The nominees for the 2007 Zorgy Awards are in! Vote!

(My vote for the Hall of Shame? Seth Shostak, of course!)

Scientists Develop Terminator-Style Helmets for Fighter Pilots

Futuristic new helmets will enable fighter jet pilots to see through their own aircraft, the Ministry of Defence said today. The head gear is being developed for the hi-tech F-35 Joint Strike Fighter by MoD scientists.

All it's missing is a neural interface.

A wonderful post that touches on the "absurdity factor" that colors so many UFO encounters:

The Red, White and Gray (Part One)

Significantly, Dolan notes: "none of the sightings included descriptions of what are now called 'Grays.'" It wasn't until the 1960s, and only in the United States, that identifiably "gray aliens" began appearing in encounter records. In the years since, their image and their associate disinformation fables (Roswell and Dulce, for instance) have come to so dominate the subverted consciousness that some ufologists simply remove the ongoing and troublingly bizarre "non-gray" encounters from their ET equation. Debunkers also. Susan Clancy can make her shallow arguments for sleep paralysis and the archetypal simplicity of the gray's minimalist face, but has nothing to say about bug-eyed hairy dwarves dressed like monks, because the troubling variety has been excised by those who mean to exploit a phenomenon beyond their control and massage its perception.

Fortunately, not all researchers have been frightened off by this "troubling variety." Jacques Vallee, John Keel -- and, more recently, Greg Bishop and Nick Redfern -- have ventured bravely into the abyss and returned with important perspectives that too few seem to want to hear -- let alone understand.

(Tip of the hat to Elan.)

Space Exploration 3.0 about to begin

Space exploration is about to enter a third age where nations will cooperate to explore the solar system.

Nicolas Peter, a research fellow at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), told the meeting in Vienna that the era of launching space missions to bolster national prestige was long past and that new opportunities for cooperation had emerged since the end of the Cold War. He predicted that an imminent third phase of space exploration could inspire nations to work together in a spirit of discovery.

Well, of course I'd like to think that China and the U.S. could mine Helium-3 on the Moon without territorial disputes . . .

Former Arizona Governor Fife Symington on the "Phoenix Lights":

I witnessed a massive delta-shaped, craft silently navigate over Squaw Peak, a mountain range in Phoenix, Arizona. It was truly breathtaking. I was absolutely stunned because I was turning to the west looking for the distant Phoenix Lights.

To my astonishment this apparition appeared; this dramatically large, very distinctive leading edge with some enormous lights was traveling through the Arizona sky.

As a pilot and a former Air Force Officer, I can definitively say that this craft did not resemble any man-made object I'd ever seen. And it was certainly not high-altitude flares because flares don't fly in formation.

Wow -- a thorough and up-to-the-minute list of science fiction books dealing with quantum computing.







(I enthusiastically recommend "Blind Lake" by Robert Charles Wilson and Greg Egan's mind-expanding "Quarantine.)

Area 51's Robotic Spy Bird

Those robo-dragonflies may not be the only creatures keeping an eye on you. For many years now intelligence agencies have been looking at drones disguised as birds.

(Via UFOMystic.)

Nice. But do they come with Wi-Fi?

(Thanks: Geisha Asobi.)

Here's a great "Amazing Stories" cover showing beings who resemble the unsettling mantis folk described by UFO abductees and DMT trippers alike*.





Intriguingly, the magazine is from 1937. And while insects have always served as convenient templates for science fiction artists, it's curious that present-day extraterrestrial abductors should so closely resemble beings from pulp magazines.

Is the intelligence behind the close-encounter experience using SF devices as a way of interacting with us, much how a primatologist "communicates" with an orphaned monkey via hand-puppet? If so, how to account for descriptions of bug-like entities from populations who haven't been primed to know what an alien "should" look like? Maybe the "mantis" identity is simply a costume that works, in which case one can't help but yearn for a glimpse of next year's fashions . . .

*Although "everyday" encounters in normal consciousness aren't unheard of.

(Hat tip to Elan.)

Is China Building a Space Station?

There are mixed reports coming out of China on their plans to loft a space station by 2020. A Chinese aerospace engineer, Long Lehao, mentioned to journalists that the China National Space Administration was planning to build a "small-scale 20 tonne space workshop". But then space officials at the agency denied the report. So what's going on?

I've grown to suspect we're in the midst of a "stealth space race" with China. It will likely never eclipse the sheer dogged mania that preceded Apollo, but its bearing on the human future could be nothing less than decisive.

A novel property of UFOs from photographic evidence

Application of a widely available image processing technique shows toroidal optical anomalies adjacent to both UFOs and conventional aircraft in photographs. At least one torus is always very close to each UFO, suggesting that the tori are created by alien technology. Further, there is evidence that some tori found near conventional aircraft are associated with barely visible UFOs in the vicinity. The proximity of tori to civilian and military aircraft, space shuttles, and the Hubble space telescope could mean that alien devices are monitoring the performance of our aeronautical and space technology.

I'm a little confused about the nature of the purported "tori"; my initial impression is that the author is over-thinking imaging artifacts. But if he's not . . .

In this searingly grotesque deleted scene from David Cronenberg's acclaimed remake of "The Fly," Jeff Goldblum's character attempts to genetically fuse a cat with a baboon . . .



I suspect the "cat-baboon fusion sequence" was axed from the original release because it seemed too disturbing, too gratuitous, or both. But it beautifully captures the main character's desperation; the sense of encroaching somatic menace is palpable.

I've heard excellent things about "A History of Violence" and "Eastern Promises," but part of me craves the next big Cronenberg science fiction movie.

I'm agog at the art of Alex. C. Lugo.

This is my kind of coffee mug.

Moon in HDTV

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and public broadcaster NHK have succeeded in capturing the world’s first high-definition video of the moon taken from lunar orbit. The 8x time-lapse video was shot using an HDTV camera aboard the KAGUYA lunar explorer, a.k.a. SELENE (SELenological and ENgineering Explorer), while in orbit 100 kilometers (62 miles) above the lunar surface.

Worth a look!

First Look at the Orion Crew Module

I know it seems like we've had the space shuttle forever, and will have it forever, but the program will actually be shut down in just a few short years. What comes next? The Constellation program will continue the US human spaceflight efforts, eventually bringing people back to the Moon. As part of the program, workers at NASA unveiled a mockup of the Orion crew module.

I like it; it has an endearingly hokey "Outer Limits" look going on.

Whitley Strieber's latest is, as usual, both naive and thought-provoking. I don't believe for a moment that Strieber is a disinformation agent, as some have proposed, but I'm convinced he'd make a good one.

Looking for the latest news on "Doing Time"? Look no further!

New Discovery Around 55 Cancri

Even as the news conference proceeds, I'm thinking we're living in the golden age of exoplanet research. I remember wondering once what it must have been like to do astronomy in the Edwin Hubble era, when the size of the universe itself was being so radically redefined and our understanding of the nature of distant objects completely altered. But this is better, with the prospect of moving from single planet discoveries to fully characterized systems ahead of us. Add the potential of space-based terrestrial planet finding missions and spectroscopic data on planetary atmospheres and I can only imagine the rush of new talent that's going to be wanting to contribute to this field.

Fellow Independence native Harry S. Truman offers a few innocuous remarks on UFOs:



(Thanks to The Keyhoe Report.)

Now here's a car worthy of the 21st century.

The post-Kucinich UFO era has begun!

Jimmy Carter: No Truth to UFO Rumors

Former President Jimmy Carter, speaking candidly on a recent episode of "The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe," flatly dismissed claims that in 1969 he witnessed an alien spacecraft. Though he did see a mysterious light in the sky, Carter described it as a UFO only because "it was unidentified, it was flying, and it was an object."

That encounters with the unexplained have become embarrassments to be publicly renounced speaks volumes about the technocratic hegenomy that's all-but-consumed the public's capacity for informed debate.

Rich Nations' Climate Emissions Up, Near Record

Rich nations' greenhouse gas emissions rose near to an all-time high in 2005, led by US and Russian gains despite curbs meant to slow global warming, UN data showed.

You read that correctly. Greenhouse emissions are up. Among rich countries -- the ones that know better and upon which the rest of the industrialized world will partly base its own trajectory into the rest of the 21st century.

I'm beginning to think we have a better shot at terraforming Mars than taking straightforward precautionary measures here on Earth.

An appeal to any Photoshoppers who might be reading this: are these smoking-gun images of vegetation on Mars or is the green the result of spurious filtering?

Yeah, I know I more or less promised to keep this blog free of "steampunk" paraphernalia, but this laptop does convey a pleasantly eerie sense of Victoriana . . .

(Thanx: Boing Boing.)

Here's an intriguing re-evaluation of the famous Antonio Villas-Boas abduction that suggests Boas may have seen at least one alien craft while in government custody (or led to believe he had). If true, the implications are perhaps stranger than the abduction itself.

Also interesting (to me) was Boas' admission that the red-haired woman he supposedly encountered during the course of his abduction was far from "pretty," as commonly depicted.

(Thanks: The Anomalist.)

Behold the Ubermaus!

The UFO documentary "Best Evidence" will be airing again in December. (I'm the guy at the end.)

The musical interlude continues!

"Knives Out" (Radiohead):

"Life on Mars?" (David Bowie):

UFOMystic's Greg Bishop points us to a distressingly vapid NASA response to a reader's UFO question.

The bots cometh:

Toyota to Commercialize Partner Robots

Toyota Motor is celebrating its 70th anniversary by announcing a long-term business plan that calls for the commercialization of its humanoid Partner Robots for jobs like housekeeping and nursing support.

The Toyota Global Vision 2020 plan sees robots as a core business for the leading automaker, which also plans to make hybrid technology available for its entire fleet of vehicles.

Blog of the day: Analog Digits (by The Paracast's David Biedny)

Welcome to the "blogosphere," David.

Forests losing the ability to absorb man-made carbon

Scientists fear there may soon come a point when the amount of carbon dioxide released from the northern forests as a result of forest fires and the drying out of the soil will exceed the amount that is absorbed during the annual growth of the trees. Such a prospect would make it more difficult to control global warming because northern forests are seen as a key element in the overall equations to mitigate the effect of man-made CO2 emissions.

Discredited scientist's work defended

Ridiculed at the time, the European-born psychiatrist is largely forgotten today, and his work on what he called orgone energy remains outside the scientific mainstream.

But a small number of scientists and other believers are working to advance his studies –- and resurrect his reputation.

(Via The Anomalist.)

I don't know enough about Reich's work to offer an informed opinion. Some of the guiding principles admittedly sound wacky, but is it too much to ask for a round of double-blind experiments to help settle the matter?

"All You Need Is Me" (Morrissey):



I do believe I have a new theme-song.

(For non-Morrissey fans, I've prepared this handy link to a video involving flying cats. So please -- no complaining.)

Postsingular Free Online Now!

Rudy Rucker's giving away free downloads of his latest novel, "Postsingular." And I'm down with it.

Here's a future I wouldn't mind living in.



(Found at Beyond the Beyond.)

A quantum theory of dreams?

The use of quantum mechanics this way has been controversial for two reasons: first, this highly mathematical theory is routinely abused by charlatans attempting to explain spooky paranormal phenomena; and, second, scientists cannot even agree on a definition of consciousness, undermining any quest to explain it.

But an intriguing way to bridge the gap between reality and theory has now been put forward by Prof Efstratios Manousakis of Florida State University, Tallahassee, in a paper published online, entitled "Quantum theory, consciousness and temporal perception: Binocular rivalry."

A Third of Freshwater Fish in Europe Under Threat

More than a third of freshwater fish species in Europe face extinction due to overfishing, pollution and dams which have caused rivers to dry up, a scientific study said on Thursday.

The continent's 522 freshwater fish species are under a much higher level of threat than birds or mammals, according to the study "Handbook of European Freshwater Fishes", published in collaboration with the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

Ufology's Changing Face (Nick Redfern)

But, whatever the real nature of the phenomenon, it is clear to me at least, that many of the events that have been reported are without doubt staged for our benefit: it's a game, a theater-play, a charade; and we keep falling for it and marvelling at the "extraterrestrial" presence among us.

Whether this is to try and convince us that "they" are extraterrestrial, when in reality they may be something else, or whether there are reasons so bizarre that they currently defy reasoning and/or understanding, I'm not sure.

Warning: The next generation might just be the biggest pile of idiots in U.S. history

We are, as far as urban public education is concerned, essentially at rock bottom. We are now at a point where we are essentially churning out ignorant teens who are becoming ignorant adults and society as a whole will pay dearly, very soon, and if you think the hordes of easily terrified, mindless fundamentalist evangelical Christian lemmings have been bad for the soul of this country, just wait.

It's gotten so bad that, as my friend nears retirement, he says he is very seriously considering moving out of the country so as to escape what he sees will be the surefire collapse of functioning American society in the next handful of years due to the absolutely irrefutable destruction, the shocking -- and nearly hopeless -- dumb-ification of the American brain. It is just that bad.

(Via Reality Carnival.)

I don't especially want to agree with this analysis, but I do. If you find the author's fears unwarranted, visit your local suburb.

When politics and UFOs collide:



This sad excuse of a "debate," in which Kucinich is essentially asked to apologize for seeing an object in the sky he didn't understand, typifies the mainstream response to a phenomenon that, by all counts, qualifies as a genuine scientific enigma. (For his part, Obama diverts attention from the subject at hand with consummate finesse, his condescension greeted by applause.)

It's not just UFOs, of course -- it's anything that doesn't jibe with the rhetoric of the political "here and now." I remember a near-identical exchange between Gore and another Democratic contender when the subject of Mars exploration was broached; both presidential hopefuls took pains to evade the topic entirely, with Gore smugly emphasizing the need for a "mission to planet Earth."

We can do better than this. We can explore the unknown and cure our social ailments. American politics fail -- at least for me -- because of the dutifully tended schism between idealism and talking-point banality.

Three New Jupiter-Sized Planets Discovered

You know the science of planet hunting is getting mainstream when there's very little fanfare for the discovery of 3 new extrasolar planets with the size of Jupiter.

More good stuff from Daniel Pinchbeck:

The Almighty Amero

These days I feel lost in the immense suffering and madness of our world. Something has snapped in the spirit of the time; events have gone beyond human capacity to control, predict or even conceptualize. Those who insist they know what is happening are merely pretending, or dissembling. When novelty arises, when old structures disintegrate before new patterns reveal themselves, there are no experts.

Perhaps the best oracles we can consult are systems analysts like Erwin Laszlo. Laszlo studies chaos theory and believes global civilization is a few years away from what he calls "the chaos point." According to Laszlo, we are at a "crucial decision-window" of instability. "When we reach the point of chaos," Laszlo tells us, "the stable 'point' and 'periodic' attractors of our systems will be joined by 'chaotic' or 'strange' attractors." These "strange attractors" will propel us, like booster rockets, to evolutionary development or entropic debauch. In other words, we should prepare ourselves for the unknown and inexplicable.