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2019 the US Navy filmed “SPHERICAL” shaped UFOs going into the water
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By NASA
u0022The really interesting thing to me is how time theoretically acts strangely around black holes. According to Albert Einstein’s theory of gravity, black holes change the flow of time,u0022 said Jeremy Schnittman, Goddard research astrophysicist. u0022So much of how we experience the world is based on time, time marching steadily forward. Anything that changes that is a fascinating take on reality.u0022u003cstrongu003eu003cemu003eCredits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Rebecca Rothu003c/emu003eu003c/strongu003e Name: Jeremy Schnittman
Formal Job Classification: Research astrophysicist
Organization: Gravitational Astrophysics Laboratory, Astrophysics Division (Code 663)
What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard? How do you help support Goddard’s mission?
I try to understand the formation and properties of black holes. I also help develop ideas for new missions to study black holes.
What drew you to astrophysics?
I always liked science and math. The great thing about astrophysics is that it involves a little bit of everything – math, computer programming, physics, chemistry and even philosophy to understand the big picture, the enormity of space.
I have a B.A. in physics from Harvard, and a Ph.D. in physics from MIT. I came to Goddard in 2010 after two post-doctoral fellowships.
Explore how the extreme gravity of two orbiting supermassive black holes distorts our view. In this visualization, disks of bright, hot, churning gas encircle both black holes, shown in red and blue to better track the light source. The red disk orbits the larger black hole, which weighs 200 million times the mass of our Sun, while its smaller blue companion weighs half as much. Zooming into each black hole reveals multiple, increasingly warped images of its partner. Watch to learn more.
Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Jeremy Schnittman and Brian P. Powell
Download high-resolution video and images from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio As an astrophysicist, what do you think about?
I think of myself as a computational physicist as opposed to an experimental or observational physicist. I write many computer programs to do computer simulations of black holes. I also do a lot of theoretical physics, which is pencil and paper work. I think a lot about equations and math to understand black holes.
What is most philosophical about black holes to me is not so much what people most often think about, that their gravity is so strong that even light cannot escape. The really interesting thing to me is how time theoretically acts strangely around black holes. According to Albert Einstein’s theory of gravity, black holes change the flow of time. If you could get close enough to a black hole, theoretically you could go back and forth in time. All our experiments and observations seem to indicate that is how black holes might behave.
So much of how we experience the world is based on time, time marching steadily forward. Anything that changes that is a fascinating take on reality.
Related Link: Gravity Assist: Black Hole Mysteries, with Jeremy Schnittman What do you tell the people you mentor?
I mentor undergraduate, graduate, and post graduate students in astrophysics. Since we are working remotely, I have students from all over the country. I help them with their research projects which mostly relate to black holes in some way. I also offer career advice and help them with their work-life balance. When possible, family comes first.
There are more people coming out of graduate school in astrophysics than there are jobs, so there are going to be many people who will not work for NASA or as a professor. Fortunately, there are a lot of other fascinating, related jobs, and I help guide the students there.
What do you do for fun?
I have a woodshop in our basement where I build furniture, dollhouses, toys, and other items for gifts. As a theoretical physicist, I don’t get to work in a lab. So it is nice to have some hands on experience.
I do a lot of hiking and cycling to exercise. I also enjoy spending time with my family.
Who is your favorite author?
Andy Weir is probably my favorite sci-fi author. I also love the epic naval historical fiction by Patrick O’Brian.
Who inspires you?
My childhood hero, who is still my scientific hero, is Albert Einstein. The more I work in astrophysics, the more he impresses me. Every single one of his predictions that we have been able to test has proven true. It may be a while, but someday I hope we prove his theories about time travel.
Also, I admire Kip Thorne, an American physicist from Cal Tech and recent Nobel laureate, who is “the man” when it comes to black holes. He is also a really nice, good guy, a real mensch. Very humble and down-to-earth. He is always extremely patient, kind and encouraging especially to the younger scientists. He is a good role model as I transition from junior to more senior status.
What is your one big dream?
I make a lot of predictions, so it would be exciting if one of my theories was proven correct. Hopefully someday.
By Elizabeth M. Jarrell
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Conversations with Goddard Conversations With Goddard is a collection of question and answer profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011. Read past editions on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage.
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Last Updated Feb 10, 2025 Related Terms
Goddard Space Flight Center Astrophysics Galaxies, Stars, & Black Holes Research People of Goddard Explore More
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By European Space Agency
Space is not the safest place to be. During spaceflight, both devices and humans risk exposure to high levels of radiation. Without sufficient protection, instruments would malfunction, and astronauts might face serious health risks. A team of researchers from Ghent University in Belgium are testing the potential of 3D-printed hydrogels – materials that can soak up large amounts of water – to serve as highly-effective radiation shields.
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By USH
In December 2024, reports began surfacing about strange events involving flashing streetlights house and building lights. These incidents, initially dismissed as isolated cases, have now been observed on a larger scale, spanning countries such as the U.S., Canada, and the UK.
Some observers theorize that drones or unidentified orbs might be responsible. These objects could emit electromagnetic interference, disrupting electrical systems and causing lights to flicker. However, no concrete evidence has linked these phenomena to drone activity.
Others suggest the lights could be a result of hackers targeting the power grid. Cybercriminals might be testing infrastructure vulnerabilities. While plausible, no definitive proof has emerged to support this explanation.
A more unconventional theory suggests that the flashing lights are a result of a phenomenon known as Streetlight Interference (SLI). Proponents argue that certain individuals, nicknamed "SLIders," possess psychic or psychokinetic abilities that unintentionally influence lighting systems. SLI remains scientifically unverified, with no successful replication in controlled settings.
Some experts believe it might be mechanical faults in the electrical systems or or fluctuations in the power supply. However, this theory seems unlikely due to the widespread and simultaneous nature of the phenomenon, which has been reported across multiple countries, suggesting it is not a localized issue.
Or is this phenomenon linked to extraterrestrial activity? Some argue that aliens might use electromagnetic propulsion systems, potentially interfering with electrical systems, akin to the effects portrayed in films like 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'.
Could the cause of these flashing lights be a harbinger of an impending global or cosmic event, or might it stem from something entirely beyond our understanding?
The two videos below show, besides the on going mysterious drones/UFO/orb sightings, several locations where street lights are flashing.
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By NASA
3 Min Read NASA Scientists Find New Human-Caused Shifts in Global Water Cycle
Cracked mud and salt on the valley floor in Death Valley National Park in California can become a reflective pool after rains. (File photo) Credits: NPS/Kurt Moses In a recently published paper, NASA scientists use nearly 20 years of observations to show that the global water cycle is shifting in unprecedented ways. The majority of those shifts are driven by activities such as agriculture and could have impacts on ecosystems and water management, especially in certain regions.
“We established with data assimilation that human intervention in the global water cycle is more significant than we thought,” said Sujay Kumar, a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and a co-author of the paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The shifts have implications for people all over the world. Water management practices, such as designing infrastructure for floods or developing drought indicators for early warning systems, are often based on assumptions that the water cycle fluctuates only within a certain range, said Wanshu Nie, a research scientist at NASA Goddard and lead author of the paper.
“This may no longer hold true for some regions,” Nie said. “We hope that this research will serve as a guide map for improving how we assess water resources variability and plan for sustainable resource management, especially in areas where these changes are most significant.”
One example of the human impacts on the water cycle is in North China, which is experiencing an ongoing drought. But vegetation in many areas continues to thrive, partially because producers continue to irrigate their land by pumping more water from groundwater storage, Kumar said. Such interrelated human interventions often lead to complex effects on other water cycle variables, such as evapotranspiration and runoff.
Nie and her colleagues focused on three different kinds of shifts or changes in the cycle: first, a trend, such as a decrease in water in a groundwater reservoir; second, a shift in seasonality, like the typical growing season starting earlier in the year, or an earlier snowmelt; and third a change in extreme events, like “100-year floods” happening more frequently.
The scientists gathered remote sensing data from 2003 to 2020 from several different NASA satellite sources: the Global Precipitation Measurement mission satellite for precipitation data, a soil moisture dataset from the European Space Agency’s Climate Change Initiative, and the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites for terrestrial water storage data. They also used products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer satellite instrument to provide information on vegetation health.
“This paper combines several years of our team’s effort in developing capabilities on satellite data analysis, allowing us to precisely simulate continental water fluxes and storages across the planet,” said Augusto Getirana, a research scientist at NASA Goddard and a co-author of the paper.
The study results suggest that Earth system models used to simulate the future global water cycle should evolve to integrate the ongoing effects of human activities. With more data and improved models, producers and water resource managers could understand and effectively plan for what the “new normal” of their local water situation looks like, Nie said.
By Erica McNamee
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
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Last Updated Jan 16, 2025 EditorKate D. RamsayerContactKate D. Ramsayerkate.d.ramsayer@nasa.gov Related Terms
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By NASA
If you ask Johnson Space Center employees why they work for NASA, many will tell you it was always their dream. For others, landing a job at NASA was an unexpected stop on their career path. Here is a look at where five Johnson team members worked before NASA and how they are helping to advance the agency’s mission today.
Michelle Wood
How it started: Michelle Wood working as an American Sign Language interpreter (left). How it’s going: Wood as a flight controller in Johnson Space Center’s Mission Control Center in Houston. Images courtesy of Wood Wood worked as an American Sign Language interpreter before joining NASA about seven years ago. Today, she is an Operational Support Officer flight controller and instructor in the Mission Control Center.
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Warnecke Miller
How it started: Miller is shown completing firearms training as a Federal Bureau of Investigation intern in the summer of 1998 (left). How it’s going: Miller emceeing a retirement celebration for a Johnson colleague in April 2024. Images courtesy of Miller Miller has been an attorney in Johnson’s Office of the General Counsel for 12 years. Before that, she served as an administrative law judge for Social Security and adjudicated disability cases.
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Celeste Budwit-Hunter
How it started: Celeste Budwit-Hunter is pictured as a school counselor (left). How it’s going: Budwit-Hunter with NASA astronauts Mike Finke, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore and her Procedures Group editorial team members in Johnson’s Space Vehicle Mockup Facility. Images courtesy of Budwit-Hunter Budwit-Hunter was a technical writer in the oil and gas industry before earning a master’s degree in family therapy. She went on to work for The Council on Alcohol and Drugs (now The Council on Recovery) and then as a private school counselor for students with learning disabilities. She returned to technical writing while starting a private family therapy practice. After several years of treatment and recovery following a cancer diagnosis, Budwit-Hunter applied to become an editor in the Flight Operations Director’s Procedures Group. She is now the group’s lead editor and is training to become a book manager.
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Don Walker
How it started: A photo of a young Don Walker standing in front of an Apollo lunar module mockup on the Johnson campus in the early 1970s (left). How it’s going: Walker’s official NASA portrait. Walker worked as a freelancer in television production before joining the Johnson team 38 years ago. Today, Walker is an engineering technician in the Office of the Chief Information Officer, working master control for the center’s television operations.
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Donna Coyle
How it started: Donna Coyle as a college student in Rome (left). How it’s going: Coyle outside Space Center Houston prior to the Expedition 68 crew debrief and awards ceremony in 2023. Images courtesy of Coyle Coyle earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations before switching gears to work as an expeditor in the oil and gas industry. That role involved working with cross-functional teams to ensure the smooth and timely delivery of equipment and materials to worksites. After visiting locations and seeing how equipment, piping, and steel were made, she was inspired to go back to school to become an engineer. Coyle’s grandfather worked at NASA during the Apollo missions, and she decided to follow in his footsteps. She joined the Johnson team in 2021 as a crew time engineer, analyzing astronaut time as a resource to help with decision-making before and during expeditions to the International Space Station.
Do you want to join the NASA team? Visit our Careers site to explore open opportunities and find your place with us!
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