A theoretical brown dwarf in relation to Earth, Jupiter, a low-mass star and the sun.

....The star, also known as Nemesis, is five times the size of Jupiter and could be to blame for the impact that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
....The bombardment of icy missiles is being blamed by some scientists for mass extinctions of life that they say happen every 26 million years.
Nemesis is predicted to lie at a distance equal to 25,000 times that of the Earth from the Sun, or a third of a light-year.
....Astronomers believe it is of a type called a red or brown dwarf – a “failed star” that has not managed to generate enough energy to burn like the Sun.
But it should be detectable by a heat-sensitive space telescope called WISE, the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer.
....Launched last year, WISE began surveying the skies in January. It is expected to discover a 1000 brown dwarfs within 25 light-years of the Sun – right on our cosmic doorstep – before its coolant runs out in October. The nearest normal star to us is around 4.5 light-year away.
....Our solar system is thought to be surrounded by a vast sphere of icy bodies, twice as far away as Nemesis, called the Oort Cloud. Some get kicked in towards the planets as comets – giant snowballs of ice, dust and rock – and the suggestion is that the Death Star’s gravitational influence is to blame... (full story)

Getting WISE About Nemesis
Is our Sun part of a binary star system? An unseen companion star, nicknamed “Nemesis,” may be sending comets towards Earth. Throughout history, such impacts could have had a profound effect on the evolution of the biosphere by causing regular mass extinctions. If Nemesis exists, NASA’s new WISE telescope should be able to spot it. (visit NASA Site)
related stories:
NASA seeking Nemesis

"Buddha Boy" forced to defend himself while deep in meditation.
source: by Olivia Lang / BBC News
....Ram Bomjan's followers are convinced he is the reincarnation of the Buddha. The Nepalese man popularly known as "Buddha boy" is being investigated by police amid reports he beat a group of locals for disturbing his meditation.
....Ram Bahadur Bomjan has admitted to assaulting some of the local villagers in Bara district on Thursday, according to local media.
Mr Bomjan is famed for spending months in the forest without eating.
His devotees believe he is the reincarnation of the Buddha, and he says he has not eaten since 2005.
....When he started his fast, he pledged he would meditate for six years, until he gained enlightenment.
'Slapped'
....Manoj Neupane, superintendent of police for Bara district, said police were sent to investigate after 17 people lodged complaints.
Those who had been injured were sent for medical checks, he told the BBC.
According to Nepal's Republica newspaper, the villagers claimed they had been looking for wild fruit and vegetables.
....Mr Bomjan said he had slapped them "two or three times" after they came onto his platform and mimicked him, while the villagers allege they were assaulted more seriously. (full story)

Our World May Be A Giant Hologram, Scientists Say
source: New Scientist / Huffington Post
....For many months, the GEO600 team-members had been scratching their heads over inexplicable noise that is plaguing their giant detector. Then, out of the blue, a researcher approached them with an explanation. In fact, he had even predicted the noise before he knew they were detecting it. According to Craig Hogan, a physicist at the Fermilab particle physics lab in Batavia, Illinois, GEO600 has stumbled upon the fundamental limit of space-time - the point where space-time stops behaving like the smooth continuum Einstein described and instead dissolves into "grains", just as a newspaper photograph dissolves into dots as you zoom in. "It looks like GEO600 is being buffeted by the microscopic quantum convulsions of space-time," says Hogan.
....If this doesn't blow your socks off, then Hogan, who has just been appointed director of Fermilab's Center for Particle Astrophysics, has an even bigger shock in store: "If the GEO600 result is what I suspect it is, then we are all living in a giant cosmic hologram."... (full story)

Anti-Gravity & Zero Point Energy Device Partially Confirmed by Measurements in Morningstar Energy Box
source: before it's news.com / Integrity Research Institute / 3.5.11
....For the first time, the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Space, Propulsion & Energy Sciences (IASSPES) led by NASA scientist, Glen Robertson, will feature a breakthrough announcement by Paul Murad, Morgan Boardman and John Brandenburg from Morningstar Applied Physics, Inc. (Vienna, VA) of measurements on their “Morningstar Energy Box” which have replicated a Russian magnetic energy converter (MEC) invented by Vladimir Vitalievich Roschin  (Moscow, RU) and  Sergi Mikhailovich Godin (Moscow, RU)  and was patented (6,822,361) in 2004. ....The patent is assigned to Energy & Propulsion Systems LLC (Valencia, CA). Sergei M. Godin and Vladimir V. Roschin are group leaders at the High-Temperature Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
Photo of the Russian "MEC" that is claimed to self sustain while powering a 7 kilowatt load
....The Morningstar team “found similar phenomenon regarding temperature loss  and the discrete magnetic walls during tests of the Energy Box”, which consists of a series of rotating, cylindrical magnets around a magnetic ring. These anomalous “magnetic walls” and regions of cool temperature, both occurring in the space surrounding the device, have never been duplicated before by any independent team prior to the Morningstar Physics team... (full story)

You Can Be a Real-Life Superhero
source: Intelligence for your life / www.tesh.com
Who’s slower than a speeding bullet, less powerful than a locomotive, unable to leap tall buildings in a single bound, yet still doing whatever they can to save the world? According to CNN, a growing number of regular citizens are volunteering their time these days to become real-life superheroes. Some dress up in elaborate costumes, while others work anonymously. Some have fancy names – like Mr. Xtreme, Civitron or the Dark Guardian! Most real-life superheroes go by less colorful names – like Direction Man, Camera Man, and The Cleanser. While none of these people have any real super powers, they’re all finding small ways to help make their community better.
....For example: Direction Man walks around the streets of New York, offering help to complete strangers who look lost. Meanwhile, The Cleanser scours city sidewalks and parks, picking up trash. Others use their superhero alter egos to help raise money for the homeless, to feed needy children, or to hand out fliers in high-crime neighborhoods. This new superhero movement began several years ago, when a handful of comic book fans bonded with each other on MySpace. Today, there are nearly 300 real-life superheroes working around the world, and the worse the economy gets, the more people want to help (full story)

Real Life Superheroes Links
http://www.reallifesuperheroes.com
http://registry.reallifesuperheroes.org
Real life SuperHero Stops Crime (YouTube)

Vigilante Justice: Real Life Superheroes Fight Crime
Phoenix Jones Suits Up in Black Costume, Cape to Patrol Seattle
source: Neal Karlinsky and Jessica Hopper /ABCNews.go.com
....Armed with a skintight black-and-gold, belted costume, a cape and a fedora, Phoenix Jones suits up at night to fight crime on the streets of Seattle. He's the leader of a real-life superhero movement.
...."I'm definitely not going to let my fellow citizens be assaulted and not do anything," Jones said.
....Jones leads the Rain City Superheroes, a group of 10 fighters who perform their own form of vigilante justice on the streets of Seattle.
"It's a pretty simple message. Citizens need to be more accountable. Calling 911 is a great start, but it's not the end all to end all," Jones said. "Criminals feel free to just run wild in my city, and I'm not going to stand for it."... (full story)

The 12 Greatest Real-Life Superheroes of All Time
source: By DaveHoward / Posted by RLSH staff
The LAPD has performed a bltizkreig assault on Superheroes on Hollywood Blvd ( http://ow.ly/1Wsch ). True, just in front of the world famous Grauman’s Chinese Theater, dozens of Real-Life people who dress as superheroes on a daily basis were rounded up in a raid. In a sinister government plot not seen since “Heroes., Police jailed members of the” X-Men,” Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Bumblebee, Mr. Incredible and Catwoman. The Incredible Hulk and Superman were just two of the iconic loiterers who outsmarted the fuzz and returned to panhandle another day. Unlike these classic, renowned panhandlers, here are 12 people who really make a difference with their superhero costumes. (full story)

U.S. military is liaising with extraterrestrial life according to independent sources
source: by Honolulu Exopolitics Examiner / Michael Salla, Ph.D
....Independent sources have claimed an on-going set of face-to-face meetings between U.S. military officials and extraterrestrial life. The sources reveal that senior U.S. Navy officers have played a leading role in an inter-services working group responsible for the meetings, and that different extraterrestrial groups are allegedly involved. One source claims that the contact involves extraterrestrial groups known as Reptilians, and a silicon based life form dubbed ‘the Conformers’. Another source claims that the extraterrestrials are called Ebens from the Zeta Reticuli star system, but known colloquially as the Grays. A third source claims that human looking extraterrestrials representing an association of star nations are liaising with military officials. Two of the sources have been interviewed by this writer who has been aware of their claims for more than a year, and finds them credible. The similarities in these independent reports gives reason to conclude that an ongoing program of secret meetings involving senior military personal from the U.S. Navy and other military services with one or more extraterrestrial civilizations is underway.
....One source claiming to have participated in face-to-face meetings is a serving U.S. Navy officer that in February 2008 revealed the existence of a confidential set of meetings at the UN where UFOs and extraterrestrial life were discussed. Known as Source A, the Navy officer claims that he was sanctioned by a working group comprising a number of admirals to disclose the UN talks without revealing his identity. In June 2008, Source A claims he was assigned to another project that involved direct meetings with two groups of extraterrestrials in a covert project where he was sanctioned to board their spacecraft on three different occasions. One group is a Reptilian looking species, and another is a silicon based life form he dubbed the ‘Conformers’. (full story)

Pee Wee Herman Is Back!
source: by Shira Lazar/ CBS News
Pee Wee Herman is coming back!
....You heard me correctly -- the iconic character who took over pop culture with Pee Wees Playhouse in the '80s will be reintroduced to the public in 2010.
....It's been a long time coming. Some of you may have noticed that Pee Wee aka Paul Reubens went into obscurity after his 1991 arrest for indecent exposure at an adult cinema (see related CBSNews.com article about how he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of indecent exposure).
....Even that hasn't stopped people of all ages from loving him, imitating him in conversation and dusting off that classic suit, skinny tie and white loafers for Halloween year after year.
....Pee Wee recently stepped back into the spotlight when he launched his own Twitter account and appeared on The Jay Leno Show in September. Now fans will be able to catch him in person at The Club Nokia Theater in downtown Los Angeles for four weeks in January.
....I recently caught up with the man himself at the "Pee Wee Herman Show" press conference, where he gave me the scoop on his upcoming multi-million dollar stage show... (full story)

Do it yourself - Convert Your Car to a Browns Gas (HHO) Hybrid
source: by Pete Marks / Ezine Articles
Note from Lightman: If you are one of the few people out there who has not heard about HHO or Brown's Gas, you owe it to yourself to look into this revolutionary technology. This simple yet effective way of producing Hydrogen-Hydrogen-Oxygen (HHO) gas from water has been around since the late 1800's. But research and development in the past two decades has discovered ways to produce three to four times the amount of energy of HHO gas that the amount of electricity needed to produce it. Thousands of do-it-yourselfers are getting up to double their gas milage from water using this easy to produce HHO reactor. But don't waste your time reading the disinfo being put out by the proxies of big oil, this system really works!....Convert your car to run on water by using electrolysis and water to produce HHO gas or Brown's gas? You car will never truly be a water car, but you could increase gas mileage and based on reports it is not uncommon to increase gas mileage by 15-50%.
....HHO gas technology is not really that new but due to the recent increase in diesel and gas prices it has brought hydrogen on demand back into the spotlight. You may have seen the water car on the news making the rounds.
....When you convert your car to run on water not only could you improve gas mileage but you could also see cleaner emissions and this may answer a question on how to pass emissions tests. Your car or truck should also run cooler thus improving engine life. This technology not only works for gas engines but also for diesel engines. Engines run smoother, quieter and there is less vibration!...(full story)Related links
http://www.runyourcarwithwater.com/
http://www.gas4free.com/aff/?hop=webdirect2
http://water4gas.com/2books.htm?hop=webdirect2

Changing Channels: Tuning Into The Real World
source: thecleaver.blogspot
....The path of transcendence and spiritual insight frequently compels the student to absorb large quantities of data in order to unearth and unite the golden strands of real wisdom. There’s a lot to assimilate and a limited amount of time to do it in. Ancient history, cosmology, the occult, shamanism, quantum physics, botany, divination, astronomy, religion, psychology and philosophy all vie for attention, each offering the potential for profound connection.
....Can the brain reliably store and index such a magnitude of data? Is there an upper limit? Should the prudent researcher become expert in one field or have a broad awareness of many diverse subjects? The answer is suggested in an old Japanese story about a distinguished university professor who visits a Zen master. (full article) Plug in your Prius
source: ODE Magazine /Jacco Kroon / January/February 2008 issue
....What does it take to retrofit your Toyota Prius so it never sips a drop of gasoline again? Twenty batteries the size of a carton of milk, some aluminium strips, a charger, a spool of electrical wire and electrical components. Oh, and knowledge of automotive electronics.
....The onboard computer in the Prius calculates the most efficient collaboration between the electric- and the gas-powered engine. In practise, the Prius only uses electricity at low speeds. A group of California-based engineers, electric-car fans and environmental activists have been tinkering to create a plug-in hybrid that can be charged at any outlet and can drive farther on electricity. (full article)

Damanhur - Atlantis in the Mountains of Italy
source: by Ross Robertson / What is Enlightenment? Magazine
....What would you say if I told you there was a place nestled in the foothills of the Italian Alps, by the wild gray waters of the Torrente Chiusella, where dreams are not just for children, and magic has not yet gone from the world? A place where men and women live together in harmony with the land and in tune with the cosmos, working and building, playing and cooking, ringing out the evening’s greeting on conch shells that echo from village to village across the forested valleys, gathering at night to revive the lost rites of history’s great kaleidoscope of sacred traditions in underground halls and temples under the moon? It is a place washed by mysterious energies, where people seem to age more slowly and latent creative abilities bubble up spontaneously in young and old alike. A place where artists and artisans, merchants and councilmen, poets and architects all walk the paths of a university dedicated to the quest for esoteric knowledge and the spiritual advancement of humankind. You might even hear stories of quantum physicians plying the borders of matter and energy who claim to have penetrated the information codes underlying human DNA; or psychic technicians who speak of traveling the earth’s planetary energy lines, slipping backward in time to set events in motion that may be destined to change the course of the distant future... (full article)

Flexible Plastic Solar Panels: Inexpensive And Easy To Make
source: New Jersey Institute of Technology / Science Daily
....Researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have developed an inexpensive solar cell that can be painted or printed on flexible plastic sheets. "The process is simple," said lead researcher and author Somenath Mitra, PhD, professor and acting chair of NJIT's Department of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences. "Someday homeowners will even be able to print sheets of these solar cells with inexpensive home-based inkjet printers. Consumers can then slap the finished product on a wall, roof or billboard to create their own power stations."
....Harvesting energy directly from abundant solar radiation using solar cells is increasingly emerging as a major component of future global energy strategy, said Mitra. Yet, when it comes to harnessing renewable energy, challenges remain. Expensive, large-scale infrastructures such as wind mills or dams are necessary to drive renewable energy sources, such as wind or hydroelectric power plants. Purified silicon, also used for making computer chips, is a core material for fabricating conventional solar cells. However, the processing of a material such as purified silicon is beyond the reach of most consumers... (full article)

Skin Cells to Stem Cells, A New Cell Technique
source: by Nicholas Wade / New York Times
The advance is an easy-to-use technique for reprogramming a skin cell of a mouse back to the embryonic state. Embryonic cells can be induced in the laboratory to develop into many of the body’s major tissues.
If the technique can be adapted to human cells, researchers could use a patient’s skin cells to generate new heart, liver or kidney cells that might be transplantable and would not be rejected by the patient’s immune system. (full article)

Laughter Really is the Best Medicine
source: by Brandon Keim June/WIRED.com/PM Health
....When nursed on milk produced by mothers who recently laughed, babies with eczema experience reduced allergic reactions to dust mites and latex.
Those were the findings of doctors at the Moriguchi-Keijinai Hospital in Osaka, Japan. To stimulate the laughter, they showed mothers a DVD of Modern Times, featuring Charlie Chaplin. Moms in the control group watched weather reports.
....Breast milk from Chaplin-watching moms had markedly higher levels of melatonin, which appears to be responsible for the allergic reductions of their babies. 
....Each group had only 24 mother-child pairs, so it's a pretty early study, and the abstract leaves some questions unanswered -- the least of these being, do Japanese women really think Charlie Chaplin is funny? (full article)

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
source: Yes Magazine.org
....In 1948, the world agreed on rights that belong to everyone. This Magna Carta for humanity sets a high bar that few governments clear.
Eleanor Roosevelt with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She regarded her role in its creation as her greatest accomplishment.
....With the horrors of World War II fresh in their minds, the members of the newly formed United Nations came together to agree on the rights that belong to all members of the human family. These are rights we have without regard to nationality, race, gender, or religion. They are not the gift of any government; they cannot rightly be taken away by any ruler. It took two years for the first United Nations Commission on Human Rights, chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, to produce the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was adopted in 1948, and stands as the first comprehensive, internationally approved statement of rights. Here is an abbreviated form of the document Mrs. Roosevelt hoped would become “the international Magna Carta.” (full article)

Preamble
....Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
....Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,
....Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,... (full article)

Superheroes are real
source: Lightman / Lightwatcher.com
....This past week was a milestone for those of us who believe in superheros. Not only was Superman's kryptonite discovered, but I got to personally meet two actual superheros: The Whippersnapper and Atomic Calm. Both are members of the Superhero group, whose headquarters is in Cottage Grove, Oregon. This dynamic duo had traveled to our small island to build a pottery studio for Thrinley DiMarco. Thrinley runs the Sakya kachod Choling Tibetan Buddhist Retreat center, and has long dreamed of building her pottery studio there, but the lack of resources had prevented her from actualizing her dream.
....Whippersnapper and Atomic Calm built Thrinley's dream studio in under a week, evidently using their special superpowers... and didn't charge her a dime for their services. It is not often that you hear of such an act of selflessness and kindness. It makes me want to don a cape, tights, and a utility belt, and go do some super-good in the world.

The Superhero Haul of Justice
source: by Elizabeth Field Bauchner /positivenewsus.org
"Do good!  Everywhere, every moment, in everything, do good!" from the Superhero Start Up Kit.
....On June 5th, a group of real-life Superheroes left Washington State for British Columbia, where they will embark upon a bicycle journey across Canada with the sole purpose of helping others. Just how far they will go, no one knows.  Who they will help and what they will do depends on "what the Universe sends their way."  Superhero coordinator Ethan Hughes, aka the Blazing Echidna, says, "A few members want to cross Canada - which will take four months - but most riders commit to riding with us for one month."An Interview with SuperHero Ethan Hughes (The Blazing Echidna)
source: Chris Roth / Talking Leaves Magazine
....In May, 2000, a fleet of colorfully caped bicyclists left Seattle for a four-month, 5500-mile trip across America. They dubbed it the Haul of Justice. Dressed as self-created Superheroes characters such as Hugman, Turquoise Seeker, and Therapy Dog, they committed themselves to "doing good": being of service to others wherever they could find people to help. Ethan Hughes took on the persona of The Blazing Echidna (the echidna, also called the spiny anteater, is a burrowing nocturnal mammal related to the duckbilled platypus).
....Following Gandhi's dictum, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world," the group undertook projects of all sizes, from picking up trash and moving baseball bleachers to installing community gardens, helping to build a new library, and finding a lost whitewater rafter. They also painted over 600 faces, spontaneously led games in city playgrounds, invited all strangers to join them at their meals, danced and sang a song at every state border crossing, and held memorial services for thousands of road kill animals they encountered along the way. Through pre-arranged sponsorship by friends and family back home, riders also raised money for various nonprofit organizations. They did plan a few stops in advance--to help nonprofits seeking to address the roots of problems (e.g., teaching low-income families how to grow their own food, instead of just feeding them)--but most of their trip unfolded spontaneously.
....In the summer of 2001, the second Haul of Justice took place-a three-week ride through Maine, with similar activities and goals. The group now plans to travel in one state per summer; for 2002, Ethan and friends have chosen North Carolina.
....Before this interview, I had heard Ethan talk several times about the Superheroes; in fact, earlier the same year, volunteers from the Hero Alliance (the local, part-time continuation of the Haul of Justice project, based in Cottage Grove and Eugene, Oregon) had helped us at Lost Valley Educational Center with garden bed preparation. The conversation below took place in November, 2001, during a break in a workshop Ethan was participating in at Lost Valley. Against a background of troubling world events--terrorism and war had dominated the news in recent months--I found his stories and visions extremely hopeful and inspiring. As Ethan remarked later in our conversation, "I've seen how beautiful people are, at the core. I really believe that, even to the point of taking life, people who do 'evil' things are acting out of fear and not being loved. The best I can do is live my own truth. That will assure that I'm not overwhelmed by the evil in the world, because I start seeing beauty everywhere." In Ethan's experience, "being love" and "being peace" (Thich Nat Hanh's term) are not only possible--they're contagious. (full story)

Mahatma Gandhi: A Century of Peaceful Protest
source: by Justin Huggler / Common Dreams.org
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0916-03.htm
....He's a huge box-office hit. He's at the top of the Indian music charts. He's on the front cover of magazines. One hundred years after Gandhi first called on his compatriots to resist white colonial rule without violence, he is back in fashion once more.
....Suddenly the Mahatma is back in fashion in India. Two years ago, it was unthinkable that the centenary of a speech by Gandhi, seen as a relic of the past by most young Indians, would be so much as noticed in a country that was obsessed not with figures from its past, but with its headlong rush to embrace modernity.
....Today Gandhi has caught the Indian imagination all over again. He appears as a character in the biggest Bollywood hit of the summer - a comedy, but one that even his admirers accept does not degrade his message. His writings are bestsellers again. He is at the top of India's music charts too, with a tape of his Hindu devotional songs, or bhajans. A new Gandhi museum in Delhi is opening its doors to 2,000 visitors a day...(full story)

Is 15 year old Palden Dorje the Buddha of our time?
source: Lighwatcher/ Wikipedia.
....Ram Bahadur Bomjon was born on May 9, 1989 in Nepal. His official Buddhist name is Palden Dorje, but his media nickname quickly became "Buddha Boy."
Palden Dorje is the young monk from Nepal who generated worldwide attention in 2005 by meditating continuoulsy, day and night, apparently without taking any food or water. As news of his existence spread, Palden Dorje began attracting thousands of visitors, and unwanted global media attention. It is believed that this attention began distracting hime from his meditations and subesequently led to his dissapearance on March 11, 2006.
...."On March 19, the Chairman of the Om Namo Buddha Tapaswi Sewa Samiti (ONBTSS), Bed Bahadur Lama, and his colleagues allegedly met with Bomjan about 2 miles (3 kilometers) south-west of his meditation site. They say they spoke to him for thirty-minutes, during which Bomjan told them there is no peace here and he would return in six years, or roughly 2011 or 2012. He left a message for his parents telling them not to worry. He has not been seen nor heard from since." - (Full Article)

PeaceJam Marks 10 Years With Nobel Laureates
source: by Chase Squires / Associated Press Writer
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-peacejam
....DENVER -- To inspire a new generation of peace activists, educators are turning to such figures as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Costa Rica President Oscar Arias and the Dalai Lama.
....The three peace emissaries are among 10 Nobel Peace Prize laureates who will gather here this week to help PeaceJam celebrate its 10th anniversary.
....PeaceJam, a nonprofit educational organization, encourages children and teenagers worldwide to initiate community service projects and work for social change.
....Ivan Suvanjieff, PeaceJam co-founder, said the assembly of Nobel Peace Prize winners in Denver is the largest gathering of its kind in North America. Beginning Friday, the laureates will exchange ideas and join with about 3,000 teens from 31 countries in a three-day festival of unity and commitment to peace...(full story)

10 Years of Burning Man
source: WIRED.com
http://blog.wired.com/burningman10/
....Barbara Traub's new book Desert to Dream is an unprecedented photographic record of a decade of Burning Man celebrations. Contributions from filmmaker Les Blank, Burning Man founder Larry Harvey, Leonard Nimoy and beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti help to illuminate her unique perspective on this evolving event...(full story)

Crystal Cave - Discovery of the Largest Crystals on Earth
source: Richard D. Fisher / Photographer/Explorer
....In what has proved to be the discovery of the largest known crystals on earth, work is underway to document and preserve this historic find. While some minor damage has already occurred in the primary cave and a secondary cavern, called Cave of Dreams, iron doors have been installed by the Peñoles company to prevent damage to the giant, magnificent crystals. While investigations are underway the mine is closed, but with the newly installed lighting system, it is expected to open in the fall 2001.
....Found deep in a mine in southern Chihuahua Mexico, these crystals were formed in a natural cave totally enclosed in bedrock. When I first stepped into the cavern it was like walking into the Land of the Giants. I have often admired crystal geodes held in my hand, but when photographing these unique natural structures it was almost impossible to get any sense of scale. This is a geode full of spectacular crystals as tall as pine trees, and in some cases greater in circumference. They have formed beautiful crystals that are a translucent gold and silver in color, and come in many incredible forms and shapes. Some of the largest are essentially columnar in shape and stand thirty to fifty feet high and three to four feet in diameter. Many of the smaller examples are four to six feet in circumference, have many incredible geometrical shapes...(full story)

85% of Cancer Victims are Acidic - Eat alkaline food and drink
source: y Sue Mueller / FoodConsumer.org
http://www.foodconsumer.org/777/8/Health_Tip....
Minerals are important to maintain one's health. Linus Pauling, winner of two Nobel Prizes, said each disease is associated with deficiency of certain minerals.
....One vital function of minerals is to keep an alkaline body pH. When you do not feel good and you know something wrong, you go to see a doctor and he does not know there may be something wrong with your body pH.
....Often times, when you feel down, your pH is too low or strongly acidic. You are supposed to have a slightly alkaline pH, anywhere between 7.1 and 7.4 roughly. PH 7 is neutral and below 7 is acidic. You need a normal alkaline pH to keep all cells functioning properly.
....A low acidic body pH is one of the important causes for many diseases including cancer. 85% cancer patients are found to have a low pH between 5 and 6. At a normal pH, cancer cells can't grow. That is why some cancer patients get their cancer controlled after they change their lifestyle including diet...(full story)

'Hobbit' stirs scientific clash
source: by Paul Rincon / BBC News science reporter
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4994054.stm
....A US-British team of scientists has challenged the idea that the tiny skeleton from Indonesia dubbed the "Hobbit" is a new human species.
Writing in Science magazine, the team presents an alternative theory that the remains could be those of a modern human with a brain disorder. Their arguments appear in a technical critique of previous research into the Hobbit brain also published in Science.
....But the authors of that earlier paper have vigorously defended their work. The skeletal remains were discovered by an Australian-Indonesian research team in the cave of Liang Bua on the island of Flores in 2003.
....After carefully analysing the bones, the group declared them to be those of a human species previously unknown to science, and to which they gave the classification Homo floresiensis. (The specimen is also sometimes referred to as LB1 after the cave in which it was found)... (full story)

The Eternal Value of Privacy
source: by Bruce Schneier| WIRED News
http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,70886-0.html?tw=wn_index_22
The most common retort against privacy advocates -- by those in favor of ID checks, cameras, databases, data mining and other wholesale surveillance measures -- is this line: "If you aren't doing anything wrong, what do you have to hide?"
....Some clever answers: "If I'm not doing anything wrong, then you have no cause to watch me." "Because the government gets to define what's wrong, and they keep changing the definition." "Because you might do something wrong with my information." My problem with quips like these -- as right as they are -- is that they accept the premise that privacy is about hiding a wrong. It's not. Privacy is an inherent human right, and a requirement for maintaining the human condition with dignity and respect.
....Two proverbs say it best: Quis custodiet custodes ipsos? ("Who watches the watchers?") and "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."
....Cardinal Richelieu understood the value of surveillance when he famously said, "If one would give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest man, I would find something in them to have him hanged." Watch someone long enough, and you'll find something to arrest -- or just blackmail -- with. Privacy is important because without it, surveillance information will be abused: to peep, to sell to marketers and to spy on political enemies -- whoever they happen to be at the time. ...(full story)

Boy Swims From Alcatraz to San Francisco
source: by Kim Curtis / Associated Press Writer
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-alcatraz-swim,0,5244578.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines
A 7-year-old Arizona boy swam from Alcatraz Island to the city in 47 minutes Monday, then was lifted by his father from the chilly waters.
....Braxton Bilbrey was joined by his coach and two other adults for the estimated 1.4-mile swim. The second-grader was greeted at the finish by reporters, photographers and well-wishers.
...."I think it's pretty cool," the wetsuit-clad boy said shortly after his father grabbed him under the arms and out of the water, which was in the mid-50s Monday.
....Braxton said his next ambition is to swim the English Channel. He said he ate pizza for dinner Sunday and was helped along by shouts of encouragement from his coach, Joe Zemaitis. The toughest part of the swim was the water temperature, the boy said... (full story)

Divers honored for saving Humpback - "the experience was unforgettable"
source: by Peter Fimrite / San Francisco Chronicle Writer
....The Marine Mammal Center and several local divers were honored Tuesday for a remarkable rescue in December of a humpback whale that was entangled in crab pot lines. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, named rescuers for its Compassionate Lifesaver award for what it said was an unprecedented effort to untangle the leviathan. Divers freed the 45- to 50-foot whale from 20 to 30 nylon crab pot lines near the Farallon Islands on Dec. 11. The Marine Mammal Center assembled and coordinated a rescue crew after a fisherman discovered the huge mammal struggling to stay afloat as the ropes dug into its blubber and weights pulled it downward. The female whale did not move and seemed to watch the divers as they cut the ropes. When the whale was freed, she swam from one diver to the next, nudging them as if trying to thank them. The divers, who named the whale Lucky, called the encounter amazing and unforgettable... (full story)

Scientist/Author John Barrow Wins Religion Prize
source: by Matt Crenson / AP National Writer
....John D. Barrow, a British scientist and writer whose work explores fundamental questions about the universe and humanity's place in it, has won a religion award billed as the world's richest annual prize. In the past, the $1.4 million Templeton Prize has honored Mother Teresa, Billy Graham, and Soviet dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn. It recognizes advancement in knowledge of spiritual matters. Barrow, 53, is known for his popular books and essays on cosmology, the study of the structure and history of the universe. His writing touches on topics such as the spiritual implications of the big bang, the nature of infinity and the limits of science in addressing some of humanity's most enduring unknowns... (full story)

Jungle search for teenage 'Buddha'
source: AP/CNN / 3.11.06
Hundreds of people scoured a jungle in southern Nepal on Sunday for a missing teenager who many believe is the reincarnation of Buddha. Ram Bahadur Banjan, 15, disappeared Saturday from a forest where he had meditated for the last 10 months, during which his associates said he consumed no food or water. Local official Santaraj Subedi said police, followers and family members were looking for the boy in the jungles of Bara, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of the capital, Kathmandu. Police official Gautam Raj Kattel said some people said they saw Banjan walking southwards before dawn on Saturday. His clothes were found near where he had been meditating. Banjan had been sitting cross-legged and motionless with his eyes closed in a niche among the roots of a tree in the jungle since May 17, 2005. Thousands of followers flocked to see him every day... (full story)

Scientists to check Nepal Buddha boy
source: by Navin Singh Khadka / BBC News, Kathmandu
....A meditating teenage boy in south-central Nepal is drawing the attention of scientists after attracting huge crowds in the past six months and earning himself the name Buddha-reincarnate. They are mulling over how to examine him without disturbing his meditation. Ram Bahadur Bamjan's friends, relatives and managers say he has been meditating without drinking water for six months now and that he will carry on for another six years until he gains enlightenment. Word spread quickly about the teenager and people around Ratanapuri village in Bara district began to visit Bamjan, 15, who has been sitting cross-legged in a traditional Buddha posture under a peepal tree... (full story)

Free Community Internet - Broadband as a Public Service
source: FreePress.net
High-speed Internet access is fast becoming a basic public necessity - just like water, gas or electricity. But far too many Americans are finding themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide, unable to get connected or afford expensive commercial service. Community Internet is the answer. Soon all media -- TV, telephone, radio and the Web -- will be delivered via the Internet over a broadband connection. New wireless and wired technologies allow local governments, public-private partnerships, schools and community groups to offer faster, cheaper and more reliable Internet service.
Hundreds of Community Internet and municipal broadband projects have sprouted up across the country. Click here to find a network near you... (full story)

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