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From time to time I happen across some interesting tid-bits from the realms of sci-fi, paranormal, scientific papers, strange but true articles, ufology, or just plain thoughts & ideas that are interesting curiosities found in the hinterland of the internet. I hope you will join me here and mention your 'discoveries'. Maybe we can have some fun in the process.
2:00 a.m. Jan. 22, 2001 PST
A new telescope that searches the night sky for laser signals from alien civilizations will be announced on Monday.
At the OSETI III Conference in San Jose, California, astronomers will unveil the first telescope dedicated entirely to finding light signals emanating from extraterrestrial
intelligences. <a href=http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,41241,00.html>more</a>
<h2>Nova Discovers Plane Thought to Have Been Intercepted by Extraterrestrials Fifty Years Ago</h2>
(Vanished! on NOVA Tuesday, January 30, 2001 at 9pm ET on www.pbs.org/nova/vanished)
On August 2, 1947, a converted British bomber named "Stardust" disappeared on a
commercial flight over the Andes. For more than fifty years, no one knew what
happened to the plane and the eleven people on board, and the incident remained one
of the most notorious unsolved cases in the history of aviation.
Then in 1998, two mountaineers stumbled across a huge engine on the Tupangato
glacier high in the Andes. It was Stardust's, and it was far from the flight path that the
airliner was supposedly following.
NOVA travels to the site of this long ago catastrophe to solve the riddle of Stardust's
disappearance on Vanished!, airing Tuesday, January 30, at 9pm ET on PBS (check
local listings). complete article
'Baby trade' couple hired ghostbusters
The British couple who bought American baby twins over the internet had their home investigated for spirits.
Alan and Judith Kilshaw called in paranormal investigators to their north Wales farmhouse.
The BBC has shown film of the couple speaking about different spirits seen in their farmhouse home.
One of the couple's two young sons talked of "The Milky Man", a ghostly apparition of an old man in a white milkman's coat. more
[This message has been edited by jasoom (edited January 24, 2001).]
[This message has been edited by jasoom (edited January 24, 2001).]
<h2>Mystery Tracks</h2>
In January of this year a set of mysterious tracks was found in an infrequently visited cave called Cueva del Arroyo in Central Mexico. On the caving trip were Bonnie Crystal, Peter Strickland, Andy Grubbs, and Ernie Garza. The unidentified animal tracks were found after the team's fourth rope drop into the middle of a deep lake. Following a 30 meter swim, the team reached an area of mud islands inside the 25 meter by 3 meter high passage.
There they found the tracks, leading into and out of the water and crossing several of the mud islands. The tracks showed no distinct claw marks, and no tail or body marks. According to Crystal, the tracks looked like they were made by a bipedal animal. The only known entrance to the cave is the a sheer-sided rope drop at the end of a long deep box canyon. Crystal believes they may have discovered evidence of an uncommon or previously unidentified troglodite. more
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<h2>People With Really Bad Luck</h2>
Wayne A. Louden was profiled in the Wichita (Kan.) Eagle in September for his history of at least 37 traffic collisions in the last 10 years (23 of them serious, though none of any kind this year); he admits to some problems (bad vision, diabetes, depression). And in July in Ponta, Texas, Charles and Jennifer Smith and their three preschoolers purchased a new Dodge Intrepid, which was totaled in a collision the next day; on Aug. 11, fire destroyed their trailer home; then Jennifer drove over the family dog, whose leg is now in a cast; and in September, after the community banded together to get the Smiths a new trailer home, a storm totaled that one, too.
[Wichita Eagle, 9-24-00] [Athens (Tex.) Daily Review, 9-25-00]
<h3>Least Justifiable Homicides</h3>
A 28-year-old man was shot to death by his first cousin during dispute over how to paint the floor at a construction site (Banner, Ky., October). And one man was shot to death and his killer then beaten to death by relatives and in-laws at a Labor Day barbecue, all because of a request by one of the relatives that another man move his car (Marshall, Texas, September). And a 30-year-old man was shot to death at a bar by a fan of race car driver Dale Earnhart who was angry that the victim was wearing another driver's (Jeff Gordon) cap (Spencer, Ind., October).
[Floyd County (Ky.) Times, 10-8-00] [APB News, 9-5-00] [Bloomington Herald-Times, 10-12- 00]
<h3>DOES CARCHARODON MEGALODON STILL EXIST?</h3>
Taken from David G. Stead's 'Sharks and Rays of Australian Seas', published in 1963. Here is the now-classic monster encounter, in Stead's words:
In the year 1918 I recorded the sensation that had been caused among the
"outside" crayfish men at Port Stephens, when, for several days, they refused to
go to sea to their regular fishing grounds in the vicinity of Broughton Island. The
men had been at work on the fishing grounds--which lie in deep water--when an
immense shark of almost unbelievable proportions put in an appearance, lifting pot
after pot containing many crayfishes, and taking, as the men said, "pots, mooring
lines and all." These crayfish pots, it should be mentioned, were about 3 feet 6
inches in diameter and frequently contained from two to three dozen good-sized
crayfish each weighing several pounds. The men were all unanimous that this
shark was something the like of which they had never dreamed of. In company
with the local Fisheries Inspector I questioned many of the men very closely and
they all agreed as to the gigantic stature of the beast. But the lengths they gave
were, on the whole, absurd. I mention them, however, as an indication of the state
of mind which this unusual giant had thrown them into. And bear in mind that
these were men who were used to the sea and all sorts of weather, and all sorts of
sharks as well. One of the crew said the shark was "three hundred feet long at
least"! Others said it was as long as the wharf on which we stood--about 115 feet!
They affirmed that the water "boiled" over a large space when the fish swam past.
They were all familiar with whales, which they had often seen passing at sea, but
this was a vast shark. They had seen its terrible head which was "at least as long as
the roof on the wharf shed at Nelson's Bay." Impossible, of course! But these
were prosaic and rather stolid men, not given to 'fish stories' nor even to talking
about their catches. Further, they knew that the person they were talking to
(myself) had heard all the fish stories years before! One of the things that
impressed me was that they all agreed as to the ghostly whitish color of the vast
fish.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jasoom:
At the OSETI III Conference in San Jose, California, astronomers will unveil the first telescope dedicated entirely to finding light signals emanating from extraterrestrial
intelligences.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Damn! I might have gone to this if I'd known about it ahead of time. I've been spending more of my time down in that part of the Bay Area than I used to.
JaceSan, wish you could have gone to the event. That way you could have filled us in on how things went.
Wish they had set up out here in the east.
How's your local biosphere?
Database-backed service allowing users to see chemical pollution on local street maps of
their own community - and take action. Just enter your zip code and find out what pollutants are being released into your community, and who is responsible. When I saw the huge red blobs over the Eastern States, the map listed under the air pollutants directory, I just knew I had to check it out, heheh.
<center><h1>#</h1></center>
Sorry guys, a warning before you use the link below! Seems when I tested the link, (4 times), I got to the site all right, but when I close out the site my machine froze & I had to re-boot each time. While I think it most likely is my browser acting up, didn't want to take any chances. I'll leave the site addr below but be fore-warned, you may have to re-boot! It's really a pity, as their are volumes of cool local info there.
http://www.scorecard.org/
[This message has been edited by jasoom (edited January 27, 2001).]
[This message has been edited by jasoom (edited January 27, 2001).]
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jasoom:
<h2>People With Really Bad Luck</h2>
And in July in Ponta, Texas, Charles and Jennifer Smith and their three preschoolers purchased a new Dodge Intrepid, which was totaled in a collision the next day; on Aug. 11, fire destroyed their trailer home; then Jennifer drove over the family dog, whose leg is now in a cast; and in September, after the community banded together to get the Smiths a new trailer home, a storm totaled that one, too.
[Wichita Eagle, 9-24-00] [Athens (Tex.) Daily Review, 9-25-00]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
God hates trailer parks...
http://www.monsterworks.net/worryweb...demonkey5a.gif
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---Shadowjack
Jas, ya got some really weird stuff in here!
Anyway, I watched the Nova story on Stardust. The eventual theory that came from the expedition was that Stardust climbed to 23,000 feet to rise above a storm. Reallizing they were well above the highest peak of the Andes range, they decided to fly straight to their destination, rather than through the pass and down the coast. Unfortunately, in that day, they were unaware of the jet stream, and the theory is that Stardust likely was going directly against it.
The last radio contact from Stardust indicated they were ten minutes from the airport and starting their decent. If in fact they had steered straight for the airport rather than through the pass, and got caught in a fieerce jetstream headwind of which they were unaware, this would accont for a massive navigational error, which caused them to desend through the clouds...and right into the side of the mountain. The theory further goes that the crash casued an avalanche which buried Stardust, explaining why searchers never saw the wreckage. Over the years, the glacier devoured Stardust, and is only now giving up bits and pieces. The expedition found the remains of seven of the eleven people on board. DNA typing is being done to try to identify the remains.
So at least on this one, no UFOs, only a lack of knowledge by the navigator and pilot explain what happened.
Oh Crud! I can't believe myself sometimes. I forgot the program was on & missed the $%*# thing!
Anyways, thanks Merle for the update. From what you have posted it seems like the most logical happenstance & wonder why back then that the possibility of an avalanche having buried the Stardust didn't occur to the people in charge at the time of the incident.
One thing is probable, it was a horrific but hopefully mercifully instantaneous end.
Merle, we watched the whole show, and found it fascinating -- between the original disappearance of "Stardust" to the explanation of gravity and glaciers and the effects of the jet stream, it was all just fascinating!
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The Red Witch
True Names by Vernor Vinge
[email protected]
<center><font color="navy">The Camelot Project</font></center>
THE CAMELOT PROJECT is designed to make available in electronic format a database of Arthurian texts, images, bibliographies, and basic information. The project, begun in 1995, is sponsored by the University of Rochester and prepared in The Robbins Library, a branch of Rush Rhees Library.
The Main Menu lists Arthurian characters, symbols, and sites.
http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/cphome.stm
[This message has been edited by jasoom (edited February 07, 2001).]
<center><font color="navy">Space Station Homeless. A Presentation of the Bad Air and Space Museum</font></center>
NASA junkies envision a wondrous future with shiny, happy people living and working in space, but what if the social ills of Earth find their way into orbit? Space Station Homeless paints a portrait of such a possibility.
The site is a collection of images depicting what it would be like to be homeless in space. It borrows from traditional space imagery, but stands it on its head by juxtaposing incongruous elements, such as portrayals of astronauts filling their rocket-powered shopping carts with space junk. Some are inspired, like the ex-cosmonaut holding up a sign that says he'll work for food and air, or the depictions of space "gangstas" and debris collectors with rocket-powered shopping carts.
If you explore the site, be sure & take a look at 'PETS IN SPACE', A look at animals as outer space companions.
http://www.BadAirAndSpace.com/
[This message has been edited by jasoom (edited February 07, 2001).]
A Sea of Mystery, Frozen in Time
At the coldest spot on Earth, hidden miles beneath the Antarctic icecap, stands a freshwater lake as long as Lake Ontario and as deep as Lake Tahoe--its untouched waters a time capsule from more than a million years ago.
The pristine waters of Lake Vostok, as it is called, have been isolated by a continental shield of ice two miles thick for millions of years. The lake may harbor microbes unchanged from a time when Antarctica was as green as the rain forests of Brazil, offering scientists a unique test tube of life from a primordial era.
Indeed, the conditions in Lake Vostok appear so exotic that researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory believe it could offer a foretaste of how life might evolve in the frozen oceans of Jupiter's moons Europa and Ganymede or in the icecaps of Mars.
Earlier this year, National Science Foundation researchers mapped the hidden shoreline of Lake Vostok, as it is called, setting the stage for an international effort to search its depths for primordial life. Vostok -- the coldest spot on Earth -- is the site of a Russian research station.
The bore hole to reach the ancient lake to date has been drilled to within a few hundred feet of the lake.
Article by Robert Lee Hotz, Times Science Writer.
Complete article http://www.latimes.com/news/science/...000019216.html
Amazing! I read the entire article, and it's just amazing to reflect on the number of things left to be discovered on our planet. That and I simply must know how the author, knows what cornmeal on glass sounds like http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/tongue.gif
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The Red Witch
True Names by Vernor Vinge
[email protected]
After I read the article, I couldn't help thinking of John Carpenters re-make of 'The Thing'. Pretty similar scenario, except that if I'm remembering correctly, in the movie, it had been Norwegians, or maybe Swedes (?), that dug up the bio material that became the Thing. Now we have the Russians drilling to Lake Vostok.
What if a million or so years ago, an alien scout craft crashed in the jungles of the South Pole, & an inhabitant of the craft was thrown clear of the ship (Like in the Original movie 'The Thing'), & was preserved in stasis in the muddy sediment of the young lake? Then in a million years or so, a Russian drilling concern punctures the hidden lake & brings back up alien microbes that have since filled the lake.
Makes one think!
Well this is creepy. At the New Vines, the Hot Topic is Space Station Mir.
It's crashing into the ocean in the next few days and apparently is is being overrun by a mutant fungus. If this is a real concern, why are they allowing it to splashdown, why not blow it to kingdom come in space. How much damage could the fungus do, what kinda disease could it cause to come about. It's apparently putting off toxic fumes and corroding metal on the station.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/wor...00/1209034.stm
[This message has been edited by sindatur (edited March 19, 2001).]
Talk about strange, no sooner do I finish reading the Andromeda Strain, this whole Mir mutant virus thing comes up.
{Twilight Zone music slowly ramps up in the background behind Queeny}
LOL Sin. I'm just glad it wasn't Jurasic Park I just finished.
If she "Ate her Meat" then it's her!
LOL Q, it really IS you, isn't it? http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/wink.gif
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The Red Witch
True Names by Vernor Vinge
[email protected]
LOL. Did someone mention meat? Meat makes Queen GOP very hungry. Thank God Queen doesn't have to worry about foot and mouth desease.
I didn't know we had the option here of buying a condo! LOL. If you want a Zocalo casitas, prices start at $200,000.
*********************************************
WELCOME
Zocalo is Santa Fe's newest residential condominium community designed by the internationally acclaimed architect, Ricardo Legorreta, winner in the year 2000 of the American Institute of Architects highest award, its Gold Medal Award.
LOCATION
Set in the rolling Sangre de Cristo foothills of Santa Fe's north side, Zocalo is only minutes away from Santa Fe's historic Plaza, with its world-renown art galleries, shopping, museums, and restaurants.
YOUR OPPORTUNITY
Prices will start at $200,000 and range to the low $400,000's for 2 and 3 bedroom casitas. Square footage will range from approximately 1,002 for the smallest unit, to 2,265 for the largest. Special upgrade packages will be available.
http://www.zocalosantafe.com/
Absom, with my hard earned cyber credits, I may be able to swing an efficiency condo, maybe 12' by 14', that includes bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room, family room, game room, & one closet, lol. It would be the kind of place that all the functions are pulled out of the recesses of the walls, like Ripley's apartment in Aliens, only smaller, heh.
Let's go gang. I wonder if we can use our cyber credits from B5?
Well, if we had actually been on Babylon 5, we would have become used to those cramped quarters.
<center>NASA Unveils Futuristic Aircraft</center>
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?...912&p=46886808
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) - NASA (news - web sites) has unveiled a futuristic aircraft designed to accelerate through the atmosphere at speeds up to 7,200 mph, making it the world's fastest plane.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's first un-piloted X-43A will make its maiden flight in mid-May, flying under its own power for just 10 seconds and about 17 miles before crashing into the Pacific Ocean.
After the initial flight, two more of the 12-foot-long, surfboard-shaped planes will fly at six-month intervals. If successful, the planes will smash the speed record of Mach 6.7, set by an X-15 in October 1967.
Unlike the rocket-powered X-15, the X-43A has an air-breathing engine. It carries hydrogen for fuel, but must scoop oxygen out of the atmosphere to combust it. Conventional rockets carry both fuel and an oxidant.
Backers of the technology say air-breathing hypersonic propulsion could help space travel. Eliminating the need to carry oxygen could cut the weight of a space-faring version of such a plane in half.
The X-43A has a specialized supersonic-combustion ramjet, or ``scramjet,'' engine.
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[This message has been edited by jasoom (edited April 21, 2001).]
[This message has been edited by jasoom (edited April 21, 2001).]