# kb

id: operation-drake-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Drake-0.md
category: reference
title: Operation Drake
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Drake
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:12:51.779420+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: operation-drake-20260505-0
summary:
Operation Drake (1978–1980) was a round-the-world voyage with the participation of young people from many countries, sailing in the brigantine Eye of the Wind. She left Plymouth in October 1978 and returned to London two years later, in December 1980. Named after Sir Francis Drake, who had circumnavigated the world 400 years earlier on the Golden Hind, Operation Drake was divided into nine ocean- and one land-based phases, each lasting about 3 months. On each phase, a number of Young Explorers aged between seventeen and twenty-four, selected from countries all over the world, worked together on serious scientific exploration, research and community projects. The expedition was mounted by the Scientific Exploration Society, and the expedition leader was Colonel John Blashford-Snell. Charles, Prince of Wales, (now King Charles III), was the Patron of Operation Drake. Amongst the works produced on the voyage were series of specimens, including bats obtained in New Guinea, that were deposited and examined at the British Museum of Natural History. == Books == Blashford-Snell, John (1981). Operation Drake. London: W. H. Allen & Co. ISBN 0-491-02965-9. "In the Eye of the Wind", by Roger Chapman (Hamish Hamilton, London 1982, ISBN 0-241-10764-4) Mitchell, Andrew W. (1982). Operation Drake,


id: operation-hazen-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Hazen-0.md
category: reference
title: Operation Hazen
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Hazen
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:12:52.929040+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: operation-hazen-20260505-0
summary:
Operation Hazen was a Canadian programme of meteorological, glaciological and geological work undertaken as part of the International Geophysical Year. The investigations took place between 1957 and 1959 at Lake Hazen on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. The programme was led by English-born geologist Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith. Organised by the Defence Research Board, twenty scientists took part in the operation, including officers from the Fisheries Research Board, the Geological Survey, the Human History and Natural History branches of the National Museum, the Canadian Wildlife Service, and members of McGill University, the University of Toronto, the University of Alberta, and Michigan State University. == Name == In 1882 American polar explorer Adolphus Greely was the first European to discover Lake Hazen during his 1881–1883 expedition and named the lake in honour of General William Babcock Hazen who had organized the expedition. Operation Hazen took its name from the lake. == 1957–58 == Between 28 April and 3 May the Royal Canadian Air Force flew in seven members of the party. A bulldozer dropped from the first flight was used to clear nine inches of snow to form a 3,500 foot airstrip. Two tractors, two dog teams and 35 tonnes of supplies and equipment


id: operation-sunshine-uss-nautilus-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Sunshine_(USS_Nautilus)-0.md
category: reference
title: Operation Sunshine (USS Nautilus)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Sunshine_(USS_Nautilus)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:12:54.239677+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: operation-sunshine-uss-nautilus-20260505-0
summary:
Operation Sunshine was a scientific expedition conducted by the United States Navy in the summer of 1958. A crew of just over 100 sailors piloted USS Nautilus (SSN-571) under the North Pole. Nautilus was chosen for the mission because her nuclear reactor allowed her to remain submerged longer than a conventional submarine. The mission was completed successfully on August 3, 1958, when Nautilus and crew crossed under the North Pole. == Vanguard == One of the "fronts" of the Cold War was a technology race between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union. There was tension between the two governments over nuclear weapons, and a "space race" developed during the late 1950s, in which each government aimed to demonstrate its superiority through demonstrations of scientific and technological advances. Russia celebrated the successful launch of their Sputnik I satellite into orbit in October 1957. Shortly after, the United States attempted to launch their Vanguard I satellite, which exploded before lifting off. Soviet researchers were ahead of their U.S. counterparts in rocket technology, and the American public was aware of this technology gap. There was concern that the Soviet government would be able to use the same rockets that


id: red-river-expedition-1806-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_River_Expedition_(1806)-0.md
category: reference
title: Red River Expedition (1806)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_River_Expedition_(1806)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:12:55.436019+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: red-river-expedition-1806-20260505-0
summary:
The Red River Expedition, also known as the Freeman–Custis Expedition, Freeman Red River Expedition, Sparks Expedition, and officially Exploring Expedition of Red River, was one of the first civilian scientific expeditions to explore the Southwestern United States. The 1806 expedition was ordered to find the headwaters of the Red River (Red River of the South) from the Mississippi River as a possible trading route to Santa Fe, which was then under Spanish colonial control in New Mexico; to contact Native American peoples for trading purposes; to collect data on flora, fauna, and topography, and map the country and river; and to assess the land for settlement. The Spanish officials intercepted the expedition 615 miles upriver, in what is now northeastern Texas, and turned it back before the party had achieved all of its goals. == Planning == The third US President, Thomas Jefferson, ranked the Red River Expedition in importance second only to the Lewis and Clark Expedition to reach the Pacific Ocean through the Northwest. The Red River stretches west from its confluence with the Mississippi River across what is now the state of Louisiana and part of south-western Arkansas. Further west, the river forms the present-day southern border


id: red-river-expedition-1806-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_River_Expedition_(1806)-1.md
category: reference
title: Red River Expedition (1806)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_River_Expedition_(1806)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:12:55.436019+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: red-river-expedition-1806-20260505-0
summary:
On April 19, 1806, the now-24-member party (Freeman and his two assistants; Sparks, who commanded the military party, with two officers, seventeen privates, and a servant) pushed off in two flat-bottomed barges and a pirogue from Fort Adams, near Natchez, Mississippi, and turned into the Red River to go upstream to the west. The group gradually took on soldiers along the route in response to rumors of a possible attack by Spanish troops and soon numbered 45. By July 28, the party was 615 miles upriver, near what is now New Boston, Texas, and heard gunfire in the distance that indicated the presence of Spanish troops. "Hoping to provoke an international confrontation for personal gain," U.S. General James Wilkinson of the Louisiana Territory had secretly notified Spain of the Freeman expedition (he had had separate dealings with it earlier) and sent two teams of soldiers to intercept the party. The Freeman party was stopped at what has since been called "Spanish Bluff" on the river. Both the Spanish commander and Freeman undertook a parlay. The Spanish said that they had been ordered to fire on any foreign armed troops passing through Spanish territory. In response, Freeman demanded for the Spanish


id: ross-expedition-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_expedition-0.md
category: reference
title: Ross expedition
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_expedition
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:12:56.586532+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ross-expedition-20260505-0
summary:
The Ross expedition was a voyage of scientific exploration of the Antarctic in 1839 to 1843, led by James Clark Ross, with two unusually strong warships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. It explored what is now called the Ross Sea and discovered the Ross Ice Shelf. On the expedition, Ross discovered the Transantarctic Mountains and the volcanoes Mount Erebus and Mount Terror, named after each ship. The young botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker made his name on the expedition. The expedition confirmed the existence of the continent of Antarctica, inferred the position of the South Magnetic Pole and made substantial observations of the zoology and botany of the region, resulting in a monograph on the zoology and a series of four detailed monographs by Hooker on the botany, collectively called Flora Antarctica, published in parts between 1843 and 1859. Among the expedition's biological discoveries was the Ross seal, a species confined to the pack ice of Antarctica. The expedition was also the last major voyage of exploration made wholly under sail. == Expedition == === Background === In 1838, the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA) proposed an expedition to carry out magnetic measurements in the Antarctic. Sir James


id: ross-expedition-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_expedition-1.md
category: reference
title: Ross expedition
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_expedition
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:12:56.586532+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ross-expedition-20260505-0
summary:
=== Botany === The expedition's botanical discoveries were documented in Joseph Dalton Hooker's four-part Flora Antarctica (1843–1859). It totalled six volumes (parts III and IV each being in two volumes), covered about 3000 species, and contained 530 plates figuring in all 1095 of the species described. It was throughout "splendidly" illustrated by Walter Hood Fitch. The parts were: Part I Botany of Lord Auckland's Group and Campbell's Island (1844–1845) Part II Botany of Fuegia, the Falklands, Kerguelen's Land, Etc. (1845–1847) Part III Flora Novae-Zelandiae (1851–1853) (2 volumes) Part IV Flora Tasmaniae (1853–1859) (2 volumes) Hooker gave Charles Darwin a copy of the first part of the Flora; Darwin thanked him, and agreed in November 1845 that the geographical distribution of organisms would be "the key which will unlock the mystery of species". == Influence == In 1912, the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen wrote of the Ross expedition that "Few people of the present day are capable of rightly appreciating this heroic deed, this brilliant proof of human courage and energy. With two ponderous craft – regular "tubs" according to our ideas – these men sailed right into the heart of the pack [ice], which all previous explorers had regarded as


id: thayer-expedition-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thayer_Expedition-0.md
category: reference
title: Thayer Expedition
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thayer_Expedition
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:12:57.724844+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: thayer-expedition-20260505-0
summary:
The Thayer Expedition was an American scientific expedition to Brazil, sponsored by Boston businessman Nathaniel Thayer Jr. It was a biological and geological expedition undertaken by multiple scientists, several based at Harvard University, between April 1865 and August 1866. Scientists collected tens of thousands of specimens, some later recognized as new species. Most of the specimens collected during the expedition ended up in the collections of Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology, founded by Louis Agassiz, the leader of the expedition. The Thayer Expedition took place at the end of the American Civil War, with the ocean voyage from New York City to Rio de Janeiro beginning on April 2, just a week prior to Lee's surrender at Appomattox. The expedition sailed on board the S.S. Colorado, owned by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and docked in Rio de Janeiro on April 23. They explored Brazil from the coast to the Tocantins River and along its tributaries to the borders of Colombia and Peru. == Participants == The expedition included the following named participants: Louis Agassiz, Swiss-American zoologist, ichthyologist, geologist, and leader of the expedition. His primary goal for the expedition was the collection of Brazilian freshwater fish specimens. Elizabeth Cabot


id: whitney-south-sea-expedition-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_South_Sea_Expedition-0.md
category: reference
title: Whitney South Sea Expedition
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_South_Sea_Expedition
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:12:58.978217+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: whitney-south-sea-expedition-20260505-0
summary:
The Whitney South Sea Expedition (1920 - 1941) to collect bird specimens for the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), under the initial leadership of Rollo Beck, was instigated by Dr Leonard C. Sanford and financed by Harry Payne Whitney, a thoroughbred horse-breeder and philanthropist. It was administered by a committee at the AMNH and became a focus for attracting funds for research on the biota of the Pacific islands. The expedition visited islands in the south Pacific region and eventually returned with over 40,000 bird specimens, many plant specimens and an extensive collection of anthropological items and photographs. Using the 75-ton schooner France, with many different scientists and collectors participating over more than a dozen years, the expedition visited thousands of islands throughout Oceania, Micronesia, Polynesia and Melanesia. The France was sold in 1932 when funds ran out. Specimens from the expedition were displayed in a hall at the AMNH funded by Harry Whitney. == Aims of the expedition == The expedition's main aim was to collect birds from various South Pacific islands and the Pacific Ocean, on behalf of the American Museum of Natural History. The AMNH cooperated with the Bishop Museum in Hawaii and the United States


id: whitney-south-sea-expedition-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_South_Sea_Expedition-1.md
category: reference
title: Whitney South Sea Expedition
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_South_Sea_Expedition
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:12:58.978217+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: whitney-south-sea-expedition-20260505-0
summary:
The expedition was led by Rollo H. Beck (1920–1928), Hannibal Hamlin (1928–1930), William F. Coultas (1930–1935), Lindsay Macmillan (1935–1940), and G. Reid Henry (1941). Beck, an expert bird collector himself, hired Ernest H. Quayle to assist with collecting, including the botanical specimens collected by the expedition. Quayle was a Stanford University graduate with a geology degree. Beck, his wife Ida and Quayle based themselves in Papeete in 1920, and in 1922 Charles Curtis, who had been working on a plantation in Tahiti, joined the expedition as Beck was readying to leave Tahiti in the France. Curtis spent five months with the expedition before returning to his previous job. José Correia and his wife Virginia joined the Whitney South Sea Expedition in 1922 to replace Ernest Quayle, with Correia acting as expedition leader for six months in 1923 while Beck was away in New York. Correia was a cooper by trade. While on a trip to the Antarctic as a cooper in 1911, he had met Dr Robert Murphy of the AMNH, who taught him how to prepare bird specimens. Correia then took part in other AMNH expeditions as a bird collector. The Correias left the Whitney expedition at the end


id: whitney-south-sea-expedition-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_South_Sea_Expedition-2.md
category: reference
title: Whitney South Sea Expedition
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_South_Sea_Expedition
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:12:58.978217+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: whitney-south-sea-expedition-20260505-0
summary:
The expedition travelled between island groups by ship, either getting passage on local vessels, using the schooner France that they had purchased, or chartering other vessels such as the Pato, a schooner hired by Coultas in 1933. Bird specimens were collected by various methods. On the ocean, the expedition's ship might pass by a flock of birds which could be shot from on board. On reaching an island, expedition members would go ashore by rowboat to shoot birds along the coast, or walk and climb into the interior of the island to seek out and shoot land birds and other specimens. On inhabited islands, the team would consult the local people to find out about the types and habits of various birds, and would employ local guides to take them to nesting areas. Local people were also paid to collect specimens for the expedition. Specimens had to be processed quickly before they decomposed. Sometimes the expedition members would set up a base on land and process the birds there, but otherwise skinning was typically done by the light of benzine lamps in the hold of the France. Supplies needed for processing birds included arsenic, alum, benzine, cornmeal, needles, bone cutters,


id: whitney-south-sea-expedition-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_South_Sea_Expedition-3.md
category: reference
title: Whitney South Sea Expedition
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_South_Sea_Expedition
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:12:58.978217+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: whitney-south-sea-expedition-20260505-0
summary:
That an extensively equipped foreign collecting expedition on such a scale and with permission to kill the extravagant number of birds allowed should be given entirely unrestricted liberty, except by a few valueless written conditions, amongst our birds, some of which are on the verge of extinction, is unthinkable, a slur on the regard which the people of New Zealand are evincing in the welfare of their heritage, the care of which is entrusted to your department. Your action is also a slight to the operations of this society, and it seems idle and hypocritical for us to continue further work and collect subscriptions from school children and others in the face of such departmental lassitude. We think, moreover, it would only have been courtesy had you consulted us before issuing permits to destroy any of the extremely rare species included in the list to be killed, as, for instance, the Chatham Island bell bird, Auckland Island duck, Chatham Island fern bird and pigeon, sand plover (ten is out of all reason), Chatham Island snipe, Southern Merganser, and half a dozen other species which are on the verge of extinction and should not have been allowed to be killed under


id: whitney-south-sea-expedition-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_South_Sea_Expedition-4.md
category: reference
title: Whitney South Sea Expedition
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_South_Sea_Expedition
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:12:58.978217+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: whitney-south-sea-expedition-20260505-0
summary:
He is unable to work even to the best advantage, or to inspire [the men's] cooperation and loyalty. A feeling of loyalty to the Museum, or to someone else abroad has kept men on this thing, as in the case of sailors a contract, when otherwise they would have made sudden and speedy departure. Drowne also believed that it was important to establish friendly relations with the local people when entering their territory.The France faced gales and storms and high seas in the Pacific Ocean. On 2 June 1926 the expedition met particularly bad weather, which the captain recorded in his logbook: "Sky extremely ugly [...] Squalls at frequent intervals of severe intensity and with heavy rain, hail, lightning and thunder. Sea high and confused.[...] Water spout passed very close ahead.[....] Vessel shipped considerable amount of water [...] Suspect the above, to be passing very close to centre of cyclonic system". Jose Correia used more colourful language to describe the storm: “…we ran into the center of a strong cyclone on June 2nd. Everybody in the ship thought that they were never going to see land again, but God did not forget us in the middle of the furious ocean.”


id: whitney-south-sea-expedition-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_South_Sea_Expedition-5.md
category: reference
title: Whitney South Sea Expedition
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_South_Sea_Expedition
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:12:58.978217+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: whitney-south-sea-expedition-20260505-0
summary:
== Legacy == The expedition was important for several reasons. The specimens and data collected provided a large database for subsequent studies of birds in the Pacific. The expedition was able to confirm the role of geographical isolation in the development of new species, as described by Darwin in his studies of finches in the Galapagos Islands almost a hundred years earlier. In 1938, Murphy stated that the expedition had so far identified 196 new species and sub-species of birds. One of the birds collected during the expedition was Procellaria munda (as named by Kuhl in 1820). A specimen of this bird was collected and sketched during Captain Cook's first world voyage in 1769, but there had been no further documented sightings until Beck saw the bird, a type of shearwater, on 16 February 1926. The expedition was also able to confirm the long-distance migration patterns of various sea birds including the long-tailed cuckoo (Urodynamis taitensis). In 1929, Sanford asked the Whitneys to fund a new wing for the American Museum of Natural History, which would house the many specimens being collected by the South Sea expedition and other expeditions in Africa and South America. Construction of the Whitney Wing


id: polar-exploration-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_exploration-0.md
category: reference
title: Polar exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:00.463267+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: polar-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
Polar exploration is the process of exploration of the polar regions of Earth – the Arctic region and Antarctica – particularly with the goal of reaching the North Pole and South Pole, respectively. Historically, this was accomplished by explorers making often arduous travels on foot or by sled in these regions, known as a polar expedition. More recently, exploration has been accomplished with technology, particularly with satellite imagery. From 600 BC to 300 BC, Greek philosophers theorized that the planet was a Spherical Earth with North and South polar regions. By 150 AD, Ptolemy published Geographia, which notes a hypothetical Terra Australis Incognita. However, due to harsh weather conditions, the poles themselves would not be reached for centuries after that. When they finally were reached, the achievement was realized only a few years apart. There are two claims, both disputed, about who were the first persons to reach the geographic North Pole. Frederick Cook, accompanied by two Inuit men, Ahwelah and Etukishook, claimed to have reached the Pole on April 21, 1908, although this claim is generally doubted. On April 6, 1909, Robert Peary claimed to be the first person in recorded history to reach the North Pole, accompanied by


id: arctic-exploration-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_exploration-0.md
category: reference
title: Arctic exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:01.610599+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: arctic-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
Arctic exploration is the physical exploration of the Arctic region of the Earth. It refers to the historical period during which mankind has explored the region north of the Arctic Circle. Historical records suggest that humankind have explored the northern extremes since 325 BC, when the ancient Greek sailor Pytheas reached a frozen sea while attempting to find a source of the metal tin. Dangerous oceans and poor weather conditions often fetter explorers attempting to reach polar regions, and journeying through these perils by sight, boat, and foot has proven difficult. == Ancient history == === Indo-European hypothesis === A controversial hypothesis, often regarded as pseudohistory, sets the home of the mythical people Hyperboreans in the Arctic. The scientist and author John G. Bennett talked about it in his research paper "The Hyperborean Origin of the Indo-European Culture" (1963). The theory was originally put forth by William F. Warren, the first President of Boston University, in his Paradise Found or the Cradle of the Human Race at the North Pole. Later, Indian independence activist Bal Gangadhar Tilak resurrected Warren's theory in his The Arctic Home in the Vedas (1903), which was dedicated to philologist and indologist Max Müller, with whom


id: arctic-exploration-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_exploration-1.md
category: reference
title: Arctic exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:01.610599+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: arctic-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
Exploration to the north of the Arctic Circle in the Renaissance was both driven by the rediscovery of the Classics and the national quests for commercial expansion, and hampered by limits in maritime technology, lack of stable food supplies, and insufficient insulation for the crew against extreme cold. === Renaissance advancements in cartography === A seminal event in Arctic exploration occurred in 1409, when Ptolemy's Geographia was translated into Latin, thereby introducing the concepts of latitude and longitude into Western Europe. As a result navigators were better able to chart their positions. The Inventio Fortunata, a lost book, describes in a summary written by Jacobus Cnoyen but only found in a letter from Gerardus Mercator, voyages as far as the North Pole. One widely disputed claim is that two brothers from Venice, Niccolo and Antonio Zeno, allegedly made a map of their journeys to that region, which were published by their descendants in 1558. === Northwest Passage === The Northwest Passage connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans via the Arctic Ocean. Since the discovery of the American continent was the product of the search for a route to Asia, exploration around the northern edge of North America continued for the


id: arctic-exploration-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_exploration-2.md
category: reference
title: Arctic exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:01.610599+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: arctic-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
In the first half of the 19th century, parts of the Northwest Passage were explored separately by a number of different expeditions, including those by John Ross, William Edward Parry, James Clark Ross; and overland expeditions led by John Franklin, George Back, Peter Warren Dease, Thomas Simpson, and John Rae. Sir Robert McClure was credited with the discovery of the Northwest Passage by sea in 1851 when he looked across M'Clure Strait from Banks Island and viewed Melville Island. However, the strait was blocked by young ice at this point in the season, and not navigable to ships. The only usable route, linking the entrances of Lancaster Sound and Dolphin and Union Strait was first used by John Rae in 1851. Rae used a pragmatic approach of traveling by land on foot and dog sled, and typically employed less than ten people in his exploration parties. At this time, Arctic exploration was catching the interest of the public, notably in Britain, and many articles and images circulated among the many journals interested in travelogues. The Northwest Passage was not completely conquered by sea until 1906, when the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, who had sailed just in time to escape creditors


id: arctic-exploration-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_exploration-3.md
category: reference
title: Arctic exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:01.610599+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: arctic-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
== See also == Farthest North List of polar explorers List of Arctic expeditions List of Arctic exploration vessels List of firsts at the Geographic North Pole Great Northern Expedition List of Antarctic expeditions Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration List of Antarctic exploration ships from the Heroic Age, 1897–1922 History of Antarctica History of research ships List of Russian explorers Timeline of European exploration Drifting ice station Deep-sea exploration Space exploration Nikolai Pinegin == Notes == === Bibliography === Berton, Pierre (1989) [1988]. The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the North West Passage and the North Pole, 1818-1909. New York, NY: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-011680-9. Edinger, Ray (2014). Love and Ice: The Tragic Obsessions of Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, Arctic Explorer. Savannah, Georgia: Frederic C. Beil. ISBN 978-1-929490-38-7. McCannon, John (2012). A History of the Arctic: Nature, Exploration and Exploitation. London: Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-78023-076-4. McCannon, John (1998). Red Arctic: Polar Exploration and the Myth of the North in the Soviet Union, 1932-1939. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-511436-2. Robinson, Michael F. (2006). The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-72187-3. Sale, Richard (2002). To the Ends of the Earth: The History


id: bothie-dog-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bothie_(dog)-0.md
category: reference
title: Bothie (dog)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bothie_(dog)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:02.803408+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bothie-dog-20260505-0
summary:
Bothie, also known as Bothie the Polar Dog, was a long-haired Jack Russell Terrier who was the only dog to travel to both the South and North Poles. Bothie was owned by Ranulph Fiennes and Ginny Fiennes and accompanied the team on the circumpolar Transglobe Expedition from 1979 to 1982. == Expedition == The Transglobe Expedition (1979–1982) was the first successful longitudinal (north–south) circumnavigation of the Earth using only surface transport, traversing both the South and North Poles. The expedition was conceived by Ginny Fiennes and led by her husband Ranulph Fiennes. Bothie, a stray long-haired brown-and-white Jack Russell Terrier, was given to the Fiennes couple in 1977, two years before the expedition. He was flown to join the Transglobe crew following the Africa segment, which was considered too hot for him. Bothie accompanied Ginny Fiennes throughout the rest of the expedition. This included enduring an Antarctic winter during his nine-month stay on the continent, and spending six weeks at the pole. During this period Bothie participated in the first cricket match ever held at the South Pole. To help him with the cold temperatures Bothie was kitted with tailor-made red coat, balaclava facemask, and boots, though he was said


id: mile-danco-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Émile_Danco-0.md
category: reference
title: Émile Danco
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Émile_Danco
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:04.853104+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mile-danco-20260505-0
summary:
Émile Danco (29 November 1869 - 5 June 1898) was a Belgian polar explorer. He was a lieutenant in the Belgian artillery and trained at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, Belgium. He was a personal friend of Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery and became the first recruit for the Belgian Antarctic Expedition aboard the Belgica. Danco took part in several excursions during the first period in Antarctica, notably in early February 1898, when he joined de Gerlache, Amundsen, Cook and Arctowski on the expedition’s first camping trip, to an island west of the Antarctic Peninsula they named Brabant Island. He served as the geophysicist for the expedition, which became the first to overwinter in Antarctica. Émile Danco died of a heart condition aboard the Belgica on 5 June, 1898. His observations and work were taken up by Georges Lecointe, the Belgica's second in command. == Honors == Danco Island in the Gerlache Strait was named by Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery for Émile Danco The asteroid (9812) Danco was named for him == References == == External links == Media related to Émile Danco at Wikimedia Commons


id: explorer-film-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explorer_(film)-0.md
category: reference
title: Explorer (film)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explorer_(film)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:06.011368+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: explorer-film-20260505-0
summary:
Explorer is a 2022 biographical documentary film about the life and exploits of British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, directed by Matthew Dyas. It was critically acclaimed as a "compelling portrait" of Fiennes. == Synopsis == The film includes both contemporary and archive footage and covers many of aspects of Fiennes' life including self-amputation of his fingers due to frostbite, involvement in the Dhofar Rebellion, leading the Transglobe expedition, being booted out of the SAS, running 7 marathons on 7 days on 7 continents, auditioning for James Bond, and reflections on his personal and family life. == Cast == Ranulph Fiennes as himself Anton Bowring as himself HM King Charles III as himself == Release == === Box office === Explorer was released to theatres on 14 July 2022. It was released to video on 30 August 2022. === Critical reception === On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a 100% rating based on reviews from 16 critics. On Metacritic it has score of 81 out of 100 based on reviews from 5 critics "universal acclaim". It has a 3 star review by Cath Clarke for the Guardian and a 5 star review by Robbie Collin for the Telegraph. Wendy Ide of


id: global-warrior-project-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Warrior_Project-0.md
category: reference
title: Global Warrior Project
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Warrior_Project
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:07.192383+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: global-warrior-project-20260505-0
summary:
The Global Warrior Project (formerly Ice Warrior Project) is an organisation founded in 2001 by the explorer Jim McNeill. Its remit is to develop people from all walks of life and echelons of society into modern-day explorers; to discover change in the world’s most remote and extreme regions under the guidance of partner leading scientific authorities; and deliver these discoveries in an engaging, human manner to audiences around the globe. The organisation provides raw, scientific data for others to go on and interpret in order to monitor these regions, which were described by Nobel peace prize nominee Sheila Watt-Cloutier as "clearly one of the most important regions when it comes to climate change." The project's founder Jim McNeill maintains that without such knowledge humans cannot be true guardians of the planet and we cannot establish whether the actions we are taking to mitigate climate change are having any lasting impact. As an organisation it has an altruistic project side which relies on corporate sponsorship and involves charitable work and also an underpinning commercial side. Global Warrior Project is made up of 5 extreme environments - Ice, Ocean, Desert, Mountain and Jungle. == See also == Jim McNeill - the founder


id: explorer-s-grand-slam-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explorer's_Grand_Slam-0.md
category: reference
title: Explorer's Grand Slam
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explorer's_Grand_Slam
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:08.370006+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: explorer-s-grand-slam-20260505-0
summary:
The Explorer's Grand Slam, also known as the Adventurer's Grand Slam, is an adventurer goal to reach the North Pole and South Pole, as well as climb the Seven Summits: Everest, Aconcagua, Denali, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Vinson, and Puncak Jaya or Kosciuszko. The reason for a choice of Puncak Jaya or Kosciuszko was to give Explorer's Grand Slam participants a choice in following the Bass List (Kosciuszko) or the Messner List (Puncak Jaya) when choosing their seventh summit. For more information see paragraph entitled Controversy in Eight Summits. Heo Young-Ho, a South Korean Alpinist, was the first person to complete the Explorer's Grand Slam, after he reached the South Pole from Berkner Island in January 1997. British Explorer, David Hempleman-Adams, unaware of Heo Young-Ho's achievements, claimed he was the first person, but this has proven to be incorrect. The top three to complete the Explorer's Grand Slam are: first, Heo Young-Ho, South Korean Alpinist, finishing with the South Pole in January 1997, second, Russian Survivalist Fyodor Konyukhov finishing with Denali in May 1997, and third, David Hempleman-Adams finishing with the geographic North Pole in 1998. == History == The original concept involved the polar trips starting from accepted coastal points, involving


id: international-polar-foundation-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Polar_Foundation-0.md
category: reference
title: International Polar Foundation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Polar_Foundation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:09.470842+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: international-polar-foundation-20260505-0
summary:
Based in Brussels, Belgium, the International Polar Foundation (IPF) communicates and educates on polar science and polar research as a way to understand key environmental and climate mechanisms. The foundation also promotes innovative and multifaceted responses to the complex challenges raised by the need for action on sustainable development, and designed, built and operates the first zero emission Antarctic scientific research station Princess Elisabeth Antarctica. The IPF was founded in 2002 by polar explorers Alain Hubert, Hugo Decleir and André Berger. == Partnerships == The foundation is an active member of the University of the Arctic. UArctic is an international cooperative network based in the Circumpolar Arctic region, consisting of more than 200 universities, colleges, and other organizations with an interest in promoting education and research in the Arctic region. == See also == Princess Elisabeth Base == References == == External links == International Polar Foundation Belgian Antarctic Research Station - Princess Elisabeth Station


id: mackenzie-river-expedition-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackenzie_River_expedition-0.md
category: reference
title: Mackenzie River expedition
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackenzie_River_expedition
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:10.651313+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mackenzie-river-expedition-20260505-0
summary:
The Mackenzie River expedition of 1825–1827 was the second of three Arctic expeditions led by explorer John Franklin and organized by the Royal Navy. Its goal was the exploration of the North American coast between the mouths of the Mackenzie and Coppermine rivers and Bering Strait, in what is now present-day Alaska, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. Beginning at the Great Bear Lake, it started with a descent of the Mackenzie River. Franklin was accompanied by George Back and John Richardson, both of whom he had previously collaborated with in the disastrous Coppermine expedition of 1819–1821. Unlike Franklin's previous expedition, this one was largely successful, and the expedition mapped more than 1,000 km (620 mi) of new coastline between the Coppermine River and Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, an area that until then had remained largely unexplored by Europeans. == Background == The Northwest Passage, a supposed sea route to the Pacific Ocean by way of the Arctic Ocean, had long been sought by European explorers as a possible trade route to East Asia and the East Indies. During the Age of Exploration, the presupposed existence of the passage motivated much of European exploration in North America. Beginning in the early


id: mackenzie-river-expedition-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackenzie_River_expedition-1.md
category: reference
title: Mackenzie River expedition
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackenzie_River_expedition
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:10.651313+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mackenzie-river-expedition-20260505-0
summary:
=== Departure and first season === Franklin and the other naval officers, including Back and Richardson, departed Liverpool on 16 February 1825. Landing in New York City on 15 March, they then followed standard travelling routes through the state of New York, across the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, then through Upper Canada to Fort William on the shores of Lake Superior. After traversing numerous lakes and river systems, the party arrived at Cumberland House on the Saskatchewan River on 15 June. From there, they reached Methye Portage, mostly by way of the Churchill River system. Simultaneously, most of the expedition's supplies were sent from York Factory on Hudson Bay up the Hayes River, reaching the officers at Methye Portage on 29 June. The party descended the Clearwater and Athabasca Rivers, arriving at Fort Chipewyan on 15 July. The party's expeditious pace can be attributed to their intense rowing efforts: during their last push to Great Slave Lake, they had been paddling for thirty-six of the thirty-nine preceding hours. At Fort Resolution, Franklin met with Keskarrah, older brother of Franklin's friend and former ally Akaitcho, and Humpy of the Yellowknives (Coppermine Indians). After coasting the southern shore of Great Slave


id: mackenzie-river-expedition-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackenzie_River_expedition-2.md
category: reference
title: Mackenzie River expedition
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackenzie_River_expedition
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:10.651313+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mackenzie-river-expedition-20260505-0
summary:
=== Spring and the parties split === The expedition's plans for the coming summer were ambitious. Franklin, leading the western detachment, aimed to get as far as Icy Cape, which had previously been visited by James Cook in 1778. Richardson's journey would involve coasting the shore of the ocean as far east as the mouth of the Coppermine River. He would then ascend the river and cross overland to Great Bear Lake, ideally arriving at Fort Franklin before the onset of winter. The party made quick progress in descending the Mackenzie River, reaching its delta by early July. The western detachment was to consist of two boats, Lion and Reliance, commanded by Franklin and Back, respectively. The eastern detachment consisted of the boats Dolphin and Union, commemorated in the Dolphin and Union Strait. In the early morning of 4 July, the parties split. ==== Western detachment ==== The western detachment quickly faced difficulty at the hands of the Inuit. When the boats became grounded due to the river's shallowness, Franklin, while observing the location's longitude, discovered a nearby Inuit settlement. After instructing Back and the others to be prepared to take up arms should the Inuit prove hostile, Franklin departed


id: mackenzie-river-expedition-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackenzie_River_expedition-3.md
category: reference
title: Mackenzie River expedition
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackenzie_River_expedition
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:10.651313+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mackenzie-river-expedition-20260505-0
summary:
By September, the party was ascending the Mackenzie River, and on 4 September had reached Point Separation, where the two detachments had originally split. They recovered a small depot of supplies, stowed by the party the previous July, before pressing on. The mouth of the Great Bear River was reached on 16 September; five days later, Fort Franklin was reached. Over the course of their journey, the western party had travelled a total distance of 3,296 km (2,048 mi) in 80 days, with an average distance of about 41 km (25 mi) per day. ==== Eastern detachment ==== Consisting of twelve individuals, the eastern detachment proceeded down the Mackenzie, and eventually to open ocean. Encounters with the Inuit were relatively amicable, with the task of interpretation given to the group's Inuit companion, Ooligbuck. After traversing the maze of islands that comprise the delta of the Mackenzie, open sea was reached on 7 July. That same day, a band of Inuit were encountered. Quelling their initial fears by presenting gifts, Richardson established relations with the group, but found their disposition impolite. Ooligbuck, apparently distrusting the band, urged Richardson to depart; upon doing so, the party was trailed by the Inuit. These


id: mackenzie-river-expedition-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackenzie_River_expedition-4.md
category: reference
title: Mackenzie River expedition
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackenzie_River_expedition
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:10.651313+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mackenzie-river-expedition-20260505-0
summary:
=== Second winter and departure === During the party's absence from Fort Franklin, those still inhabiting the dwelling were directed to make repairs, which were completed by the time Franklin arrived. Upon his arrival, however, Franklin became concerned at the depletion of the fort's food stores, and dispatched Kendall to requisition some food and other supplies from Fort Norman. Kendall returned to the fort on 8 October, carrying an abundance of food and other supplies, which were of particular benefit to the eastern detachment, who had been forced to sacrifice much of their equipment during their overland crossing between the Coppermine and Dease Rivers. The party's second winter offered few events of note. By mid-November, ice on Great Bear Lake rendered it unnavigable. By early January, temperatures dipped to −47 °C (−53 °F), and by February, to −50 °C (−58 °F). The fort's larder at that point consisted of some tens of thousands of fish and nearly 11 t (24,000 lb) of meat. Franklin endeavoured to depart from the fort much earlier than in the previous season. He quit the fort on 20 February, carrying most of his supplies, including all of the expedition's charts, journals, and drawings, on a


id: ocean-explorers-grand-slam-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_Explorers_Grand_Slam-0.md
category: reference
title: Ocean Explorers Grand Slam
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_Explorers_Grand_Slam
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:11.831660+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: ocean-explorers-grand-slam-20260505-0
summary:
The Ocean Explorers Grand Slam is an adventurer goal to complete open-water crossings on all five oceans using human-powered vessel. == History == In 2019, Icelandic explorer Fiann Paul led the first human-powered transit (by rowing) across the Drake Passage (The Impossible Row) and, in doing so, he completed the row on his fifth ocean, and became the first person to achieve the Ocean Explorers Grand Slam. The Ocean Explorers Grand Slam was defined by Guinness World Records adjudicators as completing open-water crossings on all five oceans using human-powered vessels. Fiann achieved the title with his completed crossings on the following oceans: Atlantic (date of completion: 2011), Indian (2014), Pacific (2016), Arctic (2017), and Southern (2019). Completion of this quest took him 9 years. The definition "Rows on the Polar Open Waters" applies only to pure rowing expeditions across major water basins above the Polar Circle in the Arctic or within the actual boundaries of the Southern Ocean, from land to land, excluding any use of sail, paddling on kayaks or canoes, as well as rows around islands, within archipelagos and coastal rows, i.e. within vicinity of land and possibility to get ashore. The definition "Ocean Crossing on the Polar


id: polar-medal-canada-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_Medal_(Canada)-0.md
category: reference
title: Polar Medal (Canada)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_Medal_(Canada)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:12.939968+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: polar-medal-canada-20260505-0
summary:
The Polar Medal (French: Médaille polaire) is a Canadian medal intended to honour explorers of Canada's polar regions and defenders of the country's sovereignty in the north. The medal was initially conceived by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson as the Governor General's Northern Medal and created on September 15, 2005, to award those who served with distinction in northern Canada. It was replaced by the Polar Medal on June 23, 2015. == History == Until 1967, Canadians were eligible for the United Kingdom's Polar Medal (known as the Arctic Medal until 1904), since Canada had not yet promulgated its own system of honours and employed that of the United Kingdom. On September 15, 2005, Governor General Adrienne Clarkson created the Governor General's Northern Medal. That medal was incorporated into and replaced by the new Canadian Polar Medal on June 23, 2015, the 145th anniversary of the transfer to Canada of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory (today the Northwest Territories). The first medals were presented at a ceremony in the Yukon Territory on July 8, 2015. == Design == The Governor General's Northern Medal was designed by Cathy Bursey-Sabourin. It was set in a crystal base and depicted on its obverse


id: polar-t3-syndrome-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_T3_syndrome-0.md
category: reference
title: Polar T3 syndrome
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_T3_syndrome
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:14.107307+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: polar-t3-syndrome-20260505-0
summary:
Polar T3 syndrome is a condition found in polar explorers, caused by a decrease in levels of the thyroid hormone T3. Its effects include forgetfulness, cognitive impairment and mood disturbances. It can exhibit itself in a fugue state known as the Antarctic stare. Effects of polar environment conditions (long time coldness or bioactive factors) are proposed as hypothetical causes of this syndrome. It is regarded as one of the contributory causes of winter-over syndrome. == See also == Antarctica: A Year on Ice == References ==


id: polartrec-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PolarTREC-0.md
category: reference
title: PolarTREC
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PolarTREC
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:15.369819+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: polartrec-20260505-0
summary:
PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) is a program for K-12 teachers to participate in field research in the polar regions in order to improve their knowledge of polar science and expand the reach of current scientific research beyond the scientific community. Teachers involved in PolarTREC spend about two to six weeks at their polar sites, collaborating with scientific research teams and connecting with students and the public via online media. PolarTREC is funded by the National Science Foundation and managed by the Arctic Research Consortium. == Overview == The purpose of PolarTREC is to stimulate polar science education and awareness. == Expeditions == Notable past PolarTREC expeditions include: •Carbon Balance in Warming and Drying Tundra (2013), which studied the effects of warming and drying on tundra carbon balance •Airborne Survey of Polar Ice (2013), a six-year NASA mission, which is the largest airborne survey of Earth's polar ice ever conducted •Tectonic History of the Transantartic Mountains (2012), which deciphered the tectonic history of the Transantarctic Mountains and the Wilkes Subglacial Basin •Greenland Education Tour (2012), part of an initiative to foster enhanced international scientific cooperation between Greenland and the US •In 2011, PolarTREC teacher John Wood lived in


id: rigny-bjerg-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigny_Bjerg-0.md
category: reference
title: Rigny Bjerg
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigny_Bjerg
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:17.062214+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: rigny-bjerg-20260505-0
summary:
Mount Rigny (Danish: Rigny Bjerg, Rignys Bjerg) is a mountain peak in East Greenland. It is located in King Christian IX Land, Sermersooq Municipality. The mountain was named by Jules de Blosseville, after French naval officer Marie Henri Daniel Gauthier, comte de Rigny (1782–1835). == Geography == Mount Rigny is the highest peak in a mountainous area east of the Sortebrae Glacier close to the Blosseville Coast. Reaching 2,734 m (8,970 ft), Rigny Bjerg was marked on Jules de Blosseville's map of 1833 which also contained a drawing of the mountain's profile as seen from the sea. The mountain was then identified by the 1895-96 Ingolf Expedition led by C.F. Wandel, and its approximate position determined by the 1898–1900 Carlsbergfund Expedition to East Greenland led by G.C. Amdrup. This mountain's elevation and position are incorrect in the Defense Mapping Agency Greenland Navigation charts. In Rigny Berg there are routes popular with mountaineers, such as "Snow Falcon", as well as neighboring peaks in the region such as RHARPeak. The first successful ascent in 1998 by Russ Hore and Al Read. The first full ascent of Rigny Bjerg was made on 19 July 2003 by the 'Midnight Sun 03 Expedition'. Certain studies


id: sledging-ration-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sledging_ration-0.md
category: reference
title: Sledging ration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sledging_ration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:18.219534+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: sledging-ration-20260505-0
summary:
Sledging rations are a type of meal consumed by members of polar expeditions. These rations are designed for the use of sledging parties travelling long distances without support vehicles. They are meant to be calorically dense and provide a balanced diet. They must optimize weight and portability, as well as nutritional benefit. Typically, sledging rations are dehydrated to cut down on weight. == Composition == === Staples === Sledging biscuits are an essential component of sledging rations. These hard, long-life biscuits are made of flour, salt, butter, water and baking soda. Sledging biscuits are popular on expeditions in Antarctica because they are high in energy. Plasmon biscuits were taken in large quantities by Ernest Shackleton in his Antarctic Expedition of 1902, and were also favored by Douglas Mawson. Plasmon itself was a powdered milk extract used as a fortifying agent that was utilized in early sledging rations. Hoosh (occasionally spelled hooch) is a stew made of sledging biscuits, pemmican and water. More broadly, it may be a mix of water with dried meat, fat, and a grain-based thickening agent. It was the common food of early twentieth century Antarctic expeditions, used, for example, by the expeditions of Robert Falcon Scott


id: operation-tabarin-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tabarin-0.md
category: reference
title: Operation Tabarin
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tabarin
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:19.516881+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: operation-tabarin-20260505-0
summary:
Operation Tabarin was the code name for a secret British expedition to the Antarctic during World War Two, operational 1943–1946. Conducted by the Admiralty on behalf of the Colonial Office, its primary objective was to strengthen British claims to sovereignty of the British territory of the Falkland Islands Dependencies (FID), to which Argentina and Chile had made counter claims since the outbreak of war. This was done by establishing permanently occupied bases, carrying out administrative activities such as postal services and undertaking scientific research. The meteorological observations made aided Allied shipping in the South Atlantic Ocean. Following Cabinet approval in January 1943, there was an intensive period of planning, recruitment and procurement, before the expedition left the UK in November 1943, led by Lieutenant-Commander James Marr. Two bases were established in early 1944 – firstly, Base B, at Deception Island, South Shetland Islands, and later the main base, Base A, at Port Lockroy, Wiencke Island. A variety of science and mapping work was carried out. 14 men over-wintered in 1944. In the Antarctic summer of 1944/45, Captain Andrew Taylor became leader, following the resignation of Marr due to ill health. A base hut was built on Coronation Island, South Orkney


id: operation-tabarin-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tabarin-1.md
category: reference
title: Operation Tabarin
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tabarin
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:19.516881+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: operation-tabarin-20260505-0
summary:
=== Planning and preparation === In May 1943, following a number of interdepartmental meetings, planning started for an expedition to occupy sites in the Falkland Islands Dependencies (FID). A meeting on 27 May set the objective of establishing permanent bases on Deception Island, South Shetland Islands, and on Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, funded through sales of a new FID stamp issue to philatelists, though in the event most costs were met through the Admiralty. During the planning stage the priority for the location of the second base was changed to Hope Bay, since it was on the mainland, with an option to erect a hut on Signy Island if resources allowed. Final instructions were issued in November 1943, clarifying the physical and political objectives, importance of the issuing of stamps, appointment of magistrates and other acts of sovereignty. In the field the expedition was under the authority of the Governor of the Falkland Islands, who received instructions from the Secretary of State for the Colonies. An Expedition Committee was established in June 1943, chaired by A.B. Acheson, Colonial Office Under-Secretary, with members from the Colonial Office, Foreign Office, Admiralty, Treasury, Crown Agents, Ministry of War Transport and Discovery Investigations.


id: operation-tabarin-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tabarin-2.md
category: reference
title: Operation Tabarin
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tabarin
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:19.516881+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: operation-tabarin-20260505-0
summary:
=== Journey south === On 12 November 1943 Bransfield finally sailed from London, joining a small coastal convoy bound for Falmouth. Problems arose almost immediately and she had to put in to Portsmouth for repairs. She continued on 25 November but proved unseaworthy during a gale on the voyage west. Meanwhile, the Marquesa, on leaving Liverpool wharf, had grounded on a submerged wreck and the Tabarin contingent were ordered to re-join the rest of the expedition. Forced to abandon the Bransfield, the expedition was trans-shipped to the troop ship Highland Monarch at Avonmouth in Bristol on 8 December. She was taking a relief garrison to the Falkland Islands and sailed on 14 December, calling at Gibraltar and Montevideo before reaching Port Stanley on 26 January. Waiting for them, to replace Bransfield, was HMS William Scoresby. Built for whale marking work by the Discovery Investigations, she had been requisitioned by the Royal Navy for mine sweeping duties in the South Atlantic during the war. She had very limited cargo capacity but the Falkland Islands Company vessel SS Fitzroy had also been assigned to the expedition to transport cargo and most of the personnel. The Fitzroy had already collected the cargo carried


id: operation-tabarin-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tabarin-3.md
category: reference
title: Operation Tabarin
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tabarin
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:19.516881+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: operation-tabarin-20260505-0
summary:
The main hut, named Bransfield House in memory of their original expedition ship, was a prefabricated design by the Norwich firm of Boulton and Paul. On 15 February the generator was successfully installed, enabling wireless communication with Stanley and Base B to be established. Three extensions to the hut were added between February and April, using materials brought from Deception Island or found nearby, and also a Nissen hut for storage. The postmarking of mail at Port Lockroy began on 12 February, indicating the importance given to philatelic duties. Falkland Islands stamps overprinted with the inscription "Graham Land, Dependency of" were used. The William Scoresby and Fitzroy left the new base on 17 February for Base B, Deception Island, before visiting Signy Island, arriving on 20th. A landing was made and a Union flag nailed to a disused whaling hut. Mail was processed using South Orkney overprinted stamps. From there the vessels sailed to Grytviken, South Georgia, where the Hooley family disembarked, before returning to the Falkland Islands, taking official mail. William Scoresby visited Base A twice more before winter set in. On 19 March she brought Falkland Islander John Blyth, who joined the team as a cook/handyman in place


id: operation-tabarin-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tabarin-4.md
category: reference
title: Operation Tabarin
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tabarin
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:19.516881+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: operation-tabarin-20260505-0
summary:
Gordon J. Lockley – base leader, meteorologist, zoologist – British Antarctic Survey – Operation Tabarin List of personnel John K. Biggs – handyman Norman F. Layther – wireless operator mechanic Francis White – cook – British Antarctic Survey – Operation Tabarin List of personnel Base B, Deception Island – British Antarctic Survey – Operation Tabarin List of personnel Alan W. Reece – base leader, meteorologist Samuel Bonner – handyman James E.B.F. Farrington - senior wireless operator mechanic Charles Smith - cook Base D, Hope Bay – British Antarctic Survey – Operation Tabarin List of personnel Andrew Taylor – expedition commander, base leader, surveyor Lewis Ashton – carpenter Eric H. Back – medical officer, meteorologist A. Thomas Berry – storeman, cook John Blyth – cook Gwion Davies – handyman, scientific assistant Thomas Donnachie – wireless operator mechanic William R. Flett – geologist David P. James – surveyor Elke Mackenzie Lamb (then known as Ivan Mackenzie Lamb) – botanist Norman B. Marshall – zoologist John Matheson – handyman Victor I. Russell – surveyor === 3rd year – Antarctic summer 1945/46 === On 14 January 1946, William Scoresby, Fitzroy and 300-ton sealer Trepassey began evacuating the members of the expedition to the Falklands.


id: transglobe-expedition-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transglobe_Expedition-0.md
category: reference
title: Transglobe Expedition
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transglobe_Expedition
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:20.755819+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: transglobe-expedition-20260505-0
summary:
The Transglobe Expedition (1979–1982) was the first expedition to make a longitudinal (north–south) circumnavigation of the Earth using only surface transport. British adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes led a team, including Oliver Shepard and Charles R. Burton, that attempted to follow the Greenwich meridian over both land and water. They began in Greenwich in the United Kingdom in September 1979 and travelled south, arriving at the South Pole on 15 December 1980. Over the next 14 months, they travelled north, reaching the North Pole on 11 April 1982. Travelling south once more, they arrived again in Greenwich on 29 August 1982. It required traversing both of the poles and the use of boats in some places. Oliver Shepard took part in the Antarctic leg of the expedition. Ginny Fiennes handled all communications between the land team and their support, and ran the polar bases. == Planning == The original idea for the expedition was conceived by Ginny Fiennes in February 1972. The trip was entirely funded through sponsorships and the free labour of the expedition members, which took seven years to organize. Before the expedition, they had to limit the food that they ate. They brought a large amount of bread,


id: uss-whale-ssn-638-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Whale_(SSN-638)-0.md
category: reference
title: USS Whale (SSN-638)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Whale_(SSN-638)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:21.871209+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: uss-whale-ssn-638-20260505-0
summary:
USS Whale (SSN-638) was a Sturgeon-class submarine nuclear-powered attack submarine of the United States Navy. She was the second ship of that name, after the whale family of aquatic mammals. == Construction and commissioning == Whale's keel was laid down on 27 May 1964, at the General Dynamics Quincy Shipbuilding Division shipyard, in Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on 14 October 1966, sponsored by Mrs. Russell B. Long, the wife of United States Senator Russell B. Long, of Louisiana, and commissioned on 12 October 1968. == Service history == === 1968 === Whale arrived in her first home port, Charleston, South Carolina, on 2 November 1968, and, after a week in port, put to sea on 9 November 1968, for shakedown training, which she completed in November and December 1968, along with a series of post-commissioning tests, trials, and qualifications. In January 1969, she began normal operations out of Charleston, with attack submarine training along the southeastern coast of the United States. === 1969 === On 18 March 1969, Whale stood out of Charleston, on her way north to operations above the Arctic Circle. She reached the North Pole, on 6 April 1969, and surfaced there in commemoration of the


id: uss-whale-ssn-638-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Whale_(SSN-638)-1.md
category: reference
title: USS Whale (SSN-638)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Whale_(SSN-638)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:21.871209+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: uss-whale-ssn-638-20260505-0
summary:
=== 1975–1976 === Whale spent the next 11 months engaged in operations out of Groton. Various tests and evaluations occupied January, and the first half of February 1975. Between then and June 1975, she provided training services for various units of the Atlantic Fleet and for prospective commanding officers. Whale also served as a training platform for midshipmen during indoctrination cruises held late in the summer. On 29 September 1975, she stood out of Groton, for another deployment with the Sixth Fleet. During that cruise, she took part in a major Second Fleet exercise, "Ocean Safari", and after joining the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, took part in a succession of unilateral, bilateral, and multilateral exercises with units of the navies of Greece, France, Italy, and the Netherlands. She completed her tour of duty with the Sixth Fleet during the second week in March 1976, and arrived at Groton on 25 March 1976. === 1976–1978 === Whale resumed normal United States East Coast operations until 9 September 1976, when she entered the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard at Kittery, Maine, for a refueling overhaul. That overhaul concluded on 7 July 1978. Whale then spent the remainder of 1978 in refresher training


id: uss-whale-ssn-638-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Whale_(SSN-638)-2.md
category: reference
title: USS Whale (SSN-638)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Whale_(SSN-638)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:21.871209+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: uss-whale-ssn-638-20260505-0
summary:
In 1992, Whale participated in UNITAS XXXIII, an expedition around South America while under the command of Commander Andrew V. Harris, Jr., During UNITAS XXXIII she made port calls in Puerto Rico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Panama, and Colombia. The port visit in Panama was a somber one due to the sudden loss of the ship's chief yeoman due to a heart attack. During UNITAS Whale again crossed the Equator, and transited the Panama Canal, (South to North), returning to port in November. In 1993, Whale visited Bermuda, while transiting from the Autec Torpedo Firing Range, and Florida ports of call, conducted a scientific exercise under the ice cap at the North Pole and in the North Atlantic. Following the final Change of Command in January 1994, Whale deployed to the Arctic with HMS Trenchant (S91) in support of combined United States and Royal Navy testing of submarine equipment as well as collection of environmental data in the polar region. JOINTSUBICEX 1-94 saw Whale's second North Pole surfacing on 16 April 1994, 25 years and 10 days, after her first polar surfacing in 1969. Around this time, Whale circumnavigated the globe by circling the North Pole underwater to earn each


id: windsled-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WindSled-0.md
category: reference
title: WindSled
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WindSled
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:23.055465+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: windsled-20260505-0
summary:
The WindSled or Inuit WindSled is a wind-powered vehicle designed by Spanish polar explorer Ramón Hernando de Larramendi for travel and transportation of equipment in polar regions. The vehicle is based on Inuit tradition, which Larramendi has combined with large kites so that it may progress through the interior of the Arctic and Antarctic plateau, driven by aeolian energy. It is able to transport up to 2,000 kg (4,400 lb) of weight. As of 2017, the vehicle has successfully covered more than 20,000 km (12,000 mi), driven only by the wind, reaching the Geographic South Pole, the South Pole of Inaccessibility and the highest altitude in the interior of Greenland. The Inuit WindSled has been improving for the last 18 years, during which it has served as a scientific platform for projects of different Spanish and international scientific institutions. Its purpose is to develop scientific and geographic exploration projects with zero emissions in polar regions. == Layout == The Inuit WindSled is composed of four articulated modules, each of them made up with wooden rails and crossbars between 3 and 4.5 m (9.8 and 14.8 ft) in length and 3.7 to 4 m (12 to 13 ft) in width. This


id: winter-over-syndrome-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter-over_syndrome-0.md
category: reference
title: Winter-over syndrome
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter-over_syndrome
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:24.229703+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: winter-over-syndrome-20260505-0
summary:
The winter-over syndrome is a condition that occurs in individuals who "winter over" throughout the Antarctic (or Arctic) winter, which can last seven to eight months. It has been observed in inhabitants of research stations in Antarctica, as well as in polar bases such as Thule, Alert and Eureka. It consists of a variety of behavioral and medical disturbances, including irritability, depression, insomnia, absentmindedness, aggressive behavior, and irritable bowel syndrome. == Contributing factors == The Antarctic winter is a period of little to no sunlight, no physical contact with other continents or Antarctic stations, including no airplanes, ships, or mail. The area has the driest desert climate on Earth, a low air pressure, and an oxygen-poor atmosphere. It is completely cut off during winter, with a mean temperature of −51 °C (−60 °F), and the lowest recorded temperature is −85 °C (−121 °F). For these reasons, the immobility, monotony, harsh physical environment, sexual deprivation, and the general isolation are believed to contribute to increased anxiety and depression among the residents of Antarctic stations. Several studies have been done over the years to determine the contributing causes, or stresses, of "winter-over" syndrome. These include stress, social isolation, subsyndromal seasonal affective disorder


id: space-exploration-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exploration-0.md
category: reference
title: Space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:25.734834+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
Space exploration is the physical investigation of outer space by uncrewed robotic space probes and through human spaceflight. While the observation of objects in space, known as astronomy, predates reliable recorded history, it was the development of large and relatively efficient rockets during the mid-twentieth century that allowed physical space exploration to become a reality. Common rationales for exploring space include advancing scientific research, national prestige, uniting different nations, ensuring the future survival of humanity, and developing military and strategic advantages against other countries. The early era of space exploration was driven by a "Space Race" in which the Soviet Union and the United States vied to demonstrate their technological superiority. Landmarks of this era include the launch of the first human-made object to orbit Earth, the Soviet Union's Sputnik 1, on 4 October 1957, and the first Moon landing by the American Apollo 11 mission on 20 July 1969. The Soviet space program achieved many of the first milestones, including the first living being in orbit in 1957, the first human spaceflight (Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1) in 1961, the first spacewalk (by Alexei Leonov) on 18 March 1965, the first automatic landing on another celestial body in 1966,


id: space-exploration-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exploration-1.md
category: reference
title: Space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:25.734834+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
=== First astronomical body space explorations === The first artificial object to reach another celestial body was Luna 2 which reached the Moon in 1959. The first soft landing on another celestial body was performed by Luna 9 landing on the Moon on 3 February 1966. Luna 10 became the first artificial satellite of the Moon, entering in a lunar orbit on 3 April 1966. The first crewed landing on another celestial body was performed by Apollo 11 on 20 July 1969, landing on the Moon. There have been a total of six spacecraft with humans landing on the Moon starting from 1969 to the last human landing in 1972. The first interplanetary flyby was the 1961 Venera 1 flyby of Venus, though the 1962 Mariner 2 was the first flyby of Venus to return data (closest approach 34,773 kilometers). Pioneer 6 was the first satellite to orbit the Sun, launched on 16 December 1965. The other planets were first flown by in 1965 for Mars by Mariner 4, 1973 for Jupiter by Pioneer 10, 1974 for Mercury by Mariner 10, 1979 for Saturn by Pioneer 11, 1986 for Uranus by Voyager 2, 1989 for Neptune by Voyager 2. In


id: space-exploration-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exploration-2.md
category: reference
title: Space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:25.734834+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
Venus was the first target of interplanetary flyby and lander missions and, despite one of the most hostile surface environments in the Solar System, has had more landers sent to it (nearly all from the Soviet Union) than any other planet in the Solar System. The first flyby was the 1961 Venera 1, though the 1962 Mariner 2 was the first flyby to successfully return data. Mariner 2 has been followed by several other flybys by multiple space agencies often as part of missions using a Venus flyby to provide a gravitational assist en route to other celestial bodies. In 1967, Venera 4 became the first probe to enter and directly examine the atmosphere of Venus. In 1970, Venera 7 became the first successful lander to reach the surface of Venus and by 1985 it had been followed by eight additional successful Soviet Venus landers which provided images and other direct surface data. Starting in 1975, with the Soviet orbiter Venera 9, some ten successful orbiter missions have been sent to Venus, including later missions which were able to map the surface of Venus using radar to pierce the obscuring atmosphere. === Earth === Space exploration has been used as


id: space-exploration-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exploration-3.md
category: reference
title: Space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:25.734834+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
The Russian space mission Fobos-Grunt, which launched on 9 November 2011, experienced a failure leaving it stranded in low Earth orbit. It was to begin exploration of the Phobos and Martian circumterrestrial orbit, and study whether the moons of Mars, or at least Phobos, could be a "trans-shipment point" for spaceships traveling to Mars. === Asteroids === Until the advent of space travel, objects in the asteroid belt were merely pinpricks of light in even the largest telescopes, their shapes and terrain remaining a mystery. Several asteroids have now been visited by probes, the first of which was Galileo, which flew past two: 951 Gaspra in 1991, followed by 243 Ida in 1993. Both of these lay near enough to Galileo's planned trajectory to Jupiter that they could be visited at acceptable cost. The first landing on an asteroid was performed by the NEAR Shoemaker probe in 2000, following an orbital survey of the object, 433 Eros. The dwarf planet Ceres and the asteroid 4 Vesta, two of the three largest asteroids, were visited by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, launched in 2007. Hayabusa was a robotic spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to return a sample of material from


id: space-exploration-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exploration-4.md
category: reference
title: Space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:25.734834+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
=== Pluto === The dwarf planet Pluto presents significant challenges for spacecraft because of its great distance from Earth (requiring high velocity for reasonable trip times) and small mass (making capture into orbit difficult at present). Voyager 1 could have visited Pluto, but controllers opted instead for a close flyby of Saturn's moon Titan, resulting in a trajectory incompatible with a Pluto flyby. Voyager 2 never had a plausible trajectory for reaching Pluto. After an intense political battle, a mission to Pluto dubbed New Horizons was granted funding from the United States government in 2003. New Horizons was launched successfully on 19 January 2006. In early 2007 the craft made use of a gravity assist from Jupiter. Its closest approach to Pluto was on 14 July 2015; scientific observations of Pluto began five months prior to closest approach and continued for 16 days after the encounter. === Kuiper Belt Objects === The New Horizons mission also performed a flyby of the small planetesimal Arrokoth, in the Kuiper belt, in 2019. This was its first extended mission. === Comets === Although many comets have been studied from Earth sometimes with centuries-worth of observations, only a few comets have been closely visited.


id: space-exploration-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exploration-5.md
category: reference
title: Space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:25.734834+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
The research that is conducted by national space exploration agencies, such as NASA and Roscosmos, is one of the reasons supporters cite to justify government expenses. Economic analyses of the NASA programs often showed ongoing economic benefits (such as NASA spin-offs), generating many times the revenue of the cost of the program. It is also argued that space exploration would lead to the extraction of resources on other planets and especially asteroids, which contain billions of dollars' worth of minerals and metals. Such expeditions could generate substantial revenue. In addition, it has been argued that space exploration programs help inspire youth to study in science and engineering. Space exploration also gives scientists the ability to perform experiments in other settings and expand humanity's knowledge. Another claim is that space exploration is a necessity to humankind and that staying on Earth will eventually lead to extinction. Some of the reasons are lack of natural resources, comets, nuclear war, and worldwide epidemic. Stephen Hawking, renowned British theoretical physicist, said, "I don't think the human race will survive the next thousand years, unless we spread into space. There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet. But I'm an


id: space-exploration-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exploration-6.md
category: reference
title: Space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:25.734834+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
Astrobiology is the interdisciplinary study of life in the universe, combining aspects of astronomy, biology and geology. It is focused primarily on the study of the origin, distribution and evolution of life. It is also known as exobiology (from Greek: έξω, exo, "outside"). The term "Xenobiology" has been used as well, but this is technically incorrect because its terminology means "biology of the foreigners". Astrobiologists must also consider the possibility of life that is chemically entirely distinct from any life found on Earth. In the Solar System, some of the prime locations for current or past astrobiology are on Enceladus, Europa, Mars, and Titan. === Human spaceflight and habitation === To date, the longest human occupation of space is the International Space Station which has been in continuous use for 25 years, 184 days. Valeri Polyakov's record single spaceflight of almost 438 days aboard the Mir space station has not been surpassed. The health effects of space have been well documented through years of research conducted in the field of aerospace medicine. Analog environments similar to those experienced in space travel (like deep sea submarines), have been used in this research to further explore the relationship between isolation and extreme


id: space-exploration-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exploration-7.md
category: reference
title: Space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:25.734834+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
===== Women ===== The first woman to go to space was Valentina Tereshkova. She flew in 1963 but it was not until the 1980s that another woman entered space again. All astronauts were required to be military test pilots at the time and women were not able to join this career. This is one reason for the delay in allowing women to join space crews. After the rule changed, Svetlana Savitskaya became the second woman to go to space, she was also from the Soviet Union. Sally Ride became the next woman in space and the first woman to fly to space through the United States program. Since then, eleven other countries have allowed women astronauts. The first all-female space walk occurred in 2018, including Christina Koch and Jessica Meir. They had both previously participated in space walks with NASA. The first woman to go to the Moon is planned for 2026. Despite these developments, women are underrepresented among astronauts and especially cosmonauts. Issues that block potential applicants from the programs, and limit the space missions they are able to go on, include: agencies limiting women to half as much time in space than men, arguing that there may be


id: timeline-of-space-exploration-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_space_exploration-0.md
category: reference
title: Timeline of space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:27.048289+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: timeline-of-space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
This is a timeline of space exploration which includes notable missions, achievements, first accomplishments and milestones in humanity's exploration of outer space. This timeline generally does not distinguish achievements by a specific country or private company, as it considers humanity as a whole. See otherwise the timeline of private spaceflight or look for achievements by each space agency. == Pre-20th century == == 1900–1956 == == 1957–1959 == == 1960–1969 == == 1970–1979 == == 1980–1989 == == 1990–1999 == == 2000–2009 == == 2010–2019 == == Since 2020 == == Notes == == See also == Discovery and exploration of the Solar System List of spaceflight records List of spaceflight records#Human spaceflight firsts Timeline of Solar System exploration – A comprehensive list of events in the exploration of the Solar System. Timeline of artificial satellites and space probes – A comprehensive list of artificial satellites and space probes. Timeline of space travel by nationality Timeline of spaceflight – Chronological list of events in spaceflight broken down as a separate article for each year Timeline of private spaceflight – For first achievements by private space companies == References == == External links == Chronology of Space Exploration Archived 2017-05-25 at


id: outline-of-space-exploration-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_space_exploration-0.md
category: reference
title: Outline of space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:28.190599+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: outline-of-space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to space exploration. Space exploration – use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft. == Essence of space exploration == Space exploration Big science – Term used to describe a series of changes in science which occurred in industrial nations Exploration – Investigating an unfamiliar area High tech – Most advanced technology available Space – Void between celestial bodies Spaceflight – Flight into or through outer space == Branches of space exploration == Human spaceflight – Spaceflight with a crew or passengers Uncrewed spaceflight – Autonomous space travel without human == History of space exploration == Remote sensing of Earth Exploration of the Moon Apollo program Moon landings Robotic exploration of the Moon Exploration of Mercury Exploration of Venus Exploration of Mars Mars landings Mars rovers Mars Rotorcrafts Mars flyby Exploration of Jupiter Exploration of Saturn Exploration of Uranus Exploration of Neptune History of human spaceflight Project Mercury Project Gemini Apollo program Space Shuttle program Vostok program Voskhod program Soyuz program Shenzhou program List of human spaceflights List of Space Shuttle missions


id: outline-of-space-exploration-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_space_exploration-1.md
category: reference
title: Outline of space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:28.190599+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: outline-of-space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
=== Lists === List of spacecraft List of crewed spacecraft List of Solar System probes List of active Solar System probes List of proposed Solar System probes List of lunar probes List of Mars landers List of Mars orbiters List of space telescopes List of proposed space telescopes List of cargo spacecraft List of Falcon 9 first-stage boosters List of heaviest spacecraft List of spacecraft called Sputnik List of spacecraft powered by non-rechargeable batteries List of spacecraft with electric propulsion List of spaceplanes List of upper stages List of spacecraft deployed from the International Space Station Assembly of the International Space Station Space Shuttle crews List of Apollo astronauts List of Apollo missions List of Artemis missions List of artificial objects on extra-terrestrial surfaces List of astronauts by name List of astronauts by selection List of communication satellite companies List of communications satellite firsts List of Constellation missions List of Cosmos satellites List of crewed spacecraft List of cumulative spacewalk records List of Earth observation satellites List of human spaceflight programs List of human spaceflights List of human spaceflights to the International Space Station List of interplanetary voyages List of ISS spacewalks List of International Space Station expeditions List of


category: reference
title: Agreement Concerning Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes
tags: science, encyclopedia
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:29.396523+00:00
instance: kb-cron
id:
agreement-concerning-cooperation-in-the-exploration-and-use-of-outer-space-for-peaceful-purposes-20260505-0

file:
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agreement_Concerning_Cooperation_in_the_Exploration_and_Use_of_Outer_Space_for_Peaceful_Purposes-0.md

summary:
The Agreement Concerning Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes was an agreement between the United States (US) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) which established a legal framework for the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) and refined the means and methods for sharing data between these two parties. It was written in the days leading up to May 24, 1972. Having been agreed upon months earlier, it was signed by US President Richard Nixon and USSR. Premier A. N. Kosygin in Moscow during a three-day state visit. This agreement was of particular significance as it furthered efforts towards cooperation in space between the US and the USSR. during the Cold War. == Key points == The Agreement enumerates areas in which the US and the USSR. would cooperate, notably exploration, space meteorology, environmental sciences, celestial bodies, and space medicine. It describes the means to accomplish these goals, listing among other things, "delegations [and] meetings of scientists and specialists of both countries." It also broadly outlines the goals and time frame of the ASTP, stating that "[t]he parties have agreed to carry out projects for developing compatible rendezvous and docking systems [...] in order

source_url:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agreement_Concerning_Cooperation_in_the_Exploration_and_Use_of_Outer_Space_for_Peaceful_Purposes

parent:
agreement-concerning-cooperation-in-the-exploration-and-use-of-outer-space-for-peaceful-purposes-20260505-0


id: alliance-to-rescue-civilization-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_to_Rescue_Civilization-0.md
category: reference
title: Alliance to Rescue Civilization
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_to_Rescue_Civilization
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:30.504572+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: alliance-to-rescue-civilization-20260505-0
summary:
The Alliance to Rescue Civilization was an organization devoted to the establishment of an off-Earth "backup" of human civilization. This facility, or group of facilities, would serve to repopulate the Earth after a worldwide disaster or war, preserving as much as possible both the sciences and the arts. The organization had called for such a backup facility to be built on the Moon in lieu of NASA's plan to return there no earlier than 2026. It was founded by the author and journalist William E. Burrows and the biochemist Robert Shapiro. The organization was absorbed into the Lifeboat Foundation in 2007. == References == == External links == The Alliance to Rescue Civilization - An Organizational Framework - Internet Archive ARC website Archived 2018-03-07 at the Wayback Machine An Alliance to Rescue Civilization, Ad Astra, 1999 Morgan, Richard (August 1, 2006). "Life After Earth: Imagining Survival Beyond This Terra Firma". New York Times. Retrieved April 23, 2010.


id: beijing-institute-of-tracking-and-telemetry-technology-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_Institute_of_Tracking_and_Telemetry_Technology-0.md
category: reference
title: Beijing Institute of Tracking and Telemetry Technology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_Institute_of_Tracking_and_Telemetry_Technology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:32.883080+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: beijing-institute-of-tracking-and-telemetry-technology-20260505-0
summary:
The Beijing Institute of Tracking and Telecommunications Technology (Chinese: 北京跟踪与通信技术研究所; pinyin: Běijīng Gēnzōng yǔ Tōngxìn Jìshù Yánjiūsuǒ) aka BITTT is a research institution of the Aerospace Force of the People's Liberation Army. The head office is located in the Beijing Space City in the north of Haidian district. The head of the institute, Dong Guangliang (董光亮), is also the Technical Director of the Control and Communication Systems of the Manned Space Program of the PRC since September 2015. The BITTT is an observer member of the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems. == History == The "Research Institute for Orbit Tracking and Communication Technology" was founded in May 1965 in connection with Project 651, the program to build and launch a Chinese satellite that began in January 1965.As part of this project, the institute was initially responsible for planning the radar facilities at the Jiuquan Launch site, the facilities of the ground stations of the Chinese Space Control Network, and its headquarters, which was located in Weinan at the time. After China's first satellite, Dongfanghong 1, was successfully launched into space on 24 April 1970, the institute took on a leading role in the further expansion of the space control


id: benefits-of-space-exploration-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benefits_of_space_exploration-0.md
category: reference
title: Benefits of space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benefits_of_space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:34.024332+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: benefits-of-space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
As the space race came to an end, a new rationale for investment in space exploration emerged, focused on the pragmatic use of space for improving life on Earth. The legacy of the space race is that nations continue to pursue space exploration to enhance their prestige. As the justification for government-funded space programs shifted to "the public good", space agencies began to articulate and measure the wider socio-economic benefits that might derive from their activities, including both the direct and indirect (or less obvious) benefits of space exploration. However, such programs have also been criticized with several drawbacks cited. == Direct and indirect benefits of space exploration == Space agencies, governments, researchers and commentators have isolated a large number of direct and indirect benefits of space exploration programs including: New technologies that can be utilized in other industries and society (such as the development of communications satellites) Improved knowledge of space and the origin of the universe Cultural benefits In an attempt to quantify the benefits derived from space exploration, NASA calculated that 444,000 lives have been saved, 14,000 jobs have been created, $5 billion in revenue has been generated, and there has been $6.2 billion in cost reductions


id: benefits-of-space-exploration-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benefits_of_space_exploration-1.md
category: reference
title: Benefits of space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benefits_of_space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:34.024332+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: benefits-of-space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
== Knowledge of space == Since Sputnik 1 entered orbit in 1957 to perform Ionospheric experiments, the human understanding of Earth and space has increased. The missions to the Moon begin as early as 1958 and continued into the current age. A few successful lunar missions by the USSR include missions such as the Luna 1 spacecraft that completed the first flyby of the Moon in 1959, the Luna 3 lunar probe that took the first pictures of the far side of the Moon in 1959, the Luna 10 orbiter that was the first orbiter of the Moon in 1966, the Zond 5 circumlunar mission which flew the first Earthlings (two tortoises) to the Moon and safely returned them to Earth, and the Lunokhod 1 lunar rover in 1970, which was the first rover to explore the surface of a world beyond Earth. United States firsts include Apollo 8 in 1968, which carried the first three humans into lunar orbit, and the historic 1969 Apollo 11 mission which first landed humans on the Moon. Missions to the Moon have collected samples of lunar materials and there are now multiple satellites such as ARTEMIS P1 that currently orbit the Moon and


id: benefits-of-space-exploration-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benefits_of_space_exploration-2.md
category: reference
title: Benefits of space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benefits_of_space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:34.024332+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: benefits-of-space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
== Criticisms and drawbacks == There are three main types of criticism levied against space exploration: the cost, ideological criticism, and social criticism. The calculations of the benefits of space exploration have frequently been criticized due to a conflict of interests argument (the agencies responsible are the ones who calculate the benefits) and the complexity of quantifying the benefits. As Matthew Williams stated: "How do you put a dollar value on scientific knowledge, inspiration, or the expansion of our frontiers?" While some commentators have argued that space exploration is a lifeboat strategy to avoid annihilation of the human race, others have countered that it misses the point. Amitai Etzioni – Professor at The George Washington University and an adviser to the US's Carter administration – countered in Humanity Would Be Better off Saving Earth, Rather Than Colonizing Mars that: "It is better to hold off disasters at home than to assume all is lost". Etzioni also pointed out the vast cost of colonization of extraterrestrial planets by citing that Elon Musk, an advocate of space exploration and colonization, had calculated the cost of sending the first 12 astronauts to Mars at £10 billion per person. The Mars Climate Orbiter is


id: chasing-new-horizons-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chasing_New_Horizons-0.md
category: reference
title: Chasing New Horizons
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chasing_New_Horizons
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:35.180280+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: chasing-new-horizons-20260505-0
summary:
Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto is a book by American planetary scientist Alan Stern and astrobiologist and non-fiction writer David Grinspoon, published in 2018. Grinspoon acts as a narrator, though the book is written from Alan Stern's perspective; he is the principal investigator of New Horizons mission to Pluto. == Background and reception == The book tells a story of a space probe to Pluto, that was proposed by the author, Alan Stern, in the early 1990s. The mission had been cancelled several times, and there were a harsh competition between Stern's group and that of JPL to get approval of the mission design from NASA. Kirkus reviews called the book "an exploration of the fascinating science and complex bureaucracy behind the first journey to Pluto", and pointed that the authors "deliver a meticulously detailed, riveting chronicle of America’s history-making mission to Pluto, escorting readers through the immense hurdles and hard work involved in the landmark mission." Another review praised the book saying that "Stern and Grinspoon recreate the mission’s highs and lows in a compulsively readable tale. In the hands of less gifted storytellers, much of the early years— the internal competition for funds,


id: institute-for-earth-space-exploration-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_for_Earth_&_Space_Exploration-0.md
category: reference
title: Institute for Earth & Space Exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_for_Earth_&_Space_Exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:36.348099+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: institute-for-earth-space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
The Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration (CPSX) is an academic unit operating at the University of Western Ontario (UWO). Founded in 2007, and dedicated in 2008 alongside the Canadian Lunar Research Network, it is the largest single group of planetary scientists (and related research professionals) working at an educational institution within Canada. Research focuses on planetary atmospheres, surfaces, and interiors along with cosmochemistry, dynamics, astrobiology, space systems, telerobotics, and the history of space exploration. In 2008, CPSX became the first international partner of the NASA Lunar Science Institute, and become a node of the Canadian Lunar Research Network. In addition to its research facilities, CPSX offers degree programs through UWO for undergraduate and graduate students at umbrella programs. Graduate students enrolling must be admitted into either the Physics and Astronomy program or the Geology or Geophysics programs in order to transfer into the CPSX graduate degree programs. In June, 2019, CPSX became the Institute for Earth & Space Exploration. == References == == External links == CPSX Home Canadian Lunar Research Network CPSX Digest


id: criticism-of-space-exploration-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_space_exploration-0.md
category: reference
title: Criticism of space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:37.554197+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: criticism-of-space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
Human space exploration has been criticized on several grounds. Opponents point to the substantial financial costs, suggesting that funds allocated for space exploration could be better spent addressing urgent issues on Earth, such as poverty, healthcare, education, and environmental degradation. Critics express concerns about risks to human life, environmental impacts like potential contamination of celestial bodies, and the possibility of militarizing space, which could exacerbate geopolitical tensions. These critiques reflect ongoing debates over resource allocation, technological priorities, and the responsibilities of humanity both on Earth and in outer space. == History == === Apollo missions === In 1963, years before the 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landing, German-American critical theorist Hannah Arendt argued: The conquest of space and the science that made it possible have come perilously close to this point. If they ever should reach it in earnest, the stature of man would not simply be lowered by all standards we know of but have been destroyed. Throughout the 1960s, Students for a Democratic Society organized anti-NASA protests on college campuses. Sit-ins occurred at Columbia University's Pupin Physics Laboratories and MIT's Instrumentation Laboratory, as both conducted NASA research which was implemented by the United States military in Vietnam. In July


id: deep-space-exploration-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_space_exploration-0.md
category: reference
title: Deep space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:38.713020+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: deep-space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
Deep-space exploration is the branch of astronomy, astronautics, and space technology that is involved with exploring the distant regions of outer space. However, little consensus has been reached on the meaning of "distant" regions. In some contexts, it is used to refer to interstellar space. The International Telecommunication Union defines deep space to start at a distance of 2 million km (1.2 million mi) (about 0.01 AU) from Earth's surface. NASA's Deep Space Network has variously used criteria of 16,000–32,000 km (10,000–20,000 mi) from Earth. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights (deep-space astronautics) and by robotic spacecraft. At present the farthest space probe humankind has constructed and launched from Earth is Voyager 1, which was announced on December 5, 2011, to have reached the outer edge of the Solar System, and entered interstellar space on August 25, 2012. Deep space exploration further than this vessel's capacity is not yet possible due to limitations in the propulsion technology currently available. Some of the best candidates for future deep space engine technologies include nuclear fusion propulsion, laser/maser propulsion, and antimatter. The latter, beamed propulsion, appears to be the best candidate for deep space exploration presently available, since it


id: expedition-69-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expedition_69-0.md
category: reference
title: Expedition 69
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expedition_69
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:39.939536+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: expedition-69-20260505-0
summary:
Expedition 69 was the 69th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station. The expedition began with the uncrewed departure of Soyuz MS-22 in March 2023 with Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev continuing his ISS command from Expedition 68. It ended with his departure onboard Soyuz MS-23 with his crewmates on 27 September 2023. == Background, Crew, and Events == Initially, the expedition consisted of Prokopyev and his two Soyuz MS-22/23 crewmates, Dmitry Petelin from Russia and American astronaut Francisco Rubio, as well as SpaceX Crew-6 crewmates, American astronauts Stephen G. Bowen and Warren Hoburg, Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, and another Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, who launched on March 2, 2023 and were transferred from Expedition 68 alongside the Soyuz MS-22/23 crew. The departure of the MS-22 spacecraft with its crew was ultimately canceled because of a coolant leak in December 2022. The decision was made to return Soyuz MS-22 uncrewed and launch Soyuz MS-23 uncrewed as its replacement. By the time the MS-22/23 crew returned to Earth on 27 September 2023, which was the end of Expedition 69, they had spent more than a year in space due to their mission extension. The manifest changes do not affect US crew


id: future-of-space-exploration-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_space_exploration-0.md
category: reference
title: Future of space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:41.112960+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: future-of-space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
The future of space exploration involves both telescopic and physical explorations of space by robotic spacecraft and human spaceflight. Near-term physical exploration missions, focused on obtaining new information about the Solar System, are planned and announced by both national and private organisations. Tentative plans for crewed orbital and landing missions to the Moon and Mars to establish scientific outposts will later enable permanent and self-sufficient settlements. Further exploration will potentially involve expedition and the other planets and settlements on the Moon, as well as establishing mining and fueling outposts, particularly in the asteroid belt. Physical exploration outside the Solar System will be robotic for the foreseeable future. == Benefits of space exploration == Investment in space exploration has dramatically shifted since the 20th century Space race. Space exploration of the late 20th century was driven by competition between the Soviet Union and the United States to achieve the first spaceflight. Now, the private sector and national governments are again investing in space exploration. However, this time they are motivated by protecting human life from catastrophic events and leveraging the resources of space. === Colonize outer space === It has been argued that space colonization is a means of ensuring the


id: future-of-space-exploration-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_space_exploration-1.md
category: reference
title: Future of space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:41.112960+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: future-of-space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
Planetary Transits and Oscillations of Stars (PLATO) is a space telescope under development by the European Space Agency for launch in 2026. The mission goals are to search for planetary transits across up to one million stars, and to discover and characterize rocky extrasolar planets around yellow dwarf stars (like the Sun), subgiant stars, and red dwarf stars. The emphasis of the mission is on Earth-like planets in the habitable zone around Sun-like stars where water can exist in liquid state. It is the third medium-class mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision programme and named after the influential Greek philosopher Plato, the founding figure of Western philosophy, science and mathematics. A secondary objective of the mission is to study stellar oscillations or seismic activity in stars to measure stellar masses and evolution and enabling the precise characterization of the planet host star, including its age. == Crewed missions == === SpaceX Starship === The SpaceX Starship is planned to be a spacecraft launched as the second stage of a reusable launch vehicle. The concept is under development by SpaceX, as a private spaceflight project. It is being designed to be a long-duration cargo- and passenger-carrying spacecraft. While it will be tested


id: future-of-space-exploration-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_space_exploration-2.md
category: reference
title: Future of space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:41.112960+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: future-of-space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
According to NASA, isolation in space can have detrimental effects on the human psyche. Behavioral issues, such as low morale, mood-swings, depression, and decreasing interpersonal interactions, irregular sleeping rhythms, and fatigue occur independently to the level of training, according to a set of NASA's social experiments. The most famous of which, Biosphere 2, was a 2 year long, 8 person crew experiment in the 1990s, in an attempt to study human necessities and survival in an isolated environment. The result of which were stressed interpersonal interactions and aloof behavior, including limiting and even ceasing contact between crew members, along with failing to sustain a lasting air-recycling system and food supply. ==== Resources and sustenance ==== Considering the future possibility of extended, crewed missions, food storage and resupply are relevant limitations. From a storage point of view, NASA estimates a 3-year Mars mission would require around 24 thousand pounds (11 t) of food, most of it in the form of precooked, dehydrated meals of about 1.5 pounds (0.68 kg) a portion. Fresh produce would only be available in the beginning of the flight, since there would not be refrigeration systems. Water's relative heavy weight is a limitation, so on the International


id: future-of-space-exploration-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_space_exploration-3.md
category: reference
title: Future of space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:41.112960+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: future-of-space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
==== Stereo vision for collision avoidance ==== For this project, NASA's goal is to implement stereo vision for collision avoidance in space systems to work with and support autonomous operations in a flight environment. This technology uses two cameras within its operating system that have the same view, but when put together offer a large range of data that gives a binocular image. Because of its duo-camera system, NASA's research indicate that this technology can detect hazards in rural and wilderness flight environments. Because of this project, NASA has made major contributions toward developing a completely autonomous UAV. Currently, Stereo Vision can construct a stereo vision system, process the vision data, make sure the system works properly, and lastly performs tests figuring out the range of impeding objects and terrain. In the future, NASA hopes this technology can also determine the path to avoid collision. The near-term goal for the technology is to be able to extract information from point clouds and place this information in a historic map data. Using this map, the technology could then be able to extrapolate obstacles and features in the stereo data that are not in the map data. This would aid with the


id: future-of-space-exploration-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_space_exploration-4.md
category: reference
title: Future of space exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_space_exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:41.112960+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: future-of-space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
==== New Glenn ==== The larger variant of the New Shepard, Blue Origin seeks to increase their payload capabilities by developing a 95-meter-tall rocket capable of reusable flight to space. Its payload is expected to be satellites or to provide humans with the opportunity to view space without astronaut training. Blue Origin intends the rocket's reusability to last 25 flights into space alleviating costs increasing the possibility of commercialized travel. ==== Blue Moon ==== Blue Origin's lunar lander is designed to be a flexible lander with capabilities to send both cargo and crew to the lunar surface. This habitat will provide a sustained human presence by providing necessities such as life support systems and lunar rovers to excavate and scout the surrounding lunar surface. Further developments on this project include a Human Landing system which are detachable living quarters intended to attach and depart from the Blue Moon Lunar Lander. ==== Bigelow Aerospace Expandable Activity Module ==== The Bigelow Aerospace Corporation founded by Robert Bigelow is headquartered in Las Vegas. A research and development company with emphasis on constructing space architecture capable of housing humans and creating living conditions suitable for living in space. The company has sent two subscale


id: human-presence-in-space-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_presence_in_space-0.md
category: reference
title: Human presence in space
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_presence_in_space
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:42.269825+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: human-presence-in-space-20260505-0
summary:
Human presence in space (also anthropogenic presence in space or humanity in space) is the direct and mediated presence or telepresence of humans in outer space, and in an extended sense across space including astronomical objects. Human presence in space, particularly through mediation, can take many physical forms from space debris, uncrewed spacecraft, artificial satellites, space observatories, crewed spacecraft, art in space, to human outposts in outer space such as space stations. While human presence in space, particularly its continuation and permanence can be a goal in itself, human presence can have a range of purposes and modes from space exploration, commercial use of space to extraterrestrial settlement or even space colonization and militarisation of space. Human presence in space is realized and sustained through the advancement and application of space sciences, particularly astronautics in the form of spaceflight and space infrastructure. Humans have achieved some mediated presence throughout the Solar System, but the most extensive presence has been in orbit around Earth. Humankind reached outer space mediated in 1944 (MW 18014) and have sustained mediated presence since 1958 (Vanguard 1), as well as having reached space directly for the first time on 12 April 1961 (Yuri Gagarin) and since


id: human-presence-in-space-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_presence_in_space-1.md
category: reference
title: Human presence in space
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_presence_in_space
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:42.269825+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: human-presence-in-space-20260505-0
summary:
Space activity is legally based on the Outer Space Treaty, the main international treaty. Though there are other international agreements such as the significantly less ratified Moon Treaty. The Outer Space Treaty established the basic ramifications for space activity in article one: "The exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and shall be the province of all mankind." And continued in article two by stating: "Outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means." The development of international space law has revolved much around outer space being defined as common heritage of mankind. The Magna Carta of Space presented by William A. Hyman in 1966 framed outer space explicitly not as terra nullius but as res communis, which subsequently influenced the work of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and the International Telecommunication Union are international


id: human-presence-in-space-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_presence_in_space-2.md
category: reference
title: Human presence in space
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_presence_in_space
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:42.269825+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: human-presence-in-space-20260505-0
summary:
Since the very beginning of human outer space activities in 1944, and possibly before that, life has been present with microscopic life as space contaminate and after 1960 as space research subjects. Prior to crewed spaceflight non-human animals had been subjects of space research, specifically bioastronautics and astrobiology, being exposed to ever higher testflights. The first animals (including humans) and plant seeds in space above the 100 km Kármán line were corn seeds and fruit flies, launched for the first time on 9 July 1946, with the first fruit flies launched and returned alive in 1947. In 1949 Albert II, became the first mammal and first primate reaching the 100 km Kármán line, and in 1957 the dog Laika became the first animal in orbit, with both also becoming the first fatalities of spaceflight and in space, respectively. In 1968, on Zond 5 Russian tortoises, worms, flies and seeds became the first multicelular life from Earth to be flown to, as well as returned safely from, deep space. In 2019 Chang'e 4 landed fruit flies on the Moon, the first extraterrestrial stay of non-human animals. Visits of organisms to extraterrestrial bodies have been a significant issue of planetary protection, as


id: human-presence-in-space-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_presence_in_space-3.md
category: reference
title: Human presence in space
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_presence_in_space
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:42.269825+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: human-presence-in-space-20260505-0
summary:
A permanent human presence in space depends on an established space infrastructure which harbours, supplies and maintains human presence. Such infrastructure has originally been Earth ground-based, but with increased numbers of satellites and long-duration missions beyond the near side of the Moon space-to-space based infrastructure is being used. First simple interplanetary infrastructures have been created by space probes particularly when employing a system which combines a lander and a relaying orbiter. Space stations are space habitats which have provided a crucial infrastructure for sustaining a continuous direct human, including non-human, presence in space. Space stations have been continuously present in orbit around Earth from Skylab in 1973, to the Salyut stations, Mir and eventually ISS. The current Artemis program includes a lunar station to research longer extraterrestrial stays and their effects. === Spiritual and artistic === Human presence has also been expressed through spiritual and artistic installations in outer space or on the Moon. Apollo 15 Mission Commander David Scott left for example a Bible on their Lunar Roving Vehicle during an extravehicular activity on the Moon. Space has furthermore been the site of people taking part in religious festivities such as Christmas on the International Space Station. == Locations


id: human-presence-in-space-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_presence_in_space-4.md
category: reference
title: Human presence in space
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_presence_in_space
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:42.269825+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: human-presence-in-space-20260505-0
summary:
Bioastronautics, space medicine, space technology and space architecture are fields which are occupied with alleviating the effects of space on humans and non-humans. === Culture === Research has begun into the culture and "microsocieties" that are formed in space, with space archeologists analyzing residue from space environments to learn about astronaut life. A few incidents of astronauts from different countries having difficulties in getting along have also been studied. == Impact, environmental protection and sustainability == Human space activity, and its subsequent presence, can and has been having an impact on space as well as on the capacity to access it. This impact of human space activity and presence, or its potential, has created the need to address its issues regarding planetary protection, space debris, nuclear hazards, radio pollution and light pollution, to the reusability of launch systems, for space not to become a sacrifice zone. Sustainability has been a goal of space law, space technology and space infrastructure, with the United Nations seeing the need to advance long-term sustainability of outer space activities in space science and application, and the United States having it as a crucial goal of its contemporary space policy and space program. Human presence in


id: human-presence-in-space-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_presence_in_space-5.md
category: reference
title: Human presence in space
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_presence_in_space
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:42.269825+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: human-presence-in-space-20260505-0
summary:
Space and human presence in it has been the subject of different agendas. The pursued of the realization of spaceflight developed particularly during high modernity. This was fueled and enabled by the accumulated knowledge about space since the invention and first use (1609, Galileo Galilei) of the telescope for astronomical observations early into modernity. Fiction and utopian literature started to explore space, giving rise to science-fiction and space as an envisioned realm reachable by living humans. New coherent world views, with the scales of space (and time) in mind, developed, such as the transhumanist cosmism movement, which have been significantly influential in the pursued of spaceflight ever since, particularly the groundbreaking Soviet space program. That said human presence in space at its beginnings, was fueled by the Cold War and its outgrowing the Space Race. During this time technological, nationalist, ideological and military competition were dominant driving factors of space policy and the resulting activity and, particularly direct human, presence in space. With the waning of the Space Race, concluded by cooperation in human spaceflight, focus shifted in the 1970s further to space exploration and telerobotics, having a range of achievements and technological advances. Space exploration meant by then also


id: lattice-confinement-fusion-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lattice_confinement_fusion-0.md
category: reference
title: Lattice confinement fusion
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lattice_confinement_fusion
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:43.954013+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: lattice-confinement-fusion-20260505-0
summary:
Lattice confinement fusion (LCF) is a type of nuclear fusion in which deuteron-saturated metals are exposed to high energy photons or ion beams avoiding the confined high-temperature plasmas used in other methods of fusion. == History == In 2020, a team of NASA researchers seeking a new energy source for deep-space exploration missions published the first paper describing a method for triggering nuclear fusion in the space between the atoms of a metal solid, an example of screened fusion. The experiments did not produce self-sustaining reactions, and the electron source itself was energetically expensive. == Technique == The reaction is fueled with deuterium (2H), a stable isotope of hydrogen composed of one proton, one neutron, and one electron. The deuterium is confined in the space between the atoms of a metal solid such as erbium or titanium. Erbium can indefinitely maintain 1023 cm−3 deuterium atoms at room temperature. The deuteron-saturated metal forms an overall neutral plasma. The electron density of the metal reduces the likelihood that two deuterium nuclei (deuterons) will repel each other as they get closer together. A dynamitron electron-beam accelerator generates an electron beam that hits a tantalum target and produces gamma rays, irradiating titanium deuteride or


id: space-law-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_law-0.md
category: reference
title: Space law
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_law
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:45.167693+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-law-20260505-0
summary:
Space law or astrolaw is the body of law governing space-related activities, encompassing both international and domestic agreements, rules, and principles. The parameters of space law include space exploration, liability for damage, weapons use, rescue efforts, environmental preservation, information sharing, new technologies, and ethics. Other fields of law, such as administrative law, intellectual property law, arms control law, insurance law, environmental law, criminal law, and commercial law, are also integrated within space law. The origins of space law date back to 1919, with international law recognizing each country's sovereignty over the airspace directly above their territory, later reinforced at the Chicago Convention in 1944. The onset of domestic space programs during the Cold War propelled the official creation of international space policy (i.e., the International Geophysical Year) initiated by the International Council of Scientific Unions. The Soviet Union's 1957 launch of the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, directly spurred the United States Congress to pass the Space Act, thereby establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). As space exploration required crossing transnational boundaries, this era witnessed the emergence of space law as a distinct field, independent from traditional aerospace law. Since the Cold War, the Treaty on Principles


id: space-law-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_law-1.md
category: reference
title: Space law
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_law
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:45.167693+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-law-20260505-0
summary:
The Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Uses of Outer Space (1963) All space exploration will be done with good intentions and is equally open to all States that comply with international law. No one nation may claim ownership of outer space or any celestial body. Activities carried out in space must abide by the international law and the nations undergoing these said activities must accept responsibility for the governmental or non-governmental agency involved. Objects launched into space are subject to their nation of belonging, including people. Objects, parts, and components discovered outside the jurisdiction of a nation will be returned upon identification. If a nation launches an object into space, they are responsible for any damages that occur internationally. Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (1979) The agreement, also called Moon Treaty, exists to promote the exploration of outer space, but to keep the Moon and other celestial bodies in pristine conditions for the common heritage of mankind, meaning that no nation may claim sovereignty over any part of space. All countries should have equal rights to conduct research on the Moon or other celestial


id: space-law-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_law-2.md
category: reference
title: Space law
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_law
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:45.167693+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-law-20260505-0
summary:
The Principles Governing the Use by States of Artificial Earth Satellites for International Direct Television Broadcasting (1982) Activities of this nature must be transpired in accordance with the sovereign rights of States. Said activities should "promote the free dissemination and mutual exchange of information and knowledge in cultural and scientific fields, assist in educational, social and economic development, particularly in the developing countries, enhance the qualities of life of all peoples and provide recreation with due respect to the political and cultural integrity of States". All States have equal rights to pursue these activities and must maintain responsibility for anything carried out under their boundaries of authority. State's planning activities need to contact the Secretary-General of the United Nations with details of the undergoing activities. The Principles Relating to Remote Sensing of the Earth from Outer Space (1986) Fifteen principles are stated under this category. The basic understanding comes from these descriptions given by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs: (a) The term "remote sensing" means the sensing of the Earth's surface from space by making use of the properties of electromagnetic waves emitted, reflected or: diffracted by the sensed objects, for the purpose of improving natural resources


id: space-law-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_law-3.md
category: reference
title: Space law
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_law
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:45.167693+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-law-20260505-0
summary:
== National law == Space law also encompasses national laws, and multiple countries have passed national space legislation in recent years. The Outer Space Treaty gives responsibility for regulating space activities, including both government and private sector, to the individual countries where the activity is taking place. If a national of, or an organization incorporated in one country launches a spacecraft in a different country, interpretations differ as to whether the home country or the launching country has jurisdiction. The Outer Space Treaty also incorporates the UN Charter by reference, and requires parties to ensure that activities are conducted in accordance with other forms of international law such as customary international law (the custom and practice of states). The advent of commercial activities like space mining, space tourism, private exploration, and the development of multiple commercial spaceports, is leading a number of countries to consider how to regulate private space activities. The challenge is to regulate these activities in a manner that does not hinder or preclude investment, while still ensuring that commercial activities comply with international law. Developing nations are concerned that the spacefaring nations will monopolize space resources. Royalties paid to developing countries is one reason the United


id: space-law-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_law-4.md
category: reference
title: Space law
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_law
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:45.167693+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-law-20260505-0
summary:
Space Heritage can be understood to mean traces of human existence, together with their archaeological and natural contexts that occur in outer space, including on the Moon and other celestial bodies. Conceptually, this definition can be interpreted to include any human-made material in space and as humanity continues to increase the pace of exploratory and commercial missions to the Moon and beyond. Thus, protocols must be established to manage Space Heritage for two different reasons: first so that relevant cultural heritage, which is so important to build kinship amongst humans, is preserved; and second to assure that the concept of heritage is not abused by national space actors. Human heritage in outer space includes Tranquility Base (Apollo 11's lunar landing site) and the robotic and crewed sites that preceded and followed Apollo 11. This also comprises all the Luna programme vehicles, including the Luna 2 (first object) and Luna 9 (first soft-landing) missions, the Surveyor program and the Yutu rovers. Human heritage in outer space also includes satellites like Vanguard 1 and Asterix-1 which, though nonoperational, remain in orbit. Currently, these sites are not recognized as cultural heritage or protected in any way under international law. They are addressed in


id: space-law-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_law-5.md
category: reference
title: Space law
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_law
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:45.167693+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-law-20260505-0
summary:
While this field of the law is still in its infancy, it is in an era of rapid change and development. Arguably, the resources of space are infinite. If commercial space transportation becomes widely available, with substantially lower launch costs, then all countries will be able to directly reap the benefits of space resources. In that situation, it seems likely that consensus will be much easier to achieve with respect to commercial development and human settlement of outer space. High costs are not the only factor preventing the economic exploitation of space: it is argued that space should be considered as a pristine environment worthy of protection and conservation, and that the legal regime for space should further protect it from being used as a resource for Earth's needs. Debate is also focused on whether space should continue to be legally defined as part of the "Common heritage of mankind", and therefore unavailable for national claims, or whether its legal definition should be changed to allow private property in space. As of 2013, NASA's plans to capture an asteroid by 2021 has raised questions about how space law would be applied in practice. In 2016, the nation of Luxembourg has


id: space-law-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_law-6.md
category: reference
title: Space law
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_law
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:45.167693+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-law-20260505-0
summary:
=== Legal Profession === There is a growing emphasis on space law in academia. Since 1951, the McGill Faculty of Law in Montreal, Canada has hosted the Institute of Air and Space Law, and offers an LL.M. in Air and Space law. The University of Mississippi School of Law publishes the world's only law journal devoted to space law, the Journal of Space Law. The University of Mississippi School of Law is also the only ABA-accredited law school in the world to offer an LL.M. in Air and Space Law, a Graduate Certificate and a JD Concentration in Air and Space Law. Michelle Hanlon serves as the executive director of the Center for Air and Space Law at the university. In 2008, the University of Nebraska College of Law launched its space, cyber, and telecommunications law program, offering courses and specializations to JD students and an LL.M. in Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications. Over the last decade, other universities have begun to offer specialized courses and programs in the US, UK, France, the Netherlands, and Australia. In September 2012, the Space Law Society (SLS) at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law was established. A legal resources team


id: leslie-cantwell-collection-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Cantwell_collection-0.md
category: reference
title: Leslie Cantwell collection
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Cantwell_collection
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:46.289018+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: leslie-cantwell-collection-20260505-0
summary:
The Leslie Cantwell collection is a collection of large-format images of space and space exploration, signed and inscribed by astronauts from the Apollo Space programme. It was assembled by British collector Leslie Cantwell, who became interested in the history of space exploration in the late 1990s. The collection has been exhibited at the Proud Galleries of London, the Kansas Cosmosphere, and the New Mexico Museum of Art. The collection comprises both originals and reprints of official NASA photographs, including images of all six Apollo Moon landings. Some images are original Hasselblad photographs (the official camera used on all Apollo missions). Many of the photographs were taken in space by the astronauts themselves; others were taken by NASA employees on the ground. == References ==


id: museum-of-space-exploration-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Space_Exploration-0.md
category: reference
title: Museum of Space Exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Space_Exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:47.957406+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: museum-of-space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
The Museum of Space Exploration is a museum in Ukraine that is located in a former church. It is one of over 30 museums in the "museum city" of Pereiaslav. The church was originally built in 1891, moved in 1971 when the region it was built in was flooded, and reconstructed in 1973. == Location == The museum is located in the "museum city" of Pereiaslav, Ukraine, where it is one of over 30 museums as part of the "Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of the Middle Dnieper National Historical-Ethnographic Reserve". == Church == The building used for the museum was originally a wooden village church named after Saint Paraskeva. It was originally built in 1891. When the region that the church was originally located in was flooded in 1971, the church was moved and was reconstructed in 1973. The church has a crucifix layout, with a bell tower made with pine scaffold. It has a porch on three sides; the one on the fourth side was lost when the museum was relocated. == Museum == The museum opened in the hall of the relocated church in 1979. It has memorial rooms that recreate the times of Sergei Korolev


id: new-space-race-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Space_Race-0.md
category: reference
title: New Space Race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Space_Race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:49.165067+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: new-space-race-20260505-0
summary:
The New Space Race or Second Space Race describes the renewed competition in space exploration and technological development in the 21st century. This modern race is characterized by a broad range of objectives, including establishing a permanent moonbase, the long-term goal of crewed missions to Mars, the deployment of large satellite constellations, and advancements in reusable launch technology. Unlike the Cold War-era Space Race, which was primarily a geopolitical rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union to achieve superior spaceflight capability, the New Space Race features a more complex and multipolar landscape, including national space programs from China, India, Japan, and Europe, as well as increasing involvement of private aerospace companies, such as SpaceX and Blue Origin. == Rivalries == The primary race is between the government space agencies of the United States and China. In the 2020s, both the US and China are engaged in an effort to establish a permanent presence on the Moon, with an emphasis on the Lunar south pole, as a proving ground and stepping stone to Mars. The US uses its Artemis program and China uses its Chinese Lunar Exploration Program. Other nations, such as Russia, India, Japan, as well as European


id: order-of-gagarin-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Gagarin-0.md
category: reference
title: Order of Gagarin
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Gagarin
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:50.317493+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: order-of-gagarin-20260505-0
summary:
The Order of Gagarin is a high-ranking Russian award established to recognize outstanding contributions to the advancement of the Russian and Soviet space program. Named after the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who became the first human to journey into space in 1961, the Order of Gagarin was created in 2023 in honor of the 60th anniversary of Valentina Tereshkova's solo mission on the Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963 and the 62nd anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's historic spaceflight aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft. == History == On April 12, 2023, Yuri Borisov, the Director General of Roscosmos, announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had approved the proposal by Roscosmos to establish the order in the name of Gagarin. According to the statute approved by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation on May 27, 2023, No. 385, the Order of Gagarin is awarded to Russian citizens primarily for successful crewed spaceflight, crewed spaceflight programs for exploration, development, and utilization of space. The primary objective of the Order of Gagarin is to acknowledge individuals and organizations that have significantly contributed to the field of space exploration and related scientific disciplines. The order is worn on the left side of


id: population-of-space-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_of_space-0.md
category: reference
title: Population of space
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_of_space
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:51.487442+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: population-of-space-20260505-0
summary:
The last time when no people were in space was 30 October 2000. After this, Expedition 1 to the International Space Station (ISS) launched. Since then, the station has been continually occupied. Human population records in orbit developed from 1 in 1961, 2 in 1962, 3 in 1964, 4 in 1965, 5 and 7 in 1969, 8 and 11 in 1984, 12 in 1990 and 13 in 1995, to 14 in 2021, 17 in 2023 and 19 in 2024, developing into a continuous population of no less than 10 people on two space stations since 5 June 2022 (as of 2024). == Timeline of records == After Yuri Gagarin's first space flight in 1961, the population reached two with the first close approach of two crewed spacecraft (Vostok 3 and Vostok 4) in 1962. In 1964 a flight of three, in one spacecraft (Voskhod), followed. In December 1965, the record of the most people in space became four, with the launch and close approach in space of both Gemini 6A and Gemini 7. In early 1969, the first docking and crew transfer (the only time via a spacewalk) in history, by Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5, increased the population record


id: project-phoenix-seti-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Phoenix_(SETI)-0.md
category: reference
title: Project Phoenix (SETI)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Phoenix_(SETI)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:52.655117+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: project-phoenix-seti-20260505-0
summary:
Project Phoenix was a SETI project to search for extraterrestrial intelligence by analyzing patterns in radio signals. It was run by the independently funded SETI Institute of Mountain View, California, U.S. Project Phoenix started work in February 1995 with the Parkes radio telescope located in New South Wales, Australia, the largest telescope in the Southern Hemisphere. Between September 1996 and April 1998, the Project used the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank in Green Bank, West Virginia, U.S. Rather than attempting to scan the whole sky for messages, the Project concentrated on nearby systems that are similar to our own. Project Phoenix's targets comprised about 800 stars with a 200 light-year range. The Project searched for radio signals as narrow as 1 Hz between 1,000 and 3,000 MHz: a broad bandwidth compared with most SETI searches. In March 2004 the Project announced that after checking the 800 stars on its list, it had failed to find any evidence of extraterrestrial signals. Project leader Peter Backus remarked that they had been forced to conclude that "we live in a quiet neighborhood". == See also == HabCat == References == == External links == Project Phoenix Project Phoenix project at Jodrell Bank


id: school-of-earth-and-space-exploration-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_of_Earth_and_Space_Exploration-0.md
category: reference
title: School of Earth and Space Exploration
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_of_Earth_and_Space_Exploration
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:53.871824+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: school-of-earth-and-space-exploration-20260505-0
summary:
The School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE) is an academic unit of The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University. It was established in 2006 by university president Michael M. Crow. As part of Crow's New American University model, the focus areas of SESE include research in both Earth and space exploration. The school is located on ASU's Tempe campus and is primarily housed in Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building 4. == Academics == The School of Earth and Space Exploration offers eight undergraduate degrees and twelve graduate programs in a variety of interdisciplinary fields, including astronomy, geology, and systems engineering. As of 2025, there were 1,069 undergraduates and 119 graduate students in SESE programs, while over 6,000 students were enrolled in at least one class offered by the school. == Involvement in space exploration missions == The School of Earth and Space Exploration has been involved in a number of space exploration missions, including Psyche (which was led by the school), OSIRIS-REx, and Europa Clipper. Through SESE, ASU is in the top 2% for NASA-funded research expenditures. In 2022, the US Space Force selected ASU and SESE to be a member of its University Partnership


id: solar-gravitational-lens-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_gravitational_lens-0.md
category: reference
title: Solar gravitational lens
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_gravitational_lens
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:55.003987+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: solar-gravitational-lens-20260505-0
summary:
A solar gravitational lens or solar gravity lens (SGL) is a theoretical method of using the Sun as a large lens with a physical effect called gravitational lensing. It is considered one of the best methods to directly image habitable exoplanets. == History == The solar gravitational lens is characterized by remarkable properties: it offers brightness amplification of up to a factor of ~1011 (at 1 μm) and extreme angular resolution (~10−10 arcsec). Albert Einstein predicted in 1936 that rays of light from the same direction that skirt the edges of the Sun would converge to a focal point approximately 542 AUs from the Sun. A probe positioned at this distance from the Sun could use it as a gravitational lens for magnifying distant objects on the opposite side of the Sun. The probe's location could shift around as needed to select different targets relative to the Sun. In 1979, Von R. Eshleman was the first author proposing to use the Sun as a large lens. The Sun's gravitational field bends light more prominently the closer it gets to the Sun. Light rays passing on opposite sides of the Sun meet at a focal point, forming a series of points


id: space-diplomacy-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_diplomacy-0.md
category: reference
title: Space diplomacy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_diplomacy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:56.274139+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-diplomacy-20260505-0
summary:
Space diplomacy refers to the integration of the collaboration of the knowledge, technology, and legislation involved in science diplomacy as applied to the expanded exploration of space. As diplomatic relationships are integral to the mitigation of various health, scientific, natural or technological issues across nations, space diplomacy is a growing field in which various nations can come to a consensus on what is fair when it comes to the exploration and commercialization of space travel. == Background == Space travel is a necessary resource for people around the world, especially when considering the use of satellites in areas like research or telecommunications. With the exploration of space, major issues are merging, such as environmental concerns and pollution or the monopolization of space travel. Space diplomacy allows for the consideration of such concerns, as officials, scientists, environmental activists, and private corporations can come together in order for both national and private space exploration to prosper. As a term, space diplomacy dates back to at least the 1960s. Space diplomacy policy and legislation have evolved to accommodate novel space activities and challenges. Initially, from 1959 to 1980, U.S.-Soviet Cold War considerations drove the emergence of the majority of space diplomacy in the


id: space-diplomacy-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_diplomacy-1.md
category: reference
title: Space diplomacy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_diplomacy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:56.274139+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-diplomacy-20260505-0
summary:
=== Rising pressure to reform space law treaties and principles === As the Outer Space Treaty was signed in 1967 as a consequence of the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union, continuous updates to the international agreement to space accounts for the great expansion of space travel in the past 20 years. Despite the attempts to preserve space as a global commons, demands due to technological and science advancements in space, including space exploration and private spaceflight, like in the other global commons domains, have been threatening the guidelines set by the Outer Space Treaty. The “New Space” sector of private industry, which refers to civilian space activities funded by companies such as SpaceX, has been an increasingly competitive entity in the exploration and commercialization of space travel. Representing a contemporaneous space race, the growing network of privatized space flight requires legislation that would facilitate the union between both the public and private sectors of space travel and research across nations. Coupled with growing orbital and suborbital launches across the world, there is a growing need to reform the established legislation set by the United Nations. Another consideration for law reform is the increase in space


id: space-diplomacy-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_diplomacy-2.md
category: reference
title: Space diplomacy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_diplomacy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:56.274139+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-diplomacy-20260505-0
summary:
==== SpaceX ==== SpaceX was created in 2002 by entrepreneur, engineer, and inventor Elon Musk with the mission of taking humans to Mars and revolutionizing space technology. Over the past two decades, the company specialized in the manufacture and launch of rockets that directly competed with the United Launch Alliance, the contract holder for the launch of NASA and Department of Defense rocket launches. SpaceX was the first private company to dock a ship at the International Space Station (ISS), with the development of the Falcon 9 launch and Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX designed the Falcon Heavy to not only launch future satellites into space and carry cargo, but to launch people to destinations like the Moon, or even Mars. SpaceX's ability to design a successful orbital transport system and Falcon 9 launch success at one-third the price of a traditional NASA-contracted launch demonstrates the private-sector capability to fulfill many current NASA functions at a fraction of the cost. Such achievement frees up NASA to concentrate on its core research and exploration missions in space and allows the private sector to invest in a self-sustaining space-based industry. ==== Blue Origin ==== Blue Origin was founded by Amazon's CEO, Jeff Bezos, in


id: space-diplomacy-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_diplomacy-3.md
category: reference
title: Space diplomacy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_diplomacy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:56.274139+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-diplomacy-20260505-0
summary:
=== International space privatization === Space privatization is not only becoming prominent in the U.S.: competition amongst space programs in Russia, Europe, Japan, India, and China has been growing significantly. The European Space Agency was established before the alliance between Russia and the U.S. in 1975, following many years of independent aeronautical engineering research by individual nations. Similarly, Chinese, Japanese and Indian space agencies began in the 1960s. A number of smaller countries, including the United Arab Emirates, also are participating in the space competition. China became the third nation to independently launch a human into orbit, in 2003, and its capabilities have since grown. China's visions include sending people to the Moon and building a space station as well as creating its own robotic explorer. Meanwhile, India launched its first unmanned mission to Mars in late 2013, and its probe entered Mars's orbit in September 2014. Since then, the Indian Space Research Organization has reached an agreement with NASA on subsequent explorations of Mars. China and the United Arab Emirates successfully sent spacecraft to orbit Mars in February 2021, which was when NASA landed its rover there. The advancements of transportation infrastructure by both national and international private players


id: space-diplomacy-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_diplomacy-4.md
category: reference
title: Space diplomacy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_diplomacy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:56.274139+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-diplomacy-20260505-0
summary:
=== Space junk === Space junk is human made debris in the form of the remnants of rockets and spaceships; there exists no international agreement on the best way to remove it. This is problematic as four thousand active and inactive satellites in space are in danger of being struck by space debris. Space equipment affected in this way, as well as space junk itself, can plummet towards Earth and harm its environment and people. Removing such space junk is problematic because with the increasing amount of space equipment deployed by increasingly numerous countries, it is difficult to know if one piece of space junk targeted for removal is actually another country's active space property. Although the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs has developed space debris mitigation guidelines where space launches should have a plan to remove the junk produced within 25 years, it is voluntary and is followed by only 40% of all space missions. == The Space2030 Agenda == Rooted in the realization that space is a frontier transcending national boundaries and interests, with benefits that should be accessible to all countries, The Space2030 Agenda underscores the importance of international cooperation and the peaceful use of


id: space-diplomacy-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_diplomacy-5.md
category: reference
title: Space diplomacy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_diplomacy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:56.274139+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-diplomacy-20260505-0
summary:
==== Challenges ==== The implementation of the Space2030 Agenda faces significant hurdles, including geopolitical tensions, resource limitations, and the complexities of space exploration. A major issue is ensuring equitable access to space, as disparities in technological advancement among nations persist. The growth of the space sector, driven by private enterprise, has led to increased space data usage for societal benefits but also exacerbated challenges like space debris, orbital congestion and increasing greenhouse gas emissions. This situation creates a 'space sustainability paradox,' where efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through space could become counterproductive due to environmental impacts on Earth and in space. Current regulations are insufficient, risking a 'tragedy of the commons' in space, where unregulated exploitation leads to resource depletion. Sustainable space development must consider three pillars: 1) addressing global challenges through space; 2) preserving space as a resource; and 3) protecting Earth from the impacts of space activities. Without comprehensive international policies and regulation, the long-term accessibility and safety of space are jeopardized, underlining the need for immediate action to ensure space's sustainable use. === Future Direction === In the future the Space2030 Agenda imagines a world in which space exploration and technology play a key role


id: space-dust-measurement-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_dust_measurement-0.md
category: reference
title: Space dust measurement
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_dust_measurement
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:57.590893+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-dust-measurement-20260505-0
summary:
Space dust measurement refers to the study of small particles of extraterrestrial material, known as micrometeoroids or interplanetary dust particles (IDPs), that are present in the Solar System. These particles are typically of micrometer to sub-millimeter size and are composed of a variety of materials including silicates, metals, and carbon compounds. The study of space dust is important as it provides insight into the composition and evolution of the Solar System, as well as the potential hazards posed by these particles to spacecraft and other space-borne assets. The measurement of space dust requires the use of advanced scientific techniques such as secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), optical and atomic force microscopy (AFM), and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) to accurately characterize the physical and chemical properties of these particles. == Overview == From the ground, space dust is observed as scattered sun light from myriads of interplanetary dust particles and as meteoroids entering the atmosphere. By observing a meteor from several positions on the ground, the trajectory and the entry speed can be determined by triangulation. Atmospheric entry speeds of up to 72,000 m/s have been observed for Leonid meteors. Even sub-millimeter sized meteoroids hitting spacecraft at speeds around 300 m/s


id: space-dust-measurement-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_dust_measurement-1.md
category: reference
title: Space dust measurement
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_dust_measurement
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:57.590893+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-dust-measurement-20260505-0
summary:
Zodiacal light observations at different heliocentric distances were performed by the Zodiacal light photometer instruments on Helios 1 and 2 and the Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 space probes, ranging between 0.3 AU and 3.3 AU from the sun. This way, the heliocentric radial profile was determined, and shown to vary by a factor of about 100 over that distance. The Asteroid Meteoroid Detector (AMD) on Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 used the optical detection and triangulation of individual meteoroids to get information on their sizes and trajectories. Unfortunately, the trigger threshold was set too low, and noise corrupted the data. Zodiacal light observations at visible light wavelengths use the light scattered by interplanetary dust particles, which constitute only a few percent of the incoming light. The remainder (over 90%) is absorbed and reradiated at infrared wavelengths. The zodiacal dust cloud is much brighter at infrared wavelengths than visible wavelengths. However, on the ground, most of these infrared wavelengths are blocked by atmospheric absorption bands. Therefore, most infrared astronomy observations are done from space observatory satellites. The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) mapped the sky at wavelengths of 12, 25, 60, and 100 micrometers. Between wavelengths of 12 and 60 microns,


id: space-dust-measurement-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_dust_measurement-2.md
category: reference
title: Space dust measurement
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_dust_measurement
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:57.590893+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-dust-measurement-20260505-0
summary:
Most instruments on a spacecraft flying through a dense dust environment will experience effects of dust impacts. A prominent example of such an instrument was the Plasma Wave Subsystem (PWS) on the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft. PWS provided useful information on the local dust environment. Initially, the Asteroid Meteoroid Detector (AMD) previously flown on Pioneer 10 and 11 was preliminarily selected for the Voyager payload. However, because there were doubts about its performance, the instrument was deselected and, hence, no dedicated dust instrument was carried by either Voyager 1 or 2. During the Voyager 2 flythrough of the Saturn system, PWS detected intense impulse noise centered on the ring plane at 2.88 Saturn radii distance, slightly outside of the G ring. This noise was attributed to micron sized particles hitting the spacecraft. In-situ dust detections by the Cassini Cosmic Dust Analyzer and camera observations of the outer rings confirmed the existence of an extended G ring. Also during Voyager's flybys of Uranus and Neptune, dust concentrations in the equatorial planes were observed. During the flyby of comet 21P/Giacobini–Zinner by the International Cometary Explorer, dust impacts were observed by the plasma wave instrument. Though plasma wave instruments on various


id: space-dust-measurement-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_dust_measurement-3.md
category: reference
title: Space dust measurement
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_dust_measurement
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:57.590893+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-dust-measurement-20260505-0
summary:
== Dust composition analyzers == The Helios Micrometeoroid Analyzer was the in-situ instrument to analyze the composition of cosmic dust. In 1974, the instrument was carried by the Helios spacecraft from the Earth's orbit down to 0.3 AU from the Sun. The goal of the Micrometeoroid Analyzer was to determine the spatial distribution of the dust in the inner planetary system, and to search for variations in the compositional and physical properties of micrometeoroids. The instrument consisted of two impact ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometers (Ecliptic and South sensor) with a total target area of about 0.01 m2. One sensor was shielded by the spacecraft rim from direct sunlight, whereas the other sensor was protected by a thin aluminized parylene film from intense solar radiation. These Micrometeoroid Analyzers were calibrated with a wide range of materials at the dust accelerators of the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg and the Ames Research Center in Moffet Field. The mass resolution of the mass spectra of the Helios sensors was low: R = M Δ M ≈ 10 {\displaystyle R={\cfrac {M}{\Delta M}}\approx 10} . There was an excess of impacts recorded by the South sensor compared to the Ecliptic sensor. On


id: space-dust-measurement-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_dust_measurement-4.md
category: reference
title: Space dust measurement
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_dust_measurement
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:57.590893+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-dust-measurement-20260505-0
summary:
A Dust Telescope is an instrument to perform dust astronomy. It not only analyses the signals and ions that are generated by a dust impact on the sensitive target, but also determines the dust trajectory prior to the impact. The latter is based on the successful measurement of the dust electric charge by Cassini's Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA). A Dust Trajectory Sensor consists of four planes of parallel position sensing wire electrodes. Dust accelerator tests show that dust trajectories can be determined to an accuracy of 1% in velocity and 1° in direction. The second element of a Dust Telescope is a Large-area Mass Analyzer: a reflectron type time-of-flight mass analyzer with a sensitive area of up to 0.2 m2 and a mass resolution R > 150. It consists of a circular plate target with the ion detector behind the center hole. In front of the target is an acceleration grid. Ions generated by an impact are reflected by a paraboloid shaped grid onto the center ion detector. Prototypes of dust telescope have been built at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) of the University of Colorado, Boulder, USA and at the Institute of Space Systems of the


id: space-dust-measurement-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_dust_measurement-5.md
category: reference
title: Space dust measurement
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_dust_measurement
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:57.590893+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-dust-measurement-20260505-0
summary:
During March–May 2000 and July–December 2002, the spacecraft was in a favorable position to collect interstellar dust on the back side of the sample collector. Once the sample capsule was returned in January 2006, the collector trays were inspected and thousands of grains from Comet Wild 2 and seven probable interstellar grains were identified. These grains are available for teaching and research from the NASA Astromaterials Curation Office. The first asteroid samples were returned by the JAXA Hayabusa missions. Hayabusa encountered asteroid 25143 Itokawa in November 2005, picked up surface samples, and returned to Earth in June 2010. Despite some problems during sample collection, thousands of 10–100 micron sized particles were collected and are available for research in the laboratories. The second Hayabusa2 mission rendezvoused with asteroid 162173 Ryugu in June 2018. About 5 g of surface and sub-surface material from this primitive C-type asteroid were returned. JAXA shares about 10% of the collected samples with NASA sample curation. The Rosetta space probe orbited comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko from August 2014 to September 2016. During this time, Rosetta's instruments analyzed the nucleus, dust, gas, and plasma environments. Rosetta carried a suite of miniaturized sophisticated lab instruments to study collected cometary dust particles.


id: the-space-explorers-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Space_Explorers-0.md
category: reference
title: The Space Explorers
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Space_Explorers
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:13:59.636402+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: the-space-explorers-20260505-0
summary:
The Space Explorers is an American animated film created by Fred Ladd that was later turned into a cartoon serial and spawned a sequel series, New Adventures of the Space Explorers. The film aired in 1958; the sequel series aired the following year. For accuracy, both animated feature films used a consultant from Hayden Planetarium. == Synopsis == The cartoon, which featured Jimmy, Smitty and Professor Leon Nordheim on board the Polaris spaceship, taught space-related concepts. == Production == The films were originally created for the education market, to be shown in classrooms. They were made under the technical guidance of Franklyn M. Branley, Associate Astronomer, American Museum of Natural History-Hayden Planetarium. It may have been rushed into production to "capitalize on the Sputnik craze". The material comes primarily from three foreign films: Various animation sequences come from the 1951 Russian film "Universe" by the late Soviet director Pavel Klushantsev. Images of the rocket Polaris come from footage of German film "Weltraumschiff 1 Startet" (Anton Kutter, 1937). Except for images of the interior of the spaceship, images of the characters and from the walk on planet were extracted from a Russian cartoon film "Polet na lunu" (Flight to the moon),


id: space-race-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race-0.md
category: reference
title: Space Race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:01.305584+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-race-20260505-0
summary:
The Space Race (Russian: космическая гонка, romanized: kosmicheskaya gonka, IPA: [kɐsˈmʲitɕɪskəjə ˈɡonkə]) was a 20th-century competition between the Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the two nations following World War II and the onset of the Cold War. The technological advantage demonstrated by spaceflight achievement was seen as necessary for national security, particularly in regard to intercontinental ballistic missile and satellite reconnaissance capability, but also became part of the cultural symbolism and ideology of the time. The Space Race brought pioneering launches of artificial satellites, robotic landers to the Moon, Venus, and Mars, and human spaceflight in low Earth orbit and ultimately to the Moon. Public interest in space travel originated in the 1951 publication of a Soviet youth magazine and was promptly picked up by US magazines. The competition began on July 29, 1955, when the United States announced its intent to launch artificial satellites for the International Geophysical Year. Five days later, the Soviet Union responded by declaring they would also launch a satellite "in the near future". The launching of satellites was enabled by developments in


id: space-race-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race-1.md
category: reference
title: Space Race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:01.305584+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-race-20260505-0
summary:
=== Soviet rocket development === The first Soviet development of artillery rockets was in 1921 when the Soviet military sanctioned the Gas Dynamics Laboratory, a small research laboratory to explore solid-fuel rockets, led by Nikolai Tikhomirov, who had begun studying solid and liquid-fueled rockets in 1894, and obtained a patent in 1915 for "self-propelled aerial and water-surface mines. The first test-firing of a solid fuel rocket was carried out in 1928. Further development was carried out in the 1930s by the Group for the Study of Reactive Motion (GIRD), where Soviet rocket pioneers Sergey Korolev, Friedrich Zander, Mikhail Tikhonravov and Leonid Dushkin launched GIRD-X, the first Soviet liquid-fueled rocket in 1933. In 1933 the two design bureaus were combined into the Reactive Scientific Research Institute and produced the RP-318, the USSR's first rocket-powered aircraft and the RS-82 and RS-132 missiles, which became the basis for the Katyusha multiple rocket launcher, During the 1930s Soviet rocket technology was comparable to Germany's, but Joseph Stalin's Great Purge from 1936 to 1938 severely damaged its progress. In 1945 the Soviets captured several key Nazi German A-4 (V-2) rocket production facilities, and also gained the services of some German scientists and engineers related to


id: space-race-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race-2.md
category: reference
title: Space Race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:01.305584+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-race-20260505-0
summary:
=== Artificial satellite development === In 1955, with both the United States and the Soviet Union building ballistic missiles that could be used to launch objects into space, the stage was set for nationalistic competition. On July 29, 1955, James C. Hagerty, President Dwight D. Eisenhower's press secretary, announced that the United States intended to launch "small Earth circling satellites" between July 1, 1957, and December 31, 1958, as part of the US contribution to the International Geophysical Year (IGY). On August 2, at the Sixth Congress of the International Astronautical Federation in Copenhagen, scientist Leonid I. Sedov told international reporters at the Soviet embassy of his country's intention to launch a satellite as well, in the "near future". ==== Soviet secrecy and obfuscation ==== On August 30, 1955, Sergei Korolev succeeded in convincing the Soviet Academy of Sciences to establish a commission dedicated to achieving the goal of launching a satellite into Earth orbit before the United States, this can be viewed as the de facto start date of the space race. The Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union began a policy of treating development of its space program as top-secret. When the Sputnik project was first approved,


id: space-race-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race-3.md
category: reference
title: Space Race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:01.305584+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-race-20260505-0
summary:
Korolev was buoyed by the first successful launches of the R-7 rocket in August and September, which paved the way for the launch of Sputnik 1. Word came that the US was planning to announce a major breakthrough at an International Geophysical Year conference at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington D.C., with a paper titled "Satellite Over the Planet", on October 6, 1957. Korolev anticipated that von Braun might launch a Jupiter-C with a satellite payload on or around October 4 or 5, in conjunction with the paper. He hastened the launch, moving it to October 4. The launch vehicle for PS-1 was a modified R-7 – vehicle 8K71PS number M1-PS – without much of the test equipment and radio gear that was present in the previous launches. It arrived at the Soviet missile base Tyura-Tam in September and was prepared for its mission at launch site number one. The first launch took place on Friday, October 4, 1957, at exactly 10:28:34 pm Moscow time, with the R-7 and the now named Sputnik 1 satellite lifting off the launch pad and placing the artificial "moon" into an orbit a few minutes later. This "fellow traveler", as the name


id: space-race-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race-4.md
category: reference
title: Space Race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:01.305584+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-race-20260505-0
summary:
On January 31, 1958, nearly four months after the launch of Sputnik 1, aerospace and space engineer, Dr. Wernher von Braun and the United States successfully launched its first satellite on a four-stage Juno I rocket derived from the US Army's Redstone missile, at Cape Canaveral. The satellite Explorer 1 was 30.66 pounds (13.91 kg) in mass. The payload of Explorer 1 weighed 18.35 pounds (8.32 kg). It carried a micrometeorite gauge and a Geiger-Müller tube. It passed in and out of the Earth-encompassing radiation belt with its 194-by-1,368-nautical-mile (360 by 2,534 km) orbit, therefore saturating the tube's capacity and proving what Dr. James Van Allen, a space scientist at the University of Iowa, had theorized. The belt, named the Van Allen radiation belt, is a doughnut-shaped zone of high-level radiation intensity around the Earth above the magnetic equator. Van Allen was also the man who designed and built the satellite instrumentation of Explorer 1. The satellite measured three phenomena: cosmic ray and radiation levels, the temperature in the spacecraft, and the frequency of collisions with micrometeorites. The satellite had no memory for data storage, therefore it had to transmit continuously. The next successful mission was Explorer 3, launched later


id: space-race-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race-5.md
category: reference
title: Space Race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:01.305584+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-race-20260505-0
summary:
The Soviets designed their first human space capsule using the same spacecraft bus as their Zenit spy satellite, forcing them to keep the details and true appearance secret until after the Vostok program was over. The craft consisted of a spherical descent module with a mass of 2.46 tonnes (5,400 lb) and a diameter of 2.3 meters (7.5 ft), with a cylindrical inner cabin housing the cosmonaut, instruments, and escape system; and a biconic instrument module with a mass of 2.27 tonnes (5,000 lb), 2.25 meters (7.4 ft) long and 2.43 meters (8.0 ft) in diameter, containing the engine system and propellant. After reentry, the cosmonaut would eject at about 7,000 meters (23,000 ft) over the USSR and descend via parachute, while the capsule would land separately, because the descent module made an extremely rough landing that could have left a cosmonaut seriously injured. The "Vostok spaceship" was first displayed at the July 1961 Tushino air show, mounted on its launch vehicle's third stage, with the nose cone in place concealing the spherical capsule. A tail section with eight fins was added in an apparent attempt to confuse western observers. This also appeared on official commemorative stamps and a documentary.


id: space-race-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race-6.md
category: reference
title: Space Race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:01.305584+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-race-20260505-0
summary:
On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space, launching in a ballistic trajectory on Mercury-Redstone 3, in a spacecraft he named Freedom 7. Though he did not achieve orbit like Gagarin, he was the first person to exercise manual control over his spacecraft's attitude and retro-rocket firing. After his successful return, Shepard was celebrated as a national hero, honored with parades in Washington, New York and Los Angeles, and received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal from President John F. Kennedy. American Virgil "Gus" Grissom repeated Shepard's suborbital flight in Liberty Bell 7 on July 21, 1961. Almost a year after the Soviet Union put a human into orbit, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth, on February 20, 1962. His Mercury-Atlas 6 mission completed three orbits in the Friendship 7 spacecraft, and splashed down safely in the Atlantic Ocean, after a tense reentry, due to what falsely appeared from the telemetry data to be a loose heat-shield. On February 23, 1962, President Kennedy awarded Glenn with the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in a ceremony at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. As the first American in orbit, Glenn became a national hero, and


id: space-race-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race-7.md
category: reference
title: Space Race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:01.305584+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-race-20260505-0
summary:
==== Proposed joint US-USSR program ==== After a first US-USSR Dryden-Blagonravov agreement and cooperation on the Echo II balloon satellite in 1962, President Kennedy proposed on September 20, 1963, in a speech before the United Nations General Assembly, that the United States and the Soviet Union join forces in an effort to reach the Moon. Kennedy thus changed his mind regarding the desirability of the space race, preferring instead to ease tensions with the Soviet Union by cooperating on projects such as a joint lunar landing. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev initially rejected Kennedy's proposal. However, on October 2, 1997, it was reported that Khrushchev's son Sergei claimed Khrushchev was poised to accept Kennedy's proposal at the time of Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963. During the next few weeks he reportedly concluded that both nations might realize cost benefits and technological gains from a joint venture, and decided to accept Kennedy's offer based on a measure of rapport during their years as leaders of the world's two superpowers, but changed his mind and dropped the idea since he lacked the same trust for Kennedy's successor, Lyndon Johnson. Some cooperation in robotic space exploration nevertheless did take place, such as a


id: space-race-20260505-8
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race-8.md
category: reference
title: Space Race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:01.305584+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-race-20260505-0
summary:
Venus was of great interest in the field of planetary science due to its thick and opaque atmosphere, the atmospheres of other planets being a novel area of research at the time. In 1961 the Venera Programme was initiated by the Soviet Union, with the launch of Venera 1. The programme would go on to mark many firsts in the exploration of another planet. Despite the later successes however, Venera 1 and Venera 2, intended to flyby Venus, resulted in failure due to losses of contact. NASA would then initiate the Mariner program with the launch of Mariner 1 and Mariner 2. Mariner 1 failed shortly after launch, however Mariner 2 would become the first man-made object to flyby another planet in December 1962 when the probe passed by Venus. Later in 1965/66, Venera 3, marked the first time a man-made object made contact with another planet after it impacted Venus on March 1, 1966, despite operational difficulties resulting in loss of contact with the craft. In 1967, Mariner 5 flew by Venus and conducted atmospheric analysis. ==== Mars ==== In 1964, NASA's Mariner 4 became the first successful Mars flyby, transmitting 21 pictures of the planets surface. This was


id: space-race-20260505-9
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race-9.md
category: reference
title: Space Race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:01.305584+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-race-20260505-0
summary:
Though delayed a year to reach its first flight, Gemini was able to take advantage of the USSR's two-year hiatus after Voskhod, which enabled the US to catch up and surpass the previous Soviet superiority in piloted spaceflight. Gemini had ten crewed missions between March 1965 and November 1966: Gemini 3, Gemini 4, Gemini 5, Gemini 6A, Gemini 7, Gemini 8, Gemini 9A, Gemini 10, Gemini 11, and Gemini 12; and accomplished the following: Every mission demonstrated the ability to adjust the crafts' inclination and apsis without issue. Gemini 5 demonstrated eight-day endurance, long enough for a round trip to the Moon. Gemini 7 demonstrated a fourteen-day endurance flight. Gemini 6A demonstrated rendezvous and station-keeping with Gemini 7 for three consecutive orbits at distances as close as 1 foot (0.30 m). Gemini 9A also achieved rendezvous with an Agena Target Vehicle (ATV). Rendezvous and docking with the ATV was achieved on Gemini 8, 10, 11, and 12. Gemini 11 achieved the first direct-ascent rendezvous with its Agena target on the first orbit. Extravehicular activity (EVA) was perfected through increasing practice on Gemini 4, 9A, 10, 11, and 12. On Gemini 12, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent over five hours working comfortably


id: space-race-20260505-10
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race-10.md
category: reference
title: Space Race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:01.305584+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-race-20260505-0
summary:
The US and USSR began discussions on the peaceful uses of space as early as 1958, presenting issues for debate to the United Nations, which created a Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in 1959. On May 10, 1962, Vice President Johnson addressed the Second National Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Space revealing that the United States and the USSR both supported a resolution passed by the Political Committee of the UN General Assembly in December 1962, which not only urged member nations to "extend the rules of international law to outer space," but to also cooperate in its exploration. Following the passing of this resolution, Kennedy commenced his communications proposing a cooperative American and Soviet space program. In 1963, the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed by more than 100 signatories, including both the United States and the Soviet Union. This treaty followed the US test of a nuclear bomb detonated in outer space the year earlier called Starfish Prime. The UN ultimately created a Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, which was signed by the United States,


id: space-race-20260505-11
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race-11.md
category: reference
title: Space Race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:01.305584+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-race-20260505-0
summary:
On April 24, 1967, the single pilot of Soyuz 1, Vladimir Komarov, became the first in-flight spaceflight fatality. The mission was planned to be a three-day test, to include the first Soviet docking with an unpiloted Soyuz 2, but the mission was plagued with problems. Problems began shortly after launch when one solar panel failed to unfold, leading to a shortage of power for the spacecraft's systems. Further problems with the orientation detectors complicated maneuvering the craft. By orbit 13, the automatic stabilisation system was completely dead, and the manual system was only partially effective. The mission was aborted, Soyuz 1 fired its retrorockets and reentered the Earth's atmosphere. During the emergency re-entry, a fault in the landing parachute system caused the primary chute to fail, and the reserve chute became tangled with the drogue chute, causing descent speed to reach as high as 40 m/s (140 km/h; 89 mph). Shortly thereafter, Soyuz 1 impacted the ground 3 km (1.9 mi) west of Karabutak, and was found on fire. The official autopsy states Komarov died of blunt force trauma on impact. In the US during subsequent years, stories began circulating that in his last transmissions Komarov cursed the engineers and


id: space-race-20260505-12
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race-12.md
category: reference
title: Space Race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:01.305584+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-race-20260505-0
summary:
The Soviet Zond spacecraft was not yet ready for piloted circumlunar missions in 1968, after six unsuccessful automated test launches: Kosmos 146 on March 10, 1967; Kosmos 154 on April 8, 1967; Zond 1967A on September 28, 1967; Zond 1967B on November 22, 1967; Zond 1968A on April 23, 1968; and Zond 1968B in July 1968. Zond 4 was launched on March 2, 1968, and successfully made a circumlunar flight, but encountered problems with its Earth reentry on March 9, and was ordered destroyed by an explosive charge 15,000 meters (49,000 ft) over the Gulf of Guinea. The Soviet official announcement said that Zond 4 was an automated test flight which ended with its intentional destruction, due to its recovery trajectory positioning it over the Atlantic Ocean instead of over the USSR. During the summer of 1968, the Apollo program hit another snag: the first pilot-rated Lunar Module (LM) was not ready for orbital tests in time for a December 1968 launch. NASA planners overcame this challenge by changing the mission flight order, delaying the first LM flight until March 1969, and sending Apollo 8 into lunar orbit without the LM in December. This mission was in part motivated by


id: space-race-20260505-13
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race-13.md
category: reference
title: Space Race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:01.305584+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-race-20260505-0
summary:
The first step was witnessed on live television by at least one-fifth of the population of Earth, or about 723 million people. His first words when he stepped off the LM's landing footpad were, "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." Aldrin joined him on the surface almost 20 minutes later. Altogether, they spent just under two and one-quarter hours outside their craft. The next day, they performed the first crewed launch from another celestial body, and rendezvoused back with Collins in Columbia. But before they return ascended the Space Race came to a particular culmination. A few days before Apollo 11 left Earth, the Soviet Union launched the Luna 15 probe, entering lunar orbit just before Apollo 11 and eventually sharing it with Apollo 11. Aware of Luna 15, Apollo 8 astronaut Frank Borman was asked to use his goodwill contacts in the Soviet Union to prevent any collision. Subsequently, in one of the first instances of Soviet–American space communication the Soviet Union released Luna 15's flight plan to ensure it would not collide with Apollo 11, although its exact mission was not publicized. But as Apollo 11 was wrapping up surface activities, the


id: space-race-20260505-14
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race-14.md
category: reference
title: Space Race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:01.305584+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-race-20260505-0
summary:
=== Soviet Lunar sample return and robotic rovers === In late 1970 Luna 16 was launched by the Soviet Union, and became the first uncrewed probe to return a sample from the Moon. This was followed by Luna 20 and Luna 24 in subsequent years. The Soviet Union was also able to successfully land the first robotic rover on the Moon in 1970, followed by another in 1973, with the Lunokhod missions. These missions demonstrated continued Soviet willingness to compete with the US in the space race despite having lost the manned Moon landing aspect of the space race. === Salyut and Skylab === Having lost the race to the Moon, the USSR seemed to decide to concentrate on orbital space stations instead of pursuing a crewed lunar mission. During 1969 and 1970, they launched six more Soyuz flights after Soyuz 3 and then launched a series of six successful space stations (plus two failures to achieve orbit and one station rendered uninhabitable due to damage from explosion of the launcher's upper stage) on their Proton-K heavy-lift launcher in their Salyut program designed by Kerim Kerimov. Each one weighed between 18,500 and 19,824 kilograms (40,786 and 43,704 lb), was 20


id: space-race-20260505-15
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race-15.md
category: reference
title: Space Race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:01.305584+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-race-20260505-0
summary:
==== Mars landings ==== In 1971, the Soviet's Mars 2 successfully established Mars orbit and attempted a soft landing but crashed, becoming the first man-made object to impact Mars. This was shortly followed by Mars 3, a 358 kg lander, which successfully landed but the lander only transmitted data for 14.5 seconds before losing contact. In 1976, NASA followed suit, and put two successful landers on Mars. These were Viking 1 and Viking 2. These landers were significantly larger than the Soviet Mars landers (Viking 1 was 3,527 kilograms). They were able to take the first photographs from the surface of Mars. Viking 1 operated on the surface of Mars for around six years (On November 11, 1982, the Lander stopped operating after getting a faulty command) and Viking 2 for over three years (mission ended in early 1980). Both landers were equipped with a robotic sampler arm which successfully scooped up soil samples and tested them with instruments such as a Gas chromatography–mass spectrometer. The landers measured temperatures ranging from negative 86 degrees Celsius before dawn to negative 33 degrees Celsius in the afternoon. Both landers had issues obtaining accurate results from their seismometers. Photographs from the landers and


id: space-race-20260505-16
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race-16.md
category: reference
title: Space Race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:01.305584+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-race-20260505-0
summary:
=== First women in space === The first woman in space was from the Soviet Union, Valentina Tereshkova. NASA did not welcome female astronauts into its corps until 1978, when six female mission specialists were recruited. This first class included scientist Sally Ride, who became America's first woman in space on STS-7 in June 1983. NASA included women mission specialists in the next four astronaut candidate classes, and admitted female pilots starting in 1990. Eileen Collins from this class became the first pilot to fly on Space Shuttle flight STS-63 in February 1995, and the first female commander of a spaceflight on STS-93 in July 1999. The USSR admitted its first female test pilot as a cosmonaut, Svetlana Savitskaya, in 1980. She became the first female to fly since Tereshkova, on Salyut 7 in December 1981. === First modular space station === The USSR turned its space program to the development of the low Earth orbit modular space station Mir (peace or world) assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996. At 129,700 kilograms (285,900 lb), it held records for the largest spacecraft and the longest continuous human presence in space at 3,644 days, until the International Space Station was built


id: space-race-20260505-17
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race-17.md
category: reference
title: Space Race
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:01.305584+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: space-race-20260505-0
summary:
== Cited literature == Bilstein, Roger E. (1996). Stages to Saturn: A Technological History of the Apollo/Saturn Launch Vehicles. Washington: Scientific and Technical Information Branch, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. ISBN 0-16-048909-1. Burgess, Colin; Hall, Rex (2009). The First Soviet Cosmonaut Team. Chichester, UK: Praxis Publishing. ISBN 978-0-387-84824-2. LCCN 2008935694. Burgess, Colin; Kate Doolan; Bert Vis (2003). Fallen Astronauts: Heroes Who Died Reaching for the Moon. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-6212-4. Brzezinski, Matthew (2007). Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ingnited the Space Race. New York: Times Books, Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-0-8050-8147-3. Burrows, William E. (1998). This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-679-44521-0. Cadbury, Deborah (2006). Space Race: The Epic Battle Between America and the Soviet Union for Dominance of Space. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-06-084553-7. Chaikin, Andrew (1994). A Man on the Moon: The Triumphant Story of the Apollo Space Program. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-027201-1. Chertok, Boris (2005). Rockets and People Volumes 1-4. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved May 29, 2022. Cornwell, John (2003). Hitler's Scientists: Science, War, and the Devil's Pact. New York: Viking Press. ISBN 0-670-03075-9.


id: system-delta-80-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Delta_80-0.md
category: reference
title: System Delta 80
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Delta_80
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:02.518972+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: system-delta-80-20260505-0
summary:
Systems Delta 80 (SYD 80) is a unit of the United States Space Force (USSF) that was activated on December 12, 2025. SYD 80 is responsible for national security space launches, rocket systems launches, launch and test range systems and servicing, and logistics and will report to Space Systems Command (SSC). SYD 80 will be integrated with Space Launch Delta 30 at Vandenberg Space Force Base and Space Launch Delta 45 at Patrick Space Force Base. The creation of Systems Delta 80 is the end of a series of SYD's that the Space Force had been creating to manage acquisitions, procurement and support. Currently SYD 80 is launching payloads using the Space X Falcon 9 and United Launch Alliance Vulcan rockets at both Vandenberg Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. SYD 80 feels that using both platforms provides flexibility and additional capabilities, especially in a congested launch environment. == References ==


id: translational-research-institute-for-space-health-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Translational_Research_Institute_for_Space_Health-0.md
category: reference
title: Translational Research Institute for Space Health
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Translational_Research_Institute_for_Space_Health
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:03.631510+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: translational-research-institute-for-space-health-20260505-0
summary:
The Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) is a virtual, applied research consortium that pursues and funds translational research and technologies to keep astronauts healthy during space exploration, with the added benefit of potential applications on Earth. TRISH is specifically focused on human health in preparation for deep space exploration efforts, including National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Artemis missions to the Moon, and future human missions to Mars. TRISH also supports research to collect and study biomedical data gathered on commercial spaceflight missions to better understand the effect of spaceflight on the human body. The consortium is led by Baylor College of Medicine's Center for Space Medicine, and includes Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and California Institute of Technology, with funding awarded to scientists and organizations around the United States. Empowered by NASA's Human Research Program (HRP), TRISH works to establish and coordinate research efforts that align with NASA’s goal of safely furthering human exploration while mitigating risks to human health. == History == TRISH was founded in 2016, and Baylor College of Medicine was selected as the lead institution in an agreement with a maximum potential value of $246 million for 12 years. TRISH succeeded the National Space


id: allais-effect-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allais_effect-0.md
category: reference
title: Allais effect
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allais_effect
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:05.167652+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: allais-effect-20260505-0
summary:
The Allais effect is the alleged anomalous behavior of pendulums or gravimeters which is sometimes purportedly observed during a solar eclipse. The effect was first reported as an anomalous precession of the plane of oscillation of a Foucault pendulum during the solar eclipse of June 30, 1954 by Maurice Allais, a French polymath who later won the Nobel Prize in Economics. Allais reported another observation of the effect during the solar eclipse of October 2, 1959 using the paraconical pendulum he invented. This study earned him the 1959 Galabert Prize of the French Astronautical Society and made him a laureate of the U.S. Gravity Research Foundation for his 1959 memoir on gravity. The veracity of the Allais effect remains controversial among the scientific community, as its testing has frequently met with inconsistent or ambiguous results over more than five decades of observation. == Experimental observations == Maurice Allais emphasized the "dynamic character" of the effects he observed: The observed effects are only seen when the pendulum is moving. They are not connected with the intensity of weight (gravimetry), but with the variation of weight (or of inertia) in the space swept by the pendulum. Actually, while the movement of the


id: allais-effect-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allais_effect-1.md
category: reference
title: Allais effect
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allais_effect
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:05.167652+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: allais-effect-20260505-0
summary:
=== Inconclusive or negative results === Louis B. Slichter, using a gravimeter during the solar eclipse of February 15, 1961 in Florence, Italy, failed to detect an associated gravitational signal. During the solar eclipse of July 22, 1990, no anomalous period increase of a torsion pendulum was detected independently by a team in Finland and another team in Belomorsk, USSR. The total solar eclipse of August 11, 1999 had been a good opportunity to solve a 45-year mystery, thanks to an international collaboration. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center first inquired about experimental protocols to Maurice Allais, in order to coordinate ahead of the event a worldwide effort to test the Allais effect between observatories and universities over seven countries (United States, Austria, Germany, Italy, Australia, England and four sites in the United Arab Emirates). The lead supervisor then stated: "The initial interpretation of the record points to three possibilities: a systematic error, a local effect, or the unexplored. To eliminate the first two possibilities, we and several other observers will use different kinds of measuring instruments in a distributed global network of observing stations." However, after the eclipse, Allais criticized the experiments in his final NASA report, writing the period


id: cold-fusion-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion-0.md
category: reference
title: Cold fusion
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:09.898980+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cold-fusion-20260505-0
summary:
Cold fusion is a hypothesized type of nuclear reaction that would occur at, or near, room temperature. It would contrast starkly with the "hot" fusion that is known to take place naturally within stars, artificially in hydrogen bombs, and within prototype fusion reactors; all of which occur at temperatures of millions of degrees. It is also distinguished from muon-catalyzed fusion. There is currently no accepted theoretical model that describes how cold fusion could occur. In 1989, two electrochemists at the University of Utah, Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons, reported that their apparatus containing heavy water had produced anomalous heat ("excess heat") of a magnitude they asserted would defy explanation except in terms of nuclear processes. They further reported measuring small amounts of nuclear reaction byproducts, including neutrons and tritium, both of which are produced by fusion of deuterium, found in heavy water (see Fusion power § Deuterium). The small tabletop experiment involved electrolysis of heavy water on the surface of a palladium (Pd) electrode. The reported results received wide media attention and raised hopes of a cheap and abundant source of energy. Both neutrons and tritium are found in trace amounts from natural sources. These traces are produced by cosmic


id: cold-fusion-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion-1.md
category: reference
title: Cold fusion
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:09.898980+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cold-fusion-20260505-0
summary:
Martin Fleischmann of the University of Southampton and Stanley Pons of the University of Utah hypothesized that the high compression ratio and mobility of deuterium that could be achieved within palladium metal using electrolysis might result in nuclear fusion. To investigate, they conducted electrolysis experiments using a palladium cathode and heavy water within a calorimeter, an insulated vessel designed to measure process heat. Current was applied continuously for many weeks, with the heavy water being renewed at intervals. Some deuterium was thought to be accumulating within the cathode, but most was allowed to bubble out of the cell, joining oxygen produced at the anode. For most of the time, the power input to the cell was equal to the calculated power leaving the cell within measurement accuracy, and the cell temperature was stable at around 30 °C. But then, at some point (in some of the experiments), the temperature rose suddenly to about 50 °C without changes in the input power. These high temperature phases would last for two days or more and would repeat several times in any given experiment once they had occurred. The calculated power leaving the cell was significantly higher than the input power during these


id: cold-fusion-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion-2.md
category: reference
title: Cold fusion
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:09.898980+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cold-fusion-20260505-0
summary:
==== Response and fallout ==== Although the experimental protocol had not been published, physicists in several countries attempted, and failed, to replicate the excess heat phenomenon. The first paper submitted to Nature reproducing excess heat, although it passed peer review, was rejected because most similar experiments were negative and there were no theories that could explain a positive result; this paper was later accepted for publication by the journal Fusion Technology. Nathan Lewis, professor of chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, led one of the most ambitious validation efforts, trying many variations on the experiment without success, while CERN physicist Douglas R. O. Morrison said that "essentially all" attempts in Western Europe had failed. Even those reporting success had difficulty reproducing Fleischmann and Pons' results. On 10 April 1989, a group at Texas A&M University published results of excess heat and later that day a group at the Georgia Institute of Technology announced neutron production—the strongest replication announced up to that point due to the detection of neutrons and the reputation of the lab. On 12 April Pons was acclaimed at an ACS meeting. But Georgia Tech retracted their announcement on 13 April, explaining that their neutron detectors gave


id: cold-fusion-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion-3.md
category: reference
title: Cold fusion
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:09.898980+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cold-fusion-20260505-0
summary:
Pons has made no public declarations since, and only Fleischmann continued giving talks and publishing papers. Mostly in the 1990s, several books were published that were critical of cold fusion research methods and the conduct of cold fusion researchers. Over the years, several books have appeared that defended them. Around 1998, the University of Utah had already dropped its research after spending over $1 million, and in the summer of 1997, Japan cut off research and closed its own lab after spending $20 million.


id: cold-fusion-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion-4.md
category: reference
title: Cold fusion
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:09.898980+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cold-fusion-20260505-0
summary:
== Later research == A 1991 review by a cold fusion proponent had calculated "about 600 scientists" were still conducting research. After 1991, cold fusion research only continued in relative obscurity, conducted by groups that had increasing difficulty securing public funding and keeping programs open. These small but committed groups of cold fusion researchers have continued to conduct experiments using Fleischmann and Pons electrolysis setups in spite of the rejection by the mainstream community. The Boston Globe estimated in 2004 that there were only 100 to 200 researchers working in the field, most suffering damage to their reputation and career. Since the main controversy over Pons and Fleischmann had ended, cold fusion research has been funded by private and small governmental scientific investment funds in the United States, Italy, Japan, and India. For example, it was reported in Nature, in May, 2019, that Google had spent approximately $10 million on cold fusion research. A group of scientists at well-known research labs (e.g., MIT, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and others) worked for several years to establish experimental protocols and measurement techniques in an effort to re-evaluate cold fusion to a high standard of scientific rigor. Their reported conclusion: no cold fusion.


id: cold-fusion-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion-5.md
category: reference
title: Cold fusion
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:09.898980+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cold-fusion-20260505-0
summary:
Cold fusion researchers placed a "rosier spin" on the report, noting that they were finally being treated like normal scientists, and that the report had increased interest in the field and caused "a huge upswing in interest in funding cold fusion research". However, in a 2009 BBC article on an American Chemical Society's meeting on cold fusion, particle physicist Frank Close was quoted stating that the problems that plagued the original cold fusion announcement were still happening: results from studies are still not being independently verified and inexplicable phenomena encountered are being labelled as "cold fusion" even if they are not, in order to attract the attention of journalists. In February 2012, millionaire Sidney Kimmel, convinced that cold fusion was worth investing in by a 19 April 2009 interview with physicist Robert Duncan on the US news show 60 Minutes, made a grant of $5.5 million to the University of Missouri to establish the Sidney Kimmel Institute for Nuclear Renaissance (SKINR). The grant was intended to support research into the interactions of hydrogen with palladium, nickel or platinum under extreme conditions. In March 2013 Graham K. Hubler, a nuclear physicist who worked for the Naval Research Laboratory for 40 years,


id: cold-fusion-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion-6.md
category: reference
title: Cold fusion
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:09.898980+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cold-fusion-20260505-0
summary:
a metal, such as palladium or nickel, in bulk, thin films or powder; and deuterium, hydrogen, or both, in the form of water, gas or plasma. Electrolysis cells can be either open cell or closed cell. In open cell systems, the electrolysis products, which are gaseous, are allowed to leave the cell. In closed cell experiments, the products are captured, for example by catalytically recombining the products in a separate part of the experimental system. These experiments generally strive for a steady state condition, with the electrolyte being replaced periodically. There are also "heat-after-death" experiments, where the evolution of heat is monitored after the electric current is turned off. The most basic setup of a cold fusion cell consists of two electrodes submerged in a solution containing palladium and heavy water. The electrodes are then connected to a power source to transmit electricity from one electrode to the other through the solution. Even when anomalous heat is reported, it can take weeks for it to begin to appear—this is known as the "loading time," the time required to saturate the palladium electrode with hydrogen (see "Loading ratio" section). The Fleischmann and Pons early findings regarding helium, neutron radiation and tritium


id: cold-fusion-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion-7.md
category: reference
title: Cold fusion
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:09.898980+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cold-fusion-20260505-0
summary:
== Proposed mechanisms == Researchers in the field do not agree on a theory for cold fusion. One proposal considers that hydrogen and its isotopes can be absorbed in certain solids, including palladium hydride, at high densities. This creates a high partial pressure, reducing the average separation of hydrogen isotopes. However, the reduction in separation is not enough to create the fusion rates claimed in the original experiment, by a factor of ten. It was also proposed that a higher density of hydrogen inside the palladium and a lower potential barrier could raise the possibility of fusion at lower temperatures than expected from a simple application of Coulomb's law. Electron screening of the positive hydrogen nuclei by the negative electrons in the palladium lattice was suggested to the 2004 DOE commission, but the panel found the theoretical explanations not convincing and inconsistent with current physics theories. == Criticism == Criticism of cold fusion claims generally take one of two forms: either pointing out the theoretical implausibility that fusion reactions have occurred in electrolysis setups or criticizing the excess heat measurements as being spurious, erroneous, or due to poor methodology or controls. There are several reasons why known fusion reactions are


id: cold-fusion-20260505-8
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion-8.md
category: reference
title: Cold fusion
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:09.898980+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cold-fusion-20260505-0
summary:
=== Setup of experiments === Cold fusion setups utilize an input power source (to ostensibly provide activation energy), a platinum group electrode, a deuterium or hydrogen source, a calorimeter, and, at times, detectors to look for byproducts such as helium or neutrons. Critics have variously taken issue with each of these aspects and have asserted that there has not yet been a consistent reproduction of claimed cold fusion results in either energy output or byproducts. Some cold fusion researchers who claim that they can consistently measure an excess heat effect have argued that the apparent lack of reproducibility might be attributable to a lack of quality control in the electrode metal or the amount of hydrogen or deuterium loaded in the system. Critics have further taken issue with what they describe as mistakes or errors of interpretation that cold fusion researchers have made in calorimetry analyses and energy budgets. ==== Reproducibility ==== In 1989, after Fleischmann and Pons had made their claims, many research groups tried to reproduce the Fleischmann-Pons experiment, without success. A few other research groups, however, reported successful reproductions of cold fusion during this time. In July 1989, an Indian group from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre


id: cold-fusion-20260505-9
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion-9.md
category: reference
title: Cold fusion
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:09.898980+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cold-fusion-20260505-0
summary:
== Publications == The ISI identified cold fusion as the scientific topic with the largest number of published papers in 1989, of all scientific disciplines. The Nobel Laureate Julian Schwinger declared himself a supporter of cold fusion in the fall of 1989, after much of the response to the initial reports had turned negative. He tried to publish his theoretical paper "Cold Fusion: A Hypothesis" in Physical Review Letters, but the peer reviewers rejected it so harshly that he felt deeply insulted, and he resigned from the American Physical Society (publisher of PRL) in protest. The number of papers sharply declined after 1990 because of two simultaneous phenomena: first, scientists abandoned the field; second, journal editors declined to review new papers. Consequently, cold fusion fell off the ISI charts. Researchers who got negative results turned their backs on the field; those who continued to publish were simply ignored. A 1993 paper in Physics Letters A was the last paper published by Fleischmann, and "one of the last reports [by Fleischmann] to be formally challenged on technical grounds by a cold fusion skeptic." The Journal of Fusion Technology (FT) established a permanent feature in 1990 for cold fusion papers, publishing over


id: cold-fusion-20260505-10
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion-10.md
category: reference
title: Cold fusion
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:09.898980+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cold-fusion-20260505-0
summary:
== Patents == Although details have not surfaced, it appears that the University of Utah forced the 23 March 1989 Fleischmann and Pons announcement to establish priority over the discovery and its patents before the joint publication with Jones. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced on 12 April 1989 that it had applied for its own patents based on theoretical work of one of its researchers, Peter L. Hagelstein, who had been sending papers to journals from 5 to 12 April. An MIT graduate student applied for a patent but was reportedly rejected by the USPTO in part by the citation of the "negative" MIT Plasma Fusion Center's cold fusion experiment of 1989. On 2 December 1993 the University of Utah licensed all its cold fusion patents to ENECO, a new company created to profit from cold fusion discoveries, and in March 1998 it said that it would no longer defend its patents. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) now rejects patents claiming cold fusion. Esther Kepplinger, the deputy commissioner of patents in 2004, said that this was done using the same argument as with perpetual motion machines: that they do not work. Patent applications are required to


id: constructor-theory-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructor_theory-0.md
category: reference
title: Constructor theory
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructor_theory
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:11.136018+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: constructor-theory-20260505-0
summary:
Constructor theory is a proposal for a new mode of explanation in fundamental physics, developed by physicists David Deutsch and Chiara Marletto, at the University of Oxford, since 2012. Constructor theory expresses physical laws exclusively in terms of which physical transformations, or tasks, are possible versus which are impossible, and why. By allowing such counterfactual statements into fundamental physics, it allows new physical laws to be expressed, such as the constructor theory of information. == Overview == The fundamental elements of the theory are tasks: the abstract specifications of transformations as input–output pairs of attributes. A task is impossible if there is a law of physics that forbids its being performed with arbitrarily high accuracy, and possible otherwise. When it is possible, a constructor for it can be built, again with arbitrary accuracy and reliability. A constructor is an entity that can cause the task to occur while retaining the ability to cause it again. Examples of constructors include a heat engine (a thermodynamic constructor), a catalyst (a chemical constructor) or a computer program controlling an automated factory (an example of a programmable constructor). The theory was developed by physicists David Deutsch and Chiara Marletto. It draws together ideas from


id: criticism-of-the-theory-of-relativity-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_theory_of_relativity-0.md
category: reference
title: Criticism of the theory of relativity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_theory_of_relativity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:12.347082+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: criticism-of-the-theory-of-relativity-20260505-0
summary:
Criticism of the theory of relativity of Albert Einstein was mainly expressed in the early years after its publication in the early twentieth century, on scientific, pseudoscientific, philosophical, or ideological bases. Though some of these criticisms had the support of reputable scientists, Einstein's theory of relativity is now accepted by the scientific community. Reasons for criticism of the theory of relativity have included alternative theories, rejection of the abstract-mathematical method, and alleged errors of the theory. Antisemitic objections to Einstein's Jewish heritage also occasionally played a role in these objections. There are still some critics of relativity today, but their opinions are not shared by the majority in the scientific community. == Special relativity == === Relativity principle versus electromagnetic worldview === Around the end of the 19th century, the view was widespread that all forces in nature are of electromagnetic origin (the "electromagnetic worldview"), especially in the works of Joseph Larmor (1897) and Wilhelm Wien (1900). This was apparently confirmed by the experiments of Walter Kaufmann (1901–1903), who measured an increase of the mass of a body with velocity which was consistent with the hypothesis that the mass was generated by its electromagnetic field. Max Abraham (1902) subsequently sketched


id: criticism-of-the-theory-of-relativity-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_theory_of_relativity-1.md
category: reference
title: Criticism of the theory of relativity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_theory_of_relativity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:12.347082+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: criticism-of-the-theory-of-relativity-20260505-0
summary:
=== Claimed experimental refutations === Kaufmann–Bucherer–Neumann experiments: To conclusively decide between the theories of Abraham and Lorentz, Kaufmann repeated his experiments in 1905 with improved accuracy. However, in the meantime the theoretical situation had changed. Alfred Bucherer and Paul Langevin (1904) developed another model, in which the electron is contracted in the line of motion, and dilated in the transverse direction, so that the volume remains constant. While Kaufmann was still evaluating his experiments, Einstein published his theory of special relativity. Eventually, Kaufmann published his results in December 1905 and argued that they are in agreement with Abraham's theory and require rejection of the "basic assumption of Lorentz and Einstein" (the relativity principle). Lorentz reacted with the phrase "I am at the end of my Latin", while Einstein did not mention those experiments before 1908. Yet, others started to criticize the experiments. Max Planck (1906) alluded to inconsistencies in the theoretical interpretation of the data, and Adolf Bestelmeyer (1906) introduced new techniques, which (especially in the area of low velocities) gave different results and which cast doubts on Kaufmann's methods. Therefore, Bucherer (1908) conducted new experiments and arrived at the conclusion that they confirm the mass formula of relativity and


id: criticism-of-the-theory-of-relativity-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_theory_of_relativity-2.md
category: reference
title: Criticism of the theory of relativity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_theory_of_relativity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:12.347082+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: criticism-of-the-theory-of-relativity-20260505-0
summary:
=== Acceleration in special relativity === It was also claimed that special relativity cannot handle acceleration, which would lead to contradictions in some situations. However, this assessment is not correct, since acceleration actually can be described in the framework of special relativity (see Acceleration (special relativity), Proper reference frame (flat spacetime), Hyperbolic motion, Rindler coordinates, Born coordinates). Paradoxes relying on insufficient understanding of these facts were discovered in the early years of relativity. For example, Max Born (1909) tried to combine the concept of rigid bodies with special relativity. That this model was insufficient was shown by Paul Ehrenfest (1909), who demonstrated that a rotating rigid body would, according to Born's definition, undergo a contraction of the circumference without contraction of the radius, which is impossible (Ehrenfest paradox). Max von Laue (1911) showed that rigid bodies cannot exist in special relativity, since the propagation of signals cannot exceed the speed of light, so an accelerating and rotating body will undergo deformations. Paul Langevin and von Laue showed that the twin paradox can be completely resolved by consideration of acceleration in special relativity. If two twins move away from each other, and one of them is accelerating and coming back to


id: criticism-of-the-theory-of-relativity-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_theory_of_relativity-3.md
category: reference
title: Criticism of the theory of relativity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_theory_of_relativity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:12.347082+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: criticism-of-the-theory-of-relativity-20260505-0
summary:
=== Aether and absolute space === Many physicists (like Hendrik Lorentz, Oliver Lodge, Albert Abraham Michelson, Edmund Taylor Whittaker, Harry Bateman, Ebenezer Cunningham, Charles Émile Picard, Paul Painlevé) were uncomfortable with the rejection of the aether, and preferred to interpret the Lorentz transformation based on the existence of a preferred frame of reference, as in the aether-based theories of Lorentz, Larmor, and Poincaré. However, the idea of an aether hidden from any observation was not supported by the mainstream scientific community, therefore the aether theory of Lorentz and Poincaré was superseded by Einstein's special relativity which was subsequently formulated in the framework of four-dimensional spacetime by Minkowski. Others such as Herbert E. Ives argued that it might be possible to experimentally determine the motion of such an aether, but it was never found despite numerous experimental tests of Lorentz invariance (see tests of special relativity). Also attempts to introduce some sort of relativistic aether (consistent with relativity) into modern physics such as by Einstein on the basis of general relativity (1920), or by Paul Dirac in relation to quantum mechanics (1951), were not supported by the scientific community (see Luminiferous aether#End of aether?). In his Nobel lecture, George F. Smoot


id: criticism-of-the-theory-of-relativity-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_theory_of_relativity-4.md
category: reference
title: Criticism of the theory of relativity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_theory_of_relativity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:12.347082+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: criticism-of-the-theory-of-relativity-20260505-0
summary:
=== General covariance === Einstein emphasized the importance of general covariance for the development of general relativity, and took the position that the general covariance of his 1915 theory of gravity ensured implementation of a generalized relativity principle. This view was challenged by Erich Kretschmann (1917), who argued that every theory of space and time (even including Newtonian dynamics) can be formulated in a covariant way, if additional parameters are included, and thus general covariance of a theory would in itself be insufficient to implement a generalized relativity principle. Although Einstein (1918) agreed with that argument, he also countered that Newtonian mechanics in general covariant form would be too complicated for practical uses. Although it is now understood that Einstein's response to Kretschmann was mistaken (subsequent papers showed that such a theory would still be usable), another argument can be made in favor of general covariance: it is a natural way to express the equivalence principle, i.e., the equivalence in the description of a free-falling observer and an observer at rest, and thus it is more convenient to use general covariance together with general relativity, rather than with Newtonian mechanics. Connected with this, also the question of absolute motion was


id: criticism-of-the-theory-of-relativity-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_theory_of_relativity-5.md
category: reference
title: Criticism of the theory of relativity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_theory_of_relativity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:12.347082+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: criticism-of-the-theory-of-relativity-20260505-0
summary:
== Philosophical criticism == The consequences of relativity, such as the change of ordinary concepts of space and time, as well as the introduction of non-Euclidean geometry in general relativity, were criticized by some philosophers of different philosophical schools. Many philosophical critics had insufficient knowledge of the mathematical and formal basis of relativity, which led to the criticisms often missing the heart of the matter. For example, relativity was misinterpreted as some form of relativism. However, this is misleading as it was emphasized by Einstein or Planck. Although space and time did become relative in Einstein's theories, and inertial frames of reference are handled on equal footing, on the other hand, the theory makes natural laws invariant—examples are the constancy of the speed of light and the covariance of Maxwell's equations. Consequently, Felix Klein (1910) called it the "invariant theory of the Lorentz group" instead of relativity theory, and Einstein (who reportedly used expressions like "absolute theory") sympathized with this expression as well. Critical responses to relativity were also expressed by proponents of neo-Kantianism (Paul Natorp, Bruno Bauch etc.), and phenomenology (Oskar Becker, Moritz Geiger etc.). While some of them only rejected the philosophical consequences, others rejected also the physical


id: criticism-of-the-theory-of-relativity-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_theory_of_relativity-6.md
category: reference
title: Criticism of the theory of relativity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_theory_of_relativity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:12.347082+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: criticism-of-the-theory-of-relativity-20260505-0
summary:
=== Academic and non-academic criticism === Some academic scientists, especially experimental physicists such as the Nobel laureates Philipp Lenard and Johannes Stark, as well as Ernst Gehrcke, Stjepan Mohorovičić, Rudolf Tomaschek and others criticized the increasing abstraction and mathematization of modern physics, especially in the form of relativity theory, and later quantum mechanics. It was seen as a tendency to abstract theory building, connected with the loss of intuitive "common sense". In fact, relativity was the first theory, in which the inadequacy of the "illustrative" classical physics was thought to have been demonstrated. Some of Einstein's critics ignored these developments and tried to revitalize older theories, such as aether drag models or emission theories (see "Alternative Theories"). However, those qualitative models were never sufficiently advanced to compete with the success of the precise experimental predictions and explanatory powers of the modern theories. Additionally, there was also a great rivalry between experimental and theoretical physicists, as regards the professorial activities and the occupation of chairs at German universities. The opinions clashed at the "Bad Nauheim debates" in 1920 between Einstein and (among others) Lenard, which attracted much public attention. In addition, there were many critics (with or without physical training) whose


id: criticism-of-the-theory-of-relativity-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_theory_of_relativity-7.md
category: reference
title: Criticism of the theory of relativity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_theory_of_relativity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:12.347082+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: criticism-of-the-theory-of-relativity-20260505-0
summary:
While the theory of relativity was enthusiastically studied in Japan and China, it faced criticism in nations with older scientific establishments. Shortly before and during World War I, there appeared some nationalistically motivated criticisms of relativity and modern physics. For example, French theoretical physicists Pierre Duhem regarded relativity as the product of the "too formal and abstract" German spirit, which was in conflict with "common sense". In Germany the Jewish ancestry of some leading relativity proponents such as Einstein and Minkowski made them targets of racially minded critics, although many of Einstein's German critics did not show evidence of such motives. The engineer Paul Weyland, a known nationalistic agitator, arranged the first public meeting against relativity in Berlin in 1919. While Lenard and Stark were also known for their nationalistic opinions, they declined to participate in Weyland's rallies, and Weyland's campaign eventually fizzled out due to a lack of prominent speakers. Lenard and others instead responded to Einstein's challenge to his professional critics to debate his theories at the scientific conference held annually at Bad Nauheim. While Einstein's critics, assuming without any real justification that Einstein was behind the activities of the German press in promoting the triumph of relativity,


id: criticism-of-the-theory-of-relativity-20260505-8
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_theory_of_relativity-8.md
category: reference
title: Criticism of the theory of relativity
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_theory_of_relativity
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:12.347082+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: criticism-of-the-theory-of-relativity-20260505-0
summary:
=== A Hundred Authors Against Einstein === A collection of various criticisms can be found in the book Hundert Autoren gegen Einstein (A Hundred Authors Against Einstein), published in 1931. It contains very short texts from 28 authors, and excerpts from the publications of another 19 authors. The rest consists of a list that also includes people who only for some time were opposed to relativity. The most targeted one is space-time followed by the speed of light as a constant and the relativity of simultaneity, with other concepts following. Besides philosophic objections (mostly based on Kantianism), also some alleged elementary failures of the theory were included; however, as some commented, those failures were due to the authors' misunderstanding of relativity. For example, Hans Reichenbach wrote a report in the entertainment section of a newspaper, describing the book as "a magnificent collection of naive mistakes" and as "unintended droll literature". Albert von Brunn interpreted the book as a pamphlet "of such deplorable impotence as occurring elsewhere only in politics" and "a fallback into the 16th and 17th centuries" and concluded “it can only be hoped that German science will not again be embarrassed by such sad scribblings”. Jacob Epstein quoted


id: dark-energy-star-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark-energy_star-0.md
category: reference
title: Dark-energy star
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark-energy_star
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:13.549201+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dark-energy-star-20260505-0
summary:
A dark-energy star is a hypothetical compact astrophysical object, which a minority of physicists think might constitute an alternative explanation for observations of astronomical black hole candidates. The concept was proposed by physicist George Chapline. The theory states that infalling matter is converted into vacuum energy or dark energy, as the matter falls through the event horizon. The space within the event horizon would end up with a large value for the cosmological constant and have negative pressure to exert against gravity. There would be no information-destroying singularity. == Theory == In March 2005, physicist George Chapline claimed that quantum mechanics makes it a "near certainty" that black holes do not exist and are instead dark-energy stars. The dark-energy star is a different concept from that of a gravastar. Dark-energy stars were first proposed because in quantum physics, absolute time is required; however, in general relativity, an object falling towards a black hole would, to an outside observer, seem to have time pass infinitely slowly at the event horizon. The object itself would feel as if time flowed normally. In order to reconcile quantum mechanics with black holes, Chapline theorized that a phase transition in the phase of space occurs


id: death-ray-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_ray-0.md
category: reference
title: Death ray
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_ray
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:15.919723+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: death-ray-20260505-0
summary:
The death ray or death beam is a theoretical particle beam or electromagnetic weapon first theorized around the 1920s and 1930s. Around that time, inventors such as Guglielmo Marconi, Nikola Tesla, Harry Grindell Matthews, Edwin R. Scott, Erich Graichen and others claimed to have invented it independently. In 1957, the National Inventors Council was still issuing lists of needed military inventions that included a death ray. While based in fiction, research into energy-based weapons inspired by past speculation has contributed to actual weapons used by modern militaries sometimes called a sort of "death ray", such as the United States Navy and its Laser Weapon System (LaWS) deployed in mid-2014. Such armaments are technically known as directed-energy weapons. == History == In 1923, Edwin R. Scott, an inventor from San Francisco, claimed he was the first to develop a death ray that would destroy human life and bring down planes at a distance. He was born in Detroit, and he claimed he worked for nine years as a student and protégé of Charles P. Steinmetz. Harry Grindell-Matthews tried to sell what he reported to be a death ray to the British Air Ministry in 1924. He was never able to show


id: einstein-cartan-evans-theory-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein–Cartan–Evans_theory-0.md
category: reference
title: Einstein–Cartan–Evans theory
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein–Cartan–Evans_theory
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:17.108114+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: einstein-cartan-evans-theory-20260505-0
summary:
Einstein–Cartan–Evans theory or ECE theory was an attempted unified theory of physics proposed by the Welsh chemist and physicist Myron Wyn Evans (May 26, 1950 – May 2, 2019), which claimed to unify general relativity, quantum mechanics and electromagnetism. The hypothesis was largely published in the journal Foundations of Physics Letters between 2003 and 2005. Several of Evans's central claims were later shown to be mathematically incorrect and, in 2008, the new editor of Foundations of Physics, Nobel laureate Gerard 't Hooft, published an editorial note effectively retracting the journal's support for the hypothesis. == Scope == Earlier versions of the theory were called "O(3) electrodynamics". Evans claims that he is able to derive a generally covariant field equation for electromagnetism and gravity, similar to that derived by Mendel Sachs. Evans argues that Einstein's theory of general relativity does not take into account torsion, which is included in the Einstein–Cartan theory. In 1998 Evans founded the Alpha Institute for Advanced Studies (AIAS) to keep developing his theory. Its website collects papers on the theory and recent developments. The theory has been used to justify the motionless electromagnetic generator, a perpetual motion machine. In July 2017, Evans claimed (on his blog):


id: energy-catalyzer-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Catalyzer-0.md
category: reference
title: Energy Catalyzer
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Catalyzer
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:19.637644+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: energy-catalyzer-20260505-0
summary:
The Energy Catalyzer (also called E-Cat) is a supposed cold fusion reactor promoted by its inventor Andrea Rossi with support from the late physicist Sergio Focardi. An Italian patent, awarded without a technical examination, describes the apparatus as a "process and equipment to obtain exothermal reactions, in particular from nickel and hydrogen". Rossi and Focardi said the device worked by infusing heated hydrogen into nickel powder, transmuting it into copper and producing excess heat. An international patent application received an unfavorable international preliminary report on patentability in 2011 because it was adjudged to "offend against the generally accepted laws of physics and established theories". The device has been the subject of claimed demonstrations and tests several times, and commented on by various academics and others. No independent tests have ever been made, and no peer-reviewed tests of the device have ever been published. Steve Featherstone wrote in Popular Science that by the summer of 2012 Rossi's "outlandish claims" for the E-Cat seemed "thoroughly debunked". == Demonstrations == Invited guests attended several demonstrations in Bologna in 2011. The device has not been independently verified. Of a January demonstration, Discovery Channel analyst Benjamin Radford wrote that "If this all sounds fishy to


id: energy-catalyzer-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Catalyzer-1.md
category: reference
title: Energy Catalyzer
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Catalyzer
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:19.637644+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: energy-catalyzer-20260505-0
summary:
== Reactions to the claims == Theoretical astrophysicist Ethan Siegel and nuclear physicist Peter Thieberger have pointed out that the claims for the E-Cat are incompatible with the fundamentals of nuclear physics. In particular, the Coulomb barrier for the claimed fusion reaction is so high that it is insurmountable anywhere in the known universe, including the interior of stars. The reaction also would create gamma radiation that would have penetrated the few inches of shielding apparently provided by the E-Cat, inducing acute radiation syndrome in persons in the vicinity of the purported demonstrations. Given numerous other scientific inconsistencies – such as the ratio of isotopes in the supposed copper "fusion product" being identical to that in natural copper – the authors argued that it is now time "for the E-Cat's proponents to provide the provable, testable, reproducible science that can answer these straightforward physics objections." Peter Ekström, lecturer at the Department of Nuclear Physics at Lund University in Sweden, concluded in May 2011, "I am convinced that the whole story is one big scam, and that it will be revealed in less than one year." He cited the unlikelihood of a chemical reaction being strong enough to overcome the Coulomb


id: gravastar-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravastar-0.md
category: reference
title: Gravastar
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravastar
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:20.855209+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: gravastar-20260505-0
summary:
In astrophysics, a gravastar (a blend word of "gravitational vacuum star") is an object hypothesized in a 2001 paper by Pawel O. Mazur and Emil Mottola as an alternative to the black hole theory. It has the usual black hole metric outside of the horizon, but de Sitter metric inside. A typical gravastar is as big as London, but weighing ten solar masses. On the horizon there is an ultra-thin, incredibly tight shell of entirely new, unique exotic matter. This solution to the Einstein equations is stable and has no singularities. Instead, a gravastar is filled either with dark energy or with vacuum energy, but also vacuum, only the inside one is 1044 times denser than the outside. Further theoretical considerations of gravastars include the notion of a nestar (a second gravastar "nested" within the first one). == Description == In the original formulation by Mazur and Mottola, a gravastar is composed of three regions, differentiated by the relationship between the pressure p and energy density ρ. The central region consists of false vacuum or "dark energy", and in this region p = −ρ . Surrounding it is a thin shell of perfect fluid where p = ρ . On


id: hafnium-controversy-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafnium_controversy-0.md
category: reference
title: Hafnium controversy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafnium_controversy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:23.240525+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: hafnium-controversy-20260505-0
summary:
The hafnium controversy was a debate over the possibility of "triggering" rapid energy releases, via gamma-ray emission, from 178m2Hf, a nuclear isomer of hafnium. The energy release per event is 5 orders of magnitude (100,000 times) higher than in a typical chemical reaction, but 2 orders of magnitude less than a nuclear fission reaction. In 1998, a group led by Carl Collins in the University of Texas at Dallas reported what they interpreted as evidence of such a trigger, but these results were not independently reproduced and remain controversial. Signal-to-noise ratios were small in those first experiments, and to date no other group has reproduced these results. Peter Zimmerman (an American nuclear physicist and arms-control expert) described claims of weaponization potential as having been based on "very bad science". == Background == 178m2Hf is a particularly interesting candidate for induced gamma emission (IGE) experiments, because 178m2Hf's energy is 2.5 MeV per nucleus higher than that of ground-state 178Hf, and it has a long (31-year) half life. If lower-energy radiation could induce gamma emission in the isomer before competing processes dissipated that energy, it might, in principle, initiate a start a cascade of gamma photons. The long half-life of 178m2Hf might


id: hafnium-controversy-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafnium_controversy-1.md
category: reference
title: Hafnium controversy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafnium_controversy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:23.240525+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: hafnium-controversy-20260505-0
summary:
== Chronology of notable events == Around 1997, the JASONS advisory group took testimony about the triggering of nuclear isomers. The JASON Defense Advisory Group published a relevant public report saying that they concluded that such a thing would be impossible and should not be attempted. Despite intervening publications in peer-reviewed journals of articles written by an international team reporting IGE from 178m2Hf, around 2003 IDA took testimony, again from relevant scientists on matters of the credibility of reported results. Professor Carl Collins, the lead U.S. member of the team publishing the successes, did not testify. Around 2003, DARPA initiated exploratory research termed stimulated isomer energy release (SIER) and public interest was aroused, at both popular levels and at professional levels. The first focus of SIER was whether significant amounts of 178m2Hf could be produced at acceptable costs for possible applications. A closed panel called HIPP was charged with the task and concluded that it could. However, a scientist on that confidential DARPA HIPP review panel "leaked" prejudicial but preliminary concerns to the press. This unsubstantiated assertion set into motion the subsequent cascade of inaccurate reports about the so-called "outrageous costs" of isomer triggering. Having satisfied the charge to the


id: burkhard-heim-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burkhard_Heim-0.md
category: reference
title: Burkhard Heim
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burkhard_Heim
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:25.630756+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: burkhard-heim-20260505-0
summary:
Burkhard Heim (German: [haɪm]; 9 February 1925 – 14 January 2001) was a German theoretical physicist known for proposing a unified field theory called Heim theory, which he claimed could have applications to the development of hyperspace travel. == Academic and work history == === 1940s === In 1943, Heim met Werner Heisenberg, a German physicist involved in atom bomb research, and told him of his plan to use a form of chemical implosion to facilitate an atomic explosion. This design was based on an idea he developed for a 'clean' hydrogen bomb when he was 18. Heisenberg was impressed by Heim's knowledge, but thought the approach would be impractical. At the start of World War II, Heim avoided conscription into the German Air Force by working in a chemical laboratory as an explosives technician. When he was 19, an explosion in the laboratory caused by the mishandling of unstable compounds left him without hands and mostly deaf and blind. Heim underwent the Krukenberg Procedure after the accident. After World War II, Heim registered to study physics at the University of Göttingen. === 1950s === In 1952, during the third congressional session of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) in Stuttgart,


id: burkhard-heim-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burkhard_Heim-1.md
category: reference
title: Burkhard Heim
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burkhard_Heim
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:25.630756+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: burkhard-heim-20260505-0
summary:
=== 2000s === Heim died in Northeim in 2001 at age 75. In 2004, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) awarded the winning paper in the nuclear and future flight field to a retired Austrian patent officer named Walter Dröscher and Jochem Häuser, a physicist and professor of computer science at the University of Applied Sciences in Salzgitter, Germany. They turned the theoretical framework of Burkhard Heim into a proposal for an experimental test for a propulsion device that is thought to theoretically be able to travel at rates faster than the speed of light. Hans Theodor Auerbach, a theoretical physicist and colleague of Heim has stated that, "As far as I understand it, Heim theory is ingenious," and, "I think that physics will take this direction in the future". In 2008, the AIAA Nuclear and Future Flight Propulsion Technical Committee published the following statement: Much research was conducted this year on the investigation of the experimental basis of the existence of gravity-like fields that cannot be described by conventional gravitation; that is, by the accumulation of mass. Investigations emphasized a geometrized approach termed Extended Heim Theory, which extends Einstein's idea of geometrization of physics by employing the


id: magnetospheric-eternally-collapsing-object-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetospheric_eternally_collapsing_object-0.md
category: reference
title: Magnetospheric eternally collapsing object
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetospheric_eternally_collapsing_object
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:27.991052+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: magnetospheric-eternally-collapsing-object-20260505-0
summary:
The magnetospheric eternally collapsing object (MECO) is an alternative model for black holes initially proposed by Indian scientist Abhas Mitra in 1998 and later generalized by American researchers Darryl J. Leiter and Stanley L. Robertson. A proposed observable difference between MECOs and black holes is that a MECO can produce its own intrinsic magnetic field. An uncharged black hole cannot produce its own magnetic field, though its accretion disk can. == Theoretical model == In the theoretical model a MECO begins to form in much the same way as a black hole, with a large amount of matter collapsing inward toward a single point. However, as it becomes smaller and denser, a MECO does not form an event horizon. As the matter becomes denser and hotter, it glows more brightly. Eventually its interior approaches the Eddington limit. At this point the internal radiation pressure is sufficient to slow the inward collapse almost to a standstill. In fact, the collapse gets slower and slower, so a singularity could only form in an infinite future. Unlike a black hole, the MECO never fully collapses. Rather, according to the model it slows down and enters an eternal collapse. Mitra provides a review of


id: matter-wave-clock-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matter_wave_clock-0.md
category: reference
title: Matter wave clock
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matter_wave_clock
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:29.191387+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: matter-wave-clock-20260505-0
summary:
A matter wave clock is a type of clock whose principle of operation makes use of the apparent wavelike properties of matter. Matter waves were first proposed by Louis de Broglie and are sometimes called de Broglie waves. They form a key aspect of wave–particle duality and experiments have since supported the idea. The wave associated with a particle of a given mass, such as an atom, has a defined frequency, and a change in the duration of one cycle from peak to peak that is sometimes called its Compton periodicity. Such a matter wave has the characteristics of a simple clock, in that it marks out fixed and equal intervals of time. The twins paradox arising from Albert Einstein's theory of relativity means that a moving particle will have a slightly different period from a stationary particle. Comparing two such particles allows the construction of a practical "Compton clock". == Matter waves as clocks == De Broglie proposed that the frequency f of a matter wave equals E/h, where E is the total energy of the particle and h is the Planck constant. For a particle at rest, the relativistic equation E=mc2 allows the derivation of the Compton frequency


id: newman-s-energy-machine-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newman's_energy_machine-0.md
category: reference
title: Newman's energy machine
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newman's_energy_machine
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:30.364951+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: newman-s-energy-machine-20260505-0
summary:
Newman's Energy Machine was a DC motor which the inventor, Joseph Newman, claimed to produce mechanical power exceeding the electrical power being supplied to it. In 1979, Newman attempted to patent the device, but it was rejected by the United States Patent Office as being a perpetual motion machine. When the rejection was later appealed, the United States district court requested that Newman's machine be tested by the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). The NBS concluded in June 1986 that output power was not greater than the input. Thus, the patent was again denied. The scientific community has rejected Newman's ideas about electricity and magnetism as pseudoscientific and his claims as false. == Claims by the inventor == By adding rolls to the armature of a motor, a larger and larger counter-electromotive force is generated on the motor. Newman outlined his claims about there being a fundamental electromagnetic interaction in all matter ultimately derived from only one type of force particle propagating at the speed of light. Newman claims that the motor derives its power by converting some of the mass of the copper in the coils into usable energy, in application of Einstein's mass–energy equivalence. According to proponents of


id: non-standard-cosmology-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-standard_cosmology-0.md
category: reference
title: Non-standard cosmology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-standard_cosmology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:31.530653+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: non-standard-cosmology-20260505-0
summary:
A non-standard cosmology is any physical cosmological model of the universe that was, or still is, proposed as an alternative to the then-current standard model of cosmology. The term non-standard is applied to any theory that does not conform to the scientific consensus. Because the term depends on the prevailing consensus, the meaning of the term changes over time. For example, hot dark matter would not have been considered non-standard in 1990, but would have been in 2010. Conversely, a non-zero cosmological constant resulting in an accelerating universe would have been considered non-standard in 1990, but is part of the standard cosmology in 2010. Several major cosmological disputes have occurred throughout the history of cosmology. One of the earliest was the Copernican Revolution, which established the heliocentric model of the Solar System. More recent was the Great Debate of 1920, in the aftermath of which the Milky Way's status as but one of the Universe's many galaxies was established. From the 1940s to the 1960s, the astrophysical community was equally divided between supporters of the Big Bang theory and supporters of a rival steady state universe; this is currently decided in favour of the Big Bang theory by advances in


id: non-standard-cosmology-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-standard_cosmology-1.md
category: reference
title: Non-standard cosmology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-standard_cosmology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:31.530653+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: non-standard-cosmology-20260505-0
summary:
Scepticism about the non-standard cosmologies' ability to explain the CMB caused interest in the subject to wane since then, however, there have been two periods in which interest in non-standard cosmology has increased due to observational data which posed difficulties for the Big Bang. The first occurred in the late 1970s when there were a number of unsolved problems, such as the horizon problem, the flatness problem, and the lack of magnetic monopoles, which challenged the Big Bang model. These issues were eventually resolved by cosmic inflation in the 1980s. This idea subsequently became part of the understanding of the Big Bang, although alternatives have been proposed from time to time. The second occurred in the mid-1990s when observations of the ages of globular clusters and the primordial helium abundance, apparently disagreed with the Big Bang. However, by the late 1990s, most astronomers had concluded that these observations did not challenge the big bang and additional data from COBE and the WMAP, provided detailed quantitative measures which were consistent with standard cosmology. Today, heterodox non-standard cosmologies are generally considered unworthy of consideration by cosmologists while many of the historically significant nonstandard cosmologies are considered to have been falsified. The essentials


id: non-standard-cosmology-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-standard_cosmology-2.md
category: reference
title: Non-standard cosmology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-standard_cosmology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:31.530653+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: non-standard-cosmology-20260505-0
summary:
The Steady State theory extends the homogeneity assumption of the cosmological principle to reflect a homogeneity in time as well as in space. This "perfect cosmological principle" as it would come to be called asserted that the universe looks the same everywhere (on the large scale), the same as it always has and always will. This is in contrast to Lambda-CDM, in which the universe looked very different in the past and will look very different in the future. Steady State theory was proposed in 1948 by Fred Hoyle, Thomas Gold, Hermann Bondi and others. In order to maintain the perfect cosmological principle in an expanding universe, steady state cosmology had to posit a "matter-creation field" (the so-called C-field) that would insert matter into the universe in order to maintain a constant density. The debate between the Big Bang and the Steady State models would happen for 15 years with camps roughly evenly divided until the discovery of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. This radiation is a natural feature of the Big Bang model which demands a "time of last scattering" where photons decouple with baryonic matter. The Steady State model proposed that this radiation could be accounted for


id: non-standard-cosmology-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-standard_cosmology-3.md
category: reference
title: Non-standard cosmology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-standard_cosmology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:31.530653+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: non-standard-cosmology-20260505-0
summary:
In Lambda-CDM, dark energy is an unknown form of energy that tends to accelerate the expansion of the universe. It is less well-understood than dark matter, and similarly mysterious. The simplest explanation of dark energy is the cosmological constant (the 'Lambda' in Lambda-CDM). This is a simple constant added to the Einstein field equations to provide a repulsive force. Thus far observations are fully consistent with the cosmological constant, but leave room for a plethora of alternatives, e.g.: Quintessence, which is a scalar field similar to the one that drove cosmic inflation shortly after the Big Bang. In quintessence, dark energy will usually vary over time (as opposed to the cosmological constant, which remains a constant). Inhomogeneous cosmology. One of the fundamental assumptions of Lambda-CDM is that the universe is homogeneous – that is, it looks broadly the same regardless of where the observer is. In the inhomogeneous universe scenario, the observed dark energy is a measurement artefact caused by us being located at an emptier-than-average region of space. Variable dark energy, which is similar to quintessence in that the properties of dark energy vary over time (see figure), but different in that dark energy is not due to a


id: non-standard-cosmology-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-standard_cosmology-4.md
category: reference
title: Non-standard cosmology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-standard_cosmology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:31.530653+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: non-standard-cosmology-20260505-0
summary:
=== Other alternatives === Kaluza–Klein theory, which posits an extra spatial dimension, thereby making our universe 5D instead of the 4D of General Relativity. The DGP model is one of the models in this category, claimed to be able to explain dark energy without invoking a cosmological constant. Entropic gravity, which describes gravity as an entropic force with macro-scale homogeneity but which is subject to quantum-level disorder. The theory claims to be able to remove the need for dark matter, as well as provide a natural explanation for dark energy. The GRSI model modifies General Relativity by adding self-interaction terms similar to those in quantum chromodynamics, leading to an effect similar to quark confinement in gravity. It is claimed to be able to explain observations without needing dark matter or dark energy. Shockwave cosmology, proposed by Joel Smoller and Blake Temple in 2003, has the "big bang" as an explosion inside a black hole, producing the expanding volume of space and matter that includes the observable universe. This black hole eventually becomes a white hole as the matter density reduces with the expansion. A related theory proposes that the acceleration of the expansion of the observable universe, normally attributed to


id: patterson-power-cell-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterson_power_cell-0.md
category: reference
title: Patterson power cell
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterson_power_cell
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:32.670231+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: patterson-power-cell-20260505-0
summary:
The Patterson power cell is a cold fusion device invented by chemist James A. Patterson, which he claimed created 200 times more energy than it used. Patterson claimed the device neutralized radioactivity without emitting any harmful radiation. Cold fusion was the subject of an intense scientific controversy in 1989, before being discredited in the eyes of mainstream science. Physicist Robert L. Park describes the device as fringe science in his book Voodoo Science. == Company formed == In 1995, Clean Energy Technologies Inc. was formed to produce and promote the power cell. == Claims and observations == Patterson variously said it produced a hundred or two hundred times more power than it used. Representatives promoting the device at the Power-Gen '95 Conference said that an input of 1 watt would generate more than 1,000 watts of excess heat (waste heat). This supposedly happened as hydrogen or deuterium nuclei fuse together to produce heat through a form of low energy nuclear reaction. The by-products of nuclear fusion, e.g. a tritium nucleus and a proton or an 3He nucleus and a neutron, were not detected in any reliable way, leading experts to think that no such fusion was taking place. It was


id: plasma-cosmology-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_cosmology-0.md
category: reference
title: Plasma cosmology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_cosmology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:34.996998+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: plasma-cosmology-20260505-0
summary:
Plasma cosmology is a non-standard cosmology whose central postulate is that the dynamics of ionized gases and plasmas play important, if not dominant, roles in the physics of the universe at interstellar and intergalactic scales. In contrast, the current observations and models of cosmologists and astrophysicists explain the formation, development, and evolution of large-scale structures as dominated by gravity (including its formulation in Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity). The original form of the theory, Alfvén–Klein cosmology, was developed by Hannes Alfvén and Oskar Klein in the 1960s and 1970s, and holds that matter and antimatter exist in equal quantities at very large scales, that the universe is eternal rather than bounded in time by the Big Bang, and that the expansion of the observable universe is caused by annihilation between matter and antimatter rather than a mechanism like cosmic inflation. Cosmologists and astrophysicists who have evaluated plasma cosmology reject it because it does not match the observations of astrophysical phenomena as well as the currently accepted Big Bang model. Very few papers supporting plasma cosmology have appeared in the literature since the mid-1990s. The term plasma universe is sometimes used as a synonym for plasma cosmology, as an alternative


id: plasma-cosmology-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_cosmology-1.md
category: reference
title: Plasma cosmology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_cosmology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:34.996998+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: plasma-cosmology-20260505-0
summary:
== Plasma cosmology and the study of galaxies == Hannes Alfvén from the 1960s to 1980s argued that plasma played an important if not dominant role in the universe. He argued that electromagnetic forces are far more important than gravity when acting on interplanetary and interstellar charged particles. He further hypothesized that they might promote the contraction of interstellar clouds and may even constitute the main mechanism for contraction, initiating star formation. The current standard view is that magnetic fields can hinder collapse, that large-scale Birkeland currents have not been observed, and that the length scale for charge neutrality is predicted to be far smaller than the relevant cosmological scales. In the 1980s and 1990s, Alfvén and Anthony Peratt, a plasma physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, outlined a program they called the "plasma universe". In plasma universe proposals, various plasma physics phenomena were associated with astrophysical observations and were used to explain contemporary mysteries and problems outstanding in astrophysics in the 1980s and 1990s. In various venues, Peratt profiled what he characterized as an alternative viewpoint to the mainstream models applied in astrophysics and cosmology. For example, Peratt proposed that the mainstream approach to galactic dynamics which relied on


id: plasma-cosmology-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_cosmology-2.md
category: reference
title: Plasma cosmology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_cosmology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:34.996998+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: plasma-cosmology-20260505-0
summary:
== Further reading == Alfvén, Hannes: "Cosmic Plasma" (Reidel, 1981) ISBN 90-277-1151-8 Alfvén, Hannes (1983). "On hierarchical cosmology". Astrophysics and Space Science. 89 (2): 313–324. Bibcode:1983Ap&SS..89..313A. doi:10.1007/bf00655984. S2CID 122396373. "Cosmology in the plasma universe", Laser and Particle Beams (ISSN 0263-0346), vol. 6, August 1988, pp. 389–398 Full text "Model of the plasma universe", IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science (ISSN 0093-3813), vol. PS-14, December 1986, pp. 629–638 Full text (PDF) "The Plasma Universe", Physics Today (ISSN 0031-9228), vol. 39, issue 9, September 1986, pp. 22 – 27 Peratt, Anthony: "Physics of the Plasma Universe", (Springer, 1992) ISBN 0-387-97575-6 "Simulating spiral galaxies", Sky and Telescope (ISSN 0037-6604), vol. 68, August 1984, pp. 118–122 "Are Black Holes Necessary?", Sky and Telescope (ISSN 0037-6604), vol. 66, July 1983, pp. 19–22 "Evolution of the plasma universe. I – Double radio galaxies, quasars, and extragalactic jets", IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science (ISSN 0093-3813), vol. PS-14, December 1986, pp. 639–660 Full text (PDF) "Evolution of the plasma universe. II – The formation of systems of galaxies", IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science (ISSN 0093-3813), vol. PS-14, December 1986, pp. 763–778 Full text (PDF) "The role of particle beams and electrical currents in the plasma universe", Laser and Particle


id: polarizable-vacuum-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarizable_vacuum-0.md
category: reference
title: Polarizable vacuum
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarizable_vacuum
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:36.168432+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: polarizable-vacuum-20260505-0
summary:
In theoretical physics, particularly fringe physics, polarizable vacuum (PV) and its associated theory refer to proposals by Harold Puthoff, Robert H. Dicke, and others to develop an analog of general relativity to describe gravity and its relationship to electromagnetism. == Description == In essence, Dicke and Puthoff proposed that the presence of mass alters the electric permittivity and the magnetic permeability of flat spacetime, εo and μo respectively by multiplying them by a scalar function, K: ε 0 → ε = K ε 0 ; μ 0 → μ = K μ 0 {\displaystyle \varepsilon _{0}\to \varepsilon =K\varepsilon _{0}\;;\;\mu _{0}\to \mu =K\mu _{0}} arguing that this will affect the lengths of rulers made of ordinary matter so that in the presence of a gravitational field, the spacetime metric of Minkowski spacetime is replaced by d s 2 = − 1 κ 2 d t 2 + κ 2 ( d x 2 + d y 2 + d z 2 ) {\displaystyle ds^{2}=-{\frac {1}{\kappa ^{2}}}dt^{2}+\kappa ^{2}\,(dx^{2}+dy^{2}+dz^{2})} where κ 2 = K {\displaystyle \kappa ^{2}=K} is the so-called "dielectric constant of the vacuum". This is a "diagonal" metric given in terms of a Cartesian chart and having the same stratified conformally


id: polarizable-vacuum-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarizable_vacuum-1.md
category: reference
title: Polarizable vacuum
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarizable_vacuum
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:36.168432+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: polarizable-vacuum-20260505-0
summary:
A proposal in 1921 by H. A. Wilson to reduce gravitation to electromagnetism by pursuing the formal analogy between "light bending" in metric theories of gravitation and propagation of light through an optical medium having a spatially varying refractive index. Wilson's approach to a unified field theory is not considered viable today. An attempt (roughly 1960–1970) by Robert Dicke and Fernando de Felice to resurrect and improve Wilson's idea of an optical analog of gravitational effects. If interpreted conservatively as an attempt to provide an alternative approach to GTR rather than as a work toward a theory unifying electromagnetism and gravitation, this approach is not unreasonable, although most likely of rather limited utility. The 1967 proposal of Andrei Sakharov that gravitation might arise from underlying quantum field theory effects in a manner somewhat analogous to the way that the (simple) classical theory of elasticity arises from (complicated) particle physics. This work is generally regarded as mainstream and not entirely implausible but highly speculative, and most physicists seem to feel that little progress has been made. In a series of papers, Bernard Haisch and Alfonso Rueda have proposed that the inertia of massive objects arises as a "electromagnetic reaction force", due


id: stochastic-electrodynamics-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stochastic_electrodynamics-0.md
category: reference
title: Stochastic electrodynamics
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stochastic_electrodynamics
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:38.598138+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: stochastic-electrodynamics-20260505-0
summary:
Stochastic electrodynamics (SED) extends classical electrodynamics (CED) of theoretical physics by adding the hypothesis of a classical Lorentz invariant radiation field having statistical properties similar to that of the electromagnetic zero-point field (ZPF) of quantum electrodynamics (QED). == Key ingredients == Stochastic electrodynamics combines two conventional classical ideas – electromagnetism derived from point charges obeying Maxwell's equations and particle motion driven by Lorentz forces – with one unconventional hypothesis: the classical field has radiation even at T=0. This zero-point radiation is inferred from observations of the (macroscopic) Casimir effect forces at low temperatures. As temperature approaches zero, experimental measurements of the force between two uncharged, conducting plates in a vacuum do not go to zero as classical electrodynamics would predict. Taking this result as evidence of classical zero-point radiation leads to the stochastic electrodynamics model. == History == Stochastic electrodynamics is a term for a collection of research efforts of many different styles based on the hypothesis that there exists a Lorentz invariant random electromagnetic radiation. The work of Marshall (1963) and Timothy Boyer, on stochastic electrodynamics can be viewed building spontaneous emission into a semiclassical theory. Timothy Boyer, author of many papers in the field, has noted that some


id: tired-light-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tired_light-0.md
category: reference
title: Tired light
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tired_light
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:39.812858+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: tired-light-20260505-0
summary:
Tired light is a class of hypothetical redshift mechanisms that was proposed as an alternative explanation for the redshift-distance relationship. These models have been proposed as alternatives to the models that involve the expansion of the universe. The concept was first proposed in 1929 by Fritz Zwicky, who suggested that if photons lost energy over time through collisions with other particles in a regular way, the more distant objects would appear redder than more nearby ones. Zwicky acknowledged that any sort of scattering of light would blur the images of distant objects more than what is seen. Additionally, the surface brightness of galaxies evolving with time, time dilation of cosmological sources, and a thermal spectrum of the cosmic microwave background have been observed—these effects should not be present if the cosmological redshift was due to any tired light scattering mechanism. Despite periodic re-examination of the concept, tired light has not been supported by observational tests and remains a fringe topic in astrophysics. == History and reception == Tired light was an idea that came about due to the observation made by Edwin Hubble that distant galaxies have redshifts proportional to their distance. Redshift is a shift in the spectrum of


id: tired-light-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tired_light-1.md
category: reference
title: Tired light
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tired_light
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:39.812858+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: tired-light-20260505-0
summary:
By the 1990s and on into the twenty-first century, a number of falsifying observations have shown that "tired light" hypotheses are not viable explanations for cosmological redshifts. For example, in a static universe with tired light mechanisms, the surface brightness of stars and galaxies should be constant, that is, the farther an object is, the less light we receive, but its apparent area diminishes as well, so the light received divided by the apparent area should be constant. In an expanding universe, the surface brightness diminishes with distance. As the observed object recedes, photons are emitted at a reduced rate because each photon has to travel a distance that is a little longer than the previous one, while its energy is reduced a little because of increasing redshift at a larger distance. On the other hand, in an expanding universe, the object appears to be larger than it really is, because it was closer to us when the photons started their travel. This causes a difference in surface brilliance of objects between a static and an expanding Universe. This is known as the Tolman surface brightness test that in those studies favors the expanding universe hypothesis and rules out static


id: tired-light-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tired_light-2.md
category: reference
title: Tired light
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tired_light
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:39.812858+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: tired-light-20260505-0
summary:
both incline to the opinion, however, that if the red-shift is not due to recessional motion, its explanation will probably involve some quite new physical principles [... and] use of a static Einstein model of the universe, combined with the assumption that the photons emitted by a nebula lose energy on their journey to the observer by some unknown effect, which is linear with distance, and which leads to a decrease in frequency, without appreciable transverse deflection. These conditions became almost impossible to meet and the overall success of general relativistic explanations for the redshift-distance relation is one of the core reasons that the Big Bang model of the universe remains the cosmology preferred by researchers. In the early 1950s, Erwin Finlay-Freundlich proposed a redshift as "the result of loss of energy by observed photons traversing a radiation field". which was cited and argued for as an explanation for the redshift-distance relation in a 1962 astrophysics theory Nature paper by University of Manchester physics professor P. F. Browne. The pre-eminent cosmologist Ralph Asher Alpher wrote a letter to Nature three months later in response to this suggestion heavily criticizing the approach, "No generally accepted physical mechanism has been proposed for


id: tractor-beam-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractor_beam-0.md
category: reference
title: Tractor beam
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractor_beam
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:40.984289+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: tractor-beam-20260505-0
summary:
A tractor beam is a device that can attract one object to another from a distance. The concept originates in fiction: The term was coined by E. E. Smith (an update of his earlier "attractor beam") in his novel Spacehounds of IPC (1931). Since the 1990s, technology and research have labored to make it a reality, and have had some success on a microscopic level. Less commonly, a similar beam that repels is known as a pressor beam or repulsor beam. Gravity impulse and gravity propulsion beams are traditionally areas of research from fringe physics that coincide with the concepts of tractor and repulsor beams; tractor beams developed by mainstream researchers and engineers are generally not based on gravity, and practical designs typically use electromagnetism and/or motion of a medium. == Physics == A force field confined to a collimated beam with clean borders is one of the principal characteristics of tractor and repulsor beams. Several theories have predicted that repulsive effects do not fall within the category of tractor and repulsor beams because of the absence of field collimation. For example, Robert L. Forward of Hughes Research Laboratories showed that general relativity theory allowed the generation of a very


id: tractor-beam-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractor_beam-1.md
category: reference
title: Tractor beam
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractor_beam
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:40.984289+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: tractor-beam-20260505-0
summary:
=== 2010s === A team of scientists at the Australian National University (ANU) led by Professor Andrei Rode created a device similar to a tractor beam to move small particles 1.5 meters through the air. Rather than create a new gravitational field, however, the device utilizes a doughnut-shaped Laguerre-Gaussian laser beam, which has a high-intensity ring of light that surrounds a dark core along the beam axis. This method confines particles to the center of the beam using photophoresis, whereby illuminated sections of the particle have a higher temperature and thus impart more momentum to air molecules incident on the surface. Owing to this method, such a device cannot work in space due to lack of air. Rode states that there are practical applications for the device on Earth, for example, the transportation of microscopic hazardous materials and other microscopic objects. John Sinko and Clifford Schlecht researched a form of reversed-thrust laser propulsion as a macroscopic laser tractor beam. Intended applications include remotely manipulating space objects at distances up to about 100 km, removal of space debris, and retrieval of adrift astronauts or tools on-orbit. Functioning tractor beams based on solenoidal modes of light were demonstrated in 2010 by physicists


id: tractor-beam-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractor_beam-2.md
category: reference
title: Tractor beam
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractor_beam
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:40.984289+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: tractor-beam-20260505-0
summary:
As a device for securing or retrieving cargo, passengers, shuttlecraft, etc. This is analogous to cranes on modern ships. As a device to harness objects that can then be used as impromptu weapons by the craft As a means of preventing an enemy from escaping, analogous to grappling hooks. In the latter case, countermeasures can usually be employed against tractor beams. These may include pressor beams (a stronger pressor beam will counteract a weaker tractor beam) or plane shears a.k.a. shearing planes (a device to "cut" the tractor beam and render it ineffective). In some fictional realities, shields can block tractor beams, or the generators can be disabled by sending a large amount of energy along the beam to its source. Tractor beams and pressor beams can be used together as a weapon: by attracting one side of an enemy spaceship while repelling the other, one can create severely damaging shear effects in its hull. Another mode of destructive use of such beams is rapid alternating between pressing and pulling force in order to cause structural damage to the ship as well as inflicting lethal forces on its crew. Two objects being brought together by a tractor beam are usually


id: u-bit-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-bit-0.md
category: reference
title: U-bit
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-bit
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:42.132361+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: u-bit-20260505-0
summary:
In quantum mechanics, the u-bit or ubit is a proposed theoretical entity which arises in attempts to reformulate wave functions using only real numbers instead of the complex numbers conventionally used. == Description == In order to discover the real probability of a given quantum event occurring, the conventional calculation carries out an operation, analogous to squaring, on an associated set of complex numbers. A complex number involves the use of the square root of minus one, a number which is described as "imaginary" in contrast to the familiar "real" numbers used for counting and describing real physical objects. Because the computed result is required to be a real number, information is lost in the computation. This situation is regarded as unsatisfactory by some researchers, who seek an alternative formulation which does not involve the square root of minus one. Bill Wootters, of Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, and colleagues have derived such a model. This model requires the presence of a universal entity which is quantum-entangled with every quantum wave and which he calls the u-bit. Mathematically the u-bit may be represented as a vector rotating in a real two-dimensional plane. It has no known physical representation in the real


id: unparticle-physics-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unparticle_physics-0.md
category: reference
title: Unparticle physics
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unparticle_physics
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:43.275644+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: unparticle-physics-20260505-0
summary:
In theoretical physics, unparticle physics is a speculative theory that conjectures a form of matter that cannot be explained in terms of particles using the Standard Model of particle physics, because its components are scale invariant. Howard Georgi proposed this theory in two 2007 papers, "Unparticle Physics" and "Another Odd Thing About Unparticle Physics". His papers were followed by further work by other researchers into the properties and phenomenology of unparticle physics and its potential impact on particle physics, astrophysics, cosmology, CP violation, lepton flavour violation, muon decay, neutrino oscillations, and supersymmetry. == Background == All particles exist in states that may be characterized by a certain energy, momentum and mass. In most of the Standard Model of particle physics, particles of the same type cannot exist in another state with all these properties scaled up or down by a common factor –electrons, for example, always have the same mass regardless of their energy or momentum. But this is not always the case: massless particles, such as photons, can exist with their properties scaled equally. This immunity to scaling is called "scale invariance". The idea of unparticles comes from conjecturing that there may be "stuff" that does not necessarily have


id: voodoo-science-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voodoo_Science-0.md
category: reference
title: Voodoo Science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voodoo_Science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:44.488242+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: voodoo-science-20260505-0
summary:
Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud is a book published in 2000 by physics professor Robert L. Park, critical of research that falls short of adhering to the scientific method. Other people have used the term "voodoo science", but amongst academics it is most closely associated with Park. The book is critical of, among other things, homeopathy, cold fusion and the International Space Station. == Categories == Park uses the term voodoo science (see the quote section below, Page 10) as covering four categories which evolve from self-delusion to fraud: pathological science, wherein genuine scientists deceive themselves junk science, speculative theorizing which bamboozles rather than enlightens pseudoscience proper, work falsely claiming to have a scientific basis, which may be dependent on supernatural explanations fraudulent science, exploiting bad science for the purposes of fraud Park criticizes junk science as the creature of "scientists, many of whom have impressive credentials, who craft arguments deliberately intended to deceive or confuse." == Examples cited == Perpetual motion, free energy suppression and fringe physics claims Robert Fludd Garabed T. K. Giragossian The Energy Machine of Joseph Newman Better World Technologies (Dennis Lee) Blacklight Power, formerly HydroCatalysis (Randell Mills) Cold fusion (Stanley Pons and


id: voodoo-science-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voodoo_Science-1.md
category: reference
title: Voodoo Science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voodoo_Science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:44.488242+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: voodoo-science-20260505-0
summary:
== Reception == Matt Nisbet in the Skeptical Inquirer noted that the reaction to Voodoo Science has been mostly favorable. Bob Goldstein in a book review for Nature Cell Biology described Park as an equivalent to Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould, scientific writers who have "talent for defending a view of the world that is perfectly rational and free of witchcraft and superstition." American chemist Nicholas Turro wrote "the book is entertaining and provocative reading... Whether or not you agree with Park's take on voodoo science, a message of the book is that if scientists do not take a more significant role in the way that science is disseminated to the public and especially to politicians, voodoo science will continue to survive." The mathematician Malcolm Sherman in the American Scientist gave the book a positive review stating "Park does more than analyze and expose various kinds of bad ("voodoo") science. He demonstrates how valid science is distorted or ignored by the media and by those (including scientists) seeking to influence public policy." The physicist Kenneth R. Foster also positively reviewed the book concluding "Park is an articulate and skeptical voice of reason about science." Reviewing the book for The


id: water-fuelled-car-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water-fuelled_car-0.md
category: reference
title: Water-fuelled car
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water-fuelled_car
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:45.691110+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: water-fuelled-car-20260505-0
summary:
A water-fuelled car is an automobile that hypothetically derives its energy directly from water. Water-fuelled cars have been the subject of numerous international patents, newspaper and popular science magazine articles, local television news coverage, and websites. The claims for these devices have been found to be pseudoscience and some were found to be tied to investment frauds. These vehicles may be claimed to produce fuel from water on board with no other energy input, or may be a hybrid claiming to derive some of its energy from water in addition to a conventional source (such as gasoline). There is no way to extract chemical energy from water alone which is consistent with the laws of physics. == What water-fuelled cars are not == A water-fuelled car is not any of the following: Water injection, which is a method for cooling the combustion chambers of engines by adding water to the incoming fuel-air mixture, allowing for greater compression ratios and reduced engine knocking (detonation). The hydrogen car, although it often incorporates some of the same elements. To fuel a hydrogen car from water, electricity is used to generate hydrogen by electrolysis. The resulting hydrogen is an energy carrier that can power


id: water-fuelled-car-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water-fuelled_car-1.md
category: reference
title: Water-fuelled car
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water-fuelled_car
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:45.691110+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: water-fuelled-car-20260505-0
summary:
=== Genesis World Energy (GWE) === Also in 2002, Genesis World Energy announced a market ready device which would extract energy from water by separating the hydrogen and oxygen and then recombining them. In 2003, the company announced that this technology had been adapted to power automobiles. The company collected over $2.5 million from investors, but none of their devices were ever brought to market. In 2006, Patrick Kelly, the owner of Genesis World Energy was sentenced in New Jersey to five years in prison for theft and ordered to pay $400,000 in restitution. === Genepax Water Energy System === In June 2008, Japanese company Genepax unveiled a car it claimed ran on only water and air, and many news outlets dubbed the vehicle a "water-fuel car". The company said it "cannot [reveal] the core part of this invention" yet, but it disclosed that the system used an onboard energy generator, which it called a "membrane electrode assembly", to extract the hydrogen using a "mechanism which is similar to the method in which hydrogen is produced by a reaction of metal hydride and water". The hydrogen was then used to generate energy to run the car. This led to speculation


id: water-fuelled-car-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water-fuelled_car-2.md
category: reference
title: Water-fuelled car
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water-fuelled_car
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:45.691110+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: water-fuelled-car-20260505-0
summary:
== Hydrogen on demand technologies == A hydrogen on demand vehicle uses a chemical reaction to produce hydrogen from water. The hydrogen is then burned in an internal combustion engine or used in a fuel cell to generate electricity which powers the vehicle. These designs take energy from the chemical that reacts with water; vehicles of this type are not precluded by the laws of nature. Aluminium, magnesium, and sodium borohydride react with water to generate hydrogen and have been used in hydrogen on demand prototypes. Eventually, the chemical runs out and has to be replenished. The energy required to produce such compounds exceeds the energy obtained from their reaction with water. One example of a hydrogen on demand device, created by scientists from the University of Minnesota and the Weizmann Institute of Science, uses boron to generate hydrogen from water. An article in New Scientist in July 2006 described the power source under the headline "A fuel tank full of water," and they quote Abu-Hamed as saying: The aim is to produce the hydrogen on-board at a rate matching the demand of the car engine. We want to use the boron to save transporting and storing the hydrogen. A


id: answers-research-journal-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Answers_Research_Journal-0.md
category: reference
title: Answers Research Journal
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Answers_Research_Journal
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:47.237841+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: answers-research-journal-20260505-0
summary:
Answers Research Journal (ARJ) is an open-access creation science journal published by Answers in Genesis (AiG), a fundamentalist, Christian apologetics organization. Founded in 2008, the online journal devotes itself to research on "recent Creation and the global Flood within a biblical framework". ARJ's research is not scientifically sound and encourages readers to doubt mainstream scientific evidence. The journal, in its embrace of young Earth creationism (YEC), supports the unscientific idea of a 6,000-year-old Earth, among other claims. The journal refuses to publish research contradicting its belief system. While ARJ undergoes a peer-review process, the journal's reviewers are selected from a pool of people who only support the stances of the journal. Therefore, members of the scientific community are excluded from the review process. Most of the journal's articles are written by a small group of authors, many without academic credentials, and authors are able to publish pseudonymously. ARJ's editorial board is not disclosed. The journal has been met with negative reception by various geologists, biologists, and scientific skeptics. Andrew Snelling, a YEC geologist, serves as the journal's editor-in-chief and as the director of research at AiG. == History and overview == === Background and beliefs === Answers in Genesis (AiG)


id: answers-research-journal-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Answers_Research_Journal-1.md
category: reference
title: Answers Research Journal
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Answers_Research_Journal
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:47.237841+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: answers-research-journal-20260505-0
summary:
=== Notable articles === The inaugural article of the journal, written by Liberty University professor Alan Gillen, was titled "Microbes and the days of creation". The paper dealt with the history of microorganisms and argued that they were created by God to act as "biological systems" with plants, animals, and humans. (The topic of microbiology is not mentioned anywhere within biblical scripture.) Additionally, Gillen argued the origins of HIV goes back to the biblical Fall (i.e., when Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden). An article written by Rod J. Martin, described only as an "independent researcher", gave a creationist and denialist interpretation of climate change. According to Martin, climate change is essentially a hoax invented by "atheistic evolutionists". His thesis, incorrectly, states: "There is no reason either biblically or scientifically to fear the exaggerated and misguided claims of catastrophe as a result of increasing levels of man-made carbon dioxide (CO2)." A 2009 article proposes that God made oil shortly after creating the Earth and cites the biblical story of Noah's Ark as "evidence for his theory." In an attempt to disprove evolution, a 2013 article argued that humans and chimpanzees only shared 70% of DNA. While


id: journal-of-cosmology-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Cosmology-0.md
category: reference
title: Journal of Cosmology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Cosmology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:48.420961+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: journal-of-cosmology-20260505-0
summary:
The Journal of Cosmology is a website that describes itself as a "scientific journal". It has been criticized for lacking oversight and proper peer-review, and promoting fringe theories. It was established in 2009 by neuroscientist Rhawn Joseph; as of 2023, Rudolph Schild is the editor-in-chief. == Scope == The Journal of Cosmology is an online publication that contains material on a wide range of subjects in cosmology, astronomy, astrobiology, and Earth and planetary sciences. Writing on biology, geology, physics, chemistry, extinction, the origin and evolution of life, panspermia and Martian colonization and exploration has all been published. == Reliability == The quality of the claimed peer review has been heavily criticized. The website promotes fringe viewpoints and speculative viewpoints on astrobiology, astrophysics, and quantum physics. Skeptical blogger and biologist PZ Myers said that "it isn't a real science journal at all, but [the] website of a small group... obsessed with the idea of Hoyle and Wickramasinghe that life originated in outer space and simply rained down on Earth." It was identified as a predatory journal by Jeffrey Beall. == History == === Disputes with scientists === Scientists who have posted accounts of personal attacks by the journal's staff members include


id: journal-of-global-drug-policy-and-practice-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Global_Drug_Policy_and_Practice-0.md
category: reference
title: Journal of Global Drug Policy and Practice
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Global_Drug_Policy_and_Practice
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:49.533775+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: journal-of-global-drug-policy-and-practice-20260505-0
summary:
The Journal of Global Drug Policy and Practice describes itself as an open access peer-reviewed public health journal. Critics say it is biased, not peer-reviewed, and not a legitimate scientific journal. It is funded by the US Department of Justice. == Background == The journal is published online quarterly by the Institute on Global Drug Policy and the International Scientific and Medical Forum on Drug Abuse. These are both part of the Drug Free America Foundation, an organization that has referred to harm reduction efforts as "harm promotion", and characterized such efforts as "a tactic to normalize drug use". The stated goal of the Institute itself is as follows: The Institute is charged with creating and strengthening international laws that hold drug users and dealers criminally accountable for their actions. It will vigorously promote treaties and agreements that provide clear penalties to individuals who buy, sell or use harmful drugs... The institute supports efforts to oppose policies based on the concept of harm reduction. == Criticism == The publication has been criticized for having a political agenda to combat harm-reduction policies. It is funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention which is part of the U.S. Department


id: journal-of-historical-review-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Historical_Review-0.md
category: reference
title: Journal of Historical Review
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Historical_Review
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:50.726247+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: journal-of-historical-review-20260505-0
summary:
The Journal of Historical Review was a non-peer reviewed, pseudoacademic periodical focused on promoting Holocaust denial. It was published by the Institute for Historical Review (IHR), based in Torrance, California. It ran quarterly from 1980 until 1992, and then bimonthly from 1993 until publication ceased in 2002. == History == The journal was established in 1978 by the far-right political activist Willis Carto, derived from Carto's The American Mercury. Its first issue appeared in 1980. Its first editor was David McCalden, who then left the periodical in 1981 after a dispute with Carto. He was replaced by Tom Marcellus, who was replaced in February 1983 with Keith Stimely, until Stimely quit the IHR in February 1985. The impetus for this was his claim that Carto had, without consulting him, removed part of an article by Robert Faurisson that was critical of David Irving (both Holocaust deniers) from the Journal. In 1985, Mark Weber joined the institute's editorial advisory committee and was made editor of the journal in 1992. He was the editor from then until the journal's end. Publication was suspended for a time due to the Mel Mermelstein case, which caused the IHR great financial difficulties. It was revived


id: journal-of-parapsychology-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Parapsychology-0.md
category: reference
title: Journal of Parapsychology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Parapsychology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:51.889250+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: journal-of-parapsychology-20260505-0
summary:
The Journal of Parapsychology is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on psi phenomena, including telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and psychokinesis, as well as human consciousness in general and anomalous experiences. It was established in April 1937 by Joseph Banks Rhine while at Duke University. It is published by the Rhine Research Center, and the current editor-in-chief is Sally Ann Drucker of the same institution. The journal is abstracted and indexed in PsycINFO. It publishes research reports, theoretical discussions, book reviews, and correspondences, as well as the abstracts of papers presented at the Parapsychological Association's annual meeting. According to Anomalistic Psychology, authored by Chris French and colleagues, it is "widely recognized as the highest quality journal within the field." However, parapsychology has been criticized as a pseudoscience, and most mainstream scientists reject it. == See also == Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research Journal of Near-Death Studies Journal of Consciousness Studies Journal of Scientific Exploration Parapsychology == Further reading == Holt, Nicola; Simmonds-Moore, Christine; Luke, David; French, Christopher C. (16 September 2017). "Pseudoscience and the Scientific Status of Parapsychology". Anomalistic Psychology. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 77-93 [85ff]. ISBN 9780230364097. Gross, Richard (6 July 2017). Psychology in Historical Context: Theories


id: journal-of-social-political-and-economic-studies-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Social,_Political_and_Economic_Studies-0.md
category: reference
title: Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Social,_Political_and_Economic_Studies
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:54.169690+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: journal-of-social-political-and-economic-studies-20260505-0
summary:
The Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies was a quarterly journal published by the Council for Social and Economic Studies. It was founded in 1976 by anthropologist Roger Pearson, and was originally published by The Council of American Affairs, an American representative in the World Anti Communist League. It was published by the Council for Social and Economic Studies, of which Pearson was the president as of 1982. It had been identified as one of two international journals which regularly published articles pertaining to race and intelligence with the goal of supporting the idea that white people are inherently superior (the other such journal being Mankind Quarterly). Notable contributors to the journal include Jack Kemp, Jesse Helms, and Robert S. McNamara. In 1982, U.S. President Ronald Reagan wrote a letter to Pearson personally thanking him for the most recent issue of the Journal, which was never disavowed by the White House. The White House did, however, request that Pearson stop using the letter for the purposes of publicity. According to the journal's website, Vol. 47, Nos. 3-4 (Fall -Winter 2022) was the final issue. == References == == External links == Official website Articles at ResearchGate


id: james-lyons-weiler-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lyons-Weiler-0.md
category: reference
title: James Lyons-Weiler
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lyons-Weiler
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:57.552655+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: james-lyons-weiler-20260505-0
summary:
James Lyons-Weiler (born July 4, 1967) is an American antivaxxer activist who operates the non-profit organization Institute for Pure and Applied Knowledge. His doctorate is in ecology, evolution and conservation biology. He was a University of Pittsburgh faculty member (2003-2009) and a member of the Early Detection Research Network through the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. == History == Lyons-Weiler worked as an assistant professor and co-director of the Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at the University of Massachusetts Lowell from 2000 to 2002. He then served as faculty at the University of Pittsburgh from 2003 to 2009. == Controversies == Lyons-Weiler has been making numerous claims about COVID-19, and about vaccines in general for years. He claimed in February 2020 that a specific genetic sequence INS1378 in the SARS-CoV-2 genome was sufficiently close to pShuttle-SN - an engineered sequence - to prove that the virus was probably engineered in a laboratory. This claim was repeatedly discredited by researchers and fact-checkers. The sequences were only 67% similar and one paper demonstrated that over 100 bat coronaviruses had closer matches to INS1378 than pShuttle-SN. The even more inaccurate claim that SARS-CoV-2 contained pShuttle-SN was, however, spread widely by Infowars and


id: neuroquantology-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeuroQuantology-0.md
category: reference
title: NeuroQuantology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeuroQuantology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:58.703682+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: neuroquantology-20260505-0
summary:
NeuroQuantology is a monthly peer-reviewed interdisciplinary scientific journal meant to cover the intersection of neuroscience and quantum mechanics. It was established in April 2003 and its subject matter almost immediately dismissed in The Lancet Neurology as "wild invention" and "claptrap". According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal had a 2017 impact factor of 0.453, ranking it 253rd out of 261 journals in the category "Neuroscience". However, the journal has been delisted since the 2019 edition. The journal describes itself as focusing primarily on original reports of experimental and theoretical research. It also publishes literature reviews, methodological articles, empirical findings, book reviews, news, comments, letters to the editor, and abstracts. The founding editor-in-chief is Sultan Tarlacı, who was succeeded by Riyaz Ahmed abdul Khan. In the Norwegian Scientific Index, the journal has been listed as "Level 0" since 2008, which means that it is not considered scientific and publications in the journal therefore do not fulfill the necessary criteria in order to count for public research funding. According to Sadri Hassani, neither the editorial board nor the advisory board contain scientists working in the fields of quantum physics or neuroscience. The journal is abstracted and indexed in Embase and in


id: openpsych-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenPsych-0.md
category: reference
title: OpenPsych
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenPsych
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:14:59.883657+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: openpsych-20260505-0
summary:
OpenPsych is an online collection of three pseudoscientific open access journals covering behavioral genetics, psychology, and quantitative research in sociology. Many articles on OpenPsych promote scientific racism, and the site has been described as a "pseudoscience factory-farm". The journals were started in 2014 by a pair of nonprofessional researchers, Emil Kirkegaard and Davide Piffer, who had difficulty publishing their studies in mainstream peer-reviewed scientific journals. The website describes its contents as open peer reviewed journals, but the qualifications and neutrality of its reviewers and quality of reviews have been disputed. == Founders == OpenPsych was founded by Danish far-right white supremacist Emil Kirkegaard in 2014. Kirkegaard is also the founder of the white nationalist Human Diversity Foundation which publishes Mankind Quarterly, another pseudoscientific journal. The Mankind Quarterly was published by the Ulster Institute for Social Research, which was presided over by Richard Lynn until his death in 2023. Kirkegaard was the registrant of the Mankind Quarterly website between 2017 and February 2023, after which the WHOIS was anonymised. In February 2024, Kirkegaard filed his Mankind Publishing House LLC with the state of Wyoming under the name William Engman (his legal name since 2021). Co-founder Davide Piffer has written on remote


id: the-phrenological-journal-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phrenological_Journal-0.md
category: reference
title: The Phrenological Journal
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phrenological_Journal
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:01.052897+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: the-phrenological-journal-20260505-0
summary:
The American Phrenological Journal was a periodical in the United States devoted to the racist pseudoscience of phrenology, a collection of theories correlating skull features to personality and intelligence. The newspaper was founded in 1838 and dissolved in 1911. It was supported by the phrenologist Fowler family, who published it under the auspices of the Fowler & Wells Company. Several prominent historical figures underwent phrenological analyses by the Fowlers and the findings were published in the journal; these include abolitionist Lydia Maria Child and writer Mark Twain. == History == The American Phrenological Journal and Miscellany was founded in 1838 as a phrenological periodical, though the details of its foundation are largely unknown. It was financially and ideologically supported by the phrenologist Fowler family, including Orson Squire Fowler, Lorenzo Fowler, and Samuel R. Wells; Wells became its leading editor during the 1870s. It was published by Fowler & Wells Company, and it attributed the rise of interest in phrenology during the 1830s to Johann Spurzheim and George Combe. In its first issue, the journal explained that its purpose was support the theories underlying phrenology – a pseudoscientific and racist area of research correlating skull measurements to personality and intelligence –


id: physics-essays-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics_Essays-0.md
category: reference
title: Physics Essays
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics_Essays
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:02.210657+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: physics-essays-20260505-0
summary:
Physics Essays is a quarterly journal supposedly covering theoretical and experimental physics. It was established in 1988 and the editor-in-chief is Emilio Panarella. The journal has a reputation for being a "free forum where extravagant views on physics (in particular, those involving parapsychology) are welcome". The journal has been accused of charging authors for publication without disclosing the fees up front. In the 1990s, the journal was published by University of Toronto Press. Beginning in 2009, and for some period of time, the journal was affiliated with the American Institute of Physics, which managed subscriptions. In 2003, the journal published a paper describing Randell Mills' hydrino theory, which is at odds with quantum mechanics and widely rejected by physicists. In 2004, the journal published a paper claiming proof that the usual mathematical expression of mass-energy equivalence was not valid in general, a claim the author said was being ignored by the wider scientific community. In 2017, the journal published an article from an amateur physicist who claimed to redefine the elementary charge and eliminate the fine structure constant, directly in contradiction to mainstream physics. == Abstracting and indexing == The journal is indexed and abstracted in the following bibliographic databases:


id: the-zoist-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Zoist-0.md
category: reference
title: The Zoist
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Zoist
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:03.376372+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: the-zoist-20260505-0
summary:
The Zoist: A Journal of Cerebral Physiology & Mesmerism, and Their Applications to Human Welfare was a British journal, devoted to the promotion of the theories and practices (and the collection and dissemination of reports of the applications) of the pseudoscientific concepts of mesmerism and phrenology, and the enterprise of "connecting and harmonizing practical science with little understood laws governing the mental structure of man". With its name derived from the Greek word Zoe (ζωή) meaning "life". The Zoist was published quarterly, without a break, for fifteen years: from April 1843 until January 1856. Edited by John Elliotson, the founder, and former president of the London Phrenological Society, who had been expelled from the University College Hospital in 1838 for his mesmeric practices, and William Collins Engledue, a former President of the British Phrenological Association, who was ostracized by both his medical colleagues for his dedication to mesmerism and phrenology, and by the majority of phrenologists for his rejection of their "socio-religious", spiritual position, in favour of a scientific, materialist, brain-centred position that, in effect, reduced mental operations to physical forces. "The Zoist was a materialist journal; it repudiated metaphysics and argued that everything—including human thinking—could be explained through the


id: the-zoist-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Zoist-1.md
category: reference
title: The Zoist
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Zoist
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:03.376372+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: the-zoist-20260505-0
summary:
(1) Mesmeric Analgesia: although The Zoist would become the major vehicle for the (post-1846) reports of James Esdaile's work in India, it completely ignored the extensive (early 1842) work reported by Braid in his Neurypnology (1843, p. 253). Elliotson had already published his Numerous Cases of Surgical Operations without Pain in early 1843. (2) Phreno-mesmerism (a.k.a. phreno-magnetism) and hemicerebral mesmerism (the mesmerization of each hemisphere of the brain separately). (3) "Reichenbach phenomena" and other matters. (4) Electro-biology and related matters. (5) Alleged instances of extra-sensory perception (ESP) occurring in a mesmeric context. According to the medical historian George Rosen (1946, p. 535): In accordance with its avowed purpose, the Zoist presented articles on phrenology and mesmerism. Many papers were contributed by Elliotson who was a constant writer in the journal. The purpose of these communications was essentially propagandistic. For the most part they comprised reports on patients treated with mesmerism, testimonials and endorsements from physicians and satisfied patients, and polemics with opponents of mesmerism.In addition, the Zoist also concerned itself with social problems, such as housing, crime, and education.The views expressed on these questions were based generally on phrenological theory; and it is worthy of note that these views were


id: the-zoist-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Zoist-2.md
category: reference
title: The Zoist
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Zoist
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:03.376372+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: the-zoist-20260505-0
summary:
"Given under my hand this 4th day of February, 1851." In response to a query from "A Patient", the editors of The Zoist, whilst assuring the enquirer that "we feel as much as he does the difficulty of procuring good mesmerisers", proceeded to set down a set of positive and negative selection criteria: "Choice of a Mesmeriser". Yet another poem, this time from Mrs Maria Abdy, widow of the late Rev. John Channing Abdy, M.A., of St. John's, Southwark: "The Mesmerist". == The end of The Zoist == In a parting address to their journal's readers and subscribers written on 31 December 1855, the editors of The Zoist reminded their readers that they had sought "neither pecuniary gain nor worldly reputation", and had willingly undertaken the enterprise despite the fact that "loss was nearly certain", and that "contempt, ridicule, virulent abuse, and serious injury, were all inevitable". Yet, they assured their readers, "the object for which The Zoist was undertaken"—namely, "the establishment of truths, splendid, exquisite, extensive in their bearings, and of the highest importance to the moral and corporeal well-being of mankind"—had been attained; and that it was their hope that it would "be regarded as a complete work


id: pseudoscience-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience-0.md
category: reference
title: Pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:04.927984+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be scientific or factual but are inherently incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claims; reliance on confirmation bias rather than rigorous attempts at refutation; lack of openness to evaluation by other experts; absence of systematic practices when developing hypotheses; and continued adherence long after the pseudoscientific hypotheses have been experimentally discredited. It is not the same as junk science. The demarcation between science and pseudoscience has scientific, philosophical, and political implications. Philosophers debate the nature of science and the general criteria for drawing the line between scientific theories and pseudoscientific beliefs, but there is widespread agreement "that creationism, astrology, homeopathy, Kirlian photography, dowsing, ufology, ancient astronaut theory, Holocaust denialism, Velikovskian catastrophism, and climate change denialism are pseudosciences." There are implications for health care, the use of expert testimony, and weighing environmental policies. Recent empirical research has shown that individuals who indulge in pseudoscientific beliefs generally show lower evidential criteria, meaning they often require significantly less evidence before coming to conclusions. This can be coined as a 'jump-to-conclusions' bias that can increase the spread of pseudoscientific beliefs. Addressing pseudoscience is part of science


id: pseudoscience-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience-1.md
category: reference
title: Pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:04.927984+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
During the mid-20th century, the philosopher Karl Popper emphasized the criterion of falsifiability to distinguish science from non-science. Statements, hypotheses, or theories have falsifiability or refutability if there is the inherent possibility that they can be proven false, that is, if it is possible to conceive of an observation or an argument that negates them. Popper used astrology and psychoanalysis as examples of pseudoscience and Einstein's theory of relativity as an example of science. He subdivided non-science into philosophical, mathematical, mythological, religious and metaphysical formulations on one hand, and pseudoscientific formulations on the other. Another example which shows the distinct need for a claim to be falsifiable was stated in Carl Sagan's book The Demon-Haunted World when he discusses an invisible dragon that he has in his garage. The point is made that there is no physical test to refute the claim of the presence of this dragon. Whatever test one thinks can be devised, there is a reason why it does not apply to the invisible dragon, so one can never prove that the initial claim is wrong. Sagan concludes; "Now, what's the difference between an invisible, incorporeal, floating dragon who spits heatless fire and no dragon at all?".


id: pseudoscience-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience-2.md
category: reference
title: Pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:04.927984+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
=== Use of vague, exaggerated or untestable claims === Assertion of scientific claims that are vague rather than precise, and that lack specific measurements. Assertion of a claim with little or no explanatory power. Failure to make use of operational definitions (i.e., publicly accessible definitions of the variables, terms, or objects of interest so that persons other than the definer can measure or test them independently) (See also: Reproducibility). Failure to make reasonable use of the principle of parsimony, i.e., failing to seek an explanation that requires the fewest possible additional assumptions when multiple viable explanations are possible (See: Occam's razor). Lack of boundary conditions: Most well-supported scientific theories possess well-articulated limitations under which the predicted phenomena do and do not apply. Lack of effective controls in experimental design, such as the use of placebos and double-blinding. Lack of understanding of basic and established principles of physics and engineering. === Improper collection of evidence === Assertions that do not allow the logical possibility that they can be shown to be false by observation or physical experiment (See also: Falsifiability). Assertion of claims that a theory predicts something that it has not been shown to predict. Scientific claims that do not


id: pseudoscience-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience-3.md
category: reference
title: Pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:04.927984+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
=== Use of misleading language === Creating scientific-sounding terms to persuade non-experts to believe statements that may be false or meaningless: for example, a long-standing hoax refers to water by the rarely used formal name "dihydrogen monoxide" and describes it as the main constituent in most poisonous solutions to show how easily the general public can be misled. Using established terms in idiosyncratic ways, thereby demonstrating unfamiliarity with mainstream work in the discipline. == Prevalence of pseudoscientific beliefs == === Countries === The Ministry of AYUSH in the Government of India is purposed with developing education, research and propagation of indigenous alternative medicine systems in India. The ministry has faced significant criticism for funding systems that lack biological plausibility and are either untested or conclusively proven as ineffective. Quality of research has been poor, and drugs have been launched without any rigorous pharmacological studies and meaningful clinical trials on Ayurveda or other alternative healthcare systems. There is no credible efficacy or scientific basis of any of these forms of treatment. In his book The Demon-Haunted World, Carl Sagan discusses the government of China and the Chinese Communist Party's concern about Western pseudoscience developments and certain ancient Chinese practices in China.


id: pseudoscience-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience-4.md
category: reference
title: Pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:04.927984+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
== Explanations == In a 1981 report Singer and Benassi wrote that pseudoscientific beliefs have their origin from at least four sources: Common cognitive errors from personal experience Erroneous sensationalistic mass media coverage Sociocultural factors Poor or erroneous science education A 1990 study by Eve and Dunn supported the findings of Singer and Benassi and found pseudoscientific belief being promoted by high school life science and biology teachers. === Psychology === The psychology of pseudoscience attempts to explore and analyze pseudoscientific thinking by means of thorough clarification on making the distinction of what is considered scientific vs. pseudoscientific. The human proclivity for seeking confirmation rather than refutation (confirmation bias), the tendency to hold comforting beliefs, and the tendency to overgeneralize have been proposed as reasons for pseudoscientific thinking. According to Beyerstein, humans are prone to associations based on resemblances only, and often prone to misattribution in cause-effect thinking. Michael Shermer's theory of belief-dependent realism is driven by the idea that the brain is essentially a "belief engine" which scans data perceived by the senses and looks for patterns and meaning. There is also the tendency for the brain to create cognitive biases, as a result of inferences and assumptions made


id: pseudoscience-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience-5.md
category: reference
title: Pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:04.927984+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
=== Classification === Philosophers classify types of knowledge. In English, the word science is used to indicate specifically the natural sciences and related fields, which are called the social sciences. Different philosophers of science may disagree on the exact limits – for example, is mathematics a formal science that is closer to the empirical ones, or is pure mathematics closer to the philosophical study of logic and therefore not a science? – but all agree that all of the ideas that are not scientific are non-scientific. The large category of non-science includes all matters outside the natural and social sciences, such as the study of history, metaphysics, religion, art, and the humanities. Dividing the category again, unscientific claims are a subset of the large category of non-scientific claims. This category specifically includes all matters that are directly opposed to good science. Un-science includes both "bad science" (such as an error made in a good-faith attempt at learning something about the natural world) and pseudoscience. Thus pseudoscience is a subset of un-science, and un-science, in turn, is subset of non-science. Science is also distinguishable from revelation, theology, or spirituality in that it offers insight into the physical world obtained by empirical


id: pseudoscience-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience-6.md
category: reference
title: Pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:04.927984+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
Karl Popper stated it is insufficient to distinguish science from pseudoscience, or from metaphysics (such as the philosophical question of what existence means), by the criterion of rigorous adherence to the empirical method, which is essentially inductive, based on observation or experimentation. He proposed a method to distinguish between genuine empirical, nonempirical or even pseudoempirical methods. The latter case was exemplified by astrology, which appeals to observation and experimentation. While it had empirical evidence based on observation, on horoscopes and biographies, it crucially failed to use acceptable scientific standards. Popper proposed falsifiability as an important criterion in distinguishing science from pseudoscience. To demonstrate this point, Popper gave two cases of human behavior and typical explanations from Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler's theories: "that of a man who pushes a child into the water with the intention of drowning it; and that of a man who sacrifices his life in an attempt to save the child." From Freud's perspective, the first man would have suffered from psychological repression, probably originating from an Oedipus complex, whereas the second man had attained sublimation. From Adler's perspective, the first and second man suffered from feelings of inferiority and had to prove himself, which drove


id: pseudoscience-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience-7.md
category: reference
title: Pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:04.927984+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
Many philosophers have tried to solve the problem of demarcation in the following terms: a statement constitutes knowledge if sufficiently many people believe it sufficiently strongly. But the history of thought shows us that many people were totally committed to absurd beliefs. If the strengths of beliefs were a hallmark of knowledge, we should have to rank some tales about demons, angels, devils, and of heaven and hell as knowledge. Scientists, on the other hand, are very sceptical even of their best theories. Newton's is the most powerful theory science has yet produced, but Newton himself never believed that bodies attract each other at a distance. So no degree of commitment to beliefs makes them knowledge. Indeed, the hallmark of scientific behaviour is a certain scepticism even towards one's most cherished theories. Blind commitment to a theory is not an intellectual virtue: it is an intellectual crime. Thus a statement may be pseudoscientific even if it is eminently 'plausible' and everybody believes in it, and it may be scientifically valuable even if it is unbelievable and nobody believes in it. A theory may even be of supreme scientific value even if no one understands it, let alone believes in it.


id: pseudoscience-20260505-8
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience-8.md
category: reference
title: Pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:04.927984+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
=== Health and education implications === Distinguishing science from pseudoscience has practical implications in the case of health care, expert testimony, environmental policies, and science education. Treatments with a patina of scientific authority which have not actually been subjected to actual scientific testing may be ineffective, expensive and dangerous to patients and confuse health providers, insurers, government decision makers and the public as to what treatments are appropriate. Claims advanced by pseudoscience may result in government officials and educators making bad decisions in selecting curricula. The extent to which students acquire a range of social and cognitive thinking skills related to the proper usage of science and technology determines whether they are scientifically literate. Education in the sciences encounters new dimensions with the changing landscape of science and technology, a fast-changing culture and a knowledge-driven era. A reinvention of the school science curriculum is one that shapes students to contend with its changing influence on human welfare. Scientific literacy, which allows a person to distinguish science from pseudosciences such as astrology, is among the attributes that enable students to adapt to the changing world. Its characteristics are embedded in a curriculum where students are engaged in resolving problems, conducting investigations,


id: list-of-diagnoses-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diagnoses_characterized_as_pseudoscience-0.md
category: reference
title: List of diagnoses characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diagnoses_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:06.132283+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-diagnoses-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
Many proposed diseases and diagnoses are rejected by mainstream medical consensus and are associated with pseudoscience due to a lack of scientific evidence for their existence, proposed mechanism or action, or manifestation that cannot be explained by something else. == Definition == Pseudoscientific diseases are not defined using objective criteria. Such diseases cannot achieve, and perhaps do not seek, medical recognition. Pseudoscience rejects empirical methodology. Other conditions may be rejected or contested by orthodox medicine, but are not necessarily associated with pseudoscience. Diagnostic criteria for some of these conditions may be vague, over-inclusive, or otherwise ill-defined. Although the evidence for the disease may be contested or lacking, the justification for these diagnoses is nevertheless empirical and therefore amenable to scientific investigation, at least in theory. In some cases, patients are exhibiting genuine signs and symptoms but the explanation or diagnosis for their distress is disputed or inaccurate. Examples of conditions that are not necessarily pseudoscientific include: Conditions determined to be somatic in nature, including mass psychogenic illnesses. Medicalized conditions that are not pathogenic in nature, such as aging, childbirth, pregnancy, sexual addiction, baldness, jet lag, and halitosis. Conditions that are not widely recognized, about which there is an ongoing debate


id: list-of-diagnoses-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diagnoses_characterized_as_pseudoscience-1.md
category: reference
title: List of diagnoses characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diagnoses_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:06.132283+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-diagnoses-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
== Medical == Adrenal fatigue or hypoadrenia is a diagnosis described as a state in which the adrenal glands are exhausted and unable to produce adequate quantities of hormones, primarily the glucocorticoid cortisol, due to chronic stress or infections. Adrenal fatigue should not be confused with a number of actual forms of adrenal dysfunction such as adrenal insufficiency or Addison's disease. The term "adrenal fatigue", which was invented in 1998 by James Wilson, a chiropractor, may be applied to a collection of mostly nonspecific symptoms. There is no scientific evidence supporting the concept of adrenal fatigue and it is not recognized as a diagnosis by any scientific or medical community. A systematic review found no evidence for the term adrenal fatigue, confirming the consensus among endocrinological societies that it is a myth. Autistic enterocolitis is a nonexistent medical condition proposed in 1998 by now-discredited British gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield, who suggested a link between a number of common clinical symptoms and signs which he contended were distinctive to autism. The existence of such an enterocolitis has been dismissed by experts as having "not been established". Wakefield's fraudulent report, which was retracted in 2010, suppressed negative findings and used inadequate controls. Multiple


id: list-of-diagnoses-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diagnoses_characterized_as_pseudoscience-2.md
category: reference
title: List of diagnoses characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diagnoses_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:06.132283+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-diagnoses-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
== Psychological == Autogynephilia is a proposed paraphilic disorder in which a man has erotic interest in the idea of himself in the form of a woman. Autogynephilia is not recognized by any major medical organization and has been criticised as a form of medical transphobia. Drapetomania was a supposed mental illness that, in 1851, American physician Samuel A. Cartwright hypothesized as the cause of enslaved Africans fleeing captivity. This hypothesis centered around the belief that slavery was such an improvement upon the lives of slaves that only those suffering from some form of mental illness would wish to escape. As treatment Cartwright recommended "whipping the devil out of them" both as a punishment and as a preventative measure. Female hysteria was once a common medical diagnosis for women, which was described as exhibiting a wide array of symptoms, including anxiety, shortness of breath, fainting, nervousness, sexual desire, insomnia, fluid retention, heaviness in the abdomen, irritability, loss of appetite for food or sex, (paradoxically) sexually forward behaviour, and a "tendency to cause trouble for others". It is no longer recognized by medical authorities as a medical disorder. Parental alienation syndrome, also routinely referred to as parental alienation is a proposed


id: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience-0.md
category: reference
title: List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:07.426142+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
This is a list of topics that have, either currently or in the past, been characterized as pseudoscience by academics or researchers. Detailed discussion of these topics may be found on their main pages. Criticism of pseudoscience, generally by the scientific community or skeptical organizations, involves critiques of the logical, methodological, or rhetorical bases of the topic in question. Though some of the listed topics continue to be investigated scientifically like psychoanalysis, others were only subject to scientific research in the past and today are considered refuted, but resurrected in a pseudoscientific fashion. Other ideas presented here are entirely non-scientific, but have in one way or another impinged on scientific domains or practices. Many adherents or practitioners of the topics listed here dispute their characterization as pseudoscience. Each section here summarizes the alleged pseudoscientific aspects of that topic. == Physical sciences == === Astronomy and space sciences === 2012 phenomenon – a range of eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or otherwise transformative events would occur on or around 21 December 2012. This date was regarded as the end-date of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar and as such, festivities to commemorate the date took place on 21 December


id: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience-1.md
category: reference
title: List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:07.426142+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
=== Earth sciences === Megalithic geometry or 366 geometry – posits the existence of an Earth-based geometry dating back to at least 3500 BCE and the possibility that such a system is still in use in modern Freemasonry. According to proponents, megalithic civilizations in Britain and Brittany had advanced knowledge of geometry and the size of Earth. The megalithic yard is correlated to the polar circumference of Earth using a circle divided into 366 degrees. The Bermuda Triangle – a region of the Atlantic Ocean that lies between Bermuda, Puerto Rico and (in its most popular version) Florida. Ship and aircraft disasters and disappearances perceived as frequent in this area have led to the circulation of stories of unusual natural phenomena, paranormal encounters and interactions with extraterrestrials. Climate change denial – involves denial, dismissal, unwarranted doubt or contrarian views which depart from the scientific consensus on climate change, including the extent to which it is caused by humans, its impacts on nature and human society, or the potential of adaptation to global warming by human actions. Flood geology – creationist form of geology that advocates most of the geologic features on Earth are explainable by a global flood. The Hollow


id: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience-2.md
category: reference
title: List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:07.426142+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
=== Agriculture === Lysenkoism, or Lysenko-Michurinism – was a political campaign against genetics and science-based agriculture conducted by Trofim Lysenko, his followers and Soviet authorities. Lysenko served as the director of the Soviet Union's Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Lysenkoism began in the late 1920s and formally ended in 1964. The pseudoscientific ideas of Lysenkoism built on Jean-Baptiste Lamarck's concepts of the heritability of acquired characteristics. Lysenko's theory rejected Gregor Mendel's theory of inheritance and the concept of the "gene"; it departed from Darwinian evolutionary theory by rejecting natural selection, viewing that concept as being incompatible with Marxist ideology. Biodynamic agriculture – method of organic farming that treats farms as unified and individual organisms. Biodynamics uses a calendar which has been characterized as astrological. The substances and composts used by biodynamicists have been described as unconventional and homeopathic. For example, field mice are countered by deploying ashes prepared from field mice skin when Venus is in the Scorpius constellation. No difference in beneficial outcomes has been scientifically established between certified biodynamic agricultural techniques and similar organic and integrated farming practices. Biodynamic agriculture lacks strong scientific evidence for its efficacy and has been labeled a pseudoscience because of its overreliance


id: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience-3.md
category: reference
title: List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:07.426142+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
The abortion–breast cancer hypothesis posits that having an induced abortion can increase the risk of breast cancer. This hypothesis is at odds with mainstream scientific opinion and is rejected by major medical professional organizations. Access Consciousness is an alternative medicine technique similar to a combination of phrenology, reiki, energy therapies and therapeutic touch, where health and wellness can be improved by touching the 32 "Energy Bars" on a person's head. Acupuncture – use of fine needles to stimulate acupuncture points and balance the flow of qi. There is no known anatomical or histological basis for the existence of acupuncture points or meridians and acupuncture is regarded as an alternative medical procedure. Some acupuncturists regard them as functional rather than structural entities, useful in guiding evaluation and care of patients. Acupuncture has been the subject of active scientific research since the late 20th century and its effects and application remain controversial among medical researchers and clinicians. Some scholarly reviews conclude that acupuncture's effects are mainly attributable to the placebo effect and others find likelihood of efficacy for particular conditions. Dry needling is the therapeutic insertion of fine needles without regard to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and is similarly controversial. Acupressure is


id: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience-4.md
category: reference
title: List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:07.426142+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
There is disputed evidence that it may be effective in combating postoperative nausea and vomiting. Auriculotherapy (also auricular therapy, ear acupuncture, and auriculoacupuncture) is a form of alternative medicine based on the idea that the ear is a micro-system which reflects the entire body, represented on the auricle, the outer portion of the ear. Conditions affecting the physical, mental or emotional health of the patient are assumed to be treatable by stimulation of the surface of the ear exclusively. Similar mappings are used in many areas of the body, including the practices of reflexology and iridology. These mappings are not based on or supported by any medical or scientific evidence and are therefore considered to be pseudoscience. Autistic enterocolitis is a nonexistent medical condition proposed by discredited British gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield when he suggested a link between a number of common clinical symptoms and signs which he contended were distinctive to autism. The existence of such an enterocolitis has been dismissed by experts as having "not been established". Wakefield's now-retracted and fraudulent report used inadequate controls and suppressed negative findings and multiple attempts to replicate his results have been unsuccessful. Reviews in the medical literature have found no link between


id: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience-5.md
category: reference
title: List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:07.426142+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
Chromotherapy, sometimes called color therapy, colorology or cromatherapy, is an alternative medicine method which is considered pseudoscience. Chromotherapists claim to be able to use light in the form of color to balance "energy" lacking from a person's body, whether it be on physical, emotional, spiritual, or mental levels. Color therapy is distinct from other types of light therapy, such as neonatal jaundice treatment and blood irradiation therapy, which is a scientifically accepted medical treatment for a number of conditions, and from photobiology, the scientific study of the effects of light on living organisms. French skeptic and lighting physicist Sébastien Point considers LED lamps at domestic radiance to be safe in normal use for the general population; he also pointed out the risk of overexposure to light from LEDs for practices like chromotherapy, when duration and time exposure are not under control. Chronic Lyme disease (not to be confused with Lyme disease) is a generally rejected diagnosis that encompasses "a broad array of illnesses or symptom complexes for which there is no reproducible or convincing scientific evidence of any relationship to Borrelia burgdorferi infection." Despite numerous studies, there is no clinical evidence that "chronic" Lyme disease is caused by a persistent


id: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience-6.md
category: reference
title: List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:07.426142+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
The field has been compared to pseudoscience due to irreproducible or contradictory findings, exaggerated claims of usefulness and lack of high quality research protocols. Ear candling, also called ear coning or thermal-auricular therapy, is a pseudoscientific alternative medicine practice claimed to improve general health and well-being by lighting one end of a hollow candle and placing the other end in the ear canal. Medical research has shown that the practice is both dangerous and ineffective and does not functionally remove earwax or toxicants, despite product design contributing to that impression.


id: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience-7.md
category: reference
title: List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:07.426142+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
Earthing therapy or grounding is a therapy that is claimed to ease pain, provide a better night's sleep, and assist with symptoms of inflammation by being in direct physical contact with the ground or a device connected to electrical ground. Practitioners claim that Earth has an excess of electrons which people are missing due to insulating shoes and ground cover. Being in electrical contact with Earth is claimed to provide the body with those excess electrons, which then act as antioxidants. A 2012 systematic review study showed inconclusive results related to methodological issues across the literature. Subsequently, a 2017 systematic review of the benefits of spending time in forests demonstrated positive health effects, but not enough to generate clinical practice guidelines or demonstrate causality. Electrohomeopathy (or Mattei cancer cure) is a derivative of homeopathy invented in the 19th century by Count Cesare Mattei. The name is derived from a combination of electro (referring to an electric bio-energy content supposedly extracted from plants and of therapeutic value, rather than electricity in its conventional sense) and homeopathy (referring to an alternative medicinal philosophy developed by Samuel Hahnemann in the 18th century). Electrohomeopathy has been defined as the combination of electrical devices and


id: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-8
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience-8.md
category: reference
title: List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:07.426142+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
Systematic reviews of clinical trials of Bach flower solutions have found no efficacy beyond a placebo effect. Iridology – means of medical diagnosis which proponents believe can identify and diagnose health problems through close examination of the markings and patterns of the iris. Practitioners divide the iris into 80–90 zones, each of which is connected to a particular body region or organ. This connection has not been scientifically validated and disorder detection is neither selective nor specific. Because iris texture is a phenotypical feature which develops during gestation and remains unchanged after birth (which makes the iris useful for Biometrics), iridology is all but impossible. Jilly Juice – a potentially dangerous fermented drink that has been claimed to treat a variety of medical conditions. Leaky gut syndrome – in alternative medicine, a proposed condition caused by the passage of harmful substances outward through the gut wall. It has been proposed as the cause of many conditions, including multiple sclerosis and autism, a claim which has been called pseudoscientific. According to the UK National Health Service, the theory is vague and unproven. Some skeptics and scientists say that the marketing of treatments for leaky gut syndrome is either misguided or an


id: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-9
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience-9.md
category: reference
title: List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:07.426142+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
Radionics – means of medical diagnosis and therapy which proponents believe can diagnose and remedy health problems using various frequencies in a putative energy field coupled to the practitioner's electronic device. The first such "black box" devices were designed and promoted by Albert Abrams and were definitively proven useless by an independent investigation commissioned by Scientific American in 1924. The internal circuitry of radionics devices is often obfuscated and irrelevant, leading proponents to conjecture dowsing and ESP as operating principles. Similar devices continue to be marketed under various names, though none is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; there is no scientific evidence for the efficacy or underlying premise of radionics devices. The radionics of Albert Abrams and his intellectual descendants should not be confused with similarly named reputable and legitimate companies, products, or medical treatments such as radiotherapy or radiofrequency ablation. Reiki is a form of alternative medicine called energy healing. Reiki practitioners use a technique called palm healing or hands-on healing through which a "universal energy" is said to be transferred through the palms of the practitioner to the patient in order to encourage emotional or physical healing. Reiki is a pseudoscience, and is used as


id: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-10
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience-10.md
category: reference
title: List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:07.426142+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
Research concerning qigong has been conducted for a wide range of medical conditions, including hypertension, pain and cancer, and with respect to quality of life. Most research concerning health benefits of qigong has been of poor quality, such that it would be unwise to draw firm conclusions at this stage. Zang-fu – concept of organs as functional yin and yang entities for the storage and manipulation of qi. These organs are not based in anatomy. Tomatis Method A type of auditory integration training devised by Alfred A. Tomatis and promoted, without supporting evidence, as being of benefit to people with autism. Urine therapy – drinking either one's own undiluted urine or homeopathic potions of urine for treatment of a wide variety of diseases is based on pseudoscience. Promotion of a link between autism and vaccines, in which the vaccines are accused of causing autism-spectrum conditions, triggering them, or aggravating them, has been characterized as pseudoscience. Many epidemiological studies have reported no association between either the MMR vaccine and autism, or thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism. Consequently, the Institute of Medicine has concluded that there is no causal link between either of these varieties of vaccines and autism. Similarly, "vaccine overload", a


id: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-11
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience-11.md
category: reference
title: List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:07.426142+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
=== Technology === 5G conspiracies and 5G causes coronavirus theories – theory proposing that 5G causes health issues, including COVID-19. == Social sciences == === History === Christ myth theory – A fringe theory that proposes that the historical Jesus did not exist in any capacity whatsoever. While the divinity of Jesus is a matter of religious and philosophical rather than historical debate, Christian and non-Christian scholars of antiquity universally agree that Jesus of Nazareth was a Galilean Jew who lived in the first century, was baptized, and later crucified by Roman authorities. This is based on sources written by historians, scholars, and politicians who lived during the time of Christ. Holocaust denial – Historical revisionist movements associated with Holocaust denial have employed pseudoscientific evidence and conspiracy theories published in intradiegetic pseudo-academic journals and presented at fringe conferences (e.g. misconstruing cyanide residue studies, claiming despite all evidence to the contrary that gas chambers were built after the war). Khazar hypothesis of Ashkenazi ancestry – A fringe theory that postulates that Ashkenazi Jews were primarily, or to a large extent, descended from Khazars, a multi-ethnic conglomerate of mostly Turkic peoples who formed a semi-nomadic khanate in and around the northern and


id: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-12
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience-12.md
category: reference
title: List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:07.426142+00:00
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parent: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
=== Psychology === Attachment therapy – common name for a set of potentially fatal clinical interventions and parenting techniques aimed at controlling aggressive, disobedient, or unaffectionate children using "restraint and physical and psychological abuse to seek their desired results." (The term "attachment therapy" may sometimes be used loosely to refer to mainstream approaches based on attachment theory, usually outside the US where the pseudoscientific form of attachment therapy is less known.) Probably the most common form is holding therapy, in which the child is restrained by adults for the purpose of supposed cathartic release of suppressed rage and regression. Perhaps the most extreme, but much less common, is "rebirthing", in which the child is wrapped tightly in a blanket and then made to simulate emergence from a birth canal. This is done by encouraging the child to struggle and pushing and squeezing them to mimic contractions. Despite the practice's name, it is not based on traditional attachment theory and shares no principles of mainstream developmental psychology research. In 2006, it was the subject of an almost entirely critical Taskforce Report commissioned by the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC). Conversion therapy – sometimes called reparative therapy, seeks


id: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-13
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience-13.md
category: reference
title: List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:07.426142+00:00
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parent: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
The Center for Applications of Psychological Type claims that the MBTI is scientifically supported, but most of the research on it is done through its own journal, Journal of Psychological Type, raising questions of bias. Results are said to follow the Barnum effect. Neuro-linguistic programming – an approach to communication, personal development, and psychotherapy created in the 1970s. The title refers to a stated connection between the neurological processes ("neuro"), language ("linguistic") and behavioral patterns that have been learned through experience ("programming") and can be organized to achieve specific goals in life. According to certain neuroscientists psychologists and linguists, NLP is unsupported by current scientific evidence, and uses incorrect and misleading terms and concepts. Reviews of empirical research on NLP indicate that NLP contains numerous factual errors, and has failed to produce reliable results for the claims for effectiveness made by NLP's originators and proponents. According to Devilly, NLP is no longer as prevalent as it was in the 1970s and 1980s. Criticisms go beyond the lack of empirical evidence for effectiveness; critics say that NLP exhibits pseudoscientific characteristics, title, concepts and terminology. NLP is used as an example of pseudoscience for facilitating the teaching of scientific literacy at the


id: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-14
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience-14.md
category: reference
title: List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:07.426142+00:00
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parent: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
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=== Racial theories === Scientific racism – claim that scientific evidence shows the inferiority or superiority of certain races. Aryanism – the claim that there is a distinct "Aryan race" that is superior to other putative races was an important tenet of Nazism and "the basis of the German government policy of exterminating Jews, Gypsies, and other 'non-Aryans.'" Drapetomania was a conjectural mental illness that, in 1851, American physician Samuel A. Cartwright hypothesized as the cause of enslaved Africans fleeing captivity. It has since been debunked as pseudoscience and part of the edifice of scientific racism. Melanin theory – belief founded in the distortion of known physical properties of melanin, a natural polymer, that posits the inherent superiority of dark-skinned people and the essential inhumanity and inferiority of light-skinned people. Turkish History Thesis – the belief that Turks from Central Asia migrated and brought civilization to China, India, the Middle East, and Europe. Eugenics – As a movement, eugenics was associated with pseudoscience including pseudoscientific journals and professional societies. This is to be contrasted with the common and scientifically accepted practice of selective breeding. === Sociology === Alpha and beta male – pseudoscientific terms for men derived from alpha and


id: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-15
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience-15.md
category: reference
title: List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:07.426142+00:00
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parent: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
Animal mutilations – cases of animals, primarily domestic livestock, with seemingly inexplicable wounds. These wounds have been said to be caused by extraterrestrials, cults, covert government organizations, or cryptids such as el chupacabra, when in fact most such cases were found to be caused by natural predation. An aura or human energy field is, according to New Age beliefs, a colored emanation said to enclose a human body or any animal or object. In some esoteric positions, the aura is described as a subtle body. Psychics and holistic medicine practitioners often claim to have the ability to see the size, color and type of vibration of an aura. In New Age alternative medicine, the human aura is seen as a hidden anatomy that affects the health of a client, and is often understood to be composed of centers of vital force called chakra. Such claims are not supported by scientific evidence and are pseudoscience. When tested under controlled experiments, the ability to see auras has not been shown to exist. Channeling – communication of information to or through a person allegedly from a spirit or other paranormal entity. Crop circles – geometric designs of crushed or knocked-over crops created in


id: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-16
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience-16.md
category: reference
title: List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:07.426142+00:00
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parent: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
Affirmative prayer is a form of prayer or a metaphysical technique that is focused on a positive outcome, rather than a negative situation. For instance, a person who is experiencing some form of illness would focus the prayer on the desired state of perfect health and affirm this desired intention "as if already happened" rather than identifying the illness and then asking God for help to eliminate it. William James described affirmative prayer as an element of the American metaphysical healing movement that he called the "mind-cure"; he described it as the United States' "only decidedly original contribution to the systemic philosophy of life." What sets affirmative prayer apart from secular affirmations of the autosuggestion type taught by the 19th century self-help author Émile Coué (whose most famous affirmation was "Every day in every way, I am getting better and better") is that affirmative prayer addresses the practitioner to God, the Divine, the Creative Mind, emphasizing the seemingly practical aspects of religious belief. Christian Science is generally considered a Christian new religious movement; however, some have called it "pseudoscience" because its founder, Mary Baker Eddy, used "science" in its name, and because of its former stance against medical science. Also,


id: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-17
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience-17.md
category: reference
title: List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:07.426142+00:00
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parent: list-of-topics-characterized-as-pseudoscience-20260505-0
summary:
=== Scientology === Dianetics, a therapeutic technique promoted by Scientology, purports to treat a hypothetical reactive mind. There is no scientific evidence for the existence of an actual reactive mind, apart from the stimulus response mechanisms documented in behaviorist psychology. Narconon and Purification Rundown are Scientology programs that purport to clean the human body of toxins and drugs respectively. Their method consists of very long saunas over many days, extremely large (possibly toxic) doses of vitamins including niacin, and Scientology 'training routines', sometimes including attempts at telekinesis. The programs have been described as "medically unsafe", "quackery" and "medical fraud", while academic and medical experts have dismissed Narconon's educational programme as containing "factual errors in basic concepts such as physical and mental effects, addiction and even spelling". In turn, Narconon has claimed that mainstream medicine is "biased" against it, and that "people who endorse so-called controlled drug use cannot be trusted to review a program advocating totally drug-free living." Narconon has said that criticism of its programmes is "bigoted", and that its critics are "in favor of drug abuse [...] they are either using drugs or selling drugs". === Other === Quantum mysticism – builds on a superficial similarity between certain


id: 2012-phenomenon-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon-0.md
category: reference
title: 2012 phenomenon
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:10.848554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: 2012-phenomenon-20260505-0
summary:
The 2012 phenomenon was a range of eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events would occur on or around 21 December 2012. This date was regarded as the end-date of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, and festivities took place on 21 December 2012 to commemorate the event in the countries that were part of the Maya civilization (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador), with main events at Chichén Itzá in Mexico and Tikal in Guatemala. Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae were proposed for this date. A New Age interpretation held that the date marked the start of a period during which Earth and its inhabitants would undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 21 December 2012 would mark the beginning of a new era. Others suggested that the date marked the end of the world or a similar catastrophe. Scenarios suggested for the end of the world included the arrival of the next solar maximum; an interaction between Earth and Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy; the Nibiru cataclysm, in which Earth would collide with a mythical planet called Nibiru; or even the heating


id: 2012-phenomenon-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon-1.md
category: reference
title: 2012 phenomenon
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:10.848554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: 2012-phenomenon-20260505-0
summary:
=== Objections === Coe's interpretation was repeated by other scholars through the early 1990s. In contrast, later researchers said that, while the end of the 13th bʼakʼtun would perhaps be a cause for celebration, it did not mark the end of the calendar. "There is nothing in the Maya or Aztec or ancient Mesoamerican prophecy to suggest that they prophesied a sudden or major change of any sort in 2012," said Mayanist scholar Mark Van Stone. "The notion of a 'Great Cycle' coming to an end is completely a modern invention." In 1990, Mayanist scholars Linda Schele and David Freidel argued that the Maya "did not conceive this to be the end of creation, as many have suggested". Susan Milbrath, curator of Latin American Art and Archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History, stated that, "We have no record or knowledge that [the Maya] would think the world would come to an end" in 2012. Sandra Noble, executive director of the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, said, "For the ancient Maya, it was a huge celebration to make it to the end of a whole cycle," and, "The 2012 phenomenon is a complete fabrication and a chance


id: 2012-phenomenon-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon-2.md
category: reference
title: 2012 phenomenon
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:10.848554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: 2012-phenomenon-20260505-0
summary:
=== La Corona === In April–May 2012, a team of archaeologists unearthed a previously unknown inscription on a stairway at the La Corona site in Guatemala. The inscription, on what is known as Hieroglyphic Stairway 12, describes the establishment of a royal court in Calakmul in 635 AD, and compares the then-recent completion of 13 kʼatuns with the future completion of the 13th bʼakʼtun. It contains no speculation or prophecy as to what the scribes believed would happen at that time. === Dates beyond bʼakʼtun 13 === Maya inscriptions occasionally mention predicted future events or commemorations that would occur on dates far beyond the completion of the 13th bʼakʼtun. Most of these are in the form of "distance dates"; Long Count dates together with an additional number, known as a Distance Number, which when added to them makes a future date. On the west panel at the Temple of Inscriptions in Palenque, a section of text projects forward to the 80th 52-year Calendar Round from the coronation of the ruler Kʼinich Janaabʼ Pakal. Pakal's accession occurred on 9.9.2.4.8, equivalent to 27 July 615 AD in the proleptic Gregorian calendar. The inscription begins with Pakal's birthdate of 9.8.9.13.0 (24 March, 603


id: 2012-phenomenon-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon-3.md
category: reference
title: 2012 phenomenon
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:10.848554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: 2012-phenomenon-20260505-0
summary:
=== Galactic alignment === There is no significant astronomical event tied to the Long Count's start date. Its supposed end date was tied to astronomical phenomena by esoteric, fringe, and New Age literature that placed great significance on astrology, especially astrological interpretations associated with the phenomenon of axial precession. Chief among these ideas is the astrological concept of a "galactic alignment". ==== Precession ==== In the Solar System, the planets and the Sun lie roughly within the same flat plane, known as the plane of the ecliptic. From our perspective on Earth, the ecliptic is the path taken by the Sun across the sky over the course of the year. The twelve constellations that line the ecliptic are known as the zodiacal constellations, and, annually, the Sun passes through all of them in turn. Additionally, over time, the Sun's annual cycle appears to recede very slowly backward by one degree every 72 years, or by one constellation approximately every 2,160 years. This backward movement, called "precession", is due to a slight wobble in the Earth's axis as it spins, and can be compared to the way a spinning top wobbles as it slows down. Over the course of 25,800 years,


id: 2012-phenomenon-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon-4.md
category: reference
title: 2012 phenomenon
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:10.848554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: 2012-phenomenon-20260505-0
summary:
"Timewave zero" is a numerological formula that purports to calculate the ebb and flow of "novelty", defined as increase over time in the universe's interconnectedness, or organized complexity. Terence McKenna claimed that the universe has a teleological attractor at the end of time that increases interconnectedness. He believed this which would eventually reach a singularity of infinite complexity in 2012, at which point anything and everything imaginable would occur simultaneously. He conceived this idea over several years in the early to mid-1970s whilst using psilocybin mushrooms and DMT. The scientific community considers novelty theory to be pseudoscience. McKenna expressed "novelty" in a computer program which produces a waveform known as "timewave zero" or the "timewave". Based on McKenna's interpretation of the King Wen sequence of the I Ching, an ancient Chinese book on divination, the graph purports to show great periods of novelty corresponding with major shifts in humanity's biological and sociocultural evolution. He believed that the events of any given time are resonantly related to the events of other times, and chose the atomic bombing of Hiroshima as the basis for calculating his end date of November 2012. When he later discovered this date's proximity to the end of


id: 2012-phenomenon-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon-5.md
category: reference
title: 2012 phenomenon
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:10.848554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: 2012-phenomenon-20260505-0
summary:
=== Geomagnetic reversal === Another idea tied to 2012 involved a geomagnetic reversal (often referred to as a pole shift by proponents), possibly triggered by a massive solar flare, that would release an energy equal to 100 billion atomic bombs. This belief was supposedly supported by observations that the Earth's magnetic field was weakening, which could precede a reversal of the north and south magnetic poles, and the arrival of the next solar maximum, which was expected sometime around 2012. Most scientific estimates say that geomagnetic reversals take between 1,000 and 10,000 years to complete, and do not start on any particular date. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted that the solar maximum would peak in late 2013 or 2014, and that it would be fairly weak, with a below-average number of sunspots. There was no scientific evidence linking a solar maximum to a geomagnetic reversal, which is driven by forces entirely within the Earth. A solar maximum does affect satellite and cellular phone communications. David Morrison attributed the rise of the solar storm idea to physicist and science popularizer Michio Kaku, who claimed in an interview with Fox News that a solar peak in 2012 could be


id: 2012-phenomenon-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon-6.md
category: reference
title: 2012 phenomenon
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:10.848554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: 2012-phenomenon-20260505-0
summary:
Beginning in 2000, the small French village of Bugarach, population 189, began receiving visits from "esoterics"—mystic believers who had concluded that the local mountain, Pic de Bugarach, was the ideal location to weather the transformative events of 2012. In 2011, the local mayor, Jean-Pierre Delord, began voicing fears to the international press that the small town would be overwhelmed by an influx of thousands of visitors in 2012, even suggesting he might call in the army. "We've seen a huge rise in visitors", Delord told The Independent in March 2012. "Already this year more than 20,000 people have climbed right to the top, and last year we had 10,000 hikers, which was a significant rise on the previous 12 months. They think Pic de Bugarach is 'un garage à ovnis' [a garage for UFOs]. The villagers are exasperated: the exaggerated importance of something which they see as completely removed from reality is bewildering. After 21 December, this will surely return to normal." In December 2012, the French government placed 100 police and firefighters around both Bugarach and Pic de Bugarach, limiting access to potential visitors. Ultimately, only about 1,000 visitors appeared at the height of the "event". Two raves were


id: 2012-phenomenon-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon-7.md
category: reference
title: 2012 phenomenon
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:10.848554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: 2012-phenomenon-20260505-0
summary:
On the final day of bʼakʼtun 13, residents of Yucatán and other regions formerly dominated by the ancient Maya celebrated what they saw as the dawn of a new, better era. According to official figures from Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), about 50,000 people visited Mexican archaeological sites on 21 December 2012. Of those, 10,000 visited Chichén Itzá in Yucatán, 9,900 visited Tulum in Quintana Roo, and 8,000 visited Palenque in Chiapas. An additional 10,000 people visited Teotihuacan near Mexico City, which is not a Maya site. The main ceremony in Chichén Itzá was held at dawn in the plaza of the Temple of Kukulkán, one of the principal symbols of Maya culture. The archaeological site was opened two hours early to receive thousands of tourists, mostly foreigners who came to participate in events scheduled for the end of bʼakʼtun 13. The fire ceremony at Tikal was held at dawn in the main plaza of the Temple of the Great Jaguar. The ceremony was led by Guatemalan and foreign priests. The President of Guatemala, Otto Pérez, and of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, participated in the event as special guests. During the ceremony the priests asked for unity,


id: 2012-phenomenon-20260505-8
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon-8.md
category: reference
title: 2012 phenomenon
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:10.848554+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: 2012-phenomenon-20260505-0
summary:
== Cultural influence == The 2012 phenomenon was discussed or referenced by several media outlets. Several TV documentaries, as well as some contemporary fictional references to the year 2012, referred to 21 December as the day of a cataclysmic event. The TV series The X-Files cited 22 December 2012 as the date for an alien colonization of the Earth, and mentioned the Mayan calendar "stopping" on this date. The History Channel aired a handful of special series on doomsday that included analysis of 2012 theories, such as Decoding the Past (2005–2007), 2012, End of Days (2006), Last Days on Earth (2006), Seven Signs of the Apocalypse (2009), and Nostradamus 2012 (2008). The Discovery Channel also aired 2012 Apocalypse in 2009, suggesting that massive solar storms, magnetic pole reversal, earthquakes, supervolcanoes, and other drastic natural events could occur in 2012. In 2012, the National Geographic Channel launched a show called Doomsday Preppers, a documentary series about survivalists preparing for various cataclysms, including the 2012 doomsday. Hundreds of books were published on the topic. The bestselling book of 2009, Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, featured a coded mock email number (2456282.5) that decoded to the Julian date for 21 December 2012. In


id: 2015-indian-science-congress-ancient-aircraft-controversy-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Indian_Science_Congress_ancient_aircraft_controversy-0.md
category: reference
title: 2015 Indian Science Congress ancient aircraft controversy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Indian_Science_Congress_ancient_aircraft_controversy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:12.052830+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: 2015-indian-science-congress-ancient-aircraft-controversy-20260505-0
summary:
The 2015 Indian Science Congress ancient aircraft controversy refers to protests that occurred during the 102nd Indian Science Congress in Mumbai on 4 January 2015 when a paper claiming to prove that aircraft were invented in the Vedic age was allowed to be presented. == Overview == In December 2014, it was announced that Anand J. Bodas and his copresenter Ameya Jadhav, who claim that aircraft more advanced than today's versions existed in ancient India, would be allowed to speak at the Indian Science Congress and present a paper on aviation in the Vedic age. During an interview, he said that such aircraft were huge and could fly to other planets. He also said that those planes could fly backwards, left, or right, contrary to modern aircraft that can fly only forward. Bodas, who was a principal at a pilot training school in Kerala, and Jadhav, currently a lecturer at the Swami Vivekanand International School and Junior College in Mumbai, cited a text called Vaimanika Prakaranam (also called Vaimānika Shāstra) as evidence. Scientists from the Indian Institute of Science studied the text in 1974, concluding that "craft is a decided impossibility" and that the Vaimānika Shāstra was written no earlier


id: abortion-breast-cancer-hypothesis-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion–breast_cancer_hypothesis-0.md
category: reference
title: Abortion–breast cancer hypothesis
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion–breast_cancer_hypothesis
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:13.301340+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: abortion-breast-cancer-hypothesis-20260505-0
summary:
The abortion–breast cancer hypothesis posits that having an induced abortion can increase the risk of getting breast cancer. This hypothesis is at odds with mainstream scientific opinion and is rejected by major medical professional organizations; despite this, it continues to be widely propagated as pseudoscience, typically in service of an anti-abortion agenda. In early pregnancy, hormone levels increase, leading to breast growth. The hypothesis proposes that if this process is altered by an abortion, then more immature cells could be left behind, and that these immature cells could increase the risk of breast cancer over time. The abortion–breast cancer hypothesis has been the subject of extensive scientific inquiry, and the scientific community has concluded that abortion does not cause breast cancer; and that breast cancer should not be a concern for women who are having a miscarriage or considering having an abortion. This consensus is supported by major medical bodies, including the World Health Organization, the U.S. National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the German Cancer Research Center, and the Canadian Cancer Society. Some anti-abortion activists have continued to advance a discredited causal link between


id: abortion-breast-cancer-hypothesis-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion–breast_cancer_hypothesis-1.md
category: reference
title: Abortion–breast cancer hypothesis
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion–breast_cancer_hypothesis
date_saved: 2026-05-05T09:15:13.301340+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: abortion-breast-cancer-hypothesis-20260505-0
summary:
In early pregnancy, levels of estrogen, progesterone, and estradiol increase, leading to breast growth in preparation for lactation. Proponents speculate that if this process is interrupted by an abortion or miscarriage—before full maturity (differentiation) in the third trimester—then more immature cells could be left than there were prior to the pregnancy. These immature cells could then be exposed to carcinogens and hormones over time, resulting in a greater potential risk of breast cancer. This mechanism was first proposed and explored in rat studies conducted in the 1980s. Breast tissue contains many lobes (segments) and these contain lobules which are groups of breast cells. There are four types of lobules: Type 1 has 11 ductules (immature) Type 2 has 47 ductules (immature) Type 3 has 80 ductules (mature, fewer hormone receptors) Type 4 are fully matured (cancer resistant) and contain breast milk During early pregnancy, type 1 lobules quickly become type 2 lobules because of changes in estrogen and progesterone levels. Maturing into type 3 and then reaching full differentiation as type 4 lobules requires an increase of human placental lactogen (hPL) which occurs in the last few months of pregnancy. According to the abortion–breast cancer hypothesis, if an abortion were


