Monthly Archives: December 2011

More on Source of Stonehenge’s Stones

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Geologists pinpoint near exact source of some of Stonehenge’s stones

December 20, 2011 by Bob Yirka

Stonehenge 

Stonehenge. Image: Wikipedia.

(PhysOrg.com) — Robert Ixer and Richard Bevins, British geologists, after nine months of tedious research, have pinpointed the place from which some of the stones that make up Stonehenge were quarried. The stones in question, the so-named bluestones, the smaller kind used in the inner circle at Stonehenge, came from a sixty five meter long outcropping called Craig Rhos-y-Felin, which is close to the town of Pont Saeson in the north part of Pembrokeshire, in Wales; a site some one hundred and sixty miles from Stonehenge. The question now is, did the early Neolithic people who built Stonehenge bring them to the site over 5000 years ago, or was it due to natural causes, such as glacial movement?

That question may soon be answered as further research is conducted at the quarry site. If evidence can be found of human quarrying, little doubt will remain that the huge, four tonne stones were either loaded onto barges and sent around St. David’s Head or carted directly across the mountainous terrain that sits between Stonehenge and the quarry site.

The researchers found the quarry site by a collecting and analyzing rocks in Pembrokeshire, looking for a match with the rhyolite debitage rocks at Stonehenge. When close matches were found, they took a closer look using petrography, a means for comparing . They kept up their search till they found specimens that were 99% identical to those at Stonehenge, a sure sign that the two were from the same place. The two believe their findings mean they have pinpointed the place where the Stonehenge rocks came from to within seventy meters.

News of the find has been greeted with excitement the world over – such is the connection people feel with the mystery that is , the circular monument believed to have been built from the period 3000 BC to 1600 BC by early people for an unknown reason. The outer bigger stones, called sarsens, are believed by most  and historians to have been hauled to the site some two hundred years after the bluestones, and came from a much closer place; somewhere in Marlborough Downs, just twenty miles to the north.

If it can be proven that the rocks were in fact quarried by people, likely many other scientists will join in the debate that will no doubt ensue in attempting to explain how such a primitive people could have achieved such a feat as transporting such big and heavy  such a great distance, and why.

© 2011 PhysOrg.com

from:    http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-12-geologists-exact-source-stonehenge-stones.html

Tsunami Clouds in Alabama

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Giant Tsunami-Shape Clouds Roll Across Alabama Sky

Natalie Wolchover, Life’s Little Mysteries Staff Writer
Date: 19 December 2011 Time: 02:12 PM ET
Clouds along the horizon in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday (Dec. 16). Credit: ABC 33/40 in Birmingham
Clouds along the horizon in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday (Dec. 16).
CREDIT: ABC 33/40 in Birmingham

For a morning, the sky looked like a surfer’s dream: A series of huge breaking waves lined the horizon in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday (Dec. 16), their crests surging forward in slow motion. Amazed Alabamans took photos of the clouds and sent them to their local weather station, wondering, “What are these tsunamis in the sky?”

Experts say the clouds were pristine examples of “Kelvin-Helmholtz waves.” Whether seen in the sky or in the ocean, this type of turbulence always forms when a fast-moving layer of fluid slides on top of a slower, thicker layer, dragging its surface.

Water waves, for example, form when the layer of fluid above them (i.e., the air) is moving faster than the layer of fluid below (i.e., the water). When the difference between the wind and water speed increases to a certain point, the waves “break” — their crests lurch forward — and they take on the telltale Kelvin-Helmholtz shape. [Astonishing Video Shows a Face in the Clouds]

According to Chris Walcek, a meteorologist at the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center at the State University of New York, Albany, fast-moving air high in the sky can drag the top of slow-moving, thick clouds underneath it in much the same way.

“In the pictures [of the Birmingham sky] there is probably a cold layer of air near the ground where the wind speed is probably low. That is why there is a cloud or fog in that layer,” Walcek told Life’s Little Mysteries, a sister site to LiveScience. “Over this cloudy, cold, slow-moving layer is probably a warmer and faster-moving layer of air.”

Most of the time, the difference in wind speed and temperature between two layers of the atmosphere is small, and so the fast-moving air on top “simply slides smoothly over the slower-moving air like a hockey puck sliding along an ice surface,” Walcek said. At the other extreme, if the wind-speed difference is too large, the interface between the two layers breaks down into random turbulence.

Kelvin-Helmholtz waves form when the difference in the temperature and wind speed of the two layers hits a sweet spot. “What [these pictures] show is air between these two atmospheric layers that is just very close to that threshold for turbulence, and mixing to mix the two layers together,” he said.

from:    http://www.livescience.com/17545-giant-tsunami-shape-clouds-roll-alabama-sky.html

Enduring Ancient Mysteries to Ponder

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Top ancient mysteries of 2011

 

Peter Schmid / Lee Berger / Univ. of Wits.

The skeletal hand of an adult female Australopithecus sediba is nestled within a modern human hand. The analysis of the A. sediba bones led to what some experts called a “game-changing” view of evolution in 2011.

By Alan Boyle

Do archaeologists ever get tired of delving into ancient mysteries? One of my all-time favorite articles from The Onion is the one about the archaeologist who’s fed up with“unearthing unspeakable ancient evils,” but in real life, you can’t beat a good story about archaeology, paleontology or paleoanthropology.

I’m combining several different scientific disciplines in this end-of-year roundup of ancient mysteries. Archaeology has to do with studying the peoples of the past through an analysis of the things they’ve left behind, ranging from the bones of Ötzi the Iceman to the pigeon nests built in a cave near Jerusalem. Paleontology is the branch of geology that focuses on the fossil record left behind by bygone organisms, including dinosaur dung. And paleoanthropology focuses on our prehistoric ancestors and theirrelationships to other species.

It’s been a busy year for archaeologists coping with the tumult that swept over Egypt and Libya … for paleontologists debating where different species fit on the org chart for extinct organisms … and for anthropologists analyzing how humans swapped DNA with heaven knows what other kinds of hominids. Here’s a quick rundown, with assists from the editors of Archaeology magazine and paleo-blogger Brian Switek.

Archaeology
The top 10 discoveries of 2011, as rated by Archaeology, include revelations about these ancient mysteries:

I would add two late-breaking stories to the mix: one about the mysterious markings on the floor of an ancient complex in Jerusalem, and another about long-hidden 16-foot-wide pits in the ground near Stonehenge.

Paleontology
I asked Switek to help me sort through the year’s top stories in paleontology, and he was kind enough to send this recap:

“Last year the big news was that paleontologists had restored the colors of two feathered dinosaurs. This year, there doesn’t seem to be any major story that competes. But that’s not to say that nothing significant happened in 2011. Here’s a rundown of what I thought was interesting and important.

“Dinosaur growth: Over the past few years, paleontologists have been tussling over how many dinosaur species we have collected so far. The great Triceratops-Torosaurus debate of 2010 really brought this ongoing argument into focus, and there were several 2011 papers which continued the conversation. Early in the year paleontologist Andy Farkecriticized the ‘Torosaurus as Triceratops’ hypothesis, and a reply to his reply has just appeared. Likewise, paleontologists suggested that the hadrosaur Anatotitan and the tyrannosaur Raptorex were really just growth stages of already-known dinosaurs (the latter being similar to Tarbosaurus, a juvenile of which was also described this year).” [Here’s another take on the tussle over Triceratops.]

“Dinosaur senses: Two big papers – published at about the same time – probed dinosaur senses. One focused on smell, and the other vision. Studies like these represent our broadening understanding of dinosaur biology. It’s not all about naming new species.” [Learn more about thesmell and night vision research]

“Archaeopteryx: This year marked the 150th anniversary of when Archaeopteryx was discovered. The year has been full of ups and downs. Even though an 11th specimen of the feathered dinosaur was announced,a ballyhooed paper proposed that the creature was not an early bird but rather a non-avian dinosaur more distantly related to the first birds.”[Here’s more ballyhoo about the claim that Archaeopteryx wasn’t a bird.]

“New species: New dinosaurs are named just about every week, but there were at least two that caught my eye. One was Brontomerus – a sauropod whose name translates to “thunder thighs” – andTeratophoneus, a short-snouted tyrannosaur. (I just realized that both were found in Utah, though, so perhaps I have a bias for my adoptive state!)” [Learn more about “Thunder Thighs” as well as other ancient wonders in Utah.]

“Other paleo: I usually don’t cover the really big stories – I like to root around for tales no one is telling – but a few studies from this year got my attention.”

• Plesiosaurs gave birth to live young
• Marsupial “wolf” hunted more like a cat
• Late-surviving predator was similar to those that swam the Cambrian
• Earliest saber-toothed herbivore found
• Ammonoids trapped parasites in pearls
• Cache of fossil feathers found in amber
• Woolly and Columbian mammoths may have interbred

Paleoanthropology
To round out this big list, here are a few of the tales of human ancestors that caught my eye over the past year:

That’s more than 30 tales of ancient mysteries to ponder

from:    http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/15/9478098-top-ancient-mysteries-of-2011

Mysteries of 2011-2012

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UNEXPLAINED MYSTERIES OF 2011 AND INTO 2012

Analysis by Benjamin Radford
Sun Dec 18, 2011 02:17 PM ET
(Mystery-zoom

 

As we head inexorably toward 2012, we decided to look back at some of the strangest mysteries of this past year, and some of the mysteries that remain with us as we enter the new year.

5 “Unexplained” Mysteries Solved in 2011

The Jerusalem UFO Video

Just a few weeks into 2011 a stunning UFO video circulated around the world. On Jan. 28, a mysterious glowing light hovered high above the Dome of the Rock, an ancient Islamic shrine in Jerusalem.

It was touted as possibly the best video ever taken of an extraterrestrial spacecraft — made all the more apparently authentic because it was captured by at least two other people at the same time, from different angles. When the videos appeared on YouTube UFO interest was whipped into a frenzy; as Ian O’Neill noted,“The news headlines read: “Holy Smoke — UFO in Jerusalem,” “Dome of the Rock Jerusalem light all proof UFO fans need that aliens exist” and “Credible? Jerusalem UFO footage captured from multiple viewpoints.”

Skeptical analyses soon suggested that the video had been faked, but true believers insisted that the videos were legitimate. Finally in March even MUFON, an organization dedicated to proving extraterrestrial visitation, joined the skeptics in branding the whole thing a hoax. Eventually even most diehard UFO believers grudgingly acknowledged that it had been faked.

The Mysterious Magnetic Boy

While the Internet was still abuzz with chatter about the Jerusalem UFO, another weird mystery emerged in February, from the country of Serbia. A seven-year-old boy named Bogdan made international news for his (apparently) paranormal ability to be “magnetic.”

According to MSNBC and The Daily Mail, household objects such as spoons, knives, and forks stuck to his skin with almost supernatural ease. Even stranger, other things stuck to him too, such as small plates and small flat glass objects. It was quite an unexplained mystery — until it was pointed out that whatever made the items to stick Bogdan’s bare skin, it was not magnetism, since many of the times were non-metallic. The mysterious ability was in fact due to simple skin friction.

The Beast of Gévaudan

Of all the monsters said to roam the earth, perhaps none was more feared than a mysterious creature that terrorized the French countryside in the 1760s. This monstrous Beast of Gévaudan, as it became known, killed peasants, farmers, and shepherds with impunity, often leaving its scores of victims a gory mess.

The identity of this monster has been a source of wild speculation, especially in France, for over two centuries. Many believe it was a werewolf; others say it was some sort of supernatural demon (owing to the fact that legends said could not be stopped by bullets); still others insist it was a serial killer (an early French Jack the Ripper).

The mystery has been told many times, including in the 2001 thriller film Brotherhood of the Wolf. In 2011 the mystery was finally solved; historian Jay M. Smith, in his book Monsters of the Gévaudan, convincingly showed that there actually was no singular Beast of Gévaudan responsible for the deaths, as widely assumed; in fact the killings were consistent with wolf attacks.

The Chupacabra

The Beast of Gévaudan was not the only monster mystery finally solved in 2011. Since the mid-1990s, people around the world (and especially in Puerto Rico and Latin America) have reported a bizarre vampire beast which became known as the chupacabra (Spanish for “goat sucker,” since it was said to drain blood out of small animals including goats). According to the first eyewitness, the chupacabra had two legs, stood 4 to 5 feet tall, and had spikes down its back.

The monster had long, thin arms and legs, and an alien-like head with red or black eyes. Later alleged chupacabras found in America (mostly Texas and New Mexico) turned out to be diseased dogs, foxes, and coyotes. Though widely believed to be a real creature, the chupacabra mystery was finally solved when the original eyewitness — whose description became the “standard” chupacabra image — was shown to have confused a monster from the 1995 horror thriller Species for something she saw in real life.

The Russian ET

In April, just a few months after the amazing UFO video footage over Jerusalem came out, a video of what appeared to be an extraterrestrial alien body recovered in Russia set off a new furor among UFO believers in the blogosphere. According to one story in The Daily Mail, “On its side with its mouth slightly agape, the slender, badly damaged body lies half-buried in snow close to Irkutsk, Russia.

Video of the alien’s corpse has become a massive worldwide hit with hundreds of thousands of followers after being posted on the internet. The corpse of the badly-damaged creature which resembles ET is two feet high. Part of the right leg is missing and there are deep holes for eyes and a mouth in a skull-like head.” The video’s authenticity was fiercely debated for weeks, until finally two Russian teens confessed to the hoax; police found the “alien” hidden in one of the teen’s bedrooms.

5 Unexplained Mysteries Entering 2012

Though a variety of old and new mysteries were solved in 2011, many more mysteries remain unexplained as we begin 2012. Here are five.

Mysterious Bee Deaths

The collapse of bee colonies has worried biologists for years. Since 2006, between 20 percent and 40 percent of the bee colonies in the United States have suffered massive die-outs called “colony collapse.” Many explanations have been proposed, ranging from pesticides to cell phone signals to climate change. As Discovery’s Liz Day noted, “scientists are fingering their latest culprit in the dramatic disappearance of honeybees: a fungus and virus team… The virus affects bees’ abdomens, often turning their tissues a purplish tone. The fungus, which also targets the bees’ guts, is called Nosema ceranae. Combined, it seems the duo prevent bees from getting enough nutrition.”

Though scientists have some important clues, a conclusive answer to the mystery remains elusive. Correlation does not imply causation, and just because all of the collapsed colonies had the virus and the gut fungus does not mean that the combination necessarily caused the bees to die; the presence of either one alone does not lead to colony collapse. How these cause colony collapse — if in fact they do — remains unknown.

Faster Than Light Experiments

In September 174 physicists at the CERN laboratory announced that they had shot particles between Switzerland and Italy at really high speeds. After three years of experiments and analysis, the team concluded that the neutrinos they fired arrived in Italy at one 17-millionth of a second earlier than expected. Now, one 17-millionth of a second doesn’t seem like a big deal; the issue was that, if confirmed, that speed would be faster than light — which definitely is a big deal.

The experiment was run again in November, and to the consternation of many (and the delight of some) they got the same result. Further experiments are necessary to know whether there was a miscalculation somewhere, or whether Einstein’s theory of relativity has a big hole in it. Perhaps 2012 will reveal the answer.

The Impact of the BP Oil Spill

What will be the impact of the 2010 BP oil spill that poured almost 5 million barrels into the Gulf of Mexico? Scientists still don’t know the answer. The initial predictions, from both the public and scientists, were dire: the ecosystem would be destroyed for the foreseeable future, devastating not only the wildlife but the local economy and tourism. Time magazine revisited the Gulf states in 2011, concluding that “nearly a year after the spill began, it seems clear that the worst-case scenario never came true. It’s not that the oil spill had no lasting effects — far from it — but the ecological doomsday many predicted clearly hasn’t taken place…. the damage does seem so far to have been less than feared.

Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated last August that much of the oil had remained in the Gulf, where it had dispersed or dissolved. Many environmentalists attacked the report for underplaying the threat of large underwater oil plumes still active in the Gulf, yet later independent scientific studies indeed found that oil had “largely disappeared from the water.” Still, oil sludge continues to be found on beaches and the ocean floor. Amid the dueling reports and accusations of bias one thing is clear: as we enter 2012 the long-term effects from the largest oil spill in U.S. history remain unknown.

Extraterrestrial Life on Earth-Like Planets?

Are we alone in the universe? It’s an age-old question that remains unexplained despite advances and discoveries in the past few years, and the idea got tremendous support in 2011. In January it was announced that the Kepler Space Telescope had found the first hard evidence of a rocky planet beyond the solar system: Kepler-10b, an exoplanet about one and a half times the size of Earth.

Though its surface is thought to be too hot to sustain life as we know it, astronomers suspect that it could have sustained life at some point in the past. That discovery came only a few months after scientists reported finding a planet called Gliese 581g, which is at just the right size and location to be hospitable for life. Then in December came the announcement that a planet with the unremarkable moniker Kepler 22b had been found: “A planet about twice the size of Earth has been confirmed to exist right in the middle of the ‘habitable zone’ around its star, which is much like our own… this is the first time such a life-friendly alien planet has been confirmed.”

Each year the scientific community finds more and more potential Earth-like bodies, yet proof of extraterrestrial life remains elusive. When it comes to knowing whether there’s life elsewhere in the universe, the question remains an unsolved mystery.

Will 2012 Bring Doomsday?

Many people have suggested that the year 2012 will bring some sort of significant global change, either in the form of catastrophic disaster or perhaps a new age of enlightenment (as in what was supposed to have happened during the so-called Harmonic Convergence in 1987). Some tie in the 2012 doomsday idea to the end of the Mayan calendar, which seems to have no more or less significance than our Gregorian calendar “ending” on December 31.

Ancient Mayans never believed the world would end in 2012 — and even if they had, it’s not clear why their doomsday predictions would be any more accurate than the thousands of previous failed prophecies. (For example in 2011 preacher Harold Camping famously claimed that the world would end in May, and again in October; at last report he was wrong.)

Others are less worried about a calendar’s expiration date than about what they see as more science-based threats, such as a collision with a (non-existent) planet called Niburu, or a predicted increase in solar flare activity next year which could potentially fry the world’s power grids. Will these predictions and concerns come true? Time will tell.

from:    http://news.discovery.com/human/unexplained-mysteries-2011-111219.html

Round Up Resistant Super Weeds

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Monsanto Defeated by Super Weeds

Posted By Dr. Mercola | December 13 2011 | 24,456 views

By Dr. Mercola

Twenty-one weed species around the world are now resistant to glyphosate, up from zero in 1996 — the year Monsanto started marketing its genetically engineered Roundup Ready crops.

Glyphosate, now the world’s bestselling weed killer and the key ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, is emerging as one of the most dangerous Monsanto products to date, in part because super weeds are emerging at an alarming rate.

A briefing by GM Freeze noted that in the United States, the worst-affected country (which is not surprising since the U.S. also leads the world in GM crop acreage), 13 resistant weed species cover more than 11 million acres, mostly those planted with Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) soy, corn and cotton crops.

The weeds are not only making Monsanto’s promises that their GM crops would reduce pesticide use completely laughable — since farmers are being forced to use multiple, and more, pesticides to keep weeds in their GM crops under control — but also are turning out to be a very big thorn in Monsanto’s proverbial side; one that ironically might turn out to threaten the very GM crops that created them.

Investors Warned About Monsanto’s Super Weeds

As GM Freeze reported, one investment company is now advising its clients to sell Monsanto shares because of the company’s problems with weed resistance, which are arguably set to snowball even further out of control in the very near future. Monsanto’s competitors, biotech giants like Dow and Bayer CropScience, are chomping at the bit to take over where Monsanto has failed, and already have released GM seeds with tolerance to multiple herbicides designed to be used on their own or in rotation with Roundup Ready crops in a last-ditch attempt to delay resistance from developing.

(No word yet on how these companies intend to deal with the new generation of super weeds that will inevitably develop in response to the new herbicide cocktail … )

So this dark cloud’s silver lining is the fact that, with super weeds becoming an undeniable threat that can no longer be ignored, the powers that be may be forced to acknowledge that GM crops are not all they’ve been cracked up to be. And Monsanto is also being shaken to its core by the grand scope of this environmental catastrophe.

GM Freeze reported:

“Monsanto is taking the problem of the rapid development of glyphosate resistance very seriously, as it represents a threat to their main sources of income.

… Monsanto has embarked on major changes in weed management in RR crops, which still includes the use of glyphosate on its own, but also in combination with other herbicides. This is increasing herbicide usage on these crops. So instead of the promised decrease in pesticide use on GM crops, the arrival of resistant weeds has resulted in herbicide use increasing on RR crops. Analysis of USDA data has found increases in herbicide use in all the crops where RR maize, cotton and soyabeans varieties dominate.

… Previous attempts to control resistant weeds by increasing the rate at which glyphosate is applied have proved unsuccessful, yet Monsanto appears to have no intention of taking responsibility for the failure of their technology.”

GM Crops Have Failed to Deliver … and That’s an Extreme Understatement

Herbicide tolerant (Roundup Ready) GM crops were supposed to control weeds and GM Bt crops were intended to control pests. Instead of controlling weeds and pests, GM crops have led to the emergence of super weeds and super pests

And despite claims that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) will lower the levels of chemicals (pesticides and herbicides) used, this clearly has not been the case. This is of great concern both because of the negative impacts of these chemicals on ecosystems and humans, and because there is the danger that increased chemical use will cause increasing numbers of pests and weeds to develop resistance, requiring even more chemicals in order to attempt to manage them.

According to Jeffrey Smith with the Institute for Responsible Technology, by 2004 farmers used an estimated 86 percent more herbicides on GM soy fields compared to non-GM fields. Unfortunately, Monsanto’s plan to circumvent the inevitable development of more superweeds is to douse fields with more and more chemicals.

The Institute of Science in Society reported:

“As Einstein famously quoted, ‘no problem can be solved with the same consciousness that created it.’ That is precisely what Monsanto is doing: advocating more and more herbicides to be used. New guidance published by the company to manage resistance includes:

  • The use of a cocktail of pesticides including 2,4-D, prior to sowing crop seeds
  • The production of GM seeds expressing tolerance to more than one pesticide. DuPont has already commercialised seeds tolerant to glyphosate and glufosinate. Monsanto has recently announced an agreement with the German pesticide and biotechnology company BASF to develop crops stacked with glyphosate and dicamba tolerant genes
  • The use of herbicides that remains active in the soil, killing any seedlings as they germinate, including sulfentrozone

The consequences of increasing herbicide use are likely to put the environment and people at further risk.”

Why Glyphosate is a Health and Environmental Disaster

Glyphosate is the world’s bestselling weed killer, and it’s found in more than 30 percent of all herbicides — an extremely disturbing scenario considering the data showing it to be an immense threat to human health and the environment.

GM expert Jeffrey Smith has reported that glyphosate promotes the formation of certain types of fungi that are dangerous to people and contaminate food and animal feed. One such fungi, the Fusarium fungus, has been linked to plague epidemics, cancer, infertility and animal diseases. Residues of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide found in GM food and feed have also been linked to cell damage and death, even at very low levels. Researchers have also found it causes membrane and DNA damage, and inhibits cell respiration.

And in one animal study, rats given 1,000 mg/kg of glyphosate resulted in a 50 percent mortality rate, and skeletal alterations were observed in over 57 percent of fetuses!

Research published last year shows that glyphosate causes birth defects in frogs and chicken embryos at far lower levels than used in agricultural and garden applications.

The malformations primarily affected the:

  • Skull
  • Face
  • Midline and developing brain
  • Spinal cord

Other independent scientific research has also found that glyphosate causes:

Endocrine disruption DNA damage
Developmental toxicity Neurotoxicity
Reproductive toxicity Cancer
Liver Damage Kidney Damage

 

Many of these effects were apparent at much lower doses than the typical levels of pesticide residues found in food … Yet despite the evidence of widespread human exposure, which strongly suggests that the precautionary principle should be applied, regulators are turning a blind eye.

for more, go to:    http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/12/13/monsanto-defeated-by-super-weeds.aspx?e_cid=20111213_DNL_art_2

December 18-24

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This is a week for paying attention to what is in the skies.  This means not only what is actually in the sky in whatever form it manifests itself, but also what is falling from the skies.  There is information in all of that, and it is well t be aware.  Nature will be most active this week.  Look for strange actions and reactions from birds, animals, and sea creatures.  There will be some announcements made about things going on in the natural world which will contradict long held preconceptions.  Everything is changing at this time.  The very basis of what is true is being challenged.  Things done in the past by experimentation, whether actual or thought, ware beginning to show some holes.  It should be interesting to hear what kinds of explanations will be given for that.  you may need to look to the alternative media for truth.  

Sunday, December 18:    Lavender Mist

Today showcases ups and downs, and lots of those places in-between.  It is a great tme to let yourself go and just do what you can.  there is not judgment in this and no right or wrong.  Take things as they come and do not expect to plan anything definitively.   It is not so much that things will shift, but you will find yourself just floating from one thing to another, and that is perfect.  There is much going on within today, and letting the physical do as it will assists in that process.  At the end of the day, you will feel and know that a lot was accomplished.  You will find there can be great healing in this.

Monday, December 19:    Frosty White

Do not be surprised if people are reacting oddly, even inappropriately, to things that you say and do.  In the day’s energy there is much that is being withheld being reconsidered, being decided against.  People are not willing to take a stand or to go out on a limb.  And for everyone, that is the wisest way to deal with what comes your way today.  Think before you act.  Do not take things at face value.  Take time to look within what is going on.  Trust your intuition and listen to the true knowing of your heart.  Consider, analyze, but no headlong reactions.  There are precipices around, and there are those who would not care were you to trip and fall.  This is a day for knowing your friends, appreciating them, and learning the meaning of trust.

Crystal Energy:    Azulcte—-This mineral assists with balance, especially when one is working with energy healing.  Resonates with the Solar Plexus, Crown and 9th Chakras.

Tuesday, December 20:    Light Lime Green

Happy Chanukah:    This is a day for reading the footnotes.  Not everything is said in the text, and it s worthwhile to get a bit more information.  Sometimes it will be helpful, sometimes not, and sometimes it will leave you with a lot to think about.  Step back fro mall that s gong on around you today, get out of the noise and listen to the quiet voice of the heart.  there is much going on, and the emotions are being touched.  That will continue throughout the week.  it s good to be aware of why it s that you are responding to things in certain ways.  There is a larger context behind all of this that is beginning to come into view.  It is good to be part of it from the start.

Crystal Vibration:    Royalite—-This mineral works with one’s level of consciousness to move through issues and blockages, ultimately to connect with the larger consciousness.  Resonates with the Crown and Upper Chakras.

Wednesday, December 21:    Turquoise Blue

This is a day for dreams and dreaming.  Nothing is too fantastic of outrageous.  take time to meditate, to relax and allow yourself to create the perfect life scenario.  Then focus on that, make it your intention, create some kind of image, word, whatever that will bring this to mind.  It is important to be centered in what your heat’s true desire is.  By so doing, you contribute to it and the manifestation of that on a daily basis.  This is also a day fro observation via all the senses, especially the ears.  Listen well today to what is being said, then go within and feel what lie behind the words.  There are many messages lurking deep within.  Many are feeling unfulfilled, less than, and lacking at this time, and the brave face is often betrayed by a slip of the tongue.  Live today in compassion towards self and others.

Crystal Vibration:    Solution Quartz—-There is a magic in the vibration of this quartz which opens you to the wonders of All That Is, while at the same time focusing in on an answer to a deep question.  resonates with the Crown Chakra.

Thursday, December 22:    Deep Rose Pink

Winter Solstice:    Happy Birthday, Capricorns:    Time and love are major themes today.  There will be both too much and not enough time in the day to accomplish things that you are wanting to get done.  It is important to express yourself when emotions and feelings arise, especially those of love and compassion.  This is a day for helping hands.  You will find yourself giving an helping hand, as well as receiving one.  There is joy as you recognize a kinship with those around you.  It is not necessarily something that will be expressed in words, rather is will be a calming sense that makes you aware of the larger whole of which you and everyone and everything else are a part.  Look for synchronicity.  It s there.

Crystal Vibration:    Marcasite with Galena and Quartz—-A most felicitous synergy of crystals which brings about alignment, attunement, and knowing.  It resonates with all the Chakras.

Friday, December 23:    Light Pink

Things will be easing up today on all levels.  It is a good time to take a breather.  You might even be surprised by how well things fall into place.  Take that feeling of joy and savor it.  Make it your place t go later on when things get tough.  Synchronicity is in the air.  You will  not need to look for it, because t will come to you.  People will be acting somewhat differently.  You will find yourself coming t new realizations about many things.  Take time to journal, to meditate.  The energies are taking you to new places and by being grounded and within your Core, you will find a level of comfort in the oncoming craziness.

Crystal Vibration:    Andradite—-This mineral brings calm in the middle of the storm.  It resonates with the Root, Navel, Solar Plexus, and Crown Chakras.

Saturday, December 24:    Grainy White

Christmas Eve:    This is a day on which you will be getting glimpses of all sorts of truths — truths about yourself, truths about others, truths about things happening around you on all levels, Universal truths, etc. Whether or not you choose to honor what you are getting is up to you.  There will be emotions in the air today. as many people feel that their expectations have not been met and that they are not meeting others’ expectations. Take time, when you awake to ground yourself well.  Use your mantras, visualizations, intentions, whatever works for you as a part of this process.  And walk around in the light.  There can be some interesting ‘coincidences’ .

War, Architecture, and Beer B.C.E.

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ncient Texts Tell Tales of War, Bar Tabs

Owen Jarus, LiveScience Contributor
Date: 16 December 2011 Time: 11:39 AM ET
Inscription about King Nebuchadnezzar II
In addition to the inscription this stele depicts King Nebuchadnezzar II standing beside a ziggurat he built at Babylon. The tower is dedicated to the god Marduk. This is one of only four known depictions of Nebuchadnezzar known to exist, and the best preserved.
CREDIT: The Schøyen Collection MS 2063, Oslo and Londo

A trove of newly translated texts from the ancient Middle East are revealing accounts of war, the building of pyramidlike structures called ziggurats and even the people’s use of beer tabs at local taverns.

The 107 cuneiform texts, most of them previously unpublished, are from the collection of Martin Schøyen, a businessman from Norway who has a collection of antiquities.

The texts date from the dawn of written history, about 5,000 years ago, to a time about 2,400 years ago when the Achaemenid Empire (based in Persia) ruled much of the Middle East.

The team’s work appears in the newly published book “Cuneiform Royal Inscriptions and Related Texts in the Schøyen Collection” (CDL Press, 2011).

Nebuchadnezzar’s tower

Among the finds is a haunting, albeit partly lost, inscription in the words of King Nebuchadnezzar II, a ruler of Babylon who built a great ziggurat — massive pyramidlike towers built in ancient Mesopotamia — dedicated to the god Marduk about 2,500 years ago.

The inscription was carved onto a stele, a stone slab used for engraving. It includes a drawing of the ziggurat and King Nebuchadnezzar II himself.

Some scholars have argued that the structure inspired the biblical story of the Tower of Babel. In the inscription, Nebuchadnezzar talks about how he got people from all over the world to build the Marduk tower and a second ziggurat at Borsippa.

“I mobilized [all] countries everywhere, [each and] every ruler [who] had been raised to prominence over all the people of the world [as one] loved by Marduk…” he wrote on the stele.

“I built their structures with bitumen and [baked brick throughout]. I completed them, making [them gleam] bright as the [sun]…” (Translations by Professor Andrew George)

It wasn’t the only time Nebuchadnezzar made this boast. In addition to this stele, similar writings were previously discovered on a cylinder-shaped tablet noted Andrew George, a professor at the University of London and editor of the book.

George points out that the image of Nebuchadnezzar II found on the newly translated stele is one of only four known representations of the biblical king.

“The relief thus yields only the fourth certain representation of Nebuchadnezzar to be discovered; the others are carved on cliff-faces in Lebanon at Wadi Brisa (which has two reliefs) and at Shir es-Sanam,” George writes in the book. “All these outdoor monuments are in very poor condition and their depictions of the king are much less impressive than that on the stele.”

On the stele, a bearded Nebuchadnezzar wears a cone-shaped royal crown with a bracelet or bangle on his right wrist. In his left hand, he carries a staff as tall as he is and in his right he holds an as-yet-unidentified object. He also wears a robe and what appear to be sandals, common footwear in the ancient world.

George goes on to say that the stele was likely originally placed in a cavity of the Babylon ziggurat before being removed sometime in antiquity. (He declined an interview request due to time constraints.)

Conquest of Babylon

Another intriguing inscription, which discusses violence, looting and revenge, dates back about 3,000 years. It was written in the name of Tiglath-pileser I, a king of Assyria. In it, he brags about how he conquered portions of Mesopotamia and rebuilt a palace at a city named Pakute.

One section deals with his conquest of the city of Babylon, defeating a king named Marduk-nadin-ahhe.

“I demolished the palaces of the city of Babylon that belonged to Marduk-nadin-ahhe, the king of the land of Kardunias (and) carried off a great deal of property from his palaces,” Tiglath-pileser writes.

“Marduk-nadin-ahhe, king of the land of Kardunias, relied on the strength of his troops and his chariots, and he marched after me. He fought with me at the city of Situla, which is upstream of the city of Akkad on the River Tigris, and I dispersed his numerous chariots. I brought about the defeat of his warriors (and) his fighters in that battle. He retreated and went back to his land.”

Grant Frame, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who translated the boastful inscription, writes in the book that the Babylonians may have provoked the Assyrians under the rule of Tiglath-pileser I into attacking them.

When a female tavern keeper gives you a beer …

Another newly translated document is the oldest known copy of the law code of Ur-Nammu, a Mesopotamian king who ruled at Ur about 4,000 years ago. He developed a set of laws centuries before Hammurabi’s more famous code from 1780 B.C., which includes the “an eye for an eye” rule.

In some ways, Ur Nammu’s code is more advanced. For instance, it prescribes a fine for someone who takes out another person’s vision, rather than an eye for an eye. Scholars are already aware of much of the code from later versions.

However, the fact that this is the earliest known edition allows researchers to compare it with later copies and see how it evolved. For instance, the copy sheds light on one of the oddest rules governing what you should pay a “female tavern-keeper” who gives you a jar of beer

Apparently, if you have the female keeper put the beer on your tab during the summer, she will have the right to extract a tax from you, of unknown amount, in winter.

“If a female tavern-keeper gives [in] summer one beer-jar to someone on credit its nigdiri-tax will be […] in win[ter]…” (Translation by Miguel Civil)

The lesson? If you live in ancient Mesopotamia don’t put the beer on your tab.

from:  http://www.livescience.com/17522-ancient-texts-tales-war-bar-tabs.html

 

Tropical Storm Washi Hits the Phillipines

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Tropical Storm Washi Slams Philippines Leaving Hundreds Dead

Tropical storm Washi swept across the Philippines last night leaving a least 430 dead and even more missing. The storm hit last night while many people were sleeping in their homes. 12 hours of continuous rain and wind pounded the islands overnight. Many river banks bursted causing big waves of water to slam into homes with the force of a truck while people slept overnight. The storm was only at tropical storm strength but the wind was not the killer in this storm. Rain on the mountain tops seeped into the ground causing some mountain slides and flash floods across the region. The death toll could reach as high as 700+ by the time all the damage is removed. The area is hit by 15+ typhoons every year but they usually tend to take a more northerly track then Washi did. Some reports have it that the flood waters got as high as 11 feet at the height of the storm. A lot of the population was able to escape to higher grounds and others fled to the northern islands before the storm made landfall. 20,000 soldiers have been deployed across the region trying desperately to find any survivors and recover any of the deceased. Floods swamped about 30% of  Iligan and about a dozen of outlying villages. More then ten thousand people were brought into shelters on higher ground. The storm dragged in warm pacific temperatures reaching up to 80 degrees in some parts around the impact area. In neighboring Taiwan temperatures are in the high 50′s and low 60′s instead of the Philippines high 70′s to mid 80′s. Although flood waters have receded since the height of the storm  it will still take a few days to a week until those rivers return back to a normal level. Most of the area remains without power and could not have any for the days to come.

from:    http://stormcentral1st.com/?p=4000

OMG! Comet Lovejoy Makes It!

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CONTINUED ADVENTURES OF COMET LOVEJOY: The scorched core of sungrazing Comet Lovejoy is still intact as it recedes from the sun. Even the comet’s flamboyant tail, temporarily lost in transit through the solar corona, has regrown. Click to view the last 24 hours of coronagraph images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO):

SOHO images show two tails: the ion tail and the dust tail. The ion tail is made of gas and is blown directly away from the sun by the solar wind. The heavier dust tail is curved and more closely traces the comet’s orbit.

Now that the comet is more than five degrees from the sun, it is possible (albeit still not easy) for amateur astronomers to photograph it just before sunrise. A team led by Czech astronomer Jan Ebr captured this image at sunrise on Dec. 17th:


Credit: Jakub Cerny, Jan Ebr, Martin Jelinek, Petr Kubanek, Michael Prouza, Michal Ringes

“We used a remotely-controlled 12-inch telescope in Malargue, Argentina,” says Ebr. “The sun was below horizon at the time we took the picture, but just barely. There was only a 30 minute window between the rise of the comet and that of the sun “

COMET LOVEJOY SURVIVES: Incredibly, sungrazing Comet Lovejoy survived its close encounter with the sun yesterday. Lovejoy flew only 140,000 km over the stellar surface during the early hours of Dec. 16th. Experts expected the icy sundiver to be destroyed. Instead, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory caught the comet emerging from perihelion (closest approach) apparently intact:


Movie formats: 25 MB Quicktime, 0.8 MB m4v

SDO also recorded Comet Lovejoy’s entry into the sun’s atmosphere: movie.

Comet Lovejoy began the week as a chunk of dusty, rocky ice more than 200 meters in diameter. No one can say how much of the comet’s core remains intact or how long it will hang together after the searing heat of perihelion. “There is still a possibility that Comet Lovejoy will start to fragment,” says researcher Karl Battams in a NASA news release. “It’s been through a tremendously traumatic event; structurally, it could be extremely weak.”

from:   spaceweather.com

Earthquakes off Puerto Rico

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2 moderate earthquakes in the coastal waters of Puerto Rico

Last update: December 17, 2011 at 11:58 pm by By 

arthquake overview : 2 moderate shallow earthquakes occurred at 2 AM just out the western Puerto Rico coast. The earthquakes were also felt as weak shaking in the Dominican Republic.

Felt reports from the greater epicenter area – image courtesy USGS

Update 13:48 UTC : The Red Sismica Puerto Rico is mentioning a max. VI MMI recorded in Mayaguez (strong shaking).  There are many reports of fallen objects like books, staues, hanging objects, etc. Many people mave mentioned a loud rumble.  The Agencia Estatal para el Manejo de Emergencias y Administración de Desastres (AEMEAD) has reported that no serious damage has occurred.

Update : The earthquake was also felt in the Dominican Republic.

Update : Since the first quake a number of aftershocks have been registered and we expect more to come

Update : NO damage has been reported so far. We will have to wait until daylight before this can be confirmed

Update : Max. intensity as reported by people near the epicenter was V (moderate shaking).

Update :  The earthquakes were very well felt by the people living all over the island of Puerto Rico

Update : people living at the western coast close to the epicenter had the impression that the quakes were more dangerous than measured.

Update : Luckily the epicenter was not below land, but approx. 20 km out in the Mona passage.

for more information and updates, go to:   http://earthquake-report.com/2011/12/17/2-moderate-earthquakes-in-the-coastal-waters-of-puerto-rico/