[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFVDEM3UKbY&version=3&hl=en_US]
Author: MOTW Admin
BEWARE THE MIGHTY BEAVER
One unfortunate man in Belarus found out the hard way that beavers are not fans of the paparazzi. According to Sky News, the man was on a fishing trip to Lake Shestakov when he and his traveling companion spied the wild animal on the side of the road. In an attempt to seize a quick pic with the creature, the man approached and tried to pose with the beaver. The beaver had other plans, however, and promptly sank its fangs into the man’s thigh twice, severing his femoral artery, causing him to bleed to death in a matter of minutes.
“It was early morning and already light when they saw a beaver by the road, which was unusual because beavers are nocturnal,” Sergei Shtyk, the deputy head of the region’s wildlife inspectorate, told The Daily Telegraph.
“One of them went up to be photographed with it, and the animal attacked him and bit him twice, cutting an artery in his thigh, before running away.”
Beware the mighty beaver! They have work to do building dams and little time for photo ops.
A BUG-EYE VIEW
“The compound design of the fly’s eye incorporates perhaps 28,000 small eyes, or ommatidia,” explained team-member Dr Jianliang Xiao from the University of Colorado at Boulder, US. “That’s the direction we want to move in,” he told BBC News.
According to the report on BBC News, the digital “bug eye” camera is designed to reflect the structure of an insect’s corneal lens with a crystalline cone and light-sensitive organ at the base. Together these sections of the bug’s eye form a “picture” of the world pieced together from the various sensory inputs. In the robotic adaptation, microlenses are positioned above photodetectors. Proprietary software designed for the bug-eye camera is used to sync the information and piece together the signals to form a full image. The initial image is flat and then stretched over a hemispherical shape to give the impression of a 180-degree view.
“Picture the following: a palm-sized micro aerial vehicle uses an artificial faceted eye to navigate autonomously through a collapsed building while other sensors onboard scan the environment for smoke, radioactivity or even people trapped beneath rubble and debris,” the research team reported in the Nature journal article.
A little buzz-worthy news about technological advancements, I’d say!
A CHUNK OF GRANITE OR, ATLANTIS?
The search for the legendary lost city of Atlantis has been humanity’s quest since Plato first mentioned it in the philosophical musings of his work, “Antiquity.” The elegant, utopian society romanticized by poets and playwrights has propelled the underwater archaeological efforts of scientists and explorers for centuries. Generation after generation has clung to the hopes of discovering proof of its existence and, once again, another team of researchers has come forth with what they claim to be evidence of Atlantis.
Recently, a large mass of granite was discovered at the bottom of the sea near Rio de Janeiro by a manned Shinkai 6500 Japanese submersible. Granite only forms on the surface of the Earth. Thus, the formation would have been above water at some point in history, giving rise to the theory that there was once a continent in the area, which eventually broke apart and sank into the ocean. The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology and the Brazilian government have since confirmed that the granite mass has actually been submersed for nearly ten million years. There has been no evidence of manmade structures located on or near the formation.
Regardless, the discovery is an interesting archaeological find and gives a further insight into the Earth’s history. A large volume of quartz sand and basalt rock, both of which could not have been formed below sea-level, have been detected in the formation linking it to the Rio Grande Rise, which would have been the only plausible location from which the segment could have been attached.
Shinichi Kawakami, a professor at Gifu University, theorizes, “South America and Africa used to be a huge, unified continent. The area in question may have been left in water as the continent was separated in line with the movements of plates.”
The search for the lost city of Atlantis continues.
STONEHENGE A SETTLEMENT 3,000 YEARS BEFORE ITS CONSTRUCTION
In Amesbury, in Wiltshire, archaeologists have unearthed new evidence that points to a human settlement that existed on the site nearly 3,000 years before the construction of Stonehenge. One mile from the location of the stone ring, archaeological remains of a human occupation dating back to 7,500BC were recently excavated. The dig was supported by Dr Josh Pollard from Southampton University and led by Open University archaeologist David Jacques, along with his team of volunteers, utilizing a small budget of redundancy money.
The project has been a quest of David Jacques since his time as a student at Cambridge University. During that time he spied an, until then, unnoticed “blind spot” in aerial-view photographs of Stonehenge taken in 1906 that showed a site referred to as Vespasian’s Camp a mile away. The area, at the time, was thought to have been landscaped during the 18th century. Thus, a full archaeological investigation of the area had never been conducted.
“The whole landscape is full of prehistoric monuments and it is extraordinary in a way that this has been such a blind spot for so long archaeologically,” he said in an interview with the BBC. “But in 1999 a group of student friends and myself started to survey this area of Amesbury.”
Due to the location of the site near a natural spring, it was only logical to Jacques that this would have been the ideal location for a human settlement at the time. He began his investigation by first exploring areas where he thought animals would visit in search of food and fresh water, which his reasoning predicted would also be the same locations for human settlements to form. His assumptions proved correct. Since first beginning to pursue the dig artifacts from one of the earliest semi-permanent settlements in the Stonehenge area (7,500 to 4,700BC) have been unearthed. Carbon dating of these relics revealed people resided in the area every other millennium during the Mesolithic era.
Sometimes it is the smaller projects that uncover the greatest mysteries. David Jacque’s excavation project is certainly a great example of this. Leading archaeologists around the world are abuzz with the news and its historical implications.
In the same article on the BBC website, Professor Peter Rowley-Conwy, from Durham University, said: “The site has the potential to become one of the most important Mesolithic sites in north-western Europe.”
The investigation of the site continues as additional funding is sought for a more in-depth pursuit. According to Dr Pollard of the Stonehenge Riverside Project this should hopefully prove easier going forth since “being able to demonstrate that there were repeated visits to this area from the 9th to the 5th millennia BC” is a crucial aspect of humanity’s history that has yet to be explored and further unravels the enigma that is Stonehenge. A deeper look at the people who resided in the area before its construction will give the world insight into its construction and its true purpose throughout the ages.
METEOR EXPLOSION OVER ARGENTINA
It seems this year is to be the year of epic close encounters of the space debris kind. In February we watched in awe as a meteor exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, shattering windows for miles in all directions with its sonic boom. This month, on April 21, the night sky over eight provinces in Argentina was illuminated by the light of a giant fireball as another meteor entered the Earth’s atmosphere and exploded. The flash of light was only seconds in length, but was bright enough to be seen across the country with residents in Santiago del Estero stating that they could feel the ground rumble beneath their feet in its wake.
An Argentinean meteor expert told Red Orbit that the meteor in question was entering the Earth’s upper atmosphere at approximately 80,000 mph. Jorge Coghlan, director of the Santa Fe Astronomical Observatory in Argentina, added in a radio interview with a local Argentina station that the piece of space dust measured between nine and eighteen inches in diameter and exploded about forty miles over the Earth. Coghlan is urging people to be skeptical, however, of many of the videos posted on YouTube, with the exception of surveillance videos and images captured by the concert attendees directly under the explosion.
In the video below the band Los Tekis was performing in Salta, Argentina at the Zamba Festival when the explosion occurred. Matías Díaz, who filmed the event, stated on the band’s website, “People demanded an encore of the Tekis, then they returned to the stage and was at that moment when the sound was cut and decorated the right side was a large green light falling from the sky. People at first did not know it was, thought someone had thrown a vengala but then began to speak of a meteorite.”
While the meteor that exploded over Chelyabinsk in February was nearly thirty times larger than the one over Argentina, and exploded only eighteen miles over the surface of Earth, it is still a “close call” and makes one wonder just how many more of these events we can expect in the coming months. The Argentinean meteor is speculated to be part of the annual April Lyrids meteor showers, which occur from April 16-26 each year with the peak being April 22. These meteors are the “dust” shed by the tail of the comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher and have been observed and documented by astronomers for over 2,500 years.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjgRzLZSQ5g&version=3&hl=en_US]
GREEK UFO CLOUD
One of the many speculations put forth by ufologists is the idea that UFOs can create their own “clouds” in order to sneak into an unsuspecting city or town undetected. An impressive example of one such “UFO cloud” was spotted hovering over the scenic city of Livadeia, Greece. UFO Sightings Daily posted images and a YouTube video of this cloud documented by a resident of Livadeia and they are quite unique and impressive. But are they truly evidence of an alien visitation? Our own atmosphere has the capability to produce some of the most haunting and extraordinary meteorological phenomenon, but that does not mean that they are otherworldly. Check out the images and video below and let us know what you think in the comments below!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYscYBS5wDM&version=3&hl=en_US]
OF DEMONS AND DREAMS
The correlation between demons and dreams is a complex and highly debated discussion amongst the metaphysical and psychological worlds. Certain camps of thought stalwartly believe in the physical manifestation of these entities existing independently of humanity, without a true spiritual connection to any particular religion, though they are inextricably linked to us through their need to feed from our energies. Other schools of research remain true to the religious concept of demons as “spawn of the Devil” and punishment for our “sins,” while those rooted in pure science and logic claim that they are products of our own chemical imbalances and psychological scars inflicted over time by our fellow humans and ourselves.
The link between visions of demons and other malevolent entities during a sleep disorder known as “sleep paralysis” is explored in a new short film and multi-platform art project, entitled simply “The Sleep Paralysis Project”, by Carla MacKinnon. Based on her own personal experiences struggling with the disorder, the project aims to explore the eerie psychological phenomena in which one’s mind becomes conscious while their body remains in a state of deep relaxation. However, this form of consciousness is not akin to being “awake” for the mind is still in the grips of whatever dream it is processing, thus creating the sensation of a “waking dream” or illusion. This disorder affects between five and sixty percent of the population, according to surveyors.
The strangest part about the documented cases of sleep paralysis is perhaps the consistency of the form of the waking dreams. If they are a part of one’s dream, the hallucinations should be as varied as the individual, taking on a multitude of different scenarios and creatures. However, it appears that the most common hallucinations involve entities with “demonic” appearances, crones, or unseen “malevolent presences” somewhere within the room where the person is sleeping. These creatures are often the perpetrators of an attack in which the victim believes they are being suffocated and in some cases this suffocation takes the form of a supernatural rape by an incubus, succubus, or other supernatural creature. The concept of demonic entities stretches back as far as humanity itself with myths and legends as varied as the peoples who gave birth to them.
This could largely be due to the battle between their engaged/conscious mind and the terrifying sensation of being trapped in their own body, paired with a variety of repressed psychological and emotional issues buried within the subconscious. The link between sleep paralysis and these haunting, iconic symbols begs the question of whether or not this may be a sign of our vaster interconnected “human consciousness” as a sentient species existing in one plane of reality, or perhaps merely a shared understanding of mythology and our own capacity for evil as it represents? Or is it something more sinister that pierces the veil between this world and another during sleep?
MacKinnon’s research to discover the origins of her own waking nightmares has allowed her to explore the gamut of these disturbing tales, as well as interview fellow sufferers for their own intimate accounts. Her artistic short film and corresponding art project are set to debut in May at the Royal College of Arts in London. According to the official website: “The film uses stop motion animation, live action film and projection mapping techniques to evoke and explore the worlds experienced between sleeping and waking. The film is Carla MacKinnon’s graduation piece for the Royal College of Art’s Animation Masters course, created in collaboration with arts and technology studio seeper with music by Dominic de Grande.”
For additional information visit http://www.thesleepparalysisproject.org/ or the project’s blog at http://sleepparalysisproject.wordpress.com/.
ONE-WAY TRIP TO MARS
Sick and tired of your home planet? Looking for a permanent vacation, perhaps of the off-world variety? You’re in luck! Say bon voyage to humanity and set sail with Mars One, a Dutch organization that is seeking volunteers for a one-way trip to Mars for colonization purposes.
Yes, I said “one-way trip” with no promise of returning to the big blue planet. One might think that this would be a bit discouraging to potential stellar jet-setters, but no! According to an article on the BBC News, Mars One has already received thousands of applications. Unlike organizations like NASA, which will only fund a mission if the astronauts have a safe and reliable way to return home, Mars One is ready to cannon a spacecraft of willing individuals towards the Red Planet to found its very first human settlement. The problem with this venture is just how the colony would survive once they got there amidst such harsh conditions such as a lack of natural resources and the intense cosmic radiation called solar wind.
Minor details, minor details.
Mars One will be broadcasting all aspects of their project via a reality TV format with hopes of encouraging fellow independent companies to become investors. The timeline for this epic adventure is a mere ten years from now with the mission launching into space in 2023. As far as what lofty qualifications an applicant must possess, the standards seem a bit generic with the basics being “resilient, adaptable, resourceful and must work well within a team.” This sounds more like a job posting for a sales associate position rather than an off-world colonist. But what do I know? I’m just a writer…
According to Mars One’s co-founder Bas Lansdorp, one of the main reasons a return to Earth would be next to impossible for the explorers is due to the fact that the seven to eight month journey, combined with Mars’ weaker gravitational field, would severely alter their bone density and muscle mass. A reentry into Earth’s atmosphere would most likely kill the astronauts. Billions of years ago, when Mars once had a strong magnetic field to protect it, the story may have been different. Ah, but humanity was yet to be even a twinkle in the eye of primordial sludge.
All of these obstacles aside, Mars One is ready to accept your application today! And, don’t worry about being lonely up there on the Red Planet with just a rover and your madcap companions to keep you company. Mars One plans on sending new supplies and additional colonists every two years. Until the launch of this mission, keep an eye out on Dutch reality TV for developments.
Maybe we could even send the Kardashians?
Interested in tossing your astronaut’s helmet into the proverbial ring? Visit http://applicants.mars-one.com/.
DECOMPOSING BIGFOOT FOOT DISCOVERED
Two boys in Massachusetts have stumbled upon what could possibly be a defining piece of evidence in the great hunt for Bigfoot. On March 29th the partially decomposed foot of large, unidentified mammal was discovered just off Pantheon Road in Lakeville. Local authorities were called to the scene to investigate after a report was filed by the boys. There they confirmed the report but were unable to come to a definitive conclusion regarding the nature of the limb. Seeking an expert opinion, Lakeville Police Chief Frank Alvilhiera sent the foot to the local medical examiner who determined the foot to be “non-human.” One possibility presented by Henry Paterson at GhostTheory.com is that the foot is actually a bear’s paw. The final verdict on the sasquatch paw is currently still pending.
