Interesting news and articles - February 24, 2013

Archeology

Iraqis, foreign teams work together to excavate ancient sites

Laser Scanning, Visualization Reveal Art from Bronze Age

Scottish Island Discovery Digs Up New Information About Neolithic Religion

Cryptozoology

Man claims he saw 2 Bigfoot-like creatures --- It would be nice if they could follow up with the "unknown woman."

Ghosts

True Blood Star Encountered Ghost At Haunted Winery

History

New sister for Mona Lisa

Mysterious

Mystery 'Loud Booms' Felt, Heard Over the Midlands

Mysterious stars talk of the town in Arnhem Land

Mystery of Somerset 'meteor' still no closer to being solved

Carole Compton Poltergeist:The Nanny They Called A Witch

Green 'Space' Slime Baffles Nature Experts

Psychic Phenomena

Communing with the dead through a psychic

Science

Flowers Communicate With Electricity

Mother's intuition is real - science shows link between mother and son's brains

Space

Private Mars Mission in 2018?

Jupiter’s moon Europa ‘most likely’ place to harbour life

NASA's Kepler mission discovers tiny planet system

A simple view of gravity does not fully explain distribution of stars in crowded clusters

UFO

UFO Over Oregon Caught On Tape --- Pretty poor footage...even for a UFO video though.

Other topics of interest...

Every Webpage Is Connected by 19 Clicks or Less

Activists press for additional $25 billion in fines against BP over Gulf oil spill

Papal resignation linked to inquiry into 'Vatican gay officials', says paper

Russian angry birds: Crows 'attack' MPs cars with stones

TSA apologizes after picking wheelchair-bound child for security check

Snow play today! Rare blizzard halts golf championship in city more used to scorching temperatures

The babies who nap in sub-zero temperatures

Sexting and bugging revealed at the FBI: CNN

Interesting news and articles - February 17, 2013

Archaeology

Peru archaeologists find ancient temple in El Paraiso

‘Largest’ Scottish ancient artworks revealed

Luxor necropolis among new Egyptian finds 

Large sculpture of the God of Fire found atop Mexico's Pyramid of the Sun

Ghosts

Council gives away £375,000 manor 'because it is haunted'

The Phantom Highwayman

History

They Might Be Giants! 18 Ft. Tall Giant Human Skeleton Found By Oil Prospector J. Mckinney In Texas! --- Interesting stuff...but you might need to read this one with a grain of salt ready.  This isn't the first time I've heard a story told about the Smithsonian losing something unusual though.

King Tut's Parents Were Cousins, Not Siblings: Researcher

The rock-cut cave temples of Badami, India

Mysterious

Mysterious Shaking Puzzles Experts In Morristown, TN

Russia's Dyatlov Pass Incident, the Strangest Unsolved Mystery of the Last Century

Has The Amazing Purpose Of Petrospheres AKA Neolithic Stone Balls Finally Been Discovered? --- Not an article, but a post on the Above Top Secret forums.  Interesting observation though.

NDE

Peter N's NDE

Papal Resignation

Pope Says He Will Be ‘Hidden to the World’ in Retirement


A sign from above? Lightning strikes Vatican hours after Pope's shock resignation

Catholic Church downplays prophecy about ‘last pope’


Psychic Phenomena

I believe ghosts of the past talk to us

Science

Could the sea be conscious? Research reveals how tiny plankton behave like a marine 'megamind' --- Also see this post of mine from 2009 that touches on a similar topic.

If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump too?

Telepathy Between Couples: Is It Real?

Premonitions by Rupert Sheldrake

Cupid's arrow: Notre Dame Research illuminates laws of attraction

Space

Airburst Explained: NASA Addresses the Russian Meteor Explosion --- I wonder how they can be certain the to asteroids were not connected in any way?  I wonder if they could have had the same origin source?

Russian Meteor Blast's 'Infrasound' Detected Over Vast Distances

UFOs

Welcome to earth: Photo of UFO hovering above Bucharest parliament mirrors famous White House scene from Independence Day --- Looks more like some kind of beam of light than a UFO to me.  An unusual looking beam of light...but a beam of light no less.

Other topics of interest...

Raytheon Riot Software Predicts Behavior Based on Social Media

Hack of Montana TV Station Warns Viewers of Zombie Attack --- Also see this.

High taxes force more Americans to renounce their citizenship

Chubby Checker sues HP over penis size app --- Absurd.

Papal resignation and the Prophecy of the Popes

Well it's been all over the news today that Pope Benedict XVI will be resigning.  According to St. Malachy's Prophecy of the Popes, Benedict would be the second to the last Pope.  Malachy's writings say the next Pope would be known as Peter the Roman.  Interestingly enough, one of the Cardinals that could potentially be elected Pope is actually named Peter.  I guess we will have to stay tuned to the news and see how accurate Malachy's prophecy is.

See a couple of my old posts related to the topic below.

The Prophecy of St. Malachy

Jeane Dixon and the Final Pope

Update: A new Pope has been elected and he took the name of Francis.  His given name is not Peter or a variation thereof either.  So it looks like Malachy's prophecy is a bust (no surprises there though).

The Hairy Man of the 16th century

I came across this image of Petrus Gonsalvus, a 16th century man with hypertrichosis (also called Ambras symdrome).  Hypertrichosis causes excessive hair growth on the face.  Informally, the condition is also called werewolf syndrome, because the condition causes a person to look similar to legendary depictions of werewolves.

In the mid-to-late 1500s, the Flemish miniaturist Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1600) “set out to capture the variety and perfection of the natural world on the folios of a miniature manuscript.” Above is his portrait of “the Hairy Man” Petrus Gonsalvus, with his wife.

 Some have wondered if people may have once thought people with the condition were actually werewolves.  But I have to wonder if that is true when taking Gonsalvus into consideration.  He lived at a time when many people were probably still superstitious about legends such as werewolves, so maybe people thought that someone with the condition was a werewolf based on their appearance?

Apparently not in Gonsalvus case.  He hobnobbed with royalty and even had a wife, who is painted in the picture with him above.  He also had children, who were said to have hypertrichosis as well.

Another image of Petrus Gonsalvus

This makes me wonder if someone with this condition had ever really been mistaken for a werewolf.  If this guy could get married and hobnob with royalty in the superstitious 16th century, perhaps people even then could tell the difference between a hairy man and a legendary werewolf.

On the other hand though, maybe we can't go by just this one example.  Just because this one guy managed to live a pretty normal life with a hairy face in the 16th century doesn't necessarily mean that anyone anywhere in the 16th century could have done the same.  Afterall, even among most of the population without the condition, some people managed to become royalty while others were peasants and some were outcasts.  Someone with the condition living somewhere else at a different time may have lived in different circumstances.  He could have been an outcast who became a depressed alcoholic and behaved like a madman.  Under those circumstances, people may have thought he was werewolf.

So has anyone with hypertrichosis ever really been mistaken for a werewolf?  We may never really know for sure.

Interesting news and articles - February 10, 2013

Archaeology

35 Ancient Pyramids Discovered in Sudan Necropolis

Prehistoric rock art found in Scottish Highlands

Cryptozoology

Japanese Flying Squid's Abilities Confirmed, Speed Measured By Scientists --- The flying squid is no longer a cryptid.

Ghosts

Route 66: The Haunted Stops Along America's Road

Barrett's Plantation House Investigation

History

Aztec Conquerors Reshaped Genetic Landscape of Mexico

Experts find remains of England's King Richard III

History's Mysteries

Amazing Artifacts and Alternate History

Science

Could this 'Star Trek' headband help banish migraines? --- Not sure what it has to do with Star Trek, but it is interesting.

Future News Predicted Now --- Not sure if this is a good or bad thing.  It has the potential to be good, but I think there could be a potential to abuse it too.  But I'm a little skeptical as to how accurate it would really be anyway.

The secret to running repairs --- An article about the Mexican walking fish, a.k.a. the axolotl.  It can regenerate limbs and recover from brain and spinal cord injuries with ease.  Wouldn't it be nice if researchers could get the funding to study how it does that?

Mystery Mini Moons: How Many Does Earth Have?

International Space Station photograph captures giant 'underwater' wave spread over hundreds of miles in the Caribbean Sea

Can you hear meteors?

Your Immune System 'Remembers' Microbes It's Never Fought Before, New Study Says

How Active Is the Brain in a Coma?

Lightning Phenomena and Paranormal Phenomena

Space

Is This Meteorite a Piece of Mercury?

Mars shiny metal object

Kepler Space Telescope Data Reveals Billions Of Earth-Like Planets Near Earth

UFOs

Lights whizzing by Jamnagar refinery leave UFO rumours in their wake

Other topics of interest...

Doctors Sterilize 9-Year-Old Who Gave Birth Against Mothers Wishes; Was It Ethical? --- Well this is a real wtf in more than one way.

Predicting Weather with a Pig Spleen --- What I found interesting about this is that in ancient times, some diviners used a method of divination called haruspicy, which involves inspecting the entrails of sacrificed animals to make predictions.  They may have used it for more than just predicting the weather back then, but it's interesting to think that there might actually be some genuine merit to the method.

Study finds it actually is better (and healthier) to give than to receive

How to Give The Slip to Persistent Negative Thoughts

The One (Really Easy) Persuasion Technique Everyone Should Know

Valentine's Day Conspiracy Theories --- I'm not sure I would call these "conspiracy theories," but it's some interesting information about Valentine's Day nonetheless.

Interesting news and articles - February 3, 2013

Archaeology

Ice Age Lion Man is 40,000 years old

Cryptozoology

Another Alaska Bigfoot sighting?

Ghosts

Princess Diana ancestor Lady Winchcombe is haunting Kate Middleton family's £4.7 million home

History

Scientists strive to save dying spoken language of Jesus

Mysterious

Crop Circles Are No Hoax, Concludes Historian After Studying Google Earth's New 1945 Overlay (PICTURES) --- If these really are pictures of crop circles, they are very simplistic compared to more recent ones.  Why are there none this simple today?  If they exist, are they just not reported?  Also see this article about it.


Film has unique view of Oak Island  --- The island in Nova Scotia with they mysterious "money pit" that allegedly has some kind of secret treasure hidden in it no one has ever been able to get too.

Mysterious, purple spheres found in the desert

UFO: The Disappearance Of Musician Jim Sullivan --- I decided to put this in the mysterious section because no one actually reported seeing a UFO.

Russian Divers Discover Skeletal Remains of Lake Dwelling “Devil-Monster” 

Mysterious Sounds

Loud boom heard by residents

Still no official answers in Wednesday ‘boom’

Science

Displair gives you a touchscreen out of thin air --- Almost like something you would see in Star Wars.  See a video here.

Suicidal Sensors: Darpa Wants Next-Gen Spy Hardware to Literally Dissolve

Molecular Fountain of Youth Discovered

Owl mystery unravelled: Scientists explain how bird can rotate its head without cutting off blood

Babies Start 'Mind Reading' Earlier Than Thought

UFOs

UFO alert sparked by strange lights in sky over York

More than just a starry, starry night 

Other topics of interest....

Elusive Forger, Giving but Never Stealing --- This was published a few weeks ago, but it's about an art forger who donates his forgeries to various museums.  See a short video about him here and see the second part of the video here.

Massive security hole lets hackers control millions of cameras, printers and routers

Family’s missing pet tortoise found in storeroom 30 years later --- And it was found alive!