Above: Mira's comet-like tail stretches more than 13 light years. [More]

Astronomers using a NASA space telescope, the Galaxy Evolution Explorer, have spotted an amazingly long comet-like tail behind a star streaking through space. The star, named Mira after the Latin word for "wonderful," has been a favorite of astronomers for about 400 years, yet this is the first time the tail has been seen.

Galaxy Evolution Explorer--"GALEX" for short--scanned the popular star during its ongoing survey of the entire sky in ultraviolet light. Astronomers then noticed what looked like a comet with a gargantuan tail. In fact, material blowing off Mira is forming a wake 13 light-years long, or about 20,000 times the average distance of Pluto from the sun. Nothing like this has ever been seen before around a star.

Astronomers say Mira's tail offers a unique opportunity to study how stars like our sun die and ultimately seed new solar systems. Mira is an older star called a red giant that is losing massive amounts of surface material. As Mira hurtles along, its tail sheds carbon, oxygen and other important elements needed for new stars, planets and possibly even life to form. This tail material, visible now for the first time, has been released over the past 30,000 years.

The practice of exorcism used to be fairly rare in the West, usually carried out somewhat furtively in Catholic communities and usually without a whole lot of fuss and bother. In recent years, however, the practice has gained popularity among evangelical denominations, and unlike the Catholic variety, these are often carried out by laypersons, "prayer groups," and ministers acting on their own, often on people who are unwilling or unable to consent. Also disturbing is the criteria by which one can be considered demon-possessed- in some circles, brain disorders, birth defects, or mental illness can all be ascribed to demonic activity and purged through prayer and the "laying on of hands." A common technique in these lay exorcisms is to make the "demons" believe the host body is in danger of dying, a method which often ends in the real death of the victim. Worse, the media is glorifying this behavior- CBS, for example, is plotting a series based on the life of evangelical scammer Bob Larson- consequences be damned, apparently.

There are two recent cases in the news in the last few days, both of which ended very badly. One involved the death of a grandfather at the hands of police, who shot him with a stun gun after he refused to stop choking his three year old granddaughter. The other involves the recent arrest of a preacher whose attempted exorcism of an autistic teenager included beating the boy senseless. Earlier this year, a Romanian priest was sentenced in the death of a mentally ill nun who was chained to a cross without food or water.

In separate incidents in 2004, a little girl's back was broken and a little boy was suffocated in botched exorcisms. A year before, another autistic boy was smothered by his mother's prayer group, who was attempting to cure his demon-provoked autism.

Physicists discover inorganic dust with life-like qualities
Could extraterrestrial life be made of corkscrew-shaped particles of interstellar dust? Intriguing new evidence of life-like structures that form from inorganic substances in space are revealed today in the New Journal of Physics.

Tutankhamen-like Curse Killed Nepal's Royal Family?
One of the most gripping tales to have captured public imagination is the legend of Tutankhamen's curse, the superstition that the mummy of Egypt's boy-king took its revenge on the violators of its tomb, causing the death of the British excavators who discovered the grave in 1923. Though the tales petered out in the 80s, after the woman who was the last link to the expedition died, a similar myth has now sprung up in Nepal, still regarded as a mysterious land that opened up to the outside world only in 1950.

Thoth

August 6th marked the date of the ancient Egyptian Feast of Thoth, the God of writing, magick, and learning. His image is that of an Ibis-headed man, and he is often depicted carrying out his duties as the scribe of the Gods. He is credited with the creation of language, numbers, and the measurement of the passage of time. He is the husband of Ma'at, the Goddess of universal balance (law), and was believed to record the deeds of the living, which were later recounted in the Hall of Judgement, where the weighing of the soul took place after death. like Isis, he is a lunar deity.

To later Alexandrian Gnostics, he was one of the three gods making up the deity Hermes Trismegistos, or "Hermes the Thrice Great." Thoth is still considered the patron of magicians and sages, and is credited with the origin of the tarot.

As I've mentioned before, a friend of mine adopted two black kittens several weeks ago. We jokingly tell people that we both have joint custody and that probably isn't far from the truth. For the past week they've been guests but it would be more appropriate to say that they've taken over...lol. As with everything in life, it has been a learning experience with a very steep curve. Their first visit left me with the attitude that I was far from ready to be a pet owner and the ensuing ones cemented that to some extent. A curious incident took place on two seperate occasions while I was writing, trying to meet a self-imposed deadline for completion of a novel and collection of short stories. Because of the content, I have been working with the fae (not something that I would recommend without appropriate safety measures in place) as well as some other entities. It was interesting to note that they seemed quite aware of what was happening and both times crawled up on my lap and just began purring for no apparent reason. They would look around at nothing that I could see visually but knew what it was they were seeing. Both times, after I'd finished the writing sessions and thanked the entities for their help, they would race around my apartment, almost as if they were looking for something. One time, their owner had dropped by and remarked that they seemed spooked - because of their somewhat erratic behavior, which was wierd even for them.

At other times, while on my lap on the couch, they would watch something over my shoulder that I couldn't see and their eyes would dart around as if they were following a fly. I've also noted that when I whisper that I love them, they react in kind, usually reaching for my face and planting little kitty kisses on my cheek. At times like that, I am sooooo grateful to be given the chance to show my love and know that it is returned.

See you in the ether ! 

 

Sorry to read the kitty update but glad to read that they have now got a new home to live (or take over). My cat doesn't appear to be very sensitive to the unseen, but when he was little he used to seem startled at thin air a lot.

The work thing I think is just a question of endurance for the next few weeks. Change is inevitable, and I think I've made the best choice among those available.