A fridge at the University of Kentucky smelt so bad that it ended up hospitalizing nearly a dozen people. Most of us will be familiar with what happen...
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30 jun 2015
What Makes Us Love Dogs? Those EYES!
Researchers at the Companion Animal Research Lab at Azabu University in Japan have found that dogs have found a way to tap into a human bonding mechanism, specifically through the hormone 'oxytocin'. Oxytocin is typically released when a parent gazes at a newborn infant, and with other child-rearing and group-related activities, strengthening bonds between parent and infant. In their study, the researchers also found that this hormone is also released when a human gazes into the eyes of a dog.
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Este 30 de junio dura un segundo más
De acuerdo al Tiempo Universal Coordinado (UTC), el estándar por el que se rigen los relojes y el tiempo en el mundo, un día tiene 86.400 segundos. Sin embargo, este martes 30 de junio, durará un segundo más de lo habitual. Una ligera desaceleración en la rotación de la Tierra está detrás de este segundo extra.
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A black hole could turn you in to a hologram
Scientists have come up with a novel new way to account for what happens inside a black hole. With a gravitational pull so great that not even light c...
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Nubes de luz laser para controlar fuerzas de dispersión
Investigadores de las Universidad Autónoma de Madrid y otros centros europeos han demostrado que es posible inducir y sintonizar fuerzas débiles de dispersión mediante campos de luz láser, activando la adhesión de partículas. Los resultados podrían facilitar el diseño de nuevos materiales nanoestructurados con propiedades físicas 'a la carta'.
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Sightings Strieber Cabin Episode
Witnesses who had personal close encounter experiences at the Strieber Cabin in upstate New York describe what happened to them. This is virtually the only video of its kind in existence, and is eloquent testimony to just how remarkable the events were that transpired at the cabin. Whitley Strieber adds a thoughtful commentary that, as always, suggests that we take a larger view rather than assuming that we understand this profoundly strange phenomenon.
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29 jun 2015
A Visit from Our Magical Daughter
Our magical daughter came to visit us for an overnight, and we were thrilled to see her. You can have a child who isn't related to you by blood, but by love, and that's why our God-daughter is so precious to us.
I vividly remember when her mother asked us to take the godparent role. We were flattered but for us it was no honorary title. A god-parent has a very serious duty to perform, but in her case it has hardly been necessary to steer her in the direction of the spiritual. She is very spiritual just by nature.
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I vividly remember when her mother asked us to take the godparent role. We were flattered but for us it was no honorary title. A god-parent has a very serious duty to perform, but in her case it has hardly been necessary to steer her in the direction of the spiritual. She is very spiritual just by nature.
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Life could thrive in alternative universes
Some universes might provide conditions more favorable to the development of life than our own. So far the search for extraterrestrial life has focuse...
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Peru: A "UFO Fleet" Recorded Over Tarma
Source:El Popular (Perú)
Date: 06.27.2015
Peru: A "UFO Fleet" Recorded Over Tarma
Two UFO buffs recorded the presence of an alleged fleet of "flying saucers" that remained suspended in the skies over the city of Tarma in Central Perú.
The material, which appears to be unedited, shows strange lights and objects in the sky that move silently and cause excitement among the witnesses.
The UFO buffs claimed that the tape was recorded as from 0530 hours and that the strange phenomenon had been seen for two consecutive days in that part of the country.
"Are they floating?!" asks a man with a youthful voice, identified as Edinson Avila Lamadrid.
"UFOs they are!" replies the other, seemingly older one.
"Look, look, look! It's a huge one!" they add.
"Hey, Robert, don't go away, this is making me scared," says Edison Avila, tremorously.
"This is a signal," they insist.
The video shows at least six strange objects amid the darkness, forming different figures. At several moments during the recording, the shapes that appear on the recording remain still and then begin to move slowly.
To prove that the recording is real and not a hoax, they videotape part of the house from where the sighting is being recorded. These same witnesses uploaded another UFO video to YouTube, recorded on June 17. This other material also shows alleged alien craft. The weather can be seen as pleasant and there are no stars in the sky.
TO WATCH THE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=98&v=sSMbV4YnHgo
[Translation (c) 2015 S. Corrales, IHU with thanks to Guillermo Giménez, Planeta UFO]
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Clocks to receive an extra second tomorrow
World time authorities are preparing to add an extra second to the clocks at midnight on June 30. Tomorrow night a 'leap second' will be officially ad...
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Tres equipos españoles finalistas del concurso 'Beamline for Schools' del CERN
Ya hay ganadores de la segunda edición del concurso internacional ‘Beamline for Schools’, dos equipos de Florencia (Italia) y Johannesburgo (Sudáfrica). Esta iniciativa propone a grupos de estudiantes de secundaria realizar un experimento con uno de los haces de partículas del laboratorio. De los 119 equipos seleccionados 24 procedían de España, primer país en porcentaje de participación. Tres equipos españoles llegaron a la final entre las 13 mejores propuestas.
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La fusión de los glaciares de Svalbard aumentaría 17 milímetros el nivel del mar
Un total de quince años de investigaciones contribuyen a calcular con gran precisión el volumen de hielo almacenado en el archipiélago noruego de Svalbard, lo que permite conocer –en caso de que se fundiera por el calentamiento global– su aportación al aumento del nivel del mar.
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La fusión de los glaciares de Svalbard aumentaría el nivel del mar 17 milímetros
Un total de quince años de investigaciones contribuyen a calcular con gran precisión el volumen de hielo almacenado en el archipiélago noruego de Svalbard, lo que permite conocer –en caso de que se fundiera por el calentamiento global– su aportación al aumento del nivel del mar.
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World's first robot wedding takes place
Crowds gathered to watch as the two robots tied the knot at an unconventional ceremony in Japan. The bizarre spectacle saw the 'bride' Yukirin - an an...
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Arctic Methane Release Getting Worse
Over the past few months, Arctic reporting stations have been reporting an unexpected increase in the outgassing of methane from thawing permafrost. Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas. In the past, the sudden release of methane from arctic tundras and methane hydrates under the Arctic Ocean have been connected to the spikes in heat that mark the end of interglacials. Methane readings from the station in Alert, Canada, are showing an increase in methane of 20 parts per billion over one year, an increase of 2-3 times over the global average from the past five years, and readings from Barrow (Alaska), Summit (Greenland), and Svalbard (Norway) all show similar trends.
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28 jun 2015
Mysterious 'Watcher' forces family to flee
A family has fled their new home after receiving chilling messages from someone called 'The Watcher'. A real-life horror movie plot has been unfolding...
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Did the Japanese capture Amelia Earhart ?
Researchers have found two metal fragments that they believe came from the famed aviator's plane. Discovered on the Marshall Islands earlier this year...
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Rosetta finds exposed water ice on comet
The Rosetta spacecraft has found what appears to be patches of ice on the surface of comet 67P. The probe, which became the first spacecraft in histor...
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27 jun 2015
A Huge, Shadowy Figure Takes a Walk
It's not the UFOs that are the real puzzle here. Take a close look on the left half of the screen. See that tall, spindly shadow that looks a bit like a dead tree.
And no, you're not seeing things. It does appear to walk away!
Love this stuff!
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Tubes Out!
My tubes that I have been living with since January are out! The doctor took them out yesterday, and the last one came out with a loud “pop!” Now I can taste food again, but I can taste medicine, too, and most of it tastes—well—icky.
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Famed Paleontologist to Create a Dinosaur
A renowned paleontologist and his team of pioneering geneticists are looking to genetically re-create a dinosaur, using DNA from a chicken. And no, we're not lifting this story from a Steven Spielberg movie.
Paleontologist Jack Horner, of whom not only worked on the film "Jurassic Park" as a technical advisor, but also served as inspiration for one of the main characters, proposed his 'chickenosaurus' concept in his 2009 book, “How to Build a Dinosaur”. The idea is to use existing DNA found in modern chickens to regress features of the animal, so as to resemble a small dinosaur-like creature. Most birds still hold latent genes for the features previously exhibited by their reptilian ancestors.
Paleontologist Jack Horner, of whom not only worked on the film "Jurassic Park" as a technical advisor, but also served as inspiration for one of the main characters, proposed his 'chickenosaurus' concept in his 2009 book, “How to Build a Dinosaur”. The idea is to use existing DNA found in modern chickens to regress features of the animal, so as to resemble a small dinosaur-like creature. Most birds still hold latent genes for the features previously exhibited by their reptilian ancestors.
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Witnesses fell ill after 1665 'UFO battle'
Researchers have been investigating a 350-year-old UFO case that remains a mystery to this day. The incident occurred on the afternoon of April 8, 166...
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Australian town invaded by 25,000 tarantulas
Scientists have been left perplexed after hordes of large spiders descended on the town of Maningrida. Australia is not the best place for arachnophob...
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World's first commercial jetpack coming soon
After more than 35 years in development the new Martin Jetpack is due to go on sale next year. Once relegated to the realms of comic books and early s...
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Paraguas y ricina, combinación mortal
Hace unos días, recordé cierto asesinato célebre mientras pasaba un rato repasando unos papeles, con una televisión armando ruido de fondo. Ese día me llamó la atención una escena de cierta serie de “polis”, no estoy seguro pero creo que se trataba de una de las series spin-off de NCIS. El caso es que ni vi el principio ni me quedé hasta el final, pero en aquellos escasos minutos me sorprendió ver a una supuesta agente durmiente rusa muriendo casi en el acto tras pincharse en un dedo con un artilugio punzante envenenado colocado en la manilla de la puerta de un automóvil.
Vamos, una fantasmada espectacular sin mucho que ver con la realidad… ¿o sí había algo de real? Ahí es cuando recordé el triste caso del asesinato del paraguas, que lejanamente tenía cierto parentesco. La pobre agente durmiente caía fulminada en apenas unos segundos por el veneno, y ahí es donde está el problema, porque en el mundo real las cosas no suelen ser tan limpias, y mucho menos cuando se trata de eliminar a una persona. El terrible invento existe realmente, pero no es tan rápido, ni mucho menos.
Modelo del paraguas asesino del caso Markov.
Fuente: Headlines in History.
No ha sido empleado en muchas ocasiones, no al menos que haya llegado a la luz pública, pero en los pocos casos en los que se ha utilizado, el uso de venenos a través de armas punzantes ocultas ha dado lugar a casos realmente espectaculares en todos los sentidos y, por desgracia, con efectos terribles para las víctimas que, lejos de morir en pocos segundos, han soportado dolorosas agonías de horas e incluso días de duración.
El asesinato de Georgi Markov, cuyo recuerdo me visitó esquivamente aquel día viendo la televisión, tuvo lugar el 7 de septiembre de 1978. En realidad, Georgi murió unos días más tarde, el día 11 de septiembre, pero la acción que acabó con su vida se llevó a cabo aquel triste día 7. Georgi Markov era un disidente búlgaro, escritor de novelas y dramaturgo, que había desertado a occidente desde el otro lado del telón de acero allá por 1969. Desde entonces había trabajado como periodista para varios medios británicos y alemanes, con apoyo estadounidense, en campañas de radio muy críticas con el régimen comunista búlgaro. Tan molesto llegó a ser para ese gobierno, que se decidió su eliminación a toda costa, con ayuda del KGB soviético.
Lo que siguió constituye uno de los sucesos más oscuros de la guerra fría y ha servido de inspiración para numerosas novelas, películas y episodios de series de televisión y supongo que, aunque lejanamente, también inspiró la ficción televisiva que ha servido de semilla para este post. El caso es que tenemos a Markov paseando por Londres aquel 7 de septiembre, sin saber que su tiempo se acaba. La policía secreta búlgara y el KGB habían intentado ya en varias ocasiones acabar con la vida del disidente. Aquel día lo iban a intentar otra vez pero, en esta ocasión, iban a dar un gran salto en la sofisticación del arte de asesinar.
Aquel día, Markov estaba esperando un autobús urbano londinense cuando, de repende, alguien choca contra él. El otro hombre, parece tropezar accidentalmente, clavando levemente la punta de su paraguas en una de las pantorrillas de Markov. El hombre se disculpa y todo queda en un leve incidente, no ha pasado nada. Markov ya estaba muerto, solo que entonces no lo sabía. Cuando el periodista disidente llega a su trabajo en la BBC, comienza a notar extraños síntomas. El área del pinchazo ha enrojecido y comienza a doler de forma alarmante. A las pocas horas es hospitalizado, muestra fiebre alta al poco comienza a sufrir hemorragias. Fallece poco más de tres días más tarde.
Estructura proteica de la ricina. Fuente: Wikimedia Commons.
El que, desde entonces se conoció como el “asesinato del paraguas”, tiene como protagonista mortal una substancia llamada ricina. El asesino había apoyado la punta de su paraguas en la pierna de Markov y, justo en ese momento, había accionado un gatillo que disparó una pequeña carga de aire comprimido que incrustó bajo la piel del desdichado una minúscula esférula de metal de menos de dos milímetros de diámetro. En el interior del cuerpo extraño se hallaba el veneno, que comenzó a liberarse a los pocos instantes de encontrarse el artefacto alejado en el cuerpo de Markov, pues a la temperatura corporal se comenzaron a disolver los “tapones” de material orgánico con los que se obturaba el contenedor de ricina. Toda una obra de arte mortal, hay que reconocerlo. No sólo se trataba de un sistema de “paraguas-pistola” realmente ingenioso, sino que la bala era, en sí misma, un sistema controlado de liberación de veneno, casi como una bomba de tiempo que recuerda lejanamente a las píldoras con recubrimiento de disolución controlada utilizadas hoy día.
La ricina, liberada en la sangre de Markov, comenzó a hacer su trabajo, que duró días hasta que acabó con su vida. Desde la Primera Guerra Mundial se venía investigando por parte de varios ejércitos el posible uso de la ricina como arma química, sin embargo el ser relativamente sencillo neutralizarla en el ambiente en comparación con otros agentes químicos o biológicos, hizo que no se llegara muy lejos en tan siniestros intentos. No obstante, como veneno para asesinatos selectivos, parecía tener futuro. En la época de la muerte de Markov no había antídoto de ningún tipo, por lo que nada pudieron hacer por su vida. Hoy, sin embargo, existen ciertas terapias que parecen prometedoras, aunque siguen siendo experimentales.
La ricina es una de las toxinas más potentes que se conocen y, por desgracia, se puede extraer con relativa facilidad de las semillas del ricino. Sí, ese arbusto aparentemente inofensivo que es fuente del aceite de ricino, el célebre purgante, extraído igualmente de sus semillas por medio de prensado y calentamiento, proceso que, por fortuna, degrada la ricina.
La ricina es tóxica por inhalación, ingestión o por inyección. Apenas unos cientos de microgramos son suficientes para terminar con la vida de un ser humano adulto. Sin embargo, el propio mecanismo de acción de la ricina puede tener interés médico de importancia. Se ha planteado su uso en tratamientos para diversos tipos de cáncer, funcionando como “misil” guiado por anticuerpos monoclonales y, también, en terapias para ciertas enfermedades neurológicas.
El mecanismo de acción tóxica de la ricina se funda en su funcionamiento como proteína inactivadora de los ribosomas. En inglés, se conoce esa acción de la ricina y parientes químicos similares como Ribosome Inactivating Protein, lo que nos da el acróstico RIP, cosa que no deja tener una macabra gracia. La ricina es capaz de inactivar la acción de los ribosomas en todo tipo de organismos, plantas y bacterias incluidas, pero sobre todo es efectiva bloqueando la síntesis de proteínas en células animales. No está claro qué funciones cumplen las RIP (ricina y similares) en los vegetales que las contienen, pero posiblemente se trate de algún tipo de defensa contra agresiones bacterianas o de insectos.
Más información:
- The Telegraph – Poison-tip umbrella assassination of Georgi Markov reinvestigated
- BBC – Ricin cancer therapy tested
- CDC – Ricin | Ficha de emergencias
Paraguas y ricina, combinación mortal apareció originalmente en Tecnología Obsoleta, 27 junio 2015.
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26 jun 2015
Mystery surrounds 'dog suicide bridge'
More than 600 dogs have inexplicably jumped off the 50ft Overtoun Bridge in a rural part of Scotland. In a small village in the Scottish Lowlands ther...
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Stolen 'Holy Grail' recovered by police
An ancient relic thought by some to be the fabled Holy Grail has been found after being stolen last year. The Nanteos Cup, a medieval wooden bowl that...
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Amazing New Method of Recovering Lost Memories
New neurological research has answered the question of whether amnesia is caused by damage to the specific brain cells that hold the lost memories, or if access to the memories in those cells are being blocked. And in the process, this research may have uncovered a way to recover memories that were previously lost.
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Synthetic blood transfusions within two years
Health authorities have revealed that synthetic blood could soon be transfused in to human test subjects. At the moment blood transfusions rely entire...
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Hipertermia magnética, una herramienta auxiliar en los tratamientos contra el cáncer
La hipertermia –aumento de la temperatura corporal– se utiliza desde hace siglos para combatir los tumores o reducir sus efectos. La investigación del físico Eneko Garaio ha tenido por objeto la hipertermia, pero utilizando otro sistema (nanopartículas magnéticas) para aumentar la temperatura corporal. Dichas nanopartículas absorben energía de los campos magnéticos y la convierten en calor, que se utiliza para hacer subir la temperatura de los tumores y combatirlos
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25 jun 2015
How I Get Around
As I sit in a wheelchair and cannot go a foot on my own, I use sounds to inform me of what's happening around me. For example, I use what I call the "Smoochie Alarm" to let me know when my caregivers are arriving. (Smoochie is my downstairs neighbor's very cute little poodle mix.) When I hear the Smoochie Alarm followed by footsteps on our stairs, I know that relief is on the way!
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The Spiritual Mysteries of Blood
June 26, 2015
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El girobús
Los dispositivos que fundan su acción en el uso de volantes de inercia para mover vehículos tienen una historia no muy conocida pero sí lejana. Las baterías de inercia, esos parientes lejanos de ciertos sistemas regenerativos de los ferrocarriles o de algunos tipos de KERS montados en coches de Fórmula 1, han venido siendo una promesa energética desde hace décadas. En este caso estamos ante una idea sencilla que “da mil vueltas”, literalmente, a la hora de encontrar nuevos métodos para almacenar energía.
Sistema de volante cinético, motor eléctrico y cámara del girobús construido en Suiza a mediados del siglo XX.
Una batería inercial almacena energía cinética utilizando un volante de inercia, de ahí su nombre. El mencionado volante viene a ser un disco dotado de una gran masa que gira a gran velocidad. Si ese giro viene asistido por un eje unido al soporte del sistema por rodamientos de gran calidad (hoy día se emplean sistemas magnéticos en cámaras de vacío y discos de materiales avanzados), el volante puede mantener su giro durante mucho tiempo, almacenado energía cinética con ello. El volante puede girar a velocidades increíbles de decenas de miles de revoluciones por minuto, claro que, nuevamente, eso es en el caso de las baterías de inercia actuales, que son un prodigio de la técnica. Hace décadas se intentó aplicar este concepto al transporte urbano y, pese a que los sistemas cinéticos por entonces no estaban tan perfeccionados, cabe decir que los resultados no fueron malos.
El volante comienza a girar a gran velocidad alimentado por un motor eléctrico. La energía cinética acumulada puede ser liberar posteriormente de forma controlada para movilizar un vehículo. Una vez el volante va cediendo esa energía, puede volver a “recargarse”, con el mismo procedimiento, al llegar a un punto de alimentación eléctrica.
Esquema del girobús suizo con su sistema de recarga del volante de inercia.
De esa sencilla idea nació el concepto de girobús, que hinca sus raíces en algunos intentos primitivos allá a principios del siglo XX. El girobús hace uso de pesados volantes de inercia para almacenar, y utilizar, la energía que necesita para transportar viajeros. No debe confundirse con un trolebús o con tranvías, puesto que en el caso del girobús no hay tendidos eléctricos que alimenten el vehículo. Simplemente, en ciertos puntos de su recorrido, el girobús se detiene para “repostar”, esto es, pasa unos minutos, o incluso segundos, alimentando un motor eléctrico que hace girar el volante de inercia y, así, acumula energía que empleará para el próximo trecho de su recorrido.
El primer girobús práctico fue desarrollado a finales de los años cuarenta del siglo pasado en Suiza. Se trataba del un vehículo diseñado por la casa Oerlikon pensado para moverse de forma silenciosa en líneas convencionales de autobús, sin necesidad de construir costosas infraestructuras de conducción eléctrica. El girobús se mueve libremente, no depende de cables, sólo necesita “recargar” su sistema de batería cinética cada cierto tiempo.
Prototipo de girobús suizo de principios de los años cincuenta.
Los primeros modelos de girobús empleaban motores diésel instalados en el propio vehículo para alimentar el giro del volante de inercia, que por aquel entonces alcanzaba en torno a las 3.000 revoluciones por minuto. El pesado volante de inercia, con un diámetro algo superior al metro y medio, se instalaba en una cámara situada en el centro del girobús en la que se hacía el vacío o se rellenaba con hidrógeno a muy baja presion, para reducir rozamiento.
Más tarde el sistema mejoró, pasando del motor diésel a un sistema de alimentación por medio de estaciones eléctricas en las paradas. Un juego de conectores se elevaba desde el techo del girobús hasta contactar con el sistema eléctrico. Esto hacía que el motor eléctrico unido al eje del volante de inercia comenzada a “bombear” nueva energía a éste, haciéndolo girar de nuevo, acumulando energía cinética.
Punto de carga del girobús suizo.
Por lo general, una carga llevaba entre treinta segundos y tres minutos de tiempo, a través de un sistema de alto voltaje. Los pasajeros no solían enterarse de las recargas, pues se aprovechaba para instalar los puntos de conexión en algunas paradas seleccionadas de la ruta, ejecutándose la tarea de recarga mientras los pasajeros subían o bajaban del vehículo.
Naturalmente, por mucha energía que se acumule en un volante de inercia, no dura demasiado tiempo cuando hay que emplear esa misma energía “de vuelta” para animar a los motores eléctricos que mueven las ruedas del girobús. Por ello, es necesaria cierta densidad de red en cuanto a puntos de recarga, por lo que las líneas de girobús tenían éxito en tramos urbanos relativamente extensos, pero no así para líneas de larga distancia.
Por lo general, aquellos girobuses suizos recorrían hasta seis kilómetros de media entre puntos de recarga, mientras que para la carga se empleaban normalmente dos minutos, aunque a veces se llegaba hasta cinco. En reposo, el volante de inercia podía seguir girando durante más de diez horas. Tras una parada prolongada, el volante de inercia se recargaba al cabo de poco más de veinte minutos de comenzar a recibir energía nuevamente.
Bien, parece un poco aparatoso ¿no es así? Sin embargo los girobuses tuvieron cierto éxito, eran silenciosos, no contaminaban, no necesitaban vías ni tendidos eléctricos y, en una época en que los combustibles escaseaban tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial, parecían algo con mucho futuro. Durante los años cincuenta, estos curiosos autobuses con volante de inercia se extendieron por diversas líneas de transporte de pasajeros en Suiza y hasta llegó a montarse una línea en Kinshasa, en la actual República Democrática del Congo. La tecnología de los girobuses no ha sido abandonada y hoy día el uso de baterías cinéticas ha logrado un alto grado de refinamiento pero, sin embargo, no han encontrado un hueco en el transporte comercial de nuestros días… al menos todavía.
Más información:
Conceptos mecánicos del girobús (PDF en inglés).
Fotografías y gráficos del girobús suizo.
El siguiente vídeo menciona el girobús que se instaló en África.
El girobús apareció originalmente en Tecnología Obsoleta, 25 junio 2015.
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Doctor Changes Position on Roswell Mummy
Dr. Richard O'Connor, who originally stated that he did not believe that the mummy depicted in two slides presented at Jaime Maussan's "Be Witness" event in Mexico City on May 5 was human, has now said that he does believe that it is the mummy of a child. He made the following statement on the MUFON radio program on station KGRA: "I’ve just, over the past 48 hours more or less, been looking at that, and it seems to me like it's drawing us toward the conclusion that in fact is this photograph probably does represent a native American child.
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Lexus unveils its own take on the hoverboard
Toyota's luxury car division has revealed that it has been working on its own hovering skateboard. Efforts to build a working version of Marty McFly's...
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'Pyramid-shaped' mountain found on Ceres
NASA's Dawn spacecraft has identified an anomalous structure on the surface of the dwarf planet. The largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars ...
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Rosetta prolonga su misión hasta septiembre de 2016
La Agencia Espacial Europea ha anunciado que su misión Rosetta estará operativa hasta finales de septiembre de 2016, fecha en la que se intentará que la propia sonda se pose sobre el cometa 67P. Esta semana también se ha anunciado la detección de agua helada expuesta en algunos puntos de las superficie de este gélido objeto.
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La composición de la cutícula del huevo influye en la contaminación por salmonela
Investigadores de la Universidad de Granada han comprobado que la protección del huevo ante la bacteria Salmonella mejora si aumenta la cantidad de proteínas de la cutícula, la envoltura orgánica que rodea la cáscara. El avance puede servir a la industria avícola en los procesos de selección de sus productos.
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Mystery surrounds bizarre sea creature
A 508 million-year-old spiky sea creature was so strange that scientists decided to name it Hallucigenia. Discovered in the 1970s at the Burgess Shale...
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Nanohilos semiconductores para controlar la emisión de luz a escala nanométrica
Al igual que las antenas se usan para gestionar la emisión de ondas de radio y microondas en las telecomunicaciones, se pueden emplear también nanoantenas semiconductoras para controlar las emisiones de luz. Así lo demuestra el método que han desarrollado investigadores del Instituto de Estructura de la Materia del CSIC y centros de investigación holandeses, que abre la vía al diseño de nuevos dispositivos ópticos.
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A Perplexing Formation in Peru
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24 jun 2015
Ancient Greeks took steps to deter zombies
The concept of the dead rising from their graves is certainly not unique to today's movies and TV shows. In a cemetery near the coastal town of Kamari...
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Brain Implants No Bigger than Dust Particles On the Way
A new concept of a brain-computer interface has been proposed by engineering researchers at University of California Berkeley, utilizing what they term as 'neural-dust', tiny machines that would be implanted in the brain to help facilitate the collection of neurological data.
The tiny components would be powered by piezoelectric materials, of which produce an electric current when compressed, activated by ultrasound waves generated by a transmitter placed on the scalp. The implanted components would have a simple CMOS sensor that would measure the electrical activity being generated by the neurons around it, and re-transmit that back to the sensors on the scalp.
The tiny components would be powered by piezoelectric materials, of which produce an electric current when compressed, activated by ultrasound waves generated by a transmitter placed on the scalp. The implanted components would have a simple CMOS sensor that would measure the electrical activity being generated by the neurons around it, and re-transmit that back to the sensors on the scalp.
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'Pyramid' spotted on the surface of Mars
Eagle-eyed conspiracy theorists have identified what looks like a small pyramid on the Red Planet. A lot of strange things have been spotted in photog...
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Man hiccuped non-stop for over 68 years
Charles Osborne started hiccuping in 1922 and was unable to find a solution no matter what he tried. A case of the hiccups can be an annoyance at the ...
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23 jun 2015
Study Claims 6th Mass Extinction Under Way--But There's More to It than That
Researchers have declared that the Earth is entering a mass extinction event, and that it is being caused by humans, but this is part of a much larger story.
At team at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment have published a study that says that we are entering a sixth great mass extinction event, where the current rate of species loss is over 100 times that of what would normally be seen. The study also says that this is what they consider to be a conservative estimate; that this rate the loss in biodiversity benefits to humans will be seen within three generations, and that 75 percent of Earth's species could be lost within two generations.
At team at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment have published a study that says that we are entering a sixth great mass extinction event, where the current rate of species loss is over 100 times that of what would normally be seen. The study also says that this is what they consider to be a conservative estimate; that this rate the loss in biodiversity benefits to humans will be seen within three generations, and that 75 percent of Earth's species could be lost within two generations.
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Nukes could be used to deflect asteroids
NASA is looking in to the possibility of using nuclear weapons to defend Earth against asteroid impacts. The world's deadliest weapons of mass destruc...
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Famed musician 'channeled dead composers'
Rosemary Brown was renowned for creating music with the help of deceased famous composers. During the 1970s this enigmatic British housewife and piani...
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New report predicts world collapse by 2040
Scientists have predicted that a cataclysmic series of events could occur within the next 30 years. In a new report released by Lloyds this week the A...
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Los contaminantes radiactivos llegan al hielo marino
La mayor parte del yodo radiactivo 129I presente en el hielo marino procede de las plantas de reprocesamiento de combustible nuclear de Sellafield, en Reino Unido, y La Hague, en Francia. Así lo plantea el análisis que un equipo internacional, liderado desde Centro Nacional de Aceleradores en Sevilla, ha efectuado en las aguas del océano Ártico.
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22 jun 2015
Humans unlikely to ruin hunt for life on Mars
Researchers have concluded that a manned mission to Mars is unlikely to contaminate the planet. Preventing spacecraft from carrying microbes to other ...
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Google Predicts Human-Machine Hybrids
Human brains will be directly connected to the internet by nanobot implants, making us into human-machine hybrids, within the next 15 years, according to Google's head engineer.
Director of Engineering at Google, Ray Kurzweil, says that in the 2030's, this nanobot interface would allow users faster access to information on the internet, and also allow information to be uploaded in the same manner as well, allowing us to back up our own brains.
Director of Engineering at Google, Ray Kurzweil, says that in the 2030's, this nanobot interface would allow users faster access to information on the internet, and also allow information to be uploaded in the same manner as well, allowing us to back up our own brains.
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Could street lights charge electric cars ?
In the future it may be possible to charge up an electric car by parking it beneath a street light. Electric cars might be environmentally friendly bu...
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Nueva evidencia de volcanes activos en Venus
Bajo la espesa capa de nube de Venus se esconde un mundo cubierto de antiguas lenguas de lava y viejos volcanes, aunque algunos podrían estar todavía activos. Así lo sugieren las imágenes infrarrojas de la sonda Venus Express de la Agencia Espacial Europea, que han detectado como zonas de este planeta se calientan de repente y después se enfrían en cuestión de días. Se trata de la última evidencia de vulcanismo en este 'gemelo' de la Tierra.
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21 jun 2015
Sharply Edged Pyramid in NASA Mars Photo
This object was photographed by NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover on May 7, 2015. Given the condition of the rocks around it, it's a very unusual shape. It is small, about the size of a compact car, and does not appear to be lying on the surface, but rather to be projecting out of it. NASA has offered no comment about it. To see the original on NASA's website, click here.
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Real-life 'Jurassic World' within 10 years ?
A paleontologist who worked on the film series believes that real-life dinosaurs may be coming soon. James Horner, who served as technical advisor for...
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Unexplained Light Flashes in Cloud Formation
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8 million dog mummies unearthed in Egypt
The ancient Egyptian jackal-headed god of death Anubis was worshipped by huge numbers of people. Researchers excavating catacombs near the historic si...
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Giant prehistoric bat walked on all fours
Scientists have discovered a species of bat that was three times the size of any that are alive today. Thought to have lived 16 million years ago, the...
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20 jun 2015
Mars-like extrasolar planet discovered
Astronomers have identified a planet the size of Mars orbiting a star 200 light years from the Earth. One of the smallest extrasolar planets ever disc...
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Man mistakenly dines on bucket of concrete
A drunk man in China ended up in hospital after mistaking liquid concrete for a bowl of sesame paste. The inebriated resident of Nanjing in China's Ji...
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Earth's sixth mass extinction may be underway
With species disappearing in their thousands our planet may be on the verge of a mass extinction event. Mass extinctions have occurred a total of fiv...
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Mexico: UFOs Over Mayan Pyramids
Source: SIPSE and Planeta UFO
Date: 06.20.2015
Mexico: UFOs Over Mayan Pyramids
BY JORGE MORENO/SIPSE - MERIDA Yucatan - Many internationally-known researchers have associated UFOS with ancient cultures and have spoken about
sightings over such archaeological sites as the Egyptian pyramids or South America's Easter Island.
Yucatán is no exception, and similar cases have occurred in such sites as Uxmal, Chichen Itza and Acanceh.
Whether it is due to the alleged energy the emerges from such pyramids as Uxmal and Chichen Itza, or as skeptics would have it, by mere coincidence, the
fact is that photos showing alleged spacecraft have been seen prowling these sites.
One of the most famous ones was taken by an Argentinean tourist. The UFO appears beside the pyramid, in a photo she took of herself as a souvenir.
Tourists and locals also state seeing strange lights stalking these locations, and claim that their movements do not correspond to anything that may
have a rational explanation (airplanes, helicopters, satellites, etc.)
Even employees of the Uxmal site have told me that they are "accustomed" to seeing - with certain regularity - lights engaging in irregular movements:
"We do nothing and we do not report it, partly because we would be dismissed as insane, and partly because the lights cause no damage or anything that
merits being reported."
Employees of some Yucatán archaeological sites have become used to seeing lights in the heavens.
A few years ago, in Acanceh, I was informed of a UFO sighting near the pyramid located at the heart of the community. When I visited the site, I
interviewed young Jiram Cetz and David Castilla, who had been the witnesses. They advised me that they'd seen such craft in nearby locations as well.
Three of their videos, in fact, were uploaded to YouTube and they went around almost daily with a camcorder in search of evidence. All of this began
when they went to Homún in a pickup truck after classes at the "Acanceh" high school". They were on their way to visit a friend and never thought such a
thing would happen to them: "When we returned, I was sitting in the rear of the pickup, and as we entered Acanceh (along the Los Venados baseball field)
one of my companions asked me to looked skyward. We all turned around and we looked: it was round, with colored lights, as though floating in the sky.
What was odd is that it also moved, as though wobbling. It was quite near us. We were frightened, then it turned around and left," said Jiram.
As of that moment, he says he told his friend David - who had a video camera - that they should return the next day in an effort to record it. They were
lucky enough to see it that night and secure the recording.
They repeated the procedure over following nights and the UFO always returned. It flew over the town and left through the entrance to Timucuy. On
several occasions, they camped out at the palapa [thatch-roofed shelter] that was at the entrance to the town, since they were friends with the owner, and it was still under
construction at the time. The owner also admitted having seen the UFO, as it always passed overhead. The youths also managed to see a fleet of UFOs: "On
one occasion, we managed to see six or seven of them. Suddenly, their lights went out and they turned them on again. Those craft flew together. We even
became famous at school, since even our teachers asked us what we had recorded and couldn't believe what we had seen," he said.
"When we made inquiries from several adults, they weren't surprised. They said it was common to see UFOs over the pyramid, and perhaps some connection
existed," he concluded.
[Translation (c) 2015, S. Corrales IHU with thanks to Jorge Moreno, SIPSE and Guillermo Giménez, Planeta UFO]
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19 jun 2015
Thousands of crabs wash up in California
Vast quantities of small red crabs have been washing up along the west coast of the United States. Beachgoers were left perplexed this month as miles ...
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'No aliens in Area 51' says NASA head
Charles Bolden made the light-hearted remarks after being questioned by a ten-year-old on Sky News. Bolden, who became the administrator of NASA back ...
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So Far 2015 is the Hottest Year on Record--Except in the US
Last month was recorded as the hottest May on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), since the organization started recording temperatures in 135 years ago. The previous 4 months were each the hottest on record for that month as well. 2015 is forecast to break last year's record for the highest global average temperature once again. Thirteen of the 14 hottest years on record have been in this century.
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Man finds stranger's ashes in his garden
Bill Stephenson got the surprise of his life when he found someone's ashes buried beneath his lawn. The 70-year-old, who had lived at his house in Co ...
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Mass Dreams of the Future
In view of Starfire Tor's vision of the future that emerges in the second half of Dreamland, this week for subscribers, we return to October 19, 2002 and Linda Moulton Howe discussing Earth's future with Chet Snow, in the context of the geometry of crop circles. What was thought of Earth's destiny in 2002? Was the vision of the future that was evolving in those days in any way true or accurate? People were thinking about the impact of 2012 and the coming 21st Century, but was their thinking valid?
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Starfire Tor and the Dark Wind
June 19, 2015
Face toward the dark wind, Starfire dares.
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Visitors Alter Our Space-Time. Do They do This with Fear?
Thursday June 18, 2015
The Experience will be on hiatus next week.
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18 jun 2015
Russia hints at US moon landing investigation
A Russian government official has proposed an international investigation in to the moon landings. In a recent Izvestia newspaper column article Russi...
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Liverpool tenants warned about poltergeist
A three-bedroom house has had its rental price reduced thanks to the presence of a disruptive ghost. The building, which is situated on Pickwick Stree...
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What's Soaking Texas? El Nino is Back
The Pacific region is officially experiencing an El Niño event, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has announced that Texas and most of the central US is due for more soaking from the vast region of warm water that has developed in the south Pacific. This El Niño is unusual, in that the phenomenon would usually be ending at this time of year. Sea surface temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific are continuing to warm, which is expected from an El Niño. The temperature has also risen by 1°C over the past three weeks--an increase not seen since the 1980s, when there were back-to-back El Niño events.
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Buscan nuevas leyes de la física con el análisis de propiedades del ‘‘quark top’
Científicos de la Universidad de Granada han realizado un análisis de las propiedades de la partícula 'quark top’, la más pesada conocida hasta la fecha, así como de las posibles modificaciones de las teorías físicas que expliquen los resultados de los experimentos relacionados con ella. La investigación ayudará a interpretar los resultados del LHC.
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Buscan nuevas leyes de la física analizando las propiedades del ‘quark top’
Científicos de la Universidad de Granada han realizado un análisis de las propiedades de la partícula 'quark top’, la más pesada conocida hasta la fecha, así como de las posibles modificaciones de las teorías física que expliquen los resultados de los experimentos relacionados con ella. La investigación ayudará a interpretar otros resultados del LHC.
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Stephen Hawking vuelve a reunir a las estrellas de la ciencia y de la música en Tenerife
‘Más allá del horizonte– Homenaje a Stephen Hawking’ es el lema de la tercera edición del Starmus Festival que rinde tributo al físico teórico británico más famoso de la historia. Diez premios Nobel junto a otros nombres destacados de diversas disciplinas científicas se congregarán en Tenerife entre el 27 de junio y 2 de julio de 2016. La música será el otro pilar fundamental del festival del que se acaban de poner a la venta las inscripciones.
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Europa mission now one step closer to reality
NASA has announced that it has reached a major new milestone in its upcoming mission to explore Europa. Widely considered to be the best place in the ...
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Europa mission now one step closer to reality
NASA has announced that it has reached a major new milestone in its upcoming mission to explore Europa. Widely considered to be the best place in the ...
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17 jun 2015
Did 'ectoplasm' ever have any basis in fact ?
The controversial substance played a significant role in early 20th century spirit communication. First coined by physiologist Charles Richet at the e...
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Quantum Weirdness Just Got Weirder: Reality Needs an Observer
A new physics experiment has verified the concept of quantum indeterminacy, where a particle exists as both a particle and a wave until observed. As well, the experiment also shows that the "decision" made by the particle can travel backward in time.
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Drone investigates crop circles in Russia
New aerial footage has been released showing an intricate pattern of circles in a field in Russia. Up until relatively recently researchers looking to...
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Does life exist beneath the Martian soil ?
Scientists have identified traces of methane inside space rocks that are thought to have come from Mars. The discovery has been hailed as particularly...
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España participará en las próximas misiones a Marte de la NASA
El Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial y el Centro de Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial han firmado un acuerdo de colaboración con la NASA para las misiones InSight y Mars 2020, con las que se estudiará la estructura interna de Marte y posibles entornos en los que haya podido haber vida. Las dos instituciones españolas, en colaboración con centros de investigación y empresas nacionales, ya participaron con la estación meteorológica y antena de alta ganacia que lleva el rover Curiosity, y ahora aportarán otras similares.
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16 jun 2015
Nepal earthquake actually moved Everest
The world's tallest mountain was shifted three centimeters by the earthquake that struck in April. Researchers from China have revealed that the devas...
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'Crashed UFO' spotted in the Antarctic
A UFO researcher in Russia has found what he believes to be a UFO in Antarctica using Google Earth. Valentin Degterev from Nizhny Tagil in central Rus...
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Was Life on Earth Seeded by Aliens? Scientists Find a Strange Device
Researchers in the UK say they may have discovered a miniature device that was used to seed life on Earth.
Analyzing samples taken from the stratosphere by a high-altitude balloon, researchers from the University of Buckingham discovered a tiny metallic sphere imbedded in the sampler. Astrobiologist Milton Wainwright describes the object: "It is a ball about the width of a human hair, which has filamentous life on the outside and a gooey biological material oozing from its center." The object was found cratered within the sampling container, implying that it had hit the collector at high speed, rather than just floating in the air with the rest of the particles collected.
Analyzing samples taken from the stratosphere by a high-altitude balloon, researchers from the University of Buckingham discovered a tiny metallic sphere imbedded in the sampler. Astrobiologist Milton Wainwright describes the object: "It is a ball about the width of a human hair, which has filamentous life on the outside and a gooey biological material oozing from its center." The object was found cratered within the sampling container, implying that it had hit the collector at high speed, rather than just floating in the air with the rest of the particles collected.
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Why does the return trip feel shorter ?
Researchers have been attempting to determine why a return trip tends to feel like it took less time. At some point in our lives most of us will have ...
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15 jun 2015
Cat with 'alien' eyes becomes Internet star
A cat called Matilda has been raising eyebrows online due to her extremely unusual appearance. While at first glance it might appear as though photogr...
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'Cryobot' could tunnel beneath Europa's ice
Scientists are developing a robot designed to explore the ocean beneath Jupiter's icy moon. With NASA planning to send a spacecraft to Europa in the n...
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Texas Braces for More Floods: Could be 'Catastrophic'
The State of Texas has been soaked by record-shattering rainfall and disastrous floods, and now a tropical depression moving in to the eastern part of the state threatens a catastrophic situation. The waterlogged ground and already full rivers cannot absorb a significant rainfall, and 6 to 10 inches are predicted for Houston and surrounding counties. The lack of absorbancy will mean that water will rise immediately, making flash flooding a grave danger, and not just in low lying areas. The storm is expected to move into the area in the next 24 hours, and to continue through the weekend.
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Chile: UFO Recorded During Soccer Match
Source: Radioagricultura (Chile)
Date: 06.12.2015
Chile: UFO Recorded During Soccer Match
A luminous objct startled fans of "La Roja" who were enjoying the game at the National Stadium.
It was crossed the skies ove Nuñoa for nearly 3 minutes. It was gone in the same way it appeared. The alleged UFO during the opening ceremonies of the Copa America at the National Stadium was swift and fleeting,
The fireworks launched at the sports arena drew the attention of one supporter, who took out his cell phone quickly to capture the moment. However, he never thought he'd find a luminous object moving strangely, from side to side - a movement far from what one would expect of an aircraft.
Could it be a UFO? The images are eloquent. The conclusions are yours to draw.
VIDEO AT: https://youtu.be/9yHJsOWnkpY
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Blood Cells Found in Dinosaur Fossils
Researchers have found what appears to be red blood cells and connective tissue, discovered in 75 million-year-old dinosaur fossils.
Researchers studying a fossilized dinosaur claw at the Imperial College in London have discovered microscopic ovoid structures in it that appear to be red blood cells. Another fossil fragment held fibrous features that resemble collagen, that makes up tendons and ligaments. These tissues are not fossilized, but are rather remnants of soft tissue.
Researchers studying a fossilized dinosaur claw at the Imperial College in London have discovered microscopic ovoid structures in it that appear to be red blood cells. Another fossil fragment held fibrous features that resemble collagen, that makes up tendons and ligaments. These tissues are not fossilized, but are rather remnants of soft tissue.
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Diseñan biosensores con propiedades fluorescentes a partir del cangrejo rojo del Guadalquivir
Un equipo de científicos de la Universidad de Sevilla ha diseñado biomateriales fluorescentes a partir de los caparazones y residuos del cangrejo rojo del Guadalquivir. La fluorescencia de los biomateriales obtenidos los convierte en detectores rápidos y precisos de sustancias contaminantes en procesos de elaboración alimentaria o farmacéutica. Además, resultan útiles para 'iluminar' el interior de las células y hacerlas visibles al microscopio electrónico
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Hidden secrets found in Columbus' 1491 map
The map studied by Columbus before his trans-Atlantic voyage has been cleaned up using computer software. Created by German cartographer Henricus Mart...
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El módulo Philae despierta sobre el cometa 67P
"¡Increíble noticia. Mi 'aterrizador' Philae está despierto!". Con estas palabras la sonda Rosetta de la Agencia Espacial Europea anunciaba este domingo en su cuenta de Twitter que, tras casi siete meses en hibernación sobre el cometa 67P, el módulo de aterrizaje de la misión había vuelto a contactar con la Tierra. La nave guarda más de 8.000 paquetes de datos en su memoria esperando para ser transmitidos.
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14 jun 2015
Comet lander Philae wakes up after 7 months
The Rosetta probe's companion lander Philae has finally awoken after losing power in November. Launched by the European Space Agency in 2004, the ambi...
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Mystery hands appear in Mt Kinabalu photos
An unexplained pair of hands has appeared in photographs taken by two separate cameras in Borneo. The peculiar disembodied hands, which have been like...
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Vatican investigates Medjugorje apparitions
The Vatican is set to rule on the validity of a long history of Virgin Mary sightings in Bosnia. More than one million pilgrims visit the small Bosnia...
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13 jun 2015
Jurassic World dinosaurs savaged by experts
Palaeontologists have been quick to point out the flaws in this summer's follow-up to Jurassic Park. While the latest movie in the popular franchise h...
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Mars glass could preserve evidence of life
Deposits of impact glass on the surface of Mars could potentially contain traces of ancient life forms. The glass, which was discovered by the Mars Re...
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Tourist photographs UFO above Loch Ness
Alan Betts and his family discovered something strange in a picture they'd taken while visiting the loch. Betts had been on holiday in Scotland with h...
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12 jun 2015
Another "Roswell Mummy" Image Surfaces
A new image of a mummy has surfaced that bears significant resemblance to the one that appears in the slide originally presented at Jaime Maussan's Cinco de Mayo "Be Witness" project in Mexico City. As Unknowncountry was unable to obtain permission to run the new image, we cannot post it here. The new slide does not appear to Unknowncountry.com's photo experts to be a computer graphic, but Jaime Maussan has asserted that it is. The most notable difference between this slide and the one presented at the conference is that no right hand is present in the mummy shown in the new slide. If this is the same mummy, then the hand was removed between the time the slides presented by Mr. Maussan and the new one were made.
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Did Hitler escape Germany at the end of WWII?
British historian Gerrard Williams maintains that Hitler did not perish in his bunker after all. As the Soviets descended on Berlin during the final d...
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All life on Earth combined weighs 50bn tonnes
Scientists have calculated how much genetic material there is on Earth and how much space it takes up. The impressive figure was reached by adding up ...
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Pigs are as intelligent as chimpanzees
Scientists believe that pigs are on the same intellectual level as mankind's closest living relatives. Despite being viewed as nothing more than a mea...
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11 jun 2015
Large eels fall from the sky over Alaska
Arctic lamprey eels measuring several feet in length have been observed plummeting from the heavens. While accounts of animals raining from the sky ha...
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Goodbye to a Hidden Gem
Thursday June 11, 2015
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Proof of Heaven Author Eben Alexander on Soul Transformation
June 12, 2015
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Blood cells discovered in dinosaur fossils
Red blood cells and connective tissues are thought to be preserved within countless fossil specimens. Scientists at Imperial College in London made th...
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MUFON Report: UFO Observed for 2 Hours in Athens, Ohio
Two witnesses near Athens, Ohio, observed a UFO for 2 hours and heard strange noises in a wooded area, according to a report that appears on Open Minds. Although the object was observed for two hours, the witnesses reportedly obtained just six minutes of video. Unfortunately, this video has not been released. The case is under investigation by MUFON. Not graded.
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Big Data Analysis Suggests Common Antacids May Greatly Increase Heart Attack Risk
Adults who use proton pump inhibitors such as Prevacid, Nexium and Prilosec are between 16 and 21 percent more likely to experience a heart attack than people who don't use the commonly prescribed antacid drugs, according to a massive new study by Houston Methodist and Stanford University scientists.
An examination of 16 million clinical documents representing 2.9 million patients also showed that patients who use a different type of antacid drug called an H2 blocker have no increased heart attack risk. The findings, reported in PLOS ONE, follow a Circulation report in 2013 in which scientists showed how -- at a molecular level -- PPIs might cause long-term cardiovascular disease and increase a patient's heart attack risk.
An examination of 16 million clinical documents representing 2.9 million patients also showed that patients who use a different type of antacid drug called an H2 blocker have no increased heart attack risk. The findings, reported in PLOS ONE, follow a Circulation report in 2013 in which scientists showed how -- at a molecular level -- PPIs might cause long-term cardiovascular disease and increase a patient's heart attack risk.
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NASA unveils video of its new Mars rocket
The new Space Launch System will enable ambitious future missions including a manned trip to Mars. A major part of NASA's upcoming space endeavors, th...
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10 jun 2015
UFO 'imitates moon' in controversial video
Footage has emerged of what looks like the moon changing shape as it moves across the night sky. The video, which was filmed in a town in Russia, show...
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Activity in Area of Toba Supervolcano
The Indonesian National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has issued an alert warning regarding Mount Sinabung in Karo regency, North Sumatra, after finding increased volcanic activity. At the same time, some residents living near the massive Toba supervolcano are reporting heat, hot steam and gas emanating from the ground.
BNPB spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said that Sinabung has the potential to spread hot ash clouds to the south and southeast as far as 7km, and the volume of lava coming from the mountain has reached 3 million cubic meters. A call for residents within 7km of the crater to evacuate has also been made. Mount Sinabung has seen two previous eruptions in recent years, once in 2010, and again in 2013.
BNPB spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said that Sinabung has the potential to spread hot ash clouds to the south and southeast as far as 7km, and the volume of lava coming from the mountain has reached 3 million cubic meters. A call for residents within 7km of the crater to evacuate has also been made. Mount Sinabung has seen two previous eruptions in recent years, once in 2010, and again in 2013.
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'Lion elevator' restored in Rome's Colosseum
The special mechanism used to hoist wild animals in to the world famous arena has now been rebuilt. In its heyday the Colosseum would have been a sigh...
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Receta para crear el termómetro cuántico más preciso
Físicos de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona han conseguido la 'fórmula' para construir un termómetro cuántico a escala nanométrica. Su precisión permitiría detectar fluctuaciones ínfimas de la temperatura en regiones tan pequeñas como el interior de las células o en diminutos circuitos electronicos.
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9 jun 2015
Dawgs in Our Life
Billy Collins wrote a hilarious poem about dogs called “Why I No Longer Keep a Gun in the House.” It’s about his struggles with a constantly yapping dog.
I have two dogs in my life. One is purebred and very well behaved. The other is a mutt whose mother must have had an affair with a poodle. This one isn’t so polite. He’s named Smoochy. Noisy or not, Smoochy does have some practical value. He doesn’t look like it, but he’s a great guard dog and burglar alarm. He barks when anybody comes around. I call it the “Smoochy Alarm.”
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I have two dogs in my life. One is purebred and very well behaved. The other is a mutt whose mother must have had an affair with a poodle. This one isn’t so polite. He’s named Smoochy. Noisy or not, Smoochy does have some practical value. He doesn’t look like it, but he’s a great guard dog and burglar alarm. He barks when anybody comes around. I call it the “Smoochy Alarm.”
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Cars may soon refuse to go if you are drunk
A new automated alcohol detection system may soon be making drink-driving physically impossible. Alcohol and cars are two things that do not mix, so m...
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Phantom eye patients 'see' with missing eye
People who have lost an eye to illness sometimes report strange visual sensations and phantom images. Amputees have been sometimes known to feel tingl...
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Stone Tools May Predate Known Human Ancestors
Paleoarchaeologists working in Kenya have unearthed the oldest known stone tools found to date, and say that they predate our earliest known ancestors by over half a million years.
Digging by accident at a site they didn't originally intend to visit, Sonia Harmand and Jason Lewis of Stony Brook University in New York, found stone tools that they've dated to 3.3 million years ago, 700,000 years older than previously found artifacts. Anthropology professor Alison Brooks, George Washington University, has examined some of the tools. "It really absolutely moves the beginnings of human technology back into a much more distant past, and a much different kind of ancestor than we've been thinking of."
Digging by accident at a site they didn't originally intend to visit, Sonia Harmand and Jason Lewis of Stony Brook University in New York, found stone tools that they've dated to 3.3 million years ago, 700,000 years older than previously found artifacts. Anthropology professor Alison Brooks, George Washington University, has examined some of the tools. "It really absolutely moves the beginnings of human technology back into a much more distant past, and a much different kind of ancestor than we've been thinking of."
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Carnivorous dinosaur goes on show in Wales
The first meat-eating dinosaur ever found in Wales has been revealed to the public for the first time. Originally discovered on a beach by fossil hunt...
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A Voyage to the Land of the Living Dead
[While looking through the INEXPLICATA archives, I came across one of our most popular features from the pre-Blogspot days: an article about zombies written by contributing editor Manuel Carballal, who visited the island to look into Haiti's occult practices, much as he had done earlier in Cuba. Although we often receive complaints about straying from ufology into other areas of the unknown, it is precisely this diversity - and the fearless journalism of reporters like Manuel Carballal - that have made INEXPLICATA stand out since 1998 -- SC]
Voyage to the Land of the Living Dead
By Manuel Carballal
The scene could have been derived from any suspense film. Manuel Delgado instinctively held on tightly to his television camera as we clutched our machetes. Our vehicle was being surrounded by a dozen ebony-skinned Haitians. The blancs, as they derisively call Europeans, are not welcome in Haiti and we had been warned that under no circumstances should we venture into the shanty towns outside Port-au-Prince where, we were told, "there exists a 90 per cent chance of being mugged." We ignored this sage advice, of course.
After endless minutes of waiting, our guide allowed us to emerge from the car. Monsieur Balaguer, an important bokor -- a voodoo high priest -- would allow us to visit his hounfor or temple. The hounfor consisted in a humble wooden shack whose center contained the peristyle, the indispensable central column of every voodoo ritual, by means of which the gods or loas descend to earth. A filthy light bulb and seven candles enabled us to see the disquieting form of Monsieur Balaguer, a tall man with sparkling black eyes, who covered his head with a Stetson.
While our guide stated all the arguments at his disposal in order to have Monsieur Balaguer allow us to film his "she-devil" and his "zombie", we were startled by a sudden blackout. The dirty light bulb was extinguished, plunging us into the shadows, illuminated only by the seven candles around the peristyle. Balaguer greeted his "she-devil" -- supposedly located behind a mysterious metal door -- by rapping on it a few times. From the other side, "something" responded with brutal blows against the door, causing the entire temple to shake. Suddenly we were told that the bokor had to consult the loas: we looked on as Monsieur Balaguer fell int a sort of trance, being "ridden" or possessed by Bravo, one of the loas who shares the lordship over death and cemeteries with Baron Samedi and Baron La Croix. Subjecting us to a sort of "trial," exchanging a curious combinations of handshakes to which we instinctively responded to, Balaguer drank rum through an ear as he smoked a cigarette through one nostril.
The fact of the matter is that in Haiti, Western patterns of logic become fragile in the face of the unpredictable, incomprehensible and irrational voodoo cult -- vodú in the native tongue -- which originates from the Fon language of Dahomey, meaning "deity" or "spirit." This is the precise nature of voodoo: a spirit that envelops Haiti, influencing each and every cultural or social manifestation of this small country, the poorest of the Americas.
Voodoo Reaches the Presidency
No single cultural manifestation is longer-lasting or more influential than a country's religion. In Haiti's case, this influence becomes particularly apparent. In late 1995, when President Bill Clinton visited Haiti to supervise the "changing of the guard" -- American troops being replaced by UN peacekeepers, more than four thousand Haitians converged upon the square in front of the Presidential Palace in Port-au-Prince to witness the event. President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, restored to power thanks to the intervention of twenty thousand U.S. troops in October 1994, would preside over the event.
Bill Clinton had barely finished his conciliatory speech concerning military intervention in Haiti when a white dove landed next to his microphone. Immediately, thousands of Haitians roared their approval and applauded in the light of such an unequivocal "sign of approval" from the gods. The Voodoo loas had accepted Clinton. This "innocent coincidence" made thousands of Haitians--and more importantly, secret societies like Bizango, who had promised to protect the country against foreigners through magic--put aside their anger against the new white invaders, respecting the wishes of the gods. Voodoo is the main power in Haiti: no one would dare contradict the wishes of the loas, or what is interpreted as their wishes.
From the days of Macandal, the pioneer of independence in the 18th century to the times of General Raoul Cédras, no Haitian ruler has forgotten to acknowledge the all-powerful influence of voodoo in Haiti. President Aristide was no exception. In spite of having been a Catholic priest, after an interview with several houngans (priests) and mambos (priestesses) on July 19, 1995, Aristide officially announced the construction of a great Voodoo temple within the capital. In this manner, the president equated the Voodoo religion with other "accepted" religions, granting Voodoo practitioners a "cathedral" similar to the Baptist churches, Masonic temples or Catholic parishes which are so numerous in Haiti.
Warlocks in Charge
But there was one Haitian ruler who knew how to make use of Voodoo as a political tool: the mythical and shadowy "Papa Doc," François Duvalier. In 1954, the legendary "Papa Doc" published (with Lorimer Denis) a monograph entitled L'Evolution graduelle du vaudou (The Gradual Evolution of Voodoo). The knowledge of Voodoo displayed in this book was evidently utilized during his political career.
As a young man, along with other Haitian intellectuals, Duvalier published a nationalist newspaper called Les Griots. At a time when the government torched the sacred Voodoo drums and other objects of worship as a sign of loyalty to the Catholic church, Les Griots revindicated Voodoo as a religion and as rebellion against American colonizers. It isn't surprising that "Papa Doc" gained the support of the traditional secret societies, and that during his 1957 campaign, the hounfour or Voodoo temples were utilized as his local party headquarters.
Immediately after rising to the presidency of Haiti, Duvalier named the feared bokor of Gonaives, Zacharie Delva, as commander-in-chief of the army, and began to revindicate Voodoo as the official religion. His personal bodyguard, a sort of "esoteric police," were the Volunteers for National Security (VSN), the feared Tontons Macoutes who spread terror throughout the island (the name Tontons Macoutes refers to an old Haitian folk tale of the "men with the sack". Misbehaving children were warned that their tonton -- uncle -- would take them away inside a macoute, a sack). All the hounfor who were not aligned with the Duvalier regime were locked up and rebels were persecuted. According to his biographers, "Papa Doc" ordered a special airplane to bring him the head of former rebel captain Blucher Fhilgénes. The man was decapitated and his head was placed in a bucket of ice. According to the rumors filtering out of the Presidential Palace, Duvalier would spend hours contemplating the head and consulting its spirit in secret rituals.
"Man speaks, but doesn't act. God acts, but doesn't speak. Duvalier is a god." This was the thought echoing through the streets of Haiti. Papa Doc had woven around himself a terrible magical legend thanks to his knowledge of Voodoo, a legend that none dare question, and which allowed his dictatorship to flourish for decades. In fact, many peasants believed that "Papa Doc" was an incarnation of the dreaded Baron Samedi, lord of cemeteries. "They cannot have me. I am an immaterial being," Duvalier said during one of his speeches in 1963. The fact is that his legend exists to this day, and many believe that Duvalier has become a loa, a spirit of the Gede family that can still manifest itself in certain rituals...
Blood, Rhythm and Possession
We were engulfed by frantic drumbeats. The convulsive dancing of the hounsí --Voodoo initiates--bewitched us, and the markedly African chants and litanies overwhelmed us. The entire montage of the Voodoo ritual we were witnessing in Cachimán, near the border with the Dominican Republic, created an almost dreamlike atmosphere within the confines of Voodoo priest Manuel Sánchez Elie. Without a scrap of hesitation, one of the houngan's assistants delivered a powerful blade-stroke on the neck of a ram, abruptly decapitating the animal while its blood showered everyone present. The ram's head was torn from its body and offered to the gods, while two acolytes stripped the body, which would be served to the participants later. Voodoo religion is an imprecise mixture of blood, music and esthetics.
Voodoo, like Santería, Umbanda, Candomblé or Palo Mayombe, is the product of synchretism between African religions and Christianity. The ancestral beliefs brought by African slaves to the New World as their only treasure was forcibly mimetized with the saints of the Catholic onomasticon. The orishas and African loas were disguised as saints, mystics and martyrs in order that their worship could survive in a hostile world, which was that of slave-owning whites. This abstract mixture of witchcraft, paganism and christianity survives to this day.
It is said that on July 16, 1843, the Blessed Virgin materialized on top of a palm tree near the town of Ville Bonheur. The palm tree was very close to the precipices in which the Tombe River dissolves into the mist in a cascade known as Saut d'Eau, a sacred site for generations of voodooists. The Catholic Church recognized the location as a site of Marian worship, but to the Haitian people, it was really Erzulie Freda, goddess od love and beauty, who had materialized there. Since then, every July 16th, thousands of pilgrims visit Saut d'Eau to pay homage to the goddess Erzulie, although christian priests and pastors would rather believe that the pilgrimage is a form of Marian worship. The fact remains that Haiti may be 85 per cent christian, but it is 110 per cent voodooist.
In Saut d'Eau, as in any other Voodoo celebration, there is an indispensable element: possession.
A sociological study conducted on 486 societies around the world revealed that 360 of them believe in some form of possession. Haiti is a prime example. In the words of ethnobiologist Wade Davis, "Voodoo is a democratic faith par excellance. Each believer not only has direct contact with the spirits, but really receives them within his own body." Unlike other religions, the Afrocaribbean ones do not require intermediaries between gods and believers. When the gods introduce themselves into the devotees' bodies, anything can happen: voice changes, attacks of hysteria, walking on hot coals, eating broken glass...
Haitian voodoo admits three kinds of possession: rada, gede and petro. The last two are the most spectacular. Petro Voodoo is the most brutal, violent and dangerous kind. The violence of such possessions has even caused the death of some worshippers who have been "ridden" or possessed by the powerful loas of petro Voodoo. This kind of ritual, among the least accessible in Haiti, reflect the rage, the pain and humiliation of the people, who for generations were subjected to the indescribable cruelty of slave owners.
Haiti's Secret Societies
"A fellow diplomat was named as a witness in a trial against one of the secret societies that proliferate in the country. When he reached the courthouse to testify, there was an exhibit table upon which he could see a cauldron brimming over with the head and arm of a girl sacrificed in a magical rite by the society. My friend had to run out of the courtroom to vomit." This was the story told to us by Juan Blázquez, Spain's consul in Port-au-Prince for five years and a scholar of voodoo. Throughout his years in Haiti he had heard of many secret societies, but had also learn that penetrating them is almost impossible.
The study of Haitian secret societies represents an arduous task for anthropologists and sociologists alike. In the summer of 1976, Haitian anthropologist Michel Laguerra met several peasants who had belonged to different secret societies, but who had later converted to Protestantism and were now willing to divulge certain information. According to his sources, there are secret societies running the length and breadth of the country, each controlling a given region.
Some of these secret societies are especially feared and respected in Haiti. The Zobop terrorized the population by kidnapping in the dark of night anyone considered a traitor to the community in order to "bring them to justice" in a cruel fashion. Others, like the Bizango, uphold a sorcerous tradition that goes back to the dawn of time. Its rituals mix ceremonies extracted from old texts on witchcraft, such as the Petit Albert or the Red Dragon (which reached Haiti during the colonial period), Masonic ritual and African magical practices.
Its rules are strict, and those who betray them are harshly punished. The Bizango society, for instance, has a taboo known as "the Seven Crimes": ambition, excessive material wealth gained at the expense of relatives or subordinates, disrespect toward fellow members, seducing another man's wife, slandering others or affecting their well-being, harming the members of someone's family, and any action that impedes others from tilling the soil. An infraction of any of these could cost a Bizango member his life...a particularly cruel and painful death by means of the poisons known for ages by Voodoo houngans and bokors.
Poisons and the Living Dead
The discussion was becoming more heated by the moment. We were trying to convince an important Voodoo priestess to let us record a gede Voodoo ritual in her temple. We knew that we were not welcome and the haggling about the price was adding heat to the surroundings. On another occasion, a similar discussion at another temple almost cost us our lives when nearly a hundred Haitians barricaded the door to the hounfour, warning us that we would not get out alive unless we paid them a thousand dollars.
While one of us argued with the mambo, a tall, fierce looking young man toyed with a rubber glove. He would put it on and take it off his hand with a smile on his lips. We knew exactly what he meant: at any moment, a yellowish powder could appear on his right hand, to be blown in our direction. It would represent a terrible doom--zombification. As a measure against this fate, we had drawn up a special policy which stated that in the event of dying in Haiti, no autopsies were permitted and that our bodies should be returned to Spain immediately. Death in Haiti can be far more perilous than anywhere else on earth.
Anthropologists, missionaries and industrialists who have come into contact with traditional African medicine have discovered its wonders. The knowledge of herbs, plants and jungle poisons possessed by witches, sorcerers and shamans is surprising, and this fascinating wisdom reached Haiti on the slave ships. Ethnologists and biologists who have analyzed the "magical recipes" employed by Voodoo houngans and bokors have discovered fascinating aspects, such as the substances created based upon the root of albizzia versicolor, used in Africa to create ibok usiak owo ("medicine to make people talk"), a sort of native truth serum. Or Zawda dust, employed to cause marital discord; Yoyo dust, used for the "Evil Eye"; Patchouli dust, used to cause infidelity and wreck marriages, and a hundred other "magical powders" with a number of uses and functions. But among them all, one is particularly fascinating: Pudre or "zombie dust."
Zombie Dust
It is impossible to discuss the mystery of zombie dust without mentioning the pioneering book by Harvard anthropologist, ethnobotanist and biologist Wade Davis, entitled The Zombie Enigma, a project that earned Davis his Ph.D and inspired the film The Serpent and The Rainbow, describing a scientist's quest for the living dead. Wade Davis began his own search for zombies in April 1982. In spite of the skepticism and even repugnance which scientists, even Haitian doctors, expressed for the myth of the "living dead", Davis and his sponsors were able to fathom a truth of great scientific interest concealed behind the veil of mystery and superstition. It wasn't the first time that a case of zombification was medically documented, but on certain earlier occasions, pretentious scientific despotism had quelled interest in such cases with derisive qualifiers such as "trickery" and "popular hogwash." If a death certificate was found for a person walking through the streets of Port-au-Prince, it was always attributed to confusion, hoaxing or medical error. After all, everyone knows that it's impossible to return from the grave...
But the clinical histories and death certificates were not the only items in existence. Relatives and neighbors recognized the zombies. After making contact with Haitian houngans and bokors, Davis obtained access to certain Voodoo secrets, among them the making of zombie powder.
Far from being the product of strange esoteric ritual, zombification is the result of an exceptional application of natural chemistry on the bokor's part. Zombie dust is a compound based on a number of vegetable, animal and human material, which combined in the right amounts produces the most fascinating poison of Afroamerican witchery. Extracts from plants, human bones, tarantulas, poisonous toads, worms and other no less picturesque ingredients form part of the dust whose main active ingredient is the tetrodoxine found in the Haitian blowfish, which we were able to localize and photograph with underwater cameras after various dives into Caribbean waters. The substance is a masterpiece of chemical artistry --- if improperly mixed, it will have no effect whatsoever or will cause instant death.
Once prepared, the powder is deposited on the floor of the victim's home, so that it will penetrate his skin upon stepping on it with bare skin. Otherwise, the bokor will blow it into the hapless victim's face. Shortly after, the future zombie "dies" and the bokor "steals its soul," containing it in a bottle. After burial, the bokor and his assistants go to the graveyard and retrieve the zombie from the tomb in order to sell him as a slave on the other side of the island.
Our travels took us all over Haiti -- a hellish voyage between the Dominican border and Lake Peligros that took over twelve hours by motorcycle, crossing rivers and mudholes. We were thus able to prove the horror of the possibility of being zombified, a fear that forces the decapitation of corpses, or else the nailing of corpses to the casket to impede their removal. On the road to Lake Peligros, we found that many tombs and family crypts were built directly across from the relatives' homes, in order to keep the bokor from tampering with the deceased's body and soul.
In Haiti, death is not final. Death isn't even an antonym for life. In Voodoo, both death and the dead form part of daily life, of religion, and of society. Death itself is another form of life.
[Translation (c) 1998, 2015 by Scott Corrales, Institute of Hispanic Ufology]
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8 jun 2015
NASA aiming to cut Mars travel time in half
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has outlined the space agency's plans for getting humans to Mars. Speaking during a visit to the Aerojet Rocketdyne ...
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Will First Contact be through Alien Machines?
Britain's Astronomer Royal, Prof Lord Rees, says that if we were to make contact with extraterrestrials from outside our solar system, it would be with intelligent machines, rather than with organic aliens.
While addressing an audience at the Cheltenham Science Festival last week, Rees said that an incoming SETI-like signal would likely be from machines built by a previous extraterrestrial civilization, since machines would be more suited to the rigors of space travel, as opposed to their biological creators, who are likely to have died out long beforehand.
While addressing an audience at the Cheltenham Science Festival last week, Rees said that an incoming SETI-like signal would likely be from machines built by a previous extraterrestrial civilization, since machines would be more suited to the rigors of space travel, as opposed to their biological creators, who are likely to have died out long beforehand.
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DRC-Hubo wins DARPA Robotics Challenge
A robot from South Korea has scooped the $2 million prize for an impressive win across eight tasks. The event saw a dozen teams from Japan, Germany, S...
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NASA debunks September doomsday claims
Conspiracy theorists have claimed that a huge comet will wipe out mankind at the end of September. It seems that not a year goes by without someone so...
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Memorias antiferromagnéticas para almacenar mejor la información
Una revisión realizada por investigadores de los institutos de Física ASCR en la República Checa e ICN2 en España describe los enfoques utilizados hasta ahora para leer y almacenar datos en materiales antiferromagnéticos, una alternativa a los ferromagnéticos donde se graban habitualmente los bits de información. La ventaja de los primeros es que son insensibles a los campos magnéticos externos. En el trabajo se explica como escribir sobre ellos.
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Primera luz de PAU, nueva cámara para estudiar la energía oscura
El telescopio William Herschel del Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, en La Palma (Canarias), incorpora desde este mes un instrumento visitante: la cámara del proyecto Physics of the Accelerating Universe (PAU). Su innovadora tecnología, de fabricación española, permite explorar una nueva técnica para medir con precisión la expansión acelerada del universo bajo el influjo de la misteriosa materia oscura. Centros de investigación como IFAE, ICE, PIC, CIEMAT e IFT participan en el proyecto.
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7 jun 2015
Will first contact be with alien machines ?
Astronomer royal Martin Rees believes that we are likely to encounter machine-based extraterrestrials. During the Cheltenham Science Festival this wee...
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Boy survives 42 minutes trapped underwater
What makes it possible for someone to survive for such a long time without being able to breathe ? The 14-year-old, who had been diving in to a canal ...
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Asteroid is named in honor of Leonard Nimoy
The late Star Trek actor was recently honored with a main-belt asteroid that now bears his name. Known the world over for portraying the half-human, h...
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6 jun 2015
Cheer Up!
I'm sitting in a wheelchair recovering from a stroke, so I find I need cheering up. Part of what I do is watch my clumsy husband lurch around, part of it is remembering all the funny stuff that has happened to me, and part of it is thinking about the funniest diary I ever wrote, and the events that it describes.
I don't have much more to say than that right now, except that our family is as wonderful and funny as ever. Also, I might add that I'm doing better, finally EATING again rather than being fed through a tube. If you say "Glucerna" to me, I run even though I can't move an inch! But I can't fault the stuff, it kept me alive.
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I don't have much more to say than that right now, except that our family is as wonderful and funny as ever. Also, I might add that I'm doing better, finally EATING again rather than being fed through a tube. If you say "Glucerna" to me, I run even though I can't move an inch! But I can't fault the stuff, it kept me alive.
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Bizarre worm creature turns up in Taiwan
Footage has emerged of a peculiar looking green worm-like creature with a long pink tongue. The bizarre creature was filmed by Wei Cheng Jian in the p...
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Can the human brain become too 'full' ?
With all the information we take in on a daily basis is it possible for the brain to run out of space ? On the face of it our brains would seem to be ...
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World's First Lab-Grown Replacement Limb
Researchers have created the world's first biological replacement limb, grown in a lab from the creature's own cells.
Dr Harald Ott of the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Surgery has grown the replacement forelimb for a rat, using the forelimb of another rat that had previously died as a template for the cellular structure to grow over. The donor limb was treated with a detergent solution to stop it's cells, then was injected with healthy muscle and blood vessel cells from the recipient rat, and given the necessary oxygen and other nutrients to enable it to grow. Within three weeks, the new limb was ready for transplant.
Dr Harald Ott of the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Surgery has grown the replacement forelimb for a rat, using the forelimb of another rat that had previously died as a template for the cellular structure to grow over. The donor limb was treated with a detergent solution to stop it's cells, then was injected with healthy muscle and blood vessel cells from the recipient rat, and given the necessary oxygen and other nutrients to enable it to grow. Within three weeks, the new limb was ready for transplant.
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