First Glimpse of Extrasolar Atmosphere Detected

Two separate teams of scientists reported Wednesday the first-ever detection from Earth of the atmosphere of planets outside our solar system. Taken together, the studies open a new frontier in the study of exoplanets, hard-to-detect celestial bodies circling stars beyond our own solar system.

Barely 300 exoplanets — some of which may have conditions similar to those that gave rise to life on Earth — have been identified so far, though astronomers assume that far more are waiting to be discovered.

Up to now, virtually everything known about the atmosphere of exoplanets has come from data collected by the space-based Spitzer infrared telescope.

Mistery of Viking Steel Imported From Afghanistan

Boffins at the UK’s famous National Physical Laboratory (NPL) - birthplace of the Dambusters’ bouncing bomb and perhaps the internet - say they have used an electron microscope to analyse Viking swords. In a surprise twist, it turns out that the old-time Scandinavian pests, many of whom moved to England to become our ancestors, actually imported their best steel from Afghanistan.

“Sword making in Viking times was important work,” says Dr Alan Williams, a top archaeometallurgist at the Wallace Collection, a London-based museum of objets d’art which has a massive array of old arms and armour.

Mary Reeser’s Strange Death

The Legend:

The last time 67-year-old widow Mrs. Mary Reeser was seen alive was on July 1, 1951. Her son, Dr. Richard Reeser, and her landlady, Mrs. Pansy M. Carpenter, who had been visiting said goodnight at about 9:00 pm and left Mrs. Reeser sitting in her easy chair in her apartment in St.

Petersburg, Florida.

The first sign of trouble was at 5:00 am. Mrs. Carpenter was awakened by the smell of smoke and, assuming it was a water pump in the garage that had been overheating, she turned the pump off and went back to sleep. Read more …

Video Marketing Evil: It Tells the Drama of the “Hood” and its Daily Struggle for Survival

The powerful political and sexual images of MTV have captivated a generation. It tells the drama of the “hood” and its daily struggle for survival. Yet it’s a multimillion-dollar music industry. Read more …

Loch Ness Mystery Noise ‘Unsolved’

Residents on the shores of Loch Ness are having their sleep disturbed by a mystery humming noise similar to that which sparked a spate of calls to a council in Suffolk.

Mikko Takala, who lives in a cottage overlooking the loch near Drumnadrochit where he runs a webcam site tracking the elusive Loch Ness Monster, has been having sleepless nights for weeks.

His mother, who lives with him, and a near neighbour have also been woken in the wee sma’ hours by the same strange humming noise, which one blue blooded Suffolk resident, Lord Philips of Sudbury, said could be mistaken for a spacecraft landing. Read more …

Ripper ‘Claimed Earlier Victims’

Submitted by Waspie Dwarf: Jack the Ripper may have killed his first victim 25 years earlier than previously thought, a retired murder detective has claimed in a new book.

It is thought that Jack the Ripper killed and mutilated at least five prostitutes in the East End between August and November 1888. But Trevor Marriott says he may have struck in 1863 and 1872.

Mr Marriott will be presenting his findings at the Docklands Museum which is hosting an exhibition on the killer.

Bodies unattended: The body of 28-year-old prostitute Emma Jackson was found in a brothel in St Giles, central London, in April 1863.

She had five wounds to the throat and had not been robbed. The case was never solved.

Mr Marriott also uncovered a second case he believes may have been committed by the Ripper. Nine years after the Jackson murder, on Christmas Day 1872, Harriet Buswell was found with her throat slit at her lodgings in nearby Great Coram Street, after returning home the previous evening with a male guest. Both cases remain unsolved. Read more …

Ness ‘Hum’ Saga is a Global Issue

The loch ness humming noise mystery has gone global. After our story last week on the unexplained phenomenon, the Highland News website was inundated with hits.

And an American scientist has revealed he has been carrying out international research into the strange noise after similar reports from around the world.

Our story triggered an immediate response from Kevin Barber in Mount Vernon, Washington, who endures the same problem highlighted by Loch Ness webcam master Mikko Takala. He now claims there is another Loch Ness mystery to solve.Mr Barber told the Highland News:

“I see these types of articles getting more attention these days, as they should. I am also a hum sufferer here in the USA. Read more …