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Strange news: Latest from the world of the bizarre and eccentric
Massive diamond found in Lesotho
(Sep 24, 2008)
Miners in Lesotho have discovered a huge gem stone which may become the largest ever polished round diamond. The stone weighs 478 carats and is the 20th largest rough diamond ever found, said Gem Diamonds. The company said the uncut rock was recovered recently from the Letseng mine, owned by the company in Lesotho.
Read more. Source: BBC |
Is it possible to have an 'out-of-body'experience?
(Sep 19, 2008)
Floating above one's body or travelling down a long tunnel leading to a white light has become such a clichéd description of near-death experiences that many remain deeply suspicious of them. And yet time and again people from different walks of life have described the same scenario. A coalition of British and US scientists has launched an experiment to study more than 1,500 heart attack patients over the next three years to see if people with no heartbeat and brain activity can have genuine "out-of-body" experiences.
Read more. Source: The Independent |
'Ant from Mars' found in Amazon jungle
(Sep 16, 2008)
A unique, blind, subterranean, predatory ant has been discovered in the Amazon rainforest. On first sight, legend of evolutionary biology and ant expert Edward O Wilson of Harvard University quipped that it was so unusual that it must have come from Mars. Unfortunately, the specimens dried up and crumbled before they could be formally described.
Read more. Source: New Scientist |
New clues to mystery sea monster
(Sep 6, 2008)
Fresh clues have been found to help a scientist in her efforts to identify a mystery creature found on Orkney. Geneticist Dr Yvonne Simpson has researched the Stronsay Beast and will reveal her latest discoveries at the Orkney International Science Festival. The creature's carcass, which some said was that of a basking shark (like the one shown here), was found off Stronsay in 1808.
Read more. Source: BBC |
eBay insect fossil is new species
(Aug 21, 2008)
A scientist who bought a fossilised insect on the web auction site eBay for £20 has discovered that it belongs to a previously unknown species of aphid. Dr Richard Harrington, vice-president of the UK's Royal Entomological Society, bought the fossil from an individual in Lithuania. He then sent it off to an aphid expert in Denmark, who confirmed the insect was a new species, now extinct.
Read more. Source: BBC |
Unidentified flying threats
(Jul 29, 2008)
On the afternoon of Nov. 7, 2006, pilots and airport employees at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago saw a disc-like object hovering over the tarmac for several minutes. Because nothing was tracked on radar, the Federal Aviation Administration did not investigate. Yet radar is not a reliable detector of all aircraft.
Read more. Source: New York Times (registration required) |
UFO spotted by police helicopter
(Jun 20, 2008)
A police helicopter crew has spotted what is described as an unusual aircraft in the Vale of Glamorgan. The helicopter was above St Athan, which is home to an RAF base and close to Cardiff International Airport. But three-man crew could not capture any images before the object vanished over the Bristol Channel on 7 June.
Read more. Source: BBC |
On the trail of the 'Indian yeti'
(Jun 18, 2008)
In the US it's known as bigfoot, in Canada as sasquatch, in Brazil as mapinguary, in Australia as a yowie, in Indonesia as sajarang gigi and, most famously of all, in Nepal as a yeti. The little known Indian version of this legendary ape-like creature is called mande barung – or forest man – and is reputed to live in the remote West Garo hills of the north-eastern state of Meghalaya.
Read more. Source: BBC |
Isolated tribe spotted in Brazil
(May 30, 2008)
One of South America's few remaining uncontacted indigenous tribes has been spotted and photographed on the border between Brazil and Peru. The Brazilian government says it took the images to prove the tribe exists and help protect its land. The pictures, taken from an aeroplane, show red-painted tribe members brandishing bows and arrows.
Read more. Source: BBC |
Bard's 'cursed' tomb is revamped
(May 28, 2008)
William Shakespeare's tombstone is set for a makeover – despite bearing a curse against those who move it. The grave is being restored as part of extensive repairs at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-on-Avon, Warks. The stone, which renovators say will not be moved, warns: "Blessed be the man that spares these stones/ And cursed be he who moves my bones."
Read more. Source: BBC |
Science probe for 'space pistols'
(May 27, 2008)
Given pride of place in an unassuming museum on the East Coast of America is a pair of 200-year-old duelling pistols shrouded in mystery. The intricately decorated guns were said to have been forged from the iron of a fallen meteorite. They were a unique gift from the commander of a South American region, which would later become Argentina, to the fourth US president, James Madison.
Read more. Source: BBC |
Crystal skulls 'are modern fakes'
(May 23, 2008)
Two of the best known crystal skulls – artefacts once thought to be the work of ancient American civilisations – are modern fakes, a scientific study shows. They are the focus of the story in the latest Indiana Jones film. But experts say examples held at the British Museum in London and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC are anything but genuine.
Read more. Source: BBC |
Files released on UFO sightings
(May 14, 2008)
Secret files on UFO sightings have been made available for the first time by the Ministry of Defence. The documents, which can be downloaded from the National Archives website, cover the period from 1978 to 1987. They include accounts of strange lights in the sky and unexplained objects being spotted by the public, armed forces and police officers.
Read more. Source: BBC |
Blaine sets breathtaking record
(Apr 30, 2008)
Magician David Blaine has set a world record by holding his breath for 17 minutes and four seconds on Oprah Winfrey's US TV show in Chicago. The star was pulled from a water-filled sphere, and then said he had begun to doubt if he would achieve his goal as he considered his heart rate too high. The previous record, which was 32 seconds shorter, was set in February.
Read more. Source: BBC |
Swedes find 'world's oldest tree'
(Apr 18, 2008)
A tree said to be the oldest on the planet – thought to be nearly 10,000 years old – has been found in Sweden. Scientists from Umeaa University discovered the spruce on Fulu Mountain in Dalarna province while carrying out a census of tree species there in 2004. The age of its genetic material was recently calculated using carbon dating at a laboratory in Miami, Florida.
Read more. Source: BBC |
'They're here': The mechanism of poltergeist activity
(Apr 1, 2008)
The sight of small blonde girls watching television is guaranteed to strike fear into the heart of anyone who has watched the movie Poltergeist. We're right to be terrified, say physicists. Children generate poltergeist activity by channelling energy into the quantum mechanical vacuum.
Read more. Source: New Scientist |
Shroud mystery 'refuses to go away'
(Mar 22, 2008)
There are very few Christian relics as important and as controversial as the Shroud of Turin. This linen cloth, measuring about 4.4m by 1.1m (14.4 × 3.6 feet) holds the concealed image of a man bearing all the signs of crucifixion. Scientific tests have proved that there are blood stains around the marks consistent with a crown of thorns and a puncture from a lance to the side.
Read more. Source: BBC |
NZ dolphin rescues beached whales
(Mar 12, 2008)
A dolphin has come to the rescue of two whales which had become stranded on a beach in New Zealand. Conservation officer Malcolm Smith told the BBC that he and a group of other people had tried in vain for an hour and a half to get the whales to sea. The pygmy sperm whales had repeatedly beached, and both they and the humans were tired and set to give up, he said.
Read more. Source: BBC |
Mystery image of 'life on Mars'
(Jan 24, 2008)
An image of a mysterious shape on the surface of Mars, taken by NASA spacecraft Spirit, has reignited the debate about life on the Red Planet. A magnified version of the picture, posted on the internet, appears to some to show what resembles a human form among a crop of rocks. While some bloggers have dismissed the image as a trick of light, others say it is evidence of an alien presence.
Read more. Source: BBC |
The truth is out: X-Files go public
(Jan 6, 2008)
Without warning, the orange UFO swooped toward them. The crew of the RAF Vulcan bomber banked hard and radioed they were being chased across the Atlantic by a large mysterious object. The incident was classified as a UFO sighting and the details were immediately locked away. Now, 30 years later, the extraordinary encounter is among thousands of previously secret cases contained in the government's 'X-Files' that officials are to release in their entirety.
Read more. Source: Guardian |
'Yeti prints' found near Everest
(Dec 1, 2007)
A US TV presenter says he and his team have found a series of footprints in the Everest region of Nepal resembling descriptions of the mysterious Yeti. The presenter and his colleagues say they are "very excited", although they are not saying they definitely believe it is the mark of the Yeti. Josh Gates and his crew work on a series called Destination Truth, which follows reports of fantastic creatures.
Read more. Source: BBC |
Jellyfish attack destroys salmon
(Nov 23, 2007)
A jellyfish invasion has wiped out Northern Ireland's only salmon farm, killing more than 100,000 fish. A Northern Salmon spokesman said last week's attack could cost more than £1m. Billions of small jellyfish, known as Mauve Stingers, flooded into the cages about a mile into the Irish Sea, off Glenarm Bay and Cushendun.
Read more. Source: BBC |
Call for US to re-open UFO file
(Nov 13, 2007)
A group of former pilots and government officials has called on the US government to re-open an investigation into claims of UFO sightings. Project Blue Book, run by the US Air Force, was stopped in the late 1960s. The group, which includes former military officers from seven countries, all say they have seen a UFO or have conducted research into the phenomenon.
Read more. Source: BBC |
Orkney beast 'similar to Nessie'
(Nov 3, 2007)
A mystery creature washed up on Orkney almost 200 years ago was "strikingly similar" to descriptions of Nessie, the Highlands Science Festival will hear. Geneticist Dr Yvonne Simpson, who hails from Orkney, has researched the Stronsay Beast. Its carcass, which some said was that of a basking shark, was found off Stronsay in 1808.
Read more. Source: BBC |
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