News Briefs

News Briefs 19-11-2008

Rick MG — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:53:03 +0000

I agree with the Dalai Lama, sleep is the best meditation. If it wasn't for the alarm, I could achieve enlightenment.

New NASA images show Saturn's polar hexagon ablaze with blue light.
2800-year-old monument to the soul discovered in Turkey. The country, that is.
More info, with pics, on the 11000-year-old ruins of Gobekli Tepe.
Excellent multimedia travel feature on the proud Maya of Chiapas.
Palaeontologists piece together 460'000-year-old woolly rhinoceros skull.
Skeletal remains of entire family found in 4600-year-old grave.
Repairing a rare 2500-year-old Egyptian sarcophagus shattered in a student protest almost four decades ago.
German artist to rebuild Colossus of Rhodes as giant light sculpture. It will be destroyed by a giant mechanical elephant.
Kangaroos are genetically similar to humans. Barbecued 'roo is so delicious.
GM crops to be grown in secret to prevent sabotage -- from rival corporations no doubt, not just from environmental activists.
UK Big Brother database now holds DNA of more than one million children.
New research finds Dutch Calvinists notice embedded visual patterns quicker than their atheist compatriots.
Unhappy people watch more tv. But news anchors are always smiling.
Video: the extraordinary ability of lost pets to find their way home.
More video: episode 1 of the New Zealand UFO files.
It's the 30th anniversary of NZ's famous Kaikoura UFO sighting, and the crew of the plane at the centre of the encounter plan to recreate their flight on Dec 30th.
New Phoenix Lights witness reluctantly comes forward.

Cheers Kat.

Quote of the Day:

Myths are public dreams, dreams are private myths.

Joseph Campbell

News Briefs 18-11-2008

Greg — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 06:18:30 +0000

Jameske's unable to do the news today. But don't fret, I've done this once or twice before...

Strong new evidence of oceans on Mars. Try to grok it.
On the outskirts of creation, something is tugging on our Universe.
The Multiverse hypothesis - valid science, or a refuge for scientists wanting to avoid an 'Intelligent Creator'?
Firefighter's Manual teaches first responders how to deal with UFO attacks.
Could swarms of satellites no bigger than baseballs provide new ways of looking at our world?
Magnetic force field to solve problem of space radiation during interplanetary travel?
The secrets of Saturn's strangest moon.
Michael Shermer finds his own meaningful pattern in his latest 'Skeptic' column for Scientific American.
And the mice shall inherit the world: Scientists stop aging process in mouse livers.
Fungus makes diesel from organic compounds. Shrooms...is there anything they can't do?
For your enjoyment: 20 Microscapes.
Investigating the agnostic machinery.
Simon Pegg is not happy. Because zombies don't run, dammit!
From the "my kids come up with better excuses" department: Vicar has to have potato removed from his butt because he "fell on it while hanging curtains naked".
Meanwhile, the Italian clergy tell it like it is: Priest smashes chair over restaurant owner's head as nuns kick him in the stomach.
Magic and the brain: Neuroscientists try to catch up with magicians when it comes to understanding exploiting the limits of cognition.
One of the signs of an impending apocalypse? When Prince says that we shouldn't be "sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever". Tell that to the Potato Priest above. And maybe His Purpleness should check his own lyrics over the past 30 years...damn he corrupted some of us in the 80s.

Quote of the Day:

The more I examine the universe and the details of its architecture, the more evidence I find that the universe in some sense must have known we were coming.

Freeman Dyson

News Briefs 17-11-2008

Kat — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:44:21 +0000

*cough!* I feel like somebody's trying to pry my ribs apart with a crowbar. Sorry, but misery's a great motivator of brevity.

Archaeologists find evidence of yet another Egyptian pyramid.
Colossus of Rhodes to be rebuilt as giant light sculpture.
Babylon: The tower and the glory.
Dutch archaeologists locate tomb of musketeer d'Artagnan.
Gold and silver Celtic coins uncovered in Dutch cornfield.
Could this be the grave of King Richard?
Predating Stonehenge by 6,000 years, Turkey's stunning Gobekli Tepe upends the conventional view of the rise of civilization. For more, see Greg's recent post here.
Neolithic burial ground found in Istanbul.
Human ancestors born big brained.
Details revealed of 'one of a kind' dinosaur nest.
Endeavour departs and docks with ISS. With a slide show for Rico, 'cause he likes 'em with pictures. ;-)
And you thought Mad Max was post-apocalyptic.
Cockroaches plan escape routes.
Going East for Empire. Paul Strathern's Napoleon in Egypt is available at Amazon US & UK.

Quote of the Day:

Soldiers! Forty centuries behold you!

Napoleon Bonaparte, to his army before the Battle of the Pyramids, July, 1798.

News Briefs 14-11-2008

Turner Young — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 06:21:32 +0000

"There is nothing constant in this world but inconsistency.”

Copernicus or the big void?
A worldwide smog-fueled ’brown-out’?
My God, it’s full of… exoplanets. And a little more here on the already reported first photos of planets orbiting another Sun.
India’s planned Moon crash.
Jurassic Park… realized. More here.
TV’s Lost proven to be *more* than just a TV show?
Need an organ? Seek a same sex donor.
Will new water laws create new water lawyers?
The UFOs at night… deep in the heart of Texas. Friday night lights indeed...
Lab-coats prepare for Christmas on Pluto in 2015.
New wonder drug to cure aging and HIV?
Influenza outbreaks, courtesy of google.
Going green pays off, literally.
Saturn’s aurora is glowing.
Cinematic doomsday device countdown.
The Robot Uprising is at hand.

Thanks to the man behind the man behind the curtain, aka Greg.

Quote of the Day:

“When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign… that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.”

Jonathan Swift

News Briefs 13-11-2008

Perceval — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:51:06 +0000

Just filling in while diamond geezer RPJ buys up all the tequila in Mexico...

Evolutionary theory evolves: proteins with 'cruise control' act like adaptive machines.
God's work, or just a numbers game? Science's alternative to an intelligent creator.
'Buddha-boy', meet 'Mowgli-girl'.
Can humans alive today live to 1,000? Not if the planet dies first.
Happy birthday, Nessie.
Did environmental disasters play a role in Mayan decline?
Regan Lee speaks out for the psychic component of UFO phenomena.
The enigma of the Red Snake.
Can ancient Babylon be rescued?
Cobwebs to be zapped by neutron beam in attempt to unravel their secret. My spidey-sense is tingling!
Garden gnomes banned from church cemetery, because there's 'no such thing' as a real gnome.
Halloween revellers arrested under anti-terror laws. Trick or treat?
US Navy to continue killing whales with sonar, while helicopters collect their snot.
Iraq War ends?
Where dinosaurs fought in the Civil War. Now that's alternative history.
Bright lights, big city: American astronaut photographs London by night. That's me waving at bottom-left.

Thanks Rick

Quote of the Day:

There are no accidents... there is only some purpose that we haven't yet understood.

Deepak Chopra
... Read More »

News Briefs 12-11-2008

Rick MG — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 08:59:28 +0000

It's life, Jim...

Scientists identify hotspots of methane plumes on Mars.
Physicists create BlackMax to search for extra dimensions in the universe.
Photo of the newly discovered pyramid in Egypt, 4300-years-old.
Mexican archaeologists explore network of Yucatan caves that could be the Mayan highway to hell. National Geographic takes you on a video tour.
Seven years after the Taliban blew up the Buddhas of Bamiyan, archaeologists unearth a 19-metre "Sleeping Buddha".
18th century Chinese emperor's lavish garden quarters restored.
Paleontologists say Dinosaur dance-floor tracks are just potholes.
Interview with cryptozoology adventurer Adam Davies, author of Extreme Expeditions (Amazon US & UK).
Pics of two new species of flying lemur recently discovered.
New species of gecko found in northern Australia already under threat.
A 10-year global marine survey finds 5600 new species. Brilliant photo gallery.
Pig organs will be available for human transplant in a decade.
Patricia Piccinini's lifelike sculptures explore transgenics and cloning.
Bio-Beer has been genetically modified to extend your life. Unless you drive home.
Mexican scientists have turned tequila into diamonds. RPJ in the sky...
UFO filmed over Dundee, Scotland. Is hurling going high-tech?
Video of big black triangular UFO a skydiving group at night?
Excellent four-part video investigation of the Needles UFO incident, the Roswell of our generation.
Construction worker in Brazil wakes up 1000 feet from the ground. Better than waking up six feet under it.

Quote of the Day:

In this galaxy there’s a mathematical probability of three million Earth-type planets. And in the universe, three million million galaxies like this. And in all that, and perhaps more...only one of each of us.

'Bones' McCoy, Star Trek 'Balance of Terror' (Amazon US & UK)

News Briefs 11-11-2008

Jameske — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:04:09 +0000

A little bit of history revisionism today. Post your thoughts.

Auschwitz: Blueprints found in Berlin are not of a death camp.
The persecution of revisionists.
Fridge-sized tape recorder could crack lunar mysteries.
Mysterious major changes in Plutoid Eris.
The philosopher and the wolf.
Genetic gender war: autism and schizophrenia.
Selective memory.
4300 year old pyramid discovered in Egypt.
Scientists identify first mammal for which disease led to extinction.
The not very near death experience.
Sun shows signs of life.
Half massed star.
Oldest evidence for complex life in doubt.
Brain sees fine line between speech and song.
Mini nuclear powerplants on the horizon.

Quote of the Day:

HISTORY, n. An account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools.

Ambrose Bierce ... Read More »

News Briefs 10-11-2008

red pill junkie — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:13:26 +0000

It's beginning to look a lot like... Monday.

25 years ago, some 7,200 witnesses oberved a boomerang-shaped object "as bright as a city street, and as big as a football field" over the skies of southern New York State. Watch the Unsolved Mysteries program here, and here.
MySpace has no love for Gary McKinnon. If you want to watch the former hacker's latest musical incursion, click here.
Do people with Asperger Syndrome understand intentional actions in a different way than 'normal' persons?
Brain Scans show bullies enjoy others' pain. So the have a brain after all, huh?
Can something like Love be measured? And I'm not talking about the size of a diamond in your engagement ring!
What color is the number Se7en? I'm guessing blood red, but maybe I'm too influenced by Hollywood.
Are Synchronicities an open doorway to lucidity?
Does the evidence for 'Anomalous Cognition' meet Scientific standards?
The Internet: a magical place where you can chat and/or have sex with a complete stranger; or get a reading by a psychic.
Obama may not be Superman, but he needs to save the Shuttle nonetheless.
NASA Reveals New Rover For Manned Extraterrestrial Missions. It looks like the Jetsons-meets-Bonanza wagon!
China aims to land a moon-buggy by 2012. Yet ANOTHER event for that happy date ;-)
in the XXIst century, China is being threaened by Melanine. 2 millenia ago, it was being threatened by Monsoons.
Video of Ancient Rome in 3-D. Are you not entertained??!
Crikey! Aussie 'Cage of Death' taunts crocs with human food.
Snakes kill more people than dengue & skin cancer.
Your iPod can kill you, in more ways that you can imagine.
Saber-toothed tigers were a lot like football players: big, muscular, and team-workers.
Chemical biomarkers once thought to be the oldest known evidence of complex life, may not be that old after all. But don't open the champagne just yet, my Creationist friends.
Video: It's the end of the world as we know it, & Daniel Wojcik feels fine—He must be a 'reptilian'...

Thanks, Perceval.

Quote of the Day:

“It is time for the government to declassify records that are more than 25 years old and to provide scientists with data that will assist in determining the real nature of [the UFO]phenomenon.”

John Podesta ... Read More »

News Briefs 07-11-2008

Turner Young — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:30:31 +0000

Out there, in the dark… the multiverse is waiting.

Rewriting the laws of physics?
Underwater explorer who reached the ocean's deepest point, Jacques Piccard, has reunited with Cousteau. A few photos of his feats…
The Gamburtsevs -- Antarctica’s 500 million year-old buried mountain range.
After 200 years, Alaska’s glaciers appear to be… growing.
But do oceans really need glaciers - or the unbridled power of the Sun?
Hatfield and Henderson the Rain King... realized.
Chinese history by way of stalagmite.
Like dust in the wind… Rippled Martian sand-scape explained.
Volcanoes on the dark side of the moon or just the delicate sound of thunder…
Space Shuttle to deliver Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the ISS.
Who needs fingerprints if you’ve got odorprints?
Can we really succeed in making ‘contact’? Yes we can.
Reality, logic (or the paradox of) and reason.
A tribute to maestro John Williams… a capella style.

Special thanks to RMG and RPJ and LC and SC!

Quote of the Day:

“There is nothing new in the world… except the history you do not know. ”

H.S. Truman

News Briefs 06-11-2008

red pill junkie — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 07:44:53 +0000

It would always be simpler to clone Chrichton, than a T-Rex.

Michael Chrichton's legacy.
The remains of an Ice Age rhinoceros have been unearthed by a five-year-old girl at a Gloucestershire water park. Michael would be so proud.
Where do you go to find traces of early life? To the Moon, of course.
Cassini received a good bag of treats last Halloween, with many HD views of Enceladus.
Where will the new Fermi telescope find dark matter? Under my bed would be a good place to start.
Pope says to Stephen Hawking and other scientists that there is no conflict between believing in God and empirical science. As long as scientists are not gay, of course ;-)
What are the odds on the existence of God? 1 in a Googleplex, according to Dawkins; 4 to 1, according to Paddy Power. Place your bets on the table.
Hyperdiseases: Think of them as God's own 'Alt+F4' command.
And of course, Asteroids are His/Her version of 'Ctrl+Alt+Supr'.
What may be the oldest known Hebrew text, could lend historical support to some Bible stories, archaeologists say.
Is it possible to revamp the world's Best-Seller for the XXIst century's green concerns?
Californians vote YES to Obama, and NO to Renewable power measure.
Will the cars of tomorrow be fungi-powered, or air-powered?
We need two planets by 2030, says WWF. What's taking Nibiru so long???
Hospitals may ditch antiseptics and start using 'good germs' to fight bad ones. So if the nurse coughs in your face, she's just doing her job.
Benvenutti! Florence opens an archeological dig under the Palazzo Vecchio to visitors.
A huge UFO said to be "about the size of a large shopping mall and parking lot" was reportedly sighted in Ohio.
Check out this UFO photo taken at Concordia, Argentina.
It's not nice when your town is labeled 'The Village of the Damned' on the Telly. It's not exactly a sexy slogan, you know.
W-why is that flower petal moving? Stunning pictures of some of North America's most impressive animal camouflage.
Is Rover's mind stuck in an eternal now?
An Arizona jogger had an unwelcome companion on a recent run - a fox, hanging on to her arm by its teeth. Surely not what Jimmy had in mind!

Thanks to Rick, Kat, & Ian Malcolm.

Quote of the Day:

"All major changes are like death. You can't see the other side until you are there."

Ian Malcolm, from the novel 'Jurassic Park' ... Read More »