Bolide Over California?

A bolide i.e., an exploding fireball, streaked from east to west over Nevada and North California, some time around 8 am on April 22, with loud booms heard in both states. The Lyrid meteor shower and space debris have been ruled out. The bolide determined to be caused by a huge meteor of some 70 metric tons that exploded with the energy equivalent to a 5 kiloton bomb. A recent Universe Today article reports meteor hunters have already recovered fragments. Peter Jenniskens, one successful meteor hunter, said fragments are called "...Carbonaceous Chondrites from the CM group of meteorites, “a rare type of primitive meteorite rich in organic compounds.”

A brief video reports on rare discoveries by the Meteorite Hunters - fragments considered a goldmine for researchers. Is it a fortuitous find - so quick and easy - or is it something else?

Sci-Fi Cult Classic: 'Robinson Crusoe on Mars'

Robin Crusoe On Mars is a 1964 science fiction cult classic directed by Byron Haskin, who also directed War Of The Worlds. The plot revolves around Commander Christopher 'Kit' Draper (Paul Mantee), who must learn to survive on Mars after his ship, Mars Gravity Probe 1, is forced down in a near miss with a meteor. Draper conquers survival with help from companion, Mona a Wooly Monkey, whose animal instincts at times seem ahead of the Commander. Draper soon learns yellowish rocks he's been using as charcoal also provide breathable oxygen. An underground pool of water is accidentally found, when Draper falls through Martian surface near pool with edible plants that grow in it. The Commander suffers greatly from Martian isolation, decides to explore an interplanetary ship sighting, in belief, it's a rescue ship. Draper spots human slaves at work underneath powerful beams of alien ships mining rock. The alien mining ships closely resemble Martian war machines of the 1953 version of "War of the Worlds." The Commander meets up with escaping slave played by Victor Lundin, who is quickly given name 'Friday,' after character from original Robinson Crusoe story. Friday is taught English and shares his oxygen pills with the Commander, the two become fast friends. The black bracelets placed on Friday's wrists by the aliens, allows them, to track the two for much of the movie. Draper finally succeeds in removing the bracelets after arriving at a polar ice cap. A meteor strikes the cap and melts the ice, and in quick succession, they're rescued shortly after receiving a radio communication from Earth. The fantastic ending weakens an otherwise strong story. A song written and played at conventions by Lundin, "Robinson Crusoe on Mars," tends to confirm movie's strong following and cult status.

Sign Of The Times: From Robby to Roxxxy the Robot

A sign of the times, robotics turns its focus to conquering sexual satisfaction. Geez! Robby the Robot was American culture's concept of a robot in the fifties and sixties. A MSNBC Future of Tech article by John Roach reports on co- authors recently published paper in journal Futures, who firmly believe Robo-Sex will be the future. “'Sex robots are absolutely inevitable,'” Michelle Mars, paper co-author, who informed Roach in an email, "'In fact, they already exist.'” The authors envision an Amsterdam of 2050 able to deliver services without transmitted disease and help counter human trafficking. Robot prostitutes will deliver, by the way, "mind-blowing" sex, according to the authors. Our very intent in life seems to have slumped into the gutter? You can buy a robot sex companion, Roxxxy (picture) for $7000 to $9000, who still looks plastic but with many personalities to spike your desires! It seems to the present writer, a poor man's version of a mind-controlled sex slave? Did the authors consider whether sex so good could be more addictive?

#DataDump: Satellites, CISPA, Space Boat and more

'Internet doomsday' July 9, claims FBI*

Satellite export controls loom over national security, economy*
Military Clashes with U.S. Spies over Outsourcing of Satellite Surveillance*
Equipment Maker Caught Installing Backdoor in Control System Code*
Judges Drive Truck Through Loophole in Supreme Court GPS Ruling*
High Court rules iiNet not responsible for its customers' illegal downloads*
Czechs sentenced for propagating Nazism via Facebook*
Update: Iranian oil ministry hit by cyber-attack*
Mobile Carriers Lobby Against Cellphone Location Privacy Bill*
New CISPA Draft Narrows Cybersecurity Language as Protests Loom*
CISPA Update1: Despite veto threat, House passes cybersecurity bill*
CISPA Update2: Feds Seize 36 Criminal Carding Sites*
"The hidden side of your soul": How the FBI uses the Web as a child porn honeypot*
FBI Uses 'Sledgehammer' to Seize E-Mail Server in Search for Bomb Threat Evidence*
Super Secret Hypersonic Aircraft Flew Out of Its Skin*
Russian Defense ministry tests electromagnetic weapon*
Nissan Hacked; Employee Credentials Stolen*
Deniable War Crimes?: Robots fighting wars could be blamed for mistakes*
Explosion, Fireball Reported In CA, NV*
Space 'boat' could explore the oceans of Saturn's moon Titan*
3 things you never knew the Apple iPhone can do*
iPhone app (Tactical NAV)*
IPhones Guide Artillery as Pentagon Plans App Store*
Video: Tactical NAV on the Armed Forces Network

Rise of the Drones

Is there a drone in your neighborhood? Mail Online article helps Americans out by publishing a Google Map with locations of 63 active drone bases already in the United States. Their locations were revealed following a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. "The unmanned planes – some of which may have been designed to kill terror suspects – are being launched from locations in 20 states. Most of the active drones are deployed from military installations, enforcement agencies and border patrol teams, according to the Federal Aviation Authority," informs the article. The factual delivery shouldn't lull Americans into believing this is for their security! The article explains,"most of the drones are likely to be small craft, such as the Draganflyer X8, which can carry a payload of only 2.2lb." (Note: the dragonfly is a natural predator) It's little wonder Napolitano lost his program after Lew Rockwell said drones could be used to execute anyone at any time!

'The Great Switch': Solar Max and Pole Reversal

"About every 11 years the magnetic field on the sun reverses completely – the north magnetic pole switches to south, and vice versa. This flip coincides with the greatest solar activity seen on the sun in any given cycle, known as 'solar maximum,'" begins article, "'The Great Switch' -- Magnetic Field Does a Complete Reverse Every 11 Years," via The Daily Galaxy. Two scientific papers are sources for article as scientists grapple to get a better understanding of underlying process in pole reversal. The article observes, "currently the polarity at the north of the sun appears to have decreased close to zero – that is, it seems to be well into its polar flip from magnetic north to south -- but the polarity at the south is only just beginning to decrease," and presently, scientists don't understand why? There are many models that attempt to account for reversal but appears not one fully explains asymmetrical changes exhibited currently by the Sun? Another interesting observation made, in article, "Scientists will also keep their eye on the current cycle – numbered Solar Cycle 24 – because a polar switch at the north that is sooner than was expected also implies this may be a fairly small cycle in terms of the number of sunspots and amount of solar activity." An impression remains the Sun possesses uneven qualities still unknown. However, it's the unknown that makes scientific endeavor interesting!

Slender Crescent and Venus Conjunction

Tuesday, just after sunset, you may peer west to see conjunction of a slender crescent Moon with planet Venus.  The fresh air and visuals will do your soul good!  Thanks goes to SpaceWeather.com for the heads up!

Retro Fifties Sci-Fi Weekend: 'The Thing From Another World'

"The Thing" is Howard Hawke's effort to capitalize on alien invasion craze of early fifties. A brief synopsis supplied by Wikipedia offers "...a 1951 science fiction film based on the 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell (writing under the pseudonym of "Don A. Stuart"). It tells the story of an Air Force crew and scientists at a remote Arctic research outpost who are forced to defend themselves from a malevolent plant-based alien being." Huffington Post writer John Farr places "The Thing" as a top sci-fi film of the fifties. "The great director Howard Hawks was quick to jump on the bandwagon [following release of The Day the Earth Stood Still], and that same year produced The Thing From Another World. Here, another spaceship lands in a remote frozen tundra, and when thawed out, another visitor makes itself known, one considerably more frightening than Michael Rennie's erudite alien. It is no less than a pre-Gunsmoke James Arness, playing a very large and frightening creature who clearly should have stayed frozen. The Thing remains gripping, suspenseful entertainment." Kenneth Tobey stars in colorized version in parts on You Tube with James Arness as you've never seen him.  You better watch or the Thing may get you!

Why So Many UFO Sightings?

Have you noticed a rising number of UFO sightings?  You can keep up with the most current reports at www.latest-ufo-sightings.net. Is it an embargo on truth about existence of extraterrestrials or something else?  A prominent conspiracy theory centers on a faked alien invasion at the 2012 London Olympics.  In a 2010 article, "Are the 2012 Olympics part of a plot to take over the world?", Steve Rose compiles conspiracy that's grown into cottage industry. The writer observes a small minority believe they see something besides poor creativity in odd Olympic logo and mascots, and come up with "...a very different answer: we were being primed for the establishment of the New World Order, by means of the greatest hoax in history." The official logo, mascots, brand consultant Wally Olin's Khazarian ancestry or biblical-sounding street names that surround Olympic site, may not be enough to convince you?  A ten minute You Tube video submits a faked alien invasion and landing will be staged with suppressed technology at the Olympic village on 8-11.  The video also illustrates lexagrams encoded in Olympic title (6:15 mark), revealing veiled esoteric symbols and concepts.  You still may not be convinced, but you should be wondering?  The present writer can only ask much as Rose, "are the 2012 Olympics part of a plot to take over the world?"

'Saturn Myth': Symbols of an Alien Sky

Comparative mythologist David Talbott, author of 'The Saturn Myth', suggests our skies have changed dramatically in just a few thousand years. Mythology only makes sense if the Earth's skies appeared differently to ancient sky-watchers. Talbott refers to a time when heaven was close and towering bodies, in a great conjunction, dominated Earth's skies. Was Saturn our planet's first Sun? You may watch 78 minute You Tube video for free. A free download is available of the 1950 book by Immanuel Velikovsky, "When Worlds Collide," a great influence on Talbott and Electric Universe proponents. A previous post on the Saturn Theory adds interpretation of Troy McLachlan. It's still good stuff!

#DataDump: #Discovery, Debacle, #David8 and more

Space Shuttle #Discovery Wows DC in 45min Flyover*

Video: Space shuttle Discovery arrives in Washington*
Video: Smithsonian Welcomes Discovery to Collection*
Video Playlist: Space Shuttle Discovery*
US military intelligence critic to lead spy agency*
Contradicting Fed. Judge, FCC Clears Google in WiFi Sniffing Debacle*
FCC's Ruling on Google's WiFi Snooping Sets Horrible Precedent*
Video: New App Helps St. George Parents Know Student Progress*
CISPA Isn’t ‘Son of SOPA’ (But That’s Not Saying Much)*
Human brain to be built using supercomputer*
#Pistons Giving Season Ticket Holders Jackets With #Microchips*
Video: Creepy, #Verizon-powered, android #David8 introduced in latest #Prometheus viral video*

US-trained Terrorist Group MKO Plants Stuxnet Malware

from @nilebowie: While both CIA chief David H. Petraeus and US National Intelligence Director James R. Clapper Jr. concede that no credible evidence exists to accuse Iran of constructing a nuclear weapon, the brazen criminality of intelligence operations against Iran’s civil nuclear program remain deeply troubling. ISSSource has recently confirmed that the individuals responsible for planting the Stuxnet computer worm used to sabotage Iran’s nuclear facilities in Natanz were members of Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), a US State Department-listed terrorist organization (#29).

Crowd-Sourcing Brain Research Leads to Breakthrough

from nytimes.com: In the largest collaborative study of the brain to date, scientists using imaging technology at more than 100 centers worldwide have for the first time zeroed in on genes that they agree play a role in intelligence and memory.

Scientists working to understand the biology of brain function — and especially those using brain imaging, a blunt tool — have been badly stalled. But the new work, involving more than 200 scientists, lays out a strategy for breaking the logjam. The findings appear in a series of papers published online Sunday in the journal Nature Genetics.

“What’s really new here is this movement toward crowd-sourcing brain research,” said Paul Thompson, a professor of neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and senior author of one of the papers. “This is an example of social networking in science, and it gives us a power we have not had.”



The genes, which influence elements of brain size, may have subtle effects on how people think and behave, though many other factors, including education and general health, play a role in intelligence and could easily offset the effect of any single gene.

Still, size matters, in brain research at least as much as in brain function.

“I like this work a lot, because these guys finally did what needed to be done to take a real stab at merging imaging and genomics,” said Dr. Matthew W. State, a professor of psychiatry at Yale, who was not one of the collaborators.

Brain imaging studies are expensive and, as a result, far too small to reliably tease out the effects of common gene variations. These effects tend to be tiny, for one thing, and difficult to distinguish from the background “noise” of other influences. And brain imaging is notoriously noisy: not only does overall brain size vary from person to person, for instance, but so do the sizes of specialized brain regions like the hippocampus, which is critical for memory formation.

To solve the numbers problem, Dr. Thompson and three geneticists — Nick Martin and Margaret Wright, both of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Australia, and Barbara Franke of the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center in the Netherlands — persuaded research centers around the world to pool their resources and create one large database. It included genetic and extensive brain imaging results from about 21,000 people. The team then analyzed the collective data to see whether any genes were linked to brain structure. As the study was being completed, the Thompson group learned that another consortium, led by Boston University researchers, was doing a similar analysis using its own large group.

The two teams’ findings did not completely line up. One found size-related genes that the other did not. But they agreed on two findings: one gene that correlated strongly with overall brain size, and another that correlated with the rate at which the hippocampus atrophies, or shrinks, with age.

People who carried one variant of the overall-size gene had brains that were about 1 percent larger than those of people who carried another variant. The two variants are equally distributed — about half of people have one and half have the other.

In a separate analysis in Australia, Dr. Martin and Dr. Wright found that size correlated with I.Q. People with the larger brains scored slightly higher on a standardized test. The results are all averages, meaning that they hold for the group but say nothing about any individual. (Some very smart people have relatively small brains.)

The collaborators also found that about 10 percent of people carried a gene variant that correlated with a slightly accelerated rate of atrophy in the hippocampus. The hippocampi — there are two, each deep in the brain, one in the right side and one in the left, about level with the ears — are needed to form new memories. People with dementia often show pronounced atrophy in this region. The study was not set up to find a link between the gene variant and dementia, but experts suspect a connection.

The collaboration is not likely to lead to new treatments any time soon, the authors said, and, as always, the findings will need replication before they are conclusive. It is more a beginning than an end, and it illustrates how far the field has to go to get any real traction — and what it will take.

“It means sharing your data, pooling everything,” Dr. Thompson said, “and this is not usually how scientists work.”

Intel Hub Series Underground Bases: Part 2

Richard Sauder is your tour guide to underground bases in America.  Sauder doing fine job with Intel Hub five part series, stirring clear of speculation to report on known bases.   In Part 2, Sauder lists by state bases such as Camp David, Fort Meade and Site R.  Also known as the Raven Rock Mountain Complex, Site R is location former Vice President Dick Cheney spent considerable time, following 9-11 tragedy.  There are fascinating factoids about who runs each base.  Site R is under the auspices of US Army's Fort Detrick.  Fort Meade and Camp David are under direction, respectively, of the NSA and the Navy.  Sauder returns to his hometown, Williamsburg,VA to advise us of low profile Camp Peary, also known as "the Farm," "nominally administered by the U.S. Navy" but run by the CIA.

Sauder shares an anecdote associated with Camp Peary he feels is instructive about feasibility of underground even underwater bases and it's nothing new:

"Camp Peary lies on the York River; immediately to the southeast lies the U.S. Navy’s Cheatham Annex, a major weapons supply depot for the U.S. Navy’s Atlantic Fleet, part of the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station. This interests me, because many years ago I spoke with a woman whose father worked at the Cheatham Annex/Yorktown Naval Weapons Station complex in the years after World War II. He was a construction worker, and at that time, about 60 years ago, the U.S. Navy was building a facility deep below the water line...the instructive part of the story is that even then, 60 years ago, military engineers had the capability to construct facilities below the water line, using high powered pumps and quick setting concrete."

The replies to Sauder's story are also interesting.  Someone with a clearance pass wandered below the Capitol.  The government worker-explorer attests to possibly 14 levels below ground the lowest little more than hollowed out caves.  Another reply believes Sauder is correct in his representation of the Tidewater area  (includes Williamsburg and Camp Peary) of Virginia.  Sauder relates, last in part two, about elevator technology that could provide access to sub-seafloor bases.  The elevator could be located in a leg of an oil rig platform, citing his source. You may access part one of the series here. Sauder convinces readers there are huge facilities not only underground but bases also underwater.

Rumors North Korea Rocket Shot Down

Rumors focus on a streak of light spotted just prior to break up, last week, of North Korean rocket. A blog entry, "North Korean missile shot down" suggests strenuous spying on US military computer systems, in effort to detect military op, turned up little except for a "Ballistic Control Contingency Memo." Memo lists near top of several layers of defense deployment - the YAL1 airborne laser (picture). Dean Esmay describes in a blog entry how tech exists for shooting down rocket. Esmay believes goal can be easily achieved, "a fairly low power airborne laser can weaken a rocket’s fuel tanks enough to cause them to rupture. And no one will ever know whether it was a bad fuel tank or outside interference." Is the United States engaged in a space blockade of North Korea?

Spectacular CME

\

Wow!  Spaceweather.com shares fantastic image captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory. "Magnetic fields on the sun's northeastern limb erupted around 17:45 UT on April 16th, producing one of the most visually-spectacular explosions in years. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the blast at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths: The explosion, which registered M1.7 on the Richter Scale of solar flares, was not Earth-directed. A CME produced by the blast is likely to hit NASA's STEREO-B spacecraft, but probably no planets."  It's very impressive sight to behold!

'When Aliens Attack' Video: More Project Blue Beam

Australia's Today Show interviewed Paul Springer, a professor at the United States Air Force Air University recently about US military plans to counter an alien invasion  Has there been imminent invasion wave spotted? What have I missed? A Dateline Zero story covered interview, leaving impression contingency plans appear well-defined compared to just a few years ago. "...if the ‘Today’ report is any indication, things have moved forward in the past few years. Instead of vague ideas on how the U.S. Dept of Defense might respond to an alien invasion, the U.S. Military of 2012 has some very definite contingencies in place. They spoke with Professor Paul Springer from the U.S. Air Command and Staff College ....Adding a bit of dramatic flare to the story, Springer apparently had to get special government clearance to appear on the show." Springer supplied the common enemy message, echoing Ronald Reagan's words from the eighties, "'...many of the greatest civilizations in human history have been formed, basically, to counter a common enemy. When you look at the great world powers of the globe today, you find a lot of them formed because of the fear of a common enemy,'” says Springer. "When Aliens Attack," a 7 part video on You Tube, seems clearly a propaganda piece. Is Project Blue Beam in the air? You can get more info from a prior post on the faked alien invasion scenario! It appears on the agenda!

Saturn at Opposition on April 15: Best View in Five Years

Universe Today advises you can "See Big and Bright Saturn at Opposition This Weekend." Saturn will be at closest approach and fully illuminated by Sun at Opposition on April 15. "The giant planet’s rings are now optimally angled at over 13 degrees, revealing them better than they have appeared in the past five years. To see the rings of Saturn during opposition, in the northern hemisphere point your telescopes east to southeast at nightfall and south around midnight. For reference, Saturn will be near the bright star Spica, in the constellation Virgo," explains article. You can break out your telescope or binoculars, if you need an assist, you may watch Saturn at Opposition online with the Slooh Space Camera. Space Camera viewing begins tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. PDT/9:30 p.m. EDT.

Iapetus: A Moon, A Mystery

"Half of Iapetus appears as dark as asphalt and the other half as bright as snow," begins narrative by Arthur C Clarke in video describing unusual Saturn moon. Iapetus discovered by Giovanni Cassini in 1671, is best known for its two tone coloration and huge equatorial ridge that extends halfway around it. The ridge would dwarf Earth's Mt. Everest at almost twice the height. The Saturn moon is compared to a walnut with similar indentation above ridge. Clarke makes a seemingly prophetic comparison (at 5:50 mark) of anomaly on Iapetus to his book, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

A 2008 post, "Alien Monolith Found On Saturn's Moon Iapetus," provides description of fascinating, esoteric relationship that pairs Clarke with the monolith on Iapetus:

"Author of the 1968 '2001: A Space Odyssey', Arthur C. Clarke, writes about Iapetus. In the final chapters of the book, astronaut Dave Bowman finds an enigmatic alien monolith waiting for him on the surface of Iapetus.

Did Arthur C. Clarke have access to secret knowledge? It is speculated that some of Hollywood's best writers, including George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have been privy to accessing secretive occult knowledge. In other words: not all of their ideas are original. It is interesting that Arthur C. Clarke wrote about an alien monolith on Saturn's Moon Iapetus, at a time in the 1960's when NASA knew very little about this moon. Then, in 2004 it is discovered an incredible mountain ridge encompasses nearly the entire planet - in what is likely the most bizarre formation in the solar system. What is inside the equilateral ridge? Does an alien monolith await us?"

Iapetus will continue to fascinate for years to come. Please check out prior post on Iapetus that asks if the Saturn moon is artificial? Is there a monolith on artificial satellite called Iapetus?

#DataDump: Macs, Hacks, Sachs and more

Spam Invades a Last Refuge, the Cellphone:
Text Message Spam, Difficult to Stop, Is a Growing Menace*

Widespread Virus Proves Macs No Longer Safe From Hackers*
Board Urges Feds to Prevent Medical Device Hacking*
Feds Want Way to Hack Xboxes and Wiis for Evidence*
DHS/Navy Award Contract to Hack into Gaming Systems*
Video: CISPA - Another Nightmare Cybersecurity Bill*
Code Not Physical Property, Court Rules on Goldman Espionage*
Megaupload: Feds Want To Destroy User Data to Hobble Defense*
FAA Grounds $75,000 Surveillance Drone Due to Crowded Skies*
#Audio #Satire: Bomb Sniffing Dog Humps Bomb Defusing Robot*

North Korea Rocket Launch More Like Bottle Rocket

North Korea's symbolic launch to honor 100th birthday of founding President Kim Il Sung, reached altitude of 70 miles, broke up in four pieces and fell back to Earth. "The North American Aerospace Defense Command [NORAD] ...says the 1st stage of North Korean missile fell into sea, 2 other stages failed," as reported by Spaceports. This launch failure represents loss of respect and prestige for North Korea's capabilities in missile technology. Was event little more than a huge non-reporting bottle rocket?

Intel Hub Series On Underground Bases: Part 1

Researcher Richard Sauder, author of books on underground bases, writes part one of a five part Intel Hub series on what he's learned over the years: 'Deep Underground Military Bases' may go as deep as 12-14 miles - no longer clinging to former belief of a three mile limit. While admitting he doesn't know the technology employed, Sauder has gotten indication from insiders that lead him to a belief of greater depths. Part One suggests the US Military returned from WWII with new ambition to build underground after discovery of impressive German subterranean facilities. Xaver Dorsch, taken prisoner by US forces, engineered underground bases in the last years of war for Germany. The Intel Hub article shares its opinion, " Xaver Dorsch may even have worked directly for the American military on the construction of secret, underground bases in the USA, just as he had done for the Nazis during the Third Reich." The article shares account of Col. Robert S Allen who described what US forces encountered:

"'The underground installations were amazing. They were literally subterranean towns. There were four in and around Ohrdruf…. None were natural caverns or mines. All were man-made military installations...Over 50 feet underground, the installations consisted of two and three stories, several miles in length and extending like the spokes of a wheel. The entire hull structure was of massive, reinforced concrete...This place also had paneled and carpeted offices, scores of large work and store rooms, tiled bathrooms with both tubs and showers, flush toilets, electrically equipped kitchens, decorated dining rooms and mess halls, giant refrigerators, extensive sleeping quarters, recreation rooms, separate bars for officers and enlisted personnel, a moving-picture theater, and air-conditioning and sewage systems. Begun in 1944, the installations had been completed but never occupied.'"

The images of underground rails (top picture) and tunnel boring machines (bottom) makes the existence of underground bases likely - if not entire towns. The tunnel boring machines have been around for decades. A Paranoid Android article, "Strange Sounds Around The World Part 1. The Hum, Underground Construction to Future Proof Society?" raises question whether noises and disturbances heard in Windsor, Ontario, and more recently, Clintonville, WI are due to underground construction? Are the elite attempting to 'future proof' their world from you?

America's First UFO Sighting: When Pigs Fly

John Winthrop, first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, recorded journal entry in 1639 and considered America's first UFO Sighting: "...a sober, discreet man, and two others, saw a great light in the night at Muddy River. When it stood still, it flamed up, and was about three yards square; when it ran, it was contracted into the figure of a swine: it ran as swift as an arrow towards Charlton [Charlestown], and so up and down [for] about two or three hours." A footnote added by James Savage in an early edition of Winthrop's Journal, offers possible explanation. "It is safe to deduce that the UFO witnesses had seen or heard swine on the same day they observed the great light. Thus, the lights resembled a common animal, making it probable they saw ignis fatuus mirage phenomena in the darkness." It may have been only a mirage, but significant enough, Winthrop recorded sighting in his private journal.

#Facebook Deal Nets #Instagram CEO Nearly Half a Billion

from wired.com: Announced early Monday, Instagram’s acquisition by Facebook’s is a huge win for a small, young company with a massive user base. In the two years since Systrom and Krieger founded Instagram, the photo-sharing app has exploded to a massive user base of over 30 million users on iOS alone. Last week, the app finally became available to Android users for the first time, prompting over 1 million new user sign-ups in the first 12 hours of release.

Local Space Weather: Local Cloud, Local Bubble and Giant Ribbon

Zen Gardner captures imagination and admiration in attempt to provide us with  comprehensive "local space weather" in post, "Is NASA Tracking The Cosmic Shift?" It may be difficult to visualize mentally space weather the Solar System is currently passing, so concise description from article works well:

"'The Sun traveling through the Galaxy happens to cross at the present time a blob of gas about ten light-years across, with a temperature of 6-7 thousand degrees kelvin. This so-called Local Interstellar Cloud is immersed in a much larger expanse of a million-degree hot gas, named the Local Bubble. The energetic neutral atoms (ENA) are generated by charge exchange at the interface between the two gaseous media. ENA can be observed provided the Sun is close enough to the interface. The apparent Ribbon of ENA discovered by the IBEX satellite can be explained by a geometric effect: one observes many more ENA by looking along a line-of-sight almost tangent to the interface than by looking in the perpendicular direction.'"

Gardner putting it together cites NASA source, "Mystery of the Giant Ribbon Solved," an excerpt follows:

"The IBEX data fit in nicely with recent results from Voyager. Voyager 1 and 2 are near the edge of the solar system and they also have sensed strong magnetism nearby. Voyager measurements are relatively local to the spacecraft, however. IBEX is filling in the “big picture.” The ribbon it sees is vast and stretches almost all the way across the sky, suggesting that the magnetic field behind it must be equally vast."

A reader wonders if interaction will increase at Solar System's edge? How much more will magnetic field emanating from Local Cloud impinge upon the Heliosphere? Gardner asks, in turn, the obvious, "Is the Sun going to enter soon a million-degree galactic cloud of interstellar gas?" It's an excellent attempt by Zen Gardner to build upon individual reports to see greater implications of space weather - hats off!

'Iron Sky' CGI Scenes and Special Effects Rendering

'Iron Sky' will soon be in the states. You may be a sci-fi special effects aficionado and the dark style of Fourth Reich Space Nazis on the attack may hold strong appeal. Its flavor is sort of Mad Max-meets-Star Wars and many want a taste. There are more scenes from the movie than in the trailers, plus how they appear before and after CGI. It's quite good!

A second video provides a tour of the 'rendering farm' with Samuli Torssonen, the movie's 33 year old special effects producer. Torssonen enumerates in passable English a full list of software: Autodesk Maya, Newtek Lightwave 3-D, Foundry Nuke and Adobe Creative Suite 5 for scene composition. There's also a peek inside one of 40 Intel I-7 rigs with 16 GB Ram that performed around-the-clock rendering under control of time management program called Render Pal. It can't help but interest even slightest geek!

First Full Moon Of Spring Tonight

The first full moon of spring following vernal equinox is tonight, April 6th. The timing of this moon sets date for Easter, celebrated on the following Sunday. Anthony Ayiomamitis captured wonderful Easter Moon (pictured) on the outskirts of Athens, Greece. Thanks goes to spaceweather.com for the link.

Did Gravity Wave Cause 2004 Indonesian Tsunami?

Did Gravity Wave associated with Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) cause 2004 Indonesian Earthquake and Tsunami? Dr. Paul LaVoilette asked question in 2005 blog entry whether stellar explosion 26,000 Light Years Away was cause? LaVoilette suspects culprit was SGR 1806-20 (pictured), a neutron star, about 10 degrees above galactic center, noting carefully Indonesian earthquake time as just past midnight Dec. 26, 2004 Universal Time (UT). The GRB arrived just 44.6 hours later. Space.com reported, in article at time, "Brightest Galactic Flash Detected Hits Earth." LaViolette suspects burst is impeded "by dust and cosmic ray particles" encountered  that does not affect gravity wave, so time difference seems plausible to suspect gravity wave as possible cause? "Does it sound crazy?" asks LaViollette. No, it doesn't and LaViollette remains convinced, "..the next superwave will arrive unexpectedly. It will take us by surprise." Keep it in mind as we cross the galactic plane?

North Korea Moves Rocket Stage To Launch Pad

New York Post reports, today, "North Korea may have moved the first stage of a rocket to a launch stand, indicating it is on schedule for a controversial mid-April launch, according to a new analysis of satellite images." The launch is planned for April 12-16 to commemorate 100th anniversary of the birth of its founding president Kim Il-Sung. A Washington Times story adds the United States believes the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite, is a thinly disguised missile launch. "Last week, the Japanese defense minister formally gave orders to the Japanese military to shoot down the launch rocket should it take place...deploying three Aegis-equipped missile destroyers in waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula." The Times story contains ominous note on launch that has, "...dramatically intensified the already volatile security environment in Northeast Asia, causing a crisis that threatens to bring war to the region." Let's hope not!

#DataDump: Glass, Kinect, Shady, Energy

Google's Project Glass*
Google Glasses Will Disappoint, AR Experts Warn*
Whole Foods wants you to use Kinect-enabled shopping carts*
James Bamford: Shady Companies With Ties to Israel Wiretap US for NSA*
LHC reaches highest energy level yet*
Just One More Game: Angry Birds, Farmville and Other Hyperaddictive 'Stupid Games'*

Spy Sat Blasts Off From Vandenberg Amid Mystery

A NRO spy satellite, atop a Delta IV rocket with two strap on boosters for added thrust, launched from Vandenberg AFB, yesterday. Mail Online article reveals rocket thought to contain, "...some form of spy technology - thought to be a hi-tech replacement for America's aging fleet of radar satellites...Intelligence analysts think the rocket carried a radar imaging satellite capable of seeing at night and through bad weather." Charles Vick, space policy analyst with GlobalSecurity.org observed in article, "... the United States has worked to phase out its fleet of older, heavier radar reconnaissance satellites with smaller but equally capable ones," It is possibly a new generation of spy satellites going up, but yesterday's launch required additional thrust and a larger payload enclosure! The casual observer has even cause to wonder what's inside?

ISPs Warn UK Over Government Email Surveillance 'Plans'

from guardian.co.uk: Internet firms have warned that government plans to monitor email and social media use in Britain are liable to be used by repressive regimes elsewhere in the world to justify their state surveillance. No internet business was willing to offer a public criticism of the coalition's proposal on Monday, but many privately raised fears over the legalising of a power to see who is contacting whom online in real time. "There is a question of jurisdiction. There is a risk that if you offer this access to [the authorities in] Britain, then you have to offer it to countries like Syria and Bahrain," said an internet industry official who declined to be identified because the proposal has not been outlined in detail. A number of MPs and civil liberties groups argued that the plan would endanger privacy and unfettered free expression online. Julian Huppert, the Lib Dem MP, said on Twitter that the Commons home affairs committee wanted to call the home secretary, Theresa May, to give evidence on the proposal. More than 14,000 people have signed a petition by the internet advocacy body Open Rights Group.

Mound Zero Tribute to 17th Anniversary of Ground Zero

A new Ground Zero parody by Mound Zero is out for enjoyment of Clyde Lewis fans. Three callers grace this episode: a Bible thumper, a prepper and Steve. Mound Zero continues its anal fixation to generate laughs. Guest caller Steve returns in last segment, wearing his tinfoil hat, to suggest how to stop asteroid threatening Earth.   Steve still focused on his "southern region," offers his dad's "assroid" cream to stop the assroid or make it smaller. While the caller admits it states to use on Uranus, he believes, it's worth a try with caveat it may take more than one tube!  Present viewer doesn't care how tastleless still laughed my assroids off!

Intel's Kill Switch Could 'End Computing As We Know It'

Freelance Journalist Jim Stone makes observation about Intel's Sandy Bridge processor. Stone suspects cell-linked remote kill switch built directly into the Sandy Bridge CPU, could be used to "end computing as we know it." The freelance journalist supplies widely circulated belief, "the 'elite' intended computers to be a way to gain access to the most intricate information about people's lives. They used popular bulletin boards such as America Online and Prodigy as spy machines, which worked well because they kept an identity of everyone who posted anything on them. The internet changed that. Because the internet was decentralized and allowed anonymity, it became a potent weapon in the hands of the people, and the elite are desperately seeking ways to shut it down..."

Everyone should note very real technology built into their computers. Stone makes quite plausible observation despite paranoid aura of a tinfoil hat:

"But what if such a shutdown could happen, with the blame directed away from those who caused it? Intel's Sandy bridge technology, which allows remote shutdown of a CPU via the cellular phone network could be used to end computing as we know it if such technologies become widespread and a fake EMP disaster is created as an explanation for why all the computers died. Keep that old PC in the closet!"

It's just something to stick in the back of your mind. The present writer believes it's very much style of those who want to remain in power! Stone makes a comparison to the recent AMD A6 processor that may come in handy:

"The AMD processors also contain the cell link, but when attacked, don't go down as easy. This is because the AMD A series uses a CPU die with 4 totally separate CPU cores, and the Sandy Bridge is a single core that emulates 4 cores. SO when attacked, the 4 discrete core setup from AMD remains more stable, and since it is very power efficient, it's hard to damage. The AMD Cpu's do not have the hardware kill, they use a bios rooted soft kill that pegs the CPU."

Stone makes it clear, an AMD processor would have better chance in such a scenario... But, it's purely tinfoil hat stuff, anyway! It couldn't happen. Nah! Please move along - nothing to see here!

Bales Looked Like Patsy When He Had No Name: No Change

The varied posts around net, represent attempt, to examine facts rationally about Robert Bales and 3-11 murders in Afghanistan.  The posts also illustrate need for more than sorely lacking media reports. There's no effort to provide a comprehensive account, and likely, for good reason.  Luikkerland.com makes clear Bales has been target of many media smears.  There's everything on Bales from drunken night club encounter years ago, a brain injury, malaria shot, post traumatic stress disorder, securities fraud, etc...all meant to distract from events on night of March 11. CNN reports recently Bales returned to base in mid-attack. Veteran's Today Senior Editor, Gordon Duff, believes everything US Army has said publicly is a lie!  Duff supplied his take on Press TV shortly after murders, the interview available on You Tube, Slaughter in Afghanistan!   Duff indicates soldiers cannot leave base on foot and necessary gas cans - to burn victims - point to vehicles. Empty Wheel supplies disciplined, insightful effort to secure solid facts in entry titled, "Panjwai: Was There One Killer at Alkozai But Multiple at Najiban?"


The Empty Wheel view of events is supplied and reminds it's only speculation. However, it represents an excellent effort to use facts to explain what happened over entire tragic night:

"To repeat, this is all a wildarsed guess. But I’m suggesting that it’s possible Bales went first to Alkozai and in a spray of gunfire killed 4 or 5 and wounded at least 5 more, then returned to the base, told others what he had done, and more followed him in helicopters to Najiban. That would explain the larger number of men described by Dawood’s children, how 11 people in 4 rooms were killed in Wazir’s home, and also how Bales was able to drag all 11 bodies to one room and attempt to burn them (though the timing is still short, given that Najiban is at least a mile from the base and Bales was reportedly gone just an hour total on that second trip). If some men followed Bales to join in the killing–rather than to find him, as the government claims–it might explain why they claim it took at least a half hour to search the FOB when what purportedly initiated the search was an Afghan guard telling the Americans one of their men had left the base (that is, the “search” story is a way to fudge the timing)."

Sergeant Robert Bales is receiving similar treatment as Private Bradley Manning nearly under total wrap.  The security surrounding Bales reveals very sensitive and precarious nature of situation.   The present writer cites reports Bales may not remember shooting, as indication of diminished capacity will likely be most acceptable course for all parties--but is it the truth? Is Bales' lack of recall an indication of something else? From this early perspective, lone killer story seems unlikely to hold up with multiple witness accounts of more soldiers and prior threats.