Building an artificially haunted room

Wired.com-- Fake blood, canned screams and plastic skeletons are fun, but if you want a real haunted house, turn to scientists.

To test whether it’s possible to artificially induce paranormal experiences — or, from a different perspective, to technologically summon a spirit — researchers at London’s Goldsmith College and architect Usman Haque designed a scientifically haunted room.

They were inspired by earlier studies in which test subjects reported contact with the phantasmic when exposed to electromagnetic fields and waves of infrasound.

Skinwalker Ranch & Area 51

Investigative journalist George Knapp and researcher Colm Kelleher discussed their book Hunt for the Skinwalker, which chronicles bizarre paranormal events that were scientifically studied at a ranch in Utah. During the period of 1996-7 strange incidents were occurring frequently and included the sightings of anomalous dark shapes, creatures, lights and UFOs, as well as unexplained animal mutilations, recounted Kelleher (who appeared in just the first hour of the interview).

Napoleon Dynamite Was Originally a UFO Movie

IO9.com-- Napoleon Dynamite, paranormal investigator? The husband-wife team behind the strange slice-of-life comedy reveal that the original idea for Napoleon Dynamite involved a very different plot, with crop circles, an alien conspiracy, and Napoleon fleeing from government agents.

After a screening for their upcoming film Gentlemen Broncos, Jared and Jerusha Hess, co-writers of both Gentlemen Broncos and Napoleon Dynamite (Jared also directed both films) answered audience questions and gave a little background about the movie. During the session, Jerusha mentioned that, if Jared had his way, Napoleon Dynamite would have been about crop circles and UFOs.

Later, during an interview with the pair, we asked them to elaborate on this more science fiction Napoleon Dynamite:

Jared: I don't know, it just involved Napoleon researching crop circle crap and weird extraterrestrial —

Jerusha: Paranormal —

Jared: — stuff going down in the farming community. I don't know. It didn't get much further than that. She [Jerusha] stopped it right away.

Jerusha: There are a couple of white Bronco scenes, where he [Napoleon] was being chased by some government officials.

Jared: Yeah, it was bad. It was bad. But we didn't pursue it. We kept it —

Jerusha: Jared was so focused on the story for Napoleon, when really it was just the character that was so entertaining. And I kept saying "Jared, we don't need the story. Let's show a little glimpse of his life."

Nephila komaci Video: The 'Giant' orb web spider

'Giant' orb web spider discovered

BBC News-- A new and rare species of "giant" orb web spider has been discovered in Africa and Madagascar.

In the journal Plos One, researchers describe Nephila komaci as the largest web spinning spider known to science.

Only the females of this groups of species are giants, with a leg span of up to 12cm (4.7in); the male spiders are tiny by comparison.

Scientists say the female spiders are capable of spinning webs that reach up to 1m (3ft 3in) in diameter.

Orb-weaving spiders are a widespread group which take their name from the round webs they typically spin.

The few preserved female specimens had bodies almost 4cm (1.5in) long.

Modern analysis supports that photos taken in 1965 were not faked

OCRegister.com-- The professor emeritus in economics at the University of Hartford, Conn., has followed the ufo controversy for almost 50 years.

UFO skeptics often allege that there is no authentic photographic evidence that UFOs exist. UFO photos are often featureless "lights in the sky," misidentified birds or airplanes, natural phenomena such as Venus or some peculiar-looking cloud, crude hoaxes (doctored negatives, string-suspended models, thrown hubcaps) or pictures and videos that have been computer-manipulated (Photoshop). There are hundreds of UFO photos and videos on the Internet, but a safe bet is that a high percentage are completely worthless.

There is at least one exception, however, and it is a huge exception. Around noon on Aug. 3, 1965, near the intersection of what is today Walnut Avenue and Myford Road in Tustin, Rex Heflin, a 38-year-old highway maintenance engineer, snapped three close-up photos through the windows of his truck of a low-flying hat-like UFO. (He also took a fourth picture; more on that later). The pictures Heflin took with the Polaroid camera he carried for work clearly show a round, hat-like object with a dark band around its raised superstructure.