Latest news with #ALI
Axios
5 days ago
- Science
- Axios
Purdue's plan to find Amelia Earhart's plane
A research team supported by Purdue University is spending its summer preparing for a fall expedition to bring Amelia Earhart's long-lost aircraft home. Why it matters: The disappearance of the iconic Boilermaker and her plane, the Electra, on July 2, 1937, remains one of the aviation world's most captivating mysteries. But this team says it may have cracked the code. Driving the news: On the 88th anniversary of Earhart's disappearance, Purdue Research Foundation (PRF) and the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) announced a joint effort to recover the Electra from Nikumaroro Island in the South Pacific. The operation will confirm whether a visual anomaly seen in satellite imagery in the island's lagoon is actually the remains of the aircraft. Nikumaroro is approximately halfway between Australia and Hawaii. What they're saying:"What we have here is maybe the greatest opportunity ever to finally close the case," Richard Pettigrew, ALI's executive director, said in a statement. "With such a great amount of very strong evidence, we feel we have no choice but to move forward and hopefully return with proof." Flashback: Purdue president Edward Elliott recruited Earhart to work at Purdue in 1935 after growing concerned that women enrolled at the university were not completing their studies. Earhart lived in the then-new women's residence hall, served as a counselor and advised Purdue's aeronautical engineering department. Earhart planned to give the Electra to Purdue for further scientific research after piloting it to set a record for the longest-distance flight, but she never returned. Zoom in: The team is working on "a vast amount of circumstantial evidence" collected over the past 40 years that supports the idea that Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, did not crash at sea as originally believed. Instead, they think the pair landed and ultimately perished on the uninhabited island. Among the evidence is a 2017 analysis of human bones discovered on the island in 1940 that determined Earhart's bone lengths were more similar to the discovered remains than 99% of individuals, supporting the conclusion that they belong to her. What's next: The expedition is slated to embark from Majuro in the Marshall Islands on Nov. 5, spend five days on Nikumaroro inspecting what they believe are pieces of the plane, and return to port on Nov. 21.
Metro
04-07-2025
- Science
- Metro
Truth behind Amelia Earhart's missing plane may have been solved
A team of researchers believe they may have found Amelia Earhart's missing plane 88 years after she mysteriously disappeared. American aviation pioneer Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan vanished on July 2, 1937, while attempting to fly around the world. They had set off from New Guinea and were due to touch down on a coral islet in the Pacific called Howland Island to refuel, but they never made it. Despite several searches over the decades, and countless theories as to what happened, their plane was never found. But a team at Purdue University in Indiana now feels confident they have located the Model 10-E Electra aircraft at the bottom of the sea, off the small, remote Pacific island of Nikumaroro in Kiribati, almost 1,000 miles from Fiji. They said satellite imagery shows objects that they believe are theremains of the plane's tail, wing, and body sitting just metres from the shoreline. Artifacts from the 1930s and human bones had already been discovered on the island, which sits near Earhart's intended flight path. The island also matches the location where four of her distress calls were traced to. Richard Pettigrew, executive director of the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) at Purdue, suspects Earhart and Noonan may have miscalculated and ended up on Nikumaroro Island instead of Howland Island, which lies further north. Speaking to WISH TV, he things Earhart carried out a 'successful landing on the reef with an intact aircraft'. 'I think it's likely Amelia was planning to be rescued, refueled, take off again and make it to Hawaii and continue on to California to complete her journey,' he added. 'We know there are radio transmissions from her for a period of about 4 or 5 days. She was basically sending out SOS.' The human bones, discovered on the island in 1940, were forensically analysed in 2017 and found to have dimensions that matched Earhart's bone lengths more closely than 99% of the population. The period specific artifacts meanwhile, included a woman's shoe, a compact case, a jar of freckle cream, and a medicine vial. A further clue supporting the theory that Earhart's journey ended on or near Nikumaroro, is a photo taken just three months after the disappearance that appears to show the plane's landing gear on the Nikumaroro reef. A satellite image from 2020 shows what looks like the same object, which is known as the Bevington Object, in the same spot decades later. A team from ALI began researching Earhart's disappearance that year. Speaking about the latest satellite discovery, ALI said in a statement: 'This object in the satellite images is exactly the right size to represent the fuselage and tail of the Electra. 'It also appears to be very reflective and is likely to be metallic.' The team, which is calling the object Taraia, are now launching a new mission, named the Taraia Object Expedition, which will be carried out in three phases over several years. The first phase will be an on-site examination of Nikumaroro, the second will include a full-scale archaeological excavation and the final phase aims to recover what's thought to be the aircraft remains. 'We believe that the result of this Phase-1 field examination will probably be the confirmation that the Taraia Object is indeed the Lockheed Electra aircraft,' the team shared. 'This work, then, is likely to solve one of the greatest mysteries of the 20th century.' Among previous missions to the island was that of well-known ocean explorer Robert Ballard, who was supported by National Geographic. He carried out a systematic search of the deep waters around Nikumaroro but found no trace of the plane. However, ALI researchers said this doesn't mean the aircraft is not there. 'The plane ending up in the deep water is not actually a likely scenario, given what we know about the prevailing winds and currents along the northwestern edge of the island,' they explained. In 2017, the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) searched the island using dogs that detected the scent of human remains, but no physical evidence was found. Earhart was born in Atchison, Kansas in 1987 to a father who was a railroad lawyer, but later suffered from alcoholism, leaving the family often struggling for money. She left junior college early to become a nurse's aid and helped care for soldiers wounded in World War I and later started a premed programme, but quit after her parents asked her to move back home California. It was there she took her first flight as a passenger in 1920 and was entranced immediately, saying:'As soon as I left the ground, I knew I had to fly.' She started taking lessons, bought her first plane and by 1922 became the first woman to fly at 14,000 feet. More Trending Earhart was chosen as the first female passenger to fly across the Atlantic in 1928, and became celebrity overnight. Then in 1932 she became the first woman, and second person ever, to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic. It took her 15 hours, in which time she had to contend with mechanical issues, cold, tiredness and a drop of 3,000 feet on her descent. Despite the arduous journey, she gave herself another challenge, to fly solo nonstop across America, which she successfully completed in 19 hours and five minutes. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Melania Trump joins Donald in welcoming Gaza hostage who was 'very important' to her MORE: What is Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' and what does it mean for Americans? MORE: How one skeleton upended how historians view Ancient Egypt
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
‘Maybe the greatest opportunity ever': Researchers announce new expedition to locate Amelia Earhart's lost plane
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WGN) — Nearly 90 years after Amelia Earhart mysteriously disappeared while attempting to circumnavigate the globe, researchers have announced a new expedition to locate the aviation pioneer's lost aircraft. On Wednesday, (PRF) and (ALI) announced 'the Taraia Object Expedition,' a joint effort to locate Earhart's lost aircraft. According to the PRF, the expedition is expected to get underway in November of 2025 and will begin with a visit to the site of the visual anomaly known as the 'Taraia Object,' which researchers believe may possibly be the remains of the Lockheed Model 10E Electra, also known as the the 'flying laboratory,' flown by Earhart and Fred Noonan during their 1937 journey. 'What we have here is maybe the greatest opportunity ever to finally close the case,' ALI executive director Richard Pettigrew said. 'With such a great amount of very strong evidence, we feel we have no choice but to move forward and hopefully return with proof. I look forward to collaborating with Purdue Research Foundation in writing the final chapter in Amelia Earhart's remarkable life story.' Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines The 'Taraia Object' is the commonly used name for a visual anomaly spotted in the lagoon of Nikumaroro Island in the South Pacific Ocean. Researchers first became aware of the Taraia Object in 2020 after it was spotted in an Apple Maps satellite image. After learning about it, researchers began studying satellite images taken between 2009 and 2021 and discovered that the object first became visible in satellite images around April 27, 2015, shortly after Tropical Cyclone Pam passed by the island. According to researchers, a vast amount of circumstantial evidence amassed largely by the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery supports the 'Nikumaroro' hypothesis, which posits that Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, did not crash at sea but instead landed on an uninhabited island where they were marooned. Additional evidence that supports this hypothesis includes radio bearings that were recorded from radio transmissions at the time by the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard and Pan American World Airways, which converge on Nikumaroro; artifacts dating to the 1930s that were found on the island, like a woman's shoe, a compact case, a freckle cream jar and a medicine vial; A 2017 analysis of human bones discovered on the island in 1940, which determined Earhart's bone lengths were more similar to the discovered bones than 99% of individuals; the Bevington Object, a photographic anomaly captured shortly after the plane's disappearance, which appears to represent a piece of the plane's landing gear on the Nikumaroro reef. The historic expedition is set to embark from Majuro in the Marshall Islands on Nov. 5. Crews will spend five days on Nikumaroro to inspect the Taraia Object, before returning to port on Nov. 21. If it is successful in confirming the identity of the aircraft, the PRF and ALI will return to Nikumaroro for larger excavation efforts in 2026 to uncover and help return what remains of Earhart's plane. LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland Purdue's role in the expedition highlights the contributions Earhart made to the university. Earhart had begun working for the university after Purdue President Edward Elliott became concerned that the women enrolled at the university were not completing their educations. He later hired her to serve as a counselor on careers for women, advise Purdue's aeronautical engineering department and allow her to enjoy access to the resources of Purdue's new airport. The PRF later funded Earhart's 'flying laboratory,' Lockheed Electra 10E airplane, through the Amelia Earhart Fund for Aeronautical Research. Upon her return, Earhart had intended to give the plane to Purdue for research, but it never made it home and now researchers are looking for a conclusion to the nearly century-long story. 'Both Earhart and her husband and manager, George Putnam, expressed their intention to return the Electra to Purdue after her historic flight,' senior vice president and general counsel of Purdue University, Steven Schultz, said. 'Based on the evidence, we agree with ALI that this expedition offers the best chance not only to solve perhaps the greatest mystery of the 20th century, but also to fulfill Amelia's wishes and bring the Electra home.' ALI's subscription video platform, , will be used to share updates on the project. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Post
02-07-2025
- Science
- New York Post
Purdue-backed team to search for Amelia Earhart's lost plane in remote Pacific island
Purdue University researchers are sending a new expedition team to find Amelia Earhart's missing plane based on evidence that it may have crashed in a remote island in the South Pacific. The University, which had employed the iconic aviator and helped fund her historic flight 88 years ago, announced Wednesday it will team up with the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) to send researchers to the Nikumaroro island in November to investigate the mysterious 'Taraia Object.' The object was first flagged in satellite photos following an intense tropical cyclone in 2015, with ALI believing it is the main body of Earhart's Lockheed 10-E Electra, which disappeared on July 2, 1937, during her ill-fated attempt to fly around the world. 6 Purdue University marked the 88th anniversary of Amelia Earhart's disappearance with a renewed effort to find her missing plane. Bettmann Archive 6 Researchers believe satellite images of the Nikumaroro Island following a powerful 2015 storm depicted images of Earhart's plane. 'What we have here is maybe the greatest opportunity ever to finally close the case,' ALI executive director Richard Pettigrew said in a statement. 'With such a great amount of very strong evidence, we feel we have no choice but to move forward and hopefully return with proof,' he added. 'I look forward to collaborating with Purdue Research Foundation in writing the final chapter in Amelia Earhart's remarkable life story.' Nikumaroro lies between Hawaii and Fiji near the center of the Pacific Ocean, Pettigrew has believed for years that the island hides the secret to Earhart's disappearance. Despite previous trips to the island, with turned up human remains in 2017, there is still no conclusive evidence that Earhart had landed there, and the Taraia Object has yet to be located since the shifting sands caused it to vanish. 6 Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic in a solo venture. AFP via Getty Images 6 The aviator was attempting to fly around the world when she disappeared in 1937 on her way to the Howland Island. Purdue, however, said it is committed to the search, which will embark from the Marshall Islands on Nov. 5 and allow researchers to spend five days on Nikumaroro to search for clues. If the initial expedition proves successful, the university said a larger excavation effort will be put in motion to retrieve the remains of the plane next year. 'Purdue Research Foundation began its commitment to Earhart's aeronautical explorations in 1935,' Purdue Research Foundation CEO Chad Pittman said. 6 Earhart was employed at Purdue university as a career counselor and aeronautical engineering adviser. CAMERA PRESS/ Retna Ltd. 'By embarking on this joint partnership with ALI, we hope to come full circle on our support of Earhart's innovative spirit, solve one of history's biggest mysteries, and inspire future generations of aviators, adventurers, innovators and Boilermakers.' Earhart, the first woman to fly over the Atlantic in a solo trip, began working at Purdue in 1935 as a career counselor for women and an adviser to its aeronautical engineering department. Then-University President Edward Elliott invited the aviator to the school to inspire female students to complete their educations and pursue careers, just as Earhart had done. 6 Richard Pettigrew, the executive director of the Archaeological Legacy Institute, will join the trip to Nikumaroro in November. Earhart remained with the school until her 1937 disappearance aboard the Electra, along with navigator Fred Noonan. The pair had set off from Lae, Papua New Guinea, with plans to refuel on Howland Island before continuing their journey to Honolulu and their final destination of Oakland, Calif, but faced a strong headwind in Lae when Earhart's radio transmissions eventually went silent. The US Navy and Coast Guard conducted a 16-day search for the missing duo without success, and Earhart was officially declared dead on Jan. 5, 1939.
Epoch Times
23-05-2025
- Epoch Times
AI in Schools Would ‘Dehumanise' Classroom Interactions, Education Specialist Warns
An education specialist has warned the use of artificial intelligence in schools would dehumanise classroom interactions and increase children's digital overload. Christopher McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education (CRE), told The Epoch Times that educators tend to embrace technology because they see it as an improvement; however, they have not fully considered the implications of education-enhanced AI. Some of these concerns involve how it would reduce the elements of human interaction that are integral to the learning experience. 'AI dehumanises the traditional classroom interaction between a teacher and the children, but also between the children themselves. That's all taken away,' McGovern said. McGovern, a retired head teacher and former adviser to the policy unit at 10 Downing Street, made the comments in the context of the education sector exploring the ways in which AI can aid pupils in the classroom and teachers with administration. The Ada Lovelace Institute (ALI), a research centre which aims to ensure that technology works for the benefit of society, Related Stories 5/7/2025 4/28/2025 David Game College, a private school in London, Children Could Reject AI Younger generations who have have grown up in a world of technology would reasonably be expected to be the most open to AI taking over the classroom. But according to the ALI, that is not necessarily going to be the case. In its 'The importance of the pupil-teacher relationship matters as much to the pupil as it does to the teacher,' the think tank observed. Similarly, teachers who were invited by the DfE to test a proof-of-concept AI marking tool '[Pupils] want you to read their work. They want you to know and understand who they are as an individual. They want to impress you often. They want to interest you in who they are,' one secondary school teacher said in feedback to the department. Tech Overload McGovern said he does recognise that AI can be used constructively in certain situations and has the capacity to match learning tasks to the individual needs of pupils. However, he said that if schools are going to introduce AI into a classroom, the use of technology needs to be reduced elsewhere. The educator warned that AI would contribute to the 'massive overload' of technology that is already impacting children, not least since smartphones and social media have become such a prominent part of young peoples' lives. 'It's an overdose of AI which is going to be the problem. As we are going further along the path overdosing our children, they become increasingly addicted to their screens,' he said, adding it could be a further detriment to children's mental health. Teachers Already Using AI Despite there being few education-specific AI tools available, teachers are using generic AI products like ChatGPT in administrative tasks. In 2023, 42 percent of teachers in England File photo of a maths exam in progress at Pittville High School, Cheltenham, England, on March 2, 2012. David Davies/PA Wire ALI has pointed out that using generic products comes with its own problems, including generating content that is not age-appropriate or relevant to the curriculum. AI can also 'hallucinate,' producing inaccurate outputs that it presents as facts. The DfE has Schools can also set their own rules on AI use—including whether and how pupils can use it—as long as they follow legal requirements around data protection, child safety, and intellectual property. The DfE is already supporting Concerns Over Cheating Last month, a survey of school support staff who belong to the GMB union Cheating is not a new phenomenon, but educators have said that generative AI has made it much easier for children to do so, particularly in non-supervised assignments like coursework. Education specialist Tom Richmond told The Epoch Times, 'Coursework was already recognised as an unreliable form of assessment well before ChatGPT came along, but it is now abundantly clear that unsupervised assignments cannot be treated as a fair and trustworthy form of assessment.' Richmond, the former director of the EDSK think tank, said that it is not possible to say with certainty how many children are using AI to cheat, as there are no reliable detection tools available to schools and colleges. He added, 'No form of assessment is immune to cheating, but some assessments are much harder to manipulate than others.' 'The most obvious way to reduce cheating is for schools to change the types of tasks and assessments that they set for pupils. Any task and assessment completed at home without supervision is now wide open to cheating, so schools can switch to more in-class assessments to prevent cheating,' he added. File photo of Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, dated Feb. 03, 2025. Lucy North/PA Wire An EDSK report from 2023 £1 Million for EdTech The government has a wider strategy to advance the usage of AI, including in education. On Monday, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson In her speech at the Education World Forum, she confirmed that the department's new Content Store Project will see curriculum guidance, teaching resources, lesson plans, and anonymised pupils' work made available to AI companies to train their tools 'so that they can generate top quality content for use in our classrooms.' However, she emphasised that EdTech 'can't replace great teachers' and that 'AI isn't a magic wand.' She also said the DfE will be working closely with international partners in the development of global AI guidelines for generative AI in education, in order to shape 'the global consensus on how generative AI can be deployed safely and effectively to boost education around the world.' The UK will host an international summit on generative AI in education in 2026.
