Is There Anybody Out There

It Isn't Science Fiction Anymore

2013-08-18T15:16:00.003-07:00

Is anybody else concerned? This isn't funny anymore, the end of the world is upon us. We're in a fit of global warming, there's no more denying it. And even worse, we've got the aftermath of natural disasters, exponentially as deadly as the actual catastrophe itself. America and other countries might as well be minefields, of nuclear power plants, reactors and oil refineries. Toxic explosives, radiation, and we act like we're afraid of terrorists, but honestly, if someone wanted to do damage all they'd have to do is crash into a plant, and there you go--the next Chernobyl. Is that really what we want? Let this be a wake up call.
I hope Obama's reading this.
If we don't stabilize our planet she is going to go off. All it takes is one mistake and BOOM a million are dead, or doomed to die an untimely and excruciating death due to exposure. We contaminate our planet every day. Isn't it time we sought a safe alternative? Like solar energy and windmills, anything. I'll buy myself a horse and buggie if I have to. No more fracking. No more lying to the public, telling them their water's safe when it can kill them. We are losing control, and we aren't even close to ready for what's next.

A train carrying toxic cargo derailed near Lviv, Ukraine.

Planetary Three Way

2013-08-03T16:31:00.003-07:00

Keep an eye out in the sky tonight for Jupiter, Mars and Mercury. They'll be passing by, so step outside about an hour and a half before sunrise. They should appear in sort of a diagonal, as seen below. Image credit goes to Space.com.

The Color of the Universe

2013-06-18T08:17:00.004-07:00

Nasa has determined the official average color of the universe, and that color is:

Cosmic Latte

Behold. The color of the cosmos if you put it in a blender. The color of entropy, perhaps.

I won't pretend to know exactly what this color represents. I'm honestly a little bit confused myself, but I'm assuming this refers specifically to starlight--meaning the light being produced versus the color that's reflected. Whose idea was it, anyway, to calculate the color of the universe? Honestly. Have you ever wondered that? I know I haven't.

Fortunately, NASA has. And they've determined our universe to be this creamy beige that roughly matches my complexion. Other names like skyvory and univeige had been suggested, but Cosmic Latte was the winner.

Man, if I had my own coffee shop, I'd call it Cosmic Latte. By the way, check out my coffee blog, if you haven't already. It's hilarious.

Across The Universe

2013-06-13T13:37:00.001-07:00

It's difficult to know where to start when it comes to discussing the universe. It's beyond our comprehension, but it's fun to contemplate. One of our favorite mysteries is whether anybody's out there, (hence the title of my blog) and if you think about it, there's no way that we're the only ones. I mean, even if the chances were a billion to one that life could form on other planets in the "Goldilocks Zones" of other suns, there are simply too many stars for us to be the "only ones."

The Goldilocks Zone refers the habitable belt of a solar system in which planets receive enough sunlight and heat to sustain life (as we know it), but not so much they burst into flames instantaneously--not too much, not too little, just right. Two planets are known to exist within our sun's Goldilocks Zone, and those are earth and Mars.
Mars has a harder time holding onto an atmosphere than we do, due to lower gravity. Therefore, there's nothing stopping harmful rays of radiation from reaching Mars's surface. Not to mention, temperatures fluctuate drastically, but there's plenty of evidence to suggest the existence of liquid water carving canyons in its sandy, earth like deserts. Life on earth has survived even harsher conditions. As long as we have sunlight and water, we're okay. (Among numerous other things, but those are the big ones.)
But who are humans to assume that life can only flourish in this certain stretch of "habitable" space? We've only witnessed life on earth, so we can only speculate. We can only speak from personal experience. We only know "life as we know it." It may come in many flavors. Stephen Hawking contemplates the possibilities in his series "Into the Universe" (on Netflix, check it out), and even he believes life might could be so diverse we might not recognize really "exotic" entities as life at all. But if there's one thing I know about life, it's that it persists relentlessly, and anyone who possesses it will do anything in their power to preserve it. My point is, it's a little close-minded to think that life only exists in our particular conditions.

Hawking also mentions a moon of interest among astronomy nerds the world over, including me. I've written about it before--here's a hint, it orbits Jupiter. That's right, you guessed it, it's Europa. She may be past the boundary of the "habitable" zone, but Europa has one feature that leaves many wondering if life could dwell beneath her icy crust, and that is...
H2O.
The average person is composed of eight gallons of H2O. It is a critical component to life as we know it, so it's not absurd to think that there might be aquatic extra-terrestrials dwelling underneath Europa's surface. I quote from my previous post:
"...What could lie beneath the ice, within Europa's massive ocean? Who knows. I won't pretend to, but I wouldn't be surprised if we found out that something lives there. Or lived there at some point. Life persists in harsh conditions, even here on earth. Europa might just host aquatic life forms not unlike our own exotic, deep-sea dwelling creatures here on earth..."
   Of course, there's lots we still don't know about the oceans of Europa. Hell, there's lots we still don't know about the oceans here on earth. But there exists another possible aquatic eco-system, right here in our solar system--one of Saturn's satellites--and if you've actually been following my blog, you've read about it. Titan, largest moon of Saturn, has an interesting feature. It may just be our closest relative so far out into space.
   The feature I refer to is its famous methane lake, Ligeia Mare. Aint she a beaut? Looks pretty livable to me, but if I tried to take a dip I'd turn into a human ice cube, so I wouldn't recommend it.
   But perhaps we could adapt an organism to survive...

Our earth is ultimately doomed. She's orbiting a ticking time-bomb--our sun is running out of energy and when she does she's gonna take it out on us--I won't get into the specifics, but trust me, we don't want to be here when that happens. If humanity can manage not to terminate itself, we will eventually be forced to flea our sorry solar system and to spread our seed elsewhere, across the universe.
But we're in no position to embark on such a mission at the moment. That's okay--I make it sound worse than it is. Let me remind you that we still have several billion more years to sort this out. Our scientific understanding of the universe is constantly expanding. We're discovering new secrets every day. We've made advances in astronomy, physics, genetics, bio-chemistry...
So maybe we should redirect our focus, for the moment. We don't need to think about relocating the human race. We need to pace ourselves with science. Humans like to bite off more than we can chew. Perhaps a cheaper way of wondering what types of life exist throughout the universe consists of manufacturing these creatures here on earth...
Before I lose you, hear me out. Just think about nuclear accelerators, and what we've achieved and actually been able to observe on earth: Atoms, up close and personal. A thousand years ago this would have been unheard of. So would atoms. But perhaps the same can actually be done with aliens. If we compile what we know about organic composition, and astronomy and physics and genetic chemistry, we could examine evolution on a universal scale, right in our own backyards. No rocket ships or terraforming other planets necessary.

If you're a science nerd like I am, then you've probably got a poster similar to this one pinned above your bed:
This is an image from "Into the Universe" with Stephen Hawking, in which he describes a science-fiction future, that might not in fact be very far away. "With perfectly foreseeable technology, much more can become possible. If we could erect giant domes [on Mars] made of glass and plastic to block out the radiation, inside them we could enrich the atmosphere... 500 years from now, which really is a short time indeed, I think Mars will have its own language, its own currency, its own cuisine. Although, I bet you'll still be able to get a hamburger somewhere..."
As to which language and currency will dominate, who knows, and I don't even want to think about the politics of colonizing Mars, but I bet you they'll be serving Starbucks coffee.
Hotel chains and corporations have already invested in extraterrestrial terrain. An acre on Mars currently goes for $22.49, plus tax, according to Dennis Hope, the man that's dishing out the deeds. "Planetary properties he has sold range in size from a single acre to nation-sized parcels" (Farnham). It's clear the space-colonization process is starting to take place. It begins with the profit incentive. Companies who have invested billions in Martian property will follow through by funding projects that will make it possible to start to actually develop.
But, the cost of shipping adequate materials to build--machinery, equipment, maybe robots, I don't know--will be a risky and expensive enterprise. (Astronomy nerds love the word enterprise.)
The picture to my right features a science nerd's rendition of a biosphere on Mars. The bioshpere would function to support human life by providing an atmosphere with adequate pressure and oxygen, not to mention protect its occupants from harmful radiation from the sun, and running water, and whatever else we need.
The image to my left features a biosphere on earth, just north of Tucson, Arizona, not unlike the Martian metropolis above. Its architecture is extraordinary, sort of ancient-temple-esque, like a cross between Angkor Wat, Chichen Itza and the Apple store. But how do biospheres on earth have anything at all to do with planetary exploration? Don't worry, I'm getting there.
At least for now, instead of colonizing Mars, perhaps we ought to occupy ourselves with something cheaper. Instead of dropping billions or trillions of dollars on each mission into space, we could work virtually. Wouldn't you rather work from home? I would--commuting's such a hassle.
Ecospheres provide a perfect opportunity to bring these alien environments to earth. We can create mini-Europas and a scale Ligeia Mare. We can produce a replica of what our scientists predict these places look like, what they're made of, how components interact, which elements are present in which form, the list goes on. A lot of educated guesswork--we can't claim to know these details exactly, but we can hypothesize the likely possibilities. From this, we can produce a good variety of possible environments in which to cultivate a colony of microorganisms. We could adapt bacteria to withstand critical conditions, and perhaps even improve them...

We'll start with boring organisms like micro-bacteria, which are "capable of tolerating extreme conditions" (Hsu) including the vacuum of space, according to geomicrobiologist Charles Cockell. Cyanobacteria could harvest resources on Mars, according to Hsu's article, and geo-engineerng could increase the surface temperature by sixty degrees Celcius, allowing liquid water, which eventually will go on to thicken the atmosphere, our first steps toward "terraforming" the Red Planet.
But really, how excited can we get about a bunch of tiny microbes? Honestly. I want a full on ecosystem--vegetation, bugs, the works--a multiplex of organisms interacting with each other, coexisting. That's the miracle of life, if you ask me--not that we're here, but how we live amongst each other. Codependency.
A thousand years from now, your great-great-great-great-great-great grand children could be tending the first botani-spheres on Mars. (Click to enlarge the illustration.)

Art by Stefan Morrell. Sources: Christopher McKay, NASA Ames Research Center; James Graham, University of Wisconsin–Madison;
Robert Zubrin, Mars Society; Margarita Marinova, California Institute of Technology. Earth and Mars images: NASA

But Mars is much more comfortable than moons like Titan and Europa, who are operating at atrocious temperatures for one thing--I doubt either will be quite as popular tourist attractions as Mars, but they offer their own opportunity.
If you ask me, it's naive of us to think life would limit itself to the Goldilocks Zone. Neither should we. These moons are truly alien in many ways, but similar enough that with our science expertise, we could adapt some basic life form to be able to survive their harsh conditions, since they aren't entirely unlike our own. We could adapt aquatic organisms to withstand the coldness of Europa's oceans.
As for Titan, it's composed of different "stuff" entirely. Well not entirely. It still has lakes, and rain, except they're made of liquid methane. It's even got clouds, and mountains, and an ethane weather cycle. It's not impossible to think that life could learn to flourish here. In fact, if earth-bacteria can thrive in radioactive waste (The Daily Galaxy), I wouldn't be surprised if they survived a little ethane, honestly.
After bacteria, perhaps we can adapt an ethane-algae, food for future organisms. An entire ecosystem could eventually evolve, and we could be a part of it, we could even speed it along. We could adapt these organisms on the ecospheres on earth, and when they're ready, we can send them off to Titan. Simple right? Minus the politics and ethics, anyway.

Hawking suggests, "We would be wise to keep our eggs in as many baskets as possible." I agree. There is a universe of opportunity awaiting us, and an eternity to fertilize her many worlds.

SOURCES

"Into the Universe" with Stephen Hawking

"For Sale: Real Estate on the Moon" by Alan Farnham. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/sale-real-estate-moon/story?id=19068377#.UbHcbZXvPBw
"How Microbes Could Help Colonize Mars" by Jeremy Hsu. http://www.space.com/9092-microbes-colonize-mars.html
Thousand Year Timeline of Terraforming Mars: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/big-idea/07/mars
"Microbes Found Pre-adapted for Life in Space" http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2011/10/earths-microbes-are-preadapted-for-life-in-space-why.html

Flanders & Swann--Thermodynamics Song

2013-05-03T08:34:00.001-07:00

Saturn's Massive Hurricane

2013-04-30T05:44:00.003-07:00

Remember my first post about the hexagon on Saturn's poles--Perplexagon? Well there's the link, in case you don't, but I actually have news regarding the same hexagon that initially inspired me to start my mystery blog in the first place. This just in:
NASA's Cassini has been orbiting Saturn since 2004 and finally managed to capture that same crazy hexagon, this time in spring instead of winter, revealing a massive storm, whose eye precisely coincides with Saturn's north pole, which most likely means the storm is here to stay, because if hurricanes on earth drift northward, this one's got nowhere to go.
The storm has some of the same qualities as earth storms do, for instance, both feature an eye in the center with low or no clouds at all (red indicates low cloud cover, and green means high), and counterclockwise motion (in the northern hemisphere). Except, the mystery remains to be the six-sided vortex that the storm swirls within. Another difference is earth's hurricanes feed off it's massive oceans, yet Saturn's hexagonal storm was born of vapor in its atmosphere.
The eye alone measures 1,250 miles across (2000km), 20 times the average size of hurricane eyes on earth, with outer winds traveling at 330 mph (530km/h). Quite the storm, anyway but certainly not the only one. Saturn also sports a sort of sperm-like storm, discovered in Saturn's mid-northern altitudes in 2011, whose head evolved out of a tiny spot that formed twelve weeks before. The tail now circles Saturn, whose circumference at that latitude measures 186,000 miles across (300,000 km). North-south, the storm measures around 9,000 miles (15,000 km). Crazy right?

SOURCES

http://www.space.com/20877-saturn-hurricane-nasa-spacecraft-video.html

http://www.space.com/12754-photos-strongest-storms-planets-solar-system.html

Exploding Meteor Passes Over Russia

2013-02-15T09:36:00.002-08:00

An exploding meteor passed over the Chelyabinsk region of Russia last night (although, it was technically morning in Russia--about 9:20am local time).
Windows shattered leaving over 1,000 injured. Experts say the meteor is traveling perpendicular to the astroid that's planning on cruising by I think about 1:00 Pacific time? Am I right? Well... hopefully that one keeps it's distance.
According to calculations we're in the clear, but just so you know if those numbers are even a smidgen we're about to be scrambled eggs. I hope everyone had a happy Valentine's Day because it may just be your last!

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/15/world/europe/russia-meteor-shower/index.html

Is There Anybody Out There

2013-01-28T10:38:00.001-08:00

Alright, this is a poem I wrote for class. It is an Italian Sonnet--fancy, right? Here it goes...

IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE

Aliens! What is this? Some sick cosmic game?

Disappear not into the depths of our skies!

Come on, don’t be cowards—shed your clever guise!

And what of these many a curious claim—

Are the "aliens" indeed to blame?

What particular virtue qualifies

A worthy abductee? Where can I apply?

And not just for my fifteen minutes of fame,

See, I just want to make the world aware—

Is there anybody else out there?

All I ask is a glimpse—honest, just a peep!

I won’t believe til I see with my own eyes

Cease this nonsensical hide and seek!

Although, please—bring us not to our demise.

By Dakota Jolene Snow

Explosive Dry Ice Bubble

2013-01-25T15:55:00.003-08:00

Milky Way Miscalculation

2013-01-16T16:51:00.000-08:00

Recent calculations contradict previous beliefs about the size of our galaxy, the great Milky Way, reduced to a Milky Way mini? To be honest, I feel a little ripped off, because that's a pretty big miscalculation.
Just so you get an idea of how much smaller our galaxy actually is, I included this helpful visual aid:
The outermost stars were discovered traveling at considerably lower velocities than are to be expected, implying that the mass of our galaxy must likewise be considerably less than we thought. There has been no final word yet, since there is so much we still don't know, so many more forces and factors to consider that we don't yet understand.
http://news.yahoo.com/milky-way-galaxy-may-less-massive-thought-124521154.html

For instance, the Milky Way is spewing out "colossal magnetized fountains of gamma-ray emitting... geiser-like outflow" from our galactic center, the magnitude of which is equivalent to that of a million supernovas, which is a lot, and would not bode well for anyone traveling in its path, which we are not. Luckily these bizarre galactic masses erupt perpendicular to the galactic disc/plane, each one a whopping 13,000 lightyears across and a windspeed of 2.2 million mph.

They are estimated to be about a million years old, and although we are not certain why they formed, they may shed some light on the mysterious supermassive black hole from which they spew. Black holes trap and contain vast amounts of energy, so there's no way any energy could escape it. What's creating such immense magnetic output remains unknown.
So who knows what the hell is going on. Just some big ol' galactic blowholes. Do other galaxies have them? They must be growing... Do they eat up the galaxy when they get too big? Do they swallow up smaller passersby? Next time you're out in outer space, just make sure you steer clear of these things, anyway.
http://news.yahoo.com/giant-gas-geysers-erupting-milky-way-galaxy-181157362.html

Giant Squid -- Moving Footage Captured for the First Time Ever!

2013-01-12T13:22:00.001-08:00

Giant Squid--seen in its natural habitat, 3000 feet below.

Voynich Manuscript

2013-01-09T14:39:00.000-08:00

Found in northern Italy, presumably written between 1404 and 1438. The language of the manuscript remains unknown, and the illustrations are bizarre, to say the least. The script consists of over 170,000 individual characters. That is a hefty alphabet if you ask me.
The language seems to follow some similar rules to our own, for instance:

Some characters must appear in every word, like vowels.
Some characters never follow others, some may not repeat, while others may be found two or three in a row.
The text reads left to right.

However, there are differences:

Some letters appear only at the beginning, middle or end of words. Some characters appear only once or twice total throughout the entire text.
There is no apparent punctuation.
Except for strange sunlike, flowery bullet points.
The same word sometimes appears up to three times in a row, "yielding babble-like text" according to Wikipedia. Perhaps some ridiculous spell or incantation?

Even stranger than the text, like I said, are the illustrations. Bizarre plants are depicted, accompanied by a block of text -- an explanation about the plant, its functions and uses and what not, whether it was poisonous, etc. Presumably. However, the book depicts 113 unidentified plant species, that are either alien, imagined, or just really badly drawn.
The roots often appear alive, snakelike (see image to the left), or come out in little rectangular sausage links (see image above).
The leaves often look like chainsaws, that or cartoon hands. Atop the plant usually sits a single toothy mouthlike, or eyelike--I can't quite decide--thistly blossom. Very menacing. The illustrations themselves look like a bad Valentine or crappy class doodle, not the work of a fine artist anyway, which simply makes the whole thing ten times more bizarre.

Next are the mysterious star wheels, some of which feature zodiac symbols. One star wheel has been superimposed with an image of the Milky Way, and the two correspond more than a coincidence could account for.

The rest are less obvious. Many of them display the same general composition. The middle either features some personified planetary image, or else an angular spiky star shape. Some feature little yellow stars, like the stickers you used to receive in kindergarten when you're good. Do they still do gold star stickers? I hope so.

This particular page to the right consists of nine wheels--and fold out pages! Who knew they did those way back in the day? So innovative. Anyway, It depicts, presumably, either a map or diagram, perhaps the chambers of a building?
It also sort of looks like a board game... Clue, specifically. I've posted an image of one of many variations of the game clue, in case you are unfamiliar. Alien clue, perhaps? Probably not.

If it's a map, it's impossible to tell what of. The middle wheel of the top and bottom row both appear to feature the tops of circus tents. The middle most wheel seems to be a badly drawn birthday cake.

Lastly, and possibly weirdest of all, are these bizarre images of plump naked (badly drawn) maidens. There's no telling what the hells is going on. The women are drawn in ponds and pools that quite closely resemble human organs. These pools are connected by veinlike lines.
There are also images of women bathing and showering in insanely elaborate plumbing. Some of it looks mechanical, some organic. Perhaps the text describes how to build and use this machine? By machine, I mean network of intestine-like tubes containing plump naked ladies. What's weird about that?
Super weird... but not as weird as the fact that some of the tubes seem to have scales and fins, and be some semi-reptile.

I don't get it. Are the girls trapped in these tubes? Because according to the illustrations, crude though they may be, the women seem to be rather enjoying themselves.

No one knows what the Voynich manuscript means, and perhaps we never will. Perhaps it contains spells and incantations, as many associate the text with a Roger Bacon, born in Somerset, England, 1214 (about), a scientific philosopher and devout Christian who divulged in the use of textual amulets, a form of magic you might say, that protects against demonic attack.
Perhaps the text is in fact alien.
If you want to--and you should--check out each existing page of the manuscript. You will notice the tops of the pages have been numbered by a previous owner, and many of the pages are missing. Perhaps they'll turn up?

Tarim Mummies -- Xinjiang, China

2013-01-07T12:17:00.002-08:00

The mummies discovered in the Tarim Basin are a mystery on account of their origin. They seem to be of Siberian and Eastern European descent. They range in age from 2,000 - 3,800 years old. The oldest is shown below, the "Beauty of Xiaohe."
She looks phenomenal for her age. Her auburn locks are still attached, and she's even dressed in her Sunday best--check out her hat. What ever happened to hats? Why don't women wear big fancy hats anymore? And cutie booties to match!
Someone clearly really cared to keep this woman cosy and peaceful in her afterlife. Who was she? Why was she mummified? Why was an infant put sweetly to rest, wrapped and preserved in his blanket a thousand years later? There were several mummies discovered, over a very long period of time. But why?

Photos Courtesy of

http://www.slightlywarped.com/crapfactory/curiosities/2012/march/tarim_mummies.htm

Roanoke -- The Lost Colony

2013-01-06T11:06:00.000-08:00

2013, boys and girls. We made it. So for my first post of the new year, I am commemorating a mystery which to some really did mean the end of the world, or at least of their world--the lost colony of Roanoke, England's first New World settlement. A hundred and seventeen settlers arrived in 1586. They arrived too late to plant and harvest for the winter. Their supplies were inadequate and dwindling, and relations with neighboring Indians were shaky from the start. John White returned to England for more supplies, but could not return to Roanoke until 1590 on account of the Spanish armanda. When he arrived on the island after three long years, to his astonishment he found the place pillaged and abandoned, its hundred or so residents disappeared without a trace.
It has since been concluded that some angry nearby natives sought revenge on the settlers for stupidly slaughtering their chief. The survivors of this attack must have fled to Hatteras Island and assimilated into the Croatan Indian tribe. There is plenty of evidence to support this claim. For one thing, when White arrived back in the Lost Colony, all he found was the word CROATOAN and the letters KRO- carved into two trees. He had instructed the settlers to carve a Maltese cross above their destination should their removal be forced. Since no such distress signal was left behind, it is assumed the settlers fled to the Croatans voluntarily, to seek help. When the English returned to settle America the second time round, they were surprised to find one tribe of natives--the Croatans--fluent English speakers, many sporting slightly lighter skin and gray eyes which are quite uncommon among Native Americans.
Not to say this explanation answers everything. These men and women were literate. Why not leave a note? Human instinct compells us to leave evidence of our existence. If our greatest fear is to be forgotten, to disappear without a trace, as it were, then why not leave a note? A clue, a date and time to rendezvous, anything at all. They didn't. And if they weren't taken against their will, why the hurry? They only had time to carve one and a half words? Really... I find that hard to believe. There must be more to this story.
If any of you watch Supernatural, they have their own take on what may have happened. It's a little silly, but Sam and Dean are worth it.

Anyway, there has been one recent development on the Lost Colony: According to Fox News, this map drawn by John White himself contains two patches, pasted over two parts of the map. One patch is believed to simply correct the coastline, and the other, backlit by ultra-violet light, reveals a symbol of what can only be presumed to be some kind of fort. The symbol was covered up, possibly indicating there were once plans to build such a fortress, but never followed through. Or perhaps it's a symbol for... something else? Who knows.
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/05/07/new-clue-to-mystery-lost-roanoke-colony/

"Rover's Leap" -- Overtoun Bridge, Dunbartonshire, Scotland

2013-01-04T16:38:00.002-08:00

"Rover's Leap" has claimed the lives of over fifty dogs so far, who inexplicably, whilst crossing, leapt to their own tragic deaths. I mean, is Overtoun so bad? Is Overtoun Bridge haunted?
And more mystifying still is why people continue to walk their dogs across it in the first place, honestly. I don't believe this bridge is haunted. Let's try it on my dog!
I mean, unless they really didn't know, in which case somebody should post a sign.

There have been several feeble explanations, for instance, the dogs catch the scent of the minks living under the bridge. I don't think so. Another theory is that the town is so dreary that it fact the dogs pick up and act on their owners' suicidal inclinations. And then some say perhaps Overtoun Bridge is haunted, since a local Kevin Moy chucked his baby boy off the bridge for being the anti-Christ.

For one thing, a dog doesn't jump off a bridge because he smells some minks. If anything, most dogs would just start barking. I'd put my money on theory number three: the bridge is haunted. Too many coincidences. The dogs always veer off the the same side, and leap from the same spot on the same ledge of the same bridge. Because for some reason their owner didn't think to strap on a leash. Honestly, I bet these dogs are so insulted and betrayed that their humans didn't care to take this precaution before crossing the dog-killing bridge that they leap to their deaths just to spite them.

But there is a fourth theory, a Celtic belief, that Overtoun is a "thin place," somewhere God is especially present. I don't exactly know what this means, but plan to investigate further. Until then, put your dog on a LEASH if you dare cross Overtoun.

Salp vs.Nuclear Reactor

2012-12-05T16:41:00.004-08:00

Who would have thought an army of tiny transparent critters could take down a nuclear plant off the coast of California? Honestly. According to latimes, jellyfish clog up their filters quite frequently, but never before have they been bothered by salp. According to salp-expert Larry Madin, salp are "typically an offshore organism." What could possibly have brought them to the Avila reactor? Madin claims it was a current caused by the wind, but I disagree. Was there intelligence behind this attack? Was mother earth sending an army of salp to her rescue, attacking the vile polluting humans once and for all? ...With salp?
I mean probably not, but I like to think so. I appreciate all nature's tiny triumphs--weeds growing along the barriers lining the freeway, routes churning up roads and driveways and sidewalks, it's awesome.
But maybe I'm really onto something--salp are smarter than you think, and whether or not they attacked the nuclear plant on purpose, they are indeed slowly working to save the planet, undo the damage we humans have done. They actually reduce greenhouse gases, by excreting carbon dioxide into heavy pellets that sink and rest on the ocean floor rather than rise up into the smoggy ghost of our atmosphere.
Plus they travel in these neat little spirals. It's crazy. Like birds fly in Vs, fish swim in schools for god's sake. Animals are smarter than you think.
They're actually pretty cute little things. They're just clear little tubes, about the size of a thumb. And they're harmless, but they reproduce like rabbits. People have spotted them along the coast and reported them to this website called Jelly Watch. I swear there's a website for everything.

SOURCES

James Eng, NBC News

Steve Chawkins, Los Angeles Times

Images Courtesy of Mick McMurray

Wingardium Leviosa

2012-11-09T17:06:00.000-08:00

Was exploring the vast virtual world that exists behind my computer screen this morning, and during my search I came across an interesting article. Check it out, but not until you finish reading my post. Obviously. Here's the link: http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2012/10/the-sailing-stones-of-egypt/. Anyway, it refers to the writings of an explorer/writer like myself, Abu al-Hasan Ali al-Mas'udi (what a mouthful), born in Baghdad 896 AD. Anyway, according to his account of the history of the world, the building of the pyramids in particular does not correspond with contemporary textbooks. According to our middle and high school history teachers, Egyptians were able to accomplish such a phenomenal feat without even the help of modern machines because they were simply more motivated than students today, and we all ought to get off our lazy asses and follow their example.
It's like honestly... our ancestors went out of their way to litter the world with all these permanent stone mysterious structures and formations as proof that something out of this world went down, so that we'd have to notice them and figure the damn things out, because they were built to last, but we're too lazy even to provide a simple explanation. Allow me to take this opportunity to reflect on the quality of today's education.

Anyway, according to al-Mas'udi, the pyramids of Egypt were actually levitated into place piece by piece. Now why would I discard an unrealistic explanation for an even more impossible one, you ask? Well, because. There's clearly more to our existence than we understand, and there are too many mysteries to accept reasonable explanations. And I've got this guy to back me up.
If you haven't already watched Ancient Aliens you ought to do so at once. Well obviously not at once... you're not done reading my blog. But immediately after. Ancient Aliens. They've got it on Netflix. ANCIENT ALIENS (DVD) (Google Affiliate Ad)
Anyway, like I was saying, al-Mas'udi claims the pyramids were levitated into place by metal rods, like magic wands. Wingardium Leviosa... Am I right? But really, it would certainly explain Stone Henge, and Machu Picchu and Easter Island and the like. And if you still don't believe me, let me tell you about Coral Castle:
Coral Castle was built in the 1940's by a Latvian immigrant, Edward Leedskalnin, just outside Homestead, Florida. He quarried, transported, and assembled the stones himself, some measuring several tons apiece, and some twice the weight of the blocks used to construct the Pyramids of Giza. The man was a hundred pounds and five feet tall for goodness sake.
No one witnessed the building of Coral Castle, so how he did it remains a mystery. He claims to have built it using the same secret ancient (possibly alien?) technique used to assemble the build the Giza Pyramids.
A single man, over the course of twenty years:

halled a whopping eleven hundred tons (total) of coral stone to construct Coral Castle
raised an obelisk weighing 28 tons,
constructed an 8 ft wall surrounding the place out of stones weighing several tons apiece,
perched large stone crescents atop 20 ft walls,
installed a 9 ton Stone Henge-esque rotating gate that swings at the touch of a finger,
without any modern machinery, except a truck to transport the stones, which still doesn't explain how he got them on or off the damn thing in the first place.

http://paranormal.about.com/od/moremadscience/a/coral-castle-secrets.htm

Could he have been exposed to some sort of ancient alien anti-gravity technology? Just look at the guy:

Cueva de los Cristales, Naica Mine, Mexico

2012-10-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

In case it isn't clear from the pictures, in English that means Cave of Crystals. Two brothers found it by accident drilling for silver in 2000. They mine above for lead and silver, elements which provide raw materials for forming crystals, which is exactly what occurred for over half a million years.

I mean we've all seen the usual cottage cheese walls and occasional butterscotch drapes of most caves. And that's cool, and so is cave bacon, if you recall from my previous post, but this is a cave made of crystals. Roller coaster sized crystals, floor to ceiling, wall to wall.

Tell me the last time you saw somebody climb a crystal. Can't remember? No, neither can I. Thank you, earth.

Beautiful as it is, the cave is all kinds of uncomfortable. For one thing, if you fall, you will most likely impale yourself on a protruding spearlike crystal.

And second, it's on average about 112 degrees Fahrenheit in the cave itself, and ninety to a hundred percent humidity. The deeper you go, the hotter it is on account of the magma flowing less than a mile below, leaving each visitor at risk of heatstroke.

But like I said, beautiful. Beauty is never comfortable and almost always comes at an expense to your health, ask any supermodel. But in the case of the crystal cave I'd say it's worth it.

I mean, if other planets have lead and silver and magma just the same as we do, whose to say there aren't a million more gorgeous caves like this out there in the universe yet to be discovered.

Photos courtesy of:

http://planetoddity.com/spectacular-crystal-cave-1000ft-under-mexican-desert/

Alright Ladies

2012-10-17T15:38:00.004-07:00

Here's what you've all been waiting for. A fashion segment on my mystery/space blog. Who says it isn't cool to like science? You don't need to be a nerd. I mean you can be nerdy, but not in a bad way. Embrace your inner nerdiness. You can be into outer space and still be cool. Forget the scrunchies and sweater vests and high waisted khakis. And stop tucking your shirts in all the time. It's no wonder no one's ever tried to get in your tight ass pants.

http://mrgugumissgo.bigcartel.com/

NEBULA LEGGINGS €31.00

I mean how could you not be the star of the club when you've got galaxies on your leggings?

NEBULA/SPACE DUST SWEATERS €45.00

Bloody Falls of Antarctica

2012-10-15T10:15:00.003-07:00

Alright boys and girls, you know we've F'd up earth for sure when Antarctica starts bleeding.
Just kidding. Of course there's a perfectly natural scientific explanation, but as far as I'm concerned that's Mother Earth's blood oozing out of those ice bergs. This ought to be a reminder we should treat our earth a little better than we do.
This particular glacier belongs to the West Lake Bonney in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Victoria, East Antarctica, according to http://amazing-albums.blogspot.com/2012/09/amazing-bloody-falls-in-antarctica.html. Maybe not an ideal vacation spot-- bleeding ice, and below zero temperatures and all. But it can't be all bad. Looks like someone even left their beach ball behind in the top left picture, am I right? What is that...
Anyway, this is what's been going on underneath the ice: A stream rich in salt and iron got trapped a couple years ago inside all the ice. A massive amount of microscopic organisms known as microbes became isolated in the ice, and evolved independently of the rest of the world.
(By the way, upon further investigation regarding the beach ball, I discovered it's actually a tent. So to scale those are some pretty big bloody falls, if you ask me.)
To be honest I don't know all that much else about the microbes, but it's at least interesting to know life can persist in such severe conditions. I don't know if you know this but generally speaking the insides of glaciers are pretty chilly. It's speculated similar icy instances may occur on other planets, isolating liquid water for millions or even billions of years, so that life-creating components may evolve into organisms. Who knows what we'd find if we got into one of those lakes in the frozen surface of Europa... and who knows, maybe their microbes are even more evolved than ours.
The picture to the bottom left is of Thera Macula, a point on Europa's surface where it is suspected that liquid water may be found not two miles below the surface. The red streaks, which are strikingly familiar now that I've acquainted you with our earth's own bloody falls, is said to "indicate the presence of organics," according to Tony Reichhardt-- Nasa, Planetory Exploration -- http://blogs.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/2012/03/lake-vostok-europa-and-washington/.
One of these days, when NASA's got enough money, (and if Russia doesn't get to it first) they have had ideas about sending a Europa cryobot. I looked up cryo, because I didn't know what it meant, and it has to do with being cold. You can find out more about the nature of these possibly life-bearing lakes in Europa's surface at the link at the end of this post. Anyway, the spectacular color of the Antarctica falls hasn't got anything to do with the microbes at all. The water is red on account of the iron, which is also responsible for the redness of our own blood. It is harmless to the surrounding environment in case you were worried. Neat, right?

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/11/17/could-jupiter-moons-buried-lakes-hold-life/

Space Oddity

2012-10-12T19:02:00.002-07:00

Red River -- Rio Caño Cristales, Columbia

2012-10-10T13:25:00.001-07:00

So if there are other worlds out there, and if they are lifelike, like ours, I bet their rivers are red like this. Except this particular red river's right here in all our backyards. The river is red on account of the algae. In fact, the algae itself looks a little Dr. Seuss-esque if you ask me.
I bet it's nice and soft to walk on too. A natural red carpet. A slippery one, anyway. I think I'd just let the water drag me along it. It looks so cosy and nice, just to tumble over the algae.
In fact I wonder if you could grow that kind of algae in other streams, or if it requires really specific conditions or something. I'll look into that and get back to you guys. I'll try it out on the pond in my dad's backyard.
The other neat thing about the rainbow river is that the water over time has drilled all these awesome holes in the rocks from the way the water flows, swiss cheese style.
This is what the rocks look like after the red river is through with them. It's neat, really, like a natural sort of accidental map of where the water was once upon a time.
We can imagine the way the water fell long ago. A glimpse of a world that once was.... inspired by M. C. Escher's Staircase, perhaps?
Anyway it's crazy and beautiful and alien looking. It's a furry red river, what more can I say. Lucky for us it's isn't worlds away. Perhaps I'll get to go some day...
This last one looks a little like Yellowstone.

Photos compliments of:

http://twistedsifter.com/2011/10/river-of-five-colors-cano-cristales-colmbia/#

http://amazing-albums.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-five-colours-river-la-macarena-in.html

Darvaza Gates of Hell, Turkmenistan

2012-10-08T16:40:00.002-07:00

Back in the seventies, some geologists dug up a nice big crater-sized hole in a natural gas rich area in Turkmenistan. Realizing just how much gas was being released, and fearing for the quality of the region's air, they decided to light the thing on fire and burn up the gas deposit. That was forty years ago and the thing is still burning. It's impossible to know how much gas has already burnt and how much longer it will burn for.

So yeah, maybe there's a gaping hole in our ozone layer on account of this fire hole, but it's beautiful at night and brings in a bunch of tourists, so at least there's that. It's speculated the thing will burn up to another hundred years. Well, I don't know how they could possibly know that, but imagine if it did.
Photos compliments of http://amazing-albums.blogspot.com/2012/09/darvaza-gates-of-hell-in-turkmenistan.html

Sailing in Space

2012-10-05T13:12:00.000-07:00

Titan is the largest moon of Saturn, and possibly the most earth-like thing so far out in our solar system. It's got a thick (mostly nitrogen rich) atmosphere, rivers and rain, streams and lakes. Except instead of water, Titan is trickling with methane, which is able to retain a liquid form at such low temperatures, unlike H2O.
Well we've sent rovers over to Mars already, in search of aliens, and signs of life and running water and what not. We ought to send one out to Titan. In fact, apparently, they already did. They sent a land probe in 2005 that lasted about 90 minutes. However, there have been at least two propositions for embarking on a boating trip to Titan. The first was called TiME (Titan Mare Explorer-- referring to the lake Ligeia Mare on which it was intended to land). This mission was set to the side for now in favor of another Mars mission. Although, to be fair, this Mars mission-- InSight-- is supposed to explore the planet's interior, which actually sounds pretty cool.
Anyway, according to http://www.examiner.com/article/boating-on-titan-new-mission-proposal-for-exploring-an-alien-lake, the most recent mission proposal is called Titan Lake In-situ Sampling Propelled Explorer (TALISE). And rather than last a sorry hour and a half, TALISE is expected to explore, sample and analyze Ligeia Mare for at least a good six months to a year. That is, if all goes as planned.
The shoreline evidently is rich in organic compounds, so that will be TALISE's focus. Life as we know it couldn't exist, but some sort of life just might. I'll be eager to see what they find.

Marieta Islands, Mexico: Hidden Beach

2012-10-05T11:40:00.002-07:00

So I was searching the endless ocean of the internet and happened upon this "hidden"beach that's seemingly been hollowed out of a rocky cliff. So not only has nature gone through all this extra effort to create a beach with a ceiling, and then it goes and puts a giant hole in it. Our earth is an interesting architect. Maybe she forgot that if she put up a ceiling it would block out the sun, and then what would be the point of going to the beach? So she added the hole as a sky light. Perhaps...
If not that, it must be the landing spot of ancient UFOs used to come to meet up with the Mayans. I mean it's a perfect circle. That or our underwater alien friends used the hidden beach as a launch pad for their USOs. If you don't know what USOs are, I think I refer to them in my Europa post? Maybe. Well it's in one of my other posts so just go right ahead and read them all. And show them to your friends.
I mean, it may not be a perfect circle. It's no Blue Hole of Belize, but it's like a window into another secret layer of the earth. I mean if it weren't for the hole, from above all it looks like is grassy earth and then ocean. Who would have though the earth was hollow underneath? The earth is etched all over with secret spaces and crevices and cracks and bubbles. Caves collapse and close up and are preserved for eons. They are the resting places of carcasses of prehistoric animals. Time capsules of evolution. There is so much to be discovered. We ought to dig up the whole thing. I'll start with my backyard, and keep you posted if I find anything.