When a South African botanist Lyall Watson claimed in 1973 that plants had emotions that could be recorded on a lie detector test, he was dismissed by many in the scientific community.
However, new research, published in the journal Trends in Plant Science, has revealed that plants not only respond to sound, but they also communicate to each other by making "clicking" sounds.
Using powerful loudspeakers, researchers at The University of Western Australia were able to hear clicking sounds coming from the roots of corn saplings.
Researchers at Bristol University also found that when they suspended the young roots in water and played a continuous noise at 220Hz, a similar frequency to the plant clicks, they found that the plants grew towards the source of the sound.
"Everyone knows that plants react to light, and scientists also know that plants use volatile chemicals to communicate with each other, for instance, when danger - such as a herbivore - approaches," Dr. Gagliano said in a university news release.
[Click here to read full article]
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Friday, June 29, 2012
Why are there spaceships in Medieval art?
Medieval art can sometimes surprise you, with its rich colors and expressive subjects. But sometimes, you're also caught off guard by the shock of noticing the presence of a guy in a spaceship in a painting of the crucifixion. Find out why there are so many UFOs in paintings from hundreds of years ago.
So, you are wandering around the streets of Metohia, Yugoslavia, as one does, and decide to spend some time in the Visoki Decani Monastery. You take in the atmosphere slowly, looking at the thickness of the walls — built in 1330 and still standing — and the wooden sarcophagus of King Stefan. And gradually you come up to the altar, looking at the fresco above it. Reading the informational sign next to it, you see that it was completed in 1350, which, you think, is fine, but could someone explain to you why someone in 1350 was doodling space ships above the scene of the crucifixion?
To the left of Jesus, in the sky, is something that looks like a comet with a multifaceted trail behind it. One side, though, is transparent, and inside sits a small figure. In the sky on the far right of the painting is something that wouldn't look out of place in a drawing from the height of the 1960s space age. There's a rounded ship with a pointed nose cone in front, a transparent scooped window for a cockpit, and three turrets in the back that look like landing struts. The shape and aesthetic are so familiar that it's impossible to read as anything other than a spaceship.
That example is what people first point to when they talk about UFOs in medieval art, but it's not the only thing they point to. In other artwork there are golden disks shooting down lights that look like tractor beams onto the faithful. There are random ovals, with what look like wires coming out of them, over the shoulder of the Virgin Mary while she's holding the baby Jesus. There are disks in the sky in some paintings and what look like crude pictures of the flying saucer in the "I Want To Believe" poster above people's heads in others.
But the space ship in the Decani fresco is the most obvious picture of what we would think of as a spaceship. What are they?
[Click here to read full article]
So, you are wandering around the streets of Metohia, Yugoslavia, as one does, and decide to spend some time in the Visoki Decani Monastery. You take in the atmosphere slowly, looking at the thickness of the walls — built in 1330 and still standing — and the wooden sarcophagus of King Stefan. And gradually you come up to the altar, looking at the fresco above it. Reading the informational sign next to it, you see that it was completed in 1350, which, you think, is fine, but could someone explain to you why someone in 1350 was doodling space ships above the scene of the crucifixion?
To the left of Jesus, in the sky, is something that looks like a comet with a multifaceted trail behind it. One side, though, is transparent, and inside sits a small figure. In the sky on the far right of the painting is something that wouldn't look out of place in a drawing from the height of the 1960s space age. There's a rounded ship with a pointed nose cone in front, a transparent scooped window for a cockpit, and three turrets in the back that look like landing struts. The shape and aesthetic are so familiar that it's impossible to read as anything other than a spaceship.
That example is what people first point to when they talk about UFOs in medieval art, but it's not the only thing they point to. In other artwork there are golden disks shooting down lights that look like tractor beams onto the faithful. There are random ovals, with what look like wires coming out of them, over the shoulder of the Virgin Mary while she's holding the baby Jesus. There are disks in the sky in some paintings and what look like crude pictures of the flying saucer in the "I Want To Believe" poster above people's heads in others.
But the space ship in the Decani fresco is the most obvious picture of what we would think of as a spaceship. What are they?
[Click here to read full article]
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Mysterious 12,000-Year-Old Gobekli Tepe
June 16, 2012 Gobekli Tepe 8 miles northeast of Sanliurfa, Turkey - On Wednesday, June 13, 2012, as the sun rose I was standing on the Gobekli Tepe hilltop. Ramps have been built around the archaeological excavations of mysterious, thin, tall (16 to 19 feet), T-shaped, elegantly carved limestone pillars placed carefully in circular patterns over some 30 acres a thousand feet above the valley floor and sculpted with odd, even unrecognizable, animals, insects and humanoid figures to be detailed in Part 2.
I joined Boston University geologist Robert M. Schoch, Ph.D., his wife Katie and their Turkish tour team of Gregory Poplawski and Jack Jakubowsky from Poland and Turkish guide Suat
Dokumaci, who led our group of about 40 Americans from Istanbul through many other ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine archaeological sites as we traveled southeastward to Gobekli Tepe during the first two weeks of June 2012.
Gobekli Tepe in Turkish means a “potbelly hill” first studied in a 1964 survey by Istanbul University and University of Chicago scientists, who concluded the hill could not be an entirely natural feature. But not until 1994 did German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt, Ph.D., begin excavating layer-by-layer, carefully dating and studying the surrounding soils as he dug.
[Click here to read full article]
I joined Boston University geologist Robert M. Schoch, Ph.D., his wife Katie and their Turkish tour team of Gregory Poplawski and Jack Jakubowsky from Poland and Turkish guide Suat
Dokumaci, who led our group of about 40 Americans from Istanbul through many other ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine archaeological sites as we traveled southeastward to Gobekli Tepe during the first two weeks of June 2012.
Gobekli Tepe in Turkish means a “potbelly hill” first studied in a 1964 survey by Istanbul University and University of Chicago scientists, who concluded the hill could not be an entirely natural feature. But not until 1994 did German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt, Ph.D., begin excavating layer-by-layer, carefully dating and studying the surrounding soils as he dug.
[Click here to read full article]
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
We are more likely to die on our birthday than any other day
Researchers who studied more than two million people over 40 years found a rise in deaths from heart attacks, strokes, falls and suicides.
William Shakespeare died on his birthday on April 23 1616. The actress Ingrid Bergman also died on her birthday, in August 1982.
On average, people over the age of 60 were 14 per cent more likely to die on their birthdays.
Heart attacks rose 18.6 per cent on birthdays and were higher for men and women while strokes were up 21.5 per cent - mostly in women.
Dr Vladeta Ajdacic-Gross of the University of Zurich, said: 'Birthdays end lethally more frequently than might be expected.' He added that risk of birthday death rose as people got older.
Canadian data also showed that strokes were more likely on birthdays, especially among patients with high blood pressure.
There was a 34.9 per cent rise in suicides, 28.5 per cent rise in accidental deaths not related to cars, and a 44 per cent rise in deaths from falls on birthdays.
Psychologist prof Richard Wiseman, from the University of Hertfordshire, said: "It seems to be a valid finding.
"There are two camps - one is the camp that suggests you eat too much and your getting on a bit and that causes you to die.
"The other is a placebo effect. You are knife-edged on death. And you kept yourself going until your birthday. You think 'that's it I've had enough I'm out of here'."
[Click here to read full article]
William Shakespeare died on his birthday on April 23 1616. The actress Ingrid Bergman also died on her birthday, in August 1982.
On average, people over the age of 60 were 14 per cent more likely to die on their birthdays.
Heart attacks rose 18.6 per cent on birthdays and were higher for men and women while strokes were up 21.5 per cent - mostly in women.
Dr Vladeta Ajdacic-Gross of the University of Zurich, said: 'Birthdays end lethally more frequently than might be expected.' He added that risk of birthday death rose as people got older.
Canadian data also showed that strokes were more likely on birthdays, especially among patients with high blood pressure.
There was a 34.9 per cent rise in suicides, 28.5 per cent rise in accidental deaths not related to cars, and a 44 per cent rise in deaths from falls on birthdays.
Psychologist prof Richard Wiseman, from the University of Hertfordshire, said: "It seems to be a valid finding.
"There are two camps - one is the camp that suggests you eat too much and your getting on a bit and that causes you to die.
"The other is a placebo effect. You are knife-edged on death. And you kept yourself going until your birthday. You think 'that's it I've had enough I'm out of here'."
[Click here to read full article]
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Mysterious Poisonous Spiders Invade Indian Town
Swarms of never-before-seen spiders descended upon a cultural festival in the northeastern Indian town of Sadiya last month, biting several people and leaving two dead. The arachnid “invasion,” as the Times of India called it, caused a panic among festival-goers who reportedly jostled one another and tripped over benches in an effort to escape the venomous spiders.
Scientists from Dibrugarh University and Gauhati University have not been able to identify the spiders, which resemble tarantulas but may be a new species altogether. Ratul Rajkhowa, a professor of zoology at Cotton College in the city of Guwahati, told the Times that the spiders could be black wishbones, a species native to Southern Australia. If that’s the case, the spiders’ venom would not be deadly but could, in some individuals, cause severe allergic reactions that may result in death. The individuals who died after being bitten by the mysterious spiders were reportedly cremated before autopsies could be performed, and scientists have yet to test the toxicity of the spiders’ venom.
The sudden infestation nevertheless remains a concern for both scientists and Sadiya residents, as venomous spiders are not native to India’s Assam region, where the attacks occurred.
British naturalist Vejay K. Singh told the Times that, while swarms of spiders are rare, ”a certain anomaly in conditions may provoke an unusual surge in breeding populations…usually after flooding when the spiders search for dry and higher ground.” Post-flood spider swarms in Australia last March left farmlands blanketed in spiderwebs, while in Pakistan millions of spiders enveloped trees following last year’s devastating floods.
[Click here to read full article]
Scientists from Dibrugarh University and Gauhati University have not been able to identify the spiders, which resemble tarantulas but may be a new species altogether. Ratul Rajkhowa, a professor of zoology at Cotton College in the city of Guwahati, told the Times that the spiders could be black wishbones, a species native to Southern Australia. If that’s the case, the spiders’ venom would not be deadly but could, in some individuals, cause severe allergic reactions that may result in death. The individuals who died after being bitten by the mysterious spiders were reportedly cremated before autopsies could be performed, and scientists have yet to test the toxicity of the spiders’ venom.
The sudden infestation nevertheless remains a concern for both scientists and Sadiya residents, as venomous spiders are not native to India’s Assam region, where the attacks occurred.
British naturalist Vejay K. Singh told the Times that, while swarms of spiders are rare, ”a certain anomaly in conditions may provoke an unusual surge in breeding populations…usually after flooding when the spiders search for dry and higher ground.” Post-flood spider swarms in Australia last March left farmlands blanketed in spiderwebs, while in Pakistan millions of spiders enveloped trees following last year’s devastating floods.
[Click here to read full article]
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Zombie Cells Discovered that Survive Death
Researchers have made a discovery that may take zombie-phobes one step closer to revising their zombie apocalypse escape strategies. Researchers have found stem cells in cadavers that survived for more than 17 days. The incredible discovery has some potential for medical applications - and some people are wondering if this is going to enter into the dorm room zombie conversations on campuses around the nation.
There are few cells more interesting to researchers than stem cells. These incredible genetic blocks of life are capable of adapting to a number of different circumstances in order to repair damaged tissue, build muscle, and are a key component in creating larger more complex organisms. And now thanks to a study on stem cells conducted at the Pasteur Institute in Paris by Fabrice Chretien and colleagues has determined that the cells actually have more of a lifespan after death than previously thought.
Originally cells were credited with being able to survive for up to two days after the death of larger organisms. In humans, it was previously expected two days was likely the upper limit of how long a stem cell could survive after death. Stem cells are often difficult to find in adults, particularly after death. But the researchers sifted through several cadavers that were kept at temperatures just above freezing and were able to determine that the cells had actually entered a dormant state.
[Click here to read full article]
There are few cells more interesting to researchers than stem cells. These incredible genetic blocks of life are capable of adapting to a number of different circumstances in order to repair damaged tissue, build muscle, and are a key component in creating larger more complex organisms. And now thanks to a study on stem cells conducted at the Pasteur Institute in Paris by Fabrice Chretien and colleagues has determined that the cells actually have more of a lifespan after death than previously thought.
Originally cells were credited with being able to survive for up to two days after the death of larger organisms. In humans, it was previously expected two days was likely the upper limit of how long a stem cell could survive after death. Stem cells are often difficult to find in adults, particularly after death. But the researchers sifted through several cadavers that were kept at temperatures just above freezing and were able to determine that the cells had actually entered a dormant state.
[Click here to read full article]
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
Woman, 63, 'becomes PREGNANT in the mouth' with baby squid after eating calamari
A 63-year-old woman became 'pregnant' with 12 baby squid after eating calamari, according to a claim in a bio-tech report.
The real-life 'octo-mum', from South Korea, was eating a portion of cooked whole squid when she felt a sharp pain in her mouth.
The bizarre claim has been made in a scientific paper from the National Center for Biotechnology Information in Bethesda, Maryland.
The lady told doctors that she could feel something in her mouth which they described as 'bug-like organisms'.
When examined, the doctors found 'baby cephalopods' attached to her mouth. These are small pods, covered in a cement-like material to make them stick.
Inside the pods is an 'ejaculatory apparatus' and sperm - with the apparatus expelling the sperm quite forcefully.
After the victim of the 'attack' was hospitalised, doctors removed the baby cephalopods from her gums, tongue and cheek. It was only then that the pods were formally identified as 'squid spermatophores.'
The Center's paper says: 'She did not swallow the portion, but spat it out immediately. She complained of a pricking and foreign-body sensation in the oral cavity.
'Twelve small, white spindle-shaped, bug-like organisms stuck in the mucous membrane of the tongue, cheek, and gingiva [gums] were completely removed, along with the affected mucosa.
'On the basis of their morphology and the presence of the sperm bag, the foreign bodies were identified as squid spermatophores.'
[Click here to read full article]
The real-life 'octo-mum', from South Korea, was eating a portion of cooked whole squid when she felt a sharp pain in her mouth.
The bizarre claim has been made in a scientific paper from the National Center for Biotechnology Information in Bethesda, Maryland.
The lady told doctors that she could feel something in her mouth which they described as 'bug-like organisms'.
When examined, the doctors found 'baby cephalopods' attached to her mouth. These are small pods, covered in a cement-like material to make them stick.
Inside the pods is an 'ejaculatory apparatus' and sperm - with the apparatus expelling the sperm quite forcefully.
After the victim of the 'attack' was hospitalised, doctors removed the baby cephalopods from her gums, tongue and cheek. It was only then that the pods were formally identified as 'squid spermatophores.'
The Center's paper says: 'She did not swallow the portion, but spat it out immediately. She complained of a pricking and foreign-body sensation in the oral cavity.
'Twelve small, white spindle-shaped, bug-like organisms stuck in the mucous membrane of the tongue, cheek, and gingiva [gums] were completely removed, along with the affected mucosa.
'On the basis of their morphology and the presence of the sperm bag, the foreign bodies were identified as squid spermatophores.'
[Click here to read full article]
Sunday, June 17, 2012
UFO Over Lebanon Missouri
Appears to be some sort of aircraft (not sure if man made or not) that may be mimicking an airplane since it has strobe lights. Normal behavior would be to ignore a flashing light in the sky as a plane but if you saw a moving object with no flashing lights then that would certainly draw attention.
You can clearly see 4 very bright lights 3 of them pulsing. Once you blow this video up you can see that the object is connected by some sort of dense frame structure connecting to the 4 light corners. It also appears to connect through the middle of the craft from the front light to the back light.
After adjusting the contrast etc I was able to determine from the video that the tail light flashes, then the left light flashes, followed by the front forward light. It does not appear that the right light flashes at all for some reason.
You can clearly see 4 very bright lights 3 of them pulsing. Once you blow this video up you can see that the object is connected by some sort of dense frame structure connecting to the 4 light corners. It also appears to connect through the middle of the craft from the front light to the back light.
After adjusting the contrast etc I was able to determine from the video that the tail light flashes, then the left light flashes, followed by the front forward light. It does not appear that the right light flashes at all for some reason.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Spacecraft Or Forage: What's Killing The Saiga Antelope?
Did a Soyuz spacecraft cause the deaths of hundreds of endangered saiga antelope in Kazakhstan this week?
Some ecologists think so, although scientists and the Kazakh authorities remain skeptical.
Officials say the carcasses of at least 543 saiga antelope have been found in northern Kazakhstan's Qostanai region since May 21, the latest reported mass death of the critically endangered animal.
And the fact that some 120 of the carcasses were discovered near the village of Sorsha -- the same location where a Soyuz capsule carrying a Russian-American crew from the International Space Station landed in April -- has sparked suggestions the animals may have been poisoned by chemicals left behind by the craft.
Likewise, in an interview with RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, ecologist Musagali Duambekov suggested that the mass deaths could be connected to the Baikonur space-launch site in central Kazakhstan.
"My personal opinion is that it is connected with human activity [and] that it is due to an anthropogenic factor," he said. "It could be from chemical elements left from space rockets that fly over this place, or from other chemical factors, such as the extensive use of fertilizers, which are very harmful."
[Click here to read full article]
Some ecologists think so, although scientists and the Kazakh authorities remain skeptical.
Officials say the carcasses of at least 543 saiga antelope have been found in northern Kazakhstan's Qostanai region since May 21, the latest reported mass death of the critically endangered animal.
And the fact that some 120 of the carcasses were discovered near the village of Sorsha -- the same location where a Soyuz capsule carrying a Russian-American crew from the International Space Station landed in April -- has sparked suggestions the animals may have been poisoned by chemicals left behind by the craft.
Likewise, in an interview with RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, ecologist Musagali Duambekov suggested that the mass deaths could be connected to the Baikonur space-launch site in central Kazakhstan.
"My personal opinion is that it is connected with human activity [and] that it is due to an anthropogenic factor," he said. "It could be from chemical elements left from space rockets that fly over this place, or from other chemical factors, such as the extensive use of fertilizers, which are very harmful."
[Click here to read full article]
Friday, June 15, 2012
From Aliens To Tibetan Mystics: "They" Might Truly Be Among Us! Who Are The Walk-Ins?
Are you a Walk-In? Has the soul you were born with been removed and replaced by a more advanced soul with a mission we can only dimly comprehend? Did you ever have a time in your life when you were severely depressed, only to suddenly be able to tap into a surprising flow of positive energy and newfound optimism?
There are varying definitions of a Walk-In available in occult literature, but perhaps it would be best to start with the concept as laid out by the late Christian psychic Ruth Montgomery, author of a book on Walk-Ins called “Strangers Among Us.” Montgomery wasn’t just another New Age hack. She had a long and prestigious career in mainstream journalism, becoming the first female reporter in the Washington Bureau of “The New York Daily News.” She was also a syndicated columnist for Hearst Headlines and United Press International and wrote of her 25 years covering Washington in a book called “Hail To The Chiefs: My Life And Times With Six Presidents.”
Beginning in 1952, Montgomery sometimes wrote about psychic Jeanne Dixon in her columns – in one of which Dixon accurately predicted the assassination of John F. Kennedy – and wrote a 1965 book on Dixon called “A Gift Of Prophecy” that sold over 3 million copies.
So we can approach Montgomery’s research and journalism skills with some degree of confidence when she says, “Walk-Ins were souls on the other side who had earned the right, in previous lifetimes, that if they wanted to, could come in and replace a soul that was in desperate need of leaving that body – one who either does not want to maintain it or who is dying and can’t keep it alive.”
For example, as stated above, a person may be suffering from extreme depression or could even be contemplating suicide. The Walk-In steps in to relieve the unhappy person’s earthly trials, and the Walk-Out moves on to the spirit world just like a person who has died. The souls of the Walk-Ins are not “perfect,” in moral terms, but they are greatly spiritually advanced, called “aware” souls. Meanwhile, no blame is attached to the Walk-Out, for it has labored greatly to develop itself but simply cannot conquer the problems with which it is faced.
[Click here to read full article]
There are varying definitions of a Walk-In available in occult literature, but perhaps it would be best to start with the concept as laid out by the late Christian psychic Ruth Montgomery, author of a book on Walk-Ins called “Strangers Among Us.” Montgomery wasn’t just another New Age hack. She had a long and prestigious career in mainstream journalism, becoming the first female reporter in the Washington Bureau of “The New York Daily News.” She was also a syndicated columnist for Hearst Headlines and United Press International and wrote of her 25 years covering Washington in a book called “Hail To The Chiefs: My Life And Times With Six Presidents.”
Beginning in 1952, Montgomery sometimes wrote about psychic Jeanne Dixon in her columns – in one of which Dixon accurately predicted the assassination of John F. Kennedy – and wrote a 1965 book on Dixon called “A Gift Of Prophecy” that sold over 3 million copies.
So we can approach Montgomery’s research and journalism skills with some degree of confidence when she says, “Walk-Ins were souls on the other side who had earned the right, in previous lifetimes, that if they wanted to, could come in and replace a soul that was in desperate need of leaving that body – one who either does not want to maintain it or who is dying and can’t keep it alive.”
For example, as stated above, a person may be suffering from extreme depression or could even be contemplating suicide. The Walk-In steps in to relieve the unhappy person’s earthly trials, and the Walk-Out moves on to the spirit world just like a person who has died. The souls of the Walk-Ins are not “perfect,” in moral terms, but they are greatly spiritually advanced, called “aware” souls. Meanwhile, no blame is attached to the Walk-Out, for it has labored greatly to develop itself but simply cannot conquer the problems with which it is faced.
[Click here to read full article]
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Huge Ancient Civilization's Collapse Explained
The mysterious fall of the largest of the world's earliest urban civilizations nearly 4,000 years ago in what is now India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh now appears to have a key culprit — ancient climate change, researchers say.
Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia may be the best known of the first great urban cultures, but the largest was the Indus or Harappan civilization. This culture once extended over more than 386,000 square miles (1 million square kilometers) across the plains of the Indus River from the Arabian Sea to the Ganges, and at its peak may have accounted for 10 percent of the world population. The civilization developed about 5,200 years ago, and slowly disintegrated between 3,900 and 3,000 years ago — populations largely abandoned cities, migrating toward the east.
"Antiquity knew about Egypt and Mesopotamia, but the Indus civilization, which was bigger than these two, was completely forgotten until the 1920s," said researcher Liviu Giosan, a geologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. "There are still many things we don't know about them."
Nearly a century ago, researchers began discovering numerous remains of Harappan settlements along the Indus River and its tributaries, as well as in a vast desert region at the border of India and Pakistan. Evidence was uncovered for sophisticated cities, sea links with Mesopotamia, internal trade routes, arts and crafts, and as-yet undeciphered writing.
"They had cities ordered into grids, with exquisite plumbing, which was not encountered again until the Romans," Giosan told LiveScience. "They seem to have been a more democratic society than Mesopotamia and Egypt — no large structures were built for important personalitiess like kings or pharaohs."
[Click here to read full article]
Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia may be the best known of the first great urban cultures, but the largest was the Indus or Harappan civilization. This culture once extended over more than 386,000 square miles (1 million square kilometers) across the plains of the Indus River from the Arabian Sea to the Ganges, and at its peak may have accounted for 10 percent of the world population. The civilization developed about 5,200 years ago, and slowly disintegrated between 3,900 and 3,000 years ago — populations largely abandoned cities, migrating toward the east.
"Antiquity knew about Egypt and Mesopotamia, but the Indus civilization, which was bigger than these two, was completely forgotten until the 1920s," said researcher Liviu Giosan, a geologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. "There are still many things we don't know about them."
Nearly a century ago, researchers began discovering numerous remains of Harappan settlements along the Indus River and its tributaries, as well as in a vast desert region at the border of India and Pakistan. Evidence was uncovered for sophisticated cities, sea links with Mesopotamia, internal trade routes, arts and crafts, and as-yet undeciphered writing.
"They had cities ordered into grids, with exquisite plumbing, which was not encountered again until the Romans," Giosan told LiveScience. "They seem to have been a more democratic society than Mesopotamia and Egypt — no large structures were built for important personalitiess like kings or pharaohs."
[Click here to read full article]
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
In tree rings, Japanese scientists find 8th-century mystery
In the late eighth century, Earth was hit by a mystery blast of cosmic rays, according to a Japanese study that found a relic of the powerful event in cedar trees.
Analysis of two ancient trees found a surge in carbon-14 -- a carbon isotope that derives from cosmic radiation -- which occurred just in AD 774 and AD 775, the team report in the journal Nature on Sunday.
Earth is battered by protons and other sub-atomic particles which are blasted across space by high-energy sources.
The particles collide with the stratosphere and react with nitrogen to create carbon-14, which is then absorbed into the biosphere.
A team led by Fusa Miyake of Nagoya University found that levels of carbon-14 in the two cedars were about 1.2 percent higher in 774 and 775 compared to other years.
This may not sound much, but in relation to background concentrations of carbon-14, the difference is huge.
One source of cosmic rays is the Sun, whose activity varies in phases called Schwabe cycles. Our star also throws the occasional tantrum, spouting bursts of energy called solar flares.
But Miyake's team say that the cosmic whack of 774-775 cannot be attributed to the Schwabe cycle of the time -- and it is far bigger than any known flare from the Sun.
The other possibility is a supernova, or a star that explodes at the end of its life in a welter of gamma radiation.
It burns brightly for a few years before cooling into a remnant that can glow sullenly for centuries.
But there is no documented record in the northern hemisphere of a supernova at around 775.
[Click here to read full article]
Analysis of two ancient trees found a surge in carbon-14 -- a carbon isotope that derives from cosmic radiation -- which occurred just in AD 774 and AD 775, the team report in the journal Nature on Sunday.
Earth is battered by protons and other sub-atomic particles which are blasted across space by high-energy sources.
The particles collide with the stratosphere and react with nitrogen to create carbon-14, which is then absorbed into the biosphere.
A team led by Fusa Miyake of Nagoya University found that levels of carbon-14 in the two cedars were about 1.2 percent higher in 774 and 775 compared to other years.
This may not sound much, but in relation to background concentrations of carbon-14, the difference is huge.
One source of cosmic rays is the Sun, whose activity varies in phases called Schwabe cycles. Our star also throws the occasional tantrum, spouting bursts of energy called solar flares.
But Miyake's team say that the cosmic whack of 774-775 cannot be attributed to the Schwabe cycle of the time -- and it is far bigger than any known flare from the Sun.
The other possibility is a supernova, or a star that explodes at the end of its life in a welter of gamma radiation.
It burns brightly for a few years before cooling into a remnant that can glow sullenly for centuries.
But there is no documented record in the northern hemisphere of a supernova at around 775.
[Click here to read full article]
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Indian believers swallow live fish to cure asthma
HYDERABAD (AP)- Tens of thousands of asthma-sufferers have mobbed a southern Indian stadium to swallow live sardines smeared with a yellow herbal paste they believe will cure their breathing problems.
Photo: Associated Press
Despite doctors' criticism, the Goud family has drawn throngs of people for years with its secret fish and herbal formula it says it received from a Hindu saint about 170 years ago.
Hyderabad police say a man died of a heart attack and several others sought medical attention for breathing difficulty after waiting for hours. Police say the stadium was unprepared to deal with the 70,000 people who rushed the gates on Friday.
The family offers the treatment annually on a day chosen by astrologers.
[Click here to read full article]
Photo: Associated Press
Despite doctors' criticism, the Goud family has drawn throngs of people for years with its secret fish and herbal formula it says it received from a Hindu saint about 170 years ago.
Hyderabad police say a man died of a heart attack and several others sought medical attention for breathing difficulty after waiting for hours. Police say the stadium was unprepared to deal with the 70,000 people who rushed the gates on Friday.
The family offers the treatment annually on a day chosen by astrologers.
[Click here to read full article]
Monday, June 11, 2012
Chinese Buddhists 'cause plague of serpents'
For a group of Chinese Buddhists, releasing a thousand snakes from captivity into the wild was a compassionate act that would bring them good karma. But for the small nearby village of Miao Erdong, it resulted in a plague of serpents.
The 50 members of the "Let Blessings and Wisdom Grow" Buddhist group left Beijing in a nine vehicle convoy last Friday, driving for half a day with their cargo of snakes into the countryside of Hebei province.
Once they reached their destination, they chanted a ritual and released the snakes. However, they were soon spotted by a man from Miao Erdong who alerted the rest of the village.
The police were called, and quickly impounded three of the group's vehicles, as the snakes slithered into the undergrowth. Li Guohua, the head of the village committee, said snakes were soon spotted inside some of their homes.
"There is one girl in our village who has Down's syndrome and her parents are now scared of leaving her by herself in the house," he said. "I do not mind Buddhists releasing animals, but they should not disturb us," he added.
The practice of "Fang Sheng", or compassionate release, has been a Buddhist tradition in China for thousands of years, stemming from the teaching that it is possible to improve your karmic balance by doing good deeds to animals.
[Click here to read full article]
The 50 members of the "Let Blessings and Wisdom Grow" Buddhist group left Beijing in a nine vehicle convoy last Friday, driving for half a day with their cargo of snakes into the countryside of Hebei province.
Once they reached their destination, they chanted a ritual and released the snakes. However, they were soon spotted by a man from Miao Erdong who alerted the rest of the village.
The police were called, and quickly impounded three of the group's vehicles, as the snakes slithered into the undergrowth. Li Guohua, the head of the village committee, said snakes were soon spotted inside some of their homes.
"There is one girl in our village who has Down's syndrome and her parents are now scared of leaving her by herself in the house," he said. "I do not mind Buddhists releasing animals, but they should not disturb us," he added.
The practice of "Fang Sheng", or compassionate release, has been a Buddhist tradition in China for thousands of years, stemming from the teaching that it is possible to improve your karmic balance by doing good deeds to animals.
[Click here to read full article]
Saturday, June 9, 2012
The Nature of Time
Much of ancient Greek philosophy was concerned with understanding the concept of eternity, and the subject of time is central to all the world's religions and cultures. Can the flow of time be stopped or slowed? Certainly some mystics thought so. Angelus Silesius, a 17th-century philosopher and poet, thought the flow of time could be suspended by mental powers:
Time is of your own making;
its clock ticks in your head.
The moment you stop thought
time too stops dead.
The line between science and mysticism sometimes grows thin. Today physicists would agree that time is one of the strangest properties of our universe. In fact, there is a story circulating among scientists of an immigrant to America who has lost his watch. He walks up to a man on a New York street and asks, "Please, Sir, what is time?" The scientist replies, "I'm sorry, you'll have to ask a philosopher. I'm just a physicist."
Time travel, according to modern scientific theory, may still be beyond our grasp. Yet for a number of people who have had unusual time slip experiences, time may be easier to circumnavigate than expected.
A classic example of a time slip can be seen in a note from Lyn in Australia. Lyn had read the book, Time Travel: A How-To Insiders Guide, (Global Communications, 1999) and thought her experience was similar to others featured in the book.
In 1997 Lyn lived in a small outback town that was built in 1947 and had changed little since that time.
"I was driving toward the main intersection of the town, when suddenly I felt a change in the air. It wasn't the classic colder feeling, but a change, like a shift in atmosphere. The air felt denser somehow. As I slowed at the intersection, I seemed to be suddenly transported back in time to approximately 1950. The road was dirt, the trees were gone and coming toward me to cross the intersection was an old black car, something like a Vanguard or old FJ Holden. As the car passed through the intersection the driver was looking back at me in total astonishment before he accelerated. From what I could see he was dressed in similar 1950s fashion, complete with hat.
"This whole episode lasted perhaps 20 seconds and was repeated at least 5 times during my time there, always at the exact spot. I tried to make out the registration plate number but the car was covered in dust."
Lyn wondered if there is someone out there still living who remembers seeing a strange sight at the intersection back in the 50s...of a weird car with a bug-eyed woman at the wheel. 2
Derek E. tells another interesting time slip story. When he was a child, his father was a taxi driver in Glasgow, Scotland. One day in the late 1960s, Derek's father was driving in the north of the city along Maryhill Road near Queen's Cross, one of the older parts of town and once its own separate community outside the city.
"One minute it was now," Derek wrote, "cars, buses, modern clothes, tarmac roads etc. - and the next thing my dad knew he was in some earlier time. It was certainly pre-Victorian given the clothes he described people wearing, horses, rough road, lower buildings, people in rough clothes and bonnets etc. It lasted as long as it took him to be aware of it and then it vanished and he was back in 'now.'"
Derek also reported that in the 1980's, he and his wife were on a driving holiday in the North York Moors in England. They went to a tiny coastal village called Staithes, which had a steep winding and narrowing road down to the harbor, with the entrance to the houses and narrow footway at a higher level of three or four feet.
"We parked at the top of the village, hamlet really, where the tourist buses and cars had to stop and made our way down on foot. What I remember is a brilliantly sunny day with lots of other people around, but as we made our way down, it just suddenly seemed as if no one else were there but my wife and me. An old woman appeared on the footway opposite us. It became cooler and duller.
She asked, in what seemed to me an old-fashioned and very polite way, what year it was. Now lots of old people get confused and it could have been that, but what I remember vividly is her black clothes - handmade, rough and with hand-sewn buttons - really big compared with modern ones. Her shoes were very old fashioned with much higher and chunkier heels than you'd see an older person wearing nowadays. In the time it took me to turn to my wife and say, 'Did you see that?' she was gone. The sun was back and so were all the people. My wife had also seen the same old woman and felt the same chill." 3
Derek's experience seems strikingly similar to traditional ghost stories. Many ghost sightings are readily explained as individuals who appear out of their normal location or time; but often the ghost also seems to change the surroundings of the witness, giving the impression of a time slip. What is open to question is whether these are glimpses into another time or does the witness or the ghost actually travel in time? Perhaps it is simply different sides of the same coin.
Martin Jeffrey, co-editor with Louise Jeffrey of the website www.mysterymag.com, speculates that time slips can be recreated or induced using a "trigger factor," which "…occurs when one is interested in his surroundings but is not concentrating on them; a slip occurs at a precise place and moment and the witness is thrust seemingly into another time."
Jeffrey cites the case of Alice Pollock, who at Leeds Castle in Kent "experienced what could be called a 'classic' time slip. Alice was experimenting in Henry VIII's rooms by touching objects in an attempt to experience events from another time. After a period of receiving no impressions whatsoever, the room suddenly changed. It lost its modern, comfortable appearance to become cold and bare. The carpet had disappeared and there were now logs burning on the fire. A tall woman in a white dress was walking up and down the room; her face seemed to be in deep concentration. Not long after, the room returned to its original state.
Later research found that the rooms had been the prison of Queen Joan of Navarre, Henry V's stepmother, who had been accused of witchcraft by her husband. 4
It could be that the witness triggers time slips, whether they blank their mind at a precise moment and the slip occurs, or the witness touches something that holds the memory of a previous time.
"The simplest explanation is probably the psychometric hypothesis," noted Colin Wilson and John Grant in The Directory of Possibilities. "In the mid-nineteenth century, Dr. Joseph Rodes Buchanan of the Covington Medical Institute performed experiments that convinced him that certain of his students could hold letters in their hands and accurately describe the character of the writer. He became convinced that all objects carry their 'history' photographed in them. Buchanan wrote: 'The past is entombed in the present. The discoveries of psychometry will enable us to explore the history of Man as those of geology enable us to explore the history of Earth.' Clearly, psychometry may be seen as a form of time slip."
[Click here to read full article]
Time is of your own making;
its clock ticks in your head.
The moment you stop thought
time too stops dead.
The line between science and mysticism sometimes grows thin. Today physicists would agree that time is one of the strangest properties of our universe. In fact, there is a story circulating among scientists of an immigrant to America who has lost his watch. He walks up to a man on a New York street and asks, "Please, Sir, what is time?" The scientist replies, "I'm sorry, you'll have to ask a philosopher. I'm just a physicist."
Time travel, according to modern scientific theory, may still be beyond our grasp. Yet for a number of people who have had unusual time slip experiences, time may be easier to circumnavigate than expected.
A classic example of a time slip can be seen in a note from Lyn in Australia. Lyn had read the book, Time Travel: A How-To Insiders Guide, (Global Communications, 1999) and thought her experience was similar to others featured in the book.
In 1997 Lyn lived in a small outback town that was built in 1947 and had changed little since that time.
"I was driving toward the main intersection of the town, when suddenly I felt a change in the air. It wasn't the classic colder feeling, but a change, like a shift in atmosphere. The air felt denser somehow. As I slowed at the intersection, I seemed to be suddenly transported back in time to approximately 1950. The road was dirt, the trees were gone and coming toward me to cross the intersection was an old black car, something like a Vanguard or old FJ Holden. As the car passed through the intersection the driver was looking back at me in total astonishment before he accelerated. From what I could see he was dressed in similar 1950s fashion, complete with hat.
"This whole episode lasted perhaps 20 seconds and was repeated at least 5 times during my time there, always at the exact spot. I tried to make out the registration plate number but the car was covered in dust."
Lyn wondered if there is someone out there still living who remembers seeing a strange sight at the intersection back in the 50s...of a weird car with a bug-eyed woman at the wheel. 2
Derek E. tells another interesting time slip story. When he was a child, his father was a taxi driver in Glasgow, Scotland. One day in the late 1960s, Derek's father was driving in the north of the city along Maryhill Road near Queen's Cross, one of the older parts of town and once its own separate community outside the city.
"One minute it was now," Derek wrote, "cars, buses, modern clothes, tarmac roads etc. - and the next thing my dad knew he was in some earlier time. It was certainly pre-Victorian given the clothes he described people wearing, horses, rough road, lower buildings, people in rough clothes and bonnets etc. It lasted as long as it took him to be aware of it and then it vanished and he was back in 'now.'"
Derek also reported that in the 1980's, he and his wife were on a driving holiday in the North York Moors in England. They went to a tiny coastal village called Staithes, which had a steep winding and narrowing road down to the harbor, with the entrance to the houses and narrow footway at a higher level of three or four feet.
"We parked at the top of the village, hamlet really, where the tourist buses and cars had to stop and made our way down on foot. What I remember is a brilliantly sunny day with lots of other people around, but as we made our way down, it just suddenly seemed as if no one else were there but my wife and me. An old woman appeared on the footway opposite us. It became cooler and duller.
She asked, in what seemed to me an old-fashioned and very polite way, what year it was. Now lots of old people get confused and it could have been that, but what I remember vividly is her black clothes - handmade, rough and with hand-sewn buttons - really big compared with modern ones. Her shoes were very old fashioned with much higher and chunkier heels than you'd see an older person wearing nowadays. In the time it took me to turn to my wife and say, 'Did you see that?' she was gone. The sun was back and so were all the people. My wife had also seen the same old woman and felt the same chill." 3
Derek's experience seems strikingly similar to traditional ghost stories. Many ghost sightings are readily explained as individuals who appear out of their normal location or time; but often the ghost also seems to change the surroundings of the witness, giving the impression of a time slip. What is open to question is whether these are glimpses into another time or does the witness or the ghost actually travel in time? Perhaps it is simply different sides of the same coin.
Martin Jeffrey, co-editor with Louise Jeffrey of the website www.mysterymag.com, speculates that time slips can be recreated or induced using a "trigger factor," which "…occurs when one is interested in his surroundings but is not concentrating on them; a slip occurs at a precise place and moment and the witness is thrust seemingly into another time."
Jeffrey cites the case of Alice Pollock, who at Leeds Castle in Kent "experienced what could be called a 'classic' time slip. Alice was experimenting in Henry VIII's rooms by touching objects in an attempt to experience events from another time. After a period of receiving no impressions whatsoever, the room suddenly changed. It lost its modern, comfortable appearance to become cold and bare. The carpet had disappeared and there were now logs burning on the fire. A tall woman in a white dress was walking up and down the room; her face seemed to be in deep concentration. Not long after, the room returned to its original state.
Later research found that the rooms had been the prison of Queen Joan of Navarre, Henry V's stepmother, who had been accused of witchcraft by her husband. 4
It could be that the witness triggers time slips, whether they blank their mind at a precise moment and the slip occurs, or the witness touches something that holds the memory of a previous time.
"The simplest explanation is probably the psychometric hypothesis," noted Colin Wilson and John Grant in The Directory of Possibilities. "In the mid-nineteenth century, Dr. Joseph Rodes Buchanan of the Covington Medical Institute performed experiments that convinced him that certain of his students could hold letters in their hands and accurately describe the character of the writer. He became convinced that all objects carry their 'history' photographed in them. Buchanan wrote: 'The past is entombed in the present. The discoveries of psychometry will enable us to explore the history of Man as those of geology enable us to explore the history of Earth.' Clearly, psychometry may be seen as a form of time slip."
[Click here to read full article]
Friday, June 8, 2012
Elephant and pig tapped to predict Euro 2012 games
WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Who's going to win the European Championship? Time to ask an elephant - or a pig.
Poland's answer to Paul the Octopus - the tentacled tipster who gained worldwide fame for his 2010 World Cup predictions - is Citta the elephant. Ukraine, however, will probably go for an enormous beer-loving pig - but there are big doubts about whether he can handle the media glare.
The parade of supposedly psychic animals comes as the two Eastern European nations gear up to co-host the continent's most prestigious soccer championship from June 8 to July 1.
The zoo in the southern Polish city of Krakow settled on a temperamental 33-year-old female pachyderm from India while Ukraine - where slices of hog fat are the national dish - is contemplating a happier destiny for a 2-year-old already named Psychic Pig.
The pig has a fondness for beer and fries and grunts in pleasure when he watches matches on television with his farmer owner, his publicist claimed Tuesday. But he still needs some PR training before he is presented to the public.
"We want to make sure he is calm - we don't want him to get scared," said Svitlana Bovkun, a spokeswoman for Kiev city administration.
[Click here to read full article]
Poland's answer to Paul the Octopus - the tentacled tipster who gained worldwide fame for his 2010 World Cup predictions - is Citta the elephant. Ukraine, however, will probably go for an enormous beer-loving pig - but there are big doubts about whether he can handle the media glare.
The parade of supposedly psychic animals comes as the two Eastern European nations gear up to co-host the continent's most prestigious soccer championship from June 8 to July 1.
The zoo in the southern Polish city of Krakow settled on a temperamental 33-year-old female pachyderm from India while Ukraine - where slices of hog fat are the national dish - is contemplating a happier destiny for a 2-year-old already named Psychic Pig.
The pig has a fondness for beer and fries and grunts in pleasure when he watches matches on television with his farmer owner, his publicist claimed Tuesday. But he still needs some PR training before he is presented to the public.
"We want to make sure he is calm - we don't want him to get scared," said Svitlana Bovkun, a spokeswoman for Kiev city administration.
[Click here to read full article]
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Unprecedented Maya Mural Found, Contradicts 2012 "Doomsday" Myth
Erik Vance in Xultún, Guatemala
In the last known largely unexcavated Maya megacity, archaeologists have uncovered the only known mural adorning an ancient Maya house, a new study says—and it's not just any mural.
In addition to a still vibrant scene of a king and his retinue, the walls are rife with calculations that helped ancient scribes track vast amounts of time. Contrary to the idea the Maya predicted the end of the world in 2012, the markings suggest dates thousands of years in the future.
Perhaps most important, the otherwise humble chamber offers a rare glimpse into the inner workings of Maya society. (Video: "Mysterious Maya Calendar & Mural Uncovered.")
"The paintings we have here—we've never found them anyplace else," excavation leader William Saturno told National Geographic News.
And in today's Xultún—to the untrained eye, just 6 square miles (16 square kilometers) of jungle floor—it's a wonder Saturno's team found the artwork at all.
At the Guatemalan site in 2010 the Boston University archaeologist and Ph.D. student Franco Rossi were inspecting a looters' tunnel, where an undergraduate student had noticed the faintest traces of paint on a thin stucco wall.
The pair began cleaning off 1,200-year-old mud and suddenly a little more red paint appeared.
"Suddenly Bill was like, 'Oh my God, we have a glyph!'" Rossi said.
What the team found, after a full excavation in 2011, is likely the ancient workroom of a Maya scribe, a record-keeper of Xultún.
"The reason this room's so interesting," said Rossi, as he crouched in the chamber late last year, "is that ... this was a workspace. People were seated on this bench" painting books that have long since disintegrated.
The books would have been filled with elaborate calculations intended to predict the city's fortunes. The numbers on the wall were "fixed tabulations that they can then refer to—tables more or less like those in the back of your chemistry book," he added.
[Click here to read full article]
In the last known largely unexcavated Maya megacity, archaeologists have uncovered the only known mural adorning an ancient Maya house, a new study says—and it's not just any mural.
In addition to a still vibrant scene of a king and his retinue, the walls are rife with calculations that helped ancient scribes track vast amounts of time. Contrary to the idea the Maya predicted the end of the world in 2012, the markings suggest dates thousands of years in the future.
Perhaps most important, the otherwise humble chamber offers a rare glimpse into the inner workings of Maya society. (Video: "Mysterious Maya Calendar & Mural Uncovered.")
"The paintings we have here—we've never found them anyplace else," excavation leader William Saturno told National Geographic News.
And in today's Xultún—to the untrained eye, just 6 square miles (16 square kilometers) of jungle floor—it's a wonder Saturno's team found the artwork at all.
At the Guatemalan site in 2010 the Boston University archaeologist and Ph.D. student Franco Rossi were inspecting a looters' tunnel, where an undergraduate student had noticed the faintest traces of paint on a thin stucco wall.
The pair began cleaning off 1,200-year-old mud and suddenly a little more red paint appeared.
"Suddenly Bill was like, 'Oh my God, we have a glyph!'" Rossi said.
What the team found, after a full excavation in 2011, is likely the ancient workroom of a Maya scribe, a record-keeper of Xultún.
"The reason this room's so interesting," said Rossi, as he crouched in the chamber late last year, "is that ... this was a workspace. People were seated on this bench" painting books that have long since disintegrated.
The books would have been filled with elaborate calculations intended to predict the city's fortunes. The numbers on the wall were "fixed tabulations that they can then refer to—tables more or less like those in the back of your chemistry book," he added.
[Click here to read full article]
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Seized from smugglers, the leather-bound 'gospel' which Iran claims will bring down Christianity and shake world politics
A leather-bound religious text, thought to date from the fifth century but discovered only 12 years ago, will cause the collapse of Christianity worldwide, claims Iran.
The book, written on animal hide, apparently states that Jesus was never crucified and that he himself predicted the coming of the Prophet Muhammad, according to the the Iranian press.
Written in Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic, the gospel even predicts the coming of the last Islamic messiah, the report adds.
Turkish authorities believe it could be an authentic version of the Gospel by Jesus's disciple Barnabas, and the Iranian press report has claimed that its contents will trigger Christianity's downfall by proving that Islam is the final and righteous religion.
Others have dismissed the Iranian claims as 'laughable' anti-Christian propaganda.
The Basij Press claims the text was written in the 5th or 6th century and it predicted the coming of the Prophet Muhammad and the religion of Islam. It says the Christian world denies the existence of such a gospel.
[Click here to read full article]
The book, written on animal hide, apparently states that Jesus was never crucified and that he himself predicted the coming of the Prophet Muhammad, according to the the Iranian press.
Written in Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic, the gospel even predicts the coming of the last Islamic messiah, the report adds.
Turkish authorities believe it could be an authentic version of the Gospel by Jesus's disciple Barnabas, and the Iranian press report has claimed that its contents will trigger Christianity's downfall by proving that Islam is the final and righteous religion.
Others have dismissed the Iranian claims as 'laughable' anti-Christian propaganda.
The Basij Press claims the text was written in the 5th or 6th century and it predicted the coming of the Prophet Muhammad and the religion of Islam. It says the Christian world denies the existence of such a gospel.
[Click here to read full article]
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Woman, 25, arrested for chopping off the head of her three-year-old nephew on the orders of a witchcraft guru
A trainee witch has admitted beheading her three-year-old nephew on the orders of a dark arts teacher in Nepal.
The 25-year-old was allegedly told her skills would only be complete after sacrificing her nephew and eldest son.
Police in Nepal arrested the suspect in the town of Samanpur, south of the country's capital Kathmandu and charged her with 'sacrificing' a child.
Officers said Mahadevi Yadav beheaded Nitesh Kumar Yadav, at midnight on Saturday. Police said Yadav has confessed to the crime.
The New York Daily News reported today that Yadav sacrificed the boy following instructions from her guru with whom she had been learning witchcraft.
She was quoted as saying: 'I had been learning witchcraft from Chhabilal Yadav of Haraiya for the past month. He told me that my witchcraft skills would be complete only after the sacrifice of the nephew.
[Click here to read full article]
The 25-year-old was allegedly told her skills would only be complete after sacrificing her nephew and eldest son.
Police in Nepal arrested the suspect in the town of Samanpur, south of the country's capital Kathmandu and charged her with 'sacrificing' a child.
Officers said Mahadevi Yadav beheaded Nitesh Kumar Yadav, at midnight on Saturday. Police said Yadav has confessed to the crime.
The New York Daily News reported today that Yadav sacrificed the boy following instructions from her guru with whom she had been learning witchcraft.
She was quoted as saying: 'I had been learning witchcraft from Chhabilal Yadav of Haraiya for the past month. He told me that my witchcraft skills would be complete only after the sacrifice of the nephew.
[Click here to read full article]
Monday, June 4, 2012
Real-Life Mutant Girl Causes Things around Her to Catch on Fire
A yet unnamed 11-year-old girl from Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City has been making headlines in Asia, for her alleged uncontrollable power to set things around her on fire.
According to Vietnamese website Ngoisao, on May 12, a young girl living in the Tan Binh district of Ho Chi Minh has burned down almost the entire third floor of her family’s home. Her father says the child did not have access to any fire-inducing objects, and that the fire was caused by the super-energy in her body. How many times have we heard that one before, right? But while that may sound like the exaggerations of a parent looking for media attention, this is apparently not the first time this Vietnamese girl has caused things to burst into fire just by going near them.
The unnamed girl’s parents say they’ve noticed her peculiar abilities about a month ago, when their home’s electrical network underwent repeated short-circuiting. Then the power outlets around the house burst into fire when their daughter came near them, and at one time she even burned a corner of the toilet seat. What’s even more intriguing is they claim the same phenomenon repeated itself when they took the girl to other places, as well. For example, during a vacation to Vung Tau beach, she burned the hotel room. The 11-year-old told Vietnamese media that on occasions, even her clothes catch on fire for no apparent reason.
[Click here to read full article]
According to Vietnamese website Ngoisao, on May 12, a young girl living in the Tan Binh district of Ho Chi Minh has burned down almost the entire third floor of her family’s home. Her father says the child did not have access to any fire-inducing objects, and that the fire was caused by the super-energy in her body. How many times have we heard that one before, right? But while that may sound like the exaggerations of a parent looking for media attention, this is apparently not the first time this Vietnamese girl has caused things to burst into fire just by going near them.
The unnamed girl’s parents say they’ve noticed her peculiar abilities about a month ago, when their home’s electrical network underwent repeated short-circuiting. Then the power outlets around the house burst into fire when their daughter came near them, and at one time she even burned a corner of the toilet seat. What’s even more intriguing is they claim the same phenomenon repeated itself when they took the girl to other places, as well. For example, during a vacation to Vung Tau beach, she burned the hotel room. The 11-year-old told Vietnamese media that on occasions, even her clothes catch on fire for no apparent reason.
[Click here to read full article]
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Search for cats uncovers "love potion" maker
CAN anybody possibly discover a link between missing cats and used underwear?
Apparently, the Malacca branch of the Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) did.
And it led them to an even more intriguing link - love potion.
The SPCA's continuing investigation on the intriguing link led them to the house of an Indonesian woman living with a dozen cats, The Star reported.
The investigation began after the SPCA received reports that many cats in Malacca, including pedigrees, had gone missing from their owners' homes since September.
In a recent case, a 45-year-old woman sought the SPCA's help after her Persian cat went missing.
Bent on getting to the root of the problem, SPCA Malacca chairman Vincent Low, accompanied by several members, visited the owner, Christine, to get more details.
After several days and many clues later, the officials visited the Indonesian woman's house.
[Click here to read full article]
Apparently, the Malacca branch of the Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) did.
And it led them to an even more intriguing link - love potion.
The SPCA's continuing investigation on the intriguing link led them to the house of an Indonesian woman living with a dozen cats, The Star reported.
The investigation began after the SPCA received reports that many cats in Malacca, including pedigrees, had gone missing from their owners' homes since September.
In a recent case, a 45-year-old woman sought the SPCA's help after her Persian cat went missing.
Bent on getting to the root of the problem, SPCA Malacca chairman Vincent Low, accompanied by several members, visited the owner, Christine, to get more details.
After several days and many clues later, the officials visited the Indonesian woman's house.
[Click here to read full article]
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Sighting of four black snakelike objects
Source: Phantoms & Monsters Blog
Cainta, The Philippines - 5/12/2012 - unedited: My mother and I were on our way to a nearby mall to do our weekly groceries. While waiting for a jeepney, I looked up at the sky, remembering another UFO that my mother witnessed last month (April 9) on the exact same spot, and hoping to see it too. (We saw multiple UFOs on April 10, including what appeared to be fleets of white orbs moving westward).
Anyway, on April 9, my mother saw what she described as a transparent oblong with what appeared to be four legs with bright black balls at the ends. The entire object seemed to be rolling across the sky, moving from south to north, up in the sky along the exact middle of the main highway.
At around 12:30 noon today (May 19), while waiting for a jeepney, I quickly scanned the skies and saw floating over the gas station across the street what I first thought was a black kite. It was moving in a waving, rippling motion, much like a snake. It was large because it was obviously very high up because it appeared to sometimes go above the clouds, and yet I could see it clearly and it probably measured about an inch if I held my fingers before my face against the sky. I pointed it out to my mother and we observed the object for a few minutes. We noted that it did not have a main head or body, like a kite has. It appeared exactly like a snake, except that when we observed it closely, we noticed that it actually appeared to be like some type of black plasma that seemed to be expanding and retracting at different points along its "body." It was jet-black and had no discernible lights.
A few minutes later, my mother suddenly exclaimed, "Dalawa sila!" (There's two of them!) And sure enough, some distance to its right was another object of the exact same type, also jet-black and also writhing and undulating like a snake. This one was much larger and we could clearly see that it was not a kite or a balloon or a piece of cloth. Like I said, it appeared to me to be a stream of some sort of jet-black plasma that was undulating in the air. It sometimes also flashed in the sun like something silver and metallic, and my mother thought she saw a light suddenly flash at one end of it, but I did not see this as I was looking at the other object when this happened.
I tried to take photos and videos of the two objects with my cell phone camera, but my camera is an old model and was not able to capture the objects.
Some time later (maybe around 15 minutes), I suddenly noticed that there was another object that had come up between the first two. It looked exactly the same and moved in the exact same way. The first two on the left would sometimes roll up into themselves and descend or ascend. The one on the right, the large one, would hover for long moments (around five to ten minutes at a time) as just a straight, rigid black line, without moving or fluttering in the wind. Then it would start to undulate again. It would cycle between this pattern of hovering and not moving and remaining rigid, and undulating and writhing, throughout the almost two hours we were standing there at the jeepney stop.
All this time, we were both crying out and pointing at the sky but none of the people nearby bothered to look, which we both found strange. Anyway, apart from a group of men who were working on some sort of electrical repair out in front of their shop, there were very few people out because it was very hot and most people were having lunch, I guess.
Some time later, another object appeared, in the same general area, making it a total of four black snakelike objects writing and hovering in the sky. Some time past one, I suddenly noticed what appeared to be a blurred pink or red light farther off to our right. As we looked, it slowly "unfurled" and also became snakelike, also alternating between being straight and rigid and undulating. I also noticed that it was accompanied by what appeared to be a black orb that was circling it at first and then moving beside it and suddenly veering off to the left and disappearing.
When I moved my gaze back to the black "snakes" to the left, only two remained, and suddenly I noticed that there was an object to the left of the largest snake. It was aligned perfectly with the straight line formed by the black object. It appeared to me to be a small triangular object that emitted a pink light. When I first noticed it, it was hovering along with the black snake, but then it started moving in different directions. It was not fluttering like a kite or wobbling like a balloon. It was moving slowly in deliberate motions. Suddenly, it seemed to plunge downward. As it did, it became what seemed to be a silvery disk, and as it plunged further down, it suddenly became larger and became a large, deep black circle with a hole or light in the middle. When it reached a certain altitude, where I could see it right over the rooftops, it moved slowly to the right and suddenly moved up again and become again what seemed like a triangular pink star, or rather, three pink stars connected to each other to form a triangle. We watched this object move and plunge down and up again repeatedly, until we both realized that we were shaking with hunger.
Around 2:15, we hesitantly left our spot to buy food at a nearby convenience store. When we returned, the black snakelike thing was gone and only the pink triangle remained, It still kept plunging and seemingly changing shape and then ascending again. We watched this for around 15 to 20 minutes more but my mother insisted that we need to get going. I very reluctantly agreed because we did need to get back home early.
We boarded a jeepney and I briefly saw the object again when we passed by an open space between buildings. It was nearer here and I could clearly see that it was three circular objects that were joined together to form a triangle, and it was rolling and falling and moving sideways and just seemingly dancing up there in the sky. It was amazing. I still could not believe we saw all that today. I have to admit I thought instantly of Quetzalcoatl when we saw those sky "serpents," whatever they were. I tried to look it up online when we got home but apart from a couple of reports, I could not find anything similar to what we witnessed today.
Cainta, The Philippines - 5/12/2012 - unedited: My mother and I were on our way to a nearby mall to do our weekly groceries. While waiting for a jeepney, I looked up at the sky, remembering another UFO that my mother witnessed last month (April 9) on the exact same spot, and hoping to see it too. (We saw multiple UFOs on April 10, including what appeared to be fleets of white orbs moving westward).
Anyway, on April 9, my mother saw what she described as a transparent oblong with what appeared to be four legs with bright black balls at the ends. The entire object seemed to be rolling across the sky, moving from south to north, up in the sky along the exact middle of the main highway.
At around 12:30 noon today (May 19), while waiting for a jeepney, I quickly scanned the skies and saw floating over the gas station across the street what I first thought was a black kite. It was moving in a waving, rippling motion, much like a snake. It was large because it was obviously very high up because it appeared to sometimes go above the clouds, and yet I could see it clearly and it probably measured about an inch if I held my fingers before my face against the sky. I pointed it out to my mother and we observed the object for a few minutes. We noted that it did not have a main head or body, like a kite has. It appeared exactly like a snake, except that when we observed it closely, we noticed that it actually appeared to be like some type of black plasma that seemed to be expanding and retracting at different points along its "body." It was jet-black and had no discernible lights.
A few minutes later, my mother suddenly exclaimed, "Dalawa sila!" (There's two of them!) And sure enough, some distance to its right was another object of the exact same type, also jet-black and also writhing and undulating like a snake. This one was much larger and we could clearly see that it was not a kite or a balloon or a piece of cloth. Like I said, it appeared to me to be a stream of some sort of jet-black plasma that was undulating in the air. It sometimes also flashed in the sun like something silver and metallic, and my mother thought she saw a light suddenly flash at one end of it, but I did not see this as I was looking at the other object when this happened.
I tried to take photos and videos of the two objects with my cell phone camera, but my camera is an old model and was not able to capture the objects.
Some time later (maybe around 15 minutes), I suddenly noticed that there was another object that had come up between the first two. It looked exactly the same and moved in the exact same way. The first two on the left would sometimes roll up into themselves and descend or ascend. The one on the right, the large one, would hover for long moments (around five to ten minutes at a time) as just a straight, rigid black line, without moving or fluttering in the wind. Then it would start to undulate again. It would cycle between this pattern of hovering and not moving and remaining rigid, and undulating and writhing, throughout the almost two hours we were standing there at the jeepney stop.
All this time, we were both crying out and pointing at the sky but none of the people nearby bothered to look, which we both found strange. Anyway, apart from a group of men who were working on some sort of electrical repair out in front of their shop, there were very few people out because it was very hot and most people were having lunch, I guess.
Some time later, another object appeared, in the same general area, making it a total of four black snakelike objects writing and hovering in the sky. Some time past one, I suddenly noticed what appeared to be a blurred pink or red light farther off to our right. As we looked, it slowly "unfurled" and also became snakelike, also alternating between being straight and rigid and undulating. I also noticed that it was accompanied by what appeared to be a black orb that was circling it at first and then moving beside it and suddenly veering off to the left and disappearing.
When I moved my gaze back to the black "snakes" to the left, only two remained, and suddenly I noticed that there was an object to the left of the largest snake. It was aligned perfectly with the straight line formed by the black object. It appeared to me to be a small triangular object that emitted a pink light. When I first noticed it, it was hovering along with the black snake, but then it started moving in different directions. It was not fluttering like a kite or wobbling like a balloon. It was moving slowly in deliberate motions. Suddenly, it seemed to plunge downward. As it did, it became what seemed to be a silvery disk, and as it plunged further down, it suddenly became larger and became a large, deep black circle with a hole or light in the middle. When it reached a certain altitude, where I could see it right over the rooftops, it moved slowly to the right and suddenly moved up again and become again what seemed like a triangular pink star, or rather, three pink stars connected to each other to form a triangle. We watched this object move and plunge down and up again repeatedly, until we both realized that we were shaking with hunger.
Around 2:15, we hesitantly left our spot to buy food at a nearby convenience store. When we returned, the black snakelike thing was gone and only the pink triangle remained, It still kept plunging and seemingly changing shape and then ascending again. We watched this for around 15 to 20 minutes more but my mother insisted that we need to get going. I very reluctantly agreed because we did need to get back home early.
We boarded a jeepney and I briefly saw the object again when we passed by an open space between buildings. It was nearer here and I could clearly see that it was three circular objects that were joined together to form a triangle, and it was rolling and falling and moving sideways and just seemingly dancing up there in the sky. It was amazing. I still could not believe we saw all that today. I have to admit I thought instantly of Quetzalcoatl when we saw those sky "serpents," whatever they were. I tried to look it up online when we got home but apart from a couple of reports, I could not find anything similar to what we witnessed today.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Fish lodged in boy’s throat for 14 hours
KUCHING: A 12-year-old boy had to endure the agony of having a 4cm-long fish stuck in his throat for 14 hours before it was surgically removed.
Philip Muan from Rumah Endawie Nangka Jela Engkari in Lubok Antu caught the ikan puyu (climbing perch or anabas testudineus) while fishing in a drain near Batang Ai with his 10-year-old brother at about 9am on Sunday.
He removed the hook and tried to bite the head of the fish to kill it but it slipped into his mouth and lodged itself in his throat.
His father Muan Burong, 40, a rubber tapper said his sons returned home when they failed to remove the fish from Philip's throat.
Muan took the boy to the Batang Ai clinic from where he was taken to the Sri Aman Hospital about 40km away. From there, Philip was rushed to the Sarawak General Hospital in an ambulance.
It was already 11pm by the time he arrived and the boy was spitting blood. The fish had by then died and a foul smell emanated from the boy's mouth.
[Click here to read full article]
Philip Muan from Rumah Endawie Nangka Jela Engkari in Lubok Antu caught the ikan puyu (climbing perch or anabas testudineus) while fishing in a drain near Batang Ai with his 10-year-old brother at about 9am on Sunday.
He removed the hook and tried to bite the head of the fish to kill it but it slipped into his mouth and lodged itself in his throat.
His father Muan Burong, 40, a rubber tapper said his sons returned home when they failed to remove the fish from Philip's throat.
Muan took the boy to the Batang Ai clinic from where he was taken to the Sri Aman Hospital about 40km away. From there, Philip was rushed to the Sarawak General Hospital in an ambulance.
It was already 11pm by the time he arrived and the boy was spitting blood. The fish had by then died and a foul smell emanated from the boy's mouth.
[Click here to read full article]