China Bans Time Travel

By Peter Farquhar

It's the basis for some of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time -- The Terminator, Back to the Future, Black Knight, just to name a few.

But if you ever find yourself in China wanting to check out what Bill and Ted were up to last week, forget it. Time travelling is banned.

In a bogus move by the Cultural Revolution-loving dudes at China's State Administration for Radio, Film and Television, it has been decided that TV shows that deal with changing history "lack positive thoughts and meaning."

"The time-travel drama is becoming a hot theme for TV and films," it says. "But its content and the exaggerated performance style are questionable."

Some observers claim the real reason behind the ban is that the recent rash of TV time travel dramas focus too much on perceived happier times in the past for its citizens.

No dice, say the administrators.

"Many stories are totally made-up and are made to strain for an effect of novelty," they claim. Time travel plots are made up? Go on with you.

No, it's true: "They casually make up myths, have monstrous and weird plots, use absurd tactics, and even promote feudalism, superstition, fatalism and reincarnation.”

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Balloon Man

If a butterfly flaps its wings in China, will it cause a hurricane in Texas? Probably not. Nevertheless, sometimes even our most innocuous actions produce consequences we could scarcely have dreamt of.

Take Tongmuan Pochailoet, for example. When he found a discarded helium-filled rubber doll trapped in the branches of a tree in August 2005, his only thought was that it might make a good scarecrow for his garden. So he took it home and tethered it outside his house in Doi Kam Village, Thailand.

The orange doll stood a metre tall and boasted an oversized head and tiny arms and legs. It kept stray ducks and chickens from invading Pochailoet's vegetable patch, and even frightened the local children away when its head nodded eerily in the breeze. Then on August 29, a storm swept through the village and blew the lurid scarecrow away.

Days later, Pochailoet heard that a diminutive orange alien had been seen romping through the rice fields of nearby Huay Nam Rak Village. And something about the little humanoid with the big bald head and tiny limbs sounded strangely familiar...

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The Huay Nam Rak Alien Encounter

Incident: As reported by local media online - September 10, 2005 09:35 pm

Chiang Rai- Mae Jan District residents were excited over the sight of the unidentified entity floating into the sky above the rice farm. They believed it was an extra-terrestrial being. Several groups of people have been visiting the seen. The district chief was still in doubt, as many of the villagers insisted they witnessed the entity but failed to identify what it was. Witnesses’ drawings were the only evidence obtained. Police were not yet able to find any proof of such incident.

In response to the news on the villagers’ witnessing an alien, our reporter visited Huay Nam Rak Village, Moo 5, Jan Jawa Subdistrict, Mae Jan District, Chiang Rai Province on September 9, 2005. There have been over 100 visitors per day gathering along the rice field to discuss about the incident.

The scene is a large wide green rice farm. The spot where the villagers claimed they had encountered the incident was in the rice field of Ti Kitkangbon, 69. A lot of villagers reported that on September 31, 2005, around 06:30 am, they saw an unidentified entity that looked like a doll, being 1 meter in height. Its body was light yellow. It had large eyes, large ears, and skinny legs. They had initially thought the entity was a scarecrow.

Around 10:00 am, on the same day, the unidentified entity floated into the sky, seemingly with some energy, and disappeared. The witnesses were shocked. They discussed about the incident in groups, believing the entity seen could be an alien like that in a Hollywood film. Unfortunately, the villagers did not have any camera to photograph the incident, so there was no evidence. They sketched the entity witnessed that looked like a cartoon character. Some of them said the entity looked like Casper the friendly ghost.

Sawaeng Bunratchasak, 51, resident of the particular village, said he was not drunk, and not using drugs when witnessing the incident. That morning he saw an unidentified identity that resembled a scarecrow. He did not take that seriously until Kamma told him that the entity had floated away and disappeared. He, then, became excited.

Kamma Pinsaimoon, 56, said that at the beginning he thought the entity was a scarecrow used by Ti, the rice farm owner, to keep ducks away. As he observed further, he found out that the entity moved around, and then realized that it was not a scarecrow. He watched it until 10:30 am when the entity stretched, floated above an electricity pole into the sky, and disappeared like a soaring rocket.

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Paper iPads hot sellers as Chinese honour dead

Death is no barrier to Chinese ancestors receiving the latest gadgets, with paper iPads, laptops and LCD TVs burned at gravesides across Asia to mark the Ching Ming festival this week.

Paper money, clothes, luxury cars and handbags have long been standard items for the Chinese festival, also known as grave-sweeping day, when replica offerings are burnt for the dead to use in the afterlife.

The latest tech hardware joined the list of items which went up in smoke this year, with many shops selling the paper offerings saying they could not meet demand for replica iPads.

"These are the bestsellers this year," said Chan, a shop owner in Hong Kong's busy Causeway Bay district, pointing at the black iPads that go for HK$25 ($3.2) each.

"They are the latest technology. Old and young customers love them because they are the newest models," said Chan, whose shop sells a range of paper offerings, including 42-inch LCD TVs for HK$60.

Another shop owner said high-tech items including iPads, iPhones, laptops and LCD TVs were sold out despite placing additional orders for the paper products.

"People have been buying like crazy, it's all sold-out," said the shop owner who gave her name as Yuen.

Demand was also strong in China and Taiwan for similar items.

"My father was a college professor. He was open-minded and accepted new things easily," Wuhan resident Hu Yuqin, who spent 876 yuan ($135) on a paper iPad and iPhone 4, told Chinese state media.

"I think the Apple products would make him happy," said Hu.

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Back-from-the-dead man is holding on to life

BUTTERWORTH: The 65-year-old man who came back to life after being dead for two-and-a-half hours on Thursday, in what is believed to be the first of its kind in the country, is in stable condition.

Ng Swee Hock, however, is still unconscious at the critical care unit (CCU) of the Seberang Jaya Hospital here.

“According to the state Health Department, the patient is still on a ventilator machine at the CCU,” Penang executive councillor Phee Boon Poh, who heads the state Health, Welfare, Caring Society and Environment committee, said yesterday.

Ng had stopped breathing at his home in Jalan Tok Elong, Tanah Liat in Bukit Mertajam, and was pronounced dead by doctors at the Seberang Jaya Hospital after he was admitted there at about 11am.

It was reported that although doctors did a CPR on him for 45 minutes, he did not respond.

However, Ng started to breathe again two-and-a-half hours after being pronounced dead.

Hospital director Dr Sukumar Mahesan said an independent board of inquiry into the case found it to be consistent with the Lazarus phenomenon (a spontaneous return of circulation after failed attempts at resuscitation).

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Indonesian clinic touts smoking as cancer cure

by Angela Dewan – Tue Apr 12

JAKARTA (AFP) – An Indonesian woman exhales cigarette smoke into the mouth of a gaunt, naked patient at a Jakarta clinic, where tobacco is openly touted as a cancer cure.

The Western patient is suffering from emphysema, a condition she developed from decades of smoking. Along with cancer and autism, it's just one of the ailments the Griya Balur clinic claims it can cure with cigarettes.

"I missed this," says the woman, a regular customer, with an American accent, as Phil Collins?s "I Can Feel It" blares in the background.

Griya Balur would be shut down in many parts of the world, but not in Indonesia, one of the developing-country new frontiers for big tobacco as it seeks to replace its dwindling profits in the health-conscious West.

Long traditions of tobacco use combined with poor regulation and the billions of dollars that flow into government coffers from the tobacco industry mean places like Griya Balur go unchallenged.

The "treatment" for the emphysema sufferer includes the blowing of smoke from "divine cigarettes" infused with "nanotechnology" to remove their cancer-causing "free radicals", through a tube into her diseased lungs.

Smoke is also blown into her ears and nose, while she holds a cup of aspirin over her right eye. The Phil Collins music, it seems, has no curative properties.

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2,000-year-old nails 'may be tied to crucifixion'

JERUSALEM — Two Roman nails dating back 2000 years, found in the burial cave of the Jewish high priest who handed Jesus over to the Romans, may be linked to the crucifixion, an Israeli filmmaker has claimed.

The gnarled bits of iron, which measure around three inches (eight centimetres) each, were shown to reporters in Jerusalem on Tuesday at the premier of a television documentary series examining the question of whether they could have been the nails used to crucify Jesus.

The series is to air from Wednesday in the United States, Canada and South America, and in Israel from May 15.

The two nails were first found in Jerusalem 20 years ago when archaeologists uncovered a family tomb believed to be that of Caiaphas, the high priest who handed Jesus over to the Romans to be crucified.

One nail was found inside one of 12 limestone coffins found inside the cave, while the second was lying on the floor of the tomb.

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Jordan battles to regain 'priceless' Christian relics

By Robert Pigott

They could be the earliest Christian writing in existence, surviving almost 2,000 years in a Jordanian cave. They could, just possibly, change our understanding of how Jesus was crucified and resurrected, and how Christianity was born.

A group of 70 or so "books", each with between five and 15 lead leaves bound by lead rings, was apparently discovered in a remote arid valley in northern Jordan somewhere between 2005 and 2007.

A flash flood had exposed two niches inside the cave, one of them marked with a menorah or candlestick, the ancient Jewish religious symbol.

A Jordanian Bedouin opened these plugs, and what he found inside might constitute extremely rare relics of early Christianity.

That is certainly the view of the Jordanian government, which claims they were smuggled into Israel by another Bedouin.

The Israeli Bedouin who currently holds the books has denied smuggling them out of Jordan, and claims they have been in his family for 100 years.

Jordan says it will "exert all efforts at every level" to get the relics repatriated.

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Beer brings horse back from the dead, owner claims

IT sounds like a load of XXXX but beer saved this horse's life after he was struck down with a bout of potentially deadly colic.

Diamond Mojo, a six-year-old Australian waler, had been given up for dead by his owner Steve Clibborn after being struck down with a bout of potentially deadly colic.

So, as desperate men do in desperate times, Steve turned to the bottle not for himself, but for his horse.

"I had pretty much kissed him goodbye," he said.

"I had spent 23 hours straight with him but nothing worked and then I remembered an old bush tale that said you could feed them beer.

"I don't know whether I really believed it or not but it was worth a shot and as soon as he had that beer, he burped and perked right up. So I gave him another couple."

Over the following days, Steve repeated the dose using Queensland's own XXXX lager until his prized endurance horse rediscovered his mojo.

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Indian Villagers Worship “Dog God,” Not Palindromes

Dogs are great for many things. They provide companionship, they greet you when you get home after a long day at work, and if you’re in India, they abolish the caste discrimination.

In the A V Halli village, situated in the Ramnagaram district of India, the Karnataka villagers of South India have taken to worshiping “Sri Naayidole Veerappa,” also known as “dog God.” The temple of the dog God is located right next to the temple of “‘Sri Veeramasti Kempamma,” a local village deity, and the villagers believe that the dog serves as the god’s lieutenant.

According to Rajesh, a devotee of Sri Naayidole Veerappa, ‘‘People come here and make wishes. They return to pay respects after their wishes are fulfilled.”

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Philippine priest in ancient battle with 'demons'

MANILA, Philippines (AFP) – A blood-curdling scream echoes through the Roman Catholic chapel in Manila as Father Jose Francisco Syquia says a prayer of exorcism over a Satanic cult member believed to be possessed by the devil.

"It's very painful," the woman cries in an unearthly voice, her body contorting in an attempt to break free from the tight grasp of Syquia's assistants. After a few minutes she falls silent, her limp body exhausted.

The case is among hundreds documented on video and kept by Syquia, who heads the Manila Archdiocese's Office of Exorcism -- the only one that exists in the Catholic nation of 94 million people.

"She would have levitated had she not been restrained," Syquia said of the woman in the video, portions of which were shown to AFP during a rare interview at his office in the basement of a seminary in Manila.

Syquia believes he is in the frontline of the battle between good and evil on earth.

"There is a great dramatic increase of possessions right now," said the 44-year-old priest. "More and more the demons are gaining a foothold into this society."

While non-believers often joke about the devil, and demonic possessions are trivialised by Hollywood, Syquia insisted the torment suffered by those he had healed was real.

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What is Tantra ? Is it Black Magic of India ??

Tantra (Sanskrit: ; "weave" denoting continuity), (anglicised tantricism or tantrism) or tantram (Sanskrit) is a religious philosophy according to which Shakti is usually the main deity worshipped, and the universe is regarded as the divine play of shakti and shiva. The word Tantra also applies to any of the scriptures commonly identified with the worship of Shakti.

Tantra deals primarily with spiritual practices and ritual forms of worship, which aim at liberation from ignorance and rebirth. The tantric movement has influenced the Hindu, Bön, Buddhist, and Jain religious traditions. Tantra in its various forms has existed in India, Nepal, China, Japan, Tibet, Korea, Cambodia, Burma, Indonesia and Mongolia. Although he cautions against attempting a rigorous definition of tantra, David Gordon White offers the following definition:

Tantra is that Asian body of beliefs and practices which, working from the principle that the universe we experience is nothing other than the concrete manifestation of the divine energy of the Godhead that creates and maintains that universe, seeks to ritually appropriate and channel that energy, within the human microcosm, in creative and emancipatory ways.

Part 1: The Basic of Tantrism

Tantra has been one of the most neglected branches of Indian spiritual studies despite the considerable number of texts devoted to this practice, which dates back to the 5th-9th century AD.

Many people still consider tantra to be full of obscenities and unfit for people of good taste. It is also often accused of being a kind of black magic. However, in reality, tantra is one of the most important Indian traditions, representing the practical aspect of the Vedic tradition.

The religious attitude of the tantriks is fundamentally the same as that of the Vedic followers. It is believed that the tantra tradition is a part of the main Vedic tree. The more vigorous aspects of Vedic religion were continued and developed in the tantras. Generally tantriks worship either Goddess Shakti or Lord Shiva.

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Lady Gaga Horn Growth Fuels Alien Debate

Of all the musical artists out there, few are of greater interest as topics of conversation in conspiracy circles as Lady Gaga. She has been declared an alien, a demon, the chosen face of the Illuminati, a dimension hopping tourist, an artist, and a scare monger - not necessarily in that order. But when she comes forward telling of bony protrusions pushing out from her head and reveals them during a photo shoot, it only stokes the flames of speculation that there may be more to this pop star than meets the eye.

The horns, according to Gaga, protrude from her skin when she feels a sudden bout of inspiration. The photos, which appeared both on her most recent Album's cover, Born This Way and in a photo shoot appearing in fashion resource, Harper's Bazaar. But the photos appear to show a type of horn protruding from the inside of her head. While Gaga denies having any surgery to create the unusual horns, she does state that they are temporary - appearing only when she is under the influence of what she calls "inspiration." This inspiration, as she has said in the past often comes from another source.

Already Gaga gained the attention of the UFO community after her most recent video alluded to a mythology to humanity that included an alien presence and even a race living within the human race. Symbolism has been present in her work for quite some time, though it often remains ambiguous and leaves many theorists disagreeing over just what they mean.

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3 Questions to Get Your Paranormal Investigation Started

Often when we're investigating a haunted house, there may currently be someone living there during the time of the investigation. Of course this makes permission all the more easily attainable over an old historic or abandoned residence, but it also means you'll get to interview them. But what questions should you ask?

Start with the basics. You'll know the obvious questions to ask: "Have you ever seen a ghost?" Of course they're going to want to talk about the story experience. But keep in mind the witness is going to want to talk about the story side of it. You may want some more technical information to help you try to catch the ghost in action either later in the day or at a later date. Ask questions about the technical aspects of the experience after they give you their narrative. These facts might be able to help you predict where the ghost will appear next and possibly when. And if not, it will still give you some guidance on where the investigation should go first.

*Where were you when the incident occurred?

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Witnesses Shocked to See Religious Statues Glowing, Talking, Moving

Reports are filtering in from Malaysia through social media and independent news sites that a recent incident involved hundreds of witnesses standing in front of statues of Buddha and seeing the statues emit light, move their mouths, and even their fingers.

The witnesses, unsure of what else to do, began documenting the phenomenon. This is certainly a strange one for the record books - and yet it has many concerned over the spiritual implications. The witnesses also reported seeing a strange bolt of energy floating into the statues before they started becoming animate.

The Pu Xian Service Center of Kuala Lumpur is no stranger to throngs of people passing through, but on the morning of February the 27th, the focus of attention was on a line of several statues bearing the image of Buddha which had allegedly begun to move.

And as witnesses started rolling film on the statues, what they found was that the strange phenomenon was quickly spreading. Witnesses reportedly recorded video of the statues moving their chest as if to breathe, and their mouths as if speaking. Other witnesses suggested at one point even seeing the hands of the statues moving slightly and the eyes opening slightly before closing again.

One of the Buddhas filmed could be seen emitting a strange blue light from its forehead, beaming out as if it contained a mysterious blue lightning within it. Of course reports of this same light entering the statue later came out, but thus far many of these sources are unconfirmed.

These reports, along with the video were eventually sent to Guang Ming Daily and strangely took a little over a month before finally reaching more than passing attention from western news outlets.

Could the statues have been providing a warning of an impending crisis - such as an Earthquake - to be felt in that hemisphere of the world? Or was this some strange form of manifestation from an entity of unknown origin?

Though we cannot say where precisely this strange phenomenon came from, it does seem significant that the events took place in front of so many people and in broad daylight - even continuing as video cameras rolled on.

Unfortunately, the videos themselves often leave much to the imagination. It does appear that something unusual is going on in the images seen on film, but several of the statues were filmed and later uploaded to youtube - and not all of them look like they're talking or moving.

The only thing that is apparent from these strange videos is that the witnesses surrounding the statues are clearly under the impression that something unusual is transpiring. As we look more into this case we will provide any further details as they appear. In the mean time we are left only with strange videos such as this which have received


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The Dyatlov Pass Mystery

In 1959, nine experienced Russian cross-country skiers - seven men and two women, including the leader, Igor Dyatlov - head to the Ural Mountains, to a slope called Kholat Syakhl (Mansi language for "Mountain of the Dead," ahem) for a rugged, wintry trek. On their way up, they are apparently hit by inclement weather, veer off course and decide to set up camp and wait it out. All is calm. All is fine and good. They even take pictures of camp, the scenery, each other. The weather isn't so bad. They go to sleep.

Then, something happens. In the middle of the night, all nine suddenly leap out of their tents as fast as possible, ripping them open from the inside (not even enough time to untie the doors) and race out into the sub-zero temps, without coats or boots or skis, most in their underwear, some even barefoot or with a single sock or boot. It is 30 degrees below zero, Celsius. A few make it as far as a kilometer and a half down the slope. All nine, as you might expect, quickly die.

And so it begins.

Why did they rush out, unable to even grab a coat or blanket? What came at them? The three-month investigation revealed that five of the trekkers died from simple hypothermia, with no apparent trauma at all, no signs of attack, struggle, no outward injuries of any kind. However, two of the other four apparently suffered massive internal traumas to the chest, like you would if you were hit by a car. One's skull was crushed. All four of these were found far from the other five. But still, no signs of external injuries.

Not good enough? How about this: One of the women was missing her tongue.

Oh, it gets better. And weirder.

Tests of the few scraps of clothing revealed very high levels of radiation. Evidence found at the campsite indicates the trekkers might've been blinded. Eyewitnesses around the area report seeing "bright orange spheres" in the sky during the same months. And, oh yes, relatives at the funeral swear the skin of their dead loved ones was tanned, tinted dark orange or brown. And their hair had all turned completely gray.

Wait, what?

The final, official explanation as to what caused such bizarre behavior from otherwise well-trained, experienced mountaineers? An "unknown compelling force." Indeed.

Here's the problem: All the convenient, logical explanations - avalanche, animal attack, secret military nuke test - fail. Russian authorities held a three-month investigation. Rescuers and experts picked through every piece of evidence. There were no signs of natural disaster. And if it was just an avalanche, why was the area closed off for three years following the event, and all related documents put in a secret Russian archive until 1990? If it was some sort of weird nuclear megablast (which I suppose may tint you orange, but won't turn your hair gray), what the hell happened to her tongue?

I love stories like this. I hate stories like this.

Sure, you want to go for the logical. Hell, who knows what hellish weaponry they were testing in the mountains in Khrushchev's Russia in the late '50s? Who knows what dark mysteries are buried in the landscape by the world's militaries as they test their dark deeds? The rule goes like this: Any weapon of horror and death man's mind can conceive, odds are gruesomely good the government or military has considered it. Or even built it.

This is both the joy and horror of stories like Dyatlov: They make your mind jump and bend and struggle. Logic fails quickly. Easy explanations don't work. Complicated ones feel incomplete. The creepiness takes hold, begins to burrow, make you squirm. Because the bizarre military-testing explanation? It fails, too.

So of course, you jump further. You reach for the paranormal, metaphysical, unknowable, to things like UFOs and spirits and ghosts, dark forces and mysticism and the occult, because, well, that's where the action is. That's where we get to touch the void, dance on the edge of perception, realize how little we truly know of anything.

After all, if you really think all there is to this world is what your five senses show you, if you think there's always got to be a logical, earthbound explanation for stories like Dyatlov, well, you might as well just join a megachurch and wipe your brain and your intuition and your deep, dark curiosity clean right now.

As Dyatlov himself might say, his skin orange and hair gray and eyes wide, you think you know, but you have no idea.

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8,000-year-old remains of early Anatolians discovered in Istanbul

Two skeletons dating back 8,500 years, making them the oldest ever found in what is now Turkey, have been discovered during archaeological excavations in Istanbul’s Yenikapı area.

“Such remains have not been discovered during the excavation before; these are the oldest graves in Anatolia,” said Dr. Yasemin Yılmaz, an expert on anthropology and prehistory, who expressed excitement about the find.

According to Yılmaz, the use of wooden blocks – preserved to this day – to cover the coffins makes them distinctive from other finds.

Since the excavations around Yenikapı, the site of the ongoing construction on the Marmaray tunnel underneath the Marmara Sea, started in 2004, many shipwrecks, amphoras, cemeteries and around 40,000 artifacts have been uncovered in the area.

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All About Dowsing

It's an ancient art used for finding water, buried treasure and even missing people. Here's what it is, how it works, the methods and tools - and how you can learn to dowse

A man walking through an empty field holding a Y-shaped stick before him in both hands can be a peculiar sight. What is he doing? Either he's leading some bizarre, solitary parade... or he's dowsing.

WHAT IS DOWSING?

Dowsing, in general terms, is the art of finding hidden things. Usually, this is accomplished with the aid of a dowsing stick, rods or a pendulum. Also known as divining, water witching, doodlebugging and other names, dowsing is an ancient practice whose origins are lost in long-forgotten history. However, it is thought to date back at least 8,000 years. Wall murals, estimated to be about 8,000 years old, discovered in the Tassili Caves of North Africa depict tribesmen surrounding a man with a forked stick, possibly dowsing for water.

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Terengganu museum 'not haunted'

KUALA TERENGGANU: The Terengganu state museum is not haunted, said its director Mohd Yusof Abdullah.

"It is far from being a rumah hantu (haunted house) and there is nothing to be afraid of," he said, adding that the museum was rich with cultural artefacts.

The museum department had been organising events and activities for the public especially students, he said yesterday.

Mohd Yusof was commenting on State Education, Higher Education, Science and Technology and Human Resources Committee chairman Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman's call for museum staff to improve marketing and promotions as the public, especially students, have a misconception that the museum is haunted.

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UFOs expected at royal wedding, says retired Air Force major

By ANI Thu, Mar 31, 2011

London, Mar 31 (ANI): A former Air Force major has said that the royal wedding is not only expected to be viewed by over a billion people around the world - but also by a few UFOs.

Former military officer George Filer runs the National UFO Centre and says it's common to see the extraterrestrials around important events, and is highly possible they may be watching the royal wedding too.

"The craft seem to have an interest in anything important. They've been sighted recently over Libya and near the Japanese tsunami," the Daily Mail quoted Filer as telling AOL News.

He says his UFO Centre tracks over 1,000 sightings each month and has been getting reports from British Royal Air Force pilots over the past few weeks, who reported seeing UFOs over the English Channel.

Filer is also expecting sightings around Westminster Abbey on April 29 because he says the royal family have shown interest in UFOs. (ANI)

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Yellow Rain Falls In Tokyo? Pollen Excuse Exact Same As Chernobyl Yellow Rain Lie

The Intel Hub, March 24th, 2011

While the Japanese government continues to say that the yellow rain seen in Japan was simply “pollen,” many have been reminded of a very similar occurrence after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Almost on cue, the Japan Meteorological Agency has confirmed the rain to be pollen after receiving hundreds of calls from concerned citizens.

The ‘‘yellow rain’’ seen Wednesday in the Kanto region surrounding Tokyo was caused by pollen, not radioactive materials as many residents had worried, the Japan Meteorological Agency said Thursday, reported the Japan Times.

That’s right, according to so called experts, enough pollen to cause hundreds to report their findings, rained down on Tokyo at the same time as a devastating nuclear disaster has released high levels of radiation at least 20km from the nuclear plant.
This explanation has reminded many of the yellow rain that hit after the Chernobyl disaster.

Similar to the explanation in Japan, government officials claimed that the yellow radioactive rain that fell in Gomel, Belarus was merely pollen and nothing to worry about. We now know that was a bold faced lie.

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US atom smasher may have found new force of nature

By Fabrice Coffrini

Physicists will announce Wednesday that data from a major US atom smasher lab may have revealed a new elementary particle, or potentially a new force of nature, one of the researchers told AFP.

The discovery is believed to relate to mass and how objects obtain it -- a persistent riddle to experts and one of the most sought-after answers in all of physics.

"There could be some new force beyond the force that we know," said Giovanni Punzi, a physicist with the international research team that is analyzing the data.

"If it is confirmed, it could point to a whole new world of interactions," he told AFP.

While much remains a mystery, one thing researchers agree on is that this is something beyond the "God Particle," or the Higgs-boson, a hypothetical elementary particle which has long eluded physicists who believe it could explain why objects have mass.

"The Higgs-boson is a piece that goes into the puzzle that we already have," said Punzi. "Whereas this is something that goes a little bit beyond that -- a new interaction, a new force."

For more than a year physicists have been studying what appears to be a "bump" in the data from the US Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, which operates the powerful particle accelerator Tevatron.

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'Idol' house reportedly haunted

By Kathy Hanrahan Posted: March 25

There were reports this week that the "American Idol" finalists moved out of their Beverly Hills mansion because they believe it is haunted.

According to TMZ, the contestants complained about bizarre flickering lights and a weird spider infestation. They also said that a sheet mysteriously floated by itself down a hallway.

There is no word on where the contestants are now living.

This story sounded familiar, so I did some digging.

Apparently, this isn't the only Idol house that is allegedly haunted.

Contestants during season 8 – The Anoop Season – said their Bel Air mansion was haunted as well.

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Scientist finds a whole new 'domain' of life

By Richard Alleyne

Living things are currently split into three branches or domains – eukaryotes, or complex celled organisms such as animals, plants and humans – and two simple celled microorganism divisions – bacteria and archaea.

But now a researcher working with the laboratory of the maverick scientist Dr Craig Venter claims he might have discovered a fourth.

Professor Jonathan Eisen, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California, has used complicated gene sequencing techniques to look at DNA collected by Dr Venter on a round the world yachting trip.

He found that some of the genes did not fit into the three domains and that he could possibly have stumbled on a whole new domain.

Trying to classify the new DNA has proved impossible and so Prof Eisen has published his findings in the journal Public Library of Science in the hope others can help.

"The question is, what are they from?" said Prof Eisen.

"They could represent an unusual virus, which is interesting enough. More interestingly still, they could represent a totally new branch in the tree of life.
"Even though we did not have the story completely pinned down, we decided to finally write up the paper to get other people to think about this issue."

One of the difficulties of trying to study novel genes is that it is hard to culture them to such a quantity to make them easily readable.

But Prof Eisen used methods honed by Dr Venter in his successful attempt to read the human genetic code.

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Man wears 1,000 amulets to ward off ghosts

A Thai man, who has an extreme fear of ghosts, wears about 1,000 amulets daily.

The amulets weigh about 30kg and is worth between 10 Bath ($0.40) and 200,000 Bath (S$8,340).

The 40-year-old supervisor of an electronic appliances company in Chiangmai said: "I have been very afraid of ghosts since I was young and have always dreamt that I'm possessed by spirits.

"I started wearing a few amulets 20 years ago and now, I have almost 1,000.

Although he is not so frightened of ghosts anymore, the man said he is now more worried about being robbed.

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The Sheep that Bores a Dog ( 生出狗的羊)

Vets say it’s impossible - but to Chinese farmer Liu Naiying his birth is a miracle.
For Mr Liu insists one of his sheep has given birth to a dog.

The 'puppy' has wool like a lamb but its mouth, nose, eyes, paws and tail look more like a dog's.

His 'sheep dog' even plays like a hound.

The birth has prompted thousands to flock to his farm in Shaanxi Province to see for themselves.

Mr Liu told how he found the unusual baby animal shortly after it was born in one of his fields.

‘I was herding the sheep, and saw a sheep licking her newborn lamb on the grassland. The lamb was still wet,’ he said.

‘When I went up close to check on the lamb I was shocked because it looked so weird, like a cross between a sheep and a dog.

Picture is (C) copyright to Dailymail


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Genetically Modified Cows Produce "Human" Milk

Earlier this month, China held an exhibition to showcase major technical achievements during its 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010). Among the wonders on display were photos of a herd of 200 cows that have been genetically modified to produce "human" milk.

Precise details of the bioengineering employed to adjust the composition of the milk these 200 cows produce are not available, nor is it clear exactly how closely the GM cow milk will resemble its human analog. According to the announcement in the state-run news outlet, China Daily, Li Ning, director of the State Key Laboratories for AgroBiotechnology at China Agricultural University, confirmed that the genetically modified herd's milk "contains the characteristics of human milk."

Li added that the cow-human milk "tastes stronger than normal milk" and explained that:

In ancient China, only the emperor and the empress could drink human milk throughout their lives, which was believed to be the height of opulence. Why not make that kind of milk more available for ordinary people?

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Grave find spooks residents

FOR more than 40 years, the grave remained undisturbed at the foot of a block of residential flats.

It was discovered on Monday when excavating works were carried out for HDB's lift upgrading programme. The tombstone indicated that the deceased, Madam Sim Seok Inn, died in 1971 at the age of 83.

Some clothes were found buried near the coffin. Some residents of Block 711, Yishun Avenue 5, were a little alarmed by the discovery of the tomb.

Mr Zali H M, 57, feels that while it was nothing to worry about, he would still try to avoid the area.

"I will walk away from the lift. Maybe walk around it," said the retiree.

He, like some others, asked: "Why is there even a coffin here?"

According to a spokesman for the National Environment Agency (NEA), the burial site of the tombstone "may have been where a cemetery was once sited and then exhumed for public housing development by the HDB in the late 70s to the early 80s".

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Lair of the Beasts: Strange Creatures of Sumatra

By Nick Redfern March 12, 2011

Adam Davies is a first-class investigator of all-things cryptozoological and monster-themed, and the author of the book Extreme Expeditions, which I most definitely recommend to anyone and everyone interested in knowing what goes on during a quest to seek out strange beasts in remote and exotic locations.

And, Adam has some excellent news to relate: later this year, he will be leading a team from Britain’s Center for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) to the depths of Sumatra – in search of a breed of mysterious, diminutive ape-men known locally, and collectively, as the Orang-Pendek.

So, it’s over to Adam for all the details: “Sumatra, and the Orang-Pendek, in particular, holds a special affection for me. Since I first visited this beautiful country, with its dense virgin rainforest and proud tribal people, I have always been fascinated by the Orang-Pendek, the ‘short man’ of the forests.

“I have no doubt the Orang-Pendek exists. Over the years I have interviewed many witnesses who have seen this creature. In 2009 the CFZ expedition was fortunate to have an eyewitness ourselves in Dave Archer. And Sahar Didmus saw one pinned against a tree, before it scurried away from us into the jungle. The experience so moved Sahar that he burst into tears.”

Adam continues: “Importantly, there has been a considerable body of scientific evidence that has been gathered to support the existence of the Orang-Pendek. For example, previous expeditions I have led, in 2001 and 2004, brought back both prints and hair samples. These were analyzed by various international experts, including Drs. Chivers, Meldrum and Brunner, who all came to the conclusion that they were from an ‘unknown primate.’”

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UFO hovers over Mongolian airport: Proof of alien visits

by Michael Cohen

Chances are your government does not want you to see the astonishing UFO footage below. Whatever it might be, observers will have a tough time coming up with an earthly explanation for this event.

The UFO seen in the clip was caught on film at Hot-Hot airport in Inner-Mongolia late last year. Witnesses allege the UFO came down from the direction of the sun. This is not the first time a UFO has been spotted at a Mongolian airport. In march of last year an airport in the city of Batou was closed for a few hours due to an unidentified airborne object entering the airspace above it.

It is probably the world's worst kept secret that major governments are hiding alien visitation from the public for fear of ensuing instability. Many will regard the footage below as definite proof that we are not alone and beings from other world are aware of our existence and are able to travel to our planet.

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'Poltergeist' caught on camera

A woman who insists that her house is haunted by a poltergeist has released a video clip of eerie happenings in her family home.

The petrified Manning family from Coventry started witnessing out-of-the-ordinary events two weeks after settling into the council-rented home last year.

Lisa Manning, a 34-year-old carer, goes as far as to claim that the resident ghost killed the family's pet dog Phoenix. A vetinary post-mortem suggested it had been shoved down the stairs.

She has since had to resort to exorcism to get rid of the ghostly problem after noticing lights switching on and off, pots moving, drawers opening and doors slamming shut.

Shooting the footage herself, an empty cupboard door appears to open by itself and a pink chair gradually making its way across her 11-year-old daughter Ellie's bedroom in the 52-second home video.

Eager to prove its existence, the mother-of-two told the Coventry Telegraph: "The priest blessed the house but said himself that we shouldn't live here, we definitely shouldn't stay. He gave me a small crucifix. The problem is because we can't see it, we don't know where it's going to be or what it's going to do. This is a horror house. It's like living in a scary movie. The worst thing about it is, even I can't believe what's happening myself."

She added that a medium said that spirits were using the house in Holbrooks as a portal to pass into our world.

Following the priest's visit, nothing paranormal occurred immediately.

Housing organisation Whitefriars confirmed with Yahoo! UK News that Miss Manning did report more mysterious experiences last week.

Whitefriars area service manager, Dave Round said: "We first met with Miss Manning in January and our staff have listened to her concerns in a sensitive manner. In February, after detailed discussions between Miss Manning and our staff, we agreed to arrange for a priest to attend the property, at her request."

"We have offered advice and support to Miss Manning on the options available to her for applying to move home and we are happy to continue to do this."

A spokeswoman from Bridge Group Limited told Yahoo! News today that there was no record of any other similar problems from previous tenants.

Watch the video and decide for yourself if it's fake or real.

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What ghost hunting equipment do I need?

Question: What ghost hunting equipment do I need?
"What equipment is recommended for ghost hunting?" asks Dylan. "My friends and I try to contact ghosts in my house, and we've had a lot of success lately! There have been misplaced items, banging on walls, apparitions in pictures, etc. We are also thinking of making a ghost hunting group of our own."
Answer: For an answer to this question, I consulted long-time paranormal researcher Stacey Jones, founder of Central New York Ghost Hunters:
When starting out in ghost hunting, there are a few things every ghost hunter should have. I think the most important one is having a partner. It's important to have someone to watch your back and help verify the evidence you observe and collect.

When getting equipment you should start out with a few key pieces:

A digital voice recorder is most important. Gathering paranormal evidence is mostly hit and miss, but when using a voice recorder, EVP (electronic voice phenomena) seems to be the easiest to get. You should follow protocol when gathering EVP so you can clarify the ghostly voices from your own.
A digital camera is also a good tool to use while ghost hunting. Sometimes a picture will reveal anomalies that are not seen with the naked eye.

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China: Tibet won't fall apart if Dalai Lama dies

By Alexa Olesen, Associated Press / March 7, 2011

Dalai Lama reincarnation: The Dalai Lama, who is regarded as 14th in a line of reincarnations dating to the 14th century, has at times insisted his successor would be born in exile, but he has also said the tradition could end with his death.

Tibet will likely experience small shock waves when the Dalai Lama dies, but a Chinese official said Monday that the government would not now allow any serious instability to rock the region.

Although the Tibetan region is quiet now, it was roiled by violent anti-government riots three years ago that killed at least 22 people and set off a wave of protests across Tibetan areas of western China. Beijing blamed the unrest on followers of the Dalai Lama, who it says are seeking to separate Tibet from China. The Tibetan spiritual leader has denied that, saying he is working only for a high degree of autonomy under Chinese rule.

In the wake of the riots, China closed off the remote Himalayan region, barring international tourists for about a year. On Monday, Chinese travel agents said they had been ordered not to allow foreign visitors into the region around the upcoming third anniversary of the riots. Foreigners heading to Tibet have always needed special permits in addition to their Chinese visas and must travel with tour groups.

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Police swoop to round up feathered gang who caused chaos for three years

Dawn breaks in Abington Drive and, for a moment, all is quiet.

Suddenly a rustling in the undergrowth breaks the silence. Then a clucking sound. (More like a bwwaaawk! To be precise). Then another. Then another.

By 4am the whole street is alive to the sound of chickens. Chickens in the road…chickens in back gardens… chickens clambering over parked cars and spattering them with chicken poo.

At one stage there were 50. For residents of this once peaceful suburban idyll, it became a living nightmare.

They called them the Wild Bunch. Locals were woken daily by the 4am cacophony and had to pick a path through clusters of marauding chickens whenever they ventured out.

Needless to say, feathers were ruffled in Banks, near Southport, Lancashire, where the poshest houses cost £400,000 and upwards.

There was only one thing for it. They called in the Chicken Police.

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Mating insects causing petai tree to 'weep'

KEPALA BATAS - The mystery surrounding the "weeping" petai tree in Kampung Lembah Raja here has been solved.

It was discovered that the water droplets from the 10m tree have nothing to do with divine intervention, but were merely the urine or liquid waste produced by a swarm of cicadas, known as riang-riang among the locals, which were mating on the tree trunk and its branches.

An expert on cicadas, Prof Dr Zaidi Mat Isa, dismissed the notion that the droplets had healing powers.

And he advised those who had been drinking the water to stop doing so although it did not have any harmful effects.

Zaidi, who has been studying the riang-riang species since 1990, retired from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 2006. He said the water droplets were most likely produced by female cicadas which got excited during the mating process.

"The water droplets could be in the form of pee, or produced as respiration from an excess of liquid consumed by the insects prior to the mating session," he said yesterday.

Zaidi said the volume of liquid produced by the insects depended on their numbers.

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