85 year old man survives 10,500 foot fall with family watching, no injuries

Former President George H.W. Bush marked his 85th birthday on Friday the same way he did his 75th and 80th birthdays: He leaped from a plane and zoomed downward at more than 100 mph in freefall before parachuting safely to a spot near his oceanfront home.

Bush made the tandem jump from 10,500 feet with Sgt. 1st Class Mike Elliott of the Army’s Golden Knights, who guided them to a gentle landing on the lawn of St. Ann’s Church.

“It’s a great, exhilarating feeling,” he said after he was removed from his harness. “I don’t feel a day over 84.”

He said he enjoyed the jump so much that he planned to do it again when he turns 90.

When he was president, Bush was an avid jogger, speed golfer, fisherman and tennis player. He said he has slowed down since then, but he doesn’t intend to stop moving.

He told reporters that he jumped Friday for two reasons: to experience the exhilaration of free-falling and to show that seniors can remain active and do fun things.

“Just because you’re an old guy, you don’t have to sit around drooling in the corner,” Bush said. “Get out and do something. Get out and enjoy life.”

All five of Bush’s children, including former President George W. Bush, were there, along with 14 grandchildren, two brothers and a sister.

Elliott said he was “definitely nervous” because of Bush’s age and the presence of his entire family.

“What we do is inherently dangerous, so there’s always some risk, but we pride ourselves on safety and make sure everything goes as planned. And today it went without a hitch,” he said.

via The Associated Press: Bush celebrates 85th by skydiving over Maine.

Competition: Win a piece of moon rock

WOULD you like to own this little piece of the moon?

Depending on which time zone you happen to be in, 20 or 21 July 2009 sees the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing.

Our competition to celebrate that historic event offers a rare and fabulous prize for the winner: a scrap of genuine moon rock.

The competition is simple to enter. You will doubtless know the words relayed from Neil Armstrong when he stepped off Apollo 11′s lunar module and onto the moon itself: “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Can you think of something better for him to have said – something even more memorable, or perhaps something funnier?

How to enter

Your entry should be no more than 75 characters long (including spaces).

Use the comment form at the foot of this article to submit your answer.

Please start a new thread, rather than replying to an existing comment.

Please remember to include a working email address (in the correct box in the form, not in the comment itself) so we can reach you if you are our winner. It won’t be used for any purpose other than the competition.

The winning entry will be chosen from entries received by 5pm GMT on 29 June.

It will be published in the 18 July issue of New Scientist, along with the best runners up.

The editor’s decision is final.

via Competition: Win a piece of moon rock – space – 10 June 2009 – New Scientist.

Uh, submit your entry over at New Scientist, I don’t have a moon rock to give you… just relaying the message about a cool competition. Several are along the lines of this:

Are you sure they won’t be able to tell this is a soundstage? Whoops — OK, take 2.

See my old Moan Hoax Debate article.

So long analog TV; it was great knowing you | Blogs |

Isn’t today the big big day for the transition to digital television? You can be forgiven for forgetting — in fact that’s just how the Obama administration wants it.

Ill-prepared back in February, when the U.S. was supposed to go all-digital all the time, the government decided to push back the switchover date by four months. Experts tell the Los Angeles Times that the delay should help avoid major problems, although about 2.8 million people could be left out in the cold when they try to turn on the tube.

The smart folks over at RPA, the advertising agency based in Los Angeles, put together of list of the markets that are best prepared — and those that aren’t. It cited data from The Nielsen Co, which has been studying preparations for the transition.

The best prepared areas, in order: Providence/New Bedford, Oklahoma City, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Ft. Myers/Naples and Hartford/New Haven. And the least prepared: Albuquerque/Santa Fe, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Sacramento, Seattle/Tacoma, Austin, and Los Angeles.

It could be a good weekend if you own an electronics store in Tacoma.

via MediaFile » Blog Archive » So long analog TV; it was great knowing you | Blogs |.

Earth could collide with Mars because of wobble in solar system

A wobble in the precise clockwork of the solar system could see the Earth collide with Mercury, Mars or Venus, scientists predict.

But they say reassuringly that such a mishap is unlikely to occur for billions of years.

The orbits of the planets are not completely stable because of the gravitational interplay between them.

Over time, the system can become increasingly disordered – like a poorly balanced tyre that eventually tears itself off the axle of a moving car.

In a similar way, planets can end up being flung out into space, diving into their parent star, or smashing into each other.

Two French scientists have now calculated the chances of our solar system falling apart within the Sun’s remaining lifespan of about five billion years.

They found that while the ‘gas giants’ – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune – are pretty stable, smaller rocky planets – including the Earth – are on a far less solid footing.

Computer simulations of 2,501 scenarios uncovered around 25 – or 1% – which led to a disruption of Mercury’s orbit and potential interplanetary collisions.

In one case, all the terrestrial planets were destabilised, raising the possibility of Mercury, Mars or Venus smashing into the Earth.

Another scenario saw Mars and the Earth approaching to within just 794 kilometres of each other.

‘Such a close approach would be disastrous for life on the Earth, with a possible tidal disruption of Mars and subsequent multiple impacts on earth,’ Dr Jacques Laskar and Mickael Gastineau, from the Paris Observatory, wrote in the journal Nature.

Slight adjustments of the Mars near-miss produced five outcomes with Mars being ejected from the solar system and another 196 which included a collision. In 48 of these, the Earth ends up crashing into Mars or Venus.

In an accompanying News & Views article, Dr Gregory Laughlin, from the University of California at Santa Cruz, said there were implications for planet populations around stars other than the Sun.

He wrote: ‘With 99% certainty, we can rely on the clockwork of the celestial rhythm – but with the remaining 1% we are afforded a vicarious thrill of danger.

‘What now remains is to understand the extent to which the hand of dynamical chaos that so lightly touches our solar system has moulded the galactic planetary census.’

via Earth could collide with Mars because of wobble in solar system | Mail Online.

Boardman, Ohio, barbeque interrupted by triangle UFO

A group finishing up a barbeque in Applewood Acres, Boardman, Ohio, watched an object moving slowly above the treeline. The silent object hovered for about two minutes – a triangle-shaped with white/red lights, according to witness testimony from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) database.

After watching for several minutes, a helcopter moved into the area and close to the strange craft. Then the triangle craft backed away from the helicopter and its “lights got dimmer until we couldn’t see it anymore.”

Boardman is a sprawling suburb south of Youngstown – home of the first Arby’s restaurant in 1964 – with a 2,000 census of 37,215.

via Boardman, Ohio, barbeque interrupted by triangle UFO.

11th Annual Fashion Chocolate Show

Pastry chefs and clothing designers present their fashion fantasy ideas through use of edible chocolate interwoven with fabric at the 11th Annual Chocolate Show presented in New York on November 6, 2008. (UPI Photo/Ezio Petersen)

via Topic: Chocolate – article – UPI.com.

Inches do not spare tall burglar prison

A 7-foot-4-inch young Englishman, recognized by witnesses outside a burgled house, was sentenced to 11 months in prison this week.

Christopher Lister, 21, of Armley pleaded guilty, admitting he stole a van used in the burglary in November, Armley Today reported. He waited outside the house while his friends stole a plasma television.

The group abandoned both van and television after the van got stuck.

At the time, Lister was on probation after receiving a suspended sentence for dangerous driving. He admitted breaking into two cars while he was out on bail after the burglary.

“This ridiculous obsession with cars has got to stop,” Recorder Paul Miller said as he imposed sentence in Leeds Crown Court.

Lister’s lawyer, Richard Wright, asked for a non-custodial sentence, saying Lister’s outsize body will make his life behind bars unusually difficult.

Lister, nicknamed Stretch, is one of the tallest men in England and only 2 inches shorter than the current record-holder.

via Inches do not spare tall burglar prison – UPI.com.

Four fairly clear UFO pictures

I’d seen most, but not all of these. All hoaxes and fakes? Come on, the one with the levitating cow has to be a fake. Probably from a commercial.

See my ufo article for more with descriptions, maps of sightings, etc. Also see my UFO time line if you are interested in the topic.

Lion in Georgia? Another Sighting Reported

Authorities said they are checking into another reported lion sighting in Hall County.

A woman who lives on Gearin Road in Murrayville told the Hall County Sheriff’s Office she spotted a lion near her house Wednesday morning.

She said it disappeared in the woods.

The first lion sighting happened Tuesday near the Lumpkin County line.

via Another Lion Sighting Reported In Hall County – News Story – WSB Atlanta.

Autopsy shows David Carradine did not commit suicide

The forensics expert hired by David Carradine’s family has concluded that the Kung Fu actor did not commit suicide, but said that more information was needed from Thai investigators before the cause of death could be determined.

Carradine’s brothers, Keith and Robert Carradine, each read part of a prepared statement to reporters from the Associated Press at a Los Angeles hotel Thursday morning. In their first appearance since their older brother was found hanging in a Bangkok hotel room closet last week, they thanked supporters and asked for privacy.

“This is a devastating loss for our family and we greatly appreciate the compassion pouring in from all over the world,” Keith Carradine said.

They also released a statement by Dr. Michael Baden of New York that indicated a second autopsy determined Carradine didn’t kill himself.

“However, to reach a final determination as to the cause and the manner of death we must wait for further information from Thailand as to the scene findings and the completion of the crime laboratory and toxicology studies that are still being performed,” Baden’s statement said.

Reached by phone after the morning briefing, Baden said he expects to receive more information from Thai authorities in a week or two and stressed that the information at hand was incomplete.

“The autopsy is only part of the analysis,” he said.

In the meantime, Robert Carradine asked the public and press for patience and time to allow the family to grieve.

“Until we have all of the pending results of the investigation we respectfully ask … that we be allowed to lay our beloved brother, husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather to rest in peace and with dignity,” Robert Carradine said.

Rampant speculation about the actor’s death has swirled since a chambermaid at the luxury Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel in Bangkok discovered his body hanging in the closet of his room June 4. A Thai newspaper published a graphic photo of the death scene that police have said appears to be a leaked forensics image.

Thai police initially said they suspected Carradine’s death was a suicide, but later conceded it could have been accidental. Their description — that the actor’s body was found nude, with ropes around his neck, wrist and genitals — fueled speculation that he was killed while engaging in a dangerous sex practice called auto-erotic asphyxiation.

Others who knew the 72-year-old actor have said they suspect foul play was involved. Keith and Robert Carradine on Thursday urged everyone to wait until the investigation has concluded.

via Autopsy shows David Carradine did not commit suicide | Entertainment | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.

Remember it’s a show. Leave ‘em laughing as you go. Just remember that the last laugh is on you … and .. always look on the bright side of life.