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A strange and mysterious new object in space may the brightest and long-lasting "micro-quasar" seen thus far, a miniature version of the brightest objects in the universe. The object suddenly began pumping out radio waves last year in the relatively nearby galaxy M82, some 10 million light-years away. Its discovery was announced Tuesday. "The new object, which appeared in May 2009, has left us scratching our heads — we've never seen anything quite like this before," said researcher Tom Muxlow, a radio astronomer at the University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank Observatory in England. M82 is a "starburst galaxy," one that...

Nearly 200 years ago, a ship sank in the Gulf of Mexico, about 35 miles off Louisiana's coast. It stayed, undiscovered, on the seabed, about 4,000 feet below the surface, until 2002, when a crew happened upon the wreckage while checking out a pipeline. An expedition led by Texas A&M University found no skeletal remains and nothing to indicate the vessel's name, where it came from or how it sank. But underwater sleuths discovered plenty of artifacts, including a telescope, pottery, French bottles, swords, English mustard jars, hourglasses, a cast-iron stove and a Scottish cannon, Louisiana State Museum spokesman Arthur...

For the past quarter century, dark matter has been a mystery we've just had to live with. But the time may be getting close when science can finally unveil what this befuddling stuff is that makes up most of the matter in the universe. Dark matter can't be seen. Nobody even knows what it is. But it must be there, because without it galaxies would fly apart. Upcoming experiments on Earth such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) particle accelerator in Switzerland, and a new spacecraft called Gaia set to launch in 2011, could be the key to closing the...

As if the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy weren't vexing enough, another baffling cosmic puzzle has been discovered. Patches of matter in the universe seem to be moving at very high speeds and in a uniform direction that can't be explained by any of the known gravitational forces in the observable universe. Astronomers are calling the phenomenon "dark flow." The stuff that's pulling this matter must be outside the observable universe, researchers conclude. When scientists talk about the observable universe, they don't just mean as far out as the eye, or even the most powerful telescope, can see....

WASHINGTON — Some mysteries are such fun you almost don't want to know the truth. That may help explain why people are fascinated with crystal skulls. "People like to believe in something greater than themselves," Smithsonian anthropologist Jane MacLaren Walsh said, and crystal skulls are mysterious and beautiful.

Earth gives off a relentless hum of countless notes completely imperceptible to the human ear, like a giant, exceptionally quiet symphony, but the origin of this sound remains a mystery. Now unexpected powerful tunes have been discovered in this hum. These new findings could shed light on the source of this enigma. The planet emanates a constant rumble far below the limits of human hearing, even when the ground isn't shaking from an earthquake. (It does not cause the ringing in the ear linked with tinnitus.) This sound, first discovered a decade ago, is one that only scientific instruments -...

SCOTTISH MASONS' MYSTERIOUS SIGNATURES IN STONE TO BE RECORDED By 24 Hour Museum Staff 08/02/2008 Courtesy Historic Scotland Mysterious symbols carved into Scotland’s medieval churches, castles and bridges are to be studied and recorded in a new scheme supported by Historic Scotland. Masons’ marks are enigmatic signatures cut into stone wherever they worked, and hold clues as to dates of construction as well as the craftsmen who worked on the structure. However, little is known about the identities and life stories of these men who played such an important role in creating the country’s most cherished buildings from the Middle...

Mysterious MigrationsOur prehistoric ancestors journeyed out of Africa on contested roads Bruce Bower It was the most momentous immigration ever, a population realignment that marked a startling departure for our species, Homo sapiens. After emerging in eastern Africa close to 200,000 years ago, anatomically modern people stayed on one continent for roughly 140,000 years before spreading out in force around the world. Then, from 40,000 to 35,000 years ago, our forerunners advanced into areas stretching from what is now France to southeastern Asia and Australia. DIGGING THE PAST. Workers excavate deep into a site near the Russian village of Kostenki,...

University of Arizona Mon 19-Feb-2007, 17:00 ET The Mysterious Case of Columbus's Silver Ore Libraries What was thought to be the first evidence of successful prospecting for precious metals in the New World turns out to be something completely different. Silver-bearing ore found at the settlement founded by Christopher Columbus's second expedition was not mined in the Americas. Copyright 1998. James Quine, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida. Co-authors Kathleen Deagan and Jose M. Cruxent standing by the foundations of La Isabela's royal storehouse, where metallurgical activities took place. Newswise — Silver-bearing ore found at the settlement founded...

Khadijah Ghafur sat silently in hijab and correctional jumpsuit, facing a judge, a lengthy prison term and the complete collapse of her elaborate plans. With a boundless determination that opened eyes and pockets, Sister Khadijah had built a chain of state-funded charter schools that stretched from Sunnyvale to Southern California. Now they were closed, and the self-styled civil rights activist from Selma, Ala., was convicted of stealing tens of thousands of dollars of public money meant for kids. Superior Court Judge R.L. Putnam got right to the point. He sentenced her to 14 years. But even after Ghafur's monthlong trial,...

Tattoos - The Ancient and Mysterious History By Cate Lineberry Humans have marked their bodies with tattoos for thousands of years. These permanent designs—sometimes plain, sometimes elaborate, always personal—have served as amulets, status symbols, declarations of love, signs of religious beliefs, adornments and even forms of punishment. Joann Fletcher, research fellow in the department of archaeology at the University of York in Britain, describes the history of tattoos and their cultural significance to people around the world, from the famous " Iceman," a 5,200-year-old frozen mummy, to today’s Maori. What is the earliest evidence of tattoos? In terms of tattoos...

LAFAYETTE, La. - Two little girls, who apparently couldn't sleep, got out of the bed they shared less than a half-hour before a tractor-trailer plowed through their bedroom. Cori Morgan, 7, and her sister, Shadia, 3, had left their bedroom for the living room just before the 4:30 a.m. crash, said Cerrisa Moore, whose mother owns the house.

Mayan ruins said center of mysterious civilization Fri Sep 8, 2006 11:43pm ET TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (Reuters) - Experts are examining the ruins of a pre-Columbian culture in an area of Honduras where there had been no previous evidence of major indigenous civilization. The site, discovered earlier this year, consists of 14 mounds that form part of what are believed to be ceremonial grounds, the Honduran Institute of Anthropology said. "They are part of a very important site, a governing center of a pre-Columbian civilization," Oscar Neils, the institute's head of research, told Reuters. "We had no idea that there was...

Hybrid comet-asteroid in mysterious break-up 09:30 11 April 2006 NewScientist.com news service Jeff HechtThe large, diffuse breakaway object is centred at the 2 o'clock position relative to the nucleus. The image is a negative, with the darkest areas representing the brightest objects. Something substantial has broken off an icy 50-kilometre object beyond the orbit of Saturn, leaving puzzled astronomers trying to figure out why. Comets have been seen breaking up before, but only after heating when passing close to the Sun or a gravitational disturbance following a close encounter with a planet. However, at 1.9 billion kilometres, this object is...

Mysterious Fish 'Party' Near N.C. Shore By The Associated Press posted: 27 February 2006 11:38 am ET JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (AP)—State and local wildlife experts are trying to figure out what led more than a thousand flounder, spot and pin fish to beach themselves at the Marine Corps' New River air base—and then swim away. They believe it may be related to a popular phenomenon known in coastal Alabama as "jubilee.''The fish surfaced in shallow water Friday morning. They were lethargic, but alive. "It's kind of strange,'' said Mike Sanderford, New River Riverkeeper. "It's a bunch of fish up here, but...

Flying saucers and strange beings who have visited Earth aren't the typical topics reported by Peter Jennings, anchor of ABC's "World News Tonight." Jennings, whose new two-hour special tackles the subject of UFOs, admits he and his production team began the project with doubts and a dose of curiosity. "We have a lot of skeptics -- I am very skeptical -- but we seriously investigated something a lot of people are serious about," he said. "And when we come to the end, this is wonderfully interesting. "More than 80 million Americans believe intelligent beings from somewhere else have come here,"...

On Thursday,02/17/05,a postal courier delivered 4 boxes to the British Embassy in Moscow. The packages were addressed to the British Ambassador-no return address. When opened,the packages were found to contain medical syringes-filled with an unknown liquid - now being tested by the police lab. Theories,anyone ??

The mysterious end of Essex man Archaeologists now believe two groups of early humans fought for dominance in ancient Britain - and the axe-wielders won Robin McKie, science editor Sunday January 23, 2005 The Observer Divisions in British culture may be deeper than we thought. Scientists have discovered startling evidence that suggests different species of early humans may have fought to settle within our shores almost half a million years ago. They have found that two different groups - one wielding hand-axes, the other using Stone Age Stanley knives to slash and kill - could have been rivals for control...

Mystery surrounds costly spy programWASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress' new blueprint for U.S. intelligence spending includes a mysterious and expensive spy program that drew extraordinary criticism from leading Democrats, with one saying the highly classified project is a threat to national security.In an unusual rebuke, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, complained Wednesday that the spy project was "totally unjustified and very, very wasteful and dangerous to the national security." He called the program "stunningly expensive."Rockefeller and three other Democratic senators -- Richard Durbin, Carl Levin and Ron Wyden -- refused to sign the congressional compromise...

Mysterious pottery shows true face of first Pacific settlers Staring out from an ancient piece of pottery, the mysterious face of a bearded man has given scientists a unique glimpse of what the first settlers of Fiji may have looked like. Researchers say the "extraordinary discovery" is a vital clue in mapping out how the South Pacific came to be inhabited some 3,000 years ago, suggesting the first direct link to islands some thousands of kilometres away. Thought to be the work of the Lapita people - a long-lost race which originated near modern-day Taiwan then migrated to Polynesia -...