Arthur C Clarke: Beware of Gamma Ray Bursts

In June 2000, shortly after being knighted, Arthur C Clarke said:

"Some of the greatest threats to mankind's future, are global warming, pollution, gamma ray bursts and the threat of an asteroid hitting the earth.

...Gamma ray bursts are sudden outbursts of energy - several times more powerful than the sun - which may suddenly occur," he elucidated.

"If it happens during any of our lifetimes, we have all had it. I think that such a phenomenon may have affected evolution and if it happens again, there is nothing we can do about it."

Could Ice cause a Pole Shift after all?

The most famous proponent of the "ice cap = pole shift" theory was Charles Hapgood, who in his 1958 book The Earth's Shifting Crust:

"speculated that the ice mass at one or both poles over-accumulates and destabilizes the earth's rotational balance, causing slippage of all or much of earth's outer crust around the earth's core"

In his 1970 update he changed his mind, and decided that the ice caps could not be the cause, and suggested an unknown internal mechanism of the Earth was responsible.

Ultimately it was a case of the ice caps being too tiny relative to the size and surface of the Earth to make a difference. In fact the relative weights are more akin to a speck of dust on an automobile tyre than anything more serious – and the Antarctic icecap weighs less than one millionth of the entire planet. In these terms the layman can understand why this is unlikely to be the mechanism.

Yet today a reader sent me a news item regarding the Jovian moon Europa:

Curved features on Jupiter's moon Europa may indicate that its poles have wandered by almost 90 degrees, report scientists from the Carnegie Institution, Lunar and Planetary Institute, and University of California, Santa Cruz in the 15 May issue of Nature.

...The drastic shift in Europa's rotational axis was likely a result of the build-up of thick ice at the poles. "A spinning body is most stable with its mass farthest from its spin axis," says Matsuyama. "On Europa, variations in the thickness of its outer shell caused a mass imbalance, so the rotation axis reoriented to a new stable state."

Now, Europa is 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) in diameter, and the smaller the size, the greater the ratio of ice to weight will be, and therefore the greater the effect.

But still, one has to wonder if after all, a simple case of ice accumulation could cause a pole shift. And if that is that case, could NASA and other top bodies to prepare us for such a possibility?

What Happened In Piedmont?

Nothing. It's a movie promo. Should be illegal - I wasted 10 minutes there:
http://www.whathappenedinpiedmont.com

Crop Circles: The Only Logical Answer

There are many theories, but after some long naps I think there is only one which has enough serious evidence to support it.

> Aliens/UFOs - not enough proof that they exist
> Time Travellers - no proof that it is possible
> Hoaxers - not the big, complex ones.
> Nature - not the big, complex ones.


The answer is the Air Force. I'm not sure whether the first circles were the Air Force, and the hoaxers then got going, or the other way around. But it's fairly clear that today's complex designs are made by a computer/machine.

Why the Air Force? Probably a combination of needing real world tests of their microwave weapons, and the government's desire to distract us with weird mysteries.

Although I thought it up myself, others have had the same idea and have already researched it. See this chapter of UFOs - The Military Unmasked by Emmanuel Dehliner, and this page at Orwell Today.

Those pages contain evidence like this:

Research by Dr Levengood (of BLT Research Team), an American biophysicist, corroborated by the analyses of Ken Larsen, a British biologist, has shown that the way in which the stalks (wheat, rapeseed…) are flattened without being broken or damaged is typical of a UHF microwave effect.

Finally, some evidence of why it must be humans, and not the hoaxing kind:

One of the most celebrated cases involved the British Prime Minister's country residence. This location, consisting of several dozen acres, is guarded against terrorist attack by Britain's most expert crack troops. It is a maximum security zone patrolled 24-hours a day. Yet despite these precautions, a Celtic cross design appeared in a field in from of John Major's house, one of the circles transformed into an arrow pointing directly at the residence. The media were quick to ask the Prime Minister if a serious breach of security had taken place. "No," he replied, "it was all merely the result of poor soil conditions."

Any Idea What This Is?

It's hard to search the web for images, but I'd hoped to find something... I did not. Given the location (Bolivia), it's hard to just dismiss it as another Area 51 building.

More details here:
http://www.conlanabu.com/p11.html

Anyone know what it is, please let me know - thanks.

Not all Survivalists are Mad Loners

Barton M Biggs is the former chief global strategist for Morgan Stanley, and he now runs the hedge fund Traxis Partners based in New York. So you'd think that he is neither mad nor is he a loner. So it is a refreshing surpise to find out that his new book, Wealth, War and Wisdom, advocates building a safe haven which is "self-sufficient and capable of growing some kind of food".

"I'm just suggesting," says Mr Biggs, "that if you can afford it you should invest in a bolthole. A farm, perhaps, where you could live for a month and survive."

"I am talking Swiss Family Robinson," he says, referring to the famous 1812 novel about a Swiss family that survives after being shipwrecked in the East Indies. "You should have food, water, medicine, clothes. And possibly AK47s to fire over the heads of any guys, depending on how bad things become."

He cites war, food shortage & flu pandemic as just some of the reasons for setting up a safe spot.

The article at the BBC finds other mon-mad people with similar survival ideas. For whatever reason, regular folk are sensing a need to prepare like never before.

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Great Example of a Gamma Ray Burst's power

7.5 billion years ago, 7.5 billion light years from us, a star exploded.

The light from this gamma ray burst took until last month to be reach Earth. For a couple of hours this explosion was visible to the naked eye, making it the most distant thing a human has ever seen unaided.

Consider the power behind such a burst, to be visible from the other end of the universe. And wonder how much it could harm you if it occured much closer to home.

Full Story

Pyramids Made From Concrete

I'm a partial fan of this idea, because it is such a simple solution that anyone can understand. A new set of researchers are backing the idea the Giza pyramids are made from concrete:

A handful of determined materials scientists are carrying out experiments with crushed limestone and natural binding chemicals - stuff that would have been readily available to ancient Egyptians - designed to show that blocks on the upper reaches of the pyramids may have been cast in place from a slurry poured into wooden moulds.

Unanswered are questions like the quarries where the blocks were cut from... why they made such big blocks... how all the other pyramids on Earth were made... The story is also told at the Boston Globe.


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