Inverse - 🛸 NASA announces UAP research team

Monday

Oct 24 2022

Since 1947, reports have flooded in of strange lights in the sky of unknown origin — or even centuries earlier, if you've brushed up on your Jacques Vallee recently. But the right moment seemed to come in the post-war age for people to make a new round of bold claims. And while interest has ebbed and flowed in the 75 years since, a 2017 New York Times article brought the whole debate back, along with an obscure Department of Defense moniker for them: unidentified aerial phenomena, a broader term for what we've always called UFOs.

That article revealed that the Pentagon had been quietly studying UAPs again among reports from its personnel, and a few videos leaked too. To wade into the politics of the whole thing is a mess, but it does lead us to an unusual declaration by NASA: it was going to conduct a UAP study, too, which is shocking on a number of levels, including a long, just-thawing freeze on programs like the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) within the agency. Of course, no one is saying UAPs are aliens. They could be weird weather phenomena, clandestine human technology, misidentified birds, or your Uncle Jerry trying to erratically fly a crop duster.

The announcement of a NASA team brings the topic back in the limelight. Will they find anything? It may not be aliens, but the agency is most keen on finding strange natural phenomena that helps us better understand our own world, so the report should still yield some surprises, even if they disappoint your inner X-Phile.

What's New

UFO

Science

NASA announces its unidentified aerial phenomena research team to examine mysterious sightings

A 16-person team — including an astronaut, a space-treaty drafter, a boxer, and several astrobiologists — will soon begin its review of unexplained aerial phenomena (UAP) for NASA.

The space agency announced Friday the members of the team, who will labor over the course of nine months starting on Monday to analyze unclassified data on UAPs, peculiar sightings of objects behaving unlike anything we’re familiar with. But until the full report is released to the public in mid-2023, NASA says everything will be kept a secret.

NASA will hold a public meeting after the report is released to discuss the study’s findings, an event that curious onlookers might want to earmark.

Preview

Gaming

God of War: Ragnarök totally flips the father-son power dynamic

Kratos has always been the star of the God of War series. Whether in its hack-n-slash sex mini-game days or his more reserved time as a father, the franchise has been a story of one man. But the early hours of God of War: Ragnarök flip the script entirely, putting Kratos in a supporting role, by letting Atreus take charge.

The opening hours of God of War: Ragnarök presents a stunning sequel to its 2018 predecessor. It meaningfully builds on the story of Kratos as a father and what it means for a parent to shepherd a child into adulthood, including the inevitable need to let them grow beyond you.

Review

Gear

Amazon Echo Frames review: Better than headphones?

After conquering desks, pockets, and our wrists, big tech is ambitiously racing to put computers — in the form of smart glasses — on our faces.

With proper smart glasses that can display or project information in front of or into your eyes still in their early days as consumer products, the interim seems to be ambient, audio-focused experiences such as Amazon's Echo Frames.

Whether smart glasses like the Echo Frames have longevity or not, it feels like Amazon's hit on something legitimate here. The Echo Frames are simple: they let me hear incoming notifications, call up Alexa for simple (if limited tasks), and disappear into my music/podcast/audiobook.

Read our review

VROOM VROOM

Innovation

Thanks to this new battery, EV charging just got a whole lot faster

After decades of development, the U.S. electric vehicle market is finally revving up.

Thanks to the Biden Administration’s recent EV subsidies, growing access to charging stations, and the surging popularity of brands like Tesla, more Americans are driving on battery power than ever before.

But electric vehicles still face some technical limitations. For instance, most EVs take a relatively long time to charge up — compared to a speedy gas stop, drivers usually need to wait at least 20 minutes (and that’s with the fastest equipment out there).

But things could soon change. A new battery could charge up in about 11 minutes, according to a new Nature study.

Learn more

Knotty

Space

JWST captures a galaxy cluster that could solve a dark matter mystery

The early universe is full of secrets. Thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers are able to peer further into the cosmic past than ever before.

Sometimes scientists find objects they weren’t expecting, as was the case with a newly discovered cluster of galaxies.

Writing in an upcoming report in Astrophysical Journal Letters, researchers described how they used JWST to view a single galaxy, and ended up bringing three new ones into view.

Take a closer look

Meanwhile...

Swearing study reveals cursing’s powerful cognitive effects

The most iconic radio telescope ever is gone for good, U.S. government declares

Everything we know about 'Dune: The Sisterhood'

Spoilers!

'House of the Dragon' ending explained

Today in history: The first transcontinental telegram was sent via the telegraph in the United States on October 24, 1861.

Song of the day: "The Crown of Jaeharys," Ramin Djawadi

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Inverse - 🛸 NASA announces UAP research team

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