STUFF: News, Technology, the cool and the plain weird

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NASA Wants People To Mine The Moon

Anyone have Gina Rinehart’s number? What about Clive Palmer? I have an opportunity for them both to fight over: NASA wants people to sign up to mine the Moon. Hello, galactic mining boom!

NASA is accepting applications from private companies capable of mining for rare Earth materials for a mission to mine the Moon, according to a new report.

The Moon is reportedly rich in helium-3 for use in fuel and energy production, and several rare Earth metals that go into making our shiny new gadgets.

The mission wouldn’t be funded by the US government, rather it would be a private endeavour in partnership with NASA to explore the moon.

[MIKA27]

Massive Avalanche Seems To Be Alive

A massive avalanche violently invaded the Passeier Valley — in South Tyrol — yesterday. In this video it looks harmless until you get to the 1:30 mark. Then things start to get scary and weird.

Instead of spreading through the entire slope and die, the snow actually takes the road onto the bridge that leads into the town, like some sort of giant frozen worm. It seems as if the snow were alive, and deciding what path to take in search of humans and buildings. According to Austria’s public television, the material damage was extensive.

Thankfully, there weren’t victims. Everyone has been evacuated because there’s risk of more avalanches while emergency crews try to stabilise the snow.

[MIKA27]

Scientists Say They Can Provide Infinite Power By Harnessing Vibrations

Well, this sounds promising. A team from Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research say they can efficiently harvest enough electricity from low-frequency vibrations to power small electronic devices.

The process works thanks to aluminium nitrate, one of several materials that naturally accumulates an electric charge in response to mechanical stress. That property is known as piezoelectricity. The idea of using low frequency vibrations to make electricity like this is not a new one, but this is a big step forward. In the past, scientists believed that the bigger the device, the more electricity could be harvested and could also only use one frequency, limiting the amount of electricity that could be produced significantly.

The new approach can use a wide range of frequencies and works in tiny devices, like wireless sensors.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s not like we’re going to start lighting our homes with ambient sounds. And despite what the scientists say, it’s probably not a good idea to think of the low frequency vibrations approach as a way to get infinite electricity because, well, infinity is a long time. If the technology pans out, though, it could be huge in the fields of wireless and medical technology.

[MIKA27]

Real Life Spider-Man Climbs 457m Wall With No Equipment Whatsoever

I can’t imagine climbing 3m and this guy did 457.2 with no equipment. He’s basically Spider-Man. Rock climber Alex Honnold used no equipment to scale the 457.2m limestone wall of El Sendero Luminoso in El Potrero Chico, Mexico. It’s the first ever free solo ascent of the wall.

Honnold, who climbs Yosemite’s Half Dome like we walk in parks, is just incredible. You can see the amount of concentration he puts into every move and the impressive strength he needs to pull it off. But this climb was insane, even with his skills. Outside Magazine said most parties take two days to climb this wall, Honnold did it in three hours. Climbers who’ve scaled the wall said there are “hundreds of hand foot moves to remember”.

I can’t even watch him climb these walls without getting nauseous. I mean, look how small he is on the giant monolith of a wall:

[MIKA27]

Firing Mortar At Night Can Result In A Beautiful Tree Of Fire

A perfectly timed and strangely beautiful photo by US Army Pfc. Nathaniel Newkirk during a mortar firing exercise at Camp Roberts, California. It’s something that could have been painted by Caravaggio.

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Monster Machines: Fighter Pilots Couldn't Ask For A Better Wingman Than The Little Buddy

Evading RF (radar frequency) missiles is not unlike running from a bear. You don’t have to outrun the threat itself but merely offer up a more tasty morsel instead — be that your pudgy buddy or, in the case of air combat, a juicy decoy with an enormous radar cross-section.

The AN/ALE-50, nicknamed “Little Buddy”, is a towed decoy designed to counter incoming RF missiles. Carried in an under-wing pylon and deployed at the end of a long tow rope, the ALE-50 exploits an RF missile’s basic targeting function — that is, locking on and tracking their targets by continually pinging them with radar — by presenting a target with a massive radar cross section compared to the plane pulling it. The RF missile interprets this larger cross section as a bigger plane (and presumably more valuable target) and locks onto the decoy instead.

First developed in 1988, the US Air Force, US Navy and US Marines now all employ this countermeasure in their F-16, F/A-18E/F and B-1B aircraft. It’s seen action in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq and has successfully intercepted missiles in both training and actual combat. And while the $US22,000 price tag affixed to each of the 27,000 ALE-50 units Raytheon has already delivered to the military might seem steep, compared to losing a $US66.3 million Super Hornet, they’re a steal.

[MIKA27]

EASYBREATH SNORKELING MASK

The Easybreath Snorkeling Mask is a new, award wining product by Tribord. The innovative full face snorkeling mask makes breathing under water as easy and natural as on land! Easybreath´s large visor offers a 180º clear field of vision and completely eliminates the annoying fog, it also features a mechanism which blocks the top of the snorkel at the time of immersion, so no more swallowing water. The top of the snorkel is also very visible in order to avoid collisions on the surface. watch the video

The mask will be available for purchase at Decathlon stores from Spring 2014

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CLASSIC IPHONE WALLET | BY POSH PROJECTS

Posh Projects, the same guys that created the Luna Concrete Skin, are now offering this stylish iPhone wallet made of fine Italian leather. The Classic iPhone Wallet is designed to fit the iPhone 5/5s and holds your credit cards and cash in a front slot.

[MIKA27]

SNOW2 HEADS-UP DISPLAY

Snow2 is a powerful heads-up display for goggles, kind of like a sports version of Google glass. The wearable computer fits into most goggles from leading optics manufacturers, and displays all of your key information at just a glance in the bottom right side of the goggle frame, unobtrusively and without distraction. The device features a innovative mirror and prism technology, displaying your data and stats in a virtual 14" image at 5ft away! Check your speed, jump analytics, altitude, resort maps, track your friends, view calls and read text messages(pairs with an iPhone or Android phone), listen to music or check your favorite apps. All this controlled from a Bluetooth, waterproof remote with oversized buttons for easy use, even with gloves on.

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CALLAWAY BIG BERTHA ALPHA DRIVER

You don't bring back a name like Big Bertha unless you've got something really new & exciting. Adjustable weights, adjustable lofts, adjustable face angle — it's all been done before. But an adjustable center of gravity? Now that fits the bill. And that's exactly what you'll find on the Callaway Big Bertha Alpha Driver.

Like most adjustable drivers, the Alpha offers an adjustable hosel for for changing the loft and face angle, and movable weights for further launch adjustment, but adds a Gravity Core that allows you change the vertical center of gravity independently of everything else — giving you yet another way to custom-fit the driver to match your swing.

[MIKA27]

MAMMUT AVALANCHE AIRBAG

Winter sports are great fun — but being caught in an avalanche is not.

Keep yourself protected by donning the Mammut Avalanche Airbag. This lightweight pack features an easily stowable deployment handle that sits on the left shoulder strap, and an airbag that will keep you at or near the surface. It also offers a U-shaped aluminum frame to help support the load, a removable snowboard carrier, a spacious main compartment, a front pocket for tools, and a sleeve for a hydration reservoir — so you'll be ready for nearly anything.

[MIKA27]

SURVIVAL SLINGSHOT

Whether you're prepping for the eventual downfall of humanity, you're a serious survivalist looking for an addition to your bug-out bag, or you're just a collector of bizarre weaponry, you need the Survival Slingshot.

This multipurpose weapon accommodates normal slingshot balls, as well as full-size arrows — thanks to its folding whisker biscuit — so you can target shoot, bow fish, and hunt small game. Its rail system allows it to hold an included flashlight, as well as a range of additional attachments, while a compass and a waterproof storage area make it a versatile tool for handling the toughest situations nature throws your way.

[MIKA27]

SAFEPLUG

Privacy may not be your chief concern when you're browsing the web — but it probably should be.

Each time you venture out onto the web, you're vulnerable, because each site can access your IP address, giving them the ability to find your physical location. With Safeplug, you can feel safe on the internet again, browsing anonymously and securely.

It works using a service called Tor (already well-used by foreign journalists and privacy nuts alike), which routes your internet traffic through a series of random locations, making it impossible to determine where you are. All you need to do is plug it into your router, set it up, and in about a minute you'll be basking in anonymity.

[MIKA27]

FISH HUNTER SONAR

Sure, you can kill an afternoon quickly by simply putting your pole in the water, cracking open a beer, and hoping that you get a bite.

But if you're on the water to actually catch fish, it helps to know where they are. Fish Hunter Sonar can tell you. Powered by military-grade sonar technology, this ingenious device is so small it floats, and pairs with a smartphone app that allows you to see where the action is, even while the device itself is up to 80 feet away.

[MIKA27]

Monster Machines: The Bomb Behind Britain's Worst Nuclear Disaster

In the aftermath of the Second World War, it quickly became evident to the British government that Americans had no intention of sharing their newly acquired nuclear weapons technology despite the UK’s assistance in the Manhattan Project. As such the British government set about building its own atomic arsenal which eventually led to the UK’s worst nuclear meltdown in history.

http://youtu.be/cuFS91LrQ44

Despite being an partner in the Manhattan Project, along with Canada and the US, and being assured access to the technology, the British government saw nothing for its efforts at the end of WWII when the US congress passed legislation prohibiting the dissemination of its nuclear advances. Not to be pushed aside as a superpower by the US and Russia, the UK government rushed to develop its own megaton-class indigenous nuclear weapon systems. It wasn’t just the fear of losing its position in the international hierarchy that spurred the weapon’s development; the UK government was also worried that the atmospheric testing of nukes could be outlawed in the coming years (which it was), preventing them from publicly demonstrating the these weapons’ capabilities.

Thus Project Grapple began. The result: Orange Herald, 117 kg of U-235 surrounded by lithium deuteride, and the first British nuclear device to use an external neutron source. Two versions were made, a larger 39 inch-diameter model and a smaller 30-inch. On May 31, 1957, the 30-inch Herald exploded in the skies over Malden Island in the Pacific, a yielding 720 kt blast and making Orange Herald the largest fission device ever tested.

While the Orange Herald test was a success, the annual UK production of weapons-grade U-235 was barely 120 kg a year, just enough to make a single bomb. The 1958 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement solved that problem. By forgoing further independent weapons development, the UK would be allowed utilise a derivative of the Americans’ technology, providing significant cost savings as well as the ability to buy enriched uranium from the US, use that in its civil nuclear reactors, and sell the resulting plutonium back to the US.

Despite its success, Orange Herald was not particularly popular with the scientists assigned to the project. “I thought that Orange Herald was a stupid device.” Dr. Bryan Taylor told the documentary team behind,Windscale: Britain’s Biggest Nuclear Disaster, “It wasn’t elegant, it was a dead end design and couldn’t be taken any further.” What’s more, the large amount of fissionable material demanded by the device has been blamed for the meltdown and fire at the Windscale nuclear reactor complex in Cumberland.

On October 10, 1957, the core of the Unit 1 reactor (which was being used for defence research) melted down, then caught fire and burned for nearly three days before being put out. During that time, the fire spewed massive amounts of radiation — specifically iodine-131, which has been linked to thyroid cancer — into the atmosphere which then spread across the UK and Western Europe. Surprisingly, despite being ranked a level 5 on the 7-point International Nuclear Event Scale, authorities did not evacuate the surrounding areas and a 2010 study found no lingering health issues or rampant cancers among workers involved in the accident and subsequent cleanup. The site is expected to be completely detoxified by the end on next year.

[MIKA27]

A Space-Inspired Watch That's Strengthened By A Sapphire Dome

As a follow-up to its original Astron watch that used a low-power GPS chip to automatically set the time based on wherever in the world it was, Seiko’s new Stratosphere version features mostly aesthetic upgrades. But that doesn’t mean anyone with the original model won’t want to upgrade.

The most remarkable feature of the new Stratosphere is a domed sapphire crystal that covers the watch’s face all the way to the edge of its silicon band. Because sapphire’s hardness is second only to diamonds, each dome requires more than 10 hours of polishing to achieve its crystal-clear finish.

And when viewed at the right angle, the soft glow of the watch face’s luminous paint makes it seem as if you’re actually at the edge of space staring through the Earth’s atmosphere — hence the name Stratosphere. As far as premium watches go the Astron Stratosphere’s $US2600 price tag is cheap. And compared to what it would cost you to actually go into space for this view, it’s a downright bargain.

[MIKA27]

A Rechargeable LED Cork That Turns Empty Bottles Into Lamps

For many of us it will still be a few months before dinner parties on the back patio are feasible again — but there’s no reason you can’t start preparing now. A winter of heavy drinking has probably left you with a mountain of empty wine bottles that can now easily be repurposed as stylish lamps with these $US15 LED corks.

Popping off the faux cork top reveals a standard USB connector for charging off AC adapters or your computer, and with a simple twist the bright white LED can be turned on or off. An hour’s charge gets you about two and a half hours of light, which is just enough time to serve dinner, enjoy some conversation, and then subtly hint that it’s time for your guests to head home. [SuckUK]

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Insane Pilot Makes An Insane Low Pass Over An Insane Drunk Person

http://youtu.be/7pQBfA7ttIA

Clearly, you don’t have to be a military or airliner pilot to make crazy low passes. And you don’t have to be a pilot to be crazy. Just look at that guy with the beer, jumping in front of this prop plane making a pass so low that one of the wings almost touches the ground.

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China's New Research Station And The Quiet Rush To Claim Antarctica

In 2048, a very important international event will occur: The Antarctic Treaty, which stops countries from mining the continent’s abundant resources, will come up for review. China — along with the US, the UK and other countries — intends to be ready.

This weekend, China unveiled its fourth polar research station: Taishan, a 280sqm lab that can house up to 20 people at peak times. The building’s unique shape has been compared to a lantern — in fact, the idea is to keep snow from impacting the sides of the structure during gales.

There’s also a runway for aircraft, because Taishan is fairly far inland. According to CCTV, the entire thing took just 53 days to build — and it’s only expected to last for 15 years, tops. After all, the half life for architecture on this frozen continent is notoriously short.

So, what’s the big deal? China has a handful of other stations on the continent, after all, and is still lagging behind the US and the UK — though the country plans to build another station soon.

But China, along with every other country in Antarctica, is investing in more than just scientific inquiry here. They’re also investing in the plentiful resources — from oil, to precious metals, to fishing — that this currently-protected continent could someday provide them access to. So though we don’t hear about it very often, Antarctica is the focus of a long, slow, political land grab.

Top: Polar expedition ship Xuelong on its way to the Chinese Zhongshan station. Bottom: China’s Zhongshan Station in Antarctica.

“Land grab” isn’t quite the word for it — rather, sovereignty on this icy continent is contested. That means that research stations serve two purposes: They’re built for science, of course, but also to set down claims. There are other approaches, too — like the simple act of naming a place. The UK recently moved to name a giant chunk of the continent “Queen Elizabeth Land.”

Likewise, Quartz reports, Chinese mappers have already named 359 places in Antarctica.

In this light, each research station is another dowel in the structure of a legal argument just beginning to take shape in the distant future. 34 years from now, when the Antarctic Treaty is being hotly debated (in what I can only assume will be the Galactic Senate) these stations will serve as evidence.

In Antarctica, China — along with the US, the UK and every other country there — is playing the long game. Although, according to The Economist, the long game could be about to shorten considerably. Either way, keep an eye on this frozen landmass — it’s hosting an international race that’s about to heat up.

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Sochi's Giant Pinscreen Wall Is Hypnotic In Action

British architect Asif Khan’s MegaFace art installation was teased well before the athletes had even arrived in Sochi. But now that the Winter Olympics are well under way, we’ve finally got footage of the giant automated pinscreen in action — and it’s even more awesome than I’d hoped.

Over 10,000 coloured pistons move in and out by up to six feet to recreate the faces of visitors who’ve had their portrait snapped in 3D in booths located around the city. And at over eight metres tall, each representation is actually larger than the Statue of Liberty’s face.

Over the course of the Olympics it’s expected that over 170,000 faces will be rendered on the massive wall, and originally its creators had dabbled in using the colour-changing LEDs to accurately recreate each person’s skin tones. But the results ended up being so creepy and lifelike they decided to abandon that approach for something more artistically interpretive.

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Have Researchers Cracked the Case for Past-Life Memories?

Does the human soul transcend the lifetime of the body it inhabits? Do humans even have souls? If we do, what happens to that soul after we die?

Big questions, such as these, require big answers. And despite what some people want you to believe, these ones are far from being answered. There’s good evidence on both sides of the line, depending on who you ask. Philosophers have been scrutinizing these questions for millennia, and though science has long tried to enter this particular discussion, until recently scientific thinking hasn’t had much to add.

Part of ‘Ascent of the Blessed’ A Hieronymous Bosch painting (c.1490)

That’s all changed though, with research projects like AWARE, wherein Dr. Sam Parnia has been seeking evidence of Near-Death-Experiences by studying what happens to people, physiologically, when they die. There’s also the neurophysical research of people like Roger Penrose and Stuart Hammeroff. Their Orch-OR (Orchestrated Objective Reduction) theory, which tries to provide a description and explanation of the soul through quantum mechanics, is impressive, and is gaining support in the scientific community.

But there are so many aspects to these questions that one could spend a lifetime reading about the various theories, hypotheses, and ideas, and still not have a solid grasp on an answer for the questions above.

Related to this is the idea of past-life regression. Many people confuse past-life regression, or PLR, with reincarnation, and while they seem related, they are quite separate ideas. PLR is, in fact, the phenomena of recalling details, events and people, from what seem like previous lives lived. This is where the confusion comes into it. PLR sort of requires that one believe in a form of reincarnation, in that there must have been a previous life to remember, in order for there to be recall of events from it. However, reincarnation doesn’t require PLR, and in fact, most schools of spirituality that employ a belief in reincarnation don’t hold any real position on PLR.

Past-life regression is most often facilitated through hypnotic therapy, often called hypnotherapy. In fact the term hypnotherapy is often used synonymously to mean PLR, though this is incorrect. It usually comes about through guided regression into childhood memories, sometimes as a part of serious psychotherapy, wherein the patient or participant enters a hypnagogic state and relays thoughts and memories to the therapist. Sometimes these memories don’t conform to the participant’s current life, whether because of location, age, or culture, and are thus thought to be memories of a life lived prior to their current one.

It can also come about spontaneously, and often those kinds of past-life memories are disconnected and alien, and are difficult for the participant to reconcile with their own life. There are many examples and stories of people who famously recalled places, experiences, people and things from their previous lives with shocking detail. Children who recognise people they’ve never met, and know them by name…even children who seem to already know languages that aren’t native to their current family or region.

Traditionally, the skeptical crowd has viewed PLR as nothing more than hypnotically-induced delusion or confabulation (a manufactured memory brought about through manipulation or leading by hypnotherapists), commonly known as cryptomnesia. It’s long been known that memories brought out through hypnotic regression are notoriously unreliable, as the participant is easily led through interviewer bias, but the more skill the hypnotist possesses as an interviewer/therapist, the more reliable the results tend to be. There’s also the issue of reincarnation being thought of as religious hokum not based in reality, but this sentiment may amount to nothing more than academic denialism.

According to recent research, however, PLR may not be as dependent on reincarnation as has long been thought.

Brian G. Dias PhD., and Kerry Ressler M.D., PhD. of Ressler Lab at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta, Georgia have discovered something quite interesting in their work with rodents. As reported in December 2013, in the scientific journal Nature, Dias and Ressler have found that memories can be inherited.

What they did was, using mice, demonstrate that an aversion to a particular smell, in this case rose blossoms, was passed from the parent onto offspring, genetically, and that this inheritance was passed on for multiple generations. More than that, they illustrated the genetic and neural changes that occurred in order to facilitate this inheritance. In their paper, titled Parental olfactory experience influences behaviour and neural structure in subsequent generations, they detail how they managed to create a deep aversion to the smell of rose blossoms in mice. They then examined the sperm of the mice and found that there had been changes to the genotype of the sperm, which, upon breeding, was expressed in the phenotype of the offspring as an inherited aversion to the same smell, even though the offspring had never encountered the smell before.

“The experiences of a parent, even before conceiving, markedly influence both structure and function in the nervous system of subsequent generations,”[1]

This phenomena has long been theorised to be possible, but this is the first time it’s been demonstrated in a lab and shown to have a definitive genetic cause. The process is called transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, which refers to all types of influences that the parent’s life experiences can have on their offspring, from mutations caused by drug use, or exposure to certain environments, or even physical trauma.

This is also known as Lamarckian Inheritance, or Lamarckism, which is slightly different and speaks of an organism being able to pass on acquired characteristics to offspring – meaning characteristics that they weren’t born with and are therefore not part of their genetic code – and has typically been thought of in terms of superficial anatomical characteristics rather than environmental influences on the unborn. It would seem that Dias and Ressler have narrowed the gap between Lamarckian Inheritance and epigenetic inheritance.

Are our parents passing on more than just their base instinctual fears?

Could they be giving us actual memories?

Conceptual, contextual glimpses into their early life, and the early life of their parents, grandparents and so on?

How far back might this genetic memory go?

It seems, in light of this ground-breaking research, that we might be that much closer to an explanation for past-life memories. An explanation that doesn’t invoke reincarnation or the concept of the soul.

Not much is known about how memories are formed and maintained in the human brain, but everything that goes on in our bodies is the product of a set of genetic rules expressed against our living environment. And the argument between nature and nurture, which is essentially the argument between the genotype and the phenotype, has now gotten that much more complicated. We still don’t have any answers, but with this ongoing research at hand, we’re getting there.

[1] Brian G. Dias & Kerry Ressler. Parental olfactory experience influences behaviour and neural structure in subsequent generations. Nature Neuroscience. 17, 89-96 (2014) | doi:10.1038/nn.3594 http://www.nature.co...bs/nn.3594.html

[2] James Gallagher. ‘Memories’ pass between generations. BBC News – December 2013: http://www.bbc.co.uk...health-25156510

[MIKA27]

HAARP: Harmless Research Facility, or the Weapon to End All Wars?

For those who haven’t heard of it, the HAARP facility represents a project in atmospheric research – or more specifically, ionospheric research. The acronym stands for “High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program,” and the project operates out of a sub-arctic facility in Alaska; where it is co-funded by the US Air Force, US Navy, the University of Alaska and the USA’s Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The “ionosphere” with which HAARP concerns itself, is a layer of the Earth’s upper atmosphere ranging from roughly 85 – 600km in altitude. This portion of the sky includes elements known as the thermosphere, the mesosphere and the exosphere, which all share the common attribute of ionisation as a result of solar radiation. The ionosphere forms the inner edge of the Earth’s magnetosphere, and the highly charged, electric quality of this atmospheric layer means that it has a strong influence over processes such as radio propagation on the Earth’s surface.

The stated aim of the HAARP project is to enhance global communication methods. By analysing the ionosphere, the scientists at HAARP are setting out to develop “ionospheric enhancement technology” which would have major implications for radio communications; finding and strengthening new ways of propagating radio wave signals around the whole planet by making use of this highly ionised atmospheric level.

The University of Alaska have also be quite transparent in sharing their hopes of using ionospheric research in order to develop new and improved technology for global surveillance systems… but before you worry that we’re tumbling headlong into an Orwellian nightmare here, don’t panic – they only plan to use it on the terrorists, they say.

The HAARP project has more than its fair share of critics, however – and more and more voices from both the civilian and academic communities are beginning to reason that communications technology is just the tip of the iceberg, when it comes to HAARP’s potential.

A full battery of future-tech tools are being developed at HAARP’s Alaskan installation – including high-power radio frequency transmitters, ionospheric sounding devices and UHF radars. Increasingly, critics are raising concerns that such an arsenal of ionospheric augmentation devices might have a disturbing potential for weaponisation.

In the same way that HAARP is advertised as a tool for improving radio communications, there are fears that it could be used to disable such networks – targeting specific locations on the planet to bring down electronic communications systems.

Meanwhile, Scientific American recently ran a story in which it was reasoned whether HAARP had been responsible for disabling a Russian probe.

Another common concern is that such equipment could be used to manipulate the weather. Needless to say, if one nation on this planet had the power to control storms and tides, it would grant them a huge advantage in any hypothetical global combat scenario. Looking at it on a more short-term and immediate level however, the rumoured side effects of even testing such a technology are positively frightening.

Sister Dr. Rosalie Bertell, a colourful character with notable contributions in the fields of physics, epidemiology and environmental activism, spoke out strongly against the HAARP project. Bertell, who was best known for her work on ionising radiation, warned:

“HAARP is a gigantic heater that can cause major disruption in the ionosphere, creating not just holes, but long incisions in the protective layer that keeps deadly radiation from bombarding this planet.”

There seem to be notable critics of the HAARP project in some very well respected positions, which for many raises concern over future research conducted at the facility. Some of HAARP’s most passionate criticisms however, come from those who believe that the damage has already been started.

The theories of HAARP’s more extreme critics are broad, with some linking the project to droughts, earthquakes, hurricanes and floods; to plane crashes, space disasters and even Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

One of the more notable theories links HAARP to the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia on 1 February 2003.

Flight STS-107 was a scientific data collection mission, the 113th flight of the Space Shuttle program, and it would prove to be the final flight of the ill-fated Columbia. After 16 days in orbit, all seven members of the crew would lose their lives when an accident led to the Columbia orbiter disintegrating during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. An official investigation pinned the malfunction down to a damaged wing; a piece of foam that had broken off during launch, to play havoc with the shuttle’s thermal protection system components, which in turn led to localised overheating and systems failure during the all-important re-entry phase.

There are those however, who find the official explanation wholly unsatisfactory. Notably, the website Columbia’s Sacrifice has highlighted their doubts about the official enquiry, offering an alternative theory – that the Columbia was used as a kind of “target practice” for the HAARP project.

Their report describes HAARP as “a device that could possibly destroy the electronics of an aircraft, spacecraft or missile in the upper atmosphere.

” While the site remains open to other explanations, it rejects the accuracy of the official story and posits that, “if any other source for such an EMP [electromagnetic pulse] effect exists it is currently unknown to this investigation.”

Adding further weight to the Columbia theory, the site relays information gathered by radio engineer Marshall Smith at The Brother Jonathan Gazette, an independent researcher and supposed expert on the technology employed at the HAARP facility.

Smith was monitoring the HAARP site on the day of the accident, and his log records, “that HAARP was operating in missile defence mode starting about 90 minutes before Columbia’s re-entry and then for about 90 minutes afterward.”

Of course, not all of the HAARP conspiracy theorists even attempt to offer a scientific basis for their ideas. At the more extreme end of the spectrum, there are even those who claim the project to be a tool of the antichrist, or a device intended for use in global mind control as a means towards laying the foundations for a New World Order.

While some of these ideas are more palatable than others, one thing is clear at least; the HAARP project is a tool the like of which this world has never seen before, and perhaps we are yet to understand the full extent of its power.

[MIKA27]

So, Turns Out Crocodiles Can Climb Trees

Crocodiles can climb trees. And they do it well, too: Some of the toothy reptiles have been spotted as high as 32 feet up a tree.

That’s not somewhere a normally aquatic crocodile ends up by accident.

Once considered a characteristic of extinct crocodilians, this proclivity for scampering up trees is common in today’s crocodiles, a team of scientists reports in Herpetology Notes [pdf]. That’s surprising, because crocodiles don’t really have the anatomic adaptations needed to easily grip tree branches and scale tree trunks in the way that sloths or monkeys do. But various sightings suggested that the reptiles, and their alligator friends, were somehow managing to become tree-borne.

To determine just how frequently crocodiles climb into trees, the team looked in several places. The first was published scientific literature — all three references, one of which, dating back to 1972, described how baby crocodiles could “climb into bushes, up trees and even hang on reeds like chameleons.”

The second? Anecdotal reports from around the world describing crocodiles and alligators in trees. Turns out, the behavior has been seen quite a bit by people living in crocodile-rich areas. Among other places, arboreal crocodilians have been spotted in the mangrove swamps near Tulum, Mexico; in Mississippi (photo, above); in Colombia, where juveniles can be found 30 feet up; and along the Nile.

Next, the scientists set out to collect a few observations of their own. In Australia, they saw crocodiles in trees — and spotted one individual attempting to scale a chain-link fence. In the Everglades and Central America, many crocodiles were spotted basking on the concealed lower branches of mangrove trees. At some of these sites, the only way the reptiles could have reached their resting spot was by climbing up the tree trunk itself. And in Africa, Nile crocodiles and their relatives were seen just as frequently in trees as were some birds. In many instances, these reptiles were lying on tree limbs that were nowhere near the water. One was spotted on a log 13 feet above the water and 16 feet from the riverbank. “To reach this site the crocodile would have had to scale a [13-foot] completely vertical bank and then walk amongst the branches to reach the end of the tree,” the authors reported.

Overall, the team found crocodiles in trees, day and night, pretty much everywhere they looked. They suggest the behavior exists as a means for regulating body temperature and surveying the environment. But the crocodiles are skittish — most promptly fell off their logs or dove into the water as observers approached.

[MIKA27]

Watch Samuel L. Jackson Lose It When a Reporter Mistakes Him for Laurence Fishburne

http://youtu.be/ToaHQI9X5RI

What started as a boring interview during Samuel L. Jackson’s Robocop press tour was transformed into viral gold after a KTLA entertainment reporter asked him about his Super Bowl commercial. This was slightly problematic, since Jackson wasn’t in a Super Bowl commercial — that was Laurence Fishburne.

“Oh hell no…” Jackson said. ”There’s more than one black guy doing commercials. I’m the ‘What’s in your wallet?’ black guy.

[Fishburne's] the car black guy. Morgan Freeman is the other credit card black guy. You only hear his voice though, so you probably won’t confuse him with Laurence Fishburne.”

After KTLA’s Sam Rubin apologized and tried to move on, another off-camera reporter made a smarmy comment about how he actually thought Jackson was Bob Dylan (who also had a Super Bowl spot), but Jackson was having none of it.

“There must be a very short line for your job,” he said.

For the record, here’s Fishburne’s Kia ad:

http://youtu.be/Ob-wn52Dkmk

[MIKA27]

First full trailer for Scarlett Johansson's Under The Skin:

After yesterday's gorgeous poster drop, the first full trailer for Scarlett Johansson's alien indie Under The Skin has landed online.

Johansson stars as an ET who's sent to Earth in sultry human form (with poofy hair and hipster-ready fur coat at the ready), where she preys on men to stay alive.

Creepy, gorgeous and dark as hell, the trailer's nothing short of nightmarish - and I can't wait to see the film when it opens this March.

http://youtu.be/zXTq5e2jzto