| May 29th 2009 Knitting Tech Scientists of tomorrow won't be peering into microscopes - they'll be knitting with needles and wool. In a dramatic case of back-to-the-future, mathematicians are knitting models of the hundreds of complex shapes they can describe with formulas but until now have been unable to create in concrete form. It's believed the original inspiration for geometry came from observing the structure of intricately woven baskets. Having knitted models at their disposal enables scientists to gain a deeper understanding of such complex phenomena as global warming, weather patterns, coral reef development and the human brain. "Knitting and other crafts allow people to visualize, recontextualize and develop new problems and answers," says Carolyn Yackel, a mathematician at Mercer University in Georgia. For example, Daina Taimina, of Cornell University, knit a hyperbolic plane - a space with negatuve curvature (like a saddle) where all lines curve away from each other - which closely resembles how the human brain folds in on itself. The model has enhanced understanding of how the extremely complex shape of the brain contributes to learning and personality development. Other scientists are knitting models that will improve weather forecasting and our capacity to predict how water will behave in flood situations. |
| May 28th 2009 Wasted Heat Into Electrcity In an exciting modern version of alchemy - the ancient attempt to turn cheap metals into gold - a physicis thas succeeded in transforming wasted heat into sound and then into electricity. Prest Symko, of University of Utah, invented a cylinder-shaped gizmo that's small enough to fit into the palm of your hand, but it packs a big punch in the battle to save money and protect the environment by conserving energy. Each cylinder contains material with a large surface area, such as steel wool fibers, placed between hot and cold heat exchangers. Heat builds up to the point where it causes the air between the fibers to start moving. When it does so, it produces a faint sound at a single frequency, like air blown into a flute. The sound waves are squeezed by a mechanism called a piezoelectric device and pressure created by the compression produces an electric voltage. Symko believes his creation could capture the huge amount of energy dispersed into the atmosphere as heat at power plants and convert it into usable electricity, making the operation more efficient and cheaper. |
| May 27th 2009 First Levitating Train Former President George W. Bush signed a transportation bill that allots $45 million for the first leg of a project to build a leviatating train system between Los Angeles and Las Vegas last year. Instead of running on tracks, the train will use magnetic levitation technology to float above the ground while it zooms along at a breathtaking 300 miles per hour. Plans for the MagLev system - the first of its kind in the United States - have been in the works for 20 years, but the project has been plagued by funding problems. Once it's up and running, the train will enable passengers to make the 250-mile journey in slightly more than an hour. MagLev trains are popular in Japan. If the L.A.-to-Vegas route turns out to be popular, expect to see more of them in America in the near future. |
| May 26th 2009 Alien Skulls The discovery of giant, cone-shaped skulls is macabre evidence that aliens visited Earth centuries ago, say paranormal researchers. The anatomical oddities are portrayed in ancient carvings of Egyptian pharaohs and Mayan gods, but skulls showing the same elongated shape are housed in archaeological museums in Peru and Mexico. Biologists can't explain why the bones combine human and inhuman features. "Legends from the ancient Egyptians as well as the Mayans and Incas held that their original kings were only half human," explains anthropologist Amy Cohen, of Knoxville, Tennessee. "They were descendants of beings who descended from the sky with great technological powers." "These skulls certainly support the claim that those legends are based on the historical fact of aliens visiting our ancestors." |
| May 25th 2009 Britain UFO Encounters The new world capital of UFO sightings is Merry Old England, say researchers analyzing thousands of eyewitness accounts describing run-ins with flying saucers. Last year, ThePapNews revealed the British government's plan to release over 7,000 records of close encounters, including reports from military officials, law enforcement officers, pilots and air traffic controllers. But that mountain of evidence is just the tip of a much larger iceberg, investigators now reveal. "A statistical study of UFO reports in Great Britain shows a marked increase in sightings over the past five years, making this the most concentrated zone of activity on the planet today," explains Dr. Stephen Richardson, an astrophysicist based in London. "Looking over historical records, this recent spike is part of a pattern that's been building for centuries." "These alien pilots have taken an exceptional interest in Britain, as if they were using the United Kingdom as a secret spaceport." June 8th 2008, hundreds of witness in Cardiff, Wales, watched in terror as a UFO threatened to ram a police helicopter in mid-flight, then zoomed off. An hour later, Katy Cunnion and Russell Quinn reported being followed by an identical craft as they drove down a highway in Shrewsbury, England, 110 miles north of Cardiff. "At first I thought it was a helicopter, but every time I changed direction, it was in the same place," recalls Cunnion,25. "The light came close enough for us to see it was sucer-shaped, with lights that flashed from one to another in a chain." Over the next three months, pilots flying in the area have reported three encounters a week. A similar surge of UFO sightings took place in Great Britain almost 400 years ago. The reports started in 1678, when a Scottish village was woken by a whooshing noise, "like a thousand winds," that left a perfectly formed crop circle in a farmer's field. This was followed by a wave of 300 sightings per year. |
| May 24th 2009 Demonic Statue In 1965, when he was a reckless 16-year-old, William Borman took a dare from one of his pals. What happened so frightened him that he hasn't spoken about it - until now. The spoky episode took place in Druid Ridge Cemetery, located on the outskirts of Baltimore, Maryland. In the mid-1920s, General Felix Agnus commissioned a statue of a grieving woman to adorn his prominent family's burial plot in the gloomy graveyard. Agnus buried his wife at the base of the seated figure. When he died in 1925, he was interred at his spous's side. That's when the legend began. Rumors circulated that the statue, nicknamed Black Aggie, was haunted by the ghost of agnus' wife, whom he had abused when she lived with him. The demonic statue's eyes glowed red at midnight, and anyone who looked into them would be struck blind, eyewitnesses swore. If a pregnant woman passed by, she would immediately miscarry. Anyone foolish enough to sit in Black Aggie's lap would be crushed to death by her stony arms. "I was that fool," Borman says. "One night in '65, I was in the cemetery with a couple of friends. They dared me to sit in Black Aggie's lap. "I thought all the stories about her were a load of poppycock, so I took the dare. I've regretted that moment for the rest of my life. "As soon as my butt touched that statue's lap, she came to life. She wrapped her arms around me and began to squeeze." "The pain was unbearable. I could hear my bones breaking. I was gasping for breath. Finally, I passed out." Borman awoke in the emergency room of St. Joseph Hospital. "I had a fractured arm, four broken ribs and dislocated shoulder," he says. "My heart stopped in the emergency room and they had to shock me back to life." "All the rumors about that cursed statue are true. I'm living proof of that." |
| May 23rd 2009 Pockmarked Woman's Bean Curd??? Chinese officials are prepping for future tourism by coaching restaurants to rename their signature dishes to something that doesn't send the rest of the world into gales of laughter. English-speaking visitors would be stumped by the dish translated as "husband and wife lung slice." But they might be tempted to order it under its new name, "beef and ox tripe with chili sauce." The spicy Sichuanese favorite "bean curd made by a pock-marked woman" will probably sell better as "mapo tofu." And the tragic "chicken without a sexual life" is more appetizing as simple "steamed pullet." |
| May 22nd 2009 6 Year Old Hero A family was saved from a house fire by the quick thinking of their son, even though he's only 6 years old! Little Dravin Harris, of Bellefontaine, Ohio, had recently taken a fire safety class during a school field trip, so when smoke started comg from behind his parents' bedroom wall one afternoon, he knew what he had to do. "When I saw that, I took my baby sister and my other sister with me outside," Dravin recalls. Once his sisters Kamry, 5, and Hope, 2, were safe, the plucky boy went to the family's barn and told his mom and grandmother what he'd seen. They called the fire department, who spent an hour extinguishing the blaze. "We're very fortunate," says mom Kaci. "It could have been a lot worse." "We're glad that he caught it early on." "By the time myself or my mother-in-law would have smelled it out in the barn, it might have caused a lot of damage." Firefighter Jim Collins said the fire was caused by an electrical fault. It left a hole in the exterior of the home and damage to the walls and siding, but if not for Dravin's fast response, it could have been much worse. "I would give this young gentleman a lot of credit," Collins says. "He knew what to do - get people out of the house and tell an adult." "I think he saved the family and their home." |
| May 21st 2009 Giantfoot! Investigators from around the globe are descending on the island of Borneo, hot on the trail of a creature so large, it would have to be called Giantfoot! Villagers discovered two footprints pressed into the mud near an orchard that were unlike any made by humans or apes. Although perfectly shaped, the prints measure a whooping 47 inches long and 17 inches wide! Locals say the tracks were left by a creature known as Orang Dalam, the "Giant Man" of Southeast Asia. The dense jungles here are home to the long-armed ape better known by it local name - Orang Utan, or orangutan, "man of the forest." Researchers say there are other apes and ape-like creatures waiting to be discovered in the depths of Borneo's forests - but no one expected to find evidence of an elephant-sized humanoid. "Even if the creature that left these tracks has unusually large feet for its stature, it must be incredibly tall," explains zoologist Bert Ostraand, who traveled from Belgium to Borneo. "The villagers say the Orang Dalam is at least 20 feet tall, but stays near the tallest trees in the heart of the forest and protects itself with a heavy, unclean musk that clouds the air around it." Locals say they felt uncomfortable and sick a few months ago, and a medicine man had them make offerings in a nearby clearing. On June 9, the giant footprints appeared there overnight. "Villagers also told me it was not the first time they saw such big footprints was about 50 years ago." |
| May 20th 2009 Insurance Prayer An insurance company spends $400,000 a year to take its terminally ill clients to Lourdes, in the fervent hope that a miracle will rid them of disease - and save the company frompaying off on their policies! The Dutch company, VGZ, denies greed is a motive for the pilgrimages. "The primary reason is to give real, genuine attention to people who need it most," says spokesman Erik Lelieveld, who also volunteers as a wheelchair pusher on the expeditions. The Catholic Church, which has acknowledged numerous miracle cures at Lourdes, doesn't see anything wrong with the idea. "I think it's looking at a person in a very holistic way," says Father Martin Moran, who officiates at the French shrine. "It has a healing effect." |
| May 19th 2009 Magic Coral Red coral is one of the most prized and mysterious life forms in Earth's oceans. Legend has it that the vibrant coral formed when the ancient hero Perses cut off the head of the mythical monster Medusa. As the grotesque creature's blood dropped into the sea, it formed a hard, bright red substance with magical properties. Frenchman Jean-Philippe Giordano risks his life every day to dive 400 feet beneath the surface of the mediterranean searching for the precious coral, whose devotees claim it can cure disease, bring good luck and bestow riches. Anabella Bruno, a widow who lives on the island of Corsica, can attest to the mysterious power of red coral. "My husband died and left me with threechildren," says the 38-year-old. "I could not find a job and the landlord was going to throw us out of our home into the streets. "I was desperate. I looked in my purse and found four euros (equivalent to about $6). It was all the money I had in the world." "I'd heard stories about the magic of red coral, so I decided to take a chance. I spent all four euros on a small piece of it, then I held it close to my heart and prayed for a miracle." Bruno's gamble paid off. While she was packing up her belongings to move she knew not where, the frame that held her parents' wedding picture fell apart in her hands, revealing a painting underneath the photograph. A local art dealer identified the work as a lost masterpiece by the 18th century Spanish painter Francisco Goya. With the dealer's help, Bruno put it in the hands of Sotheby's auction house, where it sold for a dazzling $4.2 million! "My family has a future," Bruno exults. "We owe it all to the red coral. It is truly magic." |
| May 18th 2009 Spirits? Paranormal researchers have pulled back the veil on an eerie afterlife phenomenon in which people are haunted - or even possessed - by spirits who don't know they're dead! Though rarely discussed, experts believe the syndrome may account for up to 15 percent of all spontaneous outbreaks of mental illness. "At first, a victim will be suddenly disoriented, feel lightheaded or dizzy and be suddenly filled with an undexpected surge of emotions, like anger or fear," explains parapsychologist John Simpson, Ph.D., of St. Louis, Missouri. "Over the next few days or weeks, the victim will begin to feel unusual cravings and compulsions." "He or she will go through spells of acting like a different person, then snap back to their old selves." "The condition doesn't respond to normal psychotherapy, but spiritual counseling can have a profound effect." In cases of sudden death, a spirit can easily become confused, experts say, and reach out for anything that seems familiar - including any person who happens to be nearby and mentally unguarded. Once that happens, it's up to a medium, minister or spiritual guide to reach out to these "hitchhiking" spirits and help them let go. "The ossessed person literally represents a lifeline - a connection to the world of the living," Simpson explains. Gary Leon Hill, a paranormal researcher and award-winning playwright, explores the phenomenon in his blockbuster book, People Who Don't Know They're Dead (Weiser Books). Hill's uncle and aunt, behavioral psychologist Wally Johnston and psychiatric nurse Ruth Jognston, developed a form of psychiatric counseling directed at spirits who take up residence patients' bodies. Working with trained medium Lorraine Darr, the brother-sister team carefully tape-recorded their sessions, which include encounters with the ghosts of traffic accidentvictims, pioneers who died of fevers and, most dangerous of all, suicide victims. Some gloomy spirits are so desperate to end their lives, they can kill their human host! "Suicides for which there seem to be no cause may in fact result from the kind of spirit attachment we're talking about," Hill says. Hill recalls the case of a woman in Chicago who committed suicide by drinking carbolic acid. "Still aware of her surroundings and in what she assumed to be her body, she decided she had failed in her attemptto kill herself and so latched onto the next warm body she could find in order to kill herself again,"Hill explains."This time, the body belonged to Anna Wickland, the wife of psychiatrist Dr. Carl Wickland." The psychiatrist realized what was happening when his wife collapsed, then moaned piteously: "Why didn't I take more carbolic acid? I want to die; I'm so tired of living." Under questioning, the spirit gave her name as Mary Rose and an address. When Wickland checked, the apartment had been rented to a woman named Mary Rose who had died a week previously. The doctor was able to free his wife by counseling Mary Rose and helping her realize that she was, indeed, a spirit destined for the afterlife. If you think someone you know might be suffering from a "hitch-hiker spirit," here's what Hill recommends: - Get the spirit's attention. A trained medium can be helpful, but isn't necessary. Simply relax as deeply as possible until you reach a trance-like hypnotic state. - Ask the Universal Knowledge - God, the source of all spiritual intelligence - for permission to speak to the Higher Self of the person affected by the spirit. Then, humbly ask that person's Higher Self permission to speak to the wayward spirits. - Once permission is granted, tell the spirit the truth - its body is dead, it is not the possessed person and its presence is harming the possessed person. In addition, its loved ones are waiting for it to take the next step: Go in peace! If you suspect you might have a hitchhiker yourself, have a close friend or loved one follow these steps for you. |
| May 17th 2009 Reunited Couple Sex Change? A remarkable romance that began with a wedding in 1949 and survived a child's death, sex-change surgery and involuntary divorce was recently celebrated with a ceremony as civil partners. James and Elizabeth Morris were married for 23 years when James became Jan. His wife totally supported the radical operation, even though becoming a same-sex couple meant they couldn't be legally wed. But the loving parents of five children, one of whom died in infancy, continued to live together in harmony. And now they've been legally joined once more as civil partners. "I made my marriage vows 59 years ago and still affirm them," says Elizabeth. "After Jan had a sex change, we had to divorce." "But it didn't make any difference to me. We still had our family, and we just carried on." Jan, who's one of England's most celebrated authors, says Elizabeth was always the only mate for her. And the 81-year-old novelist has written the perfect epitaph for their headstone: "Here are two friends, at the end of one life." |
| May 16th 2009 Tea Bags 100-Years-Old! The British may be the world's biggest tea drinkers, but they can thank an American businessman for designing the tea bag 100 years ago in June. Thomas, Sullivan, a tea merchant in New York City, began sending samples to prospective customers in small silk pouches in 1908. Dunking the bags in hot water quickly became the most popular way to make a cup of tea in the U.S. But with so much tradition involved with tea drinking in England, there was initial suspicion of the new technique. They also complained that it was impossible to make the strong brew they preferred. The breakthrough came when Bostonian William Hermanson developed a heat-sealed paper fiber bag that produced a more full-flavored beverage. That was in 1930, and today, Tetly Tea sells 200 million bags a week in England! "Without a doubt, the tea bag saved the tea industry," declares business executive William Gorman." "There's no way in our busy modern lives that we would have the time or inclination to make tea the old way." Adds Tetley's communications director Sara Howe: "It's hard to imagine what life would be like without the tea bag." |
| May 15th 2009 The Killer Rats Are Coming! Wildlife officials are bracing for an invasion of flesh-eating mice heading to America from a remote island in the South Atlantic. The ravenous rodents evolved on Gough Island, halfway between South Africa and Argentina. The island is uninhabited except for the crew of an Antarctic weather station, a breeding population of endangered albatrosses and a vast colony of giantmice, descended from pests who scurried off a whaling boat. Over time, the mice grew to three times their normal size and learned to survive by attacking albatrosses at night. "It's like a Chihuahua attacking a buffalo," explains biologist Henry Lyle. "Individually, the mice aren't nearly large enough to threaten the birds, but in a hunting pack, they're unstoppable - they swarm over a 6-foot bird and reduce it to bones overnight." Scientists fear that a breeding pair of Gough Island mice may have snuck aboard a supply ship bound for New York City. "The ship's cat died under mysterious circumstances two days before they reached port," Lyle explains. "By now, the mice could have reached the sewers and begun having litters." "Unless they're exterminated, within months, they'll start feeding on dogs or even children!" |
| May 14th 2009 Crazy Horse Monument The gigantic face of Chief Crazy Horse - the largest mountain carving in the world - is finally finished after 60 years. Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski started the massive work on June 3, 1948, in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Chief Henry Standing Bear commissioned it as a memorial to Native American heroes. But the project is so grandiose that the 87-foot high head, along with a museum and a welcoming center, are the only completed portions of Ziolkowski's plans. A carving of the Lakota warrior's body and horse, along with a university and medical training center for Native American students, will eventually adorn the mountain. And although the artist died in 1982, seven of his children and several grandchildren continue to work on his labor of love. "To picture it 60 years from now, I'd like to see the horse's head finished and Crazy Horse's body all polished and the finish work on it complete," says Ziolkowski's widow, Ruth. The fearless Lakota leader defeated Custer's troops at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana in 1876. "What Mount Rushmore represents to American Indians," says Robert Cook, a cultural specialist at the site. "He signifies the values of the tribes - bravery, respect, generosity, wisdom. He represents some of those struggles that he fought for long ago, of protectingour land and our treaties.We're still in those fights today." The project Ziolkowski started with hand tools and a dream attracts hordes of tourists and millions of dollars to support the ongoing construction. "Imagine starting up there in 1948 with a hand drill and a hammer, blasting away on the mountain and finding anybody believing that you're going to do it," says engineer Rich Barry. "Now, all of a sudden, people have really come around." |
| May 13th 2009 Dead Man Wakes Up! A dead man stunned surgeons by waking up on the operating table just as they were about to remove his organs for donation. Doctors at the Paris University Hospital in France had already tried resuscitating the 45-year-old patient, and spent an hour and a half massaging his heart while waiting for transplant surgeons to arrive. But just as the organ harvesting was about to begin, the man suddenly started breathing, his pupils dilated and he responded to a pain test. After several weeks of difficult recovery, the man is now walking and talking. |
| May 12th 2009 Space Junk! A spate of recent extraterrestrial incidents is giving new urgency to international efforts to decrease the danger posed by space junk, the remains of rockets and derelict satellites that have been accumulating in Earth's orbit for 50 years. NASA space shuttles and the International Space Station recently survived close encounters, and a U.S. communications satellite was destroyed in February when it hit an obsolete Russian satellite. "Unfortunately, we will see more collisions," say William Ailor, director of the Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies at The aeroscpace Corporation. "There's an awful lot of debris up there." NASA currently follows 17,000 orbiting objects and has set rules to limit the litter its missions produce. Cleaning up the existing waste, however, remains "a technical and ecnomic challenge." Options might include retrieving debris or moving it into less-populated orbits. NASA says space junk remains a threat to "the safety of persons and property in space and on Earth." Traveling at more than 20,000 mph, even a tiny piece of debris could cause catastrophic damage to spacecraft, including satellites that relay cellular phone calls and other critical voice and data communications around the globe. |
| May 11th 2009 Criminals And Body Armor In April, 16 people, including three police officers, were murdered in separate incidents in Binghamton, N.Y., and Pittsburgh. In both cases, the killers wore bulletproof vests. Federal law bans violent felons from owning body armor, and many jurisdictions have laws that criminalize its use in the commission of crimes. But while there are no hard numbers on how often criminals employ body armor, police increasingly find themselves facing down commando-style killers. "There are no background checks, no federal regulations unless you are a violent offender - and even then you can buy them at gun shows or online," says Daniel Vice, senior attorney at the Brady Center To Prevent Gun Violence. "Why do you need it if you're not going to commit a crime?" asks New York State Assemblyman David Koon, the sponsor of legislation to restrict the sale of body armor. Nick Taylor, manager of a store that sells bulletproof vests online, says body armor provides potentially lifesaving protection for civilians - everyone from judges to journalists. |
| May 10th 2009 Pig Man Ghost And Others... The town of Venice, California, is famous for celebrity mansions and landmark buildings, but stunned eyewitnesses say it's also home to dozens of ghoulish ghosts - including an apparition with the head of a pig! "There are many tales of ghosts haunting this city, along the beach and the canals that feature upscale multimillion-dollar homes," says local realtor Lyndon Forrest. "Late one night, I was walking along a canal bank and I actually saw what appeared to be a young woman carrying her own head under her arm as she walked along the water's edge. "Within seconds, she vanished." Forrest mentioned the bizarre sighting to a friend, who laughed nervously and said, "She's well-known around here." The headless lady isn't the only ghost familiar to locals. At a nearby gas station, customers have watched in horror as a semi-transparent woman stands by the pumps and begins drinking high test gasoline before vanishing! A young woman covered in blood occasionally appears beside one of the sculptures near the beach, scaring passers-by away before disappearing. But the most macabre apparition is a pig-headed man who haunts the Binocular Building. Tourists who visit the eye-catching landmark, designed by architect Frank Gehry for the renowned Chiat-Day advertising agency, occansionally spot the shadowy, half-animal figure on the side-walk outside. "I was sketching the building from across the street when I saw this man kind of stumble around the corner," explains art student Jessica Dasilva, 20, of Lawrence, Kansas. "He seemed to be in physical pain, so I called out." "Then I realized his head wasn't right - it wasn't human. It was a pig's head!" "He kind of grunted at me, then turned into a doorway and vanished in the shadows. I was terrified." |
| May 9th 2009 Jet Trike! A creative mechanic has designed a three-wheel vehicle based on the F-15 Tomcat jet fighter. Rich Hammer, 52, says his invention, which is part car, part motorcycle and part plane, was inspired by his Uncle Joe's service on a Navy aircraft carrier. Hammer, of Hellertown, Pennsylvania, spent 18 months and $10,000 on the novel project he calls a jet trike. "I really just built it for the hell of it," he confesses. His creation, which contains two comfy seats in a custom air-conditioned cockpit, averages an economical 30 miles to a gallon of unleaded. Plus, he attracts loads of attention when he hits the street. "People wave, honk their horns and even follow me," Hammer says. "It's a lot of fun." |
| May 8th 2009 New Gold Rush A new generation of prospectors is flooding central California, hoping to find gold in them thar hills! "You can pay your bills," claims prospector John Gurney. "And you never know - you may hit the jackpot." Most of today's miners use the panning technique originated in the Gold Rush of 1849. Dirt and rocks are shoveled from a river bed and sifted through several containers until the gold separates from the lighter material. "You've got a tremendous amount of interest from people now that gold's $1,000 an ounce," explains Brent Shock, who leads gold-panning tours in Jamestown. It's busier now than in all the 25 years I've lived here." The early pioneers extracted approximately $6 billion worth of gold - which was only 15 percent of the estimated mother lode. Today, with the potential for untold riches, residents of the old mining towns expect the new Gold Rush to last for quite a while. "Gold has been a universal form of money since man first discovered it," says propector Mike Dunn. "What's going to happen in two weeks, three weeks in oil, I don't know." "But I do know gold will be stable. With gold, you can always buy a suit and a steak, and I think that's important." |
| May 7th 2009 Bananas? Feeling stressed out? Did your get-up-and-go get up and go? Have a banana - it'll cure whatever ails ya! "Bananas provide exactly the right blend of natural sugars for a sustained energy boost - perfect for a pick-me-up," says nutritionist Joyce Terwilliger. "But they've also got plenty of unexpected benefits for all kinds of health conditions." Anemia: Bananas' high iron content boosts production of hemoglobin in the blood. Blood Pressure: High in potassium but low in salt, bananas are perfectly suited to lower blood pressure - a fact the FDA recently recognized. Depression: Bananas contain lots of tryptophan, which the brain converts to the feel-good chemical serotonin. Recent studies found bananas are superior mood-boosters. Digestive Trouble: Packed with edible fiber, bananas keep you as regular as clockwork. Heartburn: The creamy, yellow fruits have a natural antacid effect. Mosquito Bites: Soothe itches away by rubbing them with the inside of a banana skin. Stress: Their one-two punch of potassium and B vitamins help bananas knock out nervous tension. Strokes: A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that regularly eating bananas cuts the risk of death due to stroke by up to 40 percent! |
| May 6th 2009 Cowboy Church Giddyup, pardners, the Good Lord's a-callin! Churches that tend to the spiritual needs of cowpokes are springing up all over the West. The Lone Star Cowboy Church, in Montgomery, Texas, features a rodeo arena along with a tin-roofed sanctuary that seats 550. Pastor Randy Weaver sold his favorite calf-roping horse to buy the 41-acre plot of land for his church. But the sacrifice was worth it for the rural reverend, whose down-home homilies attract 1,300 members to three weekly services. The church, affiliated with the Assemblies of God, also offers a Rodeo Bible Camp that teaches youngsters team roping and barrel racing in addition to Bible study. "Cowboys need Jesus, too," explains Weaver. "cowboys need to go to heaven." "We believe we should live life to its fullest and without compromise of God's word." He's not alone. The Baptist General Convention of Texas has a Texas Fellowship of Cowboy Churches, and plenty of other states and denominations have set up houses of worship in the wide open spaces. In Kalispell, Montana, the Flathead Valley Cowboy Church offers worshippers a chance to be loved and accepted, they say - even if you smell like you've been raking out the stables! Pastor Paul Arends and his wife Margie run their christian outfit with regular prayer meetings featuring live country music. They also host barbecues, rodeos, trail rides, country dances and community service projects - and welcome new Christians into the flock by baptizing them in a horse trough! "If you don't have time to drop off your horse after that weekend event before you come, just pull up your trailer and come on in," Arends says. "You don't have to be a cowboy to come. Nor do you have to be a Christian." "We welcome all honest seekers of the truth." |
| May 5th 2009 Lottery Luck A new lottery millionaire is searching for the stranger who told his daughter: 'Someone you know is going to win the lottery." The morning before Tony Nutbrown, a builder from Carlisle, England, won his $6 million jackpot, a woman came into his daughter Claire's pet shop. "The lady came in and told her friend that someone she knew was going to win the lottery," recalls Nutbrown, 54. "That night I won the jackpot." "It's either an incredible coincidence or this lady can see into the future. I'd love to know how she knew." Nutbrown played the lottery every week for 13 years, but had only won $200 until now. He plans to use his jackpot to buy a new house and a luxury car. Claire says she knew the woman had a reputation as a mystic, but she didn't think anything of it, adding: "I wish she would tell me the numbers for next week." |
| May 4th 2009 LawnBott!!! You can use your cell phone to program a new robotic lawn mower to cut your grass while you sit back and sip a cool one! At your preset command, the LawnBott LB3500 will zip out of its battery charging station and keep your lawn groomed and spiffy looking - while you don't even break a sweat. All you need is a Bluetooth-equipped cell phone to tell the mover how many times a week - and for how long each time - to do its thing. It can handle an acre on a single charge and a trip wire tacked around the perimeter of your yard prevents the device from straying onto your neighbor's property. The only drawback is the cost - when the LawnBott goes on sale in a few months, it will set you back $3,249. Another labor-saving mower is also in the works. This one runs mostly on solar power, with the help of a small, rechargeable battery. An hour's worth of mowing will use up the same amount of energy it takes to power a light bulb for the equivalent time. Like its LawnBott counterpart, the solar mower requires no effort on your part, but it also comes wit ha hefty price tag - $3,900. |
| May 3rd 2009 Diamond In The Cake A woman passed out cold after swallowing a ring her boyfriend had stuck inside a cake. The well-meaning Romeo got the idea from romantic movies in which the guy hides the engagement ring inside a pastry and presents it to his leading lady. "I imagined the surprise on her face, mixed with happiness," says Mr. Chen, of Fuqing City, China. Unfortunately, his girlfriend Wen hit the floor in a dead faint as Chen went down on one knee. "I realized I'd just swallowed the ring wit ha mouthful of cake!" she exclaimed. But the story has a happy ending. After doctors removed the ring from her stomach, Wen accepted Chen's proposal. |
| May 2nd 2009 Amazing Psychic Powers A new reality TV show about children who see dead people is the tip of the iceberg in a bizarre rash of American youngsters born with psychic powers. Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal, on the A&E cable channel, features three Midwestern teens who are bombarded by talking spirits reaching out from beyond the grave. "The program is an excellent example of innocents reacting with fear and confusion to their psychic powers," says paranormal researcher Tim Weatherstone. "The youngsters don't get much help from their parents, either, because the adults don't know how to handle it." Experts claim there's been a dramatic increase in the number of psychic children born in the U.S. over the last 20 years. Jessica Mayor, 14, and her sister Marie, 10, of Ft. Worth, Texas, have communicated with ghosts as long as they can remember. "Hospitals are especially bad," says Jessica. "The spirits of recently deceased people are everywhere and they all want to tell me things!" The girls' parents took them for counseling and the psychologist refused to believe they're mediums. "He said we had vivid imaginations and we'd outgrow our obsessions," Marie recalls. "He just didn't get it." Taylor Jacobson, 17, of Birmingham, Alabama, hid his ability to see spirits from his mom and dad for most of his life. "When I was little, my family thought I had imaginary friends," Taylor explains. "But everything changed when my grandfather died and his spirit appeared in my bedroom." "It was wonderful to tell my mother that her dad was happy in paradise. That experience made me realize the good I could do." Now, the high school senior has big plans for the future. "After college, I'm going to offer my services as a medium to make life better for other people," Taylor says. "Maybe I'll even have my own TV show. That would be way cool!" |
| May 1st 2009 Unicorn? A deer born with a single horn in the center of its head, like the legendary unicorn, is being hailed as an omen of world peace. The 1-year-old male was spotted in a nature preserve near Prato, Italy. And experts believe the power of the magical creature is having a profound affect around the globe. "The appearance of this beautiful beast is especially important to the United States," says mythologist Anthony Francisco." "I'm sure the unicorn is a sign the war in Iraq is coming to an end and our troops will return home at last." Researchers at the Center of Natural Sciences in Prato are astonished by the perfection of the deer, whome they've named, appropriately, Unicorn. "This is fantasy becoming reality," says center director Gilberto Tozzi. "It's not something that's been dreamed up." Veteran American diplomats who've heard about the promising omen report successful talks are now underway with their counterparts i nIsrael and Palestine. "As word has spread about Unicorn, negotiations that seemed impossible a few months ago are finally moving forward," says a source at the State Department. "It's as if the goodwill and positive image of the fabled creature has infected all the participants wit ha determination to embrace peace and reject war." Francisco, of the Walther Research Institute, also cites historical evidence of the unicorn's miraculous power. "Throughout the centuries, it's symbolized the positive desire to extend an olive branch to former enemies he says." "Now that spirit of forgiveness is working its magic with present-day leaders on both sides of the negotiation table." "That kind of accord is a miracle in and of itself." |
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Poll Results DO YOU BELIEVE IN: karma? If you had to lose one of your senses, which one would it be? |