10 Reasons: Could the Moon Landing be a Hoax?

 

The results of recent surveys have shown that roughly 20% of Americans still believe, to this day, that the U.S. never really did make it to the moon. Conspiracy theorists even came up with the theory that the first ever moon landing was faked by the U.S. government as a way to claim victory in the space race against Russia. Of course they had to come up several reasons to support the claim and the following are just 10 of the many reasons why.
10. The Waving Flag
When the first moon landing was broadcasted on live television, it was obvious how the American flag seemed to be waving and fluttering as astronauts, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, planted it. This wouldn’t have been such an issue except for the fact that there is no air in the moon’s atmosphere and therefore no wind whatsoever to cause such an effect on the flag.
9. Lack of Impact Crater
The next claim puts forth the notion that there should be a blast crater underneath the lunar module, as a way of its marking its landing, but there were clearly none; no crater was visible both on video footage and photographs of the landings. Even the fine lunar dust covering the moon’s surface didn’t seem to have been displaced.
8. Multiple Light Sources
The moon only has one strong light source and that happens to be the sun which is why it’s common sense that all shadows in videos or photographs of the moon landings should run parallel to each other. This wasn’t the case, however, and shadows appeared to be falling in different directions suggesting that there might have been multiple light sources – like that on a film set instead of the moon.
7. The Van Allen Radiation Belt
The Van Allen radiation belt surrounds the Earth and is held in practically the same place by the Earth’s magnetic field. It is said that astronauts have to pass through this belt to get to the moon. The catch here, however, is that the belt contains high levels of radiation which could have fried the astronauts, with their not-quite-so-advanced protective layers and coatings, as they made their way to the moon.
6. The Unexplained Object
As seen in the above photograph from the Apollo 12 mission, conspiracy theorists were quick to spot a mysterious object in the reflection of the astronaut’s helmet which bore a very similar resemblance to an overhead spotlight common in film studios. But given the poor quality of the photograph, it’s hard to say if the speculation stands to be true or otherwise.
 5. Slow-Motion Walking and Hidden Cables
Another claim that suggests the moon landings are nothing more than a hoax is that slow-motion walking due to the low-gravity conditions on the moon had been mimicked by the astronauts – if you happen to take footage of the moon landings and increase the speed by 2.5x, you’ll see that the astronauts appear to be moving at a speed just like on Earth. The impressive jump height, on the other hand, was attributed to hidden cables and wires.
4. Lack of Stars
This particular argument is pretty convincing since there is after all no clouds on the moon which means stars are extremely visible and much brighter on the moon than through the filter of the Earth’s atmosphere. In photographic and video evidence – even those that were of high quality – no stars could be spotted.
3. The “C” Rock 
The photo of the “C” rock – a rock which appears to have the letter “C” engraved into it – is one of the more famous photos from the moon landings. Because the letter appears to be pretty much symmetrical, many conspiracy theorists believed that it could not have been a product of some natural occurrence and that the rock may very well be a prop with the letter “C” as a marker.
2. The Layered Cross-Hairs
There is nothing unusual about cross-hairs and them appearing in photos of the moon landings because the cameras used by the astronauts made use of these cross-hairs as a guide when it came to scaling and direction. What made it unusual was that in some photos, the cross-hairs appeared behind some of the objects in that scene which suggested that the photos had been edited or retouched after they were taken.
1. The Duplicate Backdrop
The two photos on the top, even though taken miles apart, clearly have identical backdrops; as shown in the third photograph at the bottom. Hardcore conspiracy theorists believed that NASA may have simply made use of the same background even when filming different scenes of the moon landings.

Courtesy: techandfacts.com

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10 Bizarre Creatures of the Amazon Rainforest

The fast-disappearing Amazon rainforest harbors some amazing creatures. Most of us have heard of vampire bats, piranhas and the anaconda, but among the forest’s inhabitants are weird and wonderful animals just as bizarre as the more famous ones, if not more so. Here are 10 of the most bizarre Amazon rainforest animals you’ve likely never heard of.

10 Kinkajou
 


This relative of the raccoon has golden fur and a tail that can grip branches. Also called the honey bear, it lives in trees and mainly eats fruit. It uses its five inch-long tongue to grasp hanging fruit and also to lick nectar from flowers.

9 Electric Eel
 

Dwelling in murky rivers, the electric eel delivers hundreds of volts that can stun a human. Deaths attributed to this animal are most likely from drowning when the paralyzed victim is unable to swim. The eel uses its “power” to kill prey and to navigate in poor visibility. Despite its name, the electric eel is not closely related to true eels but is the largest member of a group of electric fish called knife fish.

8 Poison Dart Frog

These brightly colored frogs are among the most toxic creatures on earth. Their coloration serves to warn potential predators. Some species’ toxin is so virulent that merely touching the animal can deliver a lethal dose. Scientists prefer to call them poison frogs, because in fact they are not widely used by Indians for dart poison. Called “curare” its main ingredient is from toxic vines.

7 Bullet Ant

The world’s largest ant grows to the size of your pinky and has a bite to match. It also stings like a wasp. Unlike most ants it is solitary during the day, although it lives in a colony, in a nest usually at the base of a tree. The origin of the name is uncertain. Perhaps being the size of a bullet is the reason, or because the pain of its sting is akin to a bullet. Another name is 24 hour ant, because of the time for the pain of the sting to wear off. Some local tribes have a coming of age ceremony in which the young man has to endure repeated stings without making a sound. (Women are spared the ordeal.)

6 Jesus Lizard

When fleeing from predators, this reptile runs along the surface of water such as a pond or stream. The lizard reaches about 5 miles per hour this way. It propels itself along the water, using surface tension to briefly support its weight. The lizard’s toes have flaps of skin to create a broader surface and an air pocket to enhance the surface tension. But the “miracle” soon gives way to physics and the lizard is forced to swim.




5 Fishing Bat

Eschewing the typical bat diet of insects, the world’s largest species of bat has claws like an osprey’s. It’s also called the bulldog bat because of its dog-like snout. In the dark of night, it swoop down on fish whose surface ripples it detects using its sonar. No other species of bat is able to fish.

4 Glass Frog

The glass frog’s flesh is entirely transparent, allowing you to see the internal organs, including the heart pumping away. The flesh thus takes on the hue of surrounding vegetation, making the frog hard to see.

3 Peanut Head Bug

This weird looking insect has a bulbous protuberance from its head that looks remarkably like unshelled peanut. The significance of this seeming encumbrance is uncertain, although scientists believe it may mimic a lizard’s head, and thus deter curious predators. The insect is otherwise defenseless although its wings bear spots that look like an owl’s eyes, all part of its arsenal of deception.

2 Potoo

During the day, the potoo rests atop a dead branch, perfectly still and with plumage that mimics its resting place, blending in with its surroundings. It is nocturnal, catching flying insects, so its statue-like behavior during the day serves to hide it from predators. In the next, the chicks also freeze in position, but instead resembling fungi.

1 Candiru Fish

This nasty creature, also called the toothpick fish, has been reported to swim up the urogenital tract of bathers and lodges itself therein. Removal by surgery is the only treatment. In nature, the pencil-shaped fish parasitizes the waste ducts of aquatic animals, and apparently finds human orifices irresistible.

Courtesy: listverse.com

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10 Facts About the Titanic That You Don't Know

You may already know that the Titanic hit an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on the night of April 14, 1912 and sunk just over two-and-a-half hours later, but do you know the following ten facts about the Titanic?

1 Canceled Lifeboat Drill
Originally, a lifeboat drill was scheduled to take place on board the Titanic on April 14, 1912 - the day the Titanic hit the iceberg. However, for an unknown reason, Captain Smith canceled the drill. Many believe that had the drill taken place, more lives could have been saved.

2 Only Seconds
From the time the lookouts sounded the alert, the officers on the bridge had only 37 seconds to react before the Titanic hit the iceberg. In that time, First Officer Murdoch ordered "hard a-starboard" (which turned the ship to port -- left). He also ordered the engine room to put the engines in reverse. The Titanic did bank left, but it wasn't quite enough.

3 The Titanic's Newspaper
The Titanic seemed to have everything on board, including its own newspaper. The Atlantic Daily Bulletin was printed every day on board the Titanic. The newspaper included news, advertisements, stock prices, horse-racing results, society gossip, and the day's menu.

4 Lifeboats Not Full
Not only were there not enough lifeboats to save everyone on board, most of the lifeboats that were launched off the Titanic were not filled to capacity. For instance, the first lifeboat to launch, Lifeboat 7 from the starboard side) only carried 24 people, despite having a capacity of 65 (two additional people later transferred to Lifeboat 7 from Lifeboat 5). However, it was Lifeboat 1 that carried the fewest people - only seven crew and five passengers (a total of 12 people) despite having a capacity for 40.
5 Only Two Bathtubs
Although most passengers had to share bathrooms (only the two promenade suites in first class had private bathrooms), third class had it rough with only two bathtubs for more than 700 passengers.

6 Another Boat Was Closer for Rescue
When the Titanic began sending out distress signals, the Californian, rather than the Carpathia, was the closest ship; yet the Californian did not respond until it was much too late to help. At 12:45 a.m. on April 15, 1912, crew members on the Californian saw mysterious lights in the sky (the distress flares sent up from the Titanic) and woke up their captain to tell him about it. Unfortunately, the captain issued no orders. Since the ship's wireless operator had already gone to bed, the Californian was unaware of any distress signals from the Titanic until the morning, but by then the Carpathia had already picked up all the survivors. Many people believe that if the Californian had responded to the Titanic's pleas for help, many more lives could have been saved.

7 Two Dogs Rescued
With the order for women and children first into the lifeboats, plus the knowledge that there were not enough lifeboats for everyone on board the Titanic to be saved, it is a bit surprising that two dogs made it into the lifeboats. Of the nine dogs on board the Titanic, the two that were rescued were a Pomeranian and a Pekinese. 

8 The Fourth Funnel
In what is now an iconic image, the side view of the Titanic clearly shows four cream and black funnels. While three of these released the steam from the boilers, the fourth was just for show. The designers thought the ship would look more impressive with four funnels rather than three. 

9 A Royal Mail Ship
The R.M.S. Titanic was a Royal Mail Ship, a designation which meant the Titanic was officially responsible for delivering mail for the British postal service. On board the Titanic was a Sea Post Office with five mail clerks (two British and three American). These mail clerks were responsible for the 3,423 sacks of mail (seven million individual pieces of mail) on board the Titanic. Interestingly, although no mail has yet been recovered from the wreck of the Titanic, if it were, the U.S. Postal Service would still try to deliver it (the USPS because most of the mail was being sent to the U.S.).

10 Corpses Recovered
On April 17, 1912, the day before survivors of the Titanic disaster reached New York, the Mackay-Bennett was sent off from Halifax, Nova Scotia to search for bodies. On board the Mackay-Bennett were embalming supplies, 40 embalmers, tons of ice, and 100 coffins. Although the Mackay-Bennett found 306 bodies, 116 of these were too badly damaged to take all the way back to shore. Attempts were made to identify each body found. Additional ships were also sent out to look for bodies. In all, 328 bodies were found, but 119 of these were badly damaged and thus were buried at sea.

Courtesy: history1900s.about.com

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Truth Of Atacama "Alien" Revealed: Specimen Is Human

 

His name is "Ata" - short for Atacama - and no, he's not an alien, report researchers from Stanford University in the film “Sirius.” Rather, the six-inch partially-mummified specimen was male and appears to have survived for as many as six to eight years after birth, despite his small size.

Theories that the body was an aborted fetus do not hold, researchers argue, based on studies measuring its bone density and epiphyseal plate.

“Obviously, it was breathing, it was eating it was metabolizing,” Garry Nolan, the director of stem biology at the university said.

And while he admits it “calls into question how big the thing might have been when it was born,” it appears to be nothing else but an “interesting mutation.”

The findings were first located near an abandoned church in the Chilean Atacama desert, from where it derives its name. According to a Chilean local newspaper, the small figure was wrapped in a white cloth upon discovery.

UFO enthusiasts were quick to assign the specimen’s origins as extraterrestrial, especially given several of its characteristics that have come to be associated with aliens, including an oversized head. The fact that the body was scaly and dark and boasted nine ribs didn’t help.
In fact, the skeleton was considered an important element in the documentary in which extraterrestrial activist Steven Greer proposes to prove not only that aliens are real, but that the government is working very hard to cover up their existence.

Greer, a physician himself, explained that the team “obtained excellent DNA material by surgically dissecting the distal ends of two right anterior ribs” from the specimen that “clearly contained bone marrow material.”

However, not everyone is convinced the specimen is not an alien – including Greer. As far as he is concerned, the fact that they were able to prove that it was once a living organism is a step in the right direction.

Courtesy: www.natureworldnews.com

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10 Top secrets about Bruce Lee!

 

1. Bruce Lee's Family Gave Him a Girl's Name: "Little Phoenix"
Bruce's family never called him "Bruce." They preferred to call him by his nickname "Sai Fon" or "Little Phoenix." It was a girl's name, deliberately chosen by his parents because they believed that evil spirits did not like boys in the family (their firstborn was a son who died in infancy). So, by giving Bruce a girl's name, they believed they could fool the demons into sparing his life!

Actually, "Bruce" was a name given by a nurse at the Jackson Street Hospital, San Francisco, where he was born (Bruce's father was traveling with an acting troupe at the time). The nurse thought that giving the baby an English name would help avoid any confusion with his American birth certificate (yes, Bruce was an American by birth - he never had any other citizenship).

2. Bruce Lee was Part German
Bruce wasn't pure Chinese - he was actually part German (his grandfather from his mother's side was half German).

3. Bruce Lee Never Lost a Fight

Well, actually he lost a fight only once in his life: when he was 13 years old. This loss actually prompted Bruce to learn martial arts from a Wing Chun master named Yip Man. After other students learned that Bruce wasn't pure Chinese, they refused to let him train in their class. Yip Man had to train him privately. (Image: Portland Kung Fu Club)

4. Bruce Lee was a Bad Student
Academics didn't interest Bruce in the least. After primary school, Bruce entered La Salle College, an English-speaking boys' secondary school in Kowloon, Hong Kong, where he often got into trouble. Bruce was expelled from La Salle for disruptive behavior.

Even after his parents moved him to a different school, Bruce kept on getting into street fights.

5. Bruce Lee was an Excellent Dancer and Boxer
Actually, Bruce studied dancing as hard as he studied martial arts: he was an excellent dancer who, at 18 years of age, won the 1958 Hong Kong Cha Cha Championship! Bruce was also a great boxer: he won the 1958 Boxing Championship - by knockout, of course.

6. Bruce Lee was a Philosophy Major
Bruce wasn't just all muscle and no brain. He attended the University of Washington, where he majored in philosophy with focus on the philosophical principles of martial art techniques. As you might imagine, Bruce supported himself in college by teaching martial arts. Later, Bruce dropped out of college to open his martial arts school.

7. Want to challenge Bruce Lee? Just tap your foot on the ground!
After he got famous, a lot of people thought they could beat Bruce - they would walk up to him, tap their foot on the ground (symbolizing a challenge) and then proceed to attack him! Well... maybe not that literal, but Bruce's popularity certainly attracted a lot nutcase trying to prove they're better than him.

One day, while filming Enter the Dragon, an extra taunted Bruce Lee and challenged him to fight. The whole thing went on like this:

"This kid was good. He was no punk. He was strong and fast, and he was really trying to punch Bruce's brains in. But Bruce just methodically took him apart."

"I mean Bruce kept moving so well, this kid couldn't touch him...Then all of a sudden, Bruce got him and rammed his ass into the wall and swept him, he proceeded to drop his knee into his opponent's chest, locked his arm out straight, and nailed him in the face repeatedly."

Typical of Bruce Lee, after the fight he didn't fire the extra - he actually gave his challenger lesson on how to improve!

8. Bruce Lee was Strong
In 1964, Bruce was invited to a karate championship in Long Beach, California. There he performed his famous "One Inch Punch," where he would deliver a devastating blow from only an inch away, sending his opponent flying back!


Bob Baker of Stockton, whom Bruce hit, said "I told Bruce not to do this type of demonstration again. When he punched me that last time, I had to stay home from work because the pain in my chest was unbearable."

... and Fast!
Most martial art films are sped up to make fighting scenes appear fast, but not Bruce Lee's. His moves were too fast to be captured on the regular 24 frames per second film - so they had to film him at 32 fps, and run the film slower so you can see his moves.

9. Bruce Lee vs. Chuck Norris, who would win?
Here's a clip of Bruce Lee fighting Chuck Norris in Return of the Dragon. You can see how fast Bruce Lee moved ... though it's obvious that Chuck Norris would be immune to the One Inch Punch as his one-inch chest hair would absorb the punch with ease!


And the most bizarre Bruce Lee fact is this:

10. Bruce Lee's Corpse Acted in his Final Movie!
Bruce Lee was filming Game of Death when he died unexpectedly. So what did the studio do? Well, they rewrote the script so Bruce's character faked his own death to escape the mafia. Then they took footage from Bruce's actual funeral - including close-ups shots of the open casket showing his embalmed face - and work that into the movie!

Courtesy: www.neatorama.com

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25 Secrets of Mona Lisa Revealed!

 

New images uncover 25 secrets about the Mona Lisa, including proof that Leonardo da Vinci gave her eyebrows, solving a long-held mystery.

The images are part of an exhibition, "Mona Lisa Secrets Revealed," which features new research by French engineer Pascal Cotte and debuts in the United States at the Metreon Center in San Francisco, where it will remain through the end of this year. The Mona Lisa showcase is part of a larger exhibition called "Da Vinci: An Exhibition of Genius."

Cotte, founder of Lumiere Technology, scanned the painting with a 240-megapixel Multi-spectral Imaging Camera he invented, which uses 13 wavelengths from ultraviolet light to infrared. The resulting images peel away centuries of varnish and other alterations, shedding light on how the artist brought the painted figure to life and how she appeared to da Vinci and his contemporaries.



"The face of Mona Lisa appears slightly wider and the smile is different and the eyes are different," Cotte said. "The smile is more accentuated I would say."

Mona Lisa mysteries

A zoomed-in image of Mona Lisa's left eye revealed a single brush stroke in the eyebrow region, Cotte said.

"I am an engineer and scientist, so for me all has to be logical. It was not logical that Mona Lisa does not have any eyebrows or eyelashes," Cotte told LiveScience. "I discovered one hair of the eyebrow."

Another conundrum had been the position of the subject's right arm, which lies across her stomach. This was the first time, Cotte said, that a painter had rendered a subject's arm and wrist in such a position. While other artists had never understood da Vinci's reasoning, they copied it nonetheless.

Cotte discovered the pigment just behind the right wrist matched up perfectly with that of the painted cover that drapes across Mona Lisa's knee. So it did make sense: The forearm and wrist held up one side of a blanket.

"The wrist of the right hand is up high on the stomach. But if you look deeply in the infrared you understand that she holds a cover with her wrist," Cotte said.

Behind a painting

The infrared images also revealed da Vinci's preparatory drawings that lie behind layers of varnish and paint, showing that the Renaissance man was also human.

"If you look at the left hand you see the first position of the finger, and he changed his mind for another position," Cotte said. "Even Leonardo da Vinci had hesitation."

Other revelations include:
Lace on Mona Lisa's dress
The transparency of the veil shows da Vinci first painted a landscape and then used transparency techniques to paint the veil atop it.
A change in the position of the left index and middle finger.
The elbow was repaired from damage due to a rock thrown at the painting in 1956.
The blanket covering Mona Lisa's knees also covers her stomach.
The left finger was not completely finished.
A blotch mark on the corner of the eye and chin are varnish accidents, countering claims that Mona Lisa was sick.
And the Mona Lisa was painted on uncut poplar board, contrary to speculations.

In the larger picture, Cotte said when he stands back and looks up at the enlarged infrared image of Mona Lisa, her beauty and mystique are apparent.

"If you are in front of this huge enlargement of Mona Lisa, you understand instantly why Mona Lisa is so famous," Cotte said. He added, it's something you have to see with your own eyes.

Courtesy: http://www.livescience.com

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