Monday 18 February 2013
Friday 15 February 2013
'Jelly invasion' at Somerset nature reserve baffles scientists
RSPB officials said the slime bore the appearance of "something living" - and the public have been warned not to touch any of the pools of slime.
By Rob Waugh | Yahoo! News
- View PhotoThe clear jelly has baffled experts so far, with explanations including the idea it is the regurgitated innards of frogs, or 'crystal brain fungus'.
A weird "slime" has invaded a British nature park - and
RSPB experts have appealed for help in identifying the mysterious
substance. RSPB officials said the slime bore
the appearance of "something living" - and the public have been warned
not to touch any of the pools of slime.
Local
folklore suggests that the jelly appears in the wake of meteor showers.
The jelly-like substance has been found at the RSPB Ham Wall Nature
reserve in Somerset.
Steve Hughes, the RSPB site manager at Ham Wall, said: "This past week we've been finding piles of this translucent jelly dotted around the reserve. Always on grass banks away from the water's edge. They are usually about 10cm (4in) in diameter. We've asked experts what it might be, but as yet no one is really sure. Whatever it is, it's very weird."
Scientific speculation as to the nature of the jelly is varied - one of the more favoured explanations is that it is a form of cyanobacteria called Nostoc.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/-jelly-invasion--at-somerset-nature-reserve-baffles-scientists--150928727.html
Pluto’s 2 moons to get new names through contest
Pluto is the Roman equivalent of the Greek’s Hades, lord of the underworld, and its three bigger moons have related mythological names: Charon, the ferryman of Hades; Nix for the night goddess; and the multi-headed monster Hydra.
The two unnamed moons – no more than 20 miles across – will also take their names from the underworld myth. At the moment they go by the bland titles of P4 and P5.
Online voting will last two weeks, ending on February 25.
Twelve choices are available at the website http://www.plutorocks.com and more suggestions are welcome, but they need to come from Greek or Roman mythology and deal with the underworld, the Telegraph reported.
Morphic Resonance & Morphic Fields: Collective Memory & the Habits of Nature
Friday, 15 February 2013 10:26
'The word morphic comes from the Greek morphe, meaning form. Morphic fields organise the form, structure and patterned interactions of systems under their influence – including those of animals, plants, cells, proteins, crystals, brains and minds. They are physical in the sense that they are part of nature, though they are not yet mentioned in physics books.
All self-organising systems are wholes made up of parts which are in turn lower-level wholes themselves – such as organelles in cells, cells in tissues, tissues in organs, organs in organisms, organisms in social groups. At each level, the morphic field gives each whole its characteristic properties, and coordinates the constituent parts.
The fields responsible for the development and maintenance of bodily form in plants and animals are called morphogenetic fields.'
Huge Asteroid To Skim Past Earth At 18,641mph
Huge Asteroid To Skim Past Earth At 18,641mph
A 150ft-long asteroid will skim past the Earth today - closer than any other near-miss on record. The huge chunk of rock - so big it is capable of wiping out London - will travel closer to the planet than many satellites.
But while it should be visible as a tiny dot of light crossing the sky to those using binoculars, scientists say there is no chance it will hit Earth. There is a remote possibility that it could collide with one of more than 100 telecommunication and weather satellites in fixed orbits.
Experts have been closely tracking the asteroid, 2012 DA14, since its discovery a year ago.
They say it will reach its nearest point to Earth at around 7.30pm UK time on Friday. It will stay at least 17,200 miles (27,681km) away - easily far enough to be safe - but very close in astronomical terms.
Astronomer and asteroid expert Dr Dan Brown, from Nottingham Trent University , said: "It will be too faint for the naked eye but with binoculars it should be visible if you know where to look. It will be low to the northeastern horizon and moving quite quickly.
"You'll be able to see it pass from the constellation Leo to roughly the Plough, more or less from anywhere in the UK, and it will be bright for about an hour."
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/huge-asteroid-skim-past-earth-18-641mph-031636509.html
Meteorite Shower Hits Russia Injuring 400
More than 900 people have been injured after a meteor strike in central Russia, the country's interior ministry said. Fragments of at least one meteorite - the weight of a double-decker bus
- were seen falling from the sky in the Chelyabinsk region at around
9am local time, around 1,500km east of Moscow.
A regional governor said 950 people have been injured. Russia's Ministry of Emergencies said at least 82 children were hurt and 34 adults and 12 children were being treated in hospital. Two people are in intensive care. Many were hurt by flying glass as windows were blown in. Witnesses described feeling a pressure wave and hearing explosions overhead as the object hurtled to earth.
The Russian Academy of Sciences estimates the meteor weighed about 10 tonnes and entered the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of at least 33,000mph (54,000kph) - 15 times the speed of a rifle bullet - and shattered up to 32 miles (50km) above ground. Meteors typically cause sizeable sonic booms when they enter the atmosphere because they are travelling much faster than the speed of sound.
The defence ministry said it had identified a six metre crater near a lake in this region and has sent soldiers to the site of the impact. The emergencies ministry said that 20,000 rescue workers had been dispatched to help the injured and locate those needing help.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/meteorite-shower-hits-russia-injuring-400-084133496.html
A regional governor said 950 people have been injured. Russia's Ministry of Emergencies said at least 82 children were hurt and 34 adults and 12 children were being treated in hospital. Two people are in intensive care. Many were hurt by flying glass as windows were blown in. Witnesses described feeling a pressure wave and hearing explosions overhead as the object hurtled to earth.
The Russian Academy of Sciences estimates the meteor weighed about 10 tonnes and entered the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of at least 33,000mph (54,000kph) - 15 times the speed of a rifle bullet - and shattered up to 32 miles (50km) above ground. Meteors typically cause sizeable sonic booms when they enter the atmosphere because they are travelling much faster than the speed of sound.
The defence ministry said it had identified a six metre crater near a lake in this region and has sent soldiers to the site of the impact. The emergencies ministry said that 20,000 rescue workers had been dispatched to help the injured and locate those needing help.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/meteorite-shower-hits-russia-injuring-400-084133496.html
Believe It Or Not: Skeptics Brains Are Different
Do you believe in the supernatural? Or do you think that all-things-ethereal are full of hogwash?
If you're not sure - or if you're on the fence about such touchy matters - a brain scan might be able to help you out.Researchers from Finland recently explored whether brain activity differed between supernatural believers and skeptics using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
Read more... http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=49000&cn=21
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