Phantoms and Monsters

'Wem Ghost' Photo Mystery Solved
Crocodile Spotted in Ontario Pond
Amazing Owl Survival Transformation
Get Your Doomsday Shelter Now!
DNA Enhanced Goats Produce Spider Silk

Posted: 18 May 2010 12:25 PM PDT

dailymail - It was an image hailed as compelling evidence for the existence of ghosts.

As a town hall was being destroyed by fire, an apparition of a little girl - standing behind a rail and surrounded by flames - was apparently captured on camera.

The picture was taken by Tony O'Rahilly, a sewage farm worker and keen photographer, as he stood across the road among a crowd watching the 90-year-old building in Wem, Shropshire, burn down in November 1995.

The legend of the Wem Ghost was born.

But 15 years on, a pensioner has come forward to cast doubt on the spectre.

Brian Lear, 77, said the 'ghost' bears a distinct likeness to a girl standing in a doorway in a photo of Wem's high street.

This was used on a postcard dating from 1922.

Solved: A street scene postcard from the 1920s taken in Wem shows a similar looking girl to the one who appears in Mr O'Rahilly's photo

Mr Lear, a retired engineer from Shrewsbury, spotted the image when it was reproduced last week as part of a nostalgia item in a local paper.

'I was intrigued to find that she bore a striking likeness to the little girl featured as the Wem Ghost,' he said.

'Her dress, bonnet and ribbon appear to be identical.'

In 1995 the 'ghost' image created international headlines. There was local speculation that the girl was 14-year-old Jane Churm, who accidentally started a disastrous fire in Wem in 1677. The cause of the 1995 fire remains a mystery. Mr O'Rahilly died of a heart attack in 2005.

Local councillor Peggy Carson, who knew him, said she believed the stress caused by interest in his picture contributed to his death.

Local historian Tom Edwards, 69, said: ' He always maintained that the picture was genuine and I believe him.'

Photographic experts have suggested that the 'ghost' image was a trick of the light caused by the fire.

However, Greg Hobson, the curator of photographs at the National Media Museum in Bradford, said: 'The postcard offers pretty conclusive proof that this is a hoax.

'I think we can say the mystery has been solved.'

Mr Hobson said the technique used to produce the doctored photograph was probably similar to one used by Edwardian era mediums who purported to capture images of spirits with their relatives during the relatives' consultations as a way of boosting their credibility.

The mediums would first ask for a photograph of the deceased person, then take a picture of it in the back room. When the client returned later for a consultation, the image would already be partly exposed on to a glass plate.

Another picture would be taken of the client during the session and exposed on to the same plate, giving an image apparently showing the spirit of their relative visiting them during the seance.

NOTE: as with most of these Edwardian era photographs, intentional double exposure is usually the culprit. I recently looked at a large catalog of these images that were used by early soothsayers in their pursuits. Some are very remarkable in light of the equipment that was available...Lon

'Wem Ghost' Photo Mystery Solved

Crocodile Spotted in Ontario Pond

Posted: 18 May 2010 11:55 AM PDT

thestarphoenix - On Monday, a one- to two-metre long crocodilian reptile of some kind -- there are 23 species and the precise one has not been determined -- was first spotted in a lake by a local wildlife photographer, who contacted the Hamilton Conservation Authority about the strange sighting.

Bry Loyst, curator at Indian River Reptile Zoo near Peterborough, Ont., was in Hamilton Tuesday afternoon to help authorities wrangle the reptile, which is likely the product of the common, but dangerous, practice of releasing "pet" crocs when they get larger and more difficult to maintain at home.

"There are a lot of people who release their exotic pets into nature, which is not good," Loyst said in a telephone interview from the scene, where he was waiting on conservation officials to arrive to begin the rescue mission. "They can transmit viruses to our native animals, but a lot of people do that with their pets.

"Every year, we get numerous calls for all kinds of (loose) reptiles."

To subdue and capture a loose crocodile requires only bare-bones equipment for Loyst and his crew.

"A boat, some ties and some duct tape," he said when asked what was needed to get the job done.

Despite the uncertain size and temperament of the reptile, Loyst said he isn't expecting much of a conflict when the time comes to capture the croc.

He said cold-blooded crocodiles don't eat well in water colder than 18 C because their metabolism slows considerably, adding that the lake is currently below that temperature.

"He's pretty cold, so I don't think it will be too much of a fight," said Loyst, who travelled more than 200 kilometres to assist in the rescue effort.

"I guess we'll see, though, we don't even know the type of species yet."

Representatives from the Hamilton Conservation Authority were not available for comment Tuesday.

Crocodile Spotted in Ontario Pond

Amazing Owl Survival Transformation

Posted: 18 May 2010 11:29 AM PDT

Click for video

You might not know that small owl species are sometimes on the menu for larger owl species. When faced with the barn owl, which is only slightly larger than itself, the Southern White-faced Scops Owl puffs itself up to look as big as possible in an effort to scare the barn owl away. When faced with the second, much larger owl, however, it does the exact opposite. By elongating its body, flattening its feathers and squinting its eyes, this little owl mimics a dead branch in the hopes of camouflaging itself from the larger bird.

Amazing Owl Survival Transformation

Get Your Doomsday Shelter Now!

Posted: 18 May 2010 06:53 PM PDT

mail - A salesman with a doomsday plan is taking money for what he promises will one day be a comfortable, nuke-proof bunker in the Mojave Desert.

Robert Vicino, who runs the Del Mar-based company Vivos, is already taking reservations for the bunker in Barstow. He says the 13,000-square-foot underground structure will include an atrium, gym and jail on the inside and sloppy joes and pearl potatoes on the menu.

Experts say the demand for bunkers is growing because of strong earthquakes, terrorism and predictions that the world will end in 2012 when the ancient Mayan calendar ends.

About $50,000 will get you a spot in Vicino's facility. He says half of the 132 spaces planned in the bunker have been reserved, and he's still taking deposits of $5,000 for adults and $2,500 for kids. Pets are free.

Get Your Doomsday Shelter Now! - Vivos underground shelter complex for up to 4,000 people in 20 nationwide locations. One year of autonomous survival and life assurance in a hardened, fully stocked, blast proof shelter for the next Earth devastating catastrophe, terrorist strike, nuclear attack or social anarchy.

NOTE: sorry, folks...if it does happen, no hole in the ground is going to save you let alone a delay of one year to eventual peril...Lon

Get Your Doomsday Shelter Now!

DNA Enhanced Goats Produce Spider Silk

Posted: 18 May 2010 10:12 AM PDT

news.com.au - On a farm in Wyoming, goats are being milked for their spider webs.

And if that sounds bizarre, molecular biologist Randy Lewis claims that within two years, spider silk milked from goats could replace your body's tired or strained tendons and ligaments - maybe even bones.

Professor Lewis and his team at the University of Wyoming have successfully implanted the silk-making genes from a golden orb spider into a herd of goats and are now, finally, producing one of nature's strongest products in useable quantities.

The technology is cutting edge, but the science isn't. Spider silk has been used for centuries to dress wounds with varying degrees of success, but the problem has until now been how to get it.

"We needed a way to produce large quantities of the spider silk proteins," Prof Lewis told news.com.au.

"Spiders can't be farmed, so that route is out and since they make six different silks, even that would not work if you could."

Spiders also have a tendancy to eat each other, so milking one thread from six out of a solo spider was clearly never going to service the entire human race.

Prof Lewis and his team singled out the "dragline" - the outer strand of the web - as the strongest of the six types of silk.

They spliced the DNA that creates the silk into a female goat's DNA, then waited for it to give birth and start lactating.

"(The splicing) turned out to be relatively easy as there are known gene promotors that only produce expression in the mammary gland during lactation," he said.

"Those were hooked up to our spider silk genes."

After the milk is collected, it's taken back to a laboratory where the silk protein is filtered out. It solidifies when exposed to air and is wound onto a roller.

Prof Lewis said the team collects about four metres of silk for every four drops of protein they gather.

The pure material had a wide range of medicinal applications as sutures and binding agents - including ligament replacement - but its use could extend well beyond our hospitals.

"If it works, frankly one of the first applications is maybe fishing line," Prof Lewis said.

"I think we will be testing real world applications in less than two years (but) when they reach market is really beyond my control."

And in case you were wondering, no goats were harmed during the making of spider silk milk.

Prof Lewis said there was no evidence to suggest the goats in the experiment behaved any differently to regular goats, in either physiology or "psychology".

One day, the burden could be lifted even from goats.

Prof Lewis said the technology could have farm applications - he told Science Nation they were developing the same technology for alfalfa.

Click for video

DNA Enhanced Goats Produce Spider Silk
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*SKUNK APE MATING SEASON ALERT! Researcher warns menstruating women to stay clear of the swamps!
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FREAK HAILSTORM SLAMS OKLAHOMA!

Click for video

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*I want to thank Rick Phillips for his post at Lon Strickler - Mr. High Strangeness. Rick was one of the earliest alternative contributors on the blogosphere and has been a fantastic source and comrade...Lon

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