A dentist wants to clone John Lennon from his rotten tooth
All you need is DNA. A Canadian dentist says he's working with "American scientists" to clone John Lennon from a rotten molar the Beatles singer had extracted in the 1960s.
According to the press release (warning: it autoplays a weird parody song, "Love Me Tooth") dentist Michael Zuk bought the tooth at auction for $31,000 and now is working with an unspecified lab to see if they can clone him. Says Zuk:
I am nervous and excited at the possibility that we will be able to fully sequence John Lennon's DNA, very soon I hope. With researchers working on ways to clone mammoths, the same technology certainly could make human cloning a reality.
Zuk has set up a website, JohnLennonDNA, where he also reveals a weird sculpture his sister made, combining Lennon and fellow Beatle Paul McCartney into a nightmarish conglomeration, called "McLennon." - io9
Human Cloning: Science, Ethics, and Public Policy
Who's Afraid of Human Cloning?
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Mysterious 'Booming' Sounds in Carytown, Virginia
Some people living on Grayland Avenue near Carytown told CBS 6 they have heard a mysterious boom sound for the past few months.
“It’s like a boom that has an echo to it,” said Thomas Daniel who lives near Grayland Avenue and S. Sheppard Street.
Daniel told CBS 6 news reporter Chelsea Rarrick that he hears the mystery sound periodically, sometimes even a few times a week. He said he first heard it while sitting on his front porch around 2 a.m.
“You think sometimes it’s like a train backing into another train,” said Daniel
Sarah Barrow also lives on Grayland Ave. and heard a boom for the first time this week around 10 or 11 p.m.
“The front right window shook, which made me realize it’s more than just a backfire from a truck on a highway,” she said.
CBS 6 contacted the Richmond Police Department regarding the noise. RPD said they have received a couple of reports regarding the sounds in the area, but can’t confirm what it is since an officer didn’t hear the sound.
“Where is this coming from?” said Daniel. - WTVR
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Researchers Revisit Hypnotizing Bigfoot Witnesses
4 Decades Later Hypnosis Plays a Part in Recall
Certified and Registered Hypnotist, Doug Meacham will present his findings at this month’s HopsSquatch, Bigfoot and Beer Speaker’s Series. Frank has had two significant Bigfoot encounters; one at age 10 in New York and another, almost face-to-face, was at the age 16 in Oregon. Hypnotist Doug Meacham has been able to help Frank retrieve incredible details including hair patterns and behavior. Several forensic-quality sketches of what Frank witnessed will be available at HopsSquatch, Sunday August 25, 2013 at the Lucky Lab Brew Pub, 915 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97214 from 2-6pm.
Doug is a hypnotist in Gresham, OR and a member of the American Board of Hypnotherapy. During his presentation at HopsSquatch he will explain what Hypnosis really is and provide examples of how it has been used in the past and share his new ground-breaking process with a two-time witness.
This month’s event will include a presentation with Doug, a moderated question and answer period, previews of upcoming Bigfoot movie “Bigfoot Chronicles,” over $100 of cool Bigfoot swag and the chance to socialize with Bigfoot enthusiasts. This month’s event is sponsored by Off The Charts Games, Missing Link Toys and Ripley’s Believe it or Not.
Don’t miss your chance to be a part of this historic event. Limited space available, only $5 per person to attend. Reserve early so you don’t miss out.
Regression to Times and Places (Meditation Regression)
Past Life Regression: A Guide for Practitioners
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Can 'powdered water' solve drought?
The lack of water is a growing, global problem that seems intractable.
While the UN estimates that a large majority of the water we use goes on irrigation, researchers have been working on a range of ideas that make the water we use in agriculture last longer.
There has been a great deal of excitement and some dramatic headlines in recent weeks about a product that is said to have the potential to overcome the global challenge of growing crops in arid conditions.
"Solid Rain" is a powder that's capable of absorbing enormous amounts of water and releasing it slowly over a year so that plants can survive and thrive in the middle of a drought.
A litre of water can be absorbed in as little as 10 grams of the material, which is a type of absorbent polymer originally pioneered by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Back in the 1970s, USDA developed a super-absorbent product made from a type of starch nicknamed the "super slurper".
The most widely used, commercial application of this technology has been in disposable nappies, or diapers as they are quaintly termed in the US.
But a Mexican chemical engineer called Sergio Jesus Rico Velasco saw more in the product than dry bottoms.
He developed and patented a different version of the formula that could be mixed in with soil to hold water that could then slowly feed plants.
Ground water
He formed a company to sell Solid Rain and it has quietly been selling the product in Mexico for around 10 years. The company says that the government there tested Solid Rain and found that crop yields could increase by 300% when it was added to the soil.
According to Edwin Gonzalez, a vice president with the Solid Rain company, the product is now attracting wider interest because of growing concerns about the scarcity of water.
"It works by encapsulating the water, and our product lasts 8 to 10 years in the ground, depending on the water quality - if you use pure water, it lasts longer," he told BBC News.
The company recommends using about 50kgs per hectare - though it's not cheap, at $1,500 (£960) for that amount.
Mr Gonzalez was at pains to point out that Solid Rain was all natural and would not damage the land even if it was used for several years.
"Our product is not toxic; it's made from a bio-acrylamide. After it disintegrates, the powder-like substance becomes part of the plant - it is not toxic," he said.
Science uncertain
But not everyone is convinced that Solid Rain is a significant solution to the problem of drought.
Dr Linda Chalker-Scott from Washington State University says that these types of products have been known to gardeners for several years now.
"They're hardly new, and there's no scientific evidence to suggest that they hold water for a year, or last for 10 years in the soil," she told BBC News.
"An additional practical problem is that gels can do as much harm as good. As the gels begin to dry out, they soak up surrounding water more vigorously. That means they will start taking water directly from plant roots," she added.
Dr Chalker-Scott says that research she carried out in Seattle with newly transplanted trees showed that wood chip mulching was just as effective as adding powdered materials and gels to the soil. And it was significantly cheaper.
However, Edwin Gonzalez says Solid Rain is different.
"There are other competitors that last three or four years. The ones that don't last as long are the ones that have sodium - they don't absorb as much. The potassium ones, like ours, are seen as the better products," he said
Despite the fact that the science may not be entirely certain about the benefits of products like this, Edwin Gonzalez says his company has been inundated with enquiries from dry spots including India and Australia.
And he's also had several orders from the UK, where the lack of water is usually not a problem. - BBC
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Amazing Daylight UFO Encounter
Detroit, Michigan - 11/5/2008 - unedited: I was cleaning a vacant apartment on the 13th floor, ( Im a maintenance guy for an apartment building in downtown Detroit) on a sunny fall day.
Something kept reflecting sunlight into my eyes from out side, I ignored it the first few times, figuring it was a traffic helicopter or passenger jet. After about the 5th of 6th time I was annoyed and went to the window to see what was bouncing this sunlight at me.
Right away I could see this shiny object off in the distance, maybe a couple miles away, maybe further. At first it seemed to be stationary, so I figured it was a helicopter. As im looking at it starts to head in my direction, and as it gets closer it looks less and less like a helicopter.
It takes just a few seconds (maybe 8 seconds?) to close on my position, until finally its only maybe 20 or 30ft outside the window Im at on the 13th floor. Its at my altitude, basically eye level with me, as it starts to rotate up on its side.
Im in awe as this is happening, not frightened, or nervous, just amazed. The first thing that caught my eye as it rotated on to its side was a small pulsing red light in the center of the underside of the craft.
Its hard for me to explain the shape of the craft so Ive included three drawings. Part of the reason its taken me so long to make this report is because Ive had a hard time getting the sketches just right.
Ive tried to draw this thing a few dozen times and Ive never been happy with the results until now. I can say with absolute certainty that the drawings Ive included are exactly what I saw. Ive also included a photo I took out of the window I was standing at, I took this photo at a much later date, just as a reference to the area.
Basically the craft is in the shape of three saucers connected together in the center, only one dome on the top, but three "pods" for lack of a better word make up the body of the craft. It seems to be a polished metal, not a mirror finish like chrome, but a reflective metal surface.
So as its tilting towards me I see the pulsing red light, and I see that each of the three pods has a round circular light in its center. Once the bottom of the craft is facing me the three white lights start blinking in a sequence, and the craft starts to rotate clockwise. The blinking pattern gradually speeds up, and the rotation remains steady.
Then another set of light around the outer edge of the three white lights start flashing, only these are multi colors. There are very vibrant blues and greens and orange and yellow and purples.
The sequence speeds up more and more until the whole thing is just a blur of lights, all the while rotating at the same steady pace. Then the lights just stopped suddenly, the craft rotated back down to its upright position, and it hovered off to the North East around the side of my building and out of my line of sight.
I never saw it shoot off at tremendous speeds or anything, it just hovered away. I ran down to the street level and searched the sky to find it again, but I never saw it again.
I felt like the craft was trying to hypnotize me, but I dont think it worked, at least I never felt any different.
Although I must say that since this event Ive done a lot of research on UFOs and the subject of abductions, and it seems most folks dont think anything other than a sighting happened to them either. So I suppose there could be more to my story, but I remember looking at the clock after it left and I hadnt lost any time, so Im assuming I wasnt a good candidate for abduction.
This is by far the strangest, most amazing thing that has ever happened to me. Even though its been almost five years since it happened, I remember it like it was yesterday, and Ill never forget it. It has changed my outlook on life for the better. Ive made allot of positive changes in my life since my sighting and I feel blessed to have been witness to such an amazing thing. - MUFON CMS
Myths and Mysteries of Michigan: True Stories of the Unsolved and Unexplained (Myths and Mysteries Series)
Swamp Gas Times: My Two Decades on the UFO Beat
Ufology: A Very Short Introduction
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