Evidence of active volcanoes on Mars may boost chances of finding life

 

Image courtesy of Mars Express & HRSC

Joel Kontinen

Active volcanoes may hint that Mars has or had life.

Mars may be volcanically active, say scientists who have linked evidence of gases often produced by magma with photographs of fresh fissures found on the surface of the Red Planet. The findings could be interpreted as good news in the hunt for life, as a continuous heat source would be needed to keep microorganisms safe from frigid temperatures on the surface.

Scientists have seen evidence of volcanoes on Mars in the past few million years and seismic activity has hinted that some may still be active, but no evidence of lava flows or current eruptions had previously been found.

Daniel Mège at the Polish Academy of Sciences and his colleagues looked at the little data available – just 15 recorded instances of the gas – alongside newly taken photographs of the surface. They were able to link recent, narrow fissures in the Alba Mons region of Mars to the HCl emissions, providing strong evidence of underground lava flow.

“We have 2 kilometres of wind between them, and in this season there are a lot of dust devils. So, the atmosphere is turbulent. It’s an enormous mess,” says Mège.

Nicolas Thomas at the University of Bern, Switzerland, another team member, stresses that until the area is investigated up-close, there will always be doubt about the source of the gas. But, he argues, this finding makes the case for further surface exploration of Mars.

“Suspicion is one thing, proof is better, right?” says Thomas. “I’m a terrible sceptic. Until you put something down there and you actually sniff the stuff coming out of the ground, you haven’t got unambiguous proof.”

But Mars is not a place where we could find life. It has not been created for life.

Source:

Matthew Sparkes 2026 Evidence of active volcanoes on Mars may boost chances of finding life | New Scientist 5 November

The slaughter of Jews did not begin in 1948

 

Image courtesy of Heinrich Hoffmann, Hitler's official photographer

Joel Kontinen

In 1929, Arab mobs in Hebron massacred 67 of their Jewish neighbours, many of them young yeshiva students, with knives and axes. From 1936 to 1939, Arab gangs waged a three-year campaign of terror against the Jews of the Land of Israel. There was no “occupation” back then, no checkpoints, no settlements and no Netanyahu. There were Jews living in their land, and Arabs who wanted them dead or gone.

And then the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, who was pictured with Hitler. He wanted to destroy all Jews.

Source:

Elie Mischel, 2026 Thank you, Osama Saadi - Israel365 News 5 November

‘Oddball’ test lets us glimpse how monkeys see the world

 

Image courtesy of Ryhor Bruyeu/Alamy

Joel Kontinen

We can never know what it is like to be a bat, philosopher Thomas Nagel famously agued. But what about monkeys? Do they see the world in the same way?

How do monkeys see the world? At least macaques see it probably different from us. Some researchers did a study on macaques  in India: 

To find out, neuroscientists in India used an “oddball” test to compare visual performances between people and macaques. They found that, although the different species scored similarly many aspects of perception, there were two intriguing differences: the monkeys were less fazed by images being flipped upside down and they seemed far more focused on fine details.

Source:

Jo Marchant 2026 'Oddball' test lets us glimpse how monkeys see the world | New Scientist 26 October 

There may be a new dwarf planet just beyond Pluto

 

NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA Image courtesy of M. Juric (UW), D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)

Joel Kontinen

Astronomers spotted what appears to be a dwarf planet in the outer solar system using the Vera C. Rubin Observatory – if confirmed, it joins a small and exclusive club.

A mosaic of images captured by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory of the newly discovered dwarf planet candidate ED138.

There might be a new dwarf planet beyond Pluto. This suggestion was presented by researchers who have looked up at the sky past Pluto.

The small club of dwarf planets in our solar system may have just grown by one. Astronomers using the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile have spotted an object beyond Pluto that seems to be big enough to qualify as a dwarf planet. In fact, it is one of the largest dwarf planet candidates we have spotted so far from the sun.

Source:

Leah Crane 2026 There may be a new dwarf planet just beyond Pluto | New Scientist 28 October 

 

Inhaling CO2 may rescue nerves’ ability to regrow

 

Image courtesy of Marcial Quiroga-Carmona

Joel Kontinen

Breathing out after birth switches off the ability of tissues to regenerate, a study in mice suggests. But the pathway seems to be reversible.

Taking our first breaths marks the beginning of a new life, yet this may be the very act that limits our ability to grow and heal as adults. Studies in mice have pinned down newborns’ exhalation of carbon dioxide, immediately after birth, as the starting gun that switches off their cells’ intrinsic ability to regenerate.

“We were very surprised and excited by the CO2 effect,” says Zhigang He at Harvard Medical School, who led the research.

Does inhaling a lot of CO2 make limb grow? This is what some researchers say. The study was done on mice, so that it might not apply to humans at all.  

Source:

Jo Marchant 2026 Inhaling CO2 may rescue nerves’ ability to regrow | New Scientist 29 October 

Turks spread lies about the Mossad and France

 

Image courtesy of wp-post-image 

Joel Kontinen

“Jewish lobbies” secretly pulling the strings behind student riots in France. No, this isn’t some neo-Nazi conspiracy site. It’s @CNN’s Turkish affiliate. Viewers were told Israel can “push the button” in France using its “Jewish lobbies,” economic power and intelligence apparatus. And apparently, “it wouldn’t be right to say that Mossad ALONE is responsible.” This is textbook antisemitic conspiracy-mongering, broadcast under the CNN brand.

The Turks are spreading lies. If would not benefit the Jews. Just  look at the pro Palestinian flags all over France.

Source:

Honest reporting. 2026,  HR on X: Our Top X Posts for October 2026 | HonestReporting  5  October.

Wind turbines have killed 19 million bats in 40 years in the US

 

Image courtesy of Michael Durham/Nature Picture Library/Alamy.

Joel Kontinen

Wind turbines kill bats at an alarming rate. Nearly 19 million bats are estimated to have been killed by wind turbines in the US between 1981 and 2024, but measures can be taken to make them less deadly.

Bats play a vital role in ecosystems, particularly by controlling insects like mosquitoes and moths that produce crop-killing caterpillars.

“We know bats are being impacted, but could we change the engineering or sites of a turbine to minimise those impacts?” she asks. “There’s been an increasing interest in this, but we just haven’t had the appropriate data yet.”

Now, Straw, Labuzzetta and their colleagues have analysed 499 reports from wind farms across the 48 adjoining US states to estimate how many bats were killed by turbines from 1981 to 2024, focusing on 10 species. They used a statistical model that considered differences in how wind farms searched for dead bats, the size and design of their turbines, and the surrounding environment.

Their results suggest that wind turbines killed an estimated 18.7 million bats between 1981 and 2024. Annual deaths seem to have exceeded 1.5 million from 2021 onwards, which may be the result of more wind turbines being installed.

The researchers aren’t sure why bats fly so close to wind turbines.

Source:

Christa Lesté-Lasserre. 2026 Wind turbines have killed 19 million bats in 40 years in the US | New Scientist 26 October