http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3032842/Can-life-exi...

Can life exist on rogue planets with no sun? Cold worlds that wander the stars may still harbour alien beings, claims scientist

• Comments were made by Sean Raymond, an astrophysicist in France
• He says internal heat of rogue planets could allow liquid water to form
• Writing in Aeon, he also says a thick atmosphere may help life develop
• Astronomers have found 50 of these rogue planets in the past 15 years

The warmth of a sun has long been thought to be a key ingredient to life.

But astronomers say 'rogue', sun-less planets that wander the stars could still harbour extra-terrestrials.

While it sounds like science fiction, these planets may offer scientists a new avenue in their search for alien life.

The warmth of a sun has long been thought to be a key ingredient to life. But astronomers say 'rogue', sun-less planets that wander the stars could still harbour extra-terrestrials

This is according to Sean Raymond, an astrophysicist with the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux in France, who has taken a look at how life can form on rogue planets.

Writing in Aeon, he says: 'To have any chance of life – at least life like our own – a free-floating Earth would need liquid water.'

Nasa's Curiosity rover finds water below surface of Mars

New measurements from the Gale crater contradict theories that the planet is too cold for liquid water to exist, but Mars still considered hostile to life

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/apr/13/nasas-curiosity-rove...

Kids from around the country who participate in Let's Move programs joined first lady Michelle Obama to help plant the White House Kitchen Garden on Wednesday

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/15/michelle-obama-garden-plan...

(Mark Wilson via Getty Images)

http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-could-survive-west-coast-tsunami-wa...

Thousands could survive West Coast tsunami by walking to safety: study

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Thousands of people living along the U.S. Pacific coastline from Northern California to Washington state could survive a powerful tsunami, as long as they are prepared to walk briskly to higher ground, a researcher said on Tuesday.

About 95,000 people live on a 620-mile stretch of the Pacific Northwest coast which is considered vulnerable to a tsunami triggered by an earthquake offshore, scientists said.

A research team assessing the risk to that population found that in many areas, people can be ready to move out of danger in the minutes between the earthquake and the tsunami by simply walking, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"We've identified several towns where moving faster can mean the difference between life and death," said the lead author of the study, Nathan Wood, a geographer with the U.S. Geological Survey.

The study said 49 cities, seven tribal reservations and 17 counties in Northern California, Oregon and Washington are "directly threatened by tsunami waves" associated with a quake in the Cascadia subduction zone, an offshore undersea fault.

The study said the regional impact could be on par with Japan's 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that devastated a wide swath of Honshu's Pacific coastline and killed nearly 20,000 people.

Because a quake would make car travel mostly impossible, the study focuses on walking people to safety, or higher ground.

In the coastal Washington cities of Aberdeen and Hoquiam, about 90 percent of the 20,000 residents could have enough time to evacuate if they walked to safety at a minimum of 2.2 mph, Wood said. That percentage rises to 99 percent if they move faster, and know where to go, he said.

The study found the most people in coastal communities should have sufficient time to evacuate, and that high ground is reachable if people are aware of the threat and practice their routes.

A small percentage of people who live too far from high ground would need tall, specially constructed structures to withstand the quake and tsunami, it said.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3039652/Will-volcani...

Will a volcanic eruption destroy humanity? Scientists warn that world must begin preparing for explosive global catastrophe

• Scientists at the European Science Foundation estimate there is a 5-10% probability of a large explosive volcanic eruption by the end of the century
• They warn it could have global impacts that will devastate human society and send humanity back to a state that existed pre-civilisation 
• Experts have called upon world leaders to spend £2 billion a year to monitor volcanic activity and to increase the ability to respond 

21:28 EST, 15 April 2015

The world is woefully unprepared for a massive volcanic eruption that could kill millions of people and destroy much of modern society, a leading group of scientists have warned.

In a new report on the risks posed by natural disasters, experts at the European Science Foundation concluded that large volcanic eruptions posed the greatest risk human survival.

They calculated that there is between a five to 10 per cent probability of an explosive eruption large enough to cause huge numbers of deaths, alter the climate and poison the atmosphere occurring by the end of the century.

The devastation wrought by Mount Vesuvius on Pompeii (above) could pale into insignificance, scientists warn

Such an eruption would be of a similar size to the explosion of Tambora on Sumbawa, Indonesia in 1815, which killed around 100,000 people at the time.

The ash cloud thrown out from this eruption reached more than 26 miles (43km) into the atmosphere and triggered temperature changes that led to widespread famine and epidemics.

The summer following the Tambora eruption is known as 'the year without summer'.

The scientists warn, however, that rising population levels and increasing reliance on global travel could mean the impacts of a similar eruption could be far more severe.

Writing in their report Extreme Geohazards: Reducing the Disaster Risk and Increasing Resilience, the experts warn that there needs to be an international response to prepare for such a disaster and to monitor for similar events.

They estimate that it could cost between £340 million ($500 million) and £2.3 billion ($3.5 billion) a year to increase the level of monitoring for catastrophic volcanic eruptions, but the benefits that an early warning could give would ten to hundreds of times greater.

The report states: 'Although in the last few decades earthquakes have been the main cause of fatalities and damage, the main global risk is large volcanic eruptions that are less frequent but far more impactful than the largest earthquakes.

'Due to their far-reaching effects on climate, food security, transportation, and supply chains, these events have the potential to trigger global disaster and catastrophe.

'The cost of response and the ability to respond to these events is beyond the financial and political capabilities of any individual country.

'An international geopolitical response will be required, where science has a unique and key role in preparation, response and mitigation.'

The report, which was presented at the general assembly of the European Geosciences Union in Vienna on Tuesday, examines the main geohazards facing the world including earthquakes, drought, asteroid strikes, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, avalanches and wildfires.

It said that large to extreme earthquakes and tsunamis had been more common in the past 2000 years and this had focused the world's disaster response resources onto this threat.

But it concluded that the risk posed by volcanic eruptions is potentially far more serious.

Pointing to recent eruptions like the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull, which caused widespread disruption when it threw clouds of ash into the atmosphere.

The 1783 explosion of the Laki volcano (above) poisoned much of the surrounding land in Iceland but its impact stretched far further, creating ash that caused the death of 25,000 people in the UK and a famine in Egypt

+7

The 1783 explosion of the Laki volcano (above) poisoned much of the surrounding land in Iceland but its impact stretched far further, creating ash that caused the death of 25,000 people in the UK and a famine in Egypt

It created the highest level of air travel disruption in Europe since the second world war and cost the European economy around $5 billion.

However, the researchers said that this eruption was relatively minor - rating between three and four on the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI).

By comparison, the volcanic eruption in 79AD of Mount Vesuvius that destroyed Pompeii in Italy was around VEI5. Mount St Helen's explosion in 1980 was also VEI5.

The report states that there has been around 20 eruptions greater than VEI5 since 1500 with only the Tambora eruption reaching VEI7.

However around 75,000 years ago the explosion of a supervolcano at the site of Lake Toba on Sumatra in Indonesia was one of the world's largest known eruptions - rated VEI8.

It caused a global volcanic winter that lasted around 10 years and has been linked to 1,000 years of cooling.

The remains of the Tambora volcano in Sumbawa, Indonesia (above) triggered global changes in climate

The graphic above shows the magnitude of volcanic eruptions on the Volcanic Explosivity Index. On the left it shows the volume of tephra (volcanic material) thrown out while on the right it shows the size of the ash plume

There is also some evidence that suggests around this time human populations fell to some of their lowest levels ever, clinging on in just a few isolated groups.

The report says that eruptions on this scale occur between once every 45,000 years to once every 714,000 years, but such an eruption could kill up to a tenth of the world's population.

'Events on the scale of the Toba eruption 74,000 years ago could return humanity to a pre-civilisation state,' warned the scientists.

'Volcanic eruptions can have more severe impacts through atmospheric and climate effects and can lead to drastic problems in food and water security, as emphasised by the widespread famine and diseases that were rampant after the Laki 1783 and Tambora 1815 eruptions.

'Hence extreme volcanic eruptions pose a higher associated risk than all other natural hazards with similar recurrence periods, including asteroid impacts.'

The experts also warned that even smaller eruptions, similar to the Laki eruption in Iceland in 1783, could have global impacts.

While the eruption caused 9,350 deaths in Iceland, the eight month emission of sulfuric aerosols, ash and other gases caused 'one of the most important climatic and socially repercussive events of the last millennium'.

In Iceland an estimated 20–25% of the population died in the famine and from fluorine poisoning after the fissure eruptions ceased.

The resulting famine that afflicted Egypt in 1784 caused nearly one sixth of the country's population to die out.

In Britain the summer of 1783 was known as the 'sand summer' because of the ash fallout and an estimated 25,000 people died due to breathing problems.

The scientists wrote: 'Why are we not prepared for extreme events? Reasons for this include the low perceived likelihood of such an event, low political sensitivity, and a disconnect between scientific communities and decision-makers.

'Reasons for the lack of socially acceptable strategies include the cost of preparing

for an extreme hazard, and, in some cases, the belief that consequences are so extreme that preparedness is futile.'

They added that world leaders now need to spend up to £2 billion a year on a global network to monitor volcanic activity as even a few weeks of early warning could be crucial.

'Threats from low-frequency, high impact events are grossly underestimated in disaster risk reduction. This is particularly true for volcanic eruptions.

'During the Holocene, at least seven VEI 7 eruptions took place. All but one occurred at a time when the global population was far below 1 billion.

'With a population above 7 billion and heading for 12 billion, a recurrence of a VEI 7 eruption could have extreme consequences.'

This graph shows the analsysis of the relative threat posed by different natural disasters to mankind

Have we found alien life? Astronomers discover 50 galaxies that may be home to advanced civilisations

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/found-alien-life-astronomer...

The tantalising possibility of life beyond our solar system has been raised by an incredible discovery.

A team of scientists have detected around 50 galaxies emitting radiation that could indicate an advanced energy-wielding civilisation.

A team from Penn State University in the US searched 100,000 galaxies for signs of highly advanced extraterrestrial life using observations from NASA's WISE orbiting observatory.

"Whether an advanced space-faring civilisation uses the large amounts of energy from its galaxy's stars to power computers, space flight, communication, or something we can't yet imagine, fundamental thermodynamics tells us that this energy must be radiated away as heat in the mid-infrared wavelengths," said Jason T. Wright, assistant professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds at Penn State University.

Do pilots believe in UFOs? Many of them do and here is my close encounter story - Obama's campaign pilot

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/guest-column-pilots-ufos-arti...

http://humansarefree.com/2015/04/aliens-created-our-species-scienti...

Aliens Created Our Species, Scientist Says

A group of researchers worked for 13 years at the Human Genome Project (Project completed in 2003) indicate that they made an astonishing scientific discovery: 

They believe so-called 97% non-coding sequences in human DNA is no less than genetic code of extraterrestrial life forms.

Non-coding sequences, originally known as "junk DNA", were discovered years ago, and their function remained a mystery. The overwhelming majority of Human DNA is "Off-world" in origin.

After comprehensive analysis with the assistance of other scientists, computer programmers, mathematicians, and other learned scholars, Professor Chang had wondered if the apparently "junk Human DNA" was created by some kind of "extraterrestrial programmer".

Professor Chang further stipulates that "Our hypothesis is that a higher extraterrestrial life form was engaged in creating new life and planting it on various planets. Earth is just one of them."

Professor Chang further indicates that "What we see in our DNA is a program consisting of two versions, a big code and basic code." 

Mr. Chang then affirms that the "First fact is, the complete 'program' was positively not written on Earth; that is now a verified fact. The second fact is, that genes by themselves are not enough to explain evolution; there must be something more in 'the game'."

"Soon or later", Professor Chang says "we have to come to grips with the unbelievable notion that every life on Earth carries genetic code for his extraterrestrial cousin and that evolution is not what we think it is."

Human Genome Project Discovery Implications associated with "Human-looking Extraterrestrials"

The implications of these scientific finds would reinforce claims by other scientists and observers of having contact with 'off-world' human looking extraterrestrials.

The 'off-world' human looking extraterrestrial have been claimed to have provided some of the genetic material for human evolution, and that many of these extraterrestrials have allowed some of their personnel to incarnate as 'star seeds' on Earth in human families. These "star seeds", "star children" or "star people"

Human DNA encoded with extraterrestrial signals

Now in 2013, scientists from Kazakhstan believe that human DNA was encoded with an extraterrestrial signal by an ancient alien civilisation.

They call it "biological SETI" and the researchers claim that the mathematical code in human DNA cannot be explained by evolution.

In a nutshell, we're living, breathing vessels for some kind of alien message which is more easily used to detect extra terrestrial life than via radio transmission.

"Once fixed, the code might stay unchanged over cosmological timescales; in fact, it is the most durable construct known," the researchers wrote in scientific journal Icarus. "Therefore it represents an exceptionally reliable storage for an intelligent signature.

"Once the genome is appropriately rewritten the new code with a signature will stay frozen in the cell and its progeny, which might then be delivered through space and time."

The scientists also claim that human DNA is ordered so precisely that it reveals an "ensemble of arithmetical and ideographical patterns of symbolic language".

Their research has led the scientists to conclude that we were invented "outside the solar system, already several billion years ago".

One mystery remains: If we were the creation of aliens, who created them?

Governments are HIDING aliens, claims former defence minister: Paul Hellyer urges world leaders to reveal 'secret files'

A former defence minister has accused world leaders of concealing the presence of aliens.

Paul Hellyer, who was a Canadian minister from 1963 to 1967, is now urging world powers to release what he believes to be hidden data on UFOs.

'Much of the media won't touch [the documents]', he said during a keynote speech at the Disclosure Canada Tour at the University of Calgary.

'You just have to keep working away and hope that someday you get a critical mass,' he said, according to a report by CTV.
'[The public] will say, in one way or another, "Mr President or Mr Prime Minister we want the truth and we want it now because it affects our lives."'
Hellyer, 91, first went public with his belief in aliens on Earth in 2005, becoming the first high ranking politician to do so.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3051151/Governments-...

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/secretive-x-37b-military-space...

Seems the Air Force is sending up its classified Planet X viewing craft for its fourth mission in late May.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3057897/The-Big-One-...

Is California next? US Geological Survey warns risk of magnitude 8 or larger 'Big One' earthquake has increased dramatically

• Risk in the next 30 years has increased from about 4.7% to 7.0%
• However, study says risk of smaller quakes has actually gone down 
• Comes as 7.8-magnitude quake hits Kathmandu killing 4,000 people

PUBLISHED: 13:09 EST, 27 April 2015 | UPDATED: 14:20 EST, 27 April 2015

A new report from the U.S. Geological Survey has warned the risk of 'the big one' hitting California has increased dramatically.

Researchers analysed the latest data from the state's complex system of active geological faults, as well as new methods for translating these data into earthquake likelihoods.

The estimate for the likelihood that California will experience a magnitude 8 or larger earthquake in the next 30 years has increased from about 4.7% to about 7.0%, they say.

Scroll down for video 

In the new study, the estimate for the likelihood that California will experience a magnitude 8 or larger earthquake in the next 30 years has increased from about 4.7% for UCERF2 to about 7.0% for UCERF3.

 'We are fortunate that seismic activity in California has been relatively low over the past century,' said Tom Jordan, Director of the Southern California Earthquake Center and a co-author of the study.

'But we know that tectonic forces are continually tightening the springs of the San Andreas fault system, making big quakes inevitable.

'The UCERF3 model provides our leaders and the public with improved information about what to expect, so that we can better prepare.'

The Third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast, or UCERF3, improves upon previous models by incorporating the latest data on the state's complex system of active geological faults, as well as new methods for translating these data into earthquake likelihoods.

The study confirms many previous findings, sheds new light on how the future earthquakes will likely be distributed across the state and estimates how big those earthquakes might be.

Compared to the previous assessment issued in 2008, UCERF2, the estimated rate of earthquakes around magnitude 6.7, the size of the destructive 1994 Northridge earthquake, has gone down by about 30 percent. 

Researchers discover mysterious new planet hundreds of light years away

A huge “puffed up” planet “too big for its star” some 500 light years from Earth has been discovered by Australian researchers — with the help of a backyard astronomer.

The planet’s size in relation to the star it orbits challenges theories about how planets are formed, researchers from the Australian National University said.

“We have found a small star with a giant planet the size of Jupiter orbiting very closely,” said George Zhou from the Research School of Astrophysics and Astronomy.

“It must have formed further out and migrated in, but our theories can’t explain how this happened.”

Astronomers believe that planets are created from a “disc” of dust and gas around stars, Zhou said.

“We think that planets are the leftovers of star formations,” he said.

But he said the star — HATS-6 — was almost too small for it to have any leftovers and the discovery of a planet — named HATS-6b — raised questions about how large a disk could form around a star relative to its size.

“HATS-6 is one of the lowest mass stars known to host a close-in gas giant planet,” the team of researchers said in a study published in “The Astronomical Journal.”

HATS-6b orbits its star every 3.3 days, researchers said.

Astronomers first got an indication of the planet’s existence when they noticed that light from HATS-6 dimmed, — suggesting that a planet was passing between the star and Earth.

To confirm the transit signal, they went to of the world’s biggest telescopes — Chile’s Magellan Telescope — and a backyard astronomer in the northern city of Perth, T.G Tan.

Zhou said that the amateur astronomer had been really helpful. “He was able to catch the transit of the planet from Perth, after it had set over our horizon,” Zhou said.

He said the university — part of the HATSouth Exoplanet Survey — used telescopes to monitor hundreds of thousands of stars. With about a thousand planetary candidates they needed to enlist amateurs to monitor their transits.

“Amateurs have been getting ever more sophisticated,” Zhou said, with Tan a “near professional.”

‘He was able to help us actually confirm that this transit signal was not a blip. That was a massive contribution from him.”

Continuous observation

The HatSouth project is an international collaboration between the Australian National University, Princeton University, the Max Planck Institut fur Astronomie and the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile.

“We have a series of small telescopes spread around the world — in Namibia, New South Wales and Chile — we’re able to gather continuous observations of objects in the night sky. That’s how we’re discovering these planets.”

Zhou said the planet’s atmosphere would make an interesting study.

“The planet has a similar mass to Saturn, but its radius is similar to Jupiter, so it’s quite a puffed up planet. Because its host star is so cool it’s not heating the planet up so much, it’s very different from the planets we have observed so far,” he said.

“By having an atmosphere that’s puffed up it actually allows us to look through the atmosphere,” Zhou told CNN.

When starlight passed through the top atmosphere, astronomers would be able to look for absorption signals that revealed details of its composition, he said.

“Every element has its barcode — or spectrum. We want to break the light of HATS-6b into its rainbow of color, within that, there’s a barcode for absorption.”

Source: http://myfox8.com/2015/05/08/researchers-discover-new-planet/

http://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-nyc-coffee-hiking-san...

video in link

Newly Discovered Roswell Alien Photos Unveiled (May 5)

A collection of old Kodachrome slides dating back to the 1940s found in an attic in Arizona reportedly contain new images of what UFO specialists believe is proof that the human race has been visited by alien beings.

The alleged photo evidence was unveiled by Adam Dew. The Kodachrome slides were supposedly found by his friend's sister roughly 17 years ago when she was cleaning out a property for real estate somewhere in Sedona, Arizona.

The box contained wo images of the Roswell “alien” along with photos of Bing Crosby, Clark Gable, and Dwight Eisenhower from before his term as president. The fact that the images were lying with other undeniably authentic photos suggests they are authentic.

Dew, who has a background in video production and journalism, investigated and worked on the slides as they were not in focus when he received them. He then dated the slides back to the late 1940s.

When Dew showed the images to Neil deGrasse Tyson, the astrophysicist did not say the images were fake, just suggested the evidence is inconclusive (per the above Kodachrome Trailer video). Dew defended his findings by saying that the first popular images of aliens did not become widespread until the 1960s, but he dated the image back to the 1940s.

Dew also came in contact with a man who claims that he had personally seen the alleged alien bodies when the Roswell incident happened. The man wished to remain anonymous. When shown the Kodachrome slides, he said that the alleged alien body is very similar to what he saw years ago.

Jaime Maussan, a prominent Mexican UFO researcher, notes that the images are of something “undeniably” non-human.

Maussan points out that the photos, which show a typical extraterrestrial body-type by today’s standards, were taken before an archetype of an alien existed. Maussan notes that the image was taken prior to any sketches of the Roswell aliens being released.

On May 5, the images were unveiled at an event in Mexico where around 10,000 people attended. What is intriguing is that the people who wanted to see the alleged alien photos paid $350. Dew's slides did manage to impress people even Edgar Mitchell, who was an American astronaut that landed on the moon. Mitchell said that the images felt very authentic.

The researchers say they spent five years studying the images to determine their authenticity before deciding to release them.

However, not everyone is in agreement. Many feel the photos are “authentic,” just not authentically extraterrestrial. It was pointed out that the images strongly resemble those of child mummies.

Sources

http://www.inquisitr.com/2074020/images-that-one-ufo-specialist-say...

http://www.biztekmojo.com/00604/roswell-alleged-alien-photos-are-fa...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3072510/Is-evidence-...

http://news.yahoo.com/sea-rise-threatens-florida-coast-no-statewide...

St. Augustine's centuries-old Spanish fortress and other national landmarks sit feet from the encroaching Atlantic, whose waters already flood the city's narrow, brick-paved streets about 10 times a year — a problem worsening as sea levels rise. The city has long relied on tourism, but visitors to the fortress and Ponce de Leon's mythical Fountain of Youth might someday have to wear waders at high tide.

Rare direct image of a super-Jupiter exoplanet  A giant planet 11 times the mass of Jupiter has been directly photographed, the closest such planet to Earth we've seen with our own eyes. 

The big, wide universe has a lot of stars. The exact figure is unknown, although estimates put the number somewhere in the region of 70 sextillion. Some of those stars, just like our own sun, have their own planetary satellites. Yet, according to the NASA Exoplanet Archive, astronomers have only confirmed the existence of 1,832 planets outside of the solar system.  

And most of these confirmed planets we haven't even seen. They are too far away, and don't emit any light of their own, making them very difficult to spot. Their existence is proven by the behaviour of the star's light. A disappearing, reappearing star might mean, for instance, that a planet is passing between it and our telescopes, eclipsing it briefly.

So a directly imaged planet is a rare and wonderful thing.

Say hello, then, to VHS 1256b, a giant planet just 40 light-years from Earth, the closest for which a direct image and spectrum have been obtained to date. A team of researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, the Polytechnic University of Cartagena and the Centre for Astrobiology collaborated on the project.

@Ryan. I've deleted it as I found a utube video of Charles Bolden which merely suggests that people have a family preparedness plan which NASA refers to as Eagle Horizon which also happens to include some facts about WH Continuation of Government.. Here is that video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_RmiXXCojw

hey ryan & starr.

There were similar antics around the Oct. 20 date. It might be part of the coverup crowd's dirty tricks

The big omission is "when" Miami will be thrust under the waves.

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/dutch-sea-level-rise-expert-miami...

DUTCH SEA LEVEL RISE EXPERT: MIAMI WILL BE "THE NEW ATLANTIS," A CITY IN THE SEA

THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2015

A few months after Hurricane Sandy bared down on New York, killing over 150 people and wreaking $65 billion in damage, federal leaders cried for help to make the Northeast more flood-proof. Dutch expert Henk Ovink answered. Ovink had helped make his homeland, where 55 percent of the country is extremely flood-prone, a world pioneer in preparing for sea level rise. With Ovink at the helm, the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force put together a groundbreaking plan to make the region more sea-level rise resistant and started a contest to sponsor innovative design plans.

Which is all to say that there aren't many people alive who know more about helping threatened cities cope with sea level rise.

So there's good cause to be worried when the Dutch expert says there’s no place in worse shape today than Miami. He’s begun calling the city “the new Atlantis,” after the legendary and beautiful island subcontinent that was submerged by the sea in one night.

“If we look around the world and take into account sea level rise and the increase of water related disasters, among the places in the world that have the most assets and investments at risk, Miami is leading that list,” Ovink tellsNew Times. “Miami will no longer be a land city, but a city in the sea.”

In recent years, scientists have repeatedly warned that South Florida’s coastal communities and barrier islands could be completely underwater in 100 years. Earlier this year, National Geographic published research on the projected cost of an extreme weather event in 2050. With so many buildings, roads and other infrastructure so close to sea level, Miami was number one on the list, with a projected loss of $278 billion dollars, followed by Guangzhou, China ($268 billion), and New York-Newark ($209 billion).

A first step is for leaders to recognize and talk about climate change. 

“It’s scary that the state of Florida briefed staff not to talk about climate change,” Ovink says. “When you think about future risks and how to deal with them, that is not right approach. You have to address those issues and come up with a strategy. It's an opportunity.”

The problem, Ovink says, is that dozens of individual cities, like Miami Beach, are pursuing their own balkanized strategies rather than making a unified effort to find creative solutions.

Government, businesses, NGOs and residents should plan together, Ovink says, and do more than just stop-gap efforts. In the very short term, ideas might include raising buildings, preventing ocean water from flooding freshwater aquifers, and installing pumps to stop city flooding. But long term efforts need to be more comprehensive.

Last year, a New York Times Magazine article about Ovink and Dutch water management efforts showed just how behind the U.S. is in its thinking around water. Beyond just keeping water out, Rotterdam, in Southern Netherlands, is “building floating houses and office buildings and digging craters in downtown plazas that will be basketball courts most of the year but will fill up with runoff during high-water periods, taking the strain off the surrounding streets.”

In another region, a “wide trench” is being cut through the city where the river bottlenecks and an island is being built. Higher areas of the island may contain housing, but low-lying sections will be developed into parks and beaches. During flood periods, the lower sections of the island will simply be engulfed by water.

“In the Netherlands, we’re in a great place,” Ovink says, because “we have institutional, programmatic funding until 2050 and a collaborative, innovative approach.”

Ovink says Scott should propose a process now to deal with uncertainties and safeguard the state. The strategy should involve policy reform, investment and innovative projects that actually change the risk Florida is now facing. Inaction only means our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are going to suffer more, he says.

“And perhaps [the governor] could announce it himself,” he says, “to make sure he’s taking it seriously.” 

San Andreas trailer

Nasa asks for the public's help to identify mysterious bright spots on Ceres

If you vote, notice that 38% of those polled selected "Other" as the source of light on Ceres!!!

Cast your vote for lights on Ceres

http://www.dcclothesline.com/2015/06/07/army-corps-of-engineers-see...

Army Corps of Engineers seeking ‘civilian workers’ ahead of ‘impending national disaster’?

U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS EUROPE DISTRICT/FLICKR

ARMY CALLING FOR ‘WORKERS’ TO RESPOND TO FUTURE “DISASTER STRICKEN AREAS OF THE US”

KENNEWICK, Wash. (INTELLIHUB) — A tip was sent to me by a reader via email Saturday documenting how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is now soliciting civilian workers for “maintenance” positions ahead of what appears to be an upcoming and potentially ‘imminent event’ of some type.

Shockingly as listed in the solicitation numbered “NCFL156545791382984S” which is posted at USAJobs.gov the Army Corps of Engineers is literally calling upon skilled individuals amongst the civilian population in search of potential prospects rather than using already active Army personnel.

The “job summary” section of the solicitation strokes the prospect’s ego, reading:

“Civilian employees serve a vital role in supporting the Army’s mission. They provide the skills that are not readily available in the military, but crucial to support military operations. The Army integrates the talents and skills of its military and civilian members to form a Total Army.”

It’s also important to note that the position may extend up to “four years” and that “employees” will be required to respond to “disaster stricken areas of the US”.

Did I miss something?

Disaster stricken areas of the U.S., WTF does that mean?

Does the U.S. Government know something that they have not yet told the general public?

Is there an impending disaster looming such as the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano or possibly a predestined asteroid impact which rumor has may be coming in September? After reading a potion of the solicitation’s “about” section  you may be asking these very questions too. It reads:

“Employees occupying these positions will provide emergency support to disaster stricken areas throughout the US. Employees must pass a stringent medical screening and be prepared to live and work in extremely austere conditions. Work schedule will initially be arduous, with much overtime. Sleeping arrangements may be limited to using a sleeping bag or in the vehicle used to move from location to location. The duty station for pay purposes for these positions is Kennewick, WA with possible 75% or Greater Business Travel in various locations throughout the US.”

Additionally it’s important to point out that “Kenniwick, WA” is only the “duty station for pay purposes”, signifying that employees who have accepted the position can end up anywhere throughout the U.S. as “75%” of the job is listed as “travel”.

Interestingly duties of the job include:

“[…] computing and making flood releases, inspecting, repairing and maintaining the appurtenant structures and systems of the dam (skills include, but are not limited to, electrical and mechanical work); and participating in the dam inspections. Maintains and repairs facilities such as public restrooms, camp sites, picnic areas, park roads, etc. Repair equipment such as, hydraulic gates, hoists, hangers, cranes, elevators, sump pumps, water systems pumps, chlorinators and stand-by generators. Dam Operation; Collects humidity, temperature and wind velocity readings from weather instruments, makes gage readings pertaining to water storage and performs related calculations. Reports weather information and operating data in accordance with establishedschedules. Makes gate settings to regulate outflow of water in accordance with regulatory requirements. Inspects dam and appurtenant structures and equipment using standard inspection checklists. Performs a variety of miscellaneous duties such as, maintaining roads and clearing debris. Operates a variety of vehicles and vessels, such as, sedans, light duty pickup trucks and 5-ton trucks, tractors, fork lifts, motor boats, work barges, etc.”

The job pays $21.93-$25.57 per hour.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3131160/Will-child-w...

Will YOUR child witness the end of humanity? Mankind will be extinct in 100 years because of climate change, warns expert

07:02 EST, 19 June 2015

Humans will be extinct in 100 years due to overcrowding, declining resources and climate change, according to a prominent scientist.

The comments were first made by Australian microbiologist Dr Frank Fenner in 2010, but engineer and science writer David Auerbach has reiterated the doom-laden warning in his latest article.

He criticises the recent G7 summit for failing to deal with the problems facing the survival of humanity, such as global warming and exhausting Earth's resources.

Mr Auerbach goes on to say that experts have predicted that 21st century civilisation faces a similar fate to the inhabitants of Easter Island, who went extinct when they overexploited their natural habitat.

‘Homo sapiens will become extinct, perhaps within 100 years,’ Dr Fenner told The Australian in 2010. He later passed away in November 2010 at the age of 95. 

‘A lot of other animals will, too. It's an irreversible situation. 

'I think it's too late. I try not to express that because people are trying to do something, but they keep putting it off.’

At the G7 talks in Bonn in Germany earlier this month, governments failed to come up with a clear plan to cut emissions in the coming years.

It emerged that countries' current pledges for greenhouse gas cuts will fail to achieve a peak in energy-related emissions by 2030.

This will likely result in a temperature rise of 2.6°C by the end of the century, the International Energy Agency said.

‘When the G7 called on Monday for all countries to reduce carbon emissions to zero in the next 85 years, the scientific reaction was unanimous: That’s far too late,’ Mr Auerbach wrote.

‘At this point, lowering emissions is just half the story - the easy half. The harder half will be an aggressive effort to find the technologies needed to reverse the climate apocalypse that has already begun.’

He noted that ‘dangerous’ climate change was already here, but the question now was whether ‘catastrophic’ climate change could be avoided.

Earlier this week, Nasa released new data that showed how temperature and rainfall patterns will change around the world by 2100. This map, produced using the data, shows the maximum daily temperatures in July under scenarios that predict carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere will reach 935 parts per million

The widely agreed goal is that global temperatures must be kept below a rice of 2°C by the end of the century.

A 5°C increase, as predicted to occur by 2100 at the moment, would cause widespread flooding, famine, drought and mass extinction.

‘Even the 2°C figure predicts more than a metre’s rise in sea levels by 2100, enough to displace millions,’ Mr Auerbach noted in his Reuters article.

But he said that current targets are simply not enough to keep under this 2°C target.

The US has suggested cutting emissions by up to 28 per cent by 2025 from 2005 levels, the EU 40 per cent from 1990 to 2030, and China an unspecified amount.

‘Ultimately, we need a Cold War-level of investment in research into new technologies to mitigate the coming effects of global warming,’ he concluded.

‘Without it, the UN’s work is a nice gesture, but hardly a meaningful one.’ 

Queen 'could move out of Buckingham Palace'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33250274

The Queen may have to move out of Buckingham Palace to allow maintenance work costing £150m to be carried out.
It is one option being considered by the royal household, which says the palace needs new plumbing and wiring, with some rooms last decorated in 1952.

Military and police in biggest ever London training exercise to prepare for terror attack

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/military-and-police-in-bigges...

The biggest anti-terrorism exercise ever staged in London was underway today as 1,000 police responded to a “marauding” attack on the capital.

Emergency services, the military and Government were being tested on their ability to handle a devastating terror assault on a number of key sites.

The exercise was planned several months before last Friday’s beach attack on holidaymakers in Tunisia and the beheading in France but officials say they hope to learn vital lessons to improve their response to what is now their most-feared type of assault.

The Met’s deputy assistant commissioner Maxine de Brunner said the two-day “live play” exercise, codenamed Strong Towers, was “focused on the extreme end of what may happen”.

It is likely to draw upon tactics seen in the terror attack on Mumbai in 2008, the stabbing of two police officers in Australia last year and the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris in January.

Ms de Brunner said: “When the very worst happens, we are prepared to be the very best. [It’s based on] what we think a terrorist could throw at us.”

Speaking in advance, she insisted the mock attack bore no relation to any current threat. The threat to the UK from international terrorism remains unchanged at “severe”.

Ms de Brunner said: “It’s not being created out of response to any specific intelligence. We have been planning this since January. It’s completely unconnected with anything that might be going on at the moment.
“It will be hugely challenging for officers and partners. They won’t have seen anything like this.”

One of the first incidents involved officers, including armed response units and others trained to carry firearms, being called to the disused Aldwych Tube station.

Full details of the exercise, which will last until tomorrow afternoon, have been kept under wraps to make it as realistic as possible for officers on the ground.

The public was advised that any gun-shots and explosions they heard around Aldwych were not real. Surrey Street, alongside King’s College London, was cordoned off.

It is the first such event since 2012, when the capital’s ability to respond to a chemical attack was tested. The Government requires the Met to test its capability on a regular basis to respond to the “changing nature of terrorism”.

The Home Office-funded “major live play” is part of its national counter-terrorism programme and also involved London Ambulance, London Fire Brigade and Ministry of Defence staff, British Transport Police, City of London police, City Hall and Transport for London.

Search for deadly asteroids must be accelerated to protect Earth, say experts
Campaigners including Brian May and Lord Rees are marking Asteroid Day by raising awareness of the the threat posed to the planet by speeding space rocks

from Today's Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jun/30/search-deadly-astero...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/11706313/Aster...

Asteroid tsunami could kill thousands in Britain, warn scientists

Although the UK is not directly in an asteroid path, it is at risk from impact 'corridors' of known asteroids in the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea which could trigger devastating tsunamis

Asteroids could wipe out the Earth unless governments come together and start monitoring them Photo: Alamy

Britain is at risk from an asteroid tsunami which could kill hundreds of thousands of people living in coastal regions, scientists have warned.

Experts at the University of Southampton have developed software which predicts the impact ‘corridors’ of known asteroids and calculates the risk to communities if they struck.

Although the UK is not directly under an asteroid path, it is at risk from impacts in the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea which could trigger devastating tsunamis. For example there is a one in 10,000 chance that a space rock could hit just off the coast of Norfolk within the next 85 years.

PhD student Clemens Rumpf who developed the software – called Armor - is hoping it will help organisations like the United Nations decide whether to evacuate communities or send spacecraft to intercept deadly objects.

^{Red lines showing impact 'coridors' where asteroids are likely to hit}

“We have discovered around 13,000 asteroids and around 500 of them have a chance of hitting Earth,” he said.

“We can now calculate where they could impact and the damage that would be caused so that we could get evacuation plans in order.”

“When an asteroid strikes one of the biggest problems is a tsunami. Britain is an island with lots of coastline, and lots of people living there so it is a risk.”

The new maps show a wide asteroid risk zone running through Europe, passing directly over Scandanavia, Germany, France and Spain.

The US is largely unaffected, although Florida and Louisiana could be hit. South Australia is particularly at risk with several asteroid paths crossing the Lake Gairdner National Park and heading up towards Queensland.

The asteroid impact probability distribution was also combined with the Earth population map to produce the global asteroid impact risk distribution which shows that south east Britain is one of the most at risk areas of the world.

Dr Hugh Lewis, Senior Lecturer in Aerospace Engineering, at the University of Southampton, added: “It’s very easy to be flippant because of the Hollywood effect but it is a real risk.

“When you look at global vulnerability Britain is at very high risk. You might think that is odd because we are a very small country but we have a high population density on the coastline so that means we are vulnerable to an impact in the Atlantic Ocean.

"Small asteroids are hitting the Earth all the time, and even if we don’t anything large, we are still likely to have tens of thousands of people dying in the next 85 years. It has a similar death toll to other natural disasters.

“This new software not only allows us to see where an impact is likely to happen but we also simulate what might happen if we tried to deflect it, such as by using a spacecraft to give it a slow push in space.

The last large asteroid to hit Earth was the Tunguska impact of 1908 which felled 80 million trees over an area of 830 square miles, with the energy of 1,000 atom bombs. Had that fallen in central London it is likely to have killed everyone within the M25.

The Chelyabinsk meteor which hit Russia in 2013 injured nearly 1,500 people.

The research was released to coincide with World Asteroid Day, which was co-founded by Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Dr Brian May to raise awareness of the importance of monitoring space rocks. It is backed by more than 100 scientists and astronauts including Astronomer Royal Martin Rees and Richard Dawkins.

Could German UFO files finally reveal whether aliens have visited Earth? Court forces government to release top secret documents

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3155085/Could-German...

Germany's parliament has been ordered to release confidential documents about UFOs after a lengthy legal battle.
The existence of the files was disputed as recently as 2008, but a UFO enthusiast discovered evidence to the contrary and pushed for their release.
News of the impending publication has been welcomed by UFO researchers, but some fear they may not be as exciting as hoped.
The German Supreme Administrative Court in Leipzig ordered the Bundestag to make the UFO files available.
In 2008, Dr Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany's Minister of the Interior denied that the German government had ever investigated UFOs, but in 2009, a UFO enthusiast named Robert Fleischer discovered a parliamentary department had been investigating extraterrestrial objects.

A German blogger named Frank Reitemeyer took the Bundestag to court over the secret reports and the dispute has only just been resolved,The Express reported.
No date for the release of information has yet been confirmed.

Researchers confirm: The Largest Pyramid in Mexico has been found
http://zonnews.com/news/450-researchers-confirm-the-largest-pyramid...

Another features which makes this “unique” pre-hispanic structure stand out are the seven platforms which integrate it and were specific spaces intended to serve as palaces, temples, housing and administrative units. It is a unique structure for various specific functions within the social, political, economic and religious structure, which is not repeated in any other archaeological site of the Mayan world stated researchers.

(A complete complex where the "inhabitants" ran everything from...)

More post announcement planning than pre announcement, but more signs from the UK government that they intend to suppress after the announcement:

WhatsApp, Snapchat and iMessage could be banned under new laws

http://metro.co.uk/2015/07/10/whatsapp-snapchat-and-imessage-could-...

You should make full use of WhatsApp, Snapchat and iMessage because you may not have them for much longer.
The popular apps could be banned under new laws as they use encrypted messages.
The government sees this as a potential security concern and home secretary Theresa May hopes to ban the types of messages with the controversial ‘snooper’s charter’, aka the Draft Communications Data Bill.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

British Military Should Focus on Drones, Spy Tech, Says Prime Minister David Cameron

http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/british-military-should-focus-on-dro...

Britain's defense forces should spend more of their budget on spy planes, drones and covert forces to fight extremist militants, Prime Minister David Cameron said today.

The government last week announced it would meet the minimum defense spending target set by NATO of two per cent of gross domestic product for the full five years of Cameron's Conservative administration, elected in May.

"I have tasked the defense and security chiefs to look specifically at how we do more to counter the threat posed by ISIL and Islamist extremism," Cameron said in a statement, referring to Islamic State (IS) militants, who have carved out large regions of control in Syria and Iraq.

Geographers offer advice on how to survive the earthquake predicted to obliterate the Pacific Northwest

• Cascadia 'megathrust' faultline is 1,000km-long from California to Canada
• It will clash with 700-square-mile plate in Pacific Ocean causing tsunami
• Only way to escape is on foot as roads will 'liquefy', geographers say 
• Start running when you hear dogs barking, they will be reacting to the sound of compressional waves which humans cannot hear
• Citizens will have 20 minutes to walk or run to higher ground
  

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3161264/Escape-foot-roads-l...

Scientists have outlined their tips on how to survive the earthquake that will hit the Pacific Northwest.
The killer quake along Cascadia, a fault line which runs from Cape Mendocino, California, to Vancouver Island, Canada, is 72 years overdue, according to peer-reviewed studies.
The 'Big One' will hit when Juan de Fuca, a 700-mile chunk of the Pacific Ocean, slides under Canada and America, causing the entire coastal region to sink at least six feet.
When - not if - it arrives, it is unlikely the people of coastal Oregon, Washington and California will be able to escape.
But if they want to try, there are a few tips they should keep in mind.
Run, don't drive, to higher ground, says Kevin Cupples, the city planner for the town of Seaside, Oregon, in an interview with the New Yorker.
The force of the quake will cause liquefaction, when solid ground acts like liquid, across vast swathes of the porous region.
In the areas that aren't 'liquefied', the highways will likely be crumpled by landslides, with 30,000 avalanches set to hit Seattle alone.
Citizens will have a 20-minute interval to climb to the highest altitude possible before the full force of the tsunami hits, scientists predict.
Their alert will be when dogs start barking.
The first sign the quake is coming will be a set of compressional waves, only audible by dogs. Then there will be the quake, then 20 minutes later, the tsunami.
Geographers estimate that many could survive just by walking - however, they need to be going at least 3.5mph.
If everyone ups their average speed from 2.5mph to 3.5mph, the death toll drops to 15,970. About 70 per cent of them would be in Washington, nearly 30 per cent in Oregon and only 4 per cent in California.

This could not be more pointed!

http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/07/15/what-sea-level-rise-look...

NASA’s ‘Planet X’ Files Leaked: NASA Knows Nibiru Is Coming (Jul 17)

http://www.inquisitr.com/2259891/nasas-planet-x-files-leaked-nasa-k...

Comment by Ryan X 1 hour ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-Lccf54JGE

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one

Annals of Seismology JULY 20, 2015 ISSUE

The Really Big One

An earthquake will destroy a sizable portion of the coastal Northwest. The question is when.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3179343/Failed-stars...

Failed stars have aurora that glow a million times brighter than the northern lights and could show the way to new planets

• Brown dwarf failed stars have been difficult to classify 
• Experts now believe they act more like supersized planets than thought 
• Discovery could help experts spot planets beyond Earth 

The so-called failed stars, which are difficult to detect and also remain hard to classify, are too massive to be planets but physicists from the Universities of Sheffield and Oxford have revealed that they host powerful auroras just like Earth.

The international team of researchers made the discovery by observing a brown dwarf 20 light years away using both radio and optical telescopes.  

Their findings provide further evidence that suggests these stars act more like supersized planets, and could help researchers find new planets beyond Earth.

So-called failed stars, which are difficult to detect and also remain hard to classify, host powerful aurora just like Earth, researchers have found.

Dr Stuart Littlefair, from the University of Sheffield's Department of Physics and Astronomy, said: 'Brown dwarfs span the gap between stars and planets and these results are yet more evidence that we need to think of brown dwarfs as beefed-up planets, rather than 'failed stars'.

'We already know that brown dwarfs have cloudy atmospheres - like planets - although the clouds in brown dwarfs are made of minerals that form rocks on Earth now we know brown dwarfs host powerful auroras too.'

He added: 'Sometimes the best thing about a scientific result is simply the thrill of discovering something exciting and cool. 

'The northern lights on Earth are one of the most spectacular and beautiful things you can see.

'I've always wanted to see them, but have never got the chance. 

'It's particularly ironic that I got to discover an auroral light show which is vastly more powerful and many light years away!'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3181719/How-stars-tr...

How stars travel the Milky Way: Map provides the first evidence of stellar migration in our galaxy

• Created using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III, it shows how a third of stars in our galaxy have changed orbit 
• Scientists studied 100,000 stars to reveal their motions, locations and compositions of stars over four years
• The map reveals how stars tend to migrate radially, moving closer or farther from the galactic center with time

Nearly a third of the stars in our own galaxy have dramatically changed their orbits.

This is according to a new map of the Milky Way that provides the first clear evidence of migration of stars throughout our galaxy.

The study could provide astronomers with a new understanding of how stars are formed and travel throughout the Milky Way.

This map of the Milky Way reveals how stellar orbits can change. It shows two pairs of stars (marked as red and blue) in which each pair started in the same orbit, and then one star in the pair changed orbits. The star marked as red has completed its move into a new orbit, while the star marked in blue is still moving. Nearly a third of the stars in our own galaxy are known to have changed their orbits

The map was created using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III (SDSS) which studied 100,000 stars over four years.

'We were able to measure the properties of nearly 70,000 stars in our galaxy for this particular study,' said Donald Schneider, an astronomy professor at Penn State University.

'This exercise can be described as galactic archaeology.

'These data reveal the locations, motions, and compositions of the stars, which provide insights into their formation and their history.'

'In our modern world, many people move far away from their birthplaces, sometimes halfway around the world,' said Michael Hayden of New Mexico State University (NMSU), the lead author of the new study.

'Now we're finding the same is true of stars in our galaxy. About 30 per cent of the stars in our galaxy have traveled a long way from where they were born.'

The study shows how stars tend to migrate radially, moving closer or farther from the galactic center with time. This map, which was not part of the study, charts 219 million stars in the Milky Way in an incredible new map, which is the largest of its kind ever produced

The key to creating and interpreting this new map is measuring the elements in the atmosphere of each star.

'From the chemical composition of a star, we can learn its ancestry and life history,' Hayden said.

The chemical information comes from spectra, detailed measurements of how much light the star gives off at different wavelengths.

Spectra show prominent lines that correspond to elements and compounds. Reading the spectral lines of a star can tell astronomers the chemicals the star is made of.

'Stellar spectra show us that the chemical makeup of our galaxy is constantly changing,' said Jon Holtzman, an astronomer at NMSU who was involved in the study.

'Stars create heavier elements in their cores, and when the stars die, those heavier elements go back into the gas from which the next stars form.'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/our-solar-system-may-have-had-a...

Hint hint another planets in our solar system, another BIG one, another one that zinged out into space and does not go round and round the Sun.

http://home.bt.com/news/science-news/dont-freak-out-but-scientists-...

Scientists think octopuses 'might be aliens' after DNA study

Their genetic code is so strange that researchers think they might be something else altogether.

Not to send you into a meltdown or anything but octopuses are basically ‘aliens’ – according to scientists.

Researchers have found a new map of the octopus genetic code that is so strange that it could be actually be an “alien”.

The first whole cephalopod genome sequence shows a striking level of complexity with 33,000 protein-coding genes identified – more than in a human.

Not only that, the octopus DNA is highly rearranged – like cards shuffled and reshuffled in a pack – containing numerous so-called “jumping genes” that can leap around the genome.

“The octopus appears to be utterly different from all other animals, even other molluscs, with its eight prehensile arms, its large brain and its clever problem-solving abilities,” said US researcher Dr Clifton Ragsdale, from the University of Chicago.

“The late British zoologist Martin Wells said the octopus is an alien. In this sense, then, our paper describes the first sequenced genome from an alien.”

The scientists sequenced the genome of the California two-spot octopus in a study published in the journal Nature.

They discovered unique genetic traits that are likely to have played a key role in the evolution of characteristics such as the complex nervous system and adaptive camouflage.

Analysis of 12 different tissues revealed hundreds of octopus-specific genes found in no other animal, many of them highly active in structures such as the brain, skin and suckers.

The scientists estimate that the two-spot octopus genome contains 2.7 billion base pairs – the chemical units of DNA – with long stretches of repeated sequences.

And although the genome is slightly smaller than a human’s, it is packed with more genes.

Reshuffling was a key characteristic of the creature’s genetic make-up. In most species, cohorts of certain genes tend to be close together on the double-helix DNA molecule.

A gene is a region of DNA that contains the coded instructions for making a protein.

In the octopus, however, there are no such groupings of genes with related functions. For instance, Hox genes – which control body plan development – cluster together in almost all animals but are scattered throughout the octopus genome.

It was as if the octopus genome had been “put into a blender and mixed”, said co-author Caroline Albertin, also from the University of Chicago.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3214101/Could-parts-...

Holiday hotspots could be devastated by a Mediterranean tsunami. Maps reveal 130 million lives at risk from once-a-century phenomenon

• Scientists modelled the effect of earthquakes off coasts of Sicily and Crete 
• Large tsunami waves would spread across the Mediterranean in minutes
• The say up to 1.5 sq miles (3.8sq km) of Crete would be left under the water
• Large areas of densely populated coastline would be hit by the waves

A large tsunami in the Mediterranean could engulf many popular holiday hotspots and threaten the lives of 130 million people living along the sea's busy coastlines, a new study has revealed.

Researchers examining the impact of earthquakes off the north coast of Africa have simulated the impact of the devastating waves one might trigger.

They found that if an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 hit off the coasts of eastern Sicily in Italy and southern Crete in Greece, it would leave large areas of the coastline under water.

The animation above shows how an earthquake off the coast of the Greek island of Crete would send a devastating tsunami out across the Mediterranean with little warning (Credit: Samaras et al/ Ocean Science)

The research suggests some of the most densely populated parts of coastline in the region, many of which are popular holiday destinations, would be hit by the huge waves.

Their model additionally found that almost 1.5 square miles (3.8 sq km) of Crete would be lost to the ocean while the steeper cliff faces of Sicily would mean just 0.2 square miles (0.5 sq km) would be lost.

The Greek islands, which are popular with tourists and the coastline of Peloponnese would be particularly badly hit. 

Researchers warn that while tsunamis in the Mediterranean are rare they tend to happen around once a century.

And they say larger earthquakes could trigger even more devastating waves, like the one that hit off the coast of Crete in 365AD with a magnitude of between 8 and 8.5.

The resulting tsunami destroyed ancient cities in Greece, Italy and Egypt, killing some 5,000 people in Alexandria alone.

More recently, an earthquake of magnitude 7 hit the Messina region in Italy in 1908, causing a tsunami that killed thousands, with waves exceeding 33ft (10 metres) in height.

Dr Achilleas Samaras, an engineer specialising in wave dynamics at the University of Bologna in Italy and lead author of the study, said: 'We wanted to find out how coastal areas would be affected by tsunamis in a region that is not only the most active in the Mediterranean in terms of seismicity and tectonic movements, but has also experienced numerous tsunami events in the past.

'The main gap in relevant knowledge in tsunami modelling is what happens when tsunami waves approach the nearshore and run inland.

'Although the simulated earthquake-induced tsunamis are not small, there has been a recorded history of significantly larger events, in terms of earthquake magnitude and mainshock areas, taking place in the region.

'Our simulations could be used to help public authorities and policy makers create a comprehensive database of tsunami scenarios in the Mediterranean, identify vulnerable coastal regions for each scenario, and properly plan their defence.'

The Mediterranean sits on the boundary where the African tectonic plate slides under the Eurasian plates.

The researchers studied the impact of an earthquake along the boundary between the African and Eursian plates that run under the Mediterranean Sea. They focused on quakes off the coast of Crete and Sicily, as can be seen in the map above, which shows the boundary of the plates

Is there a Planet X, a ‘massive perturber,’ hidden beyond Pluto?

"So then, how would such a big planet get way out there? Brown hypothesizes that, long ago, the planet formed closer to the sun, and might have been the core of what would have become a giant planet like Jupiter or Saturn. But then it could have been ejected toward the outer solar system through gravitational interactions with other giant planets."


"If this Planet X is out there, why can't we see it directly? Because it's very far away and commensurately faint. It could be at least 200 Astronomical Units from the sun -- meaning 200 times farther from the sun than is the Earth. These hypothetical planets, dwarf or otherwise, don't generate their own light, and can only be seen through the feeble reflected light of the sun."

https://twclark66.wordpress.com/2015/09/10/pope-francis-warns-of-he...

Pope Francis Warns of “Hellfire From Above” Ahead of U.S. Visit

September 08, 2015

VATICAN CITY – During a sermon at Saint Peter’s Square on Sunday, Pope Francis spoke of a “forthcoming event in which the earth will be consumed by hellfire from above” and asked Christians around the world to absolve themselves of sin in the days and weeks ahead.

In a statement released by the Vatican Tuesday morning, Pope Francis, who is scheduled to arrive in the United States on September 22nd, announced that he has been visited “on three occasions by heavenly beings” who, most recently, have warned of an “impending crisis” that could have dire consequences for life on earth.

The Pope is set to attend a meeting of the UN General Assembly on September 25th, at the United Nations building in New York where he will confer with world leaders, including President Barack Obama and Russian president Vladimir Putin, to discuss defensive options.

On Tuesday morning NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that he has made arrangements to attend the General Assembly. “I spoke with the Holy See and [UN] Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon via video conference Sunday evening,” Stoltenberg told the Associated Press. “NATO is working closely with our counterparts around the globe to explore every viable recourse available.”

Details surrounding the Vatican’s extraterrestrial visitors are sparse but a British military intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the situation, told The Guardian that “the entities were described as peaceful by nature.” However, the official said, their stance on the matter was passive in that “they maintain a policy of neutrality” in regards to interplanetary action by “other-worldly” forces.

Pope Francis is scheduled to attend a private meeting with President Obama at the White House on the morning of September 23rd. The Pope will visit three cities, including Washington, D.C., during his six-day visit to the United States. He is expected to address a number of topics including same-sex marriage and immigration.

Surprising summary of PX history, cover-up and effects on Earth, yet not without considerable misinformation and with no mention of ZT.

The Niburu Planet X System and Its Potential Impacts on Our Solar System

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-niburu-planet-x-system-and-its-pot...

Dawn (NASA Mission) Takes a Closer Look at Occator (Ceres Dwarf Planet's crater) 
September 9, 2015 

This image taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows Occator crater on Ceres, home to a collection of intriguing bright spots.

The bright spots are much brighter than the rest of Ceres' surface, and tend to appear overexposed in most images. This view is a composite of two images of Occator: one using a short exposure that captures the detail in the bright spots, and one where the background surface is captured at normal exposure.

The images were obtained by Dawn during the mission's High Altitude Mapping Orbit (HAMO) phase, from which the spacecraft imaged the surface at a resolution of about 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel.

Article:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA19889

Photo Gallery:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/index.php?search=Ceres

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=60&v=b3XjZEsaBNk

Advanced Ligo: Labs 'open their ears' to the cosmos

Labs in the US states of Washington and Louisiana began "listening" on Friday for the gravitational waves that are predicted to flow through the Earth when violent events occur in space.

The Advanced Ligo facilities have just completed a major upgrade.

Scientists believe this will now give them the sensitivity needed to pick up what should be a very subtle signal...

The Ligo labs first began hunting for gravitational waves in 2002. They were then switched off in 2010 to undergo their more than $200m upgrade.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34298363

White House Says President Obama and Vladimir Putin Will Meet Next Week

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/25/world/europe/white-house-to-annou...

(Putin is in New York for the U.N. General Assembly. And Chinese leader, Xi Jinping is over for a state visit - http://multimedia.scmp.com/xi-jinping-us-visit/

Dalai Lama in U.S. for 'Checkup' as World Leaders Gather at U.N. (Sep 24)

Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama was in the United States for a medical checkup on Thursday, and he had no plans to meet world leaders gathering in New York for the annual United Nations general assembly, officials at his office in India said.

The Nobel Peace Laureate is not ill, but was going to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, for a yearly health check-up, his secretary Tenzin Taklha said in an email.

China's President Xi Jinping is also in the United States, where he will make his U.N. debut as China's leader.

The Dalai Lama's trip also coincides with the visit of Pope Francis, who met with President Barack Obama and is scheduled to address the United Nations on Friday.

Source

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/09/24/uk-dalai-lama-usa-idUKKCN0...

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/john-boehner-stepping-down-oc...

Reports: Speaker John Boehner To Step Down In October

Speaker John Boehner plans to resign from Congress in late October, the New York Times reported on Friday.

Found an interesting video from UNICEF..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5e85kuqwQ0