Getting to Know Your Solar System (1): The Sun

This is the inaugural entry in what promises to be a very long, fun, and educational series, where we examine individual objects, systems of objects, or classes of objects in the solar system.  It is the environment in which our planet evolved, the backdrop for humanity's future development, and exquisitely beautiful, diverse, and exotic besides.  We begin the series with our star, known typically as The Sun but occasionally personalized as Sol (hence, "solar").

I.  Context
The Sun is currently in a Galactic "suburb" called the Orion Spur - a small, short arc of stars and nebulae extending between the major spiral arm Perseus and the minor arm Carina-Saggitarius.


However, it was not always part of the Orion Spur, and its current association with it is not permanent.  Stars in a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way orbit the galactic core more or less independently of each other, so arm structure and its stellar membership are transient.  But barring a radically close encounter with another star under conditions that would slingshot it into another galactic orbit, the Sun's path will stay roughly where it is relative to the center of the galaxy.  On the other hand, the probability of such an event increases substantially in 3-5 billion years if the theorized collision of Andromeda and the Milky Way occurs.

Ostara - The Vernal Equinox

"A hush is over everything, Silent as women wait for love; The world is waiting for the Spring." - Sara Teasdale

Today we have come to the Vernal Equinox. This is the midpoint between the Solstices, the point when night and day are equal. After today, every day will be longer than the night. After today, the Sun rules the year (at least until the Autumn Equinox). This day has been observed and celebrated around the world since time immemorial, preserved in any number of religions and traditions, and under many names.
For us Neo-Pagans, that name is Ostara.
Read on . . .

28 Weeks Later: Full Length British Horror Movie

Flying Like A Bird: Human Bird Wings (WOW)

Beer and Bling in Iron Age Europe

Released: 3/19/2012 3:20 PM EDT

Source: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Newswise — If you wanted to get ahead in Iron-Age Central Europe you would use a strategy that still works today – dress to impress and throw parties with free alcohol.

Pre-Roman Celtic people practiced what archaeologist Bettina Arnold calls “competitive feasting,” in which people vying for social and political status tried to outdo one another through power partying.

Artifacts recovered from two 2,600-year-old Celtic burial mounds in southwest Germany, including items for personal adornment and vessels for alcohol, offer a glimpse of how these people lived in a time before written records were kept.

That was the aim of the more than 10-year research project, says Arnold, anthropology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and co-director of a field excavation at the Heuneburg hillfort in German state of Baden-Wurttemberg. The work was partially funded by the National Geographic Society and Arnold collaborated with the State Monuments Office in Tübingen, Germany.

In fact, based on the drinking vessels found in graves near the hillfort settlement and other imported objects, archaeologists have concluded the central European Celts were trading with people from around the Mediterranean.

UFO Sighting in Laguna Niguel

(Laguna Niguel, CA) Brendon Dalrymple says he has witnessed a saucer-like object with blue, red and green lights, flying around his backyard numerous times that overlooks the Salt Creek Corridor.

It’s not unusual for Brendon Dalrymple to see what some might refer to as a UFO floating casually near his backyard. He lives in Marina Hills, an area in Laguna Niguel where many strange sightings have been reported over the years.

However, that’s not to say that the California native is a believer of the unexplained, but he’s not a disbeliever either.

 “I’m optimistically skeptical,” joked Dalrymple, a 49-year-old attorney. “I’m the type of person that if I do see it, I may or may not believe it. I’ll make that decision myself, but that being said, I have always had a fascination with such things from the time I was a kid.”

Hong Kong's Haunted Real Estate

Hong Kong has one of the most expensive housing markets in the world, with home prices rising 70 percent since 2009. But a new real estate niche market offers greatly discounted home prices, if you're willing to bunk with the former residents' ghosts.

Many Hong Kongers believe that the ghosts of people who died violently, thanks to an accident, murder, or suicide, haunt their former residences and bring bad fortune to the new occupants. As in the US, Hong Kong home sellers are required to disclose whether the previous resident died in the home, and potential buyers do rigorous background checks less they get stuck with a vengeful spirit. The superstition is so pervasive that prices on haunted homes can be 20-40 percent below market.

That kind of discount has brought out some less superstitious speculators, mostly expats looking to buy up cheap property in nice neighborhoods. These investors actively follow violent tragedies, hoping to snap up a hongza — the Cantonese term for haunted house — of their very own.

The real estate site squarefoot.hk has dozens of macabre real estate listings, with surprisingly specific disclosures:

20 years old anorexic female with body weight of 70 lbs, fell and fainted at home. She was found dead in the hospital. 

36 years old burnt charcoal at home due to debt and relationship problem and was found dead by his mother. 

Young female texted and asked her boyfriend to meet her but he sent his sister instead. Victim jumped off the building in front of the sister. 

67 years old female blindfolded herself and jumped off the building due to her suffering of insomnia.

Add one delightfully sociopathic neighbor, and you've got the recipe for your very own Hong Kong Horror Story.

Via io9.com