Ancient Chariots of Alien Gods: The Great Vimana Controversy

by Micah Hanks

The ancient Hindu epics are rife with tales of the strange and fantastic. Elements described within consist of elaborate tales of massive wars, superheroes, and gods that walk alongside common mortals. And yet, perhaps no subject hailing from the Sanskrit fables has captured the minds of ancient mystery proponents better than the flying vehicles of ancient India, known today as vimanas.

Vimanas are, without question, mentioned throughout many of the ancient Vedic texts, proving they certainly are not a concept that originates entirely from recent times; but if not sophisticated avionics of the modern variety, what then might they have been? Could it be possible that some elements regarding the vimana mystery–specifically our interpretation of these objects as technologically advanced aircraft that existed in ancient India–could be a result of our own desire to superimpose modern themes and ideas into the framework of the ancient Indian epics?

Before we get to the discussion of flying craft, there are a few things we must look at first with regard to the exact meaning of what a “vimana” is, in order to better unravel why I feel there may be misinterpretation associated with their presence in literature. One thing that we must take into consideration is that “vimana” is a word used to describe a number of things in a variety of different contexts throughout the Vedas. For instance, vimana can translate to mean the innermost sanctuary of a Rama temple (sometimes called an “adytum,” though this word actually has its origins in the Greek, rather than the Sanskrit). A variety of different temples, palaces, shrines, towers, and other structures associated with kings, emperors and divinity were also called “vimanas” in the Vedas, roughly translated to mean “a god’s palace.”

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Iran’s Flying Saucer Downed U.S. Drone, Engineer Claims

Late last month, Iran put on display what it insisted was a captured American stealth drone. At the time, Tehran claimed it brought down the RQ-170 with a sophisticated electronic attack. Nonsense, says one Iranian engineer who claims to have inside knowledge of the drone-nab. The Islamic Republic used force fields and flying saucers to subdue and capture the unmanned aircraft.

Meet Mehran Tavakoli Keshe, who purports to be the father of the RQ-170 abduction. In a recent post to his eponymous foundation’s online forums, Keshe claims the Iranians used “advanced space technology” that he pioneered. “The craft has been air-picked-up and been put down on its belly through the use of field forces,” Keshe writes — by which he means force fields. It’s feeling a lot like Tinfoil Tuesday, our weekly round-up of the planet’s most insane conspiracy theories.

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Faith and logic don't always mix

Bangkok (The Nation/ANN) - Nobody should be surprised that the ongoing move to abolish or at least amend the controversial lese majeste law is meeting with staunch opposition from many royalists, who hold an almost |god-like regard towards His Majesty and the institution of |the monarchy.

This is despite the fact that Buddhism - the religion that most Thais follow - teaches us to question everything, even the Buddha. Maybe this left some people with the need to have an unwavering faith in an almost divine-like figure.

The lese majeste law and widespread media self-censorship has ensured that society only consumes positive reports about the Palace.

Many royalists have been adhering to the King's teachings and beliefs, as well as sharing them with the public over the past few decades.

As in any monotheistic religion, a nemesis to God is needed, and while previously it was the vague idea of communism, it has now manifested as republicanism under the leadership of Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin, the ousted, convicted and fugitive former premier, has taken the form of a satanic figure, if not Satan himself, to most royalists.

As for the red-shirt devils who follow this Satan, they are being kept in jail, out of power, forced into exile or getting re-educated into becoming "believers".

The royalists don't just oppose Thaksin, they "hate" him, as Tul Sitthisomwong, a staunch lover |of the monarchy, told BK Magazine recently.

He said his fellow |"believers" are paranoid about Thaksin, and consider his little |sister, Prime Minister Yingluck, a threat to their "religion".

It appears as if they are all afflicted with Thaksinophobia - a belief that all evil in Thailand begins and ends with Thaksin.

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Is it rational to believe in God?

Banda Aceh, Indonesia (The Jakarta Post/ANN)- The world's most famous physicist Prof. Stephen Hawking has declared that God does not exist.

Hawking joins the opinion of several other world-class scientists like Richard Dawkins, Peter Atkins, James Watson, Victor Stenger and many others who deny the existence of God in the name of the latest advancements in physics, biology and other scientific domains.

The so-called "New Atheism" (championed by Richard Dawkins) sees God as a delusion, a by product of the mind of superstitious and scientifically uneducated people.

"Because there is a law like gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing ... Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists and why we are here". This is the conclusion of The Grand Design, Hawking's latest book.
Hawking's assertion is based on the predictions of his famous M-theory. But is Hawking's theory really an ultimate explanation? Has the grand master of physics checkmated the grand master of the universe? Let's examine things in more detail.

Einstein's theory of relativity says that time is not the same for everyone but is "relative" to how fast one is moving. At variable speeds or in the presence of weak and strong gravity time behaves elastically, it can stretch and shrink and even stop.

This phenomenon has been observed by measuring the rate of atomic clocks mounted on supersonic jet planes moving at different speeds at various distances from the Earth's surface.
Under extreme gravity like at the moment of the birth of the universe (the big bang), gravity was so intense that time was "compressed" to a zero point. Not only space but time itself was born at that moment. There was no "before".

Hawking states that a "law of gravity" exists and this (not God) creates the universe. Hawking surely also believes that gravity itself exists (since a law of gravity without "gravity" to describe would be meaningless). Now, if we say that X creates Y, we must presuppose the existence of X in the first place to bring Y into existence. Likewise, we must presuppose the existence of gravity to bring the universe into existence.

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Strange lights seen in the night sky over Pasir Ris

STOMPer Li Ying noticed a pair of unexplained lights that were moving around the Pasir Ris area.

Said the STOMPer:

"These two lights were seen near some of the HDB flats at Pasir Ris.

"They would move left and right, then dim out and become bright again.

"The entire incident lasted for more than 15 minutes.

"That's too much time for an aeroplane to fly close to a block of flats right?"

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An impossible visitor arrives in Tokyo

Source: http://beforeitsnews.com

A curious incident took place in Tokyo, Japan during the early 1990s: a man arrived on a flight with a passport from a non-existent country.

The man expressed anger and shock when Japanese customs officials detained him. Although the officials checked their records carefully, the passport had been issued by a country that did not exist. No record showed the country had ever existed.

Although passports exist issued by non-existent countries (known as camouflage passports), this passport was real and had custom officials' stamps on various pages including stamps by Japanese customs officials from previous visits.

The man was well-traveled, caucasian, said the country was in Europe and had existed for almost 1,000 years. He carried legal currency from several European countries, an international drivers license and spoke several languages.

Finally, indignant, he demanded a meeting with higher government authorities. He was convinced some massive practical joke was being played on him.

After being detained for almost 14 hours in a small security room at the airport terminal, some government officials took pity on him and transported him to a hotel. They ordered the mystery visitor to wait there until they decided what to do about the matter. From the reports, the Japanese were just as confused and flustered as the mysterious man without a country.

Although two immigration officials were posted with instructions not to permit the man to leave his room, the next morning the guards discovered he was gone. The only exit was the door they watched and the only window had no outside ledge and was 15 stories above a busy downtown street.

The authorities launched an intensive manhunt throughout Tokyo for the mysterious traveler, but finally gave up the hunt.

The man was never seen again.

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Alien Hybrid Or Starchild Discovered In China?

A boy has stunned medics with his ability to see in pitch black with eyes that glow in the dark.

Doctors have studied Nong Youhui's amazing eyesight since his dad took him to hospital in Dahua, southern China, concerned over his bright blue eyes.

Dad Ling said: "They told me he would grow out of it and that his eyes would stop glowing and turn black like most Chinese people but they never did."

Medical tests conducted in complete darkness show Youhui can read perfectly without any light and sees as clearly as most people do during the day.

Could Nong Youhui be a Hybrid or Starchild? A new and growing generation of extraordinary and gifted children are springing up across our planet, is the human species evolving, or possibly our Extraterrestrial visitors tinkering with our DNA? As always you decide.

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Spooky West: Mysterious Jurong Well

by Master Oregon Chang and team members

Quote from Master Oregon Chang: I recall when I was young my father used to tell me stories of his youth. One story about the old village where my father stayed was quite interesting. Thus, I decided to find out more about it.

This so called village has been abandoned for many years and now lies in ruins. There were rumours that there was an old well somewhere in this village and it was haunted by a female ghost. This was interesting enough to warrant Team Asia Paranormal to make a trip to investigate.

Part 1: Day time recee

Upon further clarification with Master Oregon's father, we found out that the location of the village was somewhere in Jurong West. The map below shows the location of the village as indicated by the red circle.


The star and the red circle shows the "entrance area".

Once we had determined the location, Team Asia Paranormal set out to do a daytime recee of the place. Our first impressions upon reaching the place was that there was a main road which seems to be abandoned but definitely was used by cars once upon a time.

Next we also observed that there were no houses or buildings whatsoever, instead there were huge forested areas.


This is the so called "entrance" of the village area. Note the roads are still in working condition.




More pics of the "entrance area"

Overall it feels quite peaceful and quiet in this area. The only sign of human activity was the rubbish left behind by foreign workers who perhaps hang out this area? Nevertheless, Team Asia Paranormal decided to cut through one of the broken fenced area to continue exploring the main road.


The broken "fenced" area. The team bypassed it and went further down the road.


A collapsed lamp post acting as a "barrier" to the place?


A weird circular shape on the ground. Something big and circular must have been placed here once.

Team Asia Paranormal then continued further in this main road. On both sides of the road were forested areas. No signs of any village or even a well can be seen. It certainly felt like those days back when we were serving National Service and doing outfield combat training.




Trees, trees and more trees.

Onward, Team Asia Paranormal continued. After walking for a few minutes, we encountered a fallen tree blocking the path. We could have passed through the trees and continued on, but the weather was getting gloomy and thus Team Asia Paranormal decided to terminate the investigation and return another day.




The collapsed trees blocking the path

In conclusion, Team Asia Paranormal did not managed to find any traces of a abandoned old village nor any haunted wells. The only signs of human activity were rubbish left behind.

It can be said that the main road and the street lamps do indicate that there could be a village located here once. However, if there was any haunted well or village, we would have to do a little more exploring to discover them.

Part 2: Night time exploration

Quote from Master Oregon Chang: With our team back to full strength, Team Asia Paranormal decided to continue our exploration of the abandoned village area the following night, armed with our equipment and gadgets.

Team Asia Paranormal gathered back at the entrance area and after getting our bearings, we resumed the exploration. However, one of our members suddenly discovered something bizzare! During our day trip, we had noticed large concrete blocks scattered around the "entrance area". However, this time, there was something else on one of these blocks.


The chinese characters for "Rape"

Who would have written these characters on these blocks? And whatever was their purpose for? And more importantly, how did the team not noticed this during the daytime? This was something very mysterious and bizzare.

Continuing on our journey, we passed the area with the collapsed trees and encountered something weird again. There was a large fallen tree directly across the road however, it was supported by a another fallen tree branch. There was nothing weird at first, later we realized that the odds of this happening by itself were quite small. The smaller branch had to break off and somehow stand up by itself and then the bigger tree trunk would fall directly onto it, creating a support.

It was as if someone was playing with tree trunks and building structures with them!




The smaller tree branch propping up and supporting a larger fallen tree trunk.

Finally, continuing on the journey, Team Asia Paranormal managed to find the well. This was after further exploration of the surrounding areas near the "broken fence" entrance area. We had somehow missed this during the daytime again!

Along the left side of the road, there was a small pathway through the forested area. Also, there was a small wooden plank placed across the drains acting as a bridge. Bashing through this pathway, we discovered the well at last.






The mysterious well at last!

The surrounding areas of this well were quite ordinary enough. There was no buildings nor any signs of human activity whatsoever (except for rubbish left behind). The well looked ordinary enough. There was a canvas netting placed over the opening and there were three huge concrete blocks placed over it.

Was it to deter someone from going in or more mysteriously, "something" from coming out?

Team Member Hypeseek decided that we should try to open the well to take a look. Using his engineering expertise, we managed to construct a makeshift lever and pulley system and finally lifted up one of the concrete blocks and removed it to the side.






Inside of the well, we can only see dirty drain water.

It was quite disappointing to say the least. There was nothing inside the well except for the dirty water. We threw a few rocks inside and roughly determined the depth of the well to be maybe 1.5 to 2 meters. Nothing out of the ordinary or creepy was found there.

Finally, Team Asia Paranormal left the well and had a quick discussion. We had achieved our purpose in finding the mysterious well. Master Oregon Chang decided that the team might as well continue on the road to explore what lies further in.

After walking on past endless forested areas along the road (it was about 1 hour later), we finally reached the exit. It was the main road leading to the expressway. No further incidents was of note, Team Asia Paranormal packed up and left in our vehicle for a quick supper and drinks.


The exit is as indicated by the blue circle

In conclusion, it can be said that there probably was some human settlement in this area once, judging by the roads, the street lamps and the well. However, the old village must have been torn down long ago and the residents relocated elsewhere.

The well must have been used to collect water for consumption and usage in the past, after the villagers were relocated, there would have been no further use for it and thus the well was covered up.

There was also no indication of anything traumatic happening here in the past to justify any rumours of hauntings in the well. Whatever there was, we stand little chance of discovering it as the whole area has been long abandoned and in ruins.

The only mysterious incidents of the note: The weird concrete block with the bizarre writing on it and the weird "structure" created by the falling tree branches and trunks.

However, it was refreshing to note that such places do exist in an urban landscape of modern Singapore and we hope that there are more places for Team Asia Paranormal to explore.

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9 real-life planets so outrageous you'd swear they were sci-fi

Source: Blastr, The Syfy Online Network

Astronomers only started discovering planets outside our solar system two decades ago. Yet they're already finding planets freaky enough to house the lairs of supervillains. Here are nine planets so out this world, they make Tattooine feel as ordinary as Tunisia.

1. Diamond Planet

If we're all atoms underneath the fingernail of a giant, this planet is what that giant wears on her engagement ring. Putting literal meaning to "like a diamond in the sky," scientists in August discovered a distant planet that is a diamond. We don't mean "the surface is covered in diamonds," nearly the whole rock is one big sparkling gem. The planet is larger than Jupiter, which makes it slightly larger than our minds can comprehend.

The speculated formation of this body is quite epic. Once a massive star, layers were pulled away by a nearby pulsar. Finally, all that was left was the extremely dense inner core of a star. Which just goes to show if you polish anything long enough it always becomes a diamond.

2. Dark World

750 light-years away lies a planet that is darker than a piece of coal and less reflective than black acrylic paint. Planet TrES-2b is another of the many amazing finds made by NASA's Kepler spacecraft. Although its shadowy nature is partially explained by light-absorbent chemicals and a lack of reflective clouds, scientists have no firm idea why it is so dark.

As if finding a planet that is so pitch-black it baffles the finest minds in science isn't creepy enough, the planet is also glowing. Like a charcoal briquette on a barbecue grill, planet TrES-2b is so hot that it constantly gives off a slight red aura. The nearby star that it orbits heats the planet's surface to almost 2,000 degress Fahrenheit. Scientists have not yet discovered whether nearby planets have a distinct char-grilled taste.

3. The Land of Two Suns

Imagine two giant, fire-bursting stars orbiting each other closely. Now imagine an alien planet doing a full orbit around these spinning stars. Now imagine the psychedelic music of Pink Floyd blasting throughout this galaxy, and you'll understand why Kepler-16b is such a mind-blowing planet. It is the only planet of the hundreds discovered that travels around two suns.

How did this one-of-a-kind orbit happen? Since all three bodies remain in the same plane, scientists believe they formed at about the same time from an interstellar disk of dust and gas. The temperature on the planet is well below mind-numbingly freezing, so don't get any hopes up of finding the savior of the galaxy here.


4. The Speeding Giant

"This planet is so unusual that at first we thought it was a false alarm—something that appeared to be a planet but wasn't," stated Gáspár Bakos, discoverer of planet HAT-P-2b. The fact that these planets aren't given names like "Speederoo, the Wonder World" illustrates the enormous amount of restraint these astronomers have. Such is the case with HAT-P-2b, which is a massive planet 8 times the weight of Jupiter (but only slightly bigger).

What is this enormous bulk of a rock doing? Traveling blisteringly fast in a bizarre slingshot-style orbital. HAT-P-2b has an elliptical orbit that finds it anywhere between 3 million and 9 million miles from its sun. That's a distance discrepancy relative to the positions of Mercury and Mars. Traveling this orbit takes only 5.6 of our days, which gives a glimpse into the forces involved. Scientists speculate another planet might be near enough to affect HAT-P-2b's orbit. If so, that other planet must be scared, like a goldfish sharing a small aquarium with a whale.

5. Cork of the Universe

If you were to take a rocketship the speed of light for 453 years, you could arrive at a peculiar planet called HAT-P-1b. Unfortunately, the surface of the planet is so unstable you wouldn't be able to step out and take a pic, so this is generally viewed as a bad way to spend 900 years of your life. HAT-P-1b is one of the biggest planets discovered, with a radius 1.38 times that of Jupiter.



Despite its incredible size, HAT-P-1b could float on water. Its density is one quarter that of the wet stuff that covers the Earth. You may be wondering how astronomers can so certainly determine the density of a star that's trillions of miles away. The Astrophysical Journal has an in-depth article about the process. After reading the article, we now know that the way to determine the mass of a distant planet is to know a bunch of gobbledygook about astrophysics.

6. The Realm of Fire and Ice

One of the most confounding planets is upsilon Andromedae B. This star lies in the well-known Andromeda constellation (also known as "The Chained Maiden," because it was discovered back when constellations were allowed cool names). The planet itself always has the same side facing its sun. So one end of the world is blisteringly hot, while the dark side features clouds made of ice.

Estimates put the temperatures on the hot side at about 2700 degrees Fahrenheit, while the cold side checks in around negative 148. However, it's not the temperature extreme that has scientists baffled. For unknown reasons, the hottest part of the planet is not the part directly facing the sun, but rather a section off to the side. That's sort of the equivalent to sticking your hand in a fire and burning off your foot.

7. Lava Oceans

The most interesting feature of Gliese 876 d is hard to hide, since it glows bright red at night. During the day, it is predicted that this planet is bright yellow from the searing heat of a nearby sun. Large bodies of liquid lava would be separated by a burnt crusty surface.

This is one of the smallest planets ever discovered outside of our solar system. Keep in mind this is a relative term, as Gliese 876 b is the size of 7.5 Earths. In addition, it's also one of the closer planets to us: The Silver Surfer could leave Earth at light speed and be shredding wicked lava waves within 16 years.

8. Planet Quickyear

Thousands of light-years away lies a small planet, KOI-55 b that whips around its sun in under 6 hours. That's the shortest known orbital period of any planet discovered spinning around a star. Another nearby planet finishes its complete orbit in 9 hours. Scientists predict that our solar system might end up the same way, billions of years from now. Think of a solar system as a bowl of flushing toilet water, where the sun is the drain. The KOI system is at that point toward the very end when all that water is spiraling tightly towards the drain.

The discovery of this planet, only last December, proves the might of the Kepler space observatory. KOI-55b is smaller than the Earth, yet Kepler spotted it a third of a galaxy away. Since its launch in March 2009, Kepler's powerful space telescope has spotted more than 2,000 celestial objects, many of which are turning out to be planets.

9. Galactus' Punching Bag

In 2009, scientists discovered WASP-17b, a huge planet that might be almost twice as big as Jupiter. What interested astronomers most is that WASP-17b is the only planet ever discovered with what is known as a retrograde orbit. That means the planet is spinning in the opposite direction of its star. How did this happen? The leading theory is that some huge space object pulled the planet in the other direction.

Scientists might never get the chance to see if the planet's trick spin actually makes time flow backward. We're just going to assume the obvious: Time flows in reverse there, and anyone who goes to that planet travels backward in time. Unfortunately, you'd have to spend the first 1,000 years on the planet undoing the lengthy time it took to get there.

With the incredible advances of the past 20 years, new planets are being discovered at an amazing rate. Although the chance of discovering evolved life on another planet may still be a long way off, the unbelievably exotic planets being found nearly every month make us more than willing to wait.

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Paranormal activity? Princess Diana's 'ghost' caught on camera in Glasgow

A group of Chinese tourists filmed the stained glass window in Scotland without realising that it featured Princess Di from beyond the grave.

The video - which was later passed on to Cohen - appears to show a ghostly-looking image resembling Diana.

And Cohen is convinced the short snippet of footage could well be evidence or paranormal activity.

'Scientists tell us that ghosts don't exist, and yet people around the world keep seeing them,' he said.

'While we might not want nothing to do with the dead, perhaps some ghosts have unfinished business with us.'

Cohen goes on to claim the shot as one of the 'clearest' paranormal images he has come across.
'The footage is currently being examined by myself and other researchers to ascertain if it is a genuine ghost capture. It might be a bizarre optical illusion, but then again, it could be a ghost - possibly Princess Diana's.

'Ghosts often appear in places connected to their lives and families. Ghosts might appear to warn individuals, groups and even entire nations of possible impending danger.'
The Princess of Wales' mother is believed to have spent a lot of time in Scotland, passing away there in 2004.

The footage is being used in an upcoming TV series on Paranormal mysteries.

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Buyers target Hong Kong's 'haunted houses'

By Aidan Jones

HONG KONG — It may not be everyone's idea of a dream home, but for bargain hunters in Hong Kong's turbocharged property market apartments that belonged to the recently deceased are proving irresistible -- and the more gruesome the occupant's demise the better.

Popular belief in a city awash with superstition runs that the ghost of a person who dies in unnatural circumstances -- a suicide, murder or bad accident -- inhabits their home, passing misfortune onto the new occupants.

The threat carries weight in a city where feng shui consultants do brisk business; families placate the "hungry ghosts" of their ancestors with offerings and people even refrain from whistling in the street in fear of disturbing lurking spooks.

By law, buyers are entitled to details on so-called "haunted houses" -- or hongza in Cantonese -- and many rigorously check the backstory to their potential purchase.

But not everyone is afraid of ghosts, and in the cut and thrust of Hong Kong's runaway property market some investors are actively following the tragedies, aware that dark incidents push the price down.

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Vietnamese New Year (Tết Nguyên Đán)

Lunar New Year Typically and commonly known by most people as the Chinese Calendar. The Chinese New Year is based on the Lunar Calendar.

Those who celebrate this New Year is definately just the Chinese alone. Among those who celebrate this same festival alongside with the Chinese are the Koreans, Vietnamese, Mongolians and Tibetians.

In fact the Japanese before World War 2, celebrated the exact same new year as the Chinese as well. But since plans of invasion, they had somewhat stopped celebrating this festival and instead had their own new year shifted to be on January 1st have it to be the same as the Western New Year, to be the same as the Western calendar or the so called Gregorian calendar.

The Lunar New Year are known as the following by the different groups of people
1) Chinese New Year – 春節 (Pinyin: Chūnjié)
 2) Koreans NewYear – Seollal (Hangul: 설날; RR: Seollal; MR: Sŏllal)
 3) Vietnamese New Year – Tết Nguyên Đán
 4) Mongolian New Year – Tsagaan Sar (Mongolian: Цагаан сар ᠴᠠᠭᠠᠨ ᠰᠠᠷᠠ )
 5) Tibetan New Year – Losar (Tibetan: ལོ་གསརWylie: lo-gsar; Chinese: 洛薩)
6) Japanese New Year – Shōgatsu (正月)

Vietnamese New Year (Tết Nguyên Đán)

Vietnamese New Year does shares much similiarities with Chinese new year as they share too much with that of the Chinese. But however, they do have some elements of their own versions with slight differences. While Chinese New Year is 15 days of Celebration and if to include the eve, it will be a 16 days of celebration, Vietnamese new year on the other hand is also a 15 days of celebrations and if to include in the eve and before eve, it will be a 19 days of celebrations.

There are 3 part of it. Before the Eve, the Eve itself and then New Year 19 Days of New Year The below will be on what it is like on the 15 days of new year.

Before eve : .Ông Công, Ông Táo Day (Kitchen God day)
Before Eve : Wrapping Chung cake
Before Eve : Family reunion and Tất niên Eve ( Giao thừa) : Decorations, Be Debt Free, Cooking Traditional Food and Shopping all neccessarities ( including praying sessions to God and Ancestors )

 Day 1-3 : First three days of the new year: visit paternal side on the first day, maternal side on the second day and teachers on the third day

Day 4-6 : Visit relatives, friends and neighbours Day 4 : Hóa vàng - burn the offerings near Tet's end for ancestors

Day ??: Reopen business: usually owners pick a good date that matches their age

Day 15 : Tết Nguyên Tiêu – Latern Festival also known as Valentine's Day

During the Celebration of Tết Nguyên Đán Pretty much similiar and alike to the Chinese in many ways, Vietnamese also believe in being Debt free before the new year and having spring cleaning. Family reunion dinners and gathering are also another similiarity.

 Whatever that can change to something new should be changed such as old furnitures etc.... It is also very important to wear total new clothes on the beginning of the new year just like the Chinese.

 Clothes of Bright colours such as Yellow and Red is to be worn. No dull ,dark, unlucky colours are to be worn on this day of new year



During visiting on Lunar new year, for the Chinese, the elder and married would give away Red Envolpes / Packets ( Hong Baos) to the Children and those who are single as a form of blessing and to ward off bad luck with some money inside




To the Vietnamese, it is known as Lì Xì or lucky money





Do also take note that the amount of money given must only be in even numbers and cannot be in odd numbers. Nice words of wishes and blessing will be said to each other on this day and it is a time of lots of fun and gathering with much eating and drinking





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It's raining fish! It's normal

The story on "fish falling from the sky" in Agusan del Sur was generally met with disbelief across social networking sites. Some Facebook users, however, offered possible explanations – ranging from logical to supernatural.

Some said the fish might have fallen from a passing aircraft. Yet some believed the incident was a sign that the world is coming to an end.

But fish falling from the sky is not supernatural nor is it doomsday's beckoning. It actually has a name: Lluvia de Peces.

Residents of Loreto town in Agusan del Sur experienced this phenomenon Friday morning when dozens of 3-inch-long mudfish rained on them. PAGASA-Butuan Chief Engr. Lolit Binalay told Bombo Radyo a similar incident had happened in Lake Mainit in Agusan del Norte a few years back.

The same thing happened to a village in Powys, Wales in 2004 and to Folsom, California in 2006, among reported others.

How does it happen? Whirlwinds over water develop into waterspouts and become a swirling force that can suck in almost anything of the water's content: fish, eels, and even frogs.

According to American scientist Nilton Renno, fish can "fly" into the sky along with the waterspout. He told Scienceline.org that "even if the waterspout stops spinning, the fish in the cloud can be carried over land, buffeted up and down and around."

Loreto residents said they were surprised by the phenomenon because the sea and the river are far from their place. But according to Renno, fish can "swim" in the clouds and reach places until the wind can no longer support its flight, and that's when they come down.

The fish are sometimes taken so high into the atmosphere that they land dead.

Seventy-two of the fish that fell on Agusan del Sur survived the "journey" and have been placed by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources personnel in an aquarium for experts to study.

The Philippines may not hear of it often as it is an uncommon phenomenon. But 'fish rains' have been reported for centuries.

According to a BBC report, "fish are the most common thing to have rained down on you – other than rain itself, of course." People have heard of frogs, tomatoes, and lumps of coals falling from the sky in few bizarre instances.

Weather has been inclement in Agusan del Sur since the past week, marked with a downpour on Friday that BFAR believes may have triggered the formation of a waterspout.

[Click here to read full article]

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Grisly find reveals Indonesia's fixation with black magic

ON A Thursday morning last year, Sapari, a cemetery caretaker in Bonasari in East Java, made a disturbing discovery.

Underneath the frangipani trees that stand as sentinels over the graves, he found neatly dug holes. Graves had been robbed.

And on closer examination, the 60-year-old discovered the thieves had a particular target. Fifteen places of burial had been pilfered, all of them for children. Their remains had vanished.

''Everyone was very worried when they found out,'' Sapari said. ''The families were very upset.''

The villagers hatched a plan to stake out the cemetery the following night to catch the perpetrators red-handed if they returned.

But the plot never played out. Word had got around and by afternoon the police had set up a crime scene and TV crews and journalists had descended on Bonasari.

It turned out that Bonasari was not the only victim of the corpse-stealers. Two other burial grounds had been robbed. In all, the graves of 24 children had been exhumed on the same night in a co-ordinated action.

Police have yet to make an arrest and the investigation continues, but few are in doubt about the motivation of the grave robbers.

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Zoologger: Unique life form is half plant, half animal

Journal reference: The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, DOI: 10.1111/j.1550-7408.2011.00593.x

Many animals transform themselves almost beyond recognition in the course of their lives. Caterpillars become butterflies and tadpoles become frogs, and if we couldn't watch them do so we might not even suspect that the two stages were the same creature.

Spectacular as these shifts are, they are only shape-shifting. A tadpole and a frog are both animals, so both must take in food from their surroundings.

Not so Mesodinium chamaeleon. This newly discovered single-celled organism is a unique mixture of animal and plant.

M. chamaeleon is a ciliate – a kind of single-celled animal covered in hundreds of tiny "hairs" called cilia. It was discovered in Nivå bay in Denmark by Øjvind Moestrup of the University of Copenhagen, also in Denmark, and his team. Other specimens have since been found off the coasts of Finland and Rhode Island.

Ciliates using their hair-like cilia to motor around rapidly in water. Most get their food by eating other organisms, rather than by synthesising the nutrients themselves. This marks them as quite animal-like.

Some Mesodinium species are different, though. They engulf other microorganisms, generally algae called cryptomonads. The two then form a partnership: the algae produce sugars by photosynthesis, while the Mesodinium protects them and carries them around.

Such hybrid organisms are animals and plants at the same time. One such species, M. rubrum, only eats red algae and is often found in the algal blooms that form the famous red tides.

These hybrids play merry hell with our attempts to classify organisms into neat groups. "The division between plants and animals is collapsing completely," Moestrup says. Instead, many microorganisms may be animal and plant at once, or switch between the two, like M. rubrum.

The new M. chamaeleon breaks yet another barrier. It is halfway between a pure animal and a hybrid.


M. chamaeleon takes in algal cells, just like M. rubrum, but it doesn't keep them permanently. Nor does it digest them immediately, as a hungry animal-like organism might. Instead, the cells remain intact for several weeks before being broken down, during which time they keep producing sugar by photosynthesis. M. chamaeleon also changes colour depending on whether it is hosting red or green algae or both.

"It is quite unusual," says Moestrup. Other Mesodinium species either retain their captured cells for ages or digest them immediately.

The ability to take in other cells and put them to work is called endosymbiosis, and is one of the most important inventions in the history of life. Some 2 billion years ago, a single cell swallowed a bacterium and used it as an energy source. The descendants of the enslaved bacterium eventually became the mitochondria that now power all complex cells, including ours. Without endosymbiosis, there wouldn't be any multicellular life.

While the first endosymbiosis may have been a lucky chance, the process now seems to be common, at least among the more complex single-celled organisms. Some are so good at taking in cells that over the years they have switched symbionts. "It happens quite regularly," Moestrup says.

M. chamaeleon may offer a snapshot of how endosymbiosis developed: the organism is still on the road from simply eating other cells to keeping them alive within itself.

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Psychiatrists busy with Taiwan 'election syndrome'

TAIPEI - Taiwanese psychiatrists have been kept busy treating cases of so-called "election syndrome", with anxiety attacks and other disorders up 30 per cent in some hospitals, according to reports Sunday.

Politically over-zealous family members who started arguments with relatives or dragged their unwilling kin to election rallies ratcheted up the stress levels, the newspaper said.

And there were also more cases of sore throats, muscle strains and dodgy backs, which were put down to sustained screaming, and long bouts of standing and flag waving at campaign rallies.

Incumbent Ma Ying-jeou was cheered by huge crowds as he won a comfortable reelection victory, while many supporters of his main challenger Tsai Ing-wen were left in tears as she conceded defeat.

"The regrettable has happened. There is win and there is loss in an election, and we urge supporters not to be overly emotional," said former vice president Annette Lu, a heavyweight in Tsai's camp.

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2012 Pole Shift - Mayan and I Ching prediction

In 2012, Our Planet Will Become A WAR ZONE Will You Survive, Or Are You And Your Family Already Doomed?

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The Yeti, a severed finger spirited from Nepal, and a famous film star

By MATTHEW HILL

Set high in a remote Himalayan mountain range stands the Pangboche Buddhist monastery.
During heavy snowstorms, it can be found only by travellers who listen for the monks’ ceremonial horns.

The walls are lined with traditional Nepalese paintings depicting the treacherous tracks to the monastery.

And among them are pictures of the legendary ape-like creature we refer to as the Yeti.
This might seem fanciful until you learn that, for many years, a shriveled hand (about the size of an adult human’s, with long, fat fingers and curling nails) was also on display in the monastery — and revered by the monks, who believed it protected them from bad luck.

I would know nothing about this story were it not for the fact that while walking around a collection of human and primate skeletons at the Royal College of Surgeons in London three years ago, I came across a withered finger which had only recently been found in the vaults of the College’s Hunterian Museum. It was labelled ‘a Yeti finger from Pangboche hand’.

What was the story behind this finger, I wondered, and how did it end up in London? Where was the rest of the ‘Pangboche hand’? And what truth was there behind the label’s claim that this finger belonged to the Yeti of ancient legend?

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Nikola Tesla - The Forgotten Genius

Tesla had a vision of electromagnetic fields that was real and tangible...

Born to a Serbian family on July 9th, 1856 in Smiljan, Croatia (former Yugoslavia), Nikola Tesla was a dreamer with a poetic touch. His first "invention" consisted of a rotary engine, powered by insects that the young Tesla had glued to a paper wheel. This boyhood fascination with motors developed a unique mental ability where Tesla could visualize inventions in his mind, complete to the most minute detail, and execute these plans without the need for a blueprint or meticulous calculations.

As an adult, Tesla attended the Technical University at Graz, Austria, and the University of Prague. At Graz he first saw the Gramme dynamo, which operated as a generator and, when reversed, became an electric motor, and from this observation he conceived a way to use alternating current to advantage. Tesla had a vision of electromagnetic fields that was real and tangible, at a time when most engineers considered electrical current as an intangible and ethereal mystery. Later, at Budapest, he visualized the principle of the rotating magnetic field and developed plans for an induction motor that would become his first step toward the successful utilization of alternating current.

An eccentric genius, Tesla had few friends and remained reclusive. He never had a home in America, choosing instead to live in hotels. During the final few decades of his life he withdrew in a New York hotel, only granting interviews and making annual public appearances on his birthdays. At these press conferences Tesla proposed future inventions, but his accounts were frequently distorted by the popular press. After Tesla's death the Federal Bureau of Investigation took note of Tesla's proposals for advanced weapons systems and searched his papers for information about reports of his death ray machine as world conflict was impending.

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The Ghost Horse Of Egypt

Egypt has always been a place of mystery, but this mystery was captured on tape. Late on Thursday, MSNBC was showing images of Tahrir Square while covering the latest developments on the Egypt situation, when suddenly a greenish horse with rider running away appeared out of the blue. The strange occurrence was most likely just a lens flare, a reflection of the fire as the camera moves.

In the shortest amount of time, the ghost horse video began to spread like a wildfire, accompanied by religious-based theories. The most heard theory, other than the lens flare theory, is the one of 'The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse', an apocalyptic vision predicted for the future in the Book of Revelation of Saint John the Evangelist.

Chapter 6 tells of a scroll held by God that is sealed with seven seals. The first four are opened by Jesus Christ -- The Four Horsemen -- four riders on white, red, black and pale horses which symbolize Conquest, War, Famine and Death.

Revelation 6:8

"I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth."

A lot of people now think they have seen the Pale Horseman or the Fourth Horseman in the middle of the Egypt clashes. The ghost horse certainly has a pale color...

Other more technical-oriented people claim CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) software was used, but then you have to ask yourself why a television network would do such a thing.

To me it looks clear that due to an incredible coincidence, an astonishing lens flare occurred at a most unfortunate moment. We DO live in "interesting" times, but I don't think MSNBC caught the Fourth Horseman on tape.

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UFO on White House Xmas card: Not a hoax and proof of the cover-up

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Can Animals Sense The Spirit World

by Susan Thom

Are we human the only ones with blinders on, so we can’t see the aura of light surrounding spiritual beings? I had heard stories of animals seemingly knowing something else was in the room. My kids were about three, six, and eight when their paternal father became ill.

I was alone in the house with them, and the two older ones were in my son’s room playing, and my youngest was asleep in his room. I took the opportunity of being alone in my own room to call a friend. As we were talking, my kids came flying in, jumping on the bed, skin pale, breath panting, as they described a weird feeling in my son’s room, and our dog Sasha, barking incessantly at the wall between the two of my son’s rooms. She had scared them, and they had run down the hall and jumped into bed with me. I looked at the time, for some reason, and it was ten thirty. It was a Saturday night, and they were allowed to stay up until they got tired, usually around eleven thirty.

I tried to take them back to my son’s room, and show them there was nothing to be afraid of. They would not leave my room. I went myself, and searched for something to blame our dog’s behavior on. Sasha had continued barking at the wall, and I thought maybe there was a mouse or a squirrel stuck inside. Or maybe there was something on tv that was hurting her ears, or causing her in some way, to bark. No, the tv was off, and the kids had been playing monopoly. Everything was status quo except the dogs incessant barking, hair standing straight on end, and face pointed directly at the wall. My youngest had stayed sleeping through all the noise.

I decided there wasn’t much of an alternative, my two oldest would be sleeping in my king sized bed that night. They jumped in, got themselves comfortable, and we were about to watch a movie, when the phone rang. I remember it being eleven o’clock, and my mother in law was speaking to me. She explained that she and her sister had been with my father in law at the hospital all day, and decided to go to the cafeteria for some coffee. While they were gone, my father in law passed away.

Even though he had been quite sick, and my mother in law had been taking care of him for many years, she was obviously upset. They had been together for thirty five to forty years. She went on to say that around ten fifteen, they left his room, and when they returned, they were told he had passed at ten thirty!

Now it was turn for my hair to stand on end. If my father in law had passed, and wanted to say good-bye as he floated towards his eternity, he might have stopped by my older son’s room, into my younger one’s to say good bye to him as well. The dog had long since stopped barking. I got off the phone and told my kids what had happened. They had also heard about animals seeing spirits. They immediately put in together in their innocent brains. "Mommy, maybe that was grandpa coming to say good-bye." I was thinking the same thing. They jumped up out of my bed, and said they wanted to go finish their game. They were no longer afraid. They could deal with the barking being aimed at grandpa’s spirit. Our dog Sasha is twelve years old now, and never before, nor after, has she barked incessantly at a wall.

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'Intelligent' slime able to navigate its way out of maze

By Danielle Demetriou

Toshiyuki Nakagaki, a professor at Future University Hakodate, northern Japan, cultivates the slime in petri dishes and has discovered how the brainless organism is capable of finding its way out of a maze.

The brainless organism is able to “organise” its cells to create the most direct route through a maze in order to reach a source of food, according to his studies.
The findings highlight how slime mould possesses information processing abilities shared by humans which are more sophisticated than the most advanced computers, according to Professor Nakagaki.

"Humans are not the only living things with information-processing abilities," he said. "Simple creatures can solve certain kinds of difficult puzzles. If you want to spotlight the essence of life or intelligence, it's easier to use these simple creatures."

Slime mould, a monocellular being that lives on rotting leaves and does not possess a brain, may not be the obvious subject of scientific research in relation to intelligence.

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10 Wacky Animal Stories of 2011

by Jennifer Welsh

As the year draws to a close, here's a look back at some of the weirdest animal discoveries of 2011. From transvestite birds to zombie caterpillars and our own set of animal superheroes, it's been a wacky ride.

#1. A-Flock-Alypse?

This year started with a bang as scores of birds fell from the skies in January. The "aflockalypse" as it became called, harkened back for many to their first time watching Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller "The Birds," but experts agreed that the birds' and fish's mass deaths were just coincidental.

It started with the mysterious deaths of thousands of blackbirds in Arkansas and Louisiana around New Years' eve; this was followed by several reports of dead fish washing ashore and many more "massive" animal die-offs. In the end, the bang with which it all started was probably fireworks, which initially killed the blackbirds. Researchers agree the best explanation so far is the fireworks' noise and lights may have scared or disoriented the birds, causing them to fatally injure themselves flying into buildings, water towers and trees. The wide pickup of the original blackbird story probably set off the media attention later stories received, but these kind of die-offs are normal, researchers and ecologists say.

#2. Zombie Ants

The year was a big one for zombie insects. Reports of mind-controlled ants and caterpillars were enough to creep out even the least squeamish.

In May, in the journal BMC Ecology, researcher David Hughes from Pennsylvania State University reported that a parasitic fungus infects forest ants to fulfill its bidding. The fungus fills the ant's head with fungal cells and changes its muscles so the ant can grab a leaf in a death grip just when and where the fungus wants it — specifically, the zombie ants all bite down around noon, then all die together around sunset, like some weird fungus-addled ant cult. The fungus then bursts out of the ants' heads and spreads its spores to its next unwitting victim.

Another report in September found the genetic culprit that sends caterpillars to the treetops, where they liquefy and rain infectious death down on their peers. The virus that zombifies these gypsy moth caterpillars also makes sure they grow as large as possible so they spread infectious viruses far and wide, said study researcher Kelli Hoover, of Pennsylvania State University. They also send the caterpillars crawling up trees in the middle of the day, when they are most vulnerable to bird attacks.

#3. The mouse with two dads

In a wacky feat of genetic engineering and a stem-cell switcheroo, researchers created the first mouse baby from the genes of two male mice — a mouse that literally has two dads. The mousey Dr. Frankensteins, from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, turned cells from Dad No. 1 into X-only stem cells, which they injected into an egg to make a female mouse, which was then fertilized by sperm from Dad No. 2.

The study, published in the journal Biology of Reproduction, is the first step to making human children from two men, though that is a long way away. This mean feat of genetic engineering was also dubbed by LiveScience reporter Stephanie Pappas as "scientific progress at its cutest" when she met the mice in person.

#4. Animals with superhero senses

Scientists aren't the only ones turning miraculous tricks this year. Mother Nature has a few up her sleeve as well. Animal super senses turned up in dolphins and vampire bats in 2011, and even one possible sixth sense in humans made an appearance.

Researchers at Rostock University in Germany discovered that the common Guiana dolphin has a special sixth sense: It can sense electric fields with a special organ on its snout. While the ability is common in fish, the dolphins are the first placental mammal (as opposed to a marsupial mammal) found to sense electricity, which they probably use to find fish in the shallow, murky waters they call home.

In other odd animal senses, researchers discovered in August that the vampire bat can "see" heat from veins and arteries using a special organ on its nose that is incredibly sensitive to heat. The bat uses this organ to find blood meals and to bite the right part of the skin: A mouthful of hair is unappetizing to these little bloodthirsty critters.

A possible extra human sense also made an appearance this year. A human protein, when expressed in fruit flies, has the ability to detect magnetic fields. The researchers caution that the protein might not work that way in humans, though. Sorry, Magneto wannabees.

#5. Strange sperm

It may not be super, but strange sperm abounds in the animal kingdom.

Studies in naked mole rat sperm show that these weird little creatures also have weird little sperm. In any other animals their sperm samples wouldn't pass quality control, but these eusocial underground rodents make do just fine with their mutant sperm, a study published in the December issue of the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology shows.

Ducks also have special sperm properties, another 2011 study shows. Their sperm contains antibiotics that might protect them and their mates from sexually transmitted infections. The brighter their bill is, the better their sperm is at killing off bacterial invaders, suggests the study published in April in the journal Biology Letters.

#6. More strange sex

Sperm wasn't the only weird animal-sex finding of 2011. Multiple studies found everything from hermaphroditic bulldogs to sexually confused fish and birds.

The bulldog Bijou is genetically female, but has some physical properties of a male dog, including a prostate gland and testicles. Researchers are stumped as to why this pup, and another bulldog, Tana, had these male characteristics without male genes.

Other animal he-shes are also stumping researchers this year: A cardinal with half-male, half-female coloring seems to be a genetic anomaly, with half-female and half-male cells. Several sex-changing birds also made the news in 2011, including a female chicken that transformed into a rooster in the United Kingdom over a few weeks time. Researchers think that a tumor or cyst may have caused the switch.

Some birds of prey don female plumage, but don't actually change gender. These transvestite marsh harriers use such sexual mimicry to fool other males into leaving them alone, researchers reported this year.

#7. Cyclops shark

Strange sex-changing animals weren't the only weirdoes nature threw at us this year. A Photoshop-quality image of a fetal shark with one eye stunned researchers and cybergawkers alike when it made the news in October. The one-eyed fetus was cut from the belly of a shark in the Gulf of California, but would not likely have survived outside of the womb.

"This is extremely rare," shark expert Felipe Galvan Magana of Mexico's Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias del Mar told the Pisces Fleet Sportfishing blog in July. "As far as I know, less than 50 examples of an abnormality like this have been recorded." [Photos of Cyclops Shark]

Other, less scientifically based reports of Yeti nest sightings and hair samples from Russia splashed the news this year. And scientists reported finding the lair of a 'Kraken' sea monster, though the interpretation of the finding has not been substantiated.

#8. Fishy sexual harassment

Several advancements in the field of fishy sexual harassment made the news this year, indicating that Trinidadian guppies seem to have more gossipy drama and sexual tension than an episode of "Sex in the City."

A study published in October showed that when a harassing male chases down female guppies, they are more likely to get in fights with other females. The sexually charged males stress these females out so much they end up turning on each other, the researchers said.

Another study showed that these same guppies, when harassed, pair up with prettier females, whose presence draws attention away from themselves.

#9. Animals with protective poisons

Scientists have long understood that plants use poison to defend themselves, but traditionally animals are thought to defend themselves with weapons like sharp teeth and claws. In 2011, a number of animals were discovered to wield poisons of their own.

By utilizing the same plants that African tribesmen use to poison their arrows, the furry fury known as the African crested rat can incapacitate and even kill predators many times its size, research published in August found. The rat chews poisonous bark and spits the poison onto its furt coat, which has specialized hairs with pores to absorb the animal's poisonous spit, which protects them against predators like dogs.

Another odd animal poison discovered in 2011 is the cyanide-sweating millipede discovered in September. When disturbed, the bugs emit a toxic cyanide goo and foul-tasting chemicals that deter predators looking for a snack. Luckily for its predators this odd insect also has a nighttime glow to warn predators of its poisonous secretions

#10. The loudest genitals

One loud little insect makes a big call, from an unorthodox organ. Research published in July indicates that by using its genitals, the water boatman makes the loudest song for its size: At less than one-tenth of an inch (2.3 millimeters) long, it calls out to mates at over 99 decibels, as loud as an orchestra. The odd insect's song from the depths of a river can even be heard along its banks, the researchers said, and is likely created when the animal rubs its genitals against ridges on its body, though the scientists aren't sure how the sound gets so loud.

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Exorcism In India

Down a dim corridor...in a tiny, locked room...out of bounds to all but a tormented few, is the cave of spirits...a home for the dead and last hope for the possessed.

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Google and NORAD help to track Santa

I know, I know, the entire excitement of Christmas is already over, and chances are you might be in bed right now or having a nightcap (depending on the time zone), or just having woken up if you happen to live across the pond. Another day to reflect on the year, as well as to think about what the next year will bring. Well, have you ever wondered how you are going to tell or explain to your kids the manner where Santa actually managed to fulfill his title of being the busiest man in the North Pole by going across the globe to drop off presents in just about most houses?

Well, Google as well as NORAD have come together to add a modern, technological twist to the Santa-tracking experience. This is a rather long standing tradition though, as NORAD started tracking Santa on Christmas Eve all the way back in 1955. This happened when a Sears and Roebuck ad promoted the Talk-to-Santa hotline which sent callers to CONAD (NORAD’s predecessor) commander-in-chief’s operations hotline. There was the initial shock from a small boy who asked if the commander was Santa Claus, where Colonel Harry Shoup decided to ask his team to check their radar for signs of Santa’s sleigh – and hence, giving birth to this tradition.

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Hantu Penanggalan

By Susan Tam | Yahoo! Malaysia Newsroom

A flying head with long hair and dangling stomach sac and intestines.

This is the image of the most horrifying type of vampire known in Malay and Indonesian folklore - the Hantu Penanggalan, a vampire that thirsts for the blood of a newborn baby.

The demon — described as a ghostly head dismantled from its body gets its name from the root word "tanggal", which means to disengage.

There are different versions of how her head was separated from her body, but all versions share the same story about her origin - the Hantu Penanggalan was a result of a beautiful woman dying at childbirth.

Two versions of how the separation process or "penanggalan" happens.

The first involves the death of a beautiful woman after becoming disengaged or "tanggal" from her baby during childbirth. Mediums and black magic practitioners would dig up bodies of these women to create the Hantu Penaggalan.

"The medium or bomoh will use the blood of the dead mother to call or seru its spirit to form this vampire," University Malaya's associate professor Datuk Zainal Abidin Borhan told Yahoo! Malaysia in an interview.

The Malay animism expert explained that the medium or bomoh could become masters of the Hantu Penanggalan if they made yearly offerings to it.

This vampire could appear as an ordinary woman in the day, and turn into the ghastly being by nightfall. Some believed she disguised herself as a midwife to give her access to newborns.
The second dismantling process or "penanggalan" takes place when the woman's head becomes disengaged from her body when she turns into a Hantu Penanggalan.

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The ‘oily man’ strikes fear

By RASHVINJEET S.BEDI

The supernatural phenomenon purportedly terrorising Kampung Laksamana in Gombak has rallied the residents to stand together in defence of the young girls in their community.

WHILE most people would be in deep slumber at 2am, residents of Kampung Laksamana in Gombak were wide awake, roaming up and down Jalan Laksamana 1 in Gombak, Selangor.

Around 40 residents all divided into groups of about five to 10 people each and fully equipped with spotlights and wooden sticks were on patrol in the village located about 2km from Batu Caves that Thursday morning. Although they were joking with one another, you could feel the tension in the air.

An outsider might think that a gang rumble was on the cards. But what the residents of this village were worried about were not humans, instead they were keeping an eye out for not one, but two, supernatural beings. They are under attack from a couple of orang minyak (oily man), they claim. This village has been buzzing with sightings of the two paranormal creatures for the last 10 days.

Many residents claim to have seen and heard the orang minyak around the vicinity of the Pangsapuri Laksamana and Jalan Laksamana 1. And they all say the same thing the orang minyak are clad only in their underwear and drenched in black shiny oil. They can jump from one roof to another with ease, and vanish into thin air within seconds.

It's definitely no laughing matter, stresses Aslam Khan, 33, one of the villagers “lucky” enough to have seen them.

As he describes them, one is tall, stocky and bald while the other is thin and curly haired.

“I saw the bald orang minyak hiding behind the water tank of a house at about two in the morning. It was breathing really loudly, like a cow.

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Orang Minyak: Mythical monster or perverse criminal?

A black-greased man, clad only in equally greasy, black underpants, creeping into a room through an open window that is the image many have of the Orang Minyak. Of course, for most, it is reinforced by the repeat watchings of P. Ramlee's 1956 classic Sumpah Orang Minyak (The Curse of the Oily Man).

Legend as reprised by the Malay hit movie has it that the orang minyak is a regular person, but is pursuing the dark arts. To complete this course of "learning" and for his ilmu (knowledge) to be "effective", the orang minyak is supposed to rape a certain number of virgins.

Different numbers of virgins needed have been bandied about, from one to 40 and 99. Some say that the numbers of virgins depended on the orang minyak's master, but luckily, the orang minyak has the ability to "recognise" real virgins.

According to another popular tale, the orang minyak became what it was because of a black magic ritual gone wrong, and it was only by raping the 40 virgins that he could break the dark spell binding him.

An Islamic faith healer from Kasturi Syifa says he has heard that if the orang minyak rapes the required number of virgins, he will get his wish granted some common wishes are to be good looking and to have the ability to sweet-talk and charm people.

"They say, the person made a deal with the devil," he adds.

He, however, insists that he does not believe in the orang minyak 100 per cent, as he has not come across one yet.

He points out that all the orang minyak that have been captured turned out to be either thieves or mental health patients.

Ustaz Ismail Kamus, an Islamic faith healer from Darussalam, explains that the orang minyak douse their body in oil to evade capture.

They cannot use violence and can only use their magic to evade capture, he adds, "It also keeps on coming back to the same place to taunt the people and show off its abilities'."

Although he has not met one personally, Ustaz Ismail believes that the orang minyak exists.

He notes, it would take a few months to learn the black magic, but once mastered, the orang minyak would be able to walk through walls and vanish into thin air. He adds, the orang minyak is also believed to be very agile and can get strength by sucking out the water from a banana bud (jantung pisang).

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Indian girl sacrificed, liver offered to gods

RAIPUR: A seven-year-old Indian girl was murdered in a tribal sacrifice and her liver offered to the gods to improve crop growth, police in the central state of Chhattisgarh said on Sunday.

The body of Lalita Tati was found in October one week after her family reported her missing.

“A seven-year-old girl was sacrificed by two persons superstitiously believing that the act would give a better harvest,” Narayan Das, the police chief of Bijapur district, told AFP by telephone.

The two men was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of killing the girl and offering her liver to the gods in a grisly tribal ceremony. Police said the men had confessed to the crime.

The girl was murdered in a jungle district of Chhattisgarh that is a stronghold of rebel Maoists who have tapped into disaffection among local tribal groups.

Human sacrifices occasionally make headlines in deeply religious and superstitious India, and usually occur in poor areas where some people revere practitioners of black magic.

Two suspected child sacrifices were reported in Chhattisgarh in 2010, while in the same year the decapitated body of a factory worker was found in a temple in the eastern state of West Bengal.

The victims are often ritually killed by witchdoctors to appease gods, spirits or deities

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Family moves out after 'orang minyak' scare

A family is traumatised after several sightings of orang minyak forced them to temporarily move out from their house at Kampung Laksamana in Gombak.

 Kamal Bahari Satar, 36, told Sinar Harian that the decision was made after the family was disturbed for five days. "My sister-in-law repeatedly saw the apparition inside and outside our house," he said on Tuesday.

Orang minyak, or translated as oily man in Malay, is a supernatural rapist who uses black grease as a night-time camouflage.

 Kamal Bahari said only female family members could see the orang minyak. The apparition had locked family members inside the house late Saturday night. "We saw a black heap underneath the kitchen table. "When other residents poked it with a bamboo stick, we could see blood stains," he said.

 According to Kamal Bahari, police also found black footprints outside the house where the alleged incident took place. He added that his sister-in-law was later treated with alternative therapies after she heard whispers asking her to step outside the house.

 "Thankfully, she has recovered but we do not want to take any chances as I have a 22-year-old younger sister," said Kamal Bahari.

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'Giant soldier' pictured mourning North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il

Picture is copyright to Getty Images

Images of crowds of mourners wailing and thousands of troops lined up to pay their final respects to Kim Jong-Il have become synonymous with the death of the North Korean leader.

But one picture, captured as the funeral procession passed through the capital Pyongyang, has revealed a bizarre oddity.

A close up of the back row of one block of soldiers lined up in the Kumsusan Memorial Place yesterday appears to show a man towering above other mourners.

The soldier, who appears to be well over 8ft tall, is shown from a number of different angles in images caught by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The strange image has fuelled much speculation on the internet as to the identity of the mystery mourner.

Some have suggested that the figure is North Korean basketball star Ri Myung Hun, who stands at 7’ 9” tall.

The 44-year-old sportsman once held the title of the world’s tallest man.

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Magpies 'mourn' Kim Jong-il in North Korea

A surreal phenomenon takes place in North Korea as dozens of magpies perch on trees to mourn deceased leader Kim Jong-il, state television KRT says.

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5 Possible ways the world will end

Meteorites and asteroids



Giant pieces of rock falling from space made exciting plots for ‘90s sci-fi movies like ‘Armageddon’ and ‘Deep Impact’. Meteorite impact or The ‘Alvarez’ hypothesis met criticism when the theory was first raised in 1980, but it has since been widely accepted that a meteorite strike could have actually wiped out the whole dinosaur population over 65 million years ago. Russian scientists have issued some more apocalyptic predictions. An asteroid dubbed ‘Apophis’, estimated to be the size of two football fields, could collide with Earth as early as 16 April 2036 if a change in gravity causes it to fall out of its orbit.

While they admit it is theoretically possible for the asteroid to hit Earth, they note that the chances are remote; in fact, they put the odds at one in 233,000. Sergei Smirnov, a spokesman at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Observatory, said: “How much of a threat this asteroid actually presents will be impossible to assess until 2028, when it approaches our planet. If it does strike, our planet will face a continental disaster and major climate change. And if the asteroid falls into an ocean, the disaster could assume global proportions.”

Solar storms

 

Powerful solar storms exactly like the ones the world witnessed at the beginning of 2011 occur once every eleven years as the sun’s magnetic field flips over. ‘Solar Cycle 24’ has been building gradually with the number of sunspots and solar storms set to reach a ‘solar maximum’ by 2013. Super solar flares send great geysers of hot gas and huge quantities of charged particles erupting from the surface into space. These flares of charged particles, called ‘coronal mass ejections’, slam into the Earth's magnetic shield impairing electrical devices in their path. As the sun is said to become more turbulent as it approaches the peak in its activity cycle around 2013, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, Professor Sir John Beddington, warned: “We've had a relatively quiet period of space weather. We can't expect that quiet period to continue. At the same time over that period the potential vulnerability of our systems has increased dramatically, whether it is the smart grid in our electricity systems or the ubiquitous use of GPS in just about everything we use these days. The situation has changed. We need to be thinking about the ability both to categorise and explain and give early warning when particular types of space weather are likely to occur.”

Pole shift


According to some modern astronomers and an ancient Mayan prophecy, on the winter solstice of 21 December 2012, Earth will be in exact alignment with the sun and the centre of the Milky Way galaxy - an extraordinary event which happens once every 25,800 years.

No one knows exactly what effect this alignment will have on Earth, but the Mayans believed that the consequences of the inter-galactic occurrence would be catastrophic, prompting the world’s end. It is imagined that a magnetic field effect reversal will take place, where the entire mantle of the earth would shift in a matter of days, changing the position of the North and the South Pole. Such a rapid change in the Earth’s dynamics would result in earthquakes, tsunamis, global climatic change and eventually the ultimate planetary disaster, similar to the one depicted in the disaster movie ‘2012’.

However, NASA disagrees, predicting that the polar shift event will not mean that Earth meets it fate. Experts debunked the theory, saying: “Nothing bad will happen to Earth in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than four billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012. There are no planetary alignments in the next few decades, Earth will not cross the galactic plane in 2012, and even if these alignments were to occur, their effects on the Earth would be negligible.”

Super volcano eruptions

 

2010’s eruption of Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland brought air travel across Northern Europe to a virtual standstill, but if one of the largest known super volcanoes was to blow, it could cause a global disaster of biblical proportions. According to volcanologists, the last super volcano to erupt was Mount Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia, 75,000 years ago. Thousands of cubic kilometres of ash and sulphur dioxide were thrown into the atmosphere - so much that it blocked out light from the sun all over the world, resulting in global temperatures plummeting by 21°c.

 It is imagined that black acidic rain would have fallen due to gas poisoning. Such an event supposedly eradicated mankind, cutting the population to just a couple of thousand people, and three quarters of all living plants in the northern hemisphere are thought to have been killed.

Global warming

 

Should the Earth’s average temperature continue to rise at the rate it has done over the last 50 years, the face of the Earth as we know it will change, say climatologists. The reasons for this type of man-made climate change have been well-documented and the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says it’s not too late to save our planet as leading figures try to stop the ill-effects that the Earth’s population and living species will experience from the so-called ‘greenhouse effect’ before the world becomes unbearable for man to live in.

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