Norman Byrd

Search For Alien Life: Lack Of Phosphorus In Cosmos Could Signal Less Extraterrestrial Life, Astronomers Say

Phosphorus is one of six chemical elements necessary for life to exist on Earth, and scientists studying supernovae explosions have found a surprising lack of phosphorus in certain parts of the universe. The discovery suggests that alien life may not be very prevalent — or even nonexistent — in these areas. The Royal Astronomical Society […]

5y ago

Earth

Awareness Website: 306 School Shooting Incidents In The U.S. Since 2013

Hundreds of thousands of protesters and activists hit the streets in the United States and around the world on Saturday, March 24, in a show of solidarity for gun law reform, raising their voices in an effort to prompt governmental legislation geared toward ending gun violence, particularly gun violence occurring in schools. Called the “March […]

5y ago

Parkland Mass Shooting Survivor Emma Gonzalez: Arming School Teachers is ‘Stupid’

Emma Gonzalez, a survivor of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was interviewed by 60 Minutes and wasted no time in rebuking the idea of training and/or arming school teachers to help protect students in the event of an attack by an active shooter crisis. She told the news […]

5y ago

Gun Control

Trump Elected Due To Growing Voter Neuroticism, Study Suggests

A new study suggests that Donald Trump became president of the United States due to a growing neuroticism throughout the American populace and that the neurotic voting trend was not picked up by the usually reliable prediction models because those models did not perceive an inclusion of “irrational” voting behavior. The study further concludes that […]

5y ago

Brexit|uk

Life On Mars: New DNA Sequencing Device Could Aid In Detecting Alien Life

Scientists are working to further develop a life-seeking instrument — a DNA sequencer — that may be used to confirm the existence of alien life on Mars and moons within the Solar System where it is believed living organisms may have emerged. Called the MiniON, the device is portable and will be small enough to […]

5y ago

DNA

Search For Aliens To Employ ‘ESPRESSO’: Black Box Detection Device A More Powerful Planet Hunter

Astronomers are set to get a powerful boost to their capabilities of detecting exoplanets and in determining whether or not said worlds circling faraway stars are Earth-like — and they’ll be provided that boost with a powerful new detection device, a black box known as ESPRESSO. Phys.org has reported that ESPRESSO, a spectrograph whose name […]

5y ago

astronomy

SETI Expert: ‘Search For ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence’ Needs New, More Accurate, Name

The search for signs of alien intelligence in the universe has been ongoing for centuries, with the organized manifestation of that search — SETI, or the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence — by scientists now closing in on roughly a century. The organization that bears the name SETI in its title (the SETI Institute) itself has […]

5y ago

Nuclear War Talk Prompts ‘Radiation Blocking’ Pills Sales To Skyrocket

Sales of potassium iodide pills, known popularly for their reported ability to ward off radiation sickness, spiked in the wake of nuclear war rhetoric between North Korea and US President Donald Trump that made international headlines in the first few days of the new year. Purchases of the pills also follow a continuing trend of […]

5y ago

north korea

Nuclear War Prep: CDC Organizes Public Health Briefing On Nuclear Attacks After Threats

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta have announced that they will be holding a nuclear war response briefing in mid-January in an effort to prepare the American populace for a potential nuclear attack and its aftermath. The idea is to mitigate the likelihood of widespread illnesses due to radiation exposure and brief the […]

5y ago

No ‘Alien Megastructure’ Around Mysterious Dimming Star: Study Notes Effect Natural On A ‘Cosmic Scale’

A team of more than 200 researchers that includes Tabetha Boyajian, the Louisiana State astronomer that first detected the strangely dimming star that has become known as “Tabby’s Star,” and Jason Wright, the Penn State assistant professor who was part of the research team that originally posited that the star officially designated as KIC 8462852 […]

6y ago

astronomy

Flu Cases Surge In The US And The UK: Deadly Strain Driving The Outbreaks

The current flu season is shaping up to be one of the worst in years, according to health experts, with cases of influenza surging in the past week in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The surge is led by a particularly deadly strain of influenza and, unfortunately for the populations of both […]

6y ago

australia|uk|USA

Neil deGrasse Tyson: A UFO Does Not Necessarily Have An Alien Pilot

Famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, speaking on the subject of the recent revelations of a Pentagon-operated UFO investigation program that ran from 2007 through 2012, says that people tend to confuse the mystery presented by UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) with the existence of aliens. He says that the former does not necessitate the latter. And […]

6y ago

aliens|neil degrasse tyson

Aliens Exist: Study Reveals More Than Half Of All Humans Believe Aliens Live On Other Planets

Do you believe in aliens, or, rather, do you believe that alien life exists on other worlds? If you do, you are not alone. A Dutch study has revealed that roughly two-thirds of humanity believes that some form of life exists on other planets and just a little less than half of those surveyed believed […]

6y ago

aliens|star wars

Deep Space Gateway: Updated ‘Roadmap’ Details Jump-Off Station For Asteroids, Mars Missions

An international organization of space exploration agencies have plans to place a “gateway” orbital platform in low Earth orbit to act as a waystation for future missions to the Moon, targeted asteroids, and Mars. In an updated planning document called the Global Exploration Roadmap, the organization is hopeful that what is being referred to as […]

6y ago

asteroids|mars|moon|nasa

Eating Cups Made Of Seaweed? Indonesian Start-Up Markets Edible Containers To Fight Plastic Pollution

Plastic pollution has become such a problem in Indonesia that it inspired one entrepreneur to develop and sell edible containers made of seaweed, thus hoping to combat the worsening accumulation of plastic trash in the Asian nation. Evoware, the manufacturers of seaweed containers and packaging, is hoping to put a dent in the country’s plastic […]

6y ago

indonesia

Search For Alien Life: Private-Funded Mission To Saturn Moon Enceladus May Precede NASA By Years

The search for alien life may soon be expanded to include a privately funded mission to Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, one that would precede a future trip by NASA by several years. Breakthrough Initiatives, the alien contact project sponsored by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, is currently open to the idea and could, within the next few […]

6y ago

Robot Eel Detects And Tracks Water Pollution

When we think of robots and the duties they perform (or will one day perform), the images that come to mind are not usually associated with water, but a Swiss robotics company has developed a modular robot that not only resembles an eel, it moves through the water like one and is designed to work […]

6y ago

Future Moon Base? Space Agency Confirms Existence Of 31-Mile Moon Cave

Data analyzed from a Japanese space probe has revealed that a gigantic space cave exists on the near side of the Moon. Data indicates that the massive cavern is roughly 328 feet (100 meters) wide, stretches for 31 miles (50 kilometers) and descends some 164 feet (50 meters) under the Moon’s surface at its deepest. […]

6y ago

Planet 9: More Evidence Suggesting A Massive Planet Lurking In The Outer Solar System

And still more evidence has been presented to suggest that there are not only the eight known worlds in the solar train of planets but that there exists a yet undiscovered massive world — a Planet X or Planet Nine — that orbits in the outer Solar System. Researchers at the University of Michigan constructed […]

6y ago

astronomy|Neptune

Joe Biden Warns Trump’s Iran Nuclear Treaty Decision A ‘Threat To America’s National Security’

Former Vice President Joe Biden took to Facebook this week to denounce President Donald Trump’s decision to not certify the 2015 nuclear treaty between Iran and the United States, Russia, China, and the European Union (with nations Germany, France, and the United Kingdom as co-signatories as well). Biden, who was a long-time member of the […]

6y ago

Donald Trump|iran|Joe Biden

Planet 9 Existence: Evidence Points To Solar System’s ‘Missing’ Super-Earth

There is increasing evidence that a massive planet — dubbed Planet Nine, or Planet X — far beyond Neptune exists and is perturbing the orbits of an enormous number of objects stretching throughout the Solar System’s Kuiper Belt. Although the massive super-Earth-sized world has yet to be discovered, one proponent of its existence maintains that […]

6y ago

‘The Daily Show’: Michelle Wolf Says Any Miss America Contestant Would Be A Better Leader Than Donald Trump

On the September 12 edition of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah on Comedy Central, contributor Michelle Wolf highlighted a few moments from the latest Miss America Pageant to show how any one of the 51 participants involved in the 2018 contest was better qualified to be president of the United States than its current […]

6y ago

miss america|Trevor Noah

Study: ‘City Killer’ Asteroids Found To Be More Rare, But 3.15 Million Are As Big As The Chelyabinsk Meteor

We are being warned constantly that the next catastrophic asteroid or comet strike could come at any time, but a new study indicates that there are about 10 times fewer “city killer” asteroids hurtling through space than had been previously estimated. Still, the actual number of potentially deadly Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) is still astronomically high. […]

6y ago

asteroids|astronomy

China, Russia To Sign Joint Space Exploration Pact

China and Russia are expected to sign a 5-year agreement that would see the two nations embark on a collaborative effort involving manned space missions as well as future missions to the Moon, a Chinese news source reports. The agreement is slated to for an October signing and would be the first of its kind. […]

6y ago

china|russia|space

Former Obama Spokesman: Trump’s Staff ‘Believes He’s Too Stupid To Figure Out That ‘Infowars’ Is Garbage’

A former spokesman for President Barack Obama has made a clear distinction between the current White House resident, Donald Trump, and his former boss with regard to reports that new Chief of Staff John Kelly is vetting information that gets through to the president. In short, the former spokesman acknowledged that the material Obama saw […]

6y ago

John Kelly

Nearly Half Of All Trump Voters Say They’d Vote For Confederacy’s Jefferson Davis Over President Obama

A recent poll indicates that almost half of Trump supporters — more specifically, Trump voters — would rather have Jefferson Davis, the slave-owning president of the Confederate States of America, as president of the U.S. than former President Barack Obama. Given the accuracy of polls and the disclaimers of a few points for margin of […]

6y ago

Barack Obama|charlottesville

Poll: 61 Percent Of Trump Supporters Cannot Imagine President Doing Anything To Lose Their Support

A new poll indicates that almost two-thirds of all President Trump supporters cannot think of anything he could do to shake their loyalty to him. To be clear: six out of 10 people who approve of Trump cannot envision anything that would make them disapprove of the job he is doing as president. Monmouth University […]

6y ago

Killer Asteroid Impact Update: Potentially Hazardous Asteroid Apophis Found Less Likely To Collide With Earth

A NASA scientist, working on the data gathered through the extensive tracking of the Potentially Hazardous Asteroid Apophis, has concluded that the 400-meter (1312 feet, or just under one-quarter of a mile) wide asteroid poses no serious threat of colliding with the Earth in its next fly-by in 2029. In fact, the odds against the […]

6y ago

asteroids|Earth|nasa

Chelsea Handler On Twitter: Seems To Call For A Military Coup Against Donald Trump

Comedian and former late night talk show host Chelsea Handler took to Twitter this week with what looks like a suggestion for the nation’s military leaders to remove Donald Trump from the presidency. She underscored the suggestion with the comment that the generals would be judged negatively by history should they allow the Trump administration […]

6y ago

Chelsea Handler|Donald Trump|madonna|Sarah Silverman

Kayleigh McEnany Leaves CNN To Host Trump’s ‘Real News,’ Immediately Implies Economic Turnaround

Kayleigh McEnany, the sometimes controversial CNN contributor who was known for her pro-Trump stances, left the news giant this week for a new position — working as the anchor for the video newscasts of the “Real News,” as opposed to what President Donald Trump has disparaged as “fake news,” something he has accused CNN of […]

6y ago

cnn|economy|Facebook

Iran Space Launch Sparks Fears Of Nuclear Missile Development

Iran announced this week that it had successfully carried out the launch of its most advanced satellite-carrying rocket to date, but the news was met by many as a possible violation of its 2015 nuclear treaty and was seen as more of an attempt at developing an intercontinental ballistic missile than furthering Iran’s goals as […]

6y ago

iran|space

Nearly Half Of US Liberals Do Not Want To Be Around Trump Supporters, Poll Finds

A new poll has revealed that nearly half of American liberals do not want to be in the same company as Trump supporters. Not only that, a majority of Americans find it stressful to discuss politics with an individual who has a differing opinion on Trump. A recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, […]

6y ago

Donald Trump

Planet Nine: Astronomers Say They’ve Found ‘Signs Of The Presence Of A Planet’

Two astronomers from Spain have announced that their research has uncovered evidence that corroborates the hypothesis of a potential massive Planet Nine orbiting in the outer Solar System. Using an analysis of the nodes, the two points where a celestial body crosses the plane of said Solar System, the astronomers found that the data supported […]

6y ago

astronomy

Kesha’s New Album Inspired By UFOs: Singer Claims Sighting At Least Five ‘Spaceships’

Kesha is back with new music that the pop singer/songwriter insists was inspired by a UFO sighting she had in the Joshua Tree National Park in California. She also insists that she was totally sober during the encounter and what she saw was multiple “spaceships.” Appearing on the Zach Sang Show, Kesha, now 30, talked […]

6y ago

Kesha

Roswell UFO Incident And The Kardashians Have Something In Common, SETI Astronomer Says

A senior astronomer at the SETI (Search for Extraterrrestrial Intelligence) Institute has voiced some doubts as to whether the 1947 Roswell UFO Incident was actually an alien visitation. And he has doubts that the ongoing conspiracy theories concerning a massive military and government cover-up of the reported incident stand up to close inspection as well. […]

6y ago

aliens|conspiracy theories

UFOs Visiting Earth? Neil deGrasse Tyson Says No Scientific Evidence Supporting Visitation Or Contact

In remarks certain to be a bit unpopular among UFO researchers, conspiracy theorists, and “experiencers” (what alien abduction victims call themselves), noted astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson last week firmly insisted that there is no hard scientific evidence that UFOs (unidentified flying objects) have been and/or are presently visiting Earth and its people. He said that […]

6y ago

Earth|neil degrasse tyson

North Korea Warned: Trump Says US ‘Patience Is Over,’ Pushes For ‘Determined Response’ Against Nuclear Program

President Donald Trump voiced his frustration at the the lack of progress that diplomatic talks and economic sanctions have had on the Kim Jong-un regime in North Korea with regard to the Asian nation’s nuclear program and continuing ballistic missile tests. Speaking alongside South Korea President Moon Jae-in, Trump declared that U.S. “patience is over” […]

6y ago

china|Donald Trump|north korea|South Korea

Earth Defenseless Against Minor And Major Asteroid Impacts, Expert Warns: ‘Sooner Or Later’ We Will Get Hit

A direct asteroid impact on Earth that causes catastrophic damage will occur “sooner or later,” an expert has warned, and it is not a matter of if, but when. The worst part? The Earth has the technology and wherewithal to detect, prepare, and defend itself against a potentially devastating asteroid impact but, to date, is […]

6y ago

asteroids|Earth|space

Now Japan Plans To Put A Man On The Moon

Tossing its hat into the ring of proposed lunar manned missions, Japan announced this week that it would like to put a man on the moon by 2030. And just like similar proposals for future space ventures from other nations, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) acknowledged the exorbitant costs of doing so, and admitted […]

6y ago

china|Japan|moon

NASA DART Mission To Crash Into Asteroid Could One Day Save Earth From Killer Asteroids

NASA announced this week that it has approved a 2022 space mission, DART, that will test the idea that an impactor can crash into an asteroid and alter its course. Given that any asteroid approaching 100 meters (328 feet) in diameter could cause catastrophic regional damage to the Earth if it actually impacted, the data […]

6y ago

asteroids|Earth

NASA Forced To Deny Running Child Slave Colony On Mars, A Conspiracy Theory Alleged By Ex-CIA Officer

In what has to be an unprecedented public statement, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has come forward to deny a conspiracy theory promoted by an ex-CIA officer; specifically, allegations that it is secretly shipping children to Mars and running a child slavery Mars colony. The space agency, through a spokesman, said that the only […]

6y ago

alex jones|mars|nasa|space

Two Asteroids, One The Size Of A House And Just Discovered, Do Close Flybys Of Earth On Asteroid Day

A recently discovered asteroid estimated to be the size of a house will do a fly-by of Earth on, appropriately enough, June 30, International Asteroid Day 2017. Designated 2017 MC1, the asteroid will join a smaller asteroid, 2017 MB3, which will also be traveling past the Earth on its namesake day. Astrowatch.net reported earlier this […]

6y ago

asteroids|Earth

North Korea Compares Trump To Adolf Hitler, Claims President Bent On ‘World Domination By Military Means’

North Korea stepped up its harsh rhetoric against President Donald Trump again this week, this time opting to compare him to the most hated man in history, Adolf Hitler. Trump’s key policies, they said, could be likened to “Nazism in the 21st century” and that the businessman-turned-president had intentions to rule the world by “military […]

6y ago

kim jong un|north korea

UFO Cover-Up Ammunition: ‘Britain’s X-Files’ Released But Three Top Secret Files Are Still Classified

The United Kingdom released 15 of its remaining 18 UFO files this week, a move that experts noted would likely set the conspiracy theory contingent to speculating about and accusing the government of a cover-up. Known as “Britain’s X-Files,” the newly released material covers some 34 years of UFO reporting and research, including the infamous […]

6y ago

conspiracy theories

NASA Scientist Envisions Terraforming Mars, But It Will Take A While

A NASA scientist has looked into the problem of making Mars habitable and suggests that it can be done through terraforming. Unfortunately, to get Mars to Earth-like conditions like those that prevail today will take an effort that lasts longer than results achieved in just the first handful of generations of terraforming colonists. Chris McKay, […]

6y ago

mars

Trump’s Credibility War With James Comey: Poll Suggests The President Is Losing

A new poll gauging what Americans think about the conflicting stories offered by President Donald Trump and former FBI Director James Comey concerning the latter’s firing suggests that Comey is winning the credibility war being fought between the two. In fact, poll results indicate that Americans, by a two-to-one margin, find Comey’s account of the […]

6y ago

james comey

Putin Vows If Sweden Joins NATO, Russia Would Consider Move A Threat, Look Into Measures To ‘Eliminate It’

Sweden, much like Switzerland, has long held a position of neutrality in the decades-entrenched contest between Russia (and before that, the Soviet Union) and the West (the U.S. and the NATO alliance), but recent years have brought with it fears of a Russian invasion and/or takeover that has moved the Scandinavian nation closer to formally […]

6y ago

NATO|russia|sweden

Red Dwarf Flares: Stars’ Volatile Nature May See Exoplanets Not So Habitable After All

There has been a considerable discussion concerning red dwarf stars and the chances that their planetary trains may be the best places to look when searching for alien life. However, some researchers are now questioning that this may be so, given that red dwarfs are extremely volatile at an early stage in their development, perhaps […]

6y ago

astronomy

Police Shooting: White St. Louis Cop Shoots Black Off-Duty Cop Trying To Assist, Lawyer Says Race A Factor

A white St. Louis police officer responding to the scene at the end of a stolen car chase opened fire on and wounded a black off-duty police officer in what is being called a case of “friendly fire” by the St. Louis Police Department. However, the lawyer for the wounded officer contends that his client’s […]

6y ago

Space Partnership Proposed Between Russia And China On Lunar Missions And Space Station

Russia and China may soon be cooperating on space projects. Although the two nations are not currently collaborating, it was reported this week that a Russian aerospace firm is currently in talks with China to aid in future lunar missions and that China has reached out to Russia to help construct a Chinese space station. […]

6y ago

china|russia|space

Norman Byrd

Norman Byrd is a writer and author from West Virginia, a contributor of thousands of articles to dozens of websites -- from news aggregates to specialized blogs and online publications -- to his credit. As a contributor to The Inquisitr, he has published hundreds of articles on topics like science, crime, justice, politics, and odd news. A repurposed educator (with degrees in History, English, and Psychology), when he's not researching and writing, his spare time is spent reading, writing, and avidly watching sports, comedy, and crime-related television programs. His first book, Double Standards, a political biography, was published in 2014.