The Innkeepers (2012) - Official Trailer

During the final days at the Yankee Pedlar Inn, two employees determined to reveal the hotel's haunted past begin to experience disturbing events as old guests check in for a stay.

Brand NEW Prometheus Featurette!

In the late 21st century, a star map is discovered within the imagery of Aztec, Mesopotamian and Magdalenian cultures. The crew of the spaceship Prometheus is sent on a scientific expedition to follow the map as part of a mission to find the origins of mankind. Exploring the advanced civilization of an extraterrestrial race, they soon face a threat to humanity's very existence.

Forgotten Places: Chernobyl

The Chernobyl Power Plant located outside the town of Pripyat, Ukraine (11 miles from the city of Chernobyl) began construction in the 1970s with the first reactor. Over the next few years three more reactors were added and two more were in the middle of construction at the time of the disaster. On April 26, 1986 at 1:23 a.m., the no. 4 reactor was shut down for maintenance. An experiment was being performed to test a safety emergency core cooling feature during the shut down procedure. It's uncertain as to what exact processes led to the explosions but a disruption in regulation seem to be a part of it.

The first explosion was that of steam. Steam from the wrecked channels entered the reactor inner space that caused the destruction of the reactor casing, tearing off and lifting by the force of 2,000 tons the upper plate. This ruptured further fuel channels, the reactor core suffered total water loss and a high positive void coefficient could entirely appear.The second explosions occurred seconds after the first. Some theorized the second explosion was caused by the hydrogen which had been produced either by the overheated steam-zirconium reaction or by the reaction of red-hot graphite with steam that produce hydrogen and oxygen. Others believed it was more nuclear or a thermal explosion of the reactor as a result of the uncontrollable escape of fast neutrons, caused by the complete water loss in the reactor core. Either way it was considered the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history. The fallout released was four times more than the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

Yogurtgate! President Survives Yogurt Attack (humor)

There's no use crying over spilled yogurt.

The yogurt belonging to an enthusiastic college student accidentally got flung on President Obama during a meet and greet in Boulder, Colorado on Tuesday.

The commander-in-chief was outside the popular restaurant The Sink and about to go into his armored SUV, when the young woman, later identified as Kolby Zerbest, approached him.

The purple snack hit his pants, which he promptly began wiping off with a napkin that was given to him.

Monster Seabass Drags Man Out to Sea

Black Pearl skipper Ricky Perez was scanning the horizon at Pyramid Cove, San Clemente Island on Saturday morning, keeping a close eye on the dozen kayakers he had ferried over to the Island the night before. The group, organized by Andy Allen from OEX in Sunset Beach, makes monthly mother-ship voyages on the Black Pearl to a variety of Southern California fishing hot spots.

Perez had become concerned as three members of his flock had stayed out to sea, about a mile from the island.

"There's no reason to be out there," thought Perez as he tried in vain to contact the threesome by VHF radio on channel 71.

"They're not answering," said Perez. "Something is up."

Perez launched the Black Pearl's 10-foot zodiac and headed in the direction of the wayward kayakers. "What's up?," Perez cried from a distance. "There's nothing to catch out here."

You can thank Ben Franklin for introducing tofu to America

In a letter to a friend in Philadelphia, the founding father describes a soybean cheese known as Tau-Fu.

Earlier this week my family and took a 90-minute walking ghost tour of Old City and Society Hill, the historic sections of Philadelphia that are home to the likes of Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross House and many other historically significant landmarks.

Our tour guide from Ghost Tour of Philadelphia mentioned, “You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting some spot where the ghost of Benjamin Franklin has been spotted.” You also can’t swing a dead cat without seeing some reference to Franklin in the city; his influence and achievements are still obvious everywhere in Philadelphia.

The tour ended at the City Tavern, the oldest continuously run tavern in the country. Our tour guide told us about the ghosts that are frequently seen (or felt) in the tavern before bidding us goodnight. My youngest son wanted to go in the tavern to see if we could find any ghosts. We went in, but sadly saw no ghosts. (Although, the waiter who showed us to the basement rooms strangely disappeared quickly, so we’re going with the story that maybe he was a ghost himself.)

The Battle of Chernobyl

THE BATTLE OF CHERNOBYL dramatically chronicles the series of harrowing efforts to stop the nuclear chain reaction and prevent a second explosion, to "liquidate" the radioactivity, and to seal off the ruined reactor under a mammoth "sarcophagus." These nerve-racking events are recounted through newly available films, videos and photos taken in and around the plant, computer animation, and interviews with participants and eyewitnesses, many of whom were exposed to radiation, including government and military leaders, scientists, workers, journalists, doctors, and Pripyat refugees.

The consequences of this catastrophe continue today, with thousands of disabled survivors suffering from the "Chernobyl syndrome" of radiation-related illnesses, and the urgent need to replace the hastily-constructed and now crumbling sarcophagus over the still-contaminated reactor. As this remarkable film makes clear, THE BATTLE OF CHERNOBYL is far from over.

Naked men started flat fire in Wiccan ritual to get rid of negative vibes

Two naked men started fires in a flat as part of a pagan ritual to get rid of “negative vibes”, a court heard.
Aftab Mughal went to see Terence Williams for advice and the pair decided to burn away the negativity using lit newspaper as part of a Wiccan ceremony.

Neighbours saw smoke pouring from the property and dialled 999 after seeing the naked men inside the apartment.

The pair were forcibly removed from the flat by firefighters still refusing to cover themselves up when they were given blankets outside.

But rather than drive away the bad vibes the two men found themselves arrested and charged with arson.

Murdoch Faces Questions on Hacking

LONDON—News Corp. NWS +0.36% Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch faced a public grilling Thursday about what he knew, and what he should have known, about the extent of phone hacking at the company's U.K. operations.

Mr. Murdoch began a second day of questioning Thursday by a judge-led public inquiry, which is focusing on illicit reporting practices and the cozy relationship between the media and politicians.

In the early going, he apologized for his handling of the company's phone-hacking scandal. And he said he saw nothing wrong with the activities of a News Corp. lobbyist at the center of a new controversy over whether the company was too cozy with the government minister who oversaw regulation of a big News Corp. business deal.

The session quickly turned to the long-running phone-hacking scandal that has battered the company and prompted the government to establish the inquiry. News Corp. closed the News of the World newspaper last summer after revelations that the tabloid illegally intercepted the voice mails of celebrities, politicians and crime victims in pursuit of scoops. The scandal has snowballed to include other allegations of wrongdoing, including bribing public officials and hacking emails, and have spread to other News Corp. media outlets.

CBS This Morning: Mining asteroids: Is it worth it?

Mining asteroids: Is it worth it?

The first steps are beginning towards mining asteroids for precious metals and rocket fuel. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson speaks to the "CBS This Morning" co-hosts about the possible benefits of this project.

Mystery "Godzillus" fossil has experts asking -- WHAT IS IT?

DAYTON, Ohio — Experts are trying to figure out what a fossil dubbed “Godzillus” used to be.

The 150-pound fossil recovered last year in northern Kentucky is more than 6 feet long and 3 feet wide. To the untrained eye, it looks like a bunch of rocks or a concrete blob. Experts are trying to determine whether it was an animal, mineral or a form of plant life from a time when the Cincinnati region was underwater.

Scientists at a Geological Society of America meeting viewed it Tuesday at the Dayton Convention Center in Ohio.

“We are looking for people who might have an idea of what it is,” said Ben Dattilo, an assistant professor of geology at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.

Early Skeleton Stolen From Underwater Cave in Mexico

The cenotes of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo are peppered with mysterious skeletons. Over the millennia, these water-filled caves have served as burying grounds andsacrificial sites for native peoples, and in fact, several ancient sets of remains have been found so deep in the caves that they are inaccessible without diving equipment, suggesting that they must have been placed there when the caves were dry, before the ice caps melted around 8,ooo BCE, and putting them in the range of 10-14,000 years old.

Now, though, one of those ancient skeletons, called the Young Man of Chan Hol II since its discovery in 2010, has gone missing from its cenote. New Scientist reports that the National Institute of Anthropology and History has put up posters in bakeries, supermarkets, and divers’ shops throughout the town of Tulum in hopes of receiving tips as to the skeleton’s whereabouts and is considering legal action, though we’re not sure what actions are possible against thieves. Apparently there have been other archaeological thefts from cenotes as well; the cenotes are frequented by divers, and the authorities cannot guard them all.

[Discover Magazine]

Funhenge: life-sized inflatable bouncy Stonehenge

The Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art opened on April 20th, and one particular piece has become a sensation: a life-sized inflatable bouncy Stonehenge. It’s called Sacrilege and was designed by Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller. He worked with Inflatable World Leisure for two months to create this masterpiece of public art, and although you might think some Scots would be displeased to have an icon of English history on Glasgow Green, in fact people of all ages are having a complete blast on it because it’s undeniably awesome.

The installation is deflated at 6pm every night and re-inflated in minutes the following morning. Project manager James Hutchinson said it had caught the imagination of Glaswegians.

“I think it would take a mean heart not to smile as you are passing by,” he said. “People have been wanting to get on and we have had all ages from seven to 70. Nobody knows what Stonehenge is for. It doesn’t belong to anybody. Not the Druids or those interested in British or English history or Glaswegians.”

“We come to the green a lot and I was surprised to see it and wondered what it was, but I think it’s great,” says Robert Barnes, 72, who lives locally. “My grandson’s been playing on it and I can’t get him off.”

Deller envisioned it as both an interactive public sculpture and a tactile, playful way to introduce ancient history to young children. The constraints of preservation often by necessity keep people at a distance, including at Stonehenge where visitors are no longer allowed to roam amidst the sarsen stones. A version you can bounce on brings the remote into the immediate.

ForArgyll’s Paul Hadfield has written a detailed review of inflatable Stonehenge’s bouncing good times. Key points:

There were bouncings, boundings, hurlings against the megaliths, collapses for a breather, group bounces, hide and seeks. 

You can’t get near the real thing any more but oh boy, you can get up close and very personal with this one.

The ‘stones’ are surprisingly hefty. You can throw yourself at them with impunity – but you know you’ve met. [...]

You can see people starting off just bouncing, then getting more inventive, then teaming up in impromptu mass playfulness and daft game strategies, then splitting and going off in separate directions but somehow lighter footed than when they arrived.

Sacrilege will remain in Glasgow until the festival ends on May 7th, then it will travel to various locations in the UK until it arrives in London for the Olympic Games.

[The History Blog]