an plus tard que le paysan s'est décidé à apporter la dépouille à une équipe de scientifiques. Stupéfaction. La chose possède un squelette proche du lézard mais un cerveau qui rappelle celui de l'homme. L'imagination galope, se réjouit L'Illustré , qui se met à imaginer un visiteur débarqué d'une autre planète.

Le canton de Vaud avec le 3e homme de Russie Parole de Vaudois, on se souviendra longtemps de ce mardi 15 septembre à Moscou. La journée, raconte 24 Heures, a été à l'image de "l'été des grands- mères", expression locale pour été indien. Le journal se livre à un récit impressionniste de cette journée historique. Le canton Vaud s'en est allé au contact des responsables moscovites. Sur un cliché, Pascal Broulis, au milieu de ceux-ci, offre un air dubitatif. A-t-il l'esprit ailleurs? Reste qu'il a tout de même été invité par l'inamovible maire de Moscou en son Hôtel de Ville. L'occasion pour les autorités vaudoises de faire valoir leur canton auprès de celui qui est probablement le troisième homme le plus puissant de Russie.

Le loup terrorise les députés lucernois On pourrait l'intituler la fable du Loup et du Contemplatif... C'est la Neue Luzerner Zeitung qui présente le premier personnage, le carnassier qui s'est invité hier au Parlement lucernois. En effet, un loup terrorise les pâturages de l'Entlebuch, une menace que les députés lucernois de l'UDC prennent tellement au sérieux. Ils redoutent des agressions de la bête contre des humains. Méfiez-vous donc du regard chaud et pénétrant de l'animal photographié dans le journal lucernois!

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CROP CIRCLES IN PICTURES: "Alien" Signs, Ads, and More

September 15, 2009--People investigate a crop circle of unknown origins in a cornfield in Corcelles-pres-de-Payerne, Switzerland, on July 7, 2007.

Crop circles, which have been described as everything from alien art forms to sly ad placements, appeared just as mysteriously on Google's home page overnight.

Crop circles first drew attention in the mid-1970s, when they were photographed from the air in fields in the county of Wiltshire, the U.K.. Made mainly from flattened cereal crops such as wheat and barley, these earliest examples were fairly simple in design.

Since then the region has played host to increasingly elaborate portfolio of crop circles. In 2008, for instance, a 150-foot-wide (46-meter-wide) coded representation of the first ten digits of the mathematical constant Pi appeared.

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Crop Circles Go Worldwide Overnight

Mysterious crop circles have once again appeared as the world slept. But last night's crop circles—vast, strange, and often intricate patterns in grain fields—took digital form, as Google's logo morphed into an alien artwork, complete with hovering UFO.

An accompanying Google Twitter post of GPS coordinates sent Web users scurrying to Google Earth software, to discover that the digits denoted Horsell, U.K. (map), site of the first UFO landing in H.G. Wells's novel The War of the Worlds. (YouTube video: Crop Circles on Google Earth.)

The crop circle "Google doodle" remains an unexplained phenomenon, as do some real-world crop circles.

View crop circle pictures >>

Dawn of Crop Circles

Crop circles first drew attention in the mid-1970s, when they were photographed from the air in fields in the county of Wiltshire, U.K. Made mainly from flattened cereal crops such as wheat and barely, these earliest examples were fairly simple in design.

Since then the Wiltshire region has played host to increasingly an elaborate portfolio of crop circles.

In 2008, for instance, a 150-foot-wide (46-meter-wide) coded representation of the first ten digits of the mathematical constant Pi appeared. And, this summer, a vast and spectacular jellyfish almost engulfed a barley field.

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Every crop circle in England in 2009 - with co-ordinates

Crop circles are causing a stir today. Find out where they've cropped up in England this year

A crop circle in a field in Wiltshire, one of many there this year. Photograph: PIN/PIN

Crop circles have been around for many years. They range from simple circles to complex mathematical designs. It is still open to dispute whether some are caused by natural phenomena or all created by human hand.

Google has caused a bit of a stir with today's crop circle doodle. Crop circles are increasingly used for advertising, like this one for Nike which appeared in Italy in 2005.

Using the Crop Circle Archive we've compiled a list of all the crop circle incidents in England this year. Wiltshire is definitely the crop circle hotspot of the UK, with 78 of the 93 appearing there and nine in Milk Hill alone. We've also added the coordinates so you can map them. What can you do with it?

• DATA: Every crop circle in England in 2009

• Can you do something with this data?
Flickr Please post your visualisations and mash-ups on our Flickr group or mail us at datastore@guardian.co.uk

• Get the A-Z of data
• More at the Datastore directory
• Follow us on Twitter

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UFOlogy: Aliens and Hucksters Among Us

DENVER, Colorado – A strong core of believers continue to tout the notion of frequent alien visitors to Earth — UFOs — although this view is largely dismissed by skeptical, mainstream researchers.

But UFOlogists come in two flavors: Those who spend money to investigate the possibility, and those who simply aim to make money off the whole concept.

All this was discussed here last month at the 40^th Annual International UFO Symposium, staged by the Mutual UFO Network, Inc., or MUFON, based in Fort Collins, Colorado. The symposium subtitle: "Dawn of a new era in UFO research."

A few lecture topics by noted speakers tell the story, from reflections of an old UFO chaser to dramatic changes in trace/landing events, as well as highlights from a 20-year study of Canadian sightings and even a talk on engaging a skeptic about UFOs.

Pseudoscientific

A long-time veteran of UFOlogy is Stanton Friedman, a nuclear physicist and lecturer on incoming ET traffic. And he is resolute.

"If one makes an appropriately objective and careful examination of the pro and anti-UFO arguments, one finds that the evidence is overwhelming that Earth is being visited by intelligently controlled vehicles of extraterrestrial origin and that only pseudoscientific arguments of a vocal but small group of debunkers stand in the way of reaching that conclusion, along with a fear of ridicule for being logical," Friedman explained.

Friedman's advice to UFO devotes: "Take courage. I have had only 11 hecklers at more than 700 lectures...and two of them were drunk."

Decades of UFO study are under the belt of Frank Salisbury, emeritus professor of plant physiology at Utah State University in Logan.

Given all that research, Salisbury's bottom line is that UFOs "are both real and important...whatever they are!" In the meantime, he added, don't discount a nearby parallel universe or a worm hole as ingredients in the saga.

Salisbury's sense is that there are intelligences behind the UFOs. And he served up a take-home message too.

"They want to be seen by a few of us, influencing us in some way unknown to us. So what are they trying to achieve with their displays? Darned if I know! For one thing, they might simply want to keep us confused. With me, they have succeeded."

Getting to the truth

As for what's hot in UFO research, James Carrion, MUFON International Director, said the organization has initiated a strategic relationship with Las Vegas-based hotel mogul and space module entrepreneur, Robert Bigelow.

In the works since April, Bigelow is footing the bill on operational expenses so MUFON investigators can pay attention to high priority cases, Carrion said, "and not go chasing lights in the sky."

Trained MUFON specialists can now be rapidly deployed, sent to sighting areas to gather data, even send physical evidence to a lab "while it's fresh, before other folks try to horde it," Carrion said. "In other words, really pay attention to what we should be paying attention to."

Carrion is frank regarding today's state of UFOlogy. He leaves no doubt that there are hucksters – not just, perhaps, aliens—among us.

"There are those of us in MUFON who want to solve the mystery. There are those other folks out there that want to perpetuate the mystery. There is this cottage industry out there. This is their employment and a way to make a buck," Carrion pointed out. "They have no desire to really get to the truth."

But for Carrion, the truth is out there.

"I think there's a core phenomenon. But we have to whittle away at it," Carrion told SPACE.com. One specific research track that he dubs "forensic history" is following the role of the U.S. Government in the UFO field.

"There's an indelible fingerprint out there that shows what the patterns of activity have been. It'll take some research," Carrion said. The Internet has proven to be a powerful tool, he said, enabling the gathering of UFO-related information instantaneously and to help corroborate items of interest.

"In my opinion, UFOlogists have only scratched the surface of potential research on the role of the Government in the UFO field, especially as it relates to counter-intelligence, code breaking, psychological warfare, and Cold War operations."

Evidentiary rules

Taking part in the MUFON meeting was Jeffrey Bennett, scientist and author of "Beyond UFOs - The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Its Astonishing Implications for Our Future."

Admittedly on the agenda as a "token skeptic," Bennett's view is that UFO advocates are best served by "assigning plausibility" to the conviction by hard core believers that Earth is on the receiving end of alien travelers.

"They think they've got evidence. But for me, it's not strong enough yet," Bennett told SPACE.com. One complaint he heard at the MUFON gathering was that mainstream scientists won't fund UFO research.

"But it's the way science works," Bennett counters. The kind of proof presented has not met the standards of scientific scrutiny, he added, "and if it ever does, they'll get their funding."

Others too dismissive?

For the most part, UFO activists are using a different set of evidentiary rules, Bennett said. "We've got our reasons why we like our set of rules in science, because it has been successful. It has allowed a lot of progress."

Bennett spotlights the technological level necessary to trek here from other stars. Then toss in the scale of the universe...the scale of time too. Views generated by "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" have invaded popular culture, so much so, that speeding through the cosmos appears to be a piece of cake.

"In fact, the technology is so incredible that it makes almost all the UFO claims look kind of silly," Bennett said. For instance, scooting across a humungous stretch of space and time to pile drive your craft into Roswell, New Mexico...that's more a stretch in plausibility, he observed.

All that being said, Bennett feels that sometimes the scientific community is far too dismissive of those that witness occurrences chalked up as UFOs.

"We can wish that everybody uses the same standards of evidence. But there's nothing wrong with them as human beings for not doing so. Leave them alone. Let them keep their interests up. Use that opportunity to educate them a little bit along the way...then that's good," Bennett concluded.

Whatever your UFO in-take is, be it a real deal belief, fantasy folk lore and/or a raw form of pulp fiction, one can't leave a MUFON convocation without bringing to mind a Bob Dylan lyric: "Something is happening here...but you don't know what it is."

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Crop circles draw crowds