One of my New Year’s Resolutions: I shaved off my goatee, and I feel younger for it. Drink from the Daily Grail, and you’ll feel younger too. In 2005, I aim to focus on paranormal news, but due to the natural disaster in Asia and the holiday season, today’s news will be short.
- In the wake of Asia’s terrible tsunami and earthquake, a tale of elephants helping humans. If only we’d help them …
- A snake led an Indonesian woman and her children to dry land. Would a Fundamentalist Christian have followed the serpent?
- Do animals have a sixth sense that warned them of the tsunami?
- Jacobson’s Organ and the Sixth Sense, a good article about extra-sensory perception in animals.
- The Asian earthquake permanently moved tectonic plates beneath the Indian Ocean.
- In our post-9/11 world, is having someone to blame the new religion? Personally, I’m saddened and sickened by so many people blaming [insert authority here] for what was essentially a natural disaster. Instead of thinking about who to blame, think about who to help.
- Whitley Strieber recommends reliable aid organisations, as bogus charities prey on people’s generosity.
- Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman says humanitarian relief efforts must take precedence over rare and unknown marine life washed up on shore from the tsunami.
- Are fish really as stupid and forgetful as we think?
- Snow has fallen in the United Arab Emirates for the first time ever.
- Was there major global climate change 5’200 years ago, and is history repeating in our day?
- The history and folklore of New Year’s Eve and the inevitable day of hangovers that follows, brought to you by Phenomena Magazine.
- Michael Crichton’s global warming thriller State of Fear (Amazon US or UK) experiences an awful case of bad-timing.
- The Huygen’s Space Probe is descending into Titan’s atmosphere.
- Meanwhile, another NASA probe will blow a chunk out of a comet. I hope it doesn’t just blow.
- A new fuel tank for NASA’s space shuttle has been designed.
- Two astronauts find their predecessors ate all the food on the International Space Station. That’s a common problem with house-sharing.
- Wired.com’s best computer games of 2004. I’ve gotta upgrade my PC …
- With the indictment of four Israeli archaeologists for faking artifacts, museums are being warned to check their exhibits.
- A 3000-year-old carved wooden head has been discovered in Sichuan Province, China.
- Busting the myth that all Chinese pyramids are earthen mounds is the stone pyramid of Zangkunchong.
- Are there links between China and Central America? What I’ve researched so far has me convinced, especially the ki (Chinese for “spirit, breath) and ik (Mayan for “spirit, breath) word symmetry. Ko and ok is another example.
- One of the greatest mysteries of human evolution — the brain.
Quote of the Day:
May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.
Neil Gaiman