100 full moons: Blazing fireball lights up Arctic sky

By JAN M. OLSEN, Associated Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A blazing fireball lit up the dark skies of Arctic Finland for five seconds, giving off what scientists said was "the glow of 100 full moons" and igniting hurried attempts to find the reported meteorite.

Finnish experts were scrambling to calculate its trajectory and find where it landed, according to Tomas Kohout of the University of Helsinki's physics department, who said Thursday night's fireball "seems to have been one of the brightest ones."

It produced a blast wave that felt like an explosion about 6:40 p.m. and could also be seen in northern Norway and in Russia's Kola peninsula, he told The Associated Press on Saturday.

It might have weighed about 100 kilograms (220 pounds), according to Nikolai Kruglikov of Yekaterinburg's Urals Federal University.

"We believe it didn't disintegrate but reached a remote corner of Finland," Kohout said, adding that any search plans for the meteorite must face the fact that "right now we don't have much daylight" — four hours, to be precise.

The Norwegian meteorite network said the fireball "had the glow of 100 full moons" and likely was going northeast, perhaps "to the Norwegian peninsula of Varanger," north of where the borders of Russia, Finland and Norway meet.

Kohout said scientists looked forward to any space debris they can get their hands on.

"We are happy to recover (it) since this is a unique opportunity to get otherwise inaccessible space material," said Kohout. "This is why it's worth it to search for them."

Viktor Troshenkov of the Russian Academy of Sciences told the Tass news agency that the fireball could be part of a prolific meteor shower known as the Leonids, which peaks at this time of year. He said he felt Thursday's fireball likely wasn't the sole meteorite but others maybe were not seen due to thick clouds elsewhere.

Troshenkov told Tass that meteor showers can be even stronger. The Leonids reach their maximum once every 33 years — and the last time that happened was in 1998, he said. Amateur astronomers in the Arctic then saw about 1,000 meteors, 40 meteorites and one fireball in just one night.

In 2013, a meteorite streaked across the Russian sky and exploded over the Ural Mountains with the power of an atomic bomb, its sonic blasts shattering countless windows and injuring about 1,100 people. Many were cut by flying glass as they flocked to windows, curious about what had produced such a blinding flash of light.

The 2013 Chelyabinsk meteorite was estimated to be about 10 tons when it entered the Earth's atmosphere at a hypersonic speed of at least 54,000 kph (33,000 mph). It shattered into pieces about 30-50 kilometers (18-32 miles) above the ground but some meteorite chunks were found in a Russian lake.

A meteoroid is smaller than a kilometer (0.62 mile), and often so small that when it enters the Earth's atmosphere it vaporizes and never reaches the ground. A meteor is a flash of light caused by a meteoroid that fails to get through the Earth's atmosphere.  If part of it does survive, that's called a meteorite.

Asteroids are generally larger chunks of rock that come from the asteroid belt located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Global Warming Hoax? Scientists Claim "Mini Ice Age" to Occur in 2030

Hey Everyone! It’s Mikey Chen

So here’s an excuse for you to finally pull the trigger on that Canada Goose jacket or move to Florida because according to scientists, Earth will be heading for a mini ice age in about 15 years.

A team of European researchers unveiled a scientific model at the 2015 National Astronomy Meeting showing that the Earth is likely to experience a “Mini Ice Age” from 2030 to 2040 as a result of decreased solar activity. Something that hasn't happened for three centuries.

Northumbria University, Professor Valentina Zharkova, presented the Double Dynamo Model which is suppose to be able to accurately explain discrepancies in the sun’s 11-year cycle.

And if you don’t know, the sun’s cycle is the amount of magnetic flux that rises to the Sun's surface, and that varies with time in a cycle. This cycle lasts 11 years on average. Basically, during the minimum of the solar cycle, sunspots are rare and small, and during the maximum, sunspots are visible on the Sun almost all the time

Zharkova. said that 'Over the cycle, the waves fluctuate between the northern and southern hemispheres of the Sun. Combining both waves together and comparing to real data for the current solar cycle, we found that our predictions showed an accuracy of 97%,'

And Based on the Double Dynamo model, the two magnetic waves will cancel each other out in about 2030, leading to a drop in sunspots and solar flares of about 60 percent. Which would match conditions experienced during the so-called “Little Ice Age” during the Maunder Minimum period also known as the prolonged sunspot minimum, which lasted from 1645-1715?

During this time, rivers that are normally ice-free froze like London's River Thames, and snow fields remained year-round at lower altitudes.

The “Double Dynamo” theory lends credence to the work of researchers who argue that the Earth will soon experience a period of global cooling as a result of reductions in solar activity even as climate-change advocates argue that the planet is warming as a result of increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The theory of a Mini Ice Age has been brought up before. For example Former White House national space policy adviser John L. Casey in his book “Dark Winter: How the Sun is Causing a 30-Year Cold Spell” forecasts a “solar hibernation” and warns that the worst of the cooling cycle will hit in the late 2020s and early 2030's.

First of all, not to make light of this situation, but 97% accuracy on predictions of solar cycle fluctuations, how come you can’t tell me if its really going to rain or not next week?? I swear the weather forecast changes day to day, and according to back to the future arent, we suppose to have super accurate weather forecasting by now?

Also just in case this mini ice age turns into the day after tomorrow, here’s what you do, don’t try to walk anywhere and just stay home and burn books.

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Sources:

https://usawatchdog.com/climate-change-is-global-communist-tyranny-lord-christopher-monckton/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3156594/Is-mini-ICE-AGE-way-Scientists-warn-sun-sleep-2020-cause-temperatures-plummet.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/07/14/no-earth-is-not-heading-toward-a-mini-ice-age/?utm_term=.6b0bc3a61d97
https://www.livescience.com/51597-maunder-minimum-mini-ice-age.html

Earth's Greatest Influencer, the Sun, Triggers Wars and Human Behavior

By Buryl Payne PhD, Epoch Times

TV, cell phone towers, power lines, and house appliances—while they make our lives more convenient, they also contribute to polluting our electromagnetic atmosphere.

A growing number of scientists, health care professionals, and concerned citizens argue that these invisible frequencies are responsible for a host of various health problems. Meanwhile, the largest polluter has gone unnoticed: the sun. At certain times, the sun’s activity can also aggravate mental health problems.

Every 10–11 years, the number of sunspots found on our closest star rise from 0 (as it is currently in 2008) to a high of over 400. While the sunspots themselves don’t affect Earth, the solar flares and other disturbances emanating from our sun during increased sunspot activity result in an increased number of particles (electrons and protons) and harmful light radiation (ultraviolet and x-rays), known as solar wind. If it weren’t for Earth’s protective magnetic field and atmosphere, this bombardment of particles would burn us to a crisp!

Fortunately, our planet’s magnetic field diverts most particles into a circular path around the Earth. Like weather patterns found on Earth, solar wind patterns can change rapidly. Luckily, our planet’s magnetosphere quickly responds to the threat and absorbs the impact, wiggling and jiggling in the process. Geophysicists call this reaction a geomagnetic storm, but because of how it disrupts the Earth’s magnetic field, it could also be called electromagnetic pollution.

These storms, although minute, affect brain waves and hormone levels, causing a number of different reactions, predominately in males. While a few women may also experience changes during these storms, they generally seem less affected by the sun’s behavior.

Reacting to changing hormone levels, some men may become increasingly irritable and aggressive, while others may instead become more creative. An increase in solar activity is found to increase psychotic episodes in individuals who already suffer from unstable psychological states. While we might relate such behavior to a full moon, in 1963, Dr. Robert Becker and his colleague, Dr. Freedman, demonstrated that solar changes also lead to a noticeable increase in psychotic activity.

Yet these reactions are not simply isolated to a few particularly sensitive or unlucky individuals. Evidence indicates that wars and international conflicts most often break out when sunspots are rapidly forming or rapidly decaying, as these are times when there are more intense geomagnetic storms.

In addition, this increase in solar activity also correlates to periods of more accidents and illness, as well as an increase of crimes and murders. The entire biosphere is affected by this electromagnetic pollution, and human behavior seems to react accordingly.

 

Storm Tracking

Thankfully, not all geomagnetic storms are disruptive. Some are generally beneficial to humans. But over time, these extremes in solar activity may also affect periods of earthly conflict. The data on cycles of war and peace extend back at least 2,500 years. (Some believe that they may be traced even further, but the records are not as reliable.) Although some may argue that it seems as if there is always war somewhere, records show that periods of conflict increase and decrease in nearly regular cycles.  

As early as 1915, some scientists were beginning to recognize connections between solar activity and human behavior. This work began with Russian scientist Alexander Chizhevsky, who observed that mass changes in human behavior correlated to sunspot cycles.  

In the 1930s, Professor Raymond Wheeler, a historian at the University of Kansas, took this observation one step further. His research afforded numerical rankings to the severity of individual battles correlating to solar cycles.

His data was statistically analyzed by Edward Dewey, who validated the existence of these war cycles. Yet he was unable to make a definite connection with sunspot cycles because the data at that time was insufficient. In the 1980s, with a more detailed analysis of Wheeler’s data, the connection became clear.

Upon close examination of the data, a pattern begins to emerge wherein wars are most likely to start at key points of the sunspot cycle. This is when the geomagnetic activity is changing most rapidly on the upsurge of solar activity, or the downward part of the cycle, when sunspots are rapidly diminishing. In addition, we can also see how this affects physiological mechanisms, such as altered brain rhythms and abnormal hormonal levels. In other words, wars are a kind of mass psychosis. ‘War Fever’ is real.

With this in mind, should we view warring behavior as a type of disease? Are the related socio-political or economic factors as much a symptom of solar cycles as the battles they appear to create? And if the data on sunspot cycles points to an impending crisis, how can we best use this knowledge?

When we see the connection to physical mechanisms (electromagnetic pollution), this gives us some predictive insight for when increased aggressions were apt to start. Calculations indicate that we’re due to see another rise in intense solar activity in about two years: September 22, 2010.

As with any disease, if we are aware of the cause, we can take precautions to lessen the symptoms. In past writings on this subject, I have suggested that global meditation might be one tactic for steering this aggressive cycle another way. (More information on this is available at buryl.com)

Imagine how valuable it would be to mankind, or even an individual, if we were able to address a potentially volatile situation by carefully studying the pattern of history. How would this influence our decisions and actions, and how might this change our fate?

Buryl Payne has a Ph.D. in psychology and an M.S. in physics and has written several books and articles on a variety of topics.  He is currently working on a book exploring fifth-dimensional consciousness.

References:
Battros M. & Stubbs T. 2005. “Solar Rain: The Earth Changes Have Begun.” Earth Changes Press.

Becker, R. 0. and Marino, A. A., “Electromagnetism and Life,” State University of New York Press, P.O. Box 978, Edison, N. J. 08808

Friedman, H. and Becker, R.O., “Geomagnetic parameters and Psychiatric Hospital Admissions,” Nature, V. 200, pp 626–628, 1963.

Hundhausen, A. J., “Solar activity and the solar wind,” Rev, of Geophysics and Space Physics, 17 (8), 20314–2011.8, 1979.

Payne, B. 1986. “The Power of Thought to Influence the Sun, Interim Report.” National Council on Geocosmic Research, Winter-Spring.

Strange Consequences of Heart Transplants Baffles Scientists

 

By Stephanie Lam and Wang Yuanfu

CELLULAR MEMORY: Researchers hypothesize that organ recipients' personality change is due to memory being stored in cells.

Legend has it that about 2,500 years ago, during China’s Warring State Period, two men went to see a great doctor by the name of Bian Que. Bian cured their sickness very quickly but discovered that they had another problem that had been growing more serious over time. Bian said that they would both get well if they exchanged their hearts, and they agreed to let Bian perform the surgery.

Bian had the two men drink some anesthetics and they lost consciousness for three days, during which Bian opened their chests, exchanged their hearts, and applied medicine. When they regained consciousness, they had already recovered and were as well as before.

But something was wrong: When they returned home, they were both baffled because their wives couldn’t recognize them. It turned out that they had both gone to the other person’s home and thought that the other person’s wife was their wife.

It seems inconceivable that such a surgery could have been performed 2,500 years ago, but this story is unbelievably similar to the situation observed in some modern heart transplant cases.

The U.K.’s Daily Mail reported that, after a heart transplant, Sonny Graham of Georgia fell in love with his donor’s wife and married her. Twelve years after their marriage, he committed suicide the same way his donor did.

In another Daily Mail report, a man named William Sheridan received a heart from an artist who died in a car accident, and suddenly he was able to produce beautiful drawings of wildlife and landscapes.

Claire Sylvia, the recipient of a heart and a lung in 1988, wrote in her book A Change of Heart: A Memoir that after the transplant she started to like beer, fried chicken, and green pepper—all of which she didn’t like before but her donor, an 18-year-old boy, liked.

She had a dream in which she kissed a boy she thought to be named Tim L., and inhaled him into her during the kissing. She later found that Tim L. was the name of her donor. She wondered if it was because one of the doctors mentioned the name during her surgery, but was told that the doctors did not know the name of the donor.

In a paper published in the Journal of Near-Death Studies, Dr. Paul Pearsall of the University of Hawaii and Dr. Gary Schwartz and Dr. Linda Russek of the University of Arizona discussed 10 cases of heart or heart-lung transplants in which the recipients were reported to have “changes in food, music, art, sexual, recreational, and career preferences, as well as specific instances of perceptions of names and sensory experiences related to the donors.”

In one of the cases that they described, the donor was an African American, so the recipient thought the donor would like rap music and therefore didn’t think the transplant was the cause of his new preference for classical music. However, it was found that the donor was a violin player and loved classical music.

This case suggests that changes in organ recipients’ preferences occur without the recipients anticipating them. Thus these cases are unlike the placebo effect, in which patients’ health conditions change in the direction of their expectations.

In addition, the researchers pointed out that like the above recipients, there might be other recipients who dismiss the idea that they adopted their donors’ preferences because of their expectations of the donors, so the number of organ transplant recipients who experienced a personality change similar to that of their donors might be underrepresented.

Pearsall, Schwartz, and Russek concluded that it is unlikely these cases happened out of coincidence, and hypothesized that it is because of cellular memory, meaning that memories and preferences can be stored in cells.

However, it is currently unknown whether this form of memory exists.

Ancient Galactic Show in the Sky: Planets Fire Lightning Bolts

By Leonardo Vintini, Epoch Times

Were these recurring petroglyph patterns a familiar sight to ancient skies?

Given expression throughout history among countless civilizations around the world, the human image, rendered in a few simple lines, offers an unmistakable representation of a unique spectacle occurring in the ancient skies.

A Signal of the Gods

Suddenly, someone pointed toward the sky. The afternoon sky had become red, later white, and then an intense yellow. The great power of the firmament was both beautiful and terrifying, the most frightening that the group had ever seen. It was a beautiful and painful demonstration of human insignificance before the gods.

The grand sparkles stayed in the sky for a time, enough for the natives to engrave the scene on their granite canvases. The axis of energy charged across space, in its path letting loose gigantic streams of gas, some flying upward and other flying downward.

“…only a few thousand years ago the terrestrial sky was ablaze with electrical activity. The ramifications of this possibility will directly affect our understanding of cultural roots. What was the impact of the recorded events on the first civilizations? What was the relationship to the origins of world mythology, to the birth of the early religions, or to monumental construction in ancient times?” asks David Talbot and Wallace Thornhill in their book “Thunderbolts of the Gods.”

The true origin of the “squatter” or “stickman”—as the petroglyph is also known—is probably one of the enigmas most beloved by scientists who specialize in plasma physics. This graphic representation can be found and appreciated in the archaeological legacies of dozens of ancient cultures around the world—cultures with no apparent connection or contact—prompting many intrepid scientists to consider the “squatter” more as an event of magnificent proportions common to different cultures, rather than a vague and repetitive representation of human anatomy.

A New Theory for an Old Universe

Even so, the squatter does not represent the point of origin for this fantastic theory.  It is but a lucky piece of evidence found among the great current of vanguard thought known as “The Electric Universe.”

Proponents of the Electric Universe (such as is titled the work of Donald Scott, one of the pioneers of the idea) maintain that plasma, an energetic state of matter, is the substance and force that both fills and governs the totality of nearly all elements existing in the universe. Confronting such an idea may make possible radically new explications of familiar theories such as the Big Bang, dark matter, and Einstein’s general relativity, among others.

But when proponents of the Electric Universe theory hold that plasma—recognized as the fourth state of matter and a substance filling 99.9 percent of the known universe—is responsible for planetary attraction instead of gravity, the idea is often dismissed or even ridiculed by conservative scientists.

What’s certain is that the behavior of electricity between the warm gases and giant magnetic fields of the stars is an area that currently lacks the necessary study to either validate or refute this curious theory. To study such fields could indicate a new understanding of these phenomena, such as the energy of gamma rays, the acceleration of the expansion of the cosmos, and the tremendous discharges of energy which were said to have occurred once long ago, in the skies of remote times.

A Question of Electricity

The behavior of electricity in warm gases at cosmic magnitudes is still a discipline in its infancy. Yet this understanding applied to different electromagnetic fields may provide an idea of how a spatial discharge could take on a quasi-human form in ancient times.

The gigantic “electric” ray of plasma would resemble a human torso represented in the figure of the “squatter,” and the discs of energy traversing the axis of the body would be spread far, like waves going in opposite directions, giving the look of arms and legs. The profile view of a third element, a central “thread” that circles the body, would appear like two points condensing toward both sides of the figure, completing the most common representation of the picture.

In this way, the repulsion among the discs together with the axis of electricity would have given place to one of the most spectacular visions that ancient humanity could have had the joy of appreciating: a great being with open arms and arched legs.

According to graphic vestiges, the figure of the squatter could be appreciated from all points of the globe. Its form appears recorded in cultures of Arizona, Armenia, New Mexico, Venezuela, Spain, Italy, the Alps, the Middle East, and China among others.

Popular Negation, the Stigma of New Theories

But the squatter may not be the only unique celestial spectacle presented to the ancient world. Different patterns repeated in petroglyphs across the entire planet could be taken to note nebulas or abysmal explosions.

For years, scientists have only recognized the sun, the moon, and other direct representations found in the cultural ancestry as vivid observations of the celestial vault, chalking up images of gods, humans, and animals to imaginary aggregates of the artists. But many modern archeologists, like Anthony Peratt, have started to validate these “intrusions” in ancient mythology as substantial facts of existence.

In the same way that the idea of a flat Earth was replaced by the round globe reality we know today, as geocentrism was displaced for heliocentrism and as the theory of relativity ousted years of Newtonian ideology, the Electric Universe threatens to produce a total upheaval of all modern theories of the cosmos.

Frequently discredited, the pioneers of this new science may not be far from running into the same luck as Galileo, Newton, and Einstein, who were only granted their due after years of neglect and derision.

For more information:
http://members.cox.net/dascott3/index.htm
http://www.the-electric-universe.info/welcome.html
http://www.catastrophism.com/texts/electricity-in-space/
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/5-6-1/29185.html
http://www.thunderbolts.info/

Our Moon is a Hollow Artificial Satellite

By Leonardo Vintini, Epoch Times

We've come to rely on our only natural satellite, which ceaselessly orbits our planet every 28 days. Yet when we begin to analyze the physical qualities of our familiar neighbor, many details suggest that the moon might not be that natural at all. 

‘Is the Moon a hollowed-out spaceship sent to orbit our earth in the remote prehistoric past?’ —Don Wilson, “Our Mysterious Spaceship Moon”

The moon is the most dominant feature in our night sky, inspiring both wonder and myth since antiquity. While the past few decades have offered new understanding about many lunar mysteries, a great number of unanswered questions still surround our only natural satellite. We’ve come to rely on this white planetoid, which ceaselessly orbits our planet every 28 days, as an important part of our natural world. Yet when we begin to analyze the physical qualities of our familiar neighbor, many details suggest that the moon might not be that natural at all.

A manufactured moon?! Where did this absurd theory originate? First posited in the 1960s by Russian scientists Mijail Vasin and Alexander Sherbakov—and later endorsed by investigators and colleagues intrigued by this hypothesis—the idea contains eight postulate principles analyzing some of the most curious characteristics of our lunar companion. Below is a brief summary of these observations.

First Lunar Mystery: Large Satellite, Small Planet

Compared to other planets in our solar system, both the orbit path and size of our moon turns out to be a fairly considerable anomaly. Other planets, of course, have moons too. But with their weaker gravitational influence, the smaller planets —like Mercury and Venus—do not. Similarly sized Earth, on the other hand, carries a moon one-quarter its size. Compare this with the immense Jupiter or Saturn, which have several comparatively tiny satellites (Jupiter’s moons measure about 1/80th the size of the large planet), and our moon seems to be a rather rare cosmic occurrence.

Another interesting detail is the moon’s distance from Earth—close enough so that it appears equal in size to our sun. This curious coincidence is most apparent during total solar eclipses, where the moon completely covers our closest star.

Finally, with a nearly perfect circular orbit, the moon does not behave like other satellites that tend toward a more elliptical path.

Second Lunar Mystery: Unlikely Curvature

The gravitational center of the moon is nearly 6,000 feet closer to Earth than its geometric center. With such a significant discrepancy, scientists remain unable to explain how the moon manages to maintain its nearly perfect circular orbit without wobbling.

Third Lunar Mystery: Craters

Think of photos illustrating the surface of the moon and you’re sure to imagine a world marked with craters. The vast majority of spatial bodies hurling toward Earth’s surface are either completely dissolved or significantly diminished due to several miles of our protective atmosphere. Without such an atmosphere, the moon does not appear to fare as well. Yet when you consider that the depths of these craters are remarkably shallow in comparison to their circumference, it suggests that the moon possesses an extremely resistant material that prevents deeper penetration. Even craters over 180 miles in diameter do not go deeper than 4 miles. If the moon were merely a homogeneous hunk of rock, it is estimated that there should exist craters of at least four to five times as deep.

Vasin and Sherbakov proposed that the lunar crust was perhaps made of a titanium frame. In fact, it has been verified that the lunar crust possesses an extraordinary level of titanium. The layer of titanium estimated by the Soviet team is nearly 20 miles thick.

Fourth Lunar Mystery: Lunar Oceans

How did the so-called lunar oceans form? These gigantic extensions are believed to be hardened lava said to have come from the moon’s interior due to an impacting meteorite. While this theory can be easily explained with regard to a warm planet having a molten interior, many say that the moon is more likely to have always been a cold body.

Fifth Lunar Mystery: Gravitational Inconsistency

The gravitational attraction of the moon is not uniform. The crew onboard Apollo VIII noticed their craft taking abrupt dips when flying near the satellite’s ocean areas. At these sites, gravity seems to mysteriously exhibit a greater influence.

Sixth Lunar Mystery: Geographical Asymmetry

On the moon’s far side (the side that can’t be seen from Earth), we have found many craters, mountains, and geographical upheaval. Yet the side facing Earth is where we find the great majority of the satellite’s oceans. Why are 80 percent of the lunar oceans found only on one side of the moon?

Seventh Lunar Mystery: Low Density

Our moon’s density is found to be about 60 percent of Earth’s density. Various studies demonstrate what many consider its inevitable hollowness. In his 1982 book Moongate: Suppressed Findings of the U.S. Space Program, nuclear engineer and researcher William L. Brian II writes that evidence provided by Apollo seismic experiments suggest that “the moon is hollow and relatively rigid.”  Furthermore, several scientists have been so bold as to postulate that such hollowness is artificial. In fact, according to the position of the superficial layers that have managed to be identified, scientists have declared that the moon appears to be a planet that was formed “in reverse,” which some cite as another argument for the artificial construction hypothesis.

Eighth Lunar Mystery: Other Origin Theories

Over the past century, there have been three main theories imagining the moon’s origins. One proposed that the moon was actually a part of the Earth that had broken away. Another theory believed the moon had been formed at the same time as Earth, emerging from the same cloud of primordial nebula. These hypotheses, however, fail to address the incredible differences found in the nature of both bodies. The third theory proposes that during its wandering through space, the moon was attracted to Earth and captured in its orbit. The problems with this theory lie in the explanations above: the moon’s almost perfectly circular and cyclical orbit and its comparatively large size. In cases where a satellite is captured by a planet, a more eccentric orbit would be expected—or at least something elliptical. Another problem with all three theories is their inability to justify the high angular momentum between the moon and Earth.

A fourth explanation, detailed in this article, is perhaps the most incredible of all.  However, it could explain various anomalies that the moon presents since a satellite constructed by intelligent beings is not subject to the same considerations one would expect with bodies created in a random process billions of years ago. In fact, many scientists have accepted this theory as one no less valid than the others.

“When I first stumbled across the shocking Soviet theory revealing the true nature of the moon, I was staggered. At first, I found it unbelievable and naturally rejected it. Then, as scientific information from our Apollo expeditions brought back more and more facts that backed the Soviet theory, I found myself forced to accept it,” writes Don Wilson in the prologue to his book exploring the artificial satellite theory, Our Mysterious Spaceship Moon.

If the moon were indeed artificial, what was its purpose and who built it? Was it simply made to shine a light in the night sky, or were there other design considerations? Its field is found to affect our tides, women’s menstrual cycles, and some believe that a full moon can even affect our mental state. Having become an integral part of life on Earth, it’s hard to imagine our world without the moon. But perhaps mankind once knew such a moonless age.

Mars: The Mysterious Red Enigma

By Leonardo Vintini, Epoch Times

I remember being transfixed by the first lander image to show the horizon of Mars. This was not an alien world, I thought. I knew places like this in Colorado and Arizona and Nevada. There were rocks and sand drifts and a distant eminence, as natural and unselfconscious as any landscape on Earth. Mars was a place.

—Carl Sagan, “Blues for the Red Planet” Cosmos series 

For decades scientists have debated whether human life on the planet could ever be a feasible option considering Martian geology, water reserves, and other obstacles to be overcome in a future colonization. Despite these concerns, many still insist Earth’s frozen friend could be a new frontier. But as the idea is explored, it provokes some curious questions. Are we really prepared to think about Mars?

When it comes to candidates for future colonization, Mars is a promising place. It’s comparatively close and accessible—a whole lot more welcoming than what we would probably find exploring dozens of planetary systems at far greater distances. As far as other contenders, it’s a better candidate than our moon, according to Robert Zubrin, former chairman of the National Space Society. Perhaps because humankind has long been able to actually see Mars in the night sky, some believe that fate has favored humanity with a possible second home.

Even so, the red planet still remains some distance from our Earth, such that modern technology has yet to place a single human being on its soil. The result is a kind of intimacy barrier in that this seemingly close acquaintance we have so ingratiated has never become a true friend. The data we have tells us that its surfaces are frozen and its atmosphere is currently too inclement for human life, but it may not have always been that way. Experiments on the Martian surface, and the thousands of photographs and resonance images sent from orbiting satellites, have shown us with almost total certainty that Mars had at one time possessed liquid water. There is evidence for a Martian past with rain, rivers, lakes, and even a modest ocean. Mars is also rich in carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen—essential resources for supporting life. These are the characteristics that most distinguish Mars as a definitive candidate for future colonization.

While the Martian atmosphere does show some promise, its –58 F below zero temperatures and ultraviolet radiation would make even a brief stay rather uncomfortable.  Some have suggested thawing the Martian icecaps and the banks of water hidden under its powdery surface to make the planet more inhabitable. But even so, water is not the only mystery hidden within the planet. There is still much to know about our red neighbor, though the answers often elude us.

Since the 1960s, Mars has seen dozens of orbiters, landers, and other earthly visitors, but most have ended in varying degrees of failure. Some jokingly blame the “Galactic Ghoul”—a fictitious space monster intent on stopping exploration of the red planet—for the costly setbacks. 

 

Ancient Civilization?

Another mystery to ponder is the distant Martian past, as some believe that civilizations have already existed there. Aside from what appears to be pyramids and other structures seen on a part of the planet known as Cydonia, many are intrigued by what appears to be a giant face planted on Martian soil. While the European Space Agency has insisted that the “face” as seen in a photo taken during the 1976 Viking mission is simply a photographic distortion, the former curator of Astronomy & Space Science at the Springfield Museum of Science in Massachusetts, Richard C. Hoagland, believes otherwise. 

“Long before men looked at Mars and dreamed of going there one day, someone may have looked at Earth and watched it rise, green and sparkling, before a Martian dawn.  We have seen the evidence—a collection of enigmatic artifacts lying in the reddened Martian sands—and it is staggering: the possible ruins of a City, crumbling for all too many years back into the windswept wastes of the fourth planet of the sun,” writes Hoagland in the introduction of his 2002 book, “The Monuments of Mars: A City on the Edge of Forever.”

Further Exploration

Whether Mars enjoyed a past civilization is up for debate, but most agree that to make future colonization a reality, extensive research and exploration is still required. In the last few years President Bush has proposed a manned mission to the red planet, but the cost for such a project would be astronomical.

Till the end of his life, the astronomer Carl Sagan was an outspoken advocate for a manned mission to Mars. He was not daunted by cost, arguing that public officials had lost comparable sums in the savings and loans scandal. Yet Sagan remained practical concerning loftier goals. “The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand,” writes Sagan in his 2004 book, “Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space.”

Maybe a colonized Mars will one day be a reality—a solution to the dilemma of the population explosion that nips at the heels of humanity. But for now, still too little is known about the inhospitable red planet to turn it into a trustworthy friend. Aside from actually getting there, fundamental problems of obtaining food and energy resources would also be significant hurdles to overcome. Even within our small blue home called Earth, we continue to struggle with these issues.

Intuition > Intelligence: Our Sixth Sense that Guides Our Decisions

By Leonardo Vintini, Epoch Times

Do we possess a sixth sense?

“Happy; angry; happy … definitely happy.” As a machine monitored his brain, 52-year-old “Patient X” did not seem to be guessing faces at random despite having suffered two cerebral hemorrhages that had seriously damaged his brain’s visual processing center.

Though blind, Patient X was presented with photographs of faces expressing fear, happiness, and other emotions, and correctly perceiving them at a percentage much higher than would be expected by pure chance. Could this be a means of “sight” that lies outside of ocular vision? Or is it simply a mode of receptivity yet to be recognized?

Dr. Alan Pegna from the University of New South Wales in Australia and his investigation team in Geneva, Switzerland, were amazed at the results seen in the study. During the scan, Patient X’s brain showed marked activity in the right amygdala. The reading was identical to that made by a subject with an undamaged brain engaged in the same activity.

For many neuroscientists, the recent experience with Patient X suggests an exciting possibility—adding one more sense to the five thus far known. For others, it is no more than science’s prelude to investigating the already well-known, and time-honored, capacity of intuition.

Although intuition has had little scientific recognition over the last century, the acknowledgment of this ability has gained momentum in the field of neurophysiology in recent years. This supposed capacity to know about things that have not yet happened, far-away events, or imminent changes in the immediate environment has been well known by basically all native peoples across the world for millennia—despite its long-held rejection by skeptical scientific circles.

Hypersensitivity or the Sixth Sense?

“The sea has brought up hundreds of human bodies, but there is not a single dead elephant. Nor is there to be found even one cat or hare … it is very strange that no animal deaths have been registered.” These observations made after the Asian tsunami in 2004 by a Sri Lankan government official raises some interesting questions.

Notably, do animals have the capacity to sense imminent danger? How did they escape the tsunami? Only minutes before the sea surged forth, tearing up more than two miles of solid earth, the animal life fled desperately toward the high areas of the island.

At the same time, the native tribes in the region, having 60,000 years of contact with the natural environment, emulated the animals’ behavior and also fled to higher ground. The result was that practically all of the native inhabitants survived the water’s harsh onslaught.

But how exactly did the indigenous peoples and animals perceive the imminent threat? Is it reasonable to suggest that intuition is responsible? And if so, how does this enigmatic biological mechanism work?

The answer, of course, is not as easy to articulate as the question. According to some investigators, the native people of the island have, over the years, developed important lessons from living so close to the natural world.

For example, they felt the resonance of the footsteps of the wild elephants as they rushed toward the interior of the island, and also took note of the strange behavior of the dolphins, iguanas, and the wild revolt of island birds. In this way, they effectively managed to perceive what modern radar systems, which were not functioning on the date of the tsunami, could not.

According to an article in the popular publication Science, investigators from Washington University, St. Louis, say that the indigenous peoples’ key to anticipation lies in an area of the brain known as the anterior cingulate. This section of cerebral geography becomes active in situations of environmental change imperceptible to the conscious mind but is nevertheless necessary for the survival of the individual.

Yet to understand how animals intuited the coming tsunami in the first place may be an even more difficult task. Some animal researchers suggest that clues such as changes in air pressure, subtle vibrations felt emanating from the ground, or the faint sounds of approaching waves—cues otherwise imperceptible to human senses—may help clue some organisms about a coming danger.

However, many scientists believe, in this case as well as with Patient X, that there must exist a different method through which life-forms may perceive their environment—different than via sounds, vibrations, smells, images, or taste. It is documented that birds and other animals abandon an area just before a volcanic eruption.

In the same way, Chinese biologists have made studies determining that several minutes before an earthquake, the cats, dogs, and other domestic species of an area become quite agitated and in some cases even howl, bark, or meow uncontrollably. The investigators describe that during these episodes, snakes abandon their holes, birds flutter in their cages, and rats run around frantically.

A Dormant Capacity

The initial experiment was simple, consisting of 40 volunteers and one pair of photographers per test. The director of the experiment, Ronald Rensink, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Psychology at the University of British Columbia, set out to describe how car accidents were caused in cases where the drivers responsible for the collisions did not see the cars they crashed into. The study was published in the journal Psychological Science.

Initially, the volunteers were shown a photo of a road, which refreshed periodically with an identical image. At a random moment during an image refresh, a change to the image was made—items were removed, altered, or added, for example—and these alterations, even when significant, were often found difficult to perceive.

The test required that the subjects press a buzzer at the moment they noticed a change in the sequence of images. A big surprise came during the experiment when a few of the volunteers asked Rensink if they had to press the buzzer only when they actually saw the change, or if they could press it at the moment they intuited that a change was going to come.

This changed the investigation drastically. Rensink noticed that not only did the majority of the volunteers realize at the exact moment that the change was made but in addition one-third of the subjects buzzed immediately before the changed picture was shown.

This study appears to demonstrate that intuition could well be an extrasensory way of detecting infinitesimal changes in the environment. It suggests that we may have a capacity to perceive stimuli impossible to detect with even advanced technological devices.

So can we take steps to improve our intuitive capabilities? What would such improvements require? And why do animals appear to have a better intuitive sense than we do?

Ancient people, intimately tied to the cycles of nature, took great pride in their intuitive visions. Some suggest that as a contemporary man increasingly relies more on technology for his understanding of the world, his intuition atrophies as a result. In our modern culture, intuitive notions are often discouraged in favor of something that can be more easily verified.

As science struggles to acknowledge this astonishing human ability, does our advancing technological environment also suppress our innate intuitive gifts?

The Next BIG Earthquake?

The recent earthquake tragedies in Iran and Iraq that killed 400 people last Sunday may come as no surprise to some as fault lines run through Iran and Iraq, so their recent earthquake should come as no surprise. However, the 7.3 magnitude is much higher than the 2012 6.4 and 6.3 quakes that killed 300 people. 

The rural regions are especially hard hit with mud-brick homes collapsing and kerosene heater and lamps igniting fires. There were even mudslides triggered by aftershocks creating a chaotic situation amidst the suffering. Iranian officials said 70,000 people are homeless.

This is a big reminder to us all around the world but perhaps especially to those living in the Pacific Northwest where the next "big one" is expected to cause a catastrophe of epic proportions. 

Let's take a look at the anatomy of earthquakes

 

1) Invisible Origins

When our Earth's huge underground tectonic plates grind into each other, we experience shaking above ground. The electromagnetic forces churning at around the core of the planet cause these shifts, which occur gradually all the time until some pressure points build to a dangerous crescendo. 

The tectonic plates can slide over and under each other or slide across each other along fault lines. 

“Our understanding of these within-plate earthquakes is not as good,” said Stanford University geophysics professor Greg Beroza. “These two earthquakes that happened in Mexico are the latter,” he added, noting that an earthquake within a tectonic plate has fewer telltale signs than those that occur at fault lines.

 

2) Measuring Earthquakes

The Richter Scale was invented in 1935 by Charles Richter and uses a logarithmic scale, rather than a linear scale. A logarithmic scale shows a magnitude 7 earthquake as 10 times stronger than a magnitude 6, and 100 times more than a magnitude 5.

However, it's actually a very limiting perspective as it only measures the peak of an earthquake's seismic waves. It misses the size of the triggering force and the radius of the affects.

“We can’t use that in our design calculations,” said Steven McCabe, leader of the earthquake engineering group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. “We deal in displacements.”

Displacement of the ground it another method.

Moment Magnitude Scale measures different seismic waves with precise instruments but is just a size proxy of the earthquake. It can take up to a year to calculate a quake because of indirect measurements.

Peak Ground Acceleration measures speed and directional changes. 

3) Predictability

There are many more wrong earthquake predictions than accurate ones but geologists have identified the fault lines where earthquakes tend to recur. See US Geological Survey’s interactive map of fault lines and NOAA’s interactive map of seismic events. So we know where but not when. 

Also, there are usually smaller tremors following large earthquakes. Countries are setting up electronic warning systems to buy a few minutes that can save lives.

4) Natural or Manmade Disasters?

Besides naturally occurring earthquakes there are some triggered by manmade hydraulic fracturing or the injection of millions of gallons of wastewater underground. This makes it easier for tectonic plates to move at fault lines. 

US Geological Survey map of natural and induced earthquake risk in 2017.

The US Geological Survey reported Oklahoma earthquakes exploded to 2,500 in 2014, 4,000 in 2015, and then down to 2,500 in 2016.

“The decline in 2016 may be due in part to injection restrictions implemented by the state officials,” the USGS wrote in a release. “Of the earthquakes last year, 21 were greater than magnitude 4.0 and three were greater than magnitude 5.0.”

Usually, there are only two quakes a year at magnitude 2.7 or greater.

It Pays to Prepare

90% of earthquakes happen in the Ring of Fire around the Pacific Ocean that runs through the Philippines, Japan, Alaska, California, Mexico, and Chile. Oh yeah, 75% of all volcanoes are located here too, sounds cozy right?

After years of experiencing the devastation of earthquakes in crowded cities with tall buildings, engineers and architects learned to seismically retrofit old buildings and quake-proof new ones. This, of course, costs more so some people are resistant to implementing these changes. It's almost certainly worth the price to save lives in the future. 

A terrible example of poor building code is the 150,000+ deaths in Haiti's 2010 magnitude 7.9 quake. 

The "Big One" is Coming

The New Yorker won a Pulitzer Prize in 2015 for reporting the potential massive earthquake in the Pacific Northwest — “the worst natural disaster in the history of North America,” affecting 7 million people over 140,000 square miles.

It could be a magnitude 8.7 up to 9.2, even bigger than the San Andreas Fault's expected max of 8.2.

“In the business, we’ve been talking about that [Pacific Northwest] scenario for decades,” Beroza said. “I wouldn’t say we’re overdue, but it could happen at any time.”

Since it's better to be safe than sorry, please consider preparing. Let the recent earthquakes around the world be reminders of the serious risks earthquake-prone regions face. 

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Sources:

https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/energy-and-environment/2017/9/21/16339522/8-things-to-know-about-earthquakes-mexico

The Earthquake Neutralizer: The STRANGE INVENTIONS of Pier L. Ighina

By Leonardo Vintini, Epoch Times

Seismic technologies, environmental purifiers, and even the ability to change an organism’s molecular structure.

The world of Pier Luigi Ighina is of a science never before propagated, in which reality and mysticism seem to join in a way that is both charming and unnerving.

It is impossible to speak about this unusual inventor and thinker without naming his teacher and colleague, the celebrated Guglielmo Marconi—most well known for developing radio but also responsible for many other curious innovations. Ighina worked with Marconi until his death in 1937, and later carried on his teacher’s efforts through the secrets he shared with him.

While Ighina never invented anything as well known as the radio, his talent brought forth machines with perhaps even more astounding abilities that few would imagine, much less believe were possible.

As a student of magnetic fields, Ighina developed a great number of inventions throughout his life based on atomic vibrations. He also worked with the interaction of fields between the earth and sun, harnessing this energy to regenerate diseased cells.

Ighina’s numerous inventions include a bed of passive resonance, an earthquake neutralizer, and a strange device he dubbed “Elios,” which is said to purify any food matter that comes within its small field of action.

The Cloud-Buster

But perhaps none of these strange inventions brought as much pleasure to Ighina as the magnetic stroboscope. He was delighted in its capacity to surprise and amaze curious onlookers on cloudy days.

In 1998, internationally renowned journalist Maurizio Costanzo went to interview Ighina and witnessed a strange propeller spinning above his humble dwelling in Imola, Italy.  Costanzo describes how a hole in the clouds steadily opened and grew as the minutes passed. Later, Ighina admitted that the most satisfying component of his unusual invention was the innocent smiles of children as they watched the clouds retire, as if by magic.

The magnetic stroboscope—which can be compared to Wilhelm Reich’s Cloudbuster—could certainly deliver a magnificent performance. And yet the landmark of Ighina’s work would have to be his discovery of something never before considered by science—a small, elusive, yet fundamental particle he named “the atomic magnet.”

 

From Apricots to Apples

In over 40 years of study, Ighina put his all into the task of classifying the particle vibrations that had been discovered in each atom found in nature. While observing the level of light absorption of these minuscule particles, Ighina became convinced that scientists had made a mistake in conceiving the fundamental structure of atoms. He maintained that it was impossible to study a particle in perpetual motion without creating a false image.

Owing to this, Ighina devised a mechanism that isolated each atom, consisting of walls of different atoms with decreasing rates of light absorption. It was during these investigations (for which he employed a microscope of his own design capable of magnification of up to 1.6 billion times) that Ighina discovered the magnetic atom—an extremely energetic particle present in all organic matter.

The scientist discovered that if he managed to change the vibratory state of a group of particles, the material itself could transform.

After years of arduous lab work, Ighina discovered the most profound nature of matter—that atoms do not oscillate but vibrate. This revelation led to one of his more curious and brilliant inventions—the magnetic field oscillator. The scientist discovered that if he managed to change the vibratory state of a group of particles, the material itself could transform.

What followed was a series of fantastic experiments in which the field oscillator played a leading role. On one occasion, Ighina set up his apparatus before an apricot tree. He then altered the atomic vibration so that it gradually became the same as that of an apple tree. (He had previously studied the indices of this vibration.) After 16 days, he ascertained that the apricots had mutated, almost completely, into apples.

After this experience, Ighina ventured to investigate the reach of his invention on animals. He altered the vibrational state of the tail of a rat to change it, in four days, into the tail of a cat.

Even though the rat died after such treatment (perhaps its body was incapable of enduring such a rapid molecular change), it prompted Ighina to try an experiment even more revelatory: Through studying the corresponding vibration of the healthy bone of a rabbit, he excited the atoms of another rabbit’s fractured feet until they were healed in record time.

In this way, Ighina understood that sick cells (including cancerous ones) of any individual were possible to cure through a simple, gradual alternation in their vibrational index, if this was correctly calculated.

In short, Ighina had designed a machine that performed marvels. However, in spite of his long list of inventions and mythical anecdotes, Ighina was never recognized as an orthodox scientist by the academic community. Rather, he was either ignored or ridiculed for his daring work.

But some of his colleagues did recognize his genius. “The fact that it is not believed takes place because there are not the necessary tools to understand how it happens,” stated nuclear scientist Guiliano Preparata, defending Ighina’s work.

While Ighina’s work was not given its due by the scientific community at large, he was recognized by a few fellow scientists as a revolutionary pioneer and a great contributor to Italian heritage. Today, not only have foundations, streets, and conferences been founded in his name but following his death, Ighina’s oeuvre has helped to awaken even greater interest in his fascinating work.

Ighina left this world on Jan. 8, 2004, taking with him an important yet misunderstood legacy in which science meets magic. However, he leaves behind a wealth of mysterious ideas and incomprehensible artifacts that certainly inspire further study.

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Sources:

http://www.svpvril.com/ighina/magatom.html