Nasa is sending a rocket to a metallic asteroid between Mars and Jupiter in the hope of finding diamonds and rubies. The mission, which is set to launch on Friday 13 October, will involve visiting the mysterious metallic asteroid 16 Psyche, which sits in an asteroid belt between the two planets. The journey will take seven years for Falcon Heavy, a craft made by Elon Musk’s space exploration firm SpaceX. It was due to take off on Thursday, but the launch was postponed because of bad weather. Nasa Administrator Bill Nelson said: “We are launching a billion dollar spacecraft all the way beyond Mars and close to Jupiter and it’s going to snuggle up next to a metallic asteroid, and we are going to learn something about that metallic asteroid. “I hope we might find diamonds and rubies on that asteroid. “Everything is a new discovery, and we are glimpsing more of the development of this magnificent thing we call the universe.” Falcon Heavy takes off on its four-billion-mile journey at 10.19am in Florida, from the Kennedy Space Center. That is 3.16pm UK time. By May 2026, it will pass by Mars and use the planet’s gravitational force to slingshot itself toward the asteroid. Four years later, it will reach its destination. There, it will find a rock made up of iron and nickel, scientists believe. But they also think it could contain precious metals and gems. 16 Psyche has puzzled astronomers since it was discovered by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis in 1852. In the 1980s, radar readings found that it was made of metal, leading scientists to speculate that the 130-mile boulder lost its outer shell by colliding with other asteroids. The spacecraft will spend about 26 months in orbit, taking images of the asteroid to get a clearer picture of its topography, surface features, gravity and magnetism. The asteroid will not be mined – but space agencies might just start taking more notice if they find its one massive diamond. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A viral aerial video of Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium has many social media users convinced that floodwaters submerged the ballpark amid Tropical Storm Hilary over the weekend

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At least eight people, including children, were killed after a building collapsed in Brazil's northeastern state of Pernambuco on Friday, according to CNN affiliate CNN Brasil, citing the state's Secretariat of Social Defense (SDS.)

It’s a question that’s fascinated mankind for centuries – but could there really be life out there in the universe? Now, more than ever, the search is taking place in earnest and there have been plenty of developments in 2023. So, on World UFO Day these are the 9 biggest UFO stories of the year so far. 'Alien spacecraft' found at the bottom of Pacific Ocean For years people have been looking to the skies for signs of alien life - but maybe, they should have been looking at the bottom of the ocean this whole time. A Harvard physicist has claimed that parts of an alien 'spacecraft' could have been uncovered under the sea. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Professor Avi Loeb set off on a search along the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and found 50 iron pieces that originated from the IM1 meteor. IM1 crashed off the coast of Papua New Guinea and Leob believes it could contain key information in the search for life out there in the universe, saying he hasn’t discounted the idea of the pieces being evidence of a “spacecraft” from an “extraterrestrial technological civilization” which crashlanded on Earth.' Alien in New York' video sparks fresh speculation about UFOs in the United States More so-called footage of aliens on Earth has gone viral on social media - this time supposedly showing an extraterrestrial in a backyard in New York. The footage comes just days after a family in Las Vegas reportedly found aliens on their property before it was widely debunked by fact-checkers as nothing more than CGI. There had also been false claims that the family in question had gone 'missing' which was quickly dismissed. Inevitably another video has now gone viral on TikTok, racking up more than 300,000 views at the time of writing. UFO expert claims that the south pole is an 'air traffic control' for aliens Ufologist Dr. Steven Greer recently hosting a conference on the subject of UFOs. A range of people were invited to share their insights as part of an event streamed online and it saw Eric Hecker describe the south pole as an “air traffic control” hub for aliens. The conspiracy theorist made some pretty out-there claims at the conference, but it’s the discussion about the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station that was most significant. He claimed the station actually operated as an “air traffic control” centre for UFOs and communicated with “exotic” crafts by sending neutrino rays up into space. Nasa astronaut claims that aliens have prevented a nuclear war on Earth Could we have aliens to thank for preventing a nuclear war on Earth? That’s what one former Nasa astronaut has claimed. Edgar Mitchell, who was involved in the Apollo 14 mission, gained a reputation for sharing conspiracy theories when he arrived back from the moon in 1971. Mitchell was the sixth man on the moon and was the Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 14. Before his death in 2016, Mitchell spoke at length claiming that aliens visited Earth. Speaking to the Mirror, he alleged that aliens were responsible for preventing nuclear war between the US and the Soviets at the height of Cold War tensions. Pentagon whistleblower claims that ‘UFOs have killed humans’ A whistleblower who claims that the US government has been operating UFO retrieval research in secret has reportedly said that UFOs have been responsible for the deaths of humans. David Grusch worked for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and was involved with the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force. He claimed that some of the “non-human intelligences” discovered have malevolent intentions and have killed people. The US government has apparently found an 'intact' alien aircraft One former US agent has claimed materials have been recovered that could support the existence of UFOs. David Charles Grusch, an ex-member of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and National Reconnaissance Office, claimed the US government has a 'non-human origin' in-tact craft that they're keeping from the public. Speaking to NewsNation, Grusch said: "These are retrieving non-human origin technical vehicles, call it a spacecraft if you will, non-human exotic origin vehicles that have either landed or crashed." UFO spotted on Google Earth near Harry and Meghan's home A flying saucer was allegedly been found near Harry and Meghan’s £11 million mansion. The mysterious circular object was spotted by an eagle-eyed UFO hunter on Google Earth. Alien boffin Tony Moreno’s finding could be embarrassing for NASA. It comes as the space agency prepares to publish findings from its own nine-month probe into unidentified anomalous phenomena this summer. Logan Paul shares the one thing that could 'validate' the most 'compelling' UFO video ever Logan Paul has possession of the “best UFO footage ever”, or so he claims. It comes after documentary filmmaker James Fox spoke on The Joe Rogan Experience about a video rumoured to have been uncovered by UFO specialist Chuck Clark around 30 years ago. Fox claimed that the clip shows two men in the Nevada desert encountering a UFO, and he believes that if Paul released the footage it could be key to changing people’s perceptions about alien sightings. Now, Paul has stated that he does indeed have a copy of the video. He claimed that he tried to purchase the footage from Clark for $100,000. After the offer was turned down, he then used a hidden camera to record the footage after he was invited to a screening. Model captures 'best UFO footage ever' from her private plane A model has shared what some are describing on social media as the 'best UFO footage ever' after spotting something strange during a flight. Valentina Rueda Velez, a Colombian model who goes by the username @Valentinarueda.v on Instagram, shared a clip during a recent journey on a private plane. Valez, who has worked with the likes of Pretty Little Thing during her career, claims to have seen something strange pass by her window while flying on April 4. UFO enthusiasts have seized on the footage, which appears to show an object appearing against the clear blue sky. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Mozambique is seeking to become the latest country to secure an energy-transition pact with wealthy nations and is

In a drive to help the firm hit its financial aims, Capcom has confirmed an “unannounced major title” will be released in next six months – sparking speculation over which of its hit franchises could be set for another sequel.

xQc recently received a warning from a Kick about violating DMCA rules while watching 'The Dark Knight' on a live stream

Rio Tinto Group is preparing for trials of battery-powered locomotives in Australia, where it uses giant autonomous trains

MIAMI & TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 5, 2023--

The renewable energy unit of South Korea’s SK Inc. secured a site required to develop a $15 billion

The official account for Elon Musk’s X app has switched from @Twiter to @X, after the previous owner of the account moved to a new one. The single-letter username had been registered to Gene X. Hwang, the co-founder of photo firm Orange Photography, for more than 16 years before Twitter’s sudden rebranding on Monday brought the account under scrutiny. On Tuesday, Mr Hwang said that neither Mr Musk nor X had reached out to him, however by Wednesday the account was under the control of the tech billionaire’s company. “Alls well that ends well,” Mr Hwang posted from a new account, @x12345678998765. It is unclear how much Mr Musk or X paid for the one-letter account, if anything at all. The Independent has reached out to both X and Mr Hwang for further information. Mr Musk has reportedly taken over other accounts without permission since he took over the platform in October 2022. According to Platformer editor Zoe Schiffer, the world’s richest person took over the username @e shortly after acquiring the company for $44 billion, despite the original owner of the account being unwilling to part with it. The @e account remains inactive, featuring the name ‘John Utah’ – the same as the protagonist of the 1991 film Point Break – and following just three accounts: Elon Musk, LAist and Nasa. X has also changed its other official accounts to ditch the Twitter branding, renaming its subscription service to @XBlue, and @TwitterSupport to @Support. The company’s Twitter signage was also removed from its San Francisco headquarters on Monday. The website domain X.com also now redirects to Twitter.com, while all of the site’s blue bird logos have been replaced with a crowd-sourced X logo. The hasty switch from one brand to another may result in legal difficulties for Mr Musk, according to trademark lawyers, after it was revealed that the billionaire does not own the intellectual property rights for the letter X when it relates to social networking. Tech rivals Meta and Microsoft both own trademarks for ‘X’ in different domains, with Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg currently controlling the federal trademark for a blue-and-white letter ‘X’ for “social networking services”. “There’s a 100 per cent chance that Twitter is going to get sued over this by somebody,” one US-based IP lawyer said on Tuesday. Read More What is Elon Musk’s ‘everything app’ X? What is Elon Musk’s ‘everything app’ X? Elon Musk red-faced as police halt Twitter sign removal leaving firm called ‘ER’ Twitter to X: Why Elon Musk rebranded the social networking platform