"Колоссальный кальмар" (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni)

Thanks to the person who sent me this link.  Yes, I have seen it. In case you wonder what the description says:

"Russian scientists were able to videotape the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni).
Interviews with specialists of the Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography Ivan Istomin and Alexander Vagin: http: //polit.ru/news/2013/03/25/ps_co ..."

And you wonder why I have no wish to go into any ocean or sea?

Here is the Russian article -a very poor English translation follows:

Российским ученым удалось снять на видео колоссального кальмара

Кракен. Гравюра XIX века

Видео: Иван Истомин/ФГУП ВНИРО

В начале 2013 года мировые СМИ сообщили том, что японским ученым совместно с телеканалом Discovery впервые удалось снять на видео живого гигантского кальмара длиной около трех метров. Но оказывается, у российских ученых из Всероссийского научно-исследовательского института рыбного хозяйства и океанографии уже несколько лет хранится видеозапись глубоководного монстра, которого они встретили в водах Антарктики. Корреспондент «Полит.ру» встретился со специалистами института Иваном Истоминым и Александром Вагиным, чтобы узнать подробности.

При каких обстоятельствах вы встретились с этим существом?

Александр Вагин: Это произошло в январе 2008 года в море Дюрвиля недалеко от побережья Антарктиды. Мы работали на южнокорейском рыболовном судне в качестве международных наблюдателей АНТКОН (Комиссия по сохранению морских живых ресурсов Антарктики) во время промысла клыкача. Это крупная ценная глубоководная рыба, которая водится в антарктических морях и достигает в длину до двух метров. Ловят ее с помощью донного яруса. Это прочный синтетический  канат длиной несколько километров с грузами, к которому на поводцах крепятся крючки с кусками кальмара или небольшой рыбой в качестве наживки.

А. Вагин (слева) и И. Истомин (в центре) взвешивают пойманного клыкача

Иван Истомин: В тот день мы выбирали ярус, установленный на глубине около полутора километров. В какой-то момент к борту на крючке подошел крупный экземпляр клыкача, тело которого плотно опутал щупальцами огромный кальмар. Он выглядел в несколько раз крупнее своей жертвы и сначала был светлым, а затем сменил цвет на ярко-багровый, как подводная часть нашего судна. По счастливой случайности у меня с собой была камера, и я успел снять это существо. К тому же очень повезло с погодой – солнечные безветренные дни в этих краях бывают не так часто.

Как отреагировала команда? Наверное, не каждый день приходится сталкиваться с таким уловом.

А.В.: Матросы, среди которых были китайцы, вьетнамцы и индонезийцы, принялись громко кричать на непонятных языках, махать баграми и всячески «спасать» клыкача. Когда им удалось подцепить рыбу, кальмар отпустил свою добычу и погрузился в воду на несколько метров. Затем он снова всплыл, высунув из воды часть плавника. Цвет его в это время стал более блеклым. После чего кальмар развернулся и начал медленно погружаться, совершая так называемые ундулирующие движения плавником, которые прекрасно видно на видеозаписи.

Вам удалось определить размеры кальмара?

Щупальце колоссального кальмара из желудка клыкача. Фото Ивана Истомина

А.В.: Когда рыбу подняли на палубу, мы ее внимательно изучили. Это оказался действительно крупный экземпляр длиной 178 сантиметров и весом 65 килограммов. Сопоставив размеры рыбы и кальмара на фотографии, мы определили, что его мантия имеет около четырех метров в длину и не менее полуметра в диаметре. Общая длина, судя по всему, составляла более пяти метров. Обычно у кальмаров четыре пары коротких щупалец-рук и одна пара длинных ловчих. У нашего экземпляра длинные щупальца были оторваны. Скорее всего, он потерял их в схватке с хищником. До этого его общий размер мог достигать 8-10 метров.

Да, действительно гигантский. Не так давно у берегов Японии запечатлели на камеру кальмара длиной всего 3 метра.

И.И.: Тут стоит сразу пояснить, что в природе разделяют два рода крупных моллюсков: Гигантские кальмары (Architeuthis) и Колоссальные кальмары с единственным представителем (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni). Тот экземпляр, который японцы сняли в естественной среде обитания, относился к первому роду, а наш - ко второму. На самом деле колоссальные кальмары довольно хорошо изучены, но, похоже, что этот был крупнее многих, исследованных ранее.
А что при этом было с рыбой? Кальмар нанес ей какие-то повреждения?

Следы, оставленные кальмаром на клыкаче (Dissostichus mawsoni). Фото Ивана Истомина

А.В.: Все тело клыкача было покрыто следами присосок, самые большие из которых достигали трех сантиметров в диаметре. У спинного плавника вырван кусок мяса килограмма на два – три до позвоночника. При этом рыба была еще жива.

Не жалеете, что не удалось поймать самого кальмара?

И.И.: Капитан корейского судна не видел этот эпизод, и потом сильно ругался, что команда занялась спасением улова и не вытащила кальмара на палубу. С одной стороны, нам как ученым было бы интересно изучить это существо более подробно. Но тогда бы мы не получили замечательных кадров его движения. Так что мы больше жалеем, что не удалось понаблюдать за кальмаром подольше.

Вы регулярно принимаете участие в морских экспедициях, в том числе работаете на рыболовных судах. Известны ли вам другие случаи встречи с огромными кальмарами?

Клюв кальмара, извлеченный из желудка клыкача. Фото Ивана Истомина

 

А.В.: Нападение больших кальмаров на попавшихся на крючок клыкачей - явление не редкое. В некоторых районах Антарктики, где проводится промысел, до 10% пойманных рыб носят следы присосок и ран, нанесенных «клювом» кальмара. Но обычно они отпускают свою жертву еще в глубине, поэтому встречи именно с живыми гигантами очень редки. Но благодаря особенностям биологии кальмара ученые имеют возможность изучать их останки. Дело в том, что эти существа моноцикличные. То есть, достигнув определенного возраста, они приносят потомство и вскоре после этого погибают. После этого их либо выбрасывает на берег, либо они становятся пищей различных морских хищников. Мы часто находили в желудке того же клыкача щупальца длиной до двух метров или куски мантии толщиной в несколько сантиметров.

И.И.: Другими словами, мертвые кальмары изучены достаточно хорошо. А вот видеть живого кальмара-гиганта, а тем более снимать его на видео в таких хороших погодных условиях удается исключительно редко! Хотя среди моряков всегда ходит много историй.

И о каких экземплярах вам приходилось слышать?

Фрагмент щупальца кальмара. Фото Ивана Истомина

И.И.: Как известно, самый крупный экземпляр гигантского кальмара Architeuthis был найден на берегу Новой Зеландии. Его длина вместе с ловчими щупальцами составила 17,4 метра. Среди рыбаков приходится слышать истории о том, как вместе с пойманной рыбой поднимали настоящих чудовищ длиной свыше двух десятков метров. Сложно судить, правда это, или всего лишь морские небылицы. Но достоверно известно, что на шкурах кашалотов, которые активно потребляют кальмаров в пищу, находили отметины от присосок диаметром несколько десятков сантиметров. Если учесть, что наш экземпляр при длине мантии около пяти метров имел трехсантиметровые присоски, эти истории не кажутся слишком фантастическими. Как бы долго мы ни изучали океан, он по-прежнему будет скрывать от нас свои тайны.

Справка:

Гигантские и колоссальные кальмары являются не только самыми большими на планете беспозвоночными, но и занимают второе после кашалота место среди крупнейших хищников. Многие специалисты считают, что именно эти существа породили легенды о морском монстре Кракене, которые впервые появились в исландском фольклоре. Если колоссальный кальмар Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni встречается только в южных морях у побережья Антарктиды, гигантские кальмары рода Architeuthis обитают практически по всему мировому океану. До недавнего времени предполагалось, что род гигантских кальмаров насчитывает, по крайней мере, 8 видов. Но последние генетические исследования, опубликованные в журнале Proceedings of the Royal Society, показали, что это не так. Ученые проанализировали ДНК 43 особей гигантского кальмара, найденных в разных точках планеты. Различия в геноме были столь незначительны, что все особи оказались принадлежащими к одному виду.
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 Russian scientists have been able to remove the video colossal squidKraken. The engraving of the XIX century
 

Video: Ivan Istomin / FSUE VNIRO

In early 2013, world media reported that Japanese scientists in collaboration with Discovery Channel for the first time managed to take video of a living giant squid length of about three meters. But it turns out that Russian scientists from the All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography for several years stored deep-video monster, whom they met in Antarctic waters. The correspondent of "Polit.ru" met with the experts of the Institute Ivan Istomin and Alexander Vagin to find out more.

Under what circumstances did you meet with this creature?

Alexander Vagin: It happened in January 2008, the D'Urville Sea off the coast of Antarctica. We worked on the South Korean fishing vessel as international observers ANTKON (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources) during the toothfish fishery. It is a large valuable deep-water fish, which is found in Antarctic seas and reaches a length of up to two meters. Catch it with the bottom-line. This durable synthetic rope length of several kilometers with loads to which the hooks are attached to the streamer line with pieces of squid or small fish as bait.

A. Vagin (left) and Ivan Istomin (center) weighed toothfish

Ivan Istomin: The day we chose the lines set at a depth of about six kilometers. At some point on the hook to the side came close copy of toothfish, whose body tightly entangled huge squid tentacles. He appeared several times larger than their victim, and was at first light, and then change the color to bright red as the underwater part of our ship. By happy coincidence I had a camera with me and I had to remove this thing. Also very lucky with the weather - sunny windless days in these parts are not so often.

As a team reacted? Probably not every day have to face such a catch.

A .: The sailors, among whom were Chinese, Vietnamese and Indonesians began to shout loudly in a strange language, swing hooks in every way to "save" the toothfish. When they were able to pick up the fish, squid released its prey and plunged into the water for a few meters. Then he came up again, sticking out of the water of the fin. Colour it at this time has become more faint. Then the squid turned and slowly began to sink, making the so-called fin undulating movement, which is perfectly visible in the video.

You were able to determine the size of the squid?

Colossal squid tentacle of toothfish stomach. Photo by Ivan Istomin

A .: When the fish on deck, we have carefully studied it. It was a really big specimen length of 178 centimeters and weighing 65 kilograms. Comparing the size of the fish and squid in the photo, we determined that it has the mantle of about four meters in length and not less than half a meter in diameter. Overall length, apparently, was more than five meters. Usually, squid tentacles, four pairs of short-hand and a pair of long hunting. In our sample have been separated long tentacles. Most likely, he lost them in a fight with a predator. Before that its overall size could reach 8-10 meters.

Yes, really huge. Not so long ago off the coast of Japan captured on camera squid length of 3 meters.

I.I .: Here is immediately clear that the nature shared by two kinds of large clams: Giant squid (Architeuthis) and colossal squid with a single representative (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni). The one instance that the Japanese took off in their natural habitat, belong to the first race, and our - to the second. In fact colossal squid is quite well understood, but it seems that this was bigger than many previously studied.

And what if this was the fish? Kalmar caused her any damage?The traces left by squid for toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni). Photo by Ivan Istomin

A .: All toothfish body was covered with traces of suckers, the largest of which reaches three centimeters in diameter. In the dorsal fin torn piece of meat kilogram two - to three of the spine. At the same time the fish was still alive.

Do you regret that it was not possible to catch the most squid?

I.I .: Captain Korean vessel had not seen the episode, and then strongly criticized that the rescue team took the catch and pulled the squid on the deck. On the one hand, we as a scientist would be interesting to study this creature in detail. But then we did not get great shots of his movement. So we are sorry that it was not possible to observe squid longer.You regularly participate in marine expeditions, including work on fishing vessels. Are you aware of other instances of meeting with huge squid?

The beak of the squid, extracted from the stomach of toothfish. Photo by Ivan Istomin
A .: The attack on the big squid hooked toothfish - not a rare phenomenon. In some areas of Antarctica where fishing is carried out, up to 10% of fish caught are traces of suckers and the wounds inflicted by "beak" squid. But usually they let their prey even in the depths, so the meeting was living giants are very rare. However, due to the peculiarities of biology of squid, scientists are able to study their remains. The fact that these creatures are monocyclic. That is, having reached a certain age, they produce offspring, and die shortly thereafter. After that they were either washed ashore or they become food of various marine predators. We often found in the stomach of the same toothfish tentacles up to two meters or pieces of mantle thickness of a few centimeters. 
I.I .: In other words, the dead squid studied well enough. But to see a live giant squid, much less shoot it on video in such good weather conditions it is possible only rarely! Although among the sailors always been a lot of stories.And about some instances have you heard?Detail of squid tentacles. Photo by Ivan Istomin

I.I .: As you know, the largest giant squid Architeuthis instance was found on the shores of New Zealand. Its length, along with hunting tentacles was 17.4 meters. Among the fishermen hear stories about how, together with the caught fish raised a monster longer than two dozen meters. It is difficult to judge whether it's true or only fiction sea. But it is known that sperm whales on the skins, which are actively consume squid as food, they found the marks of suction cups diameter of several tens of centimeters. If we consider that our sample with a length of about five meters mantle had three-centimeter sucker, these stories do not seem too fantastic. No matter how long we may have studied the ocean, it will continue to hide from us its secrets.

Reference:Giant and colossal squid are not only the largest invertebrate on the planet, but in second place after the sperm whale among the largest predators. Many experts believe that these creatures spawned legends of sea monster Kraken, which first appeared in Icelandic folklore. If Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni colossal squid is found only in the southern seas off the coast of Antarctica, giant squid Architeuthis genus are found almost all over the world's oceans. Until recently it was assumed that the genus of giant squid has at least 8 species. But recent genetic research, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society, showed that it is not. The scientists analyzed the DNA of 43 species of giant squid found in different parts of the planet. Differences in the genome were so insignificant that all individuals turned out to belong to the same species.

NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovers Bigger, Older Cousin to Earth

This artist's concept compares Earth (left) to the new planet, called Kepler-452b, which is about 60 percent larger in diameter.

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle

This size and scale of the Kepler-452 system compared alongside the Kepler-186 system and the solar system. Kepler-186 is a miniature solar system that would fit entirely inside the orbit of Mercury.

Credits: NASA/JPL-CalTech/R. Hurt

There are 4,696 planet candidates now known with the release of the seventh Kepler planet candidate catalog - an increase of 521 since the release of the previous catalog in January 2015.

Credits: NASA/W. Stenzel

Since Kepler launched in 2009, twelve planets less than twice the size of Earth have been discovered in the habitable zones of their stars.

Credits: NASA/N. Batalha and W. Stenzel

This artist's concept depicts one possible appearance of the planet Kepler-452b, the first near-Earth-size world to be found in the habitable zone of star that is similar to our sun.

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle

 

NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed the first near-Earth-size planet in the “habitable zone” around a sun-like star. This discovery and the introduction of 11 other new small habitable zone candidate planets mark another milestone in the journey to finding another “Earth.”

The newly discovered Kepler-452b is the smallest planet to date discovered orbiting in the habitable zone -- the area around a star where liquid water could pool on the surface of an orbiting planet -- of a G2-type star, like our sun. The confirmation of Kepler-452b brings the total number of confirmed planets to 1,030.

"On the 20th anniversary year of the discovery that proved other suns host planets, the Kepler exoplanet explorer has discovered a planet and star which most closely resemble the Earth and our Sun," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “This exciting result brings us one step closer to finding an Earth 2.0."

Kepler-452b is 60 percent larger in diameter than Earth and is considered a super-Earth-size planet. While its mass and composition are not yet determined, previous research suggests that planets the size of Kepler-452b have a good chance of being rocky.

While Kepler-452b is larger than Earth, its 385-day orbit is only 5 percent longer. The planet is 5 percent farther from its parent star Kepler-452 than Earth is from the Sun. Kepler-452 is 6 billion years old, 1.5 billion years older than our sun, has the same temperature, and is 20 percent brighter and has a diameter 10 percent larger.

“We can think of Kepler-452b as an older, bigger cousin to Earth, providing an opportunity to understand and reflect upon Earth’s evolving environment," said Jon Jenkins, Kepler data analysis lead at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, who led the team that discovered Kepler-452b. "It’s awe-inspiring to consider that this planet has spent 6 billion years in the habitable zone of its star; longer than Earth. That’s substantial opportunity for life to arise, should all the necessary ingredients and conditions for life exist on this planet.”

To help confirm the finding and better determine the properties of the Kepler-452 system, the team conducted ground-based observations at the University of Texas at Austin's McDonald Observatory, the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory on Mt. Hopkins, Arizona, and the W. M. Keck Observatory atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii. These measurements were key for the researchers to confirm the planetary nature of Kepler-452b, to refine the size and brightness of its host star and to better pin down the size of the planet and its orbit.

The Kepler-452 system is located 1,400 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. The research paper reporting this finding has been accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal.

In addition to confirming Kepler-452b, the Kepler team has increased the number of new exoplanet candidates by 521 from their analysis of observations conducted from May 2009 to May 2013, raising the number of planet candidates detected by the Kepler mission to 4,696. Candidates require follow-up observations and analysis to verify they are actual planets.

Twelve of the new planet candidates have diameters between one to two times that of Earth, and orbit in their star's habitable zone. Of these, nine orbit stars that are similar to our sun in size and temperature.

“We've been able to fully automate our process of identifying planet candidates, which means we can finally assess every transit signal in the entire Kepler dataset quickly and uniformly,” said Jeff Coughlin, Kepler scientist at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, who led the analysis of a new candidate catalog. “This gives astronomers a statistically sound population of planet candidates to accurately determine the number of small, possibly rocky planets like Earth in our Milky Way galaxy.”

These findings, presented in the seventh Kepler Candidate Catalog, will be submitted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. These findings are derived from data publically available on the NASA Exoplanet Archive.

Scientists now are producing the last catalog based on the original Kepler mission’s four-year data set. The final analysis will be conducted using sophisticated software that is increasingly sensitive to the tiny telltale signatures of Earth-size planets.

Ames manages the Kepler and K2 missions for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, managed Kepler mission development. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation operates the flight system with support from the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

For more information about the Kepler mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/kepler

NASA Unveiling New Exoplanet Discovery from Kepler Telescope Today

NASA will unveil a potentially exciting discovery on Thursday (July 23) regarding the search for alien planets.

The mission of the Kepler Space Telescope is to identify and characterize Earth-size planets in the habitable zones of nearby stars. [See how NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft works in this Space.com infographic]
Credit: Karl Tate, SPACE.com contributor

View full size image

In a teleonference at 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT) tomorrow, the space agency will announce new findings made by the planet-hunting Kepler Space Telescope.

You can tune in to the announcement live via an online audio feed provided by NASA. A statement from NASA announcing the teleconference did not provide any additional details as to what new information will be unveiled.


"Exoplanets, especially small Earth-size worlds, belonged within the realm of science fiction just 21 years ago," according to the NASA statement. "Today, and thousands of discoveries later, astronomers are on the cusp of finding something people have dreamed about for thousands of years -- another Earth."

Participants in the teleconference will be John Grunsfeld, an associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington; Jon Jenkins, Kepler data analysis lead at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California; Jeff Coughlin, a Kepler research scientist at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California; and Didier Queloz, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.


The $600 million Kepler Space Telescope launched in 2009 with the goal of studying the diversity of planet systems in the Milky Way galaxy. In addition, the mission aimed to find rocky, Earth-like planets orbiting their parent stars at a distance where liquid water could form (the so-called "habitable zone," or "Goldilocks zone").

The telescope detects planets with the so-called "transit" method: When a planet passes in front of its parent star, partially blocking its light, Kepler observes the tiny dip in the star's brightness. Kepler has detected 4,661 planet candidates, of which 1,028 have been confirmed.

In May 2013, Kepler ended the first phase of its mission when the second of four "reaction wheels" failed on the spacecraft. The reaction wheels are devices resembling a gyroscope that maintain Kepler's position in space.

The $600 million Kepler Space Telescope launched in 2009 with the goal of studying the diversity of planet systems in the Milky Way galaxy. In addition, the mission aimed to find rocky, Earth-like planets orbiting their parent stars at a distance where liquid water could form (the so-called "habitable zone," or "Goldilocks zone").


The telescope detects planets with the so-called "transit" method: When a planet passes in front of its parent star, partially blocking its light, Kepler observes the tiny dip in the star's brightness. Kepler has detected 4,661 planet candidates, of which 1,028 have been confirmed.

In May 2013, Kepler ended the first phase of its mission when the second of four "reaction wheels" failed on the spacecraft. The reaction wheels are devices resembling a gyroscope that maintain Kepler's position in space.

Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield.Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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Astronomers have confirmed more than 800 planets beyond our own solar system, and the discoveries keep rolling in.

DOCUMENTARY 2015 | UFO DOCUMENTARY 2015 | The True Story of Travis Walton

believe It Or Not -Sharks IN A Volcano!

Seriously.  Sharks IN a volcano.  This is incredible and, as the man says, throws up many, many questions.

Do You REALLY Want To Challenge Fox Hunting In The UK -Then Read This!

The Red Paper

The research took almost 40 years on some aspects (starting in 1977) and if there is one book I have to hold up and momentarily get an ego over it is this one. Wolves, foxes -including arctic foxes- Jackals and coyotes in the UK. Many exotics just released to hunt or simply dumped/escapees.

 The history of foxes in the UK and how they were about to become extinct (there may be no such thing as a true "British fox" now) but were imported in their thousands each year "for sport" -even I sat dumbfounded when I made certain discoveries such as stabling foxes, what "bagging a fox" REALLY meant and more.

One naturalist of 60 years read it and called it "The most explosive book on British wildlife ever" and yet, not a single copy has ever sold.

And my old colleagues at the British Naturalist Association....I like to call them "the opposition" now.


 
THE RED PAPER
A4 format
 Paperback,
202 Pages
Many illustrations and photographs

Price: £20.00

Ships in 3-5 business days.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper/the-red-papercanines-vol1/paperback/product-20492038.html 

 

 

Up-dated 2011 edition includes section on sarcoptic mange in foxes and treatment plus a list of wildlife sanctuaries and rescue centres in the UK. By the 1700s the British fox was on the verge of extinction and about to follow the bear and wolf having been hunted for sport for centuries. The answer was to import thousands of foxes per year for sport. But foxes kept dying out so jackals were tried. Some were caught, some escaped. Even wolves and coyote were released for hunting. 

 

The summation of decades of work (1977-2011 and still ongoing) and research reveals the damnable lie of "pest control" hunting but also reveals the cruelty the animals were subject to and how private menageries as well as travelling shows helped provide the British and Irish countryside with some incredible events. 

 

The Girt Dog of Ennerdale is also dealt with in detail

So, WHICH of the "Dark Ages" do you think the Church was behind?

 

 I note a few "there was a reason they called it the 'Dark Ages'" items going around Face Book -all accompanied by images of Inquisitors going about their very unholy business.  Yes, the Church did it's part but that was a minute part -but it seems people love church-bashing and blaming it for every historical bit of badness.

There were other reasons and I've mentioned these in my books and other articles over the last 25-30 years (it may be longer but I'm not keeping count!).  For instance, the Italian historian Flavius Cassiodorus wrote about conditions that he experienced during the year AD 536:

"The Sun...seems to have lost its wonted light, and appears of a bluish colour. We marvel to see no shadows of our bodies at noon, to feel the mighty vigour of the Sun's heat wasted into feebleness, and the phenomena which accompany an eclipse prolonged through almost a whole year. We have had a summer without heat. The crops have been chilled by north winds, [and] the rain is denied."

And he was not alone in writing about this:

Procopius : "...during this year a most dread portent took place. For the Sun gave forth its light without brightness...and it seemed exceedingly like the Sun in eclipse, for the beams it shed were not clear."

Lydus : "The Sun became dim...for nearly the whole year...so that the fruits were killed at an unseasonable time."

Michael the Syrian : "The Sun became dark and its darkness lasted for eighteen months. Each day it shone for about four hours, and still this light was only a feeble shadow...the fruits did not ripen and the wine tasted like sour grapes."

In China it was reported that  "the stars were lost from view for three months"

In accounts of "ancient UFO sightings" you will find a number referring to fiery discs and that this was "at the time of the great plague".  The Plague of Justinian, as it was called by scholars.  The Plague got its name from the Byzantine Emperor of the time, Justinian, and it is reported to have begun somewhere in central Asia, spread across into Egypt before making its way into Europe. According to some accounts,the Plague of Justinian, was as bad as the Black Death which ravaged Europe in the Middle Ages.

No one was safe from the plague, the famine or the extreme -scientists, writers or others.  It really was a "dark age" -blame the Church for a lot but not this.  As we see, Flavius was writing in the 6th century. And the twelfth century BC is associated with the "Greek Dark Ages" and looking at historical records, experts have estimated that some forty (40) cities throughout North Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia were devastated and even disappeared at  about the same time due to a series of catastrophes.Those are great cities we know of.

Luckily, a very interesting article by Greg Bryant* has been preserved on the internet -see, it is good for some things.  In this article, Bryant deals with the subject in much more detail and I really do recommend that you read it.

People seem to be confusing historical periods because The Holy Inquisition and so on was at a much later date -starting in the 12th century A.D..
 
And with all the phenomena reported back in the early dark ages I totally agree with the theory that a comet and comet tail -that many believe the Earth passed through (see Professors Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe's excellent book Diseases From Space) or asteroid breaking up was behind a great deal of those troubled times. 

I have mentioned over the years that a lot of things we used to know has been lost -pre-Viking era visitors using a known and charted route to what is now the Southern United States.  Roman statuette found in Arizona, Pineapple depicted on the wall of a Pompeiian home and much more.  Coastal cities and island cities we may consider legends/myths -if we have even heard of them- were lost to the sea in catastrophes.  The " Amazon"  was once home to a huge population before Europeans arrived and spread disease.

Above all else, though, we need to get our time periods right.
 
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* The Dark Ages: Were They Darker Than We Imagined?  Bryant, Greg, Universe, September, 1999   http://gchbryant.tripod.com/Articles/darkages0999.htm

Alien Life On Philae Comet, Scientists Say

 

I'm sorry but this is quite explosive but it just gets a short Yahoo news item!  Prof. Wickramasinghe is no new, clean shaven fella out to make a name for himself.   Along with Sir Fred Hoyle he wrote the excellent Diseases From Space (1979),  Evolution From Space (1981) and Life On Mars?  (1997) along with many other books.

How ridiculous that organisations who send probes out into space to "learn" bicker over money and decide not to equip probes with something that might just show us that there is 100% "life out there!"

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Evidence of alien life is "unequivocal" on the comet carrying the Philae probe through space, two leading astronomers have said.

The experts say the most likely explanation for certain features of the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet, such as its organic-rich black crust, is the presence of living organisms beneath an icy surface.
Rosetta, the European spacecraft orbiting the comet, is also said to have picked up strange "clusters" of organic material that resemble viral particles.

But neither Rosetta nor its lander probe, Philae, are equipped to search for direct evidence of life after a proposal to include this in the mission was allegedly dismissed.

Astronomer and astrobiologist Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe, who was involved in planning for the mission 15 years ago, said: "I wanted to include a very inexpensive life-detection experiment. At the time it was thought this was a bizarre proposition."

He and colleague Dr Max Wallis, from the University of Cardiff, believe 67P and other comets like it could provide homes for living microbes similar to the "extremophiles" that inhabit the most inhospitable regions of the Earth.

They say comets may have helped to sow the seeds of life on Earth and possibly other planets such as Mars early in the solar system's existence.

Philae failed to attach itself to the surface of Comet 67P after being dropped by mothership Rosetta in November, and bounced several times before landing in the shade.

After being forced into hibernation by the lack of sunlight reaching its solar panels, scientists were euphoric when it began "waking up" as the comet raced towards the sun. It is currently about 176.7 million miles from Earth and travelling at more than 73,000 mph.

Computer simulations have suggested microbes could inhabit the comet's watery regions.

It has a black hydrocarbon crust overlaying ice, smooth icy "seas", and flat-bottomed craters containing "lakes" of re-frozen water overlain with organic debris.

Prof Wickramasinghe said: "What we're saying is that data coming from the comet seems to unequivocally, in my opinion, point to micro-organisms being involved in the formation of the icy structures, the preponderance of aromatic hydrocarbons, and the very dark surface.

"These are not easily explained in terms of pre-biotic chemistry.

"The dark material is being constantly replenished as it is boiled off by heat from the Sun. Something must be doing that at a fairly prolific rate."

Another tantalising find was the discovery of organic "particle clusters" by Rosetta in the gases surrounding the comet, which resembled viral particles collected from the Earth's upper atmosphere.

"They might be viral particles," said Prof Wickramasinghe.

"The current estimate for the number of extra-solar planets in the galaxy is 140 billion plus. Planets that can harbour life are really quite abundant in the galaxy, and the next neighbouring system to us is only spitting distance away. I think it's inevitable that life is going to be a cosmic phenomenon.

"Five hundred years ago it was a struggle to have people accept that the Earth was not the centre of the universe. After that revolution our thinking has remained Earth-centred in relation to life and biology.

"It's deeply ingrained in our scientific culture and it will take a lot of evidence to kick it over."

You HAVE Been Blocked

I am referring to Michael Teal who became a member on the AOP site and has not TWICE tried spamming by telling people to contact him about "REAL" paranormal and stuff.  I'm told he has done this elsewhere.

Moronic spamming achieves -nothing.

I might normally ask why he finds factual reporting, as on AOP, not to be discussing "REAL" paranormal and Bigfoot but to be honest if you do this kind of spamming once it is removed.  Twice -and actually writing that it is you "again" -banned/blocked.

Jesus Christ Was Not Crucified – Vatican In Awe

We had, a few months back, the revellation that an early Bible stated God (the Christian god), like other gods, had a wife.  No one has really seen the collapse of civilisation....well, not in the way some might expect.

Now, if genuine and there seems no reason to call it untrue yet, we are told that Jesus was NOT crucified.  I leave the arguing over that to the more religious minded -and expert! It would be interesting to see what Western scholars make of this.
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1500 Year Old Bible Claims Jesus Christ Was Not Crucified – Vatican In Awe

Much to the dismay of the Vatican, an approx. 1500-2000 year old bible was found in Turkey, in the Ethnography Museum of Ankara. Discovered and kept secret in the year 2000, the book contains the Gospel of Barnabas – a disciple of Christ – which shows that Jesus was not crucified, nor was he the son of God, but a Prophet.

The book also calls Apostle Paul “The Impostor”. The book also claims that Jesus ascended to heaven alive, and that Judas Iscariot was crucified in his place.

A report by The National Turk says that the Bible was seized from a gang of smugglers in a Mediterranean-area operation.

The report states the gang was charged with smuggling antiquities, illegal excavations, and the possession of explosives. The books itself is valued as high as 40 Million Turkish Liras (approx. 28 mil. Dollars). Man, where is the Thieves Guild, when you need them?

Authenticity

According to reports, experts and religious authorities in Tehram insist that the book is original. The book itself is written with gold lettering, onto loosely-tied leather in Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ.

The text maintains a vision similar to Islam, contradicting the New Testament's teachings of Christianity. Jesus also foresees the coming of the Prophet Muhammad, who would found Islam 700 years later.

It is believed that, during the Council of Nicea, the Catholic Church hand-picked the gospels that form the Bible as we know it today; omitting the Gospel of Barnabas (among many others) in favor of the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Many biblical texts have begun to surface over time, including those of the Dead Sea and Gnostic Gospels; but this book especially, seems to worry the Vatican.

The Catholic Church wants in

What does this mean to Christian-derived religions and their followers? Quite a tight spot. The Vatican has asked Turkish authorities to let them examine the contents of the book within the Church. Now that the book has been found, will they come to accept the it and its evidence? Will they deny it altogether? Call it a “Muslim lie”, as did the “Truth” Magazine, in 2000?

To many, this book is a beacon of hope, that believers soon realize that the object of their adoration is arbitrary; and that all text, especially religious text, is subject to interpretation.

What does this mean to atheists/agnostics/secular thinkers? Is the text real? Fake? Does it matter?

Hopefully, this news inspires the religious to ask questions, instead of pointing fingers or believing anything blindly.