Museum of Mysteries

Dinosaur Flatulence May Have Been The Death of Them…

Emily K. Editor — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:00:01 +0000

Here’s the amazing line from this article: “huge plant-eating dinosaurs called sauropods pumped more methane into the atmosphere than all of today’s natural and industrial sources of methane combined.”

Dinosaur Flatulence Might Have Warmed Prehistoric Climate

Photo: Reuters

Dinosaurs might have contributed to their own demise by passing large amounts of heat-trapping methane gas into the Earth’s atmosphere, triggering a lethal warming of the planet some 150 million years ago.

That is the theory being proposed by researchers in Britain, whose new study suggests that huge plant-eating dinosaurs called sauropods pumped more methane into the atmosphere than all of today’s natural and industrial sources of methane combined. Sauropods had methane-producing microbes in their bodies that aided digestion by fermenting chewed plant material.

The researchers say they did not set out to investigate dinosaur flatulence. They say the idea arose while they were studying sauropod ecology and wondered whether the reptiles could have emitted enough methane gas to warm Earth’s climate during the Mesozoic period…”

Newly Discovered Ancient Planets: Intriguing homes for extraterrestrials?

Emily K. Editor — Thu, 10 May 2012 08:00:26 +0000

Incredible news for folks who believe we may have been visited in ancient times by extraterrestrials: A pair of planets orbiting a 12.5 billion-year old star was recently discovered. This discovery defies conventional wisdom that the earliest stars to be born in the Universe shouldn’t possess planets at all!

Could these planets be homes for ancient aliens?

COULD ANCIENT ALIENS LIVE ON METHUSELAH PLANETS?

Analysis by Ray Villard

The announcement of a pair of planets orbiting a 12.5 billion-year old star flies in the face of conventional wisdom that the earliest stars to be born in the Universe shouldn’t possess planets at all.

12.5 billion years ago, the primeval universe was just beginning to make heavier elements beyond hydrogen and helium, in the fusion furnace cores of the first stars. It follows that there was very little if any material for fabricating terrestrial worlds or the rocky seed cores of gas giant planets.

This argument has been used to automatically rule out the ancient and majestic globular star clusters that orbit our galaxy as intriguing homes for extraterrestrials.

The star that was announced to have two planets is not in a globular cluster (it lives inside the Milky Way, although it was most likely a part of a globular cluster that was cannibalized by our galaxy), but it is similarly anemic as the globular cluster stars because it is so old.

This discovery dovetails nicely with last year’s announcement of carbon found in a distant, ancient radio galaxy. These findings both suggest that there were enough heavy elements in the early universe to make planets around stars, and therefore life…

For the complete article click here.

Dark Matter: Where’s The Evidence?

Emily K. Editor — Sun, 06 May 2012 08:00:31 +0000

The case for dark matter is seriously dwindling, so what should we think is taking up all that mysterious extra space in the universe if it’s not dark matter? Hmmmm…

Serious blow to dark matter theories? New study finds mysterious lack of dark matter in Sun’s neighborhood

(Phys.org) — The most accurate study so far of the motions of stars in the Milky Way has found no evidence for dark matter in a large volume around the Sun. According to widely accepted theories, the solar neighbourhood was expected to be filled with dark matter, a mysterious invisible substance that can only be detected indirectly by the gravitational force it exerts. But a new study by a team of astronomers in Chile has found that these theories just do not fit the observational facts. This may mean that attempts to directly detect dark matter particles on Earth are unlikely to be successful….

For the complete article click here.

What’s New On The Crop Circle Front

Emily K. Editor — Thu, 03 May 2012 08:00:59 +0000

There is a new documentary that is attempting to solve one of the most intriguing mysteries in the world. Suzanne Taylor’s documentary What On Earth? Inside The Crop Circle Mystery won the Best Feature Documentary Award at the UFO Congress Film Festival. For more than twenty years, Taylor has been part of the international community that gathers in England to study and document circle developments. Collectively, the group’s members are known as “croppies.”

Watch the trailer below -

WHAT ON EARTH? – crop circle movie trailer from Suzanne Taylor on Vimeo.

For more:

What on Earth? websites:
http://www.CropCircleMovie.com

http://Facebook.com/WhatOnEarth

Trailer:
http://vimeo.com/22537956

Hi-res crop circle photos:
http://TheConversation.org/movie-images

Is The Mystery of Amelia Earhart’s Death Finally Solved?

Emily K. Editor — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:39:47 +0000

Amelia Earhart’s disappearance somewhere over the South Pacific captivated the world and devastated many…and now there are some very intriguing new details surrounding her fate -

Could the mystery of flying legend Amelia Earhart’s death finally be solved after 75 years?

“Glamorous Amelia Earhart – one of the first female aviators – was fearless as she continually flew into the face of danger.

But on July 2, 1937, she vanished while attempting to fly around the globe.

Her disappearance somewhere over the South Pacific during the last 7,000 miles of her epic journey captivated the world and devastated devoted fans.

After the huge search was finally called off and she was pronounced dead, her mysterious end has continued to fascinate – and spark many conspiracy theories.

Now, 75 years on, one of the 20th Century’s most tantalising mysteries may finally be solved thanks to a blurry black and white photo taken by a British military surveyor two months after Amelia disappeared”…

For the complete article click here.

The Secret History of The Glow-in-the-Dark Civil War Soldiers

Emily K. Editor — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:27:25 +0000

I’ve never heard of this phenomenon! It’s completely bizarre…

The Mystery of the Glow-in-the-Dark Civil War Soldiers

BY LAUREN DAVIS (IO9.COM)

The American Civil War Battle of Shiloh left 16,000 soldiers dead and 3,000 soldiers wounded, and some of those wounded soldiers are part of an odd mystery. Some of the soldiers had eerily glowing wounds, which healed more quickly than the non-glowing wounds. So what strange battlefield science was at work?

It took two days and nights for the medics to reach all of the wounded soldiers in Shiloh, and some of the soldiers noticed that their wounds glowed in the darkness. Because the glowing wounds healed more quickly and cleanly, the mysterious force was termed “Angel’s Glow.”…

(For the complete article click here.)

Atlas Obscura’s International Obscura Day!

admin — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:14:22 +0000

Atlas Obscura is a compendium of the world’s “wonders, curiosities, and esoterica” – and therefore it’s the perfect atlas for us! Yet somehow we missed their ingenious and delightful “Obscura Day” - a wordwide day of local exploration and a celebration of wonder – it was yesterday! (This is what happens when your friendly blog editor fails to check Google alerts for a week!)

But now that we know about Obscura Day it’s pretty much our favorite day of the year now, and you can be sure The Museum of Mysteries will follow the festivities closely next year. In the meantime, fall in love with the Atlas for yourself…here.

…And learn more about Obscura Day here with an awesome little video.

The Truth About Fairies…

Emily K. Editor — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:11:54 +0000

From the gloriously odd website Tales of Curiosity, comes a short film about fairies.

Click the image below and enjoy!

A Brief History of the Apocalypse

Emily K. Editor — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:33:27 +0000

It begins here, but where does it end? (Click here for the complete “history”) -

ca. 2800 BC

According to Isaac Asimov’s Book of Facts (1979), an Assyrian clay tablet dating to approximately 2800 BC was unearthed bearing the words “Our earth is degenerate in these latter days. There are signs that the world is speedily coming to an end. Bribery and corruption are common.” This is one of the earliest examples of the perception of moral decay in society being interpreted as a sign of the imminent end.

634 BC

Apocalyptic thinking gripped many ancient cultures, including the Romans. Early in Rome’s history, many Romans feared that the city would be destroyed in the 120th year of its founding. There was a myth that 12 eagles had revealed to Romulus a mystical number representing the lifetime of Rome, and some early Romans hypothesized that each eagle represented 10 years. The Roman calendar was counted from the founding of Rome, 1 AUC (ab urbe condita) being 753 BC. Thus 120 AUC is 634 BC. (Thompson p.19)

8,000 years of civilization, exposed

Emily K. Editor — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 05:12:10 +0000

What if our ancient ancestors left behind more than just megalithic pyramids and temples? Using high technology, a group of archaeologists has found evidence of our past that has nothing to do with structures left behind – think footprints. A recent article in Nature reports on the finding…

Satellites expose 8,000 years of civilization

Archaeologists develop large-scale method to identify ancient human settlements.

by Virginia Gewin

Mounds of earth covering ancient human settlements, such as Tell Brak in northeastern Syria, can now be analysed remotely using satellite imagery.

Hidden in the landscape of the fertile crescent of the Middle East, scientists say, lurk overlooked networks of small settlements that hold vital clues to ancient civilizations.

Beyond the impressive mounds of earth, known as tells in Arabic, that mark lost cities, researchers have found a way to give archaeologists a broader perspective of the ancient landscape. By combining spy-satellite photos obtained in the 1960s with modern multispectral images and digital maps of Earth’s surface, the researchers have created a new method for mapping large-scale patterns of human settlement…

Click here for the complete article.