NEWS ARCHIVES - 2003

March 2003

• SOHO: The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
  The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) Web pages. 
  This service is meant to provide information of interest to the general public, as well as to the international solar physics and solar-terrestrial physics communities, on the goals and status of the SOHO mission. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA

February 2003

• Did Meier Know About Jupiter's Rings First?
  Absolute Proof of Advance Knowledge Of The Rings Of Jupiter And Their Composition?

  ---

• The Infant Universe, in Detail
  New data from a NASA probe located a million miles from Earth has provided scientists with the information necessary to paint the most precise picture yet of the early universe. The long-awaited images support theories that posit that the universe underwent a tremendous growth spurt shortly after the big bang. Moreover, they pinpoint the age of the universe at 13.7 billion years old--give or take 200 million years, a mere 1 percent margin of error.

  ---

• Molecular Expressions - Science, Optics and You:  Powers of 10 
  View the Milky Way at 10 million light years from the Earth. Then move through space towards the Earth in successive orders of magnitude until you reach a tall oak tree just outside the buildings of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida. After that, begin to move from the actual size of a leaf into a microscopic world that reveals leaf cell walls, the cell nucleus, chromatin, DNA and finally, into the subatomic universe of electrons and protons.

  ---

• Chariots of the Gods- The Series
  Chariots of the Gods -The Series is based on the books of Erich von Däniken who more than twenty years ago first presented his theory of extraterrestrial contact with the ancient world - a theory so incredible yet so logical that it has become part of a wide ranging debate that continues stronger today. His examination of ancient ruins, forgotten texts, and other archeological anomalies points to evidence of extraterrestrial intervention in human history. Most incredible of all are von Däniken's claims that we ourselves are descendants of these galactic pioneers and that the evidence is out there to lead us to them. Chariots of the Gods follows the adventures of the team who will attempt to do just that.

  ---

• Masculinity at Risk?
  Sperm counts in healthy men around the world have fallen about 50 percent in the last 50 years. Detailed studies of how sperm counts have changes over time in a particular area show the same pattern, with a few exceptions. Researchers hypothesize that exposure to toxic chemicals may be an important cause of the decline.

January 2003

• Souls stuck in purgatory send signals to Rome 
  If you end up in purgatory after you die, never fear. Just remember to send a message to those surviving you, care of a riverside church in Rome. The Church of the Sacred Heart houses one of the world's most unusual and smallest museums -- a collection of signs sent from beyond the grave by souls stranded in purgatory.

  ---

• Picturing the Past 
  HP Labs Technology Helping Scholars Decipher Ancient Texts.
  
  Tom Malzbender, an HP Labs researcher has invented a tool that lets scholars see ancient texts in ways never before possible. Malzbender's technology for capturing and viewing images of three-dimensional objects can make characters that were previously invisible or undecipherable clear enough to read. As a result, scholars can derive more accurate meanings from the text — and potentially obtain a better understanding of the past. By changing the angle or type of light shining on the tablets, scholars can sometimes see the text more clearly. In the early 1980s, Zuckerman, a scholar and teacher of the Bible and ancient Semitic languages at USC, pioneered the use of high-resolution photographs in the study of ancient writing. Malzbender's invention, a type of image-based relighting, takes that technique several steps further by automating the collection of images and allowing scholars to manipulate the lighting and other aspects of the image on the screen. By changing the appearance of the object, the technology brings out surface details previously invisible to the naked eye.

Related Links:

• Tricks of the Light (local link)

• Image-based Relighting Technology Demonstration  (demo uses QuickTime VR)

• The mystery of Rennes-le-Château

  ---

• The Starchild skull's diagnostic DNA testing has been funded by a group in England. For the latest updatet visit www.starchildproject.com.
  Lloyd is going to be in England (London area) with the Starchild skull (the stereolithographic copy, of course) and speaking about it as he journeys to Amsterdam to speak at a conference there sponsored by Nexus Magazine. He'll be in and around London from March 12 to March 24, 2003.
  Anyone interested in attending the Amsterdam event or, most importantly, helping, should contact Belinda McKenzie at b.mckenzie@btinternet.com
  Related Link: World-Mysteries/ Strange Artifacts/ Mystery Skuls

  ---

• Egyptologists: It is Time to Prove Your Claims
  Scientists and debunkers have been waging war on independent researchers and alternative thinkers for years. Now it is time to call their bluff!

Interesting Books