Latest news with #RichardStanton
IOL News
29-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Juniper Moon Gin: crafting a unique London Dry with an innovative twist
Juniper Moon Gin is forging a new path with its exciting blend ofi ngredients. Image: Supplied. In a thriving alcoholic beverage industry, Juniper Moon Gin is forging its path by offering enthusiasts something truly unique. Each element of the proudly South African classic London dry gin is meticulously considered, and the utmost attention to detail is implemented at every stage. This includes distilling the alcoholic drink in batches of less than 300 bottles using a traditional copper still at a distillery in the Western Cape. Juniper Moon Gin's roots trace back to 2013, when its founder, Richard Stanton, created his first distillation. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Juniper Moon Gin is founded by distiller, Richard Stanton,created his first distillation back in 2013. Image: Supplied And although it is a London Dry, the most common kind of gin and a style of beverage which is characterised by a dry, robust taste and is often used as a base for cocktails, Stanton conducted extensive research to ensure that he came up with something novel. He believes that his unique recipe, which includes nine botanicals, seven of which are traditional, is what sets them apart. Other flavours include juniper berries as well as orris and angelica roots. With a hint of floral notes, Juniper Moon also contains two secret ingredients which introduce gin-lovers to something very new and different. To showcase their impeccable gin, Juniper Moon will host an exclusive gin-pairing experience at Auslese by Aubergine in Cape Town on Thursday night featuring the culinary delights of former "Masterchef Australia" runner-up Ben Ungermann and the restaurant's chef Harald Bresselschmidt, with gin creations by master mixologist Sebastian Rodriguez. Juniper Moon Gin features a blend of exciting ingredients. Image: Supplied. Ahead of the event, Stanton, whose Juniper Moon Gin was highlighted by Rolls-Royce at an event in the UK recently, explained that they contacted several European spice traders in a bid to see if there was a demand for their two secret botanicals. 'Between them, they supply several thousand distillers worldwide, and none of the traders had ever sold these two products to anybody, ever.' He added: 'So although, yes, London Dry is the most common kind of gin, mine is different.' 'If you compare five, 10 or even London Dry gins, there is always an element of similarity between them, but Juniper Moon never disappears and becomes 'one of the crowd'.' 'True gin enthusiasts will always detect something very different, very special.' Juniper Moon Gin's founder Richard Stanton is passionate about taking his brand to new heights. Image: Supplied
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
'Strange' star pulses detected in search for extraterrestrial intelligence
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. An unusual pulse signal has been detected in the light of nearby stars — and it's left scientists scratching their heads, a study searching for extraterrestrial intelligence finds. The pulses saw the stars become fainter and brighter in a fraction of a second, suggesting that something passed in front of — and partially obscured — the stars' light. This doesn't mean aliens were zooming by in spaceships, but unknown alien activity is one of several possible explanations left on the table by the researcher who detected the signal. Richard Stanton, a retired scientist who formerly worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has spent years with a 30-inch telescope scrutinizing more than 1,300 sun-like stars for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. He does this by measuring changes in light coming from individual stars. This effort didn't yield anything particularly unusual until May 14, 2023, when Stanton detected two quick and identical pulses in the light of a star named HD 89389 — located around 102 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Ursa Major. "No single pulse anything like these has ever been found in more than 1,500 hours of searching," Stanton wrote in the study, published April 23 in the journal Acta Astronautica. Stanton checked historical data on starlight observations and found that a similar pair of pulse signals was recorded in 2019, this time in the light of a star called HD 217014, or 51 Pegasi. After completing his study, Stanton then detected a third double pulse event in the light of another star (HD 12051) on Jan. 18, 2025. The pulse signals are currently unexplained. However, Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute in California who was not involved in the study, urged caution when attributing the pulses to potential alien activity. "There's a history (going back more than a century) of astronomical discoveries that were, at first, attributed to extraterrestrial beings, but in fact turned out to be natural phenomena," Shostak told Live Science in an email. "Given that history, one should be cautious in saying that these 'starlight pulses' are due to extraterrestrials trying to get in touch." Shostak added that he would expect any alien transmissions, be they optical, radio or something else, to convey information of some kind — because, as he puts it, clever aliens wouldn't go to the trouble and expense of sending empty signals into space. "And as these signals seem to be both regular, kind of simple (two pulses) and repetitive, I'm more than a little inclined to say that we're dealing with astrophysical phenomena here — not an attempt by some alien society to send interstellar telegrams," he said. Related: Did the James Webb telescope really find evidence of alien life? Here's the truth about exoplanet K2-18b. Even so, the pulses of light coming from HD 89389 were "strange," according to Stanton's study. The star's light was reduced by about a quarter in one-tenth of a second. No known phenomenon could have caused the star itself to change in brightness and then revert back to normal so quickly, according to the study. There are plenty of objects in and around Earth that regularly obscure stars in the night sky, causing their brightness to flicker. However, Stanton found that the usual suspects for obscuring stars, like airplanes, birds, satellites and meteors around Earth, didn't explain these pulses. For example, objects like airplanes and asteroids typically obscure all of the star's light, but HD 89389 never completely disappeared. What's more, Stanton snaps images of the stars while measuring the photons they emit, and these images often pick up passing satellites that have obscured a star's light. However, there wasn't anything visible in the images of HD 89389 to explain the pulses. "Nothing was found in any of these frames, suggesting that the source of the pulses was either invisible, such as due to some atmospheric effect, or too far away to be detected," Stanton wrote. One possible explanation is the activity of an extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI), but it would have to be near to Earth (relatively speaking) because of how rapidly the stars changed in brightness. RELATED STORIES —Intelligent aliens would need a power supply to jump-start their civilization — would they require fossil fuels? —'Perhaps it's only a matter of time': Intelligent life may be much more likely than first thought, new model suggests —What's the best evidence we've found for alien life? "Whatever is modulating the star's light must be relatively close to Earth, implying that any ETI activity must be within our solar system," Stanton wrote. The study explored several potential causes for the pulses but left many questions unanswered. Alongside aliens, possible explanations left on the table included gravitational waves — ripples in the fabric of space-time — and the starlight diffracting off some unseen space object. "More and better data are needed, such as could be gathered using arrays of telescopes on the ground," Stanton wrote. "Data from this new source, or information from other approaches, may be the only way to unravel this mystery."
Asharq Al-Awsat
21-05-2025
- Science
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Mystery Space Object Sends ‘Inexplicable' Signal to Earth
A mysterious object in space has been sending an 'unexpected' pulsing signal to Earth that is 'unlike anything ever seen before.' The object, which is inside our own galaxy, has been sending signals that are so unique they have completely stumped scientists. The British LBC website quoted Nasa scientist Richard Stanton, who discovered the signal, as saying that he can't rule out the possibility that the signal is coming from an alien civilization. In a study published in the Acta Astronautica scientific journal, Stanton laid out his discovery of an unexpected 'signal' coming from a sun-like star about 100 light-years from Earth in May 2023. The signal was a pulse of light from the star that increases, then decreases and then increases again very quickly - something that the scientist says qualifies it as 'strange.' Even stranger, though, is that the unique signal from the Ursa Major (Great Bear) constellation was repeated again, exactly 4 seconds after it was first sent to Earth. The pulses of light were completely identical, which according to the study, has never been seen in previous searches. The 'unique' signal also made the light from its nearby star behave strangely, and made the star 'partially disappear in a tenth of a second,' according to Stanton. 'In over 1,500 hours of searching, no single pulse resembling these has ever been detected,' he added. 'The fine structure in the star's light between the peaks of the first pulse repeats almost exactly in the second pulse 4.4 seconds later. No one knows how to explain this behavior,' he said. The study shows that a very similar signal was recorded in 2019, but was simply dismissed at 'birds' at the time, which Stanton has ruled out. The scientist also ruled out 'common signals', which can come from meteors, satellites, airplanes, lighting, atmospheric scintillation, and system noise. Stanton said the signals from those sources 'are completely different from these pulses.' The study describes many different potential sources for the signal, including refracting light moving through the Earth's atmosphere, which Stanton said was unlikely. Other possible sources he discussed were starlight diffraction from a distant object in the solar system, or eclipses caused by Earth's satellites or asteroids moving through our solar system. But Stanton said that, in these early stages of research, it is impossible to rule out the involvement of alien intelligence. 'None of these explanations are really satisfying at this point,' said Stanton. 'We don't know what kind of object could produce these pulses or how far away it is.' 'We don't know if the two-pulse signal is produced by something passing between us and the star or if it is generated by something that modulates the star's light without moving across the field,' he added. Stanton said: 'Until we learn more, we can't even say whether or not extraterrestrials are involved!'
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Alien Hunters Detect "Unexplained Pulses" Emanating From Two Distant Stars
When looking for extraterrestrial life, scientists found something odd — two bizarre electromagnetic pulses coming from a distant constellation that cannot be explained. In a new study published in the journal Acta Astronautica, researchers from NASA and CalTech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory admitted they could not rule out the chance that the twin star pulses they detected within Ursa Major, some 100 light-years away, were related to alien life. The star in question, HD 89389, is slightly larger and brighter than our Sun and was the focus of observation for veteran NASA scientist Richard Stanton. In 2023, Stanton detected an unexpected signal emanating from the star: two identical and fast pulses roughly 4.4 seconds apart that made it flash brightly, dim, and then flash again. "The star gets brighter-fainter-brighter and then returns to its ambient level," Stanton told Universe Today. "This variation is much too strong to be caused by random noise or atmospheric turbulence. How do you make a star, over a million kilometers across, partially disappear in a tenth of a second? The source of this variation can't be as far away as the star itself." This signal had never been detected before, but to make sure it wasn't something else, the researcher spent an estimated 1,500 hours, which is the equivalent of about two months straight, comparing it to everything from planes and lightning to meteors and system malfunctions. When none of those searches yielded anything similar, Stanton told Universe Today that he felt confident that what he was seeing had not been observed for that Ursa Major star before. However, it did resemble another surprise twin pulse observation from 2019 that emanated from a hot gas giant now named Dimidium located about 50 light-years from Earth. The electromagnetic pulses emitted from Dimidium were initially dismissed as having been caused by birds, as Universe Today notes. To avoid a similarly false conclusion, Stanton began positing all manner of explanations related to the strange signals, including atmospheric conditions on Earth or even an anomalous reading due to our planet's gravity — but none of them "are really satisfying at this point," he said. "We don't know what kind of object could produce these pulses or how far away it is," the scientist said. "We don't know if the two-pulse signal is produced by something passing between us and the star or if it is generated by something that modulates the star's light without moving across the field." It's way too soon to tell what's going on with those strange signals from Ursa Major — but it seems certain that something weird is going on there, and that whatever is causing it will be fascinating indeed. "Until we learn more," Stanton concluded, "we can't even say whether or not extraterrestrials are involved!" More on stars: NASA's James Webb Telescope Just Found Frozen Water Around Another Star
Scottish Sun
19-05-2025
- Science
- Scottish Sun
Mystery object sends ‘pulsing' signal from inside our galaxy like nothing ever seen & scientists ‘can't rule out aliens'
The unexplainable pulses could have several causes HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDE HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDE Mystery object sends 'pulsing' signal from inside our galaxy like nothing ever seen & scientists 'can't rule out aliens' Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A MYSTERY cosmic object inside our own galaxy has been detected sending out a pulsing signal that has baffled scientists. The signal is so out of the ordinary that scientists cannot rule out the possibility that it is coming from an alien civilisation. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 The SETI project started out of the the Greenbank Observatory in West Bank, Virginia, more than 60 years ago Credit: Alamy 3 Our galaxy, the Milky Way Galaxy, over the Jurassic Coast at Charmouth, Dorset, UK Credit: Getty In a new study, published in the journal Acta Astronautica, Nasa scientist Richard Stanton said he discovered an unexpected "signal" coming from a sun-like star 100 light-years from Earth on 14 May, 2023. Since then, Stanton has observed the pulse of light on three separate occasions. The signal, from star HD 89389 within the constellation Ursa Major, consisted of two fast, identical pulses 4.4 seconds apart. They had not been seen in previous searches, according to the study. The pulses also had several unique characteristics that set them apart from anything scientists had previously observed. This includes fluctuating light from the nearby star, which got "brighter-fainter-brighter" and made the star "partially disappear in a tenth of a second," according to Stanton. The pulses and their individual glows were essentially identical too. "In over 1500 hours of searching, no single pulse resembling these has ever been detected," he added. "The fine structure in the star's light between the peaks of the first pulse repeats almost exactly in the second pulse 4.4s later. No one knows how to explain this behavior." Stunning clip of Milky Way captured in record-breaking detail - scientists say it 'changes view of our galaxy forever' And nothing was moving near the star that could have caused these beams. Sometimes signals produced by airplanes, satellites, meteors, lightning, atmospheric scintillation, and system noise can appear as cosmic signals. Although Stanton noted that common signals "are completely different from these pulses". The pulses match similar beams of light from a different star observed four years ago, according to Stanton. In 2019, a similar pair of pulses was detected around sun-like star HD 217014, some 50.6 light-years from Earth. At the time, the signal was dismissed as a false positive caused by birds, according to Stanton. However, a further analysis ruled out this possibility. 3 Stanton says alien involvement cannot be ruled out Credit: Getty The unexplainable pulses could have several causes. While unlikely, according to Stanton, the pulses could be refracting light caused by Earth's atmosphere, possibly due to a shock wave. Other possibilities include starlight diffraction by a distant cosmic object in the solar system, or even partial eclipses caused by Earth satellites or distant asteroids. Until we learn more, we can't even say whether or not extraterrestrials are involved. Nasa scientist Richard Stanton It could also be a gravity wave that generated these pulses, which requires more research. "None of these explanations are really satisfying at this point," said Stanton. "We don't know what kind of object could produce these pulses or how far away it is. "We don't know if the two-pulse signal is produced by something passing between us and the star or if it is generated by something that modulates the star's light without moving across the field. "Until we learn more, we can't even say whether or not extraterrestrials are involved!" Over the years, Stanton has surveyed more than 1,300 sun-like stars for optical Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) signals from Big Bear, California. The SETI project started out of the the Greenbank Observatory in West Bank, Virginia, more than 60 years ago. Unlike traditional SETI surveys that have used radio antennas, Stanton looks for pulses of light that could result from laser communications or directed-energy arrays. "My approach is to stare at a single star for roughly one hour using photon counting to sample the star's light at what is considered a very high time-resolution for astronomy (100 microsecond samples)," Stanton, a veteran of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), explained. "The resulting time series are then searched for pulses and optical tones. "The instrument uses readily available off-the-shelf components that can be assembled into a PC-based system. I'm not sure if anyone else is doing this with a significant time commitment. "I am not aware of any discovery of similar pulses." Stanton, who is now retired, had previously worked on the Voyager missions and served as the Engineering Manager of the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission.
