Proof That the Loch Ness Monster Exists?

This amazing image on Google Earth could be the elusive proof that the Loch Ness Monster exists.

Sun reader Jason Cooke spotted "Nessie" while browsing the Web site's satellite photos.

The shape seen on the surface of the 22-mile Scottish loch is 65ft long and appears to have an oval body, a tail and four legs or flippers.

Some experts believe Nessie may be a Plesiosaur, an extinct marine reptile with a shape like the Google image.

"This is really intriguing. It needs further study," said researcher Adrian Shine, of the Loch Ness Project.

Sightings have been claimed for centuries.

To see the object, enter co-ordinates Latitude 57°12'52.13"N, Longitude 4°34'14.16"W in Google Earth.

Autum Equinox: Sept 22

Autumn Equinox (also known as Mabon or Harvest Home) is celebrated when day and night are of equal duration before the descent into increasing darkness and is the final festival of the season of harvest.

In nature, the activity of the summer months slows down to the hibernation for the winter. For many Pagans, now is time to reflect on the past season.

It is also a time to recoginse that the balance of the year has changed, the wheel has turned and summer is now over.

Astrologers will recognise this as the date the sun enters the sign of Libra - the Scales of Balance.

Joint Chief of the British Druid Order Emma Restall Orr says,

We give ourselves time to stop and breathe deeply, to feel the satisfaction of what has been achieved, to start to relax.Emma Restall Orr, Joint Chief of the British Druid Order

This is one of the least celebrated of the Pagan festivals although a harvest festival may be held to thank the Goddess for giving enough food to last the winter.

Go Trek Yourself!

It's an idea so brilliant, I wish I had thought of it ... in preparation for the new Star Trek movie you can make yourself into a Star Trek character. Is it perfect? Well, no, anything that requires some manual input in a system I don't yet understand will be quirky but that is mostly my fault. Side by side, the pic I gave them and what they said is my Star Trek character. Not too bad, actually, though I seemed to have set the width for the eyes strangely (you'll see what I mean if you try it).

Upcoming Movies: Alice In Wonderland Trailer

Monsters, Ghosts and Gods: Why We Believe

Monsters are everywhere these days, and belief in them is as strong as ever. What's harder to believe is why so many people buy into hazy evidence, shady schemes and downright false reports that perpetuate myths that often have just one ultimate truth: They put money in the pockets of their purveyors.

The bottom line, according to several interviews with people who study these things: People want to believe, and most simply can't help it.

"Many people quite simply just want to believe," said Brian Cronk, a professor of psychology at Missouri Western State University. "The human brain is always trying to determine why things happen, and when the reason is not clear, we tend to make up some pretty bizarre explanations."

A related question: Does belief in the paranormal have anything to do with religious belief?

The answer to that question is decidedly nuanced, but studies point to an interesting conclusion: People who practice religion are typically encouraged not to believe in the paranormal, but rather to put their faith in one deity, whereas those who aren't particularly active in religion are more free to believe in Bigfoot or consult a psychic.

"Christians and New Agers, paranormalists, etc. all have one thing in common: a spiritual orientation to the world," said sociology Professor Carson Mencken of Baylor University.

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Robot Cats Purrrrfect for Elderly

Robot cats and other man-made companions could help Britain's elderly, according to a report by the Royal Academy of Engineering. The report recommends that autonomous devices could provide a variety of different services to older people, ranging from basic companionship to medical monitoring. Devices with the appropriate sensors could act as fire detectors, or flash lights when doorbells or phones ring.

"This is not constrained by the technological possibility of it so much as by the desire to do it -- and that is bound up with all sorts of social factors," said Professor Will Stewart of Southampton University, who contributed to the report, speaking to Reuters.

"It is not a complete replacement for your kid calling you once a week. What you want is continuous attention and that is very difficult," said Stewart.

Maybe older Brits could start with the Dream Cat Venus, an autonomous robotic feline that is already available for about $110 in Japan.

I'm also interested in how the right device could extend the companionship offered by an organic pet. Consider Huggable, a robotic teddy bear developed by MIT that seems to fit the bill specified by the Royal Academy of Engineering. It has full-body sensors for electric field, temperature and force, inertial measurement unit, cameras embedded in the eyes and microphones in the ears.

If you think that this is a rather science-fictional scenario, you're right. In Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? robotic pets are routinely used by most people. Perhaps the robotic cat repairman will become a common sight in retirement communities:

"...he had picked up the first malfunctioning animal for the day. An electric cat: it lay in the plastic dust-proof carrying cage in the rear of the truck and panted erratically. You'd almost think it was real, Isadore observed as he headed back to the Van Ness Pet Hospital - that carefully misnamed little enterprise which barely existed in the tough, competitive field of false-animal repair...

The electric mechanism, within its compellingly authentic-style gray pelt, gurgled and blew bubbles, its vidlenses glassy, its metal jaws locked together."

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Grave of the Middle East's Oldest Witch

Grave of the Middle East's Oldest Witch
by Mati Milstein

A team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem excavates at Hilazon Tachtit cave in northern Israel. Last year, they discovered the 12,000-year-old remains of a female shaman, who was buried with an unusual collection of artifacts, including 50 tortoise shells. (Courtesy Leore Grosman)

The shells of 50 Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoises. Parts of wild boars, cows, leopards, gazelles, and stone martens. The wingtip of a golden eagle. A severed human foot. And a set of tools. What can this startling collection of artifacts found last year in a cliffside cave in northern Israel mean? "I think this is the burial of a shaman," says Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeologist Leore Grosman. "It's an interpretation, of course. They didn't leave a note telling me." For the past 13 years, Grosman has been poring over every artifact and speck of dirt recovered from Hilazon Tachtit cave. Now she is trying to understand the story surrounding the 12,000-year-old remains of a female shaman, the first ever discovered in the eastern Mediterranean.

Why did the Natufians spend so much time and energy burying this woman in an elaborately prepared and laboriously carved pit high in a cliff? Usually they buried their dead in simple graves next to their living areas. Grosman admits she is not sure, adding, "I don't have a time machine." But she says that at the time the shaman was buried, the Natufians were evolving from a nomadic foraging culture to a sedentary, agricultural lifestyle. In addition, Natufian culture was beginning to make way for Neolithic ones. The Natufians may have needed special locations in the landscape with sanctified or spiritual meaning, like this cave. Grosman believes the site became a cemetery because the shaman was buried there. "She was the first," she says. "They found a place for her, then began to bury other people there. Her presence is what made the location sacred."

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