What did Vela see?

On September 22, 1979 an aging satellite named Vela 6911 detected two very distinct flashes in the vicinity of the Indian or South Atlantic oceans that supposedly could be only one thing: a nuclear detonation. The Carter administration held an emergency meeting, other satellites were enlisted to see if they saw the detonation, which they did not, and utter pandemonium ensued for a short time as the US government scrambled to see who or what had set off a nuclear weapon that day. It was a small explosion, estimated at only three kilotons, and while the Soviets, Chinese, French and British are unlikely as the originators, the finger was tentatively pointed at Israel or South Africa for testing a weapon. Problem is, the whole thing made no sense.

The first problem was that no other satellites had detected the detonation, even though at least three were capable of it, if not more. It might have ended there, a very scary and potentially dangerous malfunction caused a false alarm. But it didn’t. Astronomers working at the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico detected an atmospheric shockwave that could have been linked to a nuclear explosion. The US government’s hydrophone network detected a very clear echo of a large explosion. But the one piece of foolproof evidence was never found: radiation. Dozens of flights were conducted to try to detect fallout, and none was ever found, though extremely low levels of a certain radioactive element might have been detected in Australia, some time later.

The blast remains a secret to this day, despite South Africa having given up all nuclear weaponry and testing decades ago. If they did it, they still aren’t saying, even though they have no motivation to keep quiet after all this time. Only if it involved Israel would it be worth keeping secret still.

It couldn’t have been a natural phenomena, meteorites do not make double flashes of light characteristic of a nuclear explosion. But given that all parties that may or may not have been involved state it wasn’t theirs, and the fact that radiation fallout was never confirmed, tends to point to something else.  ….

Its not likely we’ll ever know. The facts surrounding the event to this day do not add up, and any potential players in the nuclear arena remain tight-lipped. Most likely, Israel tested a nuclear weapon, but how it managed to not produce detected fallout is a mystery. Could it have been a UFO? Someone in government knows, but they aren’t going to say. – paranomala

Here is the wikipedia summary:

The flash was detected on 22 September 1979, at 00:53 GMT, by US Vela satellite 6911, which carried various sensors designed specifically to detect nuclear explosions. In addition to being able to detect gamma rays, x-rays and neutrons, the satellite also contained two bhangmeter sensors which were able to detect the dual light flashes associated with a nuclear explosion, specifically the initial brief, intense flash as well as the second longer flash that followed.^[2]

The satellite reported the characteristic double flash (a very fast and very bright flash, then a longer and less-bright one) of an atmospheric nuclear explosion of two to three kilotons, in the Indian Ocean between Bouvet Island (Norwegian dependency) and the Prince Edward Islands (South African dependencies) at 47°S 40°E / -47, 40Coordinates: 47°S 40°E / -47, 40. It should be noted that the explosion of some meteors as they are entering the atmosphere can produce energy measured from kilotons (Eastern Mediterranean Event) to megatons (Tunguska Event). However, the mechanism is different, and meteors do not produce the double flash characteristic of a nuclear detonation. – wiki

Wiki has a few other possibilities from US intelligence analysts:

… U.S. analysts also considered the possibility that it could have been a covert test by a known nuclear state. They concluded that there would be little motivation for the USSR or China in particular to test a nuclear weapon in such a way, unless they were attempting to make it look like South Africa or Israel were covertly testing weapons. As the flash could have occurred in the vicinity of the Kerguelen Islands, it is possible that France was testing a neutron bomb.^[10]

Massive waves a mystery at Maine harbor

Dockworker Marcy Ingall saw a giant wave in the distance last Tuesday afternoon and stopped in her tracks. It was an hour before low tide in Maine’s Boothbay Harbor, yet without warning, the muddy harbor floor suddenly filled with rushing, swirling water.

In 15 minutes, the water rose 12 feet, then receded. And then it happened again. It occurred three times, she said, each time ripping apart docks and splitting wooden pilings.

“It was bizarre,” said Ingall, a lifelong resident of the area. “Everybody was like, ‘Oh my God, is this the end?’ ” It was not the apocalypse, but it was a rare phenomenon, one that has baffled researchers. The National Weather Service said ocean levels rapidly rose in Boothbay, Southport, and Bristol in a matter of minutes around 3 p.m. on Oct. 28 to the surprise of ocean watchers. Exactly what caused the rogue waves remains unknown.

“The cause of it is a mystery,” said National Weather Service meteorologist John Jensenius, who first reported the waves from a field office in Gray, Maine. “But it’s not mysterious that it happened.”

Specialists have posed a variety of possible explanations, saying the waves could have been caused by a powerful storm squall or the slumping of mountains of sediment from a steep canyon in the ocean – a sort of mini tsunami. The last time such rogue waves appeared in Maine was at Bass Harbor in 1926.

Jensenius said the occurrence is so unusual, that specialists don’t have a name for the phenomenon.

“That’s part of our problem,” he said.

A similar occurrence in Florida more than 15 years ago continues to baffle researchers. A series of 12- to 15-foot waves hit Daytona Beach on July 3, 1992, injuring more than 20 people and lifting and tossing dozens of cars. …  – boston

“Become love”? What the bleep does that mean?

Tonight I heard a poet speak. He said, “You must stop looking for love and become love. You must stop asking for love and become love. You must stop begging for love and become love.”

This annoyed me … but it drew me in. What does that MEAN?

I thought about it for hours. I’m sometimes the dumbest smart person I know. I couldn’t make sense of it. A person can not become an emotion! Meaningless drivel.  It sounds like a fake formula. But the poet was genuine. So, what if I’m wrong? Around in circles I went.

Until it finally hit me… A person can become a source of love. That is what he was saying. So obvious.

Create love? How?

So, I Googled “how to become love” and hit this:

Love your self, first. Before you can share love, you must first have love for yourself. Otherwise, how can you share what you don’t have? It may be difficult to find happiness and peace if you don’t think of yourself as worthy of receiving it. Self love is the most important element of becoming a spiritually healthy person. Love for self gives you balance, it centers you, and it keeps you on track when circumstances in life attempt to derail you.”

Yes, great! But HOW does that work, exactly? What do you actually DO to get there, Dr. Google?

Dig and honor yourself

Forgiveness… is not only a form of self-love, it is completely an inside job. First you have to own your mistakes.

In order to forgive yourself, the Psychology Today article recommends that you do the following:

• Imagine a future where you totally love yourself and have totally owned your power

• Reach for an understanding of why you would choose limitations in your life. We are often taught by family and life experiences that being weak, sick or helpless is the way to get attention or help. Look at your own and other peoples attempts to get acceptance, attention and love. Ask yourself, what was I taught about being lovable?

• Then forgive yourself for having made mistakes. Imagine how your future self would forgive you for a mistake.

I’ve never thought about this. What was I taught about being lovable?

To be continued… I need sleep…

Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States

As expected, the moment the polls closed in California, Oregon and Washington state, netwrok projections declared that Barack Obama would win all three. And with those three, based on such calls, the senator from Illinois passed the 270-electoral-vote mark needed to win the presidency. Not only will he be the nation’s first biracial president, he also will be the first native of Hawaii to move into the White House. He is the first sitting senator to claim the ultimate political prize since John Kennedy in 1960 (as would have been John McCain). There is one trend that continues — Obama will be the fourth straight president with an Ivy League educational pedigree. – lat

Great! Time to celebrate! Enjoy tonight my friends. Some of you worked very hard to make this happen. I salute you. Let the hope in!

Pictured: World’s first truly blue roses go on display in Japan

They are the stuff of legend – signifying mystery and traditionally believed to be able to grant the owner youth. For years breeders have crossed different colours of roses in an effort to create the impossible. But rose petals lack the enzyme needed to create a blue pigment and the breeders always failed.

Now for the first time, thanks to genetic engineering, blue roses finally exist. The very first truly blue roses have gone on display in Japan and will be on sale to the public next year. After 13  years of research the Japanese Suntory company have finally perfected the mythical flower. – dm

Feeling blue darling?

Oil Creation Theory Challenged by Fuel-Making Fungus

A newfound fungus living in rainforest trees makes biofuel more efficiently than any other known method, researchers say. In fact, it’s so good at turning plant matter into fuel that researchers say their discovery calls into question the whole theory of how crude oil was made by nature in the first place.  … “The accepted theory is that crude oil, which is used to make diesel, is formed from the remains of dead plants and animals that have been exposed to heat and pressure for millions of years,” Strobel said. “If fungi like this are producing myco-diesel all over the rainforest, they may have contributed to the formation of fossil fuels.” – yahoo

A reddish microbe found on the inside of a tree at a secret location in the rainforests of northern Patagonia could unlock the biofuel of the future, say scientists. Its potential is so startling that the discoverers have coined the term “myco-diesel” – a derivation of the word for fungus – to describe the bouquet of hydrocarbons that it breathes.

“This is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an important combination of fuel substances,” said Gary Strobel, a professor of biology at Montana State University.

“The fungus can even make these diesel compounds from cellulose, which would make it a better source of biofuel that anything we use at the moment.” The study appears on Tuesday in a peer-reviewed British journal, Microbiology. Strobel, a 70-year-old veteran of the world’s rainforests, said that he came across Gliocladium roseum thanks to “two cases of serendipity”.

The first was in the late 1990s, when his team, working in Honduras, came across a previously unidentified fungus called Muscodor albus. By sheer accident, they found that M albus releases a powerful volatile – meaning gassy – antibiotic. Intrigued by this, the team tested M. Albus on the ulmo tree, whose fibres are a known habitat for fungi, in the hope that this would show up a new fungus.

“Quite unexpectedly, G roseum grew in the presence of these gases when almost all other fungi were killed. It was also making volatile antibiotics,” said Strobel. “Then, when we examined the gas composition of G. roseum, we were totally surprised to learn that it was making a plethora of hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon derivatives. The results were totally unexpected and very exciting, and almost every hair on my arms stood on end.”

Strobel’s team put the G roseum through its paces in the lab, growing it on an oatmeal-based jelly and on cellulose. Extractor fans drew off the gases exuded by the fungus, and analysis showed that many of them were hydrocarbons, including at least eight compounds that are the most abundant ingredients in diesel. … – phenom

“The main value of this discovery may not be the organism itself, but may be the genes responsible for the production of these gases,” Gary Strobel said.”There are certain enzymes that are responsible for the conversion of substrates such as cellulose to myco-diesel.” -sciblogging

… And of course, there’s a somewhat opposite process: jet fuel fungus that can live on jet fuel as a primary carbon source. Useful for bioremediation of contaminated soils. – sparksyn

Cult members disappointed that Judgement Day failed to arrive

After Judgment Day failed to arrive as expected this weekend, members of a northeastern New Mexico cult are left to ponder one question: What now?

Members of the Lord Our Righteousness Church near Des Moines believed they would escape their earthly bondage and ascend to heaven Friday night. Their once-active Web site came down, and a church representative sent the Journal an e-mail saying he didn’t anticipate having anymore contact with the media.

But as a small crowd of people and a TV news crew looked on from the gate to the wind-swept compound, midnight came. And then midnight went.

“They were looking for deliverance from God,” said Sarah Montoya, an attorney for the church’s leader, Wayne Bent. Montoya spoke with Bent’s son Jeff on Saturday. “They’re disappointed, but they understand that life goes on.” ….  – rnews

It is interesting how belief a cult by its members is actually strenghtened when doomsday predictions fail. This happens because people hate to believe they were suckered, so they make up elaborate justifications. Some may become convienced that their great faith prevented the event, for example.

Dominican migrant: We ate human flesh to survive

…  After a day and a half, the smaller of the boat’s two engines began malfunctioning and an argument broke out among the passengers about whether to give up and go back. The captain, fearful of the police, wanted to press on to the U.S. territory. On the sixth day, a passenger died. On the seventh night, the captain disappeared — whether he swam off to find help or was thrown off by another passenger, Maria Marizan could not say.

Drinking bits of sea and rainwater, those left behind held on as long as they could, but one after another the passengers began to die — among them, Maria Marizan’s brother Emmanuel. It was just a day before they would finally be rescued that the fisherman and his four fellow survivors turned to their last resort: eating a man who had just died.

“It’s like beef, almost the same,” Maria Marizan said. “At the skin there is like half an inch of yellow fat, then the fibers.”

On Saturday, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter rescued Maria Marizan, his brother Saulo, a father and son and a woman. The woman died Sunday at the same hospital where Maria Marizan is recovering. – msnbc

Horrible but … interesting. Like beef, eh? Well, now you know. I expected it would be the worst taste a human could taste, completely wretched as a matter of evolutionary prohibition against doing it. I guess not. Perhaps some of our ancient ancestors had to eat eachother at times to survive. Freaky.

Election Results + Live Comments via Twitter From Around the World

Well, I’m in a great mood! Click the map for the latest update:

For some more fun, watch people’s comments real time, live on a map here:

State by state:

1. Connecticut (O): Obama declared winner in Connecticut
2. Delaware (O): Obama wins in Delaware
3. District of Columbia (O): Sen. Obama wins District of Columbia
4. Maine (O): Obama wins Maine
5. Michigan (O): Obama wins Michigan’s 17 electoral votes
6. New Hampshire (O): Roundup: Obama adds New Hampshire, extrends early lead
7. New Jersey (O): Obama easily wins NJ’s 15 electoral votes
8. New york(O) :Barack Obama wins New York
9. Pennsylvania( O):  Obama wins Pa., state thought crucial for John McCain
10. Rhode Island (O): Obama wins heavily-Democratic RI over McCain
11. South Carolina (M): SC taps John McCain for president
12. Virginia (O): Reported via Twitter.
    
13. Vermont (O): Obama wins Vermont
14. Wisconsin (O): Obama takes Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, early lead

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Locksmiths

UC San Diego computer scientists have built a software program that can perform key duplication without having the key. Instead, the computer scientists only need a photograph of the key.

The bumps and valleys on your house or office keys represent a numeric code that completely describes how to open your particular lock. If a key doesn’t encode this precise “bitting code,” then it won’t open your door.

“We built our key duplication software system to show people that their keys are not inherently secret,” said Stefan Savage, the computer science professor from UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering who led the student-run project. “Perhaps this was once a reasonable assumption, but advances in digital imaging and optics have made it easy to duplicate someone’s keys from a distance without them even noticing.” … In one demonstration of the new software system, the computer scientists took pictures of common residential house keys with a cell phone camera, fed the image into their software which then produced the information needed to create identical copies. In another example, they used a five inch telephoto lens to capture images from the roof of a campus building and duplicate keys sitting on a café table more than 200 feet away.  … -sd