First Bin Laden video since 2007? Survey says…

The video is deliberately blurred, the view is only partial, and it lasts for just a few short seconds.

But that is enough for the tantalising question to be raised: Is this the first video footage of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to emerge in more than two years?

The video, posted on the internet by Al Qaeda’s media branch As Sahab, was a taped message by another Al Qaeda high-up, Abu Yah-ya al-Libi.

… Most of the video is of good quality – but, near the end, the view suddenly blurs as the camera zeroes in on one man in the crowd getting to his feet.

The apparently-deliberate obstruction of the bearded man’s face, combined with the setting, was enough for some of the Italian media to venture their theory that he was in fact Osama bin Laden.

Washington-based think intelligence study group IntelCenter, which released stills from Tuesday’s video, said no new footage of bin Laden has been seen since 2007.

The organisation also said its own analysis of the video could not determine if the man was bin Laden or not.

Many MailOnline readers have argued that the man in the video is not bin Laden as his beard is a different colour.

via Is this the blurry face of Osama bin Laden? New Al Qaeda video may show first footage of leader since 2007 | Mail Online.

Here are the results of the Mail Online survey:

IntelCenter will need to try a little harder… dig a little deeper… fear a little monger.

Darwin will help find alien life

… a Nasa scientist said that Darwinian evolution will be the driving force of life anywhere in the universe, and we should use its predictions to decide where to look.

Dr John Baross, a researcher at the Nasa Astrobiology Institute, said: “I really feel that Darwinian evolution is a defining feature of all life.

“And so the limits of Darwinian evolution will define the range of planets that can support life – at least Earth-like life.”

Speaking at a public lecture at the Nasa Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, Dr Baross said that the Kepler Space Telescope’s mission, looking for Earth-like planets around other stars, made this an exciting time for astrobiology – the search for alien life.

He said: “I predict in the next five to ten years, we will make discoveries that will lead to theories and ideas at least as profound as Darwin’s.”

Dr Baross said that looking for alien life has always involved using the Earth as a model. While our understanding of how life began is incomplete, it seems clear that there are certain requirements.

All life on Earth needs water, carbon-based organic molecules, and an energy source, either solar or chemical. But alien life may not be entirely Earth-like. Dr Baross said: “I’d like to point out there are many different ways for non-Earth-like life to not use light or chemical energy but use some other form like radiation energy, wave energy, or ultraviolet energy.”

Similarly, the need for water may not be universal. Dr Baross said: “[Life may exist] in an organic solvent rather than liquid water on Titan, or… at temperatures of minus 100 degrees Celsius — there are a lot of ways to think of this because those conditions exist on other planetary bodies.”

So far, astronomers have found 403 “exoplanets” – planets outside our own solar system. While most of them are Jupiter-like gas giants hundreds or thousands of times bigger than the Earth, a few smaller ones have been found, and Kepler is expected to start finding many more over the next few years.

via Darwinian evolutionary theory will help find alien life, says Nasa scientist – Telegraph.

Stolen VW Van Found 35 Years Later

A Volkswagen van stolen 35 years ago in Washington state has been found in a shipping container at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport.

Customs agents found the 1965 van on Oct. 19 when they opened a shipping container bound for The Netherlands, The Spokesman-Review newspaper reported. They ran the vehicle identification number and discovered it was listed as stolen.

Law officers said the van, which is in great shape, was stolen from an upholstery shop in Spokane on July 12, 1974 — while Spokane was hosting the 1974 World’s Fair.

Authorities have not been able to find the original owner, whom they would not identify.

The operators of a vehicle restoration business in Arizona were the latest to have possession of the van, which they refurbished and planned to sell overseas, said Michael Maleta, an investigator with the California Highway Patrol. Maleta said the shop is also considered a victim in the case, and he declined to identify it.

The van now legally belongs to Allstate Insurance Co., which paid off the original owner’s theft claim back in 1974. The Highway Patrol turned over the van to Allstate this week.

Maleta said the van had been restored to pristine condition.

“Now it’s probably worth 27 grand,” he said. “It’s a beautiful van.”

Megan Brunet, a spokeswoman for Allstate, said the company is looking through old records trying to find the original policy and theft claim.

“Trying to find paper files from that far back can be pretty challenging,” she said.

The company will likely have the van appraised and go through the process of getting a replacement title before selling it at auction, she said.

via Stolen VW Van Found 35 Years Later – National News Story – WSB Atlanta.

Sleepwalker beaten after men find him in apartment

Charges have been filed against three men accused of beating a man who sleepwalks after they found him asleep in one of the men’s apartment. Iowa City Police Sgt. Troy Kelsay said the 21-year-old victim who was not identified, suffered injuries over most of his body. Kelsay said the man’s injuries did not appear to require hospitalization, but the victim was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Three men were charged with willfully causing bodily injury. According to a criminal complaint, the three found the man asleep in an apartment early on Aug. 30. The man was staying across the hall, but did not live in the complex.

via Sleepwalker beaten after men find him in apartment – Yahoo! News.