THE PM CHRONICLE

Steve Jobs rare footage conducting a presentation on 1980

2012-02-16T09:53:00.001-05:00

2012-02-15T23:42:00.001-05:00

World's tiniest chameleon discovered in Madagascar...

'Woolly mammoth' spotted in Siberia

2012-02-08T11:45:00.001-05:00

'Woolly mammoth' spotted in Siberia

Shock footage ... 'woolly mammoth' crossing river

Barcroft Media

By STAFF REPORTER

Published: Today at 12:44

A BEAST lurches through icy waters in a sighting a paranormal investigator thinks could prove woolly mammoths are not extinct after all.

The animal – thought to have mostly died out roughly 4,000 years ago – was apparently filmed wading through a river in the freezing wilds of Siberia.

The jaw-dropping footage was caught by a government-employed engineer last summer in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug region of Siberia, it is claimed.

Video: The 'Woolly mammoth' alive

ANIMAL previously thought extinct apparently filmed crossing icy river

Sun Exclusive

He filmed the elephant-sized creature as it struggled against the racing water, sporting giant tusks and a red coat.

Its hair matches samples recovered from mammoth remains regularly dug up from the permafrost in frozen Russia.

The official was reportedly in the area surveying for a planned road.

Paranormal writer Michael Cohen said: "Rumours of a handful of mammoths still kicking around in the vast wilderness of Siberia have been circulating for decades and occasionally sightings by locals have occurred.

"Siberia is an enormous territory and much of it remains completely unexplored and untouched by humans. "

Woolly mammoths roamed the Earth 10,000 years ago during the last Ice Age.

A small pocket remained on and around Wrangel Island, off the coast of Siberia, and these did not die out until 3,500 years ago.

Mr Cohen, 41, added: "It is highly possible that a number of species, extinct elsewhere, survive in the area.

"If surviving woolly mammoths were found in Siberia, it could run against Russia's plans to further develop and exploit the area's considerable resources.

"It would be potentially one of the greatest discoveries ever."

Other animals rediscovered after previously being thought extinct include the coelacanth. The large fish was believed to have died out over 65million years ago, but a live specimen was found by fishermen off the coast of South Africa in 1938.

Russian team reaches Antarctica's buried Lake Vostok, say reports

2012-02-07T11:33:00.002-05:00

Russian team reaches Antarctica's buried Lake Vostok, say reports

A British team is targeting Lake Ellsworth, a buried lake on the opposite side of the continent in West Antarctica. (British Antarctic Survey)

(Livescience.com)

Several Russian news outlets are reporting that Russian scientists have successfully drilled to Antarctica's Lake Vostok, a massive liquid lake cut off from daylight for 14 million years and buried beneath 2 miles (3.7 kilometers) of ice.

The lake is the object of a years-long project to study its waters, which may house life forms new to science.

The news appears to have originated from Ria Novosti, a state-run news agency, which ran the following quote from an unnamed source with no affiliation: "Yesterday, our scientists stopped drilling at the depth of 3,768 meters (12,362 feet) and reached the surface of the sub-glacial lake."

The same news report went on to discuss an old theory that Nazis built a secret base at Lake Vostok in the 1930s, and that German submarines brought Hitler and Eva Braun's remains to Antarctica for cloning purposes following the German surrender in World War II.

"There are a lot of rumors going around about penetrating the lake, and we need the Russian program to make the official announcement," said John Priscu, a University of Montana microbiologist and veteran Antarctic researcher who has been involved in Lake Vostok investigations for years

"If they were successful, their efforts will transform the way we do science in Antarctica and provide us with an entirely new view of what exists under the vast Antarctic ice sheet," Priscu told OurAmazingPlanet in an email.

It appears there has been no official confirmation of the team's success. There are no press releases on the website of Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, the government agency that oversees the country's polar science expeditions.

Possible cold-loving life

Lake Vostok, about the size of Lake Ontario, is the largest lake on the icy continent. Scientists estimate the lake itself is roughly 14 million years old -- the age of the ice sheet that covers it -- and that the water currently in the lake is roughly 1 million years old.

Scientists believe the lake could be home to cold-loving microbial life adapted to living in total darkness. The organisms likely survive using mechanisms similar to the ever-increasing parade of creatures that have been discovered living in the total darkness of hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean, deriving energy from minerals in seafloor rocks.

Today's news follows on the heels of other unsourced reporting from American news outlets last week, which claimed the scientists were lost, and that something sinister was afoot at Vostok Station. Priscu, who has been in contact with Russian science headquarters in St. Petersburg over the course of the 2011-2012 field season, has firmly refuted such reports.

The Vostok team has been racing against the approach of Antarctica's brutal winter weather. Extreme cold can prevent aircraft from operating, and could maroon the team at the station during the total darkness and bitter temperatures of austral winter.

Temperatures have already plunged below minus 49 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 45 degrees Celsius), and Priscu said it was likely the team would need to leave by this week at the latest. [The Coldest Places on Earth]

Race to test for life

Even if the Russian team has reached the lake, they will be forced to wait until next season to actually sample the water because of the type of drill they're using, which can bring back only ice -- not liquid water -- from the deep borehole. The water must freeze over the Antarctic winter before researchers can lay hands on it, to see what organisms might be living in Lake Vostok.

Two other nations are mounting projects to drill into ancient Antarctic lakes hidden beneath miles of ice, and with drill technology that can fetch liquid water samples for analysis in the space of days. Both lakes are in West Antarctica, in conditions slightly less brutal than those at Vostok Station, which holds the record for coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth: minus 129 degrees F (minus 89 degrees C), in July 1983.

The British are positioned to start drilling at Antarctica's Lake Ellsworth in autumn 2012, and an American team hopes to begin drilling to the Whillans Ice Stream, a network of subglacial waterways, in January 2013.

If the Russians have indeed reached Lake Vostok this week, it could be a close contest to see who will be first to test whether life can go on in the cold darkness beneath Antarctica's ice.

2012-02-03T09:17:00.001-05:00

Port Nichelson Shipwreck Worth Billions Found Off Cape Cod: Greg Brooks

CLARKE CANFIELD 02/ 1/12 09:26 PM ET

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PORTLAND, Maine — A treasure hunter said Wednesday he has located the wreck of a British merchant ship that was torpedoed by a German U-boat off Cape Cod during World War II while carrying what he claims was a load of platinum bars now worth more than $3 billion.

If the claim proves true, it could be one of the richest sunken treasures ever discovered.

But an attorney for the British government expressed doubt the vessel was carrying platinum. And if it was, in fact, laden with precious metals, who owns the hoard could become a matter of international dispute.

Treasure hunter Greg Brooks of Sub Sea Research in Gorham, Maine, announced that a wreck found sitting in 700 feet of water 50 miles offshore is that of the S.S. Port Nicholson, sunk in 1942.

He said he and his crew identified it via the hull number using an underwater camera, and he hopes to begin raising the treasure later this month or in early March with the help of a remotely operated underwater vessel.

"I'm going to get it, one way or another, even if I have to lift the ship out of the water," Brooks said.

The claim should be viewed with skepticism, said Robert F. Marx, an underwater archaeologist, maritime historian and owner of Seven Seas Search and Salvage LLC in Florida. Both an American company and an English company previously went after the contents of the ship years ago and surely retrieved at least a portion, Marx said. The question is how much, if any, platinum is left, he said.

"Every wreck that is lost is the richest wreck lost. Every wreck ever found is the biggest ever found. Every recovery is the biggest ever recovery," Marx said.

Brooks said the Port Nicholson was headed for New York with 71 tons of platinum valued at the time at about $53 million when it was sunk in an attack that left six people dead. The platinum was a payment from the Soviet Union to the U.S. for war supplies, Brooks said. The vessel was also carrying gold bullion and diamonds, he said.

Brooks said he located the wreck in 2008 using shipboard sonar but held off announcing the find while he and his business partners obtained salvage rights from a federal judge. Salvage rights are not the same as ownership rights, which are still unsettled.

Britain will wait until salvage operations begin before deciding whether to file a claim on the cargo, said Anthony Shusta, an attorney in Tampa, Fla., who represents the British government. He said it is unclear if the ship was even carrying any platinum.

"We're still researching what was on the vessel," he said. "Our initial research indicated it was mostly machinery and military stores."

The U.S. government has not weighed in on the court case yet, and Brooks said he doubts that will happen, since the Soviets eventually reimbursed Washington for the lost payment.

A U.S. Treasury Department ledger shows that the platinum bars were on board, Brooks said, and his underwater video footage shows a platinum bar surrounded by 30 boxes that he believes hold four to five platinum ingots each. But he has yet to bring up any platinum, saying his underwater vessel needs to retrofitted to attach lines to the boxes, which would then be hoisted to the surface by winch.

"Of course there are skeptics," he said. "There's skeptics on everything you do."

Maritime law is complicated, and there could be multiple claims on the ship's contents.

After the sinking of the HMS Edinburgh, an English warship carrying Soviet gold bullion as a payment to the allies during World War II, England, the U.S. and the Soviet Union had claims on the sunken treasure, Marx said. A consortium that owned the salvage vessel was given 10 percent of the prize, while the rest was shared by the other parties, he said.

In other big finds, treasure hunter Mel Fisher made international headlines in 1985 when he discovered a $450 million mother lode of precious metals and gemstones from a Spanish galleon that went down off Florida in 1622.

In another case, a Tampa exploration company has been ordered by the courts to return $500 million worth of treasure from a Spanish warship to Spain. The ship was sunk by the British navy during a battle off Portugal in 1804.

___

Associated Press writer David Sharp in Portland, Maine, and researcher Barbara Sambriski in New York contributed to this story.

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Greg Brooks, co-manager of Sub Sea Research, points out an image taken of a crate he hopes to recover from the British merchant ship Port Nicholson Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012, while aboard the salvage ship Sea Hunter in Boston Harbor.

The Port Nicholson was sunk by a German U-boat in 1942 with a cargo of 71 tons of platinum now worth about $3 billion. Brooks will use the Sea Hunter to recover the cargo.

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2012-02-03T09:13:00.001-05:00

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The Snake Hawk

2012-01-26T15:18:00.005-05:00

SOPA and PIPA: Just the Facts

2012-01-18T15:39:00.001-05:00

SOPA and PIPA: Just the FactsThe Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) have been making headlines, but what are they, exactly? Here are the facts.

How to Stay Calm During Road Rage

2012-01-18T14:53:00.001-05:00

How to Stay Calm During Road Rage

According to the US Department of Transportation, if you drive to and from work each day, it's likely that you spend at least an hour of each day...

6 Tips for Surviving a Chicago Winter

9 Signs Divorce Is on the Horizon

2012-01-18T08:50:00.001-05:00

Alamy

9 Signs Divorce Is on the Horizon

There's nothing wrong with trying new hobbies, but if your spouse goes about it in a particular way, it may mean trouble in paradise.

Change in spending habits to be aware of

Can the government make us happy?

2012-01-17T15:33:00.001-05:00

Can the government make us happy?

Date: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 10:22:42

New evidence shows that richer societies are happier societies Crucially, new evidence finds that not only is there a significant relationship between people getting richer and getting happier but also that across the world it is clear that richer societies are happier societies. At the same time, there is remarkably little relationship between happiness and inequality. In addition to this the publication shows a clear relationship between a smaller state and happiness. Amazingly, where governments spend a lot, people’s levels of happiness decrease – interestingly this holds “regardless

view link »

2012-01-17T14:26:00.001-05:00

Iranian co. to send U.S. model of downed drone

This photo released on Dec. 8, 2011, by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, claims to show US RQ-170 Sentinel drone which Tehran says its forces downed earlier this week, as the chief of the aerospace division of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, right, listens to an unidentified colonel, in an undisclosed location, Iran. (AP Photo/Sepahnews)

(AP)

TEHRAN, Iran - State radio says an Iranian company is sending the United States a model of the American surveillance drone captured by the Islamic Republic.

Tuesday's report said the company will send the miniature of the RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone to the Obama administration in response to a formal request from Washington last month asking Tehran to return the aircraft that went down over Iran in December.

Video: Obama asks Iran to return downed drone
Iran shows intact drone, boasts of cyberattack

State radio said the model will be one eightieth the size of the original aircraft. The report says the company also plans to sell the models on the Iranian market for about 70,000 rials, or around $4.

The Iranian government has rejected Washington's request to return the drone, calling the aircraft's incursion of Iranian airspace an "invasion" and a "hostile act."

2012-01-17T14:24:00.001-05:00

Iranian co. to send U.S. model of downed drone

(AP)

TEHRAN, Iran - State radio says an Iranian company is sending the United States a model of the American surveillance drone captured by the Islamic Republic.

Video: Obama asks Iran to return downed drone
Iran shows intact drone, boasts of cyberattack

The Iranian government has rejected Washington's request to return the drone, calling the aircraft's incursion of Iranian airspace an "invasion" and a "hostile act."

2012-01-17T14:02:00.001-05:00

A Gut Check for Many Ailments

By SHIRLEY S. WANG

The Body's Other Mind

The enteric nervous system, or 'gut brain,' can operate independently of the brain.
Neurons in the gut produce neurotransmitters also found in the brain, such as serotonin.
Disruptions to beneficial gut bacteria may affect mood.
Neurotransmitters made in the gut help control the formation of bone.
Stimulating gut neurons may help treat obesity and diabetes.

Source: WSJ reporting

Like the brain and spinal cord, the gut is filled with nerve cells. The small intestine alone has 100 million neurons, roughly equal to the amount found in the spinal cord, says Michael Gershon, a professor at Columbia University.

The vagus nerve, which stretches down from the brainstem, is the main conduit between the brain and gut. But the gut doesn't just take orders from the brain.

"The brain is a CEO that doesn't like to micromanage," says Dr. Gershon. The brain receives much more information from the gut than it sends down, he adds.

Many people with psychiatric and brain conditions also report gastrointestinal issues. New research indicates problems in the gut may cause problems in the brain, just as a mental ailment, such as anxiety, can upset the stomach.

Click Here to View More Health & Wellness Articles

Stanford's Dr. Pasricha and colleagues examined this question in the lab by irritating the stomachs of newborn rats. By the time the animals were eight to 10 weeks old, the physical disturbance had healed, but these animals displayed more depressed and anxious behaviors, such as giving up more quickly in a swimming task, than rats whose stomachs weren't irritated.

Compared to controls, the rats also showed increased sensitivity to stress and produced more of a stress hormone, in a study published in May in a Public Library of Science journal, PLoS One.

Other work, such as that of researchers from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, demonstrated that bacteria in the gut—known as gut flora—play a role in how the body responds to stress. The exact mechanism is unknown, but certain bacteria are thought to facilitate important interactions between the gut and the brain.

Electrically stimulating the vagus nerve has been shown to reduce the symptoms of epilepsy and depression. (One treatment approved by the Food and Drug Administration, made by Cyberonics Inc., is already on the market.)

Exactly why such stimulation works isn't known, experts say, but a similar procedure has been shown in animal studies to help improve learning and memory.

Earlier this month, researchers made a small step toward understanding a gastrointestinal ailment that typically affects children with autism.

In a study of 23 autistic children and nine typically developing kids, a bacterium unique to the intestines of those with autism called Sutterella was discovered.

The results, published online in the journal mBio by researchers at Columbia's school of public health, need to be studied further, but suggest Sutterella may be important in understanding the link between autism and digestive ailments, the authors wrote.

Dr. Gershon, professor of pathology and cell biology at Columbia, has been studying how the gut controls its behavior and that of other organs by investigating the neurotransmitter serotonin.

Low serotonin levels in the brain are known to affect mood and sleep. Several common antidepressants work by raising levels of serotonin in the brain.

Yet about 95% of the serotonin in the body is made in the gut, not in the brain, says Dr. Gershon. Serotonin and other neurotransmitters produced by gut neurons help the digestive track push food through the gut.

Work by Dr. Gershon and others has shown that serotonin is necessary for the repair of cells in the liver and lungs, and plays a role in normal heart development and bone-mass accumulation.

Studying the neurons in the gut also may also help shed light on Parkinson's disease. Some of the damage the disease causes to brain neurons that make the neurotransmitter dopamine also occur in the gut neurons, researchers say.

Researchers are now studying whether gut neurons, which can be sampled through a routine colonoscopy, may help clinicians diagnose and track the disease without invasive brain biopsies, says Pascal Derkinderen, a professor of neurology at Inserm, France's national institute of health.

Write to Shirley S. Wang at shirley.wang@wsj.com

2012-01-09T18:43:00.001-05:00

Andy Rooney on Women Over Forty

By: Veronica Kavanagh (View Profile)

Andy Rooney says:

As I grow in age, I value women who are over forty most of all. Here are just a few reasons why: A woman over forty will never wake you in the middle of the night to ask, “What are you thinking?” She doesn’t care what you think.

If a woman over forty doesn’t want to watch the game, she doesn’t sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do. And, it’s usually something more interesting.

A woman over forty knows herself well enough to be assured in who she is, what she is, what she wants and from whom. Few women past the age of forty give a hoot what you might think about her or what she’s doing.

Women over forty are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won’t hesitate to shoot you, if they think they can get away with it.

Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it’s like to be unappreciated.

A woman over forty has the self-assurance to introduce you to her women friends. A younger woman with a man will often ignore even her best friend because she doesn’t trust the guy with other women. Women over forty couldn’t care less if you’re attracted to her friends because she knows her friends won’t betray her.

Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over forty. They always know.

A woman over forty looks good wearing bright red lipstick. This is not true of younger women. Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over forty is far sexier than her younger counterpart.

Older women are forthright and honest. They’ll tell you right off if you are a jerk, if you are acting like one! You don’t ever have to wonder where you stand with her.

Yes, we praise women over forty for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it’s not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed hot woman of forty-plus, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some twenty-two-year-old waitress.

Ladies, I apologize.

For all those men who say, “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free,” here’s an update for you. Now 80 percent of women are against marriage, why? Because women realize it’s not worth buying an entire pig, just to get a little sausage.

Via http://www.divinecaroline.com/22323/34969-andy-rooney-forty#ixzz1j0XKPaRz

Greatest mystery known to man: Quantum physicist Stephen Hawking says he still can't work out women

2012-01-05T16:19:00.001-05:00

Greatest mystery known to man: Quantum physicist Stephen Hawking says he still can't work out women

By EMMA REYNOLDS

Last updated at 2:36 PM on 5th January 2012

Genius: But scientist Stephen Hawking admits he does not understand the opposite sex

He is one of the world's greatest living scientists, who uncovered the secrets of the universe in his book, A Brief History of Time.

But the great Stephen Hawking says he still struggles with one tricky subject.

When asked what occupied his thoughts for most of his waking hours, he answered: 'Women. They are a complete mystery.'

In an interview with New Scientist to mark his 70th birthday this weekend, the quantum physicist revealed a softer side behind his brilliant brain.

He even hinted at regrets in his personal life after being asked about his biggest mistake.

He said that thinking information was destroyed black holes was his biggest blunder - 'or at least my biggest blunder in science.'

Professor Hawking, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at 21, conducted the interview as he communicates - using a voice machine that picks up the twitching of his cheek.

His conversation with the magazine came ahead of an international conference held in his honour that starts today at Cambridge University, where he used to be the Lucasian professor of mathematics.

More...

Does this YouTube film of 'Wipeout cars' show quantum levitation?

It will conclude on Sunday with talks from some of the world's most prominent physicists, including Lord Rees, the Astronomer Royal, Saul Perlmutter, who won the Nobel prize for physics in 2011, and Kip Thorne from the California Institute of Technology.

Professor Hawking, who has made cameos in The Simpsons and Star Trek, was not expected to live for many years after being diagnosed, but has has a stellar career.

Colleagues have this week expressed their admiration for the talented cosmologist, who has contributed to theories of gravity and showed that black holes emit radiation and slowly disappear.

Brilliant brain: The 69-year-old, pictured at his wedding to ex-wife Elaine, said a mistake about black holes was his biggest blunder 'at least in science'

Professor Hawking married Jane Wilde in 1965, and she cared for him until 1991 when the couple separated, reportedly because of the pressures of fame and his increasing disability.

They had three children: Robert, Lucy - now a popular author, and Timothy.

The scientist then married his nurse, Elaine Mason (who was previously married to David Mason, the designer of the first version of Hawking's talking computer), in 1995.

In October 2006, Hawking filed for divorce from his second wife.

In 2004, the scientist showed how a black hole's information leaks back into our universe through an event horizon - a recantation of an earlier theory that lost him a bet made with fellow theorist John Preskill.

Professor Hawking also showed in the interview that he has not lost his passion for science, or his dreams of exciting future discoveries.

He said that if he was a young physicist starting out today, he would have a new idea that would open up an entirely new field.

Michael Ruppert - The Collapse

2012-01-04T17:13:00.001-05:00

THE PM CHRONICLE

Steve Jobs rare footage conducting a presentation on 1980

'Woolly mammoth' spotted in Siberia

'Woolly mammoth' spotted in Siberia

A BEAST lurches through icy waters in a sighting a paranormal investigator thinks could prove woolly mammoths are not extinct after all.

Video: The 'Woolly mammoth' alive

Russian team reaches Antarctica's buried Lake Vostok, say reports

Russian team reaches Antarctica's buried Lake Vostok, say reports

Port Nichelson Shipwreck Worth Billions Found Off Cape Cod: Greg Brooks

SHARE THIS STORY

The Snake Hawk in CorlorThe Snake Hawk in Color

The Snake Hawk

SOPA and PIPA: Just the Facts

How to Stay Calm During Road Rage

9 Signs Divorce Is on the Horizon

9 Signs Divorce Is on the Horizon

More Divorce Stories

Can the government make us happy?

Iranian co. to send U.S. model of downed drone

Iranian co. to send U.S. model of downed drone

A Gut Check for Many Ailments

By SHIRLEY S. WANG

The Body's Other Mind

Click Here to View More Health & Wellness Articles

Andy Rooney on Women Over Forty

Greatest mystery known to man: Quantum physicist Stephen Hawking says he still can't work out women

Greatest mystery known to man: Quantum physicist Stephen Hawking says he still can't work out women

More...

Michael Ruppert - The Collapse