ALIENS Hiding in Our Solar System?
The search for life beyond Earth has driven seekers to scout all sorts of potential habitats — not just on the growing list of known Earth-like exoplanets, but in other places within our own solar system.
The first choice that comes to mind is likely Mars, which some scientists believe still holds oases of liquid water beneath its barren surface, Not long ago, the detection of phosphine, a possible indicator of biological decay, in the atmosphere of Venus set off debate about whether life could exist in that hellishly hot planet's clouds. And for decades now, scientists have pondered whether life could exist in the skies of gas giants like Jupiter.
But one locale that few scientists have considered for life is the set of rings that crown Jupiter, outside the gas giant's atmosphere. These rings, like those that circle all of our solar system's gas giants, are actually belts composed mainly of water-ice particles, some as small as grains of sand, others as large as mountains. Might life exist there? Read more at Could alien life be hiding in the rings of Saturn or Jupiter?
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'YETI HAIR' Was From a Horse
A search for the Yeti ended last month with a single strand of horse hair, a BBC Radio 4 program covering the Himalayan hunt has revealed.
Andrew Benfield, a writer and meditation teacher, has spent years looking for the Yeti with his skeptical friend and political analyst Richard Horsey. The pair traveled through India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Bhutan, listening to stories about the legendary creature and eventually making "Yeti," a BBC Radio 4 series about their search.
The series finished on a cliffhanger in June — a mysterious hair supplied by an unnamed source awaiting DNA analysis. A bonus episode published on Oct. 20 has now revealed the hair came from a horse. Read more at 'Yeti hair' found in Himalayas is actually from a horse, BBC series reveals
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PARANORMAL TV SHOW Called Out!
The family of a teenage girl who died in Victoria says it’s traumatized by an episode of a TV show about the paranormal – and its complaints have now led to it being removed from APTN and APTNlumi.ca.
“It seems reality shows are going over the boundaries sometimes and not considering the effects of these shows on people, parents, sisters, brothers, grandparents,” says Olivia Mahaney’s father, Michael.
The 17-year-old girl was found deceased from a drug overdose outside the building at 1250 Wharf Street in downtown Victoria two years ago. A memorial had been set up at the entrance to the property and her case has been profiled by media.
Now Mahaney’s family says it just learned that a January episode of ‘The Other Side’ makes contact with a spirit that mentions Olivia's name inside that Wharf Street building. Members of the cast also placed flowers in a planter box that had been the site of the memorial. Read more at Grieving B.C. family seeks apology over paranormal TV show as network removes broadcast
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