Science Special News

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Time capsule to be beamed from Teotihuacan

Mexico's Teotihuacan, once the center of a sprawling pre-Hispanic empire, is set to become the launch pad for an attempt to communicate with extraterrestrial life. Starting on Tuesday, enthusiasts from around the world will have a chance to submit text, images, video and sounds that reflect human nature to be included in the message. Those contributions--part of media company Yahoo's "Time Capsule" project--will be digitized and beamed with a laser into space on Oct. 25 from the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan, now an archeological site near Mexico City. Archeologists say a culture centered in Teotihuacan, known as the City of the Gods, dominated Mesoamerica for hundreds of years during the first millennium. It is unclear what led to the society's collapse. "We have this incredible ancient site and from that site we can project contemporary content," Srinija Srinivasan, Yahoo's editor in chief, told Reuters. "What is new is the ability to capture this information in such scale."

In the 1970s, astronomer Carl Sagan compiled a record with sounds and images, including a mariachi band and greetings in an ancient Sumerian language, to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth. His record was sent out with the Voyager spacecraft in the hope that extraterrestrial life forms would eventually find it.

[Rasputin]

Immortality via cryogenic suspension

Medical science has come a long way. It can prevent or thwart many diseases, reattach limbs, transplant vital organs, and, for better or worse, keep patients alive long after their use-by date. But we're still a long way from attaining what is arguably the holy grail of medicine: extending the human lifespan beyond its natural limit. While a lot of knowledgeable people have predicted how long we could live for; nobody is really sure. But this hasn't stopped a number of people opting into a process that they hope will give them access to future medical assistance far beyond our current capabilities: cryonics. Cryonics - often erroneously referred to as cryogenics - is what you might better remember as a convenient sci-fi plot device; think suspended animation or stasis, though neither is exactly comparable.

But rather than journeying to a distant planet, cryonic aficionados will stay on Earth in the hope that they can be revived in the future and cured of whatever ails them in this life. Or even better, that future medical science might have found a way to give them immortality.

[Rasputin]

Science vs. Séance

If not for Pythagoras -- that old, gray-bearded Greek philosopher and mathematician from 2,500 years ago -- students today would still be hunched over their geometry homework, wondering how to draft a proof for the area of a right triangle. Good ole Pythagoras. Now he was a man of rational-thinking and logic, one might say. He also, around 540 B.C.E., led a cult of other mathematicians known as the Pythagoreans in séance rituals which involved our earliest documented accounts of Ouija-like boards:A mystic table, moving on wheels, moved towards signs, which the philosopher and his pupil, Philolaus, interpreted to the audience as being revelations supposedly from an unseen world.Logic obviously did not govern all of his actions. But it isn't fair to be too hard on Pythagoras. After all, even now, thousands of years later, some of the brightest and most intellectual individuals of modern society fall victim to the enthralling rapture of pseudoscience. Some police departments in desperation turn to psychics for help on difficult criminal cases. Homeopathic remedies abound in "alternative" drug stores in shopping malls across the country.

And Parker Brothers makes a killing on the revenue it rakes in on its mass-produced Ouija board and stylus game set. For some it is just that: a game. For others, it's a channel into another realm -- either one of an omniscient source or of the proverbial Devil's playground. But for the true logician, it's nothing more than a few unconscious twitches at the wrist.

[Rasputin]

Is Sardinia the lost island of Atlantis ?

Rome, October 13 - Top scholars have gathered in Rome this week to discuss the exciting and controversial idea that Sardinia is the lost island of Atlantis . The theory, developed in a book by the Italian journalist Sergio Frau, has drawn international acclaim but also fuelled heated criticism .Despite selling 30,000 copies in Italy, a detailed 20-point appeal by 250 academics has dismissed the book, claiming it sensationalizes Sardinian history .But the theory received a major boost last year, when the United Nations cultural heritage body UNESCO organized a symposium on the issue in Paris, suggesting the idea was worth serious consideration. Academics, archaeologists, geologists and historians from across Italy are now meeting in Rome's Accademia dei Lincei to look at the theory in closer depth and discuss possible paths of future research .The meeting has also been timed to coincide with the opening of an exhibition on Frau's ideas, originally shown in Paris last year. "Atlantika" uses Frau's book, "The Pillars of Hercules", as a springboard for exploring theories and ideas on the legendary island and its whereabouts. Neither the location nor the existence of Atlantis have ever been confirmed .The first documented mention of the island dates back to ancient Greek philosopher Plato - circa 427-347 BC - who said it was destroyed by a natural disaster, possibly a tsunami .

Traditional theories have placed it somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean because Plato said it was beyond the Pillars of Hercules which, according to another ancient writer, Erathosthenes, were at the Strait of Gibraltar .But Frau believes Erathosthenes, a librarian and geographer who lived in Alexandria in the third and second centuries BC, got it wrong and that the Pillars of Hercules were actually on Sicily .Frau had his brainwave after seeing a print of two maps of the Mediterranean as it was in the Bronze Age .One showed Tunisia and Sicily almost touching; the other, of the Straits of Gibraltar, was remarkably similar .Frau thinks Erathosthenes moved the pillars because in the 120 years between Plato's era and his, the Greek world changed dramatically, and the strait between Sicily and Africa was no longer at the outer reaches of the Empire .

[Rasputin]

Does the Sun have celestial siblings ?

Astronomers at the University of Illinois say that rather than being an only child, the sun could have hundreds or thousands of celestial siblings that are now dispersed across the heavens. The researchers conclusions could reshape current theories on how, when and where planets form around stars.The death of a massive nearby star billions of years ago offers evidence the sun was born in a star cluster, say astronomers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Rather than being an only child, the sun could have hundreds or thousands of celestial siblings, now dispersed across the heavens. In a paper accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, astronomy professors Leslie W. Looney and Brian D. Fields, and undergraduate student John J. Tobin take a close look at short-lived radioactive isotopes once present in primitive meteorites. The researchers conclusions could reshape current theories on how, when and where planets form around stars.Short-lived radioactive isotopes are created when massive stars end their lives in spectacular explosions called supernovas.

Blown outward, bits of this radioactive material mix with nebular gas and dust in the process of condensing into stars and planets. When the solar system was forming, some of this material hardened into rocks and later fell to Earth as meteorites.

[Rasputin]

Proving the paranormal

Some people take things for granted. Then there are others who believe there is more than just what’s on the surface.Dexter freshman Samantha Harris is one of those people.She has been a self-proclaimed psychic since she was 4 years old.“Everyone has psychic abilities, but as children, we are told not to believe things,” Harris said. “People should trust their feelings. People think I’m crazy, but I don’t care.”Psychic abilities are common in the women of her family, Harris said.Harris’ premonitions come during what she calls a “psychic sleep,” which can be distinguished from a regular dream by its vividness. Premonitions about death are the ones she remembers most.The first death premonition Harris had came just before her grandpa died in the hospital. She and her sister witnessed a dark object — what Harris calls “shadow people” — sink into the floor of her bedroom.Harris’ mother also had a premonition about her father’s death.“Two weeks before (his death), I had a dream about the exact time and the exact day (of his death),” Michele Harris said. “It turned out the way I dreamt it.”

Samantha Harris said she also has witnessed orbs flying around. One time, she saw a black orb shoot out of the carpet of her bedroom and into her dresser. These orbs have their own color theory, she said.“Black is not a good color at all,” she said. “Basically, it’s complete negativity.”She said she attempts to research and document the paranormal, despite her lack of resources to investigate. Harris said she’s very respectful and scientific when she investigates things.Some common tools Harris uses in her investigations include a digital camera, a tape recorder, candles, dousing rods and laser-guided thermometers.These thermometers measure temperature changes on specific objects or areas.“When it drops in temperature, that’s not a good sign at all,” Harris said.

[Rasputin]

Where is the mythical Ithica ?

A UK-led team is challenging cherished ideas on Greek mythology by proposing an alternative site for Ithaca. The island was said to be the home of Odysseus, whose 10-year journey back from the Trojan War is chronicled in Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Most people think the modern-day Ionian island of Ithaki is the location. But geologists are this week sinking a borehole on nearby Kefalonia in an attempt to test whether its western peninsula of Paliki is the real site. The scientists hope to find evidence that the peninsula once stood proud, separated from Kefalonia by a narrow, navigable marine channel. It is only in the last 2,500-3,000 years - and after Homer's time - that the channel has been filled in, the team contends. "We can't prove the story of the Odyssey is true, but we can test whether Homer got his geography right," said Edinburgh University geologist Professor John Underhill, who is supervising the drilling operation.

At issue are a few lines of hotly debated text, in which Homer describes Odysseus' native land. He talks of low-lying terrain, furthest out to sea and facing dusk. The team, which includes geologists, classicists and archaeologists, argues that modern-day Ithaki does not fit this description. It is dominated by high ground and, being on the eastern side of the Ionian arc of islands, actually looks - if anywhere - towards "dawn and sun". "This has always been a contentious issue since antiquity," said James Diggle, a professor of Greek and Latin and fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge.

[Rasputin]

Symposium encourages thinking outside the box

Could Earth be some kind of penal colony for an alien race? This was one of many fantastic questions brought up at the New Frontiers Symposium at Saint Mary’s University. Presented by Halifax’s Redstar Films Ltd., a company that produces documentaries on subjects ranging from space to classical music, the event brought together an international lineup of historians, authors and filmmakers to discuss everything from space exploration to extraterrestrial life to cryptozoology, the study of animals that are rumoured to exist, such as the sasquatch, but have not been proven.Although he acknowledges that some of the topics sound “kooky,” Redstar Films President Paul Kimball said there is a great deal of science and history behind each idea. For him, the event could be described as a science-fiction convention meeting an academic discussion, with everyone coming away with new ideas.“There’s a huge ‘gee-whiz’ factor there,” he said.Kimball also spoke at the symposium about evidence supporting and debunking stories about UFO sightings, something he and his colleagues referred to as a “cosmic Watergate.”

He said these kinds of topics, which may seem strange to some people, are right at home with more conventional subjects, especially since life has begun imitating art as cellphones and computers mimic technology seen in movies.“Science fiction is not that far from becoming science fact,” he said.Even cryptozoology is not so far-fetched, he added, when one considers recent discoveries in Indonesia of creatures never thought to have existed before.“There are places even on our own planet, frontiers that we still have to explore,” he said. “So the possibly does exist that perhaps some of these mythical creatures might actually be real and we might actually discover them someday.”

[Rasputin]

Boeing develops airborne laser weapon

Boeing has begun flight testing in New Mexico of the concept of an aircraft-mounted tactical combat laser that could eventually be used against ground targets. The low-power tests at White Sands Missile Range involve a laser mounted on a belly of a C-130 and are part of the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration. The low-power solid state laser is a stand-in for the high-power chemical laser designers believe can be deployed to attack ground targets, particularly in crowded urban settings or against moving targets where a high degree of precision is required. "ATL will transform the battlefield by giving the warfighter a speed-of-light, precision engagement capability that will reduce collateral damage dramatically," Boeing Vice President Pat Shanahan said Friday. "The start of flight and laser testing shows that Boeing is making solid progress toward making this revolutionary capability a reality." The oxygen-iodine chemical beam produces an effect similar to a blow torch that can easily cut through metal, and is effective as distances up to 9 miles, making it possible to be used both out of sight and earshot of the enemy.

Boeing said in a release that the beam is precise enough to hit the tire of a moving vehicle without risking a hit on the fuel tank or passenger compartment. The chemical laser was fired for the first at a site in Albuquerque last month and will continue ground tests through the fall. It will be installed in a small turret on the C-130 next year for mission simulation flight tests.

[Rasputin]

UFO expert gets a shot on the Sci Fi Channel

When his friends learned that Rich Dolan of Rochester would host a Sci Fi Channel show on mysteries, legends and the paranormal, they worried about his reputation as a scholar. "I have no reputation," Dolan cracks. "I write about UFOs."The show, Sci Fi Investigates, airs at 10 p.m. Wednesdays on the Sci Fi Channel (cable channel 59). The first of six episodes, on voodoo, appeared Oct. 11. Others in the series will investigate Bigfoot, Mothman (who allegedly appeared 40 years ago in West Virginia), paranormal hotspots, the afterlife and the Roswell, N.M., site of an alleged crash of alien spacecraft. Dolan, who has done dozens of interviews and narrations on UFOs on other cable channels, was approached last spring by the Sci Fi series' producers. He is one of four hosts. The others include an archaeologist, a crime scene investigator and "Boston Rob" Mariano, billed as "the skeptic," who began his celebrity career as a contestant on the CBS series, Survivor. He later married Amber Brkich, the winner of Survivor All-Stars and last year the two of them were contestants on CBS' The Amazing Race. Why Rich Dolan?

"I have an interest in weird things," he says. If the ratings are decent, the show could be renewed. Already he's been approached by producers considering similar types of shows. "But in TV, nothing is for sure until it happens." Dolan, 44, is a trained historian, who attended Oxford University and later studied American Cold War diplomacy at the University of Rochester, where he earned a master's degree. His book, UFOs and the National Security State, is the first of two volumes that provides a chronology of what he calls the national security dimensions of the UFO phenomenon from 1941 to 1973. A second volume, due out in early 2007, will describe events from 1973 to the present.

[Rasputin]

Large monolith unearthed in Mexico

Archaeologists announced Friday that a monolith discovered earlier this month near Mexico City's main square is perhaps the largest ever unearthed in the city's center. The monolith, found on Oct. 2, is rectangular and measures nearly 13 feet on its longest side. The largest monolith from the city's center until this latest discovery — the circular Piedra del Sol, or Aztec Calendar, unearthed in 1790 — has a diameter of 12 feet."At this time, the most important thing about this is its size," said the lead archaeologist on the excavation project, Alvaro Barrera.The 24-ton Aztec Calendar stone, however, is nearly double the weight of the newcomer, which is estimated to be a mere 14 tons."It's tough to say which is the biggest, because the Piedra del Sol (Aztec Calendar) weighs more, but its circular radius is not as long as this monolith's largest side," said Angel Romas, information director of the Templo Mayor Museum, which is collaborating with the archaeological team.

Barrera noted that the full significance of the discovery will not become clear until the excavation is complete, in about a month. "We've excavated the top of the monolith but we still don't know what's beneath it," he said.The archaeological team thus far has removed 480 cubic feet of earth from the area around the top of the monolith. The group estimates that in order to be able to completely view the monolith, they need to remove another 13.5 cubic meters.

[Rasputin]

Radical Stonehenge solution proposed

After over 20 years of argument and countless millions spent on consultants and planning inquiries over the state of Stonehenge, a leading expert last night proposed a radical solution: do nothing. The government's long overdue decision on the roads which strangle the world's most famous prehistoric monument is ardently awaited by archaeologists and local residents alike, after two public inquiries and last summer's lengthy public consultation. Last night Professor Peter Fowler, an internationally acknowledged expert on the Stonehenge landscape and on World Heritage Sites management, washed his hands of the whole argument.The A303, a main artery to the south west that narrows to a grinding two-lane traffic jam where it passes the stone circle, should be closed and replaced with a tunnel, and the smaller A344 which actually clips the heel stone of the monument, should also go, he said, adding, "But since no sort of a tunnel is going to be built, the A303 should be kept exactly as and where it is, because neither widening it nor allowing it to career off sinuously to north or south is an option."

Instead of the expensive and ambitious plans for a new visitor centre, car parks, paths across the downland and a land train for people who can't walk so far, currently being pursued by English Heritage which manages the site, and the National Trust which owns thousands of acres of surrounding land, Prof Fowler advocated low tech interpretation at several perimeter points, encouraging walkers, cyclists and horse riders to explore the whole site and its myriad monuments, not just the stone circle itself. Prof Fowler was giving the keynote address last night at a Council for British Archaeology event celebrating the 20th anniversary of Stonehenge and nearby Avebury becoming a World Heritage Site. Since then argument has never stopped over the site, and its squalid visitor facilities, damned by the parliamentary public accounts committee as "a national disgrace" in 1989. When the most recent public inquiry recommended replacing the road with a long tunnel, the government rejected this on cost grounds and instead called for renewed consultation on all the options.

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Study reveals our perception of colour

When we look at a banana, does our brain tell us it looks yellow, even if it isn't? A recent study shows that it does. Psychologists at the University of Giessen, Germany, report in Nature Neuroscience that our perception of an object's colour depends on our memory of its typical colour. Karl Gegenfurtner and his co-workers showed their subjects digitized images of fruit, presented in random colours against a grey background. They then asked observers to adjust the colour of the fruit on the computer screen until it too was grey.But the volunteers had a hard time doing this. With a picture of a banana, for example, they would adjust the colour to be slightly too blue when trying to achieve grey, as if compensating for a perception of yellow that wasn't really there (blue is opposite yellow on the colour wheel). At the point at which the banana was truly achromatic, volunteers thought it still looked a bit yellow.It made no difference what colour the picture of the banana started as. Volunteers might be struck or amused by the image of a red banana, says Gegenfurtner, but they still kept a yellow banana in mind.

When volunteers were shown a neutral shape — a uniformly coloured disk, for example — this problem disappeared: observers could accurately make it grey.Previous studies have also shown that our minds can play tricks on us when it comes to colour. We may remember colours as being more intense than they really were, for example. Volunteers asked to pick out the colour of grass from a variety of green cards often choose one that is 'greener' than real grass, says Gegenfurtner.

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Human species 'may split in two'

Humanity may split into two sub-species in 100,000 years' time as predicted by HG Wells, an expert has said. Evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry of the London School of Economics expects a genetic upper class and a dim-witted underclass to emerge.The human race would peak in the year 3000, he said - before a decline due to dependence on technology.People would become choosier about their sexual partners, causing humanity to divide into sub-species, he added.The descendants of the genetic upper class would be tall, slim, healthy, attractive, intelligent, and creative and a far cry from the "underclass" humans who would have evolved into dim-witted, ugly, squat goblin-like creatures. But in the nearer future, humans will evolve in 1,000 years into giants between 6ft and 7ft tall, he predicts, while life-spans will have extended to 120 years, Dr Curry claims.Physical appearance, driven by indicators of health, youth and fertility, will improve, he says, while men will exhibit symmetrical facial features, look athletic, and have squarer jaws, deeper voices and bigger penises.Women, on the other hand, will develop lighter, smooth, hairless skin, large clear eyes, pert breasts, glossy hair, and even features, he adds. Racial differences will be ironed out by interbreeding, producing a uniform race of coffee-coloured people.However, Dr Curry warns, in 10,000 years time humans may have paid a genetic price for relying on technology.Spoiled by gadgets designed to meet their every need, they could come to resemble domesticated animals.

Social skills, such as communicating and interacting with others, could be lost, along with emotions such as love, sympathy, trust and respect. People would become less able to care for others, or perform in teams.Physically, they would start to appear more juvenile. Chins would recede, as a result of having to chew less on processed food.There could also be health problems caused by reliance on medicine, resulting in weak immune systems. Preventing deaths would also help to preserve the genetic defects that cause cancer.Further into the future, sexual selection - being choosy about one's partner - was likely to create more and more genetic inequality, said Dr Curry.The logical outcome would be two sub-species, "gracile" and "robust" humans similar to the Eloi and Morlocks foretold by HG Wells in his 1895 novel The Time Machine.

[Rasputin]

Astronomer captures UFO, Moon atmosphere

Charles Olsen, 52, believes his "exclusive" photograph will challenge popular science with proof of extraterrestrial beings and prove there's atmosphere on the moon. "I have the evidence," he says, revealing a series of photos which he took one cold October evening nearly two years ago. He learned through the evening news a rare lunar eclipse was set for cosmic alignment that very evening. "I knew this was going to be a big deal, a big opportunity," he said, adding a full lunar eclipse only occurs every 120 years.So Olsen was right when he assembled his camera gear and headed to the pumphouse located on the outs***ts of town. Exposed to the wide-open night sky, he aims his 35-mm camera towards the heavens, unaware of what he would capture.As the planetary masses aligned, Olsen said there was unexplained energy in the air.

"It was spectacular," he recalled, describing it as an "unexpected intergalactic extravaganza.""I was up most the night."Fortunately, Olsen's exposures caught it all. On reflection he says they are undeniable evidence of UFOs and of a lunar atmosphere.