It’s been nearly two weeks since I attended the annual scholarly society meetings for scholars in my field of study and interest: the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS), the Near East Archaeological Society (NEAS), the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR),...
science
Spinning “Posessed” Egyptian Statue Mystery Solved
Sorry, folks. Turns out the Egyptian statue that mysteriously rotates in its case isn't possessed. Nor does it contain mystical alien energy. Try and contain your surprise.
Another Ancient Alien Fail: Moving 300 Ton Stones to Build China’s Forbidden City
The Live Science blog reported recently that Jiang Li, an engineer at the University of Science and Technology Beijing, has successfully translated an ancient Chinese document that reveals how stones in excess of 300 tons were moved over 70 miles without the wheel to...
Is Speculation Science?
It is when it's about the search for extraterrestrial life and panspermia. In yet another example of just this, I'd invite you all to read "Far-Off Planets Like the Earth Dot the Galaxy." Have any of these planets actually been identified? No. Have any of them yielded...
Is Eyewitness Testimony of UFOs Evidence They are Alien in Origin?
Think about the title to this post. It doesn't assert that all or even most UFO witnesses are liars. It doesn't say they are cranks, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or otherwise buffoonish. In my experience, people who report UFOs are anything but. What the...
Mars, the Moon, Planet X, and Wacky ET Theories: Exposing Pseudo-Astronomy
I've occasionally blogged about Stuart Robbins' podcast, Exposing PseudoAstronomy. Stuart has invited me for an interview. It will take place in November, but I'll let you all know when he actually posts it. Stuart has done excellent (and time-consuming) work exposing...
What To Do With Christian UFO Researchers Who Ape Ancient Astronaut Thinking
[Addendum: 10/22/2013 - I have been in correspondence with one of the researchers mentioned in Jason Colavito's post. That individual tells me that research is underway in regard to some of the claims Jason criticized, and that I will receive a copy of the results of...
NASA and 3-D Printing
I had to say something about this recent article from DeZeen: "NASA Develops 3-D Printing Factory in Space." I just finished the draft for The Portent, and there's a scene in it that involves the marriage of nanotechnology (and/or synthetic biology) and 3-D printing....
Has a UK Scientist Discovered Extraterrestrial Life?
The news of the recent experiment by Prof. Milton Wainwright of the University of Sheffield has been making news of late. In case you haven't read about it, here's a synopsis of the experiment (from the provided link) and why it has garnered interest: British...
Element 115 “Discovered” (?)
For readers of The Facade, this recent story from Science Daily will sound very familiar. [Hat tip to Carl for alerting me to the link.] In my novel, the UFOs at AREA-51 were powered by Element 115, which was unknown to the outside world. That idea (also know to...
Ancient Nanotechnology: Glass-Blowers from Space?
Just read this very interesting article - it's about how ancient Roman glass makers ground up silver and gold to the size of 50 nano-meters in diameter (less than 1000th the size of a grain of table salt) to produce a goblet that appears green when lit from the front...
Templeton Foundation Funding Search for Alien Spacecraft … Really
The Templeton foundation has awarded $200,000 to astronomer Geoff Marcy (UC-Berkeley) to see if he can detect alien spacecraft passing in front of distant stars. Before you laugh, Marcy is easily the most famous astronomer among those detecting extra-solar planets....
Historical Adam and Genetic Adam and Eve: Update
In light of the discussion on this blog some time ago about recent research in human genetics and the historical Adam, I thought readers might find two recent items on "genetic Adam and Eve" of interest. "Genetic" Adam and Eve Could Have Been Contemporaries?...
Is MUFON a Sham? Must it Be?
These are two fundamental questions that arise as one reads the recent two-part series by Jack Brewer of The UFO Trail entitled, "MUFON, Science, and Deception." Jack describes the goal of these pieces as "a two-part post exploring recent MUFON history and...
The Cosmos in the Antikythera Mechanism: ET Flunked Astronomy
That's the title of a new, freely accessible scholarly paper on the Antikythera mechanism you can find here. Here's the abstract: The Antikythera Mechanism is a fragmentarily preserved Hellenistic astronomical machine with bronze gearwheels, made about the second...