Science Special News

[Rasputin]

Stephen Hawking advertises for helper

Acclaimed British physicist Stephen Hawking is looking for an assistant and an advertisement in the Cambridge University magazine states that he wants a graduate student to help him prepare lectures and assist with scientific papers. The winning candidate would be paid a salary of up to 23,457 pounds (34,574 euros, 44,331 dollars) and be based in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. "If you were accepted for the post you would be responsible for maintaining and improving this computer system as well as other pieces of support equipment," the advert said. "You would help him to prepare and deliver seminars and public lectures and assist with scientific papers. You would also accompany Professor Hawking on his many travels and assist other members of the group. "Flexibility, stamina and a confident and caring personality, together with a valid driving licence, are essential for this demanding job." Hawking, 64, was diagnosed with the muscle-wasting condition motor neurone disease at the age of 22.

He is in a wheelchair and speaks with the aid of a computer and voice synthesiser. The academic, who is the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge -- a post once held by Sir Isaac Newton -- became world-renowned with the publication of the international best-seller "A Brief History of Time" in 1988. His research has centred on theoretical cosmology and quantum gravity, looking at the nature of such subjects as space-time, the "Big Bang" theory and black holes.

[Rasputin]

'Snake god curse' creates mass hysteria

While psychologists explained it as mass hysteria triggered by fear and tension, an alarmed Nepal town began ritual worships to propitiate a dead snake whose curse was said to be causing dozens of school students to faint, weep and scream. The Laxmi Secondary School in Lekhnath town in Kaski district, west of the capital city Kathmandu, presented a strange sight for two days in a row. Students, mostly girls aged 14 to 17, began falling down in a dead faint, weeping loudly, kicking and screaming and making signs of extreme fear and distress.The first fits began Tuesday, when nearly two dozen students displayed the symptoms. The alarmed school authorities and parents were nonplussed by the phenomenon and at a loss as to what to do.Nearly two dozen more students, including some boys as well, displayed the same bizarre behaviour Wednesday as well, causing frantic parents to take their wards to the district hospital.The principal of the school, Sribhadra Baral, decided to suspend classes for the rest of the week.

Shamans have been called to exorcise the slain snake's spirit before the school reopens Sunday.Some teachers and local residents told visiting journalists, including private television channel Kantipur, that the disturbance had been caused by the curse of a snake god.Last month, the school authorities killed a snake found on the premises. According to local superstition, the snake was a deity that has been haunting the school to avenge its slaughter. Some of the afflicted students said they had fainted after seeing a huge snake that was poised to bite them.

[Rasputin]

Discovering Noah's Ark.. again and again

In this world there are things that seem on the verge of being discovered every so often, yet never quite materialize. The "Lost City" of Atlantis, for example, has been "found" at least a half dozen times. One researcher is pretty sure it is in Bolivia; another says it is Antarctica; a third claims that Bimini beachrock may be from the lost civilization. So it is with Noah's Ark. The difference is, of course, that the implications of Noah's Ark actually being found extend far beyond archaeology. The weight of all the paired animals in the world is nothing compared to the religious freight that the Ark carries. The Ark story is scientifically implausible; there simply wouldn't be enough space on the boat to accommodate two of every living animal (including dinosaurs), along with the food and water necessary to keep them alive. Furthermore, constructing a vessel of that scale would take hundreds of workers months to complete. Still, Biblical literalists—those who believe that proof of the Bible's events remains to be found—have spent lives and fortunes trying to validate their beliefs. Before discussing the recent claims regarding the whereabouts of Noah's vessel, a history of Ark "finds" is instructive.

Violet M. Cummings is the author of several books on Noah's Ark, among them "Noah's Ark: Fable or Fact?" (1975), in which she claimed that Noah's Ark was found on Turkey's Mount Ararat. According to the 1976 book and film "In Search of Noah's Ark," "there is now actual photographic evidence that Noah's Ark really does exist.... Scientists have used satellites, computers, and powerful cameras to pinpoint the Ark's exact location on Mt. Ararat." This is a rather remarkable claim, for despite repeated trips to Mt. Ararat over the past thirty years, the Ark remains elusive. Undeterred by a lack of evidence, in 1982 Cummings issued a book titled, "Has Anybody Really Seen Noah's Ark?," published by Creation-Life Publishers. The subtitle, "An Affirmative Definitive Report," hints at Cummings's conclusion.

[Rasputin]

Early British colonists wiped out by ice ages

Humans have tried to colonise Britain on at least eight separate occasions in the past 700,000 years, palaeontologists said yesterday. On each occasion but the last populations were wiped out when an ice age arrived. "British people today are new arrivals, we're products of only the last 12,000 years," said Chris Stringer, head of human origins at the Natural History Museum. The findings, which mean that modern native Britons are descended from a continuous line younger than their counterparts in the Americas and Australia, are part of the five-year Ancient Human Occupation of Britain (Ahob) project, which concluded this month. Evidence from burial sites shows that modern humans, homo sapiens, arrived in Britain around 30,000 years ago. But Professor Stringer's project showed that other species of humans made the journey from Africa via Europe some time earlier. A recent fossil discovery in Pakefield, Suffolk, was identified as a species called homo antecessor, nicknamed pioneer man, and was dated at 700,000 years old. It pushed back the first evidence of humans by some 200,000 years. Pioneer man was known to have lived in southern Europe 800,000 years ago and probably made the journey to Britain via a connecting land bridge. "It looks like there were eight separate colonisation attempts we can record and seven of those were unsuccessful," said Prof Stringer, speaking yesterday at the British Association Festival of Science in Norwich. "Britain was re-populated over and over again. This is a very young continuous occupation we're seeing here." Each unsuccessful population died out or was forced to retreat due to an adverse change in climate.

"Britain has suffered some of the most severe climate changes of any area of the world during the ice ages," said Prof Stringer. "At this time Britain was on the edge of the inhabited world, at the edge of human occupation and human capabilities." When the first humans arrived Britain was warm, resembling modern north Africa. The human inhabitants would have shared the country with hippos, elephants, rhinos and hyenas. But ice covered the country at several stages, making the environment similar to that of Scandinavia. As an ice age approached temperatures dropped too low for the unadapted people to survive. The Ahob project also shed fresh light on Neanderthal man. Danielle Schreve, of Royal Holloway, University of London, found evidence these humans may not have been scavengers with low intelligence, as often described. By examining animal bones and teeth - including those of 11 woolly mammoths -and 2,500 stone tools used to kill and butcher them at a site in Lynford, Norfolk, Dr Schreve concluded that Neanderthals adapted to climate change, made plans and worked in groups to hunt animals.

[Rasputin]

"Fairy circle" intreagues residents

Fairies have been dancing in the garden of a Staverton couple, according to ancient English folklore. A large fairy circle has appeared in the lawn of Tom and Sue Gaylard's home in School Lane. Mrs Gaylard, 85, said: "It amazed me. I had never heard of it or seen anything like it before and I couldn't believe it."The perfect ring of mushrooms, know as a fairy or pixie circle, first appeared about three years ago and has re-appeared annually, each time getting bigger.Mr Gaylard, an 85-year-old retired railway worker, has lived in Staverton with his wife for more than 20 years. He said: "We don't believe in fairies of course but it is known as that. We didn't really pay much attention to it but then our daughter-in-law saw it and ran out to make a wish in it."In times gone past the rings, some of which are hundreds of years old, defied explanation spawning a host of legends in countries around the world to explain their presence.

In English folklore the rings were said to be caused by fairies dancing in a circle, wearing down the grass beneath their feet. Toads would then sit on the worn down areas, poisoning it and allowing the fungus to grow - hence the name toadstool.In Sussex, fairy rings were called hag tracks', while in Devon it was believed that fairies would catch young horses in the night and ride them round in circles.In Denmark elves have been traditionally blamed for the rings while in parts of Austria they were thought to be the result of land being scorched by the breath of dragons.The rings are in fact naturally occurring circles of fungi that can grow up to 10 metres in diameter. They are caused by fungi under the ground casting out spores in a circular pattern resulting in the distinctive ring.In some cases the fungi remain underground and the ring is marked by discoloured patches of grass.

[Rasputin]

Earth like planets may be common

Earthlike planets covered with deep oceans that could harbor life may be found in as many as a third of solar systems discovered outside of our own, U.S. researchers said on Thursday. These solar systems feature gas giants known as "Hot Jupiters," which orbit extremely close to their parent stars -- even closer than Mercury to our sun, University of Colorado researcher Sean Raymond said.The close-orbiting gassy planets may help encourage the formations of smaller, rocky, Earthlike planets, they reported in the journal Science."We now think there is a new class of ocean-covered, and possibly habitable, planets in solar systems unlike our own," Raymond said in a statement.The team from Colorado, Penn State University and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Maryland ran computer simulations of various types of solar systems forming.The gas giants may help rocky planets form close to the suns, and may help pull in icy bodies that deliver water to the young planets, they found.

"These gas giants cause quite a ruckus," Raymond said.Water is key to life as humans define it."I think there are definitely habitable planets out there," Raymond said. "But any life on these planets could be very different from ours. There are a lot of evolutionary steps in between the formation of such planets in other systems and the presence of life forms looking back at us."As many as 40 percent of the 200 or so known planets around other stars are Hot Jupiters, the researchers said.

[Rasputin]

Ancient pyramid discovered in Ukraine

Archaeologists in Ukraine have unearthed the remains of an ancient pyramidal structure that pre-dates those in Egypt by at least 300 years. The stone foundations of the structure, which probably resembled Aztec and Mayan ziggurats in South America, were discovered near the eastern city of Lugansk. It is thought they were laid about five millennia ago during the early Bronze Age by animists who worshipped a sun god. The "pyramid" is in fact a complex of temples and sacrificial altars topping a sculpted hillside with steps on its sides.Viktor Klochko, head of the excavation, said the discovery was of international significance. "This is the first monument of its age and kind found in eastern Europe," he told the Guardian. "It changes our whole conception of the social structure and the level of development of the cattle breeders and farmers who were the direct ancestors of most European peoples."

There are about 100 pyramids in Egypt, and the remains of Mesopotamian pyramids are preserved in Iraq and Iran. Ziggurats are also found in Mexico, and the Nubians built pyramids as burial sites for monarchs in the Nile valley. But pyramid structures are rare in Europe. One of the few is a Roman-era pyramid near Nice, France, that may have been built by legionnaires involved in an Egyptian cult. Although graves have been found at the Lugansk site, archaeologists think it was used for sacrifice by burning, rather than as a burial ground. "People lived in the surrounding valleys and climbed up it to carry out their ceremonies," said Mr Klochko. "They had a pagan cult that bowed down to the sun, as did the ancestors of the Slavs."

[Rasputin]

Telepathy, afterlife theories cause uproar

Scientists claiming to have evidence of life after death and the powers of telepathy triggered a furious row at Britain’s premier science festival yesterday. Organisers of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (the BA) were accused of lending credibility to maverick theories on the paranormal by allowing the highly controversial research to be aired unchallenged. Leading members of the science establishment criticised the BA’s decision to showcase papers purporting to demonstrate telepathy and the survival of human consciousness after someone dies. They said that such ideas, which are widely rejected by experts, had no place in the festival without challenge from sceptics. The disputed session featured research from Rupert Sheldrake, an independent biologist who is funded by Trinity College, Cambridge, that claims to have found evidence that some people know telepathically who is calling them before they answer the telephone.

Other presentations came from Peter Fenwick, a doctor who thinks deathbed visions suggest that consciousness survives when people die, and from Deborah Delanoy of the University of Hertfordshire, whose work suggests that people can affect the bodies of others by thinking about them. Critics including Lord Winston and Sir Walter Bodmer, both former presidents of the BA, expressed particular alarm that the three speakers were allowed to hold a promotional press conference. Some said telepathy has already been found wanting in experiments, and had no place at a scientific meeting.

[Rasputin]

Space shuttle Atlantis blasts into orbit

Space shuttle Atlantis thundered into orbit Saturday with no obvious damage from debris to worry NASA or the six-member crew as they prepared to resume construction of the international space station for the first time since the 2003 Columbia disaster. After two weeks of delays due to storms and technical glitches, Atlantis rose from its seaside pad through a partly cloudy sky at 11:15 a.m. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin declared the launch "majestic." "It was worth the wait and we're ready to get to work," said Atlantis commander Brent Jett. Jett and his crew now face one of the most challenging construction tasks in space history. But they also have trained for the mission, initially scheduled for 2003, longer than any crew in the past. As they headed into space Saturday, more than 100 cameras zoomed in for any signs of foam breaking off its external fuel tank, the problem that doomed Columbia.

Early reviews of the video found no glaring damage. NASA's cameras spotted three possible hits two small foam streams and one ice chunk but they came so late that the debris wasn't moving fast enough to do much damage, shuttle program manager Wayne Hale said. "We are looking at nits nothing of any remote consequence," Hale said. "Not only am I not alarmed, I'm really at ease after looking through this video." The first and most noticeable hit was just four minutes after launch when a dribble of small foam particles hit Atlantis' right belly, but it didn't appear to cause any damage, Hale said.

[Rasputin]

The large country house

While admitting to being in the autumn of my life, and not in the best of health,I am still asked about my 40 years work as a freelance exorcist. My much copied book which tells of the many years in spirit deliverance,“An exorcists chronicles” was rejected by the publisher as they felt the market was saturated with spirit books at that time, so over the years I have put several of the tales on the net to considerable acclaim, but one of the most amazing of spirit rescues was that of young David George Bennet.Perhaps I should start at the beginning.My son was moving house recently and asked me to house some of his pot plants.These he brought over and taking the newspaper from the base of a flower pot was surprised to see in the counties obituaries page, a lady who had died aged 72, whom I had met in very strange circumstances some years ago.

I was asked initially to go and see a large country house which was on the verge of being sold when the couple who were to buy felt it was somewhat creepy and threatened to back out of the purchase.I duly arrived at the door and was invited to look it over by a statuesque woman in her mid forties with the palest smooth skin and exquisitely chiselled features and dark eyes, I always think that women are at their height of beauty in the forties and this woman was the epitome of elegance, the husband was something big in law in the city, a gruff impatient man, who was very matter of fact and a workaholic, He had married late in life and wanted a trophy bride for his big Georgian house, certainly an odd couple but luckily it seemed to work for them.I walked over the large house with the mans wife, and nothing in particular stood outthat could cause concern, she was insistent that the house must be cleansed, so I took off my shoes to feel the floors, my jumper to ascertain room temperature variations,washed my hands and took a deep breath and tuned in to the voice of the house and walked over once again.This time we stopped outside a small room on one of the upstairs landings,and I said we had not been in this one, and she replied the room was only a storage room for odds and ends, but agreed to open it up to see inside.This was definitely the room where the focus was for some spirit presence, she asked the two servants to clear the room leaving one chair, where I asked the lady to sit quietly, and the psychic exploration of the room began, many people do not realise that wood is an absorbant, living breathing thing and the floorboards were the old 12 inch very wide elm planks from the Georgian period, and although they bore the scars of modern stiletto heels, they had soaked up the emotions from everyone in the room to the present day.It was just in front of the fireplace that the strangest thing happened, the misty body of a young boy took shape, but in a grand house like this, why should this boy be a filthy boy in rags, the lady of the house saw it too, and said several people had heard a child’s crying coming from the locked room over the years.This boys spirit had become trapped in time, and when asked who he was, spilled out one of the strangest and most tragic tales my ears had ever encompassed.He said; “ I am David George Bennet sir” and I was born in Londons East End,My parents lived in a small cellar, it was the most miserable existence, there was never any money or food, and when the money lender came for his payment, my parents clung together in sadness, as the money lender took me the eldest son as payment for the loan”“ My parents were told I was to be put in service sir, but I was sold to a chimney sweep and would have to get inside and clean up inside the chimneys as a climbing boy,I would have a small bristle brush tied to my wrist, wrap a cloth around my face and at times my master would light a fire under me to push me up even higher” and in this chimney the smoke and the soot finally choked me, they pulled me out dead sir”I realised that the shape on the floor, was where the body lay, the boy thought he was aged 10 but he looked a lot younger to me, his frail astral body showed the marks of severe burn marks and bruises.The lady of the house said the people who had the house before her found a young skeleton while planting in the orchard, and the boy confirmed it was him, and was upset that he wanted to be clean for the first time in his life but no one washed him before his burial, in an old rug.

One of the cardinal rules in cases of spirit rescue such as this is to insure that no spirit attaches to you or follows you back, and is encouraged to enter the light, and not remain in the earthly conditions, and yet that night my wife and I were woken in the night by a smiling young boy who came laughing to see us and had been joyously reunited with his parents, my wife said she even saw his bright blue eyes.A fortnight later I always would do a follow up visit to check all was well after a spirit rescue, but at the big house, the lady said a light easy feel was felt by visitors and the new owners would be taking over soon, the master of the house tore into me that when a person was dead they were dead, gone, finish the end he said, no one has ever come back to say they are dead, because that’s the end of everything, and people like me were just nut cases making it up as we went along. “how wrong you are I thought”

[Rasputin]

Climate returning to dinosaur era

Global warming over the coming century could mean a return of temperatures last seen in the age of the dinosaur and lead to the extinction of up to half of all species, a scientist said on Thursday. Not only will carbon dioxide levels be at the highest levels for 24 million years, but global average temperatures will be higher than for up to 10 million years, said Chris Thomas of the University of York.Between 10 and 99 percent of species will be faced with atmospheric conditions that last existed before they evolved, and as a result from 10-50 percent of them could disappear."We may very well already be on the breaking edge of a wave of mass extinctions," Thomas told the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.Scientists predict average global temperatures will rise by between two and six degrees centigrade by 2100, mainly as a result of the heat-trapping carbon dioxide being pumped into the air from burning fossil fuels for transport and power."If the most extreme warming predicted takes place we will be going back to global temperatures not seen since the age of the dinosaur," Thomas said."We are starting to put these things into a historical perspective.

These are conditions not seen for millions of years, so none of the species will have been subjected to them before," he added.Thomas said scientific observations had already found that -- as predicted by the climate models -- 80 percent of species had already begun moving their traditional territorial ranges in response to the changing climatic conditions."That is an amazingly high correlation. It is a clear signature of climate change," he said.Not only had the animals, birds and insects started to react, but there was evidence vegetation was also on the move.For example, climate-triggered fungal pathogen outbreaks had already led to the extinction of more than one percent of the planet's amphibian species, Thomas said.

[Rasputin]

Sheep poo paper scoops top award

Gardeners know it is ideal for making compost but now a company in Snowdonia has won an award for being even more innovative with sheep droppings. Creative Paper Wales has produced greetings cards and gifts made from the by-products of its woolly neighbours. Its Sheep Poo Paper products have won a £20,000 Millennium Award for "social entrepreneurship". After the sheep droppings are collected, they are sterilised, washed and mixed with other recycled paper. This is then turned into the finished paper and cardboard while the washing water is distributed to local growers as concentrated fertiliser. Founders Lawrence Toms, 38, from Rhondda and Lez Paylor, 38, from Caerphilly, said they had been keen to develop an idea which would create a manufacturing company which would be uniquely Welsh and could produce a product that foreign imports could not compete with. They also wanted to set up a low-tech company with minimal capital which was also environmentally friendly.

The company was recommended for the Millennium Award by a former winner. Mr Toms said: "We were delighted because it enabled the project. £20,000 isn't a very large amount of money [in business terms] but we were keen to prove that it was possible." The company's plant at a former quarry building at Aberllefenni near the Centre for Alternative Technology near Machynlleth will be able to produce one to two tonnes of paper a year. The award was made by UnLtd, a charity which supports social entrepeneurship.

[Rasputin]

A twist on naturalist

H.F.Raven: The word “Naturalism” brings various topics to mind: art, natural sciences, philosophy and sociological concepts, among the many things that this word may be used to rightly or wrongly represent. We may all be familiar with the famous writings of popular American Naturalist and Philosopher Henry David Thoreau, but are we also familiar with the opinions of Donald Watson or Elsie Shrigley? While the famous Thoreau may have his books on natural living and the government in most bookstores, and is immortalized in natural places such as Katahdin, there is more than one branch of society that may be considered, more or less, Naturalist. It is through this division of the term, however, that a large amount of confusion may arise, including practices that easily and even unknowingly challenge the very definition of natural. If you are truly unfamiliar with Donald Watson, it is unlikely you are unfamiliar with the term “Vegan”, which has quickly intentionally or unintentionally become a powerful and outspoken social movement that may indeed hold the connotation of “clique” in general society. The claims of various people that may be considered Naturalists often seem to conflict in ways that boil down to philosophical nit-picking. However, in recent years the claims of such group such as PETA may be difficult to ignore - groups harboring Vegans, among others who will valiantly defend their opinions.

PETA, standing for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is hardly an unknown group. Since 1980 the group has made headlines time and time again, voicing powerful claims -- that are sometimes considered radical by those not members of the group -- about the wellbeing of animals. One of the aspects of the group called PETA is the existence of the “Lettuce Ladies”. These are women who expose themselves to the public adorning their bodies with nothing but a few leaves of lettuce to cover themselves. The wild attire, combined with the obvious sexually-charged character and magnetism of the clothing - assuming a majority of men will look at attractive women in very little clothing - is an effective and popular method to spread information on Veganism and PETA philosophy. The philosophy of Veganism in particular, however, has been around under that name since the middle of the 1940's. Strongly separating itself from Vegetarianism, Veganism avoids - often with inviolable conviction - the use of any animal product for use or consumption. This includes foods such as meat, fish, eggs and dairy products, as well as a variety of other products with some sort of animal or insect used in the processing, such as honey, silk, leather, feathers, and even the ingredients in some breads. Vegans, although a small portion of the Vegetarian population, are some of the most forthright of the society that could often be considered Naturalist or "back to Nature".

Many valid points, though, are brought against Veganism when the diet is overlooked. Without the proteins and amino acids found in animal products humans can be put in dangerous straights. There are ways to obtain such things from a peculiar and wide diet of plants and other non-animal products, as composes the diet of many Vegans. Tofu and other plant-based foods are popular in the forms of burgers and hot dogs - but is this really in accordance with the very nature of Veganism, especially since the more creative Vegan foods may be wholly impractical and needlessly expensive? After all, hot dogs and hamburgers, for example, are staples of the glorified American diet, and the meat in such products can often come from questionable or undesirable sources. Clearly, though, Vegans accept eating tofu, rice, and other ingredients in the likeness of these foods which they so strongly object to. Is this ironic, since Vegans often debate their point with clerical pride?Many points can continually be brought up against Veganism. Using sexually-charged methods to advertise their philosophy, often speaking inexorably against those who are not Vegan, and playing upon social stereotypes, fads, cliques and the general youth population can be seen as questionable at the very least, and corrupt or deceptive at the very most - but Vegans are not the only who may be considered Naturalist, Environmentalist or “in touch” with Mother Nature. Even so, the obvious Vegan belief that plants are not sentient can vex and bring into open questioning and wonder many philosophies and the definition of sentience or consciousness itself. Are plants not lifeforms, just as animals and insects?

Naturals or Nudists seemingly use similar methods to advertise their unusual philosophy. By playing upon the aforementioned topics and the subconscious or conscious desires and imaginations of many humans, one could say that members are attracted in a questionable, cult-like fashion. Although many Nudists are in fact entirely innocent in their philosophy, along with many Vegans, the possibility cannot be ignored. In all likeness, Nudism, being spread in a similar way to Veganism, could be used to promote refutable promiscuity, sex parties and a possibly dire change in society. Exposing the flesh for spiritual or natural purposes seems inherently natural, as it would seem to state. Although it is personal choice, one must wonder if Nudism could indeed be used for social -- let alone quite carnal -- purposes. One only has to look to today's youth and social changes to realize that many would unknowingly or intentionally use Nudist or similar philosophies to promote the following of a glorified sexual instinct and promiscuity. We may never really know for sure if such beliefs are based on the principles of innocence, or those of lust. The fact of the matter is that the definition of Naturalist, or the definition of Natural as a whole are interpreted and may be used very different by different people. These terms, more than many other terms in language, go hand in hand and should seemingly be, by definition, the least refutable known terms. Vegans, PETA, and Nudists are only several of the many groups on the fine line between Natural and Unnatural.

It would seem as though through Naturalism we should be able to define the very meaning of the word, but such is not currently the case. Humans are naturally able to consume meat and animal products, and have so for thousands of years- only social constructs prevent some from doing so. Humans may be born nude, which is also inherently natural, however it is not practical to not wear clothing in non-tropical environments with conditions possibly harmful to the human. In other environments clothing has a purely social purpose.Through the objective study and quiet observation of the natural world and our natural history we have been able to discover the aspects of nature that we already accept and realize, most prominently the scientists and spirituals in this field. In time a larger consensus may be founded on Naturalist and Nature groups that lay on the line -- from the spiritual and religious, to the nude. For now, however, and the foreseeable future, such free groups will continue to coexist with the majority of the very different society that they are wholly a part of. Whether people conform to these groups because of carefully researched personal beliefs, because of fads, because it is the “hip” thing to do or because they desire to be part of an alternative social group for various very personal and human reasons, their presence in our world cannot be denied or overlooked. The philosophies and questions brought up by such free-thinking groups, regardless if they are personally disagreed with, can be used to benefit all of humanity through research, investigation and philosophical evaluation. We all have something to learn from the philosophies of others, even if they are against our own. This, in turn, is the most Natural aspect of their existence.

[Rasputin]

Woman communicates by "thought"

A woman who had suffered severe brain injury in a car accident and was in a vegetative state managed to communicate just by using her thoughts, say scientists from the UK and Belgium. They scanned her brain and discovered that she was able to understand verbal commands - she could even visualize herself playing tennis when verbally triggered to do so by the scientists.You can read about this discovery in the journal Science.The scientists could not say how common this ability might be among other patients who are diagnosed as being in a 'vegetative state'. They added that she might be one in a million, as all vegetative patients are different and have damage to different parts of their brain.FMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) was used to record brain activity in the woman five months after her accident. Doctors had diagnosed her as being in a persistent vegetative state. When a person is in a persistent vegetative state he/she has lost cognitive neurological function and awareness of the environment, but keep non-cognitive neurological function and preserved sleep-wake cycle.

In lay terms, it roughly means the person is technically alive but his/her brain is dead.While mapping her brain the scientists asked her to visualize simple tasks.Team leader Dr Adrian Owen, Medical Research Council's Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK said "The tasks we chose are based on many years of brain imaging research that shows different areas of the brain are activated when we perform different kinds of tasks."The scientists were startled to find that her brain patterns, when she was asked to imagine herself playing tennis or moving around her home, displayed the same activated cortical areas in a manner indistinguishable from that of the healthy volunteers.

[Rasputin]

Future be warned: Keep out!

half-mile below the surface of the New Mexico desert, the federal government is interring thousands of tons of monstrously dangerous leftovers from its nuclear weapons program --plutonium-infested clothing, tools and chemical sludge that will remain potentially lethal for thousands of years to come. It may be safely secured now, but how to keep our descendants centuries in the future from accidentally unearthing it?That's the question posed by the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the nation’s only underground repository for military-generated radioactive waste. To address it, the Department of Energy convened a conclave of scientists, linguists, anthropologists and sci-fi thinkers to develop an elaborate system intended to shout "Danger!" to any human being for the next 10,000 years -- regardless of what language they speak or technology they use.The resulting solution: an unprecedented and epic scale monument that's expected to take the next three decades and as much as $1 billion to complete. "Basically, we just want to make sure society doesn’t forget we're here," says Roger Nelson, WIPP's chief scientist.It's going to be pretty obvious that something is there under the scrublands near Carlsbad.

The waste site will be surrounded by a four-mile outer fence of dozens of 25-foot, 20-ton granite markers engraved with multi-lingual and pictographic warnings.Inside that perimeter will be a massive earthen berm 33 feet high, forming a rectangle matching the footprint of the underground site.The berm will be implanted with magnets and radar reflectors to make it obvious that it’s not a natural formation. A structure in the center of the space and two subterranean rooms will hold detailed information on the facility, and hundreds of super-hard disks printed with pictographic danger signs will be scattered throughout its 120 acres.