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HYDERABAD: The accident at the factory of Sigachi Industries at Pashamylaram in Sangareddy was not caused by a reactor blast but could have been triggered by a dust explosion in the dryer section, a top official of the Hyderabad-based company said on Wednesday.

"As we await the results of the investigation, we would like to clarify that the accident was not caused by a reactor explosion at the plant...," Sigachi said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday morning.

However, while interacting with mediapersons at the accident site later in the evening, Sigachi Industries managing director & CEO Amit Raj Sinha said: "It (accident) has nothing to do with any reactor blast. We don't use any solvents here. I believe a dust explosion took place in the dryer section, though the investigation is still on."

UFO Crashes & Coverups: The Alien Retrieval Files

Scopolamine, more chillingly known as “devil’s breath,” is a drug with a dual identity. In medicine, it’s used to prevent motion sickness and nausea. But in the criminal underworld, particularly in parts of South America, it has gained a dark reputation as a substance that can erase memory, strip away free will and facilitate serious crimes. Now, its presence may be sparking fresh concerns in the UK.

While most reports of devil’s breath come from countries like Colombia, concerns about its use in Europe are not new. In 2015, three people were arrested in Paris for allegedly using the drug to rob victims, turning them into compliant “zombies”.

Scopolamine, also known as hycosine, is a tropane alkaloid, a type of plant-derived compound found in the nightshade family (Solanaceae). It has a long history: indigenous communities in South America traditionally used it for spiritual rituals due to its potent psychoactive effects.

In modern medicine, scopolamine (marketed in the UK as hyoscine hydrobromide) is prescribed to prevent motion sickness, nausea, vomiting and muscle spasms. It also reduces saliva production before surgery. Brand names include Kwells (tablets) and Scopoderm (patches).

As an anticholinergic drug, scopolamine blocks the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which plays a vital role in memory, learning, and coordination.

In science-fiction stories, companies often mine the moon or asteroids. While this may seem far-fetched, this idea is edging closer to becoming reality.

Celestial bodies like the moon contain valuable resources, such as lunar regolith — also known as moon dust — and helium-3. These resources could serve a range of applications, including making rocket propellant and generating energy to sustaining long missions, bringing benefits in space and on Earth.

A longstanding debate centres on whether Article II of the treaty, which prohibits the appropriation of outer space — including the moon and other celestial bodies — also prohibits space mining.

The prevailing position is that Article II solely bans the appropriation of territory, not the extraction of resources themselves.

We are now at a crucial moment in the development of space law. Arguing over whether extraction is legal serves no purpose. Instead, the focus must shift to ensuring resource extraction is carried out in accordance with principles that ensure the safe and responsible use of outer space.

Recognizing the need for a co-ordinated global approach, the United Nations Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space created a Working Group on Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities. Its mandate is to develop a set of general principles to guide the development of the activity.

The development of a legal framework for space resources is still in its early stages. The working group is expected to submit its final report by 2027, but the non-binding nature of the principles raises concerns about their enforcement and application.

As humanity moves closer to extracting and using space resources, the need for a cohesive and responsible governance system has never been greater.

Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man (c. 1490) represents one of the most analyzed yet cryptic works in art history. While the drawing's symbolic significance as representing ideal human proportions has been extensively documented, the precise geometric system Leonardo used to establish the relationship between the circumscribing circle and square has remained mysteriously elusive for over five centuries.

The challenge originates from Vitruvius himself, who proposed in ‘De Architectura’ that the perfectly proportioned human figure could be inscribed within both a circle and a square, but provided no mathematical framework for achieving this geometric relationship. As Murtinho (Citation2015) documents, ‘nowhere in the Vitruvian treaty is there a clarification of the proportional system that establishes the relational factor between the square and the circle. This situation has led to immense geometric and symbolic speculation in terms of the search for and definition of the rules that will have guided Leonardo to the drawing of his Vitruvian man.’

This geometric question has attracted scholarly investigation for centuries because Leonardo achieved what Vitruvius only proposed – a precise mathematical relationship that successfully inscribes the human figure within both geometric forms. Understanding Leonardo's construction method has implications beyond art history, potentially revealing sophisticated mathematical and anatomical insights embedded within Renaissance artistic practice.

The object in question is currently at +18th magnitude, moving slowly along the border of the constellations Serpens Cauda and Sagittarius, right near the galactic plane. The object was captured on July 2nd by the Deep Random Survey remote telescope in Chile. The Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) based in Rio Hurtado made the discovery on July 1st. Sam Deen soon backed this up with pre-discovery images from worldwide ATLAS sites in Chile, Hawaii and South Africa from June 25-29.

This allowed astronomers to plot a preliminary orbit. That’s where things get really interesting: the object has an eccentricity now estimated near 6.0—the highest seen yet. An eccentricity of 1.0 or lower is a closed orbit, signifying an asteroid or comet on an elliptical orbit in our solar system.

This one is coming from interstellar space on a high inclination 175 degree orbit, perhaps originating from the thin galactic disk.

Professor Garry Nolan & Ross Coulthart: Full interview UFO UAP News

UCLA researchers have made a significant discovery showing that biological brains and artificial intelligence systems develop remarkably similar neural patterns during social interaction. This first-of-its-kind study reveals that when mice interact socially, specific brain cell types synchronize in "shared neural spaces," and AI agents develop analogous patterns when engaging in social behaviors.

This new research represents a striking convergence of neuroscience and artificial intelligence, two of today's most rapidly advancing fields. By directly comparing how biological brains and AI systems process social information, scientists reveal fundamental principles that govern social cognition across different types of intelligent systems.

Our models suggest that periods of habitability on Mars have been the exception, rather than the rule, and that Mars generally self-regulates as a desert planet.

When it comes to keeping a planet balmy and mild, it isn't enough just to start out that way—there need to be mechanisms for stability over time that can respond to changes on and around the planet.

Scientists think that Earth does this through a finely balanced system that moves carbon from sky to rock and back again. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere warms the planet, but warmer temperatures also speed up reactions that lock up carbon dioxide into rock, which eventually counteracts the temperature rise. Eventually, carbon leaks back out into the atmosphere via volcanic eruptions. Over millions of years, this cycle appears to have kept Earth relatively stable and hospitable for life.

On Mars, the researchers suggested, a similar cycle could also take place—but a self-limiting one.

Paper:

Carbonate formation and fluctuating habitability on Mars

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09161-1

Tire wear particles enter rivers and lakes primarily via wind and rain. These particles account for 50% to 90% of all microplastics that run off roads during rainfall. Furthermore, scientific extrapolations suggest that nearly half (45%) of the microplastics found in soil and water come from tire abrasion.

The concentration of tire wear particles in water bodies can vary by several orders of magnitude, ranging from 0,00001 to 10.000 milligrams per liter.

The particles contain a complex mixture of different compounds, including toxic substances: heavy metals such as cadmium and zinc and organic substances such as the ozone protection or antioxidant 6-PPD. If the tire wear particles end up in freshwater ecosystems, the pollutants are leached out there.

The article presents a previously unknown hymn in praise of Marduk, the Esagil, Babylon and the Babylonians. It contains unparalleled descriptions of the healing powers of Marduk, the splendor of Babylon, the spring borne by the Euphrates to the city’s fields and the generosity of the Babylonians themselves. The text survives in 20 manuscripts, from the 7th to the 2nd/1st centuries BCE, and it can be shown that it was a fixture in the school curriculum of the time. The author of this highly accomplished piece immortalized his devotion to his city, gods, and people in words that resonated until the final decades of cuneiform culture.

We cannot, of course, go back and sniff to find out. But the literary texts, physical remains of structures, objects, and environmental evidence (such as plants and animals) can offer clues.

So what might ancient Rome have smelled like?

Honestly, often pretty rank

In describing the smells of plants, author and naturalist Pliny the Elder uses words such as iucundus (agreeable), acutus (pungent), vis (strong), or dilutus (weak).

None of that language is particularly evocative in its power to transport us back in time, unfortunately.

But we can probably safely assume that, in many areas, Rome was likely pretty dirty and rank-smelling. Property owners did not commonly connect their toilets to the sewers in large Roman towns and cities – perhaps fearing rodent incursions or odours.