"Testing 123...."
Strange Events Continue Around the World
Raising the ire of scientists, mysteries continue to happen. A year ago people in Arkansas experienced an omen for the new year. Thousands of redwing blackbirds fell from the sky, dead. Investigators came to the odd conclusion that fireworks scared them to death. Apparently they flew around blindly in the night, crashing into the walls of buildings.
In Altona, Germany, a large number of toads were found dead in a strange way. They had holes in their backs and their livers had been removed. It was concluded that crows had developed a way of getting at the nutritious livers without consuming poison from the toads. Taking the "myth" a little further "experts" said with livers removed the toads' lungs had inflated causing them to explode. Darn clever these scientists. They always have an answer.
They do seem to get some things right, however. In Alaska 55 musk oxen were frozen to death despite having two layers of fur. A tidal surge followed a storm at sea which cracked the frozen ice and the oxen fell into the freezing ocean. Surface sea water later refroze around the dead animals.
Odd events continue around the world with seabirds washing up dead on California beaches and swarms of ladybirds in Colorado.
In Altona, Germany, a large number of toads were found dead in a strange way. They had holes in their backs and their livers had been removed. It was concluded that crows had developed a way of getting at the nutritious livers without consuming poison from the toads. Taking the "myth" a little further "experts" said with livers removed the toads' lungs had inflated causing them to explode. Darn clever these scientists. They always have an answer.
They do seem to get some things right, however. In Alaska 55 musk oxen were frozen to death despite having two layers of fur. A tidal surge followed a storm at sea which cracked the frozen ice and the oxen fell into the freezing ocean. Surface sea water later refroze around the dead animals.
Odd events continue around the world with seabirds washing up dead on California beaches and swarms of ladybirds in Colorado.
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Science
Man Robs Store With a Florescent Light Tube
Can't get gun or a knife but you want to hold up a store? Don't worry you can always use a light bulb. A man walked into a Brisbane service station and threatened the till operator with a florescent light bulb. He got away with a sum of cash.
The Caucasian man, about 180cm tall with a chubby build and blue eyes was wearing a singlet with white stripes down the sides, shorts, white sports shoes and a dark balaclava at the time of the robbery.
It begs the question - Why would an employee be afraid of someone wielding a florescent light bulb, knowing that a descent "whack" would probably result in it being smashed into harmless pieces?
The Caucasian man, about 180cm tall with a chubby build and blue eyes was wearing a singlet with white stripes down the sides, shorts, white sports shoes and a dark balaclava at the time of the robbery.
It begs the question - Why would an employee be afraid of someone wielding a florescent light bulb, knowing that a descent "whack" would probably result in it being smashed into harmless pieces?
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Society
Research Program to Determine Climate Change Impact on Man's Move Out of Africa
It is known that the climate change caused by an asteroid hitting the Earth 65 million years ago led to the extinction of dinosaurs and the rise of mammals. Other extremes in climate pushed humans to move out of Africa. The National Research Council in the US has released a report calling for funding for more research into climate change and the human movement issue.
Paleoanthropologists and geologists plan the following program: find new fossil sites with remote sensing tools to determine when new species arose: drill ancient lake beds in Africa for more information on human evolution: develop regional models on how climate differed in parts of Africa over the last 100,000 years: and educate the general community on how climate change led to Man moving across the world.
A meeting is to take place on 31st March next year to discuss the determinations of the report and how such a program can be initiated. The first priority, of course, is funding. The present economic climate does not bode well in this regard. However, scientific endeavours must more forward.
Paleoanthropologists and geologists plan the following program: find new fossil sites with remote sensing tools to determine when new species arose: drill ancient lake beds in Africa for more information on human evolution: develop regional models on how climate differed in parts of Africa over the last 100,000 years: and educate the general community on how climate change led to Man moving across the world.
A meeting is to take place on 31st March next year to discuss the determinations of the report and how such a program can be initiated. The first priority, of course, is funding. The present economic climate does not bode well in this regard. However, scientific endeavours must more forward.
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Science
No Night Darkness in the Infrared
Human beings perceive objects by seeing in the "normal" optical range. This is purely an evolutionary imperative. Evolution could just as easily given us eyes that work in the infrared to know what is going on around us. If this was the case we would experience no night at all. The night sky would be just as clear as the sky in the day.
At night the sky would be lit by hydroxyl molecules emitting infrared light in the form of a mass of narrow emission lines. It would be like daylight, though a few stars could be seen along with the Sun and the Moon.
Telescopes operating in the infrared get over this problem by using limited apertures and special filters. These filters use a photonic lantern system to move the light into parallel tracks. A Bragg filter reflects out the tracks and lets wavelengths between lines through. Many IR telescopes are in space where such a filter is unnecessary. The space telescopes beam data back to Earth.
At night the sky would be lit by hydroxyl molecules emitting infrared light in the form of a mass of narrow emission lines. It would be like daylight, though a few stars could be seen along with the Sun and the Moon.
Telescopes operating in the infrared get over this problem by using limited apertures and special filters. These filters use a photonic lantern system to move the light into parallel tracks. A Bragg filter reflects out the tracks and lets wavelengths between lines through. Many IR telescopes are in space where such a filter is unnecessary. The space telescopes beam data back to Earth.
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Science
Preserved Leaves Found in 500 Year Old Bible
Information about the climate five centuries ago has come to light from leaves found in an old Bible. Susana Melo de Howard was returning the 1540 Great Bible back into its humidity-controlled room when she saw the preserved leaves. The book is kept at the University of Western Australia. It came from the monastery of Ely Cathedral in England and was the first English translation of the Bible. William Tyndale was executed in Belgium for this "crime".
The West Australian university got the book at the bargain price of $500 in 1977. No one had viewed the Bible in the last twenty years. Detective work began on the leaves as soon as they were found.
By sending photographs of the leaves to academic centers all around the world, they were identified as Wych elm which was common in England 500 years ago. Carbon dating showed the leaves were placed in the Bible in the 1560s. Nitrogen was high on wetland farms in those days. Mercury, chromium and arsenic pollution was also present. Selenium was there which indicated that coal was not in general use. Lead probably from the cathedral roof was in the leaves, as well as gold and silver, common ingredients of ink at that time.
The West Australian university got the book at the bargain price of $500 in 1977. No one had viewed the Bible in the last twenty years. Detective work began on the leaves as soon as they were found.
By sending photographs of the leaves to academic centers all around the world, they were identified as Wych elm which was common in England 500 years ago. Carbon dating showed the leaves were placed in the Bible in the 1560s. Nitrogen was high on wetland farms in those days. Mercury, chromium and arsenic pollution was also present. Selenium was there which indicated that coal was not in general use. Lead probably from the cathedral roof was in the leaves, as well as gold and silver, common ingredients of ink at that time.
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Literature
Pitcher Plant Found That Eats Rats
Plants don't eat animals though some eat flies? Definitely not true. A plant has been discovered in Cape York northern Australia that eats rats. A large pitcher plant, a plant that eat flies, has been discovered. It is a vine and has been called "Tenax".
It was found in a swamp. Most new species are found in Sumatra, Borneo or New Guinea. It was a surprise to find a new species in Australia.
Pitcher plants are found just about everywhere in Australia. They grow as weeds, even getting into lawns. But even the thought of one being large enough to devour a rat boggles the mind.
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It was found in a swamp. Most new species are found in Sumatra, Borneo or New Guinea. It was a surprise to find a new species in Australia.
Pitcher plants are found just about everywhere in Australia. They grow as weeds, even getting into lawns. But even the thought of one being large enough to devour a rat boggles the mind.
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Biology
No Satellite Nation Will Claim Mysterious Metal Globe
It isn't ours says the US, Russia and Germany. A mysterious metal ball, two hemispheres welded together, has fallen to earth in Namibia. The "ball" is 35 centimeters wide and cut a groove in the ground on impact 33 centimeters deep and 3.8 meters wide. The hollow sphere is not dangerous - it isn't an explosive devise.
There were two recent orbital crises with satellites crashing to the ground: NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite and Germany's Roentgen Satellite. The mystery object is not part of any of these. The Phobos-Grunt Mars Probe made in Russia will also soon come down.
There is the possibility that it could be from a satellite much older, something that has been orbiting for a long time. If this is the case, ownership of the space debris may never be known because no country wants it known that satellite parts can fall at random from the sky.
There were two recent orbital crises with satellites crashing to the ground: NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite and Germany's Roentgen Satellite. The mystery object is not part of any of these. The Phobos-Grunt Mars Probe made in Russia will also soon come down.
There is the possibility that it could be from a satellite much older, something that has been orbiting for a long time. If this is the case, ownership of the space debris may never be known because no country wants it known that satellite parts can fall at random from the sky.
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Science
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