Year: 2011

Posted by Santellana ( of “Tarot by Santellana”, one of the Sideshow Performers at the Museum of The Weird )
I’m sure die hard Avatar fans are just going wild.

When I want to glow in the dark I put on my Museum of the Weird t-shirt I bought from Lucky Lizard Curios & Gifts.

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Swimming is supposed to give you a healthy glow, but these swimmers weren’t quite sure what was going on when they took a late-night dip and turned a fluorescent shade of blue.

‘It was like we were playing with radioactive paint,’ said photographer Phil Hart who snapped the bizarre sight as his friends emerged from a lake in the dark of night.

The light is created by a chemical reaction called bioluminescence, which happens when a naturally-occuring micro-organism in the water is disturbed.

Phil, 34, put his camera on a very slow shutter speed and threw sand and stones into the water to cause the reaction and capture as much of the blue haze as possible.

These images are particularly stunning because the concentration of the micro-organism ‘Noctiluca Scintillans’ was abnormally high when he took the photos at Gippsland Lakes in Victoria, Australia.

Phil said: ‘To be there watching this bioluminescence is spellbinding and to see it like this is very rare.

‘I am a program director with an organisation that has been running canoeing camps on the Gippsland Lakes for 50 years. Nobody can remember the bioluminescence ever being as bright as this.

It is believed the combination of bushfires and floods created the high levels of nutrients in the lakes for the organisms to feed. ‘It may not happen again in my lifetime,’ said Phil. ‘I feel fortunate to have been there to see it and to have had my camera gear there to record it.’

Phil, from Melbourne, added: ‘While the luminescence was obvious to the eye, the bright blue colour is only apparent in photos. ‘When the first photo I took appeared on screen I could hardly believe it – the people in the water looked freakish.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1350686/Glowing-dark-Eerie-phenomenon-turned-swimmers-brighter-shade-blue.html

10:00 PM CST, TONIGHT: For years, shamans and healers have used energies to influence people who have disease and other afflictions. Elizabeth Pellegrin is a Reiki practitioner who will share her insights about these techniques and what they might mean to us.

As always, the lines will be open and we encourage you to call in with your questions. The call in number for tonight’s show is (347) 826-9662 or call toll-free at (877) 867-0829.

Listen right here with our blogtalkradio widget below. You can listen to past broadcasts at any time, or tune in tonight (Wednesday, January 19th) at 10pm Central for the live broadcast. See you in the shadows…

Posted by Steve Busti
Although this latest claim would help solve Fermi’s paradox (which states that if there is such a high likelihood of intelligent life in the universe, where are all the aliens and why haven’t we been contacted yet), I just can’t believe that in all the infinite reaches of the universe we are utterly alone.

But what do you think? Are we really the only intelligent life forms in the universe? Read this story from Britain’s Daily Mail website and you decide.

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Still waiting for little green men to make contact? Don’t hold your breath.

A leading astronomer has concluded there probably aren’t any aliens out there – meaning we are entirely alone in the universe.

Even though there may be tens of thousands of other distant planets similar in size to Earth, the conditions on them are likely to be too hostile to support life-forms such as ET.

Dr Howard Smith, a senior astrophysicist at Harvard University, believes there is very little hope of discovering aliens and, even if we did, it would be almost impossible to make contact.

So far astronomers have discovered a total of 500 planets in distant solar systems – known as extrasolar systems – although they believe billions of others exist.

But Dr Smith points out that many of these planets are either too close to their sun or too far away, meaning their surface temperatures are so extreme they could not support life.

Others have unusual orbits which cause vast temperature variations making it impossible for water to exist as a liquid – an essential element for life.

Dr Smith said: ‘We have found that most other planets and solar systems are wildly different from our own.

‘They are very hostile to life as we know it.’

‘The new information we are getting suggests we could effectively be alone in the universe.

‘There are very few solar systems or planets like ours. It means it is highly unlikely there are any planets with intelligent life close enough for us to make contact.’ But his controversial suggestions contradict other leading scientists – who have claimed aliens almost certainly exist.

Read the entire article at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1349786/Despite-discovering-planets-chance-finding-aliens-unlikely.html#ixzz1BynSkKwU

Posted by Steve Busti
I’m sure doomsday theorists will have a field day with this one (skimming over the part that it may not happen yet for another million years, of course).

Will it be a scene reminiscent of Luke Skywalker’s home planet Tatooine (as seen in the photo)? Only time will tell.

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The Earth could soon have a second sun, at least for a week or two.
The cosmic phenomenon will happen when one of the brightest stars in the night sky explodes into a supernova.
And, according to a report yesterday, the most stunning light show in the planet’s history could happen as soon as this year.
Earth will undoubtedly have a front row seat when the dying red supergiant star Betelgeuse finally blows itself into oblivion.
The explosion will be so bright that even though the star in the Orion constellation is 640 light-years away, it will still turn night into day and appear like there are two suns in the sky for a few weeks.
The only real debate is over exactly when it will happen.
In stellar terms, Betelgeuse is predicted to crash and burn in the very near future. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to rush out and buy sunglasses.
Brad Carter, Senior Lecturer of Physics at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia, claimed yesterday that the galactic blast could happen before 2012 – or any time over the next million years.
‘This old star is running out of fuel in its centre,’ Dr Carter told the Australian website news.com.au.
‘This fuel keeps Betelgeuse shining and supported. When this fuel runs out the star will literally collapse in upon itself and it will do so very quickly.
‘This is the final hurrah for the star. It goes bang, it explodes, it lights up – we’ll have incredible brightness for a brief period of time for a couple of weeks and then over the coming months it begins to fade and then eventually it will be very hard to see at all,’ he added.
The Internet is abuzz with doomsday theories linking the supernova to the Mayan calendar’s prediction of an Armageddon in 2012, fueled by the association of the word ‘Betelgeuse’ with the devil.
But experts claimed that even if the big bang is looming, it will still happen way too far from Earth to do us any harm.
‘When a star goes bang, the first we will observe of it is a rain of tiny particles called nuetrinos,’ said Dr Carter.
‘They will flood through the Earth and bizarrely enough, even though the supernova we see visually will light up the night sky, 99% of the energy in the supernova is released in these particles that will come through our bodies and through the Earth with absolutely no harm whatsoever.’
When it happens, the Betelgeuse supernova will almost certainly be the most dramatic ever seen.
It is the ninth brightest star in the night sky and the second brightest in the constellation of Orion, outshining its neighbour Rigel – or Beta Orionis – only very rarely.
It’s distinct orange-red color makes it easy to spot in the night sky.
If it was at the centre of our solar system, its surface would extend past the asteroid belt, wholly engulfing Mercury, Venus, Mars and the Earth.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1349383/Betelgeuse-second-sun-Earth-supernova-turns-night-day.html

Posted by Santellana ( of “Tarot by Santellana”, one of the Sideshow Performers at the Museum of The Weird )
Two from BoingBoing. One is about an upcoming movie about Edgar Allen Poe starring John Cusack, and the other is a post about the mysterious visitor with a secret signal NOT showing up to visit Poe’s grave on his birthday.
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“As noted earlier here on Boing Boing, guestblogger and pal John Cusack is starring as Edgar Allan Poe in the James McTeigue-directed film The Raven, due out in Fall, 2011. Here’s a photo gallery of on-set snapshots just shared with us by Cusack, who looks impossibly bad-ass as Poe in these shots. I am so psyched to see this film. Happy birthday, Edgar Allan Poe.”

( Note from Santellana – The photo that BoingBoing blogged about was removed shortly after they posted. Something about a movie studio not wanting to actually publicize their film. )

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In 1993, the visitor began leaving notes, starting with one that read: "The torch will be passed." A note in 1998 indicated the originator of the tradition had died and passed it on to his two sons.

The sons didn’t seem to take the duty as seriously as the father. One left a note in 2001 referencing the Super Bowl and another in 2004 implying criticism of France over its objections to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, upsetting many of the traditionalists. When the Poe toaster didn’t show last year, Mr. Jerome theorized that the 200th anniversary of Poe’s birth in 2009 might have been considered the appropriate stopping point.

Or, it was thought at the time, perhaps the toaster just had a flat tire on the way to the cemetery.

But that’s the sort of happenstance unlikely to happen two years in a row. Mr. Jerome says he’ll return one more year. If the visitor fails to show in 2012, he’ll considered the tradition over and done.

"It’s sort of like a marriage that ends," Mr. Jerome said. "Part of you still wants the warmth that was part of it, and you go looking for the same woman. No, it’s over with. And if it’s over with, it’s over with. If people want to continue the tradition, it’s going to be without me."

Sources:
http://www.boingboing.net/2011/01/19/john-cusack-as-edgar-1.htmllivepage.apple.com

http://www.boingboing.net/2011/01/19/poe-grave-visitor-a.html

Posted by Santellana ( of “Tarot by Santellana”, one of the Sideshow Performers at the Museum of The Weird )
Just when you thought that MAN-BITES-DOG story could not be topped- here we have a men-snort-dog story

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It sounds like a scene from an inane comedy movie – three gormless burglars break into a house and snort what they believe to be drugs that turn out to be a dead man’s ashes.

However, it actually happened in the Florida town of Silver Springs Shores on December 15, according to a police report.

And the vacant stares in these police mugshots won’t do much to help the case of the accused.

Waldo Soroa, 19, Matrix Andaluz, 18, and Jose David Diaz Marrero, 19, have all been arrested on charges of burglary and grand theft.

They, along with two juveniles who cannot be named, allegedly stole the cremated remains of a man and two dogs, which they hoped might be cocaine, from a woman’s home.

As well as an urn containing the ashes of her father and another container with the ashes of her two Great Danes, they also took electronic equipment and jewelry, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said on Wednesday.

Investigators learned what happened to the ashes after they arrested five teens in connection with another burglary attempt at a nearby home last week. ‘The suspects mistook the ashes for either cocaine or heroin. It was soon discovered that the suspects snorted some of the ashes believing they were snorting cocaine,’ the sheriff’s report said.

Once they realized their error, the suspects discussed returning the remaining ashes but threw them in a lake instead because they thought their fingerprints were on the containers, sheriff’s spokesman Judge Cochran said.

Police divers were trying to recover the ashes. The suspects were jailed on numerous burglary and other charges.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1348820/Burglars-snort-ashes-man-2-dogs-mistaking-cocaine.html#ixzz1BcWvjKi0

10:00 PM CST, TONIGHT: Welcome once again, as we bring you another mind-expanding episode of “The Shadow Hour,” with your host, Chris Walden.

Exactly two months after this broadcast some of the most interesting people in the world of the paranormal will be gathering in Beaumont, Texas for the Texas Ghost Show. We’ll be talking to the show founder, Don Dennis, about what is happening this year.

As always, the lines will be open and we encourage you to call in with your questions. The call in number for tonight’s show is (347) 826-9662 or call toll-free at (877) 867-0829.

Listen right here with our blogtalkradio widget below. You can listen to past broadcasts at any time, or tune in tonight (Wednesday, January 19th) at 10pm Central for the live broadcast. See you in the shadows…

Posted by Santellana ( of “Tarot by Santellana”, one of the Sideshow Performers at the Museum of The Weird )
Man’s best,…meal?! Wow, this actually is a MAN-BITES-DOG story!
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Man’s best friend has long provided protection and companionship. But researchers now believe that 10,000 years ago, dogs were not only our loyal friends, but sometimes also our meals.
While this may not come as a shock to people in Korea where dog is still eaten to this day, the scientists found a bone fragment from what they are calling the earliest confirmed domesticated canine in the Americas.
From this, they have concluded that the animals were bred to be eaten as well as serving as hunting dogs and even pets. However, it remains unknown whether the dogs were eaten out of necessity.
Samuel Belknap III, a University of Maine graduate student, came across the fragment while analysing a dried-out sample of human waste unearthed in south-west Texas in the 1970s.
A carbon-dating test put the age of the bone at 9,400 years, and a DNA analysis confirmed it came from a dog – not a wolf, coyote or fox, Mr Belknap said. The fragment was found deep inside a pile of human excrement and was the characteristic orange-brown colour that bone turns when it has passed through the digestive tract.
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1348546/Bone-fragment-confirms-dogs-bred-food-9-400-years-ago.html#ixzz1BVmUrbRu

Posted by Santellana ( of “Tarot by Santellana”, one of the Sideshow Performers at the Museum of The Weird )
Really, cows… was Wisconsin THAT bad? MOOOOOve along people, nothing to see here,…unless they manage to come back to life after three hours like Arun Bhasin?

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200 cows were found dead Friday on a farm in Portage County, Wisconsin. The dead cows had to be removed with semi-trucks. The rest of the farm has not been quarantined, as officials say no threat is posed toward humans or other animals, according the The AP.

The owner of the dead cows was working with a local veterinarian, who initially believed a virus such as infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) or bovine virus diarrhea (BVD) could be the culprit, according to The Wausau Daily Herald. WSAW News reports that more recent updates have suggested pneumonia as the cause of the mass cow deaths, though such widespread cases of pneumonia are rare. Tests are still underway to determine what is responsible. See WSAW’s full video report here.

Though likely unrelated, many other incidents of mass animal deaths have been reported in the U.S. and around the world in the past month. Thousands of dead birds fell from the sky in Arkansas on New Year’s Eve, following a massive fish kill just 100 miles away days earlier. In the week following, other mass bird deaths were reported in nearby Louisiana and Kentucky. Birds were also reported to fall dead from the sky in Italy and Sweden, and more recently similar incidents have been reported in California and Alabama.

Mass fish kills have also been reported in Chicago, Maryland, Brazil and New Zealand, along with 40,000 dead crabs that washed ashore on England beaches. Many explanations have been offered for the various mass animal deaths, with everything from fireworks, semi-truck collisions, overeating and cold weather blamed for the birds’ deaths. Cold weather has also been pinned to likely be the cause of many of the fish and crab deaths, as well. According to The AP, mass animal deaths are not all that uncommon.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/18/200-dead-cows-wisconsin_n_810248.html

Posted by Santellana ( of “Tarot by Santellana”, one of the Sideshow Performers at the Museum of The Weird )
Man defeats Death! For his next trick maybe he can defeat Taxes?
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A man whose heart had stopped was brought back from the dead after three and a half hours thanks to a machine that performed 20,000 life-saving compressions.

Arun Bhasin, 53, was found lying unconscious in Croydon in December temperatures of -10C. He was rushed to Croydon University Hospital but suffered a cardiac arrest.

Luckily for him he was under the care of two leading resuscitation doctors, who hooked him up to a revolutionary cardiac support machine.

The Zoll AutoPulse pump, which is battery operated, performed 100 compressions per minute. It maintained Mr Bhasin’s heartbeat for more than three hours while he was stabilised by medics and needed four full batteries to keep going.

He is now back at his home in East London and well on the road to recovery.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1347074/Patient-heartbeat-brought-life-machine-3-hours.html#ixzz1BVkDcOSU