Glowing, silvery blue clouds that have been spreading around the world and brightening mysteriously in recent years will soon be studied in unprecedented detail by a NASA spacecraft. The Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) mission will be the first satellite dedicated to studying this enigmatic phenomenon. Due to launch in late 2006, it should reveal whether the clouds are caused by global warming, as many scientists believe…
(Also read: "Clouds of Suspicion")
Asimov's First Law: Japan Sets Rules for Robots
Invisibility cloak could make a tank disappear
A Star Trek-style cloaking device that makes objects invisible is theoretically feasible and could be developed within five years, scientists said yesterday. Materials that bend light could be fashioned into buildings or vehicles that cannot be seen, according to a paper in the journal Science…
(Also read: "Spontaneous Human Invisibility")
Britons report 'psychic powers'
More than half of Britons believe in psychic powers such as mind-reading and premonitions, a survey suggests. Of 1,006 adults polled for Readers Digest magazine, 43% reported reading others' thoughts or having theirs read. More than half had had a dream or premonition of an event before it happened and 26% said they had sensed when a loved-one was ill or in trouble…
Will Storr vs. The Supernatural
No-one in their right mind believes in ghosts. You only have to look at the type of people who appear on Living TV's Most Haunted show to realise that the world of the paranormal is inhabited by crackpots, conspiracy theorists and irritating scouse mediums…
Newspapers in Malaysian Bigfoot war
A new article out of Malaysia betrays the underlying war between newspapers in the country over who "owns" the Johor Bigfoot story. Today’s editions of The Star are subtle in how they are using quotations and paraphrases from government officials to distance themselves from Vincent Chow, new books, and possible photographs of the Mawas. Here’s the back story…
UFO true believers
It happened last summer, but the four boys from Sherwood remember it like it happened last night. Philip Muir, Sean Johnson and Tim Douthit, all 18 now, were sleeping in the backyard of their friend, Trevor Davis, 17. Above them, a plane crossed the sky. And above it: a red shimmering disc, quickly darted back and forth over the body of the plane. Then the disc zipped away…
Japanese turn to past lives for future comfort
The room suddenly grows quiet as Hiroyuki Ehara stares at the Japanese actress in front of him, closes his eyes and leans forward in deep thought. Moments later, the wide-eyed actress’s past life is revealed — she is the reincarnation of a British nobleman’s daughter. “You should never go to Britain,” she is told. “You have too many painful memories there. You couldn’t marry the man you loved and were instead forced to marry someone else. But that family was ruined and for the rest of your past life you were impoverished”…
Another date with para-science
If you're just a bit more cautious on a Friday the 13th, wouldn't fly on 9/11 or could never live in a house numbered 666, you are not alone. With 06/06/06 looming (June 6, 2006), authorities in some cities are worrying prophecy theorists or hate groups might read something ominous into the date and use it as an excuse to stir tension. Some expectant mothers are making birthing appointments to ensure they avoid the date, according to the Sunday Times in London…
A spooky business
Ghostly footprints that appear out of nowhere, and vanish just as eerily. The spectral sight and sound of an 18th-century harpist and singer. And buildings where candles mysteriously appear, silverware rearranges itself and an unseen someone tugs on women's skirts…
Creature feature
Tucked between entries on Arkansas’s governors, Civil War Battles, counties and towns, artists and entertainers, and so on, the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture also includes entries on some pretty amazing animals — both real and imagined. Some belong in the science category and others in science fiction. For example…
