The following submission was in response to my post 'Wood Devils' in New Hampshire: The Stick Breakers. Does the Giant Sloth still exist?"Before you read this‚ understand that the witnesses have not seen the creature at all and all we have is the collected auditory evidence. However‚ considering that a skilled bird song identifier can distinguish several hundred separate species correctly‚ I will run with that sooner than a distant glimpse.First‚ though‚ let us consider breaking sticks. It is unusual to break sticks lying on the ground if you are a slightly experienced woodsman and have any vision whatsoever. It is still difficult to move soundlessly but actually not that difficult. You merely roll your feet as you settle in. When you do this‚ you also sense larger sticks and adjust accordingly. Thus the only way larger sticks could get broken by something on the ground would be deliberately by a hoaxer. That then begs the question of the flood lights. I think we can throw that option away pretty easily but keep it out there just in case.Let us get to the real cause of breaking sticks. A large creature climbing inside a tree canopy must break branches and cause broken branches to fall to the ground as reported here. We are now looking for a two hundred to three hundred pound creature that also exhibits four point gripping capabilities. This of course again describes the giant sloth.Past posts have located unrecognized sightings in the Southern Appalachians and the Western USA. This locates a sighting in the North East. In general the sightings have been rare‚ but this is largely because at even a short distance the creature will be mistaken for a bear and has much better ability to evade dogs than a bear. It can go up a tree‚ but then traverse to other trees losing the dogs.Four point gripping is very important as demonstrated by the South American sloth. Most important it allows the creature to firmly grip and test a potentially weak branch while secure with a three point grip from the tree it is in. It then can apply weight and grip an additional support branch before removing itself from the other tree. This is obviously something we can not do safely ourselves at all so arboreal hoaxing is ruled out.What we have discovered is a clear trapping strategy available to us for this creature. When such a creature shows up and the breaking branches are heard‚ one goes out and stands directly under each and every tree and shine a flood light up into the tree from beside the trunk. Sooner or later the creature will be revealed.The creature is certainly stealthy and is able to move about the trees without unnecessarily shaking boughs. This merely means the creature is watching us and moving accordingly. It’s problem is that it is impossible to do all this without breaking out dead wood in particular. Try it is broad daylight in a tree running wild. Then try getting out on a limb without breaking free encumbering branches. You will soon get my point.The good news is that we have identified a couple of troops of noisy giant sloths.For the record‚ sloths are mostly herbivores that in this case eat leaves and I suspect young pine needles if they are operating in New Hampshire. They also eat beetles and grubs as well and likely much more than is noted. Like bears‚ their claws would make quick work of a rotted out log. Thus we have a happy cow that lives well above any carnivores able to make a meal of it. For that reason there may be a lot more of them than has ever been suspected as they apparently nocturnal also.Again understand that this creature will look like a bear at any distance. Even up close and personal you are likely to be badly fooled‚ particularly if it is in the habit of imitating a bear in a confrontation.Do look at the skull in the photo here. This is still a herbivore. Size can reach up to fifteen feet in length to tail tip‚ much like a large cow." AMythical Creatures (Mysteries‚ Legends‚ and Unexplained Phenomena)Valley of the Skookum: Four Years of Encounters With BigfootTrue Bigfoot Encounters: Eyewitness Accounts of Sasquatch Saving HumansVisits from the Forest People: An Eyewitness Report of Extended Encounters with BigfootThe Black Diary: M.I.B‚ Women in Black‚ Black-Eyed Children‚ and Dangerous BooksChasing the Elusive Pennsylvania Bigfoot: A Cryptid from Another RealityHaunted Hills and Hollows: What Lurks in Greene County PennsylvaniaRegister a SNAP EBT CardTry Audible PlusPHANTOMS &; MONSTERS READING LISTHave you had a sighting or encounter?Contact me by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974Thanks. LonAccess Phantoms &; Monsters Posts on Twitter 'X'-----YOUR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED! THANKS-----ORDER THE AUDIOBOOK VERSIONORDER THE AUDIOBOOK VERSIONProject Threshold: Finale-----TODAY'S TOP LINKSWorld's rarest whale is captured on film for only the SECOND time in history: Pair of mysterious all-white 'snake-like' creatures swim beside boat in ThailandTesco shopper 'captures UFO' by mistake while taking photo of sunset sky outside storeFAERIES‚ ELVES‚ &; GNOMES - CRYPTID 'LITTLE PEOPLE' - LIVE Chat - Q &; A - Lon Strickler (Host)LISTEN TO NARRATIONS OF PHANTOMS &; MONSTERS REPORTS &; CASES - PLEASE SUBSCRIBE‚ LIKE &; SHAREThe Spooky Heart of it AllUFO "jellyfish" video raises questionsPHANTOMS &; MONSTERS READING LISTCONSIDER ADVERTISING ON PHANTOMS &; MONSTERS RADIOLET'S DISCUSS YOUR OPTIONSClick the link for our Media KitCHICAGO MOTHMAN / O'HARE BATMAN YouTube PlaylistPHANTOMS &; MONSTERS RADIO Podcasts on Spotify**********Your financial support of Phantoms &; Monsters and our other pursuits is much appreciated. Please click the banner above. Thanks.Have you had a sighting or encounter?Contact us by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974Thanks. LonAlso available with audiobooknarration by Terry Springs‚CBS-TV Las Vegas affiliate.The Dark Arts of MISTER SAM SHEARON - Original Prints &; MerchandiseThis blog and newsletter are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Work 3.0 United States License.Registered trademark PHANTOMS AND MONSTERS ® / PHANTOMS &; MONSTERS ® - USPTO #90902480 - Lon D. Strickler© 2005-2024 Phantoms &; Monsters - All Rights Reserved

At 73 years of age‚ and with his trusty Fernandes single-cut slung waist high‚ London-born progressive rock legend Steve Hackett remains an innovator. For the uninitiated‚ Hackett came to prominence in 1971 with prog-meets-art rock juggernaut Genesis alongside Peter Gabriel (vocals)‚ Tony Banks (organ/piano)‚ Mike Rutherford (bass)‚ and Phil Collins (drums). When Hackett entered the picture‚ Genesis had two albums under their belt in From Genesis to Revelation (1969) and Trespass (1970)‚ which were both good but not great. But everything changed when Hackett hopped aboard‚ as Genesis rattled off a string of classic records in Nursery Crime (1971)‚ Foxtrot (1973)‚ Selling England by the Pound (1973)‚ and The Lamb Lies The post Steve Hackett: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

Dubbed the ‘Millennium Camera‚’ a device dreamed up by an experimental philosopher in Arizona aims to capture a one thousand year-exposure of Tuscon. Along with some colleagues‚ Jonathon Keats‚ a research associate at the University of Arizona College of Fine Arts‚ installed the camera next to a bench in Starr Pass with the aim of […] The post Say Cheese… for a Thousand Years: Camera Set up to Capture a Millennium-long Exposure of Tuscon appeared first on Good News Network.

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You finally scored that coveted PS5 console – congratulations! Now it’s time to kit out your new machine with accessories to level up your experience. We’ve researched for the top contenders across categories like headsets‚ controllers‚ and storage to compile the definitive list of PS5 add-ons worth your hard-earned cash. SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless Headset Image: Amazon Check Price on Amazon Start with sublime sound by grabbing the superb SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro wireless headphones. The luxurious leatherette earcups house premium 40mm speakers delivering stunningly balanced and nuanced audio. You’ll hear every crack of gunfire or rustling forest ambient effect in sparkling clarity. The slick accompanying hub also enables dual wireless connections‚ letting you quickly switch device sources. Swappable batteries mean you never need to plug in either – hot swap depleted cells for fully charged backups wit...

Few things feel worse in Modern Warfare 3 than loading your backpack up with some killer items only to be destroyed by a horde and lose it all. However‚ with the Tombstone Soda perk‚ you get to keep all your stuff. Once you have the Tombstone schematic in MW3 Zombies‚ you will never have to lose your hard-earned loot again. Where to find the Tombstone Schematic To get your hands on the schematic for Tombstone in MW3 Zombies‚ you need to make your way deep into the tier-three zone. Here you’re going to be up against the toughest zombies and the hardest bosses. Before you venture into this area‚ you need to make sure you’re ready with fully pack-a-punched weapons and some serious gear. PC Invasion Once you’re in the tier three-zone‚ start looking for contracts to do. You can only earn the Tombstone Schematic by pulling it from rifts. This means you will have to work through a few challenges before you have it permanently in your load...

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How did life start? It’s a question that has intrigued humans ever since we became conscious of ourselves and our place in the world. Now‚ researchers from Newcastle University in the UK may have an answer. By investigating the conditions that may have allowed living systems to emerge from inert geological materials 3.5 billion years ago‚ the team were able to produce organic molecules that may have been the stuff of life.When they mixed hydrogen‚ bicarbonate‚ and iron-rich magnetite under conditions similar to those of mild hydrothermal vents‚ the researchers were able to create a spectrum of molecules‚ including fatty acids that were up to 18 carbon atoms in length.This result potentially reveals how key molecules that underpin life can be made from inorganic chemicals. This has big implications for our understanding of how life may have formed on the Earth billions of years ago. In particular‚ this study offers a plausible genesis for organic molecules that form cell membranes that were possibly selectively chosen by early biochemical processes on the ancient Earth.Primordial fatty acids Fatty acids have some special properties. They are long organic molecules that have regions that can attract and repel water‚ which allows them to naturally form cell-like compartments in water. It is possible these molecules formed the first cell membranes.However‚ prior to this research‚ it was not clear where these fatty acids originally came from. It had been suggested that they may have formed in hydrothermal vents where hot water‚ mixed with hydrogen-rich fluids produced by underwater vents‚ combined with seawater containing carbon dioxide.In essence‚ the researchers created their own laboratory hot vent to replicate this environment under controlled conditions.They found that‚ when they mixed hot hydrogen-rich fluids with carbon dioxide-rich water in the presence of iron-based minerals‚ which were present on the Earth‚ it created these fatty acids.“Central to life's inception are cellular compartments‚ crucial for isolating internal chemistry from the external environment”‚ lead author Dr Graham Purvis said in a statement.“These compartments were instrumental in fostering life-sustaining reactions by concentrating chemicals and facilitating energy production‚ potentially serving as the cornerstone of life's earliest moments.”Purvis added‚ “The results suggest that the convergence of hydrogen-rich fluids from alkaline hydrothermal vents with bicarbonate-rich waters on iron-based minerals could have precipitated the rudimentary membranes of early cells at the very beginning of life. This process might have engendered a diversity of membrane types‚ some potentially serving as life's cradle when life first started. Moreover‚ this transformative process might have contributed to the genesis of specific acids found in the elemental composition of meteorites.”The team believe this work represents an important step in understanding how life originated on the planet.“Research in our laboratory now continues on determining the second key step; how these organic molecules which are initially ‘stuck’ to the mineral surfaces can lift off to form spherical membrane-bounded cell-like compartments; the first potential ‘protocells’ that went on to form the first cellular life‚” principal investigator Dr Jon Telling explained.Interestingly‚ these results could have implications that span beyond our own planet. It is possible similar membrane-creating reactions are currently taking place in the oceans under the icy moons in our Solar System. Perhaps alternative life is emerging as we speak on other worlds.The study is published in Communications Earth &; Environment. 

In Alice in Wonderland‚ the Cheshire Cat can disappear leaving only its grin behind. Physicists consider something analogous might exist in quantum mechanics when a particle can be separated from its properties‚ and the two travel on different paths. This quantum Cheshire cat effect explained that and other weird events like particles swapping disembodied properties. New research claims that what is seen is not what’s actually happening. There is no quantum Cheshire cat effect at all.In quantum mechanics‚ observations affect the experiment. This has caused plenty of weirdness‚ with experiments behaving differently whether they are observed or not. Researchers think that the setup of the quantum Cheshire cat experiment produces the apparently paradoxical effect and that this disappears when a different order of measurements is taken."Most people know that quantum mechanics is weird‚ but identifying what causes this weirdness is still an active area of research. It has been slowly formalized into a notion called contextualize – that quantum systems change depending on what measurements you do on them‚" lead author Jonte Hance‚ a research fellow at Hiroshima University and the University of Bristol‚ said in a statement.Contextuality is crucial in quantum mechanics and leads to quantum systems that might appear wildly different and even mutually incompatible by doing different measurements on them. The cause of contextuality is unknown and the team set out to investigate using the quantum Cheshire cat. In this way‚ they found that the measurements were key to producing the effect."We want to correct this by showing that different results are obtained if a quantum system is measured in different ways and that the original interpretation of the quantum Cheshire cat only comes about if you combine the results of these different measurements in a very specific way‚ and ignore this measurement-related change‚" said Holger Hofmann‚ a professor at Hiroshima University.The team wants to investigate other effects that appear paradoxical and see if they are manifestations of contextuality. And from there maybe even understand how contextuality emerges in the first place."This will not only help us finally explain why quantum mechanics is so counterintuitive but will also help us develop ways to use this weirdness for practical purposes. Given that contextuality is inherently linked to scenarios where there is a quantum advantage over classical solutions to a given problem‚ only by understanding contextuality will we be able to realize the full potential of‚ for instance‚ quantum computing‚" said Hance.A paper discussing this research is published in the New Journal of Physics.

The world’s seafloor is scattered with millions of mysterious pockmarks. It's commonly held among scientists that these small pits were formed by fluids or methane gas leaking from the depths of Earth’s sediments‚ but a new study puts forward the idea that they were created by life. And when we say "life‚" we're not just talking about mere microscopic organisms or tiny shellfish‚ but hungry marine mammals and their appetite for seafloor-dwelling fish. Scientists at Kiel University in Germany studied the cookie-sized craters on the seafloor of the North Sea‚ where they estimate over 40‚000 pockmarks can be found.Their research indicates that they were created by large vertebrates rooting around the seafloor in search of prey. As they explain in the paper‚ the initial feeding pits serve as a nucleus for scouring and eventually develop into larger pits.In the case of the North Sea‚ they argue that the most likely suspects are harbor porpoises hunting sand eels. However‚ even further afield in the rest of the world’s oceans‚ the pockmarks are likely to be caused by similar interactions between vertebrate animals.   "Our results show for the first time that these depressions occur in direct connection with the habitat and behavior of porpoises and sand eels and are not formed by rising fluids‚" Dr Jens Schneider von Deimling‚ lead study author and geoscientist at Kiel University‚ said in a statement.The harbor porpoise pits model schematically sketches the evolution of crater-like depressions through biological and oceanographic processes.Image credit: © Schneider von Deimling‚ Hoffmann‚ Geersen et al.‚ Communications Earth &; Environment 2023"Our high-resolution data provide a new interpretation for the formation of tens of thousands of pits on the North Sea seafloor‚ and we predict that the underlying mechanisms occur globally‚ but have been overseen until now‚" Schneider von Deimling added. To reach this conclusion‚ the team gathered new echosounder data and combined it with information about behavioral biology‚ physical oceanography‚ satellite remote sensing‚ and habitat mapping.The work did not uncover any clear evidence of gas leaking‚ but it did reveal that the potential porpoise-feeding sites directly lined up with the location of the pits. This also paired up with other behavioral observations about the life and diet of porpoises.“From analyses of the stomach contents of stranded porpoises‚ we know that sand eels are an important food source for the North Sea population‚" explained Dr Anita Gilles from the TiHo-Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research in Büsum.Harbor porpoises are relatively small‚ toothed cetaceans that are abundant off the coast of Germany in the North Sea. While it’s known they enjoy eating fish that dwell on the seafloor‚ their foraging behavior has not yet been observed in the wild. This study‚ the researchers say‚ could help to shed light on how they find and feast on their prey.This plucky species of cetacean is only found in cooler coastal waters of the North Atlantic‚ North Pacific‚ and the Black Sea. So what does that mean for the millions of seabed pockmarks across the globe? The researchers speculate that several other seafloor hunters are likely to be responsible‚ whether it's gray whales and bottlenose dolphins or harbor seals and walruses.If these conclusions are on the money‚ the study provides yet another good reason why we should protect the seafloor and be cautious about where we place offshore wind farms (not to mention where we mine for rare minerals). "Our results have far-reaching implications from a geological and biological perspective. They can help to assess the ecological risks associated with the expansion of renewable energies in the offshore sector and thus improve marine environmental protection‚" concluded Schneider von Deimling.The study is published in the journal Communications Earth &; Environment.