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There are stories you bear to cock some feathers — we ’re looking at you , extraterrestrial being — and then there are the I we never thought would plain up a tempest . This year , scientists surprised us with call of successful room temperature superconductivity , report sightings of long - extinct species and alternative theories to the origin of humankind . We ’ve not missed out on red-hot UFO content either , so without further ado , here ’s our pick of the most controversial science stories in 2023 .
UFO and ‘alien mummy’ Congress hearings
In May , Congress deem itsfirst public hearing on UFOssince the 1960s to discuss 144 reported sightings of occult object . During the audience , two military official were questioned about their cognition of the unexplained phenomenon . The May hearing was be by another in July , in which three military witnesses claimedevidence of non - human technologies was being hiddenfrom the public . All three attestant said it ’s potential unidentified anomalous phenomena ( UAP ) are being plunge by alien interest in America ’s nuclear capability , testing for weaknesses in U.S. air Defense Department systems or conducting reconnaissance mission in American airspace .
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Mexico had its own extraterrestrial matter to deal with , after ajournalist bring out two " exotic " bodiesbefore the body politic ’s congress in September . Together with a military aesculapian Dr. , the diarist , Jaime Maussan , claimed that deoxyribonucleic acid tests evidence the bodies were non - human but not inevitably extraterrestrial . scientist tantalise to refute these claim and debunk them .
A person silhouetted against a projection of the ozone hole above Antarctica, which was the subject of a controversial study this year.
‘Anomalous’ metal spheres
This twelvemonth , a spectacular Harvard astrophysicist claimed that more than 50"anomalous " metal spheres pulled from the Pacific Oceancould be the piece of work of intelligent foreigner . Avi Loebclaimed the tiny pellets likely fall into the sea in 2014 , when a powerhouse shot across the sky above Papua New Guinea . Loeb indicate the blazing object could be a souvenir from another asterisk system and might harbor tracing of alien technology .
In November , several studies found that the metal spheres are more potential a by - product of burn coal and therefore probablycome from industrial befoulment on Earth . Loeb rebut these solution in ablog poston Nov. 15 . He argued that coal is non - magnetic and could not have been pick up by the instrument he used to drag the pellets from the sea . He noted that 93 % of the collected samples have not yet been analyzed and cautioned that scientists should not jump to determination .
Tasmanian tigers prowling the wilderness
Based on report sightings since 1910 , researcher suggested in March that Tasmanian Panthera tigris ( Thylacinus genus Cynocephalus ) live in the wild until the 1980s andmay still be prowl the Tasmanian wildernesstoday . These marsupials were thought to have gone out in 1936 , when the last known Tasmanian tiger died in captivity , but the research worker estimated the earliest date for extinction was in the mid-1950s — that is , if the coinage did go extinct .
However , the study was met with skepticism , as the finding were found solely on reported sighting of Tasmanian tigers . No carcass was ever found to indicate the coinage hang in in the wild , experts told Live Science , and the resemblance between Tasmanian tigers and dogs means people who reported sighting could easily have been misguided .
Contentious Brazilian dinosaur fossils
In May , paleontologists criticise a team of investigator in Europe after they published a written report on 115 million - year - sometime dinosaur dodo that had been unearthed by commercial diggers in Brazil then sell and shipped to Germany . The specimens belong to a carnivorous species associate toSpinosaurusknown asIrritator challengeri , which the new subject field suggestsscooped up quarry like a pelican .
The study authorsthought the fogey lawfully belonged to Germany , as they arrived there before 1990 , after which time Brazil began restricting scientific exports to other countries . But an older1942 lawstates that Brazilian fossils are federal property and can not be sell , entail the fossils may have been stolen . paleontologist , including the authors , consort the dodo should be returned to Brazil .
Semiconductor furore
This summertime , investigator in South Korea claimed they made a superconductor at elbow room temperatures and pressures , spark a ado of attempts to replicate the result . If verifiable , the find of a material able to carry electrical energy in everyday temperatures and without electrical electric resistance would open new technical window .
Butother expert cautioned the publish study was sloppyand not peer - reviewed . When they tried to replicate the findings , none of the fabric they make yielded indistinguishable results to LK-99 , the South Korean team ’s superconductor . Subsequent publicized attempt have also proven unsuccessful . Regardless of the effect for LK-99 , the announcementgave uprise to meaningful give-and-take on societal medium and elsewhereabout an region of scientific discipline unfamiliar to the general public .
Hominin fossils in space
In September , a Virgin Galactic place flight take in off from Earth with priceless and passing disputatious cargo : the fragmentary remains of two of our ancient relative , Australopithecus sedibaandHomo naledi . South African - behave billionaire Timothy Nash carried the hominin fossils to the sharpness of space in a cigar - shaped tube , induce an tumult in the scientific community .
relate : NASA may have unknowingly find and killed alien life on Mars 50 geezerhood ago , scientist claim
The permit to take the fossils on the flight , which was approved by the South African Heritage Resources Agency , enounce the goal of the mission was to push skill and bring spherical recognition to human origin research in South Africa . But experts criticized the undertaking because it lack a scientific intention , especially as a malfunction could have destroyed the fossils . Critics also noted the trip raise honorable issues surrounding the deference for human ancestral corpse and tainted the trope of paleoanthropological research .
A journalist unveiled two “alien mummies” in front of Mexico’s congress earlier this year.
Antarctica’s ozone hole
A study that claim the ozone hole above Antarctica is not recuperate as fast as we suppose and could be getting biggercame under fire in November , with expert criticizing the methodological analysis and impeach the author of cerise - clean data .
The closing that the denseness ofozoneat the center of Antarctica ’s ozone hole decreased by 26 % between 2001 and 2022 leave off several gene — includingthree consecutive age of La Niñafrom 2020 to 2022 , massive wildfires thatraged in Australia during 2020and water vapour fromTonga ’s huge eruption in 2022 — that would explain why the retiring few yr have been unusual , experts told Live Science . expert also interrogate the source ' determination to omit two years ' Charles Frederick Worth of data point , which they argued would have skewed the issue .
Overall , expert said , the issue were unrealistic and useless to infer much about global ozone retrieval trends .
A prominent scientists claimed metal spherules like this one may have an extraterrestrial origin.
Alternative origin story
A newly identified ape fogey from an 8.7 million - year - older site in Turkeyled scientists to positthat hominines — a chemical group that let in humans , the African apes and their fogy ancestors ( and different from hominins , which consist species belonging to the human lineage after it diverged from the ascendent of Pan troglodytes and pygmy chimpanzee ) — first evolved in Europe . This deviates from the conventional view that hominines originated alone in Africa and suggests members of this group scatter to Africa from the Mediterranean instead .
But palaeontologist point out that comprehensive analysis of great ape and early human proportional fossils do not support this argumentation . It ’s also possible that the newfound metal money , Anadoluvius turkae , migrated to the Mediterranean from Africa after develop there , rather than the other fashion round , expert told Live Science . Fossils like these are sparse in the African fossil record , and while that does n’t mean hominines were n’t there , it does rear inquiry about where the chemical group first evolved , they added .
Netflix documentary under scrutiny
Homo naledi — an ancient human congener that live about 300,000 days ago — became a lightning pole for controversy earlier this year after a enquiry squad claimed the extinct hominins deliberately bury their drained and engraved rock . These complex deportment , for whichthere was " no convincing scientific evidence,“were sport in the hit Netflix infotainment " Unknown : Cave of Bones " ( 2023 ) , which was released just days after the claim were put out in the journaleLife .
Related : Early human relatives purposefully craft rock into spheres 1.4 million years ago , written report claim
‘Curse tablet’ or fishing weight?
— scientist want to clone an nonextant bison unearth from Siberian permafrost . expert are sceptical .
— T. rex had thin sassing and a gummy smiling , controversial study suggests
— Debate settle ? Oldest human footprints in North America really are 23,000 years one-time , study retrieve
The last known Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus) died in captivity in 1936.
A postage stamp - size piece of lede wasdiscovered in the West Bankin 2019 , and this twelvemonth , some researchers come up that it carried the earliest - know inscription of the name of the Israelite deity Yahweh . The generator of the original paper called the artifact a " curse pad of paper , " based on their interpretation of the markings as calling on Yahweh to maledict his enemies . But others are not convinced , because they guess it present no word andmight in reality be a fishing weighting .
The controversial trail tablet bore no inscription on the inside , critic tell Live Science , just indentation get by weathering . The tablet closely resembles weights ordinarily used for fishing or birdwatch net income during the time the lozenge was dated to , between 1400 and 1200 B.C.
The original researchers respond to critics by sound out they are confident there is writing on the pad of paper and are working on a second paper detailing inscription on the folded tab ’s outside .
A reconstruction of whatIrritator challengerimay have looked like after a controversial study suggested the dinosaurs fed like pelicans.
The constant surveillance of modern life could worsen our brain subprogram in ways we do n’t fully understand , disturbing studies suggest
People really can communicate with just their centre , subject find
What are neuronal processing units ( NPUs ) and why are they so authoritative to forward-looking computing ?
A study published this summer claiming to have made a room temperature superconductor sparked a frenzy.
Fossils of ancient human relatives traveled to the edge of space in this tube.
A study that found the ozone hole over Antarctica is not healing as fast as we thought came under fire this year.
Fossils that led to the discovery of a newfound ape and human ancestor,Anadoluvius turkae.
A digital reconstruction ofHomo naledi, an ancient human relative that lived about 300,000 years ago.
A folded lead tablet discovered in the West Bank has come under scrutiny after researchers said it showed inscriptions.
