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The Great Glen in the Scottish highlands is a rift valley 60 miles long and contains three famous lochs, Lochy, Oich and Ness. The most famous of these is Loch Ness because of the monster said to lurk in its deep waters. It is deeper than the North Sea and is very long and very, very narrow and has never been known to freeze.
The world famous Loch Ness monster, known affectionately as "Nessie" by most people and by the scientific believers as Nessiteras rhombopteryx goes back a long, long way, the first recorded sighting being by no less a person than a holy saint. The saint was St. Columba and the year 565 AD.
Although the largely undocumented St. Ninian is credited with bringing Christianity to the area 100 years before Columba, Saint Columba himself is credited with bringing Christianity to the Scottish nation. When Columba was travelling in the Loch Ness area converting the heathen Picts (who had probably lapsed somewhat since Ninian), his biographer, St. Adamnan, tells the story of the driving away of the monster by the power of prayer. Whilst on the banks of Loch Ness, St. Columba came upon some Picts burying a man who had been ravaged by, according to them, a 'monster of the water'. St. Columba miraculously restored the man to life by laying his staff across the man's chest.
Another version of the story says that one of the Picts, uninterested in the sermon of the saint, swam off across the loch. On sensing the disturbance of the water, the monster arose from the depths rushing towards the unfortunate swimmer with a great roar and wide open mouth. Seeing this, St. Columba raised his hand, gave the sign of the cross and invoked the name of the Lord and commanded the monster saying: "Thou shalt go no further nor touch the man - return with all speed." At this, the beast was afraid and fled faster than had it been pulled back with ropes.
The story, passed on by St. Adamnan, was written more than a century later, so there may be some room for doubt about these events on the lochside, but there was much more to come, though not for some considerable time.
The next time that any reference to the monster surfaced, was in a letter to 'The Scotsman' newspaper in 1933 from a Mr. D Murray Rose. He tells of a story in an old book that spoke of the slaying of dragons and: "It goes on to say that Fraser (of Glenvackie) killed the last known dragon in Scotland, but no-one has yet managed to slay the monster of Loch Ness lately seen."
The story referred to is dated around 1520, but the letter to the newspaper in 1933 started a spate of references to 'leviathans in the loch' and a host of sightings of the fabled monster. This was encouraged by the new road - now the A82 - that was being blasted along the north side of Loch Ness and afforded an unimpaired view of the whole of the loch. It was also in 1933, a time of depression and general misery that Mr. and Mrs. Mackay, owners of the Drumnadrochit hotel were travelling along the new road. According to their account they saw in the centre of the loch "an enormous animal rolling and plunging." Cynics may say that being the owners of the Drumnadrochit hotel, this couple may well have wanted to see a monster but apparently they did not tell this story widely, although they did tell it to a young water bailiff in Fort Augustus who happened to be a correspondent for the 'Inverness Courier' newspaper.
The report in the "Courier" started the ball rolling. Next it was published in the Scottish national newspapers and experts in photography and other such skills came to the loch to find the monster. Later the 'Daily Mail' announced that it was to engage a famous 'big game' hunter to track down Nessie. Even the Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald planned a trip to the loch in the hope of catching a glimpse of the monster.
Foreign newspapers in France and beyond took up the story. Even the Austrian government 'exposed' it as a British plot to steal tourists from Austria. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail's big game hunter arrived in Inverness and duly carried out his stalking of the beast. On the 21st December 1933, the Daily Mail carried the headline: "Monster of Loch Ness is not a Legend but a Fact." The hunter, M A Wetherall, fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the London Zoological Society said: "It is a four fingered beast and it has feet or pads of eight inches across. I judge it to be a powerful soft footed animal about 20 feet in length....... I am convinced that it can breathe like a hippopotamus or crocodile with just one nostril out of the water." Other newspapers smelled a rat, so to speak, and not to be outdone, launched into the fray not only to pooh-pooh the story, but to ridicule it also. In fact it turned out to be a hoax, the first of many, when the so-called hunter had helped his 'story' by creating footprints with a the stuffed and mounted foot of a hippopotamus he had borrowed from the Royal Zoological Society.
Since then to the present day there have been many accounts of sightings. Such 'evidence' as film footage of Nessie's humps travelling across the loch and the famous 'Surgeon's' photograph taken by R. K. Wilson in 1934 have all since turned out to be fakes.
Sonar surveys of the loch using the latest equipment have failed to find any conclusive evidence of Nessie's existence, but neither have they proved that she doesn't exist. Some accounts may well have been sighted through the bottom of a whisky glass, but there are still a remarkable number of eye witness accounts that ring true.
Also, the 'monster in the loch' phenomena seems to be spreading. A lake as far away as Japan now claims it has its own monster and the latest to join the 'monster in a lake' set is Lake Van, a salt water lake in South Eastern Turkey.
Loch Ness has many moods from the sultry to the serene. Strange currents move across and below the surface and even sturgeon have been known to swim across the loch and I have even heard of dolphins being sighted, so who knows what people have seen or not seen. You have to make up your own mind whether Nessie swims freely through those dark waters or not. There are very few of us however, who do not occasionally stare out across the loch - just in case something strange might break the surface.Fact or fiction of players missing in action
Some teams really are better off without their star player; others are not
 | Allen Iverson, who has traded to the Pistons earlier this season, is now out with an injury, and it may be best for both he and the team that he doesn't return writes NBCSports.com contributor Ira Winderman. |
Short people know the sad litany all too well: Numerous studies show that they probably earn less than taller colleagues. They get fewer dates as well as fewer promotions. Their bosses are probably taller than they are—in fact, more than half of U.S. CEOs clock reach six-feet- (183-centimeters-) plus. And if all that wasn't depressing enough, now comes word from Johns Hopkins University that height-advantaged Americans—particularly women—are also less likely to suffer from dementia.
So, as the song goes, do short people really have no reason to live, or is that a tall tale?
Height does not seem to be a prerequisite for greatness. Both Napoleon Bonaparte and Ludwig van Beethoven didn't make it to 67 inches (170 centimeters) tall. Mahatma Gandhi was even shorter. And the list of accomplished actors, musicians and other creative types who are short—defined as 57 inches (145 centimeters) for an 18-year-old boy and 56 inches (142 centimeters) for his female counterpart—is long.
But, as the Johns Hopkins study indicates, these sad short stories aren't just urban myths. Many are backed up by scientific research. Usually, the explanation goes back to childhood nutrition, especially during the first two years of life, says Tina Huang, the study's lead author, a researcher at Tufts University's Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging. Starved of adequate food, neither brain nor body develops appropriately.
Huang's study, published recently in Neurology, analyzed cognitive data, floor-to-knee measurements, and arm span measurements—an indicator of the maximum height likely to be achieved—of 1,145 men and 1,653 women in four cities across the U.S. from 1992 to 1999. The researchers found that each one-inch (2.5-centimeter) increase in knee height cuts a woman's risk of developing dementia by 16 percent (and Alzheimer's disease, in particular, by 22 percent). For each one-inch increase in arm span, the figures were 7 percent and 10 percent, respectively. Men showed a similar, if smaller, advantage. Huang admits she's not sure of the reason for the gender difference but speculates that "maybe there's a difference in optimal diet between men and women."
The study also found that the longer-limbed participants enjoyed "more years of education, increasing satisfaction with one's health," and, especially for women, higher income, thanks again to that early childhood nutrition, Huang says.
Diminutive people can find plenty of other scientific reading matter to make them feel—er—lower. A classic study by two University of Pittsburgh professors in 1990, for instance, reported that people in management positions were "significantly" taller than their underlings. In the 46 presidential elections where the height of both candidates is known, the taller contender won 27 times—a pattern that was repeated this November when the six-foot-one-inch (185-centimeter) Barack Obama defeated the five-foot-seven-inch (170-centimeter) John McCain.
Even a late growth spurt may not help. In 2004 two economics professors from the University of Pennsylvania and another from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor analyzed height and salary data at various ages for about 10,000 American and British men born between 1958 and 1965. Using a regression analysis, they discovered that if two adults were the same height, the one who was taller as a teenager earned more—about 1.5 percent to 2 percent more per inch.
In this case, Daniel Silverman of Michigan, one of the report's authors, doesn't blame nutrition. Rather, he blames high school clubs.
"We see some evidence that these [taller] folk have access to social activities as teenagers that shorter kids didn't, where you might obtain social skills," Silverman says, citing student government, sports teams and yearbook staff.
So, should shorter people harbor any high hopes?
"There are a lot of different things that you can do in your life that make you less vulnerable to dementia and Alzheimer's"—such as a healthy diet, exercise, social interactions and continual mental challenges—"regardless of how tall you are," Huang says.
Also, some shorter people possess a rare genetic mutation, known as the "Methuselah gene," that seems to extend their life spans. This defect affects the way their cells use the hormone insulinlike growth factor 1. IGF1 plays a key role in childhood growth—and, more controversially, is touted by athletes and anti-aging proponents as a miracle cure that can help bulk up muscle, inhibit programmed cell death, and reduce body fat.
And smaller women have known since 1995 that they have a medical advantage in one area: According to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, older "women who were tall when they were young have a greater risk of hip fracture." Why? As the study astutely suggests, "perhaps because they fall further."
Air hockey, Fact or Fiction ?
All air hockey tables use air. --- This, too, is fiction. In reality, there are many different types of surfaces on which one can play a game of “air hockey”. Since the name itself is patented, producers of other tables which feature a slick surface, but no air. This is especially true in the smaller, tabletop models and the portable ones as well.
Air hockey is a casual game. --- Nope. Not true at all. In fact, soon after the game was invented, leagues began popping up and today tournaments are played internationally.
Air hockey is an American game. --- Wrong again. While the game itself was invented in Cincinnati, Ohio, its popularity has spread throughout the world. Russia, Venezuela, the Czech Republic and Spain have all had players win or place in world tournaments.
Everyone has always played air hockey. --- Again, not true. While the game was an instant success, with leagues springing up all over the place and sales going through the roof, air hockey fell out of favor for a few years in the early 80s, when video game arcades became popular.
Air hockey can be played by anyone. --- True. Air hockey is a fun game that anyone can enjoy. Grandkids can play with their grandparents. Husband and wife can spar off in a friendly game. Siblings, cousins and friends can all play and have fun while doing so.
Air hockey tables are big and expensive. --- Well, this one is a yes and no answer. If you are looking for a regulation, 8-foot table, it can get fairly pricey – around $2,000 - $5,000. If you have the space and budget for it, that’s great. But there are tables available in everything from a 4-foot table top for about $100 up to the big 8-footers.
You have to know ice hockey rules to play air hockey. --- Not at all. If all you’re interested in is knocking the puck around for awhile, that’s great. Play until someone has scored 7 goals and you’re done. If, however, you want to “play by the rules”, check out the USAA (United States Air Hockey Association), where you can find out all the rules.
Air hockey has a surprising rich history and devoted fan-base. People all over the world love this game and enjoy it. Can you count yourself among them?
The Bermuda Triangle Mystery: Fact or Fallacy ?
It was a simple phrase that easily coined the location, due to the imaginary line that gave it the easily recognizable shape of a large triangle, and it had for years been known as a mysterious vortex of sorts that sucked up vessels and the people on them, making it a watery grave for countless unsuspecting travelers that some survivors referred to as the triangle of hell.
The Bermuda triangle is approximately a 1.5 million square mile area located in the Atlantic Ocean where the tips of the triangle lie in southern Florida, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico. In just the past 30 years, more than 100 ships and planes, and 1,000 lives have been lost.
Many people once believed that aliens captured the unfortunate souls of travelers visiting or passing over the Bermuda Triangle, while others maintain that some aberrant energy field hidden deep within the universe creates a time warp of sorts that envelops anything passing through it. With its reputation of swallowing people up without a trace throughout the years, very few people are willing to brave the watery death trap to further explore possible explanations to its very existence.
The Bermuda Triangle has also been referred to as the "Devil's Triangle" simply because it appears to swallow ships and aircraft by some inexplicable force that by most accounts is stranger than life itself. Distress calls and very little debris have been left behind to help unravel the mystery that lies within the hidden mystery of the Triangles perimeters.