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.

Space hotel says it’s on schedule to open in 2012

A company behind plans to open the first hotel in space says it is on target to accept its first paying guests in 2012 despite critics questioning the investment and time frame for the multi-billion dollar project.

The Barcelona-based architects of The Galactic Suite Space Resort say it will cost $4.4 million for a three-night stay at the hotel, with this price including an eight-week training course on a tropical island.

During their stay, guests would see the sun rise 15 times a day and travel around the world every 80 minutes. They would wear Velcro suits so they can crawl around their pod rooms by sticking themselves to the walls like Spiderman.

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Galactic Suite Ltd’s CEO Xavier Claramunt, a former aerospace engineer, said the project will put his company at the forefront of an infant industry with a huge future ahead of it, and forecast space travel will become common in the future.

“It’s very normal to think that your children, possibly within 15 years, could spend a weekend in space,” he told Reuters Television … It will take a day and a half to reach the pod — which Claramunt compared to a mountain retreat, with no staff to greet the traveler.

“When the passengers arrive in the rocket, they will join it for three days, rocket and capsule. With this we create in the tourist a confidence that he hasn’t been abandoned. After three days the passenger returns to the transport rocket and returns to earth,” he said.

More than 200 people have expressed an interest in traveling to the space hotel and at least 43 people have already reserved.

The numbers are similar for Virgin Galactic with 300 people already paid or signed up for the trip but unlike Branson, Galactic Suite say they will use Russian rockets to transport their guests into space from a spaceport to be build on an island in the Caribbean.

via Space hotel says it’s on schedule to open in 2012 – Space- msnbc.com.

Alert as six faint on board plane

Ambulance staff were called to treat six passengers at Heathrow airport after they fainted while on a British Airways flight from the US.

None of those assessed needed hospital treatment and all were able to continue their journeys, the airline said.

London Ambulance Service was asked to meet the flight from Newark at Terminal Five at 0650 GMT on Saturday.

Emergency services teams initially wore protective suits as it was unclear what had caused the passengers to faint.

A British Airways spokeswoman said: “A handful of passengers on the aircraft fainted during the flight.

“As a precaution, medical services met the aircraft.”

An investigation is under way into what caused the passengers to faint.

via BBC NEWS | UK | England | London | Alert as six faint on board plane.

World’s largest cruise ship squeezes under Danish bridge (photo)

The Oasis of The Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship clears a crucial obstacle, lowering its smokestacks, to squeeze under a bridge in the Baltic Sea, Denmark Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009. The Oasis of the Seas, which rises about 20 stories high, passed below the Great Belt Fixed Link with a slim margin as it left the Baltic Sea on Saturday on its maiden voyage to Florida. Five times larger than the Titanic, the ship has seven neighborhoods, an ice rink, a small golf course and a 750-seat outdoor amphitheater.

The world’s largest cruise ship cleared a crucial obstacle Sunday, lowering its smokestacks to squeeze under a bridge in Denmark.

The Oasis of the Seas — which rises about 20 stories high — passed below the Great Belt Fixed Link with a slim margin as it left the Baltic Sea on its maiden voyage to Florida.

 

Bridge operators said that even after lowering its telescopic smokestacks the giant ship had less than a 2-foot (half-meter) gap.

Hundreds of people gathered on beaches at both ends of the bridge, waiting for hours to watch the brightly lit behemoth sail by shortly after midnight (2300GMT; 7 p.m. EDT).

“It was fantastic to see it glide under the bridge. Boy, it was big,” said Kurt Hal, 56.

via Largest cruise ship squeezes under Danish bridge – Yahoo! News.

It’s five times larger than the Titanic, has seven neighborhoods, an ice rink, a golf course and a 750-seat outdoor amphitheater. The world’s largest cruise ship is finally finished and Friday it began gliding toward its home port in Florida.

The Oasis of the Seas will meet its first obstacle Saturday when exits the Baltic Sea and must squeeze under the Great Belt Bridge, which is just 1 foot taller than the ship — even after its telescopic smokestacks are lowered.

To be on the safe side, the ship — which rises about 20 stories high — will speed up so that it sinks deeper into the water when it passes below the span, said Lene Gebauer Thomsen, a spokeswoman for the operator of the Great Belt Bridge.

Once home, the $1.5 billion floating extravaganza will have more, if less visible, obstacles to duck: a sagging U.S. economy, questions about the consumer appetite for luxury cruises and criticism that such sailing behemoths are damaging to the environment and diminish the experience of traveling.  …

“I would say this is the most environmentally friendly cruise ship to date,” said Mikko Ilus, project engineer at the Turku yard. “It is much more efficient than other similar ships.”

The Oasis of the Seas is due to make its U.S. debut on Nov. 20 at its home port, Port Everglades in Florida. – ap

Yeah, I’m not sure how many Titanics would fit into your new ship is the best way to describe it…

 

[Computer voice: "Yellow Alert... Yellow Alert...."]

Greetings, this is the Captain … we are about to try something with the ship… something new…  Bones calls it the argaiV maneuver. Scotty says it will work if I give him more time. We don’t have more time. As a precautionary measure, please place your valuables in the waterproof  zip-lock bags provided … and brace for possible impact.

And now, as it seems fitting, I will read a poem known as Invictus first published in 1875  by the British poet William Ernest Henley who had a diseased foot  amputated directly below the knee and wrote it from his hospital bed:

OUT of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Kirk out.”

Footnote 1: Invictus is also a 2009 film directed by Clint Eastwood, starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.

Footnote 2:  Looks nice and I’m glad to hear that it is “the most environmentally friendly cruise ship”. The Oasis of the Sea was built in Turku, Finland.

Bad drivers? Blame their genes

Good drivers can make the road a friendly place for their fellow drivers and milk great gas mileage (or equally great performance) out of their vehicles.  However, for every good driver on the road, there’s plenty of bad ones.  According to studies, cell phones play a role in the poor overall quality of driving that leads to many accidents across America.  However, a new study shows the problem may be more complex, pointing to a link between genes and bad driving.

Researchers at University of California Irvine found that people with a specific gene variant performed 20 percent worse on a driving test than those without.  The results were confirmed by a subsequent test.  The scary part?  According to expert estimates, 30 percent of Americans have this gene.

Dr. Steven Cramer, neurology associate professor and senior author of the study states, “These people make more errors from the get-go, and they forget more of what they learned after time away.”

The neuroscientists discovered a potential cause for the bad behavior.  When active, people with the specific variant get less functioanlity from a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) than people with the wild type (“normal”) version of the gene.  This is not a good thing, as BDNF helps support communication between brain cells and keep them performing at their peak.  Typically it’s secreted in active parts of the brain — but those with the variant just don’t get as much. – dt

People with a particular gene variant performed more than 20 percent worse on a driving test than people without it – and a follow-up test a few days later yielded similar results. About 30 percent of Americans have the variant.

“These people make more errors from the get-go, and they forget more of what they learned after time away,” said Dr. Steven Cramer, neurology associate professor and senior author of the study published recently in the journal Cerebral Cortex.

This gene variant limits the availability of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor during activity. BDNF keeps memory strong by supporting communication among brain cells and keeping them functioning optimally. When a person is engaged in a particular task, BDNF is secreted in the brain area connected with that activity to help the body respond.

Previous studies have shown that in people with the variant, a smaller portion of the brain is stimulated when doing a task than in those with a normal BDNF gene. People with the variant also don’t recover as well after a stroke. Given these differences, the UCI scientists wondered: Could the variant affect an activity such as driving? – tc

My ex used to joke about bad Asian women drivers … I wonder … how does this play out across genders, ethnic and other groups?

Low serum BDNF has been reported in women with depression or eating disorders such as
anorexia nervosa, particularly when compared with obese patients, but also when women with anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa are compared with normal- weight individuals. – link

One thing is for sure, I’m going to feel much less comfortable now driving around  skinny nervous women.  And since these disorders are triggered by childhood abuse, I wonder if we can tie in the high number of road deaths in America as a consequence of molestation and neglect? Ripple effect.

Poll: Why do you think the pilots missed the airport?

Mystery remains, but Co-pilot says No sleeping or arguing in cockpit

The co-pilot of a Northwest Airlines flight that overshot the Minneapolis, Minnesota, airport by 150 miles says he and the pilot weren’t asleep and they weren’t arguing.However, Richard I. Cole, who spoke to CNN affiliate KGW-TV from his Salem, Oregon, home, wouldn’t say much more Friday. He said an investigation will reveal what took place.

After repeatedly saying he couldn’t talk about the case, Cole said that contrary to media reports, “Nobody was asleep in the cockpit. No arguments took place.

“But other than that, I cannot tell you anything that went on because we’re having hearings this weekend, we’re having hearings on Tuesday. All that information will come out then.”

Cole said there’s been “a lot of misinformation that’s going on. Things are being said that didn’t happen, but I can’t go into any details.” – CNN (video)

My original post here.

Anyone have a psychic prediction about what it will turn out to be? What caused these pilots to overshoot the airport by 150 miles?  Here is a poll based on the speculation I’ve seen so far…

NORAD minutes from scrambling fighters as Northwest 188 drops radio contact for 75 min, misses landing by 150 miles

Brent Bjorlin and his fellow airline passengers didn’t have a clue something had gone wrong at 37,000 feet until federal officials with badges and guns boarded the Northwest plane after it landed in the Twin Cities on Wednesday night.

As passengers prepared to leave, flight attendants told them to sit back down, Bjorlin said. Eventually, he and the others filed out, walking past security officials standing outside the closed cockpit door and still others on the jetway and at the gate.

“It looked like it was a big deal,” said Bjorlin of St. Michael, Minn.

It wasn’t until the next day that he and the others found out that Northwest Flight 188 from San Diego had overshot Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport by 150 miles, winding up in Wisconsin before turning around to land safely at MSP. Federal officials say the pilots apparently became distracted. Military jets had been on standby to track down the jet after it dropped out of radio communication for about 75 minutes.

“When you hear that fighter jets were ready to scramble, that just gets you really mad,” said passenger Scott Kennedy.

In hindsight, passengers say, the wayward flight to Wisconsin may explain why the flight seemed to “drag on,” the usual pilot updates were nonexistent and why a flight attendant’s “unusual comment” now makes perfect sense.

Some passengers worried about making their connecting flights, Bjorlin said. When a passenger asked when the plane was expected to land, the attendant returned 10 minutes later and said, “‘I have no idea when we’re going to get to the terminal,’” he said.

Eventually, the pilot announced that the crew was waiting for clearance and would be landing soon, said Anne Kroshus of Woodbury. But the expected arrival time came and went. “It was bizarre,” she said. “It certainly didn’t feel like we were circling.”

via Plane crazy: NWA flight misses MSP by 150 miles | StarTribune.com.

Airlines Now Need To Be More Sure Of Who You Are : NPR

New security procedures are being rolled out at airports and airlines across the country. Beginning this weekend, passengers will be asked for their full name, birth date and gender when they book a ticket. That information will then be matched with the government-issued identification presented at the airport on the day of the flight.

This is the second phase of the Transportation Security Administration program called Secure Flight. Born out of recommendations from the 9/11 Commission, the new phase of the program makes the government — not the airlines — responsible for knowing just who is on domestic flights.

According to the TSA, collecting birth dates and gender information will make it easier to check passenger names against government watch lists. “It helps to better identify the known or suspected terrorists,” says Paul Leyh, director of Secure Flight. “At the same time it helps to clear those who aren’t terrorists, but have similar names.”

via Airlines Now Need To Be More Sure Of Who You Are : NPR.

Witness: Airliner in Iran ‘Fell Out of the Sky’

Witness: Airliner in Iran ‘Fell Out of the Sky’

via YouTube – Witness: Airliner in Iran ‘Fell Out of the Sky’.

Pilot dies flying plane to the US

Nearly 250 airline passengers landed safely at their destination after the captain of the plane died mid-flight.

The Continental Airlines Boeing 777 from Brussels to New York landed as scheduled at Newark airport shortly before 1200 (1600 GMT).

Two co-pilots took control and landed the plane, authorities said.

The 247 passengers knew someone on board had been taken ill but were not told that the pilot had died. Many praised the calm conduct of the crew.

The captain apparently died of natural causes, the airline said.

He was a 60-year-old man with more than 20 years of service.

‘Distressing’

There were two co-pilots on board – the regular co-pilot and an additional relief co-pilot – when the pilot passed away.

Jim Ferguson – an aviation writer from the UK – told BBC News the plane would have been difficult to land with only one pilot at the controls, as might have been the case on flights manned by only two pilots.

“You could, I gather, land a 777 single-handed – but it would require a lot of effort and it would appear [in this case there was] a very young co-pilot – so if there was another one, that would help.

“It would be very difficult, very distressing. I don’t know if this [scenario] is carried out on simulator training or not.

“It’s very, very rare – and it would appear that the surviving crew member carried it out very well indeed.”

Passengers’ surprise

Passengers say they were not told about the events in the cockpit during the flight, though there was an announcement asking if doctors were on board.

…

When the crew asked if there were doctors on the flight, Dr Julien Struyven, 72, a cardiologist and radiologist from Brussels, went to the cockpit and examined the pilot.

“He was not alive,” Dr Struyven told AP. There was “no chance at all” of saving him, he said.

Dr Struyven said he suspected the pilot had suffered a cardiac arrest. He said he used a defibrillator to try and revive the pilot, but it was too late.

Pilots are subject to rigorous medical checks which increase in frequency with age.

via BBC NEWS | Americas | Pilot dies flying plane to the US.