Scientists Are Studying a Mysterious Metal Sphere They Believe to Be a UFO: 'I've Never Seen a Piece Like This'
The metal item was initially spotted flying over Buga, Colombia, on March 2
The sphere also appears to have mysterious symbols carved on its surface, one of the researchers studying the sphere saidScientists are currently studying a mysterious sphere that they believe to be an unidentified flying object (UFO).
The metal item was initially spotted flying over Buga, Colombia, on March 2, before later being recovered in the area, according to a video from scientists that was shared online.
Jose Luis Velazquez, one of the researchers studying the sphere, said the mysterious object appears to have "no welds or joints' — both of which would typically indicate human manufacturing. The sphere also appears to have mysterious symbols carved on its surface, he added.
Velazquez and his team said they used an X-ray on the object and found that it consists of three layers of metal, along with nine 'microspheres' in the interior.
'It is a very rare piece … I've never seen a piece like this,' Velazquez said.
Julia Mossbridge — a member of the University of San Diego Department of Physics and Biophysics, and the founder of The Institute for Love and Time (TILT) — told Fox News that she is skeptical of the sphere's origins.
"It looks to me like a really cool art project," she told the outlet.
"Before you decide something's anomalous or a UFO, bring the object to a group like the Galileo Project," Mossbridge continued, referring to the international research project founded by Harvard University astrophysicist Avi Loeb, which aims to vet and study potential extraterrestrial artifacts through rigorous scientific research.
The researcher added that similar findings might say more about the current state of humanity than about the universe at large.
'We are entering a time when we don't have the control that we thought we had," she told Fox News. 'If an artist is doing this, why is that? Well, I think it's partly the same reason. It's because we're learning that we don't understand what's in our skies or our waters. And there's something going on that's essentially bigger than us.'
And while Mossbridge is skeptical of the recent find in Colombia, she doesn't necessarily believe that all UFO sightings or artifacts are a hoax.
'Frankly, we've been looking at UAPs (unidentified anomalous phenomena) for decades, and the federal government has admitted that there are things that we don't understand, but we are investigating them,' she said.
Mossbridge also stressed the importance of using non-governmental, non-partisan research groups like the Galileo Project and the Scientific Coalition for UAP studies.
'They are all trying to get rigorous information themselves, not necessarily waiting on the federal government, about what's going on in our skies, what's going on in our waters, and actually trying to get international cooperation around these things,' she said.
'Because, for instance, the sphere in Colombia is in a different country. So, what are the rules about how we deal with something that's interesting that's found there?' added Mossbridge.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Mossbridge also said: "The natural human response to the unknown is fear. But we need to start noticing that fear doesn't actually keep us safe; what keeps us safe is the willingness to understand and explore what is really going on — and to react appropriately to what we discover."
"That willingness is supported by self-transcendence, the ability to look beyond ourselves and recognize that there are things that are bigger than us," she continued.
Read the original article on People
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
A New Study Just Linked One Particular Kind of Milk to Better Muscle and Bone Health
Instead of ordering oat milk, maybe you should be opting for goat points A new study from researchers in China analyzed the impact of consuming different types of milk on muscle and bone health while aging. This study used mice to learn about the relationship between sarcopenia, age-related muscle loss, and four different dairy milks. Findings revealed that goat milk (in particular low-fat goat milk and low-fat fortified goat milk) was more effective at supporting muscle regeneration and reducing it seems like everyone is going wild for protein these days, you're not imagining things. According to Cargill's 2025 Protein Profile, 61% of Americans increased their protein intake in 2024. As Grand View Research noted in its 2025 report, the "global protein-fortified food products market size was estimated at $66.8 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $101.62 billion by 2030." However, according to one new study, you may not need to rely solely on pricey protein-fortified foods and powders to support muscle health. Simply switching up the milk you drink every day could help. In July, researchers from Peking University and Hyproca Nutrition in China published their findings in the journal Food Science & Nutrition, giving greater insight into four dairy products and whether they have the potential to delay the progression of sarcopenia, or age-related muscle loss. "Sarcopenia, characterized by progressive loss of muscle mass and strength, poses a significant public health challenge. However, the specific role of dairy products in preventing sarcopenia is not well understood," the scientists shared. Studies like this are key to finding solutions for a problem that many of us may face. As one research overview explained, on average, 5–13% of people between 60 and 70 years of age are affected by sarcopenia. For people over 80, that increases to 11–50%. To figure out which dairy products can help stave off sarcopenia, the researchers fed dairy-enriched diets to mice for eight weeks. The mice were split into six groups: normal control, sarcopenia, goat whole milk, goat low-fat milk, goat fortified vitamin D, calcium low-fat milk, and bovine (cow) whole milk. The normal control group was given saline throughout the trial — a salt and water solution that acts as a placebo — while the other five groups received dexamethasone injections to induce sarcopenia. At the same time, four groups were fed the milk in their group name. This means that one group did have induced sarcopenia without receiving a dairy supplement, acting as a sarcopenia control group. The team then measured the test subjects' grip strength, weight, bone mineral density, autophagy (the process that allows your body to reuse and recycle damaged cells), muscle morphology (the size and shape of the muscles), metabolism, inflammation, and gut microbial health. Related: Is Coffee the Next Anti-Aging Elixir? This New Research Says Yes They found that while all types of milk helped the mice regain muscle mass and bone strength, the fortified low-fat goat's milk — a version with added vitamin D and calcium — was most effective. As the researchers explained, the goat milk boosted muscle-building signals in the body and lowered levels of key inflammation markers linked to muscle loss. They also noticed one more critical finding in the gut. All of the dairy-fed mice showed shifts in their microbiome, with increases in the beneficial bacteria Leuconostoc. However, only the goat milk-fed mice showed an increase in Lactococcus and Acinetobacter bacteria, which could help reduce inflammation and support the body's metabolism. Need all of this boiled down to simpler terms? "This study demonstrates that different types of dairy products have distinct effects on muscle metabolism, autophagy, inflammation, and gut microbiota in sarcopenia," the authors concluded. "Goat milk, particularly its low-fat and vitamin D/calcium-fortified variants, showed greater benefits in promoting muscle regeneration and reducing inflammation compared to bovine milk, highlighting the importance of dairy composition." Related: Scientists Say This AI-Created Diet Could Help Reduce Your Risk of Dementia It is important to note that many commercial cow milks are fortified with Vitamins A and D, but the researchers do not provide commentary on whether this might come closer to offering the same muscle-regenerating benefits as fortified goat milk. This study was conducted on mice, so the hypothesis has not been proven with humans. Nevertheless, it's one reason to search for goat milk the next time you're strolling through the grocery store or seek out a farmers market to start chatting with your local goat farmer about a regular supply. Read the original article on Food & Wine Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
These tarantulas may have evolved huge genitalia to fend off bloodthirsty females
When scientists discover a new species, they usually name it after the creature's most notable characteristic. So why did a group of scientists recently name a newly discovered genus of tarantulas after satyrs, the famously well-endowed half-goat men from Greek mythology? Like a satyr, the new species have massive members that dwarf those of all other tarantulas, scientists explain in a study published last month in the journal ZooKeys. Females in this genus are extremely aggressive, so scientists speculate that their males evolved ginormous genitals to keep a safer distance during mating. 'New species are found quite regularly, but finding large-sized spiders with such bold behavior and such unique features, that doesn't happen every day,' says Alireza Zamani, an arachnologist at the University of Turku in Finland and co-author of the new find. 'There's a lot that we don't know about our planet.' (Why do these tarantulas have bright blue legs?) Let's talk about tarantula sex Last year, Zamani was poring over old records of tarantula sightings when he noticed something strange. The scientific record, the citizen science platform iNaturalist, and even social media sites were all teeming with reports of tarantulas with massive sex organs in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa. Tarantulas, like all spiders, don't have penises; they have palps. Located near the spider's mouth, palps are leg-like appendages that are used for everything from mating to feeding. Males have structures on their palps known as palpal bulbs. The bulbs look like boxing gloves and function like syringes. When it's time to mate, males deposit sperm onto one of their webs and then transfer it to their papal bulbs. Once they have a female in their grasp, they will insert one of their palps into the female's genital opening and deposit their sperm. While palp size varies species to species, the palps that Zamani was seeing were unlike any he had seen before. He contacted researchers in Africa and the Middle East, and eventually got his hands on eight preserved specimens, their impressive palps intact, as well as photos and videos of them in the wild. By studying their structure and DNA, Zamani and his colleagues were able to determine that these tarantulas not only belonged to four new species but also comprised an entirely new genus. They dubbed this new genus Satyrex, which is a combination of Satyr and the Latin word rēx, meaning the spiders in this genus live underground and are 'highly defensive and highly aggressive,' Zamani says. The most aggressive of the bunch is Satyrex ferox. This spider, which is the largest in the genus, has palps that can reach a whopping five centimeters (nearly two inches), making them nearly as long as its longest legs. Their name comes from the Latin word for "fierce." According to Zamani, this spider will assume a defensive posture at the slightest disturbance, raising its front legs and rubbing them together to make a hissing sound. The tarantula tango The researchers speculate that male members of Satyrex may have evolved their huge palps to avoid getting attacked and eaten by females during sex. For many tarantulas, mating is a deadly duel. During such bouts, males strive to inseminate and escape, while females fight to make a meal of their would-be suitors. (See a rare video of tarantula mating.) In nearly all tarantulas, including the new Satyrex species, males have evolved hooks on their front legs that they use to lock the female's fangs in place during mating to stop her from biting them. While these little hooks work for most tarantulas, Zamani suspects they alone are unlikely to protect members of Satyrex from their feisty females. Having huge palps may help male Satyrex spiders maintain a safe(ish) distance from females during mating, he says. 'I think it's a fascinating hypothesis that is very testable,' says Chrissie Painting, a behavioral ecologist who studies mating systems at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. Painting, who was not involved with the study, says these spiders may be in the midst of an evolutionary arms race, with females evolving to become more aggressive in order to snag a snack that can sustain them in motherhood and males evolving better means of mating with them without getting eaten. While more research is needed to confirm this, Painting says, sexual cannibalism is a strong driver of evolution. In other spider species with sexual cannibalism, Painting points out, males have evolved the ability to transfer sperm extremely quickly to reduce their chances of getting eaten while getting it on. (Meet the tarantula named after Johnny Cash.) A broader web of spider diversity Zamani and his colleagues were surprised that the spiders they described in this study had gone undiscovered for so long. But our planet is home to over 1,000 species of tarantulas, and many have yet to be found. 'The reality is that the vast majority of Earth's biodiversity remains undocumented,' he says. When it comes to the range of weird spiders yet to be discovered, these tarantulas may just be the tip. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
New research may have found the secret to delaying chronic illness in old age
Imagine two people in their 70s. Both are active, live independently and enjoy life. But over the next 15 years, one of them develops two or three chronic illnesses – heart disease, diabetes, depression – while the other remains relatively healthy. What made the difference? According to our new research, diet may be a key part of the answer. In our new study, our group at the Aging Research Center at the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, followed more than 2,400 older Swedish adults for 15 years. We found that people who consistently ate a healthy diet developed chronic diseases more slowly, in contrast to those whose diets were considered more inflammatory; that is, diets high in processed meats, refined grains and sugary drinks, which are known to promote low-grade chronic inflammation in the body. This is important because having several health conditions at the same time is one of the biggest problems older people face. It increases the risk of disability, hospitalisation and early death. It also places a huge burden on healthcare systems. But while it has been long known that diet can help prevent individual diseases, our study shows that it may also influence the overall pace of biological ageing. We looked at four well-known dietary patterns. Three of them – the Mind diet (designed to protect brain health), the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (based on foods linked to lower disease risk) and the Mediterranean diet – were associated with slower disease accumulation. The fourth, a diet high in inflammatory foods, was linked to faster accumulation. The strongest associations were seen for cardiovascular and psychiatric conditions. So, people who ate better were less likely to develop diseases including heart failure, stroke, depression or dementia. We did not, however, find a clear link between diet and musculoskeletal diseases such as arthritis or osteoporosis. Some of the benefits of healthy eating were more pronounced in women and in the oldest participants: those aged 78 and above. This suggests that it is never too late to make changes. Even in very old age, diet matters. Why does food have such a strong potential? One reason may be inflammation. As people age, many develop low-grade chronic inflammation – sometimes called 'inflammaging' – which is linked to a wide range of diseases. Diets high in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and healthy fats tend to reduce inflammation. Diets rich in highly processed foods and sugar do the opposite. Another reason is that healthy diets support the body's resilience. They provide essential nutrients that help maintain immune function, muscle mass and cognitive health. Over time, this can make a big difference in how people age. Our study is one of the longest and most comprehensive of its kind. We used repeated dietary assessments and tracked more than 60 chronic health conditions. We also tested our findings using different analytical methods to make sure they held up. Of course, diet is just one piece of the puzzle. Physical activity, social connections and access to healthcare all play important roles in healthy ageing. But improving diet quality is a relatively simple and accessible way to help older adults live longer, healthier lives. So what should older adults eat? The message is clear: eat plenty of vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts and whole grains. Choose healthy fats like rapeseed oil and fish. Limit red and processed meats, sugary drinks and solid fats. These are the building blocks of the diets we studied – and they have been associated with slower ageing, better brain health and fewer chronic diseases in this and other research. Ageing is inevitable. But people can shape how it unfolds. Our findings suggest that even small changes in diet can make a meaningful difference in how people experience later life, regardless of their age. Adrián Carballo Casla is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Geriatric Epidemiology at Karolinska Institutet. Amaia Calderón-Larrañaga is an Associate Professor at the Aging Research Center at Karolinska Institutet. David Abbad Gomez is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Epidemiology and Evaluation at Hospital del Mar Research Institute, Barcelona. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Solve the daily Crossword