Life After Death, Proven by Scientists.

As someone who has actually been in that boat, someone who has been on life support with their heart on one table, as I lay on another table with only a machine pumping my blood for hours as they did their best to repair my heart.  It made me think, made me speculate even more on the great beyond..........that next step in our journey as spiritual beings in a physical body.

I even told my beautiful wife  just as I was going under (don't recall much of those 2 days but remember this.....) Honey,.........I'm going to do an experiment during all this.

My attempt was to have an OBE, or Out of Body Experience, to try and hear the conversations while I was under, wonder around and observe existence from a different perspective..

Well, my memory from that traumatic event last summer, is but a blur to me.  It took me months to have any sort of normal memory.  I do not remember several days including the day of the surgery, so alas my experiment failed.

However Scientists have been doing some tests, and this is what they are turning up!

Berlin: A team of psychologists and medical doctors associated with the Technische Universität of Berlin, have announced this morning that they had proven by clinical experimentation, the existence of some form of life after death. This astonishing announcement is based on the conclusions of a study using a new type of medically supervised near-death experiences, that allow patients to be clinically dead for almost 20 minutes before being brought back to life.

This controversial process that was repeated on 944 volunteers over that last four years, necessitates a complex mixture of drugs including epinephrine and dimethyltryptamine, destined to allow the body to survive the state of clinical death and the reanimation process without damage. The body of the subject was then put into a temporary comatic state induced by a mixture of other drugs which had to be filtered by ozone from his blood during the reanimation process 18 minutes later.

The extremely long duration of the experience was only recently made possible by the development of a new cardiopulmonary recitation (CPR) machine called the AutoPulse. This type of equipment has already been used over the last few years, to reanimate people who had been dead for somewhere between 40 minutes to an hour.

Near-death experiences have been hypothesized in various medical journals in the past, as having the characteristics of hallucinations, but Dr. Ackermann and his team, on the contrary, consider them as evidence for the existence of the afterlife and of a form of dualism between mind and body."

The team of scientists led by Dr. Berthold Ackermann, has monitored the operations and have compiled the testimonies of the subjects. Although there are some slight variations from one individual to another, all of the subjects have some memories of their period of clinical death. and a vast majority of them described some very similar sensations.

Most common memories include a feeling of detachment from the body, feelings of levitation, total serenity, security, warmth, the experience of absolute dissolution, and the presence of an overwhelming light.

The scientists say that they are well aware the many of their conclusions could shock a lot of people, like the fact that the religious beliefs of the various subjects seems to have held no incidence at all, on the sensations and experiences that they described at the end of the experiment. Indeed, the volunteers counted in their ranks some members are a variety of Christian churches, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and atheists..

“I know our results could disturb the beliefs of many people” says Mr. Ackermann. “But in a way, we have just answered one of the greatest questions in the history of mankind, so I hope these people will be able to forgive us. Yes, there is life after death and it looks like this applies to everyone.”

Kind of reminds me of a Movie.......

Article is by Jason Mansfield: Anomalous Environmental Studies Analyst™ with Paranormal Studies of Arkansas found at www.hauntedarkansas.net, Voice Over Artist, Film Maker/ Prop Designer/ Creative Consultant/ Concept Artist at Binary Entertainment www.binaryentertainment.com, Folklorist, Horror Enthusiast, Writer, Squatchologist™, Legend Hunter & Oddity Tripper™ #BlogOfOdd #WhatTheFringe

Bob Lazar, Back in the News. 25 Years Later (UFO)

Bob Lazar, you've heard the name.  Well you have if you're into UFO's and Area 51.  Well its now the 25th anniversary of when he first made public what was going on at S4 in Area 51...

Lazar claimed to have worked in 1988 and 1989 as a physicist in S4 allegedly located at Papoose Lake southwest of top secret Area 51 near Groom Dry Lake, Nevada. According to Lazar, S4 serves as a hidden military location for the study and research of extraterrestrial spacecraft, or flying saucers using reverse engineering. Lazar claims he saw nine different extraterrestrial vehicles there and has provided detailed information on the mode of propulsion and other technical details of a disc-shaped vehicle he called the sport model.

He also claims to have been working on the fuel, an element with an atomic weight of 115 which allowed the space crafts to warp space and essentially pull the desired destination to the ship. This method of travel allegedly enabled alien travelers to cross vast distances with minimal three dimensional movement. Element 115 was first discovered in 2003 and first synthesized in 2013.


Lazar first appeared in the media in an Omni magazine article in the early 1980s. He also appeared on television on a local Las Vegas news program discussing his experience at S4 and Area 51. He was also featured in the Los Alamos Monitor in a story dealing with a jet car he claimed to have built with help from a NASA researcher. The car was built from a jet engine modified and placed on an existing car model.

For the Record......... I believe the man is the genuine real deal.  His consistency in his statements, his knowledge level, his humbleness in not capitalizing on the topic like so many do.  This author operates in much the same manner.  I have knowledge others do not, I find many researchers comical in their methods and Seeking fame on no proof.   I on the other hand, lay low, research, share a few concepts with people (and some have run off and included in their own books as their own original thinking).  I would love to sit down ON or OFF the record, just to talk with Mr. Lazar... and if he doesn't wanted it printed, then I won't. 

Here is the NEW interview.......



Article is by Jason Mansfield: Anomalous Environmental Studies Analyst™ with Paranormal Studies of Arkansas found at www.hauntedarkansas.net, Voice Over Artist, Film maker at Binary Entertainment www.binaryentertainment.com, Folklorist, Horror Enthusiast, Writer, Squatchologist™ & Legend Hunter

Man Savagely Attacked, Left Unconscious, Aquires Savant Math Skills

In 2002, a 31 year old, father of one and a college dropout, became a Math Genius simply over night.

Jason Padgett, who had dropped out of school, and never really having any academic pursuits, spent most of his free time sky diving, cliff jumping, and amerced in drinking at the local pub.  However this changed in 2002 when he was attacked brutally from behind and knock in the back of the head so severely he was unconscious.

He under went screenings at the hospital and had a CT Scan and thus released on the very same night of his attack.  However the next day he noticed something odd, something was different, and he started noticing shapes and movements in ordinary everyday things and became obsessed with fractals and mathematics.

Mr. Padgett is now one of only 40 known people in the world to have "acquired savant syndrome", a condition in which trauma to the head results in the emergence of a remarkable talent in math, art or music.

"I believe I am living proof that these abilities lie dormant in all of us, If it could happen to me, it could happen to anyone" he Said.

Article is by Jason Mansfield: Anomalous Environmental Studies Analyst™ with Paranormal Studies of Arkansas found at www.hauntedarkansas.net, Voice Over Artist, Film maker at Binary Entertainment www.binaryentertainment.com, Folklorist, Horror Enthusiast, Writer, Squatchologist™ & Legend Hunter

Unknown Creature Found, New Discovery or Killer Whale

The unknown beast washed onto shore in the Bay of Plenty after storms pounded the coast of New Zealand.  It's remains are being tested to determine exactly what it is.

A YouTube video filmed by Elizabeth Ann on Pukehina Beach shows the half-buried head of the carcass with jagged teeth and gaping jaws.

The mysterious sea creature is estimated to be approx. 30-foot long and mostly buried under the sand on the New Zealand beach in the Bay of Plenty. Only its head and what appear to be flippers are visible.
A close up of the monstrous mouth is full of jagged teeth. 

One marine expert believes the carcass is that of a killer whale, an animal that is commonly found around the Bay of Plenty, the location where the beast was found.

The creature's mouth, and skin around it resemble a bizarre prehistoric beast. Other suggestions as to what creature is include a giant moray eel and a saltwater crocodile, a dolphin or a dinosaur. 

 

Photos of the animal have been sent to the New Zealand Department of Conservation and Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium for identification.

Further tests are being carried out to confirm its identity.

Article is by Jason Mansfield: Paranormal Investigator with Paranormal Studies of Arkansas found at www.hauntedarkansas.net, Voice Over Artist, Film maker at Binary Entertainment www.binaryentertainment.com, Folklorist, Horror Enthusiast, Writer, & Legend Hunter

Canadian UFO Reports are 2nd Highest in 25 Years

In 2013, there were 1,180 UFO sightings reported, according to the Canadian UFO Survey, released Tuesday by Winnipeg-based UFOlogy Research of Manitoba.

 

It is the second-highest number recorded in Canada in the past 25 years. The peak year was 2012, when almost 2,000 reports were recorded.

 

The spike in 2012 is speculated to be tied to the so-called “end of the world” in 2012 according to the Mayan Calendar, and the public reporting many lights and objects as UFOs.

 

As for 2013, there are several theories for the surge in reports:

• More UFOs are present and physically observable by witnesses
• More secret or classified military exercises and overflights are occurring over populated areas
• More people are taking the time to observe their surroundings
• And more people are able to report their sightings with easier access to the Internet and portable technology.

 

The press release said "Many witnesses are pilots, police and other individuals with reasonably good observing capabilities and good judgment"

 

Canadian government has given up chasing unidentified flying objects. Its various federal agencies, Transport Canada, the RCMP and the Department of National Defence, used to track and investigate UFO sightings to some degree, but it's now has been left up to civilian volunteers.

 

Article is by Jason Mansfield: Paranormal Investigator with Paranormal Studies of Arkansas found at www.hauntedarkansas.net, Voice Over Artist, Film maker at Binary Entertainment www.binaryentertainment.com, Folklorist, Horror Enthusiast, Writer, & Legend Hunter

Huge Jellyfish discovered that is 5 ft across "That's A Huge Bitch!"

Scientists are now scrambling to study a new species of jellyfish that are washing up on beaches on the Island of Tasmania. It would appear the Giant five foot is an unidentified species that is not currently classified.

The species started showing up in southern Tasmania this summer, baffling scientists after one washed ashore. 

Dr. Gershwin with the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization "Say that three times fast" Dr. Gershwin with the (ACSIRO) have studied the remains of the mysterious creature and are awaiting the new species classification and name.



So I have to ask, if one of these stings you on the foot.... do you have a friend pee on it? or due to its size (the jelly fish) would it take more than one friend to neutralize the toxin with urine?



Post is by Jason Mansfield: Paranormal Investigator with Paranormal Studies of Arkansas found at www.hauntedarkansas.net, Voice Over Artist for several Paranormal Radio Shows, Film maker at Binary Entertainment www.binaryentertainment.com, Folklorist, Writer, & Legend Hunter

Ancient "Swamp Monster" Discovered; Texas

Skulls of a 17-foot-long, crocodile-like creature have been discovered.

The skull of the phytosaur Machaeroprosopus lottorum.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF MUSEUM OF TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY ©2014  

 

Scientists say the fossils of an ancient "swamp monster" that roamed the wilds of West Texas are those of a new species.

According to the study, the roughly 17-foot-long monster lurked in swamps during the Triassic period, when West Texas was a tropical rain forest lush with tall ferns and conifers.
 

With its 2-foot-long snout, Machaeroprosopus lottorum would have resembled—and acted like—a modern-day gharial, ambushing prey such as fish and amphibians from beneath the water.
 

Paleontologists dubbed the ancient creature M. lottorum after the Lott family, which owns the Texas Panhandle ranch where the two skulls were discovered in the summer of 2001. The first skull the scientists found wasn't well preserved, but a few weeks later, when Doug Cunningham, a field research assistant at the Museum of Texas Tech University and co-author of the study, dug up the second skull, they were shocked.
 

When other paleontologists began studying the skulls, says study co-author Bill Mueller, assistant curator of paleontology at the museum, they noticed something that suggested these phytosaurs were a new species: An opening at the top of the skull, called the supratemporal fenestra, was located in a different place than on known phytosaurs.

However, much of what's assumed about phytosaurs is speculation, as only a few skeletons have ever been found. If paleontologists could find an intact one, they could confirm if it really was a swamp-dweller by measuring its legs: Short, squat limbs would mean it lived in water.

Their wish may be granted: Study co-author Mueller said his team just found a huge phytosaur skull that's now being excavated.

For the full story see the source : http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140131-swamp-monster-paleontology-animals-ancient-science/

 

Bizarre Giant squid caught: Real Sea Monster dies soon after capture.

A giant squid caught off the waters of Japan this week has the world buzzing at this bizarre creature, with some photos of the alien-like squid making it look like a real monster of the deep.

Known as a legendary sea swimmer and something that is uncommonly captured by humans, the netting was a major ordeal, though the animal died soon after it was brought to the surface.

The Huffington Post shares the latest on this unique find this Monday, Jan. 13, 2014.
The giant squid caught near Sadogashima Island in the Niigata Prefecture of Japan earlier this month is true to its name, weighing over 350 pounds and being just under 14 feet long. The strange-looking cephalopod is a new sight to many humans’ eyes, and new photos and video of the squid before, during, and after its big capture reveal its massive size and deep-sea looks.

Possessing no less than eight arms covered in suckers, a slippery form, and giant eyes, it is little surprise that this bizarre squid has been the inspiration for nightmares of many a seafarer for decades upon decades. The man who made the huge catch, Shigenori Gato, claims that he saw the giant squid early in the morning late last week. It was said to be alive when he caught it, but died shortly after being brought to the surface.

“When I hauled up the net, the squid slowly came floating up,” Goto said, according to sources from the Daily Press. “This is the first time I’ve seen such a large squid.”

If the discovery indeed turns out to be a giant squid caught in such rare and fresh condition, it could mean very big things for biological researchers, particularly those wanting to learn more about the anatomy of these bizarre sea creatures.

Known far and wide as the biggest invertebrate on our entire planet, this monster at full maturity can weigh over 500 pounds and grow up to nearly 30 feet. These elusive creatures are hard to track in their natural habitats due to their reclusive nature and mysterious living patterns, but such a find means that Mr. Goto of Japan certainly had one highly unusual, if perhaps not altogether successful, day out on the water.

Original Source: http://www.examiner.com/article/giant-squid-caught-bizarre-squid-a-real-monster-animal-died-soon-after-capture
 

Claims of Bigfoot Killed......Hoaxer behind the claims.

                              

 

 

10ReasonsWhyBigfoot'saBust:Photos

 

1. The Empty Fossil Record When two Georgia men declared they were storing the body of Bigfoot in a freezer -- and that they had its DNA -- more than a few skeptics cried foul. Is the legend of Bigfoot (a.k.a. Sasquatch) little more than a stubborn myth? For the dirt on the doubters, Discovery News contacted Benjamin Radford, managing editor of Skeptical Inquirer magazine, who was more than happy to rattle off the top 10 reasons Bigfoot is bogus. First on his list: the fossil record. Why, he asked, would a legacy of large mammals reported to exist throughout North America (and beyond) simply disappear from the same soil that has preserved everything from the dinosaur bones pictured here, to woolly mammoths, to tiny marine crustaceans? "There's no fossil record of anything fitting the description" of Bigfoot, said Radford. "There's simply nothing there."

Getty Images

 

2. Forget Fossils, Where Are the Bodies? Putting aside paleontology, Radford points out that today, if Bigfoot exists, it must disappear when it dies. "There's no hard evidence in the form of bones. There are no hair samples, there are no live or dead specimens," he said. Bigfoot believers argue that the soil in areas where the creatures live -- such as the region surrounding Bellingham, Wash., seen here -- is acidic and quickly breaks down the bones. Nonsense, says Radford: "There's nothing to that, because Bigfoot has been reported in every state but Hawaii."

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3. Where Do Bigfoot Babies Come From? Even for mammals that are relatively rare in global terms, such as the chimpanzee, it takes a decent population size to maintain a species. "If Bigfoot is a zoological reality," said Radford, "there has to be a breeding population." For that population to be big enough to account for even a fraction of the sightings, there would need to be tens of thousands of the creatures in North America alone. "Think about that for a second. Tens of thousands of Bigfoot, living, breathing, doing what they do. Where are they? Why don't they get hit by a car?" asked Bradford. "The numbers just simply don't add up."

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4. Your Lying Eyes The majority of "evidence" for Bigfoot, says Radford, consists of eyewitness accounts. Yet as psychologists and schooled juries know, such accounts are famously inaccurate. What's more, says Radford, "the problem is, that's not evidence, it's an anecdote....It's interesting and you shouldn't dismiss it out of hand, but it's not evidence."

Getty Images

 

Frank White, near Bellingham, Wash. "I'd call it a North American ape," White told reporters at the time. "You can call it a Sasquatch or anything you like." Radford calls it a Blobsquatch. Aside from eyewitness reports, blurry images like this are what most Bigfoot believers rely on. But it's no proof, said Radford: "These photos show something that is probably alive, it's probably dark, it's not a cat, it's not a camel. It could be a Bigfoot, or it could be a deer or it could be a guy in a suit." "Ultimately," he concludes, "it's a two-dimensional image. It's pixels."

AP Photo

  

6. Doctor Who? For Radford and other skeptics, the only acceptable standard of proof is the scientific one. Why, when there are countless researchers probing the far corners of every continent, is there no rigorous, documented, peer-reviewed evidence for Bigfoot? Only one answer makes sense, says Radford: Bigfoot isn't real. Attendees of the Texas Bigfoot Conference, pictured here, might disagree. The annual event draws hundreds of people -- including Bigfoot enthusiasts, amateur researchers, historians, and tourists -- but few if any academic scientists.

AP Photo

  

7. The Case of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Speaking of science, Bigfoot believers sometimes complain that funding for Sasquatch Studies is hard to find. But scientists are notoriously good note-takers, Radford points out, even about subjects they aren't directly studying. Consider this league of biologists scouting for the elusive ivory-billed woodbecker in Arkansas' White River National Wildlife Refuge, an area where Bigfoot sightings have been made. "There was a huge, hardcore investigation. They were well-equipped, well-funded and made a sustained search," noted Radford. "What I found interesting was, what didn't they find? They didn't find Bigfoot."

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8. This Katydid Couldn't Hide Dozens of new species, previously unknown to science, are discovered each year. But for the most part, they are tiny: microorganisms and insects such as the newly discovered katydid pictured here. Could Bigfoot really hide in such a peopled world? "The last large animal to be found was probably the giant panda, and that was 100 years ago," said Radford. "There has not been a single new creature that doesn't fit the recognized taxonomy discovered in the last century, there just simply hasn't."

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9. If It Walks Like a Hoax ... This ruddy strand, about 70 micrometers in diameter, could be taken as a hair. But it isn't -- it's a carpet fiber. A similar thread was once claimed to have fallen from Bigfoot's back. Later, it was shown to be synthetic Dynel fiber, said Radford. An alleged vial of Bigfoot blood once turned out to be transmission fluid, and many Bigfoot sightings, in the end, are admitted fakes. "There is no category of Bigfoot evidence that doesn't have a string of hoaxes attached to it," said Radford. "If you're studying a subject in which virtually all the evidence either comes down to being inconclusive or a hoax, something's wrong."

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10. The Case of the Missing Footprint This picture shows Al Hodgson, a volunteer guide at California's Willow Creek-China Flat Musuem, holding up a plaster cast believed by some to be a Bigfoot imprint. Authentic or not, footprints and other physical artifacts are meaningless scientifically, says Radford, when there is no standard to measure them by. "Some of the footprints have three toes, some have four toes, and some of course have five," he noted. "Even if I'm certain a certain track wasn't made by anything else, how do I know it's Bigfoot? You can't." The same goes for DNA. Scientists make a positive identification by comparing an unknown sample to a known one. There is no such standard for Bigfoot, says Radford. Even an educated guess about the giant footprint pictured here or a Blobsquatch gone wild is, at best, a shot in the dark. Benjamin Radford is the co-author of "Lake Monster Mysteries: Investigating the World's Most Elusive Creatures"

      wilderness tracker says he shot and killed a Bigfoot -- whom he named Hank -- in late 2012, but e kept the mystery under wraps until now.

If this sounds dubious (or familiar) to you, it should. The tracker, Rick Dyer, was one of two Georgia men who, in 2008, claimed to have found a dead Bigfoot creature nearly 8 feet all, covered with hair and weighing 500 pounds. They released a photograph of it inside a freezer, promising DNA evidence at a press conference.

BLOG: Bigfoot Kill Claimed by 'Master Tracker'

The press conference made national news, but didn’t quite live up to expectations. As National Geographic news reported:

“Only days after Georgia residents Matt Whitton and Rick Dyer told reporters at a press conference on Friday that they had a dead Bigfoot body, their evidence has been exposed as a rubber ape costume. The deception was made public by the very company Whitton and Dyer teamed up with to announce their supposed find. In a statement posted on the Web site of Searching for Bigfoot Inc., “Sasquatch Detective” Steve Kulls said he realized the Bigfoot ‘corpse’ was a fake when the frozen body began to thaw -- after the press conference had already taken place.”

This time, Dyer insists, he has the real deal.
Dyer told KSAT News, "Bigfoot is not a tooth fairy -- Bigfoot is real. The most important thing to me is being vindicated, letting people know that I am the best Bigfoot tracker in the world and it’s not just me saying it."
Dyer is expected to hold another press conference to show the body, and he plans to take it on a tour of the United States, Mexico and Canada. He’ll charge a small fee to view it, KSAT reports.

NEWS: New 'Bigfoot' Sighting Latest in Series of Hoaxes

Dyer also has a new documentary film he’s promoting. And he's released a photo he claims is of Hank’s face, but which resembles Norwegian troll figurines sold at Disney World’s Epcot theme park.
Bigfoot Credibility Goes Bust
This is, of course, not the first time that people have claimed to have found a Bigfoot, alive or dead. The history of the search for Bigfoot parallels the history of Bigfoot hoaxes.
For many years the pursuit of Bigfoot -- and its foreign cousins such as the Australian yowie, the Himalayan yeti, and the Canadian sasquatch -- was driven by genuine scientific curiosity.
In his book “Searching for Sasquatch: Crackpots, Eggheads, and Cryptozoology,” Brian Regal, an assistant professor for the history of science at Kean University, describes the state of monster-hunting a half-century ago:

“Unlike the common view of scientists uninterested in such a pursuit, and even actively discouraging it, the story of the hunt for the Yeti reveals a more complex situation. Some anthropologists and other scientists took to the subject with enthusiasm to the point of actively engaging in the hunt. The 1950s and 1960s can be seen as a golden era of cooperation between amateurs and academics in the search for manlike monsters.”

NEWS: ‘Bigfoot DNA’ Study Seeks Yeti Rights

These serious scientific researchers are mostly a relic of the past. Today’s Bigfoot community is populated  -- many would say contaminated -- by publicity-seeking promoters, hoaxers and self-styled Bigfoot buffs who offer perpetually fruitless weekend tours into the wilderness to look for the beast.
Ironically, these folks may sound the death knell for serious Bigfoot research. Sooner or later the public will tire of the parade of hoaxes, exaggerated claims and publicity stunts. It will become more and more difficult for sincere, science-minded researchers  -- such as Todd Disotell and Brian Sykes, two geneticists who have attempted to sequence DNA from unknown animals -- to do their work.
Real science moves forward through cautious claims, careful analysis and peer-reviewed evidence. How can it compete with outlandish, fictional claims of Bigfoot bodies for the public’s attention, support and interest?
If and when the existence of Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, ghosts or other such mysterious entities is proven, information about it will appear in legitimate academic journals and reputable news outlets, not personal web sites, YouTube videos and independent documentary films.
If Bigfoot researchers wish to be taken seriously, they could start by cleaning their own house. The biggest threat to their credibility is not skeptics nor a ridiculing public but instead those who provide an endless stream of bogus claims and evidence.

Original Source:  http://news.discovery.com/animals/new-bigfoot-claim-old-bigfoot-hoaxer-140106.htm

Say Hello to my Little Friend: Meet the Mud Volcano Worm

They resemble low budget horror movie monsters but Scottish Natural Heritage say people should care about the protection of these strange, green sea creatures.

Cradled in the hands of a marine scientist, the mud volcano worm (Maxmuelleria lankesteri) looks like a slimy gherkin with a tail.

Down on the bottom of deep blue seas, the burrowing animals create mounds of mud up to a metre (3ft) high.

Last week, Scottish Natural Heritage said the "UK's biggest and best known example" of this unusual habitat had been found in Loch Sween, a sea loch in Argyll. The mounds cover an area of about 1,630 acres (660ha) on the loch bed.

Scotland has some of Europe's largest areas of burrowed mud, which is made by mud volcano worms and other burrowers such as brittlestars, crabs and shrimps.

These areas are found in the Minch, Moray Firth, Firth of Forth, the northern North Sea and in deep water around the St Kilda archipelago and Rockall.

Muddy mounds of up to a metre (3ft) high have been found in Loch Sween

According to SNH, burrowed mud is a "surprisingly important" marine habitat that supports a "rich community" of animals.

The burrowers churn up mud and fine sand, oxygenating it and mixing in nutrients and minerals.

This environment attracts shellfish, tube worms, sea pens, fireworks anemone and fish.

Many of the animals that are drawn to the burrowed mud have an economic value.

They include langoustine, which is caught and then sold to markets in France and Spain, and also commercially fished cod, haddock and whiting.

Original Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-25436793

Biodegradable scaffold may spur wound healing.

From left, Scott Guelcher, Ph.D., Jeffrey Davidson, Ph.D., Christopher Nelson and Craig Duvall, Ph.D., showed that an enzyme-blocking molecule released by a biodegradable scaffold can enhance wound healing in a mouse model. (photo by Susan Urmy)

Biomedical and chemical engineers at Vanderbilt University, working with a pathologist, have constructed a sponge-like, biodegradable tissue “scaffold” that releases an enzyme-blocking molecule to indirectly activate endogenous pathways and enhance tissue regeneration and wound healing.
If further animal studies confirm the initial findings, the drug-containing scaffold could provide a new approach to healing chronic wounds, which afflict millions of patients with diabetes and other diseases and cost the U.S. health care system more than $25 billion a year, according to one estimate.
Small interfering ribonucleic acids (siRNAs) can block translation of messenger RNA into proteins, including enzymes that regulate the activity of transcription factors, as was done in this work. One of the biggest challenges is delivery — getting siRNA into the cell.
In their report, posted online Dec. 16 by the journal Advanced Materials, the researchers demonstrate they did this in a mouse model by “packaging” the siRNA in protective nanoparticles and embedding the particles in a porous polyester urethane scaffold.
The study was supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants EB021750 and AR056138.
“This innovative approach and effective method for local siRNA delivery could have wide applications including diabetic wound healing, a significant and growing problem across the globe,” said Christine Kelley, Ph.D., division director in the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, part of the NIH.
The study was led by Craig Duvall, Ph.D., assistant professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering graduate student Christopher Nelson using scaffolding developed by Scott Guelcher, Ph.D., associate professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
The nanoparticles protected the siRNA from degradation, which would destroy its activity, and were optimized to ferry the siRNA into the correct intracellular compartment where its activity occurs. The scaffold, inserted into the wound, allowed sustained and “tunable” release of the siRNA nanoparticles for up to a month.
In this case, the siRNA blocked translation of an enzyme called PHD2 (prolyl hydroxylase domain 2), which inhibits the pro-angiogenic transcription factor Hif1-alpha (hypoxia inducible factor 1-alpha).
Hif1-alpha serves as an “alarm bell” for low oxygen, and triggers the expression of factors that spur the growth of blood vessels and can help heal the wound. That’s what the researchers showed – a three-fold increase in vascular volume in 33 days.
“These data convincingly demonstrate the regenerative potential of this platform, as formation of robust, mature vessels is one of the primary challenges of tissue regeneration,” they concluded.
As many as a quarter of people with diabetes will develop a diabetic foot ulcer, and a fifth of them will ultimately lose their limb as a result, said Jeffrey Davidson, Ph.D., professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology who contributed to the study.
“The typical diabetic patient would be very pleased if you could close that persistent wound, prevent the infection and avoid amputation,” Davidson said. “The attractiveness of siRNAs as drugs is that they are very precise. They hit one very specific gene target.”
While studies in humans are at least five years away, Duvall said their “upstream” approach of manipulating transcription factor activity allows “a better orchestrated and holistic response” that could be applied to other challenges, such as generation of new cardiac tissue damaged by heart attack.

Original Source: http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2013/12/biodegradable-scaffold-may-spur-wound-healing/

Crows/ Ravens could hold the secret to Understanding Aliens!?

Could crows hold the secret to understanding ALIENS? Bird's exceptional intelligence could help scientists shed light on extraterrestrials' brains

• Crows have been shown to make strategic decisions, similar to humans
• They way they think tells us about non-mammalian intelligence
• The learnings could be applied to the intelligence of alien species

Scientists have long suspected that corvids – the family of birds including ravens, crows and magpies – are highly intelligent.
Now, neurobiologists have demonstrated how the brains of crows produce intelligent behavior when the birds have to make strategic decisions, the same as humans, despite our lack of a common ancestor.
The research could give us an insight into the workings of the mind of a non-mammalian - including extraterrestrial life forms.

Soaring intelligence: The intelligence of crows and other corvids could give us insight into how alien races think

Lena Veit and Professor Andreas Nieder, from Tubingen University in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, have published a study in Nature Communications that provides valuable and exciting insights into the parallel evolution of intelligent behaviour.
'Many functions are realised differently in birds because a long evolutionary history separates us from these direct descendants of the dinosaurs,' sais Ms Veit.

'This means that bird brains can show us an alternative solution out of how intelligent behaviour is produced with a different anatomy.'
Crows and primates have different brains, but the cells regulating decision-making are very similar. They represent a general principle which has re-emerged throughout the history of evolution.

Not alone? Because crows are non-mammalian, their thought processes give us an insight into the thought processes of other species

'Just as we can draw valid conclusions on aerodynamics from a comparison of the very differently constructed wings of birds and bats, here we are able to draw conclusions about how the brain works by investigating the functional similarities and differences of the relevant brain areas in avian and mammalian brains,' says Professor Andreas Nieder.
Far from being 'bird-brains', crows are so smart behavioral biologists have even called them 'feathered primates' because the birds make and use tools, are able to remember large numbers of feeding sites, and plan their social behavior according to what other members of their group do.
This high level of intelligence might seem surprising because birds’ brains are constructed in a fundamentally different way from those of mammals, including primates – which are usually used to investigate these behaviors.
The Tubingen researchers are the first to investigate the brain physiology of crows’ intelligent behavior. They trained crows to carry out memory tests on a computer.
The crows were shown an image and had to remember it. Shortly afterwards, they had to select one of two test images on a touchscreen with their beaks based on a switching behavioral rules.

NOT BIRD-BRAINED: THE UNCANNY INTELLIGENCE DISPLAYED BY CROWS

They use tools
Crows have been observed using cars as nutcrackers. They drop the nuts into the road and when they are smashed open dive in to eat.
They talk to each other
scientists debate whether or not crows actually have what we call a language, but they do communicate at an advanced level.
They have incredible memories
Crows have been known to change their entire migration pattern to avoid farms where even a single crow has been killed in the past. Generations upon generations later, they still remember specific houses where one measly bird has died.
Crows can remember faces 
Scientists in Seattle did an experiment where they tagged crows and released them while wearing masks. The birds became angry when they saw thwe researchers in masks, but left them alone when they were removed.
Source: cracked.com

One of the test images was identical to the first image, the other different. Sometimes the rule of the game was to select the same image, and sometimes it was to select the different one.
The crows were able to carry out both tasks and to switch between them as appropriate.
That demonstrates a high level of concentration and mental flexibility which few animal species can manage – and which is an effort even for humans.
The crows were quickly able to carry out these tasks even when given new sets of images. The researchers observed neuronal activity in the nidopallium caudolaterale, a brain region associated with the highest levels of cognition in birds.
One group of nerve cells responded exclusively when the crows had to choose the same image – while another group of cells always responded when they were operating on the 'different image' rule.
By observing this cell activity, the researchers were often able to predict which rule the crow was following even before it made its choice.

Original Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2525244/Could-crows-hold-secret-understanding-ALIENS.html