By Marcia Dunn
NASA held its first public meeting on UFOs Wednesday a year after launching a study into unexplained sightings.
The space agency televised the hourslong hearing featuring an independent panel of experts. The team includes 16 scientists and other experts selected by NASA including retired astronaut Scott Kelly, the first American to spend nearly a year in space.
Several committee members have been subjected to “online abuse” for serving on the team, which detracts from the scientific process, said NASA's Dan Evans, adding that NASA security is dealing with it.
“It’s precisely this rigorous, evidence-based approach that allows one to separate the fact from fiction," Evans said.
The study is a first step in trying to explain mysterious sightings in the sky that NASA calls UAPs, or unidentified aerial phenomena.
The group is looking at what unclassified information is available on the subject and how much more is needed to understand what's going on in the sky, according to astrophysicist David Spergel, the committee's chair who runs the Simons Foundation.
No secret military data are included, such as anything surrounding the suspected spy balloons from China spotted flying over the U.S. earlier this year.
The meeting was held at at NASA headquarters in Washington with the public taking part remotely.
A final report is expected by the end of July.
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With two ships at sea, one recently allowed to dock, as quarantines are put in place, the WHO is communicating to countries to change the practice as the cruise industry insists it's able to ramp up its procedures to protect people from the health emergency.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus indicated the body's support has stemmed from the drastic actions China has taken, despite the obvious impact to its citizens and economy.
The oil and gas giant BP on Wednesday announced that it plans to take aggressive steps to combat climate change by becoming net-zero by mid-century — and pushing others to follow its example.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday, February 12, 2020.
The operators of a cruise ship that was barred from docking by four governments announced Wednesday it will finally land and disembark passengers in Cambodia.
World Health Organization's leader Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesys revealed the name of the disease currently afflicting China and other parts of the world: COVID-19 (a mashup of "Coronavirus Disease 2019).
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Xenex Disinfection Services has offered to ship out its germ-killing robots free-of-charge. But first, the San Antonio-based company needs assurances that China will respect its intellectual property.
China is reporting a rise in new virus cases, denting optimism that disease control measures which isolated major cities might be working. Japan is reporting dozens of new cases aboard a quarantined cruise ship. The mainland death toll has risen by 97 to 908.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, February 10, 2020.
