>Deathworm discovered? Documentary definite

>

There may not actually be solid evidence of an acid-spitting, lightning-throwing Mongolian deathworm living in the Gobi Desert but there will definitely be a documentary about it.

Journalist David Farrier and cameraman Christie Douglas have returned from Mongolia, where they spent about two weeks trying to verify the deathworm’s existence.

Some Mongolians say the Allghoi Khorkhoi, or “intestine worm”, resembles a 1.5m-long creature that jumps out of the sand and kills people by spitting concentrated acid or shooting lightning from its rectum over long distances.

Farrier would not say if the pair discovered evidence of the fantastical creature as they were not revealing too much until the documentary was complete.

People were welcome to assume they didn’t find anything, he said, however: “As far as telling the story about the deathworm I’d say we were pretty successful in what we came back with and we have definitely got a doco on our hands.”

They recorded about 30 hours of footage and spoke to people who said they had seen the worm.

“Because the sightings peaked during the 1950s a lot of these witnesses won’t be around for much longer, so I felt pretty lucky to get to some of them before they are actually dead.

via Deathworm discovered? Documentary definite | Otago Daily Times Online.

>Strange jellies of the icy depths

>

New details are emerging about the life-forms that survive in one of the world’s most inaccessible places.

Scientists have published descriptions of a range of jelly-like animals that inhabit the deep oceans of the Arctic.

The animals were originally filmed and photographed during a series of submersible dives in 2005.

One of the biggest surprises is that one of the most common animals in the Arctic deep sea is a type of jellyfish that is completely new to science.

The deep Arctic ocean is isolated from much of the water elsewhere on the globe.

In pictures: Icy jellies

One area, known as the Canadian Basin, is particularly cut off by deep-sea ridges. These huge barriers can isolate any species there from other deep-water animals. …

“Probably the single most interesting discovery was a new species of a small blue jellyfish, from a group called the Narcomedusae,” says Dr Raskoff.

“This group has several interesting features that set them apart from typical jellyfish, such as the fact that they hold their tentacles over their bell as they swim.”

Most jellyfish let their tentacles drift in the water behind them, but the new species holds its tentacles out in front, perhaps enabling it to better catch prey.

The new species is so unusual that it has been classified within its own genus, and will be formally described later this year.

“It was also the third most common jellyfish found on the cruise, which is really surprising when you think about the fact that even the most common species in the area can be totally new and unexpected species,” says Dr Raskoff.

via BBC – Earth News – Strange jellies of the icy depths.

>How Sunlight Controls Climate: Scientific American

>

Small changes in the sun’s brightness can have big impacts on our planet’s weather and climate. And now scientists have detailed how that process might work, according to a new study published August 28 in Science.

For decades some scientists have noted that certain climate phenomena—warmer seas, increased tropical rainfall, fewer clouds in the subtropics, stronger trade winds—seem to be connected to the sun’s roughly 11-year cycle, which causes ebbs and flows in sunspots that result in variations in solar output.

That variation is roughly equal to 0.2 watt per meter squared—far too little to explain, for instance, actual warming sea-surface temperatures. A variety of theories have been proposed to explain the discrepancy: ozone chemistry changes in the stratosphere, increased sunlight in cloudless areas, even cosmic rays. But none of these theories, on its own, explains the phenomenon.

Now, using a computer model that pairs ozone chemistry with the fact that there are fewer clouds in the subtropics when the sun is stronger, climate scientist Gerald Meehl of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., and colleagues have reproduced all the observed cyclical climate phenomena as sunlight waxed and waned in intensity over the course of the last century. “Even though [sunlight variability] is a very small number on a global average, regionally or locally it can be much bigger,” Meehl explains. Changes to stratospheric ozone chemistry and cloud cover in the subtropics “kind of add together and reinforce each other to produce a bigger amplitude of this small solar forcing signal,” he says.

If the model is correct, the mechanism works like this when the sun is at maximum strength: Ozone in the tropical stratosphere traps slightly more heat under the increased ultraviolet sunlight, warming its surroundings and, in turn, allowing increased ozone production. (Warmer temperatures make it easier for ultraviolet light to break up O2 molecules, thereby allowing the resulting free oxygen ions to hook up with other molecules of their kind to create ozone.) That ozone also warms and the cycle continues, resulting in roughly 2 percent more ozone globally. But this change also begins to affect the circulation of the stratosphere itself, which then alters the circulation in the lowest layer of the atmosphere, known as the troposphere, by reinforcing certain wind patterns that then affect the weather we experience.

via How Sunlight Controls Climate: Scientific American.

>DNA analysis key for solving mystery of King Tut’s origins

>

Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Egypt, has said that harvesting DNA from ancient mummies would be the key to solving the mystery surrounding Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen’s origins.

According to an article authored by Dr Hawass in the Asharq Alawsat Newspaper, he was in for a surprise when he entered the royal tomb of Tutankhamen with Professor Zakaria, and managed to get DNA samples.

Previously, there was hardly any hope in obtaining DNA samples from mummies, and Dr Hawass believed that he would prove to the world that mummies did not have any DNA suitable for analysis.

“For the first time, I saw that it is possible to harvest DNA from a mummy, and I believe that this will be the key to solving the mystery surrounding King Tutankhamen’s origins,” he wrote in the article.

Tutankhamen, the golden pharaoh, continues to bedazzle the entire world.

The discovery of King Tut’s tomb, which took place around 85 years ago, remains the most important archeological discovery of our time, not just in Egypt, but in the entire world.

This was the first time that a royal tomb of one of Egypt’s pharaohs was discovered untouched, and with the complete set of funeral furniture which was buried with the King.

In addition to this, there was also the treasures and jewelry which blinded anybody who set eyes on them.

“In an attempt to unravel the mystery surrounding King Tut’s family and discover the identity of his father, we find that there are some archeologists who strongly suggest that this is most probably King Akhenaton,” said Dr Hawass.

Akhenaton was the first Pharaoh to advocate monotheism, not just in ancient Egypt, but in the world. Others believe that Akhenaton’s father, King Amenhotep III is a more likely candidate for Tutankhamen’s father.

As for King Tut’s mother, “If we follow the speculation mentioned above with regards to Tutankhamen’s father, his mother is most likely either Queen Tiye, the consort of King Amenhotep III or the extremely famous, Queen Nefertiti, the consort of King Akhenaton,” said Dr Hawass.

These questions are enigmatic, and archeologists are having a hard time trying to answer them.

According to Dr Hawass, “We have embarked upon the quest to solve the mysteries surrounding King Tut thanks to the two DNA analysis laboratories that we have access to, as well as the availability of a CT-Scan machine, through which we are able to know every single detail about a mummy.” (ANI)

via DNA analysis key for solving mystery of King Tut’s origins | Newspost Online.

>UFOs and VITAMIN C – Linus Pauling’s Flying Saucer Secret by Anthony Bragalia

>

Nobel Prize winner Dr. Linus Pauling -physicist, chemist and controversial advocate of Vitamin C therapy- was a secret UFO researcher who authored intriguing confidential studies on the flying saucer phenomena. Recently acquired information also reveals that Pauling may have provided his technical expertise to Battelle Memorial Institute in the study of Roswell-like memory metal in the years after the crash!

Emerging research reveals that Pauling was intensely studying UFOs and that he had a special relationship with Battelle- a research and development contractor known to have been active in UFO study through its work with the USAF’s Project Blue Book. Battelle has also been implicated in the study of the Roswell UFO crash debris “memory metal.” Battelle’s involvement in the debris analysis has been previously reported in articles by this author archived on the UFO Iconoclasts website. It is now known that Pauling was invited by Clyde Williams, the Director of Battelle at the time of the Roswell crash, to discuss “intermetallics” – a class of materials which are the basis for “shape memory” alloys!

LINUS PAULING’S GENIUS

A truly multi-disciplinary scientist, Pauling is distinguished as one of only four individuals to have won multiple Nobel prizes. He is the only scientist to have ever been awarded his prizes without sharing it with another recipient. Named in the list of the “20 Greatest Scientists of All Time” by New Scientist magazine, Pauling held a PhD in Mathematical Physics and Physical Chemistry from Caltech and also held degrees in Chemical Engineering.

via The UFO Iconoclast(s): UFOs and VITAMIN C – Linus Pauling’s Flying Saucer Secret by Anthony Bragalia.

>Engineering Earth ‘is feasible’

>

A UK Royal Society study has concluded that many engineering proposals to reduce the impact of climate change are “technically possible”.

Such approaches could be effective, the authors said in their report.

But they also stressed that the potential of geo-engineering should not divert governments away from their efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

Suggestions range from having giant mirrors in space to erecting giant CO2 scrubbers that would “clean” the air.

Such engineering projects could either remove carbon dioxide or reflect the Sun’s rays away from the planet. …

The study stressed that engineering approaches would only have a limited impact, and that efforts should continue to be focused on reducing CO2 emissions.

“(Governments) should make increased efforts toward mitigating and adapting to climate change and in particular agreeing to global emissions reductions of at least 50% on 1990 levels by 2050 and more thereafter,” the authors wrote.

But, they continued, there should be “further research and development” into geo-engineering options “to investigate whether low-risk methods can be made available if it becomes necessary to reduce the rate of warming this century”.

via BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Engineering Earth ‘is feasible’.

>The Demystifying Adventures of the Amazing Randi

>

On a stage in a spacious Las Vegas banquet hall sits a nervous-looking, dark-haired Danish woman named Connie Sonne. The 46-year-old retired police officer made a name for herself as a psychic in Europe by claiming she knew the whereabouts of famous missing British toddler Madeleine McCann. Sonne also says she can read playing cards through sealed envelopes using only a crystal. If she can successfully demonstrate her skills in this controlled experiment at the South Point Hotel Casino and Spa, she’ll receive $1 million.

A broad-shouldered security guard enters, dressed in a standard-issue black polyester uniform. He walks toward the stage, carrying the precious cargo he’s been hired to protect: a large manila envelope sealed with duct tape.

The 700 people in the audience — famous magicians, television personalities, mind readers, scientists, and garden-variety nerds — sit in silence, their eyes fixed on the package. The guard passes VIPs: magicians Penn and Teller, astronomer Phil Plait, psychologist Dr. Ray Hyman — and there, at the end of the first row, with a bald head and a beard as long and white as Darwin’s, sits James Randi. For more than 60 years, “The Amazing Randi” has been performing magic, debunking psychics, and discussing the perils of all things paranormal. Now 81, he heads the Fort Lauderdale–based James Randi Educational Foundation. …

The security guard hands the envelope to Banachek. Inside is a 10-sided die and four smaller envelopes. Banachek cuts one open and removes 10 more envelopes. Inside each one is a playing card. Sonne rolls the die. It stops on three. She now must find the envelope containing the three of hearts, plus two other cards. If she can, the money is hers.

Sonne glances at the audience, then back at the envelopes spread before her. With her right hand, she dangles her crystal amulet over the table.

For four minutes, the room is motionless. Sonne’s dowsing charm sways like a pendulum over the envelopes. No one speaks — nobody wants to be Sonne’s excuse if she later says she was too distracted. Randi watches closely, his bushy eyebrows cocked. It’s his foundation’s million bucks on the line.

Randi has debunked more than 100 psychics and faith healers in a quest to rid the world of hucksters. It also makes him the subject of scorn among purveyors of the paranormal, true believers who say Randi has made himself rich, pulling in nearly $200,000 a year from his foundation, at the expense of others’ careers.

Now, however, Randi’s work may be in jeopardy. His foundation has been hemorrhaging money, and Randi, who has spent his career challenging the notion of an afterlife, now faces his own mortality. He has intestinal cancer and may not have long to live. He has been a commanding presence for four decades, but it’s unclear who could fill his role as the face of the skeptic community.

… When Sonne indicates she has found the three of hearts, Banachek writes “3” on the sealed envelope. She rolls the die twice more, then searches for a seven and an ace. For the final card, the awkward silence lasts nearly five tedious minutes before Sonne chooses the envelope farthest to the left.

After nearly 20 minutes, it’s time to see how she fared. Banachek asks her to cut open the envelope marked “3.” She does, and Banachek peeks inside.

via San Francisco News – The Demystifying Adventures of the Amazing Randi – page 1.

The results:

“Asked to dowse for cards 3 7 1, Connie Sonne has dowsed 2 1 2, and has failed the JREF Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge.  The correct sequence was 3 7 1, as verified by the video.” –  randi.org

>Man leaps into river to escape wife nagging

>

A MAN jumped into a fast-flowing river because he couldn’t take his wife’s nagging anymore.

The Chinese truck driver, known as Zhou, and his wife were on a ferry on the Yangtze River when it all became too much for him, the Chongqing Evening Post reports.

Members of the ship’s crew saw the man suddenly run out of his cabin with his hands covering his ears, and shouting: “I can’t stand it any longer.”

They initially thought he was suffering from an ear injury and went to help him but found he was unhurt.

“While we were still puzzling over the this, his wife ran up and continued nagging him,” said a crewmate.

“The husband covered his ears again and said: ‘I need a break’ before jumping over the side into the rushing river.

“We immediately found lamps to light up the water but found nobody. The possibility of survival can be zero.”

However, later that night, police found the man who had managed to swim about 2km across across the broad river.

“I felt I was dying, but even that’s better than my wife’s nagging,” he reportedly told the police.

The couple were reunited the following morning at the local police station where Zhou’s wife promised to give up her habit of nagging him.

via Man leaps into river to escape wife&squo;s nagging | The Courier-Mail.

>Dozens of birds drop dead in Quebec City

>

It was raining birds — literally— this weekend in a Quebec City neighbourhood after dozens of small feathered creatures were accidentally poisoned.

Residents of the Limoilou neighbourhood described the Sunday morning scene as worthy of a horror movie. The birds were disoriented and dropped dead in the streets or spent several minutes in convulsions before dying.

Police and firefighters were called in and feared a gas leak was responsible for killing more than 40 birds. But their investigation quickly led them to the culprit: an extermination compound.

The pesticide was placed on a rooftop to disorient pigeons and force them to find another place to roost. But the compound proved to be deadly for smaller types of birds, the bronzed grackles.

“The wrong type of bird ended up being targeted,” Quebec City police spokeswoman Catherine Viel said.

Police said the compound is legal and no charges will be laid in this case.

But the Quebec Environment ministry is investigating the incident to see if the extermination company followed the guidelines.

via Dozens of birds drop dead in Quebec City.

>World’s first cloned wolf dies

>

One of the world’s first two cloned wolves has died from an apparent infection, a professor who produced the clones almost four years ago said on Tuesday.

Snuwolf (Seoul National University wolf) was found dead on August 26 at Seoul Zoo, Professor Shin Nam-Shik of the university told journalists.

Snuwolf apparently died of an infection and had no other health problems, Shin said. “But we can’t say anything for certain until we complete the analysis of autopsy results.”

He denied the death might be linked to a faulty cloning technique. “Sudden deaths among dogs and wild animals always happen. This death must not be blown out of proportion,” Shin stressed.

Shin is a member of the team from the university led by Professor Lee Byung-Chun which created the world’s first cloned dogs in early 2005.

The team also cloned two female wolves, Snuwolf and Snuwolffy, which were born in October 2005. Shin said Snuwolffy is alive and healthy at the zoo.

via World’s first cloned wolf dies.