Odd Elongated Crater Found On Mars
ESA - This crater, known as Orcus Patera, is a strange, elliptical crater located near Mars's equator. Roughly 240 miles long by 90 miles wide, its elongated shape doesn't fit with standard models of crater formation, leaving astronomers with a baffling mystery.
Orcus Patera is located between two of Mars's biggest volcanoes, Elysium Mons and Olympus Mons (which is also the highest peak in the solar system). Beyond its immense length and width - it's not quite as long as the Grand Canyon, but five times as wide - it rises up over a mile above the surrounding area, and it reaches depths more than a third of a mile beneath the Martian surface.
The term "patera" is used for irregular craters formed by volcanoes, with other famous examples including Mars's Hadriaca Patera and Tyrrhena Patera. But while Orcus Patera is definitely irregular, it probably wasn't formed by volcanic activity, and that's the mystery astronomers are still trying to solve.
One possibility is that it started life as a regular, nearly circular crater created by meteorite impact. Over time, compressional forces brought on by shifting tectonic plates squeezed Orcus Patera into its modern shape. It's also possible that Orcus Patera was once two craters right next to each other, and erosion wore away the distinct region separating the two until only one weird crater remained.
However, the most likely theory is that an object struck the crater at a remarkably shallow angle, probably less than 5 degrees from horizontal. This is known as oblique impact, and it would be able to dig out such an unusual-looking crater shape. Still, there's no conclusive evidence in favor of any of these theories, and so Orcus Patera remains a mystery to astronomers until the day comes we can get out there and take a look at it up close.
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Giant Atlas Moths Hatch at Berkeley Castle Butterfly House
dailymail - With their stunning colours and 12in wingspan they're not the sort of insect you could ignore.
And now not just one but nine of the world's largest moths have hatched at a butterfly sanctuary in Gloucestershire.
The giant Atlas moths emerged from their chrysalises at Berkeley Castle Butterfly House.
Atlas moths are named after the intricate, colourful map-like patterns on their wings It is the first time the moths have successfully bred and hatched offspring in two years.
The moths, which do not have fully-formed mouths and survive off fat they built up as caterpillars, only live for a maximum of two weeks.
They are unsteady fliers and they do not stray far. Their sole purpose of life as a moth is to breed. Atlas moths are found in the tropical and subtropical forests of South-East Asia and are common across the Malay archipelago.
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Yard Sale 'Battle for the Bargains'
Yard sale etiquette apparently went out the window Friday in Sonora, CA after a 70-year-old man hit another man over the head with a cornbread pan while the two were trying to get access to the sale items.
Jon Joslin, 70, was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon. The victim, Joseph Brown, 64, suffered a head laceration but refused medical treatment at the scene, according to Sgt. Jeff Wilson, spokesman for the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Department.
The hometowns of the two men were not immediately available.
According to Wilson, Joslin arrived early at the yard sale on Via Este Road and was told he would not be allowed to buy anything until 8 a.m. because that was the advertised start time.
Brown arrived a little later, at 7:45 a.m., and apparently the two talked about how other yard sales operated differently, Wilson said.
At about 8 a.m., the two walked up a long driveway to the sale, with Brown walking ahead of Joslin.
Wilson said Joslin didn’t like this, and tried tripping Brown. Not knowing what was going on, Brown continued, and Joslin tried tripping Brown again, Wilson said.
Now aware of what was happening, Brown told Joslin to stop and an argument ensued. Brown pushed Joslin, and Joslin — who had the five-pound, cast-iron pan in his hand — hit Brown over the head with it, Wilson said.
Deputies arrived, and took Joslin into custody, Wilson said.
NOTE: reminds me of an incident at an antique auction I attended. Two dealers bid on an item until it reached a ridiculous level, which immediately resulted in a massive brawl between the two (and other participants) on the auction floor...with a final tally of $20,000+ in damages that both split the difference on. Lon
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Straw Man...(Warning: unflattering nude derriere)
Click for video
My first reaction was 'Sponge Bob'....and 'itchy'
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Billy Meier To Reveal Details Of Mainstream Media Suppression Of ET Contact
Playa Del Rey, CA (PRWEB) August 30, 2010
With the sudden surge of interest in UFOs, are the government and media deliberately suppressing the one case that would blow the cover-up wide open? Michael Horn, the U.S. spokesman for Swiss UFO contactee, Billy Meier, will present supporting evidence for that theory in two upcoming public appearances.
According to Horn, the whole UFO topic has been turned into little more than entertainment with the media comfortably promoting only anecdotal and inconclusive evidence. "The fact is that while there has been some actual extraterrestrial UFO activity in the past, most sightings are either secret military craft or explained by natural causes. The clear exception, the Meier case, has been the one cause of concern for the CIA and other intelligence agencies for over 35 years. The 21 documented assassination attempts on Meier's life show that someone's been taking it very seriously."
Horn thinks that the governmental powers that be are glad to see people chase what he calls "lights in the sky" but want to make sure that Meier's documented, advance knowledge of hundreds of important scientific discoveries, from black holes, dark matter, water on Mars, to the deadly threat of the Apophis asteroid, don't get their attention.
When asked why they would want to cover up such ironclad evidence, Horn said, "They believe that Meier's proof of still ongoing extraterrestrial contact would overturn our religions, even stop wars and reinforce the oneness of, and need for peace between, all peoples on Earth. They also fear that it would destabilize society to admit that advanced, space traveling human beings operate freely without any terrestrial control. But the Plejaren extraterrestrials emphasize that we, the people of Earth, are the biggest enemies to our own future survival...and they're trying to help us to avoid self-destruction."
Horn feels that those who could have made a real difference failed to do so. "There's no shortage of so-called 'UFO experts', authors and others who've jumped on the UFO bandwagon despite not having any real extraterrestrial related evidence. And they avoid the Meier case for one simple reason - they can't make a profit from it. So they don't mention Meier's contacts in their media appearances, preventing people from benefiting from the information. Those who are most vocal about 'ending the UFO cover-up' are, ironically, most actively perpetuating it because, like the media, they see Meier as...bad for business."
Horn - who says he has personal proof the ET contacts are authentic - claims there's another reason why the Meier case is strictly off limits. "The media and the powers that be know that if people realize just how badly they've been lied to about things like the coming worldwide consequences of the BP Gulf disaster, the anger and frustration could really boil over.
"But they've overlooked one important thing. The internet revolution cannot be undone and now each person who comes upon the Meier information can 'publish', text and tweet it freely and wake up countless others. Initially it's a slow process but it will ultimately overwhelm the media suppression and, in time, the truth will prevail."
Michael Horn will be appearing at the:
ASPE Symposium September 9 - 12, 2010
Los Angeles Conscious Life Expo October 15 - 17, 2010
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WTF?
Click for video
NOTE: Not really sure what's going on in this video though I was told the man brought his new girlfriend home and into his room. Apparently, that was a 'no-no'. Another explanation I read was that he and his girlfriend were caught together by the wife and family...I can understand the reaction if that were the case. Lon
Fortean / Oddball News - 8/30/2010
