6 Rare animals that resemble mythical animals

Mythical animals only existed in folklore but do you know if there are some animals that have a big similarity with these animals? Here, we take a look at some animals from Indonesia that resemble mythological animals.

Source: Crazy World Blog

1. Birds of Paradise / Phoenix

The Phoenix was known as one of the most famous mythical birds in the world. In the Egypt mythology called phoenix as the sacred fire birds that burned itself by fire and reborn from the flames. Usually depicted with gold and red feathers, some people believe that the Phoenix is an immortal mythical birds. The Birds of Paradise which are found on Papua Indonesia have a similar shape and color with Phoenix, Birds of Paradise are known for their beautiful elongated feathers with red or yellow colors.

2. Komodo Dragons / Dragons

Komodo Dragons are similar to Dragons in medieval paintings but Komodo Dragons do not spit flames. Dragons are large, mythical beasts. They are shaped like a reptile and can spit flames through their breath.

3. Pygmy Tarsiers / Gremlins

On the island of Sulawesi, there's are Pygmy Tarsiers, one of the most endangered primates and the smallest primates in the world. This animal has large eyes and ears similar to Gremlins. Pygmy tarsiers are small and weighs only 50 grams. These animals live in trees and nocturnal. Gremlin are small green monsters. Gremlins are very annoying and consumes electrical energy.

4. Dugong / Mermaid

Mermaids were also known as famous mythical creatures that has a human head and body but has a fish tail. Meanwhile, a Dugong is a mammal that can be found in the shallow waters of Indonesia, especially the Eastern region. This Dugong does not have a human body like Mermaid. Dugong is a marine mammal that is herbivorous.

5. Rhino / Unicorn

The biggest resemblance of these two creatures was their single horn. In the 13th Century Marco Polo said in his writings that he seen a black unicorn in the Indonesian archipelago. It turns out that Marco Polo saw a rhino instead of a unicorn. In Ujung Kulon there are one-horned Rhinos as well as the Unicorn has one horn on his head. The Javan Rhino is the largest animal in Java. It can weigh up to 1.5 tons.

6. Proboscis Monkey / Tengu

Japan people who have seen this Proboscis Monkey said that this animal has a big resemblance to the Tengu, a famous Japanese mythical creature. Proboscis Monkeys are apes who have a long nose that are different from other apes in general. Because of this long nose, the Japanese call them Tengu Monkeys. The difference is the proboscis monkey didn't has a wing like the Tengu. The Tengu itself has a red face and an unusually long nose. Tengus also have a pair of wings, legs and hands and nails that are very long.

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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.

[Click here to read full article]

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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.

[Click here to read full article]

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Best of the Paranormal in Singapore 2011

Here, we take a look at the most puzzling paranormal events to happen in Singapore in 2011.

1. January - Mysterious white liquid which flows into Bishan Park canal

It is still unknown what this white liquid could be, and this incident has since died off.

[Mysterious white liquid which flows into Bishan Park canal]

2. February - Made-in-Singapore invisibility cloak



[Made-in-Singapore invisibility cloak]

3. March - Recounting the Pontianak (Part 1 and 2)


[Recounting the Pontianak (Part 1)]

[Recounting the Pontianak (Part 2)]

4. April - Grave find spooks residents



[Grave find spooks residents]

5. May - Jurong Crocodile Rumor


[Jurong Crocodile Rumor]

6. June - Is Ngee Ann City haunted?


[Is Ngee Ann City haunted?]

7. July - Singapore Court House Haunting

[Singapore Court House Haunting]

8. August - Man 'possessed' in hair salon


[Man 'possessed' in hair salon]

9. September - Mother, Son Found Dead in Singapore's Bedok Reservoir


[Mother, Son Found Dead in Singapore's Bedok Reservoir]

10. October - Girls spot 'female ghost' -- in the heart of town on Orchard Road

[Girls spot 'female ghost' -- in the heart of town on Orchard Road]


11. November - Is Bedok Reservoir cursed with bad Feng Shui?

[Is Bedok Reservoir cursed with bad Feng Shui?]


12. December - Man who lost money in casino said he saw Kumantongs in casino

[Man who lost money in casino said he saw Kumantongs in casino]

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The best of paranormal news in 2011

In this list, we take a look back at some of the most bizzare and interesting paranormal news in year 2011.

1. January - Crop circles found in Yogya rice field

This bizarre case was reported in January and it was the first ever instance of crop circle activity in Indonesia. In fact, crop circle activities are uncommon in the Asian region; they tend to occur more often in Europe and the US.

[Crop circles found in Yogya rice field ]

2. February - UFO mystery over Jerusalem

A series of videos taken by a tourist in Jerusalem appears to depict Unidentified Flying Objects.

Some reports which surfaced later alleged that these videos were a hoax.

[UFO mystery over Jerusalem]

3. March - Kayakers snap best-ever photo of ‘Loch Ness Monster’

These kayakers claim to have the best ever photo evidence of the Loch Ness Monster, but do bear in mind that the world famous "Surgeon's photograph" of the Loch Ness Monster taken in 1934 was later proven to be a hoax.

[Kayakers snap best-ever photo of ‘Loch Ness Monster’]

4. April - 'Poltergeist' caught on camera

This incredible video surfaced in April, seemingly depicting poltergeist activity in a bedroom.

The owners claim to be haunted by a poltergeist and thus decided to set up hidden cameras to record evidence.

['Poltergeist' caught on camera]

5. May - Incredible story of how man survives being hit by lightning TWICE in remarkable CCTV footage

This incredible story came out in May in the UK. The odds of being struck by lightning twice is around 1 in 360,000,000,000 which works out to be 1 in 360 billion.

The person in the video not only got struck twice, but survived twice. Imagine the odds of that!

[Incredible story of how man survives being hit by lightning TWICE in remarkable CCTV footage]

6. June - Bid to stop children taking 'live fish' asthma cure

This crazy story came from India in June, where a series of event culminated in parents making their children swallow live fish as a cure for asthma.

This has no medical basis at all in and is probably either a hoax or just a case of mass hysteria.

[Bid to stop children taking 'live fish' asthma cure]

7. July - Easter Island: Fountain of Youth Discovered?

Has the elusive and legendary Fountain of Youth being discovered? And on Easter Island, of all places.

[Easter Island: Fountain of Youth Discovered?]

8. August - ‘Grease devil’ haunts Sri Lankan women

The 'Grease Devil' mentioned in this story is strikingly similar to the myths surrounding the 'Orang Minyak', or 'Oily Man' in Malaysia.

Some say they are actually humans practising black magic, while others claim of them to be devils or ghosts.

[‘Grease devil’ haunts Sri Lankan women]

9. September - Scientists’ ‘Mind Reading Device’ Matches YouTube Videos to MRI Scans

This amazing story came from news reports that scientists have managed to create a device, which takes MRI scans from the subject and then match the patterns to actual images.

It will seem like mind reading will not be considered as hocus-pocus soon, but as actual science.

[Scientists’ ‘Mind Reading Device’ Matches YouTube Videos to MRI Scans]

10. October - Ritual held to enable Jobs to be reincarnated

Tech visionary Steve Jobs of Apple Inc, passed away in October. Some of his loyal followers actually held a ritual in Malaysia to enable him to be reincarnated, so that the world can witness his ingenuity again.

[Ritual held to enable Jobs to be reincarnated]


11. November - What is wrong with Bedok Reservoir?

After a series of deaths and accidents occuring in Bedok Reservoir over 6 months, team Asia Paranormal made a trip down to investigate.

[What is wrong with Bedok Reservoir?]


12. December - Saudi woman beheaded for ‘practicing witchcraft’

This crazy story came from Saudi Arabia. We supposedly live in modern times now, but such practices stem from the Middle Ages.

[Saudi woman beheaded for ‘practicing witchcraft’]

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10 of the weirdest phobias

Source: Phantom and Monsters Blog

A phobia is an irrational, intense, persistent fear of certain situations, activities, things, or people. According to the American Psychological Association, phobias are one of the most common mental disorders, affecting over 11% of men and women in the world. They can extremely diminish an individual’s social, economic, and personal life. Phobias are the most common form of anxiety disorders. There are thousands of debilitating disorders in the world, including:

1. Nyctophobia - The Fear of the Dark

Nyctophobia is a disabling disease characterized by a frenzied fear of the darkness. The phobia is generally related to children, but many adults experience it. It is extremely disruptive and incapacitating in adults and almost always leads to hospitalization. Patients experience an uncontrollable fear triggered by the mind’s perception of what could happen and is waiting in the dark. It seems to be based around mental-recall of past horrifying events. There is little known about the pathological background and emotional aspects of nyctophobia. However, scary movies, television shows, and ghost stories can manifest the phobia in children.

Patients suffer from various physical, emotional, and mental reactions to the phobia, including chest pain, discomfort, choking, smothering sensations, vertigo, and feelings of unreality, sweating, and shaking. Individuals suffering from nyctophobia have a hard time sleeping. Psychotherapy is one way to treat the disorder, while other methods include desensitization and exposure to the panic stimulant.

2. Spectrophobia - The Fear of Spectres or Ghosts

Spectrophobia is a specific phobia that involves an intense fear of ghosts and aspirations known as specters. Most adults will admit to being a bit afraid of ghosts, but people with spectrophobia feel that ghosts and specters are powerful black magic phantoms who can steal souls and even lives. Like most phobias, people who suffer from spectrophobia usually have experienced some sort of mental or physical trauma in their life.

This experience then becomes associated with specters, ghosts, or apparitions. The symptoms of this phobia can range from a mild uncomfortable feeling to full blown anxiety or panic attacks. It is a rare disorder that is usually self-diagnosed, as the individual realizes the fear is interfering with their ability to function. Some treatments include traditional talk therapy, self-help techniques, exposure therapy, support groups, and various relaxation techniques.

3. Homichlophobia - The Fear of Fog

Homichlophobia is an exaggerated or irrational fear of fog. This disorder causes extreme panic in all patients. Individuals will take extreme avoidance measures towards fog, locating themselves in geographical areas that don’t receive much precipitation. They have extreme imaginations and create horrible visions surrounding the mist and fog. One commonly reported symptom is tunnel vision and crazy feelings of dread.

It is a widespread phobia and has been reported in over 67 countries. This condition is treated with various cognitive development techniques. Direct exposure has been tested and performed extremely well in helping these patients cope. People suffering from homichlophobia greatly benefit from behavioral therapy.

4. Caligynephobia - The Fear of Beautiful Women

Caligynephobia is a form of gynophobia, which is the fear of all women. However, caligynephobia is directed towards good looking females. It can be an extremely disruptive social phobia, depending on the level of damage. The symptoms include rapid breathing, shortness of breath, irregular heart beat, nausea, sweating, panic attacks, and feelings of dread.

There can also be individualized specific responses to this phobia. Caligynephobia can manifest itself in adolescent children, adult men, and women, but is most often viewed in men. Some common approaches to treating the disorder are systematic desensitization and cognitive behavioral therapies.

5. Chorophobia - The Fear of Dancing
Chorophobia is defined as the irrational fear of dancing. It is often times based around the individual’s unwillingness to become aroused or excited. This phobia surrounds social problems, such as the fear of embarrassment or large crowds. Symptoms include shortness of breath, rapid breathing, irregular heartbeat, sweating, nausea, panic, and avoidance of places where dancing would take place. The disorder can become disabling.

The real problem ensues when the individual is forced into a dancing situation. A good treatment method is personal therapy and some people use hypnosis. Many sufferers take to hiring a personal trainer to improve their dancing skills.

6. Ablutophobia - The Fear of Washing, Bathing, or Cleaning

Ablutophobia is a phobia that results in a persistent, abnormal, and unwarranted fear of washing yourself. It is most commonly found in women and children. Most patients don't fear water, just when there is intent to clean. It is important to note that many children dislike baths, so ablutophobia is generally not diagnosed in children unless it persists for more than six months.

Like all phobias, ablutophobia is often linked to a traumatic past event. It can be serious, as a lack of hygiene can lead to social displacement and disease. It is a situational specific phobia and common treatment methods are exposure and various cognitive behavioral therapy techniques.

7. Anglophobia - The Fear of the England or the English Culture

Anglophobia is a phobia that includes the fear of the English. The term is also inaccurately used to discriminate against English people. Anglophobia is a true disorder that has historic routes. A 2005 study by Hussain and Millar of the Department of Politics at the University of Glasgow found that the condition has decreased in prevalence since the introduction of devolution.

Having an English friend or direct contact with the English greatly reduces the chances of suffering from Anglophobia. Anglophobia has existed in Wales since the Laws in Wales Acts of 1535–1542 was passed by the Parliament of England, which annexed Wales to the Kingdom of England. It is a rare phobia, however in August 2008 a pipefitter based in Dublin was awarded €20,000 for receiving abuse and discrimination because he was English.

8.
Dendrophobia - The Fear of Trees

Dendrophobia is a very common phobia surrounding the fear of trees or the forest. One of the most complicated factors when dealing with dendrophobia is that the patients often times don’t reveal the disorder, in fear of ridicule and joking. Individuals with this phobia become occupied with the thought that a "dead fear" is linked to the dense trees. They might feel trapped or experience a sense of strangulation.

Dendrophobia causes anxiety and intense panic attacks. Avoiding trees can often be a difficult task. Some other symptoms of the disorder are rapid breathing, shortness of breath, sweating, irregular heartbeat, nausea, sweating, and strong feelings of dread. Many documented cases have patients referring to forests and tree land as “the darkness” and “evil.” It is a disabling phobia that can be treated with exposure programs, talk therapy, medication, and other cognitive behavioral therapies.

9. Cypridophobia - The Fear of Prostitutes or Venereal Disease

Cypridophobia is an irrational fear of venereal disease. The phobia has been around for generations and the name originates from Cyprus and is a Greek word for Venus. It surrounds the fear of gaining a deadly venereal disease. It is a serious disorder and the patients often experience feelings of panic, terror, dread, rapid heart beat, trembling, anxiety, and can become ill and often faint. The phobia helps fuel bipolar personalities.

Patients often suffer from sleep disorders and depression as the phobia expands and greatly damages social behavior. Cypridophobia can often lead to a complete withdrawal from sexual intercourse and isolation from the opposite sex. It is a serious disorder that is commonly seen all over the world.

10. Methyphobia - The Fear of Alcohol

Methyphobia is an intense and irrational fear of alcohol. People suffering from this phobia fear the consequences of alcohol consumption and in many instances they avoid everyone who drinks. They will also avoid any situation where alcohol is present, including weddings, holidays, and family gatherings. Methyphobia can directly lead to many social disorders. People suffering from this phobia often times have experienced a real life trauma related to alcohol consumption. It could be parental abuse, personal damage, or many other causes. There is a wide spectrum of symptoms when dealing with methyphobia.

Some individuals might lightly perspire and feel uncomfortable around alcohol, while others might have serious anxiety and panic attacks. Some other symptoms include dry mouth, numbness, dizziness, trembling, rapid heartbeat, feeling out of control, trapped, or utter doom. The disorder is usually self diagnosed and can be treated with various behavioral and cognitive therapy techniques. Basically, helping to teach the patient that they don’t have to drink alcohol, but others are allowed.

Some pictures and text in this article are granted permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; and as such are reproduced in this article.

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10 Cases of Spontaneous Human Combustion

Some people say that spontaneous human combustion is just a regular fire that people can't be bothered to find the cause for, that could have been avoided through basic fire safety. Others say that it's just a peculiar shift of our internal chemistry, that can happen to anyone at any time.

Take a look at ten actual cases of spontaneous human combustion, and decide for yourself.

1. The Latest Case

The latest case made headlines in September of this year as the first Irish case of spontaneous human combustion. People found the burned body of an elderly man lying with his head near the furnace of his apartment. Coroners determined, though, that the furnace was not the source of the conflagration, nor was there any accelerant on the body, nor was there any evidence of foul play. This case was typical of spontaneous human combustion in that there were burn marks on the floor and ceiling directly below and above the body, but no other burn marks anywhere in the room.

2. The First Case

The first mention of spontaneous human combustion in the history books is Polonus Vorstius. Polonus was just a regular Italian knight in the late 1400s who liked wine, women, and song. He consumed 'two ladles' of very strong wine one night, and it disagreed with him. People say that he immediately vomited flame, and then burst into flames entirely. No one else seemed to have any problem with the wine, and people were baffled as to how this happened. They're still baffled now.

3. The Gruesome Details

Spontaneous human combustion has claimed the life at least one member of the nobility; Countess Cornelia Di Bandi. The Countess, who lived in the 1700s, was found half way between her bed and her window one morning, with everything except her lower legs and three fingers burned. She had apparently calmly risen from her bed to open the window in the middle of the night, but combusted before she could reach the window. In the room, two candles had been burned - or at least the tallow had been burned. The wicks were left, completely unburned. Soot covered the room, including some bread on a plate that she had left on a table. Just as a indication of how strange the 1700s were; the bread was taken from the plate and offered to a dog. The dog refused to eat it, making it the most sensible player in that incident.

4. Two Disappearances

Ginette Kazmierczak lived with her husband and son in France in the 1970s. When her husband disappeared mysteriously, Ginette contacted the authorities to try to find them. They couldn't find anything. A few days later, while her son was out with some friends, a neighbor found Ginette's body, except for her legs, reduced to ash in an otherwise undisturbed apartment.

5. The Fire Inside

In 1967, a passenger on a bus in England noticed blue flames in the window of an apartment building hallway. She thought it was a gas jet and called the fire brigade. When they got to the place, they supposedly found the body of Robert Francis Bailey, a homeless man. A fireman reported seeing a slit in the man's abdomen from which blue flames were issuing.

6. When spontaneous combustion won a court case

Nicole Millet, the wife of a Parisian innkeeper in 1725, was found after her husband roused the entire inn when he smelled smoke. What was left of her was in the kitchen, almost completely reduced to ash, with the wooden utensils around her unburned. Other accounts have her burned on her straw pallet, with the straw only a little damaged. That looked suspicious, and so her husband was tried and found guilty of murder. On appeal, though, he used the 'spontaneous human combustion' defense, and was exonerated. Nicole's death was found to be due to 'a visitation of God.'

7. A flaming, shrinking skull takes America by storm

In St. Petersburg, Florida, a landlady was making the rounds in her apartment building when she noticed one doorknob was incredibly hot. The tenant, Mary Reeser, did not respond to her calls, and so she called for people to open the door. Inside, she found Reeser's remains, in the middle of a six-foot scorched area of carpet. A chair and an end table in the middle of the scorch mark were upright, indicating that there was no activity. Nearby on the floor, a pile of newspapers were untouched by the flames. The body, on the other hand, was reduced to ash except for a skull and a completely undamaged foot. Some reports, which just may be exaggerated, say that the skull was shrunk down to the size of a teacup.

8. When spontaneous combustion lost a court case

Jack Angel, who had been hospitalized with severe burns, brought a court case against the manufacturer of his hot water heater for three million dollars. He said that he went to check the malfunctioning heater and it blew and scalded him. However, a doctor noted that his body had burned from the inside out, not the outside in. Shortly afterward, he changed his story and said he fell asleep only to wake up with terrible burns all over his body, and sold his story as a survivor of spontaneous human combustion. Was he one of the only people to survive spontaneously combusting?

9. The Twilight Zone could be in an episode of The Twilight Zone

A gentleman in Crown Point, New York actually seemed to spontaneously combust when he was watching an episode of The Twilight Zone television show. There is no report on which episode of The Twilight Zone it was.

10. The witnessed case

There is only one case of human combustion for which there is a witness. A mentally disabled woman lived with her father, who cared for her. One day he saw a flash out of the corner of his eye, and turned to find her on fire. Despite the flames, she continued to quietly sit in a chair, not reacting and not giving any indication she was in pain. The man's attempts to put the fire out left him with burned hands. The woman lived through the combustion, but slipped into a coma and died shortly afterwards. This indicates one of the strangest parts of human combustion. It takes a very hot flame to reduce a human body to ash. Crematoriums have special chambers designed for it. However, in almost all combustions, there's no burns in the room around the body, indicating that the person simply stayed in one place. Whatever the cause of this combustion, it seems to knock people out first.


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10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Dreams

by Robert T. Gonzalez

If we're to believe some of the latest scientific research on sleep (or even just viral YouTube videos), the effects of dreams have likely bewildered Earth's creatures for hundreds of millions of years. But humankind, in particular, has fostered a unique and lasting fascination with dreaming.

Yet for all our interest, there remains much about dreams and their underpinnings that we simply don't understand — and we're learning a lot more all the time. Here are ten things you probably didn't know about dreams.

1) There is a science dedicated to the study of dreams

First things first, let's get one thing straight. When many people think about the study of dreams, what they're actually thinking of is the practice of dream interpretation; but interpretation is very different from the scientific study of dreams, known as Oneirology.

The difference? Oneioroloists aren't necessarily concerned with the meaning of dreams, so much as they are with the mechanisms and processes that give rise to them.

2) Dream Interpretation has been around for a long, long time

A lot of people associate dream interpretation with modern psychological analysis, but by the time the likes of Jung and Freud got around to it, the practice of dream interpretation had been in full swing for thousands of years.

Some of the first evidence of dream interpretation dates all the way back to the to the 3rd millennium BC, to the ancient cultures of the Mesopotamian. These early civilizations were not only among the first to develop writing, they also practiced dream interpretation regularly, collecting the accounts of dreams (especially those of royal figures) into dream books, complete with interpretations.

3) Everyone tends to dream about the same things

In a study conducted in 2004, scientists from the Sleep Laboratory at the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim, Germany administered a "Typical Dream Questionnaire" to 444 participants in an effort to characterize the variability of dream content across their test population. The test subjects were asked to identify how many of 55 "typical dream themes" (like being chased, having your teeth fall out, flying, running in place, etc) they had experienced.

The findings indicated that most of the 55 dream themes occurred at least once in most of the participants' lifetimes. In addition, the correlation coefficients for the rank order of the themes were very high; that is, the relative frequencies were stable.

4) And yes, pretty much everyone dreams about sex

A study conducted in 2007 by psychologist Antonio Zadra concluded that, for men and women alike, sexual dreams account for roughly 8% of all reported dreams.

Sexual intercourse was the most common type of sexual content, followed by sexual propositions, kissing, and fantasies... masturbation accounted for approximately 6% of both male and female sexual dreams and an orgasm was experienced in approximately 4% of all sexual dreams.

5) Dreams can be a sad, scary place

The findings made by the German scientists in number 8 built upon those of many others, most notably psychologist Calvin Hall's. Over the course of several decades, Hall collected over 50,000 dream reports, and found that the vast majority of them contained similar thematic elements. They were so similar, in fact, that he and his colleague, fellow psychologist Robert Van de Castle, developed a system of dream classification called "the Hall/Van De Castle system of dream content analysis."

Since its publication, the Hall/Van De Castle system of dream content analysis has been used by many different investigators in the United States, Canada, Europe, India, and Japan. Hall himself applied it to dream reports collected for him in four Latin American countries and by anthropologists in many different preliterate societies. All of these studies, incidentally, showed there was more aggression than friendliness, more misfortune than good fortune, and more negative emotion than positive emotion in dream reports from all around the world; when these dream reports were compared to those from industrialized nations, the similarities far outweighed the differences.

6) Not everyone dreams in color

While it's believed that the majority of us dream in color, its estimated that roughly one person in eight is limited to black and white dreamscapes. But this wasn't always the case. Research on dreams from the first half of the 20th century suggests that the vast majority of people actually used to dream in black and white. But beginning in the sixties, the balance began tipping in the direction of color dreaming. What accounted for this shift? According to Dundee University's Eva Murzyn, the advent of Technicolor (i.e., color movies and television):

"It suggests there could be a critical period in our childhood when watching films has a big impact on the way dreams are formed."

But here's the real kicker: according to Murzyn, if one looks even further back in history — back before even black and white television came on the scene — all evidence suggests we were dreaming in color.

7) Vivid Dreaming

People trying to kick a smoking habit tend to experience more vivid dreams
Regular smokers who suddenly kick the habit are likely to experience a number of pretty rough withdrawal symptoms, but one that you don't hear about very often is the effect that quitting has on a person's tendency to dream. A study published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology reports:

Among 293 smokers abstinent for between 1 and 4 weeks, 33% reported having at least 1 dream about smoking. In most dreams, subjects caught themselves smoking and felt strong negative emotions, such as panic and guilt. Dreams about smoking were the result of tobacco withdrawal, as 97% of subjects did not have them while smoking, and their occurrence was significantly related to the duration of abstinence. They were rated as more vivid than the usual dreams and were as common as most major tobacco withdrawal symptoms.

The tendency to experience more vivid dreams as a withdrawal symptom has been demonstrated for numerous drugs, and is thought to be the result of a poorly understood phenomenon called "REM rebound," wherein the time spent in a state of rapid-eye-movement sleep increases (and the likelihood of dreaming along with it).

8) You are paralyzed during dreaming

Your motor neurons cease to be stimulated during REM sleep, leaving you paralyzed
Speaking of rapid-eye-movement sleep, when you're in a state of REM sleep, your body's release of neurotransmitters like norepinephrine, serotonin, and histamine—all of which play an important role in stimulating motor neurons—is completely suppressed.

The result is a condition known as REM atonia, wherein your muscles enter a state of relaxation that borders on physical paralysis. It is thought that this loss of mobility helps keep you from reacting to your dreams in ways that might result in physical harm. In fact, people who don't experience REM atonia may suffer from what is known as REM behavior disorder, and unconsciously act out their dreams in a way that results in injury to themselves or others.

9) Animals dream, too

Several other species experience complex brain activity during sleep
Many of the patterns of brain and physiological activity that humans experience during sleep—including REM sleep and its associated brain states—have been observed in a number of animals, including other mammals, birds, and reptiles.

10) Our understanding of dreams remains very limited

Consider how much we've already talked about REM-sleep. And yet, for all the research that's been done on REM sleep and its role in a person (or animal's) dream state, our understanding of sleep's deeper mechanisms remain muddled, and there still exists no clear biological definition of the phenomenon.

Consider, for example, that the link between REM and dreaming was only made as recently as the 20th Century (read the first paper to describe this connection, published in a 1953 issue of Science, here). For decades it was assumed that REM sleep was necessary for dreams to occur. It took until 2001, and the publication of this study in the Journal of Sleep Research for us to prove that REM sleep is, in fact, not necessary for dreams to occur.

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10 Things that might Indicate your house is haunted

October 17, 2011 (Monroe, Ct)

For over 50 years, Lorraine Warren and her late husband, Ed, have been nationally recognized as America's foremost experts of the supernatural realm.

The Warrens have investigated over 5,000 hauntings and have written 10 books on their findings, including their highly acclaimed work The Demonologist. National television credits include Good Morning America, Today Show, 20/20, Entertainment Tonight and Primetime.

Their more famous cases have been dramatized in such movies as The Amityville Horror and A Haunting in Connecticut. The film rights to Ed and Lorraine's life story have been acquired by Newline Cinema for production into a major motion picture.

Additionally, Lorraine and fellow psychic researcher and son-in-law, Tony Spera, are featured regularly in advisory roles on such shows as A&E's Paranormal State, Unsolved Mysteries, A Haunting,Ghost Adventures and most recently, Travel Channel's Mysteries at the Museum.

As Halloween approaches, our minds tend to wonder about those things that go bump in the night. Are ghosts actually real? If so, how do we know the difference between an overactive imagination and something truly otherworldly? Tony and Lorraine offer some useful indicators to aid paranormal novices in figuring out if spirits are present in their homes:

1. You are being watched. You have an uneasy feeling that somebody or something is watching you. This could be an indication that a spirit may have set up residence in your home.

2. Cold temperatures. There are definite "Cold Spots" in the home. Areas that suddenly feel as if the temperature has dropped 20 or 30 degrees.

3. Peripheral sighting. You catch a glimpse of something out of the corner of your eye. It's almost as if a shadow or a mist has suddenly darted by.

4. Dramatic dreams. You begin to have unusually strange dreams and thoughts that you never had before. This could be the beginning sign of spirit oppression.

5. Unexplained noises. Unusual noises, knocking, scratching or pounding sounds. You might hear footsteps in another room and then, rush in only to find no one there.

6. Offensive odors. Putrid smells or odors appear suddenly, and then vanish just as quickly. This could be an indicator of something more sinister in nature.

7. Person-associated odors. A familiar odor, such as a deceased loved one's perfume or smoke from their cigar may appear suddenly and then, just as suddenly, vanish.

8. Audible whispering. You hear voices but can't quite make out what they are saying. This phenomenon is known as "magic whispering."

9. Physical contact. You are touched, groped, or shaken by an invisible hand and are not able to come to an alternative rational explanation of how this might have occurred.

10. Visual occurrence. You actually see a materialization of a spirit. It may appear as a fog-like substance, or as a full materialization, as solid as you.

[Click here to read full article]

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10 Ancient Mysteries of Asia (Part 2)

by Joan Seth (joanseth77@gmail.com)

Part 2 of the article.

1. Mahram Bilqis, Yemen

This mysterious ruin is found in Yemen and is almost entirely covered with sand. According to legends, this holy site is attributed to the Biblical Queen of Sheba. The temple is surrounded by a wall of 260 metres length which is about 3-5 metres thick and may have once reached about 16 metres.

In the hall of the temple there are still a few of the 32 pillars that once supported the roof. The 8 monumental pillars that seem to watch the site as fierce guards look like as they have been casted as concrete.

Archaeologists have dated the site to 1500 – 1200 BC and possible older, definitely older than the times of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.



[The Queen of Sheba]

2. Masuda boulder, Japan

This mysterious boulder is found near Masuka Lake in Japan. It seems to have been thrown from heaven. It is strange because of its unusual shape: it contains two large square holes. The boulder is about 11 meters in length, 8 meters wide and about 4.7 meters high. The upper surface is smooth and some lower parts show signs of possible carving techniques.

The location and purpose of this boulder remains a mystery. The squares have flat surfaces and sharp corners, the construction of which requires the same technological abilities used in Egypt or South-America.

This Masuda boulder is another example of inimitable technology: applied in an inaccessible remote place, and apparently without any clear purpose.



[The Mystery of Masuda]

3. Marayoor Dolmens, India

Numerous dolmens can be found in Marayoor, India. The dolmens usually consist of 4 standing stones and a cap stone on top of them. All dolmens are made of hard granite.

Some of the stones are so neatly dressed that it is believed that they originate from the Iron Age while the less sophisticated worked stones are believed to be from the Stone Age.

During the Stone Age, the same types of dolmens were built in very remote regions like Western Europe, the Caucasus, Korea and India. Did the inhabitants of these regions invent the same idea, or did they have mutual contacts?



[Marayur dolmens losing the battle with time]

4. Nan Madol, New Guinea

Strange ruins of basalt pillars are to be found on the island of Pohnpei which is located at about 2000 km to the north-east of New Guinea. Some of the constructions are positioned in the water and an underwater tunnel connects a building with the sea which indicates that the site much be extremely old. According to historians, the site was erected around 1250 AD.

250 million tons of basalt logs were estimated to have been used to construct the whole city. The exact details of how this was done remain unknown. Each basalt log could have weighed around 50 tons. Furthermore, all of these were done on water.



[The Mystery Behind the Ancient Stone City of Nan Madol]

5. Petra, Jordan

Petra is a city in Jordan without houses but made up of only temples and tombs which all have been hewn from the rocks. It is not easy to reach this city since its access is very narrow. The light from the afternoon sun gives the red sand stone a unique appearance. The city was supposedly founded by the Nabateans, hundreds of years before Christ.

The top of this mountain was carved and cut by at least 7 metres, resulting in two remarkably tapering pillars. The purpose of building these pillars and their functions remain a mystery till today.



[The Ancient City of Petra in Jordan]

6. Yonaguni, Japan

Yonaguni is an underwater ziggurat type of construction, about 30 meters beneath the water surface. Yonaguni is a Japanese island near Okinawa and Taiwan.

It is a 5 layer platform hewn out of the bedrock, having straight planes and precisely defined sharp angles. It is about 200 meter wide and 30 meter high. Since it is 30 meters below sea level it is at least 10000 years old since in that time the sea level was - because of the melting of the icecaps at the end of the ice age; at a lower level than now.

This means that the structure is one of the oldest buildings in the world - together with the Sphinx in Egypt and Tihuanacu in Bolivia. Its exact purpose and origins still remains a mystery.



[The Mystery at Yonaguni]

7. Marib Dam, Yemen

The Marib Dam is in the north of Yemen, about 120 km to the east of Sana’a. Archaeologists have discovered that the first dam started back in 2000 BC, though many repairs and rebuilding occurred in later times.


Today, only the north side and south side, together with spillway channels and sluices remains. The dam has a width of about 580 meters, was originally 4 meters and later 16 meters in height, which initiated the irrigation of a wide area.
The ancient peoples manage to build a massive dam strong enough to withstand the enormous water mass without cement. Till date, how this was achieved remains a mystery.



[Marib Dam - Yemen]


8. The Plain of Jars, Laos

This mysterious plain found in Laos contains thousands of megalithic jars. These stone jars appear in clusters, ranging from a single or a few to several hundred jars at lower foothills surrounding the central plain and upland valleys.

Till today, their exact purpose and origins are still unknown. Local legends tell of an ancient king who defeated a race of giants. To celebrate his victory, he ordered the jars created to brew and store large amounts of Lao wine.



[Ancient Mystery of Plain of Jars]


9. Mehrgarh, Pakistan

This ancient ruined city was discovered in 1921 in Pakistan. It is estimated to date back to the 7th to 8th millennium BC, making it almost 9000 years old. If this was accurate, the entire concept of the Indus Civilization will be changed.

The city consists of a great public bath, upstairs bathrooms in houses and covered sewers. Such technological advances were near impossible to replicate during such ancient times.



[Mehrgarh, Pakistan: Discovery of a 9000-Year-Old Civilized Settlement]

10. Piri Reis Map, Turkey

This map was discovered in 1929 in Turkey, and was determined to be created by Ottoman-Turkish admiral Piri Reis in 1513.

The remaining half of the map that survived shows the western coasts of Europe and North Africa and the eastern coast of Brazil with surprising accuracy. Various Atlantic islands including the Azores and Canary Islands are also depicted. Some claim that the map also depicts Japan.

Some claims this map supports a theory of global exploration by a pre-classical undiscovered civilization, supported by the amazing accuracy of this map. Others claim that this map was merely created by combining a set of different maps.



[The Piri Reis Map]

Some pictures and text in this article are granted permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; and as such are reproduced in this article.

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10 Ancient Mysteries of Asia (Part 1)

by Joan Seth (joanseth77@gmail.com)

Our planet Earth has existed for about 4.5 billions of years, while humans have only existed for a few thousand years. But there are still a lot of things that we humans do not know about our past.

In this article, we take a look at some mysterious ancient structures and artifacts, whereupon we ask ourselves these questions: Where did ancient man obtain advanced knowledge? Where has this knowledge gone to? Did a deity or extraterrestrials give ancient man a helping hand?

1. Baalbek, Lebanon

Baalbek in Lebanon is one of the most mysterious places on earth. Ancient builders crafted the largest and heaviest stones on earth. There are blocks of about 10 metres long, 5 metres high and 3–4 metres deep. They weigh more than 450 tons each. At least 24 blocks have been discovered.

There are 3 even bigger blocks above these megaliths, weighing approximately 1000 tons each.

The mystery here is that even today, hardly any machinery exists to transport, lift and position such enormous blocks in such a restricted area. And of course, it is unimaginable that in ancient times people could have done this with manpower and ropes.



[The Mystery of Baalbek]

2. The Baghdad Battery, Iran

This object was unearthed at Khuyut in 1936. This mysterious object was estimated to date from a period between a few hundred years BC to some hundreds of years AD.

The Baghdad Battery is about 15 cm high with a lid of asphalt and an oxidised iron rod in the middle, surrounded by a 9 cm copper cylinder with a diameter of about 26 mm. When the vase is filled with an electrolyte, such as lemon juice or vinegar, it is able to deliver an electrical charge of approximately 1 volt.

It is however too small to provide any reasonable power. Dozens of these batteries would have to be connected. Furthermore, the similarity to the first batteries invented in 1867 is striking.



[The Baghdad Battery]

3. Borsippa, Iraq

In ancient times Borsippa or ‘Birs Numrud’ was the location of the Ezida temple, which was devoted to the god Marduk and in earlier times to the god Nabu.

The south westerly mound, the Birs proper, is probably the most conspicuous and striking ruin in all of Iraq. It is split down the centre and surrounded by huge masses of vitrified brick. Single enamelled bricks, most bearing an inscription of Nebuchadnezzar are also found around the site. They are twisted, curled and broken, as if damaged by great heat.

The mystery here is the intensity of the destruction since vitrified bricks can only be created by heat exceeding 1100 degrees Celsius in open air, which is impossible to achieve using standard means.

The only known vitrification in the open has resulted from nuclear explosions or impacts of comets. The latter can be ruled out in the case of Borsippa. The general belief is that lightning caused the vitrification, a theory which has proven to be impossible.



[The Mystery of Borsippa]

4. Candi Sukuh, Indonesia

The Candi Sukuh pyramid is located on the island of Java in Indonesia. It is the only pyramid on the Indonesian archipelago. Each stone in the pyramid has been tailor made. The pyramid would have been built in or around 1430 according to archaeologists.

The pyramid was mysteriously built using the same architectural techniques as per the pyramids in Mexico and Guatemala. Could these same techniques somehow managed to travel across the ocean thousands of kilometres apart and applied by people in different countries and cultures?



[Sukuh Temple is still A mystery]

5. Catal Hüyük, Turkey

Catal Hüyük existed from about 7250 BC till about 5600 BC. It is located in the central part of Turkey and was discovered by locals in 1958.

There are no streets; the houses were built one against the other. The only entrance was from above. In course of time, deteriorating houses were broken down and on top of the layer of rubble new houses were erected.

The larger rooms were plastered with white chalk and used for living; the smaller ones were stores. There were no buildings for governing or other public duties. It is a mystery why the entrances to the houses were only on the roof of the houses.



[The Religion of Catal Huyuk]

6. Chinese Pyramids, China

The existence of pyramids in China was discovered during the Second World War by an American pilot named Gaussmann.

In the area to the north of the city of Xian, there are about 25 pyramids. The biggest of these is near the famous ‘Terracotta Army’ and with a base of 350 x 370 metres is significantly larger than the Great Pyramid in Egypt. It is still smaller than the largest pyramid in the world, the Cholula pyramid in Mexico.



[China’s Great Pyramids Controversy]

7. Göbekli Tepe, Turkey

This is one of the oldest temples in the world. In the vicinity of the little town of Sanliurfa near the Syrian border, there is an archaeological excavation, Göbekli Tepe, which consists of a number of circular buildings which are made of limestone blocks that weigh several thousand kilograms each.

The structures date back to 9500 BC. Many of the stone circles have yet to be excavated, but the few that have been brought to light have diameters of up to 30 metres and the stones are decorated with reliefs of animals. There is no evidence of habitation and no consumer goods have been found which suggests that the site is an early temple.

The mystery in question is how it is possible that in a scarcely populated world, a world where mankind lived in a primitive manner, such a sophisticated building for which a high level of organisation would have been required could have been constructed.



[World’s First Known Religious Temple at Göbekli Tepe]

8. Jericho, Palestine

Jericho, located at Tell es-Sultan is believed to be the oldest city in the World. The earliest human habitation took place in about 9000 BC, though the first permanent settlers came in 8000-7000 BC. The site then consisted of a few walls and a tower, and measures about 40 hectares.

The development of cities is strongly related to the invention and development of agriculture which enabled the establishment of larger populations. However, mysteriously, the construction of Jericho predates the invention of agriculture. It is likewise a mystery why the city needed walls. Who could be an enemy in a rather empty world?



[Mystery of Ancient Jericho Monument Revealed]

9. Korean Dolmens, Korea

More than 40% of the world's dolmens are found in Korea. It is believed that they date back from the seventh century BC to around the third century BC.

There are two main types of dolmens. The table type, where a flat stone is supported by three or four standing stones. In the second type, the supportive stones are partially underground.

The great similarity to dolmens in Ireland, the United Kingdom and France suggests transatlantic contact during ancient times. Till date, their exact purpose still remains a mystery.



[History mystery: Dolmens stone formation]

10. Madain Salleh, Saudi Arabia

Madain Salleh is a city in Saudi Arabia. It is a sister city of Petra, built by the Nabateans more than 2000 years ago.

This mysterious city does not contain any houses, but it is actually made up of only temples and tombs which all have been hewn from the rocks. The site is about 13 km long.



[The Mystery of Madain Saleh]

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Haunted offices in Singapore

Amidst all them there are others who wander caring less of whatever the season maybe. Over here we scoured high and low to share with you five freaky office incidents -- whether you believe it...or not.

1. Hitachi Tower

While working on a report that had to be submitted the very next day, two colleagues heard a knock coming from the direction of the window.

Clear skies indicated that it wasn't the rain and, at 8pm it was hard to imagine a pigeon crashing onto the window.

Assuming that it was nothing, they shrugged their shoulders and soldiered on with their work.

However, it was not too soon before the 'knocking' returned more furious than the first time.

The disturbing sound proved to be a little too spooky and the two decided that it was time to punch out and left.

It was the first and last time that such a disturbance was recorded.

2. Old School @ Mt Sophia

An office that had been vacant for eight years in Old School was to be leased by a company.

Before signing the contract, a member of the company suggested bringing a Fengshui master along on the recce trip to the boss.

The boss agreed; so, the employee, the boss, the Fengshui master and his daughter-in-law headed down to the office.

After the trip, a very solemn Fengshui master revealed to his audience that the spirits of a man, a woman, a child and an old man reside in the premises.

He suggested doing a prayer to ask for their blessing before commencing any renovation works.

Within the compound of the premises also stands an old tree that has a yellow ribbon tied around it; it is believed that many spirits reside around it.

Point to note: None of the employees in that particular office stay later than 6.20pm.

3. Shaw Centre - The Gateway

A particular floor on Shaw Centre is reported to be a gateway of sorts for lost souls, or perhaps a meeting place.

In a certain office, on a certain floor, an employee and the boss were gathered in the conference room for a meeting, when the employee spotted his colleague gesturing at them.

Assuming that it was an offer for a drink, he declined.

A few hours later the employee received a call from the colleague that had 'offered' her a drink with a spooky tale.

There had been a guest seated beside the duo in the conference throughout the meeting. The colleague had realised that their guest had no beverage served to the guest and assumed that the client would need one hence the gesticulation.

However, when the duo had left in a 'huff' to attend a meeting without the guest, the colleague realised that it was not a client!

Imagine her horror when the 'guest' turned around and smiled at her.

The 'guest' was soon spotted again standing beside the hand-dryer in the ladies' restroom by another colleague with the gift of the 'third eye'.

In the same office space there had been the sighting of a Caucasian man walking through walls!

4. HDB Office Block @ Jurong East Street 13

For five days, 'Lynn' kept spotting a man from the corner of her eye at her desk.

However, the strange visitor would vanish every time she turned and tried to make eye-contact.

The incident carried on for all five working days (Monday - Friday), the visitor was nothing more than just an irritation.

However, when she returned on Saturday to clear up some work, a colleague related to her a similar experience the night before, about a Chinese man who stood around before disappearing when someone made eye-contact.

When she asked if 'he' wore a white shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, they affirmed it and she told them that he had been around for a week now!

5. The Night Safari$

Not only are buildings haunted but so is Singapore's famous Night Safari.

Security guards have seen and heard clapping and cheering from the old amphitheatre that used to be behind the reception counter at about 1.30 in the morning.

Another infamous spirit lives in the tree beside the suspension bridge.

It is believed that many have seen a long-haired lady dressed in dressed white, however, those who are 'blessed/cursed' with the gift to see into the netherworld claim that she is dressed in black.

Point to note: No one has ever seen her face.

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9 Vampire Myths Explained

Vampires have haunted literature, art and folklore since the dawn of mankind. Stories of vampirism can be traced as far back as biblical times, with Lilith the first rumored vampire. The term vampire did not become an everyday superstition, and fear, until the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe. Was the belief in vampires considered some type of mass hysteria, since numerous countries all had their own form of blood suckers, from the Russian Vurdalak to the Romanian Strigoi? Or are there other explanations for the myths?

1. Stake Through the Heart

Staking a vampire through the heart has been the most popularized method of extermination. Many different countries show references to driving a stake through the heart as well using specific woods to get the job done. Certain types of wood have tied symbolism to Christianity, such as Ash, Blackthorne, Maple, Hawthrone, Buckthorne and Aspen.

A stake was driven through the chest cavity to ensure deflation of a bloated corpse, so it would be deflated before its transformation into a revenant was complete. Groans were reported to escape the “vampire’s” mouth when the chest was either pushed on or staked. Gasses trapped in the stomach, intestines and esophagus escaped and pressed against the vocal chords when the pressure of staking was applied.

2. Bats

In Romanian folklore it was thought that a bat, insect or other flying creature that passed over a corpse, could turn it into a revenant (a corpse that returns from the grave). In fact, bats are much like vampires. They are nocturnal, some species drink blood, and they have an acute sense of hearing and smell. The discovery of blood drinking bats only exacerbated the vampire myth.

3. Fresh Corpses

When suspicion of vampirism fled though an area, it was not uncommon for the towns people to exhume the corpses of their loved ones to check for the tell tale signs of a vampire in the grave. Normally, a vampire’s corpse appeared fresh (not far into decomposition), the cheeks were reported to be full and rosy, the lips and mouth were red, from what appeared to be fresh blood, and the hair and fingernails of the corpse appeared as if they had continued growing. With a basic knowledge of decomposition these signs can be explained. The lack of fresh air and substantially lower temperature of the Earth below can, for lack of a better word, refrigerate a corpse therefore slowing down outer signs of decomposition.

In the case of bloated corpses, blood would be pushed to the surface of the skin, causing rosy cheeks, red lips and even blood in the mouth. When oxygen hits blood, it binds itself to the hemoglobin, causing the shape and appearance of blood to change. Because of the constant temperature and conditions of being underground, it would take longer for blood to dry up and no longer have a bright red appearance.

Hair and fingernails have the appearance of growth after death, but that’s just at first glance. When the body expires, the loss of moisture in the skin causes it to recede giving the fingernails and hair the appearance of growth.

4. Fangs

Those who were vampires were thought to have longer than usual eye teeth. Porphyria, also called the Vampire’s disease, is a recessive genetic disease that is characterized by too little hemoglobin being produced in the blood. This disease is said to have happened as a result of European nobility intermarrying.

Skin complications of Porphyria include, but are not limited to, photosensitivity, skin blisters, skin itching, skin swelling, hair growth abnormalities (which can explain myths of lycanthropy), skin pigment changes, deterioration of the lips and nose, and receding tissues of the gums and lips. The appearance of someone whose lips and gums have receded would be a gruesome and frightening sight, indeed, making the eye teeth stand out. In most European countries if a child was born with teeth it was considered to be a vampire.

5. Vampire’s Reflection

Another telltale sign of a vampire was a lack of reflection in mirrors. Mirrors have always held relevance in folklore when associated with death. It was common superstition in Bulgaria, that if a corpse’s reflection was shown in a mirror, or if mirrors were not covered in the presence of a corpse, then there was an increased likelihood another death would occur.

It was also customary for a corpse to be removed from a house through a window, and never through a front door, as to discourage the corpse of a loved one from returning to the home to claim another family member. It was also thought that those who suffered from Porphyria abandoned mirrors from their lives because they did not wish to see their ghastly and ghoulish appearance.

6. Photosensitivity

Porphyria appears to be the prior missing tie in the myth of vampires blistering and burning in the sunlight. The bodies of those with Porphyria lack the function of being able to effectively repair their skin cells from UV ray damage.

7. Aversion to Garlic

Garlic holds classic symbolism in vampire folklore. But why garlic? Again, Porphyria is the culprit to this age old myth. Garlic contains chemicals that exacerbates the symptoms of the disease, and causes those with it to avoid it at all costs. Imagine having severe allergies and walking into a field of dust, flowers, and weeds.

8. Drinking Blood

Why blood? If a vampire is already dead then what purpose would ingesting blood have on a corpse? Although that part of the myth is left up to the imagination, blood consumption is, none the less, the ultimate telltale sign of a vampire. Porphyria rears its ugly head again.

Because a symptom of the disease is a deficiency of hemoglobin in the blood, it was a common practice for those with the illness to drink large quantities of fresh blood in hopes that drinking it would provide the same effect as someone who takes a supplement to meet their daily requirement for a vitamin. Although the afflicted at the time most likely did not know the details of their disease but rather just assumed their illness was from “bad blood” so to speak.

9. Being invited into one's home

Many legends state that in order for a vampire to enter your home he/she must be invited by the human they've come into contact with. Once they have been invited in they are under no obligation to follow human etiquette such as leaving when asked.

The house ia a metaphor for our subconscious mind. When we invite a vampire into our house, we are symbolically invoking it into our personal subconscious, where it is then free to feed upon our spiritual vitality. This is why the vampire visits us during night, when we are asleep and dreaming, and most vulnerable to entities in the subconscious mind.

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