Hypogeum

The Hypogeum of Malta is an underground temple discovered in 1920.  Believed to be constructed 6000 years ago, it is the second oldest man made structure on earth. The oldest being Gobekli Tepe.  The Hypogeum is well worth a ponder – what makes it so mind blowing is that it seems to have been designed to amplify the voice, but only at certain megahertz. Three stories deep, when speaking in the “Oracle Room” the human voice is amplified through out the entire structure. But only if it’s a male voice, female voices don’t have the right frequency.

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http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/130

Dark Matter

The universe is made of matter, normal matter is the matter we understand. Normal matter makes up only around 5% of the universe. The rest – about 70% is dark energy, and 25% dark matter.  We have no idea how dark energy or matter work, we only know it’s there. To understand them we may have to throw Einstein’s theory of relativity out the window, as his theory on gravity holding the universe together doesn’t seem to apply to 95% of our universe.

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http://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-is-dark-energy/

Big Fish

The largest fish ever caught with a rod and reel was an Atlantic Blue Fin Tuna. It weighed 1496 lbs. and was caught in 45 minutes off Nova Scotia in 1979, by Ken Fraser.

Halliburton

When Dick Cheney stepped down as CEO of Halliburton to run with George Bush, he received a 33.7 million dollar package. On top of this, he caved to public pressure, selling 30 million dollars in stock options. During Cheney’s time as CEO, the number of subsidiary companies set up in off shore tax havens went from 9 to 44. One subsidiary named Halliburton Products and Services Ltd.,was set up in the Caymen Islands, as a way to avoid U.S. sanctions on doing business with Iran. During the same period, federal taxes paid by Halliburton went from over 300 to 85 million dollars a year. As hard as I ponder, I find it hard to swallow Cheney’s statement – ” the government has absolutely nothing to do ” with his or Halliburton’s financial success.

http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/about_hal/chronology.html

Senate Democrats And Republicans Hold Policy Cmte Meetings

It’s a Buggy World

There are 5,490 known species of mammals on Earth. Ponder this – there are over 100,000 species of spiders and scorpions, 1,000,000 known species of other insects.

http://www.currentresults.com/Environment-Facts/Plants-Animals/number-species.php

Carrington event

In 1859, British astronomer Richard Carrington witnessed a huge solar flare.  The following day, Northern Lights were visible in Cuba, telegraph stations sparked and caught on fire. It was so bright you could read a newspaper at night by the light in the sky. If a similar “event” happened today, we could expect to be in the dark ages for months, maybe even years. Ponder – life without TV, cell phones, internet, heat, light, or gasoline (the pumps are electric) Imagine, no ATM. Imagine life without everything we take for granted.

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http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110302-solar-flares-sun-storms-earth-danger-carrington-event-science/

Yellowstone Super Volcano

Steam rises from Castle Geyser in Yellowstone National Park (file photo).

The Yellowstone volcano is considered to be the largest volcano in the world. It last erupted 70,000 years ago. Most people picture a mountain when they think of a volcano, Yellowstone is almost flat, completely underground. The caldera is over 50 miles wide, and has been rising several inches a year since 2004. An eruption would be very, very bad. It would make Mt. St. Helens look like a  child’s pop gun going off.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/01/110119-yellowstone-park-supervolcano-eruption-magma-science/

Derinkuyu

Ponder this – the ancient city of Derinkuyu in Turkey, estimated to have been constructed between the 5th and 10th centuries, is completely below ground. Virtually invisible from above, 11 stories deep, able to house at least 35 thousand people. It has an elaborate ventilation system, stables, kitchens, living quarters, and massive sliding stone doors, that make it impossible to penetrate. Quite an accomplishment for people with nothing more than hand tools.

  

http://www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk/turkeyderinkuyu.htm

Solstice

Today the sun will cross the celestial equator on it’s way south. The moment of crossing or solstice happens at 7:09 PM EDT. Happy winter southern hemisphere.

Extremeophiles

An extremeophile is an organism that thrives in extreme conditions. Particularly fond of geothermal vents, and Arctic ice, they are able to survive under unimaginable conditions.  With this in mind, one must ponder the possibility of other ” extreme ” life forms in our universe.

http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/extreme/extremophiles.html