Japan to mark quake and tsunami anniversary

Japan is marking the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami which struck the north-eastern coast, killing thousands. The earthquake hit at 14:46 local time about 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo on 11 March 2011. The magnitude 9.0 quake, the most powerful since records began, also triggered a serious nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Thousands of people were evacuated as radiation leaked from the plant.

Memorial services have been planned and a minute of silence will be observed at the exact moment the quake hit. The main memorial ceremony will be held at Tokyo's National Theatre and will be attended by Japan's Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. The 78-year-old emperor had heart surgery three weeks ago and reports say he will attend 20 minutes of the hour-long ceremony with Empress Michiko.

Warning sirens will sound across the north-east of the country on Sunday at the precise time the quake struck. Bells and prayers will also reverberate across the country as the minute of silence is observed. Some trains in and around Tokyo will stop to mark the moment.

Fears of Nuclear Radiation

Shortly after the quake, an immense surge of water enveloped the north-eastern coast as a tsunami swept cars, ships and buildings away, crushing coastal communities. The twin natural disasters claimed more than 15,800 lives and more than 3,000 people remain unaccounted for.

In the Fukushima prefecture, where the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is located, the impact of the disaster was particularly acute. Radiation leaked from the plant after a series of fires and explosions damaged four of the plant's six reactor buildings, with serious failures in the plant's cooling system being at the heart of the problem.

A 20 km (12.5 mile) exclusion zone around the plant was put in place making tens of thousands of people homeless. Radiation means the area around remains uninhabitable. The plant is in cold shutdown now and Prime Minister Noda has promised that over the decades to come it will be decommissioned and he has also pledged to rebuild the devastated towns along the coast. Anti-nuclear protests are also scheduled to be held in Tokyo, Fukushima and other parts of the country to coincide with the anniversary.

Recovery is Slow?

Japan is still dealing with the economic and political fallout of the disaster. Japan's prime minister at the time of the disaster, Naoto Kan, resigned months later. He had been criticised for failing to show leadership during the nuclear crisis after the quake. The nuclear crisis also revealed serious flaws in the nuclear industry's regulatory systems and safety standards.

Although much of the debris has been cleared, survivors from the devastated north-east have complained about slow recovery efforts. One day before national commemorations, the families and loved ones of victims began to pay their respects at the graves of those they have lost. In Iwaki City in Fukushima, thousands of candles were lit, ceremonial bells were rung and monks chanted. 

Ancient Jewish coin sold for more than $1.1 million at Heritage Auction

An ancient Jewish (Judean) coin called “Prototype Year 1 Silver Shekel” as shown in the photo below, was recently sold at Heritage Auction in New York for more than $1.1 million.

Ancient Judean coin

According to Heritage Auction, March 9, 2012, the ancient Jewish coin was sold on Thursday for $1,105,375 and brought a world record price. As noted in the report, the ancient Judean coin is one of only two specimens known, the other one is in the collection of the Israel Museum, and is part of the Shoshana Collection of Ancient Coins of Judea being offered for auction sale.

Apparently, the said collection consists of over 2,200 old coins in total, which is being expected to make over $10 million in various auction events within this year, with the first sold coin was bought by an unnamed private overseas collector.

“This Year 1 silver shekel, struck shortly after the Jewish War began in May of 66 CE, is an incredible piece of history.” Heritage Auctions EVP Cris Bierrenbach was quoted in the report.

“This is literally one of the very first coins the Jewish rebels struck after they ousted the Romans from Jerusalem, sending shockwaves through the empire.” Bierrenbach added, noting that the Shoshana Coin Collection was assembled by an American collector for 4 decades.

“That history, as evidenced by the spirited bidding and the superb price realized, obviously continues to resonate today, more than 2,000 years later.” Bierrenbach explained further.

Unexplained “Phoenix Lights” explosion caught live on news broadcast

Phoenix's FOX 10 reporter Andrea Robinson was in the middle of an on-air report when an unexplained, bright white explosion appeared in the distance behind her. The strange blast was caught on tape and aired live during Robinson's report. At first, news station employees thought the explosion was a transformer. But when FOX 10 checked with local utility providers APS and Salt River Project, they were told no transformers had blown in the area.

While the source of the explosion remains a mystery, it comes just before the 15th anniversary of one of the most-famous UFO sightings in recent history. On March 13, 1997, a cluster of glowing orbs moving in a V-shaped formation was spotted in the skies above Phoenix. That incident was also caught on film. The origin of the light formation has since been endlessly analyzed and debated.

Arizona is also home to Travis Walton, who famously claimed to have been abducted by a UFO in 1975. Walton has written a number of books on the subject, and his story was turned into the 1993 film "Fire in the Sky."

And while Phoenix officials remain stumped by the strange light explosion, FOX 10 has reached out to the public asking for assistance in explaining exactly what was caught on film.

LSD 'helps alcoholics to give up drinking'

One dose of the hallucinogenic drug LSD could help alcoholics give up drinking, according to an analysis of studies performed in the 1960s. A study looked at the data from six trials and more than 500 patients.

It said there was a "significant beneficial effect" on alcohol abuse, which lasted several months after the drug was taken. An expert said this was "as good as anything we've got". LSD is a class A drug in the UK and is one of the most powerful hallucinogens ever identified. It appears to work by blocking a chemical in the brain, serotonin, which controls functions including perception, behaviour, hunger and mood.

Benefit

Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology analysed earlier studies on the drug between 1966 and 1970. Patients were all taking part in alcohol treatment programmes, but some were given a single dose of LSD of between 210 and 800 micrograms.

For the group of patients taking LSD, 59% showed reduced levels of alcohol misuse compared with 38% in the other group.  

This effect was maintained six months after taking the hallucinogen, but it disappeared after a year. Those taking LSD also reported higher levels of abstinence.

The report's authors, Teri Krebs and Pal-Orjan Johansen, said: "A single dose of LSD has a significant beneficial effect on alcohol misuse." They suggested that more regular doses might lead to a sustained benefit. "Given the evidence for a beneficial effect of LSD on alcoholism, it is puzzling why this treatment approach has been largely overlooked," they added.

Prof David Nutt, who was sacked as the UK government's drugs adviser, has previously called for the laws around illegal drugs to be relaxed to enable more research. He said: "Curing alcohol dependency requires huge changes in the way you see yourself. That's what LSD does. "Overall there is a big effect, show me another treatment with results as good; we've missed a trick here. "This is probably as good as anything we've got [for treating alcoholism]."

Dangers of LSD

During a trip the person may put themselves in danger without realising it such as thinking they can fly and trying to jump off a high building.

In some people, especially if LSD is taken in high doses, the drug can cause intense anxiety and panic attacks.

Some people experience flashbacks, reliving a bad trip weeks or even months after it happened.

In those already vulnerable, LSD may be the trigger for psychotic illness. Paranoia and other symptoms typical of schizophrenia may occur.

Cheetah robot sets new land speed record at 18 mph

A so-called Cheetah robot recently set a new land speed record for legged robots and can ‘run’ up to 18 miles per hour (29 kph), conducted by Boston Dynamics of Waltham, Massachusetts.

As noted by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Cheetah robot beat the record set in 1989 with the speed of 13.1 mph (21 kph). According to DARPA, the current version of the Cheetah robot ran on a laboratory treadmill where it was powered by an off-board hydraulic pump, and used a boom-like device to keep it running in the center of the treadmill.

Apparently, the movement of the robot was patterned after those of fast-running animals in nature, the Cheetah; with its running speed being increased by flexing and un-flexing its back on each step, much as the actual animal does.

The Cheetah robot was created by DARPA‘s program called the Maximum Mobility and Manipulation (M3) which aims to create and demonstrate significant scientific and engineering advances in robot mobility and manipulation capabilities.

Nevertheless, DARPA stressed out that M3 program not focused on specific military missions but rather to develop could have a wide range of potential military applications, with testing of a free-running prototype being planned later this year.

What sank the Titanic? Scientists point to the moon

It will be 100 years next month since its tragic sinking on April 14, 1912, but the Titanic still haunts us, and definitely still has the mojo to get people buzzing. Scientists have found an unexpected culprit for the sinking: the moon. Anyone who knows history or has seen the blockbuster movies knows that the cause of the transatlantic liner's accident 100 years ago next month was that it hit an iceberg.

"But the lunar connection may explain how an unusually large number of icebergs got into the path of the Titanic," said Donald Olson, a Texas State University physicist whose team of forensic astronomers examined the moon's role.

Ever since the Titanic sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912, killing 1,517 people, researchers have puzzled over Captain Edward Smith's seeming disregard of warnings that icebergs were in the area where the ship was sailing. Smith was the most experienced captain in the White Star Line and had sailed the North Atlantic sea lanes on numerous occasions. He had been assigned to the maiden voyage of the Titanic because he was a knowledgeable and careful seaman.

Greenland icebergs of the type that the Titanic struck generally become stuck in the shallow waters off Labrador and Newfoundland, and cannot resume moving southward until they have melted enough to re-float or a high tide frees them, Olson said. So how was it that such a large number of icebergs had floated so far south that they were in the shipping lanes well south of Newfoundland that night?

The team investigated speculation by the late oceanographer Fergus Wood that an unusually close approach by the moon in January 1912 may have produced very high tides. Because of that Icebergs more than usual managed to separate from Greenland and floated. Those fully grown icebergs reached into shipping lanes which were moved south that spring because of reports of icebergs.

Olson said a "once-in-many-lifetimes" event occurred on January 4, 1912, when the moon and sun lined up in such a way that their gravitational pulls enhanced each other. At the same time, the moon's closest approach to earth that January was the closest in 1,400 years, and the point of closest approach occurred within six minutes of the full moon. On top of that, the Earth's closest approach to the sun in a year had happened just the previous day.

"This configuration maximized the moon's tide-raising forces on the Earth's oceans," Olson said. The team's Titanic research may have vindicated Captain Smith - albeit a century too late - by showing that he had a good excuse to react so casually to a report of ice in the ship's path. He had no reason at the time to believe that the bergs he was facing were as numerous or as large as they turned out to be, Olson said.