- Signs of the Times Archive for Thu, 19 Jul 2007 -



Sections on today's Signs Page:

SOTT Focus
Mind Control and HAARP

Henry See and a SOTT Reader
Signs of the Times
2007-07-19 16:17:00

©www.acmecoalition.org


I received the following message from someone with whom I have been having a interesting email exchange. He was responding to our podcast on Mind Control, HAARP, and the Coming Catastrophe. He didn't want to post it himself, hoping to preserve some anonymity, so I am posting it in his place. I removed a few personal references, but other than that, it is as he wrote it to me.

The dumbing down of the American public has been the subject of much speculation. It is blamed on the public school system, television, flouride in the water, computer games, and other things. The following looks at the use of technology.

My information only confirms the conclusions I heard on the podcast, but you know enough about it that maybe some of my anecdotes will confirm some things you've guessed for you as well.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Contacting the Guardian Over Shoddy Journalism


Signs of the Times
2007-07-19 15:38:00

A week ago, the UK Guardian published an article entitled: US House calls for Iraq pullout by spring by James Sturcke, where he stated:

"There have also been around 70,000 Iraqi civilian deaths as a result of the military action by the US and its allies, according to the Iraq Body Count website."


Comment on this SOTT Focus


Best of the Web
The Militarization and Annexation of North America

Stephen Lendman
S J Lendman Blog
2007-07-19 16:42:00

Besides the Bush administration's imperial aims and permanent war on the world, add the one at home below the radar. Its weapons include the WTO, NAFTA, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), FBI, CIA, NSA, NORTHCOM, militarized state and local police, National Guard forces, paramilitary mercenaries like Blackwater USA, and all other repressive instruments of state power and control. They target the people of three nations slowly becoming one headquartered in Washington. That's the apparent aim of those in power here wanting one continent, "indivisible" minus old-fashioned ideas like "liberty and justice for all" we used to believe in when, as kids, we recited our "Pledge of Allegiance." They now have a whole new meaning. They're just words drummed into young minds hoping they'll still believe them when they're old enough to know better.

Comment on this SOTT Focus


U.S. News
NJ Nuclear Plant Admits Small Amount of Radiation Leaked During Accident


AP
2007-07-19 17:28:00

A day after an electrical problem caused a shutdown of the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Ocean County, officials acknowledge a small amount of radiation was released into the atmosphere.

Neil Sheehan, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman, said yesterday that about one curie of tritium was released during the shutdown on Tuesday.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Kissinger's Secret Meeting With Putin

Mike Whitney
URUKNET
2007-07-18 13:52:00

"RAF fighter jets were scrambled to intercept two Russian strategic bombers heading for British airspace yesterday, as the spirit of the Cold War returned to the North Atlantic once again. The incident, described as rare by the RAF, served as a telling metaphor for the stand-off between London and Moscow over the murder of Alexander Litvinenko." (Times Online, Richard Beeston; "RAF scrambles to intercept Russian bombers, 7-18-07)


"Men are always wicked at bottom unless they are made good by some compulsion." Niccoló Macchiavelli

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Nuclear Secrets Allegedly Stolen From Tenn. Lab


wnbc.com
2007-07-19 14:25:00

WNBC.com's Jonathan Dienst has learned a contract worker is accused of stealing nuclear secrets from the Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee.

Investigators said the worker, 67-year-old Roy Lynn Oakley, wanted to sell the secrets to a foreign country.

Investigators are calling the theft a serious breach of security at one of the country's most important nuclear research labs. Officials said there was serious concern the documents could have fallen into the hands of enemy states or even terrorist organizations.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Kucinich hospitalized with apparent food poisoning


AP
2007-07-18 14:23:00

Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, who is a vegan, has been hospitalized with "severe" effects of apparent food poisoning.

The 60-year-old congressman from Cleveland became sick Sunday night while flying to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to address the national Longshoremen's convention. He went ahead with the speech Monday but immediately returned home and was hospitalized in the Cleveland area.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

A Boeing-Israeli joint venture: spy towers on the US border

Brenda Norrell
Counterpunch
2007-07-18 09:37:00

Boeing has enlisted the aid of Elbit Systems, Israel's major defense contractor, to construct high-tech surveillance along the border of the U.S. and Mexico. So far, the high-tech fiasco is not working and Arizona residents are organizing a lawsuit to halt government spying on U.S. citizens.

Arivaca resident Margaret Keoppen is among those opposing the 98-foot spy tower in her community, part of Project 28 of the Secure Border Initiative.

With a spy viewing range of 10 miles, the spy tower is pointed at the good folks of Arivaca.

"This system is entirely experimental with unknown results and I don't wish to be used as a guinea pig with resulting harm to me, my family, my animals, area wildlife," Keoppen told Project 28.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Giuliani: More ethanol, nuclear power

LIBBY QUAID
AP
2007-07-19 08:03:00

Iowa - Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani argued he can lead the country away from reliance on foreign oil with increases in ethanol production and nuclear power.

On a visit to Iowa, the leading ethanol-producing state, Giuliani called for more ethanol plants and new nuclear reactors, oil refineries and transmission lines.

Comment: Guiliani is away with the fairies, but who cares if tens of millions starve because of food being turned into ethanol. It is obvious that it won't be Guiliani who cares.


Comment on this SOTT Focus


UK & Euro-Asian News
Kissinger-led U.S. group attends closed debate at Putin home


RIA Novosti
2007-07-14 00:25:00

A group of Russian and U.S. dignitaries gathered Friday at the presidential residence near Moscow behind closed doors in a bid to repair shattered ties.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Russia expels four British diplomats

Dmitry Solovyov and Michael Stott
Reuters
2007-07-19 14:13:00

Russia said on Thursday it would expel four British diplomats, stop issuing visas to British officials and cease cooperation with London in the war on terror, retaliating for Britain's decision to send home four Russian envoys.

The row, which has chilled relations between the two former Cold War foes to their frostiest level in years, was prompted by Russia's refusal to extradite a murder suspect to face trial in London.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Viking treasure hoard uncovered


BBC
2007-07-19 14:01:00

The most important Viking treasure find in Britain for 150 years has been unearthed by a father and son while metal detecting in Yorkshire.


Comment on this SOTT Focus

He wiped out Greece's Jews. Should he stand trial?

Harry Reid
The Herald
2007-07-19 10:42:00

Should a pathetic old man of 94, badly maimed by a letter bomb he opened 20 years ago, and believed to be skulking somewhere in Syria, be brought to justice in Europe for crimes committed more than 60 years ago? In a world confusedly grappling with current dangers such as global terrorism, acute climate change and desperate disparities in wealth, health and nutrition, has the international community not far more pressing matters to prosecute?

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Scientist to Sue BBC for Public Deception over 9-11 documentary

Mick Meaney
RINF Alternative News
2007-07-16 08:06:00

A British scientist and member of Scholars for 9/11 Truth & Justice, John A. Blacker MSc IMI (Physical Systems), is planning to sue the BBC for mass public deception via their "9/11: The Conspiracy Files" programme, RINF Alternative News can reveal.

The programme which aired on 18 February, 2007, promised to offer a thorough examination of the events of 9/11 and answer many of the questions posed by the 9/11 Truth Movement.

However, the hour long programme failed to investigate the tough questions and ignored hard evidence that points towards a deeper conspiracy, while presenting an unfair and unbalanced view of 9/11 research.

Scientist and member of Scholars for 9/11 Truth & Justice, John A. Blacker, is taking action against this portrayal on the grounds of 'Total Public Deception´.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Chirac questioned over party funding scam


AFP
2007-07-19 07:49:00

Former French president Jacques Chirac was questioned Thursday by a judge looking into a party funding scam dating from his time as mayor of Paris, judicial officials said.

Two months after leaving office, Chirac, 74, was interviewed as an "assisted witness" in the presence of his lawyer -- rather than as an ordinary witness -- which means that the possibility of criminal charges against him remains open, Le Monde newspaper reported.

Comment on this SOTT Focus


Around the World
Boycott against Israel gathers pace as friends fall away


Sydney Morning Herald
2007-07-14 14:43:00

THE international campaign to boycott Israel took a new turn this week with news that the Dutch Government has warned a Rotterdam company to stop supplying construction equipment for Israel's 700-kilometre Palestinian separation barrier.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Building collapses in Mumbai; 24 dead


MSNBC
2007-07-19 07:47:00

India - At least 24 people were killed and nine others injured when a seven-story building collapsed in Mumbai, officials said Thursday as rescue workers continued to dig through the rubble for survivors.

At least 10 others were feared trapped in the rubble of the residential building in Mumbai's Borivali neighborhood, said Gopal Shetty, a state lawmaker. The building collapsed late Wednesday.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Pakistan 'suicide' bombings kill 36

ZARAR KHAN
AP
2007-07-19 07:55:00

Suicide bombers hit a convoy of Chinese workers in southern Pakistan and a police academy in the north, killing 36 people as violence swept further across the country.

The convoy was passing though the main bazaar in Hub, a town in Baluchistan province near the port city of Karachi, when a moving car blew up next to a police vehicle, officials said.

Comment: The media is quickly to label it a suicide bombing, but as the article shows, not everyone agrees.


Comment on this SOTT Focus

Bush Threatens to Bomb Pakistan Unless Musharraf Acts Against Tribes

Tom Lasseter
McClatchy Newspapers
2007-07-19 05:51:00

An ambush of a military convoy that killed 17 troops near the Afghan border Wednesday pushed the death toll in a series of attacks to at least 101 Pakistanis in the past five days - and brought President Pervez Musharraf, according to a local newspaper headline, to a "Moment of Truth."

The Bush administration, after publicly demanding that Musharraf rein in militants linked to al Qaida, on Wednesday threatened to launch attacks into Pakistani territory if it sees fit.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

At 89, Mandela takes role in world peace alliance

Celean Jacobson, Associated Press
The Boston Globe
2007-07-19 05:07:00

JOHANNESBURG -- Nelson Mandela celebrated his 89th birthday yesterday by joining with other Nobel peace laureates, politicians, and development specialists to form a "council of elders" dedicated to fostering peace and resolving global crises.

©Antony Kaminju/Reuters
Nelson Mandela, his wife, Graca Machel, and former president Jimmy Carter have joined a humanitarian alliance.


Comment on this SOTT Focus


Big Brother
FBI's Secret Spyware Tracks Down Teen Who Made Bomb Threats

Kevin Poulsen
Wired
2007-07-19 05:57:00

FBI agents trying to track the source of e-mailed bomb threats against a Washington high school last month sent the suspect a secret surveillance program designed to surreptitiously monitor him and report back to a government server, according to an FBI affidavit obtained by Wired News.

Comment on this SOTT Focus


Axis of Evil
Executive Order: Support the war, or lose your property

George W. Bush
Whitehouse.gov
2007-07-19 15:59:00

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as amended (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)(IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)(NEA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,

I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, find that, due to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by acts of violence threatening the peace and stability of Iraq and undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq and to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people, it is in the interests of the United States to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 of May 22, 2003, and expanded in Executive Order 13315 of August 28, 2003, and relied upon for additional steps taken in Executive Order 13350 of July 29, 2004, and Executive Order 13364 of November 29, 2004. I hereby order:

Section 1. (a) Except to the extent provided in section 203(b)(1), (3), and (4) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(1), (3), and (4)), or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the date of this order, all property and interests in property of the following persons, that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons, are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in: any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense,

Comment on this SOTT Focus

US marine found guilty of conspiracy to murder


Herald Sun / AFP
2007-07-19 08:44:00

A US marine has been found guilty of kidnapping and conspiring to murder a disabled Iraqi man who was shot dead during a raid outside Baghdad last year.

A six-member panel ruled Trent Thomas, 25, had been part of a plot to murder former police officer Hashim Ibrahim Awad after being kidnapped in April 2006.

Thomas, a former Purple Heart recipient, was cleared of premeditated murder but could still face life imprisonment for conspiring to kidnap and murder Mr Awad.

Mr Awad was allegedly taken from his home and marched to a hole in the ground dug to look like a bomb crater before being bound and shot three times in the head.


Comment on this SOTT Focus


Middle East Madness
Knesset bill bars renting or leasing "state lands" to Arabs

Saed Bannoura
IMEMC
2007-07-19 14:51:00

The Israeli Knesset approved on Wednesday a new bill proposing barring any renting or leasing of "state lands" to Arab residents of Israel. The law states that state lands cannot be leased to "non-Jews", the Arabs48 news website reported.


Comment on this SOTT Focus

Overcoming the conspiracy against Palestine

Ali Abunimah
The Electronic Intifada
2007-07-18 14:37:00

Mohammed Dahlan's 13 July 2003 letter to then Israeli defense minister Shaul Mofaz.


"Be certain that Yasser Arafat's final days are numbered, but allow us to finish him off our way, not yours. And be sure as well that ... the promises I made in front of President Bush, I will give my life to keep." Those words were written by the Fatah warlord Mohammed Dahlan, whose US- and Israeli-backed forces were routed by Hamas in the Gaza Strip last month, in a 13 July 2003 letter to then Israeli defense minister Shaul Mofaz and published on Hamas' website on 4 July this year.


Comment on this SOTT Focus

Iraqi Resistance: Out of the Shadows

Seumas Milne
Guardian Unlimited
2007-07-19 14:14:00

1920s Revolution Brigades


In Iraq, suicide attacks and sectarian killings grab the world's attention. But it is the guerrilla war being waged by the Iraqi resistance that is having such a devastating effect on US and British forces. And now these insurgent groups want to create a united front - and a political platform.


Comment on this SOTT Focus

Marine ordered Iraqi women and kids shot, squad member testifies


AP
2007-07-19 11:51:00

CAMP PENDLETON, California: A Marine charged with murdering two girls and killing several other Iraqis gave orders to shoot into a roomful of children and young women, a squad member testified.

Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum then went into the room himself, followed by loud noise that could have been M-16 gunfire or a grenade, said Lance Cpl. Humberto Manuel Mendoza.

"I told him there's just womens and kids in the room," Mendoza said Tuesday. "He replied, 'Well, shoot them.'"

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Sunnis end boycott; 2 US troops charged; Commander Cho Still in the White House

QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
AP
2007-07-19 08:57:00

Sunni lawmakers ended their five-week boycott of parliament Thursday, raising hopes the factious assembly can make progress on benchmark legislation demanded by Washington. The U.S. announced that two American soldiers have been charged with killing an Iraqi.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Al-Qaida's man in Iraq unveiled as fictional character

TINA SUSMAN
LA Times
2007-07-19 07:07:00

In March, he was declared captured. In May, he was declared killed, and his purported corpse was displayed on state-run TV. But Wednesday, Omar al-Baghdadi, the supposed leader of an al-Qaida-affiliated group in Iraq, was declared nonexistent by U.S. military officials, who say he is a fictional character created to give an Iraqi face to a foreign-run terror group.

Comment on this SOTT Focus


The Loan Gunmen
US Fed chief sounds bleak

Kevin G. Hall
Mcclatchy-tribune
2007-07-19 16:52:00

The U.S. economy will slow until the end of this year because of a significant deterioration in the subprime mortgage market, a slowdown in residential construction and tighter credit standards for consumers and business, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said yesterday.

Bernanke said that improvements in inflation might be only temporary, signaling that he doesn't favor lowering interest rates anytime soon. His comments came in his semiannual report on monetary policy to the House Financial Services Committee.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Oil rises above $77, supply worries intensify


Reuters
2007-07-19 12:18:00

Oil resumed its march towards record highs, climbing above $77 a barrel on Thursday after a surprise drop in gasoline stocks in the United States and heightened supply concerns in Africa.

London Brent crude was up 62 cents at $77.38 by 0846 GMT after climbing $1.23 a day ago. On Monday it was pushed within 25 cents of last August's $78.65 all-time high by speculative buying and a tight North Sea crude oil market.

Comment on this SOTT Focus


The Living Planet
Woman calls beekeeper to evict swarm from lounge chair


AP
2007-07-19 17:22:00

BANGOR, Pa. - A woman was dragging a lounge chair into the shade of a tree when a sudden buzzing told her it was already occupied - by thousands of bees.

"They were swarming like crazy and I ran into the house," Sheila Sabatine said.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Record storm in South China kills 37


BBC News
2007-07-18 17:20:00

At least 37 people were killed during a record 16-hour thunderstorm in south-west China that included 40,000 lightning strikes, state media said.

The city of Chongqing received more than 26cm (10 inches) of rain, the most in a 24-hour period since records began more than a century ago.

©AP
Rescuers had to evacuate stranded residents in Chongqing.


Comment on this SOTT Focus

More flash floods coming to UK, warn forecasters

Paul Stokes
telegraph.co.uk
2007-07-19 16:56:00

Forecasters are warning of further flash flooding with torrential downpours expected to hit Britain in the coming days.

The alert came as residents were evacuated from one street in Filey, North Yorks, yesterday following a flood.

©PA
An RNLI lifeboat crew assisting people following flash floods in Filey.


Comment on this SOTT Focus

US West Under Highest Wildfire Alert

John Miller
Associated Press
2007-07-19 14:03:00

The nation's wildfire preparedness was raised to its highest level Thursday as dozens of new fires started in the bone-dry West, including a rapidly growing blaze on the grounds of the Idaho National Laboratory.

The West had been at level four for only a few weeks when officials decided to raise it to level five, effective Thursday.


Comment on this SOTT Focus

Underground lake may ease Darfur crisis

Leonard Doyle
The Independent
2007-07-19 07:47:00

In the dry wasteland of Sudan's war-racked Darfur region, the imprint of an ancient 8,000sq-mile underground lake has been discovered by geologists from Boston University. If confirmed, a lake as big as the area of Wales could replenish the region for a century. It is also raising hopes that one cause of the devastating civil war could be alleviated if drinking water is pumped to the surface.


Comment on this SOTT Focus

More than 50 people killed in Sudanese flooding

Opheera McDoom
Reuters
2007-07-19 07:53:00

More than 50 people were killed and 20 injured in Sudan's worst floods in living memory which have partially or completely destroyed 18,000 homes, the head of civil defense said on Thursday.

Comment on this SOTT Focus


Health & Wellness
New mechanism found for memory storage in brain


EurekAlert / Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
2007-07-19 12:32:00

Our experiences - the things we see, hear, or do - can trigger long-term changes in the strength of the connections between nerve cells in our brain, and these persistent changes are how the brain encodes information as memory. As reported in Neuron this week, Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered a new biochemical mechanism for memory storage, one that may have a connection with addictive behavior.

Previously, the long-term changes in connection were thought to only involve a fast form of electrical signaling in the brain, electrical blips lasting about one-hundredth of a second. Now, neuroscience professor David Linden, Ph.D., and his colleagues have shown another, much slower form of electrical signaling lasting about a second can also be persistently changed by experience.


Comment on this SOTT Focus

Flashback: "I think in 10 years time we will ask ourselves what we were thinking giving these children amphetamines."

BBC News
BBC News
2006-09-19 12:00:00

Children with the behavioural condition ADHD are continuing to be prescribed drugs such as Ritalin, despite an ongoing investigation.

BBC Scotland has learned a review of the medical guidelines used by doctors to diagnose and treat ADHD will not be available until March 2008.

Parents groups and education experts have claimed children could be prescribed the medication needlessly.

They have called for the review to be urgently accelerated.

An assessment of doctors' procedures was launched in 2004 after mounting concern over a tenfold increase in Ritalin prescription rates.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Pediatric Ritalin Use May Affect Developing Brain, New Study Suggests


Weill Cornell Medical College
2007-07-19 11:56:00

Use of the attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug Ritalin by young children may cause long-term changes in the developing brain, suggests a new study of very young rats by a research team at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.

The study is among the first to probe the effects of Ritalin (methylphenidate) on the neurochemistry of the developing brain. Between 2 to18 percent of American children are thought to be affected by ADHD, and Ritalin, a stimulant similar to amphetamine and cocaine, remains one of the most prescribed drugs for the behavioral disorder.

"The changes we saw in the brains of treated rats occurred in areas strongly linked to higher executive functioning, addiction and appetite, social relationships and stress. These alterations gradually disappeared over time once the rats no longer received the drug," notes the study's senior author Dr. Teresa Milner, professor of neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medical College.

The findings, specially highlighted in the Journal of Neuroscience, suggest that doctors must be very careful in their diagnosis of ADHD before prescribing Ritalin. That's because the brain changes noted in the study might be helpful in battling the disorder but harmful if given to youngsters with healthy brain chemistry, Dr. Milner says.



Comment on this SOTT Focus

Culture shapes how brain interprets signals


CBC
2007-07-18 09:31:00

Joining the thumb and index finger while spreading out the remaining fingers may mean "OK" for Americans, but how the gesture is perceived may change as people from different cultures interact, a new study has found.

Researchers at UCLA studying the response to hand gestures say brain activity depends on both the conveyor of the message and the gesture itself.

In a study published Wednesday in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS One, UCLA researchers Istvan Molnar-Szakacs and Marco Iacoboni found subjects responded more strongly to cultural gestures when they were performed by an actor of a similar culture.

"Culture has a measurable influence on our brain and, as a result, our behavior," Molnar-Szakacs said in a statement. "Researchers need to take this into consideration when drawing conclusions about brain function and human behavior."


Comment on this SOTT Focus

Soldiers to learn signs of stress, brain injury. Army program aims to encourage troops to seek treatment, remove stigma


Associated Press
2007-07-19 08:50:00

The Army is trying to teach all of its soldiers to recognize symptoms of brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder - and not be ashamed of seeking treatment for the signature injuries of the Iraq war.

And the Pentagon also said Tuesday it would increase the number of R&R days troops can take while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Beginning Wednesday, service leaders will start a program to educate more than 1 million soldiers within 90 days, whether at home or deployed overseas, including active duty soldiers, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard. The program also will be made available to families.


Comment on this SOTT Focus

Scientists Discover Genes Behind Restless Legs

Catharine Paddock
Medical News Today
2007-07-19 04:05:00

Two independent groups of scientists have discovered genes linked to Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS), a disorder that affects millions of people worldwide and causes disturbed sleep. One group also found a link between iron deficiency and a gene associated with RLS.

Comment on this SOTT Focus


Science & Technology
Scientists Unveil The Mystery Behind Saturn's "Walnut Moon"


AHN
2007-07-19 13:20:00

A new study conducted on Saturn has solved the mystery of the "Walnut Moon" associated with the planet. Scientists at the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California now say that a burst of radioactivity warmed and softened Saturn's moon Iapetus soon after it formed, allowing it to be molded into its walnut-like shape, rather than the expected sphere.

Iapetus, Saturn's icy moon, is now 20 miles wider at the equator than the poles. An Iapetus day is nearly 80 Earth days long. The moon also has a broad bulge around its equator capped by a narrow ridge, giving it the appearance of a walnut.

Since long time, scientists were working to find out how it acquired its distinctive walnut shape since the ridge was discovered in 2004 in images from the Cassini spacecraft.


Comment on this SOTT Focus

Ice volcanoes in outer space? 'Cryovolcanoes' may spew snow over Pluto's neighbour.

Katharine Sanderson
Nature
2007-07-19 08:46:00

Pluto's neighbouring object, Charon, could be spewing out liquid water from ultra-cold volcanoes, covering Charon's chilly surface with freshly-formed ice crystals.

This dramatic conclusion was made by Jason Cook at Arizona State University, Tempe, who looked at Charon's near-infrared spectrum using telescopes at the Gemini Observatory at Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Cook found traces of both crystalline water ice and ammonia, he reports in Astrophysical Journal1.

Cook says that icy crystals can only exist on Charon if they are regularly deposited there. Crystalline ice cannot exist for long on the surface because it is bombarded with ultra-violet radiation from the Sun and charged particles, and these smooth out the crystals, he says. This is where the volcanoes come in.


Comment on this SOTT Focus

Elementary Particles Have a Conscious

Jay Alfred
EzineArticles.com
2007-07-19 06:37:00

"In some strange way an electron or a photon [or any other elementary particle] seems to 'know' about changes in the environment and appears to respond accordingly," says physicist Danah Zohar.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Megaflood 'made Island Britain'

By Jonathan Amos
BBC
2007-07-18 23:10:00

Britain became separated from mainland Europe after a catastrophic flood some time before 200,000 years ago, a sonar study of the English Channel confirms.


Comment on this SOTT Focus


Our Haunted Planet
Over 100 See UFOs Over Stratford


Stratford Herrald
2007-07-19 16:30:00

STRATFORD was the scene of an unexplained multi-sighting of unidentified flying objects on Saturday night - witnessed by more than 100 people near the town centre.

Four bright objects appeared in formation above the Warwick Road area, and were later joined by a fifth, at around 10pm.


Comment on this SOTT Focus

Norwegian UFO-mystery solved?

Rolleiv Solholm
The Norway Post
2007-07-19 03:13:00

Norwegian scientists now believe they are nearing a solution to the Hessdalen UFO-mystery which has puzzled experts for more than 25 years.

Comment on this SOTT Focus


Don't Panic! Lighten Up!
Mystery solved! UFO is stray woodchipper part


msnbc/AP
2007-07-19 10:38:00

Officials were perplexed after metal object crashed through roof in N.J.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Vermont town bans public nudity after brash displays

Zach Howard
Reuters
2007-07-19 08:39:00

A Vermont town that is gaining national attention for brash displays of nudity -- from teens in the buff to naked elderly people -- awoke on Wednesday to an emergency ban on nakedness in most public places.

Officials in Brattleboro voted 3 to 2 on Tuesday night for a temporary 30-day ordinance prohibiting people from going about in the nude.

Public nudity made headlines last summer when the weather grew hot and a couple of dozen teens took to holding hula hoop contests, riding bikes and parading past stores wearing only their birthday suits. The disrobing has resumed this summer.


Comment on this SOTT Focus

Teen Claims Spiders Alerted Her to Fire


Associated Press
2007-07-18 23:02:00

HEMLOCK, Mich. - A woman who hates spiders is crediting them with helping save her from a house fire. Danielle Vigue, 18, says she awoke early Tuesday to find spiders in her room, and started killing them. When more showed up, she says she went across the hall and got into bed with her 15-year-old sister, Lauren.


Comment on this SOTT Focus



Remember, we need your help to collect information on what is going on in your part of the world!
Send your article suggestions to: sott(at)signs-of-the-times.org

Click here to return to the Signs of the Times Archive

Click here for today's Signs Page