News Briefs

News Briefs 20-08-2008

Rick MG — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:36:27 +0000

Three months and counting...

Keilor Valley locals unite with environmentalists and archaeologists to oppose garbage dumps. Never upset a 7-foot-tall mega wombat.
New research suggests humans caused the extinction of megafauna, not the end of the last Ice Age. We never stopped.
Pollution, overfishing responsible for massive increase in ocean 'dead zones'.
Canadian journalist Will Thomas on food as a weapon and fighting back with independent organic farming. Food for thought.
Psychotherapist Andrew Feldmar writes about the benefits of psychedelic drugs.
Incredible video of ayahuasca ceremony from Arizona's John David Balla.
North Dakota man faces five years in prison for $32 of Salvia divinorum leaf.
You'll find this hard to believe, but the U.S. military is paying scientists to study mind-reading... via synthetic telepathy.
The incredible memories of elephants may hold key to survival in the worst of times.
Quantum 'uncollapse' muddies definition of reality. When was it ever clear?
If we have free will, then so do subatomic particles, say two mathematicians.
Clues to life on Mars found in prehistoric Mexican crater. Too many burritos, RPJ.
A new pic of the Yucatan cave system known as Xibalba, the Mayan underworld.
Pre-Hispanic tombs and well-preserved textiles found in Machu Picchu, Peru.
Ruins of a pagan temple from the second century AD excavated in Israel.
5000 years ago, women were in control of Iran's Burnt City. Today, they get 20-years prison when they're raped.
If you want to get off this planet, here are the Top 10 exoplanets.
Larry W. Bryant's FOIA request regarding a CIA UFO cover-up in 1987 involving the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
Small, metallic UFOs are attacking people in Brazil with stabbing beams of light causing blood loss. Mosquitoes have gone high-tech.
Chinese Roswell: 1947 document recently uncovered in Chengdu archives details an investigation of a crashed flying saucer in Sichuan. The official explanation -- American weather balloon!

Thanks Greg and Kat.

Quote of the Day:

Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of following my fancies as a butterfly, and was unconscious of my individuality as a man. Suddenly I awoke, and there I lay, myself again.. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming that I am a man.

Chuang-Tzu, 3rd century BC ... Read More »

News Briefs 18-08-2008

Kat — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:32:54 +0000

The Spoof's spot-on spoof of the spoof.

Belief in Yeti dying out as Bhutan modernizes, but Bhutan's conservation department still has plaster casts of Yeti footprints mounted on the wall.
Are aliens targeting Wales? (With video.)
Monday night's premiere of Into the Unknown With Josh Bernstein on Discovery Channel set to dispel myths about ancient gladiators.
The possible discovery of the Theatre, built in 1576 and where Shakespeare's troupe performed in the 1590s, could complete the set of open-air theaters where the Bard's plays were staged.
Music inspired art in Stone Age caves.
Amazing gold ring and earrings unearthed from 2500-year-old Thracian tomb.
Roman sarcophagi discovered in Newcastle, 1,800 years after they were sealed.
Scientists on 'Indiana Jones' mission hope global warming will help solve 160-year mystery of missing British explorers.
The £10,000 drawing that turned out to be a £100 Million Da Vinci.
Evolutionary benefits of the heebie jeebies: Horror film gene makes some scream while others laugh.
Primordial Earth echoed in arsenic-eating bacteria.
The origin of theories: A review of Robert J. Richards’ The Tragic Sense of Life: Ernst Haeckel and the Struggle over Evolutionary Thought (Amazon US & UK).
Not every scientist worships at Darwin's feet: Scattered among the world's top scientists are those who believe a conscious intention is behind nature's processes.
Do subatomic particles have free will?
While magicians work, the mind does the tricks.
Bird flu hopes from 1918 victims.
Flu not the only killer in 1918 pandemic.
300 dwarfs may hold key to beating cancer -- and to extreme life-extension.
Ancient species of tree is helping Britain's birds survive the effects of climate change.
Ugly Bettys will always do worse, say scientists, because bias towards beauty is human nature.
Mayor assures 'beauty-disadvantaged women' they'll find no shortage of interested blokes in Queensland mining town, Mount Isa. Storm of protest ensues.
Cockroaches of the sea: From Alaska to Africa, Australia to Alabama, scientists have noted with increasing frequency that jellyfish populations are on the rise, and threaten the health of oceans.
Jellyfish invasion: Britain to fight them on the beaches.
Designers of Spore want you to play God by creating your own alien species, starting from single-celled organisms. Will your 'intelligent beings' be bent on interstellar domination?
A founding father of the internet says it's come a long way, but its potential for worldwide change can and will be greater still.
Military bent on creating an online, self-teaching artificial intelligence.
A flying saucer that can sneak into buildings to spot enemy gunmen or plant explosive devices or bugs could be used by British troops on the frontline.
Once upon a time an ethicist had a brilliant idea for a prison. Today we all live in it.
Flexible nanoantenna arrays capture abundant solar energy.
Cataloguing Invisible Life: Microbe genome emerges from lake sediment.
Lab animals number close to 115 million.
Like the little Satans we are.
A review of Kathryn Shevelow's scholarly For the Love of Animals (Amazon US & UK Oct 6).
How apes are like us.
Octopuses have six arms and two legs.
Inhalation of persistent free radicals, a newly discovered air pollutant, exposes the average person to up to 300 times more free radicals than smoking a cigarette.
Aussie drug may prevent kidney disease. A tablet a day may cast dialysis away.
Researchers say we size up someone's trustworthiness within milliseconds via surprisingly small factors - where we meet someone, whether their posture mimics ours, even the slope of their eyebrows or the thickness of their chin.
A blueprint to regenerate limbs.
The man with the answer to life, the universe and (nearly) everything.
Millionaires are trying to save the planet by buying entire ecosystems and turning them into conservation areas.
Mad Max Delusion: Some scientists believe we’ve already entered into the beginning of the sixth extinction, set in motion by Homo sapiens.
Peak oil is coming, and we're unready.
The Most Trusted Man in America?

Quote of the Day:

I'm not here to convince you that Sasquatch exists. I was hoping to convey to you that there is a body of data that is extremely compelling. I am convinced there is something out there. Something is leaving footprints. There's something out there that begs for our consideration.

The amassed evidence of the footprints is strong evidence that there is a real animal that exhibits a consistent anatomy that is distinct from human anatomy and yet shows adaptations that are very elegantly suited to the habitat where they are reported to exist.

Jeff Meldrum, PhD, author of Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science (New paperback at Amazon US Sept 4, & UK Oct 10), speaking in Edmonton Sunday at the Royal Alberta Museum on his research into Bigfoot.

News Briefs 15-08-2008

Turner Young — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:43:16 +0000

“Whatever happened to, the life that we once knew…”

How green was my Saharan valley (albeit 10,000 years ago)?
How dead are our oceans…
Enceladus, the tiger-striped moon.
More on Quantum Correlations and communicating 100,000 times faster than the speed of light.
And since we’re already on the subject, could speed of light travel be far behind? Engage the FTL!
Martian dust under the microscope…
Nanotube technology as a new cancer cure?
Entrance to Xibalba (the mythical Mayan underworld) discovered?
Is your water polluted? Just ask the plants.
Terrapin… Stationary? (Or “12 non-native species threatening British waterways”)
Robots with biological brains -- And you thought skynet was all you had to worry about…
Life on Titan?
And in the 'blast from the comedic past' dept (emphasis on *blast*), say hello / reacquaint yourself with the good and gaseous “Reverend” Robert Tilton, the original.

Many happy returns and danke schöens to Capt. Greg and Dr. RP "Bones" J…

Quote of the Day:

" It is better to know less than to know too much that isn't so..."

Josh Billings

News Briefs 14-08-2008

red pill junkie — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 05:23:47 +0000

If 1968 was the Summer of Love, then 2008 is the Summer of Fort :-P

150 UFO sightings in UK in 2008. So that would mean 5 or 10 of those sightings could be the real deal.
While we wait for tomorrow’s press conference, here’s a very interesting comparison between the Georgia “RickMatt Bigfoot” —or “Georgia Gorilla”, if you prefer—and a known Bigfoot costume. What do you think? (H/T Cabinets of Wonders)
Chupas. Chupucabra. Chupacabra. Despite decades of reports, the American journalists still can’t write Chupacabras correctly! Who’s the sucker here? Video of the infamous beast— or a mangy coyote—here.
Forget the 100th monkey. Is this the 100th crow?
No, the Nazca lines weren’t made by aliens. They were made by this guy’s ancestors.
Monolith schmonolith! It’s Cooking what stimulated a big leap in human cognition.
Yes, we all love ‘2010’; but is there REALLY life on Jupiter's moon Europa?
Roboticists create Rover to move & drill on the tough Lunar terrain. I wish they designed a bigger version to sell here in Mexico. The potholes on our streets would be the envy of the Mare Tranquilitatis.
... Speaking of which: Mexican crater could give clues to ancient Mars.
Manipulating Dark Energy to travel faster than the speed of light. So, we haven’t really proven the so-called “Dark Energy” exists yet, and now we are planning to use it to pimp our ships? *sigh* Fine, whatever, just MAKE IT SO, Dammit!!!
The stuff of Albert’s nightmares: Signals seem to travel faster than light.
How do you stop a proton beam that can melt a half ton of copper? Find out here.
A huge increase in the speed of the Internet could be produced by slowing parts of it down, say researchers. Maybe they started with Rick’s account :-P
European Court of Human Rights allows McKinnon to stay in the U.K., for now. Good thing all the judges are too busy watching the beach volleyball games on the Telly ;-)
At the beginning of the conflict, Georgia suffered a major cyber-attack to its networks; but kids were responsible & not the Russians, according to some researchers.
Anthony North explains why he doesn’t believe in Conspiracy Theories… with a theory of his own. Oi!
Teams set for mock Moon landing. They even have a competition to see who can do the best fake Moon landing? What’s next, a President’s assassination contest??!
2,500-year-old Greek ship, the biggest and best maintained vessel of its kind ever found, has been raised off the Sicilian coast. And No! Its name was not Poseidon.
The 5 Most Ridiculously Unjust Religious Afterlives. What, no scientologists?
The Pill: it’s what’s keeping you from finding Mr. Right-One. That and your annoying friends and your dreams of living in Park Avenue… and don’t get me started with your parents!
The human brain could become the battlefield of the future. More of the same here.
Can erasing a drug memory erase the need for a fix? Hmm let’s see: Messing my head with chemicals, or messing my head with hypnosis? I think I’ll stick to my red pills thank-you-very-much ;-)
Drug prohibition is an untenable hypocrisy.
Rat's 'brain' used to power robot. Robot ended up beating the s**t out of the lab’s cat.
Your grannie will turn into a cyborg! And I think that’s awesome ^_^
At what point should we consider the long-term ramifications of technological developments? Oops! Too late!

Thanks Greg, Kat & Loren Coleman (Loren for keeping this summer so interesting).

Quote of the Day:

"My view of, let’s say, the last thousand years, is that it’s been pretty progressive. And, yes, we probably killed more people in the 20th century than in the 10th, but there was more regret about it, more soul-searching afterwards, more questioning ‘Why? Why did we do that?’"

Terence McKenna ... Read More »

News Briefs 12-08-2008

Jameske — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:18:11 +0000

Do you smoke morphine-cannabis, inject it in your arm, or cook it in a brownie and eat it?

Morphine-cannabis super painkiller.
Division over dissent.
Struck by lightning.
Economics does not lie.
Dont know much about history.
Cell change keeps organs young.
Invisibility cloak a step closer.
Pedal to the metal: UFO car chases.
Of crop circles, firebirds, and vacuum domain physics.
Ice on the third law.
An Enceladus-Saturn electrical connection?
The cat's eye catspaw.
Mystery surrounds Leavenworth's underground city.
The Chinese are changing their weather.
The pursuit of happiness is personal.

Quote of the Day:

The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.

Arthur C. Clarke ... Read More »

News Briefs 11-08-2008

Turner Young — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:29:15 +0000

No gnews is not good gnews...

A forgotten branch of the family tree - Scientists link neanderthals and modern humans through common ancestor.
A multi-colored celestial birth, courtesy of Hubble on its 100,000th orbit.
Microbial Life on Venus? And me without my dog-eared copy of the Venusian Secret Science...
The Arctic meltdown is happening even faster than the last re-adjusted timeline.
Did a California UFO (from Topanga Canyon) suddenly appear in Oregon? Check the video and judge for yourself.
Forget alternative fuels and go fly a kite. Or a flexible nanoantennae array, if you prefer.
Are iron cyclones in the Earth's core the reason the lab-coats still find it baffling?
Toto, we’re not in Kansas any more… we’re under it.
What else lies beneath? How ‘bout a 2.5 million year–old Mastodon, recently unearthed in Romania?
Turning your big wheel into a green machine.
Will melting ice bring more mollusks? A pair of scientists and Nat. Geo seem to think so (along with Ween, of course)…
Invisibiliy cloak for Muggles one step closer to reality. More here. And here (w/ cool photo).
A recently excavated British grave from the Iron Age reveals ancient links to Rome.
Japan unveils new bendable, stretchable, conductive nanotube material… Must’ve been leftover from Roswell.
Speaking of... Is West Virginia the new Roswell?
In the battle of Polar Bears vs. Great White Sharks, no one wins. Sadly, not a joke.
The Perseid Meteor Shower will peak tonight and tomorrow night. A light-show not to be missed!
Tired of meteors? Then keep an eye on the Cassini Probe as it flies within 30 miles of Enceladus, Saturn’s ice geyser-covered moon (w/ video from Nat. Geo.)
More on a potential (albeit scientific) fountain of youth.

Quote of the Day:

“The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do…”

Walter Bagehot

News Briefs 08-08-2008

Turner Young — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:26:43 +0000

"It could happen to you, it could happen to me, it could happen to everyone eventually…"

Apocalypse now… or not?
Is that a glint in your eye -- or a planet?
A recently discovered Buddhist site in Jaipur spurs government to start excavations at six more ancient cultural sites.
A game of Frogger, this is not…
The identity of King Tut’s Mother may soon be revealed. More here.
Is the solar system’s “just right” Goldilocks Zone more rare than we think? More here.
Behold the future of cold storage -- the solid state fridge.
…You thought tropical storms were getting better? You thought wrong.
A hazy shade of… the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.
The Large Hadron Collider is set for it’s first test beam synchronization.
The day airline pilots became redundant. More here on when the army will become obsolete.
Stargazer alert… Get ready for the Perseid meteor shower on August 11th and 12th. More here.
The Olympic Games are scheduled to start at 8:08:08 PM on 8/08/08… A very brief history on the belief in 08.08.08. A little more here.

Quote of the Day:

"Forever poised between a cliché and an indiscretion..."

Harold MacMillan

News Briefs 07-08-2008

red pill junkie — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 05:46:29 +0000

It’s time to break our chains.

The Paranormal: A New Science of the 21st Century; by Philip J. Imbrogno, author & collaborator of a plethora of books such as ‘Night Siege: The Hudson Valley UFO Sightings’ (Amazon US & UK), & most recently ‘Interdimensional Universe: The New Science of UFOs, Paranormal Phenomena and Otherdimensional Beings’ (Amazon US & UK).
Another one back from the dead, this time an Indian stampede victim. A sign that the End Times is nigh?
Forget the Hollow-Earth theories. How about a Hollow Moon?
Milky Way’s Dark Matter ‘clumpier’ than thought. I can almost see Michael H’s big grin with this one.
Our pal Mr. 'Bad-As' tronomer looks at the space ambitions of the two candidates for the U.S. presidential election. That is, if they can beat this new contender.
Pimp my SETI@Home!
Scientists say Martian soil is *not* as life-friendly as they thought. IMO that might depend on your definition of “Life”.
NASA denies briefing Whitehouse about life on Mars discovery. Which is of course a sure sign that Bush is planning to bomb the Martians…
Admiral says: ”I never looked for UFO data. And I did not have sex with that woman”… Oh, wait!
Oregon man catches possible UFO on video. I think it’s just Rick doing one of his OBE pranks.
Then again, maybe the UFO was Bigfoot’s ride, since the hirsute giant has also been recently seen prowling the Oregonian woods.
Michael Shermer demands: “Show me the body”. I don’t know whether he’s referring to Bigfoot or Jimmy Hoffa though.
The Skeptibunkie´s Meme: "Nothing But Grainy Blurry Photos. . ."; by the Queen of the UFO blogs, Regan Lee.
08/08/08 is not only the inauguration day of the Olympics, but *also* the inauguration of Galactic Freedom Day.
4000-year-old Canaanite warrior found in Lebanon dig. Poor chap was never relieved of his post since the war with the Hebrews.
Mark Lehner tells of his life with the Sphinx. Grailer Furries might find this pretty kinky ;-)
The Poles say Auschwitz is falling into ruins. Should we preserve it indefinitely, like the Pyramids of Giza?
Batman and the War on Terror. Yes, I’m a fanboy, so sue me!!
What the Anthrax targets tell us about the Anthrax Terrorist.
Will the U.S. have a droid Army? Better yet: Will it have a droid President?
Plan Mexico and the US-Funded Militarization of Mexico. Luckily for me I’ve been practicing for this scenario, so Bring it Gringos! :-P

A toast of Tequila for Rick, Kat & Greg (Salud!)

Quote of the Day:

"Quite an experience, to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave."

Replicant "Roy Batty" (Rutger Hauer) in ‘Blade Runner’

News Briefs 06-08-2008

Rick MG — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:15:09 +0000

So many news updates recently, do you have room for more?

Voyage to the stars on a sunbeam: sailing space on solar winds.
Skeptics debunk Edgar Mitchell with same old 'light of Venus' nonsense.
Meet the first Australian to earn a PhD in UFO-ology.
Audio: question and answer session with UFO researcher Tim Good, author of Need To Know (Amazon UK) and Unearthly Disclosure (Amazon US).
Senator John McCain requested the USAF investigate the Phoenix Lights in 1997.
Video: the 1964 UFO encounter in Socorro, New Mexico.
Ancient Anasazi history will be lost to oil and gas drilling in the American Southwest.
UNESCO steps on French toes to protect the prehistoric art of the Lascaux Caves.
Yemen tries to kick its Qat-chewing habit. Qat, not cat, and definitely not Kat.
Animal cruelty and cat eating in China: WARNING, very disturbing photos.
Population of lowland gorillas boosted by new discovery.
Primates face an extinction crisis according to global study.
Last Ice Age took only a year to freeze Europe.
Arctic could see an ice-free summer within five years.
Only girls are being born in a Greenland village. Polar bears and PCBs?
Juggling can change brain structure in seven days. I can juggle one ball.
Argentine president calls for decriminalisation of drug use.
Interview with a lotus eater: ayahuasca, spirits, and dreams.
Strange alchemies: seeking wisdom any which way you can.
Towards a visionary culture: transcendental art.
Leprechaun-alien photographed in Florida. Follow him to his pot of gold!
Loren Coleman is insulted by "leprechaun-alien". Post your suggestion.

Cheers Greg, Ross, and Kat.

Quote of the Day:

So here are people without electronic microscopes who choose, among some 80,000 Amazonian plant species, the leaves of a bush containing a hallucinogenic brain hormone, which they combine with a vine containing substances that inactivate an enzyme, which would otherwise block the hallucinogenic effect. And they do this to modify their consciousness.

Jeremy Narby - The Cosmic Serpent (Amazon US & UK).

News Briefs 04-08-2008

Kat — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 11:01:46 +0000

Let's all wear our fancy tinfoil party hats today.

Physicists design warp drive engine.
What next? Flying saucers? EmDrive inventor is seeking to reduce the amount of machinery, fuel and money required to lift a vehicle out of Earth's gravity.
SpaceX launch fails a third time.
Rumors are flying that Mars Phoenix has made a major discovery relating to the potential for life on Mars.
Energy boom in Southwestern US threatens prehistoric sites. Drilling for CO2?
Tech breakthroughs for storing electricity, and for replacing platinum in fuel cells, lower costs of alternative energy. More here and here.
Giant kites to tap power of high wind: Experiments show that the power generated could provide electricity for 100,000 homes.
US government aims to tame hurricanes.
Houston doctors say they've found HIV's Achilles heel, and already have the 'arrow' which can permanently disarm the virus.
Scientists find evidence that aging is genetically programmed.
Stinging Tentacles Offer Hint of Oceans' Decline: The explosion of jellyfish populations reflects overfishing, rising sea termperatures and pollution.
The nature of glass remains anything but clear.
Scientists say last Ice Age froze Europe in less than a year.
Survey finds dhildren have lost touch with the natural world and are unable to identify common animals and plants. Less than 62 percent were able to identify a frog in a photo.
Chimpanzees subjected to medical experiments suffer similar psychiatric symptoms to those shown by tortured humans.
What Gorilla?: Why some can't see psychic phenomena.
Linda Moulton Howe's interview with Jim Marrs about his latest book, The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America (Amazon US & UK).
YouTube: TV news report says a large object with a turquoise hue plummeted out of the sky earlier this summer and plowed into the earth south of Las Vegas. Eyewitnesses say this was no meteorite, especially since a bunch of helicopters hauled it away.
When weird meets the IRS. Hang in there, Loren.
Feel the Eyes Upon You: Recent experiments have shown that people respond to pictures of eyes by altering their behavior in subtle ways, even when they haven’t consciously noticed the eyes are there.
Seeing (blips) is believing: Angela Hill reports on the 39th Annual International UFO Symposium.
Roswell Rock matches August 2, 1996, UK crop circle: Part 1, Part 2, and Roswell Rock Lab Analysis. Roswell Daily Record's original news article, and follow-up article.
Aliens stole my brain: Columnist's typical mainstream snark stymied by John Mack's research.
Bonfire Of The Vanities, UFO Style.
CIA memo links UFO cover-up and JFK assassination. Includes photo of the cover of a 1954 Majestic-12 Group Special Operations Manual titled 'Extraterrestrial Entities and Technology, Recovery and Disposal'. Part 2.
The trolls among us: the Internet subculture with a fluid morality and a disdain for pretty much everyone else online.
Karadzic lived under protection of CIA agents until he broke deal.
Scientists question FBI probe on anthrax: Ivins could not have been attacker, some say. Clues here. More weirdness here.
US device that finds gunman in seconds to be tested by UK police.
Globalization takes a hit from increased shipping costs.
From A to Zyxt: Ammon Shea spent a year plowing through the entire Oxford English Dictionary -- and lived to write about it. Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages is available at Amazon US & UK.

Thanks, Red Pill Junkie.

Quote of the Day:

I, Clark C. McClelland, former ScO, Space Shuttle Fleet, personally observed an 8 to 9 foot tall ET on my 27 inch video monitors while on duty in the Kennedy Space Center, Launch Control Center (LCC). The ET was standing upright in the Space Shuttle Payload Bay having a discussion with TWO tethered US NASA Astronauts. I also observed on my monitors, the spacecraft of the ET as it was in a stabilized, safe orbit to the rear of the Space Shuttle main engine pods. I observed this incident for about one minute and seven seconds. Plenty of time to memorize all that I was observing. IT WAS AN ET and Alien Star Ship!

Clark C McClelland, former ScO, Space Shuttle Fleet, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, 1958 to 1992. Read the rest of his description of this ET in his blog post in support of Edgar Mitchell.