The ancient genetic disc

Biological knowledge in ancient times. Since the beginning of the new millennium, the human genetic plan of life is deciphered. But the function of many genes is still unknown. The sceptics are afraid of unscrupulous scientists that might create cloned “wonder-children” that could be ordered in a catalogue. But genetics are sure that the knowledge is enough for a revolution in medicine. In ancient times people connected the evolution of life with the “tree of life”. But what is a “tree of life”? In many texts of  ancient cultures is written about gods that once created men and other creatures. Who have been those creating gods? Do stories of fabulous beings, amphibious creatures and mythical creatures are based on real experiences or are they only results of fantasies?

This disk from South America is one of the most interesting and confusing finds of archaeology. The unique relic is made of black stone and measures about 22 cm in diameter. It weights about 2 kg. On the disk, there are carvings that describe the astonishing knowledge of our ancestors. The object has been examined in the Museum of Natural History, Vienna, Austria. It was not made of artificial materials like cement but of lydite.

Lydite / radiolarite / silex:

These three terms refer to the same rock, where the notation "Lydite" is often used for Paleozoic forms and "radiolarite" for the Mesozoic rocks of the Alps.  The useful term for this rock regardless of the age is "radiolarite".

It is a marine sedimentary rock that is formed in the deep sea and from the siliceous (SiO2) remains single-celled radiolarians - is built - the radiolarians. This sink to after her death in the sea in the deep sea and form under favorable conditions (especially low or missing other items of sand, clay, etc.) the Radiolarienschlamm. This mud is known for its extremely slow growth, sedimentation rates of a few millimeters per thousand years appear to be common.

It's way on land and in the handpieces is the rock in the course of subduction and mountain building. This leads to dehydration, compression, and compaction. The fine sediment layers remain only sometimes receive and are rarely seen in the handpiece. In general, the as Lydite (or chert) denotes pieces are characterized by the following properties:

·        Extremely hard, splintery or conchoidal breaking rock that is always found in small dimensions. Finds rarely reach more than a decimeter, usually, they remain under fist size.

·        Most deep black or gray (Palaeozoic), but also greenish to red (Mesozoic radiolarites of the Alps). Very fine-grained  to dense structure, no fossils on radiolarian size. Even the latter are small only in exceptional cases recognizable and less than a millimeter.

Often the rocks are highly folded and crossed by many breakthroughs that are regularly filled with quartz veinlets.

Radiolarites are so hard that they often have a much lower curvature than the surrounding sediment. The splintery, angular fracture remains long recognized.

Moreover, a lot of information on human genetics are strung on the outside of the disc, Strange is that this information could not be seen with the naked eye but under a microscope or other optical instrument. The current level of knowledge of humanity does not allow such a possibility, which induces a certain aura of mystery on how to obtain the information by a culture that did not have the technology to access such information.

The sculptures are really amazing because they are made with extraordinary precision.

The disk, known as "genetic disc", it was dated in a prehistoric epoch, scientists estimate that the disk has been made almost 6000 years, and assigned to the Muisca-culture. Dr. Vera M. F. Hammer, the expert for precious stones and minerals, analysed the object. The symbols on the disk are very impressive.

For a logical structuring of the interpretations, researchers divided the disc into four areas giving them red, green, blue and yellow color. Let's take each in turn.

In the section marked reddish color can be identified easily, without fear of fat, a man and a woman with a fetus. Această secţiune semnifică naşterea

The yellow section that probably represented childhood, an important first step in human life, we see a man and a woman with a child. Perhaps theirs.

The blue section is the genitals and semen.

The green area is divided into twelve segments and appears to be an evolution of which is the man. In the first stage, I was tempted to think that is presented intrauterine human development but puzzles me that it was divided into twelve segments, not new as it was natural.

The sequence of segments that can only represent what those who believed they did, that is the human evolution from amphibians until man appeared. But they believed that we evolved from amphibians? Is it all a science of our development work without cause. What is truly remarkable is that these people had no concept related to creationism, though perhaps worshiped certain gods. Accepted and taught that human evolution in a show that their faith in God was not based on the fact that they created us. Or maybe they knew that the gods created us but what we've got from a development that has twelve stages.

Another interpretation which we must pay due attention is that the twelve segments correspond to 12 signs. In support of this interpretation, we find that the May box corresponding Gemini is a sign that resembles the one we know today. Other signs, however, have no connection, nor how it would be about another culture much older, so that's unlikely to have the same names of the planets. However do not forget that the signs as we know them, have resulted from the interpretation of the settlement stars who certainly were the same for them and for us.

The obverse and reverse side are decorated with carvings and ornaments, separated with single vertical stripes. On the edge of the disk, there is a symbol of a snake. In the middle, the disk shows a hole, maybe a hint that the disc originally was fixed on a stick and then turned around. One side shows biological details like male sperms, female egg cell and the genitals, the fertilized egg, foetus and the growing embryo. The other side shows scenes that could be interpreted as the cell division and depiction of frog creatures in different stages. Dr. Algund Eemboom MD and his colleges analysed the different segments of the disk. His result was that it is possible to recognize the phases of evolution of human life on the disk. Very significant are the distant lying eyes and the broad nose. This is a characteristic of the embryonic structure of the head.Univ. Prof. Dr. Rudolf Distelberger internationally recognized expert on precious stones and director of the Schatzkammer, Vienna, said that the disk has a very complex content. That is the reason why many scientists cried fraud as the disk appeared. It cannot be classified in the known South American system of cultures. But why should a forger forge something that does not fit into any scheme we are familiar with? If he wants to sell a forgery this would not be the right way. But what shall we do with this mysterious disk if it is not a forgery? Is it maybe a ludicrous find of a sunken culture? The “genetic disk” with the depictions of biological processes is not the only archaeological relic with that thematic. A long time before the Chibcha and Muisca there lived different cultures in the savannah of Bogotá in Columbia. There have been found huge towers of stone: 7 meters high and 70 cm in diameter. Those monuments are interpreted as phallus-symbols. They remind of Egyptian obelisks and pillars. Also, human skeletons have been found that are 14.000 years old. At that time the region of Bogotá was a huge lake. Also, sculptures of men with frog heads have been found.

The dancing plague - a mass hyisteria

Known as choreomania (from Greek "choros" which means dance, and "mania" - madness), Dancing St. John or Dance of St. Vitus, this strange epidemic has been recorded numerous times during the Middle Ages in Europe (especially in period XIV – XVII century). Symptoms of this disease presented in these written sources were unable to provide a clear, contemporary researchers, from poverty to detail, but also because the authors inability to understand disease from the perspective of modern medicine. Most accepted doubts about this dance craze were assigned amid mass hysteria or nerve diseases, such as epilepsy. Unfortunately, this argument can not be considered because epilepsy is not a contagious disease. As such, we can not accept reasonable motivation that those who joined the craze were only comprised of the people already affected by epilepsy.

After studying various medieval sources about this disease, it has seen a pattern which met at all. Thus, most "dance epidemics" were characterized by collective manifestations in groups that varied in number from a few to several hundred people. During dances, participants sang, screamed and laughed frantically. Hours dance continue to induce a trance participants and ecstasy, followed by a faint, or even their death. It managed to identify specific medical conditions such as seizures, chest pain, hyperventilation, hallucinations and attacks with symptoms similar to epilepsy.

It was also observed that most of those who participated in these dances were foreigners zones, often erupted during a pilgrimage and attracting even some of the locals. These events collectively could break out and gather participants during their deployment or from one sufferer may collect dozens if not hundreds of other dancers around him.

According to sources, those affected by these epidemics dance would have reacted violently to any observer refusal to join them, which explains why healthy people participating in these epidemics purely recreational reasons. Dances were condemned by religious authorities of that time because participants often eliminate the clothing accessory, made obscene gestures and carried out acts of a sexual nature. Clerics describes how chaotic and savage behaves, like that of animals, attributing blame Satan's evil actions.

Other features typical of those participants were intolerance for red and pointy shoes with a masochistic pleasure to hit the legs. The descriptions displayed on this medieval dancers wearing colorful clothing and having strange wooden sticks.

The most important dance epidemics

The first record of such an epidemic was in century X. A report from 1021 tells how Kolbig 12 peasants in Germany today would have danced around a church for months, after being cursed by a priest to lament for the whole year for Christmas service interruption. During the dance, 4 of the 12 peasants died, being stopped only with the help of two local bishops and prayers. The fact that these people needed time to feed and satisfy theirs at least physiological needs, there is no information. Because regardless of their physical and mental capabilities of these men could not last more than 2 days without food and water. But it was a huge effort to dance for hours and all energy resources are quickly exhausted.

In 1278, in Utrecht, a group of 200 people danced across the river Meuse bridge, causing its collapse and death of many of those dancers. A century later, in 1374, it held the largest outbreak of this kind, the disease called St. John, because it was held on the feast of this saint. Thus, Aix-la-Chapelles (Aachen) gathered a crowd of people outside the city, led by a certain visual illusion (according to sources). This heretical dance, some being under the influence of hallucinations, so faint, finally, because of exhaustion. In the coming years, epidemics have spread outside the German area, it is set in France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium. Priests and clerics appeal to service of exorcism to treat patients who thought they were possessed. Ordinary people attempt to appease patients that turned violent applying them hard blows to the abdomen, but often, the dancers like to be hit. Tried and bringing musicians to accompany the sick, but this method attracts, even more, participants to dance, worsening the situation.

Later, it began in a seemingly ordinary summer day in mid-July, the year 1518. Then more than astonished eyes of its neighbors, Mrs. Troffea, a middle-aged woman, started dancing convulsively and without controlling the narrow streets of the city Strasbourg, France (then the settlement was part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation). It could hear no music, and grimaces, his gaze fixed and facial expression, shows no sign of joy or happiness. Thoughts that flared in the heads of the crowd that gathered more frightened and suspicious revolves around suspicions of insanity or demonic possession, the only explanation of the time for such a bizarre how she Mrs. Troffea output. The woman did not seem able to stop dancing, or what seemed to dance and began to frighten more and more viewers.

The first week it came with 34 people, and three weeks after 400 people gathered the crowd. Most dancers fainted after a few days due to exhaustion. Things went from bad to worse, for a period of one month, the number who had started from nowhere to dance, hop and jump instantly to falling killed by exhaustion, exceeded 400 people. Doctors in those days were all declared powerless, for unfortunates were dancing as if in another world, no longer able to communicate with others. A priest came shortly turn to state inefficiency after jobs and exorcism sessions proved equally ineffective. And some, and others, like the nobles and the common people, they soon realized that unwittingly dancers do not dance on their own initiative, which has fueled aimed opinion namely that Satan is involved in everything that happens. Were recorded deaths caused dance without stopping, heart attacks and fatigue are the main culprits. Concerned by this event, local nobles, clerics, and scholars were polled to find out the cause of these strange events. Upon learning that the disease had been caused by "hot blood", the authorities decided to let people dance day and night, hoping they would eventually get tired and stop. The central city has been released and a wooden stage was built in the middle of them to facilitate the dances. The authorities have decided to employ to musicians, dancers hope that helps.

 Sufferers of this disease in the city of Strasbourg went on the pilgrimage to the relics of St. Vitus, the rumors saying that they had the miraculous power to treat this disease. Thus, St. Vitus became attached to John the Baptist, patron sufferers dancers. In the seventeenth century, Professor of Medicine Gregor Horst observe an event held each year at the chapel of St. Vitus in Drefelhausen: "Every year, the day of St. Vitus, women who come on pilgrimage dancing day and night until captured by ecstasy and faints. They then return to their normal lives to resume next year habit. "

Dance Mania seems to have disappeared somewhere in the middle of the seventeenth century. A specific phenomenon called tarantism and Italian space strikingly resembles the disease described above. Tarantism habit would be started in the thirteenth century, the Italian space when it was thought that the antidote to scorpion bites and tarantulas was tarantella dance. One of these dances is found today in Italian folklore. The dance is called "pizzicarella" and the video Alla Bua is an edificatory band.

With time, Tarantism has become a local tradition, accompanied by dances being sprayed with red wine parties. The phenomenon stopped abruptly in 1959, no longer practiced since.

Possible explanations

The explanations of this phenomenon have been hard to find, the answers to which data from multiple perspectives, especially in the medico-psychological and sociological. The most plausible explanation may be the boundary between these areas. Analyzing the periods in which these outbreaks occurred, the researchers found that they were held in intense periods of famine and poverty in the peasantry. Hunger, poor health and psychological stress affecting ordinary people would be produced mental instability, causing them to burst into fits of dancing, often violent.

The famine that bears peasants would be forced to consume and broken grains, which sometimes were infected mushroom hallucinogen effect. They were infecting them, in turn, consumers, and those under the symptom of mania dance.

Other explanations that do not belong to the scientific, presents these epidemics as some secret religious cults ceremony. Although in those days to be a heretic was a crime that was punishable by death, it is believed that these ceremonies pagan Greco-Roman inspiration and would have kept the guise of "plague of dance" to avoid repressive actions of the Catholic Church.

The laughter epidemic fever

"It is well said that people think of as a flock; we can see that a freak in the head, but recovered slowly, one by one, "noted Charles Mackay, in 1841, in a book devoted to the social sciences.

A related experiment was conducted under the supervision of a group of scientists put five monkeys in a cage in the middle of a ladder cage. Above the staircase was placed a bunch of bananas. When a monkey climbing the stairs to take bananas, scientists threw a bucket of cold water that remains on the other foot. After some time, when a monkey tried to climb the stairs, the other did not allow her to climb. After long no monkey no longer climb the ladder, despite the temptation bananas.

  

Then the scientists replaced one of the monkeys. The first thing that made it was trying to climb the ladder, but was held back by others and beaten. After a few beats, any member of the new group is no longer climb the ladder. A second monkey was replaced and the same thing happened. The first monkey replacement enthusiastically participated in the beating novice. A third was changed and things were repeated. The fourth and fifth were changed. Finally, scientists were left with five monkeys that had not received although never a bath with cold water continued to hit monkeys trying to reach the banana.

    

If it was possible that monkeys be asked why he beat those who tried to climb the ladder, the answer would probably be "do not know. Things have always been like this ..."

Herd thinking explains, in part, a series of general mania that erupted over time. Crowds began to act strange phenomenon is degenerating quickly and just as quickly forgotten.

One of the strangest manifestations of herd thinking is epidemic in Tanzania and Uganda laughed. It appeared at the end of January in 1962 at a school for girls in Kashasha. The laughter started from three students who have overreacted to a normal joke that appeared to have been actually affected by a strange epidemic, whose causes have not been elucidated completely until today.

Shortly epidemic has affected 95 of the 159 students in the school and so was stopped classes, teachers are unable to control this situation more capable. Symptoms were lasting, may take several hours or even up to 16 days. Laughter was it is stronger to tears, but would be accompanied by rash, fits of fear or aggression, and sometimes patients experiencing pain, feeling panting because of respiratory problems, cry, cries involuntary and even unconsciousness. After seizures unexplained and unexpected laughter became weaker and stopped completely.

Ten days after the closure of the institution, the disease reappeared in a nearby village where they lived some of the girls who were sick. In total, about 217 residents were affected by the epidemic in April-May. Laughter epidemic has spread to other areas, every time there is a connection with a person on school girls. In total, they were affected by the epidemic over 1,000 persons in the two countries.

Experts who have analyzed the phenomenon not found other symptoms that clear up the mystery disease and thus hypothesized that the epidemic was due to razor impact of psychoactive mushrooms, although evidence has never been found. The fact is that those affected were perfectly healthy people showed no abnormality to explain the disease, so the epidemic has still remained a mystery elucidated.

Outbreaks of infection ended only after a period of six months and has not been detected before. Of all happened because shaving epidemic in Tanzania concluded that came true adage "laughter can be contagious."

Gregariousness deeply tied to our species associated, contagion is a feature of human emotions, a result of the evolutionary process by which species strengthened adaptive resources and survival. When we respond and resonate with the emotions of our fellows, not only as we cultivate relationships with them, but we assure you that, under the universal principle of reciprocity will respond similarly when we need them, either to celebrate or for help when we are in difficulty.

A French film short film circulating on “YouTube” under the name of "Merci", trying to reproduce razor epidemic in Tanzania, in the Paris metro. The scenario is simple: an actor laughed without an obvious reason to be - maybe a bench and recalled that or a funny situation just lived it. Soon, all the passengers will follow in a laughing micro-epidemic.

Laughter is healthy, even those without reason. During shaving, the microbiological level, emissions occur hormones are beneficial emotional state and health and there was even laughter therapy that promises an improvement in emotional and changes the set of perceptions dramatic that keep us in a state of persistent sadness.

Unexplained increase of Nomura jellyfish

Earth is changing. It is a reality that we can not deny and I began to accept, especially after the media onslaught we announced almost every day new and new phenomena that, after four decades, you rather, the field of science fiction. Storms of the increasingly powerful tornado that suddenly arise in areas where it should not be formed, volcanic eruptions, the disappearance of glaciers and arctic snow, snow in African deserts, huge waves and disappearance of species of plants and animals are just some of the effects of what today we call global warming.

Yet, despite studies and apocalyptic forecasts of researchers around the world, we are not even close to understanding and predict the magnitude bizarre phenomena of recent years. In the face of change so rapid and profound, even scientists remain helpless, unable to offer solutions and explanations for what happens to us. I propose now to analyze a phenomenon little known, that happens far from our eyes, in the depths of the seas and oceans, but whose consequences can be catastrophic for the environment and even the existence of marine life, as we know now: Invasion Nomura jellyfish.

Nomura jellyfish is a large, falling from this point of view, the class jellyfish reddish, popularly called "lion mane", whose tentacles reach even 15 meters and represents the largest cnidarians in the world.

Nomura jellyfish was named after the Japanese Ken-ichi Nomura, director general of fisheries experimental station of the province of Fukui, who in early December of 1921 sent a specimen of this species in a tank of 72 liter timber , by Kishinouye, where it was found that the jellyfish was not yet known, although it inhabits oceans before dinosaurs.

It lives mainly in the waters between China and Japan, especially in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea. The Nomura jellyfish which closely studied, providing information about their life cycle, growth rates and feeding habits by the expert Japanese Shin-ichi Uye. It rose more specimens in captivity, noting that Nomura jellyfish grow very quickly, depending on the amount of food we consume is made up of zooplankton.

Stories about giant creatures from the depths arise from the distant past of Japan. However, given their occurrence so rare, Rising Sun Country residents had come to consider them rather than being legendary real creatures living in the depths of the seas.

Nomura is one of the largest jellyfish species on Earth. Normally its dimensions do not exceed 25 to 30 cm in diameter and lead lives deep in the seas and oceans. Observations made by specialists over time, evident that their occurrence in upper areas of ocean is a cycle of about 40 years, which is why the thorough study of their behavior was quite difficult to achieve. In recent years, however, it was found that this species was a development that led to the emergence of huge specimens of 6-10 m diameter and tentacles that reach even 35 meters. But caught were caught only copies 2-2.5 m in diameter and tentacles of 12-15 m. the specialists in marine biology believe that evolution has multiple causes such as global warming, pollution of the seas and oceans with toxic waste especially phosphates, capturing in excess of that species fed with these jellyfish and we refer to tuna, sea turtle and lizards.

In early 2000, the Japanese accused the Chinese that have spilled into the sea for a long time, knowingly, residues of certain chemical plants, which could be due to the emergence in the area of real sea monsters that destroy everything.

With cylinder diameter of about 2 meters, a length of tentacles over 30 meters and a weight exceeding 220 kg, they can be cataloged, without exaggeration, as veritable ocean monsters. Their food consists mainly of phytoplankton or small creatures, creatures you kill them with venom huge jellyfish tentacles. Even if it is not strong enough to kill a man, reaching Nomura can cause agonizing pain careless fishermen or swimmers. In fact, one of the greatest dangers that present huge jellyfish to humans is the condition of the eyeball, which can lead to permanent blindness. In official records, there are only nine deaths, nearly all of them due to venom allergy victims creature.

Instead, the rapacity of jellyfish is one legendary. Japanese specialists have calculated that a single mature tree can consume in one day equivalent of an Olympic pool filled with plankton, action catastrophic for hundreds of marine species that are seen as lacking the main source of food.

If in the past colonies of jellyfish occurs every 40 years, since 2002 they appear annually. It is not clear to what are the causes that have condos to increase the frequency of their occurrence, specialists' opinions are divided. Thus, some consider that the frequent earthquakes in the area have enabled Japanese submarine hot springs that attract the jellyfish at the surface, some even making an association with jellyfish occurrence prediction of earthquakes.

Worthy of notice is the fact that each of the females deposit eggs over a billion a day, the number of specimens of this species in recent years becoming worryingly high. Eggs laid by females in the water reach the ocean floor in the form of polyps that remain inactive until environmental conditions change and the water warms then turn into millions of jellyfish ready to devour large quantities of phytoplankton. This species of jellyfish has a strange ability that at least reflected in the fact that when you are caught in water releases all the eggs making them totally ineffective combat fishing or catching

Catastrophic effects are not immediate. In recent years, Nomura jellyfish have increased so much that fishermen became alarmed, thousands of tons of such creatures taking place fish in their nets. The few fish caught by them were injected with the venom of giant jellyfish, it was impossible to eat. The Chinese were the ones who found a temporary solution to this problem, turning meat Nomura jellyfish in delicious traditional cuisine.

In August 2009, the Japanese fishing vessel sank due weight Diasan nets full of jellyfish Nomura having 2 m in diameter and weighing 200 kg each. Most jellyfish have captured a capsule diameter of 2.5 meters and a length of 35 meters.

Before this incident, last major invasion of giant jellyfish in Japan occurred in 2005. Then, however, produced only damage jellyfish nets and poisoned fish, causing them to become inedible for humans. Two years later, in 2007, the Japanese authorities have received more than 15,000 claims for damage fishing gear, a figure comparable to the destruction in 2009, might seem insignificant.

It seems a great influence on the evolution of this species also had Japanese nuclear accident at the plant in Fukushima, meaning that occurred in the area of 10-15 m diameter specimens.

  Sensational enthusiasts have had the pleasure to enjoy sensational underwater photos, which many have believed false start. And in this material are some of them.

Japanese experts fear that if pollution will cease in less than 10 years, giant jellyfish will deplete food sources in their habitat and will migrate to other seas and oceans, which would lead to an ecological catastrophe on a planetary level.

A desperate attempt of the authorities was to introduce Japanese food giant Nomura jellyfish, without having, however, very successful. Pressed, salted, tofu or even in the form of snacks, marine creatures do not seem to please the Japanese. Not the same can be said about the Chinese, for whom jellyfish are an important food source, and Nomura invasion can be an important source of income.

Nomura jellyfish is a problem facing the underwater world and due to the increasing number of individuals but also of their organization in colonies, to which we add pollution but global temperature warming, World Ocean ecosystem is likely to become history. Experts warn that if over the next 10 years, no action is taken to stop increasing pollution, a new species to rule the seas and oceans, jellyfish Nomura.

AOKIGAHARA - the japanese suicide forest

Aokigahara is a forest of 35,000 square kilometers, stretching from the foot of Mount Fuji. It is a forest that has existed for 1200 years. Since the 50s, the forest became the place causing most cases of suicide by strangulation.

The soil of the forest is composed of lava. In 864, Fuji erupted ten days in a row, forming a large amount of lava. Every year, nearly 400 Japanese put their suicide in the forest. Statistics show that in Japan every year, over 40,000 people commit suicide. We have created many legends about evil spirits that haunt the woods.

Called "the perfect place to die," the Aokigahara forest has the unfortunate distinction of the world's second most popular place to take one's life. (The first is the Golden Gate Bridge.) Since the 1950s, Japanese businessmen have wandered in, and at least 500 of them haven't wandered out, at an increasing rate of between 10 and 30 per year. Recently these numbers have increased even more, with a record 78 suicides in 2002.

However, Japan is not first in suicides. The first place is occupied by Russia, followed by Belarus and Latvia.

Why Japanese choose this place to commit suicide?

Japanese spiritualists believe that the suicides committed in the forest have permeated Aokigahara's trees, generating paranormal activity and preventing many who enter from escaping the forest's depths. Complicating matters further are the common experience of compasses being rendered useless by the rich deposits of magnetic iron in the area's volcanic soil.

In 1956, Japan was a real current, supported even by intellectuals, to die by suicide, a dignified death in Japanese culture.

Forest looks bizarre. Sunlight does not penetrate inside the forest and the forest access roads are true mazes.

Japanese legends speak of spirits of the dead can be seen in the forest. Spirits of the dead by violence do not find peace nor can pass into another world. Spirits remain between the two worlds. In 1990, two guardians of the forests found the body of a hanged. They approached the scene and saw several ghosts that swirled around suicide. Residents of the area who argue that sank in the forest not find the way back.

The compass does not point north in the woods accurately. They say it's a difference of 90 degrees to the true position of the north. Many groups of tourists went in circles for hours, because compass does not work correctly. It took the intervention because these tourists can be recovered. Japanese experts have recognized that a strange phenomenon happens. It is the distortion of orientation to person, but the compass.

The plot apparently seems to be right. In fact, under vegetation pits are up to one meter deep, which is an impractical advance.

Aokihagara awakens a sense of fear among the Japanese. It is considered the most cursed place in Japan.

The evil spirits are called Yure and can come from anywhere. Sounds strange cries and that yureii can not leave the suicide, have made this a cursed forest. Nobody in Japan did not want to invest in this area, arguing that businesses would fail. Those who have ventured into this forest argue that there is a maximum voltage that marks the human body. Panic, exhaustion, headaches, all these experiences have made fewer Japanese to venture into such hikes.

Due to the vastness of the forest, desperate visitors are unlikely to encounter anyone once inside the so-called "Sea of Trees," so the police have mounted signs reading "Your life is a precious gift from your parents," and "Please consult the police before you decide to die!" on trees throughout.

This does not deter determined people from committing suicide in this dense forest. Annually about 70 corpses are found by volunteers who clean the woods but many are forever lost in the very thick woods. Japanese authorities discounted publishing exact suicide numbers in order to not make the place even more popular.

Contemporary news outlets noted the recent spike in suicides in the forest, blamed more on Japan’s economic downturn than on the romantic ending of Seicho Matsumoto’s novel Kuroi Jukai, which revitalized the so-called Suicide Forest’s popularity among those determined to take their final walk. (The novel culminates in Aokigahara as the characters are driven to joint-suicide.)

Locals say they can easily spot the three types of visitors to the forest: trekkers interested in scenic vistas of Mount Fuji, the curious hoping for a glimpse of the macabre, and those souls who don’t plan on returning.

What those hoping to take their lives may not consider is the impact the suicides have with the locals and forest workers. In the words of one local man, "It bugs the hell out of me that the area's famous for being a suicide spot." And a local police officer said, "I've seen plenty of bodies that have been really badly decomposed, or been picked at by wild animals... There's nothing beautiful about dying in there."

The forest workers have it even worse than the police. The workers must carry the bodies down from the forest to the local station, where the bodies are put in a special room used specifically to house suicide corpses. The forest workers then play jan-ken-pon—rock, paper, scissors—to see who has to sleep in the room with the corpse.

It is believed that if the corpse is left alone, it is very bad luck for the yurei (ghost) of the suicide victims. Their spirits are said to scream through the night, and their bodies will move on their own.

OSCAR - the cat who predicts death

Sheltered beside man five thousand years ago, the cat has a troubled history. In ancient times was worshiped, the animal considered sacred, magical, a messenger of the gods. In the turbulent Middle Ages, people began to fear cats, particularly of the black cat, as their devilish incarnations, devoid of wizardly tools. "Sentenced" inquisition processes were tortured with a fierce sadism, drowned and burned at the stake. In the contemporary period, they have become not only cats always present in our house, but researchers give them more attention, assigning them extrasensory qualities such as telepathy or precognition.

Never in any country in the world, the cat was worshiped as in ancient Egypt. It seems that the inhabitants of the pyramids have come to deify this animal early dynastic period of 2900 years BC, Cats saved the Egypt from starvation. Grain reserves had been severely damaged by a terrible invasion of mice and, at the command of Pharaoh, hundreds of cats were brought from throughout the region and placed as sentry against rodents. So the cat began to be loved and then considered sacred animal. Bastet, the goddess with the body of a woman and cat image was the embodiment strange dual admiration born of the Egyptians, this animal clean, affectionate, gentle night, with an incredible ability to disappear and reappear imperceptibly with mystical abilities . Peaceful troubled her personality, but also mysterious Egyptians worshiped a respect mixed with fear.

Throughout the ages, cats have hovered over various superstitions, some auspicious, others, on the contrary, that brings misfortune. For example, according to an Irish popular belief, if you cut way a cat in the moonlight, this means imminent death. Especially the black cat is considered to bring misfortune. Less than England, where even the King Charles the Great had a black cat, which claimed that bears his luck, convinced that she is the "watchman" of his life. His conviction was so firm that the British monarch commanded the cat to be guarded day and night, lest some misfortune run or get hurt. Coincidence or not, the day after the cat died, King was arrested and on January 29, 1649, was beheaded.

Despite the cat's studies, researchers were unable yet to explain what special abilities the little feline fail to anticipate all sorts of events related to their masters.

By staggering, cats presentiment of danger, foreboding, and masters, or plan their approaching death. In 2007, David Dosa, a specialist in geriatric old age home, published an article in a newspaper, the story of Oscar, a cat that had been adopted by employees of asylum and was able to provide patient death. Cat story "Paranormal" Oscar appeared for the first time in 2007, this being continued to fascinate the nursing staff and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island (USA). Why? Because Oscar the cat lives at the rehabilitation center when longer stays with a patient, it is a sure sign that the patient will die within a few hours! The cat came especially for the final moments of the life of the patient ... You may think that a cat announces its presence as one feared death, but Oscar is regarded as a comfortable companion. All day, she walks the corridors of asylum, entering the salon to salon, but remaining only with patients who are approaching the end. Doctors tried several times to chase, pulling it out, but Oscar, to the astonishment of all, does not scramble never gave, struggling to get back near dying.

Intrigued, nurses subjected him, Oscar, finally an "experiment". "The cat was taken and placed on the bed of an old man that I thought would die soon. But soon, Oscar got up, rushed from the salon and went straight to the bed of another patient. A few hours later, I discovered that the cat had known better than us who would die. Besides patient who had been all day he died that evening, while the first lived a few days, "Dr. Dosa story. "There can be no coincidence, for Oscar accurately predicted the death of over 50 patients. The other five are still alive asylum cats, but none of them ever expressed such a skill. I can not give an explanation for this strange phenomenon! The only case that I can think of is that cat, with its highly developed olfactory sense, could perceive the smell released by the cells at the time of death. But amazing is that Oscar knows even a few hours before the man going to die. "

"The door to the patient's room is closed, so Oscar sits and waits. He has important things here, "says Dr. Dosa. "He's watching Mrs. T. She is clearly in the terminal stage of the disease and breathing hard (...) The cat sniffed the air, it concerns finally Mrs. T., jumps out of bed and leaves the room quickly. Today will not die T. (...) Mrs. K. is resting quietly in her bed, having a balanced breathing but shallow. It is surrounded by pictures of her grandchildren. Despite these souvenirs, she is single. Oscar jumps into her bed and again sniffs the air. Make a break assess the situation, and then crouches beside Mrs. K. Once he saw that Oscar is Mrs. K, the nurse called Mrs. K family to come to the center. Also called a priest for last rites. The family was around Mrs. K, and one of her relatives asked why the cat was there. I was told that the cat is there to help Mrs. K to reach heaven. Half an hour later, Mrs. K has died ".

The precision with which Oscar predicts death asylum persuaded employees to adopt a protocol unusual: as soon as it discovers sitting of "standby" next to a dying family members announces its imminent end.

Dr. Joan Teno noted that the dying cat is next 2 hours before dying. He does not think the cat would have paranormal abilities, but simply there is a "biochemical explanation." Joe Nickell, a researcher in the field, gives a possible explanation: "How cells die, carbohydrates degrade more oxygenates, including various types of chemical mixtures ketones known for their fragrant aroma. It's possible to smell Oscar simply a high level of a chemical compound released before his death. Certainly, animals have a more refined sense of smell, which exceeds the average man. "

 Legends say that cats are the guardians of the gates of hell demons are afraid of them. Another name for them would be "glove God" because Noah himself would have thrown his gloves after rats gnawed boat and turned into cat hunting glove. But these are legends. Cats are cats and these animals have developed senses, especially the sense of danger all too.

 Whatever our amazement what capacities have some amazing animals, we humans do not have, although we believe "superiors".

Worlds within Earth

Although many of us find the idea of a hollow Earth is rather ridiculous, since scientifically-based information handy are currently exploiting this alternative theory dates back to the ancient and not own a single civilization. It occurs both in Icelandic folklore, and in distant Tibet, and the idea is the same: the true wisdom springs from the depths of the earth, and there was a population of advanced so spiritually and technologically. Or Paradise Lost? Or is it in fact the true location of Atlantis? Or maybe the little green men from space are not coming as we believe, but even the center of the Earth, where they were based for their flying saucers. In this case, we should get the hat in front of them and call them "intra-terrestrial" ... How much is truth and how much is fiction?

Meditating on outlandish theories that have long been taken seriously teaches us to be cautious before many ideas including credence in the media and even in some scientific circles .

There is two hollow Earth theory . According to the former, we live on its bark , and inside there is another world that we do not know , where the mysterious kingdom of Agartha , the residence of the king of the world. According to the second , we believe that we live in outer crust of the earth , but actually living inside it ( we think we live on a convex surface , but in reality, we live in a concave surface ) .

One of the first hollow Earth theory was proposed in 1692 by Edmund Halley , who suggested that the Earth was composed of four spheres stacked one another and the planet's interior would have lived and illuminated by a light atmosphere as . Later, the famous mathematician Euler had to replace the theory of multiple spheres to that of a single sphere , hollow , within which there was the sun to heat and light an advanced civilization .

The theory was resumed in the early 1800s by Captain J. Cleves Symmes of Ohio , who wrote several scientific societies " to the world : I declare the earth is hollow and habitable within, that he was a number of spheres solid , concentric , one inside the other , and it is open at the poles with an extension of 12 or 16 degrees " . The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia is still today a wooden model of the universe created by him . According to Symmes , the North Pole and South Pole were two openings leading into the interior world ; to identify them , the man tried to raise funds for an expedition to the polar regions . The idea was taken from a newspaper editor , Jeremiah Reynolds , who had made all efforts to start the expedition at the expense of the American state and invested $ 300,000 in action.

At the end of the century , the theory of Cyrus Reed Teed returned some , the concept of which what we think is the sky is actually a mass of gas that fills the inside of the globe, with some areas of bright light ( the sun and the moon and stars would not be some celestial globes , but visual effects ) . It was argued in the nineteenth-century mathematicians , Teed 's theory was difficult to challenge because it was possible to design a convex surface on the concave surface of the Earth without noticing too many discrepancies .

The theory that the Earth is a solid sphere but is hollow and the opening to the inner world are poles . These " gates " were multiplied in time , due to geographical diversity , therefore the poles were added to the caves in the South American jungle , mountain Meltpego Punson Tibet , Stonehenge , England Mount Shastra in California. Currently, this theory has passed the threshold is described as a great source of wisdom , perhaps because modern people do not want to believe in dreams, but want to touch , see, especially to find out exactly what benefits can bring any new discovery , weighed in terms of material . Hollow Earth theory that age contrasts with the lack of concrete information about this topic , has led many to speculate that this is actually the source of the existing government secretly . Staying in the same area , the conspiracy was put in touch with the others, including the Aryan race which continues to develop and the staged death of Hitler , well- healthy living deep within the Earth .

In the West, the idea has got wings in 1628 , when Edmund Halley testified : "I believe that the Earth is composed of concentric spheres, like a Chinese puzzle box. These areas sustain life and are bathed in eternal light." In his view, the aurora borealis was caused by gas escaping from inside the thin crust. Starting from Haley, John Simms developed around 1800 new theories of emptiness." Haley was right about concentric spheres but said openings at the poles. Ocean flows to and from these openings and there is no doubt that there are also people inside the Earth ."

The new theory came to a proper historical background when scientific discoveries were in full swing. At the time, U.S. President John Quincy Adams approved a sea expedition to be led by Charles Wilkes . Americans pride themselves on the first mission dedicated to locating and exploring Earth's vast interior . The President was more than happy to fund this unique journey in the hope that America will be assigned the greatest discovery since its discovery itself . Brave journey aimed to reveal places that nobody had ever seen , even though everyone was talking about them for hundreds of years . This expedition was to play an important role for science because even if Earth Interior remained an unknown, sailors brought back important materials for geology, botany, zoology, anthropology, which subsequently led to the necessity of a foundation. At least three of the scientists onboard received international recognition in scientific circles as a result of their discoveries.

In 1906 , William Reed Teed publishes his " ghost poles ," which explains why the poles were located : the simple fact that they do not exist . In his opinion, the generic name of "poly " meant , in fact , into the interior of the Earth . Another author , Marshall B. Gardner published a book entitled " A Journey Inside the Earth " , in which the extreme push this belief : "I found that previous theories are somewhat on track but as an addition , I believe that Earth's interior is illuminated by the sun which is about 600 miles in diameter, and holes at the poles are definitely more than 1,000 miles in diameter . " The subject was not new . Before him, there was another " visionary " who share the same idea eccentric , Cyrus Teed . In 1897 , he asserted : " We actually live inside the Earth , in the inner surface of the crust . In the void are the sun, moon , stars , planets, and comets . There is nothing outside. Interior is everything ." The idea may seem a little aberrant to modern astronomers that we discover new galaxies millions of light years away . However, in the 40s in Germany were many theorists .

To develop this theory , namely, that we live inside a sphere less artificial ... imagine that would be true . Why not, I could ask ... Spaceships sent beyond Earth people would know the truth , but they are controlled by some government agencies would have every incentive to hide reality .

If our sky " infinity" is nothing but a hologram ? If the moon is nothing but a gigantic spaceship , moving 24 hours a day, 7 days out of 7 ? If the sun is nothing but an inner star and the rest of the planets are but much smaller spacecraft much closer than we think , we monitor ? If everything we see in telescopes is nothing else than what we show hologram in the program of " Matrix" ? By who ? Who is interested in maintaining this illusion ?

One theory says that connect the beginning of mankind , the moon does not exist at all . We say this ancient writer Democritus and Anaxagoras ; Aristotle writes that the Arcadia (Greece ) , before being inhabited by the Greeks , was inhabited by Pelasgians , who occupied these territories before the sky to be Luna ! For this reason , the Pelasgians were also called " proselenes " meaning "before the moon ". Apollonius of Rhodes writes that there was a period in which " they were not all heavenly bodies in the sky before the Danai and Deukalion races existed when there were only Arcadians before the Moon in the sky existed ." Ovid wrote that " Arcadians possess their lands before the birth of Jupiter because the nation is older than the moon " and Censorinus stated that " in the past no moon in the sky " .

So a lot of myths , legends and stories tell us that the moon does not exist in the sky ; it seems that it would have appeared after the Great Flood. So here might conclude that the Moon may have been inserted into the hollow of the earth , just to monitor ; Luna gives us dreams and nightmares night we "suck " and vital energies.

In 1913, Rudolf Glauer founded the Thule Society , which adheres to time many political-military secret societies . The mythological mix it in tissue around his company has attracted a lot of Germans, enthralled by the hypothesis of a hidden realm where the world springs wisdom and purity . In conclusion, Thule was populated by magical creatures , initiated by the aliens, and their descendants were none other than the Aryans . The pure offspring were obviously Germans and their mission were to inherit the power of the ancestors and to use their advanced knowledge . Germans were so convinced of the authenticity of their roots , that one of the theoreticians of the Nazi party , Alfred Rosenberg , was to declare in 1946 : "Everything started with this company . Secret teachings that I received there helped us and better than our divisions SA and SS to conquer power. Thule Society founders were some genuine magicians." Dogma that company would be based in Germany bare earth movement initiated by Airman Peter Bender. In his opinion , the Earth had no external face because it was a rocky hole in a universe that stretches to infinity.

Although it seems hard to believe, impossible this fantasy is directly proportional to its followers , including senior officers and aviation and marine . It was not long until Hitler himself would embrace the idea of bare earth . In 1942 , at war , Hitler ordered a secret expedition . The idea that Bender 's ideas were true , then the Germans could spy on British army without it have no idea . Accompanied by physicist Heinz Fisher, soldiers landed on the island of Rugen in the Baltic Sea.

After some sources , the theory was taken seriously by senior Nazi officials followers occult sciences , and in some circles, it is considered that the German navy would be allowed to establish with more accuracy the positions of British ships - because , if it could be used infrared , bending Earth would have obscured . Hitler would have sent an expedition to the Baltic island of Rugen , and here a Dr. Heinz Fischer trained a telescopic camera to the sky to spot the British fleet sailing inside the convex surface of the hollow Earth . It is said even that was missed some shootings V1 calculate precisely because trajectory assuming a convex rather than concave surfaces .

If the Earth were hollow , the reflection of radar waves propagate in a straight line will provide images of distant points located on the inner . It was a military plane to find the enemy position . Needless to say, this did not happen only in their imagination . Developed amid instability and insecurity own Germany in those days , location inside a bare ground had also another psychological effect , as Jacques Bergier and Louis Pauwels highlights " hollow Earth theory gave human beings the feeling of being wrapped , closed protected as a fetus in the womb . " After Hitler's death , many did not want to believe in the end of one of the banalest great destinies of mankind, therefore they were convinced that he did not commit suicide but that , along with his aides , slipped into the depths of the Earth where they all lived happily ever after .

The idea of a unique world of ardent minds of many adventurers . One of them went on with this research . Dr. Raymond Bernard wrote the book " The Hollow Earth " , after which initiated the construction of settlements in South America , determined to discover the possible inputs that we engage in life's journey . Later, he disappeared without a trace in one of the caves Amazon and his followers were convinced that reached its goal. So be it ?

Byrd's name is related to the discovery of bare earth . An avid explorer , he participated in research assignments both in Antarctica and in the Arctic, events have provided a new impetus Hollow Earth theory . Initially it was thought that his expedition will end once and for all these fantasies but finally, things settled otherwise. Documents related to these quests , and Byrd 's diaries were submitted later in the annals of the University of Ohio . The fact that one of the missing logs generated a net of intrigue around . That , and the fact that Byrd referred to Antarctica as " Earth Eternal Mystery " and noted : "I would like to see the land beyond the North Pole . Zone beyond the pole is the center of the Great Unknown ." This evidence was more than sufficient for those who believe in the theory.

Operation Highjump , initiated by the U.S. government in 1946, he was carrying on Admiral Byrd . The stated purpose was to explore the Antarctic area of geographical , geological , hydrographic conditions to test electromagnetic area to strengthen the sovereignty of the United States in the area and to test the reactions of the human body in extreme conditions. The mission was cut short in February 1947 , six months earlier than originally scheduled date , without any acceptable explanation .

Just keeping the mystery of the true motivations have opened Pandora's box . The alleged lack of Admiral log events included even in February , but the words scrawled on the paper were too harsh for sensitive ears of mankind. A version of this journal unauthenticated circulating on the Internet , and here recounts in detail Byrd expedition which went over the ice , to a green land , where he was greeted by people blond friend who drove him to master. Follows a philosophy and life lesson that one called Master will provide human Byrd . The lesson learned , and he climb aboard his craft and returns to the frozen lands in the midst of humanity is heading towards extinction . What is not mentioned here is that the month of February in the Antarctic is so tough in terms of weather conditions , that a research mission here means lost time and resources , and a flight is downright impossible.

In an article in The New Scientist, scientists are invited to give their expert opinion on this issue . They agree that if the Earth would be empty , mankind would be in danger of suffocation , thirst , drought , famine , frost and finally sinking. Even in this order . A hollow Earth would not have enough mass to sustain the existence of the air by the force of gravity and surface water would evaporate . Also , there is a magnetic field generated by the Earth's liquid iron core . Compasses would not work , and some migratory birds would be totally bummed regarding orientation . But that would be the least care . In the absence of an atmosphere , radiation from space would not encounter any barrier , and life on Earth would not have a chance. There would be no volcanic activity and no sign of lava . And especially a bare earth would have a mass of 5 x 1022 kg , which means only a small fraction of its real .

Hollow Earth theory beyond debate that it has generated , the horny minds of writers and , especially , gave only a good material to be exploited . Therefore, many who crave to believe in this theory have used these products literature and fiction to give credibility to their beliefs , covering practical way backward. Some important cultural figures who wrote The Hollow Earth is HG Wells , Aldous Huxley, Herman Hesse , Edgar Allan Poe , Edgar Rice Burroughs and perhaps the most famous work of all, that of Jules Verne , " Journey to the Center of the Earth " .

Our sun inside is made of cold fusion ?

Some scientists consider " cold fusion " as a pseudo - science. But many countries in the world are investing significant sums in studying this concept. Some scientists have even already discussed the possibility that cold fusion to occur within the Earth ; eg P.Palmer , a geophysicist known already suggested this. Helium-3 , which comes from the Earth , has been considered by some as an indication that cold fusion could take place deep inside the Earth . Would not it be possible that our sun inside has also been produced by "cold fusion"?

OURANG MEDAN - creepy disappearance

We’ve all come across stories of ghost ships and death ships: The Flying Dutchman, Mary Celeste, and so on… However, (in my opinion) none really compare to the nature of the story I’m about to tell you. That is, the legend of the S.S. Ourang Medan.

According to widely circulated reports, in June of 1947 — or, according to alternate accounts, February of 1948 — multiple ships traversing the trade routes of the straits of Malacca, which is located on the sun-drenched shores of Sumatra and Malaysia, claimed to have picked up a series of SOS distress signals.

The unknown ship’s message was as simple as it was disturbing:

“All officers including captain are dead, lying in chartroom and bridge. Possibly whole crew dead.”  This communication was followed by a burst of indecipherable Morse code, then a final, grim message: “I die.” This cryptic proclamation was followed by tomb-like silence.

The chilling distress call was picked up by two American ships as well as British and Dutch listening posts. The men manning these posts managed to triangulate the source of these broadcasts and deduced that they were likely emanating from a Dutch freighter known as the SS Ourang Medan, which was navigating the straits of Malacca.

A conscripted American merchant ship called the Silver Star was closest to the presumed location of the Ourang Medan. Originally christened “Santa Cecilia” by the Grace Line (W. R. Grace & Co.), the vessel had been renamed the Silver Star when the United States Maritime Commission “drafted” it in 1946.

Noting the terrified urgency in the message that came over the airwaves, the Captain and crew of the Silver Star wasted no time in changing their course in an effort to assist the apparently incapacitated ship. Within hours, the Silver Star caught sight of the Ourang Medan rising and falling in the choppy waters of the Malacca Strait.

As the merchant craft neared the ill-omened vessel, the crew noticed that there was no sign of life on the deck. The Americans attempted to hail the Dutch crew to no avail. When the rescue vessel arrived on the scene a few hours later, they tried to hail the Ourang Medan but there was no response to their hand and whistle signals. That’s when the Captain of the Silver Star decided to assemble a boarding party. As they left the safe haven of the Silver Star, these unfortunate souls had no idea that they were about to walk into a living nightmare.

Once on board, the crew quickly realized that the distress signal wasn’t an exaggeration. The deck was littered with corpses; with their eyes and mouths wide open, arms out, faces twisted with the anguish of horror and agony. As a May 1952 report of the Proceedings of the Merchant Marine Council put it: “their frozen faces were upturned to the sun, the mouths were gaping open and the eyes staring…”. It is said that even the ship's dog was dead, frozen into a haunting grimace. The captain’s remains were discovered on the Bridge, the communications office was still at his post, his fingertips resting on the telegraph. According to reports, all the corpses shared the same wide-eyed expressions on their faces. Each corpse was positioned with arms outstretched as if they were still locked in battle with some unseen assailant terror. On examination of bodies was found that all crew members died about 6-8 hours ago, but despite this, their body temperature exceeded the mark of  40 degrees Celsius.

Below deck, search party members found cadres of corpses in the boiler room, but almost as disturbing as this grim find was the fact that the American crew members claimed to have felt an extreme chill in the nadir of the hold, even though the temperature outside was a scorching 110°F. While the search team could see clear evidence that the crew of the Ourang Medan suffered profoundly at the moment of their deaths, they could find no overt evidence of injury or foul play on the swiftly decaying corpses. Nor could they spy any damage to the ship itself.

Their captain determined that they should attach a line to the Ourang Medan and tow her ashore but as his crew was doing this they saw the Ourang was on fire, smoke was billowing from below her decks. These men barely had time to cut the towline and make their way back to the Silver Star before the Ourang Medan exploded with such a force that she "lifted herself from the water and swiftly sank”.

To this day, the exact fate of the Ourang Medan and her crew remain a mystery. Some say that pirates killed the crew and sabotaged the ship, others claim that she was transporting an illicit cargo of chemicals such as potassium cyanide and nitroglycerine (both of which become dangerous when combined with sea water). The condition of the bodies found aboard and haunting distress call, however, has led to more rampant speculation...ranging from the inhalation of carbon monoxide to some kind of nefarious UFO intervention. In the end, nobody really knows what happened.

The ship was lost to the sea and became a part of the realm of maritime legends and mysterious.

What we have presented so far are the facts as presented by those who were at the scene and were recorded in documents of various investigations conducted after a series of state authorities. Worthy of consideration is the fact that the time elapsed since the occurrence of this event altered any possibility to discover other elements that can provide clarification on the elucidation of the mystery. As such we are left little choice but to make interpretations of the information we have and throw some conclusions about what happened to Ourang Medan.

Briefly, the facts are as follows:

1 An S.O.S. was received by several ships that travel through the area that day. We can have no certainty that rescue call was sent from the ship Ourang Medan, we only know that he was received by several ships including the Silver Star.

2 Reports on the situation on the ship Ourang Medan belong exclusively to Silver Star crew who boarded the ship in distress.

3 It is not very clear when the event occurred, some documents place him in June 1947 while others in February 1948 when the event is particularly relevant because the weather could have a great influence on the interpretation of spot reports .

4 The incident occurred in a straight width not exceeding 80-100 km, which was very trafficked in that period. Is there no rescue ground forces to intervene more quickly than the Silver Star. Examination bodies revealed that people already died about 6-8 hours in a very straight circulated showing symptoms science then and the current can not explain.

5 The way the message is worded suggests that communications officer make sure that all officers including captain are dead and their bodies are in a location clearly defined "chartroom and bridge", which means that one could verify certain that it can work and that "threat" was either not very stringent or perhaps the disappeared. Yet the communications officer was found dead even as finger transmitter would end while transmitting the message "I die".

6 On deck, there were only remnants captain, no crew member who did not end near the vessel

7 The crew bodies found on deck were "frozen" in a similar position. Position with arms stretched out as if trying to fend off an unseen terror does not suggest in any way a gas poisoning, which could eventually produce symptoms of suffocation. Also, the position of defense suggests that people trying to defend a physically solid. It is unlikely that all underwent concomitant hallucinations. However, communications officer could be consistent which means that the message is not felt an immediate threat, nor suffered from any visual or auditory hallucination.

8 Cursory examinations of the bodies showed that all individuals have suffered before death, the bodies temperature increases above 40 degrees Celsius. We can assume that there is one exception - the communications officer that if he died with his hand on the transmitter while transmitting a message somewhat coherent unlikely his body temperature to be so high.

9 In their haste to withdraw rescue team members from the Silver Star had the inspiration to make even the dog's body for further analysis. Experience should tell them that we are witnessing an incident full of unknowns and it will lead to an explosion shortly sinking with the loss of any evidence that could lead to the elucidation of the case.

10 Pretty strange is the statement that the search team members when examining bodies found in the boiler room all felt a shiver down your spine while the outside temperature was 100 ° F. This may elucidate questions about the period in which event, I personally tend to believe that occurred in February 1948.

THEORIES MORE OR LESS REASONABLE

Researchers that have tried to determine what actually happened to the crew on the Ourang Medan have all hit brick walls. One reason this tale is considered a legend is that fact that there are no official records that this ship ever existed. But this does not mesh with the fact many ships heard the Ourang’s distress call, and it is believed by many that the Silver Star did change course and it did discover this ship. 

Of course many have speculated what exactly caused these men’s deaths--which I find fascinating since in the same breath it is mentioned that this incident didn’t actually happen. Many theories have been suggested, some more far-fetched than others.

1. Cover up

One mentioned often is since this ship sank right after the Second World War it’s relative obscurity was used to transport chemicals used to make poisonous gas--it is stated if salt water hit these chemicals it would have killed the crew and then eventually caused the explosion. An interesting note about this theory is some believe that the real name of this ship was changed to disguise the fact that it was transporting these chemicals. Regardless, if this theory is believed one still has to wonder why this mixture of gasses plus the salt water didn’t cause the ship to explode immediately.

2. Explosion of a boiler

Another theory states that the ship’s boiler must have malfunctioned causing a carbon monoxide leak. The crew then inhaled these fumes and died. But why did the seaman on deck not survive? Wouldn’t the fresh sea air have saved them ?

3. Methane gas bubbles from the see

A third theory presented involves “methane bubbles” surfacing in clouds from a hole or fissure in the sea floor which then asphyxiated the crew. This theory is at fault because these bubbles could not have caused the ship to explode. One has to wonder if these bubbles could kill the entire ship’s crew?

4. Alien attack

In 1953, Frank Edwards and Robert V. Hulse retold the basics of the legend for Fate Magazine and in his 1955 book “The case For the UFO,” astronomer, author and noted “Philadelphia Experiment” researcher, Morris K. Jessup, hypothesized that the crew of the Ourang Medan may have been attacked by extraterrestrials for reasons unknown.

Other Fortean enthusiasts have theorized that the unlucky Dutch crew may have had a Scooby Doo-like run-in with vengeful wraiths of the sea or a ghost ship full of surly, undead pirates. The dubious proof, which supporters of the paranormal option use to confirm their theory, is the evident lack of a natural cause for the deaths as well as the purportedly petrified expressions etched onto the faces of the doomed sailors. Add to this the unnatural chill in the cargo hold and the assertion that some of the deceased sailors were reaching up towards what was assumed to be an unknown adversary and you have all the ingredients for a hoary seafarers’ tale.

This is scant evidence indeed for a supposed interaction with either evil aliens or malevolent phantoms, but one can hardly blame yarn spinning mariners for trying to add a little spice to a story told around campfires on stony shorelines to wide-eyed children… or even novice deckhands. So, if we presume for the moment that the paranormal is out then we must be dealing with…

5.  Pirate attack

Others speculated that pirates boarded the ship and attacked the crew but this was immediately ruled out because there were no marks found on any of the bodies. An article in Fate magazine in 1953 stated that since none of the mainstream reasons purposed were solid it could have been something paranormal that caused these deaths.

6. Paranormal

One rumor stated after this in 1965 involved a UFO. It was put forth that aliens must have attacked the ship. Another reason given is based upon the fact that the Silver Star crew experienced a feeling of immense cold in the Ourang Medan’s lower decks. This caused speculation that “ghosts” had something to do with the crew’s demise.

CONCLUSIONS

When all is said and done, if anyone really knows what happened to the Ourang Medan and her crew then they’re not talking, but whatever the truth is behind this unfathomable tragedy, it remains one of the most perplexing and downright scary maritime enigmas of the 20th Century… and while it might not be as famous as the plethora of other ghost ships said to sail the high seas, it is every bit a terrifying.

Zana - the Yeti woman

Hundreds of explorers, theorists and fantasists have spent their lives searching for the infamous 'big-foot'. But a leading geneticist believes he has found evidence to prove that it - or rather she - could have been more than a myth.

Russia’s ‘Almasty Hunters’ have been obsessed with her story for over half a century and have always believed that Zana could be a surviving Neanderthal, the human-like species that is thought to have died out tens of thousands of years ago.

Professor Bryan Sykes of the University of Oxford claims a towering woman named Zana who lived in 19th Century Russia - and appeared to be 'half human, half ape' - could have been the fabled yeti.

Witnesses described the six-foot, six inches tall woman discovered in the Caucasus mountains between Georgia and Russia as having 'all the characteristics of a wild animal' - and covered in thick auburn hair.

Experts believe the wandering 'Wild Woman' was found lurking in the remote region of Ochamchir in the Republic of Abkhazia.

She was captured by a local merchant in the 1850s who hired a group of hunters to subdue and shackle her in the mountainous terrain.

Professor Sykes claims Zana was kept in a 'ditch surrounded by sharpened spikes' and sold from owner to owner until she came to serve nobleman Edgi Genaba as a servant.

Famously known as the ape woman, Zana had at least four children by local men and some of her descendants still live in the region, the Times reported. 

Sykes made an astonishing discovery when he carried out saliva tests on six of her living relatives and the tooth of her deceased son Khwit.

The DNA analysis revealed that they all contained the right amount of African DNA for Zana the ape woman to be '100 per cent African' but remarkably she did not resemble any known group.  

Her resemblance was that of a wild beast - 'the most frightening feature of which was her expression which was the pure animal,' one Russian zoologist wrote in 1996.

The man who organised various eyewitness accounts of Zana wrote: 'Her athletic power was enormous. She would outrun a horse and swim across the Moskva river even when it rose in violent high tide.' 

To answer the riddle and establish what species she belonged to, Professor Sykes has tested samples from six of Zana’s living descendants. He has also recovered DNA from a tooth taken from the skull of one of her sons, Khwit. Such work is highly specialized and Sykes was the first geneticist ever to extract DNA from an ancient bone.

The results are complex and fascinating. First, they show that Zana was, in fact, no more Neanderthal than many of the rest of modern humans. When the Neanderthal genome was sequenced in 2010 it became clear that Europeans and Asians contain around 2 to 4% of Neanderthal DNA; almost certainly the result of interbreeding.

But the big surprise in Sykes’ results was that Zana’s DNA is not Caucasian at all, but African. Khwit’s tooth sample confirms her maternal African ancestry and the saliva tests on the six living descendants show that they all contain African DNA in the right proportions for Zana to have been genetically 100% sub-Saharan African.

“The most obvious solution that springs to mind is that Zana or her ancestors were brought from Africa to Abkhazia as slaves, when it was part of the slave trading Ottoman Empire, to work as servants or labourers,” says Professor Sykes. “While the Russians ended slavery when they took over the region in the late 1850s, some Africans remained behind. Was Zana one of them, who was living wild in the forest when she was captured?“

But that theory would not explain her extraordinary features, described by reliable eyewitnesses. There is an even more intriguing alternative theory. Having carefully studied the skull of Zana’s son, Khwit, Professor Sykes believes there are some unusual morphological skull features – such as very wide eye sockets, an elevated brow ridge and what appears to be an additional bone at the back of the skull – that could suggest ancient, as opposed to modern, human origins.

And Sykes has raised the bold theoretical possibility that Zana could be a remnant of an earlier human migration out of Africa, perhaps tens of thousands, of years ago. If correct, Zana could be evidence of a hitherto unknown human ‘tribe’, dating from a distant time when the human species was still evolving and whose ancestors were forced into remote regions, like the Caucasus mountains, by later waves of modern humans coming out of Africa.

Some have argued that she was a runaway Ottoman slave but Professor Sykes says her 'unparalleled DNA' refutes that theory.

He believes her ancestors came out of Africa over 100,000 years ago and lived in the remote Caucasus for many generations.

The archaeological site of Dmanisi, located in the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia about 93 km southwest of the capital Tbilisi, has only been partially excavated so far, but it’s already providing the first opportunity for anthropologists to compare and contrast the physical traits of multiple human ancestors that apparently coincided in the same time and geological space.

“The differences between these Dmanisi fossils are no more pronounced than those between five modern humans or five chimpanzees,” said Dr. David Lordkipanidze from the Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi, a lead author of a paper in the journal Science and co-author of a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Traditionally, researchers have used variation among Homo fossils to define different species. But in light of these new findings, Dr. Lordkipanidze, and his colleagues suggest that early, diverse Homo fossils, with their origins in Africa, actually represent variation among members of a single, evolving lineage – most appropriately, Homo erectus.

Zana was eventually 'tamed' by the nobleman who bought her as a servant and kept her on his estate in Tkhina in the Republic of Abkhazia.

Accounts from the time claim she was incredibly muscular, slept outdoors and ran around naked until she died on the estate in 1890. 

Some of his colleagues doubt his other findings - which include a claim that an unknown species of bear might account for yeti sightings in Bhutan. 

One of the Russian Almasty hunters, Dr. Igor Burtsev, offers testimony in the Channel 4 documentary that may back this theory up. He unearthed Khwit’s skull in 1971 and a few years later, showed it to a group of anthropologists in Moscow. They were, he says ‘amazed’, and identified a mix of ‘primitive’ and ‘progressive’ (modern) features in the skull. Lacking the scientific tools at Sykes’ disposal, they could take it no further. Now Sykes is able to propose the theory with some confidence.

It is only a theory at this stage – and a bold and speculative one at that. But Professor Sykes intends to study it much further before reaching his final conclusions.

There are also scientists who criticize the statements of Professor Sykes.

But then, what else can you expect from someone who deplores…math? Take a look at the prominent pull quote.

“Professor Sykes criticized modern genetics for its lack of ambition and its fixation on mathematics. I’m afraid the golden years are over, he said. It is a field now dominated by the arrogance of bioinformatics and, as such, has lost it’s way.”

That is utterly baffling. Doesn't he like that genetics is fixated on mathematics? But genetics has relied heavily on math since Mendel! If he actually analyzed Zana’s descendants and compared them to extant human populations, he was using the principles of bioinformatics! What he seems to be saying is that he wants to ignore the data to give greater credence to the bigoted legends of Zana, the Russian ape-woman.

Despite the lack of hard proof from the analysis of the alleged 'yeti hairs', he says he has developed a strong sense that 'something is out there' after speaking to dozens of witnesses. 

Professor Sykes could not say if the yeti, bigfoot or the Russian almasty is the best candidate for a surviving race of human 'apemen'.

He said: 'Bigfoot has many more people trying to find it. But I suppose, either the yeti or the alma / almasty, which live in inaccessible and very thinly populated regions, is the most likely.'