Sara Sharif: Adults sought over 10-year-old's death returning to UK
Three adults who police want to speak to over the death of 10-year-old Sara Sharif returning to the UK from Pakistan.
1970-01-01 08:00
'Earthquake lights' video seen moments before Morocco tragedy fuel age-old theory
With the tragedy and horror wreaked in Morocco last week, it's unsurprising that people’s focus hasn’t been on the skies. And yet, Friday’s devastating earthquake, has also sparked renewed interest in a mysterious aerial phenomenon. Footage shared to social media just moments before the 6.8-magnitude tremor struck the High Atlas mountains appears to show blinding lights flashing across the sky. Experts have suggested that the jaw-dropping sight is evidence of an enigmatic natural occurrence called “earthquake lights”. Reports of these bright flashes go back centuries. And yet, very little is known about them, to the point that scientists aren’t even sure they’re real. Indeed, some experts have concluded that there isn’t sufficient proof to support their existence, the United States Geological Survey notes. Nevertheless, “people have wondered about them forever," Karen Daniels, a physicist at North Carolina State University, told the New York Times. "It's one of those persistent mysteries that hang around and never quite get nailed." The issue with studying earthquake lights is that since earthquakes are impossible to predict, so are any preceding celestial pyrotechnics. Not knowing when or where they will occur means researchers can’t preemptively install the necessary equipment needed to detect them. Essentially, the only evidence we have comes from eyewitness accounts and, more recently, video recordings. And there is an abundance of the former, with a 2014 study noting that aerial luminous phenomena were reported in relation to 65 earthquakes which occurred in Europe and America over a period of 200 years. These descriptions of earthquake lights vary in their details, with some recalling on-and-of lightning-style flashes, and others minutes-long glows of different colours. “All of these have been reported by observers,” John Ebel, a seismologist at Boston Collegel told the NYT. “Which ones are actually true, and which ones are products of their imagination, we can’t really say.” One theory behind the formation of earthquake lights is that they are the result of friction between tectonic plates generating electricity. However, most experts are unconvinced by this hypothesis, including Dr Daniels. She told the NYT: “Rock on rock is not a situation where people have been able to generate large charge separation. And so it just doesn’t seem like a very good explanation for what people see.” Other scientists have suggested electrical arcing from power lines shaken by earthquakes could be responsible for the sky flares. But Dr Daniels acknowledged it’s still possible that there’s no link at all between the lights and tectonic events. “We’re comforted by things that we can understand, and we’re scared by things we don’t,” she pointed out. “I think that’s part of the reason we’re so fascinated by this phenomenon.” Sign up for 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.
1970-01-01 08:00
VW eyes job cuts at Zwickau plant on low e-car demand -dpa
BERLIN Volkswagen is looking at reducing staff at its plant in the eastern German city of Zwickau due
1970-01-01 08:00
IShowSpeed: Exploring truth behind YouTuber's leaked street fight video
While the quality of video was not very clear, the poster claims it shows IShowSpeed punching another guy as a crowd cheers him on
1970-01-01 08:00
Five of the most hilarious moments from the MTV VMAs
The 2023 MTV VMAs saw huge wins for Taylor Swift, success for the afrobeats genre - and as usual, plenty of hilarious celebrity moments. Megan Thee Stallion appeared to get into a bust-up with Justin Timberlake, which was later debunked as her just being way too excited to meet NSYNC. Meanwhile, Selena Gomez made her feelings about Chris Brown being nominated known, pulling a disgusted face as his name was read out thinking the cameras weren't on her. Gold. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter
1970-01-01 08:00
How tall is Travis Scott? Rapper very keen to contribute music to MCU's 'Blade' reboot
Travis Scott has gained a considerable amount of notoriety for his personal life
1970-01-01 08:00
IMF says global debt fell as share of GDP in 2022, may resume rising trend
WASHINGTON The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday said that the global debt as a share of economic output
1970-01-01 08:00
Lithium tech developers eye ways to boost water recycling
By Ernest Scheyder PITTSBURGH The mining industry is working to boost freshwater recycling while also developing direct lithium
1970-01-01 08:00
US inflation pressures stubborn as fuel prices rise
The US inflation rate was 3.7% over the 12 months to August, up from 3.2% in July.
1970-01-01 08:00
Citigroup CEO makes sweeping management changes to simplify bank
By Tatiana Bautzer NEW YORK Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser announced a major management reorganization that will give her
1970-01-01 08:00
JFrog Unveils Industry’s First End-to-End Platform for Accelerating the Build and Release of Secure Software
SAN JOSE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 13, 2023--
1970-01-01 08:00
JFrog Introduces Native Integration for Hugging Face, Delivering Robust Support for ML Models to Harmonize DevOps, Security and AI
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 13, 2023--
1970-01-01 08:00
